Singapore

Well just a quick update as we are about to head to bed for a good nights sleep before our last leg home :)

Flight from Heathrow to Singapore was uneventful... as you want them to be. Only problem was that neither of us got any sleep and it was the flight that we really needed to get a couple of hours on.. because we left London at noon Friday & arrived in Singapore at 7:30am. So when we made it to our hotel around 10ish Nicole crashed out for a few hours & Phil managed to stay awake for an hour but caved not long after. We did get up about 1pm and decided our best option (with very limited time & still feeling very tired from the flight) was the on/off tour bus which had two circuits that covered a big chunk of the city.

We did both circuits and got a really quick introduction to a very diverse city. We had a lunch/snack/dinner in a food court before taking a walk to see the Merlion fountain which Phil remembered from his childhood visit here.We then got the last bus back to the hotel & went downstairs for a beer, snack & to listen to some singers that the hotel had performing in the lounge.

Now we are back in our room and are ready for some sleep before our 10 hour flight which gets us back in at 7:30 tomorrow night.

Can't wait to see everyone soon
Lots of love
Phil & Nic

Our last day in Europe

Well as expected yesterday was another big day... we had breakfast in the hotel at 8:15am and didn't get back in from dinner until 10pm.

We had a little time before out first stop, yes I know were were running ahead of time, unusual for us :) So we headed into Regent park for a little walk around. London has some really beautiful parks, that's for sure. We were able to see and get up close to some ducks, swans, pigeons and even some squirrels. The squirrels were very interested to find out what the camera tasted like.

First stop on the trip was Madame Tussaud's - a very cheesy stop but one we thought would be fun & not as intense as the other two places we were going and we were right :)

Not much can be said about it other than it is quite amazing how real some of those things look and we had fun posing for pics & watching other people and their poses.

Next stop was the Cabinet War Rooms & the Churchill Museum - these are both housed in the actually War Rooms that were used by Churchill and his crew during the war. It was very interesting to imagine how loud and busy it would have been down there during this time. We do know however that there would have been no whistling as Churchill hated it. We got to see most of the rooms down there one of which was the Map room which had the actual maps that were used during war time, which had graffiti about Hitler on them. Another room was his actual Chamber. This was interesting and a still had one of his cigars on the be side table.

We moved from here back to the Tube where were headed out to see the Imperial War Museum. This place was massive. We were there for about 3 hours and only got to cover about 40% of the things there. When we go back to London again, some day, we will have to finish this off. His had things from all the wars and major displays about WWI and WWII. That had lots of actual items on display and plenty of things to read. There was also a massive Holocaust exhibit. We were able to piece together the things that we had already heard and seen at Dachau and things made the experience even more moving. It was hard to comprehend how big Auschwitz was compared to Dachau. We were able to see a diorama of Auschwitz that helped us realize this, completely unbelievable.

It had been a long day, and we were both tired and not feeling the greatest. I think travel belly is getting the better of us now :) So we headed back to the hotel for a quick snack and a sleep before taking the 2nd last part of the journey.

Wont be long now until we can tell you some stories in person.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon

London Take Two

Ok so we didn't have a great plan for this afternoon but we knew we wanted to have a look at Trafalgar Square & St Paul's. To do this we had to use the Tube :) which we didn't do last time we were in town but given our recent train experience the Tube was no worries.

We had a quick wander around Trafalgar & also did a quick stroll around the National Gallery (unfortunately quite a few areas were closed off due to a strike).

We hopped backed on the tube and made our way to St Peter's were we got some great shots (using the great afternoon sun again). Sad to say we really should have visited here on our first trip ... on our first drive by we thought it looked great but we think now that we have seen the Vatican it just didn't look as impressive. But that said... it is still a very beautiful church.

We then took a stroll over the Millennium Bridge (not too wobbly today) and once on the other side realised we needed to walk back because there aren't any Tube stations near by on the other side. So we walked back - got on a tube & headed back to the hotel.

We then found some dinner in a pub ... interesting choice of venue given that England was playing soccer tonight. Lucky for us - they won!!

And now we get ready for bed... tomorrow is a very big day - Madame Tussaud's, Cabinet War Rooms & Imperial War Museum.

No doubt we will have a blog update tomorrow

Night all

Phil & Nic

Back in the UK

Well we successfully made it back into the UK yesterday and picked up our hire car from Stansted airport. First stop was the Duxforth Airfield where they have a few museums set up.

We hadn't heard of the place until we were chatting with the Gladstone couple at the Normandy tour. They told us they thought it was great but to be careful as you need more time than you would think.... and how right they were.

We arrived in the car park at 12.30 and pretty much ran thought most of it and we didn't get out until 4:30ish. There are half a dozen different hangers which house different kinds of information. The first one we went to had a collection of different planes that had been restored by the staff at the airfield (and some volunteers). It also had a "History of Aviation" area which had a time line of videos, data boards, pictures, etc and also had an interactive area (Craig - photos will prove I played Flight Sim :) )

When we got out of the first hanger we realised that we had been in there for over an hour & we still hadn't been to the two main hangers. So we decided to walk to the other end of the complex where they were. The highlight of the trip out there was definitely the next hanger - Land Warfare Hall. This hall is a museum of every piece of army equipment that you could imagine - tanks, car, hats, guns, shoes, artillery... did we mention tanks :) Phil's aim this trip was to get a picture with some WW2 tanks and this place provided more photo ops than we had time to take them. It was great to see so much of the equipment that we had been told about during the Normandy & Ieper tours.

