Collection of Photos
Matthew McInerney
Hi All
I've added a new gallery to the site with some photos from the last six months. Couple of Christmas events, trip to WA with Mum and Dad for Mick Trevethans wedding, Ryan's birthday, My birthday and Sams Christening as well as a whole bunch of Sam putting things in his mouth.
This is mainly for those OS so they can understand how cold they are over there and how warm we are here. I had a look at the weather forecast for the week in England and there was nothing over 5 degree so I feel they really need to understand this.
love Matt
http://mcinerney.squarespace.com/mcinerneytv-photo-gallery/some-photos-from-the-last-6-months/
hello everyone
here we are in SUNNY Bellagio!! and sitting in a bar which has inernet and sells beer and champagne as well. What more could you want?
The boat trip was great again except for the weather. It was pretty cold somedays and not pleasant for Tom and Dad who had to sit up the top in the rain and drive the boat. There was steering inside but not useful when trying to go through the locks. The area we drove through was very scenic , beautiful forests and fields. We also stopped off at some interesting towns such as Strasbourg and Saverne. <lots of little towns along the way all of which had bakeries selling the most delicious bread. So we ate well on the boat and had a couple nights where we ate the regional fare at restaurants.
the man in the internet shop has just provided me with a toasted roll with cheese and prosciutto - for free! Dad is on another computer, drinking beer and eating free food too.
After the boat, we caught the train to Berlin - super place so big although easy to find your way around. we stayed near Alexander Platz which is in the old East Berlin. a bit tatty but still good to see how the real people live. the apartment building was a bit shabby but the apartment was very comfortable and had all we needed. we were near the train station not that we caught it too much over the 3 days. Dad and I walked to the Brandenburg Gate from the apartment and it took 40 minutes. We passed all the main museums on the way so there was no need to get the train really. One day we did the red bus thing and hopped on and off a couple of times. Another day, we took a train out to Potsdam - this was about 30ks out of town. The Kaiser had built a castle here 'Schloss San souci". like a holiday home in Sorrento but a bit bigger. There were lots of other buildings which he had built for his relatives as well as the odd belveder and Chinese House - all in this enormous park. The old town at Potsdam was very cute too.
and then the long train trip to Bellagio. we rose at 4.45 for the taxi to come at 5.30 - it didnt turn up so we started to walk to the station and hailed a cab on the way - the taxi man didnt even have his phone turned on - ratbag! we arrived in Bellagio around 9pm so it was a long day. Bellagio is very pretty with lots of narrow streets, cobblestones, shops and restaurants. Some of the shops are expensive but there are also ordinary shops too. Dad has even managed to buy a new pair of trackpants! It is very touristy but very convenient for getting around and there are good walks to do out into the countryside. Our apartment is great - right in town. We walk down our street to the ferry terminal. the day after we came we had a relatively quiet day just looking about the town.
Friday, we went by bus to Como - a hairy ride with the bus driver tooting the horn to let the cars coming the other way know he was coming. we spent the day in Como just looking around and poking our heads into the odd church; had a ride up the mountain on the funiculare. I had a list of 6 factory outlets for silk from the tourist office which I chased up - to no avail! Either they werent open, had shut down or had been turned inot a building site so no silk material! I found a normal shop which sold silk material but that wasnt what I wanted - I can do that at home!
Saturday was the day for the ferry ride. We bought a day ticket and hopped on and off at different towns in the centre of the lake - great fun. The towns were very cute. One stop was Villa Carlotta - very fabulous. Some lady gave it to her daughter as a wedding present. magnificent house and gardens. Unfortunately, Carlotta died when she was 23 so she didnt get the chance to enjoy it for very long.
Today we started off with mass at the local Chiesa - very beautiful church in Bellagio - so many churches in the area - you look at the hills as you go past the towns and there can beat least 2 in a town, if not more. we caught the fast ferry to the top of the lake to visit a couple of towns. Quite different to the southern part of the lake. We lunched at one of the towns - it is supposed to be the town where Mussolini was captured after Italy surrendered - not sure of the actual history - perhaps someone can google it and set me straight.
That is it for now. We are home to watch more of BBC World - that is all we get - that and cnc something or other - Dad hopes they may report Essendons win over St Kilda - what a great game that would have been. Or, perhaps I should say what a great result!
Love to all - mum
I am using the blog as I cant access the webmail - sometime it works and sometimes it doesnt. I am not sure what the problem is. It would be useful if you can work something out, Matthew or Paul, as sometimes I want to write to someone else. I hope it works when we get to England.
looking forward to hearing from all