Trip of a lifetime!

[Beverly Fothergill]

We have just returned from a marvellous month away in Europe! I must recommend NZ's 'Farm to Farm tours' who organised 2 wonderful weeks in France for our small group of 11 from all over NZ. I wonder if any of them are Tripatini members? Would be great to share our great experiences.

We followed this tour up with 3 nights in Milan and 3 in Venice. Milan was a bit disappointing; we never did find the REAL shopping spots! Venice island blew me away; so amazing that there's not a road or car in sight, and water makes everything look so romantic! Must be the most expensive place in the world though! Those wonderful buildings rising out of the canals... you have to see it to believe it!

To finish off we did a Rhine river cruise, Zurich to Amsterdam, with Avalon River Cruises. It was terrific, with daily excursions to the beautiful cities we stopped at, in France, Germany and Netherlands. The Rhine Gorge is so beautiful!!!

Loved Singapore too. Two days either way, and what a clean and lush place it is. Those Botanical Gardens are amazingly gorgeous!

Home now, to New Zealand in mid-winter, but actually warmer than some of those places we've been, where their summers are more variable. 17deg here today (though dull); last week it was only 9deg in Cologne and Amsterdam! I'd go back for some more tomorrow if I could though......