TravelStream™ news feed for member beyond_the_sea on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/beyond_the_sea en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 27 May 2007 18:00:21 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178657880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178657880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178657880/tpod.html Sun, 27 May 2007 18:00:21 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Lazy days by the hotel pool, working on our tan. Ahhhh blissful holiday.

The next few days in Egypt were spent soaking up the sun and just relaxing.

=====================
TUESDAY 8 MAY, 2007
=====================
Lazy day by the hotel pool. It was very hot today. I had to stay under the umbrella, so must've been at least 40 degrees. Later we were told that it was 44 degrees.





IMPRESSION: Throughout our stay the same music was played everywhere - Kenny G instrumetal, Shakira's Hips don't lie and some others.

My tummy was still feeling dodgy, and as it was so hot and uncomfortable I skipped lunch.

Did some shopping in Naama Bay and Fiona found the Arabic song we listened to while cruising down the Nile - Habibi Amoura ....




We went to a restaurant called Aladdin and ate some grilled fish. I had a sip of the really cheap Egyptian wine we bought.




After a couple of sips of the cheap wine I felt sick, feeling like throwing up and then everything went blurry. I remember Fiona asking if I could see her and I couldn't so started panicking. Lucky she knew what to do (due to all the fainting spells she's been having in London). She made me lie on my back with my legs up in the air to get the blood back to my head. It must've been a funny sight as I had on my big green striped dress. The restaurant manager was so nice and bought me a big block of ice and kept checking I was okay.

In the adjoining Shisha area, they had a male belly dancer. He was actually very good. Then all the waiters and their friends started doing a whole synchronised dance. Lots of fun.





========================
WEDNESDAY 9 MAY, 2007
========================
Another lazy day by the pool. We met two English girls on holidays - Angela and Jenni and another English guy Wez, on holidays with his family.




IMPRESSION: The cleaning guy left a love heart made out of towels and fresh flowers on each of our beds. How sweet! On the last day he left a nice bowl of fresh flowers too.



We all decided to go out to dinner in Naama Bay. We met up at 7:30pm in the pool room (billiards that is) and then piled into the taxi. Wez sat in front and he is such a outgoing guy. He was chatting away with the driver, pretending to steer the wheel and clapping along to the music.




We went the Hard Rock cafe. It was lots of fun. It was a little fat boy's birthday, and they bought out a cake, sang happy birthday and then smeared cake all over his face. All the waiters and waitresses then did a little synchronise dance and they lifted the birthday boy in the air. So funny.




Later on they pulled up Fiona, Angela and I up to dance in a big group.




After a bit of last minute souvenir shopping we all went to the The Tavern Bar - a pub with karaoke.




They were playing a footy game so we all waited at the KFC with some water. At least it was cool there. There was a sign outside that said it was 31 degrees - and this was at 2am!

We went back to The Tavern Bar and did some karaoke. Well Fiona and Wez did. They got up and sang Grease and Fiona did a bit of Shania Twain. I normally love karaoke but that is in a karaoke bar. But this was in a pub. I did put down a Bon Jovi song, but the bastards didn't play it.




After awhile though it was time to go home. And after walking around and around we finally found Wez and Jenni (who went for a walk) and we caught a cab back to the hotel at 2:30am.

FUNNY STORY: I was busting to go to the toilet. So I went into the bar toilets. It was filthy! So I quickly squatted and went to wash my hands. There were two guys sitting on the basin talking. Then I saw the urinals. Oops. Wrong toilets. HAHA. But it was too late wasn't it? So I continued to wash my hands. One of the guys looked at me and shrugged to say "What the?". I just shrugged my shoulders back and walked out. How funny.

It was a great night and very good to meet up with some fun people after all the couples and non-English speaking tourists.

========================
THURSDAY 10 MAY, 2007
========================
OUr last day! We spent the morning by the pool, soaking up the last of the sunshine. Hung out with the guys by the pool.

It seemed most people were there on similar packages like ours as alot of people were leaving today.

Suddenly at 12pm people started getting their suitcases out of their rooms. And Fiona and I realised that we had to check-out of our rooms at 12pm. I ran to the reception to confirm and it was true!! There was no reminder at all. We went into our room and the cleaning guy was in their making up our beds - even he didn't know we had to check out.

So we quickly packed all our stuff. Luckily Angela and Jenni offered us their room to leave our luggage in. So we checked out and then went back to the pool.

At 4pm we said our goodbyes and then caught a cab to the airport. We were quite early so checking in was surprisingly quick. So we had time to eat some pizza and spend the rest of our Egyptian dollars. I actually bought the only souvenirs for people at the airport - fridge magnets filled with desert sand. haha. Expensive though at 250 Egyptian pounds each (That's 2.50 English pounds each!!).



In the airport lounge we bumped into Nicki and Kath and swapped stories. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 7:10pm, and we were still waiting to board at 6:55pm. Ahh the relaxed attitudes of the Egyptians.





Another 5 hour flight home and then back to the cold dreary and WET London weather. grrrrr. Back into bed by 1am. Work the next day. Too bad I couldn't wear a mini skirt to show off my tanned legs.

What an amazing 8 days. So much fun and lots of memories. Still can't believe I saw the pyramids and the sphinx. Ticked off my wish list. Egypt is definitely one of my favourite places.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1170443460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1170443460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1170443460/tpod.html Sun, 27 May 2007 17:24:33 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Berlin, Germany

Spent the weekend in Berlin with my friend Gesa, who I met during the overnight homestay in Sapa, Vietnam. Berlin is full of old and run down buildings, creative people (artists/ musicians/ architects or in advertising), graffiti everywhere, punks, designer clothes, cobblestone paths, graffiti, bars and clubs, saukraut, german budweiser beer, very relaxed and cool people and did I mention grafiti?

Gesa was extremely hospitable. Lots of little touches really made my weekend more enjoyable. She left German chocolates by my bed (just like a hotel!!). For breakfast she bought me coffee, made toast, croissant, a cheese platter, even a fruit salad, tea and coffee ... all prettily set out whilst I had my morning shower. How spoilt was I?

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FRIDAY 2 FEBRUARY, 2007
--------------------------
Left work early at 4pm to catch my 6:45pm flight to Berlin! Yay. How exciting. Another weekend, another European country to explore.

