Promenading Peacocks

camping clos balanede, chatelguyon

2011-09-22T18:05:00.000+02:00

last campsite for this trip. pool's closed, restaurant's closed, you can tell we are on the shoulder season! but have found a restaurant in town that is open, hope it is good...

thanks to all our readers wherever you are or were!

thursday morning, pointe a la bise

2011-09-22T09:40:00.001+02:00

sunny but with a nip in the air! dutch making preparations to leave. lou off taking photos of the lake...

destination chatel-guyon to round off this trip. why do a long drive on the last day? so clos balenade, route de la piscine it is, the watery theme continues! :)

pointe a la bise, geneva

2011-09-22T09:36:00.000+02:00

Another lovely start to a zurich day sipping tea watching the life on the lake. Ready to go about 9ish we were left reeling by the cost of our two nights! The price of three or even four anywhere else and
we had to buy jetons for the shower and pay 5 ch. francs for wifi. Costly that view of the lake!
Southwards to geneva past bern, stopping at a lakeside town called murten on a lake of the same name? A sarnie lunch, a wander along the bank and on past lausanne to pointe a la bise, a few kilometres from geneva centre on the lakeside...again!

A very helpful guy in reception (there have been such on this trip!) told me there was a group in so he hoped the pitch he picked for us was free! Dutch this time! What is it with these campers who travel mobhanded? Safety in numbers? Massive discounts? They have a notice board with a flag planted next to it but as it is all in dutch I can't understand it. A sneaky photo for jose to translate? :)

Lou has disappeared with the computer while I scribble this down to upload later and is probably playing scrabble. Me? A little snooze in the sun and then off to gill's for dinner and to meet up with lou's swiss/french arm of the family!

zurich

2011-09-20T18:12:00.002+02:00

well, filthy weather all the way to zurich. but the campsite was very welcoming and on the lakeside. lake? no, us neither. called lake zurich wouldn't you know! very helpful staff who rolled out an extra length of electricity cable for us and gave us a pitch, albiet an odd one, with an uninterrupted view of the lake. there is a restaurant so we booked a table assuming it would be a simple affair. no, quite up market and with great views being on the third floor of a waterside building. the price of fish out of the lake with chips for lou and salad for me plus wine and coffee would have bought three courses in a fancy auberge back in france but it was good and the conversation with the waiter who had just come back from a tour of eastern europe was fascinating.

a good night's sleep on a quiet site with sun on the distant shore when we woke up. so we decided two nights here would be welcome. the office had provided a map with a walking tour of the old town and other highlights so this morning that is what we did. lunch in the sunshine on one of the platz and then a boat ride around the lake, blow-y but relaxing.

back at base now with ducks on the water, a breeze blowing and blue sky. tomorrow geneva!

ps good news! i rang banque populaire and my card hasn't been stopped. so i have been able to get cash and pay for meals...yay! and buy myself a swatch watch to replace the pretty green one that fell off my wrist last week!

soggy salzburg

2011-09-19T18:36:00.001+02:00

As we left budapest in bright, hot sunshine i said it would be good to see the parts of austria in sunshine that we had only seen in rain on the way over. Spoke too soon ! As we got halfway across country near to linz the sky darkened ahead of us and then the rain began. We stopped for gasole and coffees and, yet again, my card wouldn't work. I think the bank has done its 'three strikes and you're out' game on my card! The wretched machine in hungary has probably cost me 40 euros for a new one as I suspect mine has been cancelled because I tried my pin number once too often! Phone call tomorrow!
On through the pelting rain we went and prayed the campsite would be open and have a pitch for us. It did and it is very posh, the most expensive yet! There is a tiny bar at the reception and we went in for our arrival drinks and fell into conversation with a young scottish couple who have been on the road with their trailer tent for five months! They told us about free wifi at mcdonalds. We had no idea, not being macdo customers. Had we known we could have been connecting all over the place, the golden arches are everywhere!

The camp owner told me it was lovely here two days ago but will be wet again tomorrow. We'll carry on to zurich and decide whether to stay over or not.

plan 'c'

2011-09-19T18:35:00.001+02:00

Budapest was on plan 'a' but disliking the vienna campsite for which there was no alternative, plan 'b' was to push on to gyor, hungary, rather than stop at budapest and then take in salzburg and zurich on the way to geneva. My plan to visit stuttgard was daft once i looked again at the driving distances. But leaving timisoara a day early gave us a day in hand so lou decided he could cope with the 550 km between budapest and salzburg and he fancied the fish and chips by the river danube anyway! Then we could spend two days in zurich perhaps. Plan 'c' was born!
It was 5pm by the time we made the campsite having had a problem with using our cards to pay for gasole . A change of machine and card finally solved it otherwise we'd still be stuck at the filling station.

Gwen and I had been texting as at first we could, then we couldn't and then we might be able to meet up. She was spending the weekend in budapest with vince. Knackered, hot and weary, we realised a train trip and a long walk was beyond us. So regretfully we said we wouldn't meet and left them to find their veggie restaurant while we did a slow stroll down to the lively scene at the riverside.
Ordering food was challenging so we stuck to 'hekk' and chips for lou and chips for me. Of course, a cat found us and then a semi wild kitten who darted under and around the tables finding what he could.
Dark by now it was lovely to sit under the trees and watch the boats on the water and the crowds coming to eat. Business was fast and hectic, orders being cooked and announced over a tannoy. I made sure they could say 'pikok' loudly!

timisoara

2011-09-18T20:40:00.003+02:00

the 'yellow' road between deva and lugoj

the drive to timisoara was arduous. tom tom took us on a shorter route than that recommended by via michelin and now we know why! a picturesque road but a yellow one on the map and pretty badly paved in places. it was very hot and there were lots of villages to slow down for and several railway crossings that needed to be passed at about 10 miles an hour to avoid your teeth rattling never mind the cups and plates!

i had thought that deva with its castle on the hill and the only funicular in romania would make a pretty lunch stop. wrong! we ate our ham sarnies and decided against going up. the scenery before deva had been industrialised and probably wouldn't look any better from another viewpoint.

heading on we made timisoara by about four in the afternoon and took an instant dislike to the campsite. spoilt by saliste? the ground was hard and bumpy but the pitches were surrounded by low shrubs with a raised flowerbed in the middle. an inspection of the 'facilities' proved to better than average, hot water, soap, paper towels and loo rolls albiet the nasty scratchy pink stuff! :) the evening meal of steak and chips at the empty restaurant was ok even if the wine was decidedly 'off'. but music started somewhere unseen beyond the boundary and continued until one in the morning. our camping hours are different from home. bed by ten and awake by seven so the music was a big no no!
despite having paid for two nights we couldn't face another sleepless night so left in the morning. we noticed that the only other two campers jumped ship as well.

before leaving timisoara we drove into the 'centrum' and eventually found somewhere to park helped by a charming policeman (who 'loved' my english accent) and who pointed out where we were on my lonely planet map. a short walk into the partly crumbling and faded piata irinii to take photos and gawp at the church interiors, roman catholic, smelt of floor cleaner and serbian orthodox, stuffed with icons. coffees after an abortive attempt to find the ethnographic museum-'moved upstairs and not open yet' i was told by a girl in a travel agency and so off to budapest...again.
but now on plan 'c'

on to timisoara

2011-09-18T07:54:00.002+02:00

A fairly slow start to our eleventh day. Sunny again and with the place to ourselves we took time emptying and filling tanks and doing some household chores. I'd even done some washing the day we'd arrived! alexandre had told us that julian had some local hooch, plum brandy, called tuica. Before we left he sat us down to try it. Not his mother's this time he said but a friend's, about 50%. it came in a water bottle just as does our local eau de vie back home.

He is also involved in an conservation group for the storks and we bought various bits made by them to raise funds for a sanctuary that is being built in christian, the next village. i asked him about local crafts and he regretted not having talked to us more about what to see in the area. We assured him it is only our first visit and we can only see so much in one week. He showed us a small carpet typical of local tapestry and then dashed into the next room and came back with a bookmark sized piece and gave it to me, telling me to keep it as a souvenir and that it was made by his cousin.

So it was fond farewells when we left and knowing we were going to timisoara he warned us the campsite was noisy. That's ok, we gaily replied, we've had traffic noise before. If only we'd known what lay ahead !

the river that runs through saliste

sibiu

2011-09-17T18:10:00.002+02:00

The ever helpful julian lent us a map and pointed out where we could park close to the centre and where we could shop later on for essentials like batteries and a tin opener! The cindrel mountains were a hazy blue in the distance as we drove back into sibui and past the airport (wizz-air from hungary, love the name!).

Walking into pieta mare, the big square, the immensity of the place and the grandeur of the buildings is overwhelming. Every surface is spick and span and you need to remind yourself that this is an old town, one of the seven saxon citadels along with sighisoara but on a much grander scale.

I dragged lou around the brukenthal museum and art gallery but we found it disappointing. Gloomy still lifes and pompous portraits by the dozen. The first two rooms were incredibly ornate and I found myself preferring the painted furniture and the enormous room heaters. Plus the interesting things mentioned by rough guide were not to be found.

I should have gone instead to the ethnographic museum but was confused by the differing names displayed outside and so missed the examples of romanian crafts. Once we found the liars bridge I began to get my bearings and a sense of the scale of the place. Having found the 'passage of stairs' down to the lower town where the buildings are smaller and more antique I began to like it better. We had lunch by the stairs and then explored the lower town, ending up in a shady park to rest our feet! Back to pieta mare for souvenirs and cold drinks. So hot and unseasonably so according to julian's delightful wife, alexandre. She chatted to us when we got back and told us 'drum bun' which we had seen all over the place is the romanian equivalent to bonne route!

saliste

2011-09-16T07:42:00.000+02:00

Saliste

saliste is one of 18 villages called marginimea sibiului, meaning borders of sibiu. Its importance for us was that it has a campsite from where we can drive into sibiu to explore. The afternoon we arrived we strolled around the village looking for a restaurant which julian, the charming campsite owner, had called 'simple'. We had drinks but passed on eating there later. We wondered if simple meant more pickled cabbage and polenta with mince. Been there, done that !

I found the church which has a fresco so rude that it is kept covered up. Tourists can ask to see it but as the church was locked and it was a holy day i contented myself with taking photos of the frescos around the outside. Saliste has a river running through it and about six 'magazin', small supermarkets. These vary in size and contents, only one of them approaching the sort of corner 'spar' that we are used to. I was looking for a tin opener, as you do, and so did a lot of gesturing which was understood by all but the last proprietor who tried to sell me a tin of corned beef which had a 'key' he kept telling me. I bought a bottle of romanian beer out of embarrassment ! But no tin openers to be had anywhere.

Back at the campsite where we were the only campers we idled away the afternoon. I wrote several cards and hearing a tapping behind me, turned to find a woodpecker in a nearby tree. It was some time before he took fright and left. Coming back from our walk we had heard goats bleating behind a high wall opposite the campsite entrance. Stray dogs loll and scratch in the road and there has been a horse and cart jingling past in the evening. On the telegraph pole at the entrance there is a large stork's nest but, sadly, the storks left about three or four weeks ago. Despite the fast and noisy main road about a kilometer away we are in the countryside again.

biertan

2011-09-15T19:15:00.002+02:00

sighisoara looked beautiful as we left it yesterday morning. the sunlit citadel appeared to float above the town which was lying under the mist from the river (did i say there was a river?). the road rose and fell leaving the town wrapped in its valley. we drove through undulating countryside more varied than it had been the last few days. more horses and carts, more slowing down for villages made up of low buildings in various states of repair but always brightly painted and always boasting at least one church, sometimes two. the churches are always pristine, some with steeples and others with silver domes. some villages have one of each, orthodox and baptist? baptist appears on the boards outside some of the steepled variety.

i managed to twist lou's arm into deflecting away from tom tom's route and taking a bumpy road for eight kilometers to a village called biertan which lonely planet called the most beautiful saxon fortified church of them all (unesco world heritage site). it was! it towered above its village and we could see it from the other end of the little valley it was set in. arriving in the main square we spotted several campers. the germans lou said...and it was!

we did the tour of the 'castle' as it was signposted and bought a guide in the book shop on the way in. on and up another of those covered sets of steps as in sighisoara passing the outer walls on the way. the church was enormous and beautifully and simply restored. lots of carved wood and hanging tapestries. the views were pretty good too and we could see the pattern of the old vine terracing on the hills around and about.

back in the bookshop i chose a card and a calendar but as i got to the till the germans arrived en masse and started paying for books they must have previously ordered. the girl's computer was slow and necessary for every purchase. we looked at one another and i put back the card and calendar and we left! outside there were some slightly inferior cards but, hey ho, no queue. off to the one cafe to get some coffee before that too was highjacked. we sat outside under a sun brolly and counted the german campers out. then i rang the campsite here in saliste to make sure he had room for us. he did! later he told me the germans came here in may so their organizer decided to change the route this time. thank goodness she did, this place is lovely but bijou! :)

ps photo of one of the towers around the ramparts

comments

2011-09-14T17:05:00.000+02:00

to anyone (sian for one) who thinks we are not receiving their comments...we are! the blog needs us to 'moderate' them before posting so there is a delay if we can't get on to do that! so sorry, we are reading them and loving hearing from people while away from home...xxxx

sighisoara

2011-09-14T16:38:00.001+02:00

this is one of the seven saxon citadels but the town is not too large so you are not overwhelmed by the cityscape. the campsite was central but peaceful, sad the pool was empty and closed!

we did an explore in the afternoon climbing the scholars' stairs up to the church on the hill (phew) but the view was worth it. down again past vlad's birthplace, the inspiration for dracula, and on to the cafe/restaurant called the house of the stag in the central square. rough guide said it was one of the best in town so we ate there last night as well. the square in the middle of the citadel is surrounded by pretty painted facades and the ubiquitous souvenir and 'antique' stalls. a lot of dracula tat on sale. i bought a magnet, bien sur! :)

the day had been very hot so it was lovely to sit outside and enjoy people watching. a lot of vans came around the square and parked down by the clock tower. him that knows about these things told me they were film lorries and when the 'gennies' arrived he was convinced. the waiter confirmed it was a 'feelm' but we didn't wait to see it happening!

we were seated in earshot of two tables of germans and wondered if they were 'ours'. we now know they were!

there could be trouble ahead?

