Tag: Europe

Day 6- Saturday 1st June 2024- Bari, Greek Cruise and other places.

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Well!! our clocks went back an hour as we crossed over to Italy….. this is always a problem when you’re at sea as you never know whether your phone alarm will have caught up with the time zone … it hadn’t so the alarm went off at 5.45am…. Checking it with my watch I reset it and had another hours shut eye!!!!
We had learnt, at supper yesterday, from a very helpful couple from Sidney, Australia; that the breakfast in the dinning room was quick, quiet and tasty so we gave it a whirl. Sure enough it was great… we were seated straight away and had a MSC Express … bacon , eggs, tomato, mushrooms and hash brown. Also a 8 /10 cup of coffee … yeah …We were in and out in less than 30 minutes.

Todays excursion meeting venue was in the Cotton Club.. Although the meeting time was 8.00am we didn’t actually leave until 8.20am as the ship was late docking.

We were quickly on our bus as soon as the gangway opened.
Today we are visiting Alberobello. This literally means “beautiful tree”. It is a small town near Bari in the heel of southern Italy. It has about 10,200 inhabitants and is famous for its unique trullo buildings. The trulli of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO site since 1996. Alberobello is known as one of “The most beautiful villages of Italy”. The bus took about an hour to get there and it parked up a 10 minute walk from the town square.

Unfortunately it began to rain quite heavily just as we arrived.
The guide told us that in the 15th Century a tax Levi was put on all new houses. The oldest buildings were circular in shape and the newer 16th century ones were square. Her tour took us around the streets of the oldest ones. They are all made from white rock bricks which fit together like Lego with no other materials holding them together.. all have conical roofs with drainage channels which either ran into their own private wells …

Our guide pointing out a private well.

…or into the street and down into the river at the bottom of the hill. Today’s main road is where the river used to be and that’s where all the houses got their water from unless they had their own well. The roofs, like the buildings, are self supporting, held together in their conical shape by the forces of nature.. equal pressure on all sides. The roofs were embellished with decorative pinnacles representing the signature of the architect. Over the front door is an extended slab. If this is pulled out the front section of the roof collapses. It was designed like this so that in olden times when the inspectors came to tax the houses the owner would quickly pull out the slab so that the inspectors saw a lot of rumble and an unfinished house so no tax was levied. Our guide laughed and said Italians have been dodging paying taxes ever since!!!!

We walked up and around the streets …

The architects signature on the top of the roof.

A lot of the trulli houses are now shops.

At the top of one of the streets we came across the Church of St Nicholas.

Coming back down the quaint stone street I managed to slip as I stepped down one of the steps and landed flat on my bottom… thank goodness for the copious amounts of padding. No real damage just some aches and pains, dirty white trousers and a thumb which is more painful than normal… a big thank you to the elderly gentleman and our New York living Mexican acquaintance who rushed to my aid and helped me up. Amazingly the rain suddenly stopped. We sat having a much needed drink in the town square.

Slippery steps

We returned to the coach in good time, as it departed back to the ship promptly at 13.00.

Our journey back to the ship was slightly longer as a road was closed and the bus had to U-turn… but we were back shortly before 2.00pm.
The ship was filling up with new cruisers. Bari is a start and finish point, which we hadn’t realised. In fact we were in the minority getting on in Athens. Luckily most the newbies had yet to discover the buffet so we had a relatively quiet lunch, followed by rest up time and a couple of paracetamol to help the now sore and achy knees and derrière!!!

We had our usual table in the main dinning room restaurant, thanks to Selvina who seats us each evening.

Another pleasant menu. The ship was still docked when we sat down and there was some lovely street art/ murals. Part way through our meal we started to sail away and we were treated to a rather nice sunset, across the wake of the ship ( surprising as we’ve hardly seen the sun today). A lovely sight.

