May 2017 - The European Connection

Planes, trains and automobiles (and you can add a ship, trams, Segways, rickshaws, boats and good old shoe leather) best describes this months whirlwind trip around parts of Europe.  This blog is not really about cruising, although boats, yachts and ships feature quite a bit, seems we might be a bit addicted….

So here goes –

Flew Cape Town to Athens via Johannesburg and Doha.

24 hours later arrived at Athens International and were met by a very patient lady holding a board with names of Proaxia employees and who then had the onerous task of hearding us all to the awaiting coaches. 

Cocktails on arrival

A 55min coach ride south and we arrived at Cape Sounion, a real gem on the south eastern coast of Athens, nestled under the shadow of the Temple of Poseidon.  Cape Sounion is the spot where Aegeus, King of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, giving his name to the Aegean Sea.  The story goes that Aegeus was anxiously looking out from Sounion and despaired when he saw a black sail on his son Theuses ship, returning from Crete. On departing Cape Sounion to attempt to defeat the Minotaur, Theseus agreed that if he was successful, on his return, he would fly a white sail, but tragically, although he was successful, he simply forgot the sail. 

View of bay, Temple & resort from our
room

 The resort has a 180deg view of the bay which provides safe anchorage for numerous sailing yachts and some super yachts. 

After welcoming cocktails we were zipped to our cabanas by golf cart to freshen up, ready for the official welcoming barbeque on the beach.  The setting, décor, food and company, under cloudless, star strewn skies was the perfect start to our European trip.

Gathering for beach party

Beautiful setting, Temple of Poseidon
in the back ground

To take a step back, in recognition of the achievement of some significant milestones by Proaxia, the company Kevin works for, all employees and partners were invited to attend a special weekend celebration at Cape Sounion.  The whole event was made even more special by the opportunity created for the employees, all of whom are globally situated and have little more than internet contact with each other, to meet in person.

Sunday saw a split in the majority of people, two trips were organized, one to a local vineyard for a tour and wine tasting – well, we come from Cape Town where wine is arguably the best, 

Delicious Tapas at the
foot of the Acropolis

so we took the other option, a coach trip into Athens and a tour of the original 

Meandering through Plaka

Olympic stadium and the Acropolis, with lunch at a magnificent restaurant at the foot of the ruins and we even got a tour of the city of Plaka thrown in.  

Lunch provided the opportunity to taste a local dish – octopus, which turns out to be a sliced, very large grilled octopus tentacle, surprisingly tender, best washed down with good Ouzo on ice.  The Acropolis was restored sometime back but it was not very successful so now a major restoration effort is underway which unfortunately means scaffolding surrounds for many years to come.

A bit of wandering and an ice-cream saw Kevin and I hold the tour buses up for a couple of minutes (seems African time is worse than Greek time), rather embarrassing.

Another amazing evening of roof top cocktails, speeches and a gala dinner and all too soon the weekend was over.

  The next morning breakfast was time for farewells as the majority boarded busses and headed out, some to continue on holiday and some back to work.  

Temple of Poseidon

View from the foot of the Temple

We were fortunately in the holiday category and were staying on another night at Cape Sounion so together with TC and his wife we donned our walking shoes and trekked off to see the Temple of Poseidon, only to be stopped at the gate as it was a public holiday and the Temple was closed.  On the return we stopped at a quaint local tavern on the seashore where we consumed Tappas including more of that octopus washed down with local beer this time and it tasted just as good.  Could get used to this Greek way of life.

Next day we were winging our way to Barcelona, Spain – via Istanbul, Turkey for lunch.  After checking in to our hotel we were off exploring and found a marina, two yacht clubs and a great waterfront complex.  Next morning we hopped on the “City Sightseeing Tour Bus” for a quick spin around Barcelona, 

Port Olimpic

stopping quickly at Port Olimpic where the events of the 1992 Summer Olympics were hosted and which, incidentally, was the reason for the turnaround of the harbor area from slum to tourist attraction (during the Olympic games) to highly sought after, expensive real-estate (the accommodation built for the Olympic athletes is now upmarket residences).

We watched our ship come in from
the hotel the night before

Then it was time to board the MSC Orchestra to begin our Western Mediterranean cruise, so exciting.  We were fortunate to have been upgraded to a balcony suite at no extra cost, it was amazing.

