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European Sunshine 2018

June - July 2018
From Lisbon to Paris with a huge adventure in between Read more
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  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 2

    Lisboa

    June 28, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Bem vindo a Lisboa! This place is more than beautiful enough to make up for the slog of a trip it takes to get here, rewind so I can't winge a little...
    Bux was all packed up with her bag at the door when I arrived home on Tuesday night, barely able to contain herself. What I remembered as a 9pm flight was actually a 4pm one, the perfect ingredient to push our least organised trip ever right up and over the edge into crazy house the morning of.
    The flight to Dubai couldn't have been better, they bumped us into a 40% empty section, so we all got to lush it up a bit, but we still hit the airport hotel for our 7 hr layover. Showered and refreshed we were off to Lisbon the next morning, it couldn't arrive quick enough.
    The departure taxi rank had well over a 200m queue, dejected we went looking for refreshment for it to die down and stumbled into the arrivals rank. Our driver was elated to take us to our hotel. No really, the only two english words he knew were "English" and "Australia" but that didn't hold him back, he ranted and gesticulated with such captivating fervour some of it had to stick. He told us our family role names (Pai, mãe, filho and filha), told us how bella Lisboa was for turismo, told me I had to try Sagres, but Super Bock was a much better cerveja. The only failing was us understanding why he was so excited by a particular monument, a gift from the people of Marrakesh, it features an important guy and lion on the top, he was particularly taken by the leão, he kept growling ferociously to ensure we grasped its power, but I'm afraid not it's significance :(
    Gab the rock star has excelled, picking a beautiful apartment right on the edge of Chiado. We strolled down the picturesque lanes until we found our way to the wider streets. We found a local restaurant with a Fado show tonight just around the corner so we know where we'll end up. We wander into a pastelaria for a whole bunch of sweet pastries then onto a shopping precinct.
    Everything is so close, and far away at the same time. It's just over there, but finding the right lane to get you there is impossible, with such a visual feast it hardly matters. TravelMan's guide to Lisbon is about as much research as we've done. It means I have the tie mirror and A Ginjinha as the only thing on a list for this part of the world, but buggered if I can see a path to Praça dom Pedro IV so give up. We wander in some shops mostly pulled along by the next perpetually cool looking place just down the road a bit. Eventually its refreshment time, on the hunt for a nice place to chill we set ourselves up in a square with a market, it's only a minute before Bux realises the Dolls Hospital "Hospital de Bonecas" also from the TravelMan episode is right in front of us! The 5th generation of the same family is still running the store, originally established in 1813. So far it's the perfect embodiment of this city, so quirky, artistic and with such rich historical legacy it is rightly so proud of. Somehow the stars have aligned and it turns out we've already been to Praça dom Pedro IV, but didn't realise. We head back to the square and find A Ginjina, the tiny walk up bar selling the famous sour cherry liquor, so delicious I have two! Emboldened I fancy myself in one of these summer Kangols, but the mirror doesn't match my minds eye andI have to pass. Into a T-Shirt shop full of smarmy quips Fid is in his element, He swoops up nearly a half dozen t-shirts and we head off to find the famous public tie mirror engraved with 'componha o nó da sua gravata’ (correct your tie’s knot) but alas 115 d Pedro square is a construction site.
    We strolled down rue Augusta towards Praça do Comércio, and I mean strolled, interesting shops and bars all along meant plenty of pit stops. The Plaza itself has been made over with a massive screen erected for world cup games. WIth over a thousand people sat neatly in front of it I imagined those red jerseys I could see on the screen must have been Portugese, but no this very and exuberant crowd was assembled for the Belguim v England game. The afternoon sun was wonderful down here on the harbour, hard to believe it's 7:30 in the evening!
    We get an Uber back to the Fado restaurant around the corner from our hotel and settle in the show. Such wonderful emotion, like our taxi driver, we have no idea what she's singing about, seems with this language the intensity is 80% of what is being communicated.
    We're home, absolutley busted, jet lag finally has the upper hand against our Lisbon excitement, time for bed!    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 3

