TravelStream™ news feed for member lovin_apples on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lovin_apples en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:11:29 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225398600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225398600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225398600/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:11:29 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Kabale, Uganda

Mood: nanna-ish After leaving Kampala at an ungodly hour on Tuesday we were on our last leg of driving days. The road was terrible, it took us the whole day. We did however stop on the equator to have some hot drinks in a cool little café/art and craft gallery, where all the profits went to an AIDS organisation. We got to Kabale mid-late afternoon to stock up on food etc, and as I was on cooking that day I went to help Su get the fresh veggies and fruit from the markets, along with Olivia and Steve. To get to the markets we had to get on the back of pushbikes and were ridden about a km down the main road. It was bloody scary but so cool! Su and mine were racing each other, and even though they were pedalling for 2 people, they were belting past the other bikes at a cracking speed! We were weaving in and out of traffic, I just held on and if we weren't winning, I was urging my guy to go faster! Only in Africa.  The markets were pretty full on with people trying to get you to buy their produce, or just staring at you. One lady we bought bananas from was breastfeeding her (uhh 2 year old??) child and had her boobs out everywhere. It's definitely a different place here. When we had bought everything we needed we got back onto the bikes, although this time I couldn't hold on as I had to hold a bag in each hand out away from the bike so it didn't get caught in the spokes, luckily the guy was a little slower than the last and by this time I was a pro so I was fine! I seriously should consider a career as a gymnast or something. Almost anywhere we stop, especially in towns, we get hassled non-stop to buy newspapers, cards, fruit, cooked meat etc, even when we are still on the truck. At Kabale, we were getting kids begging for food or money with the normal like of (them)'how are you?' (us) 'great thanks how are you?' (them) 'im hungry' (palms outstretched). It's really sad, these kids hang around a little concrete dump area where they scavenge through for food, and burn any of the rubbish that is useless. While we were there the bakers brought over a wheelbarrow of rubbish, flour and paper and stuff, and it was like a flock of seagulls descended. They all went a little crazy. There were about 5 kids at maybe 8 - 12yrs old, and a guy who we watched eating dirty old pieces of meat. This was the worst off group of people that we had seen so far. Although the attitude of the boys when they talked to us was pretty poor, demanding rather than asking, and so although you felt sorry for them, you didn't want to do anything for them. The campsite here at Lake Bunyonyi is about a 30 minute drive up through the hills from Kabale, and looks out over the lake. It is built on the side of a hill so it steps down it, the top level is the car park and reception, the second the bar/restaurant, and the third is at the lake level, and that's where we are camped. The truck can't come down here though so any time we need to eat or get something from the truck we have to hike back up the hill. The gardens here are gorgeous and so lush, the grass is so green, and the plants are all tropical and exotic. There's a cute little jetty out over the water with a little hut at the end, and even fake animals - crocodiles, gorillas, elephants etc around the grounds to make you feel more like you're in the jungle than a campsite. Out over the lake is more hills, terraced with crops and shacks and stripes of rich red soil. The lake is the deepest in Africa and the 3rd deepest in the world at 6500ft, and due to a nearby volcano the ground is red and very rich and fertile. People living around here are quite well off, as their surplus crops are sold to the cities. It's a really beautiful and peaceful area and im glad we have had a couple of days here to enjoy it. Yesterday I didn't do much of anything - we have had so long on the truck that I needed some chill out time and read my book and snoozed and got to know some of the people on the tour. The day absolutely flew past and to be honest I don't really know where it went! But I still absolutely loved it, my first relaxing day in ages! This morning was a bit of the same, I did some hand washing of my clothes and enjoyed the morning sunshine. After lunch Kelly and I went to have a tour through some of the area and see the orphanage that's here. Our guide was a local called Duncan, and he was so nice and only 21! It was pretty clear that he had been through some stuff in his life that we could never comprehend at that age. He walked us up the hillside and we got a view over part of the lake, in total there are 29 islands including Prison Island, which was used to take girls who became pregnant out of wedlock to die, which was terribly cruel. We could also see a plantation of actual Australian Eucalypts, which had been donated by an aussie guy. All the canoes on the lake are carved from trees, and most are gum as they are so straight. We visited an old ladies little shack on the hillside, where she showed us how to grind porridge traditionally using a stone, and some of the bowls that she weaves. We got to have a go at grinding, but we pretty much sucked. The old lady was so funny, she thinks that all the girls that Duncan brings are his new girlfriends so she literally feels us up to see if we are appropriate. I was wearing shorts so she grabbed my legs, she smacked our arses and even grabbed our chests! We found it funny rather than uncomfortable, had it been a guy however I think it would have been a different story! As we left she did a traditional dance, I think she was wishing us all the best and stuff. We also stopped at the local secondary school, where we got to meet teachers, the headmaster and principal. One class was learning English and we had to go in and introduce ourselves and say a little about where we were from. To be honest I don't think they really cared! As we were about to leave there was a torrential downpour of rain and had to wait 15 minutes for it to pass. The view that the school has over the lake is amazing, although their facilities might not be that flash. I don't think even the most prestigious schools in Aus could match having a view like that one. It was a slippery walk down the hill to the orphanage. When we were about halfway there, out of nowhere about 8 of the orphan kids appeared and as we were walking up the road 2 of them grabbed onto my hands and walked in silence next to me. It was such a small but humbling moment, these poor kids have next to nothing, they weren't even wearing shoes, and I hope that even something as small as that would help then to believe that there is still hope and happiness for them in this world, and that at least someone cares about them. We were shown some new huts in the process of being built for the children to sleep in, and then a house where in one room 10 kids slept. 5 on the single bed, and 5 on the mattress on the floor. This room was barely big enough for one person. It was terrible. We got to see some of the animals that they keep - cows, pigs, goats. Steve had gone yesterday to visit and had donated $50 to buy a new goat, so we got to see where his money had gone - they had gone out that morning to buy it. They also had the cutest little piglets! They were so adorable. The kids did some traditional dancing for us, called Kikiga, then played some games involving calling out names so we would have to go up and dance, and then a game like Simon says or the hokey pokey, which they said in English. I guess it's a good way to learn the English words for body parts. As the game went on you added more body parts into the game, thumbs up, knees bent, bum out, tongue out, it was quite amusing. The kids were all so gorgeous, you can't believe that the world could be this bad, it's really sad. It makes you want to make the world a better place. Ever since I first arrived in Africa I have been thinking of sponsoring another child. I already have one, Kalu, who lives in Kenya. But it's hard to know where your money is actually going with organisations like World Vision. Here you can sponsor the children and you can actually see where the money goes. As primary school in Uganda is free, you can only sponsor secondary age kids, and so the money goes to school fees, books etc. most of the kids are AIDS/HIV orphans, some sleep at the orphanage and some go home at night to guardians. But they all deserve a decent home. So it's been a pretty humbling and eye-opening day for me. But this is only one part of Africa. There is still much more to come.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225144800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225144800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1225144800/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:29:42 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Kampala, Uganda

