25 July 2006 8 Days to go before we head out to UK and Italy
Howdy
Only 8 more sleeps until we fly out of Adelaide, for the UK. I was awake at 5am this morning, so in my excitement I rang my cousin Linda. That only made me more excited!!! 🙂
We are busy organising the final things before we leave, and looking forward to sharing our holiday with you via our web site. We also hope you will keep us up to date with all of your news by leaving us a message.
We will miss you all, but look forward to catching up when we return, over a nice meal and bottle of wine 🙂
Bring it on 🙂
Love and hugs from us
I Aug 2006 Our Itinerary for UK and Italy
DEB & GREG’S EURO VACATION WED 2ND AUG TO FRI 15TH SEP 2006
Wed 2nd August 2006 Depart Adelaide domestic Airport, arrive Heathrow 0555 Thursday 3rd August 2006
Val & Vics Thursday 3rd August 2006 – Thursday 10th August 2006 South Redditch
Thursday 10th August 2006 fly Birmingham to Edinburgh till Saturday 12th August 2006
Drive to Haddington 2 nights Auntie Jessie
Saturday 12th August 2006 visit Roslyn Church (11 km south Edinburgh), Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood House.
Stay Edinburgh, 1 night –> 12th Aug Dinner Matt & Greg
9pm see Adam Hills, Characterful Assembly Rooms George St
Sun 13th & Mon 14th August 2006, drive to York 2 nights
on the way visit Hadrians Wall.
In York visit York Minster, Tudor Shambles, Jorvik Viking Centre, Jodburgh Abbey and do the 45 min double decker Bus tour .
Tuesday 15th August 2006, stay at Shrewsbury, 1 night with Monica & Len
Wednesday 16th of August 2006, go to Oxford deliver car
Staying with Linda & Keiron in Oxfordshire 13 nights
Monday 21st August longboat on the Oxford Canal with Linda & Keiron & Dee & Chris
Leave from London Gatwick (South Terminal) to Rome Ciampino depart Tuesday 29th of August 17.00 arrive 20.25
Rome: Hotel Ateneo Garden Palace Via Dei Salentini,
Begin Insight Tour, Italian Escapade, Wednesday 30th of August
Tour ends in Rome at Hotel Ateneo Garden Palace after breakfast on Mon 11th Sept
Leave Rome Leonardo Da Vinci airport 1840 Monday September 11th 2006 arrive Heathrow 2025
Depart Heathrow Terminal 1 2205 Monday September 11th 2006
Arrive Singapore 1755 Tuesday 12th of September 2006
12 – 14 September: 2 nights at Raffles The Plaza Singapore Premier Executive Club Room
Leave Singapore Changi Intl Airport Terminal 1 22.15 Thursday 14th of September 2006
Arrive Adelaide 0905 Friday 15th of September 2006 International Terminal
(England is 8 1/2 hours behind South Australian Time, Italy 7 ½ hours behind)
Saturday 16th September 2006 Dante’s 5th Birthday 🙂
2 Aug 2006 Fullarton Adelaide SA
Have been awake since 4am, you were right dad!! But it is exciting 🙂 Cant believe a year has passed since we organised the holiday and here we are about to embark on our adventure. This is a dream come true for me, meeting my family and going to Italy all in the one holiday, how lucky! 6 more hours and we will be on the plane. Everything is organised and what isnt, isnt going to be. I have driven my family mad, putting my life in order!!! You will all be pleased to know (and Greg most of all) that I am chilled! Looking forward to our adventures and sharing 6 and a half weeks with my soul mate. Will be great to share our holiday with you and to hear all of your news. Be seeing you. Love and hugs deb xo
3 Aug 2006 Singapore to Redditch UK
Wed 3rd August Touchdown in England. Well after a long flight with a few delays due to plane mechanical problems (2 ½ hr delay in Melbourne) and straggling passengers (1 hr sitting in the plane in Singapore) we arrived at Heathrow Airport at about 7am. There we joined an immigration line that was about 500m for us ‘Others’ ( and I was so looking forward to going through the gate marked ‘Aliens’ L ). After about another hr we finally made it into England and we were met by the smiling faces of Val and Vic. Its always so good to see a familiar friendly face. After a 1 ½ hr drive through some very interesting and picturesque countryside we made it to Redditch, our home for the next week. After a couple of cups of coffee and tea, a nice shower and change of clothes we were treated to a yummy lunch.( Thanks Val J ) After lunch we set off to see Stratford-on-Avon, the home of Shakespeare. It’s a very pretty and interesting town. Full of tourists, but very welcoming all the same. A couple of hours being tourists was about our limit for day one. Before I forget I have to mention the weather!!! England did not disappoint us on our arrival. Bleak grey skies and light rain showers greeted us. But by the time we got to Redditch , the sun was breaking through and we have had a very warm afternoon with blue skies. I think we will both benefit from a good nights sleep. We are both looking forward to exploring more.
4 Aug 2006 Photos
Hi everyone, We will add photos when we can, We have both settled in very well, amazing what a good nights sleep does for you. Deb will add another entry a bit later today
5 Aug 2006 Redditch UK
We both had a great sleep Thursday night, got up around 7am. The jet lag has not been as bad as I thought. Thursday night I spoke to my rellies, was great to hear their voices and to be able to say that we were in england :), i keep pinching myself. we had a nice day yesterday, spoke to cliff again in the morning, then we went off to the local supermarket, the prices were not as expensive as we thought they would be. val & i had fun at the checkout both of us insisting we would pay, you should have heard the commotion, it was hilarious, it is no wonder val has so many great stories to tell about her adventures, we amused everyone, i will leave it to you to work out who paid!!!! 🙂 afterwards we had a nice drive to the chateau impney, it was built in 1875 by john corbett, the salt king, as a present to his wife, a french governess, the chateau is in french style architecture, was very lovely, beautiful stained windows and very grand. we had a lovely lunch there, then we went outside where there was a lovely fountain, cliff told val that he used to throw a coin in the fountain and hope he would get lucky that night, so i did that for him, (hope it worked), i also threw another coin in the fountain, for vals brother, dave, she found out that morning he has a mass on his lung that is quite large, he will be having a biopsy soon to ascertain what form of cancer it is, it would be nice if you could all send him positive thoughts, he lives in perth, wa. he will get the results in another week, hopefully it will not be a virilent form of cancer. val & vic did a beautiful dinner last night, and their friends, tony & sue and phil and linda came over. i had dropped my glasses by the fountain at the chateau and left them there, yes when i was making wishes for other people, havent worked that out!!! 🙂 tony & sue picked them up for me on their way to dinner so all ended well 🙂 cliff also came over for dinner so i got to meet my uncle for the first time in 43 years, i think he was surprised i was not a little girl anymore!!! it was so lovely to see him, he is gorgeous, we are going to spend the weekend with him and tuesday, will be good to get to know him. val & vics friends were very lovely we had a great evening, vic had got some prawns which he threw on the barbie, delicious and by all accounts very large prawns for england. then we had a delicious steak and salad, and a beautiful pavlova that val had made, she is a great cook. we drank great wine, ate good food in wonderful company, for me it doesnt get much better than that, life is good 🙂 i crashed into bed at 11pm, was exhausted, greg was in his element by this time drinking port and i think some drambuie tooo! this morning we are hoping to meet val & vics daughter jane, then cliff is taking us to dereks and roberts, then in the afternoon we are off to stevens, cant wait. it is great to hear from you, makes us smile when we hear from you all, please let us know how you are doing too, we would like news from home. we are having the time of our lives, enjoying all the moments, hope you are too. lots of love and hugs to you all, deb xo
5 Aug 2006 Catching Up
Today we met Vic and Val’s daughter Jane. We thought she was absolutely delightful and are looking forward to catching up with her at dinner on Wed night The rest of the day we spent catching up with “Fentons” Cliff drove us around to Derek and Eileen’s place and we met Dawn and Katie, and all of their children. (and most of Dereks Bassets ) They were a fun lot and we had many laughs with them all. We are spending tomorrow at Derek and Eileen’s catching up with everyone. Later in the afternoon Cliff took us to Steve and Catrina’s. They are a great family, we were entertained all afternoon by their delightful daughters Eleanor and Amity. Dee was there as well and it was good to catch up with her. We had a fun time with lots of laughs and stories. Steve introduced me to Badger Ale, flavoured with peach blossom – interesting concept 🙂 All day Deb spent every minute she could trying to talk various Fentons to come visit us in Australia. It may be working, but I know she doesnt give up easily!!! so lets see what happens. 🙂
7 Aug 2006 Fentons
