Europe Round 2

A 57-day adventure by Dr Morbius Read more

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Trip start
June 22, 2024
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Day 2
Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 11:57 AM
⛅ 27 °C
Altitude: 22 m
Spain Iglesia de San Juan Bautista 36.720544, -4.42360336°43’14” N 4°25’25” W
Málaga
June 23, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Said goodbye to family in the UK and flew to Spain to catch up with some friends in Málaga. A great town on the Costa El Sol, we treated ourselves to some Paella (yum) and wine (more yum) before exploring the old town and port.Read more
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Day 3
Monday, June 24, 2024 at 9:07 AM
☀️ 21 °C
Altitude: 474 m
Spain Ardales 36.870264, -4.84026936°52’13” N 4°50’25” W
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Ronda and Setenil
June 24, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
While in Málaga, we jumped on a day tour up into the mountains to visit the beautiful towns of Ronda and Setenil. Ronda is perched on the edge of a 150m cliff with brilliant views of the countryside. It's also where bullfighting originated when they decided that the ultimate warrior would be able to fight and defeat an angry bull. Not much bullfighting anymore as they make more money from tourists than bullfights.

We then went on to Setenil, a small town dug into the sides of a ravine to keep the buildings cool... and yes, it was really coolRead more
😃 [Linda]
7/10/24Reply
Wow very scenic town [Linda]
7/10/24Reply
Traveler That’s stunning..
7/12/24Reply
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Day 4
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 10:10 AM
☀️ 22 °C
Altitude: 58 m
Spain Glorieta Loma de los Riscos 36.624008, -4.50013136°37’26” N 4°30’0” W
Torremolinos
June 25, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Next day we hopped on a train to spend the day in Torremolinos, a beautiful beachside town just south of Málaga. It's a popular place for UK and US expats and I can see why, the beaches here are amazing and there are so many restaurants and bars to enjoy a meal or a drink right next to the waves. Wish we had that in Australia.

