2007

Its been 2 years since we travelled. Maybe its time to start posting again. Maybe not.

Check Bruce and David's blog online at http://www.siberia.djw.id.au/

The last post - yes we have PHOTOS!!!! (Edition 2)

Ah yes, a freezing cold Saturday in Melbourne, Cathy's at work, home by myself - > what to do? Can't think of anything better than putting more photos on the web for blog fans to review and comment upon.

Those with great memories will recall that in April we met David in Salzburg, Austria and we took a little trip to Slovenia. That week was one of the best on the tour and some of the best shots are below.

1. Chris and Dave in front of the Saltzburg castle.

2. The church on the island at Bled, Slovenia. Postcard perfection in the old Yugoslavia.


3. The gorgeous tiny capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana - try to get there before the EasyJet Stag party crowd takes over. Beautiful town, beer and people combined.

After we finished with Dave we rolled on to Vienna, the most "east" of the Western capital for a pleasant four days of coffee houses and musuems. We began experimenting with shots taken at night and we were pleased with this one.


Germany

Next was the Romantic Road, a ancient travel route from Munich to Frankfurt through the idyllic postcard towns of Bavaria. Its a land of castles and beer with Bamberg being the place on Earth that brews the most beer per capita. It stuns with its beauty and you honestly need to swill the beers just to cope with how ridiculously cute this place is.

After Bremen we took a drive through Germany on the Autobahns to those grand cities Dresden and Berlin. Dresden was heavily bombed at the end of the war but is still full of grand German buildings. When I was in Berlin in 2001 the Brandenberg Gate was covered with vinyl and was under construction. This time on a gorgeous spring day we had a fantastic shot taken in front of the gates. And in Bremen, another pretty town, we got free beer which we sipped in the main square.



The Netherlands

When you think of Amsterdam you think of the red light district. Well here's our photo of the district - which may well be the best photo we took on the trip. You also think of windmills and tulips and Vermeer. Here are some reflections of this great small country.

The last post - yes we have PHOTOS!!!! (Edition 1)

As I sit here in a comfortable chair using my father in law's fantastic computer, I laugh at the efforts I made to post regularly on this blog for the last 6 months. We paid $15 per hour in Italy, we battled French keyboards with their AZERTY and German keyboards with the strange Z & Y swap, we risked robbery in Easy Internet Barcelona and we sat with 14 year old porn freaks in Turkey just to post our news on the off chance that somebody might be reading it (other than our parents of course!).

It was a connection back to home for us as we traversed Europe (and spent that 9 days in Africa) and we loved posting but other than the infamous "Stolen Sandwich", we weren't sure who was reading this thing. The feedback however on landing in Melbourne has been overwhelming. People we barely knew were reading the blog, Queens Counsel were reading the blog, friends were checking it every day on the off chance that more crap was spewed out from a Bulgarian internet cafe.

But there was one thing that we couldn't provide while we were on the road. PHOTOS!!!! Now after an exhausting recovery process lead by the tech wizard Bruce Wilson we can present something that no-one has seen. Actual proof that we went to 31 countries and had a fantastic life changing 177 days. So hopefully its like when the Footy Show was finally allowed to broadcast footage of the games and you all keep reading.

This is just 30 or so photos of interest, from about 7gb that we took during the six months.

Early February - Its so friggin' cold.



We all know that there is only one thing that Cathy hates more than cold weather and that’s dressing for the cold weather. The girl who won’t wear socks and hates jumpers was forced to don socks, thermals, fleece and windstoppers from our first week. It was 0 degrees and we excitedly explored Heidelberg and Mainz in Germany. This pic is from Heidelberg, which was the first of about 100 little European towns we fell in love with.



Then we went to Turkey. It was -4 and the snow came up to my waist. But the city was so beautiful and the Blue Mosque had the most incredible colours which reflected in the snow. Here's a couple of shots of one of our favourite places on the entire trip.

















We didn’t feel too bad getting to Athens and finding it 15+. We settled into tourist mode and started taking tourist shots. Here’s a ripper in front of the Parthenon in Athens.

So then we made the trek to the worst city in Europe Naples. Its probably best to quote from our posts of 22 Feb. "Protect yourselves and your belongings near the Napoli Station, enough said." was my comment. And Cathy politely stated "I was not as thrilled with Napoli and Italy as I had hoped I would be." Yes but it got better as you went North. Its just that Napoli looks like the following photo around every corner. Its just a shocker.


Tunisia

Then it was off on our North African adventure. Lonely Planet suggested we could do it by ourselves and we were just fresh on the road ready to take on anything. In retrospect it was a fantastic adventure through a culture we completely did not understand. At the time however it was a full on initiation into the Muslim world and its habits. It was a spectacular country however as these two shots testify. One is from the El Jem colloseum, the third biggest Roman colloseum remaining in the world. The other is from the desert near where George Lucas shot the original Star Wars film. Both show what a tourist can expect to enjoy (if they can avoid locals for a little while).
















March

Escaping Tunisia we made our way through Italy to Switzerland. Italy is a truly fantastic place with a beautiful vista, meal or village around every corner. The more north you go, the more amazing the places. Our faves were the Cinque Terra, Sienna, Venice and Verona. But it was all great.

The other glorious adventure in March was the south of France. Led by Aix-en-Provence and Nice, the south of France has village after village waiting to be explored. And no matter where you go, even when you are in Avignon looking at castles, you must carry your baggette.



Mountain vistas

Coming from Melbourne where we have the temerity to call Mount Dandenong a mountain, rolling into Switzerland, Austria, France and Andorra is a whole new world. In Andorra they ski right next to the national highway. In Switzerland they have two television stations soley devoted to displaying cable images from the top of the mountains. In Austria they have the mountains and they have the lakes. One of our favourite places on the whole trip was Hallstat, a ridiculously cute village perched on the edge of a glacier lake.

Sorry for the delay

Attention Blog Fans - We are home and well and are frantically organising photos, videos and purchasing houses. We intend to wrap up the great RoundersandWilson blog with some ripper shots of our travels.

Stay tuned....

Last 9 days in Europe

As we sit in the BA Lounge (and search for non-existant lemonade) at Heathrow about to fly to Thailand for our unofficial "honeymoon", I have some time to reflect upon our last 9 days in Europe. Its been a strange 9 days as our last post coincided with the London bombing and our movements over the last 4 days have been greatly affected by that event.

