The Eagle is Landing - Return to Base

This trip is almost at an end - and it's been a fantastical journey.  We've travelled many kilometres, by planes, trains & automobiles, boats & funiculars, buggies & bicycles, trams, buses & Ferris wheels. Much walking up hills and mountains, towers and spires, beside rivers and streams, lakes and canals, in castles, citadels, gorges, parks and gardens, along parapets and bridges. We've swum in pools and water facilities and laid our heads on various pillows and beds in hotels, apartments, farmhouses and resorts. Our eyes have seen museums and galleries, paintings and sculptures, Churches and Synagogues, Temples and statues, animals and zoos.  The tastebuds have been treated to a myriad of dishes and sometimes the stomach has said "No". The flesh has been oiled, massaged and stretched. We've had chats with strangers in cafes & bars, and on trams & buses. Our ears have heard music and conversation in other languages and dialects and our bodies have conveyed much of the meaning we have intended. Things have been lost, possessions have gone missing /stolen and I really don't care as I will never underestimate the value of travel.

Having lunches and dinners with old friends and new, from home and abroad, and re-affirming connections has been an absolute joy. Yoga in the Tuscan landscape, Meditations in the Farm House and all the time wondering at the Wonder of it all.  

To all of you who have taken that little bit of time to read these ramblings, I say THANKYOU and hope you have enjoyed the ride too. 

This last week we have spent in Bali, at Four Seasons Sayan near Ubud and Jimbaran where Bernard has been completing a photo shoot for their Sales and Marketing. The following pics are still from my phone or IPad but on return to Melboune many of his will be appearing on this Blog. 

At a plantation that grows coffee amongst other things near Sayan. These were various teas and 

coffees infused with chocolate, ginger, lemongrass and rosella etc.  All free tastings. 

Then onto the Resort. 

Did yoga class overlooking lotus pond. 

Watching over us while we slept 

Lovely vege spring rolls 

Visit from Jodie between lectures at her Yin Yoga Course in Ubud at the Yoga Barn

Handmade scarecrow in the rice fields on the Resort

Human scarecrows at the bar

And so back to the "city" from our jungle paradise and Bernard's photo shoot at the Four Seasons Cooking School

More lights please

Part of the vegetable garden outside the building. All the herbs and produce are used in the kitchen.

Our private pool outside our villa. 

Hooded man at work!

The Sundara Pool blissfully long!!  No sunken bar thank goodness for large arses to sit around drinking Bintangs. Is it wrong of me to dislike that??????

Can't seem to lose that yellow hat

White haired man, wrapped in and on white towel, eating white foam off coffee. 

After 9 weeks of travel and in each other's company pretty much 24/7, we are still friends and lovers. Not too shabby after 25 years!!

Until next time. See you on the page, the mat, the phone, the web, or hopefully the best way, sharing a laugh and drink in person. 

Time Machine Travels

We have arrived in Bali after more than 24 hours on the move!!  It feels like we've been in a time machine or fallen through the looking glass. 

But briefly back to Baden Baden.  This is definitely a town where you can chill out if that's what you are looking for.  Go to the Baths - there are 2 extraordinary facilities here and they come from all over to visit them.  One is a Roman style - and all the bathing is nude.  If you feel a bit odd about this, some days the bathing is separate, except for 2 pools, where men and women come together from opposite sides of the bath house. There are 17, yes 17 different rooms to visit - some of which are saunas or steam rooms.  You can also have a soap scrub, hard or soft (I chose soft).  In the central pool, there is a large dome overhead, where you can lie back and enjoy the aerial scenic views, and not focus er ah elsewhere!!.  At the conclusion, you go to the quiet room, where you are wrapped in a warm blanket and lie on a bed for a half hour snooze/meditation.  No pictures available. ! !

The other baths are the CaraCalla - a very modern facility.  Huge indoor and out door pools of varying temperatures, plus saunas, river ride, etc. Upstairs there is also a nude facility with plunge pools, saunas. and a wonderful Blue room where the beds are positively space age, and the ceiling has moving patterns.  A very different experience.

This is taken from a gallery across the square from our hotel. It looks onto the rear of the Romanbaths 

In the gallery 

Last day. Such an amazing trip. So fortunate

Breakfast before departure.

It was a 2 hour drive to Frankfurt Airport - hullo we had a Russian driver at the wheel. No kidding - 200 kms he was going (no speed limit on the left lane!). Bernard, sitting in the front passenger seat, was talking to him for the first little while and the driver kept looking at him. Yikes.  I am sitting in the back and said, can you please stop talking to him. Let him look at the road 150% of the time. No room for error here. I tell you I was freaking out. Thinking we've been all over the place and now ........  Whew all good on arrival. 

So after 8 weeks of Europe, we are "home" in Bali - always a delight to 

me.  

And on to Sayan, the other Four Seasons Resort near Ubud for 3 nights. Mr B is at work now.  

The B's have it ...... Besancon........Baden Baden...........and Bali

I Well "B" drove a massive 600 odd kms to get us to Besancon - and it took the whole day. For those who wish to know - the pronunciation is as follows:  Bess - on - son (rhymes with don)  Surprisingly the drive was quite OK as the other drivers on the road are quite polite, no tooting or driving into your back seat, no 2 fingered salute and so on.  Also the road side stops are exceptional in the range of food offered, so deep fried, dead dim sims languishing in sad bain maries are not on offer.  Neither are chiko rolls, cold chips and 3 day old egg and bacon rolls.  Instead decent baguettes, croissants and fresh salads. Mmmmm - they obviously have not had a delegation visit the roadies in Oz to see how they can do things badly.  MOST IMPORTANTLY the facilities are clean, serviced, and have toilet paper.  This is pretty much true of all the facilities in restaurants, cafes and bars, which makes travel a joy when this is not a nasty surprise.  No more on that thank you Kay.

Besancon has a World Heritage Citadel - amazing.  I still am in awe of how they built these things

and it also houses a zoo!! - yep a zoo

The animals are inside the citadel wall.

Look at that face!!

And an aquarium

I certainly hope this man is guarding the Citadel.

But not me - I'm just having a good time.

And I ran into Monsieur Vauban who designed it.

It kinda looks like I'm pushing him over.

A superb afternoon tea- just delicious

And a haircut on the last day in France

And so we said goodbye to our lovely car and hostess Guiletta (our GPS )in Strasbourg. 

We did 2996 kms in one month. Only one small dint when B backed into a rock in the car park. Not bad, not bad I say. When we handed the car back they couldn't care less. We didn't even have to do that "fill the car with petrol" bit. Good work. 

And caught the train to Baden Baden. Our lovely little Hotel Am Markt. The church bells tell us the time but not during the night. So thoughtful thank you Baden overseers. 

Yesterday walked Up and Up and Up to the Schloss

Bit of a chat on the way

Finally at the gate

Wind harp - sounds amazing.  

On the way down in the extensive park -sculpture with bird.  Bird is real but was standing so still it looked like a statue.

And today - magnificent

At the gallery a couple of installations.  Temporary exhibits

And finally - dog with flower on nose. P.S. My feet are sore today.