Nine countries, six days – a sad trek back to England

Well it is with much regret that I conclude our blog from our Easter trip, tiki touring around Europe. France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, then home to the UK via the Netherlands and Belgium – it’s been a beautiful six days, in fact our best yet. It was so nice to just hit the road together by car, meaning we could turn off wherever we liked and have seen far more than we ever anticipated.


As I type this I am sitting in front of a sunny Dunkirk beach in France, looking out over the ocean in the direction of England (wank wank Kylie, you’re not writing poetry, get on with it!). We didn’t want to cut ourselves fine given there’s bound to be a bit of traffic with the end of the Easter weekend, so we’ve got here more than a little early, which is fine as it gives us time to write to you fine folk!


We left Innsbruck yesterday morning with a big hearty Austrian breakfast in our stomachs, heading north to Neuschwanstein – Germany’s most famous castle and one that used to cover a huge wall in the painting in Nanny’s kitchen Mum, Michelle and Gary, in case you remember. The inspiration behind the Disney castle, I’ve wanted to go to Neuschwanstein since I was a little girl and saw a picture of it in a calendar, as well as its prolific presence above Nanny’s dining room table. Last Tuesday, the day we first set off, it was only when I was printing out hotel details that I realised how close Innbsruck was to it and that we were practically passing through – stoked! It’s situated in a little forest town called Füssen and as you drive up to the town it all of a sudden appears on the cliff face up ahead – crazy pretty! Surprisingly the town was absolutely packed with tourists, more than we’d encountered on our whole trip put together, and the line for tickets was at least 100m long! We decided to not bother going inside, saving ourselves money and a precious few hours in waiting time alone, and set off on the hike up the mountainside to get some first class external pics. I was wearing my nice dress jeans and jandles and was subject to more than a few stares as I hiked my way up. Just as I was starting to think that I either had something on my face, or was looking bloody good, I realised that the flick of my jandles on the mud had flipped up two perfect dirt splash lines right up to my behind. Seems I didn’t look that flash after all. It was only afterwards that I realised this too, so I looked like a tool for a good hour and a half first! While all the lazy tourists got the bus or horse and cart, up we hiked stopping only to stuff our faces with these delicious things which translate as ‘Sweet Bavarian Balls’ – no joke. They were delicious and even Brad who doesn’t normally opt for sweet found himself declaring them as ‘my kind of dessert!’




Neuschwanstein was beyond stunning and even more cool is the fact that it wasn’t created that long ago – it’s roughly 150 years old and was built by some crazy guy who was madly in love (madly being the key word here) with some German lass. It was such a bonus to get to see it as it really is in the middle of nowhere – thank god for our Audi Augustus!

Yesterday’s drive also saw us heading on to the autobahn for the first time, where we found ourselves being absolutely overtaken by every car on the road – even when we were going WELL above the speed limit in NZ. Don’t worry, we didn’t go over 110 (miles that is)!

After stopping for a sly schnitzel, we found ourselves in Frankfurt before we knew it. We weren’t originally expecting much as most of the city was decimated in WWII and other than the fact it is Europe’s financial centre, behind London, Frankfurt didn’t really seem to have a claim to fame. We were presently surprised to learn we were very wrong – it’s GREAT! Such a cool, vibrant city and very pretty! We sat down in the old town square, had a beer and some local food (frankfurters of course – when in Rome) and just chatted as the sun went down. We then strolled along the river front checking out the rest of the sights. It was way cooler than we thought – with, strangely enough, a lot of transsexuals. Perhaps they get tired of the 9 to 5 financial game and let loose with a pair of heels and red lipstick on the weekend? Who knows, all we know for sure is that it is a definite must see.




This morning we hit the road early as we wanted to sneak in a visit to Cologne on the way home. Like Frankfurt, Cologne was another nice surprise – it seems Germany is full of them. We just can’t get enough of this country as it always exceeds expectation. We headed straight for the town square which houses what is referred to as the ‘most beautiful church in Germany’, but what we feel could easily be the most beautiful church in Europe. It is HUGE and is gothic in style, which huge twin towers and blackened with age. The Germans are quite proud of it too as it appears on almost every souvenir in Cologne, including... wait for it... mini bottles of cologne – how wonderfully original! We went into the church to take a look and they were holding an Easter service, which was a really nice bonus. Even though we couldn’t quite understand the German hymns, the music was beautiful all the same.



