Cannes, Monaco, Pisa, Florence, Assissi, Pompeii, Sorrento!

We've certainly been to a lot of places in just a few days. Lousy weather again, maybe next week it'll improve. I enjoyed wandering around Cannes, old & dingy suprisingly, saw the red carpet being ripped up & dumped into bins. We went to the Fragonard Perfumery & sniffed lots of perfumes. I took a couple of shots of murals on shop walls. I'll add them to fb or here - you can play spot the celebrity!

From Cannes in France we went to Monaco, it's own country, a quick look around, a much more attractive place, then on to Pisa in Italy which didn't rock my boat at all! If it had been in ChCh, it would have been demolished quick smart. Way too many souvenir sellers, all selling the same stuff, cheap & tawdry.

Florence was good, if wet, we did a walking tour around the sights. The sights included the original statue of David. The lady doing the tour took us behind the statue & said she thought he was more sexy from behind, all the ladies agreed, lol.

Then on to Assissi, another of my must sees, the Basilica of St Francis, fabulous, amazing frescoes! That building is three churches on top of each other! I loved that place, would happily spend several days in Assissi, wandering around the old streets & houses*. We did get the blue sky & sunshine, but about the time we went back to the hotel, thunder & lightening started, got there just ahead of the rain. I didn't have time to see St Clare's, maybe next time.

(*Not houses actually - from London, all the way so far, there are no detached houses in the cities! It's all apartment blocks, most old & dingy outside, need a good cleaning, repairing & painting. It's a different way of life for sure. Several of the tour guides have freely said it can be unpleasant living in the apartments with kids. One place we were told, the smallest apartments are only 70 sq mt!) 

For anyone who doesn't know, my second Christian name is Frances, not many wouldn't know that! & I took Clare for my confirmation name. My Nan was called Clare & I have always admired St Francis & St Clare, know their history some, even saw that dreadfully romanticised version at the movies called Brother Sun, Sister Moon. I've got to go back to Assissi, more to see.

Okay, Pompeii was today, a little disappointing but good to see the street & house layouts. It seems all the decorative detail has been stripped out & sent to various museums. I'm glad I went to see the Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum in London. So much more detail about their way of life, their decor, their mosaics, etc. I guess exposure to the elements would be a problem but Pompeii was so bare & stark. Not impressed with the guide there, he kept going on about the brothels, the explicit frescoes (which haven't been removed, btw) & was depressingly seedy. Most of the men enjoyed that & behaved like schoolboys.

Now we are in Sorrento for two nights, a chance to do some washing, lol. Off on a walking tour of the Isle of Capri tomorrow, even if it rains!

Ciao!

Spain - Madrid & Barcelona

Hola,

It's been a busy few days. I've had 2 nights in Madrid which was just another city with some interesting highlights. There were a number of cutout billboards of black bulls about 3-4 metres high dotted around the countryside. While in Madrid I did an optional tour to Toledo which used to be Spain's capital. That place is awesome! Old & special, definitely interesting, the streets are so narrow many do not allow cars. They were preparing the town for Corpus Christi with bunting, flags, even a canopy over the streets the Monstrance will be paraded along, can't have birds crapping on it, or on the people. I'd love to go back there for longer. I even had lunch with an Italian man from Brooklyn, mainly 'cos he had a spare seat at his table, lol. Nice hotel, had heated towel rails which we all utilised to dry our washing. Got to take what chances appear, washing is haphazard.

Next was Barcelona, another city but with Gaudi! The main reason I wanted to come to Spain was to see the Gaudi architecture. It was everything special I expected. Fantastic! The Sagrada Familia Cathedral is amazing, still building after about 100 years, about 30 years to go. Gaudi died in 1926! When the others went on an optional tour in the arvo, I went to Parc Guell, a Gaudi designed park which was intended to be a 60 house residential/park estate though only one house was ever built. Gaudi lived in it for some years & now it's a mini museum, interesting. The park was great with so many features in Gaudi's unique style, again loved it! The hotel in Barcelona was average/nice but the wifi was hopeless in my room & when I tried the PC in the lobby, the Internet kept dropping out. Even on my cell, Gmail cut off! So that why it's been a few days.

