Lu-Gerda's Travels

On 12 June 2008, feeling excited and very nervous, I got on a bus in Mossel Bay with my friend Lelanie for my first trip outside of South-Africa.   I cannot believe that 10 years have passed since that day. The trip started with a lot of travelling…first the bus ride to Cape Town and then two flights…Cape Town to Dubai and Dubai to London. It was my first time on an airplane and by the end of the second flight I was so tired…of sitting and not being able to sleep and of all the excitement and nerves.   By the time we arrived at the hotel I was so relieved that everything worked out and that we were at the right place.  After exploring a little bit we went to bed early, very early to rest before the real adventures  began. The first part of our trip was a Contiki Tour to explore the highlights of Europe. The Contiki Tour began and ended in Londen and we decided to stay in London a few more days to explore before returning to South Africa. ...

  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...

  Amsterdam St Goar  Our next day in Europe was very relaxed.   We woke early and after breakfast we got on the bus to travel back to London.   It was quite a long day of sitting in the bus.   We left at about 8:00 and at about 12:30 we got onto the ferry at Calais. Munich Venice The trip on the ferry was not pleasant because it was windy and the water was “onstuimig”.   By 14:00 we were back on the bus for the last bit of traveling before reaching London at about 16:30.   The rest of the afternoon we used to visit an internet café to download photos and send e-mails to our family.   We also went to buy some food. Rome  and Vatican City Florence Later that evening we met some of the other people who were on our Contiki tour for a drink at the London Pub near our hotel. It was difficult to say good buy to these wonderful people who shared an amazing vacation with us. Lucerne Paris Group photo in Florenc...

After a busy morning in Paris with a lot of walking we took the to St Michel and walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral.        The outside of the cathedral is beautiful.   Construction of the cathedral started in 1163 and it was completed in 1345.   The building is 128m long and it has two 69m high towers.   It was very busy outside the cathedral and inside it was calm and peaceful (even with many people inside).   The inside was also beautiful with pretty windows like the rose window from the 13 th century. After the visit to the cathedral we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for our dinner and show.   We left the hotel at about 18:15 and the bus took us to Nouvelle Eve Cabaret Show.   We had a very nice dinner and a great show including a lot of singing and dancing.   Although the evening was very expensive it was worth it and I am very glad we decided to...

Tuesday 24 June 2008 started with a very nice breakfast in the Holiday Inn in Paris.   After breakfast we were ready for a whole day of exploring Paris.   Our first stop for the day was the Eiffel tower.   We arrived at the tower at about 9:30 and had to wait about 30 minutes.   We bought our tickets and took the lifts to the top of the tower.   It was a clear day and the view from the top was amazing.       Back on the ground we met some of our friends from our Contiki group and together we walked to Trocadero for some more views of the Eiffel Tower.   We then walked to the Arc de Triomph at Place Charles de Gaule.   We used the underground pathway to get to on the traffic circle and view the Arch.    We decided to walk from the Arc de Triomph along the Champs-Elysees to the Tuileries gardens. We walked pass beautiful buildings and shops.   It was further than we thought and...

On Monday 23 June 2008 we left Switzerland and drove through France to Paris.   It was a long drive.   We left at 8:15 and stopped for food at 11:15.   We stopped again at 16:00 and arrived at our hotel at about 18:25.   We ate dinner in the hotel at 19:00. Then at 20:15 we got on the bus for a tour of Paris.   We saw some amazing buildings. When we were planning this trip I wanted to see Paris but I was more excited about other places.   Once we arrived I fell in love with the city. Then our guide told us to look for the 22 nd window of a building on the left of the bus. We were counting and recounting and could not see what she saw.   Then she told us to look right… …The Eiffel Tower  (It is not the best picture, but it is my first of the Eiffel Tower) We stopped for about 15 minutes to take photos before we had to leave again. Next we drove ...