Paris in a day

In July 2005, I flew to London for an executive board meeting. Garry accompanied me to undertake some initial recognizance for our eventual relocation three months later. It proved to be an eventful trip. In addition, to a week in London, we also visited my brother Hamish and his family in Austria, as well as enjoying a day in Munich. 

My company gave us a limited budget for Garry’s travel costs. He took this on as a challenge, did some hardcore research online, and found an incredibly cheap business-class airfare courtesy of SWISS airline. The final route we booked took us via Singapore, Zurich, and Munich to London. The fare was so rare that my hardcore travel agent struggled to find it in her reservation system. In the end, I had to send her a copy of the fare conditions we'd sourced from the web.

The only negative about these discounted fares was the SWISS business class seats. They didn’t fully recline so our dreams of a lie-flat bed were thwarted. Despite this drawback, we slept reasonably well in our flat, but sloping, beds. Although, a group of passengers seated in the cabin's bulkhead row was rather creative. They convinced the cabin crew to elevate their footrests into a near-horizontal position by propping them up with eskies from the galley.

Source: Getty Images

A few days after we arrived in London the city was shaken by the deadly 7 July suicide bombings on the Underground. 52 people lost their lives on that fateful day. Another 700 were injured as four suicide bombers struck during rush hour. The wreck of the Number 30 double-decker bus, pictured above, has become a defining photograph of the attack. It was blown apart in Tavistock Square by the fourth, and final, suicide bomber.

I was in my board meeting at the Baglioni Hotel when the news broke. Upstairs, Garry was preparing to take the tube into town for exploratory meetings with recruiters. He was understandably shocked by how close to home it felt. His appointments were canceled soon after as public transport shut down citywide. Not an ideal introduction to life in the UK capital.

The following weekend, on a sunny Saturday, Garry and I took time out from our hectic schedule to enjoy a more appealing aspect of London life. We caught an early morning train to Paris for a quick day trip. This was my second time through the Channel Tunnel on Eurostar. My first trip was another day trip in 1998. If you ask me, it’s still mind-blowing that you can board a train in London and arrive in the City of Lights three hours later.

Our day trip started with a visit to Notre Dame. While we didn’t climb its iconic bell towers, we did stop to stand on the Zero Mile marker in the plaza out front. This is the point from which all distances are measured from Paris nationwide. From here we walked across the Seine to Place de la Concorde via the ornate Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre, and the eternally exquisite, Jardin des Tuileries.

We then embarked on a metro rail tour of central Paris featuring some of its more distant sights. This included the Arc de Triomphe, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. Looking back we covered an impressive distance in a relatively short space of time. Undoubtedly, one of the more memorable moments that day was a postcard-perfect view of the Eiffel Tower framed by Baroque-inspired buildings on Rue Buenos Ayres.

Finally, before dashing back to Gare de Nord, we completed our French excursion with a brief visit to Montmartre. It was here, on the steps of Sacre Coeur Basilica, that we joined the tourist hoards for a classic sunset view of the Parisian skyline. Then, shortly after 10:00pm, we were back at Waterloo Station in the heart of London. 

I must admit that 18 years later I can’t recall many details about the trip. For example, did we venture up the Eiffel Tower? I don't think we did. If I recall correctly the queue to climb it was insane. Did we stop for a drink while wandering along the Avenue des Champs Élysées? I'm sure we bought at least a cold drink. After all, it was a July Summer’s day.

When in Rome

Here’s more about the vacation in Rome that Garry and I enjoyed in 2003. You’ll recall that our first full day in the City of Seven Hills involved a lengthy walking tour of its central districts. On the following day, we focused our attention on the Vatican City. This included visiting its acclaimed Vatican Museum, the Basilica of St Peters, and the colonnaded expanse of Piazza San Pietro. 

As all good tourists do, we explored all of the Vatican’s most popular sights including Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, the spiraling Bramante Staircase, Madonna della Pietà and the crusader-plundered Egyptian obelisk in the heart of Piazza San Pietro. Naturally, I raced down the Bramante Staircase for a classic “look at me” photo opportunity.

Our visit to the Sistine Chapel was my second. I’d seen it previously while backpacking in Europe in 1990. However, at the time, a fresco of The Last Judgment which fills the chapel’s west wall was hidden by a canvas shroud as it underwent restoration. During this second visit, I finally saw Michelangelo’s spectacular fresco in all its glory. 

It was well worth the wait (and undoubtedly was a far better experience post-restoration). Likewise, the majesty of the chapel’s iconic “Creation of Adam” ceiling left us in awe. Gazing up at one of the world's most replicated religious paintings really is one of those “pinch me” moments. The photo above simply doesn’t do it justice.

