Europe 2014

Posted on 18th August 2014 by Amy

29/6/2014

Day 9

Today has been raining and cold. It is meant to be summer in the Northern Hemisphere!

This morning once we had breakfast, we went into town to buy a few things for lunch and bought ice cream, which was amazing! Everyone had Creme (Vanilla) except for my mom but she stole some of mine anyway. Then we explored the town a bit more and then walked back up to the hotel before it began to rain. Once we got back to the hotel it was lunch time so we had our picnic lunch on my parents balcony. The rest of the afternoon we spend relaxing. The friends who are with us have friends who have a house in Austria. They coming down for the night, which is interesting. So we are going out for supper with them. Not sure if we will be eating bread and water if we are going to an expensive place.

Half way through the afternoon my sister and I got bored so with my parents we decided to go down into the town (alright it is a village not really a town) and find some hot chocolate. We found this coffee shop which sold the best Italian hot chocolate and had this amazing cheesecake. So we spend sometime there and watched the locals. We realised that we had an hour before we had to leave for dinner, so we quickly ran back up to our hotel in the rain. Our hotel was just outside of town and up a slight hill.

The streets

Sign outside a hotel

A 5 star hotel

Its actual size

Europe 2014

Posted on 18th August 2014 by Amy

28/6/2014

Day 8

This morning we woke up and after breakfast we walked into town to the Tourism Information. The weather was cold, cloudy and some rain.

We also watched runners run the finish line of a race. This race began at 11:00 pm the previous night on one of the mountains. Part of the route is running around a couple of mountains in the dark and end finish is in the town. This is a 24 hour race. The first couple of runners looked alright but the rest looked like they were in pain and glad to be finished with it.

After a while I got a bit board and wanted to explore the town. We went to a shopping mall which had everything in from food to hiking gear and kitchen things like coffee machines. Once we explored that and bought a few things we went to a coffee shop for lunch. Then in the afternoon the four of us went for a drive on another twisty road up to the Dolomites. We hoping to go up the ski lift on tomorrow (Monday).

A hotel in the town (Traditional building).

Cathedral

Boxed flowers

Dolomites

I took some great photos though.

Europe 2014

Posted on 18th August 2014 by Amy

27/6/2014

Day 7

This morning we left the hotel to drop off the car at the car hire and then they dropped off at the airport for our flight to Venice. Landing was interesting for two things I have never flown into Venice and secondly we happened to bump twice when trying to land. That was not a nice experience. After we got off the plane and collected our bags (which didn’t take long because the airport is small. We then went to hire two cars and the idiots who ran the place gave us the smaller car and we were four people.

We drove from Venice for hours and drove through mountain passes, forests and villages, which looked like something from Switzerland and Austria. It seemed like we where in the wrong country. These towns differently had Switzerland and Austrian influence.

After an extra half an hour on the road we finally found the hotel and it feels like I am in a ginger bread house. After a long day in the car we only felt like a toasted cheese for supper.

Here is to another couple of days of adventure in Italy.

River running through Cortina

The river is this photo looked exactly like this. It ran quite fast and looked very icy cold. I wouldn’t want to swim in that.

Europe 2014

Posted on 15th August 2014 by Amy

24/6/2014

Day 5

The next day after a shocking breakfast and deciding we are never going to stay at that hotel again. We set off to Messinian Bay for two nights. It seems like the coast is quite near but actually it was quite a long drive down to the coast.

Messinian Bay is a sea side resort where the majority of tourists and Greeks come down in there summer holidays. Luckily for us the schools hadn’t broken up for the holidays so it was busy but not overly busy which it usually is. The beaches have either sandy or stony but the sea is this crystal blue and one can see the bottom. Sometimes it has different shades of blue depending on the time of the day. Mornings where the best having breakfast on the balcony and watching the water with all the fishing boats on it.

View from hotel

Europe 2014

Posted on 14th August 2014 by Amy

Mother coming out of the prison

25/6/2014

Day 5

This morning we got up and because of the time change I always had to double check that I wasn’t thinking South Africa time. So after a quick shower my sister and I headed down to breakfast.

After we had eaten something we headed off for the day. I think the worst part of the drive was the distance and the heat. My sister wanted to swim and I wasn’t to fased what I did. I just wanted some adventure. Our first stop on our day road trip was to a castle that Turks built centuries ago. It was huge! Then we headed to a beach for lunch and a swim. The water was crystal clear and quite warm.

On the way back to the hotel we took a long way round by driving through a pass. We went through two passes. It remained me of the passes in America. Lots of forests and rivers. It was so beautiful! The windy roads with pine trees and rivers and waterfalls on either side of the road. As the pass winded itself up into the mountain one can see a few houses scared here and there and also the old village. The pass kept on going on and on and eventually landed up at Messinian Bay. Then we drove back to the hotel to rest before going to find some supper.

Castle court yard

Cross on the chapel

Europe 2014

Posted on 7th August 2014 by Amy

23/6/2014

Day 4

Next stop Ancient Olympia. After breakfast we took the long drove down to Olympia. This village houses the Ancient Olympia ruins where the first Olympics was first held. We arrived late afternoon and checked in at our hotel, which was called the Olympic Village Hotel. To be honest this wasn’t the greatest hotel. The rooms weren’t that great and there food wasn’t either.

After check in and a rest and of then use of there terrible WiFi. We went in search of a late lunch which consisted of ice cream and pastries. I was definitely not complaining. Then we headed for the ruins. It was so amazing how these Greeks built these magnificent structures. Then temples and even the first Olympic field were it was first held.

The place is quite big with a museum which is made totally out of marble, but the artifacts inside are amazing.

Once sightseeing was over we walked back to the hotel for supper. Then crashed early because we had another long drive ahead of us. Not sure about everyone else but to me the drives where getting a bit painful, lucky the scenery was beautiful.

So hears to out next town.