Springtime in Europe (and Dubai) - 9 March - 8 April, 2012

Our longest ever holiday together saw us heading to Europe for a month during March and April. Coinciding perfectly with no Status Quo events whatsoever (also a first!), the trip was primarily for Lee to visit his mum and dad as they continue their fight against his mum's cancer problems, but also as a holiday since it was about a year since our last trip away (to New Zealand in March/April 2011).

The trip split into four parts, so use these links to navigate around if it's too much to take in at one sitting!

Our big trip kicked off on Friday 9th March (which also happened to be Ky's last day in her role at Daiwa Securities) with us heading off to Melbourne airport after work using the SkyBus service. We checked-in to our Emirates flight easily and left on time at just before 10.30pm. The first (long!) leg deposited us in Dubai airport ahead of schedule so we had about three hours to stretch our legs and check out the shops in the new terminal. The next leg ran slightly late and had us on the ground at Birmingham airport at 12.15pm on Saturday afternoon. Immigration and baggage pickup were despatched swiftly and we then proceeded to collect our hire car from Enterprise. A brand new Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SE would be our carriage for the next couple of weeks and it was soon loaded up with our suitcases and ready to go. We were pleased to find the afternoon relatively mild (about 14C) and sunny, so the short drive towards Cannock was straightforward. As we were a little early for our hotel check-in, we popped into the Sainsbury's supermarket at the Orbital retail park to stock up on supplies for breakfast and travel snacks (and were amazed at the low cost of groceries compared to Australia). Driving the short distance to the Hilton Park Travelodge, we checked-in and unpacked, enjoying long showers to dispense with travel grime. A short first visit to mum and dad was enough to complete the day, with a very early night definitely being in order!

After a big sleep (aided again by the incredible quietness of this hotel, despite it being on the side of the M6 motorway!), we awoke to find Sunday clear and sunny so decided to get out and about and enjoy some fresh air. We drove out to the new marina complex at Barton-under-Needwood and enjoyed a walk around the lake before exploring the quaint shops. The complex was quite busy but very pleasant and the 17 degrees or so felt much warmer in sheltered spots there. Researched before we left Australia, we opted to go out for lunch at a pub near Burton-on-Trent. The Burnt Gate (in a small village called Anslow to the West of Burton) advertised itself as catering for many different diets, with separate menus for veggies, vegans, gluten-free, etc. so it seemed like it would be worth a try. Despite getting quite lost, we eventually stumbled upon the pub, only to be told it was fully booked for Sunday lunch! Our offer to eat outside saw some leniance and we were soon perusing their extensive vegan menu in the glorious afternoon sunshine out the front of the pub. Our order would take a while given how busy they were (so plenty of time to enjoy a nice cold Magners!), but it was well worth the wait with some lovely home-cooked interesting vegan dishes filling us up. This pub would become something of a regular haunt for us in the coming week or so! Heading back to Cannock, a longer visit to mum and dad helped round out our Sunday.

Monday dawned cloudy and cooler and saw us heading West to Shrewsbury with a visit to Attingham Park. Having passed this National Trust property so many times on the trip to Wales over the years, it was good to finally enter the estate and have a good look around. We imagined it would be very quiet here, but it turned out to be the first day the property had been open since Winter closure in 2011, so there were plenty of cars and coaches already there when we arrived just after 11am. We opted for the full house tour first up and this long tour was a fascinating insight into the old house, its history and recent restoration projects. There was only time for a brief walk in the enormous grounds after the tour before heading back to Cannock to pick up mum and dad for the drive out to the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Stoke-on-Trent. Our overseas trip coincided with her radiotherapy treatment so it was good to help out with the daily drive to Stoke (about 1hr each way) to give dad a break from driving stresses. After the treatment and drive back, we had another early night, still tired from the journey over.

Tuesday was a somewhat sunnier affair, though still chilly at first. After a brief visit to mum and dad, we drove North along the M6 to meet Stu, Tam and little Henry at Trentham Gardens (another local tourist attraction we'd never visited before!). We enjoyed a long lunch at David's Brasserie, catching up as old friends do, before exploring the shops and garden centre with Henry having a great time in the small playground (tucked away at the back of the garden centre). It was great to see them all again and to see Henry growing up fast! We opted for a more scenic route back to Cannock, stopping off firstly at Aston Marina. Though not as complete as the marina at Barton we'd visited on Sunday, this was still a pleasant spot to go for a walk and look at the narrowboats moored around the marina. From there, we plotted a course to Cannock Chase and enjoyed a bracing walk at dusk from the visitor centre before heading 'home' to the Travelodge after a very full day.

Another chilly but bright start heralded Wednesday 14th March and we were out and about early, driving the short distance to Lichfield. This delightful town is always an enjoyable visit and, although the town was fairly quiet and perhaps showing signs of suffering in the economic downturn, we had a good few hours wandering around the shops, Minster Pool and cathedral areas, before heading back to Cannock to pick up mum and dad for another trip to Stoke for radiotherapy treatment. Hungry after our day's efforts, we drove out to a less than salubrious area of Wolverhampton to check out the vegetarian food on offer at the Veggie Lounge. The food was great (if a little on the spciy side!) and the staff friendly so we enjoyed our meal there before retiring back to the Travelodge.

