April 22nd 2011 – Florence Day 2

  Up bright and early to beat the queue into Gallerie d’Academia to see among other things the statue of David. He stands 5.16m tall, weighs 19 tonnes and is absolutely amazing.  We walked into the gallery and there he was at the end. A truly magnificent sight.  The rest of that gallery housed the unfinished St Matthew and also the four Prigioni (prisoners).  Plus throughout the academia there are incredible works of art and religious icons.  In another room there was a copy of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine women. Another amazing piece of work.  There were no photos allowed although Rod managed to sneak one in although he did get a growl from a very bossy woman who was kept very busy chasing people sneaking photos.  Two hours in that place and we then wandered the streets until we came to the Piazza Della Signoria  which is an open air square with many other priceless statues are on display including the copy of David and Neptune Fountain by Ammannati and the original of  Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine women and also Persius.  All of which are pretty gruesome. Being Good Friday, the Piazza was packed and also the hawkers, cartoonists and statue impersonators were out.  I managed to get a photo with one and Rod got one with cupid.  Very cute.  From there we walked towards the river and over the bridge where the streets were dedicated solely to jewelry shops.  Every shop seemed to sparkle more than the last.  There was so many beautiful pieces and displays.Rod purchased 3 charms for my charm bracelet. 



Mona Beverley!!
One of the great treasures???



Archimedes Screw by Leonardo Da'Vinci

The tower of Pisa, The bridge of sighs and statue of David.  A wonderful momento. We then visited Medici’s Mausoleum.  The Medici family were very supportive of the Renaissance arts and sponsored artists such as Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael etc (yes Phillip all the Ninja turtles) They were also very proud of their wealth and certainly show it by the amount of churches, palaces and the size of the mausoleum and family crypt.  They are truly a sight to see.  Such huge buildings adorned with marble, fine arts and precious gold and jewels.  It is reputed that they were the richest family in all of Europe but the line died out in 1493 as there were no heirs to continue the family line due to barren woman, depraved men who liked little boys and early death due to corruption and conspiracy.   The family wealth ended up being gifted to Florence, hence the wealth of beautiful art and buildings today for all to enjoy.  We decided to call it a day early and head back to the hotel.  As we neared our hotel we came across a doorway that said Leonardo’s Magnificent Inventions.    We decided to take a quick look and 2 ½ hours later we had had a really good look at Da Vinci’s inventions.  There were working models and films of his life and work.  A fascinating place.  If you want to see more go to www.macchinedileonardo.com That is spelt correctly with 2 c’s.  A lovely dinner of Italian food and back home to rest the weary feet.  




David-the stolen photo



Florence Day 1 21st April



Michelangelo & Donatella
worked on this one



We jumped on the train and Rod had to remove an Italian from our seat in the carriage as our compartment was full. Six seats all together and once we were settled one of the other passengers asked if we were Australian.  We found out that all four others were Australian.  One of the couples asked what part of NZ and it turned out that they had just left a tour group that had a friend of mine and his wife on the same tour.  Small world huh!  It was a 3 hour journey and by the end of it we had the compartment to ourselves.  It was lovely watching the Italian countryside slip by as the sun was setting.  One area we passed by was full of huge blocks of marble.  The site went for quite some way and the marble big enough for one slab to fit on a railway wagon.  They had all sorts of colours of marble as well.  Another area we saw lots of olives and grapes.  The olive trees looked very old and were quite harshly pruned.  The grapes were free standing and seemed to be very healthy.  The ground was quite hard looking and looked as if they needed to feed it with lots of hummus.  We arrived at Florence and turned on Navi.  2.8km to our hotel.  Huh?? I thought we booked all of our hotels close to the stations.  Oh well, off we went up the hill, down the hill, across the motorway, under the railway lines, back up another hill and then into very narrow streets with very tall buildings so Navi got all upset and confused.  Beverley got hot and bothered, Rod got quite determined to keep going and eventually we went into a shop and asked for guidance.   We were about 150m round the corner to our hotel.  We then had a job to find it because it was just a door in the wall with a small sign saying Hotel San Marco, ring the bell.  We rang the bell.  We rang the bell again  then pushed the door open to find a dark dingy, dirty corridor.  We walked in found and elevator that said Hotel San Marco 3th floor.  We opend the 2 foot wide door and squeezed ourselves in with our bags.  The inside elevator door wouldn’t shut.  Rod had to push me back into the wall and breathe in so the door would close.  We got the giggles and couldn’t reach the button for the 3^rd floor.  Finally managed to get the thing moving and practically fell out at the top.  A lady was standing at a door and said welcome.  It turned out to be a very welcoming place and the room was one of the best we have had.  The hosts were very accommodating and it was kind of like being in somebody’s home. The dining room was furnished like someone’s lounge and the staff full of great advice.  We dumped our gear and decided to have a wander.  We stepped back out into the street (fitted much better in the elevator this time) to find we were right in one of the main piazzas (squares).  We had Galleria deli Academia on the other side of the block (Statue of David there), Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) just down the road (largest cathedral in Florence) and Galleria degli Ufizzi two blocks away (where copy of David and open air gallery of statues are).  Also, we found out that we had gone to the wrong train station.  

