Italy continued...

24th October

We are now in Lucca having truly enjoyed Siena, a really lovely place & a good base for our tours of Tuscany & Rome. Rome was amazing and we were only too pleased we went by train, as the traffic was a nightmare and not to be messed with!! We saw Rome from an open topped bus tour and walked around quite a bit too. We will return.

Driving around the Tuscan countryside on Wednesday (with the top down to enjoy the warm autumn sunshine - we won't rub it in too much) was a relaxing way to spend the day. We visited San Gimigna

no, another Italian town not to be missed, and then a vineyard for a top up of red wine!

We were not over impressed with Florence as a city but didn't have time to visit the main museum/gallery, so we may have to return there too.
We have walked many miles and also become adept at using the Italian buses and trains - sometimes quite an experience. The buses tend to travel quicker than Guernsey buses and venture into very narrow streets.
Tomorrow we are off to Pisa.
Richard is now fully up to speed with the Italian style of driving - basically a free for all, ignore all signs, road markings and other vehicles and they have yet to discover the indicators!!

20th October - Italy

We are now in Siena enjoying clear blue skies and warm sunshine. Tuscan countryside is beautiful. Off to Rome tomorrow and Florence on Thursday. Wednesday we plan to tour in the car around the local area.
We will head north to Lucca on Friday to visit Pisa before heading to the south of France.

Next trip

12th October
Left Guernsey to start our next trip. We stayed jn an excellent farmhouse B&B near Laval.

13th October
Long drive today to Pressigny between Langres and Vesoul. B&B again excellent - our 2nd time there - thoroughly receommended and in a very peaceful village.

14th October
Drove into Switzerland to some friends who are storing some of our bits & bobs until 1st Nov. Following refreshments in their garden we drove on to our B&B for the night on the lake south of Zurich.

15th October
Today was a much more leisurely drive through Klosters and Davos. Stopped for a long walk and picnic in Davos before driving over the Fluella pass to Zernez our stop for the night.

16th October
Richards best day so far - he drove over the Stelvio pass (as seen on Top Gear!) into Italy, so many hairpin bends and steep inclines Rosie was dizzy (as usual!). In places it was very foggy but at the summit there were amazing views of the mountains with snow on the roadside. Drove onto Levico Terme - a lovely town where we had booked a very good hotel which was very cheap.

17th October
Drove to Quarto D'Altino near Venice through the Dolomites and some lovely scenery. A relaxing afternoon walking and reading up on Venice for tomorrow.

18th October
Caught early train to Venice about 20 mins away. Had a lovely day seeing all the sights on foot - we have walked for about 9 hours so guess we covered a fair few miles. Off to Siena tomorrow.

Photos later.

Las Vegas

We're a bit late with this posting - been a bit busy!

On 14th September we went to experience the bright lights and entertainment of Las Vegas. What a place - tacky in places and over the top in  others, but so much t

o do and see. Andrew and David accompanied us (just to make sure we behaved!) and we spent a very enjoyable week, staying at the Luxor Hotel. We arrived to a heat wave with daytime temperatures above 95, at night it cooled to 75!

The highlight of the week was probably our helicop

ter trip to the Grand Canyon, which was huge and amazing. The only downside was that when we landed in the canyon, it rained! Who can go to a desert like that and get rained on??!! at least it was warm rain! It did not spoil the trip too much - the scenery was fantastic, particularly the views of the Canyon itself, Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam and flying back down the Strip before landing.

We all went up the Stratosphere Tower, and Richard, Andrew and David had 

great ideas of "doing" all the rides at the top - until we saw them. In the end they all chickened out and only did the Big Shot ride. Rosie stood back and took photo's thinking of the life insurance - oh no it wouldn't pay out and she started praying!!

Fremont Street did not impress us at all, and we did not stay there too long, but other attractions like the Bellagio fountains were definitely worth seeing, in fact we returned a few times. Some of the other hotels such as The Venetian, Caesars Palace, The MGM Grand, and New York New York to name just a few were amazing. 

We all enjoyed the casino's although we haven't returned home any richer. Richard and David played the roulette tables, Rosie and Andrew preferred the good old machines.

Adjusting to the cold on returning home was more of a problem than the jet lag.

We are now in the final days before we head off for part two of our European adventure. We are off through France and Switzerland to Italy and then back to Switzerland via Provence.  We will be living in Zurich  for 3 months from 1st November. 

Further updates to follow from Europe as and when we have Internet access (permanent from 1st November).