2011-09-13T17:15:00.001+02:00

quick post from sighisoara...we arrived and were told ten german campers were coming in for the night so there may be no space for us! happily lou could negotiate the overhanging balcony of the 'pension' so we are on a lovely little pitch amongst trees. we saw the cavalcade of the germans in the distance as we went off to explore and they are all tightly parked in the overnight field (an ambitious title for it!) at the entrance. i hope they are not going on to sibiu!! perhaps a phone call ahead?

gilau

2011-09-12T17:50:00.001+02:00

settled on a lovely campsite aptly named eldorado the drive here was our first proper taste of driving on romanian roads...an experience! i'm glad i organized an itinerary with shortish drives between campsites. single lane with lorries holding people up who then take crazy risks trying to get past! we have left the plain and come up into the apeseni mountains, well, more like hills. we've seen loads of the typical haystacks and horses and carts, lots of silver domed churches and people digging up what we believe to be spuds. a lot of children going or coming from school at 11 in the morning? plus many ladies in headscarves and long skirts with thick socks despite the temperature up in the early 30s.

so a restful afternoon was in order to recover. lunch followed by a snooze followed by a swim (cold!!!!) and now for a drink and supper.

the campsite is reputed to be the 'finest in romania' according to one report i read. maybe but we are sharing it with only two other campers and a caravan! :)

ps cats will always find lou....two barely weened kittens and their mum at this site begging for food!

baile felix

2011-09-12T17:40:00.004+02:00

you can read the guide books, search the web and nowadays even look at a location on google earth but it will never give you a feel of the atmosphere of a place. Baile felix has atmosphere ! Like that of a seaside town like brighton lou says. It is the biggest spa and health centre in romania but doesn't seem overly large when you are wandering around it. The place is dominated by a complex of pools with two large buildings at each end, strand apollo and strand felix. Looking through the white railings we could see countless white plastic sunbeds and hear the pop msic all over town. There is a shady park on the far side and we strolled through that grateful for the shade on what had turned out to be a very hot day. At the far end we found a press of stalls selling souvenirs, beach wear, fruit and corn on the cob which seemed to be very popular judging by how many people were chewing on some.

Coming out onto the main road we saw lots of bars so decided we needed a drink ! The one we chose had menus on the tables so after some gesturing at watches we settled with the waitress we would be back at seven to eat. We spent the next quarter of an hour deciphering the menu with the help of thr phrase book.

Back to our campsite which is little more than a glorified car park but virtually empty and managed by a cheerful couple who keep in touch by walkie talkies. he from his shed by the entrance and she from her tiny bar near the loos ! By now a french camper had turned up, the first we have seen since vienna. A short pause and then back to 'our' restaurant. We followed in a chap with what turned out to be a keyboard in a black bag. We were to have music ! The food was as we had identified and we had a good bottle of romanian dry reisling with it. The music was jolly like everything else about baile felix. A techno violin and a singer completed the ensemble and i was ready to applaud at the end of each number but it was greeted with deathly silence by our fellow diners. The romanian way or were they rubbish ? We couldn't tell, not knowing what on earth they were singing about. It sounded like fast and furious gypsy music with an eastern quaver to the vocal. Back to the camper under a bright moon and early to bed according to our body clocks. Romania is one hour ahead of the rest of europe. So it will be up early tomorrow ?

the great plain

2011-09-12T17:38:00.004+02:00

We left budapest campsite amongst the cavalcade of austrian campers who were going south. There was a lot of waving and auf wiedersehen-ning ! Our next stop was for gasole and the local aldi (called hofer in germany and austria for some reason) for more lunch provisions. Then the drive east over the danube and on into what i discovered is called the northern plain. A vast area almost entirely devoted to growing three main crops as far we could tell from the motorway. Corn burnt gold by the sun and sunfloweres blackened by it. The wheat had been harvested and some bails were still on the fields. Others had been burnt to get rid of the stubble and some ploughed already. Where they were ploughed we noticed how black the soil was. After debrecen we were on ordinary roads and liked the signs that forbad cyclists, tractors and horses with carts ! The romanian border approached and i warned lou that the guide books reported long waits. Huh ! We drove straight through with hardly anyone else around. It was sunday, of course. The customs looked at our passports and waved us on to the 'gas' station where we bought our vignette, 4 euros. Then into oradea to find an atm. Much easier converting romanian lei into euros after the hungarian florints, 4.25 to the euro as opposed to 285. prices look so much better when not displayed in thousands !

beautiful buda and pest

2011-09-11T08:38:00.001+02:00

the computer closed down on me, again, when i was writing up the next blog bit so a quick entry before breakfast. last night we discovered there is wifi here but you need a password. happily one of the austrians heard i had been asking around for it (office closed) and came over with it. so uploading three this morning before heading to romania. we spent yesterday morning in pest and the afternoon in buda. took coffee in the famed gerbeaud patisserie (only realised it was after we sat down!) and anniversary lunch in a restaurant in a leafy courtyard of the petofi literary museum. by now the sun had really broken through and it was hot!

our traditional hungarian lunch had been delicious but a tad heavy so it was a slow walk back to the chain bridge (built by an english man) via the synagogue (shut for saturday) and over to the buda side to take the siklo up to varhegy. our waiter at lunchtime had told us there was a wine festival on up there but it was expensive to go in so we passed. we had downed a bottle of hungarian rose with lunch so felt we'd had quite enough! a wander around past a lot of souvenir stalls, some much needed cold drinks on a shady terrace, past a incredible church (closed for a wedding),some photos of the stunning views from the fishermen's bastion, the wierdest looking architecture yet, and back down the funicular. an amble back along the river bank to the train and our peaceful campsite.

a lovely place. gwen and vince should enjoy themselves!

from the ridiculous to the sublime

2011-09-11T08:22:00.001+02:00

the showers at vienna west campsite this morning were one more good thing in its favour. Plentiful hot water that showered you properly rather than the scatter gun effect of some showers that actually doesn't reach all parts !

With less than 300 km to drive to budapest we hoped to make it for lunchtime. The rain held off and we saw some scraps of blue sky. We stopped before the border to buy a vignette and were surprised to be given a till receipt rather than another sticky badge for the windscreen. We have two up already, a year's worth for la suisse and ten days for austria, both the least you can buy. The number of lorries lessened as we wittled down the destination to budapest (at one point we had a choice of hungary,slovakia, italy, germany, czech republic....). By now we were using tom tom and he got us to a lovely little road in budapest called rozalei but no sign of a campsite. So we put in the co-ordinates, playing safe after yesterday we had only given him the address. clever we thought but not so ! Happily we were only 2 kilometres away and soon pulled up at the romai campsite. Oh joy ! A sensible booking-in system. We still got to choose a place but as there are no designated plots it was just a case of parking where we wanted ! The place was empty. A woman leaving the reception had talked at me but the only word that made any sense was 'group'. Realising we were just one van she gave up and passed me on to a young chap in the office. Later it became clear that a group was expected as there are now several austrian campers dotted about. We had lunch in dappled sunlight, (lots of tall trees) and nothing within 100 feet of our table.

A light snooze and then a walk to find an atm and a local restaurant. The restaurant was not good but was set beside a track along the bank of the river danube. There were many others all offering drinks and fried fish, chips, calamares, soup etc. the smell of frying batter filled the air ! We ambled along enjoying the view and watching the many people around. It seemed to be everyone was out walking like us ; kids, grownups, families, cyclists and on the river canoeists. Further out big barges slowly moved downstream laden with cars. We opted for a drink but passed on the fried fish. We couldn't believe 'hekk', hake came from the river. A wander back via the avenues lined with tall chestnut trees already looking autumnal. A small girl came past with a basket full of conkers. Back at reception the helpful young man told me that in august and september people eat 'hekk' and yes, it does come out of the danube. He pulled a face and told me not to eat it. So we won't ...but maybe the chips ?

vienna

2011-09-11T08:19:00.001+02:00

Vienna brings to mind according to your era either 'the third man' (film) or ultravox (pop group). For us it will be the memory of the most chaotic booking -in procedure we have come across, dubrovnik only running it a close second ! Find your pitch she said sweetly and then come and tell me the number. So we did and when i got back to her, computer said no, already booked ! So off i went to tell lou who, very grumpily, unplugged the electric and moved to another place. Back i went and waited behind another couple who, of course, had just taken it ! So off i went again with the bad news and, again, we moved. This time we were on ! But the girl had put the wrong row name on the sheet we had to display in the windscreen. Fearful of someone coming back from a good dinner and waking us up because we were on their patch i went back and made her change it. We still got woken up by the rain that hammered on the roof all night ! But at least we could now have that 'pleased to have arrived'drink !

The good news was that the drinks were cheap and the wifi free. We loaded up the blog and got into conversation with a young chap who came to plug in his computer at the same table. We had noticed a brightly coloured van with nz on the back and, yes, they were kiwis and he'd been travelling for two weeks, his friends for two months. They were still asleep this morning so it was a brief encounter but lou got a photo of the van for kerrie !

We had hoped to arrive earlier at vienna but heavy rain, roadworks by the score and an accident that stopped everything for half an hour worked against us. Plus the gps took us up a dead end to an equestrian centre somewhere on the outskirts. We decided 'he' can't do co-ordinates so gave him the address which he could manage. The experience was all too much for us so we've decided that vienna may be a nono on the way back. Too frustrating finding a pitch and squashed again as in munich. So perhaps salzberg ?

Off to budapest next...

munich...like sardines, soggy ones

2011-09-08T18:53:00.001+02:00

the drive to munich was wet! and too long. we were very glad to arrive and the gps actually triumphed for a change by finding the campsite after losing us trying to leave quingey. sadly we were packed in like a car park and no wifi was available. however we had a couple of drinks in the bar and life seemed better! a hot meal inside (no room outside and it was still damp) and an early night. this morning we were awake early so got going early. not before paying for the night which was a bit of a bummer. adding on the electricity this morning after giving me the bill last night! plus it was jetons for the showers and for the washing up water. admittedly a big city as lou pointed out but a bit thick i reckoned especially as we had such a small space. anyway, onwards, onwards towards romania.....

quingey....or canjay?

2011-09-08T18:43:00.000+02:00

We arrived safely after a heated debate (!) concerning the relative merits of the gps versus a map when you appear to be lost! I still think of them as relatively useless gismos but himself is a sucker for any kind of gadget. We did find a service station to fill up in so we could continue the search using the map !. 'it' announced 'you have reached your destination' to which the answer should have been 'no thanks to you, sunshine !'
our destination was/is a delightful municipal campsite on one bank of the river loue (sic) in the village of quingey. No idea how that is pronounced. The woman in the garage called it 'canchay' as far as i could make out. I shall ask someone tomorrow morning when we go to shop for bread and take photos. The neighbours are german, swiss and french and all very quiet. We ate watching the sun go down, fish jumping, jackdaws croaking and ducks paddling in flotilla formation. Ah, holidays....

nearly away

2011-09-05T19:52:00.000+02:00

poor pusstats, they hate the journey to the pension. ginge usually holds on until padirac where i have to stop and attend to him! last year i locked myself in the back of the car (child locks!) and had to scramble over the front seats. not easy with my knees. happily, lou showed me the magic button that would save me the indignity of having to do that this time.
having sorted ginge it was back on the road to montvalent to the chorus of mews from both cats. the nice lady greeted them like old friends. well, they are now. six years of going there must count for some sort of amitee. ginge headed for the outdoors, marmalade straight up the ladder to the sleeping platform and cushion. a stroke from me and a guilty goodbye and it was back on the road to the sound of rfm, arguably not a change for the better! :)

the camper is packed bar the contents of the fridge and the garden is devoid of anything that can be frozen or taken with us. friends are on hand to water if we have a dry spell and to take care of any produce that ripens while we're away. figs and physalis for anyone interested!

a bientot!!

aller retour

2011-09-03T09:57:00.001+02:00

made a slight modification to plan a yesterday! decided it was boring to come back exactly the way we are going. we are taking in a quick visit to lou's sister, gill, in geneva so i found a route that goes via stuttgart. there is a campsite still open so if lou can cope with 620 odd km in one day or, rather, the camper can then that's the way we're going. well, that is according to plan a. we may be on plan b or c by then!
:)

impatient to start!