    Lisboa

    June 29, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Famed for averaging 280 days of sunshine per year, today and tomorrow look to be statistically beyond average - grey and rain is the forecast. The weather can't get in the way of this city though, everything is such a visual feast there is little reason to worry about the sky.
    We're off to Fábrica Lisboa for breakfast, Fid decries them the best croissant he's had outside of Paris. How civil to enjoy a Super Bock and Ginjinha with my espresso and croissant! We plot our course for the day over breakfast - the YellowBus unlimited ticket. Hop On-Hop Off everything from the busses to trolly cars, a boat to Belem and even the funiculars. We opt for the long bus ride to orientate ourselves, out along the river to the worlds exhibition grounds and back along the river. We found out about the Statue the driver was so proud of, turns out we didn't understand as much as we thought, it had nothing to do with Marrakesh, nor is the lion anywhere near as significant as he made out!
    Such an old city means almost every 100m has a square or Praça dedicated to someone who did something important, I feel so ignorant about Portuguese history I know none of these people, mind you almost everyone is commemorated. One Praça is dedicated to the guy who used to sell lottery tickets there! We pass the bullring and discover in Portugal it is illegal to finish the bull in the ring, instead he is subdued and removed from the ring, and I assume dispatched in private, I doubt the bull cares for the courtesy.
    Back to Praça do Comercio, we stop for lunch in a Beer Museum, what are the odds? Fid couldn't hold back his interest any longer, he heads off to explore what the "Worlds Sexiest WC" might involve, he returns deflated that the sexiest thing about it was the woodwork. We're torn between the trolly car tour or the boat to Belem, but timing demands the trolly car.
    By far the coolest thing we've done so far, these things are insane. Such a glimpse into early 20th-century technology, the whole process involves such antiquated limitations. The driver gets out occasionally to manually adjust the rails at any junction that does suit his plans. If the combination of heat, weight and incline get too much the driver has to get out and spread sand on the tracks to boost his grip. Then there are the rail placements, set at a time when these lanes only knew the fall of human or horsefoot, there was little need to design for cars, as such cars need to get out of the way, the trolly can't. A pinnacle entertainment on the trip is just how close come drivers have parked their cars to the tracks. Never actually a problem but the drivers have to slow and be careful nonetheless.
    Back to the square and the rain is beginning now, we decide to skip the boat for the afternoon and wander up Rua Augusta again for a shop. This of course means Fid and I finding a FIFA screen and some Super Bock somewhere to pass the afternoon. We stroll, drink, shop, stroll, drink, shop all the way back to the Market square where we purchased the tickets this morning. By this time the litres of cerveja I've had over the afternoon are catching up with me. We're in the market where I somehow end up with some new suede shoes, cork wallet, and a whole bottle of delicious Ginjinha, Gab, in what a very clever piece of manipulative strategy, just bought some nuts.
    Never one to underplay, Gab sealed her stoic frugality and it's contrast to my self-indulgence by talking me into a new leather messenger bag, it is rather swish! A brief stroll through Martim Moniz led me to some nice young north African men ready to explain Portugal's unique strategy for their war on drugs. The kids were more than ready for dinner, and the African men had left me rather peckish myself, Pizza was the order, not sure I've had anything quite so delicious.
    An uber had us home and out of the rain, but not bothered by it in the least. Every hour only deepens our love of this place, what a city!    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 4