Inside the dome of the
Santa Maria Duomo

The one we should have gone to was only 4 blocks away. Bah!! As we walked past Academia the queue was right down the block and around the corner.  We decided that we would get up nice and early and try and minimize the wait.  We wandered on to see queues for most things.  There wasn’t much of a queue at the St Maria so we decided to have a look at that one first.  

Santa Maria Duomo
Largest cathedral in Florence

 As soon as we lined up they let us all in in one group.  What good luck.  What an amazing building.  They are all so high and comprise of only one floor.   Up to the dome at the back is equivalent to a 30 story building.  This cathedral was built in 1346 and is the largest masonry dome in the world.  Beside it is the site of the workshop where Michelangelo worked and created “David”. There is a museum there and it is home to many of his creations as well as Donatello and Brunelleschi.  Another day done.  Time to find some dinner.   

Some of Michelangelo's work on the site of his workshop

We were not that hungry so decided that a waffle which ice cream would be enough for tea.  We were asked what flavours of ice cream.  I chose Pistachio and Kinder chocolate and Rod chose caramel and a nutty flavoured one.  They were huge and the waffle was hot so by the time we had eaten it all we had chocolate all over our faces and hands.  Everywhere.  We cleaned ourselves up best we could and went to the hotel to relax.

The Elevator



Pisa - April 20th

Tried to catch an earlier train today and spend more time at Genova but no luck so ended up spending 3 hours in Ventimigglia. This is a small town on the coastline and is just on the Italian side of the border between France and Italy.  It was a beautiful sunny day so we took a walk through the town.  There was a food market and because we had our bags Rod sat outside in the sun while I went for a wander through the market.  There was an array of fruit & veges, fish, cheeses, pizzas, flowers and all sorts of other things.  I got down one end of the market and a guy was talking away to me in Italian, trying to give me a sheet of paper.  I said “No comprende English only” and he promptly flipped the page over to hand me the sheet in English.  It was for a restaurant in the street.  I had only taken a couple more steps when an  older man came up to me and started again in Italian.  I said again No comprende English only and he said “Oh really, are you from Australia?” I said no New Zealand.   He shook my hand and said “ I spent many years in New Zealand.”  He then asked if I was married.  I replied “Yes, not sure where this was taking me.”  He then proceeded to tell me that he had some very good stuff on the black market and if I wished I could buy my husband a good watch and myself a genuine Italian leather handbag.  I said that I was very interested and would get my husband and come back.  I took off like a rocket.  Went back to Rod and said he could go through and buy us something for lunch, I wasn’t going back in there.  Off he went to find some nice looking fruit.  Best fruit that we have had so far.  It all looks nice but not sweet as we are used to.  

