We crossed the boarder and already we're feeling Italian. Our hotel was directly opposite the train station, which was incredibly handy... That's the train station = right there. It was such a beautiful day, we dropped our bags and headed for the old town. Well look at that... all roads do lead to Roma! Warning:... Continue Reading →
Our main reason for coming to Switzerland was to ride the Bernina Express - a train with extra tall viewing windows that travels from Chur, through the Swiss Alps to Tirano, just over the Italian boarder. We had the most amazing day today. The sun was shining and the scenery was breathtaking. So prepare yourself... Continue Reading →
We had a big sleep in and didn't leave the hotel until about 10.30, but you could have shot a cannon down any of the streets in the old town and not have come close to hitting anyone for another couple of hours. It was so quiet. There was some cute wall art... I know... Continue Reading →
We're in Switzerland! To be more precise, we're in Zurich for the morning before we catch the train down to Chur - pronounced Kürr... (don't make the mistake we made 😬). So this morning we are just gonna wander the old town, cause that's our thing. We're staying right near the train station and walking... Continue Reading →
Thanks for this Wikipedia: According to some medieval chronicles, the name Buda came from the brother of Attila, King of the Huns, and Buda was a popular person's name in use at the time. Another story is that Atilla killed his brother, Buda and threw his body in the Danube... Other sources (including our tour... Continue Reading →
Today was Bratislava and this was our view on arrival. We were about 500 metres or so from the old town and joined our 'gentle' walking tour. At this stage of the trip everyone is tired and the people with mobility difficulties seem to be walking slower and slower, so today was hard going. Also... Continue Reading →
Today's view on waking... Modern Vienna. But on the other side of the ship was old Vienna and where we are headed today for a little bus ride around the ring road, which is where all the important buildings are located and then a small walking tour... Vienna is all about the beautiful architecture, the... Continue Reading →
Today's first stop was Melk and visit to the Abbey. Me Jenny and I have visited the Abbey before and decided to sit this one out for a slow quiet morning. But we could see it from where the ship was docked... Then we cruised through the Wachau Valley - one of the prettiest sections... Continue Reading →
Me Jen and I had been looking very much forward to visiting Česky Krumlov. On our last visit, because of the flooding on the Danube, we had to bypass a couple of stops and Česky was one of them. Česky Krumlov... or just Krum as the locals call it is a 2 hour bus journey... Continue Reading →
Our morning looked a little foggy... and we passed some interesting looking things along the way to Regensburg. We started off the day (11.30am) with a special Bavarian lunch - complete with huge beers as big as Jenny's head. She could hardly hold it up with her little arms. They had a buffet of all... Continue Reading →
No this is not a typo - this seems to be how German speakers pronounce Nuremberg, so I'm going with it. This was my view on waking this morning... a little less picturesque than past days, but if I'm honest, my memory of Nuremberg from 14 years ago was not favourable, so I wasn't expecting... Continue Reading →
As you know we turned off the Rhine and onto the Main River at Mainz, then just before our next stop of Bamberg, we turned onto the Main-Danube canal. The connection between the Main and the Danube, effectively connecting the Rhine and Danube. There was a bit of time onboard as we went through many... Continue Reading →
This was my view today... We actually turned off the Rhine River yesterday at the town of Mainz (pronounced Minez) and now we are on the Main River (pronounced Mine). Our stop today is Würzberg. And getting there was juts beautiful. I mean.... look! It was like being in a real life Turner painting. That's... Continue Reading →
I flung back my curtain to this scene this morning... The choice for the day was between two big walking tours back to back and a bus ride in the middle or staying on the boat. We decided to stay onboard. Then we sailed into Miltenberg where all the tours were starting from... Then we... Continue Reading →
We were going to wake early this morning and get down to breakfast early and take in the scenery from the lounge with accompanying commentary by the Tour director, Wes. Instead we woke at 9am and flipped back the curtain to this lovely scenery flying past... We missed most of the commentary and had to... Continue Reading →
There was a fair bit of cruising today as we didn't get to our firsts stop until the middle of the afternoon. This is what we passed by... Can someone tell me, are these nests? Bird's nests? What sort of bird builds a nest like this? There were hundreds. EDIT: My very knowledgable friend from... Continue Reading →
This title is a quote from "Back to the Future", when Marty's dad, George McFly is practicing what he is going to say to Marty's mum, Lorraine at the Under the Sea dance. This title is fitting because today we are boarding the Emerald Destiny for our journey from Amsterdam along the Rhine and Danube... Continue Reading →
Yesterday our taxi driver/carer of the elderly was telling us about all the closed streets in town because of the marathon that was on. We didn't see anyone running, nor did it effect the route to our hotel, but last night on our way back to our room after our post dinner cocktail we walked... Continue Reading →
We drove in from Margate and I managed to fill up the car and drop it off all without entering the Congestion Zone! Result. Then we caught a London Black Cab and took in a show - "The Play That Went Wrong". Before the show we sat outside a wine bar with glass in hand... Continue Reading →
It's ok everyone... I found the pretty part of Margate. It's on the other side from where we are staying. These benches all have carved memorials on them. What a fantastic idea and a great place to have them. Some had flowers attached, some had fresh flowers placed, some had people sitting having their lunch.... Continue Reading →