Latvia

Riga is an interesting city. Its a place that has a downtown area registered by UNESCO as a heritage area, yet it keeps developing that area to the point where it may in fact lose its protected status. It has the most extraordinary women in Europe (generally dressed in the highest of high heels, a micro mini and a G-String on the beach) yet its over 40 population are almost always obese monsters, seemingly Russian remnants from the Soviet era.

Fortunately Riga does have some other great sites, other than the people watching (which again is some of the best in Europe for Freaks, Babes and Horrors).

1. Latvia has the best beach in Europe. On a 28 degree day, a 30 kilometre beach played host to the sights and sounds of Jurmala. This beach plays host to a number of lovely towns and about 30,000 Latvians. Each Latvian fits in to one of two categories. Young Men or Women show off washboard stomach or pert breasts while playing beach volleyball OR Old Men and Women wear similar sized bathing outfit to young people with significant fatty abdominal aprons and/or hail damage. It was a great day of people watching indeed.

2. Riga's beach has sand, which is more than can be said for the beaches of France or Croatia.

3. Riga has an amazing cinema where you can pick your own seats and pay a different price depending on the length of the movie and the time of day that you attend. The Finnish owned cinema was fantastic and we attended each day seeing Batman Begins, Madagascar and Mr and Mrs Smith. The former was fabulous, the latter was good humoured fun and the middle one was not a patch on other animation that we have seen over the years.

Estonia

Tallinn may be well be the best old town in Europe (apologies to Dubrovnik). It is simply amazing and its charm belies the fact that it only retained its beauty as the Estonians did not have enough money to tear it down. Its a Northern Brugges (Belgium's number one spot) and it does not let you down.

Unfortunately the English have discovered Tallinn and the prices have risen accordingly. We were there mid week and we only saw one bucks group which was a pleasant change.

Estonia has the most extraordinary jetstreams and it was magic looking at the trails while the sun sets at around midnight each night. 3 hours later, it rises again ready for another 21 hour day.

Helsinki

We spent a day in Helsinki and enjoyed the reindeer and "white fish" served in the market overlooking the harbour. The scenes were hilarious as Finns struggled with the 30 degree day. Obviously they are more accustomed to -30 in that part of the world.

London

Wow, they drive on the left here. It was very difficult working out which way to look as we crossed the road. Fortunately they write "look left" and "look right" on the road here. Thanks England.

After the events of 7/7 we felt the stares as we rode the tube with our backpacks and tried to get from point A to B via C, D, E and F due to closures on the Circle, Victoria, Northern, Picadilly, Metropolitan and other lines.

OK, everyone's been to London, so we won't bore you. Off to RealEstate.com.au to check out the housing scene in Melbourne.

Lithuania

Firstly, we have heard this afternoon about the events in London and we are lucky that we are not there yet. We will be arriving next Thursday and we hope that the city and its people are OK.

Regarding Lithuania, our latest port of call, we have noted a number of very interesting things:

1. While Lithuanian women are visually outstanding, they seem to have an attraction to older, fatter men. Perhaps these men assist in the financing of their outfits, hair and nails as it would seem unlikely that they would wish to hang with these blokes otherwise. Take Anna as an example. She looks similar many of the girls walking around the streets of Vilnius, yet despite the fact she is 20, she is seeking a man aged 30 to 55 to marry.

2. We did not take a city tour in Vilnius as we could not find any tours for an appropriate price. We did however learn about the Pretty Guides. The Pretty Guides are "ready to help you to discover the beauties of our small beautiful country". We learned that the Pretty Guides are university students who charge around A$65 per hour to escort tourists around Vilnius pointing out interesting sites. They will also suggest cafes, theatres and nightlife provided their drinks are purchased for them. One could even take your (in their words) "Immaculate escort" to a business lunch if you'd like. But wait the Western man sees an advertisement for a "pretty girl" and an "escort" and he must think that some extra services or sights will also be provided as part of the expensive tour? Surely you could not pay A$200 for a 3 hour tour and not experience all that Lithuania and her women have to offer? Well the website clearly states "Our guides don’t provide sexual services; they do not enter the customers’ hotel rooms or apartments. No service is provided to intoxicated clients." Oh OK, they really are just Pretty Guides.

Having picked up a lot of brochures on this tour, the Pretty Guides brochure (as passed to me by Cathy with a look of bemusement) is the best example of the local Lithuanian society.

I shall leave the Pretty Guides with a quote from Laura " I really adore Vilnius and am eager to share this feeling with somebody who has not yet discovered its beauty. If you want to fall in love, I can help you :)..." Thanks Laura.

We'd recommend Vilnius as a pleasant stop on the Eastern European journey.

Must go check out Latvia

JPII - We still love you!

I am not sure what the official gift should be for your wife on your five month wedding anniversary. So I took her to a salt mine. Not just any salt mine however, but the fantastic salt mine outside Krakow that the UNESCO people added to their world heritage list in 1978. After the trip, a gift of bath salts was purchased, to be safely carried home to a life where accommodation generally includes a bath tub. The mines are 350 metres deep and were first built in the 1400s. Everything down there is made of salt, including a church, sculptures and the tables in the 115 metres below the surface coffee shop. The one irony however is that when we purchased some hot chips after the tour, they were lacking in salt and a shaker could not be found. To paraphrase an old saying: Salt, Salt everywhere but not a bit to eat.

So yes we are in Poland, and more specifically Krakow. This is the city that gave the world JPII and they really really love him here. A 20 something tour guide yesterday managed to point out at least 20 buildings that had some obscure JPII connection. And, he did it with sincerity. There are more nuns in this city than there were in Italy. There are more people crying in the churches here than there were in Italy and it is kinda weird.

Nothing should however take away from this town and its beauty. Apparently it is now firmly on the tourist trail. The purchase of about 150 6 seat golf carts a year back shows that when it comes to shipping tourists around its cobbled streets, the Poles will think outside the box. We refused the golf cart and agreed to walk.

