DISNEYLAND – THE ORIGINAL

We’re posting in flashback from England again. This is our last post about the USA. Our last day was spent at Disneyland and what a fantastic way to end the trip this was.

Disneyland was the brainchild of Walt Disney, wanting to create a place where children and adults could have fun together. The other reason for its existence is the fact that the general public wanted to meet Mickey and Minnie and all the other wonderful cartoon characters. After a lot of hard work by many people, the most by Walt himself, and for the cost of $17 million the park opened on July 18, 1954. Although, the first day was an absolute disaster, dubbed Black Friday forever. LA was going through a heat wave and the recently laid tarmac melted as people were walking on it. The plumber couldn’t complete the water fountain installation meaning there was no water for people to drink. Counterfeit tickets were created meaning 30,000 instead of 15,000 guests turned up and the catering was insufficient. To top off all that there was a gas leak causing the shutting of half the park. All in all a disaster but in the days to follow all was sorted and it has been a success story ever since.

It really is a place to have fun with children, even big ones like us. We thoroughly enjoyed a day and night of wonder looking around and riding as much as possible. It is always packed with people so a lot of time is spent in queues but you get there in the end. Half the fun we had in the day was watching little children light up in wonder as a favourite character would pass, especially during the daily parade, at this time of year Christmas themed. We loved Mickey’s Toon Town and Fantasyland, getting lost in these make believe worlds.

We went home to rug up for the evening and to eat dinner and then headed back in for the night. The lights were just gorgeous creating the magical atmosphere that Disney is famous for. We were treated to a spectacular show called Fantastica which is the dream world of Mickey Mouse projected onto a misty water screen and includes appearances of lots of wonderful characters. Between shows we fitted in a our last few rides and in our opinion the best rides in the park. The New Orleans style haunted house was just the right amount of spooky and we loved the Indiana Jones Adventure ride, although our absolutely favourite was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The fireworks were just spectacular and a very fitting end to our time in the USA. We all decided that as much as we had really enjoyed our Disney adventure we would not plan a holiday around it, it was just good to do as a part of our LA adventure. Universal Studios we felt was a much better adventure along the theme park line with much better rides for us adults, a win to Florida.

Well, this was the last night for our USA adventures as we settled down to a lovely hotel stay, free from our Wyndham rewards, and woke to do our final pack. We had talked our way into a late check out at 2pm so perfect for our then trouble free trip to the airport to drop off the car. Alamo is a rental car company I would recommend to anyone, they have been a trouble free experience and have gone out of their way to make it so. We have completed 13,100 miles of travels through this amazing country of natural wonders, big cities and very interesting people. Time to return to Blighty to see our family before returning to Australia so do stay tuned for more fun to end our world adventure, or part of it at least.

We had a trouble free flight and were met by Graham right on time, helped by following our flights progress on the good old iPad. It is a bright but cold sunny day and we enjoy the last minute views from flight over England of the green fields and hedges. Back on the ground we spend our time catching up on what has been happening over the last 3 months and reliving some of our adventures. The Bells welcomes back with the Christmas lights shining and fire glowing bright, just gorgeous. It is so good to be back.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album DISNEYLAND.

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS

We’re now back in England getting ready to spend another wonderful Christmas with family. This post is about the rest of our time in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills up until our last day in the USA at Disneyland.

So, what else did we get up to? Next stop was Hollywood where we spent most of an afternoon at the Hollywood Museum that is housed in the Max Factor Building. Yes, you are right, this is the building purchased by Max Factor in 1928 and eventually opened as the place of business and creation by the man himself in 1935. Hollywood’s ‘make up king’ was considered the father of modern “make-up”. Born in Poland, Max Factor became the beautician/make-up artist to Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family. After immigrating with his family to the United States in 1908, he fulfilled the American Dream. Through his innovative ideas, and hard work, Factor built a cosmetic empire. From Hollywood royalty to housewives of America, Max Factor’s stylistic genius changed our vision of beauty. He created silver screen gods and goddesses as well as a new look for the everyday woman. I cannot imagine that there would be any woman who has not had a Max Factor item in their make up bag at some point. This is the place where it all began.