Thursday dawned cool and foggy and we were in Cannock town centre early for Lee to secure a much-needed haircut and pick up some supplies. The morning would be spent visiting rellies, first up Ann in Cheslyn Hay. Luckily Wendy was also there at the same time so this was a great catch-up (Lee having not seen Wendy for about 20 years!). Moving on to a different area of the village, next stop were Betty and Trevor and it was good to see them again too. Our visits were shorter than we'd have liked, but another hospital trip to Stoke beckoned early in the afternoon. Having completed another Stoke run, we decided to return to the Burton pub, The Burnt Gate, to sample more of their vegan menu. The rare sighting of Aussies in this pub had been remembered and we enjoyed another nice feed there before cruising back to the Travelodge along the A38/A5 route we were becoming quite familiar with!

It was time to leave Cannock for a few days on Friday with the now traditional trip to Lee's old uni town of Aberystwyth (in Wales). It was a cloudy start but the day improved as we headed cross country and by the time we met Andrew and Caroline at Nant Yr Arian forest centre, it was still cool but brighter. About ten miles out of Aber, this was yet another place driven past many times but never visited so good on you Andy for the suggestion to meet there! After a wander around the trails and a spot of lunch, 2pm rolled around and the daily spectacle of the feeding of the booming red kit population in the surrounding forest. This was an incredible sight and great to see these birds thriving again in this part of the world (after being down to their last breeding pair just a few years ago). Bidding farewell to Andrew and Caroline, we headed into Aber itself and were soon ensconced in our second home, Bodalwyn guest house. Shortly after arriving there, we met up with Stu, Tam and Henry again and checked out the fabulous new playground near the castle, where Henry took great pleasure navigating the pirate ship! Later in the afternoon, we met Chris and Sharon as they arrived at Bodalwyn and then headed out for a nice dinner at Little Italy. Drinks at the Glengower and Inn On The Pier followed, with a wander along the deserted promenade with a bag of chips each in the drizzly rain rounding out the day in style.

After we enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Bodalwyn, Graham arrived bright and early on Saturday, with Andrew and Caroline arriving into town soon afterwards. Some decent showers while exploring town led us to break for an early lunch and we were well fed and watered at the Varsity in the heart of town. The pubs were all getting busy with it being both St Patrick's Day and also Wales's game to attempt the rugby grand slam. After lunch, it was better walking weather so we had a good stomp around (including a return visit to the pirate ship!) before Andrew and Caroline headed off. In keeping with tradition, a couple of hours were then spent at the snooker club on the pier before dinner at the Agra Indian restaurant, followed by drinks at Salt. Following Wales's victory in the rugby, the town was busy with (happy!) punters and it started to feel like the Aber of old, after what had been a very quiet Friday night in town. Although most of our party headed back to the guest house for an early night, Lee and Graham returned to the snooker club for a very enjoyable couple of hours playing full-size snooker (made even more enjoyable when we discovered it was half-price night there!).

Aber saved its best weather for Sunday, which dawned with cloudless blue skies. After fueling up with breakfast, the walk up Constitution Hill just had to be done and the climb was rewarded with simply magical views out over Aber and Cardigan Bay. Morning tea was taken in the Consti cafe atop the hill before wandering back down into town. Chris, Sharon and Graham all left shortly afterwards and a last play on the beach with Henry saw Stu, Tam and Henry leaving us around midday. It was great to catch up with everyone again in Aber and our thanks go to all our friends who made the effort to trek to Aber to meet up with us! Walking back into town, we had a substantial veggie roast dinner at the (new?) Peers Restaurant before exploring town some more and then climbing Penglais Hill up to the uni campus to check out recent developments up there. We detoured past the National Library on the way back down to town before grabbing a Subway sandwich as the sun started to go down. Of course, there's only one place to be for sunset in Aber and that's on the prom, to watch the sun go down over the water and also witness the incredible spectacle of the murmuration of the starlings heading to the pier for the night! This nightly ritual draws quite a crowd these days and the lovely weather ensured a big audience, all keeping a sensible distance away from the pier to ensure they didn't suffer the same splattering fate as the cars and buildings around Pier Street!

Aber turned on another perfect day on Monday 19th March, with a crisp clear start enough inspiration for us to have one last lingering wander along the prom and down the main street before bidding farewell to our friendly hosts at Bodalwyn and hitting the road. Rather than heading directly back to Cannock, we made the most of the lovely day and visited Shugborough, a National Trust property near Stafford. This was another 'first' and the substantial grounds and beautiful old mansion kept us entertained until late afternoon. The property was again well-attended, it also having re-opened after Winter closure just a few days before. By the time we'd explored everything on offer at Shugborough and driven back towards Cannock, we were ready for dinner and an excellent Thai meal at Red Mango (formerly the Padma for any locals reading this) did the job splendidly, before we returned to the Travelodge.

