Chris and Emily

3 week to go!
Hobart, Australia
Finally our working holiday visa's have been approved, yet to see them though as they haven't come through the mail yet :( on the Bright side we have managed to find a place to stay for the first 4 days in London, yay! I think Em and I looked at a gazillion (yes a GAZILLION) places on tripadvisor before we found one in our budget, available and not infested with bedbugs, at least we hope so anyway.
written by  Chris and Emily on March 14, 2009 from Hobart, Australia
from the travel blog: Europe 2009

Passports have returned from their trip to the berra
Hobart, Australia
Just a quick entry before I finally get some sleep!
Our passports have finally returned from their trip to the british high comission in Camberra, I guess they were enjoying themselves seeing the sights and rubbing "corners" with all the pollies as they were gone for a very long time. But they are home now and in good time to be ready to play an important part in our little trip :)
written by  Chris and Emily on March 19, 2009 from Hobart, Australia
from the travel blog: Europe 2009

3 days to go
Hobart, Australia
Well 3 days left and we are pretty much ready... I think.. we still don't have any pounds but we are pretty much packed. Been flat out catching up with everybody and have had some really good nights with friends over the last week.
getting ready to leave
We are feeling a little bit sad at the concept of leaving friends and family for so long but we are excited about the adventure ahead. We have been franticly looking at all the places to visit in London and are pretty overwhelmed so I think we will just play it by ear on our 4 days there before we grab a train down to Bristol.
The blog should get a lot more interesting after Sunday! we might even manage some airport blogs along the trip, we will be in the Qantas club in Melbourne for a few hours (thanks bro!) so that would be a good spot to upload some photos, of what I am not sure yet and write about the big departure. Our next stop will be Hong Kong for an hour or so but we might not get much chance to write.
Google earth has elightened me to the fact that they still have Police boxes in Lodon or at least there is one outside the tube station at Earls Court where we are staying so expect an excited photo to be uploaded of it! If only I had a long scarf, funny hat and some jelly babies so I can do a good Dr Who Impression.
Chris..
written by  Chris and Emily on April 2, 2009 from Hobart, Australia
from the travel blog: Europe 2009

The day arrives, finally!
Melbourne, Australia
The day of take off has finally arrived! Chris and I have been waiting for this day, for what seems like forever! Thanks to the change in time with day light savings, we awoke bright and early and ready to hit the road (or skies as it is in this case) We had an entire day to fill with waiting, last minute checks and the indecision of what to wear.. 3pm seemed to take a very very long time to roll around. FINALLY though it did, and thanks to Ev and Jan made our way to the airport where we were greeted with a large entourage of family and friends.
To anyone on the outside it would appear as if we were leaving for far longer than the 6 months we have planned! It was truly lovely to see how many people turned up to bid us farewell, it reconfirmed to the both of us how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends and family. We were also presented with a large farewell card full of advice and goodbye messages from other mates who were unable to make the airport (or the night out last night..) that too was very touching. It's always difficult for me to leave those I love, no matter how long my journey away is for, and this time was no exception. I promised myself I wouldn't get teary, but it would seem I'm unable to keep promises with myself! I shed quite a few tears whilst saying goodbye and then even more while boarding and taking off. However, I have discovered that becoming puffy eyed, tear stained and snotty has it's advantages! The air stewardess asked "have you been crying?" I replied "yes, are you going to kick me off?" She contemplated for a short time before saying no and then disappeared. She then returned with many many a tissue (I must have looked far worse than I thought...) and a bottle of water, and later, thanks to my display of woosieness, another round of sandwiches.. a girl can never have too many sandwiches you know so I accepted gratefully...
The flight itself wasn't too bad, but then I love a good dose of turbulance, helps to keep the flight interesting. It didn't seem to excite those behind us much however. The sudden dips and violent shakes seemed to draw many gasps and "oh god!" and even one or two expletives... There was a lovely little boy behind us though, who thankfully wasn't a screamer. Instead he laughed quite loudly and yelled "yay, whee!" and at one stage "look grandpa, we're dancing on the plane!" which made a few nervous flyers smile at the very least. Babes can be quite sweet in their innocence.
Qantas club melbourne
Anyhow. We received a lovely, wonderful suprise whilst checking in. Chris' brother who had dealt with our bookings etc had suprisingly upgraded us to buisness class for the longer legs of the journey! Hoorah! Thank you very much! :) We also have received passes to the the buisness lounge to wait out the 3 hour stop over, lovely thank you very much! We have proceeded to help ourselves to the free champers, beer,phone line and yummy food and now, sitting admist the more 'upper class' I'd guess you say, have kicked off my smelly hiking boots and am blogging away furiously whilst those around me are looking all smart and civilised reading large papers that expand your entire arms length. I am slightly concerned though of the smell wafting from my boots.. whilst it was a practical idea to wear them on the trip to save weight and room, they weren't the smartest idea in the way of comfort.. non the less! I'm planning on begging Chris to take his boots off too in a minute and so that way no one will suspect that the boot smell belongs to me.. hee hee hee... I am a genius! Besides, everyone knows that girls don't smell right?
The memorable toast!
To toast the adventure unfolding before us we took two glasses of champers. This was all going lovely, Chris gave a lovely little speech, we 'clinked' with the usual eye contact, took a sip and then.. SMASH! Chris had managed, much to my amusement, take the entire bottom of his champers glass off whilst attempting to put it down on the side table. Very amusing for me, not so for him. I think, with the combination of smelly feet and breaking their goods, the lounge and those around us, may very well be glad to see us leave.
So now we sit and wait for a further 2 hours 10 minutes until our flight to Hong Kong is called. Am not sure what we will do to fill in this time but I do see a rather impressive stack of glasses to my right.... :)
To be continued......
Oh yes, we have also learnt that you can not bring small jars of vegemite through customs (thanks for the thought though Jess) & that you can not offer your jar of said vegemite to the custom men. Customs also do not allow used, slimy almost empty tubes of toothpaste through. This is not for its contents, but rather for it's sizing (not allowed anything over 100g) though, vegemite is also a gel and for that reason a no no. Victory though with the tin of milo, it was allowed, much to my great delight and relief, through! Thanks God!
Okay, now to be continued....
written by  Chris and Emily on April 5, 2009 from Melbourne, Australia

Hong Kong stop-over
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Oh my gosh. How awesome is buisness class?! Chris and I were both very impressed with our seats and surroundings, all rather flash and the seats reclined a good distance so that we were able to catch a bit of shut eye. Chris was rather excited about being able to sit at the window and watch the world go by, whereas I was most excited by the awesome PJ set we received! Very comfy thank you Mr Morrisey!
We're currently sitting in Hong Kong at boarding gate 24 awaiting our return to the lap of luxury. We did try to get into the lounge with the other hob knobs but were told that we weren't allowed (surely my feet don't still smell, do they?)
Boarding soon so must dash, next stop.. London baby!
To be continued.....
written by  Chris and Emily on April 5, 2009 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong

London at last
London, United Kingdom
Just a quick entry to say that we made it :) we are tucked up in our hotel room after lugging our bags on the tube into the city. We nicked out for a english pint and a curry for dinner (as you do on your first night in London) Em was fast alseep within 10 seconds of laying down on the bed and I don't think it will take me much longer!
Stay tuned lots of photo's to upload tomorrow.
Chris
written by  Chris and Emily on April 6, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

We did it, we're in the UK finally!
London, United Kingdom
We're here! We've arrived! My gosh, so much has happened in the past 24 hours I almost don't know where to begin, but I guess the obvious place would be the start, so.. here we go...
Last time we wrote we were waiting to board into the lap of luxury once more. This time, there were only 7 other people sitting in buisness class which suprised me. I thought HK - Ldn would have been a very popular leg for the buisness lot, but apparently not, not that I'm complaining. It was nice to have a virtually empty section. We settled back into our comfy pjs, selected a movie to watch and found ourselves a comfy position in the chairs (which are more like pods to be honest) and it was great. For 8 hours. Now, I really really don't wish to come across as if I'm sounding ungrateful, because I'm not, I'll always be thankful and appreciative to the upgrade during the flight, but my god did cabin fever set in! Our flight was 13 hours long, and as I said, the first 8 were fine,but then the lack of sleep, restlessness and boredom set in and all this doesn't help when your in a confide space. It wouldn't matter if you were sitting in premium, first, buisness or cattle class, 13 hours in a small space is too long. The air stewards were great though, so lovely and helpful and my god did they ever feed us. I felt like a bloody hobbit! Breakfast, second breakfast, 11sies, lunch, second lunch and all the snacks and free drinks in between! They love to give you drinks of the alcoholic variety on this section, and you can't help but think "why not? You only live once!" and swig back one or two.. (this time we didn't break any of the glasses, we were very civilised)
As we were flying we flew over some of the most amazing snow capped mountains I've ever seen. They went on for miles and miles and were gorgeous to watch and check out. It was insane though that on one side of the plane you had this view and the other showed this barren, dry dead land. Such conrast! We flew over Russia too which was also covered in snow. It was quite amazing to be flying over these landscapes.
Amazing mountains from plane
Barran land from the plane, on the other side of the plane there were snowy mountains!
We touched down at Heathrow after doing several circles of the city as the air space was so busy. Kind of reminded me of Die Hard 2 when John McClanes wife is on the plane and they circle and circle and circle before going down in typical Hollywood fahion.. Thankfully for us though there was a smooth landing and no flames, though I wouldn't have minded too much if we'd run into Bruce Willis.. I'd have taken a photo or two for my mum.
Customs was nice and easy, just a few quick questions and we were through. We brought some 'Oyster cards' for the train, a prepaid train & bus ticket and head to Earls Court where we're currently staying. Negoiating the tube was easier than I thought, even with our MASSIVE packs and the first thing we saw when emerging into the sunlight was a 'tardis' which Chris insisted I posed with for a quick photo.
Tardis in Earls court!!
Our accom. is nice enough. We have a twin room which the lady at the check out desk said was 'bigger' than some of the other rooms. Well, if our room is bigger than the rest I'd HATE to see the size of the others! Chris and I have to suck in our breathe and walk sideways to walk past each other in this room... Okay okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but it's not far off the truth I swear! The corridoors are so thin that you do bash into the walls as you walk down them and I promise you that's no exaggeration at all! All in all though, it is a nice little spot. We're down stairs under road level and at the back of the hotel, it's a bit of a rabbit warren but it's quiet and that's what you want when all you want to do is SLEEP, which we did for 13 hours once our heads hit the pillow.
This morning we awoke still feeling a little 'off' and out of place but after a good size brekki (where we smuggled out some ham and cheese sangas) we hit the train system to see the sights. We managed to make our way to Buckingham Palace, which I almost missed. I had a complete blonde moment (no offence to those reading who are blonde, it's just an expression!) I happened to keep walking and Chris had to call me back saying "Em! Where are you going?" and I then asked "is this it?!" I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what was in front of me! We got some nice shots and waited some time for the changing of the guard which never happened before moving on. We saw and took pics of the Queen Victoria Monument, The horse guards parade, Big Ben,the houses of paliment, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Trafalguar Sq, Piccidilly Cir. and the London eye (that was from a distance though, that's on the cards in the next day or two) It was a very full on day filled with much sight seeing and me going "is that it?"
Big Ben
Chris with the London Eye coming out of his head
Lion, no, not with a witch or in a wardrobe, but rather sitting in Tragfalgar Square
Trafalga Square
So now, after giving our legs a bloody good work out we sit in our wee hotel room resting and relaxing and looking into what lies ahead for us tomorrow, probably the London Eye and Tate Museum of modern art, but we'll wait and see how we're feeling tomorrow I guess. We DID want to go into Westminster Abby today but there was a large protest going on and we didn't wish to get caught up in it all. There was a huge police presence, underground in that area was closed and this morning the Westminster bridge had been closed off too as protesters had been threatening to throw themselves off into the river Thames (another site we saw today for the record) so.. we left it for today and quickly walked past it all in search for a cup of tea and hot chocolate, but could only find the pub so settled for a guiness and lemon lime and bitters (which they didn't know how to make?!) All in all, a nice day and we're looking forward to what else awaits!
To be continued...
written by  Chris and Emily on April 7, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

Tower of London and St Pauls
London, United Kingdom
Things have been so busy and crazy these past few days that Chris and I haven’t had a chance to sit down and blog, but now on Easter Sunday we’re resisting the urge to leap up and eat many Easter eggs and instead, blog. It’s probably better for our health..
So to catch up we shall pick up where we left off (if we can remember…)
After another huge breakfast consisting of the likes of toast, yoghurt, porridge & cereal we managed to smuggle out some more ham and cheese sandwiches for the day ahead. I know it sounds stingy, but it IS expensive in London, it’s not just a myth!
We skyped home and after a quick chat to the family hit the road. Today’s agenda consisted of the Tower of London, London Tower Bridge and then St Paul’s Cathedral. We were amazed by the size of the Tower. Again I don’t know what I was expecting really, but it wasn’t a 1000 year old Castle that just commanded the sky line and your attention.
A vicious hunter.
It was huge and there was so much history in it that it took us a good 5 hours of wandering about to see what we wished too see, there are still rooms we haven’t discovered. The grandeur of the building, the architecture, the history, it’s all amazing and the views of the bridge from the tower are great. Of course, the most amazing and gorgeous part of the Tower experience is the tour of the crown jewels. Security here is insanely huge and so when they say “no photos” you listen and fight the urge to take a pic or two to show those back home! It was amazing though, the room was filled with gold plates, cups & bowls, full of diamonds, sapphires and pearls, full of amazing sculptures and of course, crowns from the ages. There are no real words to describe the room. I spent a long time just staring in awe of the craftsmanship that went into making such beautiful objects and although I don’t think of myself as a princess and I’d never ever wear a crown like that, I wanted one!
The crown jewels lie within these solid, sercurity ridden walls. The tower of London
We moved on to the Tower next as the line ups, although we were missing them all by the skin of our teeth, were becoming to much and driving us mad (think a gazillion teen school groups who are more interested in impressing their peers than seeing the history)
The Tower Bridge was also amazing and wonderful. I know I keep saying it, but the work that went into these landmarks is just outstanding. There all 1000 years old but they’ve lasted to this day and age and are still standing in tact and more to the point, safe and useable! I wish that we could adopt this infrastructure in today’s day and age, it would make sense.. There were tours that we could do inside the bridge if we wished, but we were happy enough to just walk over the bridge for now as we were on a tight schedule for St Paul’s Cathedral.
Content and chilled out.
A closer view of the Tower Bridge
Now, what can I say about St Paul’s? I know that I’ve ranted and raved about how wonderful and beautiful the Tower and Bridge were and I’ve used a lot of descriptive words, but oh, my, god! St Paul’s is jaw droppingly MASSIVE and I’mlostforwords spectacular! It is by far THE most gorgeous, sacred place I have ever ever come across. I could spend days and days in there and not be tired. It is massive on the outside, and not so surprisingly, massive on the inside. Every wall and the roof are covered with the most amazing paintings and with sculptures and just gorgeous tiles and art work. Everything in it is so grand and there’s this sense of history and ‘presence’. I spent a very very long time just staring and looking up at the ceilings (until my neck got sore and I had to look down to try and re-correct the ache..) We then walked up many MANY steep stairs to the ‘whisper room’ Here your meant to sit opposite one another in this very large round room (you can just see one another in the end!) and you give each other a signal to let one another know you’re about to whisper into the wall (that in fairness has to be a stage whisper) and the other puts their ear to the wall to see if they can hear it. Apparently when I stage whispered into the wall Chris said he could hear something, though he wasn’t sure it was me or not as there were a million other people whispering, but I was unable to hear Chris whisper to me. At one stage I thought “geez Louise! I can hear my name being whispered loud and clear! This is amazing!” but then I realized that it was the very loud American next to me “whispering” “Emily, can you hear me?!” to his daughter opposite the room. Oh well. This wall works as the globe shape of the room allows the sound to travel and priests could come up here and send secret messages to one another… what secrets the priests had I don’t wish to know… We were then able to climb even MORE freaking steps to the second tallest part of St Paul’s, and you could step outside. A great view from up here, and it was just a tad bit windy and a wee bit chilly. We got a few snap shots before heading back down to the crypt where we saw dead people. Not in the 6th sense way, but in the tomb, head stone way. Bit Indiana Jones like to be honest, we were just missing our whip and hat…. I thought it was pretty cool until I realized that what I thought were tiles, were in actual fact gravestones and I was walking over dead people. Then I felt bad and had to apologize to the name of the person I was ‘walking all over’.. I did this silently though as I would have looked a tad mad saying “I’m very sorry to be stepping on your head Mr Edward SoandSo” out loud.
St Pauls Cathedral
Another sneaky shot of the roof of St Pauls
So, it was a great day and we saw so so much and did so so so so much freaking walking! We caught a tube home where we then relaxed with a bath, TV, a book and our smuggled breakfast sandwiches. Mmmmm.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 8, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

Runaround Day (and a bit of the British Museum)
It had to happen sometime, I just wasn’t quite ready for it, I thought we’d have more time… It wasn’t nice, it wasn’t pretty.. it was the day of “completing all the errands”
We did have plans of seeing the museums today as the weather was shite and it was better to be indoors than out, but we realized that the day of runabout had come. We had to organize our mobiles and their numbers & the bank accounts. We caught the tube a bit of a ways to where the agency we’d signed up with were, grabbed our ‘start up packs’ and then head to the bank which of course, had to be another few good tube stops away and then another 10 minute walk.. nothing seemed easy today. We got off at the right station and began to walk, it was crazy busy and people were just pushing and shoving you in every direction, there were nothing but fashion shops and all we wanted to do was sit down and pull out a map so we could see where the bloody hell we were.. and then we saw it, a big fat sign on the corner of a building stating “OXFORD STREET”… ooooohhhh, now that explains it all. We’d totally stumbled upon it by accident, and we couldn’t wait to get off it! We pulled into a small café to grab a milkshake and coffee just so we could breathe for a minute or two, but then our breath was taken away once more when the bill arrived… it was 9 bloody pounds for 2 drinks! 9 freaking pounds…. That’s equivalent of $18! Thank god we didn’t decide to eat there as well! (no smuggled sandwiches today, we think they’re onto us now…) What made it even more annoying is the fact that we were expecting a pound or so change and that never arrived as they’d kept it as tip. Sorry, but they’d just sent us broke, they didn’t deserve to keep our change as well!! At this bloody rate we were going to be sitting on the street with a Styrofoam cup in front of us with a sign saying “we’re not crack addicts, we just had had a quick drink, any change appreciated”
Anyhow, we moved on to where we eventually found the bank and were served by a very nice young man, who assisted us in setting up our bank accounts. Along the way we passed Marble Arch, but neither of us could be bothered getting the camera out to take a snap shot. We then found a shop in which we were able to buy 2 new mobile phones and set them up so that we could keep in touch with friends and family. Figuring out the international codes etc was fun (please note the large dose of sarcasm) but we did it in the end.
By now it was well and truly into the late afternoon and we were both stubborn and didn’t want to waste today on just running about, we wanted to get some form of sight seeing out of it, so we made our way to the British Museum. Whoa, is this place ever big!!! Its ginormous and so easy to get lost in!
We checked the map and chose a room or two to see, there was no way on earth, even with a good week up your sleeve that you’d get to see this place properly, thus the reason why we chose a room or two. We decided on the ancient Egypt room and the roman room, both of which were very very interesting and amazing. The sphinxes and statues were all fantastic, again the craftsmanship that went into these works of art is nothing you’ve ever seen before, and they dated back to 200-300 AD, bloody amazing!
Venus getting ready for her bath. The unoffical title I've given this statue. British Museum
A startled Venus in the bath, seriously, that's the title of this piece. I doubt I'd look that serene if it were me.
Again tour groups were pushing past and we’d by now had enough of the crowds and in immature fashion made a deal of pushing past the tour groups that had just pushed by us.. Do unto others and all that.. Our feet were sore, our patience was non existent and we were getting hungry by now (again, no sandwiches…) so we decided to go and grab dinner in Leicester Square, where we had a rather yummy Japanese meal.
I Emily, who is allergic to fish and all things that grow, live and breed beneath the waves tried some vegetarian sushi. Last time I tried this I did have a reaction, and this time was no exception, though it was less severe and I popped a pill straight away so I was fine and dandy. Next to us at the restaurant sat a couple who were on their first date and god it was painful to observe and listen to! We weren’t being noisy, we couldn’t help but practically be involved in their date, the tables were all crowded in there and we had (with NO exaggeration or sarcasm used at all here I promise you) an inch between their table and ours. My gosh though, the guy on this date was something that very strongly rhymes with banker! My head was screaming “RUN GIRL RUN!” but that was just me, hopefully she has sense to see through the guys crap… though when we got out into the somewhat fresh London air, Chris turned to me and said “that guy was a complete… banker.. “(remember to rhyme!) So it wasn’t just me thinking that after all.. I don’t actually know why I’m filling this blog in with someone else’s date, it’s not relevant at all, but it was a highlight for me being a woman and gossipy I guess…… Anyhow, we got back to the hotel, packed and went to bed early that night ready for our check out and trip to Bristol the following morning.

Train trip to Bristol
Bristol, United Kingdom
Thankfully here in London check out is 11am, which is great if you have a tendency to over sleep as Chris and I did this morning. Again another brekki in which this time we DID smuggle some more cheese and ham sangas out.. by now we didn’t care if they saw, it’s not like they could kick us out now! Check out was easier then first expected and we head straight to Paddington Station. We had two hours to kill before our train down to Bristol and it was easily filled with Maccas and Paddington bear. Yep, Paddington bear at Paddington Station, who’d have thought? There was a large Paddington bear strolling around collecting donations for a children’s charity, and I couldn’t resist the chance to leap in for a photo with the marmalade loving bear. As you can see from the photo Paddington is obviously a male, that or a lurking pervert.
Aww, Paddington Bear and I lurking outside the mens loo.. we'll crop this photo I think..
We hopped on the train nice and early and found that our seats were at a table for four. “No problem” we thought “that’s cool, just hope our seat mates are nice” and they weren’t nice.. they were awesome! It was so odd. The train was practically empty, seats galore to choose from and yet they’d clumped us together and it was great! We met Helena and Nils, a couple heading away for the long weekend. God knows what they may have thought of us, but we thought they were great. They were great fun and were very generous in shouting us drinks, only wouldn’t allow us to shout them back, we’d like to be able to meet up with them and buy them a round or two in the future. It was lovely though as up until this train ride we’d not come across anyone who would voluntarily talk to you. So far we can only assume that the people in London are nice, we make this guess as no one will bloody talk to you in this city! Unless of course they HAVE to, like at the hotel or bank, or to tell you to “move please” when you’re standing on the wrong side of the escalator and they’re trying to rush on past you… I learnt that one the hard way. But this train trip was a lovely experience and I hadn’t laughed that much in a long time, it was so nice and such a relieve to meet some lovely, genuine people. As I sat there thinking ‘hmm, this woman is bloody gorgeous” it came to pass in conversation, that she is indeed, a model. Knew it. She was just gorgeous inside and out though and her partner a lovely, witty bloke. Lovely couple, who we wish all the best to and would, if it was to happen, see again.
The great somethingarather that we caught to Bristol, great bar on board!
We arrived in Bristol, perhaps a little, shall we say, merry? And were picked up by Jenny and it was so lovely to see her again! We loved having Jenny with us while she was in Australia and it’s great to see her again, she’s a complete gem. Luckily Jen was more than happy to see us too and had no problem in overlooking our merry state. We lost our merriness during the drive and arrived to our home away from home not long after. Ann and Brian are so welcoming and lovely and we feel at home straight away. Later on, after Martin had arrived and we’d all eaten dinner the four of us head out to sample some of the more local beer at the most local pubs. It was a great casual night and a nice way to start our stay down here in Bristol, though the large consumption of alcohol probably was enough to keep us going for a good few weeks. No more for awhile I think, I’m not 18 anymore sadly!
written by  Chris and Emily on April 10, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Bristol Docks
Bristol, United Kingdom
It was lovely to have a nice sleep in and wake to a beautiful blue skied day! A relaxing, get up and slowly get ready morning followed by a trip down to the Bristol docks and our tour guide for the day was the beautiful Jenny. We had a chance to stick our head into Jenny’s apartment and then took a stroll down to the dock where we took a little steam train ride which was rather sweet.
Chris and I catching the steam train, a very Bristish thing to do!
We went up the dock and then back along another track to the start, where by now, we were a tad hungry. We kept walking until we hit a little ferry that has been converted into a restaurant. Very yummy and rather cheap (no Styrofoam cup and cardboard banner required today) We all had a lovely meal, but I really enjoyed watching the new extreme sport “free running” that was happening beside us. I remember watching James Bond (the first Daniel Craig one.. you know the one where he comes up from the ocean in his undies) anyhow, that first scene where he’s chasing the baddie and he’s doing all that crazy stuff that I originally thought was C.Ged (or the guy was possessed and was really a crazy demon) I now know that it’s real and that there are some mad men out there who quite enjoy throwing themselves off a 10 story building onto a small ledge, swinging onto a washing line and then running up a wall and flipping themselves over (which could only obtain a perfect score of 10 in the gymnastic world) It was entertaining to say the least. After lunch we took a stroll to see a local cathedral, which was huge and lovely (as it seems all the buildings in England are) but we weren’t allowed to take photos as it was prayer time. We’ll go back another time for a pic or two and maybe when the neurotic usher isn’t there…. It worked out well though that we only had a chance to stick our head in and out as we then caught a boat around the harbour and learnt some of the history of the Bristol water front. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, nice and leisurely, and it was nice to be off our feet for once! We later strolled back to Jen’s place where we ate fish and chips for dinner and watched “Dr Who” (for the record and at the risk of sounding like a true “Who nerd”, David Tennant makes the best Dr ever)
'Anyone going to Melbourne?' Em hitching a ride home...
It was at Jens that I discovered the amazing red glow illuminating from my neck area.. who ever told me that the sun was less fierce in the UK was a big fat liar! Bloody hell, Rudolph has nothing on me I tell you! But the pain of the burn wasn’t that bad.. not in comparison to the rash I’d picked up somehow all over my legs and upper thighs. No, that took the cake and made the sunburn feel like a little pinch. Hmph. Chris always jokes that he can’t take me anywhere and that if anything was to happen or slightly go wrong it will happen to me, and he’s not wrong and most certainly not lying. Looks like another 6 months of religiously applying 30+ sunscreen is in order. Oh well, it beats the alternative right? It was home for a refreshing shower, reading and an early night for us, we’ve had such big days and taken so much in over the past week or so that it’s just so lovely to be able to relax and be at ‘home’. We’ll always be appreciative to all the help and assistance our UK family have given us with this trip, a huge help to the both of us!
written by  Chris and Emily on April 11, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Easter
Bristol, United Kingdom
Ahh, a day of rest finally! What bliss! We had a nice lie in before doing quite a bit of catch up blogging and then went down stairs for a chocolate breakfast; after all, it is Easter! We had a lovely quiet day of resting and just watching telly, it wasn’t much but it was nice to just chill out. Chris took the dog for a walk while I stayed in with the girls and relaxed with a cuppa and chat and eventually, at the end of the day we head out for a walk which took us to a dodgy pub… we didn’t like the look of it too much but didn’t want to appear snobby and walk out, so we had a quick beer before bidding all our new dodgy friends goodbye. To be honest, as dodgy and yucky as the pub looked, and as dodgy and bogan like the people appeared, they were nice enough, they all kept saying “alrigh luv?” to me, so then I really knew I was in England. A non eventful day, but a great day for a relax and chill out.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 12, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Bristol Beer Gardens
Today was a day of pints in the various beer gardens of Bristol. We had a lovely day relaxing in the sun, drinking pints of cider (me) and various beer (Chris) We met our cousins friends who I have to say are all very lovely and friendly. I shared my little travel 30+ sun cream around the group, who were all a little surprised to see that an Aussie was carrying one around, but I think in the end they were happy to know that I was as it held off some serious burn.
Chris and Jen in our Bristol beer garden tour
A long explanation ensued as to why I, as an Aussie was not tall, tanned and blonde, obviously I was letting down the Australian reputation. We also gave a lengthy description of what exactly a Tasmanian Devil is and no, it really doesn’t spin in crazy circles and yell incoherently, and no, it doesn’t have horns or a pitch fork… it’s actually quite amazing how many Brits have asked us about the Tassie Devil now, I wish I’d brought a photo or two. We moved pubs quite a few times, each one had a lovely atmosphere, the only prerequisite the group had was “does it have a garden?” If the answer was yes then it was a go-er. I had to laugh though, there beer gardens here are all cement, no grass or trees to be seen really.
Bristol suspension bridge, as seen from the beer garden. Not a bad view really!
They were all lovely little pubs though and it was nice to see them with a group of bubbly, inviting locals. We only had one hiccup for the day and that was when I ordered lunch, consisting of Nachos and some sour cream and guacamole. Now, what do you imagine when I say Nachos? Are you thinking corn chips, salsa, cheese with an option of meat? Yep, me too. This one particular pub didn’t though. We were the first to order and that last to be served and when my ‘nachos’ came out it was a side of corn chips, a dollop of sour cream and a dollop of guacamole. That was it. I looked at it, I ate a chip or two and then I realized “hang on, I’ve just paid $11 for a handful of chips and dip…” so, with group consensus that we’d been ripped off, we asked to see the manager who was a very rude man to say the least. We were firm in telling him these were “NOT nachos, that they can’t call them Nachos and that I’m not happy with this meal, I’d like my money back please” He was a very rude young man, very annoyed that someone would dare question the nacho option, and curtly refunded my money. I did not wish to try my luck there again, so I took my money and in place of food, had another cider elsewhere. We had a lovely day out in the sun, with Jen and with some of the locals, had a great laugh and a great relax.
for the record, we made it home sober and coherent. This is not because British beer is less potent, rather because we can’t afford to ‘throw them back’ here as we do in Australia, we have to sip them in Britain, thus making it a warm beer. Shouting a round is a very expensive offer almost rendering you to tears…*

Wales
Caldicot, United Kingdom
Wow, what a sleep in today. Ann and Brian must think we’re so lazy! We keep telling them that we normally don’t sleep this much, but I’m not sure they believe us. We don’t have breakfast until 10/11.30. I use the excuse that I’m still jet lagged. I’m not exactly sure how long I can use this one, but it works for now.
After our lazy lie in today, our leisurely breakfast and packing a bit of a picnic, we head to Coldicote Castle, which unbeknownst to me, was actually in Wales. I had no idea that we were so close to Wales, shows how ignorant I am, and also how geographically challenged I am, I’d best not loose Chris or the GPS during these next few months.
The castle was nice, not as big as it was perceived to be in the brochure, but nice all the same. They lost a little of the historic atmosphere though, as all around the gardens and in the castle ruin rooms they’d placed stuffed folk art rabbits for Easter, they also had some school holiday activity happening where children had to find all the clues etc, which is all well and good, but it appeared every mother in Wales that brought there snotty kid to the grounds to complete these activities and receive their free mini egg gift.
The towers though were quite nice and had beautiful views. I could happily be a princess if it meant waking up to that view every day, the Welsh country side is gorgeous! We had a lovely few hours wandering about the gardens, sitting and watching the swans and ducks (we sound like such an old couple, but in our defence, it was really nice and relaxing!) before settling down to eat our picnic lunch full of yummy and healthy treats. It was cold today and god I craved a good hot Milo, but I soldiered on and had my liter of water with lunch.
Coldicote Castle
Coldicote castle
Just as we were thinking of leaving Jen remembered that there was an old Abbey close by and did we want to see that? We agreed on the proviso that we all got a hot drink when we arrived there. Having negotiated this skillfully and successfully we found ourselves in this amazingly, gorgeous, take your breath away want to live there forever, valley called Tintern, and the Abbey was mind-blowing, jaw dropping, lost for words beautiful. It was just ruins, but oh my gosh, just gorgeous.
Tintern Abbey
Bloody hell, more of Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey ruins
The abbey was built around 1123 AD and housed monks who had chosen to adopt the ‘poverty’ lifestyle (just as Mother Teresa did many many years later) and who wanted to house themselves away from the ‘world’, and I have to say, what a place to do it! Back in its day Tintern would have been a difficult place to access being in a little Welsh Valley. These monks would get up at 2am to meditate and do this up to 8 times a day (that is the definition of dedication if you ask me) they would go to church and listen to lessons and would sing in choirs. The sense of peace and stillness you get from this place is indescribable. You could spend days there and not get sick of it, despite the fact that from the outside (and admittedly the inside) it is all just ruins. The old structure that remains is breath taking though, such high walls with amazing windows and door frames, amazing peaceful views from each window, and the thought that went into the foundations and architecture is beautiful. Thus far, I have to say that this has been one of my most favourite places to visit! Wales is truly beautiful with its green pastures and laid back, content lifestyle. I would love to see more of it before we go, and with 5 or so months left up our sleeves, I would hope we can make this possible.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 14, 2009 from Caldicot, United Kingdom

Day in Bristol
Another quiet day here in Bristol today, which was lovely. The weather wasn’t so fantastic today, infact if we’re being honest, it was bloody cold and wet.
Enjoying a hot choccie on a bloody cold day!
Chris and I spent the morning up loading what felt like a million blog entries in a local internet store before catching a double decker into the city centre. We strolled around the farmers market that we found was on and resisted the urge to buy any of the yummy looking cheese, breads and olives, they all looked really good! Instead to warm ourselves and put some food in our tummy, we had a pieminster pie and mash for lunch. Pieminster pies are a bit of a rage over here, everyone seems to love them and while I admit they’re not bad, I think I do prefer a good ol’ Australian meat pie and sauce. On our way out of the market square we came across a little gallery and popped our heads in, which ended up a costly little excursion. There were many wonderful works of art in this gallery, oil paintings, water colours, pencil sketches, all colourful and bright and I could have spent a lot of time, and money, in this gallery. We did purchase 3 little original sketches that we plan to frame when we get home. We found our way to a ‘Walkabout’ pub, which is a chain of Australian themed pubs. Here they stock Australian beer and I’m afraid to say that Fosters and VB are the main representative of this… sad I know. We have suggested they import Cascade or Boags if they want something really nice. We’ve received a discount card for this pub which makes this an extremely affordable place to both eat and drink which is a bonus for those ‘less off days’ we experience from time to time. After a quick and cheap pint we head home on the bus had a quick tea and an early night.

Longleat House and Safari Park
The weather today looked a hell of a lot better than it did yesterday thankfully, and for this reason we decided to head to Longleat. Longleat is a stately home on thousands of acres which also, thanks to a flamboyant and eccentric new ‘lord’ boasts a small theme park and a safari tour, complete with lions, tigers, giraffes, rhinos, silver back gorillas and more! It was amazing! The area of Longleat is gorgeous and green, rolling hills, country lanes etc, just like you imagine England country side to look like, oh and they have the sweetest little cottages that remind you of something straight out of a Beatrix Potter or Enid Blyton book. Anyhow, the state home is also breath taking. You drive up this long driveway and this huge mansion of a house, like something you’d see in a Jane Austin film is sitting before you. It has been in the family for the past 400 years, passed on to lord to lord and lived in. We did a tour of the house and it’s, and I’m sorry to keep using books and films as references, but it really does look like something from a Jane Austin film! Portraits of all the lords and family members of the past hung in the corridors, huge dining tables, reading rooms, old guns hung above fire places etc, there was so much to take in and as it seems with most places that contain so much history, we were unable to take photos.
We then visited the grounds where we went to the ‘pet corner’ and I was able to hold a 17 year old python, we were able to watch extremely intelligent parrots count with a cow bell, see some general animals (rabbits etc) then head to the more exciting animals like otters, tortoise and, see our first ever porcupine! Oh my gosh! I NEVER knew that a porcupine was so bloody big!! I thought it was a little bigger than our echidna, but they’re actually the size of a middle to large sized dog. Surprised the hell out of me!
Jenny (rabbit) and I (otter?!)
The massive porcupine!!! Who knew they were so bloody big?!?!
We then head off on a boat where we were greeted by Californian Sea lions, hippos, pelicans, and on a little island, sat a silverback gorilla. I asked why they left him out here on a little island on his lonesome and apparently if he was to be on the ‘land’ like other animals he’d have to be behind bars and have a very large enclosure, so, by putting him on an island where he can’t swim, he’s left to have a more ‘natural’ environment with no bars etc. Seems to be fair. This gorilla did have a partner but she died a few years back, they haven’t brought him a new mate as he’s too old for one now and would put them in danger with his moods, so he sits alone on his little island where he watches telly in the mornings, this is his one request and true loves apparently, especially cartoons.
We then head to the African safari, which I was very excited about! Here you were able to take yourself, in your car, on a tour around the African landscape. We saw giraffe, zebra, camels, flamingos, vultures, antelope, deer’s (not so African we know, but there was a real life Bambi with its mum so it made up for this fact) rhinos and then we head to the tiger enclosure, lion enclosure and then wolf enclosure. It was very cool, and we were the last car going through for the day so we were able to get space to see the animals with out being ‘nudged’ along by other cars. Seeing the lions was really wonderful as while we were there they began to growl and roar, this felt like a real treat at the end of the day.
Contemplating life.. oh it can be so difficult!
"How low can you go?"

Hot Fuzz Tour (Wells)
Wells, United Kingdom
Those of you who have seen the film ‘Hot Fuzz’ may recognize some of the photos below as being the landscape for the shoot out scene at the end of this film.
Town square where Hot Fuzz was filmed. This was where the last shoot out happens.
Wells is a lovely little village full of cobbled streets, green rolling hills and sweet little cottages. It also boasts an awesome, massive cathedral which is as beautiful on the outside as it is on the inside.
Wells Cathedral
The very very old, very correct clock of Wells Cathedral, that still has it's tick
As the weather was truly shite today (bloody bloody cold and constant, light but drenching rain) we spent the majority of our day on a tour of the cathedral. It was lovely! We had this sweet old guide, who you just knew loved her little job and could talk the leg off a wooden chair given half the chance. She took us all around the Cathedral telling us stories, showing us ‘hidden’ statues and filling us in on all the history, it truly is an amazing place! She was saying that back in the day when the steeple was being raised it caused the Cathedral to begin to sink. To save the cathedral (and their heads I imagine) they brought in a ‘top’ architect who designed scissor arches, this would support and even out the weight of the cathedral and save it from disrepair, but these scissor arches are the only ones that can be found in all of Europe. There is also an 800 year old clock. To first look at it appears very confusing, but once it is explained to you its very simple. It has 24 dots in a circle representing the 24 hours of the day, the month of the year and then, the lunar calendar. It also has a little figurine that clicks its heels on a bell X amount of times to signal the time of the day and as this happens four little jousting men on horses ride about in circles and two are knocked backwards off their horses as they go around. Far more entertaining than Hobart’s ‘Diddle diddle’ clock I have to say (as much as I do love the Hobart clock believe me) We then had a quick look around the Bishops Castle which has a real moat around it and trained swans who ring a bell for their meals.
The Bishops house, complete with Moat.
Moat around the Bishops palace(?!)
It was cold, it was wet and to warm ourselves we stopped for a quick hot drink before a quick stop at a typical English sweet shop and then onto “Thatcher Cider Brewery” I have to say, cider is my new drink and to arrive at the brewery was a little exciting for me. I’ve found that to order cider like a local you have to pronounce it as Zi-der, but then they’ll bombard you with questions like “Well, do you want a cloudy one or a clear one? Would you like a dry one, a medium one, a heritage one or a sweet one?” and then I panic and just pick any random one and my cover of a ‘zi-der’ local is blown. Oh well. As it is, any of the ciders are nice (including the pear zi-der) so it doesn’t really matter which one you get in the end. Anyhow, it was then back to Martins for a lovely warm, home cooked risotto, a few glasses of cider and some relaxing TV viewing.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 17, 2009 from Wells, United Kingdom

The mall (rhymes with Pal)
A quiet, relaxing day today which was lovely! Slight sleep in followed by a trip to the local “Mall” (not pronounced mall like we’d say, rather rhyme it with pal, mal...) and it was a huge shopping complex! We think the shopping centers in Melbourne or Sydney are big but we’re sadly mistaken! The shopping complex’s here are huge!! We spent 2.5 hours there and only saw a very small corner of the complex. In this time we hunted for a new pair of pants for myself, which I have to say, was hell! Trying to convert the sizes, trying everything on, converting the currency so I knew how much I was spending… argh! In the end I grabbed an ok pair off a sale rack just so I could get the hell out! It was so nice to get home so that we could just relax, have a nice lunch, work on CVs, nap, work out a rough itinerary, watch the rugby (Wales won for the record) and read. Ahh, lovely!

Photos
Just a quick note to say we have 109 photos uploaded to this site so far, and most of them are not linked in the blog. Hit the photos link above to browse through them :)
Cheers n Beers
Chris

Sunday roast
Today is Sunday, and we know now what that means… yummy Sunday Roast! A typical English tradition and such a delicious one! A quiet day consisting of good company, a good laugh and a great roast. Lovely. Not much else to report!

Mall once more
Well, despite the fact that we weren’t huge fans of the mall Chris and I trooped back today to attempt it once more. Not completely sure where our sanity has gone, I think our on coming colds have devoured any common sense. It all fairness though (that’s quite a popular saying here in Bristol) we did manage to find a few decent items of clothing that we were lacking, and it was far less busy as, thankfully, school had resumed again. Today, instead of dodging prams and young children we just had to walk slowly behind the old folk who were out for a bit of a stroll. We had made the offer of making dinner tonight, Chris’ famous lasagna, and with the amount of love and concentration that went into making it, it was a very successful meal.

Clevedon Jetty
Clevedon, United Kingdom
Ann and Brian kindly offered to take us out for the day to see the small village of Clevedon. This was a lovely little place situated on the Bristol Channel with a lovely old jetty that was built in August 1868. It was lovely to walk along the pier, see all the locals fishing and read just some of the 10, 000 plaques that are situated along the planks. You can buy plaques, inscribed with what ever you wish and have them displayed along the sides and floor boards of the jetty. There were sad ones, happy ones, celebratory ones, all sorts, but the ones that made me really giggle are in the photos below.
One of my favourite plaques at Clevedon Jetty
Another of my favourite Clevedon Jetty plaques
I found them very amusing! We took a nice little walk along the sea side and I was amused to a degree to see that the beaches in England are full of pebbles, just like you see in all the pictures and films. It was a very chilly day, and yet I saw quite a few families taking young children down to the ‘beach’ with a bucket and spade to play and swim. I thought they were slightly mad, but it seemed to be the norm here.
Scenic shot of Clevedon
Some of the homes near Clevedon Jetty
We stopped in at a sweet little pub for a quick lunch where I got chefs ‘special’ of chicken and leek pie, and special it was. My pie arrived with a puff pastry triangle sitting on top of my chicken and leek filling. You had to put your own filling into the pastry... hmm, special indeed! Home again where we spent the arvo trying to beat the colds that were making us sniff and sneeze all day.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 21, 2009 from Clevedon, United Kingdom

Dang head cold!
Sick is not what you want to be when you’re travelling, but the colds and head flu that Chris and I have been trying so desperately to beat and kick has finally caught up with us and knocked us down. Bugger it. I guess it was inevitable really. We’ve constantly been in the cold, wet, windy weather and then back into the warm cars, houses etc, then back out in the chill again, and the weather swinging from one extreme to the other hasn’t helped either. Oh well. I thought that I had been dodging in quite well and had been caring for Chris who had been suffering quite badly, but I’m 99.9% sure that I fully caught the dreaded cold when he so lovingly and violently sneezed directly into my face. I can tell you he had to care for himself there for awhile, I wasn’t so impressed. Ah, love. Despite feeling as if our eyes are falling out of our heads, noses dripping like taps and having no ability to swallow without feeling like there’s a fire raging in our throats we had an okay day lying in bed watching game shows (my fave over here in the UK is Word Play) and copious amounts of UK news. We now feel intelligent and informed AND sick! On another note, our standing tickets for the Anzac day ceremony in Westminster Abby arrived today. We’re really looking forward to this day and to catching up with Bronwyn who we haven’t seen in a very long time! We did manage to crawl out of bed and witness a hot air balloon floating over the house in the late afternoon before crashing back into bed.
Hot air balloon from our bedroom window.
A few observations, realizations and ponderings of the UK
• With a massive lack of the glorious, slightly addictive substance of Milo here in the UK it has been discovered that Ovaltine makes for a reasonable substitute, though, it in no way replaces the golden, revered Milo.
• On the same note, with the ever popular breakfast spread Vegemite being as rare as hens teeth here in the UK, it has been temporarily replaced with its cousin Marmite. We shall consume large amounts of Vegemite upon our return to make up for our trespasses.
• I think, if you can of course, it would be nice to retire to the UK. Old Betsey’s get everything for free once they’re over 60! Free prescriptions, free TV (though we get that too) free bus passes… free lotsa things!
• Heterosexual men here drink cider (aka Zi-der) This is a rare oddity in Australia.
• The UK population appears to be well and truly addicted to TV soaps, practically Australian ones. Life revolves around the TV guide. Seriously.
• In some aspects, the UK seems to be stuck in the 50s -70s era. Some of the housing, décor, clothing, and hair cuts... Let’s just say that some it needs updating.

