normabyrne – Page 5 – beyondthenorm

Italy – Florence, Cinque Terra, Venice ( Aug 2017)

This is our second time in Italy on this trip in sept 2016 we visited, Lecce, Sicily, Amalfi Coast and then up to Rome. This time we stopped in Florence and Cinque Terra which is in the northern part of Italy.

Florence is a city that is best toured by walking, it is an overwhelming beauty city. It’s impossible not to be completely and utterly amazed by the sheer size and grandeur of Brunelleschi’s red cathedral dome on Piazza del Duomo, with medieval candle-lit chapels, fresco-decorated churches, marble basilicas and world-class art museums with paintings and sculptures Botticcelli, Michelangelo, Donatello, Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi.

Florence

There are 72 museum in Florence, we were very impressed with the Grand museum of the Duomo, we visited the Cathedral, the Bell Tower with 414 steps (the weather was very hot that day 42 degrees) the Baptistery, the Museum itself and the Santa Repartee. It is all very interesting and well worth a visit.
We spent all day in the Uffizi Galleria and the Vecchio Place, we saw some amazing works of art like, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci, Venus of Urbino by Titan, Madonna of Goldfinch by Raphael and plenty more. The main reason we went to the Galleria Dell Accademia was to see the Sculpture of David by Michelangelo it was created between 1501 and 1504 it is 5.17 meters marble statue.

Duomo

Martin climbing inside the dome

Adoration-of-the-Magi-by-Leonardo-da-Vinci

Botticelli Birth of Venus

Allegory-of-Spring-by-Botticelli

Michelangelo-Tondo-Doni

Mary Magdalen

David by Michelangelo

My favourite picture of The Adoration of the Child and Mary it shows a moonlit scene with Mary laying the Child in swaddling clothes. Joseph is looking over her shoulder and two angels are leaning over the crib.

My favourite Statue

We had a wonderful time in Florence but if we were to go again I would go in spring or autumn the summer is too hot and too many tourists. I have never seen so many tourist, also a note for parents please do not bring your toddlers to Florence they really have no interest in spending hours going through museums and art galleries. Wait until they are a bit older then they might appreciate it.

After a week in Florence we had 5 nights in Cinque Terra. We were both blown away by its beauty. It is 5 very picturesque villages along the Italian coastline. A train ticket will allow you to hop on or off at each one of the villages, the villages all have their own uniqueness and beauty. The water in each village is crystal clear. You can hike from one to the other, although at the moment some of the hikes are closed because of landslides. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza the hike was fine but it was 40 degrees that day and so it was very hot we had to get to the nearest bar when we arrived to get some refreshing drinks.
It was busy with tourists so spring would be a better time to visit. The photo’s do not do the villages justice.

Cinque Terra

There was another village we visited called Levanto it could be the 6th village of the Cinque Terre, it can be found after Monterosso, on the other side of Punta Mesco. It is a very pleasant town with a long beach. If you hike up the hill, you will find Monterosso on the other side. Levanto is a perfect base for discovering the Cinque Terre which is only 5 minutes away by train but you can also reach it by boat.
If we had know about Levanto we would have based ourselves here instead we based ourselves La Spezia, another nice area especial down at the marina, but in my opinion not as nice as Levanto.

Levanto

We wished we had more time in Cinque Terra and will be back again one day. This is definitely one of our favourite stops on this trip.

Venice

Venice is a city in north-eastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by bridges, of which there are 400. Venice was better than I had remembered, it really is an amazing place We stayed in the Castillo area, the Airbnb was great, it was owned by an artist who had some beautiful art pieces in the apartment.

View of Venice from the Bell tower

Our Airbnb

The glass artwork in our Airbnb

The artwork in our Airbnb

Beer being delivered by boat (relieved husband)

There are no cars in the area everything moves around very efficiently on water. The young people in Venice buy small boats instead of cars, they seem to really enjoy cruising around. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its settings, their architecture, and artwork. St Marks Square, the Basilica, the Bell tower the famous Rialto Bridge are wonderful to see. We did not do a Gondola ride this time, it was 100 euro for an hour, we got a ferry ticket for 20 euro for 24 hours and that was great.

Well there are still some cars being used ?

Bell tower in St Marks square

St Marks Basilica

Roof line from the Bell Tower

Top of St Marks Basilica

Artwork called support

We did visit some of the closer islands, Murano island that has the most beautiful Murano glass shops and the factories are very interesting, it was the most beautiful glass work we have ever seen. We decided to buy a gift for ourselves, something to remind us of our trip around the world. We decided on a very elegant sail boat, as it is large and we did not want to carry it around with us the shop will post it to Australia when we get home. Lido Island is another lovely island which does have cars on it, it had a great beach on it, not something I was expecting. The Graveyard island is exactly that an island for graves there are several different types of graves and tombs, it is a very peaceful place and it was lovely having the sea breeze flowing thorough the island.

Murano Island

Glass factory on Murano

The glass art piece we bought on Murano

Lido Island beach

One of the beautiful headstone on Graveyard island

Our favourite restaurants in Venice was Taverna Scalinetto, Calle Del Dose Castello, I had the best sea food risotto ever, the whole meal was amazing, the restaurant is also very nicely decorated and the service was great.

