Tuesday 9th October 2018
Well today we had a bit of a slow start. After our enormous day and night yesterday we decided to take it a bit slower this morning to give Mum a little bit of a rest. Also I hadn’t booked our transfer to the airport for Wednesday and was feeling a little stressed. After trying to book one without success, I was a little more stressed. DB suggested I try Uber, so I installed the App, and for comforts sake Mum and I aught an Uber to the Colosseum. A little expensive as we could walk there in 20 mins but a successful exercise to put me at ease in case Uber is required to get us to the airport.

We were then scammed into a tour of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This was a mammoth couple of hours again for Mum but her determination got her through. Mum really enjoyed the history lesson. The day was very warm until the thunderstorm hit half way through the Roman Forum tour. After the tours we did one more loop on the Hop On Hop Off bus and then caught the Metro home.

We then went out for dinner in a nice restaurant where we both had home made pasta, Mum’s with a meat sauce and I had Spinach and ricotta filled ravioli, followed by Créme Brulée and Pannacotta. And then as we walked home and just because we were in Italy we had our last Italian Gelato. Menta (Spearmint) for Mum and Nocciola Hazelnut) for me. Yummy! A fitting end to our Italian adventure. Tomorrow we head back to Germany via Prague.

The Colosseum is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of travertine, tuff, and brick-faced concrete,[1] it is the largest amphitheatre ever built. It could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators, having an average audience of some 65,000; it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles (for only a short time as the hypogeum was soon filled in with mechanisms to support the other activities), animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum(plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.

The Palatine Hill is the centre-most of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres[1] above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the other.

Monday 8th October 2018
Well today was to be a very big day. We had a Vatican Tour booked for 7.45am and we had to make our way by foot, Metro and foot. This was fairly easy as I had done it before but with my right hand man missing I was a little nervous. So we made sure we had plenty of time to ensure we got there. All went smoothly and we arrived at the cafe meeting point at about 7.30am. As it was to be a long morning on our feet we stopped in at the cafe. We sat down for an orange juice to give Mum a rest. The most expensive orange juice ever. Two juices cost 17,60 Euro. Ouch!!. I obviously didn’t learn from our last visit to Rome, that if you sat down they doubled the price and added a bit extra as well. It was worth it to give Mum a breather. We then started our tour with a skip the line entry. The crowds weren’t too bad. We went through the Sistine Chapel, the Maps corridor, the Tapestries, St Peter’s Basilica and St Peter’s Square. Mum was like a little girl in a candy store. She was so excited. We even managed to go to Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, at the St Joseph’s Altar. This was quite special and a treat I had planned from the outset as long as timing was on our side. After the Vatican visit, we sat on the Hop On Hop Off bus most of the afternoon. We hopped off at the Catacombs of Carcarella and toured the underground tombs. Both Mum and I forgot about her claustrophobia but luckily she managed the tour. It was a tough one as it was underground, so up and down stairs, and then up and down another couple of times. It was very interesting and Mum really enjoyed it. We then headed back to the Train Termini and caught the Metro home. As we were hoping to have a quick dinner and go on the night bus tour, we stopped in at a little pizza cafe that served fast food pizza. Chose a piece of pizza and sat down again. Mistake again. The pizza went from 2,20 Euro to 7,75 jus because we used their seats. Oops! Oops!. Sorry DB. But dinner was done and all we had to do was head home for some warm clothes and catch the Metro back to the Train Termini. Mum was so keen to do this tonight but in hindsight I should have not encouraged her as she slept at least half of it. The sights were amazing at night and I really enjoyed it and the parts Mum saw she enjoyed as well.

We are now back home at it is 10pm, a big day out for Mum. Hopefully she is ok tomorrow. We have a much smaller day planned for her tomorrow as The Vatican was the highlight.