2011-09-01T14:26:00.002+02:00

yesterday and today we have shopped for various items for the trip to romania via besancon, munich, vienna and budapest. i always like to have the cupboard full of tins so we can eat even if we can't find a pitch, water, electricity....... ideally we like to eat en route savouring the different foods available but experience tells me that, sometimes, we won't find anywhere open or only a lidl! a massive billboard advertising the nearest lidl welcomed us to croatia last year. not quite the most romantic first view of an unknown destination!

we have two gps' (don't ask!) and hope that at least one of them won't tell us to 'turn around when possible' as tom tom did last year as we approached the slovenian border! a second costly purchase has been a netbook so we can blog our way there and back all being well and wifi available.

yesterday my allergoloque pulled a face and told me we won't eat well in romania and that poland, hungary and croatia are better for food. then a friend emailed this morning saying she'd heard romania is pretty but she and her husband found bulgaria more interesting! tant pis, plan a is romania, mostly in transylvania admittedly but you have to start somewhere and even lou says it is a big country. google tells me it is 514 km north to south and 720 east to west. knowing my old man when he gets behind the wheel we could be doing most of that unless i call a halt! :)

le lioran august 2011 contd.

2011-08-15T12:05:00.005+02:00

seems to be a word limit!

at the col it was windy but exhilarating. we took photos and saw a path that we later discovered would take us to puy mary! we also realised we needed a map with paths marked on it as we liked the idea of walking a circuit rather than retracing steps. as it was by now four o'clock we took the option of going back the way we had come. my one stick was useful but my knees craved the support of two. tea and a crepe seemed a good idea! sadly no crepes in the summer where we had parked so just a tea break but maybe at super lioran which was packed with people. a quick visit to the tourist office and to a shop for a map and we were off back to gagnac. a lovely 'day out' which we must do again...but with the map and TWO sticks!

le lioran august 2011

2011-08-15T11:57:00.003+02:00

writing this on our new netbook bought with this blog in mind. have camper will travel, have netbook will blog...always assuming we can pick up wifi!

le lioran was wonderful. lou wanted to take the camper for a test drive before the long haul to romania, this year's holiday destination, all being well.

the day was sunny and warm, just right for walking and what became climbing! flowers, butterflies and lots of buzzing and clicking things accompanied us as we walked up the valley of font d'alergon looking for a path we discovered some christmases ago when we took the boys up to visit. we found a path and walked to our left hoping it would rise. it didn't and took us back down to the near the car park. however we spotted a sign to font de la cere and took a path we had once trudged up on our raquettes. we crossed the ski run several times and arrived at the auberge de buron. timely as we were thirsty by now! a pause for cold drinks noticing at the same time that there was another signposted path/ski run to col de romiere, 2 km, rising 240 metres. we decided to go for it despite my knees and, happily, the steepest and stoniest part was the first bit so then it was a moderate climb to the col. several family groups came down and i wonderd why they looked so fresh. all was explained at the top! they had taken the telesiege up and walked down! a good idea for next time?

lovely lucca?

2009-09-25T22:56:00.000+02:00

lucca today and it wasn't as pretty as the pictures i'd seen on the television...more fool you for being taken in by clever photography said lou! but the streets were interesting and the church facades amazing. i liked the walls which we walked on at the end of the visit.

then we headed for the hills beyond and ended up in castelnuova. no tourists, no sites you felt you had to go and look at...just a wander then a cup of tea followed by a relaxing drive home via san guiliano terme which is the town nearest our hotel. the mission was to find a good restaurant to eat in this evening. we found two and the one we opted for tonight was great fun with a kids' party in full swing to celebrate the birthday of the owner's daughter!

my mussel and clam 'soup' was a brimming plate of shellfish which took some eating...but i managed! then wild boar stew while lou chewed the bones of a deep fried rabbit...sorry gwen!

ps from the road to lucca you can see the grand buildings of pisa including the tower rising from the flat plain...the leaning tower still looks extremely odd even from that distance!

florence etc....

2009-09-24T21:44:00.000+02:00

missed posting on here last night as was feeling a bit aggrieved by the treatment of visitors by the uffizi staff. i got caught in a war of words between the girls who keep your bags and the guy who checks them on the x-ray machine. being honest meant my water bottle (not bothered) and my folding scissors (practically an heirloom!) ended up in the bin! despite that the botticellis were superb and calmed me down no end.

florence itself i didn't find that exciting to wander around but today in siena all that was forgotten. a lovely city and a big surprise to find the palio is like one enormous raked stage. we ate overlooking it and people watched to our hearts delight! then off to the duomo and the museum opposite which has marvelous frescoes.

advice for car drivers: leave your car in the underground car park at the station and take the bus into town. 95 centimes each way for the bus (buy at any tabac shop) and 2 euros for about five hours parking...brilliant!

home by way of san gimignano and on through the glorious tuscan landscape.

leaning

2009-09-22T18:58:00.000+02:00

the tower truly leans in quite a remarkable way and is rescued from too much tourist interference by the enormous lawns on all sides that are forbiddden to the hordes and their litter. despite that i managed to buy a cheesy card for the son who likes them plus a magnet for the beer fridge and, of course, a model tower as a souvenir!
the weather was glorious and i probably made him walk too far but the pizza lunch was great and the people watching almost better.
then to the railway station to check out the times for florence 'demain'.
a longish wait for the bus while i dreamed of leaping into the hotel pool which i did on our return.
lou is enjoying a beer in the garden as i write...later? pasta probably.

arrivederci!

all packed and bored!

2009-09-19T17:02:00.002+02:00

having said goodbye to friends who had been in the gite we rounded up the remaining cat, ginge, who always disgraces himself in the car despite us leaving him til the last minute. marmalade was already crying in the bedroom where i had imprisoned him. as soon as they see the cat boxes they tend to do a runner!
the trip to the 'pension' needed one stop for a clean up but they were soon exploring their home for the next nine days alongside a very large cat called olivier and a silky tortoiseshell called isobel. we came home by a new route and now know to avoid floirac if in a hurry despite the prettiness of the village.
back home there were figs to be picked and frozen, fridges to be cleaned (yuk!), plants to be moved to where they can catch the rain (wet here please but not in tuscany!) and then the bags to be packed. tonight friends have asked us to dinner so no cooking, result!
bonne route pour demain! :)

pisa

2009-09-03T11:44:00.001+02:00

lou & lynne are going on a mini trip to pisa and the surrounding countryside.

icy blasts and icons

2007-12-05T14:20:00.000+01:00

reading back i see i didn't write about the kremlin visit on our last full day in moscow. well, we did get there despite the icy wind. next time, thermals! so after breakfast and meeting the agency lady with our train tickets we walked, yet again, down tverskaya ul to the kremlin.

the ticket said we could visit everything and the guide book said we could buy a pass to take photos...wrong! no photos allowed in any of the buildings but ok outside. as for the buildings all but one seemed to be shut at first so i had a bit of a rant...blame the cold seeping into my bones.

calming down it became clear that although two of the most externally impressive buildings were closed for renovation (how that has been the recurring theme of this trip!) we could visit the others.
i bought a guide book from the last cathedral and enjoyed reading back in the warm hotel what i should have looked at. happily i could relate a lot of it to things i remembered.

the smallness of the cathedrals was always a surprise and the richness of the icons never fails to delight the eye although even i had to admit to being all iconed out by the time we finished. how such marvels survived the revolution is a miracle although a lot didn't according to my book. i was amused that a great number of the icons had been brought to moscow 'for safety'. i wonder how many churches and cathedrals are now wanting them back?

the 'household items' listed by lonely planet were opulant in the extreme and being explained, very loudly, to a class of bored children by a woman with a very loud voice. we found ourselves dodging in and out of rooms to avoid her, likewise several other couples with their guides.

the stall with the guide book had russian dolls, much cheaper and better quality than the stalls by the resurrection gate on red square so some of those found their way into the stripy 'eco' bag. that bag is in most of the photos of me during this expedition! usually containing brolly, lonely planet,water bottle, souvenirs, wetwipes......travel light? me? :)

the kremlin is actually on a hill which is apparent when you are in the middle of it, hence the biting wind. there are government buldings too but we only saw a couple of soldiers despite my norwegian ladies swearing they saw putin. personally i think it was one of the 'characters' loitering outside. we could have had our photo taken with 'stalin', 'lenin', 'trotsky', the 'czar'......

leaving the plethora of onion domed buildings and the icy blasts, we quickly marched to the food court in the underground mall for lunch and a warm. next the internet cafe and then i heroically walked back to the english courtyard to return the cloakroom disc thingy that i'd forgotten to hand back (lou insisted!). it was shut! i shoved it under the door and when i got back to gum to meet lou i decided i needed to buy that skirt from monsoon as a reward for my selflessness! :)

then the supermarket to stock up on provisions for the train to berlin...getting to be old hands now...coffee, tea, coffeemate, biscuits, fruit, something yummy for breakfast, something for supper...and vodka of course!

that night it was yet another italian meal. there are two italian restaurants near the hotel, always busy and very good food...is there an authentic russian restaurant anywhere near the hotel pekin? we looked but never found one...and which region's cuisine in this vast country would you choose?

next morning we got up at a disgustingly early hour...5 o'clock...to be ready for the taxi driver...who came on time! :) sadly we were far too early at the station and waited on the forecourt for the train to be announced on the board. finally, when i was numb and very stroppy (no morning tea makes lynne a very unpleasant person!) the train number came up and we gratefully headed for our 'wagon'. even then the male prov. seemed in no hurry to let us on. he was very lucky i was weighed down with my back pack as by then i was ready to murder anyone standing between me and the samovar!
the train pulled out through the gloomy dawn and i suddenly realised i was looking at lowry-esque figures slouching along on suburban station platforms. was this what lowry saw in the industrial murk around him and so invented his signature style of drawing people?

we passed through very snowy landscape for most of the day and took the inevitable photos through the grubby windows. i had a strong sense that something very special was coming to an end and was very glad i had scribbled notes at randon times of the day throughout the whole trip which i would enjoy reading later...
and i have! :)

uniforms

2007-10-25T13:39:00.001+02:00

i mentioned in one of my missives that the chinese out of uniform are a friendly and cheerful people. in uniform they seem to be something else! it slowly dawned on me that there were an awful lot of uniforms on the chinese streets, more even than moscow, and particularly in beijing, where we noticed an inordinate number of 'uniforms' sporting 'beijing security' badges. the uniforms always carried a lot of badges, buttons, braid, belts and boots! strange in a land where mao is always pictured in his simple peasant dress.

it wasn't long before i began to categorise them into comic, job's worth and, scarily, sinister.

comic
at most traffic junctions despite an extremely efficient set of lights; those for cars, those for bikes, those for pedestrians and a count down system so you know if you should scuttle across rather than stroll, there were often policemen as well.
at one particular crossing in xi'an we observed with glee four policemen 'changing guard'. the two on duty were in rain capes; one on a plinth making arm signals and half turns like an automaton and the other standing around at his feet. the two taking over arrived at the plinth and there was snapping to attention and sharp salutes all round. then the action went all sloppy as they debated who was going to have the rain capes! there was a bit of a stand off and then the capes were handed over. all this time the traffic continued to flow quite easily without any help from the 'uniforms'. up on the plinth the new officer on duty went into stiff armed action, now equipped for the weather! :)

job's worth
also at the junctions as if you didn't already have enough information to guide you across the road safely there were 'traffic assistants'; fetchingly dressed in mustard shellsuits in shanghai and blue pyjamas in beijing, topped off with soft baseball caps. whistles, batons or flags, in combination or all three at once completed the look. they used the batons to keep back the pedestrians and the whistle to warn wouldbe offenders not to move prematurely!
i stumbled off the kerb in shanghai and was treated to the full works. fixed irate stare, whistle blown in a continuous shriek and the baton pointed, straight armed, into my face. i was sorely tempted to knock it away but didn't. it stops being comic and/or annoying and becomes intimidating.

like the policemen in tian'anmen square. macy, our guide, said many more were on duty 'for safety' during the holiday week, i felt it was more for hassling.
as you enter the square proper from the pedestrian crossings one side of the gap in the metal crush barriers is 'guarded' by a soldier in green on his dais under a green parasol and the other by a policeman in blue on his dais under a blue parasol. i'm making an assumption about the soldier's identity, the policeman not requiring one as his parasol was labelled 'police'!
as we crossed into the gap i had to sidestep as a second policeman stopped a woman in front of me. she went to open her bag. for id i suppose? but why? she carried no large bag or bundle so couldn't have been a hawker. a grey haired elderly lady, probably a tourist like me, but chinese.
a while later we used the subway to leave the square. sensibly it had been roped off to keep the flow of pedestrians separate. very wise when the space was as crowded as it had been on the holiday monday but this was four in the afternoon and the place was virtually deserted. even so an elderly couple walking the 'wrong way' were pounced on by an unsmiling youth in uniform. you want to say 'oh, per..lease!' but you don't, you just put your head down and keep walking...in the right direction. shades of '1984' went through my head!

sinister
my sensitivity has been heightened to all this by an unpleasant incident as we left xi'an. we had been collected by grace and our driver, mr wang, to be taken to the station. mr wang pulled into the parking area and as we all got out four uniformed guys all converged on the car. they barked at him and took his keys. we tried to get our luggage from the locked boot and grace remonstrated...ineffectually. she was only a young girl. after polite requests from lou and some shoving and pushing of mr wang by the four uniforms, the boot was opened by the biggest one. we grabbed our stuff, not easy as it was cumbersome, and headed across the staion forecourt with grace. scarily two of the guys followed us, one questioning grace, the other lou. lou said it seemed to be about whether mr wang was a taxi. lou said 'no, our car driver' and kept walking! grace delivered us to the waiting room and hurried back. she seemed to think they were not police. taxi rank 'assistants'? station guards? horrible, whatever they were!
i felt thoroughly shaken by it. sorry for mr wang and grace but helpless to assist in any way and just wanted to get on the train and leave xi'an behind...which is what we did an hour later to my great relief!
but what of mr wang? he came from the town by the hot springs and was married with a two year old son. he didn't seem a criminal, just bored by his driving job at times. a mystery, the outcome of which we shall never know.
i think it was this incident that began my sense of homesickness for the peace and relative security of gagnac...that and its wide open green spaces!