Next hanger - American Air Museum... again another massive collection of planes and army gear. The most interesting thing here was a series of glass panels that made up a border fence outside the museum. Each panel had little planes printed all over it. The panels went on and on - we couldn't fit them all in one photo. This wall was representative of all the US planes lost during war. A truly amazing sight and one very hard to fathom.

By the time we got out of this hanger it was about 4pm and this was the time we had said was the very very latest that we could be leaving. So we skipped two hangers which we thought would be of least interest to us but we did make two more quick stops - one of the restoration hangers and the Battle of Britain hanger.

We had a quick look in the gift shop and then got back in the car to head to our next stop - which we needed to get to before sunset - Stonehenge.

We made pretty good time so we did a quick stop at the hotel to check in as we weren't sure what time reception closed and it turned out the hotel was about 3km from the stones.

We were so impressed at our timing... until we got there and found that it had closed at 6pm... current time was 6:30... DOH!!!

We did get quite a few pics over the fence and we got to see our first beautiful sunset this holiday. Even from a distance Stonehenge is quite impressive but not quite what either of us was expecting ... very stange to see something so impressive sitting in the middle of sheep farms and motorways. But regardless, it is amazing to think that they have been there 5000+ years.

Our plan was to head back to Stonehenge this morning to get a closer look but, as has been the case a few times this trip, we were delayed with a little bit of travel belly and didn't end up leaving the hotel until just after 10 - and we needed to have the car to Reading by 11:30 (just over an hours drive away) or pay for another day of hire. So we made the decision to head off and get on to the next adventure.

We dropped the car off to Reading (with 2 minutes to spare) and got a taxi to the train station. We got the train to Paddington & found our hotel - which this time is much closer (about 2 minutes walk). And now we are working out what we are going to do with our last day and a half in Europe.

We will no doubt have another blog or two before we go so until then .. love to all

Cheers

Phil & Nic

Berlin

Nothing very exciting on our train ride from Prague to Berlin - only we figure we must be getting used to the travel now as the five hour trip felt like it was over very quickly - more like two hours. Some German ladies did think we were wonderful as we changed seats with them so they could share the 4 seater section. Little did they know we wanted to swtich so Phil could face forwards. In return for our generosity :) we were rewarded with two cans of wine - a very interesting concept to us but not wanting to be rude we accepted and we enjoyed them.

We arrived in Berlin to a few clowds and we were happy that it looked to be clearing. We easy understood the Berlin train system and managed to make our way to our station. We found the hotel, checked in and headed out for a walk. We didn't take the camera with us as we figured we would be doing plenty of walking around today. On a few occassions Phil commented that he wished he had the camera as the lighting was perfect for some shots of a couple of different buildings we passed.

We found a fish & chip place to grab a snack - we had missed lunch again (a problem we seem to have here) and it was too early for dinner. I think the guy thought we were American because we both ended up with a litre of tartare sauce on our chips.

We decided to head back to the hotel, where we made the most of having a shower that worked properly - we both have a new found appreciation for clean hair :)Next challenge was some dinner....

We found a tapas bar/steak house which was very nice - we may have liked it because it had gas heaters & shelter from the wind :) The food was great, only problem we had was I got in trouble for not eating the salad and we also got weird looks when we said we didn't want any bread. We knew all was ok though when we asked for the bill and the cheeky waiter said NO (keeping in mind he didn't speak a lot of English) and walked off with a cheesy grin & giggling. He went inside and was watching us through the window - still grinning away. He came back a couple of minutes later with a receipt that they had written up in English for us :) and was smiling even more when we left him a tip.

Today we headed out on the tour that Michelle L had recommended to us - The Famous Insider Walk!! We were really looking forward to this one as it looked like it was going to show us a lot of sights that we were both keen to see.

Phil jumped out of bed and ran to the window and yes... you guessed it... it was pouring rain. Really why did we think this tour would be any different to the rest of Europe :) but as the brochure said - we walk rain or shine... so off we went.

Our Scottish guide, Kenny, first came to Berlin 10 years ago and has been doing tours for the last 4. He was a great guide - his humor & excellent knowledge made for an interesting day. His ability to build up a story really put you into the moment.

We ventured around the city - East & West - and learnt many new things about this amazing town. So hard to believe that these things were still going on in our life time.

We saw the remains of the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, the sight of Hitler's Bunker, SS & Gestapo headquarter buildings, the Jewish memorial, Checkpoint Charlie & many more.
The four hour tour lasted over 5 (a rather interesting finish of a swallow crashing into the window we were standing next to - I think a few people missed the closing minutes of the tour as they were worried about the bird) and was definitely worth the $$ & effort. We highly recommend anyone coming to Berlin does this tour.

