The incredible Swiss Alps, the view from the cable car as we were heading up, plus the surrounding views of Schilthorn mountain, these stunning views just takes your breath away

Lucerne with its amazing old wooden pedestrian bridge in the heart of the town

Switzerland & an over head view of Zurich, catching up with Sonya who we new from my time in Airlie beach

Italy & the beautiful town of Venice with its water canals & very different lifestyle

Catiglione Tuscany

Outdoor Wood fired food & home made wine festival, delicious

Pisa marina & the fishing huts at the mouth of the river to the sea, with the beautiful sunset

Leaning tower of Pisa

Amazing structure

Turkey express tour 10 days 6th June Istanbul, Gallipoli, Antalya

Finished our tour in Budapest & flew straight out to Istanbul to start our 10 day tour of Turkey.
This time we had a couple from NZ, a couple & a single mother from Melbourne, a gay married couple from Belgium ( who were just the funniest guys) & our tour Turkish leader Ali who was from Ismar. I must say the Turkish people are very warm & welcoming to the Aussies & kiwis, respectful & they just love us visiting their city.
Istanbul was total chaos, thousands of people, tourist, local travellers & such a culture shock, but just loved the market places, food/spice markets, the food, sweets of all sorts, Turkish ice-cream, coffee, tea, Turkish delights, (yum yum) that you just can't but have a smile on your face. The variety of savoury & sweet foods to eat, the gathering of friends & families, the looking after each other, they are so humble, gentle & kind, allowed us to join in & be part of their lifestyle. The architecture of the mosques churches, were stunning amongst the old rundown residential dwellings. The beautifully old decorated gold/ food/spice markets, filled you with delight, so much fun.
Travelled to Eceabat, which is the village to where you get on a bus to go out to Gallipoli. We experienced, Anzac cove, Lone Pine cove, the Gallipoli peninsula, was so moving, emotional & finally being able to understand the journey that our Anzacs went thru. In the village they have built on the esplanade the trenches, with the war scene of the battlefields, a stark reminder of the sadness of this battle.
Visited town of Ayvalik, stayed in what used to be the old French embassy, such a grand old building. The next day we took a boat tour to the islands, with local Turkish travellers. Fabulous party boat with our own live DJ & singer, had a big twirly slippery slide on the back of the boat drops you straight into the sea. Fantastic relaxing day, listening to Turkish music, watching them dance & sing, plus us joining ( fabulous dancing, so sensual, emotional, enthusiasm, energy), wonderful swims, great lunch of endless supply of bait fish, pasta, salad, bread. Stopped at a little island village of Mithatpasa, Balikesir, for an hour, walked up the hill to a beautiful stone, cafe come library, come art display, with stunning views of the village, islands & water. Happy, fun in the sun day.
Continued travelling to Selcuk a town steeped in culture & retains many Turkish traditions. Spent the afternoon exploring the ancient ruins of Ephesus, the best preserved ancient city in Turkey, amazing structures, the city was very sophisticated with public running water, renowned medical institute, library, public toilets, Roman baths, evan a brothel, a very well preserved theatre & open air stadium that holds 25,000 people. Just in ore of such ruins, to be able to, walk around & imagine what life was like in those days. So worth the trip

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Vienna & the start of our Central Europe 15day tour

