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Europe 2019
  • Fiona Ferrar

Europe 2019

A new trip by Motorhome in 2019 Läs mer
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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Frieburg with day trip to Basel - day 26

    7 maj 2019, Schweiz ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Day 26 – this is the midway point of our trip – by golly we have done a lot!

    So today we set alarms which was a bit of a shock. We were on the tram pretty early, and then on the train to Basel by 9.15. Basel is in Switzerland, and one of our aims was to spend all of our swiss francs by the time we left. It was great to have our tour guide who bought the train tickets, and worked out where we had to be – aka Jeremy. When we got there it was a quite a walk to the old town. J&J needed a coffee so we went to a Coop (aka supermarket) and had some breakfast. Then we walked around the old town, found the cathedral which was rather cool. We visited a few shops, and had lunch at the market. I had fun spending my remaining francs pretty much just on chocolate and had exactly the right change to spend on lunch for no remaining francs – goal met!

    Then J&J walked to the other side of the river to sit in the sun while I explored a few more shops. I was a bit restricted though cos I had spent all my francs, so would have had to really want something to use my card. Then I joined them sitting in the sun which was really nice. I did take my sox off, and tried my feet in the water (the Rhine) and by golly it was cold. It would have been great if I had a sprained ankle, would have sorted that out pdq. Then we decided to take an earlier train back to Freiburg. I am a slow walker, so left straight away while the J’s were going to stop at Lidl for limoncello and something for dinner. Was so funny, we were at the train station waiting for our train at 4.30. I was wondering why people were coming up the stairs and walking quickly to the left. Then I realised that our train was already there out of sight, and there was about 3 minutes before it left! Needless to say that we got up in a hurry and rushed to the other end of the platform to get on the train. We had bought a return ticket initially for a 7.30 return, and then bought 4.30 tickets. It would have been funny if we had had to buy 5.30 tickets as well – not!

    So the train trip was uneventful, and the tram trip after. Then it was about a 1 km walk back to Nico. We then had a wee snack, and I was sent off on a mission on my bike to get olive oil and dish washing liquid. We had run out of both of those. On our initial shopping trip a couple of weeks ago we bought some flowing soap for our toilet. By golly it was such crap soap – a real mission to get any soap out of it. I was so relieved when Jody relented and allowed me to buy another bottle, we both love the new bottle! But while at this supermarket I found more berries at a similarly cheap price – ie 2.50 euros for 500g of blueberries, and 2.0 euros for 250g of raspberries. These had been more than double that price in Switzerland. I knew things were more expensive in Switzerland, but the last time we were there, we weren’t as familiar with the prices of other countries, now that we are we didn’t want to spend any money there.

    When I returned from the shopping, Jeremy whipped up another feast for us. Yummy roasted potatoes, and fillet steak. It is quite nice having our own personal chef – Jeremy works as a chef in Stuttgart and certainly knows his way around a kitchen. During and after dinner we played the card game again – bugger your neighbour. I really like this game, and winning makes it even better, tho I didn’t win every game tonight. Jody had ended up buying 2 bottle of limoncello which I thought was a bit carried away since we still had the Baileys and Cointreau – cost of that was 8 euros, and 11 euros so extremely cheap. And the limoncello was 13 euros. Anyway tonight we polished off the Baileys and Cointreua, and nearly all of 1 bottle of Limoncello. Not a bad effort seeing as I don’t normally drink – that Jody is a really bad influence. I don’t normally eat gummy bears either, but Nico’s glovebox is full of them, and they are rather handy when the navigation efforts are less than ideal.

    So Jeremy leaves us in the morning, and unfortunately the forecast is for rain nearly everywhere we would like to go. So possibly we might take a train in the morning to Titisee lakes which is about 25kms away, and then bike back (mainly downhill of course!). But if it is pouring first thing, we might not do that. We still have 9 days before we have to drop Nico off, and really could end up anywhere in those days. My weather forecast app has Bruges (Belgium), Versailles (France), Rotterdam (Netherlands) Strasbourg (France), Munich (Germany, but we are not going there, so not sure why that has come up…), Luixembourgh and Versailles (France). The forecast is rain for everywhere tomorrow, but not so bad after that.

    We can’t quite believe that we have done so much, and we are only half way through our holiday. I am not sure that the videos of me singing really needed to make it onto a public domain – apologies for that! I need to get some more incriminating videos of Jody…

    Ciao ciao ciao (yes, I am still not totally sober! But have done a pretty good effort remembering what we have done for the last 2 days. Midnight was a while ago, so bed is calling).    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Biking from Titisee - day 27

    8 maj 2019, Tyskland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Raining and around 10 degrees

    Last night I told Jody that I had a plan for today as long as it wasn’t raining too much. She was keen at the time though may be a bit wary of my grand schemes in future! Our choices were my plan, reading books in Nico all day, or driving somewhere else in the rain and trying to find another campsite. So the grand plan won out, and I thought we had a pretty fabulous day. I felt really good cos we did a fair bit of exercise. Jeremy left around 9am, and it wasn’t raining much at that stage so Jody agreed to my masterplan for the day. Titisee Lake is supposed to be really nice and is 30kms away. There is a bit of a climb up there though, so my plan was for us to take a train there, and bike back – how hard could that be? The train ride went well though it started raining a bit harder while we were getting there. We arrived around 11.30, and immediately found some really cool shops with clothing, souvenirs, cuckoo clocks etc. We parked the bikes and went shopping. We already were a bit wet at that stage, and found some awesome jackets which are lined with fleece and are really warm and cosy. We both ended up buying one, and putting them on under our rain coats. We also bought some buffs to wear under our helmets. Oh, and small cuckoo clocks with magnets on the back. We also had an awesome lunch of sausage and fried potatoes.

    Then we started biking to the next town – Hinterzarten - which was 4 kms away. We made it there quite easily, though were slightly surprised at the number of hills even on that short leg. Then we tried to find our directions to the next township. Despite asking directions from a lady who spoke great english, and using google maps, and the map that we had taken a photo of from a bike shop, we failed in our quest. By that stage we had walked and biked up some very steep climbs, and then biked back down them again. It rained quite a lot, and we were pretty wet from the waist down. We finally gave up when we were headed up this mountain bike path that got so steep that it was hard for me to walk up without my bike, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to bike down it. And there was a drop of many many metres down to the main road which were unkeen to fall down. So we backtracked, found the train station and jumped on. We got off at Kirchzarten as I had convinced Jody that it was a lovely ride from there back to Nico.
    Yes it was lovely the other day, and still quite picturesque today. The driving rain in our faces and the chill in our legs and feet sort of spoiled the moment tho!

    We managed to find the supermarket on the way back – how did more blueberries and raspberries arrive in the trolley? As well as a couple of bottles of wine. When we got back to Nico, we stripped off our wet clothes, and both had a shower for over 10 minutes. We had turned the heater on in Nico, and when we got back from our showers, we finally started to thaw out. So it was supposed to take an hour 37 minutes to bike back, and was around 30kms which I thought was mainly downhill. I have traced our route, and golly knows where we were actually supposed to go, but our total trip was around 17kms. But the number of hills added quite a bit of effort to that though. I had thought we would be back early afternoon, and spend the rest of the afternoon reading books in Nico. We didn’t get back until after 4pm, and the thawing out process took another hour. Then reading books in bed was great. Nico can get lovely and warm with the heater.

    Jody cooked another lovely meal with baked chicken and potatoes. She also got a bit carried away with the spray and wipe so things are looking a bit cleaner. It is still supposed to rain in a lot of Europe tomorrow, but we think we will leave here and head for Strasbourg which is only an hour away, but supposed to be lovely. That is in France, so we will be bonjouring, merci beaucouping, ouing, and noning with the best of them.