Adios

Bon jour,

Now I'm back in France in that famous city, Cannes! The film festival finished a few days ago but there are still lots of people here, even the red carpet is still on the ground, lol. Unless the weather is warmer tomorrow I don't think I'll be swimming in the Mediterranean Sea though. There's a laundromat down the street from the hotel, bonus! Tomorrow is the Fragonard Perfumery, the laundromat, then down to the Med for a walk. This is the first hotel with a pool, almost warm! 

This trip is definitely a trip!

Au revior

Spain - Burgos

Hola,
France has been left behind with all it's gray clouds & showery weather. Now we're in sunny Spain, blue sky & sunshine at last! Quite a marked change. Still not warm but definitely better.
Now that I've found how to work the checkin function on fb, you can click on my location to see about the place I'm at & the attractions around.
We left Lourdes in the rain & cold & travelled around the Pyrenees not over, thankfully, as there was snow on those mountains! Fantastic Cathedral in Burgos, so much carving, so much detail. It's a different architecture here, much Arabic influence of course. France was a manicured landscape, this is more rolling hills & mountains, not rugged like the South Island, but I'll see as we travel around Spain more.
We had the task today of choosing our optional tours, those money eating extras. I've chosen less than half, to do all would mean missing some of what I really want to see. In Barcelona, eg, I'm not doing either optional offered as the attraction there for me is the Gaudi architecture & I want free time to wander off to see that.
So far, I'm enjoying the tour & I'm v glad I have a room to myself. I would have found sharing hard. Now that we're in sunshine I want to do more walking so free time while others are doing their tours will be great.
Adios.

So Catholic Lourdes!

A leisurely start, a quick tour/ride through Bordeaux, then on to Lourdes, that supposed mecca for all Catholics. The place looks great but there are so many, so hopeful people in wheelchairs etc. Interesting titbit, the Catholic authorities built one cathedral on top of another cathedral, literally. Talk about overkill! Then there's one over there (really just a big barn to pack more people in), & another cathedral over the river!
A v nice dinner tonight- I knew I shouldn't have had that dessert & the wine. We took a wander round some of the shops, so much, so same, so twee. Then another wine, & here I am writing my blog.
Tomorrow Spain. There's snow on the Pyrenees! This is spring?
Bonne nuit.

Paris excitement!

Paris is great, so much to see. Yesterday we went up the Eiffel Tower, totally cliche, eh, but I enjoyed it. From the 2nd level I took a photo of Le Sacre Coeur on it's hill way in the distance. I didn't go to the top, not really enough time. In the afternoon we went to Montmartre & I took a photo of the Eiffel Tower from outside Le Sacre Coeur. From there we went down again & cruised on the Seine, I got a couple of good shots of Notre-Dame. In the evening there was an optional dinner at Le Moulin Rouge but I decided not to do that & went for a walk with another lady. We found an underground mall with loads of upmarket fashion shops to wander around, no buying! Most of the shops can be seen all over Australia though.
I'm glad I'm coming back to Paris in July. It'll be summertime & hopefully blue sky, sunshine & warmth. I'll see a lot more on foot.
This morning we started early & drove to Chartres to see the Cathedral there, fantastic stained glass windows. It would have been even more marvellous in sunshine but it's still gray & showery. It was a long day in the coach today & we're now in Bordeaux for one night, had a good dinner at the hotel.
Tomorrow is a more relaxed day with a later start, yay.
You know, there's an option to leave comments on my blog. Let me know if you're enjoying it, or if you're even reading it!
Bonne nuit

London to Paris in a day

The tour group was picked up from the hotel this morning, then Dover to Calais on the ferry, a lovely calm crossing unlike most of my crossings of Cook Strait! A peaceful drive through the manicured French countryside, then into Paris to the hotel.
There are three women travelling alone on this tour besides me. They all paid the single supplement of $1,600 so there was no-one to share with me. Guess who got a single room for free! So great!
Anyway, I'm in Paris, I've had dinner at a restaurant along the Champs Élysées, a bus tour around the city at twilight (yes, Brisbanites, most places have daylight saving & twilight!) & now I'm sitting in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel writing this blog. I'm so pleased to be here!
Interestingly once again, the historical buildings don't seem as exciting as the new architecture. Paris is following the trend to glass & it's looking great. Think Dubai with history. I am enjoying the older buildings, see my photo of the Arc de Triumphe on fb, & I'll take more tomorrow, but the new 'stuff' being built here is great. I'll take a few photos when I come back in July when I can walk around, not trying to take shots from a moving bus in the rain.
Bonne nuit, folks!