Afterwards we were left with no choice but to head to a local bakery to make the most of the last German food we will have for a while – cheesy bread with bacon, Berliners (kind of like sugar, jam donuts) and my favourite yet, vanilla strudel, which is basically this huge biscuit bread with a creamy vanilla ice-cream, complete with a ton of sugar and jam. I literally couldn’t stop myself stuffing it into my mouth as fast as possible and it was only when I realised an Asian family were staring at me that I could bring myself to slow down. Man, SO good. We love Germany! We also got a few extra buns so we could use the rest of the ‘poultry spread’ we got in Austria. We suspect it is a budget version of pate, but as it doesn’t have to be refrigerated god only knows what’s in it, and to be honest we’d rather remain clueless!


So here we are, six days later and far more experienced at the ways of the European roads. We stopped for a bite to eat just before and I ordered my food using a mixture of three different languages! Ridiculous – I even thanked Brad in German accidentally!

Three days of hideously stressful work, so much to do that I feel sick thinking about it, then another four days of freedom as England has another long weekend courtesy of Kate and Wills tying the knot – joy! Poland here we come – Krakow and Warsaw, with a day trip to Auschwitz – sad but necessary.

Love to all and blog again sooner than soon!

xxx

Innsbruck, in the heart of the Austrian Alps

Today got off to a rip roaring start with breakfast at our hotel, complete with an expressive, motherly hostess who made Brad coffee after coffee and turned her nose up at me when I politely refused any!

Initially daunted by a five hour drive, this soon became our highlight of the trip so far. Instead of driving through the Alps as we did on our way to Bellagio, we instead drove over them - to a height of 2211 metres above sea level... From this height, needless to say, the view was spectacular and we could even see the lemons driving on the toll road motorway thousands of metres below us, who paid god only knows how many euro for an utterly incomparable drive.





After leaving Verona, stuffed with croissants, espressos, cappuccinos, cheese, salami and bread, we were ecstatic to find ourselves right in the thick of picturesque Italian countryside – complete with vineyards, mountains and castles. It was straight out of a movie! While Brad navigated our way through winding cliffs and terrain, I read up on the route and confirmed that we were driving through the Italian Dolomites and would soon find ourselves in a little town called Bolzano, which is home to a 5,000 year old Iceman! Cast your minds back to 1991 (although Conman you were just a twinkle in Dad’s eye) and you might remember the discovery of an almost perfectly preserved corpse which was later found to date back to prehistoric times. He was found in the Italian-Austrian Alps (the ones we crossed over today) by two hikers who thought they had stumbled across a big brown doll! Upon learning this we decided we had to stop and see it and decided to pay the admission fee (always a tricky call when there are always so many ‘must see’ tourist attractions around) based upon the fact that we’d only ever get one chance to see a perfectly preserved ice-man, as well as the fact that the knowledge we would gain could come in handy one day during a game of trivial pursuit! Well I’m sad to say that while it was fascinating seeing the ice-man’s original clothes and tools, I was incredibly disappointed to just see a reconstruction, and not a mummified ice-man corpse! Complete and utter false advertising in my opinion. In fact, if I could speak fluent Italian, I would write a serious letter of complaint. But thankfully Bolzano rectified itself by being absolutely charming and home to the world’s most delicious pizza!



As mentioned, today’s drive was the most stunning yet and believe you me, that is a big call to make after what we’ve seen. We crossed over into Austria in no time at all and found ourselves at our hotel in the blink of an eye. We unpacked then decided to hit the road as we had much we needed to explore. We had high hopes for Innsbruck after hearing so many wonderful things about it, and while it is pretty with a backdrop of the Austrian Alps, after what we’ve seen on our driving trips and our time in Interlaken, Switzerland, Innsbruck just doesn’t quite cut the mustard. We were expecting a small town, bustling with energy. Instead we got a small city, which while very pretty, was nothing on some of the other places we’ve been to. This made for quite a laugh as after walking around with our noses almost slightly turned up, we realised that this time last year we would have been squealing with joy, photographing every building in site. When did we become such travel snobs? When did we start saying things like, ‘only five centuries old, that’s nothing!’ So don’t get us wrong, Innsbruck is very pretty, it’s just where all the contiki and tour buses come, whereas on this trip we have come to love more of those ‘hidden gems!’ Seasoned travellers like ourselves have a taste for the finer things!




