Friday, September 16, 2011
Bath via Narita
Our flight to London was as tedious as ever, but nothing compared with the 2 hour wait to get through Customs at Heathrow. It had nothing to do with border protection as when we finally got to the counter it took 10 seconds.It was due to not enough staff.and deliberate policy I think as their own passport holders were all through in no time. So we started off in very bad humour, but when we came out of the underground at Tower Hill, all was forgiven as the streetscape is so amazing. Kay and Denis were at the hotel and Kay was having real problems with her feet and spent the next days visiting specialists, ending up with a cortisone injection which doesnt seem to have made much difference
We spent our only London day just walking around the area-Bermondsey Market, All Hallows Church, the Monument, along the Thames, the Design Centre. It is a great city with hidden gems around every corner. The highlight of the day was dinner at Fergus Henderson Nose-To Tail Restaurant St John The cost was similar to a Friday night in Daylesford which made it even better.
On Saturday we caught our train to Bath from Paddington
without trauma and arrived in Bath at 1.30 to find a very good apartment in a really great location just around the corner from the Abbey, the Roman Baths and the Square.
O
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Our visit to Bern started with a steep walk up to The Garden of Roses (Rosengarten), from which a great panoramic view of the medieval town centre was achieved at a cost. World Cup fever is reaching a high point and we watched Germany beat Uraquay at the Hotel Bern after having difficulty finding a restaurant not swamped with viewers. . Bern is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage listed City and the City Centre is largely medieval next morning we collected audioguides from the Tourist Office and visited all the main sites. Perhaps its most famous sight is an elaborate medieval clock tower with moving puppets. It also has an impressive 15th century Gothic cathedral, and a 15th century town hall. Thanks to 6 kilometers of arcades, the old town boasts one of the longest covered shopping promenades in Europe. Albert Einstein also lived in an apartment in Berne, from 1903 to 1905is still a highly regarded citizen. Since the 16th century, the city has had a bear pit, just on the edge of the Old Town. The extended and renewed pit actually contains four bears, including two young, who were playing happily while we watched. We then returned for a guided tour of the National parliament, built from 1857 to 1902, For a country the size of Victoria, and with a similar population, they have 200 politicians in the lower house and 46 in an Upper House like our senate. They also have several referendum each year But the best feature is the set of fountains in front of the Parliament. Small children were having great fun as it was a very hot day.
A two hour ferry trip the length of
Monday
First to tick off is Bellinzona capital of the
Tuesday
An attempt to get a better handle on Lugano but when we thought we had found the
Wednesday Thursday
Hot el Asnigo Great view of
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
An easy introduction to Switzerland- fast train to Locarno, lunch by Lago Maggorie, ferry to Ascona with our hotel Art Hotel Riposa in the pedestrianised section of town and very cute. The Jazz festival was competing with the World Cup for attention. We settled for the World Cup-
Everything was very accessible, bands roaming the street, music in restaurants spilling out on to the street. We had lunch at one of the participating restaurant and had a whole afternoon of Jazz-Paris Washboard. We looked for something similar for dinner, but ended at a lovely garden restaurant on the waterfront with jazz piano as a backdrop.
On Monday we visited the Isole Madre and Isola Bella by ferry calling at Intra and Stresa
At Isola Madre the Palazzo Borromeo was built in the sixteenth century, and surrounded by impressive gardens, covering eight hectares constructed in the English style and begun in the eighteenth century… There is one of the earliest camellia collections in Italy, parrots and peacocks, a family chapel, constructed 1858 and a notable palm collection, with specimens up to 125 years old.Then on to the piece d’resistance Isola Bella.Carlo III. Borromeo began to level the rocks and create on the island a palace for his wife in the 17th Century, The works continued till 1958 following the original plan.
Isola Bella is now one of the major tourist attractions on
ered in a mosaic of black and white shells and pebbles.
We left from Lucarno by train over very steep mountains, back through
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Hong Kong & Milan
They went off to New York and we had another great food experience.We went to the cheapest Michelin restaurant in the world Tim Ho Wan, which means "Add Good Luck", and seats only 20 people in its tiny dining room. We had to queue for an hour but the dim sum were terrific. We handed the waitress a paper menu with our dish choices circled in pen, and were seated elbow to elbow at a long table crammed with other diners, the clatter of the kitchen to our backs. The Hong Kong restaurant is headed by Mak Pui Gor, the former dim sum chef at the Four Seasons Hotel, where he worked at the three Michelin-starred restaurant Lung King Heen. The chef decided during the economic crisis to branch out on his own and offer his dishes at bargain prices. It cost us $8 for 2 people.
Milan Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday

The overnight flight was OK and our hotel Palazzo delle Stelline was where we remembered it opposite the Church of the Last Supper and even better our rooms were ready at 9.30am. The hotel was just as it was in1984, which isn't surprising as it started as a monastary in the 15th century.So soon we were on the tram into the centre to the Galleria Victor Emmanual and the Duomo, just as stunning as ever. I hope you remember this Nicole
The weather was really hot and steamy so we fell quickly into the Italian siesta mode.Later in the day we did a canal trip The history of
The oldest canal Naviglio Grande takes its water from the
Typical, old
So off to Switzerland First stop Ascona
.
Friday, May 14, 2010
2010 Giro d'Italia - 2010 Tour of Italy
Day 6 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia sees the pelaton still in the Northern part of Italy where many of the Italian families that migrated to this area originated. Yesterdays stage finished in Novi Ligure in the Piedmont region. For more info from Wikipedia
The riders were transported to Fidenza in the Emilia-Romagna region to start the race. This is an intermediate stage that will finish by the sea at the Marina di Carrara.
After 3 days in the north this race continues to head South. The race heads back North again and finishes 30th May in Verona in the Veneto region.
The festa has its own cycle race on the last Sunday of the festa. The race is a handicap event co-ordinated by the Ballarat/Sebastopol Cycling Club and takes in 60km of undulating countryside providing participants with a small taste of European riding. Prizes for top ten finishers.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Painting, cooking, cycling, rolling and kicking - Entry Forms
Sunday, August 2, 2009
swissinfoch Reporter Visits Hepburn Springs

www.swissinfo.ch is the Swiss news and information online channel and they have an online research project called "We shall not stay long" - The story of Swiss-Italian Migrations.
This article features a photo from the parade and interviews with locals.
Why not visit the swissinfo.ch site and learn more about the colourful history of migration from Switzerland and Italy behind this festa.