OKTOBERFEST!!!

Not having booked a spot in any of the tents, we were told it would be impossible to sit down and eat/drink so when we got in there at 10:30am and got a place at a Beer Garden we did not move. It wasn’t busy at all then and we thought we might have a boring two or three ours missing all the fun… we couldn’t have been more wrong!!

After making some really nice new friends, eating some great organic chicken and drinking litres and litres of beer life was fun and good! I think we left at 7:30pm, no point asking Dec as he didn’t even know who I was!! We walked back to the hotel where apparently we must have got our keys and bags and crashed after a bath. Next days was pretty much written off along with my stomach… The funniest part was walking out of the room into the corridor and not knowing which way to go to find the lifts!! My body hated me for about 5 days and made me feel the pain I inflicted on it.

Train to Frankfurt where I thought I lost my handbag with all the passports (shock and heart attack!!) and then off to the USA…

France and Germany

Strasbourg is a beautiful little town, the old town is an ‘island’ in the middle of the canals. It feels like walking in the past… The cathedral with it amazing apostles’ clock that comes to life everyday at 12 noon, the restaurants by the canal, the old bridges… it’s beautiful. We had some amazing food, despite some rude and poor service in one of the restaurants.

From there into Germany through the Black Forest. Every single road with took had a detour sending s a different way. For a while we thought we would never leave Villingen-Schwenningen after going round and round in circles for about an hour… Aaahhhhhhh!!!

Konstanz is in the border of Germany with Switzerland, so before heading out we went for a walk across the border. Fun. Forty minutes later we were having lunch in Austria, the joys of driving through Europe.

Funny thing happened, we hit traffic on the main road and took a random exit, the town was pack jammed because of the same traffic so after a mini wrong way bit of road we ended up in a small country road. Dec was buried in the map while I drove, I sign came up and I said “Dec, Plan C”. He was like “What are you talking about you insane Brazilian, we don’t even have a plan B”… the road was heading to PLANSEE!!! Which by the way was the best detour we took as it is an amazing huge green lake amongst the mountains in the border with Austria. Cool!!

Fussen and Schwangau (right beside Wank mountain!!!!!) pardon my French…

Stunning part of the world. Lakes, mountains, crops, castles. After exploring Schwangau on foot and having a nice dinner and beers, we call it a day.

Up early and fresh next morning we headed to the fairytale castle at Neuschwanstein. Built by King Ludwig II, it was never finished because he was ‘diagnosed’ mad and mysteriously drowned alongside the psychiatrist.

Onto Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a day and then Munich.

California dreaming...

Who would've thought that the fog would take an autumn holiday and leave San Francisco during our stay? Super!

We arrived on a weekday and were welcomed by Dec's cousin MaryEllen and her daugther Lilly.

What a host!! ME showed us around San Francisco, mostly those amazing spots you don't get to see as a tourist without a car! We had a lovely brunch by the ocean, walked around the park, saw whales playing by the coast and then drove over the Golden Gate bridge.

Dec spotted Hulk Hogan sitting by his chopper and being friend to fans - all a bit surreal!

Other than that, we walked a lot, got the cable cars, took photos on Lambard street, ate at some really nice restaurants and had a special visit from Oregon: David Sheehan, Dec's mate from Uni who drove 9 hours only to see him after 11 years! Good man!!

On our last day we went to San Jose to visit Great American Park, for all of you 'amusement park fans', we had a ball. The park was very empty as far as those places go, and we got to go on every roller coaster or scary ride of sort soooo many times! Funnnnnn!

Up early the next morning to collect our truck!! We had booked a Mid-SUV but got given a Grand Cherokee Laredo. We drove south to Highway 1 on the coast, saw amazing places like Big Sur, a waterfall that end on the beach sands, had lunch in Carmel, and ended up in Santa Barbara for the evening.

The next day saw us driving even further south to San Diego where we stayed at a resort in the middle of Mission Bay. Pretty cool. We visited Mission and Pacific beaches where we had lemonades and walked the promenade (almost got run over by a thousand cyclist), had traditional Mexican in the old town, used the pool and the spa, relaxed, slept and had a few margaritas. Our hotel bar had manta rays, little sharks and other amusing creatures in its 'pond'.

All relaxed and ready, we headed to Los Angeles. Hollywood, here we come!! An afternoon of chasing stars and driving the big city ended with a super nice dinner at an uber cool burger place in Santa Monica.

Next day, more parks!!! Six Flags Magic Mountain was the best I've ever been too. But if you ever go, make sure to save and go Platinum, it's worth it every penny. And don't miss the X2!!

To end our Californian dream, we caught up with Dec's Dunbar mate Phil who has been living in LA for a while. Had some well deserved drinks and dinner and closed that chapter of our trip with a golden key!!

Off to Nevada folks... also known for VEGAS!!!

TORNADO IN ARIZONA!!!

The headline of this blog should be "clueless"...
... that's Dec and I in the past 2 days driving through a tornado in Arizona.
Two days ago, 15 minutes ahead of us on freeway 40 a truck got turned over by hail and winds, we stopped for lunch and your man came in afterwards with details of what happened.
This morning we heard how some of the roads were closed due to the tornado, houses destroyed, cars and caravans turned.
We thought we were just driving through really bad rain, well, and hail and snow...
Well, family and friends, we're in Utah now, safe and sound (except for my tornado flu or would it be a Vegas flu??) in Zyon Canyon and we promise that tomorrow when we go for our trek, we'll avoid the flash flood areas.
Mwah!

Photos link

http://picasaweb.google.com/104178915399064971814

We've been in the USA for the past 10 days and having a ball but the blog will take a little while to catch up. In the mean time, enjoy the latest European Adventures photos.

Love from Decaro