http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/mordrek021/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from mordrek021 en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:35:07 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:35:07 +0000 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Lucerne/blog-304850.html 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 ex http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-304849.html 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 re http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Hamburg/Hamburg/blog-304848.html 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 th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-298103.html 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 w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Lower-Saxony/G-ttingen/blog-298102.html After yet another stressfree 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Hessen/Frankfurt/blog-298101.html 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 head http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Munich/blog-296919.html 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 wh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Ionian-Islands/blog-296917.html 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 driv http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-288764.html 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 t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Ionian-Islands/Corfu/blog-286810.html After yet another very scenic train ride from Florence Tamsin and I arrive in Rome and boy was it hot. The Rome train station seemed like a small mall as it had plenty of shops located underneath and even had its own supermarket which proved very useful. A short walk through what seemed like a pretty dodgy area and we where at our hostel. I am becoming used to sleeping on bunk beds but this wa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-286507.html If you do ever decide to visit Italy I suggest travelling by train. The countryside is amazing to look at. Especially in the Tuscany area. After a short walk from the train station we arrived at our accommodation in Florence called Plus Florence Hostel. This is quite possibly the nicest hostel we have stayed at. The staff here are incredibly friendly all seem to be fluent in english and gave us http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-281800.html Well its been awhile since my last entry so I thought it was time for an update.Tamsin and I left Barcelona for Marseille by train with a quick changeover in Montpellier. After spending most of the day travelling we finally arrived at our destination only to realise we didnt actually know where our hotel was located. A short visit to a nearby internet soon fixed that and we were on our way again. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Marseille/blog-281798.html Once again making the most of our Rail Passes we head off to Milan by train. Travelling along the coast of France and Italy was pretty coolbut I think to truly appreciated the views of the landscape you would need to be on a boat on the Mediterranean looking towards the land. The directions we were given to get to the hotel were really good up to the point where we actually needed to find the hot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lombardy/Milan/blog-281797.html After catching the TGV back to Paris the Metro to another train station a train to the airport and a monorail to our terminal we finally boarded our plane to Barcelona. We left Paris pretty much overcast and threatening with rain as Tours had done for the last 3 days. When we arrived in Spain it was a completely different story. The weather was awesome. Sun shining brightly not a cloud in the s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-275822.html On April 28th we caught the TGV from Paris to Tours the Loire Valley for 4 days. Riding on the TGV was quite exciting afterall its not very often you get to travel 300km's an hour on a train especially in Auckland. Pretty much the only reason to go to this area is to check out the Chateau's that are dotted around the Valley. There are about 50 in total. While we were there we took a couple of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Centre/Tours/blog-275821.html The first thing I noticed about Paris is how absolutely massive it is. The Airport is gigantic We had to catch a train and the metro just to get to our accommodation. The hostel we stayed at was basically brand new and located near several metro stops. The metro itself is very easy to navigate once you figure it out and you can travel just about anywhere for the one fare. That following day we me http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-270861.html After a short plane flight from Edinburgh we arrived in Dublin. Getting directions from the airport to the city centre proved interesting as we were given 3 different sets of directions and two were from bus drivers standing next to each other. We eventually made it to town and found our hostel without too much hassle. As with previous cities we did the sightseeing tour to get an idea of what to s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-270857.html I have to say York is a fantastic place. We stayed at the YHA a rather nice place considering it's hostel accommodation which was about a 20 minute walk from the city. The sightseeing tour was by far the best of the trip so far as it had a live guide rather than a prerecorded audio tour. The following day we went off to the National Railway museum which is absolutely huge easily more than 50 t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-267456.html Tamsin I travelled by train to Bath and experienced one of their delightful unscheduled stops in the middle of nowhere. After sitting for about 5 minutes we eventually got under way again with no reason as to why we stopped. Nevermind we arrived pretty much on time anyway. The hostel we stayed in was pretty much as expected cramped and hot. But hey you get what you pay for. As for the city it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Oxfordshire/Oxford/blog-263653.html