a happier footnote to xi'an
as we waited for the train in xi'an that horrible eveing we were all deafened by the female announcer who spoke only in chinese.(although there was an announcement board in english that we could see). a young couple with a child sitting alongside were soon giggling with us as we all jumped at each new onslaught from the tannoy above our heads. eventually the wife asked me where we were going and on finding out we were getting the same train she said she would make sure we didn't get left behind!
see? out of uniform, cheerful and friendly! :)

g'day possum

2007-10-23T13:40:00.000+02:00

everything we had read or heard about the trans siberian trains referred to the alcoholic haze that most of the journey is spent in, due to boredom, interacting with the other passengers and copious amounts of vodka. this was not the case with us! :) we weren't bored, we drank mostly tea and coffee and there weren't many passengers!

at first i thought the lack of socialising may be because we were travelling first class and therefore in a two berth compartment. the opportunity for making lifetime friends is more likely in a crammed four berth (or enemies i suspect!) but all the compartments seemed to be full of mongolian traders on the eastwards journey and chinese migrant workers on the westwards. on the trans mongolian we did get to chat with two norwegian chaps next door who were travelling the same route as us to beijing before flying home and andreas from switzerland and layla from the uk who were doing likewise to beijing but then were heading up into a chinese valley near tibet where they were going to help a friend finish his guesthouse. we ate choc ices together on our anniversary on a station platform somewhere in siberia!

at irkutsk we had an influx of tourist groups moving from lake baikal to ulun bator for a ger camp experience. we met up with most of them again on the ulun bator to beijing train as it only runs once a week. in this group we chatted to peter and natalie, an australian couple taking the long way home from munich. natalie was full of useful advice for exploring berlin and convinced me i really needed a washing line! :) on all the internal chinese trains we were the only europeans which caused lots of stares but smiles too.

in the hotels we were often the only couple not part of a tour group which meant we got adept at trying to time our breakfast for after the rush. on our return to beijing we shared the breakfast scrum at the rainbow, (good hotel, naff breakfast) with a crowd of aussies waiting for their connection to shanghai and then home. trevor and sandra, (sandy), chatted to us one morning. trevor was from leicester but had emigrated in 1962 at the age of five and sounded pure oz to our ears. he threatened to get in touch in 2009 when they hope to holiday next in france and i threatened to mention him on this blog.

so i have! over to you,trev! :)

glorious gagnac

2007-10-21T18:02:00.000+02:00

we're home!
sncf tried to stop it happening right up until the last minute.
the berlin train to paris did run and we were on it. and very posh it was too...breakfast included in the first class ticket, beautifully appointed compartment with hot running water and mouthwash provided and, piece de resistance, a shower at the end of the carriage with gushing hot water and shower gel. so i arrived in paris fresh as the proverbial daisy!
we had a second petit dejeuner at austelitz (sp?) station cafe and revelled in real butter croissants and real orange juice. 'look, it's got bits in', declared lou. our first proper juice since leaving france!
the weather was lovely all the way to brive and then sncf struck again...no train! so we finished our epic train journey across europe and asia and back again in the ter 'car', (coach to non french speakers).
at biars, our loyal friends were waiting, after two days delay and one false start, with a welcome home banner, flowers and kisses and an invitation to dinner, the only proviso being that the rugby was not to be missed! so we rode home surrounded by warmth and love...the best way possible to travel...thank you to sian, chris, megan, bethany, aiden, caitlin, summer, oscar, justin, cherry, amalie and quince

snow... snow... drip, drip, snow... 15/10 (catch up)

2007-10-19T19:30:00.000+02:00

the rain of friday and saturday turned into snow on sunday!
after hanging around the hotel all morning we felt the need for exercise and diversion. so, after lunch and armed with the brollies, we set off to find the moscow museum of modern art. we got lost, comme d'hab. but not too badly and were able to retrace our steps back up the pretty 'boulevard'of pastel houses and railed central garden.
the museum was wonderful, spread over three floors and containing four exhibitions as well as the permanent displays. 'modern' seemed to be anything after 1900.
we loved one of the installations in 'constructivo' that used sound and was interactive. lou said into the mic 'gavin would like this' and we heard it repeated interspersed with the previous speaker's russian comments. the piece was called 'i love you' so that is what i said being the romantic one. we could have played for hours! (i've since googled the piece and it was created in 2005 and the artist is well known in the uk, andrey bartenev.)
each room was guarded by genteel ladies, one of whom harangued me in russian. lord knows why, i had just pointed out a chagall to lou. did she not like the english? or chagall?
after we had had a really good look round it was back out into the snow and into a cafe for a pot of tea and chocolate cake. the muscovites love to spend time in cafes of which there are many, always busy and full of yummy goodies to tempt you! :)
still snowing today but it has to be the kremlin as we haven't done it yet! :)

not holding our breath! friday, 19th october

2007-10-19T10:17:00.001+02:00

we have hoofed over to ostbanhof this morning to ask the information desk if the train is running tonight...first they said no and then they said yes...so we're checking out and leaving the luggage at the big banhof and hoping the yes was the right answer! (photo is of a squat we passed on the way...not our hostel!) :)

btw sorry for all the typos in the last two blog bits...i was tired and ran out of time before i could do the spell check and read through...well, that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it! :)

ps went into the ibis to pick up a price list on our way back earlier and the reception chap said there is another strike on monday! is this a german one or french? i just want to go home now, running out of clean clothes!

train and strain...last bit!

2007-10-18T22:12:00.000+02:00

not much posher but it did have air freshener and when 'legs' was on night shift there was perfumed soap in a dinky purple soapdish!
and so we chugged towards journey's end, through sunny and gold autumn scenery.
the stations provided a bit of excitement. dashing to the kiosks before the chinese to find something to create supper from and once walking to the front of the train to take a photo of the engine and getting back on at a different door as the whistle blew. 'curse it' lou said when i appeared at the compartment door, 'i thought we'd left you behind'!
cheeky sod! :)

(catch up) letting the train take the strain 12/10

2007-10-18T21:34:00.000+02:00

it was a joy to be back on the train. for me, taking the trans siberian train, albiet the trans mongolian and trans manchurian in our case, was the realisation of a dream. i've always been excited by the sense of being on the move, from a small girl going on outings in my dad's car to more recent expeditions in our elderly camper. so settling into our compartment and taking up my customary spot by the window (how did i always end up with my back to the engine?) propped up on the provided pillow and glued to the passing landscape.. grubby windows mean all the photos will have a spattered effect, sadly.
in the waiting room at beijing we spotted a few european faces, most of them russian apart from a skinny chap. he got on way back down the train and we only glimpsed him at the russian border drearily waiting for the train to come back from the bogie changing shed as we all were (twelve hours to cross the border!)
the rest of the passengers appeared to be chinese from their language and the way they sprinted to the kiosks to buy pot noodles at each station. we never encountered anyone else in the dining car, usually the social hub of the train. it had been on the way east, filling up with sober types like us at lunchtime and beer swilling aussies in the evening!
our carriage was equally deserted. there was a chinese chap at the far end and a russian couple next door. lou nicknamed the wife 'hattie' as she was rather large and we could hear the crunching of crisps most of the day! :)
a diversion was caused by the arrival of nikolai at irkusk where we had expected an influx of tourists from the area around lake baikal. nikolai waylaid lou in the corridor that evening and when i went to find lou (rescue?), the two of them were sitting in front of nikolai's computer, looking at photos of shanghai! an hour later we had seen photos of nikolai at home on sakolin (an island off the east coast of siberia), nikolai and his 'boys', with his workers at his construction business (prefabricated buildings), at a motor show, on a jolly on the river at moscow with scantily clad belly dancers, with his 'woman'... not the mother of his boys i deduced from her youthful appearance.....
tall, broadshouldere and moustached, nikolai came across as a bit of a charmer and, sure enough, when he left the train at krasnovarsk with the chinese chap and hattie and husband, he wished us 'good travel' and told lou he had 'marvellous wife', flashing me a wonderful smile! :)
on what slender evidence he based this we can only wonder at! i was stripped of makeup and in my very sensible pyjys when i went looking for lou and our conversation was limited in the extreme relying on my russian phrase book! he works a long way from home and must be a lonely charmer...but never for very long i wager! :)
after that we were in splendid isolation apart from random railway personnel who got on, held meetings in the compartment next to ours and got off again, often at tiny halts. we soon got used to the sight of the train 'boss' as we called him, shouldering his way along the corridor. 'broad shoulders' i said to lou, 'padding' he said to me! :)
48 hours out of moscow, the dayshift 'prov' cleaned everything within an inch of its life, even wiping over the windows, (it didn't help!) and then locked the loo. 'legs', lou's favourite 'prov'. a girl of amazonian height with a blonde cockscomb on top of her dyed red hair and a very short skirt, explained that from now on our loo was 'clow-zed' and we were to use their's.
and i'm about to run out of time! i'll finish later! :)

making the best of it!

2007-10-18T21:14:00.000+02:00

if you can't go home go see something!
we walked to checkpoint charlie yesterday afternoon. very touristy with a guy dressed as an american soldier on the checkpoint and lots of souvenir shops. i found it hard as i remembered all the painful newsreels of that time. all the kids happily buying stuff weren't even born! i keep forgetting how old i am!
then we walked down to the last bit of wall and the open air exhibition about the land behind that part of the wall and the horrible things that went on in the various buildings that have been on the site. more sadness.
then it was the trek back to the station and the long wait for our train to come up on the board...at 8.30pm...and that was the first indication we had that all was not well!
a fraught half hour while we tried to get another ticket back via cologne (couldn't) and finally swapped ours for one for tomorrow night, fingers crossed the strike is over or, at least, the train from here is running! then to the travel centre to book a hotel which is what we did and where we are...a hotel/hostel full of backpackers and a sprinkle of elderlies like us. a bar, good breakfast and cheap internet and a short walk from the centre of berlin so ok...for a couple of days...it could pall if for longer! :)
today we spoke to gav on the phone and went off to queue for the tv tower as he insisted! he was right. a long wait but worth it as the view is great, better than the shanghai tower that is so high it squashed everything into the mist and pollution. berlin looks lovely from up there and the food was good too. we revolved as we ate! :)
then a walk (poor lou, i have walked him everywhere) to a graffiti'd gallery/art space called tacheles. a fun exhibition about the end of relationships and what you have left. my favourite was the pair of garters with the label 'he gave me these, i never wore them, if i had maybe we'd be together now'! :)
back here to check out the strike on the internet (no news) and toasted baguettes in the bar.
and tomorrow?

strike!

2007-10-17T22:54:00.001+02:00

stuck in berlin till friday cos of a strike by the french train drivers etc.......
so what do we go and look at now? :)

recap on beijing...round two..7/10

2007-10-17T12:25:00.000+02:00

at the end of the tour we visited a 'family', a very gracious lady who turned out to have been an infant teacher in the huting (we get everywhere). she shares her courtyard home with her brother in law's family and her son's.
fascinating fact 2
if you want to know how many families share a courtyard, count the eletric meters!
we discussed pumpkins, she grows them in the sheltered courtyard where they climb up
onto the roof, and her pet turtles, kept in a bucket, poor things. we loved the lakes in the centre of the area and went back on our very last day in beijing.

4 after lunch the silk factory stop.
smelly and poor cacoons being boiled. the thought of using face cream made with boiled pupa revolted me. the girl was so insistent that 'we use all of the cacoon' as if that was a good thing...yuk!

5 the temple of heaven is a beautiful, totally wooden structure that uses 'no nails or cement' (we refrained from citing french roof construction in past times). it is highly decorative but, again, you can only peer through the doorway at its marvellous interior.
the surrounding park is a vast green lung for beijing (we went back there too) and has several relics. sadly, the 'longest covered passage in the world' was closed for renovation. there came a point when i began to ask our guides if we were looking at the real thing or a reconstruction!
day two

6 the great wall at badeling was heaving as lonely planet said it would be. lou and i 'heroically' (all walkers of the great wall are referred to as heroes and heroines) turned to the left. it is steeper and, therefore, meant to be less busy- joke! too much mist, too many tourists, too many souvenir sellers but i drank to simone's memory, albiet in water not coffee, and waved to the satellite, as instructed by lou, that can see it all from space!

7 at the ming tombs i expected to go underground but we just walked around the graceful complex. less busy and a pleasant pause in the day. macy used the time to test us on the information concerning iconography and the emperors that she had given us the day before! :)

8 a planned visit to a cloisonne factory. probably a tourist set up but the workers looked genuine and the techniques were fascinating to watch...and no cacoons suffering!

9 a stop on the hard shoulder so lou could photograph the 'birds nest' stadium being built for the opening and closing ceremonies of the olympics.

10 a teahouse stop, our first and best. a charming girl told us all about the teas in a courtyard teahouse while an ancient instrument was played...briefly. lou fell for the lichi tea with rosebuds...and the girl's smile?

so a packed two 'guided' days that left my head buzzing and feet aching but gave us plenty to think about and ideas for second visits...or not...those poor cacoons!

ich thingy berlinner!

