Re the Blog

It has been a challenge finding a computer and fast internet speed to keep the blog updated, but this week we are in Switzerland at a resort and we think that apart from a handfull of other people, we are the only ones here, (and it is a huge resort, we are on the sixth floor, a big chalet high up in the mountains, the village has only got about 300 residents at the minute but in the winter there are over 3000) and the good news is that they provide us with laptops and fast internet speed, so I am hoping to get it all updated over the next few days!

Abbey of St Martin at Canigou

After the Priory we drove through more hills to the little village which was up in the mountains as well to visit the Abbey of St. Martin which is a 1000 year old Monastery. The brochure said it was "at the foot of the Canigou, in an exceptional setting". What the brochure didnt say was that after you drove up the hills to the town which looked to us to be at the foot of the mountain (and we couldnt see any Abbey!!!) that you actually had to walk another 45 minutes up (and I mean ALL UP!!) this winding mountain path which was very steep and THEN you are at the Abbey!! Anyway the temperature was fairly low and it there a light mist of rain happening, but we (well most of us!!) decided that since we had come this far we might as well go all the way up. Well the walk up was beautiful (bloody hard work, but beautiful), very quiet, we didnt see anyone else, beautiful scenery, a waterfall and lovely bush with the misty rain. We found out when we eventually got to the top that it was quiet because the sign written in French at the bottom of the track somewhere said that the Abbey is closed on Mondays and of course it was Monday!! We were all looking forward to having a coffee at the coffee shop that was advertised as being up there when we arrived as it was about 4.00 pm and we hadnt had anything since breakfast as everything seemed to be closed in the villages for their two hour siesta, and of course the coffee shop was shut too!! Anyway there was a sign on the big thick wooden door inviting visitors to ring it to be let into the Abbey (we didnt know it was shut at this stage!). David hesitantly rang the doorbell, it was a big door and by this stage the rain was getting heavier and we could hear someone coming slowly towards the door, I thought it might be opened by Lurch, that was the kind of door it was and it creaked as it was opened!!! But no it was opened by an elderly priest that explained that the Abbey was closed as Monday was their community day, but he said we were welcome to come in and visit the Chapel as he realised what a big walk we had had!! The priests name was Fr Wally Beale and he was actually Scottish and he was there for three months trial but hoping to stay there long term, he had been a priest for 47 years! He was very welcoming and we had a big talk to him and he showed us through the chapel and we could see the inside buildings of the Abbey, amazing to think it is 1000 years old, there are still 14 people living their full time. In the garden near the big door we came through were two holes in solid stone the shape of two bodies, Fr Wally explained that these were the actual graves of the man and his wife who founded the Abbey all those years ago, the bodies had since been exhumed, the the very clearly cut out shapes in the stone remain still today. Fr Wally told us about all the snow that had fallen at the Abbey in winter and has since emailled us photos of the Abbey when it was covered in 48 inches of snow! He also is mailing to us in Australia a book about the Abbey!! We felt very fortunate to have been able to visit the Abbey and to meet Father Wally. We then walked back down to our car in the drizzle, but all agreed it was well worth the effort, a great experience. When Father Wally emailled the photos he said that it had snowed up there again the day after we visited, so we were lucky we went when we did!!

Priory of Serrabona

We went for a drive up in the Pyrenees Mountains behind Canet to visit the Priory of Serrabona which was a Priory over 900 years old. The drive up was a bit scary as the raod was only about one car wide most of the time, winding around the hills and most of the time there was a drop over the edge of many hundred of metres (and no guard rails!!!) Luckily we only met on car on the way up (and he was the Mail Man!!). The priory was a long way up and perched high on a hills and according to the brochure it was "a masterpiece of romanesque architecture". We were greeted at the door by a friendly black cat, so I knew it was going to be a good place, he followed us the whole way around the garden, like a personal guide!!! We actually thought the place was so far up the mountain and isolated he was probably just pleased to see someone!! Inside the Priory was amazing, the way they could build such a place and have it stand for so long, the floor was made from big rock like pavers and the baptismal font you could almost have a bath in, it was that big. The gardens around the priory were beautiful, herb gardens and flowering shrubs like purple irises and lilac bushes. And of course there was a little old graveyard right next to the priory. Anyway it was worth the drive up the hill.

