In order to fill in the gap during my recent absence, which was our recent trip to the UK & Europe, particularly for those who may be contemplating a similar trip and without boring everyone too much, my wife & I left in mid April and stopped off in Dubai for a couple of days. Dubai was an eye opener, it is certainly different to Australia and it is all VERY NEW. Dubai has made a concerted effort to get ready for the END OF OIL, by trying to get into Tourism!

There is an enormous amount of non citizen immigrants (some 2 million we heard) working to get Dubai into Tourism. Unfortunately, with Global Economics the way it is likely to go, I suspect that Dubai will suffer greatly over the years ahead, as tourism slows, as will many other places. That said, the Arabian Adventures Desert Dinner is well worth going on, but you will need to be lucky to get a good view of the Burj Khalifa (the worlds tallest building), as Dubai is often covered by mist/fog!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ONqVtj4Fc8&noredirect=1

Next we flew to Prague, in the Czech Republic, which is an excellent old European capital city. You can walk pretty much everywhere and Prague Castle, which is over 1,000 years old, is certainly worth the time & effort. I would also recommend a cruise along the Vltava River that runs thru Prague, past many of the old bridges including Charles Bridge, particularly around sunset.

Then, onto Berlin by train, which is a much more modern city, due largely to rebuilding after WW2. But, it is a very vibrant place and there are many places worth a visit, including -
The Brandenburg Gates
The Holocaust Memorial
Tiergarten Park (about the size of Central Park in New York)
Checkpoint Charlie
The Communications Tower (for the view & lunch/dinner or just a cuppa)

Whilst you can still do a lot by walking, Berlin is a large city and use of the buses is recommended. A surprise in Berlin, was the day before we left it was 33c, which brought out the nudists for a bit of sunbaking in Tiergarten Park.

Next, it’s over the big ditch (the English Channel) to Heathrow, before moving on to Edinburgh, which is also well worth a look. Although, at the top of Edinburgh Castle, it was around zero degrees, with the wind-chill, it was freezing.

After picking up our hire car, we headed for Perth (naturally), then via the Cairngorms National Park to Inverness, which was pleasantly warm (about 20c), after the coolness of Edinburgh and after a very nice dinner at a restaurant on the banks of the Ness River, we were back at our hotel to watch the sunset at 9.45pm.

An early start the next day, saw us driving thru a fogged in Lock Ness (no monsters), past Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the British Isles) and then onto Oban, which is a lovely seaside village. With the temperature around 25c we enjoyed the sunshine, had a great walk around and had dinner at a nice pub (The Columba), which was right at the shores of Oban Bay.

Next day, we were off thru Glasgow, before proceeding to some more lovely seaside villages including Troon ( which is one of the homes of the British Open Golf Championship) , Prestwick & Ayr, before going on to Carlisle, the doorway to the Lakes District.

Another early start, saw us with time to have a reasonable look around the Lakes District, including the Keswick & Lake Windermere areas, which are fantastic. This was a Saturday and there were a great number of both Brits & tourists everywhere. Continuing on, we arrived in Liverpool and went straight to our main reason for going there, which was to visit the Beatles Museum, IT WAS GREAT, lots of memorabilia, music & photos!

Another big day ahead & another early start, off to Snowdonia National Park, via Chester & Bangor. This was Sunday & closer to major cities, it was very busy on the roads and made worse by a Ford Escort Club with hundreds on cars, having a day out! The Snowdonia N/P is also fantastic and we stopped at Betws-Y-Coed for lunch, which is just postcard perfect, with a stream flowing thru the middle. Continuing on, we went thru Brecon Beacons N/P, before bypassing the major centres of Cardiff & Bristol, on our way to Bath.

We had the whole day in Bath, which is pretty much what we did, by visiting the Roman Baths & museum, after getting a late start because it was “Bank holiday Monday” & no one started breakfast until 9am.

The next morning we were off to Stone Henge & Salisbury Cathedral, for lengthy visits, before heading towards Heathrow, via the M3 Motorway, to hand back our hire car & go onto our London hotel, to meet up with our Trafalgar Coach Tour of Europe.

Our journey to London, via the tube from Heathrow meant that we had to change lines, as our hotel was at Islington and as we had been delayed with handing the hire car back at Heathrow. It saw us trying to get 2 heavy suitcases up & down tube stairways and then throwing them onto packed trains, as we had arrived at THE PEAK HOUR RUSH. I highly recommend avoiding this, IF at all possible! With no lifts & few escalators, the Olympics will be fun, but this may cause a few gripes?   

Yes, it had been a great holiday, so far & more follows on the Trafalgar Coach Tour of Europe, followed by catching up with our daughter, son-in-law & 1 year old grand daughter in Geneva & the South of France, but that will have to wait until I get some more spare time, bye for now.

The Trip (Part 2)

There was a very early start to Trafalgar Day 1, with a 4.15am wake up call, as we had others to pick up, at the Trafalgar London office and then had to make Dover for the first ferry of the day.

On this day London was covered in a thick pea soup fog, so there was little to no sightseeing & no views of the “white cliffs of Dover”, as the ferry pulled out. An hour & a half later, as we were docking at Calais, the fog had cleared and we got a good view of the local beaches.

