Hong Kong

What a blast landing in Hong Kong and only several hours sleep. (my fault)
Hotel room not ready but we are there for a day only. So with 2 hours sleep we have cruised Hong Kong and enjoyed the pungent smells and sensory overload. High temps and feel of well over 30 due to the humidity. Lapping it up as have had lots of complaints about the weather back home.
Have eaten my prawn wontons and ready to come home.

Arrivando in ROMA

Buonajourno
Leaving early this morning we are travelling to Rome 2 hrs on the train. Trundling our suitcases and carryons along Florence footpaths is a workout. The wheels are just holding out as the paths are cobbled and rutted so you have to lift the bags over parts. Now our bags are over 25 kilos so it is my weight training. The train is super comfy so time for a nanna nap.
We have seen so much by train, small orderly vineyards, fields of sunflowers blooming and maize and crops basking in the humid temperatures. Ochre and pink villas with little terracotta rooves as we flit by village after village. Amazing little nurseries all topiary plants along side the tracks amongst the tall poplars.
We have visited the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and St Peter's cathedral. 3 hours tour of artefacts, sculptures paintings and painted fresco overload. The pope flew out overhead at 4pm to Korea.

last day in Rome
boo hoo we fly home tomorrow. Spent last day doing our own walking tour of the colloseum and the forums. We discovered a lookout on musem of tomb of the unknown
soldier.
Back to see the Trevi Fountain which is under renovation. it looks terrible. very sad.

Last pix is of vatican. the Pope opens the 2nd to last window from the right.

soldier.

Cinque Terre

2 1/2 hours from Florence is this seaside group of towns built into the rock. Had an amazing day up early to bus , train and boat around four of the villages. Manarola, Riomaggiora, monterrosa and Vernazza. The sun was relentless while we walked the narrow streets competing with all the tourists. I never thought we would manage to climb onto the rocking boat but we did and the view from sea was amazing. Ate our seafood salad and basil pesto pasta for lunch and topped with fruit salad and Icecream. Delicious but the trains running overhead directly gave me such a fright. Gelato to cool down.
Sat at lunch with a Romanian couple.
Una Lunga giornata ma buona.
Mamma mia!

Arrivederci Firenze

Buonjourno
Pealing church bells send us to sleep and wake us each morning reminding us we are in Firenze.
See you again fantastico Florence. We walked the streets today after visiting David.  nice body. That is the Michelangelo statue at the Accademia that was mesmerising. Luckily we booked a ticket early 9.45am and already a line for reservations. When we left the line was huge for both. The Uffizzi museum had ancient art from the region. We checked out the Uffizzi and Ponte Vecchio but the Jewelery though tempting did not make me part with Colin's money.

The streets are teaming  with tourists  walking along the roads with pushchairs and baggage, so the cars can hardly drive down them. Besides  the street sellers placing themselves on footpaths,  you also have to dodge the beggars lying across your path. Persons begging  because they have amputations, just poor or for their sick baby.  Some are Romanian poor. One lady was onto it as she sat by the lucky pig where everyone throws their coins and she was catching the excess.

Graci
Buonasera
Arrivederci

Manneken Pis

Little pis boy in Brussels who has clothes presented to him from foreign dignitaries.

Fond Farewells

We have Farewelled the cruise staff with hugs and gratuities and also our new friends .Up at 6 this morning and transferred to London from Southampton quite easily. Dropped Daphne, Colin, Billy and Evey at Heathrow and we travelled onto Victoria station. Stowed our suitcases and took off to covent garden to look for dancing shoes. Was lovely to be in London and the weather was warming up nicely.

Decided after lunch to go visit the queen at Buckingham palace and it was bustling as the mall was closed off for a family cycle race.on the way there we nearly got scammed. A man approached and asked for directions to Kensington. Suddenly two big men surrounded us and asked what we were doing and wanted our ID. I produced our passports and they asked for us to show them our wallet. We thought they were undercover cops looking for illegal money changers. Colin's wallet is attached to his belt by a chain and he pulled it out to show them. Then I looked at their odd suits   and said Colin don't show them. I asked for their ID and hey said never mind. When I asked again they left. On the walk back I saw them still hovering around. Lucky we didn't lose anything but had very little Sterling left anyway.
Pix of us outside Buckingham Palace.