Arrived at Stansted airport without fuss. But the line through the departure gate took almost 45 mins. Looks like I wasn't the only one with the brilliant idea of leaving London for the weekend :) Grabbed a Hommus sandwich from Pret (I love Pret) and headed for the departure gate.

Flight was uneventful and after 1 hr 45 mins we were in Berlin at about 10:30pm Berlin time. (They are 1 hour ahead of London).

Caught the train to AlexanderPlatz. And then the underground to Gesa's flat.

IMPRESSION: GRAFFITI everywhere. On the walls, subway, train, seats, doors, windows even the cars!

A few punks boarded the graffitied train, all dressed up in leather gear with purple mohawks. I looked at the 2 other tourists on the train and we all burst out laughing. That's Berlin for you.

Gesa met me at the station which was a few minutes walk to her flat.

Had a quick rest before heading out to the local bar for a couple of german Becks beer. It was a very funky and relaxed cool bar. The toilet was decked out in red vinyl retro couches and chandeleirs.

There was a black and white puppy dog running around the bar. Very cute. I was to see lots of dogs around Berlin - they love them :)

Drank, chilled and chatted with Gesa til 4am.

IMPRESSION: If you return your beer bottles to the bar they give you 5 euros back.

-------------------------------
SATURDAY 3 FEBRUARY, 2007
-------------------------------
Woke up after sleeping in a proper bed (well a mattress), in my OWN room (well the lounge room) and had a refreshing shower. Wow power shower head!

Gesa had set the table with croissants, toast, jam, cheese platter, tea and coffee and yoghurt. She even ducked out for coffee for me and a English magazine about Berlin! How sweet!

We decided to go for a walk around Berlin. There were lots of cool boutique stores selling designer clothes by Berlin designers. Very funky. Very cool. Very expensive.

I did buy a bag - it was a copy of the old army bags and had German writing on it. Apparently roughly translated it means "Fearless is golden".

I seem to be buying bags everywhere I go. This trip should be called my International Bag Tour.


The cinema


Taking a break

IMPRESSION: Most people in Berlin are artists or musicians. This is reflected in their sense of style. Lots of khakis and greens and bright colours.

Again one of things that struck me was the amount of graffiti. Nearly every building had graffiti on it. Lots of old buildings too. This gave the streets a rundown feel. But amongst this were cool and funky boutique shops, cafes and bars, cobblestone roads next to road works. A rusted street sign in front of new Illy coffee shop. So amazing.


Cool building


Weird charity bins

We visited the last part of the Berlin Wall. It was smaller then I thought. But touching this wall gave me the chills as it has so much history. Gesa showed me the parts that used to be East Berlin and West Berlin.


The Berlin Wall


The Berlin Wall

We met up with Marius, a friend of Gesa. He works in advertising. We had coffee and some "American food" - quiche and toasted cheese sandwiches. The only place we could find that sold decent food. It was also crowded and we managed to squeeze onto a table. Marita, another friend of Gesa's also dropped by for a coffee. She teaches English (refreshingly different as since Gesa worked in advertising all her friends worked in advertising or were architects).

After coffee, Gesa and I visited The Reichstag - the parliament house for Germany. we were lucky to only queue up for 10 minutes outside. Sometimes you have to wait a couple of hours. I guess it was late. Security was strict - almost felt like I was at the airport. We made our way to the viewing tower and it was COLD. It has an open roof, and you lie directly underneath it to watch the clouds pass overhead. We managed to glimpse ONE lone star. The view was amazing. Though it was dark so couln't make out most of it.


The Reichstag

The viewing tower was so modern. Quite a contrast to the Berlin I had seen so far. The grounds around The Reichstag was surrounded by green grass. Reminded me of Parliament house in Canberra. All new and clean.


The Reichstag viewing tower

IMPRESSION: German TV. MTV - They played a music video by Lordy, a heavy metal act that one Eurovision. The song was not too bad, though the video was hilarious. A group of cheerleaders in a school gym, and then suddenly Lordy (a 4 man group) burst through the door - all electric lights and explosions. Did I mention that Lordy dress up as monsters/freaks. Full on alien costumes. Hilarious. They also showed the movie Rush Hour, which Chris Rock and Jackie Chan dubbed in German.

After relaxing at home Gesa and I met up again with Marius and another friend, Rafael (who also worked in ... advertising), in an old German pub. They teased me as I wanted to try traditional German food and they had never been in this pub, which was full of old German men and tacky brown furniture and white curtains. Like someone's grandparents place.


The old German pub


My German food

As I said, I wanted to try traditional German food. But I don't eat meat. So that was a challenge. Traditional German food it seemed was Wurst sausages or snitzels. So I ate warm potatoes served with cold herring. A weird combination but it worked. And of course a plate of saurkraut. Washed down with Budweiser beer. This was the original German Budweiser beer, not to be confused with the imitation American Budweiser beer.

At 1am we heading off to Maria. A dance club. Clubbing is not one of my favourite things, but hey we were in Berlin and it was supposed to be a really great club. Waiting in line though I had my doubts. We were along the river and next to us was a large pile of rubble. The building itself looked like a rundown disused warehouse, covered in graffiti. charming. At the front of the queue a small group of guys line jumped in front of us. One was smoking a joint. The bouncer nonchalently took it from the guy, said something in German, and smoked the joint. The guys walked straight through. I looked on in amazement and said to Gesa "Did that just happen?" She laughed and said we were in Berlin!


Outside Maria nightclub


Inside Maria nightclub

We walked through a little hallway with 2 plastic covers (covered in graffiti). I felt like I was in the first scene of the movie Blade, you know, where the girl takes the guy to a hidden club and then the vampires eat them all.

But suddenly it was an open area, with a bar, crowds of people, a dj on stage and video screens on the surrounding walls. And graffiti. What an amazing place. We danced til 4am! It seemed everyone was on something. They all danced like zombies. Or were too cool to dance. Berlin cool. There were a few hidden rooms (one was a record store, another sold pink cupcakes). On one wall was a huge painting. Rafael explained it was a new artform. Everything is created in the same dimension on the computer. And then reused in different pictures. It looked like one huge Sim City game.