For the second time on this trip we really enjoyed Italy.

Portugal (July 2017)

Portugal lies along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula in south Western Europe. It shares a border with Spain in the east and north, while the Atlantic dominates the coastline in the west and south. Despite its relatively small size, the country boasts a great diversity of geographical features, from golden plains to mountainous zones. Lisbon is the Capital of Portugal. Official language is Portuguese, population is 10,400,000.

Portugal Flag

Our first stop in Portugal was Lisbon. Lisbon charm has much to do with its easy going people, glorious custard tarts great affordable food and wine, wonderful beaches and amazing castles. We stayed very close to the centre of town, it is a great mix of old and new buildings and has lots of character. The number 28 Lisbon tram is a great cheap and interesting way to see Lisbon as it connects Martim Moniz with Campo Ourique, and passes through the popular tourist districts of Graca, Alfama, Baixa and Estrela. It screeches and rattles through the narrow streets, with tourist loving every min of the ride. Well worth a trip.

Tram 28

Lisbon

On our first night in Lisbon we met up with Carol and Chris, friends from Ireland, we had a great night catching up, eating and drinking the Gypsy kings were playing in the town square that night which was a real bonus.

Lisbon has a real mix of old and new. The views from Castle De St Jorge over the city are amazing the Castle itself is worth a visit.

If you like Castles, Palaces and history, you could easily spend two days in Sintra, there you can see. Palacio Nacional de Sintra is a present-day historic house museum, Palacio de Seteals is a neoclassical palace. It is now a luxury hotel and restaurant. Palacio de Monserrate is an exotic palatial , Quinta da Regaleria is an estate, Palacio da Pena is a Romanticist castle, and Castelo dos Mouros is a hilltop medieval castle . They are all beautiful and worth a visit. From Lisbon it is a 30min train journey to Sintra.

Palacio de Monserrate

Palacio da Pena

Quinta da Regaleria

Castelo dos Mouros

We went to see the place that St Anthony was born a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. St. Anthony
is one of the most popular saints in the Church. He is the patron of lost things and numerous other causes. It is a very peaceful place.

The beaches are very nice and only a short train trip from Lisbon we had a lovely relaxing day on Carcavelos.

Our favorite restaurant was San Telmo it has great food, service was excellent and very reasonable priced. Rua do Poco dos Negros 188, Lisbon 1200-342, Portugal

From Lisbon we took a train down to Olhao. Olhao is a major port and actually the largest fishing port in the Algarve. It is full of character with Moorish-style houses, an influence from the commercial links with Africa. From the dock area the road runs along the water front and there is a long, very pleasant, paved promenade with cool gardens (Jardim Pescador do Olhanense) to escape the heat of the sun. There are two market buildings side by side along the water front, which are a ‘must visit’ for the huge variety of extremely fresh fish and sea food straight from the port and the vast array of locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables. It was the best tasting fish we ever had. The town has a lovely relaxed atmosphere and the people very friendly.

There is no beach in Olhao you must get a ferry to the nearest beach which takes about 30 min, it is a very pleasant trip and only cost 4 euro return. The nearest beach is on Armona island the island has a very sweet village with some very nice cottages and holiday homes on it. It also has a few restaurants and bars. The beach is very beautiful but be careful as the current can be strong.

From Olhao we took a day trip to Faro the Capital of the Algarve. It has an attractive marina, well-maintained parks and plazas, and a historic old town full of pedestrian lanes and outdoor cafes. Marvellously preserved medieval quarters harbour curious museums, churches and a bone chapel. It has a large student population. We had a very nice day here.

The gate of the old city of Faro

We loved our time in Portugal and hope to come back one day.

Spain – Malaga, Almerimar ( July 2017)

Spain

This is our third time in Spain on this trip, in Oct 2016 we were in Madrid and in May 2017 we were in Barcelona. This time we will visit Malaga and Almerimar.

Malaga
Malaga historic centre is a delight with its Gothic cathedral surrounded by narrow pedestrian streets filled with traditional and modern bars, shops that range from urban-chic to contemporary. The skyline reflects the city’s character; lots of church spires with russet-red tiled roofs and lofty apartments the 11th-century Gibralfaro castle sits grandly aloft and provides the best views.

Gibralfaro castle

Malaga

The former rundown port has been rebuilt and is lovely to stroll along. They have a lot of cruise ships pull in here.

The city beach in Malaga (La Malagueta) is okay but I have seen much nicer, the colour of the sand is grey which does not seem as appealing as others. There is a strong current so be careful if you go for a swim.

La Malagueta beach

We took a day trip to Gibraltar from Malaga.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory it has an area of 6.7 km² and shares its northern border with Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region. At its foot is a densely populated city area, home to over 30,000 Gibraltarians and other nationalities.

The Rock of Gibraltar

It is like a mini England with lots of English pubs that serve a large English breakfast that my husband was very happy with. The police dress the same as they do in England and the Phone boxes and mail boxes are red.

A very happy husband with his big English Breakfast.

We got a cable car to the top of the rock, the views are great from the top. The Barbary apes that roam freely at the top of the rock are nasty little buggers, they tried to rob my husband back pack and when they could not get that they tried to take his wallet from his pocket. They got quite angry when they got nothing from us. So be careful if you visit and keep an eye on your children. It was a lovely walk back down the rock to the village.

