Leila has had an adventure on the farm, learning how to run after the other dogs, avoid those massive horses and follow the red quad bike. After doing so well for several months in this environment she then took a more comfortable homely stance in the Sunbury resort. 

She seemed to handle it all in her stride, lapping up the love and attention and giving plenty of enjoyment as she prepared to go back to her real home with Nat, Quade and baby Lyla.

As usual the foaling season from September to Xmas is a busy and tiring time for Mel.  It is usually punctuated by sleepless nights while watching monitors connected to cameras in the stables where the mares are waiting to give life to a new foal.  A total of 8 this year with some lovely images of the care and attention these new foals need to, not only bring into the world, but to also grow into the strong horses.
Here are some of the images from the farm.

Our final few days was spent in a very hot Rome. But this did not stop us doing all the Rome things like St Peters, Pantheon and Colosseum.

Our trip home turned into a 52hr epic after we were held up in Rome due to a bushfire in a pine forest adjacent to the airport.  Result was that we landed in Istanbul at 1am having missed our connection to Singapore.

Our balcony overlooking Lake Como and Varenna. We have decided after a week that we could definitely take more and that Varenna is the prettiest town on the lake.

But we were here to explore, and that we did.  Day 1 explored the middle lake area including Villa Carlotta and Bellaggio.  Day 2 was a 2.5hr excursion to the bottom of the left leg of the Lake and the township of Como. Day 3 had us travel to the top of the lake for a surprising day with the target being a 7th century Priory in Piona. Day 4 was a long journey into Switzerland by the famous Bernina Express that took us to StMoritz.  And day 5 the girls did some shopping and visited the Villa Monastero, which is even more elaborate than Villa Carlotta and can be found in downtown Varenna.

Water trips just gave endless views of lovely villas on the water.  It is like Lake Eildon (with steady water level) after 100 billion dollars spent on development over the past 200 years.

Had fun on the day to Piona.  This little monastery was visited infrequently by the water bus so we chose to go via water and then catch a train back to our Fiumelatte station.  We were surprised by a full 3 course meal offered on the water bus (best salmon meal according to Marg). We were then surprised as we pulled into shore with a bush track leading up from the water and no evidence of a town.  Not deterred we visited the 7th century priory.

With train tickets in hand we found the non-English speaking kitchen staff who informed that Piona township was 6km away (over the hill), there was a train station, but no trains today.  Ooops. No water bus either. 

We finally negotiated a taxi from town who took us on a wonderful excursion through the mountains. He laughed when we arrived at the concrete block called the station when Marg asked if we needed to hail the train as it passes.

Bernina Pass was to be a highlight.  One of the best train trips in the world leaving Italy, Tirano, and traveling over the Bernina Pass to St Moritz and beyond.  Long day (7am to 9pm in the end) gave us some great sights, lucky with the weather and around 300 photographs.  One of the highlights was coming back in the standard train (not the tourist train we used going up) which had two open carriages on the back. Marg called it a big kids theme ride.  Luckily, unlike people we met who came down on the train one hour later, we did not get massive rain and thunderstorm that brewed up in minutes over the alps.

Regretfully our journey is coming to an end but we still have Rome to conquer.  I think a few have failed in that over the millennia but I think we are up to the task.

Finally, fair warning.  We have several thousand pictures.  Future dinner parties are likely to be cursed for a while until we get Europe out of our system.

We have finished our Danube cruise through Slovakia and ending in Hungary at Budapest.  As you can imagine there were heaps more monolithic churches and history dripping from every building.  Our final lunch was spent looking out over the Danube from the Buda side.

As we leave the ship, and a great bunch of 18 people who we have shared wonderful experiences over the past couple of weeks, we head off on our own adventure to Italy.  Next stop Venice.  A little shuffle back to Prague but no problems.  Well almost no problem.  Many of you would know the sinking feeling as the carousel stops and all bags are off and yours has not yet to arrived.  Venice was looking like the place that Marg was to replenish her wardrobe! This is going to be an expensive trip...aaah.
To our relief, while waiting in the long queue for lost baggage, the carousel started again for the next flight and Marg's bag was first to come up the chute. Luck applies to those who do not panic.

What a magic city!  It might be hot and humid but it is a full-on adventure every time you go out on the streets/canals.

I would not even attempt to summarise the 200 photos (first morning only). The one above was snapped on Marg's new iphone as we were wandering around the Rialto markets.
We have spent our time walking the islands (including Murano, glass) in the mornings and are back in our decompression chamber by mid afternoon sipping on a cool G&T.  Then back out again by 7pm for the evening.

Next stage of the journey is to Milan where we expect to find Judy waiting to join us at Lake Como.  With some regret we leave Venice, a hot but intriguing city that is unique in the world.

Before getting to the Danube we spent a very hot day in Berlin, reflecting on the craziness of the Berlin Wall and the on to the opulence of the summer houses in outer Berlin area of Potsdam. One of the highlights was the Holocaust Monument.  A field of austere concrete blocks representing the streets and overpowering oppression of the Nazi hold over the Jews.  Most notable is the monument placed specifically over the grave of Gobbels to signify the ultimate winner. A significant place for this part of history was the Brandenberg Gate.  It was the scene for many speeches, including the US President, Ronald Regan, and symbolized to ultimate falling of the wall on 12 June 1987. This was
during the commemoration of 750th anniversary of Berlin.

