TravelStream™ news feed for member promking22 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/promking22 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:03:07 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249956353/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249956353/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249956353/tpod.html Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:03:07 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Where to start? 13 days in 'Nam! Our flight from Frankfurt actually took us to Singapore, where we found the cheapest bed we could to try and sleep. Think we could sleep? No. So a 12 hour flight followed by about 12 hours of no sleep. Then we get the taxi to the airport about 4:30am for our flight to Vietnam. Great start :-)

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh CIty (Saigon) and were kept awake and alert by the thousands of car and motorbike horns raging a noise like you've never heard. 6 million motorbikes race through Saigon, and it felt just about every last one was surrounding our taxi. The traffic is amazing to watch. Well our taxi dropped us off at the wrong building, so through broken conversations with locals who can't speak English, we were forced to walk a kilometer or two down a main street, with and against all the traffic! An exciting introduction to Saigon indeed.

All was made better with a few hugs from family, we found Natalie's house OK and Alicia had the first sight of her parents, brother & sister in three and a half months. Was very comforting. We shared a few stories over breakfast and grabbed a taxi into the city to explore. Got lost for a while around Ben Tanh market...havoc in there with shopping and bartering. Checked out War Remnants museum for a sobering reminder that Australia was fighting here as recently as 35 years ago. Over centuries so many groups of people (including Vietnamese themselves) have destroyed parts of South Vietnam. Alicia and I were barely breathing at this stage and went home to nap. After being forcefully woken close to 9pm we had dinner, hung out for a bit, then went back for another 12 or so hours sleep. We didn't know what jetlag was before, but now we know we had it and we'd slept it off!

Continued the tourism after late brekky and visited a Buddhist pagoda for an insence-filled glimpse into local religion. Then off to Reunification Palace, and learnt more about the modern history of Vietnam, mainly Ho Chi Minh's decision to surrender in the 70s and declare the North and the South one soveriegn nation. The late afternoon kicked off the first of many food & drink splurges...enjoying the glorious exchange rate eating and drinking to our heart's content for low, low prices. Something we didn't find too difficult. "Crawled" to possibly 5 different venues that evening for various stomach fillers and sampled the Saigon nightlife. Fun for all.

Chris quickly became addicted to ca phe su da, rich coffee in a tall glass with condensed milk and ice. It was very comfortable having the option of paying for taxis everywhere, eating out, and entering museums. Over Europe with high prices and strict budgets, much of our food came from supermarkets and consumption was limited. In Vietnam were were able to get 45 minute taxi rides for close to 10 dollars, great dinners for 5 dollars and beer/coffee anywhere from 50 cents to 3 dollars. And I still haven't mentioned the shopping!

Next day was definitely a shopping day, where Chris ordered a suit, Alicia purchased three pair of shoes...shorts, dresses, ornaments and souvenirs were all exchanged at prices Daryl Kerrigan will surely diagnose as that of a dreamer. It was nice. David flew back home today leaving a motley crew of 5, we still got up to our fair share of mischief over the following week.

Monday we went on an organised day tour of the Mekong Delta. After a fair busride we boarded a boat crusing down the massively wide "river" to do some island hopping. We checked out locals making rice paper, honey tea, coconut candy...all of which was delicious :-) We had the chance to row our own small boat down a narrow canal of water, ride on a donkey-led cart, and the big one that freaked the girls out: holding an adult python. We sampled local fruit while listening to local music, it was a packed day of different insights and activities. Upon returning to the city, we of course had a nice big night out.

Another day tour during our trip took us to a Cao Dai temple - a Vietnamese religion that is the result of mixing a whole bunch of other religions. The building itself was so darn colourful, you couldn't help but feel happy. No opression in this joint. A hoard of robed locals then treated us to a prayer session with plenty of kneeling, gongs, and soe odd singing.

The rest of the day was at Cu Chi tunnels, those used by the Viet Cong in the "American" War. Chris had been fascinated by this for a while so was excited to learn more...Alicia's parents felt a little more subdued as it was their generation who was caught up in the futile war. We were taught a brief history but mainly were shown the tactics and techniques the Cu Chi and Viet Cong people used against the American & allied soldiers, including their 200km long underground tunnel system. We had the chance to walk a section of a tunnel of which Chris walked the whole 100 claustrophobic leg-tearing metres, the others got out at 20. Still enough to give an insight on how these people lived during the war...absolutely amazing.
We were shown scale models demonstrating the traps and weapons used, and even had the chance to shoot war guns including AK-47s and automatics. So loud! So unreal but was not hard to imagine what it would have sounded like in the area during 60s and early 70s. An interesting day, which again deserved big city meals as a reward.

