Our Wander Years

ATW-2 Day 11: Chambery to Ange, France

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Sparky

We had breakfast at the hotel, packed, said fond farewells to the staff and left on a long (almost 8 hours door-to-door) trip to Ange in the Loire Valley.

The hotel in Chambery – Ibis Budget Hotel Sud Chambery Challes-les-Eaux. We loved this place! Booking it was a bit of a risk. It was inexpensive – about $60 per night (the two nights were cheaper than the one night in Genoa) but it had good reviews. No elevator, but we left the suitcases in the car and just took our backpacks up one floor. The room was basic, but had everything we needed, including a table where I could blog.

The breakfast buffet was excellent – not as good as breakfast in Genoa but very, very good. And the staff was incredible. Ronald, the main guy, bent over backward to accommodate us. He even insisted that we take a bag of croissants with us when we left.

9 out of 10. If this hotel had an elevator I would have given it a 10.

I expected the road out of Chambery to be flat and boring. It was pretty flat, but not boring. We drove through a valley with rocky hills on either side. There were two tunnels. Pretty dramatic. It got boring after an hour or so.

Marlene spotted a church in a small town and we stopped to see it. We took the opportunity to buy a baguette that we munched on as we drove.

We stopped again later to do more food shopping (we had booked a place with a microwave) and to get fuel. We found yet another small church but didn’t go inside.

We got lost in minor ways several times. The worst one was, I think, the GPS’s fault. It said “take the third exit in the roundabout to D982.” Which I did. But it rerouted. Marlene, who was navigating, said I should have taken the first exit. Annoyed, I said that I distinctly heard it say “third exit.” We turned around and this time did the first exit, onto D982 the opposite direction. Again, “rerouting.” The third try was to the second exit which wasn’t even D982, but it was the correct choice. I guess the GPS is not infallible.

There were also three barricaded roads. France seems to have no compunction about simple shutting a road down for whatever reason. We found our way around each of them, but encountering a closed road can be pretty annoying.

We made it to our lodging just before 7pm. I call it “lodging” rather than hotel because it was a private home. No breakfast so I can’t call it a “bed-and-breakfast” but it had a full kitchen with stove (which we didn’t plan to use), a microwave, dishwasher, dishes and utensils and both a teapot and a single-serve coffee machine. It will suit our needs very nicely. And the cost? $66 per night.

The hosts were Michel and Didier, a very friendly married gay couple who were very proud to show us around their entire property. In addition to the “in-law” suite in the basement (which is where we would be staying) they also rented, in warm weather, several gypsy wagons in the side yard. Really an amazing place. I am pretty sure we are going to love it. And the location is convenient to the places I plan to take Marlene in the Loire Valley.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, France, Hotels, Routes | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 10: Chambery, France

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Sparky

The weather in Europe has been quite nice. Right up until that white-knuckle trip over the fog-shrouded pass from Italy to France. Since then it has been dreary: cold with intermittent showers. Almost no sun. And the forecast for the entire week in France is not promising.

It rained nearly all day the one day we were in Chambery. Nevertheless we ventured out, to see a local cathedral and the Chateau des ducs de Savoie, the local medieval fortress. But it was Monday, a day when many things in France are closed and this fortress was one of them. It started raining harder so we ducked into a store selling cheap jewelry. About 90 minutes later we exited with some new earrings for Marlene’s collection. We stopped at a pub for a beer and a hot dog (advertised on a board outside) but got only the beer. The excuse for no hot dog started with “it is too late” as they served lunch only until 1:30. But it was 1:25 so that didn’t fly. Eventually the excuse morphed into “we ran out of hot dogs.” But it was Monday and no one was in the place. I can’t imagine that they sold more than a handful. Whatever. I was happy with a beer.

We went back to the hotel but Marlene was still itching for a trip to a thrift store so we got a recommendation from the desk lady at the hotel and ventured back out. But that store was more like a cheap Walmart (is that redundant?) than a thrift store so we returned empty-handed.

