Friday 27 December 2024 Day 365 away today from Melbourne and day 416 since leaving Cairns and starting the house sitting, pet sitting, wandering nomad year in Europe. Overseas, we had 74% of our days free of accommodation costs. Flashy reckons this saved us $58,000 in potential accommodation costs. Trusted House Sitters and the Ogilvy clan were our saviours. Of this free accommodation, 40 days used up up all our home exchange points and the remaining 229 days, minding friends and others’ houses and pets. We looked after cats, dogs, chooks and ducks. All of which were delightful. The 16% of days for which we paid accommodation, were mainly BnB’s and 3 star hotels and again, these were all pretty good. Average nightly cost was $217. After checking out of the hotel, we went for a long walk, as we will be entombed in the A380 for 24 hours. The limo arrived on time and the check in at Charles de Gaul was seamless. The Emirates lounge is a bit dated and according to Lady P...
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Monday 23 December 2024 We wake early after the amusing fire alarm incident last night and check our bags and train it into the Duomo, a magnificent cathedral and shopping centre. All the brands are there but nothing takes our fancy. A bar on the way back provides a couple of vino rosso and a gigantic Negroni for Lady P. She womanfully consumes it, then needs special supervision on the walk back. On the recommendation of The man in Seat 61 again, we head for a little restaurant near the rail station called Noblesse Oblige, where we enjoyed a shared tuna tartare then a dark seafood pasta and a Sea Bass with porccini and roast potato. This was enjoyed with a bottle of Sardinian Vermintino. A taxi takes us to Statzione Garaboldi where we board the SCNF to Paris. It departs on the second of 15:10, silently slipping west to France. The journey of eight hours was in first class, which means comfy seats and a few less fellow travellers but not much else. Train travel is actually pre...
Thursday 19 December 2024 The highlight of today was going back to our nondescript little local caffe for lunch, the Braunerhof, for another schnitzel and some Gruner Veltliner and we made sure we had enough cash. A schnitzel a day keeps you healthy! On the way we followed a group of north Americans. It would be wrong to label them as Canadians as we didn’t quite get their accent, but what we did get was the comment. “I’m just tryin’ to find a restaurant that don’t do Austrian food!” You’re jokin’ we thought! We’re in bloody Vienna, Austria. Lady P mumbled something about Starbucks and MacDonald’s, but it was lost in the roar of the traffic. Friday 20 December 2024 Heading to the new and very clean and modern Vienna station. With time to kill, we found a bar while Flashy had a couple of beers and a bretzel and Lady P wandered about the shops. The Man in Seat 61 recommended the restaurant across the street from the station, so that’s where we headed for dinner. Anoth...
Wednesday 18 December 2024 Another crisp, clear day with no rain. We caught the tram into the clean, flat and relatively quiet central area to meet Ludwick, our Vienna Greeter for a two hour walk around the commercial and residential areas that surround the cathedral. He was a nice fellow and a retired judge, who worked on the principle that if a door is open, you go in. This approach took us into some lovely, quiet squares and laneways; up to the roof top over looking the cathedral; down into a wine cellar and then marching past the long line of patrons waiting to get into a famous cake shop, straight to the back to smell the pastries cooking. He also pointed out a nondescript little café that looked closed. This is where the locals eat he said. So, after the walk we went back there for a snack and enjoyed a big bowl of beef soup and pleasant but a bit stilted conversation, with the elderly advocat (lawyer) sitting at the table next to us. We were clearly the only tourists...
Tuesday 17 December 2024 Gatwick was busy as we checked into the Wizz Air flight to Vienna this morning. A very full A321 but only 2 hrs flight time. Just before we landed, we were in seats 20B and 20C and the young woman in 20D said she felt a bit faint, then passed out. That caused a commotion! Cabin staff running hither and yon. Out comes the oxygen and a request for any medical staff. Luckily, a doctor on board placed her on her back in the aisle and put her legs in the air. Blood flowed to the brain and she woke up. All seemed good but we got off hastily just in case. The clean and efficient train into Vienna central took 16 minutes and the walk to our almost brand new apartment in the Hundertwasser area, another 10 minutes in a crisp but clear, 7C. Vienna, being Austrian, which is as the Major says, like Germany with manners, is orderly, clean and friendly. It’s about the size of Adelaide (2 million) and at first glance, seems a very nice place. Everyone walks on the corr...
Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 December 2024 We head in to Cranbrook today for haircuts. Lady P off to some young ladies and Flashy to Angelo’s Barbers. It’s much easier when the barber is English but how hard is a number two all over? It is again cold, wet and foggy and Lady P rushes to her appointment while Flashy limps along, nearly getting run over by two BMW police cars with the blues and twos screaming down High St. In sleepy little Cranbrook? What’s a man to do for two hours while she gets her hair cut and coloured? A walk along both sides of the two main streets yields a butcher, where beef cheeks and venison sausages are purchased and of course, the haircut. Pub’s just open, so a half pint of Kent ale is required, while a warming sit down to check messages. As he emerges from the pub, he notices the police cars slowly patrolling down the side alleys and parking up ready to pounce. One even followed him on the way to the barber. An hour later, while back in The George fo...
