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Golden Anniversary
  • Spydah
8月 – 9月 2017

Golden Anniversary

Spydahによる35日間のアドベンチャー もっと詳しく
フォローする概要カレンダー共有共有死ぬまでにやっておきたいことリスト
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  • 旅行の開始
    2017年8月24日
    SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah

    Mount Ommaney

    2017年8月24日, オーストラリア ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    This is the day that we head off on our big adventure. Five weeks, four countries, many sights. Watch this space.
    Fortunately our flight is at a civilised time, and we're flying with a civilised airline, so it's all looking good.
    Helen has the most amazing contacts list, so there is some hope that we can wangle a spare seat between us, which would be good.

    However, the giant A380 was chokkers, so no empty seats anywhere. Fortunately, it was a quiet and comfortable flight, and we arrived in Dubai feeling quite OK.    もっと詳しく

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    Mary slows the ageing process...

    2017年8月25日, アラブ首長国連邦 ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    ... and Brian misplaces a decimal point. 25 August, and it's Mary's birthday. Flying westwards slows the clocks down, which means that her birthday has been delayed by a few hours. Does it mean that we can slow the entire ageing process? Here's hoping.
    A leisurely three hours' wait in Dubai sounds pretty good - plenty of time to get from A to B - except when A and B are at opposite ends of this vast airport hub. After disembarking, we decided to head towards the departure gate for our Budapest flight. The signs indicated a 19 minute walk, which was fine. What they didn't state was that additional to those 19 minutes were (literally) four separate rides in passenger lifts and a ten minute train ride. We seemed to have crossed at least four countries and three time zones to reach the departure gate. We hadn't realised that Dubai, let alone its airport, was such a big place. The flight was duly called and we then climbed aboard a bus on the tarmac which eventually delivered us to our plane. That bus trip took a good 15 minutes, and we swear that after experiencing the Grand Tour of Dubai, our plane was parked next to the one on which we'd arrived three hours earlier.

    The six hour flight was smooth and uneventful, and we arrived at Budapest airport on time. Proud of his forward planning, Brian had already worked out the exchange rate, that 200 Hungarian forint = $AUD1. He duly withdrew cash at an airport ATM to cover the next 2-3 days, and was presented with a great wad of notes of various denominations, all with large numbers of zeroes. Given that a forint is worth about 0.5 cents, this is hardly surprising. Blame it on the jet lag, but Brian had miscalculated by a factor of ten. What we'd drawn from the machine was enough money to feed an African village for a year or to buy a small car. Oh well...

    Brian's cousin Anna (Panni) is a paediatrician and was at a medical conference for the day, so she'd arranged for a kind neighbour to let us into her apartment, where we were due to stay. By way of background, the apartment has been in the family since the early 1930s, and we're pretty sure that Brian's parents had stayed there in the early 1930s as newlyweds for a short time. The two of us, with Julie, had also stayed there when we drove across Europe from the UK back in 1974. It's in a great spot, overlooking a park about 100m from the Danube and just a short stroll from the spectacular Parliament House. We'd remembered it as a very spacious apartment.

    When we arrived, we saw that Panni had gone to a lot of trouble to rearrange things to accommodate us, but we saw also that it was a huge inconvenience for her, and would be fairly difficult for us as well in terms of space and storage. While we felt bad about it, we decided to suggest to Panni that it would be better all round if we found a hotel nearby. It would be easier for her and easier for us.

    Panni arrived home, and it was really great to see her after so many years. We then set about finding a hotel. To cut a long story short, we finished up on a boat, the Grand Jules, one of several which are permanently moored and which have been converted to hotels. It's on the Buda side, next to the Margaret Bridge, so is in a very convenient location. Our room (cabin?) was very comfortable. After driving over there with Panni and checking in, we returned to the apartment, where we chatted until quite late.

    We then ambled back across the bridge towards our accommodation, during which we were able to see one of the most spectacular night-time sights - the Parliament House, the Fishermens Bastion and other major buildings and bridges all brilliantly floodlit. It's really quite something.    もっと詳しく

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    A very happy 50th anniversary

    2017年8月26日, ハンガリー ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We were up bright and early, ate a leisurely breakfast, wished each other a happy wedding anniversary and we were off, exploring. So much to see so little time. Our phone had buzzed us with a warning of heatwave conditions, but we wanted to see as much of Budapest as possible. We wandered along this (the Buda) side of the Danube then crossed to the Pest side via the historic Chain Bridge. We then spent a lot of time exploring the Parliament Square and surroundings, with Brian concentrating on trying to get the perfect photo. As well as we travellers, all of the most popular places are filled with tourists whose only interest is in taking selfies, and who invariably get in the way when one is trying to take advantage of that Kodak momernt. As with our 2014 trip, Brian is going to have to Photoshop out all the extraneous tourists, parked cars, overflowing rubbish bins and so on.

    By the time reached our hotel in the mid-afternoon, we were footsore and hot, but we'd thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
    Brian has two second cousins in Budapest whom he had never met, but who are close to his cousin Panni. One of them, Zsuzsi (Susie) had invited us over to her place for afternoon tea. We arrived there late afternoon, and met Zsuzsi, her husband Feri and son Adam. We were made most welcome. They live in a very old apartment building, but have renovated their own apartment, which is now very modern and comfortable.

    We spoke for several hours, much of it about family history, but also about Hungarianhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/middle-… life generally under the Germans then the Russians and then today's regime. Very interesting.

    Panni dropped us off at her place and we then wandered back towards our hotel. After the big afternoon tea neither of us was terribly hungry, but we felt that we should at least have an anniversary meal and bottle of wine. The restaurant we chose turned out to be quite good, but neither of us was able to do justice to the giant-sized portions of traditional Hungarian dishes which we'd ordered. We did however manage to finish off a celebratory bottle of beautiful Hungarian red.

    By that time we were exhausted and well and truly ready to hit the sack.    もっと詳しく

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    The best guide possible

    2017年8月27日, ハンガリー ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Brian's second cousin Zsuzsi is an architect and town planner. She is also the author of several books on the history of towns and town planning. Who better to take us on our own personal guided tour of the Castle District with its interesting architectural styles and history? So, we set off with Panni and Zsuzsi for what proved to be a really interesting day.

    To quote Wikipedia: "Buda Castle sits on the south tip of Castle Hill, bounded on the north by what is known as the Castle District (Várnegyed), which is famous for medieval, Baroque and 19th-century houses, churches and public buildings. The hill is linked to Clark Ádám Square and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by the Castle Hill Funicular. The castle is a part of the Budapest World Heritage Site, so declared in 1987."

    Not surprisingly, the area is one of the major tourist attractions of Budapest, so it was quite busy, but we certainly enjoyed the VIP treatment. Zsuzsi knows the area like the back of her hand and was able to give us so much information about the major buildings and their history. We learnt so much and saw so much beyond what the average tourist gets to experience. The four of us enjoyed a very pleasant light lunch at one of the many restaurants which was marred only slightly by Brian spitting the dummy at the poor level of service.

    From the vantage point of the Fishermen's Bastion, Zsuzsi was able to point out various features of the city from its development in mediaeval times when there were the two villages of Buda and Pest to the bridging of the Danube, initially with pontoons then with the historic Chain Bridge. Zsuzsi is also a guide and volunteer at the Budapest History Museum, located in the Castle District complex. Sadly, time didn't allow for us to tour the museum itself, as it had been a long, hot day and we were all starting to flag.

    Saying our fond farewells to Zsuzsi and Panni, we wandered back to our hotel for a breather before heading out for a light dinner then an early night.    もっと詳しく

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    Panni and TamasDobos, Brian's favourite cake since his childhoodAndrassy Gyula statue

    Intrepid travellers on our own...

    2017年8月28日, ハンガリー ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    ... then meet another second cousin. Panni needed some time to herself to prepare a number of lectures which she was due to give, and she had already given up a lot of her time to be with us. We were happy to set off and do a bit of exploring on our own.

    Budapest has a very impressive public transport system, with trams, buses and underground trains all very clean, comfortable and modern. For us, the trams were especially convenient for crossing the Margaret Bridge, which we did on many occasions. We'd often walked it, but there were times when we hot and tired and when it was easier to jump on a passing tram. Evidently, public transport is free for Hungarian citizens over the age of 70, but we were told that nobody ever checks anyway. It seemed to us that it was literally a free-for-all anyway, with nobody of any age worrying about the fairly inconspicuous ticket reading machines.

    We decided head off to Budapest City Park, so first caught the (free) tram to Octagon then walked the couple of kilometres or so up the very elegant boulevard known as Andrassy ut to the park. Again, to quote Wikipedia: "The City Park is a public park close to the centre of Budapest, Hungary. It is a 1,400 by 970 m rectangle, with an area of 1.2 km2 located in District XIV of Budapest. Its main entrance is at Heroes' Square, one of Hungary's World Heritage sites. Most museums and other significant public buildings are closed on Mondays, though that didn't bother us as we were happy to simply wander through the beautiful parkland and admire the buildings from the outside.

