Home again

Someone's very happy we're home

Frankfurt revisited

We've returned to Frankfurt, which means we are close to the end of our holiday. That's a little bit sad, but we've had a good time. However, we didn't get to do one thing....see snow! So I did an internet search to find the nearest mountains near Frankfurt and found one within an hour's train trip. I checked the webcam from the mountain...and....it was showing snow. We've had a cold snap at the end of our holiday and they had a fresh cover of snow fall yesterday. So we hopped on the train and headed up the mountain. Luckily there was still just a little bit of snow lying around, so we got to see snow on our European Winter holiday.


Right now we are waiting at the airport to board our plane. Once again a full flight so we may not get our business class seats. Fingers crossed (otherwise it will be legs crossed as we squeeze into the seats). We'll be home soon Reba!!!

Bye bye Europe, we'll be back (?soon) especially Amsterdam and Vienna. It's been fantastic.

Vienna

We left Venice by overnight train heading for Vienna. We didn't have a sleeper this time, opting for a couchette (an open bunk in a compartment of six bunks). We arrived to a chilly but sunny morning in Vienna. The hotel room in Vienna turned out to be the nicest of the trip, which is a lovely way to finish the trip. Vienna may well be the highlight of the trip as well. It looks to be a very lovely city, magnificent architecture, clean, friendly, gardens, easy to get around. I'm thinking we should have left more time to spend in this city.

Schonbrunn Palace
The Gloriette - The garden pavillion
The Palmenhouse


The Gates to the Imperial Palace Complex
The Imperial Apartments
At the public transport depot!

The main Shopping Mall

St Stephan's Cathedral
The (Blue) Danube

Venice

There are no words for Venice; words couldn't possibly capture the experience. Photos don't really do it justice either. In any case I will leave the photos to try and convey the wonderful experience that is Venice.

The Basilica

The Doge's PalaceThe markets around San Marco Square








The Rialto Bridge

Train from Nice to Venice via Milan

We started the journey in a compartment with an elderly farming couple from West Australia and a young couple from Texas. We al chatted for the four hours to Milan, so the trip went very fast. Unfortunately, the train went very slow and we missed our connection to Venice. Luckily there was another train just an hour later (not in the schedule), however it was almost standing room only. Managed to find two seats (nearly together) in 2nd class.
Arrived in Venice after dark, and still managed to find our way to the hotel.

Nice day 3

At the market in Nice

It was a very quiet Sunday morning in Nice. The streets were quiet and deserted. We thought everyone was sleeping off their saturday night hangover...it turns out they were all having brunch at the Market in the Old Town part of Nice. Everyone was sitting at outdoor cafes soaking up the sunshine.
After wandering around the market, we made our way up the old fort atop the hill overlooking Nice. Great views over the city and the Cote d'Azur.
We continued wandering through the narrow streets of the Old Town, looking at the many shops and boutiques and people shopping in them.
We bought some crusty bread rolls and a bottle of red wine for lunch which we enjoyed in an old square with a church, a central fountain, and grand buildings on all sides. We sat on the steps, bathed in sunshine enjoying a wonderful lunch. A perfect scene.

A day in Monaco

Museum in the old walled part of Monte Carlo

Monaco HarbourSome lovely building who's name I forget!

Monaco marina

The casino at Monte Carlo

We thought we might take the train to Monaco, go to the casino and win some extra spending money so we could extend our holiday. Luckily we wouldn't have been allowed in (jeans and t-shirt) or we might have been coming home early!
We had lunch at the top of Monte Carlo in the old fortified, walled city, with beautiful views over the bay. A little breezy, but a balmy 19C. Even got a touch of sun today.

PS
Think carefully before you ask to see our photos when we return, we're up to 500+ with two cities still to come!!!!

Nice Day 1

Did you notice, no jacket, no hat, no scarf, no gloves

Lovely Rod, lovely buildings

Rod avec fontaine

We wandered around Nice, getting our bearings and taking in the sites. Nice has some wonderful old buildings but they certainly aren't as well maintained as say Amsterdam. I know Rod is just itching to get his pressure washer out and give the buildings a good washdown!.
We decided to take the afternoon 'off' and sit by the beach and take in the sun! It's like Winter doesn't even touch the French Riviera. Everyone's still a bit confused by the Spring warmth, some are on the beach sunning themselves in swimsuits and others walking the promenade in winter jackets.

