Cambridge, UK

I've been slacking on my blogging a bit I think... But I disembarked from the ship on July 11th with Beth in tow... We took a train from Tilbury to Cambridge & spent two nights there... One in a very tiny room in some sort of old train building, and the second at a Travelodge. Cambridge has lots of pretty school campuses and gardens... Kind of like TCS.. Next stop will be Oxford... Then staying with Beth's family in Twickingham... Which is apparently a suburb of London... Before taking a flight on the 19th to Dublin... And a quick Scotland tour before returning to London to take my flight home on the 25th!

Nürnberg, Germany

Following my boat cruise up the Rhine, I took a train from Frankfurt to Nürnberg. I ended up with a good hotel room... They had to give me a double room because they were out of singles... But I didn't mind!!

Nürnberg is also a city that has a walled old district. It was pretty much leveled after WWII, but they rebuilt it as it had been. As some of you may also know, Nürnberg was the home to the Nazi war crimes trial after the war.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest so I spent some time in various stores trying to stay dry. The weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon, though, so I took an I'll fated bike trip to the former location of Nazi Party rallies. They have basically converted the area back into green space but there are plaques up.

To make a long story short, there was a van parked in the bike lane on my way back... And instead of going around it into traffic (which I thought was dangerous) I went around it onto the sidewalk... And took a little tumble... I'm a-ok but I'm sure I gave some of the local motorists a chuckle because I rolled pretty good!

After my second evening in Nuremberg, I took my final train of the journey to Berlin where I stayed at a cheap hotel where I somehow weaseled free internet, breakfast and airport shuttle (only the shuttle was supposed to be free!) after that, I border a flight from Berlin to Stockholm, Sweden where I will stay until the Prinsendam comes back to pick me up.

Köln, Germany & Luxembourg City, Luxembourg & Rhine River

I'm a bit behind on my updating because my hotmail account is causing me trouble... I finally found a work around, though and consequently if you want to reach me, the best email to use is amandajex@me.com

Leaving off from my last blog, I took a night train from Munich to Amsterdam. I had to wait until 10:45pm to take the train and was VERY excited to find out that the Eagles were playing on an outdoor stage about 10 minutes from the train station!! When I arrived to my sleeping compartment on the train, there were people causing a ruckus... Apparently my room mate had a dog with her... But she was assigned to the top bunk!! I didn't really care, so I took the top... The lady and the dog were both very quiet room mates. Ha ha

The next day, I did a whirlwind tour of Amsterdam... Since accommodations were very expensive... I met up with my former home (the Prinsendam was docked that day) and headed to Köln in time for a decent priced sleep. (the picture below is the Köln cathedral)

Next stop on the whirlwind itinerary was Luxembourg City... And it just happened to be a heatwave -- 36 degrees!! Luxembourg is also a very hilly city but it had a very nice old town section and shopping district.

Up next was the small town of Kobkenz, which is situated at the intersection of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. I tried my hand at couch surfing again -- I stayed with two nice girls about my age and actually had a double bed and my own room to myself. The next day I took a scenic boat trip up the Rhine... Lots of small villages and fortresses on cliffs along the way.

Munich, Germany

I arrived in Munich yesterday afternoon... I was very happy to realize that the nearest subway stop to my hotel was super close! I was less excited to find out that all the grocery and convenience stores nearby were closed...

Today, I took the u bahn (subway) downtown to the main square 'Marienplatz' and watched the glockspiel (some figurines in the town hall clock tower do a dance at 11am...)

Then I checked out the famous market... Many stalls... Kind of like the waterfront festival booths, but only food!! One place only sells olives.. Lots of cheese, sausage, flowers, pretzels, etc.

Then I took a walk in the englischer garten... Which brought be to a bier garten.. As you can see, yummy sausage and sauerkraut... Only a half liter of beer this time!! Some musicians in liederhausen (sp?) appear to be setting up in a pagoda near by... Stay tuned...!

Seefeld, Austria

We spent the last three days in Seefeld in Tirol, Austria... About 45 minutes outside of Innsbruck. Our hotel was right up in the mountains which was pretty cool... The town itself was another skiing village... Summer is clearly the low season. We have had lots of rain, though... I'm sure being in the mountains doesn't help!

The first day we were there, we drove to Dachau, a former Concentration Camp/ labour camp. It was actually the very first camp built in 1933 (before WWII started) and was originally used for political prisoners who opposed Hitler. Later, it was the model for all the other camps that were built.

After that we stopped in Munich very briefly-- had a gelato and walked around a bit... I will see more of Munich later.

The next day we just stayed around our hotel... Again the weather wasn't great but we explored the town a bit. Today, we drove to Fussen, Germany and hiked -- seriously hiked... Like climbing over rocks and trees... To see King Ludwig's famous castle... I will admit that the views were beautiful once we got to the top.

Right now, I'm on a train headed from Fussen to Munich... Said a very hurried goodbye to the dobos' because my train was leaving any minute! I know that I've gone off the itinerary slightly... So for those who are interested, I will update the itinerary to be more accurate.

Salzburg & Kirchberg in Tirol, Austria

The last two nights, we stayed just outside of Salzburg. The weather wasn't great... So we didn't get to do too much Von Trapp impersonating... We spent one day just over the border to Germany, in Birchtesgaden... This area was home to many prominent Nazis during the war, including Hitler's Eagle's Nest (which we did not go see...) Derek and the boys enjoyed a tour of a salt mine, Lisa climbed a mountain... And I took cover from a rain storm in a cafe with strudel & cappuccino to keep me warm! I did do some exploring once the rain subsided!!

Today, we drove from Salzburg to Kirchberg, which is a very small village in the alps... In the winter this area is very big for skiing. We are staying at a really nice all inclusive hotel that a guy Derek knows owns... I have my own room, robe & balcony, as well as unlimited eats, so I'm sucking up the above-backpacker-budget-pricetag!

Itinerary

As per Grandma Jex's request, here is an updated itinerary for the rest of my trip:

June 17 - Hungary
June 18&19 - Salzburg, austria
June 20 - Austria
June 21 & 22 - Innsbruck, Austria
June 23 - Seefeld, Austria
June 24 & 25 - Munich, Germany
June 26 - night train from Munich-Amsterdam
June 27 - amsterdam, the Netherlands
June 28 - Luxembourg
June 29 - Koblenz, Germany
June 30 - Mainz, Germany
July 1 - Nuremberg, Germany
July 2 - Berlin, Germany
July 3 - 6 - Stockholm, Sweden
July 6-11th - back on the ship
July 11-25th - united kingdom