    Bon nuit    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Strasbourg - day 28

    9 maj 2019, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Well waddeyeknow, when we woke up this morning, guess what? Yes, it was raining. I had a great sleep after the big ride yesterday and didn’t wake until 8am. Then we got packed up and hit the road. It seemed to take a long time to get to Strasbourg which should have been just over an hour away, and we didn’t even get lost! The campsite seemed reasonable, so we parked up, hooked up the electric and watched the rain outside. About this time we realised that we had left out little step at the campground in Frieburg. How handy that there is both a Decathlon (or 3) and an IKEA here. Googlemaps had her fun with us as per usual. It was only after we had driven down a narrow path and encountered a low bridge that Jody wondered if my phone was still set to bike mode, hmmm yes it was – no wonder we had been having issues! After turning around in a rather tight space with a river on one side we set off again through a lot of narrow streets, and finally found Decathlon. This was a bit of fun though – we were dry, seeing the sights, and what else were we going to do for the afternoon? Jody was the winner at Decathlon though a couple of spare pair of tights for 5 euros could be useful for me if it keeps raining. IKEA was fun as well, and we found another step there. The trip back to the campsite took a lot less time!

    Then we had a casual afternoon reading books, had dinner in the campground restaurant – thin pizza and yep it was still raining. Fingers crossed that it will have gone by the morning when we will be doing some biking around this place which is supposed to be stunning. Will be staying here tomorrow night as well.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Strasbourg - day 29

    10 maj 2019, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Yay yay yay, today we woke up and it wasn’t raining. Such a better feeling for the day. Though we expected some rain during the day, it only tried a couple of times and mainly was lovely and fine. We had ordered bread from the campsite – chose a ‘pain’ but didn’t know how large it was – it was huge! By the time we decided that it was a lovely day, and that we would go off on our bikes it was pretty late. We biked into Strasbourg old town, and it was just soooo pretty. The cathedral was marvellous from the outside, and like many others, the pictures just don’t do it justice. They are very high, so it is hard to get that perspective with a camera. We locked our bikes up and walked around everywhere. One thing we were really surprised at was the amount of gingerbread men toys, ceramics, etc that there were. We had no idea that it was such a thing in the province of Alsace, but apparently it is particularly in December. The toys were very cute, but I restrained myself – oh it would have been good to do that for the rest of the day!

    Our first real shopping stop was Pylone – we had been to this store in Italy as I was trying to get something for my nephew that I had bought there before, but had no luck. Though we both found some other pretty cool things to buy – the cutest little gumboots for a toothbrush holder was one of them. We walked quite a way, had fun with some wandering policemen who weren’t keen on Jody taking a picture of them. The patisseries have the most amazing food, and I had a lovely raspberry concoction from one of them. The serving lady was lovely, and when I said I wanted to eat there, she quickly put a reserved sign on the only free table before I did my order. Couldn't find the market we had googled, but stumbled on it by mistake. Hmmm, how did another linen jacket find its way into my bag? Also managed to have a lemon and sugar crepe. Then we found our way to Little France which is the old part of town with some stunning buildings near a river. It was really still today so we got to take some lovely pictures. We were both a bit tired by this stage, and wanted something to eat (that a chair came with), but it was 3pm and everything was closed.

    So we made our way back to our bikes, and just beside there found a pub that was open. We had a nice quiche lorraine with salad for a very late lunch. When we both googled where we were, one word flashed up – Uniqlo. This is a store that I love to visit when in London, and where some of my puffer jackets have come from. So yes we used googlemaps to find out way there, and after going in the wrong direction as per usual found the store very near where we had been earlier in the day. We both might have made a few purchases there (I think I won!). We have both been a bit curious as to what KFC tasted like overseas, and there was a store opposite Uniqlo so we gave it a try. The hotwings were like NZ, but the fries were not – no chicken salt on them, and not very nice. Oh well, we have done that now and won’t be doing it again! So then it was time to get back to Nico. We had also been to a supermarket during the day – requirements were tomatoes, and a shower sponge (as mine had disintegrated). We achieved that as well as a few other items (I came back to France really just for the Cote D’or chocolate!). So our bags were quite full and heavy. So on our way back to Nico of course we headed in the wrong direction so it took a while to get back, but it was a lovely evening so it didn’t matter at all. There were a lot of lovely historic buildings on our bike trail which looked to be deserted. So back at Nico in a new pitch site – when we said this morning we wanted to stay another night we had to move. It is a nice campsite here, but not quite as nice as the one in Freiburg. Those damn push button showers again.

    During today I mentioned the chicken thighs in the fridge which we had both forgotten about. Jody cooked them up for dinner – I think I will have to try this slow roasting of them at home some time. And we played some 2 handed 500 which I haven’t done for years which was fun. We would like to stay here for longer as it really is lovely, but it is supposed to be raining again tomorrow, so we will reassess in the morning. If raining we might just start making our way to Luxemburg – I don’t wanna leave France tho!    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Metz - day 30

    11 maj 2019, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    So when we woke up the forecast was still for rain. So we leisurely had breakfast, thought about what we would do, and then decided to head for Luxemburg. By the time we had done the water and toilet emptying it was nearly 11, and by that stage looked like the weather had cleared up. But we still left, though I was mourning leaving France. About 20 mins into our journey Jody said ‘spit it out’ as I was visibly in decline. So I said I felt like turning left ie staying in France. So we stopped and looked at a map, and decided Metz was sort of on our way so that’s where we went. Of course by the time we got close it started to rain again, but we found a campsite and spent a couple of hours reading books again. Once it fined up we biked to a supermarket to stock up as tomorrow is Sunday and everything will be closed again (it has taken us a while to wise up to that one!). Then Jody found a restaurant with really good reviews, so we tried to go there for dinner but they were fully booked. So we dropped off our groceries and went off biking.

    The town is really pretty with several wonderful buildings. We also got some neat pics of the river being totally calm with great reflections. There were a lot of people in the town, and quite a few restaurant choices. It started raining again, so we chose a restaurant by the cathdral. It was funny when we went in as they didn’t speak any english. We thought they were saying that we could come back at 9pm to eat as they had bookings before then, but a few minutes later we realised they were saying we could eat now, but had to be finished by 9 as they had a big booking that. That suited us just fine, and we had a wonderful meal – I had angus beef in a yummy sauce with nice green veges. Jody had chicken with salad, but the salad didn’t arrive. It was great being served so quickly as well. Then we went back to Nico and are planning to get up earlyish tomorrow so we can bike around here and have a good look, and then head for Luxemburg later in the day.

    It is Saturday today, and we have our ferry crossing from Calais to Dover on Thursday, so have 4 nights after tonight. Plan is for 2 in Luxemburg and 2 in Bruges but our plans have changed this whole trip, so it is probably 50 50 as to whether that will actually happen! At least the weather is supposed to be nice and fine everywhere, so choices are not weather dependant.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Metz and Luxembourg - day 31

    12 maj 2019, Luxemburg ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Wow, what a fantastic day. I talked Jody into getting up early, so we were on our bikes and off around 8.30am. As it was Sunday, nothing was open and there weren’t many people around. We headed off by the river and ended up seeing the old city walls, and a really cool castle on the river. We took some pics, and were really enjoying the scenery. Well I was, Jody was enjoying falling off her bike again – down a slippery rocky path. Hmm, yep she is ok but a bit bruised, and yep I might have laughed a bit again after checking she was ok. Good that she had her helmet on this time, and I do keep reminding her not to jump up kerbs (bet she is getting sick of that!).

    After riding for a bit, I needed to go to the toilet and couldn’t find one handy so ended up biking back to the camping ground for it – possibly haven’t mentioned how wonderfully close this is to the centre. Then we thought we would see if the information centre was open, but got distracted by a patisserie that was open (of course this had a toilet in it). I hadn’t had breakfast, so had 2 items which were really nice (and decadent). We also had a hot drink each – it was only 4 degrees when we set off. We went inside the cathedral which had a service on. The stained glass windows were pretty incredible. Then the tourism office was very helpful, so we went off on our bikes again and found a really cute part of the town – first a garden with fountains, and then a intersection of several rivers where there was cycleways, areas for walking dogs, and water sports going on. We watched these for a while, but as it was getting close to midday, we then biked back to Nico and checked out.

