World Mexico Baja California Sur Cabo San Lucas

NOZTOURS TOURS Neil and Anns Grand Tour 2009

The End- Party Time Oct 30, 2009

This is a final update just to let everybody know that we have arrived home safely after our grand tour. For those that are interested and able, we are having a homecoming party on Sunday 15th November 2009 at our place (3 Euro Avenue, Eden Hills) from 1.30pm until whenever. Please bring your own food and drink – something relevant to our travels might be interesting. Please let us know by 12th November 2009 if you are planning to come.

The last part of our trip was a stay at a resort at Cabo San Lucas in Baja California. We flew from LA into Hurricane Rick

Beach at Cabo San Lucas - after Hurrican...

which kindly headed south and gave us five days of beautiful warm sunny weather suitable for lounging by the pool and on the beach – just what we needed to bring the trip to an end.

This final update gives us a chance to review and summarise the trip as much for our desires as anything else – we have been able to look at the pictures on a big screen and select what we think are the best or most representative of each of the countries that we visited. You may have seen them all before but what the heck.

Dubai - a bizarre or perhaps it should be a bazaar place best suited for shoppers.

Dubai

Iran – we were there before the election and were safe and welcomed. Much of the accommodation and food was a bit basic but OK. We saw some of the oldest and best reliefs at Persepolis

Persepolis-Iran

which was demolished by Alexander the (not so) Great. There were many fabulous mosques particularly in Isfahan. And the jewellery collection in the Treasury in Tehran was incredible – the Crown Jewels of England don’t come close.

Syria – the old part of Damascus with its narrow winding and bustling streets was fascinating but the real gem was the opportunity to sit watching the sun go down over the ancient ruins of Palmyra; it was just so peaceful.

Palmyra-Syria

Jordan – Petra was fascinating but the donkeys and horses make it dusty and smelly. Wadi Rum was just like desert country in Australia although we are still not sure that we went into the reserve area.

Petra-Jordan

Turkey – A big country. We were intrigued with Istanbul and its beautiful gardens (lots of lovely tulips) aside from its antiquities. The Gallipoli visit was quite emotional – we just missed Anzac Day – as much for the interest of the locals as the futility of the whole exercise. Lots of ruins including very atmospheric amphitheatres at Pergamum and Heliopolis.

Pergamon- Turkey

We had one of our best days in Capadocchia – a balloon flight in the morning, tour of the fairy chimney rock structures and an incredible belly dancer in the evening.

Cappodocia- Turkey

Greece – Athens was great – great atmosphere, good food (one of the best meals of the whole trip), fabulous antiquities everywhere and a great archaeological museum (a couple of fabulous bronzes amongst many sculptures).

Bronze statue- Athens Greece

Santorini is sublime and we had some lovely days on Naxos.

Santorini - Greece

The Greek Islands were very cheap although it was not high season.

Croatia – We discovered and learnt to enjoy the pebble beaches.

Bol- Croatia

Split was nice but the ferry ride through the islands to Dubrovnik was fascinating.

Dubrovnik- Croatia

And Dubrovnik was simply the best – the view over the city from Napoleon’s fort was superb.

Slovenia – A surprise packet – lush, green farmlands and forests. A very orderly people – a weed would not dare to grow in their gardens and Lake Bled is beautiful with the Grad (castle) towering over the lake – great for walking and bike riding.

Lake Bled - Slovenia

Austria, mainly Vienna – Magnificent palaces (Schonbrunn and Hofburg) also grand gardens particularly at Schonbrunn but a clean open pleasant city. Also the amazing Lipizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School – a real treat.

Schonnbrun Castle - Vienna

Hungary, mainly Budapest – a varied and interesting place. One of our best stays partly because we had a really nice apartment close to the main areas. The decorated buildings, the horse races – I have never before seen a horse sit down like a dog, the Danube river cruise and the Gellert hot baths.

Gellert Baths- Budapest

Well worth the visit.

Czech Republic, mostly Prague – It has generally been secondary to Vienna and Budapest in history as it is today in our opinion - perhaps better suited to the party tourist and the shopper. Nevertheless there are lots of interesting places to visit.

Prague

Russia – a challenging place for the independent tourist – just getting on the Metro in Moscow was hard enough; Russians are masterly at manoeuvring in a queue and there are plenty of them. Moscow is an extraordinary cosmopolitan city, St Basil’s Cathedral is amazing from a distance

St Basils Cathedral Moscow

and the Kremlin looks superb – our visit was cut off by the Chinese premier’s presence. Lenin’s tomb is also amazing. St Petersburg was similar – grand buildings, queues and vertiginous escalators in the metro system. The Hermitage is extraordinary even though we didn’t see all of the best parts.

The Hermitage- St Petersburg Russia

Peterhof, the summer palace of the Tsars, was also terrific particularly as the fountains were working (unlike Versailles). Ann loved the Kirov ballet at the beautiful Marinsky Theatre.

