greondastravels

Sorry for the delay of this next blog but we have been a bit busy as you will see later!

We sadly said goodbye to Sardinia after a fabulous 3 week stay. We were booked on an overnight ferry from Olbia to the port of Livorno on the Italian mainland. On the way to Olbia we passed by the rather impressive Santa Trinita Di Saccargia, the surviving part of a huge Benedictine Monastery built in 1112.

Before boarding our ferry, we had plenty of time to wander around the town. Of course we had a few drinks, pizza for dinner and Greg had to have his pistachio ice cream.

Our ferry was due to depart 10pm but we needed to board with Harley by 8:30pm. It was a very interesting exercise! We had booked “suites”onboard with our own shower and toilet and we have to say it wasn’t too bad at all. However there was a scramble by those without cabins to grab the longest couches in any corner they could , then lay their blankets down to “mark their territory”. Some even blew up lilos to sleep on. We were due to disembark at 6:30am and we were told we needed to be out of our cabins by 5:30am. It took us a while to drive off, as when full, which it was, it means that 1300 cars need to exit.

We needed to stop for lunch somewhere and Sienna was on the way. Julie had not been there so while Julie wandered the Old Town , we enjoyed a couple of beers, a nice lunch and the spectacular view of the Piazza del Campo where the famous horse race takes place each year.We would have had some photos but somehow the blog will not load them so sorry! But trust us , we did go there!

Then it was time to move onto the destination which the whole holiday has been center red around. 1955 was the year of our joint 70th birthdays so we had booked a villa in Tuscany 2 years ago to celebrate with family and friends who had happened to be holiday inn in Europe at the time.

Our Villa was in the spa town of Montecatini Terme in Tuscany which is located half way between Pisa and Florence.

Our first night saw us welcome our immediate family, Erin and Rich, and our 3 gorgeous grandchildren, Stew and Lyndsay, and our dearest friends and extended family, Judy, Alan, Julie, Tina, David and Louise. Excitedly for us, some of our “Swiss Aussie Family” also came, Esther and Jean Pierre, Claudie and Sandra and their gorgeous cute little nearly 2 year old Lio , who stole every bodies hearts!

The first night we decided we decided to eat at the villa. We had some fantastic pasta and then the boys cooked a great bbq!

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The next day was spent swimming and lazing by the pool. Our last two guests arrived also, Janet and Michael.

That night Erin and Stew and Richo and Lynds had organized a fantastic rustic dinner for us all at Menghino, high up just out of Montecatini.

Remember to click on individual photos as some are minimized! We had a fabulous meal, lots of traditional rustic Tuscany food enjoyed by everyone.

What a great night it was, the food, the view, the company. Fantastico! Thank you so much kids, it was a night to remember.

There were trips that some people took to close villages and some of us just lazed by the pool with a few drinks…….well some had more drinks than others but what happened in the villa stays in the villa!😂

One night we organized a dinner in the villa for us all. It was a magical night and the food was great.

We had a fabulous dinner poolside! We started with a calabrese salad, followed by a pasta entree , followed by roast pork with grilled veggies, ending with a pannacotta.

Some of us tried to improve our cooking skills by doing a cooking class with Giuseppe at the Olive Press Kitchen.

We first met Giuseppe at the local market in Montecatini where we bought our ingredients for our lunch. We never knew there were so many varieties of tomato’s

We then arrived at the old mill and the process began. We prepared fried zuchinni flowers, nude pasta, and zuchinni risotto. We finished with a Marsala Zabaglione. Not only was it a lot of fun, but we all learnt a lot. During the cooking process we consumed numerous bottles of wine and that continued whist we ate the fruits of our labour! We took heaps of photos, here is a very small selection!

It was a great day and we would recommend the class to anyone, we had a ball.

One night in the villa, Stew, Rich, Lynds and Ez cooked pizzas for us all in the great pizza oven. Stew and Rich would like donations so they can build their own at home. They did a fantastic job, the pizzas were sensational and the after party after all the pizzas were eaten was rather raucous , but again what happens in the villa stays in the villa!

What a fantastic week we had. Thank you to all our family and friends who made it so very special for us. It was 2 years in the planning and it was perfect. It was very hard to decide what photos to put on the blog, we have so many, but here are just a few more,

So after that effort to do this blog, it’s definitely time for a drink or 2 or 3. W are now in Slovenia, in Ljubljana, but that’s for the next one!

So cheers to all

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

We have been enjoying ourselves in Alghero and still discovering new places.

We had heard about the most famous beach in Sardinia called La Pelosa about one hour from home so thought we should check it out and give our opinion.We googled a little about it and discovered quite a few obligations”about visiting. There is a limit of 1500 People allowed on the beach per day. It costs 3:50 euros per person and you can only book online 48 hours in advance to receive your QR code to enter the beach You must lay your towel on a straw mat, otherwise the “towel police” can fine you 100 euros. After reading all this we decided a drive by to see what all the fuss was about. Yes it was quite beautiful, the water was an amazing color but if you wanted to actually swim you needed to walk out a looooong way. It was very shallow! Give us our free beaches any day!

We decided to go to the 2nd best beach called Le Bombarde considered to be again one of the most famous on the island. It was stunning, even the coffee was good.

We decided we needed a mini holiday so we packed an overnight bag and headed north to the Costa Smeralda, known as Sardinias “millionaires playground” and includes the beautiful archipelago of La Maddalena. Our first coffee stop was at a cute little spot called Golfo Aranci, not quite in the area of mega ya hats and Ferrari cars, that was to come.

We attempted to have a look at Porto Rotondo and Porto Cervo but for us mere mortals there was no way we were getting anywhere close to the water. There were loads of massive homes built into the cliffs and many gated communities closed off to us plebs! Both places are “go to “ villages for international stars and celebs….. not us obviously, so we moved onto Baja Sardinia, a much more laid back resort type village and decided to have lunch.