Still London!

Yesterday I wandered along Southbank & around Covent Garden, Leiester Square area, rode on the London Eye & went to see the Lion King for the first time. The animals were depicted really well, especially the giraffes, & the cast had lots of energy.
I've decided London is a city is a city. Lots more history maybe, but still just another city. I've enjoyed looking around, if not the weather. (But I don't like ChCh weather either, that's why I live in Brisbane.) London was confusing as travelling underground to specific stations I was not getting a sense of direction or size, somewhat disorienting. So today I went on a ferry ride from O2, the Olympic Stadium, to the London Eye & back which gave a perspective to the city & all the twists & turns of the Thames. I enjoyed just sitting & watching the city pass by. Interestingly from O2 I could look 'cross country' to the London Eye in the distance. Not such a large centre to this city, though the suburbs would be another story obviously.
Tomorrow I pack again & move into a hotel for the night, ready to be picked up on Saturday morning for the start of my European trip. YAY!

More in London

The Moonwalk! The night was v cold but stayed dry during the walk, thankfully. There were 17,000 people, some extremely hyper, some exuberant, some just plain determined, all raising money towards the fight against breast cancer. Many were doing the Full Moon of 26.2 miles, the rest of us were walking the Half Moon but at the venue we were told that due to a slight change of route, the half moon would be 13.8 miles, an extension of .7 mile. So at midnight we started & we walked, & walked, & walked, & walked some more. It really was cold! Alone it would have been incredibly boring but in such a crowd it was an event. Through Chelsea, around Hyde Park, along an awful lot of streets. We even went past Harrods, probably the closest I'll get to that shop. We, as in my two nieces, their three friends & me, myself & I, made it over the finish line around 5.30am but maybe half an hour was lost in loo queues! A pretty good effort we thought & happily collected our medals. Karen had had a knee operation a couple of weeks ago & was unsure whether she could/should walk - she crossed the finish line limping but definitely there. We all did well!

Today I wandered around the Theatre district looking at all on offer. I had pretty much decided on Phantom of the Opera when I saw that the new Star Trek movie was on - I couldn't miss that! So here I am in London & I went to a movie. I did check out a play starring Judi Dench, I do like her, but £85 was too much! 

Another enthralling episode another day.

Westminster wicked?

Westminster Abbey was an interesting walk, touted as 'a three-dimensional walk-through history of England'. Lots to see, no chance of remembering dates, names, etc. way too confusing. Poets' Corner was more my thing, with later memorialisations continuing up on the stained glass window above. No more room at Westminster Abbey, all full up.
After a short stroll I wandered in to Westminster Cathedral, the Catholic one, yay, again interesting. I thought the building was marvellous but v dark. About half of the brickwork, walls & ceiling, was plain dark brown, although the rest was beautifully muralled (if that's a word) or frescoed. Eventually I found a sign that explained the decoration? of the Cathedral was an ongoing project & future generations were expected to contribute therefore areas of the brickwork including the domes had been left for that purpose. I did like that idea of continuity & community involvement.
Friday evening I went to see the musical Wicked which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had seen it in Brisbane but it is worth a second seeing. Well done with lots of energy.
Saturday was 'Brunel Walks on Water', a tour under 3 Brunel bridges, over 2 Brunel tunnels, a view of the launching place, sideways, of a 700 ft ship into the Thames, then down underground to a tunnel system which once housed an early arcade with 60 shops. The entrance to this was through a 4 ft high doorway which extended forward by 4 ft. Think waddling like a duck! It was a good tour by ferry, by train, by tube, & finally by foot to the Brunel Museum.
That Moonwalk! Tomorrow maybe.

More of London!

