欧陆之旅

Elizabeth

Day 1.
Left home at 4 am to drive to Dover to catch the 7.30 am ferry to Calais, France.

I had to start early as I had a busy first day planned.
The Ferry takes one and half hours to cross the English Channel, so with the one-hour time difference in France to the UK, it arrived in Clais at 10.00 am.
I then drove to Dunkirk, which is a short drive of 30 miles.

Dunkirk has a significant place in UK history as during the 2nd World war, in 1940, over 340,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated from the beach at Dunkirk. It took a flotilla of courageous people in very small boats to join the War ships to evacuate the soldiers at the time when the Germans were continually bombing them.

I visited the museum and went to the Beach to pay my respects to the many people that died there. Next, I drove 33 miles south to a town called Ypres (also known as Leper) in Belgium. This town and surrounding area was the site where many thousands of soldiers died during the first World War between 1914 and 1918.
I visited the museum, the war graves and one of the trenches that were dug where the soldiers had to live and fight. In Ypres they have built a memorial called the Menin Gate on which the names of the many soldiers are written and every day they have a remembrance service at 8 pm at night during which they play the “Last Post.” Unfortunately, I needed to drive for two and half hours south, (110 miles) to get to my hotel, so I had to leave Ypres by 5 pm.I stayed in a town in Belgium called Namur. Nothing spectacular but I needed to make my way south so the journey the next day was not too long. Day 2 and Day 3
Straight after breakfast, I drove 230 miles from Namur to Strasbourg, France where I stayed two nights.
  