The sim city like painting


Boogie on the dance floor

I was so tired but Marius insisted on one more stop. So we caught a cab to a dodgier looking bar. I thought it was closed on the outside as it was covered in the usual graffiti. We had one drink each. we chatted an observed the 4 drunk guys at the bar staring at the sexy bargirl. Quite a sight. Gesa and I caught a cab home, and we suspect Marius went off in search of another bar.

Crashing into bed at 5am, I slept like a baby.

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SUNDAY 4 FEBRUARY, 2007
--------------------------
Woke up at 1pm. Oh well, there goes the plan to have breakfast with Gesa's friend Carlton.

Again after I had my morning (er afternoon) shower, breakfast was prettily set up. Toast, croissant, coffee and tea, cheese platter and even a fruit salad. Gesa and I both slowly woke up at the breakfast table. Carlton arrived with a fresh, and somewhat squashed, bag of croissants. How sweet.

He planned to join us on our bus trip around Berlin that day. But as we woke so late, he decided to meet up with his friends to watch the finals of the World Hand Ball championships. Germany and Poland were in the final. Apparently Germany was in the grips of Hand Ball fever. I've never even heard of it - Gesa explained that it was like football with your hands. Germans were going crazy about it this year because it was being held in Germany and they were also in the finals. So after a quick breakfast Carlton was off to the pub.

Gesa and I made our way to Alexanderplatz. A concrete and barren square surrounded by closed shops and roadworks. Lovely. We caught the no. 100 bus, which is a local bus but goes past most of the city sights.


Gesa and I on the no. 100 bus

The no. 100 bus went past famous Berlin sights such as the Brandenburg Gate (though was partly hidden by roadworks), president residence, parliament house (The Reichstag), Fernsehturm (Telephone tower), Siegessäule (golden statue of victory) and other museums and churches.


The Brandenburg Gate

The city is surprisingly likeable. At first glimpse it looks run down and grey. Most of the buildings look built in the 70s. Not attractive at all. Plus there is the every present graffiti. But most people are artists or musicians this is shown in the new boutique shops, bars, cafes and clubs.


Graffiti on the street

Suddenly it was 5:30pm. Well we did leave the flat at 4pm. So after quickly packing my things (I've become a professional - packed in 10 minutes) we met up with Gesa's friend Juday to have dinner of curry laksa soup. Then Judy kindly dropped me off at the Alexanderplatz station.

I said goodbye to Gesa and words could not express my utter appreciation of how well she had looked after me the whole weekend. I hope I can do the same when she visits me in Melbourne some day.

Went a bit crazy at the airport - bought a German edition of UNO, a German smurf figurine, German chocolate and a inflatable travel pillow.

Caught the 6:55pm flight to London. Didn't end up home until 2am though. Stansted express train wasn't running. So had to catch the bus to Victoria Station. Then was wondering around the streets at 1am trying to find the no. 52 bus home. Lovely.

Back home. Into my squeeky bunk bed. Ahhhhh Berlin. What an experience. All good.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178400780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178400780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178400780/tpod.html Sat, 26 May 2007 15:15:52 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Cairo, Egypt

Day trip to amazing Cairo

Pyramids, Sphinx, Sahara desert, camels, cruising the Nile, King Tutankhamun's treasures, Cairo bazaar, noisy streets. Ahhh Cairo - so much history, so much life. What an amazing experience.

Early wake up at 6:20am. But too excited to worry. We were off to Cairo today.

Had a bit of a dilemma. What to wear? We had heard warnings about covering our arms and legs so as not to offend the Muslim culture. But we had no clothes to wear and it was going to be too hot. What a dilemma.

Finally decided to cover up - which was a good thing as most people in Cairo had covered up.



We were picked up at 7:55am, 10 minutes late, though they didn't seem too worried. We picked up the rest of our group (Tracy (UK) and Andrew (South African) and Silvania and her two young sons Francesco and Frederico (Italian)).

Our flight was at 9:50am whilst the others were at 9:40am. 45 minutes later and we were in Cairo. We literally took off, ate our meal (2 rolls and some nasty Guava juice) and then landed.

IMPRESSION: Cairo was 22 degrees - much cooler then in Sharm. And dustier.

We were met at the airport by our guide Shariff who was really knowledgeable and friendly. Shariff told us that as our flights were late (normally the tour takes the 6:30am flight) we would change the itinerary and visit the Pyramids first.





IMPRESSION: Donkeys pulling carts loaded with people. Beautiful mosque temples. Women wearing traditiona scarfs and burqas. Lots of dust. This was my first time in a Muslim country so it was so amazing to see.

We arrived at the Pyramids in Giza. What a sight! At first glance I thought they looked quite small. But then when we got closer and saw the people on the lower steps it really puts their sizes into perspective. They were HUGE. I can't believe we were here. It was such an incredible feeling to be standing at the Pyramids.



If you look closely in the photos you can see the people at the bottom - this gives you an idea how HUGE the pyramids are.





We drove to the smallest Pyramid (had to drive as to walk between them would be too hard in the dust and heat). Fiona and I paid 7 pounds to ride a camel to the beginnings of the Sahara desert to see all 3 Pyramids together. What an experience. Though the dust started to play havoc on my contact lens. My eyes started watering madly. Luckily I bought my glasses just in case this happened.





IMPRESSION: Before we arrived so many people told us horror stories about Egypt. One was not to ride the camels near the Pyramids as they charge you 1 pound to ride the camel. But then when you want to get down, they charge you 50 pounds!! haha. But luckily we had our guide Shariff so only paid 7 pounds.



My camel's name was Mickey Mouse, and I've forgotten my camel boy's name as it was too long. He was really funny - kissing the camel, making me do silly poses for the camera and dancing and singing.



A real charmer. But then in the end all he wanted was a tip. I didn't have any small change but they were trying to insist I pay and they would give me change. Yeah right! I ended up just giving him a little bit tho.







While we were on the camel this old guy tried to give me a drink. I refused but he insisted. I refused and told him I was diabetic and cannot drink sweet stuff :) So he gave the drink to Fiona. When we got off the camel though the old man wanted money for the drink. When Shariff saw this though he told them off. Lucky for Shariff!