Torremolinos has links to Salvador Dali, who honeymooned here with his wife Gala. Gala Dali is famous for sunbathing topless on the beach, setting a trend that is still part of the beach scene today. Or so they say, I didn't notice...Read more
Very nice😎 [Linda]
7/10/24Reply
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Day 5–7
June 26, 2024 at 1:20 PM - June 28, 2024
2 nights
☁️ 24 °C
Altitude: 74 m
Spain Marbella 36.518131, -4.88990636°31’5” N 4°53’24” W
Marbella
Jun 26–28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Next stop was Marbella, a lovely coastal town. Weather wasn't the best, but at least it didn't rain
TravelerWe did a drive by ... what did you think of the area.. was the old town nice.
7/26/24Reply
TravelerGreat town to ride a bike along the boardwalk by the beach and food is great, especially the seafood. Old town is very pretty, can't go inside the castle, just walk around the outside walls. Lots of nice shops, not quite as much history as other Spanish towns though. Lots of golf courses around Marbella.
7/27/24Reply
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Day 8
Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 6:47 PM
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: 694 m
Spain Plaza de Bib-Rambla 37.175881, -3.60030337°10’33” N 3°36’1” W
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Granada
June 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
From Marbella we jumped on a bus to the city of Granada. A really nice town up in the hills known for the royal residence of Alhambra, which we'll visit in the coming days.
Traveler 😂
8/12/24Reply
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Day 10
Monday, July 1, 2024 at 9:59 AM
☀️ 20 °C
Altitude: 781 m
Spain Teatro del Generalife 37.176836, -3.58532837°10’37” N 3°35’7” W
Alhambra
July 1, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Today we visited Alhambra, a complex of palaces, gardens and fortresses from the 8th century.
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Day 11
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 at 3:58 PM
⛅ 22 °C
Altitude: 19 m
France Château-trompette 44.844531, -0.57443144°50’40” N 0°34’28” W
Bordeaux
July 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
We say goodbye to Spain and jump on a plane for a whirlwind tour of France. Our first stop was supposed to be Paris, but someone decided to hold the Olympics there, so we started in Bordeaux instead. Which was a great choice... lovely city right next to some of the best wine regions in the world. So yes... we had to do a wine tour. What can I say, the wines were awesome.Read more
TravelerMuch nicer than Paris.
7/27/24Reply
TravelerHaven't been to Paris for years so can't really remember it but I really liked Bordeaux.
7/27/24Reply
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Day 14
Friday, July 5, 2024 at 3:18 PM
☀️ 26 °C
Altitude: 20 m
France Abbaye royale Saint-Pierre de La Réole 44.580478, -0.04032544°34’50” N 0°2’25” W
La Réole
July 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Today we hired a car and drove through the French countryside to the small medieval village of La Réole, which is in the middle of Bordeaux's wine country. Arrived in time for their Saturday morning market with a wonderful selection of delicious food and fresh vegetables.Read more
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Day 16
Sunday, July 7, 2024 at 4:05 PM
☁️ 21 °C
Altitude: 8 m
France Marais Perdus 46.154964, -1.15331946°9’18” N 1°9’12” W
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La Rochelle & Isla de Ré
July 7, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Next, we drove to the coast to visit the lovely port city of La Rochelle and the Isla de Ré, a beautiful island just off the coast connected to La Rochelle via a most impressive bridge.
Traveler Yum… moules and frites 😋
8/12/24Reply
Traveler 🤔
8/12/24Reply
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Day 19
Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at 11:31 AM
☁️ 18 °C
Altitude: Sea level
France Baie du Pouliguen 47.274625, -2.39436147°16’29” N 2°23’40” W
La Baule
July 10, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Our next destination was La Baule-Escoublac to catch up with Nicky's cousin's son. Was a great visit and got to experience more wonderful fresh vegetables from the markets...
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Day 21
Friday, July 12, 2024 at 1:49 PM
☀️ 18 °C
Altitude: 33 m
France Ma Porte du Roi 48.635186, -1.51011748°38’7” N 1°30’36” W
Mont Saint-Michel
July 12, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
A big tick off the bucket list was a visit to Mont Saint-Michel, the famous monetary off the coast of France. An absolutely amazing place.
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Day 23
Sunday, July 14, 2024 at 2:30 PM
☁️ 22 °C
Altitude: 64 m
France Masse 47.415414, 0.982747°24’55” N 0°58’58” E
Loire Valley
July 14, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Our next stop was the famous Loire Valley, which is absolutely chockers with vineyards and chateaus.
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Day 27
Thursday, July 18, 2024 at 9:56 AM
☀️ 21 °C
Altitude: 373 m
France Charroux 46.185272, 3.162446°11’7” N 3°9’45” E
More Loire Valley
July 18, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Another couple of days driving through the Loire visiting numerous tiny medieval villages and sampling a wine or two.
TravelerLove this area 🥰
8/12/24Reply
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Day 29
Saturday, July 20, 2024 at 10:46 AM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 19 m
Italy Chiesa di San Domenico 38.1186, 13.36284438°7’7” N 13°21’46” E
Palermo, Sicily
July 20, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We said goodbye to France and hopped on a plane for Palermo in Sicily. Spent a day wandering around the city, which was in the middle of a heat wave, so had to drink lots of water and beer.
TravelerOh of course you did! 😂😂
8/12/24Reply
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Day 30
Sunday, July 21, 2024 at 6:28 PM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 750 m
Italy Giardino del Balio 38.036714, 12.59053338°2’12” N 12°35’26” E
Trapani and Erice
July 21, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We hired a car from Palermo and drove west to stay in the medieval town of Erice, perched on the top of a serious rock near the coast. A lovely town with magnificent views up and down the coastline. The next day we drove down to the port city of Trapani for a quick wander and a few photos. Just south of Tripani are the salt flats, where they still make salt the old fashioned way drying seawater in the sun. In the photo of the pink salt pan, you can see the mountain behind where we stayed inErice.Read more
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Day 32
Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 10:25 AM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 120 m
Italy Temple of Juno 37.2888, 13.60034237°17’20” N 13°36’1” E
Valley of Temples, Agrigento
July 23, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Another bucket list item bites the dust with a drive to Agrigento to see the Valley of Temples. A large collection of Greek and Roman temples that are awesome to see. Would love to see what it was like a couple thousand years ago.Read more
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Day 33
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 12:00 PM
🌩️ 32 °C
Altitude: 534 m
Italy Villa Romana del Casale 37.364689, 14.33348637°21’53” N 14°20’1” E
Villa Romana del Casale
July 24, 2024 in Italy ⋅ 🌩️ 32 °C
Another surprising bit of history was Villa Romana del Casale. An ancient Roman Villa with magnificent mosaics and tiles. Apparently the Villa was buried by a landslide centuries before, keeping most of the mosaics in pristine condition. Didn't realise this was the location of the world famous "bikini girls" mosaic... absolutely stunning.Read more
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Day 33
Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 6:04 PM
☀️ 31 °C
Altitude: 387 m
Italy Casa Museo Appiano 36.925419, 14.74673936°55’32” N 14°44’48” E
Ragusa
July 24, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Next stop was Ragusa, a small village in the mountains famous for it's Baroque Architecture. It's a lovely town and we took a day trip out to visit a few other mountain villages nearby.
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Day 35
Friday, July 26, 2024 at 5:08 PM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 10 m
Italy Tempio di Apollo 37.064114, 15.29255837°3’51” N 15°17’33” E
Syracusa
July 26, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Next was a quick stop at Syracusa to have a look. A pretty good sized city, but we stayed near the island of Ortigia, which was very nice. Technically it's an island, but easily accessible by a 50m bridge.Read more
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Day 37
Sunday, July 28, 2024 at 1:08 PM
☀️ 31 °C
Altitude: 199 m
Italy Giardini della Villa Comunale 37.854331, 15.29040637°51’16” N 15°17’25” E
Taormina
July 28, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
We continued our drive around Sicilliy to the beautiful town of Taormina. The town was highly recommended and it had the advantage of being less than a kilometre from the beach... according to Google maps. What Google doesn't show you is the elevation, so that was about a kilometre almost straight down. There was a cable car to take you to the beach, but we opted to explore this interesting town instead.Read more
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Day 38
Monday, July 29, 2024 at 9:52 AM
☀️ 25 °C
Altitude: 1,126 m
Italy Rocca Pignatello 37.806561, 15.09899437°48’24” N 15°5’56” E
Mount Etna
July 29, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We were lucky that Mount Etna had a couple of semi-serious eruptions the weeks prior to our arrival, so we joined a day tour to climb the slopes of an active volcano. The lava fields we climbed through were the result of an eruption in 2002. It was an awesome and surreal day.