Quick trip to bristol and hours in a "aussie" pub
Don't expect much from this entry for one thing this is Chris writing and I am not as gifted with spinning a yarn as Em, secondly there isn't much to write about we didn't do much today we just jumped on the bus and went to a little town (or suburb as we call it) called Westbury. We went there once before to use the internet joint there but this time Em dragged me back there as she had spotted a charity shop with a 2 books for 1.50 pounds, so needless to say we are now dragging two more chicklit books around the country with us!
After Westbury we got a bus into the city centre and walked around looking at a lot of expensive shops resisting the urge to buy any more clothing items (think we have enough now!) Instead we picked up another Lonley Planet book to cover the countries we were missing. I have given up on not looking like a tourist anymore and excepted that I am a photo taking, acent speaking, map reading, guidebook checking, fau'par making tourist! It's just too hard to navigate without checking the map from time to time or to take photos without looking like your taking photos, every now and again you need to have a photo with you in it as proof that you were there at least and that means posing like... a tourist. Anyway I digress from the topic of todays activities, after the guidebook purchase we headed towards a the local Walkabout pub, they are a chain of pretty cliche pubs with an Aussie theme, they don't serve any good Aussie beers though but they are pretty cheap, have lots of screens and most important free wireless, also their venues are always pretty big so if you go there during the day you can usually get some space. So in the "Aussie" pub we spend about 3 hours drinking cider from sweden and doing stuff on the net very exciting!!
After a bus ride home and a quick pack of our bags for tomorrows trip back to London we were picked up by Jen and went to Martin's for dinner, he whipped up Nachos (to make up for the famous Nacho incident mentioned in a previous entry) followed by chilli very yummy.
Day done!
What Chris failed to enter was a fantastic stumble he made today up the back door steps, which are made of stone. It was very funny for ME, not so for him. I was having a wee rest upstairs with the window open, the day, despite it not being much, had wiped me out (I'm still recovering from the dreaded head cold) so, anyhow, I was upstairs just relaxing with the window open when I heard this "whump" noise. I then heard Ann calling out "OH JEFF, are you alright?" Now,I don't know who Jeff is but I knew, just KNEW that this noise, very familiar of someone falling up or down the stairs, would be Chris, and sure enough I heard a strained voice call out to Ann "Yep, fine, I'm fine!" Now, I know Chris well enough now to know the different tones of his voice and I knew he wasn't fine like he was making out, rather he was in a bit of pain. I thought I could do it, I really did, I THOUGHT I could have all my giggles out by the time he hobbled up the stairs, but I didn't and couldn't. Just seeing him stumble through the door amitting a few choice words made me giggle louder and harder and then he got a tad annoyed at me for laughing. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I can't help but giggle or laugh when there's an injury of some sort. It's a sick habit I have, but one that I've had for as long as I can remember, I think it's just a nervous thing, I don't think it's neccessarily that funny but I'll giggle away. Oh well. I'm not 100% sure why Chris was called Jeff, I thought I had misheard but after his long list of expletives, the rolling around on the bed clutching his knees (which for the record are both skinned and red and one was actually quite abit swallon) Chris sat up and asked "Did she call me Jeff?!" So we knew we'd both heard correctly. Where there are stairs Chris is guareenteed to go up or down them, but not always on his feet... in the time I've known Chris 97% of all his injuries have resulted from a set of stairs, which made his trip today even more hilarious for me. Anyway, that sadly was the funniest part of my day. Em

London again
We're baaaaack! We left Bristol at lunch time and head back to the big smoke, arriving at around 2pm. We love the train, but sadly this time there were no more happy holiday makers willing to buy us free booze. Can't have it all I guess *sigh* Actually, I think they remembered us from last time and had assigned us special seats.... this time we were in the 'quiet carriage' where you had to whisper and the mere opening of a chip packet felt like a sin as it was breaking the cone of silence that was enveloping the carriage...
Anyhow, we checked into the worst backpackers known to man... alright, slight exageration perhaps... it's not the WORST but I do think it's close too it, I certainly won't be back again nor will I ever recommend the place to anyone I like (but I could drop it's name to those I don't... ;) Kidding!) We're in a dorm room of 9. We arrived, took ages to check in as staff were slow and incompetant. Finally checked in, were given our bedding to take with us, upon finding our room found that there was only 1 bed available, went back told staff of this, they came down and had a look and said "Ummmm, it should be okay, just make up this bed and if the person comes back and wants there bed back tell them to come see reception" HUH?! We did try to point out that this was not really a good solution but staff assured us that they had looked at the bookings and it should be free... right... okay...
So, we made the beds up and then went to pop our valuables away in our locker where we found someones dirty sheets... hmm, not nice. We had to pay for a locker (per night value too, not just a one off fee) and upon removing the dirty sheets, popping our bags in the locker and closing it we found it didn't bloody lock. Right, okay. Back to staff. They had the "back in 10 mins" sign up once more, I ignored this and lined up and just talked over the lady that was telling me that they were 'closed' (rude I know, but I was so so so over it!!) Was told by an older man "I'll fix it in 5 minutes, just wait here" Right. Okay. We waited and true to his word, 7 minutes later he arrived saying he'd 'fixed' the problem, we thanked him and then head down to the room to grab a few things.. only to find that yes the locker did lock now, but it also wouldn't bloody open. Unimpressed. We were over it though, we'd been stuffing about with the back and forths of trying to get our accomm. sorted for over an hour now so we left, headed towards the Portobella Markets which stated it was open 7am-7pm. I love a good market so I was quite excited about heading here, especially as we had 2 hours to wander along and discover it at a leisurely pace... and we did find it, packing up at 5.15pm. I felt so ripped off! We had a bit of a look at the stalls that were still a little displayed as they packed up before deciding "you know what? We're tired, we're getting cold, we want to sit down and we want to eat" So we head back towards the silly backers, then realised we'd forgotten to look for the book store from the "Notting Hill" film that I love so much. Infact, when we consulted the guide book it stated that we'd walked right past it while at the crumbling markets. Oh well. Next time (if there is one!)
We had a half decent pub meal, another cider and then back to the backers to try and find some cups for our hot drinks (rare as hens teeth here!) and hopped on the p.c to blog etc etc. Will head back to the room soon (in common room at mo, more like a pub here tho, wine and beer everywhere!) and TRY not to wake the jet lagged room mates as we climb a gazillion small ladder steps to our bunks that are high above the clouds... I'm sorry to say that the excitement of backpackers and share dorms is long gone on me, I'm getting old, enjoy my own space and want to be left alone, not have young party animal room mates keeping me up. I am officialy a grumpy old woman tonight! :)

Anzac day at Westminster Abbey.
Ahhh, Anzac day. A day of remembering what the diggers did for us and of how blessed we are to be a) Australian and b) be living in such an amazing, free country. We always like to celebrate this day back home and the fact that we are half a world away didn't stop us doing so today. We hopped up early and ran from our dodgy backers to Westminster Abbey where we were attending an Anzac day ceremony with Chris' old friend Bron and another friend of hers named Adam. We'd heard that free tickets were being given out for today’s service; we’d jumped online to secure some but had missed out on seating tickets and instead been allocated standing tickets. No matter, we were happy to be going along to celebrate and remember Australia’s history in such an amazing, beautiful Abbey. Now, my dad has always called me Big ears as I seem to have this amazing knack of hearing conversations etc a mile away and for once my super human ability came in handy as I heard an usher saying "These seats are free, standing guests may sit in them if they wish" Yes please! So I grabbed Chris' hand and made a mad dash to the small row that was free, score! The ceremony was lovely, so many ex pats filled the Abbey and there were so many representatives from around the world, Australians, British, New Zealanders, Turkish, it was lovely. Lots of flag bearers, bugle playing, hymns, bible readings and laying of wreaths on the grave of the unknown soldier. It was moving and I admit I had a tear or two. The Abbey was also amazing. It normally cost 12 pounds per person to get in, so Chris and I were taking as much in as we could during the service to save ourselves going back, another good score for the day! The Abbey has amazing stained glass motives and stories built into the glass, amazing statues and pillars and beautiful ceilings. Unfortunately we couldn't take any photos due to the service; we just had to ‘Kodak moment’ the place in our minds. After the service we all piled out side where we decided to honour the diggers in the only way Australians know how. With a beer. We trudged off in search for a pub with some sun and eventually after much trudging and almost forming blisters we came to the pub of choice. I don’t know its name but it had a great view over Westminster and was situated right on the Thames. Very nice. We consumed a few beers, a few pimms and a few ciders and wrapped ourselves in the supplied blankets as we did so. I thought it was showing a lot of forward thinking for this pub to have blankets for the taking (and returning, though I wonder how many people just happen to ‘accidently’ forget to return them...) They were lovely and warm and Chris and I must have looked like right old nannas tucked up under ours while sitting outside. Eventually it came time in the day for us all to part our separate ways and Chris and I head towards Shakespeare Globe to see if they happened to have any spare tickets available for the nights showing of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately they didn’t, so instead we head to the Tate Museum of Modern Art where we saw quite a few of Picasso’s paintings. I freely admit that I stood in front of his paintings for some time, taking it in and trying to understand what the big deal was about. The paintings are good and all and I understand that Picasso paved the way for many in his field of art, but it just doesn’t do it for me. In a way it looks as if a kinder kid has gone in and tried to draw a picture of their mum. None the less, we spent quite a bit of time in there checking his stuff out. After this and deciding we were both tired and hungry we head for our dodgy backers. We’d stopped at the supermarket for a few supplies and were making our way ‘home’ when 2 slightly intoxicated young women jumped out in front of us and began talking all at once. Between the two of them Chris and I were able to make out that: They were in London on a girls weekend, that they’ve been out drinking all day, should have gone back to their hotel to get cleaned up first but didn’t and now were in this pub listening to this really AWESOME (there words, not ours) singer who was really upset (there words again) as no one was in the pub listening to his music and the bar man had told them that if they could get some more people in then he’d give us free shots with any drink brought. Well, we’d hate to see these poor girls beg for nothing, so in we went for a drink and shot. The guitarist wasn’t fantastic I must say, but in the same sense he wasn’t all that bad either, none the less we cheered for him loudly and clapped till our hands hurt. The group of girls we’d met and been pulled in by were also very nice, loud, lovely and friendly and we had a nice time talking to them until we made an excuse about our shopping needing to be put away and got out of there. It was a random, fun thing to have happen at the end of a full, fun filled day!

London Marathon
Oh my gosh. I have never, ever, EVER seen so many people in one place at one time, who are SO dang healthy! It was scary, it was overwhelming, and it was well too much… it was…the London marathon. This is a huge marathon that goes for 26 miles all around London and the record is done in just over 2 and a bit hours by some incredibly healthy freak. I on the other hand would NEVER willing participate in this sporting event, purely on the grounds of there being WAY to many people for my liking, but if I HAD to, and may I repeat HAD to, then I’d do it in one of two ways.. I’d either dress up and WALK it like some of the participants do (we saw a large bobble head jester jiggle past) or I would stammer in, in last place like the old fella below did. As I said earlier, the record time is just over two hours and it starts at about 9am-ish, so some people are done by about 11am-ish. Chris and I had spent ALLLLLL day out and about the streets of London, and we saw this sweet old man staggering down the road at around 7pm and he still had a little bit of a ways to go. We cheered him on nice and loudly but I don’t think he heard us, he was either in his zone and purely concentrating on that bloody finish line, or had forgotten his hearing aide. He had a nice support group of 3 ambulances and 1 police car following him though so if he was to keel over and give up (as I would have done 1 mile into it) he was in good hands and would have secured a lift home.. or the hospital. We actually had no intention of checking out the marathon today, we thought that 500,000 people in one spot at one time was perhaps just a little too crazy and too much for us. We’d actually arranged to have a yum cha lunch with Bron and 2 of her mates at Leicester Square. It was a yummy meal, tasty and good, we had a relaxing chat and a few laughs before deciding to move on to a park and sit in the sunshine as London was experiencing a rare spout of great warm sunshine weather. We made tracks for St James Park thinking that the marathon was well and truly over by now and we’d have missed it, but that’s when we ran (no pun intended and no, not literally) into the biggest crowd ever. After negotiating our way through the crowds, battling our way to the park and sitting in the sun (shade for me) for some time and hearing crazy stories of how some guy snapped his foot off in a hang gliding accident (true story apparently)
Some of the runners and spectators of the london marathon
Chris and the gang
Chris and I bid the group farewell and head towards South Bank to check out what was happening there, and my word there was a bit going on! We saw buskers of all shapes, sizes and abilities. Our favourite was Darth Vader who was busking to raise money to provide for his family, Luke and Layer.
Chris meeting Darth, who was actually quite pleasent!
We then head into a movie museum, which to be honest, was a bit of a rip off but it was a time filler for us. We had high hopes for this museum when we stepped in, but were sadly disappointed. We were told that the props etc were all original, but I’m 100% sure that we could find all the ‘special’ props they had on eBay for a bargain. Oh well, it was still an experience.
Giving Hans the kiss of life.
We then made our way slowly towards the city, walking across a closed off Westminster Bridge in the middle of the road, allowing us to take some lovely snaps of the houses of parliament and Big Ben (these are my fave outlooks and attractions of London to be honest) That’s when we saw the old codger running in last, bless his smelly, stinky cotton socks.
Good ol' Big Ben.
The last runner in the London Marathon. Bless his sweaty, smelly, cotton socks!
We continued on our way through St James Park where we saw a ‘squirrel whisperer’ I’m not kidding, there was a man standing in the park who was waving his arm up and down and squirrels were running to him, when they were at his feet he’d feed them a crumb. So of course Chris thought he’d give it a crack. Admittedly I asked him to so that I could get an up close photo of one, I thought it’d be handy to use as my FB profile you see… So anyhow, Chris began waving his arm up and down (abit like ringing an imaginary bell) and soon enough Squirrels began to flock, Chris stopped before they got too close saying it was too cruel to ‘lead them on’ with no food. We were standing under a lovely big old tree, all the squirrels had deserted us when they realized we were squirrel whispering imposters, but then I heard this little scratching at the tree, looked up and then gave a little scream, there was a big fat squirrel sitting just above Chris’ head posed as if to jump. But it didn’t jump; Chris did thanks to my surprising yell that in turn scared him. As Chris clutched his heart, I turned red and the observers around us chuckled the squirrel picked up scent of a real whisper and took off to get the nights feed.
Grey squirrel, abit like rats here in the UK
We slowly made our way back to the backpackers where I asked at the counter if there was a chance of me buying a towel which they advertised ‘for sale’ I was told “we don’t have any towels, but I can give you a sheet?” By now I was over it and tired, I accepted the sheet as a make shift towel, figuring that it was at least free, stumbled into the shower before collapsing into bed.

Oh what a happy day.. it was check out day!!
Oh the joy!! We awoke nice and early with a cheerful disposition as we realized it was check out day! Hoorah! We packed our bags louder than what would have been considered considerate, dumped them at the lockers (of course we had to pay, they wouldn’t look after them for nothing would they?!) before skipping out into the cold, wet, windy weather. We were a little silly to be honest. Yesterday the weather had tricked us, starting out a little chilly before turning into a glorious day and we believed it would do this again so left our jumpers and jacket in our checked bags, but it didn’t clear up like yesterday, infact it rained even heavier. Ooohhhh. We hastily made our way to the British Natural History Museum, lined up in the pelting rain (trying to nonchalantly huddle under the umbrellas the people ahead of us held) before finally being allowed in. Upon entering you’re greeted with the remains of a very large brontosaurs. We then made our way into the rest of the dinosaur section and it was all very impressive and amazing, if you have kids or plan to have kids, this is the place to bring them for sure, so much to see and do and all very cool. After a quick whiz through the rooms we head back to the backers for the last time, picked up our bags, very happily popped our jumpers on and head to Kings Cross Station where we boarded a train to where we would meet Chris’ rellies who were putting us up for a while. The train was so incredibly fast we arrived in half the time the ticket and time table had said we would. Sue and Patrick arrived not long after and were so lovely and friendly and AUSTRALIAN that we felt at home straight away. Despite this being the first time we’d ever met them it felt as if we’d known them for years. It was so lovely to be in a warm, friendly, kind house hold after London!! We spent the rest of the day relaxing, chatting and getting to know one another and their gorgeous, bubbly daughter Rachel. London is nice to visit and it’s great to see the sights that are around, but I’m just not a city girl, I can’t handle so many people, such bad service and the grim, grey disposition that so many seem to have there. I much prefer the green fields, thatched cottages and small villages!

Village hopping
Buntingford, United Kingdom
Some people are too generous and kind for their own good. We’ve been so blessed with family members putting us up these past few weeks and now, we’ve been blessed with the lend of a car. We’d been preparing to hire one when we got up this way but Sue and Patrick turned around last night and gave us the keys to their spare car and use of it for 3 weeks. We really don’t know how to say thank you and for them to know how much it really does mean to us, it’s a huge help and blessing!! With our new found freedom in the shape of a car we head out to discover the surrounding villages and towns. With the GPS in hand we were able to find our way to Royston, a larger town/village only about 20 minutes away. We checked this place out for a time popped into the store and brought chocolates and some wine in a small gesture to say thank you to the guys and some picnic goods for our lunch. We had high and mighty plans of finding a little park near the waters edge to sit and eat and relax for some time, but we’ve since discovered that picnic spots in England are not always so easy to find. It took a lot of driving and craning of necks as we slowly passed through villages to find one. I had all but given up but then Chris yelled with excitement, he’d caught sight of something resembling a park out of the corner of his eye! With the squealing of brakes and a sharp U turn we arrived at the only park bench in the west of England. Ahh, bliss! It was on the edge of a ‘football’ field (that’s a soccer field to you and I) with a ‘newly built’ play ground near by. By now the weather had turned a wee bit chilly so we ate fast and then I navigated us home. It’s a true test for Chris and I at the moment as the car we’re lending is a manual, meaning I can’t drive. Normally Chris navigates and I drive, a role which we’re both happy with but now the positions have changed and I’m navigating which to be honest, makes me a little nervous! I managed to get us home mind you, even despite a few wrong turns and I figure I’m only going to get better at maps and GPS’ so in time I’ll be a pro! Back home for another lovely night beside a warm fire and friendly chit chat.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 28, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Warm and cozy Bedfordshire
Bedford, United Kingdom
Another day of bliss. Sleep in and then up for brekki and a drive, this time around Bedfordshire. I often will use the term “I’m off to Bedfordshire” when heading to bed, and now I really have been there, and managed to stay awake! Before we head to Bedford itself we drove to a few small villages which contain thatched homes.
Thatched cottage
It was so sweet and lovely, all the homes looked warm and cozy, and I almost wanted to just let myself into a home and curl up on a bed Goldilocks style! I resisted the urge though and instead stopped at a pub to have a quick lemonade (no, no typo, it really was just a lemonade) there was a lovely green park as the pubs backyard/beer garden and some great play equipment for kids (monkey bars in the shape of a helicopter and pretend wooden horse and cart, that’s pretty cool huh?!) but then as we approached the grass we spotted at the end of the garden two small deer. I was a tad excited, my first ‘wild’ deer! We tried hard to tip toe up closer for a camera shot but they picked up our scent and bolted. We stood still and hoped that perhaps they’d return but alas, they didn’t. No matter, we had more to see and had to move on. Chris’ mum had recommend a pub to visit in that area, she’d come across it in her travels a few years back, so we found the “Hare and Hounds” and popped in for lunch. It was more a restaurant than pub and oh my gosh, the food was amazing! By far the best we’ve had yet in the UK and it had Michelin star awards. Michelin stars aren’t given out to pubs, but I swear to you, this place deserved one! We shared a baked Camembert and fruit toast entrée and then both had the yummiest steak known to man. So so good!
The yummiest entree thus far in the UK
At the Hare and Hounds
After stuffing ourselves on great food and a cider we made a move to find the ‘Swiss gardens’ To do this we had to drive on a small dirt road that lead us past a regal looking college, through an open sheep paddock (dodging sheep as we went) over a cattle grate and past a sign that read “look both ways for aircraft” as we were driving over an airstrip that was in the middle of the paddock. It was all so random and odd, but it felt like a real adventure and was quite fun. We had a lot of trouble finding these gardens but then as we were giving up found a sign out of the corner of our eye and did a U-y. When we saw the price of entry to the gardens we had a slight heart attack and quickly decided that it wasn’t so important to see a load of plants and instead shared a cold drink by a paddock where WW1 planes were loaded up and ready for take off.
An old WW1 Biplane
We watched as this one particular plane flew around the open sky and then flew low whizzing past us, it was entertaining and it was nice to watch the ‘start up’ process that they have to go through just to get it in the air. I just hope that who ever was driving through the random paddock remembered to look both ways before crossing as it took off! We moved on then to Bedford which is actually a large town. As it was getting on to home time for the workers the roads were becoming slightly busy so we decided to take refuge in a shopping centre for a short time, just so it could calm down and we could calmly navigate our way home again. We ended up in Tesco’s, which is a huge grocery/department store here. Anything you want you will find at Tesco’s. I’m not kidding! They do food, wine, clothes, house hold goods, car insurance, travel… everything!! It’s enormous! We had a squiz around before heading back on less congested, less crazy roads and made it back in time for a yummy dinner and another lovely night of chats.
written by  Chris and Emily on April 29, 2009 from Bedford, United Kingdom

Cambridge Squiz
Cambridge, United Kingdom
With the aide of the awesome car Sue and Patrick so kindly lent us we made our way to Cambridge for a bit of a squiz. I have to say, Cambridge is a really lovely looking town and is chokers with incredibly old buildings that serve as colleges. As exams are on at the moment not all areas of the colleges are open to the public and you are able to get entry into the grounds for half price. For this reason we stopped to check out Trinity College which was nice and was believed to be used in the ‘Chariots of Fire’ film. After our brief look about the college we took a stroll around the streets and stores of Cambridge, we had a pretty chilled out day really, just relaxing and seeing what Cambridge has to offer. A nice day of sunshine and relaxation, always a nice combo!
Bikes are a popular mode of transport around Cambridge
written by  Chris and Emily on April 30, 2009 from Cambridge, United Kingdom

BPP (BAS, Punts and Pints)
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Up early and into Cambridge once more so that Chris could go and meet some members of the B.A.S As he did this I took another day to discover Cambridge, taking in a market where I haggled for some bracelets and scarves, I felt quite proud when I was able to get both for a decent price. I moved on and found a very funky shop called Octopus which I love, it sells all sorts of odds and ends which are really really funky and fun, I was tempted to buy one of everything in the store but unfortunately it’s also a very funky, fun and expensive store, so I just had to look and not touch. I did however discover an antique book store and couldn’t help but buy a few small story books there. They cost a little bit, but I figure that with antiques the price is only going to go up… right? Besides which, I thought they were very sweet little books and are already 150 years old, so I’m quite impressed with the quality and state of them both. Chris and I then met up where we made our way up the spiral of St Margaret’s Church to the roof top that gives you an impressive 360 degree view of Cambridge. Those who may be either A) afraid of heights of B) claustrophobic then this little sight seeing jaunt is not for you. I don’t suffer from either of those fears but I did feel my heart beat a little faster the higher we went in the narrow spiral stair case and my grip became vice like on the hand rail!
The steep, winding stair case to the top of St Margarets church for the look out
We then made our way to Kings College Chapel which was quite spectacular and majestic, it has rows of amazing stain glass windows that tell us stories of the days of Christ, we spent some time here taking it all in, there was so much too it all.
Kings College Chapel
After this it was onto the river side where, as it was such a lovely day we decided to go punting. We had been hoping to hire a punt ourselves and take it out, but it seemed that every man and his dog had also decided that they too would go punting today, it was chokers with boats out on the water and we watched as first timers struggled to gain control of their boats and steer the thing without crashing (or falling into the drink) For this reason we decided to go with a tour group and it was quite nice to be paddled up the river and be given a history lesson as we did so, there were some interesting facts to be learnt, though it all escapes me now I’m afraid!
To cool down after our leisurely drift upon the river we stopped for a quick drink in a near by bar where we were served by a young man who liked to think himself as a juggler. He threw the bottles, glasses, ice, anything and everything he could, up and over, under and around his head, body and arms. I’m very surprised he didn’t break anything. It was very entertaining to watch though and he certainly got more customers and tips than the other fellas on the bar that day! It was getting late now and we were tired so we head home for another comfortable evening with the gang.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 1, 2009 from Cambridge, United Kingdom

The two S' Sailsbury & Stonehenge
Stonehenge, United Kingdom
Up bright and early today for the journey to Salisbury Cathedral for a bit of a look around before heading to Stonehenge. In the end we only looked around the outside of Salisbury Cathedral, though I’m sure it was beautiful the asking price for admission was a little steep and to be fare, once you’ve seen one high ceiling, stain glass English Cathedral, you’ve seen them all. It’s the history about that particular Cathedral that makes it interesting really. It was a gorgeous, huge Cathedral though, very impressive from the outside!!
We didn’t have much time to waste today though; we had a long drive ahead of us to Stonehenge. I don’t know what I was really expecting, or more to the point where I was expecting Stonehenge to be, but in a paddock near a main road wasn’t it! I thought you’d have to walk some time through a paddock to get to it, not just see it sitting there just off a main road where people could pull over and take a piccie without paying for admission. It was darn impressive though! There is something eerily and odd about the place at the same time as being awe inspiring and pretty awesome. We hired little walky talky like devices that were in actual fact our tour and history headsets and made our way to the stones where we listened and learnt some of the theories and possibilities of how the stones came to be. To be fair, no one actually knows how the stones were made or why, there are myths (the devil dropped them there, Merlin used his magic to move them there) but no one really knows.
There are burial mounds (which are actually known as Barrows here) about a km away, which have the remains of the men who worked on Stonehenge 2000 years ago. Some of these mounds are mass burial grounds and some contain only one man, but no one knows who they were or what they were up too. It was all very eerie and impressive. After Stonehenge we moved on to another little village where there is a mini Stonehenge. The rocks aren’t all in a close circle and built on top of one another, but instead are in two circles (an outer and an inner) and there are huge rocks just standing up out of the ground in a row that apparently leads the way to the real Stonehenge.
All I can say is that the men who worked on these rocks and patterns back in the day must have been pretty bloody fit! These rocks are huge!! We took a little look around before heading home again for a much deserved early night! (Oh, Patrick picked up a ginormous wheel of Brie for five pounds, it was a pure bargain and they shall be eating it for the rest of there life at this rate, it was well too big!)
written by  Chris and Emily on May 2, 2009 from Stonehenge, United Kingdom

Dover (South of England not South of Tassie...)
Dover, United Kingdom
Another big day of driving and sight seeing lay ahead of us today so another bright and early start was in order. I don’t mind early starts, infact I’m more of an early bird than a night owl, but too many early starts in a row combined with not enough sleep the night before and my eyes feel like sandpaper the next day, and that may I say, is not a pleasant feeling! Today we packed our bags, filled the car up with petrol and head to Deal Castle. It was an impressive little castle sitting on a beach front; it looked quite sweet really so far as castles go… We held our little history walky talky things to our ears once more and trudged around the fort listening to all the history and explanations of which room was which and what took place in there. When we use these history walky talky things, they always remind me of mobile phones and it’s funny to look about the room and see everyone holding these things to their ear or struggling to hold them in the crook of their necks in a bid to hold them to their ear as they also try to take photos. To be honest I’ve given up on mine, I now figure it’s easier to walk around and take photos freely and ask Chris for the info later. The good thing about this too is that he puts it all into layman’s terms for me and only tells me the parts he knows I’ll actually be interested in, so it works well. I’m the photographer and he’s my info guide, roles we’re both happy with.
As sweet as Deal Castle was we didn’t spend long there, we had bigger castles to visit, so we head off to Dover, to see the white cliffs, the port to France and the castle it boasts, and my oh my, it is indeed a big castle! It’s perched high on a hill overlooking the English Channel and on a clear day you can see France sitting opposite. It’s all rather impressive really. The grounds for the castle are huge and steep (argh!) but what was truly impressive and rather funky, were the secret tunnels that lay underground. These tunnels were used in WW2 and were the base for operation Dynamo, an operation that saw the return of many soldiers from France. It was rather involved and full on, and very very well thought out. In these tunnels there were bunkers for soldiers, operation rooms, the living quarters for the captain of the army and a hospital. It was very very amazing. We then took a bit of a look around the castle itself. What we did see in the way of the castle was great, but there was quite a bit undergoing restoration so we didn’t get to see those parts. Still, it was great to see and the view from the castle out over the Channel was great. We then took a small drive to the water front where we took a little trundle along the ‘beach’ and grabbed an ice cream. It was a lovely day, so much to see and take in and once again we had a lovely time with Sue and Patrick. We really can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for us, you can only say thank you so many times but even then it doesn’t seem enough. We are very thankful and appreciative of them, and of Ann and Brian and the family, they’ve all helped to make our stay thus far so warm and interesting and so so enjoyable. We really do love them all!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 3, 2009 from Dover, United Kingdom

Audley End House and Royston Caves
Royston, United Kingdom
What a chilly, grey day!! Rugged up and prepared with a thermos of warm coffee we made tracks to Audley End House, which isn’t too far from Sue and Patrick’s. It’s a lovely old stately home with huge gardens which members of the public are welcome to look around. Today when we arrived there were women doing reenactments of the yester-year, all dressed up and making Rhubarb pie, scones and butter the old school way, it was all very cool and what’s even better about all this is, is the fact that they were making all these goodies for a children’s picnic that was happening later in the day. It was a nice little touch and really brought the place alive. They told stories as if they were back in the 1800s and it was a lot of fun.
The house itself was impressive, many paintings of the lords and ladies of the day and the generations of those who had owned it. At one stage the King and Queen were said to be coming to stay at the house, so it was all done up and staff put to work, but then after spending so much money in doing this, the royals changed their mind and decided not to come, I guess if you’re the King of the country you can do that! The most beautiful part of the whole house though was the gardens. These were lovely, big and spacious. They have a veggie garden that was set up in the 1800s and is still bearing fruit and veg today. A stream and small waterfall ran through the lawns and there were lovely big old Oak trees all around. It was such a nice place to sit and relax and take it all in.
Though it doesn’t sound as if we saw much it took hours to get around the entire complex and gardens and we had to make tracks to Royston Caves as it was close to closing. We made it to this destination with half an hour to spare and if I’m going to be honest, this attraction has been one of my very favorite during our entire trip. It’s just a small cave about 30 mts underground and it has carvings all around the walls of various different historical figures ranging from St Christopher, Christ on the cross, an angel sitting at an empty tomb, St George with a cross pointing up towards the 12 disciples and another with a hand extended with a dove flying out representing the day of Pentecost, and what’s more is that these carvings were hand chiseled way back in the 1000AD by the Knights Templar. All very very impressive and just mind boggling to me.
I loved these caves. This cave was made in secret and was also a meeting place for the Templers, it wasn’t actually found until the 1700s. It was just very amazing and I had a sense of peace and calmness over me as we stood in the cave and I could have stayed a lot longer, if it weren’t so bloody cold! We head home then for an early night and one where Chris and I began to pack up packs once more as tomorrow we’re headed out on a road trip to Snowdonia and the Lake district, something we’re very very much looking forward too!!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 4, 2009 from Royston, United Kingdom

Roadtrip to Snowdonia
Llanberis, United Kingdom
Well, after a good nights rest we packed up the car, left a big thank you note to Sue and Patrick and hit the road to Snowdonia. A five hour drive lay ahead of us, or rather, should I say Chris (remember it’s a manual car) and we were eager to make a move. The trip to Snowdonia was successful and uneventful thankfully. We left at 10ish in a bid to miss all the workers traffic and this plan went beautifully in our favour. The M roads are a bit scary to negotiate I must admit and I say that just as a passenger, I’d hate to have to drive them! 4 lanes, 2 taken up of massive lorry trucks and a million motorists who think that just because they have a fancy vehicle it gives them the right to tail gate you madly and then pull manouvers even James Bond and those on Top Gear wouldn’t attempt, it’s a crazy, insane world of motoring here! We were so thankful to get back on the smaller A and B roads (2 and single lane roads) As we drove along we passed an accident where there were 2 big lorrys involved. I’m no crime scene investigator but I think I saw enough to determine that one lorry had been overtaking another and when it was pulling back into the lane, clipped it and then overturned. One lorry was for a supermarket chain and the other was… a petrol tanker. There were police everywhere and they’d set a bloody good distance between themselves and the scene! There was a median strip between us and the scene so we were able to continue with our journey and the traffic was piled up for miles and miles and miles because of this accident. Remember, there are 4 lanes of traffic and the pile up went for, without exaggeration, 10 kms or so. It was MAD!!!! So glad we were travelling in the other direction. Thankfully that was the only accident we saw, the rest of the trip was uneventful. We drove til we got peckish and we pulled over in a park and had our picnic lunch before continuing on to the north of Wales. It is B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L here in Wales, I love everything about the place, the scenery, the weather, the homes, the people even there crazy mixed up garbled language! It is just stunning here and I stand by my previous declaration of “I’d move here in a heartbeat” I’d love to run a little B&B or something, it’d be a great spot for it. Maybe one day, a girl can dream for now! We spent some time relaxing at our little bunk house called the Eagles Inn, thankfully there are only 3 other people in the whole building, a rather nice couple from Belgium and a south Londoner, so the place is nice and free to wander and there are no hassels sharing a bathroom!
After a relax and hot drink we head to the village, which is nestled in a valley and surrounded by pine forests and rushing rivers and waterfalls, completely and utterly gorgeous and just so incredibly cozy! Quick dinner and then into bed for a very well deserved rest for Chris (having driven the entire way) and a quite well deserved rest for me, navigating is a stressful job you know!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 5, 2009 from Llanberis, United Kingdom

Villages, Rocky Mountains, sheep and fighter jets
Llanberis, United Kingdom
With the weather not being so crash hot (or for that matter even remotely warm) we decided to hold off on doing any walks today (my knees were rejoicing I can tell you!) and instead take a bit of a drive around the villages and sights that make up Snowdonia National Park. It was gorgeous I can tell you!! We randomly began driving the roads and in doing this came across an amazing rocky valley surrounded by high hills and mountains. The roads here are very narrow but we were able to find a small pull over where we could stop and take some photos of this amazing landscape. The mountain to the right of us had a small waterfall trickling down the side and as there was no fence or references as to not being able to climb this section we took a nice stroll up this rather steep incline. Chris being slightly, oh alright I’ll be honest, FAR more adventurous than I ran up this hill to almost the top and perched up there on a rock waving at me. I’m a typical woman, I had visions of him falling or slipping and then rolling down the mountain and was waving for him to come down, it was very wet, soggy and slippery, I couldn’t handle the thought of him taking a steep tumble! He was making me very nervous being so high up. He eventually made his way down, stopping to talk to a sheep on the way and made it back to me in one piece, telling me it wasn’t slippery, but then promptly slid a little in the mud… my point was proved, women do know best.
We drove on and discovered more of the place and the little villages around us, I’m not sure of all of their names as they were all written in Welsh and just a tad difficult to pronounce. We came across a slate mine and a random old castle, a lovely little river where we stopped for lunch and of course, we came across a Tesco. You can’t go anywhere in the UK without seeing a Tesco, it’s mad.
It was a lovely day full of little surprises and discoveries and it was really nice to just be able to do all this at our own leisure. We stopped in Betws-y-coed (the only Welsh village I remember how to spell and pronounce!!) and brought a few groceries for the next few days of cooking. While here a very amusing incident happened (again for me and not for Chris) Poor guy, it would seem I’m always laughing at him and not with him… Anyhow, I have to share it as it was rather hilarious and even now as I remember it I giggle to myself and can’t wipe the smile off my face. We had just picked up our groceries and were attempting to cross the road of this little village, they love there tiny little roads here with there blind crests and hills and it makes both driving and crossing the road very difficult at times. We were crossing at the best and safest spot we could find, but it was still a little dodgy. Anyhow, we began to cross the road when there was this god almighty noise like rushing wind and like it was travelling incredibly fast, a noise like you’ve never heard before. Anyhow, it also caused a lot of confusion for us as we didn’t know where this noise was coming from or what it was. Chris who had half crossed the road suddenly took off running across the rest of the road and when he got to the other side, ducked, slightly covering his head and looked up. I on the other hand had not yet crossed the road, admittedly, became quite confused but realized the noise was coming from above and was not an incredibly fast on coming, out of control truck like I had first imagined. We looked up and were shocked to see, flying incredibly low and just over the tops of the shops and homes surrounding us, two fighter jets. They were incredibly fast, incredibly loud, and I have to say, rather awesome to see in action. Chris’ reaction made me laugh until I cried though, the way he just took off, leaving me wondering what the hell was going on, him ducking, covering his head. It was all very very funny. It did make me question him though, as he didn’t even look back for me, such bravery. The noise that these jets create though is enormous and as we hadn’t heard them before, or even knew that these jets existed in this area, it was all very confusing and I admit, overwhelming. I’m just glad Chris didn’t drop the groceries he was carrying at the time, he had the eggs and the jars of tomatoe sauce, at least he made sure they were okay! 
written by  Chris and Emily on May 6, 2009 from Llanberis, United Kingdom

“Lost” not the T.V show, but really really LOST in Wales (actually not lost at all!!)
Llanberis, United Kingdom
What a day. What a horrible bloody day. I will tell you the story as it REALLY happened, Chris may TRY to correct me and tell the story changing the details as he sees’ fit, but I promise to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. So here we go.
During our previous days travel around the village yesterday Chris and I had stopped at a visitor centre and picked up information on some of the nice ‘3 hour’ walks that were around the region. We had decided against doing the ‘extreme hiking enthusiast’ walk that we had first looked at and instead thought that a 3 hour walk would make for a nice day. So, off we went today, armed with the very informative pamphlet, complete with big write up and directions and a map. We felt ready and prepared as we pulled into the car park and hoist our little day pack containing our rain jackets, lunch, water, beanies, spare socks, sun cream and other goodies onto Chris’ back. We head off following the directions perfectly “cross the dangerous road to the church, go over the stile and walk through the field” Perfect, easy, done. “At the next stile continue on through the field to the next stile” Done again “continue on, you will come to a little wooden bridge, here take the left hand path” Righto, done. “You will come to an open moor, here you have fantastic views of Mt Snowdon and Mt somethingarather” (Okay, it’s not really Mt somethingarather, though it’d be kind of funny if it was. I just don’t know what the other Mt name was… Moses, Mosaic, somethinglikethat) Okay, done. So far it was all going smoothly, we were following the directions perfectly and it was all lovely. The views were amazing, the weather nice, our moods jolly… But then, something went wrong, very very wrong.
I don’t like to place ‘blame’ but somewhere along the line, someone got something incorrect in a major way. I’m not sure if it was the mad welsh man who drew the map and the ‘directions’, the Englishman who then had to translate them into something readable and sensible to the rest of the population, the proof reader or the person who had to print them off, but poor old Chris got all the blame that day. We came to a path that forked, the left hand side looked rather beaten, boot and Mt bike tyer marks all over it and the right hand side of the path looked a bit soggy and therefore, less ‘taken’ shall we say? So, which path do you suppose we went? Yes, the right, of course the right, the directions was clear in stating the right. So, off we went. My mood by now was still jolly, though a little tentative I admit. I had my gaiters, boots and walking trousers on, but I’m still a girl and not a big fan of the muddy, soggy mires that stretched ahead of us. But, off we trooped. We got higher and higher on this hill, it became chilly and my god did it ever become bloody bloody windy! It was like walking smack bang into a freaking cyclone. It was scary, you couldn’t hear anything other than this shrill shriek of the wind, I could see that Chris was trying to talk to me but I couldn’t hear him unless he came up and then yelled into my ear. My nose ran like mad and I had to hold onto my brand new, Marino wool beanie for life. The wind pushed and pulled us about but we struggled on until we came to a spot where the wind died down and we were slightly sheltered. Here we had a beautiful view of a lake spread before us. It was gorgeous to look at and we would have loved to have sat down for lunch and a rest, but the wind made it cold and impossible to stop for too long.
So on we trudged, but now something was telling me we were heading in the wrong direction and my tummy was turning in knots and I knew that something was not right. I don’t know how I knew, or why, but I just did. The map directions then became rather unclear and confusing, we’d followed the other notes and directions perfectly, to the tee, yet now, it was a real “WTF” moment. Now we were reading directions that said “now, the lake will be passing on your right, you will come to another stile, follow this through another field, you will come to another stile” etc and there were none of these too be seen as far as the eye could see. Chris, appearing all jolly and ‘adventurous’ encouraged me to keep on walking, yet I tried to say time and time again “no, it’s the wrong way, we’re not going the right way, something is wrong here” but, I kept being told “oh, I’m sure it’ll all pick up” We walked on, yet I began to stress, the stress turned to panic, the panic turned to hyperventilating and then tears and a little ‘break down’ We were no longer anywhere near where we were meant to be, we were no longer on the map and we no longer could make sense from the freaking map, it made no sense what so ever. It was horrible. We were now walking down the middle of little streams as it was wetter on the soggy, boggy moors, we were walking through some little forest, we were walking down extremely little narrow paths that I’m not convinced were for humans. We had to jump down large embankments where I hit my head more than once on silly tree branches, all the time having my panic attack. We were so far from where we’d first come now and by now we should have been returning to where we’d left the car, we’d been walking almost 2.5 hours or more… Then we saw it, a little road where there were some little, derelict stone homes which looked as if they could have possibly still been in use… and then I saw a man in red. Oh, it was a happy moment. Chris suggested we stick to the path, I shook this advice off and made a very fast descent towards the road, tripping and near tumbling down the embankment in the process. By the time we got to the road though we’d missed the man in red who was taking photos, but I didn’t care, we were near civilization, albeit very very remote, slightly run down, not so convinced the homes were even in use, civilization. We walked along the road and by now Chris was admitting that we had somehow, come off the map and wasn’t 100% sure where we were, but would not admit that we were lost. He had the GPS out, looking confused and was suggesting that we get back on the track and head off in a direction that I wasn’t convinced with at all. With his suggestion I became very annoyed and I didn’t say very many nice things, and being someone with a very stubborn streak made a point of storming off, yelling not such choice words over my shoulder, in the other direction along the road telling Chris I was going to find someone who could tell us exactly where the hell we were and that I couldn’t understand why no man could stop and ask for directions.
We came across an elderly couple who we stopped and had a chat too. They confirmed my suspicions of “well no dear, you’re no where near these directions” “REALLY!? You don’t say!” Screamed the thoughts in my head, but I smiled and asked if they knew how we pick our track up again and we were told “well, you keep walking until you get to a gate, then go over this and go through the field, and then it’ll take you through a valley in the mountains, but that’s what we’ve been told, we’ve not done it ourselves” I didn’t really want to hear this, I wanted to hear something really factual, meet someone who had walked this track and could tell us for sure how to get back, not give us some sort of “hearsay” myth. So, I made a pact with God that I would ask the next person we saw and believe them, not doubt, so long as He could actually send someone along this deserted road. Well, God heard and sent an elder gentleman along the way, and so I kept to my side of the bargain and asked, ready to believe, this man if he knew the way home. This man answered my question, but spoke in riddles. God had sent me the mad hatter for a laugh. I wasn’t so impressed, but I was ready to believe… so, I asked if he were from around here, to which he gave us some riddle and then went onto tell us how he once visited Tasmania, had crashed someone’s engagement party, driven to Ooze etc etc. My head was screaming “PLEASE JUST TELL ME THE BLOODY WAY AND SHUT UP!” but I smiled and wade through his riddles to figure out that he too was telling us to go to the gate, follow the path, head up through the field, up towards the valley, travel on through it and then we should get a clear view of Capel Curig, the place we’d started from. Right.
So, we bid the mad hatter good bye and head off to the gate, up the path, through the field with sheep and horses, up a very very steep bloody mountain (not impressed at all let me tell you!!) through the valley only to come… back to the freaking soggy boggy moors. Hmph. Not happy, not happy at all!! So, we then had to back track our previous steps, which weren’t sooooo bad as at least we knew where we were going, but by this time the wind had picked up 10 fold from previously and I was now being blown over as I walked. For once I was glad to be above average in the weight department, any lighter and I’m fairly sure that I’d have been blown a distance. I’ve never in all my life come across wind strength like that, it was actually scary! So, we walked back towards the point at which we had actually started, and along the way had several fighter jets fly low over the top of us, this happened at least 3 times. For a moment there I thought the mad hatter might have sent us off on a hike across private military land where they do testing’s or some such thing and that perhaps they’d be testing there guns or missiles or something and then I freaked myself out and had to tell myself I was being just a tad silly now and that my imagination was perhaps going just a little overboard. We them made it back to the field in which we first crossed and the church and I had never been so relieved! I could breathe finally and relax. Chris will tell you that we weren’t lost, and perhaps he’s right to a degree. He’ll tell you we couldn’t have possibly been lost as he had the GPS and knew our exact co ordinates, but my argument was (and still is) that the co ordinates were no good to us really as A) we didn’t know the co ordinates of which we’d come and B) they couldn’t give us the names of the mountains, rivers, lakes, moors or towns that were around us. If we had to (somehow) call the police (999 for the record) we wouldn’t be able to tell them where we were exactly, but yes, we could give them the co ordinates. What was meant to be a 3 hour stroll turned into a 5 hour struggle and I’m surprised, yet glad to announce, that we were still married at the end of this ‘adventure’ Poor Chris did cope an earful of not so nice words and did cope the blame, though it wasn’t his fault, it was the map makers. It wouldn’t take much effort to tack a cats eye to a stump or something every mile or so just to let you know that you’re on the right path, but the Welsh don’t seem to think that this is very important. Oh well, I guess we made it back okay in the end, and I was mighty glad to make it back to the car where it was nice and warm and out of the bloody wind!
Oh, and once we were back to the car a Chinook helicopter flew over us. The military were well and truly out doing some sort of training that day, it was crazy busy with jets and helicopters!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 7, 2009 from Llanberis, United Kingdom

On the road again… to the Lake District
After yesterdays excitement (ha!) we thought we were entitled to a nice lie in, but unfortunately this was not to be as a long drive lay ahead of us as we made our way to the Lake District. We packed up, fixed both brekki and our lunch for the journey and head off. As we packed up the car the heavens opened and there was an almighty downfall of torrential rain, it was crazy! We just had to run a few meters across the road to the car and in this time got completely drenched, but it made us laugh. You have to learn to love the rain or you’d never do anything in this place!
The drive to the Lake District was uneventful thankfully, fairly easy to navigate and not such bad roads for Chris to drive. As we drove out of Snowdonia we had a large spy plane fly low over the top of us, which was impressive to see. We’ve been able to see a good deal or impressive military aircraft in the past 3 days and it’s been interesting to watch.
We attempted to negotiate our way to Manchester so that we could stop and pick up a GPS holder for the car as we’d managed to break the previous one, oops, but it all became quite confusing so we travelled onto another large town nearby and picked one up for a reasonable price before heading off again.
We arrived at St Marks, a beautiful B&B which was to be our ‘home’ for the next 3 days not long after. This B&B is absolutely beautiful. Barbara the owner is gorgeous and you at once feel at home and welcome. We had a beautiful large room and it was just so incredibly cozy, and the bed… ahhhhh, the bed, it was so wonderful! I just wanted to snuggle down and sleep there forever!!
The B&B was full up for the next few nights as there was a lovely group of Quilters staying as well. These 7 ladies get together every year in May for a week and quilt. It’s a lovely idea and they make some amazing and beautiful works of art while away. The ladies were all very nice and we felt at home with them as we chatted with them over various things and of our plans etc.
As they went off to have their dinner in the dining room Chris and I head 3 miles down the road to the pub “the fat lamb” which I kept calling “the fat cow” accidently. They served nice meals, but what we really enjoyed was the elderly gentleman who sat at the bar “talking” to his mate. I use the word talking loosely as we know he was communicating but he had one of those accents that you can not understand as its all mumbles and grunts and then a few chuckles. He really made us giggle and it was very cute. He was very pleasant though and we know that he said ‘good evening’ to us which we reciprocated.
After our nice meal and evening entertainment we head back to our wonderful, warm and inviting B&B, had a good chat to Barbara who with all her knowledge and understanding helped to plan our next few days before falling into the most comfortable beds we’ve ever, and I mean ever, had the pleasure to sleep in.

Beatrix Potter and X men
Sedbergh, United Kingdom
When it rains it pours here in England. It was grey, dreary and wet, but we decided to make the most of it and head out towards Windermere and onto Hill Top which is the first cottage Beatrix Potter brought after her Peter Rabbit fame.
Windermere is a larger sized village which is situated on the Windermere Lake, which is quite pretty but very busy. We stopped here for a short time before moving onto Hill Top where it was pouring with rain. We ran into the cottage and were greeted with a lovely warm fire that was crackling away in Beatrix’s old fire place. The house is small and cozy and everything that you see is exactly as it was left, apart from the carpets and curtains. It’s a sweet little home and it was the scene for Beatrix’s book “Samuel Whiskers” The illustrations in the book are taken from her house, as if she used the rooms as still lives.
The gardens all look exactly like Mr. McGregor’s garden from Peter Rabbit, a watering can at the end of the vegetable garden and a lovely gate at the head of it; you can’t help but look for Peter in there!
We took a few pics before heading off as the rain was setting in, we had thought we’d go and try for a small walk, but seeing as it was foggy and wet we decided that it was probably for the best if we left for today and instead head off to see the new X men movie in Kendall. We went to a place called the Brewery, which was obviously once a Brewery that has now been converted into an amazing arts center. There are 2 cinema screens, a large theatre, an amphitheatre, has a large outdoor seating area, a café, a restaurant, just an amazing artistic, creative place to be. So many different forms of art and theatre can be presented here, which is lovely.
We made our way back to the B&B where Barbara had supper left over’s for us for dinner, which is so lovely of her, we hadn’t asked or expected to have this waiting for us, but oh my gosh, it was lovely!! We think Barbara deserves to have a Michelin star; her food was so amazing and yummy! Barbara really is a Jill of all trades. She cooks, runs, and is the handy woman to the B&B and is always so warm and lovely and ready for a chat even though she could do with a bloody good break! A lovely woman!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 9, 2009 from Sedbergh, United Kingdom

Ulleswater Steam boat and Chris’ adventurous walk
Sedbergh, United Kingdom
We said goodbye to all our quilting friends today as they head off to their respective homes and head out to Lake Ulleswater for the day.
The weather once more was looking grey but we’ve not come to expect much more and just embrace the wet. We stopped at Lake Windermere once more for another quick look around the river before heading off to Ulleswater where we were catching a steam boat half way up the river, jumping off and then taking the 8 mile walk back to the car. That was the plan anyhow. When we got there though we decided that, as I wasn’t up too such a walk today (very tired today and sloth like) I would take a return trip on the steam boat up and down the river and meet Chris back at the car after he had jumped off and walked back. So, we took a half hour ride up the river together before Chris jumped off (not literally, they let him off on the gang plank, they didn’t make him jump) at a place called Howtown and I continued on slowly up the river taking the landscape in. It was lovely and slow and I went mad taking photos. We got to the end of the river and the heavens opened and the rain and cold just howled in!! I now fretted for poor Chris thinking “oh god, he still has to walk 1.5 hours… he’s going to be freezing and drenched! The poor man!!” Knowing that he had his mobile on him I attempted to call him and suggest he turn back to Howtown where the boat would once more be stopping on the way back but there was no answer. It was completely torrential. It was bucketing like I’ve never seen before. Then Chris rang, it wasn’t raining where he was, which was only 5 miles away. It was bizarre! So, I continued on my steam boat ride and Chris continued on his walk (ringing me at one stage to ask if I could see him as he could see the boat and was waving at us, I couldn’t despite my vast amount of squinting) I made it back to the car about half an hour before Chris and then decided I’d best get some form of exercise for the day and walked out to meet him in his last km or so and walked back with him where he told me of the beauty he’d seen, but sadly not spotted any red squirrels.
We made our way back to the B&B for our last night with Barbara and shared another meal with her a glass of wine or two. We had another lovely night of chatting and laughing before another amazing nights sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 10, 2009 from Sedbergh, United Kingdom

Road trip to Buntingford via Sherwood Forest
Nottingham, United Kingdom
On the road again… I think Chris has had enough of driving for one week; he’s certainly done a lot of it!! After a lovely chilled out brekkie it was time to say goodbye to Barbara. She has certainly been amazing and helpful these past few days and we’ve appreciated all her help and suggestions and most importantly, hospitality. She is a real star being able to run, successfully, the B&B singlehandedly. We hit the road perhaps just a little later than we first envisaged, but it was all good in the end. We drove through the Yorkshire Dales National Park which was very pretty, and as always, was an extremely tight, windy little road. It was beautiful though and we loved the extreme diversity of the landscape, the rocky hills, the green rolling hills, the rivers, all very very pretty. We made a quick stop down near a little waterfall which we discovered was the Robin Hood/Little John fight scene from the Kevin Costner Robin Hood film. It was lovely, though Kevin and Christian who played the characters in the movie must have been bloody cold for that scene! We didn’t get a chance to check it out as much as we’d have liked as we had such a long day ahead of us, so we moved on with our next stop being Sherwood Forest.
This forest has an eerie feeling to it, as if something or someone is watching you and that it’s hiding something. It’s a rather odd feeling. We took a 20 minute walk to the ‘Major Oak’ to stretch our legs which was nice. It’s a massive old Oak Tree that is 1150 years old and is now having its branches propped up by scaffolds. In the day the Major Oak use to be called the “Cockpen Tree” as the inside of it is hollow they use to keep bags of roosters in the inside of the tree (or tied to the branches of it) and would bring them out for the illegal cock fights that use to happen. You can feel the history of this place and you can’t help but feel that the woods are hiding something.
We didn’t have long to stay, we’d already been driving 4 hours and had another 3 or so to go, so we hit the road. Apart from another ‘comfort stop’ or two we made our way back to Sue and Patrick’s and it was lovely to see them again, felt like we’d been away for weeks, not days! Quick dinner and then a well earned nights rest!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 11, 2009 from Nottingham, United Kingdom

Sues 21st birthday…again!
Buntingford, United Kingdom
Ahhh, a nice big sleep in was achieved today, and it felt GOOD! It was so nice to be able to just rest and know that we didn’t have to be anywhere at any particular time and that we didn’t need to drive anywhere unless we really wanted too, which in the end we did. It was Sue’s birthday today and we while had been hunting for a nice pressie during our previous few days of travel we hadn’t come up with anything. So, after a sleep in and finally doing 6 days worth of washing we head to Stevenage to hunt out something appropriate. We finally decided that you can’t really go wrong with a good book so brought that and a box of choccies, a nice combo for a night in relaxing. We had a very nice birthday roast, tiramisu and a glass of baileys in celebration and as always had a lovely chat and laugh that night.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 12, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Back to Bristol
Up nice and early for the trip to Bristol via London. It was a nice quick trip and arrived into Bristol in the afternoon where we were picked up by Brian and brought back to our Bristol home and base. We had a lovely, relaxed afternoon where we crashed on the couch and watched copious amounts of telly, ahhh, lovely. A restful evening and an early night which we were very thankful for.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 13, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Lazy day in Bristol
Not much to report today. We had a nice sleep in and chilled out morning before we thought we’d best make an attempt to get out of the house for a small bit, again it was raining so armed with our rain jackets and the lend of a couple of umbrellas we head out for a quick half hour walk where our legs and feet got slightly drenched but other than that it was uneventful. We did a bit of homework for our upcoming trip to Ireland, looked up a few Jamie recipes for the meal we plan to cook tomorrow and other than all that, did nothing. It was so nice!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 14, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Another lazy day in Bristol
I have to say that today I woke up feeling a tad homesick and unsettled. While I’m LOVING this holiday and experience I can’t help but yearn for home and the feeling of being content and settled that that brings. I’m really enjoying our adventures and the people that we’re meeting, but living out of a back pack, wearing the same clothes over and over again, eating Boots deals and counting every penny and pound that pass through our hands is starting to become just a bit tiresome. I’m really yeaning the freedom to lay back on our couch at home, Milo in hand, feet up watching a DVD wearing freshly washed PJs and just chilling out, relaxing. I’m missing my friends, I’m missing my family very much and I’m even missing work… shock horror I know!  It’s just been a bit of a hard day today is all, it’s the first time I’ve felt like this since leaving so I’ve done pretty well! Anyways, enough of being a sad sack!
We had a fairly uneventful day today. Ann had a friend pop over for a little bit so we were able to meet her and her granddaughter which was nice and after this head off into the heart of Bristol to see the exhibition on Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was confined to living in an attic with 7 others during the Nazi reign of terror. It was a great exhibition, one that evoked a range of feelings from laughter (Anne Frank had a cheeky sense of humor) to complete hatred for Hitler and how the hell could he lead such a disgusting, revolting war that people actually got behind and supported. What really struck me was the maturity and wisdom that Anne Frank possessed at such a tender age and what a clear and concise communicator she was. An amazing young girl and as sad as it is that her life ended in such horrible circumstances her diaries and writings made such an impact on the rest of world to come. It was a great little exhibition and one that made me come out of it wondering to myself “what am I doing? What can I do to help others in need?” Makes you realize how truly blessed we are to live in such a free and liberated country like Australia.
We moved onto the post office then where we hoped to post home some stuff that we’d collected along our travels, just various things, some small souvenirs, pamphlets etc, not much really. We picked out a box and waited in line to post this… and when we were finally seen too and told the price we almost keeled over! 59 pounds!! ($118) We told them that was an absolute rip off and how the hell could they charge that amount when to post 5 kilos of goods Aus to UK is only $50, and yet to post JUST over 2 kilos UK to Aus would cost more?! We weren’t very happy and we made it perfectly clear. It was suggested to us that we break it down into 2 kilo packs as it would be cheaper, so we did this but it was only minimally cheaper. It’s such a bloody rip off. No wonder everyone in the UK seems to be a bloody workaholic, they have to be in order to survive and afford the basics!
We offered to cook dinner tonight and as it was such a grey, cold, dull day we decided that a good hearty stew and dumplings was in order so this took up the rest of the afternoon, along with the rice pudding (I finally found a rice pudding recipe that I’ve been looking for, I was very excited)
So that was the day, nothing too special but a nice one all the same.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Chris says “Invisible, silent karaoke performed from an IPod via headphones is not something to be shared with an audience, thanks Em”
Ems’ response to this is “hmph”
written by  Chris and Emily on May 15, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

Naïve young ones, rude promotions girls and star trek.
A short lie in before heading to the centre of Bristol where we discovered a whole new section to the mall that we’d never seen before. This took up some of our time as we strolled along looking at all the shops and what they had to offer.
We eventually found Chris a belt, which in itself doesn’t sound like such a feat, but when you’re looking for one that has a minimal amount of nickel in the buckle it can become quite a chore. Anyhow, we found a store that was selling belts and as we had a 20% off card for this place it helped with the purchase.
As Chris was paying I began to chat with the girls behind the till, they were impressed by our accents and even more impressed, and in awe of the fact that we were backpacking for 6 months. The young girl behind the till, who wore a top which I assume is fashionable, a short skirt and boots, face caked thick with makeup turned to me and said “I just don’t know how you do it, like, how do you know what clothes to take, like? I just couldn’t, I’d be lost without all me clothes and makeup, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it like” To which I nodded and agreed that knowing what clothes to bring can be difficult yes, but when travelling that’s not always your main priority, that you go to have experiences and adventures and to not worry about that sort of stuff.
The other girl shook her head and said “well, I couldn’t do it, I can’t live without my hair straightener” I have to admit, this struck a cord with me. I too find it hard without my hair straightener but I mentioned that there is a palm sized one for traveling that you can buy and that if you have a spare 1.5 hours to kill sitting there trying to iron it all out, then it’s no problem. I have one that sits in my backpack. I haven’t used it much and Chris keeps harping on about it saying that it’s a waste of space and that it’s just more weight for him to carry around. I refuse to get rid of it and remind him that we’re in England now, who knows when we might bump into the Queen and be invited back to hers for a bite to eat? In that case I’d like my hair straightened thank you to look my very best.
Anyhow, after the naivety of these two young, albeit, sweet girls, we moved on to the nearest cinema to see “Star Trek” On our way there we walked through a mall where I had a young promotions girl come up to me and try to hand me samples of her stores goods. I’m very tired of people on street corners trying to flog me things and ask for money for charity all the time. Normally I’ll drop a few pennies in, but as we’re travelling in a large place that is so darn expensive I now try to keep all our pennies for ourselves, before we end up a charity.
So, anyway, this girl comes up and sticks this promotional flyer thing in my face and I was polite in saying “no thank you” and as she’d shoved this thing in my face I’d walked into two girls, who I apologized too, but as I walked away the promotions girl screamed over her shoulder (and I kid you not when I say screamed, she truly did!) “No, thank YOU!!!!!” Her voice going up octaves and becoming more hysterical as she did so. I didn’t like her attitude so I yelled back “YOU’RE WEL-COME!!” I wanted to add a rude word on the end but I resisted it and instead went on my way muttering about how incredibly rude she was when I had been polite to start with.
We found the cinema in the end and made it in time to see “Star Trek” which Chris has been waiting to see since the promos came out last year or so. I was rolling my eyes, but you know what? I really enjoyed the film. It’s not as nerdy, of sci fi, or as trekki as I thought it would be. All in all it was good, 4 out of 5 on my taste scale. After this we made a quick stop off at the pub on the way home for a cider before catching the bus home.

