All good things must come to an end

For our last night in Europe we decided to take a London Bus to Trafalgar Square. It should have been a ten minute journey but about five minutes in the bus was detoured at a police road block. Traffic ground to a halt and there was an air of tension on the bus. An old english gentleman sitting behind us began advising another tourist not to get off the bus. The Londoners on the upper deck became increasingly agitated. And when the driver refused to open the door they operated the emergency button to exit. After another 10 minutes and 10 metres, more passengers escaped (much to the constination of the driver). We also made a break for it.

The mood on the street was also tense with everyone on mobile phones trying to find out what was going on. We overheard someone "there's something going on on Oxford Street". We turned a corner to find police barring entry. A tent had been errected and no one was allowed near.

We went down another street and found ourselves on Oxford Street which was packed with people. The street had been closed awaiting the count down for turning on the Christmas lights. The tent housed a stage and the Lord Mayor was announcing it was 47 days to Christmas! The Lord Mayor was followed by performances from finalists in the X Factor and then lights were turned on.

After all the excitement we decided to walk to Picadilly Circus but after walking for 10 minutes, Joy got directions. Right Street wrong direction! We later walked to the West End where they were promoting a comedy night. We decided to go and ended up in the basement of some hotel with about 20 others. In the process of the MC finding out where people were from we found that more than half the audience were Aussies, I think there 5 Britons there.

After the show we decided we would a nice local meal for our final dinner. We checked the prices at a few pubs and decided on an all you could eat Chinese Buffet (they had good chips).

We left London on Thursday morning and arrived in Sydney on Friday evening. The first priority was to get a good cup of coffee. It was the best we had had since Rome. Returned to Canberra on Saturday.

Today was our first day back at work. We were pleased to find the business operating well with no major issues for us to contend with. Well done guys, you have given us the confidence to start planning our next excursion! Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of the travelling Nicholls.

To be sure to be sure

Dare wus dis couple who were Australian

Dey wus tryin to find where dey wus stayin

Dey turned to da right but couldna take a trick

an ended in da market of Limerick

Yes! after a wintery night in Dublin we traveled to Limerick by train. Joy's main goal was to find ancient family history at the Brian Boru Heritage Centre in County Clare. Getting a hire car on a Sunday in Limerick prooved somewhat challenging. However after a short bus trip to Shannon Airport and too many Euro we were able to hire a car for the day. Travelled the back roads to Killaloe where the Heritage centre was located, only to find it was closed for the winter (interestingly we later heard on the Radio that winter starts on the 1st of November in Ireland).

It was a nice drive in the country. In the afternoon we went off to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and had an enjoyable afternoon.

Caught the early train back from Limerick this morning and went on an Open top bus tour around Dublin. After seeing the sights we decided to go to Dublin's Number 1 Tourist Attraction. The Guiness factory. After climbing 7 floors of exhibits on how they make the stuff, we were rewarded with a refreshing pint in a viewing room with 360 degree views of Dublin.

Tommorrow its off to London for our final day inEurope.

lle mae Cymru yn croesawu'r Byd

Yes! Since our last update we have been to Wales. Our key criteria for a place to stay was the town needed to start with a double L. We settled on Llangollen (pronounced thangothen). Its town motto is lle mae Cymru yn croesawu'r Byd which translates to where Wales welcomes the world.

While in Llangollen we cruised down a canal in a horse drawn narrow boat and also visited an historic house of a Romantic female couple who eloped from Ireland in the late 17th century. Aparently the jury is still out on whether they were lesbians or just companions avoiding marriage but they were well known in their time and were visited by the famous and royals. Their house filled with carvings inside and out and garden as well as their lifestyle were renouned.

Prior to going to Wales we spent a day and a half in the Lakes District where we visited one the houses of Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter's Hilltop farm (unfortunately the house was closed)

After Wales we spent a couple of nights in Bath. In addition to touring the Roman Bathes and Bath Abbey we went on a couple of guided walks. One during the day with one of the Mayor's Guides and a ghost walk in the evening (sorry no paranormal sightings to report). Govenor Arhur Phillip died in Bath (there is an Australian Flag flying over his memorial in the Abbey). We also saw his last house on the walk. They fly the Australian Flag there when Australia beats England at something.