We made the trip here on an overnight train from Prague (the details of which Cathy will set out in a future post). We were glad to leave Prague. There is something rotten about that city that you would not suspect at first glance. Firstly it is the new European pickpocket capital. Secondly every single waiter has his own scam for adding more money to your bill (our favourite was charging a 19% service fee on top of the 19% GST - Clever!). Thirdly, for the first time on this trip, we saw 2 blokes injecting themselves - and they weren't diabetics before you ask the question. Fourthly, there were that many British men in the city on stag weekends that it makes you wonder what type of a nation England really is. Apparently they like to think that Australians drink a lot of beer. We really can't compete with a nation that sees skulling and vomiting in the street of a foreign town as sport. It really is a beautiful city but it needs to get its shit together before people see it for what it is. An old beautiful city full of disgusting immoral people.

Seems like I'm missing home today. Some things that are making me miss home:

1. A man is leading the AFL goal kicking that I have virtually never heard of. What is happening at home when Mark Williams can be leading the AFL goal kicking?

2. Gee I miss cold milk. Most countries in this continent survive solely on UHT milk. Then when they do serve milk they serve it warm so your Corn Flakes taste like wet housing insulation. Never would I believe that I would miss proper milk but I do.

3. We are seriously concerned that the device we are using to carry our digital photographs is not working correctly. I have visions of us being left with only half our photos (the ones that I managed to burn on to a DVD the other day). The other half were "not there" according to the Kodak guy. Another guy said that our memory sticks "wouldn't read" in his computer today. Without wanting to sound whiny, I just want to get the box and the memory sticks home to Melbourne where smart people can figure out what is going on. Its all a bit depressing really.

Anyway enough whining, we are off to Auschwitz tomorrow so life could be much worse I suppose.

Til next time.

David Wilson is always right

Regular readers of this blog will know that David is rarely, if ever, incorrect. His comment dated 25 June 2005 has shown up my internet research skills with a comprehensive list of countries. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49alpha.htm. This shows that attempting to conduct research from a Bratislava internet cafe is folly and not recommended.

Cathy gladly will take back Hong Kong as she powers towards 47.

PS Prague is Great.

PPS Please stop emailing regarding Cesky Krumlov. We are not going to get there and you are all making us feel bad that we have missed something so wonderful. We realise that this is a UNESCO world heritage site however we are only going to UNESCO world heritage sites for the rest of the trip (Krakow, Auschwitz, Warsaw, Torun, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn) so you can't see them all I suppose!

PPPS You are also correct regarding the Pies. They are rubbish.

Country Counting

There's been a lot of comment on this site and many a private email regarding country counting. It seems as if a regular correspondent to this site has had enough and wants explicit details of said count. Well with the prices of Brataslavan internet so low, today is a great opportunity.

We have decided to use the official list of countries produced by the United Nations as our guide. Therefore this list http://www.un.org/Overview/unmember.html (with some exceptions) is the one that will establish whether we count a country or not. The exceptions seem to be Macau and the Vatican which are not members of the UN. Cathy has agreed to forego Hong Kong and I have foregone Scotland in the name of consistency. My revised count as at today's count is 35. Cathy is on 40. I realise this will make David Wilson happy as he has never accepted Scotland is a country. I now agree that this must be correct.

We have both been to Australia, USA, Germany, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Italy, The Vatican, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Switzerland, France, Monaco, Andorra, Spain, Liechenstein, Austria, Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and Slovakia.

I have been to Mexico and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where Cathy has not been .

Cathy has been to Fiji, Singapore, China, Macau, Japan, Samoa and Thailand where I have not been.

We intend to visit Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Great Britain and Thailand in our last 34 days. Therefore Cathy will return home with 46 and I will be on 41. (Sorry Shelley - hope you remain on 46 after reviewing the UN list linked above!)

In accordance with a recent request I offer the following observations:

1. The country with the most mangy dogs is Romania with apologies to Mexico (or at least in Tijuana where I have been).

2. The country with the weirdest train platforms is probably Belgium. Brussels as the European capital really should have a better signed train network. It appears however that everyone is happy with the mystery of where their train is actually going to stop.

3. The best place to buy Coca Cola in the world is Montenegro. 500ml for 80 cents (Australian). The cheapest Espresso shot was Bulgaria where Cathy scored a super strong Bulgarian type coffee for 25 cents (Australian). The worst is the island of Capri in Italy. 5 Euro for a 250ml bottle was a sting in my tail that I was not expecting.

4. The best place for free glassware is either The Netherlands or Hungary, with my vote going to the Hungarians for being so damn nice about it.

5. I've made numerous statements about English language guides in museums across Europe and my comments have been interpreted as meaning that I am only happy with those countries that speak my language. This is not however the case. It just seems funny that 30 countries can provide English (and generally German, French, Italian or Spanish where appropriate) but not France. It seems to be quite arrogant that the money of English speakers (ie USA and the Commonwealth) seems to flood into French museums (such as the Leuvre) and they can't teach those people about the art using our English. Its arrogance in the extreme and it reaks of the French having a chip on their shoulder regarding the lack of importance of their language in the 2000s compared to the 1800s when they were actually a power.

6. Toilet facilities are always an interesting topic. The best in the world are in the Vatican city, 6 star toilets (with hot running water and soap) which cost nothing to use. The worst are the portaloos on the railway stations in Italy and the ones that were available in Africa. In our experience you were better off with the Hyenas than you were using the facilities at African truck stops.

In country counting we have never included passport stamps as a valid criteria as in the EU you wouldn't score any points when travelling between those countries for which you do not need a visa. It was however amusing to see Cathy chastasing a Croatian official for stamping my passport and not giving her book a stamp. He looked ready to explode but then saw the funny side of it and provided the stamp.

I look forward to regular readers of this site providing their stats and experiences in the coming weeks.

Hrvatska (Croatia) - Better than Greece

Wow.

Dalmation Coast might well be the prettiest place we've been to. Its got all the beauty of the Venetian archecture without the stench of Venice. It has the tranquil Med Island feel of Greece, without the 10000 Australians who've just been to the Anzac Day rave at Gallopoli and are now "looking for work" on Ios.

We have now seen 3 places on the Coast; Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is the pick for its extraordinary beauty and complete medievel wall. Hvar is the perfect island except for the lack of sand which again we found uncomfortable when the rocks jutted through our towels into our backs as we attempted to catch some rays. Split has Roman ruins converted into modern coffee houses which we enjoyed.

A special day trip planned for tomorrow sees us trekking to Montenegro for the day. Passports in hand we will see all the sites that we can in 12 hours. We are very much looking forward to that and will report later in the week on the scenery.

37 days to go - see you soon.

PS - Will respond to recent comments in our next internet session.

Hungaria

A couple of things that have perplexed us recently.

