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Robin Noorland
Robin Noorland

Robin Noorland

traveled in 8 countries Read more
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  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London - Bangkok

    August 11, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Heading home! A happy/sad time. Flight wasn't until 8.45pm so we checked out at 11am and walked to Harrods to see what all the hype is. Harrods has got great "stuff", but it's all highend "stuff". Bit rich for us. The gift shop was really good though. So instead we found our last pub and indulged in our last London beers.

    On our way back we found another museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum. Even though we'd seen more than enough museums, we just had to pop in for a looksee.

    Good flight home, apart from nearly two hours queueing at Etihad checkin counter. Then after all that queueing we got the worst seats; all the way at the back of the plane and in the two middle seats of four. Oh well, that's life. Nice people on either side of us.

    We got back to Lily House at 9.30pm on Monday. Yah!

    Now we count down to our move back to NZ...    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 4, part 3

    August 10, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Hour and a half and we were in Oxford City. A stunning city. We did a walking tour of some of the Oxford University buildings (didn't go in any as a lot of it is closed for the summer break). Stunning place! We could have spent the day there. The buildings and beautiful old trees were breathtaking.

    We left the group to have lunch (at 5pm! Lol).

    Some of the Harry Potter film sets were based on the buildings and halls of Oxford. The cemetery scene was filmed in a tiny cemetery in Central Oxford. Very cool.

    It was a cold blustery day in Briton. We were drenched at Stonehenge and blown dry, then wet and redried again in Oxford.

    Last day of our month long holiday tomorrow 😔.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 4, part 2

    August 10, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Stonehenge has a very mysterious past. Building of it started 5,000 years ago and was finished 4,000 years ago. Before the stones were placed it was a burial site. Not a lot is known about it as it predates history and its purpose can only be speculated. Fascinating!

    We only had just over an hour but it was enough, especially with 60 knot winds and squally rain. Not great, but we got a few pics.

    Back on the bus at 2.10pm and off to Oxford City for a walking tour, lunch and free time.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 4, part 1

    August 10, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today was THE earliest start so far. No brekkie, out the door at 6.45am! On the tube heading for the Victoria Coach Centre. We managed to get tickets a couple of days ago for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and a walking tour of Oxford City. Our guide Sacha was brilliant. She's studied anthropology at Oxford and knows everything.

    We left London by bus at 8am. Got to Windsor Castle at 8.45 and waited in line for it to open at 9.30am. We were one of the first in so, as advised, we went straight to the state apartments where early Kings, Queens and guests lived or stayed. Then it was a wander around the grounds. This is the queen's normal residence but her and Phillip are in Scotland for the summer.

    At 11am we saw the changing of the guard - very good stuff. Back on the bus at 11.15 and off to Stonehenge.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Rosetta Stone
    Cleopatra

    London, day 3

    August 9, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Bit of a chill day today. Our feet are hurting 😔. Headed out at 10am to the British Museum. Big queues, but moved quickly.

    Amazing museum, but it was a bit of deja vu... I think this is museum four. We skipped Greek and Roman bits, but did all the rest. After three hours we were out. Maybe because we're getting into home mode, but we're both feeling a bit fatigued.

    We got back to the hotel and watched tv; haven't done that in ages.

    Robin booked us into an Italian restaurant (Locanda Ottoemezzo) for dinner. We're getting real familiar with the area and even gave a couple from Plymouth directions, lol.

    Early start tomorrow. Got a guided tour to Windsor Palace and Stonehenge. We'll be tubing to Victoria Coach Station by 7.30am...    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 2, part 2

    August 8, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Next up, tubed it to Buckingham Palace. Couldn't go in but spent 15 minutes taking pics, lol. We tried to get tickets on a tour, but it was fully booked out days ahead. We hd a delicious but expensive lunch at The Running Horse in Mayfair. Took in the sights of Oxford St, but the crowds were too much so we left pretty quickly.

    Then we tubed it to see Westminster Abbey, Parliament House and Big Ben. Unfortunately, Big Ben was wrapped in scaffolding (apparently since May 2017!) for repairs. Beautiful buildings.

    At 7.30pm we had tickets to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Oh wow, stupendous! It makes me want to do a show every night.. but that won't be happening and Robin couldn't handle that much singing and dancing.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 2, part 1

    August 8, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Massive day again. Our feet are really starting to suffer after weeks of pounding the pavements.

    Hit the Underground again and headed to Kensington Palace. We did a self guided tour of the rooms used by Victoria and Albert, previously by Elizabeth I. It was fantastic! They even had actors playing Victoria and Elizabeth talking to visitors as if it were the mid-1800s.

