Southern Europe
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How to spend a day in Pisa
The four days we spent in Florence flew by but we managed to see most of the main sights and some of the many art treasures in this beautiful city. We checked out of our apartment after breakfast and headed back to the railway station for the one hour journey to Pisa, which is…
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Arriving in Geneva, Switzerland
A leisurely start to the day as our Easyjet flight from Leeds Bradford airport wasn’t scheduled to depart until 17.45 so it was about 9.00 pm when we arrived into Geneva. We remembered to collect a voucher from the arrivals hall entitling us to a free train transfer into the city centre, part of the…
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Exploring Geneva
Breakfast at the Hotel Strasborg set us up for the day, then wrapping up against the chill we set off to explore Geneva’s city centre. Starting with a long walk along the banks of Lake Geneva we viewed the Jet d’Eau, Geneva’s lakeshore attraction which spurts water 140 metres into the air. Along from there…
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A day in La Cure and St Cerque, Switzerland
The plan for the morning was to head out of the city and take a look at the snow clad Alps. We took a train to Nyon from where we transferred to the rack and pinion mountain railway up the steep ascent to La Cure on the Swiss/French border. As we climbed higher, the…
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Visiting the United Nations, Geneva
It had snowed overnight but nothing to compare with the huge snowdrifts we encountered the previous day in the Alps. Walking along the banks of Lake Geneva to its end then crossing the bridge to the opposite bank, we found more hidden corners in the old town to explore and after our warming mugs of…
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Visiting Treviso and Venice
It was an early start to the day as our Ryanair flight to Italy’s Treviso airport was departing from Leeds Bradford airport at 06.40 am. The upside of this being that we were enjoying coffee and croissants in Piazza dei Signori (Treviso’s main square) at 10.30 am. The town centre is only two miles…
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Riding along the Grand Canal, Venice
Our first task after breakfast was to walk around to the Academia Vaporetto station and buy tickets (72 hour passes) for unlimited travel on the water buses. Our accommodation was midway between two routes, Academia and Zattere giving us plenty of options. It was so lovely taking to the water and riding along the Grand Canal,…
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The Venice Lido
It was raining heavily but with umbrellas at the ready we took the water bus out to the Lido (Lido de Venezia). It’s very different out there as we encountered roads and cars, so the magic of Venice with its canals and gondolas was lost. It’s a barrier island separating the Venetian lagoon from the…
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A Vaporetto ride to Murano and Burano, Venice
It was raining once again at breakfast time but we still decided to visit the outlying islands of Murano and Burano as planned. On arrival in Murano we headed indoors to the famous glass factory where we were just in time to watch a glass blowing demonstration and then look around the factory shop. Sheltering…
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A walk in central Venice
After two rainy days, we woke to bright sunshine and were able to enjoy breakfast sitting out on our roof terrace. The plan was to explore the very attractive neighbourhood between the vaporetto stations of Zattere and Academia where we were staying. The long, wide waterfront promenade of Zattere, away from the hordes of tourists…
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Sightseeing in Barcelona
After breakfast we returned to Placa d’Espanya where we had seen the Font Magica light and sound show. It all looked very different during the day but nonetheless beautiful. Our next stop was along to the seafront and a walk from Port Vell, home of the large marina to Plaza Portal de La Pau…
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Montjuic Castle and La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Our first stop of the morning was to the Montjuic Castle ‘Castell de Montjuic’, set atop Barcelona’s highest point at 173 metres. To get there we took the Green Line metro to Parallel and then transferred to the Montjuic funicular tram. It’s then either a steep, 15 minute climb through the gardens to the castle…
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A weekend in Lisbon – Day 1
We had been staying overnight at Canada Water in London’s docklands and needed to be up at 3.00 am to catch a night bus to Liverpool Streer for the Terravision express coach out to Stansted Airport. Our Ryanair flight to Lisbon was one of the first flights to depart, and after boarding, we were soon…
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Visiting Sintra from Lisbon
Breakfast at the Hotel Jorge V was relaxed, with the usual assortment of hot and cold dishes on offer. Our plan for the day was to visit the UNESCO World Heritage town of Sintra a short 30 minute rail journey from Lisbon. Sintra’s old town was a 20 minute walk from the station, the walk providing…
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Visiting Cascais and Estoril from Lisbon
The train to Cascais departs from Lisbon’s other station, ‘Cais da Sotre’. The line runs along the coast so be sure to sit on the left hand side to take in the sea views on the 35 minute journey. We loved Cascais, it’s a compact town with a pretty working harbour. We watched fishermen landing…
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Belem and Estrella, Lisbon
After breakfast we checked out of our room and left our luggage to collect later in the day. Then it was off to explore the district of Belem, catching a tram from the Praco de Commercial. Belem is dominated by its long suspension bridge ‘April 25th’spanning the river Tejo and by its ornate tower, ‘Torres…
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A spring break in Andalucia
Our Ryanair flight to Malaga departed on time at 08.45. It was the first time we had flown Ryanair since free seat allocations had been introduced. It was a big improvement avoiding standing and queueing ages to be able to sit together. We were also fortunate to have an empty seat next to us on…
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A day in Marbella
For breakfast we headed to a nearby bar which had cured hams hanging from the ceiling. We feasted on freshly baked croissants and frothy coffee before taking the 10.00 am bus along the coast to Marbella. Travelling by bus was the only option as there are no train lines on this section of coastline. The bus…
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By train to the Ronda Gorge
Our morning began with an early morning stroll around Malaga’s indoor fruit, vegetable, meat and fish market before taking the 10.00 am Renfe Media Distance (MD) train to Ronda. Our train was very comfortable with air conditioning and it was a relaxing journey over to Ronda. The main reason for our visit was to see the…
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Seville and the Semana Santa Festival
After breakfast we checked out of our accommodation in Malaga and on the way to the railway station, stopped to take a look in the Malaga indoor market. Here one can buy fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish and it was busy with locals buying their fresh produce. Our train to Seville departed at 10.10…
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