1. How does a bloke at a train station in Veliko Turnavo, Bulgaria tell us that he has a friend in Australia and then pulls out a red Middletons business card of a solicitor who shares a first name with the writer and a last name with a surely Australian female golfer? We panicked thinking the man was handing me my own business card as the centrepiece of some grand scam. Fortunately, our train came and we removed ourselves from this rather surreal situation.

2. Why does English not call countries by the name the countries call themselves. Hungaria is a great example. Why do we call it Hungary when they call it Hungaria. Brasil is another example. Quite strange.

3. How does a train from the Hungarian border to Split arrive 3.5 hours late without breaking down and no hassles at the border? Extraordinary.

4. Why is it that we love it so much when waiters say "moment" prior to getting you drinks, food or a bill. Gold.

5. Thanks to everyone who gave us lovely glassware for our wedding. Unfortunately we are amassing a collection of beer glasses "souvenired" to us by waiters from the East who leave saying "moment" and return with glasses which will take pride of place in our pool room at home.

Signing off from Split now, 36 degrees outside, time to get some sun and ice cream.

In case you are wondering, Budapest is the pearl of the Danube. No doubts.

Romania: Micro Minis, Bribes and Boars.

We arrived in Veliko Turnavo, Bulgaria full of expectation after surviving 2 nights in dreadful Sofia. VT was the type of town we have come to love. Less than 100,000 people, interesting gimmick (a 14th century fortress overlooking a river bend of two gorges) and great food and wine. We met some Aussies setting out for a couple of years in London and we gave them our tips on surviving Western Europe.

We then set off for Bucharest Romania on the slowest train ever. The pace was diminished somewhat at the Romanian border as each border official from Bulgaria and Romania entered the train to receive their bribe from the gypsy women carrying their 10 plastic bags full of contraband. The officials took one look at our Aussie passports and valid visas and scurried off to the next compartment to receive their share of the booty. As we watched official after official pocket his tens of thousands of Romanian Lei, we became increasingly interested as to what was in the bags. Later an American missionary summised it was either cigarettes or Bulgarian rose essence products. Either way, everybody seemed to make a little bit of money and we crossed the Danube and were on our way.

Lonely Planet advised that one of the great dangers of Romania is its hayfever inducing wildflowers. 15 minutes across the border and I was reaching for the Zyrtec. LP was right again. We were therefore pleased that a number of things have changed since our 2003 edition was published. Firstly the stray dogs have mostly now been executed by the city Mayor in a kind of zero tolerance Rudolph Guilanni style crackdown. We also found that we kinda liked the Romanian capital (sometimes referred to as the Paris of the East). We spent the afternoon walking around taking photos (where permitted by over zealous officials), ate dinner and left quickly so our good impressions were not ruined.

Bucharest has the second biggest building in the world, created by Ceausescu in his last years in power. It is amazing in its grandiose dimensions and if you didn't consider the peasants who lost their homes so this thing could be built, it is quite lovely. The rest of the neighbourhood also has a French feel and we kept being amazed at the development and prosperity of this city compared to Sofia. Cathy even enjoyed the shops at the train station and her Sofia induced depression lifted, hopefully not to be seen again. I can't blame her however, Sofia sucks.

Romania is full of nature, the forests are thick and full of wild creatures. Fortunately the taverna restaurant we found last night also allows you to eat said creatures in a medieval hunting setting. Bear, civit cat, deer and wild boar graced the menu, so we tucked into some culture appreciation along with ogling the waitresses, each in a short micro mini skirt and cleavage highlighted by a well placed pen.

We have made it to the land of Vlad the Impaler from Transylvania, five months after meeting Vlad the Russian carpet cleaning man from Cheap as Chips (no relation). Our host, a 120cm grandmother who speaks not a word of English other than "no problems" has put us up in her dining room. We are loving Romania but we are still looking out for "perfect 10" Nadia.

Off to Budapest tomorrow night for (hopefully) a lovelier city and a longer stay.

Turkey / Bulgaria. A long way from home.

Wow. A lot has happened since my last post. Our sleep regime has gone to the dogs as our trip through Turkey was engineered to cause as much sleep deprivation as possible. Overnight buses and early morning balloon flights meant that any sleep we got, day or night was cherished.

Goreme, backpacker capital of Cappadocia was as amazing as the tourist brochures told us it would be. The fairy chimneys reminded us of the Pinnacles in Western Australia albeit they are bigger, more varied and located over a vaster area, however the concept is the same. Strange shapes jutting out of the ground caused by erosion of volcanic and softer rocks over many years.

The best way to experience the area was in a hot air balloon and so we woke at 5:00am for our flight. Unfortunately the wind was floating the wrong way and our flight was cancelled. The next day we were up at 4:00am for our flight which fortunately was not cancelled.

Ballooning in Turkey was one of the great experiences of our lives. The company we travelled with are very experienced (http://www.kapadokyaballoons.com/) and often the balloon was located only 5 metres above the fairy chimneys while we hung out of the balloon taking photo after photo. Having never ballooned in Melbourne, I am not sure if they have the control to be able to drop down and pick fruit from trees in the Yarra Valley, the Cappadocia blokes brag that they can do it, and dropped down to look for Apricots. None were on the trees but it was great adventure for the troops.

The other highlights of the area are the underground city (built to confuse enemies and provide protection for entire communities and their stock for 6 months) and the local cuisine. The locals cook a stew like concoction in a terra cotta pot and break the pot open in front of you when it is time to serve. Obviously the crockery is a use-once item and the restaurants hang them out the front to advertise the meal for passing tourists.

Speaking of which, apparently Aussie and NZ tourists make up most of the tourists in Turkey as every place has an Aussie or Kiwi flag flying proudly.

A day in Istanbul followed Goreme after another overnight bus trip. 12 hours on a bus is never fun and I won't whine that I am bigger than the average bloke to boot. Nevertheless, not a lot of sleep for me on either trip. In Istanbul we allowed ourselves the pleasure of a Turkish Bath at a 500 year old bathhouse. It was a great experience, especially when the man puts on the sandpaper glove and scrapes the dead skin from your person. Obviously I had some desert dust in my pores as my skin came off in great strips, much to the amusement of the Turk. A massage and a steam finished the afternoon and we prepared for our overnight train to Bulgaria.

