Roma!

Hi there! Our latest adventure was (or should I say was to have been) a 4 day weekend in Rome. Our curse of attracting European industrial action continued... so with the Italian Air Traffic Controllers off the job we had half a day to kill at Heathrow. Once we found the 'free cocktail' bar, this actually got our trip off to a pretty good start. "Cocktails made with love"

This was not a holiday - it was more like boot camp for tourists.... early starts, busy schedules and late finishes... but it worked very smoothly and due to Michelle's planning we packed a lot into our 3 days in Rome.

You can probably guess most of them... but for what its worth the highlights for us were probably the following.......

Colosseum, Palatine and the Roman Forums
Our first day in Rome was a beautiful clear winter's day and we spent most of this exploring the Colosseum, Palatine and the Roman Forums. The Colosseum was pretty amazing and to have been in it in when it was still complete must have been incredible. Fortunately for me it was easy to picture being there, as with Michelle constantly quoting lines from 'The Gladiator' it felt just like the real thing..... hmmmm.

Anyway - next stop was the Roman Forums a basin filled with various buildings, columns and arches in various states of disrepair..... here we did gazing at the sights(interspersed with more quotes and references to the Gladiator). In fact - the only person to take the Gladiator thing further than Michelle - was a 4 year old boy who dressed up as one and proceeded to attack his father with a sword!? From here we climbed up onto the Palentine - sited on a hill overlooking the Colosseum, Forums and Rome - this is the site where Rome is said to have been founded. Today it is a nice, relatively peaceful park, scattered with ruins and offering some great views. A great spot for a picnic (not that we had one).

Trevi Fountain
This amazing fountain is on everyone's must see list in Rome (as was apparent by the crowds and hawkers) - but once you see it you can understand why. Today tossing coins into the fountain is the thing to do - coins must be tossed over one's shoulder into the fountain. 1 coin - means you will return to Rome one day, 2 - means you will fall in love with an Italian, 3 - means you will marry one.


Unshrewdly we had arrived with only 1 euro coins in our pockets..... it took a lot to convince me that I should participate in this phenomenon - but eventually agreed to part with my 1 euro, as Michelle did not want to come back alone. Strangely, I think I might have caught a glimpse of her chucking another 2 over her shoulder as we left.... but must have been someone else..........?

St Peter's Basilica

For both of us this was a real highlight. To stand in the Basilica felt like you were in a far religious place than to stand in the Sistine Chapel. We wandered around and took it all in for quite a while, as a mass took place at the main altar. From here we went up into the main dome of the Basilica. First this gave us the chance to look done inside the church from the inside and to see some of the incredible detail in the mosaics that line the interior of this huge building. After this you head on up the narrow stairs to the top of the building and the outside of the dome (not a walk for those who are uncomfortable with confined spaces). At the other extreme - we went into the Vatican Grottos which are situated under the church and contain the tombs of numerous Popes. We paused briefly by Pope John Paul II's, but it was a fairly busy and (unfortunately) less than peaceful place to be due to noisy tourist types.

Wine
Its not Ross and Michelle on holiday without some wine thrown in - and in Rome we were reminded that there is far more to Old World wine than the French wine which we tend to drink at home in London. We visited a cool little wine bar called L'Angolo Divino (just off Campo de Fiori) and enjoyed a few drinks. Our favourite was one of the house wines... a Montepulciano from Abruzzo.

On our last day we set off in search of a few bottles of it to take home with us. This took us into the Tridente district which looked very cool - kind of what you would expect from Italy - little wine shops, delis, small restaurants and winding twisting streets. To our amazement when we found the wine it was a 6 euro bottle..... (hmmm perhaps we may have had one too many???) but we stuck to our guns and got as much as we could carry (not that much when you have a day of sightseeing ahead of you). We have since tried one... YUM!

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
We did the compulsory trip to the Vatican Museums. The sights here were interesting, although at times (particularly in the Sistine Chapel) it was fairly crowded. Some of the sculptures and fresco ceilings were particularly spectacular.

The other gallery we visited was Galleria Borghese. It sits in the park area on the hill above the Spanish Steps and was the home of a Cardinal who collected art. Some of the sculptures here were incredible - in particular the Bernini Apollo and Daphne.

Buildings and ruins....

We enjoyed just walking around the city and the amazing buildings and/or ruins around every corner. Particularly grand was the Pantheon viewed from the square outside it - it looked just like something straight from an Asterix's comic.

