Saturday morning and we thought we would drive to another country today so we headed off to Luxenburg which was only 200km away.  We had a hold up on the motor way and lost an hour so it took us 3 hours arriving about 12:30, finding a park and heading off to explore the city.  We headed off over a bridge where we could see some old buildings thinking that must be where all the action was.  It was very hot though not quite as humid as it had been in Maastricht.  There were all these grand old buildings and the road we were on was a main bus route but it was all very quiet.  We decided we were going the wrong way, maybe this was the government centre or something, lots of buses but very little cars or pedestrians.  We did find a place to have some lunch and then headed almost back to the car and off in another direction to find the busy part of the city.  We hopped on a tourist “train” which gave us a tour around the historic part of Luxenburg along with a commentary of the history.  It was really good and a lot more than I could absorb in one sitting, Luxenberg certainly had a long and checkered history going back to 962 and built around fortifications.  We wandered a bit more before heading back to our car four levels underground.

We had a clean run home arriving back in Maastricht around 7 o’clock.

Friday and we are up in reasonable time and off to the market. We park the car in a Park and Walk area just outside the city and a 10 minute walk to the Market Square. It cost us 9 euro for the day which I thought was a little steep for the distance we still had to walk. The market wasn’t overly exciting for what it had to sell, a lot of material, cosmetics, factory second type clothing, a small veggie section and other bits and pieces. We brought some chilli olives and went looking for a place for brunch. We picked a place on the side of the market so we could again people watch. I had a Turkish Breakfast and Margaret an Omelette. 

Maastricht has a phenomenal amount of restaurants many of them with outdoor seating. It would have been fantastic if we could have read the menus.
In the afternoon we caught a boat cruise up the Maas, we were getting off just up the river at St. Pietersburg and going to explore the tunnels. Maastricht was first settled by the Romans when they discovered this was a place where they could cross the river through this mud. Turns out the mud is called Maas and of a limestone type that is especially suited for building material. When it dries out it goes solid. This led to the hills being mined for the limestone blocks which were reasonably easy to saw out while in the cool humid mine but went solid when they were exposed to the dryer outside environment. At one stage there were over 200km of these tunnels (now only about 80km) which have a very rich history. 

 We are right on the border with Belgium and they cross the border. We have a fantastic guide, Christina who educates and entertains us for the hour or so we are underground.  
Back out in the open it is hot and sticky again, I’m sure the blocks would never have gone hard in this humidity. We head down to catch the boat and continue our river tour which almost does a u-turn at this point and heads back to Maastricht. We head out to look for somewhere to eat, we come across an Auckland New Zealand shop (never heard of them) but the guy in there had never been to NZ.  We were looking for a fish meal and after many stops finally asked a waitress if they did fish. She assured us they did but when it got explained to us the fish didn’t sound exciting (salmon or tuna) so we settled for home made meatballs. Turned out it was just one meatball, more like a patty really. Headed back to the car park and home.  Another lots of walking day so reasonably tired.

Time to say goodbye to Germany and Hello to Netherlands. We have about a 400km drive to Maastricht on those fabulous German Autobahns.  We head around to Erica and Rudi’s to say our farewells, another sad moment as we have had a lot of fun together and they have been so good to us  and of course Rudi had prepared a picnic basket for us.  We are going to miss his cooking but it may give me a chance to start getting my weight back in order.  The drive goes well but we do lose about 40 minutes in a traffic hold up.  You can be traveling along at 130 plus and cars are going past you like you are standing still.  The border is just a welcome sign and suddenly we are in Maastricht with our fuel light flashing at us.  I had mistakenly thought diesel would be cheaper in Holland as it is a huge oil producer but I was wrong.  We were staying at Mark Browne’s daughter’s appartment, unfortunately Katarina & Pascal were away on holiday in Spain so we had the place to ourselves.  It was a beautiful appartment on the 6th floor (with 2 lifts).  There were no adjacent buildings and they had no curtains, the sun was just streaming in, it was hot.  We settled in and went out for a pizza at a local spot, it was yummy.  We then headed into town for a quick recon. Town was stinking hot but full of life.  We walked one street before calling it a night.

 Thursday – With nobody around we had no reason at all to get up early so we didn’t even though the sun was streaming into the bedroom.  I think it was after ten before we surfaced.  Margaret put a load of washing into the machine and we sat around,  didn’t even write my blog, this is what retirement is supposed to be like.  I could get to enjoy this very quickly. 