By the end of the week Denise and George and flown back to Melbourne via Hong Kong, and Vietnam was left with the ugliest, most rebellious of the lot. We set about doing some damage. Not really...actually far from it...we turned the "Relax" notch up to 11. Sleeping in, a bit of shopping, a full body massage for each of us that totalled about $14 on the bill, late dinner and drinks. Nice.

Sunday morning we rose early for a 3 day getaway to beach town Quy Nonh. Not on the traditional tourist trail, it's the beach that Vietnamese go to, and pretty much ONLY Vietnamese. So much so that when we walked down the street people stopped, pointed and stared. I checked, there was nothing on my face but my white skin. It was amazing. The locals were so local they've never had to learn that staring was rude; it was just incredible to see white people. We received many "Hellos" and smiles, and it felt great.
We did spent much of our time bludging at the beach resort which was mostly quiet. Buffet breakfasts, ocean views and hee-yuge beds. We shared a bottle of Baileys in an overwater gazebo...Alicia and Chris had another massage...hahaha we know we're making you jealous!The rooms were perfectly facing east...check out the sunrise photo we got at 5am. This place was so beautiful, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We were told the best beach was about 20km south so we headed out in a taxi, swam for about 10 minuted before we spotted the first jellyfish and scampered out. Enjoyed a relaxing read/drink in deck chairs, and watching local boys play an awesome sport we hadn't seen before. Beach volleyball but with no hands. Pass the ball with soccer moves - kicking, kneeing and heading - including the overhead scissor kicks! Play at home. Vocceyball???

Spent one more full day with Natalie in Ho Chi Minh City before flying out to Singapore. Packing the bags, finalising shopping (again), and going out for cheap again. It was so nice to still be travelling yet enjoying comforts of being with family, and staying in a house, or at least a beachside chalet! Certainly felt closer to home, and was a nice feeling after the length of time we'd been away. But now it's all coming to an end...a day and a half in Singapore to go before heading home! Exciting!!!

Got to Singapore about 6, had a buffet dinner included with our hotel, watched some B grade TV movies and spent our last night o/s. The next day we took a walk through Singapore's Little India, which felt like the flying visit to India we never had time to do. Found a cheap lunch in our favourite local place, Clarke Quay, at none other than Hooters! For less than $10 we had soup, main, ice cream, tea/coffee and a soft drink, so great value. Then walked riverside for an hour or so, before finalising our packing in the hotel room.

10 o'clock tonight we fly back to Melbourne. How strange. 115 plus days of roaming streets aimlessly, not paying rent, not working, seeing new places, meeting new people. We don't know how to accurately sum it up - we might have to write one more blog entry shortly with greater conclusions. Anyway thanks for joining us and hopefully we'll see you soon!




]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249955380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249955380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1249955380/tpod.html Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:27:17 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany

After Utrecht we took the next 3 days easy, before our flight towards Asia from Frankfurt. Spent one night in Cologne, and two in Frankfurt.

Spent good parts of each day walking around to explore the cities, but nothing too strenuous. Cologne's major attraction is the Dom, or Cathedral, which took our title of greatest Cathedral on the trip. And yes we saw a few, so this come-from-behind victory is a grand achievement.

Frankfurt was good fun, we met some great people there. The hostel was fantastic for socialising. On the first evening they had a trivia contest where we were runers-up by one lousy point. We then played cards with a couple of Yanks which made for a nice night.
On Tuesdays the hostel organises groups to go to the cinema together, and with a dozen other travellers we walked to see Harry Potter's latest installment. Again, met some really interesting people this night including a Latvian bloke who knew info about just about every country you could throw at him. The movie was great too, looking forward to the next one.

Our final day in Europe was spent bludging. Packing the bag, sitting in the hostel, hanging out with a few Perth lads. Talking about how strange it felt anticipating leaving Europe. The end of the tunnel could be seen. All these adventures were slowly coming to an end, and home was on the horizon.
We were looking forward to getting closer to home, simply for comfort, but keen not to let the travel experience end, so the next 2 weeks in SE Asia felt perfect at this point and we felt great. Look out Singapore and Vietnam, we are coming...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1248163864/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1248163864/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1248163864/tpod.html Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:36:42 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Holland. The mother land. (So to speak.) We don't really know what to call it. The 2 provinces that give us our surname have been an area of intrigue and wonder for a long time - Chris about 26 years - Alicia a few months. Either way, the Hollands are in Holland.