Max was a pioneer that recognized that the make up and skin tones must match the hair colour, something especially important once the camera is rolling. He was the person who made Marilyn Monroe blonde and Lucille Ball a red head and proceeded to create the makeup to suit. He is also the creator of lipstick. Where would we be without this amazing man? The most bizarre thing to see is his beauty calibrator. Max invented this scary-looking machine to aid in the perfect application of makeup. The contraption helped identify the areas of a person’s face that needed to be enhanced or disguised. The beauty micrometer became a huge hit in the movie industry. It actually looks more like a sophisticated object of torture and apparently ended up being used in horror movies. Not his greatest success but you have to admit he went to all sorts of lengths to get the perfect ‘look’ for the women, and men, of the world.

It is a fabulous Hollywood Regency Art Deco building that greets you with the gorgeous white and rose marble lobby complete with chandeliers and gold leaf. On this floor one can browse through the original make up rooms designated by hair colour. There are four floors of photos, memorabilia, horror, costumes and so much more from days of old and modern movies. It was a pleasure to be lost amongst all these treasures.

We are lucky enough to be in town for a movie premiere for Inherent Vice, so we spend a couple more hours just wandering around Hollywood Boulevard, soaking in this surreal world and checking out the stars on the pavement, that make this the Hollywood Walk of Fame, before securing our spot outside Hooters opposite the TCL Chinese Theatre, hoping it is the one that will give us the best view of the stars. We are not disappointed as the evening unfolds and we get to see the stars, our favourites being Reece Witherspoon, Jena Malone from Hunger Games fame and Maya Rudolph from Bridesmaids fame. What a fabulous day in down town Hollywood.

Another day is spent touring around and exploring Beverley Hills, Rodeo Drive (just gorgeous but a little out of the adventure budget) and the Hollywood Hills. No more stars spotted on this day. In daylight this is not really that spectacular, it does tend to sparkle a bit more in the night. You can see lots of big gates to big properties but privacy is the issue here, and who would expect anything less. The views over LA are great from up on the hill but it is just a sprawling urban mass with a surprisingly small high-rise district. We pop into the centre of town to the Town Hall and are able to pop up to the 27^th floor that offers a wonderful view of the inner city and surrounds. All in all we soak up as much as we can before we head back in the atrocious traffic to get to our beds. We all decide that unless we were to be stars we would not want to live and commute in this city, it would drive you absolutely crazy tackling the traffic on a daily basis.

Time is running out very quickly now but we have one more adventure planned for out last day and night, a trip to Disney Land. We have done all the packing and are moving into a 4 and ½ star hotel right at the gate so we will have a fantastic day of adventure and childhood fun followed by a lovely evening before we head off to the airport tomorrow. We’ll tell you all about it later.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

LAKERS IN LOS ANGELES

We have been making our way to LA for this specific day for a very special reason. We have tickets to a Lakers game tonight. We spend our day sorting out our plan of attack for between now and the end of our journey in the US on the 14th, accommodation, what we want to see and experience, getting in supplies and generally doing the house keeping and taking a little time to rest before the big night.

Off we go into the heart of LA to the Staples centre. The traffic is horrendous causing tense moments as the minutes tick past, even though we know we have left ourselves plenty of time. We are just as excited to see the venue as the game. This is a state of the art venue lit up to thrill and excite and we are excited. We find our seats, way up high, and look down with anticipation wondering why there are so many seats vacant. This does not last for long as people suddenly start to fill nearly all the seats, a great crowd of fans. The game is about to begin and the players hit the court.

On a sombre note, during the warm up the Lakers players are wearing black T shirts printed with ‘I Can’t Breathe’ in support of a young black unarmed man, Eric Garner, tragically chocked to death by a police officer whilst being arrested for suspicion of selling individual untaxed cigarettes, his last words shown on CCTV video being ‘I Can’t Breathe”. Another recent case in the news is the death of another young man, Michael Brown, shot and killed by police while unarmed and holding his hands up. It seems that in both cases there was a felony committed and both seemed to be resisting arrest, although neither deserved death. In both these cases the officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing. This has caused hot debate in the news during our travels and there is a growing protest amongst high profile sporting identities, black and brown communities and across all sections of society in general. Some of the reports I have seen highlight the need for change on how the young community and the police view each other and how both need to reflect that the police are there to protect the community and neither is an enemy to the other.

