Purveyor of style and other such visual treats

Amalfi Coast

After fairly boring drive through traffic in Rome and a relatively straight Autostrada @ 130kph we skimmed past Naples and on through Salerno after some traffic and paying a few tolls.

The car had massive amounts of rear leg room, more than your usual E Class Mercedes which was a pleasant surprise.

There was a small bit of rain earlier and as we hit the twisty roads of the Amalfi coast it was an eye opening experience. Tight and twisty stuff is fun but when you are inches from the cliff face on one side and a concrete wall on the other with a damp road with a diesel that has epic torque down low and gives you wheel spin it’s interesting!

Things get more interesting when you encounter buses coming towards you after a blind corner or drivers who think their lane takes up the whole roads.

We finally arrived in Amalfi where we were staying. We left our car with an old Italian chap called Antonio to park for us since space is at a premium here. He must make a decent living collecting €16 per car per day for his parking services at a spot somewhere.

On to part 2: Capri

Pompeii

The next day we checked out the ancient city of Pompeii, somewhat apt given the recent volcanic ash saga.

This table was owned by the first person to stab Caesar along with Brutus. He was a close friend of the emperor. It made it’s way to Pompeii after the conspirators belongings were sold off and the owner of the house bought it at auction.

On the way back we drove through Sorrento and Positano and did some sightseeing.

The roads were less busy and the route from Sorrento to Positano was much nicer. Still twisty but I was more used to pedalling the Delta around the bends and I really enjoyed the experience. Truly a great driving road. Despite being so tight and running around the edge of the coast, the road condition was excellent. Sydney roads do not compare.

Sometimes you came across a Ferrari, many scooters, tourist buses, Piaggio apes, or even…(a guy with a motorised buggy walking his dog)

Our final night on the Amalfi coast.

The Amalfi coast is just beautiful and I can see why people are so drawn to it. Some great little towns lining the coast, the dwellings hugging the cliffs and the amazing blue/green waters. There are some stylish people there and you can truly enjoy the lifestyle. The roads while a bit scary at first moreso for what is coming around that blind corner are truly a joy once you are used to the madness that is Italian driving.

My highlights of the trip are Granada and the Amalfi coast, party because i’ve not been before but due to how clean and amazing they are in their own right. Great weather, great company and unique places make for a memorable holiday.

After surviving the trip to Amalfi we decided to take a break and catch a ferry from Amalfi to the island of Capri the following day, leaving the car behind for now.

Truly breathtaking stuff, such a nice sea and scenery on the way too.

Capri

This gives you an idea of how small and twisty the roads are

We caught a fernicular up to the main square and did some sightseeing

There are some amazing orchards all throughout the terraced hills in the area, mainly growing Lemons.

Before sitting down to a nice lunch.

Then relax on the shore for a while.

Back to Amalfi.

And some obligatory Gelato

On to Part 3: Pompeii

Saying a fond farewell to Spain and the Alhambra we headed off to Italy.

Rome

On a second visit, Rome does not live up to the spotlight, it’s dirty and crowded and is only worth it for some older tourist sites. Sorry to anyone who lives there, but the first time I arrived I enjoyed it far more. As a common tourist one cannot hope to fully appreciate the plac.

The Colosseum is not as exciting the second time around but it’s worth visiting once in your life. Much of it is in ruins obviously since many earthquakes and much of the original stone and marble being used to build other sites including the Vatican.

Fresco depicting a scene from the times of the Gladiators.

Spanish steps

Rain in the Pantheon Rome, this was a special moment.

Vatican

Off to the final part of our trip: The Amalfi coast

Alhambra, Granada

The main reason for our visit to Granada was to see the magical Alhambra.

This was the site of a Palace, town and a beautiful garden designed for the Islamic rulers of the day perched atop the hill overlooking all of Granada. The Sultan built the gardens and Palace with water running throughout. Built in the 7th century, it is considered an engineering marvel still to this day and in it’s time the inspiration was that of a heavenly garden on earth.

