Bear and Jackie’s Travel Diary

From Pisa we hopped on a train to La Spezia. La Spezia itself is a pleasant place to visit but the real attraction for us was it was the doorway to Cinque Terre. By staying in La Spezia you save a fortune on food and accommodation and it’s only a minutes by train to Cinque Terre. We stayed in a fabulous apartment only a few hundred meters from the train station.

Cinque Terre (5 lands) and Portovenere.

These are five small fishing villages set amongst the rugged northern coastline of Italy. We did them all in a day trip by catching the train to the furthest one called Monterosso, then hopping on and off a ferry all the way back to La Spezia. From the water is a great way to see the magnitude of the villages and they become clearer as you come into dock, where you can get off and have a wander round for as long as you want. Don’t miss out on Portovenere, it’s not one of the five but the ferry stops there on the way back from the last village of Riomaggiore prior to mooring back at La Spezia, this infact was one of our favourite stops of the day.

Oh Pisa, you were such a fun loving surprise!!

We arrived from Siena by train and jumped on a short bus ride. Our accommodation was amazing, only a 3 minute walk to the actual tower. We really enjoyed our time here and would encourage anyone to visit. Where else in the world can you see, what was an absolute failure and embarrassment of a building, ending up being one of the most visited income producing tourist sites in Italy. We climbed the tower, played with poses and walked round the city walls getting another perspective of the City.

Tickets for climbing the Tower are strictly limited and timed. Turning up with limited time and expecting a happy day out unlikely to end well. Book at the official site https://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/buy/

On a not so joyful note. Poor Bear had a potential mugging as he was leaving the ATM!!! The two muggers didn’t end up with what they expected!!! One got a punch in the face the other fled, pussies!! Bear had a sore paw for a few days (kids don’t try this at home)

Siena! Oh boy! We found ourselves a little unit about half an hour’s walk from Central Siena. Little unit turns out to be a fully furnished 1 bedroom townhouse overlooking the ancient City! If we must…

Climbed up the bell tower for unrivalled views of the City and timeless Tuscan countryside.

Toured the Cathedral and crypts including an unprecedented tour in the rafters and ceiling space of the cathedral.

Never in my life have I found a tortoise that moved anything past crawling pace, this little bugger was the Usain Bolt of the species! Him and a few more memories of this beautiful place…

This beautiful City has captured our hearts forever xxx

Pisa next….

The Frogs finally decided to do a day’s work so we took the train to Florence. A feast for the eyes on the way through the Alps and a train change in Turin. The Italian high speed train is nothing short of insane! 300kph of pure grins, Turin to Florence in under 3 hours. Florence was a first for me and this was Jackie’s first experience of Italy. A seamless transition from snacking on snails to scoffing piles of delicious pasta! Hours of walking through ancient cobbled streets and views to last a lifetime.

Love anchovy and nasturtium pizza.

Fooze still a champ!!!

Views of Siena, simply stunning City.

Here we were plied with free wine, cheese and procutio by the wonderful, warm Italian and in return we purchased a beautiful pepper grinder!

Free on the street!!

Foodie paradise and a perfect excuse to meet up with two of my dearest friends. The French whingers were on strike for a change so no option other than the 7 hour bus from Paris. Always unassuming and quiet, Helena has rented accommodation for 10 people that would not disgrace the Royal Family! Rapid fire wine and raucous behaviour ensues!

Day 2 found us threatened with expulsion from a river cruise and countless discussions with restaurant staff over the availability of vegetarian dishes. Clearly an alien concept to the French! Dinner at home for night 3 until someone decided to fire up one of the fire extinguishers. Small kitchens and powder fire extinguishers are not a good mix! Pablo Escobar at his best could not have given the place a better coating! See you in Thailand next year. Florence next …..

Ahhh sweet Paris.
Paris is always a delight but made extra special when you arrive on a beautiful Spring day. We stayed in a wonderful Airbnb near the river at Bastille. Unfortunately disaster struck on our first night as I tripped and slammed my forehead onto the stairs!! Two black eyes appeared 48 hours later, not a pretty sight for the following three weeks but hey can’t let vanity spoil a good time.
The absolute highlight of Paris was when my beautiful son, Sam and girlfriend Nicole surprised me. How Bear kept this a secret from me I will never know!! But he did and between the two of them made me the happiest mum in the world. We had a fabulous fun 3 days together, wandering the streets of Paris, stopping for snail snacks and vino, eating and drinking to our hearts content. Thank you.

