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Onboard the Glacier Express from ermatt to St Maritz in Excellence Class

20240806_100835-scaled.jpg

05/05/2026 / 2560 x 2560 px

Settled in our Excellence Class seats

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We've enjoyed rediscovering the gardens in Singapo

We've enjoyed rediscovering the gardens in Singapore on our walks these past couple of days.

We walked around the Marina Bay area to Gardens by the Bay yesterday morning and this morning to Singapore's Botanical Gardens at the top of Orchard Road.

We've been to both numerous times but each visit is a delight and uncovers a space we haven't seen or visited for some time.

Of course, we've also been enjoying the food and a change of diet with more green vegetables and spicier dishes.

We're packed up and almost on our way home. While we love our travels, the experiences and the things we get to see and do and people we meet, we love coming back to our nearest and dearest.

#singapore #visitsingapore #singaporestopover #travel #traveltips

Singapore never disappoints us. Our Singapore Air

Singapore never disappoints us.

Our Singapore Airlines flight landed earlier than scheduled, the helpful staff at the Fairmont provided us with an early check-in and a room with a beautiful view and the early morning rain cleared to blue skies so we could get outdoors for a walk.

A few hours of walking, sauna and spa, an afternoon of shopping and dinner and drinks in the Fairmont lounge watching the sun go down ended our day yesterday.

Another relaxed day is planned today as we wind down from our holiday.

#singapore #visitsingapore #singaporestopover #travel #traveltips

We're checked in and after nine weeks travelling t

We're checked in and after nine weeks travelling through the countryside, mountains, cities, big towns, little towns and villages of Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia we're on the first leg of our journey home.

In Rome, we've been staying in our favourite part if the city, Monti. It's the area we stayed in more than 20 years ago when we first visited Rome with our two then teenage sons.

On subsequent visits, we've incorporated stays in Trastevere and Prato but we prefer and really love our Monti area where we can look down over the comings and goings in Via Urbana from our patio. Monti always feels like our second home.

A vibrant area close to Stazione Termini, the Colosseum, Roman Forum and a comfortable walk to everything else, it has a very local atmosphere. Tourists pass through but it's in the evenings, when the residents come home from work and gather in Piazza della Madonna or Piazza della Zingari to socialise that brings this vibrant area to life.

The restaurants, which we've been frequenting for years serve authentic and delicious Italian food as is one of Rome's best gelatarias, Fatamorgana.

As always, Rome has been delightful! We've wandered our neighbourhood, revisited old haunts and found wonderful new places in the city which we'll share more of in the coming months. Our kind taxi driver made sure he took the street from our apartment driving us past the Colosseum and Forum for one last look on the way to the airport this morning.

We hope you enjoy a few photos of our Roman neighbourhood and consider staying there on your visit to Rome.

But for now, it's Ciao to Rome and Italy. We already counting down to when come back again ❤️

#rome #romeitaly #italy #travel #traveltips

Our last full day in Rome and what a day it was!

Our last full day in Rome and what a day it was!

This morning, we visited the Galleria Colonna. Built in the 16th century, the Palazzo is still the residence of the Colonna family and only open to the public on Friday and Saturday mornings.

Over generations, the family have amassed a wealth of artworks displayed throughout the gallery and the late Princess Isabella's apartments.

Most visitors come to see only the grand Great Hall but lavishly decorated and well preserved State Rooms and apartments covered in elaborate tapestries, frescoes, Murano chandeliers and art enticed us to stay much longer than we intended.

Two lovely ladies who work in the Gallery - one an art historian and the other, an art restorer whose primary responsibility is to manage the gold work throughout the gallery and residence enthusiastically shared their love for the Gallery and the current Prince.

Our afternoon was spent locally. We visited a small church Santa Prassede hidden behind the more popular Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. The beautiful golden mosaics in the side chapel were the drawcard here.

It's been some years since we've been inside Santa Maria Maggiore and it was more crowded than before. Pope Francis being interred there seems to have encouraged more people to go inside.

