The homeward journey started in the dark with a taxi ride at 150km per hour along the empty freeway to the airport. A 6:30am flight means a 4:30 arrival which means a 3:30 wake up! The first flight was to Roma, then after a three hour wait, we flew to Singapore to arrive just as dawn broke on ANZAC Day.

We had booked a room at the Swissotel the Stamford which would have to be the best hotel room we have ever had. Our deluxe room with two double beds, 28 floors of view over the harbour, desk and leather chair, etc etc. They gave us a hospitality room until our room was available at ten. This included access to pool and ablutions. This was handy given that we had a Breakfast plate number 3 at a joint down the road. The place seemed very busy ergo you might think popular which should equal good. And you would be wrong. Two five second boiled eggs and some sweet apple jam in a toasted sandwich really was quite vomitous considering our lack of sleep and the sudden impact of 32 degrees and very humid.

Singapore was a great diversion, and a great way to break up a very long trip that had caused some consternation on our previous journey four years ago.
Features of our visit include:
Getting lost in a maze of passages that link hotels and metro stations and shopping malls.
Visiting the Changi memorial and Kranji War Cemetery for ANZAC day.
Having a suit made.
Eating very cheaply in Chinatown and riskily in Little India - Marsala Chicken knees seems to be the most adequate description.
Finding that designer clothing is about double the price for the same article in Europe.
Dodging tropical rain storms that come out of nowhere.
Finding everything very clean and well organised especially the excellent metro system.
Singapore slings in the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel with peanuts that you shell and toss on the floor.

And all of a sudden we are home. Bags just over the limit but hand luggage that managed to fill up one and a half of those overhead locker things.

We have almost got over changes in time and climate and food and traffic and money and the way the way the water goes down the drain. But don't be suprised if we look a bit peaky at recess time, try to change 5 euro at the canteen, take a siesta and miss yard duty or drive the car out the in gate.

Farewell and thanks for visiting our site. Please feel free to retun in about four years when we do it all again.

Spain #5, Singapore #1 Home remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Alhambra Place is built on the hill above Granada and was begun as a moorish castle about a thousand years ago. It is a magnificent complex of buildings and gardens featuring tiles and water. We spent about five hours wandering through everything. The gardens were spectacular and are very well maintained. They are made up of beds fringed with hedges and filled with every sort of flower and water features of every type. The buildings are reminiscent of many we have seen in Morocco and Tunisia. They are made up of chambers covered in tiles and arab script inscribed into plaster that lead into each other and then suddenly into a courtyard. There is no furniture, artwork or adornments, just the walls and ceilings.

Another evening of tapas, red wine and amoretto and we were off to Toledo. This place is as gorgeous as the walled villages in Italy but quite a bit bigger. We visited the cathedral which is absolutely magnificent with the highest ceiling we have seen. The choir stalls were a high point. In a side room they have cardinals robes going back for 1000 years and in another a few paintings collected over the years. In this one room, about the size of a double classroom, they had about 10 El Grecos, 3 Titians and even a Raphael.

We drove to Madrid yesterday and are ensconced in our hotel in the busiest street in the world, The Gran Via. Last night we revisited our little Mushroom and Sangia bar and then the Fish and beer bar and were very pleased to see they had not changed at all. Today we revisited the Reinier Sofia Gallery to see Picasso´s Geurnica. This was just as fabulous as last time.
We resisted the temptation to go to see Real Madrid play Valencia last night. We met some English chaps in the Plaza Mayor who had come over for the game. The tickets were 93 pounds which is about $220!!! and the game started at 10. It was live on local TV and ended at about midnight. The stadium, which holds 83 000 was a sellout.

Tomorrow is our last whole day in Europe and we plan to do a bit of shopping and try to bring our luggage down by about half to the requisite 20 Kg. We are both going to have to wear 18 layers of clothes to get away with it.

Spain # 4 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We drove into Granada and stopped at a busy intersection being managed by a traffic policemen. Although the lights had just turned red the policeman waved us through and we set off in search off our hotel. Soon we were accompanied by two Spanish policemen on motorcycles who followed us closely for about 200m until signalling for us to pull over.

