The end is nigh

Our last full day in Munich, mum and I found a cool church before collecting the Godfreys from the train station.  The church was built in between two buildings (so is only 3m wide-ish) by two brothers who wanted to showcase what's they could do.  What an awesome way to display your talents (built a few hundred years ago).  It is strange to think of people window shopping there and choosing designs for their home.  If I needed a church built - they would definitely get the job! (Asam Church if you are googling).
It was wonderful to see the Godfreys again although it was a brief exchange as they dumped their bags in our hotel room then some of us went to Dachau Concentration Camp.  It was a sad but good visit.  We missed on seeing the crematorium (as it was closed because of a storm??) and the famous gates saying "Work will set you free" (as it was stolen a couple of months ago - ???why would someone do that???) but the barracks were worth the visit to see how the camp degraded from inmates sharing single beds and getting limited food to one long triple bunk cramming in hundred of people and treating them so badly.  The museum was very comprehensive and we were soon overloaded with terrifying information.  We ran out of time to see it all and headed back to Munich.  Mum and I showed the Godfreys just a few places before dinner then we went home to pack.

It started to snow when we were in the airport waiting to board (not sure whether to be thrilled that it was a wonderful send off or disappointed that's I didn't get to walk in once more??).  It certainly is pretty to watch fall.  I might need to invest in a window sized screen and have falling snow as a kind of screen saver. (On the days of 5 or 6 degrees towards the end of the trip it is alleged that I was overhead saying it was 'pleasant' but those statements I can neither confirm or deny.)
Well, now it is off to warmer climates (yippee!) but I have loved the snow and really enjoyed being in Europe again.   It is fascinating and beautiful and easy to get around.


Singapore

Ah, warm sunny Singapore! It is such a joy to walk around in one layer of clothing and feel the warmth of the sun on your face.  Strangely now it is warm outside and cold inside (the aircon is cranked down to icy in most places).  It is also really nice to have the sun go down at 7ish.  We are all suffering a little from jet lag by "napping" at ten pm to about one pm then waking up and feeling wide awake but do well during the day (just a little tired).  We walked along the main street of Singapore on our first day until our rooms were ready then slept for a few hours before having a swim in the hotel pool then going out for dinner.  They next day we decided to go to a water park which was awesome fun.  They have a lazy river that goes around the park (and past a stingray pool - so cool!!), slides (some were really different and fun!) and a snorkelling pool with a huge amount and assortment of fish (amazing!!).  We had a really fun day there.  Dinner close to our hotel again because we were hungry and tired, and now we are lazing by the pool.  We will wander this afternoon then take a hop on hop off bus to see the sights tomorrow as we have to check out of our hotel in the morning and don't leave Singapore until midnight.

The food is nice but expensive here ($3.50 for a litre of milk and $6+ for a small cereal box).  We have eaten out each night as we have been tired and exhausted by the time dinner arrived and that has been pricey.  Who knew I would wish for train station food...
I wish you all the best.  Thanks for reading.

Munchen/Munich

Our final European destination has been great.  Munich is a pretty city with plenty of history (Nazi and otherwise).  Our hotel is very close to the main train station and what a station it is! We have had dinner their three nights in a row and eaten something different each time (and tasty and healthy!) which is a little bit different from Perth's major train stations... We relaxed our first evening here and then set out bright an early for a walking tour the next day.  That was overcrowded so we volunteered to go later in the afternoon and did some touring ourselves.  We watched their famous glockenspiel, and with all the reviews saying "Is that all?", we quite enjoyed it.  I guess it depends on where your expectations are (mine were pretty low).  Mum and I had a sad moment at the end because it played (what mum told me) a German lullaby "Wooden Heart" which I have only ever heard Elvis Presley sing on one of dad's CDs.  We are missing him quite a lot and knowing he would have loved practically everything we have been doing.
We moved on and spent the morning wandering through Munich's palace gardens and large park called the Englishgarten (Germans don't like d's and w's, always pronouncing them as a t or v) which was pretty.  There was a little snow on the ground, enough to be pretty and slosh up the walkways or make it icy/slippery.  We enjoyed it though.  We managed to walk through the university district (wow, what a pretty place to study!) and said a prayer in the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz for Sophie Scholl and her White Rose Movement friends (university students who distributed flyers calling on Germans to passively resist the Nazis and were executed for it 3 days later).
We stopped for a brief hit drink to warm our insides and rest our outsides before starting our walking tour.  Our guide Hein was funny and full of interesting information.  He showed us church's were the devil stamped his foot (leaving an impression in the stone) and left his wind in the streets around it, the palace where the Ludwigs and Maximilians of royal history lived and played (and got up to much mischief), a beer hall were men literally had peeing sticks so they could pee without splashing or getting up from the tables (yes, they literally peed into gutters running under the tables - obviously unable to leave their beers alone), town halls and Platz's where Hitler rallied his followers, and a fascinating street with golden cobblestones to commemorate the Germans who wanted to avoid 'Sieg Heil' (do the famous Hitler arm raise) and were punished for it (a special place of Hitlers first military protest was commemorated and two soldiers guarded the spot 24 hours a day to make sure when people went past they did the Sieg Heil. To avoid praising Hitler many people turned down the street prior to the spot. This was noticed so two more policeman were stationed down that street and if you were caught twice without a good reason for avoiding that special spot, you were sent to Dachau as a political dissenter. Scary times!!)
We wandered in a church or two (yes we are still interested in churches after the dozens we've seen - this was had an all white Roccoco interior with amazing ornate moulds - alright I will stop describing as I can hear the yawning from here).  Then it was tea and home.  We packed in so much that day we wondered what we would do for the next day.  We got up and decided on Therme Erding (this is a google must!).  We put on our bathers and bought a ticket (scoffing to each other about the 22 euro price tag of the train ticket and thinking it had better be good enough to travel 50 mins North East of the city).  We got to see the Bavarian alps out the window and some snow covered fields (no snow in the city) which was cool.  Mum had researched well before we left and so we made it there by train and bus.  We got in and got changed (yet another go at working out how everything works - where is my locker? Where do I get changed? Oo - change rooms, now how do I lock them so no one else gets in? Now where are the pools? How do I get out of the labyrinth change rooms? Yay - water! Now where do I put my towel or is are those lounges reserved? Argh!).  Our first stop was a super cool wave pool.  It is heated to about 25 degrees and you swim out in the fake waves and bob up and down on some noodles for a little while and pretend you are at the beach (but better because there are no sharks and it is warm water and there are no rips).  Then we headed to the main thermal baths which is two sections across (this place is huge and we only paid to see half of it!).  We swam in assorted temperature pools, did some aqua aerobics, swam in a Himalayan salt pool, one with minerals, steamed in a salt gas thingy, put a clay mask on and went on a few slides (one was the longest inside slide) which was fun, then went back to the thermal pools then spent a final half hour floating on our backs in the wave pool (it totally could have lulled me to sleep).  They have so many other things to do there (many of which you could only do if you had a lot of money). It was awesome.  The only thing scary about the place was the number of seats and lounges.  There would have been enough to seat a thousand people - eeek- can you imagine that many people in the pools with you?  It would be people soup.  You'd have to decide to leave a pool three hours before you actually made it to the steps!!
Anyway, we had an awesome time and were grateful that it was a weekday (and winter) which helped thin the possible crowd.
Mum and I are excited to see the Godfreys tomorrow who have finished their week of skiing (with both kids doing well and enjoying themselves).  We will meet them at the train station, take them to the hotel, then most of us are hopping back to the station to go to Dachau - the site of Hitlers first work/concentration camp.  It will be a sad but meaningful afternoon.  If we are all not too exhausted we might take the Godfreys on a small walking tour, passing on our learnt information because the day after we leave Europe.  We all feels like it has been months that we have been away rather than weeks.
We have a few days in Singapore to try and relieve some jet lag (and get used to the heat) before flying home.

I hope you are all well.  All the best to you and your families.  Be sure to tell each other that you love them - we really don't know how often we have left to say it.

Thanks for reading.

Farewell Hungary - you have not left me hungry

Szia (pronounced seeya and means hello and goodbye in Hungarian and is one of the very few words I have mastered which is ok because Hungarian people are proud that their language is the third hardest to learn)!
Since writing my last post, mum and I have picked up our pace.  We were lazily going about visiting the sights knowing we had 7 full days in Budapest.  Time starting ticking away from us so we have since been on a walking tour, gone to a hospital in a rock, the terror museum and wandered the city park.  Tomorrow is a visit to St Stephens cathedral and a river cruise.