Pisa is leaning

Pisa
Finally we have made it to Pisa. Train station in Florence was a nightmare as we missed the first train as the ticket line was so long. Finally got some help with the tickets and found someone to tell us where to go. This particular train to Pisa , goes to La Spezia. 1 hr in the sweltering carriage and we walked 25 minutes in 33° heat to be stunned by the spectacle of the leaning tower and the cathedral and surrounding buildings.  I was starting to fade as had a but of a tummy upset. We discovered  you get free tickets to enter the cathedral but they are timed so we had a leisurely lunch (best spaghetti cabonnara ever) to recharge. Made it back to Florence at 5pm. Pisa was amazing and even my favorite shop Desigual. Mostly closed on a Sunday though.

Florence
This city is a dream. I am in love love love with it.  Tonight we have had another amazing meal of asparagus risotto and cheese ravioli with meat sauce.
Pasta will never be the same again.

Brussels, belgium

Here we are in Brussels Belgium and just bought chocolates from Leonidas. They are amazing but no samples! !  What the! !
Brussels is lovely and great for a last stop.  1 3/4 hr's from Zeebruge.
Silly us are in the info centre using the internet as it is raining outside. But still warm.

We are looking forward to the next stage of our trip when we disembark tomorrow
really like this town of gothic and baroque architecture but with huge modern buildings as well.
The tours guides said the tax is high and used for building but they don't get the benefits like in sweden.
they speak Flemish, 
Dutch and French. 
Belgium known for chocolates, little pis boy, black mussels, waffles and frites with mayonnaise.

All At Sea

Thank goodness a day off touring and we are at sea all day heading to Copenhagen our second to last stop. 5 days of  excursions in a row including Russia St Petersburg was tough going but we were the young ones on the bus. Some of the older fatties were really slow even just getting off the bus. I nodded off again in the Princess theatre watching the singer. The shows are not as good as on the Royal Princess. But Colin,  Evey and I had a good laugh watching the obese ladies try and sit in the theatre chairs. They perch their big bums on the arms, then plop, the weight sucks down into the chair and they squeeze their fat into it. It is so funny to watch them perch on top then  suddenly suction plop into the seat. Haven't worked out how they extract themselves yet.
The cities are melding into one but we are trying to capture the features of each city to remember them  by.
Eva our Swedish guide made the day. She said In her Swedish accent. "I'm just going to have a sip of vodka, no?. Scholl. Jus joking, it is only water."
We were due to leave port at 4.30pm but watching from our balcony at 4.40, we saw 6 people get off the hop on off bus and run 200m to the gates to board .
The officer said "you are very lucky" in a loud voice and all the Portside passengers were laughing and clapping them on. If you miss the ship you are on your own. Good lesson.
We have only two days left and don't want it to end. Glorious weather all the way through too.
Haven't hit the pool yet as sea days are cloudy and cooler but the lobsters round the pool have put us off. 

Copenhagen Denmark

We are really enjoying Copenhagen as we opted to go to the fishing village Dragor. It is a heritage village with lots of thatched rooves and quaint gardens with hollyhocks  and yellow ocher walls. So different but not long here
Went to the palace and stood outside prince Fredrick an d princess Marys residence
ps thanks for emails glad u like blog. have to leave my little internet connection now and get on bus. Known for little mermaid statue, the long bridge to Sweden $40 to cross one way, best danish ever tasted.

Stockholm Sweden

Loving this place. God Morgan.
It is 33 degrees but the bus is air conditioned.
Girl with the dragon tattoo was filmed here. 
Visited
Gamla stan, old town, smallest boy statue, 
Vasa museum old reclaimed ship is amazing with the museum built around it.
Just went to where the Nobel prize is presented with the blue room and the gold ballroom. Very cool.

Helsinki Finland

Great start today after gaining an hour and felt better but we all slept on the bus again. Funny to look around and find every body snoozing with their mouths agape and heads nodding around. Helsinki was small in the city and similar to all the other Baltic Towns we have seen so driving 1 hour out to Porvoo was something different. A little 1423 town of wooden buildings and the tourist sampling the chocolate in the local shop was the high light. Unfortunately we didn't buy any as it was average but we did a good test. Will wait till Belgium. An excellent lunch was provided of salad, bread, beef olives and potato cake which was a little spicy but delicious and well presented. Dessert was 2  mini fruit custard tarts. Yummy. More complaints as we sat enclosed in the restsurant in 29°heat.The best and most unusual was the Temppeliaukio Rock church carved into bedrock and all the walls were rock and the ceiling a copper cupola joined by glass to the rock. Some of the Americans nearly expired just walking up the little rise to see it. Lol.

Relaxing in our rooms as we cruise out of the port. Billy has taken a photo of my lower balcony where the lady has displayed her underwear in the sun to dry. Not the best sight but he thinks he should enter it into the photo competition. Argggh.

