Parts of Italy, Kosovo, Nth Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Poland and Germany.

[RB]

We have just returned from another great trip.

Bit of Background-
We have been fortunate to be regular leisure travellers to Europe & enjoy making our own arrangements and have always managed to travel independently. We don’t drive while holidaying there and have typically caught trains & buses to get around. Apartments are our preferred style of accommodation as we enjoy the space, like to prepare our own breakfasts (& sometimes lunch when we get over eating out) & like the convenience of access to washing facilities. Booking.com is our main choice with flexibility of free cancellation, a genius status bonus on prices, cash back via Cash Rewards, and we feel that we usually get good value for money and lots of information after reading reviews, checking google street view etc. This trip will see us use more private car transport as we have a few “must see” locations where public transport links are not going to work for us. Also, we are not as young as we used to be!
Using the search function of the forum seems to indicate that some of the places we visited are not common “stop-offs” so I hope some readers get some insights of them.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nice - how do you do the map, by the way?

 

[RB]

Nice - how do you do the map, by the way?

It is from Travelerspoint.com & then a screen shot. I was not having much luck with Google maps because it seemed to restrict the number of stops that I could plot. Seems useful for having an amalgamation of places you have covered & can do multiple separate trips

 

[kpc]

Been to all those countries but not to all the places

We, like you, normally travel independently...when we researched going to the Balkans, we decided all the border crossings were going to be too confusing and stressful...so we did a small group (17 pax) tour and covered 7 countries (8 if you count Kosovo) in 9 days...it was a bit hectic but we ticked off all the highlights. The border crossings were confusing...the only stressful part was making sure we were on the bus on time each morning!

As we get older and make more travel mistakes, I'm leaning more towards small group / private tours moving forwards especially if English is not spoken.

We just did 6 days independent travel in La Reunion by hiring a car...the whole trip was somewhat stressful and challenging as the locals only spoke French and Creole!

 

[RB]

PQQ-BNE
Our plan was a mid-week flight with QF but flooding was starting at Port Macquarie and it looked like it was going to be big, so we decided to drive out before we were isolated. We drove to where we could safely leave the car with relatives at Casino. The decision was justified when QF to Brisbane cancelled the next day and the PQQ airport was closed down for a few days-our plans would have been in total disarray! An Amex credit covering the yearly fee was used for the booking and it was all refunded so we actually profited. The airport bus from Casino to Brisbane with Byron Bus was a great service & arrived 15min early at Roma St- also makes a quick stop at Gold Coast airport.

Visibility wasn't good for driving


Already plenty of water lying around near Kempsey


Very impressed with the service by Byron Bus

 

[RB]

Meriton Brisbane Herschel Street - room 2107.

We really enjoy this location. A couple of minutes walk to Roma Street station, easy access to the airport, walk into the City and plenty of choices for food & booze.
Our King room with requested corner room was ready. Bit odd shaped (bed against the bedroom door) but good views & comfortable, excellent value, plenty of space & facilities and quiet.

 

[RB]

Around Brisbane
An over priced dinner for the quality at the nearby Transcontinental Hotel filled us up-Roamer Bar that we had used previously was hosting a trivia night.
We had a good morning coffee at Skydeck while enjoying great views of Brisbane. Unfortunately the flood news from home was getting worse worse.
Didi was very prompt and cheaper than the airport train for our ride from the Meriton to the airport.

Views from Skydeck

 

[RB]

Brisbane Airport - priority check in was very efficient. SQ Lounge here is small & nothing special - no spare seats at times & very small meals but plentiful. Boarding was called in the lounge & it was only a 1 minute walk to priority boarding that worked well.

2 days prior we doubted we would make it here


BNE-SIN and SIN-MXP Aeroplan 12A & 14A

No seat side storage on first 350. Crew was OK but no standout. Food was good and I managed a 2hr snooze. The seatbelt sign came on twice for couple of minutes but there was no service interruption and we landed on time. Bit of a holdup when our taxi in was blocked by a breakdown, so it was a 30 min sit on the tarmac. It was a long walk & train from T1 to T3 to a crowded lounge where we sat at a work bench.

Leaving Brisbane




Barra as Book the Cook


Pre-arrival snack

 

[RB]

Much better storage & crew on the 2nd flight. Seat tipped over for the flat bed and a long sleep. We were a little early into a foggy & cool Malpensa. There was a bus ride to the terminal (separate bus for business class), so very quick through immigration & got our stamp - we were in! Our bags were out in the first dozen and we were on the train platform in 30 minutes from when we left the plane.

Think this was Grilled chicken salad with roasted apples


Lobster-BTC


Rice fields as we approached Malpensa


Bit of fog & the Alps

 

[VPS]

You learn something new every day on AFF. I did not know that Italy grew rice.

