House sitting sounds easy enough – who can’t look after 3 dogs and 4 chickens on a gorgeous country property? The problem lies in the constant tension created when you are not sure of things. Why is the dog biting himself? Why is that chicken not moving? What… Continue reading
What a surprise! This country’s lush green countryside was as beautiful as Southern France! It was very clean and tidy, with beautiful highways and modern conveniences everywhere. Very warm helpful people too, with a great sense of humour. This country is relaxing, easy, friendly, and has fewer tourists than France,… Continue reading
Get a load of this! Cars parked inches apart! This is the way parking is all over Europe’s cities. Space is at a premium so no parking spot is too small… In Budapest the view from my friend, E’s, balcony up and down the street in provided… Continue reading
God Forbid if you have to go to the bathroom in Italy train stations. First of all, they are scarce and hard to find. There is usually only one bathroom, and these train stations are huge! Train stations are the size of malls, with many shops and restaurants,… Continue reading
Our plane left Canada late because they had to put air in the tires. Hmph, I chuckled to myself, ‘I thought we were flying, not driving’. As long as we were leaving the frigid cold of a Canadian winter, either mode would be excellent. On our way to… Continue reading
So what is the difference between the Cote d’Azur, the French Riviera and Provence? It was confusing, but eventually we sorted it out. The Cote d’Azur in English is The French Riviera. Provence is the short form of the entire region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. There are still all kinds of regions, districts,… Continue reading
Trieste, Italy, was a very elegant city, combining Italian, German, Latin, Austrian, Hungarian and Slavic cultures, but it was time to move on to Slovenia and Croatia. We could not find an automatic car to rent in downtown Trieste and found automatic transmission vehicles were only available at the airport…. Continue reading
Everyone knows Venice, but who knew that there were over 100 other islands all around Venice? These little-known islands of the Venetian Lagoon are fabulously interesting, and kind of kept a secret by the locals. Some of the islands are uninhabited, some have only a few dozen people. … Continue reading
Years earlier, we were driving through the rich rolling hills of Austria, licking lush Gelato ice cream cones, and I swear the hills were so beautiful that they were alive with the Sound of Music… But this time we were on the train heading through a different part… Continue reading
Hungarian food is simple and hearty, offering wholesome soups, stews and goulash but there is one traditional item that is not to be missed: Langos. It’s available in many markets, malls and family events. Think of a luscious king-size fresh fry bread topped with garlic butter, sour cream and… Continue reading
It wasn’t the yodeling through the Austrian Alps that was impressive, no, – though I’m sure yodeling would be equally amazing – but it was the music! We can understand much better now, how incredible it is to experience sound resonating across the giant alps and how dramatically it floats… Continue reading
Today we cleaned out the chicken coop at our house sit in Clairac, France. Yup! Easy Peasy. Only problem was that fat Old Momma Chicken would not move. She’s nesting again! So we had to work around “Ms. Precious”. The other 3 chickens had already been let out in… Continue reading
Aix is an elegant city with extremely well-dressed people, cobblestone streets, book stores, parks, gardens, and it has the beautiful Fountain la Rotunde at the end of the Cours Mirabeau, often compared to the Champs-Elysees street in Paris. There is a cultural air in Aix, and a hint of snobbishness. … Continue reading
The trip from Venice to Trieste by train follows the curved coast of Italy and has some spectacular views of the towns dotting the hilly green coast and the Adriatic Sea. We met the sweetest couple on the train. A Chinese couple that helped us with our luggage,… Continue reading
I was so excited to return to my favourite small town in Hungary: Gyor. Near the border of Slovakia and only an hour and a half to continue to Vienna, it’s a pleasant two hour drive from Budapest to Gyor… Gyor (pronounced “Dyur”) is packed with charm,… Continue reading
With the River Danube running through the centre of the city, Budapest is a spectacular city! Did you know that there are two separate cities that make up Budapest? Buda is on the West side of the Danube and Pest (pronounced Pesht) is on the East side of… Continue reading
One day, from our House Sit, we went out to a 4 star Michelin Chef restaurant that had raving reviews on Trip Adviser, and was also highly recommended by a neighbor. The host/owner offered impeccable service and the menu looked absolutely scrumptious. We liked the soup a lot… Continue reading
The Cote d’Azur is beautiful, but touristy and we were not so interested in these things, so when we discovered a little-known gem along the Cote D’Azur, we were delighted to spend a little time there. While it is still a bit touristy, it was small enough to have… Continue reading
In a few days we will be landing in Marseilles, France. It’s a little surreal that you can be on the French Riviera in Europe on the other side of the world in just one day, your whole environment completely changed in a few hours. We are house sitting… Continue reading
The approach to Venice by train is seductive in itself… Just seeing a city floating on water is astonishing. How did they do that? Why did they do that? Apparently it wasn’t intentional. It happened sometime around the fall of the Roman Empire when the mainland was invaded… Continue reading