Saturday, June 17 – in the morning, Liz and I went into Aubenas for the market which is held all through the streets and square of the centre of town. It was a typical Provencal style market with plenty of fresh produce and other stalls. We bought some excellent cherries and some wine. After lunch, Pascale took us for a drive up into the mountains onto the Massif Central which is a large elevated area covering 15% of France. It has been quite volcanic and the terrain and formations reflect this. The highlight was a walk to the Ray-pic waterfall which is quite high but interesting because it is surrounded by volcanic/lava formations hexagonal in shape like those at the giants causeway in Ireland and the organ pipes national park in Melbourne. The air was much cooler at the top and there were still many wild flowers on the meadows. On the way home we stopped in Val-les-Bains at a famous ice cream shop called Beatrix for some excellent indulgences.
 
Sunday, June 18 – On our last day in France, Pascale took us to a new tourist attraction called the Caverne du Pont d’Arc. It is a faithful recreation of a nearby cave found in 1994. The caves are famous for the quality and age of the art found inside. It is the oldest cave art found in Europe at 26,000 years. The reality of the reproduction is amazing with details such as straw stalactites, bones, footprints and of course the art looking like it is the real thing. We will find some pictures for our web site. We finished the dy with a nice lunch at a local restaurant in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc. It was very hot so we came home to do a bit of washing and cool off. We weren’t prepared for the warm weather on most of the trip and particularly here. Our warm jackets haven’t left the case.
 
Tomorrow we drive back to Avignon, get the TGV to Charles de Gaulle airport and fly to Tokyo (all going well).

I have finally got time to report on our travels in England and Wales. We are currently on the Eurostar from London to Avignon, a trip which takes almost 6 hours. This was giving me motion sickness so continuing on Saturday from Pascale’s house in Bayzan in the Ardeche region.
 
Monday, June 5 – Our flight from Belfast to London was on time and we rented a Vauxhall Mokka. It had a sat nav but as it was set to avoid traffic and take the shortest route, we ended up lost on small back roads out of Heathrow. Using the sat nav on my phone plus Google maps got us back on track to Belper in Derbyshire. We stayed for 3 nights at Bridge Hill House B&B where we had stayed 2 years ago and is still the best B&B we have stayed in anywhere – great room and excellent breakfast. The town is also a good location for exploring the centre of England.
 
Tuesday, June 6 – Had a quiet day doing some washing. It rained so not much else to do.
 
Wednesday, June 7 – This was the day of the inaugural RHS flower show at Chatsworth House in the Peak District in Derbyshire. All of the guests and the owners of the B&B were going so after an early breakfast, we left in good time to arrive before the 10 AM opening – or so we thought. The traffic down the narrow roads into Chatsworth was backed up several kilometres so it took about 90 minutes extra to get in. Later people had waits of 2-3 hours! The show itself was very good although Chelsea was still better. Many of the exhibits and stands were the same. The location at Chatsworth was visually great but they will need to sort out the access problem in future. We did have a very nice 3 course lunch and tasted and bought some local gin.
 
Thursday, June 8 – We only had a short drive to Stoke-on-Trent that day but detoured into Wales to visit a woodworking shop to buy self-adhesive velvet Boris uses for jewellery boxes. It was less than 1/3 the price in Australia so 4 rolls are in the luggage – saved $280! Back to Stoke-on-Trent, we visited the brand new Wedgewood World which is a combination of factory tour, museum and shops for all things Wedgewood. The factory tour was extremely good as they have set up walkways all through the place and many of the staff were happy to talk to us. It was very informative and interesting. Some of the artists hand-painting items were extremely talented as was the guy making the white mouldings to apply to the traditional Jasperware.
 
Friday, June 9 – The weather was very good so on the way to our next stop we visited Powis Castle which is a red brick place set in extensive gardens and forest just inside Wales. We had a short visit 15 years ago but this time, spent a long time both in the house and all over the gardens. The yew hedges are a real highlight. On the way to our B&B we stopped in Aberystwyth to buy tickets for the Rheidol Railway the next day. We had 3 nights at a very good B&B near Aberaeron on Cardigan Bay on the Welsh central coast.
 