On the way back, we stopped off briefly at Alcantara Gorge to cool off.Read more
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Day 39
Tuesday, July 30, 2024 at 3:33 PM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Italy Spiaggia Cefalú 38.036853, 14.01831138°2’13” N 14°1’6” E
Cefalù
July 30, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Heading back to Palermo airport, we stopped for a day at Cefalù, a lovely little town on the north coast east of Palermo. A lot of Italian tourists come here as it's one of the few sandy beaches in Sicily. Still managed to chill and spend a bit of time in the ocean. Good place to end the Sicilian leg of our trip.Read more
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Day 43
Saturday, August 3, 2024 at 10:42 AM
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: 24 m
Greece Órmos Kórfos 37.432008, 25.32413937°25’55” N 25°19’27” E
Mykonos, Greece
August 3, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
And now for something completely different... we drove to Palermo airport to catch a flight to Athens, where we met up with a good friend who will join us in the Greek Islands.

We met Linda at the airport and stayed in a small hotel near the ferry terminals in Piraeus, catching an early ferry to Mykonos the next morning. The first day was spent wandering around the town of Mykonos, which has the lovely white/blue buildings.Read more
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Day 44
Sunday, August 4, 2024 at 2:34 PM
☀️ 29 °C
Altitude: 9 m
Greece Little Venice 37.447144, 25.32542837°26’50” N 25°19’32” E
More Mykonos
August 4, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We had two days in Mykonos, which allowed us to see the town and spend some quality time at the beach.
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Day 46
Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at 6:02 PM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 8 m
Greece Paros Ferry Port 37.084011, 25.14748937°5’2” N 25°8’51” E
Paros
August 6, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
The next Greek Island was Paros, a quick 40 minute ferry from Mykonos. After dropping off our bags, we walked down the block for a nice lunch on the beach. Then wandered into town to see the sights.
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