Stresa

Stresa We left Grenoble at the spritely hour of 7 and started our long journey to Stresa, Italy. After changing st Cambrey we were put on to a bus to Torino (Turin ) which was a bit stressful as we were worried about our bikes, but they had room under the bus and the 3 hour journey went pretty quickly. As soon as you cross the boarder it is as in drivers hands become automatically attatched to the car horn. It brought a smile to my face. At Torino we boarded the first of our three Italian trains to get to Stresa. When we changed at Santhia we were on a one carriage local train, it was a bit of a squash. Then at Arona we had to run with the bike bags and back packs up and down stairs to catch the final train of the day which was pulling into the station. I was looking forward to Stresa so much. 10 years ago I stayed in a town about 10kms away for a few months and fell in love with Stresa. It is situated just over an hour north of Milan, on the shores of Lago Maggorie (major lake). It is also at the base of Mottarone, a small ski fields. Stresa also has three Islands near by with Isola Bella being famous for its gardens. Baz fell in love with its beauty straight away and it was great having a room with a lake view. The cobbled streets are narrow and basically free of cars. It's outside dining is spectacular and plenty of pizza and Gelato to be had. It was great to be in a familiar place and on the second morning I took Baz out on a gentle ride around some of valley's (kept him away from the hills). It brought back some good memories but I was also filled with a bit of regret that I didn't make the most of the opportunities I had back then. The next day I set out to tackle Mottarone. For one reason or another I never got around to doing the whole climb last time I was here, I had been through the villages on the lower slopes on both sides but never to the summit. It is a 21km climb and the last 5kms are pretty tough. There was also one section there that was 20% and nearly went for a kilometer. The first 4kms of the climb are spectacular with the views of the islands and it is the reason i loved this place. I grinded my way up and got the reward of a spectacular view not only Lago Maggorie but another 6 lakes that are visible on a clear day. After a coffee I froze my arse off descending down, in fact I got some paper out of a dumpster at th start of the descent to throw down my top to break the wind. Later in the day Baz and I got the gondala back to the top and had lunch up there which was fantastic. Boris the Bear also loved the view. From the top you could see the Matterhorn. There was also a down hill toboggan ride up the top which was great. I must admit that by the time we got to the bottom in the Gondala I was over Americans. Every time I have been to the USA the people are great but, no offense, when you get them out of the country the whinge at everything. I was over hearing them whinge about things not being in English. For f#%k sake you are in Italy they don't have to put everything in English. Swallow a bag of cement people. Would hate to see them in some parts of Italy where English is almost non existent. Must say that I was vey sad when our time in Stresa came to an end.

Alpe D'HUEZ

Been a bit slack recently, plus lack of power meant we had to be selective in what we used the iPads for. Alpe d'huez Well the trip from Paris to Grenoble was fast, with some beautiful scenery flying by. Grenoble wasn't a very spectacular town, apart from the Bastille up on the hill. Took advantage of the a beautiful weather and long days to get in a short ride. The beauty of this part of the world is if you want a hard ride you dont have to go far, you just head up the numerous climbs. even in such a short climb the views are amazing. While I was o ur riding Baz was getting his first taste of driving in Europe, and it was a sour taste, straight into a gutter a popping the hire car tyre. Next morning it was off to the famed Alpe d' Huez to tackle the famed 21 hair pins. The town of Bourg Di-oisans is a quaint village with a few nice bakeries and bike shops. As we were running late that morning it was a very short warm up (5kms) before hitting hitting the slopes. After 500m of the 14.5km climb I was out of gears, wishing I had of listened to old man Westcott and put on a 27. Anyway grinding through the first few kms it gets a bit easier although the grind a the lack of warm uplingered. Favorite part of the climb had to be Dutch corner (hairpin number 7). Made it to the top, took a quick pick and it was down to see how dad was going. He was suffering along but loving it. Taking it a few corners a time. We were blessed with unbelievable weather, the garmin was showing over 30. It was great still having the snow on some of the slopes and dad had one of his stops in the snow and we were able to fill up our water bottles straight from the streams running down the mountain. Dad was rapt whe he made it to the top. We had a coffee and coke up there before starting the descent (with a few stops for pictures). All the hairpins have signs that have a name of an Alpe D'Huez stage winner. Westcott told me he wanted a photo of the Greg LeMond corner. So each hairpin I kept an eye out for that corner. There was one corner that I missed and by the time I had got to the last hairpin (21 L. Armstrong, F Coppi) I was annoyed as the one that I missed must of been LeMond. So back up I went in search. Got to the corner I missed, no LeMond so went to the next corner just in case. No LeMond, Wtf. So down I went. Had fun on th descent passing a few cars along the way. At the bottom went to the bike shop and was looking at the photos of the stage winners when I noticed LeMond hand in hand with his team mate and 5 time winner Bernard Hinault. The penny dropped, the stage win had been given to Hinault. Apart from the sunburn, the poor gear choice and the lack of time, it was a great day, can cross that off the bucket list. Well done to Baz for his awesome effort too. After hearing my phone get a text message after 1km I was relieved to get to the top and see it wasn't a message from him quitting

