London, Cambridge and York

We started our stay in London the traditional way – with a pub lunch and a bit too much to drink. Then a pub dinner and a bit too much more to drink and an early night. Great to catch up with our fantastic hosts Emlyn and James. Day 2 was a slightly hungover trip to Borough markets where Ben was in Foodie heaven and I got free cheese – so everyone was happy. Then a walk along the Thames, Tower Bridge and London Bridge before getting a little lost on the bus ride home.

Day 3 we went for a walk to Clapham junction through Clapham common and then around lunch time we headed out to Camden markets where we were tempted by a huge array of tattoo artists and very cheap peircing deals – we passed. The food stalls were amazing and while I had a morrocan curry, Ben had a pork roll cut straight from a pig on a spit... to say he was happy is an understatement. That night Ben cooked a delicious risotto for Emlyn and James to ensure we were invited back. It worked of course.

Day 4 was our last full day in London and we decided to do the tourist thing. We did an open top bus tour and then went and saw a play in the West End. We saw Agatha Christies “Mousetrap” – the longest running play in the world...EVER! We saw play number 24,036 and it was great. The ending was almost runied by the old man next to us who had seen it before – but luckily he forgot who dunnit and promptly after intermission and woke with a start when the clapping started at the end. Then another pub meal for dinner and an early night – apparently it was a “work night” – whatever that means?

Tourists

Excited about the show


The next day we caught the train out towards Heathrow and picked up our little Spaceship. His name is “Starbuck” and he is fantastic. As Ben lost his drivers licence in Beijing when his wallet was stolen, all the driving falls to me and we headed off towards Cambridge. The 2 lane roundabouts threw me at first – I could figure out how to get on them – but getting out of them was a different story. I had 3 attempts at the entrance for the motorway before I finally got it – more by luck and closing my eyes than skill.

We arrived in Cambridge around 4 and went to check in to our camping ground. It was a great little farm in a tiny village and the hosts were lovely. Lots of people seem intrigued as to why we are spending 5 weeks in a tarago but everyone is impressed when they see how nifty it is inside. The next day it was time to get supplies and we had lots of fun trying to think of fun things to buy – did we need 3 litres of red and 3 litres of white? Probably not – but we like to match our wines to our food.

Ben and "Starbuck" in Cambridge



Why am I in a field of wheat? Who knows.



We saw the sights in cambridge and headed back for a homecooked spag bol. The next day we drove to the seaside and had lunch overlooking Munsley beach. Ben’s observation that “no one has umbrellas, everyone has windbreaks,” pretty much says it all. Was very pretty though. We hadn’t anticipated trouble finding places to stay but as it was the middle weekend of the summer holidays most places were full so we headed inland to a little place called Barney to spend the night.


Beachside in Mundsley

Beachside in Mundsley

After one night in Barney we had seen all there was to see and set off for York. Our campground in York was in a nice spot and they had a ferry that took you right into the centre of town. We spent a day seeing the tourist sights and had a famous Sunday roast for lunch. Unfortunately the roast was the opposite of the weather – dry.

After York we drove up through the North Yorkshire Moors. I was really looking forward to it before we got there and it was even better than I expected. All the heather was in bloom so the mountains were covered in purple. The roads twisted and turned all over the mountains and were lots of fun to drive – although I think some of my erratic cornering left Ben (and the groceries in the back) looking a little worse for wear.

North Yorkshire Moors







We had planned on having lunch in Whitby but were once again foiled by the school holidays and we couldn’t find a park so continued on. We did however make a quick stop at the Abbey above town, but decided against paying the steep entrance fee (I did manage to get some long distance photos over the fence though- for free!). We continued on and lunch ended up being a rather desperate 3 o’clock stop at a Nandos in Middlesborough’s “entertainment quarter” – and not at all what we were hoping for.





Judging by Ben's outfit it must have been washing day

Great over fence photography


After one more stop to stock up on a thermos, an umbrella and a fleece jumper (ahhh English summer) we arrived at our stop for the night just outside the town of Durham. Of course the rain cleared up once we had an umbrella, and we are now sitting looking over the fields, sipping cider as the sun sets. When it rains it really rains – but when its sunny – it really is beautiful.