Tuesday was yet another clear sunny day and we filled the morning with a drive out to Calf Heath marina where we enjoyed a long walk along the towpath taking in the canals, countryside and narrowboarts along the way. After popping into Cannock town centre for lunch, it was time to do another Stoke hospital run, with a late appointment meaning a take-away dinner (again from Red Mango) grabbed on the way back to the Travelodge was a good option.

On Wednesday (of course, another nice sunny day!), Ky headed into Birmingham on the train for a day checking out the shops. Meanwhile, Lee visited mum and dad as well as stopping off at Cheslyn Hay cemetery to visit grandma and grandad's grave. After picking up Ky from Cannock train station, we headed back to the Chase and enjoyed a walk along the Cannock Chase Heritage Trail before calling it a day back at the Travelodge.

A brief morning visit to mum and dad kicked off Thursday, a sunny and very mild day. We would be travelling for the next few days so we checked out of the Travelodge around lunchtime to drive to Birmingham airport, where we parked the Corsa in the long term car park before catching the AirRail service over to Birmingham International train station, from where we would catch a train down to London. We'd booked well in advance so secured fares of just six quid each way on the London Midland service to Euston, what a bargain! The train was on time and saw us at Euston by 4.30pm. From there, it was a tube ride across the city to Earls Court and then a short walk to our accommodation for the night, the Premier Inn London Kensington (Earls Court). We were pleased to discover we'd been allocated one of the recently renovated rooms, less pleased to find the underground line right outside the window! After freshening up, we walked the short distance to Kensington High Street and indulged in some top class vegetarian food at Saf in the lovely art deco Barkers Building (also incorporating the Wholefoods Market). We headed back to the Premier Inn for a fairly early night, well aware of the hectic day to come on Friday...

While researching for her interior design course back in Australia, Ky had come across house tours being run by high-end styling magazine, LivingEtc. We'd booked to do their West London house tour, a self-guided trek around eight properties in six hours, for Friday 23rd March. All proceeds were being donated to the homeless charity, Crisis so it seemed like a good day out for a good cause (and the amazing turnout of about 500 ensured a big pay day for that charity!). It was hence an early rise on Friday morning (after a much interrupted sleep thanks to the tube trains) and luckily it was yet another sunny day, with a forecast high of some 20 degrees! We hope you're sitting comfortably for the next part of this, it was a crazy day!

Our first job was to find our 'starting' house on the tour, so a tube ride to Kilburn started our busy day then a walk to 6 Mapesbury Road (NW2 4HY). This house was described by the tour as "This five-storey 1880s Victorian mansion is an eclectic home for a top stylist and her family. The gorgeous interior is a mix of classic and kitsch, with lots of decorative elements. From vintage wallpaper to hand-painted flowers on walls, there's a different style in every room" and it opened dead on 10am to a large crowd of interested tour participants. The house was impressively styled but in a poor state of repair, with the stylist owner on hand to answer any questions. House number 2 was about 15 minutes walk away, at 43 Kingswood Avenue (NW6 6LS) and was described as "Using a mix of economical and luxurious materials, from inexpensive tiles to top-of-the-range fabrics, the owners have turned their double-fronted, three-storey Victorian villa into a spacious family home." This place was in a lovely street overlooking Queen's Park and features regularly in TV shows and movies. The renovation here was of a better standard, still let down by some poor finishing, but the styling was impressive. It was only a 10 minute walk to house number 3, the top floor flat at 102 Keslake Road (NW6 6DG) described as "A sweet flat in an end-of-terrace block that's a masterclass in how to decorate a small space. Features bold colour, clever displays of personal collections and some smart storage solutions." This tiny apartment - owned and showcased by LivingEtc employee, Milly - was a great case study in how to make the most of limited space and it was pretty squashy getting through it with the large number of tour participants now milling around. Onto house number 4 via a 10 minute walk to 59 Ashburnham Road (NW10 5SA), described as "A light and airy space with modern touches, this home remains true to its Victorian roots, while allowing the owner to indulge in his passion for antiques, mid-century pieces and salvaged finds to give the house its eclectic edge." This was a very stylish and well executed renovation and we immediately recognized that it had a very Australian feel to it, with its neutral tones, open plan layout and decked rear garden (we later had it confirmed by the tour organizer that the property was in fact owned and renovated by Aussies!).