We played cards (Marlene won both games, as usual), then I spent quite a bit of time blogging. Dinner was bread and butter with a chocolate croissant for dessert. Dinner on the cheap.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, Blogging, Food, France | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 9: Genoa, Italy, to Chambery, France

Posted on October 21, 2025 by Sparky

I will explain the story behind the picture at the top in a minute. But I will start at the Best Western CHC Genova Airport Hotel – the expensive one-nighter. We felt considerably more positively toward it after breakfast which was simply one of the finest breakfasts I have had anywhere. Perhaps the finest free breakfast I have ever experienced. Juices, fresh coffee, fruits, nuts, scrambled eggs (real, not powdered), delicious bacon, sausage, deli meats, cheeses and an extravagant selection of mouth-watering breads and croissants. And fresh honey, straight from a huge honeycomb! All served in a very elegant breakfast room. Gotta rate this hotel at least a 9 out of 10.

We had spent a lot on tolls getting to Genoa and I resolved to get to Chambery toll-free. I also expected the toll-free route to be more interesting And it was. Perhaps TOO interesting.

The first thing we did after finding our way out of central Genoa was to get gas. That was an adventure as it was Sunday and in Genoa – and maybe all of Italy – most gas stations are closed on Sunday. But even in a closed gas station the pumps remain open. I just had to figure out how to use one.

The pump is separate from the payment kiosk. I figured out how to do it with assistance from an Italian woman who was fueling up at the adjacent pump. You enter the credit card and indicate the pump you are at, then go to the pump and fill the tank (I also had to figure out which type of fuel to use). Then go back to the kiosk to complete the transaction and get the receipt. The total for about 9 gallons? Over $60 – more than $6 a gallon! Sure hope I get good mileage.

Shortly after gassing up the GPS had me take a right turn onto a small road that immediately started to climb. We climbed for over 20 minutes, into the mountains surrounding Genoa. The road was narrow and winding but not as scary as the road to Cinque Terre.

After we leveled out we encountered Voltaggio, a cute little town on a small river. It looked interesting and we needed a break, so we stopped. Very cute, quaint town! A memorable hour.

We didn’t stop again until we reached Turin/Torino and then stopped at a mall to use the bathroom and do some shopping – first for a snack (fresh bread) and then for clothes. Marlene, despite her best efforts, did not find anything to buy. She did, however, lose her phone. Being without a phone would, needless to say, be a disaster. We couldn’t leave until it was found, which it was, after only 20 minutes of searching. But that 20 minutes meant, to me, that I would be navigating the Alps in near-darkness. That prospect did not please me.

The sensible thing at that point would have been to get on the toll road which would have been much safer in the dark. But I didn’t, thinking that I could still make it through the mountains before darkness set in. But then we encountered the closed road and detour. At that point we were committed. But had we known just how scary the detour would be I might have turned around.

The detour took us into a small town and down a road that looked like someone’s driveway. It then started climbing. It was very narrow for about 2 km – not wide enough for two cars. I was terrified that I would encounter a car coming at me after the next hairpin turn. And no guard rails. Running off the road would have killed us.

Fortunately that road terminated at a slightly larger road. Passing cars were no longer a problem, but then the fog set in. We drove for nearly 30 minutes through some of the densest fog I have ever seen. My visibility was maybe 40 feet. And it was getting darker. At one point Marlene said “should we stop?” To which I replied “and do what – wait for night?” We kept going, across the border into France. Eventually the road started going down and the fog lifted. The reward for this terrifying ordeal was the beautiful photo at the top.

We made it to our destination – our hotel in Chambery – around 8pm, in total darkness. We had “dinner” of the bread we had bought in Turin and then went to sleep, exhausted.

Categories: Adventures, ATW, ATW-2, Europe, Food, France, Hotels, Italy | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 8: Rome to Genoa, Italy

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Sparky

Our two nights in Rome were at the Grand Olympic Hotel. We hated that the hotel was being renovated and weren’t impressed with the renovated room, but we loved the breakfast buffet and, for us, the price was right. 4 out of 10.