It must have been well after 12 before we decided to walk into town, an interesting hour as there was no direct route in but our compass was pretty good and we decided we had picked the quickest route, coming home took 35minutes. We had a relaxed long lunch at a cafe beside the river Maas watching the cyclists and the boats on the river.  

Watching the cyclists is so interesting, they come in all shapes and sizes and on all sorts of bikes, most of which look really old but in reality many are reasonably new and just old style. You see relatively few Mountain Bikes as we know them. Lots of girls on bikes and dubbing as we used to when we were kids. As we sit there a section of the bridge raises about six feet to let a barge through. We stroll around the old city stopping often, wander into a wine and food festival that is on at the moment. We get the feeling we are a little under dressed. There doesn’t appear to be much going on but a lot of corporate type people standing around drinking in big groups giving us the stare. We don’t stay long and wander off to find some tea. We pick a pub on a main corner where we find a table outside where we can people watch. There was so much activity going on I could have stayed there hours. There were lots of groups of young people moving around (mostly on bikes), each group had matching shirts like it was some university capping event or similar. Walked back to the apartment picking up some cold drinks on the way. 

Saturday and as we don’t need to catch the bus until 1 o’clock in Helibonn there is no rush.  Erica is coming with us.  It’s about 300k to Munich and takes close to 5 hours in the bus as we had a few stops along the way including Stuggart airport.  We arrive at the bus station about 6pm and head over to the rail system to catch the underground into the city centre and then on to another line out to our hotel which is a five minute walk from the station.  It is a bit on the cooler side and out comes the brolly for the bit of rain that is around.  We had left a lovely warm day behind in Lauffen.  We check in, dump our bags and head back into the city centre to meet Sabrina and head for a 6th floor restaurant called the Glockenspiel. Same as the Glockenspiel in Stratford.  The restaurant is named after the Glockenspiel on the Town Hall which we will come across a few times while we are in the city.  Margaret has a Risoto and me a schnitzel which we both enjoyed before heading back to the hotel.

Sunday – A nice big breakfast at the hotel and we are back on the underground to the central station where we purchase a 24 hour ticket for the hip on hop off bus.  Not the big red one this time but their opposition.  We had a live voice talking in German and English but not always the easiest to hear or understand.  We are on the extended loop and head out to the Olympic park. Low and behold just across the road is the BMW museum which we head over to explore.  I learn that BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, or for you non German speakers Bavarian Motor Works.  Begining life making aircraft engines before some of the staff got interested in Motorbikes in around 1917.  They now own brands such as Mini, Rolls Royce and Rover.  Another very interesting journey through the last century.

Back on the bus and back into the city to catch a train out to the airport.  Sabrina was finishing work at the Hilton Hotel at 4:30 and was going to show us around her kitchen.  A huge operation it was over two floors.  There was a section we couldn’t go into because of security where they made meals for special clients on private aircraft.  Hush hush.  Back into the city where it was starting to get dark.  We headed to an old traditional Barverian Restaurant which had been going since the 1700’s called Augustine,  Huge place, fantastic architecture, great beer, good meal.  I had a steak something or other.

Monday – Up a bit earlier as we wanted to get on the bus before our 24 hours had expired.  Sabrina had Monday off and was spending the day with us.  She met us for breakfast at the hotel.  We did the City tour this time.  It was a much better trip, you could actually hear and understand the tour guide.  Also got a much better appreciation of the city.  We did the full loop then headed to the market for a look around and a beer before heading back out to the English Garden and the Chineese Tower.  The park is apparently bigger then Central Park in New York.  The park was quite impressive really and as it was a hot day there were hundreds of people out and about.  We had lunch by the tower and a litre handle of beer.  We then hailed a couple of bike rickshaw thingies to take us to see some surfers we had seen from our bus tour.  It was a small river which went through the park and somehow it was producing this wave across it.  People were surfing backwards and forwards across it.  One at a time as soon as that person fell off the next would jump in.  Very impressive and fun to watch.  We spent a bit of time there before hopping on a bus back into the city and then strolling the city till we ended up at Sabrina’s flat.  A nice compact little place up six flights of stairs.  Interesting, apparently in Germany the norm is to bring your own kitchen when you move into a flat.  Good old Ikea.  We had dinner at a local Barverian Restaurant and said all our goodbyes to Sabrina.  It was really sad as she had been a wonderful host(wth her mum & dad)  to us for the two weeks plus we have been in Germany.