We spent our last day in Budapest at Rudas Baths, one of the oldest baths and from the time of the Ottoman's rule over Hungary.  It was less touristy than the two main baths and so we had a little more trouble negotiating entrance and a massage.  It was ladies only day and bathing suits were optional... It was an eye opening, or perhaps eye closing, experience.  It was more authentic in my opinion because we floated amongst locals and you could smell the minerals in the water vapour.  The steam from the steam room flooded the main pools and sometimes it was hard to see the other wall, which added to the atmosphere.  I felt like goldilocks as I tested the various pool, too cold, too hot, ahhh just right!  The best one was the large octagonal pool under a dome with small rainbow windows letting in filtered light.  It was very relaxing.  Mum went for her massage first, then me.  It wasn't the soundtrack of birds and flutes that we are used to in Perth, mum had the track called "Two Hungarian Women Talking Loudly" and I had "Drilling Through Concrete".  Oh well, our muscles enjoyed it (plus our walking pace was very leisurely the rest of the day because we were so relaxed).  The attire was interesting in the baths.  About a third of the women were naked, a third in bathers and a third in various states of undress.  Interestingly the 'modesty aprons' are anything but modest.  There are made of thin (and, wait for it..) white cotton so you can imagine what happens to them when they get wet, plus when the woman turns around... hello!?!  Why bother in my opinion.
We came home and freshened up and set out for our last evening in Budapest (awww!).  We wandered through the shops for a little while trying to burn our leftover Hungarian Forint but couldn't find anything (that we wanted to buy and that would fit in our overfull suitcases). So we changed it into some euro which left us with about 600ft which is about 3 dollars. (I have liked the conversion of HUF to AUD because you remove two zeros and half what's left - I get stuck with the euro because it is about two thirds of our currency and is tricky to convert on the fly).  So then we went shopping in the supermarket to get rid of all the unchangeable coin.  We bought some (AUD) 30 cent puddings (how can they make it for this price, let alone package and store it???) which taste a lot better than something so cheap should and some crackers and a chocolate bar and still had 30forint left.  What clever shoppers we are.  Now we need to pray that we haven't overlooked anything left to pay before we fly out to Munich tomorrow at lunchtime.
Tonight we are packing (again! We won't miss that!) and then it will be breakfast, transfer, flight, find our way from the central train station to our hotel (won't miss that either) and convert our language and currency to a different one (or that!).  We are getting a little travel weary (which you can probably tell) and I imagine we will go hard for a few hours during the day, have an early tea then relax in the hotel room for much of the later afternoon/evening/night.
Still we are having a wonderful time and talk of home (as in work/responsibilities) has only started to creep into our conversations so we have relaxed a lot.  I am feeling better but still have a few sniffles (thanks for the good health wishes and other comments!).  Even though we have spent 7 full days here we still leave with a few things undone - I guess that ensures our return at some point.  But I am very happy with all we have achieved as well as the relaxing done!
Thanks Budapest for all the memories (and cheap food!).  We will miss you!  Szia!

Thanks for reading and I hope all is well with you and your families.

2nd day of 2015

It snowed just a little on New Years Day for us!  It fell softly and silently and delicately, sprinkling the ground rather than covering it but it was wonderful just the same.  It didn't last long and left us in minus three without the prettiness.  I wonder how long I would have to live here before snow lost its charm?  I am very grateful for the new jacket (thigh length) and velour leggings I bought in Cologne.  Now I have a toasty warm backside and thighs which I couldn't have had with my waisted jackets and two pairs of thermals (worn at the same time).
We went to the same restaurant as yesterday - Vapiano - a cool Italian restaurant where you line up and order and they cook it right in front of you.  Practically every cook/chef speaks English and amazes me again by the language skills (and makes mine feel so inferior in return).  I have to think hard how to thank them now.  My mind files through the languages very slowly now, having been to so many different countries.  'Pro seem', no that's please in Czech, 'Danke', no that's thanks in German, 'Shuckran', no that's thanks in Egyptian (Huh? I went to Egypt eight years ago, how come I think that now?).  I guess I have a language drawer and have just shoved everything foreign in there without bothering to sort it.  That must be one area where I am disorganised.
I found kurtoskalacs which is identical to the Prague trdelnik which is dough rolled around a wooden rolling pin like thing and cooked over coals.  They roll it in sugar and cinnamon once it's cooked and you eat it - it's soooo good.  I bought one (Kamahl, it was bigger than yours!) and loved every calorie, which would have been a few.  It is just one of the ways to warm you up as you walk around.  Much more fun than jogging on the spot.
The entries to the metro are scary.  It is a seventy degree angle down (or up), a hundred or so metres in length and the escalators create a kind of wind tunnel, tossing the frigid air in your face like a slap.  You go so far into the Earth that you feel like you should see lava lakes below the train tracks.  The worst one is our 'home' station near the Hungarian Parliament.  If you have any height fears definitely don't look down; even I grip the rail and I went on a ride in Phantasialand that was a 65 metre drop straight down (albeit I did it once and never again).  Boy does being in Phantasialand, Cologne seem like months ago rather than mere weeks.
Today we went into the Hungarian Parliament which was a little disappointing.  I did it last time and remembered it to have more information and was cheaper.  Today was $20 for forty minutes of being driven, corralled and being fed half-heard information.  Not so much fun and sadly I wouldn't recommend it anymore.  It more of a production line than an informative insight.  It is still one of my favourite buildings in Budapest, I will just enjoy it from the outside.  We then went to the market hall and had a look at all the food and souvenirs on display then walked the main shopping street back to our hotel.  We stayed in tonight because I am not feeling well.  Hopefully I will be well enough (and mum won't get sick) to do a walking tour tomorrow.

Sorry, no photos as we have separated from the Godfreys and their laptop (and photo uploading ability) went with them.  Check out Haylee's blog to see any (though sadly not of Budapest).

Thanks for reading.  I hope you are enjoying the hot weather for me.

Boldog uj evet (Happy New Year from Hungary)

Budapest has been wonderful, even without snow.  From Vienna we farewelled the Godfreys and caught a train later.  On the platform I remarked to mum that we hadn't used our seat reservations yet as most trains have had plenty of free space.  Wow are we glad we reserved this time.  The train was packed - people stood in the aisles and in the doorways for two and a half hours.  I wasn't even tempted to offer my seat (ok, maybe if there was an old lady or pregnant lady).  We got to our accommodation with no problems (Budapest is my town and I was in charge of researching the sights and attractions as well as how to get to and from hotels - maybe that's why we had no problems - oops, modest aren't i?).  Directly out from the train near our hotel is the Hungarian Parliament building.  Whoa!  Even seeing it second time was a thrill.  We settled in to our room and never left again that night.  We ate some snacks we'd bought in Vienna and went downstairs to their jacuzzi and sauna, face timed the Godfreys to hear about their day then went to bed.  Breakfast is included in this hotel so we went there and enjoyed a good meal then headed out.  We changed some money and bought a 7 day train ticket so we can pop up wherever the train takes us and give our legs a break (and faces a break from the cold).  We took in a few sights, had some tea then went to the Buda side to see the Parliament building all lit up.  It was about minus three at this point and heading down - brrrrrr!  It was the last day of the year and you could feel the excitement in the air and hear it too with street touters selling horns and whistles ( which every kid seemed to have permanently attached to their lips).
There were some Christmas/New Year markets and so we looked through them, we even looked for some nuts to buy in honour of Kamahl but found none (sorry Mahl).  The city looked lovely at night all lit up.  We walked around for ages then realised it was only 6 o'clock.  We had six hours to wait until midnight (8 hours from sunset to midnight - a long time to wait...).  With it getting colder by the hour and expected to reach minus ten at midnight, we gave up on the idea of celebrating the new year in with locals and tourists alike.  We headed back to the hotel and copied up.  We put our Baileys on the window ledge to chill and turned on some concerts and ticked away several hours relaxing.  The Baileys got cracked open at nine and we toasted the new year in because it was New Years somewhere in the world.  I turned out my light at half past ten but heard the fireworks and street firecrackers in the early hours of the morning.  Our hotel is out a bit from the main tourist streets so our sleep fared better than others.
It certainly made for a quiet breakfast at half past eight the next morning.
A lot is closed today except the baths so we decided to go their fairly early, avoiding the several red throw-up patches on the street (people can be so gross as times).
The Gellert Baths were delightful.  We had a massage in between our soaking and that was great.  It started out quiet but as more people arrived the louder it got.  It would have been marvellous to just have mum and I floating to our hearts content while a string quartet played.  Oh wait, I remembered I am not rich so couldn't possibly have that.  I am sure the wealthy of olde would have enjoyed that as they 'took the waters' in Budapest.  Haylee and Teliah would have loved it but Kamahl and Tanner would have wanted to bombie everyone so perhaps it was for the best that it was just mum and I.  We stayed a few hours then decided to go back to the hotel for a coffee before getting some lunch/afternoon tea/dinner.  We had to dry our hair before leaving as it was minus three outside and not conducive to wet hair.  Mum dried hers then lamented about putting a beanie on and having beanie hair.  I dried mine, looked like an eighties rock star and delighted in squashing it flat.  Even though it was cold, we sauntered back as we were so relaxed.
Tomorrow we plan on getting up early and getting a ticket for the Parliament tour as they sold out or first day here when we tried to go.  Then it will be back for breakfast, then go back to do the actual tour then perhaps a bit of shopping.  Like Vienna the shops are closed on Sunday's (which is kind of strange for a bit European city, not that I begrudge them a family day).  We are going to try and have a cruise on the famous Danube (we have been over it and under it and there is no way I am going 'through it' so this will have to do).  We will try a walking tour sometime also to get some of the history.  So far we are taking it easy.  Going out in the morning, coming back for a free cup of tea/coffee at our divine hotel then going out for dinner and a sightsee.  It is all very pleasant and civilised.
Well I must be off to do my evening meal and tour.
Happy new year and all the best for 2015!  I hope it is a magnificent year for you.

