http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Adam-and-Saz/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Adam and Saz en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:05:48 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:05:48 +0000 Sarah's Thoughts The flight over from OZ to San Fran was great Qantas certainly is the way to go on these longhaul flights as the food was actually edible and to Adamrsquos delight the huge range of booze was free and we had noone sitting next to us so we could stretch out and catch some zrsquos. Qantas is indeed fabulous and makes United look like an airborne tin can with even worse s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-265470.html Adam's thoughtsAh the Vegas. First thought 'this sht ain't right'. I mean we are in the middle of the desert Who in their right mind thinks 'hey a neon fuelled city would be sweet right about here' Very surreal in that sense the place is essentially baron except for all of the huge over the top man made casinoresorts but hey thatrsquos Vegas right Once in a lifetime for sure. All http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Nevada/Las-Vegas/blog-265472.html Firstly not so close to Vegas a six hour bus ride away. Not so bad though did get to take in the Nevada landscape from the passenger seat as well as making stops at Hoover Dam and along the old Route 66 it was delisted by the US in the late 80rsquos. And yes the exWater Board in me was impressed by the scope design and history of the Hoover Dam. When we arrived at the Canyon its not li http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Grand-Canyon-National-Park/blog-269641.html Sarah's ThoughtsNYC was in a heatwave and it was over 35 degrees everyday The apartment we stayed in was fantastic one block away from times square so right in the thick of things we got broadway discount tickets to Phantom of the Opera which Adam loved and Avenue Q a crazy show with people and muppets that Adam made me leave halfway through before he killed someone. We did all the tou http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-265473.html Another laid back city a very wealthy city but not so that you'd notice outward reflections of wealth are frowned upon in Boston apparently a very specific Bostonian cultural oddity.... There is a lot of history associated with this city re the birth of lsquoAmericarsquo the original patriots originated from this area. So it was very interesting walking around the city. I liked boston http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-265474.html Pingu goin all out in the US of A http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-269707.html With Tamira contemplating leaving just after Christmas it was a question of could we possibly squish everything to see in Paris into a weekend Well we were going to try our damdest...We flew into Charles de Gaulle airport at 11pm and then had to pay an exorbitant 80EUR cab ride into our hotel in the centre of Paris. The following day was filled with much walking Tamira in thongs in the freezi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-277209.html Australia vs Nigeria Friendly match Fulham Craven Cottage http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Fulham/blog-277273.html I had been told the Foofighters were showman and I did not leave this gig disappointed If you want the album version of a song its best to stay at home and play it on the stereo This gig was something else entirely a session based around the general concept of how the album song plays out. For example monkeywrench usually a 10 second intro before a break and then lsquowhat have we done wit http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-269686.html A December birthday in London Time to get Miserable Started the day with lunch at a Belgian beer hall in Covent Garden that was positively delightful and so begins my love affair with Belgian beer Then of course it was Miserable time my favourite stage production right at my fingertips in the West End Awesome absolutely awesome show. Capped the day off with a wander around the Christmas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-269683.html Xmas in Belgium a grand little adventure Perhaps.... The trip started via the Eurostar as smooth and as fast as advertised. Definitely the preferred option over flying where possible carry your bags on 5 minute customrsquos check on the departure side and simply walk out of the station on the arrival side brilliantArrived in Brussels and it was time to pick up the hire car hmm drive http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-275407.html Pingu Does Belgium waffles and all http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/blog-269705.html Time spent around old London Town Jan Feb http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-277277.html Why the ultimate footballing weekend For one it was truly English Rugby and Football. And secondly and perhaps more importantly it was all corporately sponsored The weekend started with a trip for Adam to Twickenham to watch England v Wales in the opener of the 2008 6 Nations. The corporate ticket was everything yoursquod expect a three course meal and open bar before the game seats on th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-269687.html Allie and I decided the only way to cement our whirlwind friendship was to take a girly weekend away and so with Adamrsquos blessing we ventured to every girlrsquos shopping Mecca Rome.The only dampener to our weekend away was that although we were visiting one of the most glamorous and chic cities on the planet we were doing it on the pinch and neither of us can afford the many expensive http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-265480.html Another trip to the mainland and another road trip.... this time we came prepared Sat Nav style After a disastrous attempt at navigating the illsignposted roads of Belgium in Flemish and French we decided that should we not want this trip to end in divorce we should pull out the pounds and invest in a SatNav when hiring the car. Zurich Luzern Interlaken We arrived in Zurich and pick http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-272212.html The first wedding anniversary weekend where else but Paris right Very lazy long weekend away this one. Settled ourselves into accommodation just two streets back from the Louvre and frittered the time away meandering between various sites of historicalcultural significance and cafersquos drinking wine and eating cheeseNotre Dame the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre were as impressive as ever http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-271236.html Yes the weather has warmed up this past week or so low to mid 20's and sunny. Great part of the world to be when the weather is good. We took our first road trip around the UK on the first weekend of May 7 months after arriving... Headed down to Chawton and visited Jane Austen's house where she wrote the likes of Emma etc. Then moseyed on over to Winchester where King Arthur's round table re http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-274089.html Travelling in Italy is at the same time both extremely frustrating and hilarious.Driving on the large freeways that connect the different parts of the Italy is like being a speedway driver in some sort of kamikaze death race. The easiest way that we found to deal with driving was to treat the speed limits as a bare minimum rather than a maximum. On the motorway you can spot the born and bred Ita http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Amalfi/blog-285000.html When organising this trip we noticed that the blog boards were full of every man and his dog expressing an opinion over which is better Pompeii or Herculaneum. Well we had the time so we decided to overexpose ourselves to ancient Italia and visit both in the same day. Maybe not the wisest plan as it ended up not really a question of which site was lsquobetterrsquo as they were both really http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Naples/blog-290789.html