Home

It is Wednesday night and we are back in Sunny Sydney. We obviously brought the Summer weather with us from the Northern Hemisphere. It is great to be back with family.
In Seoul, we went to a traditional Korean Village which was closed because it was Tuesday. We went to the palace to watch the changing of the guard but it was closed because it was Tuesday. All the tourist places are closed on Tuesdays and we only had one day there. We drove up a mountain and we watches the changing of the guard at another palace. It was noisy and very colourful but about as useful as the one at Buckingham Palace. I had no idea what was going on but they had a giant drum that made lots of noise. After they have done some marching and a few other moves and people yell things, you get to line up and have your photo taken with them.
At the same place there was a political demonstration brewing. There were about 20 nuns holding placards, (really scary looking) and about 1000 police dressed in riot gear. It was a bit of overkill I would suggest.
We also went and had a look at both the posh shopping street that sells all the designer brands where the Japanese go shopping and the market where the local people shop. I wasn't really interested in shopping at either place. I think I am shopped out. It also helped that I didn't have any local currency.
We had lunch in a typical Korean restaurant. With many dishes, all of which are so hot with chili that I could not eat them. I drank lots of water.
Interestingly enough, our guide said that the South Korean people are not vaguely worried about North Korea. They think that within a short time, they will be reunited again, They just have to wait for the current president of North Korea to die.
The other thing I found interesting was that he says he sends his children to coaching clinic after school even though it is very expensive, because everyone does. He doesn't like it but feels as if he has to. Peer pressure gone wrong.
Overall, my view of Seoul is an overcrowded, smoggy city, full of ugly wires and skyscrapers, that is definitely not my favourite.
It is great to be back home with my family. We have had a wonderful time.

Windmills, cheese, dykes and bikes

We arrived this morning in Amsterdam, Holland or the Netherlands. I was surprised to know that they call it Holland. Strange country with a personality so unlike the rest of Europe. 60% of it is below sea level. Who would build a country like this? We went on a canal cruise this morning around Amsterdam. So much water, yet so few mosquitoes. The first thing I noticed was the bikes. They were everywhere! There was a bike parking station that was 6 stories high.
The guide said that they go on the front of the bike from 3months to 1 year, then they go on the back of the bike until they are 6 when they get their own bike. Everyone rides old bikes because if you have a new bike, someone steals it. The houses are gorgeous and everyone is different and lots of them are really crooked. They didn't have house numbers so they had to make their houses look different so they had different facades with statues. All of the time they have their windows open so that you can see what people are doing inside. The guide said that if someone has their curtains closed it shows that you have something to hide. A lot of them have mirrors so they can see what the people are doing next door. They are a bit like the side mirrors on cars only bigger. beautiful skinny houses and lots of lovely house boats, which cost a fortune.
After lunch we went for a drive north to Vollendam. Why does everything end in dam? We went to an Edam cheese factory, which was just an excuse to try and get us to buy some cheese. Then we went to a working windmill that was 350 years old. That I loved. It was beautiful with a thatched roof. Those blades go so fast. They can pump 20 000 gallons a minute, just from the wind. Wow! That was a very cool place. Apparently they are freezing inside in the winter. There are lots of sheep in Holland which surprised me as well as heaps of black and white cows.
We then went to a fishing village which used to be on the sea but is now on a freshwater lake. It was cute but very touristy. You could see nets in the water where they catch eels. I haven't quite got my head around this whole reclaimed land thing. How can they have 60 percent of their country where there used to be sea? It was explained but I still don't get it.
After dinner we went for a walk around downtown Amsterdam, from around 9pm-10.30. It was still light. It was much more beautiful than from the boat. Wow, was that an eye-opener. We didn't even go to the red light district but we went down some streets that maybe we shouldn't have. They had cafes that don't sell anything but coffee, with people doing unusual things in the windows. Dope is sold and smoked very openly. I had heard about it but there is nothing underground about the drug or sex trade in Amsterdam. It was a bit scary. But the city certainly was alive. I guess it is Saturday night.
Anyway, this is one country I will definitely put on my come back to one day list. I love it. And the tour guides are actually really funny.
One thing that I have noticed all the way from Budapest to Amsterdam on each of the rivers is how clean the rivers were. Even though they are all in flood, I did not see one pice of rubbish in 2 weeks. Amsterdam was different. We did see rubbish in the canals and in the streets.
Tonight is our last night on the boat and tomorrow we start our way home. I dont quite get how tonight (Saturday) is our last night in Europe and we have one night in Korea, but we get home on Wednesday. I think we lose 2 nights in flying. It is very sad to end this wonderful chapter in our lives but will be great to see family and friends again. I need to go back to being useful again.

Chocolat

Today we arrived in Cologne. They call it Koln. I dont understand why we call the towns and cities by different names and spellings than the Germans do. I have to say it is the most unimpressive city we have been to on our trip. After the 2nd World War, they had to make a decision as to whether they would rebiuld everything as it was before or build it new. All the other places we have been to, have fixed things up to make them look the way they were hundreds of years ago. Cologne in its wisdon decided to go for new, which is now 1950s style, which now looks 'old' but 'boring old' and unattractive. Bad decision. I dont know why tourists would bother to come here.
There are two good places as far as we can see.. We have been to them both. They a have huge cathedral built in 12 something which is very beautiful but really dirty on the outside(apparently due to acid rain). They have to keep making the statues again ever 10 years or so because they wear out. I never realised they did that. It was magnificent inside, probably the best we have seen with glorious stained glass windows telling stories.
The other place we went to was the Lindt Chocolate Museum. At last a museum about something important. It had all about the history of chocolate making and they actually make it there as well. Of course we had to buy some chocolate as well.
Last night there was a concert put on by the passengers. One guy was brilliant on the harmonica. Adrian and Les did a ventriliquist act. Adrian was the dummy who didnt get the jokes. He reckons Les was the dummy because he told dumb jokes. It was pretty funny and everybody liked it.
It is starting to get real that it is nearly time to end our cruise which is a bit scary, coming back to reality.