After our meal we headed to our usually quiet bar only to find it heaving with people. There was some ABBA music playing and everyone was dancing … we think it’s a school holiday in Italy because our new cruisers have a massive amount of children with them….. I know I am old school but I really dislike seeing babies being shaken about in the arms of their hip-hop dancing parents… it can’t do the babies brains any good and children dancing on the dance floor when adults are trying not to squash them at 10.45 pm is not good… it’s adult time….Like I said I am old school….

We finished our drinks quickly and headed for the quiet sanctuary of our cabin…

A big shout out for Hannah who once again sorted our website out for us… I don’t know what I’d do if she wasn’t willing and able to sort all my blunders out… THANK YOU…. If any of you have WordPress sites and need a hand just drop me an email and I’ll ask Hannah if I can pass her details on to you.
Also before I say goodnight I am sorry if anyone’s emailed us on 2jsworldofadventure@gmail.com

I won’t be able to get back to you until next Wednesday because I have no internet on my iPad and I can’t remember my password to log in on my phone…. Sorry… if you’re desperate for a reply just fill in a comments/feedback on the website and I’ll pick your message up like that …. Sorry

Good night one and all.

Day 2 – Saturday 11th 2024 – Arriving in Cornwall

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We woke up in The Premier Inn Frome after all of us having a hot and sweaty night……don’t start me off about the legislation which prevents hotels from having windows which open to let air in…..grrrrr….anyway at 8.30 John had walked to Gregg’s Bakery and purchased 3 ‘bacon butties’ and we were all sat in our room eating them and drinking coffee……we don’t go to restaurants for breakfasts when we have a long drive ahead of us…we prefer a light bite and off we go.

We decided to stick to the ‘A’ roads as much as possible and only use the M5 to scoot around the edge of Exeter. It was a very scenic drive…we took the road towards Glastonbury before branching of to Bruton, small town famous for its Private Schools. It has two longstanding secondary schools- Kings School founded in 1519 and Sexey’s School founded in 1889. The later was named after Hugh Sexey who was born locally and attended Bruton Grammar School and was Royal Auditor to both Queen Elisabeth I and King James I. We off course passed the usual crude jokes with regard to the name of the school !!!. On entering the town one is struck by the splendour of St Mary’s Church which dominates the centre of the town.

Following this town we joined the A303 into Devon, and went on the infamous Honiton bypass. We then detoured off the A30 ……Devon and Cornwall don’t have motorways traversing their counties but the A30 is of a motorway standard in all ways except name.

Our detour took us into the village of Ottery St. Mary. Here we visited the garden centre. It’s well know to Dad who often visits it when staying with my sister who lives in Devon. We had a nice coffee and stretched our legs, before carrying on.

As we left the village a long convoy of assorted cars in all shapes and sizes.

We continued on through some typically Cornish lanes….very narrow, with passing spaces and high banked sides…the banks at this time of years are filled with beautiful wild flowers……so a very picturesque trip.

We stopped in Liskeard to pick up a picnic lunch and sat at the station to eat it. The station is always a pleasant place to be….the mainline trains arrive on the two main platforms with the branch line train to Looe departing from platform 3 which is at right angles and across the road from the main lines.
After lunch we continued to Par. We picked up the keys of the house from a prearranged point and found it easily enough (might have been easier if I hadn’t mixed up my 6 & 9 !!!!). The house is very nice, it could easily sleep 6 …..it consists of a lounge, dinning room, well equipped Kitchen, 2 bedrooms with King Size beds and one with twin beds and two bathrooms, a conservatory and a garden. I booked it through http://www.sykescottages.co.uk. This is a company we have often used to book holiday accommodation . It was £800 for the week. The welcome pack was very nice. We had arranged for a Tesco food and household goods delivery an hour after our arrival. So we are now all set for a very comfortable week.