After breakfast I had to find my way to the Budget rental car office by bus. This was difficult because the Rome buses don’t accept cash. So I had to figure out how to buy a ticket online. I purchased a pair of tickets for 7 euros, downloaded the necessary app and loaded the tickets into the app. However, I could not figure out how to actually get the ticket for use on the bus so, after walking 10 minutes to the bus/subway station, I had to find someone to explain it to me. I finally figured out how to activate it just as the bus arrived. But once on board I still couldn’t figure out what to do with it. The bus has machines for, I think, scanning the QR code on the ticket but I couldn’t figure out how to scan mine. Oh, well. I figured if anyone challenged me I could at least prove that I held a valid ticket. And, while riding on the bus, I saw NO ONE actually scan anything using those machines. I think the system trusts that riders have tickets and maybe they are checked only occasionally. Don’t know. What I know is that I got to the rental car office exactly when I planned: 9am.

After the usual paperwork I was handed the keys to a Suzuki. I have never driven a Suzuki, but there didn’t seem to be anything tricky about it other than the engine stopped whenever the car stopped and automatically restarted when the foot came off the brake. Never had a car that did that but I am sure I will get used to it.

I found my way back to the hotel and collected both the luggage and Marlene. Then we set the GPS for Pisa and departed. We had some difficulty getting out of Rome – not because of traffic but because the GPS instructions were often confusing. We passed one point not far from the hotel 3 times before we figured out where to go.

We took toll roads to Pisa – almost 4 hours from Rome. They were expensive (over $25 total) but were necessary as we hoped to get to Genoa by evening (5.5 hours on toll roads, over 9 hours on non-toll roads).

As we neared Pisa we – and all other cars on the road – were stopped by police. They were waiting for something or someone to pass by. I thought it might be a presidential motorcade. Nope. It was a caravan of about 12 buses filled with screaming yahoos. I think they were fans headed to a soccer match. I have no idea why it was necessary to stop traffic for them.

We found a no-cost parking spot not far from the Leaning Tower of Pisa – no small feat in a town crawling with tourists – and walked there, weaving through dozens of souvenir vendors. My first thought when passing through the wall into the compound where the tower is located: what are all those OTHER buildings. I had the impression that the tower stood alone but that is not the case; it is one of about 6 large and very impressive buildings in a walled compound.

We had not booked a hotel in Genoa so we grabbed a cup of coffee (and a bio break) at the McDonald’s outside the wall and discussed our options. We decided to go next to Cinque Terre – a seaside town that was recommended and consider staying there if we could find a place or, more likely, move on another 90 minutes to Genoa.

I was under the impression that Cinque Terre was a town we could drive through on our way to Genoa, but I was mistaken. Cinque Terre is accessible by one very narrow, winding, scary road – about 30 minutes from the expressway. We were able to get there at dusk. It is a pretty town, but it is basically a beach town. Probably one of very few beaches on this rugged stretch of Italian coast.

We were there for a very colorful sunset.

We had no interest in traversing the rather scary Cinque Terre road in the dark so we scooted before night fell. We got to Genoa around 9pm, still with no hotel reservation. We found a parking spot in central Genoa and started surfing the web. It was a frustrating experience. Marlene and I found the same hotels, but with different prices. And it was difficult determining which had free parking, free WiFi, refrigerators in the room, a microwave and a low price – all things which we deemed important. After getting very frustrated I settled on a Best Western for about $150 – more than I wanted to spend (I wanted to average under $100 on this trip) – but available and not far. It was getting late.

I vowed to never again wait until the last minute to book lodgings.

The frustrations weren’t done because once we got there we couldn’t figure out where to park. I had to go inside and ask. Fortunately the night clerk spoke English and explained it well – we had to take the car to an underground garage. We did that but as we were entering the hotel we encountered a sign that the parking was 20 euros per night – another $25! It appeared that I would be paying $175 for the one night in Genoa. But the hotel – perhaps sensing my frustration – gave me free parking.