Despite still feeling a little sick from stuffing ourselves with pizza at lunch, we made the most of an Easter market which we stumbled across in the centre of town, finding a sausage stall where we ordered up a storm, complete with a couple of cans of Zipfer, the local brew. We then tried to walk it off, but gave up after three hours, instead opting for beer and cake. Croissants, cheese, salami, pizza, sausage and cake – we’re the epitome of health!


We’re back at our pad now where we’ll try and have an earlyish night as we’ll be up early to head into Germany – first stop, Neuschwanstein Castle.

Until next time.

xxx

My Verona

Ciao from Verona, Italia, known as ‘little Rome’ it is claimed as one of Italy’s most beautiful cities, and protected as a UNESCO world heritage site it is easier to see why – it’s a stunner of a city! Also the setting of Romeo and Juliet, we could quite fancy ourselves settling in here for the long haul. Unfortunately a mere 24 hours will have to do as tomorrow we are off to Innsbruck, Austria.


Our day started in beautiful Bellagio where we found ourselves gasping at how pretty it was when we left our apartment that morning, as if we had forgotten overnight. Today was a real adventure day where we haven’t encountered anyone who speaks a word of English – all encounters have been made up of a mixture of hand gestures, our basic Italian, or when all else fails just speak in your own language while they speak in theirs! We stopped at a few places on the way through to Verona, again opting for a scenic back road approach, rather than the faster motorway route and while it wasn’t as pretty as driving through Switzerland there was still plenty to keep as occupied – mainly reading out signs and passing advertisements in Super Mario Brothers’ accents! Great fun.

We arrived at 3pm where we dropped off our bags and headed straight out into the Italian sunshine. We’ve been blessed with the weather and have had 25 degree sunshine every day. Summer is coming folks!


Our hotel (Valverde) is nice and central and just a few minutes’ walk to Verona’s old town. Again, it’s near impossible to describe how pretty it is and the photos just don’t do it justice, nevertheless I will try! It’s just like a scene out of Romeo and Juliet or Gladiator, in fact we did have a stroll through the old amphitheatre which is the third largest in the world don’t you know. It’s amazing and I was half expecting Russell Crowe to stroll out in his get-up at any moment. Our next stop was the home of Juliet where we fought through the crowds for a pic of Juliet’s balcony. Rather than pay the €6 like we did for the amphitheatre, we decided to make do with a few shots outside, before strolling through the Piazza Erbe and Piazza dei Signori, which are essentially big markets in the beautiful old town square. We shopped up a storm before deciding to head on to Casa Romeo, where you guessed it – Romeo lived! Not quite as crowded as Juliet’s pad (it seems Juliet’s fan base was much more active), we got a token few shots of Romeo’s joint before deciding to lose ourselves in the tiny, beautiful streets, taking photos of anything and everything, including old theatres (Teatro Romano)), bridges (Ponte Nuovo, Ponte Pietra)and cathedrals (Anastacia, Vescovado Duomo). I’m sure the names don’t mean too much to you and let’s face it, in a few months we’ll have forgotten the names too, but we just wanted to reassure you that we’re getting our cultural fix as well as stuffing ourselves with gelato and pasta!






After our calves were aching and we couldn’t walk anymore, we headed back to our hotel where we sat on our balcony (just like Romeo and Juliet), sipped back the Limoncello, which is a deliciously bitter version of very alcoholic lemonade and watched the world pass by. When hunger took hold, which to be fair was disgraceful after all the eating we’ve done today, we decided to pop down to a local restaurant which we saw was bustling with Italians, without a foreign face in sight. After not recognising a single thing on the menu, we each chose something random, plus a pizza acting as a safety net. In our miniscule Italian we ordered, clarified that yes we did want three meals between us and no she hadn’t misheard, and sipped our local red wine watching the Italians around us. We weren’t disappointed with our food, but we sure as hell weren’t expecting what showed up – not that we let this stop us though as within a few minutes the plates were near empty... All three of them!



Tomorrow we are back into Austria to spend some time in the Austrian Alps in a little party/ University town called Innsbruck. We’ll take the scenic route which will add a few hours onto the journey, but when you’re stopping every few minutes to take photos and pick up even more food, getting there is only half the fun!


We’re heading back to Italy more times than we count, but if we weren’t, leaving tomorrow would be near impossible. So pretty, so delicious, so wonderfully clichéd – ti amo Italia!

Xx

I would drive 600 miles...