Monday 7th of August 2006 What a great weekend we had seeing all of the Fentons, Cliff was wonderful taking us around to everyones, and the family were very welcoming to us both, I was soooo excited to be in England and seeing my family, and what a great family they are, was great to feel a connection to all of these people that I had heard about over the years, I felt lucky 🙂 Saturday Cliff took us to Derek & Eileen’s and we caught up with Kate & Dawn and their kids for an hour or so, was wonderful to see them all and it was great to know we would see them all again the next day. Then we went around to Steve & Catrina, Eleanor & Amity’s. Dee was also there. They are a beautiful family, and were very welcoming and made us feel at home. We stayed for dinner and I had lots of fun playing with Eleanor & Amity, it was sad to leave, but we look forward to spending more time with them next time we visit. Sunday Cliff picked us up with his grand daughter Isabelle, she is gorgeous. We went around to Derek & Eileen’s, all of the family were there, there were 20 of us J was wonderful. There was Dawn, Philip, Dominic, Tilleisha & Damari. Nick, Alecia, Alana & Lucy. Kate, Romaya & Tyree. Robert & Kathy and of course Derek & Eileen. We had a group photo, the whole afternoon was fun. We will definitely come back when we have retired and spend more time with our family, they are all great people, very welcoming. Was a great weekend. Greg summed the weekend up really well in our journal, “Reflecting on the day, my thoughts turned to how much our day was like our family gatherings in Adelaide. So much fun, laughter and joy between everyone. Seems like the Fenton spirit is alive & well :)”
8 Aug 2006 A Day with Cliff
Tuesday 8th Aug Another beautiful day, cloudy with many sunny breaks, 25 – 30C This morning we went into Birmingham proper. Its an old city that has built up in a patchy way similar to Sydney. The mix of old and new was very interesting. A modern abstract building next to St Martin’s at the Ring was about as different as you could get. Cliff took us, and Val & Vic to a National Trust site of Back to Back houses and we did the tour. It showed very graphically how life had changed through the years from 1840 thru 1870, 1930 and to 1970. It is amazing how we have progressed in such a short time. Like many of the notes left by children there, we all felt very grateful that we were born in these days. After that we walked through the Bull Ring produce markets, so many different foods. Cliff then took us for lunch at The Peacock, a true old English pub, built in 1828 on an old roman road. Deb had her first real fish and chip and I had Gammon for the first time, and of course I had to have a pint of bitter with lunch, its just what you do J . After lunch we went to Kings Norton and saw a very old school that was about to be restored (we managed to con our way in and had a good look around, so much history, one room was named the “Queens Room” after a queen stayed there in about 1600 or so. Deb and I walked through a graveyard next to an old church. (We do that sort of thing). There were graves there dating back before Cook discovered Australia, so interesting, and some people back then were living well into their 80’s. We then went to a lookout at the top of the Lickey Hills. I t gave us views over all of Birmingham and all the districts around it. Beautiful countryside and architecture. When we had finished there we went to the information centre in the Hills and had a drink and an ice-cream. Deb got to hug her first tree in England and was very happy. Cliff then took us to his favourite Indian Restaurant for a “Balti” The food was good and the company so much better. After tea we drove back to Cliff’s to pick up Vic’s car. Here we had to say good bye to Cliff, it was so sad. He is such a kind and gentle person, a real gentleman. Hopefully he will come down to Linda’s place in Oxford a bit later and we can spend more time with him
10 Aug 2006 Last Day with Val & Vic
5.30am Thursday 10th of August 2006 Thankyou to Dante, Tessa, Ella, Destiny, Ben & Sarah, Carly & Kieran, Mum, Mandy, Dee, Leonie, Em, Ann for your messages, we love to hear all of your news, Carly you will be waking up in your new home in another 10 days, how exciting, hope you are taking care of yourself. Keep the news rolling in. 🙂 We have been here a week now, we leave at 8.30am this morning for Edinburgh, to see Auntie Jessie, I rang her yesterday and she didn’t get my last letter, so she didn’t think we are coming, so it was good I rang. She said she is not well, so I told her we would look after her. We had a lovely day yesterday we went for a walk around the neighbourhood on the black paths, I loved it so many trees and I still cant get over how beautiful the flowers are here and all of the hanging baskets, I have never seen anything like it, very beautiful. After another delicious lunch, (we are eating like kings) Vic took us to the forge nearby, where they used to make needles, it was fascinating, a most enjoyable couple of hours. As we were leaving, we saw Derek with 5 of his dogs (the oldest one is Baffle), he was off to take them for a walk. We were both excited to see him, and went for a walk with him, was great to bump into him like that. In the evening, Val & Vics kids, David & Kim and Jane came over for dinner, and their friends Phil & Marg, they are all lovely and we had a great night and another dinner fit for a king, Val is a wonderful cook. Linda & Kate both rang was good to speak to them both. Off to Scotland in a few hours and the adventures keep rolling on. Val & Vic have been the most wonderful hosts, we feel very spoilt, has been a wonderful place to start our holiday, they are the nicest people you could ever wish to meet and have made us very welcome. It has been great to meet all of the Fentons, we have a lovely family, they have all been very kind to us. We feel lucky to be here. 🙂 I need to learn how to do smiley faces, better ask Greg mmmm!
10 Aug 2006 Still Stranded in Birmingham
11am, the flight has just been further delayed until 12.20pm, we will keep you updated if we dont leave then.
Thurs 10th Aug Well we finally made it up here. We eventually had a 5 hr wait in Birmingham airport, and arrived in Edinburgh at about 2:10pm. Our bags took another 1 1/4 hours to come out to the luggage collection area. When they came out we found that we had had my mobile phone stolen. (So much for high security during a terrorist threat!!!!) PLEASE NOTE: For now we DO NOT HAVE A MOBILE PHONE As soon as we get one we will let everyone know via this web site. PLEASE LOOK FOR UPDATES 🙂 Enough of that. We picked up our car at the airport, a brand new VW Golf with 9 miles on it. The drive from the airport was easy and very scenic. We passed the turn off to the Roslyn Chapel (Da Vinci Code readers will know what I mean) on the way to Haddington. Haddington is an amazing little village, it looks frozen in time, somewhere around the 17 century. We are staying at a retirement village with Deb’s Aunty Jessie. (mmmm No we are not getting practice!!) We are in the guest quarters at the home. Basic but great for what we need. We took Jessie out for tea and then stayed up chatting with her till 10pm
11 Aug 2006 Haddington
We had a good nights sleep and after breakfast we had a
stroll around town.
The main church intown is St Mary’s and is reputed to be the oldest church in
the UK, it dates back to around the year 1100.
Last night we went to tea at the Riverside buffet. It over looks the Tyne River
and an old bridge where the british and scotts used to hang prisoners during
there many battles over the centuries in the area.
The age of this town is staggering, anything that has happened in the last 200
yrs is recent history!!
Cobble stone roads, all the older buildings in town are made of stone, and are
all really well preserved, and the whole charater of the town is intact.
We have met 2 of Jessies daughters to day, Joyce and Irene. Both are fanatstic
and very interested in the family back in Australia (They say hi to everyone).
Tonight we are taking Jessie out for tea again then its off to Edinburgh
tommorrow to see Matt and Greg and take in a show (Adam Hills) at the Fringe.
bye for now
(Ooooops I guess I should mention Deb is doing her best to develop a broad
Scottish accent while we are here. Needs a bit of work, but maybe another day
may do it!! 🙂 )
12 Aug 2006
wow, what a few days we have had, was great we got to edinburgh the day we were supposed to, even if it was 5 hours late, we could have driven in that time!! really enjoyed seeing auntie jessie, had lots of fun with her. was sad to leave. we have been in edinburgh today, bought a new phone our no is 44 (0) 7940194417 we will have that no while we are in uk, when we go to italy we will get another sim card. so if you ring us from aust you will be paying for the call. edinburgh is wonderful, we went to holyrood palace this morning and to edinburgh castle this afternoon, amazing, scotland is a wonderful place, i never realised how beautiful it was, we will definately come back. tonight we had dinner at the dusit (thai) restaurant with matt and greg, it was delicious food, and lovely to see them both. we are off to see adam hills in 30 mins at the edinburgh fringe, edinburgh is really buzzing, a great time to be here. thanks for all of your messages, sorry we worried you the other day, thought i would write to the home secretary and tell him, how unsecure their airports are on a day when security was supposed to be at its highest!!! sure he has more pressing matters to concern himself with, but the mind boggles!!! well that is all for now, we are really enjoying this holiday business, what a life, you should see the flat we are staying in, very nice, and very fitting after our jaunts today, but not quite the same standard as the palace, but very nice all the same. we are off to york tomorrow, mmmm hard life, glad it is us that is doing it. love your messages keep them rolling in, glad to hear you are all doing well. love you lots hugs from us
We did send in our footy tips on wed, the 9th of aug, so you should have got them that day or the day after, look your spam, we dont want the ones you have given us we have written them down if you dont have them, but we definately sent them from either gregs or my email address!!!!!
