England: Cambridge

Our trip to Cambridge was another great day! Nan came to visit, Graham took the day off work and together with Judy we spent the day exploring the town, university and local markets. With the weather so warm already the flowers had started to bloom, especially daffodils. Daffodils everywhere! 

We passed through the grounds of one of the colleges of the University, all the buildings and surrounding gardens were so beautifully kept.

Graham and Judy walking along the footpath

Unfortunately we missed out on an ostrich burger from the local markets, but instead we found a nice cafe with brie sandwiches so I was very happy. We also drank more tea. I love tea.

The canals that run through the town are beautiful. The willow trees that line the canals are just lovely too and one of Nan's favourite trees. It's not hard to see way.

We passed some of the red telephone boxes on our way back into town, below is the obligatory photograph. We stopped in at John Lewis (which is like a Meyer store) and dreamed of colour coordinated kitchen appliances.

Oh, and also worth a mention, we went out for dinner the night before to a local pub with one section of the building being hundreds of years old. It had a central fire place with low ceilings and big wooden beams. The staff were really friendly and let us have a look around.

Most important of all we tried baked Camembert cheese... I just have no words to explain how brilliant this really is. Try it.

- Kate

England: London

More perfect weather greeted us for our trip into London on Sunday. We drove in past the Olympics site at Stratford and through the East End. If Graham gets sick of his day job he could easily be a tour guide for this part of town. We parked up near the Gherkin and set off for a walk.

Gherkin

We had a coffee and a fancy cake near Old Spitalfields Market before having a look around the markets.Then headed south past The Monument and over London Bridge towards the Shard.

No I'm not standing on a step...

The Shard, tallest building in the European Union

The southbank was really buzzing, with every riverside cafe and park packed with people enjoying the warm spring weather. Back over the Millennium Bridge brought us to St Pauls Cathedral where we took a few years off our lives with a croque-monsieur from a cafe.

Fox running through the city

On Tuesday we caught the train back to London from Bishops Stortford to catch up with our friends Dan and Kate who have just moved to London. Dan's company has put him up in a nice apartment in Shoreditch until he gets settled. It's a very trendy area these days and we had a wander around to check out some of the street art.

After a pint at the local pub we had a really awesome Indian dinner. The star of the show was a whole marinated leg of lamb slow cooked for 24 hours.

Curry restaurants as far as the eye can see

We had an awesome time in London, neither of us had really been to the East End before so it was great to see a different part of the city. Hopefully we will be back in late June!

- Joe

England: Bishops Stortford

On Friday night we were met by my Uncle Graham, Auntie Judy and Cousin Ellie at the airport. While we were excited to get back to London, I was very excited to see my English family again. Graham and Judy live in a lovely village outside of London, named Bishops Stortford. The next morning we went for coffee with what felt like the whole village! Graham and Judy have a great bunch of neighbours and friends so there was about ten of us out for a morning coffee. 

Later that day we watched the English rugby team play against Italy in a six nations game. I think Joe was pretty happy to see any kind of sport. We had pork pie (Joe for the first time) and nibbles (I think Ellie and I were more excited by the food than the game). It was really nice to relax after a few busy days.

After the game we went for a walk through the countryside to a local church. Graham and Judy have a small plot where they grow vegetables nearby too! The walk was absolutely stunning and along the way we saw a cottage with a thatched roof.

Who said English weather was rubbish?

Bishops Stortford is less than an hour from the city. Many people that live here commute to London throughout the week, Graham included. We could definitely picture ourselves doing the same thing in a few years if we move this side of the world.

The church was picturesque. The weather was lovely for most of our stay. We decided to go home via the local pub, as you do. In fact we had a very 'British' few days. Bangers and Mash for dinner, drinks at the local pub, watching the English rugby and onto East London for tea and cake in the days that followed.

The Harvest Moon was buzzing with people. It was a great atmosphere. I definitely didn't like the beer here - it was really strong and beery. After a few rounds we made our way home before the sun began to set.

On our last night Judy made Yorkshire puddings with sausages inside. Better known as Toad in the Hole. It was really, really tasty. In fact, our entire stay was a pretty exciting food adventure of cakes, tea and coffee, pub meals and good home-cooked meals. 

I do feel very much at home in England.

