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The Europe we missed

April - May 2018
During our trip around Europe last year we did not manage to go to Italy and since we had cruise credits we picked an itinerary that took us around the boot plus a couple of other countries. While in Europe, we are adding the Russian river cruise. Read more
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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 1

    Here we go again

    April 14, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    So it has been 6 months since we came back from Europe and now we are heading off again to pick up some of the places we missed This came about because on our last trip the cruise line had offered $800 per person for flights but failed to release their flights in time for us to take advantage of the cheaper air. After some whinging from us (nothing like a good whinge) they offered us $1600 in cruise credits provided we booked another cruise within 12 months. We were able to combine a Mediterranean cruise, mainly around Italy with a Russian river cruise which had a fly free offer so we managed to get to Europe without actually paying for flights.....bonus!

    Shari dropped us at Varsity train station (thanks Shari!) as we are staying at a hotel near the airport. Easy peasy, stored our luggage in luggage racks and got a seat, hardly anyone on the train... until next station (Robina) when about 3000 people embarked (ok, slight exaggeration) due to spectators travelling to the Commonwealth Games. Standing room only. We didn't care, we had our seats. It was only crowded for a few stations though so it didn't really matter.

    Quiet motel, nothing flash and we headed off to the Eat Street Markets ( about a half hour walk) for dinner. Very balmy evening, amazing for mid April. The Eat Street Markets were pretty crowded but we had a couple of nice dishes (a pork belly with a spicy green apple salad, and a salt and pepper calamari, followed by a Tim Tam cheesecake sundae). Fortunately we had that half hour walk back to burn of our dinner. It really feels as if our holiday has started.

    Midday flight tomorrow - Brisbane to Singapore.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 2

    Not the best travel day

    April 15, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    It is pretty safe to say that this has been a schmozle. Arrived in plenty of time to catch our flight to Singapore when, about an hour before boarding we were advised the flight was cancelled. No flights to Singapore for the rest of the day and we just had to be patient and Qantas will rebook our flights to the next destination. In the meantime they bused us all to a hotel in the city with instructions to ring the Qantas number or wait until we received a SMS from them.

    We got a rebooking for Tuesday with an early flight to Sydney and then to Singapore from there. The Commonwealth games were finishing today, that is why there were no flights available on Monday. This booking did not seem to get us to Barcelona in time to meet our flight so we spent the next almost 3 hours (mostly on hold) to Qantas to explain our predicament. Also busy contacting our travel agent who assisted us with emails and text messages flying back and forth (about the only thing flying apart from a few expletives from Brad)

    Finally, at around 7pm we received a message that we had flights to Singapore leaving tomorrow, BUT!, we had to get to Melbourne tonight on a Virgin flight which we had to pay for but will be reimbursed. So, pack up bags, taxi to airport again, and on a plane to Melbourne which arrives at around 11.30pm. ( I am currently updating my blog on the plane). Arrived safely in Melbourne and had a message that we had been booked into the Park Royal straight across the road from the airport. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day but we seem to have ended up further away from our destination than we were this morning.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 4

    Barcelona or Bust!

    April 17, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    It took quite a while but in the last couple of days we have spent around 24 hours in the air. Brisbane to Melbourne (2 hrs), Melbourne to Singapore (8hrs), Singapore to Munich (12hrs), Munich to Barcelona (2hrs). Apart from the initial cancelled flight from Brisbane that necessitated our unscheduled flight to Melbourne, we also had a delayed flight out of Melbourne because a passenger had a medical issue and could not fly so their luggage had to be located and removed from the plane before we left making us an hour late from take off. No problems with the next flight but we only had just over an hour to meet our next connection in Munich however our flight was late so we missed that one but they booked us onto another flight that left a couple of hours later (and they gave us vouchers - €7 each for some breakfast)

    We join our cruise tomorrow so updating the blog will be whenever we have access to WiFi but I will see how it goes.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 5

    .....and sail away!

    April 18, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    I am pleased to report that today has gone smoothly. Our hotel was fairly basic but located in a great position being a very short walk from the major hub of the city. Thought it may have been noisy but it wasn't. Had time for another walk down La Rambles, this time with camera in hand for a few shots of the area. It seems the locals don't really get moving until 10am as the shops were still closed.