Tallin Estonia and To Russia with Love

Hi all.  We really are enjoying this cruise much more than last time. For a start we have made it to 4 days without mishap. The ship may be older  but easier to get around as it is more compact. The staff are really friendly and not pushy with up selling. We have an excellent waiter Romnick and waitress Magdalena who are cherry and happy givng us wonderful service in the dining room.  The food has been nearly faultless and we are really impressed. Unfortunately  having 4 courses is going to show quickly. So we have done zumba, walking track, salsa class and line dancing today. Wiped out now. billy went on diet for lunch and only ate salad but then had a memory lapse about lunch due to not eating enough. Made up for it at dinner though.

Tallin
Gorgous little medieval town with tons of character. Red roof tops and stone walls everywhere.. We walked around and it took us 4 hours. Not worth doing a tour or bus. Pick up a map from the tourist bureau in old town and do your own tour.

At Petersburg Russia
6.30 start and on the go seeing Hermitage Museum and the treasures which were breathtaking with the 24 carat diamond and the jewel encrusted jewelery covered in diamonds, ruby, and emeralds. Rembrants and Raphael paintings. Peter and Paul fortress and cathedral.where a firing of the cannon gave us all a real fright. All the places are airless and hot and I felt faint as you are not allowed to take food out of this port. Unfortunately the Russian lunch was a let down with vodka that smelt and tasted like meths.  Visited the Catherine the Great palace (1 1/2 drive ) for a magnificent evening of a champagne hor d'oeuvres band playing entrance to the visit and orchestral ensemble. Even acting out from a queen and performance by dancers. Dinner was a little intense with us cooking in the heat and the Russian singers performing upbeat loud music Which was impossible to relax in. Not home till midnight and an early start tomorrow.

Day 2
Started at the Peterhof palace. Magnificent for a smaller palace esp the cascading fountains. Full on day as you go thru the palace the rooms are stifling, just like everywhere else we have visited. Little Russian ladies sit in the rooms fanning themselves and nearly fainting. The canal ride  up the Fontanka River was a breath of fresh air and a sip of sparlking wine helped. After a slightly better lunch but not rushing out to eat Russian anytime soon, we finished off with St Isaacs and the church of the spilled blood. Both huge and magnificent but different with tons of gold decoration and mosaic masterpieces and huge stone pillars. Our guide Constantine was top notch and went over the history and Tsar rulers but we couldn't concentrate. Sergei and Anatole our bus drivers didn't talk, as the Russians even the waitresses don't speak English unless they work in the souvenir shops. Boy were we glad to get back to princess for dinner. Billy and Colin even had two soups.

Gothenburg Sweden

Oslo Norway
We did our own tour and caught the tram to Vigeland Park. Over 200 human body sculptures from  birth to death. Excellent visit. Not Much else but a look around a typical Scandinavian city with lots of shopping.
Princess warned us about the terrorist threat  but it was an overreaction. Was 27 degrees and they are all not used to the I unusual high temperatures for this side of the world.

Billy has befriended a Russian waiter called Anastasia who is a laugh. She says Villhem Chong and laughs a deep throaty Russian laugh which makes us crack up each night we go to have supper. Met some fellow New Zealanders who are hanging with us.
Unfortunately we thought we had signed onto the wrong ship as it seems to be a Retired and disabled bunch of people. We all think we are thin when we get into the lift next to some. No kidding. Beaches whales around the pool. Not a pretty sight on our holiday.

Gothenburg Sweden
Did the tour today with princess and got the  boring old fart and we kept falling asleep on the bus. The best was the canal ride with a super young guide and she took us through the cheesecutter  bridge which we had to kneel onto the floor of the boat and bend down. Otherwise you get your head knocked. It is really low too.
Troublesome internet here so will send pronto

Southampton overnight~ 8 become 6

Southampton not too exciting.
Thankgoodness it is just overnight.
the eggceptional 8 have become sensational six as Clement and Janet fly home.
We feel like the group is incomplete and in 14 days the couples will be going separate ways again. 

We left Prague at 1.50pm and have finally arrived in Southampton after a 2 hour transfer via shuttle.landed in
London to thunderstorms and a drop in temperature.  Novotel is a big disappointment after our other hotels. Must say the hotels in Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna and Prague were very comfortable, with spacious rooms and well appointed bathrooms. This is many grades lower and very tired decor. We have been spoilt. But looking forward to getting on the ship tomorrow afternoon . Oh for those soft pillows and silky sheets at the Marriot.

Dinner at Wagamama in the local shopping centre was delicious and after a walk around when the shops closed ,we decided to attack the shops tomorrow.
Got my eye on Ikea but no baggage room. The shops look much better than where we have come from.
Pix of  12th century city wall entrance now a ruin.
sorry hard to place pix as I have to take on my phone then send to my tablet and the save and post to blog. 
Usually use my camera which I can't post from.

