Raubling, Germany to Gold Coast, Australia 31st October 2007

We have had some difficulties obtaining our visas for China here in Europe - a lot of waiting and standing in line - however on the morning when we arrived in Munich Pat went straight to the Consulate and success at last - our visas for our brief stopover in Beijing were ready to go.

We left Munich and headed to the beautiful and enchanting city of Venice, Italy - a city which has 20 million visitors per year. Walking the labyrinth of narrow alleyways of Venice is like walking in an open air museum - another interesting sight in Venice is a traffic jam which is comprised of gondolas, water taxis, water buses, delivery barges and private craft all heading every which way out on the Grand Canal - I think there could be an opening for a position as a water traffic controller! Venice is a city comprised of 117 islands, 150 canals and 400 bridges - just an amazing sight to see. Everyone says it is easy to get lost in Venice and we now know this to be true.

The city of Padua (Padova) is the home of St Anthony of Padua - we visited his tomb which is inside the city`s Cathedral. From Padua we headed to Montegrotto a thermal springs area in northern Italy and met up with Frieda and Herbert. Herbert was celebrating his 65th birthday at a Hot Springs Thermal Resort so we also checked in and managed to fit in some celebrating. The thermal pools were very relaxing - it was a wonderful stay.

When we arrived in Florence there was a medical convention in the city so accommodation was difficult to find - eventually we found a wonderful spacious room on the top floor of a hotel - the only drawback was that there were 94 steps up to our room! I know because I counted them every time I walked up and down! We visited the Basilica in Florence and enjoyed the outdoor markets. The narrow cobbled streets in Florence are wonderful as are the old buildings. We headed north from Florence to Milan and Chiasso and then further into scenic Switzerland.

Locarno in Switzerland is another wonderful city nestled on the side of a beautiful lake. This is quite a resort city - I can see why the big names in the entertainment industry come to Locarno to hold concerts - the city square is permanently closed off to traffic and for concerts it is transformed into a huge Stage.

Our Eurail booklets list the special scenic routes of Europe so whenever possible we take these trains - sometimes there is an extra charge but most times our Eurail passes cover the cost. This next trip took us through Switzerland, back into northern Italy and into France. We took the scenic train from Locarno to Bellinzona, Domodossola, Brig, Martigny and onto Chamonix which is a beautiful little city nestled in the lap of Mont Blanc the highest mountain in France. The train climbed a steep ascent with views out over the valleys and mountains - the hills here are dotted with grape vines - Chamonix is a ski resort and one of France's premier alpine villages. Our hotel room had a balcony with a view directly to Mont Blanc - just wonderful. Of course the weather is now getting cooler so our jackets are getting a lot of use. Travelling further north we reached St Gervais and Geneva in Switzerland. At Geneva we changed our mode of transport and travelled by ferry along Lake Leman via Evain in France and then across the lake to Lausanne in Switzerland.

Last year in Tibet we met a Swiss family who became our very own St Bernard when they rescued us from our broken down vehicle which had sustained a broken axle and lost its wheel - they transported us to the town on the Nepalese border. It was wonderful to meet up with them again (Raymond, Marianne, Gilles and Christine) at Bussigny which is a small village, where Raymond is actually the Mayor! We woke in the morning to the sound of the cows munching the grass while the bells around their neck clanged a beautiful sound. Apparently each farmer knows the sound of his own cow bells!

Our next few days in Bussigny with our Swiss friends were absolutely wonderful. We visited their family friends (Beth and Robert) who live in an old farmhouse, built in 1850. We sat around the bench style table with the wood fire burning close by - the house was toasty warm. Our dinner was very tasty and was called La Chasse - the meat of which is from a small deer-like animal - this meat is only available at a certain season of the year and we happened to arrive at the right - hence we were able to partake of this Swiss delicacy.

It is wonderful to see all these small villages which support their local businesses. We went to a little cheese factory where one of the local farmers was piping fresh milk from his stainless steel vats, mounted on a trailer, straight into the little cheese factory. The fridges in the factory shop were filled with all the specialty cheeses one could wish for and all very reasonably priced.

