Family Fun in the South of France

Well - its been a busy time - but we have finally got round to writing up our trip to the Cote d'Azur and Provence. The trip spanned Easter - so we managed to spend about 11 days exploring this great part of the world with mum and dad. We all flew into Nice and after a couple of days there hired a car to carry on travelling around. Here is a bit about what we got up to and the places we stayed.

Nice and Monaco

Our flight into Nice was fairly spectacular - we flew in on a beautiful clear morning and as we came into land we did a flyby of Monaco and Nice then into the airport on the coast to the south of the city.

Parking trouble in Monaco

We had big plans to cram a fair bit into this holiday - so no sooner had we found our hotel - were we on the train for the short trip along the coast to Monaco - the 2nd smallest country in the world (after the Vatican city). Monaco was everything we expected it to be - lavish, spectacularly located on the coast and oozing wealth. It was off season so we saw it at a fairly quiet time and it was actually very beautiful place. We spent the afternoon watching the super yachts park before doing a self guided walking tour of the city which ended at the famous casino in Monte Carlo. It was a long day - but a great entree into the culture of the Cote d'Azur.

Day 2 saw us collecting our rental (a brand new black Audi A4 which would be home for the rest of the trip) and heading up high on one of the three famous Corniche roads which head north out of Nice at differing heights on the steep coastal hills.

First stop was Eze - a tiny hill top village perched on the cliff - which attracts the rich and famous (U2 included) and plenty of tourists, but somehow seems to retain a quaint feel. There are no cars - the narrow cobbled streets would not take them. The highlight of Eze are its gardens - at the top of the hill. They are filled of exotic cacti and sculptures of Greek goddesses, each named and with an accompanying poem. It was an incredible spot - and perched on top of the world - the view out over the Mediterranean was breathtaking. We also visited St Paul de Vence a very famous hilltop village - and which must have more artists/art galleries than any other town I have been in. It was a nice spot - but unlike Eze - had the feel of a large tourist attraction.

Breakfast on the beach in Nice

We also spent some time exploring Nice - which was a very nice spot (no play on words intended...). The markets there, in hindsight, were some of the better ones we saw - lots of great fresh fruit and vege as well as cheeses, meats etc.

The road to St Tropez

The next day saw us taking the slow road to St Tropez - avoiding the direct motorway, opting for the winding road that follows the coast and takes you through the many small and not so small towns which line the coast. The trip was very picturesque - 2 places stand out (well, actually 3, but one was some pretty place we drove through between Cannes and St Tropez.... unfortunately I have not idea of its name - so probably not worth going into....): Antibes which we didn't stop in (but we did manage to accidentally drive through its old town district, before looping through Cap D'Antibes, a peninsula which is home to huge (and very expensive) mansions and villas.

Second was Cannes - the place we are all so familiar with from its famous film festival. We were too early for the festival crowds and the celebs that flock here - so didn't get to see Lily Allen slip off any superyachts in the buff. Nevertheless we enjoyed wandering along the bustling foreshore which was kind of what I would imagine South Beach Florida would be like - but with fashion as its theme and without the overbronzed muscle bound rollerbladers.

St Tropez

St Tropez had proven to be the trickiest place for us to find accommodation over the Easter period - and as a result our 'hotel' was out in the countryside surrounding the town. It was pretty basic and I think was was actually once a commune.

St Tropez was a highlight of the Cote d'Azur stage of the trip. I was expecting glitz and glamour (and even a hint of tackiness), but although the shopping and superyachts gave it these qualities - there wasn't an ounce of tackiness - instead it retained the feel of a classy, small seaside town.

We had the best part of a day to wander around here - so took in some more superyachts, explored the fortress on the hill overlooking the town, enjoyed a huge slice of the cream filled sponge (Tarte Tropezienne) which is famous here... for breakfast, watching the old men play boules in the large town square and of course, some of us did a spot of shopping. Before we left St Tropez, we also did a nice walk along a coastal path - which takes you through a large seafarers' cemetery on the water's edge, before winding its way around the coast past exclusive seaside properties. The only other thing to mention here is was a great meal at Le Cafe which sits on the edge of the boules square - super fast - but incredibly tasty steak.