Thanks for reading.

Wein not whine

Today was Schonbrunn Palace which was much hyped and didn't quite meet expectations.  I waited in the queue to buy tickets for an hour and when at the front of the line I found out that we would have to wait 4 hours to get in to see the rooms inside.  Hmmm!!! We wandered around the gardens which were a mix between white and brown, then some white and brown, then more snow fell and there was a little more white.  We were delighted to wake with more snow and loved it until the wind picked up the dancing flakes that were swirling past and turned them into ice darts that drilled into any exposed skin and found there sneaky way down your shirt.  Grr.  We warmed ourselves with a hot chocolate in the cafe on the hill above the palace and then trained it into the city for lunch and then got back just in time for our tour inside.  It was pretty and extravagant but not unlike palaces we have already seen.  Could I have lived there like the Hasburgs did?  Totally.  Could I understand why the little people didn't like their fancy ways?  Totally.
Out the front of the palace was some winter/Christmas/new year markets.  There were flurries so we finally got to wander through the markets in falling snow.  It was wonderful.  The flakes were perfect snowflake shapes and shining in the lamplight.  Magical!  Kamahl bought some nuts there as he said he wanted to get some in every country we visited.  Mission accomplished.  We then went to an outdoor ice rink and Kamahl and the two kids once skated in the falling snow which they loved.  We came home and ate tea and began sorting/packing.

Dogs are everywhere in Europe - in trains, cafes, shopping centres...  It's a bit scary if they aren't responsible pet owners and let their four legged darlings leave little treats on the sidewalk.  A fine dusting of snow and it is a puppy bomb waiting to explode!  Or should I say land mine.
I love how they handle the bill here.  The waiter takes your order, gives it to you when you are ready and comes over with a wallet to your table so you can pay your bill directly to them.  Handy.  I will miss their train systems too.  Vienna has about as much people as Perth, though more highly concentrated but has an awesome train system.  The lines crisscross over the whole city and we have fully utilised our 72 hr unlimited travel ticket.  Trains arrive and depart every 4 - 7 minutes.  Oh I wish australia had a system like that.
I won't miss the freeze headaches you get just by being outside and the cold burn you get each night after you are cozy inside.  It is so weird. Your face gets hot and a little red as if you got sunburn but it isn't sunburn...  Not that I am complaining which I told myself I would keep to a minimum - just witty banter.  Vienna is written as Wein (pronounced vine not whine).

Well, tomorrow is off to Hungary and a new currency and a new language (one we haven't been practising and is difficult to read - like Czech).  My hope is that English is more common but the price hasn't surpassed Australian type costs.  I also hope for mum that it lives up to my hype - I have convinced her that it is a great, cheap place to spend 8 days.
Another trek to the train station (this time in snow - oh the suitcases...) and that panicked feeling of finding the new accommodation in the new and unknown place.

Again, check out Haylee's blog and Karen's blog for photos.
godfreytraveladventures.blogspot.com.au
brookstraveladventures.blogspot.com.au

Thanks for reading, and for all those who have commented - thanks!

What's minus two with you?

It snowed half the day today in Vienna and it was awesome! We woke to snow and the big fluffy flakes just kept falling.  I could have sat inside and watched it all day.  Once we got ready - everyone is finally wearing close to the amount of layers I am - we headed out.  The kids played in the snow every chance they got, throwing snowballs and kicking up the powder.  We saw many beautiful sights, all slightly blurred from the misty, falling snow.  Vienna is a beautiful city.  We braved the icy snow and wind for a few hours then had to stop for lunch, more for the heat and to sit down than for food.  We went to yet another church and then Kamahl and Tanner went back to the accommodation (and I stayed out in the cold - yes, me!).  Us girls went to a very pretty park and Teliah threw snowballs at us as she was the only one with proper snow gloves, and made a snowman.  We found an outdoor ice skating rink for the Godfreys and went to an amusement park of sorts.  We went on the swinging chairs and froze our faces - literally!!  Afterwards we went to a Viennese concert cafe (fancy cafe with live music) and had a hot chocolate and cakes (and then got red faces from the heat - they packed people in).  We headed home, trooping through what had to be minus 3.  The snow was pretty cool and fun but I certainly am happy to experience it as a tourist and not have it for months every year.  You have to admire the Europeans for how well they do (so many people walk around without beanies or gloves) - I love their heated train seats especially.
Tomorrow is Schloss Schonbrunn (one of the three palaces in Vienna - the prettiest apparently so that is the one we chose as we only have two full days here).  Then ice skating and maybe a few more sights that we can squeeze in.  It is going to be minus three so we will be popping up out of the train stations to take photos then head underground to train it to the next destination.  It will be our last day together for a week and a half and I will miss the Godfreys greatly.  Not just to see what they will eat in the next town (Haylee wishes me to say that she is apart from the try all food and spend money philosophy I have been blogging about) but for the company and their navigating skills and sharing the memories.  I do love watching the kids watch kids shows in German and picking up some of the words and practically all the meaning.  They have been real troopers, carrying their own suitcase on and off trains and kilometres to different accommodation, going to church after pretty building after monument, and so many other things.  We throw them an occasional playground or kid activity to keep them happy.  Mum and I are off to Budapest for 8 days and will enjoy not having to navigate in a new city every few days.  I imagine we will pick one or two sights to do per day and relax the rest of the time, rather than trying to pack everything in to each day and coming home with very sore feet.
If I miss you - Happy New Year.  I hope 2015 is wonderful!
It will be minus ten as the low on New Year's Eve so mum and I may welcome in the new year in our pajamas with a Baileys in hand - inside!
Thanks for reading.

Prague is snow good!

Christmas Day was a lazy, sleep in kind of day.  Some of us got up after ten and we had a cooked breakfast which was impressive under the circumstances.  We watched a German "Weihnacten" (Christmas: pronounced vine-ark-ten) concert on tv while we played on the iPads or did crosswords.
We left the apartment at 2pmish (two hours before it was dark - now that was weird and went to see the Charles Bridge - the largest pedestrian bridge in Europe (or was it the oldest? Eurgh- too much history struggling to find a permanent location in my memory).  It was very crowded.  There were plenty of shops, restaurants and sights open on Christmas Day which is impressive considering how much of Perth shuts down at this time of year.  Another thing I love is the babies.  Babies here look like mini sleeping bags with faces.  It is so cute - all you can see is little faces surrounded by puffer jacket type material and sometimes a hand or two.
The Christmas concert we went to was wonderful.  It consisted of different sections of some symphonies played by string instruments, them some organ music on this really old and fancy looking organ, then some opera and finally all together with a choir.  It was exceptionally memorable because of where we listened to it.  In the Klementium which is a concert hall built in the 1600's.  It is baroque in style with amazing roof frescoes and marble pillars and gold leaf filigree everywhere.  The setting and the lovely music made me appreciate how hundreds of years can go by and people can still appreciate art.  I am envious of the creators of something so wonderful.
We went on a tour before the concert of the Klementium and saw their astronomical clock and baroque library - wow!!  I know why God has not fixed lotto to let me win and be a multi-millionaire. He knows that I would build a two storey sumptuous library like that one, with a secret garden attached and never leave the house!  The view of the Prague Castle and old town at night was well worth the stairs (not as many as the Cologne Dom Cathedral thank goodness).
The next day we got up early to avoid the crowds on the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle.  As we were on the bridge it snowed a very little but it was awesome to see little star shapes of ice land on us all.  They were so pretty.  We trekked up the hill and wandered around the castle grounds.  As we were in front of the church on top of the hill it started to snow - yippee!!  We were all very excited.  It got harder until the tops of roofs and trees turned a little white.  We couldn't contain our excitement.  We snapped photos and shook it laughingly from our beanies and hoods and threw what we could at each other.  It passed after ten minutes or so but it was awesome.  We finished looking around the castle and walked down the hill to the John Lennon wall where you can write on a wall messages of peace/hope which started in the 70's from the Czech people who felt oppressed by Russian government.  We added a message to it, took photos at a statue that pees and went back to our accommodation as we were all really cold.  It was our first day of zero degrees with many more and worse to come (many of them without the pleasure of snow).
We head to Vienna tomorrow for 3 days before separating with the Godfreys.  We have all enjoyed being in the same apartment as each other and having the room to lazy and still chat.

