Days 57,58,59(Sunday to Tuesday) Paris to ???and eventually Brisbane and then Hervey Bay/Maryborough

While waiting for boarding in about 40 mins, some comments on last night at Moulin Rouge. Some had told us it was not that great but maybe we've been deprived on shows but we really enjoyed it and were absolutely amazed at parts. Apart from standing outside for half an hour before they let us in, the seating of a huge crowd at tables in a fairly restricted area was done pretty quickly and the show started at 11.30.

Of course the costumes (and lack of them) were incredible but the huge number of dancers was surprising - hard to count but there were about 70 dancers on stage at times - and the dancing was just unbelievable - never thought legs could kick THAT; high!!! Lots of bare breasts of course. The supporting acrobatic and gymnastic acts were also fantastic and there was a ventriloguist who just left you stunned with his variety of voices and sounds that came from three or four sources - just amazing and VERY funny - will explain when we see you! Overall just a terrific night's (and morning) entertainment and don't miss it if you ever get the chance.

Blog pt2: This bit in Hong Kong airport having just landed after 11 hrs flight - very good though with good food and service. This is going to mess up our rythmns though - trying to go to sleep at what for us was about 6 pm and then we arrive here at 6.30am which for us is 2am!! Then a day awake in Hong Kong before taking off at about "9" tonight. Could be a mess tomorrow!!

This blog will publish in bits as circumstances allow. I willpublish this bit as I can access HK wifi. Note for Katherine - just google bne airport arrivals flght CX103 to see if we are on time and add an hour for customs. WARNING: We may not be too socially iacceptable - a shower at Hong Kong airport is A$30!!

Blog pt3: Back at HK airport after a big day. We met Mr & Mrs Lai at the airport at 9 and we headed off via bus to the Ngong Ping cablecar which is 5.7 long and goes up three huge mountains in 5 stages - takes you to the "Big Buddha" which sits on top of another mountain and is the biggest bronze Buddha in the world. Had a lovely lunch up there and did the wisdom walk which probably hasn't helped much. Also did over another huge outlet shopping centre back near the airport. After that counted our HK$ and found I had 360 so that accounted for the $180 EACH to have a shower! One of the best showers ever though. Ready to board for the last leg! Think we'll sleep!

Blog pt4: Well, after a good (but long) flight from HK to Brisbane via Cairns, we have reached Katherine's place and almost ready for the final flight home tomorrow morning. Good to be almost home after having dinner with the family tonight

Cheers all

Trivia: It was 33 degrees when we landed here at 6.30!

Pictures:
*Us at Dubrovnic to sign off!
*us (again!) - this time in Hong kong
*the Ngong Ping cable car - hazy day, but you can stll see how high/long it is.

Day 56 (Saturday) Beaune to Paris

Back in Paris!! Left Beaune early as there was only two TGV's to Paris today (refer Tuesday's blog) so after early room breakfast found ourselves wandering through the streets of Beaune in the dark (refer to Trivia below) to catch the connecting train to Dijon - thankfully on time as we theoretically only had 15min change-over time for the TGV.

Boy does that train fly - no monitor display of speed (we're French - we don't do that sort of thing!) but it was well over 300kph judging by the Italian trains. It was actually 10mins late leaving Dijon but arrived in Paris on time so made up the time easily. Beautiful "Tour de France" countryside all the way. Had to sort out our Metro ticket to get to where we are staying in the Montmatre area (near Moulin Rouge) - interestingly had mixed messages between the "info" lady and the "ticket" lady but found the latter was correct and after a change of trains at Charles de Gaulle we arrived at Blanche station by about 12 which was pretty good going - Moulin Rouge is the first thing you see as you emerge from the underground.

Our hotel is just 100m up the hill from Moulin Rouge and is very good. Bad street to wander along as the food/bakery/restaurants/fruit/chocolate etc etc shops are out of this world so there was much drooling as we took the afternoon walk. Booked another back-street restaurant for dinner - booked into M-R for the 11.00pm show so there will be an addendum to this blog at about 9.00am your time to let you know how it went!

One advantage of the earlier-than-expected trip to Paris is that we have had the whole afternoon to look around the Montmartre area. Main attraction is the immense "Sacre Coeur" (Sacred Heart) Basillica - better inside and out than St Peter's in Rome. Fantastic views across Paris as it is built on a very high hill. Lots of beautiful art, antique,craft, restoration etc shops in the narrower streets as well. Had a lunch coffee at a typical Parisienne street cafe - cost 7.50 euro each so we went to starbucks (sacreligious I know) for a'noon tea and it was pleasant and quiet and coffee was 3.75.

Cheers all - hard to believe, but this will probably be the last travel blog before we get home as not much chance to send while sitting in a 777 at 40 000+ feet!!

Addendum: Well here I am at 2am - just returned from the Moulin Rouge. How was it?? - don't let anyone tell you otherwise - it is a fantastic show - went for 2 hours non-stop and it was the most entertaining, spectacular, sometimes one of the funniest shows we've seen - pure top class entertainment. It's too late to give more information  - tell you more in the next blog which won't publish for a few days. Good night!!!

trivia: sunrise in Beaune is at 8.15 - so now you know why our rides never started until about 9!!

Pictures:
*The famous Moulin Rouge - not very impressive from the outside really.
*This shop is just for cheese!
*The Montmatre area - from our hotel window.