Mood: surprised Africa. Amazing. Wow.I still can't believe I am here. And my first impression? Absolutely lovely friendly helpful beautiful people stuck in a situation they definitely don't deserve. My first contact was with the visa officials when I flew into Nairobi. I was waiting in line for over an hour, but when I finally got to the desk the guy was joking with me about kangaroos and being so far from home. I had to wait a little while for my transfer to be organised, and by the time I left the airport it was almost dark. My drivers name was Livingstone, and he was a really cool and friendly guy - he pointed out things along the way and definitely knew how to handle the traffic. There are some crazy drivers in Nairobi! The road itself is terrible, at one stage we went over a join in the road which was more like going up a gutter. We managed to get caught up in a Saturday night traffic jam, which moved very very slowly, and we had people coming up to the windows trying to sell us newspapers, food, hats, all sorts of things! When we finally got to the hostel there were huge gates and fences of barbed wire - it looked like a prison. Crime is very bad here at night, especially on the roads where fake police pull over vehicles and then rob the people inside. Unfortunately in Nairobi it's not safe at all to go out after dark, so I am kinda glad for the protection level around the hotel.  I had missed the pre-departure meeting but found a sign in the lobby telling me the start time was (gulp) 4.30am... ewwww. I met a few people doing one of the other Kumuka tours and chatted to them for a while, then went to bed kind of early as I was exhausted from my flight and dreading another early morning start! There are 9 people on this leg of the tour, which happens to be 3 or 4 different tours mixed into one. Run by a company called Kumuka, my tour - Wildlife and Falls - is a 42 day safari through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We pickup and loose people along the way, so the group will always be changing. I really prefer the smaller groups and the people so far really nice. We have 4 New Zealanders, 3 Aussies, and 2 Swedish. It was a little cool at 4.30am, and we had to leave so early because it was the Nairobi marathon that day and all the roads were closing at 5am. We stopped and had breakfast just as the sun was coming up, at a spot overlooking the Great Rift Valley, and it was gorgeous. I almost felt like I was in the Lion King. The last 2 days have been driving days, and we have one more day to go, as we have to get to where the gorilla trek starts by Wednesday, as to get a permit you are assigned a specific date, and our groups are for the end of this week. So my African adventure has started out pretty mildly. One thing that has surprised me though is the reception that we have received, especially from the kids. I don't know how but they can see us coming from a mile away, and they yell out to us with the biggest smiles and waves, some even jumping up and down and dancing. You can't help but grin and wave madly back. Even from a distance you know when they are smiling cause there's a big white strip across their gorgeous black faces. Some of the children are so tiny; I don't know if it's because of poor nutrition, but it's so wet and the earth is so rich here, that they have no shortage of crops and food. They definitely aren't going hungry here. But we are definately as much of a novelty factor to them as they are to us. I cannot believe how little these people have contact with white people. I wasn't expecting the lack of westerners here. Everyone is coloured. Even the adults stop what they are doing and stare at us as we drive past. Some of the kids get shy or scared, but most of them wave. Some turn their palms up as if begging for money, but most are just excited to see you. We spent our first night at this amazing campsite at a place called Nirberi River. The owner has some sort of concreting business, and the campsite is just his hobby, but he has clearly gotten quite adventurous, installing a big resort-style swimming pool and recently a huge bar area accessed through a fake stone tunnel. It feels like 5 star, even though we are sleeping in tents! We spent the first night together with a few drinks in the bar, and then dinner from the truck. Our vehicle is very similar to the overland truck used in Morocco, with the bus-style seats and big rollup windows. We have been divided up into groups, 3 or which work of a rotating roster of cooking, dishes and truck cleaning, plus the other group are the 'truck dogs' who load and unload the truck, fill up the water, set up the table and cooker etc. im with Malin, she's part of the Swedish couple. Yesterday we were on dishes, and today on truck clean. We left the campsite at 5am, having to eat breakfast and pack up in the dark. The weather reminds me of the north of Australia in the wet season, muggy weather, with huge downpours of rain appearing seemingly from nowhere. As the sun came up the clouds looked like those from the Lion King, when Simba comes back and the rain washes the hyenas and rubbish away and makes the land green again. Big and dark and fluffy. I can feel myself wanting to compare a lot to the Lion King already. Because today's Monday, all the kids were in their uniforms heading off to school. It's great to drive past and see all these signs for primary, and secondary schools, and universities. At least these kids are having the opportunity to go to school. And their uniforms are so bright - reds, blues, even pinks! What saddens me is the standard of living that some of these people have. You see so many different types of houses - stone, mud, iron, grass, wood. My favourite are the little round mud ones with thatched roofs. They are so cute set in amongst the banana and sugarcane plantations. Coming towards the Ugandan border we dropped down in altitude and the countryside became a lot more tropical, and as soon as we were across the change was so sudden and dramatic. The border itself was very interesting, there is a crisis here at the moment where Kenya's computer system for border control is broken, and so all the trucks with goods trying to cross the border are banked up in lines 12km long. We didn't have any trouble, we just had to get an exit stamp for Kenya and buy our entry visa for Uganda. But because Kenya has one of the biggest ports and controls the flow of goods into landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo, it's a big business, charging tax on all the goods that go through makes them a lot of money. A lot of the time all the goods have to be unloaded out of the trucks, individually counted, and then put back in. some trucks have been sitting there for 2 weeks already. On the Kenyan side we had a guy trying to sell us a set of scales, which looked like they had been flogged from a butcher, and he kept putting it on the ground like he wanted us to get on. I don't think anyone wanted to know what their weight was! I can't wait to see all my stamps by the end of Africa - im going to have a cool looking passport by the end! The countryside now is very swampy, with heaps of crops - rice, tea, bananas and sugarcane, and the earth is so red and rich. And everywhere, there are cows and goats tied up outside houses, eating or lying around. It's crazy the amount of people that you find literally out in the middle of nowhere, walking or pushing a bicycle loaded with something - and it's usually something huge! When we stopped for lunch just off the road, within 10 minutes we were surrounded by children. We all felt bad eating in front of them, but they were more inquisitive than anything, and I think that they equate white people = money and food. We gave them some of our leftover chips, which they fought over like crows, but there was no way we could give them any of our proper food, as there was way too many of them - they almost out counted us at 3:1! We stopped to check out the Ankole cattle, which have the biggest horns I have ever seen! They are only really found in Uganda, and we had to pay the herder to let us take some photos, which at 1000 shillings was a little steep (about the equivalent of 60 cents US). Also, all along the roadsides are stalls of fruit, vegetables and meats. This is the only way for them to advertise their products. We are now in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The city is really big, and really dirty. There are people, bikes and trucks everywhere! Our campsite is quite nice, they have 2 huge fat dogs, some goats, and roosters wandering around the site. They also have guards with guns on the gate, so we all feel really safe. When we were setting up our tents there was a group of boys watching us over the fence and giggling, it was funny to have an audience! Especially since we are still mastering the whole tent-erection thing. Its perfectly safe to out here during the day, it's at night though that you have to be careful. I don't think we will be up late tonight, as all the driving and hours on the truck has made me exhausted! Especially when everything is so full on, you're trying to absorb in as much as you can see as possible. And these early mornings are killing me! Im still trying to catch up on everything since all the drama with my ticket, let alone the culture shock of something so different as Africa, and so im getting so tired all the time. By the time we have dinner the sun will have gone down and then it's a bit like '...so what now?' Oh I forgot to mention my tent buddy, Kelly. She's from Brisbane but has been living in the UK for 8 years now. She's really lovely and doesn't snore. YAY! So my first taste of Africa has been great. I really love it here already. Especially the scenery, it's absolutely amazing! Im really looking forward to the rest of my trip. Im sure you all are too :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224878400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224878400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224878400/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:29:07 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Mood: reminiscent. So my European adventure, after 5 months or 155 days, 16 countries, countless cities and so many memories, it's finally drawing to a close. I really cannot believe it. It feels like I have seen so much yet still so little. It has been absolutely amazing, all of it. Even the bad parts have added to the experience and made it one to remember. It's made me reconsider who I thought I was, who I want to be, and definitely helped me to discover more about myself. These last months have been absolutely invaluable, and my experiences inspiring me to search for more. I couldn't imagine doing Europe any other way, the people I have met and places I have seen could not be appreciated or witnessed when sleeping in a luxury hotel every night. I think hostels are one of the best travelling concepts around! Some random pieces and info I can now offer:*do as much preplanning as you can. It gets you excited for what's to come - half the fun is researching! It also is invaluable as you never have time for it when you're actually on the road.