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The May Bank Holiday saw Sev and I fly to Shannon Ireland to see Sev's f
riend Mine in Galway. We arrived in Shannon the Saturday morning and picked up a hire car
from the airport to continue the journey to Galway (1 hour drive). Meet Mine in town and
took off to see the Cliffs Moher which is about an hour drive South-West of Galway. By
the time we arrived there the clouds had turned up and the rain was bucketing down.
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| Island Castle |
Sev was keen to see the Cliffs again, as her previous visit saw the cliffs covered in
low cloud a visibility almost zero. Slightly better this time, but not overly so. The
night was finished with pizza and videos at Mine's flat. The sleeping arrangement was
something to be desired and is a completely different story, but you should never
complain about free accommodation.
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| Still Stream |
Day 2 (Sunday) saw the four of us travel all the way south down to Cork. Everyone
kissed the Blarney Stone, which is meant to give you the 'Gift of the Gab' (I am still
wondering if this was a wise idea for Sev), then we drove the very long way home visiting Dingle
(coastal fishing town) for dinner and then continuing home afterwards. Managed to get
back to Galway sometime after midnight with most of us sleeping all of the way in the car
(Mine and Tom).
Day 3 (Monday), as it was a working day for Ireland, it was left to just the two of us
to travel through Connemara and visited Kylemore Abbey, drove to Ennis for dinner then
back to Shannon for a late flight back to London.
Venice
01/06/2001 to 03/06/2001
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Bless the girl, Sev took me to Venice for my birthday. I thought
that it was just going to be some weekend in London, but how wrong could I have
been.
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| Bridge of Sighs |
Flew into Trevisto via Ryan Air and took the bus into the main Station of Venice.
Had to try the water taxi which took us to the hotel. For those who don't know
Venice, there are no roads or cars, just canals and boats, you walk throughout
the whole city and try to figure out how many bridges you've crossed.
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| Framed Bridge |
Stayed in a nice hotel in the middle of Venice right beside the Rialto Bridge,
one of the main tourist attractions (hotel was called 'Hotel Rialto'). Managed
to get completely lost several times on the Saturday as we wandered around the
city, all the streets and bridges look alike and never seem to go where you think. In the end we managed to get back to the hotel by following signs that pointed to the Rialto. Forget the street map, too confusing! (Sev's opinion).
Recommend a Gondola ride to all those romantic couples out there, we went on the
second night and even though it was slightly raining it was well worth it.
The only negative we can say about this one is 'there's too many tourists'.
I had to go to Luxembourg for work to train a couple of Reuters clients,
somehow managed to get Reuters to pay for Shaun's flight as well by going Economy instead
of Business. Well you've got to sacrifice these things I suppose.
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| Reflected Bridge |
We hired a car for the weekend and stayed in a cheap hotel for 2 nights, I could've sworn
the hotel was in the 'Red Light' district, I guess it explains why it was so cheap and why
Shaun loved it.
On Friday, while I was working indoors, Shaun was walking around the city in the rain
trying so hard to take some photo's (without an umbrella, jacket or jersey), I was quite
warm.
Luxembourg City is surrounded by natural beauty, built around a gorge which runs through
the centre of the city. The real beauty is out in the country itself and not just in the
city. The country is on the bordered by Belgium, Germany and France and down the eastern
border of the country, you can drive along the Moselle River which forms a natural border between
Luxembourg and Germany.
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| Petite Suisse |
On the second day we drove all the way to the top of the country reached the Belgium
border, stopping at various places on the way, then travelled down the German border
to Echternach. Shaun has mastered the roads driving on the left and the pronunciation
of the towns, which I still have no idea on.
Sunday saw us waterfall hunting for Shaun to get some great shots. We found a place
called 'Petite Suisse' which stands for Little Switzerland, great for hiking, bush
walking and simply relaxing in tranquillity. We stumbled across gorgeous waterfalls
and sceneries, however too many people around to take the perfect shot.
We then continued down to the South East of the country, along the German border
visiting vineyards and buying lots of bottles, yum. In total we travelled 400km and
saw the whole country!
