Emma and Steve's European Extravaganza

We're leaving soon and we are both very excited.
This is where we will keep you worried mothers updated on our trip, hopefully with the aid of pictures and other colourful objects.

So keep your eyes peeled and watch this space.

Stephen x

We have arrived safely!! And spent all the morning wandering and sampling all that Amsterdam has to offer (including the singing bar owners).

We have almost been killed several times by people on bikes and also by the silent predators of Amsterdam.... The Trams. Imagine a pack of hungry Veloceraptor's, that should give you some idea as to the killing power of a Tram. Although the people who work on them are extremely helpful.

The Hostel is okay, apart from the 200 storey climb to our room. The beds aren't too uncomfortable and it isn't dirty.

Anyway. we're off to go see some more of the city and watch the football (YES I DID FIND A PUB THATS SHOWING THE GAME :D)

Lots of Love

Emma and Steve xxx

We found a cafe that does the best hot chocolates with whipped cream in possibly the whole world last night, went there again today.

Had to slap steve around a bit this morning to wake him up for breakfast; toast, eggs and plastic cheese. It was interesting.

Spent the afternoon poodling around on hired bikes from Mike's Bikes, well apparently I poodle. Also, there's some amaze pictures of us tearing up the park with our sickest bike tricks. But I forgot the cable so we'll have to update them later. I nearly ran some people over aswell, and caused Steve much hassle because of the weird brakes on the bikes. You have to peddle backwards to get them to slow down.

We'll be off to Anne Frank's house later once we've had a small something to eat (probably McDonalds or Burger King), so that should be a particularly jolly experience.

You have to pay for nearly all the toilets, so while I'm basically wetting myself I have to search for euros. (She goes to the toilet ALL THE TIME. Literally every 5-6 minutes.)

Steve wants me to mention the 'epic cup win' last night. So there you go. I mentioned it.

Ama and Stoovej. xx

    We went to the Anne Frank museum last night, it was very good but pretty sad. We saw some cool things though like her original diary. After that we decided to get some food so we got some cheap pasta from an italian restaurant which was okay. We thought it would be nice to go for a walk and see night-time Amsterdam but it was cold so we went into the nearest place (the place that does amazing hot chocolate) and Emma got a bit carried away (See pictures!).

Today we managed to find the free tour of Amsterdam after sleeping through the first one (Emma reckons this is because I got her up at 4 o clock convinced that I had lost my wallet. In the end i was just lying on it.) We also managed to get lost several times trying to find the later tour and ended up being about 10 minutes late, but it was really good in the end. The tour guide looked like Frank Turner with a ginger beard, so that kept us entertained. It was a huuuuge 3-hour walking tour and it ended in a free lunch. But we wont go into that.

Tonight we are not sure what to do. So who knows what could happen.

See ya later

Emma & Steve xxx

P.S. Emma says to tell Robert that there are loads of H&M's out here.

It's half past 5 in the morning. We're sitting in the main Berlin train station (on the internet... in Burger King????) after a wonderfully sleepless night. The verdict on over-night trains is that they are noisy and uncomfortable, but I guess that was to be expected. The train journey didn't get off to the best start when I ran to the wrong end of the train (I blame Emma for not stopping me) So we had to walk almost the whole length of the train inside to get to our carriage which is difficult when the corridors aren't as wide as your backpack. Still, we made it in the end.

Yesterday was also a bit uneventful because we spent most of the day waiting around for the train. But we did go to a pretty cool museum on the Dutch Resistance (Emma said it was 'alright'). However, we did loads of stuff the night before and had a really good night so that makes up for it.

Overall, we both agreed that we liked Amsterdam and Uncle Rick and Auntie Deb were wrong when they said it was a doss-hole (although the Red-Light District is a bit skanky.) And just as the tour guide said we would, I think we would both like to come back. 

Apparently our next hostel looks like a space-ship!! We will keep you informed on any developments.

Emma & Steve xxxxxxxxx

P.S. It's nice to see your comments, so please keep leaving them. :-) Thanks!!

