World Tour Part III

Monday 19th May 2008 - Prague

Today is spent walking the beautiful city of Prague. We start at Wenceslas Square - the centre of the city and wander through the narrow cobbled stone streets. The weather is brisk, but not raining which it has been for the last few days we are told. Overcoats and scarves are a must here but despite this it is still very pleasant.

Again, this city, like so many of these old European cities has so much history and you realise how young our Australia is. Before we know it we are feeling hungry and fin a quaint little cafe where Nick enjoys his first 'spaghetti bolognese' in weeks washed down with a good Chekoslovakian local beer. He is in heaven!!!

Our afternoon is spent doing much the same and although Nick decides to leave me so that I can partake in a little European retail therapy - I will meet him back at the hotel later thisafternoon.

This evening we have booked a canal boat to take us along the river. We board the boat and our journey takes us under the Charles Bridge. This is the most famous bridge in Prague and has much history. During the evening we travel under 17 bridges adjoining this city. The temperature is rather cool so we do not spend very much time on deck however the view from below is just as pretty.

Tuesay 20th May 2008 - Prague to Cesky Krumlov

We awake today to rain and cold. We are travelling to a small medieval village - Cesky Krumlov - about 200kms out of Prague. Our lovely big coach picks us up and we meet our guide - he is fluent in 5 languages so this makes it very easy for all the nationalities of passengers on this tour.

The scenery on the way is so picturesque and before long we arive at the village. It is so quaint. Tiny, tiny streets, thousands of steps, millions of cobble stones. We venture up to the palace - it is stunning and the view from here is breathtaking!!

We enjoy a traditional Chekoslovakian lunch of soup, meat and potatoes all washed down with their good local beer - i'm getting used to this!!!

Our journey back to Prague is uneventful and again, the scenery along the way breathtaking.

After 10 hours we are exhausted and are keen to shower and head to bed tomorrow we head to Ljubljana in Slovenia.

Wednesday 21st May 2008 - Prague to Ljubljana

We say farewell to Prague as we make our way to the airport for our flight 1 hour Ljubljana. Everything runs smoothly until we land and make our way to the taxis to get to our hotel. There appears to be only tiny tiny cars and we need a larger car - 4 people and 8 pieces of luggage! It is comical watching the locals trying to squeeze our luggage into a car that would resemble a small vehicle in Australia. After about 10 minutes a very small slovenian woman (who speaks not a word of English) can see the problem. She says something to these men and within no time she has lugged all our luggage and the four of us into her vehicle with such determination we were all (including the other taxi drivers) left stunned!!!! I guess as the saying goes - if you want something done leave it to a woman!!!!

After checking into our hotel we we decided to do some adventuring on foot and found the Old Square very easily. The river, like many of these beautiful cities runs through the middle and and it is gorgeous to walk on either side checking out all the little outdoor cafes along the way.

We find one and enjoy lunch watching the locals and passing parade. This is a lovely little place and very very people friendly.

Nick and I walked for hours during the afternoon as it is probably the best way to find your way around. We found a lovely little book shop with a young girl who was studying at the local university - she was a most interesting young lady and with her helpful, friendly nature we are sure she will do well in her chosen career.

We met Jan and Barrie for dinner at a lovely little restaurant we found on our travels right by the river. It was nice to taste some good western food again and this restaurant was a real winner.

It was lovely to walk back to our hotel and as it was around 10pm and still daylight with many people do the same it was a lovely atmosphere.

Thursday 22nd May 2008 - Ljubljana to Lake Bled

After another comfortable night we rise and get ready for our tour to Lake Bled. We are met by a delightful young Slovenian lady - Meka whose English was very good. There were another couple of ladies with us but they could only speak French so it made it interesting. Thankfully, English was the first language she spoke.

Lake Bled is about 80kms from Ljubljana so again, it was a lovely picturesque drive up to the foot of the Julian Alps which border Slovenia and Austria.

One we arrived it was just like out of a fairytale book - a scene I will never forget.

Our first stop is to the castle on a sheer cliff face overlooking the lake. Again, after thousands and thousands of steps, we take many photos and before long we find that much needed 'coffee shop'. We spend about an hour here before going down to the lake.

The township of Bled is very pretty and quite a holiday venue (a little bit like a village in our Blue Mountains but a lot more European). I could quite easy come back here and stay for a week.

Down at the lake we board a canopied 'rowing' boat yes a bit like a gondola with one oarsman who takes us the short distance (10 minutes) out to the fortress in the middle of the lake.

Before long we are climbing the 99 (yes exactly 99) steps to get to the church in the middle of the tiny island. Again, we take lots of photos and have a lovely walk around. In no time we are back on the little canopied boat heading back to shore (the grounds of Villa Bled Hotel) the most expensive hotel in the area. It used to be a palace which they have now converted into this stunning old hotel.

