Saved by the hair on his chinny chin chin.....

So we found out, by a fluke of luck this evening, at around 9:30, that many of the flights into Paris tomorrow will be cancelled due to industrial action. Turns out there is more than just flights cancelled, and there are only two TGVs running to Paris from Toulouse (our present location)

So thanks for the heads up to Rhiannon's parents, we're now rebooked on a train departing at 6:05am. We would have had no idea, and simply shown up at 9:30 for our regularly scheduled train, to find out the next one was at 4:00pm, and probably already fully rebooked.

Still, for the last few days of a 2 months stretch, we're doing pretty well if this is the only major thing that's gone wrong.

We're just hoping that getting to the airport at 4:00am will get Trevor and Judy rebooked onto a different flight.

Train to Salzburg

On our way into Graz, we’d already noticed the huge mountains, found ourselves looking down at verdant, green valleys with little villages, surrounded by the towering mountains, lots of low lying cloud, which the ever-present rain kept breaking through.

Romanian Lightning Storm !

It is 3:10am, or 2:10am, take your pick dependant on the time zone. We’ve just passed through another station, and neither of us are really sleeping. But it’s ok we’re awake because over to the south it’s relatively flat and there is an absolutely astounding lightning storm. We’ve never seen anything like it.

Brasov, Romania

Once we eventually got to Brasov (only an hour late), and found our way to our hotel, we were very surprised to realise the actual size of the place. We were expecting a relatively small village, nothing particular big, but Brasov has turned out to be a city that was definitely bigger than Wagga, and maybe even Canberra size. This is really hammered home once you get up on top of the hill, to the “Hollywood” sign and look down at everything.

Border crossing, with Stamps !

Ok, so it’s Romania not Transylvania, but still. We’ve been on plenty of trains, and crossed multiple borders already, however not only is this our first very long trip (11 hours) but it’s also our first border crossing.

From Prague to Vienna

So the other day, we were catching a train from Frankfurt to Dresden. Now it turns out this is the same train that goes from Frankfurt via Dresden and Prague, to Vienna. So this is the 3rd time we’ve been on this train. Not necessarily the exact same train, but the same route – EC173. And when we got on a Frankfurt way back when, a Canadian backpacker got on at the last second, asking if this was going to Prague, and hoping to be on the right train, so we had a good chat for a while. Imagine my surprise when I went for a little walk just now, to find the same guy sitting further down in one of the other first class carriages. What are the chances?

Cologne and Bonn

As I sit on the train departing from Cologne for Frankfurt, I have an opportunity to review the past day or so. We got to Cologne fairly late in the evening, and tired as always, to find yet another hotel room without a kettle, so we went for a stroll, then ate our bacon/egg sandwiches we purchased back in Amsterdam.

Utrecht and Anne Frank

We had originally planned to go to Muidersloot on one of our days, but it seemed a bit of a hassle to get there, and only see a castle. Hassle vs reward and all that. So instead, we went to Utrecht on a whim.

Amsterdam

After a late night and sleeping in, we decided to do a walking tour of Amsterdam, wandering around the canals, looking at the buildings, and general touristy stuff that people do.

Mini-Europe

For our last day in Belgium, we jumped on a tram, and headed out through the northern suburbs to Heysel, where the Expo centre, Atomium, The Waterpark, and MiniEurope is located. MiniEurope is kind of like Cockington Green in Canberra – everything is 1:25 scale, so it’s still kinda big in some situations.

Gent and more Brussels

So right now, we're sitting in a pub on Anspach in Brussels, drinking some cold beverages. Ok. Yes, It's an Irish pub. But they had free wifi. And we're drinking Belgian beer. (Yes, We.)

In Bruge

Bruge has been referred to as the Venice of the north, due to it’s plethora of canals, and the buildings that are right on the edge of the water.
I don’t really agree. Sure, it’s got plenty of canals, and plenty of buildings right on the edge, but it’s not like Venice.

Day 1 in Brussels

After a smooth, quick ride on the Eurostar, through relatively flat, green farm lands of france and Belgium, we got to Brussels Midi, and jumped on a local train to De Brouckere. The local train was kind of like a tram, more than a train, but ran underground. Very clean.

St Pancras

So this morning was somewhat of a clusterfk. No trains on the jubilee line.

It's almost time...

We've been in our little apartment here for almost 5 months now. But the time has come. It's homelessness bound.

Thank you Accor.

This is a little offtrack - I know we still have lots to post about our Cruisaversarymoon, but this needs a side track.

Thanks to Accor hotels, we've booked something like 40 of our 59 nights over the Summer, at an Average cost of $AUD74 per night.

What a week..

Ok - so we've been a bit barren on posts over the past 9 or 10 days. But we have good reason, you have to trust us.

Mykonos

Our cruise ship left Santorini at around 11:30, and we cruised through the night (with a 1am dinner at the all-night cafe) to arrive at Mykonos early the next morning.

Santorini...

What can be said of Santorini? Santorini is the typical image you see of Greece and the Mediterranean. Brilliant white houses, with bright blue roofs, perched on, and in, cliffs overlooking the ocean. Donkey rides up from the port. That's Santorini.

Corfu - Beach Break

Once we got back on board the boat at Split, we continued on our merry way to to Corfu, Greece. This was our next programmed port of call, and we had booked into a "Beach Break" shore excursion...