Reset search
EUROPEEUROPE
SatelliteEdit route

EUROPE

August - October 2023
Travelling to Dubai, Italy, France and Singapore Read more
  • 25footprints
  • 7countries
  • 51days
  • 206photos
  • 30videos
  • 39.5kkilometers
  • 35.1kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerEUROPE
    2
    Day 3

    DAY 2

    August 21, 2023 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ 🌙 33 °C

    Day 2 was a highlight. We were driven from Dubai into the desert (30 to 40 minutes) onto a 100 square mile reserve. Firstly we went on a camel ride. He/she can take some weight. This was followed by a drive through the desert where we saw gazelles. Drove in a in an open top Mercedes Benz 4 wheel drive through sandy tracks and to the top of huge sand dunes. This was followed by a 3 course meal and some spectacular entertainment.Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 8

    Day 5, 6 and 7

    August 26, 2023 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    This is our third night in Positano. That was one of my 3 bucket list places. It is very busy here. There's
    4 000 locals and 12 000 visitors a day. We can't work out how some people get to their houses, all built into the cliff faces. Many young people visiting. They need to do what Dubai did and move sand from Australia to these beaches. People are sitting on towels on rock. It looks so uncomfortable. There's 3 beaches at Positano covered in umbrellas. They are like sardines. Had some lovely Italian meals are the the gelato is amazing. Lots of shops and restaurants for the tourists. The internal road around the town is very narrow, with buses very close to the buildings. The easiest way to get around is on a scooter.
    Photo (1) Positano Beach - after we arrived we had lunch over-looking this beach. (2) the view from our accommodation (3) the view from the bar on the top of our accommodation
    (4) the launching of the luggage on the flying fox down to our rooms (5) some delicious Italian pasta (6) early morning view from our room (7) sometimes one vehicle can't pass another vehicle on the opposite side of the road (8) video leaving for Capri
    (9) arriving in Capri where we sat down and bought a water and soft drink. We were asked to leave this restaurant as you are unable to sit there and drink bottled water. Maybe we needed to buy another drink that wasn't water and or food. So we moved off and bought drinks and food elsewhere.
    Beautiful weather on the water both days.    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    1
    Day 10

    Day 8 and 9

    August 28, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    On day 8 we took the train from Naples to Rome and checked into our hotel. That night with our tour group of 31 and our guide we went to a dinner party hosted by a fantastic Italian family. She cooked a beautiful 4 course meal for us and this was followed by karaoke. Its hard to put into words how much fun this night was and what great hosts they were.

    Day 9 - (Rome) We took a tour through St Peters Basilica, followed by a bus trip around the sites of Rome. There was a walking tour of more sites in the early afternoon. Late afternoon we toured the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed in the chapel). Dinner was in the Vatican Museum. All tours today were guided.
    Photo 1 - High speed train from Naples to Rome. This train travelled up to 170 km/h.

    Photo 2 Dinner at a private residence
    Video 1 - Dinner at private residence
    Photos 3 - 7 St Peter's Basilica
    Video 2 - St Peter's Basilica
    Photo 8 - Vatican garden
    Photo 9 - Vatican Museum - dates not boobs
    Photo 10 - Dinner in the Vatican Museum    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 13

    Day 10 and 11

    August 31, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Day 10 - we went to the ruins of Pompei which is a UNESCO world
    heritage site and did a guided tour. Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. The city and its residents were burried in 20 ft of pumice and ash containing gases. There was no lava in the eruption. We only completed one-sixth of the site in a couple of hours.

    Photo 1 - fairly tough walking conditions
    Photo 2 - Town Square
    Photo 3 - acheologists have used the voids to construct plastic moulds to recreate the exact location and position people died in
    Photo 4 - bakery

    Day 11 - Our group travelled to Florence where we completed a guided city walk. There seems to be a lot of churches and statues here. At the end of the walking tour we visited the Accademia Museum where the Statue of David resides.

    Photo 5 - Basilica of Santa Croce - burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo and many others
    Photo 6 - Duomo of Firenze - 3rd biggest church in the world. It took over 140 years to complete.
    Photo 7 - Fountain of Neptune
    Photo 8 - Statue of David. This is a very popular chap. There are over
    7 000 pre-booked tickets to see him per day. He is 13 ft high and carved from a single block of marble.

