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Croatia, Italy, Paris & BerlinCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
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Croatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin

August - September 2024
  • Cayte Campbell
Four holidays in one! So lucky Read more
  • Cayte Campbell

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  • Singapore Singapore
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  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin

    Paris Day 3

    September 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Pre-purchasing our tickets for the earliest book in time proved to be a winner for Saint Chapelle - and it was magnificent! The stained glass windows from the 12thC - very lucky they were not damaged in the French Revolution despite the rest of the building being so. Then a bonus in the ticket have us access to the Conciergierie which was built to house the government of the Kings of France but was turned into a prison in the 14thC but it is most famous for the imprisonment of Marie Antoinette. For after lunch we did a walking tour or Mont Marte - which started just outside the Moulin Rouge and took us up through the streets where many famous artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso plied their trade ending up at Sacre Cour. A beautiful church with 180 views over the city. As we are in Paris, perfume is a must so we signed up for a “make your own” course. It did not disappoint. All three of us made very different perfumes - to suit us ❤️ and learnt about the science of perfumery and our sense of smell. And our final spot for the day was dinner at the Buddha Bar - and eclectic restaurant in the Place de la Concorde.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
    21

    Paris Day 4

    September 14, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Such a big day. Had to be at the bus stop 30 minutes away by 8am! The off to Giverney and Versailles. Our first stop was Monet’s Garden in Giverny. The gardens themselves are beautiful and very well maintained - and you could see many of Monet’s paintings in the scenes that the gardens offered. Then a tour of the house where he lived with 8 children. It had many paintings throughout it and then the normal living parts. A bite of lunch was followed by visiting the on site Impressionist Museum which is currently housing a collections from a Japanese artist (Hiramatsu Reiji) as well as a few of Monet’s. Then back to the bus and off to Versailles. You can see why the people revolted - the gold coated gates open to a huge courtyard surrounded by enormous buildings. Our tour only did one floor of one wing and that took over an hour. Then on to the gardens which were beautiful with lovely fountains. Many steps today!. Bus issues delayed our departure and we had time for a glass of wine and not back to Paris until after 7. Our friend from the bus, Matthew from New Jersey proved to be good company and even caught the Metro back with us after the trip. Found a small bistro for dinner, went home and just collapsed.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
    12

    Paris Day 5

    September 15, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After a very hectic couple days we had a quiet morning catching up on sleep and other things before heading out for our last hurrah for this trip (read what you want into that 😄). Stohrer, the oldest patisserie in Paris (the original owner was the chef for Louis XV) was just around the corner from us, so we checked it out but by buying a tasty morsel - and then promptly lined up again for another one for later. Just delicious! Then we jumped on the metro and headed off to the Arc De Triomphe, and walked the length of the Champs Élysées, stopping here and there for a bit of a browse. A lot of the infrastructure for the Olympics is still being dismantled and it was interesting checking out what happened where - for example the Skateboarding was at Place de la Concord at the end of the Champs Élysées. Lunch was onion soup again - I will have to learn to make it like the French! And then back to the Metro and off to the Sorbonne - but really just to check out the site of Emily in Paris. Found a very French restaurant for our last night together.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
    2
    2

    Catching up with Kerstin

    September 16, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Up with the sparrows and off to brave the Metro and the airport with just me! Managed all and boarded the plane to Berlin. Met Kerstin at the airport - its funny how you look so forward to something and then when it happens, its just like “ok, this is normal and where I belong - what are we doing now?” Family!! Kerstin hired a car from the airport - a cute little Jeep and we headed off to Rakotzbruke, also called the Devil’s bridge - somewhere I have wanted to go for quite some time. It is 19thC romantic garden architecture by the manor owner of the time. It is in a beautiful wooded area so we wandered around and found a number of Faerie dwellings🧚. Lovely! Then we headed back to Spreewald to stay in the lovely little village of Schlepzig. Dinner was at the brewery and then off for a walk around the lake - this well and truly covered my steps for the day.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
    Yes that is grass - not synthetic!
    Our accommodation in the background