A stern faced young police officer came to the window and spoke in gruff Spanish tones, something that sounded like;
" ¡Madrid aranxa sanchez vacchario paella!"
Graeme replied, "Me no speaky Espanole kind signor"
The policeman gestured for Graeme´s license which unfortunately did not satisfy his official requirements. He managed to convey that he required an international driver´s license which, wouldn´t you know it, was in the hand luggage in the boot. After some rummaging the aforementioned license was located and then followed a conversation between the two officers.
The first officer then said to Graeme, "Fernando alonso barcelona sangria", which we took to mean, You went through a red light you knob head.
Graeme responded with, "But oh handsome and erstwhile officer, I was signalled through by a gentleman wearing similar clothing to yourselves".
To which both officers responded with a succinct, "No"
The first officer then gave us a lecture that went something like, "Placido domingo seville tapas flamenco!"
We shook our heads and they shook theirs and then we shrugged our shoulders and they theirs.
They then decided that we were a dead loss and that the only way out was a stern warning, " Penelope cruz pamplona antonio banderas!"
Graeme, now on a winning streak, pointed to the name of our hotel on a piece of paper and asked, "Where, oh kind senor, would we locate this place?"
The two chaps conferred, shrugged their shoulders and gestured to follow them.
We then were whisked through lanes way and boulevard, street and plaza and, can you dear reader believe it THROUGH A RED LIGHT with pòlice escort, one in front one behind, for about fifteen minutes to our hotel.
With a brief gesture they were off, and we didn´t even get to thank them.

Spain # 3 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We had a pizza for dinner tonight which seemed like a good decison until both of our meals turned up with tuna on them - probably as a result of Vicky´s request for cheese.
Most disappointing, however, is the complete failure of the highly anticipated Fred Flinstone Theme in the hotel. A seedy Bam Bam and Pebbles child minding centre seems to be the sum of it.

Valencia (yesterday) is a large industrial city trying very hard to keep up with its much more attractive sisters Barcelona and Madrid. The big deal in Valencia at the moment is the America´s Cup. We visited the harbour area which is a bit like the pits at the Clipsal track, only a bit more upmarket. For example the Italian team is sponsored by Prada. Souvenir polo shirts there were €72, about $100, so needless to say we didn´t buy anything.

Our last days in Barcelona were fantastic. The weather cleared and we picked up our rental car - a red citreon C4 - and hit the road. We spent a day travelling to Monsterrat, a monastery in the mountains about 60K out of town. Strangely, it was a bit commercial but the physical beauty of the place was more than enough value for the drive and walk. We took a funicular to the top of the tallest peak and just as we looked down the clouds opened and sun streamed in on the monastery nestling in the valley below. Strewth!
We also visited the Joan Miro Gallery and the site of the Olympics, all on a large hill overlooking Barcelona. Our visit concluded with a visit to a park overlooking the sity that featured designs, building and mosaics from Gaudi, the bloke who designed the church we mentioned in our last posting.

So it is off with our shirts and on with the sombreros and off to Granada.

Spain #2 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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It is the end of our third day here. The first doesnt really count because we spent most of it travelling from Florence via Milan.

Yesterday we ventured out to see the Temple of the Sagrada Familia. This is the enormous church commenced in the 1890s and still quite unfinished. The towers at each end were finished 110 years ago but the central church bit is what they are working on today. It is unusual to be in a church filled with scaffolding and building noise. The place was designed by Gaudi who was very original, so this place is similar yet very different from any church you will ever see. The towers are topped by mosaics. You can see them in the following picture which we took from the top of a tower very very high above the ground.

Today we went to the Barcelona Cathedral which is much more along classic church lines. With all of these church visits Vicky is okay with all of her sins, but Graeme needs to go to many many more churches to be absolved from all of his. We also walked through all the skinny little lanes and corridors of the old city. If you have seen the movie "The Spanish Apartment" you will know exactly what we have seen. We went to the Museu Picasso which displays 3000 pictures from his earliest to last works. We also walked around the harbour area.

The food is great - cheap and interesting. We had a typical lunch today - Graeme a chunk of roasted boar clavicle and Vicky meatballs with peas - which could also have come from a boar. (not the peas) Because we have an apartment we have been shopping to stock up our fridge. Beer and wine are incredibly cheap €2 - thats about $3.40 - for a six pack of 220 ml bottles of beer and wine starting at about €1.50. We can´t remember what else we bought - except for the olives and chips we bought to have with the drinks! We are about to go to dinner at the little restaurant at the bottom of our apartment block where you can buy a very good steak for €8.80. After Italy where the same thing would have cost €18 this is a real blast.

