11 Countries in 14 Days

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Day 1 (9,581 steps)
Jumping on the bus in Greenwich early in the morning, we went straight to the train station. The bus drove on to the train, which felt just like when the cars drove on to the trucks in Fast and Furious, and the train took us to France. Without stopping we drove straight through to The Netherlands with a quick stop in Belgium (of course we stopped at a Belgian chocolate factory and of course I bought chocolate and of course it was delicious).
The drive was long and the naps were needed but the tour leader (Shabby) has a sick sense of humour and uses Justin Bieber as a 'wake up' song so we know whenever it plays we know we have to wake up and get off the bus. I think it has something to do with Justin Bieber giving us nightmares and therefore we wake up but apparently the jury is out...
Finally arriving in Amsterdam, we dump our bags at the hotel before we go out again. This time it is a dinner cruise along the canal. Pizza and ice cream while seeing some seriously beautiful views. You can't get much better than that. The after dinner walk takes us through the Red Light District because... well... when in Amsterdam right???

Day 2 (7,870 steps)
This morning we went to a local clog factory on a gouda dairy farm. It was cool to see the wood turning techniques that turn a chunk if wood into a pair of shoes and how they are decorated (primarily for tourists). The factory is basically a man doing this as his hobby on his dairy farm. The main income for him comes from milking cows and making gouda. Taste testing was the best. I really liked the natural, nut, and smoked varieties.
Then we stopped for a quick photo stop at a windmill. It kind of reminded me of all the 'big' attractions in Australia (big banana, big pineapple etc) because it was just a big windmill on the side of the road at a truck stop. Obligatory tourist photo done, it was time to hit the road again.
We ended up in St Goar, Germany. After some time walking around the little town (and eating traditional Black Forrest cake) we boarded a cruise to go down the Rhein. Many castles later we got off the boat at Boppard where we will stay the night. We went to a wine tasting of white, red, and ice wine (all were delicious) then walked around this little town before checking in to our accommodation. The view of the Rhein from our room is amazing!!

Day 3 (13,448 steps)
Today was a long day on the bus with only one real stop for lunch in Nuremberg. Finally arriving in Prague, we went on a walking tour to see the main part of the city at night. Everything was very pretty light up at night. We walked past the castle, over the bridge, and through main square to watch the astronomical clock chime. I thought it was going to do something cool like tell the time from the stars or something but it is just basically a cuckoo clock. Finally dinner at a restaurant which brings drink by train! (Think sushi train but it's actual model trains hauling drinks in their carriages and the tables act as stations the train stops at to deliver cargo). Prague seems pretty cooky that way.

Day 4 (23,613 steps)
Today was an awesome day away from the tour group in Prague. First I climbed a mountain to get to the Prague Castle. At the top of the mountain I discovered there is not much more intimidating than a massive Czech man in uniform (hot!!) jokingly asking if you have a bomb in your backpack as you go through security. It is like a little village up there with several buildings including the palace type buildings, a couple of churches, and Golden Lane (which i thought was going to be a street covered in gold, or maybe a Chinatown type structure but turned out to be just a couple of shops). Then I went back down the mountain to Lennon Wall where graffiti artists started decorating when protesting for peace during communism. I didn't think too much of it but I guess I'm just not quirky enough. Then I went to a cable-car-train thing which took me up to the next mountain. Despite being on top of the mountain I still couldn't figure out how to get to the lookout so I just ate a sausage for lunch and went back down. After walking along the river and across the famous bridge (apparently it is in a lot of movies), I got to the main square and got a chimney ice cream which was amazing and nearly the size of my head. Definitely worth it!! Then I walked through town a bit more before going to the local market and picking up some raspberries for later. Then I went to the communism museum by recommendation from the tour leader. It was good for a politically minded person because it was very informative of all the local politics of the last 100 years, but there were not many pictures or interactive displays so they lost my interest pretty quickly. Finally I was exhausted so I went back to the hotel to rest up ready for the night time festivities. Because... tonight was a folk night with traditional food (pig and potato) and dancing and probably more wine than was really necessary.

