"New York, France, Italy, Helsinki, Tallin & China" IdreamIam's Profile

NYC

It all seems so long ago now, this was a trip I really loved planning and of course from the start lot's of changes were made and totally new destinations were added and some subtracted, luckily my travelling partner and good friend Di was happy to go along with anything I wanted to do. My first stop was always to be New York, I had been to the West Coast twice but never made it to New York. Finding a well priced Hotel in a good location was quite difficult and from the number of postings asking just this I know I was not alone in this quest. We arrived in after 8pm, flying from Sydney with a quick change of planes in La. Arriving at our hotel and leaving a things in our room we set out to find somewhere to have a bite eat, finally getting to bed after 1am, I had wanted to visit NY for quite a while and was thrilled to be there.
Our only organised tour of sorts was booking with the NYC Council for an Apple Greeter, it is a great service and we enjoyed what ended up being about 6 hours. The rest of our time was spent roaming and visiting whatever happened to be in our sight, with the exception of the Empire State building, arriving on top about an hour from sunset, (to be continued when time allows)

France

Fresh Beans in Paris

After a very boring overnight flight we arrived bright and early, upon arrival we made our way to the Railway station and caught the train into Paris. Arriving at our hotel we were lucky and had immediate access to our Room, my brother would be meeting us later that day, he was flying in from Germany after doing a 2 week Motor Bike tour of the Alpine regions.
We stayed at the Tonic Hotel Louvre, just off Rue De Rivoli Les Halles, the location was fantastic so close to everything, 5 mins to the Louvre in one direction and about 10 min's to Notra Dame in the other with a wonderful shopping area. Anyone can put in a photo of the normal Parisian tourist attractions but you might be just a touch curious as to why I have a photo of Beans - well I suppose you could call me a foodie, I am a home economist and I have had my own catering business, we have wonderful fresh food in Australia can can source just about anything we even have our own Truffels now but I just loved the beans. These beans looked as though someone had taken a ruler to them and they had to be an exact size or they were out, at home we truly have wonderful fresh beans but you can grab a handful and they of varying size. Mind you all the food is fantastic but the Beans really grabbed my attention. We had 4 nights and 4 days, mostly just walking and feeling our way around, I know we could have seen lot's of sights however on my first trip to Paris I did not want to rush from one tourist attraction to another that can be done on hopefully my second visit when I really want to stay in an apartment for at least 3 or 4 weeks, well that is the dream.

We hit the road leaving Paris & heading for Italy

Soon after we found out we were going wrong way

We picked up our rental car and headed off, we were going to get off the Freeway as soon as we could enjoying the back roads, the plan was good but 3 years ago we were not really using Nav Sat and I had the map, our first night was to be at Lyon but before that we wanted a lunch stop and the other two wanted an automatic teller machine, that all went well, found a lovely place for lunch, used a teller machine and set off once again. After about half an hour or so I found things did not match the map, it was a Sunday and most things were closed but eventually we found someone who could not speak English but could using the map make us understand we were heading back to Paris. Plan B get back onto the Freeway asap.
After finding a place to stay with some difficulty we hit the sac and were ready for a fresh start the next morning.
Before setting off again we drove around Lyon and checked a few things out, wishing we had more time to spend there such a beautiful town, next time.
We then headed off to Grenoble arriving about 1pm, found a hotel and luckily were able to have a good look around, being in a valley surrounded by alps it was very picturesque, next day we would be in Italy.

Italy

Crossing into Italy

We really enjoyed the trip over the Alps, stunning scenery and plenty of stops to take photos. Arriving in Cremona about 5pm we found a Hotel in the centre of the old Town with a great Restaurant across the road. There was a lot see in cremona the next day and I could have stayed longer but my brother Peter was wanting to get going we had to get to Venice and find a hotel hopefully before dark.
Back onto the Freeway and the very heavy traffic heading to Venice and beyond.

Intro Updated Nov 13, 2009
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Personal Pages (1)

Written Sep 27, 2011

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Eastern Europe May, June 2011

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Comments (13)

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DaHongHua Dec 15, 2012 at 5:56 PM

Nice meeting you in today's birthday list. Happy birthday and best wishes to you. Greeting from Malaysia.
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sdq Dec 15, 2012 at 2:14 PM

!!!!! Happy Birthday !!!!!
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rosata Dec 15, 2012 at 1:38 AM

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Christine! Greetings from England!
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akkipaa Nov 8, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Hi Christine, I just saw Helsinki in your page heading, are you meaning the it's your dream or did you visit there (or here) in your European tournee? Greetings from Finland anyway :)
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  IdreamIam Nov 9, 2012 at 1:52 AM
  
  Hi, I have been to Helsinki, in 2005 we spent 3 nights there, one of the days we caught the high speed ferry to Tallin for the day, the third day we caught the train to St Petersburg for 3 nights then back to Helsinki for another night and flew out the following, I would love to have seen more of Finland but we had a lot to fit in. My daughter employe's Au Pair's to help with her chirdren, they come to Australia on 1 year work permits and work for about 6 to 9 months then go traveling around Australia, the last girl was from Finland, Annika Kangas, she is lovely and we keep in touch with her through Facebook.
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  akkipaa Nov 9, 2012 at 2:03 AM
  
  Yep, my challenge is that I would like to visit your side of the globe but you are so faaar, the vacations are limited and there are some other unvisited places still in my wish list. I was just thinking Australia on the morning when saw the last stars I taught mid Australia and the starlight there during deepest night time! Must be amazing! Cheers to you Friday evening!
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Beausoleil Jan 9, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Christine, Thank you for the comment on the Paris Forum. I appreciate your confidence. I'm glad you reinforced the fact that you can get around Paris without speaking French. People are very nervous about that. Thank you.
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olja1234 Dec 15, 2011 at 10:57 AM

Happy Birthday Christine!
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connectingrod Dec 15, 2011 at 1:08 AM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
WISH YOU MANY HAPPY RETURENS OF THE DAY
MAY ALL YOUR DREAM COMES TRUE THIS YEAR
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Aussienet Nov 30, 2011 at 11:47 AM

Hi Christine, Making my way around this site, love hearing about everyones travels, I am off again in 24 sleeps, as you would know, our summers are pretty hot, not being a lover of summer, I head for colder climes. Cheers
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nhcram Jan 9, 2011 at 7:28 AM

Hi, what a pity. Bad timing I say. Hope you enjoy your trip x
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cafank Dec 14, 2010 at 3:38 PM

Happy Birthday Christine - I still haven't made it to Sydney but will give you a call when I do. Up in Gladstone at the mo - hope you are coping with the Oprah influx!