Left Amsterdam this morning to head to Germany. Will will be staying in Heidelberg tonight. Unfortunately Germany had freak storms over night which brought down trees on the autobahn. 13 hours in the coach. Air conditioner broken. 34 degrees Celsius and humid! The slow traffic delayed our Rhine river cruise. We eventually made our cruise at about 5:30. Thank god! Not sure the 40 of us would have lasted much longer. Amazing castles along the Rhine dated 12th and...

Amsterdam is very busy. Canal tour was interesting and walking around the town. We had a few beers with a lovely Italian boy who had been fruit picking around Australia. We had a tour through the sex museum ( hey when in Amsterdam.....) parts of it were quite tacky. But it did have some very interesting artifacts dating back to the Middle Ages, statues and idols from pagan eras right through to modern art. All celebrating/revering erotica through the ages.

Went to bed last night absolutely knackered (I have a cold, Mal has almost heroically recovered from a near fatal case of man flu ). Just after midnight we were awakened by the deafening bells of the hotel evacuation alarm sounding. FALSE ALARM! ON OUR EARLIEST START YET! Everyone in the tower (23 Floors we were in the 18th) headed down the stairs and out to the street in various stages of undress. So after waiting for the crowds to disperse we were able to get...

Ok. So after getting back to London yesterday after the worlds most boring tour of Blenham palace, we did some washing! The palace and grounds were amazing. Unfortunately our guide was of an advanced age (it's possible he witnessed the laying of the foundation stone). The washing was the most stimulating part of the day!

Leaving Belfast in Northern Ireland to cross the North Sea to Scotland.