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We were anticipating our return to Paris with much excitement. It was so great to see all the monuments again and this time we got to head up the Eiffel at night and captured some amazing shots of Paris falling into the night! Larissa was also let loose on the shops and enjoyed a fruitful harvest of clothes. Good memories!
Paris Shots
In Switzerland we had found our European gem! It brought us from crystal mountain lakes, to imposing mountain ranges, up as high as snow covered peaks, and into cute cottage towns by rivers. My highlight was Mount Titlis, whose top we reached in a series of cable cars. Atop was my first real experience of snow! I felt the urge to ski or slide or something, so I did the best I could in my volleys. Our hotel was situated on a beautiful large lake with crystal blue water fed from the snow caps of the 360 degree surrounding mountain range. It was unbelievable.
Swiss Pics - these are must see!
We were pretty tired when we arrived in Florence but mustered our energy to explore this famous town. There were some really great highlights: The courtyard of sculptures (the original "david" sculpture was here, now replaced by a replica), the old bridge, but most of all, the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore. It is truly an incredible building, and opposite it are a massive pair of golden carved gates. We had a guide who was talking as if we were students in his history class. He kept getting "academically excited", but no one else was really responding. He didn't get any tips. (I felt a bit bad about that). The most disgraceful attraction was a bronze statue of a boar/hog. I didn't really get it.
Florence Photos
The thought of Rome was getting me excited, but you can’t really comprehend what you will see until you’re standing there with Coliseum, or the Pantheon, or the Sistine chapel, or St Peters Basilica staring straight back at you. The scale and enormity with which they dared to construct things, and the overflowing nature in which they decorated/adorned these is almost obnoxious. The above mentioned were the highlights, but we also got to see the Catacombs (underground burial site for ancient Christians), St Pauls Basilica (apparent burial site of the Apostle Paul – also a massive structure) and of course the Vatican which houses the Sistine Chapel. All this made for a memorable visit.
Rome Pics
Unique. The photos speak for themselves. A really distinctive atmosphere. Buildings meeting water, canals instead of streets, gondolas as transport; it wouldn’t be like this in many other places, one would think. It was our first taste of Italy and we enjoyed it. Venice by night was so beautiful, and by day, it was like a big carnival. It really is a tourist spot though. Walking away from the popular areas it got very quiet and a little more manageable.
Venice Shots
I wasn’t overly excited about going to Austria, but was pleasantly surprised on arrival in Vienna. This was the grandest of grand with respect to cool old oversized architecture and statues. There were so many cool buildings and the town centre had a great old cathedral and old town. Out of town a bit was a palace which took the prize for over-lavishness. It was massive and had a back yard and garden that would have made my Mum faint. There were acres of gardened land arranged along a path leading to a giant pool/water fountain made of giant sculptures of horses and men. The ground then tiered up and up leading to a ridiculously large garden house, from which on top were magnificent views of the whole of Vienna – outstanding. It was hard to believe people had that much money to even think about constructing such things.
Vienna Pics
We were excited to get to the Czech Republic as we had heard so much about it from others. The buildings and town seemed even more historic and there was a deeper emphasis on classical music which showed in the elevation of composers through statues, and big theatres dedicated to orchestral performances. We saw the biggest castle complex in the world, and thoroughly enjoyed the “old bridge” both at night and in the day. A pretty cool town. Also, we saw some “astronomical clock” which just seemed like a big cuckoo clock, but maybe that’s just ignorance on my part.
Prague Shots
We didn’t go to Berlin, but stopped in the interesting town of Nuremburg (where sausage was had) and in the Rhine side town of Boppard. Boppard was such a cute little German village! It had the cool little Geneva style houses, cobble streets, cool squares, and of course, lots of “saus”. I got to sample the Currywurhst (or something like that), which was chopped up sausage with curry powder on top, eaten with a miniature fork. We then took a cruise up the Rhine.
Rhine Pics
I shan't write too much about each place or else I’d have a novel, but, Brussels overwhelmed my expectations. It was another taste of the architecture of Europe which I have come to love. The buildings are so old, but yet so amazingly big, and adorned so heavily. There is a stark contrast to the UK where buildings are relatively plain. We bought some Belgium chocolate and drank some of the beer, of which the variety of such makes Belgium famous. We also sampled a Belgian waffle in the middle of the “square”, my favorite square in the world so far.