Prague – Czech Repubic – BEEN THERE GOT THE T-SHIRT

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We Flew from Luton airport into Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. Prague is the country’s capital city . The metropolitan area of Prague covers 192 square miles (496 square kilometres). It has a population of 1,328,000. Prague is bisected by the Vltava River. Nicknamed “the City of a Hundred Spires,” it’s known for its Old Town Square at the heart of its historic core, with colorful baroque buildings, Gothic churches and the medieval Astronomical Clock, which gives an animated hourly show. Completed in 1402 the famous pedestrian Charles Bridge is lined with statues of Catholic saints.

We had asked the hotel to pick us up from the airport which they did. The Hotel Rott is situated in The Little Square, which is the parallel square to the main old town square, just around the corner to the Famous Astronomical Clock, next to The Hard Rock Cafe. The buildings of Hotel Rott and the entire Little Square are located in the oldest inhabited part of Prague.  In 1232, the Old Town of Prague was granted municipal privileges. Virtually all the houses on the square have underground spaces, these were originally the ground floors of the early medieval houses. In The Hotel Rott this is where the breakfast is served, the main restaurant is on the ground floor. The hotel Rott has many quirky features. On entering the hotel our eyes were drawn to the old fashioned black metal cage lift, which transported us up onto the floor of our room. Our room was a pleasant double with an en-suite bathroom. Since our visit I believe the hotel has been refurbished ( the plumbing definitely needed it!!!) and a roof top bar has been added. It’s a reasonably priced hotel at about £135.00 per night for a double including breakfast (2024 prices).

We climbed wearily into bed, we had, had a late night flight and wanted to be fresh for sightseeing the next morning. After a continental breakfast which was generous in both quantity, quality and taste we set out to explore. Less than a 100 m away on the corner is the astronomical clock, a popular tourist sight.

Rounding the corner into the main old square we saw the hop-on-hop-off bus stop and we decided as we so often do to hop-on and use it to get our bearing’s as well as see the sights.

We visited the enchanting, hillside district of Malá Strana, with its hidden courtyards and gardens and breathtaking views of the Old Town back across the Vltava. It’s was probably worth hopping off at Malostranske Square and wandering through the district’s warren of winding cobbled streets. However it was far too cold and wet to wander about so we stayed on and discovered the world’s largest ancient castle complex: Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral! You can also see the 12th-century Strahov Monastery, with its incredibly beautiful Baroque library….but once again we stepped off took a few photos and stepped back on to continue our viewing of the Jewish Quarter, before returning to the Old Town Square. This time we were fortunate enough to hear and watch the Astronomical Clock strike on the hour.

During the next 3 days we had a mixed bag of weather. We meandered the cobbled streets in the evening…eating in some lovely traditional cellar restaurants. We stopped off in some of the unusual quirky shops, bought personalised embroidered adult bibs, hand blown glass ornaments and some other nik naks.

Day 2 saw us walking to Wenceslas Square …..slightly disappointed as it is situated surrounded by a busy road, McDonalds, Marks & Spencer’s and other very modern shops….when one’s preconceived expectation is that it would be like the Old Town Main Square.

We managed to get a bit lost on our way back, nothing new there then!!!

…eventually we wound our way down to the famous, 1402, pedestrian Charles Bridge which is lined with statues of Catholic saints. It was absolutely heaving with people, artists and street hawkers selling their goods…..we walked across and back because we felt we ought to not least of all because it was pictured on Johns T shirt which we had already purchased in Old Town.

Feeling a little jaded……..

……….we stopped for a light bite before strolling back to the Old Town Square where we took a horse and cart tour. This is my favourite form of transport and I must say that I was quite disappointed to hear that they were stopping this practice on 1st January 2023. There has been much controversy over this and I am uncertain as to whether permission for horse drawn carts has been reinstated or not…….however we had an hours ride around the Old Town at a very sedate pace, wrapped in a waterproof blanket.

After our Horse and carriage ride we returned to the hotel. I put my feet up and had a siesta, while John went to the main train station and enjoyed a few hours of his favourite hobby.

