http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Wkndtraveler/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Wkndtraveler en-us Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:36:23 +0000 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:36:23 +0000 Lions Tigers Koalas oh my All of the wildlife that exists in Australia is also contained in the Taronga Zoo. We are not really siteseers for zoos but it was really impressive. You can take a quick ferry boat ride from Cirqular Quay to the Taronga Zoo. After being dropped off you just see trees and tons of a lot of green vegetation. We took the cable car to the top of the mountain after c http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-450278.html After numerous months of planning and talking about going to Australia we are finally here. The dreaded 15 hour flight was something that we were amazed went so smoothly. After getting on the plane in San Francisco and a few glasses of wine we woke up in time for breakfast and just in time to land. We have been here for only a day and it is no wonder why so many people love this country. The http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-448256.html Who knew the too of these would be related We headed out of Paris yesterday for some change of scenery due to the weather being cold in the city center. Both of us have never been to the Champagne region but it is very nice.There are numerous internet cafes here but the keyboard now is so complicated. In order to finish a sentence with a period you have to stop and shift a key. then every http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Champagne-Ardenne/Reims/blog-417121.html What else can we say there are thousands of bikes everywhere The hotel staff told us that there are 750000 inhabitants to the city of Amsterdam and over a million bikes They have bike parking garages to park them in all over town. The drivers of cars look out in every direction to make sure they don't hit anyone. We attempted to get around on bike on Sunday however we only made one turn ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-416052.html Just arrived in Amsterdam after a few days in Bruges Belgium. I have been doin so much sight seeing and experiencing of the culture that there has not been too much time to update where and what we have been doing on the internet. The internet availibility was in a shady convenient shop in Bruges Belgium that I would rather have spent time somewhere else. We just checked into our hotel and it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-415121.html This needs its own entry. We ran accross this really interesting outdoor exhibit on Tuesday in Berlin. It is a traveling throughout europe of women who cut wood or something like that when you translate it to english. The women all had muscles that we did not know existed. They were having ax throwing comeptitions who could cut a chunk of wood the fastest and who had the cleanest cut with a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-414335.html On Monday we landed in Berlin after a few days in Budapest. What a great city so far. It feels like New York city but very modern with new buildings all over and the feel of punk rock. It is really cool. Most people speak English and there is already a huge variety with the food selections. We were out till midnight last night walking by the remains of the Berlin wall. Plus it does not get http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-413674.html Budapest Hungary is beautiful at night and it feels very much like Eastern Europe. Their local currency is the Hungarian Forinth and they tend to transfer money to the euro and then we translate it into dollars...which after all the math in your head it was very expensive. The food was marginal at best so we relied on pizza for lunch and dinner. After 3 days of eating pizza we could not wait http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/Pest/blog-413670.html We traveled to Lake Tahoe for what we thought would be a great weekend of skiing. We arrived in South Lake Tahoe around 10 am from a long and early start to the morning from the Bay area. Plus it did not help that we were out late the night before living it up like we were still in our early 20's. The weather forecast all week predicted snow rain but mostly a snow mix for the weekend and I w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Lake-Tahoe/blog-406295.html Paris was wonderful and everything that it lives up to. I was not sure how to title this entry since I wanted to attempt to capture everything that happened on New Year's in Paris but also include other things that I just did not mention earlier. Sorry that it has taken me a few days to enter my last blog from my trip because I wanted to summarize a lot and I could not do it on the European keyb http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-360019.html Tuesday started out nice and then the weather turned and it could have been miserable...We saw beautiful blue skies early on then rain snow sleet and probably freezing rain before I returned back to the hotel. Instead of going to the museums I met up with my friend Isabelle from Paris and we hit one of the shopping districts and shopped until I could not carry the bags any longer. The shopping http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-358628.html No matter how many times I visit this city I am always in awe...On Monday I took a city tour for a few hours to let my foot rest and also stay warm. I am always amazed that people pay money to ride a bus around town but never look out the windows or plug in their headphones. I took the grand city tour that hit all of the highlights and then took another one that showed the st germain or latin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-358308.html I arrived in Paris today after what would be a short train ride but it seemed very long. I was in such a hurry to get on the train today that I did not notice we had assigned seats. I thought i picked a seat away from the crowd then when some nice French woman said I was sitting in her seat I realized it was too good to be true. My assigned seat was across from this man who smiled at me the en http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-358004.html Brussels is famous as the unofficial capital of Europe and the place where many business people come. However their landmarks are something different. I thought there was a missprint in my book but no. Their grand palace or square has beautiful statues on top of the buildings all pointing in different directions. The statues are pointing to...who tooted who farted. All around town the sta http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-357821.html What can be said besides...amazingIf you are black or white man or women democrat or republican American citizen or other nationality it did not matter on Tuesday November 4th in Chicago's Grant Park. History happens every day and to be there when so many people were celebrating history happen was something words are hard to describe. It has taken me a few weeks to post this entry since the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-354320.html The mecca of golf...Sawgrass Golf Course.I am not a very good or experienced golfer but to play a beautiful course makes you want to play beautiful courses every day. A couple friends and headed to Jacksonville to play Sawgrass The Players Course. It is what the pros play for a multimillion dollar tournament every year and we bet for 20 who would have the lowest score. When you walk off t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Jacksonville/blog-333984.html I hope to capture all of the exciting things and sites of my experience at the 2008 Oktoberfest in Germany. It is one of the best festivals hands down. There is nothing like it in the States to compare but hopefully for my family and friends reading this you will gain some additional insight.The Oktoberfest occurs for 16 days every year in Munich Germany. It starts out on the third to la http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-332393.html My sister and I made it back to the States yesterday and are safe and wanting already to go back on vacation It is somewhat good to be home but already miss the culture and diversity of Europe. The Europeans know what to take seriously and how to enjoy life. I am already missing the croissant for breakfast and beer throughout the day. This is the first time that we both have not craved a F http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/blog-329351.html Yesterday we headed off to Austria for the day since it was just an hour and a half train ride from Munich. The country from what we saw of it on the train is quite beautiful and very much like Switzerland. We landed in Salzburg around 10AM and walked around the city for a few hours. The city is the hometown of Mozart so everything is around his life. There were gardens where he developed som http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Salzburg-State/Salzburg/blog-328434.html We have busy for the last two days drinking beer Largely due to Oktoberfest.Munich is a great city with a lot of interesting places and a very efficient clean subway system. It has taken us only a few minutes to get to a beer garden or Oktoberfest. The beer is amazingly good cold and cheap Buffie has an alergic reaction to some bug bite and the only thing that is helping the pain is beer s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-327907.html