Avignon and around

Avignon was one of the larger places we stayed - but still had a small historic town centre in which we stayed. It is rich with history and was once home to a series of Popes, when Rome was in political upheaval.

From here we did a day trip out to Fountaine de Vaucluse - the world's 5th most powerful spring - 315m deep. It is renowned for its clear water which has an intensely blue colour when it is at its best. On the way we passed through L'Isle-sur-la-Sorge which was a very pretty town with a small river running through it. It also happened to be host to an international antique fair - so it was difficult to extract ourselves from it as it would be have been easy to pass the time looking through the many roadside stalls full of treasures and nick-knacks. We did manage to get to Fountaine de Vaucluse, which although was not particularly full - was still a beautiful spectacle and it was easy to see why it has attracted tourists for many many years (1.5m p.a. these days!?).

While in Avignon we also visited the Pont d'Avignon - the partial remains of an ancient bridge that once crossed the Rhone River which runs by the city. The bridge was interesting - but for me it was more interesting to be standing over the middle of the Rhone river, which runs through the Rhone valley - home to much of the red wine we enjoy over here.

After here we explored the nearby Palais des Papes - home to a number of Popes over the years. The history here was very interesting, and there was much more focus on the history of the building and the different personalities of the various Popes who lived here, what they did the building and the way in which they lead the Catholic church. We also stumbled on a choir comprised of travelling students who were doing an impromptu performance in its large Chapel - which made it even more impressive. What better way to top off a long day? An informative wine tasting to introduce us to the wines of the region - including, arguably its most famous - Chateauneuf du Pape.

Chateaneuf du Pape

The south of France has a great reputation for wine, and Chateaneuf du Pape is a small town which is both a highly regarded appellation itself, but that also provides a great base to explore some of the other nearby regions. We did a rambling (fairly ad hoc) self driven tour of the region - starting off in Chateaneuf with a visit to two of the local Chateau. The wines here are permitted to use 13 different varieties of grape in their blends (some have all 13?). They are full bodied and pack a punch - and are required under the appellation rules to be at least 12.5% alcohol. They sell at a bit of a premium, but we thought the additional price was generally justified.

From there we went on to Gigondas (famous for GSM blends) - and where we struggled to find something to our liking, before finishing at Beaumes de Venise - famous for its sweet white wines and where we could also try both its reds and the reds of nearby Vacqueyras. With sweet wine on offer, the girls had no trouble finding several wines they liked - with Mum putting a couple away on her own (to take home that is......). During the course of the day we got to drive through the countryside and visit the odd small town - and it was a nice way to spend the day. The icing on the cake was a beautiful meal at our hotel (http://www.hotel-la-sommellerie.com/) - a nice place with very friendly staff, situated just outside Chateaneuf overlooking the stony dry vineyards.

Road to St Remy

From the wine heaven we travelled to St Remy - our next stop, but did so by taking a long detour to take in Orange, the Pont du Gard and Arles - in what was a day dominated by Roman ruins. Orange is home to Theatre Antique a 100m wide, 40m high stage wall thought to have been built during Caesar's rule (sometime after 27BC). It is apparently the only one in the world which still stands in it entirety. It has an interesting history - was once home to lewd theatre, was at one time used as a wall against which housing was built and has been excavated and is still in use for performances today.

Pont du Gard was next on the itinerary - a huge, 3 tiered, 275m aqueduct capable of carrying 35,000 cubic metres of water a day which towers 50m above the River Gard below it. Built around 19BC, its size and the engineering and skill that must have gone into it are quite mind blowing. Humbling to think that all that time ago - they were clever enough to build a series of aqueducts to bring water from springs to the north. You can do walks along the top tier - but unfortunately not in off season - so we had to settle for the lower tier - but still pretty impressive.

