2024 Middle East and Europe

Day 25 Today, we parted ways as Nook flies to Ireland for her two week Nano Nagle pilgrmage and the kids and I fly home. It was hard to say goodbye, but we hope she has a wonderful time and enjoys this couple of weeks doing something for herself and comes back renewed and refreshed. The kids and I then caught the train from Heathrow into the city as our flight didn't depart until later than night.  We went to Kings Cross station to see Platform 9 and 3/4. Along with many others we joined the long queue and waited about an hour. We didn't mind as we didn't have anything else planned and had to kill time. We then had a browse through the gift shop where they sell anything  and everything Harry Potter. We then went for a look through Harrods. Interesting to look, but a bit over the top and now really our kind of store.  By this time it was mid afternoon and we had some sushi for lunch before heading back to the airport. There were no issues getting through airport checking, ...

  Day 20 Today, we caught an Uber out to the airport to collect our hire car, ready for our 5 day circuit around SW England. We navigated our way out of the airport and naively thought we'd soon be hitting some less congested roads, but it turned out to be just as busy.  We planned our destinations around places that we've heard of or of historical interest. Most of mine were historical interest and Nook's from Escape to the Country 🥱. Our first stop was Portsmouth, approx 90 mins out of London down on the coast. The attraction here was that it was site that the first fleet left for our Great South Land. And while this event changed the course of our land and First Nations peoples, who are still feeling the impact today, nonetheless it was a historically significant time and place. I'm not sure about the statement 'Birth of Australia' and how with our current understanding of our history, this could be rephrased. We had a bite to eat there at a desolate amuseme...

Day 16 We arrived in to London on the high speed Eurostar train from Paris. It was a beautiful, comfortable trip through the French countryside and then under the English Channel with the speed getting up to nearly 300 km/h in places.  We caught an Uber to our accommodation rather than battle public transport and walking with all our luggage. Our apartment is in Queensborough which is right on Hyde Park and close to a couple of underground stations which is handy. We started our day with a walk through Hyde Park visiting the Princess Diana memorial at Kensington Palace. We were amazed at the volume of people walking, jogging and cycling. They have an abundance of bikes available which has obviously increased the number of cyclists and encourages an alternative mode of transport. You hire one from a location and can return it to any location using an app which tells you how many bikes are available and how many free spots for return. We then just strolled around the city before head...

Day 13 We arrived in to Paris mid-afternoon, which enabled us to check in to our hotel and then head to explore some the streets of this beautiful city. We immediately noticed a difference to Italy, as the streets are wider and often tree-lined. The last time I was in Paris was in 2005 with a large school group, so I didn't get a chnace to really discover this city.  We ended up walking down the Champs-Élysées, where we resisted the urge to stop into nearly every shop, however Ella found a large Sephora store and the boys the  Paris Saint-Germain F.C store, where they purchased some merchandise. We marvelled at the grandeur of the Arc de Triomphe. As it started to rain we continued walking to the Eiffel Tower and had to take cover as a spring shower came across. We then went and enjoyed a 1-hour cruise down the Seine. We were amazed at how fast flowing it is and how much power the boats needed to get upstream. Unfortunately, due to the high water level we couldn't get under th...