    One building was open however, and it turned out to be quite a revelation as there were no signs in any language other than Hungarian to indicate what it was. (Sadly, there was a total absence of information plaques, tourist booths or local maps throughout the area, which is a pity). The building in question was large and built in the very ornate neo-baroque style. What we later learnt (thank you, Wikipedia) was that "The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath in Budapest is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. Its water is supplied by two thermal springs, their temperature is 74 °C and 77 °C, respectively." This impressive complex was planned from the 1880s and was opened in 1913. It now contains three outdoor and 15 indoor pools.

    We knew none of this at the time, so wandered into the foyer and decided to take sticky-beak out on of the windows. We saw this amazing sight of an ornate and truly beautiful swimming pool complex, filled with many people enjoying the warm Hungarian summer.

    Having mastered the Budapest tram system, we decided to try the Metro to get us back from the City Park to the Octagon junction, from where we could catch the tram home. Again, the system, which we were told was the first underground rail system in the whole of Europe, turned out to be very clean, fast and efficient. However, by contrast with the trams, one can't get away without paying on the underground. Not that we're complaining, of course. Our fare was very cheap and we'd already enjoyed enough free rides on the city's public transport system that we were never going to feel hard done by.

    After a brief stop-off at our hotel, we then headed out towards Panni's place, from where we going to catch up with Zsuzsi's twin brother Tamas at a nearby coffee shop. Tamas had just got back the previous day from the Edinburgh International Festival, where he had been managing one of his classical music soloists. For two decades Tamas had been the Executive Director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and now runs his own agency. He lives in the same city block as Panni, and when Panni, Mary and Brian reached the nearby coffee shop where we were all to meet we realised that Tamas had walked straight past the two of us as we were waiting for Panni on the footpath outside her building. Of course, we'd never met before, so we didn't recognise one another. We then spent the next couple of hours making Tamas's acquaintance and chatting about a huge variety of subjects. The time passed very quickly.

    The three of us (Panni, Mary and Brian) then wandered back in the direction of our boat, as Panni wanted to show us Margaret Island. Margaret Island is a 2.5 km long island, 500 metres wide, (0.965 km2) in the middle of the Danube in central Budapest, Hungary. The island is mostly covered by landscape parks, and is a popular recreational area. Its medieval ruins are reminders of its importance in the Middle Ages as a religious centre. The island spans the area between the Margaret Bridge and the Árpád Bridge. Before the 14th century the island was called Insula leporum (Island of Rabbits).

    What a place! We were most impressed. It's a very popular recreation area, beautifully maintained, very scenic with plenty of mature trees. Best of all, it is closed to all normal traffic. It was just on dusk, and as we wandered along, we heard the Toreador's Song from Carmen coming from some loudspeakers. We saw that it was coming an area near a really big fountain, and the fountain's water patterns and illumination were changing in time to the music. We stayed there for quite a while listening to various pieces of well-known classical and pop music, and were totally fascinated by the technology. It's a nightly program which is every bit as spectacular as a fireworks display. We've attached a small sample to this blog, though the recorded sound quality is not so good.

    We'd seen plenty of restaurants in Budapest, but as Brian kept saying, there seemed to be every nationality represented except Hungarian, which seemed a shame since the best of Hungarian food is really to die for. That night however we discovered a gem, Lecso Hungarian Restaurant, maybe a bit touristy, but offering a huge variety of authentic Hungarian food nevertheless. It was on one of the main streets, only a couple of (free) tram stops from our boat. And let's not forget, Hungary has some really terrific wines as well.    もっと詳しく

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    Riverfront at Szentendre

    A trip back in time

    2017年8月29日, ハンガリー ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Many years ago (1974, in fact) we made a brief visit with Panni, her mother and her brother Janos (now living in Rome) to the historic town of Szentendre. We recall that things were very rushed at the time and we really didn't do full justice to the place. It was time for a return visit.

    It's certainly a vey interesting place, dating back to about the 10th century. It contains numerous churches in various styles which reflect its long history - or the history of the many races which occupied the area over the centuries. There's an absolute maze of streets full of historic building, where it's very easy to get totally lost - as we well and truly proved.

    Nowadays the town caters mainly to tourists, and there are dozens of restaurants and shops selling all sorts of authentic things from fantastic cakes and marzipan to the usual T-shirts and suchlike. It still has a lot of charm and character, and we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely wander around this historic town.

    We then drove back, had some pleasant drinks in a historic part of Buda then strolled back to our boat. We'd enjoyed our previous night's dinner so much that we decided to go back there. It may have been hard for us to find an authentic Hungarian restaurant, but it's going to be a whole lot harder back home in Brisbane, so we wanted to make the most of this opportunity on our last night here. We weren't disappointed apart, that is, from the fact that both of us were too full to indulge in any of the deliciously unhealthy desserts.    もっと詳しく

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    A fond farewell...

    2017年8月30日, イスラエル ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    ...and a new adventure begins. Having settled in and discovered where the best restaurants are for breakfasts we're now moving on. Israel beckons. It's only three years ago when we were last there, but there was so much more that we had wanted to see but had run out of time. Besides, there are Brian's second cousins - Gil in Jerusalem and his sister Esther in Tel Aviv - and their respective families - whom we were keen to see again.

    Despite our protestations Panni had heroically agreed to collect us from the boat and take us to the airport. As mentioned, our hotel was in a really great location - just so long as one didn't need to park a car nearby. However we got there in the end and we were able to bid our farewells to Panni at the airport.

    We reached Tel Aviv via Istanbul pretty much on time, but then made a bad choice. Of all the immigration queues we had to choose the one where the immigration officer was running his own personal go-slow campaign and was taking about five times as long per passenger as any of his colleagues in the adjacent booths. Once we emerged, it was great to see my second cousin Gil and his lovely wife Mira, who had been waiting patiently for our arrival. We then headed back to their place in Mevaseret Zion, a pleasant leafy suburb on the outskirts of Jerusalem.    もっと詳しく

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    Brian, Mary, Mira and Gil above the ancient cityArchaelogical diggings

    Underground in Jerusalem

    2017年8月31日, パレスチナ ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    On this and our previous visit, we'd seen much of Jerusalem from ground level, but most of its history lies many metres below the present surface. This was the day when we were to discover so much more of Jerusalem's ancient history.

    Gil and Mira had booked for the four of us to go on two guided tours, starting with a tour of the City of David. Menachem, our very knowledgeable guide started at a lookout overlooking the present Old City, where he pointed out the area where it is believed the early city began some 3200 years ago. We also viewed ancient stone walls, believed to be part of the palace of King David, dating back to the 10th to 9th century BC. The old city is like one giant archaeological site, and we spent some time observing some archaeologists at work many metres below where we were standing.

    There are many tunnels which used to carry water, and we walked through one of them, a distance of several hundred metres, under the walls of the old city. Both of us were pleased that we'd lost weight, as it was a fairly tight squeeze in some places. This was a fascinating way to learn about Jerusalem's origins and history, and we thoroughly enjoyed our two hours with a very knowledgeable guide. We also realised how little we know, and Brian resolved there and then that he is going to re-read that fact-filled book by Simon Sebag Montefiore, "Jerusalem: A Biography."

    We then went for a wander in the area of the western wall of Temple Mount, and Gil and Brian visited the synagogue at the southern end of the wall. (By custom, women aren't allowed in there). It was a very biblical scene with many religious Jews praying in there, and Brian would have loved to have taken photos. Somehow it didn't seem right to do so, though that didn't deter quite a number of the tourists who were happily snapping away without any sense of decorum.

    This morning had been only Part 1 of very interesting our history lesson, and after a light lunch in the Arab quarter of the old city we set off on Part 2, which was a tour through the Tunnel of the Wall. It is easy to forget that the walls of Temple Mount extend down well below the present street level. The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the full length of the Western Wall. It is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately 60 metres long, the majority of its original length is hidden underground. The tunnel allows access to an additional 485 metres of the wall.

    Our American-born guide for this tour fancied himself as a stage actor, and he certainly livened things up with his performance. It proved to be highly enjoyable. The tunnel itself was beautiful and cool, almost like being in air conditioning, and a pleasant break from the heat outside. To see thousands those giant limestone blocks up close, and to realise how heavy they are and how precisely they fit together with barely the the space for a cigarette paper between them, makes one realise what a massive engineering structure the Temple Mount is. It was built under the reign of King Herod, who is responsible for many grandiose engineering works such as his three palaces on the top of the almost inaccessible Masada.