Sunday roast (I’d give up Tom Cruise for it anyday)
We were woken by a huge down pour today, rain crashing down on the roof and lashing the window panes. It gave us quite a start but it was quite nice to watch as we lay in bed. It wasn’t really out door weather to say the least, so we relished in staying indoors and taking it easy! We had a productive day however, organized a car hire for tomorrow as to head to Lands End and Penzance etc, our transport to Heathrow for next Friday, our accommodation for various nights, emails and the likes. It felt good to get it all out of the way. We also had time to sit down and really look at Europe and talk about which routes we should take and how long we should try to stay in each etc.
As always, we had a Sunday roast which was lovely family get together. It was really nice to see Jenny again and also, we got to see Martin for a short time before he head off on his ‘biking, hiking and beer’ week away.
Chris and I have both been keen to watch the Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves DVD since being in Sherwood Forest and just this morning asked Jen if she owned a copy of this that we could borrow. Sadly she didn’t and a long discussion took place of how this was the best Hood film to be made and the consensus was that we all loved it. We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we’d just have to wait awhile to see this film again, but then, when Jen was over we were sitting in the lounge and she said “Hmm, wonder what’s on telly tonight?” And lo and behold, she checked the guide and what do you suppose was? Good ol’ Robin Hood. We were very amused by this; it was such a random thing to have happen. So, we just got our Robin Hood fix and are about to head to bed. We have another day on the road tomorrow so, it means another early night for another early rise!

Arthurs “stone”, amazing Tintagle Castle and Newquay beach
Newquay, United Kingdom
Up early and onto the car rental to pick up our little VW golf that we would call our own for the next three days. It’s a sporty little thing that takes a little while to get going but when it does it’s quite nifty.
We drove steadily on through the day, taking the wrong turn only once and took time to stop at both “Arthurs Stone” and Tentagil Castle. Sadly, Arthurs stone is nothing to write home about. You pull into a dirt parking lot and make your way to a small little ‘building’ to pick up your tickets ( 3 pound each for the record) and then make your way through a paddock which is home to many many sheep, past a horrid power station that buzzes hideously, down a steep little path that has a picnic table in the middle of it (?!) which you have to either climb over or walk around (which means going through a soggy part of the paddock) over a little bridge, through a walk way surrounded by blue bells (this part was lovely) over a road and into another paddock which they claim was the setting for King Arthurs very last battle, which just so happened to be against his evil and illigitment son Maudrid. Ho hum. I don’t believe it. It looks as if someones looked out their back window one day and gone “you know what luv? I reckon we could milk some suckers into believin’ that soggy paddock is a historic site. I reckon we charge ‘em an arm and a leg, we’ll just pop up a few “official” lookin signs up, add a few ‘historic’ bits and bobs about, and hey presto, bobs ya uncle, we’ll be rich! Bloody fools!” (obviously this ‘entrepenur’ was an occa… the Brits would have been saying things more like “Maudred my dear, I do believe we could cleverly disguise our back field as the final battle grounds of his holiness King Arthur… anyway, I’ve diverted off the subject.. back to the story!) You then walk down a path to a little running river and stand on a platform and look down to see a large stone that has some latin inscription. This apparently once upon a time use to be part of a bridge, and is inscirped “here lies Ma” Now, how that translates to “King Arthurs stone” has me a little bemused, but, I’ll take there word for it. You then walk a little further down stream and come to the “secret garden” which isn’t really so secret anymore, not with all the big signs that are up all over the joint. It’s not such a garden either, it’s a pile of rocks, so again, not so impressed. The best part about today was the walk though the blue bells, that was really pretty!
We then drove onto Tintagle Castle, and oh my word, THIS was awesome and believable! A huge castle obviously once stood on the cliff tops of this amazing coast line, and my god, who ever built the place must have had bloody good legs! It’s incredibly steep and winds its way over the cliff top and sides, just amazing to see! It was incredibly windy here today, so much so my eyes watered terribly and rended me blind for a bit, which scared the crap out of me as I was walking along the cliff top where there were no barriers to stop you falling. Chris was my hero for the day (and always) though and offered me his sunnies, which did help with the wind and allowed me to see again. It was just breath taking though, amazing cliff faces, the ocean, the castle ruins, the seal we saw lazily swimming below (it was a very large seal for the record!) We’d have loved to spend more time there but unfortunantly had to move on as it was getting late and we still had to find our accommodation for the night. We did vow to come back here though on the way home and spend longer exploring.
Newquay wasn’t so hard to find, though there was a scary moment when the GPS died (someone forgot to recharge it’s batteries.. no names… Chris…) so I had to navigate the old school way, with a humungous road map. I managed to get us to Newquay, but it wasn’t without it’s yelling and carrying ons believe me!  Our accommodation is at a backpackers right on the water front. We’d booked a 4 man dorm and were able to score this room to ourselves (always a huge bonus!) the rooms not all that fantastic (nor clean, sand in the beds, bins not changed, dirty mop in corner, beer glasses under the bed and the list continues!) but the view from the window is fantastic! We look out right over Newquay beach and are able to lie in bed and watch the surfers and those walking their dogs etc, it’s a nice way to chill out. So, we’ve opened up the window wide to let in all the fresh air and to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves, can’t ask for more than that (apart from perhaps no sand in the bed…)
written by  Chris and Emily on May 18, 2009 from Newquay, United Kingdom

Penzance (minus the pirates) Lands End and the windy little roads to St Ives
Penzance, United Kingdom
We were meant to check out today, but after looking at the map realized that our Newquay accommodation was probably the best place to base ourselves for another night, so we paid up for another night.
Our main destination today was Lands End which is the south western most point of the UK, but on the way decided to stop and see a few of the sites, the first being Penzance. We “paid and displayed” for only an hour in this town, and I have to say that this was even too long to stay. I’m not trying to be cynical or mean, but this place was just so darn boring and bland. It had no character and everyone we passed seemed to be off to a funeral or something, there were no smiles or happy atmosphere. Apart from an old codger who rode his bike past us and gave us a nod, no one seemed to accept our exsistance, so after a quick stroll around the water front and town we moved on.
We then arrived at a place I sadly forget the name of (but vow to find out) which had an amazing outdoor amplitheatre that was built by an elderly lady and two gardners back in the days of the war. This theatre is carved into the side of a cliff and has an amazing back drop of the Atlantic Ocean and some amazing cliff faces, it’s just stunning! While we (smuggled) and ate our lunch here we watched as staff set up equipment for a band who are to perform tomorrow night. It was nice to get a rough idea of how they set up for performances and where they place various equipment, I found it all really interesting and made me realise how much I miss doing creative and performing arts. I vowed to myself that once we get home I’ll take up something creative once more!
After this wonderful detour we head off to Lands End. Again it was an amazing coastal line of cliffs, ocean and wind. You can’t go anywhere around here without gale force wind, which after a while really gives you the pips! We were practically blown to the cliff top that is the very most south western tip where we took photos of the coastal line and took time to discover some of the little paths and rocky areas that make up this attraction. It was nice here, but as I said, after a while you get over the wind and all you want to do is get the hell out of it, so we really didn’t end up staying quite as long as we could have on a nice clear, calm day.
We decided to go back to Newquay via St Ives which meant travelling on some tight little windy roads. While these roads weren’t so fun to be on, they certainly weren’t as bad as we had been expecting. So many people had told us that these roads were awful and ‘death traps’ and I could see how they might be if you were travelling fast and an irresponsible driver (or if you encounted one of these said drivers) but they weren’t as horrid as we were anticipating, thankfully!
We made it back to Newquay in time for the ‘almost free parking’ (two pounds to park over night in a carpark, bit of a rip off seeing as it doubles as the accommodations carpark and on their web site it’s classed as “free parking”) Quick bite to eat at the Walkabout pub (def the cheapest pub meals we’ve come across yet) and back to the room to read, write, people watch from our window and generally chill out!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 19, 2009 from Penzance, United Kingdom

Tentagel once more
Newquay, United Kingdom
Sadly, didn’t get much sleep last night so awoke feeling a little grumpy and tired, I guess that’s the consequence of only having 3 hours sleep. Not sure why I didn’t sleep so well but I have a feeling it has something to do with the two skinny dippers who were “WHOOOOING” in the ocean just under our window. I was half tempted to stick my head out and comment on how chilly it must be, but I couldn’t really be bothered moving, so left my remark to myself. The wonderful news to come out of my lack of sleep however was the text I received from my number one back up chick Ashe telling me she’d FINALLY given birth to bub Eliot, I was very excited and I did wake Chris to tell him this news, we’ve been waiting for a long time to hear this great news, 9 months infact would you believe?
We dragged ourselves out of the backers, into the car and onto Tantagel once more. We arrived nice and early so there were not many other tourists about which was really nice, you don’t often have an attraction to yourself here! We loved Tantagel the first time we stopped there and had really been hoping to make it back for a better look and wander about and with the place pretty much to ourselves we were able to have a good look about the cliff tops and at all the ruins, it’s just an amazing place to visit.
Ruins of Tentagel
We moved on from this gorgeous spot and made our way back towards Bristol, we had a schedule to keep as we had to return the hire car today. It wasn’t so bad, we were able to see a few things, take a few stops, have lunch and make our way back in comfortable time. It was good to see Ann and Bryan once more and to be ‘home’ We’d been invited out that night to celebrate one of Jens friends 27th birthday, but the combination of little sleep and a full on day of sight seeing and driving we were totally knackered and regretfully declined the offer, I just don’t think they have appreciated us having to prop ourselves up and prize our eyes open in an effort to be social. An early night in a bid to catch up on all our lost sleep and get over the grumps.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 20, 2009 from Newquay, United Kingdom

Family catch up and packing for the weeks to come
I really didn’t think that Chris or I owned that much clothing, but in a bid to get everything washed and dried for tomorrows ‘take off’ we did 2.5 loads of washing, which I really found remarkable (boring talk I know, who really cares about washing huh?) I really didn’t think we owned that much, and to be honest, I still don’t. I think it’s just the fact that we’re living in the same clothes pretty much all the time and it gets to a stage where you HAVE to wash it or alienate yourself from the larger community due to the ‘smell factor’ 
We had a nice day today, taking our time in packing and organizing before we head out to meet Chris’ rellies who also live in Bristol. We'd met these lovely ladies when they popped over to Tassie a year or two back and it was lovely to catch up with them again over a leisurely lunch. We really love being able to meet up with all the family and friends this side of the world and the hospitality and support we’ve had from them all has been amazing.
We braved another trip to the post office today, and I have to say in all honesty that popping into the post office in the UK is the worst chore for me. I absolutely hate it with a passion. I just find the whole thing such a nasty, expensive ordeal and I can’t believe how much they charge for simple things and the way that you have to line up in different queues just so that you can buy a card and then another to pay for postage and… argh! I just HATE it!! We HAD to post some stuff off today and I begrudgingly handed over an exuberant amount of money for it and again complained aloud to the cashier. I think from now on Chris will be doing the posting; it’s just too much for me!
We made it back to our Bristol base to book a taxi for tomorrows ungodly hour departure and continue on packing before an early night for our massive day ahead tomorrow.

Taxi, bus, train, plane, bus, foot work and BED!
Dublin, Ireland
3am is well too early to be up and about and eating breakfast, but it was an ungodly act we had to undergo in order to make it to Dublin today. Our plane was leaving Heathrow at 11.30am, but as we had to make our way from Bristol it was quite an ordeal to make it there in time. We caught a taxi to the bus station (me cradling my warm toast in alfoil as we drove along) caught a mega bus for the bargain price of 7 pounds each, onto the tube to Heathrow which thankfully wasn’t as busy as I was anticipating, onto the plane which took only 55 minutes, onto another bus, a quick walk to the bunk house, and oh my goodness, into bed for a small nap!! It was GOOOOOOOD!!
Our first few hours into Dublin and Chris is already hard at the Guinness!
I have to be honest and say that thus far Dublin hasn’t moved me. It looks much like any other UK city, dirty and bleak looking BUT it has to be said that the people are so incredibly friendly and helpful and just wonderful that you feel like you want to stay and chat with them forever (the accent helps!) It also has to be said though that bloody hell Ireland is expensive!! I know that it’s the Euro and that we’ll experience the price else where in Europe but I seriously wasn’t expecting it to be SOOOOOOO bad! We hadn’t eaten all day (apart from my marmite toast at 3am) so we head out for a drink and quick ‘bite’ It cost us 30 Euro for a bowl of Irish Stew, chicken stir fry, a diet coke and a cider… that works out to be about $70! BLOODY HELL!! I reckon we’ll be losing all those unwanted kilos here in Europe and come back skin and bone, begging for a proper meal and in need of “fattening up” So mum, have the Mac Cheese ready!
The backers we’re staying in at the moment is really great. Clean, modern, friendly and despite the fact that we’re sharing our room with 14 other people you don’t really notice it as the room is so large and you have your space. It’s really nice and defiantly the best backer accommodation we’ve had yet.
We don’t really have plans for our stay here in Dublin apart from taking it easy and visiting the all important Jameson and Guinness distilleries. As nice as Dublin is we’re REALLY looking forward to getting out and seeing the natural beauty Ireland has to offer.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 22, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Dublin day 2: cow market, temple bar, metal aliens and old photos
Dublin, Ireland
I have been told it's about time i did some of these blogs instead of poor Em doing all the writing while I add photos and do "behind the scenes" stuff (like add photos!)
So today was our first real day in Ireland, yesterday was our first actual day but we were both so bloody tired from the 3am start that it doesn't really count. We started they day with brekky at the backers that we are staying at, they include a basic brekky with the price of the bed that consists of toast, cereal, tea and coffee but for 1 Euro more you can upgrade to a full "Irish" breakfast so I went for the upgrade while Em stuck with the basics. I really enjoyed my brekky but I can't exactly work out the difference between this breakfast and a regular "English" breakfast. It consisted of bacon, eggs, sausages, hash brown and beans pretty much the same as an English brekky but i guess it just gets it's name from the place or country you eat it, I guess that means all the times I have been in Aussie and ordered an English brekky I have actually been eating an Australian brekky?
Enough about breakfast now, this by the way is why I try to encourage Em to write these things as I spend far too much time on rants about silly things like the naming of the morning meal and far to little time on things that may be of interest to anybody reading the blog :)
After the already to well described breakfast we head out to see the city, we didn't have high hopes I must say as our impression of it from yesterdays outing was far from positive, the city gave off a drab, run down vibe and didn't seem to have much worth looking at. I am putting that down to a combination of exhaustion and lack of direction as we didn't have a map, or plan of where to go yesterday so we just wandered. Today however we had a plan. Em had seen in our trusty Lonely Planet book on Dublin that there was a market in Cow lane in the Temple Bar area that she wanted to see so that was our destination, not hard or too far to get there and it allowed as to get a good feel for the city as we made our way through it. We stopped and had a look at a book market in the main drag of Temple Bar on the way and then found the market with little trouble, a much better experience than trying to find Portabello market in Notting Hill, London that was a march and a half and by the time we got there it was closing up shop. The Cow lane market was very small though and the prices where out of our range but the stuff was cool, lots of really artsy, hip jewlery, crafts and clothes but my fav was a store that had figures from movies made out of scrap metal, they were fantastic and I nearly bought a star wars one but decided that it was both too expensive and too heavy to send home. There was a massive "alien" one that we got a pic of that I shall insert below: (see below)
Metal Alien
After the market we headed back into the Temple Bar area and went into the pub called, wait for it.... Temple Bar and had a pint, I wasn't feeling up to a pint of the black stuff as it was a tad early so I instead had some lager. It is a cool pub with live music from 12pm so we just chilled in the dark corner that was about the only spot not already taken up by tourists doing exactly the same thing as us. I think this is a good time to bring up my biggest issue with Dublin, the bloody price of everything! its fricking ridiculous, basically everything costs in Euros what it would normally cost in AU back home so a pint is 6EU so that's about $12, a hoody is about 60EU (i was cold so was eyeing off jumpers and hoodys at some of the shops we went into) a pie at a bar is about 9EU and a sanga is about 5EU so basically it's double the cost. This puts a dampener on the plan of going out for several drinks tonight and enjoying some of Dublin's night-life as I just don't think we can afford it, might go out for one drink and nurse it while soaking up some free music somewhere and then come back to the backers nice and early like nannas for a nap. So anyway back to Temple bar (another tangent, and I just realised that I put far too much stuff in brackets!) I was eyeing of the idea of having Guinness and oysters but as I mentioned before it was too early for my "Pale Ale" bread constitution to handle the black necter so we headed back out into the on again - off again rain and now you see me / now you don't sunshine to do some more exploring.
Temple Bar
Em enjoying a bevvie or two at the Temple Bar
We walked around for ages dodging the saturday crowds doing a bit of a loop through the main centre of the city, looked at a couple of shops, bought a travel organiser thing to keep our passports, vouchers and other important bits and bob together and ended up back in the temple bar area at the food market they have there on Saturday. It's a bit like a mini "taste of Tasmania" or "taste of Ireland" I guess, lots of stalls selling stuff like cheese, bread including my now favourite soda bread, crepes and other stuff. After a couple of laps we made up our minds on what lunch would consist of and lined up. That on again off again rain I was talking about decided to change to "on a lot" rain just as we got our grub but it wasn't too bad, there was some shelter provided by the stalls. After lunch we headed back to the backers and have been sitting in the kitchen area nerding it up on the computer!
Tomorrow we are heading to the home of the best "meal in a glass" available, Guinness so stay tuned for lots of photos of black stuff I guess. :)
written by  Chris and Emily on May 23, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Guinness Brewery
Dublin, Ireland
After careful consultation with our trusty Lonely Planet book -complete with trusty map- we made our way towards the Guinness Brewery for a squiz at how the black stuff is made and a taste test. It didn't look too far on the map, a few blocks this way, a few blocks that way and hey presto you'd be there... but it WAS a long walk (well, about 40 mins) and by the time we got to the Brewery I was pretty tired and HOT! Ireland achieved what has almost been impossible through out our trip, and that is, produce warm, sunny, cloud free, weather. So warm in fact I had to actually put sun cream on in fear of burning! It was truly delightful!
The brewery has 7 levels to it and you of course start and end with the merchandise store. We by passed this and head off to see the proceedur that is under taken to make the black booze. They use hops, barley, water and yeast, they burn the barley, they water down the barley, they mash the barley and at some stage, add the hops and yeast. It's fermented, it's tested and eventually it's bottled and tasted. That's the laymans guided tour to the Guinness Brewery anyhow.
What I was really interested in was the fact that Arthur Guinness had signed a 9000 year lease to the building, and he did this in the 1800s, so there's still plenty of time before they have to start packing their boxes and looking for a new place to 'live' I was also interested in how they make the old wooden beer barrels. There was an oldie day film on it and it was pretty amazing and labour intensive! They carved, sheered, shaped, steamed, hammered everything together by hand to make these water tight barrels, I found it really impressive and interesting. I also liked the exhibition they had on the artist who drew all the "My goodness my Guinness" posters, cards etc. His name was John Gilroy and the 'zoo keeper' you often see on the posters etc was actually a self portriate of himself, which I found pretty cool.
After mozing about on 6 floors we then head up to the 7th floor, which is a bar, complete with 360 degrees of glass windows so that you can get great views of Dublin city. While here you get to sip on your free glass of Guinness that is included in your admission price. Chris kept telling me of how much better the Guinness here was compared to back home, and I just nodded. I have to be honest and say that I have never liked Guinness, and even in Dublin, where yes, it does taste better than the stuff we get back in Australia, it still doesn't tickle my taste buds. I did try though, I drank half a glass of the stuff in a bid to try and 'get the taste for it' but I really think it's a drink you either love or hate, and I am obviously in the latter group. We did purchase a few goodies from the merchandise store on our way out, just a few little souveniers for when we get home.
We strolled back to the backers in the sunshine and then had a late lunch and packed a bit for our departure tomorrow. Chris is now having a wee nanna nap beside me as I type and I'm thinking of doing the same in a minute! We have plans to head out to a comedy club tonight, we found vouchers that get us in for a cheaper price. Chris was a little hesitant though as the 'major clubs' charge 20 Euro's for entry to their nights, and for this one we only pay 6... he wonders if it means the quality of the show will be 'cheap' too, I say 'bugger it, if all else fails we'll just laugh at their accents!"
written by  Chris and Emily on May 24, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Belfast bound
Belfast, United Kingdom
The start to our day saw everything being a bit “quick” today. A quick shower, a quick pack, a quick brekki and a quick walk to the city station in order to catch our train to Belfast.
Irish way of life gets under your skin. We’ve been here all of 3 days and already I feel comfortable and at home. The people are warm and inviting and so so helpful and ready for a chat no matter when, where or who you are. It has to be said though, that sometimes you just can NOT understand a bloody thing they’re saying. A ticket collector at the station today was ‘assisting’ me with directions but for the life of me, I had no idea what he was saying. I assumed he was telling me to go to the next man along the platform who would help me, I assumed that this is what he was saying based souly on the way he was gesturing and the random words I was able to make sense of were “man over there” (only it wasn’t THere it was Tear) Chris and I had become momentarily separated (both of us being given different directions by the man we could not understand) and regrouped 5 mins later to attempt to find our train, which stated it would be waiting by platform 2, only we found that platform 2 was experiencing some renovations… Hmmm… I then asked an official looking man if the train we saw waiting patiently at platform 3 was headed to Belfast, to which I was given the reply “that it is” I thanked him and moved on.
Now, anyone who may have caught a train in the past will know that the outside of the carriages are marked A, B, C, D etc, in order of the carriages. Well, they don’t do that here in Ireland. Your left to wander up and down the platform looking perplexed and eventually, irritated as you back track X amount of times in search of your carriage. Giving up and assuming that I must just be having a blind moment, I asked the next official ‘train man’ I saw for directions to carriage D, this man looked at me quizzically before stating “well, you see where that queue of people are boarding?” (I looked up the platform to only see an elderly nun and an older gentleman who carried her bags venturing aboard, but nodded assuming this was the Irish equivalent to a ‘queue’) “Well” the trainman continued “that’s carriage D… see…” He turned and pointed to his right “Carriage A, B, C… D” He counted these down as he went, as if I didn’t know the fricking alphabet. Helpful, if I didn’t, but slightly patronizing being that I do. I know he meant no harm, perhaps he truly thought that I didn’t know the alphabet and that he was performing not only a good level of customer service but also a dose of education? Thankfully, we weren’t the only ones who didn’t seem to know or understand our alphabet. I must just have that ‘look’ about me as many people came on board looking confused and perplexed asking “Is this carriage D?” to which I would smile, non patronizingly and say “Yes it is” like I said, I have that look about me… that or I just dress like a conductor.
The trip to Belfast was non eventful. Our travel companions for the trip Allan and Evely didn’t make the train, thankfully, which meant that we could stretch out on our seats. We know that our missing companions names were Allan and Evely as each seat was personalized with your name tag… they probably went to platform 2… or couldn’t figure out where carriage D was…
Our accommodation in Belfast is standard so far as hostels go. A small room, a bunk, a shared bathroom and shower facility, a largish kitchen and common rooms you share with every man, woman and child who also call the place “home” It’s alright, but I think after our very pleasant accommodation in Dublin the past few nights has heightened our expectations on places like this once more. Our accommodation in Dublin was pretty good, though we shared a 16 room dorm; it was cozy and comfortable and had a real air of acceptance, friendship and respect. Here, no one looks at you or talks to you. Oh well, it’s a cheap bed.
Belfast itself is not much to write home about. It’s another dreary, drab, dirty looking city that has no ‘feel’ to it all, apart from depression. We wandered into the city centre when we went in search of WIFI (we were being defiant, you can pay for it here at the hostel, but we refuse to do that, so instead subjected ourselves to a 20 minute walk in the rain to a spot that has free WIFI… the things you do to save a pound!) It wasn’t so bad though I guess. Like I said, we got to see the city centre and while there check out the “spring market” that was happening in a courtyard. It had many many food stalls and many many knick knack stalls, all selling exactly the same knick knacks as the others… We brought a few little treats for later on and head to the beer tent, the only spot that was out of the rain, so it was brimming with people and, bringing in much business for the bar. So much so that they had actually run out of most beers, the only ones left were ‘raspberry’ or ‘cherry’ flavored beer. We went for raspberry and I have to say, it was GOOOOOOD! It’s my new favorite beer I’ve decided. Sadly however I think that it’ll be hard to find on the Australian market. Chris has kindly offered to make it for me though, he claims it’s purely raspberry cordial and larger. Kind of takes the magic out of it when he puts it like that. None the less, I shall be happy to drink it; it would be rude to refuse it, seeing as he’s gone to all that effort you know?
A break in the clouds saw us make a run back to the hostel (sorry, don’t take that literally, it’s a figure of speech… we in no way ran back, that would have been a tad energetic… and besides, I haven’t run since leaving high school when they use to force ‘sports days’ upon reluctant and often sullen teenage students) We arrived back at the hostel to find we have a male room mate sound asleep in the bunk opposite us, he wasn’t snoring so he’s alright by me thus far.
A relaxing arvo of reading, updating IPODS and exploring our options for tomorrow’s itinerary before a shower so hot it left you reeling and glorious, inviting and well deserved bed.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 25, 2009 from Belfast, United Kingdom

Black cab tours and a drink with a local
Belfast, United Kingdom
We decided today that the easiest, and may I add safest way to see Belfast and its explosive, violent past, was on a tour, so we did what they call a ‘black cab tour’ and it is just as it sounds. A cab will pick you up, though we had a red one, and it will take you on a tour around the streets of Belfast.
It was an incredibly interesting tour, we learnt so much and it was great to go with a local who could tell you information that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to learn by doing the tour yourself. Our guide Steve was once a soldier here in Belfast so his history and knowledge on the violence and ‘ring leaders’ was quite impressive.
Here in Belfast they seem to idolize the criminals and murderers, leaving plaques and murals in their dedication. Steve was telling us of a criminal called who was a Protestant, and if he heard that one of the Catholics had shot one of his own, he’d not think twice about it, pick up a gun and go shoot an innocent by stander on the catholic side of the street. If someone had their legs broken, he’d go and break an innocent mans, an eye for an eye and all that I guess… The guy eventually got picked up by the police who had some evidence on him but after a high speed chase he ended up in hospital recovering under guard, when the guards changed over he escaped out the window and returned to his beloved loyalist area and knowing that they would just catch him in the end and put him in H block* for life he found some cocaine and on top of the morphine he already had in his system, overdosed. They found him sitting in his lounge room not long after. So, for this the locals on his “side” deemed him worthy of a huge mural and pay tribute to his family every year, taking up offerings and given the proceeds to them. Daft, I know.
There are all sorts of violence that go on here: breaking of arms and legs, shootings and dumping of bodies, ‘jar bombs’ (apparently they make them out of Nescafe jars, are very easy to make and as Steve so calmly pointed out, if were thrown at our cab would blow us all to bits… charming, thanks Steve… I was well on the look out for Nescafe fiends then…) There were hunger strikes for years which saw 10 men die for their cause (that being that the UK government treated them badly…) they stayed in their cell for SIX years, huddled under a blanket and smearing their feces’ all over the walls… Yeah, that was sure showing the government… Not surprisingly they all died in H block. H block for the record is the prison here. It is shaped like a huge letter H, the Catholics are in lock up on one side, the protasents are on the other and the wardens are in the middle to TRY and keep peace. The two rival religious groups once lived across the road from one another, just like you and I, but as the “war” got worse they used to set fire to the houses closest and when they were ruins, scrap it all away, leaving a bigger distance between the two communities, then the other side, not able to let this lie, would do the same, and so on and so on, until now there is more than a km between them. There is a road called “No mans land” which divides the two communities, and NO ONE walks these of a night as you’re picked up, bundled into a car and… well, the rest is left to your imagination. There are actually gates there now that get closed as of 9.30pm, preventing any cars driving down the road. Scary stuff, glad we saw it in day time and with a nice, ex soldier cabbie!
There are murals, there are ‘peace walls’ and there is hope that the world of Belfast will change, and for their sake I hope so too, but I’m not sure when or how this will happen.
Oh, and there was also this really large apartment block, which Steve told us is full of normal every day citizens, it has 20 levels, but the elevator only goes to floor 18 or something (I’d hate to be living on the top floor!) Why only an elevator to the 18th floor I hear you ask, WELL, that’s because on top of this block is an army base, only accessible by helicopter. Soldiers sit up there for 3 weeks or so (if I remember correctly!) and watch the goings on between the two communities; it has a great view for this. When they go off shift, the helicopter comes in once more, picks up, drops off etc. They purposely don’t have any stairs up as if they did so, bombs would be placed up there and set to kill the soldiers, and no one wants to kill a block full of every day citizens apparently and for this reason, haven’t done so yet.
There used to be an Army base
Our tour was very informative and interesting, and for all its violent past, surprisingly fun.
After this bombardment of history we thought we’d best head to the centre of town and do something mindless, like buy a new jumper for Chris who has been foolishly freezing the past few days (he keeps forgetting his jumper or misinterpreting the weather) and after this went to “The crown liquor saloon” which is the oldest pub in Belfast and has survived all the bombings of the past, which is quite amazing as the hotel RIGHT opposite it, is actually in the Guinness book of records as “the most bombed hotel” in the world. There’s a title to be proud of huh?! More surprising then all of that is people actually CONTINUE to stay here, thinking it’s a laugh. Uh uh, not for me! There was an unexploded bomb found in a car here just 6 weeks ago, who knows when the next one will go off, and who knows who or when the hotel might add to its already “impressive” title?! At this bar we met a nice enough local called Sean. He was alright, a proud Belfastian through and through who declared Dublin to be a “shite city” to which, I had to agree to a degree, but then he started to tell us of how he sees the sense in worshiping the sun, and then I tuned out, he lost me there. Still, he was pleasant enough and we had a good long chat to him before parting our ways.
We plan to pick up our hire van tomorrow and head off on our own for a bit and this I’m looking forward too, it’s tiring living with strangers in small rooms. This morning saw an awkward moment between other male room mate (who doesn’t snore) and I. It was early A.M and that sort of dark where you can’t really see that well. I woke up and realized that he and I were facing each other in our beds across the room, my eyes were bleary and I was looking at him thinking “I wonder if non snoring room mate is awake yet?” and then, as if he were a mind reader, he gave me that little “nod” that you give to strangers when you’re saying hello, then I didn’t know if I should give him a nod or say morning, and then I didn’t want him to think I was a giant perv, so I fanged sleep and closed my eyes once more, hoping he believed I was truly asleep. But then I thought “well, what was he doing looking at me?” and then I thought that HE in fact was a big perv, and now tonight I vow to face the wall all night.
Anyhow, washing should almost be done now so best go collect it before someone claims our once dirty now clean clothing as their own. More later!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 26, 2009 from Belfast, United Kingdom

The wicked A team hit the road.
Donegal, Ireland
We woke up nice and early today and were filled with a sense of fun, adventure, independence and freedom. Today we were to hire the “Wicked Van” for a week. I’m not sure if you’ve seen these vans before, but basically they’re old vans that are brought and painted over with various forms of graffiti art, turned into camper vans and hired out. We hired ours in Belfast as the Republic of Ireland don’t hire vans out easily, something to do with insurance we were told. The only problem we encounter was the fact that the hire place was soooo far out of Belfast (an hour or so) so, we had the hire man, Dave come and pick us up, which was nice of him, mind you, we had to pay for this. Nothing in the UK is free. The drive out was pretty nice and we chatted to Dave the whole way about this and that, he had a really good irish accent, one of the strongest we have heard so far I (chris is writing this little bit, for a change!) could beraly understand him when we was explaining where to pick us up and stuff over the phone but once we got in the car with him it was a little easier to understand what he was saying and we drove the first part of the “Causeway Coast Road” that Dave informs us is rated as one of the most beautiful raods in the world. It is pretty cool, there are a lot of ruined bridges and buildings by the side of the road that look older than the hills.
We eventually got to the camping ground that was also the home of the Irish contingent of “Wicked Vans” we were issued the “A Team” van, it was black with a red stripe like the van out of the classic 80’s TV show and in case that wasn’t enough reference it was also covered with A-Team logos and cartoons of the charecters. On the back is the slogan “we aint going on a damn plane fool!” the van is kitted out with a kitchen at the back that you access by opening the back door (this also gives you some cover from the rain that WILL be bucketing it down when it’s time to cook, this is Ireland after all) there is a double bed that converts into to benches and a table for daytime use. There is also some outdoor tabes and chairs folded up in the back just in case we see the sun (as if!) We were well impressed with our ‘home’ and took off with a happy smile.
We drove a little way before stopping at the Rope Bridge, which is, just as it sounds. Now I (Em’s taken back over writing, it’s a tag team effort today it would seem!) am not so fond of heights really, and I am really really not a fan of open water spots, so the ocean is definantly not my friend. To get to the rope bridge you must first walk a km, up and down slight rolling hills which is nice, and you get amazing views of the cliffs and the waves crashing against them, causing huge sprays. “Ahhh, lovely” you think to yourself as you stroll along. Then you come to a steep downward slant “no matter” you think “it’s not too bad… til we come back up” but then you see it… A little rope bridge that swings out over a large drop to the ocean. It wouldn’t have been so bad I don’t think if the traffic conductor man hadn’t made us stop for so long as to let others on the other side pass first. It gave me far to long a time to stand and observe the very large drop that was to be IF the rope bridge collapsed, and then I heard the traffic conductor man say “ohno, this bridge doesn’t have any nuts or bolts, it just has special knots” my heart began to race. It was now our turn… bugger bugger bugger! I couldn’t back out now a) we’d paid a decent amount of pounds for this ‘experience’ and b) there was a large queue forming behind us pushing us along. My heart began to pound, I heard waves crashing below us, the shrill sound of seagulls that made it seem as if they were laughing at me and I took a step out, and then went “NO NO NO!” and turned back to the safety of land. I was acting like a big girl. Chris who had gone ahead of me hadn’t heard my large protest and pathetic race back to the safe land. He made it across okay and turned around, expecting to see me behind me but was surprised to see me practically hugging the ground. We stood with the bridge between us doing frantic sign language, he beckoning me over, me frantically shaking my head, but eventually I thought to myself “well, this is bloody ridiculous, just do it already!” So, taking large lungfuls of air, stepped out. I was terrified. I got to the middle and it began to sway and rock with the wind and I almost threw myself down on all fours to crawl across, but I didn’t, I swore instead and began a very fast walk across the remainder of the bridge and threw myself at Chris. I was shaking and my legs were weak, I couldn’t talk, but I had done it. I vowed loudly “I’M NOT DOING THAT AGAIN!!!” but then was hit by the realization that bloody hell, I have to get back now! We looked at the view, we looked at the bird life that was in abundance and we sat and rested. I was congratulated by a stranger for my brave effort of crossing the bridge, he admitted that he was just as bad and that if we went halfs we could hire a chopper to get us off. I contemplated it as did he, but it’d be too expensive we decided. On leaving I psyched myself up for the return and this time, I wasn’t sooo bad, I ran across without stopping or pausing, despite Chris yelling at me to stop for a photo (was he mad?!) I got to the otherside where Chris got a shot of me with a big smile on my face, relieved that I lived to tell the tale!
We then realized the time was getting on, but we decided to take a quick stop at the giants causeway, which, if you’ve seen the tesalated pavement in Tassie, would understand. It’s similar to what we have in Tassie, though it’s more like a stair case here. Impressive, particulary seeing as it goes for a while, but we didn’t stay long.
We thought that we would drive until we found a nice park to stop for a night, but just like the saying “a watched pot never boils” we couldn’t find a silly park to save ourselves! Typical. We drove and drove and drove, it was getting darker and darker and wetter and wetter out. Our mood was not that of glee. We went down roads that claimed “beach” but were bitterly disappointed. We thought that if the Irish have to advertise their beaches there must be SOMETHING there, but there wasn’t!!! No little car park, no turning spot, no nothing, just big barricades between you and the ocean. Typical.
We continued on, hungry, cold, tired and gloomy. For a minute there I contemplated the sanity of our camper van hire, but then I saw it, a beat up little sign saying “port” Well, there must be something at a port right? So, with a sudden left hand turn we found ourselves bouncing along to a nice little spot where we could set up our camp! Hoorah for port!
We pulled over, set up our camp stove, turned the van around for a wind break, set up once more and began to cook our dinner. Then it happened. Car after car turned up, 6 of them, all circling and leaving, stopping, sitting in their cars for a while then zooming off, going right down to the jetty and sitting in their cars some more, eventually there was 6 cars just hanging around a couple of people got out and wandered between the cars having a chat. Em and I (tag! It’s chris again) gathered all this info from covertly sneaking glimpses from our van as we had already drawn all the curtains and we didn’t want them to know that we were watching them watch us! A lot of theories were suggested as to the cause of this strange activity down at this “port” including and not limited too: drug dealing, smuggling, IRA meeting, planning meeting on how to remove unwanted visitors from area but we settled on “lack of a decent pub in the area” as a viable reason and with this and that fact that the majority of the guys and their car being pretty senior we decided it was safe enough to let our utter exhaustion win and we both fell asleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 27, 2009 from Donegal, Ireland

A full day of just driving, and happy to be alive!
Castlebar, Ireland
We woke bright and early and were relieved to see the day light. Though we had slept the night before it had been restless due to all the cars zooming up and down, and up and down until midnight or so. It was a little off putting for ones first night in a camper van. However, as we had breakfast and looked bleary eyed out over the world two fishermen walked up whistling the “A Team” tune, they stopped and had a bit of a conversation with us, stating that they thought that we were there last night to spray paint there boats, and though we didn’t admit it out loud, we thought they’d been there to murder us, just a little miscommunication. It also turns out that where we had camped in the middle of their local gathering spot, it’s where all the farmers come to discuss the day and weeks goings on. So, we had been right, there WAS a lack of a decent pub in this area. Now we at least know where to start one up. We waved goodbye to our gathering of mates now and moved on towards the west coast of Ireland.
We didn’t seem to do much today other than drive, and that was nice, though tiring! We passed much greenery, many cliffs, many tractors, many sheep and many pubs. We were exhausted by the time we got to our camp spot of Castlebar. We set up our ‘camp’ and took delight in showering and washing all our clothes. We had hoped to find some internet, but there seems to be a great lack of this in Ireland, no matter, we shall find some soon I’m sure.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 28, 2009 from Castlebar, Ireland

Truly stunning back roads of Ireland
Spiddal, Ireland
After all the driving yesterday we felt that we should really make an effort to stop and get out and about a bit. We felt that although we had made progress in our journey it was a little wasted in the fact that we didn’t stop to take in much of the scenery, rather just saw it whizzing us by. So, today we decided to drive the back roads towards Galway, taking our time and enjoying ourselves. Though we have seen amazing and breath taking scenery since arriving in Ireland, what we saw today was just stand in awe stunning. We had taken a random back road that led us to the most amazing hill/mountain range with a gorgeous lake in the middle of it. It was completely and utterly breathes taking and whats more; there were hardly any other vehicles or tourists. It was fantastic. We had this large stretch of road and lake to ourselves and we spent well over an hour just sitting, exploring and taking it all in. As Chris climbed up the steep hill beside us I decided to see how well I could skim rocks seeing as all the lake rocks were smooth, flat slat ones. My personal best today was 7 skims which saw the raising of arms above my head and a large “WHOOOOO” in victory. Tasteful. I am glad we had the lake to ourselves! We had a leisurely lunch, took even more photos before heading off once more.
We continued to pass amazing hills and scenery, we dodged random sheep that wandered onto the roads due to no fencing (the farmers of Port would have discussed this fact inside their cars for hours I’m sure) We drove and drove until we began to tire and thought that we’d better find a nice spot to call home for the night, and as it happened, we found a secluded little spot by the beach. Lovely! As it was a warm day (to the point where I actually got burnt, boo to the sun!) there were lots of people coming and going from the beach. While there were no signs to indicate “no camping” the looks we got from some people were revolting. We put it down to the fact that they are mistaking us for gypsies, not tourists. Gypsies are real over here and are basically, a community of caravan enthusiasts who drive until they find a spot they like, set up there for weeks, months, years at a time, ruin it completely and then move on, having destroyed the land. For some reason the law is unable to stop these people from doing this, and it’s a real problem. Chris and I have had a little trouble finding spots that will allow you to camp, and even then you have to drive under ‘height restricted’ bars, we just make it really and we’re just in a Normal van. They are pretty determined to keep these sorts out. Anyhow, we assume that they mistake us for gypsies, that or we must smell really really bad; we didn’t get the luxury of a shower this evening!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 29, 2009 from Spiddal, Ireland

Longest drive yet!!
Castlegregory, Ireland
We woke up today and felt a little weary. We could have both slept a lot longer, but we had some serious driving to do today. As we rubbed our eyes and stretched for the start of the day we took a look out our windows and were surprised to see that during the night someone had driven in and set up a tent beside us. I heard none of this during the night, which leads me to think that the person in the tent must have been a very accomplished tent-setterupper, as he (or she) would have had to have done this after midnight (I know this as I was still awake at midnight, I am a real detective!) in the pitch black and cold and did so without waking us. I on the other hand, if faced with this challenge, would have woken all of the community with my unlady like words and then my wails of desperation as I gave up on setting the damn thing up and instead wrapped myself in it for the night.
Our plan today was to stop in at Galway; we’d heard good things about this town and thought that by getting up early, skipping brekki (the plan was to get some in the city) we’d have ample time to check this place out before moving on. What a terrible idea that had been! The traffic trying to get into this silly town was banked up further than the eye could see and negotiating round abouts was sheer hell. There was practically no movement on the round abouts and when it did move at snails pace so many people would “beep” you (or do rude signs) that my nerves were shot and we had to pull over for a little break! We gave up on the thought of Galway, and I’m glad we did in the end. As we pulled over for some petrol Chris got chatting to the attendant who said that it had taken his girlfriend over an hour to get to Galway, and they were only a 10 minute drive from there! We later found out that there was a boat festival on for the long weekend, hence so many people. For us to go in would have been hell, really! Finding a park for our van (but first finding a car park!) finding the city centre, negotiating all those people, it would have been too much, we were glad to move on in the end.
We drove for some time, along the back roads once more, missing a few turns here and there, but no matter, it was a lovely day and everyone we met and spoke to seemed to be in high spirits. We looked at the map and realized that there was a ferry that could take us across the river Shannon, which, if we drove around, would take us about 3 hours, we decided to take this cheat and found ourselves relaxing in the sunshine as the ferry chuffed us along the Shannon River, it was bliss!
We’ve decided that while on the road we will camp one night by the road, next night at a camp site so that we can shower/wash clothes etc, and tonight was a campsite night, so, picking a destination on the map that showed the camp signs, we head off with high hopes. We drove and drove and drove… and where there was meant to be a camp site was… nothing. We hadn’t passed the dang site; we doubled back and checked, there was just nothing. By now, after 8 hours of straight driving, was more than a little irritating, so we decided to move on to Tralee, where we were sure we’d find a camp site or two. And we did, though they were all full. Moods were becoming highly irritable. We decided to try one last site and while they were COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY PACKED TO THE TILT they took us in. Ahhhh, a shower was beckoning! For 1.50 Euro you get 6 mins worth of water… I haven’t taken this yet, I’m waiting for the right time, I can’t waste it. I shall do it just before bed, when hopefully all the screaming toddlers, obnoxious children and sullen teenagers are out of my way, when all the parents who are too red from the sun and too loud from the drink they have consumed have retired for the night, when there is peace and quiet, then I will take my 6 min shower and relax!
written by  Chris and Emily on May 30, 2009 from Castlegregory, Ireland