A long day of driving and sightseeing on top of the massive amount of walking the previous day. We slept well.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, Hotels, Italy, Routes | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 7: Rome, Italy

Posted on October 20, 2025 by Sparky

This was a BIG sightseeing day. Arguably the biggest sightseeing day ever and a very successful one. But it started poorly. We both woke up with raging headaches, presumably from a severe caffeine deficit. So, at 6:30am Rome time (and who knows what time our bodies thought it was as we were very jet-lagged), we went down to the breakfast room to seek coffee. But breakfast begins at 7 we were told. Using our best hang-dog puppy faces we begged for a cup. No dice. The two workers were adamant: 7am.

The problem with waiting until 7am was that we had been advised to get to the Vatican early if we wanted to avoid long lines. So we headed to the Vatican, heads throbbing, and passed about 6 cafes along the way that opened at 7. But we finally found an open cafe near St Peter’s Square that was open. We ordered two Americano coffees which were served promptly. We consumed them voraciously. And got refills, then got in line for St Peter’s Basilica where we met a lovely couple from the Ukraine. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and by the time we entered our headaches were nearly gone.

It is a good thing our heads were clear because St Peter’s was mind-boggling. What a place! Huge, beauty everywhere we turned with countless pieces of magnificent art. Just incredible. More amazing than either Marlene or I expected. Very much worth the wait.

While we were wandering about the basilica we encountered a large group of very well-dressed Africans, accompanied by a number of African priests. We learned later that a couple from Nigeria was married in a small chapel.

I was fascinated by the architecture. The paintings and sculptures are fine, but I think the ceiling, arches and floors don’t get the attention they deserve. Everything everywhere is beautiful.

We left St Peter’s after touring for a little over an hour and headed back to the hotel for breakfast. Which turned out to be excellent. Then we headed back out.

First stop: thrift store where Marlene was tempted by a green gown but passed. She will be doing a lot of looking at clothes from now until the end of the trip as we are no longer constrained by the 50-pound airline luggage limit.

We walked to the Spanish Steps via the Piazza del Popolo where we posed in front of the fountain.

Next we headed toward the Trevi Fountain and along the way discovered the Basilica of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte which was yet another beautiful cathedral in Rome. We also stopped for coffee at McDonald’s – one of the few places in Rome that serves more than a 4-ounce cup of coffee. We didn’t get a front view of the Trevi Fountain because the entire space was filled with about 10,000 gawkers. But no big deal – we have seen it in the movies.

We next went in search of thrift stores. We didn’t find any good ones but did discover other interesting things, including the presidential mansion, some government building, Roman ruins and friendly police. We also popped into yet another cathedral (the name escapes me) and passed near the Pantheon but didn’t stop as my ankle was hurting. We walked (well, Marlene walked while I limped) back to the hotel. We passed the Castel Sant’Angelo and, once again, did not go in.

We rested a bit then went out to dinner. Nothing fancy, but quite good: we split a large take-out plate of fresh spaghetti with pesto sauce. Yum!

Total for the day: over 20,000 steps. That is about 10 miles. We slept well.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, Friends, Italy | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 6: Chengdu, China, to Rome, Italy

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Sparky

Another 11-hour flight, another night with virtually no sleep. I didn’t expect that the flights from Sydney to Rome would be fun and I was right. We were both very, very tired by the time we landed. But thrilled to have made it to Rome. We arrived at 7:30am, Rome time. But our bodies were totally out of sync. We were basically in a daze. Marlene had a headache, undoubtedly due to lack of caffeine. I had a full bladder, having avoided the bathroom on the plane for a full 11 hours. We were both very happy that the customs process at Rome was quick and painless. And that a bathroom was available before we got to customs.

A word on the route taken from Chengdu to Rome by Sichuan Airlines: we avoided the Ukraine. The shortest route would have taken us right over Odessa. But when the plane got to western Kazakhstan it turned south. We went south of the Black Sea, over Turkey. I was happy for that detour.

