Bitte und Danke

I am going to be as honest as i can be to you in writing about my experiences this trip so i will start of by saying that these past two and a half weeks have been some of the best of this trip, yet some of the hardest too, but let me explain.

At the start of this year in my Brisbane choir, my friend Isabelle asked if i would be interested in staying with her for christmas in Fluelen with her Grossmami (Grandma) and her mum, who she is travelling around with. I quickly grabbed at the chance of experiencing a traditional Swiss christmas in a tiny city with only 1900 people in it. An hours train ride south from Zurich, right into the centre of the Alps.

I arrived at Fluelen train station with my friend Issy waiting with open arms. Boy was it good to see a friend from home. Issy's grandma's english vocabulary was all of about 2 words ''Hello'' and ''okay''. An hour or so after i arrived (which was in the dark at 5pm) the clouds began to dissapear to give me a peak of what i was about to see the next morning. Huge mountains and a lake about 500m away which we could see as we were on a hill. So here i was, sitting at dinner with Issy, her mum, auntie and grandma eating fresh fish out of the lake and surrounded by the swiss-german language. It didnt take me long to realise how exhausting it is listening to try and understand what they are talking about, as it is just impossible for Issy or her mum to translate everything for me.

I was treated like one of the family, the next day going to visit Issy's uncle at his restaurant in Schywz. Sitting there drinking Kaffee Schnapps (Coffee) surrounded by the locals and family really made me feel like family despite the language barrier. This is when i wish i had known at least a little bit of swiss-german apart from bitte (please) , danke (thank you) and nein (no). We visited the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife shop before heading back home and venturing out again for dinner at Issy's mums friends house. We ate Raclette (you individually melt cheese slices and then put it on boiled potatos with other toppings of your liking) and drank Moscato all night and it was delicious! So far the food in this country has impressed me!

It was Issy's birthday on the 14th of December so we had a brunch at home before family started coming. We had a feast of more tasty food! A fun night with her family and once again i felt like i was one of them. Trudy (Issy's grandma) really knows how to cook!

A family reunion of all of Issy's grandma's brothers and sisters came the next day in Steinerberg. There were 10 of us there and Issy's aunt Suzanne, Issy and i walked down to a friends farm where they have dairy cows which were inside the barn all lined up. It smelled almost as bad as the leather factory i visited in Morocco, but was great to see!

Issy and i woke eagerly the next day as today we were catching the TGV (a fast train that goes up to 300km/h) to Paris! An hours train ride to Zurich before an hour or so wait before getting on the TGV.

We were most likely the people on the train that you hate to sit near, but we enjoyed ourselves  thoroughly singing and dancing in our seats listening to music, hyped up on the thought of being in paris in only 4 hours. 

It took us about an hour to find our hostel. The hostel room was simple and cheap and was all we needed for the 4 nights plus it was in a great location, when you looked out the window by the lift we had a perfect picture of the Sacre Coeur. This was my first time in a hostel, we got given our sheets and got up to the room only to realise there are no towels. I can still hear Issys mum, Renata, saying don’t forget to take towels. Here i am being naive thinking 'oh they will have towels', so we were on the hunt for cheap towels to last us our time in Paris. (If you are heading to Paris it is a good idea to get 10 tickets at once which get you around all of central Paris) We decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and catch it in sunset and night time. I was being smart and didnt take my big feather down jacket, only my thin softshell jacket, i was paying for it when we got out of the subway. It was raining and blowing a gale. I have never been so cold, standing in line with my pink umbrella to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower, not to mention it was now dark. When i came to Paris for the first time with mum and dad years ago, we only went up to the second floor and even then i was too scared to go near the edge due to my morbid fear of heights. This trip for me has been all about stepping out of my comfort zone (as you get some of the best experiences that way). I had to do this, I had to make it to the top. Issy was all fine for a little until she started freaking out about how high we were going and here i am with my eyes closed, deep breathing (a great pair we are!) We stopped and Issy couldn’t believe we were only half way, we had to change lifts to go to the top. We arrived to the top. We were thanking god that there were two levels, one closed in, one outside. We braved it outside, took photos and we walked around the top, one side it was difficult to walk because the wind was so strong...i dont know if this was such a good idea. We headed to the closed in level and found heaters on the wall so here i am bending down with my hands on the heater because i bought no gloves or anything...people started copying us. It must have been about -5 with the wind and we swear we saw it snow on the top but perhaps we were just dreaming.

