Merry Christmas!!

Happy Xmas to all from Tallinn, Estonia. After a happy reunion with Jarratt and Bec (ha ha), we have spent a relaxing few days exploring Tallinn, including a very fun afternoon spent ice skating on the outdoor ice rink (well three of us skated - Blue was our photographer). No stacks to report - we are very proud of ourselves!! We are staying in a great place here - a really big apartment right in the Old Town. The only thing we are bummed out about is the lack of snow. It is not even too cold - about 4-5 degrees, warmer here than Germany even. We are all hoping for snow tomorrow (Xmas Day) - not looking too good at the moment. Tomorrow we are booked in for xmas lunch at a nice restaurant near where we are staying, and Boxing Day we are on a bus to Riga in Latvia. A very Merry Christmas to everyone at home - we miss you all but are having a blast.
Love to all.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn

Us in Tallinn

Ice skating

Saving the Best Till Last

Well, we are at the end of a 5 night stay in Berlin, and also at the end of the Eurail leg of our trip (no more trains!) We arrived here via Hamberg, which was OK but which neither of us was too enthused by. Lucky we were only there 2 nights.
Here in Berlin we are staying in a fantastic (and cheap) place - a self serviced apartment in a hostel run by a very friendly and laid back Kiwi! If anyone goes to Berlin we can highly recommend this place. Our first day we took a long walk around the city - if anyone knows Berlin we are staying up past Alexanderplatz and we walked down past it and down Unter den Linden to the Brandenberg Gate - about an hour and a half. Our second day was nice and sunny and we went out to the Berlin Zoo, which was great - by far the best zoo we´ve ever been to (not that we´ve been to that many.) It has heaps of animals - elephants, giraffes, kangaroos, a panda, seals, reindeer, wolves, monkeys and of course Knut (if you don´t know who Knut is look it up.) He´s a year old now and a lot bigger, but still very cute.
The rest of the time has been taking up with sightseeing - there is just so much to do and see in Berlin - it is a fantastic city. Apart from the Brandenberg Gate, we have seen Checkpoint Charlie and the adjoining museum, the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, the book burning memorial and the Wall Victims Memorial, and there have also been numerous Christmas markets to investigate! The average temperature has been zero degrees - so cold.
Tomorrow we fly to Estonia where our twosome becomes a foursome. To everyone who has requested photos, they will go up on the blog early January when we return to our new home!

Livin´ It Up In Köln

Since the last post we have spent 2 pleasant days in Frankfurt Am Main. Frankfurt has two sides to it - the city side with skyscrapers and crazy motorists and the older town side. We spent our time mainly just exploring: walking by the river, tasting Frankfurt´s drink of choice, apple wine, in the taverns, and of course visiting the ever present Christmas markets!
We are now in Cologne, which is proving to be a very cool place - there are little cafes and cute pubs everywhere. Our hostel gets top marks for location, being right around the corner from a pub and pretty much on the banks of the Rhine. We arrived yesterday morning and booked ourselves on a Christmas-themed cruise on the Rhine. We managed to nab a window table, and were served beer and Black Forest cake while enjoying cruising Germany´s famous river. Some good photos were taken, as the skies were clear.
This morning we visited Cologne´s famous cathedral (the largest in Germany.) It is so huge, and really amazing inside, with lots of colourful stained glass windows. This afternoon we will visit the Christmas markets and then check out some pubs, as it was raining overnight and is sprinkling on and off today. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Chocolate Museum, and cross the bridge to explore the other side of the river.
Not too much longer until we get to Berlin, which we are very much looking forward to.
Hope all is well back in Aussie!

Leipzig

Hi All,
We are currently in Leipzig - arrived here yesterday after 3 nights in Nuremberg, where it was overcast and raining pretty much all the time! We did get to see the city though, and we visited the Christmas markets, reputedly the most famous in the country. We also managed to find a jar of Vegemite, and Bec is now very happy having had Vegemite toast for breakfast for the first time in over 2 months!!
Leipzig is a really pretty place, and we have spent our time just wandering around and doing some shopping (mainly for another bag to carry all our purchases!) Have visited a couple of museums, fairly quick visits as everything was in German.
Love to all.

Beer and Lederhosen

We are both really enjoying Munich - it is a great city. We have been to a couple of beer halls, had some great food and big beers! Our first full day was spent exploring the city. We saw the famous Glockenspiel, climbed the church tower for some great views of the city and took a walk in a lovely park called the English Gardens. In the late afternoon we checked out the Theresia´s lawn, where Oktoberfest is held, currently home to some funky markets.
Yesterday we took a trip out to Dachau. There is a memorial on the site of the former concentration camp. We spent time in the museum and saw horrible sites like the former crematorium and the gas chamber - very sobering. Today we have just finished a Third Reich walking tour of the city, which points out sites such as the beerhall that was the birthplace of the Nazi Party.
Hope everyone is well.

Eidelweiss

Hi everyone,
We arrived in Vienna Friday morning. After going to the embassy and doing our civic duty like good Australians (haha), we went for a stroll around the city, before going out for a lovely meal. (In Austria we have had some of the best food of our lives.) Yesterday we went to a museum telling the story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and toured the apartments where she lived with the Emperor. We have now just returned from a concert at a lovely theatre where we saw the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing with the Vienna Boys Choir (!), the men´s choir and some classical singers. The tickets were only 6 euro each (standing room) and we had great views of the stage. The Vienna Boys Choir is awesome.
Tuesday we go on to Munich in Germany. Our itinery for the next 25 or so days is
Munich, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, and Berlin, after which we fly to Tallinn in Estonia to meet J and Bec!

How do you Solve a Problem Like Maria?

This is our third day in Salzburg. Yesterday we went on the long-awaited Sound of Music tour, which was great, and our tour guide was fantastic and very informative. Our hostel also has daily screenings of the movie, which we watched last night (yes even Dave). It is not snowing here and not as cold as Innsbruck, although there is still snow on the ground - not so much in the town though. We have had to give up on the ice caves, as they only open in summer, but are still able to see most things we want to despite the snow. We are thinking of hiring some bikes tomorrow and riding around the town, and then Friday we go on to Vienna.
Till next time...So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehn, Goodbye!