From aqueducts to Arles... home of more Roman relics (including another theatre....), but most well known for its most famous resident, Van Gogh who painted around 200 of his works here. We did a self guided walking tour of the city, which was really well set up, with information boards and pictures of his paintings in certain spots around the city where he painted them. It was great to see today the same sites and scenes that he saw and painted all those years ago.

St-Remy De Provence

St-Remy was probably the best of a good bunch of towns we stayed in. It is famous for its food (olive oil, chocolate, sweets are all made in the town) as well as being a fashionable and pretty town to stay in, without being overrun with tourists (in the off season at least!). Our accommodation here was incredible - Hotel Gounod (http://www.hotel-gounod.com/) a small boutique hotel with an interior which was cluttered and crowded with crucifixes, statues, flowers and other bits and pieces - which anywhere else would have seemed tacky - but here managed to pull off designer classy.

Near St-Remy is Les Baux de Provence a small hill top village at the peak of which sits Chateau des Baux - the ruins of a castle which once sat here. This was a highlight for many of us - both because of the panoramic views from the hill top site and also due to the interesting sites and history of the ruins and the features that remain - old sinks, ovens, pigeon holes and water tanks.

Our other day in St Remy was taken up with (another) Van Gogh walk (the asylum he admitted himself to remains here) and relaxing. We explored the olive oil factory (which also sold beautiful truffle oil) and the famous chocolate maker Joel Durand's store - which was similar to Schoc back home - with rosemary, thyme, Earl Grey and other interestingly flavoured chocs. Yum.

The road to Aix en Provence

We turned our drive from St Remy to Aix into a sightseeing extravaganza. First stop was Abbaye de Senanque.... the famous abbey which features in so many Provencial postcards surrounded by fields of purple flowering lavender. We weren't in lavender season - so couldn't replicate the photo.... but was a pretty spot all the same. Next was Gordes - one of the trendiest hilltop villages, where the rich and famous from Paris might holiday....

From here we went to Roussillon - famous for its red ochre earth. The whole village is made from the stone - and thus the streets are lined with reddish stone buildings. We did a short walk here through the ochre valley and spent some time exploring the small town.

Final stop was a countryside winegrower's trail.... this 1.5 hour walk lead us through vines, across fields and through olive groves. It was a really nice walk and along the way we saw real people pruning vines and olive trees - a labour intensive industry.

Aix - The End

Aix was our final destination before flying out of Marseille. It was the most cosmopolitan town we visited - it sort of felt like a mini Paris. It a great spot to spend a day or so just relaxing, soaking up the sun, listening to students busking, admiring its many fountains, shopping in its markets, exploring and of course eating and drinking!?

It was the end of a great trip - which had been a series of different chapters - sun and sea, hilltop villages, Roman ruins and food and wine. We had been looking forward to exploring the South of France and it was nice to share the experience with Mum and Dad.

Exploring in Egypt and Jordan

Its been a while since our last entry so its about time we updated you on what we got up to over Christmas and New Year when we took a couple of weeks off to explore Egypt and Jordan.

Cairo & the Pyramids of Giza

We flew into Cairo where our tour kicked off from. The drive in from the airport to our hotel provided our first chance to get an impression of Egypt. Two things stick in my mind. The first is that although the roads have lanes painted on them and there are traffic lights etc, these are viewed by all Egyptian drivers as being 'just for decoration'. Cars and vans (and the occasional horse drawn cart) weaved between each other on the 3 lane motorway. Surprisingly the traffic seemed to flow reasonably well and we saw very few accidents while we were there. Second, was the skyline - a huge golden sunset lit up the sky and the sillouette of the many domes and towers of Cairo's mosques looked incredible against the backdrop.

