29 September 2006
Rome and Tuscany
Rome was awesome, as those of you who have been will attest. When in Rome, though, you have to do as the Romans do. Such as walk down the middle of the main street (Via del Corso) as if it is a pedestrian mall and allow the buses, cars and scooters to patiently zigzag around you. Its great! Unbelievably, Gail and I found ourselves in the same tour group (we relented as it saved us a 2 hour queue) for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel as Ed Parraviccini from work and his family! What are the odds?
After 3 1/2 days in Rome we are now in Siena in Tuscany, another beautiful walled town. We have seen A LOT of churches and cathedrals, but the one here is worth seeing for its incredibly detailed inlaid marble floor dating from the 13th century. I tell you though, we are getting VERY tired of renaissance art, which is almost exlusively depicting scenes from the first and second Testament. If we see another bloody Michaelangelo we'll screem. Joking, JOKING, OK?!
After 3 1/2 days in Rome we are now in Siena in Tuscany, another beautiful walled town. We have seen A LOT of churches and cathedrals, but the one here is worth seeing for its incredibly detailed inlaid marble floor dating from the 13th century. I tell you though, we are getting VERY tired of renaissance art, which is almost exlusively depicting scenes from the first and second Testament. If we see another bloody Michaelangelo we'll screem. Joking, JOKING, OK?!
Off to Florence tomorrow...
Any need for a caption?
We loved these warning signs on Roman train doors. Ow - OWWWWW!
Siena's Piazza del Campo, this morning.
View from the tower (Tor del Mangia) overlooking Piazza del Campo.
23 September 2006
Sorrento and Amalfi Coast
We have been here in Sorrento in Italy's Amalfi coast region since arriving on Wednesday 20th afternoon. It has been a fantastic base to explore this spectacular region. We have been on a bus along the amazing clifftop, winding coastline around this penisular from Sorrento through Positano and to Amalfi. As you can see in the photo below, these towns are perched on a very steep cliff faces, and single, narrow, precarious and winding roads stretch across the coast and through them. The road is so narrow in places bus drivers have to inch forward and backwards so that other vehicles (including cars but also obviously other buses) can pass. I'm so glad the Aussie couple we met in Prague advised me not to drive the campervan along this coast. It would have been do-able, but incredibly exciting (read 'hair-raising') and I wouldn't have seen any of the scenery.
We caught a ferry back from Amalfi to Positano, then later another one from Positano to Sorrento that evening, so we could watch the scenery of this spectacular coastline from a different perspective.
Yesterday we jumped on the local train to Pompei. This place is enormous, a huge, "almost" intact entire city. It's incredible how there are still colourful painted frescos from over 2000 years ago, still visible (see an interesting example below).
Today we had planned to go to Capri, but since it has been 2 weeks since our last R&R, we decided we needed another one. So, we have lazed around our campsite's pool (yes, pool), took a stroll down to the fishing bay below our campsite and shared a bottle of wine on a bar over the water, read our books, and now wandered into town to do this.
Our campsite here in Sorrento is really convenient. It is right on the edge of, and a short stroll to, the centre of town, so their land must be incredibly valuable. As it is close to town, the campsite is also close to buses to the Amalfi coast, trains to Pompei and Naples, and ferries to Capri.
Gail, with Positano in the background. Note the pebble beach in the lower left of photo, water was beautiful.
We had to share this interesting fresco from Pompei with you all!
Our Sorrento campsite's excellent pool area (Camping Nube D'Argentia), and view over the lower part of Sorrento from the campsite. Every up has a down, though; check out the quality of showers and toilets (this one doubles as both), see below.
Keep comments coming everyone, and try to take a little more care of our Australian personality icons while we are away, people!
We caught a ferry back from Amalfi to Positano, then later another one from Positano to Sorrento that evening, so we could watch the scenery of this spectacular coastline from a different perspective.