13 Aug 2006 Edinburgh to York
Howdy, has been a long day, had a great night last night, adam hills was really good, gave him 8/10. we left at 9am this morning and went to roslyn chappel, it was built in 1446, they are currently restoring it to the cost of £10,000,000.00 a lovely man let us in for 5 mins as it was closed it was awe inspiring inside, when we come back we will make sure we have time to attend a service, we heard the choir practicing, heavenly.
then it was off to hadrians wall, we didnt stop when we went over the border it was raining and very foggy. got a bit lost on the way to hadrians wall, we learnt alot that we didnt know. greg went and saw a roman settlement that dated back 2000 years. yes i slept in the car!!
we had lunch at an english pub 2 hours from york, we both had the sunday roast.
we arrived in york at 4.30, have a nice room up 2 flights of stairs, long way to lug the case, good job greg is strong 🙂
and here we are writing to you, mmm greg has just shown me where the smiley faces are
when we have finished here we are going for a walk, and out for dinner, if you are lucky greg is going to see if he can put some photos on here.
only 2 more sleeps carly and kieran until you are houseowners. how exciting, thanks for killing the smell of the chook poo getting the hang of these faces.
glad to hear aiko is ok, not so good about the footy results, we wont be doing very well in the footy tipping that is if ben can find our email
love and hugs to you all
deb and greg
14 Aug 2006 Confusion Reigns, Our New Mobile Numbers
howdy
we have had to change our mobile no, (dont ask) here is the new one +44 (0) 7726 427 084
we had a great sleep, tis a drizzly day, we are off to discover york this morning, we went on a great ghost walk last night, we are going on a walk of york this morning and then to the york minster after and hopefully a service there tonight.
hope you are feeling brighter now carly, tis a very stressful time moving isnt it. really pleased you have found some lovely supportive people to help you. please look after your back. thanks for all of you who are helping carly, we really appreciate it.
better get off
love and hugs to you all
from us
15 Aug 2006 Shrewsbury
howdy,
we had a lovely day yesterday in york, went on a tour of the town for a couple of hours first, was wonderful, then went to the york minster after some lunch, was a wonderful church, the archbishop of york was there he is fasting, for a week to bring attention to the fighting in israel & lebanon, i got to shake his hand , he is sleeping in a tent in the church. we enjoyed a couple of hours wandering around, and took lots of photos and videos. we are having trouble finding computers to put photos on our website, so you will have to be patient
we are here in shrewsbury with my godmother monica and her husband len. they have been very lovely to us, this afternoon we wandered around shrewsbury, there is so much history in this country we are in our element, the last few days we have seen things that are a 1,000 years old and a bit of roman ruins that date back to 70AD, we are in our element. when we get back home, i am going to get some history books and do some more reading, we both find it fascinating. some of the towns have buildings in that go back to the 16th Century very quaint villages, we love it.
we are still getting over how much country side there is, and the flowers around the houses are beautiful.
everyone has been very kind to us, our holiday is 2 weeks old tomorrow, we have done so much, we both want to come back and spend alot more time here wandering around at a leisurely pace.
my energy levels are much better, the holiday is doing us both good.
congratulations carly kieran and ella, you will own your own house tomorrow, how exciting, hope you enjoy waking up in your new home on saturday morning.
thanks tom for helping carly out on tuesday, she was in a much better frame of mind when i spoke to her, you are a good man and thanks justin and kerry for helping them move some stuff tomorrow, we appreciate you all.
happy 15th birthday brian for the 17th, hope you have a great day and are spoilt rotten. and cook happy birthday to you too on the same day, hope you both have fun on your birthday.
dante, have you received any postcards yet? sarah hope your final days teaching go well, thinking of you, we hear the kids are not well, hope they dont get tooo sick.
ben we sent you a text message today with our footy tips, but you did not respond, we have sent you an email, let us know if you get it. we also sent a text message to tom, on vons phone and heard nothing, so we were wondering if maybe you didnt get them? we have a new phone card so maybe there is a problem??
better go, we are having partridge for dinner that len, shot, we have 1 each, look great will let you know what they taste like, we will take pics.
lots of love and hugs to you all from us xoxo
16 Aug 2006 What’s a good title for a blog???
howdy, mmm the partridge was wonderful, we had a lovely dinner last night with monica and len, it was very delicious, we like trying new things, i can recommend partridge, lovely flavour.
i woke a bit early this morning, chatted to ann, dad, mum and ben, on msn, was really lovely, great way to keep in touch. congratulations to carly, kieran and ella on your new home, you must all be very excited, we are looking forward to seeing you all in your home, hope you enjoy your pizza on the floor tonight.
we are off to see some roman ruins this morning with monica and len, will be good to spend a bit more time with them, then we are off to redditch to have a cuppa and a hug with val & vic and meet their grandchildren, sophie and james, will be good to see them.
then we are off to oxford to see linda and keiron, i cant wait, will be fun.
hope you are all well, love you
deb, oh yes ben has said we dont need to come back for another month, or was that dad lol mmm what a wonderful idea
16 Aug 2006 Shrewsbury to Redditch to Kidlington (Oxford)
Its been a busy day. We were out and about early with Monica and Len looking at old roman ruins in Shropshire and then onto the very first castiron bridge every made. Was a fun morning, and yes the history just keeps coming on!! We were back at Monica and Len’s place by noon, packed the car and said good bye to a couple of new friends. We loved our time in Shrewsbury and Deb finally got to meet her Godmother. We called into see Val and Vic on the way to Oxford, so we could meet their grandchildren (and see them of course ). Val had made lunch and we sat and chatted with them for a while. It was so good to here that Vals brother is not as critical as first thought. Sad to say bye again to two very good friends. We arrived in Kidlington at 4:15pm, dropped our bags at Linda and Keiran’s , dropped the car off and then came back to our new home for the next 13 nights. Keiran had cooked a wonderful tea and we spent the night catching up and planning our stay, so much to do so little time. Its tuff having to decide , but we seem to manage. I have posted a few more pics in the UK folder, so go and have a look
17 Aug 2006 Photos
Sorry about that folks I seem to have forgot to post the pictures I promised. There are now a few more photos in the UK folder. I couldn’t resist putting in the pic of Laura’s Tower, as Len put it, “she’s got a fine set of locks on that tower”. Love ya heaps Laura
17 Aug 2006 Oxford
Today Linda and Keiran took us into Oxford. We started the day at the Oxford farmers market, on the produce side of things it offers a good variety of local meats cheeses breads and veges. Similar in many respects to Willunga farmers markets, except a bit bigger and the produce is a bit different. The Farmers markets are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month.The pork rolls you get here are cut straight from the spit with crackling to die for . There is also a general market attached to it with all sorts of clothes and jewellery, etc available. While we were there we got caught in our first British downpour, it was fun hiding under the stall holders shelter while the heaviest of the rain did its stuff. We then went up to the permanent undercover market, it was a bit like a scaled down version of the Adelaide Central Markets but nowhere near as good. Afet that we went off to the Museum for lunch and then looked at the exhibits. They had displays on the Roman occupation, Egypt, and a themed exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci.. As usual it was very interesting. Then we walked around town looking at many of the various Colleges of Oxford University. There is SO much history here. The old scholers roll reads like a whos who. A very interesting day. Needless to say we took many pictures. I know we have just scraped the surface here, but it is great to be immersed in it and Keiran and Linda were magnificent guides. We finished the day with an icecream and coffee. Our fantastic holiday just keeps getting better, everywhere is so different to where we have already been. A lot of our enjoyment so far has to be the company we have been keeping, everyone is so generous with there time and knowledge. We just could never thank everyone we have met enough.
19 Aug 2006 Off to London
good morning, the sun is shining brightly and we are off to london today, cant wait. but more of that later. we had a lovely day yesterday, we went for a drive to the cottswalds stopped in a couple of towns for a walk around, broadway and snowshill, we drove through, stow on the wold, chipping norton and a few other small villages, was really beautiful, every town was gorgeous, and the country side was lovely too. went and looked around snowshill manor that had lots of old stuff in it, it used to be owned by henry the viii, who then gave to to catherine parr, henry died soon after, she remarried but died in childbirth one year later, then her husband was beheaded. henry viii has had alot to do with the area. i find it all very fascinating we cooked last night for linda and keiron, was a nice night, and we planned what we are doing today, look forward to the next installment!!!
i have just heard port and the crows lost, i am not doing very well in the footy tipping
glad to hear brian enjoyed his birthday.
happy birthday tom for sunday, hope you have a great day, whats this we hear you are giving aiko beer she wont want to come home
carly and kieran and ella, hope you are enjoying your new home, bet is was great waking up there this morning. enjoy
well it is off to london, (to see the queen!) tis a hard life, better go and get organised.
love and hugs from both of us
19 Aug 2006 London
Left home at 8:40 for the train station and arrived at the Baker Street Tube Station at about 10am. We connected to another tube and went to Westminster Station to begin exploring.
Wow, what a way to start, we walked out of the station and across the road was the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (no, not you Ben ) right in front of us. We walked up and went into Westminster Abbey. mmmmm How do you put into words a feeling of walking into history. There are so many kings , queens, nobility , scholars, literary greats, military commanders, politicians, etc buried or remembered in there.Its not the biggest church we have been in over here by any stretch, but it is so grand. It dates back to 1066 and has relics from every period of English history from then to now in it.
From there we went across the River Thames to look at the Houses of Parliament from the side that you see in most British crime shows. It is to Deb the same as sitting across from the Opera House in Sydney, maybe not as spiritual for her but uplifting all the same. We had a few photos taken with the Houses as a back drop, it really is an awesome view.
Then we hopped on a ferry, and cruised down to the Tower Bridge, so much to see on the way . Cleopatra’s Needle, The Artichoke, St Pauls Cathedral, a replica of the Golden Hind (Drakes boat), the Millenium Bridge, other old bridges (and the present London bridge, its the fourth, one burnt down, one was taken down and the third was sold to a texan!!)
At the end of our cruise we got off at the Tower of London, we didnt have enough time to go in and have a proper look so we decided to walk around the outside and get a feel for it. I guess to me it is what a real castle should look like. A good deep moat around it, defensive walls and an inner keep. With the keep being the tallest part of the castle and the place where so many “political” prisoners have been kept. I think the likes of Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth were kept prisoner there at various times. We got the cruise back up to Westminster, this time one of the crew gave an informative commentary of all the main sites as we went along. The commentary was accompanied by a very liberal dash of Londoner humour throughout, very witty and cutting at times, a good social commentary .