The overnight train was brilliant. We had our own cabin and it did not take long before we fell asleep. At 2:45 we were woken to be told that we were at the Turkish border. We alighted from the train and got our passport stamp. Having fallen asleep again we were woken at 4:00 to find the train had not moved but the Bulgarians were wanting to check our passports. OK, we waited and then fell asleep again and we were woken up at 4:30am for the actual passport check. Finally at 5:00am we started moving. Therefore in 3 hours we went nowhere, got woken up 3 times and made it to Bulgaria, once again quite tired.

Our first stop was Plovdiv, the second biggest city in Bulgaria and apparently the "real Bulgaria". A beautiful little city which I highly recommend for a 5 hour visit. We stayed all day and became quite bored by the end of it.

So much so that for A$2 we decided to see the film "The Aviator" on the big screen. Wow! What an experience as we were led upstairs into a Soviet style power station in pitch darkness. On the second floor was a small room with a projector and speakers no larger than my ipod headphones. We watched the film and endeavoured to listen as best we could (no THS - The Audience is Listening or Dolby Train in Plovdiv!). When the film finished we emerged in pitch darkness again to find that everyone had gone and we had to let ourselves out. Reasonably frightened we scurried home.

Unfortunately for us our kind landlady and her husband wanted us to drink a traditional Bulgarian beverage. This grape beverage was apparently 60% proof and tasted like Ethanol. After consuming a full glass, I signalled that it was time for bed. NO NO I was told, another glass for you. Shit I thought, I kind do any more of this vile liquor (I had drunk about a litre of water as well). But drink it I did, and finally I was released from the table to toddle off to bed. As Cathy said, no wonder the Slavs have liver problems in Australia.

We arrived in Sofia today and not a lot can be said for Bulgaria's capital really. Just think of a ruined Soviet style city with things falling off buildings and roads that look like they were made by the Romans for their chariots. Cathy has objected to this place and stated that "there is nothing lovely here" and cracked the shits. She is probably right but the people watching is fantastic and certainly beats anything that the Bourke Street Mall can dish up.

The best thing is the quality of food and beverage you get for $A10. Two course meals and beer for 10 bucks is not a bad thing at all I reckon.

Hopefully a trip to the Rila Monastery tomorrow (the holiest place in Bulgaria) and Velico Tarnovo (the postcard picture small town with the fortress) will cheer things up.

OK, that's all from me. Things look to be progressing nicely at home, looking forward to returning for Finals time, where the smell of cut grass will once again make Melbourne the best place in the world to be.

Cheers

Rounders

Turkısh Delıght

We have made our way ınto the Turkısh countrysıde and dıscovered the joys of Pamukkale, a natural wonder about 3 hours from the Aegean sea ın Turkey. Thıs place ıs a serıes of whıte pools each wıth water cascadıng from one to the next. The scientific explanation for thıs place is that hot thermal springs pouring down the hillside deposit calcium carbonate, which solidifies as travertine. Pıctures of the phenomen are located here.

The problem for the Turks ıs the thermal waters were redırected ınto hotel pools ın the 80s and 90s and now the wonders are startıng to grey and the water has largely dısappeared. Consequently the Turks are rebuıldıng thıs place usıng concrete, whıte washıng and pumped water. Its stıll spectacular but I'm sure ıt was much better ın the 70s when the fırst backpackers would have made theır way through here.

The hıghlıght ıs the natural pool at the top of the clıff ın whıch punters can swım ıf they pay the equıvalent of 18 Australıan dollars. The Eastern Europeans were handıng over theır Turkısh Lıras faster than they could strıp down to theır bıkınıs and speedos. Then they draped themselves all over the rocks ın the pools and started takıng photos. Thınk Sports Illustrated Swımsuıt edıtıon wıthout the Sports Illustrated Swımsuıt edıtıon models and you get the ıdea. Cathy and I watched on fascınated as gırl after gırl perfected her 'come hıther' look wıth her wet haır hangıng loosely over her shoulders. The real tragedy however was theır haıry plaın boyfrıends ın full 'bloomer' style speedo takıng snap after snap untıl theır gırls decıded they had struck the rıght pose. The locals and us looked on agog.

We are off to Cappadocia tonıght. Some pıctures of thıs place are located here. The faıry chımneys are meant to be amazıng and hopefully are worth two overnıght bus trıps that we wıll be forced to take. We are consıderıng a balloon rıde over the terraın as ıt ıs recognısed as the best place ın the world for balloonıng. The tıght fısted budget of February to May ıs but a memory as the Turkısh carpet salesmen and balloon rıde sprukers work theır magıc on us.
Oh and by the way, we saw more Roman stuff today, yesterday and the prevıous day. They were frenetıc buılders of stuff those Romans we have learned.

Surprıse Purchase

We have made our way back ınto Turkey and we've brought the raın wıth us. Standard stuff really for us on thıs trıp but thıs type the raın ıs steamy and humıd, rather than ıce cold.

Today's bıg news ıs we bought a carpet ın Turkey. Cathy ıs overjoyed wıth the purchase and provıded ıt arrıves at our house at some stage, ıt wııll be great. A carpet purchased by a Sydney Barrıster was sıttıng on the ground ready for postage so ıf my carpet does not arrıve, I wıll call hım up and ask hım to take actıon for me!

We have fınıshed wıth the Greek Islands now. After seeıng Mykonos, Ios, Paros, Santorını and Samos, our 3 votes goes to Santorını for ıts stunnıng locatıon, frıendly people and the beautıful Pensıon George wıth ıts sheltered pool.

We saw Ephesus today whıch ıs one of the most ımpressıve Roman ruıns remaınıng. We are off to Parmaccale tomorrow and then Cappadocıa the day after. If all goes well we wıll enter Bulgarıa on 4 June. Then the trıp should start to get 'ınterestıng' but hopefully not too 'ınterestıng' for us.

Almost too relaxed to post.

A day in the Greek Islands.

1. Wake up, eat large breakfast costing very little euro.

2. Have a swim in hotel pool.

3. Stroll around looking at shops, beautiful white buildings and goats on hills.

4. Have a swim in hotel pool.

5. Eat large tasty lunch (the Santorini Sandwich AKA Gyros)

6. Have a swim in hotel pool.

7. Read another book (why are these bloody things so expensive over here - even the local books appear to cost far too much to us)

8. Have a swim...

9. Have large tasty dinner washed down with Greek

10. Sleep

11. Wake up and start over.

We are not sure whether we will be able to pick the pace up when we have to go back to sightseeing next week. Hope so or the rest of our postings will be rather boring.

