How do I begin to describe what an amazing trip this has been so far. Europe is absolutely beautiful and enriched with amazing architecture and history. There is so much to learn in each new place we arrive in and it has been quite overwhelming trying to absorb it all.

LONDON
I arrived at Heathrow (Terminal Five) with my bag after an hour in a holding pattern accompanied by much turbulence due to thunderstorms - watching the lightning from the plane was quite an amazing sight!! I met Nat in Pangbourne (for those who don't know who Nat is - she is my amazing friend that I have known forever) at a hotel that Pete (her dad) had kindly arranged for us that night and then we ventured onto Ipswich to stay with my family for the weekend. London undergrounds and (massive) backpacks are a different story altogether!! Nat was clinging onto the handrails for dear life while I tried so hard not to crush the person behind me. We were both in absolute hysterics due to the pain in our shoulders - It was much easier to laugh about it than moan. Was really amazing to see my family after so long and we had a good weekend together. Also gave Nat and I a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep.
London is a beautiful city. Trafalgar Square has changed a lot from what I remember it. You are no longer allowed to feed the birds and the fountains now look so clean that you could probably drink from them. (Something I wouldn't really advise though!) Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were even more extravagant than I remember. We didn't venture into Westminster Abbey due to the fact that it cost 10pounds to go inside. The gothic architecture is amazing. We did go into St. Paul's Cathedral and WOW!! The massive dome is really a wonderful sight. 'Lonely Planet' guide had recommended a pub called "Ye Old Cheshire Cheese" so we ventured off to find that but when we walked inside found out that most of its occupants were men so turned swiftly around and found a nice pub across the road. Ended up getting lost that night due to the fact that we got off at a different station near the hostel than the one we were used to. It was pouring with rain, we were cold and we walked and walked and walked. The map was of no help whatsoever. We were in good spirits though as we ended up in Notting Hill after walking right through Kensington and Chelsea. Our hostel was back in Kensington....hence the reason it took us over 2.5hours to get home.
Buckingham Palace was amazing but there were people EVERYWHERE due to the changing of the guard. We couldn't see a thing. Had lunch in the Princess Diana Memorial Park and then headed to the Tower of London. We had had dinner at a place on Portobello Road called "S&M Cafe" and were walking back to the tube station when who walks past and says hello to us but Bill Nigh!!! As you can imagine we took this as a major event in our lives as someone famous actually spoke to us!!

IRELAND
Taking part in a 'shamrocker tour' has possibly been the highlight of my trip. After absolutely no sleep in the 24 bed hostel in Dublin due to lots of movement in our room throughout the night and the fact that I also awoke to a half naked man standing in the middle of the room. (It was a mixed dorm - he wasn't a thief or anything!) We jumped on the coach with our guide Laura who could possibly be the funniest person I have ever met in my life. She constantly chatted and made us laugh until we cried. She ripped off Aussie and American people to the nines and her vocabulary consisted of "feck", "grand", "gas" or "cool bananas" which seem to be the main words in the Irish vocabulary. We visited a whiskey distillery, Clonmacnoise monastery on the shores of the Shannon River, Pol-na-Brone Dolmen and the Cliffs of Moher on the first day. Picture gigantic cliffs with the vast spanse of the Atlantic Ocean stretching as far as the eye can see. The cool wind blowing and the taste of the salty air - absolutely stunning. Pints of Guinness and good hearty Irish stew were enjoyed by all at the little Irish Pub in Doolin where we spent the night. Day two was started by a trip across the river on the ferry. Laura had been telling us all about the underwater viewing tank and the magnificent passenger lounge the whole morning claiming it was "the coolest ferry in the world." We all jumped off the bus and for the whole 20minutes that the trip lasted went looking for these "cool" things. Turns out they didn't exist and she claimed that "it was more fun watching you all running around trying to look for them." We then headed south along the Coast of Clare to the coastal town of Dingle and then onto the most western point in Europe. This place had the most amazing views but the wind was so strong we actually weren't allowed to go all the way to the end because we would have been blown straight off the cliff!! That night we enjoyed another Irish meal with more Guinness in Killarney. On our last day we visited Blarney Castle which was absolutely beautiful and then we made our way back into Dublin to catch our flight out to London where we stayed at an airport hotel and got some much needed sleep!