Day 55 (Friday) Beaune- La Rochepot - Beaune

If you have a mental image of cycling in France as cruising through vinyards and going from quaint village to quaint village in cool temperatures and bright sunshine accompanied by calls of "Bonjour" to and from workers tending their grape vines and with the smell of wine heavy on the air - that describes most of our day today!!! Absolutely the quintessential French cycle tour today.

The first part of the journey (after packing our bags with morning tea and lunch from the bakery as well as a bottle of Burgundy) - was on a designated bikeway which was actually the original narrow road betwen the villages - made for easy riding just following the signs instead of the usual reading instructions. After about 10 km of this beautiful ride (all through the vinyards) we arrived in the larger village of Meursault where we enjoyed a coffee and our morning tea.

The amount of wine produced here is mind-boggling. As you ride into any small village there will be numerous buildings - usually double storied stone structures with a big courtyard and farm vehicles and other machinery parked in the yard with workers cleaning out vats and unloading trailers of grapes. The smell is incredible - very strong and unmistakably grapes/wine and it stays right through the village.

The route then took us into some of the higher villages - two fairly steep climbs (but each only about a kilometre) up to La Rocheport where there is a large chateau. Lunch at the top of the first climb and some more wine-tasting in Gamay - but still not convinced that the wine here is good value, even just buying/consuming locally - generally over-priced c.f. what we get in Australia. No denying the beauty of the countryside though - today's ride was through some quite spectacular higher areas. The cloud and mist descended while we were in the high country and it got quite cold again - didn't take the warm gloves or sleeves off all day in fact but beautiful for riding.

Returned to the lower country and sunshine for the latter part of the trip and eventually linked with the cycleway again for the trip back into Beaune - treated ourselves to pancakes and coffee as a reward for a'noon tea.

"Last horrah" dinner tonight was classic French - Foie Gras (what else!!!) followed by salmon and chocolate for dessert - beautiful as always. Hard to believe, but our trip is almost over - off to Paris in the morning and going to Moulin Rouge tomorrow night before catching the plane home on Sunday morning. time for summaries later but suffice to say at this stage that we have seen some incredible things over the past 8 weeks!! - Its been an amazing journey

Cheers all

Trivia: Burgundy (La Bourgogne as the locals call it) produces 300 000 H/litres of wine each season. This is small in comparison with Bordeaux where 5.6  million H/litres are produced!! There must be some people out there drinking a lot of wine.

Pictures:
*They treat cyclists well here - this is a picnic stop for cyclists
*Interpret this road sign as you will!!
*The village of Orches in the high country

Day 54 (Thursday) Beaune to wineries and back!!

The magic is back!! Today dawned cloudless but really cold so after b'fast, got the bikes from their room and headed back to our beautiful bakery and selected lunch. Headed out of town with no trouble today and were again soon into the countryside.

Don't think I've ever worn so much clothing whilst on a bike - the air was really cold so thermals, sleeves, plus a warm coat and two pairs of gloves!! Burgundy is just so diffrerent from any other places we have cycled. Quite flat (there were only two climbs today, neither of which was any thing like the Greek Is climbs. Hate to think how many tonnes of grapes they grow here but the whole countryside is just one huge vinyard really with quaint villages every kilometre or so on top of hills rather than mountains. Pretty easy riding except for the very rough roads in some places.

Only one navigation glitch today and that brought us to the village of Vosne Romanee, apparently the most famous of the wine producers, a few kilometres earlier than we were supposed to so that was not a problem. On the recommendation of the lady in the Nuits St Georges Tourist Office we visited the Domaine Rion (again apparently famous) winery and did a bit of serious tasting. Very nice and a lovely hostess took us through their whites and reds - no pressure to buy, probably as while the wine was fairly reasonable - circa 35euro - shipping to Australia was a mere 230 euro plus 4% insurance. We'll have to live without our Burgundy but it really isn't that great. Apparently the wine from the paddock next to the one that the wine we were tasting was grown sells for over 1000euro a bottle. Explain that.

Went and had our beautiful bread/cheese/sausage for lunch outside a little church (we had brought a bottle of wine for lunch but after all that tasting decided not to open it!) and then back to the rolling hills, villages and vinyards for the afternoon - very pleasant riding - but already cooling down again by 3. Got back to Beaune about 4.30 so just a beautiful day. The cycling in Burgundy  is, as I said, very different - the scenery is not as spectacular as the other rides we have done but it is beautiful countryside nevertheless. Lovely people - we stopped in one village just to refer to the map and a fellow came along the footpath and thought we were lost - I told him it was OK  we were just heading for Flagey-Echezeau, but off he went, explaining with all the sounds and hand gestures how we should get  there - we certainly understood when he was describing roundabouts!!

Tonight we went   a little restaurant just down from the hotel - they offered foi gras so everything else follows!! -We also had the MOST beautiful fish (sea bass)  in a wine sauce - the French are just so good at sauces plus a grand marnier desert - back to earth next week!!!

Cheers all

Trivia:  When the French say "Publique Toilette" that's exactly what they mean!! (see photo)

Pictures:
* refer trivia
*At the Domaine Rion  winery
* The rolling hills (and vinyards) of Burgundy

Day 53 (Wednesday) Beaune to ???