*not knowing where you will be the next day is exciting and a great adventure, but if you do have to keep to an itinerary, book your accommodation and transport well ahead, especially in peak season of July and august, as its really hard to find anything - especially in Spain, and if there is still anything available its guaranteed to be well dodgy and overpriced.*I still struggle to switch between languages, but im actually starting to think in the language rather than in English which helps a lot and is the best way to learn.*as a backpacker, tuna in a can is your friend. As is free breakfast - which can also translate into lunch and even dinner if you work it properly. I did. Mmmm... second breakfastses...*after a while things tend to stop bothering you. Standing in line doesn't seem to be so annoying. A train delayed by 10 minutes doesn't actually seem that long. Leaving your full bottle of shampoo in the bathroom of the last hostel is a pain - but not that much of a pain. Even people who back home you would find the most incredibly annoying are actually tolerable. It's kind of cool and makes me think that I might be able to handle anything that gets thrown my way.*if your looking for a cheap and interesting way to travel Europe, definitely check out Busabout. Although it's full of Aussies, it's not so bad - we are everywhere! It's so easy, practical and cheap! About $1400aus covered me for my travel for the last 5 months, and when you look at the costs of something like a eurorail pass, the difference is incredible. Not to mention they drop you right at the door of a (generally) good quality hostel, help you book accommodation and activities, and tell you a little of the history and geography of an area as you arrive - you wont ever get anything like that with eurorail! I am now the biggest ambassador for them now, you get to travel with people exactly like you. Seriously, do it.*I have finally adjusted to driving on the other side of the road  - standing on the right side of the escalators, and looking the right way when I cross a street. Now, when I try and picture in my head what side of the road I am meant to drive on back in Aus I get so confused... I can picture the road - but not where I drive! Look out for me when I get back hahaha. It's sure to be interesting.*I love that everything is an adventure. Catching the train, ordering lunch, sitting on a park bench - you never know who the next person that walks into your dorm will be, what you will learn from them, what they could learn from you.*the smallest moments can be the most memorable. Some of mine include lying on the grass under the Eiffel tower, waving at the children in the tiny towns in Morocco, getting drenched on the water taxi in Venice, standing on top of a mountain in Switzerland, or on the spot where Hitler committed suicide in Berlin, first spotting the Colosseum in Rome, the Sagrada Família in Spain, Pompeii in Italy etc. its all so utterly amazing and at times you really are pinching yourself wondering 'how the hell did I get here?'. Though seriously, when I think back to it, it wasn't really that hard to make it here. I worked hard, but I think the main problem is taking that initial first step in saying OKAY, im going to take myself out of my little square where everything is familiar and safe, spend 2/4/8 months plus on the other side of the world away from routine, familiarity, family, friends, to go somewhere where I have no idea how to get around, cant speak the language, and don't know a single soul, and yes - when I put it that way, I guess I can see why a lot of people never get away and travel like this. You all don't know what you're missing. But I needed a break from life. From everything. Routine, familiarity, always knowing what you were going to do and who you were going to see. I wanted to see if there was more to life. I really don't know how I am going to cope with going home and not meeting new people every day, not sleeping with 7 other people in my room, being able to have a double bed to myself. I will have to get heaps of people and try and squish them in my room, then periodically throughout the night get them to turn the lights out, talk really loudly, rustle through a plastic bag, just so that I feel like im back! I will have to buy a rickety old bunk bed with a lumpy mattress which squeaks every time I move, wash my clothes in the hand basin in my bathroom, and stand on a train all day with my pack on my back. Seriously, I have absolutely loved Europe. And everything that I never expected.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224876600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224876600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224876600/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:28:30 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Mood: angry but relieved There are many moments since arriving in Munich on Sunday that I would like to forget. Sadly, one of my favourite cities has let me down, and I haven't been able to enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would be able to. But the first part of my story is an enjoyable one, so I will start with that first. Sunday we arrived into Munich and I took the 3 girls that Lucy and I had been hanging out with the night before on a little tour of the city (well as much as I could remember of it, it has been 5 months since I was here!) and we headed to the Hofbrauhaus, the biggest and most famous beer hall in Munich. The girls all had a stein - the equivalent of a litre of beer, and we hung out in the beer garden, before being joined by another couple also on Busabout. It got freezing cold so we headed inside and ordered some dinner - I had the Bratwurst (German sausage) cause they are so god damn good, and a couple of people got the pork knuckle - the proper German beer hall meal, a specialty which is pretty much a big knob of pork covered in crackling. I think it's disgusting - that much fat - ewww it's so bad for you. We changed tables a couple of times, to get closer to the live music, and we had some apples strudel and ice-cream (another German specialty) for dessert. Yummy.  Monday was my favourite day in Munich by far, I joined a tour and headed 2 hours out into the countryside to see the Neunschwanstein castle - perched high atop a ridge, surrounded by forest and overlooking the valley below, this castle was used as the inspiration for Walt Disney's fairytale Disney castle. It's beautiful. We all did the hike up there, up a bike trail through the forest. It took us about 30 mins to reach the top, and first went out onto a bridge so we could admire it from the side (which wasn't as good as the side facing us was covered in scaffolding - as everything is in Europe!) and then went to have a closer look. The castle building began in 1869, by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and was designed by a theatrical set designer, rather than an architect. Ludwig wanted it to be in the authentic style of the old German knights' castles, and it ended up sending the Bavarian dynasty broke. The castle was near completion when in 1886, the king was declared insane and was later found dead, floating in shallow water in a nearby lake, drowned, along with the psychiatrist who had certified him insane. His death still remains a mystery, and there are many theories floating around as to what actually happened. Although the exterior was completed, the interior was only half finished. The castle was opened up after his death, to try to pay off the debts left by Ludwig from the construction, and now sees about 1.3million visitors a year, and is the most photographed building in Germany. We got to have a tour of the interior, which is very elaborate, covered in gold and decorations. We weren't meant to take photos inside the castle, but sorry, I was naughty, I managed to get a couple. We saw the gothic style bedroom, where 14 carpenters spent 4 years building over-elaborate bed and furniture carvings (it blows your mind, its crazy). We also saw the dining areas, throne room, singers hall, a fully equipped kitchen with hot and cold running water and heated cupboards (very high-tech for back then), and he even had a fake cavern built, so we had to walk through that. Seriously, the guy was crazy. The views from the castle over the mountains and lakes was really breathtaking, especially as it was getting quite late in the day and the sun was getting lower in the sky. On the way back I was talking to Dan and Narelle/, the couple that had joined us at the Hofbrauhaus the night before, and they were telling me about when they went to Africa, and how amazing it was. They said it was infact, the best tour they had ever been on. They were also away roughly the same time and did the same places as what I am doing, and now I don't feel at all apprehensive, I'm really