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Europe with Trisha 2023
  • Fiona Ferrar
  • Trisha Franklyn
авг. – окт. 2023

Europe with Trisha 2023

Our trip in 2020 needed to be postponed but is now going to happen! Читать далее
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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
    22

    Day 25 Murano and Burano islands Venice

    24 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We had an interesting morning with the shower today. Trisha was first and there was so much crashing and banging that I wondered if I needed to go in and rescue her. She was wondering the same thing when having difficulty opening the shower door for her to get out. After being forewarned I tried lifting it while opening which worked ok. It is a tiny shower with a shower head that sort of goes sideways. We will be looking forward to something better at our next place.

    We walked for a bit and then got on a water taxi that took us directly to Murano. I think Trish thought she had died and gone to heaven. We did a glass blowing demonstration to start with which was great. Then a visit to that shop, and then to another glass shop, and then to another glass shop, and then to another glass shop, you get the picture? At some stage we stopped for some food at a lovely place beside the water. Trisha bought a wrap which was 7 euros, but because we ate that sitting down there was a cover charge of 2 euros each. The toilet was good though lol. Then we visited around 20 to 30 more glass shops, and each of us bought a few pieces. As I have metal walls in my house I was targeting cute magnetic pieces, while Trish got some jewelry.

    Then we joined a rather long line for the water taxi to Burano. Trish held the place in line while talking to an extremely talkative Belgian guy who was practising his English while I had various seating places while the line moved. It was a pretty long taxi ride there and we were pleased we had seats as a lot of people had to stand.

    Burano is such a pretty little town with the lovely painted houses. We also really enjoyed the shops there. Still more glass, but also lace shops and lots of lovely linen clothing. We were probably there for around 2.5 hours just meandering around and taking pics. We then stopped for a snack and Trish had an Aperol spritz which has become her drink of choice.

    The queue to get back was even more crazy. We were all in an orderly lane before going through a turnstile. And then the corridor widened a bit, and lots of people jumped the queue. So there were about 8 people wide in this enclosed area, and then they opened the gate for people to advance towards the boat coming in. Everyone just pushed at the same time to get through the 2 people wide gate. Trisha was squashed up against the barrier and it was pretty unpleasant. But, we did manage to get a seat in the taxi so we were happy then.

    Earlier in the day there was a squish of people coming through a narrow street which was shaded. There was a shortish woman walking down in with her umbrella up saying come on everyone, just push through. I had to say “ it would be a lot easier if you put your bloody umbrella down!” There were some lovely quiet areas to go on Burano though with grass even.

    So supermarket on the way back after we were on the mainland, and we had a nice salad with cheese for dinner. It was dark by the time we reached our hotel so it was quite a big day.

    And the thing that is annoying me most is the bug bites. I did bring my special creme from Bali that soothes the itching, but I need more. Will be off to the pharmacy in the morning for some antihistamine. The first bites were on my legs and were like midge bites. But yesterday a definite mosquito bite appeared on my tummy and now I have 2 more on my lower back. I react to mozzie bites so they are bit obvious. I had heard of lots of people being bitten here so brought bug spray but obviously need to apply it to more places.

    14,872 steps and 25 degrees. Even had my light scarf over my shoulders briefly tonight!    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 26 Venice

    25 сентября 2023 г., Италия ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    This morning we had thought that we would start off together, but that didn’t end up happening. I waved Trish good bye and she was off into the big wide world all on her own. She will have to add what she did herself.

    As for me…. I wanted to find a pharmacy to get some antihistamine pills. I managed that, got some clarityne which had an amazingly quick effect. The shop next door to the pharmacy had a wallet which I had been looking at in Florence but decided not to buy. Luckily it wasn’t open, but I thought deserved a visit later in the day. Then I started wandering in what I thought was the direction of the Rialto bridge. I kept following some signs and ended up at the Acadamia taxi station which was quite a way down the canal from the Rialto. Never mind, I had seen lots of cool little shops on the way and there weren’t that many people. The most unusual was a pet store which had kitty litter in the shop window, but also sold leather jackets - perfect combination lol. I found a university and figured there must be some free toilets in there and yes struck it lucky. Then walked a couple of blocks and there was a young girl playing music on her part filled water glasses. She was really good, so I found a seat at the base of the fountain so I could listen for a while. Then I noticed a patisserie shop on the left so got some plain focaccia. Sat down again then noticed a supermarket on the right, so went and got some cheese and tomato, sliced that up and had a really enjoyable lunch.

    My walk to Rialto included some more interesting shops, I may have purchased a couple more items… The foot traffic got increasingly busy and really annoying. So I managed to go back to get my wallet, and then decided it was time to go back to our hotel for a wee rest. Trish and I had been in contact during the day, and she was on her way back as well.

    Trisha’s day….
    I started off on my own looking for a bookshop I’d found online when researching this trip, Liberia Accqua Alta. Found it easily and spent sometime wandering around it. The shelves are filled to overflowing and are stacked in many unusual ways including a bathtub. There are resident cats but didn’t see any of those. The back door exits straight into a canal. The are stacks of old books outside that are a popular place for photos. A helpful guy took a couple of photos of me on the book stack.

    From the bookshop I made my way to the Rialto bridge, with many stops on the way to take photos of beautiful canals and interesting buildings . Not many people were about so it was easy walking.

    After the bridge I just wandered the streets, found a shop selling just rubber ducks, lots of shops selling ornate masks and some beautiful handmade stationery shops. Also saw some building work Venice style where the builders rappel down the outside of a building above a canal to make measurements.