Greg ordered a tagliatelle vongole and Rhonda decided to have a basic gnocchi with tomato sauce. Greg enjoyed his but Rhonda’s was disgusting. It had obviously been premade and reheated in the microwave. It was inedible. The restaurant owner asked if we enjoyed our meal and Rhonda said no! He took it back to the kitchen and agreed. We weren’t charged and later there was a rather loud argument coming from the kitchen.

We continued on around the rocky coastline with magnificent views around every corner until we came to our destination for the night, Hotel D’Orso near the resort town of Palau. We found a lovely beach nearby for a swim and between the beach and our hotel we stumbled across the Bear Rock Cafe for a well earned drink.

We decided to return for dinner and Rhonda’s meal was the exact opposite of lunch. She had the best parmigiani melanzane she has ever had. Greg’s curligiones we’re pretty yummy too.

The rocky terrain was amazing with the colors changing throughout the day. One particular rock is known as “Bear Rock” but to get the full effect of seeing the actual bear one needed to pay 5 euros per person. We declined!

The next morning we stopped off at the Palau Marina for a coffee and watched all the tourist pour onto the yachts for their day trips.

We now have Greg’s cousin Julie staying with us but before we drove to Olbia we decided that Harley was way too dirty so he had a great Italian wash, great value at 14 euros.

We have been showing Julie around a little , not too much though as she has been pretty busy touring around herself. We have had many drinks in the old town, and we have swum at our favorite beaches, Maria Pia and Le Lombarde.

We enjoyed a street food Sardinian style dinner in the old town one night. It was rather good.

We took Julie to Bosa as we thought she had to see it. Like us, the trip along the coast reminded us of the Great Ocean Road.

While Julie wandered the old town we sat at the bar and had a couple of drinks. We had to take more photos of the gorgeous colored houses plus a few more things we discovered.

Yesterday we spent the day trawling the Old Town here in Alghero. The town sea walls were built in the 16th century, the original wall once had 26 towers but now only 8 remain. The Torre Di Sulis overlooks the marina and was named after a Sardinian revolutionary who spent 22 years imprisoned within its 6 meter thick walls.

We finally found a spot to take a photo of the beautiful tiled dome of St Michael. Although the church dates back to the 17th century the tiles were only added in 1960 but that does not detract from its beauty. Every corner you wander around , you find a new vista and you must always remember to look both up and down. You do see some interesting sights.

On our wander we had decided to try a typical Sardinian focaccia and had decided on the place to go! Well we didn’t check it out very well and it was closed however we did find Tommy’s , a typical Sardinian Bottega. The focaccia and beer were both good and the ambience of the place was quite hilarious as you can tell by the photo!

We are still having beautiful sunsets from our balcony and Greg is still providing great food for us.

Sadly tomorrow we depart Sardinia so needed one last swim at our favorite beach,Beach Mugoni.We swim with the tiny fish and the odd whale😂

The weather is still fabulous, the drinks are still cold and the waistlines are increasing.

Tomorrow night we are on an overnight ferry back to the mainland. We have lived our time here in Sardinia. The weather , the beaches and the food have all been fabulous. Off tonight for a farewell dinner to have one last little suckling piggy!

ciao ciao for now, it’s time for a drink!

lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

We are still enjoying our time in Sardinia finding some interesting places and glorious beaches. We took Harley for a drive to Capo Caccia about 25 Kms from Alghero and in the Porto Conte National Park. It is a limestone promontory known for its dramatic cliffs and stunning views.

It is the most western point of Sardinia. It is possible to descend from the top of the cliffs to view the grotto, however at more than 600 steps we opted out, the scenery from atop was stunning enough for us.

On the way home we stopped off at Spiaggia Di Mugoni, a lovely sandy beach with amazingly clear Mediterranean waters. It was a great way to finish off a great day.

The nautical theme of the day continued with another great spigola cooked on the bbq for dinner.

Greg was desperately in need of a haircut so he sussed out the traditional Italian barber. He was a young guy, with duff duff music playing and told Greg to go and have an apritivi on the beach to check out the “dolly birds”. On his recommendation Greg had a “00” up the sides and a #3 on the top! (What little hair is up there) 😂 It was a pretty cool hair cut and we celebrated with a drink on the way home! Any excuse!

We are still continuing to try the traditional Sardinian food, and suckling pig is one of their favorites. We spent a good amount of time deciding which restaurant to book for dinner to try our piggie. We finally decided to book a restaurant at lunchtime for a much anticipated suckling pig dinner. We began the evening with a couple of glasses of rose at the Vintage Bar, a great spot and then proceeded to the restaurant. On our arrival, much to our disappointment they had neglected to write our booking in the register and they were full. Greg’s words were “ so where am I having my dinner?”. He was not impressed. The owner was very apologetic, said it was his mistake and wait. He jumped on the phone, made a couple of calls and said “ come with me”. We ended up at a Restaurante Sa Nessa and were warmly welcomed by the owner.

Luckily the suckling pig was on the menu as was a dish of Sardinian pasta called fregola made with semolina and water and then toasted and served with tomatoes and zucchinis. We also had a plate of delicious grilled veges washed down with a glass of rose. At the end of the evening when we asked for the bill, to our pleasant surprise we were told that “GG” , the guy that stuffed up our other reservation had kindly paid our bill. It was a freebie, should have had a whole bottle of rose!😂The meal was delicious.

By the way, you will not be disappointed to hear that Gregory has been having the odd pistachio ice cream.

We took Harley for another spin to the village of Orgosolo, a 2 1/2 hour drive into the middle of Sardinia. The village is reknown for its painted murals on many of its buildings. The first murals were painted in 1969 and were politically inspired by an anarchist group. No other murals were added until 1975 when a high school teacher organized for students to paint many more and it continues to this day.

