The more things change....

The more they stay the same!! And life is a beach! Isn't it?
Or is it experiencing another culture? Or is life a mountain? A glacier or seven? A winding mountain road, your heart in your mouth as the on-coming vehicle surprises you? Or is it a country so small that you have to traverse it once or twice to fill in your week? What about a glorious Lake view with boats, ferries, mountains in the distance, leaves changing colour, tourists walking about and stopping here and there for a bite to eat.Hard to resist? Then again, there are the museums, the endless churches, the Palaces, the shopping malls, the foreign languages keeping you in the dark. French, German, Italian and, oh yes, thank God for English. Now that is a useful speak...nearly everyone can understand that even if you do speak Australian English. As one hotel manager  in Moscow said to me 'It is quite unusual, most Australians I can't understand, but you I have no trouble understanding.'
What about our experience in the fast train, 4hrs between Moscow and St. Petersburg, enjoying ourselves with new best friends, Russian sitting opposite. Two other Russians suddenly popped their heads between the seats and called....'All Americans are loud and noisy!' Maybe, we laughed! But we knew we were Australians, loud and noisy and thrilled to be enjoying the company of locals!
What about the Australian sense of determination....mountain road? Room for only one car, one truck? No worries? We managed it. Why not drive to the top of the Jungfrau/Matterhorn? The road is there to be used or is it? But everyone catches the train! They do? Yes and there is a 200.oo Euro fine for any car found on that road.  OOPS!!
The view below was the Italian border...the home of the famous St. Bernard dog...all dogs were sleeping when we visited but we could visit their hospital and chapel etc..A museum depicting their history kept us busy in the valley below but again, the dogs were sleeping and not interested in visitors. They did have a lovely grassy area to play on when in the mood.

We had typical Russian lunch in this brightly decorated B/B arranged by our tour guide- pickled vegetables, green salad, Bortsch soup and bread. Perhaps we also were offered beef stew, yes we were, for the main course.

Photographs below showed it was time (almost too late) to recover all cows and sundry from the mountains where they had been grazing in the summer. This was in the north-east of Switzerland and a fun day for all concerned. Huge traffic jams faced us as we tried to return to the freeway at the bottom of the valley.  

 Perth coastline at its best! And why wouldn't it be?
There is no place like home!!!