From London to the Champagne fields of France, through WWII annexed Alsace and Lorraine, heading into Southern Germany through black forest territory to Lake Konstanz, onwards through beautiful Switzerland and into Austria, before traipsing through Lichtenstein, then emerging into Switzerland’s alp country, to find us here – red wine and pasta happy in Bellagio, an exquisite town on Lake Como, Italy. Ciao bella!


Phew – that’s our Euro road trip so far, and what a trip it has been. Easily our best holiday yet with just ourselves, the beautiful landscape and Augustus (our pet Audi) for company. We’ve been adopting a policy of avoiding all toll roads, which means zero motorways and 100 per cent delicious and jaw-dropping scenic views and small towns. We feel so privileged to have experienced what we have so far – it’s beyond belief!

When we first set off on our trip people openly told us we were nuts – why would you spend so much time driving all over the show, when you could just relax in a sun chair after a flight somewhere? Honestly, we’re laughing all the way to the next glass of Italian Chianti as you don’t know a country until you’ve driven it’s roads, seen the exquisite towns rather than the token tourist spots, and stayed in a haunted ex-leper colony. Yes, you did read that correctly, but more about this later!


So off we set on Tuesday night and by now we almost know the road to Dover like the back of our hand. France is notorious for its motorways and toll roads but after noticing we would save an hour and a half (at 3am this is a significant saving) we decided to pay a few euro... How much could it be? After our first toll of €20.80, we were not in a happy place, but as we were too tired to care we carried on along, before arriving in Chalons en Champagne at 4am – phew! A very pretty place, but one for our next driving weekend, the next morning we were up and on the road and this time made our decision to avoid all toll roads. A very wise decision in retrospect as this meant we were taken through the beautiful countryside and the drive just flew by – all eight hours of it! We drove through Alsace and Lorraine (annexed by Germany during the great wars) stopping in Toul and Nancy for snacks. We chanced upon a massive supermarket where we spent an inordinate amount of time looking at the different type of bread, cheese and cut meats – the French know how to do it let me tell you that. So we purchased up a storm and spend the rest of the drive stuffing our faces whilst gasping at the scenery – great combo!


(I interrupt this blog to inform you of my absolutely stunning surroundings. As I type this, we are in an apartment in Bellagio, situated up a tiny cobbled alley that overlooks a 12th century church, a glass of wine in hand, listening to the church chime bells every 15 minutes – it doesn’t get much better really does it?)

So we frolic through France, jump into Germany (Freibourg, Lake Konstanz), and swing through Switzerland (St Gallen), ending up in Austria, which is very much alive with the sound of music! We spent the night in a small medieval town in the Austrian Alps called Feldkirch – so awesome! Our hostel, Jugendherberge youth hostel, was this huge, old, wooden medieval building, which I thought was the bee’s knees, that is until Brad went to have a shower and I stumbled across a sheet of information... Always curious and keen to expand upon my extensive knowledge base, I decided to have a read. So all alone, curled up in a tiny wooden gaol cell, which I previously thought of as quaint, I learned that we were staying at a FORMER LEPER COLONY, which was where people were sent to DIE! It was also used throughout the black plague that shook Europe, as a final place when there was no hope. In fact, if I came down with the black plague they would put me (alive and well) on the back of a funeral truck with the other sickies, drive us through town, have a funeral for us before ‘burying’ us in a ceremony where we laid down in graves, the priest sprinkles us with dirt, then when everyone had shed their tears, up we’d hop and we’d be dropped off at that exact place we were staying! I’d spend the rest of my days not entering a church, school, or public bathhouse and just to deter members of the public from approaching me I would be wearing a full black cloak and be given a rattle which I would have to shake every time someone approached to warn them. As you can imagine I was awake half the night in sheer terror of hearing a ghostly rattle, prowling the corridors. Great story now, bloody terrifying the same time last night!

After dragging my mattress on the floor so it was closer to Brad’s bottom bunk, we slept surprisingly well (despite waking several times in the night when I forced myself to keep my eyes shut, afraid of what I’d see if I opened them) and were up on our way at 8am, via the supermarket of course for a good Austrian breakfast of sausages, pretzels, baps, cheese and salami. Austria – what a place. Think Sound of Music and you’re there, such a cliché but a cliché for a reason – we love it and are looking forward to checking out the bigger cities like Vienna, but for the mean time Alp country just takes our breath away!


