Saturday, 30 June 2007

Lauterbrunnen - Avignon - Barcelona - French Riviera

Hi guys and gals,

Well, after we left you last time, we headed for the train station and jumped on a train back up to Lauterbrunnen from Interlaken (passing a hooters on the way just for the record). After our lovely scenic train ride back up into the valley we returned our bikes and headed for the Trummelbach falls. It was a fair walk, but it was worth every step!! These waterfalls actually run down through the mountain, and you are only able to get in and see them because tracks have been carved out for tourists just like us. The noise inside is incredible, and the power of the waters thundering down is scary!! There is so much spray that you need a raincoat, and this also makes getting photos quite difficult, but we managed to get a few. After we were done there we set off for a refreshing walk back to camp in the pouring rain!!

The next morning we set off for Avignon, once we got there we did a walking tour of the city, which is mostly conveniently located within the ancient walls that had been created to keep the Popes safe from bandits when they were hanging out there. This is when my £4 sandals decided to have a major blowout, sadly they could not be saved, so a replacement had to be purchased from the lovely french lad who let us scoot under his door just as he was shutting up shop for the night!! From there the group went our seperate ways for dinner.... I know its sad that we had McDonalds, but for any of you who remember the movie Pulp Fiction, you will understand why the oppourtunity to order a royal with cheese and a glass of beer was just to good to turn down!!!

After such a healthy dinner we figured we had earnt a beer or 2, so we headed back to the campsite store, picked up a few tinnies and travelled the whole 30 odd paces to the edge of the river to watch the sun go down....so romantic!! The rest of the group joined us on the river bank an hour or so later, and we hung out together until Arnoux and I piked out at around 11pm.... what a pair of old fogies aye!!

We only had one night in Avignon, so the next morning we piled onto the coach and headed for our next stop - Barcelona. Luckily on the way, however, we stopped off at the Pont du Gard. the largest aquaduct ever built by the Romans...very cool!! (Chris, I apologise if this is not historically correct, but this was the information that we were given..... not that I imagine Chris has time to read this.....). From there it was off to Barca, and after a quick city tour in the coach we set off for dinner. The food was good, but the highlight was most certainly the 1 litre servings of Sangria, the local drink. It consists of red wine, vodka, martini, sugar and (I think) fanta..... it was sooooo good, and soooooo easy to drink!!

The next day was a pretty cruisy one, after breakkie we headed for the food markets that Robbie had mentioned were a must see.... and he wasnt wrong!! The place was amazing!! Seafood, meat, veges, fruit, lollies etc etc as far as the eye could see, and every single stall was immaculately presented, I dont know how anyone ever decides which place they are going to buy their stuff from, for every food group you have about 20 options!! From there we just took a stroll down the main strip, La Rambla. There were these really cool characters all along the street dressed up like various things from a pirate, to a fruit lady, to the guy sitting on a toilet....very cool. The stomachs were rumbling so we picked up some lunch and headed down to the marina to eat. When we got there we discovered that there were loads and loads of fish hanging around near the pier...so we thought feeding them would be a good idea. Before we knew it there were literally hundreds of them swarming for every crumb of muffin, and we sat there for a good hour and a half and forgot to save any muffin for ourselves!!!

After a quick tourist stop to take some photos of the Christopher Columbus memorial we headed for the beach. Neither of us were dressed to swim so we just hung out on the sand and watch the world go by. Never had we seen so many guys in man strings, or old, very very large woman who thought it a good idea to get their bits out.... but after all, it is completely legal in Barcelona to be completely nude!!! We think that maybe a few bylaws could be required.....

After a bit of a siesta to sleep of the remains of our sangria hangovers it was off to dinner with Tui and Simon. We had become very fond of tapas while in London, but there really is nothing like Spanish tapas in spain.....YUMMY!!

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to Spain, and hello again to France as we headed for the French Riviera. On the way we stopped at a place that sold really really cheap booze and smokes, so we decided it would be silly not to buy an 11 euro bottle of vodka..... sadly that bottle is no longer with us.... we mourn his loss.... but he was very tasty last night!!! Oh yeah, on the way to the campsite we stopped off for a tour of a perfumery.... Arnoux did not make any purchases, as they did not sell any 'name brands'...... WHAT A PERFUME SNOB!!! HAHAHAHAHA!! As soon as our tents were up it was off to the nearby beach for a pre dinner swim.... it was soooo nice!! Then after dinner and the demise of the vodka, a few of us thought a midnight dip was also in order, I guess you just have to do these things right!!

