Category: Travel

Farewell Romania – Hello England!

Leaving beautiful Romania… but going to equally beautiful England… I wasn’t expecting to visit Great Britain again for some time, but restrictions changing made this the best next destination for me… By the way, I have ceased calling the area “the United Kingdom”, as they haven’t felt all that ‘united’ for some time – but I prefer “Great Britain” anyway… it harks back to ‘my’ era of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras…

So, on to my journey…

I love how these clouds actually follow the landscape! If there are any meteorologists reading this post, please reach out and tell me why this is so… Thanks!

Champagne breakfast… Delightful…

After staring at and play with this “coat hoot” button for ages, I finally asked the man in the seat near me if he knew how it worked… This lead to a wonderful conversation with my fellow traveller – a fascinating man who is a multi-talented artist in several disciplines, and turned out to be very much a kindred spirit… and yes, he did help me get it sorted! (one turns then pulls, if you are ever in need of a coat hook)

Arrived at Heathrow for a four-hour layover… and was fascinated by yet another button… this time a supposedly “self-cleaning” elevator button… really………….? The sweet man pushing my wheelchair said as far as he knew it was the same button that had always been there – just now with a sticker above it… Hmmmmm…

…a view of times gone by………

…and arrival at my beautiful hotel… I am here just for a week or so to get settled and sorted, then have rented a pretty little cottage for the duration of my stay…

The staff here are ever so lovely – and it’s like being in an old-fashioned family sit-com… they are hilarious and just wonderful…

…and the view from my balcony… bliss!

~ Bella

Farewell to the UK

All packed and ready for another adventure, this time to the Riviera del Brenta in Italy.

My flight departed from Edinburgh, so I decided to stay a couple of days in Dalmahoy, a lovely 18th century mansion – also where James VI of Scotland (who became James I of England) stayed in 1589 in the castle that was on the site before the current building.

…and I had booked one of their prettiest rooms – only to find when I arrive that it is at the top of the oldest part of the hotel and there is no elevator (look down and down and down at those staircases)…………… oh, well… I just had to consider it part of my physio… 🙂

Friday was a bit wet and dreary, and since there were three movies at the cinema I wanted to see and the nearest cinema was one of the type with comfy armchairs – I decided to see them all!

‘Judy’ – followed by ‘Ad Astra’ – followed by ‘Downton Abbey’.

…and home in time for cocktails…

At the airport, there was pandemonium when it was announced that only one piece of hand luggage was allowed…

Flying over the River Forth…

…and buongiorno Italia…

Picked up my rental car and stayed overnight at a cute little family-run place just near Lake Como… but more on that in my next post…

~ Bella

Private jet from Milan to Glasgow

Arrived at the private airport in Milan… greeted by a person who already knew my name, and porters already unpacking the vehicle as I am welcomed into the building…

My pilot came to introduce himself…

…and then we were whisked off to the jet, that was already loaded, ready to depart…

Scotland below…

England to the Isle of Man

Since I was stuck, I figured I may as well treat myself to a lovely dinner at the hotel into which I had booked for the night…

Oh, and this is my beloved Prince (hard-top convertible) waiting patiently for me…

The next morning, I arose to go to get the boat, only to find it was still out of service… but they expected it to be operational by the afternoon… so, more exploring…

Finally, I get a message that the boat is leaving at 3:00am – yes, that is AM… so I figured I would pass the time back at the beach…

…and finally…………………………..

So much for our 3:00am departure… At 4:30am we begin boarding…

Not a sight I expected to see half way between the mainland and Isle of Man…

…as the sun is rising…

…and I had fallen in love with the island before we even docked…

Driving through Douglas, on my way to the glorious bnb in which I was staying…

…and upon my arrival, find Laurence had arranged for flowers to be in my room to greet me… After such a long couple of days, that made me feel ever so special…

…and now for some much needed sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep……………..

~ Bella

Heavenly private flight from Ireland to England

For several reasons, I decided to treat myself to a private flight from Ireland to England – and I could not have been more delighted with my choice…

Arriving at the private lounge…

…am then taken to my very own conference room to await my flight…

The captain came in to say hello… Captain Thomas Mueller owns the plane and is the youngest operator of private charter flights in Europe.

