Page 4 of Col and Lyn Travel Blog Posts


North America » United States » Colorado » Canon City October 6th 2007

We’ve been on three overnight train trips since we last sent you a blog and traveled from DC to the US west coast, just inland from Oceanside near San Diego. Our Amtrak experience was great. Each section of the trip differed in clientele, staff and scenery - but on each the service was good! On the DC to Chicago leg, we saw much of the Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania countryside that we already knew. From Chicago to Denver we crossed the Mississippi during daylight and saw lots and lots of flat plains, corn and wheat fields. The last leg from Colorado to LA was the most scenic as we moved through high plateau’s and gorges surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. The two days in Chicago gave us a chance to wander along the ... read more
A moment later
Chicago Art Museum
From the river in Chicago


The title will make more sense after we retrace our steps across the States by rail. Hopefully this will be more interesting and relaxing than being force fed through airports with little time to spare between flights and then sitting knee to neck on crowded planes - time will tell. Los Angeles for 3 days- what can we say about somewhere that is usually a transit stop between flights! Lesson 1 was how to get around the place because we weren’t actually in LA but at Burbank near the airport. Given the geographic isolation of Burbank, what do you think two Aussies would decide to do…that’s right...book tickets to two evening concerts with no idea where the venues were, because they sounded great! Add to that, all the guidebooks to LA tell you to drive, and ... read more
Disney from across the street
Columns in the Disney
The rose fountain

Asia » Japan » Yamagata September 6th 2007

After six or so trips you’d think we would run out of things to say about Japan and if we kept going to the same places each time that might be true but Japan is a country of many contrasts and Tohuku (northern Honshu) proved to be different again to anywhere we had been before. They had had a very hot summer (as many oher areas of the world thse days seem to) and even though it was late summer when we were ther it was still reasonably hot and humid away from the mountains. In late summer, the rural and almost isolated parts of Japan where we traveled were green and lush with farmers tending the ripe rice fields and summer vegetable crops. The mountains were densely covered with forests with the occasional ski run ... read more
looking gorgeous in the gorge
Ever turn was more beautiful
Island in the matsushima Bay

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Concord August 19th 2007

Hi, I bet you thought we had forgotten you since last December or that we had given up travel altogether! Neither is true and we are setting off again tomorrow for 2 months in the States - to see Phil and to explore the USA with Amtrak. Not sure how often the blog will get done this trip but if you like to keep watching the email notification and most likely updates will appear. Col will celebrate his 70th whilst we are away and so the family and I organised a party for him last night. Having seen him in various blogs over time or if you have been with on or near trains I thought you might like to see a Col the train buff as the cake decorator saw him! Tomorrow morning we fly ... read more
Home again
Balcony living

Asia » Japan » Ishikawa » Kanazawa December 19th 2006

Our accommodation throughout the trip was in the traditional Japanese ryokens and onsen. For the Beckhouses and Riddles this was a memorable experience. As well as providing many humorous moments it gave us some real cultural insights into Japanese life. The ryoken, part of Japanese culture for centuries, were generally small and often owned and operated by a family so there was quite a homely feel to them. Our longest stay was in Kyoto, at Hanakiya Inn which had three guest rooms and a common room - ideal for breakfast and pre-dinner drinks at the end of the day. We booked out the entire ryoken and even made friends with the children of the house. Our host Eimi was charming, spoke good English and of course had plenty of local knowledge to share with us. After ... read more
Kyoto ryokan
A very fancy meal in the onsen, Takayama
The meal!

Asia » Japan » Hyogo » Himeji December 16th 2006

And you thought you didn't like trains - well you need to explore Japan by rail and you will be amazed! We discovered the ultimate method of travel - Japan Rail of course using economical JR passes available only to foreign tourists and that have to be purchased before leaving Australia. For under $500 Australian dollars each of us had unlimited travel on all but the very fastest Nozomi trains on all JR train tracks. Thanks to Col-san, our train buff, the 14 day rail pass took us over thousands of kilometres of Honshu. The Shinkansen ('bullet trains') crisscross the country on their special tracks at break neck speeds (nothing slower that 200km an hour thanks). Our passes were also valid on local JR trains around cities and the JR Miyajima ferry. They are sleek, streamlined, ... read more
Reclining seats!
Panoramic view
Or you could...

Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto » Gion December 12th 2006

Colin-San, as tour leader, led such a cracking pace around Honshu that there was no time to publish a blog. Consequently we decided on a few postscripts on different aspects of the trip. Each of us has chosen a subject of interest and one we think could help any friends planning a trip to Japan. Knowing the group some of you may guess that transport, shopping, accommodation, shopping, food, shopping and toilets will feature heavily. More importantly for everyone the critical question of “where can you buy tonic in Japan to go with the 3 bottles of duty free gin’ will be addressed. Ostensibly whilst we had come to see the autumn leaves it was mid November when we arrived and autumn was yet to arrive in Tokyo. So in the first few days every little ... read more
Ross and Helen in Asakusa
Rikugien Gardens - Tokyo
What a beautiful rock!

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Concord November 16th 2006

Hi to all our regular bloggers and hello to the new ones! Monday is lift off day for Tokyo and this time our friends Ross and Helen as well as Rick and Jan are coming too. Both couples have provided lists of email addresses for people they want to contact while they are away and I've added them to our already largish blog list. I think there are over 80 names on the list now. It's worth noting that Col checks to see who has not been reading the blog - a please explain could follow. For those who haven't been on one of our travel blog they work like this:- We will all take lots of photo's and hopefully find a few that are good enough to send, then we will write up our adventures ... read more
Futon comfort!
Eating in style
The not Eumundi Markets

Europe » France » Lower Normandy July 8th 2006

Bonjour, notre fils et notre filles et tout les enfants. Aussi, bonjour nos amie's et nos ami's, The Paris we visited was different from our previous experience, where we stayed in a hotel near the Arc de Triumph and followed the museum trail. This time our apartment near St Germaine was in a narrow back street, behind huge wooden doors. We were about 8 steps up on a mezzanine floor and when we entered, we went up another 6 steps with a petite bathroom on one side and a smaller kitchenette on the other. That left just enough room for a bed, a small table and a TV. But the real Paris was outside our door. A bar on the corner and another across the road, our own boulangerie and boucherie, fruit market and just along ... read more
Paris address
Paris courtyard
Kitchen!

Europe » France » Centre » Blois June 29th 2006

I promised to start this time with Puppy, so here she is in all her summer glory outside the Guggenheim Museum in Balboa. As she lives there permanently I’m not sure how she is clothed in winter but she was a beautiful sight the day we were there. After visiting with her (and the rest of the artworks in this wonderful museum) we headed north to Guernika. By expressway it was about 50 kms but we took the slow way through torturous coastal mountains and it took us nearly 3 hours to get to this small valley town. Guernika is the Basque town that was unexpectedly bombed heavily by the Germans in 1937 on a market day as a practice run by Goerring. The bombing was targeted on the market, the school and the town not ... read more
Puppy looking grand
Another view of her majesty
Basque coastline




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