Yesterday we jumped on the local train to Pompei. This place is enormous, a huge, "almost" intact entire city. It's incredible how there are still colourful painted frescos from over 2000 years ago, still visible (see an interesting example below).
Today we had planned to go to Capri, but since it has been 2 weeks since our last R&R, we decided we needed another one. So, we have lazed around our campsite's pool (yes, pool), took a stroll down to the fishing bay below our campsite and shared a bottle of wine on a bar over the water, read our books, and now wandered into town to do this.
Our campsite here in Sorrento is really convenient. It is right on the edge of, and a short stroll to, the centre of town, so their land must be incredibly valuable. As it is close to town, the campsite is also close to buses to the Amalfi coast, trains to Pompei and Naples, and ferries to Capri.
Off to Rome tomorrow!
An interesting point about toilets in this part of Italy is that they have no toilet seats. We haven't seen one since Venice. What the hell? What are you supposed to do, perch on the cold porcelain? And what do they thing you are going to do, steal them? Wierd.
Gail, with Positano in the background. Note the pebble beach in the lower left of photo, water was beautiful.
We had to share this interesting fresco from Pompei with you all!
Our Sorrento campsite's excellent pool area (Camping Nube D'Argentia), and view over the lower part of Sorrento from the campsite. Every up has a down, though; check out the quality of showers and toilets (this one doubles as both), see below.
Keep comments coming everyone, and try to take a little more care of our Australian personality icons while we are away, people!
19 September 2006
Italy V1.1
AHA! (See post below from earlier today.) You just have to walk up the road a bit and you find a better organised, cheaper internet cafe with a USB plug, so here are some photos after all. BUT, Blogger is playing up and I can't seem to upload photos, so although we got 6 ready, we were only able to show you 5. Boy, do I wish I road-tested Blogger a bit better before I left. Sorry, we'll try again later.
Guess where WE'RE going? Not really, this sign points to Bad Aussee, an Austrian town not far from Hallstatt.
Hallstatt
Inside an ice cave in the Alps way above (but not far from) Hallstatt.
Venice canal, and gondola. No, we didn't go on one (80 euro for 1/2 hour - the canal busses are cheaper and nearly as much fun)
The lovely Italian hill top, walled town of Assisi.
OK, until next time...
Guess where WE'RE going? Not really, this sign points to Bad Aussee, an Austrian town not far from Hallstatt.
Hallstatt
Inside an ice cave in the Alps way above (but not far from) Hallstatt.
Venice canal, and gondola. No, we didn't go on one (80 euro for 1/2 hour - the canal busses are cheaper and nearly as much fun)
The lovely Italian hill top, walled town of Assisi.
OK, until next time...
Italy
Still no USB port at this internet cafe, so again no photos.
After Vienna, we moved on to a gorgeous little town called Hallstatt (pronounced "HAL-shtat" for you Deutch-deprived) in the Austrian Alps. A village sandwiched between the incredibly steep mountain slopes and the Hallstatter See (lake). It was extremely picturesque. Our camp site was surrounded on 3 sides by 1000m high cliffs that you felt like you could reach out and touch. I wish I could post some of our photos.
Then we moved down to Venice. Everyone raves about Venice, and we weren't sure if the hype was going to be justified. As it turned out, Venice was all we could have expected - and more. We have both fallen in love with this beautiful city-island(s). I won't go on about it; those that have been will know what I mean; those that haven't will have heard those that have been raving about it.
We are now in Assissi as it is about halfway between Venice and the Amalfi coast. Umbria is very beautiful though, and Gail and I did a great wine tour and tasting of a family owned winery yesterday. Their chardonnay and (Umbrian local variety) blend, and their cab sav - merlot blend were extraordinary, and great value.
Digbys - we were in Venice the same time as you - on Sunday, if only we were able to contact each other! I tried a few internet cafes in Venice but they wanted up to 9 euro per hour (every other place it is about 1 euro). Check the comments from the previous post on how to contact us.