    I managed to make my way unintentionally to the bus station and decided at that point to head back to our hotel. By this time the sun was out as were all the crowds and was quite tired by the time I got back having completed 15,000 steps.

    So after resting for a couple of hours in the heat of the day we then went out on a reccee mission for our bus ride in the morning so took a water bus to where we are catching the Flix Bus. That seemed pretty easy, so then we took a water taxi through the grand canal just for a bit of sight seeing. We got off at the Ferrovia station so we could buy the metre long licorice that we had not seen anywhere else, some fruit at a supermarket and then back on the water. We got to the end of the line, didn’t get off where we should have and the boat then went in the reverse direction so we went back a stop. That wasn’t so bad as the new taxi had seats at the front so we got a lovely view coming into St Mark’s stop.

    We had a great view of a beautiful sunset for the third night in a row.

    Steps 22,037, temperature 25 degrees.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 27 Slovenia

    26 сентября 2023 г., Словения ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Our trip reccy mission yesterday was helpful and we were at our bus stop nearly an hour early as per usual. We then had a 4 hour flixbus ride which was surprisingly good after some of the reviews we had read. There was wifi on board, seats were comfortable, toilet was clean and it was easy to find and on time. What more could we want?

    We have hired a car here which was a short walk from the bus station and have a nice wee Dacia SUV wagon which is very nice to drive. So after a stop at a LIDL supermarket (yes their chocolate is still nice lol) we were hooning down the motorway at 130kph. It took us around 50 mins to get to our accommodation which is near Lake Bled and is simply amazing.

    I had found the accommodation just through a Slovenian site on fb and got in contact with the owner - Neil, so have rented this privately. Wow was that a great decision. This is his holiday home here and has a lovely deck with a great view as well as 2 rooms with a double bed in each. After settling in we did 2 walks, one heading towards Lake Bled along a country path which got terminated when Trish noticed a small snake on our track. Though on our way there we found a patch of raspberries that haven’t been picked for a while. I got a few through the fence but will be back for more lol. Then we chatted to a Neighbour for a while and headed off in the other direction to where there is a big cave and people rock climbing. It was a bit of a climb to get up there, and we found a much easier track to get down from. The views were amazing, and this is such a lovely peaceful valley to be in.

    Dinner was a salad with all sorts, pomegranate, corn, radish, Gruyère cheese plus other things. Just so nice to have our own kitchen. We have bought some meat to cook for the next 2 nights so will enjoy having home cooked meals.

    And I have been excited to have a tv with Netflix and just watched 2 episodes of the new season of sex education.

    We could hardly have had a bigger change going from the very busy Venice to this calm tranquil location. It is about time though; we have been ready for a bit of serenity. The roads here are so narrow that they look like bike paths. Have included a pic with a car to show that it can be done.

    Steps 12, 557 and 26 degrees. Definitely cooler here tonight. I have long pants on and a blanket around me and Trish actually has a light jacket on.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 28 Lake Bled

    27 сентября 2023 г., Словения ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    We both had amazing sleeps in the very comfortable beds in separate rooms and actually needing to have some bed covers on was great.

    We drove to the next village and visited the bakery for some bread and a lovely cheese pastry thing. And then we were off to Lake Bled. We drove all the way around the lake and then found a parking spot at the main town. Not a free one of course, but good to find somewhere. Our next stop was to hire some bikes and then we were off biking around the lake. The island in the middle is just magnificent and it was the perfect day for lots of photos all the way around. We biked for a couple hours and then visited some very cute shops and may have made a couple of purchases.

    There are a lot of restrictions around the lake, no parking here, no swimming here, no picnics here etc etc, So we drove back to our house and had a great lunch with the yummy bread and salad.

    Our plan after that was for me to go paddle boarding in the lake and for
    Trish to walk up to the castle. So after finding a place to park and paying for it, we realised it was quite a long way from where I could hire a paddle board and it was getting a bit windy by then, so we sat on a jetty with our feet in the rather cool water for a while just enjoying the day and the view. Then we drove up to the castle carpark for a different view,

    We have decided to walk the Vintgar gorge in the morning, so then drove there to check it out early and just because it is pretty special just driving around through the tiny towns with very narrow streets, On the way back google had some fun with us and we found even more narrow streets and had to reverse quite a way at one stage. Also ended up on an unsealed road with very deep ruts. Car seemed to manage ok through.

    Our dinner was one of the best since we have been away with home cooked chicken thighs with a tomato pesto sauce, and baked eggplant, courgette, peppers and broccoli.

    9,452 steps, but a bit of biking, and 25 degrees. It was 6 degrees when we got up this morning and I am going to fill the hottie I have found in the cupboard tonight!    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 29 Vintgar Gorge

    28 сентября 2023 г., Словения ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We were up early this morning and at P1 parking spot at
    Vintgar Gorge and ready for our walk. Omg that was such a good decision. The gorge was just stunning. It was a little like Karangahake gorge but on steroids. There weren’t many people when we started at 8.30 but more turned up. It was never too busy though, and seeing all the different coloured jackets was cool.

    The waterfalls were spectacular and our photos can not do them justice. The walk down the gorge took around 45 minutes. But then we had to walk back up again which took us quite a while, Some of the hills were quite steep and I was very pleased to have found a sturdy walking stick along the way. I was rather sad to throw it away at the end of the walk. We walked up to a church which was rather cute, through paddocks with sheep, cows and horses and had a stunning view over the countryside. It took us about 3.5 hours to get back to the car and it was such a great thing to have done.