The route to house number 5 was slightly more involved, with a 10 minute walk, a bus ride and then another walk leading us to 15 Stoneleigh Street (W11 4DU) (described as "The interior of this home has hallmarks of the architect/designer and previous owner, John Pawson. Furniture is kept to a natural shades and earthy materials throughout, from wooden tables and benches to floorboards"). This was a very modern - and at times, stark - interior and an obvious architect-designed folly in many places, with poor maintenance letting down its minimalist overall appearance (the property being showcased by shoe designer, Penelope Chilvers). A tube ride to Royal Park was required to get to house number 6 at 13 Alexander Street (W2 5NT), described as "An inviting, individual mix of design classics and found treasures, this colourful home is an entertainer's dream and the perfect backdrop for the owner's eclectic collection of furniture, glass and ceramics." This was a really nice part of the city and the house itself was certainly interesting in its styling! A 15 minute walk led us to house number 7 at 28 Cleveland Square (W2 6DD), described as "A spacious apartment in a white stucco-fronted Victorian house. With high ceilings and full-scale sash windows, it has an unassuming grandeur, yet is full of colour flashes and iconic art that reflects the food supremo's personal style." This was a stunning property, owned and showcased in person by well-known cookery writer and designer, Sophie Conran (daughter of Sir Terence Conran). The renovation was beautifully executed and this was the highlight property on the tour in a lovely part of London, a privilege to visit (it's not every day you wander through homes worth four to five million pounds)! A walk, a tube ride and another walk were required to reach the final home on the tour, at Flat 5a, Clearwater House, 4-7 Manchester Street (W1U 3AE), described as "In just 80sqm over two floors, the architect owner has created a comfortable home with compact living designs, including a home cinema and lots of cleverly hidden storage and work space. There is just one bright colour in each room, giving the place a fun edge." This tiny two-storey flat, just off Oxford Street, was owned and showcased in person by Jeremy Southgate from Works Architecture. This was another great use of limited space and Jeremy was interesting to talk with about his renovations of this small apartment (which further research shows he paid a whopping 730,000 pounds for in 2008!). We'd made it around all eight properties in just over five hours - hectic but immensely enjoyable, the tour gave us glimpses of properties we'd never otherwise see and also took us to parts of London well off the tourist tracks.

We were in serious need of refreshment after running around London all day, so we headed to Tibits for a drink and some time to relax. A brief shopping stint along Regent and Oxford Streets passed the time before returning to Tibits for a filling evening meal. Heading back to Euston on the tube, we were in plenty of time for our London Midland train service and it left on time at 8pm, dropping us back at Birmingham International at 10pm. We managed to locate our car in the long term airport car park (in the dark... and fog!) and were soon on our way to Warwick, where we'd booked a hotel for the night. The night was turning foggy so it was a steady drive on familiar roads to the new Premier Inn at Warwick (almost next door to the IBM office Lee was known to visit in a past life!), where we checked-in at about 11pm and were sound asleep not too long afterwards!

We enjoyed something of a late start on Saturday after our ridiculously busy Friday and checked out of the Premier Inn by about 11am to drive literally just across the road to visit Niall and his parents. Afetr catching up over lunch there, we decided to make the most of the glorious sunny warm (21C) day with a drive to Stratford-upon-Avon. As it turned out, many others had the same idea but we eventually found parking and could then enjoy meandering around the river and delightful old town. A relaxing pint was welcome at The Red Lion before heading back to Warwick (with the exit from the car park taking longer than the drive!). A half-hour walk (via the Warwick racecourse) saw us at The Unicorn where we met up with Niall's brother, Craig, and then enjoyed a nice meal and drinks at this friendly pub for the rest of the evening.

Losing an hour's sleep with the move to British Summer Time, we didn't make an especially early start on Sunday. After breakfast and farewells to our hospitable hosts, we drove cross country back to The Burnt Gate pub for Sunday lunch (and, yes, we booked this time!). We were welcomed as regulars and had another excellent meal, having sampled most of their vegan menu now between us! From Burton, it was a fairly short drive to Heage to visit Lee's old school friend, Matt, and his wife Julia, and kids Dan and Tom. It was great to catch up with the whole family and see the kids so grown up. The superb sunny weather inspired us all to go for a walk to Heage's claim to fame, the windmill. This is the only working, stone-towered, multi-sailed windmill left in the UK and the views all around from it were stunning in this area on the fringe of the Peak District national park. Wandering back to Matt & Julia's, we enjoyed an afternoon catching up and eventually had to bid farewell to them too, before the hour-or-so drive back to Cannock and yet another night at the Travelodge!

Monday would be our last full day in and around Cannock on this trip and, of course, it was just another picture-perfect 20-degree sunny Spring day! After briefly shopping in Cannock, the day was spent catching up with mum and dad and then a walk on Cannock Chase late in the afternoon. Another take-away meal from Red Mango gave us the renewed energy to begin re-packing our luggage in readiness for the next stage of our trip.

A short visit to mum and dad on Tuesday morning saw the final sad farewells exchanged before checking out of the Travelodge for the last time during this visit. The drive back to Birmingham airport was straightforward and we returned the Corsa in perfect condition back to Enterprise - albeit with a couple of thousand extra kilometres on the clock! Lugging our collection of suitcases through the airport and then again availing ourselves of the useful AirRail service, we were at Birmingham International train station in plenty of time for our train down to London. Our London Midland service again ran to schedule and saw us at Euston by 4.15pm. A short and friendly black cab ride later and we were checking-in to our home for the next four nights, the Holiday Inn Regents Park in Fitzrovia. After dumping our luggage and freshening up, we walked down to Regent Street and had a relaxing drink at one of our favourite London veggie spots, Tibits in funky Heddon Street. A wander around Regent Street and Soho were enough to build an appetite for dinner and we had a great meal at busy Mildred's (in Soho) before walking back to the Holiday Inn.

