Contiki - European Magic

Goedemorgen, Guten tag, buongiorno, bonjour!

Weve just finished our first Contiki, European Magic. This Contiki was a bit different to the other three were doing - rather than spending a few days in each city, were hitting 8 countries in 9 days - so a whirlwind tour of some of the highlights of Europe. We've travelled mainly on the Contiki coach, with some ferries and trains thrown in too.

After getting on the coach in London, we drove straight through Belgium and France, and caught the ferry to Amsterdam from Dover where we saw the famous white cliffs. We knew very little about Amsterdam, and most of what we did know was red light district related. So we were pretty blown away when we arrived in a beautiful city full of canals, bridges, wonky houses and fairy lights. And bikes. I have never seen so many bikes.

Things we've loved about Amsterdam:

• Amsterdam has the worlds biggest car park for bikes, it's incredible. Our tour manager John (an Aussie!) was constantly saying 'Look left, look right, think bike' but I'm still surprised none of us got hit by one.
• At sunset we had a canal cruise with the group, with free wine and beer. It was the best icebreaker, and by the end of the cruise most of us were fast friends. Which was lucky because we definitely needed to be able to have a laugh together at our next stop... A live sex show.
• Walking through the red light district which was just unlike anything we will ever see again. Rows and rows of rooms with glass doors, and girls standing behind the glass competing for customers. It's completely legal and fully regulated in Amsterdam so there were people everywhere, it was just crazy. The sex show was what we expected, with the exception of Brian getting chosen with 4 others from our tour to go on stage and dance with the stripper. I then stupidly got my camera out to take a photo, and got hauled out by security and had my camera searched. Doh!

The next day our coach headed into the Rhine Valley, past lots of tiny German villages and all along the Rhine river.

Things we've loved about Germany:

• Spending the night in tiny St Goar, home of the worlds largest cuckoo clock but not much else besides some amazing scenery and spooky castles.
• Everything about Munich! It is such an awesome city. There are so many ancient buildings and churches, but it mixes so well with the modern stuff too. We did a bike tour of the city (again, with an Australian guide!) which was the best way to see everything, and get a full run down of modern german history around WWI and II. Our guide showed us buildings such as government house which still has shell damage on the front pillars, and the opera house where the swastikas have been painted over. Munich was the home of the Beer Hall Putsch, Hitlers infamous failed grab for power which landed him in jail, so it was a really interesting tour.
• Drinking at the beerhall where Hitler attempted to gain the support of the government. Pretzels, beer, pork knuckles...it was about as German as it gets.
• The English Garden, which is bigger than Central Park. Just be warned that in the warmer months, the main entrance to the park is a nude area!
• Watching people stationary surf in one of the waterways that run off the Rhine.

Next stop was Austria. We drove through the Tyrol mountains to Innsbruck, and this drive was probably the most amazing thing I have ever been on. The mountains were beyond beautiful as there was still snow everywhere. We pulled over to take some photos and Brian touched snow for the first time in the car park. It was just perfect as it was sunny and warm, but there was snow and little streams all over the mountains (which were the same mountains The Sound of Music was filmed in.)

Things we've loved about Austria:

• Snow!
• The big green lakes at the base of the mountains.
• Getting bread, ham and cheese in Innsbruck, and sitting in the plaza in the middle of the town
• The little sausage dog in a Bavarian hat busking
• Walking down the street, and looking up to see snowy mountains above the town
• Seeing our first squirrel

Next stop was fair Verona, which wasn't originally on our itinerary, but as we weren't able to go bobsledding in Austria due to ice conditions, our tour manager added Verona to the list instead. We didn't get long there, but were able to visit Juliets balcony and squeeze in time for limone gelato.

Still in Italy, we hit Venice next. What a crazy city, including the fact that it is slowly sinking (1cm per year). We have no idea how they manage electricity, water and gas seeing as its an island off the mainland and you have to catch a ferry to get there. There are no cars at all, and everyone's houses are surrounded by water. When it's hot it gets a bit stinky, but it wasn't bad while we were there.

