This is the end!

This is the final blog of this trip, and even 30 posts. I'm flying from Kuala Lumpur to Coolangatta Airport. This flight takes approximately eight hours, six less than my lat flight. Today was really draining. My night in London i had three and a half hours, slept for a few on the plane and arrived in KL at 5:30am and i had to fill 16 hours before my flight back home. It's funny when i thought of home i started singing that  Michael Bublé song....(in my head of course). I did all the now usual stuff, fill out the arrival sheet, go to through the passport lines and customs. Got out my Malaysian ringgit, purchased a ticket to get into KL. Before i headed off i needed to shake this immense tiredness. I finished my blog, put some pictures up. The airport has free WiFi so that is a bonus. I needed some food, maccas for breakfast. I used to have maccas for breakfast heaps, pancakes, hash browns and large orange juice. It certainly helped my tiredness, but it wasn't long before i was really struggling to keep my eyes open. I left something fragile attached to my main bag in the luggage area, i did instruct them to be very careful, but when i picked it up later that night it was damaged, i was pretty upset about it, but i know our heart was in the right spot for this extravagant gift! I couldn't take it with me because it would have been destroyed. So it got to Malaysia in one piece, it just didn't stay that way. So i tried really hard stegs, and i have managed to keep it well clear of anyone on the flight home so no more damage will befall it. I might even be able to fix it with some melted gold....... Or give it a different design :-P 

After breakfast and blogging i got out of my thermals, packed the jacket up and got into a t-shirt, now it's time to explore. I was thinking that it was a short bus trip to the main airport KLIA then they have a train into the city. Nope, the bus just kept going. So A$2.60 for a one hour bus trip, A$0.30 for the train from KL Sentral to the Kuala Lumpur stop. I was again out of my comfort zone with signage in another language, there is a train map but no street map to accompany it, so you are kind of guessing with your choice. I just chose the next stop. Some of the architecture is very modern and very impressive. My main aim is to see the Petronas twin towers. I spotted them a fair way away and i headed in that general direction. I must admit their upselling is very commendable. In Australia most sales people give up after a few nos or take it personal, but these guys just keep asking everyone, taksi, watches, movies and even tattoos. I walked around sweating my ass off, i think it was 34 and of course bloody humid, even my sweat was sweating! I made it into the main part of the city, through some markets trying to see just about everything. I would have been tempted if i had some room in my bag. Found a national geographic shop and was looking at some of the books and photos. They have a cafe there too, so i sat down and had a well deserved drink. There was a nice guy behind the bar, we had a chat about traveling, he gave me a website address of people who put up travelers for nothing, hmm this could be interesting........ We swapped details since he may be coming to Australia in march, i could get him some passes into work etc. He also told me the twin towers weren't worth going up but the tower was, and the ticket has heaps of things included, like F1 simulator, audio guide once you're on the observation deck, their zoo and even a pony ride. I nailed the F1 simulator, zoo was pretty lame but saw some cool and cute animals. Monkey tried to steal my camera, great video footage! I skipped the pony ride, i don't think they were built for my body specification. Found my flag patch which was one of the main reasons i was in the city and headed to the top, well the observation deck. A great day to take in some great views. From up there you can't smell the streets or drains and it really is very pretty. No smog, no mist and no storm clouds which were predicted. Halfway walking back to the station to get a bus i found a bus company which was running to the airport, saved walking another 45 mins in the heat. I had forgotten my hat too, so the sun was trying to turn me into a tomato. What i noticed when i was outside with a t-shirt on was that my skin colour was probably the lightest it has ever been. I've resumed writing with about 30mins left of my flight. I had slept quite well on this trip and should be able to push through the day without jet lag, my plan had worked well even though it was really hard to stay awake in KL. During the night i had some amazing views from London to KL, little cities plotted about, some with what seemed to be big fires, may have even been oil stations, but the plane was very high up and could see it so clearly and it really lit uo the area. And on my flight home again I saw so many stars, heaps falling too, had trouble thinking of things to wish for! But the coolest part was when the plane got near a thunderstorm. I randomly woke up and had to look outside as i always do, and first i thought it was just the light from the plane hitting the clouds but it was lightning, my favoutrite natural phenomena. For me that was pretty cool. Soon I'll be touching down, it'll be interesting how i go through customs and quarantine. Never had to enter Australia before. What i know it wont be the last time. It's not a bug, it's more that i have a great opportunity to do some travelling now, then come home settle and breed the next generation of virgin travellers, may not be sober though ;-)

Thank you all for joining me on my first overseas trip. It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride that's for sure. But I've definitely come out on top. I'm happier, healthier and looking forward to more adventures. I'm going to make a hardcopy book of this blog, with pictures, reciepts and maps as backgrounds. I've had so much fun writing down my thoughts everyday and I'm glad so many people have enjoyed what I've written and came along for the trip. So my travel cherry is popped, thanks for being gentle :-D

    

The little things.......slice of heaven

I have always said this trip was going to be life changing, and it has been. I have absolutely no idea what i plan to do when i get home. I have so many ideas in my head and i will sit down with all of them, discuss with some friends, and see what i can create. Then I'll focus on one at time and make it happen. Midway through the trip i had a massive desire to go home and think about settling, and setting some foundations for a secure future for one very lucky woman and some rug rats. But now i want to do a tiny bit more, do some things I've missed. Maybe then i'll think about a car, a house etc. I can't prepare for the wife and kids.......yet, I'm single for gods sake!   

After much debate (not a mass one) with myself i had made some decisions on the activities that Rach and I were going to partake in the next three days. I was very concerned about sleeping arrangements, one i didn't want for her to feel uncomfortable and i wanted a good night sleep. I have shared a bed with another girl before that was just a friend and i couldn't sleep. I was trying to stay right on the edge of my bed so as not to get anywhere near her. It was the worst sleep i had ever had and didn't want a repeat since I was the designated driver for our little journey. So i booked twin singles at the Radisson Blu Resort in Cardiff and twin singles for her first night in a castle, Studley castle. This was to ensure a good nights sleep for me and of course no sheet stealing. 

As you read on i will call her stegglés or stegs, that's my nickname for her. When she gets cold, which is quite easy, she gets goosebumps and her skin looks like a stegglés chicken. A few months ago she was a bit sad, and i asked her what five things make her smile. Her answer was family and friends, bright flowers, cuddles, chocolates and surprises. I don't like hearing or seeing friends or family in a sad place in their life, so i do little things that are no effort but make them smile. She has had a massive solo trip around South America for the last few months and now she is in Bath, at a friends place. Now, i can make 4.5 of that smile list happen. Though to scale, her family (which is the part i didn't have) is much bigger than .5!! I hit the streets early with one thing in mind, flowers. Into town and i find my florist just setting up, perfect timing. A nice mix of yellow flowers would nearly top all things off her smile list. So a cadbury advent calendar (some catching up to do to get up to date), a very warm Paris beanie, a cuddle from a friend (me) and some beautiful flowers will greet her for the road trip. Bath to Wales, up to Birmingham for the secret location (CADBURY WORLD). I had been talking to a good friend of hers and mine the previous night and we came to a conclusion that i was to spoil her and tell her that Erin loves loves loves her! Which i did. So the plan was pick the rental car up from the train station, check out of my accommodation, pick stegs up and head to Wales, going through Chepstow and a few other places to see some castles, and get in the castle mood before heading to the medieval markets in Caerphilly. As you know my plans are shite and most of the time don't actually go to plan. I booked through a feeder website that finds cars for you in the area you are in, instead of you having to search each car rental company And it turns out their prices were cheaper than the actual hire company. So i got to the train station at about 9:45 for a 10am pick up. At about 9:55am i thought about giving them a call and seeing exactly where the drop off point was. I checked my confirmation emails from the feeder website, and the voucher/contract/terms and conditions, no phone number. Grr, had a feeling that something wasn't right. I had left my bags in my room so i could go back, check out and it's all on the way to picking up stegglés. And i didn't want to have to lug my bags down to the train station. My check out time was 10:30, i thought about checking out when i did leave to pick up the flowers and car, but the people running the hotel were busy sorting breakfast so i didn't want to bother them. I checked with the train stations information booth about where rental car companies generally do pick up/drop offs. Apparently i was in the right area. I also asked for the phone number for Europcar. Get back down to the spot and try the newly acquired phone number. This number doesn't exist, so i wait in hope that they will soon arrive with my car so i can get going. 10:10am and that's it i have to turn my phone onto data roaming to get on the net and get the number of europcar in Bath. I have managed to keep the data roaming off since it is very expensive. I've kept it off for the whole trip so far and I've managed to pilfer Internet from open public or open private wireless networks. But this was an emergency. It didn't take long to find it and the pages i used were made for mobiles so i know the data wouldn't have been that much. And the phone call went something or exactly like this. Is this the Bath europcar? Yes sir it is. I am standing at Bath Railway station waiting delivery of a car I've booked. Sorry sir, we do not do drop offs. Oh, ok. I have a confirmation voucher here saying i can pick the car up at the station. No sir, we don't do drop offs. Is my car still booked? Yes, it will still be booked. So i have to come to your depot and collect am i right? Yes sir, brasmill lane...... Jumped straight into a cab and headed to the depot. It took about 15mins to drive there so by the time I got to the car place it was check out time. I had tried to call the hotel five times just to tell them that i had a slight delay. I'd messages stegglés to let her know I would be around about 11am. Things looked up and went a lot smoother for a tiny bit. I had picked up the car, i had hired a Opel astra or vectra, but they said that they have had to give me a bigger car, yeah that's fine. Stegs and I both had big bags so the bigger the better. And then i got a glimpse of the keys in her hand...... It was a freakin Mercedes!! Massive, stylish, and it drove very well. It even had a paddle gearbox if i wanted to get a bit fancy, and i did of course, but only to demonstrate F1 style gearbox. I had paid for an extra driver but the following 30mins made me think otherwise. Getting to the depot seemed very straight forward, but getting through Bath was a very frustrating exercise! I knew which direction i had to go, I had walked the town a few times so i knew how to get to my hotel, then to where stegglés was staying. One way streets galore, lane ways that close between 10-6 all of these things worked against me. I couldn't be bothered finding my way through the streets of Bath again just to fill out paperwork to add another driver. So I'd be taking control of the driving responsibilities and stegs was the navigator. I got to my hotel and checked out, i think i said I'm sorry about 20 times. I told them that i had tried to call. "oh that was you," was his response. He was on the phone to his relatives. They said they were going to call the police to see if i was lost. I said to them i wish they had, then the cops would have found me and gotten me through Bath in a decent time frame. They had gotten all my bags out anyway so all was good. Quickly threw them in the back of the MERC and drove to pick up my work friend stegglés. Now i had no idea how this weekend would go, i knew her but i didn't really know her. I knew work stegs and we had pretty much always been in a group environment so I didn't really know her. And everyone knows she is a nice person, with a good heart. These three days, well two and a half thanks to the car hire place, i was hoping to scratch the surface and get to know her a bit. I was going to make our time heaps of fun with cool things in mind, and of course spoil her.

