And finally - Monday 13 June

With hindsight, it may have been fortunate that we arrived in Melbourne before the volcanic ash cloud, even though from what I can glean from the internet, it doesn’t appear to have affected Thai’s flights.

On past trips we have sometimes hired a car, but there was no need this time, and I’m very glad we didn’t (traffic, parking etc).   Trains and buses worked well for us, but we stayed in cities and towns.   My impression is that if you hire a villa in Tuscany, you would need a car as these the villas are generally in rural areas.   Of course, it would have been nice if our bags had have been lighter (especially on the trains, the buses are less of an issue because the bags are stored underneath).  But it’s hard to manage with less, when you’re away for nearly 4 weeks!

I was pleased with the 28 Degrees Mastercard.  It provides very competitive exchange rates and no fees on transactions, including none on cash withdrawals (at least when used at Westpac Global Alliance ATMs).

The el-cheapo netbook that I used on the trip, while not perfect, was adequate.

Jetlag is still troubling me, 2 days after arriving home, even though we broke our return trip with 2 nights in Bangkok.  But hopefully I'm over the worst of it now.

Back in Melbourne - Saturday 11 June

Well, it's nice to travel, but it's also nice to arrive back home - to be able to unpack knowing that you don't have to pack it all in the suitcase in a couple of days time, to change into something different instead of the same old clothes, and just to switch off completely without having to worry about going out or otherwise organising the next meal!
The flight back was uneventful, and touched down a few minutes early, and we were out of the airport in about 20 minutes.    Angela very kindly picked us up (once again, thanks, Ang!).
I hope to be able to post a few reflections on  what we did and how we did it, but it may not be for a day or so, so stay in touch!

Getting ready to depart from Bangkok – Friday 10 June

I read in today's Bangkok Post that there has been an unseasonably early onset of heavy rain this year, hence last night's rain. It also influenced our movements today. We couldn't arrange for a late checkout today, so we had to check out by noon. When we told the baggage guy at the hotel that we would be back to collect them at 6 pm, as we were leaving our bags with him, he mentioned that journey times to the airport at that time on a wet Friday night could be horrendous - there had been cases of it being as long as 3 hours, assuming that you could even get a taxi. So we occupied ourselves for a while on Sukhumvit Road (including some attention to Sue's nails!), but at about 4 pm, the sky wasn't looking good and there were drops of rain. Hence, we decided that rather than spend more time and money sipping coffee in town, we'd cut and run for the airport (even though we had plenty of time). A taxi was readily obtained, an acceptable fare was negotiated (not strictly necessary, but probably meant the driver didn't have to split the metered fare with the cab owner?), then after nearly 45 minutes while the taxi negotiated less than 3 km to get on to the expressway (mostly sitting in stationary traffic) and a further 30 minutes or so on a congested (but moving) expressly, we were at the airport. We can well believe the horror stories about much longer travel times at worse times. Out of interest, I noticed that the cab driver immediately picked up a fare at the drop off zone at the airport (thus avoiding, I suppose, the 50 baht fee charged by the airport and, I assume, a long wait). So hopefully it was a good day for him, and made up for the many hours that cabs seem to sit outside the hotel. Check in at Thai business class took about 2 minutes, and from checkin, you go straight to a dedicated “fast track” immigration and security chanel, and then straight down the escalator to the lounge. Thus within a few minutes of arriving at the airport we were in the lounge, asking about the absence of wine. Everything else is available (except, strangely, peanuts), but the wine only appears at 6 pm (it now being after that time, I can report that the red is an acceptable Lindemans). This is an improvement on the satellite lounge that we ended up in on the way over, where wine didn't turn up at all. The upshot is that we have several hours to wait for our flight, but it beats spending the time stuck in traffic and we are being fed and watered. And, of course, Sue has some important duty free shopping to do, and isn't being rushed!

People watching in Soi 8 – Thursday 9 June

Shortly after posting the above post, the rain indeed started. There wasn't much of a storm, only a little lightning, but the rain was solid. It is now easing off, about 4 hours later, but in the meantime we wanted to eat. For the sake of an easy (dry?) life, we stayed close to our accommodation, on the patio of a pub-type of establishment (a New Zealander seemed to be in charge). We were able to observe the comings and goings in the street, ranging from the Westerners (EDIT - male, that is) who made up a significant proportion of the restaurant's clientele, and their drinking/dining companions – frequently Thai! - through to the street vendors continued to operate, notwithstanding the rain (using umbrellas etc). The motor cycle boys who generally provide local transport up and down the street were largely replaced by a couple of tuk tuks who passed and re-passed and the massage parlour over the road had a variety of customers (and would-be customers) – including Sue, after dinner, for a back massage (she was happy with it). I explored the local area, which has a great variety of accommodation, ranging from a number of cheap to mid-range hotels (as well as ours), plus some high rise apartments further down the street. I wondered if these are to some extent inhabited by Westerners, given that we saw a number of big 4 wheel drives in the street (quite different from most other vehicles that you see).

We leave tomorrow night for home. I asked about a late checkout, but was told the place is fully-booked, so we will check out by noon and occupy ourselves before returning for our baggage and heading to the airport.

Bangkok Thursday 9 June

We both had a bit of jet lag last night. I know that jet lag hits hardest when you fly from the west towards the east, but why is it that its effect is that you want to go to sleep earlier and you wake up earlier? This seems to be the opposite to what you'd expect, but it resulted us both being wide awake at 4 am. However, we eventually got back to sleep and then only woke up just in time to check out the comprehensive buffet breakfast!

Added - Grand Temple

That done, we made for the Grand Temple and associated temples. It took a while for the taxi to battle through the late morning traffic (but at least the traffic moved, compared with later in the afternoon when we were in the skytrain and it was completely gridlocked). The first main temple you see is the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, and its associated terraces and other halls, galleries and structures. These are all extremely lavish and the handout you receive explains their significance and history. You then see (from the outside) the Borum Phiman mansion (used in the past occasionally as a royal residence and now used as a state guest house), followed by the Chakri Maha Prasat Hall (which contains a throne room and now used for purposes such as the reception of foreign ambassadors). You can then enter the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall, used as lying-in-state place for royalty. Finally, there's an interesting museum. All in all, it's pretty impressive, and there's lots to see, although (perhaps understandably) you can't enter a number of the buildings.

