Egypt so far

Loving Egypt except for our night train.  As it was towards the end of Ramadan the trains were packed with city  workers leaving Cairo to head home to their families to begin Ede celebrations.
I am borrowing my tour leaders laptop while Nath kicks his butt at cards.  Taking a break from the sun bathing.  We are currently on a cruise from Aswan to Luxor.  Each day the boat has docked so we can see some temples so its neat to get out and about.  Another kiwi couple on the cruise we have met and become friends with - they even gave us two jars of marmite!
Here are just a few samples of the many photos we have taken.  Loving the hot weather, it is almost too hot in the afternoon to be in the sun, even the shade is not overly refreshing! But I am remembering that when I return to London it will be cold and grey so Im making the most of the sun.

Up early tomorrow for a hot air balloon ride over The Valley of the Kings.  We have one last overnight train to endure but this trip is only 10hrs so it should be a breeze.  Lets hope the air con doesn't conk out.

Amsterdam

Anna, Borrie, Nath and myself just had a wicked weekend in Amsterdam.  The weekend got off to an early start with the alarm set for 3:10am!!  A bit early but shows how hard core travellers we are.  Needless to say I was actually looking forward to getting on the plane so I could sleep, but with only a 40min flight to Amsterdam, I did not catch up on much of my missed sleep. 

We hit the ground running - firstly we dropped our bags at the hotel then found some breakfast before we literally went non-stop for the next 3 days.  We started with a canal cruise along the many hundreds of canals in Amsterdam.  Along the way we stopped at the Van Gough Museum - it holds the largest collection of Van Goughs's works.  We then decided we were thirsty so off to the Heineken Brewery we traipsed to quench our thirst.  It is the best brewery tour I have done - very interactive and funky.  They had a bar set up pumping sounds and room where you could DJ and make your own bottle labels. 

After this it was time to complete the canal cruise then explore China Town for some dinner.  We had a quick walk around the red light district but we were all zonked out from the early start so we headed to our hotel for much needed sleep.
Day two was planned out to perfection.  We started with an early start at the Anne Frank house to avoid the queues.  We did well getting there before it was even open, and they were letting people in early so we didn't even have to wait.  Later in the day we notived the queue snaking around the block!  It was very interesting inside the Frank hideout - it was bigger than I had imagined and they had a good set up.  Having read Anne Franks diary it was neat to be able to see the hideout for myself.  It was very sad being there as the story didn't have a happy ending and Im struggling to understand why one population of people think they are superior to another.  Of course this occurs around the world, Nazi Germany is just one horrific example of unfortunately many cases of genocide.

 To lift our moods we then indulged in some frites (hot chips with mayo) and waffles.  We were feeling much happier after our food stop.  The previous day we had booked ourselves onto a half day trip out to the 'country' where we were to see windmills, clog and cheese making.  This trip was excellent value for money, only €35 for a 5 hour outing.  We went to the Zaan district to see windmills listed by UNESCO as a world heritage site.  After this it was time to taste cheese and shield our eyes from wood shavings during the clog making demo. We headed back to Amsterdam very content with our country outing.

 The last big adventure on our list for today was a visit to the Ice Bar.  It was FREEZING, naturally as you would expect being at -10C!  I was definitely ready leave after 20min of being locked in a freezer.  Unfortunately we weren't able to take photos inside, but don't worry staff took photos for us to buy at €9 per photo.  Yeah right.  Needless to say we didn't buy any. 

By now it was 10:00pm and feeling much more awake than the previous night we headed to the red light district.  We found a pub playing the Real Madrid v Barcelona game which was awesome to watch - even though the pub stank of weed.  The smell was everywhere around the streets of the red light district.  Anna was worried sniffer dogs at the airport may smell weed on our clothing and get us locked in jail.  After the footy we had a good look through the red light district, I was disappointed at how tame it was as I thought it may have been more risque. The most shocking thing was the pitcures on the numerous DVD covers!

 

 Monday and today is Nath's birthday.  We had not planned anything for today other than a nice canal side lunch before heading to the airport.  Turns out we managed to fit in a 3 hour city walking tour before our lunch and departure from Amsterdam.  Our tour guide delighted in telling us that NZ has the highest rate of weed users in the world - 27% compared to only 5% in The Netherlands.  Anna and I are very sceptical of this information as we don't think a quarter of NZers use weed.  

