Washington day 1

We spent 21 hours from when we woke up in Barcelona until the boys got to put their heads on pillows so it was a long travel day but today was a lovely clear winters morning. New York was covered in snow and quite pretty. The plane approaches over Canada and northern USA were stunning. DC has obviously had snow recently and there is plenty around for the boys to have fun throwing it at each other but not enough for a proper snow man. They have really enjoyed just finding large patches of snow just wherever, although Ryan learnt about icy ground the hard fast way. It was ryan so he slid back up as fast as he slid down.
Luc worked in Reston this morning so the kids and I went for an explore after breakfast. We walked to the mall where all e smithonians are. We went to the castle which opened at 8:30. We spoke to a lovely lady who gave us a quick overview of all the museums and we bought a guide with floor plans of all of them. We also found out that they didn't open until 10 so we had some time to kill. She suggested we go to the printing and engraving building. We did that. It was very interesting. We saw $20 notes being begun and $1 notes being finished. It was a free tour and very well run. Then because we were there we decided to go up the Washington monument which was very easy and it was lovely. Didn't have Guy's camera with me unfortunately but we enjoyed it.
Then we went to the museum of natural history and spent the rest of the day there. It was fascinating. Luc met us there. The boys were engaged the whole day. We didn't leave until 5pm. We came home exhausted and put our feet up (while doing the washing) and then went to a very nice something like hogs breath cafe restaurant. We all went to bed quite early and are now ready to face another day, this time of sky and space and looking at some more monuments. Another lovely day with a Warm 7 degrees forecast.

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Location:Washington DC

Our day in Barcelona

Today we woke up later than usual thinking that Spain doesn't wake up until about 10. Then we caught the tram from outside our hotel past an interesting building that looked like Barcelona's gherkin and then walked from there to Sagrada Familia. I have never seen even a picture of this cathedral, so I didn't know what to expect. It is an incredible building. Luc was here 20 years ago and he said that a lot of progress has been made in that time. We went in and got audio guides which makes the experience very interesting.
That took the whole morning. After we found some lunch, we walked past a few Gaudi houses and buildings and then wandered around the gothic quarter for a couple of hours. The boys had had enough by then so we came back to the hotel and had a rest and the boys had a swim - really using the facilities of the nice hotel. Luc went back out to do some shopping.
Later on we went out to the Catalan quarter and tried some Tapas varieties for dinner. It was cheap and pretty good but not fantastic.
Now we are packed up ready to drive to the airport tomorrow for a long trip to DC via New York. Probably won't post tomorrow. Talk to you again the next day.


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Location:Spain

Off to Spain

This morning we woke to a wet miserable day in Carcassonne but we were in Carcassonne so can't really complain! We went walking anyway and it was fantastic. We explored ramparts and walked around walls and through the castle and the cathedral with amazing stain glass windows. It is a very touristy town fully restored and set up for tourists, but it is still lovely. We watched an interesting documentary about the different stages of the town and how it changed over time from a roman fortification to a border fort to a tourist attraction. Very interesting. We had a lovely lunch there and when we finished the sun came out so we went for more of an explore in the nice weather.
After we had enjoyed the castle (legolas and aragorn were running around looking a lot like Marc and Ryan!) we got in the car and headed for Spain. It was not raining anymore, the roads are fantastic and the views of the Pyrenees were excellent. We arrived in Barcelona between 5 and 6 pm and are staying in a lovely hotel overlooking water. Very swish. Tonight we went out for a walk to find dinner and a general wander. I even bought a purse! I don't do that sort of thing!
Looking forward to a day of sight seeing tomorrow then off to the US the next morning.
I am getting the hang of this driving on the wrong side thing. Shopping carparks aren't much fun though.


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Location:Barcelona

Nice to Carcasonne

Well today I learnt to drive on the other side of the road in crazy Nice where people seem to think they can park anywhere they like and who knows what is coming at you, but to get to the end first, we made it to Carcassone, driving at 130km/hr on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car!
It was a horrible day in Nice, raining and thunderstormy, but it was the only one we had, so we went for a walk anyway all around the water front and round to the port, up the hill near the castle and then onto a very welcome Pizza place recommended to us by Marie-France (followed up by the Gelateria she also told us about!)
Nice is a lovely town (we ran into 2 teachers from Sydney at dinner last night by the way). Walking along the seaside, even in the rain, is beautiful. The boys ran along the beach and skipped stones into the Mediterranean which they really enjoyed.
At about 2 we picked up our car, went back to the Hotel to pick up our bags and the adventure started. We first went to find Luc's old home in Nice. It is a secure set of units, so we couldn't go inside, but it was nice to see where he had lived. Then we set off for Carcassone.
The roads are very well labelled and it was 462km but much of it was at 130km/h so it only took 4hrs 15mins. We had already bought bread, cheese, salami etc so we stopped at a rest point (inside at a table) to have our dinner and then continued on our way. We were there by 9pm checked in. It is a lovely room. As I type this I am looking out the window at the walls of Carcassone old town only 5 mins walk away. We will explore tomorrow and then drive 300km to Barcelona.
I love French roads, and French traffic, everyone stayed right and it just flowed. The slow parts were at 110km/h!