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the warm weather.
Thanks for reading.
Again - photos on Haylee and my mum's blogs.

Photos - Nuremberg and Prague

The Godfreys on the Zepplin field, on the steps to the Fuhrer's platform.

St John's Cemetery (Nuremberg)

Our last night in the German Christmas markets - and Teliah's opinion of Gluewein (hot, mulled wine).

Prague's Jewish Quarter and one of its synagogues.

In Old Town Square (Prague) - the background to their Christmas markets (Boy does Europe do Christmas well).

Me at King Wesceslas Square (which is more like a long rectangle...?).

Praha - ho ho ho

Our last day in Nuremberg was a pleasant one.  We visited the old town and the fanciest cemetery I have ever seen (and I am macabre enough to have seen a few old ones).  Each stone grave has an ornate iron bowl full of plants and flowers on top.  To look across the cemetery is to gaze at some kind of rock garden.  It was beautifully maintained and many had Christmas wreaths/decorations on them - either from the grounds staff or relatives.  It is called Saint Johannis Friedhof cemetery and is worth googling at the very least.  From there we went to the Kaiserberg (castle) and enjoyed a beautiful view over the lovely red rooftops of Nuremberg.  We found a Mexican restaurant and lazed inside as it got dark and we were able to feel our noses again.
Kamahl and Tanner didn't want to face the markets but us girls were feeling nostalgic and wanted to enjoy our last German Christmas market.  We moved with the crowds and enjoyed oohing and aahing over what was on display.  We definitely kept it to window shopping as needed to pack that night and were already worried on how we would fit everything in for the bus ride to Prague.
The scenery on the bus the next day was very similar to what we'd already seen.  The wording however... The Czech language doesn't look like or sound like anything we've been practising.  Write down a sentence then remove two-thirds of the vowels and decorate the tops of several letters with dashes and ticks galore and you are getting close.  We eventually found our accommodation after changing trains and going only a stop at each, hoofing our heavy bags up and down steps (hee hee, glad I am not the Godfreys with their many purchases).  The apartment is delightful with plenty of space to fit us all and have many common areas to occupy.  Kamahl and I headed to the supermarket to find some food to cook in the kitchen (yay for home cooked food) and because we weren't sure how much would be open on the 24th which is the day they officially celebrate Xmas.  We worked out 2 words of the Czech language - coriander and coconut but the rest of the purchases were made with a bit more guessing.  Thank goodness for pictures and clear packaging to know what you are buying.  Mum says there is a lot more English words around on signs but proportionally the prices have gone up too.  Our hundred or so Australian dollars are not going to go as far as we hoped.  Plus with all the warnings of bad exchange dealers in the Czech Republic we changed money in Germany and got a pitiful rate and mum who changed hers in Prague got the best - what the?  So her food ends up cheaper even if we buy the same thing.  The currency is different too in the sense that there are no dollars and cents, just a total such as 85 koruna for a roll.  We hit the markets and of course Kamahl bought (I don't even need the drumroll to announce...) some nuts.  The Godfreys tried a few other Czech food sensations and probably went through the koruna like they were cents, while I was imagining them as dollars and refused to buy anything.  The markets here are like the poorer, less stylish cousin of the German ones.  There are still crowds around the hot alcohol stands and lots of Christmas trees and pretty lights but are a little less ornate.  We explored the beautiful Bohemian buildings, which are ornate and stylish and marvelled over the frescos, the wrought iron balconies and art nouveau roofs.  Their Jewish quarter is one of the best preserved in Europe but for tragic reasons.  Hitler was keeping intact as the site for his 'Museum of an extinct race'.  The Jewish cemetery is above road level because the nazis refused to let Jewish people be buried anywhere else and so they literally were in top of each other.  There were several synagogues but as much was closed (and it wasn't cheap) we didn't go in any.  It is a place of pilgrimage for many Jewish people because of its intact walls and churches.
We walked to Wenceslas Square, although all the stalls and many shops surrounding it were closed, we enjoyed the ambience.  We had to keep reminding each other that it was Christmas Eve, in spite of being surrounded by markets and planning this for months, it didn't feel like Christmas because we would normally be near a pool instead of wearing 3 layers and still being cold if we stood still.
Tonight we had a great meal that Kamahl prepared for us and are going to get rugged up again and go to a church for their evening Mass.  We don't really know what to expect but will enjoy the experience just the same.  We are planning on having a lazy morning tomorrow and go out and visit the Prague Castle and famous Charles Bridge while we have the light.  It is going to be a fine day of 5 degrees with 'Boxing day' (or the 26th for us as they don't celebrate that but many businesses will be closed for it) being 1 degree... (Insert shudder here).  No snow though.
It is with trepidation that I look at the approaching forecast. Vienna is next and I need to expect zero degree days.  My face aches in anticipation of that kind of cold.  I might need to do a virtual tour of Vienna on my iPad from the comfort of my warm room.

Merry Christmas to all and have a blessed season full of love and laughter.
Thanks for reading.

If you want to read the Godfrey's blog and see their phots - sorry but it is godfreytraveladventures.blogspot.com.au

Hitler's Town

The documentation centre was informative but really long.  You had an audio guide and wandered through 20 or so rooms listening to the five to eight different stations in each section.  There were some videos and surprisingly not very many documents.  Tanner had enough after half an hour but kept it together for the whole two hours we were in there (Haylee and Teliah spent almost 3 hours).  There was lots of interesting information about the rise of Hitler, his plans (put into action or not) and the war.  We all learnt something which was great.  We were cooking inside in the heated rooms with our clothes that were geared for outside (but that came in handy as we wandered through the whole complex).  Afterwards we wandered through the half completed Congress Hall which if finished would have been twice the size of Rome's Colosseum.  We tried out the acoustics with the good old 'Cooee'.  We then went to the Zeppelin field which is where the rallies took place. We stood on the Fuhrer platform and gazed out on what is now soccer pitches.  It was ghostly quiet which is perhaps apt considering all that went on there.  With a bit of imagination you could see the stands filled with adoring people and the field covered in military personnel, tanks and men parading past.  If that had been all for me it would have gone to my head too.  It was mind boggling to believe it was all for one man and because of one man's plan.
We headed home in the dark (but only 4:30pm which I am still trying to get my head around), had pizza then mum and I headed to the Christmas markets to see the church.  We heard a beautiful choir inside and then went outside to the crowds to have a huge Nutella crepe - yum!  We slowly wandered back, warm in our many layers and enjoyed the ambience.  The Godfreys have gone to a heated pool which we saw on our way to the document centre. I scared the kids by telling them that in Germany they swim nude a lot.  Their faces were a sight!
Sadly tomorrow is our last day in Nuremberg.  We just get a sense of the place, direction wise and finding good places to eat, and we have to leave.  Like Cologne we will be leaving without doing some of the things we researched.  I guess it leaves us with something to do the next visit.  But the next one will definitely be in summer! (Though I am getting used to the cold)

I am also sad to report that all the adults in our party have now bought new coats and they are all dark colours.  On the plus side we look very European but on the negative side it is much harder to find each other.

Nuremberg and Rothenburg

The trip from Cologne to Nuremberg was a pleasant one.  We went on one of Germany's fast trains which shortened the journey to 4 hours with a few stops.  The scenery is picturesque with a rolling hill then a small village, another rolling hill and yet another village.  I wonder if the ratio of towns to fields gets smaller away from the train line or if buildings are on their way to outnumbering green, grassy fields?  The forests/woods are a mix of fir or pine trees and sticks - not much green there.  The houses are pretty - similar to the cute ceramic or plastic ones Teliah wants to buy from the markets.  It seems that every village has a church spire towering above the rooflines and they are always so cute and fancy (nothing like modern churches).  It is a grey and overcast day today, like yesterday but I am grateful for the reprieve in the weather (maximum has been around 10 degrees).  I have even walked about without gloves and my big jacket unzipped!  We have all said that we would rather the freezing cold and have the chance of snow than the milder weather.  I guess mum and I might have to be happy with the lumps of snow at Phantasialand while the Godfreys will have to accept less than perfect snow in the Austrian alps.
Once settled in our accommodation we set out for Nurnberg's Christmas markets.  It is very prettily situated in the old town, surrounded by old style buildings and a church.  Several new displays and things to buy (like little people made from figs, raisins and nuts) and similar things to what we've already seen.  We tried some new food (giant fresh marshmallows) and enjoyed the carol singers.
The next day we trained it to Rothenburg (which will be henceforth called awesomeburg).   We walked around a portion of the walled city then went inside its walls to explore the beautiful village.  It was so cute we all wanted to stay the night and explore the next day too.  Every corner produced another old building or medieval scene to photograph.  They do Christmas so well here in Europe.  Every shopfront had a lovely display and had a real tree by the door or over the door.  We met some friends of mum and dads and had afternoon tea with them.  Afterwards we visited the famous Kathe Wolfehart shop which was mind blowing.  The inside of the all year round Christmas shop has snow covered houses and giant Christmas trees and giant pyramid windmill and more Christmas decorations than you could ever imagine.  You could have easily spent 48 hours in there and still not take it all in.  We travelled back home at 7pm which is pitch black and feels like 10pm at night.  Today we slept in and moseyed our way through town.  We went on a walking tour which was fascinating (and freezing cold - we are back to 4 degree days) telling us about the history and the architecture of Nuremberg. It is also very pretty and looks hundreds of years old even though much of the old town was rebuilt after WW2 in the same style.
Tomorrow we are visiting the documentation centre, nazi rally grounds and the Zeppelin fields which were made famous by Hitler's parades.  The markets are overcrowded with tourists (umm, like us) so we are spending the weekend days being elsewhere. We will wander through them more on Monday (our last day in Nuremberg before we go to Prague).
I am very impressed with Europeans with their knowledge of English as well as German (and probably more languages) and with the fact that there are tables outside everywhere and they stand in the freezing cold; eating and drinking and chatting quite happily.  If it was Australia we would be asking where are the chairs and the heaters?!
The weather is 'warm' by German standards so we have given up on the idea of snow for Christmas but we still have our fingers crossed for walking in it at least once while in Europe (I will be so disappointed if I see none although mum and I might visit the Godfreys in the alps to ensure it).  Although it is handy as every room we've had so far came with a fridge - the windowsill.