Wales
03/08/2001 to 05/08/2001
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This was the first trip of the whole family Shaun & Sev, Grant & Alex. Spent the weekend in
South Wales on the Gower Penninsular in a B&B. We hired a car from London and it took us about 4 hours to get to
Wales, an hour of that was trying to get out of London, Shaun was driving. We almost weren't able to get into
the B&B as the owners were closing up for the night, luckily we rang to let them know we're lost even though
Shaun and Grant don't think so.
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| Melincourt Falls |
It rained for most of the first day which was a bit of a bummer cause we couldn't do the walks we wanted to do.
The other let down was that most walks were closed due to Foot and Mouth. We did manage to find a couple of waterfalls
for Shaun to photograph, check them out in the pictures section.
Because it was raining we decided to go Ten Pin Bowling on Saturday night, the chicks kicked arse! Let me clarify
that - Sev and Alley kicked arse! Bought some pizza and sat by the beach side for a great finish to the night.
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| Aberdulais Falls |
The next day we parked the car at Dinas Rock to attempt a walk to SGWD YR EIRA FALLS, yep that's how you spell it
but don't ask how you pronounce it. There are many walks and waterfalls in South Wales but we chose this one cause
it's one of the largest and you can walk behind it. In the book it says it'll take about an hour to walk there,
however, because we were so wrapt up with the excitement of it all we missed the sign that says 'TURN LEFT FOR WATERFALL',
could it be any clearer? So we ended up walking up the mountain (to me it's a mountain but for these Kiwi's it's a
hill or a bump on the road), for another 2 hours. Some of us got burnt badly, could it be Shaun?
Finally we got the courage to ask a farmer on how to get to the waterfall, with his accent I have no idea how Alley
and Shaun understood him. We did manage to find the falls and yes there were signs everywhere to indicate the way,
had we have taken the right turn.
We went for a swim in the river when we got back, don't know why as it was freezing cold and came out as icicles.
Drove back to London, exhausted.
07/09/2001 to 10/09/2001
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Photo of Shaun
taking Photos |
We left for Vienna on the Friday night to return on the Monday night for a long weekend.
Arriving in Vienna, we made our way to the Hotel that held just a couple of surprises for us.
First, it seemed to have been placed smack bang in the middle of the Red Light district of
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| City Hall |
Vienna, which made for some colourful walks home at night. Second, was that there seemed to
be a Waltzing Competition going on in the bar every night.
Our first stop was the very center of Vienna, St Stephen's Cathedral, we were quick to make our
way inside as the first of several downpours occurred as we came out of the station. There was
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Shaun & Sev
at City Hall |
a service going on inside, so we weren't able to look around all that much, but we did climb up
bell tower to what we thought would be an awesome view of the city. We were bloody wrong!
It was a long climb, over 300 steps, and it ended in a small crap shop below where the bell would
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Sev at
Sigmund Freud Park |
have been. The windows were dirty, couldn't see out of them properly or get any good photos,
quite a disappointment.
Followed a map that showed a walking track, only cause we couldn't decide where to go really.
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| Mozart Concert |
It got us doing our yearly excercise and walk for hours. Got to check out the City Hall which
was pretty cool. Still nackered after hours of walking, who needs Hips, Thighs and Buttocks workout ?
Managed to get a couple of tickets to a Mozart Concert, you gotta do it really. It was quite funny
cause every piece of music I knew from the commercials we have back home. Otherwise I had no idea
what they are. It was worth going.
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Shaun & Sev
Beside Tour Bus |
Tour of the Danube Valley. Now this was an interesting tour, the tour guide spoke 4 different
languages and because there were a mixture of us he gave us a quick spill in English, then in
then in French, Italian and finally Spainish. Oh we were so confused !
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Shaun & Sev
In Krems |
Met a couple of Aussies on the boat ride to Melk, they were in their 50's and sounded so much like
Alf from Home and Away. It was quite embarrassing. Almost got drunk drinking the Apricot Schnaaps, yum.
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Shaun & Sev
In Spitz |
Found a resturaunt that caught my eye, it said "Europe's Famous Weiner Schnitzel, They're HUGE". We had to
try it. The schnitzels came and they were, as they say, Huge.
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| Weiner Schnitzel |
It overlapped the large dinner plates, I really couldn't finish it.