Socca



 Socca is  the signature dish for this area.  This is a flat pancake like dish that is made from ground chickpea flour and of course olive oil.  It is eaten hot and was quite nice little bit chewy and quite oily.  Better than the Bouillibaise.  By this time it was time to catch the train and head for Pisa.  Our hotel room was up about 4 flights of stairs but once we got there we found a nice clean room with an ensuite.  These are not usual in Italy.  Most hotels have shared bathrooms.  We headed off to a restaurant for dinner and had lasagna and Rod had Swordfish Pasta.  Both yummy and for dessert we had Italian ice cream.  A lot creamier than London but not as nice as what we had in Nice.  

Three of the four buildings in Pisa

Early next morning we headed for the Leaning Tower.  Boy, I is really leaning.  It is quite amazing how much it does lean and the photos certainly don’t do it justice.  The tower is part of a large area which also has a church and ancient cemetery. 

One of the walls in the cemetry

 It took us several hours to wander around the cemetery as it was very old and again the tombs and tributes to the dead are quite magnificent.  As they were carrying out maintenance a few years ago they stumbled upon a false wall and behind it are these wonderful paintings.  They are now in the process of trying to recover all of the walls without doing damage.The huge cathedral is stunningly beautiful inside and next to it is a smaller chapel that has a magnificent dome on top that gives the building lovely acoustics.  

They keep the bones in chests
as a monument

We were fortunate enough to see about 100 priests enter the small chapel and they were there to begin a service.  Their singing was magnificent.  The clarity of their sound was so lovely.  A few other tourists managed to sneak in and one or two snuck photos although we were told quite clearly no photos.  They then proceeded out of the small chapel and into the cathedral where a longer service was held with loud speakers outside so we could again hear the beautiful singing.  

Have to pinch myself to make sure I am really here

By the time we were ready to get the train, the crowds had increased to thousands.  It was amazing.  The amount of people around and the market stalls selling all sorts of touristy things. 

Pizza in Pisa

 Some quite rude boxer shorts and postcards referring to the leaning tower and a warning not to let your monument droop.  We had just a short walk through narrow streets of rough cobblestones back to our hotel to pick up our bags and proceed to the station ready for Florence.

Just sitting back watching the world go by











Nice April 17th - 20th 2011



Looking out our balcony



The train ride was lovely and restful.  Most of the journey took us along the coastline of the French Riviera.  We went through places like Toulins, Aux Province, Cannes, Cote d’Azur and then into Nice.  We arrived at 6.30 in the evening and being a Sunday thought it would be quiet and peaceful.  No, we were wrong.  There were people everywhere and vehicles going every which way and yes, lots of scooters again.  We worked out where we needed to go to get to our hotel and it was about a 10 minute walk from the station.  It is in a little side street off the main shopping street.  Hotel Amaryllis, a 3 star hotel run by two middle aged men.  Very friendly but hotel looking a little tired and shabby.  Room is not too bad.  Bed is a low slat bed with a fairly thin mattress.  Air conditioning works so that is one up on our hotel in Marseilles.  So, we dumped our gear and had a wee power nap, then about 8pm we hit the streets to have a look around.  Lots of people everywhere and all seemed to be heading in one direction.  We grabbed a toasted sandwich then went back to the hotel.

18^th April.

After a continental breakfast in the hotel we headed off to find the open top bus tour.  We hopped on and took the just over an hour journey around Nice.  Nice is separated into two parts, old Nice and new Nice.  Old Nice is very, very old with narrow little streets and markets everywhere.  Wherever there is a space somebody puts a table and chairs there.  They are well patronized too.  The old Nice is very hilly and windy and it is very easy to lose your bearings.  New Nice is the flat area that takes in the promenade anglaise (English Promenade) and the high buildings etc.  I must say though the buildings are still in the 200 year old mark whereas in Old Nice they are 500 years +. 

Old Nice



New Nice

  The promenade is amazing with masses of people sunbathing on the beach.  Rod enjoyed finding the topless bathers (most of them were over 55yrs).  It was amazing to see how tanned they were already.  I felt very pasty with my lily whites showing.  The beach was very unimpressive with rocks (no sand in sight) and about every 50 metres the beach was fenced off so a restaurant could put out tables and sun loungers.   There was a bulldozer at the river mouth shifting the rocks and shingle away so the water would continue to flow as it came out from under the city.  The bus made it’s way past the marina where the most amazing boats were berthed and on up the hill to where the mansions were. 