Saturday, June 10 – Despite a bit of rain, the steam train trip from Aberystwyth to Devils Bridge was very interesting with great scenery. The trip is an hour each way plus an hour at Devils Bridge for lunch and a walk. The train line is very narrow gauge at 1’11½“ to cope with the winding way up the mountain. It was originally to transport freight and ore for the lead mines and was the last steam operated line still running under British Rail. The engines, line and stations have all been renovated and are in excellent condition. The highlight of the destination is a bridge over a very narrow gorge and waterfall. Over the years, 3 bridges were built, each one higher than the last and they are all intact. They date from 11th century, 1798 and 1901. On the way back we had a look at an old national trust home called Llanerchaeron. It was notable for being redesigned by John Nash, a famous architect.
 
Sunday, June 11 – As we had joined the National Trust, we sought out a few properties in Southwest Wales. We started with a locality called Mwnt which was a beach surrounded by rugged cliffs. We then went down to St David’s where we were surprised by the size and good condition of the cathedral and the ruins of the bishop’s palace. It was founded by St David, the patron saint of Wales around 600 and the current cathedral was started in 1131 and partially destroyed and rebuilt over the years. Previously mentioned John Nash built one section in 1793. The inside was notable for many wood carvings including the entire ceiling. Nearby, we went down more very narrow roads to Abereiddy where there is a feature called the blue lagoon. It was formed by the sea breaking in to an abandoned slate mine and has some interesting colours. The coast around it is again very rugged being near the end of Cardigan Bay and looking at the Atlantic Ocean. People were surfing at the small beach and also engaging in “coasteering”, a new activity which seems to involve jumping, climbing and swimming around rocky coasts.
 
Monday, June 12 – On the way from Aberaeron to Swansea and our last 3 nights in Wales, we stopped at 2 more ruined castles and the coastal town of Tenby. The south coast of Wales and England have some of the world’s largest tides so while we were there we saw the boats go from floating to resting on the sand with the water 100 metres away. For those who have seen Grand Designs on TV, the Tenby lifeboat station featured several years ago. A farmer left 3 million pounds which was used to buy a state of the art lifeboat and new building to go with it. The word lifeboat is a bit misleading as it is a large vessel capable of rescuing over 100 people. It is kept high and dry in the “shed” and launched in seconds down a ramp. It is worth searching on YouTube for videos of it. The old shed was converted to a home and shown on TV. Tenby has a lot of other history and is a very interesting and picturesque town. After fighting the traffic through Swansea we found our B&B in Mumbles in a very steep area near the sea and reputedly the best surf beach in Britain. It was run by a couple with 2 kids and they do a great job. The room was very good and the breakfasts great.

​Next Episode
 
Saturday, May 27 – Before and during breakfast in Ballymote, we did all of our washing at the local supermarket which was 3 minutes away. As we drove out, it was all dry. Also at the B&B we were given a book left by a previous guest called Back Roads Ireland which has 25 recommended drives. It proved invaluable and we followed parts of several drives in the next week. The first took us down some very narrow and winding roads in Mayo and Galway counties on our way to Barna near Galway. The views of various mountains, valleys and loughs (lakes) were amazing. We stayed for two nights at the Twelve Hotel which is a small hotel with one of the best restaurants in Ireland. We ate there one night and at the bistro the other. Both were very good.
 
Sunday, May 28 – We spent the day driving through some of the Connemara area which is on the wild west of Ireland in Galway county. We had 2 major stops. The first was a Aughnanure Castle which is well preserved vertical castle built in the time of Henry II. It is on several levels with one spiral staircase connecting each one. We saw quite a few others on our journey but this seemed to be the best preserved. Much of the rest of the day was spent at Kylemore Abbey and Garden. This was built in the 19th century as a home but bought by Benedictine nuns who ran a school here until recently. The house itself is quite good but the Victorian gardens are spectacular with a vast array of plants and styles. Part of it was decorative and part to grow produce for the family and then the school. We walked about 5 km there.
 