The following day we took the Tourist Train, around the roads of Prague, from the Old Square. It did much the same as the HOHO bus had….only this time the weather was slightly better and we did get off and on, particularly in district of Malá Strana and the castle and cathedral.

In the afternoon we took a short river cruise to see the sights from the water. Then later in the evening we wandered around enjoying the floodlight aesthetics of the area.

The following day the hotel transferred us back to the Airport……. Our 3 days and 4 nights were great….The right amount of time for seeing the cities sights…we went in October, it was both cold and wet but I don’t think this deterred us from doing and seeing what we wanted to.

Tallinn, Estonia – BEEN THERE GOT THE T-SHIRT

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Estonia is a country situated  in Northern Europe it has borders on the west with the Baltic Sea, on the north with the Gulf of Finland, on the south with Latvia and on the east with Lake Peipsi and Russia. It was formally part of The Soviet Union. Soviet authorities recognised Estonian independence on 6 September 1991, and on 17 September 1991 Estonia was admitted into the United Nations. 

Estonia consists of the mainland and a lot of islands……if you ask one Estonia they’ll tell you 1500 and if you ask another you’ll be told 2300 Islands….so I’ll just say a lot!!! The largest islands are Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Estonia covers a total of 17,504 square miles(45,335sqkm).  It has a very diverse terrain which includes rocky beaches, old forests and many lakes. It’s attractiveness is not just one of scenery but it also in its very aesthetically beautiful castles, churches and hilltop fortresses. 

We visited Estonia as part of a Northern Europe, Capital city, cruise with Princess Cruises. We had had it booked before the arrival of the pandemic and it had been moved twice….so we were delighted to finally go  even though the itinerary was much changed from our original booking. This had been pre-invasion of Russia into Ukrainian and had included both St Petersburg and Helsinki, both of which were removed from the itinerary, the former because it was a country at war and the later because it was too close to Russia. 

Our trip to Estonia included a day trip to Tallinn, it’s capital city. Tallinn has a population of about 461,000. Tallinn is renowned for its preserved Old Town and museums. Our coach picked us up at the port and took us to the monument complex which commemorates the victims of communism. 

Our next stop was the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds it is valued architecturally and is the first post-war building in Tallinn which was completed in 1960. When not being used for The Song Festival the park is open for walking, sports activities and having a picnic. There is a beautiful statue of Gustav Ernesaks  who was an Estonia composer who died in 1993. The statue of him sitting overlooking the festival ground was erected in 2004. 

The coach parked up outside the old city walls and we followed our guide to Toompea Hill. Toompea or “Upper Town” is the home of some of Tallinn’s oldest architectural wonders and home to Palace Square. Our first stop was Alexander Nevsky Cathedral . This is a historic Russian Orthodox Cathedral. St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral serves as the dominating landmark in Palace Square, the cathedral’s cupolas and golden crosses rise high above the rooftops.

Turn your back on the Cathedral and you come face to face with Toompea Castle. The castle with its late Baroque façade was built between 1767 and 1773 and sits on the site of the foundations of a 13th century fortress. It’s outside wall is pink which was an attractive contrast to the wet dark cobbles of the area on this particular grey rainy day. The castle is now home to the Parliamentary buildings.

We then slipped and slid our way around the streets, if it hadn’t been for the heavy rain we would have been more enthusiastic about the history and beauty of the quaint streets. Instead of concentrating on what our guide was saying we were more concerned with staying upright and keeping warm. We made our way to Piiskopi Viewing point. It was worth it …the views were terrific. We looked down on Lowe Old Town. Our guide pointed out many buildings but we were ready to scurry into a tourist souvenir shop and get into the warm and out of the rain for a few minutes.

We made our way back to the coach which returned us to the port terminal. The weather really impacted on our tour and we were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t appreciate this obviously beautiful historical capital city….maybe sometime we will get to visit again.