Final Blog

The last few days have been busy crossing a few continents. We left a rainy Sweden for a hot Roman summer. Unfortunately we had to wait 45 mins for the so called airport express so it wasn't until 10:30 pm that we were able to meet up with Luigi and friends for dinner. My irritation disappeared as soon as the taxi drove past the lit up Colisseum and the Forum and I remembered why I love Rome so much. The restaurant was in the Piazza Margana, a tiny piazza near San Marco which is often used as a place to film a typical Roman piazza according to the guidebook. It is gorgeous and the meal was superb - stuffed zucchini flowers, delicious pasta and we finished with gelati of course, washed down with Prosecco and a wonderful Brunello di Montaciano to round the meal off. On the way back to the hotel we passed the Theatre of Marcellus and the Baths of Caracalla - they looked very evocative all lit up. The fountains were flowing, there was a party on the Circus Maximus and a traffic jam at 1:30 am. Only in Rome.

Then after a 10 hour flight we arrived in Hong Kong feeling a bit groggy. But we soldiered on and caught one of the old Star Ferries from Hong Kong Island to Koowloon for a fabulous lunch - maybe the best spring rolls of all time and very nice dumplings. Then I faced my fears by riding the tram up to the peak. It was ghastly - Hong Kong is very hilly and I was not a happy girl, but the views were pretty spectacular from the top as you can see. We had another good meal - this time with crispy tofu and a flavour-some vegetable hot-pot. Hong Kong is very good for vegetarians. The humidity is pretty intense so we were glad to return to an air-conditioned room and collapse into bed.

Today was all about the Journey to Enlightenment and walking with Buddha as we visited the Tian Tan Buddha statue, which is the tallest, outdoor, seated bronze Buddha in the world. It is very impressive although I think the Buddha might be a bit concerned about the theme park that surrounds him. We got there via a 5.7 km cable car ride which is amazing. For some reason I am not afraid of cable cars. This afternoon Hugh has his talk at the university of Hong Kong so I had better go and watch. Then we head off to the airport and back home to Brisbane. It has been great fun doing this blog and a wonderful way to record the trip so that anyone who is interested can see what we are up to. You have got to love the internet! Farewell.