The champs elysee was next on our agenda the next day. Shopping! Before we went shopping though, we stopped by the Arch Du Triomphe, took a million photos (Issy and i figured out how to change colour settings on our cameras- beach, museum, sepia, black and white, black and white with red showing, selfy's, someone takes a photo of us, selfy photos together, fish eye. toy camera and more, so needless to say we both spent about 10 mintues standing there just taking photos) We climbed the 290 steps to get to the top, took more photos and hit the main drag of Paris. We spent about 4 1/2 hours down one side of the street (which is over a kilometer long by the way) Issy suggested we get a scoop of Haagen Daaz. Mistake number 1. The man behind the counter said if we wanted to sit we had to go up to the restaurant upstairs, so we went upstairs and looked at the Menu. Mistake number 2. We ordered waffles with 2 huge scoops of ice-cream, cream, caramel and chocolate AND hot chocolates. What were we thinking? We couldn’t even finish it and felt like we couldn’t move from eating so much sweet food. We decided to head back to the hotel for a rest and caught the subway back again 2 1/2 hours later. We did the other side of the street and walked along the Christmas Markets which were disgustingly busy. I bought my big jacket and gloves this time so i was fine. We spent about 3 hours doing this and grabbed some german sausage for dinner and went back to the hotel before venturing out again to go to the Aussie Bar and a nightclub/bar i went to last time, right near the Moulin Rouge which was about a 15 minute walk away from the hostel.

The next day saw us heading up to the top of Montmatre where the Sacre Coeur is for a wander around before meeting Issy's friend Lucy (who was travelling around Europe by herself). We went into Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart), walked around Montmartre, got baguettes and raspberry tarts and ate them looking over the city of Paris. The raspberry tart was to die for. If you ever go to Paris, ask me where the bakery is where i got this because it is AMAZING. So amazing we may have even gone back the next day and the day after to get one. The three of us walked down to the Notre Dame. With a stop by The Louvre, more pictures and the Lock Bridge (a bridge where couples write their names on a lock, lock it on the bridge and throw the key into the river). Lucy left us there and Issy and i wandered around Notre Dame and sat down for some organ playing inside. We sat down for about half an hour just soaking it up. If there is one thing i have learnt travelling by myself when you can appreciate it with someone else, is to let the atmosphere, the colours, the sounds and architecture take over you. I still use this wherever i travel. Live it, breath it, love it. 

We headed back to the hostel by subway (there was no way we were walking after walking so far to get there). We grabbed some dinner and decided to go back to the Champs Elysee to get some more Haagen Daaz. We didnt make the same mistake as last time.

The next day Issy and i decided that we wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower again (as you do) in the daylight and only to the second floor. There are only so many summit photos you can take. We only had to wait about 20 minutes and walked down the steps from the 2nd to the 1st floor. This was nerve-wracking for me. All i was looking at was my feet going down the steps, imagining myself kissing the ground when i get to it. But we made it to the 1st floor where they have a small ice rink you can go on for free. After this we headed to a department store i went to last time where you can eat on the top terrace with views over the city, incuding the Eiffel Tower. This department store was on Huassman, right near Galleries Lafayette. Wow, what an amazing building. Designer stores everywhere with lines outside as you couldnt go in without an sales person, floors and floors of shops and a huge christmas tree in the middle of all of these. For the record, i didnt open my purse here. We headed back to the hostel to check our emails and decided as it was our last night in Paris we would go out for one final Mojito, we didnt get to bed till 3am.

We checked out, and took our bags with us as we only had a backpack and a handbag each for this trip, lucky it wasnt hot as we wore the same clothes for afew days. We went to get another raspberry tart and then went walking. Without a map is the best way to see the city. You arnt looking down at a map, you are just walking and taking in the surrounds of small streets out of the tourist area. Funny enough, we past a creperie restraunt which i went to last year with Ashley which i had no idea where it was or anything. We didnt stop but i took photos so i know where to go next time. Issy posted 11 postcards and we caught the subway to the Jewish Quarter of Paris. A beautiful area filled with delicious falaffel kebabs and bakeries.

We were absolutly exhausted and in pain from carrying our backpacks around for hours so we headed to Gare Du Lyon where our departure was back to Zurich on the TGV.It decided to snow in the last hour we were there for abit. A fitting way to end our time in Paris.

