Auchettl World Trip 2011: The last of Europe

Berlin

First up – walking tour. We covered all the main tourist sites and decided which ones we would go back to. The sites included Brandenburg Tor, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish Memorial, Museum Island, site of the 'book burning' Reichtag and to parts of the Berlin Wall. We also went out to Sachenhausen - another Nazi Camp just outside Berlin where we learnt more about what went on. We also were given a couple of free tickets to go up the tower at Potsplatz to get a great view of the city. Most days were suuny with a couple of rainy ones, when Jack then went off to visit some of the museums. (ways of escape across the wall)

Amsterdam

Arrived after a 7 hour train trip from Berlin to beautiful warm weather in Amsterdam and immediately took a cruise around the canals, this was just as exciting as Venice. Bikes- millions of them and I don't know how many times we nearly got ran over – thank god they have bells on their bikes. Quite an exciting place and the 'Red Light District' was an eye-opener. We took a trip to the countryside to make sure we saw some windmills, cheese and clogs- we weren't disappointed. I had considered taking a bike ride around Amsterdam but it looked a risky activity for tourists without a helmet. On one of our days Jack went to the Heiniken Factory and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. A visit to the Anne Frank House was one we really enjoyed.

Paris

Thousands of people all wanting to visit the same thing- the Eiffel Tower. Jack refers to the Eiffel Tower as the oil rig and says it looks good at night. It took us 1 hour 20 mins to get to the top after waiting along the way up and in line, but it was worth it. I just couldn't believe we were there looking at it.

We did lots of walking and lots of riding the Metro. We managed to get into the Louvre to see Mona without a wait as we were lucky enough to find a different entrance, we took a cruise along the Seine and visited the Pantheon, Catacombs, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coure, Notre Dame, Luxembourg Gardens and the Moulin Rouge windmill. On the last day we took a trip to Monet's Garden at Giverny, 45mins out of Paris. .

Riding the Metro at peak times is certainly interesting, with people performing on the trains to evangelists on the platforms, not to mention the number of homeless people lying about. Personal space on board the train is a rare experience, it is usually an armpit, face or back that you are close to.

Sometimes it feels like you have walked a kilometre by the time you have reached your designated platform.(going through many tunnels and up and down escalators/stairs )and we still can't get used to dogs on public transport, in fact I nearly stood on a dog's foot as I didn't see it sticking out .

So the history tour is over and it's theme parks for 7 days straight in very hot weather, hope we can handle it.

Hope the weather is warming up a bit and that you are all well.

Note in the picture below the open male toilets around Amsterdam central area.

10 hour flying trip and we have hit the theme parks in 36c.

Love C & J