Ponte Delgada, Boston, New York Hi everyone, As you may have heard our cruise itinerary had to change due to Hurricane Igor that was hitting Bermuda when we sailing towards there. We would have been stuck in the middle of it so the captain made the decision to change course and head to Boston instead of Bermuda. Although we were a little disappointed we still enjoyed Boston where we did a city tour and visited the church where Paul Revere hung his lanterns to warn that the british were coming and visited the famous Quincy Markets. We arrived in New York around 7am via the Hudson River and sailed right by The famous Statue of Liberty. What a beautiful harbour Manhattan is also. Day 1 in New York we walked to Times Square then took the ... read more
VIGO - Spain Today we docked at Vigo - Spain and as we didn't have a tour booked we set off to explore on our own. We started with a walk up the many steps to the Monte Castro to take in the beautiful view over the picturesque harbour of Vigo. Lorraine, Craig, John and I set off. As usual LOrraine and I wanted to look in the many shops so the boys enjoyed a coffee in a sidewalk cafe while they very patiently waited. We headed towards the fish markets where there were many restaurants. Lorraine and I enjoyed spanish paella while the boys opted to go back to the boat and eat pizza, drink & sunbake. After boarding back on the boat we all met on the top deck to take in some long ... read more
After arriving in Frankfurt we drove to Cologne for lunch and to see the beautiful Cathedral. Arrivng in Dusseldorf after having to take the dreaded Autobarn we took a walk around - let me say that if there was anything to see in Dusseldorf we couldn't find it. We enjoyed a few local wines in the bar then had take away thai in our room. Up early then off to Hamburg to meet everyone else. After another long drive we arrived in Hamburg where we found out that this weekend was the Hamburg Festival were there were all food and drink stalls set up all around the lake. We all enjoyed local german food and wine before watching a great fireworks display that would challenge the NYE sydney fireworks. Spent the next day walking the foreshore ... read more
After a long drive we finally arrived in Paris just in time to freshen up then off to Moulin Ruge for a great night. Next day we did a city tour of Paris before ascending the Eiffel Tower. We then walked the Champes De Elysee where we enjoyed a typical french lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Took a city tour of London, walked through Hyde Park & went to see Phantom of the opera at her Majesty's Theatre... read more
After a long drive from Venice to Lucerne we went straight to a traditional Swiss village where we were picked up by horse and carriage and served home made products at a local farmhouse owned by Hans. We enjoyed Cheese, wine, pastries, bread, schnapps & coffee. Who would have thought that Switzerland would become one of our favourite places on our holiday. The next day we visited the monument of Switerland and the story touched everyone that there was not a dry eye in the group. Our tour guide is so passionate about every place we visit. We then went up by cable train & gondola to the top of the Stanzerhorn Mountain where we had views all the way to Germany. Carie and I stood on top of the mountain and sang the song from ... read more
Well what a fun night we had at our dinner. John got picked to play a knight where he had to dress up in costume and save his princess, he had to find the hidden key by kissing all the ladies in the audiences hands, unlock the padlock and he and his princess rode off together on his wooden horse. I got picked to play a game where 5 of us formed a team and had to thread a spoon on a piece of string up, down and through our clothing so that we all ended up joined together. There were a lot of laughs. The next day we left for Venice stopping on the way at Verona where we saw the balcony of Romeo & Juliet. We arrived in Venice on dusk and went down ... read more
Day 4 - Day 7 Off to the airport at 4.30am for our flight to Rome via London. After 20hrs we finally arrived in Rome and enjoyed homemade pasta at a little local restaurant recommended by the man that checked us in. It was the best pasta I have ever tried and was supposed to share with John but oh well I finished it all. we joined our tour group today there are 43 people on the tour. Today we visited the vatican museum, Sistene chapel, St Peters Cathedral. Luckily we did not have to line up as others were there since 6.30am. We visited the colloseum and climbed the stairs to go inside . Then after dinner we went to the Trevi fountain to through our coin and make a wish. Off to Florence we ... read more
Day 3, Mixed it with the locals at Mong Kok, where the locals shop, eat & buy their produce. Anything goes here as far as food is concerned, fish, prawns, pigs, turtles, frogs, dried sea horses, eels, snake, you name it, it's there. Markets are organised in streets, ie: one street for electrical goods, another for sporting goods, another for clothing, another for food etc. Decided to eat back at hotel.... read more
DAY 1 After arriving at the airport we braved the local train into Kowloon where we got a taxi to our hotel. The trains here are great as they are clean, on time, air conditioned & have free wireless. After checkin there was still time to enjoy a cocktail before closing time. After that we ventured out onto the streets where we found lots of shops that had lots of smelly thinkgs out the front which we thought were chinese medicine shops but apparently you make soup with all the dried seafood. DAY 2 Today we started by catching the local ferry across to Hong Kong Island for a total of $2 each it took about a 10 minutes but not much to see over there. We made our way back to the hotel visiting Tiffany's ... read more
John & Vickie would like to invite you to share our trip with us. Hope you enjoy it. We are madly trying to get organised. We leave early on Monday morning and our first stop is Hong Kong. ... read more