We spent our first day having a look around the main market area of Cairo in the heart of the ancient Islamic part of the city. We had a great time looking round and everyone was very friendly - even people who weren't trying to sell you something! 'Welcome to Egypt' was common greeting..... although 'Lucky man! Lucky man!' was also often heard..... although I was never offered a sufficient number of camels to part with Michelle. We didn't buy much - but passed the time wandering around the back streets and stumbling upon little treasures like a local bakery where we got some great little pastries. We also had our first taste of mosques by visiting the Al-Azhar mosque which has been a mosque and university for over 1000 years.

Our tour set off the next day. We were travelling with a group of about 8 friends who Sel and Andrew had got together for the trip, although there was about 30 of us on the tour. We were led by an Egyptian guide - 'Zizo' (a.k.a Rangi - "Sweet as") who had studied Egyptology at university so had a huge amount of knowledge and could tell a good yarn too.

Our first day took in a couple of the big names of the tour - the great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Our first pyramid was actually the 'Stepped' pyramid - which the first pyramid built.... after this the pyramids just got bigger - with the pyramids of Giza being the largest and most impressive built. The age and size of these giant tombs was quite incredible - it is strange to think that so much resource went into building them and that they would be under construction throughout the life of the pharoh that would eventually end up in them. The Sphinx was also very impressive and it was quite surreal to be there seeing these iconic Egyptian sights in person.

From Cairo we were lucky enough to avoid an overnight train and flew south to Aswan. Our first internal flight experience was fairly comical - little attention seemed to be paid to the production of boarding cards..... I was Mrs Ross Nelson, travelling with Mr Michelle Nelson. We were also joined by Mr Andrew Buttlid (a.k.a Bulled) and Miss Selena Hurdel (a.k.a Hurndell). Security was equally lack - scanners beeped as you walked through... but that's fine.... similarly bags were scanned - but no one was actually looking at the scanner screen..... it was all seemingly just for show. Slightly unnerving..... as was the 1 hour wait on the plane while they did 'scheduled maintenance'. Hmmm. Anyway - we made it.

Aswan

Our hotel in Aswan was adjoined to the Old Cataract hotel - which was used as a backdrop for the Death on the Nile film and was where Agatha Christie wrote part of the book. It is quite highbrow and we learned after lwe left that French President Sarkosy was staying there. We had a Christmas eve drink here on the balcony overlooking the Nile..... but unfortunately had to retreat to our 'Egyptian 5 star' hotel nearby for the evening.......

From Aswan we visited the Philae Temple - which sits on an island in a lake - quite a picturesque setting which made it one of the more memorable ones we saw. The temple was heavily influenced by Roman architecture - with two rows of pillars at its entrance. The temple was once submerged when the lake was dammed - and so to rescue it, it was shifted piece by piece and reconstructed on the island safe from the waters in the 1970s.

Christmas day - Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel is about 300km south of Aswan - and close to the boarder with Sudan. We were up before the crack of dawn for the 3 hour bus trip. As with most trips in the south of Egypt we were joined by the mandatory police convoy - one little armed police truck at the front - a string of tourist buses and vans - another little armed police truck in the middle - a string of tourist buses and then another little armed police truck at the back. These convoys were brought in after some terrorist incidents aimed at harming Egypt's tourist industry - but they seem to have the effect of ensuring there are large quantities of tourists travelling at pre-scheduled times along known routes each day - I am no expert on these matters - but the phrase 'sitting ducks' does spring to mind.

Abu Simbel was carved into a mountain in around 1200 BC by Ramses II - but became buried by sand and forgotten until it was accidentally rediscovered in around 1800 - supposedly when a donkey fell down a hole......

This temple (and the smaller Hathor Temple next to it) is renowned as the most impressive in Egypt - huge gods carved out of rock line the entrance and inside the walls feature detailed paintings and hieroglyphics. The temple is built in such a way that twice a year the sun's rays shine through the entrance and into the inner temple to light up the gods (and Ramses II himself - who was humble enough to have himself sit as a god alongside the others).