Some biking days are magical - and today wasn't one of those days!! - but it wasn't too bad as things turned out eventually.

Bad start. Collected the bikes from the hotel store-room and wandered downtown to go to the shop we found yesterday to get the lunch things. Shop had disappeared. Eventually gave up on the shop and went to a lovely bakery and also the fruit market for some beautiful figs and strawberries. Decided to forget the wine for the day. Then found the saddles were too low to ride the bikes and there was no release - where to find an allen key??? Eventually found one in a pocket of the saddlebag and so then set off to find the route for the day. Another problem - no similarity between the instructions and the street (Rue) names we could see.

After some frustrating searching, found the information centre and asked - found the instructions were so vague that the lovely lady there drew me another diagram to get to the way out of town and so we eventually got on our way. Weather was overcast and cool but no rain at that stage so we were soon enjoying a beautiful ride through the Burgundy countryside - wineries, beautiful villages and alongside a stream bubbling over rapids - fantastic.

We had realised that with our late start that we would probably not get the full 45k ride done today and when the route took us along a really rough dirt track still rain-affected from yesterday we decided to turn back rather than risk being stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Good decision.

So we got back into town circa 4 and after a good hot bath (we had ridden circa 30 k so did very well) headed out to check out a restaurant that had been recommended by the tour organisers. Looking at the menu convinced us it was not for us so took an excursion to find a place for dinner - Foi Gras being the required dish!! Found one and went there for dinner and had the required Foi gras as well as lamb shanks - beautiful, Had a very nice young American couple at the next table and enjoyeed a very pleasant night.

Cheers all

Trivia: In cycling there is no such thing as "lost"

Pictures:
*along the road to Bouilland (somewhere)
*our little stream - ideal spot for lunch
*one for Claire

Day 52 (Tuesday) Milan to Beaune (pronounced Boonah!)

3 countries in one day - not bad! Problem uploading blogger at the moment so not sure when you will get to read this - if at all! just not working, even though wi-fi signal is fine.

Early start to the day as the train left Milan at 8.30 and there were a few potential traffic jams between our hotel and the station - did not want to tackle the metro in peak hour with all our luggage so enjoyed another grumpy Milan taxi driver - no tip again.

Lovely train trip firstly to Lausanne so went through nth Italy, past the beautiful lake Como plus others then through the Italian Alps into Switzerland. Never thought we'd be back in Switzerland so soon and it was terrific to enjoy it again. Incredible contrast by travelling through just one tunnel - on the Italian side quite beautiful but varied standard of villages, messy railyards with lots of old delapidated buildings etc - into Switzerland and suddenly everthing is almost picture perfect - even the railyards are organised and tidy - neat villages, beautiful roads with rock walls, perfect rows and terraced grape farms. Quite an amazing contrast.

Changed trains in Lausanne - another w.c. story - need to visit at the station, but turnstile only takes Swiss francs - we only have euro and no need for swiss franks - finally find a cafe willing to take euro and get coffee and change in francs - now able to visit the loo!!!

Now on the French TGV which is by far the best of the fast trains. The first part of Switzerland had been with the Alps on either side with fresh snow - stunning scenery but from Laussane we went north through parts of Switzeerland we had not seen before - no signs of mountains, just magnificent rolling grassy farmland with lots of swiss cows and crops. Really beautiful. Then through the French Alps and into Dijon.

Had to get our tickets to Beaune and also get our tickets to Paris for Saturday - struck "only speak French" lady at front of ticket office but the ticket guy himself was good fun and spoke quite good English. "Only 2 TGV to Paris this Saturday - rocks on track"  -  "well tell them to take the rocks off" I replied. "No, lots of rocks on track this saturday" - "what sort of rocks?" - "repairing rocks"  - i then relised that "rocks" was his version of "works" !!   Once we sorted that out, his next bit of good information was that this Saturday is the beginning of school holidays and only first class tickets were available and no seniors discount during holidays!! Outcome is we have a 200euro trip to Paris on Saturday and have to start with the 7.30 train from here. Not to worry.

Beaune where we are based for the next three days is a beautiful village - centre of the Burgundy wine industry and very historic - some beautiful old buildings in the walled village. Some light rain predicted for tomorrow and sunny for Thursday/Friday so planning on some good rides into the beautiful countryside!!

Cheers all, and hope you get to read this blog before too long!!

Trivia: Today we went through Dijon - famous of course for ..................mustard!!!!!

Pictures:
*Elizabeth's idea of a perfect train!
*the typical French village streets of Beaune
* our hotel in Beaune - "Hotel Athanor"

Day 51 (Monday) Plitvicka to Milan

Day of travel where everything had to fit together and it did! Almost. Had a heap of fun on the Milan train leg where everyone was playing musical chairs with seat allocations and trying to cope with the huge design fault on the Italian fast trains- NO luggage space. In the middle of one swap session along came a guy with a double-bass!!About 4 languages flying around trying to sort it out. Quite funny really.

Left the lakes about 7.30 and headed up to join the A6 near Zagreb - very cold and foggy but good trip especially when we joined the freeway - easy all the way to Reuka where it wasback to campervans and trucks - another international excursion into Slovinia where two border guards stamped our passports twice before they let us in!