Another new adventure as I have never travelled with a tour before. We had 12 people & a 42 yr old male guide from chez Republic called Mirek. There were 6 Aussies & 6 kiwis, all over 50yrs old. Fabulous group. This was an Intrepid tour to which they tour very different, giving a good mix of cities, villages, hiking mountains, rafting, mountain bike riding, catch public transport, small shuttle buses, varying types of pensions, hotels & apartments, informative history talks, give you general overview tours of each destinations & then free time to do your own thing, some get togethers for dinners & drinks, plenty of chats & laughter. We crossed Austria, chez Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary.
We started in Vienna, such a lovely place to wonder around in, then 4hrs drive & we stayed at Cesky Krumlov, a quaint village which turned out to be our Favorite place on tour. We did a very challenging mountain bike ride (didn't even fall off), rafting in the river that surrounds the town, only had small Rapids (although did come in on the final embankment stop backwards, which was gr8 entertainment for the tourist who were up on a bridge watching our antics)thoroughly enjoyed the whole atmosphere of this place & can see why it is the guides Favorite village too.
We had a stark reminder day tour of Alswick concentration camps where over a hundred thousand people were gased & killed in hitlers days of the world wars. The most heartbreaking, emotional, painful experience & hope something so horrible in history never repeats itself. We are so far removed from the pain & suffering in Australia that these people & places have had to endure. Blessed to have freedom.
Arriving in beautiful Prague, such a graceful city with her amazing architectural buildings, sculptured statues, fountains, your eyes filled with joy just wondering around, rich in history, wealth & warm friendly people.
We climbed Tatras mountains, staying in the tiniest little village. After the most wonderful day enjoying the fauna & flora, a very relaxed dinner, chilling out drinking, chatting, a group of men gathered round the next table having a drink, one guy got out a guitar & with great pleasure a very informal sing along started to unravel, where the singing in their language was music to our ears, clapping, joking around, laughing & lots of joining in, was a fantastic way to end the evening, amongst all of that was Heathers birthday, which added even more smiles, with cake & singing.
The big city of Kraków kept us nice & busy, fabulous sunsets to be watched from the palace walls along the river, with scenic views all around. The old town village was buzzing with the humming if people eating, chatting, laughing, music, the old clock tower, putting on a show every hour, shopped at the old cloth markets, so beautifully kept for tourist to enjoy this grand old building, went underground to the old salt mines, that part is still in working order & in use today.
Budapest had us in ore of her beauty, history, the chaos of another big city, but such a dynamic, diverse city that allowed us to enjoy the culture, a river cruise always great fun, away from the engine traffic of cars, public transport. It was the end of our tour, such a great city to finish in. The company of our diverse group of travellers, Mirek our tour leader. We were able to immerse ourselves in the cultures, foods, where the guide is so passionate about his history & showing us around., form great friendships, leave us with ever lasting memories, big huggs & kisses as we said our last goodbyes.

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The Glacier Express train travelling from Brigs to St Moritz

Another incredible journey on the Glacier Express train, which is a slow train ride all day thru the Swiss Alps, large glass windows all over, this was worth the money. As it slowly meandered up into the mountain tops, all you got were stunning views around every bend. The incredible steep, deep gorges, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, beautiful villages, cows in the meadows (with their Swiss bells on), snow capped mountains, frozen waterfalls, glaciers, lush green countryside, tunnels straight thru the mountains, bridges & roads towering over head, our heads & cameras were turning every which way.
St Moritz turned out to be a magic time that will be forever etched into our memories. This is a wealthy ski town. Arrived after 5pm to a few showers, some sun, surrounded by ski mountains & a great hostel. The next morning we were awaken with snow falling, transforming this beautiful place into a Alice in Wonderland. Lyn & I rugged up & went outside to play in the snow, despite having no gloves or waterproof runners, (frozen toes). How lucky were we, now I can say I have experienced a white Xmas (without the Xmas). It snowed all day, burying everything, forcing the snow ploughs to clear the roads & footpaths.
We stopped at Innsbruck & Salzburg (Austria) which is just as beautiful scenery, people warm & welcoming & finally reached Vienna.

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Cinque terra, amazing villages built in the mountain sides, very communal living, amazing views

Tuscany

Fabulous country villages, always worth the visit ( vergemoli )

Tuscany

We hired this little red fiat to get us around in the mountains & country villages.
The views from our Marriott hotel, where we had breakfast on the terrace everyday.
The little village of Barga that gave us the true culture & lifestyle

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Beautiful stay in the mountains of Tuscany

