After Paris we went to Nice France, then we drove over to Monte Carlo. We checked out the formula one track and spent some time there for lunch.
After that we headed on for Rome via Tuscanny.
We are in Rome now, sorry for the lack of posts but the pace has been hectic but really enjoyable, also finding time to update the blog is harder with our short stops in hotels.
We saw the Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica then the Colleseum and finally the Pantheon which was awesome. The temperature here has been pretty high ( in the 30's) and with all the buildings it gets hotter.
We went to Pompeii yesterday and that was amazing, then on to Sorrento and the Island of Capri via Napoli. We took a boat trip around the island of Capri too.
There is a big difference between the north and the south of Italy. All the money and rich people live in the north, the poorer in the south.
We have our last day in Rome today and make our way back up the east side of Italy as we begin heading north.
Wednesday 20 June 2007
Friday 15 June 2007
My new car in Monte Carlo
We are in Nice and everything is going well we are having a great time. Here is my new Pagani Zonda right in front of the Paris Hotel Monte Carlo!
Thursday 7 June 2007
Arc de Triomphe
A view from the bus going down toward the Arc de Triomphe
I have more photos on my flickr site if you want to see more. I need to go now as the Internet access is expensive.. I will post more soon.
I have more photos on my flickr site if you want to see more. I need to go now as the Internet access is expensive.. I will post more soon.
Me and Wendy in Paris at Eiffel Tower
A view of Paris from the Eiffel tower, an American guy offered to take our photo so we could take one of him using his camera - cool. The line up to the tower was not long - only 10 mins.
Paris is awesome, last night we had a night tour and Paris at night is amazing. Especially the Eiffel Tower at 10pm you need to see it then when the whole thing is covered with thousands of strobe lights that run for 10 minutes - this is something they added for the Millenium celebrations but never removed as the public and visitors loved it so much.
This is now my number one city, the architecture and sheer beauty of the place is breathtaking. The history too is just as old as England. And the way that the French have banned skyscrapers from the city centre has made the city feel alot more open - especially at night time where it comes alive. Every road here is cobblestoned - no ugly bitume here - amazing - I love it how they do that.
We ate at a French restaurant last night, but I did not have Frogs legs or snails as I had them in Adelaide and was not too happy. But the food and wine served was still excellent here.
We are off to a Caberet show tonight but this one is much more Parisian than the Moulin Rouge that has been Americanized and lost the Parisian character of old.
Our visit to the Louvre was breif as I expected but we saw the Mona Lisa - boy are they hard on people taking photos which is banned in some areas. The photo flashes ruin the varnish on the paintings making them crack. I saw a woman who got caught taking photos and she was asked to delete them all off the camera - they watch you as you delete them - man they are strict - but good on them I say, as the art work needs to be protected!
Paris is awesome, last night we had a night tour and Paris at night is amazing. Especially the Eiffel Tower at 10pm you need to see it then when the whole thing is covered with thousands of strobe lights that run for 10 minutes - this is something they added for the Millenium celebrations but never removed as the public and visitors loved it so much.
This is now my number one city, the architecture and sheer beauty of the place is breathtaking. The history too is just as old as England. And the way that the French have banned skyscrapers from the city centre has made the city feel alot more open - especially at night time where it comes alive. Every road here is cobblestoned - no ugly bitume here - amazing - I love it how they do that.
We ate at a French restaurant last night, but I did not have Frogs legs or snails as I had them in Adelaide and was not too happy. But the food and wine served was still excellent here.
We are off to a Caberet show tonight but this one is much more Parisian than the Moulin Rouge that has been Americanized and lost the Parisian character of old.
Our visit to the Louvre was breif as I expected but we saw the Mona Lisa - boy are they hard on people taking photos which is banned in some areas. The photo flashes ruin the varnish on the paintings making them crack. I saw a woman who got caught taking photos and she was asked to delete them all off the camera - they watch you as you delete them - man they are strict - but good on them I say, as the art work needs to be protected!
Wednesday 6 June 2007
View from our Paris hotel Window
This is just part of the view from our 15th floor window in Paris. We are staying in the Paris Marriot Hotel. I turned on my GPS and we are smack in the centre of Paris - cool. Cant see the Eiffel tower from here - maybe its behind us.. We will see the Eiffel tower tomorrow
I look forward to seeing Paris at night - it will be an awesome sight.
I look forward to seeing Paris at night - it will be an awesome sight.
Goodbye England, on the ferry to France
We just started our 27 day tour of Europe, and arrived in France after taking the ferry to Calais France.
We are out tonight to go to a Paris restaurant and see a Paris show, not the Moulin Rouge as that has now become very Americanized, this is another one that the tour guide says is much better.
It looks like alot of things that most people would normally line up for are pre-booked so we can skip the queues and save time - awesome! We get a personal guided Louvre tour tomorrow morning, I am looking forward to it.
The National Gallery in London was good but it wont hold a candle to the Louvre, obviously 1 1/2 hours is a short tour of it, but we will see the highlights - I will definitely be back someday to do a proper look at it.
The ferry ride to France was good, its amazing how many people they ferry over in one ferry, trucks, buses and carss.
We saw a few TGV fast trains next to the main freeway, they reminded me of the Shinkansen from Japan, they can go similar speeds - even when the bus was doing 100Kph, they still streak past us at crazy speeds.
We are out tonight to go to a Paris restaurant and see a Paris show, not the Moulin Rouge as that has now become very Americanized, this is another one that the tour guide says is much better.