French Riviera 6 miles of stoney beach

  A beautiful view of the 6 miles of coastline that makes up the French Riviera. There was a monastery with an olive grove and also gardens with the most amazing tropical plants growing.  We will go into the monastery tomorrow.  We came back down to the town and jumped off near the parks and fountains.  Beautiful gardens and water features everywhere and lots of people just wandering around or skating on the paths.  We sat to have some lunch under the wisteria and roses and at the next park bench was an old man who was feeding some pigeons.  A derelict woman and young man came up and sat opposite the man and she started talking to him and showing him a photo album.  He was getting all angry with her and then all of a sudden he grabbed a bag of bread and other food and gave it to her.  She raced off to another bench and ate a small bit of bread and then came back and had another go at him.  He then gave her a bottle of coke and some oranges.  All the time he was growling and seemed to be angry.  We sat and watched with interest.  She was watching us closely but didn’t come near us.  Another man then came and sat with the first man and the tables turned they started giving the woman a hard time and she didn’t look too happy.  By the gestures between the two parties I think the men felt they should be paid in other ways for their kindness towards her.  We then felt it was time to leave.

We wandered back into old Nice and after using trusty old Navman we found a 15^th century palace.  It was at one stage a very beautiful residence for someone.  One of the front rooms as you entered the palace was an apocathery.  This was fascinating with its many drawers and jars.  The palace itself had some lovely furniture (particularly musical instruments) and a very fine chapel just off the bedroom.  The palace at one stage belonged to Victor Hugo (hence the musical instruments).

From there we made our way back to the hotel.  By this stage I had an extremely red nose and chest from the sun.  “Must buy sunscreen tomorrow”.  After dinner we took a walk back to the square to listen to a very good street musician and to admire the men on poles (statues) change colours.

One more day in Nice before we move on to Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Pisa.

April 19^th Nice:

St Nicholas II Russian Church

Up and away early this morning.  We walked up past the train station to the Cathedrale St Nicholais II.This is a Russian Orthadox cathedral and built in the 1600’s to commemorate the death of the Empress’ son Nicholas who died there at age 22.  The white Russians were not allowed into the Black Sea so the Czar negotiated with the French Govt to allow the French Navy to be based in Nice.  The French agreed and so a community of Russians grew.  The royalty and their wealthy counterparts used to spend their leisure time in Nice so many of the luxurious homes were built by the Russians.  The cathedral is apparently very similar to the one in Red Square.



Inside St Nicholas II



Monarco Palace

   It is a truly impressive building and is well patronized by locals who go in to pray.  The alter was built in Russia and brought out in pieces to be reassembled here.  It depicts heaven and the nave is earth.  Following that visit we jumped back on the bus and went up the hills to the monastery.  This too is a majestic building.  No photos were allowed but somebody managed to sneak in one or two.  The ceilings were particularly beautiful with scenes from the bible painted there.  Nearby was an old cemetery.  The tombs and vaults are straight out of a movie.  So amazing with their grandeur and style.  We then went back down to the railway station and took the train to Manaco/Monte Carlo.  We had only a half day available so took another hop on hop off tour bus round.  Monaco comprises of only a couple of square miles of land and the rest is reclaimed from the sea.  Many of the buildings also go underground 2/3rds of their size.  The Monaco family are strong supporters of animals, fish and sports.  Hence there is the 2^nd largest aquarium in Europe there and of course the Monaco car race.  They have already begun to erect some of the 14 sq km of wire fencing and the 300,000 seats  ready for the race in May.  Every second car in Monaco is a luxury car and the big name shops are all there with no prices showing.  The yachts were astounding and the buildings so luxurious.  None of the citizens of Monaco have to pay tax but they are also not allowed in the casino’s.  A small price to pay in my opinion.The casino built in 1858 is stunning but it costs you 10 euro just to step into the door.  The toilets were cool as they had a revolving seat that cleans itself.  The gardens, fountains and even the streets are beautifully kept and everywhere there are monuments to Princess Grace and the rest of the royal family.  It is all packed onto a tiny piece of land and everywhere is jammed together.  The palace was undergoing a tidy up so was covered in scrim but the parts we could see were as if you had stepped into a fairytale.  The police and guards are all beautifully turned out and are very strict on anyone doing the wrong thing.  We saw several people get growled for stopping their vehicles in the wrong place of driving in the wrong area. 