Gilles and Christine took us touring the glorious countryside in this part of Switzerland. We visited the spectacular city of Montreaux on Lake Leman and sat on a terrace high above the city enjoying a Cappuccino while gazing down at the city and the lake! It was also wonderful to visit an old castle and its neighbouring village. At the castle we were in for a treat as a troupe of Swiss Yodellers gathered to put on a great show. I love to hear the music and singing of the country we are travelling in - it somehow finishes off the "painting". That evening we were in for another treat - a Swiss Cheese Fondue dinner at Raymond and Marianne's home. The following day we said goodbye to our Swiss family and look forward to welcoming them to Dingo Beach sometime in the future.

We headed further north in Switzerland and visited the breathtakingly beautiful area of Interlaken. Sadly I thought about the tragic loss of life here when a group of young travellers, including Australians, lost their lives in a dreadful canyoning accident a few years ago. Switzerland is a truly beautiful country with spectacular scenery, rolling green hills, lush valleys, crystal clear rivers and high mountain passes. We travelled north through Lichtenstein which is a small municipality tucked into a corner of Austria and Germany. Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary so we headed to Triberg in Germany's Black Forest to celebrate. The Black Forest acquired its name from the canopy of dark leaves formed by the trees in the forest and of course it is also the home of the Black Forest Torte.

We followed the Neckar River in Germany through Heidelberg and Nuremberg. We walked in the beautiful old city of Nuremberg but unfortunately the weather was getting colder and the rain was setting in - not ideal weather for touring. Nuremberg was the seat for the Nazi War Crimes investigations where on December 9, 1946, an American military tribunal opened criminal proceedings against 23 leading German physicians and administrators for their willing participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

We decided to travel in a big loop back to Frieda and Herbert's home in Bavaria, visiting Prague the capital of the Czech Republic and Vienna the capital of Austria on the way. In Prague we walked in and around the grounds of the Castle of Prague and visited the district of Mala Strana to visit the Church of Our Lady Victorious. This Church is home to the famous statue of the Child of Prague - this statue is dated around 1550 and was made by an unknown artist. We walked across the famous Charles Bridge and into the beautiful old city of Prague. Shops proudly display their Bohemian crystal and jewellery - many shops and buildings had beautiful crystal chandeliers at the entrance to their premises.

The weather was getting much colder - snow was falling with the rain in Vienna but melting by the time it hit the ground. We visited the Palace and the city centre but the weather was not on our side. Happily we checked onto the train to head back to our home away from home in Bavaria.

We were in for a treat as we travelled through the Austrian Alps - it began to snow! The higher we travelled the thicker the snow became until we were travelling through a magnificent Winter Wonderland. I called Frieda to let her know we were on our way - she was very excited to tell us it was also snowing at her home. Herbert met us at the station in Raubling - previously we had seen this area of Bavaria and Tirol with beautiful green rolling hills and homes with flower boxes at the windows. Now everywhere is white and blanketed in snow! It looked superb!

We had the next day at home washing our clothes and packing our bags for China. Pat put on Frieda's apron and made Thai Soup, Chili Chicken and Rice for the midday meal. Heine and Sieglinde came over and the fun and laughter continued on into the night.

Monday 22nd October and we were waiting in anticipation for our new grandchild to enter the world. When I woke that morning I told Pat I had dreamt about bunches of pink flowers all night!!!!! Finally the text message came from PJ - Call for Baby News! What excitement - Ayla Rose Wells was born in Mackay weighing 6lb 15ozs at 9:40am with Sonya and Ayla both doing extremely well. After the phone call with PJ, Herbert cracked open a bottle of Champagne so we all had a celebratory glass of champagne. As we were toasting the new arrival, a song came on the radio - Herbie said listen to this song it is called Ein Neuer Stern is Geboren! How uncanny - A New Star is Born!

After our lunch of traditional Raebraten (deer) we all headed out into the snow covered mountains with Heine and Sieglinde. We visited a beautiful little place called Windelstuberl and enjoyed coffee and traditional German cakes for afternoon tea. Next we visited Wallfahrtskirche Birkenstein Oberbayern where Frieda and Herbert were married almost 44 years ago. The chapel is very small and is cared for an Orders of Sisters - the same Sisters who taught Herbert in the school alongside the Chapel which is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics from the world over. It was also in this tiny Chapel that Frieda's parents received a blessing on the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was wonderful driving through this beautiful snow covered country. The cows are now being taken indoors to the barns in readiness for the cold winter season, the birds have flown south and we're heading home to the sun in a few days time. The following morning we said goodbye to Frieda and Herbert at Rosenheim where we headed straight for Munich Flughafen for the first leg of our trip home via Beijing.

