Tuesday 18th October
Another early start as out train departs from Antwerp at 8.31am. Breakfast in the relax room, say our goodbyes to our hosts and off to Schipol. From Schipol to Kuala Lumpur where we will spend the am in an airport hotel, the afternoon touring KL and then back to the airport from a 9.50pm departure for Melbourne. I hope the inflight movies are good. Malaysian airlines so the food should be ok. The weather in Antwerp was overcast with a bit of rain. The only rain all trip. Jen says Europe is shedding a tear at our departure. :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday 17 October
Monday 17th October
An early start and a quick trip to Notre Dame. A dodgy expensive coffee, orange juice and bread stuck at a street cafe, then home to pick up the bags. A metro train to Gare de Nord to catch the fast train to Antwerp, Belgium.
The B&B is fantastic, nice bedroom, huge bathroom, and a relaxing room with couches, much art and a table for breakfast. Classical music playing and a welcome wine, Belgium beer and nibbles. It was most welcomed.
We then went out to see a bit if Antwerp, the current home of diamonds and diamond trade. A visit to a diamond store where we saw the jeweler polishing a stone (actually, not just for tourists) and looked at various stones and rings. It was interesting to see the tradesman applying his craft.
We then went to the old town and saw the lovely old buildings an Cathedral. We stopped for dinner at a nice place and had ack of lamb, lamb chops (about 8) for Jen and a couple of local beers, including a sweet beer that was red!
A walk home via the 'interesting route' and we are ready for tomorrow's train to Schipol, Amsterdam, and then flight to Kuala Lumpur.
An early start and a quick trip to Notre Dame. A dodgy expensive coffee, orange juice and bread stuck at a street cafe, then home to pick up the bags. A metro train to Gare de Nord to catch the fast train to Antwerp, Belgium.
The B&B is fantastic, nice bedroom, huge bathroom, and a relaxing room with couches, much art and a table for breakfast. Classical music playing and a welcome wine, Belgium beer and nibbles. It was most welcomed.
We then went out to see a bit if Antwerp, the current home of diamonds and diamond trade. A visit to a diamond store where we saw the jeweler polishing a stone (actually, not just for tourists) and looked at various stones and rings. It was interesting to see the tradesman applying his craft.
We then went to the old town and saw the lovely old buildings an Cathedral. We stopped for dinner at a nice place and had ack of lamb, lamb chops (about 8) for Jen and a couple of local beers, including a sweet beer that was red!
A walk home via the 'interesting route' and we are ready for tomorrow's train to Schipol, Amsterdam, and then flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday 16 October
Sunday 16 October A well earned sleep in after a long day yesterday and a hearty breakfast and coffee from the cappuccino maker in our little French apartment.
A few trains and we are on our way to Versailles. The French train system leaves Melbourne in the dust.
Versailles was as expected, over the top. The gardens and lakes were my favourite part.
A visit to Notre Dame and then of to find a restuarant for a 'fancy dinner'.
A lovely dinner at Le Colimaçon where I had (insert much fancier names for the dishes where appropriate) a hot pot of meat and veg and Jen had duck. A bottle of good white and chocolate pudding for dessert.
A few trains and we are on our way to Versailles. The French train system leaves Melbourne in the dust.
Versailles was as expected, over the top. The gardens and lakes were my favourite part.
A visit to Notre Dame and then of to find a restuarant for a 'fancy dinner'.
A lovely dinner at Le Colimaçon where I had (insert much fancier names for the dishes where appropriate) a hot pot of meat and veg and Jen had duck. A bottle of good white and chocolate pudding for dessert.
Saturday 15 October
Saturday 15 October An early start and breakfast at a cost little cafe. Some nice illy coffee and eggs, ham an cheese on bread while Jen had an omelette.
A bus ride to the airport with amazing views of the mountain ranges and then on an EasyJet flight to Paris.
Arrived in Paris and no Internet on IPhone. Need to use paper map. Nightmare, where's the blue gps dot telling me where I am! Jen did a good job on the map and local trains and we got there within 1.5 hours of landing. Our host met us and handed over Jen's camera from UPS from Germany. Hooray!
We took a local train to close to the Arc de triumph and walked down the Champs-Élysées. We climbed the stairs and took the required pictures. The tower lit up and sparkled with its beam if light circling, which was nice. Now to climb back down an find some food! A long day, late night, sore feet and no dinner yet makes for grumpy John. Bring on some good food and a big glass of wine/beer (or both).
Dinner at le Petite something with one of the best waiters we have seen. Duck Confit and some red, then bed.
