AlTess

21 to 24 August 2009 Our tour is quickly coming to an end, and for the final four days we have set the insurmountable task of seeing London with a few side visits to some of the nearby counties. First thing to note, the people, not the variety - the sheer volume of them. While it seems the rest of Europe was on a laid back summer vacation everyone is here and moving all at once. After a few deep breaths we got amongst it - after a nice sleep in at our fabulous accomodation Hotel Rubens at Buckingham Palace. You couldn't type-cast a more 'English' hotel it was great fun and for those of you familiar with the territory, it was across the road from the Royal Mews where the Queen's carriages are kept. Hard ... read more

17 August 2009 The days are still warm, sunny and dry. Even in Lucerne it is 31 degrees and the local pass time seems to revolve around the water with scores of people at ‘beaches’ along the lake swimming and sunbaking and some sensational motor boats and small sail boats. Our day started early however getting out to catch the first gondolas to Mt Pilatus. These were gondolas of the air, not the water. To get to the top we first took a series of the small 4 person gondolas to rejoin in the 40 person version complete with the hatchway for you to climb out for your fight scene a la James Bond. The trip takes us straight up from 436 to 2132 metres. Going up the mountain is amazing, for about two thirds of ... read more

15 August 2009 We’ve gone as far south as this journey will take us and have now set course north again. Roman streets are quiet, nigh deserted, and the trip to Florence is very quick. Florence was the hotbed of the Italian renaissance at various stages the home of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo and it also became the resting place for many of these great minds. The one person that Florence lost, and always regretted was Dante. Dante was accredited as being the father of the Italian language, being the first to write down the spoken language of the time. Our arrival into Florence was via the panoramic terrace of the Piazza Michelangelo which overlooks Florence. This was a good lunch stop and photo opportunity. Our walk through Florence took us past the Duomo and ... read more

12 August 2009 Another fantastic day in the north Italian paradise of Lido, Venice with warm dry weather, good food and a good night’s sleep. We woke to a very busy day starting at 7.40am to catch our private ferry to cross the Venetian Lagoon to land near St Marks Cathedral and make our way through the narrow streets to watch the glass blowing in the Murano Glass shopping outlet. Tess had a ball and bought pendants for Kelly & Lozy (and herself too). Then we had free time to shop and explore the city so first up we went looking for masks in one of the tiny back streets near the Rialto Bridge but the shop (which was suppose to open at 10 am) didn’t open. Luckily for us the shady character in the aviator ... read more

9 August 2009 We have left Prague and are heading for Cesky Krumlov a quaint little medieval Czech village to the south in the region of Bohemia. We were amazed by the Krumlov Castle which looks as though it has been work in progress since the beginning of the 14th century on top of the hill overlooking the village. The village is in the crook of the river Vltava, the same river that flows through Prague and presents a series of rapids which seem to be a favourite during summer. The first stop for us was to climb up the 126 steps of the old watch tower before continuing up the hill past the castle to the gardens and an outdoor amphitheatre. The amphitheatre looks as though it was a summer house that has in more ... read more