Tuesday is back to Luffen day.  Bus goes at 1:50 so we spent the morning again wandering around the city, watching the Glockenspiel operate, relaxing in the market before making our way to the Bus station.  Munich had been another wonderful experience.  The bus ride was interesting as well.  We had been going for about an hour and a quarter when the bus pulls into a service area and says everybody out, half hour rest here.  We had the front seats right up behind the driver and at one spot on the Autobahn this car in front was travelling along at just below the 100 in the middle of three lanes.  The bus was not allowed in the fast lane or to undertake the car who just refused to pull over.  He sat right on his bumper blasting his horn but the driver refused to budge so he went into the fast lane.  The car then sped up.  Thing were a bit tichy for a bit.  We got into Helibonn at 7pm and Rudi was waiting to take us home to another of his home cooked meals.  It was like the last supper.

Wednesday, another lazy day.  It is Sabina’s last day with us as she is heading back to Munich tonight, back to work tomorrow although she is encouraging us to head over to Munich for a couple of days before we head up to Holland. We spend the day relaxing around Lauffen.  Had this fantastic icecream at the local parlour, just the sort of place we need for Wellington’s hot days.

Sabrina decided she was going to leave in the morning (3am) and go straight to work.

Thursday I needed to go to the bank so we headed into Heilbronn after another big lunch from Rudi, yummy pork cutlets, that guy just keeps cooking and cooking and not little meals either.  Last night we had these really nice steaks. We went and had a look at the shop where Erica used to work and where Jens still works, a super shop of outdoor camping and caravans and stuff, Hetzog in kirchheim. We then drove to Ludwigsburg  to look at an Ikea shop.  Well this was something else again, the size of it was unbelievable, we are talking acres and an even bigger car park which in the weekend is totally packed apparently.

Friday and we are off to Stuggart to visit the Porsche and Mercedes museums.  They were both pretty fantastic places with so much to see.  Porsche was all about the cars where as so was Mercedes but they interwove the story with what was happening around them,  Obviously Stuggart and the surrounding area played a very important part in the development of the petrol (and diesel for that matter) engine and the automotive industry.  It was all very interesting and took the whole day.  We ate dinner at the Stuttgart Football Club where according to Margaret they had decent sized wine glasses.

A big day, home about 9:30, tomorrow we are off to Munich.
Ferdinardo Porsche’s first car design.  Interesting that his early interest was about electric motors.

I must apologise about the lack of photos.  I spent hours trying but have not been able to upload them.  I am blaming the Internet connections I have.  Being over here really makes you appreciate what we have at home.

Monday is a relaxing day and we don’t go too far from home.  A wander around the outside of the Lauffen Castle and then some time at the park with Luis, climbing on things, kicking a football and lazing on the comfortable lounge seats reading filled out the afternoon.  Rudi was working today as it was the last night for the Restaurant which was closing for a two week break but he had still managed to prepare us a big meal.  It seems quite common for things to close down here at this time of year for company holidays.  We had planned to tour the Audi factory which is just down the road but found it was closed.

Tuesday and we are off to the Black Forrest. Rudi, Sabrina, Jens, Margaret and I in the VW Tiguan. It is a long drive as we keep away from the Autobahn taking the scenic route.  A bit of fun as the GPS kept wanting us to go on the Autobahn.  We stopped at Freudenstadt for refreshments.  Half the kids in the town were playing in this fountain which was the size of a small football field with jets of water all over it.  The water played to its own tune but kids and some adults had a lot of fun redirecting or stopping the jets.  Great substitute for a town swimming pool.

We carry on driving down the valley on narrow windy roads heading for Vogtsbauernhof, a Black Forrest open air museum.  We have a picnic that Rudi had prepared under the trees before heading in.  It gave a real feel for the Forrest people and the hardships they endured.  I wonder if in a coule of hundred years time people will wonder about the hardships we endure.  It had real examples of their life with houses they shared with their animals, the saw mills, the wheat and hemp grinding,  the store rooms and much more. Resin extraction, glass and tile making, the floating of logs down the rivers, cuckoo clocks.  It was a very interesting several hours and nearly 6 o’clock before we came out.

