Well all, this will be the last pst before our return to Oz.

We are in Prague at the moment and tomorrow return to Vienna for our last 2 nights of the trip.

Before Prague we had 2 nights in Berlin which was facinating, going over all the history and sights involving the war and division of Berlin after the war. Names and areas I had read about over years all seemed to fit into place.

Prague is a beautiful place, way too many tourists and tacky gift shops but overall a great little city.

It has all been a wonderful trip, visiting places I never thought I would ever see and learning the facinating history of this part of the world. Hope you have all enjoyed tagging along.

cheers

Debbie & Mike

Hi all,

Not many entries to make on this thing! but a couple to add.

We are now in Berlin but have had 4 interesting nights in Poland!, 2 nights in Krakow and a couple im Warsaw.

Poland has been a country of extremes! from us dancing with a Polish folk dancers! (photos to follow), to walking through the remains of WW2 Concentrations camps. We even decended a couple of hundred meters into a Polish Salt Mine to see fantastic carvings, made by miners a couple of hundred years ago. The weather has held up for us although it is starting to look a little rough now.

We had a bus breakdown on the day we left warsaw and had to get a bus replacement, but eventually made it although it was a late arrival in Berlin.

Anyway, will now attempt to insert some photos & catch up with you all next entry.

cheers

Deb & Mike

Hi All,

The Bus tour has begun.. A full bus, mostly Aussies & Filipinos!!..a splattering of Yanks, a Cannuck and a few odds and sodds. Anyway we arrived in Vienna after a wonderful train trip from Vennice. The scenery was sensational, had a wonderful Dinner in the dinning car..the full bit!!

Vienna is a wonderful city, we spent a couple of days wandering around & looking at the sights before we met up with the tour.

Tour left Vienna on Saturday morning and we have been in Budapest the past couple of days..another

spectacular city..they have done wonders with the place since kicking out the Russians!…We went on a river cruise with Lunch included, the best way to see Budapest, today we visited a little town just out of the city, a bit of a tourist trap but interesting, Deb bought a Russian doll there & wasnt sure of the currency conversion rate, I just worked it out on the internet & will have to tell her when I get back to the room!!!!    Hotels are wonderful, all 5 star and great.

Anyway, bus leaves tomorrow for Poland & we have 2 nights in Krackow & 2 in Warsaw..will keep you up todate in about 4 days. cheers to all & will add a few pics here before bed. early start tomorrow.

Hi again,

Another addition to the travel blog of the year.

Almost finished our solo stage of the trip & meet up with the bus tour in Vienna this Saturday.

Florence was a treat and hard to beat but we had a nice little treat in Verona and Vennice. Verona was such a suprise!, main reason for the visit was to see the roman arena but found so much more! A beautiful clean and friendly City without the millions of tourists in other Italian Cities!..we had a wonderful time walking around the Old city and enjoying the peace & Quiet (and Gelati) before the hustle of Venice.

Venice was everything I expected A spectacular City.. Was once a huge powerful republic and you can still see the money and power it had. Thousands of tourists again but once you left the Grand Canal & checked out the back alleys ans side streets, it was quite bearable. Deb & I had the necessary Gondola ride, spent lots of money on overpriced food and entry fees but had a wonderful time.

Left Italy yesterday and made our way to Vienna by way of a spectacular 7 hour train journey….but thats a story for next time.

Keep the comments comming and catch you all soon

Hi all, us again. We are just about to say goodbye to Florence. We have been here for 5 nights at this great B&B and leave tomorrow for Verona.

Florence has been a treat, I started with a huge list of things to see and do and I think I have covered just about all of it. All the main museums and galleries as well as many of the smaller ones are now under my belt!..Deb & I have seen some of the major artworks of the world and also tasted some of the best Gelati you could wish for!…there we go…Gelati again.

The weather has been fantastic, bright sunny days which made walking around town an effort. It’s only a small city but walking around it (and the millions of tourists) each day takes it out of you.

I will post more than the usual number of pictures cos I have worked out an easier way to post them as well as Florence is such a beautiful place.

So until next time

Arrivederci!!