We spent the next few days in Beijing with our good friends Otmar and Antoinette. Of course we visited the Silk Markets and caught up on some gift shopping for home - not forgetting a few items coloured pink! We went out one evening to see the Chaoyang Acrobatic Troupe - wow what a spectacular - 13 girls on a bicycle was pretty awesome. Once again we met up with Roger and Janette - Roger is based in Beijing - he and I grew up about 200 metres apart in Southport but didn't meet until we were in China last year.

The night before we left for Australia a group of 12 went out for dinner - and what a night we had! Charlie and Shirley are planning a trip to Australia next year so we had quite a few discussions about the trip. Shirley sang a beautiful Chinese song and then our friend Zhang sang Beijing Opera which takes a lot of training and practice. Antoinette and I sang a couple of songs and we all attempted Waltzing Matilda - we had a wonderful night at our farewell to Beijing.

When we were in China last year we met a wonderful lady by the name of Zhang Liang Fang. Zhang and her husband came and stayed with us for a couple of days in Beijing before we left for Australia. Zhang is now here in Australia and will be spending the next 2 months with us - this is the first time she has been out of China. She speaks no English and we speak no Chinese but her electronic translator is a Godsend. She is a wonderful lady and a pleasure to have with us - as Sonya says - she's low maintenance!

After arriving in Sydney we stayed with Anne and Pat in Maroubra where Zhang had the pleasure of seeing a surfing beach for the first time - Pat took us to Bronte, Coogee and Maroubra beaches. We also took her to the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and took a trip across on the famous Manly Ferry. A visit to Chinatown for lunch rounded off the day. The next evening we flew to Coolangatta where my brother Brian picked us up. Home to Mum for a few days and that great Irish / Aussie welcome.

So here we are back to where we started from 7 months ago! We had a most amazing trip - a trip of a lifetime - but it is good to be home.

Sofia, Bulgaria to Raubling, Bavaria Germany 7th October 2007

We wanted to make up some time so decided to take some night trains, which also gave us our accommodation for the next three nights. We boarded the train in Athens and travelled through to Sofia, Bulgaria. At Athens station we chatted with Gill from Adelaide. Her cabin was next door to ours so we had some great conversations during the trip. When we arrived in Sofia we helped Gill find her hostel - a bit of a challenge as the address had changed and the Lonely Planet address had not been updated. Eventually we found the address and in the meantime had a good tour around Sofia on foot. While we were standing at a pedestrian crossing a woman had her hand in Pat's pocket - she wasn't very lucky - all she managed to get her hands on was Pat's well used handkerchief! In the city we visited a beautiful Cathedral called Ploshad Aleksander Nevski which had gold domes - it was built between 1892 and 1912 and named after a Russian warrior. Next we visited the markets where we picked up some fresh fruit for the train trip. The three of us had lunch together and then Pat and I headed back to the station for our next night train to Bucharest, Romania.

There were many gypsies on this train - they stand in the area at the end and between carriages in order to have a free trip. The conductor told us to be sure to lock our cabin door well at night - this has been a prosperous area for thieves in the past. The border patrol knocked on our door at 3:00 am - once all was in order we went straight back to sleep. We arrived at Bucharest early in the morning and headed into this very interesting city. This is the city where communism basically ended in Romania - it was from here 0n 21st December 1989 that Ceausescu gave his famous last speech - a couple of days later he and his wife were arrested - then on Christmas Day they were both executed by firing squad. Ceausescu had grandiose ideas of turning an area of Bucharest into another Champs Elysees - after wrecking complete suburbs and pushing people out of their homes he produced an area not nearly as good as the Paris original. The Palace of Parliament is an infamous star attraction in the city - it is second in size to the US Pentagon in Washington DC. We walked about in the historical city and visited a little Chapel built in 1700. A Romanian linguist came along to chat with us and gave us the history of the building and asked a lady to turn on the lights for us to see it better. He was very interested in speaking English so had a great chat with Pat about the mining industries in the two countries.