A couple more islands to go (Santorini and Ios done, Paros and Mykonos to come) and then to Turkey where hopefully the snow has melted (see our February posts!)

Til next time, I must be off as the pool is waiting for me.

Could not be more

Its been awhile since we found the time to get online. Paris was all everybody told us it would be and the Loire Valley is fantastic for chateau fans. Today however I'm just wishing to make some observations on matters that have played on my mind over the last few weeks:

1. I often wonder when a song ceases to be played on Australian radio what the radio station does with the CD single? Do they store them up in a big room, do they donate them to charity or do they in fact send those CD singles to radio stations in Europea so that those stations can play English language songs all day every day? There is no other explanation for hearing John Farnham's Age of Reason played twice or the consistent dragging out of hits from Mariah Carey's debut album Musicbox. The greatest crime however was not the day that we heard "What if God was one of us?" or the day that we heard that crazy "Birthmark" song from a few years back. Remember the one that went "Once there was this girl who had these birthmarks, she could never quite explain it they had always just been there" Remember that one? Quite Ridiculous. Anyway the "highlight" was the day we heard Starship's second single "Sarah" in its full and uncut glory. Do you remember that one? "Sarah, Sarah, the stars get caught in your eyes" it says with the full power of a band coming off their hit "We Built This City" (A track recently voted by a UK Magazine as the worst song of all time). I couldn't believe hearing "Sarah" and I now greatly look forward to an Australian Idol contestant singing it on 80s night in full 80s big hair fashion.

2. I'm missing the footy greatly and wait anxiously for text messages telling me the scores. I wonder whether any citizens of Malmo, Sweden also look forward to receiving those same scores as we saw an AFL ground with goal posts, two 50 metre lines and a centre square marked out on the ground not far from where wild geese were raising their young. Very interesting indeed.

3. Its nice reading English language descriptions in museums isn't it? I mean citizens of the country may in fact speak German, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Nederlands, Slovenian or Tunisian but the museum always seems to find itself able to translate the message into English. Its appreciated. Well nearly everyone can do it. Apparently the "best museum in the world" The Loevre is not able. Those Frenchies are funny about their language. Before WWI French was the language of international diplomacy. Since their capitulation in both WWI and again in WWII, English has taken over. Their way of fixing us English speakers is by forcing us to walk around their museums unable to tell what is going on. It can't be that hard to find an English speaker to translate for them but they apparently will not do it. All in all we found the French to be quite hospitable (once you revealed you weren't American or English) but this repeated failure to make any effort in the museums was just ridiculous.

4. We had our first theft in Paris. We have defended our stuff admirably till now but we lost something that was very dear to Cathy's heart. It was purchased for her after much consideration and searching through numerous shopping complexes. I thought the gift was overpriced to begin with but a man has to spend a lot of money to buy his wife Belgian Chocolate. After leaving the room to go out for the day, a cleaner or someone else busted into our room and stole two chocolates - nothing else, just two Belgian Chocolates. Those chocolates were precious commodities, specifically chosen for their delicate taste and quality. Their theft hurt deeply and since that time, the Belgian Chocolates have joined the iPod, Photo storing Hard Drive, Passport, Wallet and Train Tickets in the never leave our sight bag that we carry everywhere 24 hours per day. A shame really. You can't trust anybody these days!

5. Animals in the Lowlands of the Netherlands and Belgium are the happiest domestic animals on earth. The cows and the sheep actually lie down in the long grass to eat and were often seen rolling on their backs with their hooves in the air. We initially thought they had died but closer examination revealed they were simply having such a great time. Australian animals look sullen and disinterested in comparision to these fun seekers munching away on their well watered grass. Check it out next time you are in this part of the world.

6. Getting a couple into a photograph is difficult at the best of times. You don't want to give your camera to just anybody as chasing down a thief who knows the streets and has your camera is not a fun way to spend your afternoon (remember Chevy Chase in European Vacation?). You also don't want someone to photograph you and miss the background (which I like to do to obnoxious Americans with old style cameras). The best way to ensure photographic success is to watch people take their own photos first and to watch their compisition strategy. If they appear to be able to capture everything in their own shots, we hand them our camera. So if we are standing behind you staring at your photos, don't be offended, we are probably just about to ask you to take a photo for us. Thanks for that.

7. Is there anyone left in Australia? It seems that every Australian was crammed on to the Eiffel Tower the night we went up. There were that many people saying "no worries mate" that I felt that I could have been in the food court at Doncaster Shoppingtown. Nevertheless, a great time was had as the sun set and the new light show played in full force each hour.

8. We were woken up by fireworks and what sounded like missiles launching over our heads last night. We were extremely concerned as we tried to work out which Axis of Evil country had launched an attack against Santorini at 1:30 in the morning. Panicking we turned on the TV to learn that Greece had just won the Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Number One". Honestly you would think that one of their sprinters had just won an Olympic Medal or something. Knowing people actually give a shit about the Eurovision Song Contest is reassuring having grown up in a nation that laughs at the contest when its replayed on SBS on a Sunday afternoon.

Cathy has also posted today. Her comments are below. Enjoy.

Scandanavia, Netherlands and a bit of Germany

Well I've found an internet cafe in The Hague and I'm typing away with 50 or so Africans who seem to be communicating with those left on that continent. A sign on the wall is telling said Africans that if they send unwanted emails again, the police may shut down the whole internet cafe and the owners will take legal proceedings against the culprit. So yes, the place has a nice vibe.

Now where were we on our tale of our recent happenings? My post of 3 May 2005 had one flaw. I didn't comment on our night in Bamburg. I'll quote from Lonely Planet "Magnificence is a by-word for Bamberg". We didn't really know what that meant until we saw the city for our own eyes. An amazing collection of 14th to 18th century buildings that survived the war. I cannot recommend this town for a one night stay highly enough. And we slept upstairs in a brewery. This is not unusual in Bamberg which has more breweries than any other city in Germany (including Munich). It was however disturbing to roll up to breakfast at 8:45am on the Sunday morning when the German pope gave his first mass and find 20 or so Germans (men and women) downing their first 500ml frothy beverage of the day. We stayed clear of that and stuck to the meat and cheese that Germans love to have to start the day.