    We spent some time examining the biggest stone in the Western Wall, often called the Western Stone. It ranks as one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by human beings without powered machinery. This single block of stone has a length of 13.6 metres, height of 3 metres, and an estimated width of between 3.5 metres and 4.5 metres. Estimates place its weight at 520 tonnes. That is only slightly less than a fully-laden A380 jumbo, so it's mind-boggling to think of this huge object being quarried and then lifted and manoeuvred into place. Following our excellent day of history tours we headed back to Gil and Mira's for breather before heading out for a very tasty meal at one of the many restaurants in the suburb of Ein Kerem.    もっと詳しく

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    Ai Weiwei, so impressiveTwenty-eight family members all in the one placeMary and YossiThe Korner family dinner at Gil and Mira's

    We'll have to stay here

    2017年9月1日, イスラエル ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We last visited Jerusalem in 2014, and one of the reasons for returning, aside from being able to visit all the members of the Korner family again, was to see some of the many places we didn't get to visit last time. As if there was any doubt, this visit has demonstrated that the more places we explore in Jerusalem the more we realise how much there is still to see and do.

    After a leisurely breakfast, Gil, Mary and Brian headed off for a bit of sightseeing. Mira didn't accompany us as she had a lot to do at home. More of that in a moment. First, we headed for the Israel Museum. We'd paid a rushed visit there last time, but hadn't even begun to do it justice on that occasion. We began this time by visiting a large temporary exhibition of the works of the subversive Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The exhibition itself is highly controversial, with many powerful and eloquent statements against the Chinese government, which he has every reason to hate.

    We then moved on to look at some of the excellent archaeological displays in this spectacular museum. Everything is presented in a very lean and stark fashion with subtle lighting. Its really quite something.

    From there, the three of us headed off to the old city where Gil wanted to pick up a few bits and pieces from the Jerusalem Market, a place we hadn't visited before. In Istanbul, we'd made several visits previously to the Grand Bazaar and to the Egyptian Spice Market, but this was something else again. Crowded, noisy and exciting it differs from those other markets in that it is for locals and isn't at all touristy. Mary absolutely loves places like this and was wandering round the whole time with a grin on her face like a split melon. Until we came to Israel the first time, i 2014, we'd believed that hummus was hummus was hummus, but that isn't the case at all. Israelis are hummus connoisseurs, and the search is always on to find the best hummus restaurant. Gil wanted to take us to his favourite one, adjacent to the market, but there was a queue to halfway down the street. It must be good. We then chose one inside the market which was the size of a pocket handkerchief, but somehow we managed to squeeze ourselves in. Its hummus was excellent and we're now beginning to understand what all the fuss is about.

    Meanwhile, back at base, Mira had been slaving over a hot stove preparing for a family dinner. Two sons-in-law were celebrating birthdays, and we felt very honoured that the dinner was in recognition also of our being there. Every family was bringing some food as a contribution, and we did our little bit by providing some very tasty fresh baklava from the market.

    Living on the far side of the planet, we have very little direct contact with the family members, which is a shame, as the Israeli Korners are very close and frequently get together. We'd first seen this in 2014 when everyone got together in Beer Sheba for the Rosh Hashannah (Jewish New Year) celebrations. This gathering was every bit as large and as lively, with 30 of us, representing four generations from Mira's 93 year old mother to the one year old youngest grandchild. It was a nice warm evening, typical for this time of year, so we were all able to sit outside. A great time was had by all.    もっと詳しく

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    Mira, Mary, Gil1Fountain at Jaffa

    Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

    2017年9月2日, イスラエル ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After the previous night's celebrations, we were happy to have a leisurely start to the day. Besides, just like for us when we're at home, Gil and Mira had a big pile of weekend newspapers to read. We were glad of the excuse to do very little for an hour or two. Gil, Mary and Brian then set off for a tour of the outskirts of Jerusalem. We visited a couple of nearby vantage points where Gil pointed out some of the Jewish and Arab settlements and the wire fence separating the two areas. It should be mentioned that this is a long way from any of the trouble spots and there have been no incidents in these particular areas.

    Gil was keen to show us Castel National Park, which is a memorial commemorating key battles in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. The mountain commands the western approach to Jerusalem, overlooking the old road to Jerusalem. During the War of Independence, many convoys set out to break the Arab blockade of Jerusalem to send food and medicine to the Jews in Jerusalem. Many of these convoys were ambushed, and it became clear that control of the mountain meant control of the road.

    In early April 1948, the Arabs deserted the village of Kastel, and the Israeli Palmach unit entered the village. The Arabs fought against them, and their leader, Abdul Khader el-Husseini, was killed. 41 Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle which followed, and the Israeli troops retreated on April 8. Three days later, in Operation Nachshon, the Israeli troops re-conquered the village without a battle.

    We walked through the line of trenches, visited underground bunkers and saw two impressive audio-visual displays which showed how the out-numbered Jewish forces fought off the Arab forces. Most interesting.

    Being Shabbat (the Sabbath), most things were very quiet, with hardly anyone around and very little traffic, which was good from our point of view. Gil and Mira had promised to take us to the historic port of Jaffa, nowadays a suburb on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, so after one of Mira's very generous lunches we set off. Jaffa is very scenic, and we found the visit most interesting..

    Next, we headed in to Tel Aviv, to the new unit where Brian's second cousin Esther (Gil's sister) lives with her husband Yossi. When we were in Israel in 2014 we stayed with them in their house in Beer Sheba, where they were wonderful hosts and terrific tour guides. They were keen to show us their new unit, which was under construction when we were there previously. It really is spectacular, very modern and spacious with a view out to the Mediterranean coast. Even though several other apartment blocks are being built in the area, their balcony overlooks the historic Sarona area, after which their building is named, and they cannot be built out. Sarona was a German Templer colony established in Ottoman Palestine in 1871. It was one of the earliest modern villages established by Europeans in Ottoman Palestine. In July 1941, the British Mandate authorities deported 188 residents of Sarona, who were considered hard-core Nazi sympathisers. Nowadays it is a very trendy area with many parks, and with many of the historic buildings now repurposed as trendy restaurants. The ground floor of the building itself is now full with dozens of restaurants and trendy food shops. It's certainly an area with a lot of character - and a foodie's paradise.

    The two of us together with Gil and Mira, Esther and Yossi and Esther's live-in carer Rachel headed off to an excellent Italian restaurant in one of the converted buildings, where we all enjoyed a really great meal.    もっと詳しく

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    Heat and red tape

    2017年9月3日, ヨルダン ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We crept out of Gil and Mira's at 7.15 and caught a cab to the Jerusalem Gateway Hotel, the pickup point for our next big adventure - the trip to Jordan. The bus arrived bang on time, and after we'd collected passengers from several other hotels the bus headed off towards the Jordan River Border Crossing. What happened next was nothing if not amusing. Our first stop was an Israeli checkpoint which, we later discovered, was a good 5km before the border. We can't remember the exact sequence, but know that we had to go through at least four other checkpoints, most of which involved us in getting off the bus we were on, claiming our baggage and transferring to a different bus. All told, we reckon we were on and off four different buses, though one of our fellow passengers was certain it was at least five.

    On one of these occasions the driver demanded payment of five Jordanian dinars from each of us, gave us official-looking receipts and drove us, literally, no more than 200 metres. We lost count of the numbeer of times we had to show our passports, but it must have been at least ten. The best bit was when we had to line up at a cashier's booth (sadly, I think it was on the Israeli side of the border), where there was a real free-for-all of a queue with much shouting, mainly on the part of our driver of the moment, who very clearly was looking after our interests.

    Before leaving home, we'd been told that we needed to pay around $US50 per head in folding money as we exited
    Israel. With the driver yelling at the cashier, it seemed that each passenger ahead of us in the line was being charged a different amount. When our turn came, we handed over the two $US50 notes, whereupon the driver started arguing with the girl in Hebrew, while turning in our direction from time to time and winking. She reluctantly handed us back $US15, after which he continued to argue until she gave us a further bundle of dinar notes. With all the carry-on one would think that Israel and Jordan were sworn enemies rather than supposedly close allies. While the place looked to be formal and official there's no doubt that the negotiations were more like what one finds in a Middle-Eastern market.

    Eventually, we got through all the official stuff, and finished up on a 15 seat mini-bus with eight of us on board, the other six all being very friendly Americans. Our Jordanian guide, Sam, who has been doing the job for 26 years, proved to be very knowledgeable and friendly. Once he'd introduced himself we were off, along some steep, windy and scenic roads in the direction of the ancient city of Jerash. It's a massive site, with a continuous history dating from the bronze age through to today. It is best known for its spectacular Roman ruins and is widely acknowledged as one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. To quote from the guide map, "...it comprises paved and colonnaded streets,, soaring hill-top temples, handsome theatres, spacious public squares nd plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates.

    Very impressive, but boy, was it hot! There wasn't a lot of shade, though Sam did his best to allow us to rest in the shade whenever we stopped for him to explain something to us. To a varying extent all of us in the tour group overdid it. Heroically, Brian walked almost to the far extremity of the site, and definitely pushed himself hard. We were the oldest members of the group, and both of us were proud of our efforts alongside the others.

    We then headed back for the 90 minute drive to Amman where our mini-bus driver took us on a comprehensive tour of the capital. We were shown some of the major vistas and other tourist attractions, after which we were dropped off at the Liwan Hotel, a clean and spacious 3-star establishment.

