Internet cafe

Gday Mitch, Lawrie and others.
We have found an internet cafe in Cremona for a quick post. We had some words and photos to send on an MP3 player but the PC will not read it so here is a quick update.

Had a great time in Lucerne. Got in at night and it was warm and still and very peaceful with almost no one around when we went out for a nightcap at 11pm. Next day was glorious weather for sightseeing and going up a mountain which is what you do in Switzerland. Magic views.

Now staying in a lovely B&B in Busseto. The host does not speak English, but she is lovely and is learning English words as fast as we are learning Italian. Playing charades and using an English/Italian dictionary has helped us to share infomation on several things about our homelife, and we all ended up in fits of laughter when she thought I meant that we have snakes as pets, not fish! My charades did not do the job there, but eventually got the message across.

Have seen original violins, violas and cellos made by the great masters here in Cremona dating back 450 years. Some of these are still played today - amazing. Unfortunately we missed the maestro playing the Stradivari violins yesterday. Hope you can work out the picture of Dad eating pizza which we sent to Nanna and Grandads mobile, boys!

Saw some Stradivari violins today (4 in one room!). Only 600 of them still in existence. For me it is a bit like seeing the Mona Lisa, I cannot quite appreciate the finer points of the art and look at it for hours but it is good to satisfy the curiosity and actually see one.

Climbed up a 112m high tower this morning for a view of Cremona and the bad smog. About 499 steps according to Kate.

Looking forward to cathching the train again to Monaco. Hopefully we dont get lost along the way to the train station in Milan in our hire car, but this time we are not going to follow the GPS directions!

The hire car is a small diesel Renault, but it is a nippy little thing. Must be a turbo diesel. I am already driving like an Italian, no indicator, no patience and sitting in the middle of the road unless there is a car coming the other way. A car in Milan was double parked out onto the road and had retracted his wing mirror to reduce the chances of it getting knocked off by passing traffic. Not much room to spare on Milan roads. I found the best thing to do was sit right behind the guy in front and follow him which worked quite well as there is always someone turning right, left or going straight on.

Will try to put something on in Monaco in the next day or two.

Hope you are all well,
Love from Kate and Dave