Coffee

We once again dabbled in Italian coffee - and enjoyed a visit to one cafe called La Tazza d'Oro which is said to make a great coffee and also a special mix of coffee and cream (eaten like an ice cream) that even the Italians are said to travel here to try. Around the corner, we found a 1940's coffee grinder in a shop - so decided that it would be a nice souvenir of a great trip here.

A fantastic weekend in Budapest!

Our last weekend away was great trip to Budapest, Hungary. I had been there for work once before and had seen very little, but enough to know that it definitely warranted a return visit.

Budapest is probably best known for its baths (although - amongst our friends it may be better known for the House of Hungarian Wines... more on that below). Filled with natural spring water the baths are said to have healing properties. We spent a morning at Gellert Baths - which are housed in a beautiful Art Nouveau building. There are various pools of different temperatures, massage tables, steam baths/sauna and sunbathing decks (although not so popular in Winter).

Having got nice, warm and sleepy we set off for the infamous House of Hungarian Wines. This little tourist attraction doesn't seem to feature in guide books - but is well known by friends who have been there and is now a compulsory stop on any trip to Budapest. Hungary has a surprisingly large wine industry - with 22 appellations. After paying for entry you descend into a cellar where you can wander through the wine regions - and in each you will find a 1 or 2 open bottles of wine - which you can help yourself to a tasting of. Dangerous? Indeed. Highlights were the Bivakar - a red blend known as 'Bull's Blood' and Tokaj - a sweet white dessert wine. Four hours later we emerged well tasted and with a few bottles to take home to London for the cellar!

Budapest has many beautiful statues, monuments and buildings. We spend a fair bit of time wandering round exploring. On the Sunday we were up visiting the Buda Palace when it started to snow quite heavily! The first fall of the season. Although the snow made exploring a little difficult from a practical perspective - it did make Budapest even more stunning and it felt appropriate to be wandering round in this Eastern European city in the snow.

The final stop on our trip was the 'House of Horrors' - a multi-media museum/memorial to the Nazi and (more so) Communist past of Budapest. This was really interesting and provided an insight into the atrocities which occurred in the post-war Communist regime. It was incredible to think that just 20 years ago Budapest was firmly locked behind the iron-curtain.

A very full, but very enjoyable 2 days in this part of the world.

Four weekends and a funeral........

Well it has been a while since our last blog entry owing to the fact we've been away for the last 5 weekends... here's what we've been up to!

Edinburgh (a.k.a. "Edinberg")

We joined the wave of AB supporters who descended on Edinburgh for the pool match against (as it turned out) Scotland B.

It was our first foray into Scotland and we embraced all things Scottish with a Whiskey tour (where we discovered 'Old Pulteney Liqueur' - a close relative of Drambuie), a (small) taste of Haggis and even some Scottish dancing - although to be fair only half of the Nelsons participated in the latter.... Edinburgh was awash with black jerseys and we bumped into lots of friends from London and NZ who had made the journey there.

In between rugby watching we did find time to explore the sights. The Castle - which perched on a craggy volcanic outcrop on the edge of the city is a spectacular sight. We also did a tour of one of one of the now underground 'closes'. These were once narrow streets where people lived in squalid conditions which are now buried under new buildings built over them. We explored old houses and streets and disappointingly, although we were in apparently in one of the most haunted places in Scotland..... there wasn't a ghost to be seen anywhere....

Scotland is definitely on the list for a return visit... perhaps a week in the Isles or the Highlands.

Oktoberfest gets our Thumbs Up

We touched down in Munich with our drinking buddies for the weekend, Andy and Sel, and headed straight for the action at Oktoberfest. We arrived late in the day on Saturday to a mass of carnage.... clearly we had some catching up to do if we were going to fit in.

After unsuccessful attempts to get into a couple of the 14 large tents (they hold around 4-6k people each!) we stumbled upon a smaller tent who would take us. And that is when we met Heidi. Heidi was our beer wench - and she set a cracking pace..... if she thought we had been on a Stein (they hold a litre) too long, she would let us know about it.... it was a case of drink up or get out..... Before you knew it we were in the swing of things up on benches/tables with everyone else singing along. The end of the night was marked with a very memorable chicken (one of half a million which would be consumed during the course of the festival... although not all by us).