We then drove to the second, bigger, pyramid. I decided to go into this one. It was very steep and narrow. You walk for a few minutes down, then up. It was very hot and claustrophobic. Ended up in a small room, which was an empty tomb. The person who discovered the tomb had written his name on the wall. And that was about it - nothing else. There was a Egyptian guy who was behind me on the way out. He kept putting his hand on my back and I would tell him "I'm fine. It's ok". But he kept putting his hands on my back. Then he got brash and put his hand on my stomach to which I snapped "DOn't do that. I'm fine!" And he got a bit of a shock and stopped. My friend later told me that if I complained to someone he could go to jail for doing that as their laws are very strict for stuff like that.





We then drove for a few minutes again. This time to the Sphinx. THE SPHINX!!! By this time though my eyes were very agitated and I could barely see. But I was so excited. I kept squinting up to look at the Sphinx. Did I mention that it was such an amazing experience? Just to be in a place with so much history. Spine-tingling.



We then drove to the Papyrus shop. The mandatory stop for tourists to get us to spend. I couldn't handle it anymore and took our my contacts and wore my glasses. Ah much better. I did end up buying a papyrus painting - Queen Nefertiti's coronation.

Then it was a late lunch. By this time we were all starving. We went to a restaurant along the Nile river. We had a buffet - I had veges and fish. Food in Egypt is really average. The view was not much to look at from where we sat (all city buildings), but it was great to eat along the Nile.



Next stop in our busy schedule - a trip to the Egyptian Museum. And the star attraction - King Tutankamun's treasurs of course. I have a fascination with Egyptian history, so to stand in a room full of King Tut's treasures and to look at his famous gold funerary mask was such a thrill. The only drawback was I had my glasses on so couldn't see as well. Shariff took us around to the main items and explained the history behind these. He was really great and very knowledgeable - Andrew said that the tour guides in Cairo have high qualifications in Egyptology.

IMPRESSION: The guides and locals in Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh impressed us with their fluency in multiple languages - Italian, French, Russian, English, German to name a few. To be a guide or to work in Sharm El Sheikh is considered fortunate so they have to have a high qualification in Egyptology as a guide in Cairo or fluent in multiple languages to work in Sharm El Sheikh, which is a resort town filled with tourists. Mainly Italian and Russian tourists. Fiona and I were the only two Aussies.




We then had time to take a cruise down the Nile. We boarded our boat and cruised for about 45 minutes with Arab pop music at full blast. So cool. We'll long have memories of cruising the nile to "habibi habibi amoura" - My Love Your Eyes ...




Then we stopped for 45 minutes at the Cairo bazaar market. It was a loud and bustling market. Shariff dropped us off and we were left to our own devices. It was so overwhelming.






Again only men were working in the shops and they kept yelling "hey beautiful. what you want to buy. come inside my shop and sit. come. how much". The bazaar was next to a huge mosque but we didn't have time to go in. Also we had to cover top to toe to go in.




IMPRESSION: Cairo - Crazy and noisy. Dusty. Beautiful and colourful. Arabic language and traditional muslim clothing. Mosques and call for prayers. Amazing and full of history and life.



IMPRESSION: While driving through the streets it was a funny site to see the illegal street stall sellers running away from the police - one by one, like a chain reaction.




IMPRESSION: Dodgy Egypt. To get cheaper tickets the tour agency booked Andrew and Tracey's ticket as children. And my ticket was written as "Mr" Beverly chan. I walked through the security in the airport and it beeped, but the guards had no reaction so I kept walking.

After a long and very jam packed day we were off to the airport and back to Sharm El Sheikh. Phew. Back to our hotel at 11:30pm. Exhausted and happy.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178569140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178569140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178569140/tpod.html Wed, 23 May 2007 18:35:34 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Dahab, Egypt

Day trip to Abu Galum - jeep desert safari, camel riding, snorkelling in the Red Sea (whilst avoiding the tour guides wandering hands!!) and shopping Dahab

Another early start - 6am!! A long day ahead.

Just had time for a quick breakfast before being picked up at 6:55am. Our jeep had 8 people (Fiona and I, 2 retired couples - Irish and Welsh, and a young croatian couple) The 2 retired couples were very loud and friendly. The croatian couple were friendly but kept to themselves. The other jeep also had 6 people (Italians and Russians).

Our guide was Amdhi and the driver was Abdullah - nicknamed Schumacher, and he would later prove why.

First up we drove about 30 minutes to Dahab. At the security checkpoint they were checking fire extinguishers - not our passports or our bags - for some odd reason.




Then we drove into a national protected park - well a desert. Whilst the Sahara in Cairo was mostly sand (and a killer on the contact lens), the desert here was more rocky. Abdullah sped through the desert like a F1 driver, joyfully speeding over rocks - up and down with no care at all. Scary, but so much fun. Arabic music blasting loudly and the red fluffy tissue box with the naked blonde doll jiggling on the dashboard.




We stopped quickly for a photo. Ahmed showed us a mountain that looked like a breast, and behind that a mountain that looked like a penis.




We also stopped to take a photo of a mountain made of sand. It was the only mountain of sand, surrounded by rocky mountains. Strange.



IMPRESSION: We saw a few desert Bedouin people, and some tried to sell us things when we stopped. Amdhi ex[;aomed that the Bedouin people like living in the desert. They are the original inhabitants of Sharm El Sheikh. All the people who work in Sharm, the tour guides, taxi drivers, hotel people etc are from Cairo. The Bedouin people don't like living in the city. They prefer their basic style of living - no electricity, basic shelters etc.

We drove past a burial ground where the Bedouin people are all buried. This is because this is the only soft part of the desert that can be used to bury bodies.

We also saw a camel burial ground. When the camels die, they put the bodies in this place which is beside the main road (far from where they live in the desert). They burn the bodies so the camels do not smell. You could see black clumps of ash and also remains of the saddles.

After 40 minutes of the jeep safari we headed off to the next part of the tour - snorkelling and camel riding.

We stopped quickly to hire some snorkelling gear - I didn't have enough for the life jacket and thought I could swim so didn't get it. Damn - should have spent that extra 5 pounds. hehe.

We then arrived near The Blue Hole - by the Red Sea.

We climbed our camels and rode them along the Red Sea. In the distance you could see the mountains in Saudi Arabia.




My camel was tied to the back of another camel, which was being ridden by one of the Russian guys. He kept turning around to take photos of his wife who was on the other camel. Every time he did this though his camel would go off course and head towards the Red Sea - watch it! Don't take me with you!