Yesterday we visted the prehistoric ruins of Avebury and Stonehenge. Arrived today in Dublin. Had a Guiness and Irish stew at the local tavern (the singing starts soon so we need to go now.

Roaming Loch Loman

The last few days have been spent roaming through the England and Scotland.
Have been to Hampton Court, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Edinburgh, Loch Ness. Today we arrived back in England and will be visiting the Lakes District on our way back to London.

Have visited Castles, Sherwood Forest, looked for Nessie and seen some amazing scenery. Yesterday was the first day we experienced rain to any degree. But it didn't matter as we were driving.

Have eaten haggis and a very nice venison roast. The Coffee was better in Scotland and they had cold beer.

Internet cafes seem rare in the country. We are at a Library in Carlisle at present and our time is about to run out

Advance to Trafalgar Square

Our last 5 days have been spent at

places like Trafalgar Square, the Strand, Oxford Street, Mayfair and other Monopoly sites.

We have also managed to visit Westminster Abbey & St Paul's Cathedral; the Tower of London and Shakespear's Globe Theatre, the National and Tate Galleries; the Victoria and Albert Museum and Churchill's Bunker & war rooms; Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens (Red Squirrels everywhere); Been around the London Eye and seen the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We have also managed to chug down some warm English beer, bangers and mash, Steak and Ale Pie, a good curry and the full English breakfast. Got a cheap bottle of Calafornian Wine for tonight (Hope its better than the beer and coffee here!).

Au Revoir Paris

Our last full day in Paris was spent at Versailles. The audio commentary finished by quoting someone from history saying "everything is grand at Versailles" ... it was.

On the way back on the train we overheard something about a train strike. Watched the evening news and there was story after story about trains. It is a shame we didn't pay more attention in French classes at school (couldn't understand a thing). Somehow we did confirm that there was a strike and there would be no metro trains on our last day. Tried to book a taxi but the earliest available was at 5:00pm (7 hours after our train to London was scheduled to leave). Shanks's Pony got us to the station on time.

Belgium, more than just Chocolate

Yes, there is more to belgium than chocolate. There is chocolate and waffles and beer and chocolate and beer and moullon and frites and chocolate and beer.



On Tuesday we had a day trip to brussels. We had no plans except to eat the belgium chocolate. After arriving we caught a tram to the city and went for a walk and soon found a chocolate shop. Joy selected one of every differrent chocolate in the window and was surprised to find she still had change from 2 Euros. After eating half the bag we could eat no more and continued our walk along cobbled streets, past old churches and other historic buildings.

We wandered down another lane filled with chocolate and lace shops and found the first of many waffle shops. Lunch was Waffles with strawberries, cream and you guessed it chocolate. At the end of the lane a crowd was gathered at a famous fountain of the Pissing Boy. We are not sure what is famous for, but the gift shops were full of all manifestations of the pissing boy: from corkscrews to fountains and of course 'Pissing Boy Chocolate'.

After lunch we took a sightseeing tour of Brussels; and saw the historic sights of the city and the modern buildings of the EU. When we returned we found we again had room in our stomachs so we went to pub where we found on the menu 19 varieties of beer. We spent the afternoon at the pub. From what we could tell every variety of beer came in its own type of glass. We can't be sure we didn't make it to the bottom of the menu.

We then went for another walk, bought more chocolate and then found a lane filled with restaurants specialising in Moullons. We didn't know what the were but .... (sorry to keep you on the edge of your seat. Our internet time ran out!) ... shortly arrived a large bowl of Mussels with a side serving of chips (Frites). We had a very nice day in Brussels, arriving back in Paris before midnight.

PS We had drunk too much to think of taking a picture of the Mussels.

Viva la France

Updates below 15/10/07

On the eve of rugby semi final between France and England Paris is buzing. Tonight we had the best wine of the trip. It cost 2 Euros at the local supermarket. When we checked the label it read "Product of Chile".

Have walked around the Eiffle Tower, spent

a day in the Louvre and checked out the Mona Lisa (couldnt get very close - Gem): climbed the Arch de Triomphe in the evening (its a long way up). Today it was the Musee de Orsay and the Catacombes. The apartment we are renting has great views when the fog and smog lifts. Coffee is not as good as Italy. Have been to a couple of French restaurants. The most common menu item is steak and chips; we had to search for something which we thought was french and have had a nice rabbit stew, Duck with Lemon, Salmon La somethingerother and of course Steak and Chips.

