Mallorca - Part #2

Well I have to once again apologise for taking forever to place the next installment of the Mallorca photos. I have decided to break the photos into three installments, mainly because I don't want to load up too many at once. These photos are from the middle section of the holiday.

A photo of the wonderful breakfast that was prepared almost every morning. It seemed that everyone was keen to get into the kitchen and do something. I tried but in most cases was usually kicked out, or found there was no room. I pretty much just decided it was my job to help clean up. Thanks everyone for the great food!

On Thursday we took a trip to Soller, on the Palma to Soller train. This train was a rickety old train that was built in the early 1900s and somehow it managed to stay on the tracks! It was a very picturesque trip, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. The train passed through some 12 tunnels, and climbed over and through the mountain to the beautiful Soller.

One of the scenes looking from a stop on the train.

When we got to Soller we decided to take a look around. The streets were similar to Palma, very narrow, and only room for cars on some. Many of the shops were closed for siesta. Once again our body clocks were not running in tandem with the locals!

The Soller port was beautiful. Lots of expensive looking boats and big houses on the hills!

The next day we took a trip to the beach. The beach was at Es Trenc, and was very beautiful. The water was warm, and the beach was packed. This beach was very liberal! I even saw a woman walking along completely naked. In some countries you would get arrested for that.

The next day we decided to take an afternoon drive to the beautiful little town of Valldemossa. This was a wonderful place. Small, and represents the true Mallorca and Spanish lifestyle. I really enjoyed this because it got away from the touristy, areas that we had visited in the past few days.

Another photo from Valldemossa.

This is an example of a Valldemossa back yard. Pretty different to the ones we have in Australia.

One of the areas in Valldemossa where you can get a drink and just relax.

Britty with Corinna.

As we continued our trip around the Island, I stopped to take this photo. If you look at the top right of the photo there is a house that is like literally out on a ledge! What a view!

Photos of the coast. This was an amazing drive.

Andratx, the home of many rich and famous. A very beautiful place. The Real Estate prices here were quite expensive!

Another photo of the Port of Andratx. So many huge boats. The pictures really can't capture this places beauty.

More to come tomorrow. Bye for now. Scott

Mallorca - Part One

Well hello to everyone. Apologies for not writing over the past two weeks, but as most of you are aware, Britty and myself have been in Mallorca Spain for the last 8 days.

Mallorca is a beautiful place, with fantastic weather, great beaches, beautiful houses, huge boats, crystal clear water, and just a laid back holiday atmosphere. While we were away, Kiel has seen nothing but grey skies, so it was brilliant to escape for a while and enjoy some Australian like weather.

While in Mallorca we stayed at one of Britty's friends cousins places (a huge thanks to Corinna for letting us stay with her and trusting us with her cousins house!!). It was located about 20 minutes outside Palma, the capital of Mallorca. The house was on a hill overlooking Palma. The house has 4 bedrooms, three of which have their own bathroom and court yard or balcony. The house also had a spacious outdoor area for entertaining, and an in ground pool located at the rear of the house.

We arrived on Tuesday 22nd of August in the afternoon to blue skies and warm temperatures (a far cry from what we left behind!). For the first 4 days of our stay there were 7 people staying, so Britty and myself got to sleep in the lounge room, which I might add was extremely comfortable. Even though there were 7 bodies staying in the house, things were far from cramped. Each morning, and night we would eat in the outdoor entertainment area, and on most nights we would drink and play some type of card game. We split the cost of the food and drinks between the 7 so all up it wasn't too expensive. We also had to do the house hold jobs, my favorites were walking the dog, and keeping the beer cold!!

Everyone seemed to get on pretty well in the house, there were a few testing times, but all in all no major problems during the week. I had a great time, Britty had a great time, and we really can't wait to go there again! If I knew Spanish it would be such an excellent place to work!

There isn't much left to do now except post the photos. Here is part one of Mallorca 2006.

On the first night we arrived we had a bit of a party. Oesi one of the others guys staying at the house had bought some Havana Club, which I had never tried before. Was very nice, and really helps the party along! We were all pretty late up the next day!

After we did surface from the previous nights activities, Britty and myself took a trip into the capital of Mallorca, Palma. This is us standing in front of the Palma Cathedral.

We took a walk around the gardens of the cathedral.

The cathedral was nothing less than stunning, it was freaking huge, and was built sometime in the 1100s. The roof was so high. The designs and the art were just incredible. The picture is not the best because I didn't have the tripod with me.

Picture of the cathedral Altar.

At the back of the Cathedral were some beautiful little streets. Extremely narrow, no way through for cars (not even Smart Cars). Sometimes you are lucky to get 5 people in a line across. There were so many streets, all connecting from different directions. You could certainly get lost here! No wonder Christopher Skase lived here!

Me infront of the beautiful, and huge boat habour overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the houses just down the street from where we were staying. This one was very similar to the one we were staying in.

Along the entire street the walls are built with stones. Unbelievable amount of work required here!

In the coming days I will post the next few pictures. Until then, keep well.

Scott

Tomorrow we head to Mallorca

Hi everyone, well tomorrow we head to Palma De Mallorca for a nice 10 day holiday. The weather forecast is for sunshine and lots of it. It should reach 33 degrees by Saturday. Certainly beats the weather here at the moment.

Over the next 10 days post are going to be few and far between..... When I get back I will post the photos of the trip.

Hope all is well at home and around the world. Speak soon. Scott

Berlin

On the weekend Britty and myself went to Berlin to check out the sights of the city. We booked a hotel, which worked out to be in a great location just two stops away from Zoologischer Garten, one of Berlin's shopping districts.

Traveling around Berlin was a breeze. The public transport network is fantastic, with U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Trams, and buses, we could go anywhere in the city any time of the day.