A bus ride to the airport with amazing views of the mountain ranges and then on an EasyJet flight to Paris.
Arrived in Paris and no Internet on IPhone. Need to use paper map. Nightmare, where's the blue gps dot telling me where I am! Jen did a good job on the map and local trains and we got there within 1.5 hours of landing. Our host met us and handed over Jen's camera from UPS from Germany. Hooray!
We took a local train to close to the Arc de triumph and walked down the Champs-Élysées. We climbed the stairs and took the required pictures. The tower lit up and sparkled with its beam if light circling, which was nice. Now to climb back down an find some food! A long day, late night, sore feet and no dinner yet makes for grumpy John. Bring on some good food and a big glass of wine/beer (or both).
Dinner at le Petite something with one of the best waiters we have seen. Duck Confit and some red, then bed.
Friday 14 October
Friday 14 October An earlier morning, buffet breaky and a read of the age, online of course.
The sun was shining again and the sky was clear. Out to take some more pictures and see the amazing mountains. We climbed the steep steps to the castle and talked our way in again without paying to take some pictures. A walk to the icecream store for coffee and cake, a gentle walk back to the hotel and then off to the bus station thanks to our host. We bused to the train and caught the train to Ljubljana, after having the BIGGEST hamburger I have ever seen, and a tasty local beer. Jen had the same hamburger but with the local 'coke like' drink called Cokta. Much tastier than coke.
The train trip is nice, so much better than buses. It appears the shool kids are heading home for the weekend as the train is full of them.
We arrived in Llubljana and eventually our lovely hotel. The street numbers went 7,9,13,11,15. Of course we were #11 and a little frustrated when we could not find it.
We walked along the tourist strip of the river and went to a little restuarant called Julya. I thought of Julie and Julie the movie. We had to wait 30 mins but strolled the bitterly cold streets at 9pm until a table was available. Fortunately he wait was worth it and my beef with mushrooms and a cheesy thing filled with ricotta. Jen had beef with truffles and grilled vegetables. It's a hard life.
A late night pop in to the Llubljana Casino to lose a quick €50 an then home. Luck was not going my way. That's enough for the Casino visits, quit while I an ahead.
The sun was shining again and the sky was clear. Out to take some more pictures and see the amazing mountains. We climbed the steep steps to the castle and talked our way in again without paying to take some pictures. A walk to the icecream store for coffee and cake, a gentle walk back to the hotel and then off to the bus station thanks to our host. We bused to the train and caught the train to Ljubljana, after having the BIGGEST hamburger I have ever seen, and a tasty local beer. Jen had the same hamburger but with the local 'coke like' drink called Cokta. Much tastier than coke.
The train trip is nice, so much better than buses. It appears the shool kids are heading home for the weekend as the train is full of them.
We arrived in Llubljana and eventually our lovely hotel. The street numbers went 7,9,13,11,15. Of course we were #11 and a little frustrated when we could not find it.
We walked along the tourist strip of the river and went to a little restuarant called Julya. I thought of Julie and Julie the movie. We had to wait 30 mins but strolled the bitterly cold streets at 9pm until a table was available. Fortunately he wait was worth it and my beef with mushrooms and a cheesy thing filled with ricotta. Jen had beef with truffles and grilled vegetables. It's a hard life.
A late night pop in to the Llubljana Casino to lose a quick €50 an then home. Luck was not going my way. That's enough for the Casino visits, quit while I an ahead.
Thursday 13 October
Thursday 13 October A sleep in, just making the buffet breakfast at 9.57am.
We eventually headed out in what unfortunately was a colder overcast day compared to yesterday. We had lunch in a pub (turkey roast) and met an 'interesting' couple from Towoomba. The husband was quite talkative and loved Melbourne. We visited the local castle, saw a dancing and archery performance by the castle performers and visited the in house museum. The dancers included some Japanese tourists which was very amusing.
The museum had an awesome model of the local landscape, and projected overlays of different topography. It was very cool.
After the castle we did the 6km walk around the lake. A nice walk past the rowing boats and sheds but we were glad to see the end.
Dinner at the same little restuarant as last night, a nice desert wine to finish for myself and Jen and then off to the Casino again. :)
After nearly losing my €50 stake, I got lucky again and won €24 which nearly covered dinner. I was tempted to go for the extra €6 to cover the bill totally, but have been in that position too many times to know it rarely ends well with the 'just one more' bet.
A nightcap of Stephen Fry and QI then sleep.
