http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/tardree/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from tardree en-us Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:47:36 +0000 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:47:36 +0000 Chongqing to ChengduMatt and Ed Matt After four days of singing dancing and drinking our way down the Yangtze we were woken for the final time by the chimes of our cabin tannoy followed by a couple of lines of Chinese and apparently an English translation. Ed who has become an expert in Chinglish explained that the message had announced our arrival in the city of Chongqing and told us tha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-149056.html Shanghai to Yichang Fendu and ChongqingMatt and EdMatt doing the Time Warp Ed Irsquom turning 30 this year. So you would think in that time I would have learnt a thing or two about responsible drinking. Alas our last night in Shanghai proved me wrong. By the time we had bonded with some expats over a few and I donrsquot use the term lightly vodka lime and sodas over five hours into the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/Yangtze-River/blog-147150.html London to ShanghaiMatt and Ed Matt Irsquom not sure where my desire to visit China really came from. It may have been images of Great Walls Giant Pandas Terrocotta Warriors or Communist Dictators. More likely though it was probably just the opportunity to taste duck in any flavour that was the clincher. Either way Ed and I now find ourselves travelling around this enormous country on our w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-145756.html MattDonrsquot you find it annoying when you go out for a drink with a few mates and the conversation turns to something you canrsquot contribute to Whether it is a movie you havenrsquot been to a song you havenrsquot heard or a current event that you havenrsquot read up on I always find myself sitting back sighing obviously and waiting for the conversation to turn to something a li http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Dubrovnik/blog-111040.html EdHaving not spent nearly enough time with Annette and Paul gallivanting across Scotland and the Greek islands we decided to go back for more and meet them for the weekend in Lucerne have I mentioned how much I love living in London We almost made a major blunder when booking the flights for some reason we thought Lausanne was the same place as Lucerne. Before you rush to judge note that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/North-West/Lucerne/blog-108355.html Christopher After having visited so many places it should come as no surprise that Ed and Matt are finding it hard to find the time to write their blogs. So theyrsquove delegated the task of writing about Scotland to me. After spending 2 weeks staying with the boys see Brighton and Bath entries I spent 5 weeks travelling around the continent and returned just in time to join them on a Scot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-109993.html AnnetteLike Christopher I have been delegated to write about our Greek Odyssey with the boys. Everybody whorsquos anybody knows that Greece has always been like the Holy Grail to me. Finally with Ed Matt and Paul in tow we set out on this journey of self discoveryAfter a semi teary goodbye to Christopher we set out for the train ride to Luton airport which was pretty uneventful. That all c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/blog-110434.html MattAfter a two day entre of gorgeous panoramas cute villages and of course amazing pizza and pasta mum Ed and I had arranged to gorge ourselves stupid on a main course of four days in Tuscany and Rome.After shedding a tear for Steve Irwin on the streets of Montorosso thank you mum we caught a train to La Spezia the nearest main city to pick up our car. From there we drove directl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-110797.html MattOne of the most important lessons my mother ever taught me as a child was to be persistent if I didnrsquot succeed at something at first I should try again until I did. Itrsquos not without irony then that this valuable advice should come back to bite my mother as I launched a second attempt at wiping her out this time in Italy.My reattempt started with the familiar Friday afternoon d http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-110100.html MattI guess there comes a point in every parentchild relationship when the roles are reversed and the parent becomes dependent on their dependent. Although for most this is a gradual process that happens over a period of years for me I can now give the exact time and location that this change happened for my mum and me. Thank you ParisMum had arrived in London about a week earlier. Being t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-106504.html EdWell after their European adventure my parents and Sarah returned to London to cook up a Peruvian feast for us my mother was appalled to find all we kept in our fridge was a half empty bottle of wine and some sour milk. But despite all the fabulous eating we managed to drag ourselves out of the flat long enough to show them some of the sights in and around London. However after travell http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Somerset/Bath/blog-104748.html EdMatt once told me Brighton was the quintessential summer spot for Londoners escaping the city for some surf and sun but having experienced it only in the middle of winter back in 2001 it was hard to imagine that this quiet seaside town could turn into a hot spot that would rival Rio during Carnival.Our friend Christopher was arriving on Friday so we decided not to plan anything major for the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/East-Sussex/Brighton/blog-89361.html Ed Irsquom exhausted After surviving all the obstacles imposed on us in France I thought the day was never going to be over. Matt heroically arrived just after 1pm to rescue us from Toulouse in a green eight seat people mover which would be our transport over the next week. As we headed towards the Spanish border everyonersquos personality and peculiarities began to emerge Matt was cr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/blog-100574.html EdNow arranging a trip for eight people is no easy task. Juggling different interests budgets physical stamina and moods all requires the coordination skills usually reserved for NASA rocket scientists. However after a year of travelling around Europe Matt and I felt confident that our experience would mean we would have no problem arranging a surprise trip to Disneyland with my younger s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-93021.html MattI guess tucked away in the back of everyonersquos head is a list of places that you must visit before you die. Some lists maybe short others simple alas mine is neither.Although over the past nine months I have been able to cross a heap of places off my inflated and hugely expensive list number one Egypt still seemed a bit unreachable I guess the whole Africa thing makes it seem fu http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/blog-93210.html MattJust a quick note to say thank you for all the birthday cards phone calls emails SMS and packs of Tim Tams. Itrsquos good to know that despite being 17000 kms away and not being able to drop casual hints it wasnrsquot forgottenI ended having an awesome day. It all started the morning before when I was in the shower and heard the doorbell ring. After a few minutes Ed told me to c http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/West-Hampstead/blog-77522.html MattBelgium didnrsquot really impress Ed and me the last time we were there five years ago. Looking back I remember it more as this hazy void between the beauty of Berlin and the debauchery of Amsterdam or as nine hours of my life that Irsquoll never get back. And so when a few of our friends suggested that we take a weekend in Brugge I was less than enthusiasticMy doubts eased howeve http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-77049.html EdNow if you arrive at an airport and a taxi driver meets you at the gates and tells you he can take you to town and grabs yours bags and starts walking away without giving you an opportunity to say a word surely alarm bells start ringing. But oh no not to Matthew. He happily followed this strange man and obediently stepped into his 70rsquos Dacia Communist era car brand with no door http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Muntenia/Bucharest/blog-63272.html MattA lot of my mates in London were surprised when I told them that Ed and I were doing a road trip around Germany over the Easter break. For some reason the British seem to have a pretty bad opinion of all things German. If you believed them Germany is a country filled with nothing but humourless BMW drivers who live in dull grey cities and have waning libidos. I guess the whole two wars i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Rhineland-Palatinate/Bad-Salzig/blog-61145.html EdAfter trekking for two long days through Gallipoli all I wanted was some sleep Unfortunately with a 630am flight to Kayseri all we managed was to cram in five hours of slumber Whaaah We arrived at the domestic terminal at around 530am and were met by these long queues. One thing you can say about the Turkish is that they are big on security guess experience does count for something. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Cappadocia/blog-63024.html