Let's clear this up - it's one of the first things we sought to learn upon entry. North and South Holland are the two provinces of The Netherlands that contain the most cool stuff. (Amsterdam, The Hague etc.) Netherlands is the country, Holland is the best bit.

3 nights in Amsterdam. We arrived about 5:30pm, took a while to find our hostel because most streets like to contain 80% shared spelling, quite confusing. But we got straight into it that night and found an organised 90 minute tour of the famous slash notorious Red Light District. We learnt plenty of useful information, such as:
The venues that have a Monday night dress code of "Boots Only".
The place to shop for coloured rubbers, triangular rubbers, rubbers with animals on the end and more...
A blue light on a window literally means "she ain't what she used to be".
And window browsed "products" slash people from all areas of the world, divided into price, ethnic origin and even age. And the ages reach extremes.
So that was interesting, fun and we had a free beer at the end. A light hearted start to our time in Amsterdam.

The next day did as the Romans do and hopped on a bicycle tour. The biggest crime in Amsterdam is bicycle theft - possibly because everything else seems to be legal - but mostly because there are nearly 2 per person. The tour took us through Vondel Park which is really nice, big, progressive, and has a couple of Picasso sculptures. Went through a houseboat village, past a bunch of green areas and over several dikes. We were taught of how the Dutch saved their land from the sea with their master intelligence, creating a system which allows most of Holland to thrive whilst being under sea level. While God may have created The World, it was indeed the Dutch who created The Netherlands.

We continued about 14 km out of town to a clog and cheese making factory. Now we're getting really Dutch. A nice insight into the traditional ways of the land. Alicia purchased a rather nice package of smoked cheese to be enjoyed by the family in Vietnam. Oh it was tasty tasty stuff. Lapping up the stereotypes we ventured back into the city via a classic old windmill. More cheesy photos and back we went. A really fun day. Alicia is now a bonafide cycling pro!

Spent a fair bit of time shopping for souvenirs, which was indeed a task. Do you know how hard it is not to look at every single item when they have your surname on them??? Think we picked up some pretty cool stuff. Some may be called lame. I don't care. It's a shopping opportunity way to rare to miss.

Come Friday and Saturday, dorm accommodation in The Damage began hitting 70 dollars, so we said bugger that and ventured out to the countryside. Picked up tickets for 19 Euro each that allowed us unlimited 1st class train seats across the kingdom all day. Sweet! Went to the 2nd largest city, Rotterdam, and stored our backpacks. Caught a bus for an hour out to the picture postcard town of Kinderdijk, which is so Dutch it'll cook your clogs off. 19 old school windmills still exist out here along side a flurry of canals. One windmill still turns, and is open to visitors. You have to go there to feel the atmosphere. Hard to describe in other words than Dutch. It's the sterotype. And it felt awesome.

Back to Rotterdam where we took about an hour to walk through the town, which has a youthful buzz with plenty of artwork around malls and canals. Our destination - De Pannenkoekenboot. In English - The Pancake Boat. Here, at 4:30pm, we would board a boat for a one hour cruise. Nice. But the best part is the all you can eat pancake extravaganza. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Imagine a pancake topping, it was there. Imagine a few things not normally on a pancake, and they're probably there too. And you can mix them all. As much as you want. And you can go back for as many pancakes as you want. Long live De Pannenkoekenboot. Melbourne needs one of these. (For the record, Alicia had 2, Chris had 4 and a half.)

After that we carried our guts back to the train station, collected our bags and got on the train to Utrecht, our port of call for the next two nights. We like the town immediately. More canals, plenty of bars and restaurants, and another youthful, permissive vibe. Couple of beers before an early night.
The hostel was extremely casual and comfortable. They actually purchase food that you can cook yourself, have a good dozen musical instruments for you to pick up and play, and a heap of free internet computers. Good to stay at a place so relaxed and friendly, and didn't just care about strafing your cash.

Utrecht is only a small city, which we enjoyed in a series of short expeditions across the day. They had an Aboriginal art museum amongst other things, seemingly way too many shops per capita, and a set of traffic lights dedicated to illustrator Dick Bruna. The guy who drew Miffy and all her friends. There are pedestrian lights shaped not like a walking man, but Miffy herself, in red and green. Very cool.

