February 2016

We took a train to florence and spent the night. I was going to get up early and go to the gallery before getting our train but it was raining and i was tired so it didnt happen. We arrived at la spezia and got our train tickets to the 5 villages that make up cinque terre, we got off at the first and took the very long steep way up.....missed seeing the short way! Very cool colourful sight. We then went to the last village and had an easier walk around....a great stone carving of neptune at one end of the beach. The villages are only a few minutes apart buy train and the train leaves about every hour so we could fit in one more village..but the train door wouldnt open so we couldnt get off......damn but we might have missed our next train if we had stopped. Next stop pisa. We had about an hour at pisa, got a taxi to take us to the tower, wait while we took some pics and take us back to thr station. It was great to see a tiny bit of pisa and the tower.....so worth it

We took the train leaving about 5pm from innsbruck to venice arriving about 12pm , we then took a self guided walking tour with all our luggage until around 1.30 am........due to the fact i hadnt printed off the directions to get from the train station to the hotel. I was dripping in sweat due to having to carry the 18kg luggage up and down all the steps at every bridge over each canal! A local ended up walking us to the hotel after he phoned the hotel for directions.we met lots of kind people that night. I went to discover venice by day next morning......a huge disappointment the rialto bridge is undergoing repair and on one side the had a cover painted as th bridge and then had a huge billboard in the centre!!!!! How could they!!. I guess ill get over it eventually. Travis not keen on venice due to being old and buildings looking run down....well some are 500 years old. He did take great delight in pointing out a big rat running past on our first night walking tour.

A bit of a catch up....... Austria innsbruck, we took a high speed train 317 kms per hour from paris to munich and then a coach to Innsbruck arrived around midnight. At most airports, train stations and attractions are green beret soldiers with there automatic weapons ready if needed, but feel perfectly safe everywhere. Woke up and went outside first day in innsbruck to the sight of mountains surrounding the city....its in a valley. It is beautiful and has wonderful buildings everywhere. First on the list was to sort out the snowboard hire place and then to the swarovski crystal shop, they have a swarovski world just out of innsbruck that i thought i might get to but the shop was an experience of its own....fabulous....and i splashed out a little on some earrings, wallet.and a wee display crystal heart. Next day we went up to one of the slopes...the weather not the greatest, the field would be closed in nz. Did ride a really long gondola to get from the base to the actual ski fields where the lifts to the different runs. I stuck to the learner slope while travis went off to the real slopes. We finished a bit early as the wind got prety strong blowing the snow about. Next weather forecast not good so didnt go up and a wee touch of light snow flakes in innsbruck. 3 rd day a blue ski day and travis had a good snowboard day, i had a coffee day.

Well it has been quite an adjustment going from Africa to dubai to Milan to London !!! Lost my phone at Johannesburg airport realised just as we were boarding......damn! It was a big flight to Dubai arriving 5 in the morning .....had a few things to sort with losing my phone as it had the only PIN number for my cash passport! And my phone had no lock on it so had to cancel it with spark, hopefully they have done their bit. We set of to the tallest building by metro in Dubai we just paid to go to level 125 didn't want to pay the extra $150 each to go to level 148. It was pretty amazing views. We then set off to the gold. Souk in the old part of Dubai ......that was quite a journey on foot , in really bad shoes and with our cabin bags....we eventually found it , buy now we didn't have much time to look. Would have been great to have more time, but was still worth the big walk. All the gold was 18 or 22 carat so still not cheap enough for me. Quite proud to get back to the airport via the metro!
Next stop Milan arrived around 7.30 at night got too our hotel around midnight ......we were waiting for the shuttle at the arrivals part when it only goes to the departures.....we were cold and miserable by the time we got there and had a 6.30am flight to catch, had to be up at 4am to get the shuttle at 5am, the alarm didn't go off , woke up at 20 to 5........talk about rush!!!!!! Made the flight....yay. Arrived in London 7.30am shattered, cancelled the plans I had for the day and just went to the hotel.....which was really nice and crashed. Travis had the next day off and I set off to look around London .......cold and grey but I had a good day just wandering about spotting the main attractions like Big Ben , London bridge, Tower of London , Buckingham palace. The next day Travis and I went to St. Paul's .......which was just amazing, then to have a ride on the London eye, fantastic views. Our last day day went into the Tower of London and saw the torture tower and the Crown Jewels .......so it has been all go. Arrived in Paris last night another late arrival at the hotel but Paris was alive with activity. I much prefer Paris over London . Travis had a day at the hotel while I ventured out seeing what sights I could find, Paris is so vibrant with people and shops, cafes everywhere .....its just great......but everyone was coupled up except me!!!! Haha. Travis and I are heading out earlyish to go up the Eiffel Tower and then head off by train the scenic route to Munich then straight on to Austria for 4 nights. I went into the Le louvre today .......simply amazing building on the outside and then magnificently hand painted ceilings and decorated rooms and all that before you even start checking out the art and sculptures........you could spend a very long time at the Le louvre but I just had around two hours.....am so pleased I have been able to spend that time there and got to see Mona Lisa . Travelling in the off season in both Africa and Europe definatley has its advantages without crowds of people to deal with. Will put some more pics up soon.