A day on the Water, Venice, Italy, Day 2

There is nothing better for maritime lovers to be out on the water, in any capacity, even while on holiday! Today we  boarded our ferry and set off for our water adventure in Venice. The day was so – unusually, we found out – warm and balmy – the water was so calm that we could have reached out and trailed our fingers in the water, and the sky was so blue….  We travelled past the extensive mud flats with a few birds flying here and there, and landed on the formally arranged tree bordered Cemetery Island. Extensive, well maintained, and still to be completely filled, this sanctuary presented a preliforia of family histories of the area – some still in their telling. The monuments also offered a history of memorials over time, in the area.  After a time of peace and reflection we cruised to Murano, an island not only renowned for its lace making, but for its colourful houses lining its canals. We all disembarked, admiring the colourful buildings with their closed doors and drapes, suspecting that their inhabitants might have felt like goldfish in a bowl! However we  tourists all strolled merrily by, occasionally dropping into the few lace and souvenir shops that were still open during this off-season, admired the island’s thick furred cats and all arrived at the one restaurant that was open to enjoy lunch  off an Italian styled family run ‘international’ menu which very efficiently catered for the huge variety of ethnic groups that called by. We thoroughly recommend the soup of the day! Upon our return to the ‘mainland’ we chattered with some very interesting people from China and Germany who had  ‘popped over to Venice’ for a few days break. Oh if only we could do the same……  We concluded this lovely autumn day by strolling  past St Mark's Square through Venice’s very exclusive hotel and shopping area, noting that the Christmas decorations were appropriate to people who might shop in this area. For our last supper in Venice we dined like royalty at another family restaurant - Trattoria Vittoria that we discovered upon another visit and again enjoyed the décor, authentic Italian food and hospitality.  Next day we travelled by train -  you might have noticed that pic of the water as we travelled along the causeway from Venice on to Bologna – our next adventure in Italy…..

Travelling to Trieste, Italy, from London

We travelled to Trieste from London via Ryanair from an extremely busy Stansted Airport and cruised over many mountain ranges which did not yes have much snow. We had heard about the issues that passengers often have with Ryanair and sure enough – the first issue for us began   - our booked pickup did not arrive!  Two hours later the Trieste airport information centre phoned the airline – who refused to come and get us as we were only two and it was Sunday evening. So we ended up traveling on the local bus at a fraction of the cost.  Will we get a refund?  I suspect the odds are against us……..

Titanic Exhibitions in Ireland - a one hundred year commemoration

As it is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic there is much interest in the ship and the travellers who sailed on her. In Belfast where the ship was built, a new state of the art exhibition centre (nicknamed “The Iceburg’ by the Befast residents) was erected and opened in March 2012 and by Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Belfast in late June had already received over 250,000 visitors. Everything is ‘Titanic’- the height of the magnificent building is the same height of the bow, an inside wall replicates the cladding on the ship, while outside the exact size of the ship is outlined on the ground. The high technological displays engages all the senses - sights, sounds, vibrations. A strong focus of the exhibition was of the building of the vessel, the people, who and why they were on the Titanic for that partcular trip, and the times. There is also a very touching movie featuring the team led by Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and what they initially saw on the sea floor in 1985. The only item that is not on public display is the Grand Staircase. This is s huge bone of contention amongst locals and visitors. Apparantly one has to attend a VIP function in order to view this famous Titanic artefact. Down in Cobh, fromerly known as Queenstown, Cork, another Titanic exihibition was available to visit. Ths town is the headquarters of the White Star Line company, which looked after the embarkation of passengers and mail before Titanic set sail. This exhibition had a different focus on the tradegy of the Titanic, focussing on the footsteps of the passengers and the times in Cobh. While there was some discussion about the high cost ot visit this exhibition, those of our fellow tourists who did visit felt that the exhibition was well worthwhile. In Cobh itself the town has preserved the buildings of the times in respectful memory of the people on Titanic and the subsequent disaster that befell them, three and a half days from setting sail from this pictuesque town, overseas to see the world. We have visited several Titanic exhibitions around the world, and the development of technology has enabled us to understand more about the boat, the times, why the disaster occurred. Many people have become quite emotional at Titanic exhibitions particularly in Ireland as they are descendents of the builders as well as the staff and passengers who had embarked on that fateful voyage. It also makes one humble and most grateful for the maritime safety rules and regulations in place today as a direct result of the inquiry into the Titanic disaster.