    Day 11 night - the group took the bus to Parrcheggio Restaurant on top of a hill outside Florence for a 6 course meal. The road was very steep and narrow. Several times the manual bus had to reverse to get around corners. I was feeling scared on the trip and wanted to get out and walk the last 50 metres.

    Photo 9 - restaurant front
    Photo 10 - outside restaurant
    Photo 11 - zucchini risotto made by the chef in front of us as was a grape cake which was part of dessert.

    Video 1 - Pompei City Ruins    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 14

    Day 13

    September 1, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Off to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa Cathedral and Baptisery. The tower was built over a 199 year period. It began to sink during construction of the second floor due to soft ground which could not support its weight. It is 57 m high and has a of lean of 4 degrees.

    We then moved onto Farroria il Poggio a hilltop winery, olive grove, shop and restaurant. They grow 7 varieties of grapes to make wine. They also make olive oil and balsamic vinegar. All our lunches and dinners have included red and white wines. No beer for John and no bourbon for Shelley. Looking forward to getting on cruise to catch up.

    Photo 1 - the tower
    Photo 2 and 3 - inside Pisa Cathedral    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    2
    Day 15

    Day 14, 15 and 16

    September 2, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Day 14 - We travelled from Florence to Venice. On route we stopped for lunch at FIC, an Italian Food Theme Park dedicated to agri-food and gastronomy. In short it's an 8 hectare Italian/Sicilian delicatessen with pavilions displaying how foods are made eg mozzarella, cooking classes and restaurants.

    That night we had the magical Venice tour. From the hotel we took a water taxi to St Marks square (the biggest public square in Venice) where we split up into small groups for dinner. One of the ladies was almost too scared to get in the taxi as it bounced around the edge of the canal. Its quite choppy with all the activity. In the end she took her shoes off and eventually made it. The taxi travelled up the Grand Canal past a lot of palaces. We then all met up in a bar where an orchestra was playing. It was very relaxing sitting there watching the passing parade and listening to the music which was not all classical.

    Day 15- Venice - we both took a day off the tour due to head colds. At least we had a lovely room in the Hilton Hotel on a canal edge to rest up in.

    Day 16 - Venice - took the water taxi for about half an hour to the Murano Island hand-blown glass factory. This was a highlight so far. A guy with good English gave us a tour of the factory. There were 3 tradespeople working on a piece of jewellery, a clam shell and a drinking glass. All of these products start from fine sand. The colours come from metals like magnesium and cobalt being added. There was a large retail outlet with many decorative pieces, glassware and jewellery. John liked a horse - price 15 000 euros - roughly $22 000. It's still in the shop. We then went over to St Marks Square. As this was the last night of the tour a celebratory dinner was held on the canal about 400 metres from the hotel before everyone headed off. We had a fantastic tour guide (Filippo) who we will be giving the highest rating to.

    Photos 1 - 3 - FIC - Italian Food Theme Park
    Photo 4 - View of our hotel in Venice
    Video 1 - Water taxi through the Grand Canal
    Photo 5 - Murano Island - glass blowing a drinking glass
    Video 2 - St Mark's Basilica
    Photo 6 - St Mark's Basilica
    Photos 7 to 10 - Venice canals
    Photo 11 - moving trucks
    Photo 12 - Last night celebratory farewell dinner    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 16

    Day 12

    September 3, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We left Florence and travelled to San Gimignano which is a hilltop medieval town 25 miles from Florence. It's called the region's Glamour Girl. Some of the towers were built as a refuge against attackers, others to show how noble the family was. Our tour guide told us Gelateria Dondoli had won best gelato in the world twice. We were given a free voucher to allow us to sample. Some unusal flavours: mango, coconut and sticky rice and rasperries and Tuscan rosemary. It has one main street (mall, no cars) with shops that sell quality leather goods, shoes, ceramics, clothing and some take home food items etc. A good selection of cafes and restaurants.

    Video - 1 over-looking Florence
    Photos - 1 and 2 - the entrance to San Gimignano main street
    Photo - 3 - one of the side streets    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English