Monte Carlo Casino

 There is also a museum of Prince Raniers 300 cars on display.  Many luxurious and priceless vehicles.  So we came away having rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous and   having a glimpse of the glam life.  Sigh!!

 

View of Monaco from the Palace



Europe

Sorry, I am jumping ahead a bit here but we are so busy doing things that I am not getting a chance to download photos and type up blog as well.  Rod pleads ignorance and he has slightly more time than me to do this. So, bear with me please

France & Italy trip 15th April to 1st May.

Destination: Marseille, Nice, Monaco/ Monte Carlo, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris, London.

Marseille 15th & 16th April 2011.

About a 1/4 of Marseilles

We left London at 11.30am in the morning.  The day was warm and clear so we set off with our 3x packed bag and 1 backpack.  We were travelling via a cheap package with Ryanair so any extra bags had to be paid for.  We had an uneventful 2 hour flight after the plane was delayed by 35 minutes due to late arrival from previous flight.  We landed in Marseilles to a dull overcast day with a few spots of rain threatening to get worse.  Where to now? Rod went around talking to staff members until he finally found one who could speak English and off we went in the right direction to catch a bus to Marseilles.  We were about 30 minutes out of Marseilles so first impression of the city was bare rugged stony hills with lots of high buildings.  The housing was all a terracotta colour with tile roofs and plastered walls.  All very square and looking very similar.  Also every window had either wooden shutters or slide down roller door type shutters.  It must get very hot here in the summer time.  Also, most windows have some sort of wrought iron balustrade so the mademoiselles can lean over I guess.  The bus brought us to the Gare du St Charles which is the main train station and we then had to figure out the metro and where it was going.  Once sorted off we went and by more good luck than management we actually disembarked at the right place.  We came up to ground level right outside a information centre and lucky for us Rod spoke to a lady who was fluent in English.  She was most helpful in giving us info and maps and sent us off to find our hotel which was just around the corner.  The Grand Tonic Hotel was set right in Vieux Port overlooking the port and marina.  A beautiful location set in the oldest part of Marseilles.

Our Hotel

Marseilles, Frances second largest city was founded 2600 years ago and is the oldest city in France.  It purports to having 300 days of sunshine per year and has a population of 839,000.  Once we had checked in and dropped our bags into the spacious room, we set off to explore the local area and to get our bearings.  The waterfront was just across the road and the views were spectacular.  There were many boats in the marina, the sun was shining and there were scooters everywhere.  We walked around the port to the entrance where Fort St Jean and Fort Nicholas have stood guard since the 1200’s.   Around the corner in the industrial port there were about 6 or 7 cruise ships and ferries alongside.  There is a lot of construction and scaffolding around as Marseilles is host to the European Cultural Celebration in 2013.  We wandered around until we had found a restaurant where the menu was partially written in English.  We were not very hungry so decided an entrée and dessert was all that we needed.  Lucky!!!  The meals were huge.  Rod had a seafood stirfry which was on a plate about 15inches long and 9 inches wide.  It was absolutely loaded with calamari, mussels, shrimp s and prawns.  I had salmon which was a large meal as well.  We couldn’t manage dessert. Back to our hotel, a spa bath and good night’s sleep.

A tight corner for the buses!!