Monday, May 29 – On the way from Galway to Killarney, we had a stop to see the cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland’s most popular attractions. They are on the coast of County Clare and are up to 1,000 feet high. It was misty on arrival but cleared up as we walked around. The views are excellent. We continued on to our B&B via some more narrow back roads and a car ferry. Friars Glen B&B is at Muckross inside Killarney National Park and was one of the best we have stayed in. Killarney is a very popular area to do the drives around the ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsular and this B&B is in a quiet area but close to the drives and several pubs and restaurants. The owners were very helpful with maps and tips about seeing the area.
 
Tuesday, May 30 – Fortunately we had mostly good weather to drive the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring drive at the end of the peninsula. As buses must drive in an anticlockwise direction, we did the opposite and encountered very few buses. They are not allowed on the Skellig Drive or Valencia Island so by the time we finished there the buses had gone past. After starting with light rain and misty mountains, the day cleared to be warm and sunny so the views were amazing. We stopped at Staigue Fort which is a stone ring fort dating to 300-400 AD. It was a nice detour and well preserved. Some of the best views and narrowest roads were on the Skellig Ring drive and Valencia Island. On the way back, we followed the recommended route from our new book and drove over some very narrow roads across the Ballaghbeama Gap. This was one of the best drives we did with (luckily) very few other cars and excellent views. It is a wild, desolate area.
 
Wednesday, May 31 – The second “essential” drive in the south of Ireland is around the Dingle Peninsula. Again we followed our book and started with 2 passes as the weather was fine and clear in the morning. The pass of Caherconree was through some wild moor type country with almost no other traffic. We got views of the sea both north and south. The second pass was quite busy and narrow but no buses or large vehicles are allowed. It is the Connor Pass and leads to the town of Dingle. Again, the views were excellent both directions although the wind was ferocious. After coffee and a scone in Dingle, we drove around the end of the peninsula for some more breathtaking views.
 
Thursday, June 1 – Rain was the highlight of this day. Dublin was our destination but we started by doing washing at a Tesco Supermarket near Cork. They had a very nice coffee shop to sit in while we were waiting. On the way we stopped at the Rock of Cashel, another famous site. It was the seat of the Kings of Munster from the 4th century and then a religious centre before Cromwell’s army destroyed much of it. There are several well preserved buildings and we sat in on a guided tour for a bit of the history. It was rather wet so we didn’t linger too long. We managed to negotiate the winding and one-way roads of Dublin to our B&B Hotel which was only a 25 minute walk from the centre of the city.
 
Friday, June 2 – To get a taste of Dublin, we decided to do a historical walking tour. It was very good although quite long at about 2½ hours. We got a good history of Dublin and Ireland while visiting many of the historical sites. We also booked an evening event called the Musical Pub Crawl Dinner Show. We started at one pub and went to a second for a 45 minute session of Irish music. We were entertained and informed by a lady who played the violin and a bloke who sang and played guitar. They were both extremely good and had everyone singing along. We then went to a restaurant for our meal and more music and singing. They were joined by an Irish dancer who was also very good. The whole experience was great and good value at about A$65 each. As we had got tired out from the day’s walking, we worked out the bus system to get to and from the pub crawl.
 
Saturday, June 3 – It is reasonably short drive to Belfast from Dublin so we detoured around the coast to the southeast of Belfast. We found a great (and popular) coffee shop in a town called Kilkeel. We sat near a couple and struck up a conversation. The bloke was a local and very hard to understand. Even his girlfriend (they were in their 50s) who was English, had trouble! It was all good fun. As part of our membership of the RHS to go to the flower shows, we get free entry to a lot of gardens so we stopped at one on the way. It was Seaforde Gardens and quite a nice walk although most of the flowering plants were past their best. A highlight was the maze which was square on the outside and circular in the centre and quite difficult to get into. Getting into Belfast was also a little difficult although the GPS didn’t lead us astray and we found our B&B Hotel quite easily and were able to check in early.
 
