Venice 12-14 Oct

We left Austria and the Sound Of Music cliches for another cult classic, The Labyrinth. Venice is the one place in the world it's actually fun to be lost in, it's the most amazing city. This is of course after we ditched our first campsite which was based in an industrial area below a bellowing chimney.
On the way to Venice we stopped in a small town called Valpianto to join the locals at their annual chestnut festival. We sat in the sun and ate roasted chestnuts and drank local beer before continuing our journey and arriving in Venice much later then expected.
There are no cars in Venice so the streets are only one to two meters wide with buildings up to six stories high on each side, hence the Labyrinth. Unlike Amsterdam the canals almost out number the streets and so often you find your self at the end of a street/alleyway that just drops off into water. There is a lot of back tracking and recalculating your route (that's GPS talk). Our friends Paul and Alli have been living in Venice for a year now so we got guided tours of the city and it's history and also of it's best pizza and ice-cream.



Unfortunately our only photo from Venice, shame!

Oh apart from this one.


We spent our second day wandering around aimlessly with our map purposely tucked away just to see where we would end up. To find our way back again Jessee insisted we follow a beagle as he pointed out that “he looks like he knows where he is going”. Believe it or not it did the trick.

Innsbruck 9-12 Oct

We took advantage of the weather and atmosphere by setting up the BBQ and the outdoor table and chairs for the first time this trip. We also set up the tent for Lake and Jessee which luckily was in one piece without holes as we had not checked before this point.





We spent our too few days in Innsbruck taking forest walks up the side of the mountain, relaxing in the sun and in the evening roasting marshmallows. Lake and I tried to start a mountain rave but the boys out right refused to dance.







Unfortunately our budget did not allow the use of the chair lifts to the mountain tops but the views were just as amazing from where we could goon foot.






Oh, except the view of the gay nudist beach/ field of grass we accidentally stumbled across on our hike. The dress code was nothing or pink, it was so weird. The map called it “Hawaii”. We got out of there pretty quickly. We left Innsbruck relaxed and refreshed ready for our next big city, Venice.

Number one tip, make sure your undies are not still in the leg of your pants when you put them on to go to the toilet in the middle of the night as they may wind up in the middle of the path for all to see in the morning. Hey Lake?

Amsterdam to Innsbruck

As Lake and Jessee will be joining us for the next couple of weeks we had to install seat belts in the back of the van. A professional installation was going to cost a fortune so we put the boys to work and a few drill holes later the job was done. Not so attractive but secure.




We finally left Amsterdam early afternoon heading towards Innsbruck but we intended to stop for the night in Frankfurt. Time was moving fast and we weren't so we decided that we would stop in Cologne for the night instead of continuing to Frankfurt and catch up with Andy (whom until this point we did not realise he lived in Cologne hence we did not catch up before). We parked the van in a supermarket car park right near Andy's place then went out for some food. We went to another German Brewery and ate a traditional German dinner with some traditional beer of course. Andy took us to another three bars that he frequents and they were all pretty cool. By this point it was two in the morning but we all still believed that we would make an early start. It's funny how alcohol warps your perception. We got back to Andy's and all crammed into his bedroom to sleep on the floor thanks to Andy's great hospitality. As he had wireless we all took the opportunity to connect and this is where we discovered that our money was worth a lot less then we thought. If only we had discovered this before our big night out. It was time to re budget.
I think it was about midday when we left Cologne for what we thought was our final leg to Innsbruck.




We drove for about 6 or 7 hours, stopping at Ikea on the way for Swedish meatballs before we decided it was time to rest. We settled for the night in a truck stop just outside of Stuttgart and all four of us slept in the back of the van.






This was not as bad as it sounds. It was a big truck stop with a restaurant, toilets and showers that were all twenty four hours. On the other hand sleeping squished between Chris and Lake is as bad as it sounds and smells. We got up showered and were on the road again all feeling a little better then we did the day before. The drive through the Alps was amazing! We drove a winding path up and down the mountains with the most spectacular views and occasional close call with on coming cars. The roads are so thin and jutting out form the mountains, it was quite scary. Remember we are driving a right hand drive on the right side of the road so the passenger seat, my seat is the one that is next to the oncoming traffic.
We pulled into the campsite late afternoon and were pleased. The camp is on the side of a mountain about 600m above sea level and everything is on a slope. We were in the beautiful sunshine again with magnificent views of snow caped mountains surrounded by trees dropping their autumn leaves.

Amsterdam

Well everything was coming up Milhouse ...until we hit Amsterdam. When it rains here it pours and there is not the slightest break for days on end. In a leaky van this is not the most ideal of circumstances. Also at this point the Aussie dollar took a tumble which we did not realise till some time later, but we will get back to that.
Camping Zeeburg is set out so you never have to leave. It has it's own shop, restaurant and pub. All of the above were usually filled with Australian tourists, none of which we actually spoke to.





The day we arrived we had plans to meet up with Mark and Claire as they were checking into Zeeburg that same morning. We waited and finally gave up as the sun went down, only to have them bang on the van window about 10pm. They were due in Amsterdam early that morning but due to a broken train and the fact Claire did not realise that Rotterdam and Amsterdam were not the same place???? it took them another twelve hours.
The next day Matt and Andrea headed in from Germany for the day to join us in Amsterdam. We checked out the flea market, flower market, a “coffee house” and some bars.
Lake and Jessee arrived the following morning and stayed with some of their Amsterdam friends Daan and Lisette and we were also joined by George and Sherry (also from Perth) and her boyfriend Xander. We had quite a possee going on.