It was fascinating wandering the streets of the old town and around every corner we found a different mural, a photographers delight and these are only a few of the many photos we took.

On the journey back home we passed an area that has many nuraghes. They are a symbol of Sardinian and apparently o ly found here. They are an “ ancient megalithic edifice” all made of stone blocks hilt around 1730 BC, so bloody old. No one is sure what their purpose was but there are thousands of them.

We are definitely in a bit of a routine now. A casual breakie on the balcony or Sundays at our Brunettis called Ciro, then it’s off for a swim mid morning ( too hot in the arvo) at one of the many lovely beaches in the area, stopping somewhere on the way home for a cool drink and spending a quiet relaxing arvo with the AC going and then dinner on the balcony waiting for our magnificent sunsets.

We decided to go out for dinner last night to give the chef a rest. We went to a seafood restaurant and shared a green ravioli filled with ricotta for entree and had calamari for the mains. It was yum!

By the time we had finished dinner, the sun was setting and the colors across the old town were very pretty

Update on Greg’s knees……he is still exercising each morning, and there has been no deterioration or improvement 🤦‍♀️😩 On the shingles front the rash is slowly disappearing , we think the salt water swims are having an effect on that.

Rhonda is fine, just putting up with Greg’s whining! 😂😂

Well it’s 5pm and the G n T s are calling. By the way it’s a balmy 31 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and the Med is sparkling from our balcony.

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

It was another early wake up call to drive the 2 hours down the very winding road to catch our ferry to head to Sardinia. The ferry port is at Bonifacio, a stunning town with a cliff top Citadel dating back to the 16th century.

This ferry ride was only one hour, thank God, and the views back to Bonifacio as we departed were quite spectacular.

Once we disembarked we had another drive of 2 hours on winding roads, getting caught behind large trucks with nowhere to pass! Mamma Mia!

Finally we arrived in Alghero where we have a 3 week stay so long enough to relax and un pack the suitcases

Alghero was originally a fishing village and has one of Sardinias best preserved medieval towns. It has a mix of Italian and Catalan cultures remaining from when it was conquered by the King of Spain more than 6 centuries ago. The Spanish named it Little Barcelona. It is the 5th largest city in Sardinia and not overly touristy. Having said that we expecting a couple of cruise ships in the next couple of days!!!

Our apartment is on the 5th floor, with a lift thank God, and we have water and old town views with magnificent sunsets every night. Alghero’s old town is as usual, filled with cobblestone narrow streets and alleyways. Of course there are plenty of watering holes along the 12th century walls.

We found a very trendy watering hole for an aperitivi. Our 2 G n Ts cost us 20 euros! Rather sad when you can buy a bottle of the same gin for 10euros at the supermarket! However it was rather nice sitting with all the beautiful people!

We ventured up to one of the many lovely beaches not far from home at Maria Pia. Well, it was not just us on the beach , and it’s not even high season yet! The water was lovely and just so very clear, it was magical.

We are eating well. We have invested in a 14 euro bbq and it’s working a treat, Greg is cooking up a storm. We have discovered the local market with its many fish stalls so the spigots that Greg cooked on the bbq was sensational. Thanks chef!

We have found our Brunettis here in Alghero for our Sunday breakie. There are loads of pastries and incredible looking cakes and small treats. We happened to ask the waiter what one in particular was and he immediately gave us one for free to try. That would not happen back home.

We are lucky to have a fresh pasta shop just down the road. The spinach and ricotta ravioli served with Greg’s home made sauce was delicious, as was the bruschetta that Greg served for lunch. Again, thanks chef!

We decided it was time to take Harley out for a day trip so we headed to Bosa, a one hour drive from home and known as one of Italys most picturesque villages. Well agree. The village sits on the Temo river.

The most striking feature of Bosa are its colorful houses, all close to each other and its many alleyways and cobbled streets that follow the curves of the hill and at the top sits the Malaspina Castello built in 1112.

We decided to “do lunch” in Bosa and ate at S’Iscugia to try some typical Sardinian food. Entree was Pandanas alla bosana which translated to pasta bag with veges, it was yum! Rhonda’s culurgiones nal ragu , a typical Sardinian pasta ( potato and cheese ravioli with a ragu sauce) was yum and Greg’s tagliolino verde con scampi, fresh green pasta with scampi was lovely too although Greg didn’t like having to peel the scampi himself! A glass of Sardinian rose just added to a lovely meal.

Greg could not leave the restaurant without saying thanks to the chef, then he decided to photobomb the photo Rhonda was trying to take.😂

We departed Bosa and ventured onto Oristano which is known for its majestic buildings. We checked out Piazza Eleonora d’Arborea, the towns central square with Eleonora standing proudly in the centre. We went inside the Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, the largest one in Sardinia. We wandered through some of the streets of the old town but we were a little underwhelmed by the city, maybe because by this time we were tired, being late arvo , but probably because we loved Bosa so much more, it was a great day.

Since we have been in Corsica and now Sardinia, none of the apartments have had parking on site which has resulted in a game we call “ parking bingo”. Luckily for us we have only one time had to drive around and around looking for a parking spot. Once to Rhonda’s disgust Greg made her stand in a closer parking spot while he moved the car. It is not nice to be abused by a French driver who wants the car park. NEVER AGAIN GREGORY! Let’s hope our luck holds for our remaining time in Alghero.

Greg is still doing his exercises for his knees. While on the subject, knee still holding up sort of okay, given we are not walking any where near as much as usual and also the constant “lubrication and medication” is helping. Shingles are still hanging around a little and he is well and truly over it! Rhonda is good!😎

Weather is average, blue skies, sunshine every day and temps of 30 plus every day. Beer is cold, aperols are flowing and the food is great.

Speaking of which, definitely time now for a drink.

ciao ciao

Greg and Rhonda.