IMPRESSION: Riding the camels and one of the Irish men telling a long winded Irish camel joke. So funny.

45 minutes later we arrived at The Blue Hole. There were quite a few divers and snorkellers there. We put on our snorkelling gear and headed for the water.

I couldn't breathe with the mouthpiece - water kept going into my mouth as I didn't know how to blow the water out. As I didn't have a life jacket, the other guide Emit guided me around.

The corals and marine life were beautiful, and the water was crystal clear blue. I had an underwater camera and took lots of underwater photos (unfortunately not digital so can't show you) Emit led me through the water and showed me the corals, though his hand went for a bit of a wander. Unbelievable! And I couldn't do anything as everytime he did it I would pull away from him, but as I couldn't breather properly and the water was deep I had to get him to guide me. Bloody hell! He was harmless - but I should've gotten the life jacket haha.

Emit led me around the to far end of the coral. So we didn't have our shoes and had to run back to the restaurant. Ouch!! hot hot hot!




Back at the restaurant we had a buffet lunch - but I stuck to the potatoes, bread and fish. We ate on sofa couches in a tent-like restaurant, with cats running around everywhere.



We took the jeep back to Dahab, stopping by at the "market" (or rather a shop) to buy some souvenirs. It was so hot Fiona and I sat in the air conditioned jeep but still HOT.





Then back to Sharm El Sheikh. About 1 hour drive and we were back in our hotel at about 5:15pm, just in time for a quick dip in the pool. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, tuna salad AGAIN.




Really enjoyed the tours. Our guides were very friendly, sometimes too friendly, and the people in our groups were good too.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178482380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178482380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178482380/tpod.html Wed, 23 May 2007 16:42:34 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Lazy day by the hotel pool

So exhausted from Cairo that we woke up at 9:30am, just in time for breakfast.



After breakfast (a selection from the buffet - but I just had the croissant, tomato, orange cordial "juice" and coffee) we headed straight for the pool. It was only 10:30am but already HOT. It was 38 degrees today. By 12:15pm it was so hot we had to go to our air conditioned room to order room service - tuna salad.

Then it was back out by the pool for some more sun bathing - slightly cooler in the afternoon.




We decided to walk to the nearby supermarket to buy some food. On the way back I slipped on the steps near the pool and landed HARD on my butt. Ouch! Honi (the captain - who looks after the guests) came running over to make sure I was ok. He even came into our room with a glass of ice and wrapped it in a towel around my bruised arm. So nice.

For dinner we went across the road to the sister hotel, the Falcon Hills. TUrns out the menu was the same anyway as it is the same owners. I decided to have the penne napolitana instead of the usual tuna salad. Big mistake. Straightaway my tummy started cramping. I mean how hard is it to get penne napolitana wrong? It's just pasta, tomato paste and onions!

During dinner we saw the two girls we met at the airport. One was drunk and the other had a severely sun-burned back. Very funny.

Back in our hotel for an early night though as the next day was an early start - day trip to Abu Galum.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202360/tpod.html Sat, 19 May 2007 17:54:14 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Our first trip to Naama Bay for some shopping. Then eating cold mezzas and smoking a strawberry shisha

After a nice sleep in our air conditioned room we woke up to beautiful sunshine.



We then caught a taxi to Naama Bay - about 10 minutes away. This is where all the shops and restaurants are. A real tourist area.

We had just got out of the taxi a guy approached us and asked Fiona to "sign his book". She agreed and before we knew it we were sitting in his perfume shop. He was very friendly - talking about our trip, signing his book for luck, his new shop that he just opened. He offered us Egyptian tea and went through his sales pitch about his "pure perfumes".



After about 20 minutes we ended up buying a small bottle of perfume each. Mine was a copy of Ralph Lauren's "Romance".

Finally we escaped the shop. We walked another few steps and then another guy approached us. "Please come to my shop so I can give you my business card. Just have a look. No need to buy. I just opened my new shop. You will give me luck". YEAH RIGHT!! This time we just said "NO" and kept walking.

Most of the shops in Naama Bay were closed during the day. Must be the heat. It was about 38 degree heat. HOT.

We did find a good travel shop and booked our trip to cairo and Abu Galum. 1519 Egyptian Pounds (about 150 Pounds) each for both trips. Yay!! This was a great deal considering Mustaffa the travel agent at the hotel quoted 3000 Egyptian Pounds to fly to cairo alone. The guys in the travel shop were funny though and let us sit in the boss' chair in the shade. The locals are very friendly and joke alot.

IMPRESSION: The guys were so full on. Everywhere we went we got comments like "You have beautiful eyes. Where are you from? You looking for an Egyptian husband. Wow. Oh...My...God. I want to marry you." Funny at first. But then irritating after awhile. In the 38 degree heat we were thirsty for water. We went into a shop and the guy wouldn't tell us how much it was as he kept commenting on how lovely our eyes were. I felt like screaming. We just wanted some damn water!! Arrrrgh. hehe

IMPRESSION: I only saw guys working, in the shops, restaurants, hotel, tours. Everywhere. Strange. I saw ONE female making bread in a restaurant and a some in the airport.

It was so hot we had to go back to our hotel to relax by the pool and work on our tan.







Later that night we went back to Naama Bay. This time the vibe was very different. The shops were open and the lights were all on. There were alot more people walking around.

We did some shopping and then went into a restaurant. We ate some cold mezzas - Hoummus, Eggplant dip and roast potato with garlic. MMMM and some fresh baked bread. Very delicious.

We also smoked a Shisha. Strawberry tobacco flavour. I got a head rush though. Apparently it is only strawberry herbs that we smoke. But it has something to do with the oxygen going to your head.









IMPRESSION: Guys offering to buy us as wives for Camels. One even offered a camel, a helicopter and 4 cars. Too funny

Home for bed at 11pm. And then the hard decision of what to wear for cairo the next day. Hmm how to stay cool in the heat without offending anyone.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1178202300/tpod.html Sat, 19 May 2007 17:18:29 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

So excited!! Finally we are going to Egypt for 8 glorious days. Ever since I was little I've always wanted to visit Egypt.

Pyramids, Sahara desert, camels, the Nile, King Tutankhamun's treasures, bazaar, snorkelling in the Red Sea, jeep safari in the desert, sun bathing in 44 degree heat, tanning AND burning, karaoke and the Sphinx!

