UK & Europe, May 1993 Conclusion: In a sense this was a trip of a life time. Although we have travelled a fair amount since then, we have never seen so many countries - 7 countries in less than two weeks, in one holiday again as well as fitting in the business part of our trip in Germany and Holland and visiting family in the UK and sightseeing in London. A total of 1 month of travelling and work. Paul and I often joke that when we retire we are going to hire a motor home and amongst other things, follow the Tour de France and travel around Europe. Who knows if this dream will come true....then again, maybe we will just leave the TdF out of this for now! Would we go with a tour ... read more

UK & Europe, May 1993 This was our 2nd visit to Amsterdam as well. We stopped over for business previously for a couple of days, before heading to London. Monnickendam just outside Amsterdam was where we stayed and we both enjoyed walking around the streets. It is like a mini Amsterdam with its canals and bridges. Today it is a small fishing village but was an important port around the 15th century. The next day we went to another tourist trap – to learn a bit and look at Delft pottery. Interesting and beautiful, but of course, you were expected to buy something. We bought a tiny plate to remind us of our visit. Then we went on a canal cruise through Amsterdam. Another laid back way of seeing some of the city. I was thankful ... read more

UK & Europe, May 1993 Can't remember much about Innsbruck or maybe it is because we didn’t spend so much time there. I think by this stage we were all reaching saturation point for all the sight seeing we had done up till now. By now we had been through 3 countries and so many cities and towns in about 7 days, that we needed a breather. This includes all the travelling time from London through all the countries we had seen thus far. But of course we didn't sit still - you can't let an opportunity like this go wasted. We walked around the town and saw the Golden roof - a landmark of Innsbruck constructed for Emperor Maximilian to watch tournaments in the square below. We also visited a most beautiful church, the Innsbruck ... read more

UK & Europe, May 1993 After Rome we headed back towards Florence. We had driven past it on our way to Rome, but did not stop there. Tuscany, the bit we saw through the windows of the bus was beautiful. Once we arrived in Florence, we went to a few tourist traps but I must admit we found it very interesting: - Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine Arts") where we saw the statue of David done by Michelangelo. According to experts the Academy has housed the original David since 1873. Naturally there were other fine arts to enjoy too. - a leather shop. So tempting to buy something made of such soft leather, but of course the price was far beyond what we could afford. Alas, all we could do was just touch that ... read more

May 1993 Europe & U.K. Driving towards Switzerland from Paris, via Beaune and Basel, we started noticing the colour of the rivers changing. A beautiful blue, rather than a muddy brown. Entering Switzerland was like entering another world. Everything about Switzerland seemed so clean and fresh, steep green slopes and forests. Paul even vouched for the water from the rivers after going for a run while we were there. We first went to Luzern and walked over the Chapel Bridge, amazing to think that this bridge was originally built in 1333. We were fortunate to have seen it before much of it had to be replaced after a fire in August 1993. There were interesting paintings inside the bridge depicting some of Lucerne's history from the 17th century. Next onto another tourist trap to look at ... read more