A quick hug and presentation of the 4.5 things on her smile list (it worked, she was smiling) and we were off...............in the wrong direction. I think the excitement to see each other and talking about our individual trips had kind of made us go of course which is what we liked to call the "scenic route." We did make a few u-turns and some voluntary/not so voluntary scenic drives whilst touring the UK. But these detours had shown us some really beautiful english country side that we would have missed otherwise. My bone to pick on the motorway is the speed signs, is it 60 or 70mph and when a 50mph area finished i was the last car to know! Conditions were perfect for driving, we both had heaps to talk about during the driving stints, the car was really fun to drive, one stick behind the wheel had indicators/lights/front and rear windscreen wipers/washer/high beams all on the same stick???  And it had an interesting handbrake that was on the side where you would find a clutch, though the only drawback was that my seat needed a lumbar support. On the way to Chepstow part of the motorway and bridge was closed. This turned out to be a massive detour that added an hour to a trip that should have only taken about an hour and a half. So we couldn't see some castles before heading to the medieval markets in a town about 20mins north of Cardiff, called Caerphilly. They had a park and ride station too, but unlike Amsterdam it wasn't hidden and i didn't have to drive around on some pathways! Hahaha! 

As we pulled in and were given directions, Instantly we both held back our laughter, it was our first welsh accent, very funny! And trying to read signs in welsh was confusing and we were intrigued as to how those words are pronounced. By this time a had let the cat out of the bag and told stegs the secret place was cadbury world, needless to say she was very excited (and not so secretly, so was I. Mmmm chocolate). We rode the double decker bus to the markets. There is something about being on the top deck of a double decker bus that makes you feel like a kid, and for me act like one!                  The castle was big, even had a moat that was a bit icy. I told stegglés that i was going to give her a guided tour of a castle i knew nothing about. I explained that the moat was used for water skiing, and she asked how was the skier pulled along. And like all great moments of bullshit, i explained that a horse ran around the moat and towed them along. I did struggle with the remainder of my bullshit tour, but i did manage to explain the one metre slits in the castle walls were. Some historians would point out that this is where the archers would be situated having protection and an eyesight into their enemies. But with BS tours i explained that the slits were ye old EFTPOS swipe facilities. Markets would surround the walls and vendor could utilize the efficiency of EFTPOS. Cards were much bigger, and with time and development they are the size they are today. But if the lines were down they had a massive manual swipe tray which took three men to operate and that carbon paper used made them look like smurfs! The fayre was a lot of fun. There was ferret races. They introduced our four racing ferrets, The Dude, Shadow, Mighty Mo and Bob. I thought Bob sounds like a champion ferret so he was my choice. Stegglés chose her ferret by looks, this scattered coloured brown one was trying to dig out of the pen and he looked the goods. As they were lined up the one i thought was Bob wasn't, but actually the one stegs had chosen. So in effect we were going for the same ferret. Had some pre race jitters, plenty of yawning from Bob, and the jester type host of the ferret races decided to do some ferret juggling. He was surprised that no one tried to stop him. I was thinking it was a genuine medieval thing to do, so when in Caerphilly, juggle away! It turns out Bob is a supreme ferret athlete, he whipped em! I'd doubled my money and later shouted the gorgeous princess of the Caerphilly castle to some green apple liquorice. To the winner goes the spoils! We walked around the grounds, walls and stairwells of the castle. We even had a Christmas room, well according to bullshit tours it was the Christmas room! I did wear my recently acquired helmet for the majority of the time we were at the markets. Did i look silly, you bet i did! As we were exploring three guys came out in full armour. Time for some dueling. They had swords, daggers, shields and even a judge. I dare say these guys aren't in training, their fitness levels were a bit below par, but one who seemed the least fittest was pretty much unbeatable. And funnily for me he was the black knight, it must have been a re-enactment before he had all of his arms and legs cut off by King Arthur in Monty Pythons Holy Grail!! The black knight always triumphs! We then went exploring some more and showed stegs where the horses ran to pull the skiers along the inner wall. We were about to have something to eat when our jester from the ferrets started his flaming juggling act. It was very funny and he wasn't very PC but that made it even better. When you have small kids watch him set a postman pat doll on fire some were egging him on and some were a bit distraught. A quick bite followed by a theatrical performance where i dare say we would have walked out of, if we were a third of the audience. Checked out an old crossbow and a few different catapults. The sun had set and we tried to take some pictures of the gorgeous sky silhouetting the very well restored castle. It was really pretty and it topped a great day of scenic routes and all things medieval. Hopped on the double decker bus back to where our car was and we were singing Christmas carols along with the other passengers. Very cool, very christmassy and lots of fun. As i told stegs, i knew she was fun, but I didn't know she was this much fun!! Haha! 

We drove to Cardiff and to our hotel. I thought stegglés would have been staying in some hostels everywhere she had been and i thought a nice place to relax with fancy looking bathroom and über comfy beds. Checked in, went to our room and it was a queen bed, not what i had booked, i was thinking about going back down to the reception and change it but stegs said it was ok, I even showed her the confirmation email that said twin single. We got settled then headed out for some Christmas markets and dinner. It was only 7:30 when we got out and most of the markets were closed......hmm. Couldn't find the ice rink either. After much walking and little debate we found a place that wasn't as busy as Jamie Olivers Italian restaurant, and it catered to one fussy Australian male :-D  I was craving pizza and this place had it. I have tried more things in the last few months than i ever have and stegs has a plan of action for me when i get home. I'm open to trying new foods now, though a year ago i probably wouldn't have been as open if at all. Food was great, we saw a group of smurfs outside, and i don't know how they were coping with the cold. We sat there talking about life, what is the next plan, next adventure. We are both the same age and it's nice to spend time with someone of the same age, in a similar situation. Most of my friends are either a few years older or a few younger. And we came to a conclusion, pretty early on it's the little things in life that are important. They can be little things you or someone else does, little things in nature. Its so easy to be happy in life. So, that's the motto of the trip, "The Little Things." 

It's like the old couple in Levanto watching the sunset. In a world where everyone is busy, stressed and priorities seem lost. It's the little things that make such a huge difference. Pleases, thank yous, holding doors open for strangers, instead of walking with your head down, look up, take everything in, you might see something which normally you would have missed. Beauty is all around us. I'm going to spend more time looking at the stars, the moon, enjoying a warm evening on the beach, relaxing, no phone, me and my thoughts, might even make my own castle in the sand.

