Au reviour Paris, hello home

I'm sitting in the emirates lounge in Dubai waiting for the last part of my flight home enjoying a glass of Moët. Contemplating the horror of a 14 hour flight!! The last four days of my holiday in Paris were lovely. I wandered the streets, went to a couple of museums, sat in a brasserie drinking coffee/wine/beer and watched the world go by and went o Giverny to visit Monet's garden. My last day was spent lunching, shopping and enjoying some wine with good friends Matt, Lewis and Terry. What a nice way to finish my trip.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

I have spent a lovely three days in Brittany with Tara and her small daughter Charlie. The coastline line here is spectacular and the weather was really lovely. Sunshine every day, but the wind off the ocean is still very cold. In France they call Brittany the end of the world as its the last land before you hit the US. They also have a very different culture, having a Celtic heritage they are more akin to Wales and Ireland than they are to France and there is a big movement here to bring back the Breton language and the Breton culture. I managed to get to a Fest Noz (at an Irish Pub in Brest) and watch some traditional Breton dancing and listen to some music, great fun, everyone young and old joins in the dancing. I also managed to watch the entire (only) season of Firefly and will be looking for the DVD of the movie, Serenity, that supposedly ties up the loose ends as soon as I get home.

As dad would say "ABC"

Well, it's a week since my last post and in that time I've done a loop around Germany. When Mum and Dad went to Europe many years ago Dad came back with the Saying ABC, Another Bloody Church/Cathedral/Castle, and this is certainly true, the church/cathedral and the castle/palace are at the heart of every European city. I was in Munich for the night of the football championship and its was crazy in town. People everywhere in red and white and everyone drinks in the streets. Kids here are allowed to drink and and beer when they turn 16 (harder liquor when they are 18) and there are no restrictions to drinking in the street. I liked Munich a lot and would like to go back for another visit. After Munich we headed south to Bavaria where the scenery is spectacular, it's almost like someone has painted a backdrop of snow capped mountains and hung it from the sky. We went to the medieval city of Rothenberg where the biggest Christmas shop I ever seen lives. Then onto Oberammergau (another Christmas shop and the place where the town has been producing the Passion Play since 1634) and a visit to the spectacular Neuschwanstein palace, but for my money Lindhof palace was more spectacular overall. A night spent in the Black Forest where I had one of the best views from my bedroom window then back to Frankfurt where The tour finished. I then headed off to Stuttgart where I caught up with Christoph and his family (Christoph was an exchange student who lived with my sister last year) and had a lovely time with Christoph showing me some of the highlights, including the Mercedes museum. What have I loved about Germany? The people are great, the countryside is spectacular (particularly in Bavaria and the Black Forest) and I'm really glad I have been here. I am now in Lyon waiting on a flight to Brest where I will spend the next couple of days with Tara, (I'll have to get used to a different language) and then to Paris for my last few days.

The Princess and the Pea

Those who know me well know that sleep and I have a tenuous relationship. Usually when I go away I take my own pillow with me but on longer trips (and when you are trying to keep your luggage to a minimum) that's not always possible. The hotel beds and pillows have been varied on this trip. There is a tendency here for hotels to use feather pillows, not ths big plump ones, but poor excuses for pillows that when you put your head on one it goes as flat as a pancake. Now you can usually compensate for that by using about three of them together, but when you couple that with a bed that is like sleeping on a plank of wood you have a problem. The NH chain of hotels where I have spent the last three nights is one such place, so my advise is to avoid them like the plague!! We are nw heading for Munich after spending a couple of nights in Berlin and then one in Nuremberg. Along the way we stopped at Leipzig, best known for Bach. Berlin was amazing and another city to which I'd like to return and explore further. We did the highlights, Checkoint Charlie, pieces of the wall etc, as well as a trip to Potsdam. All very recent history.