Our trip home was via mountain roads  over a couple of ranges.  We stopped for dinner in Mummelsee on top of one of the ranges which was a very scenic spot with its own lake.  After dinner we coasted down to Baden Baden as we drove out in the dark we could see Strasbourg across the border in France.  At Baden Baden we hopped on the Autobahn and headed home arriving around 11:30, a very enjoyable day and a big day of driving for Sabrina.

Friday morning is a sleep in but we have to be down for breakfast by nine if we want any.  We decide we do.  The breakfast here dosen’t do bacon and eggs but it is very nice and a large selection of cold foods.  After breakfast we do a little tidying before heading off to Sabrina’s.  Not a lot planned, Margaret wants a haircut and Sabrina’s Oma comes home from hospital after a broken leg.  She is now in a new home where 8 older people have their own room and help each other.  They have a person to help them and a nurse on call. It looks a really sensible set-up.  Rudi had prepared a Vesper for lunch, a selection of cold foods.  As usual it is exceptionally good.  Sabrina, Margaret & I head into Heilbronn to check out where Sabrina began her career as a Pastry Cook.  Back home to where Rudi has cooked a huge pasta meal.  He makes the pasta from scratch, which he also makes for Kristian’s  restaurant  every day.  You can’t get this guy out of the kitchen, but that’s not a bad thing.

Saturday we wake up to a beautiful warm summers day which had been missing since we set off for Hamburg.   Another relaxed morning and we head over to Sabrina’s about eleven.  Sabrina is making a cake for one of her friends birthday and she makes one for us as well.  It looks fantastic and it tastes nearly as good as a Fruit Cake -:).  It is made mostly of cream and chocolate.  We head out to look at some Roman Ruins dating from 2AD.  Not too much left but impressed that they had pipes, hot water and baths.  It was in a beautiful setting above the Neckar River amongst the rows of grape vines.  You could see for miles, villages, rows of grapes toiled paddocks, boats on the river, and a nuclear power plant just up the river.  It was so peaceful.  It was back to the house where Rudi had cooked chicken breasts and steamed rice and chilli sauce, magnificent, and I know I am putting on the weight.

Sunday another beautiful day.  We are off to Heidelberg.  We travel mostly along the route of the river Neckar with Erica, Sabrina & Luis, Kristian’s nearly four year old son.  Probably took us an hour and a half with beautiful scenery and mayby 12 – 15 castles along the route.  There are heaps of cyclists out enjoying the weather, you could easily get lost on just the cycle paths as there are so many.  Heidelberg itself was just overflowing with tourists, aren’t they a pain.  We were going to take the funicular to the castle but the queue for it was long and then a big tourist group went straight to the front so we gave it a miss and went and got an icecream and walked over the fabulous old bridge.  The river was a hive of activity with commercial tours, kayakers, rowers and fiz boats.  Being Sunday almost all the shops were shut, we walked along the pedestrian mall which seemed like at least a couple of Kilometers long, spotted a statue of some guy Bunsen whom I am assuming invented the burner.  It was after 4 before we started heading home with a detour into Bad Wimpfen to look at a tower we had spotted on the way up.  It was in the middle of a very quaint medieval village.  We climbed the tower, met the lady who lived in it and had a magnificent view of the whole area before strolling through the village.  It was then time to head to Sonne, Kristian’s resturant for a Thai Beef salad and vanilla icecream with pumpkin seed oil.  A very nice evening before heading home to our hotel.

Monday morning and we have the alarm set for 7am.  Today we are going with Sabrina and her Mum & Dad by train to Hamburg.  We have to catch a train from Lauffen back to Stuttgutt and then catch the ICE (inter City Express) train to Hamburg.  Around about a 6 hour trip.  Rudi has managed to secure us first class seats by booking early and through a Hamburg tourist promotion.  

We have our own compartment with a table between us.  It’s another great day and the scenery is beautiful.  We start off passing through grape growing areas moving on to fields of I don’t know what but with lots of colours and people working their farms.  I even saw a paddock of sheep which are not that plentiful in Germany.  The only lamb they have would come from New Zealand and that is very rare.  I did note that all the girls had a little nap along the way.  

