Paris - Our own private little walk.

I've only been here a few days, but I already understand how people can become entranced by this city. The idea when we first arrived was to catch a "hop-on, hop-off" bus. These buses go round and round in circles and pass all the well known and popular places in Paris and the idea is you can get on and off as you want. After our experience with these buses in Rome we decided not to do that, 'cause it feels like they just move you from one crowd of tourists to another. So, instead we went for a walk.

Now when I say walk, I'm actually talking more about a half-marathon stroll. We went from our apartment near the Bastille to the Arc De Triomphe, via Ile St-Louis, the Louvre and Des Champs Élysées - and it was amazing - and it was about 20 kilometres - and it was amazing - and it took us about seven and a half hours - and it was amazing - and it was a great way to see Paris - and did I mention how amazing it was? Given that we stopped and gazed at all sorts of interesting things, had lunch along the way, took about 100 photos, and climbed the Arc De Triomphe when we got there, I think we did alright.

This is from the bridge where we crossed the Seine to Ile St-Louis.

These are some of the things we found on Ile St-Louis...

And this is where we crossed back over to the main shopping district...

We probably spent a good couple of hours wandering through the shops, having lunch and starring at the locals.

This was a first for us... Traffic police on roller blades... Pretty cool, right?

And then around the corner we found this little place called the Louvre.

No we didn't go in. This photo's taken through one of the viewing windows from the outside.

So, we wandered about a bit there and slowly made our way down towards the Arc De Triomphe...

When we got there it looked like Anzac Day in NZ, but we were brave little soldiers and ploughed our way through the throng...

and then we started our ascent on the Arc De Triomphe! We now know there are 284 steps, from the bottom to the first gallery - this is what 284 steps look like...

then you have to go up two more levels to the top.

But!!!..... Once you get there....

Photos don't do it. You've got to be there.... really!

Now, that's Day 1. We're now on Day 6 and every day has been something new and fascinating. There's no way I can describe everything we've done and everything we've seen, but I wouldn't have missed a minute of it. From getting lost on the Metro - more than once - to listening to tour guides standing in the rain and speaking with unbridled passion about this city - to wandering through the markets...

to seeing the sad reality of modern society...

This is an adventure, and I'm lovin' it!

Here's a few of the photos we've taken. When I get time I'll go through and put captions on, but don't hold your breath. 

https://picasaweb.google.com/102502153151045712202/ParisWeek1?noredirect=1

Off now on the next adventure.

See ya!

Off to Paris - with a splutter and a cough!!

Life's full of disappointments, and yesterday's was right up there.

The day started well enough. We were up, fed and ready to rock and roll well ahead of schedule. Just after 8:00am we wandered over to Milano Centro to catch the train to Paris. We even stopped on the way to snap a few pics...

It's a very impressive railway station...

Anyway, after scanning every departure board we could find in the place, and not being able to find our train number, we started to get a bit worried. Eventually, we found the information office and a guy told us we were at the wrong station. The train we had to catch was leaving from Milano Garibaldi, not Milano Centro. That's when panic started to set in, 'cause it was now about 8:20am and the train was due to leave at 8:50am. So, down two travelators...

across a vast expanse of station and out to the taxi rank. The taxi guy didn't really understand what all the fuss was about, but anyway, he got us to the right station after about ten minutes, and we made it onto the train. 

About ten years ago, I was travelling in Europe on business and a couple of us had to get from Hamburg in Germany to Milan in Italy, and we decided to go by train. It turned out to be one of the most scenic and enjoyable trips I've ever been on. The train goes through Basel on the Swiss border and then on to Milan. The scenery is all picture postcard stuff and 'cause the train winds slowly through the Alps it's very beautiful and relaxing. So, when we were organising this trip, we planned to travel from Milan to Paris, through Switzeland, so my wife would get to see, "what I call" one of the best train trips in Europe. 

Now, I do remember that the train terminated at Milano Centro, so after we settled down for an eight hour train ride, I began to wonder why this train was leaving from a different station - but it was ten years ago, so maybe things have changed. Sadly, no!! For whatever reason our Travel Agent booked us on the wrong train. There are three different trains you can get from Milan to Paris. Two of them leave from Milano Centro and go through Switzerland and one - the one we were on - leaves from Milano Garibaldi and goes around the Alps and across French farmland, so all we got to see was...