There's a castle around every corner

Heathrow airport was busy but relatively easy to get through all the security etc. unfortunately, because Qantas and British Airways aren't good friends anymore, you can only use the BA lounge at terminal 3 and I was in terminal 5. So I was forced to hang out with the masses, with no wifi. But a very nice customer service person gave me the BA lounge login and I casually stood outside the door of the lounge facebooking and emailing. I had a fabulous weekend in Stockholm seeing my Swedish "family", its been 10 years but it felt like just yesterday. Susanne (my Swedish daughter) and I hung around Gamla Stan (Old Town) and went on a tour of the castle (something which Susanne, who has lived in Stockholm all her life, had never done) and wandered around the shops. We had a great evening watching Eurovision and I'm starting a campaign to get Australia in, maybe as a non competing country. I also, under sufferance went to the ABBA museum, but only took photos, its $30 entry fee. BTW, there is a big Eurovision controversy at the moment with Russia claiming points were stolen from them and they are sending the ambassador to check it out! The trip to Frankfurt took a couple of hours but then I had to wait for another hour from the time we landed till the luggage arrived (so much for German efficiency). The first day in Germany was very quiet as it was a public holiday and there was nothing open. On Tuesday morning we set off on the 10 day tour of Germany. Our first stop was a cruise down the Rhine, now I know what everyone talks about when they say how beautiful it is. There is a literally a castle around every bend of the river. We then headed to Cologne and checked out the city and the Cathedral that dominates the city centre before heading to Dusseldorf where we stayed the night and spent some time in the city enjoying a beer and watching the people. Have arrived in Berlin after a four hour trip on the fast train, and a very comfortable journey it was. I've been on a tour around the highlights of Berlin, of which there are many, and now settled into the hotel and looking forward to a day of sight seeing tomorrow. It's a bit hit and miss with Wifi access. It was better in the UK with access at almost every cafe and some public places but then it varies at hotels, with some charging, some giving you a half hour and then you have to log in again and others being totally free. Somebody needs to speak to them about getting their act together, in this day and age you should be able to get it free when you stay in a hotel, I have written many a feedback form telling them just that.

Hej Sverige (Hello Sweden)

I'm now in Stockholm after the whirlwind tour of the UK. Edinburgh was my favourite city and I'd definitely like to go back there and explore a bit more. The weather was freezing so it would be nice to be there if it was a bit warmer. On the way back to London we stayed in York and walked the tiny medieval streets up to York Minster, which is an amazing building to see. We then traveled on to Stratford where we visited Anne Hathaway's house and Shakespeare's childhood home and the museum. It was great to see the plays have been translated into so many languages, including a Klingon version of Hamlet! A couple of hours on the motorway and we were back in London. It was a very quick tour and a bit tiring but still a great way to get a taste of the UK. I had a nice couple of days in London, catching up with friends, hula hooping, visting Dr Johnson's house and the markets, lunching and, seeing Star Trek at IMAX. (Does anyone remember the episode of Blackadder where they accidently burnt Samuel Johnson's only draft of his dictionary and Baldrick and Blackadder were trying to write a new one? Hilarious! Definition of C? Big blue wobbly thing. LOL) It's really really good to see my Swedish "daughter" again after 10 years and to meet her son, Ludwig. I'm looking forward to the weekend with Susanne and her family and, of course, Eurovision, and apparently a visit to the Abba museum is de rigueur!!

Och Aye Edinburgh

Well it's been an eventful few days since my last post. We stayed in Dublin for two nights which was great as it gave me a bit of time to catch my breath. I quite liked Dublin but there was nothing that would induce me to go back there. When we left Dublin we went past Wexford which was the home of some of my ancestors (mum wrote a book about it, 'From Wexford to Van Diemans Land') apparently there's not much in Wexford so didn't miss out on anything by not stopping there. The trip from Dublin to Edinburgh was long and also involved a sea journey. But you'll be pleased to know it was relatively smooth and no where near as scary as the trip across to Ireland. we stopped in Belfast on the way through and this was interesting, the tour guide gave us a potted history of the "Irish troubles" which was the best explanation I've heard and I now have a much better understanding of the conflict. We arrived in Edinburgh late yesterday afternoon and I was immediately taken by the city. The castle dominates from above and the architecture of the old and new towns is really interesting. The only downside is the weather, it's bloody freezing! Edinburgh is one city I will definitely come back to. I'm sitting in a pub now with an ale and waiting for a cheese and pickle sandwich.