    A third of Kensington is dedicated to a museum and the rest is the residence of Kate, William and also Beatrice. I wonder if any of them were looking out their window watching us?    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 1, part 2

    August 7, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Time for some lunch so we crossed London Bridge for lunch at the Dean Swift pub. Then we jumped on a water taxi to Trafalgar Square (and London Eye). Next it was a visit to the National Gallery, which was pretty awesome.

    Topped off the day with a delicious curry dinner at Memories of India, Kensington.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    London, day 1, part 1

    August 7, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Our first day in London. No plans so we headed to London Tower on the underground train. The underground was easy to work out; just like Bangkok only with more lines. Tip: you no longer need an Oyster card, it's the same price to tap in and out using your credit card and it's cheaper than buying a ticket. Used same method for the river taxi.

    Spent four hours at Tower of London and saw the crown jewels. It's huge! The queues were a pain, but it is high season.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Look close, it's London Bridge

    From Athens to London

    August 6, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Flew to London on a 3.30pm flight. Spent the morning cruising the hotel - late up, late brekky - checked out at 12pm, checked into our flight and spent a couple of hours in the British Airways lounge. We were bumped up to business when we made the booking - something about putting us on the wrong flight and changing us, blah blah. Small plane, just with an extra seat between us and better food.

    Arrived at our Hotel, Park City Grand Plaza in Kensington, at about 7pm.

    First thing we did? Find the closest corner pub! Had to be done. We went to the Builders Arms, just 6 mins walk.

    Day over.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Athens, Greece, day 3, part 2

    August 5, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After our visit to the Acropolis, we headed down to meet the tour group and headed to (another) museum. Three museums in three days. I'm happy, but Robin was a bit over them. This museum and Delphi were specific to the area, but the National Archaeological Museum covered all of Greece.

    Instead of going back to our hotel in the bus we decided to walk back through the Plaka District. It's a cobblestoned village-like area with local crafts, stores, tavernas. Very pretty.

    We chilled out at the pool for a few hours and headed back to Plaka for dinner at a traditional Greek restaurant. Super popular place and great food. We had dinner at Pamet Tsipouro.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Athens, Greece, day 3, part 1

    August 5, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Another tour today. 8am pick up for a half day city tour, including a guided tour of the Acropolis and the museum.

    Drove around Athens for one and a half hours visiting the Olympic stadium and seeing various buildings and statues. Was really interesting.

    We then got to the Acropolis and with our guide headed to the top! Was a much much easier walk than yesterday's hike to Delphi.

    The ruins are super spectacular. And of course the Parthenon was incredible to see. Massive! There are still people working on the repairs every day. It was build in 432BC.

    However, the crowds were ridiculous. The staff were hearding everyone up like sheep but it worked well. Once we were at the top we were free to wander around. It was spectacular.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Athens, Greece, day 2

    August 4, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Early'ish start. In the foya for an 8am pick-up. We did an eleven hour tour to Delphi; five hour round trip. 2,000 metres above sea level, Delphi is a roman achaeological site dating back to the 7th century BC and where Apollo resided and had his temple. This is also where the precursor to the Olympic Games was held every four years. There's so much more history, but I don't have the room here. Fascinating mythological stories too.

    Great site with incredible ruins but very steep, and especially hard in 36c heat.

    After that we stopped for lunch at 2pm for traditional Greek food, then we stopped for 20 minutes in a tiny mountain town called Arachova, which is a huge ski town in winter.

    Driving back, again, we saw evidence of the economic crisis 11 years ago. There were sooo many abandoned commercial business in the rural areas and in Athens. Once we got into central Athens, the homeless were setting up on many of the streets and the rubbish was bad again.

    Finally got back at 7pm.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Athens, Greece, day 1

    August 3, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Off the ship by 8am and at the Meliá Athens by 8.30am. Obviously we couldn't check in so after a wee wait we wandered up to the Museum of Archaeology. Very impressive place. We spent over fours hours there! The oldest artifacts were three millennium BC (!) and the most recent were 100 AD, Roman times. Incredible!

    We got into our room, which is very average. Then we tried to find somewhere to eat, but so many places only serve drinks so it was back to the hotel rooftop bar/pool for food and wine. We've got an amazing view of the acropolis from the pool.

    So far Athens is surprising. Its obvious that the economy is still struggling; everything is heavily taxed and therefore quite expensive. Unemployment is very high and the streets are dirty with heaps of places shutdown and padlocked. And the graffiti is terrible. It's a bit sad.

