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EUROPE

August - October 2023
Travelling to Dubai, Italy, France and Singapore Read more
  • 25footprints
  • 7countries
  • 51days
  • 206photos
  • 30videos
  • 39.5kkilometers
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  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 52

    Brisbane airport

    October 9, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Woohoo just landed back in Oz !! Even though this has been the trip of a lifetime for us it's always great to be home. We really got lucky with the weather just one partly rainy day. Cheers everyone

  • TravelerEUROPE
    1
    Day 50

    Day 48 and 49

    October 7, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Day 48 - Second last day of our trip - now in Singapore to break-up the trip home. We went over to the Marina Bay area, where there is a light show each night.

    Photo 1 and 2 - views from the hotel room
    Video 1 - Marina Bay complex - includes casino and huge high end shopping mall

    Day 49 - trip to Gardens by the Bay - 101 hectares of gardens including the Cloud Forest which is home to the worlds tallest indoor waterfalls and a lush mountain clad with plants from around the world. Also saw the Flower Dome which is the largest greenhouse in the world.

    Photos 3 - 9 Cloud Forest
    Video 2 - Cloud Forest
    Photos 10, 11 - Flower Dome
    Photo 12 - Complimentary high tea (smoko) at the hotel
    Photo 13 - Qantas lounge, ready to come home

    Many thanks to all of you who have followed along. Hope the posts havent been too long-winded but they are a record for us.

    Should be in Brisbane about 6.35am tomorrow (Monday) morning.    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 48

    Day 46 and 47

    October 5, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    Day 46 - our last day in Paris. We visited Musee d l'orangie which houses 8 of the great water lillies compositions by Monet. They are each in egg shaped rooms and are 2 metres tall and between 6 and 17 metres in length, making a total of approximately 100 metres. Fancy dragging John through an art gallery on his last day. We then went to St Germain area of Paris to a recommended cafe with a very limited menu. We had to stand in line and wait as there were only about 10 small tables. The waitress spoke to us in the line and said they were running out of food so she told us what was left in case we didnt want to stay. We left Paris that night for Dubai.

    Dat 47 - arrived in a Dubai late after having to circle for a while then boarded the plane for Singapore. Its hot in the plane and we are told we will be leaving 40 minutes late, which surprised the airline stewardess. Eventually got going 1 hour late. But then got to a beautiful hotel in Singapore at midnight.

    Photo 1 and Video 1 - Monet's water lillies    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    11
    Day 46

    Days 44 and 45

    October 3, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Day 44
    Day 2 of Battlefields tour.

    Photos - 1 and 2- after attending a short rememberance ceremony at the Menin Gates we had dinner with our guide at a really nice hotel in Ypres, Belgium called the Depot. Volunteers conduct this service which includes playing the last post at 8pm 365 nights a year in appreciation of all those who served - an incredible comittment
    Photo 3 - Tyne Cot - largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world
    Photo 4 - letter advising parents their son is deceased
    Photo 5 - remains of caterpillar mine crater - one of a series of mines that were placed along the German front line by tunnelling

    Day 45
    The tour of The Catacombs in Paris is approximately 2 km long and deep underground. It contains the bones of over 6 million people. There's 140 steps to go down and 112 to get out. The height dips to 5' 11" in some places. It's a bit freaky down there quite macabre and a bit eerie. Thankfully reasonably well lit !!

    Photos 6 and 7- Catacomb's tunnels
    Photos 8 - 10 - bones

    Last night in Paris heading for Singapore via Dubai tomorrow night.    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
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    Day 45–46

    Days 42 and 43

    October 2, 2023 in Belgium ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Day 42 was meant to be utopia for John who found a sports bar to watch the rugby league grand final live. He then went to the Prix de l'arc de Triomphe (Melbourne Cup of Europe). At least the races part was good !!
    Photos 1 - 3- sports bar and races
    Video 1 - race crowd do the Viking clap like the Canberra raiders

    Day 43
    Photo 4 - Adelaide Cemetary outside Villers Bretonneux. An unknown soldier has been removed from this cemetary and placed in Canberra