really excited! They tried not to tell me too much as I don't want to be expecting anything, but it just sounds like an amazing experience. I can't wait. We got back to Munich quite late and just bought some cheap supermarket food for dinner. Tuesday was another beautiful sunny day and as we had been told that the weather was going to get worse during the week I decided to use this day to be outside and to wander around. I had some things to buy for Africa- a camping mat etc so I went and compared prices, and took my time enjoying the city. This has always been one of the cities I could live in the easiest, the whole of Bavaria is such a lovely region and it's so safe and beautiful. Tuesday evening Lucy arrived with the group from Salzburg, and a group of us went out for dinner where I gave in and had my first actual beer - a whole half a litre of it! It was gross but I felt a real sense of achievement when I finished it! 3 of us girls actually ordered a beer with a shot of raspberry flavouring. Lucy's and the other girls came out bright red but mine was still totally brown so I know there wasn't much flavour in it at all. And I guess they class it as a girly drink (though mine was far from girly) so they gave us straws to use! How ridiculous. We then headed again to Hofbrau, as some people had never been there, and we ended up being scarred for life after our encounters with the dirty old men who were trying to get girls up to dance with them, and then trying to squeeze and grope them! It was amusing at the start, but as the night went on and he got more drunk it became really disgusting more than anything, and we were having to push him away and get really angry. I bought a gingerbread heart off the cutest lovely old Bavarian dressed lady whose sole job was to walk around all night with a basket full of fresh pretzels and gingerbread for sale. She was so cute I just wanted to take her home and adopt her as my German grandmother. The gingerbread was so tasty. We stayed at Hofbrauhaus until they kicked us out at midnight. Wednesday and Thursday happened to be probably the most stressful and horrible couple of days of my life. Not even kidding. It makes me so mad even thinking about it, especially as everything seemed completely out of my control, and not at all my fault. So much went on that I cannot be bothered writing it down or even thinking about it again but the gist of it is as follows: When I had my bag stolen in Spain it contained my airline tickets - for my Round the World trip. As they could only issue paper tickets for my trip, I had to go to Munich airport before I flew out to get them re-issued, I couldn't just show up on the day of my flight and be allowed on. So I went on Wednesday to find the desk, which didn't actually exist - their ticketing is issued instead through Lufthansa. First Lufthansa could not find and record of my ticket, and then when they rang United they claimed I was meant to be on a flight that morning at 7am, and as that time had passed, I could not get my ticket re-issued. When I originally booked my ticket I had booked my flight to Africa for that day, but I had since changed it to the coming Saturday, and had it confirmed as me flying out that Saturday, but for some reason they did not have it in their system and no matter how angry I got they told me there was nothing I could do and that my only option was to purchase a new ticket - which was going to be about €4000 (about $8000AUD with the current dollar price - $3000 more than I originally paid) a ridiculous amount. Because of the time difference between here and Aus I couldn't call my travel agent until after midnight, and over the next 2 days I spent many hours going to and from the airport itself. I haven't slept very much and only this morning has it finally all been resolved, and now I have an e-ticket (thank god) and will definitely be getting on the plane to Africa tomorrow.  For a while there though I had to play with the concept that I wouldn't be making the flight, which meant that I would miss the start of my tour, and would be stranded in Europe with all that money gone to waste, no ticket, and the real possibility that I would have to head home. There was no way that I could support myself for the 6 weeks that I was supposed to be on tour for, and the last month and a bit afterwards before I am meant to go home. The idea of having to go back to Aus early nearly caused me to break down. Not when I still had so much to do and look forward to. Thankfully my travel agent has been absolutely amazing, they cant believe how much drama was caused by the airline and how hard it was to fix - they had never had a problem like this before and all the airline seemed to want to do was wipe their hands clean of the problem and try and get more money out of me for something that was their error, not mine. They will be receiving a very angry letter from me when I get home, not only for the amount of money that I wasted getting to and from the airport, but for the physical and emotional stress that I had to go through. It really was the most maddening and distressing thing I have had to ever go through. To have to throw away my trip after all the hard work I had done saving and planning, I almost wanted to crawl into a corner and die. I felt so unlucky. But I spoke to my parents and my travel agent this morning, and the relief when I found out was amazing, although I probably won't believe it until I'm sitting on that plane tomorrow and on my way. Anyone in Melbourne looking for a travel agent, I cannot speak more highly of Jetset in Bentleigh, Lucinda and Harry have been absolutely fantastic, and I would highly recommend them to anyone planning a trip. Meanwhile, yesterday Allison arrived in and this morning we went and did some last minute shopping as for both of us Munich is our last stop on our European adventures. She flies back to London tonight and I leave tomorrow morning. Her and Lucy, who left on Wednesday, have been traveling with me since Belgium, which was ages and ages ago, and like when I had to say goodbye to Georgie and Sean in Spain, I'm really sad as another chapter of my trip is coming to an end, and it feels like nothing could ever be the same again! It's funny how fast you form such strong bonds with people, I guess in a way they become you family - especially when everyone back home feels so far away. Though I see it more as an excuse to do more traveling when I get home - and now I have free accommodation whenever I travel around Aus! It's been great fun traveling with these girls, and all the other randoms we have met along the way. I hate goodbyes.                                                                                                                     
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224430200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224430200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224430200/tpod.html Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:27:56 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Salzburg, Austrian Alps, Austria

Mood: okay Salzburg is absolutely gorgeous. Oh my. It's surrounded by rolling green hills of grass and forest, and in the background are the magnificent Austrian Alps, some of which are dusted with a little snow. There are some sheer cliff faces holding in the town, and along the ridges the trees are just finishing up their autumn colour change. Lucy and I arrived just on lunchtime, and although there were hardly any clouds in the sky, it was freezing cold and the wind chill factor was incredible! We tried to look around the old town for a while, we watched some guys playing a huge game of chess, looked up at the huge fortress on the hill, wandered through some small markets and shops, but we were freezing and after about an hour we wimped out and went back to the hostel. I read and watched CNN for a bit, and for dinner we had the schnitzel and rosti (like I had in Switzerland, fried potato with bacon etc. It definitely wasn't as good as the Swiss but it was still tasty) and we hung out in the common room.  At the moment im feeling a little apprehensive about Africa, it's less than a week now till I leave and I can't believe that my European leg is coming to an end. The last 5 months have just flown past. Even though I have been taking things a lot slower lately than I have been im still exhausted, and at the moment also a little sad and homesick - probably a lot because of all these issues with money as our dollar is continuously dropping and things are becoming even more and more expensive for me. And because I wont receive my insurance money from my bag stealing incident until after I get back, im short of cash for the rest of my trip, and even though I have already cut some of my trip short, I don't really want to come home any earlier... im not ready to go home! Im dreading the concept of real life after being so free for so long. I think though that Africa will be a great break from what I have become accustomed to through Europe, a much welcome change I expect! Not to say I don't appreciate everything that I have seen, but I miss the hot weather and have been eating way too much bad food - all these northern European countries have are sausages, bakeries full of cake and pastries, and hot chocolate! So you can guess what my diet has been like. Yesterday morning was clear blue skies and no wind, so it was heaps warmer than the previous day. We (sadly) had a donut pretzel for breakfast from one of the stalls in the market, it was huge and damn tasty! They have so many different types of pretzel here - nuts, cheese, apple - it's so hard to choose! We hiked up the hill to the gates of the fortress, but didn't want to pay the 7€ to go in, so we instead admired the view over the