Wednesday dawned clear and sunny and was a perfect day for some sightseeing. We were surprised to learn that our rate at the Holiday Inn included breakfast, so we made the most of the excellent buffet-style offering there before setting off for a long day out. Armed with travelcards, we hit the tube and made our way to Royal Oak before walking to a little known area called Little Venice (near Paddington). This turned out to be a very pretty (and clearly affluent) area of London and it was nice to explore the waterway and well kept parks in this part of the city. Another tube ride from there led us to Notting Hill Gate and we had a pleasant walk through Kensington Gardens, which were busy with folks enjoying the unseasonably warm sunshine. It would have been rude to miss the Kensington High Street shops while being so close (!), so Ky enjoyed looking around the busy shopping strip there. Another of our 'regular' eating haunts was a tube ride away, so we ended up having a fairly late lunch at the excellent inSpiral in Camden, perfectly situated on the canal at Camden Lock (which was also very busy with sun worshippers). A wander around the vast Camden markets followed, before a refuelling coffee and cake stop back at inSpiral. Heading out of Camden, we walked to the desirable suburb of Primrose Hill and Ky enjoyed the high-end shops there too! A walk to the top of Primrose Hill was rewarded with spectacular views over London and the park was packed with locals and tourists enjoying the sunshine. It was a long but enjoyable walk back down the hill, past London Zoo and through Regents Park back to more familiar territory before boarding the tube once more for a ride to Marble Arch to explore Oxford Street. Primark just had to be done (and, yes, it was still crazy busy) and we did the full length of Oxford Street back to Soho, where we were in dire need of dinner after our long day. The relatively new Vantra in Soho looked like a good option and, while it was similar in concept to Tibits, the food was not as good and the atmosphere not as pleasant. A short wander home back to the Holiday Inn rounded out a busy day and we'd had good value out of our travelcards!

After enjoying another filling breakfast at the Holiday Inn on Thursday morning, we were soon out and about again in the early morning sunshine. Firstly, a short tube ride took us to Knightsbridge so that we could spend some time wandering around Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Shopping done for the day (Lee hoped!), it was but a short walk to Kensington Palace and we were surprised by the lack of queues given that the Palace only opened a few days before, following major renovations. We enjoyed a couple of hours exploring the Palace and its vast "apartments", with the Queen Victoria related exhibits being most interesting.

Feeling peckish, it was time to try somewhere new for lunch so off to West Brompton tube we went and then walked to 222 Veggie Vegan for a late lunch. Somewhat out of place it seemed in its locality, but the "all you can eat" arrangement suited us well and we enjoyed a healthy feed there before tubing it back as far as St James's Park. It was a perfect park afternoon, about 20 degrees and busy with people enjoying the sunshine. We walked through the park and to Buckingham Palace for a peek through the front gates before killing some time back in the park, soaking up the London vibe (and some rays!).

Next up, a tube trip to Earls Court so we could visit the Ideal Home Show. Arriving on the dot of 5pm, we scored our five quid entries and then spent a good three hours exploring this massive show. Although similar shows are held in Melbourne, the Earls Court show is on a much larger scale and it was interesting to see the different products on offer compared to Australia (and also to compare pricing!). It was also pretty amazing to go through three fully built houses within the show and Ky picked up plenty of interior decoration ideas along the way! Whizzing back to Piccadilly Circus on the tube, we headed straight to Tibits again and had an enjoyable (and welcome) meal there before walking back to the Holiday Inn after another mammoth day.

Friday 30th March and another day to explore London. We made a later start, enjoyed a big brekkie again and then set off into the sunshine. A period of shopping on Oxford Street would occupy much of the morning, along with a coffee at the Aussie-owned Lantana, a little goldmine specialist coffee shop in trendy Fitzrovia. From there, we walked to Covent Garden for lunch at another 'regular' spot for us, the tiny and crowded downstairs eatery, Food for Thought. Always offering a good meal at a good price, this place is a shared table experience, rather than a lingering romantic lunch experience! Covent Garden was busy with shoppers and big crowds appreciated the street performers, so the atmosphere was great and we spent quite a while poking around the area before walking down to Victoria Embankment Gardens for a rest in the sunshine. Heading across the Thames to Southbank, it was again busy with tourists and the atmosphere was great as we gradually made our way to Westminster Bridge to walk back along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. A coffee stop there gave us time to take in all the hustle and bustle of this popular meeting place and we then realised that the National Gallery was right there too, so just had to be done! We didn't manage to get through it all of course (it's vast!) but we had an enjoyable hour-or-so in relative peace and quiet away from the crowds. It was now dusk and dinner was a priority, so a walk back to Soho saw us filling up at Beatroot before making our way back to the hotel after a (slightly) less hectic day!