Monday 9 to Wed 11 December 2024 As Lady P said, ‘a bit of a repair and maintenance day today’ (Monday). Firstly, a visit to the local hospital A & E department as a slight infection needed testing. No amount of calling GP’s or even the Pharmacy First chemists would allow us a visit. If you are not on the NHS, ‘go to A & E.’ OK, we figured this would be the case. So, pack the passport, Medicare card, driver’s licence and a good book and rush off in the cold rain in our little Mercedes Smart Car. The battery is only just working and Flashy plans for a push start. We do make it to the hospital though and fill in the forms. Good so far. A nice nurse takes particulars, labels the sample and makes an appointment in their GP clinic for 4 pm. It’s now 11 am. A & E is not full of accident and emergency cases. It looks more like a GP waiting room. Flashy is disappointed that there is no blood and gore but he does spy a couple of coppers escorting a young bloke to a room at the...
Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 December 2024 Wild weather and storms are predicted in the next couple of days, so we took Truffle on the train to Canterbury. She was very well behaved and attracted many pats from onlookers. She also sat comfortably under the table in the pub where we retreated for a counter lunch. Home in the dark at 4.00 pm. Saturday the wind is up and the rain is constant, so inside day doing clothes sorting and household chores. Sunday and no change to the weather. Perhaps a bit colder. Lady P is off to Wimbledon by train today to meet LJ, Charlotte et al for brunch and then ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ panto. Flashy doesn’t expect to see her until dinner time and has sole responsibility for naughty Truffle today. She is likely to get lots of treats for good behaviour! Truffle, that is. Lady P arrived back safe and sound, although delays on the train to London meant they had to cancel the brunch and go straight to the panto. Ready for the trip She's a chick magnet...
Monday 2 to Wednesday 4 December 2024 Monday we drove two hours to visit Laura Jane in her new home in Stockbridge not far from Winchester. We had a delightful curry lunch with a port trifle dessert and stayed the night. The next day, while the ladies were walking Truffle and LJ’s four little dogs, Flashy enjoyed a long chat with the local shooting and fishing shop owner and then a sample of whisky at the whisky bar across the road. It was 11.10 am, afterall. We also visited the wonderful butcher and purchased a pheasant and some pork sausages. Stockbridge is a lovely village/town, quite well off and up market. After a pub lunch, we headed back around 3.00 pm and since it gets dark at 4.00 pm now, we arrived home in the dark.
Tuesday 26 November to Sunday 1 December 2024 Johnny and Emma Louise are with us for two days before they head off to Chile and we are busy doing the handover tasks. We are back in the cold and rain of England and surrounded by floods and storms sweeping eastwards across the UK and Europe. We are not expecting much rain however in Kent but there are 2C mornings, light drizzle and frost occasionally. We went for a little drive with Johnny and ended up at the post office where he collected a parcel. Across the road was a typical English country pub, complete with sleeping dog and an open fire. As it would be rude not to support the landlord, we had a pint of Kent's best ale. Luckily, we have a warm house and an Aga stove that is on 24/7. Thursday afternoon, Lady P drives the Mercedes Smart car to Heathrow to drop off EL and Johnny while Flashy looks after Truffle, who is now on homeopathic drops for stress and as a result is much calmer. The weekend brings no change to ...
Sunday 24 and Monday 25 November 2024 A big couple of travel days on the train from Nice to Paris which was a comfortable six hours on the TGV. Our Paris station, Gare de Lyon was a taxi ride to our overnight two star hotel within walking distance of Gare de Nord, because we are departing there on the Eurostar to London tomorrow. This was another good train trip at just under 300 kph and 2.5 hours. Alyssa was waiting for us at St Pancras and we had a long and lovely lunch in Searcys Brasserie and Champagne Bar, a very nice and well presented restaurant within the station. Very reasonable bill at the end – until you realise it’s in pounds! The train to London Bridge, then to Marden in Kent was seamless and Johnny collected us for the 20 minute drive to Kilndown, where we will be house sitting with Truffle the naughty dog for a couple of weeks. It has been interesting to reflect on the various train journeys we have taken throughout Italy and France. One of the great advant...
Friday 22 and Saturday 23 November 2024 Friday was a lazy day with a walk around the market and a taste of socca, a thin crepe made with chick peas and delivered to the pop up stand by a chap on a bicycle, with a giant sized crepe pan and welder's gloves. So cute. The day ended in a sunset drink at one of the ‘on the sand’ bars. And when they say on the sand, it is literally on the water’s edge. At one stage we had to put our feet up on the table as the big wave brought foaming water up past us. Friday night, Flashy went downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant to have a look at the Opera evening. This is where two opera singers pretend to be waiters and serenade the diners with a couple of numbers from well known operas. Well, blow me down, the joint was full. He did manage to get a table at the back and have a burger and a wine and soak up some culture. Saturday and it’s our last day in Nice. We have been here six nights in what has been clear blue skies, crystal clear turquoise ...
Thursday 22 November 2024 Laundry day today at the local laundromat, then off to La Merinda de Nice Restaurant for lunch. This is the other restaurant that we visited 15 years ago and, yes, the same chef/owner is there and the menu is pretty much the same. It seats 24 and has four sittings over lunch and dinner. It used to be that you couldn’t book, or just turn up either. You had to call in to the restaurant in person and make a booking. No credit cards accepted either. Well, the only thing that has changed is that you can/must book on line and then you get three or more reminders by text to which you must respond. If you’re 15 minutes late, too bad -lost booking! They still don’t take credit cards – cash only. We forgot about the cash thing until we sat down and ordered, then saw the sign at the bottom of the blackboard menu! A nervous count of the euros, surreptitiously under the tablecloth and we reckoned we had enough if we only had one glass of wine. Double check w...