    Lisboa

    June 30, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    It's a bright sunny day and lazy day, our only plan is to make it to Belém then back to the square for the Portugal game tonight. Just around the corner, we find a guy our walking his pig, the pig is happily cleaning the streets of Friday nights fun. A cool shop dedicated to rubber duckies has them in every character and theme you could imagine, from the Ziggy Stardust to Einstein, everyone seems to be there, Bella is the only one to crumble thought with a pink unicorn inspired one.
    We're heading to the Mill for breakfast, but a 20 seat restaurant rated #1 on TripAdvisor for Lisbon breakfasts has quite a following by 10:30 am on a Saturday morning, we opt for a bite across the road at Chipie e Galette.
    We've really picked up the cruisy vibe of the day, we stroll down towards the water stopping at a couple of different cafés for some crazy 8s and Super Bock. Eventually, at the riverside we start our hunt for a Tuk-Tuk to take us to Belém, we find a sit on segue that Emerson can ride, then the gipsy market for some Chorizo and Ginjhina. No luck on the tuk-tuk puts us into an Uber.
    We haven't been up the river this far yet. It's the first time we see the April 25th bridge. It's a complete replica of the Golden Gate bridge built to by to the same architect of the San Francisco old sister, it is named to commemorate the 1974 revolution. While this version is slightly larger than the north American one, the statute of Christ the Redemer on the other side of the river is much smaller than it's south American cousin in Rio de Janeiro, we also pass the home of the President, slightly more impressive than the lodge :)
    We've found the Papa's of Portugal. Pastéis de Belém has a queue right down the street, a shop front stuffed with staff handing our thousands of their famous custard tarts, we queue for a few minutes and realise this is the take away queue, you can also just talk into their 400 seat restaurant and dine-in with close to no queue. We've found lunch. We sample from right across the menu and leave the Pastéis de Belé until last. Delicious if not a little too sweet for me, I'm feeling foggy for the next hour or so from the sugar rush :)
    Next door is the UNESCO listed Jerónimos Monastery a visual feast, but far too big and sprawling for us to conquer today. Across on the river we make our way to Padrão dos Descobrimen (the monument to the discoveries) yet more Portuguese history we're oblivious to, I know none of the people depicted, but their impact on the world is clear, the 5th most popular language on earth comes from this tiny town country of only 10m people and these are the explorer's that took Portugal to the world.
    We catch a ferry back down the river under the bridge and to the square, the thunder of the building crowd is amazing. We enter the throng packed with thousands of fans, the square has come into its own, one of the largest public squares in Europe it is still only half full. The local national commentators are doing their thing on live tv, a DJ has a massive stage thumping our rev up music. We visit O Martinho da Arcada e Lisboa, the oldest cafe in Lisbon, founded in 1782, but more importantly right on the edge of the square. It's 5:30 pm with the game set for 7 pm kickoff, we move to another restaurant back inside the main plaza and set ourselves up with a better view of the massive screen, the afternoon sun is warming the growing crowd, by kick off it has nearly doubled.
    Uruguay scores the first goal, poor Ronaldo has the weight of the nation on him, you see a few other numbers, but in front of us are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people in his number 7 jersey. By halftime, it is still 1:0 to Uruguay. We decide to head home to watch the second half. A guy has his DJI out flying over the crowd, the throng looks all the more impressive from a few meters up. We're into an Uber just in time to hear Pepe score the only goal for Portugal in this game, the streets light up with car horns and jubilation. So far Portugal is 1 win and two ties, it's currently another tied result with the streets screaming for another. Every cafe & public square has rigged up a telly and has at least a hundred people craning over each other to see it, all wishing desperately for some Ronaldo magic. It doesn't come through, minutes after Pepe balanced the ledger Cavani has returned for his second goal and returned it a 2:1 game. We make it back to our apartment in time to see the closing, desperate minutes. Fid says they've had over 60% possession, but Portugal can't close, defeated the streets fall quiet in disbelief for a few minutes, then saudade falls over the city, the fado bars will sing louder tonight.    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 5