After that we walk up to Trafalger Square, along the way we saw the start of Downing Street, its like a small fortress, although you can see glimpses of No. 10 from the road. Along the street a bit further we saw a changing of the guard ceromony at a parade ground. The soldiers looked so young, some around 16 or 17!!!!!
We got to Trafalger Square, Nelson’s Column is awesome. At the base it is guarded by 4 huge lion sculptures, unfortunately children and some adults were climbing all over them, which sort of spoilt the grandure a bit. The column is in the forecourt of the British museum. While we were the there was a chinese Lion dance being carried out as part of a cultural display. That was interesting, with a mechanical Lion and accomapaning drummers.
From there we walked up to Soho, so Keiron could get some coffee from his favourite south american coffee shop. Soho has a very cosmapolitan feel to it. So many interesting looking people and places. Would be a fun place to people watch.
Soho is part of, or attached to, or is right next to (I am not sure which is the best description) the West End theatre district. So many big shows on all in the one area. Next time we are here we must go to one or two. We both decided that if we had a choice of going to only one, it would have to be “The Mouse Trap”, just because of the history to it.
From there we walked up through Chinatown to Picadilly circus and neally lost Deb, but we found her OK .
And that was our day in London, we jumped on a tube to Baker St to connect with our train out of town. Its hard to believe we did sooooo much, but it all just flowed so well and Deb, Linda, Keiron and I all had a fanatstic day, but were all just a tad tired by the time we got home, Lucky tomorrow was Sunday and a late start.
21 Aug 2006 Family Day
howdy, we had a wonderful day yesterday (yes just like all the others ). in the morning i chatted to brian, then ben, then karlien and finally em on the computer. was wonderful. i have just been chatting to mum, ben and ann, i love keeping in touch with you all, now the blog.
we had a lazy morning, linda and keiron went to the gym, then the market for todays dinner. we read the paper and generally enjoyed having a slow morning. the weather was very cloudy, but not cold, for most of the day, it brightened up in the early evening.
dee and chris came over around 2pm and cliff shortly afterwards, was lovely to see them all. we wandered around to linda and keirons local pub, the kings arms was very nice, the english pubs are very different to ours, much more intimate, lots of small rooms or alcoves, very nice. we had a few drinks, then went back to linda and keirons, they had prepared a lovely dinner. prawns for starters and a spanish champagne (we have drunk lots of european wine while we have been here and one from uraguay, they have all been very nice), linda did a wonderful pork roast dinner, the pork was magnificent, so much flavour, have not tasted pork like it in australia (the bacon also seems to have more flavour) and lots more wine
when we were all sitting around the table eating and drinking and talking, it felt really good, like it can only feel with family or really good friends, brought tears to my eyes. was a wonderful moment
cliff left after the roast, he had to get back home. was sad when he left, there were lots of hugs, will post a photo for you soon. i asked him if we could see him next weekend, so fingers crossed. if not will have to wait till he comes to visit us in australia, hopefully we will not have to wait tooo long.
later we had desert and talked about our plans for today, we are going on a long boat on the oxford canals, we are all really looking forward to it. dee and chris are lovely company as are linda and keiron, should be a fun day.
we saw english stars later in the night for the first time, it seemed a fitting day for it.
every day is a new adventure here, life is good
love and hugs to you all from us
21 Aug 2006 Narrow Boating on the Oxford Canals
It was an early start for all of us here, everyone had to be ready by 8:30am. All was well and we left at 8:40 to pick-up our boat at 9am from Oxfordshire Narrowboats. Our boat was called Dreamweaver, and it was shortish, as narrow boats go, about 36 ft long(compared to the longest at 69ft). We Travelled from Heyford Wharf upstream to Aynho Wharf, where we just had to stop in for a cleansing ale at the Great Western Arms Pub. Now, there is this thing about narrowboating, you steer the boat with a tiller and the max speed is 4 mph. So your day is spent cruising through the green pastures of the english countryside at a very leisurely pace. As for the steering of these vessels, it is a fine art and not for the faint hearted, as both Deb and myself found out. I opted for ramming speed in a zig zagging pattern when we were approached by a seemingly hostile boat (well thats what I apparently thought of their intentions by the way I drove) whilst Deb tried the old lets see if we can stick this boat diagonally across the canal and block it for all and sundry approach. LOL Needless to say we were relieved of our duties fairly quickly by our crew mates Linda Keiron , Chris and Dee. They did let us both loose again, but under closer watch Narrowboating is relaxation (apart from the driving above) personified. More or less drifting along and just watching the world go by. The canals are all basically flat. But every now and then there is a lock, which is a means of moving the boat to a slightly higher or lower canal. The deepest lock we past through was at Somerton, and it was about a 10ft difference in the water level either side of the lock. We have a fair bit of this experience on video so we can show everyone when we get back. We had lunch on board after our visit to the pub, pork and chicken with various salads, and baguettes washed down with some sparkling wine, its a tough life .
The weather was kind to us again, after a very overcast and threatening starting the day cleared to bright sunshine.
This holiday just gets better and better, we both cant believe what we have been able to do, and to be able to share all our adventures with family is sensational, so many laughs and good times.
Deb told me this afternoon that Wed marks the end of our third week of holidays. I cant believe that three weeks have gone already, but on reflection I almost wonder how we could have fitted in everything we have done in the short time we have been here.
I have put a pic of us and the boat in a lock in the photos for everyone to see.
Keep your messages coming on our site, its nice to find out what your thinking of our trip so far, love to all
23 Aug 2006 Lazy Day at Home
had a lovely relaxing day yesterday, we walked up the street, about 10 min walk, did a bit of shopping, nice shopping area. after lunch we had a walk to thrupp, through fields and along the canals, and through the old part of kiddlington where we are staying, tis a very lovely part of the world. had a drink at the pub, all of the pubs are very nice here.
linda and keiran, did a lovely dinner, barbecue, we all sat outside, was our last day with dee and chris, they go home tomorrow, back to birmingham, we will miss their company, i have been trying to convince them to come and visit, i sound like a worn record!!
have been able to catch up with a few of you on msn, recently, have really enjoyed it, and love your messages, some people are having trouble leaving a message, i think that maybe they are not adding the code to the box after they have done the message, if you have a look under your message there is a code next to a box, just put that number in the box, and you should be right.
it is 9.15am, time for a shower.
oh yes, we saw lots of lovely stars last night, that is twice now, we even saw the plough
lots of love and hugs to you all from us
23 Aug 2006 From the Manor to the Big Barn
Weather Cloudy morning and ” Balmy afternoon” –> You’d have to be balmy to go out in that rain!!!
We started our morning by saying farewell to Dee and Chris. It was so nice to meet them and share the last few days with them and getting to know them. We have made more good friends .
Our adventures today first took us to St Matthews Church in Langford, Oxon. The church is the oldest in the area, built in 1080. Its a very sinple church with so much history built into it and a facinating graveyard surrounding it. After there went went on to Kelmscott Manor, a tudor farm house built on the Thames near Oxford in 1570. William Morris, a man of many artistic talents made it his home in the late 1800’s along with the pre-raphalaelite painter Rossetti. It is now a showcase of his wrok and that of his wife daughters and friends. All of whom seemed to excell at all forms of art , from poety to tapestry. The manor also had some beautiful gardens which Deb really enjoyed. We had lunch in the grounds and went driving around through the south west corner of the Cotswolds. So many well preserved small villages. We drove through one town where we both smiled when we saw ” Ems Veterinary Clinic”. A little later afer going down one of the narrowest roads we have been on we came apon the ” Great Coxwell Barn”. I can hear you all saying, what the!!!!. Yes this was a huge barn LOL It was built around 1300 and is a very impressive old building that is still enormous by today standards. Its about 45m long with a cieling height of about 10m.
After there we had a drive around a few more towns, before stopping into a community showroom that we expected to have the wares of local potters and the like, only to find a Quilt display, mmm we didn’t stay long. It was then back home.
Another fun and very interesting day
Stone Henge, the white horse and other prehistoric sites tomorrow, I cant wait !!!
24 Aug 2006 Old and Ancient Wonders
Wow talk about being spoilt!!
Today we had another epic day of discovery with L and K. We left Kidlington at 8:45am and went to Salisbury, where we walked around a bit then went to the Cathederal. We did a tour with a volunteer guide who was just great. She added real life to the history of the Cathederal. Towards the end of the tour we were taken to a room where they had one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta It was facinating to see it. Written in latin on a single piece of goats hide. It became the basis for the fundamental legal rights we enjoy. From there we went to “Old Serum”, Serum is the old name of Salisbury(I think). Anyway its a ruined castle and settlement overlooking the present city of Salisbury. They had a celebration of the Battle of the Somme display and recreation in the grounds, which was interesting.
From Old Serum we went to Stonehenge. When we drove over the hill approaching it and it appeared on our left hand side I couldnt believe my eyes. It looked so large and real. I have dream’t of going to see Stonehemnge since I was about 10, but never really thought I would get there. This was a dream coming true. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I was like a kid at christmas. When we got in to it, it was amazing. Everyone there , and the place was crowed, seemed to be in awe of it and were all remarkably quiet. The “henge” has a feel to it. It is over 5000 years old and you get the feeling that all of its history is still there. It has a resonance, a presence, mmmm so hard to explain, it really does have to be experienced. I had been told that it was smaller than you might expect and that you couldnt get close to it. It was much bigger than I expected and while you cant get up and personal with it, you can get close enough to feel and imagine the events that have happened there. mmmm I’m babbling but it really is an awesome experience, even spiritual.
