Winter in Europe

Innsbruck is set at the bottom of the Austrain Alps. Everywhere you look are gorgeous mountains. Except when we arrived because it was covered in fog. That evening...the next morning...got a bit better in the afternoon...finally the next night, mountains!

Since we couldn't see any mountains we decided to go directly to them. We got a bus to Igls, then took a gondola to the top to Patscherkofel. Superb views. A hot chocolate at the Panorama restaurant at the top capped it off. On the way down we stopped to check out the bobsled park. We wanted to have a go. But the World Cup for boblsedding was happening the next day. So we watched the best bob sledders in the world have a go instead. Very cool.

Checked out Ambras Castle. Which was more of a museum. One of the inhabitants had a huge "curiosity" collection of strange, beautiful and amazing things. Such as a chair that they use to bring out at parties. If you sat in it bars would shoot across and you would be trapped! The only way your host would free you was if you could drink a goblet of wine in one go. Binge drinking is a very old habit.

We checked out Swarovski, it actually started in Innsbruck. We all made at least one purchase, but it was so much cheaper than in Australia! How could we not?

Again, lots of delicious food. But you're probably sick of hearing about it by now.

We arrived into Munich in the evening and walked across the road to our hostel, Wombats. We were checking in when a familiar voice called out. Tim had checked into the same hostel as us and was just about to head to a beer hall! We had meant to meet up in Munich but hadn't swapped times or hostels. Coincidences seem to happen like this all the time when you travel. The world is big, but you walk similar paths to everyone else. Off we went to our first (of many) German beer halls. It didn't disappoint. Food was plentiful and fast, beers were huge.

We went out to Dachau Memorial the next day. It was the first ever concentration camp and served as a model and training ground for others. It was shocking. Our tour guide was very knowlegable and had met several survivors of the camp. The more we learnt, the more it seemed amazing that anyone could survive the horrors they had to endure, some for 12 years. It was also another interesting perspective. Along with the Anne Frank House and Prague's museums in the Jewish ghetto. You start to get a bigger picture of a terrible part of the worlds past.

Next was a 309 step walk up St Peter's Cathedral, beautiful at night time. Then a dinner pub crawl back to our hostel. The infamous Hasbrau House, Weissebrau House and Augustina Braumunsen for dessert. Food seems to be a very important part of this trip. I don't know if it's the cold or the walking but I feel like every two hours I'm famished and need something hot to eat as soon as possible. Then some chocolate to wash it down.

Neuschwanstein, the castle Disney modelled it's Cinderella museum from, was the next day. We learnt all about Ludwig II, a very interesting character. A reluctant king who regularly made out with a statue of Marie Antoinette, had dinner served for 12, ate alone and still carried on a conversation with his "guests". He also had a very mysterious death. The castle was stunning and ridiculous. He even had a cave made in his castle to represent Aphrodite's love grotto, a scene in one of Vagner's operas. He loved Vagner and was his patron. The whole castle was like a big love shrine to him. It's also rumoured that he was in the closet.

We did a "free" walking tour with Ozzy. He was amazing, he spoke at an extreme pace but was still able to get his message across. He knew the city backwards and had done 1000's of these tours. His insights, passion and trivia were impressive. He basically gave us the history of Germany's formation, the wars for the last 200 years, how German history went on to affect (and helped create) tension in the Middle East and got us thinking like Bovarians. Highly recommended. He does them everyday at 11am, meeting in the lobby of Wombat's Hostel. We also caught up with Lizzie, so there were 5 of us walking around after Ozzy in awe.

There you have it. Munich, not just worth visiting for beer and Oktoberfest. Go for the history.

We arrived in Vienna at 6:30pm to be greeted by my friend Matthias at the station. Oh what a luxury it is to be told where to go, what ticket to buy and what station to get off at. Matthias had generously offered to house all three of us for two nights as well as be our tour guide.

We went out for dinner at an authentic Austrian restaurant, very cosy. Schnitzel, boiled beef and local fish. Washed down with local beer and wine, all delicious.

The next day was sightseeing, Schloss Schönbrunn, the summer home for the royal family, very decadent. Next we went to a produce market and ogled food lots. Ate lots too. We headed into the city to see all the amazingly beautiful buildings Vienna has. They are all huge and old and stunning, and there are heaps of them. Their city hall looks like a palace. We had a drink in a city bar overlooking the main street and cathedral. Then back home for a Mexican feast and some special wine provided by Matthias.