We all emerged the next day feelings pretty chipper and set off into battle once again. This time we arrived in time to get a place at a table in the Armbrustschützen (I think) tent. Once again we were fortunate to be surrounded mainly by Germans, with a few Italians and French for good measure. The Germans were all kitted out in their Bavarian outfits - including a table full of girl's next to us (pictured with Andy) much to Michelle and Sel's delight. The locals took us under their wing and without Heidi to contend with we could partake at rate more in line with our abilities.

The tent......

The tent came equipped with a Bavarian brass band and we soon knew all the words to German drinking songs. Fortunately 'Country Roads' was also on the play list and featured numerous times during the course of the day and night - combine this with beer and roasted Pork Hocks, these were very happy times.

A couple of beauties aren't we?

Shrewdly we had taken Monday off - so spent a day exploring Munich. To be fair this really only constituted a 1 hour open top bus tour (on which some ... or was it all..... took the chance for a quick nap).... but then sightseeing wasn't really the reason for being there.

A very funny weekend. Having done Oktoberfest once I think it something which was great to do once but maybe something we won't feel the need to do again... we'll see.

ABs v France - The Choke

Went to Cardiff to see the Quarter Finals.

France 20 / All Blacks 18. In the words of our good friend Mr Gregan - "Four more years boys".

Some AB supporters in happier times

In the Lake District with Bruce, Alan and TomTom

Bruce and Alan were in town and were kind enough to let us tag along on their trip to the Lake District. This was our second trip to the region - but with aid of a rental car and our faithful navigation system (TomTom) we were far more effective tourist this time round.

We were based in Bowness-on-Windermere - a cute little town where the locals cater to hoards of tourists by day and get thoroughly inebriated by night.

An unexpected highlight was visiting Beatrix Potter's house - a cute old cottage filled with original knic knack's and furniture - many of which feature in the illustrations of her books. We also managed a walk around a lake - where the four city kids in their black coats, black scarves and black umbrellas stood out amongst the more serious walkers with bright coloured windproof gear, tramping boots and walking poles.
As tends to happen when Carpenters congregate... there was also a focus on where we might find our next meal. Some adventures took as far into the countryside and over treacherous crossing in search of such local delicacies as 'Devonshire tea' or Gingerbread baked by a distant Nelson relative. Often others had beaten us to it - but Alan managed to satisfy this need as we were on the road out of the area.

We had a great trip and it was nice to spend some time with Bruce and Alan again!

Paris - not a bad spot for the Wake

It was to have been the final leg of the ABs campaign to win the World Cup.... but alas.... they weren't to feature. Having parted with our finals tickets we set off for a 4 day weekend (or the 'Wake' as it had come to be known) in Paris.

We were staying in the Latin Quarter - a great location, nice and close to the main tourist sights. This was fortunate, as the French Metro staff were on strike, meaning many lines were not working and some key attractions were shut due to a lack of staff. That's the French way I guess.

Although there were a few sleep-ins we packed a fair bit in... some highlights were:

• A day trip to Versailles, a large Chateau about 45mins out of Paris. A beautiful grand building - with expansive picturesque grounds. [Above left - a hardcore tourist - below - the grounds]

• The Galleries - we spent a day exploring the Louvre and took in the 8 huge Monet Waterlilly canvases at the Orangerie gallery.
  
• The Eiffel Tower - we were in two minds about whether to go up - but were not disappointed that we did. Definitely the best view in Paris - albeit a bit chilly.
  
• The food and wine - another fantastic meal at the 'Fish La Boissonnerie' restaurant we visited last time in Paris, possibly topped by a meal at 'Le Versance' ... a swanky boutique restaurant where the service was unlike anything we'd experienced before. We also dabbled in some wine... the highlight probably being 'Cafe Rouge' a small local wine bar near the Bastille area where they serve wine straight from the barrel and serve many others by the glass and the locals enjoy oysters fresh from the shell. A breakfast... love those french breakfasts......
  
• Shopping.... a successful trip to one of Paris' famous department stores.... say no more.
  
• Rugby - oh yeah... we watched the final at a bar. At least the Saffas one... a victory by the English would have made work intolerable for the foreseeable future.

It was our second time here and we thought that after this trip we might have felt like we had 'done Paris' - but it is an incredible city and there is so much to see and do. We'll be back again... maybe one more trip will do it?

Fast times in Keswick........

After a fairly busy trip back to Oz and NZ, we opted to spend the August bank holiday enjoying a slower pace of life in the village of Keswick (pron: Kes-ick) in the north of the Lakes District.