Following this,  we thought we deserved some airconditioning, so we headed for the multi-storied MBK shopping complex. I spent a few minutes on one of the external pedestrian bridges. But then everyone was cleared off the main bridge and looking down, the street below was also completely clear – an amazing sight for Bangkok. The reason became clear when a convoy of official cars came along – apparently the Queen was going somewhere.

Back in the hotel, there seem to be some dark clouds brewing. It's coming to the end of the hot season and the wet season is due to start sometime soon. Perhaps we're in for a storm.!

Arrival in Bangkok Wednesday 8 June

The flight from Zurich was long but uneventful, with arrival in Bangkok delayed a few minutes because of a thunderstorm in the area. I had read up on the taxi arrangements in Bangkok, whereby the dispatch desk is supposed to allocate you to a cab and tell the driver where you want to go (since most drivers have little or no English). All very well, but just outside the airport, the driver stopped and wanted clarification as to where we were going! Not his fault, but just as well I had printed the hotel's instructions (in Thai) from the internet. But I was prepared for his question as to whether to use the toll road, and I knew that I had to give him the money to pay the toll. So all worked out well, and we were drinking the welcome tea at the hotel within 90 minutes of landing, notwithstanding an afternoon traffic jam on Sukhumvit Road. The room has cooking facilities, but since breakfast is included in the rate, perhaps we don't need these after all. We're staying in Soi 8, near the top of Sukhumvit Road. This isn't an area that I was previously familiar with but I thought the fact that the Westin and Sheraton Grand (amongst others) are nearby was a positive. There is Robinsons department store but otherwise the area has many, many street stalls, restaurants (of all descriptions), made-to-measure suit shops etc, and so is certainly vibrant and full of activity, but it doesn't have a lot of mid to up market shopping arcades etc. However, the Skytrain runs down the street, so it will be easy to get around.

After a short look around, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant. After we had ordered, we were a little apprehensive but all doubts were dispelled when the food arrived – it was great. Sue showed them her card in Thai requesting no MSG, and the waiter readily understood and said that they didn't use it. We even had sweets, which were also terrific.

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Zurich in transit 7 June

We checked out of our accommodation this morning and headed to Potsdam. One of the nearby S-bahn routes went directly to Potsdam, taking about 45 minutes. Although Potsdam has a great deal of hisotry, it was not as I imagined it. Certainly it's a historic garrison town, but the sights are spread over quite an area. There were a couple of hop-on/hop-off tours, so we elected to use one of these. If I'd known at the time, we could have used our Berlin ABC zone ticket, but on reflection, that would have required a greater knowledge of the local Potsdam bus and tram routes than I had. Anyway, the tour bus showed us a number of the main sights, including several former garrison buildings that now have different uses (some are apartments, some are schools, some are government institutions). The main schloss that we would have liked to visit was the Neues Palace, but apparently it's partly used by the university and the bit that is a museum is closed on Tuesdays! However, we were able to tour the Orangeriescholss, which was the most recent major chateau to be built (1860s). There was a sweeping view from the tower, and the rooms open for inspection (as designed by Frederick IV) were most ornate. Pity he died before it was completed. There were only 4 of us on the tour. The guide explained that the tour was usually in German, and English speakers had a card to refer to. However, she also spoke very good English, and as the other couple were Italian (which she didn't speak), we had the tour in English! We had a bit of a look at the Sans Soucci park, which is very large and is a mixture of some formal gardens and quite a lot of unkempt areas.  We also saw (from the outside) the Schloss Sanssoucci, the historic mill etc.

 

 

The tour bus finished its round in town, and as we would have had to wait for it to continue back to the station, we decided to walk. Potsdam iitself is actually quite a cute town, with a pedestrian mall. Thence by S-bahn to pick up our bags, and taxi to the Tegel airport through quite heavy late afternoon traffic. I know, we could have caught the direct bus to the airport (the stop was only a couple of hundred metres from our accommodation), but we decided that we're “over” wheeling our baggage around the streets for the time being (although plenty of people do that wherever we go, especially in Berlin). Tegel is quite a cramped airport, but we survived in the Lufthansa lounge, and now we're waiting in the lounge at Zurich for the Bangkok flight.

Last night in Berlin – Monday 6 June

After spending a lot of the day in the Bode-Museum, we headed off to Friedrich str, to check out the shops there and Checkpoint Charlie. Sue tells me that she hasn't had much luck finding things of interest, and that she's “over” shopping. Hmmmm, I wonder how long that will last. It doesn't take long to take a couple of photos at Checkpoint Charlie. We didn't think it necessary to look at the museum there – Lonely Planet is (at best) only polite about it, and apparently it's relatively expensive. We also had a nice meal in the area, during which there was quite a heavy storm.

We check out tomorrow morning, before our evening flight to Zurich then on to Bangkok. After we store our bags, we're planning to head out to Potsdam for the day. However, it may be a couple of days before I get back on to the internet.

The Bode-Museum Monday 6 June

Added - Mosaics

There are 5 museums on Museum Island (only a couple of minutes from our accommodation), so it wasn't easy to decide which to visit today. We eventually opted for the Bode-Museum, because it included Byzantine art, as well as an extensive sculpture and collections. The building itself is quite beautiful and we ended up spending over 4 hours there (in an uncrowded atmosphere). The Byzantine collection was not as extensive as we had hoped, but what was there was impressive. It included a whole mosaic from Ravenna (a place that we would have liked to visit but it was so far out of the way that it was impossible). There were sculptures and carvings from various eras, including interestingly to Coptic period in Egypt (up to the 7^th century). There was a lot of Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance work, mostly sculptures but also including some artworks. These came from most of the main European countries, including Italy (going to some extent to remedy our omission to visit the Uffizi!) and of course Germany.

Added - altarpieces  in Bode

Added - entrance foyer in Bode

Oranierburger str - Sunday evening 5 June

We had dinner tonight not far from our accommodation, in Oranierburger str. Hmmm, an “interesting” area. A variety of vibrant eating and drinking places, and other activities on the street too (think King's Cross). After a nice meal, we walked the length of the street, taking in the “scene”. Once was enough – we caught the tram that runs along the street back.