Still having a great time.

Have now been to 4 Museums in 4 days; as well as up the Eiffel Tower. We have been seen medieval through modern art including Da Vinci, Monet, Picasso and many more. We have travelled the length and bredth of the Paris Metro and have walked our legs off. Tomorrow its off to belgium for chocolate.

Had French wine tonight 2 Euro 39 (not as good as the wine from Chile but better than the 15 Euro bottle at the restaurant)

It is interesting that in each country we visit the key arrangement is different: this is qwerty -azerty

Austria, Germany (Beer), Switzerland

Since our last update, we travelled to Salzburg Austria with a lunchbreak in Villache, spent a day in Munchen where we went to Oktoberfest and are now in Interlaken.

You might think getting a beer at the worlds biggest beer festival would be easy, But.. We queued for 2 hours to get into a beer hall before giving up. We then hung around two beer gardens waiting for a seat (they won't sell you a beer unless you are sitting). Joy finally sweet-talked a young german man to let her sit next to him while his friend was at the toilet and then we were able to buy a beer. It was very good. After Oktoberfest we checked out old Munchen before training it back to Salzburg.






In Salzburg we toured an old Castle,
Mozarts House and did the Vienna Waltz in a river cruiser on the River Salz.




Arrived in Interlaken yesterday and went to the Top of Europe by cog train today. The scenery was spectacular, photos don't do it justice.

Uscita Italia, Munjana Austria

We arrived in Venice yesterday and took a leisurely stroll through the streets of Venice. Took a romantic gondola ride and saw the homes of Marco Polo and Cassanova. Checked out the Basilica at San Marco. Decided to take the ferry home. Joy got on and left Adrian on the dock. We met up later. Joy taking the ferry around the island and Adrian taking the more scenic tour along the Grand Canal.

Today it was more ferry trips but this time together. We also toured the Palais Ducale: more amazing frescos and artworks as well as impressive armoury. The Palace also includes the bridge of sighs and prison. We also toured a museum before coming back by ferry.

Tomorrow we exit (uscita) Italy.

Oops on our last day in Florence we also saw the Statue of David (only 90 minutes in the queue and then you are not allowed to take photos) Also visited the catacombes of St Sebastion and walked an ancient roman road



Where did this picture come from?

Treno, Treno, Treno

Today (Monday) we took the treno to Florence, checked into our hotel and then took another train to Pisa. We spent around 5 hours on trains and spent another 5 hours in Pisa where we climbed the tower, toured 2 museums and 3 other attractions. Walking up the leaning tower is like going on one of those fairground rides that make you lose your balance. It was quite hot today and nobody wears hats. We bought new hats at the market yesterday.

This evening we had a great meal and were seranaded by a group of musicians. (photo coming soon).

Avanti, Avanti, Avanti

Sunday was our last day in Rome so we went for an avanti (walk). We went to see a pyramid (yes there is a pyramid in Rome) but there was nothing much to see, but there were lots of people walking down the road. We followed them a found a roadside market and two hours later we got to the end of the market.

Later we took a bus into the hills and walked a roman road and toured some ancient catacombes. It was like an underground maze.

In the evening we went to a piazza and found where the expensive restaurants were. Avanti, Avanti, Avanti and eventually we found somewhere reasonable to eat.

(stay tuned photos coming)

Exploring Rome

Yesterday afternoon was spent wandering the back lanes of Rome, saw the trevi fountain and stumbled on the Pantheon. While we were out and about we met new friends

Today was spent at Vatican City. St Peters Bassilica is amazing. Words and photos cannot do justice.

Finding an internet Cafe in Rome has been a nightmare. Even worse is trying to use internet explorer in italian this is what the (at) key produces £. Thanks for the myspace gifts. Unfortunately I cannot access it as my italian is limited to Vino Roso, capaccino (pronounced capachiney) and pizza.

I lie there is also Ciao. So Ciao for now.

Arrieva Roma

We safely arrived in Rome at around 6:00am Rome time on Friday. By 9:30 we were in the Roman Forum and spent the day exploring ancient Rome

We have now tasted real capacini, pizza and tiramasu.

And so it begins

The work is done, the business is left in reliable hands and as Suzi Quatro sang at the AIS arena tonight " and so it begins".



Tommorrow we fly away and leave the lights of Canberra behind.