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Europe 2019
  • Emily Bourne
  • Matt Bourne

Europe 2019

Mad, Subby and Sticky explore Europe Read more
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  • Trip start
    August 31, 2019
    Europe 2019

    London!

    August 31, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    5:35am on a brisk late summer morning Mad touches down, after far too many hours in the air from Wellington.

    The plan is simple. He must not sleep until this evening!

    With a tight schedule to stick to, we have only today to cram in as much of London as we can...

    Hit list
    Wander along Southbank to view St. Pauls, Eye of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament and protesters: check

    London Dungeon: check

    Madam Tussauds Wax Meuseum: check

    Big Red Bus Ride: check

    Experience the sweaty malaise of the London Underground: check

    Ride on South Western Railways during a strike: check    Read more

  • Europe 2019
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    1A dark dark door in a dark dark street?...

    Arrival in Valencia

    September 1, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The day started with an epic full English fry up at the Bourne senior residence. Then it was off to the airport en route to Valencia - possibly the quickest airport check in on record, we were through security in 15 minutes which left time for teaching Mad how to play exploding kittens. Our flight was slightly delayed due to air traffic control issues in France. Following a late bite to eat we finally made it to our accommodation - a flash little apartment tucked away in the back streets of Valencia. Fortunately it wasnt the slightly dodgy looking open door place we thought - a slight miscalculation on google maps led us there initially. Here ends a fairly uneventful day, looking forward to exploring Valencia tomorrow...Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Oceanographic Adventure

    September 2, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today we explored the Science Museum (boring) and the largest aquarium in Europe (yay!)

    After a confusing walk through the towering concrete maze of inner Valencia, we hijacked a bus and made off towards the Marina.

    As we approached through the sweltering clinging heat we immediately regretted not packing our togs, as s beautiful waterscape unfolded at our approach to the museum complex.

    We were swiftly consoled as we realised there was no swimming permitted. And proceeded to bemoan such a misuse of watery fun space.

    The aquarium was bigger than Kelly Tarlton's but, a bit ecclectic in layout and people management.. still we got to see all the appropriate water dwelling creatures. 👍

    Lunch came upon us in a lazy Spanish sort of way around 3:00pm, and we decided the correct approach was a fine dining experience that cost about a weeks worth of rent.

    Hardrock Cafe Valencia then beckoned, and I don't remember much after that...    Read more

  • Europe 2019
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    Cultural city with traditional Paella

    September 3, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A stroll through the back street's of Valencia lead us to the famous fountain at Plaza de la Virgen, complete with busking jazz saxophonists and some eloquent violin playing to add to the atmosphere.

    Next up was Valencia Cathedral, home to the elusive Holy Grail. Turns out Indiana jones was looking in the wrong place. The cathedral was an architectural masterpiece, complete with relics of the patron saint of valencia and impressive paintings, statues and a gold and jewelled monstrance.

    We now relax in a little Paella restaurant, recommended by our hosts. Paella was invented in Valencia so fingers crossed for an excellent meal.    Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Cycling in Turia Park

    September 3, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After our paella experience, we stopped past the ancient silk exchange building and headed to Turia Park - this park runs all the way through the city in what used to be the riverbed, which was diverted many years ago.

    We hired a 4 person bike - reminiscent of the crazy crocodile bikes along Oriental Bay in Wellington.
    The park itself wasnt too impressive - not the stretch we were in at least - but it was good fun and we stopped of for icecream on the way.

     Our final evening in Valencia was spent at home relaxing, recuperating and doing washing, with an excellent pizza from the local restaurant to top it off.    Read more

  • Europe 2019
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    Sunning in Ibiza

    September 4, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Leaving Valencia we had a short 30 minute Ryanair flight to the Spanish island of Ibiza - another smooth check in and no complaints with Ryanair. This completes Emily's Balearic island trio - something she never thought she'd say, and giving Mad access to the DJ hub of the world.
    Time for some pool and beach relaxation, a good recovery day after a fairly busy few days in Valencia    Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Car exploration and the C’an Marça Caves

    September 5, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Following a spontaneous Zouk dancing class last night, we pondered on how to spend our time today. Check out was 11am, but the hotel said we could store our luggage and use all the facilities all day which was good. But, after much consideration, we took the plunge and hired a rental car - an experience in itself driving on the wrong side of the road!
    First up was exploring the Dalt Vila - the old town in Ibiza. This medieval fortified city sits proudly at the top of Ibiza town, complete with bastion strong holds, a cathedral, various churches and old medieval buildings.
    We then headed north to Port de Sant Miguel, a lovely picturesque cove away from main tourist hubs and a popular spot for locals. We explored the C’an Marça Caves, used by smugglers to store their tobacco, coffee and alcohol. I wouldn't want to be a smuggler though, they had to crawl through a 40-50cm tall hole for 37 metres to get out in an emergency!
    Unfortunately there was no parking in the main town so we headed back south for lunch, then onto San Raphael to stop past 2 of the island biggest clubs - Amnesia and Privilege. All closed up for the day but Mad got a sneak peek inside before the cleaners caught him. These buildings are absolutely enormous, I couldn't imagine the atmosphere where they're packed out. Mad didn't get to go to a club in the end as it turns out Wednesday night is akin to a Sunday night and the only thing on was a flower power 1960s-1970s music night (personally that sounds much better to me lol), but these clubs down even open until 11.30pm so it would have been too late for our check out the next day.
    We had time for a quick swim before heading to the airport, where we currently lounge waiting for our slightly delayed flight.    Read more

