Throwback Thursday: Menton and the South of France, May 2014

When Mum and I were planning our next family getaway back in May, the original plan was to spend the long weekend at Park Europa. I suggested the South of France instead. Late May/early June is right before the high tourist season picks up for Summer, so we thought it would be a good time to experience the Côte d'Azure. 

When booking hotels we usually use Hotels.com and this trip was no exception. We booked a couple of nights at the Hotel Napolean Menton, a beachside resort with it's own private plage. Menton is a small town situated on the border between France and Italy. About an hour east of Nice, it is the perfect place to relax away from the tourist madness of the other large towns in the area. Menton has no airport, like everywhere else in the area relying on Nice. There are inter regional trains and buses however. We drove from Geneva so transport was not an issue. The hotel's prebooked parking was full but they informed us that street parking was free and there was plenty available. We also had our dog with us and the hotel was incredibly accommodating.

Menton has a beautiful old town. Though busy it had nothing on the craziness in downtown Nice. There was a plethora of restaurants to choose from, seafood on every menu. Limoncello was offered after every meal. There were lots of quaint little shops selling locally made products. 

From Menton we took day trips to Monaco, Nice and Cannes. I was underwhelmed by Cannes, we were there just after the film festival and to be honest the place reminded me of a slightly less dirty Los Angeles. Nice was crazy busy and we struggled to find a restaurant that wasn't full. 

Monaco was my favourite excursion by far. The city itself is incredible, high rise buildings and super yachts dotted the coastline, luxury cars everywhere. The racing had just finished before we arrived so we even drove along the track, which was still set up. My favourite part of visiting Monaco was the old town and walking in the footsteps of modern royalty. My labradoodle was pretty impressed with the palace too.

Happy wandering,

Ally x

Toronto

So, I am currently in Canada. The main purpose of this visit is not travel but family. My grandma is having surgery next week so I am looking after her. 

This weekend we took a trip to Toronto via Kingston to see family members I have not seen for 8 years. It has been a lovely weekend so far.

On Saturday night we had dinner and drinks at Panorama. This bar is on the 51st floor of the Manulofe Center at Bay and Bloor. The view was second to none, we dined on the South side with a view of the CN tower. 

The cocktail menu was creative but pricey (to be expected at such an establishment). The dinner meals were nothing special. The desserts were great though. Service was slow, probably in part due to the crowds of people standing in front of our table taking photos of the view. If I went again I wouldn't be going for a whole meal, perhaps just drinks or dessert.

Today my sister and I went to Milestones in the AMC building at Dundas Square for a drink. I was really impressed with this place. They promptly seated us on the patio overlooking the square and Yonge street. We ordered a pitcher of their white sangria, it was delicious and we could have easily had another. It was reasonably priced, at $25 before tax. The service was good and there was a great vibe about the place. All the customers looked to be having a good time. Our waitress was only too happy to take a photo for us.

The most exciting thing I did this weekend though was get a tattoo! I walked in to New Tribe on Queen and John street yesterday and made an appointment for today. My tattoo artist was Shannon.

To finish this rather brief post, I'll leave you with this quote from Anthony Bourdain:

"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt."

Throwback Thursday: Pre-Contiki London

I spent 2 days in London before my Contiki tour started in June. Though I won't cover every aspect of my time there in this post, I'll include at least a few of my excursions.

I flew into London through Gatwick Airport, Easyjet doesn't fly to Heathrow. The Gatwick express was quick and easy and got me to Victoria station in around half an hour. From there I took a London cab to Waterloo where I took advantage of the left luggage service while I explored London for the day.

I spent the morning with a friend of mine from New Zealand who had just finished 2 tours with Expat Explore. I had caught up with her twice before on her travels; at the FEI World Cup Final in Lyon and for lunch in Geneva when her tour passed through. 

After she departed to pack her luggage for the flights home I went wandering towards Buckingham Palace. On the way I found the horse guards, had to get a photo with the handsome gentleman (horse, that is).

 

 London was experiencing uncharacteristically warm weather when. I was visiting so I made the most of it and enjoyed the sun in Hyde Park. 

I am a big fan of Made in Chelsea, so naturally a visit to Chelsea was necessary. Fortunately, the friends I was staying with live in Wandsworth, almost directly across the river from the Chelsea Embankment. Chelsea has no tube station, but there is a direct bus from Wandsworth.

We wandered down Kings Road and opted to have lunch at the Bluebird. For those who don't watch the show, the Bluebird is one of the regular filming locations. Unfortunately there was no chance of us running into Jamie and Spencer as the cast were filming in New York while I was in London! The menu was reasonably priced. I had a delicious shrimp salad and a glass of rosé. Definitely one of the highlights of my time in London!

