Apr 10, 2013 - Layover in Germany & then on to Accra, Ghana

Flight was pretty bumpy for a while there, but we made it and they actually got my gluten-free meal right (rare). YAY! I did have a rather new experience in that the woman behind me put her feet in the seat back pocket and managed to move my bottom seat cushion every time she wiggled her toes. After repeatedly giving her nasty looks with every fidget (I'd have thought that would be sufficient), I finally told her she was driving me crazy & she eventually stopped. Sheesh! Sean got a chance to see some of the Sultanahmet area in Istanbul,...

Mar 6, 2013 - Navy in Frankfurt, Germany - Max's traveling teddy

Hello Everyone, After some sunny weather in Mexico, I have found myself in the city of Frankfurt am Main, in the state of Hesse, Germany, where it is still Winter. Did you know that the element, Hassium, is named after the German state of Hesse? Like many North American cities, Frankfurt has lots of skyscrapers, but it also has some older more traditional-looking areas. I've got some photos of both. Can you see me in the night time photo of the Roemer square? The European Central Bank is here and there's a huge Euro symbol downtown (see the...

Jan 11, 2013 - Frankfurt.

Friday, 11 January. På den enda timma som jag vistades på Frankfurts flygplats, medan jag under min vandring, säkert 1 km långa vandring från ankomst-gaten till avgångs-gaten. Kl 22.00 var det dags för ”the big Jump”, nämligen den 10 timmar långa flygningen till Bangkok. Till min stora fasa, upptäckte jag att jag hade blivit placerad mitt i planet, dvs jag satt inklämd mellan folk på båda sidor om mig. Jag föredrar alltid att sitta vid en korridor.

Jan 8, 2013 - Arrival in Germany

I arrived in Germany on December 14. My friend and future travel partner Petra picked me up from the train station in Villingen (I took the ICE from Frankfurt Flughafen to Villingen)and delivered me to my home town in the Black Forrest. It had been snowing and everything had been converted to a Winter wonderland. They had a hard time keeping all the roads open, it had snowed so hard. The following day it started to rain and by Christmas most of the snow was gone. i am attaching a picture of myself with all my gear on, as I arrived in...

Dec 19, 2012 - Countdown to Europe

Walter and I (mostly I) counted down to our Europe trip for months. I planned everything from destination cities and hotels, to train transfers and opening hours for the major sites. This process took a LOT of my time during my fall 2012 evenings and weekends, but it was worth it to save some money and pack in the most we could over the 17 days we planned to spend in central Europe. For us, this trip was the honeymoon we should have had (rather than the somewhat disastrous Mexico excursion of 2005). This was my 2nd trip to Europe, and...

Dec 16, 2012 - We made it to Frankfurt

Sunday 16 December Arrived in Frankfurt after 24 hours of flying and approx 10 hours in airports. No snow here but we did fly over lots of snow on the way. The Hilton Hotel was fine and the Frankfurt Christmas markets were a short walk away. What a wonderful sight. Stalls all set up with their Christmas decorations and lights making for a magical experience. Lots of Gluhwein aromas as well as the usual varieties of German sausages. Met a nice couple from NZ at dinner tonight. Tomorrow we are off to our favourite medieval city of Rothenburg.

Oct 30, 2012 - Getting Home

30 October Getting Home—A Process Two days before the safari ended, ADS called to get our info so they could confirm our departure airline reservations. Lo and behold, we found that on September 15 Precision Air had canceled our 8 a.m. flight out of Kilimanjaro Airport to Johannesburg and rebooked us for a 6 a.m. flight out. It was bad enough that we had to get up at 5 a.m. for the 8:00, now we were looking at a 2:30 a.m. wake-up call. So with that knowledge absorbed we continued with the safari. Back at Arusha and the Mt. Meru hotel the...

Oct 17, 2012 - The Final Countdown..........

17 Oct 2012 - morning Our last day - we might arrange a late checkout so we can shower and change before our flights. If its raining, we can spend the day in the hotel and drain the mini bar! If not we can just wander about a bit. Its 8 degrees and overcast - not supposed to rain - we'll see about that!

Oct 17, 2012 - Relaxing

17 Oct 2012 - middle of the day We went for a walk - overcast but not too cold. C found some nice scarves in an Iranian clothing shop. She got a few puzzled looks from some of the other shoppers - maybe the scarves are for a special purpose??? We were harrangued a few times by beggars and seedy looking characters - its that soprt of area. Next we rounded the corner - about 4 Polizei vans and 25 Polizei plus a scruffy looking man being held up against the wall - drug bust??? Then we heard alarms and sirens, and just up the road a fire alarm...

Oct 16, 2012 - The HOHO was more like a HO

16 Oct 2012 We slept in today – needed the rest. Breakfast at 10:30 – not a bad selection but I must say the scrambled eggs were a bit ordinary (and that’s a bit hard to achieve!) First we went to the station to check out the trains to the Flughafen (airport) We knew that the S bahn (local rail service)went there, and that our Eurail tickets would work – we just wanted to be sure where to go. We were just looking at the S Bahn map on the wall when C was approached by a spooky looking bloke asking if he could help. The spider tattoo on his...

Oct 15, 2012 - Avis tops Europcar in stupidity re car return at railway stations

15 Oct 2012 We awoke a bit later – both not feeling too hot and needed extra rest. We had brekky in the vaults under the hotel – they once would have been wine cellars, or even dungeons!! We checked out and loaded our luggage into the car, then walked into the town. Just pottering about . But it was bitterly cold. Walked as far as the Residenz (larger, and more ornate than Buckingham Palace). We saw a huge river cruiser and a coal barge moving into the lock. Then back to the Dom Café for a coffee (and C had a Krapfen!!!). Back to the car...

Oct 12, 2012 - Update on the 250km train

You could see out of the front of it - I did disappoint Scott for not booking those seats - personally I found it a touch freaky, as we still had a clear view from where we sat. I also found a healthy eating place in Brussels before we left that was well marketed and made it onto my list of things we should have in Australia. If nursing doesn't work out, this may be my new business...