Sunday, June 4 – This was our last day in Ireland and rain was forecast after lunch so we headed out reasonably early and walked to the St George’s Market which is under cover and has a wide range of handicrafts and food. Good for quality souvenirs. We continued on to the Titanic Belfast exhibition which is very well done and showcases some of the history of Belfast as well as the building and sinking of the Titanic. It also includes a visit to the only White Star line vessel in existence. It is the SS Nomadic and was originally used as a tender for the large vessels in ports such as Cherbourg where they could not tie up. The whole experience was fascinating. As it was a long walk back and starting to rain, we caught a taxi back to the hotel. We fly back to London tomorrow for the next leg of our holiday.

​Sorry for the delay in starting a blog for this trip but time got away from us and things have been busy. We just arrived in Belfast today (Saturday, June 3) and were able to check in early and have some free time with no washing to do.
 
Just a note about washing in Ireland. We discovered a new laundromat chain called Revolution Laundrette who have over 100 locations all over Ireland. They are located at either service stations or supermarkets and are open 24/7. Each one has an 8 kg and an 18 kg washer and an 18 kg drier. Detergent is dispensed automatically and the results are very good. We did 2 large loads on our trip.
 
The trip started on Saturday, May 20 with a flight to Sydney and a night there. On Sunday we flew to Tokyo with Japan Airlines and spent a night before flying to Paris on Monday 22nd. On arrival, we caught the local train to Gare du Nord and the Eurostar to London where we spent 3 nights. We stayed at the Hotel Megaro which is right opposite Kings Cross St Pancras station and has easy access to both the Eurostar platforms and the underground direct to Heathrow. The rooms are quite large and moderate in price for London.
 
Tuesday, May 23 – We spent our free day in London going to the Victoria & Albert Museum. It is so vast that it will take several visits to see everything. We started on the top level with porcelain and ceramics where there was a huge array of items on display. We picked a few other areas at random and left before we got too tired.
 
Wednesday, May 24 – This was the big day with a visit to the famous Chelsea Flower Show. We had joined the Royal Horticultural Society and purchased tickets to one of the member days on the day they went on sale – 1 September, 2016. They were sold out next time we looked in February. Not being sure how bad the crowds would be, we arrived at the gate 40 minutes before the 8.00 AM opening time and were in the first dozen through the turnstiles. This meant we had great views of the show gardens which are the highlight of the show. The show as well worth attending with a diverse range of displays form landscaping to plants and flowers to garden ornaments and sculptures and various hardware and accessories. There were no Australian displays this year, only one company from Ocean Grove in Victoria showing and selling bronze bird baths. The day was warm and sunny which helped a lot. The week was actually almost record breaking for England with temperatures up to 30o C! By midday, we had seen everything and had a quick lunch and returned to our hotel. We were told the crowds were down because of the Manchester bombing. Apparently, 25% of people with tickets didn’t turn up on the Tuesday. By the time we left, it was quite busy but not unmanageable.
 
Thursday, May 25 – Today, we started our Ireland visit with a flight from Heathrow to Belfast City Airport on British Airways. We arrived early, picked up our rental car and headed straight for the Giants Causeway. This is on the North coast of Northern Ireland and is an amazing formation of rocks in hexagonal columns over quite a large area. It was quite hot and sunny so the long walk down to them was tiring but the views were excellent. The whole coast in the area has some great views. We stayed just one night at a very good B&B in Portstewart and had one of our best Irish meals at a pub called Shenanigans.
 
Friday, May 26 – The Wild Atlantic Way is a signposted route right down the west coast of Ireland from Londonderry in the north to Kinsale in the south. We followed parts of it over the next week and saw some great scenery. This day we detoured at Letterkenny up north to Fanad Head lighthouse seeing some good views along the way. The roads were quite narrow – as they are in much of the island – so it was slow going. We crossed into the Republic of Ireland later in the day and drove via Donegal and Sligo to our B&B in Ballymote, a small village in Sligo County. We had a nice dinner at the local pub and then had a late trip to see the Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery. It is in a rather inaccessible area 45 minutes away down some farm tracks. After getting lost walking around the area, we finally found 3  of the 20 tombs which are 5,800 years old and in amazingly good condition. The effort and time were well worth it.
 
To be continued.

