Date Tuesday 30th November 2010 Destination Dallas, Texas Temp 12c - sunny We arrived into Dallas around 7.00am to a beautiful clear morning and temperatures reminiscent of Wellington – a bit of a change to our usual balmy standard! Since we were probably going to hang out at the airport for the day before our evening flight to Buenos Aires, we went in search of either an airport hotel or business lounge to set up base camp. First off we checked out the Dallas airport Hyatt. To check the hotel we had to pass through the security exit to get out of the airport so we made sure we had our passports and boarding pass with us. Their day rate was just a little bit expensive for us so we went back airside to check on ... read more

Date Saturday 13th of November City Manhattan, New York Currency NZ$1.00 = US$0.76 Climate Low 9c – high 16c – fine and sunny Sailing into New York at dawn was spectacular. We had a wonderful clear morning, and many passengers were up on the outside decks early to witness the Manhattan skyline wake up to the lovely sunrise. It was quite chilly up on deck with people rugged up in jackets, scarves, gloves, beanies and warming themselves with a hot coffee. Going under the impressive Verrazano Bridge was amazing. You may have seen images of it when TV has covered the New York Marathon with thousands of people running over it. Also, seeing the Statue of Liberty gleaming in the sun was a true photo moment. We had chosen a disembarkation luggage tag for around 10am ... read more

Date Wednesday, 27th October 2010 City Venice, Italy Currency NZ $1.00 = $0.54 euro Climate low 4c - high 14c -fine and sunny We landed in Venice on a glorious clear, sunny day. But what a difference in temperature after the mid-thirties in the Middle East! The flight took us over some gorgeous scenery - lakes and snow capped mountains. The flight path took us right over Venezia and we were able to look down over the canals and waterways that decorate the island. We decided to take the local bus to our hotel from the airport as the weather was so nice we didn’t mind a short walk if necessary. For 3 euro each we caught the ACTV bus straight into Mestre where our hotel is located. We were told by the information centre that ... read more

Date Sunday 10th October 2010 City Cairo, Egypt Currency NZ$1.00 = 4.00 L.E. (Egyptian pound) Climate Low 23c - high 31c - fine and sunny We arrived just before midnight and were taxied to what felt like the extremities of the airfield before disembarking onto a bus for the trip to the terminal. It was actually a nice temperature at about 30’C with a mist hugging the ground. Once we’d paid our 176 Egyptian Pounds for our visas to clear immigration and collected our baggage it was close to 1.00am. Our escort Ahmed (from the Emeco Travel Company) was waiting there for us with a sign and was a cheerful face at that hour! We cleared customs without a hitch as there wasn’t actually any customs area to go through! It was just the two of ... read more

Date Saturday 2nd October 2010 City Florence Currency Euro 1 = NZ$.55 Climate Low 12c - High 23c - misty then fine and sunny Today we left Casa Mancia in Foligno for our drive north towards La Spezia. We decided a day en route about half way would break up the trip and would allow a quick visit into Florence. We didn’t think we’d get to Florence this trip but we were provided with this opportunity and so made our way there, leaving Foligno at 9.45am in a thick mist. Florence (Firenze) was just 150km north and we chose the A1 autostrada for most of the journey. By the time we reached Florence just after midday, it was hot and sunny. After navigating our way in through the outskirts of the city to the historical hub, ... read more