You wouldn't believe it, we stumbled across an Aussie Pub called, Cross Roads. Had to go in to do my
Aussie duties. It was packed with Aussies and Kiwis drinking Fosters, oh please. There was a sign that
read "There are no Kangaroos in Austria". he he he..
Turkey
20/10/2001 to 03/11/2001
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| Blue Mosque - Istanbul |
We started in Istanbul for 2 nights on 20th October. The tour group "Hassle Free Tours" picked us up from the hotel
and headed towards Ecebiyat (6hrs bus ride), just past Gallipoli. Anyone out there wanting to do the whole Anzac/Gallipoli thing we
definitely suggest this tour. We got to see the war grounds, memorials and burial grounds.
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| Anzac Cove |
This was the most moving part of our trip. Shaun being a Kiwi and me being both Turkish & Aussie, it was very emotional. The tour guide, Ali,
was really good and precise. His grandfather was killed in the line of duty during this war.
This tour contained one night accomodation in Canakkale and a bus ride to Izmir (5hrs bus ride). We stayed at my cousins
place in Izmir and Shaun got his true home made Turkish meal by my auntie.. yum yum.
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| Anzac Beach |
Kusadasi was the next stop staying
at my sister-in-law's father's place. Now this place really opened our eyes and this is where we thought WOW, How Beautiful !
Shop assistance guys are so pushy, as soon as they see Shaun they think "Easy Target" and try and hassle him. They always
ask where he's from so they start a polite conversation, but little do they expect this Aussie Chick can lash back at'em with
her cool Turkish ! So I reply in Turkish "I'm from Ankara", that shut them up.
The beach was gorgeous, we hadn't seen a beach in a long time, living in London and all. Even though the weather was pretty cool
we thought, bugger it and went for a swim. Froze our *** off.
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| Sunset in Kusadasi |
Ephesus was pretty cool, full of historical sites, however be prepared to walk heaps. Once you start your journey there's lot's of
walking and no water, very expensive if there is. Shaun took some great shots of Ephesus.
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| Ampitheatre in Ephesus |
Bodrum was the next stop, it's pretty but too touristy and very unreal. It didn't feel like you're in Turkey, the music was in English,
the people spoke mostly English, they showed English football and the shops were all souvenirs. We didn't like it until we took a walk
away from the tourist strip and walked towards the locals. We ended up in a yacht where a few families were celebrating a birthday,
we had no idea really. However I couldn't miss the opportunity to see Shaun belly dancing, I knew they'd get him to do it. Check out the
photo !
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| Shaun's New Hat |
To get to Rhodes we had to take a bus to Marmaris and then a Ferry/Hydrofoil to Rhodes. It's off season so there weren't too many running,
only about 2 a day if that. Going to Rhodes was the most expensive part of the trip as you pay taxes to leave the country and to get back.
Plus the ticket cost about £50. Met up with a friend of mine in Rhodes, Yvonne, who is just as loud and crazy as I am. Hired a car and
drove the whole island in 4 hrs, then stayed at Yvonne's place. Visited Yvonne's husband's village and unfortunately there were no plate
smashing or Greek Tavern's to enjoy, apparently they think that's too old fashioned and old times. Hmmm..
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| Us In Kusadasi |
Once we got back to Marmaris we had an uncomfortable 15hr bus ride to Capadoccia. Now this place was the highlight of the whole trip, worth every
uncomfortable ride we had. Definitely a must to see, but you should book a tour for the 1st time, there's so much there and it's not an easy one
to work out. We spent 2 nights here but if we had more time we'd spend more time on our own to explore. There's hotels where you sleep in caves
but I really don't recommend this when it's freezing cold this time of the year.
Next stop was Ankara, only because of two reasons : I was born there... he he he.. and we wanted to visit Ataturk's Mausoleum. Other than that
there really isn't much to see here, in fact we weren't impressed at all with the city. One night was plenty !
Once we reached Istanbul our trip was over. It definitely confirmed one thing for us - We Will Be Back Baby !! Next time it will be for at least
a month of full travelling.
The first trip of 2002 will be coming soon......still trying to find time to write it, but we did have fun.
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