Hi folks we are in Italy with our mad Italian friends.
Rachel will update in the next few days if we can, but internet access and the time to do it is difficult.
We are actually in Cuneo, which is in northern Italy having probably the best time of our holiday so far. Last night we had dinner with a whole Italian family in their house enjoying the most incredible home cooked meal ever. Lots of wine, i mean lots, and unbelievable food and laughter.
Tomorrow we head to Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre and i doubt we will ahve any internet at all until we get to Rome in 4 or 5 days.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
It's nice in Nice.
Yup, we're now on the French riviera, actually in Nice, for the next couple of days.
First mission tomorrow is a laundrette. The last time we were able to wash our clothes was way back in Amsterdam, so things are getting pretty average. Neither of us are prepared to do the smell test anymore, although I bought 20 pairs of undies in Bordeaux which has put me well ahead of the game. Shopping is one solution, but we now have so much luggage, that we are having to freight some stuff home in the next few days.
We have decided to change our homeward plans and have cancelled the 5 days in the USA and added those days to our Europe stay. We are undecided as to where to go, but Prague is being considered as we will now be flying out of Frankfurt.
Don't panic; we will still be on the same flight back to NZ as originally planned.
The cowboy thing was bit lame, just a glorified horse trek really although I did manage to get 22 mosquito bites. Those who have travelled with me know that I am a walking pharmaceutical company and luckily had stuff to rub into them.
First mission tomorrow is a laundrette. The last time we were able to wash our clothes was way back in Amsterdam, so things are getting pretty average. Neither of us are prepared to do the smell test anymore, although I bought 20 pairs of undies in Bordeaux which has put me well ahead of the game. Shopping is one solution, but we now have so much luggage, that we are having to freight some stuff home in the next few days.
We have decided to change our homeward plans and have cancelled the 5 days in the USA and added those days to our Europe stay. We are undecided as to where to go, but Prague is being considered as we will now be flying out of Frankfurt.
Don't panic; we will still be on the same flight back to NZ as originally planned.
The cowboy thing was bit lame, just a glorified horse trek really although I did manage to get 22 mosquito bites. Those who have travelled with me know that I am a walking pharmaceutical company and luckily had stuff to rub into them.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Aigues Mortes
Hi folks, we didn't get to Avignon, but instead got sidetracked by Aigues-Mortes instead.
Very cool 13th century town still fully enclosed by a huge stone wall.
We're off to day to be French cowboys riding horses and rounding up black bulls!
Very cool 13th century town still fully enclosed by a huge stone wall.
We're off to day to be French cowboys riding horses and rounding up black bulls!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Update
We're back in France, actually in Perpignan, which is just over the border from Spain. It's all part of the district of Catalonia, so in a way it's more Spanish than French.
For those Tradestaffer's this is pretty much the area in which Alex lived for a couple of years.
After Barcelona we travelled just up the road to Figureres for 2 reasons; it reputedly has one of the best restaurants in Spain and the Salvador Dali Museum.
Both were superb and I'll post more on Dali later.
The restaurant was also a treat. Rachel asked for agua (water) and they bought her an agua menu which had a choice of 16 still waters and 12 sparkling.
They didn't have any Chch tap water which I personally thought was pretty poor.
Having said that, being Spain we ate 3 courses each with 2 glasses of Cava (Spanish champagne) espressos and a bottle of pretty good wine for 120 Euros.
In France the same meal in a similar restaurant would be over 300 Euros which when you double it to get $NZ is the reason we did it in Spain.
Tomorrow we head up towards the Rivieria probably with a stay in Avignon or somewhere similar. Alex has given us plenty to do while we are there.
Any-one checking against our schedule will see that we are a bit ahead of ourselves, we are only supposed to get to Perpignon tomorrow. The reason is our quick trip across Spain to escape the cold. We are also thinking of dropping Marseille as all the Kiwis we have met on the trip didn't rate it at all.
So, our plan is to take an extra 2 days in Italy after Nice and go to Turin.
The reason for Turin is these 2 people.
We met them way back at Oktoberfest where they invited us to come and stay in their town for a day or two. We have kept in contact since and the thought of a home cooked meal and hanging out somewhere other than a restaurant or hotel room is pretty exciting.
For those Tradestaffer's this is pretty much the area in which Alex lived for a couple of years.
After Barcelona we travelled just up the road to Figureres for 2 reasons; it reputedly has one of the best restaurants in Spain and the Salvador Dali Museum.
Both were superb and I'll post more on Dali later.
The restaurant was also a treat. Rachel asked for agua (water) and they bought her an agua menu which had a choice of 16 still waters and 12 sparkling.
They didn't have any Chch tap water which I personally thought was pretty poor.
Having said that, being Spain we ate 3 courses each with 2 glasses of Cava (Spanish champagne) espressos and a bottle of pretty good wine for 120 Euros.
In France the same meal in a similar restaurant would be over 300 Euros which when you double it to get $NZ is the reason we did it in Spain.
Tomorrow we head up towards the Rivieria probably with a stay in Avignon or somewhere similar. Alex has given us plenty to do while we are there.
Any-one checking against our schedule will see that we are a bit ahead of ourselves, we are only supposed to get to Perpignon tomorrow. The reason is our quick trip across Spain to escape the cold. We are also thinking of dropping Marseille as all the Kiwis we have met on the trip didn't rate it at all.
So, our plan is to take an extra 2 days in Italy after Nice and go to Turin.The reason for Turin is these 2 people.
We met them way back at Oktoberfest where they invited us to come and stay in their town for a day or two. We have kept in contact since and the thought of a home cooked meal and hanging out somewhere other than a restaurant or hotel room is pretty exciting.
Lost cell phone!
More bad news.
I lost my cell phone in Barcelona.
The worst part of it was that I lost it the morning my Grandad died, so I had no idea until hours later when we let home know that our contact would now have to be Rachel's phone.
So if you have txted me in the last 3 days, I haven't got it.
I lost my cell phone in Barcelona.
The worst part of it was that I lost it the morning my Grandad died, so I had no idea until hours later when we let home know that our contact would now have to be Rachel's phone.
So if you have txted me in the last 3 days, I haven't got it.
Road signs
This one is all over Europe.It's like they forgot to finish it!
Again this is typical of every where we have been.It's not unusual at all to have 2 or 3 conflicting sets of instructions at an intersection.
We were told early in the trip that it's actually illegal for people to honk their horn at you to show displeasure at your driving.
Our advisor said that it was more a case of them showing their appreciation for you showing them a new way of doing things.
When they are honking their horn, it really means "wow, thanks for teaching me a new way of doing things".
As always, I am happy to be an educator!
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