In the meantime, there are a few other topics in relation to which I have had some thoughts. One is the price of wine. There's plenty of perfectly adequate wine here for around €2.99 to €3.99, and you can get bottles of drinkable wine for €1.99 (yes, someone had to taste test it, so we have undertaken that tough task!). Makes you wonder about Australian wine prices (or is my sense of taste so dulled that I can't appreciate that although we pay more, we get better quality in Australia?).

Another issue is tipping. I've followed the guidebook advice and in general merely rounded up bills (sometimes by only a few cents). Invariably, I have been nicely thanked. Seems that this is all that is expected.

The attitude to former East Germany and the Berlin Wall has interested me. I am conscious that my perception has been through a very narrow lens, but it does seem to me that the city is making the most of the former wall as a tourist attraction. I guess this is inevitable, given the unique nature of the wall. But there seems to be a bit of a self righteous tone (EDIT - for example at the displays at Checkpoint Charlie and in the DDR Museum), and I have on occasion wondered whether there is anyone around today (except for Angela Merkel) who actually owns up to having lived in the former DDR? Since the wall came down over 20 years ago, I suppose anyone under about 30 wouldn't have any real experience of the DDR.

Euro copper coins - what does one do with the collection of 1, 2 and 5 cent copper Euro coins that we accumulate? I can get rid of the 10 and 20 cent coins into ticket vending machines, but the copper coins baffle me. I know this is also an issue in the US, but we don't miss copper coins in Australia, and we're questioning whether we need 5 cent coins. One consequence of having so many small coins is that payment at the supermarket checkout is often slow, while customers look for a few copper coins to round off their payment (and avoid getting another handful of copper).

Berlin Sunday 5 June

I've now added this picture of the Serbian Church

After checking out how to get there yesterday, we had no difficulty getting to the Serbian Orthodox church. We can't decide whether it's in the Wedding or the Prenzlauer Berg district, but it's in the former East Berlin. I suspect that the building may be a former Lutheran church. The singing/chanting during the service was very impressive, and afterwards we were made most welcome over coffee/cakes/sparkling wine/beer (we declined the latter). Needless to say, there was some political discussion (so Sue tells me, since it was all in Serbian), but at a fairly general level (and basically similar views were expressed on both sides).

Sue then engaged in some retail therapy in and around KaDeWe, but Tiffany, Gucci, Chanel and the other designer names missed out as Sue only made limited purchases (including a massage ball for the soles of her feet, after all the walking). Meantime, I went off to Miniatur Welten Berlin. I didn't know this existed, but Sue found it in Lonely Planet, which says that this claims to be the world's largest model railway. I had previously thought this title belonged to a model railway in Hamburg, and I had originally planned to go up to Hamburg to see it. However, the need to go to Hamburg was eliminated if all I had to do was to go to Alexanderplatz, which I did, and I was indeed “wowed”.

Added:   model of Zoo station, Berlin

 All the stations are modelled on actual German stations (including several of the Berlin stations), the trains authentically represent U-bahn, S-bahn, regional and ICE trains, plus lots of freight trains, there are trams, a Luna Park, a military establishment (complete with marching band music), a power station, and an airport. At the airport, planes land and take off, the departure board which you can see inside the terminal changes as flights depart and much, much more. The trains don't just go around in circles, either. There's at least one major junction where trains merge and cross over, and operate in alternate directions over the same track. And the whole parliamentary district is there, including the Brandenburg gate, the Bundestag building, the parliamentary offices, the Victory monument and so many other things. I spent hours there, and still didn't absorb it all!

One issue that I have been meaning to comment on is the use of bikes. Bikes are very common in the cities where we've been. But the bikes themselves are often old clunkers (EDIT - did I say "old"?    No, many of them are quite new, but they are still "clunkers"), helmets aren't required and no-one wears lycra around the cities. So little old ladies and mature gentlemen are just as at home on a bike as anyone else. And speeds are (usually) sedate. Perhaps in return for this, bikes seem to be allowed everywhere, on footpaths, through pedestrian filled plazas, up the wrong way on one-way streets! I realise that no-one in Melbourne has made it compulsory to wear lycra, but if we really are to introduce a bike culture into our cities (as some would wish), then many of us would find it less intimidating if lycra (EDIT - and the associated requirements of performance bikes travelling at high speed) wasn't as prevalent in everyday use.

Today around the Zoologischer Garten area a number of the major streets were closed, and given over to bikes! Masses of bikes, many carrying green balloons. But all ridden at quite sedate speeds and no lycra to be seen. Pedestrians, however, tended to come off 2^nd best – it was very hard to cross the streets!

And for my “it can only happen in Germany” story: there was a ticket inspector on the train today (pretty casually dressed, but he had some sort of ID card and other people were showing him their tickets). But I got into trouble, there was something wrong with my ticket! Seems that seniors travel today was either free or at a discount rate, and I had a full fare ticket. I count myself lucky that I wasn't fined for paying too much for my ticket!

Berlin Saturday 4 June

After I checked the location of the Serbian church to make sure that we can get there tomorrow, we explored nearby Alexanderplatz. It's perhaps not one of the world's most visually attractive spaces, but Sue was pleased to discover that there are a couple of department stores there! We also took an interlude on one of the city sightseeing tours. These are not my favourite activity, but this one wasn't too bad. Although it covered a number of places that we had already visited, the commentary added to our understanding. It also covered a few locations that remain on our to-do list, but gave us a preview of what we might encounter. In particular, the KaDeWe store is apparently definitely on Sue's shortlist!

Hackescher Markt area - Friday evening 3 June

Well, I thought I was through for blogging for today, and that we'd go out to eat at one of the very many eateries in the Hackescher Markt area where we're staying. That was until Sue turned the TV on, and found that the Federer/Djokovic semi-final in the French Open was on, with Djokovic just on the verge of winning the 3^rd set and proceeding to an engrossing 4^th set which unfortunately ended in him losing in a tie breaker. That certainly ended any prospect of going anywhere for a while. So we ate bread, cheese and other nibbles which we'd accumulated and drank red wine, while Sue provided emotional support for Djokovic and I put some more thoughts down!

The Hackescher Markt area has been described as recently undergone a revival, and certainly there's lots of life around. However, it isn't far away from the areas described in Lonely Planet as including some derelict industrial areas, and certainly within a couple of blocks from where we are (and in the vicinity of the local supermarket) there are quite a lot of “alternative” types of people.

