Europe 2008 Ann and Ro

It was a long wait at Melbourne airport before we actually hit the skies. We sat on the tarmac for two and a half hours due to a valve malfunction. We taxied away from the terminal before pulling back in. So after the engineers replaced the part we were off to Hong Kong. the stop in Hong Kong was not bad. A good chance to stretch the legs. We didnt get lost in transit with the ladies putting very unattractive qantas stickers on our T shirts! The leg to Heathrow was terrible. An hour into the flight the hostesses worked out that for the entire plane only two toilets were working in economy. Whilst this gave us much piece at the back of the plane, it was also a nightmare because you had to queue to go to the toilet for about 15 min. Eventually they gave us access to business class for toilets. We went a strange way from Hong Kong, flying all the way north to Copenhagen before cutting back to Heathrow. An afternoon snack at Heathrow before another 1.5 hour delay on the ground. The short 2 hour flight to Vienna saw us touch down 28 hours after we had left Melbourne. Our taxi from the airport was pretty freaky. Much like in Italy, it was flat out 145 kmh to the hotel. Our hotel bed was certainly waiting for us and we got a good nights sleep.

The morning breakfast at the hotel was much needed. It had been snowing overnight so our brisk walk down the street saw us take a U turn back to the hotel for our thermals. The wind was freezing this morning. We needed beanies and gloves. After heading into town to gte ourselves orientated, by chance we happened to pump into probably the richest street in Vienna. Louis Vitton, Tiffany and Co... you name it Anna Lisa found it. This street is known as the Kohlmarkt. But no purchases thank goodness or we may have been home in a hurray. We pottered around for most of the morning as we like to do on our first day in a new town. The Austrian way of life is pretty casual. No one is in a hurry and nearly everyone is polite in the street. We are getting used to passing people on the right hand side of the pathways, but it may take some time. At the big cathederal in town the Stephensdom, we were harrassed by ticket sellers to go to a concert/ballet/opera for 30 € each. We were keen but passed. Further exploring saw us find our first Palace. I forget the name already, maybe Theodore... that doesnt sound right but anyway it was nice walk through the gardens. Our journey home that day saw us on a quest to get some camp stove fuel so we could cook some dinner in our hotel room. We found some late in the day, but it was a gel paste rather than metho liquid. But it didnt matter because what started as an afternoon kip in our hotel room at around 4.30 pm, turned into a 14 hour sleep. Ann woke up at midnight to kill some time to write in her journal, but Rohan slept the whole way through to 6am the next morning.  

This morning saw us take in the Spanish Riding school.  We went to the morning practice session. It was packed with tourists. We lined up for a half hour to get tickets. It was well worth the wait. Jill, Heather, Sharon and Ama would have loved to see the horses perform an array of Equestrian tricks. Didnt do many of there famous jumps but nonetheless it was amaying to see how they are trained and move. The riders are all young men and dont seem to move on top of the horse. It was a pretty amazing display of horsemanship. After exiting around noon, we decided to follow our noses back into town without a map. Bad decision when Annie decides to navigate without a map. Soon enough we were lost and hungry. But it wasnt long before we were back on track and finally found some lunch back in the city centre. So many more tourists out today. The weather has really picked up and both of us got a little sunburnt. It is about 8 degrees celcius for most of the day, but bright sunshine. The afternoon saw us make our way to the Hofburg Palace. We sat in the park and watch the many dogs play. Anna-Lisa was enthralled with the dogs who in this park were all allowed to run free. We decided not to visit inside the Hofburg Palace, yet save our euro for a visit to the Schonbrunner tommorow. Instead we used the money we saved to return to the Spanish Riding school to take a guided tour. We were shown all around the place. The most facinating thing for us both was that the horses only have 6 official bloodlines. They also after 20 years service are allowed to retire as an employee of the school. And there stables are cleaned hourly 24 hours a day!! No wonder all the horses are kept in magnificant condition, with most of them a snow white colour. It was well worth doing the tour. Night time came quickly today and no afternoon kip required. We finally found the right metho and cooked a pasta bolognese for dinner. Our final day in Vienna tommorrow.

