Ode to our travels

In October last year we left our shore,

For Europe was calling us to explore.

Our bags were packed, our passports ready,

The thrill of our adventure made us quite heady!

The United Kingdom was our first port of call,

We saw universities and churches with spiers quite tall.

The emerald isle then beckoned us near,

And rewarded us with many an Irish beer!

Then a hop and a jump to the land of the Scots,

Full of legends of monsters and haggis from pots.

We departed by train and rode through the night,

Arriving the next morning in London- what a sight!

We saw Big Ben, rode the Tube and the Eye,

Such a glorious city gave us a fabulous high!

With excitement and glee we boarded a ferry,

And docked in France where the people were merry.

Paris was ours to explore day and night,

Though the gargoyles and statues gave Lauren quite a fright!

To Switzerland we drove and Adam finally saw snow,

We threw snowballs and played til our cheeks were aglow!

We zoomed back through France on our way into Spain,

Full of paella, sangria, flamenco and rain!

After waving goodbye to the Spaniard we drove

To the French Riviera- such a beautiful cove!

We lost twenty euro in a Monte Carlo casino,

Then drowned our sorrows with some very nice vino.

We drove into Italy and saw Pisa’s tower lean,

Then down into Florence, full of artists so keen!

The roads then lead to Rome, the eternal city.

The Colleseum, the Vatican, to leave was such a pity!

Julliette’s balcony in Verona overlooked a beautiful quarter,

Then we headed to Venice that was two feet under water!

The beer halls of Munich were difficult to resist,

Adam, especially found it hard to desist!

Our path took us on to Vienna, home of Mozart.

The Christmas markets and schnapps made the city dear to Lauren’s heart!

To Prague we then went which was covered in snow,

Full of beauty and jazz clubs and fun places to go.

We turned west and drove to amazing Berlin.

A city so vibrant, a new chapter ready to begin.

Amsterdam was full of tulips and history,

Though why people there wear clogs is still a mystery!

We returned to Paris and jam packed full our days,

The Seine, Euro Disney, the louvre- what a maze!

The Eurostar whizzed us back to British land,

Then to Devon and Cornwall and friends- it was grand!

We made it to Oxford to watch all the snow,

Bring the UK to a standstill- all the people laid low.

Christmas was spent with our family and those dear,

To see snow on the ground gave Adam such cheer!

After catching our breath we again boarded a plane,

To Croatia for New Years- full of sunshine not rain!

From there we flew to Torino in Italy.

A town sitting in the north so prettily.

The cities of Florence and Rome we were happy to return,

To see artwork and museums, we were eager to learn.

From Rome we flew to the country of Greece.

To learn of the history, of Jason and the Golden Fleece.

Onward and eastward we headed to Turkey,

In Istanbul we found the good, bad and quirky.

Gallipoli was full of history and heartache,

It felt like a pilgrimage we felt proud to undertake.

We retraced our steps back through the Netherlands and Germany,

Our travelling styles by now were fairly in harmony!

In Bruges, which was beautiful, we ran into trouble,

With Lauren breaking her arm, we headed to hospital on the double!

With a plaster cast and sling along for the ride,

We returned to London to see family from far and wide.

Our last few days went by like a flash,

Filled with last minute sightseeing and places to dash.

With reluctance we boarded the plane at Heathrow,

Saying goodbye to Europe, the fun and the snow.

Dubai was a place filled with intrigue and sand,

Lauren still managed to shop with only one hand!

But as always happens when you’re having such fun,

Our four months of travels ended, this adventure was done.

In the middle of the east

Hello bloggers and- at last- a very warm welcome! We are in the beautiful, balmy city of Dubai in the unites Arab emirates and for the first time since October we are properly toasty- we landed this morning at 2am and it was 27 degrees!! Hurrah!! But to explain how we got here I'll backtrack a little...

After our visit to bruges we made our way to brussels where we caught the eurostar back to england. We had a lovely few days in London staying with my cousin and his lovely fiancé. Adam was an absolute trooper and carried my bags and jacket from Waterloo station to Piccadilly to London bridge and back again-all without the slightest grumble ( I was grumbling enough for the two of us! The novelty of wearing a cast wore off after about thirty five seconds!)

We cruised through the British museum and soaked up some serious history, then strolled over to covent garden where we had a very disappointing sandwich but heard some excellent buskers and then went and saw the lion king on the west end. It was absolutely amazing- the songs, the dancing, the costumes- absolutely breathtaking ! We have seen a few shows during this trip- we will rock you, the phantom of the opera and now the lion king and I really think it takes the cake- I highly highly recommend it!!!

Australia day was spent very quietly but marked all the same with a six pack of fosters beer and some Chinese takeaway- not the most Australian of meals but it did the job!!

Once we had squeezed all we felt we could from the big smoke of London we again returned to oxford for the third time this trip and had a lovely few days with my grandad. We didn't get up to too much, we explored the oxford castle and did a tad bit of shopping but mainly just relaxed and made the most of our time by enjoying our time.

On Saturday we made the last of our moves within the uk and went to bicester to hang out with my aunt and three awesome cousins. I absolutely love the two days spent there- 'we talked and drank and played darts (well, the boys played- I watched from the sidelines and made encouraging comments). These two days made it all the harder on Monday morning to say goodbye to family, friends and to Europe, a place that has been so SO good to us since october. But still, whether we liked it or not goodbyes had to be said, and a plane had to be boarded and in no time at all we were zooming out of heathrow bound for Dubai. 

Initially I was a bit impartial about coming to the UAE, it wasn't that I didn't want to come, it's just that I didn't know enough about the place to have a burning desire to visit, but wow am i glad we did! It's great here-not only because of the beautiful warm weather but, well it's just awesome! It's really unlike any other place that I've visited- it's so new and shiny and impressive! But there is also a real long standing sense of history and culture here- makes for a really interesting mix. We wandered about today just getting the feel for the place, visited a gold souk or two(did a little shopping!) and watched the fountain display outside the burj al Arab- absolutely great! 

But now alas I must close this blog and get some shut eye- we didn't get to our hotel until 330am this morning and, in a blind attempt to ward off jetlag got up at 9- so now it's 1035pm and my eyelids are drooping! 

I hope everyone reading this is happy and well
Love
Lauren the landing gear and Adam the al Arab