    Porto

    July 1, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Will it fit? We've checked out of our apartment in Lisbon and working out how we get our bounty all the way to the Avis centre... 2 x Ubers is the only answer. The saudade at leaving this amazing city gives way to panic as we try to squeeze this groning bounty into the apparent "full-size sedan" that is a Talisman.
    We're off! Manual, wrong side of the road, Portuguese signage, thank St Anthony it's a quiet Sunday morning and we own the city! A few wrong turns, including apparently stealing a bus lane in front of a busload of police and I've safely acclimatised, We're off on the freeway where speed laws are as important as the drug ones, at 140 I'm 20 over the speed limit, but getting buzzed by everyone else treating it like an autobahn. A breakfast stop and a very testing hour of Gab's playlists later we're in Porto!
    The least planned adventure ever means we have no plan for Porto either. A few weeks ago some fellow reddit'er was after Sydney tourism tips, turns out he was from Porto and was set to be in Sydney just as we were arriving in his hometown. I gave him a bunch of things to check out and he reciprocated.
    A bunch of authorities from yours truly to Travel + Leisure call Livraria Lello the most beautiful bookshop in the world, JK Rowling credits its staircase and wonderous shelves as her inspiration for the Hogwarts library. The facade is already amazing, but enter and start ascending the stairs and your mouth too will drop. Skyward is a wonderous stained glass rendition of the founding Lello brothers moto "Decus in Labore" but the shelves are amazing. Each section boasts rough busts of the Authors of the section. Fair to say we were lost in here for some time. With everything from Ulysses to Wreck this Journal this place had us all sorted - they even had Manga for Fid while Gab was hunting anything on Seurat.
    Next up u/mamaguebos (no joke, do the translation yourself to see the kind of guy I'm taking direction from) says we should head to BASE, and he wasn't wrong. A magical setting somehow perched in an ancient olive grove in the middle of the city, the cool beats and way too strong Vodka dose for a very occasional drinker sees Gab a tad tipsier than she would normally allow in pleasant company.
    We stroll the avenue where, in a city mostly shut down for Sunday afternoon trade, Gab & Bux treat every open storefront as the oasis of retail relief they no doubt are. Thankfully the Spain v Russia Game is on and u/mamaguebos says Avenida dos Aliados is the place to be when an important game is on. Spoilt from yesterday in Lisbon the Ave isn't quite as impressive, but with two viewing stations, each with massive screens and Super Bock flowing this is the place to be. Unfortunately, the others in our party have read that the Maccas over on the side is the most "Beautiful McDonalds" in the world. Mind you Lisbon claimed the sexiest WC on the planet and that was a tad underwhelming. The Maccas did nothing to improve my assessment that perhaps the Portuguese are more given to hyperbole than other cultures.
    Next u/mamaguebos says we should check out Conga. There are two dishes this city is famous for, both seem enjoyed best at the conclusion of a hops-heavy evening. First is Francesinha, seems a Croque-monsieur in a tomato sauce (why?) the home of which is too far away. The second is Bifana, and Conga is it's home. A sweet fresh bun filled with sliced Pork in a wet spicy gravy actually tastes a lot better than it looks, and since I've never had it described to me before eating, I'm sure a truckload better than it sounds. A Caneca or two of Super Bock and we've enjoyed it enough.
    To take stock, so far u/mamaguebos has recommended cultural icons of the city whilst my family has b-lined for the maccas. As soon as I step out of Conga I'm assaulted by the pitch that we should visit the Portuguese version of Westfields so Bux can visit a London version of Myer that has opened a few stores here - if nothing else it has motivated Gab to get her head around Uber - she's booked a car and has us en route to Primark.
    Frankly it's too boring to document, we've been to Westfields for the afternoon. At least Fid and I got to sit in an Italian restaurant watching Croatia and Denmark battle it out all the way down to the shootout. Who cares - those smarmy Danes that took us down a few weeks ago went down to the Croatians - Perfecto!    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 6

    Santiago de Compostela

    July 2, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We’re off to Galo de Barcelos, the home of the famous Portuguese rooster! We only came here for the Rooster selfie, but wow what a beautiful little town. Such history and legend weeping from the walls. Even in this misty grey afternoon the history and richness of this town are in escapable.

    In Copenhagen the local council weeds the city streets with a flamethrower, here a lady is all dressed up in council clothes, down on her hands and knees picking the weeds from between the street cobblestones, that’s a community that cares.

    In a lazy arse kind of way we’re on our own pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, here in Galo de Barcelos we find a shell tile on the street to guide us. A short wander, a gander, a coffee and a local tart and we’re ready to head for España!

    Somehow the GPS is telling us it’ll take nearly 3 hours to travel just over 170kms, I wasn’t planning on that so I gun it down the freeway. We cross the border into Spain and realise the reason we’re 2.5 hours from target is we’re crossing a dateline, boom 1 hr of driving saved!

    So we’ve got a hotel in the pedestrian part of town, but we have a caravan of luggage to rival Khan. Car and luggage stowed, we’re into our hotel and ready to explore the home of St James. Before we even get in you can’t ignore how wonderful this town is, the pedestrian precinct is more on par with Vienna than Sienna with narrow alleys snaking all about the place. Brian Sewell’s “The Naked Pilgrim” introduced me to this place and the Camino de Santiago that brings people here. The church itself is magnificent covered in gleaming gold and cherubs and the statue of St James at its centre, we queue to pass him behind and touch his shoulder. Imagine walking for months to reach this end, or better yet the millions of Christians that have done it over the past 1200 years. The afternoon drizzle has us enjoy the cathedral a little longer than I had planned.

    Tapas is calling me, and I mean specifically me, my amigos are not interested in any of the plates I’ve ordered, more for me! I have a family rule about submersing ourselves in foreign things when away, for the other three it’s more honoured in the breach than the observance, but we spend countless hours debating. Well today the girls completely flipped and agreed with me wholeheartedly – it turns out ZARA is Spanish! The girls are off shopping whilst Fid and I enjoy a café. They return dejected, the shops here are less than impressive, it’s at the end of ancient pilgrimage route, and also a university town, how much shopping can pilgrims and students support?

