Damn blog cut off half of what I wrote – again.

on Wednesday and Thursday after lunch with my boys, I looked around London Town – Harrods, Carnaby Street, Mayfair, Bond Street, Regent Street, Selfridges etc. I also went to the Natural History Museum in SouthKensington and the War Museum inElephant& Castle (who makes up the names for these suburbs?). I think I have mastered the tube, I didn’t get lost once.  Well done me.

on Friday I took a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath.  I had no expectations of Stonehenge, and found it amazing.  It was a great day and our guide was really funny, very knowledgeable.  It went from 8am to 8.30pm, but our coach was luxurious so had a wee sleep on the way back to London.  Wiindaor Castle was very impressive too and I’m not even a royal.

Today, Saturday, we got up and watched the All Blacks (!!!), then we got some Boris bikes – love those bikes, and biked to Putney for lunch.  This afternoon we went and watched a football game, and the crowd were as entertaining as the players on the pitch – Fulham vs Norwich – Fulham won 1-0. A God result apparently.

tonight we caught the tube into the city and went to this fabulous food market behind the exhibition centre by the London Eye.  We have had a great day.

tomorrow morning we are going to some EastEnd markets, out for a late lunch/early dinner, then off to the airport for home.

Dear diary

Well this will be my last blog, and by the time most of you read it we will be on our way back to NZ.

this trip has been a blast, and it feels like we have been away for a very long time when I look back on what we’ve done and where we’ve been.

since we got back from the Cotswalds I have been flying solo as Courtney had to go back to Ireland to finish some family stuff.

On Wednesday and Thursday I had lunch with 2 of my gorgeous boys.  They came and met me at the tube as I wasn’t sure where they worked, and when I saw them crossing the road to meet me, in their suits looking so gorgeous and grown up, my heart almost burst with pride.  They (all 3 of them) have done everything on this trip to make everything happen for me that I wanted.  They have made it a dream come true.  They are just the best.  I officially have the best sons on the planet.  Sorry everybody else

Hi all

if my posts appear to end in a random way it is because they randomly disappear when I publish them and sometimes after several attempts to re write them with limited success, I then give up.

after Brugge we flew to Prague for a couple of days. Their currency is Czech Krona (not sure of the spelling) It is quite alarming initially to hand over 600 krona for a taxi ride, or 2500 krona for accommodation, but got used to it but first few times a bit of a shock (1000 krona £20 ).

Prague stunning, gorgeous old buildings and history back to 10th century.  Did a couple of bus tours so we could see more – Prague Castle, the biggest castle in the world, the style and details on the buildings is amazing, Charles Bridge and much more.  I will send the photos to Shannon . Just like everywhere else, another day would have been great.

Flew back to London on Saturday night and watched Brice do the London half marathon on the Sunday – 1 hour 38 minutes ( sick as a dog, wanted to do less then 1 hour 40, did 1 hour 38, still not happy, wanted to do better!) we tiki toured around London after that, went to tour of London, had a gorgeous pub Sunday roast with Brice, Justin and their girlfriends that night. Yum. Eating so much food.

Today we hired a car and drove to the Cotswalds.  We are staying in Burford, so pretty.  Weather not great, but wiling away the late afternoon and evening in the hotel bar drinking and dining, so it could be worse.

Half my Brugge blog disappeared again!

after the Flanders Tour we went on an extension of the tour to a town to Ypres where every night at 8pm the last post gets played at the Menin Gate, attended by hundreds, every night of the year.  I will send some photos to Shannon.  It is like Anzac Day, every day.  It was a 12 hour day but it was brilliant.

i am loving the beer in Belgium.  I have never been a beer drinker, but their beer is outstanding, so a few hours were wiled away in Ypres waiting for the last post.

the day after our Flanders Fields tour we went on a canal boat tour around Brugge, hired bikes and rode around the canals ( on the right hand side of the road, no helmets what could possibly go wrong

Dear diary

just come back from 3 days in Brugge.  What a beautiful town.

we went on a tour to the Flanders Fields with Quasimodo Tours.  It was a whole day going round the different areas to do with the 1st world war.  We were picked up in their bus at 9am and dropped back to our hotel at 9pm that night.  It was a very good tour.  The guy that took us Philippe (Phil) was so knowledgeable, a brilliant tour guide with a great sense of humour too.  We went to all the different areas that World War 1 were fought at; the strategic points which were fought for, often with huge casualties to the Kiwis and Aussies.  Man we got hammered, so many deaths.  What a huge waste of lives.

Courtney and I were the youngest on the tour by years

After we left Venice, we trained for 6 hours to Zurich via Milan to catch up with a girl that was my first Homestay through New Horizon, 10 years ago.  We have always kept in touch and she even made another trip to NZ 3 years ago to see us on a world trip she was making with her then boyfriend, now her husband. The train trip through the Alps was breathtaking, exactly like the postcards.

we stayed with Boris and Michaela for 2 days and they showed us all around Zurich.  Very pretty.  Switzerland has so much growth, their economy looks very strong.  It was Michaela’s 30th birthday the night we arrived so of course we joined in the celebrations ( or as much as we could when English was everyone’s second language, and some of them could not even speak English), but we managed with sign language and Michaela and her husband as interpreters.  A great night.

LONDON

We arrived back in London last night, so saw the sights today. Appalling weather so we hopped off and on buses all over London and saw Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Tower of London, changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.  A very cool city.  Also went to Madame Tussaurds which was brilliant.

Off to Brugge tomorrow for 3 days.

