Ken and Linda

Vienna 2 The problem with writing a blog a week or so after it happened is that you forget some of the things that happened. How could I forget the visit to Schönbrunn Palace? Ken stayed at home as he was nursing a cold so Jane, Jenny, Stefan, Susanne and I went along. We took a tour of the palace, which is quite something to see. It was built to rival Versailles and, although not as sumptuous inside, is beautiful in its own right. The grounds include the Gloryette, a magnificent arched building which looks down to the lake and fountain in front of the Palace creating great views in either direction. The trees of the garden avenues were in full autumn colour and I am sure that in summer the gardens would be splendid with ... read more

Milan 11, 12 October to Colico Jane and I went shopping again this morning while Ken did men things and this afternoon we went on a Personal guided tour of Milan with Valaria. She showed us some of the lesser known parts of Milan including the remaining canal systems and churches from the 2cnd, 4th and 7th century. The changes in architectural style intrigue me, not being what one could call a practising christian I am pretty ignorant of lots of said history, mind you I think i would have to be a serious practising catholic of Italian background to know how and why of the influences in church architecture. One of the first things an invading region would do is to steal the relics of the invaded region and display them in their major cities. ... read more

Milan 8, 9 October Made it to Milan today, I slept most of the way as I had a migraine, bloody thing! We arrived in plenty of time thanks to Jane's navigation and Ken's new GPS. It was Jane's birthday so we had a special dinner. Well today is 10th October, just as it is only 12.07am and we are just a little bit pissed. Jane and I had a great day shopping, she found some clothes on a very special price or two and then fund the boots she had been wanting to buy and I found some shops with clothes for me and had an accidental purchase of a pair of sandals. To celebrate we found a restaurant and contacted ken to join us for dinner. It took him so long to get to ... read more

Firenze 3 - 4 October, Casa Verde Today we went to the Uffizi, an amazing place as those who have been will agree. Entry story first - we had not pre-booked tickets so stood in the queue for door entry, observed people with clipboards tickets and money belts, hmmm what could they be doing?turns out they were selling reserved tickets for almost double the price of the door tickets. Scalpers you may ask? It looked very official and was out in the open so we decided that it was kosher and as twas likely to save us an hour in the queue we paid the excess! As well as the sculptures and art works, the ceiling is to die for! I want one, or two! The history inherent in the artworks, ceilings included, is so interesting, ... read more

Split, Croatia to Ancona, Italy 30 September It is now 3pm and we have been wandering Split since 11am waiting for our ferry, we have to board about 6pm, ferry leaves at 8pm and arrives in Ancona the following morning at 8.30am. Out train tickets to Florence/Firenze have been booked and paid for and we have arranged to meet Cristina Mancini at the Florence apartment tomorrow at 3pm.Jane and I did some retail therapy at Think Pink a store carrying Croatian designer clothing for women. Had a great time as the summer stock was on sale and if you bought 3 or more full price items then they took 20% off the price. First thing this morning Jane and I went to the fruit... read more