We made it all the way to Trieste station where  the car was due at 11 - and we arrived at 11.10!! In time to catch the earlier train to Venice and also the earlier train to Padova (open ticket) for the Milan express where all the fun started.

Into Milan at about 7 - Milan Centrale has to be one of the biggest railway stations in the world - a carry-over of Mussolini's Fascists - very grand and over-powering. Bad first impressions of Milan - grumpy taxi-driver, refused to help load luggage, 11 euro ride to hotel  and would not accept card - got no tip. Hotel recommended a good restaurant where we met a lovely lady from Sweden on a business trip and chatted to her. Off in the morning for the train ride through the north of Italy, through the alps and through Switzerland (weather reports indicate a fresh fall of snow)  to France and Burgundy. All in one day! Really looking forward to it.

Cheers all

Trivia: The hotel Jessero at the lakes was built by the communist Yugoslave government and is still government operated. That explains why we found NINE cleaners cleaning the foyer this morning!

Pictures:
*The Hotel Jessero
*a duck on the clear lake waters
*different warning signs in Croatia - deer. (they also have them for bears and wolves)

Day 50 (Sunday) Plitvicka Jezera

After yesterday afternoon's storm and lots of rain overnight, today dawned with clear skies and bright sunshine. The Jezero Hotel where we are staying is a big tourist hotel with lots of tour groups but located right next to the park entrance and is actually quite good for a large hotel. It was built as a resort under the old communist government and still reflects that in style and in the number of staff running around. The ticket we purchased yesterday was endorsed to cover today and tomorrow as well so we set off after breakfast and purchasing the guide map.

Took the cross-lake boat and then the other boat to the far (Northern) end to start the walk. Found that their signage is pretty terrible so used the back-up plan - follow the nearest Japanese tour group and that worked perfectly. This walk took us (after an hour and a half) to the Big Falls which are immense - photos attached! The whole area consists of about 16 lakes which cover a total area of about 217 hectares (water only) -the whole park is about 30 000 hectares. The lakes descend through the valley with waterfalls of varying heights connecting them through vegetated steps - it is quite an extraordinary sight. We took the shuttle "bus" back to base for lunch and then the cross-lake boat again to walk up to the highest (Southern) lake, coming across each set of falls as we went higher up the valley.

Along this walk we agreed that this is undoubtedly the most beautiful, varied and amazing walk we have ever done. The scenery is extraordinary and new sights greet you at every turn. Reaching for the "superlatives thesaurus" to try to relate the beauty of this park. Additionally, Autumn has clearly arrived here so the autumn colours of the beautiful mountain forests along with the amazing blue and greens of the lakes (they actually differ from lake to lake) is like nothing we have seen previously. The sound of running water is everywhere.

Not sure how far we walked, but we managed to go from one end of the park to another so it was a pretty good effort! Caught the shuttle (unlike the signage, their boat and motor-train shuttle system is terrific) back and were back in time for a welcome coffee/cake afternoon tea (we'd earned it!)

Dinner in the dining room is really quite good - they separate the "independents" from the tour groups and they have a huge menu. Had a really good steak and musrooms last night (it WAS Saturday after all!!!) and beautiful whole fish tonight. Off a bit earlier in the morning - drive to Trieste to leave the car and then catch 3 trains to end up in Milan tomorrow night. Unforgettable day.
Cheers all

Trivia: No other Australians here - just hundreds of Japanese in dozens of tour groups. When we did find an Australian on the walk today, he turned out to be Irish!!

Pictures:
*The Big Falls (they are VERY BIG)
*along the walk-way
*inter-connecting water falls

Day 49 (Saturday) Split to Plitvicka Jezera

Very sad to leave Split - the Palaca Judita was the best hotel we have ever stayed in and Split was a beautiful spot in its own right - and we got to go to some of the best little back-street restaurants ever on Marija's recommendations. Very happy memories all round. Andreja took us in his "Pope-mobile" to the car park and we got away at about 11.30 - navigated out of Split without getting lost (yeah again!!!) and were soon on the A1 heading north.

Can't rave enough about the Croation highways - they are fantastic. Even wound the Fiat up to 130 cruising and had to hit 150 to pass a bus before the merc coming up behind caught us. There are viaducts over 300m high, one tunnel was 5.7 km and the amount of work still going on is amazing to see - another world. Will I ever cope with Hyundi Excels and caravans again??? It must have been Audi benefit day today - they just kept flying past, one black one must have been doing more than 200k as he just flew past us and disappeared!! Only drawback was when we exitted after about two and a half hours we had to pay 80kuna (10euro, A$18) - but worth it to cover so much territory so quickly. If only the Fiat was more comfortable!!!

We were in the hotel at Plitvickia by 3 and although it was quite cloudy, the guy who booked us in said it would remain fine - go and get your National Park ticket and go for a walk - if we bought a ticket for today, the hotel would endorse it for tomorrow as well. Good idea. So we changed into the hiking shoes and off we went - straight into a huge downpour! Luckily we had insured by taking the wet weather gear so it wasn't too bad. The lakes are incredibly beautiful - on different levels with waterfalls between them. There are boats and motor-trains to take you gratis all over the park so we are looking forward to tomorrow - just won't check the forecast with the guy on the front desk!