Liechtenstein, the third smallest country in Europe (behind Vatican City and Andorra) and famed for the highest denture exports in the world (it’s a fact!), Vaduz, the capital city, was next on the agenda and just 20 minutes away from Austria and Switzerland it was an easy find. Liechtenstein is still run by its own monarchy whom reside in a castle on the Alps, overlooking the city, and only open it to visitors once a year on Liechtenstein’s national day. Unfortunately today wasn’t that day, but we did have a whale of the time wandering around and getting our token Passport stamps from the tourism office. Liechtenstein is the only place in Europe where you can actually ask for a stamp – not a renowned claim to fame, but a claim to fame all the same!


Now came the most exquisite part of the drive – through the Swiss Alps into Northern Italy. It was truly a remarkable experience and once again we find ourselves at a loss for words when describing how stunning Switzerland really is. It really is impossible to convey its beauty, so I’ll just say that we were driving for over four hours and it really did feel like four minutes!





Which brings us to Italia – ciao bella! Here we are in Bellagio on beautiful Lake Como – a stunning cobbled town of tiny alleys and streets, right on a breathtaking lake with a backdrop of the Italian Alps. Mr Clooney apparently has a holiday home here and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for us! It’s not the cheapest place, but you can see why.


We arrived here at around 3pm and spent the afternoon exploring, slurping on the gelato (times two of course), and taking 101 pictures. Brad picked up a few brochures and played the tour guide, taking me on a walking tour of the local sites. Aside from his Super Mario Brothers accent, he was a star! I had to have words and begged him to stop, it was driving me nuts! Mind you, if he had a euro for every time I have said ‘Ciao bella’ he would be putting a down payment on George’s luxury pad!


Italy is sooooo cool – just what you imagine, with the only down side being the stares you get from 50 per cent of the race. Not even really staring, they look at you like you’re a prize cow, inspecting every detail. And they’re not selective – every single girl is subjected to the same treatment. Brad actually laughed as he turned back a good 100m down the road to see a few particularly rapey individuals still standing there, crotch rubbing with dirty smirks on faces!


After a beautiful afternoon we headed out for an amazing dinner (it’s Italy, what did you expect?) – red wine, pizza, red wine, pasta, red wine, espresso, red wine. Bellissimo! We stumbled across a gem of a restaurant, lake front, where after asking for a table on the lake, we were regretfully informed that they only had one left. We traipsed behind, the thought of food keeping us going, only to be led to a private table on its own little deck, surrounded by a fence of flowers – a table good enough for George Clooney himself (they must have mistaken Brad for his son). Beyond amazing...




Which brings me to the present – slightly tipsy and listening to church bells. Did I mention I love Italy?

Tomorrow it’s a lazy day where we’ll meander our way to Verona, the setting for Romeo and Juliet and often referred to as Italy’s most beautiful city. God doesn’t life suck sometimes?

Ciao bella – arrivederci!

xx

In Dublin's fair city

What better way to celebrate Brad turning a frightful 27, than by spending a crazy night partying in the land of the Emerald isle - Dublin to be precise, or Dubh Linn as the old name would suggest. Who needs an excuse really to head over to what is one of the best cities, and a place we will frequent more than once in the very near future.

Our weekend began at 4.20am on Saturday morning as our alarm had us reaching for the lamp and dragging ourselves out of bed. It was wee Braddy's birthday and so he was met with a pile of gifts - a lovely start to the day!

Our flight was at 8am out of Stanstead (a mission of an airport to get to and as I type this I am on the bus back into London - a journey which will take 1.45 mins!) and we had booked a car to take us to the airport as with all five of us, it worked out to be just a wee bit more expensive than the train and obviously much more convenient. So off we set - Brad, Philly, Jess, Ryan and I on route to mighty Dublin, where we arrived at just after 9am and grabbed a cab to Barnacles hostel which could not have been at a better location.

Our first impressions of Dublin - while its certainly not the most scenic city, the cobbled alleys of Temple Bar and the traditional Irish music drifting out on to the streets, sung by handsome Irish men playing a multitude of instruments, more than made up for the slight lack of pretty buildings. WHAT A CITY! We literally had to drag ourselves to the airport after watching a handsome Scottish and Irish duo playing up a storm at a nearby pub. Us girls were giggling and blushing as they crooned and winked away - did I mention they were really handsome? Combined with the music, their accents and charming cheek they had all the girls in the bar (and most men probably) lusting after them well and truly. Even Brad was powerless to their charms! Jess in particular was very upset to have to leave as she was adament the black-haired, blue-eyed Scotsman was her perfect man! Particularly when he found out that she and Philly were from farms (which he was too), and he smiled his cheeky grin, started strumming his guitar and sung 'the farmer wants a wife!' I actually think I squealed with delight! I realise I have digressed significantly but honestly, this duo had to be seen to be believed!