This morning we were dropped off in Nice to enjoy the magnificent day that the region has turned on for us. Once we are done here it is off to the Chateau for a few touristy photos overlooking the city before retiring to the beach.... its a tough life!! Tonight the casino in Monte Carlo calls......

We hope you are all well :-)

Just in case we dont get back to a computer before wednesday, just a big shout out to Aimee for her 14th birthday...Hope you have a huge and wonderful day dont give mum to much stress... HAPPY BDAY LIL SIS

Photos - Lauterbrunnen / Avignon / Barcelona / French Riviera


Training back up into the valley


Inside the Trummelbach falls


Outside the falls


Overlooking Avignon


Royal with cheese and a glass (or cup in this case) of beer!!


The setting for our beer by the river Rhone - Avignon


Arnoux at the Pont du Gard


The Pont du Gard


The Sagrada Familia - Barcelona


Inside the olympic stadium - Barcelona


Arnoux overlooking Barcelona


Oh dear, he's at it again...


Christopher Columbus monument - Barcelona


The fruit lady on La Rambla - Barcelona


The St Josephs markets - Barcelona


Oh no! We forgot to save any muffin for ourselves!!


The beach at Barcelona


The Silver Pirate on La Rambla - Barcelona


Winston Churchills V for Victory - French Riviera


Notice the big stack of chips at the empty chair.....


Looking over at where the other half live


Arnoux at the beach - Nice

Monday, 25 June 2007

From London to Paris, and on to Lauterbrunnen

Hey Guys and Gals,

On thursday night we stayed at the Globetrotter hostel, which is where our trip was departing from on friday morning. We had a pre departure meeting and met up with some of the other people on our trip, as well as our tour leader Robbie (he is an aussie....no surprises there). After some dinner and a few drinks we retired to our room, which was a massive improvement on previous hostel experiences. The next morning we awoke at 5.30am, and boarded the coach to Dover to catch the ferry over to Calais. After a (slight) delay in the arrival of our vessel, we set off and only 90 mins later we were on French soil. Our driver Jimmy then set course for Paris, our first destination. Thanks to our delay in Dover we got a first hand introduction to peak hour traffic on a friday night in Paris, and we were rather late getting to our campsite. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as by the time we had set up camp, had dinner, and were ready to head off for our city tour, the sun had gone down and we were able to appreciate why they call Paris the city of lights!!

After our first night in our tent we headed off for a free day to explore Paris. We started at the Notre Dame Cathedral, and there was some kind of service being held, so while we couldnt go in, we were treated to a heck of a show with religious figures in their robes, and a massive choir belting out some tunes. From there it was off to the Louvre, we had been told that we should expect massive lines...but we waltzed in like we had a VIP pass and got to looking. It wasnt tough to find the Mona Lisa...you just had to follow the crowds. We would have loved to take a photo of this historic piece, but sadly, unlike the numerous Japanese tourists around us, we obeyed the rules that stated no photos.... bugger!! Once we had checked out the Venus de Milo, we strolled around for another couple of hours, found works by ALL the Ninja Turtles, and made our way to the exit, where we enjoyed our packed lunch by the fountain.

After that we headed up to the Opera House, Im pretty sure that its not actually called that...but the name escapes me at the moment. We has seen this place on the city tour the night before, and we just had to check it out again.... we were just as impressed the second time around!!

From there it was off for a stroll up the famous Champs de Elysee, where all the fancy shops are.... of course our budget didnt extend much past a sneaky ice cream on the side of the road, but its the thought that counts right?? At the top was the uber impressive Arc de Triumph, surrounded by the craziest roundabout known to man.... 12 roads entering it, no lane markings, and the people already on the thing are required to give way to those trying to get on.... why you would EVER go through there is beyond us.... the thing is so dangerous that your insurance is not valid while you are using it!! We had been advised by Robbie that there is on average an accident every 14 minutes, so we parked our butts on a seat, had our afternoon tea, and waited for 14 minutes to see if we could see any fireworks..... sadly although we saw many close calls (including some maniac that thought it would be a good idea to ride his PUSH BIKE through there) everyone made it through unscathed.