    That’s us, we’re all set to return to our third floor, un-airconditioned, no fridge, no remote for the telly, no lounge, no elevator room and all bitch on Gab for choosing it. She responds as she should by ordering a large vodka, good night!

    July 2nd, 2018    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 7

    San Sebastian

    July 3, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I wake up thinking, I wonder where in Spain Zara was founded? Turns out it was here in Galicica, a slight jump off our route to San Sebastian. Over breakfast I pitch that we should head to A Carüna, the home of Zara, then on to San Sebastian. An easy pitch until I realise that when we booked San Sebastian, I was really thinking of Santander, San Sebastian is 7 hours away, across the northern coast of Spain snaking through the Pyrenees, and I just convinced everyone to add an extra half hour to our journey :(

    It's dreary grey drizzle as we head into A Corüna, Fid and I drop the girls at the home of Zara, somehow Bux has convinced herself this is as important as Gab strolling Rue Cambon, she may be right.

    Our morning distraction behind us, now we're off on a six hour run to San Sebastian. The realisation that it's so far has us contemplate cancellation, but at one of our most expensive, un-refundable bookings of the trip, we can't cancel.

    We're cutting across the northern coast of Spain, the mountains remind us of Piedmont in Northern Italy, or coming down through the Dolomites. Bux tries her latest YouTube sensation, a hot rolled dorito she finds in a truck stop with a predicable outcome. But apart from that, nothing else happened.

    We're a street back from the beach in San Sebastian - you have to come.

    We stroll the promenade, stop at "The London" for a beer and chips before heading into the old town. Here Tapas is replaced with Pintxos bars, as best I can tell the only difference is Tapas is a pre-prepared plate, Pintxos is a pre-prepared piece, but delicious! Gab hits the prawns, I hit Crab & quail egg, followed by black pudding and fried quail egg - this stuff is insane! Fid can't handle all the seafood so orders himself a sirloin - he's now a convert too. We stroll the old town hoping between Pintxos bars, artisanal t-shirt shops, and mini-mercardos, this is us for a few hours, wash rinse repeat - I could have kept going for days but they insisted we return.

    Nearly home Gab & Bux want a burger across the road so we watch the England v Columbia game on the telly across the street before heading home. This place is a mecca we will return to - as relaxed as Rapallo, food to rival Tokyo, an old town to beat Stockholm and a placa culture to beat Nice - San Sebastian wins it all - Paradise Found!

    July 3rd, 2018    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 8

    Bilbo

    July 4, 2018 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 21 °C

    Bux astonishes us all with her breakfast choices, Strawberry Toast, Donut and Chocolate cake, guess who's on holidays? The potential of a lost opportunity last night means we're back shopping in the old town before heading out today, I instantly regret eating breakfast, I could have had more Pintxos :(

    It's short one hour drive back to Bilbao, skirting back along the Pyranees, the weather is perfect, grey, misty, a drizzle or two here or there, just makes the whole thing look so much more dramatic than it already did, amazing.

    We're in Bilbao and hitting up a Pintxos bar for lunch, I love this region! Since we're heading back toward Galicia today I'm trying out the "th" on the "c" - ie gAliTHia, so far I've had one guy take me for Italian and another respond in English, I don't think I'm pulling it off.

    The Guggenheim is astounding. In this light, the titanium plates are taking on what Fid describes as a "Rose Gold" colour. Jeff Koons "Puppy" at the doorstep seems the final natural sign that Bux needs to assume us getting a puppy when we return home is a fait accompli, I almost agree. The current special exhibitions are Chagall and a Chinese modern art collective. The Chagall exhibition captures the girls, we last saw his work in a cathedral in Zurich I think. The Chinese exhibition is mostly political, there are a number of pieces reflecting on the 1990-2002 period. In this time Bejing won their Olympics bid and was admitted to the WTO. A number of pieces depicted it as the period that returned China to the world stage, hard not to make the parallels with Russia's current FIFA comp and their success at having Trump protest for their re-admission to the G8.

