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I’ll briefly run through Rome and France to get back on track…..the weather in most of Europe was pretty harsh…wet, very windy, cold and not ideal for walking but most days we ventured out, rugged up and ready for a trudge or two. We saw a  lot of Rome but didn’t get to go in to some things as we had no cash money. The ATM’s were down for a few days and so we decided eating was the priority. We checked out the Colosseum, Plaza de Republic, Panthenon, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Tiber river and its many bridges, St Peter’s Basilica - we climbed 340 steps to the top… YES, I DID IT !!! and then down - don’t know which was worse as it was narrow and sloped and quite claustrophobic…Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel - no photos allowed and it wrecks your neck trying to look at the ceiling for long periods…. I think of all of them, the Trevi Fountain was the best spot.

A couple of highlights was when we ran into Ray Martin on a street corner.. he and his son were as lost as we were !!! We had a chat and shook hands and headed on our ways.

We tried a few new foods - LOVE their pastries and cakes… we had one called a Viennese slice - so light adn smooth - we both loved that one and managed to tuck a few away whilst there. We mostly bought stuff at the local supermarket and ate it in our room. I managed to communicate to a pharmacist what my cough symptoms were and got some medicine… which helped but at times, I thought I was never going to stop coughing and bringing up crap… juicy eh ?

Rome is quite difficult to navigate as it has many funny angled roads, alleys and the maps - well, they aren’t great… on one of our side trips(ok, when we were lost) we found a cute little shop that sold leather items and we both managed to get a new belt each - cheap and great leather. It was fun trying to communicate in our crappy Italian too. We also bought some lovely pieces of Italian glass jewellery - it is quite unique and famous and often has gold in it - we hope the girls like what we got…too bad if they don’t ‘cos we aren’t taking it back!

We had a bit of bother with our B & B as they decided they wanted to be paid in cash but as I mentioned, no atms were working so we stood our ground and only paid them one night in cash and the rest on credit. We had a really annoying lady downstairs who kept tapping on her ceiling with a stick and ringing our bell. Apparently she doesn’t like the owners using the apartment for tourists as so causes lots of nuisance.

Sadly, the umbrella Shells and Dave gave us died in Rome - it got so badly bent and broken in the strong winds we had to relinquish it to the bin…shame… but it served us well. We could have made good use of it in Paris as the windy wet weather continued there too but that is another blog…

Well, as I mentioned in my last post…we were off to Sorrento to celebrate Glenn’s 55th birthday…I had booked and paid for a lovely hotel up the top of the mountain, witha  magnificent view of Mt Vesuvius and dinner at their restaurant. when we finally arrived at the end of our train journey - it took us 7 hours and 2 trains to get there - it was dark, wet and windy so I suggested that we catch a taxi to the hotel… we found a guy who spoke a bit of English and way we went… I watched the meter anxiously as we climbed and climbed slowly up the winding road… we finally got there and the thing said we owed 40 euro.!!!! wowsers… but the “best ” was yet to come… the hotel seemed quite dark and the driver laughed and said that maybe it was closed for the winter… and guess what, IT WAS. We finally found a note on the door that said we had been transferred to another hotel back down in town..so we had no alternative but to catch the taxi back down the hill, so we paid 80 euro to travel up and down. The new hotel was quite lovely but I was feeling rather upset by this time, as I had planned such a special time for Glenn and it seemed to be unravelling.  We had also been told that there was a transport strike the next day, so our plans to visit Pompeii and Herculeum were also ruined, as we only had that one day to do it.

When the new hotel people took us to our room, with no view and with twin beds, that is when I let a few tears slide down my cheeks. The guy noticed and asked what was wrong… he left and then returned and said our room had been changed… yeah … a room with a view !!! much happier tourists now. It was now quite late and Glenn wasn’t feeling great - he had a runny nose and sore throat and I was also worried about that, what with his low white cell count. We decided to blow the cost and have dinner in the hotel and not worry about trying to find another cheaper place. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and in walked a lass with a bottle of champagne, some nibbles and glasses. Happy Birthday she says !!! more tears… but this time with gratitude for their kindness.