Brussels Photo's
This area is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in all England thanks to its little cottage towns, running streams, and countryside. My Mum has lots of paintings from around this area and it was amazing to see it in person. We didn’t get much time here, but hope to return again before we leave.
Cotswolds Photos
We sailed into Larne around midnight and found our way to our B&B. The owner of the house was lovely and cooked us up a “harti” breakfast the next morn. From there we drove up along the stunning north-east causeway coast, stopping for photos and walks along the cliffy coastline, the giants causeway, and a trip across a rope bridge. The obligatory pint of Guinness was sampled, before the journey down to Dublin. We drove through Belfast and got to see Rangers Football Stadium too! Arriving in Dublin quite late, we were glad to see our hotel was right in the middle of town, enabling us to have a walk around at night. The following day we saw the sights of Dublin, which wasn’t as old as I thought it would be. Arriving at the port in the evening, we the sailed from Dublin to north Wales on a barge which, from the inside, resembled a giant moving shopping centre/eatery. It made for an enjoyable and seemingly quick journey.
Ireland Photo's
We arrived in Edinburgh to torrential rains but were more than surprised to note that our hotel was right in the heart of town, with a full view of the Eddinbrough Castle. The Castle was quite magnificent by both day and night, sitting up on a hill. We got to see the old Eddinbrough (underground) and had a drive around the coastline also. The next stop was Inverness. It was a beautiful town, but the Loch regions were the main attraction. We scoured the Loch ness for Nessie, but not the hint of a ripple gave clue to her whereabouts. There was some outstanding scenery which only continued as we proceeded down through the Scottish Highlands. We briefly passed through Glasgow also, and overall, we were most impressed with what Scotland had to offer.Scotland Photo's
We drove up in our rental car through Birmingham and up to the Lakes District, a picturesque area marked by a series of large lakes surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains. Many of the English holiday here. It was different to see such beauty based around lakes inland. We're used to seeing it on the coast, with our inland being quite dry. We saw regions on which many brittish writers based stories on, and saw the house of Beatrix Potter, and William Wordsworth. We got to stay in a beautiful little town called Millom. There was definitely a unique beauty about the area.
See Lakes District pics!
We were anticipating our return to Paris with much excitement. It was so great to see all the monuments again and this time we got to head up the Eiffel at night and captured some amazing shots of Paris falling into the night! Larissa was also let loose on the shops and enjoyed a fruitful harvest of clothes. Good memories!
In Switzerland we had found our European gem! It brought us from crystal mountain lakes, to imposing mountain ranges, up as high as snow covered peaks, and into cute cottage towns by rivers. My highlight was Mount Titlis, whose top we reached in a series of cable cars. Atop was my first real experience of snow! I felt the urge to ski or slide or something, so I did the best I could in my volleys. Our hotel was situated on a beautiful large lake with crystal blue water fed from the snow caps of the 360 degree surrounding mountain range. It was unbelievable.
We were pretty tired when we arrived in Florence but mustered our energy to explore this famous town. There were some really great highlights: The courtyard of sculptures (the original "david" sculpture was here, now replaced by a replica), the old bridge, but most of all, the domed cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore. It is truly an incredible building, and opposite it are a massive pair of golden carved gates. We had a guide who was talking as if we were students in his history class. He kept getting "academically excited", but no one else was really responding. He didn't get any tips. (I felt a bit bad about that). The most disgraceful attraction was a bronze statue of a boar/hog. I didn't really get it.
The thought of Rome was getting me excited, but you can’t really comprehend what you will see until you’re standing there with Coliseum, or the Pantheon, or the Sistine chapel, or St Peters Basilica staring straight back at you. The scale and enormity with which they dared to construct things, and the overflowing nature in which they decorated/adorned these is almost obnoxious. The above mentioned were the highlights, but we also got to see the Catacombs (underground burial site for ancient Christians), St Pauls Basilica (apparent burial site of the Apostle Paul – also a massive structure) and of course the Vatican which houses the Sistine Chapel. All this made for a memorable visit.