town, then followed the road around the hillside and came across an old church and more views over the valley. We wandered back along the river for a while, which I think must be glacial as it's a beautiful green colour when the sunlight hits it, then cut back through the Mirabella gardens where there was a wedding going on. Every day at 10.30am the hostel plays the Sound of Music movie, and then at 2pm you can go on the tour and see the sights from the film. We managed to catch the end of the movie and then Lucy and the rest of the bus went off to be proper tourists and do the tour. I myself couldn't afford it, not to mention the fact I don't like musicals in the first place and have never actually seen the whole thing from start to finish. This would have definitely been my sister's territory as she loves this movie, but from what everyone said it was a little tacky and well overpriced. But I had a lovely afternoon by myself anyway. Cause I had been feeling a bit glum and down the last couple of days, I decided to spend some time wandering through the forest and find somewhere to have a little picnic and read for awhile. I walked up to the top of the cliff and followed what seemed to be a path through the trees. Cause there was so much leaves on the ground it was almost impossible to distinguish but I came across some old huts on the hillside and had a very 'sound of music' moment, coming across a goat. So now I have the 'high on a hill with a lonely goat... yodelaii yodelaii yodel-ah-eee-hoo' stuck in my head. Hope you all have it now too! It was a very grand encounter. I sat against a tree, had some lunch, and read my book. Even though my view looked out over Salzburg, it still felt like I was out in the middle of nowhere here, with only the fire engine sirens to bring me back to reality. I eventually climbed a little higher, up to one of the lookouts, it was so peaceful up there, apart from the odd person I was generally by myself. I watched the sun go down behind the hills a little closer to the town, then headed back to hear all about the silly tour. They had forgotten to roster a chef on at the bar last night so the only thing they were serving was frozen pizzas and soup from a can. So we hung out with the girls that we rafted in Cesky with, had some pizza, watched some more CNN, and then went off to bed. This morning we had to check out at 10am, and so we left our bags and went to find some breakfast, forgetting it was a Sunday! Everything, including the supermarket was closed. We have spent the morning wandering through the city trying to find something to eat. We couldn't even get a pretzel donut! Fancy that, no market on a Sunday?? There was only one last option... and sadly I gave in... McDonalds. Dirty, but always there for you when you really need it. Even in Austria. Lucy and I also went back to Mirabella gardens, as we found out this was the location they used for the 'do-re-me' song, so we jumped up and down the stairs, and skipped through the arches and around the fountains, acting like dickheads but enjoying ourselves! If you want to see where we were, just search for the clip of the song on YouTube, the garden scene is right at the end. So now I'm just waiting to do my last leg of my Busabout and European tour - the drive back to Munich. The one place I started it all. It feels very weird to be going back to where it all began. But that means that Africa is just around the corner and im getting very nervous about that. Everyone is saying how exciting it is that im going but im still not feeling it. I guess its cause I really don't know what to expect. Though having no expectations is usually the best way to go as it means that it should be better than I expect. At least I hope so. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224214200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224214200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1224214200/tpod.html Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:13:50 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Mood: questioning.   The bus from Cesky to Vienna was very late, not to mention packed, and when we first arrived me and Lucy were starving. Vienna didn't really strike us at all, though we were still in the outskirts of the city. Most of the hostels that Busabout recommends tend to be a train or tramride from the city, but that also means that they tend to be less expensive. The hostel here is called Wombats, there are a few of them through Germany and this one in Austria, and they are one of the best in terms of facilities, rooms, cleanliness etc. although I booked a 6 bed, I ended up in e 4 bed with Lucy, Karlie and a German girl, with our own ensuite bathroom.   For dinner we went to a restaurant called Mozart's, which do a special deal for Wombats clients of a 6€ schnitzel and chips or salad. I had a turkey one, and it was huge! A few of us (actually most of the bus) went there and we hung out for a little while until I got tired and went back to the hostel. Lately I have been feeling very drained and exhausted. I think this northern loop has been so crazy that I have been burning the candle at both ends and are starting to crave normality. I'm dying to stay in a place for more than just 3 nights, to be able to take my time and not feel like im wasting it or mot making the most of it or appreciating it all cause I am! It's just so hard and I feel like my brain is overloading on too much information. This northern loop is the one I have done the fastest out of all 3, and I think cause down in the south through Spain and Italy I had the beaches and sunshine I had more of a chance to relax, man I miss the warm weather! And I think that im almost ready for a change in pace and scenery, theres only o many churches and monuments you can see before they all start looking the same! Though I cannot believe its almost 5 months now! Wow!   Yesterday was really gloomy, it was pouring down with rain and I instantly decided it was going to be a catchup day, write in my diary, fix up my photos, read my book, and maybe even do a spot of (window) shopping. I had to pay for breakfast here at the hostel which was a bit of a bummer, but Wombats breakfasts are really good. I took my time with everything, and in the avo I wandered down to the main shopping st and browsed for a couple of hours, then met up with the girls to go food shopping to make some dinner. We ended up making spaghetti bolognaise, but with tuna instead of mince as its almost non-existent in Europe unless its in a sausage. It was nice to have another homecooked meal. Though again I was so tired I ended up falling asleep sitting upright on my bed with all my clothes on still quite early.   Today was another rainy day, but it was our last day so we tried to forget about it and explore a bit. A hot tip for using Vienna public transport is to go to a bar/tourist info place called TravelShack, where they purchase weekly tickets, then sell you the ticket for the day. You have to hand over €14, but you get €11 back when you return it so you only pay €3 for the day. That's excellent value! We caught the train into town and then got on the ring tram, which continuously loops around the city. This is the best way to get your bearings. We did a full loop, then checked out the Palace and huge library, then walked down past the opera house to an area called Nauchmarkt, which is a market area in the middle of a main road with meat, fish, veggies and food stalls. It wasn't anything special but I got some nuts and we had a hot drink to warm us up.   We also saw the 'Prater' theme park there, which has the oldest ferris wheel in the world, but it was so rainy and horrible that we quickly walked through and then headed back out again. Most of the rides were closed as its heading into winter, but a couple of the Busabout girls were on the dodgemcars so we watched them being idiots. Back in the city centre we went into the cathedral, but by this stage we were tired and cold, so we headed back and met up with Allison who had just arrived from Cesky (sigh... best place ever). Me and Lucy shared the leftover spaghetti from the night before, and then took Allison into town into town to the Opera House, as we had found out that if you go and line up for standing room tickets at about 6pm, you only pay 3 - 4€ to see a whole opera. That's majorly good value. A cheap night out? We jumped at the chance! It actually ended up being the ballet (we didn't bother to check out what was actually on) but it was still really cool and the theatre was beautiful. Our 'standing room' was rows of leaning posts right in the centre of the first tier, I think sometimes we had a better view than the people sitting on the floor! The show went for 3 hours, and our legs and backs were terribly stiff and sore by the time we got out. But it was really great to see a bit of culture, and I actually feel glad now as I haven't been very impressed by Vienna. But I better go to bed now as I am going to have to get up early and pack my bags for Salzburg... where apparently the hills are alive - with the sound of music. Exciting.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223996400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223996400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223996400/tpod.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:49:44 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Cesky Krumlov, Bohemia, Czech Republic

