Singapura and a very comfy transit hotel

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by KidazzleInk.com in Amsterdam to Budapest, Holidays, River Cruising, Time flies when you're globe trotting and river cruising, travel, Travelling in Europe, Uncategorized

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Brisbane Airport, Danube, Gold Coast, Keukenhof, Netherlands, Queensland, Rhine, Singapore, Singapore Changi Airport

3.15am and the alarm trilled in the darkness but we were already wide awake. Little sleep had been achieved by either of us during, what had seemed to be, the long and never-ending night before.

Our big day had actually arrived and our enthusiastic anticipation was now filling the pre-dawn air with an exciting and magical quality.

Today was the day! We were leaving our home on the ever beautiful Gold Coast (in Queensland, Australia – aka God’s Own Country as can truly be seen in the photos both above and below.)

We were heading off on our extended four-and-a-half week adventure through Europe to visit the historical, culture-rich, northern hemisphere. Our minds were alive with all of the coming adventures….Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Keukenhof, Slovakia, Hungary and, of course, our grand 15 days of river cruising along the Rhine, the Main and the Danube.

Within 20 minutes we were locking our doors and heading off to the Brisbane Airport for our long-awaited departure. First stop would be the multi-award winning, Changi Airport in Singapore.

Sad to say, it wasn’t long before we found out that we had way too much luggage. As always, trying to juggle it though the airport and customs was the usual agitating and nerve wringing experience…. Surely this part of a journey has much room for improvement in these modern times! With all of our 21st century technologies and scientific advancements, the airport experience and, particularly customs experiences, could be greatly refined and improved I believe. Perhaps someone just needs to give it a little thought and then give it all a major overhaul.

Anyway, before long we were up in the big blue vastness and being totally spoiled by our gracious air hostesses. We were catching up on movies we’d missed, discussing places we could visit, enjoying just having our meals brought to us for a change and trying to catch a little shut-eye whenever possible. The later, I must say, proved to be a bit difficult to achieve with all of that was going on.

Nevertheless, time passed quickly and soon we were landing at Changi.

So many beautiful orchid displays, water features and even goldfish. Changi is always a delight to visit. There were new technologies to explore and entertain us, along with the many bright and bountiful shops and Duty Free Outlets.

But after yet another tasty meal, and a brief sticky beak around to see what was new, it was certainly time to head for our transit hotel which was right within Changi airport itself. There were no windows at all in our room, but what a delight it was! And even more so, as it had only cost us just one Aussie dollar each for the next six sleep filled hours! There was a comfy bed, clean soft towels, in-room amenities for showering and glorious fresh sheets and soft pillows. At last it was time for a little bit of shut-eye!

Packing, transformation, and departure.

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by KidazzleInk.com in Holidays, Packing, Time flies when you're globe trotting and river cruising, Travelling in Europe, Uncategorized

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April, Australia, Austrian Alps, Budapest, Captain, departure, First there is often new luggage to buy. From there it moves on to decision making time....what to Pack and how much to take? The dilemmas of the excited traveller! We were going to be heading into th, God, layers, luggage, Queensland, suitcases, Travel

Yes, there are always things to organize, even when you’re going holidays!

I’ve found the greatest experiences seem to come from careful planning. Thinking ahead can bring it’s just rewards.

Firstly, there’s often new luggage to buy!

Thankfully, for this holiday, we were still suit-cased up from our last little sojourn in Asia…..all telescopic handles, zips, locks and wheels were still miraculously in working order, having survived their previous plane rides.

Nevertheless, there were still a large number of things to be sorted before we could take to the skies and it was certainly decision-making time for us once again….What to pack?…How much to take?…Will there be enough space left over to bring home the souvenirs and gifts for family and friends? These are the usual dilemmas and joys of the excited traveler and so they were for us!

We were going to be heading into the Northern Hemisphere at the very start of the Spring and not long after, what had been, one of the coldest and longest winters in Europe for many years.

