Hi guys! So I have an update, straight from Mum!
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26 April
London is FANTASTIC! Off to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath. 2 buses so many people. London is so exciting heaps to see and do. Place looking great for The Royal Wedding. Big Ben is beautiful, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral are magnificent. The Tombs of the Kings, Queens and Warriors are so interesting. Not enough time to shop in Oxford St, which is the biggest shopping centre in Europe. If time tonight will go to Covent Garden Market.
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Mum sounds like she is having TONS of fun!
She is on a 1 month old tour bus, which is on it's 2nd tour only! She has a Dutch tour guide and an Italian driver, with 45 people on the tour bus from Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
In London, before her tour officially started, she saw the play "Love Never Dies" - the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, which Mum, Victoria and I saw at the Civic Theatre a while back when they came to Auckland. We fell in love with the musical, and were singing the songs for weeks on end! I am so very jealous that she got to see the sequel!
She also txted me while they were driving past Mayfair! And my friend who has been to London tells me that almost ALL the streets on the Monopoly board, you can see in London! That's a funny thought, and I wish I could see them all!
She also mentioned that the Stonehenge is better in Carterton!! I would probably disagree though, if I saw it. Seeing the original Stonehenge would be incredible. It would be so worn down, you wouldn't really be able to see all the features that it once depicted, but to see such an ancient sight would be amazing.
Mum was extremely excited that she finally arrived in France! She said that in Calais, which is where she was when she txted us, there are lots of Canola fields of yellow. Sounds so beautiful.
When Mum was in Holland she said that she had dinner at a Chinese restaurant! She went on the Canal Cruise, which by itself sounds so amazing, and she said that there were lots of beautiful buildings. You can just imagine all the buildings, amazing in the daylight, and even more spectacular lit up by the night lights!
Just before dinner, Victoria and I were txting her while she was on the bus to Germany, and she was telling us how pretty Holland is.
She says that in Amsterdam (Holland), the land was very flat, with lots of green fields and canals.
And that she has the Rhine River cruise today, or that day in London.
As Victoria and I learnt about France at school, the Rhine River cruise just sounds so spectacular!
Fun fact: The Traffic Lights turn orange before green in Holland! Isn't that odd??
Mum sounds like she is having an amazing time, and she says she has been learning so much! She now understands why people love travelling so much!
Hope everyone's lives are going well!
Myself, I just submitted 3 assignments today, and I'm VERY glad that those are over! Though I do have a few more projects coming up. Feels like my assignments and projects are never ending!
1 May.
ReplyDeleteHi all
Greetings from Innsbruck in Austria! Finally we have a hotel with free internet. It's now 10:20pm and we have a 6am wakeup call. So far, we have travelled from London by ferry to Calais, then into Amsterdam in Holland, then Germany where were visited a magnificent Gothic catedral in Cologne. I can't remember now where we stayed in Germany! Next we crossed the border to Switzerland and stayed in Lucerne for 2 nights. Switzerland is not part of the EEC so there is a formal border crossing from Germany. With the other Europeans countries, you just drive along the motorway and you pass from one country into another without knowing. The motorway exit signs are Ausfahrt in Germany. We took a lot of trouble trying to photograph that! Lucern is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday we took a train up Mt Pilatus, 7000 feet high. The train track is on a 48% gradient and that is STEEP! There is a hotel at the top. We took a cable car down. There is so much to see and do in Europe. So far the trip has been unbelievable. Now I understand why people love travelling so much. NZ is such a small and sheltered country. There is so much in the big wide world. We travelled from Lucerne, through Leihtchenstein then into Austria. Vaduz, the capital of Leihtchenstein is a pretty little town. Seems it is known for sausage skins and false teeth! Lots of castles and beautiful old buildings. You kids would absolutely love all of them. We passed through so many tunnels today simply because there are so many mountains. The longest road tunnel in the world is in Austria and is 28 km long! Tomorrow we are going to Venice. That should be so romantic. There are no roads in the city, only canals. I really wish I could afford to bring you kids. Each day we do so much. Our bus is so comfortable and we never travel more than 3 hours at a stretch.
Better get to bed now. Big day ahead as we embark on the Italian leg of our tour. Take care all and love you.