    Our next stop was the Pompidou-Metz which was a contemporary art museum. Parking was a bit of fun, but we found a place with 3 adjoining parks, so I tried my best to parallel park Nico. It would have been a bit easier without the extra meter of bikes on the back (we finally did some washing, so this was hung up in the garage). The museum was really interesting. The bottom level was a colour exhibition which had some very cool things – a video of a guy fully painting a room he was in, and going out the door. That was red for Monday, then the video showed him painting orange for Tuesday etc. The 2nd floor was of a Korean artist which was very unusual – ie one exhibit was just a medium sized rock in the middle of a room. It cost 7 euro to enter, and we haven’t done many museums (ie 1, the museum of illusions in Vienna) so this was worth the visit. Then we headed off for Luxemburg which was about an hours drive.

    The camp ground in Luxemburg took a while to check in as they had a problem with some of their pitches being wet, but it is a very nice campground. We had a wee rest for an hour or so – Jody has me addicted to a game called Woody, but I finally called an end to our game playing and we were off. Catching the bus was very easy and they have a bus route sort of like train routes in other cities. It took 15 minutes to get into the City, and we found the tourism centre relatively easy and there was a very nice young man there who talked us through a map. We then set off walking and found some amazing sights. The old part is still mainly there, and it is just so much higher than the valley going through the middle. There is a balcony running for quite a long way that you can walk around over the valley below. My pics will tell the story better. So we walked around the balcony, and then back to where we started from where we knew there was a toilet and some food. Jody had a Gyro pita for dinner, and I had potato spiral on a stick and a chocolate dipped raspberry skewer. Then being fortified I said we had to walk down into the valley to check out a garden that I had seen. We walked about halfway down, and it was just lovely with the most incredible trees and views. The bridge was amazing, you could walk or ride over it, and also walk/ride under it on a special path. We spent a while there admiring the views. We also noticed the planes flying over a church in the distance, so started trying to get the best pic of that. Then it was time for a final snack – cream and strawberries on a waffle which we shared – and then on the bus again. The bus was just so easy to catch from the campsite. We left about 5pm, and got back at 9pm when it was still light. Had another game of 500 with a couple of drinkies, and looking forward to a slightly easier day tomorrow cos today seemed fairly full on!

    Oh and the weather started off pretty cool, around 4 degrees and getting up to 10 while we were biking in Metz. But Luxemburg was really nice though maybe only around 15 degrees. It was lovely that it was fine and we didn’t have to take raincoats for a change.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Luxemburg - day 32

    13 maj 2019, Belgien ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    We headed off around 9.30 without breakfast intending to eat somewhere on the way. We filled up with Diesel for about 1.1 euros – so much cheaper than anywhere else, think the cheapest was 1.4, but it was 1.7 in France. Our Justgo facebook page suggested filling up there, but we didn’t expect it to be that much cheaper. It was really lovely just driving around through countryside, forest and weird little towns which had about 3 buildings in them. We stopped just before 12, and had bacon eggs and tomatoes for breakfast beside the river. While we were there I was wondering what was over the other side of the river – odd little structures in a paddock. When we drove off, we realised it was a really long campground, and the structures were power hookups for motorhomes. There were really lovely campgrounds everywhere. We had bought some bread rolls yesterday but they were a bit disappointing – turns out they were chocolate brioch type of things which weren’t very nice. Then we drove a bit further and found the German border. We drove over a bridge into Germany just because we could, and the back to Luxemburg. We drove a bit further to Echtermach which looked so pretty that we took the bikes off, and went for a spin. Some of the shops were closed because it was Monday which saved us! We biked through the town, then on a path beside the river, and then found a bridge. So once again we went over the bridge to Germany just because we could. We hadn’t found any bakeries or supermarkets open in Luxemburg so we bought some bread and water in Germany. Of course when we went back to Luxemburg we found bakeries and supermarkets – never mind.

    So after biking back to Nico, we were off again. It was around 2pm by that stage and because Anke mentioned it, we headed to Viaden where there was supposed to be a great castle. There was a town every few kms, and every one had a campsite next to the river. Rather tempting to stop, but we didn’t. We got to Viaden and went up a narrow street – what fun, Jody was out again stopping traffic so I could do a you turn. We nearly gave up on the idea of visiting the spectacular looking castle, but then found a 3 hour parking spot for Nico. We walked to a chairlift which we thought would take us to the castle, but nope, it took us quite a bit higher. Jody had been keen to take pics on the way down on the chairlift, but after about 15 mins of walking down a very rocky steep path to get to the castle, we thought we wouldn’t try walking up it again. The castle was very interesting, and the tour round it was easy to follow. I found an art competition at the end really good – focus was on time and death by the looks of it, and many of the pics were quite thought provoking.

    Luxemburg really is a very lovely place. The country has a population of around 600,000. The main city has some great things to see, but the country is a bit like NZ in terms of there not being many people around, lots of farmland and forest and great mountain biking and tramping. Lots of the country roads had paved bike paths alongside them. It would be nice to spend a bit more time here, but Nico needs to be returned.

    After walking down the hill we got to Nico around 5.30, and headed off. We had no idea where were going to stay tonight, but just kept driving. We had no cell phone coverage, but googlemaps was great with the little blue dot, so we knew where we were. At one stage we intended to head for this town, but while travelling noticed the town name had a red line across it on street signs. Finally we got to a detour, so realised we couldn’t get there at all. So it was off to Germany again as that was somewhere we could go. We drove for quite a while on varying quality of roads. Around 7.30 we started looking for somewhere to stay, and have ended up at St Vith in Belgium. We couldn’t work out where the reception was for this campsite, or even where the entrance was. So after 2 u turns, an odd looking man turned up who didn’t speak english. We managed to make our wishes known, and for 16 euros have a pitch spot. We will be off earlyish tomorrow planning to make it to Ghent and maybe Bruges. Not long now until we have to give Nico back which will be a bit sad. What is more sad is the thought of having to pack bags – yikes that will be a mission and a half!    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bruges - day 33

    14 maj 2019, Belgien ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    What a lovely day it was to wake up to. Rather cool with a slight frost, but beautiful clear skies. We got up earlish, did our dishes and had wonderful hot showers. The last 2 nights have been a bit grim as the showers have been luke warm which has been surprising as most are pretty good. But this morning it was bliss! We were on the road by 9, but got distracted on the way out by a supermarket. Got a lovely watermelon and more berries. Oh, and the bread here is amazing, so I got a bread roll and Jody had a pastry. We thought the road around Brussels might be a nightmare as we hadn’t heard good things, but it wasn’t too bad. So after about 2 hours we found ourselves in Ghent. This was a place that I had wanted to visit, but there were no campsites in town, so we would have had to park up out of town. So we decided just to drive through the middle. So that went pretty well, by golly there are a lot of wonderful buildings which Jody tried to take pics of while we were driving. There were a lot of tram lines, and it is always confusing as to what the road rules are around trams. We followed one for a while – another car was in front of us so we thought it was fine. Hmmm nek minit we are driving on the grass between the tram tracks, oops this one might only be for trams. That was confirmed by the tram driving towards us with the driver shaking his finger at us. So our options then were limited to reversing a long way, going the wrong way up a busy one way street, trying to get over a couple of kerbs to a road, or going straight ahead on the tram track and hoping we would fit through the 2 bollards at the end. Option 4 was for us, and thankfully we made it through. I really need to be a bit more onto it with my videoing. Yes this is a bit stressful for me as the driver, but I think it stresses Jody out more and her reactions to these situations are just so funny that it just makes me laugh and take it in my stride. We haven’t had a funny Nico story for a few days, I have been missing them!

