Munich has been one of my favourite cities, more because of what we did than what we saw in the short amount of time we got in the city.

This is the town hall.  Believe it or not but this is the 'new' hall.  The old hall is actually newer but only because it was rebuilt.

A brave Bavarian soldier with his unimpressed lass.

The government buildings. It looks like a glass house because the glass was meant to represent transparency after the events of WWII. However, there are three levels underground...

This is what made Munich so good. We went on a bike tour which was great fun (and the bikes were very retro).  The tour ended in the English Gardens which have a fast flowing river. The whole group jumped in the river, freezing but huge fun!  To top it off we got rained on on the bike back and warmed up with a pint of the best beer I have ever drunk in the beer garden. Best experience on tour yet!  The picture above is of surfers in the gardens, the portion of river we went down was a little more tame :)

Almost as good was white water rafting on the way back into Austria.  It was still raining on us but it was nonetheless a great time.  We got thrown around and soaked :) Although, it was a little tame given what I was expecting.

The next stop was two nights in a special Contiki hostel in Hopfgarten.  It's been a cruisey day, we went paragliding this afternoon which was outstanding!  Beautiful views, and we even got to do a bit of swooping and diving.  Contiki stopover also means Contiki party, so I had a good time getting loose with the 'tight, white and bright' theme, ugh!  Always provides for some entertaining costumes.

This is the hill I ran off to get started paragliding.  It was gorgeous.

I didn't feel like I saw a lot of Vienna, but I did have a very enjoyable lunch with friends and we got to experience schnapps at the schnapps museum.

The journey into Austria was very beautiful

Maria Theresa, a big figure in Austria (and the whole of Europe) back in the day

Outside the summer house of the Habsburg family (that is the ruling family from which Maria Theresa is descended)

Huge numbers of people gathered in this square to see Hitler talk. A sobering experience.

On a happier note, the schnapps museum was very good. I loved learning about the different types and how it is produced. The drink was pretty good too :)

Venice, absolutely beautiful even in a thunderstorm!  I did a walking tour, got lost (as everyone does in Venice), saw the splendour of the Doge's Palace, went on a gondola ride, and finally ate gelato :)

Oh so pretty!

St Marks and the bell tower.

Market Bridge, best place for souvenirs. Plenty of Venetian glass and the famous Carnival masks.

The Doge's Palace was another sumptuous building with its rooms teeming with artwork.  The Doge was the president of Vencie back when it was a city state, and was really just a figurehead. When the Doge was elected he held the position for life and had to move to the palace. He wasn't allowed to leave except for formal occasions.  The Venetian public embraced this form of governance despite the aristocracy holding all the power.

The gondola ride was very gentle but a great way to see the city.

One of the things I loved about Venice (other than the beautiful canals) is the strong identity that Venetians have.  People from Venice call themselves Venetians, not Italians. With a tiny population of only ~50,000 but an average of 23 million tourists each year, it is brilliant that the Venetian culture is still alive and thriving.

I'm in love with Firenze (Florence).  The arts, the culture, I'm in heaven!

The day started with a visit to a local leather and silver shop. Next was a walking tour.

I got to see fake David (the real is in a gallery)

And the town hall where the Medici family used to live. The Medici had a huge influence on the architecture and culture of this great city. The second gallery above Ponte Vecchio was built so that they could avoid mingling with the common folk, and the exceptional collection of renaissance art in the Uffizzi gallery was started by the Medici.

I was super excited to finally meet Ponte Vecchio. The bridge is lined with beautiful jewellery stores. They used to be butchers but the Medici hated the smell so one day it was goodbye butchers and jewellers were forced to move in.

The stand out of the day was the Uffizzi gallery. Seeing paintings by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Gentileschi... Absolutely fantastic. I was blown away!

The day ended with a Tusan feast (so much food) and a visit to a nightclub.  All in all a good time.

First impressions of Roma? HOT!  I am caught in the middle of an Eurpoean heat wave. Putting this aside, Rome is a city filled with ancient buildings, a long history, and continuing significance in the world.

On the first day we walked around the ruins of the ancient Roman Forum and explored the Colosseum.

I found te Colosseum particularly spectacular. That something on such a gigantic scale was built more than 2000 years ago is astounding, even if it's purpose was less than savoury.

We also found the Trevi Fountain, under conservation sadly, but you could still see the splendour. I had no idea it was so large!