    We organised a taxi for 11am and it arrived at exactly 11am. Embarkation was not that busy and being "3* mariners" we were able to board earlier. Lunch, tour of the ship, welcome cocktail with the captain for return guests, unpack our bags, mandatory life-boat drill and dinner filled in the rest of the day. We intended to go to the evening entertainment but we were just so tired we decided to call it a day. Probably the only people that go to bed at 9.30pm on a cruise ship.

    Ocean is smooth, weather is fine and we are just arriving into Marseille for our first port of call. With a bit of luck will find WiFi hotspot to post this.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 6

    A day in Marseille

    April 19, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Beautiful warm sunny day with temperatures that were just right. We had not booked any tours and just decided to explore Marseille on our own. Shuttle bus dropped us in town and we walked a couple of km to the Palais et Parc Lonchamp which is basically a monument to celebrate water. Very pretty area with fountains and statues and gardens. On our trek up the hill there was a massive protest going on which seemed to involve unions from all public sectors such as transport, education, health, construction etc. Not sure what they were protesting about but it seemed to be anti-Macron (French President) sentiment. There had to be thousands of people marching / chanting / sirens etc. At one point just as we were walking past, someone had thrown a rather large thunder- bunger under a car and the resulting explosion and smoke really made our hearts race because we didn't know what was happening.

    Wandered back along the marina to catch the Petite train which would take us up
    to Basillique de Notre Dame de la Garde which gave us a good panoramic view over the city. We also drove past the Castle of If where Jose Custodia Faria was imprisoned and was the basis of the story written by Alexandre Dumas " The Count of Monte Cristo". All in all out was a pretty good day - only spent €16 (on the train) - so certainly not breaking the budget and got plenty of exercise as we walked about 10km. Tomorrow we head to Monte Carlo and we have a full day booked tour which should be good.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 7

    Monte Carlo, Monaco

    April 20, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Another day, another country...this time one of the world's smallest countries, Monaco and it's main region Monte Carlo. The only smaller country is The Vatican City, Monaco is well known for its Casino, Princess Grace, and of course the famous Formula 1 car race, but more about that later.

    We had a tour, rather temptingly titled "Jewels of Cote d'Azur" which was basically a bus ride along the French Riviera to Nice, visiting the small town of Eze along the way. Eze is a village perched high on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Mediterranean. There are only about 50 inhabitants that live there which is quite understandable because you have to climb rather steepish hills to get there - cars can only go so far. We wandered around the narrow alleyways until we found a courtyard that had fantastic views. Brad was busy getting some photos when a well dressed gentleman came after us to advise us this was a private terrace - there was a sign on the gate (if they wanted it private they should have closed the gate). Didn't matter, Brad had already taken the photos.

    Then we headed to Nice, which is really just another city. Their beach is covered in large pebbles about the size of your palm, not really conducive to sunbathing but the water looked nice. Had a large flat area dotted with water jets that kids, adults and dogs were enjoying and I would not have minded having a go myself but we were off to lunch and I don't think a wet t-shirt was quite appropriate.

    After lunch it was back to Monte Carlo to check out some of the highlights such as the palace where Princess Grace/Prince Rainier lived and where Princess Caroline lives, the cathedral they were buried in, and nd the Monte Carlo Casino (ho humm....just another casino that costs €12 to just enter the gambling area although we were permitted to enter the main hall free of charge).

    Finally, to end the day we walked past of the Grand Prix circuit. The race is on next month and all the barricades and grandstands were being erected - crowds of people everywhere - absolute mayhem! Still, it was a good day even though we were very tired at the end.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 8

    Pisa and Florence

    April 21, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Ship docked in Livorno and from there we had a small group tour to Pisa (to see the leaning tower of course) and then on to Florence. We arrived at Pisa fairly early and ther were very few people around....nice! The leaning tower of Pisa started to lean after 3 levels so instead of fixing the footings or whatever the architect tried to straighten it up. The result, according to our guide was that it is shaped like a banana. The tower is actually a bell tower for the cathedral and there is an equally impressive circular building called a baptistry.

    From Pisa we drove towards Florence (about an hour or so) and were dropped off in the city centre (one of the advantages of doing asmall group tour as the buses simply would not fit). Florence is the home of Michaelangelo's David. Actually, it is the home of 2 David's - the exact replica which is outside on public view - and the original inside the museum. We didn't bother going inside but I'm sure we wouldn't really be able to tell the difference.