A wonderful time was had by both of us and it is nice for me to get to experience it with a friend, as nice as it is being in a tour group it's not the same as sharing it with a friend. We were excited to go back to Fluelen because the report from Issys mum was 'snow snow snow everywhere'. This is what i came to Switzerland for!

I stared out the window and probably looked like a little kid looking in awe at the snow. We were staying at Issy's Auntie Suzannes unit in Zurich and Our arrival into Zurich saw snow everywhere and Renata ''kooi'e-ing'' to us in the station.

We slept in, packed our bags and caught the tram into the main street of Zurich. We walked for abit but were still so exhausted with having to carry our bags so we caught the train back to Fluelen.

Renata was right. So much snow! I felt like i was in a movie. My snow boots really would have come in handy. Trudy put on a delicious dinner again before going to bed early.

The next day Renata, Issy and I woke up at 5am to go to a 6am candlelight mass in the small (and only) church in the town. It was still dark, walking in our snow boots (yay, I finally got to wear them after lugging them around for so long) with some other locals. The mass, although i couldn’t understand it nor am religious, was beautiful and even had a choir which sung 2 songs which I’ve sung in choir before. We arrived back home and all went back to bed for a couple of hours. Issy and i caught the bus into Altdorf, the next town across so we could buy internet and have a look around. It was the first day that I could wear my snow boots! Although it was raining so the snow turned slushy.

There is only so much time that you can sit inside, even if it is a hassle having to layer up to go outside. So we decided to catch the train into Luzerne at lunch to spend the afternoon looking around and shopping. This is such a beautiful city, filled with colourfull buildings and small fountains.

Christmas Eve had us on a bus into Altdorf again just to get out and get some fresh air. We only walked around a big supermarket and walked a little along the street. The weather today wasn’t great. Sleet sleet and more sleet. It was also windy and the sleet was basically going sideways. I have been carrying an umbrella around with me every day since Paris, as it rained every night in Paris, so no matter how clear the sky is I just don’t trust the weather. It was a struggle to make sure the umbrella didn’t go inside out though! Issy, Renata, Trudy and I went to a family friends house for dinner in Altdorf for a feast of cheese fondou. We used bread, pears and apples and dipped them into a huge pot of melted cheese. There was 8 of us and it was a lovely night with people that spoke as much English as they could for me. It was still incredibly difficult for me, with it being Christmas morning in Australia. I think you will only understand how I was feeling if you have experienced a Christmas with no family around and people that don’t speak much english. Don’t get me wrong, I am making the most of this experience of having a Swiss Christmas, but it makes you realise just how precious your family are, especially on a day like this.

Christmas Day was reasonably quiet with Trudy cooking up a delicious sirloin steak with veggies for lunch at 1.45. Two of Issy’s Aunties came over and the afternoon was spent sitting in the living room watching television and relaxing. No snow, so I didn’t get to experience the white christmas everyone else and myself imagined. But this small town has a lovely charisma about it, so it was still a lovely experience. Plus I got to spend Christmas with one of my good friends.

Boxing day we all slept in, Issy wasn’t feeling too great so Renata and I went for a walk for an hour or so around the town, along the lake and up to the church. It was like a walking tour with Renata basically being able to tell me who was living in each house. Trust me, you wouldn’t be able to get away with anything here, everyone knows each other.

At 3pm, 8 of Issy’s family came over for a second Christmas celebration lunch. I had met most of them, including Issys cousins who were a laugh and practice their English with me because they have no other choir but to speak english to me.

I departed the next day on an early train to Zurich and changed trains to go to Geneva. I arrived into Geneva in the early afternoon and started exploring a bit, although I didn’t feel very safe. I got to see the Jet d’Eau fountain in the middle of the lake which isn’t running this time of year but I somehow managed to sneak a test run or something! Exploring the main shopping street I felt lightly under-dressed walking past shops by the name of Chanel, Hermes and shops with huge fur jackets.

