turnipblade

Day 19 - Amsterdam I’m the first to wake up in our room, as this morning we have a cycle tour around Amsterdam, I am quite looking forward to it as I enjoy cycling and this is the cycling capital of the world. I have a cold shower and head down for breakfast. A few of our group are down in the food area, the breakfast is bread, no toasting facilities and no butter. It’s lame, I dunno how they can call this breakfast, anyhow I partake in bread. I then head outside for the ride, where it is chucking it down, but about a dozen of us brave the rain for our bike ride, which didn’t cost anything extra. Our guide gives us a bike and waterproof jacket, which I decide not to use, as ... read more

Day 17 Berlin I wake up and feel dreadful, at first I blame it on the kebab but realise that I have hangover, this is the first time I’ve been hungover since I was 19. I head down for breakfast and just have some water, we then jump on the coach and head into town for our Third Reich walking tour. We meet up with our guide, an American guy called Jim, we start at the Reichstag, which currently has a stage being dismantled from the party the night before, it doesn;t make for great photos. He begins by giving us the story of how the Nazi’s came to power and how the war begun. Whilst we are stood there I feel like I’m going to throw up, can you imagine the scene, Englishman throwing up ... read more

Day 15 - Prague I wake up at 5:45 ready for today’s early morning sports fixture. St Kilda v Collingwood in the AFL Grand Final Replay. Three of us head out to a local American pub to watch the match. Andrea, Brendan and myself brave the early morning to watch one of the biggest sporting events in Australia....The question you’re asking is why am I, an Englishman, going to watch an Aussie Rules match. Well I’m interested in learning a bit about a new sport, plus it’s kinda exciting. On the way my friends inform me of the basics of the sport and how teams score. We arrive at the pub and it isn’t open yet but there are a few Australians outside. We get in and grab a good seat just in time for the ... read more

Day 13 - Venice to Tirol Region Another travel day today, with an early start, as we are travelling to Austria for our single night there. I sit near the back of the coach, with a crowd of people who are becoming regulars at the back. The guys from Sydney, Kiwi, Marten, Josh, Trent, Lucy, Annaliese and Mel. We play a game which Lucy started, similar in annoyance to my hot air balloon game yesterday. I figure out the link early on in the game. The scenery outside the window is fairly pretty, similar to that in Switzerland. We pass an Olympic ski jump, which if I was guessing may have been in Innsbruck. My major annoyance today is that I turned my kindle on and the screen has frozen, the damn thing has broke.....aaarrrrggggggghhhh. I’m ... read more

Day 11 - Rome to Venice I wake up and pack my bags again, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pack my bag. At breakfast we are treated to sausage...amazing. Today we have a different coach driver as due to EU working time directives, Phil has to have a rest, therefore he has gone ahead to Venice and we have a new driver, Paulie, for today’s trip. We stop for the customary picnic lunch which looks like leftovers from yesterday’s dinner. Today’s mini stop is in the town of Verona, famous for being the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. As romance is in the air Jess decides for fun that we will write mystery love letters for a random person on the trip. This is quite fun. I draw Brunette Mel, who I hanged around with ... read more