After a small detour to check out Napoleans tomb, we headed for the Eiffel Tower....even though we had been walking all day and could barely feel our legs.... we for some reason thought it would be a good idea to climb up instead of using the lifts. We did (surprisingly) make it, and spent the next hour snapping photos in a fashion that even the most avid asian tourist would have been proud of!!!

Once we were done we headed down, which you would think would be easier...but its not!! We were due in the park under the tower for a champagne picnic of epic proportions. There was bubbly, seafood by the truckload, and not to be forgotten.... ESCARGO!!! We both fulfilled our civic duty and tried a snail.... edible, but a second helping was not required.

Once were suitably wobbly on champers, it was off to the Seine River for our evening cruise.

Did you know?

There is a scaled down version of the statue of liberty in Paris....its true!!

The good news was that Jimmy had smuggled another dozen bottles of Champers onto the boat, and was selling them for 5 euros a bottle!!! Arnoux and I thought it would be rude not to take him up on his offer, and the night went along rosily from there!!

The next morning, after breakfast, we packed up our tent and boarded the coach for the drive to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The campsite is the most amazing place, surrounded in all directions by the mountains of the swiss alps, and they have a stream outside the bar where the water (that is coming straight down from the mountains above) is so cold that you can put your beer in there to keep it cool until you are ready to consume it!! We took advantage of this nifty little trick.... and all was well!!

We woke up this morning and after breakfast we headed off to the town centre to hire ourselves a couple of mountain bikes for the day. A couple from Mackay in Australia joined us, and we set off through the hills. Not even the occasional rain shower could detract from the beauty of the place!! We finally found a sign pointing to Interlaken, and that is where we are now. We are going to go and check out the lake on the edge of the town, then hopefully head up to the water falls in the surrounding area.

Did you know?

The Swiss invented the internet.... and velcro!!

So that is about it for now, we are off to enjoy the bikes before we have to take them back.

I just want to say a slightly belated HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to Gee!!! Happy birthday buddy, hope you had a great day!!!

Photos - Paris and Lauterbrunnen


The white cliffs at Dover


The Tower by night - Arnoux


The tower by night - Shanan


Our tent set up in Paris


Outside the Louvre


The best we could do in terms of a photo of the lovely lady


The Arc de Triumph


The Champs de Elysee


Me and the Venus de Milo



Hey baby.....


At the top of the Eiffel Tower


Hurray for eating snails!!


On the boat cruise along the Seine river


Our driver Jimmy


Arnoux at camp


The view from the front door of our tent


Chilling our beers outside the bar


Us, Tui and Simon


We finally found a sign leading to Interlaken


Me and Simon


How you doin?


Alice was here last night

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

Time to tie up those loose ends

Hi all,

We are still in London sorting out the last minute details before we head off for Europe. We have spent a lot of time sorting out our tax refunds, which will no doubt come in very handy!! Also we have been rushing around like true little tourists snapping shots of all the sights of this wonderful city. Being the smart little cookies that we are, we put all those photos on a CD and sent them home yesterday....so there is no evidence of said photos..... I finally convinced Arnoux that we should do the London Eye before we leave, so we did that on monday, I thought it was amazing...Renee was happy as long as she didnt look down!!

We have been staying with a friend of mine John and his Mother, they have been absolutely wonderful, making us feel right at home and looking after us very well, we have been very spoilt!!

Tonight we are staying with my Uncle Neil and Aunty Helen, its a good excuse for a catch up and a few drinks. Tomorrow we are off to the hostel that our trip leaves from. We have a pre departure meeting tomorrow night and then we hit the bricks early friday morning... first stop Paris!!

Hope you are all well, Europe here we come!!