The lovely staff at the private lounge…

After going through a private security screening, my luggage is whisked away by a porter and the captain and I are transported out to the plane…

This pride and joy is a Diamond DA42 and was like riding in an airborne limo…

Oh, and re the photo below… If you note the DHL plane earlier – these guys are going to pull it across the tarmac area for charity…

It was funny getting into the aircraft, I needed to step on the seat and so took off my shoes – the captain and first officer both said, “no, you can leave your shoes on”, to which I replied, “I’m a girlie girl – we do not stand on furniture with shoes!” LOL! That made both the flight officers and ground crew laugh…

Our First Officer, Jonas Bielkevicius, was also our pilot-in-training, and he did an excellent job.

…and this is what flying normally looks like…

…and now we were sitting on the tarmac for longer than it took to load the plane and get to this point…

…but eventually we get the go ahead to get into line…

…and take off…

…and after only around 40 minutes, Liverpool landing strip comes into view…

…and a perfect touchdown…

My driver is awaiting me on the tarmac…

…and once my luggage is deplaned and loaded into the limo, we head off…

…and see an unusual sight along the way…

My only challenge now is that the entire experience was SO perfect, I don’t know how I will ever go back to commercial flying! LOL!

Oh, well… Not a bad problem to have…

Thank you again to Captain Thomas and First Officer Jonas from Franconia. You were wonderful!

~ Bella

Budapest to Vienna via Bratislava, Slovakia

Although I forgot to program fine weather into the holodeck for this trip, I had a marvellous time travelling by road from Budapest to Vienna, with a stop-off in Bratislava in Slovakia.

While there are no border crossings for passport checking and the like, one does need to have a sticker for the particular country’s highways on which one wants to travel – so there are what look like toll booths with kiosks from which such stickers may be purchased. This is the one going from Hungary to Slovakia…

…and then on to Bratislava (and apologies about the rain-blurred images…)

This part of the world certainly likes statues of military guys with no heads… Note to self: at some point, find out what that is all about!

The view overlooking the mighty Danube is impressive, even in the rain…

…and then down into the old town…

This (below) is the same fountain as you will see in an early photo a little later…

Bratislava is known for its quirky street art – and it seems Napoleon had a hard night…

…and misplaced his shoes…

This little guy is world-famous… Meet Cumil, the sewage worker…

This is where my driver and I stopped and had a delicious lunch…

…and then across the way to the patisserie…

This (below) is the photo of the fountain to which I alluded earlier…

A woman I find fascinating – Sisi, aka Empress Elisabeth of Austria…

This door is magnificent!

…then on to Austria…

…and buying another sticker – they are available both single journey and annual passes.

Welcome to the outskirts of Vienna…

…where if it doesn’t move, it is tagged (although thankfully, the street artists are very respectful of historic buildings)

…the beautiful River Danube…

…and finally…… THIS is the view from the apartment I have leased for a month!

Welcome to the world-famous Vienna Opera House…

…and as the sun sets, the lights come on, and it appears even more magical…

What a delightful day!

Goodnight, my Friends… Sweet dreams…

~ Bella

Swiss Alps Rail Journey – Zurich to Budapest (Part 2 of 2)

Some people will do anything to get out of work, including burying their tractor in snow…

Another soul out for a solitary walk……..

This one is walking his horse from somewhere through nowhere to I guess somewhere…

Aliens have arrived – this is their craft…

Arriving in Budapest train station…

Look up – it is stunningly beautiful!

Even the ride back to the hotel in the limo was beautiful…

…and to my GLORIOUS hotel, built in 1914…

Because I didn’t arrive until around 10:00pm, when I arrived reception advised me that I only had a few minutes to decide if I wanted something to eat. I said I didn’t feel like a full meal at that time of night, but would love a drink and something upon which to nibble…

This greeted me when I came downstairs to the bar…

Oh, and I shared this with a friend on my way… I can get my head around ‘nachster halt’ meaning ‘next stop’…

…but there is no way I would have worked out that’s what this meant in Hungarian!

