The Token Traveller

The Beginning of the End

The visually spectacular drive between Treviso and Munich took us about 6 hours, with Cam relishing the chance to speed along at over 170 on the smooth-as-silk autobahns in Germany. After spending over 3 weeks surrounded by dramatic, passionate, rowdy Italians, Munich was a bit of a jolt to a more “Australian” reality. Workers rushing…

Home is where the Heart is

While Treviso was only my home for a short while when I was 18, I have visited many times. It was the home of my father and grandparents before they emigrated like thousands of other Europeans post-war to Australia, and has been the place that inspired my second cousins that still live there to write…

Wandering in Wonder

If we were to believe headlines doing the rounds this European summer, Venice has been “ruined”, “destroyed” and “overrun” with tourists. The world has been stuck at home for the past few years. Do you blame them for wanting to start exploring again? Yes, it seems like there are even more cheap souvenir stalls, more…

The Ossuary of Solferino

From the outside, the Ossuary of Solferino looks like any other small church in the Italian countryside, reached by a long tree-lined pathway. Inside, lies a grim reminder of the tragedy of war. While the Catacombs of Paris which we visited a few weeks ago, housed the bones of thousands of Parisians sourced from many…

Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata.

On January 31, 2023 Cam and I celebrated our twenty-year wedding anniversary. I refuse to stop celebrating milestones in our lives in a memorable way. Every big birthday, every big anniversary needs to be a joyous, memorable occasion. Otherwise, it’s 18th birthday party, 21st birthday party, wedding, dead. Non mi piace. We knew we’d be…

Under Brescia

The northern Italian city of Brescia has an inferiority complex. Despite being, alongside neighbouring town Bergamo, Italy’s “Capital of Culture 2023”; regardless of the wealth of artistic treasures housed in the city’s Santa Giulia museum; even though one of the largest castle complexes in all of Italy sits on the summit of Brescia’s city, overlooking…

Lake Annecy

When we were investigating places to stop on our journey between Paris and Venice, a lot of the names of French towns were new to me. I had never heard of Annecy but thought, yeah, we’ll give it a go for three nights. It is one of the prettiest places I have ever visited. The…

3 Burgundian celebrities. A Gaul, a cad, and a saint.

Having a car when you’re travelling through Europe (and a husband who loves the challenge of driving on the other side of the road on the other side of the planet) is a godsend, enabling us to visit places that would either take far too long, or be too complicated, to visit using public transport…

Sweet like “Chocolat”

Between May and August 2000, the small medieval town of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain in France’s Burgundy region was taken over with a Hollywood film crew, and actors including Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, and Judy Dench, to create the whimsical, romantic tale “Chocolat”. While the film was not a success in France, it received 5 Academy Award nominations,…

Paris: Oui ou non

“Oooooooo. I LOOOOOVE Paris!” exclaim most travellers excitedly after a visit to the City of Light. After all, it’s the home to some of the world’s most recognizable landmarks; of high end fashion, art, and literature; the streets are filled with the aroma of baking bread and designer fragrance; and there is always something new…

Bon appetit!

We were warmly welcomed by everyone in Paris (Disney staff excluded). The girls running Boulangerie Midore (our morning coffee/pastry shop) encouraged Milana with her French ordering. Wait staff in all bistros, restaurants, and boulangeries have been friendly and helpful, perhaps because we’ve been trying our best to do what we can in French, and not…

Mona Lisa Smile

The Louvre is the world’s most popular museum with over 7.8 million people visiting in 2022. Visitor numbers are currently capped at 30,000 daily, but even with timed tickets, expect having to wait in a queue. If you haven’t pre-purchased tickets, you may be waiting for hours. We booked late-night tickets hoping to avoid the…

Stop! This is the empire of Death

In the late 1700’s, Paris’ authorities realised that something needed to be done about the city’s overflowing cemeteries. Basements neighbouring church cemeteries were collapsing due to the weight of centuries worth of bones. The ingenious plan was hatched to fill a series of unused underground mining tunnels with exhumed skeletons. Over 2 years from 1785,…

“The bible, but as a graphic novel”

“The bible, but as a graphic novel” is how Milana described the incredible stained glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle, built between 1242 and 1248 to house a bunch of holy relics (including the allegedly authentic Crown of Thorns) by France’s Louis IX. Entering the upper chapel of the church is one of those breath-taking “HOW did…

You MAY know this structure

The Eiffel Tower. You may have seen it before? Probably on a teenager’s doona cover, in any American rom-com, and on anything to do with anything remotely French. We struggled through many barricaded areas and fenced-off walkways as the city readied itself for the next day’s Fete de la Musique, and took the obligatory snaps….

In Search of Amelie…

We arrived at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport exhausted. Cam had researched the transport situation and we wanted 4 x weekly Navigo cards so we could ride the Metro as much as we could all week. Of the ten ticketing machines at the airport, for people who are arriving in France and will likely need…

The Jewel of Singapore

Singapore’s Changi Airport is astounding. An adventure in itself. After a very early morning and the 8-hour flight from Sydney, we were happy to have an overnight stop before continuing on to Paris. I love the mini-quests that go along with travel. Getting off the plane and navigating the 4-terminal, multi-story, Skytrain-linked maze of Singapore…

Lakeside

Probably thanks to George Clooney, the first Italian holiday lake that comes to mind for most non-Europeans is Lake Como. Bigger however at 370km2, less pricey, and arguably with more things to do, is Lake Garda, situated across three regions of northern Italy; Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige. The coast of the lake is dotted…

The Happiest Place on Earth (Part 2)

We were blown away by Disney Sea in Tokyo when we visited in 2016. We’re not a big Disney family. Of course we’ve seen most of the films, but we don’t LOVE Mickey, wear Disney merch, get about with mouse ears on etc. But Disney Sea had us so immersed in a world of fantasy,…