Earlier in our trip I met a woman serving in a remote US Post Office who was a victim of crime, her police officer son having been killed by a young man running from a crime, eventually caught and now serving a jail sentence. These incidents highlight an ongoing issue that, by all reports, is in a very heightened state of conflict at this moment in time. I do not presume to know enough about any of these issues to comment, and we all know how the media inflame these situations, but we hope for a peaceful resolution and better understanding on all sides. Understanding cannot be reached overnight and requires years of education and reconciliation, acceptance and a desire on all sides to live within the law, respect ones self and each other and each other’s property. Is this achievable in any country in the world? I hope so.

Watching the warm up is fun and they seem to not miss a shot as they practice, especially Kobe Bryant. The crowd erupts into what will be a continuing hub of excitement as the Lakers take on the Sacramento Kings. Game on, and the Kings are off to an early lead that the Lakers spend the entire game trying to catch, sometimes levelling but always dropping back again. The crowd is enthusiastic to say the least and they are very vocal when certain players miss their shots. We are impressed by the actual presence of an official Lakers band that play great music fitting to the moment getting all the fans cheering on their favourite team.

During the game we are reminded that Bryant is getting closer and closer to overtaking Michael Jordan to becoming the third highest points scorer of all time behind Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. These four giants of the game are the only players to have scored over 32,000 points. Tonight is not the night but with only 31 points now required the next game is going to be crazy, sadly it is not a home game, tragic for the fans (Note, next game completed and now only requires 9 points but it’s still an away game next). This guy is awesome to watch, poetry in motion, not showy or flash, just brilliant and has an impact on the game as soon as he steps on the court. We are so glad we have had the chance to see him in person. How far will he go up the points ladder in his career and will he catch Kareem on 38,387 or Karl on 36,928. It is a big ask for this 6’6” 36 year old, who has played basketball professionally since he left High School and always for the Lakers. I feel it is more likely that he will retire a champion and give his battered bodied a rest. Good luck Kobe, we will be watching closely to see how far you will go.

Also on offer to all the fans is free Taco’s if the Lakers win the game and the Kings are kept under 100 points. At the last break we decide together that even if they win it would be highly unlikely that the Kings would not score 100. WRONG. Lakers come up with only minutes to go winning the game 98 to 95. Very exciting to say the least, and not only because we get free tacos!

Game over it is time to leave the stadium. Here is where we have to congratulate the efficiency of the staff at this venue. We have been to many sporting events, concerts etc. and crowd control is always an issue. Not at Staples. It was quite magical how a large number of people were ushered effortlessly out into the street and beyond, all receiving their taco vouchers, within seemingly minutes of the end of the game. Congratulations Staples.

We linger on outside to get photos with the bronze statues of some great sporting heroes, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, hockey star Wayne Gretzky, basketball stars Kareem and Magic Johnson and Jerry West, and long time broadcaster for the Lakers, Chic Hearn. There seems to be plenty of room out there for at least one more sporting giant, good luck Kobe. Our evening is coming to an end as we soak up the atmosphere and the lights of LA. Sadly it is quite a long drive home but at least at this time of night it is a steady flow. What a fabulous start to our LA experience.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES AND BEVERLY HILLS.

CRATER LAKE OREGON

Flashback to the stunning blue Crater Lake, Oregon, where we visited about two weeks ago. Hope the weather is still as perfect for those visiting now as it was for us! You can check it here.

From Vancouver, Washington, we set ourselves a driving day to finish at Crater Lake. This is a spectacular lake formed after the collapse of an ancient volcano, known as Mountt Mazama, which erupted about 7,700 years ago. The top 5,000ft collapsed and was sealed by lava creating a lake that is the deepest in USA at 1,932ft. The water in the lake is provided only by snow and precipitation and delivers the clearest water you can imagine, in fact its proven to be some of the purest on earth. The lake is 6 miles across and even has its own island, Wizard Island, a volcano within a volcano. The park experiences an average yearly snowfall of 44ft, keeping the lake topped up. The lake is a centrepiece to a magnificent park of mountain peaks and alpine forest, waterfalls, gorges and ravines, cascading rapids and volcanic potholes.