Sailing on the Nile

From Aswan we abandoned the confines of our tour bus and police convoys and took to the waters of the Nile on our felucca - a smallish open sailing boat. There were around 12 of us on ours and it was skippered by Honeymoon the only one with a small cabin.

Life on a felucca is basic - the deck was covered with mattresses, there is no running water, no power or lights and no toilet. The days are passed laying back in the sun - eating, drinking, reading and taking in the experience of zig-zagging down the Nile. There were occasional stops to let passengers step ashore and find a bush - hopefully out of sight of the curious locals and away from roaming dogs. In the evening a canvas top and sides were put up and sleeping bags were rolled out. This was about the only real down time on our trip and it was a real highlight for most. We left relaxed, rested (kinda) and mildly hungover.

Luxor

Next stop was Luxor which is a tourism hub of Egypt - a base from which to explore the Valley of the Kings and home to the magnificent Karnak Temple.

After (another) pre-dawn start we found ourselves dangerously close to knocking the roof off someone's house before our hot air balloon could get itself some decent altitude. Once up we could look down on Luxor and then the Nile - not to mention other balloons who had landed in sugar cane and on an outdoor breakfast set up for Tony Blair who was also hot air ballooning that day (although not with us). It was great fun - although it was nice to feel the basket touch the ground after an hour or so.......

Valley of the Kings was our next stop - home to the Tomb of Tutankhamun the most recently discovered tomb - made famous by the man who discovered it in 1922 Howard Carter unearthing not only the mummy of the boy king, but also incredible riches of gold and other treasure. Interestingly - Tutankhamun was a bit of a non-event as far as Egytian kings went - dying young after a short reign - but the wealth that was buried with him hints at what would have been buried (and since stolen) in the other 60 odd tombs in the valley - particularly those of great kings. We visited a few of the tombs - each dug deep into the barren rocky sides of this remote valley. Incredible paintings line the entrances, walls and ceilings of each. It was amazing to think that we were entering a tomb - the oldest of which are said to date back to 2000 years BC.

There has been a lot of talk of temples and tombs already - hence the saying in Egypt ('ATB' ... another bloody Temple') but we should also mention Karnak Temple - a huge site (about 1.5km x 0.8km) filled with pylons, obelisks and sanctuaries. A great spot to wander round and explore - and plenty of great photo opportunities for Hayds (team Canon) and Andrew (team Nikon). Enough I hear you say - ok.

Dahab - A break from temples

After a long overnight bus trip (13 hours?!) we arrived on the Sinai Peninsula. Our base - Dahab is on the eastern side of the Peninsula and looks across to Saudi Arabia. It is most famous as a base for Red Sea diving - but also for its thick shakes and pancakes - the latter two perhaps being in demand due to the abundance of pot and shisha smoking tourists which have given Dahub the nickname of being the 'Ko Samui' of the Middle East.

Our accommodation was brand new. Like - they were still unpacking the plates and cutlery from boxes as we sat down for lunch. It made for an interesting stay - commencing business with a full house is perhaps not the best way to get your systems up and running! Having said that - we enjoyed our time there.

Our 3 days here were bascialy spent diving. We kicked off with two relatively straight-forward dives - the Lighthouse and the Islands.... but the real diving came the next day. We were up early to ensure that we were first in the water at the Canyon. Here we swum from the shore and then down into a narrow hole which dropped us down to around 30ms. After sitting in a cavern at the bottom for a few minutes and playing games to check whether we were narked or not, we swum out a small crevice and over the cavern where we had been. Our bubbles were seeping through the coral ceiling of the cavern and so we were surrounded by thousands of small bubbles - it was like being in a little aquarium. Incredible.