Not only that but we had chosen to stay in Europe for close on five glorious, adventure-filled weeks. Should we take more summer gear or more winter gear? What if the weather changed and summer moved in more quickly? What if winter decided to hang on and the temperatures fell to freezing? After all, we knew Budapest in May was likely to be warm (if not sweltering) whereas, the Austrian Alps were more likely to be sub-zero temperatures in the middle of April! Added to all of this we were flying out of sunny Queensland with its balmy, humid, Autumn days.

“Layers“, we kept hearing! “Just make sure you take plenty of basic layers”. So in went the smalls, followed by the T’s; then the polos and the jeans and the cardies and, last but not least, a very warm and snuggly overcoat.. just in case!!

“There’ll be lots of walking and exploring so be sure to take sensible shoes”, was another plea we heard from many friends and neighbours. So in went the joggers and the deck shoes and the flats…. with just one very nice, glittery pair of heels for dining out and going to the Captain’s Dinner on the river cruise. Last but not least, in went the gloves and a very, very warm and furry pair of ankle boots… again just in case the winter had decided to hang around a little longer than it should.

Butterfly on a Queensland Orchid

Finally we were getting prepared for our big transformation from everyday working couple to globe-trotting DINKS and cultural aficionados. We were getting ready to leave “God’s own country“, Queensland, Australia and travel thousands of miles to the other end of the world. The excitement was building and strangely so were some of our little idiosyncratic stress triggers!! We were going to be as free as a butterfly, and while a few little niggles still played out in the background, they were largely diminished by our growing enthusiasm and new-found “joy de verve”.

Time flies when you’re globe trotting and river cruising.

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Posted by KidazzleInk.com in Amsterdam to Budapest, Holidays, River Cruising, Time flies when you're globe trotting and river cruising, Travelling in Europe

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Amsterdam, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Queensland, Terra Australis

We’re back to reality after a glorious holiday where we’ve been totally pampered and spoilt and now, I feel strangely sad about it all. I feel as though time must have sped up during that short exciting time while we were in Europe. Everyday normality and daily routine have faithfully returned and all that’s left are the rich and colourful memories.

Do you ever feel like this too when you return from a wonderful holiday?

It was brought home to me yet again, after our recent four-and-a-half week sojourn through Europe.

Having never been lucky enough to visit the northern countries before, the pre-trip waiting period had seemed rather dismal and eternal. You know the feeling and the extremely repetitive kitchen-table conversations…”You know we leave in just six months”; “It will go quickly”; “It’s now only five months and twenty days until we fly out”; and “We’ll be leaving in just five more months and ten days and four hours” and so the count down goes on and on.

In the lead up to our departure, the week days actually seemed somehow longer. The weekends also felt less interesting than they had previously and all because we were in what I call “the waiting period“: that eternal period of time when you’re just hanging around and longing to embark on what you believe is going to be, the trip of a life time.

Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary were all on our bucket list for, what would be, our very first sightseeing adventures through Europe. Three glorious weeks of doing our own thing and two action packed weeks of being totally spoiled by the wonderful Viking Crew on their fifteen day river cruise that would take us all the way from Amsterdam to Budapest across five countries and down three rivers.

And now what?

Well you see…We’re back!

It’s all behind us now and “Yes”…we’re firmly back in Terra Australis, Queensland already, with all of our grand memories and increased knowledge of Europe’s wonderful geography, modern history and cultural delights. We’re back with our 3000 odd photos and our trunk full of souvenirs.

We’re back already on the Gold Coast to be precise and really, isn’t our own country, Australia, supposed to be “God’s Own Country” with its modern high-rise cities, its pristine beaches, its folkloric outback wilderness regions and it’s absolutely glittering coastal resorts?

If, indeed, this is “God’s Own Country” we’re living in, then why is it that I long for the excitement of planning yet another journey to exotic far off lands. And…. how did it all happen so quickly? Four and a half weeks was supposed to be a long time, or so I thought. But truly it just flew past so very fast. Time, I think, must surely speed up as soon as you board a plane. I’m convinced of it. Time just seems to fly when you’re being spoiled and having so much fun! Why won’t the good times just slow down a little?

If I sort through some of the memories, highlights and photos perhaps I can at least relive some of it for a while. This is my first blog and it’s written to share with you (if you’re interested) the fun times and the highlights of our recent European Sojourn.