On my arrival, the heat was different; it was around 35 and quite muggy. I love the transport system here; everything seems to match up and is reasonably easy to follow. I arrived at Pension Ani, and found that European rooms are a ‘little’ smaller than we are used to, but very friendly. I found the local supermarket, stocked up on food and caught the local tram into the centre of Vienna. The architecture is beautiful; I toured around the ringed city on the tram and went back to the hotel to sleep. Something very Melbournish happened, the temperature dropped and down came the rain. It did not stop the next day. My first port of call had to be the Sigmund Freud Museum. It was where he had his home and practice at Berggasse 19 ... read more

Karlsruhe is an interesting place, sort of like a big Bendigo - with plenty of transport around the city - trams everywhere, but with easy to follow maps once you get your head around the names. I covered about a third of the town, checking out the castles, churches and the city itself. In Frankfurt, I was disappointed that the main cathedral had been ‘renovated’. What had been a beautiful building in the gothic style, the stonework and fresco’s had been painted over in a Tuscan pink with white painted lines where they thought it would look like grout between stones!!!! Renovation seemed to be a theme; many of the buildings have been clad on the outside for renovation in all the major cities I have been in so far. Karlsrhue was no exception. The Palace ... read more

Just had five days in Jomtien Beach in Thailand. Hot, but a nice break. Looked for a present for Rebecca and that is about all. I enjoyed the Villa I was in, a self contained studio apartment. I slept, ate and walked for miles and miles and miles (not joking) The best food was just outside the gated community Mr. Moo (means pig) had the best Thai food - a meal with a beer cost around $3. I met a guy from Sydney and his Thai partner who lived in the complex and they were good to talk to and they advised me of a direct bus service to the airport - for the princely sum of $4.50 (for a two hour trip) it was very comfy with huge recliner seats - I am now sitting ... read more

The last few days of the trip have flown by. One day was just veggie around the hotel and swimming etc.We decided to go out to dinner at Ono’s a great Hawaiian restaurant. After walking a couple of kilometers we found that to our dismay Onos was closed, but on a whim we decided to walk a little further and found a great feed at ‘A taste of the Bayou’ A taste sensation from the south including gumbo, jambalaya and fried green tomatoes. It was worth the walk the last day was packed with activity, a typical American breakfast of eggs, bacon and pancakes with whipped butter and maple syrup. Then on to the local bus for a trip to the Dole pineapple plantation where we were introduced to many species of pineapple and tropical plants. ... read more

Funny thing about Jasper, that is the number of Aussie expats working in the area. The hotel we stayed in had only one Canadian working there. They were saying how little they were paid here, about $8 an hour. While Deb was in bed and I went around the town, I got a little cold and needed to stop for refueling - found a little tavern, sort of like our pubs and had a hot chocolate - I thought they might throw me out for not ordering alcohol, but they were very friendly. This morning early we were picked up by the shuttle to travel down to Banff. We traveled down the ice field parkway which is one of Canada’s national treasures - it stretches over 230k from Jasper to Lake Louise and is one of ... read more

After our shopping and looking at the Parliament building and Museum, we changed and were off to the Buchart Gardens, to be told that the roads were closed as it had snowed heavily and Victoria is not set up for heavy snow. Luckily, the hotel was able to organize to get us on a bus which was prepared to risk the trip. What normally takes 45 mins took two and a half hours. It was a fairyland; you cannot give enough words to describe this place. Apparently it even brought tears to the seasoned tour directors who had never seen it so beautiful. One of the side aspects was the search for the 12 days of Christmas as tableaus. How hard is it to remember other than the partridge in the pear tree - we only ... read more