Sunday 20th Did a partial tour of the canal system by water bus - most impressive. Complete the tour tomorrow. Discovered a great little “ristorante” on the square near the hotel - serves a good selection of food, and the top Chianti is very quaffable. Advised (to satisfy our curiosity) that a ristorante is owned by one person, a trattorie is owned by a family, but both serve the same purpose (and food)!! Afternoon snooze to recharge the batteries. Monday 21st Completed the canal tour by water bus and got some good photos/movie clips. Lunch at our now favourite restaura [View Full Entry]

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Friday 18th Sailing all day up the east coast of Italy, back to Venice. Joan had her hairdo, and in the afternoon had an acupuncture treatment (at my insistence - nothing to lose) for her back pain and a massage. Joan is a sceptic, but she said the acupuncture result was great and the massage by the Chinese lady acupuncturist the best she had ever had!!!! Makes me very happy! As the end of the cruise approaches we are both delighted with it - just about every aspect of it sets a standard which would be difficult to beat. Thanks Pete [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 15th Arrived at Santorini, but no chance we will go ashore - no dock, ashore by tender. The island was formed by a volcanic eruption (the world’s largest ever) eons ago - the resultant tidal wave (estimated 200+ feet high) wiped out the Minoan civilization and is believed by some to have caused the disappearance of Atlantis In any event, the main town is situated on the top of the cliffs, accessible from the port only by cable car or by donkey up the zig-zag “road”. The houses are brilliant white-washed structures, some built right on the edge of the [View Full Entry]

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Monday 14th. Cruising the high seas (I suspect in a holding pattern as it’s not that far between ports). Spent some time exploring the rest of the ship then another visit to the shops. Discovered lots of goodies and bought some - including a collapsible bag with wheels which will ease our baggage movement problem. When we returned to our cabin we found that our Cabin Attendant Loong Far had excelled himself - he’d made a cute rabbit out of towels which was sitting on the bed. After lunch watched a movie on the cabin television and Joan discovered a Turner [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 12th - cruise day. I arranged for a porter to take our bags from the Hotel Castello to the pier (about three quarters of a kilometer away, through a rapidly gathering crowd) where we had to catch a public transport boat (water bus) back to Pier Roma (no more water taxis for Joan!!). My dilemma was to keep us and the baggage in one tidy heap. Joan would not be able to keep up with the porter and we didn’t want to lose sight of our bags. The porter was due at 1100 so at 1030 I escorted Joan to [View Full Entry]

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Thursday (10th) - our full day excursion to Engleberg - “Angel Mountain”. The now standard train from Kloten to the main Zurich railway station then a short walk to the bus terminal. The bus was ultra modern with a very accomplished (though young driver - René) and a mature-aged lady guide (Erna) who had a great sense of humour. Whenever we passed a herd of cows she would direct our attention to the fat “cattles” (plural/plural!!). The trip took about one and a half hours, via Lucerne. The road system was well maintained and very smooth. The scenery as we reac [View Full Entry]

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Monday morning - a train to Rappeswil at the southern end of Lake Zurich. The town boasts a famous monastery and castle and a visit was recommended by Pat Huddlestone. Just outside the rail station is a cobblestone square surrounded by hotels. The lass in the information centre just outside the station suggested a stroll around the waterfront and up some steps to the castle, monastery and famous rose gardens. “Some steps” turned out to be about 1000 which Joan could not negotiate. Back to the information girl who suggested a circuitous route through the old town, streets s [View Full Entry]

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Saturday was a lazy day - lot’s of sleeping to finally get over the jet lag and the late Friday night at the Huddlestone’s. Today (Sunday) we took a train into the main Zurich railway station to prepare ourselves for our departure to Venice next Friday. The train was the smoothest and quietest I’ve ever travelled on!!! The main Zurich station is enormous - but I guess most capital city stations are. The lower level of the station is a gigantic shopping centre which gave us a chance to reduce the weight of my wallet! Surfaced briefly to take some pictures [View Full Entry]

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After a very pleasant breakfast in the Hotel Allegra we were picked up by René Huddlestone the Elite Sales Manager for a visit to the Elite factory at Dubendorf, formerly the main Zurich airfield but now used by a couple of small flying school and Ju-Air, a company operating four of the last 5 JU-52 WWII German transport aircraft still flying. The JU-52 was the Luftwaffe equivalent of the DC3 but now is much rarer. When we got to the airfield all four were preparing to take a large group for a flight over the Swiss alps. Unfortunately it was raining [View Full Entry]

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So far everything has gone like clockwork. The limo arrived at home as planned - a very smooth large Chrysler driven by a courteous young guy - the trip to Brisbane airport very enjoyable - no traffic worries. The Emirates staff at Brisbane were great - Joan rode a wheelchair and we were whisked through immigration/customs at the speed of light and on to the Brisbane Emirates lounge which was as you would expect, very plush. Priority boarding - again by wheelchair. Brisbane to Dubai in an Airbus A340-500 - Emirates business class superb. The seats converted to beds, and Joan [View Full Entry]

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