    So then it was onto Bruge (Brougha). We got there around 2pm on a stunning day though it was still only around 16 degrees. Our washing had been in the garage for 3 days, so it was nice to finally get that dried as well as doing a couple more loads. We won’t be doing anymore for a while so great to have a fine day. We then mucked around for a while just relaxing, and I started organising my packing. Around 7pm we finally got sorted to bike into the City. This is about 3kms away, and was really pretty. There are lots of waterways, and a big river with locks for the boats to go through, and bridges that go up to let boats through as well as turning in a circle to open up with the boats. Quite fascinating to watch. There were many big squares with churches. We ate dinner in one of those – Flemish stew which was wonderful and tender, and came with hot chips – weird! Then we biked back to Nico – it is getting dark just after 9pm which is great. Then another game of 500 – we must replace the cards as they got pretty sticky with limoncello! Tomorrow we will spend the day just cruising around Bruges for our last day on this side of the channel.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bruges - day 34

    15 maj 2019, Belgien ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Had a lovely day today. So nice in the morning that I even went to the shower just in my nightie and jandals – has been way too cold for that for the last couple of weeks. We were off on our bikes around 10.30, and in the Orange store for a new SIM for Jody – her phone has been eating data. So we biked into the main square and it was such a change from last night – people everywhere! We locked our bikes up, and then went off walking. There was a main market in the square today, and we had not had breakfast on purpose. So we visited the meat vendor, and tried chicken, bacon, and some chicken sausage wrapped in bacon. I was surprised at the cost of the raspberries for 5 euro, then I realised it was 5 punnets for 3 euro. I really had to restrain myself to only buy 5 punnets, and not to buy any blueberries. I did get half a kg of cherries tho for 4 euro. I also had some small waffle things which came with a chocolate sauce. I put some of my raspberries on them which was much nicer. I tried to convince the shop owner that she was missing out on an opportunity adding fruit when it was so cheap but she w didn't think so. Then we went off to see the shops which were pretty cool – just so many chocolate shops, I bought something at about 5 of them. I also introduced Jody to a Kipling shop – she now has 2 more bags.

    After traipsing around for quite a long time, we decided to do a river cruise. This took 30 minutes, and we took some cool pics, as well as having the opportunity to sit down for a while! During the cruise Jody’s memory card on her camera was full, so we then went in search of another one. This took us to a different part of the city, and we saw a few more different shops – and chocolate shops. There was a really cool shop with lots of different figurines, some porcelain, lots of the 7 dwarves, and some really cool clocks. We also went into a shop that was just for tea, lots of lovely tea pots with unusual themes. We finally bought a tea strainer to try out our Dubai tea (the first one wasn’t very nice!).

    So then we were pretty tired, and had only had a late breakfast. We did want to try and proper big waffle, so went to a café and both had one. Mine had fruit, nuts, and chocolate sauce and was very nice. I did ruin it a bit by having a hot chocolate with creme. The creme was really cool, and I couldn’t cope with that so took it all out – it was still very sweet though and made me feel a bit sick. Then we picked up our bikes, and went for another ride around the city before going back to Nico. We have set alarms for 5.45 tomorrow, but still seem to have issues with going to bed before midnight.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Dover and Rye - day 35

    16 maj 2019, England ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    So we got up as planned and were on the road by 6.30. We needed to be in Calais by 9am to check in for our 9.50am ferry, so were leaving extra time. In fact the journey went so well that we were there early and they put us on the 8.40am ferry. The journey went well – beautiful day with a calm crossing. England is an hour behind, so we arrived at the same time that we had left. Then I parked in a loading zone in Dover while Jody had a second approach at sorting out SIM cards – fingers crossed for this time! My 12gb card that I got for 30 days expires tomorrow, and I still have lots of data. Jody has gone through an 8gb and 12gb card – must be something on her phone eating the data. I got a few looks from courier drivers, but ignored them – where else could I park Nico for that long?

    Then we were off to the white cliffs of Dover. Parking was 7 euros cash for the day for a motorhome which we managed to find between us, and was great. We only had time for a shortish walk, but on such a sunny day the view was spectacular. We walked for around 1.5 hours, and took some nice pics. Then it was off in Nico to pick my step sister Morgan up from the train station. Googlemaps failed again, she told us that we were there, but we couldn’t see the station. So then did a you turn, saw some policemen, Jody got out to ask them where it was and we got directions. When we drove back, Morgan was standing on the pavement, so we stopped and she got in the side door. Then a man knocked at the window and had noticed us doing a u turn, talking to the police, and then stopped so asked us if we were lost. We said we were picking someone up, so he started giving us detailed directions to the station. We had to shut him up to say that she was already in Nico, and we were ready to go. Very nice of him to take the effort though. So then we had a 1.5 hour drive to Rye which is a little town in the south of England. Morgan had wanted to visit there, so it sounded good to us.

    We had a very nice lunch at a pub there, and then visited a few shops. What a cute little town this was. Lots of really cute nick nack shops with some interesting things we hadn’t seen before. It was rather surprising, but neither Jody or I bought anything today – maybe we are a bit nervous about packing our bags tomorrow? We walked around the town for several hours and it was lovely to catch up with Morgan who lives in London and I have visited her there in the past. This is the first time I have seen anywhere other than London while I have been in the UK. I had always wanted to drive through some more of the English countryside and I really got my wish today. I decided to drop Morgan off at a train station nearer to London – Royal Tunbridge Wells, and that driving really was an experience. Lots of traffic on fairly narrow roads with some pretty manic drivers. It was a bit hard to adjust to driving on the left hand side of the road, and I caused Jody a bit of panic when I tried to turn into the wrong lane at one stage – it took me a while to respond to her no No NOOOOO and hand waving, but luckily there wasn’t any cars coming, and the correction was fairly easy.

    Once we dropped Morgan off, we thought we would head for Brighton as that is where we can sell our bikes in the morning, and I had been interested in going there. So we kept on driving until about 8pm and finally got to the campground. Jody got out to check in as per normal, and got a very gruff response – have you booked? No. We’re full! So she got back in Nico, we drove around the corner and tried to find somewhere else. We are dropping Nico off tomorrow, so really wanted to empty our water, etc as we need to have Nico clean, and empty of some things, and full of others before he is returned. One place I rang was lovely, the lady thought if we were desperate, then she could have fun negotiating the price. But turns out that they didn’t have full disposal facilities so that wouldn’t work. So then the guy came back to close the gate, so I thought I would ask him again. I said we only wanted to stay until morning and use the facilities, could we stay where we were parked, use the facilities and pay for that. He ended up finding a site for us which was booked, but the people hadn’t arrived and once he had closed the gate they wouldn’t be able to get in anyway. I caused Jody some great hilarity when she asked how I got him to change his mind, and I said I had offered him some special favours – as if!

    So we then had to finish off the wine (full bottle for Jody), and limoncello (just a big glass for me). Then Jody started packing which seems like it is going to take a long time! In the morning we are dropping our bags off at a hotel, then dropping Nico off, then visiting London before getting back to the hotel. My plan is to sort out my bag at that stage rather than tonight. We got up at 5.45am, and it is now 12.15am on Bruges time, so well and truly time to go to bed!

    So it might seem that after we drop Nico off tomorrow that we might be winging our way back to NZ. Well we are catching a flight on Saturday morning, but maybe not that far just yet…    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    London - day 36

    17 maj 2019, England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Well it would be fair to say that today was not a fantastic day but we got through it. Got up rather early to get our stuff into bags and clean Nico. That seemed to take a long time and many bags went in the rubbish for odd items of food that we had collected. I think it was nearly 4 hours from getting up until we left. Next stop was a shop to sell our bikes in Brighton. That was a lot of narrow one-way streets, but finally managed it. Next stop was our hotel near Heathrow, by golly I am sick of narrow windy English roads by now. After 2hours of driving we stopped at a petrol station for gas and a steak pie thingey. It took ages as we were on a more main road, and then googlemaps took us off that road onto a smaller road - and that one had 12 mins of traffic holdups. Hmmm, slight road rage might have been building, so I whizzed up a side road, did a you turn in my mini and took off in the other direction. I said to Jody I just didn’t want to be driving up that road. I mean surely there was a main road to Heathrow from the south? We never found it! Also needed the loo as we couldn’t use Nico again as he was all cleaned out. Finally we got to our hotel and there was nowhere to park. So we found an area, and got our bags out. Then a man told us we couldn’t park there. After a few minutes of trying to explain that we just wanted to check in and leave again he then removed some road cones, I drove around the block again and he found us a special bus park. Checking in was easy and then we were off again.