And it's not just the men who were finer than fine, Irish people in general are just wonderful. Sure we saw a surprisingly high amount of drunk bums roaming the street, but we were also stopped by people asking if we needed directions, and greeted with smiles everywhere we went. Our taxi driver even spent the whole journey chatting, suggesting places for us to visit on our Christmas road trip - he even said the classic, 'good girl yerself' line I'd been dying to hear! The girls are just beautiful too - something which I don't think is widely known. They all have very dark hair, most often black, with porcelain skin and green or blue eyes. We did our walking tour today and our guide, Eileen, was beyond stunning. Combined with her accent and charm, she really was a lethal combination!

Now back to Saturday morning! After dropping our bags off at the hostel and meeting up with the others (Cookie and his two Irish friends from Northern Ireland, Craig and Davey), we went to the world famous Temple Bar for our first pint of Guinness - at 10.50am I might add! I braved the black tar with the boys, but soon opted out after a few pints. You've got to give these things a whirl after all! We then headed off to our tour of the old Jamesons distillery - Ireland's famous whiskey. It was very interesting and included in the ticket price (which we got free anyway thanks to Davey who knows a few people in the industry) was a free drink (Jamesons and Cranberry if you please). In addition a few people got to partake in whiskey tasting, and being Brad's birthday he of course was chosen as a tastee, as was our beloved Jess. They did well and emerged more chipper than ever, just in time for us to head off on our tour of the Guinness factory! We had discounted tickets to this thanks to Davey again, but included in the price was a free drink again so totally worth the euros. We had fun exploring the nooks and crannies before Brad and I stopped off at the Perfect Pint school, where we each graduated top of the class and have the certificates to prove it. There really is an art to pouring Guinness and we my friends, are artists! After consuming our works of art, we headed up the escalators to join the others who were cashing their vouchers in at the Sky bar, which is the highest point in Dublin and has 360 degree views of the city. Cookie had cottoned on to a sly game of targeting the older American tourists who had no desire for the black tar known as Guinness, and as a result we arrived to a table full of drinks. It was a great atmosphere and the bartenders even wished Brad a happy birthday over the microphones, which had people coming up to him all night wishing him a Happy Birthday! Bless.

After a good few hours, we walked back to our hostel seeing some pretty sights on the way. The boys headed straight to Temple bar (a pub, but also the name of the district), while us girls had a few drinks back in our room as we got changed. At 9pm we were on our way out when we bumped smack bang into Cookie coming up the stairs - my friends, this was the end of Cookie in Dublin! After walking the few steps to Temple Bar we picked up some pints and joined the live music madness - beyond wonderful! I couldn't help but think of my beloved family and how much you would have loved it! Here we stayed jumping and sweating, screaming along with the music with all the energy in the world, for the entire night! When the band finished at 2am it was very reluctantly that we went in search of food having not eaten since lunch at midday. Brad, drenched in sweat, was in desperate need of water, which meant I inherited his burger and fries as well as my own - jackpot!

I've never seen as many talented musicians than we did this weekend. Just one person was singing away, whilst playing the irish bagpipes, then stopping for a spin on the guitar or one of three different types of Irish whistles - just amazing. We could have easily stayed up all night screaming out requests and dancing away!

Our hostel, whilst being right in the action, also meant we had a restful sleep as the drunken revelry continued all through the night. A small price to pay though as you don't go to Dublin to sleep!

Today we were up chatting away at 7am, which was followed up with an Irish breakfast a few hours later. We then hit the free walking tour we've come to know and love. As I've mentioned, this didn't disappoint and even though we could only do half the tour (airport calls) we absolutely loved it - our guide was great and we managed to squeeze a bit of much needed culture into our weekend of mayhem.

We then had a spare half hour before we had to head to the airport, so we hit another local bar where we met the aforementioned delightful duo, who leave a loved up smile on our faces even now, several hours later! Sigh!

All in all, an absolutely fabulous weekend and one we will never forget. Over much too soon, but with many memories and funny stories to keep us going until our next visit.

Plus we only have two days work until we head off on our six day road trip through Europe, followed by a four day weekend in Poland. It's a hard life!

Xx