2007-10-17T12:17:00.000+02:00

we arrived this lovely, sunny, golden autumn morning in berlin. we went to the train station as stated on the ticket and then had to get a taxi back to the station we'd watched everyone else get out at as that is where we go from this evening! very modern and very clean as everything is in this city. we've dumped the bags and have walked to the brandenburg gate and down to the tv tower that gav told us to have lunch at....but a very long queue so we've come online before we decide where to go next...checkpoint charlie is on the cards!
i shall have to write up all my blog bits later as they are beginning to get out of hand...i write like i talk..lots!
so love to all, looking forward to seeing gagnac, friends and the cats...will they still talk to us?

grrrrrrr

2007-10-15T11:50:00.001+02:00

i have spent the last half hour trying to get rid of some russian screens...lou comes over and gets straight on!
no time left to say anything so love to all and i may try later when i've calmed down! :)
i love computers...when they work!

from russia from love

2007-10-14T08:43:00.000+02:00

after the internet-oh the joy of getting on the blog ! :) - we went back to gum on red square to a cafe we'd seen. gum is a shopper's paradise. jo, you would love it but bring dad's plastic...and mum's ...and greg's... :) i found a monsoon and accessorize-bliss. lou gave me ten minutes to cruise the colour co-ordinated displays and revel! i spotted a skirt called isobel, priced in uk and euros...i was tempted! :)

we spent the afternoon in the english courtyard museum. an odd little building between red square and the huge building site that was the hotel rossiya. the place was the english embassy in the time of elizabeth 1 and the first foreign embassy in russia.
trade came via the northern seas and we traded broadcloth, hemp and gunpowder for honey and wax (there were other things but that was what has stuck in the memory!). great play was made of how bread was sent in each direction in times of famine.
oliver cromwell spoiled things by chopping off charles' head and relations were suspended but restored when power was back in the hands of royalty. odd how history twists and turns, i bet the soviets would have applauded royal heads rolling! :)
the building is a rabbit warren of low doorways and steep, narrow staircases. there are a lot of historical documents and pictures, all well labelled in russian and english. the curators are very proud of it all.
quaint in the extreme and a great way to escape the rain! :)

recap on beijing - round one, 7th october

2007-10-13T09:51:00.000+02:00

with time on my hands (six days) i reread my blog notes which i'd been typing at breakneck speed on a range of naff keyboards in a variety of internet lounges, often amongst excited young male game players who yelled and/or smoked.

btw let's hear it for gavin! thank you, gav, for loading up all mother's waffle! :)

the impact of beijing on me first time around seems to have obliterated any thoughts or mention of the 'sights' we 'did'. so sorry to all the chinese culture fans out there and here goes!

day one
1 tian. square (still can't spell it from memory) is big, so big the buildings around it seemed dwarfed by it including the gate of heavenly peace. as we approached the gate macy was in full flow with facts and figures. you become immune to all mention of 'the tallest, the biggest, the furthest, the oldest...in the world' after a while! :) we posed for the obligatory photo under that of mao!

2 the forbidden city is so vast, reportedly containing 3,000 rooms, that you can only hope to scratch the surface of it especially if you are 'on the tour'. you end up pressing your nose against windows and peering in at doorways as most of the halls are closed to the public. as i said somewhere else, it was very crowded, and always is, with chinese tourists. i found myself looking upwards and taking photos of the roofs so as to get people free shots! the chinese love to photograph one another against things; incense burners, steps, walls, nice tubs of flowers...and always with two fingers in the air...no, not that!...v for...victory?
fascinating fact one- macy told us that the wooden fretwork windows used to be covered with paper. if you wanted to peer inside you only had to lick your finger and press it against the paper to create a perfect spyhole!
the emperor's garden at the north end of the city is a charming space with very old fir trees that have grown into some incredible shapes. if they had an 'a' on them they were over four hundred years old and if they had a 'b on them they were relative youngsters of only three hundred years old.
as we emerged from the city, macy suggested a hutong rickshaw tour. as we had been told that the hutongs are fast disappearing we readily agreed.

3 hutong rickshaw tour
bumping along in the rickshaw we felt very embarrassed for the poor driver/cyclist pedalling all our weight (and lou's camera bag!) around the narrow alleys. our male guide, who reminded us of bertrand parroux, was full of information. at one point we became involved in a rickshaw jam caused by a lorry trying to negotiate a corner. every man in the vicinity was telling him what to do. i half expected lou to jump out and join in with the all the advice!

:oops time's up!

hi from moscow

2007-10-13T09:34:00.000+02:00

hello to our readers! :)
we have arrived safely in moscow.

i cried when we had to leave the train last night, bien sur! i had loved the whole experience and now it was over...dad often reminded me of the saying 'better to travel hopefully than to arrive'...not sure if that is all of it but realising a dream can be a bitter sweet experience.
so when can we do it again? :)

moscow was cold when we got here and is wet now but warmer. it is surprisingly empty on the streets but i seem to remember it was a holiday period for muscovites when we were here last.
we have just walked around red square which is free of scaffolding (it was a concert for the moscow special day) but still has the chap yelling down his loud speaker. i popped into the beautiful church on the corner of the square. there was a service going on in the inner space and i lit a candle to say thank you for our safe arrival. two souvenir shops inside run by two very dour ladies! no 'hello, lady, wanna buy an icon?' :)

i am very grateful for the thermal leggings i packed in case moscow was cold when we got back here...and am using the cashmere scarf from mongolia. lou has dug out his ski hat so we are a real fashion statement in our summer trousers and anoraks but warm and dry under our shanghai brollies. did i say they are decorated with multiple mickey mouse heads? there is no topping us in the taste stakes! :)
love to all

bye bye, beijing, bye bye

2007-10-06T18:09:00.000+02:00

[6th october]

we arrived on 2nd october in a very busy beijing. monday had been national day and the whole week is a holiday for most chinese. 1 1/2 million had passed through t. square last monday if the china daily is to be believed! :)

beijing was sunny and blue and it was liberating to be able to walk in dappled shade along the streets under the trees. we'd been under hazy skies since mongolia! i hope the trees survive the renovations here. not just two rows of trees along the roads but four as the bicycle lanes are edged with treelined pavements too.

tuesday evening was roast beijing duck organised by the agency to compensate for losing us a day in hong kong (the shanghai hotel had been cheaper than hk). a good meal at a buffet restaurant, only one glass of wine provided so we bought a bottle of 'free' wine! :)

wednesday we went out to the summer palace, a must see sight according to lonely planet. us and that 1 1/2 million! after an hour or more of slow shuffling we abandonned the buildings along the lakeside, beautiful though they are, and took to the hill. lovely paths under ancient fir trees with room to stretch our legs. we passed the hall of serenity (sic), a quirky building housing some exquisite wooden furniture (the empress didn't stint herself). you entered a small courtyard and after passing through an l-shaped gallery you found yourself looking down into another courtyard two floors below. (see pic above) cunning garden designers these chinese!

thursday we returned to the temple of heaven, only two blocks from the hotel. we'd done some of it with macy but the place is huge, we sussed how to avoid the worst of the crowds and idled away the morning watching ladies doing a very sinuous dance class, pensioners doing tai chi and a man spinning a top to applause, not putting out the hat but just for the pleasure of exercising his skill :)

we braved the hordes to do the round altar and the echo wall and scuttled back under the cypresses where we tried to glimpse the parrots we could hear. sitting in an arbour in the rose garden a young girl indicated she would like her picture taken with us. so with lots of grins and gestures several were taken by her boyfriend on his mobile phone. no names were swapped as no common language but a further confirmation that the ordinary chinese, out of uniform, are a friendly and cheerful people!

friday morning was very wet so i googled an art exhibition mentioned in the china daily and off we went to a building called variously the bejing world art museum or the china millenium monument. rampant patriotism in the exterior design and some of the exhibits although i liked the frieze of chinese history downstairs. julian schnabel left us cold but the spanish design exhibition of poster, chairs and lights was exhilerating. once more cameras flashed despite signs to the contrary and ever present attendants...very odd.

back to the hotel and lunch at a place lou had spotted the day before. nice staff, good food and tea full of daisies. smelled of chrysanths. and tasted lovely. lots of giggles when i asked them to write down the chinese name. i found some in the merry mart later. cup of tea, petal? :)

today has been wet all morning so we loitered in the hotel room till check out time when it had dried up a bit and went off to the lake area lou likes. we wandered happily around and had a pizza in one of the myriad restaurants. then another wander through the hutong area and to the drum and bell towers. back to t. square (i can't spell it) and a long walk back to the hotel...train at 11 o'clock.....

talk to you in a week, god willing!

one more and then no more

2007-10-06T18:07:00.000+02:00

our train didn't leave xi'an until the evening so another grey day to fill...so off to another pagoda! the small goose pagoda this time. poor lou!

it is set in a lovely park full of lakes, grass, trees, and paved walkways. the
buddhist temple that precedes it has its bell and drum tower intact (bell to get up to, drum to go to bed to) but the halls are souvenir shops, comme d'hab. the pagoda is not and you can climb to the top... we didn't! as i read about the damage the poor pagoda had sustained in its history due to at least three earthquakes, (the top two stories are no more), i realised that maybe i should take the safety warning in the hotel room about earthquakes a bit more seriously! :)

in the same park there is a spanking new museum. the whole place only opened in may of this year. the museum's exterior is inspired by the tang dynasty but the interior is a wonderful, airy, circular and modern space. the exhibits are beautifully set out and labelled in english. i wandered all three levels - jade, relics, buddhas, calligraphy, seals and a model of how xi'an had looked in the tang era while lou idled on the ground floor...so patient with me! :)

then we did the outdoor shops to cheer him up, he can always use another jacket!

lunch at a cantonese buffet which turned out to be a 'music hall' type of place full of flipping flag following tour groups! oops, lynne, bad choice...blame lonely planet!

hello? want a watch, lady?

2007-10-05T09:10:00.000+02:00

[30th September - part 1]

poor xi'an, there's been a lot about our meals (we do love our food!) and nothing about the 'sights'!

sooooo...we have found the guided tours a mixed blessing. the pleasure in visiting places is spoiled by the souvenir circus that surrounds everything plus the unscheduled stops. 'i need to sign something for my company' has to be the most blatant excuse as yet another jade workshop hoves into sight!

but...the xi'an city walls are incredible; forbidding, stark and very broad, dark and symmetrical. there is not the softness of the walls of canterbury or york. the big goose pagoda is...big! pity it was wet and we were trying to cope with grace's accent. the scriptures were introduced as 'sculptures' and i was glad i had swotted up from lonely planet. the muslim quarter was more fun- life as it is lived- and i effected a detour in the direction of the great mosque which yielded even better insights.

the hot springs are set beneath a mountain which was shrouded in mist but it was good to see some green after the constant urban landscape we have been living in for weeks. we were getting used to grace and again i dived off her proscribed route and asked questions!

the terracotta warriors are fantastic and despite the jostling for a viewpoint and the flashing of cameras and mobiles regardless of the signs forbidding it the silent ranks are awesome. i was pleased the experience was not sullied by souvenir sellers. as i took in the spectacle i had an overwhelming sense of the arrogance of the man who motivated their manufacture. he wanted eternal life after his death but with all the power he had attained in his mortal existance too.

the experience gets better as you proceed from pit to pit; from the masses to the individual, from the collective moulds to the craftman's detail. it is thought that each face is modelled on a member of the imperial guard. it is also believed that there are many more waiting silently in battle formation under the ground to be discovered one day.

it is advertised as the eighth wonder of the world and i'm truly grateful that i dragged lou across china to see it!

what now, pussycat?

2007-10-05T09:09:00.000+02:00

[30th September - part 2]

having seen the terracotta 'warriors' and said goodbye to the last of our guides we haven't got much reason to be in xi'an beyond waiting for our train to beijing next monday evening! however, lynne, armed with her trusty lonely planet guide sallied forth this morning with a reluctant but compliant lou to find a taoist temple and antique market. a taxi was needed as distances are as long as in any of the other chinese cities we have visited thus far!

as described the market is for locals so we experienced no hassle, only parents urging their children to say hello to us, bless. lou is all 'templed out' as he puts it so i paid my three yuan and pottered quietly in the temple of the eight immortals leaving him to study and enjoy the faces outside.

then it was a walk to the east gate through quite poor backstreets (but we did find a jar of nescafe in a tiny supermarket) and on to the bell tower in the centre of xi'an. a lovely girl in starbucks pointed us in the direction of the internet place (cheaper than the hotel) where we got amused stares from the usual clientele of fashionably dressed youngsters. on the way out i appealed to our fellow lift travellers for the nearest macdonalds (yes, yes, i know i said we would stick to local food but we were looking for sandwiches) and, once more, we were charmingly sent off in the right direction.

after a speedy and familiar lunch (twenty years since i last ate a macdonalds burger in piccadilly!) we carried on trekking but finally gave in and got a taxi back. we could have eaten in the street and chosen from boiled corn on the cob or roasted sweet potato, followed by slices of three different types of melon on sticks.

last night's dinner had been back on the eastern track and was hilarious! we opted for the hotel seafood hotpot restaurant and caused a stir when we turned up (pardon the pun). they nearly refused to let us in. a lovely waitress, yang chai, guided us through the process which we would never have worked out for ourselves. a pot of soup bubbled in the centre of the table and yang dropped in the various foods we had ordered. she scooped the pieces out as they cooked and dumped them in our bowls of soy sauce into which had been put spoonfuls from the contents of six small bowls. we recognised garlic, chilli and coriander but hadn't a clue what the rest might have been! :)

a different and yummy meal with lots of laughs and yang and her colleagues were a delight! we shall be expecting justin to have a go at hotpot, xi'an style! :)

east is east and west is west

2007-10-04T16:11:00.000+02:00

we were so grateful to be in a hotel that was not the hotel juilong, shanghai that we forgot for the moment we were still in china (in xi'an) and went down to enjoy a meal in the western restaurant. a smiling welcome and apology that all the tables were large (there had been a wedding in the afternoon), eight seater, circular with a turn table in the middle. the menu was limited but we were pleased to order smoked salmon followed by steak and frites (me) and pizza (lou). we created a lot of toing and froing by asking for white wine and ended up with half a bottle of great wall semillon 1996. an odd sherry taste to it. i blamed the cepage, lou said it was 'gone'. maybe we should blame jean louis? :) poured beautifully complete with napkin over the arm once she had organised a tray with cloth, two glasses.....

the smoked salmon arrived in a flower shape laid over ice cubes covered in cling film. the salmon was just this side of the deep freeze and any flavour had been frozen out of it many months before! even the soy sauce served alongside couldn't revive it! but the steak and chips and pizza were very good. and the girls keen to please and a bill of &17.80.

we took excellent coffee in the dreams bar and i nipped across the road to a tiny shop for a bar of chocolate to go with it!:)

the chinese lunch included with yesterday's tour had been excellent so we really should go with the flow and carry on wielding the chopsticks while we're here...it's what they do best! :)

meanwhile our latest guide, grace, has a rough grasp of english and is fine when she remembers the text. 'she needs a shilling in the meter' whispered lou after she lost her thread and had to repeat her introduction to get back on track! like an actor she needs a prompter...or an ipod!

today the terracotta 'warriors', the only reason we are in xi'an. and more rain?