The Sanssouci Palace is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart.

Well at least it is the start of the Main-Danube-Canal.  We boarded ship before then doing a day around Nuremberg checking out the Nazi propaganda machine that was in full flight in Nuremberg in 1939 and is now the site of the Trials of war criminals.

Then starts a kaleidoscope of massive churches in medieval towns across the very old trading route down the Danube.  This started in Regensburg, moved to Passau, Melk, Vienna and on to Slovakia (Bratoslovia)

Seems that they are making up for it now.  But probably the most spectacular part of the Salzburg visit was the St Peters cemetery. The cemetery grounds are known for its 'catacombs' carved out of the conglomerate rocks of the Festungsberg. They probably date back to around 300 AD, when they served as an Early Christian place of assembly and hermitage.

In between the cities was the cruising down the Danube.  Although a lot is done at night we did enjoy the cruise down the Wachau Valley with its many old vineyards and spectacular medieval castles and towns.

We have spent a lot of time learning and seeing the places associated with the WW2 throughout our trip through the Czech Republic and Poland.  These horrors have been captured in our diary but I will not dwell on this in this article.
Instead the focus is on churches and castles.
Our tour group for this leg out east is only 18 so, with a large bus at our disposal, it is very luxurious as we have about 2-3 seats each.  Added to this the bus driver is right on queue with the fridge on board full of water and beer.  At the end of each day the last hour has the boys up the back with a few tinnies and a packet of chips bought at the last stop.

Day 3 and we are off to Kutna Hora (Mining Mountain).  As we find out this was one of the richest areas in early Czech/Bohemian history being a town built around the silver rush. The earliest traces of silver have been found dating back to the 10th century, when Bohemia already had been in the crossroads of long-distance trade for many centuries.
This tour offered a suitable rival to StVitus Cathedral.  Built during these very affluent times the King of Czechoslovakia would have residence amongst the silver mines and would start the process of minting silver coins.

A day's journey and plenty of evidence of the industrialised Czech Republic transforming to the more agricultural Poland.
Arrived in Krakow and greeted by our hotel and a surprising city.  Not the old world charm of Prague until you get right into the town square but beautifully green in the gardens that surround (built on the old moat). And it did not take long for Marg to find the shopping market.

Set on the banks of Poland’s Vistula River, the Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill constitute the most historically and culturally important site in Poland. For centuries the residence of the kings of Poland and the symbol of Polish statehood.
We heard the legend of the fire breathing dragon and walk the coronation path from the castle to the city square.
The next part of the tour was really surprising, the Wieliczka salt mine.  It reaches a depth of 327 metres (1,073 ft) and is over 287 kilometres long. The rock salt is naturally grey in various shades and has been carved into many underground monuments, including (you guessed it) another cathedral.  This site was very important in the middle ages as, without refrigeration, salt was highly prized to preserve food.  White gold they say and this mine was the major world source.

All carved out of rock salt.

The tour of Auschwitz was part of the day to Warsaw.  We had already done Terezin, a Jewish Ghetto town near Prague, and Oskar Schindler's factory, so we were well prepared for this tour.  But really no-one can be prepared. The scale and brutality left us feeling chilled.  A pilgrimage that will not be forgotten.
To brighten the mood our next stop off was at Jasna Gora where a 'black Madonna' is the centre of attention for many devotees.  I commented that this place, in the middle of Poland, must be where all the buses go - there were literally hundreds of them parked here and of course all the people from them on site.
The only comment I could make when we came out was - breathtaking.

Our final stop in Poland was Warsaw.  The city has its own beauty that is quite different to Prague and Krakow.  This is primarily as a result of the Germans completely destroying (80% anyway) the whole city at the end of the war.  Add to this that the liberators, the Soviets, then ruled for another 50 years.  Therefore the city was rebuilt in Russian blocks and is very austere. The old town is incredible though with all building being rebuilt as if hundreds of years old.  Much of it looks like it is out of the middle ages but it was built less than 20 year ago.  Rebuilding continues today.

Marg and Dave have started the tour of Europe.  Watch this post for a snippet of the travels.

The ground attendant identified us as having the connection and, after a 10min bus trip, personally escorted us through transit checks, through the 000’s people and directly to our Turkish departure gate. No hastle! Another wad of expense justified.

Turkish Airline to Prague was simply another bit of the holiday.  2hr flight with chef on board (including the balloon chef hat) was just a restaurant experience. Marg reckons the best selection of olives she has had and finished off with a Turkish coffee.

On arrival in Prague we were able to check in to our accommodation for the next few days.  Grandiore Hotel is conveniently located near the Vltara River and Old Town Square.  As per normal procedure – drop bags and head out with map and get acclimatized to this world heritage city.  We seemingly wandered aimlessly (actually it was because we were a little lost most of the time!) and just took in the sights for a couple of hours.  The Old Town Square and Powder Tower in Federal Square were highlights.