Monkey Business

It must be hot if the locals are complaining about the heat. And they were today and we almost melted. Despite the heat we have had a relaxing few days in Kuala Lumpur and also managed to fit in some sightseeing between nanna naps and dips in the pool.

We even managed to climb the 272 steps up to the Batu Caves that house an ancient Hindu temple. We were blessed by a holy man and entertained by monkeys. We checked out China Town and sheltered from the heat in the shopping mall below the Petri Twin Towers.

We are currently in KL Airport waiting for our flight home.

Not All Gaudi

Barcelona, it’s not all Gaudi but we did see a lot of his work. We visited the Gaudi museum in Park Guell, the magnificent Sagrada Familia church and saw some of his architectural works on a ‘moderniste’ walking tour of Barcelona.

We also took a walking tour of the Gothic areas of old Barcelona and rumbled down La Rumbla (Barcelona’s Burke Street Mall) several times. Joy was fascinated by the pet shops selling chinchillas, squirrels and geckos.

During our five days in we also managed to visit the Picasso Museum, went to a Flamenco dancing show and drank too much sangria to remember all the other things we did.

We arrived in gay Paris yesterday (Sunday) andvisited the Bastille monument, the Eifel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. We attempted to visit the Paris Picasso Museum but it is closed for renovations until 2012.

Pilgrimage to Lourdes

On Saturday we commenced a pilgrimage to Lourdes flying from Nice via Paris. We arrived safely mid afternoon. Unfortunately our bags did not join on us on the Lourdes leg. This was doubly unfortunate as the heavens opened while we explored the Lourdes sanctuary and we experienced the first rain of trip. Luckily we stayed relatively dry by strategically hoping between the basilicas on the site.

On Sunday we attended the international church service which is conducted in the six official languages of Lourdes: French, Italian, English, Spanish, German and one other. We felt confident we would find a seat in the underground Basilica as it seats 25000 people and there didn’t seem to be many people around on Saturday. As it turned out there were a few spots left for us in the last pew.

The rains continued on Sunday and we bought plastic ponchos in attempt to stay dry. We visited the grotto and joined the parade of the sick in the afternoon along with about 15000 others. Just as the parade was about to start the rain started pouring down and soaked the bits of us that the ponchos missed. We got back to the hotel hoping to be able to change into dry clothes, but alas the bags had still not joined us. They did eventually arrive, much to our relief. To celebrate, we joined the candlelight procession that is held every evening. It is supposed to be a spectacular sight but we cannot confirm this as the heavens opened again dousing most attempts at candle lighting.

Today (Monday) we travelled to somewhere near the Spanish border. Tomorrow we travel to Barcelona.

Cote d’Azur

We have had a relaxing time on the Cote d’Azur (the French Riviera). Our first impression of the beach front was that we could have been on the Gold Coast but on closer inspection the beach was made up of stones and the high rises were not quite as high. The weather was nice in the mid twenties but not quite warm enough for us to brave the Mediterranean. Whilst here we did a search but did not find any ‘Nice’ biscuits but the local fare looked nice.

We did find time to visit the Matisse gallery and the Museum of Modern Art and take a trip out to a nearby medieval village in the hinterland. Tonight, our last night here, Joy got a graving for some French pastries, the patisseries are everywhere during the day, but at night none are open. We wandered through the old town without luck, listened to the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra playing in a square and finally stumbled on a cafe with cakes and watched France V Uruguay play a nil all draw in the World Cup.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we fly to Lourdes.

Processions, Heritage and the Rest

We had something of a religious experience in Genoa. We had been walking the warren of caruggi and creuze (alleyways and cobbled paths) that make up the old town, when we came across a piazza with barricades circling the front of a cathedral. Sitting on the steps were assembled a gathering of nuns and other people evidently preparing for something. Guarding the barricades were men in Robin Hood hats.

We decided to see what was going on and found a table at a cafe and ordered drinks. Shortly afterwards Mass started, the nuns sung and our beers and chips arrived. After a few hymns along came children in white gowns, women in pink dresses, police in funny uniforms, nuns in all colours, white, brown, black, blue, grey and various combinations and other assorted priests, monks and friars. Before long the barricaded area was filled and then people carrying banners and led a procession of an object that looked like a treasure chest which was carried up the cathedral steps and surrounded by priests in purple.

The celebration of Mass continued: now presided over by a priest in yellow robes, incense pervaded the piazza and we drank our beer. It was a surreal experience. After the celebrations were over Joy button holed a friar and found out that it was the feast of the body and blood of Christ and on this feast day a procession between basilicas is held in Genoa. The priest in gold was the Cardinal. We didn’t find out what was in the treasure chest.

As well as religious ceremonies we also explored the streets that make up the UN World Heritage Area of Genoa, Christopher Columbus’s house, the port area and visited Europe’s largest aquarium.

Yesterday (Monday) we travelled to Nice, stopping at Monte Carlo for lunch. We had a rest day today and will be here until Saturday. So far we haven’t seen any biscuits covered in sugar but we are on the lookout.

From Chaos to Culture

The contrast between Naples and Milan was palpable. Naples was full of hustlers selling fake handbags, rubbish adorned the streets and it took us two days to find a blade of grass. In Milan the handbags were the real thing, the streets were clean and orderly and there were parks throughout the city (for us to take our nanna naps in). Milan was the place to marvel at the Duomo Cathedral and we even got to climb onto its roof. It was also the place to visit art galleries and we went to several and saw various versions of ‘the last supper’ including the famous one.

From Milan we travelled to Turin, famous of course for the shroud and chiccolato a panne (a thick chocolate drink that melts on the way down, yumm). We also toured a palace of the Savoy dynasty.

Tomorrow we head to Genoa, our final destination in Italy.