Manse

What a day! First of all we took the city tour, stopping off at Recoleta Cemetery and La Boca Caminito St. The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Greek columns. The cemetery has many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a variety of architectural styles. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. Several can be found with broken glass and littered with rubbish. Among many memorials are works by notable Argentine sculptors. Each mausoleum bears the family name etched into the facade; brass or bronze plaques are added to the front for particular family members. La Recoleta is one of ... read more

What an awesome spot we have here in the Radisson Edwardian Berkshire!! I can look out of the window straight down on to bustling Oxford St. We arrived on Saturday and of course the Pope was in town! Hyde Park is just down the street where he was making a public address so the streets were absolutely packed, although a police lady told Barry that it was a rather a quiet day! I can't imagine what it's like on a busy day. horses This morning we went on the Essential London tour and one of our stops was Westminter Abbey. We were lucky enough to be there just as dignitaries were arriving for the anniversary celebrations of the end of World war 2. There were top hats and big picture hats, soldiers with medals galore, lots ... read more

For our last day in Belgium before setting off to London, Richard & Catherine took us on a day trip to Le Quesnoy. This lovely little town has a special place in its' heart for New Zealand. During World War I, the Germans, who had violated the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, conquered the town with no great difficulty. Le Quesnoy was occupied by Germans for four years. Its salvation came on 4 November 1918, when New Zealand troops liberated the town. The town was occupied by 1,500 Germans who refused to give themselves up. 400 soldiers from the New Zealand division were wounded, 93 of these soldiers died and were buried in Le Quesnoy’s local cemetery. This liberation remains permanently etched in the memory of Le Quesnoy’s inhabitants. Despite the large physical distance that ... read more

Today is the last day of our tour. This morning we went on our city tour which showed us all of the sights of the city. First stop was L'Arc de Triomphe. What an experience just driving through the traffic! Our tour guide told us "There's no rules and it seems to work"! Everyone just enters the huge roundabout surrounding the Arc and it's a complete free for all. Our bus had to make it across the unmarked seven lanes or so to turn right! Phew! We applauded him when he made it across with only one near miss! We stopped at the Eiffel Tower and went up the second stage first then paid a little more to go up to the top. Luckily as we were in a group we didn't have to line up. ... read more

Phew! A busy day today! An early start with a private boat trip to St Mark's Square and a guided walking tour including the Doges Palace with a walk over the bridge of Sighs. According to our guide, the view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. St Mark's Square is fascinating! At night dotted around the square are little orchestras playing. We heard a fabulous version of 'the pink panther' played as we walked by. The restaurants there have cover charges and are quite expensive so it's best to ... read more