    So driving got easy, and we got on the M1 and thought yes plain sailing to the depot. Hmmm not, thanks googlemaps. More traffic holdup, and at an interchange, googlemaps took us off again. We had intended to drop off around 1pm, and the final time was 4pm. By this stage the bitch said we would be there around 3.30, and we still had to stop and fill up on petrol and LPG. Driving around more country roads I was getting a bit stressed. We had to drop off today as we are flying out at 7am tomorrow. So my mini was doing an awesome job hooning around the corners while my headache got worse! Jody then did a great job of navigating us back on the M1, and we found the nearby petrol station where of course their LPG wouldn’t fill us up. It was the station that I had used with Bob, but with the time ticking we decided just to go. And we arrived at Just Go with minutes to spare. Dropping off all went fine. We checked out another model which looks like a great design for a future trip, and then got a lift to the train – phew!

    We had wanted to check out London a bit, but were pretty tired, had an early flight and had to organise our bags. So we took a train to Picadilly Circus, walked up to Regent St, checked out Uniqlo (I bought a pair of trousers that I am wearing all the time, and want another pair), then went to Wholefoods for dinner. I was disappointed as we visited the M &M shop to visit the toilets, but they were out of order. No other reason to be visiting that shop! Then we got back on the train to go to our motel near Heathrow, and got there around 8.30.

    Oh my golly, then the bag packing began. We could have 23 kgs on our carryon, but they still had to be within the size. My bag expanded so I needed to be careful with that. I think my purchase tally ended up at 23 kgs, but little bags only around 8kgs. We didn’t go to bed until around midnight so it took a while! Alarm was set for 4am – yeeha!    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Copenhagen - day 37

    18 maj 2019, Danmark ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Alarm went off at 4am and we were in our taxi and off at 4.45. Had a bit of an issue at the airport as my travel agent had spelt my name wrong just for this leg – I have an r at the end of Ferrar. So I couldn’t check in. But they managed to change it for me. I don’t normally use travel agents, and couldn’t check my details just for this flight. Then we also had the issue of the large kitchen knife in Jody’s carry on – who would have thought that was a problem? And in her other bag she had a can of coke. Obviously packing while tired wasn’t the best idea. But we were there in plenty of time and on our 7am flight early with a spare seat between us which was nice. The plane had lots of spare seats. I have flown British Airways once before and both times had spare seats.

    It was really foggy when we landed in Copenhagen so the plane was landed entirely on instruments rather than the pilot – they told us that twice so it must have been significant. Our hotel is quite nice and very near the centre which is good. We checked in and went off for a walk to the food market – there was no breakfast served on the plane, so we were a bit peckish by then. Oh my, the market was great. Lots of food options. We started with Chinese rice paper chicken wrap which was quite spicy. Then I found some watermelon which was very tasty and good for a very tired person. Then Jody stood in a queue forever for some Mexican tacos which were amazing while I searched for the shortest queue so I could go and sit down – quiche was rather nice tho. We had walked through a really nice park on the way there – lots of wacky backy smells from the people lounging around.

    We were really really tired by this stage and had 2 hours before our Segway tour, so just found a park to sit in and played games on our phone. Jody had been googling when we arrived and booked this tour then, but it was something we always had intended to do here. It was a wee walk to find the segways, but we had a paper map which made things easier than the electronic version. We had a trial ride in the building before we went off. Jody was a little bit unstable, and may have bumped into a few barrels, but once we were off she was just fine. I found it ok to ride, particularly once I moved around on it and worked out how it moved. They could go quite fast too which was fun. The only issue was standing up for 2 hours – I have rarely felt this tired! Lack of sleep coupled with a very tiring day driving yesterday wasn’t a good combination. The tour was great though, and we saw some lovely sights around the city. One lady fell off twice, and one man twice cos he wasn’t watching where he was going and ran into things – his partner thought it was hilarious.

    Then we walked back to the hotel seeing interesting shops. Had a gourmet burger for tea as we just needed to eat something and topple into our beds. It was really nice to finally do that! Impressions of Copenhagen –a city that it would be nice to see more, bikes absolutely rule (apparently more than in Amsterdam), and it is really really expensive.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Copenhagen and cruise - day 38

    19 maj 2019, Danmark ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    So after our tiring day yesterday, neither of us woke up early or had much inclination to get moving when we did. We had breakfast at the hotel, and then abandoned the idea of hiring bikes as we only have 2 hours by that stage. So we walked into the town again, might have shopped at Uniqlo and a jacket shop next to it and walked back again. At that stage I realised that I had left my cap and sunglasses behind, so I went for another walk to retrieve them while Jody chilled out. Then we caught a taxi to the port. There was a marathon on in town so we were advised not to take public transport, and we were very pleased we didn’t. There was a set price for the taxi which was great cos it took us a really long time as we went through the marathon runners about 4 times.

    The check into our cruise was very uneventful and didn’t take long. We put our bags on the conveyor bag, and expected them to arrive at some stage. Of course mine arrived but Jody’s didn’t. We both bought Victorinox knives at the factory, and both had them in those bags. Jody’s must have shown up while mine didn’t. So she had to go to security to get hers released, but they let her keep the knife which was good.

    Our cabin is super awesome. It feels so large after Nico and lovely having some decent chairs to sit on. We also have a balcony with a recliner chair. When we arrived, there was a double bed in here, but we asked for it to be separated. Then of course we moved it a bit further, so not sure what they will think of when they service the room in the morning and the beds are at opposite ends with a screen pulled between them. We had a nice spa before dinner at the buffet, and then investigated the ship finding lots of areas for entertainment. We also went to the live show which had a couple who did things with their hands in front of a big screen so the images looked like various dogs, rabbits, American presidents and entertainers. It was very good and very interesting. We also went to a quiz on songs which was a lot of fun and met some Australians who had just finished another cruise which went from Sydney to London and took 6 weeks. The centre of the ship has a space that goes up through the middle, so the entertainers on the 4th floor can be seen and heard on the 12th floor. The elevators go up that space as well. We have heard some great music so far – oh and an acoustic guitarist who was brilliant. So more entertainment that the other cruise that I was on by far. There are several different restaurants that you have to pay to go to, but there is always something open that you can get something to eat from – not sure that is a good thing at all!

    Tomorrow we have a day at sea, but we should be able to find a few things to do. There are table tennis tables, and a mini put golf course as well as a gym and the pool.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 1 of cruise at sea - day 39

    20 maj 2019, Sverige ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We have wifi on one device, and it is pretty crappy. So posting might be a bit variable for the next few days.

    Was funny when I woke up this morning as Jody was up and in the shower. I looked at my phone for the time and it was 7am. I thought that was a bit odd as she is never up that early unless we have to be. She was in there for a while, so I went off to the toilet elsewhere. I met a couple of people on the way and mentioned that it was early to be up. They gave me funny looks. When I got back, Jody mentioned that I was snoring when she got up, and it was actually after 9am! My phone must have reset the time to something overnight.

    We had a very casual day, eating, playing bingo, listening to music, watching a fairly average magician do a show in the evening. It was foggy for a lot of the day (the foghorn didn't wake me either this morning). The food is varied and plentiful, and very close to our suite which is in a great place on the ship.

    Tomorrow we are in Stockholm for the day, and we have a friend of Jody's escorting us around so that should be fun.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 2 of cruise Stockholm - day 40

    21 maj 2019, Sverige ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Lovely day of 23 degrees

    We got up early ready to get off the boat as soon as we could. Well that wasn’t fun. Queued up with a lot of people in the stairwells waiting to burst out. Jody was quite excited as we were meeting up with Anton. Anton is the brother of Jody’s previous Swedish exchange student (Tova) who she has kept in touch with over the years and now has a 7 month old daughter Charlie – I have been hearing a LOT about Charlie on this trip, and am quite good at remembering her name now. Tova’s partner is Jeff who is Jody’s part-time house mate when he is in NZ. Jeff and Tova live 6 hours north of Stockholm, so that was a long way to bring a baby so having Anton as a tour guide was the next best thing. Jeff had messaged me this morning to see where we were at. I thought this was a bit odd as I thought Jody would have been keeping him up to date. In fact it was because he was worried that their big surprise was going to be ruined if Jody was going to try and head off to see them – yep, the 3 of them had made the big trip down, and the Anton story was just a ruse. It was a rather tearful meeting as Jody was very very happy and excited to see all of them. So after everyone calmed down, Tova used her app to find us a bus, and we went off to one of the islands. They all went to a café for a coffee and catchup while I went to the Vasa museum.