After a fabulous night’s sleep, this is the view from my window in the morning… Lovely old architecture…

Lots more to come so stay tuned…

~ Bella

Farewell England – Hello Switzerland

It has been quite the ordeal getting to this point, but I have finally left England yet again. 🙁

After being quite ill for almost four weeks, then packing up the house and putting everything into storage, I finally left beautiful Torquay on a magical sunny day…

…drove five hours up to Liverpool to put Prince (beloved car) into storage (I am coming back from Ireland by boat and we dock at Liverpool) – then checked into a lovely hotel right in the heart of Liverpool city…

…and for a fine hotel, the fact that they had a special for guests in their restaurant for two courses only 17.99… Yum! First course, scallops (that were beyond delicious!)…

…followed by steak Diane… that sizzled for a good five minutes after it arrived…

The view from my window…

Parts of Liverpool look lovely…

…and I am sure Lime Street Station will look lovely when they are through with the renovations…

Caught the fast train into London…

…and stayed for a couple of nights at the Tower Hotel. Wouldn’t recommend the hotel itself, but the location was heavenly!

I love beautiful architecture and the Tower Bridge is yet another stunning example of when people actually cared about creating a functional monument that was also incredibly beautiful.

Here, below, are several photos of the bridge as the sun sets behind her… (taken through the windows of the bar upstairs at the hotel)

Looking at these windows as the lights come on, reminds me of the movie “Hugo”…

…and perfect reading material…

I realised that I had left my coat in Prince, so of course one had to go into Oxford Street to go shopping for another… Upon my return, a late, leisurely lunch…

The marina next to the hotel…

I feel very blessed – when I checked out I asked for a taxi to take me to St Pancras Station, only to have the concierge tell me that the road had been closed, so I would need to schlep my way up the hill on foot, dragging my luggage behind…

“Ah yes – no. That is not going to happen,” was my response, followed by, “I have faith in you, sir! I know you can twitch your nose and find me a ride…”

After asking me to take a seat, within less than 10 minutes a taxi mysteriously arrived to take me to the station.

If you haven’t travelled on the Eurostar from London to Paris, it’s just like going through security at an airport, only waaaaaaay less people, and much more civilised.

…and back to my comment about when people cared about what they built… Look at the beautiful tiles around the iron-work in the ceiling…

Onboard – and Eurostar is just lovely!

Farewell, London…

The seats have everything you could want – including mirror and two different types of power outlets.

Going into France by road looks like it is nothing like the ridiculously long queues to go from the USA to Canada or from USA to Mexico…

Through the “chunnel”, out the other side, and I caught sight of a pink commuter train – love it!

Arrived at Paris Gare de Lyon and then hightailed it across the city to Paris Gare du Nord for my connection to Zurich…

Whereas first class on the Eurostar from London to Paris included delicious meals and wine in real glasses… first class from Paris to Zurich included a welcome drink in a plastic cup and snack for which you had to pay extra!

…and this is the majestic sight that greets one at the exit from Zürich Hauptbahnhof…

…view from the car on the way to my hotel…

…and the view from my window (it looks a little dingy in these photos, but is actually very lovely and quaint…

The hotel is right in the absolute centre of the city and is just lovely – small, quaint, friendly… and it even comes with a Samsung tablet for travel guide, alarm clock etc…

…and yes, that is a hat. I’m a girlie-girl… 🙂

…and after a wonderful night’s sleep, this is the view downstairs – I stayed in bed working until about noon before greeting the day…

Never again!

That’s what I say every time I fly these days… “Never again!”

…and then the time comes to get from A to B and I think, “it must be better this time…”

OK, let me backtrack on this particular journey…

While my apartment in Sligo on the Irish west coast was in a fabulous location as far as view and walking distance to everything, it was also within a 3 minute walk for 11 bars! Needless to say that every single night except Monday and Tuesday, until at least 3:00am, sometimes even 5:00am, it was impossible to sleep due to the music, rabble and brawls…

I wasn’t scheduled to leave Ireland until September 1st, but I finally reached that point where enough is enough and although I had paid for it until the end of the month, I left the apartment, drove across country, checked into a hotel for a couple of days (just to get some sleep!) before flying back to England.

Well, I don’t know what sleep gods I offended, but on my last night in the hotel in Balbriggan, just north of Dublin Airport, around 10:00pm a man walked into my room! I was already curled up in bed, all the lights were off and I was watching some television, about to go to sleep.

When I screamed, he said, “sorry, wrong room” and left – and he did have a spray bottle in his hand, and was wearing all black, so seemed legit as a hotel cleaner – however it wasn’t until later (I was still wide awake after that well past 2:00am!) I wondered why he made it all the way through to the bedroom without turning on any lights..?