Our driving day sees us reach the lake rim just after sunset, our first glimpses by glowing light of the moon over this stunning water, an eerie stillness as blackness descends. We find what we think is a campground and begin to set up, later to be asked very politely by two police officers to move along with directions given to a campsite back down the hill.

Back to the rim in the early morning we watch the changing colours as the sun rises in the sky. Words cannot describe the steel blueness of this pure water and the light changes of the volcanic lava sides of the crater. There is not a cloud in this perfect blue sky, luck being on our side yet again as at this time of the year the visibility is usually extremely poor, in fact this day it would descend into cloud by 10am.

The rim road is closed due to snow, though it seems that has melted away again. Wizard Island takes on many different hues in the changing light. We take a hike up to one of the highest vantage points of the rim and enjoy a view so majestic and tranquil. On our return to the base we visit the Rim gift shop and find a few additions to the suitcase, whoops.

As we start to leave the weather is turning and we have had the best of the day at the lake. We spend a couple more hours stopping at the waterfalls and rushing cascades of the river carving its way through the volcanic rock. It is interesting to see the natural bridge where the water disappears underground for about 60m through a volcanic tunnel. Whilst walking these vantage points we meet two local ladies and a gentleman also taking advantage of this wonderful day. We enjoy a chat for a while and then set off and choose a seemingly very popular restaurant for lunch, Beckie’s. It is always good to eat where the locals go and this is one that proves this point. Amazingly our new friends decide to stop at the same place, famous for it’s pies. We chat whilst waiting for a table and decide to lunch together. We proceed to spend a couple of lovely hours talking and laughing with Valerie, Trudy and Howard who are all just lovely people. We are told Valerie is 85, and find that hard to believe, as she is so full of energy, reminding us a lot of Nan at that age. We are given valuable advice for our next part of the journey whilst enjoying that amazing pie! Sadly we all must go our separate ways, though they have all invited us to stay with them. Though very tempted by their generous offers we have to make a hard choice to continue on knowing our time is quickly slipping away. We will keep in contact with these gorgeous friends and would love to welcome them to Perth one day.

Pushing on we head for the famous Redwood Trees, slipping quietly into Oregon and find a camping spot at Panther Flats, a gorgeous spot to end a very special day.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album OREGON

ANOTHER BIG BITE OF THE APPLE, NEW YORK

We have another very full day in New York City planned, starting in Central Park. A short walk from our new accommodation it’s quite beautiful to see such a large green area in the middle of this land of skyscrapers.  It has a varied design and we take it all in from one lake to another, discovering bridges and pathways through playing fields, play grounds and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, and winding through the more intimate natural part of the park, our favorite.  People are walking, running, sitting, sleeping, riding bikes and sitting in carriages pulled by those poor horses.

We pop out of the park for a visit to FAO Schwarz Toy store, great fun, and then back to the park for our picnic lunch.  Time to move on so we jump on the subway and head for the High Line park.  This is a fantastic area on the Lower West Side that was once a train line.  The ‘park’ has been ingeniously reinvented.  It is a long line of elevated landscaping that has incorporated many spots to sit, relax and watch the world go by.  There are lounging seats all the way along in gorgeous modern but comfortable designs, easy on the eye and the body.  The train track is incorporated into the clever native plant landscaping including an infinity water feature. It is great to observe the streets below from this elevated position and also taking in the sculptures and murals along the way. Fabulous work NYC, one of our favourite things so far.

Dragging ourselves away from the peaceful environment we take to the streets again to walk to the Empire State Building.  We arrive about 5.40pm and skip the ticket buying queue to start our accent to the most amazing view.  We learn along the way all about the building from it’s first conception to the amazing 11 month building project that saw the completion of the tallest office building in the world.

We spend time taking in the day time view N, S, E and W and then find our spot on the rail to watch the sunset.  WOW.  We have chosen the perfect time to be here, a clear sky with just a few clouds to give a spectacular orange sun something to shine on.  It is one of the best sunsets I have ever experienced but that is not all we are waiting for.  As the skies turn black NYC slowly turns on a light show that is just gorgeous.  This is a slow process as each building flickers into life, spectacular, and just to top it all off it is a full moon hanging in the East skies, a huge yellow orb. It really couldn’t have been more perfect to take in the view from all directions again, Time Square from this angle is spectacular too.

