Deal, England to Helsingborg, Sweden 28th July 2007

We headed out of Deal towards Dover where we checked onto the ferry for the crossing to France. We said goodbye to Sam & Regi and headed out of England with a view across to the White Cliffs of Dover. It certainly pays to shop around for prices (ferry crossing from Dover to Calais) P&O gave us a foot passenger price of £17 each which included a £1 Eurail pass discount, however we chose Sea France as they gave us a price of £6 each after also giving us a £6 Eurail pass discount. Our Eurail Passes for Europe are for 1st class travel which is very spacious and comfortable - these tickets are for 3 months of unlimited train travel in 18 countries of Europe - 2nd class Eurail travel passes are only available up to the age of about 30.

After arriving at Calais we kickstarted our Eurail passes, boarded a French train and headed north to Lille in France. We visited the old City of Brugge in Belgium where we visited the Church of Our Lady. Inside was a Statue of the Madonna & Child carved in Carrera marble by Michael Angelo (1504 - 1505) the faces on this statue are just superb. After leaving Brugge we travelled onto the magnificent City of Brussels. We visited St Nicholas Catholic Church and went to Mass there which was being said by a Priest from the Congo in Africa. Brussels has great architecture and many of the streets are cobblestones. The old part of the city has a wonderful atmosphere - restaurants and musicians spill out into the street - all are offering meals at competitive rates and trying to outdo the prices and the splendour of the next restaurant. We chose well and enjoyed a wonderful meal in this very vibrant city.

Rotterdam in the Netherlands is the largest port in Europe - here we enjoyed Australian home made icecream. The countryside in this part of Europe is very low and most of the country is at or below sea level. Most people speak English as their second language so there is no problem getting around and being understood. After leaving Rotterdam we travelled up through The Hague and onto Amsterdam.

What can I say about Amsterdam? Amsterdam has very liberal views in relation to drugs and prostitution. It will be interesting to see what becomes of all the Coffee Shops with their cannabis lounges when the No Smoking laws come into being in 2008. A walk through the red light district of Amsterdam is of course very interesting with the girls sitting in large windows attempting to lure in passers by. Many of the buildings appear to be leaning in different directions - we've since found out that many of them have been built with the upper floors fanning outwards to shelter the lower floors from rain. Amsterdam is a city of bicycles and canals - more bikes than I've ever seen before. We bought some crackers and cheese in the city from an authentic cheese shop - we had to try out 'Bertha's Kruid Kass' cheese - the cheesemaker said Bertha is his oldest and best cow! The cheese was very good indeed.

On the train trip from Amsterdam to Hamburg, Germany we met a delightful Canadian family from Edmonton who have taken 6 months off to do extensive world travel with their two teenage children. All going well, Barry & Margaret with their children Tessa & Connor will call into Dingo Beach for a visit in December. The children are having a very worldly education for the next six months - it was great to hear them chatting comfortably with other passengers.

Hamburg is a huge city. We went for a cruise on the River Elbe in a paddlesteamer ¨The Louisiana Star¨and were amazed at the size of the Port which is the largest in Germany. Hamburg is a container port and the containers were being stacked onto numerous ships - the number of container cranes on the seafront was unbelievable. The Queen Mary 2 was also in port and our paddlesteamer pulled up alongside and cruised past the bow - what a huge ship.

We left Hamburg in a 4 carriage train and headed for the coast where the train was loaded directly onto the ferry beside all the trucks and heavy transport. We left our train carriage and went upstairs to enjoy the view and the 45 minute ferry crossing into Denmark. Once we were ashore the train just drove straight out of the ferry and we were back on the land - something a little different. Denmark is a vastly wealthy country with the majority of Danes enjoying a high quality of living.

Copenhagen is a very attractive city and is the home of Hans Christian Andersen. We visited the Church in the city where Mary Donaldson and Prince Frederick were married. Amalienborg Palace has been the home of the Danish Royal Family since 1794. The Palace is comprised of four austere mansions which surround the central square and are guarded by sentries. These guards are relieved at noon by a ceremonial changing of the guards which was wonderful to watch. The Danish Royal Family live comfortably amongst the citizens of Copenhagen and supposedly are often seen out shopping in the city.

We had a big surprise in Copenhagen by running into friends Justin & Kylie with their two daughters. The last time we saw them was about 7 years ago when they left Burton Coal Mine - it certainly can be a small world! They currently live and work in Indonesia but were in Denmark on holidays.

A good way to view cities such as Copenhagen is by water so we went on a leisurely canal cruise which travelled along the waterways, up the canals, under bridges and up past the statue of The Little Mermaid. It was sad to hear that the original statue was stolen and has since been replaced twice due to theft. Every city and town in Europe seems to have a famous Church, building or museum - of course we cannot visit every one - to do so would mean settling in for a few years!

We headed north of Copenhagen to Helsingor where Kromborg Castle guards the seaway. This is where Shakespeare based his play Hamlet. From here we made a 4 klm ferry crossing to Helsingborg in Sweden. Sweden is having a Festival this weekend so it looks like everyone has come to this coastal city for the music and celebrations - so I guess if we can't beat them we might as well join them.