PARIS
This hostel was a bit of a walk with the backpacks from the train station but situated in a beautiful location on a canal on the Rue de Crimee in what they call the 19ieme (or dix-neufieme) district. We went on a walking tour due to having so little time in Paris itself and were pretty exhausted at the end of the day having seen the whole city in about 4 hours. We decided it would be nice to lie on the grass and rest at the Champs-Elysees after the tour but quickly had to get out of there after being shouted and whistled at by a French policeman (We had no idea what he was saying but I'm sure it was something along the lines of 'get off ze grass!') The most expensive hotel in Paris is near where we were - the cheapest room goes for 10,000 Euros a night!! They have people in the bathrooms to wash and dry your hand for you. Crazy. The Arc de Triomphe is absolutely huge and stands at the end of the Champs-Elysees very majestically. The roundabout is absolutely crazy though and apparently every insurance company in France does not offer insurance for motor vehicles on that roundabout because it is so accident prone. We could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance but did not get round to actually going up it due to the fact that we were exhausted. We will do that when we go back through Paris at the end of May. The Louvre is absolutely amazing but unfortunately was not open so we didn't get to see the famous Mona Lisa painting.

BRUGES
Bruges is a tiny city in the north of Belgium that has cobblestone streets and everyone rides bicycles. Many a time did I nearly get run over by cyclists - they probably aim for all the tourists!! The streets are tiny and very confusing on a map hence why we kept getting lost and going round and round in circles. There are little rivers that run throughout the town. We sat and had a picnic dinner one evening on the river while we watched the ducks and swans on the water. It was beautiful. Belgium is apparently famous for its beer (but then again we have heard that about every country we have passed through!) and the hostel had a bar so we tried a few. One of them called 'zot' which is the local beer tasted a lot like vegetables that have been fermenting for a long time...not my cup of tea!! There was an amazing ice-cream place called DaVinci's which we stumbled upon and the weather was perfect for it!

AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam is completely different to what I thought it would be like. I imagined it to be a bit dingy and not very nice but it is absolutely amazing!! It is so beautiful with canals running through the whole city and it is very clean. There were restaurants, cafes and coffee shops (which don't sell coffee) along the canals with people sitting outside enjoying the summer weather. In the evening we sat and watched people walking along the streets - most of them high on something. It was really quite funny to watch. The Netherlands was the first place that I had dessert for breakfast due to the fact that I picked up what I thought was mango yoghurt but it turned out to be custard! Nat and I went on a bike tour on our second day and went out into the country a bit which was so beautiful. We saw a working windmill and visited a clog and cheese factory. The guy in the clog factory was amazing as he could speak every language imaginable and would do so when he found out where someone was from. At the end of the tour we went into Leizerplein and sat and had Heineken beer and chatted with everyone in the group. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining so we took full advantage of the good weather which was apparently very unusual for Amsterdam. The Red Light District is interesting. Prostitutes in windows and advertising everywhere - it is kind of a world of its own really.

BERLIN
This city is wonderful due to the amount of history that has taken place there. I love German history and therefore was in my absolute element! We visited the Hindenburg Gate, Reichstag, Soviet Memorial, Tier garden, Checkpoint Charlie, Topography of Terror and the Jewish Holocaust Museum. This was very moving and both Nat and I came out of there feeling a bit low and quite sick - what those poor people went through is indescribable. They had real life accounts of people who survived as well as family portraits with survivors and non-survivors from those photos. I bought a book entitled 'I escaped Auswitchz' which I am reading at the moment. We tried to find Hitler's Bunker but to no avail - apparently they do not advertise the exact location because they do not want Nazi worshippers residing there. It is quite scary to think that there are those kinds of people in the world. We met some really wonderful Aussie and Canadian people at the hostel which was great because in the evenings we would sit in the courtyard and chat over a couple of drinks.