The next day we were on our way to Salzburg with a stop off at Linz to pick up gear for Matthias and me. We arrived at Gerhard's family home and dropped off our stuff and headed for the city. A stroll around town, a walk towards the castle on the hill and walked along the ridge getting beautiful night views of Salzburg the whole way. We ended up at Augustina's brewery for some drinks made by monks. They obviosly did a good job because the beer hall was huge and packed.

The next day Claire and Colesy went to The Sound of Music tour and the boys and I went snowboarding at Obertauern. It was amazing, fresh powder, a beautiful clear day and the most amazing scenery I think I've ever seen: perfect. And I only had two big stacks! That night we went out in the city, had a few drinks and did a little dancing, some nice night spots in Salzburg. Republic was good for dancing.

The next day we were on our way to Munich.

PS. I forgot to mention how incredibly amazing Gerhard's family was. The two mornings we were there his mum made us a feast. Yogurt, fruit, many home made jams, ham, cheese, salami, bread, home made rolls, many spreads, boiled eggs...it was epic. Because I was gluten intolerant and difficult I couldn't eat the dessert his mum had prepared for us the nigth before, so the next morning I found a piece of gluten free cake waiting for me! This is just a fraction of the feasts we had and the special gluten friendly food that was prepared, amazing.

Amsterdam was a very lovely city. Beautiful canals everywhere and you could walk absolutely everywhere. It is also a very strange city. The juxtaposition of amazing cultural centres with a bustling Red Light District and legal drugs is just bizarre. We were staying in a Christian hostel called shelter city that was in the middle of the Red Light District, but our street was actually a special Blue Light Zone. Any guesses what they specialised in?* Also I thought it was a very odd choice of location for a Christian hostel. But they were cheap and had a great breakfast; pancakes, french toast, bacon and eggs on toast! But I had muesli, the only glutard friendly option.

The Anne Frank House was very moving. The Sex Museum was very amusing. The Rijksmuseum was very impressive. The Van Gogh museum was closed on New Years Day...we should have looked that up before.

NYE was great. But unfortunately we chose this day to indulge in cakes and I was very sick by about 12:15. Bloody gluten ruining all the fun. But at least I made midnight, it was crazy, so many people, so many fireworks.

Prague, or Praha, was absolutely stunning. I would recommend for everyone to visit this city if you have time on a Europe trip. It was also incredibly cheap, a 3 course meal for $10 is pretty common, a pint for $1.50. The buildings are all beautiful, especially Prague Palace and St Vitus Cathedral. It was founded in 925 and was still being finished in 1929. Which makes it very unique, it is part gothic, part Renaissance and Baroque. Amazing.

Prague food tends to consist of meat, a rich creamy sauce and 6 giant dumplings. Claire spent a month in Switzerland so every lunch and dinner ends in Lindt chocolate. At least we won't be feeling the cold as strongly by the end of the trip due to our extra padding.

In both Amsterdam and Prague we did free walking tours, something they have all over Europe. I would also highly recommend this to anyone going over there. It's such a great way to get your bearings in the city and learn lots of interesting history. For instance, Prague has a famous Astronomical clock. Apparently the local government at the time decided to poke out the clock makers eyes with a hot poker just so he couldn't make a bigger clock (and so detract from the original) in another city. In revenge the clock maker threw himself into the gears of the clock and broke it for a hundred years until someone else could figure out how to fix it.

In case you were wondering how Amsterdam got its name it is because the river Amstel ran through the city. They decided to dam the river...Amstel...dam...hey presto! The place where they made the dam is now called Dam square, not particularly clever, but this was a very very long time ago.

Anyway I have about another 50 of these stories, particularly for Prague, they have a myth about every bloody event, building and holiday, it is very entertaining.

Anyway, it is almost 1am and I have to get up early to go to Salzburg. Goodnight.

• (Lady boys if you couldn't guess)

After arriving at about 10pm I managed to meet up with my friend Arie by facebook, thank god for iPhones and people having internet everywhere. We went to a Parisian house party somewhere north of the city. Very fun, but in my 40th hour of travel I started to feel a little dizzy after half a glass of wine. So wasn't a very big night. The cars are all small, the streets are all very pretty and the hostel is very well run. So all is well. One of Arie's friends has the day off hork so today he is showing me the locals version of Paris.

Had a massive character in my dorm room. More on her later.

xxoo