Another "touring in Croatia" story - toilets often have an entry charge. Went to the one outside Dubrovnik yesterday and sorted our change to both meet the 5kuna entry. Elizabeth had the 5 Kuna coin and went in. I had the 2k+2k+50c+50c and in went the 2x2 kunas but the machine wouldn't take the 2x50c - lady on the turnstile just shrugged and shook her head. "But I've already put in 4 kuna" - more shrugging and "Niet" - "If I can't go in (I was a bit desperate) I want my 4 Kuna back" - more head shaking. "Not moving" She eventually grumbled, more head shaking and unlocked the gate to let me in! Desperate needs require desperate measures!

.........and you haven't really appreciated quality music until you've heard "I only want to be with you" sung in Croatian!!

Trivia: If you travel the full length of the A1 from Zagreb to South of Split (circa 1000k) it will cost you 170Kuna - A$34 - eat your heart out Airport link!!

Pictures:
*Andreja and his "Pope-mobile" - more on him later!!
*Lake view from our Hotel deck
*On our first lake walk  - the sun came out after we got home!

Day 48 (Friday) Dubrovnik

Big driving day today - but it all workrd out really well. Andreja packed us a fantastic breakfast hamper (muesli, yoghurt, milk, ham,cheese and tomato rolls, fruitjuice etc) and took us around to the car park at 6.00 this morning - thought we were crazy as the weather forecast wasn't good and the road was quite wet. However, we set out with cloudy sky but no rain and headed for Dubrovnik - only 200km away but a windy coastal road.

Stopped after about an hour for the most spectacular breakfast spot we've ever experienced - looking south along the huge coastal cliffs with the sun coming up over the mountains and reflecting on the clouds - magnificent.

Got to Dubrovnik about 10.30, parked the car in the car-park and joined the crowds - which were not too bad actually. Took the "audiotour" option and set off for the magnificnet walk around the walls (about 2 km) which takes about 3 hours. It is an incredible place - established in circa 1271 and the original town/city planning rules have applied all that time. The 14th century sewerage system still operates. Massive walls have protected the city from most invasions but Napoleon occupied it in 1803 and of course the Bosnian/Serb army attacked it in 1991-2, even though it was already declared a world heritage site. 70% of the buildings inside the walls were damaged with many ancient treasures in the public museums, palaces etc destroyed. UNESCO has been rebuilding it ever since - including 480 000 new roof tiles.

Interesting going down to Dubrovnik- for about 2-3 km you enter Bosnia so there is a passport check as you enter Bosnia (very gruff) and another a you re-enter Croatia - same on the way back! Also had a little fun with the Dubrovnik car-park. Arrived back to leave and found there is only auto machines to pay the parking fee. OK. problem was that it will accept only 10, 20 or 50 Kuna notes. That may not sound too bad but 1 Kuna is worth about 20c and our parking bill was 60 kuna - only had 100 or 200 kuna notes. Within about 10 seconds there was a whole crowd of us around the machine, all with the same problem. ATM nearby would issue anything less than 100 kuna notes so we were sort of stuck. Had to find a shop, buy an icecream and hand the poor lady 200kuna to get the change. Crazy,

Now don't worry if there is no blog for a couple of days - tomorrow we head for the Plitvik Lakes and my current info is that there is no reception there - we are there for two nights so our next message might be from Milan!!  Cheers all

Trivia: You can see the old French fort on the hills just to the South of the city from where the Bosnia/ Serb army launched their rocket and mortar fire onto Dubrovnik in 91/2. 150 inhabitants of the city were killed but most of the population actually hid in the large towers which are part of the wall structure.

Pictures:
*School sign, Croatian style - Is that a teacher chasing a child????
*Our fabulous breakfast spot
*Us and Dubrovnik - it really is a beautiful place

Day 47 (Thursday) Split

Woke to bright sunshine for the first time in 10 days!! Not that we've had such bad weather - mostly just cloudy with occasional drizzle and the odd storm mostly at night but it was great to see bright sunshine and clear skies. Paradoxically, we went underground for our first excursion of the day!

Split (at least the old part of it) is built within the walls of Diocletian's Palace - much of the wall structure, gateways and some of the internal buildings/temples/courtyards/squares remain. Today we went underground to see the foundations of the palace which directly mirror the layout of the original buildings above. Quite amazing to see the way they put so much into just the foundations- it is like actual rooms with all the archways etc and the original sewerage pipes (interlocking stone). Given the size of the palace it was little wonder that took most of the morning!

Headed then for the "green" markets just outside the Eastern wall - a beautiful market area amongst shady trees where they mainly sell fruit and vegetables, flowers, meat (e.g. heads of piglets!!), as well as craft etc. Fascinating place - a couple more purchases to help with the excess baggage. Outside the western wall there is an antiques market which had and the extraordinary variety of stuff - great spot if you were a collector of just about anything.

We then had one of the most extraordinary experiences  - Andreja had said yesterday that the hotel would like to give us a "special gift" - a tour around Split. Fine, we said (and thank-you). It was arranged for this afternoon so we came back at about 3 and the guide turned up. The "guide" turned out to be the man in charge of the Unesco Heritage organisation and all restoration work within the city of Split!! Bevan of course has the MOST extraordinary knowledge of both the history of the city but also the architecture and was able to take us to all the key points of the city and explain in complete detail what it used to look like and how it all fitted together. Just a most extraordinary and unique experience and we still can't work out how or why it all happened!! Can't even start to give all the info here but wait till we get home!!!

trivia: Diocletian was a far worse persecutor of the Christians than any other Roman Emperor. He had thousands put to death - which makes it ironic that his mausoleum later became a cathedral dedicated to one of those he matyred!