From the ground this building is amazing, pointing out of the skyline, but it is not until you are up there that you can fully appreciate the height and sheer splendor of this structure.  Built in a time when occupational health and safety obviously didn’t have much influence, we see photos of men just hanging out of this steel structure without even a rope around them 1250 feet from the ground.  This was a building erected ahead of its time and a testament to mans ability to stretch the imagination to build something that has stood the test of time to still be awe inspiring today. It so tall that the curve of the Earth can be appreciated and you feel like you’re higher than anyone else in the city.

We have spent two and half hours up the top imprinting into our minds the gorgeous view of New York City.  Our trip back to our room is punctuated with a quick stop for a gourmet hamburger and another ride on the subway (the easiest we have yet had to navigate in any big city) and a stroll through the night streets where we feel perfectly safe, all the time reliving an amazing time in this amazing city.  We have loved every minute and have been helped by countless New Yorkers with their unmistakeable accent.  It is a city with a reputation to live up to and it delivers ten fold.

Our last day starts very late, waiting for the hotel hot water supply repair and still we all have to have cold showers.  Not everything is perfect but it all seems to add to the fun and the experience that is NY.  We take in a few more of the local shops, Marshalls and Barneys before lunch and supply top up at Zabars then we are on our way out of town in a shocking traffic jam.  We don’t get very far very fast and we are exhausted when we find a very nice hotel to just relax in.  It is luxurious, spacious and quiet, just right to recharge in, phew.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album NEW YORK.

We are now in The Badlands and what an amazing part of the country this is!!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!

Its another of those pinch me moments.  There we were in the good old town of New York City.  We settled into our Lower East Side flat for the first couple of nights.  Just standing on the streets is amazing, we are close to the Empire State building, wow.

Our first day is a quick trip downtown to take the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty, pinch me again.  Great day admiring this great lady from all angles and taking in the Lower Manhattan skyline, so well known around the world, and still just awe inspiring. After a lot of photos and and great audio tour around the island we set off back to the mainland and the 9/11 World Trade Center Memorial.  Here we soak up the aura of what was the worst day in the lives of all in NY and possibly around the world.  The magnitude of this attack touches everyone and it is so poignant and invasive.

A conversation we have had with Kathy in the last few days comes to mind.  In all our travels we have learned of the wars raged against and between our fellow human beings.  We have wondered and thought that peace was the natural way of our race and why have we not managed to find it and learned the lessons taught by all this blood shed.   Could it be that conflict is our natural way and peace is the outcome only some of us want to achieve.  It has helped to look at this new perspective to try to understand the massive loss of lives we continue to wage against each other.  One day maybe we can achieve Peace? I surely hope so.

We walk on to the Brooklyn Bridge, another icon, all those nuts and bolts holding together a magnificent structure. The moon is out and almost full, another beautiful sight. We find the subway again and ride to Times Square where we emerge into the night, lit up as we could only imagine before.  Soaking up the experience of neon flashing advertisements the size of buildings, busking by various talented people (including an almost naked man with a guitar and a cowboy hat) and browsing through the toy shops the atmosphere is electric, pardon the pun. We sit and people watch for a while and enjoy our first real NY hot dog, yummy.  Our very full day is starting to pull us to bed so we wind our way back through the streets to Lexington and 37th for a well earned rest.

Our second full day of adventure begins.  We drop in to purchase our Empire State tickets to avoid queues later and decide a sunset ascent will be best.  Off we go to the Morgan Library and the NY Public Library, both are gorgeous in their own ways. We’re treated to a special surprise out the front of the NY Public Library, Amanda Seyfried is shooting Ted 2, very exciting!

It’s then time for a little retail therapy as we pop in to Century 21, a discount designer store.  Look at lots but only come out with a couple of gifts and head back to our apartment to move to our new hotel on the Upper West Side.  This sounds very simple but not all goes to plan.  I head off to pick up the car, having struck a deal with the parking complex the day before I arrive and the deal seems to have been forgotten. It costs me twice as much as agreed to collect Jetson, annoying to say the least.