Venice

After we left Switzerland (we drove a different way back to Milan and cut 3 hours off our return trip!!!) we returned the car to the car hire place to our great pleasure I might add and checked into our hotel in Milan which was just opposite the "Milano Centrale" which means the Milan Railway Station!! We spent the afternoon wandering around the Milan shops in the sun, it was a beautiful warm day, went out for dinner and had another wander around the streets. The next morning we left early for the two and a half hour train trip to Venice. We found our hotel, after taking a water bus, checked in and had lunch and then an hour or so later Jenny and Joll arrived from Florence. We spent the afternoon wandering around Venice, it was a Saturday, quite warm, around 24 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, so everyone had come out for the day, or maybe every Saturday they come out for the day as it was VERY busy. There are just so many shops selling souvenirs and of course Murano glass. We walked around for a few hours enjoying being in such a lovely place with its narrow little canals and the famous St Marks Square. We had a nice dinner sitting outside as it was still warm at an open air restaurant on the Grand Canal. The next day we wandered around the streets again and then caught a water taxi called "the Vanessa 2". The taxi driver whose name was Gionvanni told us that he and his water taxi were hired for eight weeks by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt whilst Angelina was filming "The Tourist" movie in Venice recently and apparently him and his water taxi are in the movie! That was about as close to a "celebrity moment" as we got!

France

We flew from Edinburgh through Heathrow to Toulousse, then picked up the hire car and David drove the two and a half hours to Perpignan then 10 km to the coast to the town we were staying at called Canet. It was really weird when we first picked up the car and David straight away had to drive on the "wrong side" of the road, it was really weird to be sitting on the right hand front passenger side and to have no steering wheel, and also going around the roundabouts the opposite way to us took a bit of getting used to, and I was only a passenger!!! Our resort was nice, had a lovely big pool and was very quiet as it is still spring here and of course it was no warm enough to swim anyway. The second day we were here was lovely about 24 degrees and we went for a drive south along the Mediteranean sea, the coast was spectacular, very hilly, acres and acres of grape vines growing in terraced vineyards up very, very steep hills (I wouldnt want to be working there picking grapes!!) We drove through Argeles, Banyula, Collioure (which was really beautiful) across the border into Spain and down to Figueres and back. We stopped at one winery to do some tasting, but considering the amount of vines growing they dont seem to have the big cellar doors like in Australia. They do have little huts called Caves along the way, one we saw was in a car park high up on a cliff overlooking the sea where people were stopping to take photos, just a little hut offering wine tasting. When we went to the tourist information centre when we first got there, the lady told us all about how there were heaps of caves out the way we were going to be travelling, but we decided we werent into visiting caves (that was until we found out what they actually were!!!). So from being 24 degrees on the Sunday, Monday was ok during the day then it started to rain on Monday night, it rained all night, all day Tuesday and part of Tuesday night, and when I saw rain I mean it poured!!! Also there were gale force winds and it dropped to 4 degrees on the coast. We really couldnt do anything as it was so cold and dangerous to be driving around, so we just went into Perpignan and went out for lunch and then checked out a massive shopping centre/supermarket called "Auchan" which sold absolutely everything you could think of! On Wednesday morning we awoke to heaps of snow up on the Pyrenees mountains up behind the coast!

We discovered a few funny things about France, firstly they have no fresh milk for sale or in cafes for coffee, the capaccinos come with a big heap of whipped cream on the top, shops shut between about 12 and two pm, they all ride around the roads on pushbikes but no one wears a bike helmet! All the TV is in french and we saw shows like Simpson, Days of Our Lives, Maxwell Smart and McLeods Daughters which were all dubbed in French, it was very funny!!! Pastries and crepes were good, and heaps of them dont speak english and most menus were just in French!! But THE most annoying part was that there keyboards are all mixed up and different to ours!!

The Queen's Bed

Not a very exciting bedroom for the Queen of England is it!

The Royal Yacht Brittania

We checked out the Royal Yacht Brittania which is permanently moored in Edinburgh. It was really worth a visit and we really enjoyed it. David and I had lunch in the Royal Tea Rooms which is on the top deck overlooking the water and it was nice food served in nice fine china crockery. I guess this is the closest we are ever going to get to eating with the Queen!! Anyway it was interesting to see how the other half lived. The Queen had a tiny bedroom complete with a skinny single bed and Prince Phillip had his room with a single bed next door! The only double bed ever brought onto the ship was at Charles request for his honeymoon with Lady Di! There is an area up the front of the ship where the queen used to stand to wave to people and it had to be covered in from her waist down in case the wind blew her skirt up!! The State Room was beautiful with a long table which took 3 hours to set for big official dinners as the distance between each knife and fork had to be measured with a ruler! There were heaps of gifts that various countries had donated to the queen when she visited on display. It really was very interesting and well worth a look.