St. Peter’s Basilica, which is called “Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano” in Italian, is a large church in the Vatican City, in Rome, Italy. It is often called “the greatest church in Christendom”. It is famous for many reasons: The pope, who lives at the Vatican, often says mass at St. Peter’s. Many people go there on pilgrimage. It is said to be the greatest work of architecture of its age. It has works by many famous artists including Michelangelo and Bernini. St. Peter’s is probably the largest Christian church in the world. It covers an area of 2.3 ha and can hold over 60,000 people.

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City. The chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescos that decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo.

Sunday 7th October 2018
It is now time for a few days of adventure, out of the comfort zone of Benny’s wing. We have had a lovely time and will be back to him in 4 days.

After a lovely exercise in the Kuchwald forest again we got organised and walked down to the bus station with Benny, where we will catch a Flixbus to Prague. From there we catch a taxi to Vaclav Airport Prague. Then a plane to Rome Italy. So we had breakfast in Germany, lunch in Czech Republic and dinner in Italy. Not a bad days adventure to say the last.

The bus was a pleasant drive through the German countryside via Dresden to Prague. Some beautiful scenery and a nice rest was had by both of us. Our pickup at the bus station was uneventful and our checkin at the airport the same. We had time for a brief stop at a beer/cafe where Mum was keen to try a pretzel, she really enjoyed it as it was warm and had a really nice mustard to spread on it.

We then headed to the scanners where we were greeted by an airport guide with “G’day to Australia”, he was very excited and eager to know where in Australia we came from. We had plenty of time to wait for our plane.

We arrived at Rome area about 30 mins late at 8pm and got our own taxi this time. Cost is between 35 and 48 Euro but I misunderstood the taxi driver and he set our fare at 48 Euro. I thought he was confirming the house number of our apartment which also was 48. Oh well, the tourist ripoff was successful. We finally arrived at our apartment at 9pm and once checked in headed straight out for pizza. We made it back home by about 9.45pm and fell into bed. A long day of travel and a bigger day is planned for tomorrow.

Saturday 6th October 2018
Today I finally have adjusted to the time zone, only waking at 6am and going back to sleep until 7am. Yay!! I also woke with a cold so decided not to venture out early for some exercise.

We had an early start as we needed to walk to the Opera House to watch a preview of Benny’s premiere. This only costs 5 euro and is a snippet of the 3 pieces they will premiere next Friday night. It was another interesting morning learning a bit more about the life of a dancer. We were able to watch them do there warmup class, barre and further exercises, as they do this on stage and then we watched about 10 minutes of each dance. It is not a dress rehearsal, they are just in normal clothes they wear for class, so as not to give away too much of the new show. It was a fantastic opportunity again to see Benny’s life.

After this Mum and I walked home via a stroll around the other side of the pond and a stop at the cafe for a ‘Heiss Schokolade and a Peppermint Tea’, all asked for in Deutsche by none other than me. I was very proud of my efforts. An improvement on this morning’s effort when I asked for 3 tickets instead of 2, giving the ticket office guy a bit of a chuckle. I always start with ‘Kein Deutsche’ meaning I have no German and then make the effort to ask in German. He corrected me and I then counted 1, 2, 3 in German and then agreed with him. Ben joined us and we also had a trio of gelato to share.

After lunch Ben and I took Mum to Küchwald Forest for a walk and ride on the train. This was very nice. We are having a lovely home cooked meal with Benny tonight as we are leaving for Rome tomorrow.

Friday 5th October 2018
Today we woke to a beautiful day, blue sky, brisk fresh air and the rain has disappeared. I changed my running track today and headed into the Küchwald Forest which is only a short walk from Benny’s place. It was a beautiful location for my exercise this morning. Green tree lined tracks, quiet roads, play things and timber sculptures along the way.

Mum and I then headed down to watch Benny’s company in a stage rehearsal. This was a really interesting insight in to the life of a dancer. Also to see the way they work towards perfection for their performances. Mum and I both had a great day. We then had lunch with Benny and a few of his friends at the theatre. Another part of our visit that I love. Getting to know his friends and sharing a part of his life helps with our conversations when we go home.