The Spanish Steps were thriving, used nowadays for concerts and as a meeting place. They used to connect the Spanish embassy with...?

Annnd the Pantheon!

Day two involved a trip to the Vatican.  I found the crowds very difficult, but it was fantastic to finally see the Sistene Chapel (no photos allowed sorry, but I'm sure you know what it looks like), and St Peters Basilica was very impressive!  What did surprise me was the the Sistene Chapel was just a room (albeit very crowded) in the middle of a building. I always envisioned it as a standalone building.

The famous dome of St Peters from the inside

It's one of those buildings that having seen it so many times on TV, it is very surreal to experience it for real.

I completed my afternoon with a coffee outside one of the many cafés, very nice :)

The French Riviera, home to the rich and famous.  Absolutely beautiful!

The day started with a visit to a French perfumery. Apparently there are only a handful of 'Mr. Noses' (the perfume mixers) in the world and 100 are located in France.

The second half of the day was spent lazing on one of these beautiful beaches. Sun, a dip in the Mediterranean, life doesn't get much better :)

Beautiful views down on Monaco on the way to the Monte Carlo casino.  I only lost €2 and the ridiculous €16 I spent on one drink. Very sumptuous on the inside though, and I have never seen so many expensive cars in one place before!

I LOVED Barcelona. It is such a lively city, with a distinct Catalonian culture and some brilliantly creative architecture. Definitely need to return.

Views down on the city

Walking the city by night

The Arc de Triomf of Barcelona (I love the brick facade)

Walking Las Rumblas, the main shopping street

This was the highlight of the day. The Sagrada Familia is a very unique basilica designed by Antony Gaudi and started in 1882, expected to be finished 2025. It's mind blowing, I don't know how one person can come up with what Gaudi did. It's even more stunning on the inside, pictures just don't do it justice! 

We also got to experience a Flamenco show and sangria. The sangria was very yummy, and the girls were virtually tap dancing in heels, impressive.

Staying at the Chateau has been wonderfully relaxing. Wine tasting, a picnic lunch, a pool... What more could you want.  There was also an awesome set up in the basement for crazy parties. Being Contiki it was well used.

This is where we were staying

Drinking Beaujolais wine

Beautiful views of vineyards on our picnic. What they omitted to tell use was that to get to the picnic spot we had to walk for 60min uphill. Needless to say lunch was well earned.

I missed this picture off the last post...

...Hope you like :)

I think I need to change the title of this blog, I'm not in Bath anymore, not even in England.  The Contiki adventure has started with a bang in Paris.

Needs no explanation

This is the Arc de Triomphe, a monument to the 'unknown solider'. I climbed to the top, some fabulous views of Paris.

A quick bit of shopping along the Champs Élysées

Love lock bridge. You are meant to put a lock with the initials of yourself and your partner on the bridge.  There has been recent safety concerns when one of the panels fell off under the weight of love.

I went to the Louvre, ran out of time but did get to see the Mona Lisa.

We also had a dinner out followed by a cabaret show which was very very good.  Now I am staying in a chateau in the Beaujolais wine region.  Off to Barcelona tomorrow, I will try to keep you posted.

My last week of travel in the UK was spent walking around the Cotswolds, a very beautiful region complete with small villages, rolling green hills and rose clad cottages.  It is beautiful in a very cultivated way, everything just as it should be.  I took many pretty pictures on my walking, but to prevent boredom I will only post a few here, you should be able to get the idea.

See pretty cottages

The mill at Lower Slaughter.  The name is not as gory as it sounds, it derives from slothre which means muddy place, I know I was a little disappointed too.

Bourton-on-the-water (they all have names like this)

Sudeley Castle, home of Catherine Parr

This is the village of Stanton, if you ignore the cars it looks untouched for hundreds of years.  Apparently it has been used for filming period films.

There were lots of pretty views... 

And more animals than my liking.  I had to walk through far too many fields with sheep, cattle and horses.  The last straw was when I got to a field with a sign reading 'bull in next field'

Walked through some forest too (survived the bull)

And some very serene fields

The week walking was absolutely lovely.  To simply walk from one village to the next with  no demands on your time is true bliss.  A perfect end to my time in England.

Of course now I have the sad business of saying goodbye to Bath (you will always be in my heart), and preparing for the next adventure.  I am abandoning my laptop for my trip around Europe, so no promises for regular updates, but I will try my best to post a few pics.  Hope all is well wherever you are in the world.

I couldn't resist :)