She warned me that she has a noisy stomach (i didn't warn her about my stomach) gets up regularly and may kick in her sleep. I was about to build a pillow barrier but soon fell asleep. I slept better than i thought i would, mind you i was very tired. I didn't get kicked, and she didn't get up at all in the night. Today's plan, cadbury world and our night in Studley castle. More accidents, road closures and the detour involved several roadworks greeted us for day two or our road trip. We were a bit concerned that we may not make it to cadbury world in time, plan B was to go on Monday, but Cadbury world is closed on Monday, so it's Cadbury World or bust!. As we got close and realised we were going to make it, elevated hands slaps were in order. We took a few wrong turns, google maps has the location of Cadbury World wrong. It has steered me so well for the last 7 weeks. We asked a local to help us and with his perfect directions we were there...........heaven! It was so cool, we both has massive smiles on our faces as we drove past the first massive purple cadbury sign. Needless to say we had been sampling the chocolate goods of Cadbury during our trip, even had a bit of a delicious discovery, Cadbury's fudge! It was a bit cold in Birmingham but the warm liquid goodness was soon to be in our noisy stomachs. As like yesterday singing carols in a double decker bus, and seeing the amazing Christmas display in Belgium i really felt like a kid again. The place is amazing, so much to see, so much to do. I think stegglés favourite part was the little Cadbury car ride, it was really cute with cocoa beans doing everything, skiing, swinging from vines, singing and dancing. I think my favourite part was the packaging area, the smells, you need to bottle that fragrance!! Forget sex panther, that is the smell of desire! 

I'm writing this while flying to Malaysia. And remember i talked about looking up when you walk, i took a look outside into the dark night and saw six shooting stars in a matter of minutes! It illustrates a perfect point of the little things that are all around us.                

Our first port of call is the essence of Cadbury. As you enter they give you a curly wurly and a packet of buttons, nice start. You head into a room and watch holograms depicting how Cadbury was discovered and how it grew to what it is today. Then you get to the tasting room, yeah the tasting room. You get to choose some lollies and then they fill your cup in delicious warm melted cadbury............ Imagine it, yup delicious! And that warmed us up! My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. I had marshmallows and stegglés had sour bears, both were very happy with our choices. I was tempted to ask the lady in control of the melted choc to just hook it to my veins!! We walked back toward the reception and entry of the main area, there is a playground. There are a lot of kids there on a sugar high, and plenty of parents happily waiting for them to burn off that sugar. The main entrance has a big chocolate Christmas tree and Christmas crackers on the roof with chocolate bars falling out.  The tour starts with a wonderful room depicting the Mayan rainforest and the the discovery of the cocoa bean then into another room where you see the trade with the Spanish. The place is amazing and well worth it, no oompa loompas though! You sit in a theatre where you are taken literally on a ride that the cocoa beans go through, the chairs shake back and forth as if you are the cocoa bean. There is even a heating lamp when they are roasted. We then did the car ride, saw Santa but weren't allowed to take your own photo so we got out of line. Santa looked a bit sad to not have stegglés sitting beside him. They have an interactive room where you can see yourself from so many angles standing around a big globe, you can get your photo taken and then they fill you up with chocolate and make a virtual mould, I did two one thumbs up, one with my hand sticking out from my groin. Stegs was more sensible and did her tough girl pose! The last destination for heaven on earth was the big store, and we did make some purchases? You bet we did, not to much though. One of them is being carefully and secretly couriered back to Australia. We walk out with enormous child like smiles and some chocolate to keep us busy for a bit. 

Now what is to happen next was the big build up, the build up to staying a night in a castle. Stegglés was very excited, as was I. I had stayed in a castle earlier in my trip thanks to Stephan and Alena, but you can never get complacent about staying a night in a castle. We agreed to upgrade the room since we slept ok in the same bed the previous night. The bed was king size (good in a castle fit for a king) and the bathroom was pretty nice too. The castle was bigger and more impressive than any of the photos I had seen. Stegs was pretty excited to be there, I kept saying we're in a freaking castle. Tonight her mission started, get me to try some new foods. She will choose my venue and choice of dinner. For tonight it was a choice of carvery, thai or indian. Thai is her favourite food but her choice was carvery. I had to try all the meats,  have a yorkshire pudding, put gravy on it and eat a sampling of all of the veggies on display. Deal! Dinner was really nice, the mini i guess brussel sprouts were a bit meh, but everything else was good. We headed back to our castle, showered and stegs wanted to watch a movie on my iPad. The decision was Life Of Brian, a Monty Python classic. So we had a mini cinema in the middle of the bed with accompanying Cadbury chocolates, cola bottles and of course plenty of water. I think she liked it? She was laughing a fair bit. They are an acquired taste due to their sense of humour being a bit strange. I nearly dozed off midway through the movie. Mind you i could probably recite the entire movie in my sleep. 

Sleep was much better than the previous night, i was more comfortable, though still keeping right on the edge of the bed. The alarm went off, i got up but the sleeping princess was still laying there without much knowledge of what was going on! After about half and hour i thought it best to wake her so we can get to Cardiff again and do some outdoor ice skating. Stegs had only been once before when she was 10 or 11. We got some photos of us in front of our castle and our Mercedes hire car, we felt right proper. All the roads were clear and Cardiff came to us in two hours. Found a park which was for the museum..... But after doing a lap around the museum we had realised it was closed. Stegglés asked someone who was about to leave where we can pay for our parking so we can eventually get out. Found the ice rink, waited for a bit, and the next session available was 3pm.....Grrrr! We had to leave Cardiff at 2:30pm at the latest to get the car back in time. So we went to find the Christmas markets, and they were a bit of a disappointment. We had a delicious yorkshire pudding wrap i was laughed at for grabbing the tomato sauce so i had the gravy instead. But it was a good choice! Lucky i trust her with food! We found a little shop that was devoted to Wales and anything welsh. I had to get my flag patch and stegglés had to get her fridge magnet. We had seen a lot of the city the other night, and no surprises it was a much different place during the day, still rather pretty but a little bit deserted for a capital. It's a lovely city that doesn't feel like a city. Then came the time when we had to leave and head back to Bath. We only had to fill the car up once just before Bath so the mileage was very good! After a shaky start our navigation and driving team work worked very well, faultlessly. Dropped steggles off, dropped the car off and headed back into town via a cab. Had a very nice cabbie but the traffic was immense, to get there saturday morning it cost me £7, but to get back it cost £12. Train station doesn't do luggage storage, but found an Internet cafe that does. Ready for my last night in Bath and my last few hours with stegglés. She caught a bus into town, the monday bus..... I knew a place where we could get good food, but i wasn't allowed to have pizza. Dammit! Turns out the place has a function upstairs and will not be serving food. Two doors down we found a Japanese restaurant. So it was another experimental dinner for me. This time i had to choose, i don't know the difference between the styles, i know Frankie advised me last time i had Japanese but i couldn't remember it. I took a punt on a chicken and prawn rice dish that included corn, shallots and some massive mushrooms. I even tried stegglés dinner and i think it was better than mine, but just a tiny bit. The soup was nice too, stegs had some even though she's not a fan of miso soup. But this one was ok for her. All the while through the dinner i couldn't help but think about the few remaining hours i have with Rach, in England and Europe. It was all going to end soon, but i tried not to think about it and focus my time and energy with my good friend to whom i now know better. She has given me advice to help me be a more confident man when approaching women. And i threw away the friend card and the notion of a back up plan, silly name! (inside joke)

Then the time came to say see you soon. A hug, a wave and she was back on the bus. I'm glad i got to spend some time with her, as brief as it was. The rumors are true, she is a great person and whoever snags her will be the luckiest guy. 

Time for more trains planes and automobiles. See you soon Gold Coast!
                  

Another castle conquered

Ahh it's winding down and I'm getting a bit sad. Soon I'll be leaving for Bath tomorrow, and no more Gina. It will not be so long until the next time i see her! Today was our last day hanging out together and the fun, silly and good times will have to wait until next time. I'm very happy i got to meet Kelly too, she is a great person and has made me feel very welcome and cooks a great stir fry! 

Since we had seen pretty much everything Gina had planned for us, she did some research last night and found a little town north of Newquay called Tintagel where there is the Tintagel castle, the legendary home of King Arthur. Now whether this is the actual home of King Arthur is one thing, but the place is magical. Waterfalls, caves galore, one in which Merlin lived, he must've been small or kept his stuff up high if it was the cave near the ocean! It has dramatic coastline that is breathtaking, rolling green hills that meet sheer cliff faces (no relation to cliff richard). It's on an island which was joined by a modern man made series of stairs, lots of the stairs for poor Gina. I only like seeing sites now that have steps, no steps, forget it. It's shrouded in mystery and knowledge of the area and the castle is very vague. So it's open to interpretation. I have my own interpretation. Please let me divulge..... During my time in Europe i have managed to take castles by force, some by snowball force and some with a pen, because the pen is mightier than the sword, apparently. And today i walked to the highest part of the castle and proclaimed tin my name, and banishing any thought that King Arthur lived here because there is no freakin evidence. So there is three castles that have taken, one more to go. I will have another travel partner with me to take the next one. You can't take castles by yourself people laugh at you. It's such a beautiful place, and it was great to walk through caves, watch Gina slide around on ice paths, dodge dog shit, give tips on photography and other stuff too ;-) But it was such cruisey and relaxing day, met some of her work friends and the cute one who teaches her about cool interesting stuff, a bit like i used to. Today was just like every other day we had spent together five years ago. It's a shame i will be leaving but I'm so glad i got to see her and the place she calls home. And the next time i see her wont be soon enough.