Berlin is a great city, rich in history, so many attractions, brilliant night life and so much to do. Way to much to do in two and a half days!

I took quite a few photos, but some on Sunday didn't quite turn out because of the weather. Here they are.

Me standing at Potsdamer Platz. This is a really nice area, with cafes, shops and movies.

The roof at Potsdamer Platz. Is very cool.

Another photo of Potsdamer Platz.

I had to go here. The new Hauptbahnhof (central train station) in Berlin. This is a pretty amazing station, with multiple levels for trains, and multi levels for shopping and information.

Inside the Hauptbahnhof.

The Reichstag. Germany parliament house. The lines to go up to the top of the dome were huge. Next time I am in Berlin I will wait, but this time we only had two days. This building is quite famous due to the a recent face lift, and it is where the re-unification occurred October 3rd 1990. Britty tells me that Oct 3rd is also a public holiday!

Me at the most famous icon of Berlin, the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburger Gate). Britty and myself past through just as Napoleon did in 1806 when his army conquerored Berlin, as Hitler did when his Nazi Party took control of Germany in 1933, as did many soldiers during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, and as did the West German Chancellor when he greeted the East German Prime Minister on 22nd Dec 1989 to reopen the Gate after about 28 years. The Gate has also been visited by so many important people, and was a symbol of the divide between east and west during the Cold War. The Wall use to be close to where we were standing. Now they are building a new subway station! That's progress.

Many Festivals, and Fan Mile during the World Cup was held here, between the Gate and the Siegessaule (Victory Pole). There was some type of festival going on when we were there.

The Kaiser Wilhelm memorial Church.

Me infront of the Berlin Dome. It is also very nice inside!

The view from the top of the Berlin Dome. Pitty about the weather.

A closer view of the Siegessaule (Victory Pole). It is in the middle of a huge round about.

ARRRHHHHHH!!!!!

Berlin was great fun. We also visited one of Berlin's night spots. Was very good, but extremely expensive.

Now we have been to Berlin, we are counting down until we travel to Mallorca on Tuesday!

Bye for now. Scott

Travel Plans – August

August is going to be a busy month for myself and Britty. This month we have two major trips planned, and we also have a big week in between our major trips.

Tomorrow we are going to Berlin for the weekend. We are leaving after Britta finishes work (hopefully a little early), and we hope to get to Berlin by about 9:30pm. We have been offered the opportunity to borrow Britty's Dad's Audi, which we have of course excepted! This should make the trip a little speedier! Got to love those no speed limit Autobahns.

We were able to find a Hotel in Berlin for about 60 Euros a night, which was actually much cheaper than private rooms in Hostels. It was a tough decision to make, having to decided between a 4 star hotel, and a 2 star hostel with a shared bathroom! The hotel appears to be quite central, so I am hoping the website wasn't exaggerating the facts.

The following week is also shaping up as a busy one. On Tuesday it's Britty's Mum's 50th Brithday. We are going over for cake, and then going out to dinner. Should be good. On Wednesday it is Britty's friend Schners's birthday, and we are going to her place for another party! Thursday is a rest day, then Friday is Britta's Mum's official party. The party on Friday has 130 people coming, lots of food and drink!

On Tuesday the 22nd Britty and myself are heading to Palma de Mallorca in Spain for about 10 days. We are going with Britty's friend Corinna, who is lucky enough to have a Cousin that owns a house on the island. Corinna is house sitting, so she decided to invite a few people to stay with her. Should be a lot of fun.

While in Mallorca we are hoping to hire a car for a few days and explore the island. We will also spend a bit of time on the beach, and hopefully we will get to Palma for one or two party evenings!

Well that is August pretty much shot. The only other major event during August is the impending birth of Britty's Sister's first child. There is a good chance that it will pop its head out next week, but of course, no one can really be sure.

Until next time. Scott

Britty and myself turn 1

On Saturday, the 5th of August, Britty and myself officially turned 1 year old! One year has gone so fast, and has been extremely exciting! If 18 months ago someone would have told me that in 18 months time, I would be living in Germany, with a beautiful German chick, there is no way I would have believed them!

To celebrate our anniversary we went to a restaurant just below our flat. It was quite expensive, but because it was a special occasion we decided just to sit down, and not worry about the price. I had some chicken, with lemon sauce, and Britty had fish, with a tomato filled with vegetables. Both meals also came with the standard German potatoes!

After dinner we decided we would stay in, and play some poker. During the match we had some of the best hands I have ever seen. I had to take a photo of this one! Check it out.


I was dealt a pair of Aces, and Britty was dealt a pair of Kings! At this stage Britty was winning the match, but I put most my money (Monopoly money of course, we are too poor to buy chips) in, and managed to almost double up when the cards fell my way.

The last hand of the match was also very exciting. We were pretty much both all in. We flipped over the cards with just the river to go, and Britty had already made a low Straight. She had also grabbed the big pile of money as to claim the win! I had an 8 and 9, and the only card in the deck that could help me was a 7. On the river I hit 7 and somehow won the match with a higher Straight! I also claimed the pile of money! :)

We both had great time on our 1st Anniversary, and I know there are many more anniversaries to come!

A few more photos from Chad's visit!

Was just downloading the final photos from the camera, and found a few more from Chad's visit. These were taken on the last night Chad was in Kiel. We decided to go to the local pub for dinner, and a couple of drinks. Here they are.

Photo inside the Forstbaumschule. Chad, me, Ingola, Nadine sitting waiting for our food to come! We were so so hungry.

Britty and myself with Chaddy outside the Beer Garden.

Another random photo of Chad.

Chady posing with the three girls! Go Chaddy!

Bye for now. Scott