Three months in Europe

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Three months in Europe Brad and Mandy Pearce
Geneva
September 13, 2017 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Snapshot
Where - Geneva, Switzerland
Weather - mostly fine

Our first day i Switzerland was spent in centre of the United Nations, Geneva. We parked the car on the outer suburbs of Geneva and caught a train in. We were fortunate to find someone at the bus stop who could speak English and was able to show us how to purchase bus tickets from the machine. Seemingly simple tasks become quite difficult when you cannot read / speak the language. Then an elderly gentleman spoke to us (in either French or German) but immediately switched to English. I think he was a bit lonely and just wanted someone to talk to. He let us know that 80% of people who live in Geneva are foreigners, not Swiss.

So what is Geneva like? Much the same as many cities. Quite attractive as it has a large lake and is surrounded by mountains. There is a large water jet and there is also a floral clock which apparently has the largest second hand in the world. Of course there are larger clocks, they just don't have a second hand. Geneva is mainly known for being the seat of many organisations such as the United Nations, World Health Organisation, Red Cross and UNICEF (and probably others). We did a couple of bus tours and saw the main highlights.

We shall spend almost a week in Switzerland, mainly around the Swiss Alps.Read more
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Three months in Europe Brad and Mandy Pearce
Simply Spectacular Switzerland
September 15, 2017 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Snapshot
Where - Swiss Alps region
Weather - cool and sometimes showers

I know the photos won't do it justice, but Switzerland scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. We stayed at alittle self contained apartment in Brienz which was a good place to access some of the mountains you may have heard a about such as the Matterhorn and the Eiger.

We had a really good day exploring a coup,e of areas that featured in some movies...mainly the James Bond movie - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (the George Lazenby one) where part of the movie was filmed at Piz Gloria. Even though the movie was about 50 years ago, they still have a whole exhibit there. We had to catch 4 cable cars to get to the top where you had views of the Eiger, Monck and Jungfrau mountain peaks. I also remember the Eiger mountain from the movie The Eiger Sanction (Clint Eastwood). We were lucky enough to go when we did because the clouds came rolling in and another hour later we would not have been able to see a thing.

After this we drove to the little place called Grindelwald which has a gondola going up the mountain. (Cable car = 50+ people standing, gondola = max 4 people sitting; guess which one I preferred!) We thought the gondola was only taking us up to the top of the hill we could see but it turned out that was only the halfway point, there was a whole other mountain to climb up. At the top there was a trek (an easy 25 minute hike - they said - hah! NOT!) While the path was even enough, it was the equivalent of climbing 50 floors and while I took several rest stops, I did make it and we donned our paper crowns, took a photo to prove that we were King (or Queen) of the mountain.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day....the next day was raining so we cancelled any sightseeing and just relaxed . We are really winding down now and starting to feel ready to come home.Read more
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Three months in Europe Brad and Mandy Pearce
An Interesting Day in Switzerland
September 19, 2017 in Switzerland ⋅ 🌧 1 °C
Snapshot
Where - Still in the Swiss Alps
Weather - some showers

From Brienz we drove further east into Switzerland and out was an interesting drive to say the least. In one small village the traffic came to a standstill and nobody was going anywhere for about an hour or so. Being the end of summer, it was time bring the cows down for the winter. The ceremonies, known as Alpabzug, Alpabfahrt or the Desalpe (depending on what part of Switzerland you are in - French, German or perhaps Italian influenced) and the farmers and cowherders often dress up in traditional dress and the cows are decorated with flower garlands and a great big cowbell is strapped around their necks. The bigger the bell is a bit of a status symbol and would possibly indicate a wealthier farmer. They walk the cows down through the village and all traffic stops until it is done. It all seemed a bit strange but it was a spectacle. I think the huge bells are only for the ceremony and I would hope they are removed when they arrive at their winter home as these constantly clanging bells would be very annoying to the cows. In fact, many cows do wear bells while they are up in the mountains (so they can be found when it comes to herding?), because you could always hear cowbells wherever you went.

After our encounter with the cow parade, we drove through a mountain pass called Furkerstrasse which had an incredible number of twists and turns and hairpin bends we have ever been on. Brad said he enjoyed driving along this road. (Check the photo)

We stopped beside the road for a bite to eat and would you believe it - there was a Heilan Coo (Highland Cow) that we saw in Scotland but could not get a photo of. Here was one in Switzerland - sporting a large cowbell which I don't think the Scottish highland cows wear bells but we will pretend this is one from Scotland.

Our Airbnb accommodation had fantastic views and lovely gardens complete with a large fish pond filled with Koi carp. They also had 3 boisterous Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs that would just about knock you over if you were not careful. From Switzerland we will make our way back to Paris.Read more
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Three months in Europe Brad and Mandy Pearce
Paris - End of the Journey...almost!
September 25, 2017 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
Snapshot
Where - Paris

We finally made it back to Paris where we planned to only go to the Palace of Versailles and also the summit of the Eiffel Tower. As we have already been to Paris we have seen the major attractions such as the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower (from the second level).

First, the Palace of Versailles. This place is opulence with a capital O! We visited here on a Saturday which is probably the busiest day and meant we had to queue. We enjoyed it so much that we queued twice because when we went through the first security gate we just joined the line but when we got to the head of the queue (after about an hour) we found out this was just for entering the palace - we were supposed to buy tickets from a side area which was not made obvious to us. Fortunately it was a nice day and we did not have anything else to do. It only took us another hour to queue up again and at least this time we chatted with another Australian family so the time went quickly. The palace is worthwhile seeing but I preferred the gardens.

We visited the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday after we dropped off our car. We ended up driving almost 15,300km - not bad for 2 months. Brad was glad to get it back in one piece. Things have changed around the Eiffel Tower since we were last here (5 years ago). Everybody could wander freely all around the base of the tower but now it is all fenced off and you have to pass through security to enter the area. Sign of the times I guess. Also, the Trocodero area had lovely fountains etc. but it was being redeveloped with what looked like a large stage area. Not quite sure what they have in mind. Anyway, the views from the summit were great and we got some nice photos.

We were staying in a small hotel quite close to the airport and apart from the visit to Versailles and the day spent at the Eiffel Tower we just relaxed and did nothing much except go for a couple of walks - packed and repacked our bags and got rid of all the unnecessary bits and pieces in an effort to lighten the load (we were dangerously close to exceeding our luggage allowance - you would think we would have it right by now)Read more
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Three months in Europe Brad and Mandy Pearce
One Last Hop and We Are Home
September 29, 2017 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C
Snapshot
Where - Abu Dhabi
Weather - hot

We are just waiting for our flight back to Brisbane after spending 2 days in Abu Dhabi. We had booked an Etihad stopover deal - 2 for the price of 1 with breakfast and 24hr check in / check out - which was great because our flight doesn't leave until around 10pm. Very reasonably priced as well.

Yesterday we went to Ferrari World - basically a theme park based around the Ferrari. It boasts the world's fastest roller coaster as well as the world's tallest loop on a roller coaster. We did the fastest one first and about 2 seconds into the ride I wondered what on earth was I doing here. Probably the scariest ride I've ever been on, followed by a close second by the highest loop coaster. Needless to say, we did not go back for seconds on any of those rides - we must be getting too old for all this now.

So, no pictures this time and boarding is about to commence. Next stop, hopefully, Brisbane.Read more
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Trip end
September 29, 2017

Geneva

Simply Spectacular Switzerland

An Interesting Day in Switzerland

Paris - End of the Journey...almost!

One Last Hop and We Are Home