This is our last goodbye...

For one last time, we can say Gruezi to you all without it sounding strange,

It has been just on 5 months, many thousands of km's, 10+ countries (most of which where in the last 10 days) and enough language and currency changes to make anyone's head spin. For everyone that has asked we are due to fly out of Zurich at 2230 tomorrow (Wednesday, or Mittwoch if you will) via Hong Kong and will be back in the land of Oz on Friday morning at 1100 ("There's no place like home, there's no place like home").

In our last leg, as most of you will already know, we covered a great deal of ground (somewhere in the vicinity of 5000 km's of plane, train and coach travel) and were lucky to see so many places I never thought I would have the privilege to see. Honestly, we have done just so much it would take me way too long to try and tell you every single place that we have been - so I'm not going to, besides, I'm sure there will be enough stories and photos to keeps us going for weeks after we get back. But there were plenty of highlight moments - I'd like to share just a few with you.

Our stay with Darko and Jess in Edinburgh was awesome. Just one of the many amazing places we were lucky enough to get to (and would have loved to have spent much more time in). Such a true haven for artists of all walks. The real highlight was spending time with our good friends, met some great people, got drunk several times and kilted it up. It also happened to be festival time and we managed to get to see the "1 Man Star Wars Show" - endorsed by none other than George Lucas himself - an absolute corker.

Every city we visited across Eastern Europe was just incredible, and as is across the most of Europe, each has so much history and so many stories to tell (both uplifting and horrendous). Grand architecture, opulent palaces and cathedrals - did I mention history (come on, some of the buildings have been around hundreds upon hundreds of years before the colonisation of Australia - a written description just doesn't really cut it). We walked through the Brandenburg gate, stood upon hallowed ground in Krakow, experienced the full range of emotions at Auschwitz and gazed across the city of Vienna from it's highest point. Everywhere we stayed should have been given much more time, so much more, but I do suppose that that's what these trips are about - a chance to see as many of these places in a short time without spending months trekking around Europe. There are so many places we would love to go back to like Budapest and Vienna [Wien] to name just a few. We ate, drank and stayed in places that made us feel like royalty (places which had often had actual royalty stay there, not to mention the occasional megalomaniacs and multi-millionaires) - we shared our moments of looking completely out of place and times of being treated exceptionally well by brilliant staff like at the Raddison SAS Alcron in Prague. Quite literally 5-star all the way. Despite we even had people in there 80's on this trip, there were only 16 of us which made all the difference and for the most part the company wasn't bad at all. All made even more enjoyable by our tour director James and driver Martin, 2 genuinely good blokes. I don't know if I would personally choose to do a tour like that again, the style of it isn't quite up my ally, but I feel very very lucky to have had the opportunity to do it.

Here comes the hard part. Time to say goodbye to Zurich, Switzerland and Europe. As much as as we are glad to be heading home, we would also be happy to stay - but in this wild and crazy world I guess you can never really know what the future may bring. We have made some good friends, been educated and travelled further and wider than I ever thought possible - taken more photo's than an average bus load of Japanese tourists - and experienced so many things beyond our expectations. I guess that really does bring us to the end. Soon reality of home life will be back in full swing, we'll be making our way around the traps to see you all in due time (I'm sure you'll all hear from us soon enough, one way or another), share some moments, photo's and memories. That means for the most of you the next time you hear from your intrepid travellers our feet will once again be on Australian soil.

For now, farewell to Switzerland and Europe. I don't think either of us will forget the experience, ever. We will see you all again very soon.

As a final note, a massive thanks to everyone who made our home away from home feel like we were welcome - and would be welcomed back too. There are many of you, you know who you are and you all know you are welcome in the land downunder and our home.

Jimi and Ness.

Now its time for travelling!!

Gruezi - its Ness here!

Well, I have now finished work! It's been an amazing experience working here; long and busy but worth it. I've helped get our Europe office up and running and have handed over the reigns to my replacement Mersiha, who will now run the show. Good luck Mersiha!!

So after 4 months, our trip here is nearly over. Though we still have a couple of weeks travelling - well we're making the most of this trip before coming back home! As we may not have access to internet over the next couple of weeks, here's a quick rundown of our trip.

On Wednesday, we fly to Edinburgh (well, via Dusseldorf and Stansted, but eventually into Edinburgh) to visit our friends Darko and Jess for a few days. The Edinburgh Festival is currently on which is great. We'll be fitting in as much sightseeing and festival you possibly can in 2 days.

Then on Saturday (18 AUG), we fly to Budapest to start our trip round Eastern Europe - travelling on one of the coach tours Scenic operates. We overnight in Budapest before meeting the group Sunday morning and travelling to Krakow. Theres only 16 people on the tour, including us, so its a good small group. We spend 2 nights in Krakow and then 2 nights in Warsaw - my mums father was actually Polish so will be interesting to visit this side of my heritage. We will also be visiting Auschwitz - which will be a very hard, moving, sad and a beyond words experience. From Warsaw we go by train to Berlin for 2 nights. Then we travel to Prague for 2 nights and on to Vienna for 1 night, via Cesky Krumlov. So after a whirlwind trip of Eastern Europe, we fly back to Zurich for 1 night before flying HOME! Yes, we finally arrive back in the land of Oz on Friday 31 AUG.

We cant believe how quickly the time has gone. It will be sad to leave, hard to come down and re-adjust once again - but also so good to get home and see you all. So until next time,

Cheers

Ness & Jimi

Note - I added photos below of our trip to Mt Rigi and also the Street Parade that was here on Saturday.

Also, a big shout HELLO to Irene - our wonderful 'Africanbarservicefriendkeeper' at Papa Joes. She's looked after us very very well and even invited us to lunch at her place tomorrow for some traditional African fare.