Dinner was lovely and we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves as the only clients in the restaurant…. off to bed with both of us now feeling physically unwell…sore throat, coughs and splutters…. by the next morning we were both feeling like very sick puppies !!! and decided to simply stay in bed and sleep and rest up. Surpringly, Glenn recovered far faster than I - I am still not 100 % and it is weeks later. I think mine developed into Bronchitis, as usual when I get a cold. We had all our meals in the hotel - which cost us a bit - but we didn’t really care by that time.

On the day we left Sorrento, the sun finally came out and we got to see some views. We caught a taxi to the station and got the train to Pompeii - figuring we’d walk around for just a short while, dragging those bags. As we left the station, a guy offered to mind our bags whilst we did the ruins. I was a bit suss but he obviously does it regularly as he had tickets etc. so we were then free to wander for a few hours through the old city before collecting the bags and catching the train back to Rome and finding our B & B. We didn’t like the trains in Italy - totlaly covered in graffiti, dirty, nosiy and they cahrged us for trips, even though we had our Eurail pass. In fact, by the time, we paid all the reservation fees, we figure it would have been cheaper to just pay for what we used… we will do that next time.

So, Rome……

I forgot a few things in my previous posts…like the fact that we spent a whole half day in Rugby where William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball and ran with it…and where Em lived for a few months a few years ago…. cute town.

In the train trip, I forgot one of the most exciting things / we were travelling first class !! and in the very front carriage on one of the legs…which has a panoramic view of the ride / you actually sit in the window of the train just like a driver and it feels like you are riding on the very track itself …so amazing. I only got to stay there for about half an hour as it was reserved for folk paying a hefty premium, but there was a spare seat for a bit…. wow factor was high !!

Knee high boots and jeans or pants tucked in, is ALL the rage in Europe…all shapes and sizes too..of ladies I mean !

We didnt see Robin Hood or his merry men when we stayed in Nottingham…shame really.

and no, I didn’t play Maid Marion either…. and Glenn doesn’t wear tights…..

I love the Swartkovzy crystals… especially when thousands of them are hung on a 20 metre high Christmas tree in the train station at Zurich…lubberly…

gotta go folks….. off to Sorrento now to celebrate Glenn’s 55 th brthday…

Also known as the slowest express train in the world, it travels from Luzern all the way through the prettiest parts of Switzerland to Montreaux. It turned out to be the best day. It has been soemthing I have dreamed of doing since I was a little girl and used to read about Heidi and her grandfather…and it lived up to my dream totally. It was amazing. The weather was just perfect - stunning blue sky, no clouds, warm enough to be comfortable. going through mountains, past lakes, up and down steep inclines, rambling past those typical Swiss villages with their compulsory church spires, sheep grazing on the hillsides… man, it was certainly a dream come true. We stopped in Interlaken Ost for 2 hours and did some shopping, had a sidewalk coffee, browsed and watched some paragliders coming down gracefully from the peaks. All in all, we had to change trains 4 times - luckily we figured that bit out, otherwise we would still be up there… and got into Geneva at about 5pm, so that was about a 9 hour trip. We stayed at the Y, which was pretty basic and not cheap and had Brasilian -Swiss for dinner. Dad suffered from all the Sauercraus they gave him with his spicy sausages and ham..he he ..you should ahev heard him gurgling all night. His throat was really sore last night and he had trouble swallowing, so we are staying indoors today… we leave for Italy this afternoon and we want to be fit for all that fun.He turns 55 tomorrow - old man - he he - so we will clebrate it overlooking the sea at Sorrento.Sorry folks, you have to stay at home…sad. Love you and leave you here for today… bye

We arrived in Zurich late on Saturday and caught the shuttle to our cosy hotel…small but clean and cosy. Actually, I am pretty happy with most of the places we have chosen and would recommend Expedia.com to anyone travelling… the reviews are really good and helpful. We have been finding food VERY expensive in Europe - we were warned but it is still a shock and makes australian prices and quality seem so good - like a pizza costs abdout 25 dollars and is so small and with not much on top…it doesn’t up fill anyone. I appreciate more now how tough it was for kirstin and Em when they were living in the UK.

sunday, we caught a tram into town - we have really enjoyed using the public transport in the various countries - and wandered around. Everything was closed, being Sunday, so we just walked around and saw what we could. We then decided to get a ferry around Lake Zurich adn as there were no inside eats, we sat outside. I am now feeling bad about that as Dad has caught a cold and sore throat. One fun bit of the day, was that we picked up St Nicklaus adn dropped him adn his black moors at another stop, where hundreds of children were waiting to greet him. We didn’t really like Zurich all that much but maybe if stuff was open, it would have been better.

