Day 22: 17th. July: Week 4: TUSCANY: Port of Livorno (Florence, Pisa, Livorno) - City of LUCCA: Temp 36C: Vera and I had opted for a tour of the walled city of Old Lucca, home to the ancient Etruscans, reached by driving through the Tuscan countryside with the occasional glimpse of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the distance. We had a guided walk along narrow streets, through the medieval center with a stroll from one piazza to another to the Duomo - the Romanesque cathedral with Gothic interior and holding the magnificent painting of The "Last Supper" by Tintoretto. Lucca was a lovely city, small and quiet with a lot of residents riding bikes. Back on board the ship we sampled the English afternoon tea and chatted with other passengers then watched as the ... read more

Day 1: Friday 26th June 2009: Departing on our next holiday adventure started with flying PERTH - SINGAPORE - FRANKFURT - MADRID; taking in all of what seemed liked neverending hours in the air. Flying over Spain showed the varying countryside (brown like Australia and then areas of orchards) which we were about to explore over the next 12 days. I used my video camera for both video and photos with only 2.3 mega pixels for still recording, far below what is the normal practice . Day 2: Saturday: MADRID: Found us in Madrid - such a large city where did one start to look around. I noticed most of the shops were closed in the afternoon, but McDonald's was open so lunch was there before taking a stroll around the local area and through ... read more

Days 103 - 105: Thursday 17th. August 2006: Sunny: Packed up and off to the airport - plane late leaving but the flight Homeward bound via Hong Kong was good and the food reasonable. We lost a full day in travelling and arrived in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday 19th. August 2006 about 10am and were met by Peter and Lisa. We had an Australian pizza for tea and it was y u m m y. Vera and I both had bruises all over legs from last few hostel bed rails. Days 106 - 109: We went sightseeing in Brisbane along the South bank; through the markets; on the ferries up and down the river; into shops and museums; the Casino; up the hill to the lookouts and had a wonderful sunny day on North Stradbroke Island ... read more

Day 100: Monday 14th. August 2006: Sunny: We were in Vancouver 6 years ago and missed out on one place due to bad weather so today we decided to go to Grouse Mountain - on the Seabus - a bus up the hill past the Capilano Suspension Bridge and then the Gondola up to Grouse Mountain resort - a wonderful spot for families and tourists with so much going on - hang gliding, ski lifts, live fun entertainment, movies, real live bears and more and absolutely stunning views. Back into North Vancouver and the markets for food - fabulous food. Day 101: Vancouver Island: Butchart Gardens - Victoria and the home of Emily Carr, Parliament House, Wax Museum and harbour. SEE separate blog. Day 102: Our last true holiday day out of Australia - so what ... read more

Day 96: Thursday 10th. August: Sunny and warm: Up at 4.30 am to catch the Airporter bus for flight to Calgary in Alberta where upon arrival we heard repeated announcements, people flying out could not carry gels, liquids, pastes etc in hand luggage - all had to be packed. What had happened since we left Halifax? We saw on the news later of the arrests in London which reminded us of the men in suits and carrying Tommy guns at Heathrow. We are very pleased to be away from Heathrow and JFK and heading home and only 4 HOSTELS to go. From Calgary we travelled with Brewster’s to Banff as YHA cardholders get $10 discount. The hostel is out of town and up the hill with fantastic views of snow capped mountains. We dumped our gear ... read more