Paris #2

The trip from Munich to Paris was one of our longest travelling days. From hotel to hotel it was 11 hours! We got to our hotel at 10.00 pm, checked in, dumped the bags and headed across the road to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. It was then back to the hotel and bed.

Our plan for Paris this time around was a lot of relaxing and people watching, so after a sleep in we headed out on the metro to the Latin Quarter for lunch and a spot of shopping. Both were successful and we ended up buying some art from a quaint gallery that stocks one-off originals from up and coming artists.

That night we went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up and after some heel clicking by Luke and a few photos we went to a restaurant that had a fantastic view of the tower. Dinner was delicious and the price relevant to the view we had! :)

On day two we headed out to Versailles for the afternoon. Wow! Words don't do the chateau and gardens justice and I can understand why the French revolted when they saw how Louis XVI and Marie Antionette were living, while they were starving in the streets.












Our final full day was spent wandering the Champs Élysées, having lunch in the Tuileries Garden overlooking the Louvre and then wandering around the Louvre for a couple of hours. Luke even managed to purchase another watch at the Fossil shop in the Louvre.









Next was dinner on the Champs Élysées and some more wandering and being awestruck at the decadence - at one stage we passed a line up of cars that was worth over $3 million. We also passed two guys who were renting Ferraris - for a mere 500 euros you could drive them for twenty minutes up and down the Champs Élysées.









We came back to reality as we swiped our all day metro tickets and caught the tube back to the hotel.

Next (and last) stop is London where we're looking forward to catching up with friends and making the most of our last days of being tourists.

Location:Paris, France

Ich liebe Wiesn, München

Roughly translates as I love Oktoberfest, Munich and never was a truer statement uttered.

We arrived in Munich in the afternoon and after organising the hotel and checking in we decided to see what all the fuss was about. We were only a short U-Bahn ride to Theresienwiese the site of the world's greatest party. We had a bit of a wander around the place and checked some of the rides and got a Bratwurst and Schweineschnitzel. Next step the choice of which of the many tents to visit and have a beer at.

We chose Hofbrauhaus a dinky little place for just you and ten thousand of your closest friends, it's the most famous so figured we should check it out at least once. Turns out it was a good choice, it has the most international flavour (read tourists) and is the only one with tables to stand at so is easier to get a beer. No sooner had we found a spare spot and ordered two beers than we were toasting everyone and chatting away. That's pretty much how the rest of the night went. Well almost the rest of the night, after several beers and the tent closing someone decided it would be a great idea to go on one of the many rides. Lets just say that nearly ended badly, beer food and carnivals rides are a dangerous combo.

The next day Nell felt it was time to make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Swarovski. Their HQ and Crystalworld exhibition is based in a place called Wattens just near Innsbruck in Austria. From Munich it was about two hours by Intercity then a bus to Wattens. The trip gave us time to nurse some hangovers back to health and enjoy some of the beautiful scenery the Austrian Alps had to offer.

Swarovski Crystalworld itself was very good, they had lots of exhibitions done by different artists using the crystals in different ways. Of course Nell checked out the crystal shop where several purchases were made.

That night saw us head back to Oktoberfest but just for some more Bratwurst and atmosphere, the head and stomach couldn't handle anymore beers just yet.

The last full day in Munich saw us head into the town proper at the crack of dawn for a tour on Segways (again). Segway however was the best way to see Munich it turns out due to the vast size of the city and it's many parks and gardens.

We saw the Konigsplatz that was bombed heavily during WW2 and apparently the only place in the world you can see all three styles of column , ionic, doric and corinthian, in one square. It was also used for rallies during the third reich, as the Nazi HQ was just next door; although today it is a music school.

We also went down Maximilianstraße one of the most exclusive and expensive streets in Europe. It was around this time we started noticing a theme, the kings of Bavaria in chronological order were Maxmilian I, Ludwig I, Maximilian II, Ludwig II, Otto and Ludwig III. Making it very easy to remember the important stuff, it was either Maximilian something or Ludwig something.

We also saw the "Tina Turner" church so called becasue it's name is so unpronouncable and Tina Turner is close enough. It's on a square with a memorial to famous Field Marshalls of Bavaria, only problem is there aren't really any. It has 2 statues, one guy did actually win a few battles only trouble was he was Belgian, and the other guy was a politician given the title of Field Marshall and never actually won a battle.

The rest of the tour we saw, Munich's victory gate, the ugliest building the American Embassy, the Eunuch of Munich aka the walking man, river surfing, the science and technology museum, the Hundskugel a restaurant opened in 1440 and the english garden where you're allowed to sunbathe naked. We didn't see any sights but we were told the reality is nowhere near as good as it sounds.

After more than three hours touring around Munich we though a beer was in order so went to the Augustiner brewery for a late lunch. Later that night saw a few more beers back at the Wiesn.

Of course I should mention it was our anniversary whilst we were in Munich so we had to celebrate with a Champagne at Oktoberfest. Paris next where we might have a proper dinner to celebrate not just more Bratwurst. As awesome as they are they aren't proper anniversary food :)
Happy 4 years Nellie!

