Picture Gallery 18 - EUROPE & UK
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EUROPE & UK – Sicily, Italy, Switzerland, France and England
Sicily, Italy (pictures from left to right) - The delightful coastline of Sicily; the historic old town of Enna , perched on the hilltop; the view across to the valley from the old fort at Enna; Ron near the old fort in Enna.
Italy (pictures from left to right) - The waterfront and ferry point and the clear water of Messina port, on our way across to the ‘foot' of Italy; we spent a few hours walking amongst the ruins of Pompei , which we enjoyed and was well worth the visit. You really get a sense of being in an old town as you walk along the streets and amongst the buildings.
Into Switzerland – with the sun shining the countryside was picture perfect; we stopped in Luzerne and spent a wonderful few days there exploring the town and its old town heart, nestled beside beautiful lake Luzerne – it's almost like an outdoor museum and we really enjoyed it, especially Viv!!; the amazing ‘Lion Monument' carving – a very moving piece “the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world” was how Mark Twain described it.
Luzerne, Switzerland – Just a small sample of the beautifully decorated and majestic buildings in the old town; our journey up Mt Pilatus started with a ferry boat ride around the lake, then onto the steepest cogwheel railway in the world (47% at one point) up to the top of Mt Pilatus, again we were so lucky with the weather; then it was a gondola and then cable car ride down the other side to finish off a fabulous day.
France and a tour around the Somme battlefields – first stop the museum and school at Villiers Bretonneux – a must visit for any Australian; from there we visited the Australian Memorial near Hamel and then onto Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery and found the grave of Ron's great uncle Archie Gordon Lewis.
Boulogne Eastern Cemetery , in Boulogne, was our next stop on Ron's pilgrame to find the grave of his great uncle Charles Stephens Lewis – as far as we know he is the first descendent on the Moon side to visit these graves. From there we made camp on the coast, just south of Calais.
We took advantage of the sunshine and tried to dry out the canvas on the rooftops – it was all too much for Neil!!
Onto England and a few days to explore some of the countryside while we sorted out the vehicles – Lacock Village – so very English and classified by the National Trust and used in some of the Harry Potter movies; the Stonehenge structure at Avebury – much more impressive than the better known ‘Stonehenge'; the delightful canal at Wootten River and the sign at the pub we stayed at – in fact the whole little village at Wootten River was mostly thatched roofed houses – very quaint; a visit to the RAC to sort out Carnet for the vehicle and a picture opportunity – next stop home!!
Our adventure, for this part of our journey at least, has finally come to an end. It has been one hell of a trip! Next year the more civilized realms of England, Scotland and Ireland, then onto Norway and then through Europe before crossing Russia and Mongolia and maybe China.