Sunday 27th May 2012

Today we hired a guide and took a drive along the Amalfi Coast. We hired a guide because the road along this coastline is very very narrow, steep and has many hairpin bends. It is also a very busy stretch of road and Mark really wanted a chance to relax and take in the scenery instead of doing battle with the traffic.

We visited 3 beautiful little towns built into the side of the hills and cliff faces that make up the Amalfi Coast. Positano is a very busy town with beautiful little shops lining the streets selling gorgeous linen clothes that are made in Positano itself. There are also lots of ceramics produced in this area and so lots of shops selling ceramic items like plates, cups and bowls right up to the most beautiful table tops and outdoor settings. We had lunch in a lovely little cafe and then headed toward the town of Amalfi. The coast line is really spectacular and we were blown away by the terraced gardens and orchards growing lemons, cherry's and olives. How these people live and work here is just amazing. Some houses actually have flying fox type arrangements to get stuff down to their front doors. The stairways are incredibly steep and winding and there is absolutely no parking and yet the locals still seem to squeeze their cars into the most obscure places. We were also amazed by the local fruit stalls that set up on the sides of the road in what looks to be the most dangerous places to stop......however lots of people do, including us today.

Amalfi is a little different to Positano and has a lovely old town area with a large town square.  Because lemons are big here you can get lemon ice (granita) on every corner and I must say it is really refreshing on a hot day. We know cause we had a couple!!
Our last stop before heading back into Sorrento was Revello. Just when I thought the roads couldn't get any steeper or narrower we found ourselves climbing steadily higher in to hills to this beautiful little town. Again with a lovely town square and shops selling ceramics and clothing.

We got home about 7pm, enjoyed a really nice meal and are now getting ready for bed as we are off to visit Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius tomorrow. I will post some pics from Yesterdays blog as well as I was unable to do it yesterday.

Em in front of Neuschwanstein Castle

A model of the castle

Part of the castle...it is very big and hard to photograph in it's entirity.
One of the towers was covered in scaffolding for restoration work.

The river flowing through Fussen in Germany....the most amazing milky blue colour.

The landscape leaving Germany heading into Austria

More landscape.......so beautiful

The Swiss Chalet....part of the hotel were we stayed in Lake Lucern Switzerland.

Lake Lucern from our window

Mark and Em in a paddle boat on Lake Lucern

The 14th century covered bridge and tower in Lucern

There are lots of swans in Switzerland

The bridge close up

Lucern

Lucern

Em and Mark with a swiss boy????

Marks first European haircut

Another Lake in Switzerland

Arriving in Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Emily with Pinocchio

Our first look at the Meditteranean in Civitavecchia

A statue called "Unconditional Surrender" in the port city of Civitavecchia in Italy

Emily at the beach in Santa Marinella

Santa Marinella

Positano on The Amalfi Coast

The Bay of Naples

Em in one of the streets in Positano

Inside the Grotto

Em in Amalfi

The Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast

A bay and fishing village along the coast

The Amalfi Coast road

The coastline

The amazing terraced gardens

A hotel along the coast

A little beach along the coast

The Amalfi Coast

The coastline



26th May 2012

Hi all

I know its been a week since my last blog.........sometimes we find that we may not have internet connection available or as is the case this week , we left our Australian adapter in a motel in Switzerland and have spent a few days trying to find a replacement!!!!!!

The last time I blogged we were staying in Fussen in Germany and were planning to visit the fairytale castle, Neuschwanstein. We decided to take the horse and carriage ride to the castle instead of the bus. The horse and carriage has to stop about 600m from the castle so it is a very steep climb up to the castle gates from there. In the castle itself there is about 270 steps to reach the top. It is quite impressive inside and the highlight would have to have been King Ludwigs bedroom complete with a very impressive ensuite and a huge throne like toilet!!

After our visit to the castle we headed out of Germany and into Austria. We spent the night in Innsbruck and then drove on to Switzerland via Liechtenstein, the smallest country in the world. We stopped for lunch in Liechtenstein and had our passports stamped, the only country in Europe that actually does this.

We arrived in Lucerne late on Saturday and checked into our hotel. We were lucky enough to get a complementary upgrade into a very nice BIG room. Something we havent had much here in Europe. It was really nice to have some extra space so we decided to stay an extra night.

Switzerland is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a small town just outside Lucerne right on the Lake. It was very picturesque right down to the cows (complete with cow bells) roaming around the paddocks. We spent a day just wandering through the village and the next day went into the city itself. We strolled over a bridge built in the 14th century and wandered through some little cobblestone streets. We found a little hairdressing salon and Mark had his first European haircut!!! The only downside to Switzerland is that it is really quite expensive.

On Monday (21st) we decided to head toward Italy. We drove through to Lake Como which is just over the boarder. We spent the night and then decided to head to Pisa the next day and visit the Leaning Tower. I have to say that Italy is not at all what we expected and it has been quite an eye opener. There are toll roads absolutely everywhere, lots and lots of tunnels and poor old Mark has a melt down everytime the GPS tells him to turn into a TINY cobblestone street that doesnt seem big enough for a person to walk through.....they are wild drivers here and we havent seen one car that still has both side mirrors attatched. Mark thinks its like something out of a James Bond movie. We drove from Como south toward the coast via Genoa. We were constantly in and out of tunnels and not knowing what to expect in Genoa got the shock of our lives as we exited one very long tunnel and found looming ahead the HUGE city of Genoa. We had lunch, had a look around and then headed further down the coast to Pisa.  We found a very nice b&b in Pisa and walked down into the town square....OMG the streets are like a rabbit warren......very interesting but I must say overall Italy has been quite grubby compared to Germany which was just prisitine. We visited The Leaning Tower of Pisa which is quite amazing. Em wanted to walk the 300 steps to the top but we were unable to get a tour through until late in the afternoon so we missed out on that.