Amazing!

We just went along the most magnificent stretch of the Rhine River. It was amazing. The sun was shining on the vineyard covered hills and around almost every bend there was another castle. Some of them were so beautiful, just like a fairytale. There are some horrible stories associated with some of them but they look wonderful and arouse the imagination. We saw the Lorelei statue, which would have to be the most overated landmark in the history of the world. It was supposed to be where a siren attracted men and caused them to have shipwrecks on a difficult part of the river. They just used the woman as an excuse for their poor navigation skill, just like Adam blamed Eve. There is a famous poem written about it, which I have read but it doesnt do much for me.
This afternoon we went to a town called Rudestein. We went to a Museum of Mechanical Music, which is not something I would have thought I would want to go to, but was really fascinating. They had all sorts of instruments, like you used to see on merry-go-rounds or those organ grinders that you turn the handle. There was a machine that actually played 16 instruments, a bit like a pianola, but due to all sorts of belts and pulleys, it played all sorts of other ones all at the same time. Greg would have loved the engineering aspect of them all.
We went up in a cable car to the top of a mountain where there was, on the edge of the forest, 250 m above the Rhine, a huge monument designed to symbolize the re-establishment of the German Empire and Germany's unity was erected between 1877 and 1883. We had an amazing view of the Rhine from the top because it was such a perfect day.

Miltenberg

We had the morning to relax and watch the world go by; beautiful forests, red cliff faces, fields of cows, vineyards, always something new. After lunch we visited Miltenberg. A delightful little town full of half-timbered houses. Grandad said he found the cafe that sold the most wonderful cream cakes in the World - his constant crusade was over, but he had to make sure of it. Everytown and city has lovely cafe's with beautiful pastries and cakes and you sit outside, not with cars going by you, but on cobblestoned pathways. It was another town full of histories out of story books, with the square where they held executions to provide entertainment for the masses before television was invented. I wonder what beautiful little town will be around the next bend?
We had dinner last night with a couple who used to work in Samoa just before we were there. He worked for the Bank of Western Samoa and we shared many funny stories. They are lovely people even though they are from New Zealand.

ABC - Another Beautiful City

Today we visited two towns/cities. In the morning we arrived at Wurzburg on the Main River. It is known for a big fortress on one side of the river but we went to the residence of the Prince Bishop of Wurzburg. I must admit to thinking,'Why would we want to go and look at a bishop's house?' but this was the most palatial residence ever. Wurzburg used to be a country apparently and the prince/bishop was in control for the last 1000 years. They had to be a priest and from a noble family, but they were elected, like the pope. It was decorated more than almost anything we have seen yet, but nothing religious, which is pretty funny since it was a bishop's house. We got some ideas for decorating our entry. His was a little bit different as just his entry staircase covered over 600 sq metres. He wanted everyone to know how important he was. This palace was huge and only one person ever lived there. I guess his many servants lived there too. Apparently they never had a bath becasue they were scared of water, so they just wore lots of perfume and make up to cover the smell and dirt. The only problem was the make up was made out of lead and they didn't live very long.
In the afternoon, we went via the autobahn to Rothenburg, a medieval town which was just magnificent. It has a Christmas store that it about 4 stories high with very expensive ornaments. Heaven for Sue. Hell for Adrian and Granddad. They have a speciality called a snowball which is a pastry which we had to try but it was very ordinary. It tastes like stale cardboard with icing sugar on it. It is surprising because most of their cakes are wonderful. Adrian took his 1000th photo today. I bet you cant wait to see them all! There was a medieval torture museum in Gothenburg. It had some great ideas. They had a cage that they used to put a baker in and dunk him in the river because he didn't have enough dough in his bread. After this treatment, he made his loaves larger, but still got dunked because he was wasting dough. Poor guy. It was a lovely sunny day despite cloudy beginnings.

Bumbag

This morning we were at Bamberg, or 'Bumbag' as we affectionately refer to it. I think we are on the Main river now but I am not really sure. Sometimes the guides are a little difficult to understand. Yesterday one was warning us to watch out for the 'psychopaths' in town, when we get off the bus. She even said they had the right to sue us if we run into one. Later we worked out that she was referring to the 'cycle paths' which are everywhere in Germany. They even have their own traffic lights.
Anyway, Bamberg is just one photo opportunity after another. It is gorgeous. It has like most cities, its industrial sections, but the old section is wonderful and was not destroyed much during the war. We went to the cathedral, which we are beginning to tire of, I must admit, but I was amused by this one as it took 50 years to build. It was built by Heinrich the Quarrelsome (funny name)in 1190 wand was consecrated in 1237. But during its building, the style changed so east side of the Church is built in the Romanesque style with arched top windows and the west side or front of the church was built in Gothic style with taller windows with pointy tops. Imagine changing the Opera house half way through and having half of it in one style and half in another style. It is in a square with buildings built over a 600 year period, so it is a real mix of architecture. But still beautiful. It is such a pretty place.
The shops were lovely too with little marketplaces selling colourful fruits like berries an peaches and prices that we paid back in the 60s. The fruits are so juicy and tasty. They even serve you. In fact prices for pretty much everything are cheaper here than Australia. We cant even blame the Euro or the EEC.