'shay, shay' shanghai (part 2)

2007-10-03T12:50:00.000+02:00

yesterday was "our" day so off to the maglev train, lou's choice. a fantastic ride, so smooth, so fast, 431 kilometers an hour at its top speed! the information in the little museum was beyond me (magnetism) but we reckoned dad and ian would have loved it. :)

then the shanghai urban planning exhibition (mabel again). an odd choice it might seem but the mezzanine floor had a display of old shanghai in black and white photographs. on the upper floors there was a huge model and elaborate plans for...you've guessed it...the remodelling of shanghai, not for the olympics this time but the world expo in 2010.

[china must have made a lot of successful bids recently. as we were leaving people were arriving for the special olympics, 'intellectually impaired' athletes the morning paper said. this morning as we took our leave of the bund (loved that place) - iced coffee, pineapple juice (and an ice cream for lou) at a waterfront cafe, groups of teenagers, black and asian, were posing for photos and some uniformed tots were chanting and cheering for a television crew. ]

we did eventually find the french concession which is a delightful place to walk in. two storey houses set in gardens behind railings, clearly subdivided into many homes but the gardens were well maintained. shady pavements lined with spreading plane trees and posh western named shops mixed with tiny local ones. back courtyards glimpsed through stone arches. we ate 'japanese curry and rice' when we were disappointed by a restaurant whose menu had neither english translation or pictures we could stab!

a taxi back to the pedestrian bit (distances in shanghai are long) of the nanjing road and the internet 'bar' (yeah, right, sprite or coke from the tiny grubby counter) where we whiled away a happy hour all for 4 yuan (25p).

back to our depressing hotel to change and then to the bund to try out lou's new tripod. :)

at night the bund is full of sellers and hawkers -'wanna buy skates?' -the teenagers speed up to you, heels flashing as they whizz along; 'wanna bag? a watch? a photo? a model of the pearl tower that lights up? (yes, i know you would, steve! :) ) the telescopes play the tune of 'we wish you a merry christmas' when you put the money in the slot (is it on the carol list, sian?). there are guys hurling lumps of squidgy coloured plastic at the ground whereupon it wobbles back up into something that looks as if it ought to be on the capital one card ad! others squat on their haunches and spin tops as you approach that sing and throw out circles of flourescent light. then the word goes up 'police'. they all melt away into the crowd as the police buggy cruises through.....

we ate on the floating restaurant near where the tour boats leave, a huge moon, the lights on the water, hot food, cold beer.......

thank you, shanghai, xie, xie

'shay, shay' shanghai (part 1)

2007-10-02T13:14:00.000+02:00

[29th September]

just stopped in suzhou-suejoe-- which we visited on tuesday. a good day with mabel, a girl with three years guiding under her belt, unlike lilian, this year's graduate, who was monday's guide. mabel was informed and made sure we did tours backwards to avoid the flag following groups. we spent a long time in the humble administrators garden in suzhou unlike the forced march around the yuyuan the day before! skilfully mabel sussed the information lilian hadn't given us the day before so filled the gaps...and our tummies with choc ices when the afternoon proved very hot! :)
with lilian we did a rerun of sights we'd found for ourselves (bund, old city, not her fault tho') and suffered the obligatory teahouse stop, pearl shop stop, souvenir shop masquerading as art gallery....but she did the jade temple very well, organised lunch and supper and saved the boat trip for the early evening when the bund and the facing buildings are all lit up and have a kind of light show of their own.

but it was mabel who explained that fields of huge leafed plants in water are lotus and the chinese eat the root and the seeds. we were enchanted by the seed heads that we realised form part of my pot pourri back in crouzi! :)

the canal trip in suzhou was not as pretty as i'd been led to believe but was typical of chinese life as we had seen it elsewhere complete with smells! as in other places suzhou is half demolished amd being rebuilt 'for the olympics'.
there should be a sign at the border saying,
'sorry, china is closed for improvements due to the olympic games'!
we couldn't get into the peace hotel on the bund or into the little museum under the monument at the start of the bund as they are 'closed for refurbishment'. the museum is an art gallery at present where a very persistent and charming young 'art student' parted me from 100 yuan for one of 'his' artworks. what a silver tongue he had!

it was mabel who persuaded us to that the shanghai acrobats were not to be missed and she was absolutely right. after a nervous wait for a taxi (hotel cock up again) we arrived at an amazing complex and saw a very professional show. slender bendy girls and athletic young men, something to please everyone! :)

we ate strange new things at a pavement restaurant (mabel's suggestion again) under trees filled with fairy lights amid chinese in holiday mood for 'mid autumn day'. the inevitable photos to remember the moment and a taxi back to 'that' hotel!

salut!

2007-10-02T13:13:00.000+02:00

i'm positive about shanghai but the hotel is casting a negative shadow. strange drilling noises woke me at two and four this morning and we ate breakfast to the sounds of more drilling outside the windows!

but the sun is out and today we begin the guided bit. yesterday we tried to find the market and the french concession. we weren't actually lost but thought we were, lonely planet and the hotel map proving inadequate. we'd bought brollies because of the rain and really needed them as it turned into a tropical downpour just as we got ourselves into a busy shopping mall 'built in pseudo ming and qing style' as the brochure puts it! we ducked into starbucks for hot drinks and to dry out a bit. after that we wandered down back streets in the old city, two storey houses with all manner of shops on the ground floors, loaded rickshaws passing and lots of demolition too. confused by the road names we walked back towards the tallest building i'd noted earlier (lou is hopeless at this sort of thing i've discovered!) and found lunch on nanjing street, centre of the universe for the people of shanghai it would seem! :)

and then through sheer bloody mindedness on my part, we found an internet place. along the way we'd found several fabulous bookshops full of young people reading and clearly being encouraged to so - do they buy the books eventually?

a lovely chat with gav via james' site and a meander back to the hotel . interesting art deco buildings, lots of shops selling recycled engineering parts, rickshaws with chaps ringing bells, (macy told me they are rag and bone men), a little park where we were approached by a middle aged guy who spoke random french words to us! mostly consisting of 'merci beaucoup' and 'parisien'. i responded in kind! :)

then the hotel! :(

never mind, there is a bar that does a decent g and t and we buy nuts from the business centre...confused? so 'aperos' time chaque soir!

salut, nos amis!

rain, rain, go away...

2007-10-02T13:12:00.000+02:00

the train from hong kong was full of chinese but only us in our four berth. i was glad of the privacy but, perversely, regretted missing the experience of sharing the space! :)

it was wet and warm when we arrived and we splashed through the puddles with our guide to our people carrier. christina seemed to think we were leaving on monday which was a concern. she had no onward tickets apart from our tour ones and refused to give me her business card or contact number. why?

my heart sank at the sight of the hotel. very tall and shrouded in netting. we came in through a shuttered front to the sound of drilling. reception was big and glossy and the staff seemed to know what they were about!

our room is on the 22nd floor (gulp) and is a bit scruffy in places but all is here that we would want, boiling water and a washing line! :)

we went out to discover shanghai and liked what we saw despite the rain. lots of interesting european looking buildings and little wooden structures; alleyways that reveal trees and bushes in pots; washing hanging out of windows on bamboo poles; some boarded up buildings that architecturally wouldn't look out of place in london.

the waterfront is modern and looks across at an eclectic collection of new buildings, curiosities rather than cutting edge! :)

i spotted three policemen cruising the walkway in a kind of golf buggy with pop music blaring out. three more uniformed chaps went in the opposite direction in something similar. a barge motored by on the water with an enormous video screen playing advertisements. we're still approached by photographers and fake watch sellers but the streets seem calmer despite 18 million living in the shanghai area!

hong kong fooey (part 1)

2007-10-02T13:11:00.000+02:00

[20th September]

three days in hong kong and i can't say i regret moving on. the place is one enormous shop that never closes with posh upper floors and bargain basements!

we spent our first evening walking down the nathan road, kowloon, (where our hotel is) to the harbour's edge. lou had heard about the light show and it was very atmospheric; water slapping; boats passing; crescent moon; neon on all the skyscrapers on hong kong island and then the light show!

lots of photos later (ours and virtually everyone around us) we walked back to the temple street market. a madhouse of smells, cheap tat, neon, food stalls...fantastic! lou insisted we eat in proper downtown style so we did in one of the many small cafes. i tried not to worry about unwrapped chopsticks...the food was ok and very cheap. we were the only europeans and business was brisk. the chinese version of hollyoaks was on the huge tv screen on the wall!

back at the hotel we'd discovered we could get on the blog so could read all the comments and feel the warmth of friends and family...

hong kong fooey (part 2)

2007-10-02T13:10:00.000+02:00

a day less and no passports because of a visa mix up meant no trip to macau as we'd hoped (you need visas for macau). but we had dosh as i persuaded the bank to accept my carte de sejour as evidence i existed! so a day with lynne as guide (this was to happen a lot!). star ferry, the peak tram and a bus to aberdeen for a look and maybe a sampan tour. lou felt let down by the star ferry, very quick and the day was misty. i felt let down by the peak. the tram is a delight but the top is concrete and glass, souvenir shops, cafes, shops, more shops....

the bus to aberdeen was not the suggested one but took us through another side of hong kong life - school kids, shoppers and into the estates of flats. inside the bus the driver seemed to have his life stacked beside him!

aberdeen was loads of high rise around the harbour so a concrete sided harbour with a paved walk along one side. too misty to see what lay beyond the harbour entrance. too many boats anyway. the fish market had closed (morning only) but was still smelly, of course! :) shame we didn't see it but we spotted fish hanging up outside a shop in an alleyway. the sampan tour was duly taken when i had frogmarched lou to the only outfit i was prepared to put my trust in. the boat was organised by a woman on the shore and our lady pilot who nagged her male colleague in another boat by way of her mobile phone!

hong kong fooey (part 3)

2007-10-02T13:09:00.000+02:00

...as she indicated the house boats i asked her where she lived. she waved at a pink block of flats we were chugging past! :)

we caught the recommended double decker bus for the return and were whipped back to the star ferry through a modern tunnel and along flashy roads past even flashier shops...the differing faces of hong kong island.

back to the temple street market in the evening to eat at a pavement cafe at lou's insistence. i looked at the dirty table, dirty plastic glasses, rice bowls, chopsticks, pavement....and asked my tummy's forgiveness! lou's salted fried prawns and my steamed garlic shrimps were superb and the chinese beer got my thumbs up too! :) and my tummy stayed put...so far so good!

today i sought out the nearest temple to the goddess of the sea and enjoyed a tranquil fifteen minutes away from the bedlam that is the nathan road. then we walked to the kowloon park and enjoyed the cool under the trees, the turtles and goldfish in their pools and the birds in the aviary. we needed that as en route lou had stopped to buy a lens and flash unit and we would be there still if the manager had had his way. he started at 3,500 hong kong dollars and ended up at 10 pounds!

as we couldn't make macau i found the macau restaurant (lonely planet again) and had an intersting lunch of garlic bread (yum), seafood portuguese style (lou) and vegetables portuguese style (me). the seafood was a sort of fish pie, yummy. my veg. was heavy on the broccoli and cabbage! :)

pit stop at the hotel then off to the jade market and the ladies market. i tell you, you can shop till you drop in this place and eat western. i have to admit we ate in mcdos in aberdeen - i yearned for a sarnie! and this afternoon we hit starbucks for iced coffee and juice. though it looks like local again tonight. the bags are packed and lou has bought a new bag for the new enlarged set of camera equipment! and we have our passports back with our chinese visas (who'd a thunk we needed double entry visas when hong kong is chinese?). they've stuck my recent photo in it. presumably decided i've changed a lot in the last nine years. aged!

tomorrow off to shanghai in a four berth- a new experience again. the agent tried to buy all four berths but no go. as lou says, we can't fart! let's hope the others don't either! :)

message from shanghai

2007-09-23T08:45:00.000+02:00

walked our legs off looking for the market, the temple and the french concession...both maps useless and our sense of direction! :) i think we may have been going the right way but it was pissing down and we had to buy brollies...too hot to wear a raincoat!

