Quito is a colonial time capsule engulfed in a sprawling grimy metropolis with a crime problem that you need to be aware of. It is easy to see why Quito’s historic centre has been granted UNESCO world heritage status. In fact Quito and Krakow were the first two cities bestowed with this title. The buildings have not been touched much in the past few centuries. From the outside they appear unchanged. And when you go inside the many large churches, they are impressive for their size and intricate decoration. The most impressive is the Jesuit church, la Compañía, which is covered in gold leaf. I wonder how many stolen Inca icons were used to create this. There is a no photo rule inside this place, which kind of turns it into a sport to sneak a ... read more

After arriving in Bari we thought we would go to Positano or somewhere on the Amalfi Coast. But we had trouble finding a place that we liked, in a location that we liked and at a price that we liked. So instead we headed in the direction of Lecce in the stiletto heel of the Italian boot. We didn’t know it as we don't take much notice these days, but when we got there without a booking or any internet access, we discovered that we had arrived on a Sunday that happened to be a public holiday this is a double whammy in Italy and nothing much was open. So we started walking in the heat with heavy bags. Eventually we ended up at McDonalds, thinking they might have Wi-Fi. But no. After a fillet-o-fish we ... read more

Leanne’s assessment of Romanian train travel: “Romanian trains SUCK!” … and I concur. This post begins in another fortified medieval town on top of a hill, Sighisoara. We learnt here that there were seven of them known as seibenbergen, a German name owing to the region's Saxon heritage. We have now seen 4 of them without meaning to tick them of the Romanian tourist list. Sighisoara’s old town has 14 towers, each one built and controlled by a guild and used for defence when under attack. We stayed just inside the tailors’ gate/tower and one of the other towers is still inhabited by a grave keeper and his family. It overlooks the Saxon cemetery outside the walls. There is also an impressive clock tower that puts on a show every hour, when a clockwork drummer lets ... read more

We flew from Samos to Athens, because a one hour flight was preferable to the 9 hour ferry that would have chewed up a whole day. So after a morning of swimming and recovering from the BBQ and booze the night before we arrived at a cheap hotel in a less appealing part of town and had gyros for dinner before retiring for the night. Next morning we caught a bus south. No need to see any of the ancient wonders that Athens has to offer, as we did all of that when we last visited in 2005 and I doubt it would have held Nathan’s attention for very long. Our next destination would be Monemvasia on the Peloponnese peninsula. Monemvasia is a very large rock, connected to the mainland by a small bridge. On the ... read more

Before we left Australia, Leanne and I were undecided whether we should actually go to Greece, with all of the potential for civil and economic unrest due to the potential default on government loans. Now, I am glad that we stuck to our plan. The locals can only get 60 Euros out of the bank each day, but we have no such restrictions. There are demonstrations in Athens near parliament house, but nothing that will bother us on the islands and we see daily reminders of the situation when we watch TV and hear earnest lectures from the prime minister to parliament, perhaps in an attempt to resolve the problems, but I couldn’t tell you for sure because it is all Greek to me. The long shot of it all is that we have no reason ... read more