We are waiting for our plane on the first wet day we have had in Japan. On our arrival a week ago we were very lucky and got through immigration and baggage very fast and got trains to Tokyo then Okayama earlier than planned. For the first time we rented a wifi device which has been a godsend for looking things up, finding our way, translating and of course playing Pokémon Go!

In Okayama, we stayed at a different hotel which turned out to be quite cheap with a big room and good breakfast included. We also had the luxury of a massage chair in the room, great after a long day's walking. The purpose of staying in the area was to visit more of the Setouchi Triennale 2016 art festival held on the islands of the inland sea between Honshu and Shikoku. On Tuesday we visited 2 islands starting by catching a ferry which went under the Seto-Ohashi bridge and got great views on a clear day. The bridge is 13.1 km long and is actually a series of bridges connecting several islands. It is 2 levels with cars above and trains below. The islands we visited, Honjima and Takamijima were only open in Autumn and are quite small. They had some interesting art installations of various types. The locals, very few of them, were quite welcoming and even provided free tea at one point. There was quite a long climb on the second island but we ate lunch with a great view. On the second day we went to the most famous art island, Naoshima. It was quite busy but we restricted ourselves to new installations and had an excellent fish burger for lunch. Photos will be posted soon. Back in Okayama, we visited the Aussie Bar which we had found 8 years ago while doing laundry. Jason from Geelong is the owner and back then he had split from his Japanese wife but had to stay to get access to his sons. Now he has remarried and still runs the bar with Aussie food available including fish and chips and a roo burger.

On Thursday we returned to Tokyo for 4 nights starting with shopping and general sightseeing on Friday. We were up early on Saturday for the highlight of the trip, a steam train ride from Niigata to Aizu-Wakamatsu. The train wasn't as busy as expected so we had an enjoyable trip in well appointed carriages with lots of room to move around and take in the views. On the way we saw at least 500 train enthusiasts photographing our train. We have seen them before but not in such numbers. On Sunday, we had a change of pace with a 1 hour trip on the Genbi Shinkansen which is billed a the world's fastest art gallery. It is a Shinkansen (bullet train) which has been done up as an art gallery including the outside. There are 6 cars including one which has a children's play area and shop. It was only a 50 minute trip but quite enjoyable. Both train trips were included in the cost of the rail pass.

There were no plans for today due to rain forecast so we left early for the airport only to find major train delays due to a death or injury somewhere. We got here in the end and are enjoying food and sake in the lounge.

Back to reality tomorrow!

​

There was light rain on our arrival in Dresden but we still walked the 10 minutes to our excellent hotel - NH Collection - our home for 2 nights. Liz found some shoes in the huge shopping mall near the hotel and we ate at a restaurant which translated to the chook house! Good chicken dishes. The second night we ate at the Altmarkt Keller (old market cellar) a typical German restaurant with large meals but very good.


Dresden was a real delight to visit despite the destruction of WW2. Much has been rebuilt and the architecture is as good as any other city we visited. Much of the interest centres around August the strong who we had never heard of but ended up king of Poland and Saxony. He amassed an amazing collection of unique items and many are on display in the Green Vault. It is the largest collection of treasures in Europe and absolutely amazing. This is saying something after seeing the treasures of St Petersburg. There are 12 rooms and each has a theme such as amber, silver, silver gilt, precious objects and jewels. The garnitures or collections of jewelled objects representing symbols of power are unequalled. The amber room made that in Catherine's palace look amateurish. There were other collections in the same building including from Turkey, arms and armour, coins of the world. The ticket included entry to exhibitions at the Zwinger Palace where we saw Meissen porcelain, old master paintings and a collection of scientific instruments. Legs were very tired at the end of the day.


Yesterday, we had a 1 hour train ride to Leipzig where we stayed mainly on the way to Frankfurt for our flight to Tokyo. However, it is another surprise with a plethora of art nouveau buildings and a network of arcades which date back to the early 19th century. They had some amazing architectural features. We heard a choir singing in the church where Bach was cantor for 27 years. Goethe was also a favourite son with several statues. The station. Is a destination in itself being the largest and one of the oldest in Europe.