Unique. The photos speak for themselves. A really distinctive atmosphere. Buildings meeting water, canals instead of streets, gondolas as transport; it wouldn’t be like this in many other places, one would think. It was our first taste of Italy and we enjoyed it. Venice by night was so beautiful, and by day, it was like a big carnival. It really is a tourist spot though. Walking away from the popular areas it got very quiet and a little more manageable.
I wasn’t overly excited about going to Austria, but was pleasantly surprised on arrival in Vienna. This was the grandest of grand with respect to cool old oversized architecture and statues. There were so many cool buildings and the town centre had a great old cathedral and old town. Out of town a bit was a palace which took the prize for over-lavishness. It was massive and had a back yard and garden that would have made my Mum faint. There were acres of gardened land arranged along a path leading to a giant pool/water fountain made of giant sculptures of horses and men. The ground then tiered up and up leading to a ridiculously large garden house, from which on top were magnificent views of the whole of Vienna – outstanding. It was hard to believe people had that much money to even think about constructing such things.
We were excited to get to the Czech Republic as we had heard so much about it from others. The buildings and town seemed even more historic and there was a deeper emphasis on classical music which showed in the elevation of composers through statues, and big theatres dedicated to orchestral performances. We saw the biggest castle complex in the world, and thoroughly enjoyed the “old bridge” both at night and in the day. A pretty cool town. Also, we saw some “astronomical clock” which just seemed like a big cuckoo clock, but maybe that’s just ignorance on my part.
We didn’t go to Berlin, but stopped in the interesting town of Nuremburg (where sausage was had) and in the Rhine side town of Boppard. Boppard was such a cute little German village! It had the cool little Geneva style houses, cobble streets, cool squares, and of course, lots of “saus”. I got to sample the Currywurhst (or something like that), which was chopped up sausage with curry powder on top, eaten with a miniature fork. We then took a cruise up the Rhine.
I shan't write too much about each place or else I’d have a novel, but, Brussels overwhelmed my expectations. It was another taste of the architecture of Europe which I have come to love. The buildings are so old, but yet so amazingly big, and adorned so heavily. There is a stark contrast to the UK where buildings are relatively plain. We bought some Belgium chocolate and drank some of the beer, of which the variety of such makes Belgium famous. We also sampled a Belgian waffle in the middle of the “square”, my favorite square in the world so far.
This area is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in all England thanks to its little cottage towns, running streams, and countryside. My Mum has lots of paintings from around this area and it was amazing to see it in person. We didn’t get much time here, but hope to return again before we leave.
We sailed into Larne around midnight and found our way to our B&B. The owner of the house was lovely and cooked us up a “harti” breakfast the next morn. From there we drove up along the stunning north-east causeway coast, stopping for photos and walks along the cliffy coastline, the giants causeway, and a trip across a rope bridge. The obligatory pint of Guinness was sampled, before the journey down to Dublin. We drove through Belfast and got to see Rangers Football Stadium too! Arriving in Dublin quite late, we were glad to see our hotel was right in the middle of town, enabling us to have a walk around at night. The following day we saw the sights of Dublin, which wasn’t as old as I thought it would be. Arriving at the port in the evening, we the sailed from Dublin to north Wales on a barge which, from the inside, resembled a giant moving shopping centre/eatery. It made for an enjoyable and seemingly quick journey.
We arrived in Edinburgh to torrential rains but were more than surprised to note that our hotel was right in the heart of town, with a full view of the Eddinbrough Castle. The Castle was quite magnificent by both day and night, sitting up on a hill. We got to see the old Eddinbrough (underground) and had a drive around the coastline also. The next stop was Inverness. It was a beautiful town, but the Loch regions were the main attraction. We scoured the Loch ness for Nessie, but not the hint of a ripple gave clue to her whereabouts. There was some outstanding scenery which only continued as we proceeded down through the Scottish Highlands. We briefly passed through Glasgow also, and overall, we were most impressed with what Scotland had to offer.
We drove up in our rental car through Birmingham and up to the Lakes District, a picturesque area marked by a series of large lakes surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains. Many of the English holiday here. It was different to see such beauty based around lakes inland. We're used to seeing it on the coast, with our inland being quite dry. We saw regions on which many brittish writers based stories on, and saw the house of Beatrix Potter, and William Wordsworth. We got to stay in a beautiful little town called Millom. There was definitely a unique beauty about the area.