They all eventually dragged me out and we set off to a little village called Avesbury. This village has its own stone cirlces dating back 5000yrs or so. While not as imposing as Stonehenge they also gave off an aura of past times and mystical things. We walked the main circle, maybe 300m dia surrounded by a high mound and a deep ditch.
Close by is the largest manmade mound in europe, Silbury Hill, it is something like 135 ft tall and 150 ft dia. It also dates back to Stonehenge times. And the hills are dotted with ancient burial mounds and other strange earthworks. Its a magical area. Next time we are here we will go back to Stonehenge and aslo go and look at a few of the “White Horses” that are drawn onto several of the hillsides down that way.
After that we left for home, as we came into Oxford there was a hot air balloon floating through the sky, good way to finish our day. We got home around 7pm. After tea we sat around with L and K talking about the upcoming Italian leg of our trip and getting their insight into Rome and Italy.
Days just don’t come much better than this one.
26 Aug 2006 Cooking up a storm
good morning
we had a relaxing day yesterday, just what we all needed. did some shopping in the morning, bought what we needed for dinner. we cooked fillet mignon for dinner last night and berries for desert for linda and keiron, i had my hair done in the afternoon, the grey is gone greg cooked beef rendang for dinner tonight, he really enjoyed being back in the kitchen. linda and keiron went out for a 2 hour bike ride was a lovely afternoon to be outside.
we are enjoying your messages and emails, thankyou for all of your news, it is great to keep in touch.
off to london today, cant wait……….
more later.
hope you are all enjoying your weekend
26 Aug 2006 London Again
Up early and off to London again this morning.
Our train arrived at Baker St a bit after 10am and we walked down to the other end before catching our first london taxi (Black Cab). Deb was very excited it was one of her must do things for London. We got the taxi to one end of Portobello Road. Portobello Rd is a street market on Sat mornings, it must stretch out for about a mile or so. The stall holders sell everything from Antiques to the ususal tourist things. At the end we started all the shops are antique shops . It was really enjoyable walking down the road in all the bussle. We bought a brass candle holder (we have been looking for one like it for ages) and Deb bought a small blue ceramic jewel box. As we walked we got ourselves a piece of Quiche, was really yummy and a blue berry muffin. We then hopped on a tube and got off near Buckingham Palace. We walked down a few streets and came to the palace, its huge.Entry is by timed tickets and we didnt have time to waste waiting so we went out front and took a few pics and had a coffee. From there we set off down the road towards marble arch and caught another cab to Covent Garden. There were market stalls and buskers there. Really lively place. Kieron and I stood and watch people playing chess for a while. We saw a couple of guys play a match, It must have taken all of 3 mins start to finish. They used a timer and it was a lot of fun, basically it was the first to make a mistake lost. We then sat down and had lunch, and just lisitened to all the sounds around us. Deb enjoys London for the people watching as much as anything else. There are soooooo many different cultures represented here. After lunch we walked up to one of Linda’s favourite picture galleries and looked around it for a while. Very interesting, the gallery had everything from original cartoon strips to old worldy sketches. We then walked around for a bit more, we wnet into one of Kieron’s favourite cheese shops. We both had never seen so many or so much cheese in such a small area. And all the cheese was made in Britain. We finished up buying some Stilton and some Stinky Bishop, ( what a great name for a cheese !! ) then we went past the theatre where “The Mouse Trap” plays. When we come back we have decided that it is one of the things we must do. A bit more walking and we came to the end of Oxford Street, and time to achieve another of Deb’s must do’s. So we all hopped on a Red London Double Decker Bus. (Seems it was the first time for Linda and Kieron for a long time too) Its the only way to do the length of Oxford Street. There are so many people that continously fill the footpaths the whole legth of it. The street is limited to only buses and cabs, so, for the front up top we had this view of Big Red Buses folowing up this street crowded with people of all shapes sizes and colours. We got off near Baker St and walked back up to the train station. I got a photo of the Bronze Sherlock Holmes statue the is out in front of the station. On the walk up to the station Deb caught a lot of the various peoples of London on video, will be interesting to see when we get home,mmmm what am I saying , I might set up a loop tape for her. We hopped on a train and started our journey back home. Once home we heated the Rendang we made the day before and had a nice tea. Another great and different day in the UK
27 Aug 2006 Oxford
After a nice sleep in we managed to get out of bed to the tune of the local church bells.
I did a little house keeping in backing up our photo’s (There over 1000 now!! ) and Deb tidied up our growing stash of Tourist booklets and mementos.
Linda cooked a very nice brunch which we ate in the back garden, bathed in beautiful sunshine.
Later in the day, Kieron, Deb and I went for a walk along “the cut” (the local canals) and then through a woodland, before finishing up at the Five Bells, where we met Linda for a pint. 🙂 the rewards of walking yeah !!! . I am getting to like bitter, but I think its a bit warm at home for it.
After that we walked home and Linda has almost got tea ready, not sure what we are having but it will be delicious, L + K are superb cooks.
Later we are going to show L & K all our pics, that should fill in a couple of hours.
All in all, a good relaxing day to rechrge our batteries and get ready for our next leg.
It was great to talk with everyone back home, we are so glad everyone is good, and Carly has her complete smile back , bye for now
28 Aug 2006 Last day in the UK – what a great family we have
we had a lovely day yesterday, very relaxing, went to a garden centre, decided we would get a few fish when we get home, we were hoping dante and tessa would come with us to choose them. cliff came over in the afternoon, really enjoyed seeing him again. said he will come and visit us in april next year, mum and i have told him we will come and get him if he doesnt come, so either way will be good. linda cooked a lovely dinner last night, we have been fed like kings the food has been amazing. linda and keiron have been wonderful company, great hosts, we look forward to spending alot more time with them as we do everyone we have met, we have felt very welcomed by you all, thankyou. we certainly have a wonderful family, so thankyou for your warmth, friendship and love.
Thankyou to Vic and Val you are most certainly our family, we love you dearly, thanks for your generosity, we will definately catch up with you when you come to australia, even if it means going to perth. You have a lovely family, we enjoyed meeting Jane, Dave, Kim and Sophie and James, and hope to see them all again next time we visit.
Cliff, we knew we would like you after all of the texting we did before we got to the UK, we have both really enjoyed your company and cant wait to see you in the new year, will be fun, thanks for everything, we love you. Was great to meet Isabelle, we look forward to seeing more of her.
Derek and Eileen what a wonderful family you have you all made us so welcome, thankyou. It was great to bump into you when you were out for a walk with the dogs. Thanks for ringing last night, we will definately keep in touch. How wonderful it was to meet all of my cousins, thankyou for making the effort to see us, we really appreciated and enjoyed your company, Dawn you have so much vitality, it was a joy to spend time with you, we enjoyed meeting Philip, you have wonderful kids, Dominic thanks for letting us take your pic :), Tilliesha and Damari we really enjoyed your company.
Nick and Alecia, you came so far to see us, that meant alot, thankyou, we look forward to catching up with you next time and Alana and Lucy, you are a great family.
Kate, what a smile you have, such a competant woman, you had a lovely peacefulness about you, Romaya and Tyree are beautiful children, we look forward to catching up with you all again and we will definately keep in touch with you all.
If any of you ever make your way to Australia, you are very welcome to come and stay with us for as long as you would like, we would love to show you around.
Rob & Kathy, i was so happy to meet you, it was 31 years ago we started writing to each other, it put a big smile on my face meeting you, you give great hugs , you have a great family was really good, to go to your house and have a cuppa and meet Michael and Sue, we will definately stay in touch, will send you some photos when we get home.
Steve, Catrina, Eleanor and Amity, we had a lovely afternoon and evening with you, we felt very much at home you are a great family, it was a joy to be with you. We hope you will make your way to Australia one day, we would love to spend more time with you and you are welcome to stay as long as you would like. Would be great to show you our part of the world.
Ann & John was great to see you both again, we look forward to spending more time with you next time. And John I have not forgotten about our date, Paris will never be the same!!
Auntie Jessie, how wonderful to see you again, I love you dearly, was great to meet Joyce, and thankyou to Irene and Terry for showing us around, we had a great afternoon with you.
We had a great dinner with you Matt and Greg, good food and wine, and wonderful company, really enjoyed catching up with you. And thanks Matt for helping us out with our phone problems.
I finally met my godmother, Monica, and her husband Len, you both made us feel very welcome, we had a really enjoyable time with you both, we look forward to keeping in touch with you both, and seeing you next time we are over.
Linda & Keiron, has been great to spend more time with you both, we have had lots of fun with you and some great days exploring your part of the world, we have had some moments with you that will stay with us forever, narrow boating stonehenge and london were memorable, thankyou. we also really enjoyed the wonderful meals we shared and chatting over the many bottles of wine that were consumed! We know we will spend many more moments with you and we look forward to that.
Dee and Chris, it was good to finally meet you both, we really enjoyed the few days you spent with us, you are really good company, we hope you will visit us one day, so we can spend more time with you both.
You have all made us feel really welcome and been very generous with us, thankyou so much. We look forward to doing it all again in another 5 years.