I had booked a shuttle from the airport into the city. So our first task was finding the shuttle meeting place. We had to haul our luggage to the next terminal, but found the spot. And found the guy organizing the transport. I paid him for the 10am trip (it was not quite 9am then) and he told me to be back at 9:45. I found Marlene, just a short distance away, and we were killing time when, at 9:20am, I got a phone call from a Rome number. Since phone calls cost 25 cents per minute for me while in Italy and I didn’t know anyone in Rome, I ignored the call. But the same number immediately called again. It was the shuttle guy, demanding to know where I was. The shuttle was waiting for me! I told him I had a 10am shuttle. He got quite angry, insisting that I had booked an earlier shuttle. I didn’t argue. We hustled down to the meeting spot and he escorted us to the shuttle van.

In 30 minutes we were deposited at the door of our hotel, which was a pleasant surprise since the shuttle service had advertised “door-to-door service at an additional cost.” But that pleasant surprise was immediately followed by a very unpleasant surprise: the hotel was undergoing renovations. Memories of our unpleasant hotel experience in April in Anchorage came flooding back. Marlene wanted to walk out without even seeing the room. I didn’t see that we had much choice as the hotel was included in the flight/hotel package and was already paid for. We were both jet-lagged, very tired and could easily have had a nasty fight. But we didn’t. Instead we walked to Vatican City.

Along the way I found my shuttle reservation email. 10am. The shuttle guy had no right to be angry with me.

Vatican City. Unbeknownst to us, 2025 is a “Jubilee year” for practicing Catholics. I am not quite sure what that means to them, but what it means to me is that the roads to St Peter’s Square were packed with pilgrims. Tens of thousands of pilgrims. Probably over 50,000. We got close enough to see into the square, but were unable to get closer. Instead we walked to the Tiber River. Along the way we found a church (the Parish of Transpontina) that was one of the finest we have ever seen. But in Rome, a city filled with magnificent churches, this one barely rated honorable mention.

We took some photos of Castel Sant’Angelo at the river but didn’t go in. Then we walked back to the hotel to check in. The good news was that the room had been recently renovated and was clean. The bad news was that it had no microwave and no coffee machine. And the hotel had no coffee in the lobby. We were both in need of caffeine. But we were more in need of sleep. We slept.

I woke around 6pm, planning to go out for a bite to eat and some coffee. I was unable to interest Marlene in either. I went back to bed and we both woke up around 5am with raging caffeine (and jet-lag) headaches.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, Italy | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 5: Chengdu, China

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Sparky

We changed planes in Hong Kong two years ago and expected the experience in Chengdu to be similar. It wasn’t.

First, the plane parked at a remote location with no skyway and we had to walk down a long metal staircase and get on a bus. No big deal. But the bus traveled, I estimate, over 3 miles to deliver us to the international arrivals terminal. Very strange. Doubly strange as this airport (Tianfu) is new, huge (larger than Chicago O’Hare I think) and underutilized. There were many available gates. Very odd.

Next we had to pass through a “temperature check” portal where our luggage was run through an X-ray machine. Then we had to fill out a “temporary visa” application and stand in line for about 40 minutes to be processed. And we only learned about the need for a temporary visa after finding someone in the terminal who could speak rudimentary English and let us know what to do. Very disorganized.

The guy who processed our application must have been a trainee. First he wanted us to confirm that we were traveling to Thailand – which is how he read our boarding pass. After we said, no, we are traveling to Rome he then accused us of giving him a boarding pass for our arrival at Tianfu. Idiot. Working at immigration at the airport and couldn’t even read a boarding pass.

Next we had to figure out where to go. I expected that we would stay within the secure area and just wait for our plane (a 20-hour wait, but we were expecting that and didn’t mind), but we had to exit the secure area and would have to go back through security again to board our flight to Rome. Annoying. Especially with almost no sleep.