In the afternoon we experienced the madness of a Primark Summer Sale, window shopped in Harrods and finally made our way to the Royal National Hotel for my Contiki kick start meeting.

The meeting was not especially memorable. I didn't go to the London Pub afterwards, my host was 6 months pregnant at the time and I wanted to spend time with her and her hubby before being parents takes over their lives. 

After farewelling my wonderful hosts on Sunday morning I got a car service to the Royal National for the start of my tour. I seriously over estimated the amount of time I needed in the morning. Probably not helped by the fact my taxi driver was going 70 km/h through the streets of London! I look back and can't believe that the strangers I met on that first day of tour became the closest of friends in such a short space of time.

A few tips from my time in London:

Get an Oyster Card. If you're going to be spending more than a day in London an Oyster card will become your best friend. It makes the public transport even easier to use. I suggest topping up your Oyster at smaller stations, I waited over 20 minutes to top up my Oyster at Waterloo station, while there was no line at Wandsworth town. 

The plugs are different in the UK to Europe. Silly me completely forgot about this, I don't have a universal adaptor because I already have European chargers.

Primark! If you get to London and realise you've forgotten a crucial item of clothing or just want to grab a bargain then look no further than Primark. It was madness when we were in there. Forget trying stuff on in the changing rooms, the line went for miles. We tried on everything over our clothes and took photos of eachother. They cover the mirrors up, presumably in an attempt to stop people doing it. Finally, go to the second or third lot of tills, the first had a really long line, the others had no line.

I have two more trips to London planned before I leave Europe. I am so looking forward to seeing more of the city. We have booked the Harry Potter experience, a few shows and dinner at Jamie Oliver's.

Happy wandering ✈️

Airlines

Since I flew yesterday I thought it might be an idea to begin my blog with my honest opinions of the various airlines I have travelled. I am always flying on a budget so I do not often go with the same airline every time. In fact, I have flown completely different airlines/routes on every journey I have made to/from Europe. 

I will start by mentioning the website I book majority of my international flights with. I use http://www.cheaptickets.com. To give you an example of how cheap it is, I can usually get return flights to Europe from New Zealand for around $1200USD give or take. The longest waiting time I have had between flights is 8 hours in Hong Kong, but I usually have 2-4 hours between flights. 

So, onto the airlines. I figure the easiest way to do this is in list format. I will mention the flight details as best as I can remember them and give my review of service, food, entertainment and comfort. Please remember everyone has different expectations of an airline and services vary between long haul and short haul flights.

Air New Zealand

I have not flown internationally (besides Australia) with Air New Zealand since doing the AKL-LAX flight as a kid before personal entertainment systems were installed in planes! I always enjoy flying with Air NZ, from their cheesy safety videos to friendly staff, every time I'm on a flight I really do feel at home. Usually when I'm returning from overseas trips my last flight is with Air NZ, so maybe I'm biased! 

Aeroflot

When I first told people I was flying with Aeroflot most of them were shocked and worried for my safety. Completely unknown to me the airline apparently had a bad reputation, so I boarded the flights with little expectation. I flew Hong Kong-Moscow and Moscow-Geneva with Aeroflot in late 2013. The staff were friendly, their uniforms a bit comedic as I'm sure they haven't been changed since before the Cold War! The flights were pleasant, food wasn't amazing but definitely wasn't terrible either. The seats and entertainment were above average. Their were some interesting passengers on both flights, I distinctly recall a man having an open (and half empty) bottle of duty free vodka confiscated from him before take off, when in Russia I guess? 

Thai Airways

Without a doubt the best international flight it have ever experienced. I flew from Auckland to Bangkok in December 2013. As soon as I got on the plane and saw the colourful seats (mine was pink!) I knew I would enjoy the flight. There is ambient coloured lighting throughout the cabin, felt more like being at a spa than on a plane! The staff were great, free alcohol provided throughout the flight, yummy food. There is not much to complain about and I would definitely fly with them again.

Tyrolean Airways

I flew with Tyrolean Airways from Bangkok to Vienna in December 2013. I was unfortunately assigned a middle seat between two large men so my flight was destined to be poor from the start. There was nothing especially terrible about the flight apart from the seat selection, however there was nothing stand out about it either. The entertainment system did not have a great selection of English movies, The only thing I could find to watch was this classic:  

Lufthansa 

I flew Lufthansa from Geneva to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Shanghai in January 2014. I was pretty impressed with the service and staff of this airline. On my leaving day there was a bomb scare at the airport in Geneva, half of the airport check in desks were shut down for several hours and I ended up checking in 25 minutes before my flight departed. The staff were friendly and helpful and ensured I made my flight and my connection without hassle.