Good on you Sam and Nic for making the effort and popping over!

Las Vegas-Sin City

Las Vegas was a place that we had always wanted to visit and we weren’t disappointed!! We loved the fast pace and craziness of the place. It was a culture shock considering we had spent the last 6 months backpacking through South and Central America. Three days just gave us a taste of the place and we were ready to leave by the end of it!! We stayed right on the strip which gave us easy access to everywhere! We sipped wine whilst watching the water fountain show at the Bellagio, visited all the main casinos and managed to see 3 shows 2 amazing one not so!!! Can’t go wrong with a spielgletent show, we watched Absinthe on our first night. Second night we managed to get a freebie show, which let’s put it this way, pleased we didn’t pay for it!!! It was called Tournament of the Kings, don’t bother unless you have kids!! Then on our final night we watch Zumanity by Cirque du Soleil, fabulous show.
Farewell Las Vegas you have been fun. Next stop Paris.

Wouldn’t be a trip to Vegas without getting stuck in!

And taking an obligatory poo in the Bellagio! Somehow the chap in the next door trap didn’t find my sense of humour amusing when I helped myself to his toilet roll that conveniently dangled within reach!

So much fun, so little time!!!

Mission accomplished, job done! Paris next…

Didn’t plan on doing it, but managed to travel from Cancun on the East coast to La Paz in the West. Anyone who has played GO, the travel game will know that La Paz is a bastard to get in and out of. The reality is far worse! Managed to escape from El Chapo’s chums in Los Mochis and hopped onto the overnight ferry to La Paz. Also avoided the mustachioed chappy requesting 350 pesos for the ride into town! A gentle 100 pesos into the hand of a bus driver saw us delivered 100 yards from our apartment. Nearly 6 months and a stack of Airbnb’s, this one probably takes the podium! Awesome unit, 100% kitted out, jacuzzi on the roof, 2 streets from the water!

Six months, several thousand kilometres, a stack of fun and a lifetime of memories. We close the South and Central America chapter and head to Vegas for a few days relaxation, meditation and culture!!

This was a place I was intrigued about and although we knew it was hard to get too and in a “no go area” my curiosity only grew. El Chepe is the last passenger train in Mexico, it runs through the Copper Canyon from Chihuahua to Las Mochis, stopping at various stops along the way. The total distance is 675km, we chose to do two stops, one in Creel for one night and two in Barancas. Our decision was based on what there was to do and see at each place. Creel is just a really nice little mountain village, with chalet type accommodation and a few nice bars. There are tours to do but nothing that interested us.

Divisadero is a stop before our next stay over. The train stops for 20 mins here and people get off to see the amazing views of the Copper Canyon. But there is no where to stay here, so our advice is get off look at the views and jump straight back on to the at the next station and book into the hotel Posada Mirador Biranca.

This place although outside our normal daily budget was worth every single cent. Our room overlooked the Canyon and was spacious and tasteful.

The reason we chose to stay two nights here was simply, best views ever AND the Adventure Park, hosting 8 zip lines including the longest in the world measuring a distance of 2.5km.  The views and adrenaline match a tandem skydive!! Obviously for Bear and me, we just loved it!!!

One of these places is a fabulous town in the hills of Mexico, the other is an annoying breed of dog and apparently a town too!

We had plans and tickets booked at this stage to see Celine Dion in Vegas. Sadly or otherwise depending on opinion, she has cancelled Spring dates so different plans now required! Vegas and the US or Mexico? Jax had mentioned the Copper Canyon about 400 times but it was way too difficult to get to and smack bang in the heart of Mexico’s Cartel heartland, Sinaloa! US travel advice for Sinaloa, “Do not travel”. Let’s go!!!

Beautiful San Cristobal, unbelievable food, crazy hostel and a 24 hour hangover! The Church at San Juan Chamula has its own cult and NO cameras allowed. Beheading chooks in church is OK! Scoffing fizzy beverages to release bad spirits OK too! Sounds like Dee Why Beach!

Cooked for the staff and owners at the hostel here and happily waved the Aussie victory flag at the fooze table!

Oaxaca on the way to Chihuahua…

Yes! We tried Mole!

Copper Canyon with El Chepe next… Did someone mention ziplines?