Today we spent the whole day exploring the Schonbrunn Palace. We took a guided tour throughout the 40 or so palace rooms. It was interesting to see how everything in Vienna was linked together. We learnt about Frans Josef and his wife sisi. As well as picking up some more European knowledge on the life of Maria Theresa and her daughter Marie Antoinette. The rooms were amazing in the palace and the audio tour made it all the worth while. We spent the rest of the day exploring the gardens which included a hedge maze. Anna Lisa decided to race Ro through the maze, however failed to get to the end before he did . The face of dissapointment when she saw him at the finish line was golden. She was sure she would win. All captured on video for historical purposes. Rohan didnt mention that he had GPS assistance from his mobile phone. Ann reallz enjozed the Apple strudel demonstration at the Palace. We got to trial some and Ann is looking forward to making some strudel on her return to Australia with her kitchen hand Ro. It was such a long day walking that on the way out Anna Lisa decided to take her boot off because it was hurting her foot. She didnt realise that her foot was going to swell up and the next 20 minutes were spent on the Palace cobblestones at the front gate trying to get the boot back on. It was really frustrating. Thought she may have to walk back barefoot. No camera allowed for historical purposes on this occasion as she would have thrown the boot at me. The evening was spent shopping up and down our hotel street after a big McDonalds dinner, before heading in for our first big pack as we were leaving Vienna the next day 

Ro saw on a Tshirt today the phrase CZECH ME OUT and thinks its hillarious. So hence the title of our journal entry. We made our way by taxi to the Vienna train station at 530am. Maybe a little too early as we arrived with barely anyone there. The station master was very helpful with our tickets and put us on the right train to the Czech republic. You could tell as soon as you crossed the border the difference in the two countries wealth, with the standard of the buildings and houses dropping considerably. When we changed trains at Cesky Budejovice we withdrew some cash from the ATM. Upon handing the shop lady a 100 dollar note for a Coke, Ann received three coins in change. She was sure she had been ripped off, it just didnt make sense. She was waiting for her 50 dollar note. But here in Czech the Aussie dollar is worth about 1.60, so in fact 100 dollars was not much at all. Upon arriving in Ceske Krumlov we had a 20 min walk with packs on for the first time. Ann survived. Ceske Krumlov is a beautiful old town. The weather is sunny. the buildings are all in there original state. All the shops are quaint and a maze of tunnels and underground caves that lead down to restaraunts and craft stalls. There was also a really cool chocolate shop. Ann bought some pralines and they were gone within seconds. We met some Ausrtalian tourists for the first time from Bendigo. We bumped into them when they asked us to take a photo for them. The afternoon sun was terrific and we took a walk along the water that meanders through the historic part of the town. Our hotel is terrific. Very clean and really big spacious rooms that look out onto the town square. Our window also looks out to the town church spire. The night was spent eating traditional Czech food from a Bohemian restaurant around the corner from our hotel. Ann ate traditional pork with dumplings and sauer kraut. Rohan had delicious fillet of chicken topped with two pieces of tomato and cheese. We had a few language issues with our waiter and Rohan has given up communicating and left it all to the language graduate. Looking forward to another great day exploring the castle of Cesky Krumlov tommorow.

We nearly missed most of today because no one decided to let the Australians know that daylight savings ended in the Czech republic. So we nearly missed what has been the best breakfast on our trip so far. Our last day in Cesky Krumlov was spent exploring the Castle grounds. The castle entrance was guarded by a couple of brown bears that kept us enthralled for a good 20 minutes. There is no way we would ever want to come accross these creatures in the wild. they are massive! Jill and Dean stay clear of them in Canada. We walked through the castle grounds before heading back to the castle spire. We scaled the grand heights of the tower, with Anna-Lisa making sure every step was accurate so the wooden steps below her didnt give way. It didnt help me mentioning to her those steps had probably been in place for well over 800 years. Many happy snaps were taken at the top and we hope to get some photos up soon. We just havent been at a computer that will easily transfer them from our camera. Sorry all.. After a short stop at the castle entrance once again on the way down to see the bears, we made our way back into the old town to do some shopping. Along the way we came across what appeared to be the Czech version of a cinnamon scroll cooked right before your eyes. The praline chocolate shop once again got a work out today. A lazy Sunday afternoon was spent getting our bags ready and rohan watching the Spanish Moto GP live on TV. Anna Lisa consequently fell asleep. The evening however was a highlight for us both as we dined in at the hotel. The restaraunt was actually located in the wine cellars below the Old Town hotel. To get to the wine cellars you actually had to decend down a spiral staircase, with each cellar joined by a tunnel. The ambience of the place was very magical, however when we arrived the music playing in the background (Venga Boys -we like to party) was more suited to a nightclub then a fancy restaraunt. The food was once again unbelievable, pork, salmon, beef all done on a grill - with sides of potatoes cooked just right.

