The train journey from Berlin to Basel went by relatively quickly despite its length and following that it was a short yet incredibly hot (no air conditioning) and noisy trip to Lucerne. It may have been very noisy but the scenery was pretty amazing. Switzerland looks a lot like the South Island of New Zealand with snow capped mountains, lush green fields and sparkling blue lakes. Upon our arrival at the train station we had a short walk to what turned out to be very nice accommodation located quite close to the river and 'Old Town' area. Our first day in [View Full Entry]

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After having several days off with a cold (in what is basically summer) we were both quite relieved to be heading to Berlin to do some more sightseeing, especially the Reichstag and the remains of the Berlin Wall. So after a very quick trip through the very flat East German countryside we arrived at Berlin Central station. As with all the other major German cities, Berlin's public transport was exceptional and made getting to our hostel very simple, although we did get off the S-Bahn (suburban train) one stop early and had to walk about a kilometre to the hostel, which [View Full Entry]

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After our short trip to Amsterdam we went to stay with our friend Johannes back in Hamburg who took us on a cruise of the Hamburg Port which is one of the largest in the world. Following that we watched the final of the football, Germany versus Spain. Unfortunately Germany did not win, so it was a very quiet night in Hamburg. The following day we headed across town to stay with some of Tamsin's relatives. During our stay with Johannes we caught his cold and ended up spending the next 2 days inside watching dvd's which meant no sightseeing and [View Full Entry]

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After yet another stress-free train trip we arrived in Frankfurt, which has probably the most impressive looking central station building I have seen so far. Even better than the station building was the fact that our hostel was directly over the road making it the shortest walk to accommodation so far, and when you are carrying over 20kg's worth of stuff that is an incredible relief. Once at the hostel we discovered they had conveniently lost our reservation but were able to accommodate us in the same type of room for less than we initally thought. Then it was off to [View Full Entry]

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Upon arrival at Goettingen train station we were greeted by our hosts and whisked through the countryside to a little village called Sieboldshausen. As the house was elevated slighty it had a fantastic view to the east and west overlooking other villages and forests. After quite an extensive lunch we headed to a little medieval village called Hannover Munden to look at some amazing old buildings which are over 850 years old. On our second day we were taken into Goettingen to see an exhibition of items Captain Cook acquired during his journeys around South America, Asia, Australasia and Africa. This [View Full Entry]

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After spending one night in Hamburg with a friend I studied with we head to Amsterdam. On the way there we had to switch trains which normally isn't an issue except this time I got stuck in the mens bathroom at the train station thanks to a faulty turnstyle. The staff there then proceeded to yell in german for me to push (I think) which didn't work, so he came over, waived something in front of the sensor then yanked it free, thus freeing me. After a quick stint on the second train we arrived in Amsterdam to what would have [View Full Entry]

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After doing one days sightseeing we headed from Venice up to Munich through the picturesque Austrian Alps by train. Upon arrival at the Munich Central Station we were greeted by the sight of Germany's High Speed trains called ICE which look and go pretty damn fast. After doing a sightseeing tour by bus to see what Munich had to offer and a Barvarian beer tasting at the hostel we stayed at, we headed off to Stuttgart for the day. The reason for this was to go visit the absolutely amazing Mercedes Benz Museum. The building itself is an impressive piece of [View Full Entry]

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Now Greece is serviced by a pretty vast network of ferries and we planned to catch one from Patras to Venice. To do this we first needed to catch one of Greece's very unreliable trains. The train was clearly to small for the amount of passengers trying to use it because each time we stopped more people would get on causing quite cramped conditions for all aboard. We also managed to strike a day where there was construction on the tracks so were then advised we were to catch a bus to the next station in order to continue the journey. [View Full Entry]

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The trip from Igoumenitsa was quite an experience. Although the scenery was pretty amazing as we went along the Greek coastline the driving of other motorists and the bus driver was pretty dubious. Was beginning to wonder if we would arrive in one piece especially after seeing two cars passing vehicles in opposite lanes narrowly miss each other returning to their own lane and seeing the bus driver talk on his cellphone (despite having a handsfree kit) and smoke a cigarette all while navigating tight bends through various mountains, we did eventually arrive in Athens at about 111pm. Upon arrival [View Full Entry]

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Although we were sad to be leaving Rome, Tamsin and I headed off to Bari by train to catch an overnight ferry to Corfu Island in Greece. Now, sleeping on the floor of a moving ferry is quite possibly the worst thing i've ever tried to do. The reason we slept on the floor is our Rail Passes allows us "free deck passage" which means exactly that, and the price to upgrade to a dorm room was a bit too high unfortunately. So after pretty much no sleep and very little food we arrive at the port in Corfu. Good [View Full Entry]

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