Got up at 6:45am to do last minute packing and caught the 52 bus to Victoria Station and hopped onto the earlier Gatwick Express. But we didn't have a seat so had to stand with our luggage for 30 minutes.

We flew Air Monarch for the first time. A 5 hour flight with an inflight movie (The Holiday) and a meal - wow! The last five minutes of the flight was really rough turbulence, it was so bad I almost threw up.

Finally we had a smooth landing into Sharm El Sheikh. From the airport tarmac we were all hearded onto stifling HOT buses to take a 10 second trip to the airport.

The airport was chaos. All the horror stories we were told about the no queues were sadly true. It was a free for all lunge. Luckily it was easy to get the visas for cairo but took ages to get through passport control.

IMPRESSION: Heat not too bad, although we did arrive at 5:45pm. No dust, which is good news for my contact lens. Egyptian locals are really friendly.

It then took ages to get our luggage and we had to wait until our whole group arrived. We had to drop people off at their hotels. First stop was the 5 star Sheraton Hotel. There were lots of security guards with machine guns. Apparently there was a big conference on Peace in Iraq being held in Sharm El Sheikh (attended by US Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, Iranian Foreign Minister etc.) Alot of the dignitaries were staying at the Sheraton Hotel. Also the President's son was getting married. While we were there the King of Sudan drove past. Amazing!

IMPRESSION: We met Nicki and Kath, two British girls at the airport. They were staying at the hotel opposite us. Very friendly and we would bump into them later. It was a rare thing though as most of the people in the Sharm El Sheikh were Italian, Russian or English but were either couples or families and kept to themselves.

We finally arrived at our hotel "Falcon Inn - Viva Sharm" at about 7:30pm. We were so exhausted and hungry we headed straight for the hotel restaurant to eat. I ate the tuna roll, which was to become a regular meal as there was NOTHING on the menu to eat.

After dinner we relaxed in our clean hotel room. Ahh the luxury of a hotel room.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175985120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175985120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175985120/tpod.html Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:56:55 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland


Leprechauns, Guinness, Shamrocks, Irish accents, Irish blessings, singing to U2, everything is green and being molested by a drunk irishman on the plane - its just your typical Irish experience in Dublin

===========================
GOOD FRIDAY, April 6 2007
===========================
It's the Easter long weekend. And this weekend Fiona and I took a trip to Dublin! Arrrr to be sure, to be sure.

Good Friday and we were packed and heading to Luton Airport by 4:30pm. We caught the 8:25pm Ryanair flight and we were in Dublin by 9:30pm. After walking about 20 mins (it seemed a loooong way with our luggage) we found our hostel, The Four Courts. The front door was painted green. I had just enough energy to shower and go to bed. The shower was automatic, you pressed the button and the water lasted 30 secs, so I had to keep hitting the button. We stayed in a 12 female bed room. Not too bad, though there were 4 girls who got up at 7am and started packing and chatting. arrrgh. And we were on a main road, so every time a car went past my bed would tremor slightly.



Hostel front door



Hostel Reception



View from my hostel bed | Our 12 bed female dorm room


================================
EASTER SATURDAY, April 7 2007
================================
Woke up at 9am and had some breakfast in the hostel. It felt like I was in a school canteen, with all the young people there lining up for the toast, juice and coffee. Breakfast was average though.

After breakfast we did some Dublin sight seeing. We visited Christ Church (founded in 1030) and then St Patrick's Cathedral (built between 1200 to 1270 and is the largest church in Ireland). Then we went to Dublin castle. Although all the places we went to charged and entry fee so we only had a look outside. Dublin castle didn't look much like a castle though - we went inside a "square" which reminded me of the buildings in Bath.







Christ Church



St Patrick's Cathedral



St Patrick's Cathedral gardens



Dublin Castle

So we headed towards Grafton Street, and did some shopping. I bought so many souvenirs for people - leprechaun pens, guinness bottle openers, irish blessing magnets, celtic bookmarks, leprechaun toys, tshirts, keyrings, postcards and even a 99 euro bag that said "The Leprechauns made me buy it" cute. But they were so cute. I'm a sucker for leprechauns.



Green post box | Green door

IMPRESSION: Everything is GREEN in Dublin. Green post boxes, green doors and even a green shopping centre.



O'Donoghue's pub | Strange busker dancing with a dummy



Molly Malone statue | Old Irish busker

I also bought a nice brown leather bag from Top Shop and some clothes at Penneys (the Dublin equivalent to Primark). I even went to HMV and bought a 80s music dvd gameboard. Haha.

It was such a beautiful and sunny day we bought takeaway lunch from the crappy bagel place and sat on the grass in St Stephen's Green park. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and it was packed. But so gorgeous to be able to sit outside on the grass in the sun.



Soy latte in the sun





St Stephen's Green





Shopping on O'Connell Street



Some statues along O'Connell Street

After some more shopping, we headed back to the hostel for a rest.

Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe. We both had our first pint (okay it was half a pint) of Guinness. Fiona had a shot of blackcurrent (apparently its the new fad) while I just had the plain ol Guinness. After all the horrible stories I had heard about Guinness, it actually wasn't too bad.

MEMORABLE MOMENT: Fiona and I singing along to "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2. Such an awesome moment that I will remember from my travels. I mean, we were singing to U2 in DUBLIN!! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.









Hard Rock Cafe with our Guinness

Fiona requested "Elevation" by U2, but the DJ didn't have it. What a travesty - he didn't have U2 and we were in DUBLIN! Plus when we walked out he loudly proclaimed that we were "two single sheilas from OOOSTRAALIA" haha.

After dinner we walked up Temple Bar Street. This is a really tourist area full of pubs and restaurants. We went to a couple of pubs but I am cutting back on my drinking (due to a total dislike to waking up with a massive headache). Both places were PACKED.

In the first bar, an irishman came up to talk to us. (hehe just realised that that sounded like the beginnings of an irish joke) He asked where I was from, I said Australia. He said he was from Dublin. I started laughing. I didn't mean to. And he asked why are you laughing. I said "I'm not" hehe. I couldn't help it, it was his accent. After some awkward conversation (because he was awkward and Fiona and I had difficulty understanding him) I asked where the toilet was, as we headed straight for it.