But my phone had service! I guess the tech guy in Sydney was right – my phone was too old to handle the cell phone frequency in Sydney. But it works fine in China and hopefully will continue to work fine in Europe. But knowing that there are places in the world where my phone will be useless means that I had better think about upgrading when I get home.

We spent the 20 hours in the terminal playing cards (yes, Marlene beat me again, of course) and napping. The good news was that this HUGE terminal was basically empty and there were many soft sofa-like seating areas where we could stretch out. The bad news was, according to a McDonald’s employee (yes, there was a McDonald’s in the terminal), that there was NO SHOPPING anywhere in the terminal – a major disappointment for Marlene who enjoyed the mall-like experience in Hong Kong. There were a few restaurants, including Starbucks and McDonalds. We had coffee in the morning at McDonald’s. Their coffee was very strong. We needed it.

This area is famous for pandas and the terminal had a huge panda statue. Of course we had to take a photo with it.

We had a late lunch at a fast food joint where I ordered kung pao chicken and a Snowflake beer – the most popular beer in the world. The beer was a slightly sweet version of PBR. Nothing special. The kung pao, however, was terrific.

I tried to use the bathroom and was shocked to discover that the “fixture” in the men’s room was a hole in the floor. I haven’t seen that since 1975 in rural France. I passed in favor of the unisex bathroom that had modern fixtures.

The People’s Republic of China takes airport security seriously. Besides the annoying customs process, the terminal had LOTS of visible police. Even a SWAT team. Lots of police for few passengers.

We went through security AGAIN around 10pm and were surprised to discover that, contrary to the statements of the McDonald’s employee earlier in the day, there was, indeed, shopping within the secured area. Not as much as in Hong Kong, but a handful of duty-free shops and quite a few restaurants and small stores. We did some window shopping – we could have gotten some Chinese cigarettes for about $25 per carton- but bought nothing.

I noticed a smoking area (for people using those cheap cigarettes, I guess) and was impressed with the area. Most smoking areas in terminals are reminiscent of a prison or a school cafeteria. This one was very nice. And outdoors so not very smoky.

The flight left on time. Rome tomorrow.

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ATW-2 Day 4: Sydney, Australia, to Chengdu, China

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Sparky

This was a travel day, but we had a late flight – 9:20pm – so we had nearly a full day in Sydney. We had breakfast with Leo and Gloria again, packed and checked out by 10am. We confirmed on the hotel scale that our bags were (barely) under the 50-pound airline limit. We had to rearrange a few things (and fill our backpacks to overflowing), but we achieved our goal.

We then left the bags with the hotel owner/concierge and walked to the harbor where Marlene fed the remaining Aldi bread to the pigeons. They had no fear of humans with food. They showed me some love too.

We grabbed a taxi near the pigeon feeding grounds, went to the hotel to collect our luggage and went to the airport. We were there early so we had to cool our heels for an hour before we could check in. But we used the time to verify that our luggage was not overweight. And by arriving early we beat the rush.

After checking in we had to wait for a couple of hours for the 9:20 flight. We played cards. I have given up hope of beating Marlene at rummy. I suspect she will soon suggest we play for 10 cents a point.

The flight, on Sichuan Airlines, left on time. It was a long but uneventful flight. The meals (dinner and breakfast) were interesting though not particularly appetizing. Dinner was a chicken something with a lot of potatoes and not much chicken. It was served with a vegetable side that resembled sweet sauerkraut. It also came with a very sweet drink that I believe was yogurt. Breakfast was better. It was something that looked and tasted like quiche.

The entertainment system was forgettable as it was mostly Chinese movies. Even the English ones had Mandarin subtitles which were distracting.

We slept little and arrived in Chengdu at 5:30am.

Then things got interesting. But more on that in the next post.