    Photos 5, - 7with our guide at the John Monash Centre - a museum and interpretative centre that commemorates Australian servicemen and women who served on the Western Front during the first world war
    Photo 8 - battlefields and war cemetaries visited today
    Photo 9 - Memorial to women at the Lochnagar Crater
    Video 2 - Lochnagar Crater (tunnel dug under major German command centre in order to blow it up)
    Photo 10 - memorial to all animals used in the war effort - horses, mules, dogs and pigeons
    Photo 11 - Pheasant Wood cemetary at Fromelles - newest war
    cemetary created following the discovery of 6 mass graves in 2008
    Photo 12 - VC Corner Australian Cemetary - the only cemetary that has just Australian soldiers (known and unknown)    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    1111
    Day 43

    Day 40 and 41

    September 30, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Day 40 - didnt quite get through the 14 km of artwork in the Lourve - the place is massive. Got the highlights with the guide though. It took 3 centuries to build.

    Photos 1 and 2 - Lourve
    Photo 3 - biggest painting - The Wedding at Cana - 7 square metres
    Photo 4 - the guide believes some of the inspitation for the Nike "tick" came from this statue
    Photo 5 - John with the statue, Diane de Versailles
    Photo 6 - difficult to get close to this one with the crowds

    We then went on a dinner cruise on the Seine River.

    Photo 7 - dinner cruise
    Photo 8 - Eiffel Tower is spectacular lit up

    Video 1 - people enjoying the music on the River Seine
    Video 2 - dinner cruise

    Day 41 - Managed to navigate two trains to Montmarte. It is known for its artistic history and Basilica of Sacre Coure. We took the Petit train around the area and then the funicular (cable car) to the bottom of the Basilica.

    Photo 9 - Mickey Mouse welcoming the kids to Montmarte
    Photo 10 - the little train
    Photo 11 - Moulin Rouge
    Photo 12 - Basilica
    Photo 13 - One of multiple fences with locks - there's thousands of them.    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 39–40

    Day 37, 38 and 39

    September 26, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Sorry for any confusion at the end of last footprint - location had a malfunction and had us slipping in to England. The Normandy beaches were where we stopped and definitely didn't swim the English channel !!

    Day 37 - a guided tour of the ruins of Chateau Gaillard in the Les Andelys commune. The medieval castle was built between 1196 and 1198 by Richard the Lionheart. Some quaint shops in this village.
    Video 1 - views of the river approaching Chateau Gaillard

    Photo 1, 2 and 3 - Chateau Gaillard

    Day 38 - on our last day of the Viking river cruise we went to Chateau de Malmaison, the residence of Napolean and Josephine. They grow standard lantana in the garden.

    Photo 4 and 5 - Chateau de Malmaison
    Photo 6 and 7- Josephine and Napolean

    Video 2 - house boats on River Seine

    Day 39 - we took a tour on the hop-on and hop-off bus around Paris. The day we did the Panaramic Paris bus and walking it was raining at the beginning so we caught up on sights on the top deck of the bus.

    Photo 8 - there's 900 of these green boxes on the Seine River selling second-hand books and souvenirs.
    Photos - 9 and 10 - hop-on, hop- off bus through Paris
    Photo 11 - Arc de Triomphe - the juncture of 12 avenues of traffic - chaos !!
    Photo 12 - military museum and tomb of Napolean
    Photo 13 - Eiffel Tower    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
    Day 38–41

    Day 35 and 36

    September 25, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Day 35 - we did a walking tour of Rouen where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. We visited the Joan of Arc church. At La Couronne restaurant, the oldest restaurant in France they serve "pressed duck" where they squeeze the duck blood and make it into a sauce. Yuk. This restaurant has a Michelin star rating.

    Video 1 - view from boat on the river Seine
    Photo 1 - commemorative plaque where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake
    Photo 2 - stained glass in Joan of Arc church
    Photo 3 - La Couronne restaurant
    Photos 4 and 5 - Rouen

    Day 36 - we started by visiting the Tapestry in Bayeux. The tapestry is an embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres long and 50 cm tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England led by William the Conquerer challenging Harold II, King of England.