One of the most beautiful spots you could ever visit, true story!
Dingle, Ireland
We didn’t move far today, though that was intentional. We’ve finally made it to Dingle, the south west peninsula that we’ve heard so much about, and now we know why. It is truly spectacular and stunningly beautiful, as it seems much of Ireland is. We had originally planned to do 4 days walking around Dingle; you can do day walks from village to village and stay in local accommodation, so we thought that would be great, but now we are truly glad we didn’t decide to do this. It seems every man and his dog has decided to do this over the long weekend and it seems far too touristy for our liking. While Dingle is a sweet little port town, it is, as I said earlier, very very touristy, with out of towners and foreigners spilling out every where and for this reason we didn’t spend long in the town. We continued on our drive that loops around the peninsula and it was stunning. The scenery of cliff faces, sprawling lakes, the ocean, the greenery, it just takes your breath away.
We discovered a windy little road that wound its way up a mountain, cliff one side and rock wall on the other, it was barely wide enough for one car but was meant to be for two. I don’t know what you were meant to do if you actually had the displeasure of coming across another vehicle but thankfully we didn’t have to find out. We stopped at a look out and took a pic or two from here, but it was here that Chris did some rock scrambling and found that at the top of this small look out a lake spread before him. He was very very pleased with this discovery. I’d have gone up too but I didn’t feel confident rock scrambling in thongs so waited at the bottom.
It was a warm day today, many people showing signs of catching the sun a little more than perhaps they should have, but the warm day meant not only sunburn but that every beach was packed to the brim with swimmers and beach goers. It was hard to find parks so we were happy to keep on driving and just discovering the beauty of this area. Tonight was a sleep by the road side night and we began to keep our eyes peeled for a beach that had fewer inhabitants, and just as the sun began to head to bed for the night we found our spot, and it was a doozie of one! A secluded beach with cliffs surrounding it, green grass, cows and sheep in fields around it, just stunning. We stopped here for a while, relaxing before heading into Dingle once more to go to the pubs that we’d earlier noticed were advertising ‘traditional Irish music, here tonight’
Chris here now, Em has decided that I need to contribute to the blog entry today (as she protest about being tired, heck I drove today, I guess holding on and navigating at the same time must take it out of her)
So we when we got into dingle we parked up happily taking note of the free parking after 6pm, anything free in Ireland is worth celebrating I am often thankful that they haven’t come up with a way to charge for sunlight or air yet!
We walked the main strip of Dingle popping into each pub in turn talking note of it’s pluses and minuses, the first was nice, clean and had a good vibe but it was too hot inside and full of the non-Irish, the second had a few more locals but not a seat free, the third didn’t have music I don’t remember what the score for the forth pub was but you get the picture, there was also a pub on the other side of the street that was clearly the “locals” pub as it was no where near as dolled up and had a bunch of Irish lads hanging around outside. We summed up our options as the street started to empty of establishments and decided that we would avoid the tourists and head to the undolledup locals’ pub. The pub was barely decorated with the usual garb, like sports teams photos and mirrors advertising Jameson’s, Guinness the whole venue consisted of two small rooms one that had the bar in it and hardly any chairs and through a small doorway was the backroom that had a table occupied by 5 older locals drinking a variety of Guinness, lager and cups of tea! There was a couple of plasmas on the wall showing a game of Rugby between the Irish and the yanks (I didn’t even know the yanks knew what rugby was let alone had a team) the bar room was quickly filling up with guys in rugby and polo tops mostly in the colors of what I can only assume is their favorites team who started setting themselves up with the limited seating to get the best view of the game and a whole swag of young girls dressed to impress each one with heels higher than the last getting the ankle injury waiting to happen ridicules. Em and I headed for the small table in the back room and made ourselves comfortable expecting the bar room crowd would soon flow over into the backroom. After about half an hour and one slow pint each we became aware of a unwritten law in this pub, apart from girls and the occasional lost but soon re-directed boy going to the ladies, the door of which happened to be in our smaller back room nobody under the age of 50 crossed the threshold from the bar room. The group of older guys sharing our small room where friendly enough but clearing not interested in striking up a conversation.
We moved on with Ireland leading 8-0 and headed for a pub to hear some music, which consisted of a guitarist, an accordion and some sort of bag pipe/flute thingy that actually made quite a nice sound. It was all quite nice really, but as previously stated, hot, stuffy, crowded and full of tourists so based on all these factors and that that we’re now turning into old fuddy duddies we made our way back to our ‘home’ for the night, settled in, opened the sky roof thingy and watched the stars before falling into a deep sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on May 31, 2009 from Dingle, Ireland

Butterflies, dolphins and a skinny dipping former husky farmer
Glengarriff, Ireland
Wow, what an amazing morning! We woke to see clear blue sky and warm rays beating in on our faces and woke feeling great. We hopped out of the car and were greeted with the most amazing views of Dingle Bay and the ocean, we just couldn’t help thinking “ahhh, this is the life!” We made ourselves a nice brekki and took it with us down to the cliff tops where we sat and watched the fishing trawlers head out for the day, bliss. Butterflies, about 20 of them, fluttered about our heads, landing on the flowers around us, spreading their wing and resting before darting off again, it was lovely, then, a man who we realized had been camping just around the mound from us went down to the beach, stripped off and dove into the ocean. I didn’t mean to look; I really didn’t but I just so happened to look down at the beach as he did this. Oops. I’ve now seen 3 skinny dippers on this trip. We sat on the cliff top, eating brekki, relaxing in the early warmth of the day, taking it all in and then the skinny dipper whistled out to us, I made Chris look over, and he was pointing out to us a Dolphin that had swum into the bay. It was truly gorgeous! We stood and watched this Dolphin rise and fall into the ocean in a chilled out, relaxed fashion. It wasn’t in any hurry; it was just taking its time and seemed so content. We watched this beautiful creature for as long as he stuck around and we decided that this was most probably the famous Dingle Dolphin named “Fungi” (a misfortunate name that’s for sure, not the nicest!) This dolphin lives around Dingle and has appeared on TV and in movies apparently. He’s wild but very very tame and people go out on tours to see him for e16 each, and here we were in the most beautiful place yet and seeing him for free. The best start to a day EVER!
After this we thought that we’d better ask the skinny dipper up for a coffee, after all he had been kind enough to point out Fungi to us. We waited until he had pants on and then offered him a warm beverage which he gratefully accepted. I’m sorry to say I didn’t actually catch his name but I know it stated with an H. He was German and he was touring Europe, Ireland and the UK by bike. He’d chucked his job in earlier in the year (he was a spin cycle instructor, which was handy I guess in preparing for such a challenge…) and just took off. Now, it’s just him, his bike and a sleeping bag. He started in Munich and was on his way around Ireland before heading off again. It came to pass in conversation, when we asked if he’d done this before (the answer was yes) that he’d once ended up in Norway and in need of money had become a husky farmer. I didn’t even know that huskies needed farming! Well, in fairness I don’t really think about huskies that often… I was impressed with his former occupation, not one that you come across very often to say the least! He was a very very nice young man (with kind smiling eyes) we had a lovely chat over coffee and wished each other luck and safe travels before moving on our separate ways. As Chris and I drove off I looked over my shoulder and Fungi was making splashes out in the water as if to say “bye!” A lovely send off to say the least!
Our route today was the ring of Kerry. It’s a scenic route that takes you along the coast, a little inland; back out to the coast once more before you go on your way to your next destination. It was pretty, but I don’t think it was as nice as yesterday’s beauty. Still, the ocean was sparkling blue and as it was 27 degrees today we couldn’t resist stopping off at a lovely long beach for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. I slapped on about 10 liters worth of sun screen before hopping out of the car and dipping a toe in the water. I’d applied so much that once I was in the water it was washing off me, running down my nose etc, quite amusing really. The water was beautiful and warm; the floor of the ocean clear sand, no sea weed or rocks to have to pick over, and it went on and on forever before it became deep enough to swim properly. We swam, paddled and danced about in the water for ages, laughing, relaxing and cooling down from the day’s heat. It was very refreshing!
We then moved on driving past look outs over the ocean, past mountains with varying deep green coloring and through stone tunnels, which were very cool to look at but a little scary to have to pass through all at the same time.
As tonight was a shower night (bliss bliss bliss!!!!) we found in our ‘camper van booklet’ a site that looked inviting and homey. It also declared to have WIFI which we welcomed as we haven’t had a chance to jump on and contact the world for a little while now. We rang ahead and reserved a spot and trundled on our way. We’d consumed all our water for the day, not a drop remained in the car so before pulling over for the night stopped in the town of Glengarriff to stock up on water and a few other little bits and bobs. As I was so incredibly hot I kindly allowed Chris the honor of having to get out in the heat, walk the streets, battle the shoppers then the check outs and staggering back with bags. I am a kind soul I know. I sat in the car, checking my reflection in the mirrors and was horrified to see just how red I was DESPITE the fact that I used so much darn sun screen. Dang red head, ivory skinned, blue eyed curse!
Chris was a saint picking up our supplies and he didn’t waste time in making new friends in this small town, bringing a stay elder gentlemen back to the car with him. The older Irish man was named John. He was very very nice, despite the fact he only had 3 teeth and kept looking at my boobs. I’m not sure if he was “all there”, lonely or just very friendly but he stayed and chatted for AGES! I had my window open and he stood there (next to Chris who wasn’t able to really excuse himself and escape to his side of the car) He asked question after question after question “how old are you?” “How many people in your family?” “How many children were in your parents’ family?” “How many children do you want?” “What do you do?” He was sweet though, he would repeat every answer you gave him after you which was amusing too. We chatted for ages in the heat, me slowly melting and I’m sure the milk he was holding was going off in the sun that beat down on us. We made at least 4 attempts to say goodbye before we actually got away, he wished us a life time of happiness and good health and that we have our desired number of children. Very kind sweet man. Also, upon hearing that we were only newly weds he shook Chris’ hand enthusiastically and then opened my car door to kiss me on both cheeks. He then bombarded us with “how long your parents been married for?” questions. He asked if Chris was being a good husband, I replied he was fantastic, John nodded and said “I can tell he is, you look happy, you have a bubbly face” I just hope that means friendly and not a truly round face. We bid him farewell and he said he hoped to see us in a few years when we return. I hope to see him too if we do, you could have a few pints with him, he was a harmless, interesting character who was just interested in getting to know you… and your boobs.
The caravan park we’re at tonight is nice, despite the fact they lied about their WIFI connection and ping pong tables. We had a BBQ for dinner and were eaten alive by midgies. My goodness they just devour you. We’ve put so much insect repellent on that we’re basically a walking can of the stuff but still they persist in chomping at us, and they hurt after awhile!! So, we shall sleep with all the windows shut tonight and with the covers pulled tight in hope of a restful nights sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 1, 2009 from Glengarriff, Ireland

The night we slept at the Jameson Distellery.
Midleton, Ireland
Oh my goodness. I’ve been eaten alive by bloody mosquitoes and midgies. I am not impressed. What I am is red and blotchy and bloody bloody itchy! They were everywhere last night and they kept coming at me despite the fact I COVERED myself with insect repellant and subjected myself to sitting in the smoke of our BBQ. Hmph.
We woke this morning at 7am and thought “must get up soon” only to fall back asleep and reawake at 10am, the sun beating down on us, the heat magnified ten times over thanks to the car windows. I thought we were going to die of heat stroke, it was a bit much. Up, shower and moved on (after also covering myself in Stingoes) to Bantry.
We had always planned to come to Bantry. My great uncle and his wife are buried here and we felt that we should stop and pay our respects while we could. We found Bunny and David’s grave, they were buried with one another, with out effort, somehow we just knew where to go. We lay some flowers, which my hero Chris picked from the side of a busy road, dug out some weeds and had a chat to them about the family back in Australia, before saying goodbye and once more hitting the road to our next destination, Cork.
Cork isn’t such a bad city, its nice enough and all, but good god the parking is hell! We drove around and around and around the bloody city before finally finding a car park, and when we got in it was tighter than a nuns clacker! We parked with the aid of a lovely Irish gentleman who took it upon himself to be our parking attendant, he was a saint, very nice and helpful, and to be honest, we probably couldn’t have done it without him!
We took our time looking about Cork, relaxing and doing some window shopping before deciding that we should probably make a move… only to be caught in the 5pm traffic, oops!
We spotted on the map a little beach where we thought we would pull over for the night, so we made tracks for this place. There was a car RIGHT behind me on these twisty, turvey, narrow roads but I wasn’t going to go any faster, I plodded along at my 50 Kms, thinking he could overtake when he saw fit. We continued to drive along this road which was a main road by all accounts, before passing through an intersection that was completely hidden by the bends in the road and the singage for this was behind trees that over hung and besides which, the sign was bent and rusting. We swore and thought “if someone else had been coming we’d be gone, they should really do something about this!” We drove for a while more, the car following still very much on my tail gate, finally having enough I pulled over to let him pass and so that we could look at the map once more. Of course the car behind me then pulled over too and did a U-y. Typical I thought. Chris and I went on looking at the map until a rap at the window scared the life out of us. It was the man who had been following. I undid my window to be greeted by “did you know you went through an intersection?” I replied that yes I did. He went on to have a go at me stating that 4 people had died there recently, I apologized if we’d caused any concern but you really couldn’t see the signs and that the intersection was very very hidden. He looked at us and said “well, if you weren’t hurtling along you would have seen it” and then said “your not from around here, we have signs here in Ireland too you know” He was so patronizing! He told us that he was part of a community of traffic and road group, that seeing as we weren’t locals there wasn’t much he could do… I apologized again and left. I was so angry! I was NOT “hurtling” like he suggested I was, I was doing 50 in a 60 zone, with him RIGHT ON MY BUTT, what was he doing following me, and how far was he going to follow me before giving up the chase and what was he going to do had I been local? Arrest me?! God, he was so bloody arrogant, the most irritating Irishman yet. Yes, thank you for making me aware, yes, pointing it out was nice to do, but bloody hell, he could be a bit more polite about it all. If 4 people had been killed recently, and other accidents had happened like he suggested, then maybe he and his ‘community traffic group’ should spend more time campaigning for better signage and markings and for the trees to be cut back so people could bloody well SEE the intersection and STOP following strangers to rant and insult them! I’m not the first to make the mistake and I’m sure I won’t be the last. Hmph, that’s my say.
We stopped then at a beach, but it had an eerie, yucky feel to it. To me it felt as if it was a town out of a Steven King novel, I don’t know why, it just did. Chris didn’t like it either, we both got the “vibe” so we made a quick dinner and moved on, not knowing where we were going, but just getting out. The beach was incredibly full, the people all seemed nice and were happy, but there was just something about the place that wasn’t right; it had that ‘feel’
We didn’t know where we were headed but we saw that there was a town called Middleton close by, we decided to give this a shot. Chris was very excited to see that the Jameson Distillery was located here. He had wanted to go here while in Ireland but we didn’t think we’d have time, and we hadn’t been sure where it was, and now we stumbled upon it by pure chance. I was more excited to see that it had free parking outside its gates. It was after 9pm now, so the distillery was well and truly shut, but we decided that with free parking and a public toilet across the road, this was our camping spot for the night.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 2, 2009 from Midleton, Ireland

Whisky and chippies for breakfst
We didn’t sleep very well last night. It was a combination of things really. Firstly, there were ‘hoons’ going up and down the road in there revved out cars (it turned out this one particular guy was the pizza delivery man, I was wondering if he could claim his car alterations for work expense?) then, just as we got into our PJs and into bed the Garda, police to you and I showed up, they pulled up next to us, looked at the car and then left. We then wondered if we were breaking the law by parking over night in the free parking zone and were they going to ask us to move on? So we were keeping an eye out all night really, any car we heard we’d pull back the curtain a crack and have a squiz. Then at 3.30am I had to go to the loo BALDY, the only problem being that the public loo we had been over joyed to see yesterday wasn’t actually working, so I had to wake Chris to get him to come stand guard for me, THEN at 6.30am I woke with a start as I heard the “beep beep beep” of a truck reversing and thought that we were being towed. I sat up bolt right and shook Chris who wasn’t impressed when it turned out to just be a delivery truck reversing from a store. Oops. We were up now. We got changed and, needing the loo again but deciding that in sun light it wasn’t very appropriate to just find a bush, went in search for a Maccas, as we figured they always open at about 6am for brekki. We did find a Maccas, but they weren’t open and wouldn’t be until 9am (which really defeats the brekki menu) so, now making random turns on the road in desperation, we came across a Tesco that was open. Good ol’ Tesco, you can always relie on them it would seem!
We still had 3 hours to kill until Jameson opened for their tours, so we went back to our original parking spot, pulled over, jumped in the back and had a rest. We didn’t think that pulling all our camp stove equipment for brekki would be very appropriate so we settled on opening snack packs of chips for brekki. We’re not proud of this but we were hungry and it was the only food product we had that didn’t require heating.
Jameson’s finally opened and we went our tour, and I have to say, it was great. Much much better than the Guinness one. Chris in particular enjoyed this tour, he’s been drinking Jamesons forever (so he tells me but I can’t envisage Jan feeding him this as a child somehow…) and he has quite a collection happening at home, so he was in 7th heaven. I was just glad that there were free loos at hand, not that I needed them, but just knowing that they were there was nice.
After this tour and taste testing of Chris' favourite beverage we made tracks for Blarney Castle, where we were told we would (or should) kiss the Blarney stone. Doing this will apparently give you 'the gift of the gab' and you'll be able to tell fabulous tales just as the Irish do. Only, to achieve this 'gift' it means you must first climb to the top of the castle, line up and then, with the aid of an elderly gentleman, lie down, lean right back (allowing your head to fall back) and kiss the low part of a jutting out stone. Not such a hard feat one might think, but it is if you're afraid of heights! As we climbed up and up and I could see the view from the top of the castle I was umming and ahhing to Chris about kissing the stone. I also reasoned that with the recent outbreak of Swine Flu would kissing a stone that millions of others had be considered all that hygienic or wise? I then saw that they have spray and wipe on hand, but that apparently is only used when a woman wearing too much lipstick kisses the stone... god knows we don't want it to get dirty...
So, with a few deep breaths and without once looking down, I kissed the stone. It was quick, very quick in fact, but I did it. I can't say I noticed the 'gift' being bestowed upon me all at once, to be honest I was a little speechless for awhile, but I think it was just the shock of it all setting in... I managed to recover quickly enough to take a snap shot of Chris kissing the stone, he had no problems. I'm happy to say that I'm okay now and I think Chris now regrets talking me into kissing the stone. I liked a good chat before, now he can't shut me up. I guess the stone really does work.
It was a shame that we only had a short time at Blarney Castle, there is so much to do there and it really is a lovely spot. We only managed a fleeting visit as we had so far to drive later that afternoon, had we had more time it would have been nice to check out the gardens, the house, the woods surrounding it all... it looked lovely.
After all this we drove and drove and DROVE onto Dublin where we found a rather nice caravan park to pull over for the night and camp. It had everything we needed so we were very pleased to be here the night! There were many clean loos, many clean showers, many nice camping spots and NO mozzies or midgies, so we were quite literally, happy campers!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 3, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Sadly, our last day with the A team
Whitehead, United Kingdom
Sadly, today was our last full day with Mr T and his gang of fools. We’ve really enjoyed the freedom and independence that came with hiring this van but most of all; we enjoyed just getting out there and experiencing Ireland for ourselves.
We took our time getting up and ready today, there was no hurry, check out was 12pm and our drive today was only about 4 hours, so we just relaxed, taking our time and getting things in order. Seeing as the van has been home for the past week or so our stuff has gone everywhere, so packing it up today was a wee bit of a chore, a hassle, but one that had to be done.
After our leisurely morning we headed off up towards Belfast, opting to stay the night just out of there (who knows when a coffee jar might go off?) and drove to a little jutty out bit of Irelands north, which was named Muckpoint. Not an enticing name, but it was nice enough. The plan had been to pull over somewhere by ourselves for the night, have a chilled out meal and relax, but sadly there weren’t many appropriate pulling over places that we could see. We drove around and down towards a little (or as the Irish say wee) beach where we saw what we assumed to be a car park for camper vans, so we pulled in. There were several other campers there so we thought “beauty, we’ll just camp here for the night” and got out and began to check out the area, then we slowly became suspicious that this spot looked rather like a caravan park, but the lack of signage or any reception area made us doubt ourselves.
Curiosity got the better of us and I had to ask a man camping near us if this was indeed a free spot or a camping park. He informed me (in between mouthfuls of ice-cream he was licking) that some woman had come and collected money off him, pointed out her caravan and told me she’d be the person to see. So I did, I went on up and made the mistake of looking at this woman and saying “this isn’t a caravan park, is it?” Immediately I saw her shoulders square back, her chest become puffed up, her head held high and she drawled intimidating “YES it is” Right. Okay. Kate, who had a fag hanging out of her mouth, sunburn to her shoulders, her short shorts well too short for her larger legs and a rat dog as I like to call them, sitting on her lap, informed me that this indeed was a caravan park and that we had to pay 8E to stay and deposit 10E for a key to the loo. Chris and I considered this and decided that as it was getting late and we had an early start tomorrow we didn’t really want to waste time driving around aimlessly tonight and agreed to the charge. What a mistake. We were surrounded by large caravans that were powered by generators, screaming children and, above all, horrible horrible little rat dogs, who wore pink jackets and yapped ALL EVENING. We were close to pulling our hair out. The good thing about this setting though was that we had the most amazing, beautiful sunset we’ve seen in a long time. Just gorgeous it was.
We made ourselves a meal from the left over bits and bobs that we had lying about, had a drink and hit the hay for our early start tomorrow.
Funnily enough, Chris and I sustained the exact same injury, in the exact same way, only on different fingers. Thank goodness we had a couple of Wiggles Bandaids on hand... no pun intended!*
written by  Chris and Emily on June 4, 2009 from Whitehead, United Kingdom

Goodbye Mr T, hello again Belfast
Belfast, United Kingdom
Quick vacuum and wash of the car and it was time to hand the A team back. We didn’t waste time with a long drawn out goodbye, they're no good for anyone. We just wished Mr. T many happy travels and moved on. It was sad, but it was the best way to deal with it.
added by chris:
We had done over 2000km's on our trip around Ireland and looking at the little map in our blog we did a nice circle of the country, the first country that I have lapped, and my biggest road trip to date. Very satisfied!
After this, Dave, the wicked owner, drove us into the village to catch a bus into Belfast, which was nice of him; he didn’t have to do that. We ended up having 40 minutes to kill in the cold, chilly wind. The weather, up until today, has been amazing, sunny, hot and wind free. The day that we give the car back it turns grey, cold and windy! No matter, we came prepared for every season. We pulled on our warm jumpers and Chris, being a man, went on a hunting, gathering session for a strong hot cuppa and hot choccie. He succeeded with this Mission, and not long after the bus arrived to take us to Belfast.
The journey took about 2 hours, not too bad we decided, given the windy little coastal roads. I swear though that the bus driver was a big meany. Every time someone got up, either to get something from their bags or to walk down the aisle for their up coming stop, he would put the brakes on suddenly making everyone lurch forward in a drastic, violent motion. He was a big fat meany he was and he also looked miserable.
I have to say, it was kind of nice to arrive back in Belfast. It was also a bonus that we knew our way around the city and where we had to go etc. We stayed once more in the hostel, which was much nicer this time as we had our own private room with our own CLEAN bathroom, it felt like luxury after ‘ruffing’ it in the back of the van (as much as we loved it!)
We strolled the streets until we found a nice little spot to eat, it was cheap and lovely and busy! We enjoyed our fresh salads and veggies and bit of meat before, feeling the exhaustion of the last few days, went back to the hostel and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 5, 2009 from Belfast, United Kingdom

Ahhh, relaxing day of NOTHING!
Oooooohhhhhh, such a nice big sleep in today! It was so wonderful and nice and cozy! We had a lazy lazy lazy day. Taking it easy, doing some washing, reading our books before deciding we should probably do something productive for the day and head out back in the city of Belfast. It was once more raining and grey, but this time we had our rain jackets so we didn’t mind the downpours this time so much.
We stopped in Maccas again for our free WIFI, but this detour was hellish. Maccas on any day is busy, but being a Saturday and in the middle of the city, it was HELL! Screaming children, harassed mothers, over worked, flustered looking employees giving you ‘looks’ when you added on a “and could I also please have a…” when ordering, they clearly didn’t want to be working there.
After this, and a brief look about the city, we moved onto see the new Terminator movie, which I have to say, is crap. I didn’t like this movie at all, and for a moment closed my eyes during the film before thinking “oh crap, we paid for this movie, I guess I should watch it” I liked Star Trek much better. I am obviously a geek, not an action/adventure girl.
This was about all we accomplished today. Other than dinner that is. We went to a little place around the corner called “Foo.kin Express” it made us giggle, and it was a nice meal! We sat and people watched for a time, taking in all the women who walked past, dressed to the nines. All in tiny dresses, huge heels, and fake tanned until they look orange and all sporting peroxide blond locks. This is obviously the look that is fashionable here in Belfast, but I am happy not to join this ‘fad’ and just be me!
This really was the extent of our day, it was so chilled out, so relaxed, so nice, and we really really enjoyed ourselves.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 6, 2009 from Belfast, United Kingdom

Dublin once more
Another slow, leisurely morning with check out at 11am. We took our time, had a nice brekki before heading off to the bus station to try for a bus to Dublin. We got there with only 5 mins to wait, which we were impressed with. We knew the bus would be slow, but we didn’t realize just how slow. 3 hours of jolting along, bouncing up and down in slightly squashy seats. It wasn’t so bad, we were able to take in the landscape of Ireland that we missed on our own travels, and it was nice to be going somewhere by road and not have to be looking for the turn offs and signs!
Back to the Dublin Backpackers once more, it is feels like home and we are so comfortable here. We had a little rest before we head out into the city centre which was a little quiet given it is a Sunday. We did a little grocery shopping for the next two days and head back to cook dinner. Really, not a very interesting day, but it was another chilled out one that was nice. It’s really nice to have some time to just do mundane things and I think we have too do this from time to time just so we can recharge our batteries and be ‘normal’ being on the go all day everyday is fun, but it isn’t so healthy really, we need time to stop and do ‘chores’ like washing and grocery shopping.
We will be in Dublin another day, before we head back to the UK for a little time where I will see TAKE THAT! You can’t begin to imagine my excitement! It’s been such a long time coming and the wait for my tickets to arrive has been an anxious one (tickets only get sent out a week before the concert, mine was sent only yesterday, it now has to be sent onto another address where I will pick it up.. it was touch and go there for awhile if it would arrive in time, but I think we can all breath a sigh of relieve now and say that it’s all okay and it WILL arrive in time) after this, we will head to Europe for a while. We are both excited about the next few weeks, and so for this reason, I’m glad we’re having these few days of “nothing” to just relax.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 7, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Our day of artistic mediums… and a rude man and his witch!
We woke up today and instantly wanted to fall back asleep. We knew that we would be tired from our travels, but we weren’t expecting to take this long to bounce back, it’s really taken it out of us! As we were both so tired today we didn’t feel up too much other than just chilling out and relaxing, so for this reason we decided to wander into Saint Stephens Green (which is a large green garden with a lake and is very pretty) onto a lunch time play with a bowl of soup and then a movie at one of Dublin’s more artistic movie theatres.
Saint Stephens Green was lovely. A huge garden brimming with gorgeous flowers, clean, green glass, happy and chilled out looking people sitting about enjoying their lunch time breaks… It was really nice. We found ourselves a bench and sat down, enjoying the atmosphere, Chris then decided to lie down on my lap so that I could stroke his hair as he relaxed… it was all very nice, but then HE came along…
Chris was lying on my lap, just saying goodbye to his dad who he had called for a bit of a chat, when this grumpy looking man came up to us, stood in front of Chris, grunted and motioned for Chris to move his feet. Chris got up and the man proceeded to take his jacket off and make himself at home in the spot Chris had been. Not so much a problem, but we looked about us and saw that there were PLENTY more seats free that he could have taken residence in and not having to make Chris move. Chris then pointed this out by saying “you know, there are seats over there that are free” and oh my goodness… this man went OFF. His face went red and he started to yell, very loudly “yeah, well, no one tells me where to f*#&ing sit! These seats are for sitting, not lying about, no one tells me where to fu*%ing sit you hear me! I’ll sit where I want to f*#&ing sit, you can’t tell me where to sit, I can sit where I want” I didn’t quite know whether to laugh or get angry, I kind of came across a bit of both in the end, but then he went on a little too long for my liking and I became angry so I said “you know, we were only relaxing, there’s no need to get so angry” and then he went off again “these seats are for f*&#ing sitting, I can sit where I want to sit, these aren’t for you to be exerting your self about on (what the hell was that about?!) And then the WITCH with a million little rat dogs came up and said “alright Tony?” and Tony (big mean ugly red faced fowl mouthed Tony) turned to her and began to relive the tale of Chris and I relaxing on the park bench as if it were a mortal crime, to which I interjected with “we were relaxing” then horrible witch woman (she looked like a witch, long grey hair, cloaky clothes, twisted facial features) turned and said very patronizingly, “well, that’s what the grass is for” Huh? What are the seats for if not for relaxing? Anyhow, I was now quite angry, as was Chris, and they were attracting quite a lot of attention to us with their constant rant and raves and the f bomb being dropped like it were confetti… So we ended this argument with “You are SOOO rude! Thanks so much for your warm Irish hospitality huh?” And we stormed off repeating once or twice more just how incredibly rude they were and how they didn’t need to speak to us like that. Horrible red faced man with his stupid glad bag of lunch time goodies and his silly patronizing witch girlfriend. I hope her million rat like dogs ate his lunch when he wasn’t looking. And anyhow, how do you suppose we were meant to ‘relax’ on the grass when there are big bold signs saying “PLEASE KEEP OFF THE GRASS” about?
Anyhow, annoyed and irritated by this rude behaviour we moved away and out of the park and into a nice restaurant that was teeming with people. The very top level of this restaurant has been turned into a little theatre, where they hold lunch time plays, which you can watch as you have your bowl of soup. Chris and I decided to partake in this and were the youngest there by about 40 years, but we enjoyed our soup and the play, which was about a nursing home and a man loosing his memory. It was a different way to enjoy lunch, and a nice one at that.
After this, we still didn’t feel like doing much so we moved onto a little independent movie theatre that show more Indy and art house flicks. We got there just in time to see a new Ryan Reynolds flick “Fireflies in the garden” which was sad, but good none the less. We were two of four people in the cinema.
Now, we’re back at the backers, having had a good chat with Peter the manager (who is lovely) and contemplating seeing some live Irish dancing tonight… so far everything we’ve looked at requires you to pay for a set course dinner menu in order to sit and enjoy a show, and we’re not really up for that, not at E30-E48… we’ll see how we go. We’ve really enjoyed Ireland, it’s been a great little journey and we’ve had a grand time, seen so much, done so much and met some real characters. It really is a lovely place that we hope to return too some day.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 8, 2009 from Dublin, Ireland

Back in the mother land
Buntingford, United Kingdom
It was sad to leave Ireland today, but a relief in some ways to get back to the UK. It was another long day of travel, planes, trains, buses and cars, but we finally made it back to Sue and Patrick’s in one piece, albeit just a little tired. It’s so lovely to see these guys again and catch up on their news and goss and to have a lovely home cooked meal, which was a real treat! Other than travel & catch ups we didn’t get up to much, it was so lovely to get a chance to relax, put our feet up and get a good nights sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 9, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Take That mania... for Em that is, it was a night of westerns for Chris.
Coventry, United Kingdom
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I, Em, have never been so excited… Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, I was excited about getting married to the man of my dreams, but I was also very very excited today. Why? You ask, well, today was my first chance to see Take That, the band I have been obsessed with since the age of 14 (and for the rest of my life, so help me god) live in concert. I can’t remember the last time I was so excited and full of nerves (OTHER than my wedding!!!) When I was younger I thought that I’d grow up and marry Gary Barlow.. or Robbie Williams (I was always torn) but, as it happens Gary ended up marrying a back up dancer (I wasn’t impressed) and I went on to marry an amazing, wonderful, kind man who loves the fact that I’m a terrible dancer, I look like I’m having some kind of fit when I’m out there, so I doubt I could impress Gary with my bon bon shaking… ANY ways, back to the blog.
We were up early today, packed and with the car Sue and Patrick once again kindly lent us, on our way to Coventry. It was only a 2 hour drive, nothing to a couple of Aussies who happen to like a decent road trip, so we were there in plenty of time. We checked into our hotel, which thankfully we were able to score for a 60% discount (you wouldn’t want to pay full price for this place, bit of a dive really) found some pub grub next door before Chris drove me to the concert. I swear to you, in all honesty, I have no fingernails left. I was so nervous about this concert that I couldn’t stop biting them. Gates opened at 4pm; we got there about bang on time. If concert going in Australia has taught me anything, it’s get there early, so I did (if my back up chick and fellow thater lover Ashe had been with me we’d have been there well earlier though planning our back stage admittance…) I first purchased a wee bit of merchandise, then took a quick look at the essentials (where is the water stand, and most important, where are the loos and how many are there?) before dashing out to the arena only to find… THAT THERE WAS STANDING RIGHT AT THE FRONT! Well, I did this mad dash waddle (my equivalent to running) to the front and stood my ground. No one, no matter who they were going to move me from this position, it was amazing! Ashe and I have strategized for years of how we were going to achieve this goal, and here I was living it out, I only wished she were there with me. Oh well, the day will come I’m sure (we’ve planned it long enough) I stood there quite patiently as the crowd grew and the clouds set in, I crossed all my fingers and toes that it wouldn’t rain and then concentrated on watching the support acts, Gary Go (?) and then The Script, both were quite good, but I wasn’t there for them, they were just a hindrance to the main act for me! After the script left the stage I felt a large drop fall on me, I closed my eyes and wished REALLY hard for the rain to go away, but it didn’t. Instead it POURED down, and I mean completely and utterly chucked it. I was totally drenched to the bone within 30 seconds, the rain was so heavy and the drops so fat, no one had any escape. A lady beside me had brought an umbrella, she allowed me, along with her friend to seek shelter under it, but it was no use, then another 2 ladies joined us under it, so it was a little tight and really, honestly, no good despite this ladies sweet and kind intentions. We all huddled under the brollie, rain running off our noses, me wringing my jacket arms out, and asked aloud “do you suppose the lads will go on?” And to be honest, I wouldn’t have blamed them, or been surprised if they hadn’t, but just as we were contemplating this horrid thought, a clown came out, and then another, then some more, all carrying balloons… it was starting!! We screamed, and so it began. The tour is called “The Circus” (after their new album title) hence the opening involving clowns and other circus performers, it was amazing with all the different props, acts and performances.
Take That sprung out from the middle of the arena (there is a long cat walk out there and a stage middle of the ground) the place erupted, it was just amazing and I can’t remember when I last screamed so loud. I sound like a star struck teenager I know, but this has been a life long desire so I was making the very very most of it! The lads (Gary, Mark, Howard and Jason) sang all the old school songs, the new stuff and they were all brilliant. They then rode an elephant, yes; you read right, an elephant to the main stage where I was now only a matter of meters from them…I had to remind myself to breathe now. I’d love to be able to tell you in detail the set they played, the clothes they wore, how they all looked, what was said etc, but I don’t think I could fit so much on the blog and more to the point, I don’t think some of you would be really all that interested, but if you want to know, then let me know and I can fill you in with every last minute detail. Let me just tell you the high lights though:
• Howard’s arms.
• Howard and Jason riding unicycles
• Mark riding a unicycle with the aid of two acrobats as he is too little to hop on one himself
• Gary not even attempting the unicycle and instead riding a trike – hysterical.
• The elephant
• The old school melody
• Never Forget
• Shine
• Mark trying to be a ‘scary’ lion tamer. He is not scary, and though he tries bless him, he is not a lion tamer. He is way too sweet.
• Did I mention Howards arms?
So, as you may have gathered I quite took a liking to Howard, which is strange as I always have been loyal to Gary, but in person all I can say about Howard is … PWHOAR!!!!! Still, my loyalty is too Gary.
The concert finished too soon for my liking but I ran out as soon as I could as I realized that to pick me up poor old Chris would have to go through hell. There were over 40,000 people there so traffic was going to be difficult to say the least. As I walked out I saw the neon lights of the 24 hour Tesco off in the distance, bless them. I arranged with Chris to pick me up from here thinking it would be easier, and to a degree it was, but it still took him an hour to make the 5 mile drive, it was CRAZY! Traffic was stand still so it took awhile, but it was okay, we were expecting it and as I was still on a high poor Chris got the run down of EVERY last detail of the event from a very excited me.
Last but not least I have to say that I just loved the way that, despite the fact it was POURING with rain TT still came on stage, did amazing, full on performances and not once had any cover for themselves either, they got just as drenched as everyone else and they just laughed and encouraged everyone to dance in the rain. They are most certainly not divas, the only thing they did mention was that they wouldn’t be using hair product in the rain again as it stung very badly when it ran into their eyes.
So, I had an amazing, great time and Chris bless him, the wonderful, patient husband he is, waited back at the hotel for me to call and relaxed by reading and watching old western movies (it was the only thing on the telly, we only had one channel!)
written by  Chris and Emily on June 10, 2009 from Coventry, United Kingdom

"Home" again
We made it back to Sue and Patrick’s in plenty of time today to be able to do washing, pack and all those last minute things one must do when preparing for another travel. We didn’t really achieve much more than this, which is great. We needed a chance to sit down, relax, and work out all the next few days bits and bobs. Another lovely home cooked meal and night of chatting, before off to bed for a reasonable nights sleep, fresh for our travels to France the next morning.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 11, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Pardon, Parlez vous anglais?
Paris, France
Well, here we are, finally in France, Paris to be exact, and so far, are loving it. We’ve had such a full on day that we haven’t had a real chance to check the place out yet (so so tired) BUT, what we have seen thus far, is great!
We started the day by getting up nice and early, and with Sues assistance of dropping us at the station, made our way to London where we dropped our bags at a luggage desk before finding Regent Street, in order to find the Eurail Office and buy our Eurail pass for the next few weeks. I have to say that these passes are BLOODY expensive, but, are almost essential for Europe travel, it will in the long run, save us quite a bit of cash. We brought these passes in an hour or so and then had 5 hours to kill until our next train, so we walked back to St James Park where we had lunch, lay in the sun, tried to be squirrel whisperers again (weren’t so successful this time, it seems they don’t like bread) went onto Trafalgar square and then back to St Pancreas to pick up our luggage and catch the Eurostar to Paris.
The journey really didn’t take that long; I was prepared for a lot longer so I was rather chuffed when we hopped off after 2 hours or so.
The Paris Metro (train station) is quite easy to negotiate, even if your French is dismal. I actually find it 100 times easier than the London underground to be honest. We had a little trouble finding our hotel though, we followed the map down to the tea, but we couldn’t see it at all, we were on some sort of alley street, so with a lot of aimless wandering we eventually stumbled upon it, no where near the map directions. Our room is gorgeous. A large room by city hotel standards, nice ensuite bathroom with a spa (I was in heaven seeing this) and the most comfortable bed EVER. We dumped our stuff and went for a little wander about, discovered a market that was just closing up, a few restaurants and bits and bobs before making our way back to the hotel for some well deserved rest.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 12, 2009 from Paris, France

Eiffel Tower, Notre Dam (minus a hunch back)
Paris, France
Oh my goodness, it is HOT here. So, so, SO hot. Just waking up you're wiping the sweat from your brow. I'm melting terribly.
Em isn't good in the heat and she spent the day drenched in sun cream, reapplying it often, the sky was blue and the sun was beating down on us all day. I enjoyed the weather but it can get a bit much when you're walking long distances.
The Metro station we planned to get off at was closed so we had to go another stop further but it worked out well as we got to walk through one of the prettiest parts of Paris (I think) there were streets lined with trees that lead both to the Arc de triumph and the Louve. There was an Egyptian Obelisk that must have been plundered by the French at some point at the entrance to the park; I remember seeing one just like it (maybe a little smaller) on the bank of the Thames in London. The park is really nice and quite open, first impression of Paris is that it is a lot more spaced out and open than London the parks have walkways the size of roads going through them instead of the small paths that go through the parks in London. As we entered the park we were confronted by the first of many scam-artist baggers who will ask you "do you speak English" if you say yes they show you a postcard with a sob story about a father in hospital on it and ask for money. Em gave her 70c and she didn't seem pleased with the amount but we walked on making note to pretend not to speak English next time we were asked, we noticed later that these women work in gangs and target all the tourist attractions.
We pulled up a couple of the chairs that are scattered around the parks and chilled out in the shade for a little while and then headed in the direction of the louver. Got sidelined by a street "artist" who draw my character pretty badly and Em bartered him on the price down to 10Eu he claimed that he was drawing the portrait for free but he was pretty forceful that we should buy it when it was finished, oh well it will make an interesting souvenir.
We had a look at the Louver on the outside and checked prices etc, both of us were not up to a day looking at art so we decided to save it for later and go see more of the city. Off to Notre Dam we went, a decent hike but well worth it along the river across the famous --insert bridge name here-- and onto the island. Notre Dam is free and the most frequented attraction in Paris, 10s of millions of people go through it each year! We joined the queue an experience we have avoided mostly on this trip but one that we can avoid anymore. The queue looked huge but it moved really quickly and we were soon inside where we could check out the round stained glass windows that I have seen photos of before and wander around looking at the chandeliers, the organ and the carvings. As churches go it was nice but not the most impressive we have seen, but hey it's Notre Dam you can't not go there!
After this we moved on to the Eiffel Tower. The line up for this attraction was insane! We decided to not line up in the beating heat, but rather find a nice patch of grass under a tree and lie here for awhile. It was so lovely and relaxing! We spent quite a long time doing this, it was so refreshing and it was great to be able to people watch and take in the sounds, smells and workings of Paris. When we eventually thought we'd had enough we made a lazy move back towards the Metro station to catch the train back and chill out in the air conditioning of our hotel room!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 13, 2009 from Paris, France

Eiffel tower once more (we can’t get enough) the worlds busiest roundabout and Ems new dress
Paris, France
The plan today was to get up super early, beat the line up for the Eiffel Tower, go up, have a squiz, back down, to the Louvre, check out Mona, then chill in a park… How ambitious were we?!
Yes, we got up bright and early and yes we made it to the Eiffel Tower nice and early… but we still had to line up for TWO hours in the sweltering heat. This weekend has been stiffeling with heat, I’m melting from the moment I open my eyes until I close them and all the hours in between that! We took it in turns standing in line, allowing one another a chance to sit in the shade and try to reenergize (it worked marginally) and after two hours of line ups, heat, annoying other tourists we were finally allowed up and I have to say, it was worth it. The views from up here are amazing, you can see forever! We stayed up there for a long time, walking around, going to the different levels to get other views, taking lots of photos. We waited for so long we were going to make the most of this!
After this (melting the whole time) we had NO energy left for the Louvre, it had been a nice idea, but there was no way that it was going to be achieved, not today anyway. After this we instead made our way to the Arch De Tremont, the busiest round about in the world, and it has to be said, this is a crazy, hellish round about. There is NO way I’d ever contemplate driving anywhere near this round about. There is no procedure or signs or anything, just a free for all. I watched in horror as a motor bike and a car came VERY close to a large collision, but it was narrowly avoided with a lot of loud horns and rude gesturing, no one was very impressed with that! We used the underground pass to the middle where we sat under the arch for a while, breathing in a sigh of satisfaction when our backs were pressed up against the cool marble seats. For some where so busy there was not so much noise here, it was actually quite peaceful.
We were completely buggered now, so hot, so sweaty, just ready to lie down or have a cool shower so we slowly made our way back to the hotel, along the way taking in the sights of the streets and stores around us (i.e.: Chanel, Louis Vutton etc, big name brands) but my fave thing we saw along this road was a busker called “Dancing Papy” This old man wore his hat side ways, had up beat more modern music blaring and was giving it all he had for the dance world. It was so funny and sweet. I gave him some money quickly and moved on, others followed suit and as they did so, they had to dance into the middle with him, it was so nice. At one stage I looked over my shoulder and saw another 4 people just dancing these crazy moves on the pavement with him, clapping and laughing. It was a lot of fun.
We made our way back to the hotel, had a small rest before heading to the market that was on at the end of our street. Here we brought some sheep cheese, bread and hummus and, a new dress for me. I am in love with this dress and it only cost 10 Euro, a real bargain I feel for the middle of Paris! We took our edible goodies to the shade of a lovely big old tree where we sat on the grass and tore off pieces of bread, dipping them in the hummus and ripping off bits of cheese, it was the best French meal we’ve had yet, very relaxed, very nice and a lovely way to finish off our quick Parisian stop over.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 14, 2009 from Paris, France

Smiling, happy, friendly faces from home and yummy French meal by the port
La Rochelle, France
As great as it has been, today was the day to make a move from Paris down to La Rochelle (west of France) to see our good friends Kris and Paul and their bub Zoe who are also visiting France at this time. It was so nice to see them again; you don’t realize how much you miss home until you see a familiar face that is smiling and happy to see you!
The train ride down to La Rochelle was quiet and uneventful, though we were well impressed with our first class seating (thank you Eurail) we read, wrote and slept away the 3 hours until we arrived in La Rochelle and met up with the guys, it was lovely to see them once more.
Chris and Paul then decided to drive the car load of bags and luggage back to the hotel while Kris, Zoe and I would walk around the port area in search of a nice café/place to have dinner. It was said that we would meet up again in 20 minutes, however an hour and a half later we were still waiting, and we finally did see the boys again it transpired that the hotel reception was not open, but said that it would open in half an hour, so they had waited, and waited, and waited, eventually giving in and coming to see us instead. During all this Kris and I had had a chance to walk about the wharf area and check it out a bit; it is very pretty I must say.
The boys eventually returned to us and we sat down to a 3 course meal that only cost 14 Euro, it has to be said that this is a bloody good deal here in France! It was so nice to be with friends, to chat and laugh and experience real French food (Paul is French so he was able to lead us in the right direction food wise) it was a lovely chilled out night of catch ups and stories before heading back to the hotel for a quick game of “toss the pig” and bed ready for our big day tomorrow.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 15, 2009 from La Rochelle, France

French Island hopping, picnic under lighthouse, aquarium and crepes for dinner
La Rochelle, France
Near La Rochelle is an island, which I am very sorry to say, I have forgotten the name of (shame on me) but this was our destination today. It was another bloody hot day, requiring from me a hat (I brought one yesterday thankfully!) and a bottle of sun cream to be applied. Chris of course just chucks a t shirt on and is fine, no burning or blistering for him, no no, just a lovely deep brown tan that is coming along nicely thank you. Hmph. We stopped off for breakfast by the port, which had a very chilled out feel to it, then made our way to a little supermarket where we picked up some more French goodies for our picnic lunch.
We drove around the island for some time, looking at old salt mills, sea salt farms, forts etc before making our way to the light house which was quite impressive. Here we decided to stop and have our picnic lunch, baguettes, pate, cheese, salami, gherkins, and tomatoes, all very very yummy to say the least! The Salami I could eat forever, it is so good!! We also brought some cider to share and it was quite refreshing on such a HOT day. We moved into the shade as the sun was just toooooo hot for us and after a while, moved on to have a look (a proper one) at the light house.
One ice-cream and many photos later we moved on to a little sea salt stand by the road where you can pick this gourmet, high quality salt up for around $3-$5, however, if you were to buy the same amount in Australia it can cost $50-$100, so we brought a bag or two here! After this, the sun had taken it out of us in a big way. Kris, Chris, Zoe and I all fell asleep in the car as poor old Paul drove us back to La Rochelle, I’m just thankful that he didn’t fall asleep too!
To cool down we decided to go to the Aquarium, which I have to say, was wonderful! All sorts of amazing fish, sharks, jelly fish, sea horses etc, and it was set up in a very friendly, nice way with a great atmosphere. Chris and I really enjoyed ourselves here, plus it had air conditioning so we were very happy!
Dinner was in order after our exit from here so we decided to have crepes, another French cuisine, sort of like very thin pancakes that are filled with yummy bits and bobs. Ham, cheese or egg, or pear, blue cheese, nuts etc or something more interesting like intestines (not for me thank you) It was a light yummy meal that went well with our earlier picnic. A few drinks and a dessert later we were ready to head ‘home’ to relax, shower and sleep. The sun can really take it out of you here!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 16, 2009 from La Rochelle, France

Goodbye to friends, train to Paris
It was sad to have to leave Kris and Paul and gorgeous Zoe today, but we did so at lunch and head to the train station where we were to catch our first over nighter to Venice, Italy. The train to Paris was again uneventful, a small wait and then onto another train for the night. Our little sleeper cabin holds another 4 men, and as we don’t board until after 9pm everyone mostly just heads straight to bed. We’ve read a lot, listened to a lot of music, written a few postcards, and just napped to kill the time today, which has been a nice way to relax after so many full on days of getting up and going all the time… There was not much to this day really, just goodbyes and awaiting our night train… but this story continues on tomorrow (18.06.09) so read on…

