Guided by second hand accounts we'd never intended staying in Athens. We still weren't, but arriving at Athens airport at 8.00am for our 3.00pm departure to Dubai left us a yawning gap to fill. Our hosts in Dubai, Dan & Anthia have a 3 year old son. Kids always need more toys and we would go shopping in downtown Athens. Not wanting to be complete consumerist slaves we decided to see the Acropolis on our way to the mall. Leaving our bags in storage we left the terminal and stepped onto the railway. The railway is Lego set brand-new. It looks [View Full Entry]

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Amongst the ruins we tramped. The occasional tree blocked the sun momentarily. Our feet stirred up a fine, choking dust. The hot, still air let the dust hang there for a moment. Then, if it didn't reach the back of your throat, it lodged in between teeth. I wondered if Santorini would be like Rome. Looking out the Aegean Air jet, doing a flyby of this Waiheke-sized island (pop 12,000 + tourists), the prerequisite barren hillsides under clear skies were getting their late afternoon respite from the sun. The jet lowered and turned back for the final approach. We sunk lower [View Full Entry]

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Italy as a state came into being in 1861, uniting the disparate regions of the entire Italian peninsula. People who couldn't care less about each other were melded together into one Kingdom. We'd traveled down from the curvaceous rump of Venezia, and had found ourselves in the bony shin area also known as Lazio, Roma. If Rome is Italy's shin, it's a hairy inelegant one at that. Late at night, we disembarked at Termini Station in the middle of Rome. We went from the spic and span high-speed train to the dirty, run-down & slow Roman metro to get to Ottaviano, [View Full Entry]

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Warning!! You'll see little black rectangles on the side of the page, in the middle of paragraphs. These are photos that have been squashed up for some weird technical reason. If you hover over them you'll see text slightly highlighted. Left-click on the text and you'll get to see the proper photo. The creation of Venice was born out of various barbarian tribes wanting to kill & the Venetians wanting to live. Between the 5th and 6th centuries, after incessant attacks, the Veneto villagers were forced to seek refuge on the lagoon's islands. Its funny what is born out of desperation. [View Full Entry]

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The one & only plane at Beauvais Airport was the one we landed on. It was noticeably chillier than Barcelona. The baggage claim hall smelled like a barn. Maybe the sheep here are given an EU subsidised package holiday before they become chops on a Parisians plate. Beauvais as you might have worked out is a long way from Paris. So we boarded yet another bus with a cracked windscreen (every single tour bus we rode in Europe had one). My first impressions of European buses were from watching them on TV transporting people from Srebenicia. Only single seats remained; I [View Full Entry]

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Before I start I'd like to apologise for my presumption that the Spanish word 'Bombero' referenced in the Madrid stage meant Bomb or had something to do with bombs. It actually has something to do with Firemen. Years ago in Standard 4, my teacher bored us to death with tales of his travels through Spain. He'd kept a menu which, of course, was in Spanish. So we had to somehow incorporate, then regurgitate, this incomprehensible material into projects we each presented on the country. I, for one, at 10 years old couldn't care less about a country that hadn't produced anything [View Full Entry]

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Madrid is Europe's highest capital city. It lies 2300 metres above sea level on the high central plateau. The short 45 minute flight had taken us over the cracked and burnt countryside. Tendrils of green life grow steadily larger and culminating in large parks as you arrive over the city. Taxiing into the terminal the heat rising hung in a shimmer between the khakied land and the stark blue sky. In Spain an attempt of sorts has been made to stop smoking. Passengers lighting-up straight off the plane as Michelle experienced 7 or 8 years ago has stopped. However those lucky [View Full Entry]

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We had been told with great relish by an Oportan that Lisbon had been totally destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. Would an Aucklander be so happy if Wellington dissolves into the harbour in the next few years? Earthquakes are opportunities for architects and much of the city was rebuilt in the French style, including wide boulevards which conveniently make it difficult for the revolting to revolt. Rather a bit later, in 1966, maybe from a feeling of solidarity, the Lisbonites built a Golden Gate lookalike bridge across the river Tagus, The '25 de Abril Bridge'. Just in time for fugitive [View Full Entry]

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Look up a little and the brilliant sky blues & sun-whitened walls meet in the far-off haze of the hills. Surrounding you. Shadows throw across the old, old buildings and older land. Slowing your heart & mind as you happily wander the alleys and squares. Welcome to Coimbra. We got here Travelling by train. It's where old & new Portugal meet. The coaches are largely modern & roomy but the stations were populated by beggars out of the 19th century, complete with humps. The welfare system according to the online Encyclopaedia Britannica is comprehensive... 'The Portuguese welfare system [View Full Entry]

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Like mooing livestock we filed through Stansted Airport to our boarding gate for our flight to Porto, Portugal. Millions of people + hundreds of regional airports ='s cheap flights around Europe#. With the likes of Ryan Air you'll experience travel conditions below cattle-class so Michelle had the foresight to buy us priority boarding. This almost got us first in the boarding queue (a determined family of Spaniards pipped us). We got the unlimited foot room of front row seats on the 737. No need to be a scoundrel and claw-back a few precious inches with the seat clamp. Both of us [View Full Entry]

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