Those of you who know we have taken a GPS on this trip may be wondering how this has gone. Well, we can say it has been absolutely indespensible. Just type in the destination (or click on a map), and away you go. Of course you can lose the GPS satelites occasionally at the worst possible time, but otherwise great. The maps are all up to date, only the very newest road construction or changes are not shown and this has never been a problem.
Off to Amalfi coast tomorrow for about 3 days, then to Rome via Pompeii after that (from about the 24th). I have to say the highways and lesser roads are an absolute disgrace in Italy. Full of potholes, in places you have to go below 90 km/h even on the big 4 lane highways otherwise you could get bone-jarring bumps. The Italians should be ashamed, I have to say! The autostrada (freeways) seem OK, though.
Onwards and upwards...
After Vienna, we moved on to a gorgeous little town called Hallstatt (pronounced "HAL-shtat" for you Deutch-deprived) in the Austrian Alps. A village sandwiched between the incredibly steep mountain slopes and the Hallstatter See (lake). It was extremely picturesque. Our camp site was surrounded on 3 sides by 1000m high cliffs that you felt like you could reach out and touch. I wish I could post some of our photos.
Then we moved down to Venice. Everyone raves about Venice, and we weren't sure if the hype was going to be justified. As it turned out, Venice was all we could have expected - and more. We have both fallen in love with this beautiful city-island(s). I won't go on about it; those that have been will know what I mean; those that haven't will have heard those that have been raving about it.
We are now in Assissi as it is about halfway between Venice and the Amalfi coast. Umbria is very beautiful though, and Gail and I did a great wine tour and tasting of a family owned winery yesterday. Their chardonnay and (Umbrian local variety) blend, and their cab sav - merlot blend were extraordinary, and great value.
Digbys - we were in Venice the same time as you - on Sunday, if only we were able to contact each other! I tried a few internet cafes in Venice but they wanted up to 9 euro per hour (every other place it is about 1 euro). Check the comments from the previous post on how to contact us.
Those of you who know we have taken a GPS on this trip may be wondering how this has gone. Well, we can say it has been absolutely indespensible. Just type in the destination (or click on a map), and away you go. Of course you can lose the GPS satelites occasionally at the worst possible time, but otherwise great. The maps are all up to date, only the very newest road construction or changes are not shown and this has never been a problem.
Off to Amalfi coast tomorrow for about 3 days, then to Rome via Pompeii after that (from about the 24th). I have to say the highways and lesser roads are an absolute disgrace in Italy. Full of potholes, in places you have to go below 90 km/h even on the big 4 lane highways otherwise you could get bone-jarring bumps. The Italians should be ashamed, I have to say! The autostrada (freeways) seem OK, though.
Onwards and upwards...
11 September 2006
Greetings from Vienna
Yesterday (Sunday) we arrived in Vienna after our R&R at Lake Lipno in southern Czech Republic.
This post is photo heavy to make up for the lack of photos recently. We don't want to bore you all too much with the standard "we've been there and we've seen that" malarky. So, below is a vey quick scan of just under 1000 photos on my big 2GB memory card (thanks again Colin and Carrie), and are probably not the best of them but when you are paying for the internet in Vienna, I don't want to spend too much time picking and choosing. So, here goes...
Canal in Amsterdam, had a GREAT time here with Tanya...
Brandenburg Gate (Brendenburger Tor) in Berlin
For Gem: "Head On" Exhibition at Guggenheim Berlin
East Side Gallery, Berlin (remnant of the Wall, art on the old Eastern side)
View of old Prague across the river
View of the bend in the river around the UNESCO-listed Cesky Kromlov in southern Czech Republic, from the castle (burg) tower
Our camp at Lake Lipno, Czech Republic. Bluey in all his glory...
Gail at Schloss Schönbrunn, here in Vienna today.
OK, that will do for now. Another day here in Vienna, then we'll travel over towards Salzburg and some lovely places around the Austrian Alps our new Austrian friends we met at Lake Lipno told us about, then down to Italy, and onwards. Until then...