28 hours on a train, a missed connection, Italian ogling and a tent.
Nice, France
…We went to sleep in Paris, awoke to the sunshine in Nice where we hopped off for our train swap & had time to have a quick coffee and crissonte in the extreme heat (and it was only about 8am, crazy!)
We hopped back on a train and made our way past the amazing sea side cities of Cannes (where all the stars go once a year for the film festival that is held there) and through the beautiful Monte Carlo scenery, it was gorgeous, clear blue sky, crystal blue water that sparkled like diamonds and houses tucked into the cliffs over looking the ocean, just gorgeous. I wanted to hop off there and stay for a week or so, but somehow I get the distinct feeling that we would NOT be able to afford this!
We shared our carriage with two other people who were a lovely elderly Italian couple who did not speak a word of English, and seeing as we don’t speak a word of Italian it made our journey a rather quiet one. Towards the end of the train travel however we all sort of thought “blow it” and tried to “chat” It was a huge game of charades and was rather funny in the end! The lady, who’s name was Maria, became VERY VERY excited as I mentioned my name was Emily. She clutched her chest and sort of made this gasping noise that for a second I mistook for a heart attack but then she started frantically pointing at herself repeating “Maria Emily! Maria Emily!!” She said this so frantically/excitedly that I had to nod and try to calm her by saying “Ci, Emily!” from then on it was like we were long lost twin sisters, she offered me orange and then made an extra effort to ‘talk’ to me, which was sweet but rather tiring, bless her.
When we booked our train tickets the agent gave us a 15 minute time frame to get from one train to the connecting one in Milan, we thought it was cutting it fine, but trusted the agent… silly silly us! We got in at 3.04pm, our connecting one was at 3.05pm… we looked at the board, we got in at gate 12, we had to connect at gate 3… we ran and ran, pushing through the crowd, our thongs flip-flop echoing as we ran along the smooth polished, may I add SLIPPERY floor tiles, our back packs jiggling on our backs… and we made it to gate 3… to see our train pulling away. We screamed, we yelled, we ran beside it banging on the side, we ran up to the door and tried to pull it open but it was locked… we watched in dismay as the train picked up speed and took off faster than we could run… we let out yells of frustration. As we turned around we saw that we were not alone, there were at least 15 people in the same boat as us, all swearing and looking mightily annoyed. We found an innocent train man and we all bombarded him with questions, the poor thing looked so over whelmed and confused, but bless him, answered all our questions. It wasn’t a big deal in the end, we just had to show our pass at the next train going to Venice and hop on, easy we thought, and there was one in just over an hour, so it was okay… Well, the next train came and we went to carriage 3 like we were told, apparently there would be a conductor there to help us with our questions and we could sit, which was such a load of crock! The conductor was not at all interested in helping us and our seats did not exist, instead, we had to sit on the very dirty floor of a carriage for 1.5 hours before the conductor came through looking disgusted and said “seat, there, sit” pointing towards a carriage. Thanks mate. So we moved and had a seat for all of half an hour before arriving into Venice.
First thought of Venice was “industrial” There were many cranes, large industrial buildings about, shipping buildings etc, but when you get into the heart of the city you can’t help but we in awe. It’s very impressive and grand.
We were very hungry by now so we stopped a little pizzeria and had a pizza each (very yummy I must say!) and a slice of Tiramisu to share, it was a nice way to start our Italian visit. After this we made tracks to our accommodation which is actually half an hour out of the city, but the place have a shuttle bus that goes every hour, so that’s great. We arrived to find that our “two person dorm, with tent roof” was in actual fact, a two person tent. I was so tired by now, so hot, so over it all that I sat on my wee little camp bed and cried. At that moment I wanted to go home. 28 hours on a train, missing our connection by seconds, being ogled by an Italian man (he really liked my boobs and made gasping, whistling, impressed noises as he passed me, I was alone as I was checking the departure board and Chris watched the bags, it wasn’t nice and I hurried back to Chris) sitting on the floor of a dirty train, sweaty and hot from the beating sun and now… a tent… was all too much for me, particularly when we had to then try and find the head torch so that we could see, that did it for me. I just wanted home. But then, a shower and my P.Js cheered me up and after half heartedly making my bed and then Chris’ as I’m a good wife, we fell into a deep deep sleep, so it was all forgotten and okay.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 18, 2009 from Nice, France

HOT day in Venice, San Marco square, the basilica, Rialto Bridge and back to the campsite for a swim.
Venice, Italy
Oh my god! It is HOT here in Venice, I am melting. Actually, I am sweating to death, that’s what I’m doing. It’s like you’ve just stepped out of the shower, that horrible, humid, hot, sweaty heat. Aaaaarrrghhhh.
Our first nights sleep was… interesting. We fell into a deep sleep to start with, it was so good…but then, 5am a rooster decided it was time to start the day, and then not to be outdone another joined in, louder and more determined to announce the arrival of the new day to all. We tossed and turned and thought up all the interesting and yummy recipes we could use the roosters for, and then we came to learn that 7am is a very busy time for the Venice airport. How do we know this? Well, our camp site was RIGHT next to the airport and there were planes taking off every five minutes or so. It really did sound as if they were about to run over you, or land on you. It was rather off putting. So, our day began.
A bus took us into Venice where we head off towards San Marco, along the way stopping to take in the sights of all the little canals and the tourist shops that primarily sell one of two things: glass or masks. These stores are every where!
San Marco is an amazing big square which the basilica (a big catholic church in layman’s terms) is located. We waited in the sweltering heat to get into this church; it’s free so it’s worth it. While standing in this line we noticed that you were not allowed in if you were wearing shorts or a singlet, so as Chris was wearing shorts we were worried that he may not get in, but we needn’t have been, for it was me they targeted. Apparently the dress I was wearing was showing too much skin and was inappropriate. Of course. It’s the first time I’ve worn a dress in years and I’m told I’m inappropriate. They didn’t turn us away though; instead we had to pay a euro for a huge paper napkin to cover my shoulders. Very appealing. We weren’t meant to take photos in here, but we tempted fate and did so, taking some blurry pics in secret.
We then ventured into the square where we both tried a new profession as “pigeon whispering” We stood in the middle of the square with our arms outstretched and pigeons from all around the area would fly in and settle around you, and some of the more gutsy, ballsy ones would perch themselves on your arms. We had a bit of fun doing this for awhile, despite the fact that pigeons are referred to as ‘flying rats’ here in UK/Europe.
It was getting warm now but we trudged on to visit the Rialto Bridge, which gives you great views of the Grand Canal. It is LOADED with tourists here, so packed that you can’t bring yourself to stay too long, other wise you go a bit crazy with the pushing and shoving that goes on, all the tourists vying for the ‘top spot’ for a shot.
After all this we couldn’t take the heat/tourists much longer and made our way back to the camp site for a swim. The water was sooooo good, it was so refreshing to just leap into the cool water, we spent awhile just bobbing about, relaxing before leaping into the spa for a while, then hop out and read by the pool before heading to the camp site restaurant that do really nice meals. A nice way to end a very busy, full on day!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 19, 2009 from Venice, Italy

HUGE thunder storm overnight so not much sleep, stayed in bed late, hung around campsite then went into Venice for Spritz, pasta, coffee and lots more walking.
Venice, Italy
Geez Louise! What a bloody night! So, Chris and I turned into our little tent/camp beds at a reasonable time, tired and ready to SLEEEEEP! It was so darn hot, couldn’t sleep with any blankets etc, and we’d rolled up our little window flap for some air before we hit the sack. Before nodding off I said to Chris “it’d be nice if there was some rain to break this heat”
They say you should be careful what you wish for and now I know that that saying is really really true. I was woken by Chris grabbing me by the shoulders in order to wake me, this really really startled me, I awoke breathing crazily in shock/fear (it wasn’t the nicest way to be woken) and all I could hear was this crazy wind/rain/thunder and it was all so loud. Chris apologized for waking me in such a rude manner but said that he was going out to close up our window flap as the rain was beating in on us (I was sleeping through this) I said in a very groggy, confused manner “okay” and tried to get my head around what was going on. We were in the middle of the craziest, wildest, scariest storm I’ve ever be in.
The wind was blowing in this crazy way, there was rain just lashing down, thunder rumbling and cracking just above us and the lightening! Oh my goodness, it was so crazy, beautiful, terrifying! Normally I’m one of the first ones to be ripping open the curtains, standing on the verandah loving every moment of the storm and being disappointed when it’s over… but this one had me curled up in a little ball in Chris’ bed, wearing my thongs and actually whimpering and gripping Chris when the thunder rolled and lightening cracked. Every thing was a hundred times worse in a tent though, I felt so vulnerable and little and a ‘target’ in the tent. Then we looked down and noticed that it had begun to flood our tent. Now I was getting a little panicky, all our stuff was on the ground, our backpacks, our electrics, every thing. Luckily we had a few little bricks propping up our wooden floor so it ran under us, but I was watching it rise a bit by bit by bit, making me more and more nervous. Finally exhaustion caught up with me and I feel asleep (Chris was by now snoring away with his ear plugs in, bless him, dead to the world) however, I was awoken again when the storm started up again, just as crazy and mad.
This time I wasn’t able to fall asleep nice and easy as the tent opposite us, which was occupied by a single girl, decided to have a ‘party’ all night she had had an English man in her tent, they’d been talking, and judging by their conversation, were young, but they were harmless. But THEN. Two more INCREDIBLY annoying, drunk American guys joined their ‘party’ and began talking VERY VERY loudly, and about complete crap. I tossed, I turned, I realized I had a full bladder and had to face the storm, I found our rain coats and ran to the loo, I could hear this silly American talking his crap even 100meters away and over the incredibly loud rain, I went back to the tent and heard the next tent over, some girls who couldn’t speak English (bless them) going “SHHHHHH” loudly, but this American was oblivious to this. He wasn’t only loud, he loved to use the F word, Gordon Ramsey style, and his conversation was crap. I kid you not, these are just some of them: “Justin Timberlake is like the f-ing bomb. He can do f-ing everything. F-ing singing, f-ing dancing, f-ing acting, f-ing dating the hottest f-ing women, he is seriously like the hottest male f-ing bomb man” and “I look like f-ing John Belushi, I look like f-ing Sam wise f-ing gamgy from the f-ing Lord of the rings man” and my favorite “toy story is the f-ing best, it’s like a f-ing kid story but adults get it you know man? And honey I shrunk the kids, what’s up with that? That’s the f-ing bomb, I f-ing love love love that movie” This is the point where I got up and shined my torch into their tent and said in a very p-off voice “could you PLEASE try to keep it down, you are keeping people awake” There was dead silence before a very quiet “yes” and to their credit they were much much quieter, but I was still unable to fall asleep after this.. And then the rooster started. The bloody rooster. Then the planes started, and then I got up. Crabby.
So, after this we hung around the camp site for the morning, just taking it easy, having a lazy breakfast, and just trying to wake up. We caught one of the later buses into Venice where we wondered about, just taking in the sights, sounds and smells and relaxing by the grand canal in a little quiet spot and did some people watching (my favorite past time)
We discovered today a drink that the locals like to consume on warm days called Spritz. Chris seems to find these incredibly drinkable and refreshing while I have to fight back the urge to spit it all out once I’ve taken a small mouthful. We tried one at a café by the canal, but then moved onto a small café, away from the touristy areas, here we were able to pick drinks up for 2 Euro, which is a huge difference from the 5 or so you pay by the canal. We had a few drinks before heading off once more and finding a little restaurant where we had pasta each, it was quiet good, filling and yummy which is what you want, before heading back slowly to the camp site for an early night seeing as we hadn’t really slept the night before!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 20, 2009 from Venice, Italy

Check out of campsite, annoying payphone, café hunting in Venice, lots of coffee more pizza more spritz and lots of waiting outside the train station.
Venice, Italy
Like most places check out time at the camp site we were staying at was 11am, which isn’t really that bad but is when you have 9 hours to kill before your next train and you have to lug your back pack around…
Before checking out though we brought an international phone card so that we could both call home quickly, it all seemed quite straight forward, swipe your card, dial the number, talk. Easy. Well, it wasn’t. I swiped the card, I waited for the dial tone, nothing. I tried again and again and again, I tried phone after phone after phone, none of which worked. I finally got a phone to work but ended up speaking to some Italian person who sounded just as confused as I was. Finally, after 20 minutes of trying I was able to get through to my parents for a very very quick chat to say that we were alive and well and where we were next headed, before ringing off and RUNNING to the bus that was waiting for us.
We found that the train station had luggage hold, so we dumped our bags here for a small fortune before heading off to see the city of Venice for the last time. We spent hours just walking, looking, observing, and sitting. It was nice and as it wasn’t toooooo hot it was bearable for us.
We hopped on our train at 9.30pm, another sleeper train that was meant to hold 6 in our cabin but we were pleasantly surprised to find it only contained ourselves and one other (a single New Yorker who was travelling by herself) we chatted for a small time before becoming so exhausted we fell into what we thought would be a deep sleep…
written by  Chris and Emily on June 21, 2009 from Venice, Italy

Check in, rest!
Budapest, Hungary
OH MY GOODNESS!!! What a bloody night! We fell into a deep sleep at around 11pm, thinking we would have a chance to have a great nights sleep and then, perhaps, if we were lucky, a sleep in (train not getting in until 11am) but we were very very wrong.
At 3am we woke with a start as our carriage door was knocked upon quite harshly and a gruff voice saying “passports” We sat up groggily and fumbled for these in the dark. A very serious, stern looking man watched on as we did this and then, upon receiving them checked them very carefully, before handing them back just as gruffly. We had entered Slovenia on our way through. We began to settle ourselves back down but there was a commotion happening next door to us. Being slightly nosy and curious I peeked out our door. The carriage of Columbians next to us were being told by a VERY stern looking woman “luggage, you get off train” (to be said in your best Russian accent) The passengers were asking why, but the passport checker could not tell them, so the carriage attendant went to talk to them, and he was just as unforgiving/unsympathetic and said very simply “you do not have the right visa, you must take your luggage and get off at the next station” Well, there was a bit of a kafuffle, which is understandable, but they got off at the next station, some god forsaken small station in the middle of nowhere with their luggage at 3.30 in the morning. Not a nice time for them I imagine. This of course, caused for me to go “oh god, oh god, oh god, PLEASE let us have everything right… did we need visas?!?!” After a time we settled ourselves back down for the night, or so we thought. 4am comes and we are now visited by customs, with huge bloody great big Alsatians asking us if we have anything to declare. “No” we shake our heads, they ask for our passports, then leave. 5am, we are now entering Croatia, “Passports” says one, we hand them to them once more, they scan it, leave. 6am we are entering Hungary and once more it is “passports” but this time the man smiles and is pleasant saying “good morning” I wasn’t convinced that the day was off to a flying start, but I smiled none the less and agreed with him “good morning” then there was just one more passport check, where we were, what it was for, I’m not sure, but a lot of people saw our not so becoming passport photos that day. I think they identified with me and thought me as one of their own there for abit as my passport picture is horrendous! I look like a very stern prison escapee. My stern face in that shot would fit right in with their team of passport checkers; they couldn’t crack a smile if there life depended on it! The first lot of passport checkers had no sense of humor either. After sitting bolt up right and handing the man my passport I commented “well, I look nothing like that photo now” as my hair was everywhere, my face crinkled with bed creases, my eyes all blurry and puffy… actually, it was probably a far better look than my actual passport photo…
Tired and feeling disorientated we got off the train in Budapest and made our way to our hostel where we fell onto the beds thankful to have made it finally. We lay there for a time, Chris falling into a deep nap, omitting small snores from time to time (he only snores when very tired, it had been a long night) I played about on the p.c for a time before we made our way into the city centre which is all of a 5 min walk away to check out the city and see what was about.
There are many beautiful old buildings and bridges surrounding the city centre, and it seems quite open and spacious, you don’t get that horrible feel that screams “TOURIST TRAP!” here, it’s very pleasant. As we hadn’t planned to come here at all during our travels we didn’t know what to expect, but we have both been pleasantly surprised by the area. The city is actually divided into two sections due to the river. One side is called “Buda” and the other “Pest” in typical fashion; we are staying in the pest side, which is nice despite its name!
After a quick look about, a hit of caffeine we made our way back to the hostel where we got talking to a lovely Canadian called Janene, who is travelling about by herself for a time, we chatted for a long time and were surprised when we looked at the time and saw it was 12am, we then called it a night and went to bed FINALLY!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 22, 2009 from Budapest, Hungary

Free Walking tour
Budapest, Hungary
After our brekki today Chris, our new mate Janene set off to the heart of the city in search of the free walking tour that we saw advertised. As we had missed the 10.30am one we decided to do a bit of sight seeing ourselves before catching the 2.00pm one.
To fill in time we walked over the chain bridge and up to the Budapest Castle that is now a museum. It was a little bit of a hike up here, but it offered good views over Budapest. We took a few photos, took time out to take it all in and then went for a little walk around the museum. As we turned to go around one corner of the building (we were walking around the outside) a security man stopped us and told us that we could not go any further. At this stage we were only looking for an exit out of the garden area we had stumbled upon, he told us to go around another way, so following his directions we head off, only to find ourselves back where we originally spoke to him, only on the other side. Now we understood why he said that we weren’t to go behind him… we stumbled upon a Korean TV drama being filmed, complete with stunt men leaping from a building and blood stained “victims” We got chatting to the stunt man next to us who was very nice, though we had a little trouble understanding his broken English and as we didn’t speak Korean or Hungarian it posed as a slight problem when trying to quiz him on the name of the drama, the plot, what he did etc etc. From what we could gather the name of this drama is “Iris” though, it could have also been his name, we’re not sure. After standing around for a while surrounded by stunt men, blood splattered victims and other various actors we were asked to move out of the shot by a very polite directors assistant. We obliged willingly, we didn’t think that 3 white westerners in various colored rain coats would really fit into the ‘feel’ of the drama.
We stopped for a quick yummy lunch, Hungarian salad and omelets and then joined the free walking tour. The tour was very good and very informative we learnt all about the history of Hungary, about how the country was formed, many invasions over the years and the most interesting and depressing history of 20th century Hungary I didn’t know that before the end of the first world war Hungary was much bigger and included parts of Austria, Romania and the Czech republic but after Hungary picked the wrong side in WW1 they were forced to give up a lot of territory. Then they picked the wrong side again in the Second World War after Hitler promised that they would get some of their lost land back. Once the Nazi’s started to round up all the Hungarian Jews and either through them into the Danube river that runs through Budapest or send them to Nazi death camps in Germany they tried to split from the Nazis and where promptly invaded and occupied by Hitler then in 1945 the Russians “liberated” them from the Nazi’s and of course occupied the country for themselves Hungary struggled under Russian cold war communism until 1990 suffering millions of it’s citizens being sent to Russian GULAGS and plunging the country into near bankruptcy a couple of times. So all in all a fairy depressing history lesson. The tour took us back across the chain bridge and back up to the castle so a hell of a lot of walking was achieved today!
After the tour finished we took Carlos who we knew from the hostel and was also doing the walking tour to see the parliament building a look for a memorial to the Jews that were drowned in the Denude in the form of lots of iron shoes by the riverbank. The Parliament was impressive and kind of like Westminster in a way with its Gothic jaggared towers. I thought it seems far too big for a country the size of Hungary but I guess Hungary used to be a lot bigger.
We went back to the hostel and I had a little bit of a snooze (Chris here by the way, we are on a train to Prague and I am catching up on the blog as Em is too tired) then decided at about 9 to go get some food. We ended up at a Chinese place and none of the staff spoke any more English than the word “chicken” so as you can imagine a great game of charades was carried out to work out what we wanted, this was followed by a dash through the rain back to the hostel and some well deserved sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 23, 2009 from Budapest, Hungary

Terror museum and the baths
Budapest, Hungary
Today Em, Janene and I decided to take it a little bit easier and take the metro to the “terror museum” to learn more about Hungary’s 20th centaury history, the museum was really interesting, really depressing and even at some points really sickening! It was very well put together designed to both inform us and stir up emotions. The centre piece of the museum (and the only thing we were allowed to take photos of) was a Russian tank sitting in a big puddle of Oil I didn’t find out the specific meaning of the oil but it looked very impressive made me think of the students who protested in 1956 and how it would feel to find yourself looking down the barrel of one of those babies!
There were lots more rooms each with a different theme, talking about the 2 occupations in 44-45 by the Nazis and the Russians, about the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis and of the middle class by the Russians, about the gulags in Russia, the arrow cross political movement who were the Hungarian Nazi party. The last section of the museum was the basement, where they had re-created some of the cells that used to be there, the museum is in the building that used to be the headquarters of both the arrow cross and the Soviet secret police so it was the site of many people being held prisoner, tortured or even beaten to death! This gave the whole place a really eerie feeling!
Needing something more cheerful after the museum we headed up the Heroes square the nearby Turkish style bath house. Heroes square was amazing with heaps of statues represent 10 warrior looking Kings of Hungary and four horseman for the four tribes that originally settled Hungary I loved these statues and I think it’s probably my favorite monument so far.
Next to the baths, there are heaps of them all over Budapest; I think they started when the Turks invaded at some point. The place was HUGE with so many different pools of different temperatures from a chilling plunge pool at 18c to a almost to hot to get into 40c we stayed there for about 3 hours trying out lots of different baths but my fav part was whirlpool in one of the outside pools, they had strong jets sending the water around in circles and you could ride the current (with about 40 other people) for ages it was lots of fun!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 24, 2009 from Budapest, Hungary

Quick stop over in Vienna on route to Prague.
Vienna, Austria
Another long day of train travel. We thought that we would be a bit clever and take a few hours stop in Vienna on our way too Prague, just to see a few of the sites. We were up bright and early, packed, and ready to go, on the train at 9am. It took until 12 to get to Vienna and we jumped off thinking that we would do a quick 4 hour stop, see a bit of the town, have a bite to eat, wander for abit… but it didn’t quite go to plan like that. What we didn’t realize was that the station we got off at was different to the station that we had to connect to for Prague, so, realizing this we thought that we would first go to our new station, dump our bags and THEN wander… but again, it didn’t work like this… It took us just on an hour to figure out the Metro for Austria and make it to the new station, then another half hour or so to dump our bags. We were exhausted by now! We wandered the streets until we found a little restaurant that served Vienna Snchital and beef goulash, both a bit of an Austrian specialty. We ate these and were impressed with the taste factor and washed it all down with a nice cool drink (Austrian beer for Chris, OJ for me)
As we finished up our meals we began to hear these almighty claps of thunder, the sky went black and it became cool. Realizing that if we didn’t get our skates on we’d become more than a tad bit damp, we quickly paid and made a run for it back to the station, thunder clapping over head and lightening zig zagging across the sky as we did so.
Back at the station (and safely avoiding the storm) we realized that there was a train leaving in a few minutes. It was a HUGE rush but we made it onto the 3pm train safe and sound and just in the nick of time.
I now write this on our train that is running an hour and 10 minutes late thanks to renovation works that were being carried out on one of the main terminals. We are tired, sleepy and ready to get off the train. Prague we are told is an amazing place, it is MEANT to be cheap but with more tourists hearing this and frequenting this city the cost has gone up somewhat. We are still hoping that it will be cheaper than London or Ireland!
Will write and let you know of Prague and its expensive tomorrow!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 25, 2009 from Vienna, Austria

BAD and I mean REALLY bad start to Prague.
Prague, Czech Republic
Wow. I can’t believe how bad our start to Prague has been. The city is nice, don’t get me wrong but by geez I am not a fan of the people here (I’m sorry to say) they will rip you off blind at every opportunity and have no shame in doing so.
As our train was now running an hour and a half late, we got into Prague at 10.30pm, and not only did we get in later but the train just stopped at some random station that was NOT the one we were meant to get off at. It was as if the driver just went “You know what? I’m beat, this is a good a place than any, I’m going to just call it a night at this station” I am thankful that this station was in Prague, but it still was NOT the station we were told it’d go to, and we did not have instructions on how to get to our hostel from here… things weren’t looking bright. We got off the train along with everyone else (who looked just as perplexed as us) and we went off to see what we could do about getting to our hostel. We looked about, avoided the huge puddles that smelt of nothing but urine (SOOOOOO gross, and smelly!!!) but could not see anything that suggested an easy way to move on, so we went and lined up in the information line, only to be told by the harsh woman in a gruff voice “not help you, he will” and pointed to a shady looking character who lurked near the counter wearing an official looking uniform. I have to say, I didn’t like the ‘feel’ he gave off, it was a little creepy, but we went and spoke to him regardless, asking him to show us on the map where our hostel was, we were happy to walk it… He shook his head and said “not on map, you will need to take taxi, it is far” and walked us to a taxi man, who, once told where we were going, through our bags into the back of his dodgy looking beat up automobile, opened the rusty, creaky doors for us and ushered us in. Chris and I were looking at one another, not sure, not feeling this was right, but going with it… The man took off at the speed of sound, our heads jerking back and me clinging to the door as we whipped around a corner. We fumbled for our seat belts, only to find there was no connecting clicky bit. In the dark Chris jabbed himself on something sharp down the side of the seat (no side effects as yet to anything, we hope it was nothing serious…) We drive past a dodgy looking part of town and my spirits were sinking further and further… then we hear it “tap tap tap tap, bang, bang” and I think “s#*t, this mans car is falling apart as we drive, and it’s on my side, I’m going to fall out of the bloody car, the door’s falling off or something!” and then it happens again, this time louder and Chris and I look at one another with serious “OH MY GOD” faces, thinking “we’re being shot at!!” but then, up in the sky, colors of red, blue and yellow are exploding, and we realize that for some reason, the dodgy part of town are letting off fire works (probably stolen and have to get rid of the evidence… sorry to be so cynical) Happy to be wrong in this instance we both breathed a sigh of relief and 2 minutes later pulled up at our hostel… and the cabbie asked for what was 70 Australian dollars for a whole 4 minute cab ride.
We were FURIOUS, not just at him but also at ourselves. We KNEW we shouldn’t have got in, but we did. We really have to learn to follow our instincts more. We gave him the money we had and then became even more angry as he made a big ‘show’ of trying to find the correct change for us as he claimed in broken English “I not have enough” and then short changed us. Bloody bloody BLOODY rude man!!! We were more than just a little angry. We left him in a furious state, at him, at one another and at ourselves. Not a nice start.
We climbed into bed and slept for a solid time before awaking this morning, where we then heard the news of Michael Jacksons death. I’m not a fan of the man really, I like a few of his songs and will admit that I thought he was quite a talented dancer, but the news didn’t shock me some how. Anyhow, it was an ice breaker for all of us in our dorm, we all got chatting and it was nice to meet the others!
We then went on a free walking tour of the old Prague city with an American guide named Ben. He reminded me of Chris Rock, the manner in which we spoke and the sound of his voice. He was very informative, funny and made history fun. Prague is an amazing old city with such history and charm. I have to say that back in the day I wouldn’t have gone to war against the Prague lot, they were crafty, ballsy fighters!
During WW2 there was news that the Germans were coming. They (the Prague lot) knew they couldn’t out number them or stop them easily, but came up with a quick “make -do –buy- us some –time” plan. They took down all the town signs and road markings that lead to the towns and cities and replaced them with another, a sign that read “Dubcek” So then, the Germans made their way into the towns, the Prague lot fleeing before hand the best they could, and the Germans were radioing one another “so, I’m in Dubcek where are you?” And the other would be saying “but we’re in Dubcek.” and the conversation would go on “well, you can’t be. Where are you? We’re by a river” “but we’re by the river, we can’t see you…” it caused HUGE confusion for the Germans all being at the same town, on the same road as one another but not being able to find one another. I thought it was a very funny, very bright plan by the Praguarians! Then as time went on and Prague went under the communist law there was a time when it was decided that the Prague radio tower must be brought down as it was informing the citizens of too much, so off a few soldiers went to do so. However, word had got out and a call was made for every man who was able, to go and defend this tower. So, picking up many many a lethal kitchen utensil the Prague people went off to the tower, where they defended it the best they could, in the end, the communists were holed up in the basement of the tower.
The tour was really great and really really informative. Our room mates were on this tour too, so, after this we all went over the Charles Bridge where we rubbed the lady statue that is meant to bring good luck, before going for a cheap lunch. The girls from Glasgow were all lovely and it was nice to meet them and have a chat before they caught there train to Munich that afternoon.
We went to the train station to book our next lot of train tickets to Krakow (Poland) and then JUMPED into the pool. It was SOOO hot today. Sweltering, sticky hot. The pool was so nice and refreshing! But, then as we swam in the (indoor) pool, a thunderstorm started and it POURED down once more. Typical Eastern Europe weather we’ve come to know.
Deciding to have a quiet night in as we have to move on tomorrow, we thought we’d make use of our ‘free welcome drink card’ that we received when we arrived, for the pub next door. We honestly thought to have the one and then be back to pack and sleep, but it didn’t work out that way.
We met a hilarious Australian bloke named Jack, who had us in stitches all night with his funny stories and quick wit and from here our new group of friends grew, meeting another beautiful Australian girl Bonnie and an amazingly gorgeous British lass Izzy. We had a lovely night, laughing, dancing, chatting, playing cards and drinking way too much beer, but it was FUN and it was just what we needed after our bad start to Prague!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 26, 2009 from Prague, Czech Republic

Krakow, the city of relaxation!! (well, so we think!)
Krakow, Poland
I had never heard of Krakow before a few days ago. I never thought that I would visit Poland until a month or so ago, but I am so so SO glad that we are not just in Poland but in Krakow. This city is GORGEOUS! It is a very chilled out, relaxed, calm, friendly little city (prob same size as Hobart?) and we just feel so at home here, it’s wonderful. Krakow, though it is becoming more known, hasn’t got so many tourists. You can walk the streets and feel safe and free and that you have your space. It’s just lovely!
We spent all day on the train again giving us a chance to relax and try to catch up on some well needed sleep, but with the seats not being so great, nor the carriage being so clean, we had trouble drifting off to nap.
After arriving, checking in (and finding that I didn’t have a bed for the night and would have to sleep on a mattress on the floor!) we head out to discover the beauty of the town centre, and it is not only beautiful, but it is also wonderful!
Cobbled streets, old churches and buildings surrounding the town square, little sparrows darting about in the sun set, old horse carriages the only mode of transport allowed in the square centre, and people relaxed and happy lazing about the many cafes that line the streets. It is so relaxed, I am so happy we came here!!
We walked about for a time before coming back and realizing that not only do WE smell from the lack of shower facilities all day, but our clothes also do and are need in of a wash. Thank goodness the hostel offers free laundry services!! (normally cost 10 Euros a load… that’s $20 Aus) so we whacked a large load on… and waited 4 hours for it to get done… and even then it was wet when we pulled it out! I just couldn’t be bothered waiting any longer, it was now 1am! Not caring any longer we stumbled into our dorm room and settled down for a nights sleep in one creaky bunk and musty mattress on the floor.
written by  Chris and Emily on June 27, 2009 from Krakow, Poland

City castle and charades with a non English speaking Polish hair dresser
Krakow, Poland
After a bit of a sleep in we made our way into the old town square for some breakfast, which was all well and good, however it was now after lunch, so finding some where that did a breakfast menu was proving impossible. We trudged along and eventually gave up any hope of finding any little café; it seems only restaurants exist here! But then, we saw it. A tiny little sign above a door that read “café” It didn’t look too great from the outside, but my word, it was like a whole new world when you stepped into it! Amazing interior design and then it lead to this amazing secret garden like area, it was awesome! A great little find! What’s more, they served up a GREAT big bowl of hot green veggies for me! I was in heaven; I have been CRAVING like mad my greens! Then the hot chocolate… ohhhhhh the hot chocolate! I was expecting a normal one, but this one was just as if they’d melted cooking chocolate bars and served it up as a drink. It was crazy thick and gooey, and not really a drink at all, rather a very rich, decadent dessert, but I drank it anyway!
We went onto the castle that wasn’t as big or as impressive as I thought it might be, but I was told it didn’t have to be as it was situated on a hill and therefore it had its own natural defense, it didn’t need such huge walls etc.
We watched as a procession of police cars, limousines, and armed looking vehicles hurtled through the streets past us. I don’t know who was in the car but obviously someone vaguely popular and important I imagine. We walked through parks and watched as a plane flew low over head and we moved on to the shopping centre where we brought some essential summer clothing. We only have warm stuff and believe me; Europe does NOT require anything remotely warm this time of year, toooo hot here!
After a little shop we decided that as we haven’t had our hair cut in 6 months or more, we should really get it done. Both of us have long, straw like locks at the moment that is driving us mad. So, finding a hair dresser we went in and managed, through a lengthy game of charades to convey what we would like to have happen to our locks. Chris came away saying his hair dresser had been brutal on him and very very rough while I came away with my hair looking a tad shorter than I’d hoped, but lucky to have it at all as they were going to give me a fringe… noooo thank you! They were nice enough though and it was cheap so we shouldn’t really complain too much! Normally you’d get a cuppa and a mag while getting your hair done, they don’t do that here in Poland, and I didn’t ask as I thought the game of charades might take too long.
After dinner in a swanky traditional Polish food restaurant we made our way back to the hostel where, when watching the news, we discovered that the little plane we’d seen flying about the park we’d walked in early, had crashed and quite literally, burnt. Wow. So glad we weren’t there!! Very sorry for the pilot’s family, it’s awful news.
Have booked ourselves in for a tour of Aulswitch tomorrow. It will be hard emotionally on the both of us, but worth it I imagine. Will let you know!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 28, 2009 from Krakow, Poland

Travel and Transformers
Warsaw, Poland
Our train to Warsaw was leaving at 10am today, so it was up earlyish and onto the platform for the 3 hour journey. Some of the trains we have been using have been less than desirable to say the least, but this train was NIIIICE, plus we had the carriage all to ourselves, so it was even more comfortable, bliss!
We have been searching like mad for the best travel deal too Latvia for the past few weeks, it’s been looking pretty expensive and more than that, it’s been difficult to find a way into Latvia as our Eurail pass doesn’t include Latvia and to fly it would cost us between $800 -$900, which I think we can all agree is an incredible amount!! We decided that it’d probably just be easier to go and see a travel agent in Warsaw itself as they might have more options for us, so this was our first point of call after stepping off the train.
We almost missed the travel agents. From the outside and from the front window it looked very much like a Thai restaurant. Little Asian bits and bobs decorated the window front, tradition costumes could be seen hanging, bowls of fruit and sweets were lying about… it took us a good time to be convinced it was actually an agent. The travel agent was a big help and was able to get us on the next over night bus to Latvia, which was later on tonight. It was short notice but our best bet as otherwise we wouldn’t be able to get in for another 2 days. So, we cancelled our night’s accommodation in Warsaw and then, with a few hours spare, decided to go and see a movie.
It sounds like a real cop out I know, we went and saw a movie in Warsaw, we should have been sight seeing etc, BUT with it being 38 degrees outside, sweat dripping off us like we’d just stepped out of a shower and being so tired, we just didn’t have the energy to do anything other than sit in a cool room. Thankfully there was an English movie playing, Transformers 2, which was okay, wasn’t too keen on the ‘funny’ talking robots, but it was alright none the less.
After this we had to make a move to the next bus station. This little jaunt was HELL. I mean it, it was hellish! We were told to wait for bus 127 that would take us to the big station… we waited and waited, we weren’t sure if the side of the road we were on was the right side, so we asked a young lady next to us, who was very nice but didn’t live in Warsaw, this didn’t deter her though, she asked someone in front of her, who nodded and told us to get on bus 157 or 152, so we decided “okay” The next bus came along and we saw written on the side of it our next destination, so we hopped on and showed our little map to the bus driver, who looked VERY VERY confused. He studied it for a long time then kept pointing to outside and saying “central, central” and we kept saying “no, central BUS station” then he would point to the outside and say “station” anyhow, we would point to the map again, which had our next destination circled and starred and said “THIS bus station, you go?” He shrugged his shoulders and then closed the doors on us, leaving us trapped on this bus that we had no idea where it was going… He drove off and from the map we knew we were going the wrong direction, we were saying “no, no” and were ready to jump off at the next station, but we needn’t have worried, he was only going around the block to where we had started and then pointed to the bus station and said “bus” OOOOHHHH it was getting frustrating and confusing. We thanked him and he again displayed to us that we would have to wait in this area for our bus… which we KNEW was wrong. We thanked him very kindly and made a move, and then around the corner back to our original standing position. We had almost reached our bus shelter and we heard these little pitter patters, the bus driver had parked his bus, leapt off and was running after us to tell us to go back to where he had left us. It was painful trying to tell him thank you, but we knew where we were going now… he looked so confused and perplexed and then he just shrugged in this way that said “you crazy, but okay”
The lady who had originally told us to catch the 152 or 157 was still at the station and when a bus arrived she motioned for us to follow her onto this already PACKED bus with our HUGE packs. We squashed in and she motioned that she would tell us where and when to hop off, we nodded and said thank you. The bus was completely and utterly jam packed. You could not fit another single person onto the bus, but somehow they kept coming, it was now hard to breathe, a) because you were so squashed and b) it seems that Eastern Europeans, with no offence, don’t seem to understand the use of deodorant. It was more than a little smelly. It was mouth breathing only.
We eventually came to our stop and after a bit of charades were able to tell people “MOVE!” the transport systems here don’t wait to long at the stops, you usually only have about 20 secs to get on and off!
Our bus to Latvia is anything but luxurious. We thought being an over night bus there might be some sort of reclining seat, nice air conditioning, little lights for reading, a clean WC… no no no. How optimistic and dreamy of us! We were crammed into our little seats, me next to a young girl and Chris next to a young man. There was a neurotic young lady in front of me, who I actually have to say, was more than a little odd, and, annoyed the crap out of me and then, a very large, very wide older man behind me. Mmmm, comfy. All set for our 13 hour over night ride. Chris, poor thing had the large man to his other side and then, the two girls in front of him were able to recline there seats, and did so, going so far back as to touch Chris’ knees. It was not comfortable.
We drove into one of the biggest storms we’ve seen yet. It was pitch black, I have no idea how the driver was able to see, lightening split the sky and danced in a zig zag formation and at one stage thunder cracked down right over us, making everyone from the bus jump like cats. It was pretty awesome; I do love a great storm, apart from the one in Venice.
The bus ride was horrendously slow and painful. Our legs cramping, our necks on odd angles, the neurotic girl had jars of marmalade or something on the rack above me that rattled against one another for the whole time, making us want to scream or throw them out the window… if they opened… We stopped every three hours for the loo and a stretch of the legs, which was nice, but just tiring. But then, as we drove into Lithuania, the sun rise was amazing, casting great pinks, reds and oranges across the green and gold paddocks, it was just gorgeous! It made it worth while and helped to erase the throbs of pain that pounded away in our legs and neck!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 30, 2009 from Warsaw, Poland

Sleep, glorious, GLORIOUS SLEEP!!
Riga, Latvia
SLEEEEEP! God we needed it! Getting off the bus was one of the most glorious things we have done yet, but there was a problem, we didn’t have the address for where we were staying. So, we wandered about the station looking for an information booth that might be able to tell us, but it was only 8am, so no one was up and about. We were looking at a map, trying to see if anything looked familiar when the neurotic woman made a mad dash up to us (really, she ran) saying “maybe I can help?” and all I could think was “NNNNOOOOOO!” and then stare at the orange stain that was around her mouth from some breakfast thing she was devouring. My heart sank, and then I realized that I was being very judgmental and that it was very kind of her to offer help. We tried to explain our problem to her, she nodded, her very ferocious fringe not moving as her head bobbed about (that held my attention for awhile) she suggested we share a cab with her, we explained we didn’t have an address, she said it did not matter, we asked if there was a McDonalds around, she pointed us in the direction, we thanked her and left. We know that McDonalds always has WIFI. We found maccas open and serving… their regular menu. I found it really disconcerting to see so many people stuffing greasy big macs into their mouths at 8.30am, it actually made me feel a little ill! We had our coffees and found our hostel address on the web and moved on, it really wasn’t far.
Our hostel is called “The naughty squirrel” and is lovely, cozy, clean and modern! We up graded to a private room so that we could sleep, and sleep we did. We fell into bed at 9am and didn’t wake again until 5pm, then didn’t actually get up until 6. It was so wonderful!
We made a quick wander through the streets of Riga, looking at a few little stores, walked through the park which was lovely and green and homey, and then found a little coffee shop where we ordered a fresh orange juice for myself and a Macchiato for Chris… we were asked if Chris would like rum in his Macchiato. We were surprised you could have rum in this, so we said yes, we’d give it a try and then we were told you could get two for the price of 1, okie dokie, we were in!
Then the drinks arrived juice for me and two refreshing looking clear drinks with mint and lime for Chris. There was some sort of mix up when ordering obviously and despite macchiato being on the menu they didn’t understand our request. Oh well, we drank them none the less!
After this and a quick detour to the supermarket for edible goods that will last us our stay we head back to the hostel where we watched a DVD and then bed.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 1, 2009 from Riga, Latvia

A touch of home, a sad farewell and a ferry ticket.
Riga, Latvia
We had an early rise today in preparation of the day ahead of us and our travel needs for tomorrow.
We beat pretty much everyone in the hostel up this morning I think and made our way to a near by Café where we knew there was WIFI and a good view of the cities ‘freedom monument’ We did this as we’d arranged to have a ‘Skype date’ with Chris’ dad and grandfather. They both grew up in Latvia and left approx. 60 years ago and have not yet returned. It was for this reason we Skype home and showed them from the window the city of Riga. It was lovely to chat to them and have them see what we were seeing!
After this we went to meet Janis and Maija who today offered to show us some of the more ‘rougher’ area of Riga. We did not get out of the car on this journey, instead did a drive by viewing of the area. They mentioned that there were ‘bad people’ who lived here and it was rough, so we stayed in the car and just had a look. To me it looked much like another slightly dodgy suburb, you know the one. Broken fence, wood planks loose on the outside of the house, weed garden, curtains a little torn.. You know the look I mean.
We didn’t spend too long with these guys today, they had another visitor coming but before leaving us they took us too the ferry terminal to pick up our tickets for tomorrows journey. It was wonderful to have someone help us with the translating and who could ask our questions for us, they were a big help!
It was sad to say goodbye to them, they said they would wait for our next visit, bless them, it could be a while away yet, but they look forward to it already. Motivates us even more to get back here to Latvia!
After this we went back to the hostel where Chris had a nap and I did a load of washing, read and relaxed. It’s so nice to be able to do that. Sometimes you just really need to be able to take a day out and do nothing for a bit. After our afternoon of nothingness we went for a stroll around the city (it doesn’t take too long) where we saw and heard many buskers, they were all rather good but the stand out busking attraction were 2 cello players who sat in a little cobble stone street under an old old arch playing their instruments beautifully! It was gorgeous! We stayed and listened for quite awhile and left chucking a few bob into their hat. It was a lovely way to end the evening before climbing the stairs and into bed once more.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 4, 2009 from Riga, Latvia

Last day of Riga before leaving by ferry
Riga, Latvia
Another early start to the day as it was ‘moving day’ We checked out but then hung around the hostel having brekki, jumping on the net, watching some telly and booking a taxi before heading out for a bit of a last minute look about. We walked the streets we have come to know and took any last minute photos we thought we could use and like. The hostel had booked us a taxi to take us to the port today, assuring us that it would NOT rip us off like the company in Prague. We gingerly took their advice and took the taxi the small way to the ferry terminal and are happy to announce that we were not ripped off!
We have a suit to ourselves upon the MS Romantika, it’s small but has all we need so we’re happy. More than that it’s nice to finally have a room to ourselves where we can relax and leave our stuff about. We watched from the top deck as we pulled away from the dock, watching Riga disappear as we entered the Baltic Ocean. It really is beautiful out here on the water. We spoiled ourselves with a nice dinner where we were able to watch the open water and then, when heading to bed passed a supermarket (yes, a supermarket on the ship) and found a bottle of N.Z Oyster Bay Sav Blanc. Heaven! We brought a bottle and enjoyed this immensely from our cabin as we watched a TV movie. Total relaxation at last!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 5, 2009 from Riga, Latvia

Ferry into Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden
Chris and I have just been discussing how nice Stockholm is with its river, old town, church etc, but how astronomically expensive it is! We arrived bright and early and jumped off the ferry, rather should I say ship, and onto a bus that took us into the city center where we went straight to the train station in hope that we could get the passes we so desperately wanted to take us to Munich for our meeting with Kora tomorrow.
Sadly, and rather annoyingly, the train that we wanted was all booked out, not one space was left available meaning that we had to change our plans of how to get to Munich entirely. We are now waiting for our over night train to take us to Copenhagen, then swap train onto Hamburg then onto another that will take us to Munich. It’s a solid 24 hours of train travel ahead of us, which to be honest will completely wipe us, but at least we’ll get to our destination in time to meet our friend.
We spent the day looking about the city of Stockholm and while it is beautiful with its architecture, the people, the shops, the river etc, it has to be said that it looked much like all the other cities we’ve visited. I think we’re both at the stage now where despite the cities we visit being gorgeous, they all boast similar looking buildings, statues etc and we’re becoming a little blaze about it all. Sad to say! I wish we could get back that wonderment and that awe we once had when entering a city and begin to treat it (the city and the people) with the respect they deserve.
Anyhow, we’ve been waiting at the station now for 2 hours and only have another 2 to go. It sounds very sad I know, we should be out there maximizing our time in this city, but we’re both quite tired and to be really honest, we’re both suffering from injuries to our legs that make it a little painful to walk. I have a nasty case of heat rash and poor old Chris, his heels have begun to split open with all the walking and wearing of thongs, so at the moment walking is a tad painful for the both of us and we welcome sitting and relaxing, though, that said, another 2 hours of this (waiting) will slowly turn us insane I believe! A stroll outdoors is in order I believe!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 6, 2009 from Stockholm, Sweden

Auschwitz
Krakow, Poland
We have booked ourselves on a tour of Auschwitz Today that leaves at around 3pm as we have a few chores to complete today. We went in search of a post office after following the tourist map to the little envelope symbol we finally found the place and of course the staff didn’t speak a word of English and Polish is beyond our comprehension! Needless to say we were in the post office for ages! We were sending back to the UK a box full of warm clothes and bits and bobs that we really don’t need as I have had it with my pack being so damn heavy!!
After all our chores were completed we headed back to the Dizzy Daisy and chilled out until our tour picked us up and we were crammed into a completely full and really small minibus for the 1 hour drive to Auschwitz.
When we got there you could see the barbwire fences from the bus, to get to the main camp you go through a really empty and bleak building that serves as their reception and office building then we met up with a guide, got our headsets so he didn’t have to speak up and headed out to the camp. The first thing that you see is the gate, it’s pretty intimidating and you can’t help but imagine what it would be like for the inmates of the death camp when they first walked through that gate! It has writing on it that says in Nazi “work will set you free” kind of ironic as it was the inhumane working conditions that killed so many of the people that where imprisoned in the camp. The Guide showed us around the camp and took us into three buildings that had been setup as part of the museum. One was full of photos showing what the camp and it’s prisoners where like, this was pretty full on, the picture that I (Chris) remember the most was of a trainload of people who had just arrived at the camp and a Nazi “medical” officer stood arm outstretched pointing an old man to the right, this we were told meant that as he wasn’t well enough to be put to work he was going directly to the gas chamber. I (Em) am haunted by many of the photos we saw that day but a few that stand out are the ones of the children. It ripped my heart out seeing the photos of these children, just skin and bone, their eyes filled with fear and tears, their shaved heads, their number tattoos. I just wanted the photo to come alive to a degree so that I could jump into and rescue all these poor innocent babies from such horror. There were also photos taken of children being used for medical experiments, and the pain in their faces was too much for me to take. I couldn’t look, but then, I couldn’t turn away either. There was a family of triplets, all girls, and being used for medical experimentation, the little girl was 3 and looked as if she were 1, so tiny and so incredibly thin, just screaming. I know it’s horrible to read about and believe me, it’s hard to write about, as I type tears are welling and I feel such hate rising for those who inflicted such tremendous pain to these innocent people. There were also buildings here where they kept young women and did many many gynecological experiments on them. It is said that many died of the pain, many of the experiment its self and those who lived did so in pain for the rest of their lives and were never able to have children. Again, I feel so much hate for the ‘doctors’ who would do this.
The next building was full of things that were found in the camp when the Russians “liberated” the camp in 1945 there was rooms full of thousands of shoes, reading glasses and suitcases but the most horrible part was the massive room full of tones of human hair, the Russians found bags and bags of it in the camp. They shaved the heads of all the inmates and kept the long hair of the woman and sent it back to Germany for recycling, this was truly disgusting. The smell also was rather gut turning. You can smell this room long before you see it and as you walk up the stairs you can’t help but think “ohhh god, that’s a horrible moth ball smell” because that’s what it reminds you of, but then, as you get closer it begins to smell more musty, dusty and old, and then you see all this hair, it really is repulsive. The hair is obviously all very old now and decaying and it is all one colour which is like a dirty brown/grey colour. It is a sight that I think will stay with us for a long time.
The last building we went into in Auschwitz 1 was kept original and was the building used for punishment and solitary confinement, it had some pretty nasty cells in the basement that where very much like what we witnessed at the “House of Terror” museum in Budapest which is all pretty nasty stuff. In the court yard of this building was the ‘execution’ wall. Here they would execute many many people by shooting. They would always start with the women first apparently. They would make all those being executed strip off, wash down, shave their heads and then march them out to the wall. They would often make two people face one another and then shoot them at point blank range, killing both inmates with one bullet. Some times they would kill whole families as well. Making them line up, all naked and shaved and they would start by shooting the youngest to the oldest in turn. It was very difficult to be in this court yard and to see the ‘preparation’ room.
The final part of your Auschwitz 1 tour is a visit to the original gas chamber and as we walked down into this I felt my heart rate rise and I clung to Chris tightly. While it is not so much scary it is completely overwhelming and you can’t help but put yourself in the prisoners’ shoes. How they must have felt being marched into this large room naked and with a shaved head, being herded into the room until you were being crushed, in pitch darkness, then this confusion as they waited for their ‘shower’ (this was often what they were told they were off to have) then having this gas come over you, the panic they must have felt, the crush that must have happened as they raced in the darkness to the direction of the door they remembered coming in through, but not being able to make it, the fear, the screams, the pain, the crying… it’s all too much to think of. You then walk through into the crematorium where there are large clay ovens deep enough and big enough for up to 5 people to be burnt in there together. There were often too many bodies though and not enough ovens so there was also a ‘storing room’ where they kept the bodies until they could be burnt and then forgotten. It was horrible and while I wanted to run from there, I wanted to stay and just say “I’m so sorry” to the room and to remember and pay respect to those who came into, but not out of, that room.
After Auschwitz 1 we hopped back on the bus and drove the 2-3km’s to Auschwitz 2 or Bireme as it’s also known. This was the concentration camp that was ‘home’ to millions and millions of Jews and prisoners. It is completely over whelming here, there are sheds that housed these people, little look out towers and barb wire fences as far as the eye can see, and running through all this are train tracks. The train tracks that brought millions upon millions of innocent people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to their death.
To the left of this camp is where they housed the women prisoners, which apparently was never as full as the right side (the men’s side) as a) most women were sentenced to the gas chamber within hours of arriving as they were either, too old, too frail, pregnant or a mother (meaning the children were also sentenced straight to the gas chamber) and b) because the women that were allowed to ‘live’ were put to hard work and due to the combination of hard labour work and no food would become more frail than the men more quickly and therefore pass away sooner. Apparently in the evenings when the women were coming back from working in the fields all day with no food or water, the soldiers would hold a stick at a certain height and make the prisoners ‘jump’ over this and if they could not make it they were taken to ‘another camp’ never to be seen again. The women’s side was also vastly emptier as the women just didn’t have any ‘fight’ in them as the guide said. He (the tour guide) asked us to look at the photos of the men prisoners and the women prisoners, and asked us to look into their eyes. He asked us if we saw the difference, and you do straight away. The men all seem to have this ‘determination and pride’ in their eyes, they do not look as if they are going to be beaten, no matter how skinny, or frail or physically beaten they are, they will not give up, they still have spirit. However the women, their eyes seemed to be filled with fear, sadness, depression, tears, terror and it just looks, in their eyes, as if they’ve given up. There are a exceptions to this though, their were at least 6 photos of women that I saw where they had that same look in their eye as the men and everything about me said “good on you girl” but I know in my heart that these women, no matter how much spirit they had, most probably went the same way the others did.
The men’s side of the camp, to the right, is much much larger and here we had a tour inside the sheds. These sheds were originally built to house 52 horses, they were stables for pure breeds, but they were taken over and turned into the ‘homes’ for millions of prisoners. As I said, they were meant to house 52 horses and instead, they housed 400 men. We were taken into one of these sheds that had been left the way it was when liberated (albeit a bit cleaner) but the ‘beds’ and stove etc were all left, and the ‘toilet’ in the corner. While in their you again can’t help but look about and instantly start thinking “right, how would I break out? Where would I hide the ‘illegal’ contraband? How and where would I have made a hole for more airflow? And it is so easy for us today, who are well and educated and who have never experienced the horror of war, to stand there and say “well, why didn’t they just cause a mutiny and rebel and take on the guards? There were millions of them and only a few hundred guards, what was wrong with them, why did they give up?” and “If I were here I would have done this, that or the other…” but no one today, of our generation, will never understand, nor I hope ever experience first hand such terror, horror and fear. Visiting this place has opened our eyes to how lucky and blessed we are, how we take things for granted on a daily basis and just how much freedom we have, so while it was a sad and hard visit to make and it was emotionally and spiritually depressing, it was an experience that I feel was a necessary one and a good one, to help us realize the history and how blessed we are.
It also has to be mentioned, that while taking these tours the sky was completely jet black and lighting zig zagged across the sky in regular intervals, as we had taken a later tour it was getting darker and darker also, and by the time we got to part 2 of our tour the gates had closed to regular tourists, and our group was the only one walking around the camp, which was a little spooky! It was so quiet and still and all you could hear was the rumble of thunder before a crack of lightening, it all added to the spookiness of the experience!
written by  Chris and Emily on June 29, 2009 from Krakow, Poland

The meeting of distant rellies.
Today we were up early to meet Chris’ distant relatives Janis, Mejia and their daughter Marta. They have kindly offered to show us around Riga and the outskirts of the town over the next few days, and we have gratefully accepted their offer as we would love to maximize our Riga experience being that this is a special part of our journey. Chris’ fathers side of the family had to leave their home town of Riga during WW2 and all split to different parts of the world, our visit is the first for our side of the family in over 60 years, so it is rather important to us to be here and to take in as much as we can.
While Janis went off to a job interview and promised to meet us later in the afternoon, Mejia took us off on a tour of the old town part of Riga where we visited the old Riga Cathedral where we were able to go to the top and have amazing views over the city, Mejia pointed out various landmarks to us and explained to us where she worked and in which direction they lived. After this it was off to the old trade building which is now a museum and shows how the building once looked before all the bombings, it’s a grand old building with many interesting artifacts.
We moved on and sat down for a light lunch and drink in the Riga centre where Janis met up with us, and we are happy to say, he got the job he went to the interview for. This made the day a very happy one! Janis and Mejia then wanted to show us the beach, so we all piled into their car and head off to the beach area, and as it was such a hot day (again) it seemed like the natural thing to do! It wasn’t a long drive but Janis took time in driving there so that we could see all the ‘rich’ houses of Latvia. These homes look like any other, you would not think too much of them to look at, they are in a nice location is the main thing, and then when I enquired of the price of one of these homes (as there were so many for sale) I was told they were worth one million Lats, which in Australian dollars is… three million dollars!!?? These people must be loaded!! As the majority of people in Latvia are struggling to make ends meet I asked “who on earth can afford such houses?” and I was told…the Russians. Typical. Russians own everything nice this side of Europe. They come in with all their money and buy up and then make it difficult for the locals to survive as the price goes up on most things. We had a nice time at the beach, then a walk along the township before jumping back into the car and taking a ‘short cut’ to the next beach… the road started off all nice and smooth, then it turned to dirt, then a few pot holes appeared and then.. The road was no longer a road. It was as if we were driving over a rubbish tip! There were broken bits of housing goods and materials, bricks, large stacks of weeds; sand... this was now the road. It was crazy! It was a tight little curvy road and we couldn’t turn around as a) there was no room and b) it was all sand so we would get stuck. So, we kept driving. This road went for a very long time and it was a very slow process as we didn’t want to damage the car. Thankfully everyone saw the funny side and we all laughed as we drove along. Then, in the distance we saw a man walking this ‘road’ we pulled up alongside him and asked him if the town was far, he had his one beer in hand and replied that we would come to the town if we just stuck to this road (there was no other road so I’m unsure where else he thought we would drive..) so, we left him and continued on. I have no idea where he was going, we were miles from anywhere, and the town that we were going too was still some time away, but he was on a journey to somewhere with his one beer.
Thankfully, we made it in one piece to the town, where we then got lost and ended back on the highway we’d originally pulled off, it’s always the way! We found another little beach, which you have to walk through a little forest to get too. It was nice and quiet with not so many visitors, there was however a little dog there that was attempting to get off the leash and chase us, this I was not so impressed with. We stayed here for a little time, dipping our feet in the gulf and looking at the shells.
We then all went back to Janis and Mejia’s home to watch a Latvian WW2 film, which I’m sure, was very good and funny, however it was all in Latvian. That was a slight problem being that we don’t speak Latvian. Janis and Mejia then had the difficult job of translating to us the plot and what was being said, and while we appreciated the effort that they went too we were all exhausted by the end of the night!
We were dropped back to our hostel later that night where we all agreed to meet up again tomorrow.