On the second day, we caught a train down to Luzern..now that is a different story. I Loved it… the lake, the ring of snow capped mountains, the history, the beautiful painted buildings, the cobblestone squares, the white swans… aaahhh. A stunning combination. We decided to spluge on dinner and went for fondue - we had a cheese one adn a meat one. both were good and we were totally stuffed after. We washed it down with a lovely swiss wine - didn’t know they had such good stuff. Everywhere we went, we were given small blocks of chocolate - couldn’t eat them all…so guess what Jess…

I was going to put a question mark after that but I can,t find it on this computer…funny thing, the keyboards are all different in each country…so you will have to forgive my even worse typing……we are now in Zurich…it.s berry cold and windy and wet, so after a few hours out there, we came home to a warm cosy room…and Glenn is having a snooze. I decided to go down and catch you all up on our adventures…and I did adn then the b………………. computer deleted the whole lot as I tried to publish it…and it didn.t save a copy either so NOT a happy camper*%&+”… so this is the second edition of this blog…my creative juices may have dried up a bit as a result but hey… read on anyway…

So, we left Newcastle upon Tyne quite early as Heather gave us a lift into town, where we had brekky and then dragged our lovely bags all around town till we found the avis shop…we rented a little VW for the week and headed north…stopping at Bamborough Castle - closed, like many other places as it is winter over here - had a walk on a beach …sand, not pebbles.. then off into Scotland.I don.t know why but it felt like home….we had a self contained unit in Edinburgh, close to the castle, which we explored on a butt - freezing day, caught up on our washing, had a few home meals, relaxed and pottered around the city.We also went to the movies and saw Elizabeth - good but a tad long and too emotional really…and too many close ups Cate blanchett…she is pretty but it was overdone…my opinion anyway.

We also drove over the Firth of Forth..or is it the Forth of Firth…welll, we drove over it ….and up to Perth… a very pretty city and a good pub meal, After a few days, we headed off to explore more of the country back lanes with their windy, narrow roads. The roads are hedged with either bushes or stone walls - it amazed me how these walls were still so strong and well built and still standing after so many years. They make the countryside look like a patchwork quilt. We searched in the cmetery at St Bpswells for some relatives and found the town, Lindean, where many came from and the name my grandfather called his home. stopped at Hawick(pronounced Hoick - as in to spit noisily) he he… stopped Carlisle and eventually found our b & b in Windemere, Lake District. It was fabulous place and the brekky was full on …so we stuffed ourselves and then saved money on lunches. The weather was pretty bad most of our time in the UK, with only a few fine days when you saw bluish sky…and it was a very plae washed out blue. It made me miss the Aussie vivid colours immensely…. bit homesick…. We passed on the ferry trip on the Ullswater Lake and headed off to find Hadrians wall..what a saga… let me just say, that I am one hell of a navigator… and the maps in the UK are crap… he he..actually I got a huge compliment from Glenn as we left the country, saying he was really impressed with me and my skills nad will never slur my name ever again..on that front anyway..leaving Windemere, we headed to York, where we walked around the entire city walls. We found a tower along the way, called Bitchdaughter’s Tower… where men sent their naughty girls..so watch out kids …dad is planning on building a replica when we get back…

We had chinese at the end of our day in York - all you could eat - good food but they obviously used msg, as I was violently ill later and am now very wary of the stuff. We stayed in Nottingham that night - the weather adn traffic and roads were atrocious, and it took us hours to get there from York. Dad was so tried by then,he was almost dropping but we made it adn settled in to a nicer place for our last night. We toasted the UK with a few bottles of the pink and red stuff and next morning, after a long way round trip, made it to Heathrow.