Italy here we come.
lots of love and hugs to you all, best of luck with the quiz night ben, hope you get us something nice in the auction carly, happy fathers day on sunday to our dads, we look forward to taking you both out to lunch when we get back. well done brian with your footy, bet you are still smiling. thanks for the emails dante and tessa, 18 sleeps till we see you, or is it 17? ella cant wait to see your new bedroom, you will have to show us around, thankyou for your messages, destiny, what great messages you send us, cant wait to see you and give you a hug. aiko we miss you, we have both enjoyed chatting to you all on messenger, not sure how much we will be able to do that in italy. but we will see you all soon.
29 AUG 2006 Kidlington to Gatwick to Rome
Today, all roads lead to Rome
We woke early and Deb and I went to the local shops. I got a hair cut and then we went shopping for brunch. Linda did a wonderful tasty brunch, again and then we finished packing. We were about to leave when Linda noticed Vashty (Sorry if I have mis spelt his name Linda) was missing. We looked high and low but couldnt find him. So we never got to say bye :-(. He is one cat that Deb actually liked !!
We left and got caught in a traffic jam in Oxford, 45mins later we were still in Oxford, 2+ hrs later we were at Gatwick, Linda did a great job getting us there.
At check in I noticed I had left our phone in the car, so L and K went back and got it for us (me)- thanks so much . At checkin we found we were 10kg over weight and they wanted 50 pound for the excess, Deb wasnt having that so we became some of those people who repack their bags at the counter, it worked and we got the bags checked in.
It was then time to say bye to Linda and Kieron. You two have been so good to us. We feasted like royalty and were shown so many interesting parts of the country. It was lots of fun exploring with you. We will miss you both very much. Hope you enjoy your holiday in South Wales (and it doesn’t rain – mmm not sure if that is possible in sth Wales ?? )
Our next thing was getting through security. What a pain, one bag each and of a certain size, again a bit of repacking saw us through —- eventually!!!!
Our plan got away about 45mins late, it was an 1 1/2 hr flight. We saw the “White Cliffs” as we flew over the cast of Britain and then had a glimpse of the French coast before the cloud got tooo thick.
Arrived in Rome at about 9pm, found our driver and were at our hotel by 9:45pm. What a day
But WE ARE IN ROMA !!!!!
30 Aug 2006 Rome Italy
We are in Rome !!!! was the way we greeted each other as we woke this morning. What fun this is!!
We got ready , went and had breakfast and then headed out to explore.
Our first task was to find a bus, following the instructions given by the desk clerk, and following a couple from our hotel (at a descrete distance) we headed out into the great unknown lol
After a while we realised that the couple we were follwing didnt have any idea about where they were off to , so we part ways and eventually decided to get a day ticket on a hop on hop off tourist bus. We had a great time We saw rome from the bus, and got up close to a few of the sites we might not be able to see on our tour. We walked through the Campo de Flora, but the flower stall weren’t there, fun anyway, then we walked up to Piazza Navona, a beautiful square with magnificent fountains and cafes all down one side. (We went back there fr lunch — Pizza in Roma !! and a short black expresso for me ). We walked t the Piaazzo Chigi and then to the Pantheon. So much history in this town, Even the streets pavers you walk on !!!!! Talk about walking in the footsteps of history. From there we got back on the bus and went to the Fontana de Trevi. So many people, I didnt realise just how big this fountain was. We walked around the area a bit then got back on the bus. Oh yes, Deb has been being Deb, she tried to get into a Government building, because it looked interesting, the guards didnt put her off, the later she was told off by a guard for filming him in a building, !! Thats my woman
We then got the bus back to where we started and walked back to the hotel, to get ready for the tour welcome drink and walking tour.
History is everywhere here, walls near our hotel were built in 20 AD. We are just so lucky. mmm all that and we haven’t started the tour yet.
NEWS FLASH!!!!!!! Ella just said “Mummy”. I had a message from a very happy mum, thanks so much for sharing Carly, enjoy.
31 Aug 2006 Start of our Tour of Italy.
At about 5pm we had our welcome drink and tour intro then went out for a meal with the group. A bit of a cliche really, we went to a restuarant opposite the Colloseum called the “Gladiator”. We started with an ante pasta plate followed by pasta in tomato sauce then a mixed pizza and finished off with tiramso. (Excuse my spelling.) and wine, ooops champain starter, then the House “Gladiator”red :-). We were seranaded by a piano accordian and a male and a female singers. They were good, but no one rushed to buy their CD.
The Tour started this morning with a 5:45am wake up call. Breakfast at 6:30am and the bus was meant t pick us up at 7 , but someone tried to break into it the night before , so it was a tad late, but all was OK.
The early start was so we could line up for the Sistine Chapel. I guess we queued for 1 hr before we got in. The Vatican is an amazing place , so big. We walked through a few exhibits on the way to the chapel. The Sistine Chapel is an amazing feat. Michealangelo had never painted before he did the ceiling, he was a scupture. So he learnt as he went. It is really a remakable work.
From there we went to St Peters Vascillica. The largets church in the world. The colloseum would fit inside it. The history of the church is very interesting. On the way we went through the vault with the tombs of the most recent Popes. That was really interesting. In St Peters there is a Pope who has been , well basically preserved in a glass case. A bit wierd, but then this is the Vatican. All the way through St Peters there is great mention of Pope Gregory the something He sounded like a pretty cool guy for a Pope. He was responsible for our present calender amoungst many other things. How could he go wrong with a name like that . OK when in rome….. We rubbed the feet of a statue of St Peter (for luck) , drank from a fresh water fountain (because we were thirsty and we could) and Deb found the holy water and dabbed me and her with it (because she could )
After there we had lunch in the Vatican city the got on the bus and went to the Coloseum. The coloseum was used from about 34BC to 240 (or 340??AD) it is huge. And it had a very complexe under floor arrangement for gladiators and animals and other performers to use. The entry was free, sponsored by the rich of the time for the ammusement of the emporer. The seating was scaled with the rich and famour near the action, polititians next, then the citizens, then the freemen, then slaves and then if there was any room left, women. The seating was marble for the emporer to wooden for the slaves.
After there we went over to the Forum, it is the worlds first department store, you could buy almost anything there. Parts of it are currently under reconstruction. A facinating day.
Datne , Tessa and Ella, we have posted postcards for you from the Vatican, you should get them soon.
Ha
1 Sept 2006 Rome to Tuscany
We left Rome early on Friday morning, drove to Sienna, great town, we wandered around for a few hours, old town, we had a wonderful cheese platter in the piazza and a glass of wine, was magnificent. Then it was off to Florence, we are staying in the Sheridan, which is very nice, but this computer is very expensive to use!!! Last night we had dinner in a monestry, served by monks that were not really monks, but alot of the food was prepared by the monks, it was a really fun evening. On the way to dinner we had to go another way, because there had been an accident, we went via a hill with a magnificent view over Florence, saw the ponte vechio. Cant believe we are here, feel really lucky. (yes I know you are all confused, I am using capitals!!!)
Today we had another early start we went to San Gioamo (sorry spelling not right), it is the most beautiful town, I wanted to stay, and I could easily live here, the views are stunning, the town magnificent, 700 years old. What a wonderful town, this is where I want to come back to and spend more time, see if I can convince Greg. It is just as I imagined Tuscany to be, it was very easy to see us living here. It is my favourite place that we have been so far. London and Rome I thought were both a 10/10, I couldnt see how I could like any place more. But I would give San G…. 20/10, so very beautiful, we will be back.
This afternoon we wandered around florence, we were both a bit disappointed, thought it would have more style, maybe we didnt see the right bits, we enjoyed wandering along the river to the ponte vechio which we both enjoyed, walking along the bridge was amazing, I have never seen so many jewellery shops, they were all jewellery shops.
Afterwards we did a guided tour of the city, went to a church where Galileo and Michael Angelio are buried, along with many other famous people of their time. Every church is stunning, they are all so different, with many frescos on the walls. I have lit many candles in all of the churches, so all of our family and friends should be living very healthy, happy lives.
We also saw David, really enjoyed that, he is quite magnificent. Have lots of photos.
Tonight we ate in the hotel, we are up tomorrow at 6am, to leave at 7.30am for Pisa, Milan and we are staying at Lake Como for a few nights, hopefully their computer will not be as expensive, cant believe this blog has cost 7 Euro.
Happy fathers day to our dads, we will be thinking of you both and will have a drink to you too. Hey Kieran it is your first fathers day, how wonderful, enjoy.
Has Ash won the footy tipping??? We presume so. We are really enjoying all of your messages, we are hoping to put some pics on here, so fingers crossed.
Lots of love and hugs to you all from us
2 & 3 Sept 2006 Tuscany to Ferenze to Lake Majorie to Venice
Its been a while since our last entry and a very busy time on the tour for us.
We left Florence last , mmm what day was that, OK on the 3rd and drove to the lakes district of northern Italy.OK Lets see how my memory is. On the first day there we arrived fairly late. The drive from Florence to Lake Majorie was broken by two stops. The first in Pisa. We did the pilgramage to see the Leaning Tower. Wow it really is a sight you have to see. It is of such large proportion. No time to climb it but we had a good look around.
Next it was back on the bus and off to Milano. Now this is a city that oooooozes class. We both thought it got all of Florences share of class as well as its own. We saw a statue of Leonardo , the Opera house, a huge Cathederal (Yes we still enjoy them) and went through an appartment store. and generally walked around . Oh yes, we got some nice bath bubbles for Deb.