I am having trouble uploading photos so please go to mum's blog 'brookstraveladventures.blogspot.com.au' or Haylee's blog 'daysofgodfreylives.blogspot.com.au' as they are having more luck.
Thanks for reading and enjoy wearing shorts and a t-shirt for me.

Cologne in Cologne

Our time in Cologne draws to a close.  We have all enjoyed it here and like the city and find it easy to get around.  Yesterday we took a train to some Christmas markets that seemed a long way away - it was a total of seven minutes on the train/tram.  It actually took us longer to work out how to buy the tickets and wait for the connecting tram than actual travel time.  We discovered how close it really was when we walked back to the hotel.  (There was lots of ironic glances at each other and exclamations of 'Is that it?'). The markets were cute and half of the stalls sold products the same or similar to what we'd seen in other markets. Teliah managed to find something, I found a decoration or two and Kamahl bought some more nuts (he brags to us that he has almost had all the types on offer and will have sampled them all by the close of all the markets).  Mum bought some gluhwein (warmed wine) which everyone tried except me and everyone went yuck except mum.  It kept her warm though.
We found a vegan restaurant for lunch and fell on it in delight! We ate up heaps and was grateful for the waitress who lived in Australia for a year who gave us tips and help on how to say vegetarian - it looks like vegetaritsch but is pronounced completely different and had many food vendors shaking their heads at us when we said it.
We walked the streets looking for a shopping centre and after aimless wandering found it almost by accident.  I was looking for a longer jacket (to cover my backside and some of my thighs) but found some velour tights instead.  I was grateful to find a decently priced shop rather than all the boutiques we had been seeing (I desperately wanted to ask "Vo ist Kmart?" which is where is Kmart).  Then by accident again we found the main shopping street. We decided to come back the next day and did - finding something in the fashion area for us all to buy.
Today we went to the Dom Cathedral again and was able this time to look around better.  We saw the fancy gold sarcophagus/container that supposedly holds the remains of the three wise men (three magi). Fancy doesn't really describe its ornateness and beauty.  It is quite a dizzying thought that the reason to build the mighty Dom Cathedral was to house the bones of the Magi.  It is like buying a really nice bowl and deciding to build a house to put it in (rather than the reverse).
We did some shopping and visited the 4711 House of Cologne, dipping our hands in a fountain of cologne.  It smelled lovely.  I succumbed to the cliché of buying some cologne in Cologne.  It wasn't the original Eau de cologne maker but another famous perfume maker, also with a good story.
Later in the evening mum and I visited another beautiful church, St Gereons.  It was more like afternoon but since it starts getting dark at 4.30pm it feels like evening.  It still bewildering to us how early it gets dark.  We see people in offices and think they must be doing overtime only to realise that the work day isn't over.  We head back to our accommodation thinking it is late and it is only 5:30 and we have hours before we can go to bed.  I guess that leaves plenty of time to rest the feet (they are getting such a workout) and blog and read/relax.
Tomorrow we leave Cologne for Nuremberg. It is also Mum and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary.  Mum is going to place a lock on the Cologne bridge in honour of the occasion.  It will be a bittersweet day - being in a country Dad loved without him on such a special day - leaving mum to celebrate it alone.
Happy Fortieth Anniversary Dad and Mum!!! Thanks for the love you have shared and shown to others.  Your love for each other will be forever in all of our hearts.

Abandon all fashion sense ye who visit here

My daily schedule: Get up, have a shower, get dressed, keep getting dressed, still more dressing, then another layer, go outside and explore.  Back to the hotel, undress, keep undressing, take off those last few layers, then get into pj's and go to sleep.  Then wake up and do it all again.  It is a set dressing schedule too within the daily schedule.  Thermals go on first then socks.  Don't try and put socks on after jeans and don't put your safety money belt on before thermals and the scarf has to go on after the jumper but before the jacket...
Once outside I am grateful for the layers, especially my chest and feet that have stayed toasty warm the whole time we've been here.
Our group is so brightly coloured compared to most. I am in green (with a hoodie that makes me look like an alien so my family tell me), Haylee and mum in bright pink and the others in a mix of greys and bright colours.  We are a rainbow in an ocean of black.  Europeans must adore black even though they are surrounded by 16 hours of night at this time of year.  We don't fit in for more reasons than waving maps and cameras and speaking English.
It amazes me that some people wear a regular jumper, no jacket or scarf or beanie or gloves! If they came to Perth in winter they could probably get around with shorts and a t-shirt.

On our third day we decided to take advantage of the semi fine forecast and go to Phantasialand.  It is a theme park about a half to two-thirds the size of Disneyland but they fit a lot of good stuff in the space.  There were a few great roller coasters and some good shows.  It is amazing how the freezing cold wind on your face when travelling at 100kms per hour makes the ambient temperature not seem so cold.  We all had a great day and the kids were very excited by seeing and doing things that was totally in their area of interest.  They ice skated, screamed, ran around and loved every second of it.  The last theme park we had been to was Hong Kong Disneyland which Dad had been with us and loved it so it was hard to do it without him yesterday.  Having him with us in spirit isn't the same and seeing his grin after a roller coaster or laugh during a show or a squeezed hand watching the kids have fun.

Tuesday has started out slow for us - lazing and blogging before we go out and see the fourth, fifth and sixth Christmas markets Cologne has to offer (and we will probably miss 2 or 3).

I hope all is well with you and your families.

Photos

Dom Cathedral at sunset (taken at 4pm) from the opposite side of the river.

The view of the Cathedral Christmas markets from the top of the South Tower.

The piece from the Cathedral Treasury that I think would look great in my living room.

More Christmas Markets (so pretty at night!).

A fine freezing day and still no snow

Well, the sun was out today (unlike the constant sprinkling rain yesterday) so we decided to climb the 533 steps to the top of the South Tower of the Dom Cathedral. Twenty steps up and my thighs were already protesting.  I had to stop a few times to give my thumping heart and screaming muscles a rest.  It was a stone spiral staircase, parts worn down by the traffic it received and seemed endless.  The occasional slotted window showed you were making progress and getting higher but I got a kind of claustrophobia near the top - just anxiously waiting for the roof above me to open out and not be the underside of more steps.  I even heard whistling but that could have been fancy wheezing as I couldn't talk from exertion.  The view was amazing though.  There was a mist so visibility was limited to a few kilometres but I still counted 14 churches (or buildings that definitely looked like churches as there is probably more). Now I had to climb down....
There were some really beautiful doors in the church - very medieval in design - which I would have loved to have. It probably would have looked out of place in my modern home so I would probably need a cathedral of my own to match.  There was a service going on in the interior so we headed to the treasury. I can completely understand why people revolted at the opulence of the Catholic Church. Oh the gold! Oh the gems!  Each bishop had a 'crook' made especially for them and of course they had to have precious stones inlaid into the top and gold filigree down the handle and ornate enamel depicting biblical scenes on the sides.  It looked like the crooks (crosier) were to shepherd power and wealth rather than men.  They were totally gorgeous so I guess I can understand the appeal of commissioning one.  There was one particular piece I would have been happy to have on my buffet even though I am not a lover of trinkets.  It was exquisite!  And probably worth a few million dollars...
Having exhausted the kids attention spans we got rugged up (again!) and went to the main train station for lunch (aren't we fancy?!) got unrugged, ate, rugged up and walked along both sides of the foreshore for several kilometres.  There were some good photo opportunities of the Dom from the opposite side of the river.  One in particular on top of a building looked promising but Tanner summed it up when we questioned visiting it - "If it has stairs, it's a no". We found some santas on jet skis near another Christmas market where, you guessed it, the Godfreys bought more food!  To be fair mum bought us a gingerbread snowflake to share also.  It was pretty crowded even though we thought most people would have left after their weekend in Cologne so we headed home.  On the way we saw some pretty lights and diverted.  We found the ice skating rink we had missed yesterday by stopping just short of it and wandered a little before setting off for the hotel.
We are all sore and tired and are dreading the muscle pain of tomorrow.  I would like to go back to the church tomorrow as we missed the main attraction of seeing the Shrine of the Three Magi. We saw the original wooden reliquary but the supposed bones of the three wise men are kept in a golden reliquary behind the main altar. The church itself was literally built to 'house' their remains.  The construction of the church spans 6 centuries.
Well the bell tolled the hour of eight from the church next door to the hotel so that probably means I have rambled on enough.
Stay tuned for another exciting episode of Frozen Kym...

