1 post tagged “lorne weekend 2007”
Thursday 30 August 2007
Today we collected tickets, itinerary and vouchers from the travel agent. The gaps aren't completely filled. There are some train fares still to book. Rome to Naples and Sorrento, for instance; Brig to Geneva.
(Pictures of a recent weekend in Lorne.)
Friday 31 August 2007
Tonight Kathryn will be on her way to China. Gerry and I will drop here at Tullamarine. Sarah is going to a Peter Coombs concert ... Newspaper Mama ... yeah. Elisa is on call this weekend. We'll see her on Sunday before we leave.
Tuesday 4 September 2007
Sarah came with us to Tullamarine and drove my car home. We spent some of the waiting time in a near-empty Qantas Club lounge. Free food and drinks .. Oh dear.
In the boarding lounge we sat down right next to Jack and Rosalie, friends of the vanderHeydens. They were on the same flight, changing flights in Singapore on their way to visit family in Geneva.
Qantas flight Q9 (Tullamarine to Singapore, then Singapore to Heathrow after a 2 hour stopover) and how many evening meals does a traveller need? Apparently, three. Two before Singapore and one just after departure.
We went further north than I'd expected; over Balkan states and Russia and right over Amsterdam. We had a three hour stop at Heathrow where we experienced British 'hospitality' for the first time - 'nuff said. (Well, we had been warned.)
Wednesday 5 Sept
British Airways left our bags in London so we had to line up with the others who'd had their bags left behind, fill in forms, show passports, describe our bags etc etc. We decided to wait for them to arrive on the next flight (two and a half hours) rather than chance having somebody deliver them to us. Just as well because our appartment wasn't in Admiraal Engracht as stated but in Admiraal de Ruijterweg (pictures from back bedroom athrough front window shown). Flat decidedly ordinary.
Thurs
Tourist Info centre near Centraal. Booked three tours.First tour by bus around Amsterdam.
Second Tour - Old Amsterdam and Red Light District. Tour Guide Greeje.
Dinner at Argentinian Steakhouse (there are many in A)
Number 14 tram back to appartment.
Friday
Number 14 tram to Anne Frank Huis.Beat the queue. Breakfast in a little cafe on opposite side of canal
Tram down to Dam Square. Sun shining. Walked to Centraal. Ticket to Weesp. Train journey 12 minutes. Weesp very pretty little town.
Took Canal tour in glass roofed boat.
Next, Rijksmuseum. Rembrandts, Vermeers and many others. Stunning. Two paintings we'd seen last year when Dutch Masters was in NGV, Melbourne.
9 Sept
Flew KL from Amsterdam to Roma. Amsterdam Airport total chaos. People queued everywhere. Flight gave us great views down over Swiss Alps...snow, green lakes, villages down in the valleys.
Rome warm. Our first experiences with Roman conmen was at the Airport where the man in the ticket booth for the train talked us into going on the coach into town because he said, pointing to the map, we'd have a very long walk to our hotel even though it looked close on map. WRONG!. The exit to the station is about 25 metres from the hotel entrance. Doesn't matter though. In the bus we shared withh two other couples we stuck up conversation with one couple from Melbourne. Turns out the woman had attended Mt Waverley High for the one semester I was there. She was probably a couple of years below me. She also had close friends who live in the house we lived in in Mt Waverley.
We went for a wander once we'd found our hotel. Booked a tour for the next day. Gerry watched (?TV show) in Italian. He'd seen the episode back home. Ate in restaurant outside hotel. Prices roughly half of what they were in Amsterdam. Half litre of house red (Italian wine) very good. Learned a few survival phrases. Can't rely on people understanding English the way they did in Amsterdam.
10 Sept
Bus tour in the morning. Picked up from hotel at 8. Driven around streets for an hour picking up others...a good into to the hotel scene. Guide Maximus (or something similar) very good. Trevi fountain first. Walked from there to obelisks, houses of parliament, squares (will complete details when have longer). Back on bus to Vatican city. St Peter's Basilica...so much larger than I'd imagined. Went back to hotel to recharge my camera...might get a second battery. In afternoon caught metro to Colloseum. Took a tour...well worth it, then stayed for a further hour or so. Sun going down...great shots to be added to this page.
11 September
Caught metro to the forum where we joined many others. Took an audio tour. Amazing. Hard to get the mind around how very old the ruins are.
Walked back to view Trevi Fountain, hoping for water this time. Plenty of water and plenty of people.
Walked to Piazza della Repubbilia. Fountain (pic pending). Also Santa Maria degli Angeli
SORRENTO 12 Sept (3 days)
Trained Rome to Naples, Naples to Sorrento. We'd booked first class seats for the first leg but carriage doors were locked and we were shepherded on to the next carriage. We were thirty minutes late by this stage, which gives us concern for the return trip from Naples to Florence because we only have a twenty minute window to pick up hire car before Europecar office closes. Anyway, lots of warnings about pickpockets at Naples station. We were glad to get onto the train though it was packed for half the journey and we had to stand in the vestibule.
La Magnolia just a short walk from station. Our room had a skylight instead of a normal window which would later prove a problem with wireless computer access.
TUSCANO - Saturday 15 Sept
Train from Sorrento to Naples - not as hair raising as the trip down. Perhaps we are becoming streetwise. Waited at Naples for Eurostar connection which turned out to be very luxurious. Travelled at 250+ km/h with drinks supplies (small cups of strong black expresso or red orange juice). Sat opposite a family from Canterbury Victoria. Australians everywhere!
Firenze Statzione (Florence rail terminus) to hire car place turned out to be quite a rush. We'd been told they closed at 3.30 and we were still walking around in circles looking for the place at this time. Turned out they had two numbering systems...red numbers and blue numbers. Hire car ... a silver B class Mercedes diesel. Driving out of Firenze on the right side of the road? Mumma Mia!!! Stopped at a service station to fill up and asked if we were on the way out of town towards Siena. We were! Woh...
Next problem...actually finding La Torre (we didn't have that name anywhere in our paperwork) in Certaldo Alto (the Alto part wasn't in our paperwork either). We knew it was in the old part of town and high up but when we got close and asked a local we were told people didn't live up there. Similar story to what Lindsay and Libby were told. Hmmm. Perhaps the locals want to keep the place for themselves.
Terrific accommodation and views from tower as per pictures
Saturday 15-22 Sept
Found our way from Firenze to Certaldo driving on the wrong side of the road ... mamma mia!! Finding our accommodation was another story. Lovely views, quaint town. Poor internet availability.
Visited Pisa. Started off that morning with the goal of going south to Siena but when we found our way going north to Pisa it was easier to keep going!
Visited Siena next time we ventured out.
Florence on the second last day. Pics to follow when we can upload.
Sunday 23 Sept
Last night and today in Venice. Difficulty posting pics but will try again in Milan. Lesson learned in Venice: Never visit this place on a weekend. People everywhere, queues galore. Milan tomorrow.