I managed a bus trip alone with Mum, even if it took us 30 minutes to find the bus stop, we could have walked home in that time but Mum really wasn’t up to any more walking today.

This evening we had a lovely home made smorgasbord for dinner, a la Benny. Yummy.

Thursday 4th October, 2018
Today was to be a day travelling to Berlin but we decided it was too much for mum and that we will save ourselves for Italy on the weekend. So after a lovely run this morning in beautiful brisk conditions, without the cold wind of yesterday, I thought I wouldn’t take any photos but it was too beautiful not to share.

Mum needed a full rest day today without any walking so when Ben left for work I walked with him. It was a beautiful sunny, blue sky, autumn day. A most enjoyable day for a stroll, I didn’t even need extra clothes today.

We have had a quiet day at Ben’s apartment, booking some tours for Salzburg and Rome, and just resting while Mum recuperates from the long flight and hectic day in Prague.

We are off to the Symphony Orchestra tonight. A first for me.
This was a lovely experience, I found it very enjoyable. The music was very smooth. Violins, cellos, bassoons, double bassoons, trumpets, trombones, horns, a harp and more. There were about 90 musicians in the orchestra. The conductor was an interesting character.

Wednesday 3rd October 2018
Well, after a lovely night with Ben, I started the day with an early morning run/walk around Castle Pond, Benny’s local park. People bask in the sun reading in the summer and ice skate on the pond in the winter. It was only 3° this morning, so very brisk out. My run was again a stop, start affair as there were many pictures to take.

We then went for a walk with Ben to Miramar Biergarten, a picturesque beer garden with views over the pond, we saw some sculptures at Schlossberg Museum and enjoyed the stroll through the park. After lunch we went to Benny’s matinee performance of Jungle Book. This was spectacular. The way they portrayed the different animals and the stage setting was amazing. Benny was a wolf and the head tiger.

After the show we went on a lovely walk through the city and then went for a dinner at Ratsfeller. A restaurant serving regional cuisine. Ben had a pork knuckle with sauerkraut and glutenous potato, I am still not fond of sauerkraut but the meat just fell of the bone and was delicious. mum had a thin pork steak stuffed with mushroom, tomato and mustard and coated in egg served with salad and fried potatoes. It was also very yummy. I had beef and mushroom goulash which was very tasty as well. We all had a taste of each others dinner so we could all experience the German cuisine.

After dinner we walked home to Ben’s, a pleasant 1.5km stroll in the cold night air.

Tuesday 2nd October 2018
Good morning I think, I woke at 3am and finished yesterday’s blog before heading out for another early morning run. Usually I find running a struggle but I have so enjoyed the views, photo opportunities and the different routes each day, albeit because I have taken a wrong turn. I am definitely missing my navigator, as always my sense of direction is lacking. Thank goodness for mobile phones, Google maps and unlimited data. The first days run, from memory I thought I was heading to the Charles Bridge but ended up at Wenceslas Square in the New Town instead and then after several wrong turns finally made it o the bridge. Today I made it to the Charles Bridge and all the way to St Nicholas Church before taking a few wrong turns on the way back. Not lost this time just taking an alternate route unknowingly. Hehehe! Almost lost as usual. It was an exhilarating run in the very brisk early morning sunrise in a very beautiful city.

As I headed back to the apartment I stopped to buy some bread, challenging as I only had 50CZK on me and I wasn’t sure how they wrote their numbers. So in a patisserie with a sales lady who spoke no English, I tried to ask if I had enough money to purchase a bread roll as the cost was 9,90CZK. Luckily I did. Back to the apartment to pack for our travel day today. We are on our way to Chemnitz to Benny’s house today by train.