Cologne - Koln

Day One - Cologne

We arrived safely firstly in Singapore then Frankfurt and finally Cologne. The cold didn't hit me until we were trying to find our accommodation and my gloves were still packed in my suitcase.  Wow.  Knowing it will be cold and actually experiencing it are two totally different things.  We found our hotel which isn't far from the train station (I can hear the rumbling click-clacking as I type this) and five minutes walk from the beautiful Dom cathedral.  We were lucky enough to have one room ready for us at 9.30am and so we dumped our stuff and went exploring.
We hit our first Christmas markets an hour later.  The top shelves and roofs of the market stalls are really pretty - which is mostly all we could see with the crush of people there.  We literally were shuffling an inch forward at a time.  Apparently this is the norm for a weekend (Saturday today) and to expect similar tomorrow.  Needless to say we will be hitting a tour or museum tomorrow and check out the other markets on Monday once everyone goes back to work.
Mostly people were calm moving around which is helpful to us as we haven't had much sleep since Friday morning and hadn't been horizontal in 38 hours.  Though if I had stepped in front of someone and they'd slapped my face I doubt I would have felt it.  In places the crowds thinned and we got a good look at what was for sale. There are some beautiful things to buy (and I would have if I didn't need to carry it across Europe and had more money).  The Godfreys didn't disappoint and hit practically very food stall that wasn't selling cheese or salami.  Boy Kamahl and those kids can eat.  Mum and I limited ourselves to bretzels (giant soft pretzels - which you probably worked out) and some Baileys coated almonds (so good!!).  I won't list all the the food the Godfreys tried - I don't have the space...  There is some interesting German names for things such as the stall called "Shmuck aus Holz" - say that five times fast.
The time seemed to freeze from the cold as well as my butt.  It felt like hours but it was only 12:30pm when we squeezed out of Cologne's main Christmas market. We wandered down to see the Rhein and were suddenly grateful for the crowds we had left behind - they blocked the wind and warmed the air. I caught myself wishing that the temperature it was (probably 5 degrees) had been the "cold enough for snow". Maybe I will have adjusted to the weather by January when it really is cold enough for snow.
By this time we were getting grumpier (kids, not me) and colder (ok mostly me) so we stopped by another market (perhaps just for the Godfreys to buy more food...) and headed back to our hotel.  I was very proud of myself for going outside without a scarf and beanie and with only 1 singlet, 1 jumper and 1 jacket (tough girl!!!) but I was happy to discover I hadn't lost my thighs to frostbite as I'd long since lost feeling in them despite wearing thermals. I probably wouldn't have minded losing a portion of my backside though - I would have been able to indulge in the pistachio nougat that was so tempting.
We rested (I wrote this) before heading back out to eat tea and see the lights.  There was just as many people around so mum and I had a quick tour to admire the gorgeous lights (see photo below if technology is working for me) and back to the hotel to bring the Godfreys more food as they had been sleeping and didn't want to get up.  Mum and I were loving being in Germany but kind of wished it was an acceptable time to go to bed.

Thanks for reading.

The Last Blog...

A photo from every country I've been to.

The amazing gardens of the Chateau Villandry, Loire Valley, France


Mosque of the Caliphs, Cordoba, Spain showing 3 religions together (Muslim, Jewish and Catholic)


The view from my bedroom window in the Swiss Alps


A corn field in Germany



Hungarian Parliament, Budapest


Cambridge, UK

Salamat Datung from Malayisa
(which means you are welcome - I could say the national hello as its hello but that doesn't sound exotic enough for the green, warm place I'm in).

Malaysia is my kind of city, essentially for the budget side of things. The prices are my kind of prices and the city is pretty, especially at night. Our hotel is gorgeous and has views of the Petronas Towers. We were planning on going there to look but got stuck in the shops instead. I babysit the kids this afternoon and the three of us had a sleep then went to the pool, going to the shops after 7pm as they are open til 10pm and right next to the hotel. We are planning on going to another shopping centre tomorrow (which will thrill the kids to no end I'm sure).

Its hard to believe tomorrow we are on our way home. It is strange but it has equally been ages since London but the time has flown. I'm a bit nervous about going back to my prac as I feel that Miss Brooks was from a different world and my head is a totally different place. I think I'll be ok with the timezones, having had a good sleep last night and Malaysia is in the same timezone as Perth (so hopefully no jet lag). It'll be a 2-3am arrival in my own gorgeous bed but a sleep in and a lazy day washing and getting ready for school will fill my last day of holidays.

I've had a nice time my last days in Paris and the afternoon yesterday by the pool (after a sleep) was glorious. We were all unwound and relaxed by dinner. The service here has been amazing (even though having a sales assistant follow you around the shop in your personal space is a little off putting). I'd definitely come back to Malaysia and probably Kuala Lumpur as we haven't sightseen much as we were all wanting to chill (except maybe Haylee and Mum who shopped hard this afternoon and bought like 15 pairs of shoes between them).

Well, I'm off to pack for the final time and make sure the 2 pairs of shoes I bought as included.

Again, thanks for reading.

I'll see you soon.

Kym

Paris in Autumn

It was cool to rocket along through the fields on the TGV - i don't know how fast we were going but it'd have to be over 150 kms per hour. (note to self to find out how fast the TGV goes from Tours to Paris - I know it normally takes two hours but I'm doing it in one).  The countryside on the way to Paris was very green considering they are coming out of summer, the clouds seemed low enough to jump up and grab. The forecast for the next few days in Paris doesn't look so good. Lots of rain, clouds and cold days, especially with our bike ride around the streets tomorrow which runs rain, hail or shine so it looks like we're getting wet. 
In the brief glances of blue skies i saw the white trails of airplanes.  The jetstreams here are amazing. In Perth you see one or two but here they crisscross the sky like a stunt plane trying to write a sentence. 

I've missed the family from about the middle of Spain and more so in France, I guess because the closer I came to seeing them I wanted to. 
We had a great reunion and I got excited hugs from the kids. We hit the town pretty soon after, disappointed by our musty smelling-no wifi-not very clean accommodation. We first walked to the Eiffel tower are went up to the top. A great view as always and awesome to share it with the godfreys. We wandered around for awhile then went back to our place on the 7th arridisimont. The days have all blurred together so I can only list what we've done not the days we've done it on. Monmartte, lourve (twice for me as I went by myself in the morning then with haylee in the afternoon as it was free that Sunday), place de la Concorde where the royalty lost their heads, an awesome bike riding tour which was mainly on sidewalks but had a few hair raising road sections (best way and most unique way to see Paris), Eiffel tower at night when all of Paris was up and museums where open all night as a part of some festival, past the fancy part (where I didn't dare go in even though I could have actually afforded s hit chocolate -$10), into the hotel de crion where all the famous people stay (didn't see anyone) and so much more that I can't fit into my time in a random place with free wifi on the champs élysées.
Tomorrow is our last day in Paris which will be relaxed I'm sure as everyone else has gone to Disneyland today, dad has been pickpocketed on the train (thankfully got his wallet back) and we all are saturated with churches, old buildings and walking.

I hope you and yours are well.
I'll sign off from Paris (I doubt I'll find any more wifi) and hope to update you from Malaysia.

Thanks for reading.
Kym

Four chateau's and a manor house

The first stop on my chateau tour of the Loire valley was Azay-le-Rideau. It was pretty impressive and just plain pretty. It is only three stories but has a moat which first thing in the morning was glorious. The castle reflected in the water while the birds chirped and a light mist wandered through the surrounding forest. The water flowed silently under the stone bridges whose graveled paths had once held many a carriage. The gatehouse buildings (which is a big enough house for me and my whole family) is surrounded by beautiful tall trees and colorful flowers and worth a picture or two themselves.