    Other sights to see in Florence are the Duomo (church) and baptistry, both made from white, pink and green marble; the Ponte Vecchio which is a bridge that crosses the river Arno and has shops lining the sides. It was a big day and we did a lot of walking. We couldn't get over the crowds of people but this seems to be the norm in Europe.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 9

    Rome in a day

    April 22, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    They say Rome want built in a day but we certainly tried to walk it in a day. Rome is a good hour from the port of Civitaveccia and we were bussed to the station to catch the train into Rome. We had reservations to the Colosseum which turned out to be a big mistake as we couldn't find the place to exchange the tickets and spent half an hour waiting in the wrong line. After going back and forth a couple of times an information guide suggested we buy tickets to a guided tour leaving in 10 minutes and save all the queuing otherwise it would possibly be a couple of hours in lines. So it cost us a little extra but we were a bit time poor so it was worth it. Always wanted to see the Colosseum so now we have and can cross that one of our list of notable world landmarks.

    Today (Sunday) was incredibly crowded. I don't know if this is the norm but there must have been some special occasion because there was a parade with Roman soldiers etc. Someone said something about it being Rome's birthday..... not sure? From the Colosseum we walked to Trevi fountain, trying to follow a tourist map that really isn't that detailed but we found by following throngs of people we reached our destination. Photo taken, dipped our hands in the water, then moved on to our next destination... the Spanish Steps (once again following the crowds).

    Don't really know much about the Spanish Steps except it is a really pretty time of year to visit as there were large pots of flowering pink and white azaleas lining the steps. We climbed to the top..I noticed there were 12 steps in each level (was this significant?) but I forgot to count how many groups of 12 steps there were... it was quite a few and we were puffing a bit when we got to the top. From there we could see the dome of St Peter's Basilica which we would head towards.

    We missed the Parthenon, maybe we will pick it up on our return. Walked over the Tiber river towards St Peters Square and now we have entered the smallest country in the world - The Vatican City. The Sistene Chapel and Museums are not open today being a Sunday so it was just photos of the square - pretty impressive anyway. Back to the train station, very tired having walked approximately 11-12 km. Brad got back to Civitaveccia and discovered his shoe had blown its sole - lucky it lasted the day. He will have to buy new shoes though.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 10

    The Amalfi Coast

    April 23, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We docked in Naples, a large city which has the towering Mt Vesuvius as its backdrop. Many people choose to go to Pompeii as their chosen tour but as we have already seen it, we opted for a small bus tour to the Amalfi Coast. I say tour rather lightly... it was more we had a driver take us to the Amalfi Coast. The extent of the conversation or information from the guide was " Look over there, the large white house on the point belongs to Sophia Loren" and "This is the factory where they make Limoncello" (Ok, so I didnt really mind this stop because we tasted a few samples of this rather strong spirit)

    Lunch was a bit ordinary too, but I guess the main drawcard of visiting the Amalfi Coast is the spectacular views and the photos really don't do it justice. Unfortunately there was a haze in the air so we didn't see it at is best but it was still very nice. The beauty of the small group is we could drive to these areas, a tourist bus simply would not be able to manoeuvre the narrow, winding roads.

    Brad was also able to replace his shoes that died during our walk around Rome, so that was good.    Read more

  • Brad and Mandy PearceThe Europe we missed
    Day 11

    Taormina

    April 24, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The next couple of entries will be rather brief because we have been to them both on a previous cruise so we didn't do any special activities in Taormina. Last time we docked in Messina and were driven to Taormina which is just a touristy village set up high with fantastic views. This time we anchored at Taormina and used tender boats to port. The town is nestled at the foothills of Mt Etna which, as you can see from the photo, is smoking. I guess it is only a matter of time before Taormina goes the way of Pompeii, buried under a volcanic eruption. Brad and I just walked along the seafront which really wasn't the touristy area and stopped at a cafe to buy a gelati and use their WiFi (where I sent the last post from). Had a very short walk on their horrible pebbly beach but that was even worse than walking on very soft sand. After that we caught the tender boats back to the ship so it was a pretty uneventful day for us. Some people did the Godfather tour (afterall, this is Sicily) and said it was really enjoyable .Read more

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