Although only 5 nights spent in The Netherlands we felt we grabbed a really good slice of it. Explored much more than the typical tourist who at our age tends to stay in the 'Dam and remain quite smoky and green, or red. And above all, as mentioned above, the Hollands have now been to Holland.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247901170/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247901170/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247901170/tpod.html Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:34:49 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brugge, West Flanders, Belgium

* Arrived at hostel 1pm.
* Had fries. (Created in Belgium, not France).
* Had beer chosen from a menu of over 400.
* Had beer after dinner at our hostel.
* Sleep.
* Attended brewery tour.
* Attended chocolate museum.
* Had beer in a bar with over 300 to choose.
* Sleep.
* Leave hostel.
* Chris had waffle with chocolate and two scoops of ice cream. Alicia had fries.
* Had beer waiting for bus to Amsterdam.
* Left for Amsterdam.

This is our Bruges experience, and it was fantastic. A quaint, charming, medieval town with a cuisine we had absolutely no problem at all enjoying to its full extent.

Thankyou for reading.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247864671/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247864671/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247864671/tpod.html Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:44:22 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Paris, Île-de-France, France

OK. So bus from London to Paris. It took us via the scenic route of Old Kent Road, the white cliffs of Dover, and the anything-but-thrilling "Chunnel". After waiting tirelessly to pass barriers and get passports checked, the bus parks its way onto a train carriage that carries us across the English Channel. It's odd, you don't get a view, you don't even get the feeling of movement. You're in a staionary bus that's in a carriage being carried over kilometers of water. After about 8 hours we were back on the mainland and finding our hotel in Paris. Quiet evening.

Let's explore this monster city then. Everyone raves so much about it, is it really the city of love? The first impression delivered a proven stereotype. Upon trying to claim our pre-ordered Louvre tickets, the counter staff (clearly annoyed we didn't speak any French beyond "Bonjour, parlais vous Anglais?"), pretended our tickets were not valid. Well PFFFT to you too Frenchy. We decided to walk down the famous Champs d'Elysee, pretty darn impressive as it was, found another ticket collection store and the man gladly handed over our tickets. So if you're reading this lady, have it known that we entered the Louvre museum that afternoon, had photos taken with the giant glass pyramid, saw the Mona Lisa, and enjoyed the day.
Chris was coming down with a cold, and part of the museum time he dozed off while Alicia explored some more. It is a massive building which could take someone with higher energy levels and attention span more than a day to get through. We were happy with a couple of hours and went back for a nap at our hotel.

After dinner and just getting ready for bed we received a call after 10pm from a Melbourne-bred Moulin Rouge dancer offering us cheap seats at the 11pm show. w00t w00t thanks Bronwyn!! The race was on and cold for Chris or not we raced to the famous theatre to check out the show. Some things in life get hyped up so much that they inevitably become disappointing. But the Moulin Rouge lives up to it all, and no matter what price you can get tickets for, we recommend you get them. 2 hours absolutely non-stop entertainment. Dancing, music, wicked costumes (or sometimes lack there of, not a problem for the boys), and in between sets you have jugglers, acrobats, ventriloqusts...not to mention the included champagne. Moulin Rouge is a fantastic night out. And great to see an Australian friend of ours performing so well. A late night but we've already had enough to make us satisfied in Paris.

Spent Thursday discovering more...changed from our 2 star hotel to a backpackers' hostel across town and then off to the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, it looks like what it looks like. To us it wasn't any more awesome than it looks on TV, nevertheless it's a pretty cool tower. Had a quick catnap on the lawns nearby, dark clouds came over so went back in. That evening checked out Sacre Cour cathedral which involved many many many stairs, but resulted with a great view of Paris. Cathedral very impressive aswell! Few buskers around and plenty of locals enjoying the view. Walked down and met Bronwyn and her visiting brother Nick for dinner and a drink, which was a great night out. Had smoking cocktails with mousse and lollies looking very fancy, and meals that were worth waiting a few hours for. Great to hang out with a couple of people who had lived in Airport West for a couple of years and whinge about how those pesky neighbours tore their pool down. Still annoys Chris.