As always, Rome has been a feast for the eyes. We hope you enjoy a few photos of what we came across today.

#galleriacolonna #colonnagallery #rome #romeitaly #travel

Another day of high temperatures (39°C) in Rome to

Another day of high temperatures (39°C) in Rome today!

The temperature didn't deter us. We got out after breakfast for a walk to the Borghese Gardens which we missed doing on our stay here in 2024. It's a beautiful and large green space by the Spanish Steps which we really enjoy walking in.

The streets around the Quattro Fontane, where the 16th century fountains frame a crossroad were empty as was the Palazzo Barberini which we went into to look at the two grand 17th century staircases designed by arch rivals Borromini and Bernini as well as the Palazzo gardens.

A walk through the beautiful gardens where we stopped to look at the Borghese Gallery and its surrounding buildings, a look at some of the water features and a chat with a lovely young Italian couple led us to the Spanish Steps. By that time, tourists were up and out with the usual crowds around the Steps.

Then, we were virtually church-hopping. We gave a long list of churches in Rome that are off the tourist radar that we hope to visit on our next few stays in Rome. Our favourites, like Sant Ignazio di Loyola which we used to visit regularly and always had to ourselves in years past are so crowded that we avoid them.

We visited inside three lovely churches today which we'll write in more detail about in future posts. All are unique and tourist-free.

At the last, we met two elderly ex-missionaries who now live in Rome. They kindly invited us to visit their convent and offered us tickets for a Papal Audience next Wednesday. We had to decline the latter as we'll be on our way home.

Last stop for the day was the Thermal Baths of Diocletian which are just a little way up the street from our apartment.

We hope you enjoy some of our captures from today. More from Rome tomorrow. See you then.

#rome #romeitaly #romephotography #roma #italy

Rome is made for walking. And, we did a lot today

Rome is made for walking. And, we did a lot today

With the temperature hovering around 37°C, the best thing to do was to get out early!

At 7am, the Trevi Fountain was already busy with people taking selfies. We found a little spot to snap our own photo before continuing past the Pantheon and through Piazza Navona which was quiet. When we were here in 2024, the fountains were undergoing cleaning in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year. They are now gleaming.

Our destination was on the other side of the Tiber River. We explored around the lesser visited Prati area behind the Vatican before continuing through to Vilia Doria Pamphili, a large public park on the hills above Rome. Our quest always to find the actual Villa and its manicured gardens which is on the edge of the 1.8 square kilometres of parkland.

A walk in the quiet but pretty streets behind Campi di Fiori brought us back to our apartment in Monti.

We enjoyed a leisurely afternoon of shopping followed by aperitifs in our favourite piazza before a lovely pizza meal with wine at a restaurant we've been frequenting since 2012 - @grazieadioevenerdi Wonderful food and great service.

A walk around the Roman Forum with gelato in hand was the perfect end to our day.

We hope you enjoy some photos from our day.

#rome #romeattractions #romesights #italy #travel

All roads do lead to Rome. Today, we took a rounda

All roads do lead to Rome. Today, we took a roundabout way to get there though!

On our last driving day, we took to the scenic backroads of Tuscany to spend more time in the picturesque hilltop town of Pitigliano before continuing to Bracciano and finally Rome.

Pitigliano, perched on a hill surrounded by green valleys appears out of nowhere in the Tuscan countryside It wasn't on the tourist radar when we first visited back in 2019. And, today, while Italians come to pay a visit it's still pretty low key which makes it pretty unique. We really enjoyed wandering the street, alleyways and piazzas.

More roads surrounded bt vineyard and olive groves took us to our lunch stop in Bracciano complete with its own castle which looks over the lake going by the same name.

It's another low-key town and one we've earmarked for another time.

With no further need for it, we sadly said goodbye to our trusty car which has taken us along all sorts of roads and terrain over the last eight weeks. It's given us the independence and opportunity to see and do things we otherwise may not have done.

In Rome this evening, it was good to see that not much has changed around our favourite neighbourhood. People were still gathering around the fountain in our local piazza and the Colosseum still stands proudly at the end of the street.

