Praha

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic and a very cool old place. Although it is now part of the EU, it hasnt adopted the € yet. So here is Dom with half of our withdrawl... 1500 Czech Krowns is $90 Australian. Compared to anywhere else we've been and even Australia, the Czech Rep is very cheap


Prague Castle for the first time.. Walking back to the hostel on the first night


The view of Prague from the castle


The medieval church within the castle, complete with gargoyles and scary laughing men!


And inside the church


The main square in Prague, complete with big screen for the World Cup showing every game live. We were here again the next night to watch Australia get pummeled by zee Germans. 40 Aussies from the hostel surrounded by thousands of Germans - not the most enjoyable game


But that didn't stop us celebrating


The Infant Jesus of Prague. This little guy has saved Prague from many battles over the years


On the walking tour, we learned that many of the synagogues and religious buildings in Prague (which had a very large Jewish population) survived WWII because it was Hitlers instructions to bring religious artifacts here from all over Europe and to not bomb these buildings as this city was going to be a memorial to an extinct race. Now they have one of the largest collections of Jewish bits and pieces in the world.

Prague is also home to the most over-rated tourist attraction in Europe. The Astronomical clock which goes off every hour was a huge event a two centuries ago, now its just pathetic

Berlin

Berlin... mehhk. It didn't seam to grab us as much as other places. 90% of it has been rebuilt since WWII so it just felt 'new'. There is alot of history here, the free walking tours in each city are very good. In Berlin, our guide had a phd in history, so he seamed to know his stuff...

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
The 1200ish blocks are for your own interpretation. Underneath all this is the information centre where all the photos, stories and diary entries are displayed. 6 million people murdered - erie and unimaginable!


The futher into this Memoral you walk, the smaller you feel..


The Brandenburg Gates. The statue on top was stolen by Napolean and taken back to Paris. Obviously, it has been returned since


ABC... Another Bloody Church (cant remember what this one was)


Reminents of the Berlin Wall


A cobblestone line now outlines where the wall once was


The glass dome on top of Parliment House looks down onto parliment. Anybody can walk up the spiral inside it and look down on the happenings inside for free anytime. Apparently, it symbolises the people inside are not above anybody else

The Damage

Amsterdam needs to be experienced rather then explained. It is a lot more out there than any where else! Although it is illegal, anything is tolerated as long as it it discreet and good for business! This place is one big happy (and hungry) family!

Church of Saint Nicholas


Dom on her quest for clogs! Might have trouble getting this one in her backpack


Pub crawling through town. A rather messy and late but fun night out! Mainly with fellow Busabouters.


Vegemite! They also imported Timtams, Daryl Lea Licorice and Bundaberg Ginger Beer

Bruges

Venice of the north...

Very cool little medieval village. 20,000 people within the walls and 15 minutes to walk anywhere inside.


Bruges was 'occupied' by the Nazi in WWII not invaded with brute force. Zee Germans thought it was such a nice place (and better tactically to keep it standing) they spared it from bombing raids...
Part of the outside wall of the City Hall - crazy detail!


Another canal


Church of the Holy Blood. It looks like it's been wedged in next to City Hall but it bigger out the back. This church has a glass tube containg a piece of cloth with Christs blood on it. It was traded for lace with the Ottoman Empire in the 13th century


On a bike tour through and around the town


Getting the message? Lots of canals!


Sampling Belgiums best chocolate from the chocolate shop made famous by The Rolling Stones snorting chocolate here

Paris

We did another 2 walking tours in Paris, one around Montmarte, the other around Paris city the following day.

Sacre Coeur in Montmarte, on this tour we also passed where Van Gogh and picasso both lived, the Moulin Rouge, the artist square, the last vineyard and windmill in Paris and Lapin Agile - the cabaret bar where Picasso often exchanged paintings for food.


Moulin Rouge


Outside the Lourve


The Ach de Triumphe, 12 crazy lanes (none were marked so couldn't be followed) of traffic 24 hours a day. It has 12 roads leading on and off it!


The Eiffel Tower light show on the night of our anniversary - it just topped Dom's night off!


Notre Dame, if you look closely you might be able to see the hunchback in the top window! He wouldn't stop ringing the bells, he wasnt even on time or chimed the right amount - he must have been a little tipsy that day


Outside the Pantheon


Outside the gates of the Royal Palace in Versailles (the camera took the photo earlier then it should have - i would have been on time otherwise!)
King Louis XIV had this place built for him then he moved the capital of France there to get away from the people. It had over 700 rooms, 350 chimneys, 75 staircases and gardens hugely massively enormous gardens that went further then you could see! During its consrruction, it had over 15,000 workers there at one point!!! Absolutely incredible how much money they were getting from taxes!


The Kings Chamber


The Hall of Mirrors. This was just a hallway from the kings room to the queens room and the rest of the Palace. JUST A HALLWAY!


The view of his backyard...
That canal is 1.6km long and has another canal crossing it halfway down that is only 1km long. It takes one hour to walk from the palace to the other end of the canal! The gardens literally went out further then you can see! Hectares full of perfectly manicures gardens!


Louis XVI's wife Marie Antoinette didnt like the Palace or the Grand Trianon (which only probly had 100 rooms in it) to live in so she moved to the Petite Trianon where visitors (including the king) had to be invited to come down. She then had a whole village and farm built for her so she could walk through them and feel like a normal citizen. Oh yeah, all the animals were fully groomed and perfumed so that they didnt smell!


She wanted every view from her Palace and anywhere in her gardens to have a postcard view... The photos we have are incredible! That's Marie Antionettes little palace in the background


Heading towards the tall pointy thing on the last day


Chocolate crepes halfway up in honour in Viv's birthday...


The view from the top. The tall building in the distance is the only skyscraper in Paris. It was so ugly when it was built in the 70's that the government made a new law that no new buildings could be taller then 8 storeys

London

Less type, more photos...

We discovered walking tours with a local guide, we ended up doing 3 different ones around London. The first was around Westminster, the second around Old City and the third was the Grim Reaper Tour where the victims of Jack The Ripper died and we also visited the docks where the first fleet sailed from...

Buckingham Palace


Changing of the Guard, thousands of people watching, roads closed, marching bands, hundreds of guards and after an hour, the only two guards standing at the palace doors have changed!


Just before we got yelled at for standing in the path of the Queens guard


Playing around with the camera features at Westminster Abbey


Mummies at the British Museum, we had a lot of grosser one to choose from..


Outside the Royal Courts of Justice. The pillar and statue is where Westminster meets Old City.
The clock was used in the Harry Potter movies at Hogwarts.
Papparazzi hang out here when high profile divorces take place inside - Madonna and Paul McCartney are all we can remember


Tower Bridge, often mistaken for London Bridge


St Katherine's Docks. The original location (the original timber docks are long gone) the first fleet left from in 1777


Culture vultures to the max... We saw Shakespeare's 'Henry VIII' play at the reconstructed 'Globe Theatre'. We had cheap standing only tickets but literally had our elbows on the stage. I couldn't understand what they were really saying but followed the story ok. "Best play I've ever been to" said Dom when we were leaving.. It was pretty impressive.