European Adventures | FindPenguins

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22 april 2024
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King's Day
27 april 2024, Nederländerna ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
When we first booked Amsterdam we were looking at Tulip Season and had absolutely no idea that we had also booked during King's Day.

What a crazy and surreal experience! We thought Kings Night was nuts - well today is next level.

It started out a bit rainy but cleared to blue skies! I have never seen so much orange in my life! Thousands of people absolutely everywhere and the canals were packed with boats.

It also seems anyone can just sell literally anything. There was second hand clothing stores, food stalls, wine stalls, all sorts of food stalls, beer cans directly from supermarket trolleys………anything goes!

People even charge anywhere from €1 - €5 to use their toilets too.

The entire city is also doof doofing techno music. Dance parties every few metres both on land and on the boats.

We are so lucky to have been here to witness/experience this day. It has been awesome!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

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Travel to Belgium
28 april 2024, Belgien ⋅ 🌬 12 °C
We started the day by visiting the Van Gogh museum which was pretty cool. None of us realised he was only 37 when he died, and he shot himself……...he achieved so much in his short, troubled life.

We have also finally figured out the trams after an anxious/hilarious incident where we couldn’t get off and missed two stops 😂😂 It was quite the public spectacle.

We’ve loved every minute of Amsterdam and saw so much in the time we were here. Fancy being here for both tulip season and Kings Day. We are so incredibly lucky.

Our first Eurostar has been a success too! We found our seats and connections and the train guard was very impressed that we had activated our passes correctly too.

3 hours later we arrived at our gorgeous hotel in Bruges. The rooms are gorgeous and we have a fair bit more space than we did in the hostel which isn’t hard (although we actually really enjoyed our time there).

What an enchanting place Bruges is!! Holy moly, everywhere we turn is another photo opportunity. Cobbled streets, gorgeous shops (half of which are chocolatiers), and beautiful restaurants and bars.
After a delightful dinner, we decided to do a horse and cart ride around town!

The clipperty clop of the horses on the cobblestones just added to the whole experience.

We stopped partway for the horses to rest, eat, and drink whilst we had a bit of a wander near the old convent.

More canals and flowers and lights and just…….magical and extremely picturesque. A brilliant start to our adventures here.

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Beautiful Bruges
29 april 2024, Belgien ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Blue skies and 18°C so no puffers or singlets for us today!!

We had breakfast in the town square, Belgium waffles - so scrumptious. Light & crispy and very moreish.

We met our guide for our walking tour and off we trotted to find out loads of interesting facts and history of Bruges. We explored “Chocolate Street” which had over 70 chocolate shops as well as the old convent, beautiful bridges, canals, and statues of significant people including the guy who brought the decimal point to Belgium. We also saw what was supposedly a vial of Jesus’ blood in a very old cathedral 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Afterwards, we went chocolate & meringue shopping and were in absolute heaven. 😋😋😋😋

Bags and bellies full we sat for an afternoon wine in the town square to rest our feet and watch the world go by; all the while pinching ourselves that we were all together in such a gorgeous part of the world.

We finished the afternoon with a drink (Belgian Beers for some, wine for others) as we waved to boats on the banks of the canal🍻 🍻

This is the life!!!

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Paris - a lifelong dream
30 april 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
We left our 16th century hotel in Bruge this morning and got an Uber to the train station. We travelled to Brussels then on to Paris

As soon we walked out of the train station we were in love!! The buildings, the French signs, gorgeous flowers on loads of restaurants, the language, oooooh la la!!

The traffic was INSANE but we arrived at our hotel and checked in. The location is fabulous.

We decided to meander over to the Eiffel Tower, window shopping as we walked. A quick lunch stop with some delectable French cuisine and then we arrived.

We rounded our last corner and there she was; absolutely stunning and surrounded by so much greenery. It was so overwhelming and there may have been a few tears. I can't believe I am here!

Whilst awaiting our time to go to the summit, we sat at a cafe and enjoyed a French Kiss. Then Julie, Di and I headed over to the tower and took even more photos before it was finally our turn to take the lift up the very top.

We were incredibly lucky to dodge the rain and were just mesmerised by the sight of Paris from above. With twinkling lights as far as we could see, the views were simply magic. We spotted The Arc de Triomphe, Seine River, the Pantheon and so much more.

Bucket list items are being ticked off at a rate of knots!! This is a day I will never forget, and I am truly grateful to be here with my very best friends 💛

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Arc de Triomphe & Louvre
2 maj 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Up early again today and we had a nice breakfast in the hotel before heading out on a short walk to the Louvre.

We had a guided tour booked for the Louvre this morning and were a bit nervous when we saw the monstrous queue! It snaked around the pyramid and out of the courtyard. BUT, luckily we knew a secret entrance and only had about a dozen people ahead of us so we walked straight in.

