Lucerne We were up nice and early as we planned to journey up to the top of Mount Pilatus. I was really disappointed as it was grey and very foggy and I figured we wouldn't be able to see anything. How wrong I was!! The coach took us to Kriens where we hopped on a cable car that took us up to Fräkmüntegg, which is about half way up the mountain. After only a few minutes we had risen above the fog and it was a glorious sunny day. Below us were farms and forests and you could see tracks where [View Full Entry]

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Day 11 - Florence to Pisa to Lucerne This was a big travelling day. We got off reasonably early and it didn't take long to get in to Pisa. The main attraction there of course, is the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This can be found in the Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles") which is a walled square in the heart of the city of Pisa. Not only does it contain the Leaning Tower, but there is also the Duomo (the Cathedral) and the Baptistery. The sun was out and we had struck another beautiful day. While there were a lot [View Full Entry]

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Day 10 - Florence I'm afraid I didn't do Florence justice :-( Being slightly hungover and generally really tired from all the travelling, we headed into the centre of Florence on a very warm day to be greated by thousands of tourists. I did manage to last for most of a guided walking tour of the city though. It's another beautiful city which is considered by many to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. It is the capital city of the region of Tuscany and has had many famous inhabitants including Florence Nightingale, Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, etc. Our first [View Full Entry]

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Day 9 - Rome to Florence via Siena After brekkie it was back to the bus and on our way to the Tuscan hill town of Siena. Siena is reknown for being the best-preserved medieval city in Italy. This is largely due to the fact that very little modern building has taken place inside the city walls since the 16th century, leaving it's character relatively unspoiled. The city centre of Siena is enclosed by walls and gates and is made up of narrow, winding streets and plenty of old buildings and palaces. Our first stop was at the Basilica of St. [View Full Entry]

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Day 8 - Rome We were up waayy early and on the bus by 6:45am in the attempt to beat the crowds to the Vatican. And we did. Well sort of, there were about 50 people in front of us, but that was nothing. Not long after we arrived, the queue was already massive. Apparently about 20,000 people go through the Vatican each day. So big points to Red Bull for getting us up so early!! We had a local guide who gave us headsets so we could hear her and held up a big stick with a handkerchief tied to [View Full Entry]

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Day 7 - Venice to Rome Big bus day today. Journey was about 6hours in total but the scenery was good. We travelled via Bologna across the Apennines and saw several Walled Towns, ruins, and Tuscan vineyards and olive groves. I sat in the front of the bus for the first time. Great views from there. Should have done that ages ago. We arrived late in the afternoon raring for a swim, but the hotel pool was empty :-( Even though the weather was still really warm, it's not officially summer any more so the pool has just been emptied out. [View Full Entry]

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Day 6 - Venice First thing in the morning we caught a boat to the main island of Venice to re-visit Piazza San Marco's in daylight. It was soooooo much busier during the day and there were hundreds of pigeons. The great thing is though, that there is no traffic. There are no roads on these islands so hence no cars. The only form of transport other then walking, is by gondola, ferry or some other boat. After a quick orientation from Red Bull and photos of the San Marco Basilica, the Bell Tower and the square itself, we wandered down [View Full Entry]

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Day 5 - Munich to Austria to Venice A big trip today so we had an early start. Pretty much everyone looked worse for wear, some more then others - Gunter!! Most people slept on the way to Austria which is a shame as the views were amazing as we passed Austria's Western Alps. We reached Innsbruck in the Austrian Tyrol about 11ish and went for a wander through the city centre. It was yet another gorgeous day with no clouds and the scenery was spectacular. We saw the Golden Roof (Goldenes Dachl) with its gold-plated tiles, which was built around [View Full Entry]

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The Oktoberfest Wow, where to start. It's like a Disneyland for adults ;-) The festival lasts for 16 days and besides the 14 or so beer tents, there are hundreds of side shows, food stalls, carnival rides, shops, etc. It was one big party. Many of the locals were in traditional costume, and apparently they even turn up to work in that during the festival season. While there was obviously a lot of drinking happening (the internet says an average of 6 million litres of beer is drunk in that 16 days), the crowds weren't unruly and everyone seemed to be [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 - Hoffheim to Munich via Heidelberg After another sausages and eggs brekkie we headed off to Heidelberg, which is the oldest town in Europe (as well as being a student town). Heidelberg is very picturesque and I loved it. Me and Georgia took a walk up to the Castle Ruins (built from the 13th to the 17th Century). It's rumoured to have beneath it a VAT which holds 221,000 litres of wine, but we didn't manage to find this! Again we were lucky and had a stunning day and the views from the castle were amazing. [View Full Entry]

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