Things we've loved about Venice:

• Our gondola ride through the canals drinking champagne at 10am
• The fact that our gondolier wore a stripey shirt and whistled tunes
• People watching while eating gelato
• Having the whole day to ourselves (it doesn't happen much on Contiki!)
• Eating giant slices of pizza and drinking prosecco on the canals with friends

From the hot sun in Venice to the freezing rain in Switzerland, Lucerne was bloody cold! Unfortunately it rained almost the entire time we were there, so our cable car up Staserhorn mountain was cancelled as apparently it would have been a white out and waste of money. We had a cruise down the Swiss canals that night too - while we had a good time with our group, you couldn't see anything due to rain. It was such a shame as we knew it would be an awesome view if it wasn't all foggy. Switzerland redeemed itself in the morning though - we woke up to it snowing! Not 'good' snow according to the Canadians on our tour (who had just left -50 degrees celsius at home!!!) but we're not fussy.

After Switzerland we had a 9 hour drive to Paris. Which sounds bad but the night before we had all slept in a refurbished jail (seriously, in a cell) so no one slept very well and happily passed out on the coach.

Onto Paris! From the second we arrived we understood why Paris gets 16 million tourists per year. Holy moly. Everything is just so grand! Statues, fountains and amazing old cathedrals everywhere. It's just so pretty, you could sit back and watch it all go by for hours.

Things we loved in Paris:

• Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night
• Visiting the worlds craziest roundabout and seeing the Arc de Triomph
• The Moulin Rouge with our tour group. A 3 course meal, real champagne and a really good show, we couldn't have been happier.
• Planning a big itinerary of sightseeing, and then not doing any of them because we decided to sit on the Champs del Mar in front of the Eiffel Tower with champagne and baguettes all afternoon.
• Nutella crepes. Enough said
• Dogs being allowed in shops
• The Louvre and its gardens
• Going to see Notre Dame and finding a full orchestra and choir in there performing for all the visitors
• The Sacre Coer

So now it's all over! First Contiki done. We had the best time, but are in need of some recovery time for sure. So we have an extra couple of days in Paris to relax and try to take it all in. It was definitely a whirlwind (Eiffel tower, Venetian canals, Swiss mountains, German beer halls and Dutch cafes) but has only made us even more confident that booking four Contikis is the best way to do it.

Turning in for some much needed sleep,
Kobi & Brian


That's us in the M

 

St Goar, Germany

Bikes in Munich


Dont get too impressed, it's a shandy

  Munich beer garden antics

Austrian mountains


  Snow!

A busker


Juliets balcony, Verona Italy

  Our brick on the travellers wall in the Jailhouse Hostel, Lucerne

 

  Light snow In Lucerne

On the gondolas


Venetian canals

  Rialto Bridge, Venice

 

  Cafe Correcto - espresso and grappa. The verdict? Not good

Lake Como

 

  The Lions War Monument, Lucerne


Le Eiffel Tower

 

Eiffel Tower lit up


View from the top of the Eiffel

Arc de Triomph, Champs Élysées


The Louvre

Notre Dame

Road Tripping Ireland

I'm writing this from Dublin airport, as our time in Ireland has come to an end (assuming we pass security!)

This past week we've been driving down the west coast of Ireland, staying at B&Bs and hostels in some of the towns along the way. The scenery has been incredible, while some areas were a bit brown from the frost, most parts were just green green green and so beautiful! Everywhere around Ireland is covered in daffodils, when you're driving through it you just know there would be leprechauns out there, and I suspect, hobbits.

Places we've visited include Galway, Connemara and Kylemore Abbey, Kilkee, Clifden, Letterfrack, Lisdoonvarna, Killarney, Cork...and lots of towns that were so small you hardly realised you'd passed through them!