VIENNA
The Vienna Boys Choir was absolutely amazing even if it meant sitting through 1.5hours of mass in German. It was held near the Hoffburg Palace so we ventured around there for a bit afterwards and admired the gardens. The Museum Quarter was beautiful but very expensive to get into anything so we sat outside and people watched for a bit. We spent the afternoon in Schonbrum Palace walking around the gardens which are absolutely immaculate and very beautiful. The Vienna Zoo is also there but I am not a fan of animals in cages so didn't go in there. We did sit down on chairs and tables outside for about 30seconds until we got told to 'move on' because we weren't buying anything. The fountains in the gardens are absolutely amazing and if you walk up towards what is called the 'Gloriette' at the top of the gardens you have an absolutely amazing view of Vienna. It was wonderful to sit up there and admire the views. Our last day in Vienna was spent on a 'Grape Grazing Tour'. We were taken by our guide Adam into the Wachau Valley where most of Austria's white wines come from. It is absolutely amazing and was so good to get out of the city. We drove the hour there and then biked through the valley. Austrian wine is quite amazing because it 100% natural as they are not allowed to add anything to it or alter it in any way to change the flavour of the wine. This was due to the Austrian Wine Scandal a few years ago where an Austrian found that adding antifreeze in small amounts to the wine made it a lot sweeter. This was eventually found out and now the Austrian's have such strict wine making laws that absolutely nothing can be added from the picking of the grape to the bottling of the wine. We rode through a small town called Durenstein which was very picturesque and we got to taste some home-made chocolate, jam, chutney and liqueurs. The apple/cinnamon liqueur was absolutely delicious. We also hiked up the mountain for about 20minutes to the fortress where Richard the Lionheart was held prisoner for two years during the crusades. It was amazing to stand there and think that such an important person in history was in exactly the same place but hundreds of years ago. Lunch was had at a local German man's house by the name of Irwin. He did not speak any English whatsoever and kept bringing out concoctions that he had made into alcohol - one of them was green and had leaves floating in it. Tasted similar to Pine O' Clean. He kept babbling on in German and we just kept laughing and nodding our heads as we didn't have a clue as to what he was saying.

SALZBURG
This is the most beautiful city I have visited yet - I wish we were staying longer. The buildings are amazing and the spires of churches and cathedrals stick up everywhere. The old town is filled with shops lining cobbled streets and there are shops everywhere selling everything and anything to do with Mozart. We visited Mozart's home but did not go in as it was very expensive which is a shame. The Sound of Music Tour was absolutely fantastic and I enjoyed singing along to all the songs while Nat was giving me funny looks and sideways glances. We were taken to many of the 'Do Re Mi' scenes as well as the mountain and lake scenes from the opening. Austria is absolutely beautiful and it is spring at the moment so all the flowers are in bloom. The gazebo from 'Sixteen going on Seventeen' was inside the gardens of a palace due to the fact that it had to be moved twice. They have locked the doors of the gazebo and you can't go in because apparently two years ago an 82 year old lady broke her leg by trying to jump from bench to bench as they do in the movie. Good on her for trying is all I say!! The lunch stop was near St. Michel's Cathedral where the wedding scene took place. The Mirabell Gardens are absolutely beautiful and pansies in every colour imaginable are growing everywhere.
We visited the fortress above Salzburg by riding up a cable car to get there. The views up there are absolutely incredible - it was quite something trying to take it all in. We did an audio tour of the inside only to find out that the 'torture chamber' was never actually used as a torture chamber and only as a room to imprison people in. The fortress was never used as a courthouse and therefore they never needed to weed information out of anyone by torturing them. They did have some wheel device that they dropped on people to break their limbs though...not very nice to imagine!

Off to Munich tomorrow which I am very excited about! Our path then is going to be MunichàParisàNiceàParisàBarcelonaàMadridàRome