    Popped home to have some lunch, more yummy fresh bread and salad. Had a wee rest sitting out in the sun on the deck. Then we went back to Lake Bled and caught a rowboat out to the island in the middle of the lake with the original name of Bled Island. It was a very serene experience and we had 40 minutes or so on the island and then rowed back.

    Our next stop was Lake Bohinj which was a 40 minute drive late in the afternoon, but it was fun going for a longer drive through all of the pretty little villages with very similar names. The lake was gorgeous with a lot less tourists. We met a Dutch girl with a border collie who will be visiting nz in January so had a bit of a play with her dog and a chat to her before driving back again.

    Dinner was scrumptious. Who knew that Argentine steak was so tasty. With baked veges again it was a great end to the day.

    We have so enjoyed our stay here, but it is time to leave again. Have also enjoyed some Netflix in the evenings. Off to Croatia tomorrow.

    18,437 steps and 25 degrees… again! I have never been on a holiday overseas with such beautiful weather every single day. Though I did enjoy my beanie this morning as it was pretty cool in the gorge, and also we happy to find a hot water bottle in the cupboard here.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 30 Croatia

    29 сентября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Today was the earliest that we have got up for a while, 5.30am! That was so we could get ready, drive for an hour, fill car up with petrol and catch a bus at 8.05. That all went well, dropped Trish and bags off at the bus station, went and dropped the car off and were all ready around 7.45. Shame the bus wasn’t! We had a great bus ride with flixbus the other day but today we became acquainted with the rude drivers that I had read reviews about. The bus was actually there, and the driver was on it. Lots of people tried to ask him about the bus but he wouldn’t answer. Then a new bus turned up and we all through we could get on that, but it was a no go. Finally about 40 mins later a bus turned up. Then when we crossed the border 3 guys got pulled aside and their bag checked so we all got off the bus again for a while and finally arrived in Zagreb way later than expected. Our car pick up went fine though, we bought a few things from the supermarket and then hit the road. Hmmmm then a few traffic jams, roads being fixed from the dreadful floods here a few weeks ago made for a rather slow trip. But the roads were quite a bit wider than in Slovenia and doing 130kph on the motorway helped.

    On our way we stopped in Rastoke which is a lovely little town with many waterfalls. I had stopped here 6 years ago, but they have built 2 more bridges since then and you couldn’t walk freely around the waterfalls quite the same, it was still beautiful though.

    Then to our final destination today - Hotel Marko right next to entrance one of Plitvice National Park. I have stayed in this place before, and it was so cheap that we booked a room each for 2 nights. Not such a bad thing for me as Trish seems to be developing a cold. Hopefully the early night will kick that for touch.

    After we had unpacked, we walked across the road to the entrance. So 6 years ago you could just walk in but be fined if you were there without a ticket. Now it seems that it is more restricted. We bought our tickets for tomorrow a few days ago as it would be unfortunate to have this brilliant accommodation but no reason to be here.

    We went to the local restaurant for dinner and had a lamb bundle which was pretty awesome. Lamb and veges cooked together in a pouch. It was very tender and the waiter was very helpful and quite funny.

    Back at our rooms I was rather surprised to find the tv has Netflix. So I have settled down for a bit more English tv while Trish is having her early night.

    11,730 steps and once again it has been 25 degrees.    Читать далее

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    Day 31 Plitvice National Park

    1 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We had booked our tickets a few days ago for 9am, so that’s when we were at the entrance and ready to go. We had decided to take the shuttle to the top of the park and work our way down so it was a 1km walk to the first shuttle, and we were at the top at around 10am. People do recommend starting from the bottom, but then we would have needed to walk up hill a lot more, and Trisha is still not well so doesn’t have maximum energy levels and I am just a bit slack lol.

    I have been to the park before and had my first day in brilliant sunshine, and the 2nd day in the thickest falling snow I have ever been in, so it was a memorable experience. Today was a bit different with the autumn colours and was a lovely fine day though a bit cool in the morning. We had a great time taking pics and looking at the amazing views. The lakes were very still so the reflections were lovely and there were many many waterfalls. For the first few hours we didn’thave that many people around which was lovely. We did come across a tour guide at a popular point and he said during the summer he hated going to that part because sometimes had to wait for about a hour for 200 people to take many photos.

    We took a boat to P2 around midday and had a lovely burger and chips for lunch. Then took another boat to P3 which was a very serene experience across the quiet lake. We could see people walking the truck on either side. With these lakes you can walk down both sides, and there are a few boardwalks which cross the various lakes so you can change sides. There are a huge number of boardwalks which are about 1.2m wide and so 2 people can’t pass without taking care. When we were near the bottom and the number of people increased there were quite a few selfish people just walking in the middle, or couples that just needed to keep holding hands. I did very well to resist the urge for a sideways nudge, I wonder how many people fall into the lakes? There were some young children and older people which needed support and that was just fine. It was the ones aged around 20 that seemed to be inconsiderate, and that age would have recovered fine from a quick swim!

    So after our walk to the big waterfall, where I tested my confidence with my selfie stick held out horizontally to the cliff, we then had a big hill to climb up and reached the top around 4pm.

    We could have gone back into the park at any time that day, and sort of considered it, but after both lying down for a couple hours watching Netflix, the desire waned. We went back to the same restaurant and Trish had the pasta and I had a really nice grilled chicken dish with roasted veges. Then it was time for more lying down lol.

    We are off to Opatija tomorrow. This is the first night that even though we are moving tomorrow, we don’t have any time restrictions as all we have to do is pop our stuff into the car and drive off. That is sooo nice as opposed to planning to get to a bus or train stop and hour or so before we are due to leave. That certainly has become a bit wearying.