Some stats on Keswick.........

• Population - 5,000
• Beds in B'n'Bs - 2,000
• Spares beds in B'n'Bs on a Bank holiday - 0.
• Walkers - more than you can count
• Dogs - also more than you can count - but seemed like about 1.2 per walker
• Lakes - 1
• Mountains - we saw 3
• Fish'n'Chip shops - 4 (good ones too)
• Pencil Museums - 1 (no kidding - the pencil was born there)
• Famous cars - many including Kitt, Chitti Chitti Bang Bang, General Lee, Batmobile, Herbie (of Goes Bananas fame) and last but not least, the Delorean from Back to the Future.......
• Pubs - 25.

So what did we do? We relaxed and tried to fit in with what everyone else was doing: a little bit of walking (0 mountains climbed however), a little bit of eating (cued up for the famous F'n'Cs) and much time spend relaxing at various pubs (while we didn't go as far as getting a dog, in an attempt to integrate with everyone else, we maintained a strict policy of visiting 'dog friendly' pubs only).

In short - we had a great relaxing weekend. The pace of life and the number of friendly welcoming people was a very refreshing contrast to life in London. Perhaps sometime we'll be back to do a bit more exploring!

A flying visit.....

After 12 months away the time came for a flying visit back to NZ and Oz. We were very fortunate to be able to pack a huge amount into a short trip - a wedding, a baby (not ours) and an eightieth..... plus lots of time with friends and family in between.

First stop was Port Douglas for Gerald and Gretchen's wedding. We had a great few days here. There were plenty of friends in town for the big day - and so it was fantastic to catch-up, especially those who we hadn't seen for a while . The wedding was beautiful - a cute little chapel on the coast followed by a reception set amongst a plush golf course - and of course - a very happy Bride and Groom!


In amongst the wedding festivities we even managed to sneak a day out diving on the Great Barrier Reef - which was pretty amazing! We really enjoyed Port Douglas - it was a perfect spot for this kind of event and was a nice way to kick off the trip.

From here we dashed to Wellington - home again! A couple of days to shop (and we did!), catch up with Michelle's family who were in Welly and enjoy a lovely dinner at Capitol, pop into work, brunch at Maranui Cafe (yum!), have a great night out with mates (including a visit to the much loved Matterhorn.......) and just generally taking in all the changes in Wellington. Great to be home.... albeit briefly!


Next stop; Hamiltron - and time to meet the new niece - Georgia!! The Nelson clan were together for a couple of days - and we all got plenty of baby time. She is such a sweetie - and it was neat for the new Aunty and Uncles to have a hold of her!

Finally destination - Hawkes Bay for Grandma's 80th! Another great time catching up with everyone - and great that we could be there on such a milestone occassion! Good to see Grandma in such good form!

After a whirlwind tour - including more catching up with friends and family at Auckland airport, it was time to head home.... back to the grind - fully recharged after seeing everyone and a bit of time in Aotearoa, but perhaps a little jaded as a result!

"Piano, Piano, Piano"

"Piano, Piano, Piano" - these versatile words of wisdom were drummed into us by our skipper as we cruised our way around the Croatian coast last week.

The Trip

Our trip involved a group of us spending a week cruising on a yacht around the northern coast of Croatia. We left from the port town of Pula, spent a few days working our way to the south and then returned and spent a couple of days further north. A typical day would involve setting off mid morning and cruising for a few hours before finding a nice spot for a swim (or as Willy would say - to 'make swimming') and lunch. Once we were feed and watered we would continue on, typically to a small bay in reach of a good local restaurant for fresh seafood in the evening.

The Skipper - Willy

Our skipper for the trip was a slightly crazy Croatian - Willy. Our charter operator had forgotten to book a skipper for us - so Willy stepped in a very short notice (ie none). Willy had a liking for fast yachts, great food, drinking beer and relieving himself off the back of the boat (the latter two of which he did with amazing regularity). He was a great skipper, a bit of a character and his love of food and knowledge of the coast meant we were spoilt to a great week of boating. [Willy - slightly worse for wear after a long day of sailing... and beer]

His favourite word was 'piano', which we quickly learned could be appropriately used in almost any circumstances - drinking, manoeuvring the boat, when planning the day, during storms - you name it. Translations into English include easy, chill, gently and relax. Good stuff - and now also commonly used by those of us on board.