We arrive in Hamburg around 5:30pm.  Hamburg is the largest port in Germany way up on the North Sea which is noticeable by the drop in temperature.  It is a lot colder than the weather we have been used to at 12 degrees.  We grab two taxis and head the short distance to our hotel, Arcotel Rubin.  We give ourselves 30 minutes and head out to find a nice resturant to eat at, down beside the canals.  This is harder than expected, maybe because it is a Monday night and is quite cool.  We settle for a brewery pub with craft beer and food.  We then head out to Saint Michaelis Church which is to be a common landmark for us in Hamburg.  It is the 10th highest steeple in Germany and we went up to a viewing platform at 109 metres.  We had a magnificent view of the city as we watched it light up.  We headed back to the hotel for a nightcap and suddenly it was after midnight.

Tuesday we met for breakfast at 8:30 and ate a big breakfast which included bacon and eggs, yummy I must be putting on weight, it’s a good job there are no scales around.  We headed out to the waterfront and found a harbour tour.  The weather wasn’t too flash but we were inside.  This was an enormous port with lots of islands, channels and locks and on the river Elbe.  We cruised along beside/under container ships, cruise ships, saw all the different markets, fish, fruit. Went past the theatres where The Lion King and the Das Wunder von Bern were playing.  We had intended to go to the Lion King but we found that tickets were 150 Euro each so decided to give it a miss.  Went down some narrow canals that ran into the city.  A very enjoyable look at the city.  We had  a late lunch before heading back into the central city.  It was Rudi’s birthday to day which we had already celebrated with a glass of champagne on the boat and we were looking for a good resturant on the side of the canals to celebrate further.  Again this was a challenge but we did find one called Ponton.  We did a bit of window shopping where my most exciting shop was one selling the Telsa Car, nearly brought one, Yeah Right.  Back to Ponton for an enjoyable evening on the water.  A nightcap at the hotel and off to bed

Wednesdays started the same way but this time we were off to the Hamburg Museum.  On the way we had a bit of a delay as we managed to leave Rudi on the Underground, when Erika made us hop off the train a couple of stations too early. He had it right and we had to chase him to the right station where we changed trains to St Pauli. The museum was a very intriguing and informative 4 or so hours showing the history of the area.  The beginings as a trading port, the big fire of 1842, the shipping influence and the time of war and the flooding of 1962.  They also had a very large scale model railway (1/32) showing some of the main tracks around Hamburg.  We walked out of there and there was a fairground next door we decided to explore on our way back to the station.  It was the “Dom”, a fun fair that takes place in Hamburg every summer and it ended up taking us another three hours.  We rode the Ferris wheel and saw many people riding crazy scary rides.  There was probably more food stalls than rides and there were hundreds of rides and lots of yummy interesting food.  A tradition of German fairgrounds was Gebrannte Mandeln, almonds coated with caramelised sugar, cinnamon and maybe a few other spices. Very yummy and then we found some chilli ones, even more yummy.  I managed to win a Minion with my sharp eye and a cork gun.  It was back to the hotel for dinner tonight where we were introduced to vanilla ice cream and pumpkin seed oil, an Austrian speciality. 

Thursday morning saw us heading back to Lauffen.  It took us four trains before we arrived in Lauffen shortly before 7pm.  It was home delivered Pizza for tea and an early night.  Holidaying  is very tiring even though we had spent most of the day sitting on trains.

We say goodbye to Genoa and our hosts Mirko and Irina and and are back at our car which we haven’t seen for 5 days.  We are heading to Fiado, a mountain town in Switzerland at about 260 km away.  It is another beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and everyone one in NZ seems to be wrapped up warmly and hopefully watching the Hurricanes final.  What an awesome result, our first championship win.  I pick up the txts as we are sitting in a service stop over the motorway somewhere near Milan.  Thanks to those keeping me posted.  It was supposed to be another black day on the roads but everything moves along fine except for a couple of the toll payment booths which each cost us 10 minutes or so of time.  We weren’t good at picking the best queue.  We do run unto a jam at or near lake Como and the traffic slows to a crawl to what turns out to be the Swiss border.  We pass through that with hardly a glance from the guard and purchase our sticker to go on the front window allowing us to drive on the motorways.  It is a year pass for 40 Euros even although we are only in Switzerland over two days.