Today we got up at 6 am and boared a bus bound for cesky budejovice train station. We had visited this train station before on our way through, but this time the bus ride to the made it very different for us as we got to see how the Czechs live. We winded our way from small country town to country town. And before we knew it the bus was full with Czechs heading off to work. Our train ride to Prague also captuerd the wonderful landscape of the Czech Republic. We came through many different areas, however about an hour out of Prague was some valleys and towns that were captivating in one way or another. Upon arriving at Prague central station, we decided to board the Metro, so didnt see much of the City. In the metro stations here they have pokie machines! And we thought Melbourne was bad. Once we surfaced from below ground, we made a direct course for our hotel to meet Evert and Linda (Shorties assistant coach from Nunawading and his wife who are travelling through Europe). It was great to catch up with them both as Anna-Lisa hadnt seen them in over 2 years. They are both having a blast also. They have spent most of there time in Italy and Southern Germany. (Side note for Eddie and Heather, Evert conincindently sat next to Richard Snare on one of their train rised in Italy. Very small world).  Evert and Linda took us on a quick trip around Prague as they had to go into the town to buy a new digital camera. After buying a camera we headed back to our place before spending some time catching up over dinner. The food again did not dissappoint. Believe it or not ... Ann tried Beer for the very first time in her life... She said it was OK. Nothing to rave about.  On first impressions Prague has some energy. So many school groups here at the moment. Last night on our way to dinner Ann thought she was in a war zone when half a dozen police cars rounded the corner with sirens and lights. We need a good nights sleep to get ready for our journey tommorow.

With Evert and Linda now headed onto Berlin, Anna-Lisa and Rohan were let loose on the streets of Prague. Charles Bridge is crazy... Too many tourists. Too many people trying to take photos as people are trying to walk past. We havent experienced many crowds before in Europe, but this town at the moment has so many young people walking around and taking in the sights. We headed up to Prague Castle for some relief, but the crowds followed. The castle here in Prague is probably the biggest we have seen in Europe. The museum sections are just far to big to see them all, so we chose to do the basic tour. It gave us a good appreciation for how the city of Prague was formed. Outside the castle the police guard changed over every hour and one Asian tourist got too close to the guard when taking a photo. He slammed his gun to the ground and she stepped away in a hurry. We walked back into the town to take in some shopping. Ann has her eyes on the dolls in dolls in dolls (babushka dolls) and it didnt take long for some bohemian crystal to slip into our shopping bags. It felt like we walked for hours just following the maze of streets in the old town. Before long we hit the river and found that we had travelled further than we thought. A long walk back followed, maybe up to 45 minutes! We hit the supermarket, got our dinner to cook up for the night and were in desperate need for a foot massage..

The morning began with a huge walk through the Mala Strana and the Castle Gardens. We came across some beautiful views of Prague and the castle, only a small sample can be seen here. All the trees are starting to come into bloom in the city, but as its spring time, there were a couple of showers we needed to dodge today. After our big walk in the morning we headed back into the city centre for some lunch. We stopped at a nice pizzeria. Ann had the Tagliatelle and Ro had the basic margherita pizza. It was a long lunch because we were so tired from our walk through the gardens. But soon enough we found our legs and headed off for some shopping. Ann decided she needed to check every Bohemian glassware shop to make sure she got the best price and there wasnt anything else she fancied. Along our travels we came accross something that we dont think has hit Australia yet. Mocha Flavoured Coke!! Its called Coke Blak and we invested our 2.50 and had to try it. Rohan thinks that he will continue to stick to the normal stuff for the time being and Ann didnt mind the flavour. Ann found the Cinnamon like scrolls that she tried in Cesky Krumlov. They werent quite as good, but still satisfied her craving for sweets after lunch. Along our journey back home we unearthed Prague's Ed Hardy clothing store. I know you would be jealous Wuzz. Ann booked in for a haircut, which promises to be an interesting experience given that neither of us speak any of the language. The evening was spent cooking up some dinner with soup and bread on the menu. The cheese and crackers also came in handy as we watched the Soccer Champions League on TV.

We havent had much chance in the last few days to update our journal online. As you would expect we have been out exploring the sights. We arrived in Dresden safely, despite going to the wrong train station in Prague to board our train. Luckily it was delayed, which is very unusual for trains in Europe. We found our hotel quite easily, a good 20 minute walk with our pack on. Our room is probably the nicest we have stayed in with cooking facilities and a massive room. Something also unusual for hotels in Europe at the budget end. We have cooked two great meals in the last two nights. Steak and potatoes last night and tonight we went with a mexican theme. Did a lot of shopping today. Dresden reminded us very much of Melbourne with the River flowing through it and shopping centres just like Melbourne Central. Annie may have made some purchase for her Ama and Shazz. We found the porcelin everyone was talking about. It is actually from a town a small way out of here in Meisen. lots of figurines and tea sets. But unbeliveable prices and nothing we thought anyone would like. The Bratwurst sausages are getting a workout now that we are in germany. So convenient on the side of the road for lunch and come with toasty breadrolls. Ann prefers the cheese variety. looking forward to Berlin. Hope everyone is well.