The Crew

The crew was comprised of 4 couples, all friends - although not everyone knew everyone at the start of the trip. We had a great time and plenty of laughs.

Willy let us get involved in the boating and by the end of the week our tacking had reached the "That's Great" standard - I can assure you, quite a compliment coming from Willy.

The Boat

Our yacht was a 49ft Bavarian. Her name was 'Summertime Girls Pula'..... the latter being a reference to her home port - rather than the magnetic effect she had on woman. It was nice spacious boat... albeit not quite as manoeuvrable as Willy might have liked.

The Places

Along the way we would visit islands, small towns and fishing villages and beautiful bays. Probably the highlights in terms of the places we visited were Cres Island (to the south of Pula) and Rovinj (to the north). Cres is said to be the closest thing to an Italian fishing village outside Italy. Colourful pastel houses line a crowded little harbour. The town is filled with restaurants, cafes and old woman selling olive oil - a nice spot to restock after a few days sailing. Rovinj is said to be one of the last true Mediterranean fishing ports. It is popular with Italian tourists - so is a mix of cosmopolitan eateries, but with the feel of an operating fishing port. An old church is perched on top of a seaside hill and below it the old town is built on the slopes of the hill. Cafes and bars sit on the edge of the rocky coast and artist's galleries line the narrow cobbled streets.

We also visited numerous incredible little bays,islands and villages. Set in the iridescent blue waters of the Adriatic they are are beautiful sight.

The Germans

The north of Croatia seems to be a hotbed of naturalist activity. As a result many boats passing by were skippered by nude men with their other half lying (equally nude) on the fore decks - more often than not, not a pleasant sight! Similarly the rocky coast is lined with sunbathers who are maximising the area they have exposed to the sun's rays. The naked sailing was particularly prevalent in yachts sailing the German flag, and thus this became known as 'going German' - an activity that (to my knowledge) did not take place on the good ship Summertime Girls Pula. [The crew -enjoying cards and Pimms... not German]

The Food and Drink

Willy had a great appreciation for food and knew all the right people in all the right places. We ate in a variety of restaurants... small family run places in villages, a little seafood place in a fishing village (where Brad Pitt had also visited) and more mainstream tourist spots in the bigger towns we visited. What didn't change was that each place specialised in fresh seafood. Typically Willy would order whatever was fresh - and we were rarely disappointed. The most interesting dish was the fresh Scampi.... which were eaten raw (while still moving!) and then the bodies taken away only to be recycled into a sensational Scampi pasta dish. Another highlight was an octopus and potato dish which was melt in the mouth. Yum! [Choosing dinner.... fish again!]

Drinkwise we were pleasantly surprised by Croatian reds and whites. Less delicious was their form of 'grappa' - a digestive that sometimes tasted like meths - although was more pleasant when combined with coffee or infused with honey.

The Storm

We were very lucky with the weather and enjoyed warm sunny days and light winds each day. The one exception was a freak storm in the middle of the week. Late in the day we were at an island about an hour from the mainland 'making swimming' when the winds suddenly got up and were gusting to 50-60 knots of 'apparent' wind. Twice we attempted to return to the mainland when the winds had seemingly dropped as quickly as they had arrived and twice we were forced back by steep 3-5m waves. The very strong winds came up suddenly 3 times, each time from a totally different direction - quite freakish - and not seen before by Willy in his 35 years sailing in the area. The third time it came up boats in the bay where we were sheltering started dragging their anchors and Willy decided it was necessary for us to motor back to the mainland. After an hour of hairy night navigation (and with a flare sighted behind us) we were safely back in port - quite an exciting evening! The next day we learned that 3 boats had been washed onto reefs that night and 15 people needed to rescued.... a bit of a news event for the local papers in an area where sailing is a way of life. [Right - Calm before the storm...]

The Experience

All in all it was a great trip. We had a fantastic time and we returned a bit browner, very relaxed and with some new friendships formed.

A Birthday in Bordeaux

To help get through the trauma of her 30th birthday Michelle decided a weekend of luxury was required – and what better place than Bordeaux?

After a very early start we arrived at Gatwick only to find that British Airways didn’t have a plane for our flight (odd for an airline wouldn’t you say?). The rest of the day was mainly spent in queues…. 3hrs queuing to get re-ticketed, followed by re-queuing for check-in, security etc etc….. Hardly the start to a nice weekend away we had hoped for! Still – at 6hrs later we found ourselves in Bordeaux - ok… so we were queuing for a rental car… but we were there!