By the way, to see the photos in full, just click on the individual photo, as some are getting squashed!

We had a 5am wake up call for our drive to Livorno from Lucca to catch the ferry to Corsica which is known as “The Island of Beauty” for our week stay. The ride on the ferry was 4 1/2 hours and that was 4 1/2 hours too long, as you know we are not boat lovers. We finally arrived in Bastia for our 3 night stay.

Bastia is the 2nd largest town in Corsica. The old harbour or Vieux-Port port dates back to the 15th century and has retained quite some charm from its past ( except for the souvenir shops). It is overlooked by the twin towered St John Baptist Church, the oldest church in Corsica and built between 1636 and 1666 with a bell tower added in the 17th century.

We took Harley for a drive cross country. First coffee stop was at Saint Florent, a rather touristy summer holiday spot on the opposite coast to Bastia. We discovered that Corsica is quite mountainous and rocky with many winding bends in the road and great scenery.

We continued onto Calvi which was a busy port during the Roman era. Perched on the headland is the 13th century citadel, a fortress Christopher Columbus was reportedly born in, during the Genosea occupation of the town! The town is full of the usual cobbled streets, packed with tourist shit and many restaurants lining the promenade.

We enjoyed lunch on the promenade having our first spigola/loup/ sea bass of the trip. It was typically French, more French shit on the plate than fish! It was a little disappointing.

The next day we took Harley on another drive, this time to Cap Corso. The area is often called an “Island within an Island”. It is the northern rocky peninsular , 40 kms long and 15 kms wide. The east coast has small fishing villages and ports on the water whilst most of the west coast villages are situated on rugged cliffs with stunning views. Our first stop was at the quaint fishing village of Erbalunga. It was small and not too touristy and a great spot for coffee.

We drove along the east coast and had views of glorious sandy beaches and the clear Mediterranean waters. Next we made a brief stop at another small fishing village called Porticciolo.

We then left the coast to travel across Cap Corso to the west coast. Our lunch stop was at Pino, built on the slopes of a mountain with sea views. Our picnic lunch of Roquefort baguette was pretty dam good!

It was onwards then to our next stop of Nonza, one of the oldest villages in Corsica and a pilgrimage site for Sainte Julia, the patron saint of Corsica.The church dates back to the 14th century and the marble alter dates back to 1693.

It was time to lubricate Gregs knees while Rhonda climbed a shitload of steps to check out the torre.

The drive back to Bastia was full of narrow winding roads with dramatic cliffs and great sea views. Rhonda much preferred the east coast whilst Greg’s preference was the west.

We enjoyed our time in Bastia, wandering the narrow streets of the old town, and before departing we had breakie in Saint Nicholas which is said to be one of the largest squares in Europe.

We set off for our next stay at Ajaccio. Our coffee stop was at Corte, and typical of Greg, we ended up in the middle of the old town with narrow streets but somehow we found a car park.

The drive was through mountainous country side with some stunning scenery

We arrived in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, a port city on the west coast. It is the birthplace of French Emperor Napoleon in 1769. Our apartment is great, overlooking the water and very comfortable.

The temperature has been a constant 20 overnight and 30 during the day so we thought it was time for a swim in the Med. We stopped at a cute spot on the water for a coffee then continued onto Plage Terre Sacree for a well deserved swim. The water is just stunning, it is so clear and magnificent and luckily it is not high tourist season so not a lot of people.

Then we made our way to Points de la Parata to view the Îles Sanguinaires, classed as a Grand Site of France.

That night we wandered down to the old town for dinner and had a sensational great grilled spigola for dinner and a bottle of rose washed it down well.

The next day we decided to check out the other side of the bay. We took a picnic lunch and thought we may have a swim at Plage de mare E Sole but we decided the breeze was too cool so paddled instead.

Today is our last day in Corsica. Rhonda needed to check out everything about Napoleon in the town, after all he is one of her heroes, that’s besides Greg of course. He was born in 1769 in Ajaccio and the house where he was born is now a museum, although we didn’t go in. He lived in the house until he was 9 years old. The queue to enter was quite long, due to a cruise ship being in port, however lucky for us we found a micro brewery around the corner so we were able to have a beer with Napoleon there.

We checked out the Baroque Ajaccio Cathedral which was much more impressive on the inside than the outside. It is where Napoleon was baptised and a marble plaque on one of the pillars recalls the “ last wishes of the dying Emperor”. Rhonda is happy now she has seen where he was born, where he is buried, and where he lived for most of his childhood. She can lay him to rest now!!!

We went inside the Bibliotheque or library, which is a listed as an Historic monument. It was quite amazing to see the walls filled with extremely old books.

We poked our noses into Eglise St Roch which was built in the 19th century to protect the town from The Plague. We also stumbled across the Eglise St Erasme, dedicated to the patron saint of fisherman, hence all the fishing boats throughout the church. Then it was onto the Citadel, which was surrounded by people from the cruise ship in town swimming.

Then it was time for lunch and as this is our last time in France for this trip we needed to partake in a Croque Monsieur! Boy did we choose a good one! It was sensational as was the glass of rose!

Update on Greg’s health issues. The knees are “sort of” holding up. Not sure we told you but he also picked up a case of shingles.🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ So 3 weeks later and with the support of a doctor we saw in Monforte, he is gradually improving, fingers crossed the knees continue to sort of behave. He is still exercising and more importantly lubricating during the day! Rhonda is fine, just putting up with the whinging. 😂😂😂

So tomorrow is another early start for us. We catch a ferry to head to Sardinia for a 3 week stay.
That’s it for now

Ciao ciao

Greg and Rhonda.

We spent the last couple of days in Monforte doing lunch and visiting the village of Bossolasco, known as the village of roses. The roses were in full bloom, every colour imaginable, it was very pretty.

