Venice 19th - 21st Julytax

Famous Venetian masks Fruit and Vege Market Fish Market Rialto Bridge St Marks Bascilla Josh walking through the bridge of Sigh's when we toured the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace). It is called the bridge of sighs as it joins the place - courts and the prison so when people walked across it is was often the last glimpse of venice they would get - hence the sigh! All the Gondolas not being used due to the rain. Us on the Gondola before we head out. St Marks Square from the clock tower. Piazza San Marco - St Marks Square The only surviving horses 4 abreast - from outside St Marks Basilica now inside in the museum they where cast around AD 200. At the top of St Marks Bascilla Lots of subsiding in Venice - check out the tower. St Marks Square during the day! Going under the bridge of Sigh's in the Gondola - they where doing some reconstruction around it - hence the blue sky coloured stuff! On Sunday night high tide was about 6pm and Venice flooded - apparently it happens! All the water comes over on the land it even goes into the shops - we took photos in St Marks Square. I don't think you'll get a coffee now Josh! Our Gondola ride in Venice! We had to put the umbrella up on the Gondola to stop getting wet! Check out the awesome raincoats we brought to keep us dry! This weekend we took a 6am flight care of Ryan Air to Venice. When we arrived at the central station we caught a water taxi to the B&B where we where staying - which was close to the markets - so crazy - water everywhere! We dropped our bags off then went for a wander around the streets and made our way to Piazza San Marco and took a look around St Marks Basilica - really beautiful. We had a nap in the avo before eating at a lovely venician restaurant and had some great fish. When we woke up on Sunday morning it was pouring - just like NZ! We waited in bed until mid-day - quite nice really then out for a walk and ended up buying styley raincoats! We brought an unlimited ticket on the water taxi and took a ride up and down the grand canal, we went around the Piazza Ducale and then had the most beautiful but expensive hot chocolate I have ever had in the square. We went out in the evening to go for dinner and it had stopped raining but due to the high tide the place had flooded - check the photos so strange! We did find a nice place for dinner and had some more fantastic fish! On Monday the rain had reduced to a light drizzle so we continued our sightseeing and rode the Gondola with an umbrella!

Copenhagen, Denmark Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th June

Drinks and food on the canal Trivoli Gardens Sights from the Canal ride The famous canal and the coloured houses City sights Bikes everywhere - just like Holland City Sights This weekend Josh and I took an early flight to Copenhagen and spent two days and a night there. The weather was great and Copenhagen is beautiful, not to mention the people - who are really friendly. We took a walk around the city looking at the sights and did a canal tour on the Saturday. In the evening we ate out at two different restaurants - one for aperitif and mains and the other for dessert and a fantastic sparkling Muscat!!! On Sunday we went to Trivoli Gardens - it's like a carnaval/theme park, but mostly designed for children. We spent the morning there then joined the locals in the afternoon having a beer on the cannal.

Valencia 29th May - 31st May 2010

Church Meat Market! Views from the spire at the church that Josh and Mike climbed up - Lou and I watched mass in Spanish and tried to figure out what was going on. Holy Grail (cup from the last supper) Beach Harbour Team New Zealand Base from the America's Cup The new area, has Imax, Museum, Concert Hall This weekend was a bank holiday so we made the most of it and went to Valencia, Spain with Mike and Lou. And boy did we walk our socks off! We arrived about mid morning on Saturday and started by walking around the new development and then down to the beach where we had lunch. In the evening we went out for dinner and had a lovely degustation menu. The Spanish eat lunch at about 1.30-2.30pm and dinner about 9pm! On the Sunday we looked around the old town at the old city gates, into the cathedral where the Holy Grail is claimed to be kept. On Monday we went to a mini cross between Seaworld and Kelly Tarltons before taking a late flight back to London. It was lovely to be in the sun all weekend, it was about 28 degrees all weekend, we had a room with a balcony so we sat on that until about 8pm, the sun didn't set until about 9.30pm.