jenandevie

jenandevie

jenandevie

Jen and Evie - mother and daughter - seeing the world before either of us grow up.
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Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam May 16th 2017

So here we are. In Amsterdam airport with an hour and a half before boarding our first of 3 flights home. This final edition starts in Prague, where on Friday 12th May we ventured out, walking down to the Dancing House - (note - NOT a house for dancing, or any historical connection to dancing - just a kind weird shaped couple of buildings that look a bit like a couple dancing)...along the river and on to Charles Bridge - which was filled with musicians, artists and jewellery makers selling their wares. We stopped for what I think was the second worst coffee of the trip, and then wandered through the cobbley streets of old Prague, and stumbled across one of the restaurants recommended to us by our airport driver dude - a genuine medieval cavern ... read more
Prague lunch
Bill is presented
Sculpture in Prague

Europe » Czech Republic » Prague » New Town May 12th 2017

It's getting to the end of our journey and we are both very tired. Still so much to see but day by day we have less energy to see it with. This epistle begins with our day trip to Pompeii. An early start to get to Termini station by 8.30 meant the quickest of breakfasts before a morning walk past the Colosseum (nice to see it without masses of people and dudes relentlessly trying to sell you a selfie stick. Honestly, if I was a selfie stick kind of girl and was going to Rome, I would have brought one with me and really don't need 15 guys within a 500 metre radius chanting selfieselfieselfie). The train from Rome to Naples was ridiculously fast, which made up for the trip from Naples to Pompeii - on ... read more
Dog in Pompeii
Oven
Public toilets

Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Pisa May 7th 2017

We had to leave Venice pretty early on the Tuesday morning, so had almost no chance to see what you would normally see - but at least managed to see some Gondolas on our way to the train station while on the Vaporetti...We made it to our train on time, and had our first experience of being "hustled" - someone on the train helping people to get their luggage up the stairs and in the storage area - then finding them in the seats and requesting money. Luckily I was assisted by a local who knew the routine. The train to Florence was a high speed FrecciaRosa - complimentary snack and drink, comfy seats and all the charging ports a 14 year old could want - we changed to a local "Regionale" train from Florence to ... read more
On The FrecciaRosa train to Florence
Farewell Venice
Pisa apartment balcony


Waking up at the crack of dawn (because our apartment is floor to ceiling windows and no blinds..at all (has made getting changed an interesting experience). We headed out after tea and brekky on Saturday 29th, walked along the port vieux with all it's boats and found that Marseille had it's own ferris wheel - which is becoming almost as much of a habit as going to Hard Rock Cafes! So we hopped on, this one has the added adventure of being open, and having the twisty pole thing in the middle so you can turn your carriage. WHS anyone? We got a great view of the whole port, the rooftops (which are decidedly more mediterranean than Paris, and Notre Dame De La Garde. It was a great warm day of 19 or 20 degrees so ... read more
Marseille Port
Me on the Ferris Wheel
A Mocktail at hard Rock Cafe Marseille

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona » La Rambla April 28th 2017

Well this is going to be a short entry. Quick version - we got to barcelona, we got sick, we stayed in bed a lot and we left, The slightly longer version was this - it was sunny and warm when we arrived- our airbnb (our only "shared" accomodation in Europe - we stayed with a lady called Mercedes, who is kind and caring and welcomed us like family, with kisses and hugs. She has a gorgeous big hairy golden lab called Stevie (Wonder), and lives on the 3rd floor on Placa Reial - one of the main squares off Las Ramblas. 3rd floor means about 5th floor in reality cos you dont get to the first floor until you are over the restaurants so the lug was 106 steps -so the large bottle of water ... read more
unwell Evie at dinner
patatas bravas
paella

Europe » France » Île-de-France April 25th 2017

A week in Paris - now ended, as we take the TGV to Barcelona on Anzac Day - not celebrated here, but I think the Australian Bar we found last night might be playing 2 up today :). So the final 4 days in Paris went like this - Friday 21st we took the quicker than expected train to Versailles (not as far out of Paris as I thought) - had a coffee before entering the grounds which was a really good idea , then easily found our way just up the road and to the left of the station and there is is REALLY HUGE FREAKING PALACE WITH GOLD EVERYWHERE!!!!. Also crowds like I have never seen before. Having a pre-purchased pass made no difference whatsoever here, because there was 1 security check point and ... read more
gardens of Versailles
us at Versailles
Evie at Versailles

Europe » France » Île-de-France April 21st 2017

So here we are in Gay Paris, half way into our week long sojourn in the city of love, without our romantic other halves, but with each other which makes the experience a different but seriously cultural experience. We arrived on Tuesday 18th, but honestly the least said about that day the better. We arrived at Dublin airport to be greeted by HUGE queues to check in, so long that we almost missed the check in deadline despite having arrived at the airport over an hour before the cut off time. This led to a mad dash through the airport, security, scanning of passports in order to get to our boarding gate. We were treated to a high quality muffin and hot chocolate on the flight though. We arrived in Paris, and bought tickets to the ... read more
My 3 Euro 45 wine
A patisserie with all its yumminess
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Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » The Highlands » Glencoe April 17th 2017

I am writing on April 19 in Paris with a glass of red next to me...but before we get to the European leg of the trip, lets take a trip up a mountain and quick sojourn into Dublin. On Saturday 15th we drove through the picturesque Loch Lomond district, and into the highlands, watching the temparature display in the car drop every 15 minutes or so. By the time we got to Glencoe, it was 3 degrees - BRRR! Glad we brought leggings to wear under our jeans.. Glencoe is one of the highest mountains in Scotland, and has a chairlift which takes you about half way up. Ahead of us were some insane people who went up he chairlifts with their bikes, so they could ride their way down..ummm, not for me thanks...half way up ... read more
Snowing and on a chairlift!
Snowball fight!
The view coming down Glencoe

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Northumberland » Beadnell April 14th 2017

So we left the swarming city of London behind in favour of long drives in a northerly direction. Wednesday 12th we packed up and headed to Stratford Upon Avon with the intention of seeing inside Shakespeare's birthplace, Anne Hathaways Cottage and any other Shakespearean experiences we could find. Instead we had brunch inside the coolest steampunk type cafe called the Boston Tea Party (a bacon bap and the first of what I am certain will be many Croque Monsier's), and we ended up waylaid inside an incredibly cool Wizard/magic shop called Magic Alley. Not just a shop but a Wizards museum - 3 floors - bottom floor sells books, wands, crystals, spells, and includes a coffee shop at the back, floor 2 and 3 are the museum , with magic numbers. stories, costumes and a puzzle ... read more
Wizards museum
inside the Wizards museum
Statue for Shakespeare

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » Earls Court April 11th 2017

IN the 2 days we spent in London, we walked about 14 kms (consequently a foot soak - with or without teabag, would be a great thing right now!). We've had a HUGE couple of days. Slightly saddened to see that the included breakfast was continental, not hot, we filled up nonetheless and headed out on Monday 10th. which was the coldest day we have had so far, tops of 14, with a biting wind. Kinda glad we didnt book a thames cruise really. Our first stop was a coffee at Starbucks (which has sentimental value for Evie as we used to frequent a Starbucks in Hornsby when she was little before they closed down all but 2 stores in Sydney), then walked to Kensington Palace, and walked around the Diana Memorial Gardens, and took in ... read more
Kensington Palace
The Globe Theatre - upper seats
The Globe Theatre - stage during bump in for Romeo and Juliet




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