Hello again Western World! (London, Paris, Bruges)

We were all struck by a sense of culture shock arriving in civilised and orderly London after having become accustomed to India's vast contradictions of wealth and poverty, beautiful scenery juxtaposed with mountains of rubbish and some of the world's poorest, yet kindest people. However, within minutes of leaving the airport we were eagerly anticipating hot showers, western food and a washing machine and couldn't wait for our European leg to commence.

Our first full London day was basically spent eating and shopping. After visiting the sensational food halls of Harrods, Selfridges and Marks and Spencer’s, and getting our fill of missed Western treats, we moved on to Oxford street for some much needed shopping (replacing items that had to be thrown out after hot and sweaty India). The next day however we played proper tourists and visited the usual London spots on any good tourist’s agenda, including Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden. The day’s highlights however, were definitely meeting up with two friends from home (our first New Zealanders in six weeks!) Meg and Lydia for a beer in a pint (so super British) and then going to London's West End to see the stage show 'Wicked', which was incredible! On day three we were finally reunited with Zara, the fourth member of our European travelling team, and it was time to hit Paris...

One very quick, clean and efficient train ride later (something we were most unused to after India) we arrived in Paris - the city of love, wine and incredible sweet treats. Our six Parisian days were spent doing all the usual tourist activities, including the Eiffel Tower, walking down the beautifully decadent Champs-Elysees, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe and visiting Versailles - to explore the former palace of the French royal family, Marie-Antoinette’s house and the overwhelmingly huge gardens. We also trekked 20 metres underground to see Paris’s rather spooky Catacombes - a tomb of millions of human bones decoratively laid out, which was established in 1785 as a hygienic alternative to Paris’s overflowing crematories. The breathtaking Scare-Coeur, a gorgeous 20th century church with amazing views over the city, and the Notre Dame were also tourist excursions we ticked off the list.

Although all of these sites were interesting and beautiful our best times in Paris were simply spent wandering and living the French life. Sifting around artisan food and antique markets, drinking excellent French wine, eating incredible pastries and enjoying being in a city that is so hyped up but actually lives up to ones high expectations. We were also lucky enough to meet up with three friends from home, so had the privilege of taking on Paris with two more New Zealanders and one Scot (which also made for some messy group nights out in our local Latin Quarter!).

Rather sadly we bid farewell to Paris and set off to begin our Busabout European tour (for those who may not know Busabout is a bus service designed specifically for backpackers, as it enables travellers to hop on and off at different locations for any time period they choose). First stop: Bruges.

Bruges, a quaint Belgium city, was a welcome relief after the fast times of Paris. Back down to our original travelling foursome, we spent our two days mainly chilling and slowing down to a small town pace. Despite a lot of sleeping and consumption of waffles, chocolates, beer and frites, we did actually manage some touristy adventures. We climbed the famous Belfry Tower (the tower that features so heavily in the film ‘In Bruges’ - for those of you that haven’t seen this, please go rent it now as it is a fabulous film) and also visited the Church where Michelangelo’s famous ‘Madonna and Child’ sculpture resides. However, our best tourist outing was when we hired bikes and went on a journey out of town to find the Belgium seaside. Although we got a bit lost and never actually found the seaside the scenery was gorgeous and we did discover a tiny Belgium town with a very Belgium pub and enjoyed Belgium beer instead.

In the aforementioned movie ‘In Bruges’ Colin Farrell’s character says “If I grew up on a farm and was retarded Bruges might impress me. But I didn’t, so it doesn’t”. Well we highly disagree with you Colin, because Bruges was awesome and not just because of all the delectable Belgium chocolate!

Next stop: Amsterdam.

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