Next dive was Bells to Blue Hole. Once again we slipped off the rocky shore - this time literally straight into a narrow hole and again sunk down to about 30 metres. Nicknamed the Bells because of the clanging sounds from tanks hitting each other as they squeeze through the hole. From here we swum along a vertical reef - which dropped straight down to 600 metres. To the left was endless crystal clear Red Sea water - down there was nothing - just deep blue water - and to the right - the reef face lined with coral and fish life. We then entered the infamous Blue Hole - a stone's throw from the shore and a dive site that claims more than its fair share of divers - perhaps due to the tendency for divers to be drawn deep into its depths - 80 metres in total. This dive - and the Canyon were a real buzz - and rate right up there with the Rainbow Warrior (and probably surpass Barrier Reef) as our most memorable dives.

We spent New Years Eve in Dahub - I kicked off the night with a night dive - thus ensuring that I achieved by the end of 2007 my objective of getting Padi Advanced Diver qualified with about 5-6 hours to spare. The night was pretty low key - not helped by the fact that (once again) we would be up early the next day to travel.

Crossing into Jordan

After driving north along the Sinai Peninsula we took a ferry for the short 2 hour trip across to Aqaba in Jordan. Aqaba is a busy port town - and since Iraq's ports were closed is one of the main entry points for supplies to Iraq - which are then taken by road north through Jordan and across the border. The best thing about Aqaba is that is a special trade zone - and as such the whole town is like a duty free store. First stop on the bus was a mini market - at which we were like kids in a candy store - french wine, sparkling water, snacks - all the goodness of home which in Egypt had been hard to come by - or fairly expensive. Great times - NZ could do with a town like this. [Right - Zizo!]

Wadi Rum

We drove north to Wadi Rum - passing along the way disturbingly close to the border of Israel. Wadi Rum is a dessert area which we explored on the back of old 4x4s. The highlight of this area was our night spent at a Bedouin desert camp. Dinner was a 'BBQ' - but cooked like a hangi - with the food buried and cooked underground. What came out was some of the best juicy lamb and chicken we'd had in a long time. After dinner we sat round a large open fire smoking sheisha (traditional egypitian pipes in which you smoke flavoured tobacco such as apple) and toasting marshmellows while the Bedouin men danced round and round in circles in a dance style that resembled line dancing. Happy days.

Petra - The Lost City

Without question, the main tourist attraction in Jordan is Petra.

Hidden behind a barrier of rugged mountains and accessed by a track through a very narrow gorge, this city lay lost to the Western world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer. Petra is unlike anything we had seen on our trip. The narrow track we walked up opens out to reveal the huge and elaborate facade of the old treasury which is carved into the steep rock cliff.

As you walk on more and more of these facades appear - the last of which is the Monastery perch high in the mountains further up the valley. Built by the Nabateans over 2000 years ago - Petra was a pretty awe inspiring place to absorb.

Both the size of the facades and the incredible detail that remains of the buildings was unbelievable.

The Dead Sea

As we made our way further north we passed by the Dead Sea. Here we stopped and floated in the salty waters - and of course rubbed the thick mud all over us to benefit from its supposed healing properties. Not sure about the healing properties (particularly when applied to one's face - Andrew) but it did make for some funny photo opportunities. It was quite surreal to be so buoyant as we lay in the muddy Dead Sea waters.

Cairo - Again..........

Having spent 4 days in Jordan we found ourselves back where we started in Cairo. Here we finished off the tour with another day or two of sightseeing and a bit of downtime at the hotel.

We had enjoyed a great trip. The people we met along the way were in the main very friendly and we felt very safe where ever we went. The food was good (although eggs for breakfast did start to wear a bit thin) and it was a cheap place to travel. It was also great to learn a bit more about the Muslim way of life; the similarities and differences between their faith and the Christian faith, understanding more about how moderate Muslims live and also the things that the modern western world has which are based on ideas in the middle east - universities and church bell towers to name a couple!

We will always remember the call to prayer being broadcast over loud speakers at the Mosques - the airy wailing sounds is exactly how you imagive Egypt (and were the inspiration for chruch bells). Best of all - we had travelled with a great bunch of people and we enjoyed many laughs along the way. [Right - Reflecting on a great trip]

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!