Our final day in London (and the UK), Saturday actually dawned cloudy and cool, with a forecast top of just 13 degrees. A day of activities focused on being indoors was in order, all of course after the big Holiday Inn brekkie! Walking along Oxford and Regent Streets, we headed to Ky's favourite London shop, in the shape of Fortnum and Mason. After completely failing to buy anything there, we stumbled across the rather splendid Burlington Arcade just across the road. This traditional arcade is full of jewellers and let's say very British shops and made for great window shopping. From there, we made our way to the Wallace Collection, a place we'd stumbled across during the house tour the week before. This is another hidden gem and what an incredible property and collection of art, just a stone's throw from the crazed shopping on Oxford Street! We really enjoyed visiting the Wallace Collection, so much so that we somewhat lost track of time and would end up having a fairly late lunch back at Mildred's in Soho. One last shop along Oxford Street and we had to make tracks back to our hotel to collect our luggage. Having retrieved our bags, it was time to leave the Holiday Inn after what had been a very enjoyable stay - the location suited us well, the room was very spacious (for London), it offered good value for money with the excellent breakfast included and, best of all, it was reasonably quiet at night for a decent night's rest. We were lucky enough to grab a black cab right outside the hotel (driven by a cabbie whose brother lived just a couple of miles away from us when we were in Aspendale!) for the short trip to St Pancras International train station and we were soon checked-in to our Eurostar service to Paris. The train was full, but left on time at 7pm and made rapid progress... until we were about 45mins from Paris, when it came to a halt. An accident on the high speed line meant we were to be diverted via suburban lines, resulting in a considerably longer trip than we'd expected. However, we did make it back onto the high speed line later on, only ending up being delayed an hour so we were off the train at Gare du Nord at 11.15pm. Navigating the lengthy taxi queue, our Mercedes taxi found our home for the next four nights with no issues and we were very glad to be in our lovely room at the Hotel WO by about midnight.

We were grateful to find that our hotel was very quiet (actually incredibly quiet given its amazing central location) so we enjoyed a good night's sleep before surfacing for our first day in Paris on Sunday. The day dawned clear and sunny, so we were soon hitting the streets, walking just around the corner to St Lazare metro station to pick up a metro to Porte de la Chapelle where we alighted to walk to the famous Les Puces markets. This enormous area of markets could easily occupy a whole day so we focused on the antiques areas and spent an interesting couple of hours looking around before it started to get busier. Hopping back on the metro, we scooted across the city as far as Place Monge and navigated our way to Vegan Folie's for a yummy cupcake. The shop was in the pretty Latin Quarter and it was a nice walk from there to the Pantheon and on into the lovely gardens around the Palais du Luxembourg. Wandering back towards the river past Sainte Chapelle, we had a quick bite to eat at Maoz Felafel before wandering over to Notre Dame. The cathedral area was packed with tourists enjoying the lovely sunny afternoon and we decided to join the long queue to visit the cathedral while we were in the area. It didn't take too long to gain entry and it was incredible to see Notre Dame from the inside, especially with the Spring sunshine spilling through the stunning stained glass windows. Heading across the Pont St Louis onto Ile St Louis, the enormous queues continued, this time for ice creams and cakes though! This pretty area was an unexpected find and this felt like the real Paris with locals out enjoying their Sunday afternoon. From there, we headed for the Marais district and this area lived up to its billing as a good spot for tourists to explore on foot. We enjoyed wandering its narrow streets and soaking up the atmosphere, as well as a quick look around the area of the Pompidou Centre. All this sightseeing was good for the appetite and we headed to what's meant to be Paris's finest vegetarian restaurant, Le Potager de Marais. This small place was quite full and the presence of an English(ish!) menu helped us order some lovely dishes, accompanied by some home-made cider that was as good as any Lee's ever tasted! This was a great spot for dinner and the dessert was sublime. The decision to walk home wasn't the wisest one, it was much further than it looked but at least we got to explore some more of Paris along the way and many of the historic buildings looked great all lit up.

We slept well at the peaceful Hotel WO and awoke refreshed to enjoy a stunning clear and sunny day on Monday. First up, the long and hilly walk up to Sacre Coeur. As the streets got narrower, the crowds got bigger and there were people everywhere around the church by the time we scaled the last of the climb. The views across Paris were amazing from here so that was some reward and a walk through the interior was also very interesting. After a rest to take in the view, we wandered on for quite a distance to get to the famous shopping strip that is Boulevard Haussmann so that Ky could (start to!) explore the Galeries Lafayette department store. Being so close, we had a walk past the very grand Opera house before heading to the small Joy In Food cafe, quite near our hotel. This cafe was a typically Parisian affair, but vegetarian and the hospitable owner did her best to plate us up a couple of sizable serves of vegan tucker, again washed down with some local cider! Fueled up, we were soon on foot again to walk to the Arc de Triomphe where we stopped to watch/admire the crazy traffic flow around this massive monument (which was of course packed with tourists too), before setting foot on the mighty Champs Élysées. This majestic street was buzzing and looked incredible on such a sunny day and we walked its full length down to the Place de la Concorde and onto the Louvre area. All of the public areas along the way were packed with sun worshippers and people watchers, a lovely laid-back afternoon atmosphere. Our tired feet managed a stroll along the Seine before we headed to dinner just off Rue de Rivoli at Saveurs Veget Halles. The English-speaking waitress helped a lot and we had a great meal and tasty dessert for a very reasonable price before catching the metro back to St Lazare and finally our hotel. We'd certainly made the most of the sunny weather and (conservatively) we'd covered 15km of Paris pavements during the day!