lonely planet wrong about the internet access but due to my pig headedness we have found a dubious place on the third floor of a shopping mall! :)

found a cafe linked to a sofitwel hotel and had good toasted sandwiches and wine and beer, last night was crispy duck and stir fried veg...lou is still wating for the duck meat to arrive! :)

tomorrow the guided tour, let's hope the sun comes out again

love lynne

a word from our blogger (2)

2007-09-22T18:37:00.000+02:00

hello readers

the folks are in shanghai, hotel is naff, it's raining, they can't access the blog plus there is only one computer in the "business centre"

so love from them until they can get access again

gav

oops

2007-09-21T05:32:00.000+02:00

just typed loads about hong kong and it timed out!
anyway, we have to check out and get off for the shanghai train. we shall be out of touch till moscow i expect so goodbye to all and love from us both, we miss you all-really! :)
i'll try to mail through gav...sorry gav!
love and kisses
xxxxxxx

au revoir beijing

2007-09-21T04:48:00.000+02:00

we woke early on our last day in beijing...for the time being!

ready by nine we went out for a walk. we enjoyed the little shops where people sang out 'hello lady', 'hello sir ' just as they do from every counter in the department stores. i thought it was for the europeans only but it is for everyone. there were people eating breakfast on the pavements, cyclists on all shapes and sizes of bicycles.

we picked our way through and found a 'coffee shop'. it turned out to part of an hotel and offered tea, coffee, toast, butter and marmalade! (we'd abandonned breakfast in our hotel after the first morning. with hundreds of european tourists-literally-we could hardly serve ourselves and had to sit in the reception bar to eat!) so a familiar albiet expensive breakfast!

back to the hotel to check out and change some travellers cheques. they refused lou's and said they were stained. got sweaty in his money belt? they were happy to take mine and we hope we can sort out lou's later (we have ...in hong kong!) off to the enormous beijing west station where macy dashed about trying to find the right place! finally we found international departures. macy presented us with a gift of decorated apples for family day-25th september and hustled us through.

the train was waiting and was very swish! the best yet. hot water in the taps!
the first part of the journey was under a misty sky and some rain. we were horrified to witness the darkening of the sky around 3.30pm as we approached an industrial town. huge chimneys belching smoke , other large and small ones doing the same too. around the town vegetable gardens and fields of maize growing under this smog.
after ten - fifteen minutes further down the line the sky cleared...a bit. we sat stunned. 'the end of the world ' said lou...'but it could be ' i replied!

during the night i woke up with a tingling in mybottom lip. to my horror, my lip and right side of my face was rapidly swelling, plus an angry red patch under my left eye. we're assuming i was bitten. i slapped on the cortisone cream and lou made me take an anti inflammatory ibuprofen. scared me half silly. scenarios of closing throat etc.! 'elephant women' lou is calling this morning. will the customs let me through? i already don't look like my passport photo which was taken nine years ago! :)

the twilight zone

2007-09-21T04:32:00.000+02:00

we came, we walked, we saw, we're off!
beijing is huge but strangely quiet. you wake up to misty mornings and expect the sky to clear as the temperature rises. but it doesn't. there may be a suggestion of pale blue sky around midday but the dusk comes early. a gloom settles around five o'clock and a sickly orange sun burns in the west. even 70 kms out of town the hills were shrouded despite the breeze and you longto see the sky and breath deeply.

we were surprised at how many chinese tourists there were everywhere but it was the weekend and every chinese dreams of visiting beijing. they follow their tour guide with his flag on a pole and all wear identical baseball caps. at the guide's insistence? so he can spot them? the europeans do likewise but sans hats. i did spot one lot with stick on name badges- yuk! shaeds of inservice courses!

we trod the tourist trail regretting the crowds but grateful we were just two with the dynamic macy. at the silk workshop we found our norwegian guys and then my danish lunch companions. we half expected to turn a corner of the great wall and come across them again!

too knackered to walk far in the evening we've used the hotel internet despite the cost and can't get onto the blog ( chinese censorship? we've eaten in and out of the hotel... out of it being easier!
the surrounding streets have people sized shops and homes due to a building height restriction so it seems friendly here unlike among the massive new blocks in the financial district beyond the square. we enjoyed our second sweet and sour and fried rice with chips(lou on the mend)last night while watching the tour buses draw up outside the hotel and either empty or offload the groups!

(one more to catch up properly! :) )

bored-er crossing (this and last post are still catching up)

2007-09-20T10:56:00.000+02:00

it was 7.40 when we got to the mongolian border. lonely planet says it takes 5 hours to cross...it took us 5 and a half! we finally pulled away from the chinese border town at something past one in the morning. thankfully our lovely chinese attendant (train 24 is chinese run)opened the loo door quickly between border towns.
so yet again we entered a new country in the dark so missed the end of the gobi desert and inner mongolia.
by the time we woke up the scenery looked like a chinese woodcut. odd cracks in the uneven earth and little hills, dried out riverbeds, trees in surprising places, enclosed settlements (hutongs?) built of mud bricks and lots of maize and sunflowers growing. we saw people working in the fields, loading ox and donkey carts and the inevitable bicycles. later there were filthy industrial places, belching out smoke and then grapes growing under netting supported on poles. even this far north there were dinky little paddy patches.
we kept looking for the great wall. it should have been there, the book said so! but it was misty so maybe it was there. however, the river gorge was stunnng as we went in and out of tunnels on our way to beijing.

beijing greeted us with grey skies and rain, the first day without sun of the whole trip thus far!
we piled off at the station and were found by macy, a vivacious young girl who was to be our guide. she installed us in the rainbow hotel which she said was a 3 or 4 star, we could decide. i told her she was hedging her bets. she told me she likes being a guide to foreigners as she gets to improve her english for free! and made me write down 'hedging your bets'!
a quick wander and some sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and lou's tummy is in revolt again! this corner of the city is surprisingly quiet and low rise. neither of which i expected.
here we go around the learning curve again! :)

16/11 the photo is of the chinese carriage attendant, very efficient!

never say never

2007-09-20T10:35:00.000+02:00

an early rise to catch the train that would take us away from this country that has crept under our skin. we sat up late the night before in the hotel bar over VERY large spirits served by girls in VERY short skirts and shared our concerns about what we had seen and experienced.

as lou had already had a bottle of red wine (i didn't like it) he went to sleep as soon as we got on the train. it was me who sat by the window and cried as we pulled out of ulan bator. such a haunting place, will we ever see it again?

the mountains gradually flattened through out the morning and by midday we were entering the gobi desert. despite having read otherwise and been told by people who have seen it, i had always equated the word desert with acres and acres of the stuff that makes up seaside beaches. and there was sand but in what a kaleidoscope of colours! and plant life in a range of shades and forms. frondy like miniature pampas grass, spiky and grey green like thyme. there were washed out 'waddies' that had a few trees marking where the water runs...when it does.
distant hills were a rich red brown and the ones beyond went from grey to purple as a storm came in. yes! it rained in the gobi! i put my hand out of the window and felt it...and told a sleeping lou...'i have gobi desert rain on my hand! :)

i had queued in the dining car for a late lunch and finally got a table with two danish ladies who were wanting to see their first camel. well, there weren't many to be seen but i have a blurry photo of one standing very aloof not far from the tracks!

so mongolia...desert, camels, mountains, gers, goats, sheep, cows, horses, wild spaces, birds of prey swooping and then the city where a third of the tiny population live and you can taste the pollution in your mouth; where the cars are all second hand and the streets are full of crammed buses, honking cars and you take your life in your hands crossing any of the roads even when the lights are with you; where on the pavements you can buy hard boiled eggs, slices of watermelon, single cigarettes, siberian nuts, get yourself weighed, make a phone call (are they using radio?); where the people are ready to smile and are much more attractive that you may imagine...
might we go back? never say never!

catch up time!

2007-09-19T13:14:00.000+02:00

our last day in mongolia was monasteries, monasteries and more monasteries!
in the mornng it was off to the gandan khiid for the morning ceremonies. these would seem to be watching the tourist buses come in and offload! we walked to the furthest temple...top of the hill...but it was worth it as the deity inside, janraisig, stands 26.5 metres tall. he/she is burnished gold and is enclosed in a myriad of hangings, cases of lesser gods and carved and painted columns and beams. everyone apart from us was mongolian and praying and walking slowly round spinning the huge brass prayer wheels. we took some discreet photos and left quietly.
i went up to the door of a datsan (temple) tucked away in the corner and was treated to the spectacle and sound of boy monks chanting. they sat in two facing rows surrounded by wonderful decoration in all the shades of yellow, gold, orange and red... i ducked away from the door and switched on my dictaphone unseen!
the rest of the complex was something of an anticlimax after all that! we spotted fellow travellers being led around in large groups and were glad we weren't, even if it did mean we might be missing some information! :)
after souvenir shopping, cd photo burning and printing (for our ger family), lunch on the pleasant veranda of the silk road cafe and bar (nice one, lonely planet!) i dragged lou into the choijin lama monastery that had been closed two days before. we did the first bit together and then he rebelled and sauntered down the path through the garden and past the schoolboys who had chorused 'hello' as we came in.
i carried on and did all six and particularly liked the temple of peace. there was one god who was yawning and stretching and looked as if he might scratch his tummy if i would just turn my back for a moment! :)
when i rejoined lou he gave me a drawing of two cars. a present from the little boys. ah, mongolia!

beware

2007-09-19T05:20:00.000+02:00

just come on while up on the peak in hong kong and clicked on the comment...spam advert and it wouldn't let us go back and now i'm on a russian language blog!!!
so don't click on the comment on the update before this one.....
you have been warned ! :)

back again...for a while...

2007-09-18T17:10:00.000+02:00

good ole hong kong! we arrived here this morning (btw, thanks gav for keeping the line open!) and discovered we need visas to get BACK into china on friday...so no passports (agency guy trying to sort it)...so no identity for the travellers cheques...so no money...as the bank are getting shirty when we use the cards...banque pop didn't even let me have any cash...lloyds has given me two lots and a phone number if the card gets stopped! oh joy! and last night on the train i woke up because my lip was tingling and my face was swelling up as i watched it..scary...don't know what bit me but lou is now calling me elephant woman! it is going down but made me feel very vulnerable...throat closing scenario flashed before my eyes and us in the middle of china somewhere on a train.....
but hong kong is fab and noisy and flashy and vibrant and full of neon...we have been down to the harbour and watched the light show, had a truly chinese meal in a back street cafe (let's hope the tummy doesn't object), walked through the night market in temple street, had a late drink in the penthouse bar.....get us! :)

i have been writing missives for the blog as we have gone along so will fill you in before we leave here on friday...visas permitting. we are leaving a day early as the train doesn't run on saturday...and now we find we are sharing a four berth compartment, it was meant to be two...every time we arrive somewhere something is changed! so, tomorrow the star ferry to hong kong island and then up to the peak on the tram.....and then whatever takes our fancy....lou has just arrived for his half hour of the expensive hour...love from him and love from her.....

a word from our blogger

2007-09-17T20:04:00.000+02:00

sorry everyone but we are experiencing internet access problems in beijing and hope to be back on blog soon...

keep commenting, please

love lynne and lou

15/11 lou with macy, our fantastic beijing guide, outside beijing railway station the day we arrived.

i'm a tourist, get me out of here!

2007-09-12T11:58:00.000+02:00

by the time we walked down to the jeep my head was full of conflicting impressions and thoughts. the beautiful protected area...full of litter; the nod to tourists with the 'ger' hotel with glass windows; the keyholder of the rebuilt monastery with her tatty and expensive souvenirs; andrea who graduated from uni this summer and like many of her generation wants to go abroad for a few years to study/work and bring home some money (i hated telling her how much it might cost to study in the uk. she did ask but the amount must be astronomical to her); the other national parks that are filling up with tourist ger camps. the catch 22- tourism pays but tourism costs.

back at the jeep andrea said 'now we visit a nomadic family'. i wondered if this was a tourist set up. wrong!
beyond the small town (this tme we kept to the road) we pulled up on the road
near two gers away in the fields. the driver and andrea had a quick chat and then we pulled off the road and bumped over the grass. the driver went to ask the owner if it was ok. it was so out we got and were invited in. mongolian tradition dictates you invite strangers in if they ask! we were ushered to a bed come couch and asked to sit. large coffee bowls of milk were offered. we sipped (i prayed the immodium would resist). we grimaced. it was SO sour (but are you proud of us ferg?) fermented horse milk. we asked if it would be rude not to finish it. (andrea had pleaded she had taken medicine so couldn't drink!) :) fortunately no!
we chatted through andrea for a while and then asked if we could take photos. immediately the women went into the universal twitter about the place being tidy and their hair being straight. :)
we agreed we would try and get the photos printed today (we did) and send them via andrea. somewhat tricky as they move with the seasons. there were two couples and a tiny girl called nemma, a very serious little love with two enormous black bunches of hair. a real cabbage patch doll albiet a very grubby one! outside there were two tethered horses, a couple of dogs, some cattle grazing. the second man appeared as we were leaving wearing his pointed hat. i asked to take his photo and managed to get the ger chimney sticking out of the top of his hat. we all laughed as they viewed it and suddenly i wanted to cry. two such different worlds but sharing common reactions.
'those who travel far learn much' eh sian? and mostly about themselves!

shake ,rattle and roll!

