22 July 2004
Well, finally I have a chance to sit down and collect my thoughts and write what I have been up to.
Ok, starting at the start then.
I arrived into London on my own and spent most of the first day asleep. When I finally got up I went down to the shops and spent some nice time in the sun enjoying the rare warm weather and having lunch on my own.
The following day I started out very cheery and made my way across Hyde Park in the mild drizzle which was surprisingly lovely to get myself to Oxford St for a bit of shopping.
My day was spoilt when I slid in very embarrassing manner down the stairs of the Marble Arch underpass, managing to bruise and scrape myself as well as thoroughly soaking the butt of my jeans. Shopping was therefore not the joy it might otherwise have been!
Probably saved myself some money though...
Anyway, got myself up to Edinburgh then to meet up with cousin Bec, Mum and Dad and Alix in that order. Spent most of day back and forth from airport which now know very well should anyone ever be looking for something to do in Ed waiting lounges.
Did a bit of sightseeing around Edinburgh as well as looking at shops. Bought some fab purple heels for the wedding which we made our way too on the Friday night.
We stayed at the town near the castle where the wedding was held and took the bus over with other guests on the day.
The wedding was that of close friend/surrogate Scot brother Kevin and gorgeous fiancee Catherine for those not aware.
Day was made more interesting by the loss of Dad's luggage on way from Australia including black tie which required him to hire formal wear for the event, which, in Scotland means, you guessed it, a kilt.
He turned out exceedingly well despite threats from groom and friends to "de-bag" him later in the day. After a slight concern upon doubts as to how to use the urinals in the circumstances, all went very well and he fit in very nicely with the other male guests in their traditional outfits. Definitely something we need more of in Oz I feel as all the boys looked very fab.
After the dinner, the evening proceeded to a Caillie which, for those who don't know, means an opportunity for Scots people who have grown up with it to throw each other around a dance floor in a v advanced square dancing manner directed by the band and attempt to bruise and/or cause to fall over unsuspecting first timers.
Needless to say, Al, Bec and I all had a great time although only barely survived with limbs intact and Bec and I soon regretted the purchase of new shoes for the event and envied those in the know who brought spare comfy shoes along to dance in. Ahh well, we will be better prepared next time.
Al then flew home after the weekend and Bec flew down to meet up with some old family friends down Manchester way while Mum, Dad and I drove up through Scotland to Loch Ness and around the beautiful countryside up north of Edinburgh.
Sadly missed out on my attempted SAKS photo with sheep in middle of country laneway (those from NZ trip will sympathise).
Hopefully photos of all sorts will manage to miraculously be scanned and uploaded for planned website soon so that you can see what I have been up to for yourselves.
Flew from Ed to Manchester to pick Bec up and spend the evening with friend Lara at lovely dinner in town.
Next morning flew with Bec directly down to Milan.
We found our way into the town and to our hotel which was quite reasonable once we got the a/c going as Milan was v hot and v humid.
Travelled out for some shopping in Milan but were sadly misled by suggestion of lonely Planet that good shopping could be found in Golden Quad. Believe they may have missed the crucial word "window" in there as shops were Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Gucci and so on and so forth.
The concierge luckily pointed us to a more reasonable end of town on the last day where we mingled with the crowds on the first day of the sales.
From Milan, we trained up to Lake Como and took the bus up the western side of the lake to Menaggio where had been told by both Lonely Planet and fab travel book purchased by good friend (thanks Damo my love) that the Youth Hostel was the best in Europe.
It was a first time Hostel experience for both of us but we were blown away by the view as we had been told. The opportunity was there to sit out on the big verandah area and look out at the beautiful view and enjoy a nice bottle of white and some salty snacks.... Or at least it would have been if the white we asked for hadn't turned out to be some teeth popping sparkling red substance which some mistaken error in language led us to. Ahh well, needless to say, not too much recollection of dinner that night although I think it was pretty good!
Downsides turned out to be sharing 6 bed dorm room with 4 American backpackers, toilets designed for people with no legs (ie requiring unusual balancing act with nose pressed to door whilst trying to fit long legs into cubicle and keep unlockable door shut) and, even more so, the sharing of a three shower bathroom with people of both sexes and all ages whilst managing lack of doors and clothing remaining outside somewhat private curtained cubicle.
Unfortunately for snobs like us, we pretty much decided that was our last hostel experience.
That said, the view was amazing and there is no complaining about 15.50 euros each a night including sheets and breakfast (about $25).
