first family holiday
Somehow a trip that started off with us going to Japan turned into a family holiday to Western Australia. Perth is a very flat and quiet city and has no traffic. We LOVE this city!
Rottnest Island is just off the coast near Fremantle, about a 25 minute ferry ride away. This is where we went for Day 1. On the way over, we were fortunate enough to see a humpback whale. swimming alongside the ferry. The ferry captain was wonderful enough to stop and let us spend a few minutes watching it. To get around Rottnes, there were a few options: buses that drive around the island in one direction, bicycles for hire or walking. The weather was perfect and the sun was out. Some of us went for a 3.3 km walk while the others pedalled. We all met up for lunch at Porpoise Bay on a secluded beaach. The water was crystal clear and the view was spectacular.
On Day 2, it was a long day on the road to Geraldton as we went via the Pinnacles. The roads although coastal are long, straight and narrow…. Even though a little bit out of the way, the Pinnacles were worthwhile to see. Its quite phenomenal seeing the big rocks (that almost look like termite mounds) sticking out of the desert sands!
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homeward bound
After 123 days living out of our suitcases, and being nomads… we are heading home! During our time away, we have managed to stay in touch with family and friends but more importantly, we haven’t tried killing each other. It’s a terrific sign, considering we are going home to plan our wedding.
When we planned this trip, we had high hopes that the grand finale would be in Zurich with a visit to Jungfrau. Sadly for us, the day trip we had booked to Jungfrau was cancelled at the last minute. So instead of a grand finale, we actually had a pretty anti-climatic farewell to Europe. Our biggest thrill before we walked out of our hotel room was the phone call home, to make sure someone was picking us up from the airport and to find out that our box of goodies which we sent back in Prague on Day 23 had finally made it home.
And as we pulled that last hotel room door shut, we looked at each other and said, “That’s it!” A feeling of bittersweet sorrow flooded over us. We’ll be back one day!! Switzerland and the rest of Europe still has much more to offer and will just have to wait until we come back again.
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starts with bread and ends with bread
In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in the Portuguese town, Fatima. We chose to do a day tour to Fatima. We visited Aljustrel, where the 3 children lived. We also visited the basilica and chapel of apparitions. Lots of pilgrims visit and walk the last few hundred metres to the basilica on their knees. This particular tour also took us to Batalha Monastery, 14th Century Gothic, where we saw the resting place of King John I of Portugal and his wife Queen Philippa. On the way back to Lisbon, we visited:
1) Nazare, a fishing village where we saw the older women drying sardines on the beach.
2) Obidos, a fortified village which was having their annual chocolate festival….. YUM!
Having only spent 3 days in Portugal, there is so much more to see…. we’ll just remember next time to order hamburgers more carefully! How so?! Well, here’s what happened to us:
We had learnt from being burnt from our first few weeks in Europe – bread sitting on the table is usually not free. From that point onwards, we always asked whether the bread was complimentary. This time was no different. After we sat down, bread in baskets were promptly served to us. To which we learnt was a couple of euros each, we didn’t need bread. We would just enjoy whatever it was we would order for our lunch.
So there we were sitting in this cafe with a very affordable menu. The hamburgers for 3 euros impressed us, so that is what we ordered. What came out was a meat pattie and some vegetables on the side. Scratching our heads, we thought it was quite unusual. Until it dawned on us that we had to use the table bread. As a matter of principle, we chose to down the pattie with a knife and fork. It was the first time and probably last that we would be eating a hamburger without bread and with a knife and fork!
Just makes us think our 4 month European adventure has ended quite fittingly. All those months ago, we were on the quest for bread to no avail and once again, hamburger buns allude us!
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gracias españa
We leave Spain with a little sour taste in our mouths but still happy to have visited.
First stop was Barcelona, and we enjoyed wandering the streets as we usually do. Watching all the street performers on La Rambla, visiting the Sagrada Familia and strolling the markets. What we didn’t enjoy was being robbed from our hotel room. The morning started off a little suspicious with a man knocking on the room door requesting access to our windows as he was a window cleaner. Random or what?! When we went out for the day and came back, our suitcases had been tampered with and our souvenirs had been stolen. Admittedly, it wasn’t anything expensive or irreplaceable and weren’t our passports or cameras. But still, there were lots of little bits and bobs that we had picked up for ourselves as well as gifts for people. And they all were taken. What annoyed us even more was that the hotel didn’t take us seriously. Oh well…..
Onto Ibiza, where it was down time for us. The mad party island had calmed down for the season so we were simply able to chill. Except one day, on the way back to the hotel, we had a beggar, with frizzy hair and a union jack shirt on, approach us with his hand out. We didn’t make eye contact and kept walking. Next thing we know he is chasing us down the road and through a mini supermarket. Geez, strike 2 for Spain. Luckily was the final strike!
Madrid and Toledo were a breath of fresh air for us. Toledo in particular was simply divine and we loved it there. We saw this amazing work by El Greco in Santo Tome and apparently, this piece of art has never had to have its colour retouched.
We’re willing to give Spain another chance despite the hiccups. Maybe we will give the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage a go one day….
wise monkeys abroad 