2007-09-12T11:29:00.000+02:00

lou wanted a jeep, he got a jeep! an old one; doors needed special attention from the driver before closing; something vibrated on the hills; gear changes were painful to
listen to and the spanners came out at lunchtime! (scuse typing, this keyboard has half the letters missing!)

the road out of town which is a toll road(!) is surfaced but 'not as we know it jim', full of potholes and cracks and rolls likes the surrey hills. i began to understand and appreciate the padded ceiling! :) we careered out of ulan bator and into the the countryside. coal lorries passed us, strange affairs with trailers covered with sheets, the coal a mixture of great slabs and dust. there were gers in the distance, horses, dogs, sheep, goats, cows but no camels. the animals wander at will and the traffic slows down for them...unlike they do for pedestrians!

we were headed for a protected area the other side of the mountain that has chinngis' (ghengis)face cut into it. the road gave out and became gravel. we were old hands by now at clinging on, at one missed turn in the only town we passed, our driver, manbra(?) headed across a rutted field rather than turn back! :)

at the monastery we decided to eat lunch first so more bumping to find a flat patch with shade. our guide/cook, andrea (it wasn't but the nearest we could get) said we had an hour before the soup would be ready. so we headed up the nearest hill. small flowers, gentians amongst them, eidelweiss (symbol of love for the mongols), crickets, grasshoppers that half jumped half flew with an odd whirring sound, eagles soared overhead............the stillness, the vista of mountains beyond our valley, conifers below us....beautiful...at the top i sat down and wrote up my diary and lou took photos...each to his own! :)

down for lunch. delicious soup and salad,(i stuck to tea as my stomach had finally rebelled the night before). as we ate we spotted black furry squirrels, magpies, crows and a strange little squirrel like creature that andrea couldn't identify, a bit like a chipmunk i imagine, with a stripy tail. (anyone stateside know?)

then it was trudging up the mountain and the 'natural' museum. this was an ecletic little museum of stuffed animals, skins and collages made out of feathers, flowers and bark. we had to write down 'peacock' for the curator who is building up her range of english labels. on to the rebuilt buddhist monastery set next to the ruin of the original main monastery of the large settlement that was built in the 1730s and razed in 1939 when many of the lamas were killed. colourful restoration and full of paintings and some photos of the place before destruction. people still come and pray to the pictures and hangings and leave money stuck in the frames as well as tying blue streamers onto various parts of the building and surrounding trees.

the setting is magnificent. from the ruins you look out to the distant mountains and down into the wooded valley. such a perfect spot for the contemplative life.

above the ruins there are rock paintings of gods. we only managed the first one. mongolia is a high country and i, for one, was knackered from climbing...and no lunch!

thank you for all the gagnac news...we love it! :)

mongolia and busting!

2007-09-10T10:42:00.000+02:00

six hours at the border with the toilets locked and not allowed off the train! and, of course, by the time we got going again it was dark when we finally crossed into mongolia. but we are here in this fabled country. we had to get up with the sun this morning..early arrival in ulan bator...and saw low mountains, flat grasslands, horses, gers, smoke rising....then ulan bator with its factory chimneys! a small city to get around and everywhere seems to be a building site. the pavements are virtually non existant, twisted ankle time!
we were met and taken to a different hotel...pourquoi? we couldn't get an answer! but lonely planet calls it the best in town so a rare treat after the train! showers again, stu! :)

back in moscow our taxi never arrived so the doorman went into the jammed traffic to persuade someone to take us to the station! a white knuckle ride in a smelly lada in the outside lane of an eight lane highway across central moscow! but we made the train and at the price agreed...so he got a big tip! (i had had various scenarios playing out in my head...when i wasn't wincing from the speed...like being left without our luggage somewhere...or worse! :)

the train was bizarre, scruffy, hard on the bottom and bloody cold at night...till we jammed the window shut and stuffed kitchen roll in the cracks. surrounded by mongolian traders, (that train is run by mongolian railways), we had to fight our way on and off at each station through the jeans, jackets, t-shirts, bras...you name it, they were selling it!

but life asssumed a rhythm and our 'provodnitsa' (carriage attendant) finally cracked a smile and took to locking our door for us each time we left our compartment. the restaurant was limited but ethnic and delicious and we bought stuff from the platform kiosks along the way.

the scenery was superb (don't know what your friend was looking at, gwen!) all the way and the morning of our anniversary we came through the forest and hills onto lake baikal with a red sun rising over it. how appropriate for our ruby wedding! :) no wine to celebrate but lou was getting a taste for large bottles of russian beer! we ate icecreams on the platform at illi -something with a young flute playing couple who wished us a happy day! :)

we've explored a bit and eaten lunch in the famed (lp says so) silk bar and grill overlooking a monastery but it was shut when we tried to visit. we've been to a tour company to book a trip into the country tomorrow to visit a monastery/museum at manzashir. i chose the destination so lou chose the transport...a russian jeep!
'it's bumpy', the girl smiled, 'but the road is surfaced'!
a driver plus a guide/cook. we eat lunch and dinner as part of the package. if we don't make it back, you have been told! :)

thanks so much for all the comments...wine in russia is red that tastes as if it has been open a week and warm white but we did drink a decent soave with the pizza...
we're trying to eat local and the salads are good but i read we shouldn't eat them...tough, we have!
our anni was great...until the border; the norwegian bloke next door took pity on me and gave me a beaker of wine as i didn' t like the beer...

cheeky!

2007-09-05T09:44:00.001+02:00

caught your comment gav but can't get back onto james to reply!
i'm going for the book deal here! :)
love to be able to upload photos but so far, no can do :(
must go and check out of this hotel, last comfy bed and shower for a while! :)
love
ma

14/11 now i'm home, i'm adding photos...so a tipsy one of our hotel!

lost and found

2007-09-04T16:14:00.000+02:00

hi to all from sunny moscow...tuesday...and thanks for all those comments, will try to eat something odd, ferg...stuffed cabbage today, filling looked rather odd! :)
and how could i keep to two posts, si?...me?
onward....
we have walked our legs off in this city and i love the place. so vibrant, noisy, up to the minute...and then turn a corner and it's onion domes, tranquil squares and birdsong.
the traffic is incredible. you have to look twice to see if the jumble of cars is parked or part of a traffic jam. we went looking for the kremlin yesterday afternoon and got lost...twice. we found some elegant pastel buildings that seemed to be embassies, subways full of tiny kiosks selling underwear, cds, sweets, you name it...and quiet green places under trees. when we finally found the kremlin it was beyond a six lane racetrack!the uniformed traffic guy waved us to an underpass and there we found lenin sitting outside his library, the first truly austere building we'd seen to date. beer and tea in the lovely gardens under the kremlin wall then a walk along the perimeter..lots of photos!
trying to get back to the hotel we got lost again but helpful russians waved us in the right direction when i stabbed at the map! :)
too exhausted to walk far for supper we went to a nearby italian and had pizza russian style...lots of al dente veg and not much cheese. coffee and tea came before the dessert and, yes, the soup does come after the salad ..but not at home the delightful girl in charge told us.
today we went straight to red square...now we know the way... and found it full of seating behind railings (a pop concert or political rally?) and japanese tourists. opted for st basil's (really pokrovsky cathedral) and i took the audio guide. amazing rabbit warren inside with lots of refurbishment going on so some churches closed to the public. there are 10 tiny chapel sized churches with covered galleries linking them to form the whole. so ten spires/domes, so lots of photos, bien sur! :)
lunch in a russian self service...we had our soup first! then off for a coffee somewhere else..one of the new smart places all croisants and bagels.
then a walk from the guide book. didn't get lost! saw more onion domes than you could shake a stick at and more pastel buildings. moscow is refurbishing itself all over the place...lou gave me a lecture on how the photographed 'bache' type things are printed...well, he would wouldn't he? :) tarpaulin that is, english word just came back to me.
tomorrow the train for mongolia in the evening so no posts for a while. and before we leave? lou will kill me if i suggest anything that requires walking! :)
love to all especially that new great nephew, sid says he is 'andsome! :)

sublime to the ridiculous

2007-09-03T13:08:00.000+02:00

last night on a hard bunk in a train carriage...tonight in a junoir suite of three roooms amd a lobby......
am just about managing to log into this blog...at least i have a qwerty keyboard but the blog sign in is in russian! so i'm doing it by grope...
thanks for all the comments, keep them coming please
this morning the train came in on time but the taxi took an hour and a half to turn up and then didn't know how to find the hotel...we had a good tour of moscow!
such a nice young man but we'd rather they don't send him next time...we want to catch the train to mongolia!
yesterday i sat on the hook that holds the bedding on the bunk and ripped the backside out of my trousers! so now i have an excuse to spend in china! :)
another couple at the station still hadn't got their taxi when we left. they are off to bejing tomorrow but we may bump into them again...they are dutch and helped most of the carriage fill in the customs forms...they could read german!
we were in brest for about three hours or more as they changed the bogies..the baboushkas on the platform waved bottles of beer and fruit at us all. i bought raspberries and ate them for supper...after washing them well in our dwindling water supply...she gave me a cooked corn on the cob free, bless, but i threw it away...need to conserve the tummies for as long as poosible!
we are taking loads of photos and will be SOOOO boring when we get back...the video diary is a bit on and mostly off and the dictaphone will never replace writing! :)
times up, off to the kremlin soon i hope, just had a good but odd lunch to the soundtrack and videos of soft porn! all in this very plush hotel..it would be a tinkling piano in bournemouth! :)
love to all

bubbly and a banner

2007-09-01T10:52:00.000+02:00

a fantastic sendoff from wonderful friends! justin and summer took us to the station where sian and aiden were with a huge banner biars to beijing and back and chris had champagne that we drank on the platform......then jean louis and marie ange turned up with large dog to join in the fun.....
what a great start to this adventure...
thank you to everyone and much love....

ps sorry aiden, that we all embarrassed you! :]

cometh the hour!

2007-08-31T10:53:00.000+02:00

so it's THE day at last.....
we've packed the bags, the cats are in the cattery, the plugs are all pulled out, the bins are empty and washed , the fridges are bare........
have we forgotten anything? if we have, it's too b..... late! :)
love to all those who love us and have been so patient all through the saga of planning this adventure.....
a bientot!

counting down the days, hours....

2007-08-28T14:19:00.000+02:00

i bought a bigger back pack last wednesday...
passports arrived courtesy of fedex last friday evening, visas all stuck in....
finally persuaded lou to have a practice pack to see if it would all go in..it did!
ripped out the bits i need from the rough guide to china, what a way to treat a book but needs must...
so now i'm counting the days and hours till we go....

fingers crossed

2007-08-21T09:20:00.000+02:00

latest news from 'real russia' is that the belarus visas should come through by friday and they can be double entry...phew!
now we just need to get the passports back here in time for friday week! so soon, so soon!
meanwhile i need a bigger back pack..not for clothes but for all the medical supplies, dry food, pills and potions...... :)

hiccup?

2007-08-13T17:14:00.001+02:00

slight hiccup on the moscow back to paris via berlin leg........belarus transit visas cannot be applied for until we have return tickets...can't have outward and return visas in passports at the same time...can't buy return tickets until 1st september, the day after we should have left gagnac...we'll be in moscow from 3rd to 5th september but is that enough time to get the belarus visas? or can we get them in beijing? belarus consulate in beijing keeps bouncing back our e-mails....
good news is the return on the trans manchurian is in hand and we should be getting a voucher so we can collect those tickets in beijing...complicated? you bet!
meanwhile our passports are still somewhere in the uk getting the russian visas...let's hope we have the passports back for when we need them!

today lou has bought a new mobile that should send e-mails and photos to this site from russia and china...the wonders of the techno age! :)

tickets to ride

2007-08-05T10:01:00.000+02:00

the tickets arrived finally...via the pococks where they had been delivered by mistake.
now we can get as far as ulan bator....let's hope the travel agent there has our beijing tickets when we go in with our voucher for them!

fall back menu

2007-07-31T09:15:00.000+02:00

gwen and vince have arrived with my shopping list of universal sink plug, t-shirts and cuppasoups! so now we can slurp soup on the trans mongolian train when the restaurant fails....as i have read it can! :)

ulun bator here we come!

2007-07-24T21:15:00.000+02:00

e-mail from real russia to confirm we have the tickets for moscow to ulun bator on the trans mongolian...yay!
ipod arrived and lou loading music sent by gav...to educate us in the latest sounds...
and sian has a universal sink plug we can borrow..let's make sure we don't lose sight of the basic necessities! :)

back pack

2007-07-20T18:53:00.000+02:00

today i have packed the back pack just to check it will all go in! it did! plus, hopefully, lou has booked the return from moscow via berlin...this gives us a day to explore berlin...great! :)

tickets are go

2007-07-18T09:10:00.000+02:00

tickets TO moscow via paris and cologne all sorted and paid for plus hotels in paris for going and coming back but no return from moscow....yet!
large donation to agency in hammersith for the chinese bit of the trip!

been and gone and done it!

2007-07-11T13:29:00.000+02:00

so here i am about to put up my map and display of the trip (once a teacher always a teacher) and he's been and gone and done it! doesn't it look an awful long way?

and, yes, we have got a lot of stuff organised already...but lou didn't mention the two new back packs, his new video camera and wide angle lens, my new digital camera, lonely planet guides to russia, mongolia and china, a russian phrase book, (chinese one en route from amazon) a lot of new clothes, the possible purchase of an ipod...the list goes on...and on! :)

at the moment we're waiting to hear if tickets to moscow are sorted or if i have to speak to someone in paris..let's hope they speak some english as this is too important to hope you've said the right thing!

The route

2007-07-11T12:06:00.000+02:00

2007-07-11T01:58:00.000+02:00

The blog for our big trip is now set up.

All visas, tickets and hotels nearly booked. Had hep A jab, had tetanus last year. Hope they are all we need!!

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