Wednesday, 18 September 2013

Will this holiday (and blog) ever end?

As I lay in bed still half asleep this morning, the room still dark and my eyes not yet open, I wondered what city I was in.  Mentally, I drifted through the cities and towns of central Europe until finally I arrived at Stuttgart, our location at that time.  Jean later told me she too is beginning to lose track of where we are.  Our grand tour of Europe is in its thirteenth week, but we are conscious now that it is drawing to a close.

Our journey has gone on for so long.  I remember recently in Lucerne I was beginning to feel like a bludger, someone who doesn't work and just loafs around doing nothing.  We are now in Heidelberg, where we will spend the night.  Tomorrow, we will go to Koblenz, which is on the Rhine.  Bad Honnef is also on the Rhine as is Köln.  We will visit each of these places.  After spending a couple of nights with relatives in Detmold early next week, we will proceed to Amsterdam where we will spend four nights.  

After Amsterdam, we will visit The Hague briefly and finally Brussells.  After two nights there, we will fly to Heathrow, change planes and fly to Dubai again.  After one night in Dubai, we will fly home to Australia.

We are here in Heidelberg to find what we can on my relative, Henry Thode's time here at the University of Heidelberg where he was Professor of Music in the 1890s.  We may find nothing, but we'll see.  Bad Honnef is also connected to my family history.  In Amsterdam, I'm looking forward to seeing the secret annexe that Ann Frank and her family hid in for two years during the Second World War.  We'll have a canal ride there, and spend a couple of days with friends from Wales.  In The Hague, we hope to see the International Criminal Court, and, in Brussells, we hope to see something of the European Union.

I will keep this blog going until we arrive back home in Canberra, where I'll provide my first impressions of life back in more 'familiar' surroundings.  So, don't go away.

1 comment:

  1. Be careful what you wish for! That said Canberra has been lovely the past few weeks and the office has a gorgeous view out to Floriade and the ferris wheel. It will be lovely to see you when you get back.

    Mel

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