Happy Birthday to Eddie and Florence....

We left Dresden on a dreary day, but we really enjoyed our time there. It was chilly morning. It has been hovering around 5 degrees the last week. We are hoping in snows, which maybe a possiblity given that it snowed in London on the weekend. The trip on the train was fairly uneventful and we are getting used to the first class.  Arriving at Berlin station we knew we were in for a great stay. The station is massive. About 8 stories high. Trains on each different level going in different directions. There is shopping on each level, with food halls, homewares and clothing stores. We found our hotel very easily. As our room was not yet available we decided to go exploring. After just walking a couple of blocks, we turned the corner and ran into about 20000 Berliners attempting the Berlin Half Marathon. It was a fairly festive atmosphere with street performers on the corner. Anna Lisa and I stood where there were some drummers encourgaing the runners along. We looked closely for Jill, but unfortunately didnt see her. We assumed she must have been up the front with all the Kenyans. The afternoon was spent hitting the main tourist route. After McDonalds for lunch of course. We headed towards Postdamer Platz and saw our first glimpse of the former Berlin Wall. Of course we took the wacky tourist shot with Ann on either side of West and East Berlin. A short walk from the wall we entered the Holocaust Memorial. It was a fascinating place to visit. We took an audio guide around the memorial and were introduced to a whole range of different Holocaust stories. It was a moving exprience and well worth the visit. Before we knew, 2.5 hours had passed. We made our way towards the Brandenburg Gate for some happy snaps. However off into the distance we were intrigued by people surrounding a red carpet leading into the Brandenburg Hotel. At first we thought it was Mariah Carey arriving, as she has been following us through Germany. She was on Idol last night. Idol is terrible over here. Then we thought it might be Heidi Klum and Germanys next top models. We have also been following this show on MTV over here. Or Anna-Lisa has anyway. But it wasnt her either. In the end we discovered it was some German Actors arriving for possibly the German Logies. There were cameras and media everywhere. We hung around for about 45 minutes in the freezing cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of some actors we didnt care very much about. When we realised our feet were frozen solid and how stupid we were, we moved on.  Arriving back late to our Hotel we looked forward to what Berlin had to offer. 

We struggled to get out of bed this morning as the doonas and the bed was so comfy in our hotel. But once we did we headed out for Breakfast at Kamps, a German bakery  we have discovered along our travels. Anna-Lisa has been getting into the Butter Cakes and believe it or not, could be sick of sweets y the end of this trip. Once she starts one of the Butter Cakes she feels she just has to finish it. By the way they are the size of a dinner plate! She thinks more like a saucer, but I disagree. After breakfast we headed towards Berlin Zoo. It has one of the biggest and most diverse collection of animals in the world. Our first animal to catch our attention was the Panda. He was sitting up eating his own breakfast and Anna-Lisa posed for a photo with him. I think he could smell Butter Cake on her. It was really cold at the zoo, so may of the enclosures are actually in heated buildings. The nocturnal section was our next highlight with these small furry creatures the size of guinnea pigs that leapt from tree to tree. They had massive hops and big brown eyes that took up most of their face. They kept us entertained. However it would be the monkey enclosure where we spent a good hour and a half of our time. There was such a large collection of apes, monkeys and Orangutans. Annie was in love with the rangs and didnt care too much for the other apes. The oldest rangs had long hair and we could get so close to them through the glass of the enclosure. The baby rangs also kept us entertained, stealing food and swinging around on the ropes. Rohan on the other hand was taken back by the crazy apes. At one point all hell broke loose in the enclosure with the Apes banging on the walls and screaming loudly. The Hippos were also a highlight as we visited them right on feeding time. They are massive and could crush your body with one big chomp. We saw the Polar Bears, but we were sure which one was Knut. We have since seen on the TV that one has just had a cub and was realeased into the enclosure the day after we visited. The Zoo was overall really good, although it was cold. You can get really close to the animals through the glass which is one good thing, even though the Lions were intimidating. But we both agree that Singapore Zoo is still the best we have visited so far. A late lunch was now on the agenda so we werent quite sure where we could get a good feed. On our last trip we headed to the major department stores as often they have a Buffet. However on this occassion I think we accidently chose the  richest department store in town, because as our pasta was weighed on the scales it soon ended up costing us close to fifty bucks!! But hey.. we were hungry and it was pretty gourmet. Doesnt matter... we are on holidays. But no dinner as a result.

