Thats how I was greeted by the Immigration officer in Frankfurt. After first disembarking from the plane, there were police at the gates asking to check everyone's passports. Seeing an Australian passport we were waved through, they only seemed concerned were the Russian ones. Last stop and one I was definately looking forward to was Frankfurt, after spending some time there at the end of my trip last time. With not so much time, and even less after a 3hr delay in Moscow we hit the ground running, booking two tours, one a day trip to the Rhine River the next [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Moscow late, approximately 10pm after a 6hr train ride from St Petersburg. Luckily we’d manage to secure transfers before we left and there was our driver waiting at the end of the platform. It could’ve been very interesting trying to secure a taxi and also nerve-racking seeing the number of police and officials around and trying to get a taxi would’ve put the bright neon “tourist” sign over our heads. We arrived at our hotel the Aerostar, while in the middle of nowhere, was gorgeous, definitely the flashiest we’ve stayed in. After asking the p [View Full Entry]

---

---

A six hour train ride to Moscow is what the day had in store for me. The wind in St Petersburg that blew straight through you, threatening to take your umbrella with it, quickly put an end to any ideas we had to spend our last few hours wandering the old streets. Back to the hotel and a long lunch, before jumping in the waiting car to take us to the train station. Thankfully, since traffic was about as awful as the weather, the station was only 20minutes away. Leaving Chris to decipher the information board written in Cyrillic, I found [View Full Entry]

---

---

I arrived in St Petes almost expecting the worse, slow and rude bureaucracy, little English and police officers wanting bribes and pickpockets as far as the eye could see. I must say so far, there has been none of these issues. We were clever enough to secure a private city tour before we left Perth and we woke on our first full day in St Petes, filled with anticipation. St Petersburg as a city is only 300 years old and has gone through several name changes before arriving at the city we know it as today. In 1924 it was renamed [View Full Entry]

---

---

As we found out our last night in Brussels, 5 Duvels seemed like a good idea at the time, particularly when two were free, not so much when you have 3 hours sleep and then have to catch two planes..... Anyway, we arrived in Brussels after two days in Antwerp at Brussels Central, a train station only a short way from our hotel. The only problem was finding a road sign to identify exactly where we were. As the rain grew heavier and heavier, we gave up at headed to the taxi queue. After giving the drivers the address of the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Except there were no real hills in Antwerp... And I did not see an ant... Mosquitoes yes... The trip to Antwerp nearly wasnt.. After catching the Eurostar to Brussels, we proceeded to find the connecting to Antwerp, after much confusion we were ushered onto a train, only to be put in the first class cabin. We did not have first class tickets so I jumped off the train to have a better look.. Next thing I know the bells are ringing, Chris is screaming at me and the train was about to leave! Luckily, I managed to jump back onto the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Landing in London at 10am after flying from New York to Washington to catch our connecting flight, just to fly over New York, an English immigration officer that gave us the third degree worse than the Yanks, we were tired but ready to start experiencing London! First stop the laundromat for our first wash of the trip! nice eh ;) The theatre is a favourite for me here and after going to Broadway, I was able to drag Chris to two West End shows, my two favourites, Wicked and We Will Rock You... He liked Wicked, he LOVED We Will Rock [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in New York after a relatively comfortable 3hour flight, the plane left on time which has been a plus on this trip. We jumped in a taxi and took in the sights while we drove to our hotel, however we’d only driven about 10minutes when we hit gridlock… utter utter gridlock. What should’ve been a 20minute drive from La Guardia airport turned into an hour long nightmare of horns and fumes. We finally got sight of our hotel and our spirits lifted. There it was, in a good location and across the road from an Irish pub. Fantastic! We [View Full Entry]

---

---

Denver is a very outdoorsy town, and a very big town on physical exercise too, makes sense as I didnt see a single fat person in all of Golden! There's skiing in the winter and cycling in the summer, Chris is still trying to convince me to ski.... One thing that you hear about but you dont appreciate until you are there, is the change in the air as you get higher in altitude, and there really is a difference, headaches, nausea and tiredness, we have felt it all in the short time we've been here and there's still 80% of [View Full Entry]

---

---

On our last few days in Vegas, all I kept hearing was about the temperature in Phoenix, “its been 120degrees in Phoenix….” Etc etc, upon hearing this and then converting this into Celsius I nearly cried, nearly 50degrees! So off we headed to Phoenix, a little cautious about the weather, and let me tell you, it is HOT! Although only in the high 30’s, thank god, I don’t think I could stand it any hotter. We’re staying in a small little motel about 20minutes from downtown Phoenix so all exploring has been done just around this area but I cant complain. [View Full Entry]

---

---