Rome to Nice

Yesterday we were too tired to blog so it is morning on nice now. We packed up from the very nice convent who let us check out at 1:00 as it was Sunday, so who would come in anyway! Then we walked to the big victory monument that everyone in Rome calls the wedding cake which unfortunately was crawling with sword bearing security and we weren't allowed to climb. So we kept walking to ponte Fabricio which was first built in 62BC to cross the Tiber to the little island in the middle.
Then we continued walking into central Rome just to explore. When it was time for lunch we went back to our neighborhood to eat at a really lovely cafe where Luc and I had gone for pre- dinners the night before. The idea last night was pay 10 euros for a drink and a refillable plate of anti- pasta which were varied and scrumptious. We thought we would like them for lunch too.
After that we went to the airport where we spent 3 times as long pm the ground in queues but anyway we arrived on a beautiful warm night in Nice and went for a long walk stopping for a lovely seafood dinner. This morning it is really raining so we might drive rather than explore on foot too much.

Location:France

The Vatican

Today we had booked a tour of the Vatican and Sistene Chapel. The boys were excited about being able to stand in two countries at the same time. We got to skip the very long queues and walk right in. It is definitely worth booking an official guide. However, you still don't get to pick the actual guide and ours was very melodramatic and overly interested in the minute detail of her favorite pieces. As a result we nearly missed the Sistene chapel which was closing at 12:30 for some reason which was very well sign posted around the museum but she seemed to miss. At 12:20 we decided to make a point of asking her why we weren't running like everyone else to make the closing time and she rang a friend to find out we were right and we had better run. However we did make it and it is spectacular. It was very crowded but the paintings are amazing. It was slightly weird having loud speakers every couple of minutes reminding you tombe silent as this was a church!
After the chapel we went to the crypt of the popes and then to the basilica. It was a huge morning of walking, and we needed lunch - it was about 1:30 when we came out.
We also went to the castle of saint Angelo which is connected to the Vatican apparently by a secret tunnel but alas for Ryan, we were not allowed to use this. It is quite an impressive little castle with a spectacular view.
Now we are home, with our washing being done at a laundromat sort of, he is putting it in the dryer for us and tomorrow we head for Nice.
If anyone has suggestions of major things we have missed that we could see tomorrow morning, feel free to comment.
We sent a couple of postcards from the Vatican. It seemed like a good idea to,get postmarks from there. The lady that we bought the cards from gave us our change in special Vatican 50 cent pieces.
The weather has been beautiful. We have not had to wear our big coats in Rome. Very warm. Also wanted to write about parking. Every space seems to be a parking space and smart cars are kept in business in Rome. Did you know that you can park a smart car perpendicular to the kerb and it doesn't stick out past the other cars. In fact you can park one anywhere you want, it seems!

Roaming round Rome

Today we started out close to our convent by walking to the colosseum and buying an audio guide each which was really worth it otherwise as luc puts it it is just a pile of crumbling rocks. I find this sort of walking history really interesting and I loved the colosseum and then the forum and paletine hill which we also got audio guides for, fascinating. In Latin these places were thriving centers of activity. This ramble through the ruins took the whole morning so we decided to catch a taxi to the pantheon and find some lunch. Taxis are not expensive here and our cab driver was very informative as we drove past interesting places.
We found some sandwiches and ate them in front of the pantheon. Inside was not extremely exciting but the dome is incredible. Then we walked to the Trevi fountain and then to the Spanish steps which Ryan and I climbed up and down. There are still lots of people drawing portraits here.
After this we wandered down the river enjoying the bridges and looking across at interesting sites such as st Angelo's castle which we will climb tomorrow after the Vatican. Then we went to the circo massimus and the wandered up the hill past the forum, colosseum and back to the convent which we discovered has a lovely garden inside the walls. Nice break from the streets of Rome.



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Location:Italy