Mark & Gill

A cloudy start was greeted with quite some relief as we set out for a day in Venice. Built on 1,000’s of wooden poles set in clay and silica in the sea, the foundations to all the buildings of Venice are now an engineering challenge. Everything needed to be flexible to allow for movement – today Venice is sinking and threatened.

Our tour started with the magnificent Palace of the Doges – oil paintings by da Ponto and Tintoretto. A contrast to the dungeons reached by crossing the Bridge of Sighs. Then into St Mark’s Basilica – with dazzling mosaics on the walls and ceilings, decorations and beautiful marble mosaic floors – uneven as it sinks.

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A longish drive today from Innsbruck to Venice passing over the Europa bridge (190m high with a bungy jump!) and through the Brenner pass into Italy. The foothills of the Dolomites were stunning in colour with wooded hillsides and many villages, vineyards, apple orchards and castles along the way. The houses are the typical sandy-orange coloured villas you see in pictures- varied in size and state of repair.

Central Venice itself is made up of 117 islands accessed only by water transport – we ferried in by water taxi along the Grand Canal that bisects the city and oohed and aahed at the amazing architecture and sights. A visit to the Murano glass factory followed and then we wandered the central piazza area – San Marco – very hot so enjoyed gelato! We were then treated to a gondola ride through canals complete with accordion and tenor serenade –  very impressive. Then a water ferry ride back to bus and hotel for a much needed rest and shower before dinner.

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Left switzerland and drove almost the length of the tiny principality of Liechenstein stopping for a coffee and quick shop before reaching Austria, More beautiful mountain scenery all the way. Overnight in Innsbruck – a delightful eveing in a Tyrol village – horse and buggy ride to dinner in a unique pub – ate huge meals with our fingers and drank the local schnapps. Great ride home by bus – well entertained with song! Off on the road to Venice this morning.

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A ride through the mist this morning on a funicular railway -(one of Switzerland’s oldest) and then modern cable car to the top of  Mt. Stanserhorn (1,900m) – brilliant sunshine at the top and 360 degree views around the Alps. Wandered around the summit to the echoing bells of cows in summer pastures past Heidi’s hut and views of alpine meadows.

Lunch back in Lucerne was a typical Swiss affair accompanied by traditional rollicking music including the alpine horns, accordion, broomstick and saw, xylophone and yodelling. I even blew the alpine horn and made a respectable noise! The afternoon was spent wandering the narrow lanes and shops of Lucerne and also viewing the covered bridge and Lion monument built in memory of Louis XVI’s Swiss Guards. I also got to visit the monastery here in Engelberg and admire some stunning frescos, decorations and appreciate the monks singing at evensong.
Being a tourist is a bit tiring and nice to have 2 nights in Engelberg and later starts in the am!!

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Another early start with a great drive through the leafy green German countryside to Heidelberg – explored the castle (built in 1386) – stunning location looking down the valley, across the city and over the river. Then travelled on into the Alsace region of France – many gorgeous villages along the way sitting against the hills, in valleys and also on the flat – characterised by clusters of orange roofed houses, church spires rising up and a few castles against the skyline.

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Here we are checked into a nice comfortable hotel in Offenbach (“suburb” of Franfurt) after 2 very full days on tour! An early start Tuesday morning –  we drove down through Kent to the White Cliffs of Dover – ferry crossing about midday and in Calais, France, a couple of hours later. Cruised on through Flanders fields to Belgium into The Netherlands and checked into our Hotel on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Then into the city for a cruise on a canal boat through the fascinating port and canals ending up at a floating Indonesian style restaurant for dinner. Then a quick walk into the red light district for a bit of cultural education.

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A quiet first day recovering from the flight. Spent the afternoon on a long walk wandering around Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park areas – popped into Harrods for afternoon tea – only saw a fraction of the place. Exercised great restraint due to first day out, weight restrictions and limited space!. Early to bed tonight before an early start on the tour in the morning.

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A call from Air NZ Saturday am! No doubt it’s best that our departure from Auckland at 11.30pm is delayed!! Apparently there is a typhoon over Hong Kong about when we are due there so were rescheduled to 5.30am, now 6.20…….However, every cloud has a silver lining and hopefully I will be in a much better state for flying having had another 6 hours or so to  take a few more drugs before departure to assist my recovery from a very heavy head cold.  We will have Just a little less time to re-energise at the London end though before joining the tour. BIG thank you to Andrew who brought us up to the airport on very wet night and got home about 4.30!

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Well, a year of hard work and planning since our last trip has allowed us to be off on another adventure again soon (20 sleeps to go!!). We’ve got the bug… this time, we will spending most of our time in Europe. A once-over lightly to some extent with quick visits to 10 countries courtesy of a Trafalgar tour and then some time in Malta, Italy and France. (see our itinerary page and travel map – click on the index tabs).

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We can now say we have experienced a bit of life as “Coasters” ie. on the west coast- South Island NZ! Impressions – diverse, laidback, very little traffic in comparison to home, few people, big sandflies, beautiful scenery-coastal formations, stony beaches, rainforest, mountains and rivers. An enjoyable week exploring a region we have not visited for quite some time individually or together. We enjoyed the varied rugged scenery, walks in the bush, a wine tour, and some fine seafood! Mark is particularly keen to return with more time to kyack and tramp in Abel Tasman National Park and Gill will need to get into training for that trip! A memorable visit for Gill this time was visiting the Denniston Incline (coal mining – historical site) having read novels based on this area. See our trip photos.

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