Pictures:
*Roman sewerage pipes - in the palace cellars
*"Diocletian's cats" - in the palace ruins
*part of the "green markets"

Day 46 (Wednesday) Split

Doing the blog a bit late (and a bit weary!) after a big day - part in Split and part in Supetar on the island of Brac. Terrific day though - more surprises as usual.

Breakfast was the first surprise. The assistant manager at the "Palac Judita" is a guy by the name of Andreja - we'll have to tell you about Andreja when we get home but he is quite hilarious and as camp as...... - but very helpful and full of great travel advice and makes a terrific scrambled eggs! Good way to start the day.

Collected our free "Split Pass" ('cause we are here for more than 3 nights) and headed for the Cathedral - quite unusual as it is just the converted mausoleum of Diocletian - quite small. They have a treasury display which includes hand-written scriptures and chanting books from the 600's. They also have a bell tower so guess what - we climbed it!! Only 70 metres high but THE most scary tower we've climbed. The steps go outside for a bit and then are just a steel ladder which is inside the tower but the tower is quite open and the ladders hug the interior perimeter so there is not much between you and the outside nor the inside space. Numerous climbers decided to call it quits part of the way up - it WAS a bit off-putting! However, we survived and had a great view of Split from up there.

There had been a couple of showers in the morning but as the sky seemed to be clearing we went back to Andreja to see if an island trip was possible. He recommended Brac so we headed off and caught the 12.30 ferry to Supetar. Brac has apparently been listed as one of the 10 best islands in the world to live on and we could see why - it is absolutely beautiful. Checked in to the Info centre and they gave us a walking guide which we followed for the afternoon. Had just the most enjoyable a'noon - made all the better as we could see a massive cloud descend on Split while we enjoyed a fine afternoon!!

Caught the 6.00 ferry back to Split (it has to be the slowest ferry in the world!) but enjoyed a complete end to end rainbow and a beautiful sunset as well as coming into Split at nightfall with all the lights - how romantic can you get??? Fantastic travel agent.

Another great bonus this morning was listening to a quintet of male singers performing in the Diocletian dome - magnificent harmonies and just a magic sound (we bought the CD!). Split is really a beautiful spot and we're just loving it. We do the guided tour tomorrow. Another recommended local family restaurant dinner tonight - the food again just beautiful, Oh dear, there will need to be some discpline when we get home........

trivia: Diocletian was the only Roman Emperor to retire - he bacame sick so planned his retirement and commenced the palace here as a "retirement home" It was finished in 350AD exactly on time for him to retire here from Rome. Some Senators later tried to convince him to return to office but he refused.

Pictures:
*The Split fish markets
*half-way up the bell tower (looking down at the bells)
*our a'noon tea spot at Supetar ("Supetar" is Croatian for St Peter)

Day 45 (Tuesday) Crikvenica to Split

As said before, no two days are the same!! Think we were about the only guests at the "Grand Hotel" as breakfast was pretty sparce and we were outnumbered by staff members - their season is almost over apparently. Woke to heavy rain but it settled down as we set off and we just had occasional drizzle and later one good shower before we arrived in Split. Would have been great to have bright sunshine for our drive down the coast but it was still incredible.

The coast road of Croatia must be one of the great drives of the world. Massive and multiple mountain ranges hug the coast so the road sits on high cliffs with views acrosss the Adriatic  to similar mountainous islands (with wonderful names like KRK) -also with verticle cliffs. Its a bit like the Great Ocean Road on steroids! The islands are often connected to each other by massive bridges.

In the inlets are little fishing villages, some of which appear way below the roadway while for others you drive down and through - just the most beautiful trip imagineable. Unfortunately the coast road from Zadar south to split appears to have been replaced by a motorway (more tolls) so we couldn't do the last 100k right along the coast - got sent on a boring motorway, but although the scenery was comaratively ordinary there was some fun as the speed limit is 130kph!! Where is the Passat when you are allowed to enjoy such travel - and not a policemen or speed camera in sight!!!  ...........and me in a non turbo diesel Fiat.

Into Split by about 4. Our hotel is actually within the walls of Diocletian's old palace walls which is a Unesco heritage listed site (no cars) so we had to park outside the heritage area and notify the hotel who sent and electric cart to pick us up. Had abit of trouble finding the spot in the myriad of tiny narrow streets but it was worth getting here - Split is just beautiful. We are here for 3 days so you will hear more about it, but we had a wander around the palace and waterfront and it is VERY impressive in every sense of the word. Croatian waiters have a lot to learn if they are going to seriously challenge on the tourism front - some a really rude so we've already worked out where we are NOT going!

