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Hello!
Firstly we're sorry we haven't updated our travel website for such a long time. I guess we have been a bit caught up in what we have been doing and seeing that we haven't taken much time to write it down or let anyone else know! But the internet rates per hour and our unwilingness to use some of the seedy internet cafe's we have come across also contribute!
We'll give you a brief overview of where we have been since our last post, somehwere in the UK.
After Cambridge and Bath we headed up to the Northern part of England. We stayed in a few of the big cities up north and loved both the change in accent and the incredibly friendly people. We ended up in New Brighton near Liverpool at Uncle Andrew's cousins house. Gill and Mike were incredibly hospitibale to us and we partiucualy enjoyed the night out at their loal pub with Gill's brother leading the folk band. The company was great and Mike's mean fish curry reminded us very much of home!
From there we headed to Scotland to stay with Uncle Andrew's brother, Peter, Joyce and his family. As a chef by trade, we had some incredible meals, the last of that kind since venturing off on our own again! It was lovely to meet him again and spend time with the family - that gives you a true experience of the country, especially after you have deciphered the scottish accent. We loved Glsgow and Edinburgh and even picked up some wee scottish phrases. We also took a trip up into the Highland and saw Glencoe (where much of the harry potter movies are fimed, by matter of convenience!) and the various lochs - even took a cruise on the loch ness! It was really beautiful and peaceful up there, but a little too chilly at that time of year!
We then took a flight to Belfast, where we did a black taxi tour of the conflict there which was very interesting, especially to hear it from a local. The murals and dividing walls were fascinating. We then trekked down to Dublin for a couple of nights and loved the vibe of the city but were a bit taken back by the price of it! From there we did a few day trips, including to County Clare, where we saw Galway, the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher which was all stunning.
We then took another flight to Amsterdam which we loved immediately. We found it it be a very beautiful city, regardless of which street you are in and felt a great, laid back and friendly vibe there. The Dutch are very friendly people and they all speak perfect english! We also took a few day trips from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, Haarelm and Delft which were equally as pretty and interesting.
From there we caught a train to Belgium where, despite our limited time there, saw Ghent and Brugges which were lovely and the architecture was very different here compared to what we had seen so far. We, naturally, indulged in some heavenly waffles and chocolates. We found Belgium to be a visually beautiful country with a big cafe culture.
We then arrived in Paris and saw all the must see sights. The eiffel tower was great.. the climb up its numerous steps not so great! We saw all the museums there which were fascinating and very impressive as were the monuments of the city. We took a day trip to Versailles. The grounds of the chateau were unlike any gardens we had ever seen! They were massive and so lavishly manicured. We had a great tme relaxing in the grounds but found the interior of the place to be a little overdone...
The next day trip from Paris was to Blois in the Lior Valley which had an interesting Chateau and a crazily camp magic factory. After Paris we headed to Madrid which we loved! It was a big, busy city but was full of life and full of people who loved life. Everyone was so friendly and we definitely could get used to their lifestyle - particualrly the siestas! Everything shuts during the middle of the day so they can eat and sleep! Shops open when they feel like it. We took a few day trips from Madrid, including Toledo and Segovia. They were beautiful spanish country towns with a lot of history.
We then went to Seville in the south of spain, andalucia. Its the area where flamenco dancing and bull fighting are rife! We were lucky enough to arrive, unexpecedly to us, during spains biggest festival. Feria de abril, or the festival of april which is a week long festival where over 1million spaniards from all over spain come to seville to celebrate their culture. It was by far the best cultural experience we could ever have been part of and the traditional singing, dancing, drinking and eating was a good break from some of the tourist meccas we had recently been to.
Barcelona followed on from seville, and even though we were back amongst the mass of toursists in a busy city, we loved the vibe the city had and it was great to relax by the mediterranean. From there we headed up to the French Riviera. We were at Marsailles and enjoyed the moroccon / north african influence and feel. so much history! We then headed to Nice and spend a few days relaxing by the sea with the millionaires and posers... which are everywhere in europe!
From Nice we hit Italy and started in the most expensive, Venice! Everyone always says how beautiful it is and how romantic / charming and we found it to be just that! Cheap gelati, half a pizza and our poor mans gondala - the water bus served us well!
Verona came next, which is they city that Romeo and Juliet was based on due to a feud between two of the wealthy local families there. It was a small city with lots of ambiance and an incredibly intact 1st centruy roman ampitheatre that is still used today. We then went to the Cinque Terre on the eastern coast of Italy, which is a national park and world heritage site made up of 5 villages in cliffs on the mediteranean. Each of the villages were so colourful and pretty especially in contrast to the deep blue of the sea. We did a 12km hike through all the villages along the coast which, whilst a little challenging at times, provided the most amazing views of the mediterranean. It was a really relaxing place.
We are now in Florence. Did the museums today and were really impressed by the amount of art that we knew! We are staying at a campsite on top of a hill overlooking the city. We have a great view everytime we wake up! From here we are doing two day trips, one to Pisa and one to Siena.
Next stop is Naples where we are really excited to see Pompei and sample some cool tasting pizza. We may even go crazy with a vespa!! Ali's sister and her boyfriend Tom are coming to Italy during their semester break from university in July and we have adjusted our schedule so that we can all be in Rome for 5 days together! We are really looking forward to that, as far away as it is!
We will soon be heading up to Germany, where we will meet up with Chris' mum's uncle and aunty and their children and grandchildren! We are really looking forward to spending more time with family because it can get a little lonely on our own despite the numerous friends we have met along the way in our hostels!
Hope you are all well and we hope this is enough to give you some idea of what we've done over the past few months. We have probably left out a few places but we will try soon to upload some photos as well, which tell 1000 words.
PS - we are both still well and have not contracted swine flu, although a mexican girl coughed behind us in line to see the statue of david today.......
Love Always,
Chris and Ali xxxxx
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