SOUTHAMPTON-ENGLAND
We spent a weekend with our friends, Abbi and Rich. We met them the previous year on our honeymoon in Fiji! They showed us places like the Southampton town Walls, where the Titanic set sail from, The New Forest, and Bournmouth. The boys went to an EPL game, Southampton Saints (Jacks 2nd favourite EPL team) vs Wigan, while the girls attacked the shops and a cocktail bar (Nic's 2nd favourite place to drink.) In The New Forest, where cows, donkeys and horses that just roamed free, we had a traditional Sunday carvery at a local pub! Delicious! And then we were able to see where Abbi and Rich got married. Bournmouth was a beautiful coastal town where we wandered the pier and soaked up the English sun (that was hiding behind quite a few clouds.)

PARIS-FRANCE
Whilst in Paris we were staying in a hotel in a quiet area of the busy city! We started our site seeing straight away with a visit to our favourite Arc de Triumph! We also did a 4 hour free walking tour where we saw so many sites and gardens it's hard to name them all! But we both couldn't wait until after the tour because we were heading straight to the top of the Eiffel Tower! What a spectacular view! Breathtaking! We then had a picnic in the park with The Eiffel tower right in front. During our picnic, we saw the "gypsies" do their work and steal from two girls, but on the plus side we then witness a couple getting engaged and a wedding! Other sites included the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sacred Hearts and a stroll through Monmatre known as the "real Paris."

ZÜRICH-SWITZERLAND
We stayed with our first couch surfing hosts, Julian and Bianca! Staying there made it very easy to connect to the perfect public transport system! On time, every time! We saw Zurich lake, the biggest clock face, home of FIFA, the Swiss museum, a panoramic view from Utliburg, wilderness park and walked many clean, beautiful streets in the centre of town! We induldged in some tasty treats like cheese fondu, spinach quiche and of course Lindt chocolate! The weather wasn't really on our side at the start but our last day was very nice.  

VENICE-ITALY
24 hours in Venice! It's an amazing city where you can easily find yourself lost in the tiniest streets! We ate pastas and pizzas and loved the atmosphere. We were very lucky with our hostel, as we booked the cheapest we could find, but ended up at an ex-IBIS hotel! We spent our only day strolling through popular squares where tourists and locals eat, drink and just look at all the wonderful buildings. We crossed the Grand canal many times! Saw some unsightly things too, a dead cat floating in a canal and a rat that squeaked so loudly Nic nearly had a heart attack. After a big day of non stop walking, we had some street food for dinner then headed to the train station to board our night train to Vienna, Austria.

VIENNA-AUSTRIA
We stayed at a camping ground whilst in this beautiful city. We spent our days marveling at the wonderful buildings like, the city hall, parliament and the opera house. Though the one that interested us the most was the St Stephan's Cathederal, where we got to walk 364 steps up a dizzying spiral staircase to get a great view of all of Vienna. We also saw the giant ferris wheel, but didn't go on it, so we just enjoyed it from the ground. Checked out an Athletics stadium. Our kitchen conditions were quite funny. The equipment was limited so cooking pasta from boiling water in frying pans was an experience. Our favorite day was the harvest festival, where we enjoyed the sun, food (schnitzel and wiener), beers and some traditional music and dance. The weather was great in Vienna so it added to our amazing stay! Now it's time to check out the Czech Republic!

PRAGUE-CZECH REPUBLIC
What an amazing city! We definitely fell in love with the price of beer (less than $2 for 1/2 litre!) We met up with Kirsty here and enjoyed everything from partying, board games, sightseeing and getting lost every time we jumped on a tram. We climbed a viewing tower, saw the castle, crossed the charles bridge, danced infront of the 'dancing building,' spent time in the old town seeing the astrological clock, jewish quarters, and just beautiful building after beautiful building! Eating Czech food was also a treat, meats in thick sauces with dumplings! And more beer! We visited some artistic sites too. Some giant baby statues, "piss" statue and the John Lennon wall. Met lots of people, but this time it was mostly Aussies! Good fun to be around! So after all our drinking, eating, sleeping and sightseeing it's off to Berlin for us and Kirsty is off to Ibiza!

BERLIN-GERMANY
We only had two full days in this grungy city so we chose to do two tours. A free walking tour through the city where we saw where the Berlin Wall devided the city into the West and East, we even got to stand on a car park that was built on top of the bunker where Hitler hid and died! We saw Reichstaggebäude (parliament building) where in 1933 a naked guy tried to burn it down, the Holocaust Memorial. We went to Bebelplatz, where the first major book burning took place! Also saw the longest surviving part of the Berlin wall, East side Gallery! With memorials painted in from various artists. We then spent a day at the concentration camp called Sachenhousen. It was definitely eerie to be there! Remaining buildings included Jewish barracks and an extermination centre which killed 10,000 people in 10 weeks. We also got to catch up with some family, Hayden and Teegan! They had lived in Berlin before,  so they showed us some good places to drink and eat! Great fun! Off to Amsterdam to do some chilling out!

AMSTERDAM-THE NETHERLANDS
Well hello Amsterdam! What an unreal place! After three days we still couldn't believe how many bikes there were! Kirsty, Jack and Nic did yet another walking tour and saw the canals, the Begijnhof Convent, Anne Frank house, the Old Church, the widest bridge to the skinniest house (1.8m wide.) We had a casual stroll through the Red Light District, where apparently the oldest working lady is 85 years old (with a two week waiting list) and walked passed many "coffee shops." We felt very lucky to come across a store that sold USA and Australian goods. Kirsty purchased some Tim Tams whilst We debated and justified our €8 jar of Vegemite! We stayed in a good hostel, very busy at the free breakfast! Good little kitchen where we cooked up our own double cheeseburgers, but Jackson had a quadruple one! Rode bicycles around for the last day, to take in anything we had left out! Found the giant clog to stand in! We caught the train to Brussels in the afternoon and Kirsty went to Italy!