Well, not really 'flooded' I guess, it's more of a drizzle - the first rain we've had so far so I suppose we can't complain. After our guided tour of the city Emma and I have sought refuge in an internet cafe in an attempt to remain dry until we meet up with our tour manager guy again. Florence is kinda cool - now we know where the ninja turtles come from (Donatello, Rapael etc). More importantly however, it's EASTER today, and you would not believe the size of the egg we got. Our lovely tour manager and his side kick driver aquired a 3kg which they passed around the bus for us to share. Mmmm, chocolate. Unfortuately for me, it was dark chocolate - but hey, it was a good idea. We're still in recovery ... read more

Today we left Amsterdam and ventured into the German countryside - man, there are castles everywhere there! We only had a little bit of time in Germany, but we did get to do a cruise on the Rhein river which was really cool - all the little villages on the banks looked so German (yes, I know that sounds obvious, but they did!) We spend the night in a small town called St Goar which seemed very touristy - I get the impression they make a lot of money from tour groups like us! Pretty cool place though.... read more

Well, I'm sure you all (except maybe Andrew, judging by his comment...) will be pleased to know that we arrived safely in London at about lunchtime yesterday. The landing part of the flight was really really cool - London is absolutely huge! Yes, I know that's probably rather an obvious statement, but the enormity of it really hits you from the air. From Heathrow we had to find our way to the Royal National hotel where we are staying, a seemingly simple task... which in the end turned into a bit of an 'adventure'. It turns out that the train loop that runs between the terminals at Heathrow is being upgraded, so we had to get a bus from the terminal to the nearest train staion - that was easy enough. From there we lugged suitcases ... read more

A couple of people have asked where I'm going to be when - well basically its a quick 16 day European Encounter Contiki tour around Europe, then some driving around Scotland and England, then off to Ireland for a bit. The more specific details are: Tue 15/3 ~ 10.15pm Fly to London (QF31) Wed 16/3 ~ Arrive London about midday Thu 17/3 ~ Sightseeing in London Fri 18/3 ~ Start the Contiki tour: London to Amsterdam Sat 19/3 ~ Sightseeing in Amsterdam Sun 20/3 ~ Amsterdam to Rhine Valley Mon 21/3 ~ Rhine Valley to Engelberg Tue 22/3 ~ Day in Engelberg Wed 23/3 ~ Engelberg to Innsbruck Thu 24/3 ~ Innsbruck to Venice Fri 25/3 ~ Venice to Rome Sat 26/3 ~ Rome sightseeing Sun 27/3 ~ Rome to Florence Mon 28/3 ~ Florence to ... read more

Ok, so I'm not technically travelling yet - but I thought I'd test out some potential blog sites and see which one I like the most. (Yes, I know I'm a nerd - but you all love me anyway...right?) It looks like its going to be kind of cold - Marg kindly emailed this article to me from the SMH this morning: url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Snap-freeze-temperatures-plummet-in-Europe/2005/03/02/1109700504579.htmlSnap freeze: temperatures plummet in Europe Now, I wonder how I go about inserting a photo?... read more