Back to Rhineland

21/01/04 - Today we flew from LHR to FRA then onto Nurmburg where we picked up a hire car and drove to Weiden.  After a traditional dinner at the 'Ratskeller' we were ready to retire once more in the surrounds of our beautiful centuries old hotel.

The next day was a full day touring Regensburg....this really is a beautiful part of the world.  The following day was spent wandering the streets of Weiden soaking up the essence of this exquisite German township.  On the 24th January we were off to Prague.....after a bumpy start.....losing the hotel key, missing the train (we ended up getting a cab to the next stop to pick it up) we finally arrived in Prague where we booked at Tri Bubnu - great location, just around the corner from the main square in Old Town.  We met up with a delightful young man that evening who took us for a walking tour around Prague after we had feasted at a local restaurant.   The fact that it was about 26 degrees below zero made absolutely no difference whatsoever, although we did decide to 'train' it back to where we were staying....it was sooo cold!

Prague is a beautiful city and one we will end up visiting again.  Our visit ended far too soon and we soon returned to Weiden, then drove back to Frankfurt where GC and Regan and Jordan were to fly back home for work and school and Ash and I flew to Venice, then onto Florence and finally Rome.  We had the best time....the museums and art galleries in Italy are amazing, I'm sure the Italians have no appreciation of the beauty that surrounds them.  A gondola ride in Venice, leather coats in Florence, a performance of La Traviata in an historic church in Rome, a visit to Pompeii....it was all sensational!  If I was going to only do this once, I was going to do it all!

Finally our dream trip was over and we were on our way back to Brisbane.  I felt elated and incredibly satisfied that I had finally done my first and, I thought, only, "big" overseas trip.   When we were finally home, the first thing GC said to me was "I love it - let's go again!"........ the rest, as you will see....is history! :)