Our hotel is, however the best yet - beautiful room, all beautifully appointed and great staff. Think we'll be OK. On the recommendation of  Marija the hotel manager, we went to a small family run fish restaurant for dinner - lovely fresh tuna.

trivia: Last one on Venice - there are an amazing166 islands making up Venice. The flooding which occurs on spring tides is not caused by the ocean rising - it is caused by Venice sinking! they found some years ago that the sinking of many wells for water lowered the water table and the city began to sink - since the banning of wells, the sinking has ceased but they still have the problem - huge floating barriers are due for completion in 2014 and this (hopefully)  will help

Pictures:
* Coastal fishing village - Jablanac
*The Dalmacian coast
*entry to the "Palaca Judita" (our hotel)

Day 44 (Monday) Venice to Crikvenica

You just never cease to be amazed in this travelling gig. The most incredible scenery and day's travel unknowingly awaited us when we sadly left Venice (in the rain) this morning - poor old Venice looked quite miserable as we headed (200metres) to the railway station from our lovely hotel and our wonderful breakfast host and master coffee maker Ranaldo (self-proclaimed "The Michaelangelo of coffee")

Train journey (2 hrs) from Venice to Trieste was quite interesting - more beautiful flat farmland, irrigation canals, grapes, corn etc and cute Italian farmhouses and vilages - and another area of marble quarries and cutting plants. Very fertile all the way - the Italian rural production must be (should be?) huge.

Arrived in Trieste on time and had a bit of trouble tracking down the "maggiore" car-hire office. Two unpleasant surprises - "No we don't have any GPS and no we don't have any maps" This is car-hire Italian style. Also had car full of food scraps, paper, someone's hat!!! Found a nice shop in the station where I purchased a good road map of Croatia and then we set off following the car-hire fellow's direction "Croatia is that way" Fortunately we navigated our way out of trieste without getting lost (Yeah!!!!)  and eventually went through Croatian passport control (no problem) so we knew we were on track.

This is the MOST amazing country. The road system is unbelievable. We travelled on a superb motorway nearly all afternoon and never had another vehicle closer than about 100 metres. Massive viaducts across fijord-like inlets, high mountain ranges, through tunnels, one of which must have been 4-5 km long, past beautiful little villages, forests, green farmland - it is just the most picturesque place. We went down the West coast, then across through the Istra Peninsula and again down spectacular coastline to the village of Crickvenica where we are  staying in a beautiful new hotel (The Grand) with everything that opens and shuts, Very friendly and helpful manager - learning a bit of Croatian - which is not easy!!!

Only problem occurred when we arrived at a toll point (what do you do???) but the system is that you just get a ticket at first then pay whenenever you exit - that was about 8 euro after about 2 hrs travelling!

Interesting introduction to Croatian dining tonight. Went down to the local "Domino's" restaurant - ordered the chef's special - Turkey and mushrooms plus soup plus the usual red house wine, but the neighbouring group got going and their behaviour was terrible - no one else in the restaurant could hear themselves talk - hope that isn't an indication of what's instore! Food was beautiful though and we got a free schnapps at the end (compensation???)

Off to Split driving down the Dalmatian coast tomorrow. We have a Fiat "500" diesel which must be the ugliest car ever built - inside and out - but is OK to drive and doesn't use too much fuel (definitely not turbocharged though!!!)

Cheers all

trivia: We had a first at breakfasts in Venice - Coffee flavoured yoghurt!!! Sounds terrible (especially on cornflakes and muesli) but was actually OK. Only the Italians would come up with that idea!

Pictures:
* the famous Ranaldo - the "Michaelangelo of coffees"
*The Island of Krk (correct spelling) - from our hotel balcony - weather is actually fine here but just looks a bit crook.
*how many taps does a shower need??? - not sure what they're all for!

Day 43 (Sunday) Venice

A wet and cold Sunday in Venice would be pretty miserable, right? No, not at all - we've actually had a lovely day.

Being Italy, we were of course woken with the sound of church bells - and there are a LOT of churches in venice!! Not much musicality with the bells here - just a lot of noise really. The lovely Sabrina at the front desk mapped out the day for us and we headed off towards the "Accademia" where the Leoardo da Vinci exhibition is on. A couple of churches and other museums along the way and then we were to end up at the "Santa Maria della Salute" church which is acros the Grand Canal from St Mark's Square.

Had one of those magical touring moments when we arrived at a church near the "Casa del Goldoni" museum - we were completely on our own (it WAS a wet and cold morning) and walked into the church and the organist was obviously practicing for the 11 o'clock mass - just the most beautiful music in a very beautiful church and we had it all to ourselves! Just able to sit and listen to the most beautiful music.

Did the Goldini museum (he was famous as a puppetier) with displays of antique puppets. The rain continued and we called into the da Vinci exhibition - models of many of his "inventions" - hard to believe how many machines he either developed or drew for later generations to actually see working - such as helicopters and submarines.

Unfortunately the huge "Santa Maria" Basillica was closed so we took the easy way out and caught the water-bus back to base where we had a lunch beside the canal and watched the incredible amount of water traffic going past. An appropriate lunch for the day - spaghetti/seafood (sounds incompatible but is actually beautiful and becomming a favourite) and a bottle of red wine - all beside the Grand canal in Venice!! - doesn't get much better.

Our time in venice is over - off to Croatia tomorrow after a train ride to Trieste to pick up the car. Venice certainly lives up to its reputation for being absolutely unique and  beautiful.

An unforgetable experience!!

Trivia: Leonardo da Vinci (as we all know) invented some amazing machinery but did you know that the list includes: THE BICYCLE!!!; ball bearings, the chain; the machine gun, the dredge, double hull boat, flywheel; parachute; glider; screw gearing, gearshift, floodlight; piston, camwheel - and the list goes on!