It looks like alot of things that most people would normally line up for are pre-booked so we can skip the queues and save time - awesome! We get a personal guided Louvre tour tomorrow morning, I am looking forward to it.
The National Gallery in London was good but it wont hold a candle to the Louvre, obviously 1 1/2 hours is a short tour of it, but we will see the highlights - I will definitely be back someday to do a proper look at it.
The ferry ride to France was good, its amazing how many people they ferry over in one ferry, trucks, buses and carss.
We saw a few TGV fast trains next to the main freeway, they reminded me of the Shinkansen from Japan, they can go similar speeds - even when the bus was doing 100Kph, they still streak past us at crazy speeds.
Tuesday 5 June 2007
We are back in London
After a very long 2000+ miles drive all over England, we are now back in London.
The final 1/2 hour drive into London was the most harrowing experience ever, even at 3.30 pm the traffic in London was a nightmare and my GPS was working overdrive. There are so many connecting streets and quick left and right turns you really have to be on the ball planning each move. I will say that I will never drive in London again, the next time I hire a car, I will pick it up outside London near a train station. We will get up at 4.00 am to get ready for a 5am departure tomorrow where our 27 day bus tour of Europe begins. Sorry I could not load up pictures as this Nazi hotel net access terminal has no USB access. Finding Net Cafes has been extremely frustrating and I think there is a business opportunity to make a decent net cafe registry that is easy to use. See you soon when I can upload some cool pics..
The final 1/2 hour drive into London was the most harrowing experience ever, even at 3.30 pm the traffic in London was a nightmare and my GPS was working overdrive. There are so many connecting streets and quick left and right turns you really have to be on the ball planning each move. I will say that I will never drive in London again, the next time I hire a car, I will pick it up outside London near a train station. We will get up at 4.00 am to get ready for a 5am departure tomorrow where our 27 day bus tour of Europe begins. Sorry I could not load up pictures as this Nazi hotel net access terminal has no USB access. Finding Net Cafes has been extremely frustrating and I think there is a business opportunity to make a decent net cafe registry that is easy to use. See you soon when I can upload some cool pics..
Saturday 2 June 2007
Wendy in front of The Cavern night club, Liverpool
We did a quick stop to Liverpool and we had to drop past the Cavern Night club, the original location where the Beatles first played.
Liverpool was crazy, construction everywhere, the place we wanted to eat near the docks was being demolished and a brand new development was going up. There was so much contruction work in Liverpool that their main mall was a nightmare to get around. But at least we found the Beatles Cavern Night club!
Liverpool was crazy, construction everywhere, the place we wanted to eat near the docks was being demolished and a brand new development was going up. There was so much contruction work in Liverpool that their main mall was a nightmare to get around. But at least we found the Beatles Cavern Night club!
Brighton England
We had to visit Brighton, the same name place as our home town! Parking was a nightmare so we did a drive through.
Stonehenge England
We had to drop by here, you cant touch the stones as its roped off, but it was good as the weather was great. Lots of people there, and it was not cheap £10 to see it. But once your there you just pay it!
Driving in England with GPS assist
Its been awhile since the last post as we have been racking up the miles in our hire car as we tour England. Finding net cafes has been hard as cities here dont have any phone books in public phones and you have to rely on local people to assist you to find them.
We have already driven 1500 miles, starting with Stonehenge on the day we left London, then onto Brighton, Hove for our first day.
The Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS has been wonderful, its harder to use in the city centers where turns are happening every 100 feet or more, but it still works fine.
There are a million speed cameras here and they dont post any speed limits on the roads! You have to rely on general rules 30 miles an hour for towns, 50 miles an hour for single carriage ways and 70 miles and hour for dual carriageways - sometimes this is not always the case!
No one does the speed limit on the big motorways - many do 20-30 miles an hour more than the limit. I have seen millions of BMWs here and Audis. I reckon I was passed by a guy doing well over 110 miles an hour once in a 70mph zone!
The weather has been on and off - we have had some sunny days. Right now we are in Leeds on our way back down south heading to London.
I could have planned the driving better - as its taken longer to get to places than expected - but thats ok, we have seen alot of countryside and stopped at a number of Bed and Breakfasts that have been right in the heart of the countryside.
Craig, we went to TVR mecca (Blackpool) and I never saw on trevor, but I have seen 3 so far since I have been here. We drove past the TVR factory (Wendy thinks I am nuts).
I will post a few more photos from our drive in the next few posts.
We have already driven 1500 miles, starting with Stonehenge on the day we left London, then onto Brighton, Hove for our first day.
The Garmin Nuvi 660 GPS has been wonderful, its harder to use in the city centers where turns are happening every 100 feet or more, but it still works fine.
There are a million speed cameras here and they dont post any speed limits on the roads! You have to rely on general rules 30 miles an hour for towns, 50 miles an hour for single carriage ways and 70 miles and hour for dual carriageways - sometimes this is not always the case!
No one does the speed limit on the big motorways - many do 20-30 miles an hour more than the limit. I have seen millions of BMWs here and Audis. I reckon I was passed by a guy doing well over 110 miles an hour once in a 70mph zone!
The weather has been on and off - we have had some sunny days. Right now we are in Leeds on our way back down south heading to London.
I could have planned the driving better - as its taken longer to get to places than expected - but thats ok, we have seen alot of countryside and stopped at a number of Bed and Breakfasts that have been right in the heart of the countryside.
Craig, we went to TVR mecca (Blackpool) and I never saw on trevor, but I have seen 3 so far since I have been here. We drove past the TVR factory (Wendy thinks I am nuts).
I will post a few more photos from our drive in the next few posts.
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