We have just arrived at Frankfurt airport after a smooth and rapid ride on the ICE train from Leipzig. Sitting in the lounge enjoying gin & tonic before our flight to Tokyo.


This trip has been a real eye opener with a history we had heard little or nothing about but which was as rich as much of British and French history. Our guide with Bunnik Tours made everything come to life, partly because she and her parents lived in Latvia during the Soviet era with its tribulations and repression. It is hard to reconcile the current modern states with that time which was quite recent.


Now, off to Japan.

The bugs struck again and I lost everything. Try again.


Sorry for the delays in getting blogs and photos done but days have been pretty full on and internet isn't always good. We are currently ready for our last night in Europe at the Best Western near Leipzig Station which happens to be the largest in Europe (the station not the hotel). There is a train trip to Frankfurt tomorrow followed by an overnight flight to Tokyo.


The trip to Cesky Krumlov was longer than planned due to lots of roadworks. It was almost 11 hours including stops! Our hotel was right on the main square in 3 old buildings and we got a very large room. After trying several recommended restaurants which were full (mostly with Chinese groups) we found a small place in a back street which turned out to be a little known gem called the Gipsy Bar. The local food was good and it was very cheap. We had a private tour of the castle which was very interesting and more enjoyable than some of the previous tours as we were alone and not coping with crowds. As it was raining steadily, we finished early and went to Prague for 2 nights.


As most people know, Prague is a beautiful city with many old buildings and is UNESCO world heritage listed. There is too much to describe but the highlight was a comprehensive visit to the castle some of which dates back to 870. We visited one cathedral and several other areas including the room of the defenestration of Prague which happened in 1618. Those thrown out of the window survived but the act precipitated the 30 years war which I just read involved most of Europe and was between those for and against the Habsburgs. We finished with a walk back to the main square. We spent some of the afternoon at a local laundromat so we have enough clean clothes for most of the trip. Our tour finished with a good dinner at the restaurant under the hotel. It is in the style of a cave and built in the art nouveau period. It was Liz's birthday and she got a nice present and a sorbet with a sparkler in it!


On Thursday morning we caught the subway to the main station and a train to Dresden in Germany.

​

We had 2 nights in each of the 3 Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Baltic comes from the name of the Baltic Sea which means white or fair. Estonia is actually not Baltic but related to Finland as is their language. They are small in population at 1.3, 2 and 3 million respectively. They had varying histories but all became separate states after the First World War and were under Soviet rule until 1991 with a brief interlude under the Nazis. Our guide, Ilze is Latvian and has given us a very good insight into life under the Russians, mostly from her parents. Basically they were bastards who controlled every aspect of life and tortured and killed those considered enemies of the state. Other than soviet era buildings and the attitude of a few Russians, very little of this time is evident and the 3 countries are now modern, part of the EU and NATO and all use the Euro as currency. Relative to the rest of Europe, most things including food are quite cheap.


The first 2 nights were in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. We had a walking tour through the old town with its churches, city walls and other historic buildings. Both Tallinn and Riga (Latvia) had periods under the Swedes, Germans and Tsarist Russia which influenced their architecture. In the afternoon we had an optional tour to the Ethnographic Museum where over 70 original buildings have been collected. Most date from the 1800s and many have thatched roofs. We visited Tallinn last year and recommend a visit for 2-3 nights as it is a beautiful city with lots to see and is easy on the budget.


On the way to Riga, we had 3 stops to see some of the countryside of Latvia. All of the Baltic states are flat with a maximum elevation of 318 metres. After a stop to see a beach, we visited 2 areas where it was a bit hilly. The first was a soviet era bunker, built in response to the Cuban missile crisis but not finished until 1982 when the Cold War was virtually over. We had a guided tour by a guy who was a real comedian and brought it all to life. The bunker is 9 metres underground and has about 60 rooms, power supply, air filtration and a comprehensive communication facility. At the end, we had a treat of vodka, pickles and sardines on dark bread - very Russian!


The other visit was to Turaida castle which is mostly ruins but has a tower which can be climbed and also a modern sculpture exhibition depicting Latvian life and the struggle against the Soviets. It was a beautiful day and made the scenery a delight.