Today we decided to explore Berlin at our own pace. We bought all day train tickets and headed into the main tourist areas.  We first visited the Gardens and had a lovely long stroll through the parks. It was needed after another round at Kamps for Breakfast, no Butter Cake this morning though. We made our way to the Berlin Parliament Building. We decided not to visit as there were huge queues and to be honest we werent that interested. So we picked up an info booklet and were on our way. Next stop on this exciting tour, saw us try and search for the book burning memorial. We didn't find it. So we moved on. One of the passengers on this tour (Ann) was getting frustrated with the navigator who wasnt so good with the map on this occassion. So I bribed her with lunch. After lunch we found the site of Hitlers Bunker. It is actually just a car park now in front of some apartment blocks, but very interesting nonetheless. A short walk around the corner (well navigated on this occassion) took us to Checkpoint Charlie. It was swarming with tourists and for what it was, neither of us could work out what all the fuss was about. Getting late in the afternoon we decided to head out to the Olympic Stadium. Both of us still want to see some major sporting event whilst we are here, but it doesnt look promising. There isnt any soccer matches in the towns we are in when we are there. The Berlin Stadium was pretty cool. The0y have a stone plaque at one end of the stadium which lists the winners of the 1936 Olympic Games. Our tour ended with dinner at the Doner Kebab shop near our house. It was so good. It cost about an eighth of what lunch did yesterday and was just as satisfying. Next stop Cologne and hopefully these reports are not as flowery as this one according to Ann.

Before I forget we must thank little Heather Short for her wonderful pocket maps that she has provided us. They have come in very useful, however there have been many occassions when the reader of the map has got it horribly wrong. That would be Rohan for those who havent been following our trip journal. We have to say that Jillian Jackson got it right when she said that there was some good shopping to be had in Cologne (koln) Germany. Anna-Lisa had a field day, walking the main shopping strip up and back for well over 6 hours these past two days. As a result today she made many purchases including two dresses, two tops, a Cuckoo Clock and some gifts for people. It was a massive excursion and some great retail therapy she has been missing whilst in Townsville. She hasnt been able to wipe the smile off her dial. Cologne is situated on the Rhine River and we can watch it flowing very fast through our hotel window. We are situated in a great position, just 10 minutes walk from the train station and right amongst the main shops. This morning we took a walk down to the Chocolate Museum, however we didnt take a tour because our Chocolate stop is most likely going to be Belgium. However a few chocolates were purchased from the gift shop. Rohan is still yet to make any significant purchases. The main cathedral outside the train station is pretty massive. We went for a look this morning and tried to locate the remains of the three wise men. Throughout our trip we have been making regular hot chocolate stops at Starbucks. Its nice and warm on the couches, plus a good toilet stop as they usually dont charge you to do your business. This has been a new experience for the both of us on this trip. We never budgeted for the many Euros we have spent inside the cubicles. Our Cuckoo Clock shopping today saw us explore nearly every tourist shop in Cologne. Whilst we are not in the Black Forrest region where they are made, we still found some beautiful clocks. In the end we chose a really traditional German shop that also sold lovely handicrafts. Tommorrow we head to Amsterdam, with the weather looking like it migh turn rainy for the weekend. And of course I have just been reminded that this Saturday will be Anna-Lisa's 23rd birthday.

Our first impression of Amsterdam is that it is very different to the many European cities we have visited. We are very pleased with our accomodation on Bens Boat. It is a houseboat on one of the canals. We have a good landmark to work from, we are located just near the brewery windmill. Ann is very excited because when she wakes up in the morning she can see the water flowing pst her window, has fresh flowers on her breakfast table and can see the ducks swimming past. Our breakfast is fully laid on for us. All healthy food, which is a good change from some of the bad stuff we eat during the day. Our first trip into the city was an eye opener. Especially for my sweet innocent Ann. After trying to navigate ourselves towards the city to find some food, Ann turns around to look into a shop window and didnt see any food. All she got was an eyeful of some floozy selling herself to the tourists. They were half naked and flaunting themselves in the windows. We had accidently stumbled upon the red light district. Ann couldnt believe her eyes as it was only two in the afternoon. Anyway.. moving right along. Ann had to pick her jaw off the pavement and we found some food.

