BILL’S BLOG

As Mikaela told me I could never contribute to the blog as I would not know how, here it is!  A summary of our trip written on our second last day in Praiano before we go to Rome to fly home.

We started with England and as we had never been to the south west corner we decided to spend a few days there based in Exeter. Nice spot- we visited LandsEnd as one has to do when that close, it’s a bit like putting one foot in the Indian ocean and one in the southern ocean in WA.

Land's End.  There is a sign on the cliffs where everyone has
their photo taken.

We then spent 3 days with the Cozzi’s. It was great to catch up with them and share a red or two.

Tony, after a red or two.  We took his picture because
he was the best looking at that stage!

We then chunnelled in the Eurostar to Calais where we picked up the car then on to Dizy for three nights from where we visited Reims and Epernay. Sighted a few million bottles of Champers at Moet, also sampled some in the interests of research.

Then it was on to the Black Forest area of Germany. We stayed at Freudenstadt which was very central- some wonderful small towns in the area, it was where we saw the first of many 000’s of windmills for production of electricity and a lot were in the forest area so they did not annoy anyone, just planted among the trees; something our greenies could think about.

Assisting the local economy in cafe in Black Forest

From the Black Forest up to Cologne where among a few cathedrals we spent a very enjoyable morning at the Lindt Chocolate factory and museum. Discovered lots about the growing, processing and production of chocolate and again in the interests of research sampled and purchased some very high % of cocoa chocolate.

Useful article in chocolate at the Lindt shop.

From Cologne on to Denmark (not to see our Mary) visited the Viking museum where we learnt that they not only looted but also farmed and were one of the early producers of corn. I was very surprised to see the amount of wheat grown so far north, not very impressed by Copenhagen not only very expensive but also dirty. Took a quick trip for lunch to Malmo in Sweden which a was much nicer town, the lunch was good too!

Windmills are used extensively through Europe and Denmark had hundreds of them, even in the sea!

From Demark, our most northern point, back south on a ferry to Germany and to Dresden a very nice city. One thing we noticed all through Europe was they have not got any politically correct police. Tthey get on with things and everyone enjoys life.

Frome Dresden to Prague which had some great buildings and history but could not warm to the people, it was the first place we saw restaurants adding a service charge to the bill;  not all but some and those same ones would place bread on the table when you ordered a meal and then charge for it.

From Prague to Fussen in the Bavarian area of Germany, home of beer making so of course we sampled some in the interests of research of course.  It is a wonderful town on the southern border of Germanyand is a farming area that has a lot of milking cows.We were there at hay and silage time; any piece of grass was used, nothing wasted but as it is in the alps one would assume that those cows spend a lot of the winter in the barns so they would need all they could get.

View of mountains in Fussen

From Fussen on to Vienna which is a great city to visit and much to see, we found a great restaurant on the banks of the rive. The Europeans seem to have all these wonderful places to eat which is often as much about the venue as the food.

Photo taken from top of frightful hotel where we stayed

We left the car at the hotel in Vienna and flew to Istanbul.  I am pleased to have visited it but once was enough, too many people. Close to 20 million at last count.

From Vienna we went to Budapest which really is a wonderful city. It’s amazing what they are doing restoring many old buildings with the help of UNESCO. They and any city in Europe (they are all very old) have no option but to restore, the only alternative is to bulldoze and start again, not a very palatable thought.

Funny little ice cream cart in Budapest

From Budapest onto Dubrovnik in southern Croatia; a wonderful little city only 2.5km around the city wall which is still intact, I was surprised to learn that the good people of Dubrovnik have for many years and still are very big in shipping and like the rest From Budapest onto Dubrovnik in southern Croatia; a wonderful little city only 2.5km of Croatia really appears to be doing well especially when you consider that the Serbians were fighting with them only a few years ago. It was well worth the long drive to get there and back.

One of many sets of stairs in Old Dubrovnik

From Dubrovnik to Trieste, another city big in shipping and a major port city for surrounding countries like Slovenia; a lot of history and some wonderful buildings.

From Trieste to Cividale to visit friends whom we have made over the last couple of years and after 7 weeks on the move it was good to relax in familiar surroundings and catch our breath.

Bill with Ugo, Andrea and Tiziana at their home in Premariacco.

Then on to Venice- nice place to visit but would hate to live there, there are some places you visit and go away saying I could live there; Venice is definitely not one of them.

Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge- Venice.

Bellagio where we went next is one I could live in. Surrounded on three sides by Lake Como it is one of the prettiest towns in the world surrounded by mountains and water. The road in is a bit iffy- 25km and it takes almost an hour to drive from either Como or Lecco very narrow and exceptionally bendy.

View of Lake Como from a ferry.

On to Siena another old town great for the history.

Piazza del Campo Siena.

Then on to Praiano on the Amalfi coast. If I thought the road into Bellagio was bendy Main form of transport are the local 50 seat busses which are driven by guys who think they are driving a formula 1 car, amazingly we have not seen any evidence of accidents most private vehicles are scooters for obvious reasons the road is very narrow and if two busses meet one often has to back up to find a passing spot.  Wonderful scenery though.

My favourite places: 1, Black Forest, 2, Lake Como, 3. SW England, 4 Dubrovnik and 5, Praiano.