3 week Europe Trip to Italy, 
through France and returning through Switzerland and Germany.
31st March ... 21st April 2011

One of our first stops a local market near Cannes South of France - a good place to relax.

Monte Carlo - the view over the harbour from the Palace was impressive with the countless boats over £1m - reminds me of Poole.

One of the many .. many churches in Lucca  (Via San Paolino) - absolutely enormous - a lovely place to stroll around and get lost - as we did - but as the old town is enclosed by a massive wall - the way back to the hotel is best found by way of a walk along the top of the wall.

Can't believe how strong I am holding up this absolutely enormous building, the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans much more than I ever imagined. Definitely a wonder of the world as far as I  am concerned.

We climbed to the top of this Federico 11 Tower which was rebuilt after the Germans demolished it.

This Monastery was very difficult to find but we were given a private tour as viewing is by tour only and we had missed the last one - unfortunately the guide spoke little English and our Italian was not up to it - but a beautiful place.

Florence El Duomo - well the bell tower part.

Florence Santa Croce - inside we saw some amazing pictures.

A view of  Suri in front of the Ponte Vecchio bridge over the Fiume Arno, Florence.

Suri admires the gold in the window in one of the many jewellers ( madielle) on the ponte vecchio bridge, Florence.

We stayed on the outskirts of Rome at Rebibia and got the Metro in for each of the 2 days we visited. Here we are checking out the Colosseum - unfortunately too many tourists around.

The Roman Forum was amazing - so many centuries of the Roman Empire open for inspection and imagination.

Impossible to miss the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuelle 11 - close to the Forum.

Throwing my coins into the Trevvi  Fountain - the hope is to return again - needless to say we did return as we were lost in the streets of Rome the very next day.

One of many meals - here in the centre of Rome.

Inside the Vatican after queueing for over one and half hours - it was worth it but very crowded  and very tiring.

Inside St Peters Basilica - Suri caught the light as it shone through one of the upper windows. Another queueing job - unfortunately half of the Cathedral was closed off  for a private function / service.

Guarding the Vatican - in their multicoloured outfits.

After Rome we visited Hadrian's Villa (c AD 134)- absolutely amazing - in an out of the way place near Tivoli - and covering such a large area of ground - it certainly must have been impressive in its day.

Chilling out with strawberries - we had a punnet most days - very tasty and very cheap.

We stayed just outside Venice at Padua and got the train in for each of the 2 days we visited - the views from every angle were magical.

Suri standing on one of the many bridges near St Mark's Square over the canals with an amazing backdrop.

Venice - The Bell tower - impressive even if it did fall down about 100 years ago.

Noticeably Venice was cooler on day 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the water as I had expected it to be dirty, smelly and very polluted  - but not when we visited - 

Suri waiting for her Gondola ride.

After Venice we headed up to the Italian Lakes - not sure what I am planning here at Lake Garda - needless to say the water was a tad on the cool side.

The castle at Sirmione was well worth a visit and on this day it was free to the public.

Lazing on the balcony at our Hotel Meandro on the shores of Lake Garda - one of many great hotel finds.

One of many stops in the Alps to take in the fantastic scenery, here Suri poses in front of a waterfall in the background.

Stopping off in Switzerland on our way back - Berne was a surprisingly pleasant place.

Lunch in Berne.

We had a lovely time wandering around the old part of Zurich, here beside the Ferris wheel we stopped for  a BBQ style lunch.

Still in Zurich looking for the Gnomes.

 

The Algarve 3rd - 13th February 2011

The Marina at Albufeira - shame that most of the shops are still not let - but a lovely place all the same.

Looking for Bill 'n' Ben at the Marina.

The view overlooking  Alufeira beach was stunning.

A different perspective on things.

The sandy beaches all along the Algarve coast were just lovely.

Faro  Se Cathedral within the grounds - a little ghoulish maybe but these were the bones / skulls of children used as part of the wall.

In the Jardin Manuel Bivar in the centre of Faro Suri found a beautiful tree with amazing flowers - not sure what the tree was called.

Praia das Marinha was a great place to start our cliff top walk to Benagil - a definite must do to anyone visiting the area.

Suri was fascinated by the Almond trees which were just coming into bloom and some still had the fruits on from the previous year - which we had to try - some were sweet but many were bitter.

The cliffs on the Algarve where truly spectacular.

The amazing stacks looked beautiful - and the sea was calm whilst we were there.

Posing on the ramparts of the Castle in Silves - a must visit place - later we had a lovely lunch at the Cafe Ingles - just down the hill outside the castle - highly recommended.

A particularly large statue of King  Sancho I of Portugal situated outside of the gates to Silves Castle, which he captured c1189.

Checking out the bells at the Se Cathedral - Faro.

A fantastic view of the beach at Luz.

The amazing multi coloured rock formation at Luz was just spectacular.

A couple of worms in Albufeira - close to where we were staying.

Another cliff top scene close to Rei das Pralas.

Lord Baden Powell outside the Igreja da Nossa Senhora - this was the start of rather a long but must do walk from Ferragudo along the coast and return.

A rather obvious sign within the Fortazela (fort) at Sagres.

A novel way to show off the lovely pottery just outside Sagres - not up to the standard of Poole Pottery of course.

Together at Luz.

What a way to travel - by this outdoor double escalator down to the beach at Albufeira.