Beautiful Luzern

Again, pretend z is y and y is z.

We arrived safe and sound in Lucern todaz after a long train ride through beautiful southern Germanz and Swityerland. This place is absolutelz gorgeous... in the mountains and prettz buildings. Will post again when we have more to talk about and are able to post photos. Just letting anzone who cares know we,re alive.

Love to all,
E squared.

Beautiful weather here in München

Statue of Thor dressed like a monk

Happy Drunks!

The Famous Hofbrauhaus

Psych....it's been pouring rain and is bloody cold. We again did the walking tour in pouring rain, however not as bad as it was in Amsterdam. Saw plenty of neat sights. And heard some interesting stories about the city of Munich. Initially there was a silver lining to this horrid weather...that being the beer halls are warm and cheerful and it makes it easy to spend 5 hours in one. Especially with the great people we chatted to while there. The downside of that...is this morning really really sucked. But I told myself if the monks can drink five masses of beer a day, so can I, however a mass of beer weighs in pretty heavy as it is a full litre. However I only made it to 4 masses....I know, I'm a shame. But do tell Thor that if he is ever in munich that they do allow dogs at the Hofbrauhaus and I think he would really enjoy the beer. Emma woke of bright and cheerful this morning, thouugh it helps when you only have 2 and a bit. We've both enjoyed the Deutches Museum (full of all kinds of cool and geeky things).

Munich

We arrived in Munich today after once again, NOT getting lost!! Our hostel is nice, we splurged for a private room to try to catch up on some sleep (and so we could stumble home from the beir gartens without disturbing anyone!). Had dinner at a neat beer hall with very gruff waitresses in traditional german maids dresses. Erich had a wonderful dinner consisting of a 1L beer (who ever came up with that is a genius...'no ocifer I swear I only had 1 beer') 1 big piece of pork leg, some other random pork and a bbq quater chicken with a dumpling all smothered in beer gravy, i know what your thinking...and yes the damage to my heart was worth that dinner. Emma found cheese pasta with no meat (at least none that was translated on the English menu).

Right now, we are sitting in an internet cafe as hail the size of marbles comes down... apparently we're in for this for the next 3 days as they haven't had much rain, so keep your finger's crossed the weather man is wrong!! We are off to see Pirates of the Carribbean... ciao for now!

Catch up photo collection

Yay! We finally have a card reader... enjoy the pics from our last few cities!

Brandenburg Gates in Berlin Berlin Reichstag
View from hill in Prague (palace to the left) Cool church in Prague View of Prague Palace from Charles Bridge
Crazy bikers in Vienna - 3 were playing soccer on pimped out bikes, and one was riding a friction drive concoction
Vienna Parliament Building (makes Ottawa look very unimportant)
Theatre where we saw the Wiener Mozart Orchestra Us inside the theatre (the stage is down there, I promise)
First dinner at the oldest beer hall in Munich

We're still here!

I know, I know, it's been a while. We were in Prague after Berlin for 3 nights at Miss Sophie's hostel in the new town. We had a 5 bed dorm with great roommates - went out one night with two girls from, and another night to the same brewery pub with two girls from Australia. We saw Charles' Bridge, the Castle (which really should be called a Palace), the new town, the old town, took the furnicular up the hill and found an awesome little restaurant built into the rock that used to be a wine cellar. A little note to those of you who are squeemish about eyes on your food: they serve fish whole over here... my trout at lunch had the full shabang with eyes and tail and fins in tact (yes, Erich had to cut the head off for me to even look at it) - but it was really really tasty! While it is a beautiful city, we're still not sure why everyone raves about Prague. It was overcrowded, everybody had english menus (what's the fun of travelling if you don't have to mime for your food?!), and we have seen prettier cities...