Day 5 (12,902 steps)
Breakfast in Czechia, lunch in Slovakia, and dinner in Hungary. This is the point of Europe!! Brataslavia surprised me. It is never somewhere I would have thought to go, but now it is on my list to go back to with more time. It seems sweet and pretty and everything nice (except the pickpockets apparently) and the lunch was good so wins all around. Finally arriving in Budapest we check in to our hotel and take a quick walk down the main street before joining a tour of the city. We walked up (close enough to) a million steps to Fisherman's something or other. It's a big church etc on top of a mountain and the views of the city from there are amazing. After driving through the city to see the sights up close, we joined a boat tour on the Danube. Budapest at night is every bit as beautiful as they advertise, no Photoshop needed!! Late night after this. Some of ua went to a ruin bar. The one we went to was this bar/club/beer garden type hybrid and inside it kind of looked like a hoarder's junk yard but in a completely cool and trendy kind of way. It was very hip and surprisingly quite fun (mostly because of the people there). In the early hours of the morning we finally dragged our buts back home.

Day 6 (17,336 steps)
Leaving Budapest we quickly drove to Vienna and joined a tour of the highlights of the city. We drove past and walked by many spectacular buildings including parliment, palaces, rose gardens, and of course the many opera houses which have Mozart concerts daily. We stopped for lunch in a cellar (schnitty and strudel of course) before heading off to explore the city by ourselves. We found a rooftop bar/cafe and stopped for coffee while watching the city buzz below us. Then we walked through the city before stopping for cheese kransky and Vienese cake for dinner and going back to the hotel for a relatively early night.

Day 7 (21,170 steps)
This morning we drove to Graz, birthplace of Arnold Schwarzenegger. We caught the lift up the inside of a mountain up to what used to be a castle but is now mostly and garden and a couple of memorial buildings. The views were amazing, even though the fog meant we couldn't see too far. Then we caught the cable car/train thing back down the side of the mountain and walked back into the centre of town. We found the cutest little pub/restaurant thing for the most amazing Austrian authentic lunch ever (roast pork, sauerkraut, and dumpling). It was the best meal we have eaten so far. Then there was a little festival thing in the main square so we got to see the markets and buy some gingerbread cookies for the drive to Ljubljana.
Slovenia gave us rain but it is still so pretty that it didn't really matter. We went on a walking tour through the city because there are no cars allowed in the city centre at all. Cobblestone streets joined by bridges over the river. It was so sweet and cute and relaxed, it kind of reminded me of a retirement village. After the walking tour we went to the museum of illusions (think Infinity on the Gold Coast meets scince centre). It was good in its simplicity in that the exhibitions were not flashy but there were highlights including a sloped room which from the outside made one person look like a giant and one like a dwarf, and a vortex like the spinning tube at the end of Grease, and art that made it look like they were following you. Sushi for dinner (no traditional Slovenian horse tonight) then walk home.

Day 8 (20,225 steps)
Venice is more amazing than I could have ever imagined. I love the canals. I love the engineering of the buildings. I love the food. The best ever. This morning we drove to near Venice and caught the bus to the edge of town (this bus made a sardine can feel roomy!) then walked in to town (because there are no roads for cars in Venice). After walking from one end to the other we slowly meandered back through the city; eating, people watching, architecture observing etc. We took a gondola ride through the canals which was amazing (but obviously not as romantic when single). I loved the peace the gondola provided, the witness of no engine, no chatter, just the boat and the canal. The gondolier had amazing skills, maneuvering the boat in tight spaces, never touching the walls. Venice has amazing seafood! We pretty much had a progressive lunch sampling many food and drink items on our way including deep fried rice/cheese balls, pistachio gelato on a stick, mixed seafood platter, aperero spritz, chocolate/banana/hazelnut gelato in the shape of a rose, hot chocolate. Beautiful! Then we walked along the waterfront before catching a boat taxi down the grand canal, and then a car taxi back to the hotel. The gastronomical adventure did not stop here however. We then went to a local restaurant for dinner where we shared spicy mussels, liver and polenta, pasta with pipies, eggplant parmigarma, and lobster rissoto (all with local persecco). I love Italy!