I had booked a day tour to Chamonix and Mont Blanc months ago, as this tour was highly recommended on websites. We left at 8:30am, with an hours bus ride into this lovely town in France. (Yes, I went to France for the day, it’s hard for even me to fathom) I got on a cable car to go up to the summit of Aiguille Du Midi which is around 3900m above sea level. This was such an amazing, breathtaking experience. We took the cable car which I thought was going super high, until we got off at the end only to hop on another one. This stretch of the ride went for just over 1 kilometer and is the world’s longest unsupported cable car ride, so no support in the middle or anything. This ride was nearly vertical for most of the way. We got out, and it was freezing. It was 0 degrees on the ground so you can imagine that it was about -14 up there. I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time. I felt like I was on top of the world. Higher up then other mountains, looking down at the town we came from where the houses looked like little dots. We had beautiful weather, a clear blue sky made the experience even more amazing. You could walk up some steps to a lookout above the restaurant, these steps were metal and you could see through them. I looked down and there wasn’t anything below me. From then on, I looked at my hand on the railing, praying for the person in front of me to hurry up.

I had a beautiful 3 course lunch which was included and then took a 15 minute train ride up to the Montevers Mer De Glace glacier. We had an hours allocated free time here in which I took a small cable car down and went down 400 steps to go inside the glacier. This was a surreal experience; I never thought I would be going inside a glacier. I ran up the 400 steps, took and cable car and had just enough time for a few more photos before heading back and having a little explore of Chamonix before heading back to Geneva. I would highly recommend this tour for everyone if you are ever nearby.

I have just arrived in Birmingham where I am stay for a week with some friends who I worked at Movieworld with and sang with in choir. I am unsure as to what I am doing after that, so it will be a surprise for all of us what is in store next.

Raspberry Tarts <3



Eiffel Tower



Fluelen- Switzerland



Fluelen Alps




Trudy (Grossmami to Issy)




Issy and I on Christmas Eve




Snow on Christmas Day




Chamonix




Chamonix



Spain, Portugal & Morocco

Almost a year ago i had decided that i wanted to visit Morocco as one of my best friends was living there, this is what sparked my interest in visiting this amazing country. She ended up moving but i still wanted to visit so i thought 'why not include Spain and Portugal in this as well. You might want to get a cuppa while you read this as it may be long... :-)

I arrived at the airport early as i was flying on Easyjet, which meant no allocated seating. So i got there early to try and get a seat near the front. An easy flight on 2 hours, it was a little harder to get my luggage and got talking to an English Lady who was on my flight. Turns out she was in my tour group! We arrived at the hotel in Madrid and decided to head into Puerta De Sol.

The next day saw us going on an optional excursion to the city of Toledo. If you get the chance it is well worth travelling to visit this small town. A small town surrounded by big city walls and a river around it, beautiful. We also visited a Damascene factory where they make the Toledo jewellery which was really quite interesting and saw one of El Greco's most famous paintings 'Burial of Count Orgaz'. Next to do was a city tour to see the Bullfighting ring of Madrid and the Royal Palace to name a few. This is a beautiful city!