Tomorrow off to Bath via three train changes, another walk around the town, gander at the Xmas markets, a nice long sleep before i get behind the wheel and drive to some secret locations and share some cool things with stegglés (Rachael). 

Short and sweet, just like Gina. You take care of your girl G!

You owight....a very common term in Cornwall

Oops, I forgot a couple of things in my last blog, yeah you thought it was long enough. You probably still haven't finished it! So lets go back to the future...... (insert your own theme music)

Back to Brussels and one of the most beautiful Christmas sights i have ever seen, and may ever see! They have a massive cathedral there, and it was 6 or 8pm and there is a Christmas tree in the centre of Brussels. A beautiful blue tree with a big black spot on the tree in the shape of a heart....... Awwww, but thats not it. Stephan asked me to take a shot of it from a certain angle so you could see the heart at a good angle, just as i took a shot the light turned off and started to sparkle like the Eiffel Tower. Dammit didn't get the shot. Then some Christmas music started playing, and the cathedrals light went off. Now this was the most beautiful Christmas moment i have ever seen. A projector from somewhere was projecting a 15 minute long Christmas themed animation on the face of the cathedral. The cathedral is massive, and the projection was spot on with all windows lined up and the entire building used in every seen. There was Christmas carols throughout, and everything that was displayed just put a childish smile on everyones face. I can't believe i forgot to put this in the last blog. They had penguins sliding around, candy canes falling, Santa and his reindeers silhouette flying across the cathedral. It's really hard to explain how i felt. I felt i was a kid again. My neck was arched up to the building and mouth wide open with a big I can't believe how cool this is smile on my face. As i've said before it feels like Christmas here and I don't want to leave! And once again our timing was lucky and stumbled across something beautiful and really impressive technically!

My next adventure that slipped my mind comes from my last day in Köln and one of their famous pubs. Alena and Stephan wanted to take me to a German 'brewery' and try a non-alcoholic beer. Most people are aware that i don't drink alcohol, hence the "sober" in my blog title. The brewery was packed and very loud. One of the workers was barging through everyone so i gave him room to get past and he just barged into me. I leaned into him after he pushed into the wall, for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. He then pushed me further against the wall and started going off his nut at me. Haha I had no idea what he was saying, he needs a fucking attitude adjustment, the grumpy old fuck. The place was huge, and the workers keep supplying you with beer as soon as your glass is half full, or empty (however you feel). Unless you say no, they will keep getting you beer. And the bill racks up quite quickly otherwise. Now i have tried everything that everyone has thrown at me. Even a non-alcoholic beer. I tried a beer when i was a kid, and spat it out. It tasted terrible, and i was hoping that the non-alcoholic beer didn't taste the same. It didn't, but it didn't taste very nice. It's Alena's favourite drink, but i really didn't like it. Tried a chai latte earlier in the day and didn't like that either. Can't hurt trying. So that was my german pub adventure.

Now back to something a bit more recent....

My morning in Bath was nice. But this day was about seeing an old friend who i haven't seen in about 5 years, and that is way to long. But so is waiting until you're 28 before you go on your first overseas trip. A lot has changed, so many things have happened in both our lives, but when i saw her, it was like i said goodbye to her yesterday. She looks just as beautiful as the last time I saw her, the same smile, the same eyes, it's like she hasn't aged at all. Beautiful is her nickname, along with VAG or G'eye'NA. Her name is Gina, a kiwi, a former co-worker and best friend. We used to hang out, she played indoor soccer with our team and we used to go dancing at rose and crown until the wee hoirs of the morning.. Yeah me dancing.....such a groover! And here we are in Bath some 16,000+ klms away for our home countries catching up like old times. I got to meet her partner Kelly. She is great and they are a great couple. They compliment each other so well. We walked around the markets and the town. It's such a quaint town with some great stores and some interesting things to see and do. We went to the roman baths and checked out the old buildings back when the Romans were prevalent in the area. It was a really interesting place. The architects of the time were genius, the way they constructed rooms and had the floors and room heated through a series of furnaces that were under the floors but channeled warm air under walkways and  We were looking for a place to have a drink and get inside since Gina was getting a bit cold. We found a bar/buffet restaurant. Had a drink and saw the buffet, it was massive and covered everything we liked as well as a chocolate fountain! It was earlyish and not really dinner time, but we were going to stay there and dig into that buffet. We sat there for about three hours and made the most of it. The food was great, and the company was great as well. 

Our next day involved a further though quick exploration of Bath, then into the car (which just fit my backpack) and off to Stonehenge. The drive was pretty straight forward and Stonehenge is right on a main road. We paid and went in. The main path around it was closed and we only could walk on the path straight beside it which was really cool. I don't know what they are, why they are there, but it's really something to see. It was overcast and foggy which gave it a mysterious feel to the place. You can see it from the road, but I think it was about £6 or something and it's nice to get close. Kelly has a cool Sony digital camera that does motion panorama (one shot and you sweep the camera over the area you want in the panoramic shot and it makes one image. Fuji make something similar which i had tried back home and it's a very cool little function. But it's fuji so the rest of it is shite! From there it's time to go to Newquay and back home to Gina and Kelly's place. It's a great place with a very cool loft/bedroom. I'm on the couch tonight, and i couldn't care. I can sleep on anything and always get a good sleep in. I did manage to watch some family guy in English which was good for a change. I did weigh myself when i had a shower and I tip the scales at 13 stone or 83.4kg. The lightest i have been since school! But i feel great, and the walking around everywhere has been heaps of fun. 

Tuesday, a road trip with Gina. It's funny having Gina drive me around everywhere when it used to be the opposite when she was back in Australia. She's a good little driver too. Her plan is to see the coastline of Cornwall. Newquay is a bit of a surfy town and seems to be a place where you settle down, like a sea change type place. Most of the places we did visit are little fishing towns along the southwest coast of the UK. Our first steps are where the giants stepped, Bedruthan Steps. After re-capping everything that i have seen down in this part of the UK so far, this was my favourite place. Rugged steep cliff faces, scattered rock formations (where the giants stepped) and still a sprinkling of snow on the shaded areas. It reminds me of picture i have seen along the great ocean road and the 12 apostles. There was no wind, and the sea was very calm, but still cold at 1 degree. It was a great first location to be there with Gina. We are really silly together, we do and say some silly things. A lot of the roads were closed due to accidents and roadworks so getting to places proved to be difficult, but so much like me, Gina guesses the driving direction, we were never lost and we always got to our destinations. We headed to St Agnes (not principal skinners mother) but a lovely headlands with boats sitting on the sand as the tide was "well out!" It gave it a deserted fishing town feel which was very cool. Apparently all of these small towns are packed in summer, and they would be a great little warm location with a slightly busy buzz about it. But I'm here in the cold and no where near a busy town or mammoth crowd to fight off. The sun doesn't rise in the sky here it just sits above the horizon making it always feel like it's a lot later than what it is. And since it doesn't get up high shadows are long and it just doesn't warm up. Not far from St Agnes is one of many tin mines, but this one had an amazing view and with perfect getting lost and taking a wrong turn delay we made it with about 10mins before the sunset, so we got some beautiful shots, some cool shots and just fun shots too! It was really pretty and the perfect ending to a great day of sight seeing around the surfy towns and bays of Newquay.

Day two in Newquay is another road trip this time it wasn't blighted by road closures or car accidents. It was straight forward, well kinda. We do like to take the scenic route, get lost and come across some very cute towns that even Gina hasn't come across, so it was a great exploration day. We started in the famous St Ives. It was a bit windier which makes the already cold weather even colder, the wind penetrates you like an unwanted prison inmate! The tide is out again and its such a pretty location. The houses that hug the coastline, and the architecture is the same for he majority of the houses. Its like townhouse after townhouse and there is no gaps, there is no personal space so you'd better like your neighbors! Along the roads we a driving across a patchwork quilt of green pastures and farms. Tin mines litter the countryside, as well as the random new school windmills. It's good to see clean energy being used, and i wish it was more encouraged back home. Through the tight lanes and streets we check out St Michael's Mount. There is two ways to make it to St 
Michael's Mount and that is walk over to it or catch the ferry (aqua duck type vehicle). For us the tide was out and the walk was windy and bitterly cold but like all trying journeys the end result was certainly worth it. It's such a cool novelty to be able to walk across to this castle where most times the area is quite flooded. Our sight seeing stop was Lands End. The very end of the UK. Im glad we had time to get down there, and the great things is that everything is so close to Newquay. Major cities are very cool for history and the massive and grand landmarks, but there is something very unique and enjoyable about these gorgeous little towns that the normal citizens come for a holiday in the warmer months. Most back packers miss the little things but this is something really cool and it's a great place to catch up with an amazing friend. We took some photos of the landscape and the end of the UK, along with the famous sign post Lands End, with John O'Groats (the opposite end of the UK) some 874 miles away. In late 2001 Mark Webber rode his bike from John O'Groats to Lands End for a cancer charity, he did it with a F1 journalist and along the way his F1 future was decided, the next year he was to make his debut as a F1 driver! I still remember the pic of him standing in front of the sign at the completion of his ride. This trip Mark didn't break anything!!! I wanted to get a shot in front of the sign, but it was roped off..... Went to walk around the other side, hmm a wall.... You won't believe it, there is a guy sitting there. I couldn't believe it, on a blisteringly cold day, some guy is sitting there in a hut waiting to take a photo of you with the sign, for only £7.95! Fuck that mate! It's a fucking sign! As i walked away i was yelling out, you won't get a free photo when you come to sea world buddy! Besides the obvious everyone finds a way to make a buck, it got me thinking. Was this guys legit, or was he like the parking attendant who turned up to work for 20 odd years collecting money for the parking at a zoo, one day he didn't turn up. The zoo rang the council, he doesn't work for us we thought he worked for you. Turns out he's been getting people to pay for free parking and has now retired and kept all the money!  