    So 22,305 steps and once again it was 25 degrees.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 32 Opatija

    1 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We had a nice leisurely start to the day and were on the road by 9am. First stop was to be Senj which is a lovely little seaside town, but first we re- traced my steps when I was driving in the snow 6 years ago. At that time google maps was sending me off to the right and I declined the offer as it looked like I would be going off into the hills and thought I would have needed chains for that. Well today I found out that my instincts were correct and indeed I would have been going over a very high hill with few opportunities to turn around. Nice to have that confirmed some time later.

    It was an interesting drive, we chose not to take the highway and it was a bit like driving through nz though the buildings were a bit different. We stopped in Senj but not for very long. As it is Sunday there was not a lot of things open though we did find some sort of gaming lounge with a toilet. The rest of our drive was around the coast and very pretty though the visibility was not clear out miles to sea but was rather a bit misty.

    We got to our hotel at 1.30 and were too early to check in. So we drove off to the one supermarket that was open on a Sunday about 4 kms away. That again was a lovely drive around the coast and we found the most amazing thing there - a lovely roast chicken. This is the first supermarket that we have seen one at and it was a perfect option for lunch with bread and salad which we had once we could check in. We have paid for a parking spot for our car which is around 200m away from the hotel. Parking is at a premium here, and it is good to have a spot available.

    This must be a flash hotel as there is a clothesline above the bath. I have been expecting to see more of these, but this was the first one for this trip. Trish did her washing and then felt a bit knackered so chose to have a lie down while I went out for a walk.

    Opatija is such a beautiful wee town. There is a 12 km walkway which I knew about, but hadn’t expected it to go past lots of swimming spots, restaurants, beach mattresses etc. There were lots of people swimming and the water seemed to be very warm from my quick testing.

    I had my nz t shirt on, and a lady asked me if I was from NZ. Turned out that she was a kiwi but had lived in Dublin for a number of years. She then walked with me for quite a way and we had a nice yak about lots of things. She showed me where the dog beach was and that is simply amazing, it is a fenced off area in a prime location with excellent access to a beach. When we walked back there was an Irish water spaniel there who apparently loves to swim but only when his owners go in. They had just arrived so weren’t ready for a swim just yet.

    Then Trish messaged me and she was ready for a walk so I waited at a spot, my new friend departed and Trish arrived, we walked around this amazing bar and restaurant that had a great water front view and the front of it must have been about 100m in a slightly circular area.

    8,109 steps today for Trish, but I did a few more. And yes once again the temperature was 25. Meant to be a bit hotter tomorrow.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 33 Krk Island

    2 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Trish is doing much better today, but wanted to be able to come back to the hotel if she needed to, so I took off in our Volkswagen car for an explore of Krk island. I didn’t know much about this island except that it had some beaches and a Krk town. So I headed for there after going over the massive bridge that was constructed in response to the tourism demand.

    Krk town was really pretty. I went to an info centre and got a map of the island and then realised that there were many little towns on the coast line and they were all a bit different from each other. I would love to spend a week on the island in a camper van sometime!

    Initially I paid for a park for 90 minutes, walked around the marina and through the town checking out the castle. Then I thought I needed to get back to the car, so did that and drive through the town and saw the perfect park. What was a girl to do? Yep, paid 2 euros and got 2 hours, so plenty of time to find a gelato and buy myself a cute wee momento. I also bought a towel which could be handy over the next few days.

    Then on the road to Baska which is the southernmost town of the island. I had to stop a couple of times to check out the view which was just stunning. There were many marinas along the way. I also found a Roadside fruit stall and bought some green mandarins which were ripe and the most massive pomegranates which were 5 for 8 euro, and I was not able to buy just one. When I opened it later, it was more than a cupful of seeds, to those 5 are going to go a long way.

    When I got to Baska town, there were more parking charges and a walk down to the town and it was really hot so I thought I’d try and find the nudist beach figuring that no one knows me here, and would save getting more clothes wet. Well I didn’t quite get to it and realised there was a long walk from any parking down a hill so I lost my enthusiasm. So then thought I would drive to the Baska beach lookout. The beach is 1.8km long and one of the best beaches in Croatia. I found myself driving past a spare park rather close to the beach so had to stop. Nek minit I am swimming out to a pontoon a fair way out because the water was pretty warm and just so calm. I swam for a while, then got out and just marvelled at the view. Then thought I need to do some sort of selfie - me in my black undies and a sports top was not going to make it on any public page, hence the feet pic.

    I then resumed my drive to the lookout and got a park even closer to the beach but only used it to walk down the path and found the dog swimming part. Croatia is very dog friendly. Earlier in the day I found a water fountain for me to fill up my bottle, and there was also a dog water bowl. All the restaurants provide water bowls for the dogs.

    Then it was one more town for me to stop at, and I chose Malinska as the beach was supposed to be great. In reality I drove down the hill, through the town and back up the hill again. It was getting later and I couldn’t see how it could have been better than what I had done.

    So headed for home, though stopping at a supermarket on the way to get another roast chicken. Yesterday was the first time we had found one at a supermarket and it was amazing tasty. Todays was rather nice as well.

    We have had a quiet evening as Trish had a big day here with lots of walking and a big swim as well.

    She did 18,404 steps. And we had an increase to 27 degrees today. I did a reasonable amount of walking too, all in my crocs which continue to be invaluable!    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 34 Pula

    3 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Trish is feeling much better and was out swimming at 7.30 while I had a much more relaxed morning. We went for a quick walk to see some of the local shops before retrieving our car and making our way to Pula.

