Prague Rules!

Had a great weekend with the guys. Steve and I got a bit lost off the train but eventually found our hotel that was better than expected. Two big rooms for the 7 of us for under 20€ a night each. The seven were Steve and I; Cbass and his friends: Robbie, Stephan, Robert, and Martin. Started with some beers in the old square and it was down hill from there. First night was pretty good but the dutch boys were a bit tired because they drove all night to get there. After a nap they did stay out all night though.

Saturday was great. Steve and I toured the city with Cbass while the other boys recovered because us 3 didn't stay out all night, just most of it. Beautiful city with tonnes of old things to see as it was reletively untouched by WWII. That night we were a spectacle again and stayed out most of the night. Great times. Now I'm just about in Wilhelmshaven to visit Britta. Tough 10 hours on trains today but its my last big trip. A little tired of touring so hopefully I can spend some time chilling around Britta's place.

Ready for Prague!!

Not sure of my last post but Steve and I have had a few good days. Finished Munich in style with meeting some great Scottish lads in a beer garden. Steve had a few too many maß beers. Ok I might have had my share too.

Moved on to the Harz mountains to my German friends dad's place. Unfortuneately he was only around the first night but we did well on our own. Saw a couple of very cool castles and did some self guided tourism. Was good to see the castle in Blankenburg is now being worked on as when we were here last is was falling into ruin due to private ownership since the wall came down and years of neglect in East Germany.

We're now at the end of our stay in Berlin and we've found some great tours. Got on a free one yesterday in the city that was quite enjoyable and informative (and it had a free beer at the end, whoo-hooo!) and today we saw a former concentration camp outside of Berlin - Sachsenhausen. Pretty dark stuff.

But things are looking up. Off to Prague early in the morning to visit C-bass and his buddies. Should be a wild weekend. I'll visit Britta from there and will hopefully be able to attach some more pics then.

My French family rules!!

Had a great end of our stay with Marc and Francoise and stayed at there place an extra night after they had gone on their holidays to Spain. Steve and I visited the cathedral square and had a beer right beside the cathedral, then moved on to my old pub. They treated us well again and we ran into a 'hen' party on our way home. The girls took some of our money gave me a kiss and went on their way. (pics to come)

Georges and Annie (Francoise's parents) were as good to me as ever. Four days of discovering the Alps and near by lakes with much great food, wine and cheese involved as well. I'll try to be more specific later to what we saw but a couple of highlights. We climbed a mountain. Right across from mont blanc - the highest peak in France. Found a beautiful lake on the mountain and had a lunch there (lac blanc). Amazing. Other than great sights, Georges and Annie are pretty amazing too. The played crib with us every night after dinner. I think they had a great time too.

Now in Munich and a few highlights to come. Prague with C-bas and his friends, seeing Britta again in Wilhelmshaven, big party with many friends in Dublin, a hurling match in Dublin, and a soccer game in London. Sweeet!!

Back in black!

Which is Marc's ringtone on his phone. Loving it.

After a very quick tour of Paris - a few sites in three hours with 50 lbs on your back, the train to Clermont was a welcome rest.

We were well met as always as Marc met us at the train station. Was great to see them again. They have been treating us way too well as always. They had a dinner party the first night but left us with a great meal and to install ourselves.

We've been hanging out and Marc and Francoise have been showing us around since then. We've been around the city, golfed 18 holes, met some new friends, and toured around the countryside today. Steve has been introduced to the cheeses in france and I don't think he's going to leave. That and he can buy a beer at McDonalds. We took him to St. Nataire today to see how that famous cheese is made.

Made a couple of appearences at my old pub and it was great that they recegnized me so quickly. Good times.

Going touring again tomorrow then off to the Alps.

Brussels and midnight tourism

Brussels is a gorgeous city. The grand place (main square) was quite amazing with other awesome buildings spread throughout. Took our time and had a late supper. Hit a couple of pubs and toured around a bit. Saw the famous fountain 'mannequin pis' - a little boy peeing and Luke went to bed cause he had to fly this morning. Steve and I continued searching for more beer. Didn't find any beer but found the European Union buildings and the palace. Then proceeded to find another cathedral on the way to the hotel. Not bad for after midnight.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patrick.g.richards/Brussels?authkey=e9Fy61mNvOw


A three hour tour for Steve through Paris today to see two things and I'm back in Clermont. Francoise and Marc had a dinner party but left us with supper and everything we need. They're way too good to me. Pics to come soon again!

Still amazed by my friends

More craziness now in the Netherlands. Most of our time with C-bas and Makky has been eating and drinking coffee and beer, you know the tough life. Saturday we hung out till we started our evening. Dinner was awesome; a little place down the street from us. Stephan, a good friend of C-bas joined us. Great food and we even started getting a bit crazy in the restaurant. Took some Tuktuks to the party. Little open 3 seater motor bike taxis that are incredibly fun. Our party was on the beach Slevendigen (or something like that). Amazing boulevard filled with restaurants and bars and casinos that seem to go on forever. Our party was a lot of fun. Just some dancing and drinking and good times. However, C-bas got kicked out for apparentely no reason. So we left. Went down the beach to a place called crazy pianos. Pretty cool there but it was the end of the night.

Recovered the next day and met C-bas' parents. Another great couple of people, just get home and all they could do was feed us more and take care of us. We almost stayed another day because Fritz offered us a tour on his boat, but on to Brussels.

Best day ever. . . ?

Awesome day with the whole crew. Makky and C-bas made it over to make breakfast together (we're staying at Sebastian's parents place). Great eats and start to the day. We first made our way to Delft for coffee and to tour around a bit. Beautiful little city, great town square. Climbed the tower of the church in the square - there were a couple of other nice ones around too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patrick.g.richards/DelftAndGouda?authkey=lzq0xN2iiuM

Moved on to Gouda, Makky's home town. Pulled up to their house and it was beautiful. Canals on both sides of the road to a small gorgeous house. The backyard was a dream of my mothers. It seemed like a well kept wilderness to itself, where there was a small pond and room for everyone to relax. Had a beer and went for a wald towards the centre of the town.

The town square was a beautiful place with a very nice town hall. We moved about 3 inches out of the square to find the cathedral, which is the longest in the Netherlands with some of the oldest stained glass windows. Again, it was a dream of Travis Giblin as there was an organist playing when we entered.

We returned to Makky's parents to an amazing meal in the garden. Not only are Makky's parents great people but amazing cooks as well. We really couldn't beleive how well we were treated, let alone how well we were fed.

http://picasaweb.google.com/patrick.g.richards/MakkySParentsPlace?authkey=PBEYFzoIaC4

Each day I am reminded of how good of friends I have met and how lucky I am.