For eight hours I was a very unhappy traveller. But, all things come to an end, and eventually we arrived at Gare De Lyon. A short taxi ride later and we've started to settle in to our little home away from home. Everyone's been very friendly and helpful so far, so now all the disappointments are behind us and we're looking forward to a busy couple of weeks exploring the wonders of Paris.

Adieu for now.

If you follow this link you'll find some images of Milan.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102502153151045712202/Milan?noredirect=1

Arrivederci Italia.

I was planning to do a page on Tuscany, but because of what's happened over the past couple of days it's probably better to just have a bit of a look-back on the past week and a bit.

If I was an old man, and my wife was a grandma, our view of Tuscany might be a little different, but to sum it all up, I would have to say, 'thanks for the experience, but I'm glad it's over'. Maybe a bit harsh 'cause there were actually three places that I really liked and would put on the re-visit list. These are; Siena,

San Gimanano,

and Volterre.

Why?

Dunno! They just appealed to me.

I think, looking back - hindsight and all - staying in Radda was probably not the wisest choice. Everywhere was at least a half hour's drive, and in some cases more than an hour, and when you're a sensitive soul like me and you have to contend with...

coming at you at a great rate of knots on the wrong side of the road, it wears a bit thin. So, I think next time, I'd prefer to stay in Siena. Having said that, the place we stayed was absolutely glorious...

the hostess was great, and I think if we were in a group it would be ideal.

Anyway, Monday came and it was time for us to leave. The plan; drive to Siena, drop off the rental car, get a train to Florence, change trains and on to Milan. So, what happened?.

When we get to the Siena Train Station, we go to great lengths to find the right platform and the right train. It just happens that today is severe thunderstorm day and there's been flooding and lighting strikes all over the place. 

Every announcement at the Train Station is an apology, either for trains being delayed, or for trains being cancelled. Now we were supposed to leave Seina at 10:18. One o'clock finds us sitting on the train still waiting to leave. Next thing, some dude in a uniform, speaking a foreign language, starts telling people the train's been cancelled and that there are buses outside the station waiting to take everyone to Florence. So, playing Leemings again, we all file off the train, out through the station to look for the bus. 

Can anyone see a bus?

Oh! You can...

Can anyone see a bus going to Florence?

Now, here's me thinking that someone in charge must have a clue. Wrong..... Again.

So when 2:15 ticked over and there was still no sign of a bus, and there was absolutely no chance of getting a straight answer out of anyone in a uniform, we decided that Plan B was the best idea - a taxi back to the rental car place, and let's hire a car and drive to Milan.

so we did.

Oh.... sorry! Wrong car. It was this one...

Anyway, about four or five hours later we're safely tucked away in our hotel in Milan and everything's back on track - less a couple of hundred Euro!!

Today was our one day in Milan, and despite me telling them we were coming, it still rained all day. Not good enough. Anyway, we made the most of it and spent a few hours in the shops and even caught a few glimpses of the Duomo.

Hang on... that's not the cathedral! That's the shopping centre. This is the Cathedral...

If you want to see more, go to...

https://picasaweb.google.com/102502153151045712202/Milan?noredirect=1

But for us, it's "Arrivederci Italia" cause we're off to Paris tomorrow.

See ya!

From Rome to Tuscany - From a hundred to zero in two hours.

The train for Chusui was due to leave the Rome Termini at 10:32 Monday morning so, being good little tourists we decided we needed to be at the train station early so we could sort out where everything was and find out which platform the train was leaving from. We even had a plan: Find the information kiosk and ask the question. Easy!! 

There it is with all the people standing 'round outside. Now, remember how sometimes when you go to the delicatessen there's this ticket machine on the counter? Well, same system at the information kiosk. Only difference was, there were two different types of ticket you could get - one was for "information" and the other was for "complaints". Luckily I chose the right one - at 9:00 o'clock in the morning I was number 318 - mmmmmm??

Anyway, after hanging about with a couple of dozen other folk my number came up and in I went - to find a long counter with five women sitting behind lexan security screens. (I wonder wh.... - never mind.) I noticed one of them had "318" flashing above it, and being the keen witted, intelligent person that I am, walked forward to ask the question: "What platform does train number 588 leave from?

