Diane
Hello everyone, Di_2702
This travelogue will allow me to share my experiences with you all.
Wow !! I can't believe that very soon I will be in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.
I am a little sad because my sister Kath won't be travelling with me as planned, as my much loved nephew is not well enough for her to leave him.
Most of you will know that James requires a heart/lung transplant. I continue to ask my guardian angels to watch over and protect James as well as all of my family.
I still wish that I could share the time with Kath, as she could really do with the experience and a complete break from her very busy life. But if she hadn't pulled out I think I would have cancelled for both of us.
Whilst I'm daunted about travelling on my own I'm really looking forward to the experience of meeting new people and seeing great sights . I am especially looking forward to meeting up with some of the TripAdvisor members that have been so generous with their advice about hotels, sights to see, pitfalls etc.
I'm now really excited about being a "single traveller". This will be the first time that I'll really be "alone" and am both nervous and excited by the journey that's in front of me.
Come with me as I travel to 9 cities in 4 weeks !
Catch ya next time
Di ( Mum, Ama, Aunty, Aunty Di, Diane etc etc etc)
Not long now -
I wonder how I'll be able to stop the countdown once I'm on my adventure?
Travel Blog Posts
October 26th 2007
Today I took a Round the Island Tour which took in, Har Paw Village, Kranji War Cemetary, Chinese Bright Hill Temple, and Changi Prison Museum. I was really tired after not having had much sleep trying to keep in touch with things at the hospital, and at one point thought that perhaps I should stay in the hotel and rest. I didn't think that would be a good thing to do so set out as planned. Usually there are about 30 or 40 people on a tour bus taking this tour, but today there were only 4 of us ! We had a really nice personalised tour. Har Paw Village was a garden donated to the city by the 2 brothers that developed Tiger Balm. Really, it was a bit tacky, but it was colourful! The ... read more
October 25th 2007
I got off my long, long flight from Frankfurt and when I turned my phone on I had a message from my sisiter Kathy to say that they were heading for the hospital with a 50% chance that James would be the successful recipient of donor lungs. This was a moment that I was dreading because I really wanted to be with Kathy and her family to help and support in any way that I can but also a moment that would come quickly and not the months or years that we advised could be. After a few frantic messages back and forth, it was decided that I wouldn't go straight home to Australia, that I should spend the last 2 days of my holiday here. Whilst this isn't sitting really well with me at the ... read more
October 25th 2007
Arrived in Frankfurt and left the snow in Munich behind. Waiting at Frankfurt airport for my flight to Singapore I can't believe that my trip is almost over! I am feeling a bit sad that my adventure has almost come to an end but I don't think I will sit at home anymore. The world is full of great people regardless of what you hear on the news every day. Sure there are tragedies, and they are very sad , but they all come with a lesson to learn. For me, the end of my marriage has been a very sad time along with other personal problems that have "erupted" now and then. I believe that "things happen for a reason" and I now think that the reason for my marriage failure and me taking this ... read more
October 23rd 2007
One of things that I wanted to see when I decided to come to Munich was Neuschwanstein Castle. The reason for this was that it was the castle that Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle was based on and my brother Kenneth (Banga) loved Walt Disney Shows, especially "The Wonderful World of Disney" that was shown when we were kids. We had an early start - it seems to be the story of my life at the moment ! It was a long drive, about 2 1/2 hours I think and about half an hour in to it it started snowing slightly. By the time we reached our first stop it was really snowing !! We had a quick look around King Ludwig's smaller castle "Linderhof". The grounds were very beautiful even though they were We continued ... read more
October 22nd 2007
Found my way to the Tourist Office and organised to take a city tour. On the bus I met an American couple, Kay and Bill, and asked them if they could email me some photos of the city that they took, explaining why I didn't have a camera. They were a very friendly couple, and had been touring Eastern Europe for 3 weeks. Hopefully they will email some photos when they return home.It was another freezing cold day, so much colder than even a Canberra winter day!Our tour took us to many great sights, I've decided that taking a city tour is a great way to get your bearings in a city and then this allows you to explore the city at your own pace at a later time.I didn't realise that much of Munich had ... read more
October 22nd 2007
I arrived in Munich to find it snowing lightly - what a difference to the weather I have had in the past few weeks. I didn't really realise how much the past week had affected me. I got to my hotel and was totally exhausted - actually, I felt as though I could breathe again, so I must have been more stressed from the Barcelona incident than I had realised. I had a bit of a rest, but then put on my coat and braved the cold icy weather to walk around the city, which is lovely. I wondered why nothing was opened, and realised that it was Sunday!! How quaint that the stores don't open on Sundays. There were so many people out and about though, just window shopping. It was fantastic!! The stores are ... read more
Barcelona- Robbed of things - but not of love and support!
Published: October 21st 2007Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona
October 22nd 2007
Barcelona ! Driving from the airport in a taxi, I remember thinking what a beautiful, lively city it seemed. I arrived at my hotel which was right in the middle of the "old town", full of history, with great buildings and street life. I decided to go for a walk to get a feel for the place, find a laundry, and to use the internet cafe as my hotel did not have internet access. I had prearranged to meet another TripAdvisor traveller and had forgotten to get the name of the hotel that I was to call. I took my camera so that I could take photos of the great sights that I had seen on my way from the airport. I wasn't walking for very long , when all of a sudden I heard a ... read more
October 21st 2007
Today I went on my Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel Tour. Whilst it was good to see them both, so many people visit there that you are pushed through like cattle and you don't get to appreciate fully the artwork on the walls and ceilings. I took many photos so I will just add them here and let them tell the story. I also continued on the bus tour of all the monuments and became so overwhelmed. You really need more time to take it all in. I met up with Clare, Mike and Debbie for our last night in Rome, and had a nice dinner together at a restaurant that Mike and Debbie sometimes go to. They've been to Rome 5 times so they were a very good source of knowledge. We topped it off ... read more
October 21st 2007
Today , I thought that I would take the hop on hop off tour bus around the city and opted for the 48 hour ticket as this would let me stop at each monument and have a good look around before hopping on the next bus and I could take longer time. What a great idea that turned out to be!! First of all, I didn’t get off at the first stop, or the second, third, etc. I was so taken with everything that I saw that I stayed on for the complete trip and then stayed on and started again. First stop was the Castel Sant Angelo - Wow, what an impressive looking building that is. It looks so tough, no wonder it had been used as a stronghold to keep enemies out. I think ... read more
October 20th 2007
Driving from the airport in to the City of Rome was like driving through any other city, but once hitting the Ancient City I was blown away with the sheer size of things that I saw. First off, the doorway to my accommodation for 3 nights, Residenza San Pantaleo was huge! Then the keys to my room, there were 3 on a huge brass key ring. I decided to take a walk before having a rest before my Rome by Night Walking Tour later that night. Well, I didn’t get the rest as there is so much to see that I was awestruck. If you haven’t been to Rome then perhaps you wouldn’t quite understand what I mean, but to be walking a small alleyway and turn a corner and be faced with the sight of ... read more
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