I'm enjoying doing the walking tourist thing here.  Tuesday's walk was The Secrets & Splendours of St Paul's Cathedral, interesting it was. I continued wandering & ended up at the Guildhall, had a good look around the art gallery there.
Wednesday I went to the British Museum to meet up with a classmate from primary school 50 years ago! & to see the Pompeii Exhibition which was quite fascinating & also disturbing. So much death & destruction. Looked through sone of the Greek & Roman exhibitions too.
Today, Thursday, I joined a walk Royal London & the Changing of the Guard. You guessed it - Big Ben, the Palace, soldiers & horses! The traditional tourist bit. Karen talked me into it - blame her! I did get a couple of good photos though which will have to wait as they are on my phone, not my iPad. A really good one of statues of the Queen Mother & her husband King George as they were before his death. An untimely death, I learnt. George was the King in The King's Speech with the speech impediment. His doctors' advised him to smoke as a relaxation technique in hopes he would stutter less. He died of lung cancer! Unfortunately the sun hid, the rain started, the wind blew, & as soon as the walk was over I headed back to Karen's place to shelter & warm up. With a stop in a pub along the way for a Scotch & dry! The perfect thing for a 'turned lousy' day.

Michelle, Eimii & Kate arrived at Karen's on Saturday & Michelle, Karen & I went to see Michael Ball at Hammersmith Apollo Theatre. He was fantastic as always, great voice & great performer.
Sunday, Scott arrived & Eimii's boyfriend Curt & on we went to a canal boat festival at Little Venice. I do like narrow boats, they are v decorative, & with their shallow draft can access most small rivers & canals. Good atmosphere & lots of people. I was a trifle disappointed though, missed the Morris dancing!
Monday was a holiday & Karen, Paul & I walked along the Thames & under the Thames! to Greenwich. We wandered past the Cutty Sark, through Greenwich Market, & over to the Royal Naval College for a looksee. The Painted Hall was well worth seeing, painted walls & ceilings, renaissance style? (Think Michelangelo), more open-mouthed gazing!
Lots of walking opportunities here but my relatively new pedometer has become unreliable, no idea why. I'll have to get another. It's been handy though, it's set to Brisbane time, saves working out the time difference!
There'll be another episode, another day.

Dubai, London

Dubai was great, took a morning bus tour around most of those fabulous buildings although the bus stopped at malls not the buildings. Mind you, some of the malls had great architectural details too.  I did enjoy hopping off at a souk in a beachside resort. I wandered around gazing at all the fantastic carved wooden elements of the building more than all the stuff on sale. Then I went on an abra (small boat) ride around the canals of the resort, worth seeing & relaxing.
Dan picked me up later & we went for a v nice tea with Lisa & Trisha. Then into Dubai Mall & out the back which just happened to look towards the fantastic, impressive Burj Khalifa. We were in time for a lovely fountain/light show to the background song of The Prayer. They actually have the shows every half hour but the music changes. The Burj Khalifa is amazing to see against the night sky & to stand below gazing up was v impressive. I'm hoping to go up to the Observation Deck when I'm there in August. Google Burj Khalifa & read about it.
An early start yesterday, pickup shuttle to the airport, & a 7 hour flight to London. Then I had the challenge of negotiating 2 suitcases on the Underground Tube with a train change along the way. I succeeded & met Karen for a short walk to her place. She & Paul live on the Isle of Dogs, next to the Thames. Really! I'm sitting in their lounge looking over the Thames to the night-time lit Shard!
Today I went for an 8 mile approx walk to Tower Bridge, to the Gherkin, past Fenchurch Street Station, (Monopoly anyone?) past Dickens' Inn & all the way back again. I wandered through All Hallows' by the Tower Church to discover St Francis' Crypt Chapel & St Clare's Oratory, my favourite saints. Along the way back I heard an alarm ringing behind me, kept walking, then realised 1. I was on a small, low bridge, 2. there was an alarm ringing in front of me too. Most disconcerting. When I stepped off the bridge barriers came down behind me so I asked a waiting cyclist why. He said the street would move! So I watched the street/bridge lift itself up, rotate & slide sideways, tucking itself in neatly. V nicely done! It allowed a boat into the lock then rotated, slid back & became a street again. It was quite something to watch. Certainly a new experience for me.