I see phablets are coming in more, mobile and tablets. the moblie device is so handy when travelling. for those coming make sure you download all your apps and airline apps before you come so you can checkin by mobile. The airports have kiosks for you to print your airline ticket so options of ticketing to your email, mobile, pickup. 
I also have satellite Gps which is great so see if your phone has that too.
cheers

What's UP now? ?

GgGlad you all enjoying the blog so here is some extras for you. sorry some excerpts are short as time and internet  can be  limited .
Plus spelling and grammer a problem with predictive text and letter jumping on the blog programme.

Washing
As you know we being Chinese we like to wash clothes in the bathroom. Poor maid has decided to just give us extra fresh towels everyday as we are using them to wring out the wet washing and dump them over the bath. Even used the bathmat and hand towels. Bathroom looks like a Chinese laundry. The others are moaning as their maid didn't replace shampoo bottles (used as washing powder )

Shopping
For you ladies who want to know about the fashions I can't say that there is any direction here. Mostly casual and you cannot wear Highheels
To walk down the cobbled streets. Many UK labels and European labels but same prices with on going sales at the moment. Lots of prints  but I don't like much.

Clothes to wear
For those coming this way make sure you have clothes for all types of weather. I had to go and buy 2 singlet tops. Just didn't think it would be this hot but today the temperature dropped a lot as cloudy and I had to change clothes.  A knit skirt would have been good. Need a good hat and an umbrella. Good walking shoes a must.

Clem
For those watching we have Janets friend Clement travelling with us who is from New Jersey. His claim to fame is he featured for 15 seconds in the latest  Spiderman movie and also in Salt. Says Angelina Jolie is pleasant but not Nicole Kidman. Poor Clem had his wallet stolen in Amsterdam, tripped and fell in the bath in Berlin, and fell over on a slope in Budapest. Had been suffering with a painful back which Colin looked at and then gave him Billy's  Brufen tabs to keep him going. The next day Clem told Colin he once had an allergic reaction so he had to stop them. Didn't want another mishap. We said"his poor wife will never let him travel with those  New Zealanders again!"

Disabled rooms
Those couples with the disabled rooms are really on a learning curve. They have 2 door spy holes one low and one high. A tilting mirror and a sink plug with a big handle on it. We still haven't worked out why the toilet has a ledge inside it. Billy says he is going to put a seat like the disabled one in his bathroom. Not a good look really! Now he has broken the cord to the alarm.

Last dinner NO money for breakfast
Our last dinner we went seafood. Janet found a excellent restaurant which was the best cuisine since we left home. Unfortunately the bill was high and we had to pool our last  kronos. We and Daphne don't have enough for breakfast. I also owe Evey some money now. Should  be fine as I have gained weight and am on a fruit breaky.  So guess what we are eating in the morning. (left over fruit, packet of chips, Meusli bar or orange juice.  Lunch will be airplanes snacks I guess. Princess here we come.

Today
We all went separate ways and Colin and I went swimming and relaxed in the jacuzzi. Welcome time  to chill out.
Tomorrow we fly to London and transfer to Southhampton. Posting now will be intermittent we get on the ship on Saturday.

Prague to london

We are aware of all the news over Malaysian airlines and flights canceled to Israel. Hoping things settle when we get to fly that way.
See a picture of John Lennon wall where artist painted his picture when the music became popular and it has been added to even by us.
Was painted over by the communist but they gave up after so long.
A busker set the scene strumming as he sung in a sweet clear voice to the beatles tunes.

Walked back to the astronomical clock this morning at 10am to see the workings of the little figures on the chimes. Vanity, Greed, Death and lust.
Amazing that it is so old and the parts are still moving. Now everyone has come out to sightsee and there are segways ducking and diving in and out of the crowds.
They do segway tours for people who don't want to walk so far. Have to watch out for trams and segways and cars. not so many people on bikes like
Vienna and Amsterdam.
We were so hopeless and kept walking in the bike lanes over there. of course they drive on the right hand side.
Not good for the directionally challenged.

Back over the Charles bridge which was the first bridge in Prague with it's blackened statues gracing the promenade.
Artists were setting up for their trade in caricatures and portrait drawing and we admired the enamel jewellery, trinkets and paintings over the pedestrian only bridge.
Billy and Evey stayed back to relax.
We continued to the shopping along Wencelas Square where there are elite shops like Armarni, Hugo Boss, Jimmy Choo, Emendiglio Max
Mara etc.
I had to buy a singlet top due to the heat here and got a great exchange for euros in the local store.
Stuffing ourselves with fresh fruit bought in the local market place set up this morning. Ripe cherries, nectarines, raspberries and blueberries.

