We’ve spent the last few days back in Rome doing a whole lot of nothing. We’ve been hanging out by the pool (Ali has a sweet tan!), having afternoon siestas and just generally relaxing. Though we did sneak back into central Rome on Wednesday evening to see more of the city at night. The place was really buzzing under lights, we found a great little trattoria for dinner between the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain and just kicked back with some good food and watched the people stroll by.

We’ve had a blast over the last six weeks. We’ve had some great experiences, seen some great things and just generally enjoyed ourselves.

Looking forward to getting home and seeing all of our family and friends.

Thanks for the comments on our little travel blog. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading it, as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together!

13.5 hour flight coming up……. leaving 12:45am Qatar time, arriving 9:15pm Melbourne time. We’re hoping that sleep is easy to come by!

See you all soon.

D&A

// THE END //

The following morning we jumped the bus out to Venice, we were blown away by just how amazing this place looked. The buildings, the lane ways, the canals, the bridges…… everything was just so beautiful and simply oozing with history. We had a guided tour of the city, taking in Piazza San Marco along with some of the less explored areas of this incredible city.

On Monday we decided to take a trip out to some of the other islands of Venice. We went to Murano – famous for blown glass, Burano – famous for brightly coloured houses and intricate lacework, and finally Torcello – famous for not much really…… it’s pretty much deserted, just a quiet little island, with 80 inhabitants (most of the islands original population was practically wiped out by the plague).

Our trip to Venice was not complete yet though, one last thing to do…… a gondola ride! Our gondolier took us up the grand canal, and along many of the smaller canals during our 40 minute ride. It was awesome! Such a great way to finish our time in the city.

The next (and final stop) on our trip is Rome. We’re returning to one of our favorite cities for a few days of R&R before our flight home.

See you all soon.

D&A

We hit the ground running with dinner and beer at Hofbrauhaus. When it’s not actually Oktoberfest, this is just about as close as it gets. Beer runs freely, live folk music fills the airwaves, the waitresses all wear dirndls and it’s a total party atmosphere. I had to have a go at a mass (1.0L), and Ali did very well for herself with a 500ml (as small as they come) beer. Good beer with good German food made for a great start to our time in the capital of Bavaria.

The following morning we were out exploring the city and surrounding parks on a guided bike tour. We took in some history of the city, the english garden and did quite a few kms on the bike. Munich’s surfing population makes the most of the man made break on the local river. Each takes their turn to drop in and ride the wave whilst the spectators check it out. Also, on our tour we uncovered Munich’s passion for nude sunbathing. Provided you’re over 50 and male, it’s the norm to lie out in the buff by the riverbank and work on your tan.

A little retail therapy in the afternoon and then it was off on an obligatory Munich pub crawl. We met some Americans, French-Candanians, Germans and a few other Aussies and we hit the town. Beer gardens, beer halls and bars all around town. Add to that some complimentary Jaeger shots and the night was well and truly on the way. We had a blast and definitely got first hand experience for Munich’s nightlife.

Sunday was more of a history lesson, with a coach tour out to the Bavarian countryside to see two of King Ludwig’s castles – Neuschwanstein & Linderhof. They were both set in amazing landscapes and had incredibly luxurious interiors. Definitely a nice change of pace and a great way to spend the day.

Next, we head back to Italy for our last 6 nights. 3 nights in Venice, then 3 nights just outside of Rome to kick back and recharge the batteries.

D&A

We found the city to be very quiet and clean, a really casual place where no one seems in too much of a hurry. There are amazing buildings and gardens scattered between the modern streets and developments, it all seems to work really well together.

We made a short train trip out to Schloss Schonnbrunn, the summer castle of the Habsburgs, the ex ruling family of Austria. Not bad for a holiday house!

Of course, the shining light from this place was the famous Wiener schnitzel! We found a good one on the first night, but then whilst wandering the Naschmarkt the following afternoon we were drawn to a little place offering “the best Weiner schnitzel in Austria”……. and they probably weren’t far off – they were awesome! (they’d want to be good for 16€ a pop!).

The following day we jumped a coach to Budapest. It was only a 3 hour drive, so it was a perfect opportunity to venture a little further east and get a feel for how things work in Hungary.

It was definitely time well spent. Budapest was amazing and we were quite disappointed that we couldn’t spend more time there. The people who we met were really friendly, the streets were vibrant and there looked like so much to do and see there. We spent some time on the Buda side of the river exploring the old town and enjoying the local food, then we spent a few hours on the Pest side exploring the more modern side of the city. Definitely one place we’d like to come back and see more of.