When I checked out, I told reception what had happened and they said that there were no cleaners scheduled at that time of night…

Anyway… Apart from another night with no sleep, no harm done…

I returned my rental car at 9:00am and by 9:30am was at the counter to check in for my 12:30am flight to Exeter…

10:30am we are still at the vacant counter…

11:15am finally someone comes to open the counter and check us in… however I was informed that, despite me phoning the airline the day prior and discovering that I could pay 68 Euro for up to 46 pounds (my luggage was just under that) at the airport, they wanted to charge me 693 Euro!!! That’s over $800 USD!!! When I said that was crazy and questioned it, they said that Dublin airport charges more than the airline.

“But I didn’t contract with Dublin airport to get me to Exeter – I contracted Flybe and they quoted me 68 Euro..!”

After a half hour wrangle including management, my luggage was finally accepted for 68 Euro…

Then came the joy of going through security… These guys seriously need a hug because at one point, one of them yelled at a passenger who had a couple of trays in front of them, “If you don’t stack them up down here, you will never get on your plane!” I felt like responding, “sir, we don’t work here, you do!” but figured it was best to remain silent.

After my carry-on went through three times (they kept wanting to check this and that – and only one in about twenty was let through on the first screening) and my vitamin bottles were opened to be checked, I finally advised them my flight was boarding… which it was! …although it still took me another few minutes to repack my bag that had basically been upended…

12:25pm I arrive at my gate – thankfully the flight had been delayed…

Remind me “never again” next time I say I am going to fly somewhere! Hmmmm, I have already booked my flight to Reykjavik in February – I wonder if there are any boats that go that way?

Finally……….. On board, up in the air, and England comes in to view!!! (well, more precisely Wales)…

After being puzzled that there was no border patrol to stamp my passport (last time I checked, the bottom part of Ireland is not part of the UK!), I collect my luggage and my wonderful taxi company is there to greet me…

Chatting with the driver on the way back to Torquay (about a thirty minute drive) we were discussing the fact that the English get a bad wrap for what some would say is being overly well-mannered (“we bump into a phone pole and apologise”), I said how much I had actually missed people apologising to telephone poles! 🙂

Finally, we arrive at my home away from home for the next few days until my apartment is ready on the 1st… and I couldn’t be happier…

View from the front door of my unit…

This is actually a photo of the whirly fairground thingummy on the beach below…

There was a band playing on the terrace however at 8:00pm the band stopped playing – at 10:00 on the dot the music volume was turned waaaaay down; at 10:50pm it was turned off; and almost as if someone flicked a switch, at 11:00pm…… silence!

It took me ages to actually get to sleep as my body was so sore from the hassle of the travel plus still being so over-tired – but once I did get to sleep, I barely stirred until I awoke just before 8:00am…

…and still not even a murmur outside apart from the sea birds…

It wasn’t until 8:10am until I even faintly heard another noise…

My bed is sooooooo comfy! My unit in the hotel, while a little old, is just perfect! Perfect (very large) size; perfect position… right next to the door to the gym and pool!

So, after doing some work, I changed and walked literally about 20 feet to the door to the pool!

After an hour or so of swimming, floating, and some of the best physio I have done in ages (and I was the only soul there!), I walked back, showered, and dressed to meet a dear friend for lunch… just in time as I was walking out the door, housekeeping arrived to clean my unit! Perfect!

It was too hot to sit outside on the terrace, so I am happily perched in the conservatory…

I am back in Torquay, and I am HOME. I am HOME.

~ Bella

First Class Overnight Train from Vienna to Roma

Ostia, here I come!

My wonderful limousine company picked me up from the lovely hotel in which I stayed while in Vienna and deposited me at Wien Hauptbahnhof, more commonly known as Wien HBF – the main train station in Vienna.

…and btw, those of us old enough to know what it means to “spend a penny” will appreciate this… One needs to exchange money for the convenience, however the penny now needs to be 50 cents! Talk about inflation! 🙂

Now up to the platform to await my train… along with a gazillion teenagers.

According to Rail Europe, one’s carriage and room is clearly marked… Me thinks the word “clearly” was lost in translation somewhere as the only indication of which carriage was which were small stickers on the inside window of the carriage doors… (so you can imagine the scrambling over one another that was occurring as everyone was attempting to find their allotaced conveyance) – and once on the correct carriage, my ticket said my room was number 11. The only problem with that was that there were only eight rooms on the carriage…

Minor technicality I thought – only to have the steward tell me that 11 didn’t really mean 11 – it mean 1. Of course, I should have known that (not!).