Mood: revitalisedCesky has been exactly what I needed. This place is just wow. Really special. Lately travelling has been exhausting me, leading up to the 5 month mark I have been well in need of some break time, just to be and feel normal again, to hang out, take things a little slower. Cesky Krumlov was my answer. As it was a half stop on a busabout day, me and Allison arrived in at lunchtime. The day was shaping up to be a perfect one - it was almost t-shirt weather! We were pumped. Cesky looks like something out of a postcard. The picturesque little town features a castle and tower as its centrepiece, with little red-roofed houses built into the sides of the hills, and a meandering river winding its way lazily through. The hills surrounding look like a painting, covered in lush grass, and forests turning from green to red and gold. It's amazing. We met up with Lucy, who had already been here for 2 days, and wandered around the town. It didn't take very long, as its quite tiny and there isn't much to see, so we had a sandwich in a deli near the hostel, and then hiked for half an hour up this bloody hill to Tescos to buy groceries to cook a family dinner - this was the first hostel in ages to have a kitchen and the 3 of us were CRAVING fresh veggies! When we got back we hung out at the outside tables in the sunshine and chatted and played cards with some of the other busabout-ians, and we finally ate the wheel of cheese that Allison and I invested in on our bike tour of Amsterdam. It had been stinking out her bag now for the last 2 weeks! Funny stuff. For me anyway. When it started getting dark and cold we made our dinner - chicken curry with rice and heaps and heaps of vegetables. It was so needed and so good. Europeans, especially in the north, do not seem to consume much veggies, at least they don't get served with a restaurant meal, and if they do, it's usually just potato, never anything of substance. The hostel here is really cool. The guys that run it are hilarious hippies, and each room has a different name eg. The 3 Amigos (3 bed dorm), Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs (8 bed dorm) and ours - the Family Room - a 16 bed dorm. It's up in the loft, all single beds, with angled roofs and huge exposed timber beams. It's huge, and by far my favourite hostel room to date. It's just too cool to explain! And it was full of people, which made it even more fun. We felt like we were orphans in an orphanage, and every so often someone would break out in song with 'the sun will come out tomorrow' or something else from the Annie movie. All through the hostel are doorways and rooms, split levels, it's so random that you feel like your going to get lost. And it's even functioned a little like a poor orphanage, sometimes we had no toilet paper, and the light in the toilet didn't work so you would be in complete darkness. It just added to the whole atmosphere and I found it amusing rather than annoying. After dinner we took over the tiny TV area, and watched my all time favourite movie - Napoleon Dynamite. Seriously, I was in heaven. I have missed him so much! I will never tire of watching him. So as you can imagine, I went to bed as happy as Larry. And since then, all we have been doing is quoting lines from it! The beds here are superbly comfortable and I had the best nights sleep, waking up yesterday to another beautiful clear autumn day. Had pancakes with fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast, then we walked up to admire the castle. The tower was described to us as looking like a porcupine penis by one of the hostel guys. Now I don't know what a porcupine penis looks like, unfortunately I have never had the joy of witnessing one, so I will let you guys judge for yourselves. The only thing that disappointed me about the castle was that they have actually painted the façade rather than built it, but it's still pretty and from a distance it looks real. The views however are gorgeous, as are the gardens. Lucy and I ended up losing Allison and Karlie, so we wandered through the forest, out to a little lake, tossed around some of the autumn leaves, and soaked up the amazing day, making the most of the thongs and t-shirt weather. God im loving having those bad boys back on again. The castle also has bear pits, though the bears weren't feeling very social it seemed, as they didn't show their faces either time we walked past. At 2pm a vanload of us girls headed upstream to partake in a pub crawl - but in a raft downstream. The only problem was that it is now October and officially no longer the peak season, so all the pubs that are usually open along the river are now closed, so instead we took a bottle of wine and shared it as we floated down. We were dropped off 12km upstream, given the rafts and oars, and then they just left us to figure the rest out for ourselves! We had 7 girls in our raft but only 5 paddles, so we had to master the art of 4 people rowing and one steering. The river was pretty low so we got caught on some rocks a few times, but we ended up doing a lot better than the other raft and made it back well before the others. The best fun was going down the little causeways as these act as mini rapids, though the hard bit is figuring out which part you are meant to go down as there are nice sloping ramps built for the rafts, but if you miss that there's a 4 - 6ft drop straight down instead, which does not look that appealing from above or below! Neverless, it was still good fun going down the ramps, the boat would fill up with water and we would slide off the rubber seats and get soaked arses, then using a bottle we would try and bail out the water, usually just finishing right before the next causeway, meaning we would have to repeat the process all over again! After a while we cut the top off the bottle which made it a lot quicker, but it was amusing more than anything! And luckily it was such a beautiful day that we weren't really that cold. I think we finished in a record 1.5hrs, though nearly struck tragedy when we almost took out a fly fisherman. We still couldn't steer very well. But it was a great avo out. After hot showers, we went to the restaurant at the hostel as most of us were starving. I had a hot chocolate, and then a chicken burger, followed by berry crepes. I felt like such a fatty, but it was so good, and so cheap! The equivalent of 10€ for all that. Absolute bargain. I love the Czech Republic. We took over the lounge again and watched one of the Harry Potter movies last night, which ended up drawing a huge crowd. I think everyone was really enjoying having the time to chill out and be normal for once. We had another early night to bed as we were all pretty exhausted from our big rafting day. I was so glad this morning as although we are getting picked up by the bus, it wont be here till 11.30am so we got to have a sleep in. usually we have to be ready to go at 7.30am in the main cities like Berlin and Prague. We went and got waffles with banana and honey for breakfast before. Mmmm. Im so not ready to leave this place, it's got the most magical quality and it's just beautiful. And im so glad I have got to see it before it gets totally over run by people. You all have to check out this place. Oh yeah, and i think im going to permanantly have the 'all the leaves are brown' song stuck in my head. We have sung it the whole time we have been here. Cesky's theme song. Beautiful.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223805900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223805900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223805900/tpod.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:18:27 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Prague, Bohemia, Czech Republic

mood: disapointedBerlin to Prague = boring full day on the bus watching Friends episodes, and stopping to get even more depressed at Terezin concentration camp, which I don't really want to talk about as it was my 2nd concentration camp in 2 days and its just a little bit too much. I met back up with Allison in Prague, and went out with some of the other busabout-ians to a cheap restaurant just down the road where I had a huge pasta and 2 cokes for only 8€. BARGAIN! Here in the Czech Republic, beer is literally cheaper than water. It's crazy. We sat in the little restaurant for ages, before trying to get into this club called Mecca who were hosting a private party to celebrate the release of YouTube here. Makes you feel a little behind the times! We didn't succeed, so instead we headed to a bar called Cross, which was really random and weird, the place is decorated with odd mechanical parts, some of which spin etc. The weirdness attracted an even weirder crowd of strange rock and punk Czech boys and girls. The place smelled like weed and we are 99% sure that we saw a drug deal take place. It didn't take us long to grow bored (and tired) of cross so we hung out instead at the hostel lounge and watched the aussie dollar dropping on CNN, which has been freaking out a lot of people as of late, especially those who have not had much contact at all with the outside world and are only just finding out how little money they actually have. Even the US dollar is going strong against ours, its absolutely terrible. The pound is heading towards being 3 times the aussie dollar, so its great news for the aussies in the UK who are earning the £, but for poor travelling souls like me, its pure crap. Very depressing. The hostel here in Prague is kicking the arse of free breakfast, so of course followed the tradition of second breakfastses (heres my reference to food yet again) though the pumping dance music at 8am is a little extravagant. But they have sandwich toasters so that more than makes up for it. As per usual I did a walking tour to get orientated with the city, but the free walking tours weren't on offer so I had to fork out 8€. Our guides name was Paul, and he was a little strange, he walked incredibly quickly, and when he stopped to talk about something he would stop mid-sentence, pause like he was going to say something else, the quickly walk off again