Great Britain – so familiar from our growing up and the TV and the countryside, in particular, is so very pretty (despite the rain – we thought it's no wonder they want to emigrate.) Wimbledon was wonderful – our best individual day according to our objective scoring system – the Poms have worked out how to make queuing enjoyable. Cricket in Cardiff was great until it rained and won the Ashes for them. The Lake District

Derwent Water England

and the Yorkshire Dales were great fun for bike riding and walking

Walking the Yorkshire Dales

– and a special thank you to Irene and Brian for the cruise on Lake Windermere, a beautiful evening. We also enjoyed the Cotswolds particularly Blenheim with its fabulous setting – definitely how the nobility lived.

France (the first part) – we started on a poignant note visiting Ann’s Great Uncle Gustav’s grave at Wimereaux – once again the futility of war was apparent and should be compulsory viewing for everybody and not just the politicians. Paris was the best big city that we visited – the best buildings/structures and museums although we didn’t get to see all of them (will need another visit).

Neil in front of Eiffel Tower Pris

The Louvre was great and if you get there early there is no queue. The one negative was that the gardens at Versailles were disappointing because they do not operate the fountains every day.

Spain – a real mixed bag. Our walk on the Santiago trail (105 kilometres in 5 days) was very enjoyable – good weather, interesting towns and villages, generally easy terrain, lovely walking through forests and past fields. This was one of the highlights of our trip particularly after spending a lot of time in the cities. Madrid was a bit disappointing but perhaps this was our hotel choice which happened to be where the prostitutes gathered. But we also discovered that if you get to places like the Prado at the opening time there are no queues, unlike later in the day.

Madrid, Spain

Southern Spain was fascinating. The weather was hot which sort of matched the Arab/Moorish buildings. La Giralda and Alkasar in Seville, the Mesquita in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada

The Alhambra Granada Spain

are all fabulous buildings and some of the gardens are exquisite as well. I guess that I was particularly taken with the Mesquita which was built as a mosque and is now a Roman Catholic cathedral – the mixed personality still shows; it is a fantastic building.

Portugal – land of fado, custard tarts, a bicycle race and cheap food. Lisbon was nice to visit and it would have been good to spend sometime at the seaside.

Fado concert in Lisbon

France (mostly southern France) – the best food for the whole trip. Our meal in Avignon was a work of art and tasted good too – the best of our trip. We were taken by Arles – grand Roman ruins and the access to the Camargue, the Rhone delta with birds, wild horses and bulls

Camargue horses, near Arles France

– and Avignon – great setting overlooking the Rhone.

Pont D'Avignon, France

We also had a week on a barge in the Loire valley. Each day we would cycle off to a town or chateau or winery to check out the locale – beautiful landscape, good terrain for riding (not too many serious hills) and pleasant company. I think that we all enjoyed it.

Italy – definitely a place of the highs and lows. Pisa – it was interesting to put the leaning tower in context next to the cathedral and the baptistery.

Leaning tower of Pisa

Florence – the cradle of the renaissance and home of Michelangelo’s David – some superb buildings and artworks although we were a little disappointed with the Uffizi Gallery. But the Dolomites were a real high – literally and metaphorically – grand vistas and great if strenuous walking.

TiersApl in the Dolomites, Italy

Venice was also great partly because we were lucky with our accommodation on Santa Elena Island away from the tourist horde – the Doge’s Palace was great with art displayed with a purpose. Rome was grubby and some of the high profile places (colosseum, pantheon, forum) so pillaged that diminished their interest. On the other hand, one of the beneficiaries of the pillage, the Vatican was magnificent despite the hordes of other tourists. Then there was Naples where my wallet was stolen while boarding the train to Sorrento – definitely the low point of the trip. But Sorrento and Positano (more particularly, Nocelle – 1700 steps up the very steep hill from Positano) had fantastic sea views and great walking over vertiginous trails along the hills. Pompeii was fascinating too.

Canada – from the old world of mostly culture to the wilds and cold of Hudson Bay and polar bears,

Polar bear at Nanuk, Canada

then the beauties of Banff (including snow to give us a Christmas scene) and the Rocky Mountaineer train trip through the majestic Canadian Rockies.

Near Banff

Finally we got to see grizzly bears feeding on salmon and a variety of seals and sea lions off Vancouver Island but only a brief spotting of orcas from the ferry to the island.

USA – we took about a week to drive down the Pacific coast from Seattle to Los Angeles – not just a few miles of dramatic coastal scenery but days and days of it particularly along the Oregon coast. We also went through some forest of the huge coastal redwoods – one which had fallen recently was taller than Niagara Falls, that’s big.

Founders Grove - California

We also saw lots of birds and animals – things which are missing in Europe.

Hawk in Cape Reyes National Park Califor...

Mexico - we came to a full stop by the beautiful beach at Cabo San Lucas at Baja California, Mexico. A great way to finish our trip.

Neil enjoys his last dip in the Pacific ...

So this is it until the next time. If you have got this far and are able, please drop in to see us on Sunday 15th November at our place at 3 Euro Avenue Eden Hills.