Naples / Pompeii

We decided to catch the regional train from Rome to Naples, thinking that the fact that it was a bit slower than the Intercity that we'd see some great scenery and save ourselves around 80 Euros. What we didn't realise is that the regional trains don't have air-conditioning, hence two hours on a train in 30+ degree heat = an extremely unpleasant trip. Oh well, you live and learn!

We had no idea what to expect when we arrived and as we got out of the station we were faced with litter, grime and dodgy boys selling their wares. Luckily the hotel was only a block away and we definitely hit the jackpot because not only was it modern, air-conditioned and funky - we also discovered that when the shutters were closed and the lights off it was pitch black and near silent … we nicknamed it the "bear cave" and I certainly could have hibernated there for our stay! :-)

We had dinner at the hotel the first night. The restaurant was on the sixth floor and the outside terrace had a great view over Naples.

We planned to go to Pompeii the next morning, but fell victim to the bear cave! The alarm was set for 7am, but instead of hitting snooze I turned it off and we woke up two and a half hours later! We decided that by the time we got ready we'd be touring in the heat of the day, so we'd put Pompeii off until the next day. With that we hit the "do not disturb" button and continued to sleep.

We finally got up and going early afternoon - armed with our map we set off to see what Naples had to offer. It turns out not much!






We discovered that there was an underground tour of Naples that left at 6pm, so we found the departure point and waited for the tour guide. What we hadn't factored in was that the tour was entirely in Italian! We decided to still go and headed off down the stairs into the underground. It was 17 degrees and a pleasant change. We sat through 30 minutes of animated explanations and then it was time to weave our way through the underground city - some of the tunnels were so narrow that we had to turn sideways and shuffle through them. One of the guys on the tour guessed we were Aussies and then started to interpret bits and pieces for us, so we at least got some snippets of what the tour guide was saying. It was fascinating and apart from a few moments of claustrophobia quite enjoyable. After the tour we found a restaurant for dinner, then caught the bus back to the hotel and the glorious bear cave!









We managed to get up as soon as the alarm went off the next morning and were at the train station by 8am and on our way to Pompeii. Luckily there were guided tours in English this time and it turned out that the other six people in our group were Aussies. Our guide was a character and you could tell he loved what he did. Pompeii is fascinating and a lot larger than expected, our guide really brought the city and its people to life for us.












When the tour finished we caught the train back to Naples and escaped, once again, to the coolness of the bear cave. After a rest we set off in search of somewhere to have dinner - not an easy task on a Sunday in Naples! We finally walked back to the area we were in the night before and went to the same restaurant. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and had a drink on the terrace before our last night in the bear cave.

Next stop Munich for Oktoberfest!

Location:Naples, Italy

England, Holland, Germany, and Italy. What do they have in common?

They all go into making a Benedict.

Bad puns aside, today was finally the day of our booking and we were allowed to go visit the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. Let's see, last post our luck was going badly, I'm glad to say it's improved thankfully and has been upgraded to average. Yesterday saw us head over the Tiber to Trastavere. A quaint little neighbourhood and home of the Santa Maria Trastavere, our first proper church visit in Rome; ignoring the fact the Pantheon has been used as a church since the 1st century.

Kel will also be glad to hear the Nutella situation in Rome is also under control.

The part about our luck changing? Well on the way back to the hotel we stumbled on some more ruins, this time Theatre of Marcellus, which looks a lot like the Colosseum but isnt, and bumbled onto Piazza del Campidoglio

Where I got to recreate a photo I'd taken 10 years ago. The god TIberinus holding his horn of Cornucopia.

2001

2011

Anyway enough deja vu today we went to the world's smallest country, Vatican City.

What can I say, but wow? As previously noted we were signed up for the full three hour tour of the Museums and Basillica. Elsewhere on the web is probably a lot better run down of everything they have in the museums and I must be honest after the first hour of trying to remember who painted what it does get all a little someone did this in the blah century.

However the standout parts for me were the Gallery of Tapestries; for  the tapestries where people's eyes seem to follow you like the Mona Lisa and realistic looking jugs of wine. Apparently both are achieved through the use of silver thread in the tapestries.

I also really like the Raphael Rooms and of course the Sistine Chapel. Michaelangelo took four years to paint the Chapel's ceiling and another five years to finish the the Final Judgement fresco behind the altar. However what sometimes gets forgotten is that while Michaelangelo was doing his thing Rapahel was also painting just next door.

These frescos are actually Raphael's rooms, sorry there are no photos from the Sistine Chapel, because you're not allowed to take any. Partly becasue flashes could cause damage to the frescos and partly becasue the sold they copyright to pay for the restoration work on the frescos.

The other interesting thing about the Vatican Museums is that the church is still expanding it's art collection. Although there is a lot less religious artwork done these days they still have several comtemporary paintings including some Dalis.

After the Vatican Museums we visited St. Peter's Basilica, again not a lot to say that the photos dont.

Well that's almost the end of our time in Rome, tomorrow we're off to Naples for a few nights. We've enjoyed it and turned our thoughts about Italy around.