Hotel Parkschlossl Passau

Well, it's been a lonnngggg while.....here is a rundown of what I've been doing since London-

Took a weekend trip to visit girlfriends in Dublin. I love Ireland! Had a great time with my friends and their friends.

Flew from London to Berlin, stayed one night then went to Dresden to meet with my Great Grandmother's Niece's Granddaughter (got that?!?!?!). She was so good to me! Stayed with her in Dresden then went to Zwickau to stay with family and see some places where ...

... We did a walking tour through winding narrow cobblestone streets and alleys looking at old buildings and shops. We went into the cathedral and learned much about the stonework, frescoes and the organ. Then outside again for more walking around learning about the architecture of the buildings.

Then it was back to the cathedral for an organ concert. The organ has 275 stops and almost 18,000 pipes placed in five areas, including the ceiling. Very ...

... r diesen Flug super Plätze ausgesucht, ganz hinten. Da hattten wir unsere Ruhe und konnten die ganzen 8 Stunden in vollen Zügen genießen...wie man das auf einem halben Meter Platz halt kann.

Die letzte Hürde haben wir dann auch noch mit Bravur genommen - der Zoll. Nach all den Schauergeschichten, die ich gehört habe, hab ich das Schlimmste befürchtet. Nichts davon ist eingetroffen. Wir sind einfach durchmarschiert. Bin ich froh, denn nach unserer letzten ...

... it back to the ship feeling very proud of ourselves and had a brandy and dry on arrival.  A nice hot shower and felt as good as new.  We have got a lovely lot of friends and at dinner made up a table of 8 Kevin and Lois, Betsy and Noel, Bill and Anna and Mac and I.  Another great day over and looking forward to tomorrow when we will be arriving in Regensburg where I will be doing shopping.  Think we will have to buy another suitcase to bring everything home."

... this morning and an alfresco breakfast as its easter Monday and no shops are open. But the weather is ideal for cycling as its cool and clear; the first ten miles seem free. This is mostly Dyke cycling so not many challenges although navigation is again a bit tricky as the marker signs change and the route takes what appears to be illogical diversions. Throughout Germany cycling is massive both as a hobby and as transport. So along the route many pubs and guest houses advertise and ...

Arrived by Train from Vienna, and picked up the bikes at Train station.Everyone lost quickly, bikes needed adjustmentment (Sue thought she had no brakes) so bike was changes. Visited Dom (Cathederal) and then drinks and dinner at nearby Pub (Gasthoff ...

... castles palaces, evidence of the power of the bishops. The city is dominated by the Hohensalzburg fortress high above, and many structures are actually built into the cliffs below. Mozart was born in this city 1756, and the buildings record this. We went through the Mirabell Gardens, very pretty, this is where the fountain from the film is. You know Doh Ray Me ...

... and people. We had dinner at the local brewery and had my first beer with my Dad. The tour was a self guided tour but they pre-book all the hotel rooms and provided a map, and every morning they would pick up our luggage and take it to the next hotel. The ride was great because they had a bike path that followed the river the majority of the time and it was relatively ...

Passau, a lovely town on the German Austrian border straddles three rivers and was once the religious centre of Austria and Bavaria. Today however it is more a university town in which my brother once lived whilst completing a German exchange. I had planned to come to Passau to visit the family he lived with and to see Konrad, the German boy who had lived with my family in Melbourne for three ...

... So picturesque and I have therefore taken like 100 pictures already. A perfect place to spend Easter. Still deciding whether to head up to Prague on Monday or Tuesday. Then back to the UK on the 25th. To be honest, earlier in this trip when I arrived in Slovenia, I wasn't really enjoying it as much as I should have been. Slovenia never really fit. Then in Budapest, I never really felt excited to be there like everyone else and was just counting down the days until I was ...