Coimbra was next on the agenda, however on the way we visited Avila and Salamenca. A full day of travel (520km). I must say that travelling on a bus as much as i have been this trip so far hasnt bothered me as much as i thought it would, just stick some music on my ipod, sit back and relax! The next day we had a small city tour by Miguel (our tour director) before it was time for a hot chocolate break with a custard tart which is known as speciality in Portugal. We headed onto Batalha and The Sanctuary of Fatima. Before hitting Fatima, we had a port tasting. This was my first official 'tasting' event and i must say, the port is delicious over here! (We tried 5 different types) The Sanctuary of Fatima is a huge pilgrimige place very similar to the Vatican but bigger! We arrived into Lisbon where my roommate and another lady from the tour caught the subway to downtown, where my main aim was to try Cherry Liqueur from a chocolate shot glass (Miguel had recommended this) It took us about 45 minutes to find a place that had the chocolate glass but when we did it was well worth the search! (I may have even bought a bottle of liqueur to bring home so you can all try it but we will see if it makes it home!)
An easy 15 minute bus ride where we wandered around and got a little something to eat. It is no wonder that Marid is known for its pickpockets, so many people! We met the tourgroup at 6:45. 36 people from Australia, America, India, Malaysia and Canada with a range of ages from 14-72.Our tour director, Miguel, is from Portgual and speaks French, English, Portugese and Spanish (it makes you realise how lazy we are in Australia when it comes to learning other languages when you visit European countries) I wasnt quite as lucky this time with my room share (i got away with having a room to myself last tour) and ended up with a girl from Vancouver. She was nice though so it wasnt too bad.
The next day saw us going on an optional excursion to the city of Toledo. If you get the chance it is well worth travelling to visit this small town. A small town surrounded by big city walls and a river around it, beautiful. We also visited a Damascene factory where they make the Toledo jewellery which was really quite interesting and saw one of El Greco's most famous paintings 'Burial of Count Orgaz'. Next to do was a city tour to see the Bullfighting ring of Madrid and the Royal Palace to name a few. This is a beautiful city!
Coimbra was next on the agenda, however on the way we visited Avila and Salamenca. A full day of travel (520km). I must say that travelling on a bus as much as i have been this trip so far hasnt bothered me as much as i thought it would, just stick some music on my ipod, sit back and relax! The next day we had a small city tour by Miguel (our tour director) before it was time for a hot chocolate break with a custard tart which is known as speciality in Portugal. We headed onto
A city tour guided us around Lisbon to the Belem Tower, the Moorish Citadel and the Black Horse Square. Most people went on an optional excursion in the afternoon but i decided to relax in my room as once again i wasnt too well health wise, before catching the subway by myself back into downtown to have a look around during the day.
8 hours of driving the next day to Seville, Spain with an optional excursion of a Flamenco Show. It was a tad expensive through the tour company so David, Miranda, Maureen and i decided to find our own local one which was a lot cheaper. Tapas and an intimate flamenco show of 6 people later, a good night was had by all. The following day was yet another optional excursion which Miranda (my room-mate) and i decided to opt out on and took ourselves around on our own walking tour around Santa Cruz and into the Cathedral here which is bigger than St Peters Bascillica in Rome!
Morocco was next on the agenda, which i was so excited about. After my visit to Egypt a couple of years ago (which i loved), i was ready to be hit with the way of living in an Arabic country.
The drive from Seville to Fez was 11 hours travel time which included a ferry crossing. When we first started driving the relisation didnt take long to hit me when i started seeing donkeys and mules carrying things around. The only down side of being is Morocco was the smoke, as they are allowed to smoke anywhere!
We had an included city tour of Fez which took us into the Medina/Souke. Well i thought Egypt was an experience, well Fez was a step above that. I think that everyone needs to experience this kind of thing once in their life. We walked in and as soon as we hit the medina, street vendors were onto us. You walk through the medina spelling all sorts of smells including spices and tagine. Some smells were good, some not so good. In this tour in the medina we visited a shop where they make carpet, traditional clothes and scarves as well as a leather shop where you go up the top and can look over the area where they clean the skins to make leather. When i got to the top a man offered me mint, i expected having to pay for it, and why would i want mint anyways? When i got to the edge i soon found out why. The smell was foul. Needless to say i ran back to him and got some mint and basically stuffed it up my nose! This experience of the medina included someone offering 3000 camels for me and getting called 'my shakira'.
11 hours travel time again saw us arrive in Marrakesh.After getting an orientation drive of the city we had free time for lunch so 3others and i headed for the medina, passing snake charmers, henna artists and people selling other cheap things. We fed out stomachs with Lamb Tagine with the locals in a cafe and it was so delicious! Whilst in Marrakesh, we also had the option to visit a Berber family in the Atlas Mountains. A 45 minute drive out of the city and we saw Omar. The dad of the house. He gave us mint tea and Moroccan bread.
Rabat was next on the list with a short lunch break in Casablanca. In Rabat we visited the worlds 3rd most important Mosque before heading back to the hotel for an early night. A 4:30am wakeup call to catch the ferry and drive up to Granada in Spain. A huge day of travel....12 1/2 hours later we arrived.
The cathedral in Granada is stunningly beautiful inside and is well worth the visit if you ever get there!
Another big day of travel to head back up to Madrid. Rain greeted us in Madrid which is the first rain i have seen since i left Australia so i have been very lucky with the weather. The aussies on the tour all had tapas and sangria to top off our Spainish experience before saying goodbye.
This tour was such a contrast to my central Europe tour but in a good way. Some beautiful buildings and landscape and amazing food! In Morocco you certainly have to be open to trying new and different types of food.
I am now in Switzerland where i will basically be spending 3 weeks or so with Issy (my friend from home) who is over with her mum at her Grandmas house in Fluelen.