We were totally impressed with ourselves amd how much we had managed to do in 3 days in Amsterdam.  My lasting observation is all the bicycles around the city.  I loved how bicycles ruled the road over cars and pedestrians!  Also noticed the lack of an obesity problem as the population is so active.  Maybe Texas should invest in some bicycles!



Looking forward to more travel later in the month with our trip to Egypt only a couple of weeks away. 

An example of all the bikes - they even have special bike parks

Birthday Lunch

The narrowest home in Amsterdam 1.8m wide!



Cambridge

Mum and Dad left London early, like 4:30am early, yesterday morning, so to cheer me up Nath took me to Cambridge for the day so I wasn't sitting around the flat moping.  Of course we did the usual Punt along the river Cam and had a laugh at the Asian tourists who couldn't steer their boats.  The river was packed and it was a bit like dodgem boats bouncing off each other all the way down.  We did see a few wet punters but actually missed the moments they fell in, gutted.  Our punter was very good at giving us a history lesson as we cruised past university colleges and under numerous bridges.  One bridge we passed was the Mathematical bridge which is self supporting due to its tangent and radial trussing, the original bridge built in 1749.

 

Mathematical bridge

After our romantic cruise shared with 6 other people in our boat, we visited Kings College Chapel.  This is the Church where King Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn in 1533. In 1536 Henry had her beheaded at the Tower of London.  The Chapel was amazing with the most fascinating fan vault ceiling - the largest in the world.  Building of the Chapel began in 1446 and was finally completed over a century later.  At the East end of the Chapel hangs 'the Adoration of the Magi' painted by Rubens in 1634.  Such amazing history in one small place.  After our cruise and religious experience it was time to hit the pub for a refreshing pint and a bite to eat.

Kings College Chapel - the organ was a gift to Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn for their wedding



Trinity College

Mum and Dad do London

It has been a busy week since we returned from Scotland.  Mum and Dad have been staying in our spare room and every minute of the day is action packed, so much so we all collapse into bed at night.  My memory is starting to get a little foggy of what we have done, could be something to do with having a few drinks last night! 
Im thinking that I might bullet point what we have done to make it easier to remember:

• explored Camden markets including a garra rufa fish pedicure
• walked along the North Bank of the Thames
• climbed up Monument
• explored Greenwich - markets, maritime museum, painted hall, royal observatory, river boat along the Thames
• visited the state rooms of Buckingham Palace and the Royal Mews
• HMS Belfast
• hung out in Covent Garden

Mum and Dad hired a car and took off to Weymouth and Cornwall for four days.  They wanted to see Weymouth as this is where my sister lived and worked for six months a few years ago.  They loved Cornwall but hated how they had to pay for car parking everywhere - even at the beaches!
At the moment they are at the British Museum with my Uncle (Dad's brother) who lives in Brighton but came up to London yesterday to hang with Dad.  It is cool to see him and we had a fun dinner with him and my brother last night.
Tonight we are going to see Lion King at the theatre which is going to be very lively.  I will try to stop myself singing along to all the songs I know.  Tomorrow I suggested M&D have a wander around Kew Gardens for a few hours - they will love it.  Dad is keen on the tree top walk.  We are meeting my cousin for dinner at Brick Lane in the evening so Im hoping we dont get Dheli Belly.  So far we have had no probs after eating there.  Then after all this action it will leave one day left for M&D in London before they set off for Turkey and Greece.  Lucky buggers.
I have to admit though the weather in London has been fantastic!  I have a bit of a tan going on.  The weather is forecast to be great up til Friday so thats good for getting up and exploring the sights.
I'll include some pics to make this blog slightly more exciting. 

 

Scotland

After driving for 15 days and 10 hours we finally got to Glasgow - ok maybe it wasn't quite that long.  It was neat to see Mum and Dad after our super quick catch up at Heathrow. 

Breakfast pit stop

Our destination was the Isle of Skye so we didn't spend too much time chatting on the road side.  Packed up the car and we were off to explore Scotland.  The first little town we stopped at we checked out the tourist information centre.  Turns out the lady who works there has a sister living in Napier so we were treated like royalty - free postcards and maps to help us along the way.
Before we reached our accommodation in Kyleakin we stopped at Eilean Donan castle.  It is very picturesque as it sits on the edge of a peninsula (kind of) and is surrounded by water. 



Eilean Donan Castle

Kyleakin was a very small fishing village with only 3 restuarants to choose from for dinner. On the plus side it did have a ruined castle over looking the village so in the morning we walked up the hill to check it out.

