Summertime In Vienna
Posted On Sunday, July 26, 1998 at at 6:45 PM by AlvinAs in most European countries, Summer in Vienna was a very pleasant period to relax outdoor and enjoy the warm sunshine. The city was buzzling with enthusiastic in-line skaters, tourists from different nations crowding around the world famous monuments at Stephansplatz, local families queuing up for the rides at the amusement arcades at Praterstern as well as sunshine hungry Viennese going bare bottoms by the riverside of Danube. We made good use of the sunny weather and visited many of the city's palaces. Below was the Upper Belvedere built by Prince Engene.
By the many canals (Donauinsel) near Mandy's home, there were lots of walkways and bars where we enjoyed the green parklands and sunbathe by the canals. Paulette, my sister from San Francisco came for a short visit during this period as well.A funny side note, Paulette and I drove to Vienna from Rome via Bologna in one day (!) and we arrived at the basement of Mandy's apartment at around midnight; we then rang Mandy up and tricked her into thinking that we were still in Italy and would show up the following day; instead, five minutes after the phone call, we pressed her door bell and almost caught Mandy with her panties down. Also, we sampled the classic Spaghetti Bolognese near Piazza Maggiore in central Bologna in this province the locals called Emilia The Fat ! Yum !
When we were done with the hard life of sunbathing, we also enjoyed a beer or two at the many outdoor beer gardens, to go with the famed Viennese Pork Leg !
Holiday With The Pope !
Posted On Wednesday, July 15, 1998 at at 12:23 AM by AlvinMy sister came for a visit from San Francisco and we took her swimming in the Lago Albano which is where the Pope holidays for his Summers ! Lago Albano is a volcanoe lake near Frascati and has a smaller brother in Lago Nemi ! We spent many happy days there during our stay in Italy !
Dad and Maggie returned for a second visit to this lovely country this Summer and Enrico laid out one of his famous garden "banquets" to welcome them and of course it was fun just to see Enrico and Dad exchanged conversations through some impromptu hand gestures, plenty of nodding and always with lots of smiling ! Good job Dad ! Here is a photo of the big crowd that turned out to greet Sis, Maggie and Dad ! What a fantastic bunch of neighbours !
Dad and Maggie returned for a second visit to this lovely country this Summer and Enrico laid out one of his famous garden "banquets" to welcome them and of course it was fun just to see Enrico and Dad exchanged conversations through some impromptu hand gestures, plenty of nodding and always with lots of smiling ! Good job Dad ! Here is a photo of the big crowd that turned out to greet Sis, Maggie and Dad ! What a fantastic bunch of neighbours !
Where We Went In NZ
Posted On Friday, January 9, 1998 at at 2:27 AM by Alvin
NZ's Southern Tip - Milford Sound
Posted On Wednesday, January 7, 1998 at at 7:20 PM by AlvinThe air was so sweet at the southern tip of NZ's South Island where we visited Te Anu, Queenstown and Milford Sound. The lake water was impossibly clean and blue and the sun light played lovely shadows with the gorgeous mountain scenery - this was one good spot to live, well for Summer anyway. We took a boat trip out on to Milford Sound and experienced some fantastic scenery and the errie quietness of the Sound reminded us how little urban traffic there was around Te Anu. It was indeed a blessing to get away from the Roman motorino "brum brum brum..." for a few weeks !
Taranaki and Rotorua
Posted On Monday, January 5, 1998 at at 7:36 PM by AlvinNZ was justly famed for the country's volcanoes and fiery lakes and we experienced just that when we visited Taranaki and Rotorua. We climbed Taranaki which was a classic cone-shaped volcanoe set amongst lush tropical greenery; interestingly, half way into our 8 hours day hike of Taranaki in dense tropical vegetation, out-popped a Kiwi from the middle of nowhere, having a "casual" jog over his lunch time and he said to us "Have a good day, must fly, gotta get back before 2pm to feed the kids, see ya!". One fit guy, he was !
Our volcanoe hike was followed by a visit to the colorful lakes of Rotorua where the air was filled with sulphur fumes and the Earth's internal mighty energy showed its power in the town's many hot springs.
Our volcanoe hike was followed by a visit to the colorful lakes of Rotorua where the air was filled with sulphur fumes and the Earth's internal mighty energy showed its power in the town's many hot springs.
Tongariro Crossing
Posted On Thursday, January 1, 1998 at at 7:29 PM by AlvinThis was one of the most memorable new year days of late. We spent the whole day on the Tongariro Crossing ! We set the alarm for 630 AM and got up in time for a light breakfast cooked in the Whakapapa camp site kitchen by Mandy and then we were wisked away by a army-like truck to a drop-off point an hour's drive away and there we were told "make sure you get to the other side by 5PM, we ain't gonna wait.". Basically, The Tongariro Crossing involved crossing the Tongariro Mountain which spanned a length of about 20 KM, no sweat ! The entry and exit points for this enjoyable hike were Mangatepopo and Ketetahi.
The Crossing took us almostly 8 hours and we came by steep volcano craters, colorful lakes, moonscapes and fantastic mountain formations at an elevation of about 2,000 metres. We were absolutely exhausted afterwards and were so glad to be sitting back at the camp site for a well deserved NZ roast leg of lamb which NZ was famous for !
The Crossing took us almostly 8 hours and we came by steep volcano craters, colorful lakes, moonscapes and fantastic mountain formations at an elevation of about 2,000 metres. We were absolutely exhausted afterwards and were so glad to be sitting back at the camp site for a well deserved NZ roast leg of lamb which NZ was famous for !