Ann woke this morning to a great breakfast and a birthday card from our host Ben. Ann is now 23 years young. We started the day with a long walk towards the Jordan area of Amsterdam. Here we found the street markets. There was plenty of fresh fish and cheese, as well as clothes and other market bits and pieces. We ate Pork sausages with sauer kraut and bacon in one of the side stalls for lunch. It was good value and very filling. We accidently stumbled accross Ann Franks house in our travels, but decided to leave that to another day as the queues were around the corner. After buying a hairdryer so Ann could look pretty for her birthday dinner, we headed home for a rest. In the evening, we had dinner at Jamie Olivers Restaurant Fifteen. It was located at the main shipping terminal in amsterdam. It was really good food. We had about 5 courses of some of the best food we have ever tasted. We tried some different foods and tastes and were left extremely satisfied. We even sampled some great sparkling wine. Whilst the waiter knew it was Ann's birthday he forgot to put some sparklers on her dessert. Whilst she was dissapointed, after another glass of wine, the smile was soon back on her dial. Whilst we had every intention of walking home, it was too cold. So brilliantly Rohan hailed a cab and we were back on the boat within minutes.   

After a lazy Sunday morning we eventually got ourselves organised and headed out into the cold Amsterdan wind. Ann wanted to experience some Dutch pancakes so we headed straight to the pancake house we found on our travels yesterday. After some clever navigating around the streets we came accross the place. It was rather busy and smokey, but the ham and cheese pancake and poffertjes were very satisfying. It was starting to rain outside so we thought it would be a good idea to hit the queue for the Anne Frank House. It was cold so the line quickly diminished before us... a handy hint we have learnt on our travels to avoid long lines. Despite some negative reviews we had heard in the street from an American tourist, the exhibition was interesting. It wasn't as informative as the holocaust memorial in Berlin, but nonetheless it put together nicely the book both Ann and I had read in High School. You walk from level to level in the house, learning about how the Frank family were able to survive for over 2 years during the German invasion of Holland. In particular the bookcase that covered a secret staircase showed just how cleverly hidden they were from view and the workers in the factory below. In the final rooms you hear a recording from Otto Frank, the father who was the only family member to survive. He read and published the Diary of Ann Frank. Ann died only a month before the liberation. Dinner was McDonalds, as Ann and I continued our promise to eat McDonalds in every country we visit. Of course Ro has stuck with the traditional Big Mac burger in every country, however Ann likes to experiment with the special promo burgers in each country when we arrive. On this occassion she has described the Big Tasty Bacon Burger as the best ever. Which Ro thought was a massive statement and is yet to be proven wrong.

Monday morning was also a lazy start. It was spent eating breakfast and Ann hand feeding the geese out of our bedroom window. She engaged in long conversations with them also. Rohan on the other hand was hooked on watching MTV shows. We were feeling energetic though and decided to go for a bike ride through Amsterdam. Ann charted a course for us that included a ferry trip and unlimited kilometers into the unknown fields of Holland. After Rohan gave her all the safety tips and what ifs about not having a map, or a puncture kit... we headed on that course anyway. The ferry trip accross the water was free and we soon were in the country side. Our ride took us along one of the canals and out to a place called Waterlands on the Broek. It was a pretty little town situated around a much smaller canal and an old church. With a head wind it took about 1.5 to get there. We searched and searched for food, but everything appeared closed. It was 2pm and we were starving. Just before we were going to head for home, we spotted a Pancake House. We soon inhaled some of the best pancakes we have ever tasted. We both had Bacon and Cheese Pancakes. And Ann had home made apple pie and ice cream for dessert. On the ride home we discovered why Rohan was exhausted and always appeared to be lagging behind. Turns out his wheels were considerably smaller and his gear ratio was also smaller. After switching bikes, Ann realised she had to work twice as hard to stay in front. Our bums were sore from the ride, but it was well worth it and a great finish to our time in Amsterdam. We both felt the city had won us over and we especially enjoyed our time on the boat with Ben.

We have arrived in Belgium! Antwerpen is the first big city just over the border of Holland. Anna-Lisa had heard of this place from her work friends at Loloma. Roughly 80% of the worlds diamonds are sold here and suggesting by the first dozen or so shops we walked past, it wasnt hard to work that out. We are staying in a traditional Flemish Bed and Breakfast. We are on the third floor of an old apartment building and are very happy with our room. Another record was broken today. Ann has claimed that the Belgium waffles she has been eating now have taken the mantle as the best sweet over the French crepe. Our last few blogs have suggested that all we are doing is eating. That is pretty much true. You can not resist some of the food here and its very hard to avoid it given there is a Belgium Praline shop around every corner. We have also enjoyed a drink at the Guylian Cafe. Besides the food and the diamonds here in Antwerpen, there is some serious shopping. Rohan lost count of the number of shoe shops he has been in. It was somewhere in the vicinity of 24 in one day. Since buying some new clothes, Ann feels that she needs a new pair of shoes for each one of her outfits. It is driving Ro crazy. Her obsession with little designer handbags also continues on this trip, but Ro cant see how a Gucci handbag the size of a pencil case can serve any practical use back in Townsville. Diamond shopping has been fun and Rohan has learnt a great deal about the colour and clarity of diamonds from his personal Diamond Consultant - Ann. But the real discounts are back in Townsville, so no purchases on this junket. Just a quick stop in Antwerp and we are looking forward to our next stop Brugge.