Its so nice to see the countryside and somethings people miss when they travel abroad. There is a lot that i have missed but i'm happy with what i have achieved, and there is more to achieve! It's a great feeling and it feels like I'm relaxing from all of the running around and city jumping I've done. Soon enough i'll be home with my wonderful family for Christmas. And i have two days of xmas shopping when i get home!!!

Good night, hope everyone is well :)

Catch up - this is a long one! Get comfy

The last day is Paris. Don't get me wrong i love the place and I'm sure I'd enjoy it better with someone special. I didn't get to see everything that is here, and there is a lot. Today i did manage to fit in, the Sacre Cœur, Montmartre and the little artist square, the catacombs as well as the pantheon. So what will i remember Paris for? The romance for sure, why i hadn't even been in Paris 10 minutes and i had a woman asking me if i wanted sex, good sex apparently. I know I'd be good love! And with 30kg on my shoulders and 7km away from my hotel, i think i'll have to decline that generous offer. I should have said i will pay you to carry my bags to the hotel! 

There is a lot to see, and it's everywhere. But i suggest if you do a trip like this, do the stuff that you are interested in. Buildings are buildings unless they have a story, bit like artwork. Some paintings are just portraits, this is who i am, this is my family. I am part of a generation that is the void of good history knowledge. We don't understand it, we research it on the internet, do the assignments and then learn about the next thing. We can't take day trips to Rome, Paris, London. We have to read about it. And to be honest i have learnt more about history from the likes of South Park, Family Guy and The Simpsons than i did at school. And on this trip i have learnt more than i ever had, have or did. 

I had a great phone call from mum last night while i was in the middle of my last blog and it made me think. The moment when i was in London was the 'oh my god i can't believe I'm actually here' now, it's more of a wow, there's the Colosseum, there's the Louvre. I can believe I'm here and I've seen so much. My emotions have changed and now to be somewhere special is a unique experience but it doesn't have that same London impact. Understandably so too. It sounds like my tour is reaching it's crescendo, and it is to some point. I have left the next few weeks up to friends to do with me as you wish. My only planned thing left is to drive the new and old nurburgring. This was the track where Mark Webber won his first F1 race last year. Thats not the reason why, its steeped in history, great series of corners and it's near my friends Stephan, Alena and Elisa. And i will be driving a rent a race car. It's only a kitted out VW Golf GTI, small zippy, sequential gearbox, little bit bigger than a mini and handling should be similar. My lonesome nights will no longer be lonesome. I have good friends to fill my days and nights with amazing experiences for the remainder of the trip. And just quietly i'm starting to plan my next trip. Smaller and in the same region designed to tick another big bucket list box. The location will be revealed when all the parts come together. It may not be next year but then it will be sure the one after. If i decide to buy a camera then it will be next year. I've surprised myself how much i can actually save, and this trip is running well under budget which is great too!

Today started with a trip to Gare Du Nord, one of four main train stations in Paris, drop my backpack off for my train trip later. Bloody French and their signs, they just stop. Go this way, ok, now what....... And expensive, €9.50 to leave my bag. Berlin was €5, Italy varied depending on how long, €4 for 6 hours, the €.60 every hour after. Nice was €8.50. Close to the train station is something mum had recommended me to see, Montmartre and the Sacre Cœur. It's funny all the way through Paris there are Africans trying to sell you Eiffel Towers and some just have a piece of string with a loop. They try French, no response, english is next, can i show you something for 1 minute, "sure mate, walk with me" no, just for one minute sir, "you can show me while we walk." They don't walk with me? Today i said, i have 5 hours left in Paris, if you wanna show me, walk. The Sacre Cœur was very impressive, probably more from the 
Eiffel Tower than right under it, you don't get a real grasp of the size of it. Hit the street and found the artist markets/corner. It's Sunday so it's pretty busy, i wonder what it would be like if it started raining all of a sudden? Some really impressive stuff, this one guy was cutting profiles out of a piece of paper while they stood there, very accurate too! He must have kicked ass in kindergarten!!

Next up was The Catacombs and The Pantheon. Now The Catacombs are a combination of cemeteries that were excavated and moved into one location. Towards the end of the 18th century rampant disease in the les Halles neighborhood caused by the adjacent cemetery leading the the entire cemetery to be completely exhumed. It was decided that the bones of the innocents would be moved to the abandoned quarry in Paris. The the remains from the old cemetery were placed on a cart covered in black cloths and, with the escort of a priest they would make their way at night time to the new site. The chief engineer of the mines had the remains arranged decoratively for when the public was accessible to the public in 1810. Up to 23 cemeteries were relocated to The Catacombs. It's a pretty weird place. It takes about 10-15mins to get to the main area of remains, and it just keeps going! The site is based under the metro (French underground) and the water and sewage lines. The ground is damp, and it is poorly lit for conservation reasons. You cannot use a flash but you can still take photos. Most of the trek down i was ducking down to avoid whacking my head on the ceiling. It's a pretty cool place, bit spooky and it's not sad at all since they are bodies of innocent people who were relocated. You cannot identify who's who, except for a few sarcophagi that are around. It would be a great place for a Halloween party! As long as nothing got damaged or stolen. They check your bags on the way out, and i did see next to the guard a skull and a few arm bones........ Why would you take someones remains?? Some people will steal anything just fir the sake of it! The Pantheon was my next and final tourist destination for Paris. It's a very interesting building, with a lot of history. I had heard about the pendulum but i didn't know it was actually in The Pantheon. The pendulum is a working model and proof that the earth rotates, this wasn't when The Pantheon was being used as a church, since science doesn't go hand in hand with Christianity. The Pantheon was used for numerous things over numerous eras. But now it's a museum/resting place for some pretty. Important french people. I managed to see the tombs of Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, Voltaire and Victor Hugo. I did have a healthy green glow after visiting Marie Curie!!

My day was busy, not rushed and i managed to actually do everything i had planned! I think it's the first place where i have actually done what i'd planned. Back to the train station to take the 300km/h Thyls train from Paris to Cologne (or Köln). Im really happy to be going to Köln, one to see some good friends i had met earlier in the year and two i have no idea what we they have planned for me. Surprises left right and centre! The train arrived on time, and there were police everywhere. Was i getting a police escort? And after walking around platform 3 looking for my hosts, there they were, holding a sign, Wormald (LTP, little tea princess!) Oh, that's me! Haha Stephan's always the joker. It's funny, we have only really spent a few hours in each others company when they visited Australia earlier in the year. But through facebook, msn we have joked and laughed online and become really good friends. We certainly have the same sense of humor! In their company i will be trying new foods, seeing places that are beautiful but also not too touristy. But everything is a secret so far and have been surprised so many times already. They have been great in spending a lot of time researching things for me to see and do, and give me a personal tour of their region as well as a few others. To give you an idea of how much work they have done, Stephan did a pre-Luke run through with some of his colleagues. I cannot thank them enough for their hospitality, kindness, generosity, helping me with German words (not swear words either) and taking time off to show me around. Already they have shown me some beautiful areas, surprised by Alena's sister Elisa with whom I met over 5 years ago. The first night was about getting settled, having some dinner (tapas) again you read right. As most of you know I'm a bit fussy when it comes to food, but when in Rome! Then time to put my mark on their wall. I love what they have done with the flat they are living in. Everything is very cool. The kitchen with fruit slices in glass on the wall, the bathroom has an under the sea theme, matched with ocean toilet seat, fish hanging from the roof and sandpaper clad chest of drawers. It really feels homely and uniquely theirs. As you enter you can barely see these hand prints on the wall and i had noticed they had black lights on the ceiling. Needless to say i was about to get initiated onto the fluro yellow hand wall of fame. Friends they allow to can get their hands painted and make their mark on the hallway wall, and when you turn the black lights on all the hands light up! It's just another touch of uniqueness and coolness that is part of who these amazing people are. I better not say too much, because Stephan will read this and get a big head. But I honestly can't show my appreciation enough for what they have done, doing and are planning for me.   