Once again we had a fabulous guide who brought a bunch of the famous artworks to life by explaining their meanings and origins. We saw the Mona Lisa (which was actually bigger than I had expected), Venus de Milo, The Winged Victory of Samothrace (suspected to be the inspiration for the Nike symbol) and loads more. It really does make a difference to have a guide when you have no idea about art.

Afterwards we strolled through the Jardin de Tuileries which would be absolutely gorgeous on a warmer/sunny day.

There is loads of preparation for the Olympics everywhere we turn - temporary stadiums and roadworks etc. I reckon it will be crazy in a couple of months because the traffic is already madness.

We did some window shopping as we strolled up the Champs Élysées, as the most expensive shopping street in the world, it Waa quite the experience. The Louis Vuitton shop is a suitcase. Bizarre, but very cool.

Once we arrived st the Arc de Triomphe, we successfully talked ourselves into getting the lift rather than walking up the 300ish stairs (thank goodness).
Unfortunately it was raining but we still loved the views. The tree lined streets that fan out from the Arc de Triomphe are simply stunning. The traffic from above however, is crazy!!!

We found a lovely little restaurant and enjoyed a meal and cocktail before doing a bit of souvenir shopping and heading home after another jam packed day.

One more full day to explore this beautiful city.

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Travelling across France
4 maj 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
After being stood up by our friendly Uber driver from last night, we had a bit of a panic when we couldn’t snag a driver to get us the station, but voila! we made it……..

We had a very fast and scenic journey through the French countryside. We travelled 500km in 1 hour 20 minutes. You do the sums, it was very fast! Then we arrived in Strasbourg - like a town from Beauty and the Beast or Shrek.

Our hotel is on the corner of the town square and we were greeted with all sorts of music, a market and some mini tennis games.

We had crepes for lunch sitting in the shadow of the massively tall and intricate cathedral, Strasbourg's Notre Dame, and did a bit of people watching too.

This town smells like gingerbread and has Hansel & Gretel vibes everywhere!

There’s a definite German influence here, yet everyone speaks French. I guess that is all explained in the history of Strasbourg.

The boat cruise was awesome! The history of Strasbourg is fascinating, but a bit of a highlight was going through a loch. We had to rise 2.8 metres, and it was so wow. What a cool experience!

Stories of life in the Middle Ages are so gruesome - the slaughterhouse bridges, the execution towers the public squares where beheadings happened, the bridge where people were put in cages and lowered into the river until they drowned - interesting, but so morbid.

A lovely dinner was followed with an evening walk and then off to bed to rest up for tomorrow's adventures.

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Strasbourg
5 maj 2024, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
We began the day with……you guessed it, a walking tour!!
Once again, so informative, and we saw so much more than we would’ve by just wandering on our own.

The mix between French and German influences is so incredibly strong. My favourite part is Petite France, such a photogenic place! Seeing the lochs from above was also interesting.

For lunch today we ate at a German pub and had tart flambee with munster cheese!!

We found our way back to Barrage Vauban (an enclosed bridge where you could climb up onto the roof) where we enjoyed magical views of Petite France.

Back to the cathedral so we could go inside to see the stained glass windows. The magnificent rose window is 13m wide 😳😳 and simply stunning. So many interesting facts about the cathedral with the most fun being that this particular church has THE astronomical clock that determines the date for Easter.

Our final dinner was at a very traditional German restaurant where we had Baeckeoffe (of course) - a big 3 meat & potato casserole.

We are so close to Germany so decided we should pop over for a night cap. We were very excited about it, but the Uber didn’t turn up - we were so disappointed 😞

Strasbourg has been enchanting. I would love to experience it during Christmas and also during summer when it is filled with flower boxes everywhere. Apparently they are normally out now but it’s been a colder/wetter spring than normal; you’ve probably noticed that with our puffer coats and umbrellas 😂😂

Weather won’t stop us though!!!

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Switzerland
6 maj 2024, Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
We had an early start today for a train to Switzerland. Due to the rain, I decided to carry my bag on my back, which proves I am an actual proper backpacker!!

The views were spectacular as we were on the train through the alps, and I just couldn’t get a photo that truly represented the beauty of it. There is snow on the alps and cows in the greenest of fields.

We must’ve passed 3 or 4 chocolate factories too. Luckily we couldn’t get off the train so the chocolate remained safely inside the factory instead of inside us 😂

We arrived problem free in Chur and found our hotel easily. We explored the old town which was extremely sleepy. Whilst very pretty, not much is open unfortunately.

This is also the most expensive place we have visited - 6 kids nuggets are $14.50 francs which equates just about $25 and a cappuccino works out to be nearly $10AUD. Needless to say, I did not eat much. They must get paid a lot here.

Walking up to the lookout provided us with spectacular views over the whole town. Even in this small village there seems to be plenty of churches!!

I love the Swiss bell towers which have their tall pointy spires and ring their musical bells very regularly. We walked along the river and up to the waterfall. We are completely surrounded by stunning, towering mountains. It’s just so beautiful.