After Berlin we made a run to the border to catch a ferry to Sassnitz in Sweden. This town is next to Malmo which is connected to Copenhagen by a bridge. All was looking good for the 1:00pm ferry until we left the autobahn and tried to take the "most direct" route. Anyway to cut a long long drive short, we missed the ferry and had to go on a stand by list for the 5:45pm ferry. We made that ferry and spent an enjoyable trip with 500 Swedes who had stocked up on cheap alcohol in Germany. Let me paint the picture. Spirits in Sweden are 200 kronors or so. In Germany, the same bottle is 90 kronors. ie less than half. Swedes can legally carry in 20 litres of spirts, 40 litres of wine and 90 litres of beer. Scandlines (the Ferry company) charges 1800 kronors each way per vehicle. So if you put 4 Swedes in a vehicle as big as a Toyota Tarago you can carry back into Sweden 80 litres of spirits, 160 litres of wine and 360 litres of beer. And you can sleep tonight assured that each Swede had achieved his quota. It was the most unbelievable shopping that I have ever seen. Cars weighed down to the point where the rear suspension no longer worked were rolling onto the ferry and rolling off the other end. Hope there was no speed humps on the way home.

Malmo, Sweden had a couple of things going for it:
(1) It was in a country where we had never been and thus added a point to our country count.

(2) It had windmills, canals, swans and now Europe's tallest building - the Turning Torso. An amazing thing that is rotated 90 degrees from top to bottom so you think it will fall over.

(3) It is connected by a bridge to Copenhagen that takes about 20 minutes to cross as it passes over the sea separating the two countries.

Copenhagen was amazing. We did not see Mary but we did go to the Tivoli Gardens. It has the rollercoasters and the crowds that go with it but it also has theatre, big bands and about 20 restaurants. A fine Saturday night in Scandanavia.

We then made our way to Kolding Copenhagen for the night after visiting a number of traditional Danish villages. Everybody knows Scandanavia is expensive but as we rested our head in our single beds in a youth hostel costing the equivalent of about 140 Australian dollars, we made sure that we maximised our sleeping time.

You obviously need to marry a Prince to be able to afford to sleep in this part of the world.

We made our way back into Germany and back on to the autobahns. Everything you have heard about the autobahs is true. You can set the cruise control for 150kmh and be one of the slowest cars on the road. The fastest cars on the road are, without exception, black Audi wagons. We thought it would be Porsches or sporty Mercedes but these are quite measured in their approach next to the black Audi Wagons. We were passed by numerous of these vehicles doing a minimum of 200 kmh. If you are not in the way, its an awesome sight. If you are in the wrong lane, they sure approach quick in the rear-view.

A night in Bremen was great and then to Amsterdam. We took the canal bus across almost every canal and did all the typical tourist things, including wandering through the red light district. The highlight being the group of 70 somethings on a tour being offered a tipple of alcohol to stiffen their nerves before they embarked on their walk.

We watched the VE Day Commemoration and the Queen of the Netherlands laying a wreath to honour those who have died in wars and peace keeping. It was a moving ceremony which we felt compelled to watch after we have spent so learn in Germany and other countries learning about the war. The Dutch have a real affection for their Queen which was completely foreign to Cathy and I. The Prime Minister on the other hand looks a bit like Harry Potter .

Today however was a real highlight:

1. We found some working windmills crushing peanuts and making peanut oil. Sure it was set up strictly for tourists but we are on tour and it was fantastic.

2. We visited the Keukenhof Gardens and saw the tulips. The gardens are open for 8 weeks a year and attract about a million visitors. The gardens were great, the carpark reminded me of a big Saturday afternoon at VFL Park when the Pies were playing Carlton and you had to try and work out how to get out of the carpark!

The next couple of days will see us in Leidon, Delft, Rotterdam and then off to Belgium.

A summary of happenings leading up to May

Finally Blogger appears to be working. Thanks for those who have been calling, faxing, texting and emailing to find out when the next blog will appear. Well its appeared, from a lovely internet cafe in Bremen Germany.

Since we last spoke we´ve been very busy. After dropping David at Ljublana airport we set off to Vienna for 3 nights in Austria´s capital. We were hoping the trip would be as exciting as the airport drop off as we pulled up behind a limo with 6 20 something women who looked like they were finishing off a girl´s weekend. We wished David well with his flight and set off.

Vienna is a good safe tourist city isn´t it? You have the museums, the amazing buildings and that Wien (`Veen') vibe which a cross between Old Money and the corner of Bourke and Russell Street in Melbourne. Where else can you get off a train at one station and see a palace with 1600 rooms and then get off the same train 2 stops later and witness drug deals openly being conducted in the middle of a pedestrian thoroughfare? Most major cities is probably the answer but it certainly was not expected in good old Veen.

There were a number of people walking around Veen from the far east, those are the people we discussed in the Slovenia posts. You are beautiful but why has your hair been died white and why has it been ironed flat like the 80s. Think Duran Duran in the Hungry Like the Wolf video. Not Girls on Film (if you are aware of the difference this is a great gag).

We went to the great palace of the Habsburgs. They ruled for 700 years and loved their family so much that they often married their first cousins. Well this resulted in some freakish looking children who are immortalised in paintings that adorn the walls of the palace for those who take the grand tour. The lengths of the chins of the Habsburgs is really beyond belief. The best analogy I can think of is the pure bred dog with hip problems resulting from constant inbreeding. Except in this case its not the hips, its the chins. Scarily the portraits were done to flatter the family so the real thing must have been truly extraordinary.

Speaking of dogs, we went on a walking tour and the lady giving the tour rolled up with her labrador. She claimed she could not find a dog sitter for the afternoon so she could join our walk. The problem for us was the dog needed to pee and apparently would not do so unless it found grass. The tour then had to take a 15 minute detour to Veen's closest spot of grass so the dog could relieve itself. No discount provided for this moment of madness. Cathy loved it however as she walked the dog throughout Veen´s cobbled streets.

We went to Grinsing for dinner one night which is a place that serves freshly barrelled wine in the Autumn but in the Spring it just serves normal wine. Lovely wine however and rounded off with our first Schnapps. The waiter asked whether we wanted a `Child´s or an Adult´s serve`. We went Adult and received a tumbler of Schnapps for our trouble.