    When Brian asked our guide whether Petra is likely to be any less challenging he was non-committal, beyond emphasising that we need to wear strong walking shoes. We'll see what tomorrow brings.    もっと詳しく

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    We made it!

    Petra-fied by the heat

    2017年9月4日, ヨルダン ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    When your Jordanian guide, who had been quite nonchalant about the hot conditions on the previous day in Jerash, tells you that they're expecting heatwave conditions at Petra, our destination, then you'd better start worrying. When he adds that the minimum distance one needs to walk in order to see this world-famous tourist attraction is about 8km then you'd better be very concerned.

    We set off from Petra - Sam the guide, an American couple, two groups of two American women, a Pom who was slipping in a day of R&R during a business trip, a young Maori chap from the Bay of Islands, a tourist policeman who is evidently required by law to accompany us, our guide Sam - and us. We drove for about four hours, this time through desert landscape rather than the very hilly terrain of the previous day. Unlike the previous day, we were mentally prepared for the heat and were carrying plenty of drinking water. Our guide warned us that the walk to the ancient city would be a nice easy downhill stroll but that the trip back up would be rather more challenging.

    Leaving the parking area on foot it certainly seemed to be a nice easy downhill stroll, and it got even better when we reached the narrow fissure in the rocks which runs for a distance of a kilometre or more. There was a refreshing breeze in our faces and the path was mostly in the shade. When one actually catches ones first glimpse of the Treasury through the outline of the fissure and then, a couple of minutes later, gets to view that famous facade, it really is something. It's one thing to view it in books or on TV, but being up close to it in real life is something else again.

    A couple of our less hardy fellow travellers decided that they'd turn back at that point and hire a donkey carriage to get them back up the hill. More on that later. The rest of the group, us included, decided to press on. Petra is far more than the Treasury, and most people don't realise how vast it is. In fact it covers over 60 square kilometres and some of the walks can take as long as six to eight hours. We weren't that ambitious, but were certainly keen to see as much as possible. We were feeling reasonably OK, so decided to press on. New scenes open up at every turn, which really adds to the excitement of the place.

    After walking another kilometre or so, Mary was starting to flag, so decided to rest in a shady spot while Brian pressed on. The ultimate challenge is to visit the Monastery, which is towards the furthest point of the site and at the top of 800 steps. It was another kilometre or so to the base of the steps, and having reached that point Brian decided, wisely on this occasion, that he would turn back rather than tempt fate by climbing those 800 steep steps in all that heat. So began the return journey, Collecting Mary on the way back, the two of us started the return journey. Apart from ones own two feet, there are several choices of transport covering various sections of the walk. You can ride a camel or donkey, or can climb aboard a carriage pulled by a mule or donkey. In amongst all the souvenir sellers there was certainly no shortage of men trying to sell us the various rides, but we were determined to press on unaided.

    It was certainly hot by this stage, and we were flagging. After struggling at Jerash, Mary was a lot better at Petra, and kept going with determination, rather like the Energizer Bunny. It was hard going for both of us, and we were stopping with increasing frequency to regain our breath. The last 500m or so was especially tough, uphill and in full sun, but we made it!! Towards the end, we were dragging one foot after the other, willing ourselves to get to the top and wondering whether we'd been altogether too stubborn in refusing those dozens of offers of rides to the top.

    No matter which form of animal transport you choose, they're very cunning with the way they price these rides. You can pay upfront for a return trip, which most people choose not to do, since it's easy to amble down the hill and pause to admire the features and ever-changing view as you go. However, once you're at the bottom and want to head back to base, you find that a one-way journey up the hill costs exactly the same as the return trip which you'd decided against previously.

    Fortunately, the bus ride to our hotel was fairly short, only ten minutes or so, and unlike the previous night's hotel, the shower actually worked. Once we'd recovered, we decided to go for a bit of a wander around the neighbourhood, but the area wasn't terribly pedestrian-friendly (not that we were up for too much more walking anyway). We then had some dinner before retiring, dog-tired but very happy.    もっと詳しく

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    Slow work: making a mosaic
    Detail from a mosaic at the Madaba shopView from Mount Nebo

    An easy day

    2017年9月5日, イスラエル ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Heading off from Petra, we drove first to Sam's home town of Madaba an ancient town in Jordan, southwest of Amman. It’s known for its 6th-century mosaic map of the Holy Land in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. The Madaba Archaeological Park preserves the mosaic-rich Church of the Virgin Mary and artefacts from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic eras. Northwest, the biblical hill of Mount Nebo overlooks the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. We were right in the heart of biblical history - and biblical beliefs, which we were less excited about. At least half of our fellow travellers on the bus were right into this. We suspect that their main reason for coming to Jordan was less about Petra and more about walking in the footsteps of Jesus, Moses et al. The Madaba Map, which is of genuine historic significance, is part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George at Madaba. It is a map of the Middle East. Part of it contains the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the Holy Land and especially Jerusalem. It dates to the 6th century AD.

    No organised tour is complete without the hard sell of souvenirs and artefacts, and compared with previous trips to India and Turkey, we'd got off very lightly thus far. We're well acquainted with the routine, so weren't surprised when we were then taken to a mosaic factory in the town. It was certainly impressive to watch the painstaking work involved in making a high quality mosaic from minuscule, but precision-shaped pieces of coloured stone. Then, of course, we were led into the adjacent souvenir shop where large numbers of friendly, smiling sales assistants descended upon us. Some of the handicrafts, which included more than just mosaics, were beautiful (and quite pricey), but as we are trying to de-clutter our lives, we had to disappoint our designated shop assistant whose smile then disappeared along, shortly after, with the assistant herself.

    From there, we drove to the top of Mount Nebo, significant to religious people who believe that Moses died and was buried there. If one were irreverent (moi??), one might say that it's such a steep climb to the top of the mountain that potentially anyone could die there as a result of the climb. Many tourists go to Mount Nebo as a kind of pilgrimage, and there is a well set up church and display centre where one can view a number of Roman mosaics which have been uncovered in the area. From the top of Mount Nebo, one can see the so-called Promised Land, even if it was somewhat indistinct through the heat haze on the day that we were there.

    This was our last stop before we stopped for an excellent buffet lunch and headed back across the border to Israel. Our guide warned us that we shouldn't expect the border crossing to be easy by comparison with the northern crossing which we'd used to enter Jordan. This southern crossing over the The Allenby Bridge known to the Jordanians as the King Hussein Bridge is a bridge which crosses the Jordan River near the city of Jericho, and connects the West Bank with Jordan. It is currently the sole designated exit/entry point for West Bank Palestinians traveling in and out of the region, so for that reason we were forewarned that security was likely to be really tight.

    The approach to the border crossing from the Jordan side is less than impressive. We caught a brief glimpse of the wall which separates the West Bank from the rest of the region and then our bus drove into a noisy traffic-clogged shambles of slummy traders, people milling around and huge clouds of dust from passing vehicles. Somehow, our driver managed to bypass the long queues of stopped cars and buses and deposited us at the entrance to a modern-looking building where we completed all the security and immigration checks within a mere half-hour or so. We could hardly believe it. After our experience of entering Jordan and after the warnings from our guide, it all turned out to be quick and easy. As scheduled, our bus dropped us off at the Jerusalem Gate Hotel, after which we caught an Uber for the 15 minute ride back to Gil and Mira's.

    It was hard work, but we were really pleased that we had decided to do the Jordan trip.    もっと詳しく

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    Looking down on historic Sarona from the balcony
    From left: Mira, Rachel, Mary, Yossi, Esther, Gil1Brian with the two MarysMediterranean as seen from the balconyEsther and Mary

    Friends and family

    2017年9月6日, イスラエル ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    After the rigours of the previous three days we were please to have a leisurely start to our last full day in Israel. Mira had to spend some time at her former work, so dropped us off just after 9am at the bus stop from where we took the 30 minute trip to Tel Aviv. Brian had arranged to meet two old Wellington friends, now long-term residents of Tel Aviv. Mary Aarons had been a classmate of Brian's at Island Bay Primary School, and the two of them have kept in touch by email over the past few years. We had spent some time with Mary when we were there previously in 2014.

    Meanwhile, Brian had known Barbara Schwartz (nee Vamos) for even longer, all his life, in fact. His parents and hers had been members of the Hungarian community in Wellington and close friends, though he and Barbara hadn't seen each other for about 60 years. Last time we were in Tel Aviv, Barbara had in fact been visiting her sister in Wellington, so we hadn't managed to catch up on that occasion. Mary A and Barbara had vaguely known each other through the Jewish community in Wellington, and had met a few times more recently in Tel Aviv. Anyway, the four of us caught up at the Dizengoff Centre and spent several hours talking and generally reminiscing. We could have kept going for many hours more, but unfortunately Barbara had another commitment and had to get away just after midday. The two Marys and Brian then continued talking for a couple of hours more over a pleasant light lunch at the Dizengoff Centre. The three of us then took a leisurely 15-minute wander to the Sarona Centre, where Esther and Yossi live. They'd invited Mary and Brian to come back to their unit. Gil and Mira would drive down from Jerusalem and join us there for dinner.