The last couple of days we have been hanging about in the lovely town known as Brugge. It was a thriving trading cente of Europe in the 14th century. In fact it was as big as London at the time. Can you tell I have just read that from my travel book! Regardless of the amazing facts this is one of the best towns we have visited on this trip, probably just second behind Cesky Krumlov. To Anna-Lisa and I, this is what a European holiday is all about. You can wander through cobblestone streets and get lost for hours. You duck in and out of shops. And you see some amazing buildings and churches along the way. However it hasnt all been old school for us in Brugge. In fact the 'Brugge Show' is in town at the moment, so in some of the squares they have amusement rides set up. Of course Rohan has been too chicken to tackle any of the rides, but the skill tester machines have had a bit of a workout. We have tasted the Frittes (our french fries as we known them) that Belgium is famous for. They smother your serve in sauce and they are a nice snack whilst walking the streets. In fact last night we were walking the streets and unexpectedly came across an elderly woman who had collapsed next to her husband. Ro and Ann made good use of  their updated First Aid qualifications and came to assist this lady within moments. Her French speaking husband didnt know what to do. The lady had just regained consciousness, and thanks to our quick team work, an ambulance was on the way and Annie had scampered for a Taxi. We left her in the helping hands of some French speaking people, so we are not quite sure what happened in the end. But when we left it appeared that she was all OK. With our evening event over, we retired early. The following morning we continued our journey around the streets. We stopped at the Chocolate Museum for what was always going to be a Tasting Museum for Ann. We learnt a great deal about Cocoa and how chocolate is manufactured in Belgium. Ann has been tasting all the various truffles and I have to agree, the chocolate here is like nothing else you have tried. Of course as you can see in the pictures, the Waffles arent that bad either. We also took a canal cruise today around Brugge. This was a great activity and we got to see a lot. Our camera and video camera didnt stop taking shots. Its just such a lovely town. A note for Uncle Bob - today we visited  the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This church is famous for its relic of the blood of christ and is one of the best roman style churches we have been in. We are here at the wrong time for the procession, but I have seen some photos around the place and it looks like an amazing time here. Finally, Burgge is all about cloth and lace. But you may have to come here to see for yourself just how good it is.

Appologies to all who have been trying to access our trip journal. Once we hit Paris it was hard to get internet access that wasnt going to cost us lots of money. So we have invested in Waffles and Crepes instead. Many people have been commenting on how much food we have been talking about whilst in Europe. Well the fact is, both Anna -Lisa and I really made an effort to save money on food last time in Europe. So this time we made sure we have gone all out. Of course Brussels has been no different. There has been plenty of Waffles. But we have also enjoyed some great Hot Chocolate here from Godiva. We are bringing some samples home with us, so if your lucky you may get a chance to taste some. Brussels is certainly a business town. It is the centre of the European Union and the main railway lines from Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and London all come through here. We got a great deal on accommodatio here as many of the fancy hotels dont have a lot of guests on weekends. We arrived late into Brussels because we had decided to stay in Brugge for a few more extra hours. But when we arrived we soon found the main attractions. The Grand Place is where all the action is. It is the heart of the old town in Brussels. On this day the town council were celebrating their relationships with Thailand and had some stage performances which Ann and I took in. They were dressed in traditional clothing and the performances were of a high quality. Of course when the MC ask for people from the crowd to come up on stage and learn some traditional Thai dancing, Ann's hand shot up in the air. I am not sue if it was because they were offering a free gift, or because of her Asian heritage. Her dance moves were quite spectacular, however she couldnt quite master bending her fingers back as far as the Thai instructors. Our second day in Brussels was spent exploring some of the tourist sights. The park opposite the Royal Palace (I wouldnt actually decribed the building from the ourside as a Palace, but then again we have seen some of the biggest Palaces in Europe on this trip) was a lovely place for us to enjoy the Sunshine. Thats right there has finally been some Sun. We visited the Notre Dame church and listened to part of the service in French. Brussels was a great place for us to simply catch our breath, before launching ourselves into Paris. We knew we would need all the energy we could muster.