    This is supposedly the largest maritime museum in the world. The Vasa ship is enormous and totally reconstructed within the museum. It was quite a sad story as the ship was built in the 1600s and had an original design. The King decided he wanted it to be more ornate, and the masts to be longer etc etc, and the hull wasn’t designed for that. So, 20 mins into its maiden voyage it sank. It was in a canal which was 30m deep, and the masts were 50m high, so they were still sticking out. It was recovered in the 1900s at some stage and reconstructed in this museum. There were lots of interesting facts in the museum with one section devoted to how the women lived at the time. Then I went back to the others, and we headed off on a walk around the island where we ended up at a place for lunch. This was like a garden place where you could buy plants but had been converted into an amazing restaurant as well with lots of outdoor seating. The bread and butter were free and that was nearly as good as the rest of the meal. Interestingly when we finished, we packed up our own plates etc, and emptied them and then stacked them neatly in the appropriate receptacle. Apparently, that is a common thing to do in Sweden. After a bit more of a walk on the island we ended up at the ABBA museum. Jody and I went in to see this, and it was pretty wonderful.

    The first exhibit was devoted to the making of the mama mia movies with lots of different things like the cars, clothes, movies of the making of the movie etc. Then it went on to describe the early life of the 4 band members, how they met each other, their first hits etc etc. There were quite a few rooms of this with of course their music playing in lots of places. Then we also got to mix our own music, get a recording of us singing a song, and we also had a video made of the 2 of us singing with the band. Don’t worry, I don’t think any of those will be shared on fb when we return, but it was a lot of fun going with someone else who appreciated it.

    Then it was time to have an icecream and say goodbye which was a bit sad, but we had all had a lovely day. Jody and I took a taxi back to the ship. We had a curfew of 4.30 and were a bit nervous about missing it. We were back around 4.15 so had plenty of time. Some other people were just after 4.30, and it was fun being on the balcony encouraging them to RUN, RUN. The buses that had been out on the excursions all seemed to come back late, even later than these people, so they were ok. So, we were supposed to leave at 5pm, but just after that in the distance we saw more people walking, then running. They were so very very lucky that the ship didn’t leave without them as they didn’t get there until about 5.10. It is possibly 1 to 1.5kms from where the taxis dropped them off to where they could get on the ship, and we could see that whole way. It was rather amusing, and we thought we would never be in that situation (turn to tomorrow’s post!).

    So then it was time for dinner, then a show which was the standard Royal Carribean 4 singers and 8 dancers.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 3 of cruise Tallinn Estonia - day 41

    22 maj 2019, Estland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Lovely day – 26 degrees and pretty hot

    We had decided not to try and be first off the boat today as we had all day ashore, and didn’t want to fight through all the people. So we got off shortly after everyone else at 10am. We had thought we would hire bikes from near the ship, but the guy we had been told about wasn’t there so we decided to walk into town instead. Walking took a while but it was a lovely day so that didn’t matter. There were such lovely craft shops everywhere in Tallinn – amazing hats, so many hats of every variety you could imagine which we had fun trying on. So many clothes, linen, wool, lots and lots of felted anything – shoes, slippers, jackets, toys, hats, pot warmers. And many many amber shops. Lots of different souvenir shops as well with many of the standard things, but also some cute different items common to the region. I had packed a wee lunch for us from the breakfast buffet, so we ate that as well as trying some small pancakes. It was so hot that Jody had a beer in the afternoon, but we didn’t need to try any other eating places. We walked to a few of the major attractions and took photos at the 2 panoramic viewing points. We also got silly with a few pics – haven’t done that for a few days, so have been missing it. Then it was around time to start back to the ship.

    We were due back at 5pm, and it was 3.30 when we started back. Jody distracted me in a shoe shop. I had bought 2 pairs of Reiker shoes in Freiburg and had dithered about a 3rd pair. So of course, that 3rd pair was available in Tallinn, and will have to fit in my suitcase (along with the top, and hat that I bought today). We thought it was just over 30 mins walk back to the ship, and when I saw a taxi, I thought we could just catch that. But it was still a lovely day so we thought we would walk. Hmmmm, taxi might have been a good idea! So, after walking for quite a while, thinking we knew where we were and then realising we didn’t, then asking a policeman for directions, both starting to panic quietly inside, we arrived at 4.59! From time to time I started singing the theme song to Chariots of Fire just to egg us on a bit (I’m not sure that Jody found that amusing at the time!). We had laughed the day before about the runners at the last minute and were sure that wouldn’t happen to us. It wasn’t too bad as one of the buses was also late arriving at 5.10, but we really don’t want to do that again! Later on, when I checked the map I realised where we had gone wrong. Both of us sort of need glasses to read the fine print. I knew we needed to be on a street starting with V. Of course there was a Vene St and a Viru St which were perpendicular to each other, and I presumed the one that we were on was the one that we wanted so we had walked quite a way in the wrong direction. Maybe glasses next time…

    So back on the boat we had an early dinner as I was pretty hungry. Then we watched the 7pm show – The Barricade boys, and they were really fantastic. They were 4 singers who had starred in various Les Miserables shows and got together to perform their own show on cruise ships, and also on tour. They mixed up serious songs from Les Mis, with a set from the Jersey Boys, Motown and finished off with Bohemian Rhapsody. The 4 were all great singers, but they also had really snappy dancy moves which were a bit corny and showed a humorous side. They were so great that we went back for the 9pm show as well and sat in the front row. We heard that they are supposed to be back in a couple of nights, so we will be watching out for that.

    So tomorrow we are off to St Petersburg in Russia. This was the original name, but has also been known as Petrograd and Leningrad before being returned to the original name in the 90’s. We have organised a private tour guide just for the 2 of us for the day to make the most of the opportunity, so have our fingers crossed for a great day.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 4 of cruise St Petersburg - day 42

    23 maj 2019, Ryssland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    The day was cold but fine – around 14 degrees. We had docked by the time our alarm went off at 7am. But all of the ship excursion people had to get off first, and we were about ready when our call came at 8.30. We had to go through passport control to enter Russia and had a visa for the day. It was easy to find our tour guide – just like going through security at an airport and meeting someone. We had booked our guide and car for the day several months ago. With only having one day there, we wanted to make the most of it.

    We got in our car for the day and made for our first stop – one of the train stations. These are destinations in their own right, and we went to 3 altogether. The trains were much noiser that others we have caught in Europe. And the escalator was really long. Apparently St Petersberg is built on swamp land, so the train network is 65m below the surface so to find solid ground. Each train station is different, and one we went to had round wooden pillars that were enclosed in glass. The story behind how they made them was pretty interesting. Then it was back to the car again to go to Peterhof which is supposed to be this amazing garden with fountains about an hour away. And amazing it was. The pictures will have to show off the magnificence of the fountains and the tulip gardens. There were also lots of stories about different rulers, and what they did. Also, the trick fountains – ie benches to sit on, or paths to walk on which triggered very strong wetting fountains. Apparently, the ruler had a sense of humour and enjoyed wetting his guests. It was rather cold there this morning with a biting wind. But still there were many people running through and enjoying the challenge of getting wet from the fountains. There was also a whole road which apparently had fountains all the way through at 1pm and 3pm – so if you didn’t read the signs you would get soaked. We were at the gardens for a couple of hours, and it was well worth it.