Meeting of more rellies
Today we were picked up by Mejia and Janis at about 10am and they took us to a place called blahblah that had a really nice Latvian Castle, we stopped at the souvenir stalls that are setup at the car park first and found a Latvian traditional right for Em the ring is called “blahblahring” and everybody in my family has one, I have my grandmothers one and it’s my most precious possession.
The Castle was in the set in very beautiful gardens that as it turns out is where Mejia and Janis got married, there is a grave in the gardens that is of a girl who “died for love” and is considered the Latvian Juliet, so many people get married in that park. The castle was very cool with a big round tower that you could climb and get a really good view of the surrounding countryside; the round tower is a Germanic feature I think as most English castles that we visited had square towers.
After the Castle we went to Mejia’s family home a farmhouse that my great grandfather lived in for several years and the home which my grandfather remembers very fondly. My grandfather remembers riding horses there and spending holidays on the farm and was proud of us for returning here and visiting.
Maijas parents now live in this farm house and really made us feel at home and welcome. Though they are unable to speak any English and we can not speak Latvian we were able to communicate though smiles and the now very popular game, charades. We were shown around the farm, saw the many animals that are on the land ranging from cows, calves, pigs, horses, 4 dogs, 2 pups and about 13 cats. It was busy! We saw the amazing strawberry patch that was producing the most amazing, rich and HUGE strawberries (they were very nice!) the old barn with its cellar and the main house. Photo albums were pulled out, tea, coffee and a traditional Latvian drink were poured, curd cake, cheese, meats, strawberries, biscuits were brought out and we all sat down to ‘talk’ and get to know one another. Time flew while here and before we knew it it was 8pm and it was time for us to get going. We had several photos taken together before leaving and we were told that Maijas parents would wait for us to return, which really made me feel like I was a soldier heading off to war for a moment, then I returned back to reality. We told them that we would like to return but it would not be for a little while yet, they said we were always welcome and it was just lovely to have been able to meet them and see the house that was such a big part of Chris’ grandfathers’ upbringing. It would have been such a beautiful place in the day, all the land and forest that surround it, the spacious house and all the animals that would have been there to play with and chase. It would have just been lovely.
It was sad to say goodbye but as we had an hour or so to drive it was necessary to make a move, so we hugged, kissed cheeks and waved goodbye enthusiastically as we drove away, vowing that we would send them some of the many many photos we took through out the day. It is difficult to know how to say thank you to such hospitality and friendship, words just don’t feel enough in many cases, and while we know that photographs are not so amazing as a gift, they are far more sentimental and hold a value that you can not replace, so, sending them photos of the family, of all of us together seems far more appropriate than a few ‘thanks’ said in broken Latvian!

Finally made it to Munich, it's a miracle!
Munich, Germany
What a bloody day we had yesterday/today! We left Stockholm on the over night train that then got us into a place called Malmo at the bottom of Sweden at 6am, we then had to catch a commuter train to Copenhagen, we waited there for 2 hours, then jumped on another train to Hamburg, only this was no normal train ride.
We jumped on this train tired and in desperate need of a good long shower and coffee. This leg of the journey was going to take 7 hours, so we settled in with our books, our IPods and our laptop which we thought we would watch a DVD on. We read a bit, looked out the window a bit, ate our free brekki that was brought around and helped ourselves to the not so great, but free, coffee that was onboard before saying “okay, lets pop a movie on” We pulled the little blind down and popped our ear plugs in, we were oblivious to the world and what was going on. We vaguely heard an announcement in German and thought “oh yeah, another station, we still have 5 hours to go, it’s not ours” so we kept watching, some people grabbed their bags and hopped off and we thought nothing of it, and then, from behind the slightly see through blind I thought “ohh, that truck is REALLY close!” so I lifted the blind and then we became very very confused… there were large trucks surrounding us and caravans all around and all I could think was “what are all these cars doing on the railway tracks!? What is going on?” and then we noticed EVERYone was getting off the train… what?!? The carriage was now empty but for 2 other girls so I asked them if they knew what was going on, they said “yeah, everyone has to hop off the train while we’re on the ship” HUH? I was so confused and I didn’t like not knowing what was going on! We hopped off in a daze and realized that we were at the bottom of a ship. Somehow, while we were watching our DVD, oblivious to the world, our train had boarded a ship that would take us from Denmark to Germany. I didn’t know that we could do that. We walked up the several flights of stairs and Wohler; we were on a ship, complete with another supermarket, bars and restaurants. We went up to the top deck and watched the world go by before popping back down to stroll through the shop and see what was on offer and then recoil at the cost of things. This boat ride took about 40 minutes; it was quite nice to get some fresh air before jumping back on the train. We were now in Germany on our way to Hamburg where we had 20 minutes to connect to our next train to Munich (or Munchen as the locals call it) but there was a hitch, a “slight” two hour hitch that had us not only missing our next train to Munchen but also having to change trains again in some random tiny little station just outside Hamburg. We are not so sure what caused this long delay but it was whispered that someone had thrown themselves in front of a train, which in turn meant that every train travelling in our direction was held up. We made it into Hamburg finally, two hours late and more than just a tad annoyed by now. We were a little concerned about making it to Munich now, as we have come to know that once you have missed your train it is not always so easy to just jump on another and expect to have a seat. We jumped off the train and ran through to the departure area where we saw on the large board that there was a train leaving for Munich in 3 minutes. Well, we RAN through the station and up to a conductor and briefly and wildly explained our situation to him. He looked a little taken back, these two very tired looking, red faced, sweaty and now puffy Australians speaking to him in such a hurried manner and with accents he could not quite understand, we must have appeared slightly crazy to him! He allowed us on the train, telling us to go to carriage 2 and try and find a seat that was not yet taken. I hate this part. All the seats are always taken and you always end up next to someone who is slightly odd in some sense. I know I sound judgmental, but with all my experience I have found this to be true. So, we managed to find seats at a table of 4 and sat with a women who, despite having plenty of room to store her very large bag at the front or back of the train, insisted on having it RIGHT next to her, preventing people from walking down the aisle. It was packed and noisy and sweaty and as we were so tired this highly irritated us. The conductor came by, and when he got to our seats had to try and jump over this large suitcase all the while asking to see our tickets. We showed him ours and then asked if there was a chance of moving to the first class section, as you see sir, we have purchased first class tickets. He said that he did not know the situation of the first class but to have a look and if free, then yes, we could. So, Chris jumped over the suitcase and discovered that first class was… empty. There were only 3 seats taken at the time and there were about 45 seats free. You little ripper! We jumped up and grabbed our bags and hastily made a retreat to the comfort of ‘first class’ as we did so I heard the lady opposite us ask her friend “where are they going?” and the other one replied with an exaggerated sniff and ‘posh’ accent “first class” Jealous old cow I thought, just because YOU want to be in first class doesn’t mean you have to mock us! So then, sitting in first class was even nicer than it would have originally been as I thought of that mocking woman being left to sit in the squashy cart. A better person would have offered her their ticket, but not me, it was a help yourself affair here!
This train ride took FOREVER. Well, it seemed to anyhow. It was another 6 hours on train and by now we were both completely and utterly OVER train travel. We played many games of cards, watched DVDs, listened to music, finished our books, ate dinner… but were still so incredibly bored and restless. ARGH! The only good thing about the entire past 24 hours of train travel was the fact that our sleeper train last night was just the two of us and had it’s on clean bathroom (with shower, very nice!) It took so so long to get to Munich, we felt that we could have gotten out and run faster than the train (but only if we were superman or had go go gadget legs) but FINALLY we got into Munich at 10pm. It was dark, it was wet, but it was Munich. Thank god! We set off from the train station to the hotel in the wrong direction, but thankfully corrected this after a few minutes so it wasn’t too drastic, and half an hour later were lying on our beds groaning of how tired we were. Yet, we couldn’t shower and fall into bed just yet as we were meeting Kora, Chris’ distant cousin, at 11pm. She is staying at the same hotel on a work conference. So, prizing the eyes open, we met up for a few drinks at 11pm and chatted and got to know one another a little, and at 2pm, FINALLY fell into bed, where Chris slept and I… well, I was now over tired and couldn’t sleep!!! So, I watched some Michael Jackson tribute thing in German before deciding that it was torturous and turning it off to try and get some sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 7, 2009 from Munich, Germany

Pelting along the Autobahn and the meeting of Max
Trier, Germany
We left Munich bright and early today and quickly found ourselves on the German Autobahn, which I have to say, I was expecting more from. I thought that it would be 4 lanes of cars that would just FLY past you, and yet, while you did have your fast cars and a certain amount of speed being tested by drivers, I didn’t ever have a moment of going “oh gosh, what was that?” as a car whizzed by. The autobahn was having quite a lot of work done to it, so sadly there were many speed limits needing to be obeyed, but, as we got further out of the city this construction work began to peter out and the speed limit opened up and you could really put your vehicle to the test. At one stage we were travelling at 160km an hour and I have to say I really enjoyed this rush. I love being in fast cars and the freedom of driving so I quite enjoyed the autobahn once the speed limits were free. Chris appeared to greatly enjoy this part of our travels also, and I know that he wished he could be driving something like an Aston Martin along these lanes.
It didn’t take too long to make it to Trier thanks to the autobahn; we were back within 4.5 hours. Kora dropped us off at her lovely little apartment, showed us where everything was, how it worked and then disappeared to work for a meeting, stating that her friend Max would come by after work and ‘look after us’
We then had time to relax, lie about and watch a DVD; it was really nice to finally be at our destination!
At seven o’clock Max turned up. Max is LOVELY. So happy and sweet all the time, we both liked him instantly. He brought a huge bag of groceries in with him and beer stating “you might be hungry? Thirsty?” We nibbled on a few things before deciding that going out for dinner was by far the better option tonight, so off we went to a nice bar/restaurant that Max knew in the city centre. Here we enjoyed a lovely night of quiet drinks and a nice simple meal each, we had a great time just chatting and getting to know Max and finding out about the Trier city. Kora eventually finished work at midnight and came and joined us for a drink or two before we head back to her house for a decent nights sleep!!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 8, 2009 from Trier, Germany

The meeting of Horst and the eating of horse
Contern, Luxembourg
We had to get up early today in preparation of meeting Horst, Koras step dad. He was going to pick us up at 11am, which normally is a civilized hour, but as we’ve been sleeping until 12pm these past few days, 11am feels like we’re being picked up at 7am, which is well to early lets be honest! Still, we were up and ready.
Horst is lovely. He picked us up, and brought us back to his home in Luxembourg which from Trier is about a 40 min drive, all the while he was introducing himself and filling us in on what was what as we passed by it. Germany and Luxembourg are divided by a river that runs between the landscape, we went over bridges here and there and at times became a little confused as to whether we were now in Germany or Luxembourg, and Horst was very patient in saying “No, still Germany…” until we asked one to many times and he said “you know what? I tell you when we are in Luxembourg” It is VERY pretty this part of the world. We drove along and eventually Chris and I petered out with conversation and instead had our noses pressed up against the windows taking in the views. It is so green here, and the fields of wheat are all so golden, there are vineyards, rivers, mountains, forests… it is all so gorgeous!
We eventually arrived to Horsts home where we met Heidi (Koras mum, who is just a complete, crazy angel!) and Chris’ distant cousin Janet and her husband Andres who are also both staying here on holiday from there home in Germany. We were then even more grateful to Horst for putting us up, being that we are complete strangers to him and he already has a full house, but still, he took us in and has offered us amazing hospitality. Such a lovely man!
We were offered a ‘light lunch’ that consisted of so many delicious meats, cheeses and nibbles that we couldn’t say no and came away with rather full tummies. Light lunch, HA! When the food is so good and you just can’t resist eating it all, it hardly works out to be light! After this delicious lunch we all head out for a sight seeing tour of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is NOT a big country, 80kms up, 40kms wide. We drove to the north of Luxembourg and it took us just under 2 hours and that was with a few little stops here and there. Again, we all started the drive chatting and talking, but as the scenery became more and more gorgeous we all fell silent, taking in the views and scenery. We drove through dense, thick, green forest and then, suddenly, there was a gigantic, amazing, gorgeous, fully in tact, still standing, Walt Disney replica, castle. I couldn’t help but exclaim out loud “oh my gosh! Look at that castle!!” Pointing it out to everyone, who then in turn all gasped and made appropriate ohhhh, ahhhh sounds. Not only is the castle still in tact and wonderful looking, the outer walls and keepers gates are all in tact too, and inside all of these are buildings that are still in use today. Some of the buildings are tiny, little doors, little windows, some have been renovated and made into nice café/restaurants, and just to see exactly HOW nice these cafes now are, we stopped in at one for a drink. It was lovely to sit outside, look at the old walls and imagine how the city would have looked back in the day. It was a steep little city with steep roads; I personally would have had a horse back in the day if I lived there because I’d be danged if I could walk up those hills everyday! We then left and made tracks home once more so that we would be on time for our dinner reservation.
Unfortunately Janet was not feeling well today, a little too much to drink last night so, apart from the little sight seeing tour she participated in, we did not get to meet/see her for long today as she opted to go back to bed when we got home. So, the five of us head out to dinner at Horsts little local restaurant, where, he is such a loyal customer they gave the table free appetizers, which was lovely, though, sad for me as it was crab and avocado pate. I’m told that it was very very nice and refreshing. I believe it. Now, the menus were all in German/Luxembourg-nese so reading the menus proved a problem for Chris and I but thankfully we had many people there too interpret it for us, the only problem was, there was so much on the menu and the translating took such a long time that we were still interpreting when the waitress came back to take the orders. I had remembered a ‘safe’ option, which I had been told was “chicken piles” which I just hoped meant little stacks of, and not anything else (they eat alllll the meat of the animals here, so you never know what you’re going to get…) all I knew was that it came with chips and salad so it sounded quite tame to me and the good choice to make. Chris on the other hand wasn’t sure what he wanted so Heidi, being a good host, said “would you like a horseblahblahblahblah steak? It is good, lots of protein” So Chris went “steak? Yeah that sounds good, I’ll have that please” It was only when the waitress had talked Chris into getting the red wine sauce with the meal and had disappeared the penny dropped… “Sorry” we asked “did you say HORSE STEAK?” “Yes” Heidi nodded enthusiastically “horse, you know” she mimicked riding a horse “Horse” and nodded once more in understanding. “Ohhhhh” we said “Yes, horse…” I have to admit, my tummy did a little flip at this. I’m not good with ‘odd’ meats. I like my chicken, beef and lamb and that is it. I’m a bit picky I admit. The thought of eating crocodile, emu, kangaroo etc is not good for me, and thought of eating a horse really made me go “oh god!” Still, it was ordered and it was Chris’ meal, so it was okay. I had my chicken piles coming. Good ol’ safe chicken! The meals came out; I had ‘chicken piles’ which was actually, to my delight, chicken and leek pie and Chris, his horse. Horse steak looks just like beef steak, and I have to admit, didn’t look or smell that bad. Chris says that it was very tasty and just like a lean cut of beef, so, with this in mind I asked for a VERY LITTLE bit please, but the more burnt part… and I admit, it wasn’t soooo bad, but it took me a long time to get the thought of eating black beauty out of my head. All little girls’ dream of riding horses, not eating them!
Dinner was lovely and relaxed and a great chance to get to know everyone. We greatly enjoyed this meal. After this Heidi and her friend Marriott took us for a night tour of Luxembourg City. It has to be said. Luxembourg is just amazing and gorgeous and utterly amazing! I really think that this city is by far my favorite (thus far) While most of the European cities we have visited have been dead flat, Luxembourg is on a hill, with half the city sitting on the top of the hill and the other ‘down town’ which is, appropriately, at the bottom of the hill. Marriott was a fantastic host, stopping at all the places of interest (sometimes illegally parking just so we wouldn’t have to walk, that’s my kind of girl and what I call a fantastic tour guide!) showing us ‘the hollow tooth’ the liberty statue (which was pulled down during the WW2, some local Luxembourgians grabbed it and hid it away as the Germans wanted to completely destroy it, they hid it so well that it was only found and restored back to it’s original state and place of pride 15 years ago! They found it hidden under the football stadium, so obviously it was men who put it there. Oh, and also, the Germans put in jail the locals who had tried, but failed to protect and hide this statue, which I think is just a bit rough, but then, it was WW2 and it was the Germans… enough said really) We also saw the palace, the defensive wall, the cathedral and much much more! It is just a gorgeous, untouched city full of history and wonderful back drops of old bridges, rivers, and green green gardens. I think that Chris should get a job working on the palace computers and I can look after the royals’ children just so that we can stay here. But then, the royals are a tad old and by the looks of them, past their child baring days, so perhaps Chris should just work on their computers and I’ll just stay as a lady of leisure… now, that’s more like it! We had a drink in a very busy, crowded, loud, but very funky bar with the girls before heading back home where Horst was waiting for us with a bottle of wine. We couldn’t be rude, and despite the fact that our eyes were closing and we were forced to pry them open manually, we stayed up and drank the very tasty Luxembourg wine with him and Heidi before crashing into bed at about 2am.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 14, 2009 from Contern, Luxembourg

Ice cream and rum for breakfast
Contern, Luxembourg
Ahhhh, another long sleep in! The joy and bliss of it all! This is what holidays are about! Apart from a few early morning bladder wake up calls we slept soundly until 12.30pm, it was great! We then got up, had lazy showers and had breakfast. This was not your run of the mill breakfast consisting of weetbixs and a luke warm coffee, no, this was quite a spread consisting of ham, 2 different types of salami, 2 different sorts of bread, gherkins, pate, boiled eggs, yoghurt, 4 different types of cheese, stuffed capsicums, fresh pineapple and then later… dessert! I was delighted to find that our dessert was going to be ice cream and fruit, very yummy and such a treat being it was breakfast and all, I was quite chuffed at the idea and thought “why can’t we eat ice cream for breakfast ALL the time?!” Out came the ice cream, out came the fruit, I had my spoon at the ready, beaming a happy smile across the table, and then…OH MY GOD! It took all my might to swallow this dessert and not spit it out as my first reaction was urging me. The ice cream was great, the fruit… blah!!! It was fruit stewed in a traditional Germany way, which means it is left in a huge pot of rum for months and months and months and it was incredibly strong, so strong infact I’m surprised I didn’t just burn my taste buds right off. Our hosts had been so excited in introducing this repulsive concoction though that it would have been rude to exclaim “OH MY GOD THAT IS DISGUSTING!!!” (Instead my brain screamed this!) I ate all the fruit quickly so that I could be left with the good part... the ice cream, and thought I had done quite well, proudly setting my bowl aside before Horst looked at me with an expression that read “what are you doing?!” and he said in a very authoritative voice “you MUST finish all your rum!” to which I jumped to attention very quickly and said “of course! I had not yet finished!” All the while my head screaming “NOOOOO!” but, I finished it, as did Chris and I could tell by the look on his face he was just as repulsed by this ‘dessert’ Still, we can’t be rude to our very gracious host!
Feeling quite sleepy and just a tad bit tipsy now (I’m kidding, we weren’t really, we were rolling drunk…) we thought we’d better take the rest of the day easy, particularly as we figure we will have a rerun of last nights drinking session tonight and for this reason we all opted to laze about the house, Chris assisting Horst with his computer problems, me catching up with all the blogging, Heidi rearranging the house.. It was a nice way to spend the day, and it was much cooler in the house than outdoors, so that was another good reason to stay indoors!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 15, 2009 from Contern, Luxembourg

IKEA detour and back to Germany
Trier, Germany
Another sleepy day where we didn’t get up until lunch time, I just love these sleep ins, they’re great! Horst and Heidi had gone out when we hopped up but had left the kitchen table set up with a banquet fit for a king and queen. We once more ate until our heart was content and tummies exploding before they returned home and announced that it was time to go to IKEA.
Seeing as Chris and I have not been to IKEA before this was a welcome idea and something new for us to do, so we popped our shoes on and then popped into the car and over the boarder into Belgium where there is a HUGE IKEA store.
We were amazed with the size of this store, it would be easy to spend an entire day in there and despite the fact that we got through the store at a decent pace we still managed to spend hours in there! There were many nice house hold items, and if we had a house it would be fantastic and we would have been quite tempted to buy many various items (including a kitchen set up we really really liked!) but as all we have with us are already over stuffed back packs our purchases had to be quite limited. We settled with a small little touch lamp that is in the shape of a cartoon ghost that glows blue. Just what we always wanted!
After this eye opening tour we head back to Horsts home where we were met by Kora, who then, after a quick early dinner drove us back to Germany, which honestly only took 30 minutes. It is not far at all.
We were divided on what we were wanting to do tonight, a quiet night in, out for dinner, out for drinks? So many options! We settled on meeting Max for a quiet drink and then head back home for a ‘Skype date’ with Chris’ dad. It was lovely to talk to him again and catch up with all the news of home and actually chatted for quite some time. It’s always nice to catch up with loved ones.
A few quick games of cards I decided to call it a night as I had quite a headache, however, Chris and Kora both managed to make quite a night for themselves drinking beer until 4am, they seemed to have great fun, laughing and enjoying themselves, but found it a little hard to rise the following morning!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 16, 2009 from Trier, Germany

Shopping and an Aussie BBQ
Trier, Germany
It took a long time to arise today, Chris and Kora only getting to bed at 4am so they found it difficult to hop out of bed until after lunch. It was nice to have a lazy morning/arvo though, to relax and just take it easy.
We eventually made our way into Trier city centre where we met up with Max once more. We’d recently discovered that there are quite a number of caches to be found around the city, so, we decided to try and uncover some of these. Our first attempt was unsuccessful, however we were able to uncover the second that we tried for. It’s always a nice feeling when you discover and achieve your goal in caching. Max and Kora both enjoyed their first caching experience too and spoke of getting themselves a GPS system so that they could continue on with this once we’ve left.
After this we Split up, the men going off for a drink while the women went off in search of jeans. Jeans here in Germany are EXTREMELY pricey! In a jean store we were looking at 90 EUROS, that’s almost $200 for a pair! I walked out very quickly, almost gave up on finding a pair, but then… we spotted a pair of nice, easy jeans in a department store… and they were on sale, we were able to score them for 15 Euros. According to Kora there has never been a bargain like this in the whole of Europe, which made me feel quite accomplished and chuffed with my new purchase.
Chris and I had made a promise that we would make Aussie burgers and potato salad while in Germany, and tonight was the night, which was good as I have had the biggest hankering for potato salad these last few days! As there was no BBQ here at Koras we had to buy a little disposable tin foil one that did the job wonderfully, however just slowly. We didn’t end up eating until 10.30pm, but it was worth it! Dinner was lovely but we decided to have an early night tonight as tomorrow we’re off to Bruges for the weekend and we plan to leave bright and early.
This was an amusing plastic bag that we found today, just wanted to share it!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 17, 2009 from Trier, Germany

300 beers in Bruges
Brugge, Belgium
We got away today at 10.30am for our trip to Bruges. The drive would take 4 hours so we settled into the car and set our selves up for a comfortable trip, IPods at the ready, pillows up against the windows and some edible goodies to nibble on and in no time we seemed to arrive into Bruges.
Bruges is lovely! Full of beautiful old gothic buildings and cobblestoned streets. Horse and cart dominate the streets and tourists stop at every corner to look at the chocolate stores and decide which goodie they’ll eat next.
Bruges is famous for several reasons. Chocolate (obviously) hot chips with various sauces (mayonnaise, tartar sauce, curry sauce, pickles… take your choice) beer, waffles and… the film “In Bruges”. I’m happy to say that our diet went out the window today as we sampled all these high in fat and sugar goodies (I must say that they were all very very delicious) and were able to take a good tour of the town centre where we saw quite a few of the land mark sites from the film. It was a lovely day, we saw so much and were able to take a little boat tour, and it was very nice!
Bruges has many many beautiful cathedrals, buildings, shops and little homes that are situated right on the waterfront, just gorgeous!
We stopped for a quick drink by the water front before moving on as it was just a little chilly by the water, our next stop was dinner. Max and Kora have both been to Bruges before and Max became quite happy as we stumbled upon the restaurant he first ate in during his first visit to Bruges, then as we were seated at the table he had last time. It was very sweet! Dinner was delicious, beer and wine was drunk and then we had waffles, it was a very full, very yummy dinner.
We’d read about a little bar that serves 300 different kinds of beer, so, knowing that Bruges is famous for it’s beer and wanting to sample some of this, we head off. It was little and had an awesome atmosphere, we felt right at home straight off! It was here that we sampled beer (I myself stuck to wine) and met an English actor who now lives in Bruges named Nick. He was quite nice and sat with us through out the night suggesting all the best beer to sample. It was a lovely night filled with much laughter and drinking. The staff there was all really very nice and continued to serve us beer and suggest nice ones to try through out the night until we stumbled out and back towards the hotel at 3am
written by  Chris and Emily on July 18, 2009 from Brugge, Belgium

Recovery
Brugge, Belgium
Three out of the four of us awoke this morning feeling fine, one however awoke suffering quite a bad hang over. Max, Chris and I all trooped down to breakfast feeling fine apart from tired, and had our cornflakes and typical European bread breakfast do, before heading out to find Coke for Kora, who was suffering up stairs, poor thing!
Max returned to the hotel with the important Coke while Chris and I head to the tower in the town centre and climbed the 366 steep stairs to the top to take in the amazing view. It was lovely up there; you can see all of Bruges, which is just like a fairy tale. It was a real hike up to the top, but even more of a pain coming down, the stairs being so narrow and windy made it a little dangerous coming down with not many hand holds to cling too. When we finally made it to ground level we were surprised to see a huge queue of people that snaked out the entry building and out doors. We always seem to have luck in missing the queue!
We then head to the chocolate section of town to sample what was claimed to be ‘the best hot chocolate in town’… and it was SOOOO good!! I don’t think I’ll ever have one as good as that again in my life! We also managed to pick up a few boxes of fresh hand made chocolates for later, and also one for Max and Kora as a thank you gift for the lovely weekend we had.
We all met up an hour or so later and made our way to lunch, which was a quick affair as we had to hit the road again and make our way back to Trier, a 4 hour drive. We stocked up on water and some chocolates and head off, Max driving and making the trip a quick one thankfully.
We all fell into our comfortable seats/beds and put on a film to watch… and decided that the most appropriate to watch would be ‘In Bruges’ and found it fun to be able to sit there and yell out “been there!” or “saw that!” in various sections before putting on another film and relaxing. It was a very quiet night, which was good and we eventually called it a night at around 11pm. Phew, what a day!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 19, 2009 from Brugge, Belgium

Max make dinner
We had a short day today as we slept in once more until lunch. We have both realised how tired we are and catching up on all this sleep has been really fantastic!
We popped some DVDs on and relaxed in bed watching these as the hours ticked by and then decided that as Max was coming over to cook dinner for us tonight we'd better make the effort of getting up and actually getting dressed...
Max arrived with armfuls of goodies and then proceeded to make us salad and pasta with pork and white wine sauce. Mmmm, yum! It was really really good!!!
We had a lovely time with Max, sipping beers, chatting and learning much about one another, it was just a very chilled out, relaxing evening and a great way to end such a relaxed, lazy day!

We make Max dinner (and Kora too)
A very lazy day today indeed! A huge sleep in, the viewing of various DVDs and then reluctantly getting up to go to the supermarket in order to get the goods needed for our dinner date with Max and Kora.
We were unsure what we were going to cook, but seeing as Koras kitchen is a little limited we settled on pasta and salad once more. It was easy and quick and nice to make.
Kora and Max both arrived home at the same time so with dinner on the table and the wine chilled we were able to settle right down at the table and chat and catch up on the days proceedings.
It was a lovely night and a great relaxed meal!

Free guided tour of the city
Max and Kora have been able to find a English speaking tour of the city of Trier,and so today, that was our outing.
We got up nice and early (it nearly killed us after our many many sleep ins!) and head to the city where we met Max and then the tour group. It was a very large group and our tour guide was an older lady with a little voice. Though she tried, we couldn't always hear her unless we were standing right next to her and practically on her.
During this tour (which was meant to go for 2.5/3 hours) we saw the Porta Nygro, an old gate which the Romans built back in the day. IT's the last one standing and is in brilliant condition. It was left standing as back when they were pulling the other gates down an old monk, who was a friend of the emperors, decided to become a hermit and live in this gate, the emperor then called off the pulling down of this gate and let his friend live in there, which he did for 5 years before dying. Then, after death he became a bit of a legend and so today, the wall still stands.
We also were taken to see the 'Dome' an impressive chruch in the middle of the city that apparently houses the tunic Jesus was wearing on the day of cruxififtion. I'm not so sure on this, I'd have to see it to tell you but apparently the tunic is only on display every 5 years or so. I'll come back for that one.
Next stop was the old Roman baths. A huge complex of what is now ruins, but would have been magnificant in the day. Not only did they have baths here but also a large field where sporting events would take place, a large covered area where entertainment would happen and then of course, the baths and other areas where they could get massages etc. The Romans sure did know how to live that's for sure!
It was nice to see the city, but we were all becoming more than just a little bored by the end of the day. The guide, as sweet as she was, was INCREDIBLY dull and spoke so softly that you couldn't hear, but she just talked and talked and talked and what was meant to be a 2.5/3 tour turned into a 4 hour one. I know I shouldn't complain, it was great to get out and get the history of the city, but by the end we were all ready to get going.
After this we all head for a drink and relax, it was great to finally sit down, and after this we had a lovely meal at one of the more favourite restaurants of Max and Koras and then hired a movie and went home to watch this. It was a very nice, very relaxed day.

Pancakes with St Mary
As is the norm these days, we had a sleep in before Max came over and we all got ready for our daily outing.
Today we decided that we would go up the hill to have breakfast (in fairness it was actually afternoon tea now) by the large statue of St Mary that looks out over the city of Trier. We have looked at this statue from a far and have a great view of it from Koras balcony, so to finally head up the hill and see it was really nice.
We drove to the resturant that we were told does the best cakes in all of Trier and ordered pancakes. We're sure the cake would have been great but our tummies just weren't up for it as the first meal of the day! It began to rain while we were sitting out doors eating but we didn't mind, we were under a large tree so we only got drops every now and then, it wasn't enough to run for the Comfort of the indoor seating.
After we had digested we walked for half an hour to the statue. It wasn't a long walk but it was a little bit of a tough one as it was a little steep! From the statue we had great views over the city and the surronding areas, we spent a long time up there just taking it all in and snapping a few photos.
The half hour walk back was once more a little tough, it also had its steep parts and we then drove back home where we sat about, had a drink or two and played cards and board games. A lovely way to finish off an easy, nice day.

English class with Kora
We had a very quiet day today, sleeping in, getting up and slowly getting ready for our day, or what was left of it!
At about 4pm we walked into the city of Trier which took us just under an hour. It was nice to get out, be walking and getting some fresh air. We've been couping ourselves up indoors so much these days that until now sunlight has almost been our enemy! We felt fit and alive for finally getting out and about.
We didn't do much while in the city, were able to find a book written in English for myself (finally!) and just did some window shopping. We had a quick dinner before we set off to meet Kora and some of her work mates.
Kora and her work mates attend English class every Monday (despite the fact that Chris and I keep telling her that her English is perfect and she shouldn't have to go any more) and we were invited to after class drinks as special guests. It was lovely to be able to meet Koras work mates, they were all so nice and it was really flattering that they all wanted to meet us so that they could hear our accents and speak English with us!
We told them all we knew of Australia and they listened with great interest and asked many questions. Talking so much of home made us realise how much we miss home and of how lucky we are to be living in such a wonderful country, and as much as we're loving being on this adventure we're both looking forward to the comforts and perks of home!
We spent some time with this group before we head off to the 'wine festival'
There has been a festival that has been running for the past 3 days down by the waterfront. A beer and wine festival, and tonight was our chance to go!
We head out armed with jumpers and some cash and were dropped down by the waterfront by taxi. There were many many stalls selling all sorts of German beer and wine and it was all good! There were many food stalls and two stages where music and acts were taking place. We brought beer and myself a soft drink and went off to listen to the main stage band.
The band were great, they sang a few songs in German which, if the crowds cheers and manic dancing were anything to go by, quite popular, but they sang the majority of the songs in English so we were able to sing along with them. We were having a great time, drinking, dancing, singing... then the rain set in. It began to POUR. We tried for shelter under umbrellas that stall holders had out, but as every man, and quite literally dog, were under those we decided for the shelter of a very large tree. This worked for some time but as the rain got heavier we realised "we're getting wet no matter what, we may as well go to the stage" so we left the tree and went and stood on the very muddy slope to watch the band some more. We slipped and slid but had a ball. As it got later we realised that we were actually a little chilly now and decided to leave, heading for the taxi rank. The line here was very long and what was most annoying was the fact that people were pushing in front of us and taking the cabs that were meant for us!
We had enough of this and decided for a new tatic, we head to the opposite side of the busy street and pulled a taxi there, and I couldn't help but stick my tounge out at those lined up as we drove past them.
As we got out of the taxi and were heading indoors a huge crack of thunder erupted and lightening filled the sky and all we could think was how our timing for leaving had been perfect! We fell into our nice warm beds and fell asleep in no time.

Lazy day!
We have had another lazy day. This should not suprise anyone. We don't really do anything any more and we're becoming quite content with this!
Long sleep in (still recovering from Bruges) popped some washing on, made a potato salad (we have to eat!) and then a day of just lazily lying about playing on the net, with games and reading. Lovely.
We then had to pack our bag once more as tonight we're off to Cologne with Kora to visit her sister (and Chris' other distant rellie) for the night. We will then spend tomorrow in Cologne checking out the sights.
A wonderful, lazy day!

Day out with Inga
Bonn, Germany
After a lovely night last night, where Inga made us an amazing dinner feast, complete with great wine, we had a great nights sleep and awoke this morning feeling fresh and ready for the day.
Inga once more put on an amazing spread of food that served as breakfast and as we nibbled on these goodies we discussed what the plan would be today.
We made our way to the museum of German history, which only tells of the history from 1945. I guess they don’t want to relive, or have to remember the past before that. We all know what happened then. It was interesting and it did give you a slightly different perspective than what you originally walked in with. It was here also that we learnt that Bonn was once the capital of Germany that was a very interesting fact! While the museum was interesting and educational, it was the museum shops that I really loved! They had very cool, very fun bits and pieces in them; I spent a lot of time wondering about there!
We didn’t go in per say, but we did also stop to look at the architecture of the modern art museum. It was very very impressive. They have a stair case that is in the shape of an hour glass and a very funky water machine that drops water down in such a way that it makes up words as it falls. It was very entertaining!
Inga then took us up to Petersburg. A hill in Bonn that has a very impressive hotel/restaurant on it and apparently all the presidents who visit Germany go up there for conferences, meals and to stay. The view from up there is fantastic and we thoroughly enjoyed sitting out side eating the most fabulous cake and sipping our hot drinks.
The day really flew today and before we knew it we were heading back to Inga’s where we met Kora, had another drink and rest before heading back to Trier to meet Max for dinner. After this we went back to Max’s place to watch some of the IT Crowd series, which we LOVE, it was a nice evening to top off what had already been a lovely day!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 21, 2009 from Bonn, Germany

Farewell Trier, thanks for the memories!
Wow, what a day! We slept in today a little longer than we originally planned too as last night we were awoken by an awesome thunderstorm. We can’t resist a good storm so we leapt up, opened all the windows and blinds, stood on the balcony and watched it roll over at 3am.
It was hard to pack our stuff after having a break from it all for so long. None the less, we were able to cram all our stuff back into the packs with just a little effort.
We wanted to be good house guests, so, to achieve this we decided to clean up Koras apartment, it didn’t take long but it was an effort thanks to the extreme heat we experienced today. To treat ourselves (and award ourselves for our gallant effort) we walked to the local ice cream parlour and brought ourselves a cone each, which melted faster than we could lick. It was a messy outing. We then begrudgingly thought that we’d better go to the supermarket to replace some of the goods that we have used throughout the past two weeks. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to buy these things; it was just the fact that it was sooo hot! We brought a few bits and bobs and carried them home as fast as we could, which, thanks to the thick heat, wasn’t very fast at all.
After this outing we didn’t do much but lie about moaning “aaaaarrrrghhhh, it’s SO bloody hot!” and copy some music to our IPods, then before we knew it Max and Kora arrived home.
We always look forward to them returning home, but this time it was tinged with sadness as we knew that this meant that we would soon have to get going. We’ve enjoyed our visit to Germany so much and it’s all been thanks to Max and Kora. Without them we wouldn’t have seen the things we did, experienced the food and drink, had such a great laugh and been able to relax the way we have. We can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for us; we’ll always remember them, and this part of the trip, very very fondly.
Chris here now. I can’t thank Kora enough for looking after us so well and being such a good host and Max for being so kind to us, cooking for us and showing us around, Max would make a very good tour guide he’s very funny and great at explaining the history of stuff… cool stuff like the Porta Nigra in Trier.
When Max and Kora got home they had something quick to eat then we chatted for a while, exchanged last minute details and jumped in the car. Kora drove us to the train station that we thought was about an hour away turn out it’s more like an hour and a half, time seems to pass differently when you are on the Autobahn doing 160km/h but we made it to the train station with 15 minutes to spare. Max being his usually thoughtful and kind self realized that we really hadn’t eaten anything as we were planning to have dinner at the train station as we thought we would have time so Max ran off to get us some food and made it back just before the train pulled up at the station. We clambered onto the train and Max went up the carriage with Em to try and to find what cabin we are in but the train wasn’t stopped at this station for long and before we knew it the whistle was being blown and max had to run through the carriage, give me a quick man hug and jump through the closing door like in a Hollywood movie. Em and I opened the window and waved to them as the train pulled away from the station, also kinda Hollywood. It was so sad to say goodbye to them but hopefully we will be able to catch up with them somehow before we leave Europe. We are planning on heading back to France to go to a holiday house near La Rochelle the end of next month to stay with Inga and with some luck Max might be able to join us there.
We are now on the train heading towards Italy and at the moment our 4 bed cabin is just Em and I but the conductor said another person is joining us in Frankfurt so no more private cabin.