The first pub we went to on Temple Bar Street

On the way out, another Irishman tried to chat me up. He asked where I was from and I said Australia and he said, with a really bad Aussie accent "Australia hey. Put another shrimp on the baaaaarbie"

In the second bar there was so many people we just sat, Fiona had one drink and we were both ready to go home!!



The original Temple Bar

==============================
EASTER SUNDAY, April 8 2007
==============================
Woke up at 7:30am and got up at 8:30am for a shower. I couldn't sleep as the girl opposite me had a blocked nose so she snored loudly. Then some other girls got up early to pack. And then another girl was in the shower and her phone kept going off. Arrgggh.

We skipped breakfast at the hostel and after checking out we found a little cafe above a clothes shop, just off Temple Bar Street. It was a Reggae style cafe, and I had a yum soy latte and French Toast with maple syrup. Yum.

We ran to church - late. When we arrived at Christ Church there were lots of people waiting outside as the church was full and the mass had started. Eventually we were let inside. So far on this trip I have been to church twice, that's two more then I have been in over 15 years!!! It was interesting listening to the service being read with an Irish accent.

After mass we did some last minute souvenir shopping (yes we bought some more stuff). We then had some pasta for lunch because there are so many Italian restaurants in Dublin we couldn't resist trying one. I had pasta with mussels and garlic, which was yum but a bit salty.

We caught the 5:55pm flight back to London. We were actually sitting in the airport foodcourt eating chips with gravy and at 5:15pm Fiona asked me what time we had to be at the departure gate. I said we had plenty of time as we didn't have to be there until 5:45pm. She asked "Isn't our flight at 5:55pm". Oh shit! We actually had to be at the departure gate at 5:25pm. So we rushed to the gate and made it just in time. Lucky!



FUNNY STORY:
On the flight I sat next to a drunk Irish man (maybe he was English - he was so drunk I couldn't tell). He reeked of alcohol. He pretended to read his book while his right hand edged closer to my thigh. At first I thought it was an accident so I moved, then his hand actually reached closer. So I moved much further. He turned and stared at me and I had to turn and look at him, at which point he pretended to look at the roof of the plane. Wanker.

I whispered to Fiona that he was trying to touch me. I felt uncomfortable and so I put on my iPod to keep me awake. But I fell asleep and suddenly felt his hand on my thigh!! I woke up with a start and yelled "Get your f**king hand off me I know you touched me". He denied it so I frantically called the steward. I told him what happened but the drunk denied it. The steward said he believed me and that it was not appropriate behaviour on a plane. Well duh! It's not appropriate behaviour ANYWHERE.

The steward said I could move but there was only one seat and I couldn't leave Fiona. And I don't understand why he didn't move the drunk! Anyway, the drunk just sat quietly for the rest of the flight while Fiona and I said stuff like "F**king pervert! Just TRY touching me again you f**king bastart" haha. When the plane landed he promptly jumped from his seat, grabbed his bag and ran off the plane. Yeh you better RUN.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1176589080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1176589080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1176589080/tpod.html Fri, 20 Apr 2007 19:43:08 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Was I not meant to visit Cardiff?

In October 2006, I bought a return ticket to Cardiff to watch the Wales vs Australia rugby match. I paid for the bus plus the game ticket. I couldn't go due to a clash in commitments (okay, I went to a movie premiere in London!!) so lost about 60 pounds.

Since then I've been wanting to go to Cardiff, so a few weeks ago Fiona and I booked our tickets. Well, after we booked our tickets we found out we had not 1 but 2 birthdays that we would miss out on. Then on Sunday Fiona's beloved Fremantle were playing at 5pm. So at the last minute we changed our ticket to come back earlier to make the game.

After all these signs, I was beginning to wonder if I was NOT meant to visit Cardiff?

But it was a great visit - beautiful sunshine, cackling birds, incomprehensible welsh, scary local girls, too much to drink, beautiful Cardiff Castle, shopping and the cleanest hostel yet.


-------------------------
SATURDAY 14 APRIL, 2007
-------------------------
Woke up at the decent hour of 7:30am and caught the 9:30am coach at Victoria Station. 3 hours and 10 minutes later (after some beautiful scenery of fields and fields of daffodils) we were in Cardiff. There was a girl on the bus who spoke loudly for about 45 minutes - ranting away ra ra ra. Couldn't sleep.


Welcome to cardiff

Took about 30 minutes to find our hostel which was about 10 minutes out of the city centre. But it was great value for money. It was called the Nomad and is pretty new. You could smell the fresh paint. We paid 13 pounds each for one night, and we got our own twin bed room. A sweet deal. Everything was new - the furniture, the carpet, the paint. I felt like I was in somebody's house as the kitchen drawers were filled jars and paperwork! Our floor had 2 bathrooms, which were huge and even had a bathtub!




Our hostel, the Nomad

IMPRESSION: I don't understand why toilets do not FLUSH properly over here. I am constantly pushing the lever for it to flush.

Fiona and I bought something quick from Sainsbury for lunch and then hit the shops in the main shopping street.

H&M, Primark and HMV to name a few. It seems like we have visited a H&M and Primark in every place we have visited.


Primark

It was a gloriously day - the sun was out and we were sweating while shopping. What a terrible day for me to wear black jeans and a black jacket!

After hitting the shops we went back to our private room at the hostel :)

We had some cheap alcoholic cider and dips and bread. Reminded me of how I used to do this on Friday nights with the girls back home. We got ready and went back out for some fun. Took some crazy photos in the hotel and, tipsy on the cider, headed out for some cardiff nightlife. hahaha







Taking photos in the hostel, slowly getting tipsy on the cheap cider

First stop was the Walkabout for a snakebite and dancing. I think we were the only Aussies. Fiona requested "Hunters and Collectors" for me but the DJ said that "Cardiff is in the middle of nowhere and we have not heard of any Aussie music". Well thats certainly no excuse cos they didn't have Bon Jovi either.


Snakebites at the Walkabout

Then went to another bar for a few minutes. This place was real dodgy with some bad music. We quickly left.

The third bar was a 80s bar called Reflex. It was decorated with pictures of Mr T and Wonder Woman, a technicolour tiled dance floor, cool graffitied toilets and music by Rick Astley and Bros. Ahhhh we were in 80s heaven.