View from the top of the rock.

Barbary apes

This one looks like my husband when he is grumpy and has not shaved for 2 days. Ha Ha

The lack of flat space on Gibraltar means the peninsula’s only runway is bisected by its busiest road, the Winston Churchill Avenue that heads towards the land border with Spain. A pair of flimsy-looking barriers closes vehicular traffic every time a plane lands or departs. Fortunately, it’s not a busy airport. It handles only about 30 flights a week, all flying to and from the United Kingdom.

Overall a lovely time in Malaga

Almerimar

We needed a holiday from the holiday so we spent a week with great friends in Almerimar southern Spain. Almerimar is located 40km west of Almeria city and 160km east of Malaga. It has a beautiful marina with 1,100 berths. You can take boat trips go diving, sailing, windsurf, jet skiing and fishing. It has over 13km of wide sandy beaches with everything you need within walking distance. It is an ideal destination for relaxed, spending time on the beach, eating, drinking, playing golf and catching up with friends.

We did visit Castillo (castle) Guardias Viejas, built in 1769 it houses a permanent exhibition of clothes uniforms and weapons some really nice muskets of the Napoleonic era. It has English explanations of all the exhibition and amazing costal views from the top section. It was restored in 1980. The town also use it as a venue for musical events, it would also be a great place for a wedding venue.

We had a wonderful week here and hope to visit again with our friends. We felt refreshed and ready to hit the road again. Next stop Florence.

Netherlands – Haarlem – Amsterdam, Belguim – Kent – Brugge – Brussels, Luxembourg (June 2017)

The Netherlands, also known as Holland, is a densely populated country in Western Europe. Population: 17 million The official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, as specified in the Constitution. The Hague is where the government is seated, including Parliament, the monarchy, the high courts and foreign embassies. The four largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

Flag of the Netherlands

On this trip we stayed in Haarlem the old city. Haarlem had a population of 155,758 . It is a 15-minute train ride from Amsterdam, and many residents commute to the country’s capital for work. It is a beautiful area, with its many historic buildings and beautiful old squares. It is wonderful to stroll through the narrow streets. The number one form of transport is cycling, (and not one piece of lycra to be seen) from new babies being carried in special made bike chairs, to ninety year olds still cycling with no problem at all. I noticed a lack of large people around, I am sure it is because of the cycling, as they are all well able to eat and drink. It was great to see the canals being used so much. They look so beauty on a sunny day. The Airbnb we stayed in was great, it was on one of the small narrow streets, and had a lovely local pub just on the corner. Our favourite restaurant in Haarlem was La Foule it is a French restaurant, the food is great.

Haarlem, the iconic Windmill

The carrier on the bike below is were two or three children sit.

Our Airbnb and street we stayed on.

The old gate house of the city

Views from our accomadation

We had a few trips into Amsterdam city, although we had been here before it was nice to visit again. We had seen Ann Franks house on a trip we did 27 years ago, it seems to have become more touristic and now there is a museum attached as well. We did visit the Van Gogh museum it was interesting to see how many different styles of painting he tried as his life of an artist.

Van Gogh Museum

Ann Franks House

I love old homes so we went to visit, the Museum Van Loon it is canal house where the museum resides was built in 1672. From 1884 to 1945 the Van Loons lived in the house. The original façade of the house with the statues on top, is still in place the interior was changed after 1757 to the Louis XV style which can still be seen today. The house is beautiful, the garden room was my favourite, as the gardens are lovely to look out on and it is a nice bright room. I often find these old homes can be quite dark. It is definitely worth a visit.

We spent another whole day in the Rijks Museum The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The artwork ranges from 1600 to 1950. It is an amazing place, we enjoyed seeing paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Van Gogh and plenty of others.

Rijks Museum

Zandvoort Beach

As I wanted to have a swim in the north sea we spent an afternoon at Zandvoort beach. It is about 15min on the train from Amsterdam, although the weather was not very good there was a lot of activity on the beach, kitesurfing, sailing, swimming, soccer and people relaxing. The sea was a lot wilder than I expected, but I enjoyed the swim none the less. It is hard to beat the beaches in Australia, but I was impressed with all the different activities going on. Really have to try that Kitesurfing !!!!

We need these wind breakers on the beaches in Ireland

We had a wonderful time in the Netherlands.

Belgium

officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people.

elgium Flag

We got a bus from Amsterdam to Ghent in Belgium, we decided to stay in Ghent as it is between Brussels and Brugge, two cities we wanted to visit.

Ghent itself is very nice, we stayed in the old town, it has the most churches in one area I have ever seen. St Bavo’s Cathedral, St Nicholas Church, St Michaels Church, St James Church, and our lady of St Peters Church. All very beautiful. The city is full of history. The bars and coffee shops are great, but one word of advice (do not eat Thai food in Ghent), well not if you are from Australia. Australia has great Thai restaurants, on trip advisor the Thai restaurant we went to was supposed to be the best Thai restaurants in Ghent. But it was terrible.