Next day… we did the Tower of London, Crown Jewels (I’ll settle for the little crown ), St Paul’s Cathedral - we walked up the winding staircase to the roof - I was so scared…saw some tombs of important people, walked over the Millenium Bridge, gave the Tate Modern a miss - all artworked out sorry - did a tour of the Globe Theatre, repented of our lack of appreciation for art and went to the National Portrait gallery….I do enjoy this type of art as you learn so much about the people and the artist…the one of the Virgin boss was absolutley fascinating…can’t recall his name …… ah well, doesn’t matter…

think that was all we did that day..home to bed but no sleep…having problems still with insomnia, not helped by the Italians partying next door after midnight. Glenn is very tired and I am a tad worried at how hard he is pushing himself….we will slow down next week to let him build up again…

I have already mentioned our ferry ride and trip to Greenwich but I didn’t tell you that we found the Royal Obseravtory there too…Glenn has always been fascinated with latitude and longitude, so he was thrilled to get there….spent ages reading all the signs as usual  he he… stared raining heavily as we made our way back to the station….but luckily I had thrown in the umbrella Shell and David had given us before we left home…so didn’t get too wet. We had decided to abandon our plans for the day and go find a pub to have a feed and drink in …made our way to Wapping to find a pub called the Bag of Nails that John had told us about… couldn’t find it but we did find the oldest pub on the Thames - built in ….wait for it….. 1520 !!! can you get your head around that???? It was called the Prospect of Whitby…so we had a beer there and as there was no food available - it was 4pm by now and the kitchen was closed, we headed back into Piccadilly, hoping to get some seats for Mamma Mia…and we did !!! We loved the show and sang along to most of it…well worth the money. Go if you get the chance - we will go again if we have the chance.

I forgot to mention that we voted that morning too …unbeknown to us, the voting only started that morning and our previous attempts to find the consulate would have been fruitless anyway. I think we were on TV too as the cameras were there filming the first voters..so we did our bit …

We also found Fortnum and Mason’s…John will be happy we did…..and a fair where we found a few treasures to bring home for folk….wait and see………………so after another full day, it was back home via Kings Cross, where we collected our tickets to Newcastle….Glenn was so tired by now, he could hardly walk…felt so bad for him. Thankfully, the next door neighbours were gone and he got a good nights sleep….so next stop, Newcastel upon tyne, where we are staying with another Heather. till then, sleep tight, one and all….

Sunday, 11th November, Remembrance Day (which we had slightly forgotten )

We discovered that our London Pass, also bought on line, had to be validated before we start using them so we made our way over to Piccadilly Circus station…tried to find the agency…got a tad lost but enjoyed the sights….didn’t open till 10.30am being a Sunday…. then they forgot to give us the book which told you what was covered under the pass and locations and opening times, so this day turned out to be a waste of the pass… we travelled to the Florence Nightingale museum only to find it shut…etc etc..won’t go into all the strife.but we will be asking for a refund….so that was the bad side of the day

The good side of the day was that most of the roads were closed for the day and we could walk along and get shots without cars in the pictures !!! also there were a few bands playing, lots of people about with their medals and uniforms on, guards and troops all in their regalia - which we were very lucky to see. Took lots of shots - the city and buildings are just awesome - so much to see and do, we will need a week next time we come over… hear my posiitve thinking there folks ?

We saw the Horse Guards, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Downing st (long range view anyway- security is tight)Wellington Arch, and delighted in finding all the Monopoly sites…lol…gotta play that game again when we get back…now I know which ones to buy up…all in all, we ended up having a grand day…finished up with another pub meal…Alexander Fleming used to dine there frequently …his lab is just over the road from us, where he discovered penicillin…amazing eh ? We also found out that our hotel is way closer to Paddington Station so the walk to and from is much quicker than Lancaster Gate…must buy a bear to remember our stay by……

Oh dear, I am digging deep for these titles aren’t I ? Well, as you can guess, what follows is a comprehensive list of our doings in Washington, DC….not. I am just going to tell you the good bits….the squirrels. Yes, I do love those little guys - have I mentioned that yet ? lol. We actually had a great time there - again lots of walking, reading of signs and getting slightly lost at times …. all part of the fun. I think we are pretty adept at negotiating the different transport systems - and to adapting our plans when we get it wrong !!! We only had 2 full days there, as we took the Weds off to rest up…. We do find it good to take a day off here and there, just to regroup - we realise we are “missing” seeing stuff but we figure we can always come back…later.