We didn't waste any time on Tuesday morning, rising early in readiness for our last full day in Paris, forecast - of course - to be sunny and clear with a pleasant Spring top of 17 degrees. We started off nice and local with the short walk to Boulevard Haussmann to "do" the major department stores of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. From there, we basically followed the Seine all the way out to the Eiffel Tower. There were huge queues for the lifts (not helped by some breakdowns) but we'd already decided not to go up the tower as we'd both done it before. The tower looked stunning against the perfect blue sky and the view from the top would no doubt have been amazing. We enjoyed wandering around the gardens near the tower before making our way to Veggie (on Rue Verneuil) for lunch. The route there took us past the incredible Les Invalides and the well-manicured gardens looked beautiful, as did the gold dome glinting in the Spring sunshine. The little restaurant was again in a lovely area, dominated by antique shop after antique shop! Although it was was minimal in English, it was generous in portions, so we were certainly not left hungry after our lunch there! Catching the metro back across the city to Bastille, it was only a short walk to the Promenade Plantée. This disused railway line and viaduct has been made into a lovely elevated and green walkway, giving quite a different view of Paris and providing retail space (under the arches) for local artists to display their wares. We spent an enjoyable hour or so walking there before heading back past the Bastille monument to find the cute home and clothing shop, Merci Merci. From there, we opted to revisit the Marais district and enjoyed soaking up the late afternoon atmosphere in the busy Place des Vosges, a beautiful historic square with parklands in the middle. Being in the same area again, we revisited Saveurs Veget Halles for dinner. A quick metro ride back to St Lazare saw us safely home at the Hotel WO so we could repack our luggage ready for the next leg of our epic voyage. Our time in Paris was great, the lovely Spring weather enabling us to experience the city largely on foot. Our hotel choice was also excellent, with helpful staff, clean & stylish rooms and a great central but quiet location, this place deserves its exceptionally high ratings on TripAdvisor and we would recommend it very highly to anyone visiting Paris.

We needed to make an early start on Wednesday 4th April so we were checking out of the WO at 7.30 and then being whisked back to Gare du Nord by taxi. The morning city traffic was not too bad and so the next challenge was to get to the airport by train... Having waited in a ticket queue for a while, it turned out to be for SNCF trains only and we needed RER! Out of order lifts meant lugging our suitcases down many flights of stairs before we could purchase the right tickets and find the appropriate platform. By now, it was about 8.30 and the trains and platforms were packed with commuters, meaning we couldn't even board the first couple of trains but we eventually squeezed ourselves (and our entourage of bags) onto a train bound for Charles de Gaulle airport. We arrived there by about 9.15 and then got quite lost finding the airport from the train station! Emirates check-in was eventually discovered and we checked-in without dramas with a couple of hours to kill before our flight to Dubai. We managed to dispense with most of our remaining Euros before leaving slightly late at 11.20am. The flight seemed quite short at only six hours and saw us on the ground in Dubai at just after 8pm. We cleared immigration quickly and proceeded to the designated carousel to collect our two suitcases. One suitcase appeared and we waited for the other... and waited... and waited, until it became obvious that it wasn't going to appear. It was time to visit the baggage office and they determined that the suitcase in question had been left behind in Paris, so one lengthy form-filling exercise later, we could leave the airport and hopefully see said suitcase again at some (hopefully not much) later stage, especially since it was Ky's case containing all her clothes (including many new additions made during London shopping!). Luckily, our pre-arranged (and free!) transfer from the airport to our accommodation had waited for us, so we were soon in air-conditioned comfort being driven the few kilometres from the airport to Flora Creek Deluxe Hotel Apartments. It was only a 10 minute-or-so drive and, during check-in at the apartments, we were served refreshing cool fruit juices, nice touch! Our bags (or what was left of them!) were moved to our apartment for us and we were escorted to our "studio" apartment to be given a guided tour of it! The apartment was huge, with a massive lounge/dining area leading onto a huge balcony overlooking the creek, a fully-equipped kitchen, guest bathroom, laundry, main bathroom and enormous bedroom with king size bed. This was a far cry from the small room we'd enjoyed in Paris (and also much cheaper here). We tried to spread out a bit to use the space on offer and enjoyed a good room service meal before hitting the king size.