"The platform numbers are not shown until 15 minutes before the train departs" was the reply.

"Oh!! Ehhh!!... Ok" say I, and wander back outside with a bit of a dazed look on my face. After hearing the results of my endeavours, my lovely travelling companion, being a practical sort, suggested that the best thing for us to do was to go and have a cuppa.

-----------------------------------------

10:35 finds us both sitting in the correct seats, in the correct carriage, on the correct train, smiling at each other 'cause we did it. Yay!!

Now we're in Carriage 1. When the train comes into the station the front of the train - and therefore Carrriage 1 - is the furthest away from the point where you come onto the platform. To help you find your carriage and to help you with your luggage, there are a number of able bodied young men who are very eager to be of assistance. One such youngster, without us having to ask, helped us lift our suitcases onto the train, led us to our carriage and lifted the suitcases onto the overhead storage racks. Being of a benevolent and generous nature I decided he deserved a tip and handed him 3 euro. He immediately demanded 5 euro for each suitcase. This demand resulted in a sudden rise in blood pressure, a rush of adrenalin, and a series of negative responses on my part. We then proceeded to repeat our respective points of view to each other, quite a few times, until I was able to convince him that he would be better off leaving with 3 euro rather than nothing. He took my meaning, the 3 euro, and scarpered.

Just after we sat down, another couple of fellow travellers went through the same process with the same young man, and achieved the same result. Poor young lad wasn't having such a good day.

So on to Chusui to pick up a rental car. How hard can this be?? 

The itinerary told us that the pickup point was "Chusui City/Rail Office". To me, this indicates that the rental Car Office is in or near the Railway Station, so after arriving, we wandered around for awhile looking for it. No! Nothing here. We spotted some shops across the road and decided to go over and ask someone. A nice lady in a cafe told us in very broken English that it was down the road about 600 metres - so off we toddled, with suitcases in tow. Some considerable amount of time, and a lot of steps later, we find ourselves at the edge of town and about to enter bush country.

Deciding that this can't be right we head back towards the station. On the way back we spot the right street, that we'd obviously walked straight past before, so off we went again. This time, instead of heading in to the country we're heading deeper and deeper into suburbia. After a bit my wife decided she'd had enough of being led around by an idiot so, we give up and headed back to the station to get a taxi. We fully expected that he would just drive round the corner from the station and drop us off. Not so. Turns out, the City/Rail Office for Europcar is about two kilometres from the station in the middle of a small industrial area. Jacqui, did you feel your ears burning?

Look at this wonderful lady. She's just walked halfway round a strange town following her dopey husband, who didn't have a clue, and she still has a smile on her face.

Anyway, we settle ourselves into our rental car, set the GPS unit - called Tomasina - for Radda and off we go.

After a couple of hours trying to drive like an Italian, we arrive at La Bonatte in Radda to be greeted by our host for the next week. This is Gioia Milani - pronounced 'Joy-a' - with Denise outside La Bonatte.

So here we are for the next week, ready to kick back and relax after the hectic week in Rome.

This is our little two bedroom hide-away.

and this is the view from our bedroom.

and, as our hostess has left us a nice bottle of their own vintage, I'm off to try a drop.

See ya!

Rome - Second Impressions

Monday morning and we're leaving Rome. Over the last couple of days we've done a tour of The Vatican, a tour of Imperial Rome and a tour of Pompeii. All three tours were both good and - not so good. The crowd we went with (thanks Jacqui) was Green Line Tours. Overall I'd give them a 7. Maybe a 7.5 They seemed to be pretty good with the actual tours but not so good with the logistics surrounding the tours. More later.

It's all about the guides!!!

All three guides were excellent. Their depth of knowledge was very impressive. The Vatican guide - Maximillian (just call me Max) - has been doing guided tours for more than 25 years and has a very easy and relaxed style. He's full of information about the day to day activities of the Vatican as well as the history, and he presents the dry stuff in a way that keeps you interested. For instance...