Spain #1 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Today we finally got to see David. The 2 hour line up was probably worth it because it is wonderful as you walk down the passage towards it - a bit like seeing an old friend. The rest of our day was taken up with wandering the old streets and eating some fantastic gelati.

Yesterday we finally got into the Duomo. The highlight was climbing to the top of the camponile (belltower) and seeing the wonderous views across Florence. We also visited the Medici chapel at San Lorenzo.

Vicky finally bought a bag from at Furla. Bulgari will have to wait until next time!

So it is arriverderci from Italy and Ola to Spain. Hopefully we will have a computer capable of USB connection for more photos next time.

Great news about the crows, the sport news here is all about the soccer game between Roma and Manchester and the preceeding crowd fights.

Italy # 8 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Speaking of our hotel...we have a 2 storey suite of rooms designed to commemorate Paul Anka's last entry into the charts!!! Dated is one word you could use, probably was great 30 years ago, but it's certainly interesting.

Spent 2 days here and walked and walked!! People everywhere - its like being in a Footy Park crowd all the time, but not a Power game of course. Today lined up for two hours to see the Uffizi - every Renaissance painter you would ever want to see, but we particularly enjoyed the Bottocelli room and Michelangelo paintings, unfortunately the Durer room was closed and we only got a brief glimpse of the Rembrandts.

Although Easter Sunday sounds like the perfect time to see the Duomo, the crowds are so huge we can't get near the door, but we are going to try go to a service tomorrow.

Now to the shopping!!! leather jackets all round, trying to avoid the dodgy traders, thanks Kaye for your tips! Vicky is circling - like a shark - ready to bite the bottom of a handbag seller. Bulgari tops the price list at 1200 euro ( $1900 ). It was interesting that we were treated seriously by all the fancy designer shops - no pretty woman situations - to the extent that in Bulgari we got the blokes card and it was handshakes all round!

Eating lots of pasta and drinking cheap grog and watching CSI in Italian. Two more days here - with Michelangelo's David and the Duomo tomorrow - and perhaps a pair of shoes !!

Italy # 7 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We left Amalfi on Wednesday morning and struck out on our own after throwing Rod and Loi out of the car at the confusing Naples airport.

We drove for quite a while until reaching the lovely hilltop town of Assisi. We spent half an dhour driving about looking for our hotel only to find it was near the city gate just under the magnificent basillica of San Francesco (THE Saint Francis of Assisi) The town was cold and windy as we walked up to the church. The streets were filled with interesting little shops and businesses many selling local products like cross stitch and lace. It was very cold with the wind whistling about thre streets but we made ourselves warm in a little bar by the church. We had a fantastic pasta meal in the main square before heading back to our hotel to warm up.

The next day we drove into Tuscany to Montepulciano. This was a medieval hilltop village with more narrow streets of beautiful buildings this time made of stone. We explored the streets up to the top of the hill. There were magnificent classic Tuscan views from all of the doorways and through the arches as the weather grew finer and sunnier. We ate bread wine and cheese for lunch before heading off to Sienna.

We drove right into Sienna nearly lobbing into the main square before finding a one way way road down a cliff to a dodgy park. This place was full of people, although it was late afternoon and the day before Easter. We followed a walking trail around the oldest part of the city which lead to a handbag shop for Vicky and a trouser shop for Graeme.

We left Sienna for Monteriggiore and our accommodation at Castelbigozzi. This was a 12th century castle/manor/farm on the top of a hill in classic Tuscan style. Our room had great wooden beams and our shuttered windows had views across the Tuscan hills. This is the view from our window.

Today we drove to San Gimignano which was yet again another hilltop medieval village. The feature of this place was its towers built about 900 years ago. More walking and lots of browsing and another trail from the Eyewitness book and that is about it for the whole medieval hilltop tuscan village experience.

We are in Lucca which is another medieval town but this time not io a hill. We drove into the town through an amazing system of walls a bit like a classic castle. Inside it is very cosmopolitan with lots of shops and businesses. Everyone whizzes about on bikes. We hired two bikes and rode around the top of the wall.

Good Friday is a bit different here with the streets absolutely chockers with families promenading - as busy as Friday night before Christmas in Rundle Mall.

Tomorrow it is onto Florence for four days. Vicky has found a few gaps in her wardrobe re the whole leather bag and jacket thing. It could get very messy!

By the way - click on the photos for a bigger view AND keep the comments coming!!