Toledo- Spain

Madrid Bullring



Fez- Morocco



Camels head anyone?

Traditional clothing in Morocco

Omar- The Berber

 



Miguel our tour director



Flamenco in Seville

Austria, Czech Republic and Germany

The second half of my trip consisted of visitng Vienna, Prague, Munich and Frankfurt again.
We left Budapest early and arrived in Vienna at 11am, with a 3 hour break for lunch before we did a city tour which included a bus ride and walking around these beautiful cobblestone streets.
Once again Lisa, Jenny and I teamed together to go on an expedition to the Wiener Christkindmarkt (Vienna Christmas Market). We found it after walking about 20minutes and spent an hour wandering around these huge markets. We all tried Lagos (which seemed to be what everyone was eating ) Deep friend bread. Need i say anymore. Neither of us could finish it and all felt a bit yuck after it. I also tried warm spiced apple punch, which unfortunately i didn't really enjoy either, however it is a traditional drink at christmas markets in Europe, so i figured i might as well try.
We walked back to the main square in Vienna and i was on the search for St Peters Cathedral. I stumbled across this church last year and it was such a beautiful little church which had a big impact on me. This time i was lucky enough to share it with some new friends. After filling our stomachs we had our city tour which was good for me, as last year i did do a cycling tour of the city but my lack of ability to ride a bike took over my listening ability to learn about the city.
We left the city and headed to our hotel which was about 20 minutes drive out of the city. There was an optional excursion tonight of a Vienna Waltz Show. I had done this last year and Jenny didn't go either along with everyone else so we enjoyed a dinner and beer and a relaxing night in the hotel room.
A couple of us didn't do an optional excursion of Schonbrun Palace (i did this last year) so Jenny and I had a sleep in and caught a tram into the city which was a 40 minute ride where we met the rest of the tour group and Eszter took afew of us to Swarovski. None of us came out empty handed ...
Afterwards we headed off to Prague, where we just stayed in and had dinner.
We had two optional tours in Prague, a city tour and medieval Prague. The tours were quite good apart from the fact that our tour guide wasn't the best. I would love to go back to this city as it looked so interesting full of history and stunning buildings and bridges. In the Medieval tour of Prague we visited the old castle where inside the chuch it was still about 4 degrees so we could see our breath.
The next morning was spent driving to Munich. We arrived in the city and got a city orientation drive from Eszter and on the way we saw the old Olympic Arena and the BMW headquarters which looked like a spaceship.
We got dropped in the middle of the city and got a couple of hours free time so the three muskateers (Lisa, Jenny and I) climed a tower to over look the city, this is the most popular place for proposals in Munich and you could see why with the lovely view, however it took us about 10 minutes to get our breath back after climbing 290 steps. After exploring some more and having more hot chocolate we headed back to the bus where we left for our hotel. We relaxed for an hour or so before a couple of us headed out for dinner to a restaurant that our tour director had advised was great for German cuisine.
We didnt have much luck finding it so we walked into the city where we managed to find another branch of St. Augustine's. So we filled our stomachs with amazing German beer and food. After dinner, we walked off our dinner before a good sleep.
Our final day on the bus saw us leaving for Frankfurt. We had a break in Nordlingen. A beautiful medievel village where we all felt like one of the locals. Once again, a hot chocolate was on order (i have to defend myself for having so many hot chocolates.It has been SO cold. 0 degrees during the day most days so i need something to warm me up!)
We ventured on to Rothenburg. This is such a magical town on the Romantic Road. Such breathtaking architecture with the wonderfull feeling of magic in the air like a fairy tale movie. Mum had advised that i tried a Schneeballen (Snowball) These are pastry balls coated with various icings and toppings. These looked so delicious but my tastebuds did not say the same, they were quite sickly sweet (and that's saying something, that i can't stomach a desert) Jenny and i climbed up a tower to overlook the city which was an experience in itself with the staircase almost a climb it was so steep and skinny.
Leaving for Frankfurt i was quite emotional thinking that it was my last time on the bus, i had gotten used to spending so much time with these people they have become a second family to me.
Unfortunatly, during most drives this tour we had sour cream (fog) so we didn't get to see too much of the (apparently) beautiful fields, wineries and farmlands.
We had a dinner ready for us in Frankfurt and enjoyed each others company and said our goodbyes.
The next morning i caught a cab with Al, Elaine and Nagumi. The taxi driver was going 160km an hour! When we got out of the car we basically all kissed the ground.
Due to fog in London all flights were either delayed or cancelled. 3 hours later we took off for Heathrow. Landing in what looked like clouds we finnaly made it!!