Ahhh Cider!!

Hamburg, Amsterdam and Brussels

The train ride from Copenhagen to Hamburg was great. Nice first class seats and an interesting section where the train drove onto a ferry and crossed to Germany then drove off.

train on a ferry crossing into Germany

To be fair anywhere we went after Copenhagen would have suffered by comparison. Hamburg was just unlucky. We arrived around 3 in the afternoon and walked to our hotel. The hotel was alright and after checking in we set out to explore the town. We had both heard great things about the lakes so headed in that direction. Unfortunately they seemed to be having some kind of algae bloom and it was all pretty green. I’d post some photos but we actually didn’t take any in the two days we were there. For anyone who knows how attached I am to my camera I think this is enough said.

We hopped on the train for Amsterdam pretty early on day 3 and arrived mid afternoon. We figured out the tram system and were soon on our way out to our hotel. It wasn’t located in the centre of town but it made up for its location with its funky rooms. The whole room was controlled by a nifty little “moonpad” and allowed you to change all the lighting colours etc depending on you mood. Lots of fun. After playing with the settings for a while we headed back into town to meet our friend Paul who had flown over from London for the weekend.

Amsterdam was just fantastic. So beautiful and so much fun. I think of everywhere we have been so far its our favourite. We spent the night wandering around the canals and having some beers. Day 2 was spent in much the same way and that night we met Paul’s sister for dinner as well.

bike and canal in Amsterdam


view from canal cruise

Night view of the canal


Day 3 we ventured out of the city for a bit of a crash course on Dutch culture. We saw windmills, cheese making, clog making (she said they were comfy but I have my doubts) and lots of very flat land. Dinner that night was a canal cruise complete with walking tour of the red light district. Was interesting to say the least.

We were originally planning on 4 days in Amsterdam but this quickly turned into 6 and if we didn’t have to get to the UK we would probably never have left.

Day 5 we reluctantly went and booked our tickets to Brussels and then with much pleading and begging from me I managed to get Ben to agree to a peddle boat tour of the canals. Was a lot of fun – suspect we looked a little ridiculous but it was worth it in my opinion (probably not in Ben’s).

Ben and a lot of cheese

Goats and windmills

Canal pose

Peddle boat fun

I amsterdam? Doesn't make sense but its cool.



The train to Brussels left around 12 and we arrived around 3 in the afternoon. I’d done my research and intentionally booked a hotel within a km of the station so we headed off on our 15min walk. 3 hours later we were still walking, without a map, with all our bags and not very happy. I can honestly say I have never been so lost in my life. Just as we were about to lose all hope of ever getting out of the labyrinth of backstreets of Brussels we saw a taxi. 10 euros later we were at our hotel – we had been nowhere near it. Needless to say the taxi driver probably got the biggest tip of his life and if I hadn’t been so exhausted I would have hugged him.

Dinner that night was at a little outdoor restaurant where Ben had the biggest pot of Mussels I’ve ever seen (and yes there were lots of Van Dam jokes). Then a stop at a little deli to buy some beer.

View from our hotel roof of Brussels

Church in Brussels


As we only had 1 full day in Brussels we thought we better make the most of it. We headed out early and walked into the central square. So beautiful. We then jumped on an open top city tour bus. Was all going great until a sudden heavy deluge sent everyone running for the stairs. We were sitting downstairs feeling pretty smug as everyone poured down the stairs. Unfortunately we quickly discoved open top buses are not designed for rain as the whole roof leaked. The bus was all fogged up and full of very wet unhappy tourists.

Then it was time for some Belgian waffles in front of the manneken pis (little peeing boy statue), a quick cultural hit with a tour of the Renee Magritte gallery and some local beer in a pub. Then back to the hotel for the last night of our European leg for now.

Ben in Brussels

Brussels Grand Place and some impressive clouds

Manneken Pis - not as big as you would think

More churches and impressive clouds

Church in Grand Place


We caught the Eurostar around 9 and were in London 2 hours later. So here we are – in London after 6 weeks of trains, ferries and the occasional train on a ferry. We have 3 days to try and get our clothes clean again before the next leg – 5 weeks in a campervan (aka Tarago) first stop Edinburgh Fringe!

Getting off the eurostar in London