GORGEOUS GREECE!

Look what I found in Athens .... He is pretty cute, Can I keep him? lol

Darren and I are now on our cruise of the Greek Islands after meeting in Athens!

Athens was very basic, the islands however are stunning!!

We are having a fantastic time aboard a mega yacht! It's a terrible life but someone has to do it!! lol

The weather has been great! (around 30c in the islands). We have spent a lot of time in the water and exploring the islands we stop at. We also hired a scooter one day and had a great time in Poros (my favorite island so far).

We caught up with Kathleen and Karan yesterday in Santorini for lunch .... They are flying home today!

I am struggling to put pictures on here as I am doing this post from my iPhone.

But will leave you with a couple of snaps taken from my phone of our current location ....

Darren in the dining room aboard Harmony G

Taken from the back of the boat

This mornings swim stop

We will be home soon! Love to all! xx


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

AMAZING AMSTERDAM!

Anne Franks house

Amsterdam at night ...The "Grasshopper" lit up in green in the background .... (a well known establishment for selling marijuana in all forms to tourists that are far more game than I obviously!)

A windmill!

One of the many canals in Amsterdam!

Typical housing in Amsterdam

I can't quite believe we are now at the end of our month long tour! This is our final night in Amsterdam and final night with the group! We enjoyed a chinese banquet and then a cruise through some of the canals in Amsterdam this evening.

Amsterdam is a lovely place (coming from a sober/un drugged perspective of course!) .... call me a boring prude, but I felt no desire at all to try marijuana here just because it is legal. I don't know why.... but I just didn't! I did have a look in one of the cafes where they sell it in varying forms and smelt it on varying occassions also .... but was quite happy to stick to a few drinks instead!

We visited Anne Franks house while here, went to a gouda cheese and clog making farm, had a bit of a look around town etc. We are all exhausted and looking forward to a holiday in Greece to recover from our tour! Which has been quite exhausting!

Tomorrow we fly to Athens where we part ways! Karan and Kathleen are heading to Santorini for a break before heading home and Darren arrives the day after tomorrow so we can head off on our cruise of the greek islands .... I can hardly wait!



As Kathleen has the laptop, and I will be spending most of my time at sea (where I may struggle to find wi fi) ..... I may not be able to update the blog until I return home with photo's from Greece!

So .... we will see you all on our return!!

xx

GUTEN TAG FROM GERMANY!!

Heidi (that was what I was being called by the locals) and Irish Jen at the beerfest!

Karan and I (I mean .... Heidi and Helga) at the beerfest attempting to look local! lol

Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin

Soviet War Memorial ...taken during our bike ride

An interesting sculpture on the river

One of the last remaining and longest stretch of the Berlin Wall

We are on our final night here in Berlin and tomorrow we are bound for Amsterdam (our final tour stop) ..... So excited that it is almost over!! lol If I never see the inside of a bus, sleep on a mattress that feels like a plank of wood, or encounter poorly cooked eggs and powdered milk for breakfast again .... then I will be a happy girl! Bring on my mini and my pillow top mattress back home thank you very much! :-)

Berlin is an interesting city! Not like any other city in Europe that we have encountered. Not many of the old buildings remain after being destroyed in World War 2. They are still now rebuilding . So it is an interesting mix of old and new.

We went on another bike tour (the same one used in Barcelona) and then Karan, I and a few of the other girls from the tour went to a beerfest in the evening (picture a 2km long stretch of tents with international beers, food etc) A bit sacrilige for 2 non beer drinkers (Karan and I) to attend really, but at least we can say we have been to a beerfest in Germany! And did in fact try a strawberry beer each!

We were reasonably lucky with the 3 days of forecast rain. We did get a little wet on the bike tour, but it was warm. Today it is stinking hot!

Big day on the bus tomorrow (for the final time!) Woo hoo! Hope all is well with everyone back home! Not long now until we all come home!

PERFECT PRAGUE!

A lovely town square in Prague.

One of the many beautiful buildings found during our walking tour of Prague

A palace guard!

Another photo opportunity taken during our walking tour!

The birthday girl being presented with her 'birthday dessert'!

Karan, Kathleen and myself out for dinner at a very nice restaurant celebrating Kathleen's 40th birthday!

The view from our table at night .... Overlooking Charles Bridge.

Well Prague was beautiful! Such a pretty place with much to see! We spent another mammoth day 'beating the feet' to see all the sights ..... It is definitely a place you could return to!