Books to Read While Travelling - if you have time!!

An ideal way to ensure a busy and enjoyabble travellling holiday is to take along plenty of books. Because if one does not, many ideal opportunuties to read, arise. So while we were at the Rocks, Sydney we ducked into our favourite bookshop to stock up. As well as today’s latest popular books there are titles by Australia’s most esteemed authors. However I have found that short, easy to read works are better when busy travelling from place to place around England, Ireland and Scotland, as we were, on this adventure. After seeing the movie ‘Kapote’ in which Kapote himself spent many years hounding a prisoner for the ‘truth’ before he was executed, I was most interested to read some of his stories and came across ’Breakfast at Tiffanys’ amongst other short stories. Kapote’s written style is flowing, easy to read and immediately captures the reader in the lives, personalities and relationships of his characters. You may think one is crazy to spend a fortune to see an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, about Scott and his ill fated expedition to the South Pole. As a child I learnt about his failure to be first to the South Pole, but not much else. So it was most interesting to read about all the significant scienific information Scott’s crew gathered and the impact it has had on Antarctican knowledge today. I was delighted to be introduced to an author, Sara Wheeler who spent quite some time in Antarctica, gathering research for her book Terra Incognita - Travels in Antarctica. Upon an assignment to Chile in 1991 she was abliged to visit the Antarctic Penisnula which the Chileans regard as part of their country. As she stood on a plateau of whiteness stretching to eternity she knew that she and antarctica would have a very close mutually beneficial infinity and Terra Incognita was an outcome of this moment of realzation. This entertaining, easy to read book demonstrate the massive amount of research Sara undertook and by the time I have finished the book I believe I will have gained a massive amount of well rounded and intimate knowledge of this imsporing continent and the people associated with it, over the years. For those who enjoy boating stories, Swatchways Magic, by my friend Charles Scoones and Paul Antrobus is a very entertaining and easy read. Around 50 years ago Paul Griffiths cruised all the nooks and crannies of the Swatchways river estuaries in a small boat, documenting all its idiosyncracies in his book, The Magic of the Swatchways. In 2000 Charles and Paul, who both grew up sailing in these waters, followed Griffiths’ travels comparing then to now. While little has changed, the anecdotes are told in such a way leaving the reader with the feeling of timeless and intimate familiarity of the area.

Syndey - warm winter magic

Sunday June 20, 2012 Sydney, Australia, no matter the time of year is a great city for travellers to wander around. Even the old haunts, such as the the Sydney Opera house with its clean timeless architecture, the Circular Quay for people, busker and boat activity watching, the ferries come and go, the Rocks historical precinct, and Darling Harbour with its soothing water gardens and walkways. It is an ideal place to stop off on the way to ones oversea’s trip, to transfer one’s mind from work and, packing and ‘I am sure I have missed packing something!!’ mode into a relaxing and ‘sniffing the air’ one. Sydney turned on a warm, blue skied day for us on this winter Sunday. So balmy it was, that a lovestruck person wrote a “I’m Sorry, I love you’ message in the sky. OWe immediately booked to trip out to see the Humpback Whales just outside the Syndey Harbour heads. It was so easy to book online, and instead of printing off a booking form, all we had to do is show the booking form on our iphone. NOTE - if you are planning on going - make sure you book on http://www.whalewatchingsydney.net/ - a large and very comfortable vessel with plenty or viewing platforms. Every year from about June to November about 1200 humpback whales make an over 5000 mile trek from their breeding grounds in the north following the EAC current down Australia south to Antarctica to feed. As the current passes about 2 - 3 miles from the coast at the Sydney heads so it is very easy to find the whales. Within an hour of crusing through the many yachts Sunday racing on the Harbour we were out on open waters and our knowledgeable captain had us within the precint of three small pods of whales. Almost as soon as we arrived at the 100 metre allowable distance the whales started performing. Two whales swam close together, breathing simultaneously, like a chorus, while the third frequently breached, launching itself straitght up and completely out of the water at times so that we could see its whole white underside. it rolled around, waving its long flippers then breached, again and again. Atfer this awe inspiring adventure we slowly came back to earth by strolling around to the hstorical Rocks shops, bars and cafes - a must, we believe, for all travellers to Sydney.