After the tennis finished we went for a walk in the immediate vicinity. There were lots of people out and about, drinking and people watching, but there were also some dark lanes!

First day in Berlin - Friday 3 June 2011

We've never been to Berlin before (obviously the reason we are here is to tick it off the list!), so what do you do the first time you are here? Attend a service at the Dom, walk the length of Unter den Linden, check out the Bugati car showroom in Friedrichstrasse (sorry Cath and Kev, too big to fit a couple in the baggage), observe the tourists (including us) gawking at Brandenburg Gate and look at the Bundestag, of course. In between, we had lunch at a restaurant where you enter your menu choices directly on a computer screen and got lost at the Hauptbahnhoff (there are at least 3 levels of trains, and a few additional concourses for passengers). Other achievements included Sue finding almonds (don't the Italians eat almonds? We could never find any).

A word about the Dom. It's a most impressive building, both outside and inside. We, along with many others, paid the fee to enter and were admiring it all, including the statue of Martin Luther and the immense organ, when an announcement was made. Everyone sat down, no-one else was admitted, and a short service occurred. It included an organ prelude, hymn (no-one sang, but they made up for it by joining in the Lord's Prayer) and organ postlude – all clearly designed to show the versatility and abilities of the organ. It was almost as good as Armadale UC's. The service included what the order of service described as a homily. Unfortunately this was in German, and we ony found out later that a simultaneous translation was available if you sat in an appropriate area. Since yesterday was Ascension Day (taken very seriously in Germany and we understand from Sabine and Sam, also in Austria, in that it's a public holiday), perhaps we missed something important.

And after we'd done all that, we headed out again, and visited the DDR museum – a compact but interesting museum about life in the former East Germany. Although it made some good points about the repressive nature of the regime, I thought it was a little critical about aspects of the standard of living. Perhaps I'm just showing my age, but I identified with many of the points made in relation to the way of daily life as being similar to Australia in the 1950s! I admit, however, that Australia had moved on, or at least changed, by the 1980s. Following this museum, we went on a 1 hour river cruise, which was quite informative (earlier in the day, these had been very crowded).

A word about our “apartment”. It's actually just a large hotel room, but with microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, cooktop and other kitchen type facilities. It's very satisfactory for our needs, even though it doesn't have laundry facilities.

A day spent mostly in Pisa airport Thursday 2 June 2011

We've had better days. It started off OK, we went for a walk down to the Levanto beach before checking out of the hotel, and saw a number of board riders making the most of the surf (yes, if the wind is right, you can have a bit of a swell on the Mediterranean). But things started to go astray at the station. The good news was that the railways weren't on strike. The bad news was that the carriage numbers were from the back of the train to the front – and of course we were in carriage 8 and so were at the wrong end of the platform. So we got on board and managed to thread our way half the length of the crowded train with our 2 suitcases. But at Pisa airport, things got worse. Our plane was delayed, eventually leaving 3 3/4 hours late. I had factored in a bit of spare time at the airport anyway, to allow for contingencies (which also fitted in with the train times), so we ended up sitting at the airport for about 7 hours. It did occur to us to make a rush trip to the Leaning Tower, but this would have been complicated by the fact that even though the flight was delayed, Easyjet's check-in times for our baggage weren't changed (so we had to wait for check-in to open, and they closed as if the plane was on time). And just when we might have gone, the rain came, which (to coin a phrase) put a bit of a dampner on the idea. The day was topped off at Berlin, because we exited the secure part of the airport without realising that we had passed the point of no return, and had to go the “Lost & Found” office to arrange to have our baggage brought out to us. Needless to say, we got a taxi in to town (from Schonefeld) – no experimenting at 10 pm with the local transport options as suggested by Lonely Planet kindly provided by Ang & Kev. But the Adina apartment here in Berlin is very modern and reasonably spacious, so we ought to be comfortable.
EDIT - We subsequently received an email from Easyjet apologising for the delay.   Nice thought, and of course we don't want planes that have technical issues to fly, but just the same we would have preferred not to have had the delay.

A wet day in Levanto Wednesday 1 June

As we were having breakfast the rain started! Until now, we've had sun every day, with the temperature consistently in the mid to high 20s. Yesterday was a little cooler, but after rain for about an hour this morning, it's cool and breezy even though the rain has cleared to showers. This morning we explored the beach/marina area. We were thinking about taking the ferry down the coast this afternoon, but a sign at the ferry booking office says that all services have been cancelled today.  So we had a "re-charge" morning, at least while we pondered what we might do this afternoon.
We ended up having a casual lunch at what I think can best be described as a "laid back" cafe overlooking the beach, then after a short siesta (for me) and a hair wash (for Sue), heading off to Vernazza for the evening. The showers had cleared, and we had a nice dinner at a restaurant in the main street.    Then back to Levanto, to pack up and get ready to travel tomorrow, to Pisa by train and then by plane to Berlin.

Cinque Terre Tuesday 31 May

Did someone tell us that you're supposed to allow a day to walk between each village? Was it you, Cath? Well, we've sprung you, and found out on that, on that basis, you'd have a LOT of drinking time left over. Sue said that my relaxed attitude wasn't good enough, so we set out this morning from Levanto with our €10 train/park access ticket (good value) and headed to Riomaggiore via the “scenic” rail route (NOT – it's mostly in tunnels). After checking out Riomaggiore, we did the first part of the coastal walk (on the via Dell Amore = “Lover's walk”) to Manarola. This is a relatively flat walk (after an initial set of steps), hugging the cliffs, and quite spectacular. I think it was Paul who told me that it was originally built to access an explosives magazine, but it's now crowded with tourists. Then by train to Corniglia (would have done this anyway, but for the record the walking path is closed due to collapses - EDIT - this refers to the coastal path.  You can still walk between the towns, but via the longer inland route). Catch – Corniglia is 382 steps UP from the station. Yes, there is a bus that saves you the effort of walking up the hill (as we had been told), and what's more the cost is included in your park access ticket BUT this is Italy and the bus only runs once an hour and of course we missed it by 10 minutes. So we earned the lunch we had there. Then down the steps again, train to Vernazza, had a look around, and then again to Monterossa, and finally back to Levanto. So, you can see we did all 5 villages in a day, and checked out each one. Each village is different in its own way, and the whole coast is indeed picturesque. As a comment, we were less impressed by Monterosso than by the other villages, as Monterosso is more of a resort town (but that's not to say it doesn't have it's own appeal).