Villandry - OH MY GOODNESS!! So beautiful. The gardens are amazing and so artfully decorated. I could have taken 50 photos of just vegetables. In Villandry the cabbages are flowers and celery are in a geometric design. You HAVE to google it to see what I mean. I had 40min there and could have spent a day!  The layout changes every year to make the best use of the soil and there are many different types of garden like the herb garden and water garden and sun garden (flowers are yellow and orange) and moon garden (flowers are blue and white). I'd love to just sit on one of the benches and read or listen to music for an hour or two.  

It's amazing to go through towns whom if they took a big step out their front door would get hit by a car. 
Lunch was very passé. But I wasn't on the tour for the food. 

Chenonceau was next and my goodness it didn't disappoint. It straddles river cher and has a very interesting history, mainly involving women. The rooms were presented beautifully and each had a cool flower arrangement which I ended up taking photos of too. The gardens and forest surrounding it were lovely too and I could have wandered there for days with joy. 
Next was the manor house that Leonardo da Vinci lived in for the last 3 years of his life. It has some of his designs and reproductions of his models that show what a creative and clever man he was. If I had to pick someone from the last millennia to have a chat with it would be him. He died there and was buried in a chapel at castle Amboise which is fortified and on a hill overlooking the town and Loire river. The region is beautiful, lush and green. I know that even the best camera in the world wouldn't show how purely pretty it is. I wished for this last time but I'd love to have a machine that could capture a moment - the sounds, smells, colours and feelings. At the last chateau I saw 4 hot air balloons in the distance and I would have loved to be seeing what they are. 
I have truly enjoyed my day in the Loire valley and this will definitely be remembered as a highlight of my trip. 
There were so many mini chateau's on the trip today too. They have the same Renaissance style but are just cuter versions about the size of a large two story house - they were just like mini-me's - awww so cute. I want me one of those. 

What a full and busy day. So after a quick supermarket dinner I'm packing up in preparation for tomorrow and off to bed. 

Thanks for reading. 
Kym

Goodbye Nantes, hello Tours

Goodbye Nantes, hello Tours

Yesterday I wandered into a department store, thinking I could get a pair of tights to keep me warm. I should have known what kind of store it was when I saw guys wearing scarves and women carrying their bags on their elbows... It was a David Jones store on currency steroids. I got out of there fast once I saw the prices in case there was a tax for browsing. 
Mostly Europe is kind of expensive. The prices are similar to Australia but you have to factor in the exchange rate. A hot chocolate is €2-3 which is what I'd pay at home but really costs $3-4.50. Strangely the liquor and cigarettes are cheaper even with the exchange. 

The walk to the train station this morning was not as long as I thought which was great. I actually have a slight bruise on my shoulder from carrying it so far Sunday night. 
I was waiting at the train station and a lady sitting next to me asked if I could watch her bag when she went to get a coffee. She was in plain sight the whole time and came back pretty quickly but it struck me that as much as I hate lugging my boonty backpack around I would have taken it with me. 
The scenery was pretty through the countryside of the Loire valley. 

It is nice to spend time in a place where the church bells still ring the time. 
The old part of Tours is so cute - if it had a cheek I'd pinch it. The houses are like Strasbourg but they have them all around little squares. The sun came out as I stopped for a hot chocolate but I decided to sit inside. It's still really cold plus the French smoke a lot - so you get sun but no fresh air. 
Guess what - I found an English bookstore and couldn't resist buying book two of the hunger games. In the first bookshop I asked in French if they had any english books and the lady said no but then continued on in French. I kept smiling and made note of her hand movements and directions and said the occasional "oui" then merci when she stopped talking. That's the only trouble with knowing how to ask for something in French - I don't know how to understand the reply. A lot of the time I can guess what they're asking (do I want anything else to buy/eat) and mostly I say no thanks. Too bad if they're telling me they want to give me a million dollars. 
My accommodation is right in the centre of the city and near the train station which I arrived on and will depart from. I have another attic room but I don't mind not being able to straighten in one half of the bathroom because the bed is soft. In Spain the hotels were classy with marble bathrooms but really hard beds. I think I could live in France if their beds are like my last hotel. 
I wandered along the banks of le Loire and enjoyed the privellage of travel. It really is easy - all you need is money and time - mainly money. I don't understand people who say they've always wanted to travel to Europe but haven't. If the idea of blowing $6000 for four weeks keeps you away then I guess you didn't want to go enough. Yeah I could have spent the money on something else (like a house deposit) but I love seeing places I've only read about or seen in movies. You realize how lucky you are in your own country while appreciating how varied the world is. The history is truly amazing as we just don't have as much as Europe. The culture is facinating too - the Spanish eat dinner at 10pm even kids, the French smoke and drink and live longer than us, the Swiss  have no language of their own but use the one from the country closest then put their own slant on it. 
Enough ruminating. I am off to read my new book. 

Carolyn, I can't email from my phone for some reason but can receive. I'll get in touch when I meet up with the laptops - I mean family. Haylee did mention a little of life and I want you to know that I am thinking of you.

Thanks for reading. 
Kym

Nantes on a Monday

Bonjour (again)

Nantes on a Monday. 
Pretty - yes
Quaint - yes
Open - no

Nantes is where I saw my first chateau. I arrived in the evening and by the time I got to the centre of the town it was dark (about 8). I wandered around trying to find the bus stop to take me to my accommodation because I didn't want to carry my big, heavy backpack the two kms (more if I got lost). I did get lost and then found a bus stop only to read that I'd just missed the last one. By the time I made it to my hotel I was sore and weary. I got my key and lay on the bed. (I can tell you this now knowing my parents will read this because I am safe - mum you can't freak out because it was last night).  After I'd recovered I discovered my room to be absolutely gorgeous. It is a small attic room decorated beautifully and I have my own toilet and shower (bliss!!!). The bed was soft and the owner speaks great English so I feel better about changing hotels from an average central hotel to this one. Besides the walk into the centre is not nearly so long and painful without a backpack. 
France is really cold - so hard to adjust to since Spain where I wore shorts and a tshirt and sweated with that. I got a freeze headache just walking to the chateau and fortress of the Duke of Brittany. I think I'll need to stop somewhere and have a hot chocolate and croissant to warm me up (yes any excuse will do...). 
Another thing on my list today is the Passage du Pommeraye which is a covered shopping arcade. A lot of the shops were closed being a Monday.  I'd spend my time shopping for warmer clothes if I didn't have to carry my backpack which is getting heavier with each place I go.  Again not many clothes shops are open and I shouldn't get more than I can carry.  Oh well, maybe it's that I'm getting older and the back can't take the punishment it did four years ago. 
Since I'd hit all the major tourist sights by 1pm I thought I'd get some more info and maybe some free wifi from the tourist office. Guess what - it's closed. 
My only alternatives are to window shop or find a cafe and sit down and drink hot chocolat' s all afternoon. I can read pride and prejudice on my iPhone which seems unpatriotic or something as I'm in France. I'd get something to read by a french author but all the bookshops are closed! 
There is a really cool museum in Nantes called Les Machines de Lile in which machinists construct animal machines and many other things then let you control them. There is a giant elephant machine that you can ride and watch the gears work. Museum - closed. 
A cute little shop that has the most gorgeous and unique skirt I've ever seen - closed. It opens 30mins before my train leaves for Tours on Tuesday. I can't chance it even though I think it's €65 (which I would actually pay).  
Something that is open is the casino and I've been in twice and spent money too. If you think it doesn't sound like me you'd be right - it's the name of a supermarket. 

I did end up finding an open bookstore and gave into temptation and bought the book The Hunger Games in the englais section. I haven't put it down since. I keep scolding myself to go slow and enjoy it (and make good value from the weight in my bag it'll be) but I just stop reading - it's that good!!
I have made the time to talk to you though and hope you are all well.

Tomorrow I'll be getting the train to Tours (and maybe even a taxi to the train station) for a day and a half in which I have a chateau tour to see beautiful French castles. Then it's onto Paris. The time is really flying now. 

Thanks for reading. 
Kym

Adios to Epana

I am just about to leave my exquisite hotel in Barcelona for one more trip to the historical quarter then off to the airport.
I´ve had a great time in Spain and met some lovely people on the tour (and some not quite so lovely). The sad thing about that many people is that the day before yesterday I saw 2 people get on the bus and I thought they´d picked the wrong Trafalgar bus to board as I hadnt seen them before. They sat and a moment later someone I knew went up and chatted to them like old friends! I´d been on the bus with them for a week and never saw them before, even a fleeting hello which I did with many people, a chat with a few more, then a long conversation over a meal with others and then spent days with a few more. Most of the group are off to a cruise, flying off to another destination or out for one or two more days in Barcelona.