That brings us to Wednesday  when we headed further south and into Civitavecchia. This is a Port town where alot of cruise ships leave for cruises to the Eastern and Western Meditteranean. We stayed out in a small town called Santa Marinella which is right on the beach. Em was busting to have a swim so we spent the afternoon on the beach.  We spent two nights here, caught up on the washing and today have arrived in Serento on the Amalfi Coast. Running out of power now so will post quickly and upload some photo's tomorrow.

The town hall clock at night in Rothenburg.

Thursday 18th May 2012

Hi all

Well we headed off to Floriade 2012 in Venlo in Holland on Monday of this week which I have to say feels like weeks ago.. It was an interesting day. There were a few good exhibitions and some entertainment to enjoy but I'm not sure that CNN had it right when they said it was a "must see". Still we very much enjoyed Venlo and the drive through the countryside.

After Floriade we headed back into Germany and down to Koblenz. We decided that we would travel The romantic Road ( Romantische Stausse ) which winds it way down through southern Germany and finishes in the alpine town of Fussen. In the 385km drive there are a total of 32 towns, many of which date back to medieval times. Several of them are walled cities and were built as early as the 1100's. They are really very beautiful and historic and unlike anything I have ever seen.

We started our journey in Koblenz which was really just a stop over. We then headed to Wurzburg which is the start of the Romantic Road. We visited the residence of the former Price Bishop which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Monument, saw several very beautiful cathedrals, and took a tour of the town. We spent the night in Wurzburg and then headed off down what we THOUGHT was the start of our drive.......unfortunately not. We weaved our way through alot of beautiful countryside but couldn't find any of the towns we were supposed to. After a couple of hours we decided to change direction but still found ourselves lost. Finally we were able to get directions from someone who spoke English and realised we were actually further away from our first destination than when we left Wurzburg. At this point we were about to abandon all previous plans but at the last minute decided we would still head toward our original destination of Rothenburg ob de Tauber. We finally arrived (much later than planned) and I was totally blown away. We entered into the old town through a through a huge gateway in the wall that surrounded the town. Once inside it was like something out of a story book. Lots of beautiful old German houses and businesses, a very ornate town hall complete with a dungeon and an amazing  old church. We checked into our hotel which was one of these old buildings with heaps of old world character. We decided we would join a walking tour through the old town that was conducted by the Nightwatchman. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Full of lots of historical information about Rothenburg but delivered in a very humurous way. Afterwards we enjoyed a traditional German meal and fell into bed. It doesn't get dark here until about 9.30/10oclock so we find ourselves sitting up way to late every night and waking up tired every day!! Overall I would have to say that Rothenburg has been my absolute favourite place during all our travels so far and I'm very much looking forward to coming back at Christmas time one year to experience their amazing Christmas markets!

The next morning we woke to the church bells ringing, something quite common in all these old cities. We spent a couple of hours walking the wall that surrounds the city, which was amazing, and after one last walk through the market square we headed of......this time in the RIGHT direction.

We travelled through a total of almost 20 small German villages, all with loads of character, and finally reached our final destination of Fussen late in the evening. During the day we stopped in the Old Town of Dinkelsbuhl, another walled city similar to Rothenburg but not quite as rustic. Emily talked us into taking a horse and carriage tour through the town. It was really enjoyable but not so informative as this particular tour was with a German Guide and of course...we don't speak German.

Fussen is a lovely Alpine Village (quite a big one ) which is at the foothills of the very famous Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany's most famous historic building. You've probably all seen pictures of this castle as it is the castle that Walt Disney based all his Disney castles on. It was built by the very eccentric King Ludwig 11. This castle has over 6 million visitors a year!!!!!!! We had intended on visiting today and then driving on into Austria this afternoon. However from now on through all the summer months is the busiest time and we couldn't get a tour through until late this afternoon so we decided to spend a second night and visit the castle EARLY in the morning.

Well that's about all for now. Will try to blog again tomorrow after our visit to Nueschwanstein.

Emily in front of the giant gumboots at the entrance to Floriade



They love their cows around Holland & Germany....You often see
these painted in all colours. This one is at Floriade

Pole walkers

This was in the "Green House" at Floriade

The "Green House" again

Em having a rest on a "LAWNGE"

A grass car ????

This was an interesting display....not really sure what it is.

This was clever.

This bird was just stunning..and very friendly!

Prince Bishop's residence in Wurzburg Germany

Em in front of the entrance doors to the residence.

The Nightwatchman in Rothenburg

Mark and Em walking the wall of Rothenburg

Inside the Old Town in Rothenburg

As above

As above

The displays in the shop windows were awesome

A Bakery in The Old Town selling Schneeballen. A deepfried pastry
covered in chocolate, icing sugar or cinnamon sugar.

The Town Hall in the market place Old Town Rothenburg