After going thru Belgium, we arrived in Amsterdam, which we named the “city of bikes”, as there are some 1 million bikes in the city. We went on a cruise thru some of the many canals, had a lovely 3 course dinner next to one of the canals and had a quick visit to the red light area. 

Next morning, we were up early again and onto Cologne, for a visit to their cathedral


Then, we were off for a cruise of the Rhine River, with many castles along the way, before “getting into our Frankfurt hotel.

A slightly later rise the next morning, before heading to the University City of Heidelberg, the Black Forrest & the Rhine Falls, which  are quite a sight, but not on the same scope as Niagara.

That night we made Lucerne and it was 31c that afternoon, but the following morning, when we were scheduled to take the ski lift up to the top of MT Pilatus, it was around 10c, with a heavy fog and so sightseeing was very restricted. However, with the wind rising, we could have surfed down some of the waves on Lake Lucerne, as we took a boat ride back to the city. The afternoon was free to roam around & I can recommend the Jesuit church, if you are into architecture & the arts. That night, a great show at a local restaurant, featuring Swiss music, sing-along’s & YODELLING.

So, enough of Switzerland, we were off to Innsbruck in Austria next morning, after briefly passing thru Lichtenstein, via many picturesque villages and many snow capped mountains.

The next morning we were off to Venice, where we toured ST Marks square, then went on a gondola ride via the many canals, whilst being serenaded by musicians. The following day we spent the morning wandering around the city, then saw a glass blowing exhibition, before finishing off with an excellent lunch, which went until near 5 pm, at a great seafood restaurant, on Burano Island.

The next day, we were off to Rome, arriving around noon and after booking into our hotel, we were off for a guided tour with a local guide and we saw many old ruins, statues & churches. The next morning, we were away for another guided tour with our local guide, to places such as the Trevi Fountain, ST Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican & the Colosseum. The history & the architecture here are worth going a long way to see, which I suppose is what we did and to finish of a great feed at a little restaurant, just off the Piazza Navona. But, the best (perhaps) was yet to come.

The following morning, we were off to Naples, then onto Pompei for a guided tour, before meeting up with 3 smaller buses, as our big bus could not enter those narrow roads, for a drive along the Amalfi Coast to Positano. This stretch of coast has spectacular views and although the beach at Positano is pebbles only, you just have to be there to enjoy it! From there it was back to the big bus & to our hotel, which was back at Sorrento. The view from our hotel room was simply magnificent, looking back over the Bay of Naples, to the city of Naples and Mount Vesuvius behind it.


My wife & the woman next to us, spent at least 30 minutes, simply saying WOW!

Enough of that, time to leave the next day for the drive to Florence, where it rained on our parade & we were woken around 4am, by a 6.1 earthquake, which we believe was centred just to the North.

Next day, we were off to Pisa, where we wandered around the Leaning Tower and took a zillion photos, before heading out to Monaco, via Genoa and then finally on to Nice. Monaco is certainly a cut above most European cities, it obviously has enough money following thru its banks, to keep all the buildings in a good state!

We had a couple of escorted tours in Nice, one to the “walled town of ST Pauls” & the other to the Fragonard Perfumerie, which was very popular with the women, I wonder why? From there we went for lunch, to a restaurant sitting high on the hills just out of Nice, which turned out to be run by an Australian, from Perth. A great lunch!

The next morning, we left for Lyon, via Cannes. Stopping off in Cannes for quite some time, as fortunately the Film Festival was just beginning. We then stopped in at Avignon, for another bundle of photos, before finally arriving at Lyon.

Leaving Lyon, we headed for the Palace of Versailles and whilst the palace itself good, the surrounding gardens have to be seen & experienced, to be believed, they are stunning!




Ok, finally, we are entering Paris, in the afternoon, after leaving the Palace of Versailles and we take in the sights with a cruise along the Seine River, followed by  dinner, then a photos opportunity, on the Seine, at 10pm, as the Eiffel Tower went into “flash mode”, the bus & all the other traffic just stopped.


The following day, we went up the Eiffel Tower, walked along the Champs Elysees, around the Arc de Triumphe (with all 12 intersecting roads) & walked around large parts of the city, before going to dinner and a show at La Nouvelle, with the Can Can, Comedians & much more.

So, we were now coming to the conclusion of part 2 of “the trip”, as we took off the following morning with a few bearing sore heads, from the night before, as we sped again towards Calais and the return ferry, back to the white cliffs of Dover.

This time, there was NO fog & the cameras again worked overtime. We all boarded another big bus, as the one we had toured Europe in, stayed in Calais for the next tour.
On arriving back at Trafalgar’s London Office, our Trafalgar tour director parred us off with another couple, who had a hotel booking in Hyde Park, which was close to where we were staying overnight, before the 3rd leg of our trip.

Ok, that’s enough for now, the 3rd & final instalment yet to come, as we meet up with our daughter, son-in-law & 1 year old grand daughter in Geneva, on the following day, bye for now. 

muso wrote on Jun 20^th, 2012 at 6:46pm:


Mate, I dips my lid, that's a decent trek!