The hostel doesn't really look like a spaceship, unless you think chrome chairs make a spaceship. Other than that its really nice. It's better than the Amsterdam one. We crashed out when we arrived at the hostel for about 4 hours, but we were still tired for the rest of the day. Didnt do much, walked to checkpoint charlie, not that impressive, it was just a box in the middle of the road. But I got history lesson off Steve anyway. It was interesting.
 
Had an amazing lunch in a tiny kind of pub place, saw an impressive looking library, beats Gravesend Coldharbour by a million miles, Steve liked all the bullet holes in the walls. Then we decided to go bowling, it was a close game (It wasnt. Emma was soundly beaten.) By one point. But I thrashed him at pool later in the hostel, twice. (Thats true. She did.)

Went to an Indian restaurant next door, it was cheap but odd. The waiter man was truly weird. He accused me of being Polish before deciding for himself what we were going to eat. The food was alright though, for like 5 euros you can't complain. The city is very nice, its more of a proper city than Amsterdam, like there's actually men in suits and stuff.  Going on another free tour in about half an hour (hopefully) so that should be quite good and we will hopefully see some more of Berlin but I'm sure Steve will complain about his tiredy legs.

We're off now!

Emma and Stephan xxx
   

One week completed! And we have arrived in Prague. Sorry for not putting an update up yesterday but Emma decided that we should go on a Pub Crawl, it was lots of fun but it meant we had no money yesterday so we could not afford the internet time :D.

Okay, where were we?

It was decided that we would take the Berlin tour the next day and not on Friday like we said, so we went to the German History Museum instead (Which was really good and only 5 euros! Emma was lucky enough to receive a 2 hour history lesson from me :-).) It also played host to the best quote so far of the entire trip. About half way round I asked our wise Emma what she was looking at, she turned to me with a shocked look on her face and told me "It's just pictures of old stuff...". (I really did'nt see what was so funny about that.)

We had a nice pizza just down the road from the hostel after that and then got ready for the Pub Crawl. It was pretty much what it sounds like; lots of people, cheap drinks, lots of pubs/bars/clubs with a free shot in every one. We met a whole bunch of Americans who were really nice so we had a really good time(AND I THRASHED ONE OF THEM AT TABLE FOOTBALL OH YEAH!). Needless to say though, Emma doesn't remember getting back to the Hostel. Not that I was in a good state either. We paid for it the next day.

Next day was the walking tour, which was very good, took us to all the main places like Checkpoint charlie, Berlin wall and the Bradenburg gate. We managed to run away at the end avoiding tipping the guide as we had no money! (It was all spent on Malibu and Coke). We did absolutely nothing after that. We even had to buy our dinner from the supermarket, it comprised of bread, cheese and ham. We did have enough money for one last game of pool before we left for Prague. Emma won again. She has an unbelievable ability to sink the last 3 balls in one go. (Steve is such a sore loser.)

Anyway, today we are in Prague. But I think we are just going to laze about because we had a pretty stressful/tiring journey. The train was nice and we didn't get on the wrong end this time but we got lost in Prague for ages with our big heavy bags on. Soon we will be off to get some dinner and then we will probably sleep :)

We should update tomorrow! (With a slightly shorter post)

Emma and Steve xxxxx

P.S. Thanks for the little note Bonzi and Doobus! It made me smile. I've also run out of money on my phone, so I can't ring you even though I would like to.

P.P.S. We haven't been able to find a computer that lets us update pictures, so we will try and find an internet cafe tomorrow and put up all the good pictures from Berlin.

Last night for dinner we found a very nice, cheap restaurant not far from the hostel. (I must say another good choice of hostel by me). It cost us around 7 pounds for each of us including drinks. Steve's liking the fact the beer is so cheap (I had a litre of Beer for 2 quid!). We were going to get up for breakfast this morning, but Steve wouldn't get up! But we had some baguettes and cake from a lil shop instead.

We went on another free tour this afternoon. It wasn't as good as the others we went on but we still got to see lots of Prague which is very, very pretty. It started to hail half way through the tour so that gives you an idea of how cold it is. We did see a Teddy bear (As in a Teddy de bandy bimdi bamdy boo) on the tour though. The thermals are coming in handy, its very cold in Prague. And for probably the first time ever I have long finger nails on all fingers!!!