Friday we got out of the city and headed to Villers-Bretonneux. The small town liberated by Australian troops from the Nazis in WW1, and forever in our debt. This was an amazing day. From the train station we walked up Rue Melbourne, turned the corner up Rue Victoria to the Victoria school. A school developed using donations from the Vics, and they still honour us. Part of the building is a Franco-Australian museum, displaying war memroabilia and information. The schoolyard itself features Aboriginal art and an unmissable sign reading "Do Not Forget Australia". We were so happy and honoured to be in a place that had this level of respect for our country, and state inparticular.
We walked a few k's out of town to the Australian War Memorial which was an even moremoving experience. Hundreds of graves lining the grass, many with names, many without. There's a book with the names, battallions and families of all the soldiers they know victims of Somme fighting in WW1. Paul Keating's 1993 letter to The Unkown Soldier is displayed at the far memorial. After attending the Gallipoli dawn service this year we were so pleased we made the voyage to this site.

Saturday we relaxed. Chris' cold had caught up with him a bit and he didn't leave the hostel until 8pm. Gave us a chance to catch up with these pesky blogs and have some quiet time. Went out for dinner though which was great, after seeing Notre Dame cathedral we walked around the St. Michel area with is bustling which cafes and restaurants...like Lygon St. down alleys. Exciting. And here's the more exciting part. Alicia had snails. Booyah. Was served 6, and given a couple of utensils she'd never seen before. After figuring out how to do it she got through 2 and a half before giving up, which as far as we're concerned is a pass mark. Chris claims if he was feeling better he probably would have tried one...should we let him claim that???
We had 2 great set menus which featured crepes, mousse, beef and the snails...we definitely had a crack at the local cuisine. Checked out the Eiffel Tower at night then back to sleep. Back aboard Busabout tomorrow to head to Belgium...pure indulgence awaits.


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247319698/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247319698/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247319698/tpod.html Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:55:58 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

London, England, United Kingdom

We arrived at Stansted Airport, just outside of London at about 3pm after a pleasant flight from Barcelona. By the time we caught our bus to London and walked an incredible distance, we finally found our hostel located next to Russell Square.
Very tired and hungry we decided to have a standard English dinner - Indian Curry, before heading to bed for our much needed beauty sleep.

Up early Friday morning to catch a two hour train ride to Worcester County Cricket Ground so Chris and I could bake in the 'heatwave' that was sweeping London watching the Aussies team up against the England Lions. Chris loved the experience of being able to walk on the field during tea and keeping score on his own little score card you could purchase for £1, while Alicia just did well to keep interested throughout the whole day.
By the end of the afternoon it was all a bit embarrassing as we realised we were sunburnt from the English sun, but otherwise it was an awesome day.

To make the day even better, we were picked up from Worcester by Lisa, Davids old housemate along with her friend Helen and driven back to their flat in Birmingham.
After a great dinner, we were joined by Mel, Pete, Ian and Tom, more of Lisas friends and started to get warmed up by playing some interesting drinking games before heading out to a house party down the road, where we were to meet a few more of Davids old housemates.
More drinking and mingling as the night went on before retiring around 3am back to Lisas house for a cup of tea and bed.
Saturday morning chilled out with Lisa around the little town of Birmingham and had lunch with her hungover friends before jumping back on a train to London. It was definately one of the best weekends we have had away. Hanging out with mates almost made us forget we were travelling and back to normality which was nice.

Sunday was our long-awaited MONOPOLY DAY! We set our mission to find as many of the 22 streets and 4 train stations as possible from the much loved board game. We decided this was a brilliant way to see London as it naturally brought us to many of the main sights including Buckingham Palace and The Tower Bridge.
The day started out very well as we knocked off about 10 streets and even walked the 'Board Walk' before a picnic lunch in St James Park.
We continued our walk with a few more findings before rewarding ourselves with a ale or two and a Wimbledon Final check up.
After a few more streets, about 16 in total by now, we relaxed once again in a pub to watch the 5th set between Roddick and Federer. This ended up being a bad idea as the more they played, the longer we stayed and the more beer we drank.
Major distraction dealt with it was time for a feed of awesome Sunday roast with pimms and then to continue our quest.
As it was getting very late at night, Alicias legs were tiring but we only had 2 streets to go. Chris being as determined as he was to complete the task, he found Angel Islington by himself while Alicia rested at the hostel.
We had found 25 out of 26 properties, something we were proud of as Old Kent Road was too far away, but as you only get $2 in rent for it, we weren't fussed.