Just a couple of practical points: first, check out the train schedules as you go, to save waiting around (the service is OK, but there can be quite long gaps). Secondly, there are free and reasonably adequate WCs at each station. Thirdly, there are ticket checks at both ends on the via Dell Amore, and if you don't have a ticket (for example, because you've only got a ferry pass), you'll have to pay €10 anyway (although the ticket you then get presumably covers the train as well).
A few other, more general comments,  for the record.   Breakfasts - I had read that Italians regarded a coffee and roll as adequate.   Well, in the hotels where we've had breakfasts included (Venice, Lucca and Levanto, they've all been great buffets.    In Lucca, it included chocolate cake, and both there and here in Levanto, there have been Tuscan baked apples (these are in addition to scrambles and boiled eggs, prosciutto and other cold cuts, cheeses, muesli etc etc).    Freight trains - in an earlier post, I commented on these, but at least on the Cinque Terre line, I've seen a couple, and with bogie wagons.    Church bells - everywhere we've stayed, there have been bells at about 7 am (but only once or twice later in the day) - just enough to wake you up.    Foreign cars - when walking around, I do have moments to occupy (hint - Sue keeps an eye on the shops!), but in the inner urban areas where we've been, I've seen hardly any non-Italian number plates.  In fact, even the Italian plates are very often local.   Given the fact that almost every Italian town that we've walked around has extensive "ZTLs" (no-go areas except for local cars), it's not hard to understand why non-local cars give a miss to the inner urban areas. 

Lucca to Levanto Monday 30 May

We arrived by train at Levanto and within 45 minutes we'd checked in at the hotel (glass of Ligurian wine on arrival coz our room wasn't ready) and were having a sandwich and (in my case) a beer in the beachside cafe. Relaxed? Yes! This is the territory of relaxed-ville and string bikinis (never mind the body shape and worry about the melanomas later). The hotel issued us with the ferry and train timetables, so I suppose I'll have to make the effort to do the sight-seeing that one is supposed to do at Cinque Terre, but given Paul's warning about the height of some of the hiking paths, it remains to be seen whether we manage to tackle many of them. In fact, we've been told that one is closed because there have been collapses along it. On the other hand, apparently there's a bus that takes you up the steepest climb (at Corniglia). Nevertheless, there's an impressive line up of ambulances here at Levanto, and I wonder if that ought top be taken as a warning to old guys not to over-exert themselves?

There's supposed to be internet access here, but I had problems making it work.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to fluke it again, so if there's silence after this, then that's the issue!

Anyway, time now for my siesta....

Lucca Sunday 29 May

Today is Sunday, and we decided to take it quietly around Lucca and “recharge our batteries” a little. When originally planning our itinerary, I considered the possibility of staying in Florence a couple of days longer and doing Lucca as a day-trip, but in fact because the hotel here is comfortable and Lucca is a pretty relaxed town, the way we are doing things appears to be working out quite well (EDIT - Sue points out that it was she who said we had to stay at Lucca!). Anyway, the hotel provided a lovely buffet breakfast with all the usual things but also including organic options, Tuscan chocolate cake and baked apple. Of course, we couldn't pass by the chocolate cake, but Sue has decided to give up on the great pizzas and pasta and to revert to healthy salads at other meals. She is even thinking of moderating her intake of red wine!

In relation to the bikes that are everywhere, I decided that if you can't beat them, you may as well join them. I was pleased to find that my ability to ride a bike (not having ridden one for so many years) was still there, and since everyone in Lucca seems to ride, including many gentlemen of “mature” years, I was in good company. I circumnavigated the ramparts, explored a number of the narrow streets and then did sections of the ramparts in the other direction.

The above was written late morning. We then decided to have a bite of lunch and check out some of the churches, which we did (including San Michele in Foro and San Pieto Somaldi – both quite plain churches but with quite stunning art works). We also had a look at the so-called ampitheatre (Antifeatro Romano – a bit disappointing). But our attention was caught by a garden that we passed, and we discovered that today was open gardens day in Lucca. Six historic and quite different private gardens were open for inspection. A couple of these were close by, so we visited them. Both of these were amazing oasis's of green and order in private courtyards, with histories extending over centuries. One of them was said to have some unusual plants, which I think was intended to refer to the callistomon and grevilleas! One thing led to another, and before the afternoon was over we had visited all six gardens, in the course of which we walked for kilometres around town. We felt privileged to have had the opportunity to see a side of Lucca that we hadn't appreciated existed, even though it meant our “recharge” day didn't turn out quite as we planned.

For dinner, we again sought out a restaurant with some local dishes and had another nice meal.

Tomorrow we head to Cinque Terre, staying at Levanto. We considered various options to get there, but rejected the bus then train option in favour of the all-train option. I'm not certain about the availability of internet at Levanto, so if there is silence for a few days, I'll resume posting when we get to Berlin.

Saturday 28 May Florence to Lucca

Farewell to our apartment “home” in Florence, and by bus mostly on the autostrada to Lucca. We quickly found our comfortable hotel, and soon settled in.

Lucca is a pleasant town, notable for its massive tree-lined ramparts outside of which is mostly a further ring of grassed area, resulting from a decree in medieval times that the area had to be cleared so that any any approaching enemies could be seen! The civic fathers have thoughtfully retained the grass but on the far side there is in parts a dense row of trees. Thus, from the ramparts, you are often shielded of the view of suburbia beyond – guess the risk of pesky Florentines creeping through the suburbs isn't too great these days. Inside the walls are narrow streets (often straight, a legacy from the Romans), a number of plazas and the inevitable shops largely catering to the tourists (both at the souvenir level and the designer labels, and most things in between!). Lucca claims Puccini as one of its sons (he was born here, and his funeral was here), so there are regular concerts featuring his works. Cycling is also encouraged, particularly as the ramparts are very suitable for it, but it means that you really have to be careful when walking the narrow streets. No wonder they don't allow bikes in Venice. We're here for two nights, in a pleasant but quite upmarket hotel. At least we get a large comfortable room for our euros.