    On our way into Pula we saw a decathlon sign, and had to have a visit. Trish bought a nice backpack at the start of our trip which I really liked, my pack has needed some repairs as it has made a number of overseas trips, and I found the same one as hers. I also bought some sox. I brought 3 short pairs and 3 pairs of longer woollen which have not been needed at all except for when the others have needed a wash. Right next door was a Harvey Norman store which I was pretty surprised to see.

    We couldn’t check in until 2pm so went for a bit of a drive around and found a dog beach. In fact it was a lot of lovely little beaches all together so we chose one and went for a swim. It wasn’t as calm as yesterday but the water was very warm so we went in a couple of times. There were little changing booths around which were quite handy.

    We don’t have a car parking spot where we are, but found a parking area not far away but up a hill so I dropped the bags and Trisha off, and tried to make my way back while going the wrong way, meeting up with a concrete mixer, realising how many one way streets there are, and finally getting there and realising I didn’t have any money or cards as my bag was with Trish, duh! So round the block I went again. The parking app was slightly confusing as I had to pay for parking on my phone but luckily a parking inspector walked past and I asked him to check it.

    We are up 2 flights of stairs here, but have a really lovely little room with access to a kitchen as well. Bit of a shame we are only here for one night. Also has a large tv, so we watched a bit more Netflix before going for a walk. Trish went to the amphitheatre which is a bit like the Rome Colosseum while I went for a walk on the waterfront. We then got burgers and chips for dinner and back to our room.

    10,998 steps and 27 degrees.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 35 Porec

    4 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We both woke up pretty early today so were out the door on the way to our car at around 8.30. Then spied a laundromat near the car so thought we would dry our wet washing. Well 20 mins later it wasn’t much drier so we headed on our way to Porec which is 50 kms north on the coast.

    We got there around 10.30 and could leave our car at the hotel but the room wasn’t ready. So we went for a walk beside the sea and saw so many more swimming bays. Also had our second visit to a supermarket for the day where I found some chicken nibbles for lunch and a really nice broccoli savoury.

    Our room was ready by then and is a bit more flash with a balcony, a pool and a whirlpool. We had a rest for a bit, then Trish went out for a walk, and I hired a bike for 3 hours and had fun checking out the coastline. It definitely is not that busy here, and all the resorts are pretty empty so I stopped at one for a couple of swims and their outdoor showers. I talked to a guy from a dive shop who said the water temperature in October is normally well under 20 degrees but today was 22. Apparently they had an awful summer with lots of rain and wind and lots of cancellations. For September and so far for October the weather has been great, but all the people have gone.

    While I was biking, Trish walked around the old town and then had her own swim before taking it easy in the hotel. We chose to have the buffet meal here tonight which was ok, but nothing flash. Best bit was not having to go anywhere for it. We are such party animals!

    So today was our last day by the Adriatic Sea. I never expected to have been swimming so many times. And who knew that crocs made such good buoyancy aids? I wear them into the sea as the bottom is pretty rocky, but then take them off and put my hands in them and just float.

    And tomorrow is feeling like we are starting to head home as we will be leaving Europe the day after.

    14,883 steps for Trish. I did a fair few, biked for a couple of hours and also swum a bit. Temperature 27 degrees    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 36 Zagreb

    5 октября 2023 г., Хорватия ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today we had our first hotel breakfast and it was great. Haven't had eggs for a long time so had them boiled and in an omelette. We were on the road as planned before 8 as we had a 3.5 hour drive to Zagreb. Our car was a Volkswagen Tijuana and it was great on cruise control as it automatically would adjust to the speed limit applicable at the time. So sometimes it would brake suddenly to go from 130kph to 60kph and I had to be ready to hold the steering wheel for the quick acceleration back to 130 so that was a bit of fun. After that I dropped Trisha off at our hotel then took the rental car back. When I called a Uber, I ended up in a Tesla which was rather fancy with a screen with a visual of everything around the car including pedestrians.

    We chilled out for a bit, then went out for a walk around the old town. The street with bars and food was quite different to what we have seen for a long time with various street food available. We ended up sharing kotthu which was Sri Lankan and was rather yummy. Then we walked up a hill and Trish went to the Museum of broken relationships, and we caught a furnicular down the hill - would have been good if we had noticed that going up!

    Had a final gelato in Europe on our way back to the hotel, and the spent our evening packing and getting rid of stuff that we have accumulated along the way all ready for our flight to Dubai tomorrow.

    12,819 steps and it was a bit chilly today only reaching 22 degrees. My trackies have come out again!    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 37 Travel day

    7 октября 2023 г., Объединенные Арабские Эмираты ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    Well it didn’t need to be just a travel day but that’s what it turned into. We went out and got some goodies for breakfast, watched more Netflix, packed our bags including our extra bag Jony who has joined us to cope with some of our purchases. We packed stuff we cared about less in him in case he got lost.

    A Uber to the airport, I am getting quite hooked on Uber! And we were there at 11.30. When was our flight departing at 3.10, so lots of time. Then got notification that it was delayed and it eventually left at 5pm. So that was 5 hours sitting at the airport and then a 5 hour flight. We went through security early so were limited to some rather uncomfortable seats and limited food options.

    When on the flight I had my fingers crossed as we both had aisle seats and there were singles next to the window. So I was lucky and Trisha was not. But my single by the window didn’t like having to ask me to get up so she could go to the toilet so she left mid flight and sat in the reserved seats at the back. So then Trisha joined me on my side.