without actually finishing it. I found him weird and entertaining. We walked the old town, which is actually newer than the new town, due to it being bombed in the war and rebuilt. We also wandered through the Jewish quarter, which funnily enough doesn't have many Jews there anymore, but features a couple of old mosques and some gorgeous gothic and baroque style buildings. We crossed the river via the famous Charles Bridge, where artists try and sell you their paintings and drawings. We stopped for lunch, and then hiked up the hill to Prague castle, which is not really a castle but more like a community. There's no real stone towers and menacing fortresses, just tall buildings creating a wall around the outside. They have a huge chapel in the middle, a big looming gothic thing covered in gargoyles and featuring a huge round stained glass window. The gardens around the castle were absolutely gorgeous, grapevines and sculptures and manicured lawns and weeping trees with bright orange and red leaves. And it commanded excellent views over the rest of the city. I did a load of washing back in the hostel (thrilling), then a group of us went back to the same restaurant from the previous night, though we mixed it up a bit and sat out in the back bar section with the foosball table. I had a delicious trout for dinner, and we had a couple of drinks before heading off into the city. On the train in, one of the guys Nick didn't realise that we had gotten to our stop and all gotten off, and by the time we realised we were missing someone and turned around, the doors were closing. It was now that he also realised he was alone and the look of horror on his face and his reaction as the train pulled away was an absolute classic forever etched into my brain - I was nearly on the floor in hysterics - his lips mouthed a slow motion 'noooo!' and he grabbed the pole on the train and started to shake it in frustration, fury and hilarity. I was doubled over in pain it was so good. I still giggle thinking about it now. We had to wait 10 minutes for him to catch a train back, and gave him hell for the rest of the night. We had heard about this club in town which was having an 80's and 90's music night which we were all keen to check out, but they had a cover charge and we didn't want to pay when we didn't know what it was like inside, so we sat and had a drink in a pub, then found a Coyote Ugly style bar full of old people dancing to old music. Me, Allison and one of the other guys were over it by this stage, so we went to find the nearest tram to take us home. It ended up that we couldn't get tickets from anywhere as you cannot buy them on board and we were not willing to risk the hefty fine if caught without a ticket (though the guy who was with us didn't seem to care and got on). By the time we found a ticket the last tram had gone and now only the night trams were running. But we didn't know which number we needed, and ended up having a grand adventure making our way home, which I don't really want to talk about again as it was cold and painful. We laughed the whole way home though, it all seemed much funnier that it probably should have been. When we did get back we heard that they had found the body of Britt Lapthorne, which I am glad about, though I feel very sorry for her family, which also makes me think about what would happen if something like that happened to me and my family. It actually hits quite close to home, as she was a solo traveller like me, she had apparently just finished the Croatia sailing trip that Busabout runs, and no doubt she would probably have met some of the same people I have met while travelling, as when your backpacking Europe there is always someone who knows someone who had met someone. Its really sad and disappointing that things like this happen in our world. No-one deserves to have what happened to her. But the main thing to remember is that you should still have fun and not worry too much, as the same thing could and does happen in Melbourne. You just have to make the most of every moment, live it up and just be careful not to put yourself in stupid situations. Yesterday I had a big breakie again. Seriously. I love anything free! Allison and me fattened ourselves up and then headed to Prague's contempory museum which had some really cool artwork. A couple of hours later we headed into town for lunch, and found that its impossible to find anything here, I really don't find Prague that impressive. In fact, I can almost class it as bad. Eventually we found a bagel joint where I had a BLT and the most delicious hot chocolate ever (the sign out the front did say so - lucky they delivered on their promise). It ended up being quite a late lunch - luckily we filled up on breakfast! Around the corner was an exhibition of Salvador Dali, and oh my gosh, he is now one of my favourite artists! His concepts are so original and so varied in styles and subjects and mediums. I love him. He was a kooky but amazing artist, and made me want to be creative all of a sudden! We spent the evening hanging out in the hostel and I packed my bags ready for the bus trip today. I'm up early to tackle this entry and I couldn't resist an opportunity to do another entry for you all. But I am exhausted! So Prague for me wasn't that overly impressive. I don't know if it's because everything seems to be the same, like I feel that I have seen it all already. I found the people rude and the city centre itself a little boring, although it was very cheap compared to the euro countries. I am however not surprised that I didn't like it, I have heard that Prague isn't liked by many backpackers. So I didn't have high expectations when I arrived. Meanwhile, today I get to Cesky Kumlov, a small little village in the south of the Czech Republic - and all I hear about is rave reviews from there - I cannot wait!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223633220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223633220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223633220/tpod.html Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:17:39 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Berlin, Germany

Mood: over it! After the busride/ferry ride back to Berlin on Monday, I didn't actually get to bed till 1.30am yesterday morning. When I eventually woke up, I wandered around the city, found a supermarket, got some things to eat, found a big park and chilled out there for a couple of hours, writing in my diary and catching up on my thoughts. It was a really pretty park, surrounded by all the falling autumn leaves. Just as I was about to leave though I was approached by a weird creepy guy with bad teeth who wanted me to meet up with him later and 'do something'. Seriously, why do I always get the weird guys in parks! Yuk. So unlucky. I walked away as quickly as I could, worried he was going to follow me. I walked back under the Brandenburg gate and held off a major temptation for Starbucks. Instead, I went window shopping for a car in the many auto showrooms along the main strip; Bugatti, Volkswagon, Seat, Bentleigh etc. At one stage I felt like I was literally in a car shopping mall! And I am so in love with the new Golf. LOVE! I also went to Peugeot and checked out their concept cars. Some of them are so cool! I didn't really feel like being social last night so I hung out in the room instead and tried to retrain my brain with some sudoku. Literally, my mind is turning to mush. I have seen and done so many things recently that I now struggle with even the basic things like remembering the names of people and places, where I have been, where I am going, and I cant even talk sometimes! I seem to tune out and daydream a lot, especially when people introduce themselves. Rude I know, but I seriously cant help it! Its really bad. Today I went on a tour of the Saxenhausen concentration camp, a trainride out of Berlin. It wasn't the most pleasant day, I cant really say that I 'enjoyed it', but I needed to witness a little bit of that history. Theres not much I can say except that the nazi's were sick people. The amount of propaganda and crap that they fed the world is unbelievable. When you walk through the front gates of the camp, the title on the gates reads: Arbeit Macht Frei - work will make you free. Even though the only way out once you were in there was being carried out dead. Though this was never a death camp like the extermination camps of Auschwitz, this was a work camp. Still, many thousands of people died here. Its horribly sad. The SS guards were trained to be absolutely merciless. Most had some sort of  mental disability, as these were the easiest people for the Nazis to brainwash. Plus they knew, if they were caught showing even the slightest bit of sympathy to any of them, that they would be thrown into the camp too. Some of the stories we heard were absolutely horrible. And it wasn't just the jews that were held in these camps, it was also the political prisoners, gays, Jehovahs etc. anyone that was part of a minority or who didn't go along with the plans of the Nazis. All the different groups were devided up using different coloured badges, so that they could be distinguished between. We also saw the prison within the prison, where people were locked away in solitary confinement and tourtured, usually during the main roll call so that the other prisoners could hear the screams. Rollcall within the camp happened both morning and evening. First they would just count the number of people. Then, if I didn't add up, they would have to go through all the names and numbers etc. the longest recorded roll call was like 18 hours. If one person was missing, then they had to be accounted for. If someone had died in the night, then it would be the responsibility of the other prisoners to