We had 2 nights in Riga with the usual city tour although with a couple of twists. We started with a visit to the opera house and a full behind the scenes tour with a glass of bubbles at the end. Our guide played a couple of tunes on the piano and our tour guide sang a Latvian folk song. She has a very good voice and has sung several folk songs in the bus for us. There are over 1 million documented Latvian folk songs! During the tour, we attended an organ recital in the church, played on the largest pipe organ in the world. The organist was a famous Russian who lives in Latvia and played 2 pieces which showcased the organ's range. It was an enjoyable day.


Last Tuesday we had 2 stops on the way to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The first was Rundale Palace which had elements of the Russian palaces because the designer did them as well. It was occupied by the Duke of Courland and has 136 rooms. It has been very well restored and was only finished recently after over 40 years. We had a personalised tour from 2 ladies dressed in period costumes. After we crossed into Lithuania, we stopped at the hill of crosses which has about 200,000 Christian crosses of all types and sizes dotted all over the hill and surrounds. On arrival in Vilnius, Liz and I walked the long way into the old town and, by accident, found one of the best and cheapest Lithuanian restaurants in town. Most of us had lunch there the next day.


The day tour of Vilnius took us to several points around the city and then a walking tour of the old town. It is a bit larger than Tallinn and Riga but still with some interesting buildings including the university and several unique churches. Lithuania was part of the Polish empire and is a strongly catholic country unlike its Baltic neighbours. Yesterday (Thursday 29th) we had a long drive to Warsaw, the capital of Poland with a new country and currency to deal with.


The Baltic states are well worth a visit, particularly Estonia and Latvia. The currency is the Euro, most people speak some English and there is a wealth of history most of us know little or nothing about. Prices are very reasonable for Aussies.

On Tuesday morning we were up early to catch the train from Moscow to St Petersburg. Just as well because Bunniks had the time wrong and we were aiming for 7.40 when it left at 6.40! The gods were with us and we all got on just as it pulled out. The time had changed as of 7 September. The train travels at 200 kmh and we arrived about 10.45. There was a large bus waiting for us so there was plenty of room for 11 people plus 2 guides. We had a short driving tour with a stop at the Church of the Spilled Blood which is similar to St Basils in Moscow. The highlight of the day was a visit to the Winter Palace/Hermitage museum. We spent 2 hours on a guided tour and only scratched the surface of 120 rooms and 7 million items. We were to have an extra hour but voted that the legs had had enough. We did see a good selection of the best parts but could easily come back several times. A further bus tour of the city got us to our hotel, the Crowne Plaza which is very good. We all ate at a dumpling restaurant next door. It turned out to be very good and cheap. Not just dumplings but many Russian dishes.

Wednesday started with a drive out of the city to Peterhof where were were lucky enough to be the first group in. Peterhof was built by Peter the Great as his summer palace and is reminiscent of Versailles. There are a large number of magnificent rooms and expanses of gardens with fountains fed by natural springs. We had a Russian lunch in the orangerie where Boris managed to have a battle in the Pokémon gym and won it.
On our return to the city, we stopped to look over the Neva river which was a major port. We continued to Peter & Paul fortress which controlled the river entrance for trade through the Baltic Sea to and from Russia. The cathedral there was important and has the tombs of most of the Romanovs including those killed in 1917.


Thursday was a free day but we all wanted to do the same optional tours starting with a cruise on the rivers and canals of St Petersburg. It was interesting to see the city from a new perspective. We then had a short drive out of the city to the Catherine Palace which was the summer palace started by Catherine I and continued by Elizabeth. It was almost destroyed by the Nazis but has been painstakingly restored. The famous amber room has all of its amber panels stolen, never to be found, so they have been recreated and the room looks magnificent. We feel I shed with a walk through the extensive gardens with various pavilions and a lake.


Despite the convoluted process to get visas, Russia is well worth a visit. We enjoyed the food and the sights and found it easy to get around. It would be best to go in the shoulder season as it gets very busy in summer. We found the major sights to be busy but not too much.




​