    Then we got back in the car and headed back to the city. We had raided the breakfast buffet, so had a bacon rolls and Danish pastries in the car on the way. Our next stop was the Church of spilled blood. This church was built over the site of where someone was killed and who had done a lot for the country. The inside was amazing with all the walls and ceilings covered in mosaics. It was really colourful and great to have visited. Our guide – Alisa – told us a lot about structures that were ruined in WW2, and the restoration effort that had gone on to rebuild them. She was very interesting and very informative.

    Then we went to The Hermitage which is an amazing museum. For me it was a bit like the Pitti Palace in Florence, and the Ducal Palace in Venice. We spent around 2 hours in there and saw all the famous exhibits. Generally, Jody and I had seen something else in the room that was more interesting than the supposedly famous ones that Alisa was telling us about. The ceilings, doors and floors were pretty amazing. We were pleased that we had gone, but it was massive. We might have gone through about 35% of the museum and were pretty held up by all the large tour groups at times. It was really good just being a group of 3 as we could go through things quite quickly.

    After the Hermitage we had another couple of photo stops before heading back to our ship. We timed this extremely badly – ie just after 3 tour buses had arrived, so we had to wait for all of them to go through security and passport control again. It took us over an hour to get through – we could have spent that time sightseeing somewhere! But on the other hand, after yesterday we were quite pleased to be back early and were pretty knackered.

    So, after dinner and a spa we are headed for bed. Didn’t go to the show tonight – spa won out. But I found some kiwis on board, and of course we have someone we both know – Euro Coulter you are the one! They are both policepersons (married couple) from Auckland. And in the spa we talked to a couple from Canada and another from Washington. It was interesting hearing what other people had done with their day. And that reminds me… when we got back on the boat there were a lot of people waiting for the lifts. At one stage there wasn’t enough room for us and an Australian couple because some people pushed in from the side. I made some disparaging comment, and the woman said yes they were jolly rude (hmmm, maybe a bit nicer than the language that I had used), then she said, and I bet they were Asians. I had to give her a high 5 (she would have been over 70 and under 5 foot, so it was quite hilarious). Now I have nothing against Asian people at all, but by golly in general they are a lot pushier than other people in these situations. I think they are just used to having to push past a lot of people, and ‘excuse me’ and ‘sorry’ don’t appear to be part of their vocabulary.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär
    Such a useful selfie stick

    Day 5 of cruise Helsinki - day 43

    24 maj 2019, Finland ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Showers, wind, and cooolllllld. Think it got to 8 degrees. Perfect weather for a bike tour around the city – not! WE had decided to take the ship excursion as we were only in Helsinki for a few hours, and at least then we would be sure to be back on time. We did expect it to last as long as the time we had ashore, but that was not to be. We met to start our tour at 7.30, and the rain started as we got off the ships and got on our Jopa bikes – ie bikes native to Finland with high handlebars but were like commuter bikes. Our guide had had a kiwi partner in the past and was quite informative about how non-communicative the Finns are compared with other nationalities. She said she really had to learn the art of small talk because when she first left Finland she thought that someone asking if she’d had a nice day really wanted to know. She got some funny looks when she gave people a run down on her day. She also talked a lot about the nature and how valuable that was to the Finns. And that sometimes if people have cottages close to the Russian border and they might be out walking, or on a lake and cross the border unknowingly it can take a few days to be returned from that experience!

    But unfortunately, the tour wasn’t really one for stopping and taking pictures. We stopped several times, but basically just kept on biking. Jody and I did quite a good job of taking pics as we were biking – the selfie stick was quite useful for that. One guy was not as proficient as us and dropped his phone on the road – we didn’t ask if it was ok! We did walk through the market as the tour had described but weren’t able to stop which annoyed most people on the tour. So, after 2.5 hours we were back at the ship with 2.5 hours before it was due to leave. The roundtrip bus into the city took 1.5 hours, but could have been longer with traffic, so we decided not to do that, and we were really really cold, so just shopped near the ship at the stalls. Unfortunately, one had lovely leather jackets on sale for 120 euro, and even more unfortunately there was a lovely soft one in a different style to the one that I had, and even more more unfortunately I had no self-control! But I am still very pleased that I bought it!

    Once back on the ship it was to deck 5 for a hot chocolate for me and a coffee for Jody. Then we went in search of heat – sauna and steam room for me followed with a spa while Jody just used the spa. It was lovely to thaw out a bit. Then we both got into bed and read books before dinner and a show – which wasn’t too bad, but not amazing. I also had a little gamble in the casino in which the air-conditioning was very good seeing as one side was smoking and the other side wasn’t. We couldn’t smell the smoke at all on the non-smoking side. So, went to bed about midnight, but our only task tomorrow is to pack, so not really an issue.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 6 of cruise at sea - day 44

    25 maj 2019, Sverige ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We had a very leisurely day packing and weighing our bags, and eating, and packing some more, then eating a bit more…… The highlight of the day was the Barricade Boys who performed at 3pm. They were even better than the shows of the other day – such energy and crispness to their dance moves coupled with amazing singing. We were in the front row and just loved having the best view of the house. To get those seats we went to the skit at 2pm where 3 married couples were randomly selected and the women sent away while the men were asked questions, then the women came back and supposedly supposed to guess what their husbands had answered. It was really hilarious specially the couple married for 30 years, and he couldn’t remember where he had proposed. The man married for 45 years did – he said it was at a party and I was sozzled. His wife said he was drunk at a party so same answer, and I guess their marriage has lasted pretty well.

    The packing went ok and bags out the door by 11pm. We had to remember to put in our carry on what we would need for the next 2 nights. Oh, and we may have played 2 handed 500 hundred again today – our go to game which I have been enjoying. I did suggest a new game, but we seem to be stuck with that one, and Jody will win one day…    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Day 7 of cruise Copenhagen - day 45

    26 maj 2019, Förenade arabemiraten ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    Off the shop at 8.30, and onto a bus tour. We chose this option as we could see a bit more, we would be dropped at the airport and it wouldn’t cost a lot more than a taxi. There was no way we were going to try public transport with the number of bags we had!

    There were showers during the morning, so it was a good option. We had good commentary and visited 2 castles which we went through and had fun taking more pictures. We got to the airport nice and early, and Jody kindly was only checking 1 bag on which was around 26kgs. So, I stuffed a few more things in my smaller bag, and together we had exactly 60kgs which was our allowance. I also had my small pack, and my carry on was a large LIDL shopping bag which is great for chucking lots of things in – including my large fleece jacket. We were there so early that I was wandering around trying to spend my last krona, and then we headed off to our boarding gate. That’s when we realised that we hadn’t gone through passport control yet which took a while, and then our gate was right at the end of 39 other gates. We ran a bit as it was a very long way and got there just as the flight was closing. Was great when we got on though because there were so many empty seats. Jody ended up in the extra legroom seat at the front. I sat beside her for a while until I realised that my socks were soaked from the water that was leaking through from the galley. Apparently, that always happens – hmmm, not to my knowledge!

    We arrived in Dubai at 11pm and walked and walked to find the shuttle bus to our hotel (that Emirates were putting us up in for the night as there was just longer than 10 hours between our flights). The shuttle didn’t arrive for the 30 mins we stood there in over 30 degree heat. When one did go past, it didn’t stop for us and that’s when someone said oh you needed to tell them that you needed picking up. Not very happy about that as we were told they came every 15 mins. I still had some dirhams from our last visit, so feeling a tad grumpy at this stage I dragged Jody off and we took a taxi. We were in our hotel room for about 5 hours before getting a wake-up call, a quick breakfast and being at our boarding gate about 2 hours before our flight – not sure why, but Jody didn’t want to be late this morning!    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bali - day 46

    27 maj 2019, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    What a different flight this was. Totally full, and the seats were much narrower than I have previously had with Emirates. My neighbour wasn’t the smallest lady, so I was leaned out into the aisle for a lot of the 9 hour flight. I did feel the lack of sleep as well as I didn’t manage to sleep at all on the flight. Jody had a couple of decent sleeps though. Her neighbour was a nice small man, but she had a grumpy woman in front of her who said her seat was broke and she couldn’t put it upright though it seemed to do that just fine at the end of the flight.

