Madrid and Uruguay

Madrid

From the city of lights we flew into Madrid , our final European destination before we changed continents to the Americas. Unknown to us it was the world youth catholic festival so the following day the pope arrived together with 1.5 million teenagers. It was hard to move around the city , but we still managed to get a few photos and we liked Madrid  very much , next time we will plan our visit better.

LA Puerta De ALCALA (City Gates )

The Royal Palace

Montevideo (Uruguay)

We finally made it to Uruguay the land of our birth , we left Madrid with 40 degrees and arrived to the coldest winter in about forty years,  2 degrees in the afternoon and minus temperatures at night . It took us a few days to adjust before we could start visiting relatives. Following are a few pics from different parts of our trip in Uruguay , it was the final stop before our  trip back home .

Montevideo .

Florida 

The town where my family comes from , only 250,000 people in the whole state about 100 km from the capital.

Paris the city of lights

What can I say about Paris, I am a bit biased when it comes to this city, it was my second visit and it still amazes me. I think Ney also liked Paris, but he was impressed by the big avenues and the beautiful parks , like The Tulieres Park in front of the Royal Palace of the Louvre, where we spent many afternoons during our week in Paris.

It was a wonderful week , we rented an apartment in the area known as The Marais, the bohemian and artistic area of Paris, about four blocks from the Seine and the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Second day in Paris , and we decided to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame, made famous by the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and it is a pretty spectacular cathedral.

The third & fourth day in Paris  and we did the tourist thing, and got on the hop on hop off bus, it is  after all  a big city and we wanted to make sure that we saw everything. First stop was the Eiffel Tower , and we can say that we have climbed the tower and have seen Paris in all its glory. Then it was Place de la Concorde, Les Invalides, Napoleon's tomb, The Champs Elysses , The Opera Garnier, The Palace Luxembourg, Montmartre and so many other amazing places. 

Our next stop was the Palace of Versailles and The Louvre Museum .

We could not leave Paris  without visiting one of its famous cabaret shows, so we had dinner and show at The famous Lido , costumes and special affects were excellent although I think the Moulin Rouge has more of a French flavour.

Our last day in Paris was spent relaxing in one of Ney's favourite spots at The Tulieres, while we waited for Paris to turn on its lights.

It was sad to say good bye to Paris, but we will definitely visit again !!!

Florence & Milan

Form Rome we took the high speed train to Florence , the birthplace of the Renaissance and   where the masters like Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci were born. The Tuscany area of Italy is very beautiful , no wonder these and other masters from this area were inspired to do amazing works of art.

The Duomo Florence's amazing cathedral is a central and important figure of the city, the different galleries and museums , as well as the different Medici Palaces and churches are a reminder of times gone by when art and culture reigned supreme in this city. You cannot visit Florence , and not see Michaelangelo's amazing sculpture of David , an incredible piece of work .

Milan 

A very elegant and well organised city , it was amazing to see the Italian Alps from the city . It was also very beautiful , particularly the Milan Cathedral and the Royal Palace.

Next stop is Paris the city of lights !

From sunny Spain to Italy

From the beautiful city of Barcelona, we flew over to Rome to visit the capital of the old Roman Empire. Apart from the incredible number of tourists which made it sometimes uncomfortable, it is still an amazing old city . From the Colloseum, to Plaza Venezia, Via Corso , Plaza Navona , Trevi Fountain and The Spanish Steps, and not to forget Vatican City with St Peter's square and the Basilica . If you love history , you will certainly love Roma !

A day trip to Napoli & Pompey

We were surprised at how big the old city of Pompey was , and it is amazing that it was built by the Greeks 700 BC, long before the Roman's invaded and placed their mark on the old city. It was a very advanced civilization with plumbing, well planned roads, shops and residential areas. But it was a bit daunting to see the Vesuvius Volcano towering over the City , to think that it was responsible for its destruction.

Pompey