  All is very organized, an information session spelled out do’s and don’t’s and how things work, followed by an emergency drill – that was quite funny really, we all gathered on the deck next to the life rafts and were shown how to don our life jackets, I would far rather have learned the workings of the life rafts!!

Farewell cocktails

Then we whizzed up to the 14^th (top) deck to wave farewell to Barcelona as we cast off and headed out to sea.

Dinner is served in two sessions in two dining rooms, first at 19:00 and second 21:30.  Somehow we were in the 2^nd sitting and lo and behold our table companions were an elderly South African couple, what were the odds.  A late dinner on the first night was cool, gave us plenty of time to explore and the ship is massive so there was lots to see.  

Fortunately from the second night we were moved to the earlier dinner session and to our delight we had a South African waitress.

Arrival in Corsica

Day 2 arrive in Corsica (France) – disembarked and found a little tourist train with English commentary guide. 

We got off at Napolean’s monument and not concentrating got back on the wrong train, fortunately spotting the mistake just in time to leap back on the correct one as it was heading down the road.  

The WRONG Train ha ha ha

Lunch in a little café with free wi-fi, English speaking maître di and the most delicious moules mariniere (mussels in their shells with local goats cheese and white wine sauce).  Night time departure and mini wine tasting after dinner – not bad wines – in the ships wine bar with good music. 

Day 3 Civitavecchia (Italy) – Disembarked with a friendly Australian couple we met at breakfast, took a long walk to and around a marina 

followed by a brief stop at the yacht club, standing wide open with no-one in sight to assist so on to lunch on the balcony of

Riva di Traiano Open Club, then back to a café with free wi-fi to get daily downloads 
(data is so expensive on the ship we decided against that option), I went to the loo and set off an alarm by pulling the cord hanging from the ceiling which I thought was the flush so embarrassing,
 then we had a little difficulty finding the ship as we had been paying more attention to conversation and less to our surroundings in the morning, to find our buddy’s the Carr’s already onboard.    

Day 4 La Spezia (Italy) – A rainy 
day made going ashore less appealing, Kevin and the Carr’s popped out to catch up on internet and do a wine tasting and I spent time lounging on the ship.

Really narrow streets

Day 5 Genoa (Italy) – A short walk from the harbor and we decided to do a rickshaw tour, fortunately the bikes were semi-electric so we didn’t feel so bad.  

What an amazing trip, the guides were well versed and informative and the streets so narrow that we barely fitted through, apparently the city was built as a labyrinth so that enemies would become confused and easy to kill.  



We learnt about the old and new Mafia and 

Genoa Cathedral

Piazza Raffaele de Ferrari

stopped for photos at the fountain at Piazza Raffaele de Ferrari and the 

Genoa Cathedral where a busker was playing, we bought the CD he was pretty good.  Inside the Cathedral is an Armour Piercing shell that was fired through the north eastern corner by a British battleship in February 1941 and failed to detonate, a real miracle.

Little boat from Mother Ship

Day 6 Cannes (France) – Transfer
 to land by boat as the ship was too big to enter harbor, interesting trip as the wind and waves were up and the boat leaked like a sieve.  

Cannes the City of Art

Another tourist train trip down the Riviera, past the Palais de Festivals et de Congres where the Cannes Film Festival is held and through Le Suquet (Old Town).



  The trip ended with a draft cider and wifi at a little Irish pub near the harbor.

Day 7 Palma de Mallorca (Baleric Island) – This was one of our most favourite stops, a charming Island with beautiful marinas, could just imagine us here with our yacht.  



We walked to the closest marina and did a harbor cruise and had a G’n T at the Yacht Club.

Then it was all over and we were heading for the airport again.  For anyone considering a cruise - drinks package is a must!  We bought one while booking and it certainly paid off.  Cocktail of the day was a big hit and in fact most cocktails were free on the package, also a most quaffable Merlot and dry sparkling wine, some whisky’s Heiniken draft beer and most spirits, cooldrinks, tea and coffee and ice cream. Drinks on board are horribly expensive!

The famous Grand Pier Weston-Super-Mare

Papa's - same table too

We flew to Bristol, picked up a rental car and drove to Weston-Super-Mare.  Had a snack at 
Papa’s, the restaurant where we celebrated my Gran’s 93 birthday 3 years ago, 

enjoyed a walk up and down the promenade then went for dinner only to find we were no longer in the land of late meals, the restaurant at the hotel closed at 20:00.  

