Friday, November 28, 2008

Fun times with the Germs

Okey pokey, its been a while and we promised some photos so here we go...

Munich, Germany.



This is Sarah in Munich skipping her way to breakfast









We found this on the way...


















and this is Steve at breakfast looking a little rough, but happy, because yes those are delicious german sausages on saurkraut, with a pretzel on the side. Oh and is that a beer on the side I spy. With that mess of hair and beard - Steve fits right on in...









Ah the beautiful couple, inside the town hall which features the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, which looks alot like this...










We then went on a great free walking tour with Travis from Oz. He had the best Dali Mo ever. The tour took us all over Munich, apart from all the amazing architecture, the highlight was his knowledge of Nazi Germany - apparently Hitler was from Munich (or there abouts) and the whole Nazi movement was started in the city. He showed us memorials to Jews who died there, but they were all so subtle that most people did not even know they were there or understand their meaning. It made us wonder about how well the people of Munich were managing some the difficult history of the city.


We found the market




Is that the cheese shop smile - ah delicious fromage!









And got some kick ass lunch!








which we ate in the park












We also went to the Museum, which was really quite neat
Turns out it has the largest puppet collection ever. There were quite a few puppets there.










And we checked out some churches







and then the camera ran out of batteries...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

All right then!

Whew! What a full on last couple of days.

Just like to put out a big THANK YOU, you are awesome, to Hamish and Anne-Marie!

So in total now we have been to:
Narita Airport (twice)
Tokyo
Yokohama
Kamakura
Munich
Heathrow
... and Reading town 

Top 5 from Japan:
Hanging with the rock-a-billies and Cos play kids at Harajuku in Tokyo
The shrine of 1000 Buddah's at Kamakura
Roller coasters

Top 5 from Germany
Beer for breakfast
The beer tour with Iain from Wilkshire (and the free walking tour with Travis from Australia)
Pretzels and beer
Sausages and beer
The beer and cheeses and meats at the Saturday market

Not so fun things:
Americans - pretty much all of them. 
Sniffing and hocking noises at 5 or 6 in the morning.  Especially the noises coming from the Americans in our bunk room - just blow your nose, its not hard
German tipping rules - what are they? We didn't even know they tipped. How does it work, its soooo confusing
Plastic vodka bottle tops that break in your bag and then all your clothes smell like fejoa which is nice but they also smell like vodka, which is not so nice. 

Pictures and other interesting stuff soon... promise!


 


Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Electric town

A few more days into the adventure and both our feet really hurt now! There are lots of things to note now, including:
  • Robots are awesome, as are trains and godzilla.
  • More people need to collect vintage video games like these:

  • Rollercoasters are more fun if they are a little dodgy and you could actually fall off. This is us on the way to one.
  • Steve walked...
  • Sarah rode...
  • New Zealand should take Japan's lead an invest in more travelators, there is nothing better than walking faster without having to try to. Light speed!
  • Its really easy to get lost when there are no street names.

More photos:
mmm marbled meats...

Pachingo, like the pokies except way louder

A rocket bike, well maybe just a macking scooter.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

And we are off...

Up at 4.00am 29 October - sore eyes and dopey. Over 9,000km 10 and a half hours, 3 meals, 2 movies and one episode of the Simpsons later we are in Japan!

Woo hoo!


Things to note thus far:
  • Its sooooo good to have a friendly face when you arrive - thanks Fran.
  • Nothing opens till after 11am, so its good for sleep ins, not that we have been able to yet...
  • Toilets that look like spaceships with seat warmers and water jets are awesome!
  • Japanese style should never to be underestimated or sacrificed for comfort. Guys - wear your suit and tie on a bush walk, and don't forget your briefcase.
  • Plastic food in shop windows.
  • Japan has Crows - big black ones the size of a really big seagull, and they are everywhere, as are really big spiders - I mean really big spiders.
Now for some photos!

Sarah and her new rock-a-billy friend.

Steve and his buddah buddy


Sarah and the big buddah

More buddahs! - from the shrine of 1000 buddahs

Keep left...

Tommy Lee's leather pants

It does get a little busy in Japan