Things we've loved about Ireland:

• The Cliffs of Moher were awesome! Some of Harry Potter was filmed there, when Harry went searching for horcruxes. Some parts of the tourist walk along the cliffs probably wouldn't meet Australian safety standards though!
• All the sheep and lambs on the road in Connemara. They will move for you when they're good and ready.
• Seeing our first hare. It was seriously the size of Roger Rabbit. As we drove behind it, it wouldn't run sideways into the bushes, it just kept running straight ahead and looking back at us to check if we were still there!
• All the pub meals: 2 courses plus a glass of wine for €19 (about $23AUD) so good!
• Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney Stone. It's meant to give you 'eloquence' or the gift of the gab (to be honest I probably don't need any help with the gabbing!) So we climbed Blarney Castle, and had our feet held while we leant backwards off the castle to kiss the stone. It was a much further lean than I thought, and it was raining so I hope those guys were holding my legs extra tight!
• The horse and cart ride through KIllarney National Park with our guide Ulton and horse Pearl. The park was really beautiful, but all Ulton wanted to do was chat. If we tried to look around at a waterfall or a bunny, Ulton would grab our arm and tell us another story completely unrelated to our surrounds (like the difference between the letter B in English and B in Gaelic) We had a great time other than Pearl farting regularly right in my face.
• Dinner at Johnny Foxs (the highest pub in Dublin - in the mountains) with Suzie, Mike, Keith, Michael and Ruth. Could that place physically hang any more items from the ceiling? Pots, pans, weapons, bloomers... We had a great dinner and Keith even braved the whisky and brown bread icecream. The verdict? Good, but the brown bread part was a bit odd. We had amazing views of Dublin from the mountains on the way home, while Suzie told us old Irish stories about the devil (while we're driving slowly through the mountains, in the rain, in the dark - thanks Suzie!)

Things Brian loved? Walking around Lisdoonvarna constantly singing ooohhhhh Lisdoonvarna in an Irish a accent and driving me insane.

Challenges:
DRIVING! We picked up our little silver Ford Focus in Dublin, and driving was a challenge from that moment on. Luckily we had a GPS but that didn't help much with the narrow roads. And the roads are so narrow! There were so many times on little country roads where we thought 'if someone comes around the corner now, we're dead.' And if we didn't die, either us or the other car would have to reverse a few kilometres so the other person could pass. Luckily we only hit our side mirror on something once. The fact that we paid for the extra insurance made it a bit less stressful. After returning to Galway after our drive through Connemara our nerves were shredded though! As handy as the car was, we both gave a big sigh of relief when we handed it back.

We have loved Ireland, and all the people who have made us feel so welcome. Thanks everyone!
We're off to London now for our first Contiki :)

Kobi & Brian

Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park

Our horse and carriage ride through the park

In the rain!

 

Pearl the horse

Connemara

Connemara sheep

Connemara

Sheep on the road

Lambing season!

A swimming beach (apparently it gets warm here?)

Kylemore Abbey

Caherconnell Cow

Brian singing ohhhh Lisdoonvarna!

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

Buddha

The Cliffs of Moher

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Blarney Castle

Blarney Castle Estate

Blarney Castle

 

Daffodils everywhere

Roger Rabbit

Dinner at Johnny Foxs with the family

Portlaoise

We've just spent 2 days in Portlaoise, and probably had the most authentic Portlaoise experience we could have ever received, thanks to Brian's uncle John Joe. We stayed in the same house Christy grew up in, though there have been some modifications to what used to be a 3 room house that Christy's parents and their 8 kids shared once upon a time. John Joe was an awesome tour guide during the day, and hosted endless moontalk sessions in the evening when Paddy, Tommy and Michael headed round for Guiness, Smithwicks and whiskey with 7up.

After 2 days exploring the (little!) town where Brian was born, we covered off a few things that had been on our Portlaoise bucket list:

• Visited Gings Hardware (a relation somewhere along the line)
• Got an education in 'hurling' (most vicious sport ever - YouTube it!) and even visited one of John Joes friends who makes hurls in his workshop
• Finally got to visit the Bog, despite being warned by cousins not to get my hopes up. John Joe the Bog guru explained the whole process of collecting the turf for the turf fires most people have in their homes. After years of hearing about the Bog, I can tick that off the list!

Things we've loved about Portlaoise:

• Watching the comedy show that is John Joe, Paddy, Tommy and Michael. Just don't expect any form of decision from them when they're together.
• Catching up with Keith, Sarah, Robbie and Brian and meeting Robert, Miriam, Helena and Anita for the first time.
• John Joe's dog Snipe
• Breakfast frys and Irish tea
• The one beautiful day of weather we got before it dropped down to freezing again!
• Getting the full guided tour of Portlaoise from John Joe

We had such a good time and everyone made us feel so welcome. Thanks to everyone who dropped in, took us out for a drink or showed us around. A special thanks to John Joe, who was an amazing host to us.