Here's a photo of "The Gallery of Statues". So if you're like me I look at this and think... Mmmmmm! But, it turns out, all the statues on the left hand wall are original copies of Greek statues done by the Romans in marble somewhere between 700BC and the year 76. All the statues on the right are reproductions of Roman statues that were destroyed when Rome burnt down in the year 76. See - you didn't even know that Rome burnt down, did you? .... Yeah right!!

Why so many statues? In the day, if you had enough coin you could wander down to the local carver and he would knock you up a likeness out of marble. If you weren't too flush and were stretched for a quid, he'd make it out of limestone. They did this 'cause the guy that invented cameras wasn't around at the time. 

Anyway, onto the next tour...

The "Imperial Rome" guide is a professor of history, who had a few other sundry degrees as well, and is 84 years old. At the bottom of the steps into the Colleseum he picks out an old guy in the tour party, ask them how old they are, and almost challenges them to beat him up four flights of 2000 year old steps. No - he didn't pick me: Cheeky!!!

This is The Prof giving us a briefing before we entered the Coluseum. The book he's holding is a history of Rome that he co-authored. He used the book a lot during the tour; it has a lot of overlays in it which he uses to compare what you see today to what it would have been like back in the day. He used the walking stick with the flowers on it to guide people around. Every time he wanted to gather the group together he would hold the stick in the air and call out "flowers" and we would all snap to.

He gave us a lot of info about the Romans and went to great pains to explain that the Coluseum was the cornerstone of society during the time of the Romans. This was 'cause anybody and everybody - including the slaves - had free entry to the games. The VIPs would laze around on the bottom steps, while the likes of me and my mates would hang around the next level. The peasants and slaves would watch all the action from the top level.

Now if you were batting for the other team and got whipped you either became a slave or a gladiator. If you became a slave you had to do as you were told for life - like when you get married. But if you became a gladiator and planted your sword or trident in some other poor dudes or dudettes a few times - yeah, there were girl gladiators as well - you could earn yourself some serious cash and buy your freedom.

There was lots of other interesting stuff the Prof told us about - like, most of the building relics and things you see today made of marble were recycled from the early days of Rome. They went through a fairly long phase where, if you found something you wanted you pretty much just took it and made it into whatever took your fancy. Apparently this is why a lot of the oldest buildings in Rome have marble steps. These were apparently pinched from all the forums (theatres) around the place.

Anyway, enough of Rome. On to Naples and Pompeii. Two of the grubiest places I've seen so far. Every time you turn around you see grafetti - and it's not even nice grafetti - most of it seems to be tags. This photo below is of a palace in the middle of Naples. Pretty impressive, eh? The photo underneath it is of the back wall of the same place.

And right across the street from this wall is...

So the first close up look a cruise ship tourist gets of Naples is...???

Anyway, on to Pompeii...

Unfortunately, the road into Pompeii goes through the suburb of Slumsville - again, not a good look for tourists. Then you go through a little tunnel and there you are - in the most fascinating place in Italy I've seen so far. We spent two hours in the ruins and I could've easily spent two days there.

The guy who lead the tour was named Frankie. His real name is "Frankie the Mouth". He's 86 years old and does the tour three times a week. He used to do it four times a day, which is very impressive 'cause it's quite a physically demanding tour. Here he is demonstrating how citizens of Pompeii used to get a drink of water.

To explain the tap... Back in the day they used lead pipes to feed water around the town, not knowing that it's poisonous. This was why people in Pompeii only lived into their 50s. When they restore features like this they replace the lead with modern day plumbing. One of the Yanks on the tour only listened to part of this story and got into it a bit with Frankie, thinking they were still using lead pipes.

Yay for American Tourists!!!

This is a piece of the original lead pipe. They didn't know how to solder so folded the pipe and crimped it length ways.

Now, are you still paying attention?? Back when Pompeii was buried by ash from Mt Versuvius, a lot of people were caught in the ash cloud and suffocated. When the archeologists got serious about the excavations, some clever dude discovered you could work out the position a person was in when they died by the layers of organic material found between the layers of ash. So, as they excavated, they pumped plaster in to dispel the organic matter and this formed shapes of the human bodies. When the plaster set, this is what you ended up with...

The top photo is some poor dude trying to catch his breath and the bottom one is a pregnant woman.