It gets worse when I turn out of the car park on a one way street and find I am heading into a tunnel, can’t be good.  My dread level continues to rise as the tunnel is long and at the end is the usual toll barrier.  Now after having just forked out an excessive parking bill I am not going to pay another two tolls to get back to Manhattan.  I don’t even know where I am at this point!  I decide to pull up in the middle lane beside the witches hats (orange cones) and jump out of the car to get some help.  Mistake number two, a police woman advises me to get back onto my seat in no uncertain terms.  By chance another vehicle has stopped beside me going the other way so three police stride toward us both.  Once I am sitting back down again the woman returns to her post and the other 2 take one car each.  I beg my case in my most convincing Aussie accent and talk my way out of paying the toll. This includes the removal of the witches hats and the police holding up the traffic for me to do a ‘U’ turn back into the tunnel, phew. Thank you Mr Policeman for being so kind!

I am now back in Manhattan and manage to navigate back to the apartment to find the girls wondering where the hell I have gotten to. Mikayla’s wondering if I am lying shot somewhere, she is a little dramatic sometimes.  Luggage loaded we head off to our new ‘digs’.  Its a very old place but very clean and perfectly acceptable.  It is a long story why we had to move, all about a double booking, but I think it all worked out for the best.  We are now on the Upper West Side and love the atmosphere, and a bonus, free (and safe) parking. The weather forecast for the night is for rain so we put the Empire State Building on hold.

I take to the streets to see if I can spot any more stars and although there’s no more famous people I really love the vibe of this side of town.  I shop for some yummy supplies at the famous Zabars before returning to our apartment to dine and crash ready for more exciting adventure to come in New York.

Photos can be found on our Facebook page in the album NEW YORK.

AROUND KRAKOW AND THE WIELICZKA SALT MINE

After a night camping in Slovakia we drove on into Poland ready to put some more history under our belt. First stop, Wieliczka Salt Mine, on the outskirts of Krakow.

It seems the Polish like to hold fetes on Sundays so after a quick wonder through the market stalls, listening to the live band, it was straight to the tourist entrance of the mine.

Arriving late we were lucky to get tickets to one of the last two and a half hour tours for the day and after a short wait for the English guide we began our descent, about 350 steps, to 135 meters under ground. I continue to try to conquer my apprehension about enclosed, underground spaces and I believe I’m getting much better.

Walking through the pressurized doors and corridors to different chambers inside the mine we were told of the history and even shown a reenactment of the explosive elimination of harmful gases that filled the mine in the old days. As well as the dangerous feats, whilst underground the salt miners carved many sculptures out of the walls; gnomes, snow white, princesses, famous and influential people among the few on display.

A highlight was the underground cathedral all carved from salt, even the altar, and complete with a salt carving of the last supper. An amazing cavernous space that helps you forget that you are underground and yet another beautiful cathedral to add to the list seen during our trip.

They’re constantly adding new multimedia features inside the mine so a stop was made at another large area to watch an abstract projected film about the life of the miners. A little pointless to us, though the school group that watched with us seemed to love it!

The air down here is beneficial for asthma suffers, bonus, and it does have a salty smell to it. Although we didn’t take advantage, like some other people in our tour group, you can also taste the salt on the walls. We were shuddering at the thought of how many millions of other peoples DNA you get to sample too, yuck!

Heading back up into the warmth and open air, it was time to find a camping spot next to Krakowskie Blonia park in Krakow, only a short walk to the old town center, ready for an early start in the morning.

Walking is always how we spend the day in the cities. First stop the old town square, dodging the pigeons, and into the church of Saint Mary, another very cool interior similar to that of Sienna cathedral. Though our favourite church here was one we affectionately call “the cupcake church”, as we have no idea what it is actually called and it looks like a beautiful decorated cake. We do know that it’s next to the church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Stunning inside, all pastel pinks, blues and greens with silver detail, Mum says, “if she ever did decide to go to church she would go there”, a big statement coming from her.

Exploring makes us hungry and it was time for lunch so we deviated from the tourist track to find somewhere to eat, settling on a traditional Ukrainian restaurant. Down in a quaint basement with knitted scarves and dried flowers hanging everywhere we ate soup followed by pierogi, yummy dumplings filled with ingredients like mashed potato, mushroom and cabbage. Sounds dull but they’re actually delicious.