Kobi and Brian

Lunch at O'Loughlans


Drinks with the cousins

At the Bog

Brian and John Joe at Greenmill Lane

Snipe

In John Joe's kitchen

Gings Hardware

Hurls in production

Dried turf at the Bog

The Bog

Doing a bog at The Bog

Moontalk

Dublin

We've arrived safely in Dublin after 28 hours of flying and stopovers, and despite putting on our thermals and puffer jackets at the airport, the cold was like a slap in the face when we walked outside. With temperatures ranging from 1 to 7 degrees this week it's been interesting getting dressed in the morning! We need to make sure we are fully dressed at exactly the same time, otherwise one person sits on the bed cooking in their jacket while the other potters around the room. Walking around in the cold has been a fun novelty, but I don't know how people do it everyday - the dogs here don't even wear jackets, it's nuts!

Things we've loved about Dublin:

•  Visiting Phoenix Park, which is twice the size of New York's Central Park and six times the size of  London's Hyde Park. Had to laugh at the story about the Dublin City Council removing the gates to the park for a huge catholic pilgrimage decades ago, and then forgetting where they stored them. To this day, still no gates!
• Visiting the second highest obelisk in the world (after the Washington Memorial) dedicated to the first Irishman to become the British Prime Minister. He wasn't proud of being Irish, and once said in parliament "Just because you were born in the stable, doesn't make you a horse", to which another parliamentarian replied "No, but it might make you an ass". 
• Learning about Arthur Guinness and the 21 children he had with his wife Ruth. Apparently his wife was a bit deaf, and when Arthur got into bed each night he said to Ruth "Well are you going to go to sleep or what?" she would reply "what?"
• Visiting the Guinness storehouse where Brian volunteered to be taught how to pour Guinness first, and didn't get it right so the teacher poured his out and made him start again (and this guy was born in Ireland?!) We both passed and graduated from the Guinness Academy, got our certificate and our free pint, which I drank 4 sips of and gave to Brian. It wasn't as bad as I thought...if I liked beer I probably would've enjoyed it! 
• Visiting the Jameson Distillery for the lowdown on Irish whiskey. Had an awesome guide named Niall. Actually all the guides here are awesome, Irishmen are seriously born to be tour guides - they get to talk all day long, make bad jokes and play Irish songs over the PA system. Anyway, we learnt about Jameson and got a free glass the end... I got mine with ginger ale and lime which  was actually really good! But I ordered it in a pub that night and it was so strong I had to give it to Brian. Not a big bad Jameson drinker after all. Back on the Bulmers now. 
• Tom Cruise mania in Dublin as he was here to promote his movie Oblivion. Funny how many people we heard say they were excited but couldn't stand him. 
• The famine memorial
• Trinity College and the Book of Kells
• St Patricks Cathedral

The best bits?

• Catching up with Mike, Suzie, Keith and Ruth for dinner, and then drinks at the Foggy Dew
• The way the Irish pronounce Brian 'Brine'
• The amazing singers in every Temple Bar pub who sing the best covers and the funnest Irish songs (usually incorporating a 'hey di I di ayy!) 
• The price of alcohol (no wonder people are always in the pubs!) 
• Hearing Irish accents all day long
• Irish brown bread
• The coloured doors and fancy doorknockers everywhere 
• The restaurant 'Bad Ass Burrito Bar' with the slogan 'want some Ass?'
• The tours of the Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Distillery, Kilmainham Jail
• Walking through St Stephens Green where Brian's parents used to spend time when they first met in Ireland

Despite never being so cold in my whole life, Dublin has charmed the pants off us - its just so quirky, friendly and fun. Have loved every minute! Off to Port Laoise tomorrow to see Gings, Nolans and O'Reillys.

Keep warm,

Kobi and Brian

Our Guinness Academy graduation certificates

At the Jameson Distillery

 

The Long Hall at the Book of Kells, Trinity College


St Stephens Green