We had our last pizza and last coffee at Grapollo.

Elena invited us out to lunch to a restaurant with a great view over the vineyards of the Langhe. The food was rather good too. We had an asparagus and egg entree, followed by a pasta main, and pannacotta and apricot torte for dessert.

It was a farewell lunch with Elena and Pippo. It was fabulous to be back in Monforte, not sure if we will return.

We left Monforte and had a 5 hour drive to Lucca in Tuscany for our 4 night stay. Our little house is outside the walled historic centre so a tad too far for Greg’s knees to walk into however it is a very short drive for Harley and parking is very cheap, so all good. We have a small outdoor area in the back, good for arvo drinks and Greg’s morning exercises!

We have spent a few days wandering around the Old Walled historic centre. The walls are 4.2km in length and construction began in 1504 and finished in the early 1800’s, and still intact today. One of the main gates to the town is Porta San Pietro built between 1565 and 1566. Through these gates on Sept 5th 1944 the first Allied soldiers entered Lucca and the town greeted them with much celebration.

The Basilica Di San Frediano is a spectacular ornate Romanesque church with a golden mosaic facade. Chiesa Di San Michele Foro is an 11th century Church with a golden”wedding like cake” carved facade.

Given the amount of walking, Greg’s knees require lubricating / medicating every hour or so.

Luca’s Theatre is one of the oldest public theatres in Italy built in the mid 17th century. Piazza Napoleone was dedicated to Napoleone by his sister who led Lucca between 1805 and 1815. She demolished houses around the piazza to build the Palazzo Ducale which is now the Provincial Offices.

In its heyday during. Edie Al times there were over 130 Towers in the walled city. A tower height reflected the prestige and importance of the family who built them. Today only 2 remain. The Torre Delle Ore has a medieval clock on its facade and is the highest tower with 207 steps built in the 13th century. The Guinigui Tower with a garden on its roof top has was built in the 2nd half of the 14th century. As you can imagine we decided not to climb either.

We did a little drive to check out the village of Pistoia. Its main attraction is the Piazza del Duomo with its magnificent buildings. The Cathedral San Zino completely renovated at the start of the 12th century and again in the early 1800’s. The Baptistery of San Giovanni was built in the middle of the 14th century. It’s facade of green and white marble is considered to be one of the finest examples of Tuscan Gothic art.

Palazzo Azzolini, now a bank, is a new comer to the Piazza built at the end of the 19th century but still quite impressive. Palazzo del Communale , now the Town Hall dates back to the 13th and 14th centuries and has the Medici Coat of Arms on the facade.

Back in Lucca , we found a lovely piazza where we had lunched in previous years. The Piazza dell’Anifiteatro is an oval plaza on the site of a Roman Amphitheater, surrounded by lovely medieval houses and plenty of restaurants as well.

Near to our house we can see part of the Aquaduct Nottloini, which we must say is spectacularly floodlit at night. It was built in the 19th century to provide Lucca with water from the mountains. There are 400 arches stretching over 3 kms. The small Condotto Pubblico is a waterway running through the historical old town.

We have wandered the streets and narrow alley ways of Lucca, much to the chagrin of Greg’s knees, and not only stopped for alcohol but have had many great coffees as well.

Just an update for Dean from Greg, trying to exercise every day, the knees are holding up a little better than anticipated…at this stage….with lubrication we have walked 5 or 6 kms per day with a days rest in between.🤞🤞

In addition to Greg’s problem knees, he has had an outbreak of shingles, it never rains but it pours! Dealing with Italian doctors has been interesting. Luckily Rhonda has not had to drive…yet!

We have loved our time in Lucca and tomorrow we catch the ferry to spend a week on Corsica. Sorry all you Melbournites, we know how cold it has been, but here we are having 18 overnight and 30 during the day. You should all pack your bags and come over.

so ciao ciao, it’s that time again, Campari and soda and aperol spritz coming right up.

Ciao ciao

Greg and Rhonda

After surviving the 24 hours plus on the flight from Melbourne, we landed at Nice Airport to a glorious sunny 25 degree day.

We picked up our Citroen Lease car and proceeded to travel along the coast to our favorite village in Piedmont, Monforte d’Alba to Elena’s apartment where we have stayed 3 times before.

We would like to introduce to you our transport for 3 months. This is Harley! Named because of his number plate HD ( Harley Davidson). We couldn’t think of anything else!

We have settled in very well, it seems like home. Our mornings start with Greg exercising and Rhonda going for a walk to the top of the village. It’s a good workout! It’s then back home for breakfast and by 10am , it’s up to our favorite coffee spot for our morning cappuccino!

Not much has changed in the village since we were here 2 years ago, although we have noticed there seems to be a lot more tourists! The upper old village is still absolutely gorgeous and has the same great photo ops!

At Nice airport we picked up our mate Al who stayed in the village with us for 5 nights. We organized a ride in an Ape Collissimo which was a lot of fun. We spent 3 hours riding around the small villages of the Langhe (the wine district here). It was great because it saved both Greg and Al’s knees from a workout heading to the top castellos of the villages.

We remembered that we do not drive on a Sunday here as there is a lot of traffic , so we decided to do our first long lunch. We headed to Terralunna , not far from home and had a fabulous lunch. Rhonda’s asparagus tart, then beef cheek with roasted veges, and finishing off with a fabulous chocolate fondant torta was sensational. Greg’s choice of zucchini flowers, then roast lamb shoulder and roasted veges , finishing off with…..of course…. a pannacotta (a fail in Greg’s opinion, but it was his first one for the trip). We washed it down with a great bottle of Barbera d’Alba. It was a fabulous meal!

Monday here was Republic Day so we headed out for a drive to show Al some more of the local area. First stop was Cuneo, then onto Limone Piedmont, a cute little ski resort on the Italian French border. Then we called into Mondovi and took the Funicular up to the Old Town.