Fascinating?? Or gruesome??

Now I've got a quizillion photos of these tours and I could go on and on but I know how easily you're distracted and bored so I'll just show you a scorecard for the tour company...

++++++'s

Excellent guides.

Good pickup and delivery service.

Friendly staff - kinda!

Good transport.

- - - - - - - 's

Tour parties too big.

Very poorly planned rest stops and lunch breaks.

Buses overcrowded. Seats far too close together.

No explanation of what to expect when you start the tour.

Every tour is too rushed. Quality would be better than quantity.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat - especially now I know what to expect.

So, mov'in on - we're now ensconced in a little hideaway in Tuscany - a whole world away from Rome - but I'll tell you about that later.

Rome - first impressions.

So, you thought this was going to be an objective view of Rome did you? Sorry, this is totally subjective and based on the bias and mental meanderings of a grumpy old man.

It's funny how you have certain pre-conceptions about places, and sometimes they're spot on and other times you miss the truth by a mile. I was pretty sure that any experiences we had on the roads in Rome would reinforce the idea that all vehicles in this area have a special feature that causes the drivers to temporarily lose their sanity, become really angry, and act in a fashion that in any other city would cause them to be totally ostracised - and, I was right.

Unfortunately, it seems this form of behaviour is not confined to a vehicle's interior, but for some reason, seems to leach out into the general populace. Don't get me wrong, this is an amazingly beautiful city with buildings, art, literature and history that is unsurpassed in the world. But, the impression that you're continually faced with is one of rude and impatient people who, as a society, seem to adopt an air of superiority and condescension towards each other, and most especially towards tourists, that, in my view, totally erodes the positive and uplifting effect that the physical aspects of the city have on you.

We've only been here two days, and, while I'm looking forward to the tours of the Vatican, Colusseum and Pompaii over the next few days, unfortunately I'm also starting to look forward to catching the train out of here on Monday.

Now, I don't care what you say... if this was my car I'd be pissed off and would probably want a bit of payback when I got out by making sure I overreacted to anyone who got in my way - and so on, and so on. Here I am now making excuses for people's behaviour - such as; the numbers of tourists that pass through this city is overwhelming and must contribute towards the "don't give a shit" attitude of the locals. I couldn't imagine anything worse than having to pander to me, in various guises and personas, on a daily basis.

Anyway, enough! This grumpy old man's now going to lie down and read his book for awhile.

Off we go...

Over the past couple of day six we've passed through four major international airports - Auckland, Bangkok, Vienna, Rome - and it's been fun, of a most unusual kind. We've learnt a lot about international air travel, some of it in funny ways, some in frustrating ways, and some of it the hard way. 

After breakfast in our hotel, we decided to wander over to the terminal about 9:00am to see if we could  check in early - flight left at 12:20pm - so we could get rid of our bags and have a look around the duty free shops. The first person we came across was a young guy who told us, rather tersely I thought, that we were in the wrong place and the flight didn't open until 10:20. So we ended up wandering up and down the concourse until the gate opened. 

 

Saw this guy using - or losing - his head at Auckland Airport.

We eventually made our way through check in, immigration and customs and then we faced the dreaded security checkpoint. As it happened we were  passed straight through and 'round the back of the woman with the drug detection wand. I think Denise thought she'd missed out on something as this was pretty much a first for her. So then we wandered the Duty Free shops for awhile and then settled down to wait for the boarding call.

Lessons learned in Auckland - 

1. Two hours before flight time is the earliest you can check in.

2. You can buy Duty Free on your way out and pick it up on your way back.

3. People in uniform who give you directions aren't always right.

While we were on the flight to Bangkok, I asked one of the crew if we had to clear customs when we landed or do we go straight to a transit lounge? The answer was, you can go straight to the lounge. As it turns out, this was the wrong question to ask. What I should have asked was; where do we go when we get off the plane? So, playing Lemmings, when we got off the plane we followed the signs and all the other people and ended up in a huge concourse that reminded me of New Guinea in the Seventies. Plenty of bare concrete walls, empty open spaces and people in uniform. After wandering 'round for a bit we found some teenager's mother - dressed in a security guard uniform - guarding an escalator. After checking our boarding passes she directed us up the escalator, where we were immediately confronted with a security checkpoint. This one had a machine that looked like the "Beam me up Scotty" machine from Star Trek. We had to walk into it and hold our hands above our heads while it scanned us from top to toe. We were then deposited into another concourse with more bare walls and empty open spaces - and a sign to the Thai Silk lounge - so that's us sorted 'till the next flight.

