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We’re home…and unbelievably restless.

Time sure screws with you sometimes!

Bed time or else I’ll be up all night. Just letting you all know we made it alive and hoping to see lots of familiar faces and of course talk your ear off with all the amazing adventures we had!

Flight Home

Hey all,

In exactly 13 and a half hours we will hopefully be boarding our final flight back home. We have a stopover in Hong Kong and the flight should last 24 hours. Fingers crossed that nothing to exciting happens unlike last time. We shall be arriving in Sydney on Monday the 11th at the lovely hour of 6:30am and will be welcomed by our sleep deprived families (though they won’t be any where as near sleep deprived then us!)

Yesterday we had a full day in London where we did the free walking tour (lots of fun and took us to places we’d missed or just couldn’t find the first time we were here) and then got lost for a few hours in the biggest book store we’d ever been in! We had to use the elevators to reach the different floors, all 6 of them!!! You can imagine how excited we were and we confess we bought quite a lot of reading material for the plane. We got rained on briefly which i guess is typical in the UK but the weather otherwise is quite pleasant, warm enough for t-shirts but not mind melting hot either.

Action plan for today is to catch the underground to Terminal 3 after peak hour (which is 9:30am and then start he fun process of checking our luggage weight and praying that our bags are organised properly. Then we will eat something akin to hospital food (okay, it won’t be that bad but i doubt it will be healthy) and then the waiting game begins.

So the next time I’ll be writing on this blog we will both be in the land down under, fingers crossed! For those amazing people we’ve met along the way and who are still traveling, good luck and may St Christopher watch out for you in European traffic!!

Venice, Rome and London

Heya,

We”ve been quite busy the last few days and it’s been really hot though thankfully in Venice and Rome (where it reached 36 degrees) we both had air conditioning in our private rooms (yay) as well as a fridge! Venice was amazing! The canals and winding streets were cool and so were all the masks. We really couldn’t spend much time in the city though cos it got to hot and sticky. Ben and I were pouring sweat but the camping site had a swimming pool although the planes from the nearby airport often threatened to land in the pool. We only spent two full days there before we headed for Rome for one night where we packed and repacked our luggage, hoping that our big blue case we found in Berlin would only weigh 15kgs and our two carry on luggage weighed 10kg each.

This morning at the airport we had to repack our bag again, juggling one thing in a bag to another until we managed to get the perfect weight. Our flight was half an hour delayed for some unknown reaon and it was bloody hot waiting with a hundred odd other people. Finally took off and we arrived in London at 1pm where we battled shuttle buses, trains and the underground to get to our hostel. We’re repacked our bags yet again cos of the weight restrictions changing for our next flight on Saturday and to be honest I’m quite happy to be getting home and finally getting to wear a different outfit!

Will write once more before we leave for home.

Salzburg and Munich

Hey all,

In Munich for one night before we head for Venice. Went to the Hofbrauhaus and ate sausages and the best mash potato! Ben loved his litre of beer cos the last time we were here he wasn’t allowed any alcohol cos he was on antibiotics!

Salzburg was amazing. Perfect weather and everything was in bloom whereas the last time I was here in 2005 it was in the middle of winter. We checked out the Marabel Gardens and met a local artist who seemed impressed with Ben and my creative sides (don’t laugh) and she actually gave us a free ink drawing of a wild flower which was really nice and unexpected.

We climbed up the horridly steep incline to get to the fortress overlooking all of Salzburg and for those we were with me the last time we climbed, I swear it was a lot steeper then it actually is though it is scarily steep still. Views were spectacular as you’d expect. Last night there was massive thunder and lightening storm that even managed to drown out the woman singing opera opposite our hostel (no mean feat, to be sure, to be sure).

Only 7 nights left until we fly home to good old oz. Gonna miss this nice weather though!

Cesky Krumlov and Vienna

We’re in Vienna now with near perfect weather! Blue skies and sweltering weather! Both Ben and I are thinking about resorting to siestas again like we did in Spain!