Chef Greg has fallen back into his role of chef, barman and barrista when we are home. He has cooked some great pasta, of course our chicken Caesar salad has already had a airing and the GnT’s and Aperols are flowing as well. We have been revisiting our favorite watering holes here in Monforte as well. Only problem is that one of them is at the very top of the old town, which necessitates a drive instead of walking up and down.

Al. Dry kindly shouted us a fabulous lunch for our combined birthdays. We went to Trattoria Della Posta, where we have been before and knew it was going to be a fabulous meal.

we started with an appetizer of melon and prosciutto. Entrees were a rabbit salad with herbs for Greg and Rhonda had a roasted onion with cheese and Bra sausage. We all had agnolotti del plan with a butter sauce…Omg delicious. Rhonda’s semi Freddo with a rich chocolate sauce capped off her meal beautifully, and of course Greg ordered his pannacotta but it was really a crème caramel…fail again so he is still searching!

we washed it down with a magnificent bottle of Barbaresco, a red wine typical of the area. Thanks Al for a wonderful memorable meal.

We went to another couple of villages to show Al. We took him to Novello and Alba for coffee.

Yesterday we were invited up to Elena’s home for lunch. It was lovely to see her husband Pippo again together with her sister Mariella. We had a lot of fun talking in English, French and our very limited Italian.

The weather has been fabulous and we have been enjoying some glorious sunsets. We are relaxing a lot around the apartment, and trying to save Greg’s knees as much as possible.

Greg is struggling to walk far, the cortisone injection has not had the outcome we were hoping for, but we are doing what we can.

So it’s that time , refreshment time

Ciao ciao from Monforte

Greg and Rhonda

We left Paris to go to our last stop on our holiday, 4 nights in the German city of Dusseldorf on the Rhine River. Our last breakfast was near Gare de Nord Station and we said au revoir to Paris and France.We travelled on the Red Eurostar train, a 4 1/2 hour train journey. We maxed out at 300kph through the French countryside, but once we crossed the border into Belgium and then Germany it was a lot slower. We had morning tea onboard to pass the time as it was a little too early for beers!

We checked into our apartment and headed out to explore. Our first meal was our much loved curry wurst and frites and after that we needed a beer, so off to the Altstradt, or Old Town we went. The old town covers only about half a square kilometer and is known as “The longest bar in the world” courtesy of a song made famous by a Dusseldorf Rock Band.

In the small area of the Old Town there are more than260 bars/breweries and restaurants, so you can never go hungry or thirsty, and we did not! The beer that Dusseldorf is famous for is called Alt Beer, a traditional hand made craft beer, so of course we needed to sample one or two or more! A lot of the breweries and bars have long wooden tables or standing room only high tables where the “Kobe’s” or waiters do not ask what you want, you just get a beer “slammed down “ in front of you! Then it continues unless you place a coaster over your glass. That means enough!! They mark your coaster with the number of beers you have had. The waiters are notoriously brusque, or as Rhonda called them “ grumpy old men”!

For dinner on our first night we were of course longing for some more German food. We walked around the Old Town for a good 40 minutes coming across Italian, Lebanese, Argentinian, Spanish, Cuban, columbian, Japanese, and American food. Finally we found exactly what we wanted, the Augustiner Beer Garden. The good old veal schnitzel with cranberries and the great poatato salad. It was fabulous.

The next day we did a small self guided walking tour through the Old Town. Greg liked the sculpture called “Dispute”, he thought it was a reflection of himself 3 months ago and now, after copious amounts of alcohol and food.

We came across the Saint Lambertus Church, the oldest church in the city parts of which date back to 1206. Its most notable feature is the twisted spire. In 1815 lightening struck and caused a fire and it was rebuilt from unseasoned timber which when dried caused it to twist. The Stadterheburgs Monument marks the 700th anniversary of the city’s foundation. It consists of 485 individual pieces and depicts the history of Dusseldorf.

Beside the Konigsallee, the Kings Avenue, which is the main shopping mall there is an 580 meter moat through which water from the Dussel River flows. There are 3 bridges on the Konigsallee and the banks are lined with chestnut trees.

The Rathaus, Town Hall has stood on the Marktplatz for 450 years and is quite an impressive building.

We have seen statues on the top of columns throughout the town, and discovered that they are called Stylites. There are apparently 10 of them all depicting different individuals. Our mission was to find them all, and it was a fail, but we did manage to find a few.

We also found this cute “dude” and came home to translate! “This fairytale will probably never come true. Life teaches to be smart and save”. Al least that was how Google translated it!

We had walked quite a bit so needed to rest up and “do lunch”. We discovered the previous night that there is a Japanese Quarter in Dusseldorf so when in Germany, one has a Japanese lunch!!!! It was delicious.

The Rhine Promenade runs 1.5 kilometers along the Rhine and up until 1995 it was a very busy main road, much better now!

We were in need of a good cappuccino so we sussed out a cafe in the so called “Bohemian suburb” of Flingen called Cafe Huftgold, a vintage style cafe that boasted of its home made cakes. We must say that the cappuccino was great and “Grandpas apple pie was dam good too.

We have also had a great meal at home cooked by Herr Gregory. The Weiss wurst and mustard sauce , with the slaw and spud salad (compliments of the supermarket) was bloody

good considering the very limited cooking facilities in the apartment. We also had to venture out for another curry wurst and the order name on the receipt we were given was Bob Marley. Quite amusing.

We have walked many kms averaging over 10 kms per day so Greg’s knees are looking forward to a rest on the plane. We have enjoyed the different architecture of the German buildings whilst we have wandered and also the wrought iron signs that are everywhere.