Pictures of the old town of Ghent

We had a wonderful day in Brugge, Brugge it is just beautiful, we agreed that so far on our trip this was the most picturesque city we have been in. We climbed the Belfort Tower that is in the movie Brugge, the tower is over 83 meters tall, it has 366 steps to the top and has a very impressive clockwork mechanism and a Carillion of 47 bells. At the top is a breathtaking view of Brugge and the surrounding countryside. You can really see here how flat the land is. Hence everyone cycles.

Belfort Tower

Some of the 47 Bells

View from the top of the Tower

We visited the Basilica of the precious blood, this is a church that has a sacred relic that contains the blood of Christ, I did not realise that blood from Christ still existed. Very interesting.

The other interesting place we went to was Sint – Janshospitaal which is one of the oldest preserved hospital buildings in Europe. In the museum, you can learn about hospital life in the past and how the wards would have looked back then. You can also visit the old chemist that was run by the nuns. It has been very well preserved. There are a lot more things to do and see in this wonderful city.

Old Chemist and hospital

We had drinks that evening at Minnewater (lake of love) The lake and surrounding park offer an excellent retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city`s sights and streets. The many resident swans form the finishing touch to this romantic and beautiful city.

Minnewater

We did another day in the city of Brussels. We first stopped in the Grand Place it was historically a market place where traders and citizens traded goods, today it is one of the most beautiful squares in Eurpore with architecture from eras of Baroque, Gothic and Louis XIV. It was listed as a World Heritage site in 1998 by UNESCO.

Next, we moved onto the Royal Place of Brussels, it is a very impressive building with beautiful gardens. It is the King administration residence and his main workplace.

We went to see the famous Manneken Pis and were horrified to see that someone had clothed the little boy, who does that to a famous statue?

We continued to the Antique and Flea markets in Sablon, the Antiques were amazing. Another wonderful day was had by us both.

We took a train from Ghent to Luxemburg, it was a very smooth trip. We could not get an Airbnb in the centre of Luxemburg as there is a real housing problem in the centre of Luxemburg. So we stayed in Mersch, which is a 10min train trip to the Centre.

Flag of Luxemburg

We were very impressed with Luxemburg especially the old city. It has lots of History and is surrounded by an ancient wall. We did a walking tour of the City which was very informative (Walking Tour City Promenade the guide was great). They have done a very good job of blending the old and new architecture together. We stayed in the city that evening and had dinner at the Bei de Bouwen, the walking guide had told us that the food here was very good and the Local Kniddelen was very good here (this is one of the local dishes of Luxemberg) it is similar to Gnocchi but a bit doughier and heavier, but delicious after a few drinks. The locals told us that it is great soakage before a big night on the grog, Very important information.

View of the walled city of Luxemburg

Public Lift to bring you down into the old city

Restaurant Bei de Bouwen

One of the old city gates

Another thing we noticed was a number of painted pianos throughout the city area. We found out that, touring internationally since 2008, Play Me, I’m Yours is an artwork by British artist Luke Jerram. Reaching over 10 million people worldwide, more than 1,700 street pianos have already been installed in over 55 cities across the globe, from London to New York, bearing the simple instruction Play Me, I’m Yours. Located on streets, in public parks, markets and train stations the pianos are available for everyone to play and enjoy. Play Me, I’m Yours invites the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment. Decorated by local artists and community groups, the street pianos create a place of exchange and an opportunity for people to connect. We were most impressed that one of the pianos had been painted with Aboriginal drawing, who would have thought that in the old city of Luxemburg that a piano sits, painted to reflect the Australian aboriginal art. Amazing what one can find in the world.

The piano painted in Aboriginal art style

We hired a car so we could visit some of the surrounding area, we went to Beaufort Castle it is dated from the 11th century consists of the ruins of the medieval fortress and an adjacent Renaissance château. It is located in Beaufort in eastern Luxembourg.

Beaufort Castle

Chateau de Vianden was constructed from the 11th to the 14th Century it sits perced on the top of a hill with the small town of Vianden below. It is one of the largest and most beautiful feudal residences of the Romanesque and gothic periods in Europe. Both Castle are worth a visit. They are about a 45min drive from the city centre.

Chateau de Vianden

What a fire place

Martin can sniff out alcohol no matter where he is.

Town of Vianden

As Luxemburg is land locked I was interested to know what they do for relief from the hot summer months, I was told that in summer there are beautiful lakes that everyone goes to, they have all types of water sports on these lakes. We decided to drive out to one of these lakes, (Insenborn) the water was very clear and the park (with plenty of amenities) and town that surrounded the area was beautiful. It looked like a great lake to cool down in the summer months.

We had a wonderful time in Luxemburg and would definitely recommend a visit if you are nearby

France – Brest – Bordeaux (June 2017)

France

France is the largest country in the EU, stretching from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. The landscape is diverse, with mountains in the east and south, including the Alpine peak of Mont Blanc (4 810 m) which is western Europe’s highest point. Lowland France consists of four river basins, the Seine in the north, the Loire and the Garonne flowing westwards and the Rhône, which flows from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea. The Population of France is 67 million, language spoken in French. The Capital of France is Paris.

Flag of France

We took a train from Luxemburg to Paris and then onto Brest in France. We had been to Paris a few times before so decided to give it a miss this time around.

Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbor and the second French military port after Toulon. The city is located on the western edge of continental Europe. Unless you like Naval History it may not be your cup of Tea. We enjoyed it although, it seemed a bit empty of people, although there seem to be plenty of residences, the Bars, restaurants and shops seemed to lack enough people to give it a real vibe. We did however enjoy the change of pace.

The Chateau and National Marine Museum is a must see. The chateau has been many things throughout its life, princely residence, a fortress and a prison and experienced the ravages of war more than any of its peers. It stands on a rocky spur at the foot of the town and overlooks the harbour, It is now home to the National Navy Museum. The museum goes way back to show how the Navy started out in Brest and why it was such an ideal place for the Navy, to the present-day activities of the navy. The museum has some amazing model ships, back in the day all ships built here had to have a model one built, so for that reason there are model ships that go back to the 17th century.

Chateau and National Marine Museum

The public transport is very good, with buses, trams, a Cable car that brings you across the harbour and trains. It is a very well laid out city with wide streets for the trams to run down the centre, parks and greenery every few blocks, and very little traffic.

Cable Car and Local area’s in Brest

We did take a trip out to one of their man-made beaches, the beach was not bad but the water was terrible, because there where no waves at all, it seemed like you where swimming in a dirty lake, as you can imagine I did not stay in long. Moulin Blanc Beach (give it a miss).
The Museum of fine art is worth a visit although not very big it has some very interesting works of Art.
Our favourite restaurant was La Chaumiere a French crepe restaurant, 25 rue Emile Zola, Brest 29200, the food and service was excellent, the atmosphere was very relaxing and it was very reasonable priced. It is a little out of the city centre but it is nice to get the cable car across to it.

Our favourite restaurant in Brest

We took a train from Brest to Bordeaux in the South of France, it is a vibrant, dynamic and very affluent city. It has lots of old buildings that have been preserved extremely well. Half of the city (18 sq km) is Unesco-listed, making it a very large urban World Heritage site.
Where Brest is all about the Navy, Bordeaux is all about the wine.

Pictures below of: The City Centre, with its beautiful cathedrals, fountains, old buildings and gateways from the old city.

La Cite du Vin, which is a huge wine centre is worth a visit you can learn a lot about wine not just within France but all over the world, it is a very impressive building and worth a photo.

We visited a number of wineries in the Medoc area, we particularly like Chateau Cantemerle and Chateau Marquis de Terme. It was nice to be able to compare the french wines with the Australian wines. In our opinion Australian wines can hold their own against the Bordeaux wines. (you must book ahead to visit a winery in Bordeaux you cannot just turn up like you can in Australia).

Wineries

I had not seen these stopper things in the wineries in Australia, in France they said by using these stoppers it saves them from opening the barrel to test and check the wine.

We celebrated our 27th Wedding Anniversary this day at the wineries

Rather than doing a bus tour we got a copy of the brochure and did it ourselves, there are about 12 tourist attractions, it included the following, The Grand-Theatre, Eglise Notre-Dame, Porte Dijeaux, Palais Rohan and lots more it only takes about 2 hours to see them all, the trip will take you through cobble streets which have lots of Bars and restaurants to stop along the way. There is also nice gardens in the centre of town that you can go and chill out in.

We had a great meal in L’exquis Resturant 3 rue de Guienne, you can have a 5 or a 7-course meal, it was delicious. It was not as expensive as some place. The French eat late in Bordeaux so if you want atmosphere in the restaurants best to eat later in the evening.

The public transport is great, it cost us 13 euro for a week’s travel, you can get on any bus, train, tram and ferry with this one ticket. It was wonderful to visit Bordeaux we had a wonderful time.

Ireland, Spain – Barcelona (May 2017)

Ireland

Our first stop back in Europe was to visit our family and friends back in Ireland. I had 3 weeks back in Ireland but Martin only had 9 days as he had to go back to Australia for 10 days to sort out taxes and other financials. It was lovely to catch-up with family and friends and as always all my nieces and nephew’s all seem to be growing up too fast.

Martin and I had a lovely day out at Howth, which is a beachside area on the north side of Dublin. I have never been to Howth on a clear day, every time I have visited in the passed it has always been cold, raining and misty but this day it was beautiful.

Howth

Howth Light House been there since 1817

Irelands Eye just off Howth

I had a great night at the Take That Concert with my two younger sisters, they have been in love with this band for over 20 years. It was a great night.

The phoenix Park is always a place I visit when in Ireland, it always bring backs so many childhood memories for me, I spent a lot of time here as a child. The park is just beautiful with all the deer’s and the Cross that you can see for miles across Dublin.

Ever time I am home my parents looked after me so well, they treat me like a Queen, they are amazing, love them to bits.

Well it is time to leave my family and friends and hit the road again. The goodbyes are always hard.