Barcelona is lovely. The balconies are gorgeous and some facades are awesome (like Gaudi´s Casa Baaltro (???). I didn´t go into any of the buildings he designed as the pretty one was 18 euro and the cheaper one had a queue for an hour. I went into the La Sagrada Familia and wow, it was not just another church!!!!! It is so completely different from any other church in the world. It was really interesting and kind of weird because its still under construction and so is a building site. Its going to look amazing in 2030 when supposedly it will be finished - over a hundred and 30 years after it was started. Gaudi is buried in the crypt below as people continue his work above. I spent two hours inside reading about the construction and Gaudi´s vision of what each facade should mean and his copying nature for the pillars, etc. Facinating.

I spent a little time at the port and enjoyed the sunshine (I just googled the weather in France and its cold and raining - boo hoo!). We went out for a farewell dinner which had a buffet or seafood then more seafood and more seafood and some lettuce leaves (grr for me and the other vegetarian on the tour). A group of us went out for a drink afterwards and chatted (well, told juicy stories about the weird people on the tour) then took the metro (train - underground) home at 1.30am! There were 5 of us which made it ok but there was som many people around then as its a festival in Barcelona, plus they eat dinner at 10pm anyway. I didn´t think I´d do that in a town that is getting worst for pickpockets every day.

Well, I must depart and enjoy my last day of sun and warmth and Spain.
I hope you are all well and thanks again for the comments - its great to hear from you - it somehow makes you a part of this trip too.

Thanks for reading.
Kym

Oh no

My tour of Spain is nearly over - oh man!!!!! (it also means my holidays is more than half over). I´m enjoying myself heaps and seeing some amazing sights.

I wrote a big long blog over the last few days and accidently deleted it - grrr!
So I´ll endevour to fill you in on as much as I can considering I´m tired and its late and this keyboard keeps putting weird punctuation in that I have to keep deleting.

I had a great time at the Alhambra - it was so beautiful and interesting. The muslim architecture was unique and pretty and with a little imagination you could see all the rugs and silk pillows and harem women peeking through the wooden shutters from the floor above. The king had 4 wives and according to the guide a few hundred concubines. The first wife was the first one to bear a male heir - not a fun place to live >I think with all those women.

The gypsy dancing was cool and they are very clever with their footwork. One of them pulled me up to dance with her at the end so i did. It was fun and I guess I can cross of dancing with a gypsy in a cave off my to-do list.
An early start the next morning and to Valencia. We had an hour to wander the beautiful old streets and see the cool architecture of one particular designer who filled an old river bed with a huge long park and the most amazing-spaceage looking buildings. It was a cool idea instead of filling in the old river site (they diverted it because it flood so much) and they left all the old bridges and put parks and buildings and pools of water in there. I tried honchetta which is made from a nut (tiger nuts - which I hadn´´t heard about - and yes I know how that sounds) and milk and sugar. It was nice - I had a pastry to dip into it. It was very sweet and not too bad. From there we went to our hotel and had some paella (traditional dish of valencia - rice dish or risotto). Then I went to bed as we had an another early morning to get to Barcelona.

On the way (past the beautiful Mediteranean sea) we stopped at Peniscola which was like Greece and Bondi put together - beautiful whitewashed houses perched on a cliff and sandy beaches (yellowy-brown sand though). It was delightful to wander around for an hour but as with many other places - I wanted more time to explore and relax and enjoy the gorgeous view. I would definitely come back there if I came back to Spain.

We arrived in Barcelona during a public holiday which celebrates the patron saint of the city (Spain cities all have their own particular saint) and most places were closed but there was a carnival atmosphere in the centre with a parade and music everywhere and concerts later on tonight. I saw the La Sagrada Familia which was awesome - so much better in real life. I´´m definitely coming back tomorrow to stand in the endless queue to go in. I saw some other Gaudi architecture but seeing as it was as we were flying past in the bus again - I´´ll wait to see it tomorrow.

Well I´´m exhausted and have a big day of sightseeing tomorrow (all free time which will be nice). The tour has effectively ended - there is a farewell dinner tomorrow night and the accommodation is sorted but as I´´m not doing any more optional tours, thats it.

Since I have free internet here (yippee - at last) I´´ll blog tomorrow. Hopefully it will all be good news. Barcelona has lately become a pickpocket mecca. We´´ve been warned to be really careful at several other cities but they said this one will be the worst (and especially with all the people around with the festival). With some horror stories ringing in my ears, I´´ll be sure to hold on tight and make use of the hotel safe.

Again, thanks for reading.
Kym

Baa Baa tourist sheep

Buenos Dias (good morning in Spanish).

So much for me saying I won't be able to blog often. This is the 3rd one in 2 days. I guess I have more to say than I thought (and more wifi minutes). 
My last night in Sevilla was a lazy one. Most of the group went on an optional dinner and so my roommate and I have been reading in bed ( different beds but the two king singles are pushed together - it sure makes you close to a complete stranger). I had some juice and and packet of doritos for tea (healthy I know) but since my "included" lunch late in the afternoon it was good enough. I tried to find a restaurant on my own but with all the menus in Spanish I figured my luck would get me fish stew with meatballs fried in pork fat. 
I had a good meal last night so I can't complain. As a group we went to a hacienda and had a meal. I got cold tomato soup and then a salad. The girl next to me had arranged to have the vegetarian meal for the night as their wasn't any fish or chicken on offer. You should have seen her face when it looked like a few lettuce leaves and a piece of asparagus was her main course. She even went hunting under the lettuce for a secret trapdoor I think to a secret compartment with real food. Thankfully they bought out some rice with veggies before dessert. It was really cool evening with a man dressed like zorro (without the cape and sword oh and in blue oh and no mask - ok so maybe not like zorro) on a beautiful white andulusian horse. He did some equestrian stuff before a flamenco dancer joined him and did a few moves around him. It was very touristy and cliche but I loved it. 
I ended up sitting with two other Australians and it was nice to talk of common things and share the same sense of humour. I'm very slowly having a conversation with the people on my tour but still have trouble with all their names (I know about 6 definitely and another 6 are interchangeable - like some friends I know one of them is Brenda and the other Mary but often wait for clues when they talk about each other before I call them by name)
The ages vary from 25 to 60ish but lean towards the older set. There is such a mix of personalities and backgrounds in the group but most are friendly. 
Next we head to Granada and to the Alhambra somewhere I've wanted to visit for awhile. I'm looking forward to it and hope we have plenty of time to wander as most visits I am left wanting more time and photo opportunities. That night I'm going on my only optional (and therefore not included in the price) visit to watch a gypsy dance in a cave. It sounds amazing doesn't it??? Actually the tour guide says it's very unique and you can't do it on your own so I figured I'll give it a go. If Antonio banderas and mrs obama came to see them maybe I should too. 

I'm getting used to being a little sheep and following "the fan" or "the umbrella" and listening to the guide on my little blue earpiece. Although I hide the pack and the bright red trafalgar lanyard in my bag and don't wear my trafalgar name badge. Although I can't help get annoyed when the same few people are late to the bus or meeting point everytime, especially if we are going for a meal don't come between me and my free food!

Well I need to be on the bus in ten minutes to be shepherded through the Alhambra and can't be late after I just whinged to you about latecomers.
I hope you are well.
Thanks for reading.
Kym

Sevilla

How pretty Seville is (pronounced sav-ill-ya) with it's orange tree lined streets and Arabic influenced buildings and gorgeous warm weather. This morning we took another tour bus view of the city (you know the type - on your left....) but thankfully hopped off the bus and did a walking guided tour through the city park, the Jewish quarter and the cathedral where Christopher Colombus is buried. Yes another church I can hear you saying and yes in a moment I'll tell you about ANOTHER church that we visited on the way to Sevilla.
But first to the town of Sevilla. We are staying in a beautiful hotel. They have lovely rooms and common areas and awesome breakfasts. They also have thick, strong serviettes and I'll tell you why this is important. Being on a students budget it's not enough to just have a big breakfast - you have to make it last a big chance of the day. Here where the serviettes come in... The occasional donut, pastry, roll or piece of fruit has been seen to accidentally fall into my bag. Luckily they have good serviettes that catch them. So in the tour brochure it says only breakfast is provided but for me it is a buffet breakfast and a light lunch. Dodgy yes but I have been known to want to save my money.
Now to Cordoba and the Mosque of the Caliphs. If you have some downloads available - google or wiki it. It is facinating. Originally a mosque then the inside was converted to a catholic cathedral and Jewish services where held there too. It is beautiful which it's coloured double arches and cool architecture. I have one photo (which I'll upload once I have access to dads computer) which shows the Jewish flame thingy (and yes that is the official term... do you believe me?) the catholic alter and the original mosque in the background. It was quite poignant. If only people could exist as harmoniously as them. Seriously worth a look.
Well I must go and see the rest of sevilla. I'm probably running out of free wifi at the Starbucks and I'm certainly running out of lemon slushie too (I did warn you about the mini miser).
Take care and thanks again for the comments. I love the little bit of contact it is.
Thanks for reading.
Kym