Round the World

We made it to florence - our second last destination and were greated with airconditioned hotel - much beter than our venice experience - if there wasn't so much to see we would have been happy spending time there. But the sights were amazing. The views were remarkable - and could not want a better city to be spending time in. However the line to see *David* was too much for us - so we went on our merry way and saw Ponte Vechio etc.

Took a tour to Pisa as well to see the tower (greatest architectural stuff up ever) and that was a relaxing way to end our time in Florence (as well as seeing some of the Tuscan countryside).

Ice-cream is a stable diet here - it is sooooo good.

Have now arrived in final destination - ROMA.

So much to do and see if you can gain the energy in this heat.

So far we have seen the Colusseum, Pantheon, Piazza Venieza, Spanish Steps, Campo Fiori, and the ruins of ancient rome.

As we only have 3 sleeps left before our trip ends - we want to see as much as we can - but are getting very tired.

Rome is very hot - and fawlty towers does not believe in air con that works - on the positive we do have a small fan that we need to keep on all night because there is no such thing as a cool breeze during the night.

We have discovered living on alcohol is much cheaper than most other fluids.

(Not sure that is a good thing). Pace in Rome is much faster than Venice and florence.

Take care

well things have certainly heated up here.
we arrived by overnight train from Paris which was an experience. Stopped at the swiss border for over an hour with the sniffer dogs searching every carriage - and there were a lot of carriages.
We finally arrived to discover our hotel had been condemned and inhabitable. That was fun, but they had a note on the door recommending a hotel - lucky for us they had one room left - being peak season we were very lucky.
Then off to ATM - it kept returning our card because we wanted more than it was prepared to give us, so we thought we'd be stuck without money - but we
got there.

Saw St Marks square which was really nice - and still trying to work out the big deal about rialto bridge but markets on the bridge were OK.

The nights have been really warm as well. our room has no fan or aircon so sleep was minimal.

The second nite we indulged in a gondola ride - which was so peaceful and relaxing (and romantic) but be prepared for the price (2 nites accom).

We took a ferry ride to Lido and went to the beach there - which was packed and full of really brown people and some very sunburnt ones.

off to florence shortly.
ciao.

Paris!!!!!!

Good start to trip was on eurail we were fined for our travel agent not filling out our ticket validation.
but first class was good with dinner and dessert too - what more could we ask for.

first day we arrived in paris was a nice culture shock! not much english spoken here but u learn fast. bastards!!!!!!

after eating a good steak/tomato soup + the biggest beer ever seen we slept well (Sean won't be requesting a large beer for a while when they serve it by the gallon.

then seeing all paris could offer we walked and walked and walked and walked some more. we were both buggered after walked 21 km's. 1664 beer was tasty. Arc de triomphe was our favourite - watching cars make their way around the biggst ever round about. The longest ever ques at eiffel tower led us to believe the view was much better from arc de triomphe - and that's that story we are sticking too. Notre dam and louvre also on the agenda and got a picture with Mona.

We weren't around for bastille day celebrations but you can't do everything. We got to see Normandy and the beaches that the troops landed on, on d day.

today is sunday and they do believe in tradition and having a family day. we could only wish in australia. so not many shops open but jo did find out about flea market. walked there lost interest after ONE HOUR and only seen quarter of market time for the bar. midori and guinness were on order. its warm here current 31°(95 f) and climbing at 10.30 am.

one thing we have learnt is ordering in french is get it right, because this morning we order breakfast for 4 people. OOOPPPPSSSS.

Off to Venice tomorrow, hopeful we get to see the alps on the way.

Hi everyone - we are having a great time - and our time in Holland has just about ended. We took a hop-on-hop-off canal cruise - which was fun, and went to a flea market, and checked out quite a few shopping strips. It took a while to get out and about as the thunderstorm that hit amsterdam - was pretty full on. Of course we checked out the RLD - and yes it is as amazing as everyone says - the smell of pot in the area is not something you could get used to back home - nor the smoking in restaurants.
Today we took a excursion to a windmill village, saw how clogs get made at shoe factory, went to edam area to a cheese factory - some very nice cheese - and another little village by a big lake called Marken, and took a cruise - and back to Amsterdam - all within 5 hours. From there it was off to the Heineken Brewery - which was fun, sean got to sample more than his share, since I'm not really the biggest beer fan. It wasn't quite "the guinness brewery" but it was still quite good. Found a really great steak restaurant for dinner so enjoyed some argentinian beef.

We reached Dublin on Thursday, picked up our hire car, and were stuck in traffic jam for the next 2 hours. We finally got to our hotel after going round in not so round circles, and went straight to the guinness factory, where we spent the next four hours. It was quite an amazing place, even Jo tried drinking guinness, but sean was gratefully finished her entire pint.
The next morning we were up early and heading to tipperary. We stopped off at the Curragh, and then went to the Coolmore stud farm for our much awaited tour, which did not dissappoint. We got to pat Saddlers Wells and encosta de lago, as well as witness a superbly run farm.
From there we headed to Galway where we had a room booked for the night. Had a quick look around the city - but the scenery - is out on the open roads, with some breathtaking sights. From there our next stop was Derry. On the way we discovered a really cute place called Sligo were we stopped for coffee, but when we arrived in Derry the heavens had opened, so we continued on to Giants Causeway. We were so amazed by this, and lived up to all our expectations. We also stopped and checked out Dunance Castle which was also pretty cool.
On the way back to Derry we also spotted the Royal Portrush Golf Course, which once held the brittish open, so had a quick look at that as well. Then to Derry itself. Quite an empty place on a Sat night, and very scary, as everything is barred up and all windows had metal shutters. Broken glass lined every street. So we decided not to spend too long out exploring the streets at nite. By luck we met some Americans who were staying at the hostel with us. They were also going to be heading in our direction the next day - but they were in for a big night so weren't sure our paths would be crossing again. The next morning we explored the wall itself - which was really incredible, and as still nothing was open, we decided it was time to head to Belfast. As we were driving out, our new American friends were heading to the bus stop, so we picked them up and drove them to Belfast. Luckily we did, as they were staying the same place as us, and we would never have found the place. Once we got there and checked in, we all took a Black Cab tour, which takes you through the orange and green sections of Belfast, and teaches you about the history. They were also preparing for the big Bon Fires which are taking place on the 12th (good time not to be in Belfast).
Our time in Ireland/Northern Ireland managed to reach a high of 17 degrees, and rained every hour for about 5 mins.
It was such an interesting experience.
Then to the airport to drop off the car. As we drove to the international airport - we checked our itinerary, to discover we were departing from the city airport - so after quick scenic trip - we were headed back to the correct airport - then onto Amsterdam.