Well not sure what happened to the Rome post, so will write it again.  It disappeared when I went to publish it.

what a brilliant place Rome is. We flew there Germanwings airlines, brilliant.  Got a txt in from the airport at night, and thought were going to die on the freeway in the taxi.  Crazy drivers.  Next morning after breakfast we went to the Vatican/Cistine Chapel ( and no it did not fall down).  Even if you are not religiously minded it is absolutely a sight to behold.  Absolutely amazing.  Then we went down to the square where old Papa Francesco comes out and waves to his adoring fans.  Down to the fountain where you throw coins in and make a wish.  After a bite of lunch and a rest we went off to the Colosseum.  Amazing.  Out for pizza and pasta (of course).  Love Rome.

Off to Florence the next morning. And arrived early afternoon. Travelled everywhere by train.  Great system.  Great digs in the old Florence.  So beautiful.  Cobbled streets,  narrow streets, window boxes.  Just as it is in the movies.  Walked through their main square with the most amazing churches, the bridge with buildings built into it, which are shops.  Amazing gelato and pizza and pasta (is there anything else)? Wandered around the next morning then off to Cinque Terre. Oh my god, the most amazing place in the world.  Something I wanted to tick off my bucket list, and there I was. I will send photos to Shannon as they do not like to attach to my blog for some reason.  The day we arrived there was a massive thunderstorm which was spectacular, but the next morning it dawned bright and sunny, so off we went to the 5 villages.  We trained to the first one (there was something about climbing hills and 600 steps which put me off for some reason.)  It must be the most stunning place in the world bar none.  We walked to the next village which almost killed me (so unfit, thinking too much pizza and gelato), so we trained to the rest.  Had the best day, and at the last village we swam in the Medaterraean.  A must. We got a boat back and got some more amazing pictures.  Talked to a lady on the boat who lived in Wellington, but grew up in Taradale.  Small world.

next morning we said farewell to Justin and Rachael our wonderful companions and guides who were off to Oktoberfest, and we headed off to Venice.  What a magical place Venice is.  Oh my god.  Fantastic.  Pushed the boat out (literally) and hired a gondola around the watery streets.  Amazing.  This holiday is a dream.

Walked the streets of Venice and looked in all the amazing shops for hours, had dinner in the middle of Venice, then after getting suitably lost in the back lanes of Venice, found our hotel.  Am loving this place.

Arrived into Rome early evening and got the taxi ride of a lifetime along the freeway into Rome

What an interesting place is Berlin.  We flew to Berlin from Dublin on 25 September. We had a lovely apartment in what was the old East Berlin.  So many apartments, very old school looking but all done out inside.  On our first day we walked to the Brandenburg gate and to the Reichstag(?) building.  We also checked out the marathon course.  Everything in Berlin is huge, huge buildings, everything is huge.

on our second day we got a train out to Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp.  We did a tour with that trip and our guide was brilliant, she had completed a degree in war history and knew everything about Sachsenhausen.  We went out on the same railway tracks as the prisoners used, walked along the same road through the town of Orianenburg that the prisoners were marched, and then through the camp.  The tour around the camp was very sobering as we heard about the atrocities that were carried out.  I felt quite sick after a while, and it stayed with me for a few days.

When we got back that day we got a train and went and saw the stretch of the Berlin Wall that is left. It was great to see.  Street art on each slab of concrete for about one kilometre.

The next day was the marathon and it was a glorious day, although a bit too glorious for the poor runners.  It was about 25 degrees.  41,000 runners, and the world record was broken by a Kenyan – 2 hours 2 minutes for 42km – unbelievable.  While we were waiting for Justin and Rachael to come through we went down and looked at checkpoint Charlie.

We found the Berlin rail system very confusing, so thank goodness we had Rachael’s sister Rebecca with us, as she had been there before and knew her way around.

Justin did the marathon in 3 hours 36 minutes and Rachael did it in 4 hours 06 minutes.  Great effort as they were sick with head colds right up to and including the day of the run.

We loved Berlin, it is so so different to anywhere else we have been.

We had packed our stuff earlier that morning and dropped it at the railway station, so we all met up there after the marathon, trained out to the airport and flew to Rome.

I have given up trying and failing to add photos to my blog, so I have sent some photos separately to Shannon’s email.  I will bore you silly with the rest when I get home

Do not know what happened to the rest of my Northern Ireland blog, disappeared when I published it, so will try again.  Went up to Giants Causeway and Craik a Rede, a rope bridge between 2 massive rocks very high above the sea.  Scared myself silly walking over it.   Went to Londonderry, very uneasy place. Went to Belfast and did a Black Taxi tour which takes you around Shankill Road and Falls Road, where most of the trouble between the Protestants and the Catholics occurred in the late 60s/early 70s, ( and more recently if you believe the locals).  The taxi driver was very passionate about the cause.   There are still big gates between the 2 areas which still get locked each night. Crazy.  I just love the quaint little villages and tiny roads and stone fences.  So gorgeous.  It feels like you are in a time warp back to the 60s.  Stayed at Courtney’s old farm in Annalong and spent a lot of time with the awesome neighbours who have been there, and knew Courtney and his family for the last 51 years.  Such giving, funny, gorgeous people.  Spent most nights at their houses into the wee small hours.  Was like another world, in a good way.  We will definitely go back there in the next 2-3 years. Went visiting back to Courtney’s family other farm at Dundonald.  I love this part of the world.  Drove back to Dublin and spent the night with Dylan and Liz then flew out to Berlin yesterday. Had to say farewell to my gorgeous boy but they will be home in late November.  Yah, not too long.