The Old Thatched Cottage a quaint thatched restaurant, part of which is the original beach house built in 1774, was our only choice and it was brill. 

Closest I came to a carpet of bluebells

View down Cheddar Gorge
toward the reservoir 

Next morning we were off to the village of Cheddar in Somerset, after which Cheddar cheese was named and which is still made there today.  It is also the home of Cheddar Gorge, Cox’s Cave and Goughs Cave.  After purchasing cheese and biscuits for lunch,

Goughs Cave

Jacobs Ladder

Goughs Cave

 we climbed the 274 steps of Jacobs ladder and did the clifftop walk with breathtaking views forever. Our picnic lunch on the clifftop idea was thwarted by rain but we managed to find a cave on the side of the road back through the Gorge to hide in and eat.  Goughs Cave was truly magnificent, it took Richard Gough 6 years, working at night, to excavate, eventually breaking through into the Diamond Chamber by the age of 72. It includes St Pauls Cathedral and stalactites and stalagmites, the replica of the oldest complete skeleton ever found in Britain - “Cheddar Man” who used to live there, 

Cave maturing cheese - Goughs Cave

Solomon’s Temple and the piles of Cheddar Cheeses maturing (the only truly cave matured cheese in the world).

Picnic in the cave

Next was Cox’s Cave, the original Cheddar Cave, discovered by Goughs uncle, but this was rather disappointing, commentary and décor made it more a story of evolution rather than of the actual cave.

Bath Abby in the background

A quick draft cider and next stop was a lovely hotel on the river Avon in Bath for the night.  
Walking shoes on again next day, we walked to The Royal Crescent via the Circus, Bath Abbey and the famous Roman-built baths which are so much bigger than they appear – you can almost picture the scenes as they would have been when the Baths were built in AD60.

He drank the water, said it wasn't bad

Royal Crescent

Leaving Bath we drove past my grans old house in Fishponds, had a quick drink at the Spotted Cow bar for old times sake and onward to Langford to spend a couple of days with my cousin Sarah and her husband Mark (who has definitely missed his calling as a tour guide extraordinaire). 

Clifton Suspension Bridge over the
River Avon with Giants Cave (yellow
railing on left)

Sarah organized and catered for a huge family lunch, a spread fit for royalty, it was a day of reconnecting with those family members I knew, meeting some for the first time and introducing Kevin to all, a special event put together by special people. 

Clifton Suspension Bridge from
Giants Cave

View from Cabots Tower

Top of Cabots Tower

We were given an informative guided tour of so many areas of Bristol by Mark and Sarah, we could never have accomplished covering this much ground on our own.  Clifton suspension bridge over Avon gorge and the Avon river, Giants cave – not big giants in those days! to the top of Cabots Circus tower with its amazing 360deg view of Bristol and Bristol Harbour.

Wells Cathedral

Clevedon and Wells (England's smallest City) and a whippy (soft serve ice-cream right from the van),

Railway Inn

lunch at The Railway Inn, owned by Thatchers cider brewery and serving great cider and food, 

St Michaels Tower

Glastonbury

Glastonbury – a very interesting town if you are interested in goth, fairies, gnomes and goblins and flower power – up the Glastonbury Tor (a hill topped by St Michaels roofless Tower) and went in search of a field of bluebells but were unfortunately a week or so late.

View from Glastonbury Tor

Top of Glastonbury Tor

We then embarked on a road trip to Scotland – whisky tasting having been high on both of our bucket lists.  We stopped at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition “The heart of British Motorsport” 

Bretby

then overnighted at Bretby (yes it’s a real place) in Derbyshire, where my good friend Leonie now lives, 










then on to a picturesque B&B, Ach-Na-Side, on the Loch Ness Glen Hilltop.  





A bit of exploring and we found the beautiful Falls of Foyers then we were having a drink on the side of the Loch Ness, no sign of Nessie though.

The Dowans Hotel

Next day we arrived at The Dowans Hotel in Speyside just in time to hop into our whisky tasting chariot for the day with Toby our guide and most importantly driver. 