Irene & Jimi

(yes, Jim finds himself behind a bar wherever he goes!)

Zurich Street Parade

Gruezi!

Well Zurich has surprised us once again. Saturday was the annual Street Parade - and the whole city came to life. It was very similar to the Mardi Gras - a huge dance party across the city, with huge crowds, music, stages, food and beer everywhere. There were many many strange characters with the wildest costumes.

My brother Glenn, who lives in the UK, also came to visit us. So the 3 of us had a great weekend getting caught up in the biggest party of the year!

Cheers,

Ness & Jimi

Bellevue - trams normally run through here...

Just a few people

One of the many many characters of the day (he was even drinking a Foster's Beer!)

Taking a breather

Getting lost in the crowd

Glenn really enjoyed the dance music

Our Trains, Planes & Automobile Adventure to Mt Rigi

Up the hill by Cog-Wheel (the oldest in Europe)

Made it to the top! Mt Rigi is 1800m above sea level

Even saw some gliders take off

View of Zug (at the far end of the lake) - can you see my office??

Lucerne off in the distance

The amazing Swiss Alps.

Mt Titlis on the left - the moutain we visited a few weeks ago & got lost in snow

Now going back down the hill

Down the VERY STEEP hill...

And back to Lucerne by Paddlesteamer

Yes - a hard day at the office!!

A big thank you again to Ursula & Sandra at Bucher Travel.

A year ago they sent me some Swiss Chocolate & a postcard of beautiful Lucerne, which was the perfect incentive for me to want to come to Europe/Switzerland! So to be here now was amazing for me. Plus they looked after us very well on our weekend here.

Danke! Merci! Thanks!

Cheers, Ness & Jimi

Some photos from Lucerne...

The Lion Monument

The Chapel Bridge and Water Tower

The Reuss River

The Musegg Wall

Us at the Stadtkeller Restaurant/Folklore Show

Y'all come back now, ya hear

Trains, Feet, Paddle Steamers, Cog Trains, Cable Cars, Ships and Trains - AKA - A weekend in Lucerne

Gruezi to all once again,

Hope you have the patience to read through this as it is going to be a long tale of adventure, transport, very large beers and a place called Lucerne. For those of you who wish to know, I mentioned we will put up the details of our up coming journey into Eastern Europe - but will leave that for a separate post in the coming days - so be sure to stay tuned.

Another interesting episode in the Ness and Jimi in Europe show has past by. For those of you who haven't been keeping up, fffffffffffft. Just kidding, we spent a fantastic weekend in Lucerene - here's the low down. We arrived by train on Saturday morning to discover a happening, historic and brilliant little city. A massive amount to look at whichever way we turned. We started off in the old town and checked out the shopping strip which is in a very historic area filled with amazing old architechture steeped in history and folklore. The atmosphere was a little on the touristy side but much more laid back and relaxed as compared to city life in Zurich. Eventually we checked into the Hotel Weinhof and decided to take a wander along the lakeside. We had a visit in the Grand Casino in Lucerne - Grand not just being the name only considering the main foyer was all marble floors and columns, chandeliers and the likes. Then in and around the city we visited sites like the famous Lion Monument, Chapel Bridge & Water Tower (built in 1300s), the remaining section of the Musegg Wall and the Reuss River that cuts right through the middle of the city flowing into the lake.
After a large amount of walking we visited the Mr. Pickwicks pub in the old town (officially completing our tour of all of the Pickwicks chains in Switzerland) had a cold bevy and rested 2 pairs of tired feet. Finally we were off to dinner at the Stadtkeller, a Restaurant and Swiss Folklore stage show [Thanks have to go to Ursula at Bucher Travel for the hook-up, which includes the following days adventure as well. I'd tip my hat if I was wearing one]. The evening was quite fun, more than assisted by the 1 litre beers that were being partaken in. The food was marvellous, finally we had a good sampling of traditional Swiss fare. I have never had a goulash that good in my life. The stage show was quite interesting, traditional folk music and instruments - and of course yodelling (which I happened to be pulled on the stage to participate in, if not dodgily - well, there's a 1st for everything). The venue was definitely a tourist attraction, but everyone had a fun night. At this point I should say hello to Faedra, our new found American friend (I must add that she was staying at the Jail Hotel [Gaol for the Aussies]) who we went out with after the show. At that point the rest of the night became a little raucous - I do however remember meeting the Bass Player/Trombonist/Flag Thrower/Alpine Horn playing all-star of the show. Later that evening we stumbled our way back to the hotel.

So, after a somewhat dusty start to Sunday, we jumped on the Paddle Steamer that took us across the lake to Vitznau. The view was just incredible, the whole lake is surrounded by mountains, and the one we were soon about to go up was Mount Rigi 'Queen of the Mountains' (1800m). From Vitznau, we took Europe's oldest Cog-Wheel train up the side of the Mt Rigi some 50 metres shy of the peak. Needless to say the view from there was even more spectacular from down on the lake - we could even see across to the top of Mount Titlis which we had visited some weeks earlier. Not only that, you could see clear across the German border and back down into Lucerne and Zug as well. The weather could not have been better. After doing a little walking we headed a short way back down the Mountain, checking out the tiny little mountainside villages along the way (most of which are definite ski villages in the right season), to catch the cable car back down the other side of the mountain. From Weggis we boarded another ship to take us across the lake once more and back into Lucerne. We decided to grab a little feed before training it once again all the way back to Zurich. OK, now take a breath.

Clearly a grand weekend was had in Lucerne, much more so than initial expectations. Very soon, once they have been sorted, we will post up some of the mass of photo's we managed to take over the weekend. As always - peace, love and kind regards to everybody back home and those who are far from home. Be sure to check back soon to see what's going on in the next few weeks.

Prost,

Jimi and Ness