Mad in Madrid

Another weekend, another trip to the real Europe to meet ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (AKA Nicky and Jon) in Madrid. Hot in the Summer and due to its altitude at 600m above sea level the Winter is well, cool to say the least. However, with beautiful blue sky above us we felt right at home with a Mojito in hand at 2am on our first Spanish night. The hostel / hotel curse struck again (to be known as the phantom accom) whereby it takes Gerard and Bee a good hour of walking in circles before they either call reception (10 pounds later) or after removing all their hair finally stumble on their Lion’s cupboard! Mind you, when Gerard carries the luggage Bee still can’t handle the weight of expectation!

All this aside, the mantle of favourite city is always being challenged, whether it be by the people, geography or originality of the city as a whole. This ‘grunge’ city was amazing. By day you can see fresh bakeries, butchers and cute little corner stores. By night you will see graffiti covered roller doors of the bakeries, butchers and cute little corner stores and so much more... The bars are littered throughout the one way streets (how people know which way is the ‘one way’ is anyone’s guess) and we quickly found our ‘local’ only 20m from our hostel door (if you call a jail like door without any advertising and graffiti sprayed all over it – no wonder we didn’t).

So cut to the chase Bee says.... After meeting the Coustons at the airport not knowing their flight (detective work of the century) it was time for a walking tour taking us through the main sights of town. Through the plazas and streets we strolled to find out about the Greek, Roman, Islamic and Christian history of the city smack bang in the centre of Spain. A highlight was definitely the Real Palace (Real meaning Royal) which was the most exuberant display of how to waste money we have ever seen (seriously who needs a specific changing room, or a room just for conversation?) Anyway the Palace was fantastic along with the views of the snow capped mountains to the south and the museum of Spanish armoury on display. Frolicking in the Autumn parks, the El Rastro market and visiting the oldest restaurant in the world were also other highlights followed by a great afternoon of grazing on Tapas! The best tapas you ask? Ox tail in melted chocolate.... Paella, check. Flamenco, check. Sangria, check. Adios.

Amsterdam

A weekend trip was in order to a city we had heard so much about from so many people and finally were going to see for ourselves. A side note was our visit turned out to be a personally guided tour from some good friends who showed us the ins and .... actually there weren’t any outs!

We hadn’t even left London yet and thanks to Ryanair we were already 4 beers down at the airport and over 2 hours delayed. Oh well, with the good comes the bad!

So - coffee shops and the red light district aside, Amsterdam is such a beautiful city. The narrow canals and waterside architecture made strolling along the cobblestone streets truly magic. And the bicycles! Wow, is that a lot of pedal power... Can you believe that we did not once ride a bike on our weekend? Sacrilege. Mind you, in a land of giants (they are huge, like enormously tall) we don’t think we would have been able to touch our feet on the ground, safety always comes first and we know where the BFG was thought up. With the Anne Frank house and Heineken Museum under our belts during the day (Gerard, for the record, cannot pour beer), our personal tour guides took us to some not so touristy eateries and bars, to indulge in some of the many Belgium beers on tap - cheers!

While it might seem that visiting two landmarks for the weekend was a ‘busy schedule’ walking the canals and street of A- Dam was enough to keep ones heart content on a weekend break. ‘Boom Chicago’ an American comedy in a Dutch city – we’d prefer the Dutch humour in Chicago!

St.Nikolaus (the Dutch equivalent to Santa Claus) must have heard we were in town as he made a massive entry by boat from Spain on the Sunday! We found it rather amusing that he has over 200 little black helpers in tow. There seriously were over 200 adults with their faces and bodies painted black – apparently from all the chimney soot... Couldn’t get away with that in Australia that’s for sure!

Like so many places, we’ll be back!

Ireland – Happy days ..... and happier nights

Off to Ireland we went for some sun and relaxation. Oops sorry wrong holiday. It was off to Ireland for ‘Oktoberfest spread over a week’ (but this time oil not beer was served) and some greenery, cliffs and St. Patrick history! We were in awe at how hospitable a nation of likeminded fellows could be albeit the stories sound a lot better with an accent where the speech comes from your stomach not your mouth. “I R LAND it’s my I R LAND” was the grunt of the trip and hammered home at the football on our last night. We now know where Gerard’s mother’s loud supporting habit comes from – the Irish roots.

Highlights of the Emerald Isle on our ‘Paddywagon’ Tour include:

• The cities of Derry and Belfast - both with so much conflict and division still evident today. The political statement murals and peace walls were almost beyond belief. Interesting walking tour and taxi tour of both unique cities provided an insight in to daily life.
• The Cliffs of Moher – all spectacular cliffs and steep drops close to the winding roads.
• Blarney Stone and Castle – we puckered those lips in order to feel more inquisitive!
• Guinness Brewery – Should Guinness taste better at 9.00am on a Monday morning?
• The Giants Causeway – again breathtaking scenery and stone formations.
• Celtic crosses and ancient cathedrals - the history of these places just blows you away!

• The rope bride at Carrick-a-rede – some adrenalin released on a rocky bridge over crashing waves (fair to say Bee’s heart skipped a beat!)

• Riding through a forest on a horse and carriage to Ross Castle – like a fairytale!

• Cheering on the Aussie’s in the International Rules in Dublin – you beauty!!

We had a wonderful time playing the harp, chasing leprechauns and fairies and searching for four leaf clovers!