My travelling adventures...

I am at Singapore airport at the moment... 20hrs of flying tme (3hr stopover) and i arrive 2 days later in Oz! So far the flight has been pretty good - managed a doze and saw a couple of movies...
Well back to Germany... I did the Wutach Gorge - of course the buses werent fully operating as it was mid-week and the driver wasnt going to the start of the trail - he said he could drop me of 2km from it... ok - so he drops me in the middle of these fields and points out in a direction where the field has a cleared little path and says to follow it until the trail... trouble is, the path ended when it hit a road and there was forest on the other side which i wasnt too sure about just going in on a hunch... so i followed the road a bit and hit another trail... in the end after passing thru another bit of forest and thru some more fields and past some curious locals, and a chicken farm, i finally found the correct trail... Had it all to myself at the beginning... it was like the path i imagined little red riding hood skipping down on her way to her grandmothers - it was great... then it was like the ruins of rupenzel's castle as the rock was all white and brick shaped in some of the gorge...  Eventually i did come across other people, a noisy school group and a lot of mud! -went right past my ankles at one point! but it was a beautiful walk...  Had fun getting back - again amazed out how friendly people are - one lady chased after a bus with me to check about which one i should be catching - very sweet.  The next day did another walk up across the mountains, along what would be ski trails in the winter - and stopped at the little houses serving cold drinks - was a good day.
Then Thursday I was travelling to Nuernberg to see Petra... Was great to catch up - went out to pubs to meet some of her friends at nighttime - tried the local dish - a special bratwurst sausage and yummy sauerkraut!  nuernberg was actually a really nice town - a lovely old castle and lots of nice old buildings (altho many had been restored from the war but couldnt tell)... the place had a lot of Nazi history too - it was a former Nazi party rally ground and Hitler kind of made it HQ and a building remains haf built of what was going to be a congerss hall and speech centre for them.
Went to Petra's sisters wedding ceremony on the Saturday afternoon - they actually go to the registry office and sign it off with close family beforehand and then a fancy ceremony and party for friends is held later...  It was very fancy - they had friends who were event organisers so the cars had their names stencilled on (the cars were esp fancy BMWs where the headrest automatically adjusted to your height!), the ladies serving the afternoon tea were dressed up in old-fashioned attire and the reception was held at an old castle (I just stayed for afternoon tea then caught the train back to Frankfurt).  Yesterday I wandered around Frankfurt - it was ok for a big city had some nice parklands which i lazed about in...  My flight was at midnight last night - or is that 2 days ago already?! - I dont know :)
Better go and do some DF shopping!

Later!

Hi!  Well made it 8.5hrs across the globe from USA to Germany...  Feeling very tired.  Sat next to a guy that kept to himself (didnt hog the armrest) and got up to go to the loo when i did - want more could you want from a plane buddy?!  And I got to see Hoton hears a Who!!!!!!! Yay!  You got to choose your movies but wasnt much to choose from...
Anyway, didnt see anyone famous while in Hollywood but was fun doing the tour seeing all the places.
I am now at Titisee which is in the middle of the Black Forest on a lake - very nice...  Staying at a ´pension´which smells like my grans house used to - run by a little old lady (cheaper than a hostel).  Taking it easy today and then going to walk Wutach Gorge tomorrow, and somewhere else the next day...  and Thursday I will be making my way to Nurnberg to visit Petra.
Not long til I am home....

Hi!
Hows it going?  Well - Grand Canyon - amazing... We went there for sunset on both nights we were there - definitely the best time to see it - gorgeous colours that change as the sun goes down, very pretty.   The helicopter flight was fun - went over the east and north rims and got told a bit of the history, geology and names of things. Oh - we saw a moose!!! Very exciting stuff! And a snake - not so exciting...
Then we did a looong drive via Lake Havasu thru the desert to Anaheim, OC :)  It was exciting just being there so close to disneyland - really is the happiest place on earth - you have to be happy being that close to 'where all your dreams come true'.  We were able to see the fireworks that night from our hotel (block and half away from Disneyland)... then the next day we were in the line at 7.30 ready for the 8am entrance... It was a mere 15 - yes FIFTEEN -hours later that we left - hardly had a break all day - was sooooo much fun!  Went on nearly all the rides from the Indiana Jones jeep adventure, to Spash Mtn (very scary I thought - and you can tell in the photo as i am screaming), the nemo submarine and a fantastic starship ride!  Now we are in LA... Doing a tour tomorrow of the area - seeing the hollywood sign, rodeo drive, sunset blvd, venice beach, etc etc... Mum leaves tomorrow night at 9pm and then I am off to Germany the next morning...
Looking forward to the Black Forest again - altho havent got anything organised - eek! And will be catching up ith a girl from my galapagos trip while i am there too which is exciting!
Anyway that is all the news for now :)
Take care.

Howdy folks!  Well has been quite a while huh?  Everyone has wifi here so hard to find internet places for those poor souls that dont carry around a laptop...
Well started in San Fran - California is jolly chilly - even in summer! Brrrr! We met up wtih Will/Bill - guy from the Central America tour who lived in San Fran and was there visiting his folks while we were there.  Was great - he gave us a tour round the Bay - across teh Golden Gate and over a couple of other bridges, went to Berkley and a few other places - incl a few select chocolate shops (fellow choc lover!) along the way.
That night mum and I went to Alcatraz - it was great to see 'the Rock' - was a really good tour - the audio guide was like a whole series of stories and had the prision guards talking etc...
We got an upgrade on our hire car so driving around in a Pruis - one of those hybrid cars - dont need to use a key for anything - bit bizarre but really good on petrol!
We made our way down the coast road - very pretty, went to Pebble Beach (meant to be very famous), we went to the Monterey aquarium (meant to be in one of the best) and it was really good - had the most fantastic jellyfish exhibits! We stayed in los Banos, then made our way to Yosemite... yosemite was so beautiful - it was an absolutely huge park - with loads of pine trees then amazing rocks everywhere too.  Did a few little walks to Sentinal Dome, Taft Point, mirror lake etc (the ranger talked me out of doing half dome by myself).  We had 2 nights there at this little B&B - very quaint.  Then on our way to Death Valley we went along Toulimine Meadows... Death Valley was very cool - amazing colours in the sand - and we saw a road runner!!  Temperature went up to 122 degrees F. Been around 110 most of the time - so have limited wanderings outside of the a/c. 
Then Las Vegas - had brilliant scenery on the drive there - the Sierra-Nevada Mtn Range, and we stopped at Mammoth for the best hamburger I have ever had ('well gee, it is  cos the beef is ground fresh every day maam') and the most delicious choc milkshake as well!  Las Vegas was everything Iimagined - all the bright lights and tackiness - was great to see!  Had fun checking out the different casinos and watching the water fountain at the Bellagio.  We stayed at Excalibar so everythign was medieval themed - and we got an upgrade to deluxe room that was meant to be $870/night (yeah right! - who pays full price in vegas with all the offers flying about?!)
Anyway right now near the Grand Canyon and just about to go and check it out... - very exciting!  Doing a helicopter flight tomorrow.
Hope everyone doing well...

Seeya