Pictures:
* emergency services Venice style - the firestation
* - an ambulance
*Leonardo's bicycle - complete with chain/sprokets

Day 42 (Saturday) Venice

The weather forecast was only half right - we woke to cloudy skies and light rain but by 10  the rain had stopped and it was just cloudy and cool for the rest of the day.

By the way, this blog will probably be late in being posted as was yesterday's - the hotel wi-fi and my tablet just won't talk to each other for some reason - yesterday's was eventually uploaded at a wifi cafe where we had lunch. Apologies.

We had planned a "museum" day in anticipation of bad weather so basically did that but took a lovely walk through the non-touristy back blocks of Venice which was very interesting.  We went to the natural History Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Archeological Museum - each housed in magnificent old villas that were worth visits in themselves.

The Archeological Museum is housed in the buildings around St Mark's square so we also joined the queu to see the Basillica which dates from circa 400B.C. when St Mark's remains were apparenty brought to Venice. The interior is quite dark and uninspiring but the exterior is quite beautiful but you can't come to Venice and not see inside St Mark's really. The Museum itself was very interesting - a section of it was the former Royal Palace - The Empress Elizabeth from the Hapsburg dynasty visited here a couple of times (it was then part of their empire) - the famous "Sissi" from our visit to the Schonnberg Palace in Vienna and it was fascinating to see the similarities in the way the rooms were decorated - all to her preferred style, and she only visited here twice!! Fascinating displays of ancient books (1400's), coins (1300's) the venetian navy as well as the usual array of beautiful marble and stone statues. The armoury with its amazing displays of the development of firearms was also fascinating.

The backstreets of Venice are really worth a look - for a start you are away from the thousands of tourists but you also get a view of everyday life in Venice with the delivery boats, the rubbish removal boats, the ambulance boats - for every vehicle we see on our roads, Venice has an equivalent boat - even saw a fire-boat!

The museum of Modern Art was "interesting" - just as well the building it is housed in was interesting in its own right!

Obvious problem with the tides - some canal steps and doorways were partly under water as we went around this morning and St Mark's Square was partly flooded - there are walkways stacked everywhere for when the square really floods. Cheers all - we'll see what tomorrow - our final day in Venice - brings!

Trivia: Saw Rodin's "Thinker" in the art museum today - there are two versions - the one we saw today and a bronze one in Paris!

Pictures:
* fruit&vege delivery Venice style -
*backstreets - the date on the building on the right was 1345!
*we've seen some narrow streets, but this one has got to be the narrowest - hardly space for two people to pass!

Day 41 (Friday) Venice

Every day brings new surprises and today it was the turn of the Doge's Palace to provide the incredible.

Firstly though the breakfast at the "La Locanda di Orsaria" hotel (hope we don't get lost and have to remember the name!!) is worth mentioning, mainly for the wonderful old gentleman host who treats you like family and looks after you for breakfast - and beautiful cakes, pastries etc also help of course. Again our hotel is great and ideally located for getting around Venice.

The weather is threatening to get a bit damp tomorrow so decided to do St Mark's square this morning to get that in just in case. Beat the crowds and got into the square and then the Doge's Palace, which, as indicated above was a big (pleasant) surprise. The outside is quite familiar of course, but I never realised the magnificence of the interior. We spent the whole morning there, marvelling at the beautiful rooms, most of which were meeting rooms for the various assemblies that governed Venice for four or five centuries. The main assembly room is the largest room in Europe - it held a weekly meeting of over 2000 - each noble family of Venice sent a representative - it also has the world's largest painting on canvas across the end, No photos allowed (but again i-phones etc get away with it) - these rooms were much more impressive than Versailles - more tastefully decorated and beautifully panelled - but still lots of 18crt gold etc on the ceilings.

We have purchased a three day ferry ticket so after a very nice lunch a few streets back from the square we headed for the island of Murano which, as we now realise, is the centre of manufacture of Venetian glass. Another great museum showing the development of glass manufacturing from the first century as well as shop after shop of beautiful glass - lighting, jewellry, vases,etc etc - has to be seen to be believed.

Ferry back to St Mark's Square, then another one all the way down the Grand Canal with its magnificent waterfront villas before heading for dinner at the recommended "Trettoria della Madonna's" seafood restaurant near the Rialto Bridge. Oh dear Oh dear, sorry to relate, this has to have been our best seafood meal anywhere - we had to queu to get in and when we left, the queu went half-way down the laneway. It is a Michelin star restaurant and I've never seen so many white-coated waiters in one place - the service was brilliant. Bit posh? Not really - we had a three-course meal with beautiful wine and coffee - 100euro - we've paid more in Maryborough! Any prospective visitors to Venice, I'll give you the directions!!!

Really pleased also that we have sorted out the water-bus system - it works really well and we've used it constantly. Another navigation achievement!  Cheers all - rain is still forecast for tomorrow and the next day so museums might get a workout.

Trivia: The Doge's Palace was commenced in the 9th century but has experienced numerous fires and reconstructions over the centuries, Most of the current rooms were completed in the mid 1500's.

Pictures:
*The Doge's Palace with gondolas
*The famous "Bridge of Sighs" - links the palace (where the trials were held) with the jail next door (thus the name)
*The "golden staircase" inside the palace