We had dinner tonight at a restaurant that offered traditional Tuscan fare – farmer's cabbage soup, chicken with beans, tuna and brown bean salad and veal stew with zucchini. Needless to say, Sue hasn't had any MSG issues so far. She regards the food in Lucca as the best she has had so far in Italy!

Siena Friday 27 May

The Uffizi beckoned, but so did Siena! The (reputed) queues for the Uffizi didn't really come into it (actually, we didn't even check how long these were). By the by, the only queues we've stood in at all so far were for just a few minutes for the free entry into St Mark's in Venice and the Duomo here in Florence. There hasn't been a queue at any other museum.

Anyway, our education in Renaissance art will have to wait. We opted for Siena, and headed to the bus station where the next bus was departing in 5 minutes time. €7.10 each for the fare and 1 hour 20 minutes later we were in Sienna, a few minutes walk from the quite amazing Il Campo, the scallop shaped “square” at the heart of the town, surrounded by a number of palaces and dominated by the Torre del Mangio. We read that there were 503 steps to the top of this tower, so we passed on that and contented ourselves with the Museo Civico museum, housed in the Pallazzo Publico. This housed the ruling councils of Siena for centuries, and the museum is housed in a number of the rooms of the palace, as well as the chapel. It contains numerous frescoes and other works of art. In addition to the “usual” religious works, it has Lorenezetti's “Allegories of Good and Bad Government”, a fesco commissioned by the ruling council in 1338 to illustrate in dramatic terms the consequences of each! We then headed for the Duomo, which is quite magnificent. The facade contains numerous statues etc, and inside contains heaps of marble, much of it black and white. There is also quite an amazing marble pulpit, the Piccolomini Library (with fantastically vivid ceiling frescoes as well as beautifully illustrated choirbooks) and numerous notable artworks. The bus trip back to Florence took a little longer, as we didn't wait for the express bus, but I was glad it was the bus driver coping with the early evening Florence traffic, not me.

Florence Thursday 26 May

There's so much to see and do in Florence, so where to start? Well, we started with the Palazzo Vecchio (yes, we're into palaces), and were not disappointed with the lavishness of the residence of various governors of Florence, including the massive ceilings covered in gilt, the numerous rooms (what did they do in them all?) and their artworks, the chapels and so on. We then checked out the famous Duomo, perhaps more awe-inspiring from the outside than inside, but still pretty impressive just the same. We passed up on the tours to climb the hundreds of stairs to the top of the bell tower (Campanile) and to the dome of the Duomo, but I did visit the Museo dell-Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore (that is, the Cathedral works museum), in which numerous pieces removed from the Duomo over the years have been placed. This includes numerous statues and marbles from the facade, art works, models of the different cathedral designs, re-created scaffolding and haulage implements from the construction era and much more. We then visited the baptistry, the oldest building in the complex and having wonderful mosaics in the inside of its dome.

 

We then settled for a meal at a casual restaurant overlooking the River Arno, followed by a walk around town. The teeny boppers were dancing to the busker's music on the Ponte Vecchio and the crowds filled the piazzas and laneways of the city with musicians at some of the restaurants. True, they were probably mostly tourits, but this didn't detract from the evening atmosphere.

I reflected on the cost of the meal tonight. It seemed to me to be good value by Australian standards (for what we got). The total of €33 (equals perhaps a little over $A45) included a shared appetizer, a couple of mains (one of which was a salad), bread (€1 each tonight, but other times it is included) and half a litre of red wine (quite drinkable, I might add). We've sometimes eaten for less, and sometimes paid more. I suppose we're benefiting from a relatively good exchange rate, but our impression is that Italy is certainly not “expensive” compared to Australia. The supermarket prices are pretty comparable. Some things are cheaper. This includes fresh fruit and vegetables, and the quality of these is often better than what we accept in Australia. Other things are possibly a little more expensive, athough of course we depend on neighbourhood supermarkets and haven't had the need or opportunity to check the larger stores that presumably exist out of the city centres. In the case of accommodation, it seems to me that you get what you pay for, and the locations we've chosen tend to be the more expensive places! Fuel hasn't been an issue for us, but my understanding is that it is definitely more expensive. It will be interesting to see how prices in Berlin compare.

Arrival in Florence (Wed 25 May)

Very happy indeed with our apartment here (privately owned, booked through an agency). Only catch is, our landlady couldn't get her USB key so as to provide internet access to work on my netbook (very odd, everything seemed OK), so I'll have to find an internet cafe. Our first choice of apartment was closer to the station, but the owner asked us to take this one instead because she was having plumbing problems. This meant a slightly longer trip with our wheelie baggage, but I suppose that's what wheels are for. It's well fitted out (we can live without the toaster!). There's a washing machine, which we need. The weather has been consistently warm, so we keep wearing our lighter clothes. We exchanged text messages with “Sabine and Sam” (see http://sabineandsam.blogspot.com/), and it wasn't long before they were at our door! Amazing crossing of paths and it was great to catch up and to hear of all the things they've been doing (and are yet to do). Later we had dinner with them down the street. We also did a preliminary your of Florence, which is very compact, and quickly checked off the Ponte Vecchio (didn't buy any gold!), the location of the Uffizi, Piazza della Signoria and Palazza Vecchio, Duomo/Battistero/Campanile (amazing!), but of course only from the outside. Looks like there's going to be a lot to keep us going here.

I've now found an internet cafe, actully just around the corner from where we're staying.   Unfortunately, it was the last corner that I looked around!    And they don't provide wi-fi, so posting is a bit cumbersome.   Maybe I'll find a Maccas and use their free wi fi next time.....????   That way, I won't have to battle the Italian spell-checker!

Train Venice to Florence (Wed 25 May)

The Italian trains are reasonably efficient (but not perfect!), and most certainly well patronised! We're at present on our way from Venice to Florence, on a train that goes on to Rome. The Canadian a couple of rows away has finally quietened down, after providing a detailed description to some other North American travellers on his experiences in Rome, Sorrento and a number of other places. Why he imagines that he has to speak loudly enough to inform most of the carriage, I don't know. (PS – he later started up again!)