Before we sign off for the last time, a couple of interesting observations for you about our stay in Dusseldorf. The beer , the schnitzel, the spud salad and the curry wurst have been great. As for the pedestrian crossings, that’s another story. They only let you cross half the road before you have to wait another 5 minutes to cross the other half of the road. In Greg’s words…it is bloody stupid and bloody annoying! We have come across an extraordinary amount of mature aged homeless men sitting in the streets drinking beer and rummaging through rubbish bins. Actually it is quite sad. Finally they say the French are arrogant but our experience is that the Germans are far more arrogant and rude than the French and they do not like tourists. ( That does not include you, Renata and Wolfey!)

We have had a fabulous time, even though our weather has not been as good as we were hoping.
Flights are booked for next year as is some of the accommodation.

Barney kept us safe and performed well throughout his nearly 9000 kilometers.

The bags are packed, we are “sort of” ready to come home, but not looking forward to the 30 hour trip. BUT we are looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up to tell you those stories that we just couldn’t put on the blog!

Until next year

Adios, au revoir auf weidersehen

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

xxx

We left Epernay, after a fabulous 5 weeks stay and headed toward Paris. We said goodbye to Barney and Al at CDG Airport and took a train to Gare de Nord in Paris and walked to our VERY SMALL studio apartment in the 9th Arrondissement. Although our “digs” are rather small, by Paris standards it works. We have everything we need, a bed, a bathroom with all facilities, a table and chairs and somewhere to cook.

Our apartment was an artists studio of a lady in the Parisian fashion industry. She apparently was an expert in costume manufacturing for Parisian cabarets like Follies Bergeres ( which is just around the corner from us). They created costumes for more than half a century for actors and singers of the 20th century, amongst which include Maurice Chevalier and Josephine Baker, the famous black singer, hence why our little studio is called Josephine.

We settled in and went for a walk and then found “our local” for a drink. We stumbled across a gorgeous place for dinner on our first night, called Boullion Julien. It was created in 1906 and was established for the “pleasure of the wealthy, of course that is why we went. We saw people queuing and thought it must be good, so in we went. The interior was amazing, beautifully decorated. The food was great and more importantly cheap! Our duck confit and spuds were delicious and the pistachio cream brûlée was average according to Greg, although Rhonda quite liked it.

We had a schedule the following day! We left early to get the Metro to head to Place de Vosges, Greg’s favourite place in Paris, for our morning coffee. It is the oldest planned square in Paris and centered in the Marais district, the area we love the most. Coffee was at Cafe Hugo’s, a haunt of Victor Hugo who lived here for 14 years.

We then ventured onto Rue Cremieux, known as “ the most photographed street in Paris”. Even though there is a sign saying…respect the locals and take no photos…… everyone else was so we did too. It was a glorious cobbled stone street but we did try to be discreet!

We then wandered along the River Seine and onto the Ilse St Louis so Greg could have his morning tea, a pistachio ice cream at the famous Berthillion Ice cream window.

Then it was onwards to see how Norte Dame was coping after the fire! It was lovely to see the spire back and from what we could see of the re construction work, it is coming along nicely and we are confident she will be restored back to her spectacular self, if not better.

After walking for 3 hours it was hydration time so we found a great bar with a view of Rhonda’s favourite building, the Conciergerie, UNESCO listed and seat of power of the Kings of France in the Middle Ages and where Marie Antoinette was held prisoner during the French Revolution.

After hydrating, it was another “forced march”through the Louvre ( with heaps of tourists) to the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House, for a self guided tour. Unfortunately we have no photos of the outside as it was undergoing cleaning but plenty of the inside! It was built from 1861 to 1875 at the request of Emperor Napoleon 111. The interior is stunning and of course the Phantom of the Opera is inspired by its interior. The crystal chandelier with its 340 lights is spectacular. The Grand Stairway is pretty amazing too with its many chandeliers. The Grand Foyer is strikingly similar to the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles and absolutely stunning.

Then we continued walking, with Greg’s knees complaining, through the Tuileries Jardins, with lots of access still closed due to the Olympics and onto the River Seine where we had views of the Eiffel Tower and Greg’s favourite bridge, the Pont Alexander 111 with its gold winged horses.

We then arrived at the Hotel Invalides where we had to come to say goodbye…again… to Napoleon! Although originally buried on St Helena Island where he was exiled in 1821, his remains came to the Imperial Tomb in 1861 after his wishes were granted. His want was “ my ashes to lie on the banks of the Seine in the midst of the people I have loved so well”. His sarcophagus is on a green granite pedestal in a nest of 5 coffins, one of soft iron, one of mahogany, 2 of lead and one of ebony and he is dressed in his Colonels Uniform. It is quite impressive.

We also came across the Tomb of Vauban. We came across many of his ingenious works as an engineer throughout France, building Citadels and fortified constructions. Rhonda is happy she has now laid another France genius to rest!

We caught the Metro back home and by then had walked 15kms. We then needed to do more walking to buy dinner. So after a rest we ventured out again, had a drink at our local, bought some pasta and Chef Gregory cooked up a storm in our little apartment of Basilica pasta and we enjoyed a bottle of rose. By the end of the day we had walked 18kms, Greg’s knees were stuffed so decided that the next day was going to be a rest day!

We woke the next morning to drizzly rain but ventured out to have a coffee. We had seen on the tv at home a story about an Ausssie barista who had set up a coffee roasting cafe not too far from our digs. We have to say it was the best cappuccino we have had since we have been away. As we were walking we caught a glimpse of Sacre Cour but didn’t venture up the hill to visit because we had been there many times before.

We then continued on to a cafe for lunch which only serves Croque Monsieur BUT in many different ways! We chose one pastrami and one onion. Greg’s pastrami included tomatoes gherkins and a shit load of pastrami and cheese. Rhonda’s onion was full of a shit load of caramalised onions in the centre. They were sensational and the local beer was pretty dam good too. If you click on the photo you will see all the different varieties you can choose from, some quite strange.