What i have eaten was delicious, capsicum stuffed with feta was just one of them. I tried German bread too, which is a very dense brown bread, it was good too! The only thing i have tried that i wasn't too pleased with was a cookie tester from the Christmas markets. It was good but had a meh after taste, apparently it was the almond. I thought it had a dr pepper type after taste. Since i have been here I have also tried, Hirsch roulade (deer), which was actually very nice. It was a regional specialty of the town of Bacharach, so i thought I'd better try it. So Bambi's mother was delicious! I also tried Dampfnudel (dough, vanilla sauce and cinnamon) and Reibekuchem (bit like a potato scallop, very oily) but both were very nice. You can't go wrong with vanilla and cinnamon, two of my favourite flavours and smells!   

Up nice and early for our drive to the Nurburgring, about 45mins west of Köln. I am to drive a 220 BHP little VW Golf GTI around the old F1 track, the track that Niki Lauda had his bad accident in the 70's. The track is called the nordschlieffe! It's been featured on Top Gear a few times. It's over 20km long and about 50 corners etc. You can pay €22 and drive it, €22 per lap. I was planning to do about 5 laps. Now what i didn't expect happened. The track was closed! With the heavy snow and cold weather they have been having, Ice and snow was all over it. The track is difficult and dangerous enough anyway, so no driving at all. The track was going to be closed until at least the 4th (that is when i head back to the UK). So another planned "out of the norm, but very Luke" activity goes unfulfilled. I was sent an email the day before from the rent a car place, but it was the only email address i have and didn't check when i got to Alena and Stephan's place. So we did go there and met the very nice couple who run the business. He showed me the layout of the track and showed me his stable of cars, and some other exotic cars that were being held at their garage. How exotic? Well how about the Ferrari Enzo!! Ferrari's top model, co-designed by M.Schumacher. The price tag on one is €1,000,000! There is also special provisos to have an Enzo. You can't just be rich and buy one you have to apply, and unless you're buying it second hand you must have owned two Ferraris previously. It does well over 300kph and has all the mod-cons and switches of a Ferrari F1 car. I got to see the car i would have been driving. The Nordschlieffe isn't a track that is easy to drive, i know this. And i have more fun in cars that handle well that sheer power. If you gave me $1,000,000 I'd buy a Mini Cooper S. So i got my photo with the Enzo and the GTI. But now we had four more hours of time to see and do things and i had an extra €370 (race car hire) and €110 (in lap tickets). We set off for Koblenz, where the Rhine river meets the Mosel. Here you'll find a massive statue of Kaiser Wilhelm (The Great). The region is very interesting, so many old houses from around the 18th century, stories from the past, one of them was quite funny. There is a statue along the river that shows a beautiful girl sitting there, apparently a girl used to sit on the bank singing and brushing her hair. The sailors were distracted by her and would end up crashing their boats into the embankment. There were some major renovations and upgrades happening in Koblenz which is in preparation for the big garden show next year! So those of you with a green thumb and weren't sure where it was going to be next year......Koblenz. 

Right now, it's 1:08am and we are on the autobahn. Stephan has put in a mammoth effort driving us everywhere the last two days! He's understandable tired, but a quick nap (not whilst driving) and some pringles has given him the fuel to make it back to Köln.

After seeing the sights and my first Christmas markets in Koblenz, we headed to Marksburg castle to do a tour of this medieval castle. This was a really cool place with so much history, it had never been damaged or conquered. I never realised how much i liked medieval history, the crests, the castles, the daily life. I think of my favorite movie "Monty Python's Holy Grail!" i would love to be a not the real information tour guide, where i make things up and just make it silly and hilarious. Like when we walked in through the front gates and though the old steps. The guide told as that the steps just used to be a slope and the gates were high so that fully armoured men could stay mounted on their horses and ride into the castle. I'd tell it like this..... i can picture it now, King Arthur with his horse/servant Patsy banging two halves of coconuts together as they "ride" in to the castle. Anothr point is when we were in the blacksmiths room,, i would vouch that the ovens were for pizza and they had some italilan people cooking 24 hours a day. Pizza's for everybody. The toilet was interesting, of course no flushing back then but they had a lock on the outside (not inside) just in case anyone wanted to climb up through the shitter and break in to the castle. Personally i would have been locking people inside as a prank!! When we were leaving i spotted a suit of armour, and i was very tempted to buy it just for fun. Imagine walking through airport security with it on. Sorry sir the metal detector went off, take an arm piece off, tray again, nope sorry sir, take the helmet off, and roll your eyes as if you don't know what is making it go off! It would be too heavy for your baggage, so you'd have to wear it.

There was light snow falling pretty much all day, making driving that little bit more dangerous. But it hadn't had a chance to melt and then freeze again making it icy. I wouldn't like to drive on icy roads, especially with some of the tight steep hills Stephan drove us to. I really like this time of year especially in Europe, the towns really get into the spirit of christmas. Yeah it's bloody cold if you're not prepared, but it's cold in the water at work in winter if you're not wearing a wetsuit. We headed into Bacharach, not Burt, but a little town for two things dinner and sleep. Stephan checked us into our hostel, now at that point i wasn't sure if it was a castle we were visiting or what? And then it was time to find a restaurant. Not much open outside of tourist season, and we feared that the recommended restaurant we'd been given was not open. After being informed by (funnily enough) the tourist information in Bacharach we were 5mins too early! So a quick walk around the town wall and back to the restaurant for some good deer and a surprise dinner guests of Elisa and her boyfriend Sebastian! A real big surprise. I knew i was going to see Elisa at some point during the week but i had no idea it was going to be tonight. I met Elisa while she was backpacking her way around Australia. She me my dad and told him she was heading further north to the Gold Coast, he gave her my number, so she could have someone to show her around the area. I had no idea my dad was giving out my number to random backpackers. But I'm glad he did! I took her into Sea World, she met a dolphin, and we went for a drive to Natural bridge (arch) to see the glow worms. This was when i had a car too! Ever since then we have kept in contact though emails and now facebook. When her sister and husband (Alena and Stephan) were coming to Australia we managed to catch up, show them around a bit, of course Sea World, but to be honest i wasn't very well prepared and had some personal issues around that time. But it was great to finally meet them and we hit it off very well. I'm always nervous about meeting new people, but it's the same as when i go karting. I'm nervous at first then when I get in the kart or shake someones hand then it's all systems go!

The dinner was great, good company and it was sad to see Elisa and Sebastian go. Three and a half hours just flew by. I always have a good laugh and have heaps of fun with Elisa. I'm so lucky to have met all of these really wonderful and gracious people. But it was time to go back to accommodation, and boy was it out of the norm. It was a freaking castle! Yup i stayed in Stahlbeck Castle, it's actually a youth hostel now! It's really pretty with all of the snow lined roof, Xmas trees outside and inside, as well as a beautiful view over the river Rhine! After we dumped our bags, and i had an ice cream! Yep ice cream when it's -3 outside! Stephan and i went to explore the grounds and see if we can get anything with out cameras. We ended up standing on a ledge opposite the castle and hurling snow balls at it in an attempt to take the castle by force. Apparently no one even knew there was a battle going on!

Up early for a big day, Strasbourg and Colmar for the big Christmas markets, Strasbourg being the oldest Christmas markets dating back to 1570. The markets are beautiful, with the whole town getting into to spirit and joy of Christmas. Of course there is some really tacky markets who sell some touristy type stuff, but the majority are intricate stalls with some gorgeous gifts and Christmas ornaments. I know one person in particular who would have loved to be there, even though we no longer speak. I think everyone would loved to have been there, but that one person loves Christmas more than anyone else i know! I would have loved to have purchased a tonne of cool things, but some won't get through quarantine and the others would break in my backpack. Colmar was very pretty, it even had little venice, a very quaint part of town that has a cute canal running through it. Strasbourg was also very pretty and there is a lot to see in Strasbourg, which used to be a part of Germany then wasn't then was then wasn't again. For those of you not sure Colmar and Strasbourg are in France. And on our way to Colmar, we went through Luxembourg i had no idea! Another small european country, so i have to make sure i get a Luxembourg flag patch for my collection on my bag. I'm a bit of a flag nerd! I have an application on my iPhone and out of over 190 countries flags i got 92% correct! So they are my cheap souvenir from every country. 