The train takes 2 hours 3 minutes to travel the distance to Florence, but its speed varies. Sometimes it travels at what is obviously a high speed (maybe 180 kmh?), but it slows in parts where the track presumably isn't rated for very high speed. Our internet bookings are accepted without question, there's a refreshment car further down the train (which we haven't bothered with), whereas on the Milan to Venice train, there was a trolley. The catches are that the Trenitalia seat allocation system doesn't work too well, and gives priority to getting you in a window seat rather than seating two people are travelling together next to each other! Hence, there's a lot a seat-swapping, and a certain amount of confusion at times. Also, there's baggage piled everywhere as the racks at the end of the carriage are insufficient. So far I've only seen one freight train, and the wagons weren't even bogies. Like the Milan to Venice trip, the geography so far as Bologna has been flat and looks pretty fertile (corn ands other crops, as well as some grapevines). But after Bolgna, the landscape was hilly and the line was in a series of tunnels for almost the entire way.

Tuesday 24 May mainly Murano

Last night just as we were going to bed, a strong smell of what I now know was ammonia filled the room. Thinking that it came from the air-conditioner, we switched it off and opened the windows ands eventually the smell cleared sufficiently to allow us to sleep without our eyes watering. After twice reporting to reception this morning that we had a problem, a helpful technician turned up and explained that since the air conditioner in the room operates on chilled water, that couldn't be the problem. But, yes, there was a smell of ammonia – coming from the mini-bar fridge (obviously the refrigerant was leaking). Fridge removed, and problem solved!

So, after a fairly slow start to the day. We headed off to Murano, home of the Venetian glass industry. Yes, there were some touristy aspects, but all very worthwhile. Modern Venetian glass is really a form of art, and so there are many studios of individual artists who each have there own style, including a lot of contemporary work. Murano is quite pleasant, and we had a relaxed lunch in a small plaza, and walked around some of the quieter parts of the town. We were fascinated to see how the speed limits on the water around Venice are enforced – by speed camera! Two police officers were manning a radar device and a camera with a telephoto lens! Not sure how they collect the fines, but no doubt the Italians have their ways!

 

For dinner, we headed down to St Marks Square, and had a meal in one of the side streets. After dinner we were entertained by the various orchestras provided by the restaurants on the square itself, then headed for the waterbus to take us back to our hotel. Opur last Grand Canal trip was slightly marred by the crowded waterbus – like us, other tourists find the idea of an evening trip down the Grand Canal in the evening to be enticing!

Monday 23 May Venice

After a generous buffet breakfast (included in the room rate) we headed off to St Marks Square. Sue got quite sentimental on the waterbus down the Grand Canal, as it brought back memories of her previous visit to Venice on our honeymoon. But the sentimentality passed and we joined the short queue to look at St Marks Basilica. It's built on a Greek cross plan with 5 domes, with lots of Byzantium frescos and mosaics. The floor is also marble, with lots of animals and floral motifs. All very impressive.

We then toured the Doge's Palace. Room after room of lavish Venetian art and murals, including the Doge's private apartments, council chambers and committee rooms (the Venetian structure of government seems to have been very contorted). There are detailed descriptions in English in most rooms. After the lavish art of the palace, you go across the Bridge of Sighs into the “New Prison” - a very depressing place. The ticket for the Doge's Palace also covers the other museums in St Mark's square, so naturally we took advantage of it! Hence, we headed to the Museum Correr, which is dedicated to the art and history of Venice. Lots of items from Venetian history – artworks depicting important people, pottery, coins, weapons, models of ships, books and numerous other items,and again almost overwhelming in richness. Then there are two rooms from the old Venetian library, with very ornate decor. Just when we felt “cultured out”, we noticed that one floor further up was the art gallery with works from Venetian painters over the ages, as well as other painters who had been influenced by the Venetian style. All in all, an amazing group of collections, very well presented in a logical and clear way. You could spend days absorbing it all, but I guess that as a tourist you can't hope to take it all in.

Tomorrow we'll try and be a little more relaxed.

 

 

Sunday 22 May Milan to Venice

The trip to Venice was uneventful – no problems getting a taxi to Milan Centrale station, then pre-booked train to Venice. Nothing in Venice is cheap, and the hotel at Venice is no exception, but it's quite nice. We don't have a Grand Canal view, but we do look out across the rooftops which is quite nice.

I'll set out here our overall impressions of Venice (although these were gained over our 3 days). Of course, there are a lot of tourists (at all hours of the day and night) and things are geared up to their needs. There are, of course, lots of places in Venice where there are few tourists (perhaps the ease with which you can get lost encourages people to stick to the main routes). Importantly , there are lots of points of interest that are well worth seeing. The waterbuses are really efficient, good information, on time performance (but sometimes crowded) - if only Melbourne's Metro could could be as good! We stayed near the railway station, and have no regrets about this decision. Of course, it's tourist-central, but we found the tourist menus good value and the availability of tourist-oriented stalls makes for interesting window shopping (but we didn't buy a mask). As elsewhere in Italy, always go to the toilet when you buy a meal or visit a museum. At least there are public WCs in Venice – but admission is €1.50!

 

 

A day in Milan (Sat 21 May).

We started slowly this morning. I went for a walk around the local Brera neighbourhood, and discovered the Saturday morning street market, numerous restaurants, the new media library and the other activities that we all have in our local areas. Then we headed back to the Duomo. Just in front of us a girl was refused admission for wearing shorts but we and nearly everyone else had no difficulties (being just slightly more respectable). Inside, the place is impressive because it is immense, with 4 rows of massive columns. The stained glass is very good (even better than Armadale Uniting!), and the marble floor is pretty impressive, too. We had been told by Sophie C to go to the top of the next door Rinascente department store, to get an up-close view of the flying buttresses and higher features. This we did, which meant that we felt we could pass on the climb within the Duomo to the walk around the buttresses. We would have had a coffee at the Rinascente restaurant, but it was just too crowded, and so we had something to eat at ground level.

 

 

Sophie also told us to check out via Montenapoleone for shopping. Every designer name you can think off seems to be represented in this street – we felt we couldn't even afford to go into any of the shops. The one “designer” not represented in via Montenapoleone is Ferrari – its fan shop is close by, and I checked that out, too. Again following Sophie's advice, we visited the Triennale design museum. Only the Italians could have something like this. The current exhibit probes the "why, when and what" of design, as well having some great examples of (mostly modern) design on display, showcasing numerous local designers. I can't say that I personally absorbed all the issues, let alone the implications, but it certainly made us appreciate that there is more to modern design than mere functionality.

