Lucerne

Our journey to Lucerne took us part way by boat and the rest by train, with the return being train only. The trains in Switzerland are really comfortable and so clean. They run on time as well! Because we had to go up and over a mountain to get to Lucerne the cog wheels had to be put into operation which pleased Michael.

Lucerne is a lovely city and it would have been nice to have more time there, however, we did get to walk around the 'old' part of the city and of course go across the famous old wooden bridge.

Boat Rides - Interlaken

As well as the many train and cable trips up into the mountains, there are also some lovely boat trips on the lakes as well. We really enjoyed these and found them to be very relaxing.

Interlaken/HarderKulm

Interlaken is a very picturesque town with lots of lovely shops and loads of restaurants. There are two lakes East and West abutting the township which adds to the character of interlaken. We decided to go up on the Fenicular to Harder Kulm one day, Michael in his wisdom suggested that we sit right at the front - with the windows going right down to our toenails! It took nearly 15 mins. to get up to the top, 4337 ft. I might add that we watched the ascent through our camera lens' with just the occassional glimpse at the view in front of us! When we reached the top it was fantastic with views over all of Interlaken. A nice cuppa and a slice of cake at the restaurant finished off the afternoon nicely.

Switzerland

We love Interlaken - Switzerland!

We took advantage of the clear blue sky on our first day to go up to Schilthorn which is 3000 metres above sea level. It took about 2 hours to get there by train, cog rail and a couple of cables cars. Fantastic journey with views whichever way you turned. Once there you could wander outside and take in the 360 degree views, and as well enjoy a meal inside at the revolving restaurant.

On our way down we stopped off at Murrem, 1600 metres above sea level. It is a beautiful village with typical swiss cottages set on the side of the mountain. We had the good fortune to see a herd of cows being led through the village prior to them being milked. We heard them coming, they all had cow bells on!

Pompeii

Our last day of the tour was a visit to Pompeii, the opulent Roman town which was preserved by layers of ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79. The walking tour explained the life of the ancient Roman civilisation.

In the evening we had our last dinner with our fellow travellers. it was a great night and we hope to keep in touch with some of them and exchange photographs. We all agreed it had been an excellent tour and we had been very lucky to have had Brad as our tour manager. He not only organised us all well but told super stories en-route. Most of the group were American with only one other couple from Australia, Perth.

Our next stop....Interlaken Switzerland

Isle of capri

We had a lovely day on the Isle of Capri, it was really beautiful with magnificent views over the Mediterranean Sea. We had lots of time to explore the narrow alleyways and browse the exclusive boutiques.

After we left the Island we went back to Sorrento where we were staying for two nights. Sorrento is also a picturesque place, set high up on the hill with views every way you turned.

Florence

Our first visit in Florence was to the Academy Gallery to see Michelangelo's monumental figure of David in all his glory. Interesting to note that the statue depicts a man of about 18years in age whereas in the Bible he is said to be about 14 years. Unable to take photos in the Gallery we had to settle for the 'copied' version which is outside in the square.

The Ponte Vecchio bridge (photo) managed to survive the war because Hitler would not allow it to be destroyed!

Pisa

After leaving Venice we drove to the coastal town of Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower. I was quite surprised to see how much it did actually lean, far more I thought than what a photograph portrays.

After leaving Pisa we drove to the Tuscan spa resort of Montecatini for a 2 night stay. This is a lovely town full of character, with lots of nice restaurants and interesting shops!

Venice

Is this supposed to be the city of romance? Somehow it didn't seem quite like that with 6 of us

crammed onto a Gondola and being guided around the canals! All good fun though.

Assissi

After leaving Rome we followed the valley of the River Tiber to the hills of Umbria, which form part of the Apennines. We stayed overnight in the hill-top town of Assisi, the home of St Francis.
The huge Basilica which was built in the 13th century after St Francis' death, has huge frescoes of Italian art throughout the building.
Whilst in Assisi we went on a mini tour to the beautiful little Umbrian town of Spello. The little pathways and lanes were how I imagined Italy to be with the old but quaint buildings and cobbled stoned streets lined with window boxes of flowers.

We had a couple of days in Rome before the tour began which was good as it gave us a chance to do a bit of exploring and to get lost.... on several occassions. We found the maps a bit hard to read, maybe that was because of the minute print it was in or we just couldn't understand the words. Anyway it was all good fun and by the time the tour began we had a better understanding of this ancient city.

After a lovely weekend with all the family together to celebrate William's first birthday, the day has arrived for Jo and Michael to set off on their holiday.
The day began with a picnic at Lilydale Lake. William had a great time in the playground celebrating his special day as did parents and grandparent's.
Our flight went at 11pm so after a busy day we were quite happy to get on board and relax. We can recommend Qatar, the service was excellent and we especially enjoyed the comfort of lay back seats! We were issued with light weight track suits to sleep in, I wore mine but needless to say Michael wouldn't change into his!
First stop, Rome.

May 10th, William's 1st Birthday and the beginning of our holiday