More to see around Rome tomorrow. Tune in then to see more of the Eternal City.

#pitigliano #bracciano #tuscany #rome #italytravel

We weren't too sure about Grosseto when driving in

We weren't too sure about Grosseto when driving into the city yesterday afternoon.

Lots of apartment blocks and wide roads didn't reflect what we'd signed up for! As is normal in this part of the world, there's a surprise around every corner.

We parked against the city walls next to one of the old town gates as instructed by our accommodation host, and entered a beautiful medieval town within a city. From our apartment we step right into one of the medieval piazzas.

A walkable old town, we explored a little bit before aperitvo and then dinner last evening. As is customary in a lot of Italian towns, it was bustling with residents out for their passeggiata, sitting in the main square, Piazza Dante or shopping on the main street, Corso Caducci. The town was still lively when we retired for the night.

Our morning walk was along the old medieval walls of this fortified town. With much of the walls intact, we could have a birdseye view over the old town and the activity outside the walls where most people live these days.

Today there are green spaces, playgrounds and tennis courts on what was once the moat surrounding the old city.

Mid-morning thunderstorms prevented us from circumnavigating the walls from the outside and instead we headed to the seaside, where the sun was shining by the time we arrived.

Castiglione della Pescaia is just a 30-minute drive from Grosseto where we found an old medieval hilltop town perched above the sea looking out to the island of Elbe and smaller ones in the distance, as well as a seaside town and beaches below. You couldn't find a better combination.

We spent a good couple of hours exploring both and lunched by the sea before returning to Grosetto via a pretty tree-lined road, and l countryside where summer crops have been harvested, fields ploughed and sunflowers are drying out and calling out to be harvested soon too.

We finished our evening with dinner at a lovely trattoria in a small piazza and a walk back home through the main piazzas.

We hope you enjoy some snippets of our day. Two beautiful towns where few tourists dare to venture.

#grosetto #castiglionedellapescaia #tuscany #italy #travel

Aaah, the Tuscan countryside! We left Florence ea

Aaah, the Tuscan countryside!

We left Florence early this morning to make our way into the Tuscan countryside. This part of Tuscany is not one that most visitors know or visit, though.

Not long out of Florence we found ourselves surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. Just 45 minutes from Florence, we spotted our destination on the hillside.

Certaldo is a small hilltop town within easy access to Florence. We arrived before the daytrippers from Florence. The streets of the upper town were quiet and we had the lookout to ourselves. We could see San Gimignano's towers in the distance.

Next stop was Colle Val'd'Elsa, another hilltop town between the more popular hilltop towns of San Gimignano and Monteregioni. We took a relaxed walk along the back terrace of the town to the panoramic view point before returning through the old township stopping for lunch halfway.

Roccastrada is an old medieval fortress town perched on a hill which we stopped by to walk up to the panoramic viewpoint which looks over the Maremma and the seaside.

We ended our day in the Grosseto. The town sits on Tuscany's south western fringe and we found ourselves driving through a forested national park to get there.

Certainly not a Tuscan town people think of visiting let alone staying in!

In fact, it's a beautiful town. On the final days of our trip, we're staying within the old city walls for the next couple of nights. So far it's been delightful.

It's hard to believe that we were sitting down for dinner last night in Piazza San Spirito chatting with Gucci's Head of Photography when tonight we sat and chatted with a lovely family of five in a little side street restaurant here in Grosseto.

Meeting wonderful people from the country's we travel in is one our our greatest pleasures

#certaldo #valdelsa #roccastrada #tuscany #italytravel

We love walking around the streets Florence in the

We love walking around the streets Florence in the early hours before it gets crowded with tourists so we were out bright and early today.

Having the streets to ourselves let's us see much more of the architecture and everything else with a clearer lens.

The area around our apartment and the Duomo was quiet and perfect to look at it as the sun came up. A lonely cleaner occupied Piazza della Republica and Piazza della Signoria was deserted.