After lunch it was up Wawel Hill to see the outside of the castle (pretty boring) and join the throngs of tourists inside the cathedral where we decided it wasn’t worth us paying to see what wasn’t free.

Our last stop in Krakow was the New Jewish Cemetery in Kazimierz the Jewish Quarter, wrought with history, where the headstones and graves are piled one on top of the other because of a lack of space. Very interesting a moving though not as moving as what we would experience the following day.

Driving towards Auschwitz we found a lovely camping spot off the main road nestled in the trees. The perfect setting for our third police encounter of the trip. At about 11:30pm whilst we were watching some Grey’s Anatomy we had a knock on the door from the police. Greeting them in our pajamas yet again we handed over our registration, insurance and passports as usual and went through an excruciating 10-minute wait to be told all was ok. Everything was in order but they asked us to move to a nearby petrol station for the night, for our own safety. Much better that than asked to move on because we had chosen an illegal camping spot!

Ready to start on another chapter in our trip, knowing we would soon be visiting one of the most moving places on the planet, we made our way towards Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration camp.

Photos can be found on our Facebook Page in the album POLAND

CITIES, SITES AND TWO ENCOUNTERS WITH SPAINISH LAW ENFORCEMENT

It’s been quite an eventful week. After saying goodbye to everyone in Artigues we set off towards Spain via Biarritz. Again we loved Biarritz, as we love most coastal towns, and spent the afternoon here, having a picnic and walking overlooking the ocean and cliffs. We are definitely getting used to laid back days walking around new towns, driving along the scenic route and stopping when we see something interesting.

Next stop was Spain. We had left Biarritz late in the afternoon but were sure we would have plenty of time to find a camping spot and have daylight to spare. We were wrong!

When navigating we have gotten used to picking a place to head for and looking for that place on signs. Very different to England where we were going by road numbers to get around. So we were heading for San Sebastian and when we got there we could get out.

There seemed to be a festival on as people were all dressed up. Little girls in princess costumes everywhere! Unfortunately this festival had caused quite a few road closures that meant we ended up driving around for about 2 hours, trying to avoid toll roads as usual, before finally deciding to bite the bullet and pay the toll. Pointless really.

We decided to stay on the toll road for quite a while and upon paying and leaving the tollgates we came across a partial road block and were ushered into it by the police. Into action with the only Spanish we know (that Colette taught us), “Hola, abla Inglis?” They spoke a little and asked for driver license, insurance and registration papers. While they were looking at them Mum and I could hear whispering from the back. After a few pardons Mikayla finally spoke loud enough for us to hear (she’s a long way away in the back of Vincent), “one of them has a REALLY big gun!” Fortunately everything was in order with our paper work so they didn’t see fit to use the gun and stopped all the traffic to send us on our way, after a bit of confusion about how to get out of the roadblock and which policeman we should be taking directions from.

We eventually found our first camping spot in Spain, also our first spot to ride out the huge storm that came through that night. Near Islares we came to a dead end leading to a beach. Off this little road was a small pull in although it wasn’t very level. Unable to go any further we tried to park on the flattest spot (actually on quite a steep lean), had a quick dinner and went to sleep. I didn’t sleep very much though; I was convinced that Vincent would tip over every time a gust of wind came along.

We survived the night and spent the morning trying to decide whether to head down towards Madrid first or continue along the north coast. Madrid won and first stop along the way was Burgos but along the way we stopped at a little picnic area, next to a bridge and river in the mountains and decided to stay here overnight. We were in need of a “home day” to watch some Game of Thrones, catch up on some writing and generally relax. We also had nice long walk in the mountains. Sometimes it’s nice to find a spot early and take the stress of finding a suitable place to sleep away.

In France most of our camping spots would be in small towns next to a church, cemetery, in a large car park or a designated camper area. In Spain picnic areas and parks seem to be the go. Rather than little towns, we are staying between little towns, which I like a lot more, although it does mean getting up in the morning takes longer as we don’t feel the need to move on quickly!

Another difference between France and Spain is the amount of Macdonald’s outlets. In France every major town has at least one Macdonald’s and sometimes we would pass five outlets in a day. In Spain we are lucky to find one a day and when we have we’ve jumped at the chance to use the free Wi-Fi.