Inside the church

16^th April: We booked a hop on and off tour bus round the city.  This was a open top double decker and gave a commentary in English.  It was a great way to see the sights and hear the stories behind the different items of interest.  It took us around the coast road and then up into the hills to the Chapel de la Garde.  This chapel is amazing inside and has recently been restored to its original glory.  The mosaic ceilings are just stunning.  The road up to the chapel was very twisty and narrow and we had several very close calls with cars and other buses.  Credit to our driver, he certainly knew where to put his vehicle so that he could get round the corners.  The Port area was preparing for the Marseilles Marathon with over 36,000 runners competing the next day and on our wanders around the town we saw three different groups protesting.  An animal rights protest, a Kurdish protest and another one that we couldn’t make out what their message was.  As evening began to draw nearer, the crowds were getting thicker and thicker.  The wide streets were packed and the sidewalk cafes and bars were full.  We decided to go to the hotel restaurant and  have the local famous dish “Buillobaise” which is kind of like a fish stew/soup thing.  It was terrible and at 21 euros a bowl, we had to eat it.  It was a khaki greeny/brown colour and looked like the sludge that you get from the bottom of a fish tank.   It tasted very gritty.  There were large chunks of fish in the sludge and also about six mussels in their shells.  We were not impressed with it at all.  Again we had a huge serving so back up to our room , another lovely spa bath and to sleep.

Boullibaise

17^th April: Sleep in this morning so down to a quick breakfast as we wanted to catch the boat out to the Isle of If.  This is a small island within view of Marseilles and there was a fort built on there in the 1500’s to protect the port.  In later years it was turned into a prison and has housed mostly political prisoners (protestants) who opposed the King at the time.  It is also the location that Alexander Dumas used to set his fiction novel The Count of Monte Christo.  The fortress is fairly sparse and most of the displays seemed to show the book rather than the history of the fort.  There is another island nearby which had a marina and a few shops.  Lots of people got off there with swimming gear and chilly bins.  Nice beaches are fairly hard to find although it is the Mediterranean coast.  Mostly cliffs and rocky outcrops.  Back to the station and on the train for Nice. 





 

Our Lady of the Guard.  Built on the highest point so that she is able to bless the sailors as they leave the port.
The statue on top stands 11.20m tall and weighs 9796kg on her own.  The bell just below her weighs 8234kg and stands 2.50m.  The clapper in the bell alone weighs 387kg.  The baby jesus wrist measures 1.10m. This all stands on top of a hill which ia 147.85m in altitude.   It was bloody steep!!!

Disneyland in Paris:

Wow, what a great place to spend time.  We excitedly packed our gear and headed for the International station in London to connect with Eurostar train to Paris.  We got to the station in plenty of time and took our pre printed tickets to the gate for the no fuss boarding.  The gate wouldn’t let us through!!! We scanned it again, no luck!.  An attendant came up and offered to help and she looked at the ticket and said this is for yesterday!!!  I looked at Rod in horror!!! What have I done.  She said I needed to go to the ticket office to purchase a new ticket.  We went along to the ticket office and I went up to a nice young man and explained that I was new to this and have never travelled overseas before (You know the story that you give when you’re grovelling!!)  He said wait a minute he would have to see his supervisor.  He then came back and said we would have to get new tickets ad that would be £189 thank you.  Oh no!!  I said oh well I guess I need to check more carefully in future.  He issued the new tickets and then handed them over and said Keep your money to spend on something else.   I couldn’t believe my luck.  I thanked him very and then departed quickly before he could change his mind.

