Leah and I decided our itinerary across Switzerland wasn’t jam packed enough, so somehow found time to squeeze in some sightseeing of the Swiss Alps between Geneva and Bern. We started the day with a stunning train ride right along the north coast of Lake Geneva before heading into the mountains, then swapping trains to make our way up into the Alps to Zermatt. We had a small look around Zermatt before catching a smaller train to wind our way up to Gornergrat - 3100m above sea level - in the hope to get views back across to the Matterhorn. It [View Full Entry]

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Today we’re in Switzerland! Which must mean Leah and I managed to catch our train from Lyon, just. We had a scenic train journey through low mountain ranges, dotted with villages and followed the River Rhône through into Geneva. The customs arriving into Switzerland was like walking through an empty hallway, arriving in the country with no fuss and no stamp in our passports. We soon found out that Switzerland still uses Swiss Franks, and not the Euro! - and we only had Euros! … what was the saying about “assuming”?? We dumped our bags at our hostel and hi [View Full Entry]

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Today we said “Farewell!” to Brendan who is off to Beaulieu-ser-Mer to join his new yacht, Moira, for the rest of the year. Meanwhile Leah and I were on a train to Lyon, which took us right along the southern coast with some great scenery. We dumped our stuff at the hotel and headed for the tourist information centre asking what there is to see in Lyon - we only have today, and its 2pm already! We walked over the ‘La Saōne’ bridge, admiring the lovely view down the river Rhône below and caught the cute cable car to Fourviere, high [View Full Entry]

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Cannes, home of the Film Festival, and today that was quite obvious as the place was a hive of activity for next week’s festival! As you walk through Cannes, you can feel the glitz and glamour ooze out at every corner. But what makes this place and the rest of the French Riviera so great? Is it the French and Italian influenced Architecture? The high mountains behind providing a beautiful backdrop? The clear and inviting ocean? The food? mmmmm yum! I know it not the pebbly beaches. Maybe it’s all this jammed into one, and the steep mountain limiting development, and [View Full Entry]

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We came, we shopped, we climbed, we conquered. Yep, that’s about it. Nice is a lot bigger than we thought, especially after little Antibes. We walked down one of the main shopping streets, popping into as many shoe shops as we could get away with before Brendan got annoyed. We found our way down to the water’s edge and were presented with a stunning view along the wide Promenade and a sweeping pebbly beach. It’s been such a long time since Leah or I had been to a decent beach, so we were straight down to the water. We figured this [View Full Entry]

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So here we are, living the highlife in the French Riviera! Leah and I had our own tour guide, Brendan, to show us around his old stomping ground, the quaint town of Antibes and along the southern coastline of France. The first stop on the itinerary, by no surprise, is Antibes’ marina for a guided tour and a detailed history of each of the boats there. How he knows, or remembers this stuff, neither of us knew! We had a walk through the town centre, where Leah and I got straight to the important stuff and found a crepe shop. But [View Full Entry]

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Ephesus, described as the best-preserved classical city in the Eastern Mediterranean. I had high expectations, and I wasn’t disappointed. Ephesus was an ancient trading city, which feels like it’s been there since time began. It’s so old that it is referred to in the Bible many times, and is one of the seven churches of Asia referred to in the book of Revelations. So, a reputation not to be sneezed at. We walked through the old streets, where people would sell their wares, past the public toilets - which were very public indeed! , The temple of Hadrian, and down to [View Full Entry]

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Acropolis. Simple concept: Acro = top, polis = city… yep it’s a city on a hill. But its not until you get there, that you realise Akropol, as its known here, is so much more than a mere city on a hill. This ancient city, once ruled by one of Alexander the Great’s generals, has a number of important artefacts and ruins, including the alter of Zeus (mostly sitting in a museum somewhere), the temple of Athena and the temple of Trajan which still has part of the marble columns standing. More remarkably, a massive 10,000 seat theatre was constructed in [View Full Entry]

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By day three, Beth and I were over our, 3am, 5am, the ‘proper’ 5.30am wake up calls. Breakfast is worth mentioning just for the odd choices of cucumber pieces, olives, some kind of sandwich meaty looking stuff, various spreads - or were they dips? - stale pre-crushed cornflakes with long life milk for the British, and a multitude of other things that I could not put a title to. Equipped with our over sized Anzac t-shirts and blow up cushion / floating beer holder - every home should have one - we headed off towards the Gallipoli Peninsula, and more importantly [View Full Entry]

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The first and best thing I noticed about Istanbul when flying in, was that it’s not ‘just another European city’ and also perhaps not quite what I had imagined. It’s surrounded by water - clean looking water - and its skyline is punctured with the minarets of the many mosques located all over the city. I was impatient to get to our hotel and be able to explore the city further. Naturally, I was pretty happy when I found that mine and Beth’s room was overlooking the ‘Schzade Mehmet Camii’ mosque opposite, and only a short walk down the road to [View Full Entry]

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