europe in pictures

Silence?  Did someone say silence? Well, yes. As a matter of fact, it has been a little silent around here lately.  I'm giving no excuses though. Just needed a break from my break!

Speaking of break. Thought I'd share a little (compared to the full library) collection of photos to give you a feel for what we saw in Europe. But just the best bits. Nothing worse than death by slideshow.

The delightful 'Het Grote Avontuur' shop in Amsterdam

some cute cards on display at Het Grote Avontuur in Amsterdam

all the sweet, kitsch, quirky, splendid things in Het Grote Avontuur

the fabric in Het Grote Avontuur was so hard to resist

I amsterdam... in, you guessed it!

beautiful flowers at the Bloemenmarkt (flower market), Amsterdam

anyone for a bike, or 100? Amsterdam

one of the many hundreds of canals, Amsterdam

you can't come to Holland and not see windmills!

or clogs. lots of them.

there's lots of cheese in Holland too. Yummy cheese.

being tourists in Krakow town square, Poland

salt icicles forming from the ceiling in Wieliczka salt mine, Krakow

these stunning chandelier's are made from salt!

my beloved, me and my cool uncle in Zakopane, Poland

did you spot the violinist in the centre of the photo? Old town, Warsaw

some ace stencil art on a wall in old town, Warsaw

the sweet little handmade craft market we stumbled upon in Warsaw

just chillin' on the brick wall surrounding Zamek Krolewski (royal castle), Warsaw

the standard tourist shot with the Eiffel Tower, Paris, of course!

so many stunning gothic buildings in Prague

one of the many cobble-stone laneways in old town Prague

so much detail on all the buildings in Prague

me hanging with Chiko the owl in the royal gardens of Prague castle

Here's a snap-shot of our trip in bullet points:

• day 1 - hotel had overbooked and we had to move to another hotel in Amsterdam
• day 2 - mobile phone stolen from my bag
• rained
• wore soggy sneakers on the overnight train from Prague to Krakow
• arrived a day earlier than when our accommodation was booked in Warsaw (had to find another hotel for the night)
• found out we were staying on the most dangerous train line in Paris. As a result, didn't go out after dark and were confined to watching 50 channels in French for 3 nights in a row.
• rained
• train broke down from paris to amsterdam
• rained
• flight from amsterdam delayed.  the tow-truck which pulls the plane out of terminal broke down and then we missed our "departure timeslot" so we sat on the tarmac for an hour and a half.

But we did have an adventure!