So, onto the train.  What a lovely smooth ride.  We had a carriage with comfy seats and a drop down tray in front.  The 2 hr 25 mins trip took hardly any time at all and the tunnel under the channel was through in no time at all.  French countryside was very similar to the English.   Paddocks are quite large and not a lot of stock to be seen.  We arrived at Paris and promptly got confused .  Rod eventually found a very nice man who could speak english and was in a ticket booth.  He set us on the right path to Disneyland.  The park is amazing and the rides and things to see and do are incredible.  We became kids again, riding on the rides, buying candyfloss, wandering about looking at the wonderful sights.  The parade was on at 5pm and we were lucky enough to get a place where we could see the parade several times.  What a grand, colourful parade it is.  The Disney characters old and new on beautifully designed floats.  The characters that impressed me the most were of course the Winnie the Pooh float and the soldiers from the Toy Story.  They were so like the ones in the film.  Rod and I rode the merry go round from Mary Poppins, The Peter Pan flight to Never never land and even Space Mission 2 (which was hard, fast and flipped us all over the place.  We went on the small world boat ride through all the dolls of the world and also the old steam train round the whole park.  We stayed in a hotel on site and it was a mexican them one.  Breakfast was well supplied and there was a free bus to the park continuosly running. The park was open from 7am till 10pm so there was plenty of time to see it all.  I would add photos but have had a glitch in that I have sent my photos home to Melanie and thought I had copied them but I didn't.  She will send them back to me and I will add them then.

Weekend of 12th & 13th February 2011

This was the weekend before the mid term break so we decided to spend the days fairly quietly at the London Museum of Transport.  This is near convent garden which is where we were the week before.  As we were making our way from the tube station we came across these huge trucks with spotlights and scaffolding all around.  There were crews busy building awnings and the streets were closed to traffic.  We wandered around the corner and discovered that they were preparing for the BAFTA award ceremony the next day.  There was a huge red carpet out and awnings leading up to the Opera House.  What a pity we were a day early.  We carried on to the Museum of London Transport where the huge buildings that were once flower markets house an amazing display of vehicles through the ages and the history of the tube as well.  A fascinating display that was full of information.  Of course, Rod was entranced and so we spent a good part of the day there.#

From there we headed for Harrods where we (well I was anyway!!) were astounded by the displays and the variety of goods available.  Each room is allocated to a particular group of things such as the seafood area, meat area, cheese area and of course chocolate area.  The ceilings and adornments on each room fitted the theme and it was so beautiful.  Being the weekend before Valentines Day, the fine foods area was particularly busy and beautifully decorated with hearts etc.  They even had heart shaped cheese that was coloured red.  We wandered into the meat department and saw some NZ Wagu beef for £       per kilo.  Rod was horrified.  On upstairs to the toy department where they had all sorts of displays and might I add lots of harassed Mums and Dads trying to get their children out without a purchase. Looking around I think the children were winning the battle.  There were separate rooms for boy’s toys, girls toys, babies, soft toys etc.  At each place there were also life size teddies, figures made from Lego and an array of other things to catch the eye.  Funnily enough, I came out of Harrods with a lovely bag of goodies but for some reason they have all gone home to Melanie, Jamee lee and Phillip & Amy.  Rod and I seemed to have missed ourselves out yet again.  We then dragged our weary souls home at the end of another day exploring.  Sunday we were up and off to explore the area and shops in

Oxford St

.    We arrived to absolutely packed streets.  We couldn’t believe how busy it was.  But all the shops were still closed.  Shopping doesn’t start till 12.00 on Sundays.  Boy, I would hate to be on the other side of the doors when they were opened, there were hundreds of people outside every big store.  We wandered down to the end of the road to see the Marble Arch.  This was a gift for Queen Victoria and built by the architect John Nash in 1828 for the front of Buckingham Palace but she didn’t like it so purposely had a carriage made that was too wide for the arch so it had to be moved.  So it was plonked at the bottom of

Oxford St

where the Tyburn gallows used to be. Prisoners were dragged up from Newgate Prison and stood upon a wooden cart. The horses were then whipped and ran away, leaving them to dangle from a noose. An estimated 50,000 people were put to death between 1300 and 1783.

  There is also a horse’s head that apparently weighs 6 tonnes and stands 27 feet high.  It is made of bronze and has been in the park for the last two or three years.  On the other side of the road there are the jellybabies (that’s what I call them anyway).  They are cute coloured figurines and again they have just been put there to refurbish the park.  We also went to another department store that is along similar lines to Harrods and it is called Selfridges.  They have the beautifully ornate front entrance with a revolving door and again being Valentines weekend they had beautiful displays.