Paris

Paris Well we got to Paris in one piece. We got lucky and could check straight into our hotel. So we headed straight to the Champs Élysées. France had just had there election and the arc d triompe was surrounded by French flags. It was a real sign of nationalistic pride. We had a coffee in the nespresso store which was unbelievable and the macchiato was delicious.  Later we headed down to the Eiffel tower, on walking there you get to see just how grand the buildings are. At the tower they only had one of the 4 lifts operating so we decided to give it a miss. We then walked through the grassed area to the Ecole military. After that it was off to galleries layfatte which is a beautiful department store. Had bad memories of being stuck in there many years ago, but they do have a cool roof top terrace. Went back to the hotels and fell asleep. Had a great run through Paris the next morning, saw more in 10kms than I did in 3 days last time. After breakfast we headed to the Eiffel Tower. It was great to go up to the top of the tower this time (last time we could only go to level two), it made the 90minute wait worth while. I enjoyed the view better in the day time rather than at night, it enabled you to see the landmarks better. The fact Gustav Eiffel built himself an apartment up the top was amazing. Fair hike up the 1710 steps back then. I think the visit to Sacre Coeur was probably the highlight of the time in Paris. The whole Montmartre area up there was beautiful with the small streett. The art work was fascinating as were all the street artists there. The church itself was magnificent. The detail in the art work on the roof was sensational. We visited Notre Dame after this, at least this time the facade wasnt all covered over. Impressive building considering it is 800 years old. That night we did the boat ride along the seine. Great seeing the grand buildings lit up. The last morning I decided that I was determined to see the Mona Lisa. This has been on the bucket list and it was looking like it was going to have to wait until the next trip with the family. But we got there early and the line was short, we went straight in and straight in to the Mona Lisa. It was great as it wasn't crowded. I had been told how small the painting is so I was expecting to see some tiny picture, and it was great that it was bigger than I expected. We didn't get to see much of the louvre but what we did see was spectacular. On the way back to the hotel we dropped back to nespresso on Champs Elysess. Yum. Then it was onto the tgv to Grenoble. Love the fast trains.

Holland

Well our few days in The Netherlands went way too fast. It was great to see Roy and Anita again after 10 years, time flies. Of course now they have 3 beautiful kids. They were very generous hosts. Holten is a fantastic place and the countryside around there is wonderful. Riding the other morning was so peaceful and I loved the little villages. I wish I could of gotten out on the bike for longer. It was amazing to watch the Dutch lifestyle and just how much they rely on bikes. We went to Anita's mums 65th birthday and most of the guest rode there. It is not uncommon for them to ride 15 - 20 Kim's to work or school. As I was out running it was awesome to see bikes everywhere riding to work or school even when I was on a forest path there was a few riding to town. Yesterday we went I to Amsterdam for the day. It was every bit as beautiful as I remembered it. What I noticed more this trip was just how crooked the buildings were. Maybe I can claim that I have built my retaining walls at home in 'Amsterdam Style'. We did the usual boat tour of the canals and found some cheese shops. I was in heaven tasting them. I loved the pesto cheese. Also got myself some more stroopwaffles, mmmmm. The red light district was as usual a real mixture of people from all walks of life. If was funny just to sit back in a coffee shop and watch them all go by. I think the alley was were a lot more lit up and had a safer feel than last time I went.  It cracks me up all the bikes parked around the city in every place you could imagine. Even this morning at 5.45 the multi story bike park at Amsterdam ceentral was almost full. I wonder how many of them never move. Now typing away on the TGV, have wifi access which is great for the journey. Again, Australian trains suck. Well Paris awaits. It's been 13 years since I have been to Paris and that time I was lucky to see the outside of a shopping center.

Some good luck.

