Denise and David in Europe 2016

Trip Index                         last updated 18 November 2016                         Trip Index

Trip Completed. Our many thanks go to: - Yvonne, Pat and Hazel for looking after us for three days in Ireland. - Ginger for looking after us on the east coast of England for a day - Eileen and Chitra for the drive to the Cotswold and the superb dinner - Kevin and Reiner for looking after us for four days - and particularly to Reiner for all of the Bavarian cooking - outstanding! - Karoline for joining us in Vienna for four fabulous days of walking - Nina for her incredible hospitality in Zurich.  And her mum Vera for a wonderful dinner. We really appreciated and enjoyed you sharing our wonderful experiences during our holiday. Denise's Highlights (not in any particular order) 1. Business class and the limo pickups 2. First sight of Ireland 3. Dressing up as a Viking woman (in Dublin and Reykjavik) 4. Food Fairies and Folklore (our night out in Dublin - we shall always remember the 3 different types of facts) 5. Emo court and the Rock of Dunamase in Ireland 6. Our visit with Yvonne, Pat and Hazel near Athlone in Ireland 7. French Fancies 8. Troy Hall in Ireland 9. North West Coast of Ireland 10. Staying once again at Ross Castle 11. Roller coasters at Blackpool particularly the "Big One" 12. Seeing Imogen at the Globe Theatre in London and meeting Eastenders star Maddy Hill 13. Meeting with Eileen and the tour of Avesbury and the Costwolds 14. Iceland - everything - and particularly the south and east coast 15. Viking film shoot at the Black Beach in Iceland 16. Seeing the Northern Lights at Lake Myvatn, Iceland 17. Whale watching by ourselves near Akureyri in northern Iceland 18. Our Paris apartment 19. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe 20. Kevin and Reiner - rest and relaxation 21. Berlin Wall sites 22. Communications Tower in Berlin 23. Views from the fast trains throughout Europe 24. Prague Castle 25. Prague to Vienna train hostesses 26. Karoline and Vienna - big buildings and museums/palaces 27. Nymphenberg Palace - Munich 28. Neuschwanstein Castle and Bavaria 29. Snow in Munich 30. Swiss Alps and Nina's excursion days Denise's Lowlights (not in any particular order) 1. Not having prepared sufficiently for her radio documentary idea 2. The hire car in Ireland (Diesel with issues) 3. Being too tired to enjoy the night life in Dublin - the Fringe Festival was on! 4. Ashtown Castle was closed 5. Missing Sam Neill by one week 6. The hotel in Blackpool 7. Restriction on luggage weights to/from Iceland (cheap airlines) 8. The cost of everything in Iceland 9. For being a scardy cat to do the whale watching cruise on the open sea on a rough day! 10. Homeless people in Paris. 11. Way too early starts for some airports (eg. 6am flight out of Ireland and Iceland) 12. Munich near our hotel 13. Cheese in every food dish in Venice 14. Vienna was overwhelming with Museums David's Highlights (not in any particular order) 1. South and East of Ireland (scenery, nature, waterfalls, northern lights) 2. Blackpool - everything including Pleasure Beach Theme Park - but excluding the horrible hotel 3. Jewish History Museum in Berlin - so eye opening and well done 4. Prague - picture postcard perfect and inexpensive! 5. Supermarkets in Germany 6. Swiss alps near Zurich 7. Public Transport in Europe (mostly inexpensive, very well planned and easy to use - Melbourne you have a LONG way to go) 8. The Louvre and Eiffel Tower in Paris 9. Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria - our lounge jigsaw came to life 10. The gondola ride through the Venice canals. 11. Averaging 13,000 steps a day for the 9 weeks 12. Meeting with and sharing much of our holiday with all our great friends  David's Lowlights (not in any particular order) 1. Car in Ireland.  At least we got over €100 back from the rental firm for an unserviced and problematic car 2. Hotel room in Blackpool.  You couldn't open the suitcase and be in the same room at the same time.  (Small) 3. Prices in Iceland (Ahhhhhh!) about 3 times Melbourne prices on everything 4. The only way to move around Venice is effectively on foot 5. Coming home again :(

Life time dream come true.  This holiday is broken into four parts: Ireland 2 (11 days) - our second visit to Ireland.  Time to explore parts not yet seen and to get to that north west tip England (9 days) - Always wanted to visit Blackpool and the theme park there.  Visiting friends as we drive across West Yorkshire and down into London for 4 days. Iceland (11 days) - This is a first for us as neither of us had ever visited there.  We are going to circumnavigate Iceland anti-clockwise. Western Europe by Train (32 days) - approximately four days in each of Paris, Wuppertal, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice and Zurich- but subject to change as it is quite variable