Our journey from Brussels was on the Thalys Train. One of the fastest trains in the world. Rohan gets excited by the train trips and this one was particularly special as it was fully catered. Half way through the 1 hr 20 min ride, we sat down to a cold lunch. It was an OK meal, but probably didnt feel as nice as it should becuase there was some rowdy travellers who had decied that 1st class was a good chance to get drunk. Traveling from  Gare du Nord train station in Pairs to your Hotel, is always an intense experience. The metro system in Paris is awesome to get around. Problem is with back packs, it can get to you. We arrived at our hotel in the Levallois. Unbeknowns to us, this is the local suburb of the Paris professional basketball team. We discovered this after walking into McDonalds. Who just happen to be the major sponsors! Of course. There was too much to do in Paris to pay them a visit and they were not playing the 3 days we were in town. The first day in Paris we retraced our steps from our Hotel down the Champs de Elysees. Of course this is Anna-Lisa's heaven. Shops galore and some of the finest clothes you can find. Our walk went past Place de Concorde, before finishing at the Louvre. It brought back many memories of our last visit to Paris when we did this walk on our first ever day in Europe, only this time we had done it in the opposite direction. The main difference has been the flowers. The gardens are coming into full bloom as spring is rapidly taking control. Our second day in Paris was spent exploring the area north of the Eiffel tower. We did not cross the river Seine last time we were here, so this also was a new experience also. The views of the Eiffel are much better from this side of the river. We were very weary today and the sunshine was beautiful. So we spent most of the time resting in the gardens. Of particular highlight were the street performers. Groups of young french boys street dancing, there own special version of "So you think you can Dance". When the hat goes around, there is no doubt why they do it. Maybe as much as  50 Euros for some of the best groups each half hour. We were endlessly hassled by trinket sellers. But you soon tune out and learn how to navigate you way around them without being asked to buy 5 keyrings for the price of 1! Paris is just too big and you can do so much to write it all down in a Blog. So we will finish with our final night in Paris. We decided that we needed to go out for dinner at a nice restaraunt. We found a place overlooking the Eiffel tower. Ann and I both had steak, but well done in France is not the same as well done in Australia! However it was great meal. Of course we wanted to scale the Eiffel at night this time, as we hadnt done this previously. It was a very clear night so the lines were massive, even when we turned up at 9.30pm. It missed going to the summit as a result, but we werent dissapointed with the views from the 2nd platform. And yes it sparkled for us. We got some great camera shots and headed home to pack.

We decided to get out of Paris for Anzac Day as many of the services were taking place on the Northern Battlefields of France and in Flanders in Belgium. We took the regional train to Amiens and met a lovely lady from Greensborough, who was re tracing the footsteps of her Grandfather. She was so excited and the one hour train trip soon transpired. Accommodation was very hard to find in Ameins before we travelled over here, so we both knew it might be an adventure finding our place. So we took a Taxi and soon orientated ourselves. We stayed at a cheap 1 star airport hotel. Given that we needed to get up at 3 am for the Dawn service it worked a treat. The Perth Naval Cadets were also staying there and everywhere you went, the Aussies stuck out. Our 3am wakeup soon came and we were excited about the morning service. Free transport was provided, so we arrived out at Villers Breteneaux Australian War Memorial. The streets were all blocked off by police as this place is in a middle of a field about 2 km north of the small town. By now your probably wondering what all the fuss was about. Well in fact it was the 90th anniversary of the Battle on the Somme, so this service held signifcant importance on this Anzac Day. It is the place of one of the most important battles for Australian forces in World War 1. We took our place just behind the seats and had a good view. We are not sure how many people were there, however we estimated maybe 8,000 to 10,000 - mostly Aussies. It was televised live back to Australia, so maybe you caught a glimpse of us on Channel 9. It was a cold morning in the field, but warmed somewhat from the free tea and biscuit the French provided us. We visited the Amiens cathedral and had a hot chocolate for Breakfast. We were in a hurray to get back to our hotel, as we needed to get to Charles de Gaulle airport. We stayed the night at the Raddison. Enjoyed the pool, wet and cold spa's - before our final pack. Our 3 am wake up call again saw us get to the airport in time. Officially Charles de Gaulle and the British Airways terminal is the worst we have ever been in. By the way our arrival at Heathrow saw us - UNPLANNED - Bump into Anna-Lisa's borther Daniel. We hadnt seen him for ages, so it was great to catch up. And believe this if you will ... He was on our flight to Hong Kong!!! Funny how things work out like that.