    We've booked two days of touring before heading to London on Tuesday morning.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Mykanos, Greece, part 2

    August 2, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After our wonderful swim, we traveled back across the island to the town centre. We tripped around with the guide through the streets, including Little Vienna. The rest of the tour group left on the bus but we stayed longer.

    Time for lunch! We had a marvelous timber plank filled with tzatziki, chicken/capsicum skewers, Greek salad and bread. Yummy!

    We carried on around to the water taxi, hopped on and headed back to the ship.

    It's our last day on board before we disembark tomorrow in Athens. Kind of sad to leave the ship as it almost feels like home now. But we've still got three days in Greece before flying to London.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Mykanos, Greece, part 1

    August 2, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Okay, Mykanos is my new favourite place so far. It's very rustic but sooo beautiful. Every building is white with various ocean coloured or red shutters and doors.

    Had a tour that started at 8.30am for four hours. Drove up into the hills and to another monastery. This time it homed monks, of which there is currently one only, lol. Very serene.

    Next we went to the far side of Mykanos for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea. Yah! Finally got to swim in the Mediterranean sea! Omg, it was amazing; clear blue water, cold, deep and so full of salt we could just float. Could have stayed there all day.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Chania, Crete, Greece

    August 1, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Late start today. Shipped docked at 12pm. Last night we did a quiz show after dinner with Elvis and Jeanne. We've done something with them the last couple of nights after dinner in the dining room. Last night it was a 70s music trivia. We did pretty good (thanks to Elvis), but didn't win.

    Scorcher today. Was mid 30s but felt like 40!

    We had a guided tour at 12.30pm for four hours starting with a drop off at the waterfront. Beautiful place. Old buildings, restaurants, sail boars, lighthouse and a stunning pier. We wandered for a bit then indulged in a beer (of course) and a seafood platter. At the end of the meal the waiter gave us a tiny carafe of "raki", a wine brandy. Wow, blew our heads off. Was more like vodka than brandy.

    Next stop was a lookout over Chania then off to a monastery of nuns. It was very quaint and small. But was a privilege to be allowed into their monastery. They gave us water and Loukoumi (Greek turkish delight). So nice.

    Overall, Chania is a bit of a sad little place with a lot of poverty and in need of a big clean up. But it's small and the pier area is amazing.

    Then it was back to the ship by 4.30pm. We chilled by the pool with a couple of cocktails. Quiet night. Dinner in the casual dining area then a movie in our room.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Corfu, Greece

    July 31, 2019 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Easy day with nothing booked but a return bus from ship to city. Headed out at 9.30am. In hindsight, the €15 each return bus wasn't necessary. We only used it one way and at the port there was a local bus for €1.50 each one way - oh well, live and learn lol.

    Lovely day starting with a visit to the Old Fort from the 15th century. Then a wander through town with its beautiful old buildings, then around the waterfront to the free shuttle back to the shop. Of course there was a quick beer at the marina to cool down and admire all the gorgeous boats.

    Back on board by 2.30pm and chilling on our deck for a few hours. Dinner in the dining lounge and then hit the sack.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Kortor, Montenegro, part 2

    July 30, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Next it was off to look at the mosaics of a dug up dwelling (our guide thinks it's more likely to have been a hospital) near Kortor. The mosaic floors are original and date back at least to Roman times.

    Then we wandered through a quaint church area and back to the van.

    Final stop and where we all said farewells, was near the port and the Old Town made up of a walled town with medieval buildings. It's now full of shops, restaurants, boutique hotels and a few residents. We walked back to the ship at about 4pm.

    We splurged tonight and bought dinner. Our meals are prepaid, but for a fancy dinner it's extra. It was US$24 each, but wow was it yummy. Heavenly steaks, seafood and dessert. Sooo good!

    Robin decided to have one night in the casino so I went to a show in the theatre and saw Michael Bacala, an awesome violinist. When I got back to the casino Robin was breaking even. BUT he beat the bank! and ultimately turned US$200 into US$740, so that will pay our ship bill off nicely.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Kortor, Montenegro, part 1

    July 30, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We had another guided tour today, but we had to take a tender to the dock and find our tour guide - easy peasy.

    We hit the road with three other couples and did a bit of a drive up and then down the hills and arrived in beautiful Perast, which is where Our Lady of the Rock is located. It has limited vehicle access, sits at the base of the mountains and is spread along the shoreline.