Kathleen's birthday celebrations commenced early (the night before her actual birthday here in Europe) ..... So she did manage to stay up for midnight (Australia time) over here before I lead her rather intoxicated butt back to the hotel room before she got in to too much trouble! lol

Needless to say her actual birthday was much quieter and was spent mostly on a bus travelling from Budapest to Prague. We then donned our finery to go to 'Kampa Park' restaurant where we all enjoyed a lovely meal and a few wines (including a Marlborough sauvignon blanc, which tasted like liquid gold!) .... The night was perfect!

We are now in Berlin .... Which is forecast for rain for the entire 3 days we are staying! Keep your fingers crossed that it clears, as we are on a bike tour tomorrow!

HUNGARY!

Lookout from Budapest castle.

The castle at night!

Budapest palace at night

A part of the castle .... Very fairytale looking!

Budapest history lesson #1! ........ Did you know that originally Budapest was divided in to two areas. One side of the Danube river was named Buda (the nicer side on the hill) and the other was named Pest (the not so nice side overlooked by Buda). It was only in 1873 that the two were unified and were called Budapest.

I am sure you all now feel richer for knowing that snippet!

We spent time in Budapest relaxing at a mineral baths/day spa (Budapest has many around town and they are very popular with the locals for their healing properties). Let me just say it was an interesting experience (lots of old saggy naked ladies roaming around like they owned the place) and one that may have just scarred me for life! I was massaged/violated by someone that resembled "Helga the great" and think I may just need to organise psychotherapy for myself on my return home! lol

I have now escaped to Prague! Will update tomorrow with pics of Kathleens birthday evening!

Love to all xx

AWESOME AUSTRIA!

Austria ..... Home of Schnitzel!

And enormous serves of beer! .... Granted, these are only menu's. But Austrians do love their beer! All the serving vessels are enormous! You would be in heaven if you were a beer drinker .... unfortunately none of us are! lol

Museum in Vienna

Inside the palace where I attended a classical concert (which was fantastic)

Another fine example of Austrian architecture

The church in Mondsee where the Baron and Maria married in "The Sound of Music"

Mondsee village .... very cute and quaint!

On the way to Mondsee ... a beautiful lake in the Austrian alps district!

A typical example of Austrian housing .... very alpine and very cute!

Lake and gardens used in the filming of "The sound of music" in Salzburg

" The hills are alive with the sound of music!" .... admittedly this was nowhere near the original filming site for the movie! But doesn't it just want to make you run through the hills singing while picking flowers? lol

First stop in Austria .... Salzburg! Birth place of Mozart and where the "Sound of Music" was filmed. What a gorgeous spot! A few of the girls on the tour (and a few dragged along husbands) went on a "Sounds of Music" tour which was hysterical! Picture a bus full of tourists singing "Do Re Mi", "My favourite things" and "Edeilweiss" at the top of their lungs and re enacting scenes while on location (all done stone cold sober I might add!) lol

On the way to Vienna we visited an old concentration camp 'Mauthausen' where 100,000 people had died .... No photos were taken by us, as it was really a place for contemplation. I must say it was very disturbing. My wish is that all the people that suffered there at the hands of the nazi's wherever they may be .... have found some sort of peace. It certainly makes you appreciate how fortunate we all are to live how we do now.

Vienna was beautiful! Made even more wonderful by an All Blacks win on our first morning in town! The die hard kiwi's (me included) plus irish Jen (token kiwi) found an Aussie Bar and were there for the 9.30am kick off ..... Now normally I would be seeking help if I was in a bar at this hour of the morning .... but it was for a legitimate reason! lol

We are now venturing over the Austrian border to Hungary!

INTRODUCING JUSTIN!

Firstly ..... Hi to Ash, Fraser and Rory who are spending this weekend together. I so wish I was there with you guys! Missing you all lots and can't wait to be home to see you all! .... Please give each other and Dad a big hug for me!

Fraser and Rory .... Here are your well travelled Go Go's (They have been to 5 countries so far!)

And this is Justin (our tour mascot) collected at one of our 'pit stops' travelling through Spain!


Justin helping Kathleen with her nightly reading! Now as you can see Justin is a beaver ..... (Justin Beaver) lol

Not to be confused with this Justin! Ash, here is your JB doll (also well travelled having seen 5 countries so far) and taking up precious clothing space in my suitcase! lol

What more can I say really! .... Other than I am travelling with a magnetised beaver attached to my bag throughout Europe thanks to Kathleen :-)