Driving on the wrong-side of the road for the first time (more on this later) we found our way to our accommodation – a Chateau in the heart of Bordeaux – our room was in the loft of the old stables… very cool.

After the trauma of the day (flights and then driving…) we were ready for a treat. Thierry (our host) sorted out a great seafood restaurant. Although we couldn’t do French, and our waiter didn’t do English, he read us well… and proceeded to ply us with all sorts of interesting drinks?! He obviously noticed that we really enjoyed the aperitif he gave us (‘Lillet’ – kind of a light liqueur from Bordeaux – yum!) so took it upon himself to give us a couple of glasses of a Sauterne white after our meal. Those of you know Michelle will know that she has a soft spot for dessert wines – she was very taken with Sauterne!

The next day we had arranged visits to several of the Chateau in nearby St Emilion. Driving in France was a bit of an adventure for us… afterall it had been over 6 months since I had driven… let alone on the wrong side of the road. Each time we went to get into the car Michelle would find a steering wheel in front of her and we would need to swap sides. Fortunately although we made this error consistently, we only found ourselves on the wrong side of the road once… and only very briefly!

Finding our way to various Chateau was also a bit of an adventure… our maps were not the best… but we got there in the end and saw some great French countryside in our travels! The three Chateau we visited were all very different. One had recently be acquired by a US investor and had a lot of money poured into it. The second was family owned – and recently been awarded a special classification…. quite an distinguished honour. The third was an immense castle-like building with huge caves underneath which were home to its various vintages not yet released.

St Emilion has a lot of history – and the remains of the seven huge walls that once surrounded the city in medieval times are still clearly visible. St Emilion is named after a Saint who moved there to live in isolation in a small underground grotto. In keeping with this idea, monks later carved a huge church into the hill on which St Emilion stands – very impressive – and our second fairly unique church in recent times (see Amsterdam)! [Church in hillside to right]

Sunday brought with it Michelle’s birthday. It was a beautiful day so drove to the coast (only 45mins away if you drive at the 130kph speed limit?!). On the way we turned off to Gujan Mestras – an old oyster port with the huts of oyster fishermen dotted everywhere! When in Rome right? So we settled in for a feast of oysters…… mmmmm! From here we headed on to Arachon a wealthy coastal holiday spot and host to tourists on the cruise ships that stop here. Nearby is Dune de Pilat – Europe’s largest sand-dune which is slowly moving inland and swallowing up a pine forrest as it goes! Quite a climb up – but it takes no time to run down!

We had a great time in Bordeaux. We enjoyed the wines… although we were surprised that the sweet whites had stolen the show from the famous reds. The surrounding wine region was extremely picturesque and was just like the image we had of what the French countryside should look like (more so that Champagne). Our thirst for exploring in France is far from satisfied….. perhaps Provence next?

Amsterdam… Where anything goes!

After a couple of weekends away, it’s about time we updated you on what we’ve been up to lately. May in London brings with it two bank holidays… one of which we spent in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is an unusual mix. On the one hand you have beautiful buildings and homes, trendy students, scenic canals, old bikes rattling down cobblestone streets, amazing art galleries and other historic attractions…. And on the other hand you have sex and drugs as an open and accepted part of life – which brings with it plenty of rowdy stag and hens parties. Strangely enough the two seem to co-exist with no real issues and we enjoyed a great weekend there.

Our three days were all quite different: Day 1 - Acclimatisation, Day 2 – Sightseeing, Day 3 – Culture.

Acclimatisation

After an early morning flight, we arrived with plans of getting into some sightseeing. However after a canal boat trip where we both spent a substantial portion of the trip snoozing, we decided that a day of relaxation was more what was required! We quickly settled into Plan B and had great afternoon and evening wandering around and chilling in various cafes/bars and restaurants. We quickly learned that in Amsterdam there are cafes and there are ‘coffee shops’. The former is what we would expect from a café…. The latter is quite a different beast – and although they do coffee (no alcohol), there will also be a separate counter where bags of marijuana/joints are on offer…. complete with menus to ensure the punter gets the effect they desire?! Whether or not you are into this sort of thing – they’re an interesting place to visit to see what goes on.