The place was taken over by the Spanish once the Moors had withdrawn and turned into a royal and christian site. It was then left in ruins and to thieves before it was rediscovered in the 19th century and turned into a world heritage site. Much of the architecture wasn’t looked after so much of the colour is gone from the intricate carvings within the walls of the palace itself.

On to part 6: Rome

Cordoba

We decided to hire a car and head to Cordoba to check out the famous Mosque.

Leaving Granada you see the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range in the distance. A great contrast with the warm weather and lush green surrounds.

WTF

Ok I must fess up here, there were no epic redlining shennanigans going on. But rather the Ford build quality had left the needle pointing in the wrong direction from idle. Very odd to drive like this.

There are so many Olive tree orchards around and we went through a series of mountain roads and valleys before we reached our final destination. The area near the Mezquita is characterised by a series of tiny one way lanes and we somehow managed to find a parking spot on the sidewalk a short walk away.

Cordoba Mezquita (Mosque)

This was such an awesome place, it had a great atmosphere. The Mosque was built on the site of an old Visigoth church and survived for a couple of centuries until the Moors were defeated and it became a church/cathedral. Most of it was retained but many walls were white washed or replaced along with a large cathedral area. Amazing architecture and I took so many photos but had to condense it down.

On the way back to Granada we saw these awesome poppy fields so we stopped to take some photos.

I am trying some new editing techniques, I hope you like.

On to part 5: Alhambra

Spain

We were meant to spend 2 nights in Madrid, despite managing to avoid all the volcanic ash issues our flight was cancelled under odd circumstances. At first it was delayed, then they herded us all into buses and put us on the tarmac. After 30mins in the cramped bus people started to revolt. Trust the French.

Luckily they did as it turns out there was no plane coming to meet us, we heard that the flight crew were not willing to fly for some reason. After some time, scrambling to different locations and trying to hear some information in English as a result of befriending some French travellers we finally came across some info.

The pilot wasn’t certified to fly or something along those lines so we spent the day and night at some airport hotel.

After eventually making it to Madrid we only had a few hours in the evening to look around. It’s pretty much another European city with museums and the like.

Another flight delay had us spending some time in Barcelona airport which is massive, before finding our way to our destination.

Granada

There was some festival going on in the main street of Granada with lots of people dressed up, horses and some shrine being carried about.

There were plenty of floats being pulled by tractors, people actually live inside these things. We saw them again on the highway chugging along slowly when we headed to Cordoba.

This helicopter was doing low altitude fly overs so I managed to get a shot.

I hadn’t been to Granada before and it was such a beautiful place. The weather was amazing, it was so clean and there were some amazing sights to see around every corner and little laneway.

Antique store

On to part 4: Cordoba

After a few days in Hamburg for the Harbour Festival

We headed to Paris

Paris

Nutella crepes are always a favourite.

We tried to make the best of the rainy weather.

Notre Dame

The Napoleon Apartments in the Louvre are always worth the visit.

We then went for a walk down the Champs Elysees

Petit Palais

War memorial under the Arch de Triumph

The second time around, Paris as a city is not as impressive. The Louvre is always worth it.

The pastry shops are still awesome though and you can’t get better Croissants anywhere in the world. Deep and profound, I know.

On to part 3: Granada, Spain

Hi all,

After a few weeks of travel in what was a pretty epic and tiring trip around Europe i’ve managed to sort through the photos.

We travelled to London, Paris, Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Rome, the Vatican and the magical Amalfi coast.

The photos of London, Paris, Rome and the Vatican are different from the usual tourist stuff since i’ve been before.

London

I met our folks in London and took them around the main sights, the weather was not kind for their first introduction to Europe but luckily it didn’t rain.

There was a public exhibition promoting the Elephant so various artists were given the opportunity to customise a blank Elephant sculpture, these were placed throughout London with the main spot for their display in Trafalgar square.

Pennies

From the museum in Greenwich

On to part 2: Paris

I picked up a pair of the new Puma Speedcat Mid 2.9 range while I was in London.

Something different and a bit more conservative from the usual loud sneakers.