My first stop is to meet Martin in Barcelona Airport where we will make our way to Stiges. We have been to Barcelona a few times before so this time we decided to stay outside of the City Centre. Barcelona is the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in the Kingdom of Spain. Population: 28,480

Barcelona Flag

Sitges is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival. Located between the Garraf Massif and the sea, it is known for its beaches, nightspots, and historical sites. Our Airbnb was one min walk to the beach front, the water and weather was just perfect. Martin and I fell in love with this place, everything was so convenient. The train station into Barcelona was only a 5 min walk, the beautiful boutique shops that lined the cobble streets and the great restaurants and bars. Our favourite restaurant was Francesco Italian, their capriccio was to die for the meals were plentiful and the price not too expensive. I also think it helped that it was only may and there was not too many tourist, and the weather was not too hot. We did have a few day trips into Barcelona which was great.

Stiges

The street we stayed on

This was how close to the beach we were

Micro Car show in Stiges (just great)

Barcelona (third time around)

Mexico April 2017

Mexico

Bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Population: 127 million. Language spoken Spanish.

This is our second time in Mexico we loved it the first time so I am sure we will feel the same this time. Our first stop was Merida, we stoped here as it was the closest town for us to visit Chechen Itza, Uxmal and Tulum.

The Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen-Itza which known as “El Castillo” (the castle), is one of the new seven wonders of the world elected in 07.07.2007. It is exactly 24 m. high considering the upper platform. Apart from the Kukulkan Pyramid, in Chichen Itza there are many other archaeological sites to visit, all carrying traces from Mayan Culture in many ways. Uxmal and Tulum are two of them, Chichen Itza and Uxmal are very impressive. Tulum on the other had is like the poor cousin, it is along the coast so that is something.

Chichen Itza

Uxmal

Tulum

Merida itself is a modern and cosmopolitan city, with museums, art galleries, restaurants, shops and boutiques. It was lovely to spend a few days here.

Merida

From here we went to Cozumel which is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico. We got a ferry from Playa del Carmen across to Cozumel. It is beautiful island but can be very touristy the days the Cruise ships come in. There main source of income is tourism, so quite a number of Cruise ships stop here. It is so much more enjoyable on the island when there are no cruise ships in town. We spent a week on the island in a very nice Airbnb (15A Avenida Sur 599, San Miguel de Cozumel, Quintana Roo 77600 Mexico). The two bedroom home was very new and comfortable and the owner was very helpful and a lovely guy. We had a wonderful time snorkelling, relaxing on the beach, we hired scooters, (something I have always wanted to do) for the time we were on the island and drove around the whole island, we also had a great game of golf in the Cozumel Country Golf course.

Cozumel

Cancun: We had 10days left before we left Central and South America so for the last 10 days we booked into a beautiful resort in Cancun called Mayan Palace. We lay by the pool, drank cocktails, swam in the sea, walked along the coast line and just really relaxed. We did a day trip to Puerto Morelos a small town close to the resort, it is also a lovely spot. It was a wonderful way to spend our last 10 days.

Mayan Palace Resort

We found this Iguana on the golf course.

Europe her we come !!!! Yahoo

Colombia March 2017

Colombia

Officially the Republic of Colombia, is a transcontinental country largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru. Language spoken is Spanish, population is 48,000,000

Columbian Flag

We had not planned to go to Columbia but lots of travellers we met said we should go as it is a great place. So we thought we would spend a few day’s in each of the following places. Medellin, Cali, Bogota, and Cartagena. The only place we had nice weather was Cartagena otherwise we had a lot of rain, we still manage to see a lot.

Medellin

We stayed in the centre of the city but in hind sight we should have stayed in El Poblado , as this had lots of great restaurants bars, clubs, and shopping malls, and a reputation for being the nicest and safest area of the city. The city was okay but just a bit grubby and there are a lot of people living on the streets. While in Medellin we visited the Museum of Antioquia it is the most famous museums in Medellin, it is very impressive, it houses permanent and temporary art exhibitions plus leads educational projects and conference and academic forums.The majority of the museum art was donated by Fernando Botero, a world famous artistic figure who was born and grew up in Medellin. The Museum is in Plaza Botero it is a large outdoor space and park that exhibits 23 bronze sculptures created by Fernando Botero. Defiantly worth a visit.

We took a day trip to: The Rock of Guatapé also known as the Stone of El Peñol it is a monolith a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, there are 740 steps to the uppermost step atop the building at the summit. A viewing spot was built on top of the rock, It is possible to see the 500 km shore-perimeter dam. The view is great and from a distance the steps up to the top make for a good photo. Up close is not that impressive and if you do not get there early there are hundreds of tourists. On the same trip we took a cruise on the Guatape Reservoir, for me the most memorable sight that day was of Guatapé’s streets adorned in fluorescent shades. It is beautiful town, that has a lot of history. It has some very nice good quality souvenir and coffee shops, the best I seen in Columbia.

On another day we took the Sky rail to Parque Arvi which sits on the eastern edge of the city and can be accessed by both cable car and vehicles and buses alike. The countryside appeal of the lush green fauna is not only spectacular to experience, but forms an important watershed for the area as well as important biological nature reserve for plants and animals native to the area. We did a lovely bush walk and visited the markets that are located at the top.

We spent St Pats day in Medellin we did manage to find an Irish Bar, mind you not many Irish mostly Americans. We had a good day all the same.

We flew to Cali from Medellin, the food is good here it was so nice to find an Asian restaurant and a good one at that. It was called Fusion Wok, very good food. It is a very nice town with a very beautiful Catholic church.