Photos from the 80s bar - ahhhh heaven so cool:







Wonder Woman toilets


Dancing in the ladies toilets


Disabled toilets - Kylie and Jason?

The disabled toilet had a picture of Kylie and Jason. And the staircase to the toilets were decorated like the fun fair scene in the movie Grease.

FUNNY STORY: While queuing for the 80s bar Fiona filmed a couple of Welsh guys talking. So funny. Couldn't understand him.

Danced and sang to 80s music. We filmed ourselves singing When Will I be Famous by Bros. Haha. Gotta love that video camera :)

We stayed in here for a bit, happily reliving the 80s.

IMPRESSION: Cardiff girls are rough. Got a few dirty looks. There was one girl sitting on the toilet with the door open, I thought no one was in there and she slammed the door and started yelling (I didn't understand her cos she had a strong Welsh accent and was slurring).


The bar




Frankie says Relax


Dancing with some gay guys to 80s music.


Mr T

It was time to go home. We made a quick stop to McDonald's because we realised we hadn't had dinner. Was quite funny cos at this stage we were both drunk on the snakebites and filmed ourselves eating McDonald's and speaking Welsh. Gudydugudagydingadgiadlallya hehe
Took a quick photo of Fiona and a cardiff cop and then back to the hostel for some sleep.



FUNNY STORY: Had too much to drink and on the way back to the hostel I was chasing one of the cackling birds and videoing it. If you watch the video it is complete silence but you can hear my heels as I run after the bird. It flies off and I drunkily whisper "bye". Too funny. Fiona was laughing at me.

-------------------------
SATURDAY 14 APRIL, 2007
-------------------------
We woke up fairly early to check out.

We had breakfast at McDonald's (As Matthew warned me "there is nothing to eat in Cardiff but McDonald's - damn he was right)

We did some quick souvenir shopping and decided to go to Cardiff Castle. We joined a tour. It was amazing. Very beautiful. It was built around 1091 and apparently in 1776 it was bought by a very rich family, the Bute family.







The rooms we saw were lavishly decorated and very ornate and gorgous.

The tour guide was a prim and proper English man. Explaining the history in detail and at one point took up a stick and pointed to each person in a photo. Felt like I was back in school. I even videoed him as I really liked his accent. Haha.


Our very prim and proper tour guide showing us a family portrait and the children's nursery in the castle







It was a beautiful day and I wore my new H&M summer dress. WOW. A summer dress. Check out those WHITE legs.

Unfortunately we ran out of time so had to leave the tour early. A shame as it was a very beautiful castle. A big contrast to Oxford Castle, which was a prison, Cardiff Castle was very well maintained.


cardiff street


Beautiful fields of daffodils on the way back to London

We were back in London at 4pm and rushed to the Walkabout in Shepherd's Bush to watch Fiona's beloved Dockers get beaten by West Cost. Hehe. I sound like I know what I'm talking about yeh? I have never watched so much AFL footy before!!! That's what happens when you live with a footy fan.

I was happy to drink my snakebite (cutting down on that evil drink) and dancing on the packed dance floor. Lots of fun.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175364720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175364720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/beyond_the_sea/melb-2006/1175364720/tpod.html Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:06:30 -0400 Leaving on a jet plane ... actually, now I do know when I'll be back again ...

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Oxford, United Kingdom

Taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine and the cheap tickets I spent 5 hours in Oxford - famous for it's university.

Today I got up early and went to Paddington Station. I grabbed a croissant and soy latte from Costa and jumped onto the First Western train. There were about 20+ cops on the platform waiting for someone - probably a criminal or a celebrity.

55 minutes later (including a lovely 31 minute phone conversation with Matthew calling me from Melbourne) and I was in Oxford. It was a gloriously sunny day - spring is in the air and the cold dark days of London are finally over.

I got myself a map of the city and spent a few hours walking around. I visited Oxford Castle, joining a 1 hour tour. Some interesting facts about Oxford Castle:

- It was built in 1071 by Robert D'Oilly for William the Conqueror.
- The castle was used as a prison until it was decommissioned in 1996.
- The most famous story about Oxford Castle was that of Queen Matilda, the only daughter of King Henry I. When King Henry I died she was the rightful heir but her cousin Stephen de Blois seized the English throne. A seige occurred and she was locked in St George tower at Oxford Castle during the bitterly cold winter. She and two of her guards dressed in full white and escaped out the tiny window into the snow. She was never crowned Queen but a truce was made between her and Stephen so that after he ruled, her son King Henry II would rule.

Very interesting - see I'm taking in some culture too.


View from the tower at Oxford Castle


Oxford Castle


Outside Oxford Castle

There was also a Oxford folk festival happening and lots of people with painted faces and random street performances. There was a parade and a little market - I bought french cookies and giant olives.


Oxford Folk Festival


Street band

I walked around the entire city. I thought Oxford University was one big university, but it is in actual fact several colleges and buildings dotted around the city.

I visited Christ Church College, the "largest and most spectacular of all of Oxford's colleges, and is also its most poplular". I'm not just saying that - it was a direct quote from the Lonely Planet guide. Past students include Albert Einstein and Lewis Carroll - who wrote Alice in Wonderland.... and most important of all it was used as a location in the Harry Potter films.


Christ Church College, Oxford University


Christ Church College, Oxford University

Then I walked through Christ Church meadow, the gardens around the college. Luckily it was a bright sunny day.


Christ Church meadow and Christ Church College

Next up a visit to Magdalen College - Oxford's wealthiest and probably most beautiful college. Unfortunately as I am on a tight budget I didn't spend the 3 to 5 pounds to go into each of the colleges!! So I stood outside and took pictures.


Magdalan College, Oxford University


Magdalan College, Oxford University


Oxford University library


Oxford University library


Pausing for a moment for some deep thinking outside the library | Sunshine after the rain


View of the river from the bridge

Lots of photos (with a healthy number of self photos and videos too) and 5 hours later I was ready to go home. So I got the train - sneaking into the first class carriage. Bliss. Luckily though I moved before the inspector came.


First class on the train

A gorgeous day in Oxford. Back in the flat in High Street Kensington, time to make my London staple diet of mushroom soup for dinner before cathching a movie tonight with Fiona - probably Premonition with Sandra Bullock.
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