:-)

Friday, 15 June 2007

Return to London

Hi all,

We awoke in Liverpool on the last day of this leg of our trip. We had breakfast which included some of the best scrambled eggs known to man, and boarded the coach for the return to London. We stopped in Chester, but what was on offer was not enough to entice most people out into the absolute pouring rain....including us. Then it was on to Conwy, Wales. We checked out the castle, and had lunch at the local bakery.... the home of the greatest sausage rolls this side of Callums!!!

From there it was back on the road back to London.... everything was going along nicely in the torrential rain until the wiper blades on our coach chucked in the towel!! This gave us an extra hour to say goodbye to new friends before coming to the end of our journey.

We now have a week to see what is so far unseen in London before heading off to Europe on 22nd June. We are lucky enough to have a place to stay with my friend John that I was working with, and we will also get a chance to spend a couple of days with my Uncle Neil and Aunty Helen which will be great!!

We apologise for the delay in getting the blog back up to date, internet cafes were hard to come by until we got back to London, thankfully we have been assured that this will not be the case in Europe....so dont give up on us yet!!

Lastly, I just want to say a HUGE HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY to my darling Big Nanny for Wednesday, we hope you have a simply marvellous day!! Love you!!

Photos - Back to London via Conwy, Wales


Conwy Castle - Conwy, Wales


The Castle Drawbridge


The home of the worlds greatest sausage roll as voted by us!!


A long way from home.....

Farewell dear Scotland - Hello again England

Hi all,

Well the time eventually arrived where it was time to depart dear Scotland. We left Glasgow and our last taste of Scottish culture came at Gretna Green. This is where all the English youngsters used to go to get married when the legal age in England was raised to 21, while you could still get married in Scotland at 15. It was also the sight of the engagement of Ben and Jenna, another of our new 'couple friends'.

Once the celebrations were complete and the group photo had been taken, it was back on the coach and onto Liverpool...sadly the transition between Scotland and England came and went without much fuss, and even more sadly, no more cheesy border touristy photos!! Once we arrived in Liverpool we kicked dave off the coach, and swapped him for the resident Beatles expert (this is where I would tell you her name if we could remember it) for a guided tour of the city where it all began!! Highlights included the houses where the fab 4 grew up, a photo op at Penny Lane, and another at the old Strawberry Fields childrens home. Once the tour was complete it was back to the hotel to try and find our room.... this was much more difficult than you would ever imagine it could be!! We had to get off the lift at the first floor, walk down some stairs to the mezzanine floor, then work our way through a maze of other staircases before (accidentally) stumbling across our room!! After this mission impossible we were a little scared to head out for the farewell dinner for fear of never being able to find it again!!

Chris, I am sad to say that I was unable to visit your holy land Anfeild.... I had to make a choice between that and the Beatles store thanks to time limitations.... and that was an easy choice!!

Nevertheless we decided to brave it, and after half an hour battling with the WORST lift in the history of people moving equipment, we headed out for dinner. First stop though was the cavern club, where it really all did begin. After a drink and a few more cheesy photo ops, we headed off to the restaurant for dinner. Now, this was an optional part of the tour, and it wasnt cheap....but we were sold on the idea when Dave mentioned that we could order the steak, and it would be served on a volcanic rock which we could use to cook the meat just how we like it..... needless to say we were a little less than impressed when our table was last to order, and we were advised that they had run out of rocks!!! Luckily for me I wrangled a deal with Christina and scored myself a rock.... Arnoux had to go without.....not impressed!!! After a few half priced cocktails had eased the pain we had our desert and headed back to the hotel bar for a final farewell drink. If we hadnt dropped some breadcrumbs we might still be looking for our room today!!!

By the way, the reason that the bins in Liverpool are purple, is because when they had a vote on it, half the city voted Blue (for Everton) and the other half voted Red (for Liverpool FC), so they mixed them together and came up with purple!!

Photos - Leaving Scotland and onto Liverpool


Ben and Jenna - The newly engaged


Hangin' with Penny


They are forever - and Harry was here too!


Why are they purple Dave??


Excuse me sir, are you going to buy anything?


Dead 27 years and he still looks better than me


Where it all began


Our tour manager Canadian Dave



The fab 6 - Us, Vicky, Keith, Ash and Bec


The farewell dinner


Cook your own bloody steak Jake!!