    We did a foot tour. It was so gorgeous and picturesque. Not too hot today either; maybe mid-20sC.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Sea day

    July 29, 2019, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    A day at sea heading to Kortor, Montenegro. Very "cruisy" day by the pool, reading, sipping cocktails. After five very full on days we were really looking forward to a bit of down time.

    We did bingo and won nothing even though we had nine cards for all four games (36 chances to win). Hopeless.

    Dinner with our dining group at 8pm. In Rome half the people disembarked; they were either doing a seven day cruise or were starting a 14 day cruise ending in Barcelona. We met our two new table mates; Dorian, an old lady from New York and her 21 year old granddaughter. Both are really lovely.

    Not many photos but I'll put a few randoms on this page.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Solerno, Italy, part 2

    July 28, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Pompeii! Wow, wow, wow! The stories, the original city and, the bodies; incredible. We were there for two hours with our guide. It blows your mind that we're walking the streets of this great city and going into their homes that were destroyed 1,940 years ago.Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Solerno, Italy part 1

    July 28, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today we had a fully guided tour and it was amazing! Today was my favourite trip so far. Robin's favourite so far is Florence.

    Pick up was 8.30am - a very respectful start. We had a wonderful tour guide and a super-driver. Wow, he handled the winding, narrow hills and streets with incredible skill.

    First stop was at a lemonchello factory (Limoncello di Capri) for sampling and buying. Yum! We didn't buy lemonchello, but I bought a gorgeous Capri watch.

    Next stop was Sorento. Oh wow! Such a beautiful town. Stunning buildings, quaint restaurants and shops, great shopping, stunning beaches and waterfront... all of it was picture-perfect. We had two hours there, then it was off to Pompeii.      Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Rome, Italy, part 2

    July 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    By now it was nearly 1pm. It took until 2pm to actually get into the Vatican. OMG, there were thousands of people, it was ridiculous. So by 2.10pm we'd ditched the tour because we were being picked up at 3pm. We then whizzed through the buildings, saw the Sisten Chapel, took photos and were out the front for our 3pm pickup. It was all way way too rushed. Anyone planning on going to see the Vatican book ahead and give yourself at least three hours. Having said all that, it is a truly amazing place and absolutely beautiful.

    We dropped some people off at the airport and got back to the ship about 5pm.

    Went to a music quiz event and failed miserably. In bed by 9pm, lmfao! 

    Another absolutely exhausting (but fantastic) day.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Rome, Italy, part 1

    July 27, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Cruised into Civitavecchia early this morning with a bump and a bang. Early start... 7.30am we had a shuttle to catch to the coach parking, then it was off to Rome for the day.

    Another stinking hot day and a city full of high season travellers. We had a great driver and only 12 of us in a minivan. Arrived about 9am at Vatican City for a quick 45 minute look around.  We bought tickets for a full tour starting at 12.45pm and hop on hop off bus tickets. Then it was to the Colloseum for a 45 minute look. Didn't go in as not enough time today. The outside was pretty awesome though and still with great views of the coloseum. Then into the city centre and dropped off in the city centre and being picked at 3pm outside the Vatican museum. It's an amazing city with, like the other places we've been to so far, incredible architecture.

    First stop for us, breakfast! Second stop for us, finding a Vodafone shop to get more data - very important. By now it was 11.00am so we figured we should hop on the bus to the Vatican as we had to do half a loop to get there. Well, we couldn't find the bus stop. Robin used a real (going back to the dark ages 😅) map as the new sim card was an hour away from being activated. So we headed in the direction Robin said and still couldn't find the stop. I popped into a tailors and asked the shopkeeper where to get to the bus. Turns out we were going in the wrong direction and were half way to the Vatican, so we just kept walking. Got close to Vatican, stopped for a beer - geez it was hot! Got the sim card working. Discovered we were still 20 minutes from the Vatican and it was 12.30! We ran. Got there in time, joined the group, phew.     Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019

    Florence, Italy, part 2

    July 26, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    The heat was getting to us so the solution was to duck into some shops, which ended up with Robin buying a leather overnight bag. It's gorgeous and was relatively cheap compared to NZ. Maybe not compared to Bangkok, but you can't be sure you're getting the real deal there.

    Back in the minivan at 3pm and we headed back to Livorno via the countryside route and a stop at a summit for some photo ops. The drive back was so pretty with vineyards, olive groves and gorgeous Tuscan homes. Our driver, Nikki, was a crazy man (apparently all Italians are) and after a close call with a car we were back onboard the ship in an hour and forty-five minutes.    Read more

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