Would have loved to head back to the Old Town and get a photo with Mum but erred on the side of time and her health, instead we sat down on the lounge and waited for our taxi. The driver was a lovely man who gave us a little insight into the Czech Republic. It was very interesting. On arriving at the station, we went in to try and work out their train system. With a few questions from our fellow travellers we worked out where to go, we just didn’t know which end of the platform to go to for 2nd class passengers. Getting on with our luggage was a struggle but we eventually found unreserved seats on our 2nd attempt. My advice to anyone doing the trains is less luggage. Two suitcases plus 2 onboard and a pillow bag is way too much. Thankfully I will be down one bag when I get to Ben’s.

Well train number one from Prague to Dresden went well. On alighting at Dresden I read the paper timetable and found what I thought was our train to Chemnitz, unfortunately I made a mistake and we got on the wrong train, right direction just an hour short of our destination. Oops! With some help from the ticket checker we got off the train at Tharandt as it was terminating and with help from a fellow passenger, train guard and then Benny, we finally got on the right train and were on our way again.

Benny met us at the train station and organised our taxi. He conversed with the taxi driver in German all the way to his place. It was really great to see him so comfortable in Germany. He headed off to work about 5pm. Mum loves his home and is very proud of him.

We definitely did too much yesterday, along with the long haul flight, she has fallen asleep at 4.30pm whilst we did the shopping and gave an interesting reason for it, made me chuckle.  “The reason I fell asleep is that my pen didn’t work”. Love her to bits. We were planning a big day to Berlin on Thursday but have decided a few quiet days with Ben before Rome is a better idea. We had a lovely home cooked meal, the first since we left home.

Monday 1st October 2018
Well the day started with a lovely run in the brisk (3°) morning at about 6.30am. Unable to stay in bed any longer I headed out for a run in the semi dark. It was amazing to see the old and new town as the sun rose with very few tourists around. Surprisingly there were still a few braving the cold. After running around the Old and New Town for about 50 mins, stopping and starting many times for a quick photo here and there, I headed back to Mum to get ready for our big tour day. The plan was to do the Green Hop On Hop Off tour bus around the city. Mostly on the bus as Mum isn’t up to too much walking. Or so I thought.

We got on our way about 10.15am and started the tour at the Old Town Square and did the Green Line around the close proximity of the city centre seeing the Old Town, Jewish Quarter, and Mala Strana. We got off at St Nicholas Church and then headed to the John Lennon Wall, the Charles Bridge walking across the bridge and back, then back up to St Nicholas Church to wait for the bus again. Unfortunately it started to rain and did so for most of the day. We continued on the green line all the way round via the Dancing House, National Theatre and back to the Old Town Square. We had a shared slice of pizza for lunch and hot chocolate to warm up Mum, as we were a little wet and cold.

Then on to the green line to get us to the red line, unfortunately our connection was not good with a 45min wait at the bus stop in the rain. We thought we would walk as it was only 11 mins  to the Prague Castle but I got it wrong and that was only to the gardens below the castle so we had to walk back again, up a hill, not good.  Anyway, not much choice. It had been better than standing in the rain waiting, I think? Then on to the Castle where we had an informative tour around the outside. Then went in to St Vitas Cathedral at the castle. After this we had a 40min wait for the bus. We decided to walk to Loreta and the Strahov Monastery, another bad decision as it had an uphill bit which is not so good for Mum’s back. Oh well, naughty me again! The walk was only about 20mins but too much and we still had 20 mins to stand around, also not good for Mum’s back, but at least it had stopped raining. We decided to just stay on the bus for the rest of the red line back to our connection point and do another trip around the green line. Bad decision no. 3, as the green line was finished so we had to get off at the top of the New Town and walk all the way down the main street back to the Old Town and home. OOOPPPPSSSS! And no taxis in sight anywhere. We did get to see the Museum and lots of incredible architecture and thankfully it was all down hill. But by now mum was exhausted. We stopped at the markets on the way back and if we had mum’s medication we would have stopped for dinner at 5pm on the way. Too long a day. Unfortunately we hadn’t taken mum’s tablets so we headed home for a long earned rest. Yes, David, I overdid it again. I tried so hard not to, but each of my mistakes were costly. Does this sound familiar Colleen, at least it wasn’t 40°C today.