    We bid our fond farewells to Mary Aarons then headed up to Esther and Yossi on the 13th floor. For the first time since we'd arrived in the Middle East the air was clear of heat haze, so we were able to enjoy the terrific view right out to the Mediterranean Sea. The time went very quickly as we chatted about all sorts of things, then around five o'clock we were joined by Gila and Mira. Esther and Yossi are great hosts, and they treated us to a wonderful Hungarian meal of paprika chicken and nokedle (dumplings) along with numerous accompaniments.

    We talked for quit a while afterwards then made our sad farewells and drove back to Gil and Mira's at Jerusalem.    もっと詳しく

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    Place des Jacobins, Lyon

    Goodbye Israel, Hello France

    2017年9月8日, フランス ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    ... or how to (nearly) miss a plane. With a late flight out, our final day in Israel was a nice leisurely one. Gil and Mira had organised for us to go to a show called the Jerusalem Time Elevator which describes Jerusalem's history (in a 60s Hollywood-style way), using impressive surround screens and with the seats mounted on a platform which moves and shakes in unison with the film. Interesting in its own way, though we felt we'd got far more out of the two guided tours which we'd done a few days earlier.

    Gil then took us for a scenic drive around some parts of the city which we hadn't really seen before, and that was great. Until we first came here, we hadn't realised just how hilly the place is, but it's built on what is really rugged terrain. We then grabbed some lunch and headed back to their place for our least favourite job, packing.

    Gil and Mira got us to the airport nice and early, and we said our fond goodbyes. Hopefully we'll see them again sometime soon, maybe in Brisbane. Even after we'd waited in long queues and been through security checks (though not as rigorous as the one which a swarthy-skinned young man standing near us had to endure). The girl at check-in told us that we'd be at Departure Gate C2, and even though it was already printed on the ticket, she kindly circled the number for us. Maybe she thought that we were old and doddery. Reaching the departure hall, we double-checked the departure gate on the screen then headed for C2. It was fairly quiet there, with only about 40-50 people waiting, so we thought that for once we'd be on a nice empty flight for the nearly five hour trip to Lyon, our next port of call.

    As the boarding time drew near with no announcements being made, Brian decided to wander up to the desk, only to find that the screen there was showing an entirely different flight number, which was going to Zagreb, Nobody was behind the counter, so we approached an airport employee who had been working there at the departure counter but who now appeared to be on a break nearby. He immediately told us that the flight had been moved to Gate B1, some distance away, so off we ran in a bit of a panic. Reaching there, we discovered that that gate was handling an entirely different flight to some other destination. We don't know whether the man who'd given us the wrong information was stupid or had misinformed us deliberately. Furthermore, none of the display screen seemed to be listing our flight.

    By this stage, it was close to the scheduled departure time and we were seriously worried that maybe, somehow, we'd completely missed our flight. Eventually, we found a screen listing our flight as departing from Gate C3, right next to where we'd been waiting in the first place. The flight had started to board, but fortunately it was running several minutes late, and we were OK. So how did everyone else know about the change? We certainly hadn't heard anything. We concluded that the announcements had probably been made in Hebrew and French only and, judging by the look of our fellow passengers that would have covered pretty much everyone except us. Anyway, we got on board safely and even though it was a budget airline (Transavia), it was pleasant enough flight. As the Israelis do so many things well, we prefer instead to blame the airline for the display of total incompetence.

    We duly landed in Lyon at around 1am, and got quite a surprise at the cool night temperature. After the past couple of weeks the 12 degrees felt quite cold. At 1am, there isn't a lot happening at St Exupery airport. The terminal is deserted, all the workers are tucked up in their beds, the buses and trains aren't running and there's nobody at the Information counter. Our only choice therefore for getting to our hotel was a very expensive taxi ride. Fortunately at least, the driver was very friendly and even allowed Brian to practise his schoolboy French on him. We were certainly very happy to check in to our hotel, unpack and hit the sack.    もっと詳しく

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    Basilisque Notre-Dame de Fourviers, Lyon
    Mary on Bonaparte Bridge. Notre Dame and St Jean in the backgroundView from Basilisque Notre-Dame de FourvieresThe interior of Notre-DameBrian on Bonaparte Bridge, St Jean cathedral in the foreground

    We discover Lyon

    2017年9月8日, フランス ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Our only previous experience of Lyon was many years ago when we dropped a rental car off at St Exupery and flew back to Brisbane. More recently, several people had told us that it's a beautiful city with spectacularly good food and wine. What's not to like about that?

    Waking up and taking in our surroundings, we realised that we had chosen well with our hotel, the Novotel Beaux Artes. It's in an old building, but the interior has been tastefully renovated in a very modern style. Our room was quite spacious, especially by European hotel standards. It is only 50 metres from the impressive square known as the Place des Jacobins. (We soon discovered that Lyon has a number of impressive squares, of which this is but one). Prepared for a day of exploring, we found our way to the tourist office, which proved to be very helpful and which supplied us with a map of the city and its recommended attractions. Even with a map it took us a little while to get our bearings. There are two rivers, the Rhone and Saone, which meet at Lyon, and the roads certainly aren't laid out in a grid pattern. For example, at Place des Jacobins, there are seven streets all coming off the square at various angles. Navigation, at least initially, was quite a challenge.

    Eventually we sorted ourselves out and were able to take in the beautiful scenery and architecture of Lyon. We discovered that our hotel is in the middle of a very upmarket shopping area, with Pucci, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and every other prestige brand one may or may not have heard of all within walking distance. Not that they would ever benefit from us being there.

    We first walked over the Bonaparte Bridge, bought two-day public transport passes then caught the funicular railway (cable car, in Wellington-speak) up the very steep hill to the Basilisque Notre-Dame de Fourviere, the massive cathedral which overlooks the city. We spent quite a bit of time in the cathedral and its precincts then took a leisurely walk down the hill to the city. We were certainly pleased that we hadn't pushed ourselves into walking up the hill, though many people did. At the bottom of the hill, we visited Lyon Vieux, the old town with its narrow cobblestone streets, and the nearby Cathedrale St Jean - also very impressive. Wherever one looks there are great things to view and to photograph.

    By then, we'd done quite a bit of walking, so after savouring some excellent local ice-cream we decided to rest up at our hotel for a couple of hours before setting off to forage for dinner. There weren't all that many restaurants in our immediate area and given the tone of the other shops, we thought the prices would be so high that we'd need a bank loan to get a bowl of soup. We decided therefore to head towards the the old town, where we'd noticed a number of restaurants in the narrow winding streets. It was around 9pm, and getting there after the 15-minute walk we got quite a surprise. There were just so many restaurants, side by side by side, with tables spilling out on to the footpaths and roads. And all of them were absolutely jam-packed. The place was like Park Road, Milton, or Wellington's Courtney Place, times fifty. Eventually, we picked out a place from the many which had tempted us, and had a really great dinner. The city's bridges and major buildings are all lit up at night, and it really is a beautiful place. We'd known very little about the city beforehand, but were certainly very impressed by the place.    もっと詳しく

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    Drowned rats everywhereThe Roman ruins of LyonThe Roman ruins of Lyon

    A change in the weather

    2017年9月9日, フランス ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    As mentioned already, we were really impressed with our hotel, and even though it's on a busy road, the double-glazed windows meant that we couldn't hear a thing. We set off as usual for our petit dejeuner of jus d'orange, croissants and café. The moment we stepped outside, we saw that there had been a change in the weather, with the calm warm night giving way to a chilly and very wet morning. Not that we were complaining, as the weather up to this point had been anything but wet, and certainly on the hot side. we dashed inside for our warm clothes and borrowed one of the hotel's courtesy umbrellas. The weather wasn't going to stop us, but it could cause us to modify our plans.

    Breakfast over, we headed once more over the Bonaparte Bridge to the old city. Much to our surprise, a whole big area from the end of the bridge and throughout the St Jean square had been transformed overnight into a market for pottery. Hundreds, and it must have been at least a couple of hundred, potters had set up their stalls and were selling a great variety of handmade pieces in all sorts of styles. Most of it was in absolutely beautiful taste, and if we'd been in the market for tasteful ornaments, and had the money, we could have picked up the odd shipping container or two of beautifully-designed original items. We felt quite sorry for the stall-holders though, as their sunshade umbrellas were of little help in keeping them warm and dry.