    We got to Dubai about midnight and had a long bus ride from the plane to the terminal. Jony had arrived safely so then it was out into the heat and madhouse that was the taxi line, sooo many people and sooo many taxis.

    We are staying in the Swisshotel Al Murooj and it is pretty swanky. We had porters collecting our luggage from the taxi, a nice checkin process seeing as it was nearly 2am by then, and a lovely room with 2 king single beds. We also found that our reservation included breakfast. We booked flights with Flight Centre and the agent suggested this place and booked it for us. We could check in and out late and early and it was only $170 per night and is walking distance to the Dubai Mall.

    So we basically kicked off our clothes and fell into bed!

    9,668 steps, and a nice 22 degrees in Zagreb and an exhausting heatwave of 30 degrees at midnight in Dubai.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 38 Dubai

    7 октября 2023 г., Объединенные Арабские Эмираты ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    We were both feeling a bit average this morning after the very late night last night but perked up a bit when we saw out amazing buffet breakfast. We both had an omelette made for us on the spot, fruit, I had mini pancakes, and we both had turmeric shots.

    We had to have a wee rest to recover after that and then headed off to the Dubai mall which is supposedly 650m away but felt a lot further when we didn’t know where we were going and it was around 36 degrees by then. We finally made it and loved being in the cool aircon.

    We saw the aquarium, the ice skating rink, the amazing Chinatown where we had yummy stuff for lunch, Trish finally found her self heating eye masks that she started looking for as soon as we started our trip. And she was so impressed with the price that we went to another Mumuso shop and bought 2 more boxes. I went to a croc shop and was very tempted by another version, which still might end up fitting in Jony. I also have been searching for another cell phone cover so saw a few of those. There was also an amazing sweet shop where you could make your own stuffed toys and they had a little train going round with sweets that you could choose, sort of like the sushi shop idea.

    Our legs got pretty knackered with the walking, and there weren’t many seats for sitting down. A lot of the prices were really expensive, but it was nice to look. So back to the hotel we went and by golly it had got a lot hotter. Our room was very nice and cool though. That was around 4pm and time for a swim in the pool. Our room is so cool that even though there is a drying string in the shower, we don’t think our last batch of washing is going to dry very quickly, so took that to the pool with us as well. The pool was very refreshing and on the shady side of the building so wasn’t too hot.

    The first fountain show was at 6pm and we thought we’d would make the 6:30 but trying a different route did not serve us well but we were there by 7 about 3 rows from the front. That show was to Enrique Iglesias’s “Hero”. We then stayed half an hour for the next one and had front row possie to a song in some language other than English. I love watching the fountains, but it was still pretty hot outside and there were loads of people. So we headed off for the supermarket and dinner. I got some of my yummy grenadilla fruits which were expensive but the one I have just eaten was lovely, not like the one I tried in Frankfurt. And for dinner we had to go back to Chinatown because all the food was cooked from fresh and there was great variety, Trisha got dumplings and I had a spicy chicken with fried rice which came with a clear soup.

    So a pretty fun day was had, 11pm is high time for bed for Trish. I have just said that my first few nights at home will be very late nights for me, just cos I can lol.

    18,774 steps and a very hot 39 degrees where we nearly melted.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 39 Dubai

    8 октября 2023 г., Объединенные Арабские Эмираты ⋅ 🌙 30 °C

    We did not set an alarm for this morning and didn’t wake up until 8am. So did pretty well being in the taxi by 9.30 and at the miracle gardens by 10. Omg the first thing we saw were the massive grassed horses, 2 of them facing each other just through the entrance. That set the scene for our visit. We walked all around the outside first before crisscrossing through the middle. There were several grass covered exhibits, the horses, 2 elephants, penguins, peacocks and a massive plane with the Emirates logo on the side. We were able to walk up steps to a castle like structure and view things from higher up. The Smurf town was a surprise but very cute with the Smurf music playing. Flowers were everywhere, with heart shaped archways that we walked through. There was a small water feature as well.

    We felt very prepared for our visit with our fans and umbrellas which look great in pics. My umbrella also got borrowed by someone to enhance their pic!

    The surprising thing was the number of vendors around the perimeter selling perfume, scarves, t shirts, roasted corn, fruit drinks, soft toys, games to win soft toys. Also had sideshow areas so well set up for kids. There were lots of places to sit in the shade with alcoves and tables. We did go into one shop for the aircon and had such a nice man not trying to hassle us to buy stuff so Trish ended up buying a scarf.

    We were pleased that we had gone early because it did get incredible hot. Was 39 but Google said it felt like 44 with the humidity and we weren’t disagreeing. So had a lovely ride back in a cool taxi and took cover in our room for a while.

    Then it was time for a swim again. We went earlier today so it was a bit hotter, but there is a huge waterfall feature in the pool which helps to cool all the surrounding area. There was a guy in the pool doing butterfly laps. It was funny when he was trying to tell a family of 5 that their position was impeding his self generated swimming lane. It is a pretty small pool and not really intended for a serious swim but he made the most of it.

    After another small rest in our room, which we love, with the king single beds, and the great aircon! The only tv we get is CNN or BBC and they are both pretty sobering with the crisis in Israel and the earthquake in Afghanistan.

    Then time for the mall. We wanted to get a restaurant table with a view of the fountains, and booked Joe’s Cafe for 6pm. Then there were 3 things I wanted to purchase which I had seen yesterday but decided on later. My crocs, a handheld fan and a phone case. The mall is really huge, but these 3 shops were sort of in a similar place. I was rather impressed that we left the cafe, bought the 3 things and were back within half an hour. Of course then the first show which should have been at 6 didn’t start. But we saw the next 3 shows and had an amazing dinner. Both chose a quinoa and avocado salad and had a dessert.

