CHINA - XIAN

Just reverting back to China for a moment. Amanda just emailed me a photo of all of us outside the orphanage & I wanted to show you.

ITALY - ROME

I got up the morning of my Europe tour at 2.45am as an airport taxi was picking me up to get me to my 7am flight. Just like the airport bus we have. Only smaller. And dearer (especially when you convert Euros to dollars). And they pick you up from your house. I flew to Rome (after flying to London first of course) & got a taxi to the hotel. I was stopped by guys offering a fixed price of 65 euros to drive me to the hotel & telling me that a taxi would charge 75. But I’m a wake up to those dodgy people (let’s face they’re everywhere) so I grabbed a taxi which cost me about 44. Not as cheap as the 25 euros that the tour company info said but much better than 65! At the hotel I had to wait around until 2pm to meet the tour group but there were 5 others waiting as well (5 Canadians & 1 American). We then joined another group for a walking tour of Rome in the afternoon.
We went to the Spanish steps (first photo), the Trevy Fountain (second photo - there are aqueducts under Rome & you can drink the water from any of the fountains you see around the city), the Pantheon (third photo - with Judy, Monica & Rimi, all from Canada), the Cappuccini Monks & outside the Colosseum (fourth photo). Unfortunately we didn‘t get to go inside as the other group were going the next afternoon & we were leaving at lunchtime after visiting Vatican City in the morning. It's good reason to plan a trip back to Italy as well as not getting to see Pisa in Florence. There was heaps of other stuff along the way - so much info to take in I think I have brain strain.
An interesting fact I learnt - the first kind of Government handout was a portion of salt each week & that's where the word salary comes from.
While I feasted on waffles in Holland, I was looking forward to mountains of gelati in Italy.
We met the rest of our group at dinner (mostly Aussies) who are on about 9 or 10 days of a 26 day tour (I think) & I am joining them for 10 days - Rome through to Prague.

HOLLAND - EINDHOVEN

We went out for takeaway on my last night with Ingrid before my Europe tour (although I'm coming back for a few more days so it wasn't really a farewell dinner). It's some kind of traditional Dutch take-away junk food that a lot of people have once or twice a week. What with all the waffles it's a good thing they ride just about everywhere they go.

The first photo is of Ingrid's eldest daughter Merel & her boyfriend Maurice (pronounced the French sounding way like in "Beauty & The Beast". Then we have a photo of my meal - the only thing I really remember the name for is the chips as they are the same as ours. The long thing in the tray is some kind of sausage with spicy sauce & mayo. The other is called a croquette or something like that & I think it's crumbed & deep fried. The inside is some sort of gravy & meat type thing. Maybe. I know Ingrid will be laughing at this as I probably have it completely wrong. Anyway I think I enjoyed it & the last photo is all of us together.

Obviously.

Have you noticed how I tend to state the obvious a lot?????

HOLLAND - AMSTERDAM

On the canal cruise they pointed out a house that was only 1.5m wide (nearly 5 foot for those still using archaic measurements) but they told us there was another one that was narrower. I don't know that this one the girls & I are standing in front of is it but it looks pretty darn narrow regardless.
Now this is just plain wrong - an outdoor urinal. Be thankful I waited until it was empty to take the photo. And other thing about Holland that is very weird? You have to pay about 40-50 cents to use a public toilet. What the?!?! I went to one restaurant that didn't charge & the airport but EVERYWHERE else you had to pay. Train station, shops, restaurants, petrol station, the touristy places. EVERWHERE! Imagine having to pay for 4 kids every time they need to go every time you are out somewhere, not to mention yourself.
Had waffles again – just icing sugar again. Also had a latte. I am trying to get used to the taste of drinking coffee again after years of not having it. Sometimes I just don't feel like a cup of tea & (naturally) I don't like hot chocolate. I have come across caramel lattes (which I luurve) so cafe latte it is. It wasn't too bad actually – maybe you can make me one next year Paul!

HOLLAND - AMSTERDAM

While we were in Amsterdam we went to China Town to visit a temple so Xue-Lin & Li-Xing could light incense as an offering to Buddha for their biological parents (the photo is of Xue-Lin). They do this every time they go into the city. Did I mention Ingrid's youngest two daughters are adopted from China?
This is the Royal Palace. Not much more to say than that. You all know what it's for & who it's for. Now you know what it looks like too.
And finally, just a bit of street art.
A human statue - in case it wasn't obvious to anyone but me.
Probably because I was there or I maybe wouldn't have known either.

HOLLAND - AMSTERDAM

Here's a couple of interesting things I saw in the city.

This sign in a shop window (a cafe maybe but I can't quite remember). I think I know a few people who may not be allowed in there!

There are so many “Coffee” shops in Amsterdam. I am completely unaware of laws on the other side of the world because dope is legal here & who knew? Well obviously not me. The coffee shops are where you go to buy it, smoke it & whatever it. It's a common smell on the streets of Amsterdam – I did begin to wonder if we might get slightly high as it was EVERYWHERE. I must say I did see quite a few people completely stoned who looked like they might have been that way for quite a while.
The one thing I did know about Amsterdam was it's abundance of brothels. What I didn't realize though was that the “ladies” sit on a stool in the window so you can go window shopping before you buy!!!!! We walked past one that had an older Asian looking lady showcasing her wares. I actually thought they would be young, thin, beautiful girls but maybe it was a busy day & everyone else was otherwise engaged. But then again everyone has different tastes & if men were only interested in young, thin, beautiful girls there's a lot of us that would be in deep trouble. I took the photo of the brothel on the side as I didn't think the "lady" would be impressed if I took her photo. Anyway the two red lamps either side are a dead give away. Hence the "red light" district. Probably common knowledge but thought I would add it just in case.

HOLLAND - AMSTERDAM

Saturday we went to Amsterdam via bus & train. Ingrid was very glad she had organized that as we have had traffic jams coming home each time we have gone out for the day. Not like our kind of traffic jam but bad by Dutch standards. But they have this cool system where the car radio just turns itself on & you get the traffic updates which is great as you can change your route accordingly rather than traffic coming to a standstill & you having no idea. I realize we get traffic updates too but you have to then leave the radio on & wait for the news. This is on the spot updating as it happens!
There's so much to say about Amsterdam so I will cover it over a few posts. First of all we took a canal cruise which is a great way to see all the lovely old buildings in the city. And beautiful it is - I could have spent hours just taking photos of the all the amazing architecture (well it is to me - it may be boring or repetitive to everyone else). Now call me ignorant but I had no idea Amsterdam was built as a city of canals. I new about the canals in Venice but not here. Anyone else that worldly wise too?