Off to Munich next for beer gardens and lederhosen.

D&A

So after getting our heads around the currency and our new set of conversions, we headed out with one thing in mind – goulash! It was love at first bite. They do it soooooo well, and with bread dumplings on the side……. heaven! (we were in town for 3 nights, I had 3 goulashes).

We hit the streets the next day for a tour of town, taking in many of the buildings that dated back hundreds of years, and also the Charles bridge. Our tour guide lacked a bit of character and passion, but we ended up seeing most of the town so it wasn’t a complete loss. Following this, we went on a different city tour, which also took in a cold war nuclear bunker that has been converted into a bar, albeit a dodgy one (the guide said it was a place that junkies hang out at). We tried on army gear, gas masks and got to play with AK47′s – so that was a bit of fun, though also a bit weird.

On our last day in Prague, we headed up to Prague Castle – what an amazing part of town! The cobblestone streets and incredible buildings are something out of a fairytale, and the views of the city from the top of the hill were well worth the climb up the (many) steps.

A lot to like about Praha (we’re a little divided on just how much), though probably too much for this blog post.

Vienna (and their awesome schnitzels) is next on the menu.

See you all in a few weeks.

D&A

A guided walking tour took us through the main WWII sites, along with the Berlin Wall. Our guide gave us a lot of great history of the town, along with some lesser known facts and stories. The tour also took in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. A very moving, massive and somewhat chilling memorial.

Our took happened to be on May 10, the anniversary of the famous Nazi book burning in Bebelplatz outside Humboldt University and there was a memorial of books set up to commemorate the event. Chairs were set up, with copies of books that were burnt during the original event. The chairs has stickers “ein ort zum lesen” (a place to read).

The following day consisted of a trip to the top of the Berliner Dome. From the walkway around the top of the dome, you get amazing views of the entire city for kilometers in each direction. Also a spot of shopping…….. for the both of us for a change

We’ve officially filled a spare suitcase with shopping and souvenirs and have sent it back home!

After good German food on the first night, it was Spanish, then Lebanese on the following nights. WOW!!!! Berlin has some GREAT food and cheap, stupidly cheap. Also, our first real introduction to beer steins. Wow! Those Germans know how to knock back the amber ale!

Prague – here we come!

D&A

We arrived at our apartment, and as per our instructions we called the owner to gain access to the property. Unfortunately, the owner was on holidays in Belgium….. and had stopped renting her apartment 3 months ago! So we were out on the street with our backpacks at 8:30pm on a Friday night in Amsterdam with no place to stay! Luckily there was a short stay rental agency just up the road and they had 1 apartment left for the weekend…… crisis averted!!

We went out for a walk around the city, including a stroll of the infamous red light district. That area was absolutely jam-packed with people wandering, “window” shopping and definitely much, much more!

The following morning, we headed off on a bike tour of the city……. what an adventure! Just about anything goes on the streets and roads of Amsterdam. Once we got used to riding on the right side of the road we then had to deal with the other bikes, scooters, cars and the worst….. pedestrians! Bikes rule in this city, so peds better keep out of the way!! The history of the city is pretty cool, and it was really interesting to gain a little insight into how this place works. They’re pretty smart the Dutchies, they’ve just knocked up a 20sq/km floating city. When they run out of land, they just build on the water!

It was then off to the Heineken Experience for a look at how Heineken has grown to be one of the worlds most recognisable and iconic beer label. Definitely time and money well spent. It was a great tour and ended with 2 beers in the bars afterwards and a chance meeting with a bunch of crazy Germans on a bucks weekend. Apparently the Germans love Wolf Creek…… and yes they do drink as much beer as we think they do!

One thing we definitely wanted to see whilst in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank Museum, so we headed off there on Sunday morning. It is nicely done. A really tasteful monument to one of the best known stories from WWII.

Good food in Amsterdam, dinners of Chinese, Nepalese and Indonesian. Very happy with that!

Next stop…… Berlin.

D&A

We headed out on a guided walking tour of Paris. Unfortunately our guide wasn’t the beret-wearing Parisienne that we’d hoped for, instead we had a American on a working holiday. He was great though and we got an excellent tour of the city and learnt a lot of things about the city and French history that we definitely didn’t know before. Highlights included The Eiffel Tower, Napoleon’s Tomb, Notre Dame & The Tuileries Gardens.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in more detail, along with a walk along The Champs Élysées to the Arc de

Half of Wednesday was spent at the Louvre. Surprisingly, it only took us 15 minutes to get in. That museum is HUGE! You could easily get lost in there and never find your way out. We ended up exclusively using the lifts to get around as we found this the easiest way to keep track of where we were and what we’d seen already. No way did we see everything in there, but we did see The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Napoleon’s Apartments, various Egyptian and Greek artifacts as well as a few Artists painting replicas in the galleries.