We get free dinner at the hostel tonight which is pasta, so we'll let you know how terrible it tastes. 

Finally, we've uploaded the photos so have a look! 

Emma and Steve xxxxxxx  

Steve always hogs the computer when we do these blogs so he's letting me do it today.

Tuesday was a disappointing day, we did absolutely nothing. Steve was worrying that we didnt have enough money to survive on for the day but we had plenty. We went out for a proper Czech dinner, it was cheap and yummy. Steve had beef goulash with bread dumplings which did look a bit dodgy but apparently tasted good.

The train journey to Krakow was long, I got incredibly bored so slept for a while. We arrived in Krakow at about half 6, my bank card wouldn't work so we thought we were going to have a bit of trouble. Eventually we found an atm that would let me use it. Found a KFC for dinner, then hopped on a tram and went to find the hostel. Steve was worried that he was going to miss the football, which would of course have been awful because it was a very important game! Luckily enough for me it was on when we arrived at the hostel. The hostel again is quite nice, very small, the people working here are nice and helpful.

Today has been interesting...we walked to the Castle and cathedral, looked around the armoury and crown jewels bit, then into the royal crypt. That was slightly creepy with all the tombs. Old town square is infested with a million pigeons, Steve told me I was boring because I wouldn't run through them. He was completely mesmorised by them all and it took us ages to get to where we were going.

Krakow is another pretty city with lots to see like Prague and freezing cold, it snowed lightly a couple of times. Definately the coldest place so far on our travels; a hat, scarf, gloves and thermals jobby.

We are planning to go on another pub crawl tonight if its happening and then Auschwitz tomorrow if I can get Steve up.

Emma and Steve xxxx

P.S Thankyou for topping up my phone mum and dad. I shall ring you again soon.

Yesterday was probably the most silly 24 hours we've had so far. It came to a peak when I found myself waiting around inside a Polish Prison while Emma used their toilet.

It all started with the great idea of going to Auschwitz, we were told that it is only 40 minutes on the train but after sitting on the train for an hour and 20 minutes of watching rural stations with no place names going by we thought that maybe we had missed it. We resolved to jump off at the next station, try and work out where we are and hopefully get a train back to Krakow.

The next station/town was no more than an old broken building, some fields and, crucially, a police station. Emma, of course, decided at this point that she desperately needed to go to the toilet. So after hunting for a toilet in a cafe or shop with no luck, our only option left was the police station. After nervously going into the station it was quickly established that no-one there spoke any English, even our phrase-book proved useless and before we really understood what was happening we somehow we found ourselves with a Patrol Car being called back to the station and us being confronted with two very serious looking policemen. I remind you that at this time we hadn't been the victims of any merciless crime and all that we were after was their toilet.  We explained to one of the police officers that Emma needed the toilet and he led Emma through the metal door to towards the Cells to use a toilet and told me to 'Take a seat'.

Once me and Emma were reunited (still standing on the wrong side of the Big Metal Door) the policemen continued to look at us a bit expectantly as if they were waiting to hear about the car-crash or dead body that was the reason for us coming into the station. I, feeling hugely embarrassed, offered 'Aushwitz?' in the hope that we wouldn't be locked away for being bloody stupid. The policemen and the two receptionists broke into a tirade of Polish and after a few minutes of discussing something it was clear they had come to a decision......:

The Lady Receptionist would give us a lift!!!

So 5 minutes later we are sitting in the back of the receptionists car giggling silently to eachother as she takes us the 15 minutes down the road to Auschwitz.

In the end, the musuem was very good and we recommend it to anybody who finds themselves in Poland. But we also suggest that they don't jump off the train when they have no idea where they are. :)

Emma and Steve xxxxxxx

We are here in Zagreb, it's a very pretty city and today was probably the first nice weather we have had. Apparently it was 14 degrees but we doubt it was that hot, still we did have lots of nice sun.

We were unable to do the blog in Budapest because their computers were broken, sorry.

Anyway Budapest was okay, we didn't enjoy it as much as the other cities because there wasn't that much to see and to quote Emma "The People were a bit skanky." We slept the first day away pretty much after having to experience another sleepless over-night train and the second day we did another free-walking tour, again we escaped without tipping.