After a couple of boring hours of sitting around, we decided to wander off to the departure gate. We had about two hours before our next flight, so back to the concourse and follow the signs as best we can. A couple of wrong directions and a waste of half an hour and we find ourselves one floor up in a Shopper's Paradise. When we hit this floor there was a sign that showed our gate as being 700 metres straight ahead - so off we went - passing every major named brand shop on the way. After the 700 metres it was left turn and down to the gate. Another 100 metres and we find ourselves on a mezzanine landing overlooking twelve gates. If I've done my sums right, this means there are over 100 departure gates at this airport.

The top photo is a display you walk past in the shopping area of Bangkok Airport

The bottom photo is of the ceiling on the way to the Departure Gate at Bangkok Airport.

Lessons learned in Bangkok...

1. If you don't know your way around, find the departure gate first - then shop or drop.

2. Don't assume that the PA system can be heard from where you're sitting.

3. People in uniform who give you directions aren't always right.

The flight from Bangkok to Vienna was with Austrian Airlines. When we boarded one of the first people we saw was a chef. Apparently all their International flights have a chef on board. Anyway, he presented us with a very nice menu, which we made our selections from for the first meal of the flight - and then promptly fell asleep. A couple or so hours later we both wake up to be greeted with the news that we missed the meal. I bet he was pissed. 

The rest of the flight was all movies and catnaps - 'cept Denise's touch screen kept freezing - and then we arrived in Vienna. We decided this time, that the first thing we would do was to find the departure gate for the next flight and then check out the shops and the Lounge - but before that it was time for another game of Leemings. The idea of this game was to get past Passport Control without upsetting the nice policeman with the big gun on his hip - which we did. Then we found a twelve year old wearing a uniform and asked her where to next. After studying our boarding passes with a confused frown for a couple of hours she decided she didn't really know, but we should try turning left at the doorway beside the escalator. By the time we got to the doorway we'd decided that she didn't know what she was on about so down the escalator we went - straight to the Baggage Claim Carousels - WRONG!!! 

Do you know how many ways there are out of the Baggage Claim Area of an International Airport if you don't have an ID badge? The correct answer is one. 

Do you know where that exit leads to? The correct answer is the street.

Do you know what you have to do to get back into the terminal? The correct answer is; go through a security checkpoint.

Do you know what happens at security checkpoints? Check the photos...

So off we went, into the terminal that we'd just found our way out of. By this time we'd had enough so decided to find the Lounge and have a spell. So we found another twelve year old in uniform and asked her how to get to the lounge? Simple says she; just go back to the escalator and go up to the next floor and you'll see the signs for the Lounge. Signs like this one...

So we followed the sign - and a couple of suits that looked the part - and guess where we ended up?

This time they decided to do the job properly and carted my dodgy wife off for a more thorough inspection. Anyway, after she was let back into mainstream society, we found the lounge and settled down for another game of waiting.

So it turns out it takes you an hour and three-quarters to get from the Arrival Gate to the Transit Lounge at Vienna Airport.

Anyway, we spent the next couple of hours lazing in the lounge in the most uncomfortable chairs you can find (modern, weird shaped stuff) and then wandered off to catch the flight to Rome.

This is coming into Rome Airport - or is it Hawkes Bay Airport?

So now we're on the ground and heading for the terminal. See that thing that looks like a tree just above the centre of the patch of water - that's the terminal - surrounded by hectares and hectares of nothing.

We expected the full passport and customs routine in Rome 'cause apart for a passport check in Vienna we hadn't had any paperwork checks and no forms to fill out. So we played Leemings again as far as the baggage Claim (all good) and then started following people with luggage out through a set of doors - and - into Italy!!! 

We found our ride and after an interactive game of "The Fast and Furious - Italian Style" we arrived at our hotel where we checked in and then went nite nite. 

Nite Nite!