We had dinner in one of the many restaurants in via Berera, along with the Saturday night crowds of locals, students and a few (but not too many) tourists. We resisted the temptation to have our fortunes told by any of the numerous fortune tellers, found that we didn't have to buy a bag from the street vendors with their (nearly identical) wares set out and certainly passed up the opportunity to buy a bubble gun!

On Sunday we're off to Venice by train. We doubt if we'll have internet there, so there may be silence for a few days until we hit Florence.

Lake Como and Milan's Navigli district (Fri 20 May)

We headed off today to Como, by regional train to the Lake Como station. This train route is operated by the private Ferro Nord company (from Cadorna station in Milan). Trenitalia's station at Como isn't as close to the lake (although if you go by Trenitalia you have the option of a fast train at certain times). We had lunch at a restaurant on the side of the main piazza, and then did the mandatory lake cruise! 

 

 

 

There are a variety of trips you can do by ferry, but we opted for the trip that covered a number of villages in the lower lake as far as Torno (rather than a longer ferry trip to Bellagio or another destination). We had our hearts set on the funicular, but it's closed for repair until the end of July. There is an alternative service to the top by bus, but it didn't seem quite the same, so we declined this, particularly as we had missed a departure by only a couple of minutes and it was nearly half an hour before the next.

 

Lake Como is a pretty area, but at least in the area we were, there is a lot of development (and, judging by the cranes, this is continuing). Comparisons are perhaps inappropriate, but we couldn't help thinking that we preferred Lake Bled.

We returned to Milan had dinner in the apartment and then set out to find Milan's Navigli district. Our initial encounter was with a backwater (presumably all that's left of an old canal) that had been converted into a duck pond (a good idea but quite smelly in parts!), but then we turned the corner and found a whole street full of riverside restaurants and bars. Being Friday night, the place was very busy and obviously the "place to be". We walked the whole street but didn't eat as we had already done so. We then attempted to find our way home by tram (instead of the subway which we've become very familiar with), and finally managed it although it would have been easier with a map of the tram network (memo to self - have a look at the subway route map on the internet, coz handouts of it don't appear to be readily available).  By the time we got "home" we were definitely ready for bed.

During our travels, we saw (and took a photo of) Milan's restaurant tram. I wonder where they got that idea from? Or was it the other way around? 

 

 

Exploring Milan (Thurs 19 May)

After settling in to the apartment, we headed off the central Milan, to take in the impressive Duomo. This is the world's 3^rd largest Catholic church (after St Peter's in Rome and the cathedral in Seville), and  the world's largest Gothic cathedral. We missed the last admission to see the interior by just a couple of minutes, but certainly took in the detailed Gothic/Baroque external architecture. The main marble front wall faces west, and in the late afternoon sun on the facade really is impressive. There are a lot of upmarket shops in the area, as well as the opera house, so we'll return before we leave to check things out here in more detail!

We had a meal at a nearby restaurant, sitting at an outside table taking in the world and then walked all the way back to the apartment.   We appreciated the exercise and are proud that although we followed only a basic map, we didn't get lost despite the lack (at times) of obvious landmarks.  Our initial impression of Milan is that it is not by any means an outwardly pretty city. True, there are some very interesting churches and other buildings, but these are frequently hemmed in and there seem to be few vistas or grand boulevards. However, it seems to have many pleasant areas and there is lots of "style"!

Arrival in Milan (Thursday 19 May)

We're now established in our self-catering apartment in Milan.. It's worth pausing a moment to describe the apartment. It's one of a number of apartments around Milan apparently managed by a small group (I located them on the internet, but I can't recall how!). It's in the Brera district (which seems to be nice) and has been renovated and so is modern and bright (and we like it).  However, it has some features that may perhaps be described as Italian “flair”. For example, it took us quite some time to find the cutlery drawer, hidden inconspicuously in the saucepan cupboard. A couple of the light fittings embody loads of “style”. It has the obligatory coffee machine but no toaster (that's Italy we suppose, so we'll survive!). The shower head looks good, but is almost incapable of providing a good wash! However it has unlimited internet included in the rent.

Of course, the first thing to do was to visit the local supermarket to stock up on essentials such as muesli, wine etc etc.  We then set out to explore, so more on that later.

Overnight (Wed) to Zurich

After our day in Bangkok, we got back to the Novatel, had a shower and were ready to go. Checkout and the transfer to the airport all occurred within minutes, so we had plenty of time in the airport lounge (adequate but not great – some wine would have been nice!). Checked out the duty free prices and found the cigarettes which we've promised to bring back are a fraction of the price in Bangkok compared to the Melbourne duty free price. And the spirits are cheaper, too.

The overnight flight to Zurich went without a hitch. I ate the whole meal, so on a full stomach and several glasses of Bordeaux red, I slept solidly for nearly 5 hours (I sometimes don't even manage this at home). I composed this post at the Swiss lounge at Zurich, waiting for our connecting flight to Milan. There was supposed to be wi-fi in the lounge, but seems the Swiss are frugal on giving access and I needed to get a voucher or something to make the connection work (so I didn't bother).

A day in Bangkok

When we originally booked our flights, the connection in Bangkok was very tight. Although the flight schedules subsequently changed, we couldn't take advantage of the better connection without paying a lot more, with the result that we had a day in Bangkok on our way over. Although we stayed at the airport, naturally we went into town (after a big buffet breakfast). There are 2 trains, the Airport Express and the cheaper City Express (which stops at about 5 stations).   As things worked out, we used the City Express both ways, at 45 baht (about $1.50) each way - pretty good value, we thought!  The Airport Express is more expensive (150 baht, I think), but although it's presumably less crowded, it stops 2 stations short of the end of the line at the city end. So, in one day, we checked out the shopping scene (what an amazing array of clothing – who buys it all?), did a river cruise, visited a temple and had afternoon tea at the Shangri-La, overlooking the river. We've also got 2 days in Bangkok on our return, but we're sure there are still a few temples to look at and shops to do! The only omission was that we didn't find any reasonably priced internet, so we accumulated our postings. We eventually found internet in the departure lounge at the airport, but it was very slow, so we didn't catch up with all the emails and blog postings.