Travelled through Slovenia on our way to see Hayley in Vienna where we are now. We only had time to stay in Bled and Ljubljana. Bled is very beautiful and we had a wonderful stay in Pension Berc. We managed to hike and bike which I enjoyed. Definitely a place to revisit. Ljubljana reminded us of Prague, a smaller version of course. It was a shame that the weather has turned much cooler as I am sure the outdoor cafes would have been buzzing a few weeks earlier. We did manage to enjoy the company of a couple of swans. [View Full Entry]

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We have been joined by our friends Sandy and John from Darwin. Spent one week in St Remy in Provence, a very central and charming village. Provence is foodie heaven and we took great advantage of the excellent restaurants and wine. Of the many sights, my highlights were Gordes, Van Gogh trail in St Remy and The Pont Du Gard. I am sure each of us would have a different list! From Provence we were really lucky to spend a night with friends, Hilary (yes fancy that!) and Bob in Carces in their newly built and fabulous house. More great food [View Full Entry]

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Although Carcassonne is quite a stunning city perched hill on the hill and surrounded by its wall, it was a disappointment to find out much of it has been rebuilt and not necessarily very authentically. Nearby, however, is the town of Lastours with 4 ruined castles to explore if one dares to takes the challenge of hiking up the hill. It was great! [View Full Entry]

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Spanish Beach scene The Costa Del Sol is a long strip of resorts of mixed appeal. We stayed in a small town called Nerja which is largely populated by British Tourists -described as the land of “Spam and Chips”. An apt description in some ways. We did, however, find great pleasure in renting beach lounges at one of the more sophisticated spots, Marbella. An idea which could catch on in Sydney. You can even get your coffees delivered to your sun lounge. This was quite a good way to relax for a couple of days. It goes without saying really that [View Full Entry]

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We have travelled from Madrid to Cordoba and on to Seville. The weather is in the high 30s each day and this is probably mild for this part of the country. We try to take a siesta in the middle of the day largely to catch up on sleep after late nights. The most spectacular architecture is found in this area and strongly reflects the rich cultural influence of islam. We really enjoyed the Mesquite (mosque) in Cordoba and here in Seville the Alcazar, Royal Palace. Travelling now with our friend, Del and Hayley. We laugh a lot and Roger is [View Full Entry]

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Moved down into Spain and on the way stopped in the Pyrenees which was very like Barrington. In Spain our first stop was at Bilbao mostly for the Guggenheim museum. It is a fantastic building both inside and out. The photos do not do it justice. We spent one night out in the sticks at an old country (16th century) house. The owner had done a great job restoring it and the views across the valley were lovely. Down the road was another similar building proudly displaying a date 1777! We have had great fun in the tapas bars sampling the [View Full Entry]

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After a couple of days in Paris we headed south to the Loire and then on to the Dordogne. If you like wine, food, beautiful countryside, hot weather and charming villages then the Dordogne is for you. No wonder the Brits have invaded, yet again! This is a great place for a holiday particularly at this time of year when there is so much activity here. Days have been spent visiting villages and shopping in the street markets. Loads of "foie gras" and fresh fruit. We have also had a great canoe trip down a particularly nice part of the Dordogne. [View Full Entry]

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Decided to use Navman for the first time. I found it unusual that Navman didn’t accept the destination but thought it was just the street number and so removed that and it seemed to accept it. The system worked perfectly well until we got to the final 200 metres. First Navaman instructed us to go down a One way street the wrong way. Roger didn’t mind doing this until we got to a Piazza at the bottom of the street with 3 traffic police blowing madly on their whistles. I presented our Navman screen and they pointed and insisted “No.” We [View Full Entry]

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Now down on the heel of the boot in Italy. We have been in a region called Apuglia which is famous for these great conical shaped houses. The town of Alberabello is WH listed and has streets of them. We managed to find a trulli to stay in on the outskirts and it was great. The owners were very kind and took Roger and myself on a small tour of his property. We had to communicate in French which was a times challenging but we managed. It turned out the owner was an opthamologist whose family had owned the property for [View Full Entry]

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Just thought you might like to see a few images of this island. I am sure that you are already over reading my bits of news but perhaps the photos are worth sending. Love Hil [View Full Entry]

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