Italy # 6 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We returned from Tunisia on Saturday evening after a long days travelling. We had a maniac driver break his personal best from the airport into Rome where we met up with Rod and Loi - brother and sister in law - at the same hotel we had stayed at previously.

The next morning we stuffed about for nearly two hours getting our hire car and then got lost leaving Rome! A generous Roman recognised our plight and we followed him for about ten minutes to the road which led to the Autostrada, which led to where we are now - beautiful Amalfi. Rod drove heroically in Rome and Graeme did the Amalfi coast road! Remember this is a manual left hand drive car!

Our hotel - the Antica Repubblica - is just off the main street up a little laneway. We have a room at the top of a few more stairs. The hotel is a delightful six room boutique number run by the lovely Francesca during the day and Renato at night. Salvatore took our car and vanished with it to a parking spot up in the Amalfi Hills!

We have walked all over the place along the pathways and lanes right up into the hills above. We have dined at beautiful little restaurants where the pasta and sauces were made fresh that day. We have driven to the slightly disappointing Positano which apparently livens up with the hotter weather and clearer skies. We have hired a lovely old wooden power boat and sailed long the coast looking at all the sights and we have driven up to Ravello to see the most astounding view down the coat towards Salerno.

There has been some shopping here too with Amalfi being the centre of the limoncello industry and every second shop a ceramic factory. We have made a number of friends especially the staff at a little outside bar where we drink the house wine before dinner each night and the old gent in suit and hat who showed us the way to the hotel and who we keep bumpig into in the street. It could be because of our winning personalities but it is most likely because Rod and Graeme are about 30 centimetres taller than anyone else in town, or because Vicky is a blonde with a wallet!

Tomorrow it is off to Tuscany after dropping Rod and Loi at Naples. Hopefully there will be some more photos soon - this computer was invented in 1972 before the USB was thought of. Arrividerci.

Italy #5 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our last night was in Hammamet where we had our best hotel. We visited yet another souk - market - and then had a nice meal in the hotel.

The next morning we travelled to Tunis. We spent the morning in the souk - once again - before making our way to the airport and back to Italy.

We are really enjoying the comments people have left here and at our email addresses.

Tunisia #3 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Yesterday we were in Kebili, an oasis on the edge of the sandy bit of the Sahara. We drove to Douz where we were dressed in arabic clothing and introduced to our friendly camels. Vickys was placid and Graemes was too except for an alarming mouth issue. It kept bubbling and foaming like an espresso machine. The desert was magnificent with the sand the finest and softest we have ever experienced.
We later drove to the island of Djerba - spookily pronounced Al Jazira by the locals - where we travelled on a ferry with goats and cows. We went to a pottery and made some purchases.

Today we visited a synogogue, on the site of the oldest synogogue in the world. We then visited a carpet maker and a shy arab girl showed us how to make a few knots. It takes three months for these people to make a three metre carpet and they do the pattern from memory. We made a purchase here as well! The propieter called Graeme the Doctor and Vicky Brigette all through the negotiations for some reason. He also offered Graeme 1000 camels for Vicky.
We also visited the souk - market - and generally looked about, trying to avoid the all too many spruikers outside each stall.

Tonight we are in Gabes and we travel north to El Jem and then on to Hammamet and then finishing in Tunis on Saturday.

Tunisia 2 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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This is day three of our Tunisian experience and it is the first real chance we have had to add to the website.

We are Kebili which is in the south of the country next to an oasis.

We arrived late into Tunis having missed our plane out of Rome for a variety of reasons. We got to bed after midnight and then had to get up at six, which was really five because of the change to daylight saving.

Sunday was all about Tunis and we visited all the sights this place has to offer - the beautiful town of Sidi Bou Said the ruins of ancient Carthage, the magnificent Bardo Museum which features the worlds largest collection of Roman mosaics and then into the Medina, the ancient town centre. We also managed to see a tradtional muslim wedding and a troup of soldiers bringing down the flag in the town centre at the stroke of five.

Monday was mainly the Muslim experience with visits to a number of mosques and holy places as we travelled south to Tozeur. The highlight was visiting a mosque from the tenth century in a town called Kaiorian. This place is the fourth most holy shrine in all Islam.