    After a bit of a browse around we then caught the cable car, a different one from the previous day's, up to the old Roman ruins. Our rides weren't totally incident-free. At one of the stations, the automatic card reader refused to recognise Brian's day pass ticket, and at another, Mary's ticket wouldn't function. No big deal under normal circumstances, but what do you do when everything is automated and the station is totally unmanned? (Confession: Brian's problem was his own silly fault for being smart, because he was demonstrating to Mary how to use the automatic turnstile, so went back out of the station and tried to get back in. The system realised that he had already passed through and wasn't going to let him go through a second time). With the help of a couple of helpful but amused locals we found out eventually how to beat the system and were able to continue on our way.

    Having sorted things out and then explored the Roman ruins located high above the city. The rain had lightened off by then, which was good. We decided though that we should go to Plan B and make this largely a museum day, so we took ourselves off to the Gadagne Museum, which is nearby in the old town. The extensive main display is a history of Lyon from the 1st century BC, when it was known as Lugdunum, through to the present day. It was interesting, though hard to take everything in in one go. The museum is located in what was once a historic home, spread over four levels and with a maze of rooms. We found ourselves up and down numerous stairs and in and out of many doorways, but it was all very interesting.

    The museum was showing a temporary exhibition, also quite extensive, on the history of puppets and puppetry. It too contained a lot of interesting exhibits, mainly antique marionettes from various periods of history.

    After a largish lunch, neither of us was especially hungry, but we thought we'd head out anyway towards the old town where we could enjoy another beautiful dinner. It takes a while to get the hang of the geography, but we finally realised that it was an even shorter walk to the restaurant area than we'd realised. The only problem was that the rain had returned, which meant that nobody was wanting to sit outside and therefore there were far fewer tables available. Even before we reached the old town, we stumbled across a maze of old streets filled with restaurants on our side of the river. Very impressive, but at that time, round 8.30pm, there were no spare (dry) tables to be had. In the end, we decided to head back to our hotel and to fill up with a big breakfast the next morning instead.    もっと詳しく

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    Good news, bad news, good news

    2017年9月10日, フランス ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    We started our last day in the fabulous city of Lyon with nothing planned. Heading out for breakfast we found that the rain had disappeared and that it was a fine Sunday morning. The locals were obviously sleeping in, and there was little activity on the streets, which made it even better.

    After checking out of our excellent hotel, and leaving our bags in their storage room, we headed off towards the old town, a ten minute walk away. We'd only got as far as he nearer river bank when we came across the Sunday market. Clearly, this is where the Lyonnais go for their food shopping. Extending over a good couple of hundred metres alongside the river, the stalls were packed with the most delicious and tempting food - raw meat, cooked meat, cheeses, fish, olives, pates, fruit and vegetables - everything you could think of. We succumbed to a minor extent. Mary can sniff out good grapes from a mile away, and Brian likewise with fresh raspberries, so we were in seventh heaven. There was so much more that we could have got, but we resisted the temptation.

    We then spent the next hour or so just sitting in the warm sun and watching the locals go by, after which we wandered the couple of hundred metres or so to the old city. It was lunchtime, and just like on the previous two evenings, all the restaurants were absolutely packed, both the inside tables and those out on the street. We couldn't believe how big the restaurant scene is in this city of fabulous food.

    Eventually, the time arrived for us to grab our bags and catch a taxi to Gare Part Dieu, the railway station. We were heading for our next stop, Avignon, prior to joining our river cruise. The signage at the station took us a while to understand, but eventually we cracked the code and found our way through dense crowds to the right platform. We boarded our train, heading for Marseilles, and ten minutes or so later, that's when disaster struck, We headed for the buffet car to get ourselves some coffee, when Brian realised his wallet was missing. No doubt about it, it had gone, Somewhere in the crowd, his pocket had been picked.

    We then spent the next few minutes cancelling our credit cards, though sadly the 70 or so euros were a write-off. Fortunately, the two of us have separate credit cards, and we still had our passports so all was not lost. It was however a major inconvenience, but we were confident that Brian's international drivers licence, which we still had, would be sufficient later for the rental car company.

    We disembarked at Avignon after what should have been a very relaxing train trip, and waited for our driver as instructed at the station's meeting point. No sign of anyone, We noticed another couple there, French, who we discovered were booked on the same cruise and were waiting also. Eventually, after a good 40 minutes, the driver found us. Unbeknown to us, it seems that there are two such meeting points in the station. How confusing.

    After a 15-minute drive we reached our boat, moored in the river very close to the Palais des Papes in the middle of town. The Phenicien, a converted barge, is very spacious. The dining/lounge area is massive, and with us being such a small group we felt a little lost. The boat holds 18 passengers, though there were only ten of us on board. Very luxurious. Eight were Australians and there was the French couple whom we'd met at the station. We feel a little sorry for them, as they had only basic English, so were struggling a bit to keep up with the conversations. Brian, meanwhile, was a bit disappointed that there would be less chance for him to improve his French. All that said, they proved to be a very good crowd of interesting people who had already done a lot of travelling.

    As promised in the brochure, the food and wine flowed freely. The boat has an open bar, including top-shelf drinks if we wanted them. Dinner was certainly magnificent, and it was clear from the outset that we were going to be very well looked after. We learnt that each day we'd be introduced to food, wine and cheeses from the regions we were visiting at the time. It sounded brilliant, and we soon found out that it was every bit as good as we'd been promised.    もっと詳しく

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    Paradise

    2017年9月11日, フランス ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Our first full day on the boat, and it was brilliant. Everyone was so friendly, and the staff couldn't do enough for us. After a leisurely buffet breakfast, we headed by foot into the old town and to the Palais des Papes, the Popes' Palace. This massive complex dominates the town and is a huge touristdrawcard.

    As Wikipedia tells us, it is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was the seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century. Six papal conclaves were held in the Palais, leading to the elections of Benedict XII in 1334, Clement VI in 1342, Innocent VI in 1352, Urban V in 1362, Gregory XI in 1370 and Antipope Benedict XIII in 1394. The Palais is actually two joined buildings: the old palais of Benedict XII, which sits on the impregnable rock of Doms, and the new palais of Clement VI, the most extravagant of the Avignon popes. Together they form the largest Gothic building of the Middle Ages, it is also one of the best examples of the International Gothic architectural style.

    We then had some free time, so visited the nearby Place de l'Horloge, also very picturesque, but rather too touristy for our tastes. Our guide had told us that Avignon is the third most visited place in France, after Mont St Michel and the Eiffel Tower. We were surprised, as we expected the Louvre and Versailles to be above it on the list, but either way, it's very popular.

    Wandering back in the direction of the boat, we passed the famous Pont d'Avignon. We'd like to have climbed up there and taken photos - for an entry fee - but were a bit pressed for time by then, so gave it a miss. We then set off on a very short 'cruise' to Villeneuve les Avignon. All the meals are major affairs of about four courses, with all the wines and other drinks that one could possibly wish for. We knew that we'd need to pace ourselves or we'd become 15 stone alcoholics. We got to taste the local foods, wines and cheeses of each area which we visit.

    After lunch, we were picked up and taken on a 30-minute drive to the renowned wine region of Chateauneuf du Pape. We started at the ruined tower which overlooks the town, providing plenty of highly photogenic views. The air was very clear, giving us a great view of the only mountain in the region, the famous Mont Ventoux, aka 'The Beast of Provence.' Plenty of good photos, we're hoping.

    We got back to the boat at around 5pm and decided to take a walk to the nearby town of Avignon Villeneuve, the so-called new town. By our standards it is anything but new and is very picturesque.

    Once again we were treated to a great four-course meal with unlimited local wines and any other drinks included. Brilliant.    もっと詳しく

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    The famous bridge which isn't

    2017年9月12日, フランス ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The much photographed bridge close to Avignon, the Pont du Gard was built as a Roman aqueduct some 2000 years ago. True, a bridge was incorporated into the original structure as recently as the 18th century, but it is now closed off to all but pedestrian traffic. After breakfast we headed off in the minibus for the 30 minute drive to Pont du Gard, all of it through picturesque grape-growing countryside.

    Even though we sort of knew what to expect, ones first glimpse of the famous viaduct is really quite something. The whole area is now a UNESCO site, so is preserved and protected. We started at the very modern museum and interpretation centre, which has been beautifully set up, and where our guide explained the history and engineering behind the aqueduct. The statistics are quite staggering. The aqueduct is the only remaining one of 17, which formed part of a system to deliver up to 30000 cubic metres of water per day 50km over mountainous terrain from a natural spring at Uzès to Nîmes. After spending an interesting time in the interpretation centre we headed off to the viaduct itself. At the very top of the structure there is the water-pipe itself, constructed from stone and fully enclosed. We were able to walk through from one end to the other. Everywhere one looks there are spectacular views of the aqueduct and its surroundings. A wonderful experience all round.

    We then headed back to the boat, where we cruised to our next stop while enjoying another beautiful lunch accompanied by a very nice local rose. What a life. We ruised for about 90 minutes and moored at the small historic village of Alamon. Bikes were available, but Brian decided to walk with a couple of others to the village, about ten minutes away. It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, historic but not all that interesting. Others who went to the village a couple of hours later reported that they'd found it to be quite lively, so maybe we were simply there too early.