Anyway, after two nights, Bec and I made our way to Verona. At least we tried. First there was the ferry to the eastern shore and the train there we missed by about two minutes. The following train not being for another two hours we headed back over the lake to where we started and then over to the middle of the lake only to discover that there is, in fact, no train station in Bellagio. Back on the ferry then to some squalid town further down the east shore where the train was again missed, only this time we even were lucky enough to watch it pass in front of us as we ran our cases up the road in the heat. Nice. Walked on further and found a bus down to the bottom of the lake, Lecco, which the Lonely Planet kindly describes as "a bit of a hole". No complaints from me there. Not in the end in the least amazed to find we had just missed a train and faced a wait of over an hour. Managed to get some lunch and finally get onto a train on its way to Verona.
Duly arrived with some relief at the train station in Verona. Spoke too soon as it turned out. Our hotel which on the website was described as "a few minutes from the old town of Verona", turned out to be 7km out of town and during a bus strike! We had to get a cab to get out to the hole that is the Hotel Cristallo. Please tell your friends. Believe me, that place will pay some how, some way.
We had a very unusual dinner in the only restaurant we could find which was enormous and quite flash but totally empty apart from the two waiters and the two of us. Very weird sensation and resulted in a tip over what was necessary through sheer guilt.
In any event, after the cab back into town the next day we very much enjoyed wandering around the old town which is quite lovely and all pedestrianised. Took a photo of Bec next to the statue of Juliet at her house in the centre of town although she copped out and refused to cup Juliet's breast for good luck.
Many Italian towns seem to have these various legends about doing unusual things to bronze sculptures or fountains in return for good luck or otherwise. Unfortunately, my sketchy reading of the Lonely Planet tended to mean we knew there was something meant by each thing but were never totally sure what. For example, in Milan there is an area in an arcade in which you run your foot over a bull carved in the floor in order to .... Well, actually I have no idea. But lots of Japanese tourists were there doing it.
Anyway, back to the story. From Verona we got the train to Venice. Through an amazing spot of luck, we used the last minute phone booking service the day before and found a gorgeous little cheap hotel in the centre of Venice, between the Rialto and San Marco called the Hotel Centauro. Upon being told that it was Bec's first time in Venice and admiring our natural charms, the concierge gave us a room overlooking a canal.
This meant that, as Bec showered, I discovered we were two floors up from gondola central and spent an hour leaning out the window waving and calling out ciao to the flow (excuse the pun) of tourists floating past in their expensive little boats.
We spent two nights in Venice in all and enjoyed wandering around the city despite the heat. We spent about an hour outside the Hotel Danieli watching the rich go in and out and trying to work out where these people had got their money from. More amusingly, we watched many tourists wander in there only to get kicked out moments later.
We had probably the best dinner of our trip in Venice and gained the waiter's admiration by ordering the local specialty of squid ink risotto and a bottle of local wine rather than the pizza the tourists ate around us. We earned ourselves free cocktails for it which was nice. I would love to recommend it to anyone going there but Bec and I have discovered that the best we can come up with is that it was in a square near a church. If you have been there, you will realise 90% of the buildings in the city can be described that way.
In an amazing coincidence we bumped into our uncle Tom and wife Diana with little Luke whilst lost in the back streets of Veince. It was very surreal as none of us knew the others were even in Europe! Quite freaky.
We spent a bit of money to watch some women in period costume play Vivaldi's four seasons on strings and piano which was surprisingly good for being tourist central.
The same night we had gin and tonics which rivalled the $40 numbers Em and I had in London in February at a cost of 18 euros total ($30) of which about half was just for the lemon fanta mixer. One of a number of occasions in which our accents got us ripped off by the locals.
From Venice we trained down to Florence for three nights and took in a bit of culture including the statue of David and the Uffizi Art Gallery including the Birth of Venus by Botticelli (naked girl in a shell for the boys reading this).
We again were very lucky with the hotel which was a nice B & B one street back from the Duomo Cathedral (Residenza dei Pucci) which was the nicest place we stayed apart from the overpowering smell of drains in the heat.
Again managed to fit in a bit of shopping in between our culture as well as making a day trip by train up to Pisa to see the tower (although not hang around and climb it) and then on and up to the Cinque Terre, five beautiful little villages suspended on the cliffs above the Mediterranean.
Following all this, we trained down to Rome to spend a brief overnight before joining a tour group to travel down briefly through Naples and on to Pompeii to see the ruins before arriving at our hotel in Sorrento.
After two and a half hours putting up with loud and not very bright American tourists (clearly not from the same places as my lovely friends in Washington state) around the dust of Pompeii, we were very ready to arrive at our hotel and were delighted to discover we were being put up in a beautiful grand hotel looking out over the coast and the town of Sorrento itself. We were even more excited to see the huge pool on site.