Burgos is a beautiful place with more interesting buildings. Again there is a subtle difference in architecture between France and Spain so even just strolling through towns is interesting, the old parts of town that is, the new parts are much the same wherever you go. The main attraction here was the cathedral but we decided against going inside because of the entry fee and because it’s only the third largest in Spain. It was nice on the outside though.

Our path changed again after a bit more research and on the way to Valladolid we came across a small town called Sotillo de la Ribera where we stopped to tour around a castle situated at the top of a hill giving a great view over the town and across the wine region we’d just driven through. The tour was in Spanish so we didn’t understand any of it but it was the only way to gain access to the building.

When we got to Valladolid we our first stop was the officio de tourismo that was closed. Unfortunately for us because the map of the city in our guidebook is terrible and we ended up walking in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. After about an hour of walking and still not finding the Museo Nacional de Escultura, at the Colegio de San Gregorio, we asked someone where we were (thankfully they spoke English) and another hour of walking meant we finally got there and luckily the museum was still open!

The Museo Nacional de Escultura is one of the oldest museums in Spain and the building in which it resides is of Iberian peninsular architecture from the end of the 15^th century. It’s worth a visit just to see the refined decoration on the front façade of the building but the collection of sculptures inside is fantastic and different to anything we’ve seen. The sculptures are carved in wood and colourfully painted, from the 15^th to 18^th centuries, and there are a wide variety of styles.

The next day was Salamanca, a university town, full of historical sites and many little churches and cathedrals, all slightly different but made from the same yellow, red clay the reason people call is the golden town. Though we’re not religious, we always visit the churches to see the stunning and intricate detail decorating both the inside and the outside. The old university building, of the University of Salamanca, was my favourite place here. Founded in 1218 it is the oldest in Spain and a model for universities in Latin America. Mikayla’s favourite stop here was the Museo de Historia de la Automocion, a car museum where we saw cars that Nan and Granddad used to have, and that we wish they’d never parted with, as well as a few futuristic cars and the formula one cars that Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso drove.

While we were seeing all these sites our leisure battery was at the mechanics. It may not be charging when the car is on so the mechanic recharged it for us, free of charge, and we just have to wait and see what happen from now on. He and his son, who spoke English, were very helpful and gave us some great travel tips too, changing our plans again but definitely for the better. The other day I posted a travel quote on Instagram about not letting people tell you where to go when travelling, find places for yourself. Well I no longer agree totally with this, as some of our favourite places have been recommended to us and we may not have ventured there otherwise. Take recommendations, because locals know what’s best, but don’t be afraid to stop and look at other things along the way. Thank you Mario and father for the work you did for us and all your travel recommendations.

Yet another change of plan took us to Zamora next where the historical center contains Romanesque ruins, a castle with another great view and many cathedrals to look at on the walk to the plaza major where we had our first meal out in Spain, so good! We also walked along the wall surrounding this historical part of town and through the streets to see some newer architecture from the 1800’s.

The largest cathedral here was accompanied by a museum, worth the entrance fee to see the silversmith work on an altarpiece and Spanish tapestries. We’ve come to the conclusion that people must have had so much time on their hands in the old days. The intricate features on the buildings, the painting, sculptures, wood carvings and minute stitches making up tapestries that can cover whole walls would have taken a very long time.

Next stop Portugal but seeing as is was the end of the day we thought we’d stay one more night in Spain, right near the border between Spain and Portugal, in a parking area on the autovia, not our usual choice of spots but we were desperate. We slept soundly until 3:38am when we were woken by intense knocking on our window and blinding lights shining through the curtains. First instinct was to stay lying down and pretend we weren’t there but that wasn’t an option, the policeman was shouting in Spanish, so mum climbed out of bed and slid the door open a little, in her Care Bear PJs and hair a mess, she said, “Hello?”

The police officer outside lowered the torch he was holding and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, where are you going?” And mum pointed the direction we had come from saying, “Portugal!” He pointed the right way and Mum said, “Yep.” Next he asked how many people were in the van and finished with, “okay, okay…sorry!” A little scary but they didn’t arrest us or ask us to move on so we slept again until morning.