Onwards to Bogota, my favourite part of Bogota was Monserrate it is a mountain that dominates the city centre of Bogota the capital city of Columbia. It rises to 3,152 metres above the sea level, where there is a church (built in the 17th century) with a shrine, devoted to (“The Fallen Lord”). We took a ride to the top on the telesferico which is beautiful as it rolls up the mountainside. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the nicest stations of the cross that I have ever seen, they seemed so life-like and the walk around each one of them is very beautiful with very well maintained gardens . We could observe all of Bogota city and surrounding area’s. There is a beautiful coffee shop (Santa Clara restaurant) also here, that is definitely worth a stop.

Coffee shop

From here we walked to the city to visit the gold museum. The Gold Museum in Bogota, is one of the country’s most popular and important museums. The museum contains the world’s largest collection of pre-Columbian gold pieces. The gold museum also displays wood, pottery, textile and stone work produced in pre-Spanish conquest periods. An interesting place worth a visit.

Bogota Plaza: You can’t miss this large square as you wander around the city’s historic centre. Surrounded by colonial buildings and the Cathedral with a statue to Bolivar in the centre. There are lots of pigeons being feed in the square, so be careful, might be an idea to carry an umbrella.

We stayed outside the city, close to Park 93 it seems to be your typical yuppie area. With nice restaurants, parks for the kids to play in and lots of security. The Airbnb was one of the best we stayed in.

Our last stop in Colombia is Cartagena, finally it has stopped raining. The city of Cartagena is a port located on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, it was so nice to be back at the ocean. We had lovely accommodation which was a 5min walk to the beach. We had 5 days just relaxing and enjoying the sunshine.

My favourite area in Cartagena was the old city (it is a walled city), we liked it so much we stayed an extra two nights there. It has a lot of History and a great vibe about it, the people are colourful friendly and easy going. With some wonderful restaurants. It is wonderful to walk around the cobble narrow streets and admire all the old buildings

We visited The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena not far from the old town. The castle is located on the Hill of San Lázaro in a strategic location, dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was built by the Spanish during the colonial era. Construction began in the year 1536, and it was originally known as the Castillo de San Lázaro, It was expanded in 1657.

Colombia has been a very unexpected and interesting place for us to visit, we are glad we took the journey.

Bolivia, March 2017

Atacama Desert and Uyuni Salt Flats Bolivia

We did a 3 day 4-wheel drive trip across the Atacama Desert to Uyuni Salt flats in Bolivia. It was amazing.
We first went to the Hito Cajon the border of Chile/Bolivia, once the formalities were complete we were organised into our 4×4 there was 7 people in the 4×4 which included the driver. It was a great group of people, we all got on like a house on fire. Our first stop was to Laguna Blanca and Verde the water was emerald green and you could see the reflection of the Volcano in the Laguna. We continued onto the and had a lovely soak in the hot springs. Following this we went to Sol de Aguas Termales Mahana to witness the bubbling hot mud pools that shot steam many meters into the air. It was a great first day. We had basic accommodation that evening and this was our first time to stay in a six bed dorm. It all went very well.

It was an early start to day 2. Our first stop is Laguna Colorada a fascinating lake of red water that had the most flamingos I have ever seen feeding along the edge. We travelled to Siloli desert area that had surreal rock formations, this is where the rock tree lives. We continue to see volcano (still active) Ollagüe it is 5,900 meters above sea level. Yes back to the dreaded altitude again. They say that your body should remember the last time you were at altitude and you should acclimatise quicker than the last time, I am not sure I agree with this, as I had a pounding headache for most of the time I was at altitude. We stopped at a beautiful place for Lunch, just beside a stream. We stopped in a small ghost town to try the local bear, Cactus bear. The town use to have a train station were the local minerals were exported. The mining operation is now closed and there are only 10 families left in the town. It was a bit sad as I am sure at one time it was a thriving town. Martin reckoned the beer was pretty good. We continued on to our accommodation for the night hotel Tambo Loma, the rooms were nice and big, food was good and a hot shower was very nice.

Day 3: We are all very excited as it looks like we are going to be able to get out onto the salt flats. Even though there has been some rain it is still possible. We left the accommodation at 5.30am so we could see the sunrise over the salt flats and boy was it worth it. I had not realised that the salt flats were do big. We drove for 120 kilometres and on they went. They are 10,500 square kilometres and are 3,656 meters above sea level. It was amazing, we were so lucky, there was a small amount of water on the salt flats in some areas therefore the reflections in our photos were amazing.

When we got Uyuni Bolivia we went to the local markets. Uyuni is a nice little town, it seems to be a transit place as we met a lot of travellers. We went to have a look at the Train graveyard. We said goodbye to our travel partners and hoped we might meet them on the road again. Overall it was a wonderful trip.

Next day we took an overnight bus to La Paz which is the Capital of Bolivia. It was our first overnight bus to take, we paid a little extra for the bus fair so that we could have a seat that lay flat, this made the journey a lot more bearable. We checked into our Airbnb at 7am, the host was very nice and told us everything we needed to know about La Paz.
We went out to looking for breakfast, Martin was very happy with himself as we came across an English pub that did a big breakfast of Bacon, eggs, hash brown, tomatoes, mushroom, Tea and toast. That’s him sorted for the day.