Etihad

Etihad is without a doubt one of the best airlines in the world. Amazing food, amazing service, great entertainment. My mum is lucky enough to have flown Etihad in business class, jealous! I flew with Etihad from Melbourne to Abu Dhabi in April 2014. Because of problems with the runway in Melbourne my flight from New Zealand landed 5 minutes before my Etihad flight was due to depart. The Air NZ staff let passengers on my flight off the plane first, asking all others to remain seated until we were off the aircraft. We ran through the security screening and on to our Etihad flight with minutes to spare, only to be told they were getting our bags from Air New Zealand so we'd be delayed anyway. Unfortunately my bag did not make the connection and Air New Zealand booked it on a nonexistent flight when organising its return to me in Geneva. Etihad took all the blame despite this and paid out well for some essentials to tide me over. It eventually took 5 days for my bag to be returned because of the nonexistent flight. 

United Airways

I flew with United yesterday from Geneva to Newark, then United Express from Newark to Ottawa. Unknown to me before the flight, United doesn'thave personal flight entertainment systems for this particular flight. Good thing I can sleep on planes! I was assigned a window seat for both flights, for longer haul (10 hours +) I generally prefer the aisle but window was perfect for this 8 hour flight. There were 2 rows of seats on the outside of the first plane, again great as I hate having to ask multiple strangers to move for me every time I have to go to the bathroom! The food was slightly below average on this flight, but I was really hungry so it didn't matter to me. The service was good, but I got the impression others didn't think the same. I was asleep when the snack was served and woke up shortly afterwards, without being asked the steward brought me a snack box and offered me a drink. 

Qantas

I have flown with Qantas quite a lot when going to visit my father. It is a great airline, never had a bad flight with them! 

Easyjet

Everytime I fly with Easyjet I get a headache. I think it's all the orange in the cabin. I am also not a fan of their quick ascent and descent, it hurts my ears a lot. I am told they do this because it saves fuel? However for the price of flights I can't really complain. Their in flight magazine is one of my favourites, I can spend the whole flight perusing through it and often take it home. Lots of interesting articles and great travel inspiration.

Singapore Airlines

I last flew with Singapore in 2010 I think. I would fly with them every time if I could afford it. The best service of any airline, the best food and great entertainment. The first time I flew with them in 2008 was in the early days of personal entertainment systems and I was so impressed! 

That is all the airlines I can think of off the top of my head. I am flying with Air Canada next week and Air Lingus in October so there will be more reviews to come! 

Happy wandering ✈️

Entering the blogosphere.

It seems I am a bit behind on things. I have been travelling since April but have only just decided to blog about it. There will be a lot of retrospective posts based on journal entries from my previous travels.

So, my name is Alyson. I am 23 years old and call New Zealand my home. I was actually born in Canada and both my parents now live abroad so you could say I am a citizen of the world. I have always loved travel but until this year commitments in New Zealand meant my travel was limited. 

On April 10th 2014 I boarded a flight from Wellington to Auckland and began the 32 hour journey from New Zealand to Geneva, Switzerland. My Mum lives and works in Geneva so I have been able to base myself with her this year while exploring Europe. 

The individual trips I have done so far in Europe this year include the following:

Lyon, France for 4 days attending the FEI World Cup Finals

Venice, Italy for 2 nights on my own

South of France including Menton, Monaco, Nice and Cannes

Contiki European Inspiration tour including Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland and France

We have also done several day trips from Geneva including Park Europa in Germany and Annecy in France.

I had been to Geneva twice before this year, in September 2013 and for Christmas and New Years 2013/14. In September I was puppy-sitting so the most travel I could manage was a day trip to Paris, a day trip to Lyon and a visit to Chateau Chillon near Geneva. Over Christmas we went to the Basel Christmas markets, spent 5 days in Paris and visited Chamonix Mont-Blanc for skiing and other winter activities. 

I plan to stay in Europe until late October 2014. I am currently in Canada visiting family. On my return my mother, sister and I are spending a weekend in London. The following weekend I am going to Zurich with a friend. I am going to Oktoberfest in Munich with Contiki in the last week of September, then I hope to do an Ireland trip before I head back to New Zealand. 

So that's a little about me and what I plan to blog about. One thing I have learned while travelling is that things don't always go according to plan, so don't be surprised if that is the case on this blog. I will start composing my first "real" post tonight. Ciao for now x