Vorosmarty Ter

These few shots of the Vorosmarty Ter in the heart of Budapest just up the road from what used to be the "Shopping Street" during the former Communist era.

This is the entrance to one of the more famous restaurants in Budapest - it is called the Százéves which literally means that it is called the Hundred Years Restaurant. At one point it was in fact one hundred years old and now has actually surpassed the date of its foundation and so has a name that is no longer as reflective of its history as it once was.

None the less the last time I visited in 2005 it was still a great place to have a meal - although the prices had shot through the roof and it had of course become far more touristy than it used to be back in the 1970s.

Moszkva Tér

This is Moszkva Tér one of the central hubs of communication in Budapest Hungary. It is located on the Buda side of the Danube and contains the main terminal for trains heading to the east of Hungary and internationally. It also has both bus and subway lines connecting to it and a great little shopping area both in the underground area and of course around the entire square.

It has changed considerably over the years but during former times it is the location of most of the troop trains that came in from Russia and parts east - it was also the place from whence people were taken to the concentration camps in Poland and the Ukraine during the Second World War

A test for the all knowing traveller

Where and when was this photo taken?

It's all very well to know the where, but the WHEN is of more crucial importance!

The Parthenon

This is what it looked like in 1996. It's now 2007 and I guess it's not all that different from what it looked like when it was commenced in 447 BC.

What I learned on my visit there was that if you want something you have built last then turn to a Greek builder - those guys knew how to build things to last!

Kostas

In the heart of the Plaka in Athens there used to be a fast food joint called "Kostas". A picture of this appears at the left. It used to serve the best gyros and souvlakia in town.

I suspect that since this picture was taken the Plaka has changed and Kosta - who was no spring chicken then is probably no longer with us and it is highly unlikely that this hole in the wall will be there either.

Still, someone has to give praise to what I think of as a real historical monument.

Thanks to Kostas gyros and souvlakia I managed to eat well and cheaply. I wonder what has become of him and his hole in the wall store?

Alice Springs Telegraph Station - Take 2

Alice Springs Telegraph Station

Telegraph operators typing up a received message and sending a reply!

Alcie Springs Telegraph Station 2007

Alice Springs Telegraph Cable

The original Alice Springs!

Travel within Australia

I have often thought about the size of this country, but have never truly appreciated it before I travelled to the "Centre" and then on to Darwin returning to Canberra via Brisbane.

What struck me first was the fact that we actually experienced two films en route and also that the size of the aircraft used was similar to those used internationally for short to medium hops!

A Boeing 737 is common enough on a domestic route but a Boeing 767? That's a major increase in size and distance.

On previous occasions when I have travelled outside of Austalia I was often dimly aware that for a say an eight hour flight to Singapore the actual journey involved a lot of hours in the air over Australia and indeed the concept that we were actually in the last leg of the flight when we crossed the Australian mainland and entered the Timor Sea was something that only dimly registered.

This time flying from Darwin to Canberra with a required stop over in Brisbane simply set the scene in a way that could no longer be denied - this place is BIG!

Anyway - enough of musing about travel in planes!

Central and northern Australia is something that simply has to be seen to be believed. I have one correspondent who has remarked that the pictures I have posted elsewhere are for him reminiscent of Arizona and Utah in the USA.

I am afraid that having been to both those areas in my past travels I could not disagree more!

I am absolutely in agreement about some things, Arizona surely has some majestic canyons and plenty of red ochre colours. Utah has it's salt flats. However it is here that the comparisons end - at least in my view. Utah's salt flats are surrounded by mountains that are often covered in snow and their mountain streams rage with torrents of water in the spring. The "mountains" of Northern Australia are millions of years older and are way too small to be covered in snow and ice during the winter. In addition they are so incredibly different in look and feel. The vegetation alone, such as it is, would be staggering for someone who had only experienced vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere.

These days of course we are not only blasé about such things - having seen them in photos or in paintings. However I just have this fantasy sometimes about the early white explorers of the continent as they set out and found nothing that was really similar to anything they had heard of before or seen for themselves in their wanderings around the other half of the world.

I suspect that even today - one of the reasons that people come to the Northern Territory is to see a landscape that completely unlike anything else that they have seen - and all from the comfort of their five star hotel.

Bargain!

"Bugger - what's the right setting on this &*^% camera!"

John at sunset

The hazards of travel

Went to see my doctor today. I had been able to book an appointment only some weeks ahead thanks I thought to his busy schedule. Well when we arrived we were told that alas he would be late for the appointment thanks to a snafoo with the airlines in Canada.