The real excitement of the city occurred whilst trying to leave, we were on our way to the station to catch our train to Zagreb when I somehow lost my metro ticket on the metro. I didn't think much of it until they started checking tickets on the way out of the station. I was pulled aside and told that I would have to pay a 6000 Florit fine (about €22) but because we were about to leave we didn't actually have any money on us after much arguing and them threatening to call the police they eventually gave up and let us go. Phew. The train ride to Zagreb was pleasant in the end, it was pretty because of a huge lake and we didn't get very bored.

The hostel here in Zagreb is brilliant because of the dog, a retriever. He's lovely. The hostel is nice too. Today we went on a walk around the city, sat in many parks watching the fountains, dogs and mini birds. We have decided that we will go swimming at some point and go on a segway tour.  We'll keep you updated.

Emma & Steve xxxxxxxxxx

Sorry about the slow blog updates at the moment, our last few hostels haven't offered Internet and so we have found it harder to access it. Although, we found a cool internet cafe in Venice today!

We enjoyed Zagreb very much, which was a pleasant surprise bearing in mind we had absolutely no idea what it would be like before we went there. It was pretty and clean and, most importantly, easily walkable. After our first sunny days we decided that we had to go swimming so on our last day in the city we hunted for a swimming pool and found one! It was a bit confusing because no one really spoke any English but we went for a nice swim. Emma thought the water was 'Absolutely freezing!' but I think that she was just being a girl. Later we had a bit of time to kill before our ridiculously late train (23:35!!!) so we went to an archaeological museum which surprisingly Emma didn't think was completely boring (She liked the Egyptian bit, I think it was because of the jewelry). I enjoyed it =).

After another uncomfortable over-night train that left us sleeping precariously on the top bunks. (I.e. The roof.) and after I accidently dropped a shoe on Emma's face (Sorry.) we reached Venice. Our hostel is great because for the first time we have our own room and the weather has been very sunny, but slightly cold. We both agree it is the prettiest city we have been too and we had a good time walking around in the sun yesterday.

We are about to leave to see some more of the city and look around the markets. We might go into the Basilica as well.

Goodbye!!

Emma and Steve xxxx

P.S. We put some more pictures up, so have a look.

P.P:S. Can you ring the bank and check how much money I have left please, from emma.

Okay we wrote a blog outbut it got deleted and we haven't got much time on the computer so  this is ä quick one.

The train journey from Venice to Rome was  a bit of a nightmare due to he family of 4 in the 2 seats opposite and the screaming kids. But on the other hand, Rome was very nice. Loadsofstuff to see, we walked around the colleseum and the roman forum  on the first day and sawloads of other great free stuff. The second day ws segway tour day which was absolutely great.They are probably the best toys ever invented and theyare so easy to ride, we got a whole bunch of pictures while stillstanding on them!

The journey to Switzerland, although our longest was  nice due to their insane transport szstem (we were given free drinks while waiting for our connecting train). Lucerne and all of  switzerland is verypretty andwe went on a great boattour today to seethe lake the city is on.

That's all for now, we are off to Paris tomorrow our final  city.

Emma and Steve xxxxxx

P.S. To Nan, we put a word in with the big P for you while we were in the vatican.  no worries.

 

Sadly, we have arrived at out last city and although we are looking forward to going back home and seeing everyone again (Even you Courtley.) we are definitely sad that our trip has come to an end. We've already begun planning about 30,000 other trips that we now have to do before the end of the summer.

Paris itself, we both agree, is a bit skanky. The parts that you see on the postcards is very nice but it isn't prettier than the other cities we have been to (Venice, Prague, Krakow) so it is a little bit hard to understand the name that it has. Although, we did go on our last free walking tour today which was good and we got to see all the important parts of the city. We also had certainly one of the best dinners we have eaten last night in a restaurant just around the corner from our hostel, so Paris isn't all bad.

We're not coming home till Tuesday because of Teddy, so we are going to stay with my Mum in France for a few nights so that should be a welcome change from walking around cities all day.

We have both really enjoyed our trip and we look forward to seeing you soon!!

Emma and Steve xxxxxxx

P.S., We will try and put up all of our pictures when we get home so that there is a record of them.