After a very leisurely breakfast in bed yesterday of croissant, yoghurt, juice and coffee, I finished off blog stuff in tiger bar. I still can’t get my head around what the designer was thinking there. As I said previously, I was having syncing issues so it has chewed up a fair chunk of time, but fingers crossed, I have it sorted now. Mega bingo beckoned. Not because I enjoy getting to within 2 numbers only to be beaten to yelling ‘bingo’; or even entertain the possibility that I will win. No, I play because my daughter figures that is a compulsory part of cruising. It’s a little bit different on this cruise. Firstly, no bingo marker needed; numbers have ‘flaps’ cut so you only need to bend back a little bit of paper to identify that ... read more

The train trip from Rome to Pisa went without anyone challenging me for my seat (se previous entry). Next was a 35 minute break until the train to Monterosso, on the Cinque Terre. The train trip from Pisa to Monterosso wasn’t without incident. I got on the wrong carriage, walked through the train to find my seat only to find out later that I had got the carriage wrong again, by the nice ticket inspector told me to stay there. Then, when the train stopped at La Spezia, the American couple sitting near me and also traveling to the Cinque Terre got off the train…. So I did. Then I realise I shouldn’t have (too late) and I had to wait until the next train, fortunately only a few minutes and then I finally got to ... read more

I pulled a bit of a swifty by starting this year’s European adventure a day early. The Princess (accompanied by Austin) was always ready to get me to the airport (even though I had to be there by 3am for a 5am take off). My remedy for such an ungodly start time was to stay at the Parkroyal at Melbourne Airport the night before. As always, Parkroyal’s beds, linen and pillows feel like sleeping on a cloud. My grandson is now well and truly a toddler, and as such is not really designed for stylish hotel rooms. We found that the glass top on two of the three glass topped tables easily moved, (the coffee table had nothing holding the glass in place what so ever. This was lifted off the table and placed under the ... read more

h2 class="entry-title" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 2rem; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; clear: both; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3; word-spacing: 0.125rem; text-align: center; font-weight: 600; color: #42484b; text-transform: capitalize; background-color: #f9f9f3;" I woke up this morning to the news of another terrorist attack, this time at Las Ramblas, Barcelona. At the moment, sixteen people have lost their lives and dozens have been injured. Barcelona has a special place in my heart, and I will be there again next month. Barcelona is where I consider I became a ‘solo’ traveler. I know, to get there, I had traveled solo by cruise ship from Piraeus, Athens; but on a cruise ship, you are never truly alone. Yo... read more

During the weekend, in the Dandenong Ranges, my middle son married his beautiful fiancé after 9 years together at Silvan’s Gum Gully Farm. I have been to Gum Gully Farm and came from different directions each time. It seems like it is in the middle of nowhere and mobile coverage is limited, but it's so worth it. There is a chapel where the service took place, the reception was held in the mud brick building that kept warm by two huge open fire places fuelled by massive logs of wood. Have a look at the website... I was too busy enjoying my son's wedding to take 'generic' photos. Speaking of photos, the wedding party went off for their photos, (ladies in gumboots) to the paddocks and to meet to animals, including a day old lamb. We ... read more