In Strasbourg they have a massive cathedral and if you're going in to pray then you can enter, i had one in mind but it didn't feel like a church. It was a beautiful structure, and as Stephan says it's amazing to see such massive grand buildings and you can't help but think about the slaves that would have built it. The reason why it didn't feel like a church was because there is a gift shop, and not tastefully done either. And it had a clock that was confusing to understand and why would be in a church. When you see the picture you'll probably say the same thing. The building was really impressive but it did feel a bit tacky. Our return home was a lengthy drive back to. Stephan has done an amazing job keeping us safe and getting us home. I'm more than happy to pull over and let him nap if he needs it. I've been in that tired position and it's best to be safe and arrive safe, especially when you have other passengers. I have and even friends have had micro sleeps so i know how scary it is to be that tired. I wish i could take over, but I'm not licensed to drive the car. Upon our safe arrival back to Cologne i was given a multiple choice of things to do in the area. The choices were: (directions)
(^) Skiing in an indoor facility nearby
(<) Aachen for a (printen) cookie purchase (for Vanessa) and the cathedral of Aachen
(V) House of history, in Bonn
(V) Beethoven house, in Bonn
(V) HARIBO factory, funnily enough again in Bonn
(/) Go karting in Kerpen - home town and track of M.Schumacher
(*) Köln cathedral tour
(\) Medieval markets in Siegberg

Most activities were 20 minutes away (inside joke). And they were all in different directions, so i had to make a plan that was do able and one where we could have some decent sleep after Stephan's long driving stints (and the seats in the car aren't too comfy for us taller guys). So, my decision, Medieval markets, Haribo factory, House of history, Beethoven house and karting at the Schumacher facility. I could have done the  skiing too at night but i need a good few hours to get my confidence up on the skis, it's been 12years since the grade 11 ski trip. That was a good trip, back when life was simple.     

The medieval markets is the first part of our loop from Köln, Siegberg, Bonn and back to Köln before the night time karting in Kerpen. I loved the medieval markets, it was such a great atmosphere. It was a good size too, had a blacksmith, a few jokers in the street, everyone in the markets was in costume, they were all yelling out to each other and giving each other crap. I don't know exactly what they were saying but you can get the gist of what they are saying and everyone around was laughing drinking and eating. I found some cool things and did make some purchases, and a present for Myles too. I didn't buy any armour.....they didnt have any or i might of! Haha you'll probably see a picture or two of me kitted up in my medieval gear! They had a two man band there that really just topped the atmosphere off really well. You hear the music and you think of Conan the Barbarian walking in the town. Cool music too. We were there for a bit over an hour and it was such a blast! 

The following port is the home of my favourite lolly, the giant cola bottle by Haribo. Haribo is the creator of the the gummi bear, and the golden bear is it's icon. They no longer do tours of the factory but they have like an outlet store of Haribo! Wow, they do make a lot of candy. Haribo stands for (HA) Hans (RI) Riegel and the town is (BO) Bonn. It was like I'm a kid in some kind of candy store!! They had a video presentation inside as well. Luckily Alena was there to translate for me. He started in the 1920s and the gummi bear we much larger and was a dancing bear. He delivered his creations by bicycle in the town of Bonn. It got larger and larger and in the end the company ran worldwide. The plant closed down during the war because the ingredients were unobtainable. Very interesting history and delicious treats! 

The remainder of the daytime was going to be the house of history and the Beethoven house. But midway through the house of history i had a pretty bad headache and had to pull out of the 60s onwards. So i missed the Beethoven house too. The house of history was very interesting. It had newspapers, video and photography from when the war started, the clean up and the rebuild. It also gave me an insight as to what happened to Germany and it's land after WWII, who had what part, what the plan was to unite Germany. I am pretty raw when it comes to history and learned a lot. I guess that is why they call it the house of history! I was unaware that is was the russians who had control over the eastern side and started the demarcation of the east and west side. And they denied germany being a united country again. Also i learned that women who had been doing all the work while the men were at war, were then banished pretty much to the kitchen and home. They had footage of the clean up in Munich, and the enormous effort to pick of the pieces of a battle ruined country. They would place any bricks that weren't damaged in an area and reuse these brick to rebuild houses. And it was all hands on deck. I can't imagine what it would be like to walk outside after the war was all over, no more bombs, no more air raid sirens and to see your home town demolished, and for what? I could definitely take a lot from the house of history and I'm glad i went there. It was a shame that i didn't get to see more and Beethoven house, but i was in a bit of pain and i wanted time to feel better before karting at the Michael Schumacher kart facility. Home we ventured to change into some pants with a bit more warmth because i wanted to do the outdoor track. Stephan had rang the place to see if the outdoor track was running because there was a more availability on the outdoor track. Their reply was, Yes, they said it's running and come by whenever you want. After a delicious pasta dinner, some panadol Stephan and i were ready to take on the MS kart centre. We got there and spotted the outdoor track with no lights on and ice clearly on the track. We had a back up plan, we knew there was some available spaces in about an hour but that was when we checked last night. Stephan checked with the guy and the outdoor track was closed contrary to whoever he spoke to beforehand. But there was a few spots available for the indoor track but we had to wait around for an hour. I don't care, i've missed a lot of cool activities on this trip which will of course make me 'HAVE' to come back! So we got to have a look at the cars going around, the different lines and of course find a place to put the go pro. Just in front of the steering wheel look like a great spot. I could put it facing me for one stint then facing looking forward. Unfortunately i didn't tighten everything in the first stint of driving, so as I'm going around it kept drooping. I got some great shots of the roof, and a shot with my head in the top right corner. But for the next ten minute stint it was in the perfect place and didn't budge. It has some shake but you really have to expect that when going over a go kart track and dick heads in yellow hitting me! I was fourth quickest and improved my lap time by 1.5secs in the second part. The kart was so different to the first one too, really understeery, so i had to alter my driving style to suit the car, and that took about 3 laps. I had a great time. There was one guy who just drives into you to make a pass, just like the other German i know..........newly crowned F1 world champion!! Anyone know him! It was good to be on track and the footage is pretty cool too! When i get back home I'll pop it on YouTube and share the link on facebook. We were back to Stephan and Alena's place before midnight, which didn't happen too often. Our plans after my multiple choice day are now, Amsterdam, Brussels and on the day i leave Germany and mainland Europe a nice tour of Köln's cathedral and a quick browse of the Christmas markets for a mission.

We were planning to meet Jurrien in Amsterdam in the mid afternoon for a FREE boat tour of the Amsterdam canals. But we had the chance to go and see him at his work at the dolphinarium, i normally don't like to change plans and out people out but i got to spend a bit more time with Jurrien and got to see is beautiful facility. And he has Morgan, a 2-3 yr old rescued Killer Whale! The park is generally closed in winter but does open on special weekends. I really like the atmosphere and the ideology that they have there. It would be a great place to work, until winter hits, and this is Jurrien's first European winter in three years. So he was already sick of the cold weather, the scraping the ice off the windshield, the dangerous roads and the cold water which isn't helped by the very cool breezes that freeze his hair after a shower, and we all know how much Jurrien loves his hair!! Don't worry mate it still looks great! We go to see some steller sea lions, and one in particular was massive. His name is Adek and he weighs 750kg! In the breeding time he can weight up to 1,100 kg, so it think he was on the Jared subway diet. We got to meet his team in the dome where they do the shows, some of the interactive team and their facility and a very nice Pom who was great to talk to, even though some of it was about England batting out a draw in the first test. I had no idea how the test finished, once i left Paris i have been away from the internet and the results, but i knew about Hussey's innings! He soon informed me of everything. He was a great guy to talk to, really engaging and very interesting person. We were talking about the possible outcome for Morgan the killer whale, but it's up to the government. But it must be a buzz for Jurrien to be working with such a magnificent creature, and you can see the bond they have too. Jurrien took a shower and off we went to Amsterdam, not to smoke weed but to have some dinner and check out the canals, oh and Amsterdam Arena. That wasn't part of the plan, we took about an hour to find the park and ride parking, which was cheap and it included a train ticket into the central station. We drove around on just about every footpath around the Arena, I'm sure everyone was looking at the German number plates, shaking their heads and just laughing! It was so funny to be there and clearly we  shouldn't have been on the paths. We were following the green pedestrian paths signs instead of the blue car signs. So it was a bit dark when we got to Amsterdam and the boat cruise.......the Dutch FREE canal tour, wasn't running. Bloody Dutch bastid and his free shit! But we had a good eat, found some Dutch and Luxembourg flag patches for my bag (which i was then told we missed Luxembourg by about 10km). Very similar flags though the Luxembourg flag has a slightly lighter shade of blue on the bottom of the flag. We had a great Italian meal, told some stories in between Jurrien watching the Europa league game between Napoli and FC Utecht, ex Brisbane Roar boy Tommy Oar was on the bench. Two goals very early on, right in the middle of stories! Very funny. Jurrien went to the tourist information centre to find out about the canal tours, the one he had organised was closed, but there was another company doing a tour in 30mins. And much to Jurrien's dismay it wasn't free! Yeah it's a Dutch thing. Cheap bastid! It was a great tour and had some really pretty sights and info. Some of those house boats are impressive too, and apparently mega expensive! There is over 1200 bridges and about 100km of canals! We saw the red light district but we had had a pretty big day and it's not the reason i came to The Netherlands. So we gave it a miss, dropped Jurrien off to his car and headed back to Köln. Stopped briefly on the way by the German police who wanted to search our vehicle since we had come from the direction of Amsterdam. I kinda feel for poor Stephan, he has done many miles and hours of driving in a really uncomfortable car. And once again we returned home safe and tired, another country and city ticked off the list, but I'll have to come back when it's summer to get the awesome colours of Holland. My nights have stretched out a bit back in Köln, i have about 10days that I'm in the UK that i haven't really planned and now is the time to do it. So off bed at 4am but had booked a rental car, trains, driving routes and accommodation. Sent all my emails i needed to reply to. Andi just want to thank everyone who has kept in touch and been wading this blog. It's been fun taking on the trip with me!