For example, Vienna!! We arrived on Thursday (staying at Wombat's the Base) and have explored the Museum Quartier, admiring the architecture and gardens and sculptures (Erich has decided he wants lions incorporated on a massive monument over his grave). Yesterday we walked through the main "downtown" with more pretty buildings, a church with an entirely mosaic roof, and found a bookstore selling english books so we picked up one each (we should have brought books!). That night, we went to see the Wienner Mozart Orchestra (no, it's not sponsered by Oscar Meyer it's pronounced vee-en-er) perform in one of the really nice opera halls in the city. Today we went to the Spanish Riding show in the famous riding hall - cheap standing tickets for 25euro with a view of the full arena (the seats right in front of us were 100!!). It was amazing for Emma, and they did a few moves that impressed Erich too. His favourite is the "three legged dog trot" also known as the canter. They jumped on the spot, stood on their hind legs, and did a bunch of moves that Emma used to be able to do at one point. We followed that by taking the U-Bahn to the palace just outside the city centre. We walked through the gardens and its huge fountains and odd placements of grass-filled areas that you weren't allowed to walk on.

A note on style: The mullet is sadly back in fashion here (Graham, if you ever decide to grow one back, you're only allowed to do it here)... we're talking the people that think they're really cool with their mullets, not just the dirty country people with them.

We will post photos once we find an internet cafe that will let us :). Use your imaginations for now... Tomorrow we are off to Munich, so we will have to take photos so that we remember it all when we stagger out of the Biergartens.

Great Days in Berlin

We are very much enjoying the wonderful weather in berlin its hitting about 25C during the day and staying warm at night which is great as there is an awesome patio at this hostel. We've seen a lot of very interesting sights, the brandenburg gate, the tier gartens, the pergamon musuem (whole city gates from babylonia and massive portions of greek and roman temples have been reassembled inside the museum. Lots of friendly people at this hostel which is a nice change from the last one. Tomorrow we leave for prague which from what everybody has been telling us is an absolutly amaying citz. Sorry for the lack of pics, we will post some more once we get to a computer that will let us.

Safe and Sound in Berlin!

We made this trip without getting on a wrong train or walking in the wrong direction! Our hostel looks really cool, but we can't see our room yet. Can't add photos from here either, the computers are locked... sorry! There's a bar, buffet breakfast, pool table, foosball table, patio, and bbq though! Will update when we do something exciting :).

Travemünde by Bike

I'm too layz to fix it todaz, so the y's should be z's and z's should be y's.

We ventured off today to the tourist islandish area of Travemünde, about 20km from Lübeck (unless you're us and get lost everzwhere you go!!) We needed a bus to take us (for free) through a mini chunnel, and a 2min ferry ride to get us to the little community. We found the riding barn, but thex couldn't take us until later. So we rode around the neighbourhoods for a bit, found a great big sandz beach, and a pirate ship called Passat. Bz the time we could have gone back to the barn, it was pouring rain so we rode back to the hostel to do laundrz instead! The laundramat suggested bz the hostel was a little basement room where the owners spoke russian, and german as well as Erich so it worked out fine. Going in search of more schniyel tonight - one restaurant had vegetarian fake meat so it should be interesting!

Guten Tag!

That means Hello in German! We're in Lübeck right now, a tiny little city in northern Germany near the North Sea. Well, the old town, or Altstadt, is tiny, and surrounded by a moat-like canal. The city gates are really cool and the friendly lions päps used to play on are still there:

We managed to get off at the wrong station on our way here... the conductor didn't quite get the full station name translation, so we ended up in a suburb rather than Hamburg's main station. But, we landed safe and sound at our Hostelling International hostel - newer than others we've stayed at, so lacking some character, but clean. Apparently not many tourists come here because we've been lucky to find English speakers - Ive managed to not eat too much meat in the food ordering process though so all is well, and Erich is managing to find Schnitzel everywhere we go so he is very happy....or maybe that is the whole new set of beers he has to 'try'.

Hoping the weather holds out for the next couple of days, as we are going to rent bikes to ride to the coast tomorrow, and around the city on Thursday.

Schüss! (Bye!)

Sex, drugs, rock and roll.... and Spiderman

That's right... we arrived last night in the famous city with legalized prostitution, and cops who turn a blind eye to pot-selling "coffee shops" and we went to see Spiderman 3 with Dutch subtitles! In our defense, it was raining and not very nice out. Our hostel is alright, not my favourite, but it'll do. We're in a 20-person dorm very close to the sites and activities in the city. There are even red light windows just up the street! ;) It really is one of those things you have to see to fully appreciate... no photos are allowed of the girls, however, so you'll have to come to witness it.