Another city & many more additions to our reading list :)

As the tour finished ... out came the sunshine. So we decided to do the tour in reverse :) and took some more pics without the water wash over the lens. Well to be honest we only made it half way in the reverse direction (seeing the main sights we wanted to revisit - along with a stop at the outdoor photo exhibit - Topography of Terror) when we realised how exhausted we were and found the train station and headed for the hotel. (But not without being approached by a few low lifes trying to sell us expired train tickets - we've been here too long to fall for that trick buddy)

Tomorrow morning we head back to the UK (via plane) and we pick up a hire car to go and see the American Air Museum (yes Craig we will get you a few piccies) and then to Stonehenge.Not sure that we will have net access until we get back to London on Wednesday so that will probably be our next update.

Hope all is well at home - not long now and we will be back in Oz (wishing we were here)

Cheers

Phil & Nic

Salzburg

Hey Guys,

Just got pointed out to us (thanks dad) that we have missed writing a blog about Salzburg...opps.

We had an interesting start to the morning, the alarm didn't go off and Phil woke up about 20 minutes before we were supposed to be meeting our tour group downstairs. So in a record time we showered, dressed, packed and checked out. We had 5 minutes to spare so we ran up the road to grab some snack food to pass as breakfast (seeing as we had missed our complimentary one in the hotel). Not a very good idea - while we were away the tour bus came & went.

After unsuccessfully trying to call the company Nicole finally got some help from the hotel receptionist and we were picked up about 10 minutes later ... and it turned out to be a very good mistake- rather than being on a coach bus for the tour with 35 other people we got a mini van tour with 5 others and a great tour guide who was very passionate about the area and the movie :)

We got to see a heap of sights from the movie and learnt quite a few bits of trivia. The tour follows the path between the movie sights but also gives history on the area so we found that part really interesting too.

The tour was enhanced (well for Sound of Music fans) by our guide who had an incredible singing voice and broke out into song on many occasions. Mum Crouch you would have loved this tour and she would have loved you because none of our group would join in as we were even more embarrassed by our abilities after listening to her.

Salzburg really impressed us - the scenery was the most amazing that we have seen (and we have seen some impressive stuff on the trek around). The pictures pretty much say everything because words can't describe it (and keep in mind that the pics aren't the best because it was raining/overcast most of the day). We recommend that everyone who hasn't seen the area make the trip over to see it for themselves :)

When we were done with the tour we headed to the train station to get the train to Munich and you've got the blog updates from there :)

And now we must run to get our train to Berlin....

Prague

We have moved country again since our last update – we left the internet cafe in Munich and walked across the road to collect our bags from the hold lockers. We then realised we were ready way too early so we grabbed a great Germany coffee ... from Starbucks.

After a bit of a wait we were able to board our overnight train to Prague. The train was pretty good – we had a room to ourselves with a couple of bunk beds. They weren’t the most comfortable but it was definitely worth the effort because we saved ourselves a day of travel and got to spend the extra time in Prague (and it turns out it was more comfortable than our bed in Prague :) )

Anyway we arrived in Prague around 9am and had a couple of rough instructions on how to get to the hostel. Only problem was it neglected to say if we needed to go right or left out of the station. We stupidly tried to find a spot to stop and work out what we were doing and almost instantly we were set upon by a guy who tried to pin Phil into a corner. We walked off ... at a quick pace... and he followed us down a few corridors and stairs until we managed to lose him at the exit. We made a quick call and headed out to the right of the station... of course... we should have gone left. But not knowing this we went about looking for the street name we had been given... or perhaps a map that would help us out. Instead we found another scary guy who spat at me and then followed us down the street saying something in a language we didn’t understand. A great start to Prague!!!

After doing a big circle we arrived at the hostel and the guy who looks after the hostel wasn’t in yet... so we (with our packs that seem so much heavier as the trip goes on :) ) walked around for a while to find a coffee & some money. By the time we made it back to the hostel we were able to check in... they didn’t have the room that we were supposed to have so we are in the top floor apartment that is meant for about six people to share – it is a lot bigger than the rooms we have been used to of late. We have a lounge room, bedroom, kitchen & bathroom but it is a bit run down.

Anyway... yesterday I had my first hit of home sickness. It has been a really big adventure & yesterday the tiredness hit in and after the trouble getting to the hotel – I cracked! So we didn’t get up to much yesterday. A little bit of a walk around in the afternoon and then we had a late lunch/early dinner before heading back to the room for a quiet night.

Today I felt much better and we headed out this morning for a walking tour. The tour went for about four hours & we got to see different areas of the city – Old Town, New Town, Jewish Quarter, Lesser Quarter & Prague Castle.

Our tour guide was a local girl who gave us quite a bit of information / history on the different areas. This holiday has definitely highlighted to both of us how little we know about geography & history and we have a huge list of things we want to read about when we get home... in preparation for our next adventure :) which won’t be for a few years as the list is really really long.

After the tour we headed to the train station to book our tickets for tomorrow’s trip – our last use of our Eurail pass – Prague to Berlin. We spend a big chunk of tomorrow on the train so probably no blog update until Monday night (Tuesday morning Bris time).

Hope all is going well at home.
Love Phil & Nic