Train to Nice via Milan (Italy)

The Swiss Italian alps

The train travelled through the Swiss/Italian alps, so we at least got to see some snow and ice somewhere during our Europe holiday!! Very lovely scenery, hope the pictures through the train window come out.
It was incredibly easy to tell when we crossed the border into Italy, as the female border guard looked like she stepped off the catwalk in the latest fashions!!!
And the interim results are in on European Train Systems.
First place goes to the Swiss trains, cleanest, roomiest, on time, best washrooms; then we have the Dutch trains, then the German trains, and finally the Italian trains, which are less roomy, less clean, more crowded, and dirtier

Zurich Day 3

A little Swiss Chalet

It's my birthday.
After breakfast we took the train out to the cable car ride up the mountain, although it was a bit foggy up the to. When we got to the top there was a mountain path that took you to a very quaint country village. All very lovely. We didn't see Heidi or any Eidelweis, but it was lovely anyway.
Back to the city and then we took a boat cruise around Lake Zurich.
We went out for a celebration dinner and by coincidence it was one of the waitresses birthday and when we walked in there was a birthday cake with candles. She claimed to be 19 and all the waitresses laughed when i said I was turning 46...hmmm don't know about that. Anyway, she shared a piece of her birthday cake with us, so that was a nice treat. Tomorrow, its the train to Nice, France, via Italy

Zurich Day 2

In front of the Landesmuseum

In front of one the MANY MANY churches in Zurich

Typical street scene in old town Zurich

Overlooking the Limmat River, Zurich

A lovely sunny day in Zurich, almost warm even. We did a self-guided walking tour around central Zurich. Boy you get a sore neck looking up and around at all the lovely architecture. The churches are often the grandest and most magnificent buildings, I guess they had the most money. Zurich isn't nearly as laid back as Amsterdam which was a very youbg person's city. Zurich is the city of Business men in well tailored suits having long lunches in five star restaurants. A real business and financial centre of Europe.

Zurich Day 1

Cold and windy as we arrived in Zurich. The first thing we did was to head for the bank, no not to open a Swiss bank account...just to change some dollars into Swiss Francs!!!
It was immediately apparent that Zurich is quite an expensive city, although part of that is because something that is 5 euro in Amsterdam will be 8 Swiss francs, so it sounds more expensive even if its not!
Took a bit of a look around before the wind and rain drove us indoors.

Overnight train to Zurich

We were very excited about the idea of the overnight train, particularly as we had booked a sleeper. We went out and bought some wine, cheese and strawberries to enjoy on our journey. Unfortunately when we got to our compartment, we found a 'closet' with two bunks already set up for the night, and not enough room for two people to stand in the compartment at once! It really was more like a small cupboard with two bunks.
In the morning, as they served our coffee and breakfast they upgraded us to a first class sleeper, which is more like we imagined; two bunks, a small table with two chairs, and an ensuite with small shower. Oh well, maybe next time.

Amsterdam Day 4

Today was a very Dutch day. We went off to have a look at a working Windmill. Rod was very eager to see a windmill close up. He was impressed and thought he would have loved to have built windmills. I don't think Canterbury is ready for its first windmill.
After this we took a boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam, very touristy, but a must do.
Then it was time to pack up and say goodbye to Amsterdam and take the overnight train to Zurich. I feel very sad to be leaving Amsterdam, I would like to spend more time in The Netherlands and Amsterdam. And my Dutch was just starting to improve as well (although you hardly get a chance to practice because everyone is fluent in English)

Amsterdam Day 3

One of the many markets in Amsterdam

We started the day by walking to Anne Frank House. Luckily we got there early because by the time we left a long queue had formed in the cold windy rain. I'm sure the young girl who wrote the diary could ever have imagined how many people would be touched by her story.
Rod wanted to have a look at The Hague, so we took the 50 minute train trip. Although quite a modern city, we took a self-guided walking tour around the historic quarter looking at buildings going back up to 500 years. Quite amazing.

Amsterdam Day 2

That's just so cute!

Our sunniest day in Europe so far, at least until the afternoon. We went in and had a look around the Van Gogh museum. I could easily have spent a whole day there. We arrived very early because it gets very busy and crowded. In the park outside the museum they keep a small pond frozen over for ice skating, but we didn't stay for a skate. We walked many miles around old Amsterdam taking in all the sights. You really don't need to hunt out the official tourist sights, because everything is so amazing. After dinner, we took a walk through the red light district, to see how it compares by night.

Amsterdam Day 1

Not hard to guess what country this is!!!

Today was the first taste of Amsterdam, and what an amazing city it is. Picture postcard views in every direction. It took us an extra two hours to find a place for lunch because we kept having to stop and take pictures or have a closer look at the sights. The age of the buildings is so amazing compared to our very young culture in Australia. As we were wandering around, not knowing where we were, it became very obvious we had found the red light district. It has a character all of its own.