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Published: November 29th 2010
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Hello happy bloggers..
No doubt you are wondering what happened to us.. all good. We are back in Adelaide in our little renovation project and still trying to keep warm despite it being late November! That apparently is the Adelaide Hills for you!
So where did we get to? Well... after Ireland we took a flight to Slovinia where we caught up with friends of mine from Cairns for a week of meditation and relaxation with a few lovely day trips thrown in for good measure. Such a beautiful. scenic country of forests, lakes and mountains (snow topped even in late August when we were there). We visited the Lipizzaner Horse stud in the south of the country to see those wonderful white horses in action, the wonderful town of Bled (again - favourite from our last trip to Eastern Europe), and a sweet little tourist village in the north of the country over which Brian was brave enough to jump off a 7500m mountain top with a parachute and a strange guy strapped to his back to experience the highlights of paragliding. He could see four countries from the top of their glide (Slovinia, Italy, Austria and Croatia)..
Sepctacular!
After Slovinia we headed south west to Italy for a couple of nights in Venice (always a good option - as long as the water levels are not too high!) and then on to Vicenza and Verona - home of the wonderful tale of Romeo and Juliet and where one can stand on "Juliet's balcony" and blow a kiss to any passing Romeo below :-). Both very interesting, wonderful ancient cities of cobblestone streets and surrounding walls and of course the fashions and fancies of modern day Italy. Next stop was Florence. We had a couple of days before we arrived in the little town of Fiesole overlooking the city and stood on the spot where Leonardo da Vinci tested out his flying machine (and lived to tell the tale) and then met up with Brian's bother Dean and sister-in-law Anne for the next leg of the trip. Florence is of course one of THE cities on earth. The birthplace of the Renaissance and chock full of the most incredible buildings, art galleries, palaces and more. We had a morning at the Uffizi, one of the palaces, saw the statue of David in all it's magnificence, wandered through
the streets and perused the fashions. One of the highlights of the trip to be sure... after north Devon and Portugal and .....
From Florence we all four now hopped aboard a west bound train and headed for the coast. We stayed three days in the Cinque Terre (a national park on the west coast) where five incredible little Italian towns (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore) tumble down virtual cliffs to tiny little harbours at the bottom of each. All with their wonderful Tuscan colours and shapes. The towns were built to avoid attacks from Mediterranean pirates and are connected by a walking track that one can now hike as a tourist to enjoy the spectacular rugged cliffs, vinyards and other sights along the way. We did the hike over two days (the second was very wet!) and enjoyed every moment of it.
From Italy we headed west again to the French Rivera and a couple of nights in Menton just over the border in France. A lovely, not too busy or touristy, little town with an old centre overlooking the beach. The weather was lovely and we got to have a swim for the
first time since leaving Portugal (or those of us who were brave did anyway). Next stop was Avignon where my sister Louise and I had stayed nearly 20 years ago and enjoyed immensley. The city is the centre of Provence and still remains surrounded by massive stone walls and contains the Palace of the Pope where in 1309 violence in Rome sent the head of the Catholic Church into virtual exile. An incredible building and apparently one of the most important gothic buildings in the world. Avignon was a great base to explore the rest of Provence which we did in a little hire car... tripping to some of the wonderful hilltop villages in the region and spending a day in the ancient Roman city of Arles not far away. We also did a trip to the Pont du Gard where a three story Roman aquaduct remains virtually intact since it was built nearly 1000 years ago.
The final week of the trip was in Switzerland and a flight out of Zurich. First stop Bern with it's beautiful ancient clocks and little shops. Had an interesting hour in the home of Einstein where as a young researcher he developed
his theory of relativity.. I'm hoping some of the vibes will brush off and help me out in my next contract! Finally two days in the Jungfrau region of the alps for some spectacular train trips up above the snow line and then a last day in Lucern on the lake. Like all Swiss towns, impeccibly neat, chilly,historic, cobblestone streets, chocolate shops, Swiss Army knife shops and fondue! In addition it has an amazing 14th century wooden bridge whihc is still intact (apart from some repairs) across the river.
So.. all in all a wonderful three months. Very sociable this time with more than two thirds of the time spent with other people along the way - quite different to our first trip in Eastern Europe where we spent months not finding anyone to even speak English! We got back in early October and have been busy catching up on things since and working on the house and garden. If I get a chance I will update you all again in a few months with the latest on that front and a few snaps of our little house in the hills.
I trust you are all well. Enjoy
the pictures. Look forward to seeing you all again at some stage soon.
Lots of love
Jacqui and Brian.xx
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