    Of the art here it's the installations that most captivate us, Koor's Tulips at the back is a magnificent, as is the Buckey ball piece. But it is the Joana Vasconcelos exhibition that captures us the most - fair to say she owns the space currently. On the approach her take on the Galo de Barcelos, "Pop Galo" caught us on the approach, her "EGERIA" is filling the atrium, snaking its way through every nook, it complements the space so well it should remain beyond her exhibition.
    Her saucepan stilettos had Gab in awe, whilst the bed with a blanket of contraceptive pill packets had me convinced the piece should be called "Safety Blanket" she isn't that obvious though. A Noiva, a chandelier made of tampons, is as impossible to describe the impact of as "The Call Centre" a Beretta made of telephones, magnificent! Her exhibit is the star of the museum at the moment.

    The rain has set in, so no strolling the medieval town this afternoon. We head to the mall near our hotel to look for a replacement bag for Gab, no luck. She finds a place in Google so we grab a taxi and head out there. Turns out we've taken ourselves to an outlet mall, but more importantly, now 15 minutes from the city, we've just discovered that a few years ago the Spanish taxi lobbyists shut down all ride management apps, so... It's impossible to open an app and hail a taxi, def a first world prob, but f*ing annoying standing around in the rain with no other option. It's also impossible to find a taxi at this outlet centre. We're a tad geographically challenged.

    Gab convinces the local petrol station guy to order us a taxi, crisis averted. The Bar in the hotel has more Pintxos and Paulaner, oh joyous days!
    I drink the bar dry of Paulaner and the girls convince me it's time to try the tattoo place again, we've decided it's a wrist fleur-de-lis with yo te cielo underneath, a tribute to our wedding symbol, our week in Spain, and Bux and I riffing on Frida Kahlo for the past few months - alas we're too late for Bilbotattoo to fit me in, no tattoo today :(

    July 4th, 2018    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 9

    Pamplona

    July 5, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    “This is a good place," he said.
    "There's a lot of liquor," I agreed.”

    We've driven all the way back and around to Pamplona. Our uncertainty about actually coming to Pamplona has meant we left this booking until the very end the city is full and we're in a motel on the outskirts of the city.

    We take an hour or two to get the washing done and work out how to ship off all our excess Portuguese shopping home. We're into a taxi and heading to Plaza del Castillo for some Hemingway spotting. The guy is a god of the town with so many cafes and restaurants featuring photos of him signing this, or drinking that.

    We have some lunch and what turns out to be my last serve of Pintxos, I miss it already. The square backs on to the bull run track, we stroll up if for the afternoon and find out balcony, we'll be right at the start of the run. If you're not shopping you're drinking on this street, Gab falls in love with an old lady and her Churros, I find a deli claiming to be selling cured sausages made from last years bulls, no bull.

    What a great place to hang, we stop in the square in front of the town hall for a spot, then we're off back to the motel, tomorrow is going to be huge.    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 14

    Genoa mistake

    July 10, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Mum & Dad will join us in Genoa today for lunch. In an attempt to limit traipsing mum all over the city I tried to book a restaurant so we had a no hassle afternoon. Unfortunately, far on the very of silicon valley, in a very spoilt traveller. None of the is table booking services work, I spend the early hours tracking down a restaurant that's open for lunch and taking online bookings. Port side I discover, just like their Spanish cousins, Italy had banned Uber! No bother we can get a taxi from the port and the restautant will call us one for a return trip.

    Just five KMs from the port, the Travis drop is right on the edge of there old town, at the bottom of a hill. We climb the hill through what otherwise looks like an ancient slumb, at the top of the hill we find out restaurant, doors closed. No bother they don't open until12pm, we a little early. A few minutes later a girl opens up, she carries out a bench for Mum and the kids to sit on and hangs a sign on the wall, it's Italian, we ignore it and wait for our 12pm table.

    We're right in antica here, there is a Saint Agostino church around the corner, Gab and I go for a wander while we wait, should only be a few hundred metres from the main square, but we can't find a path there. These buildings arrived century's ago, barely feet apart at some points, three tiny lanes conspire to hem us in least we get lost.

    It's 12pm, we return to the restaurant to find the doors locked shut! In our absence the girls had locked the doors and left. I finally pay attention to the sign she hung on the wall, a more careful study reveals their opening hours, with lunch only advailableon Sunday this week. Back down the hill we discover just how much you need uber. We're marooned on a busy street in melting heat and no taxis. I bury my head in the phone trying to find out how island live without Uber. Just as we've all depleted ourselves of hydration Gab successfully convinces the local petrol station guy to order us some taxis.