Next stage of the journey Switzerland, Zurich, Luzern, interlaken

Starting to get used to our first class train journey's & heading for Zurich. Sonya (who I used to live with in airlie beach & now working living in manedorf outskirts of Zurich) met us at the train station. Big hugs, kiss & a wonderful smile, was a warm & welcoming site. We took the 1 1/2 hrs sunset ferry cruise on the lake to go back to her place, which was a welcome change to public transport or taxi, gave us a chance to have a good chat & catchup while taking in the sites & views, was very special. Spent a couple of days with Sonya, got to enjoy the city of Zurich, immersed ourselves in the local flea market, where Lyn managed to grab a few bargains (warm coat, wool jumper, hooded jacket) as the weather had turned cold on us, to which we were not prepared. I on the other hand decided to suck it up, freeze to death, be wet & cold because I didn't want to carry any more gear in my backpack & was only going to be cold for a short time.
Said our sad goodbyes to Sonya, heading to Luzern for the day, another beautiful old town, with 2 gorgeous old very long wooden walk bridges that crossed the river, also had this amazing carving of a wounded lion carved into a cave on a massive stone wall with a large pond & beautiful garden, gr8 day, but back on the train to interlaken, once again being greeted by stunning scenery, mountains, lakes, rivers, snow, glaciers & frozen waterfalls, magic warm sunny days, just sent me into the freedom of nature.
After spending late afternoon doing some major changes to our booked train trips & accomodations, changing our schedules due to the beautiful weather, upsetting the Swiss rail people, paying extra for the changes & totally being stressed out, hotel reception lady reassured us it will all be ok, relax, tomorrow will be a new adventure.
She was right, perfect sunny day, took the train, a bus & 3 cable cars up to Schilthorn pizglocia mountian. We started at 19 degrees, then 11, next stage 7 & by the time we reached the 2033 mtrs high peaks of the snow capped mountains it was 4degrees, but magic sunshine, it was just incredible views. We had lunch at Murren ( only 400 people in this little mountain village) further down the mountain where our views of the cliffs, gorge, skydivers, waterfalls, were all in front of us, real calming. Still descending, where I ventured into the Trummelbach falle, which consist of 10 tremendous powerful waterfalls raging inside & thru the mountain at horrific speed, u had to be taken up by a fanicular tram high in the tunnel up inside the mountain, was fantastic. It has been a very inspiring day to be alive.




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Josie's journey Bologna , Venice,

Hello everyone,
Once again our travels continued after leaving beautiful Tuscany, we stopped at Bologna. Much to our surprise this city was quite nice to wonder around in, considering when we came in by train it was dirty, full of graffiti & not a pleasant train station. This city has the oldest university still running in Europe. There was a decent amount of tourist, but not over bearing. The town had a religious festival on, so the beautiful old San peditrio church, had a service happening with choir singing, the amazing pipe organ playing, with the church filled, people from all walks of life, singing & coming together in prayer, was a nice experience to sit & observe.
Change of pace, off on the speed train to Venice. Up the ante, tourist everywhere, traffic jams of a different type, being on the water in the canals this time. The charm of this grand old city, you can understand why it is immersed in a quaint romantic lifestyle. The crisscrossing of the beautiful bridges, walking the stone paths amongst the local villages, the atmosphere that food, wine, families,friends, music draws people together is the most fabulous sight to watch & be part of. The incredible old structures, architect, history, traditional culture, coming together with tourism just allows you to enjoy the journey.


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Tuscany, Venice, Switzerland, Austria

Hello everyone,
Finally back again & should be able to load my photos on now due to lots of technical problems.
An early rise & take the daunting challenge of driving to Florence, an hour into our drive, going thru toll gates, taking wrong exits, back thru toll gates, back on crazy freeways, we decided to detour & park our car at the Pisa airport & catch the 70min shuttle bus ride. That way we could relax, take in the sites along the way, destress, so much better for us & a lot less praying for me.
Got to Florence to start the battle of wondering around with thousands of other tourist doing the same thing. It was a sunny day, navigated our way around the sites, still fascinated on how proud they were hundreds, thousands of years ago in building such enormous structures, that still stand the test of time, each building with its individual characteristics, telling its own story is truly amazing, but unfortunately for me I refuse to line up even with prepaid tickets waiting to get a glimpse of the insides & being pushed thru for the next cattle run to come thru. On our way back we stopped at Pisa to see the tower, lucky for us it was about 6pm & nearly all the tourist had gone. We r loving that it stays daylight till late. We took a drive down to the Pisa marina where along the river mouth goin out to sea are these fishing huts built on the rock wall, with huge nets attached on a swinging pulley arm, that they drop into the water to catch there fish, add the gorgeous sunsets to the mix, only being there can describe how it feels. Our last days in Tuscany, I went walking thru the mountain down to the local village off Barga, taking an hour & a half to walk through & down very steep countryside, spent the afternoon sightseeing the village, while chatting to locals & tourist, enjoying the true village lifestyle, while Lyn went on a wine tour all afternoon. Final day we joined in the local village of Cascio where they were having a outdoor wood fired cooking food & home made wine festival. I think we were the only Aussies. You got to try 4 dishes which consisted of lamb shank with olives, potatoes, a pasta bake, polenta, pork minced spread on bread, baked tomato, egg pie, berry tart & cake. Was great watching the locals socialise, eat, drink, music playing & lots of Italian chatting.