London on a Balmy Autumn day but is it balmy for everyone??

Today, Saturday is the latest of a few balmy days in London. As we cruised along on the express train to Gatwick Airport, admiring the disappearing clouds, the black trees with greenish and brownish leaves and looking hopefully at the slowly brightening sky (but for how long, one cannot help but ask) it is hard to imaging that last time we travelled to London it was at New Year, and freezing! Everyone was walking in a hurry, and like me, coughing, snorting, and sneezing. Today the All Blacks are playing Scotland and Twickenham. We had breakfast with son Neil who was kitted out in his AB grear. Nearby some guys in white shirts with red flowers were hanging up their national flag around their breakfast table. In the streets there were several groups of similarly clad people with anticipatory smiles on their faces. The conversations everywhere are not so much that the AB's will win, but about the handball incident in Italy.

It is hard to imagine that up north, a 1000 year flood has altered the lives of so many people and taken one of a very brave policeman. Many people know of folks who live in the area.

However, englist people do keep their sense of humour up. And great to see, in the Daily Telegraph, an add for the all blacks called Longdrop beer.... When I figure out how to, I'll upload it....

Christmas holiday in the Snow

As our plane travelled down below the clouds to land at the St Petersburg Airport, we gazed out at a city and country scene covered with a white blanket of snow. Chris' dream of having a white Chrismas has come true!

But what will being in a white wintery world really be like? All we have done so far is walk for 30 seconds from a warm airport to a very warm hotel, and back, so far!


And that is what it has been, over the three days in St Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, Russia. Sometimes our bedroom is too hot for our layers of thermals, winter garments and jackets. Then we go outside, all togged up and think - yes we do have enough on. Then we get into a warm car, museum, shop or restaurant, and we are roasting again!

It's lovely being in St Petersburg at this time of year. It is almost surreal, walking along the streets, with the sidewalks covered in snow, and soft snowflakes twirling out of the sky on your hair, face and clothes. And in the twilight, of which there is plenty, gazing at the beautiful street Xmas decorations.


As a result of their past opression, Russians love celebrating anything today. So the Xmas decorations in the streets were erected in December and will be up intil the orthodox Christmas on January 7. Each year the decorations are improved upon, and swapped from area to area so everyone sees something different. This year 74 artificial Xmas trees were decorated and erected around the city. 20 of these were over 18 meters high and 33 were more than 20 metres high. The largest and only real tree (which apparantly took over 100 years to grow) was erected, as per tradition in the Palace Square.

So when people travel to St Petersburg in the future may expect to find an extremely awesome Christmas display, not only from the trees, but on the buildings, over the streets and in the shops. Even the trees and buildings, decorated by nature with their coating of snow, give a dramatic look to the Christmas scene.

We are not sure what we will do to celebrate Xmas day, as the emphasis for party celebrations seems to be on New Year's Eve. As the shops and museums will be open all day on Christmas Day, we will probably just go cruise around the city. But we don't mind - it was worth all the travelling just to enjoy the Xmas season....