As nightfall arrived we ventured into the redlight district to see the famous windows which line main streets and back alleys. From their small rooms, which have large street facing windows, woman of various ages, shapes and sizes (some very attractive – others far less so) attempt to lure men in, so that they can close their curtains and carry out business. The fact that it is so open makes it all seem a little less seedy, however it still seems like a fairly unpleasant way to earn a living. Day or night though – they will be there… open all hours. In between clusters of windows there are sex shops, clubs offering sex shows together with regular bars/cafes – you name it… its probably on offer somewhere! Interesting times… and I guess you can’t really say you’ve ‘done’ Amsterdam until you’ve ventured there.

Sightseeing

Day 2 was spent on more conventional sightseeing. An unexpected highlight was a hidden church, recommended by John (Michelle’s dad). Built in 1663, this catholic church was hidden in the attic of a canal side house… tolerated only by the protestant majority as it was out of sight. Very strange to think – that what looked like a normal house from the outside, in fact housed a church that could accommodate a congregation inside!? [Left - House from the outside, Right - Church on the inside!]

Continuing on the ‘hidden building within a building’ theme we also visited Anne Frank’s house. This was quite a moving experience and you hear the story of the Frank’s and their demise as you walk through the various rooms of their hidden annex (including climbing the step stairs hidden behind a bookcase out of sight of the Gestapo. Things have been kept in a very original state – even the newspaper clipping used by Anne to decorate her walls are still stuck to the original wallpaper. Really brought it home for people of our generation how recent in history the war is.

Can’t end this day without mentioning a beautiful meal we had at Restaurant De Belhamel (www.belhamel.nl). Beautiful French food – washed down with a bottle of Luigi Bosca Malbec (a favourite from our time in Mendoza!).

Culture

Last day - and time to try and squeeze in some of Amsterdam’s famous art galleries before heading to the airport. First (and as it happened – last) stop was the Van Gogh museum. We spent ages here, wandering around with our audio tour – learning about where Van Gogh was when he created various paintings. We both found this really interesting… a good change for us, for whom cultural attractions do not always rank highly! Unfortunately that was all we had time for….. but it was well worth the visit – and we left with the obligatory Van Gogh print, which may find its way to our wall one day!

A great weekend in such a diverse city.

Brugge.... Beer, Mussels and Chocolate - Something for everyone

Time flies - but already its been a year since we were married! As a belated 1 year wedding anniversary present to ourselves - we decided to head to Brugge for a weekend of relaxation and luxury.

Michelle had selected a very nice B&B (http://www.sintnik.be/). The owner Sean, who turned out to be from Taranaki was very helpful - and pointed us in the right direction for bars, restaurants and sights. The breakfasts he served up were amazing - all the food came from local producers and it was a great way to start the day. Nothing like chocolate for breakfast right?

Our time in Brugge was very laid back. We did a tour of the canals by boat with a very funny guide - who conducted the tour in 4 languages?! The rest of the time we spent wandering around or sitting in bar or restaurant. The Belgian beers were fantastic - one bar we visited had over 300 to choose from - so there is something for everyone. Even Michelle developed a taste for them. Her favourites were the fruit beers (raspberry etc) and blondes. We also did a tour of a brewery - it took me back to my homebrew days!! The chocolates in Brugge were also very good..... although we didn't over indulge in this respect.

We left Brugge very happy and relaxed - although probably a few kilos heavier! Hopefully we will manage a trip back at some stage.

One day in Paris........

We kicked off our Easter trip to France in style by sitting back and enjoying a bottle of French Red on the Eurostar..... we had been told it was the best way to ensure our 'French experience' started as soon as possible!! We arrived late - and were fortunate to find a cab - which took us to our accommodation in Montmartre- which happened to be just off the Red Light district..... Crumpy had arranged our hotel - but he assured us this was just a coincidence..... hmm. As it turned out, it was a great base to explore from.

We only had one day in Paris - so were up early and into the day. We enjoyed a french breakfast in the sun, while watching the stereotypical images we had of France wander by... the man in a beret and neck scarf with a cigarette, carrying a baguette. Very cool.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent the morning exploring the area around Montmartre including the spectacular Sacre Coeur perched on the hill overlooking Paris. We had our work cut out for us in the afternoon with the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and of course the Eiffel Tower all on our list. We were in no real rush though and just enjoyed walking around the streets of Paris. The views from the top of the Arc de Triomphe were spectacular - and it was hilarious watching the chaos in the traffic circling below. From there we wandered down Ave des Champs' Elysees towards Notre Dame. Notre Dame was packed full of people - but was very beautiful. The architecture of the building - especially the many gargoyles on its exterior.