However, our most memorable moment of the day happened while soaking up the view at Piazza San Pietro.  As we stood under its curving colonnade, one of Rome's notoriously ubiquitous pigeons chose that moment to dump a load on my head.  I swore like a drunken sailor, and as I did, turned to find a sweet old nun bearing witness to my colourful expletives.

Our final day in Rome saw us exploring the Coloseum from top to bottom and weaving our way through the Roman Forum's extensive ruins. I'd missed some of these ruins during my first visit as a backpacker and thus was able to cross more off my tourist bucket list. Highlights included the bowels of the imposing Flavian Palace and the dusky bowl of Circus Maximus forever immortalised by Charlton Heston's spectacular chariot race in the 1959 movie, Ben Hur. 

We also took an excursion across town to climb the Spanish Steps. This sweeping symmetrical staircase, considered Rome's traditional meeting place, was immortalised by Audrey Hepburn in the 1953 movie, Roman Holiday. Although it's somewhat ironic that these days local authorities do everything they can to dissuade people from lingering on the stairs. Sitting on them currently attracts a 400 euro fine.

We rounded off the day with another visit to the Trevi Fountain. I’d like to note that, for the record, we tossed a coin into its midst to ensure we’d return someday. However, twenty years on, our wish has yet to be fulfilled. 

Our European holiday finished with a five-day stopover in Singapore. Here I spent time working before finally returning to Sydney.  We flew in on 18 July, did the tourist thing over a weekend, and then flew out again on 23 July. 

While I worked Garry made himself comfortable by the pool at the Merchant Court Hotel in Clarke Quay.  He also joined me and Text 100's Singapore staff on Tuesday evening for a traditional Black Pepper and Chilli Crab feast. The team took us to one of its favourite crab venues, Jumbo Seafood in the East Coast Seafood Centre, where I've dined many times over the years.

However, it was my antics that once again created the stopover's most memorable moment. During our Singapore Airlines red-eye to Singapore, I took a sleeping pill with dinner to help me sleep. However, I timed its consumption poorly.  By the time dessert arrived, I was struggling to stay awake. Then, much to Garry's amusement, while eating my ice cream, I passed out mid-spoonful.

Who'd have guessed that our humble Italian vacation would kick off another two decades of globe-trotting adventures? In the years since we’ve stepped foot on every continent while visiting almost 70 countries along the way.

A first time for everything

The first vacation Garry and I took together was in Rome in July 2003. At the time, I was in London on business and had booked a side trip to Rome on the way home. On a whim, I invited Garry to join me in the eternal city. He thought that was a grand idea and booked flights to meet me for my final days in London.

Garry flew in on Friday, 11 July. I met him at Leicester Square tube station in the early morning and escorted him to my hotel. I was staying at the Convent Garden Hotel, a favourite haunt in my early years of business travel to London as APAC Regional Director. We then spent two days hanging out in central London before flying to Rome on 13 July.

Our flight to Italy started badly. We caught the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow on Sunday morning. However, we judged poorly how long the Tube would take. As a result, we arrived shortly after check-in closed for our scheduled flight. British Airways kindly took pity on us and moved us to a later flight departing after lunch. However, I had to give up my ticketed business class seat - a small price to pay given the circumstances.

Once in Rome, we based ourselves in a hotel booked by my travel agent. It was located less than five minutes walk from the world-renowned Trevi Fountain. This proved to be the perfect location. By the day the surrounding laneways hummed with tourists, then after dark, the locals appeared, bringing a myriad of tiny cafes, bars, and pop-up market stalls to life.

Our first full day in Rome was spent visiting and exploring sights on a self-managed, walking tour of Central Rome.  By the time we were done, we'd covered more than nine kilometres on foot.  

We kicked off the day with sights close by our hotel. First up was the immortal Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotonda. I’ve always been fascinated by this impressive Roman structure with its soaring concrete dome punctuated by a dramatic oculus opening. It was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian to replace an earlier temple. Almost two thousand years later, the Pantheon's dome remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Inside the building is just as impressive. While its walls and ceiling are no longer ornately clad and decorated, the scale of the building still leaves you in awe. The sun streaming through the oculus adds to the experience, flooding its cavernous interior with natural light. The Romans were far more advanced than those of us looking back really appreciate.

From the Patheon, it was on to the Tiber River to walk across the historic St. Angelo Bridge, past the Castel Sant'Angelo, and on to Via della Coniliazione where we caught our first, fleeting glimpse of St Peters Basilica in the distance. We then followed the river before branching off towards Janiculum Hill.  In the sweltering afternoon heat, we made our way up Passeggiata del Gianicolo to enjoy the Roman skyline from the popular Belvedere del Gianicolo terrace. 