Btw Are you still in Milan because I have a day Metro pass?

 

[RB]

You learn something new every day on AFF. I did not know that Italy grew rice.

Btw Are you still in Milan because I have a day Metro pass?

No home in Aust but thank you

 

[drron]

You learn something new every day on AFF. I did not know that Italy grew rice.

Btw Are you still in Milan because I have a day Metro pass?

Rice is an essential part of Italian cuisine. most have tried a risotto at some time if they like italian food.

 

[VPS]

Rice is an essential part of Italian cuisine. most have tried a risotto at some time if they like italian food.

I understand that but just wasn’t aware they grew their own

 

[RB]

To Pigra
We met our host while all of us were on holidays in Malaysia in 1991 & have stayed in contact & visited her many times-she still hasn’t made it to Aust!
We knew there was a train strike coming on the day we landed but if our plane was on time we would get to Como before 9am when the essential trains stopped (booked a Flixbus as back up). We took the train to Saronno - the first train to Lake Como was cancelled by the strike but we had a good trip to Como and not as busy as anticipated - we got a seat. It was a nice day and we had plenty of time so we planned to take the ferry until we saw the huge lines of tourists -so we opted for the so familiar C10 bus to Argegno instead. The funicular to Pigra was supposed to make it’s much anticipated re-start on that day after a long closure, but was delayed by a week. Our friends picked us up in the car for a 3 night catch up - another great time in this small village we have been visiting for over 20 years. There are more homes refurbished, streets have been resurfaced, and all the bars & restaurants were open over the weekend. We had plenty to eat & drink & great company.

Saronno is a great link between the Malpensa/Milan trainline & the Milan/Como line-saves going all the way to Milan


Great day at Como

Argegno-still some snow in the distance


Still some snacks provided with drinks in Pigra


The Russian Bolonka is still there to welcome us


Views back down to Lake Como

 

[RB]

On quite a few of our previous trips to Pigra we have hiked up to the Alpe Di Colonno refuge. This time it was a car trip up & a great lunch





Wild Boar Stew


Pasta


The indoor seating option

 

[RB]

A lift with friends back down the mountain, lunch in Argegno, then the fast ferry & 2 trains to Ferno- next back to Malpensa.





The fast ferry doesn't provide much in way of viewing the lake-the slow ferries are much better in that regard. At Como it is about a 5 minute flat walk to the train station. Again there were big crowds waiting to board ferries going up the lake.


View down the lake towards Como


Taken from Argegno. The bare land at the top is the Pigra funicular path & stop. The Argegno funicular stop is about a 5 minute walk from the ferry station


The fast ferries (hydrofoil)


These were parts of lines at Como to buy tickets for the ferries going up the lake-only late May

 

[RB]

“Flowers of Ferno” B&B Home English - B&B - Flowers of Malpensa

We booked here when a train strike looked to disrupt plans. Ferno train station is only about 4km from Malpensa It was a comfortable 1 night stay, we had delivered pizza for dinner & a good breakfast (hot & cold choices). Our hosts charged 15 euro for train pick-up & airport drop off and we thought this was good value . The airport was a 10 min drive (2minutes drive to a plane spotting spot). We walked down to the town area but there wasn’t much activity and certainly nothing to entice us to go back & investigate further-useful as a back-up option to be close to the airport but nothing more.

Very comfortable room with balcony & ensuite


The B&B had 4 private rooms & a shared kitchen/lounge room facility- only 1 other couple the night we were there

 

[RB]

MXP-PRN
Malpensa departure - 2nd in line for priority check-in then a boarding pass check, a little slow at security but now the laptop stays in. Long walk to passport control - automated then a stamp & through to a big gate area. No access to a lounge but we passed the time watching the tarmac area & plenty of people watching. It was a few minutes walk to our gate. The airport was very busy but the only bottleneck for us was the security check.

Wizz Air MXP-PRN W46447 Approx 2hr 10min Fast track
Seats 1D & 1F- boarding was haphazard (same airline, same airport problems) with us quickly herded to wait for a bus departure & then sat onboard for around 15 minutes before a tarmac ride. Two bus loads boarded the plane & then another wait as another 8 passengers arrived. Crew were not happy that we missed our slot & had to wait for the final manifest. A smooth, uneventful flight with apparently no vacant seats on an A320. No food or drinks provided (could buy) but a duty free run was done. Quickly offloaded & a comfortable walk to an automated passport check then a manual stamp. Only around a 5 minute wait in a spacious arrivals area & our bags were early arrivals. A walk through the "nothing to declare" door & we were out to meet our driver.