Day 9 (13,234 steps)
Still in live with Italy. Today we drove to Florence to see famous statues/paintings/church etc. First we stopped at a lookout over the city which was amazing because I didn't expect Florence to be that big. We also saw the most Italian image possible; a Ferrari parked in front of the statue of David's ass (both had a pretty good body!). Then we went into the city for a walking tour to see famous statues and a church thing. It probably would have been good if I had an interest in art and religion. Finally we stopped for lunch (gnocchi which was so fluffy it literally melted in my mouth). Then we went to the Museum of Innocents which is in the hospital where children of single parents, and children who's parents were unable to provide for them, were surrendered. It was so sad because most children died because of unsuitable wet nurse breast milk and only a few of the survivors ended up reuniting with their families. We cheered ourselves up with gelato before getting back on the bus to go to our hotel. Tonight we had takeaway pizza for dinner which you should never do when travelling, but in Italy...

Day 10 (6,638 steps)
This morning we went to the leaning tower of Pisa. This is one of those things that if you see it on Google, you have pretty much seen in real life. Cheesy photo done, time to start the long drive to Switzerland. Long drive. LONG long drive! Finally we get here and the scenery is amazing. Glacial rivers. Snow capped mountains. Little villages. Everything is beautiful. Even the view from our room is spectacular.

Day 11 (8,948 steps)
Today we caught the train to Jungfraujoch in the Swiss alps. Amazing. Beaitiful. Spectacular. Breath-taking. Magnificent. We ran out of descriptive words and still couldn't do it justice. It's like you are looking at a perfect masterpiece of art but it's real and right there in front of you. It was perfect. Inside were viewing areas, chocolate shops, ice carvings, and exhibitions. Outside was freezing and snow glaciers. Everywhere you looked was amazing/beautiful/spectacular etc. It was too cold for me to stay outside for too long (-10 degrees). I thought my nose and cheeks were going to drop off my face imminently. We were so high up that altitude sickness was an issue with the inability to get enough oxygen into our bodies, we felt lightheaded and the simplest task was exhausting; one lady even fainted. I also slipped over but luckily I put on some extra padding in Italy (pizza and gelato are actual lifesavers). The return train journies were also amazing/beautiful/spectacular etc with the snow capped mountains leading down to the farming villages and the glacial streams in the valleys. The grass looked like carpet or astroturf because it was so smooth and uniformly green and perfect for the many cows we saw wearing their bells. Cheese fondue for dinner and sleep because eating so much really does make you tired.

Day 12 (6,172 steps)
Long bus ride again today. Leaving Switzerland we drove through some small French villages (that reminded me of Beauty and the Beast) before arriving in Paris late in the afternoon. We did a quick bus tour of the main attractions (Arc de Triompfe, Champs-Elysees, Concorde, Eiffel Tower, and Notre-Dame) before going to a traditional dinner of onion soup, red wine slow cooked beef, and some sort of bomb Alaska ice cream desert thing. One thing I was unprepared for was the Syrian crisis. Watching it vaguely on the news is nothing compared to seeing the Muslim families camping out because they have no where else to go.

Day 13 (25,293 steps)
Paris. Yuck. The attractions and food are good, but French people gross and the city is gross and the pickpockets and scammers are terrible. We wnt to the Lourve and saw the Mona Lisa and went through ancient Greece and ancient Rome and ancient Egypt and medieval Europe. All very good but difficult to get around and it would be better if it was a bit more interactive and a little less French lol. We stopped in a cafe for lemon meringue pie on the way to Notre Dame. Very grand and gothic and perfect setting for Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Then a long walk through the Latin Quarter, smelling all the amazing ethnic food along the way, to get to the Catacombs. "Halt! Here lies the Empire of the Dead". This is what you are confronted with before entering the Catacombs. It was a little creepy 20m underground walking down deserted limestone mine paths with very little light and no one in sight or earshot. Once I got to the bones however, it was surprisingly peaceful. These are people who were buried in cemeteries but, through no fault of their own, the cemeteries became overrun and they were dug up and moved to the abandoned mines before being rearranged as a tourist attraction. Up to 6 million people are there now and it is quite amazing. Sacred heart church (with God given views over the city at sunset) before dinner (including snails and creme brule) then drinks (including real champagne) with the group tonight and last night on tour.

Day 14
Time to go home :-( Bus then boat and back in England.

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Comments

[Debbie Jones]

14 country's in 11 days
Love, love, love your blog! What a time your having! I'm so happy for you, keep us posted ?