We spent the next several days exploring Amsterdam, the thousands of bikes and the beautiful canals that run through the city. Apparently the population of Amsterdam is about 700 000 and the number of bikes approximately 900 000, no wonder it's hard not to get run over.





We spent an afternoon at the Anne Frank house. It's quite overwhelming but extremely informative and well worth the time.
We ended up giving into our sore wet feet after about the fourth day and bought some winter boots. They soaked through within two days. The last night we spent in Amsterdam we all went round to Daan and Lisette's apartment for a traditional Dutch dinner. We had Staampot which was fantastic. It was mash with greens, smoked sausage and bacon bits. We rolled back to camp.






Number one tip, remember to watch the tram lines. You don't want your foot to get caught in the track and fall flat on your face in the pouring rain in front of an oncoming tram. Do you Lake?

Antwerp

Well at this moment in time we are on the road to Amsterdam to meet Mark, Claire, Lake and Jessee so I thought this would be a good time to catch up.
Ok well Antwerp (Antwerpen) is by far a city well worth a visit. We were impressed soon as we entered the city by the beautiful cobble stone streets, the van took a bit of a beating though. Our camp was in walking distance from the city thanks to a pedestrian tunnel under the river so wandering the city and evenings out to the wee hours in the morning were easily done.
In the main town square there is a large water fountain which waters the pavement (shrug). I guess the water crisis hasn't reached this far. We took a few photos before I realised the statue was of a naked man throwing a severed hand. It was the severed hand not the naked man I didn't recognise, just in case you were wondering.




I guess the water squirting out the top of the hand is suppose to represent blood. There is some story that in Flemish Antwerpen sounds a bit like 'throwing hand', even though apparently the statue has nothing to do with that. Mmmm oh well, and moving on.
Antwerp is a beautiful place at night. There is, yes, another cathedral. It does get a bit like you've seen one you've seen them all. In order to shake things up a bit and due to the marvelous legislation which allows street drinking we have grown accustom to sitting out the front of such cathedrals and drinking under the city lights. It's a beautiful way to spend the early hours of an evening. Maybe not so pious of us but new religions have to start some where. I mean he did turn water into wine, right?
We took it pretty easy here, we ventured to a great jazz bar, went to the Zoo, met some Bulgarians, ate fritz from Max's in the main square and I learnt that in Chinese Coca Cola means 'delicious happiness' (another shrug).

Bonn

In Bonn we stayed with our good old friends, Matt and Aundrea. They live in a suburb of Bonn at the foot of a mountain covered in lush green forest. We decided to ditch the van and couch surf in their lounge for a week. Central heating rocks.
The day after we arrived we decided to explore the forest as we were told that there was wild boar and deer that roamed it. Well, we didn't see any so we kept walking to a small animal farm where they had both deer and boar behind a fence just for disappointed tourist like us. The deer was beautiful and the boar, well, I was glad they were behind a fence. That night we went out to a very fancy pants restaurant for my birthday and since I was so impressed with the deer earlier that day I figured I'd eat one. Croissants in Paris, waffles in Brussels so I figured deer in Germany. It was so good.
Chris and Matt got themselves all worked up one evening about druid rock formation so the next day we set out to find some. Lucky for me there were actually some close by. We drove to a small town and stood at the bottom of a very large hill that was entirely covered in vineyards. I felt sorry for the people who had to work those fields as they were so unbelievably steep. This is when I discovered that the precious rocks we had come to see were at the top of that same hill. I started to feel sorry for myself. It was a hard climb but well worth it, not only for the rocks but the amazing three hundred and sixty degree views of Bonn.





We continued our outdoor exploration that day with a hike to a place called the blue sea. I guess we might call it a billabong? It is an old volcano site and absolutely beautiful. It was a steep and slippery walk in places so we had a few accidents and those who know me well will know that I laughed my ass of at others misfortunes that day.




Saturday came around and we decided that a trip to Cologne was in order. So we jumped on the train with enough beer to last us the half an hour ride, remember parentals this is totally legal.
First we went to a German brewery which looked like a big drinking hall lined with big heavy wooden tables and benches. There is only one type of beer which they bring to you at your table in in .2 glasses that look like test tubes. Once you have finished you have to be quick otherwise the empty glass is gone and another has taken it's place without you even noticing the switch. That's how you end up drinking too much and the bill gets big. Matt then took us to a Reggae Club called the Petite Prince which was unlike any place I had ever been before. It is in a basement and there is no smoking allowed inside...unless it's weed, then they turn a blind eye. It was like one giant dutch oven. Remember we are not in Amsterdam yet. We stayed there for the rest of the evening watching people bump and grind each other and wave their lighters in the air. We arrived back in Bonn about five thirty the next morning, snacked on German sausage and then slept the next twenty four hours away.
We ventured back into Cologne one more time the next week to meet up with one of Chris's computer nerd buddies. His name was Frank and he was a great guy. We ventured to anther brewery and he showed us some of the history of Cologne. I even got to do a little bit of shopping.




We spent our last evening in Bonn playing wii, which much to Chris's delight I now want one! Except that it told me I was over weight which I did not like. We packed our things back into the van, stocked up on German food,(food in Germany is so cheap) and were back on the road.