Today, we got a nice bagel sandwich from the local grocery store and headed out for a guided "free"walking tour of the city. Our guide was very enthusiastic - largely due to the fact that with this company, they work only for tips. She gave us a run down of the old town and the history of the beginnings of Amsterdam as a port city, through the red light district, the new town, and finishing at the Anne Frank house, where the line was too long to go see.

It has been raining on and off for the past couple of days, so we're hoping the sun will break soon! This afternoon we're off to explore around the hostel. Oh, and Graham - while the scent of weed is everywhere, we haven't actually stepped inside a coffee shop. Apparently you can get high from just going in though!

Off to Amsterdam Today

Well we've enjoyed our quiet stay here in Bruge away from the hustle and bustle of the mega cities. We've been on a scenic bike tour of the entire olde town following beautiful pathways beside the defensive canal that surrounds the medieval portion of the city. There are also perserved windmills along the portion of bike path near the canal. This city has a history of milling and weaving so windmills and lace shops everywhere.

Many of the bridge across the canal still have the city gates intact, like the one shown below with all traffic passing through them, and drawbridges on all of the bridges across the canal.
Belgium may have a poor environmental record but they get the idea here. In the picture you see three out of the dozen "Bike Racks" at the train station. Since it is so flat in the city it is extremely easy to get around on a bike if you don't mind sharing with cars and horse and buggys on a road that could not fit a hummer.

So that's all we have time for now, as it is off to the bahnoff to catch the train to amsterdam. Will update you on our multicoloured interdimensional adventures from there.

Brugges

Sunday started off nice and early (and abruptly) to a fire alarm at 6am - some idiot decided it was a great idea to smoke in the hallway under a smoke detector. Once we calmed down from a most nerve wracking wake-up, the day was spent heading up to Montmartre. We repented our sins during mass at Sacre Coeur - it was actually kind of weird, because a full mass service was going on yet tourists were herded around the outer isles. We did actually sit down for a bit to listen to the singing and french sermons. The church is an 18th century masterpiece, a major landmark for the skyline of Paris. On to something completely different, we wandered over to the Moulin Rouge. For at least $150CAD each, we decided not to see a show (see photos in previous post).

Our next hostel is much improved over Young and Happy. We arrived after only getting on one wrong train (thanks to the bad advice from a rather unhelpful information desk attendant). At least we have the Eurail Passes, so we can get on as many wrong trains as we want as long as they're all within 24 hours! Our hostel is called Lybeer's Traveller's Hotel, and is on a quaint backstreet very close to the bussling mainstreet. OK, who are we kidding, everything is close to everything else in Brugge - it is a rather refreshing change after the Paris metro.

Once settled into our private room with ensuite 3-piece, we went to the Choco-Show, a chocolate museum full of the history of the cocao bean and manufacturing of chocolate... including Belgian chocolate samples (and statues that would rival those in the Louvre)!
Dinner at a great little restaurant hidden away off the main drag "De Hobbit" where Erich had all you can eat ribs (sorry Pa, but you're pork ribs can't compare...you have 5 weeks to learn to make bbq pork ribs with a special steak spice that makes them absolutely delicous..Im talking 36 bones left on my plate without an ounce of meat - delicious!!!) look at that boneyard! Emma had tiger shrimp and salad, both of which were soaking in 1.5inches deep of melted garlic butter. We accompanied our splurging feasts with a ridiculously oversized pint of Hoegaarden. Fully refuelled, we're back at the hostel to update you on our day!

Pictures from Paris

(EuroStar train from London to Paris)(Le Tour Eiffel et la belle Emma)

(The back of Notre Dame)

(The front of Sacre Coeur)

(The famous burlesque house itself...)

Bonjour!