Our three nights in Sydney were at the Mariners Court Hotel. This would be called a “boutique hotel” in the US. It is small and is not part of any large hotel chain. It got good reviews and had a location I liked, but it was so inexpensive (under $100 per night) that I arrived with low expectations. To say that it exceeded my expectations would be a gross understatement. The room was large, the bathroom was clean, the breakfast was superb and the management was very accommodating. We arrived at 9am and were given a room at that time and were even invited to have breakfast. The bed was comfortable, the minifridge was very cold, there were electrical outlets in convenient locations (and my 110V converter worked fine on the 220V power), closet space was plentiful. Everything about the room was fine. And it had a private balcony!

I loved this place. Highly recommended. 10 out of 10.

Categories: ATW, ATW-2, Australia, China, Hotels | Leave a comment

ATW-2 Day 3: Sydney Australia

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Sparky

Day 3 in Sydney was another beautiful day and another day when we logged over 10,000 steps walking around the city.

We started with another wonderful breakfast at the hotel, then I spent some time editing the photos we have taken on the first two days in Sydney. Then we ventured out in search of the King’s Cross neighborhood, an area that had been recommended to us. We found it, but it took some serious climbing to get there – it is a couple of hundred feet up an escarpment behind the hotel.

King’s Cross seems to be a cozy neighborhood filled with nice homes (many with wrought iron railings, ala New Orleans) and funky little shops. Our prize was McDonald’s where we got two very nice ice cream cones for A$0.50 each – about 40 cents US – cheaper than we could get those cones at home!

It doesn’t take much to thrill us.

The public spaces in Sydney continue to impress us. There seem to be small parks everywhere. This strikes me as a very pleasant, livable city.

Next we adventured onto the subway. This was a bit daunting as the Sydney subway is a “tap on, tap off” fare system. You don’t buy a ticket or a fare card (though that, too, is an option). Instead you just charge the ride to your credit card by using the smart phone’s wallet. I made sure that both Marlene and I were set up to do this, so we took the subway from King’s Cross to City Hall – just two stops (and just A$1.00). We had to wait only a couple of minutes (trains run very frequently here) and took a ride on a double-deck driverless subway train. Oh, it is a brave new world!

We were impressed with the subway and were also impressed with the many bike paths in downtown Sydney. Like Barcelona, Sydney does much to encourage the use of bicycles and scooters.

After exiting the subway at City Hall we walked toward Chinatown in search of thrift shops. We didn’t find any large thrift shops and I am not sure we ever made it to Chinatown but we did find a food mall that was wall-to-wall Asian restaurants and fast food joints filled with young Asians. There are a LOT of people of Asian descent in Sydney.

We then walked about a mile to an area that had several thrift stores – Surrey Hills. It reminded me a bit of the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco. It had a “hippie” vibe.

On the way to the thrift stores we happened upon an Aldi. Marlene was thrilled to see it. We bought some bread and chips.

We had sandwiches with the bread and ate them with the chips. Then we played cards and Marlene continued to school me.

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ATW-2 Day 2: Sydney, Australia

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Sparky

We had breakfast at the hotel and met Leo and Gloria, a couple from Canada who will be driving around Australia for 5 weeks. The weather was iffy – cloudy, cool and a little drizzle – so we didn’t rush right out after breakfast. Instead we played some knock rummy and Marlene continued to whip my butt.

The complementary hotel breakfast is VERY good. Eggs, sausage, ham, mushrooms, toast, juices, yogurt, coffee. Really excellent.

When we ventured out it was to walk to the The Rocks section of Sydney, near where the ship docked yesterday. We found lots of little shops but they were pricey. So we walked down George St and finally found a place that we thought had reasonable prices. We bought 4 t-shirts and a couple of souvenir magnets.

On the way there we stopped in the Museum of Modern Art but didn’t do much other than get some photos with some funky sculpture.

Then it started to rain. We made it back to the hotel without getting soaked but were tired and napped. We had leftovers for dinner – the chinese fast food we bought yesterday.

We went to bed early, leaving the TV on. I awoke at about 3am and was surprised to see a live NFL game – Denver Broncos and New York Jets playing in London.