Fiado is in a mountain valley through which the motorway runs.  We are staying at an Airbnb home, a very nice family with 3 young boys (Gianugo & Lilian Altieri and Pietzo, Alessandro & Costantino). Gianugo is Italian, Lilian is Romainian.  We settle in there before heading off to explore.  The town is ultra quiet, we find somewhere to have a drink before wandering down to a lovely waterfall across the river.  The motorway is up above us hardly noticeable as it passes through the valley via tunnels and bridges.  We head back into town looking for a meal, it is about 5.30 only to discover kitchens don’t open until 6.30.  While siting there we notice a gondola which we thought wasn’t working heading up the side of the hill.  We go down to have another look and find it is a self start one.  They have directions in three languages but none of them are English.  Margaret is a beauty and able to decipher enough for us to get it going and we are heading up the side of the mountain.  We end up in a Plateau with big green meadows and a swimming pool and something that looks like a horse training area. We  head back to the resturant for dinner.  Margaret has a risotto and I a beaf schnitzel  .

Sunday morning and we are up bright and early.  We have over 400km to travel.  Gianugo suggest we should go over the mountain road via Saint Gotthard pass.  Even although he had never been on it himself he said every one thought it had the most wonderful views.   We had to forgo a 16km tunnel for the privilege   He was right it was a great road to drive over some cobbled roads.  Watching all the bikes pushing their way up or cruising down.  I thought of Carl and Sandy as I guess they must have climbed up to Saint Gotthard on their journeys on the tandem.  Awesome experience then back on the motorway.  It really was a nice drive through the mountain valleys beside beautiful lakes and people out sailing and quaint villages.  We skirted Lucerne, Zurich and Stuttgart before doing the last section on country roads into Lauffen.  The boarder crossing was a non avent with nobody on duty and no hold ups.  Driving on the Autobahn was an interesting experience.  The GPS gave us no speed limits.  I managed to slip it up to nearly 170km/h before getting told off.  There were people flying past us.  Apparently 130 is considered the maximum, you are allowed to go faster but if anything happens then it is on you and could have drastic implications.

We arrive at Sabrina’s home around 4.30.  Today was the first time we had met Tomtom’s time estimates.  It is good to see Rudi, Erica, Sabrina and Jens again it was 2011 since they had been in New Zealand and we had a lot to catch up on.  We were staying in the Gashenhau Hotel around  the corner from Sabrina’s Mum & Dads house.  After booking in there we had a quick drive around before heading off to Neckarsulm where the Audi’s are made as Erica had to drop something off there.

That night we ate at Sonne, Sabrina’s brother, Kristian’s resturant.  We ate our best meal since leaving home, maybe since along time before leaving home.  It was salad starter and South American Beef and German Pork steaklets main cooked to perfection by Sabrina’s Dad, Rudi (who was the chef) and complemented by the restaurants own Red Curvee. It was a beautiful meal and much reminiscing about times in New Zealand.  Kristian showed us his cellar and says there is a rumour of a tunnel under the river to the castle from there.  He is yet to find it.

A very late night.

.

Really getting into this relaxed village life.  We don’t have anything planned for today and I am reading a Wilber Smith novel, Birds of Prey.  A bit of sitting around on the Poop deck reading.  It is after noon before we head out.  I need to find a ATM machine.   I had spotted a Barclays Bank which was on our list of friendlies but it was not to be.  It refused and said the service I wanted, “Cash” was not available.  We ended up going to our French Bank which happily took care of our needs.

We stopped at a cafe for a Pesto Pasta and a coffee and then a beer.  Sat there reading our books for awhile before walking on through some of the poorer quiet areas of the city before heading back to the waterfront.  Sat under a tree for some more reading near a salt water swimming pool.  It looked like a pool for the better off.  Walked on and had a look at that sleak black yacht we had spotted from the water the day before, what a life for some.

More walking and a Roast Beef salad before returning to our lodgings with a bottle of wine.

Friday –  Our last day in Genoa, again not much planned and a storm promised.  Stephen had sent us pictures and video of the boys sledging and having fun in the snow on the Tataka hills.  There was a lot of it so a good storm must have passed through there.

Well the promised storm came to nought just a few drops of rain that almost dried as they hit the ground.  Went out and strolled around today as well.  Looked at a couple of palaces and a Peggy Guggenheim photo exhibition.  

Went up ascension (funicular) up to a high point and sat in a cool breeze with a couple of beers (Margaret was into the wines)

Without even trying tea cost us 50 Euros tonight.  We shared a Anchovey antipasti, I had a pasta and Margaret had fish & Chips and a caramel cream (like a brûlée).  I had a Beer, Margaret a wine.

Tomorrow we head for Switzerland.