It is an interesting old city surrounded by a river. There is a huge cathedral and many interesting buildings and the walk around the city along the river is beautiful. Day 4 to day 6.
After breakfast and Sunday Mass at the cathedral, I travelled 146 miles from Strasbourg to Lucerne, Switzerland where I stayed for two nights.
Lucerne is a small town on Lake Lucerne and is quite beautiful to walk around with mountain ranges overlooking the lake. On my second day I took a boat trip on the Lake which was very peaceful and picturesque. As part of the tour we wore headphones so we could listen to a commentary about the history of the lake and the small towns that were situated around it. During this commentary, I learned that on one of the high mountains that surrounded the lake, they had built the first ever COG railway to go up the steep mountain side. So, when I went back to hotel, I arranged a trip up the mountain, for the next day. First, I took a short bus ride to where the Cable cars go up the mountain. I had to take two Cable cars to get to the top of the mountain. The views were spectacular.  I then took the cable car to the top of the mountain where the views were, again, just marvelous.  I then took the COG train down the steep incline to the lake Lucerne and then had a one and half hour ride on the Ferry back to where my hotel was in Lucerne.
After the first cable car, I stopped on the mountain side and walked around; the weather was warm, and I found a Toboggan ride. On the toboggan, you sit on the sledge and used the handle to control your speed as you go down the toboggan track. It was good fun, for kiddies and adults like me .  I really enjoyed that adventure. It was 3.30 pm by the time I left Lucerne to travel 136 miles to Lake Como in Italy where I was staying for just one night. I arrived there at 7 pm; my hotel was right on the edge of the lake, so I went for a quick walk before dinner in the hotel.  Day 7.
After breakfast I went for a quick walk along part of the lake and took a short cable car ride to get a better view. As was the case in all the places I stayed at, I visited the church, which are always interesting to see. 
Day 7.
After breakfast I went for a quick walk along part of the lake and took a short cable car ride to get a better view. As was the case in all the places I stayed at, I visited the church, which are always interesting to see. 
By 11 30 am, I was driving to Verona in Italy, 123 miles away, where I was staying for one night.
I arrived there by about 2 pm and went straight for a walk around this fascinating old town. It has many old buildings and a Colosseum; the same as in Nimes, France where my younger brother lives.
Day 8.
Before leaving for Venice, I went to a building that I missed seeing the day before. 
This building is famous for inspiring the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, and of course, the house has the famous balcony from the play from which Juliet says the words, “Romeo Romeo, where for art though”. I then drove the 75 miles to Venice. Once there I had to leave my car in a multi-story car park which I had pre booked. It was on a special floor but I was a tad nervous as I had to leave my keys in the car in case they needed to move it as they juggled all the cars that were planned to park in this special section of the Car Park Anyway, everything was ok when I got back to the car. I asked the attendant how to make my way to the hotel from the car park. He said just walk across the Square and you can get a taxi or bus. He was right, but it was a water taxi or water bus. WOW, it was incredible to suddenly see the city on water for the first time and the taxi ride along the canals to my hotel was just brilliant.  As soon as I was checked in, I walked just 5 minutes to St. Marks’ square; the iconic square in Venice. The queues to get into ST. Mark’s church were about 20 minutes long, but it was worth waiting for. As well as a church it has an “archaeological dig” in the crypt. After this I bought a 24-hour water bus ticket that allows you to hop on and hop off around the main canal.  Lots of places to see but the bus is quite crowded. I took the water bus across to the far side of the canal and had a good walk along the water's edge. Day 9.
To beat the crowds, I left the hotel as soon as it got light at 7.15 am and walked to one of the most iconic bridges in Venice. Whereas the day before it had many people on it, at that time in the morning, there was just a few people! 
After this I took the boat bus ride for about an hour and got to see so many of the buildings. It was great and given that it was early I got to choose a seat either in the front of the boat or at the back. At 9.30 am, I went back to the hotel for breakfast having already seen a lot of things.  After breakfast I went to walk around the Palace and the prison attached to it. The pictures on the walls and the ceilings of the Palace were just incredible. Walking across the “bridge of sighs” from the Palace to the prison was quite a moment as the opulence of the Palace suddenly turned into really basic rooms in which people used to stay in rather poor conditions. In the afternoon I walked around more parts of Venice and found time to have a rest with a beer on the waterfront and just gaze at the buildings and the people.  I also watched people take the gondolas on the many small water ways that link to the main canal. Some have people singing on them. This is a key image that people remember of Venice. Day 10.
After a boat ride to a church, I then left Venice to drive to a holiday destination on the beach 155 miles away. A place called Milano Marittima.
It was just at the end of the holiday season, so the hotel and the large sandy beach was quite empty. I was only staying there for the night to get a short break from crowds, churches and museums! Day 11 and Day 12
I drove 130 miles in the morning to Florence and as always, as soon as I had checked in at the hotel went on my exploration around the city.
It is a splendid city with many interesting museums/art galleries and churches to visit as well as a large cathedral. To be honest, I found the smaller churches as interesting as the cathedral for which I had to queue for one and half hours to visit. One of the key museums to visit is the one that holds the statue of “David” that was created by Michelangelo.
I spent two nights here.
For fun, because it was there, I climbed the tall steeple by the Cathedral; that was a lot of steps but a great view when I got there . Day 13
On my way from Florence to Cinque Terre, (five towns) on the north west coast of Italy I stopped at Pisa to see the “Leaning Tower of Pisa”. A short drive of 50 miles
This is a very iconic tower and it was great to visit it and the church adjoining the Tower.
In the afternoon I travelled the 50 miles to my hotel in a town called Levante which is next to the Cinque Terre.
These five seaside towns can only be accessed by train, there are no roads. For the rest of the afternoon and the morning of the following day I went to all five of the towns. They are very picturesque but quite commercial.
I stared my journey North and drove 200 miles to a lovely town in the Alps close to Mont Blanc called Aosta where I spent two nights. This are is a favourite area for those who wish to ski in the winter. I did not get there till after 7 pm, so not much to do that day. The next morning, I drove the short distance to a town called Courmayeur where I took the Aosta revolving cable car which stopped at two places. The top was very cold with snow and ice and strong winds, but the views were spectacular. On the way down I got off at the first stop of the cable car. Here the temperature was warm and the hillsides green. It was very pleasant to walk around and again the views were marvelous.
I then drove back to Aosta and walked around this small town which had some interesting history and churches. In fact, along the main street there are Roman ruins from, I think, 50 AD of an archway. Quite incredible.
Day 16
I drove 243 miles through the Montblanc tunnel into France, and on to a town called Dijon where I was spending the one night.
The old town center was like walking back in time with old buildings, churches and cobbled streets.   
Day 17
I drove 311 miles north to Lille.
This is a typical French town with an old town square with narrow streets to get in and out of the town centre. It is quite a bustling place, especially on Saturday night, as it has lots of bars and restaurants.
As always, there is also a large Cathedral to see as well .
Day 18.
At 5 am I got up to drive 69 miles to Calais where I was taking the 8.30 am ferry back to Dover and then drove the 113 miles back to my house in Maidenhead. 

It was an enjoyable adventure, the weather was mostly kind to me, some great exploration, history and spectacular views.