    Photo 6 - Bayeux Museum
    Photo 7 - the Tapestry (no photos allowed inside)
    Photo 8 - Viking boat replica

    From there we went to Juno Beach where the Canadian contingent of the D Day landing came ashore on 6 June, 1944.

    Photo 9 - German gun bunker that were placed every 500 metres along the Normandy Beach
    Photo 10 - concrete obstacles made by the Germans and placed in the water to prevent the landing boats coming ashore
    Video 2 - Juno Beach, Normandy

    Next stop was the Pegasus Bridge Museum. The original bridge was removed and put in the museum grounds and a replica bridge was constructed in the original location. The taking of this bridge is still regarded as one of most daring and successful aviation missions of World War 2. The gliders carrying 25 soldiers each were used at night so that they could land undectected as the bridge needed to be taken in tact.

    Photo 11 - original Pegasus Bridge
    Photo 12 - replica glider

    Our final stop was at the Ranville War Cemetery where John and I placed a wreath provided by Viking Cruises at the foot of the only two Australian airmen buried there. The Australian National Anthem was then played and a minute's silence observed.

    Photo 13 - wreath laid in Ranville War Cemetery    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
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    Day 37

    Days 32, 33 and 34

    September 24, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Day 32 - we flew from Santorini - Athens - Paris. It took an hour to go from the airport to the port where we boarded our Viking River cruise on the Seine River (from 21 to 28 September). Traffic delays due to King Charles being here.

    Day 33 - our excursion was Panaramic Paris. Our first day of wet weather so photos were difficult. We had a half hour coffee break and after it the rain began to clear. By the time we got to the Eiffel tower it was fine.

    Day 34 - Today's excursion was to Monet's home and garden. This is one of the busiest places in the world. They plant 135 000 bulbs in one of the seasons as well as annuals.

    Photo 1 - Eiffel Tower
    Photo 2 - Arc de Triomphe - burial place of the unknown soldier
    Photo 3 and 4 - Restoration of Notre Dame after fire in 2019.
    Photo 5 - caught up with Ben and Claire. Two large beers were ordered. Schooner size was expected however approximately 1500 mls arrived. Duly consumed.
    Photo 6 - Viking Skaga
    Video 1 - we pased a lot of house boats as we left Paris
    Photo 7 and 8 - au Chateau de la Roche-Guyon - a restored castle dating back to to 1200s. In 1943 the Germans built a flak-tower/bunker in the castle which became German General Rommel's HQ in 1944
    Video 2 - views of river from the above castle
    Photos 9 - 13 - Claude Monet, garden and kitchen    Read more

  • TravelerEUROPE
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    11
    Day 31

    Day 29, 30 and 31

    September 18, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Been in Santorini for 3 days. It's only a 45 minute flight from Athens. Took longer to go from the port to the airport in Athens by bus.
    Today we took a tour around the important Santorini landmarks. We were lucky as the cruise ship passengers had not arrived by 9am so we got a private 3.5 hr tour. To ensure homes collect rainwater from a domed roof, the goverment will not give residents power unless they include this. All drinking water is shipped in. Santorini was round and flat until an earthquake split it into 3 islands, 3600 years ago. The lava flow created the height you can see in photos. In 1956 everything was destroyed except the very well built homes of the weathy. There's up to 5 000 000 visitors a year. Every morning (except in winter) there's 3 - 7 cruise ships in the bay.

    Video 1 - we are staying in Fira the capital of Santorini.
    Photo 1 - view from our accommodation
    Photo 2 - foot spa in Fira. I think the small fish in here must like dead skin cells.
    Photo 3 - cable car
    Photo 4 - Fira at night
    Photo 5 - those oh so famous blue domes in Oia (prounced ear)
    Photo 6 - main square in Oia
    Photo 7 - due to extreme winds in Santorini in winter, grapes are left low to the ground as a bush, not trained on a trellis like most vineyards. The branches are woven around the trunk to create a basket. The vine in this photo is 150 years old.
    Photos 8 - 11 - Santorini    Read more

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