Our first day in Roma
Rome, Italy
We got up early this morning on the train after a mostly sleepless night due to the really noisy train and no earplugs. After about an hour of watching the scenery out the window the train got into Milano right on time, good thing as we only had 25 minutes to get the next train and our last experience of a connection in Milano was really unpleasant. So we switched trains to the pretty comfy Italian Eurostar express and spend the next 4 hours reading, playing cards and snoozing as our train sped towards Roma.
Once we arrived at Roma’s huge main train station “termini” we set about attempting to find our hotel. The heat in Rome was crazy and as it was close to Midday it was about as hot as the day was going to get, this made wandering the streets trying to find the right one really difficult. I made the mistake of not checking satellite view on Google maps before we left so I didn’t exactly know how the streets related to the train station so we ended up a fair few blocks to far north of where we wanted to be. After some serious huffing and puffing we finally found the hotel and where “delighted” with it’s proximity to the train station! The room was ready so we embraced its comfy bed and air-conditioned bliss and proceeded to have a well deserved siesta for 3 hours before finally heading out into the heat again.
The Metro station was at the main train station so at least we didn’t have trouble finding it; we jumped on the train and headed to Vatican City. We grabbed a drink and a coffee at a café near the metro before heading to VC to have a look around. I had a macchiato and am happy to say that Italian coffee is as good in Rome as it was in Venice a welcome change after some of the interesting things I have been served up when ordering macchiato in other cities.
The Vatican is very impressive a huge round square (if that makes sense) greets you when you pass through the arches of its outer wall. There are two big fountains and a tower thingy with some holy person on top; I suspect either the man himself or his mum can’t tell the all dressed the same back in those days. At the pointy end of the round square is the basilica a pretty impressive looking building that reminds me a lot of st pauls in London, after taking the required photos of the statues, fountains and grandeur of the square (the round one remember) we headed to the queue for the basilica dreading what we might find, but in the end we didn’t want at all just a minute to get through the security scan then straight through, Em was wearing a dress that covered her shoulders but didn’t have sleeves and the dude at the gate looked like he wasn’t going to let her in for a minute, they are very strict on clothing for the basilicas in Italy and it made me chuckle a little when the girl in front of us who’s outfit really wasn’t leaving much to the imagination walked right by 2 or 3 signs depicting the dress code and then looked so amazed that they wouldn’t let her in!
The inside of the basilica was very interesting with all it’s painted roofs, statues and stuff but it’s all pretty similar to the other big churches we have seen, I did like the story of the grave of the apostle Peter that was found back in 150AD or something and was the reason the basilica was built there, you can just see the mosaic of Jesus that the tomb is supposed to be behind.
After the basilica we headed back to the Metro stopping for some Pizza on the way, we ended up with way more food then we could manage even though we hadn’t really eaten all day. Then it was a metro ride and bed.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 23, 2009 from Rome, Italy

The sistine chapel, fountains, coliseums and many many steps (both walked and sat on!)
Rome, Italy
I know I have said it before, but by geez it was HOT today. Seriously, seriously hot. Melting, sweating like a pig, dehydrating, feel like your going to pass out hot heat. We hate it.
Now that we have our whine out of the way let us tell you of the things we did like today!
We had planned to get up early and go check out the sisten chapel and then take another train to the coliseum. These plans changed however though when we accidently slept in, despite an alarm being set. Oops. After a very nice and cheap breakfast across the road we made our way to the sisten chapel where we were able to enter the museum with little fuss and queuing. It was wonderful! We did have a look through the museum, you have to as it’s set up in such a way that you have to snake through all the bits and bobs of art and artifacts before you make your way to the infamous sisteen chapel, where you see the art work of the great (and late) Michelangelo. This was AMAZING.
The hall room is jam packed with tourists, you can barely find room to stand, but you don’t mind as the work around you is so breath taking and detailed you forget about everything else. The paintings show so many different aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry and they also show Moses’ story, these paintings are all along the sides of the room.
The roof was made up of all these little paintings showing different apostles, stories, interpretations, all wonderful, and of course, on the roof here is the famous “Hand of David” painting. This painting shows God reaching down to touch David’s. David is weak and limp and Gods hand is strong and powerful and you can tell that by one touch David’s strength will be restored. This is a lovely painting and I took in this one for a very long time!
The biggest and most detailed painting takes up one whole wall. Chris and I interpreted this as being ‘Armageddon’ This painting shows angels above pulling people heavenwards, while others below them blow trumpets and then below them, demons pull at and torment people. Chris really liked this one and appreciated all the work and time that must have gone into painting this masterpiece.
After this (and a few very sneaky, blurry photos) we made our way back out into the blistering heat and made our way towards the Spanish steps. It was very impressive here, huge steps leading up to a grand old building. Chris tried to coax me all the way to the top of the stairs; I only made it half way. Energy had to be reserved I felt as the heat was sapping it straight from me. On the plus side though, we were able to buy a very cheap, not so great looking but practical none the less, sun umbrella to ‘protect’ me somewhat from the nasty rays that would otherwise burn my pale English/Irish skin (can thank my mum for that)
We slowly made our way on towards the Trivi fountain. A HUGE fountain with amazing statues and art work. We were both very impressed by this monument, but so with the amount of tourists! It was crazy how many people were crowding around this semi circle area to take in the site. We had some very quick photos, a very quick ice cream and moved on away from the crush of people and where we could breath.
The pythanon was our next stop. This huge dome is made from marble and has been in use since the day of the Romans, meaning, it’s about 2000 – 3000 years old. Very impressive! It’s rather empty looking inside now, apart from a few catholic statues, an alter and some pews, which we took full use of and sat down in with much delight.
It wasn’t long before we were up and walking again though, making our way slowly on towards the Coliseum. As we walked in this general direction we passed the impressive monument Emanuel II and then past the forum on towards the coliseum.
We didn’t actually go into the Coliseum, but we can say with complete sincerity that this site is HUGE! It’s beautiful and historic and you can just feel the history and past oozing from it! While we would have loved to go in, we just did not have the energy to do so. I know that sounds like a complete cope out but it’s so true. Despite drinking gallons and gallons of water to keep hydrated we were both suffering terribly from the heat with pounding headaches, sore feet and drenched in sweat now. The line up was over 40 minute wait and we near collapsed at the thought of having to line up for that long! We decided not to go in but were delighted when we found a high point while walking around the building that allowed us to see through the ‘windows’ of the Coliseum and into it. While we weren’t able to see everything of course, we were able to get a good idea and feel for it from here. We were a bit chuffed with this discovery as it was in the shade and gave us a free ‘look’ into the site!
We then DRAGGED ourselves back to the Metro, where we stumbled onto the busiest, stuffiest carriage we could find (please note that that is extreme sarcasm) and then made the short ride back to the hotel where we collapsed onto the bed and welcomed the intense air conditioning. We know that with global warming etc at the moment we’re told to take things like air conditioning a little slower, but the professionals suggesting all this have clearly never been to Rome in the summer time. If so they would understand that air conditioning to the extreme is vital for the survival of the Romans and their guests.
A dinner of “pick your own pizza slices to make a full pizza” was had along with a few chilled drinks and we then lazed about the hotel for the rest of the night relaxing and catching up on emails etc. Up early tomorrow to go to Imola and meet some of my wonderful friends!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 24, 2009 from Rome, Italy

My penpals and I meet... after 14 years!
Imola, Italy
Oh what a lovely, wonderful, happy day! After 14 long years Chris and I finally got to meet two of my oldest and dearest pen pals!
Mari, Lidija and I have been writing to one another since the age of about 15 and have continued to write to one another to this very day (though, more by email now though admittedly) and as Chris and I were in Europe it was decided that we would all travel to Maris home town of Imola in Italy and meet up for a weekend. It was a very exciting day to say the least!
Chris, despite only seeing one or two pictures of them in the past, was the first to spot Lidija and Mari, who were waiting patiently for us at the train station. It was like meeting up with your family members you haven’t seen for a while. We knew each other, despite never having “met” per say, before. It was easy to fall into conversation with these two gorgeous ladies and I have to say that I was just over come with joy that we had FINALLY met up!
Mari’s husband Mattia was waiting patiently (bless him) in the car for us, and it was also so lovely to finally meet him after all Mari has told us! We drove to the hotel we were staying in where we dropped our bags off and then made our way to a local little eatery for an Imolian speciality called “padina” This are thick crepe like bases that then have ham, cheese, lettuce.. what ever you like added to them and are placed on a hotplate to melt, then folded in half and presented to you. They are very yummy to say the least!
The F1 track was the next stop of the day. It was the F1 that helped to put Imola on the map. Up until 3 years ago Formula 1 would take place in Imola on a yearly basis, where we’re told, tourists would just flood in in droves to see the event and the town would be buzzing. However, now, thanks to money and business, the F1 takes place in other parts of Europe meaning that there is now a redundant race track taking up a lot of Imola. It appears that where ever you go in Imola you are not far from a part of the track! It is now used for bicycle races and sometimes concerts (with the likes of Robbie Williams and Bon Jovi playing there! Two of my fave artists!)
We then took a stroll through a park which is home to a large statue in memory of a F1 driver
Arton Senna who sadly, died on the track some time ago. The statue is amazing and is very artistic, a lovely tribute to him.
The weather was so warm today, we were all literally melting away. Lidija, Chris and I popped back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and a chance to clean up before all meeting up again and going to dinner.
In true Italian style we went to a really lovely pizzeria for dinner, where we sampled some of the best pizza and pasta we’ve eaten to date! It was so yummy, you just wanted more to appear on your plate! It was a lovely dinner with lovely friends, and after this we head back to the hotel where we fell into a very deep sleep!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 25, 2009 from Imola, Italy

Lovely relaxing day with great friends!
Imola, Italy
We met at the resonible hour of 10am today in the hotel foyer. Chris, Lidija and I had all eaten suffient amounts at the hotel breakfast banquette, so were feeling rather full when picked up! It was a very nice way to start the day!
Mattia and Mari then drove us to a nearby town where we visited the medieval castle. It was huge, and, unlike most castles we’ve come across, still in tact and rather glorious to be inside. This castle had so many rooms, and they all had a lovely view of the surrounding country side, you couldn’t help but think of how amazing and glorious it must have been back in the day! The only problem with this castle that I saw was the fact that there were many tourture and ‘murder’ holes dotted around the place. I can’t help but think that the royals who occupied this castle were both more than just a little ‘sick’.
Just outside the bedroom to the royals there was a round circle in the floor, when you looked down this you could see that there were many large razors sticking out of the walls. Prisoners use to be pushed down this hole, which would cut them up terribly on their way down, and then be left to bleed to death in pain (if they hadn’t already died that is) at the bottom of the shaft. To have it, basically in your bedroom, is just a little off putting. The royal bedroom also had a window that looked out right onto the execution grounds, so they didn’t have to leave their room to go and witness the prisoners death. They also had a large prison down stairs that had dates carved into the stone going back to 1667, and last but not least, there was also a large hole in the ground that prisoners would be pushed down (minus the razors) they’d fall perhaps 40 feet, and if the fall didn’t kill you, you were left to starve to death there in pain. There was no way in or out for that matter, other than down this hole. It was very very sadistic.
The views from the very top of the castle, in the look out, were fantastic. It was so lovely to be able to see out over the country side. We were told that there was a ‘tale’ that there was an underground tunnel that lead from the castle all the way to Imola, which was at least 30 kms away, but as Mattia said, it was just a legend… there has been no real proof of this.
After the castle we made our way to a lovely little restaurant that Mari and Mattia use to frequent regulary. The restaurant was closed, but as they knew the owner we were welcomed to eat, and boy was the food ever good!!! I know that we said we enjoyed last nights meal, but todays meal was just devine! I can see why Mari and Mattia went here so often! Apparently this restaurant is also frequented by famous racing drivers, just not today.
After this very yummy, very nice meal, we went back to the hotel once more for a small nap and shower. The weather was once more incredibly warm and tiring. After this, we met back at the hotel where we also got to meet Mari and Mattias 2 year old son Marco, who is, can I just say, adorable. Like all two year olds his favourite word at the moment is “NO!” and he appeared to be shy when first meeting us, but soon warmed to us, smiling shyly and running around us. There was a funny moment when Chris and I walked along Mattia and Marco through the town, we asked Mattia “Would you like more children? Any brothers or sisters for Marco?” Marco looked at us and very defiantly said “NO!” Which made us giggle. We walked around the city of Imola, taking in its old buildings and square, it was quiet being a Sunday night, but it was nice to be able to walk the streets in a relaxed fashion.
You would not believe me when I say this, but tonight we actually had trouble finding a pizzeria in Italy. I know, it sounds like a bad joke or something, but it’s true! The first one we were going to go to was very very busy, which meant that we had to go to plan B, but this pizzeria was closed, which meant plan C… this restuarnt looked busy, but we gave it a shot and to our delight (and stomachs happiness) it was open! Hoorah! The meal was once more, delicious. Italians certainly do know how to make a great pizza! It was here that Lidija, Chris and I presented Mari with a little present for her upcoming birthday. It was so nice that we were able to meet her just before this special occasion!
It was sad to have to say good bye to Mari and her beautiful family tonight. The last 48 hours have been so lovely and happy, and we can’t thank them enough for all their kindness and hospitality, they’ve so welcoming and accommodating. We took last minute photos and said our goodbyes and then reluctantly went our separate ways. We are sure we’ll meet again though!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 26, 2009 from Imola, Italy

The last day and the last goodbyes
Imola, Italy
It was a lazy morning for Chris, Lidija and I today. We asked what time check out was last night and we had been told by the receptionist “umm, 11, 12pm..” and he shrugged. So, with this, we took him up on the 12pm offer (wouldn’t you?)
We did rise in time for the breakfast buffet once more where Chris and I pillerged goodies for tonights train trip, before going back to the hotel room to shower and pack.
We checked out just after 12 and took a taxi into the centre of Imola where we found a nice little café and sat down for a quiet drink and chat. It was very nice to be able to relax here and just sit in the shade for some time, as again, it was bloody hot!
After an hour or so we thought that we’d really better make an effort to move, so heaving our bags onto our backs and Lidija pulling hers behind her, we made our way back to the little local spot that made padinas, they were just as yummy as they were the first time we had them! We sat here for a little while before once more heaving bags and trekking to the train station. Mari had pointed out her place of work over the weekend, and it just happens to be right next door to the train station, so we made a quick stop in here to say good bye once more. It was nice to be able to see Mari once more and surprise her at work, though, we must have looked a site, sweaty, puffed and dragging bags with us.
We only had a small wait really for the train, for this we sat in the shade and had a cool drink before the local train came along and took us to Bologna where we were to catch our next trains, Lidija to her home country and Chris and I onto Florence for the night. It wasn’t long at all before our train came along and it was time to say goodbye to Lidija. It was another sad goodbye with big hugs and promises to keep in touch (as if we wouldn’t! We’ve been writing for 14 years, why stop now!)
Chris and I jumped onto our train and in 2 hours were stepping off in Florence. What a beautiful city this one is! We hurriedly made our way to our hostel, which was only a 2 minute walk from the station, had a shower and a little rest before heading out to see the sights of Florence.
It is beautiful!! We walked around until we came across the Dome, and it is AMAZING! So stunning and gorgeous! We spent a long time staring up at these buildings and taking many photos, you just wanted to look forever, but eventually our tummies grumbled and it was time to move on and find something to nibble on. We found a lovely, friendly little café run by some of the nicest men in all of Florence. They were incredibly friendly and even gave us a free dessert, which meant we liked them even more! 
We moved on once more and came across an open air statue ‘museum’ All the statues that are here are replicas of the real thing, the most famous being the statue of David. We took many photos here before once more moving on and coming across the River …It was very pretty here and was swarming with tourists! We spent just a little time here before heading back to the hostel for a good nights sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 27, 2009 from Imola, Italy

Our day of culture darhling!
Florence, Italy
It was an early early rise today so that we could be up, ready and at the Ufitzi gallery before 8am and beat the crowds. It was painful to be up so early after such a long night, but it was worth it let me tell you, just to beat the crowd. We were lucky really, we were about 20th in the line up, but as time ticked on the quoe grew and grew… it was huge! Just as we were thinking of how smart we’d been in getting there so early a tour group of 30 or so people trooped over and began to push in in front of us. No one near us was impressed by this, it was very rude. Chris and I have by now, had enough of being pushed about and having others quoe jump, so we put our hands on our hips to create less room for them and began to push in front of them… It was only fair, do unto others and all that… the line began to move and we kept moving, pushing in front of the tour group who were trying there darndest to get in front of us… I’m happy to say that we made it in just, and in front of the pushy group! As soon as Chris and I had walked through the door the security guard pulled the rope barrier up, which made us giggle to ourselves really… that’s what you get for trying to push/sneak in!
Once inside we took a good look around all the pieces of art and and sculptures that made up the gallery. There were many famous artists’ shown here, Michalangelo, Da Vinci for example, and these works were impressive to look at yes, but it was the smaller ‘unknown’ names and pieces of work that impressed me the most. For example there was one pencil sketch of Jesus with a group of people, it was innocent and to me, just beautiful, it really was, however critics had popped their opinion under the work saying that this picture was not necessarily considered a work of art as it was in pencil and then trying to second guess who all these people with Jesus were. This really upset me for a moment or two, to me the picture was just depicting Jesus with every day man, the underdogs etc, but these critics had gone into much detail stating that person 1 must be Peter, person 2 must be John etc etc, they even had the gall to say that person 3 was Mary Magdaline dressed up as a man so that she could ‘hang out’ with Jesus… really? I think art critics over analize things personally. As I said, this was my favourite piece as it just seemed so innocent and natural and as if the artist had just picked up a pencil one day and begun to just doodle away… he (or she) was probably at some very boring meeting from back in the day (the importance of barting for sheep or something you know? Or how many goats can you get for one camel, that sort of crap) and was bored of it all…
Chris’ favourite piece was the painting of “Venus” This was an impressive piece I must admit. A lot of detail had gone into it and it was very beautiful with its gold edging etc. We spent a lot of time at this, staring at it and appreciating it… we even got a sneaky photo or two (we were later caught when snapping another piece of work)
We spent hours in here, just strolling around, taking things in, relaxing and being impressed, but by 11am our feet were sore, and, as we’d missed breakfast were just a little hungry by now, so we abandoned the gallery and head to our favourite Florence café, the same one we’d visited last night. The food and drink was as good as we’d remembered and the staff just as friendly, we had a quick bite to eat before heading off in the direction of ‘the statue of David’
Lines here in Florence are very long, they snake out doors, around buildings and down streets… we were shocked at the size of this quoue, but couldn’t help ut feel just a little smug… we walked up to the security man and showed him our time reservation ticket and… he opened the gate for us and in we went. Yes, we had been bright and decided to get our hostel to ring ahead and book us a reservation for this gallery, you then get told a time to arrive and a code to give, then, you just walk in. It was fantastic, no waiting in the hot sun, sweating, dehydrating, getting sunburnt… nope, just a code and time and in we go… felt a bit like “Bond”
I have to say, we were both surprised by the size of this gallery, it was tiny really! There are a coupe of rooms with various statues, another room where a very good and impressive photography exhibition was taking place and then you walk into the main hall where you are greeted by a gianormous naked David with a sling shot slung over his back. The work that went into this statue is mind blowing, the detail, the perfection of it all… it’s amazing! Michelangelo really out did him self with this one!! Well… apart for the sisten chapel that is… We sat and looked at this work for a long time for two reasons really, A) it was bloody impressive and B) our feet were bloody sore and we were tired. All around us were other tourists equally as impressed and in awe, just taking in this mammoth statue, one girl near us was busy sketching away, her work was very good too.
It was now getting much later in the afternoon and we were once more thirsty and a bit puckish, so we made our way out and sat in a little park where, after consuming our rolls, fed crumbs to the birds. They’re game little birds here, hopping right up to you and taking crumbs from your palm. Chris was able to feed one and we had to laugh as the bit of bread it was trying to take was almost as large as itself,but it wasn’t going to give up and as Chris held out this crumb the little birds wings were going crazy trying to take off, it was rather cute really!
We wandered about for a time, taking in last minute things, looking at little stalls and markets before making our way back to the hotel and picking up our packs to head to the train for our over night to Paris.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 28, 2009 from Florence, Italy

Ahhhh, gay Pari, how we've missed you!
Oh my goodness, today’s train ride from hell just never seemed to end! Despite sleeping like logs, dead to the world, we still awoke feeling blurry eyed and also, snuffly. By the time we swung our legs over the side of the bed everyone else in our carriage was up and ready for the day, this was a first, normally it’s us up and ready and waiting for everyone else to wake from slumber. It felt a little odd waking up and being faced with 4 other strangers.
As I went to brush my teeth and get dressed I walked out and came across the horrible lady from yesterday who stood in the passage way taking up the entire room as if to say “you can’t pass here” I waited and waited.. Until I finally just shoved past her. This woman has no understanding of manners or train etiquette! Our cabin just felt too small for 6 people so Chris and I went and got ‘breakfast’ in the food carriage who could only offer pear or grapefruit juice for your breakfast options. Not so impressed. We killed time here, desperate not to go back to our dodgy little carriage but eventually needing to get our passports back made our way back to the carriage where we asked a passing conductor for our passports to be returned, it was almost as if he slapped his forehead as he said “oh, of course! Will go get them now” and then disappeared for a further half an hour… We then got into Paris one hour late and we leapt off thankful to finally be in Paris and off the train from hell!!
We made our way to the hostel only to find that they have a ‘lock out’ from 11am until 4pm. This was ridiculous! Chris and I had been in the same sweaty clothes for over 24 hours now and were sweaty, tired and in desperate need of a shower (we smelt, I mean really, we smelt!) The lady on reception said that we could ‘dump’ our bags in the baggage room that was the size of a small pantry and then go do something. So, we put our bags in ‘storage’ and went to have breakfast. When we saw the price of a cup of coffee we very quickly decided that we weren’t actually hungry and instead just sipped very slowly our 4 Euro drinks… its incredible how much they can charge for simple things like coffee or water for that matter!
We took a small walk around the area discovering what is near by, found a bakery and brought a large baguette to share for breakfast/lunch. After this we stumbled into a near by cinema where we asked in very broken English if they were showing any English movies and then settled on watching “Public Enemies” that the older woman on the counter assured us (in way of charades) was in English. After this it was almost 4pm so we dragged ourselves to the hostel where we checked in and SHOWERED!!! Oooh, it was glorious! No longer did we smell, no longer were we wearing hideously sweaty, dirty clothes… it was so great!
We were so buggered after all this but made the effort of dragging ourselves up and out for a cheap dinner of Crepes that we noticed was mentioned in our trusty “Lonely Planet” guidebook. The crepes were huge and delicious, so it was worth the fact that we had had to hurl ourselves up a steepish hill for them. We then very slowly strolled the surrounding streets of the Latin Quarter and came across both the pythanon and then the Luxembourg gardens, both of which were lovely. We sat in the gardens for a time relaxing and taking in the sites and sounds that were happening around us before then dragging ourselves back to the hostel for a well deserved, much needed good nights sleep!!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 29, 2009 from Paris, France

Oh la la, the Louvre!
Ohhh, another early rise… We can’t wait for a “lazy day” consisting of a much needed (and wanted) sleep in, followed by… nothing. We’d heard that the best time to see the Louvre was early in the morning as the queues are far smaller and there are less people crowding around the big pieces such as the Mona Lisa. So, armed with this knowledge we head out nice and early to the Louvre Museum, and literally, just walked in. We didn’t have to wait in line at all, it was fantastic! We wandered about happily taking in all the fantastic art works and old relics that adorn all the walls and space, and made a bee line towards the room containing the Mona Lisa. We were very impressed here too as there weren’t many people, we were able to walk right up to the rope barrier and take in the art piece and some photos. I have to be honest and say that after hearing so much “ooohhhhing’ and ‘ahhhhing’ over this art piece, it’s a bit of a let down really. It’s not a very big painting at all, and it’s really quite a dull piece if I’m being completely honest… None the less, it was nice to see it, just to see what the hype is about…
There are many nice and interesting paintings here (as you’d expect being the Louvre and all) but my fave was a painting of “Noah’s Ark” but unfortunately I can’t remember the artist of this piece. I just found it really interesting and beautiful with all the work that went into it.
We spent 6 hours wandering about the Louvre, looking at paintings, sculptures, relics, pottery, Egyptian bits and bobs, and down into the basement where you’re able to see the old fort walls of what use to be the old Louvre. It was lovely, but admittedly exhausting!
We had a small break before moving onto the Pompadour Centre. This is a modern art building, built with all the escalators etc on the outside, it’s not particularly attractive but it’s modern art and in some ways that says it all huh? We sat outside it for a little while just taking in the look of it all (it looks like a building from a Mario Party world, it has all these different colored tubes etc and you half expect Yoshi or Princess to pop out) It doesn’t cost to go into the main area of this centre, so we decided to go in. Once in, you’re limited to looking at about 3 stores (the others are on another level and you have to pay to get up there) So we had a quick look at a book shop and then a modern art shop full of rather nifty and entertaining appliances, we could have brought a few items from there… had we had a few grand with us… A quick ice cream and we then made our way to Sac re cur.
Sac re cur is an impressive place to visit to say the least, but it would be easy for one to be put off visiting just by the sheer steepness of the hill that you have to climb to get there! And as if the steepness isn’t bad enough once you get to the gates you’re met by, and I kid you not, 30 men all standing in a group trying to sell you crappy souvenirs and trying to grab your wrists and then make you a bracelet that you can then not get off and you have to pay for… We folded our arms against us and shoved through this crowd saying “No” to all the men that pushed themselves into our face, I felt sorry for the unsuspecting young tourists I saw having these bracelets made onto their wrists, but it was a case for every man for themselves! As we were pushing through this throng of incredibly annoying, incredibly pushy, incredibly rude men I kept repeating over and over again “NO” If I didn’t want a souvenir from the first 25 men why would I change my mind on the 26th? Anyhow, by the end I’d had enough and just yelled “NO” at one young man who tried to push himself in my direction. He became angry then and yelled “NO” at me and then “HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?” To which I gave him a dirty look and moved on. They can’t expect to be that rude to someone and then get crabby when that person becomes annoyed/rude back, its total harassment!
Anyway, that aside, it was quite a pleasant day, even the walk up the STEEP hillside wasn’t soooooo bad in the end. We got to the top and were able to see for miles! It was a lovely view of the city from here, you could see everything, and it was really relaxing to sit up here and just take in the city and relax in your own little corner. Very nice! We were getting pretty tired by now, so we made tracks home but as we did so made a detour to the Moulin Rouge which is a 10 minute walk away, it was tiny, but great to see it after seeing it in films and having heard of it, we were now really buggered so we head back to the hostel where we crashed out and fell asleep pretty quickly!
written by  Chris and Emily on July 30, 2009 from Paris, France

Chris sees' dead people and then we see the Eiffel Tower, by night (oh la la!)
Thankfully today wasn’t such a bright and early start (compared to the past few days anyhow!) so we had a wee sleep in before heading to the Catacombs which was a 20 walk from our hostel. I spent that 20 minutes umming and ahhing about weather I wanted to go down beneath a city, into a small dimly lit area and be surrounded by skulls and bones that once belonged to a living person… In one way I wanted to (I had visions of Indianna Jones I admit) but then a big part of me was saying “NOOOO!” anyone who knows me well will know how much that sort of stuff freaks me out… but the decision was made final when I read the review that stated that it was a claustrophobic inducing tour… no thank you, I’ll pass.
Chris and I lined up for 10 minutes or so and said goodbye as he went in, saying we’d meet up across the street in an hour, and then I was alone in Paris. It felt kind of refreshing and nice. I now had only my bad French and self to rely on (well, lets be fair, I couldn’t really rely on my French to get me anything but some strange looks and laughter…) While I wandered about the city area looking at the little stores and being tempted to buy little items I don’t really need, but for the sake of the fact that they were on sale, did so, Chris walked beneath me looking at totally decomposed dead people.
We met an hour later where Chris said that he’d had a really good time and that it had been really interesting and that I should have come as it wasn’t that bad (yeah, right) He mentioned that these bodies had been placed down in the catacombs (old mine shafts) when the cemeteries became to full. That a group of people had been hired to stack the bones etc, and had become ‘creative’ and had then begun to make patterns and shapes with the bone parts, for instance, there is a love heart made out of a bunch of skulls. Charming. He also mentioned that there are some sick (very sick if you ask me) people out there, who, like to climb down into the catacombs, take drugs and then have sex on the bones… eeeeewwwwwww! Anyhow, I’m sure he mentioned many other interesting facts and stories to me but I sort of shut off after hearing that, sort of put me off but at the same time it was the only thing I could think of, really really disgusting. I then happily showed Chris my purchases from the morning where he rolled his eyes and informed me that I buy the oddest things, and now, as I look back on it, he’s right, I don’t really need a teeny tiny miniature ashtray, but still, it was only a Euro… I’m a girl I’m MEANT to buy nonsense items and spend money, right?
We then found a little food market where we brought some bread, dips and chicken and made our way to the Luxemburg gardens where we had a little picnic and spent hours just lying about under the trees and relaxing, it was really lovely. Feeling slightly more revived and ready to face the crowds once more we head off in the direction of the “Shakespeare and Co” bookshop. This is an English bookshop which is famous for the fact that all the people working there are writers who live upstairs of this business and for the fact that they have many authors coming in and doing readings of their work throughout the week. It was a very busy little bookshop and a little bit of a paradise for me, I could have looked at all the books, but, on time restriction was only able to spend half an hour looking through the stacks of books for a gem or two.
It was getting later now and we decided that tonight was the night. We were going to go and see the Eiffel Tower at night tonight. We arrived as the sun was beginning to lower itself and lay back on the grass waiting for darkness to descend and we weren’t disappointed. At 9pm the golden flood lights came on and it was just gorgeous. The whole area was flashing as many many tourists took happy snaps, and then, at 10pm the little twinkle lights came on and the whole area erupted into cheers and applause and then, all the French people there broke out in a song ending in cheers, it was a lovely moment and with the twinkle lights it was just breath taking gorgeous. We spent some time admiring this but decided that we’d leave when the twinkle lights went off (half an hour or so they last for) so, after this we head back to the hostel where we once more fell into bed exhausted but happy.
written by  Chris and Emily on July 31, 2009 from Paris, France

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Buntingford we go!
It was a quick day in Paris today and a bit of a sad one. Today was the end of our European adventure to a degree. We started off in Paris 7 weeks ago, and now, here we are, in Paris heading back to the UK. It’s nice that we were able to do a complete circle and start and finish in Paris, makes for a nice completion we feel. We’ve had an amazing time in Europe, taking in many sights, meeting many lovely and not so lovely people, seeing cities, taking in history, stories and facts, it’s been amazing.
As we were leaving at about 3pm we didn’t really have much of a day to play with, so we just took a leisurely breakfast at a very nice little café close to the hostel. We relaxed with our hot drinks, our bread and croissants, our jams etc, just took it easy and then skyped home for a chat with the family. Before we knew it, it was time to get going and head back to the hostel to pick up the bags and head to the train station.
The Eurostar was quick and painless (as we expected) but we had to laugh and at the same time roll our eyes, as we left Paris with beautiful blue sky and a beating heat… and as we came into the UK were met with grey clouds and pouring rain. It is England after all. Digging about at the bottom of our bags we were able to find our rain jackets and after donning these made our way to the next train which would take us to Sue and Patrick’s. It was so nice to see these guys again; we’ve really missed our UK family! We spent a long time catching up and filling each other in with all the news and goings on over the past 7 weeks or so, it was just lovely to see them again! A lovely home made meal completed the lovely evening and soon after that it was into bed for everyone.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 1, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Here's hoping it's not the dreaded swine flu...
How nice it was today to wake up in a familiar bedroom and in a familiar house! It was so relaxing, and so nice to wake up and not think “I must beat 40 other people to the bathroom” or “What time was breakfast set for again?” as you do in hostels. Instead we just woke up slowly and happily before jumping into the shower and heading down for a nice brekki of muesli and yoghurt, something we’ve missed for some time!
It sounds sad, but the main event for today was WASHING. God we had a lot! It may sound even sadder, but I had a total sense of satisfaction seeing all the dirty laundry now washed and hanging in the breeze to dry!
It was just a lovely day catching up with Sue and Patrick and occasionally sticking our heads into Rachs’ room to see how she was and say ‘hi’ (she’s not feeling well today sadly.. could be Swine flu...here’s hoping it’s not!!)
We had a lovely Sunday Roast before Chris and Patrick took off to Sue and Patrick’s business to look at the computers and servers… something I know nothing about. They were gone for sometime, so in this time Sue and I relaxed chatting and eating some very very yummy chocolates, before Sue went up and offered some to Rach and, having a slight conscious, left some for the boys.
A very light dinner was had before we head back upstairs to pack and watch DVDs. A lovely lovely day!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 2, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Luke arrives! Hoorah!!!
Hoorah! It felt like forever until this date would arrive, but it finally has and it means that my brother Luke will be arriving and spending 5 weeks or so travelling with us! We’ve been looking forward to having Luke join us, we’ve missed home and our families so having Luke join us for a bit will keep the homesickness at bay for another month or so!
We left Sue and Patrick this morning and head to the hostel that we’re staying in for 3 nights to dump our bags and then tube it to Heathrow to pick Luke up. We found that we were running slightly late, and as we were coming into the airport Chris looked up and saw an airplane from the airline Luke was flying with coming in, we looked at our watches and noticed that it was the time it was meant to land, so this spurred us on to get there even faster. We made it to Lukes gate and waited with great excitement for him to walk through the doors, and half an hour or more later, he did so, hurray! We gave him huge big hugs and we all talked at once trying to fill each other in on everything that has happened in the past 4 months or so.
We made it back to the hostel and as Luke was pretty hungry we made our first agenda item: consuming of food. Chris and I went up and ordered, leaving Luke to relax on a couch and when we got back Luke leaned over and whispered “that’s Will Anderson” and sure enough, over Lukes shoulder sat Australian comedian Will Anderson. We contemplated going up and saying hi, but he was sitting by himself and busy on his computer, so we left him alone, but I know that he noticed the three of us because as I began to choke and cough loudly in a very unlady like fashion on a piece of my burger, he looked over and watched me, we had eye contact, so I claim that he now knows of my existence, albeit, it wasn’t a very pretty first impression for him.
We dumped our bags in a teeny tiny room that’s supposed to sleep 4 people but I think was more designed for 4 midgets, and head out. We know how badly you want to sleep when you first arrive in the UK, the jet lag can be a real pain, but we also know that the best way to beat it is to stay up until it’s bed time and then head off to the land of nod, so we dragged Luke off into the city and took him past Buckingham Palace, through St James Park, over to Big Ben and Westminster, over to Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square and then off to Hyde Park. I was very proud of Luke, for someone who hadn’t slept in 40 hours he did very well at keeping up, and keeping awake.
Hyde Park is amazingly huge and pretty! It was a lovely day, clear blue sky and hot with just a slight breeze flowing over you, just right. We lay in the park for a while taking in the activities around us, roller blading, soccer, rowing on the lake, picnics, boot camps, it was busy but chilled out, it was really nice to take it all in. There was a little café on the lake in Hyde Park so head here for a bite to eat before heading back to the hostel where we all fell asleep not long after putting our heads to the pillow
written by  Chris and Emily on August 3, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

Burger King and Garod Butler (and Katherine Heigl)
It takes a little while to get into the swing of a different time zone and we were up early really when Luke found he could no longer sleep, so after our free continental breakfast we made our way to Leicester Square, an area which both Chris and I like and thought Luke would too, and as we predicted, he did. We took a stroll through this area and noticed that there were trucks and vans and men and roadies all busy at work setting up for something, which we soon realized was actually for a red carpet premier of the new movie “The Ugly Truth” starring Garod Butler and Katharine Heigl. We decided that we would pop back later that night and see how one of these things work.
We kept strolling about and soon realized that we were a little hungry and as we were in China Town, would stop for a quick meal, which was nice, and then kept moving. As we walked about we came across a guitar store where Luke saw a little guitar he really liked, he resisted temptation for now, but said that he would return later for it, you can’t keep Luke away from a good guitar!
We walked onto South bank where we took Luke to look at the London Eye, we contemplated going on it but then saw the line up for tickets and backed away very quickly, it was huge! We strolled along the river Thames taking in the sights around us and dropped into the Tate Museum quickly where we looked at some Picasso paintings and then left. London is currently chockers with tourists so it’s pretty crazy at the more popular places of interest, you can barely move and it can become quite claustrophobic really! We kept walking until we came to a bar we’ve sampled earlier in our travels and stopped for a drink or two in the sun, before again rising to our feet and heading off to see the Tower Bridge, from a distance, our feet were beginning to hurt a little. We slowly head off to the tube station, stopping briefly at the Portobello Market Square where Chris was able to sample a ‘very good’ coffee (highly recommended by the Lonely Planet booklet)
We made it back to Leicester Square where the movie premier was just beginning to take off, the red carpet was rolled out, the barriers were up, fans lined the streets… we noticed that there was a two story Burger King right across the road from the movie theater, so we went in there and it was a very good decision to do so I think. We had a brilliant birds eye view of the events, we watched as dancers came out and performed, and then as little explosion things took off and red love heart glitter things fell from the sky, and then, Garod Butler (mmmmm) and Kathrine Hiegl arrived. We watched them walk down the red carpet stopping to pose with fans, sign autographs, talk to press etc etc, they seemed very nice, especially Kathrine Hiegl, who despite knowing of, I’ve never been a huge fan of. It took a long time for them to make there way down the red carpet which was about 150 meters long all up, but it took them about an hour and a half, we actually left BEFORE they finished there appearance, we were getting really tired of standing about!
As we were in the movie district we decided that we would take a rest and relax by watching “Star Trek” it was as good as we first remembered it being, but this time, as it played I suddenly heard a little snoring sound… I looked over and despite all the loud explosions and yells etc, Luke was sound asleep in the movie theatre, we let him sleep through out this and only roused him out of his slumber to make a move back to the hostel.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 4, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

Back to Bristol we go
It was an early start today for our trip back to Bristol. We had a quick breakfast and while Chris netted it up looking into the cost of up coming trips, Luke and I made a quick stop at the post office to send some goodies home, which of course cost a small fortune.
It was a quick tube trip to Paddington Station where we boarded our train to Bristol. Normally you get plenty of time to make your way down the platform to your carriage, but this time, for some reason it appeared that the conductors were all very eager to get the train on the tracks and were blowing there whistles as we just made our way to the platform. We ran a little thinking that we would make it to carriage B, but when we realized we wouldn’t, leapt onto another carriage and then had to make our way through the carriages to our seats. It was an uneventful trip otherwise.
To get to Ann and Bryans we had to take a taxi from the train station and we had the funniest taxi driver EVER. He told us joke after joke as if he was auditioning for a stand up gig and he had us giggling the whole time, he was very funny and also very nice.
It was great to get back to Ann and Bryan. We haven’t seen them in so long, it was lovely to be able to catch up again and introduce Luke.
The evening went quickly and it was also really great to see Jenny and Martin once more. Jen joined us for dinner and after he’d finished work, Martin popped by also. It was a really nice, relaxed evening and, an early for once!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 5, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

The balloon fiesta.
After a bit of a sleep in and a lazy morning we head into Bristol city to show Luke about and do a little shopping.
We caught the bus into the city centre where we then made our way to the ‘ferry café’ that we really love for a cup of coffee and hot chocolate. Now feeling revived and more ‘awake’ we slowly made our way towards the shops of Bristol, stopping on the way at the ‘Walkabout’ pub quickly jump on the net (still checking prices of up coming travels!) and then onto to the mall to find both the boys some new thongs. It seemed a little redundant as it was raining, but still, we’re optimists, we figure by buying thongs the weather HAS to get better, right? It was a successful mission buying thongs for the boys and finding t-shirts for Luke.
Back to Ann and Bryans where we then got ready for our evening at the balloon fiesta that was staring tonight. We were dropped off at the bus station, which, thanks to the immense traffic took about 45 minutes when it should have only taken 20 minutes! Once on the bus we made our way to the grounds where we were greeted with a large ‘carnival’ atmosphere. There were rides and side show alleys and on the oval one lone hot air balloon. We had been expecting many hot air balloons to be blowing gently in the breeze, so to see one lone one, promoting a local big name store, was a little disappointing. We quickly made our way to the alcohol tent for beers and Pimms before making a round trip of the oval.
Martin then met up with us and from there our little group grew as some of Martins friends joined us, including Rich who we all met when he and Martin made there way out to Australia, it was really nice to see him again.
We stood around talking for a while before a set of fire works signaled the start of the ‘balloon fiesta’
The Balloon Fiesta is a big carnival where people come from all over the world with their hot air balloons and there are all sorts of different activities, take offs, shows etc and, on the first night, like tonight, there is a show where the balloons all light up in time to music that is playing, such as ABBA, Tom Jones, classical tunes etc. It really does look spectacular against the night sky! This lasted for about half an hour and the end of this was once more signified by a large firework display that seemed to take place RIGHT behind us, which made us jump a mile, let me tell you!
We made a hasty retreat at the end of this in a bid to outrun the 5000 strong crowd; we did well, though we still managed to get caught up a little. Martin had parked a good 20 minute walk away, so we made the trek to the car which was probably good for us after all the hideous greasy food we’d consumed that evening! Ann had waited up for us and to hear all the news from the balloon festival, so we had a chat with her for a bit before hitting the sack for a few hours sleep in preparation of tomorrows activities.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 6, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

The worst club in the entire world, they were all quacking mad!
Newquay, United Kingdom
As the boys went off to pick up the hire car this morning I finished off the last minute packing for our few days away in Newquay and attempted to find some accommodation for our stay, every where we have looked and rung is booked out, so despite not having anywhere to stay, we’re packing up and heading off anyway.
We said goodbye to Ann and Bryan and promised to be back soon and that we’d be safe and then made our way to Wells for a quick stop to show Luke where the film “Hot Fuzz” was filmed and we then made our way on towards Newquay.
We soon discovered the reason as to why there was no accommodation in all of Newquay, there were major surf title competitions on the go, and also, a big weekend concert. Newquay was packed with tourists and locals alike!
On the off chance and on a whim we pulled into a caravan park and asked if they had a caravan that we might be able to hire for a night, and to our relief, they did. It was a cozy two bedroom caravan with a lounge room, kitchen and bathroom. It was more than adequate for our one night stay!
We head into Newquay Centre and found a spot at a bar that over looked the water where we could watch the goings on at the beach and take in the views. The surf competition itself was around the corner, but it was so packed and busy you couldn’t get there without a fight, and to be honest, we were all quite tired now! We had a meal, watched some of the Ashes and “booed” when all the other people in the bar would cheer (Aussies weren’t doing so well during this test) and then moved on for a look through the town picking up a few groceries for tonight and breakfast tomorrow.
The caravan park we were staying at was more like a mini city, and I say that with complete honesty. There were, I kid you not, 1000 caravans and tents there and on site there was a water park, a bowling alley, a pizzeria, a grocery store (over priced of course) a restaurant bar and a ‘club’. As it was still a little early when we got back we thought we’d go and check out the club, looking forward to meeting some other travelers, having a beer and some music, and generally, just relaxing. We walked in, and to our amusement and horror the club was infact a bingo hall. There were at least 500 people sitting about at tables all playing the game with the tackiest music and lighting going on in the background. It was truly truly awful. But it got worse. As the numbers were called the announcer would call out something really tacky, but number 22 was the worst, the announcer called out “Two little ducks swimming side by side, number 22” and the whole room erupted into “QUACK QUACK QUACK!!!” the announcer smiled and said “Thank you quackers” and this happened twice while we were there. Getting the rooms attention was painful too. The announcer would go “SH SH SH- SH SH…” and the room would finish it off with “SH SH” oooohhhhh, it was bad. We thought that the best way to deal with this was to drink a few drinks QUICKLY and then get out, so we ordered drinks that were on special and being promoted only to be told “oh, we don’t stock that” yet, there were big banners saying “special give aways with this drink, this week” etc, and then, as we stood at the bar giggling, an incredibly large, incredibly drunk young man, who was bright red from sunburn and who, I hate to say it despite it being the truth, had no fashion sense, came up to us and went “WWWWOOOOOOO” in our faces, pumping his arms in the air victoriously, to which we took the micky and copied him, he stalled for a moment as if contemplating us, but then moved on to the front of the room where he danced (badly) souly. He gave it a go though and was very enthusiastic in his terrible moves.
We could only stand one drink and then had to get the hell out of there, it was killing us. We made it back to the safety of our little cabin where we barracked ourselves in with a bottle of wine and some beer and chips and enjoyed the rest of the evening chatting and watching bad TV.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 7, 2009 from Newquay, United Kingdom

Castles, traffic jams and a BBQ
As we’d brought our breakfast yesterday at the grocery store we were able to stumble out to the kitchen and eat it half awake before moving on for the day. We said goodbye to Newquay and headed towards Tintagel where we stopped for a real nice pub meal on a hill top where we could see the ocean and the hills beside us. It was lovely!
Luke and Chris then went for a walk down to the Tintagel castle where Luke paid and went onto the site to look about and Chris went into Merlins Cave, a part we didn’t get to last time but had wanted too. While the boys did this I casually cruised the streets looking at all the little stores and picking up some water for us as it was a very warm day. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon and relax.
As we drove around we also came across another little castle that sat on a hill. It was a sweet little castle with a lovely country view, and it was lovely to spend some time looking about the grounds before getting back into the car and on the road.
Getting back to Bristol was a little tiring as there was quite a road block and traffic jam with tourists trying to leave Newquay at the same time. The road was so busy and we crawled along slowly. We kept pace with the car beside us (it was a 3 lane highway) and to our immature entertainment, the two young teenage boys next to us kept holding up immature signs like “Honk if you’re horny” and “smile if you’re gay” We did both these which seemed to amuse them to no end, from what we could see they were doubling over laughing. Glad that we could help someone pass the time in such a traffic mess, they gave us a wave as they moved off, nice to know we made ‘friends’ if only for half an hour or more.
It was nice to get back to Bristol where dinner was waiting and Ann and Bryan were keen to hear of our news. As a treat to ourselves and to see the new renovations to the pub down the road we went for a pub meal, where they were serving BBQ meat and salad for dinner. It was lovely to sit in the sun, have a nice meal and a drink in a really relaxed atmosphere; we sat there for a few hours before heading back up the road to have a few more bevies there before declaring it a night and hitting the hay.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 8, 2009 from Bristol, United Kingdom

What a lovely day for Bath
Bath, United Kingdom
We finally made it to Bath. For a while there I thought that it wouldn’t happen. It was a case of us always saying “we’ll go next time, it’ll be okay, we have plenty of time” and then we realized last night, we didn’t have anymore time and that if we wanted to see it then we had to go today or not at all. So, we piled into the car nice and early and head off to Bath, which from Bristol really is only a half hour drive. We found a parking spot and then happily wandered the streets together taking in all the little stores, the few little street stalls, the parks and then down to the river side for a drink.
We then decided that it would be of a benefit to us all to have some “alone time” So, as the boys went there separate ways looking at various shops and picking themselves up some goodies I took myself off for a pedicure, which I have been craving for about 3 months now. My feet have been a mess since walking all over Europe, in thongs. It felt soooo good to finally get them done, I felt really spoilt. I then went for a quick shop to look for a birthday pressie for Jen and then off to meet the boys once more.
We made it back to Bristol in time for the Sunday roast that was taking place. Yum! It was lovely to be sitting about the table with our English family (minus Martin who was at a wedding) and having a meal on our last night. It was a fun, happy meal, followed by a sad goodbye to Jen. It’s crazy to think that we’re now saying goodbye to people when it seems only a few weeks ago we were saying hello to them, the time has just flown by so fast. It was sad to say goodbye and to give Jen a final hug, but we know that we’ll see her again sooner rather than later and we’ll always be in touch, she’s the best female 3rd cousin we could have!
After this we thought that we’d really better start packing. Chris and I had left quite a bit of stuff at Ann and Bryans when we first arrived, so we had to sort through all that and pack what was wanted and needed. It wasn’t a hard job to do but it took forever as we just didn’t have any motivation! Luke was already packed up, lucky him, so he relaxed watching telly and playing on the net as Chris and I mulled over finding the motivation to pack, but we did it in the end and then, exhausted, fell into bed.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 9, 2009 from Bath, United Kingdom

Another sad goodbye
Another sad goodbye! I hate saying goodbye to people, even when you know you’re going to see them again it’s hard and I’m not so great at it. We were up early and into the little nearby village to grab a little pressie for Ann and Bryan to say thank you and to post some stuff home. It was a quick trip but it seemed to take forever!
We then had to return the hire car, which, upon doing so, they discovered a TEENY TINY scratch on the bumper, made from a little rock flinging up, and decided to charge us an exuberant amount to fix this, despite the rest of the car being full of scratches… go figure… they don’t fix this car at all, they just ‘claim’ things and make you pay them and then they leave the car untouched! Anyhow, we argued with them in many ways and have refused to pay them just yet and told them that we would look into all this, thank you very much. Hmph. Plus, to make it even more annoying, they put an X on the car diagram when it was picked up to state that there was indeed a scratch there previously, but when we stated this to them they said “oh, no, that’s for another scratch” but buggered if we could see another scratch… it’s all very very dodgy and made for a bad start to an already busy, sad day.
After lunch Bryan bundled our stuff into the car and prepared to take us to the train station. We had to say goodbye to Ann who was staying behind and as I’ve already stated, it was sad. She and Bryan have been so good to us over the past months, taking us in, housing us, feeding us, showing us about etc etc, they’re just lovely lovely people and we’re proud to be part of the family and to have spent so much time with them. It was only a quick trip to the train station where we then said goodbye to Bryan, which was just as equally sad and hard!
The train eventually came along and we jumped on and made our way to London, off that one and onto another to take us to Stevenage where Sue met us. It was great to see her again too and then see Patrick once we got home. We caught up on all the goss over the past week and then head off for a nice early nights sleep!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 10, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Another lazy day... Chris and I that is... Luke on the other hand...
Chipping, United Kingdom
We really didn’t do much at all today!! A sleep in, a Potter about the house, washing, cooking dinner and watching some DVDs was Chris and I day. Luke on the other hand, ran, rode, walked and exercised away in the back yard, a typical gym boy, made us feel bad… for a fleeting moment that is… We all have different ways of relaxing and Luke stated that he’d had a really good day, as did Chris and I. Sue and Patrick got home and we served up dinner, we sat about chatting and relaxing and enjoying one another’s company before calling it a night and heading to Bedfordshire.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 11, 2009 from Chipping, United Kingdom

One more sleep until Scotland!
Chipping, United Kingdom
It was another quiet day today. A bit of a sleep in before hopping up and pottering about the house. Luke decided to go for a run this morning and then onto Cambridge for the day so we didn’t see much of him today, but he seemed to enjoy his day despite the rain that fell.
Chris and I on the other hand pottered about the house, taking our time to get ready etc, just generally relaxing and taking it easy, which was really really nice. Plus Luke is really cool and handsome. What a guy. We spent our day watching telly and having warm showers before heading off on our walk to Buntingford to collect dinner for tonight and then getting it all prepared for when Sue and Patrick got home. It’s nice to have a ‘home’ at the moment where we’re able to be free in the kitchen and ‘take over’ per say, it’s nice to feel domesticated again after travelling for so long and eating out or cheap meals on the go.
Again it was just a chilled out evening of chatting and catching up and… packing. We’re off to Scotland tomorrow!
Can you guess which part of this entry Luke may have helped write?*
written by  Chris and Emily on August 12, 2009 from Chipping, United Kingdom

People people every where, but the only person we WANT to see is Dell!
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Oh my goodness! We knew it was going to take awhile but geez Louise, it seemed to take FOREVER! We left Sue and Patricks at about 9am, right about the time we said we wanted to, leapt into the car and drove, and drove, and drove and drove for HOURS. After the 4th hour straight we asked for a pee stop and a stretch of the legs, which we did and relished, it was nice to stand and more so, to be off the highway with all the crazy drivers and lorries! But, it wasn’t long before we were back on the road and heading towards Edinburgh once more, and after a long time, 8.5 hours to be exact, we were pulling up at our camp spot that we would be
calling home for the next two nights.
It was a really nice camp spot actually, right under an old train bridge that is no longer used, so if it was to rain, we’d have some extra cover. All the really good spots on the level ground were taken (it was late by now, we did expect that) so we ended up with the very last spot on a more unlevel part and where the ground was like cement. Oh well, these things happen huh? It didn’t take long to set up the tent and to be settled in, so we caught the next bus into the city centre where we arranged to meet our good friend Dell.
Luke and I haven’t seen Dell for almost 5 years, which is far too long to go without seeing a good friend, and Chris though hearing so much of Dell (and vice versa) has never actually met him, so it was really great to be meeting up where the boys could finally meet and we could see one another again!
While we waited for Dell to finish work and meet us we took a stroll around Edinburgh and we have to say, it is a gorgeous city! It’s just really beautiful with all it’s different levels and old buildings and castle. We felt so comfortable. We made our way very very slowly through the streets, see, the Edinburgh Festival is on at the moment and the city is PACKED with tourists and acts all over the place! It’s great to see! We were wandering the streets mixed in with the crowd that were off to see the Edinburgh Tattoo, there were thousands of people all walking up to this castle. It was a little hard for Chris to watch I know. Before we even came to the UK we had tried to get tickets to this event but it was all sold out, so it was hard to be here in the city and have to walk past it.
We ended up meeting Dell where we had jumped off the bus and it was SOOO lovely to see him again after all this time, we all had a big hug before moving on to dinner in a little pub 5 minutes away (where Chris order Haggas!). It was so great to just chat and catch up and hear how things were going, and, to make plans for upcoming time away together. It was late before Dell dropped us off at our campsite and we climbed into our sleeping bags lazily and in a tired state!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 13, 2009 from Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Fact: It rains A LOT in Scotland!
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Hmmmm. The nice weather that we had yesterday has disappeared and has been replaced with constant drizzle and grey, depressing clouds. Not particulary nice, but, none the less, up we hop for our day in Edinburgh!
Luke, being an early riser, took an earlier bus in than Chris and I and we arranged to meet later in our new ‘meeting spot’ We lazily got ready and pulled on jumpers and warm gear for our day out. We met Luke at the designated spot and then Dell for a cuppa before he had to start work, we arranged to meet later that night for a drink and meal.
Luke, Chris and I spent the day walking about in the constant rain, getting wet and having to dodge umbrellas, Chris at one stage was poked in the head quite hard by an umbrella spoke, and cried out “OW” to which the girls giggled and said “sorry” as if it was a great game they were playing, that really got me, and at one stage I moved just in time before being struck in the eye, when I called out “Watch the eyes!!” the old woman just gave me a filthy look. This is not the Edinburgh we fell in love with yesterday let me tell you!
We thought long and hard of sight seeing but decided in the end to leave it for today. A) It was raining to hard B) you couldn’t see anything with the cloud and mist and C) there were people EVERYwhere doing the same thing, so we gave it a miss and went shopping for a few items that were needed and then onto a comedy club for lunch, where for a really good price you could get 2 meals (that were really yummy) a cheap ticket to see a performance and a beer, and on top of all that, it was a really nice pub with a nice atmosphere, so, we settled in here and waited for the next comedy act to start. We didn’t mind waiting, it was out of the rain and in a nice place.
The show began and sadly, I don’t remember his name, but the comedian was a very entertaining singer/song writer. He played for an hour or so and sang songs that had people laughing and looking at one another in an amused way. He stayed on stage for an hour or so and was cheered loudly at the end!
After this we made our way in search for the next venue that was selling tickets to a show Chris and I wanted to see called “One man Lord of the Rings” It sounds bizarre and odd I know, but it was actually really really good and quite funny. It was, just as the title suggests, a one man performance of LOTR. The actor was brilliant doing all the impersonations and dialogue, he did all the parts that we know and love and covered what would normally take to watch in 9-12 hours in 90 minutes. He was very good.
After this we went and caught up with Luke and Dell who had decided not to come along to this event and instead have a few drinks at the pub. As it was getting late now we head to Dells car and back to the camp site, arranging to meet tomorrow morning to head off on our Scottish highland road trip!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 14, 2009 from Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Highland Heaven!
Fort William, United Kingdom
Well, we all know that plans never go exactly according to plan, and today was a little like that, though, it was chilled out and there was no rush. We had arranged to be leaving Edinburgh at about 10am but it was more like 11am by the time we did, no worries though, it was all good!
Our first port of call for our Highland Trip was the William Wallace Monument, which is a tower full of information and facts on William Wallace… and, it is home to his sword, which I have to admit was impressive looking! The views from the top of this monument I have to say were breath taking… in many ways. Not only could you get a 360 degree view for miles, the wind up there was Unbelievable! It really, literally, took your breath away… and as Chris found out, your sunglasses. The wind ripped them off his face and down a level, to where Luke was actually standing and who picked them up. I can’t imagine where the wind would have whisked them off too had Luke not found them. We had a few very quick photos up at the top before declaring “too bloody windy” and took off back down the stairs.
We then hopped into the car and made our way through Glencoe, which was really stunning and continued on our way into the Highlands. You were able to tell when you had entered the highlands, the scenery had changed and the atmosphere just felt so much calmer. It was lovely!
We continued to drive and “oohhhh” and “aaahhhhh” over various scenery and just enjoyed the feeling of relaxing, it was lovely!
We eventually arrived in Fort William which is a little port town and full of B&Bs, which you would think make it easy for us to find accommodation, but every sign we passed bore the words “NO VACANCY” ooohhhh. Hmph. We asked at the Backpackers, but no, we asked at a B&B that did have vacancy, but the owner wasn’t keen on offering the room to 4 people, and although he didn’t say it in so many words, declined to give us a room. His loss we figured. We kept moving until we found one last B&B and went on in, and Frank, the owner, was lovely and said “ahhh, yeah, no problems” So, we happily dumped our stuff and hurried off for a meal as it was getting late but more so because we were hungry! We had a nice meal at a little resturant, big meals for the price but still, it was all so good you just wanted to try their desserts! After all this we wandered back to the B&B for a good nights rest.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 15, 2009 from Fort William, United Kingdom