So, now safely curled up in room 11 or 1, we set off… Auf wiedersehen, Wien!

In my room awaiting me were the newspaper (and a very cute baby giraffe on the cover!)…

…some slippers, a towel, and some goodies…

…coat-hangers…

…and a bottle of Prosecco!

After we were underway for about 20 minutes, the steward came by, took my breakfast order and made up my bed – that I have to say was VERY comfortable!

Once I found where everything was located and settled in, I curled up early and listened to the beginning of “The Shack” audio-book. One of my clients told me how much she enjoyed the movie and I figure, unless I want to see it in the cinema in Italian, it will be some time before it comes out on-demand – so to the book I went.

Eventually, I turned everything off and curled up to a better-than-expected sleep. I love trains (particularly steam trains, but I didn’t see any that went between Vienna and Rome so…) and I find something soothing in the sound and rocking…

That is, until 1:20AM when the train skidded (literally) to a halt, throwing me into the wall (thankfully I wasn’t facing the other direction or I would have ended up on the ground) and my bags skidding across the floor!

Almost immediately everything went silent – no motors, no sound of air conditioner… Nothing.

I thought we might have hit a cow or something and as I opened the blind, was expecting to see black nothingness on the other side.

Instead, I saw what looked like some type of maintenance stop.

We were there for about 15 minutes before the motors and air conditioner etc restarted – and then another 5 minutes or so before we again started off…

No idea what happened, but we ended up arriving in Roma 20 minutes late so me thinks this was not a scheduled stop…

Morning breaks and I see out of my window scenes stereotypical of Italy…

…and then – breakfast in bed!

About forty minutes later, we arrive in Rome…

…oh, and I don’t know if you can make them out, but there are beautiful vines all over the building in the background…

Now, this photo below is not what it seems… It looks like the cars are waiting for that man to cross the road. HARDLY!!! Crossing the road here is like playing Frogger! It just so happens, both vehicles were stopped to let people in/out/whatever…

…and yes, they are automatic weapons they are carrying…

My limo driver and I had a little difficulty finding each other – especially as he spoke very little English and I have yet to get a handle on Italian – but we eventually connected and then off we set for Ostia…

…driving through Rome, there are nuns everywhere!

Founded during ‘my time’ (LOL!), Ostia was established in 1884 next to the remains of Ostia Antica – the original port city of ancient Rome.

This, below, is a shot of where my apartment is – right in the heart of everything and literally 100 meters or so from the sea…

This is the view from the front door of my building – and I feel the bar next door will become one of my favourite spots… second only to my balcony here in the penthouse where I look forward to curling up for hours and writing…

Below is said balcony – currently devoid of furniture as there was a big storm recently so the owner put everything out of harm’s way – that is, after one of the tables literally blew off the roof!

View from my balcony… It’s not massive, but I like it.

The bathroom has a spa-type feel…

Downstairs, literally around the corner is the local butcher…

This is a shot of the next-door bar from around the corner…

Turns out Saturday is marketS day – that is market plural… You turn a corner – there is another market. You walk a few hundred yards – another market!

From what I have seen thus far, Ostia is overall not what I would call a pretty place – it wears its challenges, grime, and litter very openly… but on the other hand, it is extremely vibrant – and there are pockets that are stunningly beautiful.

This is the market to which I am headed next Saturday to do my weekly vegetable shopping! …and I couldn’t find anywhere near where I was in Vienna that had natural organic massage oil… Hey presto! …and my first transaction conducted entirely in Italian (as the stall holders did not speak a word of English).

Now, you might think this Mercedes is driving through the intersection – yes? No – he is parked.

This little white zot is turning left, yes? No – he is parked as well.

Perhaps the driver of this yellow thing is sitting there waiting for someone? No – they are parked just like the ones further up the street.

…and yet another optical illusion that people give way at crossings… The cars closest to me – parked. The cars furthest away – parked. The white on in the middle? Stopped to let someone out.

…and finally, a lovely restaurant for lunch (even if they do have very uppity staff and are over-priced)… but since they are so close to home and so beautiful, I will probably be back…

Not sure what I ordered (LOL) but I know it was fish (that much I could translate) and it tasted like a cross between tuna and pork – with the consistency of swordfish. It was delicious – or make that, delizioso!

…and now I am safely back in casa mia…

Wishing you a truly glorious weekend, my Friends!

~ Bella