Travelling from Chester to Dublin via Honeyhead, Wales.

I always had a dream to travel to Wales, not sure why. My concept is of coal, Cardiff, dramatic rugged beauty, caring people, a wierd language and Tom Jones. So I was thriled to find out that yes, our trip did include Wales, even though it was a two hour rail trip along the top, from Chester to Honeyhead, on the Island of Anglesea. However, much of my curiosity about Wales in that short time was satisfied. The hills are ruggedly round and knobbly, often covered with bracken, the land green, the houses tall, narrow, made bluestone or concrete and chimney pots at each end. All signage is in English, and I presume, Welsh. At Honeyhead we were bussed to the fast ferry. This trip was one of the most comfortable I have ever had on a ferry. Not only was the sea smooth, the winds light but also our seats, the view and the food. One of the great plusses of the internet is the opportunity to view something before purchasing. Having looked at the 360 degree camera view of the ‘Jonothan Swift’ fast ferry on line, we booked upstairs by the windows, in the no children zone. Peace, quiet relaxation, and if we wished to dispose of cobwebs then we could avail ourselves of the extremely cold, windy decks outside. Just the perfect way to travel to Ireland, which would turn out to be one of the busiest holidays ever.......

From Florence to Rome, two different cities

Each city we visited during our winter holiday in Europe had it's own special character and personality.

One of the activities I especially enjoyed was exploring the parks and open spaces, even though in winter time they might not be at their best. While Chris explored the antique and artisan shops on the by the bridge with the Jewellery shops, before he discovered a 'real' and warm London Style pub because he refused as did some other visitors to pay to visit a park, I walked around this one, quickly, because the day was very cool. There were many marble statues along the walkways, fountains, a very interesting porcelain display, and a reproduction of a typical cottage or courtyard garden in Pompei, the result of archealogial and soil diggings. As with many gardens of ancient cities, the garden designs were very much advanced and served several purposes, for examplem herbs for cooking, cosmetics and curing, vegetables, flowers, insect control, irrigation, and cooling.

Before I start talking briefly about animals, it is interesting to note that in this garden there was a notice about a particular bird which apparantely was very special, the only time I have ever seen anything at all about animals in parks. All the gardens we visited were restored to preserve the past. Not like in New Zealand, where we conserve our birds and trees!!

While strolling around this park in Florenza, I noticed some very well fed cats and a couple of feeding bowls. Apparently cats are welcome and looked after in some parks. In Rome, the next city we visited, there are many cats living around the Colossium. And there is an organsiation of ladies dedicated to feeding the cats, including speying them and looking after their well being. Their services also include looking after neglected cats, often finding homes for them, a bit like the SPCA in NZ.

Rome was a little warmer than Florence, but damper, we felt. Built on seven, or was it nine hills by Romulus and Remus, Rome today is a city with all the modern trappings built around many ancient ruins, many of which have beed restored and are available to visit. So one can be walking along a busy city street, turn a corner and there is the Coloseum, an ancient church or just a wall. The place I, and many others, love to visit, which is suddenly come upon when turning a corner, is the Trevi Fountain. Attached to the end of a building, the white colouring of the statues and steps, and the peaceful shushing of the water, is an oasis in the city. On the we visited, there were quite a few people there, not like the first time we visited, a few years, in summer, when you could hardly get near to it because of the crowds.

Because we had already visited many of the attrations during our last visit to Rome, this time we spent a lot of time strolling around the city, enjoying the street life and occasionally visiting the shops as the winter sales were in full flow.

The next day we visited the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel, more about that in my next blog.

The Pub Scene in Europe

It is always interesting, when traveling, to see what people so for entertainment.

The corner London pubs around the city area are where people congregate at all times of the day and evening it seems. The meals are very good, we felt and there is no smoking, you could go along, with your family and friends and not come out smelling like an ash tray.

In St Petersburg, Russia, everybody smoked everywhere and while we did not visit any pubs while we were there, we noticed that when we sat in the bar/ reception area, our clothes stank of smoke. It was much worse on our last evening of our stay there, as we decided to eat in at the Restaurant. Unforutunately, there was a big party on as well. Everybody smoked and the noise and smoke spoilt our evening, which happened to be Christmas Day, as I recall. I am sure that the smoke brought on my cold, which lasted all through our visits to Sweden and London.

In Sweden people could not smoke inside pubs. At one English style pub we dropped into to warm up from the very cold, we noticed a parcel on a seat where we intended to sit. I was just about to pick it up and take it to the bar when there was a loud tapping on the window. The owners of the parcel were having a smoke outside in the cold and had left in on the seat to book it upon their return.

In Italy, in the pubs the emphasis is on food, not drinking and over indulging is not tolerated. As a result, we noticed very few pubs as we New Zealanders know them, but dairy and delicatassen like shops where you can purchase coffee, and all types of food and have a drink as well. In some cities, for example in Milano, at around about 6 or 7pm a free, or spend so much and it is free, buffet of hams cheeses breads and other finger foods are put out for clients in establishments which are a cross between a pub and a restaruant. At this time many people visit, often with family including young children and grand parents, as well as friends, to have a quick drink, which is often a cup of espresso coffee. They stay only for a short time, then move on. In Florence, the only pub we found, well Chris did when I was out in the cold walking around a huge park, was an English Style pub on the suburbs side of the bridge which has all the jewellery shops. It was run by a couple of young chinese people. But of course we were expected to order a slice of pizza or something to eat!!

In Madrid, Spain, we noticed that in most bars and cafes people smoked. However we did find a chain of restaruants which serve great breakfasts at a reasonable price where no one smoked, and also a pub with a restaurant called TGIF meaning Thanks God its Friday where no smoking was allowed.

In Havana, Cuba, everybody smokes everywhere but because everything is open, the smoke does not hover inside. I also believe that the smell of cigars and the cigarettes are much more tolerable than the cigarettes we have in New Zealand. There is music everywhere in the pubs which are also cafes or restaurants, and everyone is expected to eat. And tip.

Now we are in Santiago, Chile. It is our first afternoon and we spent a long lunch outside a cafe, where we noticed, that people smoked over their meal. But it is so hot here, that I doubt if we will eat inside at all!

It will be great to enjoy our local pub scene in Auckland, New Zealand, where smoking is tolerated outside only. This means of course that when one goes walking along the street, one must remember not to breath in when passing a pub....

Welcome to England, Travellers!!

Ever been travelling so much, that some times you are not sure where you are? Sometimes in this global village of our world, every city street has the same shops - Starbucks, Makkers, Subway, and the usual big name department and fashion stores.

Chris and I were sharply reminded, today, that we were in London, England. Because we discovered, again, that the English are very good at doing one thing. No, it was not shopping in in Regent street, checking out the sales, on what, we found out, was the busiest shopping day of the year. No, it was not their delightful London English accents either.

It was the queuing! English people are qreat at queues! You can see them, everywhere - Bus queues, get into shop queues, outside changing room queues, makeup testing queues, select product - but not pay for - queues, pay for item queues, information queues, try on shoe queues -oh and make sure you are queueing for the correct brand of shoe or, yes, stand in that queue over there, please!!

At least, after an exhausting day of queueing at the shops, we did not have to queue up for a beer at one of the English local pubs in London...... Uh Oh, somebody is standing behind us.... "Excuse me - is this the queue to get a beer?"