And we're back

More info and photos soon.... :-)

Hamburg!

We are in Hamburg, Germany!

I have finally made it here to visit my Hamburgian mate, Jon. :-)
Jon and I went to school in 1998-9 while he was in Australia on student exchange. We have kept intouch and he has visited Australia a few more times since, but this is my first time to recipricate.

His parents, Hans and Margarit, are kindly hosting us at their house, which makes for a much for relaxing and enjoyable stay.

Our first night here we went out (of course) and had some beers and shots. We visited the famous Reeperbahn, which is a street in Hamburg´s famous red-light district.

Luke's favourite street

Located in Burgdorf, Switzerland.

:-)

Cheers,
Paul.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem

Hi all,

Tonight (27th Sept) we're staying at the Sherwood Forrest YHA in a small village called Edwinstowe, which is about 15 miles from Nottingham. The Sherwood forrest is to one side of the town and hopefully we'll get to walk through it tomorrow. This afternoon when we arrived it was drizzling so we drove to Nottingham to visit the oldest pub in England. It was established in 1189 AD.

It is a small shopfront which backs onto the sandstone foundations of the Castle of Nottingham. Once through the doors though, you can see that it has been tunnled into the stone (probably originating as a cave). It has a lot of character although it can only fit a small number of people. There we're 3 levels that we could see, but there may be more hidden or below ground level.

Souvenir shirts we bought and I also purchased some playing cards. A mate we met on Contiki, Craig, is collecting cards from each of the places he visits. A great idea and a small lightweight souvenir is quickly becoming the best idea yet.

They have their own tradional ale (non carbonated) called 'ye olde trip' which is the nicest real ale I've had so far. We ate there while waiting for the rush hour to subside. I had a lasagne and Luke had the lamb wrap. Not exactly traditional fare, but we had the steak and ale pie last night in Edmundbyers.

Take care of yourselves guys and gals.

Cheers,
Paul.

Edinburgh Castle

Hi all,

Yesterday (26th Sept) we visited Edinburgh Castle and walked the Royal Mile. The castle is mostly set aside as a museum now and is quite well preserved. It cost £11 to enter and a further £3 for a audio guide. These audio guides are used all over Europe and the UK. We saw them in the Vatican and used them at Stonehenge.

The castle was very interesting, and very cold; probably around 7 degrees in the shade and much lower in the wind. The Crown Jewels of Scotland are kept here (sorry no photos allowed) and there is an interesting story about how they were hidden to prevent them from falling into the hands of invading armies. The Scottish War Memorial is also in the castle grounds and we found the Fox and Barnard names on the list of fallen during the First World War.

Last night we stayed in perhaps the oldest building being used as a YHA in the UK. We chanced upon it while looking for a town with a laundromat (a rare commodity). It is located in Edmundbyers, and was built in the 1600s and has had many uses of the years. The YHA bought it in 1936. It is run by Bob and Janet, two lovely people who were very accomodating. We were able to get a 3 person dorm room to ourselves as they we not very busy.

We drove to the town of Barnard Castle today and visited the ruins of the castle there. This was quite interesting as the original castle was built in the 1200s. We took some obligatory photos and video footage and then started driving further south.

Cheers,
Paul.

Scotland

I know, I've been very slack with the posts.

We are currently in Scotland. Home to haggis and kilts. Unfortunately, it is just as expensive as everywhere else in the UK. At this point, Luke and I are running very low on cash and reconsidering the rest of the trip. We knew the UK would be expensive, but..... jeez, you really need to be earning the £ over here.

It is day 6 of the car hire. We have been to Exeter, Goodrington, Swansea and Blackpool. The highlight for me so far was catching up with Dennis Jenner in Goodrington. His brother-in-law Robert invited us around for the night for pasta, beer and wine. A good time was had by all I think.

Take care everyone, more updates soon.

Cheers,
Paul.

London

Well, we're back in London at the moment. We're staying at Chris and Jo's place in Kingston Upon Thames. It is great to catch up with them and have a great BBQ and some drinks. We've been here two nights and head off today to pick up our hire car and start the UK leg of our journey.

Everyone on the Contiki tour came down with some form of cough/cold/flu. It has hit me pretty hard, but the meds should take care of it.

Sorry about being slack with the posts, but it's been a rushed trip and has been hard to remember what/where we were each day. I don't think I'd do another Contiki for that reason.

I'm really starting to miss people back home.

Take care all,
Paul.