In the evening we caught up with Han and Jamie (yes... another holiday they had organised!) and Catherine (one of Michelle's workmates from Welly) joined us for a beautiful meal at the Crump's favourite Parisian restaurant.


Our time in Paris was brief - but it was filled with beautiful buildings, parks and monuments. It was probably one of the more picturesque cities we have been to, the locals we met were friendly and we will be back sometime soon to see the rest of it.

Off to the home of Happy Juice!

The next day we took a train 2hrs east of Paris to Reims in the Champagne region. Most famous for its Champagne houses, Reims is also were the Nazis surrendered to end World War II.

Before long we were into our work and that day we enjoyed a tour of Taittenger and Verve Clicquot. The Verve tour was very good - and girls especially enjoyed its history - a young widow left to run the business at a time when woman were unheard of in business. It seems she was very successful - and they continue to use her image as a symbol of the house today.

The wine tours include a walk through the underground cellars. These are pretty amazing. 30m below the surface of Reims (and nearby Epernay) is a vast network of tunnels - hundreds of kilometres - many of which date back to Roman times when they were created through the mining of chalk. Through history they have been used for wine, as hospitals in the war - and one even hosted a car rally! Today they are home to literally hundreds of millions of bottles of aging bubbly. Yum!

The next day we celebrated Mr Crump's 30th Birthday with a cycle tour out of Epernay. I was a little unwell (unfortunately it was not self-inflicted) so we didn't get too far - but enjoyed a bottle of champagne and a picnic on a the side of a hill overlooking the vines. A great way to pass the time!!

In between champagne houses there was much eating - and the food was incredible! A great intro to France!

Canal Boats - built for pleasure.... not speed

A few weeks on and time for another trip (planned by Han and Jamie... again). This time a crew of 8 of us took to England's historic canals for a weekend of boating. After catching a train to Rugby (the birthplace of the sport) we met the rest of the crew at a pub. Parked out the back was our boat 'The Sundance'.

About the Sundance: She was a beauty. 70ft, 15 tonne and controlled by a keel and throttle at her stern. Put simply - she was a long, narrow, heavy - but a smooth boating machine. With us in control (80% of the time) she ruled the canals. Over the course of the weekend we all took turns at mastering (or attempting to master) the art of guiding her down the narrow canals. Having driven a few boats in my time - I think I can safely say that this was the least responsive craft I have ever seen - you would turn the keel.... and a minute or so later the bow would turn.... and before you knew it you had steered past your intended bearing and were headed for an obsatcle in the opposite direction.......... which brings me to the next topic of interest.....

About our crashes: Not all of us mastered the art and we had a number of crashes and near misses. Our biggest hit was a head-on collision with a brick bridge. We hit hard - and it was a bit scary for those of us sitting on the front deck at the time - but all parties - captain(ess), bridge, boat and passengers all survived to tell the tale. Others took a 'zig-zag' approach to driving - bouncing from one bank to the other as they guided the Sundance down a straight stretch of the canal. Fortunately they built the Sundance tough - and while she came back less a bit of paint and carrying a bit more brickwork than what she started with.... she was still canal worthy.

About 'locks': Even when she was headed in the right direction, progress was slow - about walking pace(not kidding - even a bit slower!). Apart from lack of speed - the other obstacle to progress were the locks - we encountered 4 on our trip up the canal. These things were pretty crazy - all to do with gravity and water I think. And talk about pressure - in similar league to launching or retrieving a boat at a busy NZ launching ramp. On our first attempt veteren canal boaters looked on no doubt bemused and 'tut-tutting' at our virgin perfomance. Fortunately we were successful, but slow. By the time we hit our final lock on day 2 we were like a well oiled machine (arguably Glen's liberal pours of wine to clear out the provisions meant some were more well oiled than others).

About our lifestyle: As alluded to above there is not much going on either on the canals or in the canal boats. On a wander through the boat at any given time you would invariably find a mixture of the following: people eating, people sleeping, people cooking, someone steering - others bracing for imminent collision, and of course probably a few drinking. After a hard day's navagation we would skillfully moor the Sundance and then wander to the nearest pub. We visited some great country pubs - one with a 'skittles' table (where wasn't more to life than beer and skittles) and another (which Daz would have loved) were dogs almost out numbered patrons.... and this is inside the bar.........

Great weekend - we'll be back in summer!