Hunting for Nessie
Ullapool, United Kingdom
After a nice, but more than just a little greasy breakfast made by Franks lovely wife, we head off on our way towards Ullapool, a little town situated on the north west of Scotland. On our way up there we passed some of the most breath taking, stunning, beautiful scenery ever seen by our eyeballs! It was just gorgeous!
We made a few stops on the way up, one of which is really close to Dells heart, that being the Commando Monument, a statue dedicated to the soldiers and those who have lost their life while serving in the forces. It was a lovely monument, up on a little hill with an amazing outlook over the valleys and mountains, an amazing calm spot to be. From here you can also see Ben Nevis, the largest mountain in the United Kingdom.
After this we kept driving until we got to… LOCH NESS!
One can not come to the Scottish Highlands and NOT make the effort to stop and attempt to spot Nessie. There was one stage where we thought we may have observed the mythical beast, but it turned out to be nothing but a blade of bent grass, none the less, it was a Kodak moment and a picture was snapped accordingly. Loch Ness is really rather large, it took a good time to drive around it, and it was made a slower trip thanks to the million of other tourists, all of which seemed to love to pull caravans behind there little cars, particularly annoying when your driving up hill I’m sure you’ll agree!
After these two sites down and ticked off the list we kept on driving, though it seems we never got too far before having to stop again as the scenery here is just so amazingly, breath taking, stunningly gorgeous. We could never tire of looking at such amazing natural beauty and all you could here in the car was a “WOW!” or “CHECK THAT OUT!” every few minutes as we all sat in awe of the beauty around us.
We made a quick stop at a little waterfall that we came across, and like everything else in the Scottish Highlands, was beautiful.
It took awhile to get to Ullapool and night fall was slowly creeping up as we arrived. We tried for a B&B or two, but again the entire town seemed to be taken and full, no real surprise, it’s a gorgeous little town. Dell suggested we first go and have a feed then tackle the job of accommodation on a full tummy and clear head, this did sound like a fine idea, so off we went to a seafood restaurant that he had frequented last time he was up this way.
The restaurant was nice, but it was the staff who so lovely that everything seemed to be that touch nicer with them there with their welcoming and warm service. They were very friendly and even remembered Dell from his last visit AND, they were so lovely that despite the fact that they only had a 3 bed room left, they gave it to us saying that it was no problem that a mattress be made up for a 4th. No other hotel or B&B we came across was willing to do that for us on this trip, so we were very thankful and very impressed.
You could not fault the food, the service or the hospitality that this lovely little family run restaurant/motel supplied, they really made us feel at home and we were so thankful!
After dinner and a few drinks Luke and I went back to the hotel room to shower and chill out for a bit while Chris and Dell head off to discover the area around us, coming across a little fishing port and a pub where they stopped for a pint before returning home for a good nights sleep!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 16, 2009 from Ullapool, United Kingdom

Edinburgh bound
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
It was a day full of driving and few stops today as we made our way back towards Edinburgh. It’s sad to be leaving the high lands and Scotland but we have had a wonderful time and have seen the most amazing, stunning scenery and for that we are grateful.
We head off from Ullapool and hit the road Edinburgh bound. We took a more scenic route where we stopped once or twice for photos and also to check the oil of the car, which is showing signs of leaks. It was nice to hop out here and there and stretch the legs.
It took a good few hours but we eventually made it back to Edinburgh where we picked up some Chinese for dinner and dropped Dell home before heading back for another night at the camp site we had originally stayed at. It didn’t take long thankfully to set the tent up and we again had a great little spot under the bridge that helped protect us from the rain and wind a little.
It was a great day, very scenic and filled with great friends and a lot of fun, but not that much happened to report of!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 17, 2009 from Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Back to Chipping
It only took a few minutes to pack the tent up this morning, we were up and out pretty quickly as we were aware of the long drive ahead of us (8+ hours!)
We head to Dells home for breakfast where we also met his good friend Tony, who is, we have to say, a very very funny man (in a ha ha way, not huh? way) it was great to finally meet him after hearing so much about him, and Dell is right when he says that Tony is a great guy.
Dell very very kindly made us breakfast this morning, fueling us for the long trip ahead and it was really sad to be saying good bye to him. Dell is such a great mate, we love spending time with him and are so thankful for the tour he took us on around the Highlands, we really had a great time. We’ll miss Dell heaps, but know that it won’t be long until we see him again, and that’s very exciting!
After large warm hugs and fond farewells we hit the road, Chipping being our destination. We took a bit of a detour and took a more scenic route, which was great but perhaps put a few extra minutes on our travel time. It was nice though as this route took us to a little carpark where all around you are these amazing rolling hills, a little take away drinks/hot food caravan and a large Stone that on one side says “Scotland” and on the other “England” As much as we’ve enjoyed England we were very keen to spend as much time as possible in Scotland, so we brought a hot drink and sipped these in Scotland before bracing ourselves for the nasty weather of England and the long drive home.
It was a uneventful drive home, Chris was a real trooper, my hero, and drove with only one or two small stops, all the way back to Chipping. Luke and I were both very grateful for this. We got back to Chipping at about 8pm, which was pretty good time really. We were so tired we fell into bed after a quick meal and “hi” to Sue and Patrick, promising to fill them in on all the news tomorrow

Glorious sleep!
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. This was our total agenda for today, and it felt so good! After a nice long sleep in we got up and pottered about the house slowly doing this and that, a bit of washing and defrosting dinner but nothing too stressful. Sue and Patrick came home and we then helped them as much as we could with any last minute packing or odd jobs that needed before they head off tomorrow to Australia for their sons wedding. It was a fairly relaxed night that saw everyone going to bed early for the early rise tomorrow.

Goodbye to Sue and Patrick & a trip to Cambridge
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Up nice and early today to take Sue and Patrick to the airport. We had planned to be up at 4.45am, but for some reason our alarm didn’t go off and we were woken by Patrick politely knocking on the door at 5.15am bless him. We had time to chuck some clothes on and leap into the car and make the hour drive to Heathrow where we dropped them off and said goodbye. It was really sad to have to say goodbye to these guys. They have been so incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully kind to us and such a blessing. To think that a few months ago we’d never met and now, we not only call these guys our family but also our friends. We can not thank these guys enough, words seem to fail and no matter what you try to give in return it just feels in significant, all we can say is thank you, thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Chris and I then had the fun task of trying to navigate our way back to Chipping through the early morning traffic. It was still early, but traffic was building. It didn’t take too long but it was still a little stressful and I’m just so thankful that we had the little GPS to help us find our way “home”
When we got back we decided that we would take a day trip to Cambridge. So, after a bit of brekki we head off. We looked about the city for a bit together doing a little shopping before Chris and I head to the cinema to see the new film “Inglorious Basterds” which was good, though a little gruesome at times. The movie went longer than we thought, so we rushed back to meet Luke and head home to pack our bags for our trip to Germany/France tomorrow.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 20, 2009 from Cambridge, United Kingdom

Lost on the Autobahn...
Frankfurt, Germany
Oh my goodness! What a long long loooong day it was today!! It took some effort to get to the airport today, and it was a little tiring.
As we had no transport we had to walk into the little village near Chipping, which wasn’t such an issue really, but when you’re carting a heavy pack and have to walk 3.6kms and pick up the pace as you’re running late it can become tiring! We got to the bus stop as the bus was pulling up which was a stroke of good luck but also promoted in us this little sense of proud satisfaction, we had made it JUST in time, picking up our pace had been necessary and we had done it, heavy packs and all.
The bus trip didn’t take long and soon we were at Stanstead airport with 3 hours to kill… and as we all know airports are really quite boring once you’ve discovered all the over priced eateries, news agencies and little last minute oops I forgot this and that travel stores.
We tried to go and check our bags in but the Ryan Air lady was very rude in telling us “You’re too early, go away and come back in an hour” It wasn’t the fact that she wouldn’t check the bag, it was the fact that she was rude about it. So, we went and sat down in a little over priced café to have a coffee and wait out the hour… As we sat it came vastly apparent that there was an unattended suitcase sitting at a table beside us. We waited and waited for someone to come back and claim it, it was a large suitcase, not one you could easily forget… We waited and waited and I noticed other people around us noticing it as well. Chris and I decided that we would wait another 5 minutes, if no one had claimed it then then we would notify someone… 10 minutes passed and still no one, so, up I got to find a security guard who duly followed me to the café, where we found… a man sitting with the case now. Typical. The security guard rolled his eyes at me and said in a very annoyed voice that “people should know better by now, sometimes they’re just stupid and don’t think, you did the right thing love, thanks for letting us know” So I didn’t feel too stupid then.
We were able to drop our bag (Ryan air lady informed us that yes we COULD drop our bag now, the baggage drop had opened one minute ago, such attitude!) and then gone through the metal detector where for some reason, unknown to me, I sent the alarm off and had to be searched. At first I didn’t realize what the lady was on about, she stood in front of me with her arms outstretched and it took me a wee while to cotton on as to what she wanted me to do as the whole time she was talking over my shoulder to a man behind me about some silly TV show that was on last night. I stood with my arms out where she gave me quite a thorough search really, a bit to invasive of my privacy if you ask me in such an open place, hands down my pants and up my top. Hmph. They didn’t find anything and what tripped it I don’t know as I was wearing my standard “no fuss and maximum comfort” flight clothes that have never caused me a problem before. Oh well. We then had hours to kill at the airport so the purchasing of tacky magazines was a priority and we settled in for a bit, before having to leap up and run to our gate. We kept looking at the board and it didn’t have a gate number or time and there was also no PA call for it, but then suddenly it came up flashing “BOARDING” so we had to RUN to the other side of the airport and got there in time to be some of the last in the line, we were now really quite buggered.
The flight really wasn’t that great. Bumpy, jolting and with crying children. It wasn’t the best flight we could have asked for, but we touched down soon enough (but not before the air stewardess went about the cabin offering cigarettes for sale) and then waited for Anya to pick us up! We had to wait an hour or so for her as she was finishing up work and it is about a 45 min drive from her house, but it was okay, we settled down with a drink and waited patiently.
Anya finally arrived and it was great to see her again! Big hugs hello and we head to the car where she asked “would you rather the autobahn or the quick way?” We opted for the autobahn (still a novelty for us all) and we head off…but then, there was a detour and we had to head off the road, and then… we got lost, even with a GPS… and then… Luke leant over and very casually asked “How far til we get home?” Anya said “about 70 or so” and Luke calmly asked “is that going to be enough petrol?” We all looked at the gauge and it was sitting on empty, and then the reserve light came on then flashed then off… oops. We were now lost and almost out of petrol and we were on little dark roads that seemed to have no civilized life form… we drove and drove and drove, past some amazing scenery, past an old castle on a hill in the middle of nowhere until Anya stopped and asked a little pizza shop that was open where the nearest petrol station might be, and thankfully it wasn’t far. We head there and filled up duly before heading back towards her home. What should have been a 45 min drive took us 3 hours and after this Anya took us to dinner, or, really, more like a midnight snack of pizza before we got back to her home and fell into bed exhausted!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 21, 2009 from Frankfurt, Germany

St Matthews and Jesus' tunic.
It was nice to get a bit of a sleep in today and it was well deserved after our epic journey yesterday. As much as we’d have liked to keep on sleeping and relaxing we didn’t want to waste our one day in Trier, so we hopped up (reluctantly mind you) and took a walk to St Matthews church, where it is said the Apostle Matthew is buried. We took a little walk around the church admiring the graveyard (that was well tended too garden wise) and had a peek inside the church. At the front of the church is a tomb that contains Apostle Matthews’s body however we were unable to get too close as there was a service on and we didn’t wish to cause a disturbance, so we left shortly after.
After this we continued on into the city centre where we took in the Port a Nigra once more and this time, took the chance to go up to the top and check out the inside of this amazing old wall as we did so, the views from up here were great, looking out over the city and all the people, it was nice to see the crowds but not be caught up in the middle of it all!
The tour of the top of the Port a Nigra didn’t take long so we moved on to the Dome, another landmark we had spent a lot of time looking at last time we visited but never got around to actually visiting. The Dome is home to the tunic Jesus wore on the day of his crucifixation (apparently) and is stored here behind closed doors and it comes out on display every 5 years or so. Unfortunately we don’t have 5 years to wait for this, so we got as close as we could and took the photos we could before having to move on.
Time now was ticking over into evening and we had some shopping to do for our road trip to France tomorrow, so we hit the supermarket. There was a time when I once liked going to the grocery store, picking up the weeks goods, looking over the bargain bits and bobs you could find, but lately I have found the whole thing a hellish ordeal. Perhaps it’s just the fact that Europe has so many people shopping at one time, it’s just too much for a quiet Tassie girl!
It was back home after this where we relaxed with a few drinks and waited for Inga to pop over for a quick visit. It was lovely to see Inga again and to catch up with her though; we kept all the goss for tomorrow’s long road trip to France!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 22, 2009 from Trier, Germany

230 kms an hour on the Autobahn and the holiday house.
Grues, France
WOW, what a beautiful day! Clear blue skies, little cloud, sun shining, perfect road trip weather! It was decided last night that Chris would stay another day in Trier and travel up with our friend Max tomorrow, leaving Luke and I to travel up with Inga today. It was odd in a way, after 5 months Chris and I are finally having a day apart, you can’t help but think “something’s missing” but at the same time breathing a little, it’s an odd feeling.
We hit the road bright and early, having to say goodbye to Anya once more and this time, for the final time on this trip. Anya has been fantastic to us through out this trip and we can’t thank her enough for her help and friendship. So, off we set, nibbles and drinks within easy reach, IPods at the ready and chatter and stories filling the little car.
There is a small stretch of autobahn highway between Trier and the boarder of Luxembourg which Inga was excited to drive along, it meant that we had no speed limit and could make up some good time for the start of the trip... and good time we did make, at 230 kms an hour. I don't know about you but I have never been in a car that travels at the speed of light, so while it was kind of exciting, it was also terrifying, and when I turned to smile at Luke he raised his eyebrows at me which let me know he was in the same boat as me... still, it only lasted a few minutes and we slowed down to a more reasonable 110km... Inga sure knows how to put peddle to the metal and make good time!
It was a lovely trip, we made only a few stops on our way down and didn’t get lost once (it does help that Inga has been there a million times before!) It took 8 hours which seemed to pass very quickly and we were then standing in front of a lovely little holiday home in Grust, France.
We settled ourselves in and had a small rest before making our way to a little sea side town where we had dinner and watched the sun set over the beach, it was a lovely way to finish off a long day!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 23, 2009 from Grues, France

Super us for surviving Super U!
Grues, France
We managed a little bit of a lie in this morning before we head out to check out another beach town near Gruse. Inga is currently looking into wind surfing lessons so we hit the beaches and asked about and finally found a suitable one which she will start tomorrow. We also had a little look about the sea side town, buying one or two little items before heading to the Super U, which is another large supermarket. We thought the supermarkets in Germany were crowded but we were wrong, they are NOTHING compared to the supermarkets in a tourist spot in France, now these ones are hell!! We had to do a large-ish shop for the 5 of us over the next few days but we wanted to do this quickly and get the hell out of there, it was too much!
After getting home we all did our own thing, Inga went for a little nap and Luke and I ended up going for a nice long walk in the heat of the day. The roads were deserted and nothing but dirt paths that lead you past corn crops and large Fields of fading sunflowers, which would have been amazing to see in full bloom but it looks as if we just missed this. As Luke and I walked along these dusty, dirty paths we came across a large green Field and we could make out in the distance a large animal that we had never seen before and about 4 smaller ones that looked like ferrets or something. We have no idea what these animals were, nor could anyone tell us, we only had suggestions of otters, ferrets and a badger.
Chris and Max turned up not long after Luke and I returned from this walk and it was great to see Chris again and to give him a cuddle. I know it was only a night apart but it felt like a long time after having spent so much time with one another.
Dinner was a simple affair of chicken salad and some wine and a relaxed night of chatting and laughter before falling into bed for a good nights sleep.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 24, 2009 from Grues, France

Aussie burgers all round
Grues, France
We three Aussies had been talking yesterday of the traditional Aussie Burger that we so love back home. We made it sound so yummy and delicious (which it is!) that our German friends asked us if we could make these for dinner tonight, which we agreed too, so, it was back off to the Super U again today.
It wasn’t so bad, we decided to show the boys the beach that we had found yesterday and we again looked about the little town, picking up some postcards for those back home and head back home.
Inga took to her wind surfing class today and seemed to have a great time learning this. While Inga was at her class, Luke told us of a crop he had come across yesterday and wished to show us, just so that we could clarify to him what it was… We smelt it before we got there… then we saw it. A HUGE, MASSIVE, ENORMOUS Marijuana crop. It was just enormous. We took a drive past just taking in how huge this place was before making our way home to tell Inga of our find. It must be legal here in France, as this Field wasn’t hidden and as I keep saying, it was HUGE!
It was a quiet day and once we were home we got stuck into making our burgers which were, as always, delicious and devoured very very quickly!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 25, 2009 from Grues, France

To market, to market to buy.. kilos and kilos of seafood!
It was another day of sleep ins and slow waking today before hitting up the local food market in search of fresh seafood for tonight’s seafood extravaganza that the boys have been talking about since arriving.
The market was about a half hour drive away and we all squished into Ingas car and toddled off for the ‘day out’ The market was held in a large old shed and was filled with stalls selling all sorts of edible goods ranging from nuts and vegetables to bread, cheese and seafood. It took a little while to collect all our goods and once purchased we decided to reward ourselves with a coffee across the road before heading to an old church that proudly juttered out across the town. It was a nice old church, stain glass windows and big portraits of Christ being crucified everywhere. I quite like looking at paintings of Christ but I do have to say, I am becoming quite tired of seeing him look so pitiful and sad upon the cross. Surely there must be an artist out there somewhere who could paint him in happier times? Perhaps when he was turning water into wine or healing the sick, or even say, rising the dead, or with His apostles. There are many factors of Christ’s life that could be depicted but it seems everyone is set on showing Him in a pitiful state and when it’s all doom and gloom. Oh well. I’d draw one but I’m fairly sure the church wouldn’t proudly frame a stick figure Christ in bright crayon colours.
After this we all head back to the house to relax in our own ways, reading, writing, running, cooking… it was a nice afternoon.
The boys then got onto the seafood extravaganza that was tonight’s meal. Mussels, Langoustines, Cod etc etc, they tell me it was good. As I’m allergic to all things that live in the sea I was the odd one out today and had some grilled chicken instead, but that was fine, it was done to perfection so it was yummy.
We spent some time sitting outside looking at the stars and chatting before calling it a night and heading to bed.

Aquarium and dinner
La Rochelle, France
Despite having been there before we head into La Rochelle for the day to have a look about and to visit the Aquarium. Chris and Inga decided to pass on the Aquarium and instead look about the town so Max; Luke and I head off to look at all the amazing fish and underwater life. I had the chance to visit this aquarium back in June, and it was as good as I remember it. Both Luke and Max seemed taken back and in awe of it too and took their time in taking it all in.
After wondering about the cool underwater landscape for several hours we made our way back to our meeting spot and met up again with Chris and Inga and then head off to find a nice restaurant for dinner. We eventually found one that was quiet and comfortable and with a lovely, friendly waitress. Our meal was lovely and relaxed and we all left feeling full and content.
After this we took a little stroll around the town, taking in the port as it was all lit up beautifully with a golden glow. We walked on until we found a nice little pub and stopped for a drink and a game of ‘fuse ball’ which we have not played before but were taught the rules by Max. Max was the reigning champion in this game and I can honestly say that we were in no way shape or form a match for him! As we walked back to the car we passed a great busking band who were singing all sorts of fun, thigh slapping, feet tapping tunes you had to clap along too, they were great! We watched for a little while before heading to the car where we made the quiet trip home, we were exhausted!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 27, 2009 from La Rochelle, France

Lazy beach day
As Inga went off for another lesson today (this time in surfing) Max, Luke, Chris and I head back to the little beach side town where we hopped on the net to check mail and see what is going on in the world of web. It was another lovely day and Chris and I stole some quiet time and took a walk along the beach where we were able to sit and chat and spend some time alone for a bit. Not to say we haven’t been enjoying the others company, we have very much, but it was nice to get some time alone, even if it were just for an hour or so.
It was a lazy day, one filled with coffee consumption and lazing about in the sun. It was a nice way to finish off our stay in Gruse with our good friends Max and Inga. We head off to Carnac tomorrow with Max, another little beach side town with the added bonus of fields that are just covered in stones, similar to “Stonehenge” Inga sadly, won’t be joining us, so we will be saying goodbye to her tomorrow and again, she is another good friend that we don’t know how to thank for all her hospitality and kindness, she has been amazing and caring and has opened her home to us. She is another good friend that it will be sad to say goodbye too.
It was a quiet night with a yummy dinner, some packing and then a few hands of the game “Ba*%ard” a card game that we taught the guys, and who picked it up very quickly and managed to beat us in a few times. After this it was time to say goodnight and head off for some good old shut eye.

The Carnac stones
Carnac, France
After a quick breakfast we had to bid Inga farewell for the last time on this trip. We don’t like saying goodbye but we’re now becoming better at them as we’ve had to say it quite often over these past few weeks. Inga has been the perfect hostess and we will always be so grateful to her for allowing us to come and stay with her during her holidays and get to see another side to the French life. We will keep in touch with Inga and hope to see her again sometime soon, til then there is always email!
The drive to Carnac was suppost to be a 3 hour one, which is just the right amount of time really for a ‘short trip’ but, to our despair it took a few hours longer than that thanks to a large traffic jam. This was was not fun. We sat in the line of traffic for hours, in the sun and worst of all, needing to go to the loo really really badly!! Poor Max, the pressure was on with us all whining “Maaaax! It’s getting desperate now!!” but he rallied like a true hero and found us a detour and then a Maccas where we were able to relief our poor bladders. I think the French should be more equipped for these moments and have portaloos every km or so on the highways, it would make sense and put an end to embarrassing deaths such as “burst bladder” What really annoyed us was the fact that the ‘accident’ we had to jostle to pass was nothing more than a little rear ender, no huge damage and no one hurt, but still, everyone passing felt they had to slow riiiiiiiight down and have a good look, hence causing the long delay. Oh well. It’s over now!
We eventually made it to Carnac and it has to be said that this is a lovely, relaxed little town. It just has this lovely feel to it and we all felt ourselves relaxing the moment we got out of the car. We stopped by the information desk and picked up some ideas for accommodation and then went on a walk to find this one B&B. It was a 15 minute walk (the very nice but drunk French man we had been bailed up by told us that it was a 5 minute walk… he was lying) and took us down to the sea side, it was lovely! The B&B had room for us all and we couldn’t help but marvel at the rooms… they were… wow, quite bad! The rooms were themed by colours, which isn’t so bad really, but the orange room that Luke and Max had the joy of staying in was insanely orange and the pink room Chris and I had the pleasure of sleeping in was also pretty, well, pink. So much so that these rooms kind of hurt your eyes after awhile, so it’s a good thing that you’re only in the room really to sleep.
Chris and Max took off to check out the Carnac rocks and Luke and I took off to discover the rest of the beach side town. There were many many tourists here but it didn’t have that over whelming feel to it, it just felt really relaxed and chilled out, it was nice.
The boys eventually returned from there rock site seeing and we then head out to grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant down the road topped it off with a crepe for dessert and then hit the amusement arcade for a bit of stress relief. The boys had quite a large gathering around them as they played some zombie killing game and again as Luke played a boxing game, and roused a cheer from the audience as he knocked out his opponent with one second remaining, it was quite an ordeal! Just as we were leaving the boys all turned, a game had caught there eye… it was robot soccer. So, they all had to have a turn and I have to say it did look like fun and again they drew quite a crowd of onlookers. To bad we weren’t charging people to watch, we’d have made a few extra bucks. After all this amusement we head back to the B&B where we watched a few episodes of the IT Crowd, an English show we’re all in love with and think is hilarious before going to bed and shutting our eyes very very tight to escape the glare of colour!
written by  Chris and Emily on August 29, 2009 from Carnac, France

Oh la la, it's Paris again!
Another loooong day of travel! It started off alright; Chris and Max head off to see the rest of the rocks while Luke and I packed up the last of our stuff and took another early morning stroll to the beach and the sea side town surrounding it. The boys eventually made there way back to the B&B and we hit the road, Max was going to drop us at a train station today so we could head to Paris.
Everything was going okay, but we eventually needed a stop to refuel, buy up on some edibles and go to the loo etc etc… and I’m so glad we did it when we did… We just pulled out back onto the highway and were happily toddling along when we saw it… brake lights in front of us coming on and traffic coming to a stop. Oh bugger another traffic jam. We came to a stop and watched as smoke began to billow from a vehicle about 400 meters in front of us. Luke and I got out of the car to stretch our legs (as was everyone else around us) and then we saw flames leaping into the air and a small “BOOM” something had exploded. Thick black smoke continued to pour into the sky and all we could think was “Geez, hope everyone’s alright and no one was hurt” and “oh boy, this is going to take a loooong time” We looked behind us and sure enough traffic was banking up fast. Fire engines, ambulances, police and later Hazard spill vehicles whizzed by us in great numbers and all we could do was sit here, waiting and waiting. We then noticed that a lot of the cars behind us were being incredibly illegal and turning around and driving down the one way street emergency lane. Then the cars in front of us began to do this and we were left wondering “do we do this too?” Behind us, about 400 meters away was a turn off, it just meant that we’d be going up a down ramp, but so was everyone else, and besides which it seemed that no one was allowed down this at the moment… so, after about an hour debating this, we decided to go for it. Max turned the car around and we whizzed up the road in the wrong direction and were instructed by police to head up the ramp. If the police were suggesting it then it wasn’t so bad to be doing it we figured later.
On the road again Max got us to our train station in time for the next train that left in an hour, so we head off on a small wander about the town looking through the windows as the shops were mostly closed being a Sunday. Time passed quickly and it was soon time for us to be getting on the train back to Paris. This meant saying goodbye to Max for the last time. It was hard. Max is such a wonderful, kind and friendly guy, we just wanted to bring him with us! It was sad to say goodbye to Max but know that we will keep in touch with him and will see him again sometime. We really think that he should come out to Australia, he’d love it there!
The train seemed to take FOREVER (reality it was only 3 hours) but it just seemed to trundle along at an incredibly slow pace. We eventually, after what seemed like eternity made it to our back packers and we happily crashed into bed that night and slept soundly.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 30, 2009 from Paris, France

The biggest and best sites of Paris
What a huge day we had today, so busy! We all managed a small sleep in today and made our way down stairs for our breakfast before hitting the sites of Paris for the day. However, before we could take in all the sites, we had to sort out our bus tickets back to the UK, so, after hunting about for the main office of this company, finally finding them an hour later; we head off in the direction of Notre Dam. The boys looked about the outside and then went indoors for a tour while I waited out side, applying much sun cream and watching fellow tourists be hit up by the scam artist ‘beggars’ Many many said no, but I saw one young guy fish about in his bag and give one some coins and I just wanted to rush over and take it back for him, he seemed too innocent and I just wanted to warn him “DON’T!!” but I guess we learn these things for ourselves don’t we?
The boys took their time and once they returned and we had some photos, we head off towards the Eiffel Tower. I love this place. The Eiffel Tower itself is not that amazing, infact you’d almost say it was a little ugly, but the atmosphere around this place, and all the parks that you can sit in, are just lovely. So, as Luke went up the tower and had a bit of a look about, Chris and I took refuge under a shady tree in the park and rest a little. Your feet tend to hurt a bit when you’re in Paris. Luke was suitably impressed with the Eiffel Tower too, and when he returned we head to the best spot we know of and took some pictures in front of the Tower, I love these photos too!
The next spot to see was the Arch De Triumph, which we walked too. It didn’t seem like it was that far away, but my gosh were our legs a little sore by the time we got there. We walked to the middle of the Arch and took a little break and watched in horror as 4 silly people ran from the other side of the road to the middle with suitcases. I am completely surprised that they were not hit by a car, though, several horns did blare at them!
We then took a little tour down the ritz streets that come off the Arch De Triumph, Louis Vutton, Chanel etc etc, all those big names that are meant to cause mass excitement in women and make us “ooohhh and ahhhhh” but do nothing for me. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to pay thousands of Euros on a little clutch bag, which for the record, I believe are really quite disgusting design wise… anyhow, we passed these stores and continued on until we found smaller, nicer stores to stick our heads into and look about, one being the Nescafe store which sell all sorts of amazing coffee machines and flavours of coffee, it was Chris’ heaven and it was hard for us to pull him away from here.
The day was getting on now and we were all in need of a good rest and or, lie down, so we head back to the hostel for a bit of a break. While Chris and I took a walk to find some dinner (and in the process walked down the canals and found some lovely relaxed little spots to sit and have a picnic) Luke met up with some of his friends who are also staying at the hostel, it’s a small little world! Chris and I returned from having a yummy Chinese meal and said bye to Luke who was heading out with his friends to see the Eiffel Tower at night and have a bit of dinner. While Luke did this Chris and I relaxed at the hostel down in the bar area… but then, a little drama happened…
Chris and I sat at a large window, which, on the other side was the designated smoking area for the hostel. We were chatting away and on the computer when we couldn’t help but smell a burning sort of smell, we looked about but couldn’t see anything to indicate a fire so didn’t think much more of it, until we saw the bar man grab two carafes of water and rush out side and on the other side of the window to us, pour this water down a grate, and then do so again and then, satisfied with his effort went back to the bar… I was watching all this with interest (plus, Chris was on the P.C so I was a bit bored by myself) then, one of the really nice waitress’ went and had a look and then raced inside yelled at the reception in French and then RACED off down the road to the fire station that, thankfully for her, only 200 meters away (they were our neighbors across the road, handy!) she came rushing back with a fireman who was later joined by two of his colleagues and they were all looking down this grate, pulling it up, shining their torch, pouring water etc etc, they stayed for a little while until I guess they were satisfied and left. Very entertaining for myself! Thankfully, apart from the liters and liters of water that was poured down this grate, no more action was required and we all went to bed safe and sound.
written by  Chris and Emily on August 31, 2009 from Paris, France

On the bus, off the bus, on the bus, off the bus, on the train, off the train...
Oh my goodness, today took FOREVER! We had to be up bright and early to get to the bus station an hour before the bus left, which we did, but were then told by the check in desk we were too early and couldn’t do this (they send such mixed messages here in Europe!) so we sat about waiting to check in, and finally when we could do so stood in line for a long long time. Eventually we were allowed on the bus but had to wait while an interpreter came on to the bus to sort out an argument that was taking place between some passengers, when that was sorted we were able to leave, finally.
The bus ride to start with wasn’t too long, we were all doing okay, but then, as we got to the boarder area and all had to pile off the bus with all your bags and goods and go through customs and pass port checks, we began to become weary. It seemed to take along time to get through these two areas, and then, once we all piled back onto the bus and went through a toll gate, we all had to pile back off the bus and go through this again for the UK side of things, it was really rather tiring. Finally, with everyone on board and our passports filled with an extra two stamps, the bus drove onto a train. Yes, you read that right, the bus drove onto a train, which was then going in a tunnel under the English Channel. It was really odd and for me, slightly claustrophobic inducing! I had to get off the bus and go and wait on the side lines where I felt there was more space. This part of the trip didn’t take too long, about 40 minutes, and it wasn’t too bad, gave us a chance to walk about a little and stretch the legs. Back on the bus then and a further two hours until we got to London.
Off we got at Victoria Station and onto the tube, up to Kings Cross, onto another train to Royston and then a taxi from Royston to Chipping… and home just in time to see the start of Jamie Oliver’s new show… phew! It was a loooong day
written by  Chris and Emily on September 1, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Sleep in, DVDs and a yummy meal
With such a huge day of travel yesterday we were all kind of bushed today and rewarded ourselves with a nice long sleep in, which was just what we all needed to be honest. When we did all rise Luke decided to take a trip into Cambridge while Chris and I pottered about the house, doing the mundane chores of life like washing and cooking dinner. It was a nice day of ‘nothingness’ just to relax, have a nice shower and the likes. Luke eventually returned home and after catching up and relaxing with a DVD and a yummy dinner we all crashed into bed once more!
written by  Chris and Emily on September 2, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

Such a quiet day there's hardly any sense blogging!
Another quiet day today which saw much the same as yesterday, sleep ins, pottering about the house, Luke took another visit to Cambridge to finish off his site seeing and buy a few bits and bobs and we had another yummy curry dinner! As I said, much the same as yesterday
written by  Chris and Emily on September 3, 2009 from Buntingford, United Kingdom

While Luke goes to London, we stay in bed!
Luke has really caught the travel bug since being here and today took a trip to London to check the sights there again. Chris and I have been really content in pottering about the house and just generally relaxing, it’s something we haven’t been really able to do for a few months. I mean, sure we’ve had a day here or a day there, but nothing in session like this, it’s been great! Sleep ins, reading, baths, DVDs and for Chris, computer games (his real relaxation method!) We picked Luke up from London and he filled us in all the things he’d gone and seen through out the day and showed us the bits he’d brought which were all really great, and also which included a mini guitar which is awesome! It’s nice to hear Luke play the guitar again; I’ve missed it since being gone! London has so many really great stores and you can pick all sorts of goods up which are harder to find back home. It was a nice evening listening to Luke play the guitar and just chatting and relaxing, and all in all a nice way to finish off a nice day!

Abbey Road and platform 9 3/4...
Well, today was the day for it. Chris and I had to leave the house, we’ve been holed up in our safe cocoon for a few days now and decided that today was the day to get out and go into the “big smoke” once more. So, up early and we all head to the local train station and into London where we all did some last minute sight seeing. For Chris and I this may well be our last trip into London before heading home, so we wanted to go in once more and just see it one last time. When we got off the train we came across platform 9 ¾, those who are familiar with Harry Potter will know that this is the magical train platform in the movies. It’s funny, we’ve been to Kings Cross Station so many times over the last 5 months or so and this is the first time we’ve come across this little tourist attraction! It is, as it suggests, between platforms 9 and 10, and is down a little alley way, quite cool really!
After this we head to Oxford Street where we did a little bit of shopping and then head onto the tube in the direction of Abbey Road.
I don’t know what we were expecting Abbey Road to look like, but it certainly wasn’t a lovely tree lined street in a quiet, nice neighborhood, which to look at, seemed to be a rather expensive area to reside! We made the minute walk to the Abbey Road studios and crossing which was made famous by the Beatles record cover. It was nice to see this for ourselves and to be able to take some photos of the record company, the crossing and the road signs. We spent some time here and then in the little souveniour store that is found just near the tube station.
We said goodbye to Luke then as he was off to meet up with one of his mates who lives in London and Chris and I head off to Portobello Markets for a bit of a look and to find the travel book shop that is featured in the movie “Nottinghill” this worked out well actually as we really did need to visit a travel book store anyhow and pick up a book for our up coming trip to Bangkok!
The market today was completely jam packed with people, it was almost impossible to walk anywhere and after awhile I have to say that this became tiring and frustrating. While the market here was nice, it was nothing like the Salamanca Market back home, which I have to say is first class and the best market I’ve been to anywhere in the world. We looked about here for some time and around the area of Notting Hill, going to a little café for a cup of coffee and a little sit down before heading back to Kings Cross and meeting Luke for the train home later that afternoon.
It was a nice day and Chris and I feel now that we have seen all that we want to see in London. Sure we didn’t get around to doing a few things that we wanted such as the London Eye or a west end play, but those things will be there when we come back which we hope to do in a few years time, we have to save something for then! Luke had a nice time catching up with his friend and is going to catch up with them again later in the week, which will be great for him, there’s nothing like catching up with old mates and having a laugh!
written by  Chris and Emily on September 5, 2009 from London, United Kingdom

District 9
Stevenage, United Kingdom
After our day out yesterday we decided to have another quiet day at home before heading into Stevenage and seeing a movie called District 9. Everything was so quiet today, so still and sleepy, I guess that’s what happens on a Sunday, everyone seems to disappear getting ready for the week ahead, but it just felt too quiet today after yesterday’s hustle and bustle in London! It was a long, drawn out day for us and after the movie had a quick meal before returning home and chilling out doing our own thing. (ie Playing on the PC, guitar and reading!)
written by  Chris and Emily on September 6, 2009 from Stevenage, United Kingdom

Our highlight today was a 3 km walk to get brocolli, oh yes, we're living it up big time here in the UK!
Another very quiet day that didn’t see us do much. The highlight was a 3km walk into Buntingford to buy some broccoli for tonight’s roast… I know, hold onto your hat material! We just pottered about the house, cooked and relaxed and thought about packing, and I mean thought about it, we didn’t actually get around to it at all!

Another bag to lug and love
Okay, today we actually did something about the packing situation. After dropping Luke at the train station for his trip to London Chris and I head into Cambridge to pick up another suitcase or backpack. While we haven’t brought too much during this trip, just little knick knacks and pictures really, we have realized that our packs are not big enough to hold all the little extra bits and bobs. We’re under weight for what we have, but our bags just aren’t big enough… so off to an Oxfam shop we went and found a lovely big solid suitcase for a tenner. We were very happy with this find, especially as we later saw a similar case in a shop front for 80 quid, we scored a real bargain! We decided that seeing as this would probably be our last trip to Cambridge to enjoy this outing and take a last look about, so we head to the market where we heard an amazing busker, we had a chat to him later in the day and were delighted to hear that he’s actually touring Tassie next month! We’ll be sure to look out for him and his band mates (they’re called Passenger for anyone who is interested!) We spent a few hours looking about this lovely college town before deciding that we should head home and now attempt to PACK this new case… oooohhhh, I hate packing!! But this is what we did. After this packing attempt we settled down in front of the telly and watched another episode of Jamie’s America before retiring to bed.
written by  Chris and Emily on September 8, 2009 from Cambridge, United Kingdom

It's official: we hate packing, but love chinese food!
We picked Luke up from the station today at about 10am or so. He’d had a great night with his mates, having dinner, drinks and watching the footy, typical boy stuff, and as much as he wanted to stay on there he also knew he had to come home and pack himself. Luke is off tomorrow on a mystery trip… He knows where he is off to but no one else does, we have to wait for his postcards, it all sounds incredibly exciting and curious, we can’t wait to see where he heads off too!! The boy sure knows how to create mystery and evoke curiousness!! We came home and all had a chance to pack up our stuff, took a break, packed some more and eventually said “bugger this, lets go to dinner” So we head off to a lovely Chinese place that was both cheap and served great food and had a really nice ‘last supper’ before coming home and watching a little bit of the footy (soccer to you and I) a DVD and then into bed for our incredibly early start tomorrow.

Early morning goodbye to Luke
3.30am is early. Very early. Infact so early it is still pitch black, the stars are still sparkling and there is no one else on the roads to London… we know this as it was the time we were up today in order to take Luke to the airport! The drive from Chipping to Heathrow takes just over an hour we have discovered, which really isn’t that long. It was sad to say goodbye to Luke today, it really feels as if he only turned up yesterday and now we have to say goodbye. We’ve had a really great time with my brother, showing him some of the sights that we came across and loved, introducing him to people we’d met along our travels, but more so, just spending time with him and having our own adventures with him and discovering things together. It’s been a great time and we’ll miss him. He still won’t tell us where he is off too or what he’s up too… which is both exciting and frustrating!! I know that wherever it is he’s going he’s going to have a great time and enjoy himself and come back with many stories and adventure tales!
Once we returned to Chipping Chris and I fell back into bed and didn’t rise again until close to midday, we were knackered! We only had 2 hours sleep through out the night! Once up we pottered about the house, cleaning and looking at the things we had to take care of. We leave on the 12th bound for Bangkok which will be nice and also means we’re closer to home. We’ve enjoyed our stint in Europe immensely, had an absolute ball, but I think we’re both in a way ready to head home now, and dare I say it, perhaps even ready to go back to work… (We’re sick I know! )
A quiet afternoon filled with general pottering and doing our own thing, reading, bath, DVDs and computer games... a nice way to relax before the craziness of proper house cleaning and packing tomorrow and then airports, jet lag and millions of people in Thailand!!

We can't believe this is our last day in the UK!
Wow. Time sure has flown! It feels as if we only arrived yesterday, stepping off the plane looking new and in awe of everything and now have to pack and head off back in the direction of Oz. We're looking forward to the rest of our trip in Thailand but at the same time are sad to leave Europe. It's been an amazing 5 months here, so full of adventure, fun, experiences, sights and laughter and much friendship. We won't foget these times and the amazing trip we've had, they're cemented in our memory... and we also have 10,000+ photos to look through...
It really wasn't much of a day today. A trip to the bank to sort out accounts, last trip to the post office (we can say with all honesty we hate the UK postal system) and... cleaning. SO much cleaning. Not because we're dirty people or anything, we just want to leave Sue and Patricks house as clean and homey as possible, though, in saying that, we did leave a little mess with the packing, which we've cleaned.
We are a little worried about the weight limit we have. We think we could be a little over the limit, so here's hoping that tomorrow when we pop the luggage on the scales they prove us to be wrong and actually reveal us to be underweight, but we wont hold our breath!
So, this is our last blog from the UK, we hope you've enjoyed reading of our European adventure and will continue to follow us as we head to Thailand.
Cheers from the UK.

Porky pies!
Well, Chris and I can now admit that we told a few little porky pies... We had originally thought that we would spend 3 weeks discovering Thailand, relaxing on a beach, book in one hand and a icy cold drink in the other, but we decided to skip this at the last minute and head home. Three reasons for this really:
1) We were tired
2) The thought of lugging a back pack around for a further 3 weeks brought me to my knees screaming a long winded "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and throwing a tantrum that could rival any 2 year old... and
3) Money was running low. And while everyone knows that Thailand is in fact one of the cheapest countries a westerner could visit, we figured we'd be better off bringing our last few dollars home rather than staggering home completely broke.
It was a bit of a kafuffle trying to get home though and we didn't know until the Friday night if we COULD really fly back (remember we left Saturday!) so we didn't tell anyone other than Chris' brother (who happens to be a travel agent and used all his skills to become the saint who got us home!) and of course Luke.
It was a sad day leaving the UK and flying over Europe on route to Bangkok for an hour stop over and then onto Sydney. We'd had such an amazing, fun filled, site seeing packed adventure and caught up with old friends and made so many new ones that we had mixed emotions about leaving. We felt ready to go home, but felt that we were also leaving home at the same time, if that makes any sense? We know that we'll be back again in the not so distant future to visit friends and family, visit the spots that we particularly fell in love with (France for one!) and to visit some of the countries we had to miss this time around (Slovenia and Iceland spring to mind)
As I mentioned earlier, no one actually knew that we were coming home early, so it was great to see the expression on our loved ones face as we surprised them one by one, some screamed, some cried, some I thought were going to have heart attacks (but thankfully didn't... we'll know not to surprise my mother again, sorry mum) and since getting home have thrown ourselves into house hunting, it'll be nice if we can find an abode of our own that we don't have to share with 16 or so others! We're slowly coming back to reality bit by bit and have settled down fairly quickly, which I'm pleased about as I thought we'd find it far more difficult to do, but I think the fact that we were READY to come home helps significantly. We've hit reality so quickly that I in fact did a days work yesterday (shock horror I know!) and we both start properly in a weeks time, but for once we're both looking forward to this.
Our trip away was indeed a 'once in a life time' experience. We know that we most likely won't be able to do such a trip again so we're so thankful, happy and blessed that we were able to do so and would like to thank everyone who helped make our trip possible.
Our family and friends here in Tassie, our employers and colleagues who didn't object too loudly to us taking 6 months leave, to Sven who was able to help us out with some of nitty gritty bits and bobs of traveling(and a few freebies!!) Luke for joining us when we were needing a touch of home (we had a great time!) And of course our friends and family in Europe for their constant, sincere and amazing hospitality: Sue, Patrick, Rachie, Ann, Bryan, Martin, Jen, Anya, Max, Inga, Mari, Mattia, Marco, Lidija, Heidi, Horst, Yanis, Maija and their family, Barbara, Dell and Tony, Kris and Paul for showing us La Rochelle in a way that only the French could and to all those who I may very forgettably and regrettably forgot, I didn't mean to intentionally do so believe me!!
We had a blast, we love you all and can only say "watch this space... we'll be back!!"
The End.
written by  Chris and Emily on September 25, 2009 from Hobart, Australia

Metal Alien

Temple Bar

Em enjoying a bevvie or two at the Temple Bar

Cow Lane Market

Our first few hours into Dublin and Chris is already hard at the Guinness!

Chris outside Kings College

Checking out Kings College Chapel

Some of the amazing stain glass windows from Kings College Chapel

Kings College Chapel

Angels and the roof, Kings College Chapel

Chris checking out Kings College Chapel

The amazing roof of Kings College Chapel

The steep, winding stair case to the top of St Margarets church for the look out

One of the views from the top of the church in Cambridge

An odd cricket art work thing, kings college in the reflection

Kings College

Bikes are a popular mode of transport around Cambridge

A very dangerous hot chocolate!!

An old WW1 Biplane

Thatched cottage

Hare and hounds pub. So, so nice!!

Chris doing a wonderful impersonation of a hare!

The yummiest steak in all of the UK (that we've tasted thus far!!)

The yummiest entree thus far in the UK

At the Hare and Hounds

The golden fields seen all over the country side

The road to Royston

Chris driving us to Royston

Museum of Natural history

The ONLY picnic table in all of Bedfordshire (that we could find)

Roof of the museum of natural science

"It was this big!!" Jonah, I mean Chris and the whale.

Dinosaur remains, museum of natural science

Museum of natural science

Entrance to museum of natural science

The last runner in the London Marathon. Bless his sweaty, smelly, cotton socks!

Em with the houses of parliment. Her favourite view of the entire city

Big Ben, houses of parliment in the background

Hot air balloon from our bedroom window.

The hotel that Chris and I would like to purchase and run in Clevedon. It's right on the waters edge with an awesome outlook. All a dream at the moment though!

Scenic shot of Clevedon

Clevedon beach

Ann in Clevedon

A new record.

One of my favourite plaques at Clevedon Jetty

Another Clevedon plaque

A quirky plaque at Clevedon Jetty

Some of the homes near Clevedon Jetty

Clevedon Jetty

Another of my favourite Clevedon Jetty plaques

The Clevedon 'beach'

The fisherman of Clevedon

Ann, Brian and I

Chris and I

The start of Clevedon Jetty

I hate things being crocked, so these pub windows bugged the crap out of me as I sat opposite it at lunch.

Wells Cathedral

A wee bit wet in Wells

"Wha'? I can't quite hear you, what was that?"

"Oh, now I get it, you said SMILE"

Moat around the Bishops palace(?!)

The Bishops house, complete with Moat.

Entrance to the Bishops house

The very very old, very correct clock of Wells Cathedral, that still has it's tick

Country side of Wells

Town square where Hot Fuzz was filmed. This was where the last shoot out happens.

Enjoying a hot choccie on a bloody cold day!

Bristol suspension bridge, as seen from the beer garden. Not a bad view really!

Ahh, my new friend known as cider.. mmmm! Beer garden tour!

Chris and Jen in our Bristol beer garden tour

HMMS Britanna

A not so impressed looking Em..probably when the sunburn was getting too much for me...

Chris and I catching the steam train, a very Bristish thing to do!

'Anyone going to Melbourne?' Em hitching a ride home...

It'd be cool to live on one of these barges! I want one, in Wales, my new favourite place!

View from the Bristol docks

Check out the colour of the homes on the hill

Paddington Station

The great somethingarather that we caught to Bristol, great bar on board!

Aww, Paddington Bear and I lurking outside the mens loo.. we'll crop this photo I think..

Bike rack at the British Museum

Another sailor luring sea nymph, British Museum

A stone statue of a woman receiving her baby, British Museum

Chris impersonating Alexander the Great. British Museum

A startled Venus in the bath, seriously, that's the title of this piece. I doubt I'd look that serene if it were me.

Venus getting ready for her bath. The unoffical title I've given this statue. British Museum

Trafalga Square

Chris with the London Eye coming out of his head

Big Ben

Tardis in Earls court!!

Qantas club melbourne

The memorable toast!

getting ready to leave