We eventually headed out in what unfortunately was a colder overcast day compared to yesterday. We had lunch in a pub (turkey roast) and met an 'interesting' couple from Towoomba. The husband was quite talkative and loved Melbourne. We visited the local castle, saw a dancing and archery performance by the castle performers and visited the in house museum. The dancers included some Japanese tourists which was very amusing.
The museum had an awesome model of the local landscape, and projected overlays of different topography. It was very cool.
After the castle we did the 6km walk around the lake. A nice walk past the rowing boats and sheds but we were glad to see the end.
Dinner at the same little restuarant as last night, a nice desert wine to finish for myself and Jen and then off to the Casino again. :)
After nearly losing my €50 stake, I got lucky again and won €24 which nearly covered dinner. I was tempted to go for the extra €6 to cover the bill totally, but have been in that position too many times to know it rarely ends well with the 'just one more' bet.
A nightcap of Stephen Fry and QI then sleep.
Wednesday 12 October
Wednesday 12 October
We walked around Zagreb and visited the local market and took pictures of the church in a better light. We then made our way to he train and headed for Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Arriving Lake Bled we caught a taxi to Hotel Berc with an American couple and Jen soon realised her purse was on its way to Munich on the train. It fell out if where it was stored and we didn't see it on our departure from the train. Doh!
Another afternoon of phone calls, surfing web pages looking for various contact numbers of the train stops to Munich. A little success in that they searched the carriage a few stops later, with no luck. The purse only had some cash and a debit card, so we got online and transferred all the money out of Jen's account to mine. Jen misses the picture of Barney in his antlers the most. Awwww Barney, we will see the legend soon.
Of course an auto payment was set up in Jen's account and the next day the bank charged her $19 in fees for failed transaction. You can't win sometimes!
We eventually got out of the Hotel Berc, which was more of a pensionè than an hotel, and saw what Bled had to offer. Oh my Lord, amazing! It could not be more picturesque. Crystal clear lake, where they had the recent rowing world championships, snow capped mountains, church on an island in the middle of the lake, castle in the hill, white swans cruising past and to top it off the full moon was poking it's way over the horizon. Suddenly the lost purse didn't seem so bad.
Our Hotel owner/host was very nice, spoke excellent English and had a good sense of humour.
At night we had a meat platter at a little restuarant. Wow, it was a huge serve of cevapcicis, turkey, chicken, sausage, pasta and rice and fries. It was a challenge, and it defeated us, just. Some nice wine and then a trip to the local Bled Casino for half an hour. A typical small town Casino with more staff than customers. Some rather serious identity checking to gain entry, including passport identification and taking your picture, and then some fun on the automatic roulette tables. Real wheel, just auto spin. Luck ran my way and we won €46 which paid for dinner. A nice end to the day.
We walked around Zagreb and visited the local market and took pictures of the church in a better light. We then made our way to he train and headed for Lake Bled in Slovenia.
Arriving Lake Bled we caught a taxi to Hotel Berc with an American couple and Jen soon realised her purse was on its way to Munich on the train. It fell out if where it was stored and we didn't see it on our departure from the train. Doh!
Another afternoon of phone calls, surfing web pages looking for various contact numbers of the train stops to Munich. A little success in that they searched the carriage a few stops later, with no luck. The purse only had some cash and a debit card, so we got online and transferred all the money out of Jen's account to mine. Jen misses the picture of Barney in his antlers the most. Awwww Barney, we will see the legend soon.
Of course an auto payment was set up in Jen's account and the next day the bank charged her $19 in fees for failed transaction. You can't win sometimes!
We eventually got out of the Hotel Berc, which was more of a pensionè than an hotel, and saw what Bled had to offer. Oh my Lord, amazing! It could not be more picturesque. Crystal clear lake, where they had the recent rowing world championships, snow capped mountains, church on an island in the middle of the lake, castle in the hill, white swans cruising past and to top it off the full moon was poking it's way over the horizon. Suddenly the lost purse didn't seem so bad.
Our Hotel owner/host was very nice, spoke excellent English and had a good sense of humour.
At night we had a meat platter at a little restuarant. Wow, it was a huge serve of cevapcicis, turkey, chicken, sausage, pasta and rice and fries. It was a challenge, and it defeated us, just. Some nice wine and then a trip to the local Bled Casino for half an hour. A typical small town Casino with more staff than customers. Some rather serious identity checking to gain entry, including passport identification and taking your picture, and then some fun on the automatic roulette tables. Real wheel, just auto spin. Luck ran my way and we won €46 which paid for dinner. A nice end to the day.
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