    Schlepzig Day 2

    September 17, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    I love German breakfasts! Nothing sweet but great food. Then off to try our Kahn - a boat of the Sorbian people (not Serbian). They are an ethnic minority that live in Spreewald (as well as other parts of East Germany. They have their own culture and language which is protected. In the morning we went on the traditional Kahn boat and went for a tour of the waterways where we went through three lochs. There are hundreds of these canals with their lochs around the district which has a massive channel network. It was very picturesque - I think Monet would have been happy here/. It was so peaceful as we were not in the main town - Schlepzig is tiny! Then in the afternoon we went to a Sorbian town (sort of like Soverign Hill) where there are building of how things used to be and some Sorb people in traditional dress selling traditional wares. It was interesting touring this very small minority looking at the ways they are trying to ensure their culture is not lost. Returned to check out the local distillery to find it had closed for the day 🙁. So went and got a glass of wine and sat on our balcony - I swear we had the best room in the place!. Lovely relaxing day,Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin

    Berlin Day 1

    September 18, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Another really good German brekky sent us on our way to Berlin where we dropped the hire car back and headed to Kerstin’s apartment in Neue-Kolln. Just to finish off the relaxation (and as Kerstin has a wedding to go to this Friday) we went and had a mani/pedi with the massage chairs. Worth the effort! Then back to the apartment. I then went for a wander off to have a look at the local area. There is a huge park nearby - basically because one of the original airports has been retired. Nice to wander around. Also tested out the metro to know what i am doing for tomorrow. As i was by myself i managed to have a couple of conversations in German with a modicum of success 😊. Kerstin had to work in the evening so sorted myself for dinner and enjoyed a bit of alone time.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin
    Alexanderplatz
    Work makes you free - So sad but not in this caseWhat was the gas chambers

    Berlin Day 2

    September 19, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Kerstin had to work today so I booked in on a tour to Sachsenhausen. I managed the U-Bahn (much to Kerstin’s surprise) and got there on time. It was a train tour so we trained out with our guide and then I stayed on after the tour finished and caught a train back. Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp and is now a memorial to all those who both perished and survived. It was built by the Nazis in 1936 - before the war and at that time the main prisoners were political ones. As the war progressed it was used for Jews, Gypsy’s, criminals, those classed as asocial, homosexuals, etc. It was a male only camp. As it was so close to Berlin it was also a training camp for the SS and so many atrocities were committed. The infirmary area holds details of the experiments and more that were inflicted on the prisoners (not inmates as inmates infers that there has been a judicial process such as a trial). Our guide Amelia was so passionate about telling the story and at the end iterated a quote (see the photo). As you can imagine i left there shell shocked. I know I have been to a concentration camp before but ….. On the way back I passed an ice cream shop and thinking i deserved something to lighten my day, I had a Kerstin special of Spaghetti Eis. Yum! Made it back to town and thought while there i would trek up the Berliner Dom. Another magnificent cathedral. A quiet night in. NB - actually had Germans understand my attempts at Deutsche sprechen today - very exciting.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin

    Berlin Day 3

    September 20, 2024 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    My last day in Europe 😥. Said goodbye to Kerstin in the morning 😥 😥. Then set off to explore again as i did not have to be at the airport until 3pm. A good final day. Went the the Brandenburg gate and then walked the road (actually through the Tiergarten which is sort of like New York’s Central Park) to the Siegessaule Column (Victory column) which when it was finished construction in 1871 was a monument to the unification of the Franco Prussian empire. Of course there were stairs so i had to climb them. The statue on the top is Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. On the way there I passed the Reichstag and the Carillon - a freestanding 42m bell tower. It was donated to the city on its 750 birthday by Daimler-Benz. It contains a large, manually played concert carillon, comprising 68 bells and someone was practising as I walked past - so i just sat. It was great. There have been very few bells this trip. Finished off with a curry wurst before heading to the airport. And then a beer and pretzel at the airport. My flight out of Berlin was late and had a very stressful connection in Frankfurt - but got there in the end.Read more

  • Cayte CampbellTravelerCroatia, Italy, Paris & Berlin

    The long slow road home

    September 21, 2024 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After the stressful time in Frankfurt all went fine. Eight hours waiting at Singapore so I went and checked out the butterfly garden. Then at midnight, boarding and off to Sydney and home. A total of 40 hours door to door - really the only downside to European travel. Four great holidays in one this time.Read more

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