    It took around half an hour to get back to the hotel. It isn’t a long walk, but we need to go through several sets of lights at an intersection with lots of connecting roads so it takes while.

    15,807 steps and 40 degrees. I am writing this at 10 pm and it is 34 degrees.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 40 Dubai

    9 октября 2023 г., Объединенные Арабские Эмираты ⋅ ☀️ 39 °C

    Another day and another great breakfast in the hotel. Turmeric shots and omelettes for us every day. Then we caught a taxi to The Frame which is a very high structure oriented so old Dubai is on one side and new Dubai is on the other.

    Funny story about this. On my first trip to Dubai with Allan Rohde 8 years ago we went to a park and walked all the way round trying to work out what was inside and how could we get in. I have just today realised that this was the same park and they would have been constructing the frame at the time so the whole area was fenced off as a construction site.

    It was nice again to go earlier in the morning for less people and we were up in the lift pretty quickly and having fun talking pictures. Part of the floor was glass which I didn’t expect. But was thinking the other day that we have never walked on a glass floor after seeing funny videos where the glass floors are shown to crack and seeing people’s reactions. It was quite confronting to walk on it to start with as we were 140m up but we got used to it and just walked across to get from side to side. They did take some great pics of us, but $55 was a bit steep when we took some ourselves as well. That would have been a good place for the selfie stick which wasn’t in my bag.

    Then a Uber back to our nice cool hotel and time to pack up again. It has been nice to be here for 3 nights and able to checkout at 5pm. So plenty of time to pack, then go to the pool and to warm up and do final dry of some clothes lol. We will get a taxi at 5pm for our flight at 9pm. Flying for 7 hours and hopefully sleeping as it will be 9am in Singapore when we get there.

    So far 5,000 steps and 39 degrees.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 41 Singapore

    10 октября 2023 г., Сингапур ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Short blog today.

    Flight was just ok, 7 hours would have been nice to sleep and then wake up at 8:30am here. But they started the food service a couple of hours into the flight, and then woke people up for more food a couple of hours later, so neither of us got much sleep.

    Both Dubai and Singapore airports were really empty which was pretty surprising. We got a taxi to our hotel and were checked in by 10am which was great. Our room is 12m square which I sort of missed when booking it. But it has great aircon, was over the road from a laundry and was pretty cheap.

    We had a sleep until 1.30, then went in search of an atm to get cash for the washing. That took a while and we went past an astonishing number of food places and little supermarkets. The ATM wasn’t where Google said it was, so we retraced our steps and found it closer to our hotel. We bought some supplies and tasted jackfruit which was rather nice.

    Our lunch was a fried rice dish and some sort of corn dish. Also nice and so much cheaper than Dubai. Then we did washing, went for a short walk got some chicken sate on sticks and fries for dinner and had that back at the hotel.

    We are nearly at the last episode of Sex Education, but Trish missed most of the 2nd to last one, I didn’t realise she was asleep.

    Steps would have been around 10,000 and of course the temperature now is hot after than forecast so was 33 today and expecting that for the next 3 days as well, damn!

    Bed time now at 8.30…    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 42 Singapore

    11 октября 2023 г., Сингапур ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We slept for 10 hours and woke up feeling a bit refreshed. Our first trial of the public transport was great. We have enabled our Wise cards on our Google Pay and so it was an easy tap on and then off with our phones, just so easy. We took a bus and then a train to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and then ended up in a very flash mall. So flash that the shops weren’t open at 9am when we got there. We went in search of breakfast and Trish had a pastry from Starbucks. We didn’t feel like the other options available from the food court at that early time. Then we went in search of the Gardens by the Bay. We went to the top of the mall, found a good viewing spot for the evening light shows, and walked around the top and over a bridge, through the Marina Bay Sands hotel and then were at the gardens.

    There are a lot of free areas to walk around the gardens, an amazing 144m sculpture of many different endangered animals and lots of toilets and food areas. We chose to pay to go into 3 extra areas which was well worth it.

    The Super Tree observatory was good, and very cool on the inside. It was a bit annoying not being able to have a clear view due to the artificial tree branches. But when we went to catch the lift down, we realised there was a set of stairs upwards and then felt really silly as we had been there for about half an hour and were missing out on the amazing view one floor up. We met some Australians there who took our pics. There are a lot of Australians who pop over here even though it is a 8 hour flight.

    Then it was time for some food so we visited the Jurassic food hall. That was pretty neat as it was set up as the opening cafe in the Jurassic Park movies. Every now and then the dinosaurs would move which startled us the first time.

    Our next stop was the “Avatar: The experience at Cloud Forest”. This was simply amazing. It was in a huge dome and the plants were watered by misting which happened every 2 hours. There were many things there that came from the Avatar movie including a booth so we could avatar ourselves, and also the ability to ride a banshee. There were 6 stories, with a lift to the top, and then a gradual walk down with lots of different plants. On the ground floor was an orchid exhibit which was just stunning. We stayed there for about 2 hours and really enjoyed it. Next stop was a short walk to the Flower dome which as a chrysanthemum exhibition with a Mongolian theme. There were many more lovely sights to see there as well.

    We were well and truly knackered by this stage as it was very hot - how unusual! I went and took a video of the sculpture with the animals which Trisha recovered in the shade. Then we got lazy and caught a little bus for the 1km back to a train station, though it was still at least 500m from the drop off point to the actual station.