The Gaynor frog was a hit

 First stop Ballindalloch, a castle and golf course that 3 years ago began distilling their own whisky. It can only be bottled in 7 years time and they are aiming at the top end of the whisky market, such an interesting tour.  On to 

Adding yeast to the mix

Beautiful equipment

A couple of these have been bought

Amazing whisky tasting 

A stunning display

Not getting in there

The Glenlivet for lunch, then to Glenfarclas, 

Toby and Kevin and Gaynor frog
@ Glenfarclas 

Hard at work making whisky barrels

Kevin and Toby inspecting barrels
@ the Cooperage

the Speyside Cooperage where they make the barrels – this is an actual Trade, highly skilled, paid and apparently fast becoming sought after as the interest in it is dying out, and

finally we skidded into Cardhu just before closing time, the day just flew past.  In the field outside we found the most fascinating pre-historic looking creatures, I just love them.  I thought they would have some sort of fancy biological name but on enquiring was told it’s a wooly coo (coo being Scottish for cow) aka hairy coo, hysterical.  Our tour guide Toby made a brief stop at an Inn where we met some Danish hunters, they had been shooting reindeer, apparently 6 that day, guess who isn’t getting anything from Santa this year!!! 

Joe has quite a whisky selection

Then finally a drink in a little pub on the river – Fiddichside Inn, owned and run by Joe who is 87 years old.

Next morning on our way to Edinburgh we had to take a detour back to the B&B as I had forgotten the Cheddar Cheese we had purchased for our friends in France but this gave us the opportunity to drive quite a length of the Loch Ness (still no Nessie) and Loch Lomond, a long day but truly beautiful scenery.

The beautiful Brown Villa

Marseilles was the next stop, Juanita met us at the airport and chauffeured us back to their beautiful house in Pierrevert (yup, we called it Pervert).  

Good times, old friends

and Champagne

At the Cheese Market, yummy
breads,

and Sweets

Andy and Juanita treated us to a fun filled week to remember, a goats cheese fair, goats cheese has genuinely been perfected by the French, it is delicious,

Lunch @ the Golf Club

He won a Printer, whoo...

 lunch at the Golf Club,

Carrieres de Lumieres show

Streets of Castle of Baux

an audio visual art show projected onto various surfaces – roof, floor and columns, to music, in a cave - at Carrieres de Lumieres followed by the Castle of Baux, 

Display at Castle of Baux

Blacksmith at work

an amazing village of shops and restaurants in a Medieval fortress ruins with replica siege engines on which shows are performed daily, 






we just missed the catapult display but were witness to a sword duel,

Marching through Aix 

 late afternoon stroll and sundowners in Aix-en-Provence, 





paddle boating down the beautiful scenic Gorges du Verdon,  and throughout lavender is almost out, bushes have a light tinge of purple, poppy’s abound and its cherry season, such amazing colours.

The beach in Nice, like most of Europe,
is pebbles not sand, varying in size

Once again we were on the move, off to Nice for two nights where I finally managed to get the Segway ride in that I had been dying to do 

Exotic Cars galore outside the Casino

Service with a smile at Casino corner

then a train to Monaco to walk the F1 Grand Prix track, all laid out ready for the race on the Sunday.  First stop was Casino Square where there was no end of luxury and sports cars driving around, the restaurant is obviously exclusive and charge to keep the riff raff out – one beer cost €18 (around R320) so only one drink there, 

The tunnel toward the swimming complex

With Niki Lauda

the rest of the bars on the circuit were reasonable and what an experience it was to walk the track – took almost 5.5 hours (there were lots of bars), 

Lewis Hamilton taking time out

we saw a number of racing drivers doing interviews or just getting ready for the next days qualifying.

No shortage of super yachts

They pack them in in marina's in Europe

The Greeks sure know
what to do with Squid

We then caught a train and a bus to Marseilles airport and all came to a grinding halt.  Manchester had been the victim of a terrorist attack two days before and security had been tightened (that said security in France is on full alert, there are well armed guards and police everywhere) causing passport control jams and a bit of fast footing to catch our plane, but we made it and landed in Athens again, back where it all began.  We stayed in a neat little hotel near a large marina, which we proceeded to scour the next day, then a little shopping and tram riding before the long haul home.

Finally, that pea in the Med!!!!

Wow, what a trip…..

Back home and we are about to scatter all over the place once again, fitting the long awaited hard top bimini and moving home once more.