carry the body to rollcall - to be counted. Really cruel and horrible. Not to mention they wore very thin cotton uniforms, so if they had to stand out in -5 degree tempretures then so be it. They had no other choice. The site also had a track built to test army boots, which was one of the jobs the prisoners had to do. To test the boots, prisoners were forced to run around this track with 25kg packs on their backs, for 40km or more. This would be a mean feat for anyone who was fit and healthy, let alone a prisoner so badly malnourished. Most people fell over and never got up. The site also features a few different memorials, the area where the firing squad did their work, and the area they had built for mass exterminations, a small gas chamber, and ovens for burning bodies. Most of the extermination was purely used as research rather than wiping out, to see what the most economic was way of killing was. Another method they adopted was dressing up guards as doctors and claiming that the prisoners were coming in for a 'checkup'. First their mouth would be checked, and if the prisoner had and gold fillings they would have a cross drawn on their hand, or an o if not. They would be taken to a waiting room where they would be playing very loud music, before being taken into another room, asked to stand against a wall, and told they were going to have their height measured. A small sliding door in the wall would open behind their head, and an SS guard would shoot them in the neck. They incorporated this so that prisoners would go willingly and without trouble, and so that the guards wouldn't know who they were killing or look them in the face while doing so. Their process was very thought out, and I think that was one part that sickened me the most. Before I develop depression, I will also mention the 'autopsies' that were undertaken to make the death process seem more humane. The truth was, a Y insission was cut into the chest of the deceased prisoner, then sewn back up again, and a random reason for death selected from a list and written on the death certificate. It was all done to make the camp more proper and legit. Sickening, that's what it is. Needless to say, everyone was real quiet on the train back home, and for me tonight it is an early night, ready for the bus trip in the morning - to the Czech Republic! Im looking forward to the cheaper prices, and I have heard that the area is absolutely stunning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223317620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223317620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lovin_apples/1/1223317620/tpod.html Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:44:46 -0500 "to see is worth more than hearing a hundred times" - my travel adventures around the world

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Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

mood: chilly!The 8 hour bus ride to Copenhagen provided me with a little surprise - an unanticipated ferry trip! Rather than go the long way round, the boat took us for 1 hour and 45mins across the ocean to Denmark! Food etc was so expensive and it was dark outside so I just chilled out until I discovered one of the TV's was playing Friends episodes, which made the trip go a lot faster considering that I hadn't prepared myself (or my stomach) for boating adventures. We arrived into Copenhagen quite late and in a fairly dodgy part of town. My friend Julie met me there and we caught a bus back to the student accommodation where she lives.   I met Julie the same way I met Desiree (who I stayed with in Switzerland) during my trip to New Zealand last year. She spent 6 months in Aus and came to Melbourne just over a year ago to stay a couple of nights with me, and I have been super excited to see her again. By the time we got back though I was exhausted and we both pretty much went straight to bed.   Where she lives is apartments for the uni students, 15 people share a kitchen and lounge/TV room, but each has their own rooms with an ensuite. It's quite a cool setup, I want to live there! It's great cause you can be as social or anti-social as you like.   Saturday morning Julie had a soccer game, so I went along as the cheer squad. It was freezing cold but no rain (luckily) and the game ended up being one of their most eventful and entertaining. On the other team was a real bitch of a girl, by the end she had been kicked off the field, she was so aggressive and was getting all of the girls on Julies team really angry. There was even a huge bitchfight where hair was pulled and punches thrown. I was loving it! Afterwards the girls were saying that they had never seen anything like it. But they got their own back, winning 3:2 in a nailbiting finish. I want to play soccer now! Every time I see a big patch of grass all I want to do is kick a footy around. Man I miss AFL.   After Julie got changed and we had some lunch, we went into the heart of the city and visited her café where she works. It's a really groovy little place, heaps of tourists go there and it serves up some very traditional Danish delicacies. We shared one of them, called an æble kompot, which is stewed apple in a jar-thing, hot, topped with cream (uuugh) and sprinkled with toasted rye bread. I also had a hot chocolate. It was all mighty delicious. We wandered much of the centre, through the shopping streets, saw the queens palace and the changing of the guard, wandered along the waterfront, past the Kastel, and then out to the main attraction of Copenhagen, the statue of Haans Christian Andersons Little Mermaid. By the time we got back to the apartment it was just after 7pm, and we joined some of Julie's housemates for a group dinner, where one person is allocated chef, and the cost is taken out of a kitty of money. It's not a compulsory thing, but it's a nice social gathering for them all. And it was delicious. We had rissoles, salad and baked wedges of potato/carrot/parsnip. Everyone can pretty much talk good English, and it was pretty interesting chatting to some of them. They all made an effort to talk to each other in English rather than Danish which I really appreciated. Yesterday we woke up and it was pelting down with rain. Julies mum picked us up in her car and let us have free reign of it for the day, so Julie drove us to the costal town of Elsinore, which features the Kronborg castle, originally from the 1420's. The castle however, was largely destroyed in a fire in 1629, and was rebuilt by Christian IV during the 1570's and 80's. It's a big old thing, overlooking the ocean and town. We saw the casemates - the dungeon and soldiers quarters underneath the castle, which were very eerie and badly lit. down there is also Holger the Dane, a big statue of the Viking which is said to be ready to wake up and go to war when needed. So far he hasn't really delivered on that, still choosing to stay quite dormant through many different wars. We also saw some of the interior of the castle, the elaborate velvet drapes and furnishings of the royal chambers, plus the largest ballroom in northern Europe. We trudged back through the rain to the car and drove up along the coast to Julie's dads place, where I got to meet her stepmum and stepbrother, and we had hot chocolate and muffins and chatted about the economy. They were a really really lovely family, her dad told me about a business trip he had just been on to Iceland, we talked about the summers where it would be daylight 22hrs a day, how they open presents on Christmas eve instead of Christmas day, the differences between Europe and Australia, the presidential election in the Us - all sorts of things. It was really really cool. Plus they have an old blind deaf dog which reminded me of my little Elle back home. Before we went back to Julies mums, we had some time to kill so she took me to an old summer theme park set out in the forest. As the season was over it was closed, but you could still walk around it and I found it odd but really beautiful. Out behind the rides we were walking through the forest and came across a herd of deer grazing. One was going nuts, tearing round and around like an over-excited puppy. And a couple of hundred metres away was the big stag, standing tall and proud, with huge wide antlers. It was really cool. Julie said she had never seen anything like this before. So I was even more impressed. We had dinner at Julies mums house, and I was so excited cause she made us a Sunday roast beef! My first roast in 4 and a half months. It was so good. My mouth is watering now just thinking of it. I also got to meet Julie's sister, and was majorly surprised to see that they had a budgie!! I got the full family dose yesterday. It was a really nice change. Today I head back on the bus to Berlin, but as I don't leave till later this avo we went out to an area called Christiania, which is a little hippie community living right in Copenhagen. Its very unusual and artistic, they aren't wasteful people and so they use old things to build new things, they don't care about what what people think of them and seem to be really happy. The walls are painted with huge murals of hippie things like Bob Marley, which I found really interesting. You can't take photos in there though as number 1. This is someones home, and number 2. They don't want to be caught on film doing dodgy things, like the massive amounts of pot they were all smoking (I thought I was back in Amsterdam!) or the huge ceramic pot of weed growing out the front of the general store. The only thing I didn't like was the dogs everywhere. Apparently they can get quite aggressive. It's been great seeing Julie again, she's so lovely and im really enjoying creating this network of people around the world.
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