An hour or more after the appointed time there he was looking refreshed changed and ready to go. He admitted at the end of the appointment as we were about to leave that he had been ready to board the aircraft in Canada when it simply disappeared off the screens - delay until the following day hence his lateness.

We thought he was OK until well after the appointment I noted the referral he had signed it was dated a month earlier than the date that he had seen me. OOPS! Disorientation as to time and place is usually an issue for us normal humans - imagine what it can do to people who are practising medicine!

The moral of this story is to expect the unexpected and to make provisions to sleep wherever you can and whenever you can when you travel on a long distance plane journey - the life you save may well be someone else's.

Normandy

These days when you visit the beaches of Normandy, there are a few memorabilia from history in combination with what is happening today.

These two pictures tend to speak for themselves, especially for those familiar with their history.

On the left are two of the gun emplacements that lined most of the coast line of France following the invasion of that country by the Germans in World War II. These guns were strategically placed to enable the defences that the Germans established following their conquest. Before the allied armies could land safely on the beaches at Normandy these weapons had to be put out of action. As can be seen the actual emplacements were heavily fortified and strengthened concrete bunkers. If you go and visit these sites you will find most of them more or less still in place. You will also see why they are in place and why they could neither be shelled or bombed out by the Allies with the technology that was available at the time. It was thanks largely to some commandos and some of the 'Resistance' fighters that these large and difficult defences were eliminated before the landings in Normandy. The history is fascinating and when you see what people were up against you will be able to appreciate at least a little what took place there.

The remaining picture on the right looks out at the mobile harbour that the allies floated right up to the beaches they were concrete piers that were floated across the English Channel and then sunk into place so that ships could dock and unload their cargoes.

When you go to the beaches at high tide it seems almost impossible to believe that anyone would be able to land and fight their way ashore. When you go at low tide and see how far the beaches extend you begin to get an idea of why these sites were chosen.

As you swim and play on the beaches these days the memories of the war so long ago usually would not come to mind - but these lasting concrete reminders are there to tease the minds of the younger generation about what actually happened and how the freedom that they currently enjoy was 'earned' through the valiant efforts of their ancestors.

Well worth a visit for just the historical reasons. The current attractions also include some of the best cheeses in France along with cider, fantastic fruit and of course some fine seafood.

Bordeaux again

Recently I featured a nice square in Bordeaux as one of the nicest in the town. This square could be one of the more interesting. Set next to a church virtually as you enter town and in the middle of what has become an area heavily populated by people of the Muslim faith, it is a trash and treasure market that is held every day.

The square is surrounded by restaurants and take away food eateries that feature middle eastern foods and the conversation in the square is as often as not filled with the sound of Arabic with various dialects in evidence. You are likely to hear the occasional French spoken, but I suspect that you would be more comfortable if you can speak Arabic.

Wonderful atmosphere and occasionally a real bargain!

When you enter Bordeaux from the highway from St Emillion and some of the other wineries you will find yourself in a street named after Victor Hugo. This square is just past the first block on your left and if you continue down Victor Hugo you will note a large under cover parking area on the right hand side which is situated just over the fresh meat and vegetable market with a long pedestrians only street immediately outside the car park.

All in all an ideal place to start your exploration of Bordeaux where everything is either within walking distance or within easy reach by the tram system

In the summer heat there is shade

If you come from Australia and the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius as it is in Sydney today then you will appreciate the value of shade.

When you travel in France there are long and lazy summer days where the temperatures can climb almost as high as they do elsewhere in the world and on those days you appreciate walking slowly in the shade as distinct from those poor tourists who are having their lunch in the sun. Still, they may be from a country a little further to the north and need the heat to thaw out from their long winters

It's all downhill from here

When you visit certain towns in France and then visit the factory that makes Macaroons make sure - as these people have done that the path back to your hotel or mobile home or caravan is ALL downhill from there - you will otherwise be too full to enjoy the experience!

Lazy summer evening in France

When you have a mobile home inviting friends around for a quick drink on a pleasant summer's evening is a snap.

Just bring out the table and chairs set them up in the most picturesqe place possible, pour the drinks and then sit back and enjoy what you are paying for - your holiday!

Some dips, crusty French bread, good Bordeaux wine (or a Cote du Rhone if you are cheap), some olives, some cheese - what more can you want from life?

Bored in Bordeaux? - Impossible!

Peter and Louise in Bordeaux - the colour scheme is completely unintentional.

This is one of the nicest squares in Bordeax. In the surrounding environment there are cafés and eateries. It is also a lovely place from which to head in virtually any direction throughout the city.

Bordeaux is a town that is well worth a visit in cas you have not been there before