Month: January 2017

After the fortification of coffee, I wandered this morning to the Piazza della Repubblica, not to visit the Piazza but because just off said piazza is one of the churches we visited on our first evening in Rome, the Basilica di Santa Maria devil Angeli e dei Martiri (St Mary of the Angels and Martyrs). You may remember, dear reader, that… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Tenth Day

Today, dear reader, your intrepid travellers set out to 'fill in the gaps'. You may remember that on Sunday, after arriving in Rome from Spain, we visited the Maria Maggiore, the Papal Basilica that is just a couple of blocks away from where we are staying. Well today, we set off to visit the other… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Ninth Day

Today didn't start off as planned. That's because late yesterday afternoon I began feeling distinctly unwell, and the situation didn't improve much overnight. I think it might have been the hamburger I had for lunch in Firenze yesterday that did it. All of which meant that today, instead of joining my fellow intrepid travellers on… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Eighth Day

As I mentioned at the end of my last post, dear reader, today was the day carved out for Florence, Firenze, to the city that is at the heart of the Italian Renaissance. And the city didn't disappoint. We were up early in order to be at Roma Termini early enough to catch the Freccisrossa high speed… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Seventh Day

Today was a day for travelling, as your intrepid travellers were up bright and early - before the sun even! (which I may have mentioned isn't difficult at this time of year in Madrid when the sun isn't above the horizon until about 8.30ish in the morning) - in order to get to the airport… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Sixth Day

After yesterday's infusion of culture we return to some 'sight-seeing' today, and the intrepid travellers sallied forth in search of something quintessentially Spanish: bull-fighting! Our destination this morning was the Plaza de Toros in the suburb of Las Ventas. Having reached our destination, we were faced with an imposing edifice (as the photo shows) which fronted… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Fifth Day

Having 'done' a few churches in the last couple of days - some good, some not quite so much - today was the day for the intrepid travellers to take in some more refined culture, and it was culture with a capital C. Our first stop was to the Museo Nacional de la Prado, the… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Fourth Day

On the third day of the January 2017 trip to Spain and Italy, your intrepid travellers arose (very) early in order to the catch the high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona. This train, operated by Renefe, travels at close to 300 km/h, making the journey from Madrid to Barcelona just a touch over two and… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Third Day

The first full day in Madrid started early for this intrepid traveller, so early, in fact, that it started last night! Having adjourned to bed early in an attempt to "catch up" on sleep, I awoke at what I thought was 9.30am - and thereby had a momentary panic - only to discover it was… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The Second Day

So the intrepid travellers departed Sydney at 1645 on Monday 9th January enroute firstly to Madrid and then Rome. After a fourteen hour flight to Dubai, an eight hour stopover in Dubai International Airport (which thankfully to some pre-planning on the part of one of the travellers included the opportunity to shower!), and then a… Continue reading Europe in January 2017 – The First Day