Europe

Its been a pretty big week, so if you can't be bothered reading everything below here is the condensed version; we left behind the sun and sand in Africa for Austrian ski slopes and Bavarian beer, we drove to Germany where I discovered that my definition of being 'full' has been redefined, then we made our way to France and the Champagne trail.

OK here is the long version; I'll start at the start. It was a big drive from St Lucia back to Joburg where we spent the night drinking our left over beers and watching dvd's, pretty unremarkable. The next day we had a late flight from Joburg to London and then a connection to Munich.

Sth Africa was a really interesting place and I'm sure I'll be back one day but they still have a lot of work left to do before it feels safe enough to walk in the cities at night. Sth Africa is hosting the 2010 World Cup and all the guides were saying how they were almost ready now, the stadiums were mostly all finished or very close and the new highways were complete, but they only talked about infrastructure. They didn't mention anything about the crime, unemployment or homeless people. Lots of locals we talked to said that about 10 years ago they felt like Sth Africa was finally on the right track but since Nelson has stepped down as president that feeling has disappeared. Now most cities have massive unemployment rates, crime is rampant and there are more homeless people than ever. Apartheid was only stopped this generation so maybe things will improve in the future as new generations get better education, but there is no way they will be able to fix these problems by 2010.

Anyway, our flights were fine and we arrived in Munich on the morning of the 11th. We got a transfer to the hotel where we were going to meet up with Heidi's parents, dumped our bags and went for a walk. It was just starting to snow, so it was a really big change from 40 deg sunshine to snow and about -2 deg. I bet I was the only person in Munich to be suffering from an annoying case of sunburn whilst also enjoying the snow. We meet up with Heidi's folks that night and the next day we drove to Innsbruck in Austria to meet some of Heidi's family. I

nnsbruck is amazing, it’s a small city wedged between mountains with only about 150,000 people. The hospitality was endless. I think Austrians are the friendliest people on earth. I ate and drank my bodyweight in different types of cheeses, meats, beer and wines. When I thought I would burst, I was told to eat more, and saying no was not an option (I only learnt how to say "Sorry I'm full" on the last day). We did manage to get out from the table though; we had a guided tour of Innsbruck from Michael, one of Heidi's relatives - which naturally included 'gluwine' (warm spiced wine) and coffee with cakes.

Veronica, another of Heidi's family, took us for a day of skiing at Kuhtai, one of many local mountains. It was probably on par with the best skiing I've ever had in Canada or Colorado - it had wide runs, loads of space, and lots of fresh snow. The weather was perfect and it wasn't busy at all so we had a ball.

We left Austria and drove up through Germany to another small town called Remscheid, to see more of Heidi's relatives. Again, we ate and drank more than we thought was humany possible and again the hospitality is unbelievable. I'm sure these people, who until yesterday wouldnt have even recognised me in the street, would glady donate a kidney if I asked. Actually they'd probably ask if I'd like a lung as well - it seems like there is nothing they wont do to make sure we have a great time. The houses there are pretty big, they even have their own bars in the basements along with stocked cellars!

After a couple of days in Germany we headed towards the Champagne region in France. We made it to Reims on the first day, we didn't see much of the city becuase we got in llate after driving all day. The next day we drove to Eperney which is a smaller town outside of Reims on the Champagne Trail.

Epernay is the perfect French town and there are lots of small streets with shops, bars and cafes. We decided to stay a couple of extra nights in Eperney, its a really cool place. We wet on a tour of the "Catllane" Champagne cellars yesterday, they have a massive network of underground caves that they store and age their bottles in - they have over 8 mllion bottles down there covered in layers of dust and mould, some of the bottles have been aging there since 1915. We were shown how the aging process occurs (basically they leave in the sediment which ages the champagne, once the sediment is removed you should drink the champagne asap, you can't age it at home) and also how the corking process happens which was interesting.

Today we're getting a train to a small town called Libourne which is near Bordeaux so we can meet up with more of Heidi's family for Christmas.

Almost forgot: Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you all have a great summer in the sun, and if you're reading this from work after the new year break, just remember that I'm still on holidays for another 6 months! Ha!