Our central city circuit continued with a stop at the Church of San Pietro in Montorio. This intimate chapel was painted by none other than Donato Bramante and Michelangelo. Although during our visit it was decked out beautifully in white flowers for a wedding. We later learned that it’s a popular wedding venue in part because a cobblestone plaza out front offers a picture-perfect backdrop of the city’s red-tiled roofs. 

We then crossed back over the Tiber and took a detour to climb the steps to Campidoglio. This elegant hilltop plaza was designed by Michelangelo. These days it's lined with museums and offers a memorable view of the Septimius Severus Arch and the Roman Forum.

We finished our day with a quick side trip to see the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, complete a circuit of the Colosseum, and catch a glimpse of the Roman Forum at sunset. We returned to our hotel as darkness fell and the locals came out to play.  

Our evening was spent wandering the cobbled laneway of Via del Lavatore in search of the thinnest, crispest pizza crust in all of Rome. We eventually found our perfect slices on display in a small hole-in-the-hole pizzeria.

Looking back, 20 years later, I'm impressed by how far we walked that day. I'm equally impressed that we did it all without Google Maps or an internet-enabled phone. Instead, we relied on nothing more than a few maps and recommendations printed in a good old-fashioned Lonely Planet guide. The same dog-eared guide is still sitting on a shelf at home today.

Follow this link for more of our adventures in Rome.

Step back in time

For five years this blog kept family and friends up to date with Garry and my exploits while living in London. However, in more recent times, it’s morphed into something more akin to a travel diary. In keeping with this transformation, I've decided the time has come to document some pre-London travel adventures. 

In recent weeks, I’ve published posts on a few vacations we enjoyed before the blog began.  Follow these links for my initial set of retrospective posts:

• A camper van road trip through New Zealand’s Northland
  
  
• Our first-ever cruise around Tahiti
  
  
• Exploring the islands of Hawaii
  
  
• A weekend in Chicago
  
  
• Reliving Kennedy's assassination in Dallas
  
  
• Houston and the Johnson Space Center
  
  
• The real Disneyland.
  

I’ll do my best to share more travel experiences in the months ahead including the first holiday Garry and I ever had together (in Rome), and our trip to see the Terracotta Warriors. These vacations are relatively easy to publish as the photos are all digital files.  

However, earlier adventures taken during the Kodak era are another matter. I have at least eight photo albums gathering dust in the household library, and storage tubs filled with photos. Their contents recall vacations I'd enjoyed before meeting Garry.  This includes my first African safari in 1996, a road trip down the Florida Keys the same year, and a Japanese rail holiday during the spectacular Sakura season in 1998. 

It’ll take some organizing to scan and upload hundreds of photographs. However, as these chemical memories slowly age, it’s probably an exercise well worth the effort. Watch this space.

UPDATE: 11 June

I've now added a post about our first vacation together in Rome. 

UPDATE: 18 June

I’ve now added a post about our first day-trip to Paris.

It’s a small world after all

A recent conversation about Disneyland brought back memories of my first (and only) visit to the original Anaheim theme park in California. Growing up my family watched the Wonderful World of Disney on television every Sunday night. As a child, I was always captivated by scenes of Disneyland in the show’s opening credits, while my brothers and I fervently envied anyone who’d actually been there.

Years later I was lucky enough to visit Disney World in Orlando while on a business trip in the USA. At the time, I'd been flown to Atlanta for a week of meetings and product demonstrations by a company called Scientific Atlanta. I then took a week off and flew to Florida to explore Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West. I recall two fun-filled days were spent at Epcot and Disney World. However, as kids, Disney World was never considered the real thing - so it really didn't count.

Therefore, at the ripe old age of 39, I was delighted to finally experience the "real" Disneyland. At the time, I was in Los Angeles on business. Garry had also tagged along for the ride. Together, we visited the park after I’d finished my last business meeting for the day. Chris Tang, the country manager for my company’s China network, had also spent the day with me. She accepted an invitation to join in the fun. 

We arrived at the park’s hallowed gates shortly before dusk. As a result, we got to experience Disneyland by day and by night. I was determined to try every theme ride I’d seen on television’s opening credits no matter how naff. This included the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party ride in spinning cups, the Dumbo Flying Elephant ride, Space Mountain, the Tomorrowland monorail, and the incredibly kitsch Small World boat ride.

Garry kindly yielded and joined me for the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. However, he steadfastly refused to join me on the Small World ride. Foolish man. He missed Australia’s starry pink kangaroo and joey (why pink?), and the quirky, quizzical kiwis on Aotearoa’s tiny podium. As payback, I tormented him with multiple renditions of the ride’s theme song for the rest of the evening. 

Another tick in the box for all those childhood dreams.