We are only here for one night as we are taking the Bernina Express tomorrow which I am so excited for. We have everything crossed that the weather is kind; not that the forecast is giving us much to smile about at this stage. As long as it isn’t a white out, we will just love it!

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Milano
8 maj 2024, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
We did a walking tour this morning with a very enthusiastic and extremely passionate guide. His tour was 3 hours long, but at the 2 hour mark we had heard enough.

Some fun facts we learnt
One of the 3000+ statues on the Duomo (the huge cathedral) is the spitting image of The Statue of Liberty, but it was there for over 70 years before the Liberty was made. Intriguingly, the guy who designed the Statue of Liberty was visiting Milan a few months before he actually made the one in New York 🤔🤔 ………sounds like a bit of plagiarism to me.

On top of the duomo is a golden statue of Jesus’ mum, Mary. Any new building that is taller than the duomo has a statue of Mary on top, so she is always looking over the city of Milan.

The most disturbingly bizarre stop on our walk was a chapel where the walls were just layer upon layer upon layer of human skulls and femurs (see photos). It was pretty uncomfortable to be in there to be honest.

After our tour, we visited the beautiful castle gardens, complete with a mini Arc de Triomphe, and then did a spot of shopping.

Dinner was delicious pasta, made even more delicious by the fact we discovered that you get free nibbles (very impressive nibbles too!!) when ordering drinks! Sooooo, we did the Italian thing and had drinks and nibbles at one place and dinner at the other. No need for entree and too full for dessert. Winning!

C’mon Sydney, you need to step up!!

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Alberobello
13 maj 2024, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We spent the morning exploring the ship, sunning on the deck and enjoying some trivia.

Again we were treated to delicious fresh food and were able to drink as much water as we like because toilets are free and available!! Our bodies really don’t understand what is going on.

Last night we tried out the drinks package and it is working quite well 😜

At 4pm we arrived at our shore tour at Brindisi. We boarded a bus and travelled to Alberobello in the Puglia region which is in the heal of Italy.

Such a different and fascinating place! All the buildings are conical and date back to the 1400’s. They are white washed and look so stunning!

We enjoyed a lovely walk around the town then sat in the town square for an aperol spritz and amazing snacks for €10. Bargain!

The bus didn't get back to the ship until 9.30pm, so after a quick bite to eat and a refreshing drink we called it a night, ready for a full day at sea tomorrow.

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Mykonos
15 maj 2024, Grekland ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Blue and white at every turn. Mykonos is exactly as I imagined. The bogainvilleas are flowering adding even more colour.

We wandered around the streets and dodged the tiny little garbage trucks as they navigated their way through.
So many tiny streets, shops, bars and restaurants. We caught a bit of sun and relished the warmth.

Lunch by the water was absolutely heavenly with a priceless view. We finished off with a bit of a frolic in the Mediterranean. The water is incredibly clear but not incredibly warm.

Thank you Mykonos, we had an absolute blast x

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Athens
16 maj 2024, Ionian Sea ⋅ 🌬 21 °C
This was by far the busiest place we have visited. The traffic itself was an experience and took so long to get to our stops.

I’m also really surprised at the density of buildings. Athens city itself is not a nice city with graffiti everywhere and run down buildings.

Our first stop was The Acropolis. It is so amazing to see, in real life, places that have only ever existed in textbooks before now.

The age of these structures is mind boggling - dating back to 447 BC. A few other tourists also visited today, the crowds were incredible.

We managed to get lots of photos and totally enjoyed the experience.

We then drove to the Olympic stadium where the first modern Olympics was held. The sandstone stadium was amazing.

The Athenian Museum of archaeology had some fascinating artefacts dating back to thousands of years BC. It would have been even better if we had’ve had a guide who didn’t keep wandering off. We spent half the time trying to locate him.

We had free time in Plaka which was a delight! Another afternoon of wandering and almost getting lost. We decided to complete our Greek adventure with a carafe of ouzo!!

Back on the ship we put on our whites for white night and danced the night away.

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A long journey home
21 maj 2024, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
When we left the ship in Venice at 7am, never did we imagine it would be 41 hours before we landed in Sydney.

After 8 hours of waiting at Venice airport before our flight to London, we arrived in London to discover our flight to Singapore was delayed by 3 hours, meaning we would not get our connecting flight.

After a bit of stressing and some tears, the plane finally left 4 hours after expected, and we did miss our flight. Luckily British Airways rebooked us onto a Qantas flight a few hours later.

All then went smoothly only arriving 3 hours after our first flight was due.

Bags come out quickly and moving through customs was simple.

Chelsea came to pick up Sara and I and soon we were home after the most magical, memorable holiday of a lifetime with an incredible group of friends.

Over the entire trip I walked over a total of 280kmLäs mer
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Resans slut
22 maj 2024