Then onto Lake Majorie. It reminded us both of Queenstown in NZ.
The first night we had tea, and then went for a walk along the lake forshore and finished up out on a stone jetty, Very nice. The next day we went up a gondolla to the top of a near by mountain and saw the Alps in France and Switzerland. Next we returned to lake level and got a boat out to one of the islands in the lake. The Island had a Palace on it belonging to the family who owned the lake!!!! It was impressive for its history as much as its architecture. The likes of Napoleon and Musilinni have satyed there
Next day we went into Switzerland , to say that we had LOL Bought some chocolate and looked around the lake. We saw a statue of William Tell (It was his town) and then back on the bus for Verona,
Times up , sorry have to go .
We are off to a Vervaldi concert in St Marks Square in Venice tonight. Its so tough here 🙂
More maybe tomorrow and hopefully some pics
5 Sept 2006 Verona to Venice
Ok sorry about the pause. But more of that later. 🙂
We got to Verona and Walk down past some old roman ruins that have been exposed and preserved. The street has been left open around them so you can see new and old Verona. Its so good how they do that sort of thing, incorporating the new and old together. (and we are so glad they do.)
OK , we wnet down this little alley way, through a short tunnel covered in what I initially thought was really bad graffetti, but on closer inspection was literally thousands of messages of love. Anyway we saw the balcony from which Julia made her speech ” Romeo Romeo, etc….”. And then we were introduced to a bizzare Verona tradition. In the square below the balcony is a bronze statue of Juliet, with her right breast exposed. The way the story goes is that you rub her breast for lasting love, so as they say ” When in Rome …..” and we were close enough :-). By the way her right breast, the statues I mean, is bright and shiny from many hands, lol.
Then we went off to the main square for lunch, and while we were sitting down we were amused by a guy, whio definitely was a few sandwiches short of a picnic, climbing over an advertings sugn and calling out something that sounded very bizzare. Never a dull moment here.
Back on the bus and off to Venice. WOW
Whata city,We were introduced to Venice by a Gondolla ride from the dropoff point , down the Grand Canal to our Hotel, right on the canal. We had time to drop our bags off then have dinner and then we headed out for a drink and music in St Marks Square in the middle of Venice. The square is huge, and surrounded by very ornate old builds on three sides and a large Cathederal at the other.
Next morning we started the day with a water taxi ride to the Doge’s Palace (he was the elected ruler of Venice) for a tour through both the palace and the Cathederal. The Cathederal’s floor is sinking, apparently its the qworst case of sinking in Venice, because the area is way to heavy for the supports under it. After that we went off for a demonstration of glass blowing (nothing there we liked to buy) and then we had some free time. We went up the Bell tower in the square and got great views all arounf Vencie, but could only see a couple of Canals, it was designed that way so if an enermy got control of the tower they couldnt use it to see all the canals in the city. Then we had a stroll around a few of the streets (alley ways) and the got some lunch before going off and having a look through the Museum. Wow, what a facinating place and historyVenice has. After there we went off and had a drink at a very exclusive hotel”The Hotel Danieli” its the place they use for period movies inVenice, very elegant. Next we were picked up by a boat and taken out to the island where they make all the Venetian lace. It has its own leaning tower!!!! We had an early dinner there abnd then went around and looked at the lace, We are now the proud owners of a Venitian lace table cloth, next dinner party will be posh :-). We got back to our hotel and about 6 and booked tickets for a Vivaldi Concert ( as per the earlier blog). Wow, what a stunning thing to do. We walked to St Marks Square and then into a small church. The orchestra, was 4 strings and keyboard, with 2 opera singers as well. they sang a range of songs for a bit over an hour, it was just awesome. us in venice in an old church listening to vivaldi and some opera.
to finish the night we went into st marks square for a drink and to listen to some live jazz, what a life.
have to go now dinner awaits us on the balcony, at our hotel in assisi, overlooking umbria.
6 Sept 2006 Having a wonderful time
just short and sweet to thankyou all for your messages, we look forward to the treats you bought at the quiz night carly, great to hear you are growing destiny, hope brian and tara do well with their finals. Dante, hope you enjoyed school today, not long and you will be going every day. Tessa, Nan tells me you and dad have not been well, hope you are both feeling better soon. Thanks for your emails mum, love getting them.
leonie, no bottom pinching yet!
we are off to see vivaldi, tonight, i cant believe it, vivaldi in venice, it is in a church just off st marks square, so hopefully we will be able to sit and enjoy some jazz in the square afterwards too.
we have spent alot of time on the canals, has been great, especially the gondala ride.
off to Asissi tomorrow, every place has been better than the last in Italy.
We feel so lucky.
love to you all, from us, bring on vivaldi.
be seeing you soon
7 Sept 2006 Venice to Assisi
howdy,
just a quick blog, we have a computer in this hotel. sorry we cant leave you any photos though, maybe in the next few days, but definately when we get to rome, we have some beauties
left venice yesterday morning at 7.30am, after getting to bed at midnight, but there is no time to sleep, so much to see and it is all wonderful
on the way we visited another old church, at ravina, just beautiful, as they all are.
then off to assisi, what a beautiful old town it is, on a hill, we saw the bassilica of st francis, it is just magnificent, then greg and I walked up to la rocco, a castle at the top of the hill, i was proud it was very steep, we had 360 degree views, it was maginificent, i keep using the same words all the time for italy, and i know it is boring, but this place it magnificent, sorry but it is.
8 Sept 2006 Assisi to Sorrento & the Amalfi Coast
After a dinner out on the terrace overlooking umbria, the previous night, where we saw a wonderful sunset, which we have lots of photos of, we set off for Sorrento. On the way we saw the church of St Valentine, where they keep his head as a relic and travelled south through the valleys of the Appenines. We saw the abbey at Cassino which is the headquaters for the benedictine monks, later we passed mt vesuvius on our way and finally got to Sorrento. We had a most magnifent view from our room, overlooking the mediteranean, we felt very lucky, the hotel was perched on the top of a cliff.
Later that afternoon we drove to the Amalfi coast, that is quite an experience, the road is very narrow, but great views over the edge. Good job our bus driver Pino, is such a good driver.
We transferred to mini buses for the drive down the very narrow and winding roads down to Positano, which was a lovely little town, of white washed mediteranean villas on the coast. I put my feet in the mediteranean and Greg splashed with his hands. The beach is pebbly, so my feet got a good massage, and we now have a pebble from the mediteranean.
Then we drove back to Sorrento and saw some wood work of inlaid wood, great craftmanship. Then onto dinner at a seaside fishing village, and you guessed it it was very lovely, we had an authentic neopolitan meal, overlooking the water. Saw the moonrise over the village and yes got many photos. We have an obscene no of photos, so dont say you werent warned, might be best if you dont visit us for a year or two!!!! it would take that long to view them all and all of the video we have!!!!
9 Sept 2006 Isle of Capri
Caught the ferry over to the Isle of Capri, very picturesque, coming into the harbour seeing all of the boats, cliff tops and houses perched on the side of the hill. Once we got off the ferry we got on a smaller boat for an hour cruise to the other side of the island and saw the blue, green and white grottos, coral and the coastal sights of Capri.
Then we went up a funicular railway (funicular funiculi – you know the song!) to the top of Capri and walked across the island to the Krupp gardens for views of the coast where our group sang the song about the Isle of Capri, led by our guide willy, we have it on video!!!
From there we had some free time and walked away from the tourists as we have a tendancy to do and saw lots of lovely little hotels and gardens and views to the water.
At 3.30 we caught the ferry back to the mainland the bus dropped us off in sorrento. Where we proceeded to get lost and had some good conversations with locals. eventually we founds some nice little shopping streets that were narrow and colourful and walked back to our hotel with john and georgiana.
That night we had an intimate dinner for tea (noone wanted to eat with us- no actually we were last into dinner) at a table for 10. It was my favourite meal time, has been 5 and a half weeks since we had spent so much time together was nice. Shame about everyone else sitting around us! We took our tea and coffee out to the balcony, yes overlooking the mediteranean and had more time to ourselves. Was a really lovely evening.
One couple call us the love bugs, someone else suggested we were newly weds, and another person said we looked like brother and sister!! I told her we werent!
10 Sept 2006 Sorrento to Pompeii to Rome
Another early beginning, we are usually given a wake up call at 6am, so they are long days but we get alot done.
Was sad to leave our lovely view, we were on the road at 7.30am, at Pompeii by 8.15am, we were surprised at how big it was 150 acres, they have uncovered 2/3rds of it. We were awestruck. The Romans had a very civilised society, everything from take away food shops, to shops with houses ontop, shopping centres, brothels. 3,600 shops in all. I felt like we should have been dressed in Roman clothes, Greg has always wanted to come and visit, and while it did not affect him like stonehenge it was still an amazing experience.
Then back on the bus to the Commonwealth War Cemetary at Cassino a moving experience there at 8 aussies buried there, because most had left before the onslaught. There were 1,000’s of graves, many of unknown soldiers, so futile.
Back on the bus and within an hour we were in Rome.