Following the Louvre we headed out for an authentic French dinner to a restaurant recommended by our guide as having the best escargot in the city, so we had to check this out for ourselves. With a texture similar to soft calamari and strong flavors of butter and garlic, they were actually quite nice. We also had to taste the traditional Confit de Canard (duck confit), creme brûlée and tarte tartin – all of which were delicious.

Today has been spent in Dijon (Burgundy region – south east of Paris), where we had a chauffeured trip through this world famous wine region. We made a stop at the Romanee Conti field where the finest wine in the region is produced (5,000 – 10,000€ per bottle). Luic our guide had studied at the Bourgogne Wine School, had been a Sommelier and gave us some amazing insight into the wines of this region.

A long day out to, and back from Burgundy, but we couldn’t leave Paris without a quick trip out to Montmarte to experience the vibe on the street out there. A quick cafe dinner, then the obligatory photos, be before heading back to the apartment for some well earned Zzzzzzzzzz.

All in all we’ve had an amazing time here and the food has been exceptional. Where are we going to get good croissants, crepes and escargot at home after this??

Tomorrow we leave Paris for Amsterdam, via Bruges.

A&D

After checking into our questionable “hotel” and dropping off our stuff, we hit the streets to check off some of the big ticket tourists items. London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster, Buckingham Palace & Picadilly Circus – a great afternoon wandering the physical Monopoly board!

We ended the day with some good English pub food. A steak and ale pie for me, a Yorkshire pudding with beef for Ali.

On our way back to the “hotel”, we wandered passed Her Majesty’s Theatre. Phantom of the Opera was showing and we decided that would be a good way to spend the next night. Seeing a West End show in London was something that we really wanted to do.

Saturday was spent exploring Oxford St and Knightsbridge – taking in a little retail therapy along the way. We’re happy to announce that Ali replaced her destroyed shoes….. with new boots Of course we did the obligatory session at Harrods. It was tempting, but the £96,000 watches were just a little out of our price range.

Saturday night at Phantom of the Opera was FANTASTIC!!!!! Such an awesome performance. Everything was spectacular – the venue, the acting, the singing, the orchestra…… such a great experience ….. One photo pre-show, but definitely nothing during, or after.

Sunday morning was spent wandering around Green Park, where we spotted a few squirrels going about their business. Very cool little furballs:-)

The afternoon was out at Stonehenge, our bus driver was barely fit to drive, but we made it there and back in one piece. We liked it out there, the mystery of the place is really interesting…… just what exactly used to go on there??? who built it??? It was a pretty rubbish day for photos, but we did our best.

All in all, we really enjoyed London. Paris is next – we can’t wait!

D&A

P.S. We’ve put “hotel” in inverted commas because it was very dodgy. Deathtrap stairwells and a bathroom-flooding, mould-infested shower. We spent as little time there as possible!

After arriving at the train station quite late, it was a quick taxi to the hotel & a good nights sleep before a big day out and about hitting the town.

The morning was spent enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, a little shopping and a trip to La Boqueria, Barcelona’s largest and most famous open air food market. The aisles were jam packed with locals and tourists buying meat, seafood, fruit, cheese, nuts….. basically if you could eat it – you could probably buy it there. (including goats heads!)

We wandered Las Ramblas, it was ok, but honestly it seems a little over-hyped. The crowds are too much, the restaurants too commercial and the dodgy characters too numerous (we kept our own hands firmly in our own pockets so that no one else could get in there!).

We wandered into a little restaurant for a late lunch, none of the waiters spoke English, but we ended up with a delicious seafood paella and were very pleased! (though we didn’t realise it took so long to cook. After nearly 45 minutes we thought they’d lost our order)

In the evening we went on a Tapas tour. Our guide Antonio took us around to Barca’s lesser known culinary hotspots where we enjoyed some authentic tapas and Sangria. Also along the way we got some great insight into the rich cultural heritage of the city. A great night!

Unfortunately we got caught in a storm on the way home. We were both a little soaked, though it hit Ali harder – she wrecked her shoes and they are now in the bin. Disaster! (though apparently more reasons to buy new shoes). A highlight of our adventures in the storm was when Ali got so distracted by potential new shoes in a shop window, she crashed into a random guy on the street….. not just a little knock, she practically shoulder-charged the guy!

Next stop London.

Adios.

D&A