Cesky Krumlov was beautiful! For those who don’t know the movie Hostel then be grateful cos Cesky Krumlov is the village they filmed the movie in! We stayed in an awesome hostel in the roof! and we explored the castle with its own bear pits which were distressing.

The castle gardens though were beautiful and the views from the bridge were unbelievable.

Gonna check out the Summer palace in Vienna tomorrow whilst today we checked out the winter one which was pretty however the gardens with their sprinkler system were the highlight!

Last night we cooked from scratch gnocci with a group of others which was fun and tonight we might try cooking again. It works out to be heaps cheaper!

After Vienna we head for Salzburg! I can’ wait!

Prague

Hey all,

In Prague and although it’s was meant to be Hitler’s new Paris during WWII, it’s actually quite gloomy. It’s been heavily overcast and rainy and where we’re staying we’re surrounded by the communists favourite designs of cement blocks. The city centre though is beuatiful and the castle is like from a fairy tale so there is lots on offer here at Prague but I think the weather i getting to us.

Our hostel will be great in about a years time have at the moment we are having to live through renovations and a toilet that we told them was leaking when we first arrived two days ago that still hasn’t been fixed! They also operate on a cash card system so if you want to buy anything at the bar, restaurant or go on the internet you need to put money or your door key. They didn’t tell us they charge 19% for this compulsory service. Not to impressed but the 8 b3ed dorm has been split between two rooms which is nice.

Minutes running out so got to go.

Berlin

Last full day in Berlin and we’re sad to leave. Berlin is a city that will only keep on getting better! The city has embraced it’s past (both the good and the bad) and has successfully incorporated the new and exciting! There are so many things to do here!

On Saturday, our first full day here, we went on a free walking tour by Sandeman which was fun and very informative. Our guide Mathew was very enthusiastic and brought history truly to life. We visited the Brandenburg Gate with Irene on top and and saw the Reichtag parliamentary building with its awesome glass dome that we later walked around with brilliant night panoramic views of all of Berlin as a thunderstorm danced on the horizon (simply breathtaking).

We walked through the stones and pillars of the Holcaust Memorial (The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe) that reminded both Ben and I of isolation and Ben said it was like being in a city of the lost as it was very easy to lose your way amongst the gray stones. It was the most moving memorial we’d ever been in and below it are a few rooms that we visited after the tour that have first hand accounts from those persecuted and murdered as well as one room having a person’s name and their date of birth and death projected on all four walls and a voice in both German and English telling the person’s story. In this format, the whole data base would take 6 years, 7 months and 27 days for every name to be read. It was very powerful.

Also on the tour we saw Checkpoint Charlie as well as part of the Berlin Wall and the car park that marks the place of Hitler’s Bunker.

On Sunday we went to the Pergamon Museum and saw an exhibit on the city of Babylon, it’s myths and the truth’s unearthed by archeology. The altar and gates rebuilt entirely inside the museum were huge and quite overwhelming! I also gave Ben an early 21st Birthday present! That night we went to see the Blue Man Group and it was the best show we’ve ever been too. It was fun, interactive, colourful, intelligent and hilariously funny! Ben even got to play a small part in the show! We had awesome seats and we were so close to the stage that we had to wear ponchos so as not to get paint on us! It was worth ever cent and we got the CD of their music cos it is based heavily on music and drums in particular and we can’t wait to listen to it when we get home!

Yesterday we met Ben’s long lost cousin Alex and Alex’s friend Max and they took us out to lunch and dinner, showing us parts of Berlin that we hadn’t even known was there and then took us to two emotionally charged exhibits Man Ray: Unconcerned But Not Indifferent and Yevgeny Khaldei : The Decisive Moment.

So many great memories have been formed in Berlin and I look forward to returning soon to see what other new and unique events are happening here in this European hot spot!

Amsterdam and Berlin!