This post is photo heavy to make up for the lack of photos recently. We don't want to bore you all too much with the standard "we've been there and we've seen that" malarky. So, below is a vey quick scan of just under 1000 photos on my big 2GB memory card (thanks again Colin and Carrie), and are probably not the best of them but when you are paying for the internet in Vienna, I don't want to spend too much time picking and choosing. So, here goes...
Canal in Amsterdam, had a GREAT time here with Tanya...
Brandenburg Gate (Brendenburger Tor) in Berlin
For Gem: "Head On" Exhibition at Guggenheim Berlin
East Side Gallery, Berlin (remnant of the Wall, art on the old Eastern side)
View of old Prague across the river
View of the bend in the river around the UNESCO-listed Cesky Kromlov in southern Czech Republic, from the castle (burg) tower
Our camp at Lake Lipno, Czech Republic. Bluey in all his glory...
Gail at Schloss Schönbrunn, here in Vienna today.
OK, that will do for now. Another day here in Vienna, then we'll travel over towards Salzburg and some lovely places around the Austrian Alps our new Austrian friends we met at Lake Lipno told us about, then down to Italy, and onwards. Until then...
08 September 2006
Prague
PRAGUE
This is a bit af a test; Ian can't log into the Blog with our PDA despite
finally getting onto a wifi internet connection here at this Prague
campsite. So Ian is trying the email blog upload fearure for the first
time. So, still no new photos for you. Yet.
I'm writing this while Ian and I are enjoying our last night in Prague,
sitting at a restaurant in the beautiful Old Town Square at sunset,
surrounded by lovely baroque buildings, watching life go by. Today is our
final day in Prague, I guess we could stay our whole 5 months in one
country to be able to see it properly, but we are just having a sneak
preview of the the countries of Europe that we are visiting.
Prague is a beautiful work in progress, meaning that unlike the old East
Germany they havent had the same financial funding to get their whole
city up to scratch yet. The main tourist areas are great and they seem to
be busy working their way out from the city centre, repairing and
re-painting buildings. Another 10 years and they will have made huge
changes, hopefully all for the good of the city and it's residents. We
were lucky we didn't have any really bad experiences (like pick-pockets),
only attempted overcharging in some restaurants.
We have found that all through mainland Europe (unlike the UK & Ireland
which are expensive), the price for food and eating out has been very
similar to Australia if not cheaper, beer and wine have been cheaper (so
far). Even food at supermarkets is similar priced or cheaper. This has
surprised us. So far we are under budget. So far.
One annoying thing is the price of water in restaurants in mainland
Europe! You can't get a free glass of tap water, you have to buy flat or
sparkling mineral water at exorbitant prices ie. 5.80 for a 750ml bottle,
2.80 for 2OOml. Ian & I refill our 5OOml bottles all day from taps.
It's been a really warm, sunny day today; tomorrow we are heading to near
Cesky Krumlov in southern Czech Republic for a couple of days of R&R. We
haven't really had a rest since we began all those weeks ago, and we are
finding we are becoming a bit jaded - can't have that! We have read about
a nice lake in the south of the country with lots of camp grounds, which
sounds perfect before we head on to Vienna.
04 September 2006
Berlin
Still no chance of posting photos; seems internet cafes in mainland Europe are scared of USB ports.
We did the big 6 hour drive from Amsterdam to Berlin yesterday and are staying at a lovely campingplatz on a lake on the outskirts of Berlin, one direct bus to the centre of town. Today (Sunday) was a bit of a day of getting our bearings and walking the old city. We have seen remnants of the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, some museums or galleries inside old churches in East Berlin that must have been "decomissioned" during the period of 1961 - 1989, etc. We went up the 230m high Tower (like Sydney's and KL's) to see the view over Berlin. Hopefully we'll get a chance to post some photos soon, but it doesn't look promising. It has started raining again this afternoon, so we are sheltering in this internet cafe and updating the blog, checking mail.