Had our last dinner after a trip to Trevie Fountain, we learnt you have to throw a coin with your back facing the fountain using your right had throw the coin over your left shoulder into the water, and you are not to look where it lands. If you do this it ensures your return to Rome. If you throw 2 coins, you will fall in love, 3 coins, get married and 4 coins divorced! We only threw one coin each. We have no intention of getting divorced again!!!!
Dinner was good, got a group photo and said our last goodbyes, there were 6 people on the tour that we particularly liked and hopefully we will catch up with them again sometime soon.
11 Sept 2006 Rome to London to Singapore
Happy Birthday Vonnie, for tomorrow, we will have a drink for you, we dont get into Singapore to around 5pm, so it is going to be a long night and day, but when we are at Newton Circus tomorrow night we will toast you. Hope you get spoilt.
Ben and Sarah, we hope you have a very happy 4th Anniversary on the 14th, we will be thinking of you too, we will have a toast to you both. Hope you enjoy you day, and spend some nice moments together.
Before I tell you about this morning, I must tell you all, Greg got a distinction in his last assignment, so he got a distinction for the last subject, great way to finish, he is very happy!
This morning, we slept in until 7.30am, it was bliss. After breakfast we walked around Rome for the last time and bought a few things.
We had to be out of our room at 12, so we have spent time updating our web page and we had a lovely lunch over the road at a lovely restaurant.
We get picked up at 3pm, in about 20 mins to go to the airport, our flight leaves Rome at 6.40pm, we Leave london around 10.30pm tonight, so it will be a long day. We are looking forward to Singapore, will be fun to be on our own
11 Sept 2006 Rome to Heathrow
Well we have made it to Heathrow. Our original flight from Rome to the UK was delayed about 45mins which would have made our connection to Singapore very tight, we managed to get the last two seats on the flight before so all was well. That flight eventually took off about 1:15 late, but we still got here with 2 hrs to spare. Flight was OK as flights go. The security arrangements are a joke, in Italy they were letting people on with the biggest carry-on luggage I have ever seen, but at Heathrow, those same people complained they had to check it all in, mmm I think the Italians are pretty lay back 😛
Anyway all is well and we are in the British Airways lounge and waiting for our flight.
Things to follow.
Deb and I have both decided to give our overall views on Italy and the whole trip eventually as individual blogs. My Italy will follow this entry.
Next update from Singapore
11 Sept 2006 Greg’s Italian Escapade
Wow, how do you some up Italy in words.
I guess we have had a pretty reasonable overview of Italy, from the hussle and bussle, the homeless and litter, to all the beautiful and amazing old buildings, and all the history of Rome to the simple life that Italians live in the country side.
I guess I can summarise my feelings for Italy as Experiencing the sensation of walking the same paths as some of histories most famous and notoriuos figures. From saints to sinners, Italy certainly has it all, and a lot of the time the difference between the two is marginal at best. mmmmmmm did you know that different regions of Italy stole bits of Saints from each other, even whole bodies and heads etc. The things the popes have got up to through the years, what the Mafia has been able to help Italy, or regions of it, achieve.
The regional food is so very different from what we get at home. Their food is simple and tasty. Never over loaded, or over spiced. They dint have road rage here, everyone is too lay back. You would have to be to drive here, otherwise you would go absolutely M.A.D. Almost every car we have seen has dents all over there bumper bars, as the name suggests, they use them as bumpers, to assist in parking , thier way through traffic, or to nudge a pedestrian, lol.
The people we have met on opur tour were very mixed in all respects, and we made good friends with only a few, and we hope to keep those friendships. Alison, our tour director was amazing. She is a woman of so many talents and made our tour the success it was.
I would love to come back here any time, except there is so much else of the world to see.
My Italy is one of great history, passion for food and life, beautiful scenery and contridictions at every turn of the leaf.
I love it, and to quote Dante, ” I think we were better off when we were worse off”, I will leave you to think about that.
greg tells me i am to give my thoughts on our holiday in italy, he has summed it up very well, every place we went to was wonderful, we have thrown a coin in the trevi fountain so hopefully we will return, we love it in italy, i could easily live there, especially if all of you would come too. but there is so much of the world to see, so we have decided we will not return until we have seen alot more of the world, so much to see, so little time……………better get on with it……………now ben about that money…………
13 Sept 2006 Hot and Sweaty in Singapore
we had an uneventful flight to singapore, we have a great room at our hotel, but you should see the security for us to get in, we had to put all of our bags through xray and us through metal detectors, they have the IMF and World bank meeting at our hotel for the next week, so roads are closed off around our hotel, so we feel very safe, never seen anything like it.
you should see our room, very nice we are on the 24th floor, got in around 7.30pm and went and had drinks and nibbles on the executive club floor which are included in our room price, around 9pm we caught a taxi to newton circus and had a delicious meal of chilli squid, grilled garlic prawn and the most delicious crispy duck i have ever tasted, magnificent, mmm there is that word again.
This morning we woke at 4am, mmm bit early read all of the pamphlets we had on singapore and got a lovely early morning call from carly and kieran, was lovely to talk to them both. after a lovely breakfast yes on the executive floor, we headed out on a walk of singapore, we found our way to little india, very colourful and lots of smells, some of which i find quite difficult, like the wet market.
when we have finished little india we are going to bugis street, then back to orchard road, before getting dressed up to go to Raffles hotel for high tea, then to the longbar for a gin sling, will think of you all!
it is very humid here, the sweat is running down my back as i type this, a very modern city, very clean and organised unlike Rome, where the traffic is anything but organised it is really mad, so this is a very different pace to italy.
we are off to a mosque now, will say a prayer for you all, i have said so many prayers for everyone, life should be happy and healthy.
Ann hope the footy goes well on the weekend and david and katies move, look forward to hearing all about it on monday.
Ben can do without any work on friday, i will need to be eased in gently, but we will be coming home!!
see if we can download a few more photos for you, take care, see you soon
14 Sept 2006 Homeward Bound
This is possibly our last blog entry from overseas, we are in the Qantas lounge in Singapore and our flight leaves in about 2 1/2 hrs.
We have managed to relieve ourselves of most of our foreign cureency at the duty free shops
OK, since our last entry, when we forgot to let everyone know we had uploaded a whole lot of new pics, we have taken things fairly easy. We spent the morning walking back down Orchard Rd to our hotel. Broused a few shops , but didnt buy anything. Got back to the hotel all hot and sweaty , had a shower and then had lunch in the food hall under Raffles Plaza, packed our bags and then took things easy until we got picked up to come out to the airport.
We are both ready to come home
As we said in a recent blog, the World Bank and IMF are meeting in town from today and the next week, all 2300 delegates + hanger’onners. Outside our hotel they have erected hydaulic crash barriers, and as well as the large number of police, today they added army personnel with machine guns and shot guns, and as we drove out there was a truck with a heavy duty crash bar on the front of it that could probably barge its way through almost anything. We even saw an armed police officer on a bus in the area. It is causing a lot of traffic problems around our end of town. We got a taxi this morning and they checked its boot (for explosives I guess). Never a dull moment.
Well thats about all there is to say, mainstream Singapore is still its sterile self (its not so bad once you get away and into the chaos of the Little India and Bugis Street area, and the like).
Thanks to everyone for sharing in our trip and all your messages.
We hope you have enjoyed following our adventures, naturally this means that from now on, whenever anyone goes away for an extended time, we will be expecting you to use this site (or similar) so we can enjoy your travels with you.
See you all very soon
21 Sept 2006 More Photos
howdy, arrived home friday morning and it has been very busy, was lovely to see everyone, we were greeted at the airport by Ben, Carly, Dante, Tessa, Carly and Ella, a lovely home coming. After lunch we went down to von and toms to pick up aiko, we had missed her was lovely to have her back home. it was obvious she had had fun at aldinga with bella. thanks for taking such good care of her. then it was off to carlys to see her new house, they have done very well, it is very comfortable and they have more room, it is nice to see them all so happy.
Dante was 5 on saturday we spent a lovely couple of hours with him in the afternoon, was great to be home to share his day with him, he was certainly having a good time.
we had a lovely afternoon at carly and kierans on sunday, they had invited all the family over for lunch, enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up.
then it was back to work on monday was really good to see everyone, they all looked great and the office was in really good nick, so i have been able to settle in slowly.
we really relaxed on our holiday, so much so it was a bit difficult to get back into routine, had to remember how to organise things, had to clean and tidy, start cooking, there was no alison to organise us, we thought of her often in those first few days wondering where she was.
it has been lovely looking back over our photos, in the next week we will put some more on our site, so you can see a few more of our holiday.
i hope you all get the chance to go out and see the world for yourself, one thing i realised while we were away is that it doesnt really matter how much you read about it or watch it on teli, you really have no idea until you go and experience the world for yourself, i dont think it matters where you go, everywhere is different and there is much to learn and experience, go and have an adventure!
we are looking forward to seeing karlien and bid on sunday, we are off to kangaroo island the weekend after with them, will be fun. life is good
5 Oct 2006 We have added some photo’s
Here are a selection of photos from the UK, on the 12th of this month we can add another 40 photos, we will add a few more from the UK and some from Italy
Life has been so hectic since we got back, we still havent had a chance to look at our video, I am looking forward to doing that
We had a great weekend went to Kangaroo Island with Gregs mum and dad, was fun and we saw lots of great scenery.
We also bought our first painting together, bought it from the artist himself, it was such a buzz!! I can see us doing that more often.
Anyway, that is all for now, catch you again in another week
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