    Sorry star Gab saves the day and gets us to Piaza di Ferrari and discovers the Schweikerts wandering in the same area! A rare opportunity for a family selfie then she continues her success with an awesome lunch spot under the arcades. Foccacia is amazing, we have a new staple out place, Foccacia topped with mozzarella and first onions, delicious I can't pass up a pesto pasta in Genoa.

    We stroll the shops, 20mins in H&M has me and Fid take off on our own. The kids and I have a stop Ina cafe while Gab shops a bit more then find a gelatto place on the square. Obsessed with the cigarello aromas in Pamplona, I buy a packet and enjoy an Amrena gelatto in the square. The gelatto barely lands on the table before the princess that dragged us around bloody H&M looking at generic global fashion for half an hour has had enough, she demands the bill and a taxi. I'm ready to rid myself of her.

    We return to the boat, a group photo with Italian Mickie almost without the Bux, then Rapunzel's birthday in Rapunzel's Royal table, nearly includes an Attica shock induced heart attack for Dad as he creeps up from behind to shock us.

    To O'Gills again for the France v Belgium semi-final, a thrilling end to the day.    Read more

  • TravelerEuropean Sunshine 2018
    Day 15

    Pisa sans kids

    July 11, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Gab wins, no Firenze this trip. But after yesterday's catastrophe of whinging kids were leaving them on board and heading to Pisa sans whinging cranks. On the way to the port bus I haggle a taxi in and out of Pisa on a nice transporter with AC. We must have synchronised our body clocks, with no planning Dad is 100m ahead of us and already on the port bus, we rode with him in our transporter and we're away with Pablo.

    Fields of sunflowers line the road into Pisa, a wonderful sight. Larger than the sunflower fields, we pass a massive unmarked military storage for dessert transporters, thousands of them. Whoever owns them had millions of dollars sitting in this little pretty town. Until this point Pablo has been all "non capisco l'inglese" but the opportunity to complain about the Americans is too tempting for him, in pretty good English he tells us they own it.

    Pablo drops us just off the square near the tower, amazing the number of people crowding the square, we've only been here during the day before. Perhaps like Piaza San Marco in Venice, magnificent in the late afternoon once all of us tourists have left.

    Dad and I try to get the perfect tower pushing photo while Gab scopes the shops. We hunt down the pizza place we visited last time. Dad & I start on a Birra Grande and brushcetta while Gab completes her most impressive shopping scoop yet. Pizza is so so, but the atmosphere is exactly why we're here.

    We meet Ed & the girls in the square where we first arrived. They'd just had an amazing experience in the baptistry with some live chanting. They were all raving so much about the beauty of the place they convinced Dad & I to go try to get a look before our clock with Pablo was up. We catch a glimpse from the outside, but the ticket queue means we won't be seeing it this trip, a reason to return.

    We're back in port to drop Dad back at the boat and head on to Livorno Centro for some strolling, gelato a new kicks for me! By far the coolest thing I see is this Italian idea of the fatmacia with a vending machine built into the window. The first for rows are implements for satisfying your wife or protecting yourself from child support, neither of which will help me now.

    Tonight is the England v Croatia semi final for the world cup. Back on port this morning our evacuation drill buddies saw us haggling with the Hertz guy and invited us into their big transporter for the day, tonight Gab found Kyle sitting on his own in O'Gills an invited him to join us for the game. Dad spent the evening appologising to Kyle for my rants about everything American from GOP to the NRA. A retired army major from some sort of logistics HQ role, he is currently program managing the build of a joint Toyota/Mazda manufacturing plant build in Alambama, with Trumps protectionist policies funding his holiday, and the owner of over 50 guns he was never going to agree with everything I preached, but we agreed about the stupidity off open carry, we cheers our unity!

    Croatia kick England from the cup in a legendary penlty shoot out, amazing stuff to enjoy surrounded by such an atmosphere. Game over Kyle and Dad are of to bed Gab joins me in the smoking section for a cigarello. We meet Jan, a Dutch guy who has somehow sorted out how to get rich in Dubai. We banter all night until he is ready for bed. A protein powder carrying gyn junkie, Jan is intolerant of the less dedicated not wearing a shirt, her says good night to all of us individually, adding "tomorrow I buy you a shirt" to the British lobster in the corner.    Read more

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