Mum had a rest whilst I went to check out the dinner option across the road. It was a pub called Lokal and came as a recommendation by our landlord. It was indeed a good spot, but unfortunately I had to stand for an hour waiting for a table, it was to have been about a 15 min wait but by the time I went back to got mum and got back there were more people in front of us waiting on a table. Luckily Mum took up residence on a seat between 2 of the tables. It was interesting standing at the bar people watching. Beer drinking is one of the Czech’s common things to do. Each person consumes approximately 142 litres of beer a year. Lokal serves traditional Czech cuisine and we both had a lovely meal although missing our favourite part (green veges). I had Beer braised pork cheeks with mashed potato with onion and Mum had Chicken breast with mushroom and butter seasoning. We then shared a Czech biscuit topped with whipped cream for dessert, apparently the Czech’s call this a coffin as it has a hole trough the centre. Our neighbours were eating Beef tartar (raw beef) on fried bread, an interesting delicacy.

Oh well it is now 8.30pm and we are headed home after a very long day. Mum had been a champion, hopefully it wasn’t too much for her. After a quick shower she was snoring her little heart out by 9pm.  Lucky we have a rest day tomorrow.

Sorry DB for the number of pics, just enjoy the reminiscing.

Saturday 29th – Sunday 30th September 2018
Well we are off on our travels again. This time it is just Mum and I heading to Germany to see Benny. We left home at 2.45pm on Saturday 29th September (my 54th birthday) and picked Mum up on the way and headed to Sydney airport. All went well on the way down there and we joined the queue to checkin. An hour later we were on our way through the gate to immigration. This was a straight forward exercise and we arrived at the boarding gate with about 15 mins to spare. Just nice timing. Our first leg was 9 hours to Bangkok, which went through uneventfully, with dinner, a movie and a bit of sleep. After an hour stopover in Bangkok where we didn’t have to get off the plane, I just stretched out on a row of 4 seats and Mum did a bit if walking around the plane. The next leg was to Dubai which was about 7 hours and we both had more sleep on this leg. I tried to watch a movie twice unsuccessfully and gave up in the end in favour of sleep. Mum had about 4 hours straight sleep which was great. This leg arrived in Dubai 30mins late which only gave us 25 mins to find our next gate for the final leg to Prague. We only had enough time to get to the gate, again with about 10 mins to spare. The final leg was 5hrs 40mins. With a bit more sleep and more food, all we have done for the last 26 hours is eat and sleep, we arrived in Prague. The exit from the airport, through immigration was quite quick and we were met by our taxi driver at the gate. This proved very easy. We met a couple of interesting passengers on the plane – a Dance group of 65 people volunteering in Bangkok, Khadim Ali – Artist and an aviation engineer. Made me feel a little insignificant.

We then drove for about 40mins to our apartment near the Old Town. We finally arrived at our home for the next couple of days 31 hours after leaving home. Time for a well earned cup of tea and hot water bottle for Mum’s back. After about an hours rest we headed out for a walk to the old town (about 500m away) to try to stay awake to help with the time changeover. We walked around Old Town Square, we saw the Astronomical Clock in action, not as impressive as it looks like it is being restored and didn’t have all the functions from last visit.  The architecture of the buildings is grand to say the least. We then walked through the markets, did some groceries and then completed the afternoon with a Czech ice cream – donut style cone lined with nutella and then filled with strawberries and ice cream. This was our dinner tonight as we have had so many meals in the last 36 hours we thought it would be enough to tie us over till the morning. Then we walked back to our room. A nice little stroll, on a beautiful afternoon along the cobblestone streets of Prague.

It is now 7.10pm and Mum is snoring in the bed next to me. She has done amazingly well with the long haul flight and then a walk this afternoon. I am looking forward to the rest of our time together and also to catching up with Benny in a couple of days. Well I have lasted until 8 o’clock. Jus a little planning for tomorrow and then I will be off to sleep as well.