Nous sommes en Paris dans "Young and Happy" hostel. The chunnel ride was interesting, not very long under the channel at all. Nice scenery through the countryside of England and France. We survived buying subway tickets and finding our hostel with Emma's very broken french and Erich's helpful additions. The hostel is much better than reviews made it out to be (thanks Kim for the reassurance!)... it's very tall, but we are on the 2nd floor so the narrow staircase wasn't a problem. It is right in the Latin quarter, and once we arrived we walked to Notre Dam and then on to the Louvre, where under-26's get in free after 6:00pm on Fridays! Spent just over an hour, witnessing first hand the Mona Lisa and Venus Di Milo and other beautiful and often odd pieces of art. You know we're engineers when we spent time figuring out how a picture was hung rather than admiring the art!

First drops of rain this evening (actually, it poured and was a full on thunder storm). Had dinner down the street where Emma attempted to survive a bistro without eating meat - she survived by ordering 2 side dishes. Erich did his best to survive by having to eat a wonderfully tastey duck and garlic fried potatoes...life is rough.

We're hoping the weather clears up for some outdoor sight seeing.... we're also hoping somebody is reading our blog (there aren't any posts recently!).

A bien tot!

Off to Paris

Well all of our hostel accomadations have now been booked, straight through to Amsterdam, Yay!! We leave for paris tomorrow at 10:10 via the chunnel, which should be very exciting. Enjoyed another beautiful day with wonderful weather. Got some great pics of Stonehenge.

As can be seen we had blue skies and sun again making this the best possible weather. Finished off the day with some shopping in the Covent Gardens and dinner at a trendy Morracan resturant. Nifty little picture below is "street art" done by Banksy, any fans of The Hour probably know who he is. This was found along the Thames right across from Westminster Abby.

At the London Ritz

(Cliffs at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh)

(Calton Hill, Edinburgh)

OK, so we're not at the Ritz, but it might as well be! The photo of Erich over Edinburgh is from the cliffs at Arthur's Seat, where we hiked on Saturday. Our last day in Scotland was spent walking the New Town, hiked up Calton Hill which is full of monuments and an unfinished Pantheon (above), and had a nice supper which we bought from a grocery store (DEFINITELY the way to eat - so much cheaper!). We caught some live folk music at a tiny little pub called Sandy Bells full of locals (needless to say, we stuck out like sore thumbs).

(Cheers! A night at the races)

(View from the Owner's stands)

Our flight to London's Gatwick was relatively painless - EasyJet was comfortable but the baggage pickup at Gatwick was the worst I've ever seen. We had a driver pick us up (holding a sign saying "Emma Halsall") and whisked us off to my second cousins' house, David and Yvonne, in Kingswood. We were pleasantly surprised with travel cards which allowed us unlimited travel into the city (about a 40min ride) and on the underground and buses in London. They took us to Windsor Raceway, where one of David's horses was having her first run. She (and I) lost, but Erich won £4.60. We enjoyed privilages of post race champagne with some of D&Y's friends and access to "owner's only" area including standing in the middle of the parade circle where the horses are walked around before the race to help people determine which horse they will bet on. We were then taken out for dinner at a great Indian restaurant before crashing in style. Our bedroom has an ensuite and little sitting area. The house is fantastic - words can't even describe so I have photos:

The last 2 days have been spent in London. As you can see in the photos, the sun does shine here! It has been warmish and clear blue skies since we arrived - we are in the UK, I swear! On Tuesday, we got our Chunnel passes and did riverboat and hop-on-hop-off bus tours. We did a lot of walking around the main roads and back roads, ate lunch in the garden of St. Paul's Cathedral (photo), strolled through Green Park where we found a Canada Memorial, and visited Buckingham Palace from the outside (photo). Today was spent at the Natural History Museum and checking out the famous department store, Harrod's. The museum included exhibits on human evolution, earth processes, ecology, resource consumption, and dinosaurs (Erich's favourite). Harrod's is a massive store, with a huge food market featuring bakeries, butchers, fresh ice cream, sushi, etc. etc. all very fancily presented. We came back to the house to get some laundry done and hopefully find a hostel in Paris. It's a bank holiday which is making finding accomodations a nightmare! (Lunch outside St. Paul's)(Buckingham)

We feel we are public transportation masters now, and hope we get along as well where they don't speak our language. Still have to figure out what we're doing tomorrow - thinking of Stone Henge or Oxford or more London touring. Will keep you posted as we continue our adventure!