    By then, the eight of us had got into a very nice pattern of pre-dinner drinks at around 7pm (one can start earlier if one wishes), our gourmet four-course dinner at 8pm followed by lively discussion until people star drifting off to bed from around 10pm. It's a tough life.    もっと詳しく

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  • SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah
    A typical (amazing) lunch menu

    We see more of the Rhône

    2017年9月13日, フランス ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    By French standards it was an early start, with our buffet breakfast at 8am and on the bus at 9 o'clock. We were heading to Les Baux-de-Provence, a very picturesque medieval village about 40 minutes' drive away at a fortified rocky site between Arles and St Remy-de-Provence. There is the ancient village, the extensive fortified-chateau area and the magnificent setting and views. The rocky limestone landscape is quite different from anything we've ever seen before, and the village itself is built on a high point overlooking a large area of the surrounding countryside. Fortunately, we arrived quite early and the guide gave us a good tour of the village while things were quiet.

    About an hour later, the hordes started arriving in their bus-loads, but we'd largely seen what we wanted to. The place contains many shops and restaurants, but what they were selling was more touristy than authentic. Nevertheless it was an interesting and worthwhile visit. One certainly wouldn't want to be there at the height of the tourist season. Apparently it is absolute chaos then.

    Around midday we set off on what was our longest boat trip so far, about 4.5 hours downstream, to the town of Arles. It was a pleasant ride, the weather was warm and after lunch we were able to sit out on the deck and observe the great variety of commercial and tourist river traffic. Barges can be up to a massive 190m long, and we saw some which would be close to that limit. A highlight was when we went through the Beaucaire lock, where we dropped a full 17m. Quite an experience. Eventually, we reached the historic city (which city in this area isn't??) of Arles, otherwise known as the open-air museum of Provence. Being in a more enlightened place than Queensland, we were able to enjoy the benefit of daylight saving and take a leisurely walk through the old city. We were particularly taken with the Roman amphitheatre, which seems to be used as a modern-day stadium. We'd have liked to have taken a look inside but simply ran out of time. Like all of the historic cities and towns in France, the place is full of tourists - and tourist traps - but we serious travellers were still able to take in much of its beauty.

    It was then back to the boat for the routine we've become accustomed to; pre-dinner drinks, a very tasty gourmet four-course meal with unlimited drinks, all followed by much merriment and talk until around 1130pm.    もっと詳しく

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  • SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah
    Fabro with tonight's dinner menu

    A cultural tour

    2017年9月14日, フランス ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    At the very leisurely time of 9am we were collected by our guide, who was to give us a tour of his home city of Arles. It soon became obvious that the two of us had barely scratched the surface during our self-conducted tour the previous day. Patrick is an artist, Kansas-born, but resident in several European countries during the course of his life. Much of his tour was given over to Vincent van Gogh, who had lived in Arles for just over a year and had created many paintings there during the period. Patrick was able to take us to several of the exact spots where van Gogh had set up his easel, and to show us prints of the preliminary sketches and the final paintings that the artist had created. In most instances the buildings had little changed since that time, which made it very interesting. He was also very knowledgeable about architecture, so was able to point out interesting design features of many of the buildings. Altogether, a very interesting and enjoyable tour, though somewhat different from what we had been expecting. We then had a bit of free time before sailing time, but once again it wasn't quite enough to allow us a leisurely wander inside the amphitheatre..

    We then headed off four a leisurely four-hour cruise, some of it taken up with our usual four-course lunch, towards the small village of Gallician, where we were due to moor overnight. Leaving Arles, we took the fork in the river which put us on to the Petit Rhone, the smaller and less populated branch of the river. We reached Gallician late in the afternoon. Four of us then decided to take a short walk to the village, but quickly decided that it wasn't all that interesting for exploration. We then walked along the river path to a distant bridge, crossed over and walked back along the opposite bank. All told, we covered the 7km loop at a vigorous pace, so were able to feel virtuous when downing our pre-dinner drinks followed by the usual high standard dinner and wine.    もっと詳しく

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  • SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah

    Brian takes a ride

    2017年9月15日, フランス ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    By now, we had settled in to a very pleasant routine of a leisurely buffet breakfast at 8am followed by our departure on a morning tour an hour later. We faced the reality however that this was our last full day on Le Phenician before we left the cruise and went our separate ways. The Camargue region, close to the Rhône delta is unique, quite unlike any other French region. It is flat, low-lying land, quite wild, and with large open areas rather than the neat and tidy landscape one sees in most other areas of France. Bull-fighting is practised widely in the region. Most of it is in the traditional Camargue style where multiple ribbons are tied to the horrifyingly sharp horns of the bull, and a small handheld comb-like device is then used by the competitors to pick the small ribbons off the angry bull. Whoever gets the most ribbons is the winner. Generally this takes place in an arena where there are ten men and one bull, but a variant of this is where the bulls are individually allowed to run loose in the streets and competitors try to snare the ribbons. It's a very dangerous sport with many injuries, but the good news is that the bulls do not get injured. It seems that prize bulls are as revered there as prize racehorses are in Australia. We'd loved to have seen such an event, but time did not allow. One should add that some traditional bull-fights also take place in the Camargue, and those particular bulls do get killed. That, we would not want to see.

    Anyway we set off to visit an authentic bull-breeding ranch run by a prominent local family. We drove for an hour, and when we arrived, four members of the family, dressed in their traditional costumes and mounted on their traditional white horses, were there to greet us. We then climbed aboard a flat-bed cart pulled by a tractor and they took us to one of the fields, where were about 50-60 of the black bulls. Until we got to the ranch we hadn't realised that there had been a change in the weather, and it had become windy and absolutely freezing!!. What we saw was certainly interesting, but we were all shivering on the open cart. They rounded up the bulls and brought them close to the cart so that we could get a good look at them. Each bull is individually named, and they are regarded just as one would regard racehorses at an Australian breeding stud. The horns on these bulls are huge and sharp, and they point forward, where they can inflict the most damage. The animals weigh up to 800kg, not small.

    Thankfully, we were then brought in out of the cold to their display area and shop, where we were able to see, on continuous loop, some absolutely scary videos of bullfights. We had some traditional snacks including terrine, anchovies and tapenade, all accompanied by wine. After that, it was back to the boat, which was getting ready to sail to our final destination of Aigues-Mortes. The previous night, we were given two choices. We could travel on the boat, enjoy one of Thierry's wonderful lunches then arrive at our destination feeling relaxed and comfortable. Then there was the crazy option where one could take a packed lunch which Thierry would prepare, and ride a bike for the 14km alongside the canal to our destination. In preparation for this eventuality, the two of us had hired bikes in Brisbane a few months earlier for a couple of hours, just to make sure that we could still handle them OK. Mary had decided that bike-riding wasn't for her, while Brian had become marginally less wobbly as he got back into practice.

    Bravely/foolishly Brian decided that he would do the roughly hour-long ride to Aigues-Mortes, along with Greg and Steve, two of our fellow-passengers both of whom are experienced riders. All the others took the boat option. Of course, once one commits to riding the bike, there is literally no turning back. The boat will have sailed, so it's a matter of going the full distance on two wheels. To cut a long story short, the bike ride went very well, Brian didn't fall off and we reached our destination an hour ahead of the boat. We were fortunate that the wind had died down, it was a very smooth path and there were no hills. In fact it was a very pleasant trip and Brian was well pleased with himself.

    Once the boat arrived and we were reunited the two of us set off to explore this 13th century walled town. We started by buying tickets and setting off for a walk along the top of the wall, a distance of about 1.6km. It was quite interesting, though we wouldn't describe it as compelling. We then went for a wander through the streets of the old town, quite attractive with many shops and restaurants and quite a few tourists. It was fairly interesting, though we'd decided by then that our favourite places on this trip were Avignon and Les Baux-de-Provence.

    Our final dinner on board was a big affair, with champagne and with foie gras served two different ways as the starter. The main course of fillet of lamb served rare was magnificent, and Thierry's dessert of raspberry and peach gateau with sparklers as decoration was pretty special too. The staff, who had been magnificent during the trip, joined us for champagne toasts and dessert - all accompanied by many thank you speeches, hugs and handshakes. We were all sad that the trip was coming to an end.