Ruins of Castle Moil, Kyleakin

We then drove around the Isle of Skye, as it is so small we covered the whole Island in a day.  We went for a walk to the Neist Point Light house, got a flat tyre and had yummy hot chips by the sea side in Portree. 

Neist Point

Portree

The next day we headed to Inverness, stopping off to see a canal lock system in use.  Dad was very fascinated but Mum and I headed off for a coffee.  On the way up to Inverness we saw Urquhart Castle and failed in our attempt to spot the Loch Ness monster. 

Inverness wasn't quite what I expected, I was disappointed with sea gulls and rubbish dump smell all over the city.  Luckily I had booked accommodation in a little town called Ardersier which only had one restuarant to choose for dinner.  Thankfully the food was very tasty.  The next day we saw the Falkirk Wheel in action on our drive from Inverness to Edinburgh.  It is quite an amazing feat of engineering. 

Falkirk Wheel - takes canal boats up (or down) to the next canal

Nath and I were pleased to be in Edinburgh on a sunny hot day as last time we were there it was freezing cold for the All Blacks match.  There was a cool vibe in the city due to a jazz festival and the sun being out.  We wondered around and found a sunny spot in Princess Gardens to enjoy an ice block while Mum and Dad visited the Castle.  There were plenty of dinner options tonight and we choose a funky cafe/restuarant/bar and pigged out on sharing plates.  

Edinburgh

The drive back to London was an enourmous 7 hours or so, not helped by road works just north of Luton airport.  We stopped at Hadrians Wall to break up the drive and give Nath a chance to quench his thirst for all things History.  As the wall is 2000 years old I think we could all appreciate how significant it is. 

 

Back in London now and being a hotel and tourist guide for Mum and Dad.  Today they have ventured off by themselves to Weymouth and then Cornwall for some exciting travel adventures. 

 

Birthday Bash

It has been a fun few days in London.  It started on Thurs with Mum and Dad having a stop over in Heathrow for 3hrs before flying onto Ireland.  I got to have a whirlwind catch up with them and exchange birthday presents with Dad.  Tessa also arrived back in town on Thursday so it was all action. 
On Friday my birthday started with Nathan waking me up early as he had to go to work!  Tessa came round and checked out my pad before we lunched in Finchley.  We headed to central London and straight to the M&Ms store.  Loud and bright and kids everywhere! I was like a kid in a candy store.  Tessa went a bit crazy with shopping - buying a t-shirt and other souvenirs.  I was good and only spent £2.20 on a selection of chocolates. We then headed to Marble Arch and Selfridges. 

After it was time for a pre-dinner drink.  The pub was super cheap with only £10 jugs of Pimms.  I do question the strength of the drink though,  it tasted more like lemonade. 
We headed to Brick Lane for a curry - where the curry is never really that good but a cheap night is guaranteed.  Anna bought me a Camilla face mask as a fun birthday present so we had fun taking photos and drinking loads of wine.  Each of us was carrying a bottle of wine, plus we negotiated two free drinks with our meal.  Needless to say we had far too much wine at the table and a big night was had by most.  Anna was keen to take the party to Elephant and Castle to go clubbing but as 1) I had too many clothes on so I was not revealing enough flesh and 2) I didn't have my stab proof vest we turned down the offer.

We struggled to rise early the next morning to take Tessa and Gavin on sight seeing tour of the English country side.  We missioned to Stonehenge where Nath and I paid to go in again.  Why?  What a waste of money.  The first time was never that exciting so Im not sure where the impulse came from to pay to see it again. We then headed to the most picturesque town in England as described by the Lonely Planet, Castle Combe, with a stop off at Devizes for a traditional pub lunch.  The final stop of the day was to Bath, home of the Sally Lunn bun, where again Tessa did some souvenir shopping with a bit of sight seeing thrown in.  The only English tradition we missed showing Tessa was a castle!

Nath and I are gearing up for two months of exciting travel adventures.  The next two months look a little like this:

• Scotland - with my parents - late July
• Amsterdam - Anna, Boz, Nath and I - mid August
• Egypt - Nath and I - late Aug, begining of Sept
• Munich for Oktoberfest - 8+ friends from Uni - mid Sept

Somewhere between Egypt and Munich I have to be back at work :(  Work is far from my mind, living in the moment and loving it.