Our third night train was from Bucharest to Budapest in Hungary. In Budapest we strolled along the banks of the Danube River thoroughly enjoying the scenery and sunshine and spent hours walking in the city. There was a 30 klm marathon being held so many streets were cordoned off to traffic. We visited the Parliament Buildings and the City Square, then headed back to the station for the trip to Rosenheim in Germany where we were met by Heine and Herbert. They were surprised at the small amount of luggage we were carrying for six months travel - they loaded our gear into the back of the wagon and we headed home to Frieda and Sieglinde. Frieda is a sister of my Uncle Sepp who lives in Canada and is married to my Mother's sister Angela. Heine was a neighbour who grew up with Sepp and his 15 brothers and sisters near Kufstein in Tirol, Austria.

On Monday we all headed into Munich by train to visit Oktoberfest. Wow what a place! We were in a tent which seated 7,500 people. Beer is served in 1 litre steins with waitresses and waiters carrying about 10 steins at any one time. As of yesterday 6.1 million visitors had attended Oktoberfest this year. The atmosphere is wonderful with loads of people of all ages dressed up in national costume. While the band was playing in our tent we called our family in Australia to say hello - my Mother was in great form and thoroughly enjoyed the international phone call. After Oktoberfest we headed into the city to see the sights and to visit the world famous Hofbrauhaus.

We have been in Bavaria and Tirol for the past week and what a time we've had. The countryside is just glorious - high mountains, rolling green hills and valleys, waterways and streams. Our German and Austrian connections are spoiling us greatly - each day we have been out touring the villages and areas in Bavaria and Tirol. We have visited many places including Tiersee, Kufstein, Sudelfeld, Kaiserrundfahrt, Elmau, Kitsbuhel, Reit im Winkl, Kossen, and Buchberg and many more I have not listed. The area is dotted with ski resorts and villages. The buildings in the villages are wonderful with window sills covered in flowers and beautiful artwork painted on and around many of the homes and buildings. I love being in the countryside where the air is crisp and fresh. It is currently autumn so many of the leaves have changed colour with the hillside looking fabulous with splashes of green, red, gold and brown.

We had a great day in Kufstein and visited the wonderful Castle - in earlier times the round tower of the castle was used as a prison. The tower of the castle houses the world's largest organ and we were lucky enough to be there at midday to hear the recital. The sound of the music can be heard from all around the valley. Heine said that when the wind is blowing in the direction of his home 7 klms away he can hear the music from his living room. Heine is a carpenter by trade and during his life he has made 12 large harps. When he was 20 years of age he began to learn to play the harp. One afternoon we were at his home for apple strudel, coffee & schnapps (yummo) when he gave us a recital - a special treat. Heine speaks perfect English which makes conversation very easy.

I can't remember when we laughed as much as while we are here at Frieda and Herbert's home. Our conversations are just wonderful - with my school German and their spattering of English words we have a ball - eventually we work it all out! Frieda is a brilliant cook so we have been having fabulous meals - Goulash, Schnitzel, Knodel, Potato Salad, Goulash, Roast Pork to name but a few - not forgetting the schnapps which seems to appear often! Herbert is a great host and quite the entertainer - he' currently busy learning some Australian slang.

We made another trip into Oktoberfest yesterday and met up with Ian (Matho) and Liz Matheson from Mackay. Our arrangement was to meet up at 10:00 am and we were all there on the dot of 10:00. We were first in line for the Kafers Wiesn Schanke tent so were able to get in first and get a great table. Pat and Matho did quite well and both managed to down four x one litre steins of German beer - the BBQ chicken dinner also went down a treat in the middle of the day. Liz and I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed the company of the other Germans at our table - the atmosphere is great and everyone is very friendly.

Today we have been out hiking in the mountains at Kaiser Mountain. Heine was a mountain guide and rock climber so we knew we were in good hands. We visited the house half way up the mountain where Heine was born - it is now a restaurant. On our trip back down the mountain we stopped off there for Weiner Schnitzel and enjoyed sitting on the verandah in the sunshine. There is nothing quite like a day's walk in the mountains - the fresh air and the scenery is wonderful.

Early this morning Frieda and Herbert left for Padua in Italy where we will meet up with them in a couple of days time. Tomorrow morning we will leave from Munich and head to Venice.