I think now Lljubljana and Bled is my pick of places we have seen so far (but I keep saying that with every new place we see)!!!

We return to our hotel mid afternoon which gives us some time to relax and write some postcards before dinner.

Tonight Nick and I decided to have a night on our own and walk down to the river for a very light meal - a Panini and local beer while again, watching the passing parade.

Friday 23rd May 2008 - Ljubljana

I have woken thismorning feeling heavy with a cold. I have not been able to shake this for the past few weeks, since Mongolia and it is really beginning to take its tol. I decide to stay in bed for the morning so I dose myself up with cold and flu tablets, good old Vicks vapour rub and a view out the window to the castle and the alps. I could think of worse places to be feeling unwell!!! The temperature outside is 15 degrees so I am happy where I am.

Nick has breakfast on his own then decides to do some adventuring on his own on foot. He walks to the Tivoli Gardens then across the triple bridge and up to the castle. The view he said was spectacular and after 4 hours he returned full of local knowledge of this very beautiful area. At about 7:30pm (I was feeling much better) so we walked to a local Italian Restaurant. Nick had his favourite Spaghetti Bolognese and I had the best Gnocci I had ever tasted again washed down with the local beer. Wine is so expensive here in Europe and it not as good as we get in Australia so the cheapest option is beer.

On our return back to our Hotel we meet Jan and Barrie who are at the computer. They are having major trouble accessing money after their unfortunate incident in St. Petersburg. We have offered to help them but understandably, they need to sort out the problem. Time differences and language barriers can be a real challenge in another country when problems arise. Hopefully they can get it all sorted out before too long!!!

Saturday 24th May 2008 - Ljubljana to Rome

We wake to a foggy morning and the castle and alps are not visible.

After breakfast we are met by Andre our driver who will take us to Trieste in Italy - about 150kms away in time to catch our flight to Rome. The journey takes about an hour and a half - these people only know two speeds when driving - FAST & FASTER - they are, as I have said before MAD!!!

At least the countryside along the way is beautiful, green and lush and is dotted with tiny villages, churches and farmhouses with red rooves. Despite his driving, we are glad we hired Andre' as we never would have found our way. Every turn he took seemed to be heading in the wrong direction but at least we got there in the end. We paid him and made our way to our flight.

After check-in we boarded ourplane which resembled Greg Norman's Lear Jet. It was very comfortable, modern and new with each of the flight attendants resembling Jennifer Hawkins!!!

Before long we are soaring into the air and our 55 minute flight is the most comfortable I have every been on.

Our arrival into Rome is hassle free and we are met by a gorgeous tall Italian man by the name of Christian. He is our driver to get us to our hotel - Hotel Romanico Palace which overlooks the city. Again, Christian is a nice man but a MAD driver as well. The rule here is first in first serve and horns blast continually!!

Hotel Romanico Palace is reminiscent of an ancient Roman Palace and the rooms are tiny but gorgeous.

We decide to have an early dinner and walk a couple of hundred metres down the road where we find a fabulous little Italian Restaurant. We are greeted by Dominique - a lovely Italian Man with a smile to match. He recommends a selection of Italian specialties and good wine to match. We decide the only thing missing is good Italian music so Barrie sprints back to our hotel (10 minutes away) to find my ipod which Chelsea's boyfriend Pete downloaded Italian music on before we came away! Before long he was back and not only us, the staff and the rest of the patrons were enjoying this immensely. It really resembled the little Italian village, lots of good food and wine, music, laughter and fun. If this is Italy I love it!!!

Sunday 25th May 2008 - Rome

25 degrees and sunny and warm is the weather forecast. I have been able to shake my cold and it is lovely to be in summer clothes.

After breakfast Nick and I decide we'd do some sightseeing on foot so we leave the hotel and walk down th Piazza Madonna di Loreto about 20 minutes walk away from our hotel. From there we thought it easier to jump onto a 'hop on hop off' sightseeing city tour bus. These are everywhere and a great way to see the local sights with English commentary.

Rome is stunning with the Ancient ruins and historic buildings everywhere. First stop is the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica. There were so many people here we opted to stay on the bus but it was still interesting to see this building nevertheless. From here we went to Piazza del Popola, Via del Corso and to the Trevi Fountain. Via Vieneta and the onto the colosseum. Here we got off the bus and decided to do the rest on foot. Approximately 5 hours since leaving the hotel we decided to catch a cab back to the hotel. Rome is the most amazing city and it is obvious the Italian influence has had an effect on Austalia as our outdoor cafe's and casual lifestyle is reminiscent of here. A lovely and very easy city with friendly helpful people to match. We spend the afternoon with our feet up - reading, relaxing before meeting Jan and Barrie for dinner at another recommended local restaurant.