Ahhh a sleep in, well 10am. Today we are traveling to Brussels ,Belgium. But this time it's just Stephan and I. Alena has to go to work so we'll go it alone. I managed to get a MP3 cable from a petrol station so now we can listen to some tunes for the remainder of our journey. So i introduced Stephan to Rodrigo y Gabriela, comedian singer Stephen Lynch and some disturbing Adam Sandler songs. He loved them, and i even introduced him to Flicker Switch, he enjoyed them too. Stephan is very musically inclined and it's really cool to see all of the instruments he has and he plays them all. He's a collector and some of the sounds his instruments make are so amazing. He has a wave drum (I think that's the name) and close my eyes and I'm back home listening to the waves crash onto the beach. The strangest is the nose flute, it's not a flute you shove up your nose but a smaller device that fits over the nose and mouth. But Belgium, The Metropol, Christmas markets, disturbing peeing statues, the massive palace of justice, the dwarfed royal palace and of course waffles! I really like Brussels, it has so much to see and do. The food is of course good. I want to first touch on the peeing statues, first there was a boy statue made in the early 17th century called Manneken pis. Then in the 80s they introduced a female statue called Jeanneke Pis, and it's a little girl squatting down. Both fountains weren't running due to the -5 degrees we encountered. Our first stop was The Metropol bar in the famous hotel of the same name. I had a hot chocolate, and it was the best I've had. I'm not one for hot drinks generally but I'm in freaking Belgium, if i don't then what's the point in being there! We visited a chocolatier, some gorgeous creations, i only knew the flavour of a few of them and they were a bit pricey for me. The palace of justice was massive, unfortunately you cannot go inside but there is some stairs you can access to get a sample of the some and the grandeur of this place. The royal palace seems inadequate after you see the palace of justice. Everything is reasonably close to each other and the streets are all lit, something else Belgium is famous for, every street is lit at night, as soon as you leave Belgium to Germany on the highway, complete darkness. We had some fries for lunch, Stephan had been talking up these Belgian fries, and once again they didn't disappoint! In the back of my mind I know it's all coming to an end. It's under two weeks and I'll be back in Australia, then back to work. This time of year over here feels right. Christmas at home is a sweat fest, it's either stinking hot or it's really muggy and ends in a storm, but which ever it is, it's sweaty. The snow on the ground, the smiles of everyones faces, the Christmas carols, the hundreds of stores selling intricate seasonal ornaments. That feeling of cold, the breath in the air, this is the real Christmas. In Amsterdam Jurrien, Alena and Stephan all were suffering from the cold, but i deal with it quite well. The lack of sun is a problem in terms of your attitude but the crisp air, icy pathways and the numbing of your fingers is just the fun stuff. Speaking of icy pathways, i had a great spill on our way around Brussels. I wish someone got footage of it, i know i gave someone down the road a laugh! I don't know what it was that i stood on, i did see and and i thought, hmm this might be slippery, by the time i got to slip, i was on my ass! Bothe legs slipped on it and I'm sure i was horizontal at some point. And yes after you finish laughing too............... The back up camera is fine. In true gentlemanly style Stephan didn't laugh but offered a hand to get up. Style was our key to slipping over, in Amsterdam Jurrien did it best, turning his slip into a dance move. Everyone has their moments on the icy paths you just can't get complacent with each step. We had one port of call left in Belgium and that was a hot waffle covered in chocolate! What a way to top off a beautiful day. Much better than the waffles i had on the Champs Élysées. Oh and one more thing about Belgium,p they have a bit of a comic cult here. They actually have 85 building facades painted like a comic. We only saw two, but they were a very cool things to see, i had no idea they would look that good, i did bypass the area since we were a bit behind on time. So next time i have to see the other 83!! The drive back saw our car thermometer drop to -10.5! One more day in mainland Europe.....sigh!

I am sad to be leaving Stephan and Alena, they have been so good to me, opened their doors and took in a sober virgin traveller, show me some touristy things but also showed me the little things that most tourists may not see or do. And that is exactly how i wanted it. They have gone well beyond everything i had expected, i wish i could stay for Christmas and see the region when it is Christmas. It's just so infectious.

My last day in Köln (Cologne) consisted of seeing the city centre from the opposite side of the river Rhine, walk across the rail bridge which has thousands of padlocks, similar to the ones I've seen in Florence etc. I don't think anyone is going to steal the bridge! But it was a beautiful walk with Alena, snow still on the walkways even though the sun was out and it hadn't snowed for a while. It was a great view of Köln and the enormous cathedral. Now this is gothic, mega gothic! The top was too many steps for Alena, so Stephan took over for this bit, it was cool to able to spend a bit of time with each of them one the last day, and then back together for our last Christmas markets. So the climb to the top of the Köln cathedral. As you've read I've climbed a lot of steps along the way and i powered up these ones. I'm really happy with my fitness levels and eating at the moment, i haven't been this confident in myself for a long time. If you wanna make a change, only you can do it! The cathedral which i saw on my arrival blew me away. I thought i was sick of churches, basilicas and cathedrals, but this is stunningly beautiful. Masssive, and very gothic. I think it is very similar in points to the Notre Dame in Paris, but this was by far more striking. There was a ceremony going on inside so the viewing inside was limited but the stain glass windows were gorgeous. I could spend all day in there (with a good camera) and take so many beautiful pictures inside. They also have a treasury which includes some of the cathedrals artifacts, plenty of gooooooooooold!  A tiny bit of cathedral info....... The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Peter and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The cathedral is a World Heritage Site, one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Köln's most famous landmark, described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius". It is visited by 20 thousand people every day. Construction of the Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its towers are approximately 157 m tall. The cathedral is one of the world's largest churches and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It is a shame that people think that by putting their name (effectively graffiti) on area of the cathedral is a great idea. Why? Who cares if you were there? Who goes up and sees someones name and thinks oh Steve and Georgia were here in 2002! It's silly vandalism and a complete disrespect to this mammoth structure. I managed to get some decent angles and i have a great appreciation of how much work has to go into making such a beautiful gothic cathedral. But time was running out, we saw my next camera on sale, but i have decided to buy one in after Christmas. I have 10 more days of the trip and my little camera will have to do. I am missing some great opportunities and the drive to take a shot is lessened since i know the limits that the little camera can reach. We had a quick walk through the Köln Christmas markets, voted europe's best. We only skimmed the surface of the markets just to get Vanessa her German cookies she asked me to get while I'm here. Then we were off to the airport. Saying goodbye was hard, i didn't have any speech prepared, just a lot of thank yous. It was sad to say goodbye to some great friends who have made this last week one I'll never forget! So thank you to you both from the bottom of my heart.

I haven't been in an airport for nearly a month, and I'd prefer to stay away after the great rail experiences I've had across Europe. They are just so easy to get on get settled and get where you need to be, but you just can't beat the speed of a plane. I was dropped off with 20mins to check in, but for the life of me i couldn't find the easyjet counter. I even asked a few workers there, they pointed me in the wrong direction. For those of you traveling to Dusseldorf airport, there is no specific check in area, look at the generic counters and you will come across your airline. Air Berlin and Lufthansa have their own branded counters, but the others will have ticket desks one side and check in on the other. So I made check in by 4 mins. I have heard easyjet are very strict with their check in times so i got a bit flustered after being sent in all different directions by staff. Then the loving hands of security, now I've been "searched" by three different countries. And even had an explosive swab test, i don't know why he asked me to cough.......... The flight was nice and easy, the staff were brilliant, 75% gay,  not that there is anything wrong with that, and one cute girl. Went through the UK border, ah much easier than the first time, she was having a whinge about how the German language is an ugly language to listen to, i chimed in to say it's not as bad as the Aussie slang. Ahh yeah, well some Aussie accents can be quite sexy, not yours, she says. I pulled a fake sad face and said oh, welcome to the UK then hey! Haha! Laughs all round. Headed off to the underground to get a ticket to get to kings cross station to pick up my ticket. As i was about to start the process of buying s ticket from the machine, a couple came up and said before you buy a ticket, you can have ours, we bought too many. Wow, thank you!!! Underground score! From then on it was smooth sailing to Paddington station for my train to Bath. The only thing is my backpacks were very full and heavy. I couldn't wait to be on the train so i could take them off my shoulders, i think I'm carrying about 35kg at the moment and i had it on my back for about two hours. My hotel was nice and close to the station, and I've done a quick walk around the block of Bath and it looks very pretty and they have their own Christmas markets too, but it doesn't feel the same without Stephan and Alena.

Now your up to date and so am I. 

I hope everyone back home is well. I'm planning to make a book for myself which will include some of my pics, the entire blog, receipts and any other paper tickets/brochures that I've collected along the way.

Tschüss