    So, we got to Bali around 11pm and took a taxi to our hotel which is fairly basic, but we have separate rooms – Jody’s is looking far tidier than mine, she must be preparing herself for a tidy home again.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bali - day 47

    28 maj 2019, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    I took ages to go to sleep, but eventually slept quite well. Woke up at 9am and had a light breakfast at the hotel before we went out exploring. We found a sim card for Jody, and a few other interesting shops. I wasn’t expecting the leather shops – lovely soft leather bags. I have ordered a leather cover for my red-light mat which should be ready on Friday, that will remind me of this trip. We also found a really nice jewellery shop and I will have to get a decent jewellery box when I get home to ensure that I start wearing some. I bought a light dress and top for here as it is pretty hot, around 29 degrees. Around midday we went back to the hotel, changed into our togs and headed for the beach which is maybe 500m away. Jody has been to Bali a few times and has a particular part of the beach that she goes to. I didn’t quite understand why but do now. Annie and Sammie have charge of a small section and remembered Jody and her other friends who have been here. We got some lounge chairs close to the beach, and they brought us drinks, Nasi Goering for lunch and we both had a foot massage and our toenails painted. Oh, and the water was lovely and warm for a swim as well. The chairs were under an umbrella, so it was a perfect place to read books and people watch for the afternoon. It cost $5 for the chair, $2.50 for my watermelon juice, $2.50 for the food, $5 for the foot massage and $5 for the nail painting. So, $20 was very cheap for all of that! Also had clean water at the foot of the chair to wash our hands and feet after being in the sea.

    The sun has been setting really late for us over the last few weeks, so a 6pm sunset was a bit of a surprise. It was very pretty watching it though. Then we went back to the hotel, showered, changed and went out to a Mexican place for dinner. On the way I saw a lady with a python. She said it was friendly, so I stroked it, and ended up having it draped around me. It was a cool experience and its skin was really soft. The lady said the snake had shed its skin only a couple of hours before. I did give her 50 cents as a donation which was well worth it – something I never thought I would have done. Our dinner was nice, and we both had a cocktail.

    First impressions of Bali – hot, lots of people, seems pretty busy with lots of people trying to sell things, but everything is really cheap. Just as well our bags are full full full! The beach is lovely, I am not one to sit on a beach doing nothing but reading a book under an umbrella with an occasional swim is a different experience, and something we will be doing on more days. Tomorrow we have hired a driver for the day for $45, and he will take us around some of the sights. Should be a fun day!

    Nice to have got up to date with this blog. We both have sim cards now for Bali – just as well as the wifi at this hotel is pretty crappy, you think we would have got used to that by now.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bali - day 48

    29 maj 2019, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We were up early, nice breakfast at the hotel which is called Fourteen Roses Beach Hotel. We have separate rooms and breakfast is included for $50 per night. It also has a lovely pool which we have been using a bit, nice to cool off before bed. Our driver – Warren - picked us up at 8am, and we were off on our big day. First stop was a silver factory. It was fascinating watching them make individual pieces by hand. Such steady hands and good eyesight. Apparently ,they work from 7 to 7 with a break for lunch. I think it would be heard to concentrate that hard for that long. Then we went into the shop which was really huge. We must have spent at least an hour trying to see all of the different stands full of jewellery and may have bought some. Most of the pendants were about $20 to $30 and when we had just seen the work that went into creating them, they were extremely cheap.

    Then we went to a temple which was interesting, but not that much to see. The next stop was the butterfly house which was amazing. There were loads of different colours flying all around and settling on leaves close to us. I could have watched them for hours. They also had an enclosure for big moths – I think called Atlas moths. They have a life cycle of 5 days, and have no mouths so basically hatch out of their crysallis, procreate and then die. There were guides in the enclosure who would put as many moths on you as you wanted, and they just stayed there until they were moved again. Apparently, they fly around at night.

    Then back into the van again to our next stop which was a waterfall. It was quite a lot of steps down and up, and it was pretty hot. They had cool baskets that we posed in for pics, and it was fun watching the people at the bottom of the waterfall posing for pics. At the entrance there were lots of shops, and all of them were advertising their toilets. I bought a roasted corn cob from there which was rather tasty. Then Warren took us to a restaurant by a rice paddy field for lunch which was very nice. There was a breeze coming in the open window which cooled us nicely.

    Then we went to another temple which had a purification ritual which many people were doing. They put on a special sarong, entered a pool of water, and dunked their heads under the flowing taps. There were maybe 15 taps along one side, and people moved along the taps, dunking at each one. Warren was surprised that we hadn’t done this ritual – apparently many people go to that temple just for that reason. Our next journey was to the rice paddy terraces. By this time it was getting later, and the terraces looked pretty steep so we just took some pics from the car. The road we were driving down is apparently 10kms long and looked amazing for shopping. It was probably a very good thing that we had stayed in the car. Then it was a 1.5 hour drive back to our hotel. I was pretty sick of driving through Bali by then – it is not a quick exercise!

    We got back around 6pm and had a wee rest before dinner. We went to a place which had a lady boy show which was very entertaining. The first guy that was targeted really didn’t cope very well and left the entire restaurant while muttering under his breath. Some of the other guys were very good sports, and as there were only around 20 people in the restaurant some of them were targeted more than once. I was pulled up to have a dance with one of them which was fine, but I missed out on the entertainment of Jody being up there as I went to the loo. It sounded like it would have been a good thing to have videoed! So back at the hotel we had a swim in the pool until 10, and then went to bed. The pool was pretty cool, but outside was maybe 25 degrees so nice to cool off.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär

    Bali - day 49

    30 maj 2019, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Slack morning today and we got to breakfast just before 10 and then had a swim and a shower. Then caught a taxi to the galleria and went shopping. Before shopping, we roughly packed our bags to work out what weight we had to deal with and checked out the additional baggage allowance for Emirates. Yikes it is $115 for an extra 5kgs, so I don’t think I will be doing that. I love a pair of trousers I had bought at UNIQLO and have been searching for another pair – Bali you were the winner and I now have a navy pair. Jody has more weight left in her bag, so might have bought a couple of things. She also started thinking about different bag options as her current large bag has a big rip and needs replacing and we saw some amazing Thule bags that were not cheap at all but very tempting. I was interested in the double zip concept for all of these new bags – so you can’t insert a pen into the zip and open them easily like you can with older bags but my trusty pack is going to last a bit longer. Jody also decided (for now) that she didn’t need a new bag from here, but you never know as we are still here for 2 more days.

    By the time we caught a taxi back, got changed and got to the beach it was around 3.30, and the lunch place was closed. Never mind, our helpful people went searching and soon came back with a plate of Nasi Goering again which is very tasty. We also had a plate of fruit and some drinks delivered before having a swim in the sea. I really enjoyed the big waves, swimming between the flags with lifeguards on duty, and knowing Jody was on shore waiting for me to return. Between the big waves the sea was quite calm, so I would have been easy to see if I was in difficulty. We left the beach just before sunset and had another rest before dinner. Going back to work is going to be very very hard without all these wee rests! Our time is currently 4 hours behind NZ time, so getting up at 9am is like 1pm NZ time. We could be making the time change easier for ourselves by getting up early, but that doesn’t seem that easy to do! Oh well, at least Monday is a holiday.    Läs mer

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  • Fiona FerrarEurope 2019Resenär
    Bags full up
    Now trying to re-pack at airport

    Bali - day 50

    31 maj 2019, Indonesien ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    It might nearly be time to go home. We had thought that today we might go and visit one of the other beaches, but our enthusiasm waned. We had a swim in the hotel pool first and talked to some of the many Australians that were staying there. Then went out for a walk around the block looking at shops. I picked up my red light leather bag which I am very happy with. We also bought a bag for Polly who was checking them out on messenger video. Then the packing started. On the way to dinner we stopped in at a massage salon and I had the most amazing shoulder and neck massage - $8.50 for 45 minutes. We had dinner in a more up market hotel and it was rather nice.Läs mer

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