I have one week in England before heading over to Madrid for my next bit of my tour.

Thank you to those who have been keeping in contact with me. I really appreciate it!
Love Nicole xx



Charles Bridge- Prague



Lisa, Jenny and I eating Lagos

Eszter the tour director and I

Mustafa the bus driver and I

Snowballs in Rothenburg



Rothenburg





Rothenburg



Germany, Poland and Hungary

Months ago I had decided to do a couple of tours, one around central Europe and one in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. This blog is the first three countries I visited on my central Europe tour, Germany, Poland and Hungary.



A map of where my travels for the next two weeks are



I left Heathrow on the 6^th of November, bound for Frankfurt, Germany. I arrived and sought out the train station to catch the train and then taxi to my hotel where my tour was starting. I managed to get on the right train and then jumped into a taxi (which was a Mercedes) to the hotel. I was absolutely exhausted and was pleased to find out that I wasn’t sharing with anyone in the room. Yes! We had a meet and greet at night and it seemed most people were quite nice. 4 other Australians, 8 Americans, 1 Japanese, 4 Indians and me! Our tour guide Eszter is from Budapest, Hungary and our bus driver Mustava is from Turkey but has lived in Germany for many years.

Travel began on the first day where we drove 575km from Frankfurt to Berlin plus a stop in Weimar. Weimar was a lovely small town where there were not many tourists so you really felt like one of the locals. I started chatting to a lady named Lisa from the tour group whom I walked around with. We explored a bit before having a hot chocolate and a desert of a jam doughnut and boy it was lovely!

Berlin greeted Lisa and i with an amazing Christmas shop and dinner at Hard Rock Café, a few local beers later and full stomachs on free deserts. A great start to the trip.

The next day in Berlin saw us on a city tour with a local guide which included a stop at the Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate. In the free time which was the whole afternoon, Lisa and I caught a tram around the city and walked about 7km to explore a little more. We went back to the Berlin Wall (or what is left of it), checkpoint charlie and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. A couple of k’s away is the Holocaust Memorial. Thousands of plain concrete blocks built in memory of the Jews that were killed in World War II. We stumbled along a Holocaust Memorial underground. This was the first proper glimpse of just how horrible it was back then. 

Berlin to Warsaw was a very long bus ride as well, covering 590km in a day...a long day. We had a nice lunch break in Poznan. This town is a lovely, un-touristy place to visit. Lucky for us, it was National Airforce Day, so chefs were cutting up a huge cake in the shape of an F14 for the public. The main square looked like a movie set as there was not many people around. I guess travelling at this time of year is wise (despite the weather) as there are not too many tourists around.

We had a full day in Warsaw and in a way i felt like i was home as i came here last year on my travels with Lisa(My cousin). I visited a few of the shops i went into last time with her and loved every minute of it. This time i did go into the Jewish Uprising Museum of Warsaw though which was well worth it. Yet another taste of what was to come the next day.

Warsaw to Krakow was a day i was so looking forward to as today we visited Jasna Gora Monestry-Poland''s largest Pilgramidge Place, where we got taken around by a nun, we arrived in the middle of a mass so it was quite an experience. After this, we stopped at Birkenau. Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. The sheer size of this concentration an extermination camp is unbelievable. You can almost feel the peoples spirits surrounding you when you enter the gates, tyring to make you understand and see what happened to them. Unfortunately we didnt spend too long here as we were on the way to Auschwitz.

Auschwitz as a camp doesnt actually look too bad, with brick buildings. However, the deeper you delve, the more you see how horrible it was. 1 300 000 people died here as a result of the Nazi's. Auschwitz concentration camp was originally built as a work camp (however the Nazi's had no intention of ever letting people out) So the presence of seeing atrocious living conditions isnt as bad as expected, although there is 1 gas chamber there which could fit up to 20thousand people at one time and kill them all in 2 hours. Birkenau has 7. So you can start to imagine just how easy it was to kill so many people in one go. At the Auschwitz Museum, you see suitcases with peoples name on them, shoes, hairbrushes, cooking utencils and shoe polish. These poor people legitimatly thought that they were just moving cities, so they bought everything that was vaulable to them. At Auschwitz you also saw 2 tonnes of hair that had been shaved off the jewish people. Back in the day, the hair was valuable and made them money so they kept it all. 7 tonnes was found, 2 tonnes is now out on display. We also visited the gas chamber which i must say was a sickening experience.

