See the world - Explore it

Travel continues to take us to amazing places and we have met the most wonderful people. Including Thomas Koy and his family who invited us to his home in Bavaria. Thomas had enjoyed a three month  trip around New Zealand and had loved our country and culture . On meeting us in Italy, had decided that they would like to give us the same sort of welcome that they had receive in New Zealand.  Kai Pai kiwi's 😍 They most certainly did! Our stay becoming one of the most memorable of our travels so far.  Our 9 hour train journey from Venice into Munich however was an adventure in itself . Coinciding with a national rail strike in Austria, left us stranded for two hours in Brenner on the Austrian Italian border with a back drop of the Alps , amazing views but meant us missing all our connections for the rest of the day. The Bavarian beer welcome was much appreciated once we finally arrived, exhausted 13 hours later.  Zwiesel is an undiscovered gem deep in the heart of...

Romania  The 17 hour over night train from Budapest into Romania was an adventure in its self.   Under the impression there were no borders in Europe, we settled down to sleep in the steaming hot carriage with fortunately at least underwear on. Only to be startled awake by the train coming to an abrupt stop and banging on doors. Jason hurriedly opened our door revealing 3 stern, armed military policemen wanting to inspect our passports while I'm sat clutching a sheet to hide my dignity. Michaels passport causing much discussion, was taken away with no explanation resulting in us scrambling around trying to dress without exposing too much. Resolved, we settled down to sleep again only to repeat the whole fiasco 20 minutes later as it turns out we were now in Romania. This time a chatty women guard who laughed my compromised position off as, ‘ok as she had boobs too!’ Awkward!!   Waking early the view from the train was as if we had stepped onto another plane...

Poland Our trip into Poland was very much an unplanned detour after Prague. Being so close by train, it was a great opportunity to visit Auschwitz, the notorious WW2 Nazi concentration camp as an important history lesson for Michael. What we hadn’t expected, was just how extraordinary Poland would be in its self and Krakow, where we stayed was incredible. Krakow one of the oldest cities in Poland, with its old town being listed an UNESCO World heritage site was beautiful, albeit cold. It boasts the biggest market square in Europe and houses The Cloth Hall, apparently the first shopping mall in the world. Also St. Mary’s Basilica as well as Rynek Underground, a maze of underground medieval tunnel routes that run below the market square. Krakow also has its own royal castle, Wawel which looms above the city complete with a fire breathing dragon monument, worth a wander past in the evening. We loved Krakow and even the cold added to the magical feel to the city. Our apartmen...

Prague Leaving the UK was always going to be hard, but was a real wrench after we had extended our stay with family and friends for two nearly 2 months. There was little excitement for being on the road again and our backpacks felt heavy and cumbersome, especially when crossing London via underground to the Airport during peak morning commute time. We could feel the glares as we squeezed ourselves into already over packed trains loaded with backpacks, taking the space of at least 10 people. As well as our lack of enthusiasm, we looked like rookies going through London City Airport. You would think we would be organised but no, we booked last minute flights from London to Prague without research and arrived just in time for a Bank Holiday weekend. With most of the city booked out and all the best deals long gone, we found ourselves scrambling around looking for accommodation and paying a premium, not a great start. My studded belt and hand sanitiser flagged me for further in...