Today was a long day as we wanted to go to the Alsace wine region, and in particular to visit two towns that were the inspiration for Belle’s town in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Riquewihr and Ribeauville. We started by catching the 8 am train from Zurich to Basel. We then walked to the…
Category: Europe 2017
Zurich, Switzerland
Today was another moving day as we shifted base to Zurich. We set off after ten for the short one hour trip. The hotel was a little further away from the station and up hill so it was hard work, but once we checked in we set off the explore Zurich. We started in…
Jongfraujoch, Switzerland
Today we headed high into the Swiss Alps. We caught the train to Interlaken, then the next leg up to Leave, then Kleine Sheidegg and finally up to Jungfraujoch. The Swiss landscape was just beautiful. At 3500m high, the landscape is quite stunning. It is the highest railway station in Europe, and includes a…
Montreux, Switzerland
Today was another full day as we got on the 8am train to Montreux on Lake Geneva. The trip was quite short, about an hour. The lake was absolutely breathtaking. First stop, from the train station, was the waterfront, and the statue of Freddie Mercury. We walked along the waterfront all the way to…
Bern, Switzerland
We slept in today and packed for our move to Bern in Switzerland. The trip took four hours through the gorgeous Swiss countryside. We arrived in Bern just after 2pm, and after checking in to our hotel, we started exploring the old town. We headed first over the Kirchenfeldbrucke, past the Einstein museum and along…
Lake Como, Italy
Today was to be a more relaxing day. We took the short one hour train trip to Varenna on Lake Como. From there, we walked down to the jetty and caught the ferry across to Menaggio. What stunning scenery! We had a coffee on a balcony of Ristorante La Conca overlooking the lake, then…
Venice, Verona, Italy
Today we set off early to head to Venice. We arrived at about 10 am and started walking toward St Mark’s square. The girls were all amazed – they never expected it to be so beautiful. As we were walking, we came across a gondolier who was free, so we got on board…
Milan, Italy
Today we traveled to Milan. We caught the 11am train which got us to Milan before 1pm and we went straight to our hotel to check in. We then went to lunch at a local trattoria, Baldassatte Cafe, before heading to the city centre. The food was quite modern and American – hamburgers. The walk…
Siena, San Giminiano, Italy
Today we did our first guided tour. We got to the bus at 8:45 for a 9:00am start and headed to the medieval town of San Giminiano. The Tuscan countryside was absolutely beautiful, and this town was like taking a walk through history. San Giminignano is a walled, medieval town with unique towers that…
Florence, Italy
Today we spent the day in Florence. We managed to get tickets to the Uffizi galleries at 10:30 am, so we walked there nice and early. The Uffizi is not like some of the other art galleries in Europe. It blends ancient Roman art with mediaeval and Renaissance works. And some are quite beautiful. We…