Well it was a bit of a stressed out start, after been given an impossible connection at Heathrow we had to wait there for over 4 hours. In the end we got into Frankfurt later than the sleep at Singapore option. But that wasn't the worst of it. We waited and waited for out bags. Baz's backpack was there but that was all.  It was already after 2pm (we were originally meant to arrive at 6am) and we were getting a train out at 9.30am the next morning. So was a bit stressed. They told us our bags were in London and should be landing at around 5pm. So in to Frankfurt we went.  Frankfurt is quite a modern city and in past visits to Germany I had never noticed how much they drank in public. There were people everywhere walking around with bottles of beer, and in some cases small kegs. Romer place was a nice area built in the traditional German style.  They also love there ice cream. We walked along the river and back to our hotel. Bought myself a new t-shirt, the one i had on had been worn for 36 hours straight and wasnt too plesant. Our bags hadn't arrived. Went and had a bite to eat, still no bags. So we rang BA at 8.30pm and they said the bags had landed at 8 and were on the way to the hotel. Fell asleep soon after. At midnight we were awoken by reception to say our bikes had arrived much to our relief. Woke up till tired didnt get as much sleep as I would of liked. Went for a run through the city, always love running round a new city in the morning. There were so many broken beer bottles everywhere. Running through the red light district was interesting, it was still all happening. After a nice traditional breakfast it was on to the train on route to Holten, The Netherlands to see Roy and Anita. The ICE fast trains here are so nice and fast compared to home. We had to make a few changes along the way and as we were waiting for our last train Baz realized he had left his wallet on the previous train. We jumped on our next train in a pretty flat mood. When the conductor came along we told her. She got straight on the phone to the othertrain. About 1/2 an hour after we arrived in Holten we got a phone call saying it had been found and it had all the cards and money in it. Couldn't believe our luck. So back in the car we drove 2 1/2 to get it back, thank you Anita.

More dramas

No bags or bikes. Got to love that. Bazs bag arrived but. It his bike. I stink and am off to buy some clothes, I usually hates hopping but not today. Watch out Frankfurt

Frustrating

Well it has been an interesting start to the trip. Beautiful meal in Qantas club, then on to the A380 to Singapore. Flight was great. Because we were following the sun we got an amazing 3 hour sunset. As we were standing on up ready to get off the plane, looking forward to a shower and meal in Qantas club,when an announcement came on for Frankfurt passengers to go to ground staff. So off we trod to transit and only a short line was there, but that short line took a long time to move. 80 minutes later we were at the front of the que. Two options, would of been three if the line moved faster, 1. Wait until 5.45am( it was 10pm) and catch the morning flight to Frankfurt or 2. catch a British airways flight at 11.25pm to London and then get a flight to Frankfurt getting there a few hours earlier than the direct flight. So we took option 2. It will now take a few hours out of our day in Frankfurt, but oh well. Must say the A380 is much nicer than the BA 747 and the BA entertainment system and food suxs compared to the Qantas set up. Well the drama continued. Got to Heathrow, changed terminals went to check in and the say it's closed and we were given an impossible transfer time. So now got to hang around Heathrow for 4 hours. Thank god for. BA lounge

Time to go.

Well after a beautiful lunch in qantas club it is time to board. We have our mascot Boris the Bear with us, a present from my two beautiful kids.QF 9 - airbus A380 here we come

Can't forget!

Thongs! Or flip flops. Was doing a list of what not to forget the other day when I was reminded of Thongs. Nearly every trip or holiday I go on I forget to take them.  When I last went to Europe I remembered on the day I was leaving that I didn't have a pair. Couldn't find a pair in the usual places- Target, Big W etc and ended up coming across these little beauties in Home Hardware in Mooroopna. Looked and them and just thought the pictures would rub off. Obviously not, this pic was taken on the last day of the 4 month trip. Was ditching everything that I didn't need as I was coming home and had a crook neck. So these were left at East London University.  Wish I hadn't they were great. Pools in Europe especially in Italy are very strict on having to wear thongs to pool edge, no thongs and they often wont let you in. Many pools you had to walk through a small foot pool that also automatically showered you as you went through (wish I had of know this the first time, got a bit of a shock).

On pools, one of the different things about Italian swimming change rooms was the fact that if you had a male infant then the mums would take that infant into the male changerooms. Got a bit of a shock when I walked in after swim to be confronted in the shower by an 19year female who was there helping her student shower. Apparently you are meant to keep your bathers on in the showers there - Whoops.

Almost There

Well this trip has been a long time in the making. We have been putting this trip together for over 6 months and at times it has consumed me. We haven't left yet but I already regret trying to squeeze too much into four weeks. For me it will be my 4th trip to Europe, but the last one of those was 10 years ago. Baz (Dad) hasn't been to Europe since 1993, when we both went to England. It is amazing how time has moved so fast since then. My other trips to Europe was in quite quick succession.
Whilst I am not going to any new countries in this trip (ha that sounds like the last trip), I am looking looking forward to seeing more of Paris and Rome that I missed out on doing on my last two trips for various reasons- many out of my control. I can't wait to see Cinque Terre. Back in 2002 I can remember seeing flashes of the Villages as the train raced in and out of the tunnels on the way to Genoa.
We have hired a Motorhome for one of the weeks away and are going to follow the Giro d'Italia for a week. I am looking forward to it, but for anyone who has driven or been a passenger in a car in Italy know that it is hectic and crazy.

Here is a picture of the last time we were both in Europe together.