We met some great Aussies on our trip including a Qld District Court judge and her husband and a girl our age from Adelaide who works in an accountant's office in Norwood for heaven's sake.
Lisa spent most of the time with us during the trip which was really nice.
Bec was a huge hit with one of the waiters at the hotel in particular and should she ever wish to go back there I am sure there would be a warm welcome for her. Sorry Bec, I couldn't resist! Needless to say the whole situation caused Lisa and I much amusement (sorry again, Bec).
We had the full day at leisure in Sorrento and spent the morning by the pool before heading down into the town on the courtesy shuttle at about 12:15.
Unfortunately, we soon discovered that not only our shuttle but the whole town apparently shuts down completely for lunch. This means until 4:30! After a brief bite to eat, we had to try and kill time which could have happily been spent at the pool down in the town.
Like I am sure every other tourist who visits the town, we were unable to get out without Limoncello, the local liqueur of choice. We bought a botlle and some snacks and took Lisa back to join us on our balcony looking out at the view and enjoying some alcohol beverages and more salty snacks. All in all a very pleasant experience.
The following day out tour picked us up early and took us by ferry to the isle of Capri. We were taken in a small boat (made smaller by the two very large women who joined Bec and I) to see the Blue Grotto which was very pretty. We then walked around the island particularly admiring the areas reserved to the very wealthy. One day Bec and I have decided we will be back there with our wealthy husbands.
After getting back to Sorrento, Bec and I said goodbye to our tour group which went back to Rome whilst we stayed on an extra night in another hotel by another nice pool.
On our last day there we took a bus to stunning Positano on the coast behind Sorrento and walked the hundreds of steps down into the town before thankfully finding a bus to take us back up again to get back to Sorrento and get on our bus back to Rome.
Our last day was spent in Rome seeing the sights and, for me, having an interview for the job which I have applied for in Paris.
That probably came a bit out of the blue. Well, it did for me too! I ended up going to my important interview in my thongs (flip-flops for UK readers, not the thongs you are thinking of!). Very classy. Very professional.
It simply turned out that the Director of the organisation, who is Italian, happened to be in Rome at the time and saw it as a good time to meet.
It went for almost two hours and we did some very fast switching in and out of English, French and Italian, mid sentence at times and talked generally. Well, at least he did, I had a bit of trouble getting a word in. Still, I was pretty happy with how it went and was especially pleased to hear that the criteria seemed to be all me which was positive. I am not sure where else they will find a female from the new world wine areas with law background and three languages. It was also a relief to hear there are no likely visa problems.
Anyway, I will keep you posted.
From Rome, we flew to Amsterdam to meet my sister Alix and boyfriend Adrian.
I may have told you about the restaurant he took her to a while back where they had to take their shoes off and spent the evening lying back on white couches listening to DJs and being served a variety of surprise courses during the evening. Well, Bec and I asked Al to try booking the same place for us the Saturday night we got back but unfortunately we couldn't get couches, only a table.
Thankfully, the girl on the other end of the line let Al know that the Supper Club also has a boat trip and we were able to get a booking with that.
White couches, cool DJs and lighting and décor and on a boat!
Couches... On a boat!
Anyway, moving on (needless to say it took Bec and I a while to move on).
The place totally lived up to expectations. It even managed to make us feel cool especially when up and dancing on said couches in our little pit area to the singing of a transvestite accompanying the DJ on some 70s classics.
All in all an amazingly fab evening and somewhere that Gab, Daz and J will definitely be joining me when they come over here!
Finally, all has calmed now and I am spending my days on Alix's couch and around the Hague including joining her and friends at their regular pub quiz night tonight which should be cool.
On 8 August, I am due to fly to Montpellier to spend a week in the town of Beziers where I went to high school with a school friend including celebrating both our birthdays at the local Spanish festival on 13 and 14 August.
After that, I think on the 16th, I am flying back up to Edinburgh for the fringe festival and to catch up with Em, Jac and Margie as well as with the newlyweds.
From there, on the 24th, I fly to Spain to spend a couple of weeks with my family including Alix and Adrian by the beach and pool. I can't wait to visit the beach bar I remember there from when I was 15 and was last there now that I am old enough to truly benefit from the cocktails they serve (and I intend to make up for lost time if possible).
After that, well I don't know.
I am supposed to be hearing back about the job at about that time as it has to be advertised first before they can tell me anything. Other than that, it will be UK somewhere, either London or Edinburgh. All decisions yet to be made but I will keep you posted.
