Tony Straw Libros

Returning home after years away, a reunion with old friends leads to newly-retired Kiwis Lee and Tony Straw setting off on a journey to Central Europe. The plan is to visit those friends in Berlin, but New Zealanders don't travel such long distances for just a single destination. So the journey grows. And grows. Their meanderings take them through San Francisco to Germany and several countries sharing a border with Germany, not ignoring tourist attractions but leaning more towards lesser-known diversions. Setbacks happen, but often these lead to new adventures that turn out to be every bit as enjoyable as those they had originally planned. Come along with Tony and Lee, and occasionally too with Tony's son, Martin, for a fun ride, humorously told, filled with good beer, good - or at times mediocre - food, as well as castles, rivers, mountains, monuments and a sometimes stroppy GPS called Gretel

In Christchurch, New Zealand, a devastating earthquake sets off a chain of events that culminate three years later in an unexpected wedding. Newlyweds Lee and Tony Straw are then given the idea of a honeymoon cruising the Mediterranean. But Kiwis don't travel such formidable distances for a short cruise. A driving tour is added, and the journey grows. And grows. Beginning with a false start at Shanghai, their meanderings take them across Italy (with flash-backs to earlier trips there), and into the Balkans. The cruise expands on these, then moves on to Malta, Sicily, Naples and Rome. Tourist attractions are not ignored, but it is the off-beat and quirky that most appeals. Conditions aren't always kind, locals can be mischievous, but our couple aren't about to let these things stand in the way of a good time. Come along with Tony and Lee for another fun ride, humorously told, packed with good food, hard-to-pronounce beers, along with gardens, monsters, bizarre mythological creatures, and an occasionally disobliging GPS called Tomasina.