We booked in to ride the world’s most dangerous road an exhilarating mountain bike tour of Bolivia’s Death Road. I really had to summons up the courage to do this as I have never been on a mountain bike before, let alone come down Death Road. It was snowing when we started the descent, we were at 4,800 meters above sea level. The views were amazing, were able to admire the dramatic changing landscapes, from snow-covered mountains to tropical jungle. As we decended the weather got much better. It was tough going, we had to ride through rivers, under water falls and carry our bikes over landslides. In the end I was glad I did it, but I am not sure if I will ever feel the need to do it again.

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable fresh water lake in the world at 3,800 meters we had a wonderful day here, the town the bus dropped us off at was Copacabana, we had a really nice lunch here, if we had of known how nice this town was we would have stayed the night. We then took a boat out to Isla del sol which is on the lake, it is a beautiful island with a lovely small harbour, It reminded me of some of the small harbours in Dubrovnik.

Our time in Bolivia has gone in all too quickly and it is time for us to move on. I would definitely recommend a visit to Bolivia.

Chile Feb 2017

Chile

Situated south of Peru and west of Bolivia and Argentina, Chile fills a narrow 2,880-mi (4,506 km) strip between the Andes and the Pacific. One-third of Chile is covered by the towering ranges of the Andes. In the north is the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert. Population 17,363,894, Capital city is Santiago.

Punta Arenas is a very nice town, we stayed in a very interesting small home, it was amazing how compact it was and had everything we needed. We booked it through Airbnb. It really shows how little space you can live in. We whet to the Nao Victoria ship replicate museum, it had replicates of the Magallanes Ship, the HMS Beagle and the James Caird. This may seem strange but we went to visit a cemetery, I have never seen a cemetery where the tombs of the dead people seemed nicer than the house that they once lived in. Some of them were bigger than most of the homes in the area. It was also very well maintained. Definitely worth a visit. A great place to eat was a wood fire pizza restaurants, it is called Mesita Grande. It has great pasta’s and pizza’s. It is also in Puerto Natales, which we are off to next so no doubt we will visit.

HMS Beagle

Magallanes Ship

James Caird

These are the tombs

We took a 3-hour bus journey to Puerto Natales as we wanted to visit Torres del Paine. It is a very hip town with a very nice harbour that has stunning mountain views. Torres del Paine was amazing, it was a tough climb to Mirador base de las Torres, but worth every step, it started raining just before the toughest part of the climb but at least it cleared for a few minutes while we took some photos and admire the view. Down on the harbour of the Town is a great art gallery it is an old wooden factory that has converted into an art gallery, I loved some of the art work, especially one picture of the old harbour, if I was not travelling I am sure I would have bought it.

The morning we left for Torres del Paine

When we arrived at Torres del Paine

Finally the skies cleared

Great camp sites

Art Gallery

The harbour in the painting above

The Town Puerto Natales

We flew to Santiago Chile, my first impressions of Santiago was not good I thought it all looked very grotty, and because of all the reasoned bush fires there was a heavy smog in the city. As the days went on I thought I may have been a bit harsh as there are area’s of Santiago that are quite nice. We had not done any wine tours on our travels yet so decided to go to Undurraga Winery, it was established in 1885. We picked this winery as we had not seen this wine been sold in Ireland or Australia and it had some good reviews. We were not disappointed, the Savoingu Blanc was light fresh and a bit on the sweet side but would be lovely to drink on a nice sunny day in Australia. We both also like the Carmenere, (this grape is local to chile) we had never tasted a Carmenere, it is a red wine, not as heavy as a Cab Sav but not as light as a merlot, similar to an Australian Shiraz. I imagine it would go with most red meats. It was a great day at the winery. We went to a wonderful restaurant called Bocanariz Vinobar, the food was great and the sommelier was very good.
The Art museum was closed for renovations, so that was a bit disappointing. We took the local bus to Valparaiso to have a look at the colourful barrios (neighbourhoods) and to visit Pablo Neruda (famous Chilean poet) home.

Santiago city

Valparaiso

Pablo Neruda (famous Chilean poet) home

We flew to Calama from Santiago and then bused it to San Pedro De Atacama, what a great little place, it is an oasis in the desert, it is alternative with a very relaxed atmosphere. Food is of high standards, and so is the wine. We are surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains, it is cold and refreshing in the morning and evening but very hot during the day. This was our first time to stay in a hostel, it worked out very well as it was in the centre of town, it was very clean and the people we met were very nice.
My favourite animals are horses, and one of my bucket list items was to gallop through a canyon on horseback. As a kid my family would watch the old western movies on a Sunday afternoon, I always thought that the cowboys galloping though the canyons looked amazing. So, we booked in a day trip on horseback though Valley de le Muerte and Cordillera de Sol, the horses where old race horses so were very keen to gallop any chance they got. It was a perfect day, the weather was great the horses wonderful and the views outstanding, this bucket list item has been ticked off for sure Yahoo. The Star gazing was also amazing out at the valley of the moon, no photos can do these skies justice.

We had a wonderful time in Chile.