By the time we caught the hydrofoil from Vung Tau back to Saigon Kev was mighty pleased to be leaving. Memories of his time there during the Vietnam War in 1966 played its part in making him feel uncomfortable once he'd re-connected with the place. Me, I would have been happy to stay for a day or two longer and explore more of what Vung Tau had to offer. When Kev arrived in Vung Tau in 1966 aboard HMAS Sydney dis-embarkation was at Back Beach where they made a camp amidst the sand-hills there. Now Back Beach is almost unrecognisable to [View Full Entry]

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Well I've finally made it to Vietnam and Kev is here for the third time, the first of which was in 1966 much against his wishes! Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, is a bustling metropolis of over 7 million people most of whom seem to own either a motor scooter or a motor bike. What a sight they all make, especially in peak hour traffic! It really is fascinating and quite fun because even when you cross the road at a pedestrian crossing none of the traffic actually stops - you have to weave your way in-between it [View Full Entry]

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We've been back home for a few days and already it's beginning to feel as though we've never been away, which means we'll have to start planning another little adventure!! Travel is definately addictive as anyone who has ventured out of their front door knows. For the time being though we're more than happy to enjoy some re-connection time with our precious family and friends! And we have lots of plans, formulated while we were away, which we have to start working on. Having been in the northern hemisphere in the summer months its a bit of a shock to be [View Full Entry]

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Truth be known, with Ross gone we both felt a little lost. Well it was to be expected I suppose, after all prior to his visit it was almost 10 months since we last saw him and we've been away from the rest of our darling family for almost three months. And those gorgeous grandchildren Grace & Rupert have no doubt grown in leaps and bounds since we've been away. Enough to make us a bit blue! But, as you do in such circumstances, we took ourselves in hand and went off exploring. Ocean Park was one such place which we [View Full Entry]

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For some reason best known to Kev at the time, he insisted that we should have two weeks in Hong Kong - with the passage of time he's now got no idea why he made that decision! Earlier in our travels we thought we might fly to Vietnam for a week of our 'Hong Kong' time but since we need visas to get into the country we decided against it. SO instead we've managed to change our flight home - now leaving six days earlier than originally planned which means we get to see that gorgeous family and Aussie friends of [View Full Entry]

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We're now in a hotel in Sorrento with a view to Mount Vesuvius, thankfully over 2,000 years too late!! Our train from Florence to Napoli (Naples to you) was an hour late but we finally made it here and its very relaxing. The weather has remained our friend so, despite having to sit patiently at Florence train station longer than expected (we had some nice Canadians to talk to), we're really got nothing to complain about. It's amazing the way buildings are clinging to the cliffs that drop sharply into the ocean - very picturesque. No doubt there was lots of [View Full Entry]

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The new look me arrived in Rome where there are more old buildings to amaze us!! They all have the effect of making us realise just what a short time on earth we all get!! After all lots of 'old ruins' have been upstanding for thousands of years and most of us have around 80 years as our lifetime if we're lucky. It's all a bit daunting!! And yes, yours truly did get lost in the Sistine Chapel - well not so much lost as seperated from the group. One minute Kev and the rest of our group were in front [View Full Entry]

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As soon as we stepped out from our Florence hotel we were once more surrounded by tourists everywhere. Kev said the people all reminded him of the hundreds of rats which were walking along a dry river bed in Hanoi Vietnam when he was there a few years ago. “The only difference being that rats don't carry cameras” he remarked! Florence seemed to have market stalls everywhere and, we were told, the markets are open every day. Selling all sorts of goodies including a surfeit of leather goods. Tourists are obviously to be fleeced of as much money as possible!! Everywhere [View Full Entry]

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Those were Kev's remarks as we walked across St Marks Square, Venice towards the Bridge of Sighs!! Tourists, tourists everywhere - not only Japanese! From the steady streams of what seemed to be school groups there must also have been many empty classrooms all over Europe too! Later when we booked for a Vivaldi concert at Campo San Salvador which is close to the Rialto Bridge and a couple of minutes walk away from our hotel, the man who sold us the tickets told us that Venice is nowhere near as busy as it does get. Kev found that hard to [View Full Entry]

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We're in love!! And the weathers gone back to what we expect - the sun shining out of a clear blue sky!! Yes, we just love Como despite the fact that Lake Como has flooded - a consequence of the recent rains which swept across much of England and Europe and which we, luckily, only experienced the tail end of in Zürich. But apparently the flooding of Lake Como is a regular occurrence - the last big flood was in 2003 and our hotel had water in the ground floor area; as it was when we arrived the water was almost [View Full Entry]

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