Prague

Prague 1
We had leisurely breaky yesterday and a little shopping before heading off for the walking tour of the city. Old town and new town and Jewish quarter. Interesting history and building architecture. Our guide Martin was excellent and an architect and part time working as a guide. They enjoy taking the free walking tours where we tip at the end what ever you want. Billy left us in old town because of the heat and my legs were killing me when standing listening, we tried leaning against the wall and using our umbrellas for shade. The tour ended by the Vltava river and Charles bridge. A walk home in the rain which gave the city a welcome relief from the horrid heat. (sorry NZers)
We found the Bond cafe on the walk and surprised Billy on the way to dinner by taking him there. Photos of Daniel Craig and movie footage. He got so excited and the waitress put on the theme music and posed with him. After dinner at Privnice Stupartska ,  we had a big argument with the waiter. You get no service from some Czechs here. Just basics. Even they just hold out your plate and call your order for you to take. You do not have to tip but they tried to make us pay more than 10%. When Janet questioned it and why he said to order an extra salad when her meal came with it, he started yelling in Czech. Was quite an eventful night. We put some money together and left.
Billy and Colin H. had landed a disabled room and both set off the alarm by mistake. Billy thought he was turning on the bathroom heater and Colin thought it was the light. They said a man comes to the room to help out. LOL. Might be really needing those rooms in future.
Prague Day 2
We decided to do our own walking tour to the castle. Janet took us by train and we bought an all day pass for 110kronos each.  Started at the top of the castle and just walked around. Was huge and had been added to through the centuries.  The St  vitus  church had the most intricate stained glass windows I had ever seen. A visit to John Lennon's wall was cool. We signed it too. Exiting the Charles bridge we trammed back to the hotel. Ended up going too far but easy to get back. I know we are eating Chinese again but it is fresh veges and reasonable. Sick of eating stodge.

Cesky krumlov on way to Prague

Took us from 9am to 7.30pm to drive to Prague via Ceske Krumlov a UNESCO world heritage site. It is a medieval town which was so different and old with little shops selling unique hand craftedl souvenirs. Spent 21/2 hours having lunch and shopping and then 3 1/2  hours onto Prague. The first half of the journey was windy as we weaved our way through little villages all quiet as people were at church and then having family lunch. Shops are closed on Sunday in Austria. Czechoslovak is unusual and the people less friendly again. We are now using Czech Kronos which are €1=27 kronos. Impossible to work out. Had a quick dinner at the local food hall and shopping centre. Will take it easy tomorrow.
The other day on the start of the bus run in Vienna the driver said" oh no der bus ist kaputz". We started laughing because we didn't realise that was really what it meant in German. Now we are in Prague there is the Czech language. So many different languages being spoken here but most also speak English so it has been easy to ask directions.
Mix up when we got to our Marriott apartments and reception said there was a problem but we were shifted to Marriott hotel. 5 star and better location so all good and our rooms are good. We can't get internet in our rooms but only downstairs so harder to connect now and my phone can't connect on it. There is free internet else where though.

A new day in Vienna

Budapest
Yesterday we went to the amazing food and craft market which reminded me of Melbourne. How do they grow the amazing fruit and veges that taste so delicious?
Must be the fabulous heat. Oh what I could grow with this climate. Spent the night on the 2 hour open air night bus which was great seeing the city in sparkling lights and taking us through another district. Goodbye to Budapest.

Hello Vienna
After a full day trip by van we have arrived safely in Vienna. Left at 10 am and here  by 5.30pm
We had a your guide for our 15 seater van and he took us to the quaint village of Bratislava, Slovakia. The boarders of Austria, Slovakia  and Slavenia are all close. Huge long motorways which were easy to drive along. 
Enjoyed our dinner experience at Bellestudent restaurant. Our huge rib meals were bigger than our stomaches.
Vienna 2
Back onto the hop on off bus and stopped at the Spanish horses. Billy still struggling with heat rash in the 31 degree heat. A visit to schonnburn palace was like Versailles and most interesting and ornate.

Vienna 3
Today still 33° and we took the bus to the river cruise and ended up coming back in the lock. Men loved watching the water rise and it was a new experience for all. We then took the green line up to the outlook point of Vienna which was spectacular but feeling exhausted from the heat so didn't stop long and ride back via the vineyards and the expensive looking villas close to the side of the road. Little bit like the streets if Wellington.