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Hello from Madrid to the gorgeous mountains of Tuscany to romantic Venice

Finally hello everyone,
After leaving gorgeous Marriott hotel in Costa del sol Malaga in Spain, we headed back to Madrid. The challenge of catching a taxi, then bus, train, another bus & another hotel shuttle bus is nearly driving me to drink. We had a good time walking the streets of Madrid, neither one of us able to navigate their so called map of the city, so we were not able to find certain landmarks even with asking directions as we went along. But we were happy with what we saw & basically walked all arvo/night. I am in ore of these incredible buildings, there own individual characteristics of each structure, the shear size, let alone a monument on every roundabout or piazza square, what a culture shock, let alone way to many police with rifles & guns(not sure if I feel safe or should worry about there presences) plus tourist everywhere, not enough green natural nature & waterways for my liking.
This was a vast difference to when we arrived at Tuscany (Lucca Italy). We discovered that this Marriott package deal that we managed to snag had a catch to it as it was way up in the mountains & no public transport to it, it was going to cost us $130 euros to catch a taxi to get out there, so we were forced to hire a car ( little red fiat, of course). Next challenge trying to follow the GPS & navigate the crazy Italian drivers to get out there. Much to our delight & surprise after doing a lot of praying, while horns were going full bore on us & got out of the city, it was tucked away high in the mountain top surrounded by small quaint real country villages. Just magic & a real gem, what a way to wake up everyday, with breakfast on the terrace & spectacular views. We ventured out on a country drive to the local villages where I got to experience the true Italian culture, converse with the locals, eat local food (yum) & appreciate there simple lifestyles. We managed to get lost as usual & stumbled across a farmer working in his terraced vegetable patch, when much to our surprise he was a very well tanned stark naked man with only his boots on, thank goodness for us he had his back to us & he hadn't seen us, we snuck past on the dirt track & found ourselves in a mumma italians back yard where she was peeling veggies at her sink, I poked my head in her window, speaking my very slang Italian, apologising for being lost, asking if she could assist us to find our car, ended up having a chat, as she had relatives in Melbourne, all the time while I was smelling the Italian food she was cooking & wanted to invite myself for lunch. She let us take the shortcut thru her yard back to the Main Street where we found our little car. Went to the Grotto Del Vento caves & did a 3hr guided tour, we climbed 90mtrs up & 86mtrs down into the cave, from the Middle, was fascinating, in 1996 the cave totally flooded & has since flooded 5 more times, but seems to drain away within a wk or so, to which they r trying to find an answer to why & how this is happening. We travelled to Cinque Terre where these beautiful old villages r built into the cliff edge over looking the Mediterranean Sea, we went in by train to the furthest town & then caught the ferry to each village, so that u could appreciate the beauty of the mountains, view the incredible building of these villages carved into the cliff sides, they grow all there produce on the steep face of the terraced mountains, just beautiful.



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Towns of Estepona & old white village of Rhonda, Costa del sol Malaga Spain

I caught a local bus to the main town of Estepona, it had the most inviting promenade/esplanade walk for locals & tourist alike, the beach had been screen swept clean with a tractor, garden beds were green with trees, cactus, shrubs,lots of colourful flowers, eateries all along, walked the whole stretch, thru to the fishing port, boat marina, then up the hills to the back residential streets, where they seem to live in more low rise apartments, streets r a bit wider, the villas/terraces with small cobblestone streets r not as vivid as in Marbella, but enjoyed the wondering around.
Today Friday 1st may is a public holiday & we have travelled in a four wheel drive & private tour guide to the old white village of Ronda. Had to drive through the national park which has volcanic rock on one side & limestone rock on the other, the farms are mainly, chestnuts, olives, sunflower, plus apparently because the weather in Spain is so good they grow every type of fruit & vegies u can think of. Stunning scenery, skinny tiny stone roads, quaint little communities, fantastic village built on the gorge & thru the mountains, wondered around freely for 2 hrs, got to experience venturing around the residential part of the true lifestyle, then got taken to a small town of only 200 population & had a home cooked lunch of cold tomato soup Spanish style & wild venison with chestnut/ red wine sauce, ate green olives, was a nice experience, gr8 family culture, will leave with good memories off to Madrid in the morning.
Cheers

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Marbella village streets in Spain