Gini
Steve McQueen - www.mytb.org/gini Joined: June 13th 2007
Logged in: February 5th 2012
Logged in: February 5th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
Church Spires in Rab, Croatia
We decided to revisit Croatia for 2 weeks following a great time in the South of the Country in 2009. While the last trip ended in Zadar, this one started there. From Zadar, we drove over the barren island of Pag towards our base for the next few nights on the island of Rab. From there, it was onto the mainland and on to Plitvice Lakes National Park (see next blog entry!!), Rijeka, Motovun, Opatija and Rovinj. From Rovinj, we took a catemaran to Venice for 4 nights then continued by car for a drive around Lake Garda... fantastic!... read more
Light Floods into St Peters, Vatican City
Four nights exploring Rome during Easter, based in pretty Trastevere. If your not that into churches, then look away now. Me... I love them... Checked out the usual and some not so usual sights (but went heavy on churches!) including Vatican City, Capuchin Crypt, St Ignatius, Santa Maria in Trastevere (to name only a few) and a load of Dan Brown type score-off's including Santa Maria della Vittoria, Santa Maria del Poppollo and The Pantheon. We walked and walked and walked and walked but had a great place to stay at the end of each day at Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli in Trastevere, a restored 16th century monastery which I'd recommend to anyone looking for a great place to stay while in the Eternal City. Hotel Donna Camilla Savelli ... read more
Jellyfish at Monterey, California
On leaving Yosemite National Park very late, we stayed the night in Madera in suburban California. All of a sudden the world was a busier place again. Before heading back into San Francisco, we stopped for a couple of nights in quaint Monterey and checked out pretty Carmel-on-Sea, where Clint Eastwood used to be mayor. Seeing the Pacific again meant that it was almost time to go home and appropriately, the only clouds we'd seen in 4 weeks appeared on our last day in Monterey. Driving in through the greater San Francisco Bay area gave us a proper idea of just how big a city San Fran really is and it took us a long time to reach the rental depot to drop off our trusty Chevy Big Boy. Maybe we were subconsciously just driving slower, ... read more
Stunning Yosemite Valley at Dusk
Our penultimate stop before reaching the California coast took us from Barstow (think Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas!) up the Sierra Nevada Highway, past Mt Whitney and into Yosemite National Park through Tioga Pass. It was fantastic to be back here again and this time, we even saw a bear while out hiking around this stunning Californian highlight.... read more
A Chevy Parked up in Randsburg, CA
Like (but completely different to...) Modica in Sicily, Randsburg gets it's own blog entry simply for being a successful, off-the-cuff, "lets check out this place" unplanned detour. What a cool place it is, a proper slice of contemporary Wicky Wicky Wild Wild West... I'm darn tootin' we mosied on in. After that, we continued up the Sierra Nevada highway where Duel was filmed toward Tioga Pass and Yosemite National Park.... read more
The Venetian at Night
After visiting the Grand Canyon, we drove through the desert from Arizona into Nevada and headed for Las Vegas. We stayed for a couple of nights at The Venetian. It was ace to be back in Vegas but man, it was hot, hot, HOT! Hottest place so far on the trip. Was hot on the tables too and managed to win with Blackjack this time around then threw it all away Vegas style on the slots playing "WHEEL.... OF.... FORTUNE...!!!" (Not!!) Rainman would have been proud though ; ) ... read more
Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona
Leaving Moab, Utah, we headed South through Monument Valley to Paige, Arizona. This whole area is run by Native Americans and we had a great time checking out Antelope Canyon, a slot canyon that we were taken around by Leonard, our Native American guide. Antelope Canyon was worth the journey, a very enchanting place indeed. After Monument Valley, we journeyed on towards Las Vegas but not after first of all checking out the spectacular Grand Canyon North Rim. I'm glad to have made it this time having had to turn back on flooded roads in '07 trying to get to the South Rim. Stunning spot... : ) ... read more
Green River Lookout...
From Jackson Hole, we stopped off at Dairy Queen (Mmmmm!!) before setting off on an all-day drive through the south of Wyoming, into Utah at Salt Lake City and continuing onwards to Price, Utah. From there, it was a short drive after breakfast the next day to our base for the next few nights in the outdoor Mecah that is Moab. This is where we temporarily shadowed the trip Trung and I made in '07 and somewhere I've been dying to return to. The dusty panoramic landscapes of Canyonlands National Park (setting of the recent Danny Boyle film 127 Hours) and Arches NP next door are among the best places I've ever been and definitely worth a second look. The town of Moab is small by American standards but alive with energy and teeming with motels, ... read more
Sunburst at Jenny Lake
On leaving Cody, Wyoming, we realised we were at our farthest away point from San Francisco (and most Easterly) in the trip. From here, we came back through Yellowstone then headed directly South, to go straight through the dramatic Grand Teton National Park and spend the night in a motel in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After that, it's dead South, to enter the state of Utah at Salt Lake City before cutting East again to reach the fantastic town of Moab and pick up the trail of my last trip to America with TNT in '07.... read more
Lush as Lush
So we made it to Yellowstone National Park for a couple of days where it was a real treat for all the senses... all, apart from the nose that is.... phew!... read more