We then drove the entire way across Austria without a valid motorway vignette and arrived in Munich. Hopefully the Austrians don't notice the vignette was 2 days out of date but if they do we are playing the `we didn't know sorry we don't speak Deutsch lines'. Lets see how it goes!

Munich is located in Bavaria, the only place in the world where policemen on duty can drink a beer. We didn´t see any of that going on but we saw some beerhalls full to the rafters at 6pm with blokes and women drinking 1 litre beers. So we joined them. Very good indeed.

We then went to the new Nicole Kidman film The Interpretor. I thought it was pretty good but found Nicole´s constantly changing accent to be enormously frustrating. Cathy didn´t enjoy it but she´s liked nothing Nicole´s done since BMX Bandits. Sean Penn was great but then again he´s always good. 3.5 stars from this writer.

But the real highlight from Munich was our hotel location. We booked on the generally excellent hostelworld website and then we arrived in Munich. We drove through Munich and kept driving. And driving. And driving. The hotel turned out to be 36 kilometres from Munich and was only connected to Munich by an intercity train service. Think Yarrambat in Melbourne and you get the idea. We therefore packed a number of books for our train ride as it took so very long. Thanks Hostelworld for that one.

Then off to the Romantic Road. A gorgeous drive through Bavaria´s leading villages including Fussen, Rothenburg and Wurzburg. We however stayed in a little town called Dinkelsbuhl. It was perfect. An entirely walled town, real locals living in said town drinking beer and a pension operated by a woman who spoke no English but was aware that there was a new German pope. PS Did you hear there was a new German pope? You can rest tonight assured that Germans who cannot speak English can speak enough English to tell you that the new pope is German. We could not be more pleased for these people as the world needs another conservative European pope and he looks like he fits the bill.

Dinkelsbuhl for dinner was marvellous. After dinner (wurst of course) a very pissed local began engaging me in some discussion. He advised me that his father was a soldier in Hitler´s army but he was now 82 and he was not a bad person. He was so very pissed that he fell off his chair and had to be helped back to his feet so he could hear my answer. What do you say to a man, pissed, large and on the verge of tears as he waited for my response about his father? I said the only thing you could say - it was a long time ago wasn' it. This seemed to satisfy him and we made a hasty retreat. But not before he insisted that we drink another 500 ml beer with him. After he had already fallen down once, I politely refused and got the hell out of there.

We then rolled into Dresden which was our first place from the old East. The standout highlight was the jazz group busking for the Sunday afternoon promenading traffic. They were brilliant and were making a great deal of money, including 50 cents from us. The fact each of the 3 of them was 6 years old made the moment even better. They must have had 200 euro in their tin and I hope they have a small trust fund set up investing the money for when they reach 18.

Berlin was next. This remains my favourite European city and I again took the world´s best walking tour being the one run by Terry Brewer. The tour lasts a minimum of 8 hours and can be reviewed here - brewersberlintours.com. He is a former British spy that worked in East Berlin when there still was a wall. There is nothing he doesn´t know about Berlin and there is nothing that he is not prepared to tell you. At certain times on the day, you are instructed to take a seat as his explanation of the rise of Hitler or the fall of the wall is going to take a while.

Berlin is the classic east meets west city. On one corner in the east is a brown concrete public house with pierced, shaved occupants who scowl at you as they stroll down the street for their 10am beer. On the other corner is the ultra modern Berlin shopping centre with Louis Vuitton outlets and coffee by the cupfull. The contrast between the old east and the west remains stark and it will take more than 80 billion euro to fix up the problems.

Must run, a Scandanavian summary will hit your screens as soon as possible.

Off to Amsterdam tomorrow. We might post after visiting one of their 'internet' cafes.

5 Reasons why we loved Slovenia.

1. Skocjan Caves

A friend advised us that we must travel to these caves which have been created when the Reka River trundles around Slovenia for a while before heading underground to a depth of 300m and continues under the mountains for 3km or so. The caves are up to 170 m deep in places with 45 m suspended bridges, underground waterfalls, lakes, stalactites and stalagmites. It is amazing and World Heritage listed of course.

This really does leave the Buchan caves or those ones near the Coonawarra for dead. Cathy has remembered they are called the Narracorte Caves, not as good as the wine from the district.

2. Friendly People

These must be Europe´s friendliest people. Everybody speaks English and has a cheery smile and happy demeanour despite our unconfident attempts to start conversations with our only Slovene word Dober Dan (Not Slobadan I had to keep reminding Cathy as she jokingly talked about him with her loud whisper voice). We even got to watch the BBC English TV shows subtitled which was a pleasant change. And the crazy author did it in the end of the Midsummer Murders. Who would have thought! Never would have watched it in Australia but loved it in Piran.

3. Diversity

We were standing in the snow at 1pm and then eating an ice cream on the beach at 4pm. Slovenia has everything and it is so compact. It takes no more than 3 hours to get from anywhere in the country to anywhere else. Plus they have great cuisine and fantastic wines, including the best Cab Sav we´ve had since Tunisia.

4. Rowing on Lake Bled

If there´s anyone left who hasn´t been to Lake Bled, there´s a 1200 year old castle on a postcard perfect lake which can be reached by rowboat. While I was not a young Clint Robinson, it was great to have a go on the rowboat in such an environment. Cathy was hysterically laughing as we went around in circles and at one stage nearly fell in as she doubled over!

A rare highlight was being attacked by a crazed swan as we entered our row boat. I took one to the shoe and David took a nasty bite to the knee as we fended off the swan with oars. He really was territorial but us big fellas with our oars emerged victorious.

5. Ljublana

Our first taste of Eastern Europe. Where bad fashion happens to good looking people. We will report further on the fashion of other Eastern European destinations later in our travels but at the moment think snakeskin suits on women, lycra body suits emerging out of too tight jeans on women and check suits on men. 'Lubbers' itself was pretty with a castle, U shaped river bend and great beer places.

We've now gone further East back to Western Europe and arrived in Vienna. What can be said about this city?

Its full of culture, Mozart, Strauss, Music 365 days per year. Its full of museums and it has a reasonably confusing public transport infrastructure. At the moment, for the first time in the last 2 days, we are not lost.

We have also learned about the inbred Habsburgs who ruled for 600 years by marrying their cousins and other people´s cousins.

For those following with their Jacaranda Atlases at home we are now off to Munchen (Munich), the Romantic Road, Dresden and then Berlin.

Bled

Lovely town Bled. See Dave's post for further details.

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