  • Europe 2019
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    Currywurst und bier

    September 6, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After a late night arriving in Berlin we have had a lazy start to the German leg of the grand tour. To limit excessive walking for Emily, and Mad's achilles, we bought a ticket for the hop on hop off tourist bus. Taking in the sites in the sunshine with an audio tour was interesting, and we were able to get off at various points to explore more.
    Brunch near the Brandenburg gate was nice - naturally we had to try the metre of beer on offer, plus some sausages.
    The afternion led us to the Hard Rock Cafe, which is becoming something of a tradition when in foreign cities.
    Finally, our night was topped off with a superb meal at Maximillians restaurant where we feasted on traditional Bavarian dishes.    Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Berlin wall, games and spa

    September 7, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    On our final day in Berlin we headed to the Game Science Centre to check out some new technologies emerging in gaming. They had some cool games which tracked your vision or finger tips to control the game. We also built a mini New Zealand out of kinetic sand, where a computer mapped the exact topography of what we built - mum and dad would have liked this one!
    Next up was a trip to the remaining Berlin wall and the museum built on the old Gestapo site. Interesting reading in their exhibition, and we even found where Matt had tagged the wall.
    The boys then dropped me off at my spa retreat and headed for Lollapalooza festival at the Olympic stadium. The spa was very flash and I have been totally spoilt for the last 6 hours! The boys had a good time at the festival snd we have reconvened at base camp.    Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Lazy day in Amsterdam

    September 8, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    We had a lazy day today. Our flight from Berlin was slightly delayed so we were hanging around at the airport s while. Berlin airport is useless, all the shops, food and drinks places are before security so we didnt buy anything because of needing to go through security still. But when you go through theres nothing on the other side apart from a small cafe! Anyway, Amsterdam greeted us with a small downpour but then the weather cleared and we went and explored. By explore I mean found a laundrette and a late lunch! After a rather long ciesta for Emily, and a chance for Mad to visit a few shops, we had a nice Mexican taco dinner at a local restaurant and planned the next day. Uneventful but nice to have a chill out day.Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Cruising around

    September 9, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We set off through the Jordaan region of Amsterdam, full of quaint and boutique shops and cafes. After a quick refreshment we headed to a boat cruise of the canals of Amsterdam. Our captain Robert told us interesting stories and more about the history whilst we relaxed with a wine / coke zero and took in the sights.Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Lost in Amsterdam

    September 9, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Well not lost as such, but we spent the afternoon wandering the streets taking in more of the sights. The red light district was 'interesting' to say the least, we also mooched around a large flea market and saw the palace and the old church. After another siesta (the walking was a bit much for Emily), we ended our evening at an Indian restaurant in Jordaan.Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Windmills!

    September 10, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    In researching options for our final day, we decided to ditch a formal tour and do it ourselves, so we got an uber to Zaanse Schans, a country village not far from Amsterdam where they have a collection of fully restored working windmills.
    The village itself is on the Zaans river and is full of traditional buildings, crafts and shops. The main venue is a bit of a tourist trap but we had a good time exploring a working oil mill, sampling free cheese from the cheese shop and watching a clog shoe maker in action. There was also a chocolate factory and museum on site but we started to get hungry and didnt want to pay an additional €12 each so we headed back to the city for some Italian food. Overall it worked out cheaper than the tours, plus we got picked up from our apartment door and could do what we wanted.    Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Bathing in Bath

    September 11, 2019 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    We headed west to Bath on phase four of the grand tour. Our accommodation here is superb, a luxury 2 bedroom apartment close to the city centre, complete with mood lighting! We had a relaxing afternoon in the Thermae spa, a nice wander through town, a trip to the gin bar - a tradition for us when visiting this city - and dinner at a nice chinese restaurant. We finish our evening watching movies in the apartment!Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Shafted in Wales

    September 12, 2019 in Wales ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We made the 1hr 10min journey into Wales to visit Mad's ancestral homeland near Pontypool. Mad's grandfather worked in the coal mines in the area so after visiting the house where he lived, we drove to the Big Pit National Coal Museum to learn about the mining industry. The pits were closed underground for maintenance but we had an excellent tour of the overground areas with some hilarious banter between the local staff.
    We have now settled in Chelternham for the evening and will explore options for dinner shortly.    Read more

  • Europe 2019
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    Chedworth Roman Villa

    September 13, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We drove from Cheltenham to Chedworth Roman Villa, a national trust excavation site complete with mosaic flooring, saunas, underfloor heating and all sorts of interesting archeological finds. The surprising thing I learned today was that the Roman introduced the Helix Pomatia snail to the area, which was a culinary delicacy - of all the things the Romans introduced I like this one!Read more

  • Europe 2019

    Thorpe Park

    September 14, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Thorpe Park was chockablock today, probably owing to the last (?) hurrah of summertime.

    Via online booking (standing outside the park) we cunningly avoided queuing for the entry tickets but thats where our fortune ended.

    With fast track tickets we cut the queues considerably, from 60 to 20 minutes in some cases.. but there were still queues for the fast track, queues for food, queues to pick up a map...

    We hit several of the big rollercoasters before motion sickness and mild whiplash set in. Top rides indeed!

    If only there was a way to book the park out for a private session..    Read more

    Trip end
    September 14, 2019
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