Today was the Desert experience with a four wheel drive journey into the Sahara. We really only ventured onto the edge but saw plenty of sand dunes and had a lunatic drive across sand roads. We visited a number of oases some of which looked like they were from Hollywood, and others that did not. We saw the place where Star Wars was filmed, visited a berber family at their tent and met their baby goats and camels. We also travelled across a vast salt pan.

The group is only eight - four from Italy and two from Austria. Our tour guide is a real wag and can tell amusing Tunisian anecdotes in five languages. The bus is OK and the hotels are mostly straight out of the sixties except for tonight. Food is interesting and plentiful and alcohol very cheap.

Internet is on modem and keyboards are European !!!!!!!

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We have just come back to the hotel after visiting Santa Maria Maggiore an amazingly elaborate church with some parts dating back to 400AD. While we were there a mass was being conducted, and we sat and listened for a while. It was obviously an important mass because there were about fifty priests including some who appeared to be cardinals and a choir of about 25. There were hundreds in the congregation, most wearing something red. As we came out of the church it was raining, so we got a taxi back to the hotel, and we have a bus picking us up to take us to the airport in about half an hour... Africa here we come!!!!

We have both really enjoyed Rome, perhaps not just only the ancient stuff, but the wandering through the piazzas, the food, the interesting shops, the people and just soaking in the atmosphere. The weather did improve over the last couple of days, and yesterday we actually sat in the sun drinking coffee at the Piazza Campo de Fiori (see photo) which was full of street vendors selling all sorts of food, fresh vegies, flowers, fruit, meat, cheeses, spices and pasta, a wonderful display of Italian culture.

Some of the photos from the previous pages will be taken off the website soon as they take up a lot of the meagre 25Mb monthly quota!

Please add to the comments box if you like, or you can email us on gscharlton@hotmail.com or vhcharlton@hotmail.com.

Italy #4 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Firstly we went to the Colosseum where we took a guided tour with about thirty others. The tour guide was very informative and we listened to her using radio controlled walkie talkie things as all of the tour groups banged together at the best spots.

Our tour continued to the Palatine Hill where we had a new guide, a witty cockney who told the story of Ancient Rome in amusing anecdotes including a few wee and pooh stories.
We wandered around the Roman Forum which wasn't that crowded

We wandered up from the Forum to the Victor Emmanuel Monument where we imbibed in expensive tourist coffee and more panini for lunch.

We made our way to the Piazza Navone to follow a walk in our tourist book after a fortifying glass of chianti. The walk was OK but we deviated from the path into a delightful little laneway called Via de Coronari, probably named after the prices you might expect to pay.
Upholsterers, gilt mirror makers, decorative painters, rug repairer, venician glass bead shop, old fashioned barber etc.

For dinner we found a little place around the corner called the Ristorante La Cantinola Da Livio. Vicky had Spaghetti with clams and Graeme had Risotto Pescatori with some reasonably pleasant house vino rosso.

Today, Thursday, we walked from the hotel along the Via Veneto to the Spanish Steps with a bit of window shopping and actually found a few nice places amongst the Prada, Dior, Escada, Hermes, YSL, etc etc.

More panini for lunch and this evening out to dinner in the Trasterveri district.

Italy #3 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Spent today at the Vatican.

Activity one : Climbed to the top of the dome of St Peters. A lift followed by 320 steps up tiny sloping passageways and spiral stair cases untill we were suddenly on a small balcony right at the very top. Unfortunately accompanied by several hundred others including several school groups. View spectacular, architecture amazing.

Activity two : Wandered through St Peters. Very ornate with lots of marble and gold and statues. Accompanied by similar crowds but much more respectful inside the church.

Activity three : Lined up for about 30 minutes for the Vatican museums. These were amazing, full (overfull really) of relics from Ancient Egypt right through to today but mostly ancient Rome and then the Renaissance. There was so much to look at that we could have been there for twice the time and still not seen everything. Unfortunately most of the exhibits are inadequately labelled and many are too far away to be seen in close detail. There were some astounding sculpture and the Egypt section was the best we had seen. The crowds were horrendous with many school groups of disresepctful, loud, pushy children. The highpoint was the Sistine Chapel which was truly wonderous and managed to blow away some of the annoyance we had felt up until then. We spent about half an hour just looking up with a thousand or so of our new friends who constantly ignored the entreaties of the guards to be silent and not to take photos.

We returned to the hotel as light faded and enjoyed a Bombay Sapphire with Schweppes or two before dinner in.

Italy #2 remains copyright of the author GVCharlton, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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