Munich

MUNCHEN! The capital of Bavaria, home of Oktoberfest and a place where Anni and I spent three glorious days eating and drinking and generally being merry. This was the first city we went to during our summer trip without Cam, which was fairly awesome (ner ner Cam!)

But before we reached Munich, we stopped over in Lauterbrunnen, a cute little camping village at the base of the Jungfrau. Awesome rosti, very cold, we saw snow!

Then from there, we went through the Black Forest to Neuschwanstein, where the tragic castle stands, the basis of the Disney castle. Amazing, unfortunately covered in tourists, but still amazing.

I got to drive the bus! Jimmy dressed me up and it was awesome fun!

So then we finally made it to Munich. Every night was a different beer hall, starting with the Augustiner Brau, then the Loweinstein restaurant, finally ending in the world famous Hofbrau house. In totally Anni drank 6 litres of bier! I had a few, as well as a pretzel, and some awesome fried pork. Yum yum yum.

So that was Munich this time. I say this time because Anni and I are venturing back in December!

Varese

Varese is a region north of Milano and south of the Swiss border, near Lago di Lugano (Lake Lugano). This is where Anni, Cam and I went off the Busabout track and spent a week with Anni's relatives. Anni's Grandfather came from Varese to Australia and that's where he met Anni's Oma, who migrated to Australia from Holland.

So during our time in Varese we went up Sacre Monte, across to Lugano, to Lago di Como, into actual Milano where we did a tour of the San Siro (for Cam's benefit), around Varese itself and up to Venegono Superiore.

We had a great time! So much FOOD! Zia Carla spoilt us rotten, and Zio Luigi was a great tour guide. Anni's Biz Nonna (Great-Grandma) is still as mucha crazy Italian grandma as always.

Every day we had fresh panne, and each meal was at least two courses. Zia Carla's cooking is simple, only a few ingredients in each dish, but incredibly indescribable.

The San Siro was amazing. I got to sit in the chair in the changing rooms of AC Milan where David Beckham sat when he was playing for them. The stadium was pretty big too. Milan itself was pretty, but not somewhere I would plan on staying for too long. We spent a day there and that was enough.

It was mine and Cam's birthdays whilst we were in Varese! Zia Carla made Cam this really yummy apricot tart, and I got to have some delicious dark chocolate gelato, which managed to go through my shirt and stain my tummy.

OH! The nasty Sydney boys I told you about from Cseky Krumlov? Well they managed to split my bum open, and so in Varese Anni got to stitch my back up. That was not cool. What was cool is that Anni stole Cam's signed football guernsey...

So from Milano we got back on the Busabout track to Lauterbrunnen. Will tell you all about it later!

Vienna

Hallo people! Love from the land of the golden deep-fried schnitzel!
For the last few days I have been relaxing (and drying out) in Vienna, whilst Anni has been hitting up the sights and going on a coffee tour. Not much to report on, just taking it easy. But am loving my nice clean clothes. I am not, however, liking all the nakedness in this hostel room! ahhh... fun times. Tomorrow we go to Salzburg! Sound of Music tour here I come!

Busabout Stop 3 - Cesky Krumlov

Sorry about the lack of updates; the regular access to free internet is not easy to come by in Europe.
So far Anni and I have been to Berlin, Prague and now we're in Cesky Krumlov, about to climb on a bus for Vienna.
Berlin was grand. The stories and the history was so incredible, and the way in which they have overcome that and instead of being ashamed they are open and honest is an amazing testament to the awesomeness that is Berlin. I really hope Anni wants to go back cause we didn't get to see much at all. I really want to see the East Side Gallery.
Then Prague... hmmm. It was cool, like being in a large disneyland castle, but yeah. It was cool. Our tour guide for this one wasn't that convincing.
And then... Cesky Krumlov! It has been the BOMB. Absolutely relaxing. No large amounts of sightseeing, but the sights are worth seeing and are incredibly breathtaking. Anni, myself and several others took a raft down the River Vltava and went "Pub cruising"... basically you get in a raft and row in between different pubs along the banks. We got absolutely drenched! I am so soaked, hopefully there's a drier in Vienna. I think I soaked up half of the river in my body. hahaha, kinda funny but.
Also, sorry about the lack of pictures but we haven't been able to upload them. Keep checking to see if we can get pics up, they are very very funny.