Lisa and Simon in Europe

I am spending the day in the finish town of the Tour de France today. We got here pretty early as Simon wanted to cycle up a hill near the finish so he can see them going up the hill. My neck isn't the greated with all the travelling and i didn't like the idea of spending a couple of hours on a bike so have decided to stay in the finish town. They still seem to be setting everything up at the moment - lots of mechandise and food places etc. It is quite a nice little town. There seems to be heaps of traffic so maybe they are all trying to drive up the road to see the riders on the hill.

Tomorrow the tour comes through the town we are staying at. The town is flat so they will be going pretty fast but hopefully we will be able to get a good look. Then the day after that they have a time trial around a lake that isn't far from where we are staying so hopefully we will be able to get a good spot and watch all the riders go past.

The tour doesn't seem to be as big as what i thought it would be in France. You would hardly know the tour goes through the town we are staying at, the only clue is the road closures. In the town i am at today lots of the shops have window displays and the council staff our out doing the gardens and keeping the place tidy.

The roads around here are pretty slow lots of winding roads that are narrow. we are right in the alps so i guess they are limited in the places they can put roads.

Yesterday we went up the gondolas at Montblanc. Two gondolas taking us up to about 3500m. It was -3 oC up the top. It was pretty amazing but i suffered a little from altitude sickness and had to be careful where i looked when going on the gondola as i didn't enjoy it so much. The first gondola had about 75 people in it - all standing, i stood in the middle so i couldn't see much it went at 10 m/s so it was pretty quick. only one gondola goes at a time so it is very smooth and doesn't stop until it gets to the top. The second gondola had about 66 people in it, again all standing. This one was quicker but much steeper. it didn't have any inbetween towers and was about 3 km long. once up the top there was a whole lot of viewing platfoms to look from and a cafe, resturant and shop. I had to mainly sit for about the first hour up there as i felt sick and really dizzy. after a while i was mostly okay but still got dizzy going up stairs.

Everything is going well. Only a few days left now.

Lisa

We are in Florence for a couple nights. This afternoon i am going on a tour around the centre of the town and to the uffiti art gallery (not sure on spelling). The tour is a walking tour.

Two nights ago we went to an Opera (Carmen) in Verona in their Roman ampitheater. it was pretty amazing, it seats 22,000. the set changes were very impressive. we had cheap seats so could see behind the curtain when they were doing all their changes! the place was pretty full, i think it is the only roman ampitheatre that is still used. not sure what was going on in the opera but it seemed good. unfortunately it rained a few times and as soon as it started raining the orchastra had to disapear inside as they couldnt get their instruments wet. on the third time this happened they cancelled it it was only about 20 mins to the end as well. it was a late night as a normal show finished at 1am and them went until after 2am.

Simons ironman went well. he was on schedule for a great time with the bike and swim but struggled with the run in the heat. Simons parents were there and we spend the day trying to work out where he was. Klagenfurt was a nice city with a very pretty lake.

After klagenfurt we were in Venice, which was great. we had a really nice hotel and in a great location which meant we could just wonder around the streets. it was very pretty. they havent got much space though before the whole place floods. we brought an engagement ring in Venice. it is white gold with three diamonds. Simon wanted something bigger but i think it is just right. unfortunately my fingers must of been swollen in venice from the heat and all the walking as now it is a little big. i will wait until i am home though before i resize it as i think they will change again. i am wearing it at the moment but most of the time on a bigger finder rather than the correct one. i also brought some leather gloves and a bag in venice.

tomorrow we are going to the amalfi coast and will hopefully go swimming in the sea, it is a five hour drive and we are hoping to stop in pompeii on the way.

the car is going really well, we couldnt manage without the GPS which has been great. Florence is not a car friendly city though so we are leaving it in the parking garage until we leave tomorrow.

hopefully they are all working

We have been in Klagenfurt for two nights now. Simons parents arrived yesterday. We have mostly just been doing ironman stuff, registering, checking our the course etc. Simon is at the briefing at the moment but i have found somewhere to use the internet for free so thought i would update this and check emails etc.

my cellphone doesnt seem to be working that well. a number of texts have been sent that i havent recieved. so if you dont get a reply to texts dont be offended.

The town that we are staying in is at the other end of the lake from klagenfurt. it is kind of like Queenstown, very much a tourist destination. last night simons parents took us out for a nice dinner on the waterfront which was nice. The lake is really nice but you have to pay to get to it. a lot of the hotels own their own bit of the waterfront, there are a few public areas but it costs about 3 euro to get into the area. we have been once though and will go again today i think. it is high 20s but not humid so am coping okay. it will be hard for simon tomorrow though.

i am having trouble finding a place where i can load photos on to the internet. will keep trying though.

i better go and find Simon.

Lisa

Simon and I are engaged. Simon proposed in Grindelwald in Switzerland. i dont have a ring yet as i always said i wanted to choose one. So for the moment i have a plastic one.

last night we were in Blundenz, Austria after travelling through Vaduz the capital of the sixth smallest country in the world. Today we travelled to klangenfurt. Everything is going really well. i dont have time to write any more at the moment but tomorrow i should be able to post some photos.

lisa