We all left Auchwitz in silence. Trying to understand and take in what we had just experienced...

Krakow is a bright, lively city with beautiful architecture. We explored around the city on a tour and in the afternoon visited the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Quite amazing and certainly something i would recommend everyone to do if they ever visit Krakow.

We travelled Krakow to Budapest via Slovakia. 3 countries in a day! This day mainly consisted of driving around the Tatra Mountains and a lunch stop at a ski resort.

In Budapest we arrived at night and went straight for a cruise down the Danube to see Budapest by night. It was spectacular.....but FREEZING. haha. Most of us spent the time inside the boat as it was just far too cold.

The next day a city tour was included which gave us the history and took us to special historical spots around this beautiful city. After the tour Lisa and i were in each others company once again and we high tailed it to the large inside markets to have a look, then onto some small christmas markets before heading to St Stephens Cathedral. This was quite a stunning church which has a mummified hand in there of someone of high importance to them related to the church.

When i told mum i was going to Budapest the first thing she recommended doing was going to the thermal spa's here, so Lisa and i took ourselves for a 2 hour swim in the outdoor spas. 5 degrees outside, 38 in the water. It was so amazing with an old building surrounding us. Very special and i would go back for sure. Budapest is one place i would love to come back to in the future.

So far this trip has been fantastic, and i am making the most of every moment, basically not having enough time to breathe, but it is well worth it.

I will do another blog when i get back to England with the rest of this trip.

Love you all <3



In Weimer



Berlin Wall










Birkenau

Budapest

Rivercruise down the Danube



Suitcases of victims in Auschwitz















Warsaw

Lisa from the tour group and I

And so it begins

The last couple of days at home are abit of a blur filled with family, friends, laughs,cake and a few tears here and there. I had a family lunch on Saturday which was lovely and Sunday Josh ad i decided to go to Dreamworld to try and take our minds of the imminent farewell.
I had dry eyes the whole time at the airport until i started going down the escalators.....after customs mum, dad, uncle stephen and josh all stood on the balcony waving to me and thats when the floods started. All they were doing was watching me crying.
I pulled myself together and boarded the plane where i had no one next to me to Dubai, until my second flight to Heathrow where it was a full flight. I got a little sleep on the 14 hour flight and actually felt okay which is a change.
After waiting for my bags for a while i walked out to a huge cuddle from Nanna and Dandar (Joan and Mick)...my english grandparents.
I arrived in at 11:30am so i stayed awake as long as i could, until it hit me about 7pm and then it was bed time for me.
This week i havn't been up to too much, just sorting out bank accounts, sim cards and nation insurance numbers, as well as exploring a couple of shopping centres haha.
It was my birthday yesterday and over here it is Guy Fawkes Day, which invoves fireworks and bonfires! No bonfires here but we did go out for dinner for my birthday and lit about 20 fireworks (not all at once) in the backyard. It was quite an experience!
 The hospitality of Joan and Mick has been amazing and i really don't know what i would have done without them in the times i needed a cuddle or a warm cup of tea. It has made being away from family and friends a much smoother process then it would have been without them.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday messages :-)

 

Go to departure gate...

After months of planning, it is only 2 sleeps until i leave. Last week i had a great couple of last days of work at Movieworld and Wet n Wild. The lovely girls in the photocentre gave me a huge card and 2 pages of photos of people from work, and Wet n Wild we had a feast of yummy baked goodies thanks to Jess's mum, Katelyn and myself! I already started going out of my comfort zone by going on the Skycoaster.

This week has been so busy catching up with people and finishing off other small details of my trip. It is so surreal and quite overwhelming. I am so excited but so nervous.

I am hoping to have this blog constantly updated as much as i can, so that you all can see what trouble i have been getting up to! (not haha).

I really appreciate everyones support and tips for this trip...I wish i could take you all with me!!

 

"Don’t fear tomorrow or regret the past live for whats now and never look back" Anonymous

                                            My next post will be from England, so stay tuned :-)