After a good night's sleep, we arose on Thursday to a clear, sunny and hot Dubai morning. Calling the lost baggage office, we were delighted to learn that Ky's suitcase had been loaded onto the overnight flight from Paris into Dubai and was scheduled to be at our hotel by 11am so we decided to wait in the apartment until it was delivered. A call at about 10.30am from concierge confirmed its safe arrival, so all was well with the world again! Having had some time to plan our day's activities, we were soon off to explore. Just around the corner from our hotel, we armed ourselves with one-day travelcards (for only about AU$3) and caught the Metro across the city to visit the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa. The metro was new and comfortable and, of course, being Dubai it has to be the biggest - in this case, the longest fully-automated railway system in the world! The metro station was a ten-minute walk away from the Dubai Mall and it was already very hot, so we were pleased to get into the mall itself and enjoy its airconditioning. The mall was truly massive, as you might expect of the biggest shopping mall in the world! Getting lost was inevitable and the scale of the place was incredible. We wandered around taking in some of the shops (not all 1400 though!) before stopping for a bite to eat in the food court. Nearby was the famous fountain, also the biggest in the world and similar to the one we saw at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The half-hourly show was impressive with the fountain dancing in time to the music across the vast pool area. Having researched the tallest tower in the world, the Burj Khalifa, before arriving in Dubai, it was a real disappointment to find that tickets for the lifts to the observation deck needed to be booked in advance - and it was "sold out" for the next three days! Tickets on the day could be had for only four times the normal price, so a hefty AU$100 for a lift ride seemed a bit rich and so scaling this impressive tower sadly remains something for the "to do" list. After finally managing to find an escape route from the mall, we returned to the metro station and headed further out to the Dubai Marina. The area still shows signs of major building work in progress but the boardwalk around the main boat moorings was pleasant to wander around and the views out along the coast to Burj Al Arab were impressive (as was the constant dropping of skydivers in the area!). This area is also home to the crazy Infinity Tower, still a work in progress but destined to become the world's tallest building with a twist of 90 degrees! From the marina, we took the metro a short distance back towards the city to go and explore another vast shopping centre, the Mall of the Emirates. This mall is more of a 'destination' than a shopping centre with ridiculous things like an indoor ski slope (complete with live penguins wandering around!) and enormous cinema complex. A short metro ride took us back to the Dubai mall where we managed to relocate Organic Foods & Cafe and enjoyed a hearty feed after a big day of shopping malls and sightseeing! We returned to the fountain to watch its performance in the dark and there were massive crowds there compared to our daytime visit. After exploring the mall some more, we caught the metro back to our 'home' station and headed into Deira City Centre shopping centre for a refreshing fresh juice before some more shopping in this smaller mall, which was packed even though it was approaching midnight! Leaving the late-night shoppers behind, it was only short walk back to our apartment for us to call it a day.

Hazy sunshine greeted us as we opened the curtains on Friday morning to look out over the Dubai creek. The building project across the road was a hive of activity with literally hundreds of men busy on site constructing yet another mega skyscraper. We decided to walk into the old town of Deira by following the creek from the apartments. This was a fairly long walk and the day was already heating up, but it was interesting to take in the Dhow wharves on the creek as a taste of older Dubai. Arriving in Deira itself, the old town was a far cry from the glitz and glamour of the shopping malls with constant interruptions from eager traders as we wandered around the gold and spice souks. Having had quite enough of being hassled for one day, we made our exit from Deira and crossed the creek using one of the traditional Abra water taxis over to Bur Dubai. These "no fuss" taxis were doing a busy trade and we were whisked across for the princely sum of just 1Dhs each (about 30 cents Aussie), with the cooling breeze off the water being very welcome on this increasingly hot day. A wander around the historic Bastakiya area was enjoyable, before looking at the docks and numerous cruise ships in the harbour. The day had by now become almost unbearably hot outside, so we descended into the air-conditioned comfort of the metro again for a short trip back to the Dubai mall. We managed to get lost in there again but covered some new ground before we'd had enough and metro'd back to Deira City Centre for a refreshing juice. After relaxing back at the apartment for a while, we opted to eat in the on-site Olive Tree restaurant and we had a lovely meal at a reasonable price in gorgeous surroundings overlooking the creek. Once again, the service here was impeccable and these apartments come highly recommended at the price (and also deserve their high rating on TripAdvisor).

We needed to make an early start on Saturday and we were checking out of the excellent Flora Creek by about 7.30am and our (free) return transfer to the airport arrived soon afterwards. The quiet Saturday morning roads ensured a quick trip and we were soon inside the airport ready to check-in. There were no full-service check-in counters in sight for Emirates, so we opted for the "self check-in" option which we've commonly used on domestic services in Australia and the UK. What we didn't realise was that this really was full check-in, from passport checks to tagging luggage, so it took us a while to navigate the process and make sure our bags were weighed and labelled properly. This was our first experience of such complete self-service, but it all seemed to work OK and we were then on our way to the departure lounges (then, of course, passing queueless manned check-in counters further along!). The new airport terminal provided plenty of opportunities for passing the time and we boarded on time for an on-time departure of 10.45am. The flight was long but reasonably comfortable thanks to there being many spare seats, so we got some sleep and knocked over a few movies along the way. Landing at about 5.45am, we cleared immigration without dramas and were glad to discover our self-checked suitcases had made it successfully to Melbourne! A short wait in the cool fresh air greeted us before the 7.10am Gull service back to Geelong arrived for the easy one-hour trip back to familiar surroundings. A very short taxi ride from Geelong's main train station saw us walking in our front door in Drumcondra at 8.30am, tired but safely home.

We had a great time during our month away, with many highlights along the way. It was great to catch up with family and friends, as well as revisiting Paris and experiencing Dubai for the first time. We were pleased that the UK felt much more upbeat than during our last visit (2008) and London in particular was buzzing with Olympic spirit and a real sense of British pride. Till next time then...!