Walking along the streets of Paris one becomes amazed at the magnificent architecture and different styles of buildings.

Unfortunately the rain continued for the afternoon so it was a good opportunity to stay home and rest Greg’s knees for the following day.

The next morning being Sunday we thought we would wander to the local boulangerie and grab some breakfast. Lo and behold, would you believe not one boulangerie could we find open after walking for 30 minutes, hence fruit and cereal for breakfast, not happy, but good for the waistline though.

After planning our itinerary for the day, we decided to utilize the Paris Metro, and we were quite surprised by the increase in the cost of tickets. Last time we were here it was one euro per person per trip, nowdays it’s 4 euros per person per trip. However it did help Greg’s knees so probably worth the cost!

Our first stop was the ever popular Champs Elysees. There were probably just as many police patrolling as there were tourists and we also saw a bomb disposal car, so didn’t stay too long there. We walked around the Arc de Triumph, Rhonda’s second favourite building in Paris, which honors those who fought and died for France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. We stopped for a coffee and had a great view at the same time!

Our next stop in the tour was the Petit Palace, built for the 1900 Paris World Fair. It is now a Museum and Art Gallery and surprise surprise , free entry. We had been before so had no need to enter. Next stop was the Elysee Palace, home to Monsieur Macron, the official residence of the President of France. It was completed in 1722. There was a huge amount of police around, the flag was flying, so we presumed that Emmanuel was home , but decided that we wouldn’t ask if he could make us a coffee.

Our next stop was the Cour de Commerce Saint Andre, an almost hidden passage in Saint Germain where you “ step back in time to the world of 1734 when small shops lined the narrow lane paved with cobblestones”. Apparently it is a glimpse of how Paris looked before Napoleon ordered the architect Hausman in 1852 to modernize the city. It was very quaint. We opted to lunch at the Pub Saint Germain, one of the first “pubs” in Paris instead of the rather fancy Le Procope, a bistro founded in 1686, and supposedly the oldest restaurant in Paris. We thought the benches at the pub were more “us”than the white linen tablecloths and waiters in bow ties! Our lunch was yummy French onion soup followed by a citron tart which we shared, the waistlines are now getting enormous!!!

It was then onwards to visit the Great Mosque of Paris. It was built in the 1920’s to pay tribute to the 70,000 unlimited soldiers who died for France in WW1. It is the largest Mosque in France It was a very peaceful place, with beautiful gardens and lovely mosaics.

It was then time to catch the Metro back home to rest up before heading out to dinner. We decided we didn’t want to go far so opted for a final French dinner of crepes.

We have loved our time in Paris, re visiting some favourite places, seeing new ones and experiencing a lot of nostalgic moments that have bought back some great memories of time spent in this beautiful city with family and friends.

Now tomorrow we are off to our final destination before we make the loooooooong trip back home. We are going to Dusseldorf in Germany for 4 nights to drink beer, and eat curry wurst, amongst other things.

So au revoir to our Paris.

It’s that time again, time to lack the bags

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda

xxxx

We have spent the last week showing Al around Epernay and the surrounding area. On our first night we went to dinner at La Banque which has a Champagne by glass menu of about 50 different champers houses from the area. Quite impressive indeed.

Our meal was sensational. Greg enjoyed his Steak Tartare and Rhonda’s turbot with Champagne sauce was sensational. It was a great night swapping travel stories.

The next day we spent wandering the town but we did enjoy a bottle of Champers at Pierre Mignon Tasting House. We loved the fancy cheese that accompanied the champers.

We took Al on a drive along the Rue de Touristique de Champagne. The first stop was the boys favourite Champagne House, the House of Bollinger. Sadly the gates were locked and Rhonda would not let them ring the bell.

Even though we had driven the vineyard roads many times the views were still stunning.

We stopped for a beer at our “bateau” bar to hydrate and then we enjoyed a great picnic lunch.

The afternoon was spent at the family Champagne House of the hosts of our AirBnB, Roger Constant Lemaire. We were given a free tour and tasting and had a wonderful time.

We did enjoy their champagne and came home with a few bottles of their lovely champers.There are quite a few funny stories to tell about our tour which will be kept for when we return home if you are interested!
The following day was declared a day of rest so we spent the day at home consuming the champers purchased the previous day! What a way to spend a lazy Sunday!

We also drove to the pretty little village of Hautvillers which is where Champagne life began thanks to Dom Pierre Perignon, the spiritual father of Champagne. He was a Benedictine Monk who came to the Abbey of Hautvillers in 1668 and for 47 years he acted as manager, builder, legal specialist and above all else a winegrower and wine maker. His aim was to make the best wine in the world.

His wine was served in the Palace of Versailles and he was a visionary who developed revolutionary grape growing and wine making techniques. To Dom Perignon, we say a HUGE THANK YOU. Of course we needed to visit the Abby Church of Saint-Sindulphe in the village so that Rhonda could say a personal thank you to him.

We had a lovely morning wandering around the streets of the village, not a lot of people, and very quiet.

The village is also known for its old wrought iron signs hanging from the houses.

We then headed back to Epernay to the Moët and Chandon Champagne House ( the owner of Dom Perignon) to take one more photo of Dom to finish our “Birth of Champagne”tour. We spent the afternoon in our lovely cool apartment with its brand new air conditioning ( another story in that) whilst the outside temperature rose to 37 degrees!

So sadly our 5 week stay in Epernay becomes a memory tomorrow as head to Paris, and thank God the Olympics have finished. We leave Barney at CDG airport, and take a train into the Opera district for a 4 night stay.
Cannot believe that in one week we will be on a plane heading home!

We are dropping Al at the airport for him to continue his journey

So it’s now time to pack the bags!

Maybe one more blog if you are lucky!

Lots of love

Greg and Rhonda.

xxxxx