Hey all!

Arrived in Berlin today and for dinner, as one would, we had traditional Thai. The hostel we’re at is pretty cool and we’ve run into lots of people we’ve already met which was great. Hopefully we’ll meet the last of Ben’s long lost family here, his cousin Alex, as well as check out all the history that Berlin is steeped in! Tomorrow we’ll go on the free walking tour with Sandeman which we’ve tried to do whenever possible in every city cos its a tour for tips so you can pay as much as you think the tour is worth and the tour guides are fun.

But I guess you’re all dying to hear about our stay in Amsterdam. We stayed in Amsterdam for 3 nights and it definitely was an eye opener. Arrived on Tuesday and ate at an Indian restaurant (it was opposite a huge windmill though!) and on Wednesday we took another free tour through the red light district we’re we tried to figure out if staring was a compliment or a proposition. Smelt some lovely coffee shops (cafes are for coffee, coffee shops for ’soft’ drugs) and saw apparently the smallest house built in an old ally way. Ben likes it here for the high tolerance level for literally everything!

That night we went to a comedy show called ‘Boom Chicago’ which was hilarious! It’s preformed by a group of 4 Americans who use a mixture of improv and skits to make quite often political comments and social observations. Loved the comment on American’s pretending to be Canadians when they travel. We’ve met some American’s posing as Canadians with Canadian flags on their bags and everything though not on Busabout.

Thursday we wondered round the red light district on our own and went to the Hash museum as well as the erotic museum that left Ben and I in stitches! Some of the things we saw are still being digested and I promise to write a post focused on only what we saw there.

Anyway, I’m tired and have possibly had to much baileys with my ice cream which is making me even more sleepy. This keyboard is also quite annoying cos the letters are mixed up and making it twice as hard to write.

Till later!

Ferne

Ummm, Paris, Bruges

Okay, been ages. Paris doesn’t like this website but to be honest not much happened there of interest. Went to the only hill in Paris and saw a big church there which was impressive on the outside but like every other beautiful church in Europe on the inside.

Bruges though is beautiful. It’s like stepping into a themepark with horse carriages and towers and lots of cool shops. The food here is delicious and cheap. The chips are great and yesterday we ate twice at a take away pasta place where you get spegheti bolonages in a cup to eat out in the main plaza and people watch. The people here are super friendly and speak at least 4 languages as they have 4 national languages. English, German, French and Flemish.

We had to go to the police station yesterday though because we lost the camera case with the spare battery and memory cards though thankfully they were blank. We got a form from this great policeofficer to get money back from inssurance but the forms in Flemish which is cool. Both of us are just glad we didn’t lose the camera or the photos!

Went to a chocolate museum day befroe yesterday which was fun and the demonstrator chocolatier spoke in three languages to explain how to make chocolate. Very impressive. The chocolate here is far superor to anything else in the world except switzerland so I think we might stock up on chocolate here so you better send love our way or else you may go without!

Less than a month til we’re home! Sort of scary how fast its all gone by!

Til later!

San Sebastian

Hey all,

Last night in San Sebastian and weŕe going out to a few bars and clubs to celebrate with the tour group. The last few days have been very interesting. I’ve been hit in the head by a giant blow up lemon which was exciting and almost died in a mosh pit that appeared out of nowhere and Ben had to help me and our room mate escape which was possibly one of the scariest moments of my life. Got covered in sangria and champagne and of course the costume everyone wears is white so we looked pretty hippyish for the first day!

Watched some pretty cool parades one including giant spinning and dancing puppets at least four metres high! Check out this site to see the giants here!

Ben of course ran with the bulls on the first day which was nerve racking but in hindsight he was lucky to run on Monday because the next day was boring in comparison. I will leave it to him to tell his stories.

Tomorrow we head for Paris for two nights and we plan to see a show at the Moulin Rouge. Should be great however tomorrow promises a 14 hours bus trip! Fun!

Til later!