Well it's been a while, so while we sit in the laundromat waiting for some (much needed!) clean clothes, I thought it time to update on our travels. So tuck yourself in, this might be a biggie.

We left you last on route to Brugge. Having high expectations from my last visit almost 10 years ago, I must admit that I was worried I had talked it up. I need not have worried. When a tiny country produces over 760 of it's own beers and pays homage to them in a fabulous brewery on a canal, and the town has 50 individual stores selling their own finest quality handmade Belgian chocolates, it is most definitely a recipe for success. Coupled with accommodation at a fabulous B&B, a day bike riding along canals through tiny Belgian villages, and a few solid sessions sampling as many beers as possible, and Brugge was a huge hit and definitely pushing for favorite spot on our trip to date.

We left Brugge and headed to Germany (with a one night stopover at a tiny little village on the way) to get our lederhosen, stein, schnitty, and bratwurst on. Heading into Germany also brought with it our first foray into the world of the Autobahn. Wow. With a 'speed limit' of 130km/hr, its easy to see why Schumacher is from Germany! I couldn't quite bring myself to hit the 130 mark for a while, but the Germans surely dont have a problem going much closer to the 200km mark! But as we have learnt, as long as you're clear of the left lane you shouldn't have a problem. If you are in the left lane however, be prepared for a brand new Merc, BMW, Porsche or any other kind of amazing luxury car screaming up behind you and sitting about 10cm from your back bumper....

After a rough start in the quite busy, dirty, and all round unlikeable city of Koln (Cologne) we made like all those in the know do and headed for the sticks. James was now equipped with the Michelin Green Guide to Germany, and hence his most important role to date - head of Orienteering - began, and with accommodation booked online the night before, we were making tracks to Minheim, a tiny town in the Mosel Valley.

The Mosel Valley was spectacular. Tiny sleepy wine villages dotted along a wide, calm, winding river, with wine at every turn. Vines covered every inch of steep valley walls - an amazing sight to see - literally planted almost vertically - and yup - all picked by hand! With plenty of great wine and relaxing, we were sad to say farewell to the Mosel after 4 days, but the more famous valley just next-door was calling. The Rhein. Unfortunately, this was a bit of a disappointment after the untouched and quaint Mosel. While still lovely to drive, the villages were a lot more touristy and commercial, and the route quite industrial. We stayed one night but headed off early the next day towards our next region - The Black Forrest!

Our first stop was Baden-Baden, the exclusive spa town at the foot of the Black Forrest. Well, we pulled in to the tourist info centre and all James' Christmas' came at once. Not only is Baden-Baden famous for it's 1700s belle époque Casino (think James Bond and you're on the right track), but we also happened to arrive smack bang in the middle of Germany's biggest horse racing carnival of the year. James was one happy traveller! So managing to get enough details to get us to the track for the biggest European horserace outside of Ascot (according to the Germans), which actually kinda felt like Ballarat Cup day on a bad year!, James got his fill of horse racing, and we continue to appreciate that we love how sport mad Melbournians are!
We also managed to fit in a visit to the Casino which really was amazing, but definitely didn't come away with the ability to now stay at 5 star chateaux throughout France! And a visit to Baden-Baden wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the hot springs, so after a big day at the track, relaxing in the outdoor thermal pools was pretty damn good.

Our last week or so has been spent in the Black Forrest, driving through some hairy but just amazingly picturesque areas. Its unbelievable how beautiful Germany is, just stunning. Rolling green hills, imposing mountains, tiny little villages as traditional 'Germany' as you can get, and cows everywhere. We spent a couple of days down in Lindau, a little 'seaside' (as seaside as a land-locked country like Germany can be) village on an island in the middle of a huge lake that borders Germany, Austria, Switzerland which was lovely and full of gorgeous cobbled streets and nice shops and cafes, and now find ourselves in the heart of Bavaria - Munich!

It's been a roller coaster ride here in Munich so far- for a city, Munich is quite nice and full of great things to look at, beers halls are great but ridiculously hard to get served in (but not to worry, we managed to have a stein - James finished it, I was not so manly but was proud of my efforts - got through about 80%), weather is glorious, afl website is very un-user friendly and a fair bit of frustration was vented at 6am this morning due to inability to get any live stream/radio of the Collingwood game (lucky they won!), a fair bit more frustration was vented at St Kilda and their complete and utter crapness, and now, well, it's washing time!

So that's about it from me for now. As you can tell we are covering lots of ground and loving the traveling life. B&Bs are a newfound love, German food is absolutely terrible, weather has been very kind to date, and our ability to drive on the opposite side of the road and interpret foreign road signs is quickly improving (even though James' job in the A-team of navigation is non-existent due to our usually reliable GPS friend Jane). We head tomorrow into full on Bavaria and the alps, so hoping to see Heidi (I'm referring to the yodeling cowgirl book character, James continues to hold out hope of running into Heidi of the Klum variety) and plenty of men in lederhosen.

Hope all is well wherever you're reading this from, much love and auf weidersein,
James (head of orienteering) and Nic (head of transport) xxx