    For the record, and for happy memories, these were Thierry's wonderful lunches:

    Sunday
    Rosace de tomates bicolores, gelée et tartare
    Médaillon de veau, sauce à la moutarde violette
    Purée de patate douce et petits légumes
    Cheeses: Reblochon, St Marcellin
    Fraises en sabayon

    Monday
    Petits farcis, tuiles de parmesan
    Dos de loup en croute de poivrons
    Riz et poireaux, sauce vierge
    Cheeses: Petit basque, Livarot
    soupe d’agrumes, granité de mandarine

    Tuesday
    Duo de saumon en pannequet, betterave et pomme
    Magret de canard, parfum de figues
    Ravioles de céleri et fèves
    Cheese: Croustillant de chêvre
    Déclinaison de chocolat

    Wednesday
    Asperges blanche et vertes, velouté, panées
    Coussin de daurade, sauce curcuma
    Fenouil braisé et palet de pdt
    Cheeses: Pont l’evêque, Tome de savoie

    And here are the dinners:

    Sunday
    Eggplant terrine, tomato and pesto
    Goat cheese, tapenade and tomato tart
    Green bean, white onion and chorizo salad
    Italian salad
    porc « pluma », veggies
    Brillat savarin
    Coffee mousse «dacquoise »

    Monday:
    Smoked and tartare salmon roll
    Grilled veggies
    Snowpeas, carrots, marinated peppers, smoked duck breast
    Bacon and leek tart
    Grilled lamb, spicy grains
    Cheese: St Nectaire
    Raspberries tiramisu

    Tuesday:
    Avocado and grapefruit
    Crabs, garlic, pepper, lime samoussa
    Prawns, coconuts orange and peanuts salad
    Cod fritters (accras)
    Spicy chicken breast, nuddles
    Fresh cheese
    Rhubarb tart

    Wednesday:
    “Pissaladière”
    Cauliflower greek style
    Eggplant “caviar”
    Quinoa taboulet
    Monkfish, veggies
    Cheese: Bûche de Valançay
    Exotic fruits salad

    Thursday:
    Crespeou
    Cod brandade and spinach “feuilleté”
    Gaspacho
    Feta salad
    Braised beef cheek, potatoes gratin
    Cheese: St Marcellin
    Chestnut cake    もっと詳しく

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  • SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah

    Paris, here we come

    2017年9月16日, フランス ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    8.30am and two taxis, one with a trailer, arrived to take all of us plus luggage on the half-hour drive to the station at Nîmes. From there, people were catching trains to various destinations. We, together with the lovely elderly French couple, Roger and Françoise, were on the 1055 train to Paris. The waiting time went very quickly, and it was handy to have them there to help us interpret the minimal signage and garbled French PA system announcements at the station. We spent much of the time, as we had during the cruise, with them helping Brian expand his limited French vocabulary while we in turn helped them with their basic English.

    French trains are fast, clean and comfortable, but as we had discovered already at Gare Part Dieu in Lyon, getting on the train and finding ones reserved seats is not always easy. For a start, the signage telling people where to stand on the platform to be alongside their carriage was hopelessly wrong, so when the train pulled in to the platform we all had to sprint about 50m with our luggage. This wouldn't matter, were it not for the fact that the train is there for literally only two minutes before it heads off again. We felt sorry for anyone travelling with a lot of luggage and small children. Our troubles weren't over yet. As we entered our carriage, the way was blocked by two people in wheelchairs. This wasn't their fault as there was no other space for them.

    HEALTH WARNING: Politically incorrect statements ahead!! What it meant was that we had to try and squeeze past them while carrying our own heavy luggage above our heads. This wasn't easy, but we felt that the disabled people wouldn't be keen on adding decapitation to their list of medical issues. At risk of sounding even more politically incorrect, we concluded that they were returning from Lourdes, in which case they should seek a refund. Trains should only require wheelchair spaces for the outbound journey.

    We reached Paris on time after a very quiet and comfortable three-hour high speed train journey and then set about trying to navigate ourselves plus luggage from Gare Lyon to our hotel at La Tour Maubourg. Many of the Metro stations now have escalators, but there are still a few which required us to lug suitcases up and down flights of steps. We were certainly happy to see our hotel, the one we'd stayed at in 2014. Little has changed, and our room was every bit as comfortable as the other one was before. We scored an attic room this time, unfortunately without a view, but the room itself was great.

    Paris is a romantic city, so what was the first thing we did? Went to the laundromat and washed a week's worth of accumulated laundry. Admittedly, we did go and indulge ourselves at a nearby patisserie while the clothes were washing.

    Later, we came down to earth with a bit of a thud. There are many dozens of restaurants, all within easy walking distance of our hotel, but we decided that we'd go for something cheap and light. After all, we'd eaten and drunk especially well over the previous week, and it wouldn't do us any harm to ease off a bit - and save a bit of money. However, the one we chose was very ordinary indeed. We knew that we wouldn't be going back there in a hurry.    もっと詳しく

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  • SpydahGolden AnniversarySpydah
    Mary soaks up the view
    Pomp and ceremonyTacky souvenirs by the truckload1

    Our neighbours turn on another surprise

    2017年9月17日, フランス ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    The weather when we'd arrived in Paris the previous afternoon had been less than brilliant. It was overcast, and when we went out for dinner, we were quite cold. We expected this, our first full day, to be much the same, in which case we were all set to undertake indoor activities such as visiting museums. However when we set off for breakfast we could see that it was partly cloudy and really quite pleasant - a perfect day for walking.

    Where to start? The hotel is a bare 100 metres from Les Invalides, so that seemed like a fairly logical place. Off we set, and it was great. At that time it was too early for the tourist hordes, though that soon changed as the day progressed. Being a Sunday, traffic at that time was really light too. The previous day's rain had cleaned the air, and the morning light made it great for photos. Brian took many in and around Les Invalides.

    In September 2014, when we'd stayed previously at Hôtel de la Tour Maubourg, we'd been woken up on the Sunday morning by a lot of commotion. It had turned out that they were celebrating the centenary of a major event in French history, the First Battle of Marne. On that occasion the French government had commandeered all of the Paris taxis, somewhere between 250 and 500 of them, to transport the French troops to the front, from where the invading German army was forced to retreat. We were witness to the commemoration and partial re-enactment of that event.

    This time round, we wandered in to the precinct, taking in the wonderful views and impressive buildings. Outside the beautiful chapel at Les Invalides, which contains Napoleon's tomb, a crowd of very formally dressed people was gathering. Those greeting the guests at the entrance were in spectacularly fancy dress uniforms in various designs, with so much by way of medals, gold braid and giant epaulettes that we almost had to put our sunglasses on. They looked like characters from a historical drama. Clearly, they were getting ready for some sort of commemorative church service, and any casually dressed visiting Australians with cameras around their necks weren't going to be encouraged. Most of the guests were dressed very formally, and many of them looked like long-retired military officers. A large number were in wheelchairs and could well have been WWII veterans. We weren't able to find out the reason for the commemoration, but clearly it was a pretty big event, even if it wasn't quite on the scale of the 2014 Marne celebration.

    From there we decided to head in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, about a 20 minute walk. As we'd expected it was pretty crowded there, in the Jardins de Mars, but we still enjoyed wandering round and taking in the sunshine and scenery. Having already been there, done that and got the T-shirt, we had no wish to climb the tower. It was just as well because the crowds were huge. As we'd observed previously, there are large numbers of street vendors all round the precinct, all trying to sell replicas of the Eiffel Tower and other tacky souvenirs. No matter how hard one tries, they're hard to ignore. We then wandered across to Place du Trocadéro which is just across the river. Again, Brian took many photos. From there it was a nostalgic walk up to the Arc de Triomphe and down the famous Champs Élysées.

    All the way down there, we could hear really loud doof-doof music but couldn't tell initially where it was coming from. As we got closer to the Place de la Républic we could see that a large area had been closed off to traffic and that there was some sort of free concert going on. It at least provided us with the opportunity to get photos, particularly of the adjacent Grand and Petit palaces, without any traffic to block the views. One thing we did notice was the massive police presence and the large number of barricades which had been set up. Sadly, France is having to take its security very seriously.

    We then decided to utilise our Paris transport passes and go by Metro to the Left Bank area. Easier said than done. We got to La Motte-Picquet easily enough but then, when we wanted to change to a different line for the rest of the trip, we were told that the short section of the line that we had wanted to travel on was closed for the weekend to allow maintenance work. Special buses would be covering that section, but when we got to street level we saw some really black thunder clouds hovering overhead and decided to head back to base instead. Even that became complicated when another section of line was closed due to a suspicious parcel having been seen. These minor setbacks are part and parcel of travelling, so don't bother us too much. It was still a most enjoyable day and a good opportunity to get back into the atmosphere of Paris, Mary's favourite city.

    After the less than inspiring dinner of the previous night, we decided to go a bit more upmarket. Brian had seen reports on line which gave a restaurant which was a 15-minute walk from us very high ratings. That was a good enough reason for us to give Cafe Constant a try. We got there around 8.45pm only to find a long queue out to the street of people waiting to get a table. This must be good so, despite Mary's misgivings, Brian decided we'd join the queue. We had to wait a good half-hour for a table, but it was worth it. The food was very good though nowhere near the standard we'd been enjoying over the previous week. Brian was pretty happy, though. He had a delicious duck and potato pie, and given that he'd pigged out on a raspberry tartlet, made with fresh berries, for his afternoon tea, he'd once again partaken of his two favourite foods. The restaurant didn't feel too touristy even though we heard every language other than French being spoken by the patrons.    もっと詳しく

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