Grazie to Shannon, Rob & Leanne, Tru & Barb, Mandy and crew,Susie,Jackie,Mum Ryan and the dog for writing to us, have i missed anyone !!!! bye love deb xxx.

Have added some pics to previous post..check them out.
If we thought Rome was hectic wow!! Naples left it in it’s tracks!..the traffic is wild! Taxi ride from the train station was an experience..havnt seen one car without a dent!..anyway we settled in to the Napoli routine (sure)…
Main excurtion was a trip to the Pompeii ruins..magnificent site..would take a full day to cover it..we were limited to a couple of hours but had an entertaining guide with a definate interest in the history of the site & Italy in General.
Also had good english which helped a lot..but as he kept saying..all language comes from the Father & Mother.. (Latin & Greek).
Then went to Mt Ves!..the big one overlooking the Bay of Naples..Climbed to the top after the car dropped us about 30min short of the summit.. What a view!.
Next day visited Napoli Archeology Museum which stores all the finds from Pompeii and surrounding areas.

Phew..we are now in Florence & will report in a few days!
Hi all its me, hope everyone is well. Jack phelans food sounds really good at the moment, a pie and sauce or a sandwich or i would kill for some vegetables. Pizza pizza and more pizza it is good but not much variety. we did have vege soup tonight which was lovely and there is more variety than that i am just being silly. Anyway having fun, staying at a B&B for the next few nights and it is really lovely. Thanks for the comments, its great to read them and makes me homesick. bye love deb xx

Attempting another post hopefully with pics, will see how we go.

Had 4 nights in Rome! what a fantastic city, frantic…hectic….noisy..Brilliant. We visited all the sites we missed last visit and doubled up on some favourites. Caste San Angelo and Panthenon are favourires I wanted to revisit. April 25th we went to an Anzac Parade at the commonwealth cemetary and saw Amanda Vanstone! Obviously Italian food agrees with her, I think she has put on a little weight..but dont tell anyone.

We have enjoyed all Italian food and Gelati, I have tried every Italian beer I can find and have not found one I dont like!..will attempt to post some photos of Rome.  Next stop is Naples. Will add to this when we have more to say & news of our visit to Pompeii & Mt Vesuvios.. Cheers all and keep those comments comming.

HAVING PICTURE PROBS AGAIN..WILL TRY TOMORROW

Hi Suellen & Jackie, many thanks for the comments!! (Is that ok?)  Loved hearing from you.

Hi all, finally got to a computer to add a little to the blog.

Left Switzerland and made our way to a small town in the Italian Northern lakes called Arona.  Had planned a lake cruise to see some of the Islands on the lake however the weather turned nasty and we were held hostage in the town eating pastries & gelatii!..Damn the rain!.

After 2 nights we left for the small village of Monteresso on the Medireanian coast. Spectacular!..5 villages all within a stones throw of each other built into the cliff face..Got some great pics to show you all when we return..More Gelati & pasteries…..

Left for Rome yesterday via Pisa. Had a couple of hours looking around, under,up & over the tower…was unsure if I would be impressed but was. Is a corny tourist trap but cant take away the presence of the tower itself & surrounding buildings..

Left Pisa at 3.00pm for a 3 hour train ride to Rome, got into Rome at about 7.30pm..A train ride from hell but thats another story.

Hope it wont be as long until the next update!..cheers until then.

Am also having trouble adding pics here..will try again tomorrow

HI all, not sure if we will get pics loaded with this post, ancient computer. We had a couple of days in Bern Switzerland, a beautiful medievil city with lots of old buildings & churches that had lots and lots of steps to climb!!

City is on a river and has a bear pit nearby with 2 beautiful brown bears. Deb gave them a taste of apple, not sure how they liked it.

We then spent a couple of pleasant hours in a town called Brig, high up in the mountains, lots of snow to be seen on the higher peaks.  Crossed over into Italy this morning, border guards came on the train & checked everybody out, Deb was not frisked this time, and we are now in a town called Arona on Lake Magiorrie in northern Italy. Hope to go on a lake cruise tomorrow but the weather forecast is not looking good.

Keep the comments comming and will add to this soon. Cheers all

(Mandy, we have recieved both of your comments, great to hear from you)