- Kate

Dusseldorf

Our last stop in Germany before we head to England is in Dusseldorf. It was only about 20 minutes on the train from Cologne through some industrial towns. We were getting pretty weary after no sleep for a few days so we headed down to the river to enjoy the sunshine with the locals.

Dusseldorf had a nice old town with tons of bars and restaurants which for some reason we neglected to take any photos of. 

After a busy few days touring Germany it was time to head to the airport for the short flight to London Stansted. Ryanair optimistically call the airport Dusseldorf but it's not the main Dusseldorf airport, it's actually about 80km away on the Dutch border. Still for $15 flights who cares.

- Joe

Cologne

After little sleep due to the Bosnian snoring champion, we had a quick breakfast from "Back Factory" which is one of our favourite self serve bakeries in Germany. The train trip followed the Rhine river via Mainz and Koblenz past countless fortresses and castles perched over the river. It looked like a really nice area and one we might come back to if we have time.

Our train to Cologne arriving

On arriving in Cologne the first thing you see is the enormous gothic Cologne Cathedral. It was one of the few buildings in town left standing after the war because the Allied pilots used it as a navigational aid.

The old town is filled with little pubs that serve the local kolsch beer, and lots of shopping streets.

The Rhine River runs through Cologne and there is a constant stream of cruise and industrial boats going back and forth.

- Joe

Frankfurt

Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany and continental Europe, and has the most modern skyline in Germany with many skyscrapers. Our hostel was about 50m from the train station so after dropping our bags off we headed into town past the congregation of junkies loitering outside the station.

Modern skyline

 There is only a small part of the town that is still in the original style, which had a bit of a Belgian architecture feel to it.

Romer Square

 The weather was fine and sunny so there were lots of people having picnics and drinks along the river. The warm weather lately is starting to bring out all the flowers.

Strange building with a hole punched through it

We headed back to the hostel for the free pasta night and a few beers in the bar. One room-mate we had was a mid-40's guy from Bosnia who insisted on smoking in bed, playing folk music all night long to help him sleep and snoring like a buzzsaw. It was easily the loudest snoring we've ever heard mixed in with the occasional fart. We were glad we had to get up early and leave for the train.

-Joe

Stuttgart

Up bright and early to catch the train from Munich to Stuttgart. We are heading to London in a few days and we decided to fly from Dusseldorf so that we can see a bit more of Germany on the way. Stuttgart is about 2.5 hours away on the train and is the home of Mercedes-Benz, the train goes past the enormous factory on the way into town.

At the end of the old town is a hill that is made from the rubble left over after the city was bombed in World War 2. Due to the bombing there aren't a lot of original old buildings left standing in town (like lots of cities in Germany).

Kate found a playground that was deserted so she had a go on the swings.

At there top there was a great view over the city and of course a beer garden.

- Joe

Paris: Versailles

Our daytrip from Paris to Versailles started with an easy half hour train ride from the centre of town. We were greeted by an insanely long line to get in so the ticket guy told us to go to the gardens and Marie Antoinette's house first before the palace. The weather was perfect and it was even warm enough to take our jackets off in the sun. Off course it's still off season so the fountains aren't on yet and the statues are all covered up but it was still pretty amazing.

Another magnificent statue of something....

We brought a picnic lunch from town so we found a nice spot on the water for our cheese and baguette.

tasty baguette

We continued through the gardens to Marie Antoinette's house where she had a replica rural village built so she could feel like one of the people. It must not have gone down particularly well as she was beheaded for treason later on.

Marie Antoinette's house

There are a bunch of houses, a dairy, mill, and a farm which still has lots of animals.

Rogue duck

Heading back to the palace where the entry line had disappeared we were feeling smug until Kate found the 20 minute line for the female toilets.



It was still pretty packed inside though, I image it would be hard work in the middle of summer. All of our favourite types of tourists were here, pusher-in-ers, oblivious tour groups, loud Americans, me-first-ers, and people with dubious personal hygiene. Sigh...



The rooms of the palace were amazingly decorated with no surface left untouched. The minimalist look hadn't caught on yet.



Whoever was supplying the gold paint would have made a fortune.





After a great day in Versailles we headed back to Paris for a well earned glass of wine and some French onion soup among other things.

- Joe