Walking along the River Arno, we found all the gold stores flanking Ponte Vecchio closed and without the crowds we found later in the day, enjoyed the views from both sides of the famous bridge.

The best views over the city are from Piazzale Michaelangelo and we always make a beeline for it. Today was no different but we also walked a little further up to San Minato, another beautiful church overlooking the city.

A walk past Basilica Santa Croce and its Piazza and a look inside Palazzo Vecchio's frescoed courtyard finished our morning walk.

We stepped out straight after breakfast to explore the Oltrarno and Santo Spirito areas on the other side of the river again. Few tourists venture into this part of the city so it gives visitors a chance to walk around areas where the locals spend their time We returned for our dinner there tonight.

We think we know Florence pretty well having visited inside the museums, palaces, gardens and undertaken tours on previous stays. This afternoon though, we enjoyed a two hour walking tour centred around the city's Renaissance architecture and the Medici. As always, we learnt lots of new things about the history of this stunning city.

We hope you enjoy a few snaps from our morning walk.

For those of you who have visited Florence before and think you've seen everything there is to see, we encourage you to come back for another stay. And, for those who've never been, we hope we inspire you to come and experience the beauty and history of the city for yourselves.

#florence #florenceitaly #firenze #italy #travel

We had one last look at the Emilia-Romagnan countr

We had one last look at the Emilia-Romagnan countryside from Castiglione dei Pepoli before crossing into Tuscany this morning.

One of the best things about travel is finding the similarities in our lives, wherever we may live in the world. In Castiglione dei Pepoli, a small town tucked into a hillside, we found townfolk doing Saturday morning shopping, catching up over beverages (some quenching their thirst with a Prosecco) or just chatting in the town square while others sat in the park reading. And, driving in the countryside, washing flapped in the breeze.

Our lunch stop was the city of Prato. The city is known for its textile industry. To reach its pretty Piazza del Duomo, we passed through an entire district known as Prato's Chinatown. It's one of the largest in Italy and Europe and originally provided much needed labour to the local textile industry.

A walk around the small old town found us in other major piazzas finishing up at the Castello dell'Imperatore, a small castle in the middle of the city.

Prato is an independent city which really just melts into Florence. A 45 minute drive and we arrived in Florence. As expected, it was bustling with tourists.

The front door of our apartment is a stone's throw from the Duomo. The Duomo is closed on Sundays so we took the chance to have a look inside after settling in. Truth be told, its exterior really is more spectacular than inside.

Having visited Florence a number of times, we're looking forward to just wandering around tomorrow revisiting old haunts and finding new places around the city to share with you all.

Check in with us tomorrow to see what we find.

#emiliaromagna #prato #florence #florenceitaly #travel

We were dodging the rain in Modena today. Thunde

We were dodging the rain in Modena today.

Thunderstorms and rain delayed our morning walk but the wet weather was much needed after three months of soaring temperatures and drought conditions.

The sun briefly came out mid-morning which was our queue to get out and about before the skies opened up again.

We took a walk around the perimeter of thr Ducal Gardens ending uo at the Palace in its own large piazza.

When the rain started again we popped into the Albinelli Markets wandering the stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables, delicatessens, butchers, bakeries and market restaurants. We settled for an lunch at a cucina which served meals with soecialty balsamic vinegars.

Modena's Duomo built in 1099 with its Torre Ghiraldina is Modena's primary landmark. We stopped for quick look inside last night but spent more time inside today. The carved wooden nave, chapel and staircases make it unique. Visitors can also visit rhe tomb of the city's patron saint, San Geminianus located directly behind the nave in beautifully frescoed area surrounded by arches.

The sun came out for good in the afternoon and so did the cityfolk. We continued to wander the town area eventually returning for dinner to an enoteca by the Duomo which we had seen last evening. A delicious meal accompanied by a rose Lambrusco and a chat with a Dutch couple who had driven four hours from the Dolomites to Modena to escape the rain up there ended our day.

We hope you enjoy a selection of shots from our day. Lots of food!

#modena #emiliaromagna #italy #travel #traveltips

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