Arrived in London on Monday afternoon to a heatwave. It looked like London but felt like Queensland - 28 degrees. Lovely to leave the airport and recognise all the signs and know where you are going Buy the time we found our hotel lovely old Georgian building in Glouster Place and settled it was late in the day so we just went out for a walk. Nearly melted, went into Marks and Sparks. So busy queues 10 people long for the fittings rooms. ( For those interested they seem to be having a love affair with linen.) Had a wondwerful day with our old friends Jackie and Paul. They came into London from Bradford on Avon to spend the day with us. We got the open double decker bus ride around London getting on and off ... read more

Fri the 21 our first day off. Doing the homework and preparing to leave tomorrow. We have decided to go early to Florence and put our bags in storage for a couple hrs as our Venice train doesn't leave till 12.30. Had a nice day in Florence yesterday leaving home at 6.30 getting into Florece at 8:00am had time for a nice coffee overlooking the Duomo square. Managed to see two Galleries before lunch time Uffizi (Michelangelo, Di Vinci and Rapheal prolific boyes they were those three. Then Achedemia (David) Skip the line tours are the way to go. ( Note to Bultes ) Over the Ponte Veccho (covvered bridge - only bridge not destroyed in WWII) past the jewellry markets. The antique stuff blowing me away until Grant physically removed me from the scene. Up ... read more

So today we have ticked off the hire car through the Tuscan Hills adventure! We started off at 9:00am having found Avis just outside the walls. We passed through lots of little villages heading south and also managed to circumnavigate the “Divorcia” village. Some people just have an aversion to any sort of right turn while others just don’t know their right from their left. So Tuscany looks just like the calendar. We ended up by good fortune at a very high fortified walled village called Volterra were we had the best Pizza ever for lunch then on to San Gimignano where we climbed the tower - 218 steps. What a view in 4 directions. Of course I couldn’t resist - I will definitely need more wall space at home. I’ve never seen so many beautiful ... read more

Hello everyone today is Friday morning. Yesterday we had very long day on our trip to Monte Cassino however it was wonderful day as we saw where our Dads were and what a time they had, We had done some reading beforehand certainly gave the tour more impact as we were able to relate the readings to the actual sights. We laid poppies on some graves. You could feel the Kiwi presence there. The Abbey is soooooo beautiful something we never new. It is worth a visit by itself. Coming home on the #40 bus from the Termini in peak hour traffic was an experience. Today we are doing more Rome sightseeing and then onto Lucca by train on Saturday. ... read more

Well here we are arrived home from Dunedin at 7 ish after a fantastic weekend in Dunedin for the first born's graduation. It was a non stop whirlwind on Saturday starting with hairdresser at 9am followed by a reception at one of the beautiful old buildings at Otago for the Food Science people. Then photos followed by the parade up George street to the Town Hall for the ceremony . Followed by another dinner with friends and parents. I am now processing the washing and trying to get organised for leaving home at 11 am tommorow morning. It was a lovely weekend and needless to say we are very proud of Ashley Stinson BAppSc ( Food Innovation). So will talk to you next from ROME!!!!! ... read more