Thanks for all your comments guys, we love reading them. We hope you understand when we don't reply to each individual one. Until soon...
We did the big 6 hour drive from Amsterdam to Berlin yesterday and are staying at a lovely campingplatz on a lake on the outskirts of Berlin, one direct bus to the centre of town. Today (Sunday) was a bit of a day of getting our bearings and walking the old city. We have seen remnants of the Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, some museums or galleries inside old churches in East Berlin that must have been "decomissioned" during the period of 1961 - 1989, etc. We went up the 230m high Tower (like Sydney's and KL's) to see the view over Berlin. Hopefully we'll get a chance to post some photos soon, but it doesn't look promising. It has started raining again this afternoon, so we are sheltering in this internet cafe and updating the blog, checking mail.
Thanks for all your comments guys, we love reading them. We hope you understand when we don't reply to each individual one. Until soon...
01 September 2006
Amsterdam
No chance of any photos today, the internet facilities at this camp ground in Netherlands (Camping Zeeburg) does not allow USB connections for cameras etc.
From Düsseldorf we went to Antwerp in Belgium. But first we had to stop off in the far west German town of Aachen where there is a Lindt chocolate factory. You should have seen me RACING towards the factory outlet shop to buy their legendary chocolate! The shop was enourmous, we about 40 euro of "seconds" chocolate, about 6 kilo. We bought a 500g bag of those really soft insides of Lindt Lindor balls! We are steadily working our way through it all. We have sent Gemma and Blake a bag of choccy each in the mail today. Guys, take a bag each when it arrives and keep the rest of the stuff (just pamphlets, maps and other momentos we've collected) in the box if you can.
Antwerp was beautiful, our campground was on the opposite bank of the river from the central, and old, city. We had a great day sampling Belgium specialties: hand made chocolate, beer, frites (double fried chips), art, history, architecture. Antwerp was a good recommendation, Johnny and Edda!
Now we are in Amsterdam staying in a camp ground very close to the city, a short 10 min tram ride into the centre of Amsterdam. We picked up our friend Tanya from the Amsterdam airport on the way through and spent the last day and a half exploring Amsterdam's delights: The red light district and sex museum, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, canals, Anne Frank, "space cakes", beer, architecture, etc. It has been great catching up with Tanya, we have been have rome real laughs experiencing the sometimes weirdness of Amsterdam.
Tomorrow (Friday) Tanya goes back to the UK before going back to Mauritania in west Africa for the next 5 week stint, and Gail and I will make our way towards Berlin. Until then...
From Düsseldorf we went to Antwerp in Belgium. But first we had to stop off in the far west German town of Aachen where there is a Lindt chocolate factory. You should have seen me RACING towards the factory outlet shop to buy their legendary chocolate! The shop was enourmous, we about 40 euro of "seconds" chocolate, about 6 kilo. We bought a 500g bag of those really soft insides of Lindt Lindor balls! We are steadily working our way through it all. We have sent Gemma and Blake a bag of choccy each in the mail today. Guys, take a bag each when it arrives and keep the rest of the stuff (just pamphlets, maps and other momentos we've collected) in the box if you can.
Antwerp was beautiful, our campground was on the opposite bank of the river from the central, and old, city. We had a great day sampling Belgium specialties: hand made chocolate, beer, frites (double fried chips), art, history, architecture. Antwerp was a good recommendation, Johnny and Edda!
Now we are in Amsterdam staying in a camp ground very close to the city, a short 10 min tram ride into the centre of Amsterdam. We picked up our friend Tanya from the Amsterdam airport on the way through and spent the last day and a half exploring Amsterdam's delights: The red light district and sex museum, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, canals, Anne Frank, "space cakes", beer, architecture, etc. It has been great catching up with Tanya, we have been have rome real laughs experiencing the sometimes weirdness of Amsterdam.
Tomorrow (Friday) Tanya goes back to the UK before going back to Mauritania in west Africa for the next 5 week stint, and Gail and I will make our way towards Berlin. Until then...