    A quick train ride and then a further walk to visit the Mustafa Centre. Well this was very different to what I had expected. I knew it was a place where you could buy anything and was something to be experienced. In reality it was about 4 floors of an extremely long building with no corridors with shops off either side, just loads of goods to be sold everywhere. It was rather chaotic and we walked the length of about 3 normal supermarkets in search of some potato chips of all things. We also found some blueberries and found a checkout. It was interesting when we entered the building as they tied up our bags with cable ties so we couldn’t steal anything and the things we purchased also had the plastic bags cable tied up. On our way our we also found a couple more gadgets.

    So we were really really tired by then. Walked about a km to find a direct bus back to our hotel, had a rest when we got back, then went and found some dinner to bring back here. We had Nasi Goreng Satay skewers, Sweet and sour chicken and all tasted great but there was no way that we could finish it all.

    Sex Education is now finished so we have started on Outlander from the first episode lol.

    17,958 steps and 33 degrees - so much muggier than Dubai though and that was bad enough.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023

    Day 43 Singapore

    12 октября 2023 г., Сингапур ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We both felt a bit tired this morning after the big day yesterday. We considered a couple of options like Sentosa island and the wildlife park but ended up going to Chinatown. We spent a bit of time in a Buddhist temple which had 4 floors and a ceremony going at the time. Then we went over a courtyard to the mall where there were lots of clothing options and I might have bought a couple of tops. We had a banana for breakfast so were a bit hungry by that time, but not quite ready for the range of unusual delicacies in the food court. I don’t think I will ever be ready for frog porridge! So a coconut bun for me and a cheese bun for Trish. The heat was out in force by then so we thought just one more temple and then the bus back, What actually happened?

    A walk through a number of interesting stalls, a visit to another temple, a stop at a chocolate shop for a gelato and aircon. Then a walk through more interesting shops (including a Tintin shop) to get a train for a bit. When we left the train to walk to our bus stop we were in front of a big mall and feeling quite hungry by that time and we found a very cool Vietnamese restaurant called Paper Ice. We were seated and then waited for a while to be served. But it was so interesting watching the robots deliver the food to the various tables. Then it occurred to us that maybe we were supposed to order remotely as well and finally noticed the QR code on the table mat. We had an amazing meal, quite simple but very tasty.

    Then back out to wait for the bus. At one stage all the traffic stopped, must have been stopped by police as they then arrived escorting some important person. Finally our bus arrived but by the time we got back to our hotel it was around 4pm so not such a short day after all.

    This is our last night of our holiday and we celebrated that in our usual fine fashion, eating dinner in our hotel and watching some tv. We had gone out earlier to get some supplies, but just couldn’t be bothered eating out. It is very hot and humid here.

    Our hotel room has grown on us, partly cos of the amazing aircon and the location has been pretty good as well. I can’t believe that I will be sleeping in my own bed in 2 nights, though need to kick Glynis out of it lol.

    One thing we have noticed here is how friendly and polite people are in general. They often give way in buses or escalators, say excuse me and sorry if they get in the way. Maybe it’s just because we got used to it not happening in Europe where there were all manner of queue jumpers and pushy people. There are a number of positive messages around the city re helping others, giving up seats etc.

    So our incredible number of steps today was 8,752 and 33 degrees again.

    We will be doing a final pack in the morning and chucking a few things out like the plastic plates that have served us so well. Some of our clothes are a bit threadbare as well from being washed so much lol.    Читать далее

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  • Europe with Trisha 2023
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    Day 44 Heading home

    13 октября 2023 г., Сингапур ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We have had a few leisurely mornings but today took the cake. Our flight was at 7.30pm and we could check out late. We had bought some coconut buns (a bit odd but rather nice, cooked coconut centre in a soft white roll) and bananas. We had a bit of packing to do, lots of things that we could throw away like our plastic plates and endless receipts that we had accumulated from all over the place. We did that while watching a couple more episodes from series one of Outlander, Trisha’s Netflix has been very useful with all the smart tvs.

    We left about 12.30 and took a taxi to the airport, at this stage of our holiday taxis seem to be a much better option than public transport! The taxi had the aircon on so cool that I was pleased to get out into the heat for a few minutes.

    We were leaving from terminal 1 which had the cool water feature and huge mall. First stop was to a chocolate brownie shop for a really decadent treat. We took a couple of pics and then walked through the over bridge to terminal 2 to build up some steps but then caught the cute little train back. Then we got a bit carried away in the Turtle shop which had a number of cool things in it like the softest wee cuddly toys like those we had seen in Dubai, great variety of usb fans which could have been useful earlier and various stationery options. I had taken out $200 Singapore dollars when we arrived which we have shared. Turtle was great as we paid them with our remaining cash and the rest on our wise cards ie by phone tapping. We loooooove the phone tapping as the phones are always on us with the cards in a safe place.

    Just wandering around and then we noticed a croc shop. I had googled that in the mall we were at yesterday but hadn’t thought about one being here. Now that I have 3 pairs of crocs maybe it was time to decorate some lol. We went to several floors looking at the water feature. Then had to go back to Turtle as Caitlin had put in a request for a fox stuffed toy. Then I might have had to get one as well! Pillows on the flight you know.

    10,000 steps and 33 degrees outside. We spent less that 10 mins outside today though so that doesn’t really count. So we have a 7 hour flight to Sunday then 3 hours to Auckland. And hopefully John hasn’t disowned Trish and we will see him at the airport.

    Ciao ciao ciao!    Читать далее

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    Окончание поездки
    14 октября 2023 г.