So, we did the Smithsonian…..the Castle, the Air and space museuem (Glenn loved that especially), saw dorothy’s red slippers, the botanic gardens (boring as), White House - George W didn’t ask us in…National Mall, Extra Mile walk - honouring volunteers who have gone the extra mile - very inspiring and has made me see how valuable the contributions many women have made…and ask the question “what can I do ?”, Capitol Hill, the Hope Diamond, The Portrait Gallery - we highly recommend it …could have spent more time there but it was getting dark and cold outside…, the Pentagon, the National Art Gallery where I saw the originals of some of my favourite art and yes, I let out a few “amazings”, the Holocaust Museum - almost made me vomit…. literally …. made me sick to my stomach what man does to man….and so ended our whirlwind tour of the capital….

We had to make a mad scramble out to Dulles airport - 4 buses, 2 train rides, and 2 hours later we finally got there….asked at information where to go…but the info was wrong….finally found the counter after circumnavigating the terminal..grrr…only to be told we couldn’t have a seat allocation….??? why ???? no answer….so up to the gate, wit in queue for ages only to be told to sit down and wait for seat….one poor lady had paid for business class and was bumped down to economy with no refund, only to hear them then announce that the following economy passengers were getting upgraded to business..her discussion with them was a tad heated shall we say…but they didn’t budge. Finally after waiting ages more, we got allocated some crap seats. I told them what I thought of United at this stage…hmmm. Anyway, to put it briefly, we had a crap flight - my legs swelled up again, even though I was wearing compression stockings, did exercises, walked when I could etc etc…suffered really badly from restless legs and got no sleep whatsoever…so was a cranky tired girl when we landed in Heathrow.

Then, the tickets I’d bought for the fast  express train were the wrong ones - paid the full amount for a regular ticket on line… then Glenn was being a tad annoying (either that or I was at the end of my tether) and we got slightly lost in the terminal….big breath…start all over again….. right, here’s the train..get off at Lancaster Gate on the Bakerloo line…. right, where the hotel ?? way up those steps…no lift…. got to drag these bloody cases up all those steps..crap….as my dad would say “bloody hell”.!!!! good o, here’s the hotel, enter lobby, look for room number…you wait here Glenn (after 4 narrow flights of stairs), I’ll go find it…no way, we can’t manage to get our bags or our selves up another 4 flights of narrow, winding stairs..back to check in, change rooms thankfully….get it, tiny room, tiny ensuite, 2 beds instead of double BUT the shower is hot, the sheets clean and the kettle works….ah sleep……..and so began our stay in London. We slept for a few hours and then went in search of food…found a pub nearby and settled in with a few cold beers and lovely fish and chips…went back to our room and slept like logs.

I was just thinking of sitting down and catching you all up on Washington…etc etc but an idea popped in my head…. so, I thought I would follow that lead…we are now in Newcastle upon Tyne, staying at a friend of Kirstin’s - another Heather(actually we had 3 Heathers here last night for dinner so poor Glenn was a tad overwhelmed) it is a cloudy coldish day and we are staying in - to rest up and just vege out a bit… all the walking in NY, Philly, Washington and London has taken it’s toll…anyway, I digress..

I was saying to Glenn that it has been the “unexpected” that has been the most pleasing bits of our journey….when we go somewhere, and see or find something that we didn’t expect to see or do…..it has brought us the most pleasure…. for instance, on Tuesday, we went into London on the tube, got off at the wrong station…walked alongside the Thames towards the ferry terminal, got our tickets adn with time to spare, thoguht we’d walk over and “do” Westminster Abbey…but no, our London Pass did not cover that and we didn’t feel like paying £10 each to see inside….so, bought a coffee and walked back to the ferry…..up the river we go, planning to see the Cutty Sark…arrive in Greenwich, walking in the rain, searching for the boat…..what#s this ? the exhibition is closed, it burnt down /?*$… what do we do now ? ah well, there’s a chapel over there we could look in…. oh my goodness, look at that amazing painted domed ceiling, man, how did they do that ? and wots this, a 12 piece orchestra playing Straus ? lets sit a while and enjoy the music…. see what I mean ? we so enjoyed that day in the end, even though we never intended to see or do any of it. Perhaps this is a clue to enjoying life - don’t plan too much but simply enjoy what comes our way - be flexible enough to go with the flow and wow, life is good.