Next day was a great English day once again. Got lost in the Camden markets and Alicia broke the bank by finally indulging in her need to shop, scoring two awesome dresses.
The markets were great and lot more alternative than what we imagined which made the whoel area so full of character.

That same night we headed back to Leicester Square to experience the West End production of Chicago. (Not before a pint at the pub of course)
We had great seats at just £16 each and thoroughly enjoyed watching Jerry Sprringer, (Yes, Jerry Springer), as Billy Flynn, and the rest of the cast belting out some of Alicias favourite songs.

So all in all, we think we spent our time in England very well, and experienced some of the true English culture as we drank pimms and their warm ales, had a Sunday roast, watched the cricket, saw a West End show, and watched Wimbledon.

P.S. For those wondering, our bus to Paris went down Old Kent Road, so we did infact succeed in our mission!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247156673/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247156673/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247156673/tpod.html Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:53:53 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

The bus for Barcelona departed Nice at 8am, we arrived after 9:30pm. Wow it was long. Massive traffic buildups getting out of France, but we were entertained with DVDs. When we arrived we could instantly tell we were going to like this place that was so full of character.

First day in Barcelona started off with a walk down the famous street Las Ramblas. Full of markets and street preformers and restaurants, it was a busy and exciting place. We continued through Placa Catalunya and came accross a wonderful stadium used for bull fighting.
After being told that bull fighting no longer happened in Barcelona, we had given up hope of seeing one, so were quite excited that there was one that night!
So with our tickets in hand we walked to Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral. A magnificant yet unfinished building, that is so detailed and intricate, it isn't scheduled to be finished until 2026. Not bad for a project started in 1914.

As we made our way back to the stadium to see some bulll fighting we came accross a few protestors of course, but that didn't deter us.
We took our seats directly in front of some Spanish diplomat and we were both intrigued as to what the event would be like. Yes, it was more gruesome and nasty than we expected, but as a cultural experience it was thrilling and one we didn't regret. Ask us personally what it was like, we want to keep this family friendly.
Afterwards we headed to a tapas bar where we got some nice potato scallops with our drink. A good first Spanish day that stimulated each of the senses.

Walking home back through Placa Catalunya we came across a memorial to Michael Jackson. After agreeing to stop for a look, it became terribly difficult to walk away. Even after a few days was very hard to believe, although this helped it to sink in. He was a legend.

(Another hidden gem moment of the trip - after noticing a cockroach walking across an MJ flag, Chris remembered La Cucaracha! He then had a hardly understandable conversation with a local who tried to teach him the rest of the lyrics. Gold.)

Monday we ventured to Park Guell to see some more of Gaudi's architectural pieces. Lots of colourful mosaics, strange curves and shapes. After walking past the Kosnar's beloved purple house, we relaxed before delving further into the taste of Spain with an organised tapas and flamenco night. Arrived at a bar and greeted bottomless Sangria jugs and enough tapas to keep us eating constantly for two hours. Were then led to a bar to watch a traditional flamenco performance with incredible Spanish guitar playing, music and then the famous dancing.

Tuesday we made the hour and a half train ride to Montserrat, a monastery built up on a cliff top with stunning views. It meant another ride on a cable car which churned Alicia's stomach but the beauty was worth it. That night we gave in. Hostels in every city we've visited all try and flog the tourists' bar crawl. We had previously held strong and did the bar work ourselves, but with Barcelona containing a few unsafe areas we thought we'd give it a go with a crowd. Shouldn't have. While we are surely fond of a drink we enjoy this with good company having a laugh, this night was organised for roudy louts just to get drunk and ultimately wasn't a nice night. At least we gave it a go.

Wenesday we slept in, our 4th full day in Barcelona was a bit more cruisey. Walked to the beach and successfully worked on our tans, Mediterranean style. The beach featured plenty of peddlers selling 6 packs and massages which disturbed the peace a little but was a great way to spend an afternoon. Spent the night walking up Mount Juic for a great city panorama and a wander through the 1992 Olympic Village. Very impressive. And a nice way to bid farewell to Barcelona on our final evening. One of our favourite cities so far, was very enjoyable. Tomorrow we fly to the Old Dart.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247002053/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247002053/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1247002053/tpod.html Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:23:29 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Nice, Provence, France

We left fun filled Florence with the Busabout crew again en route to Nice, France. First stop was at Pisa to check out a tower that was built incorrectly and thus deservingly famous. (?)
There is not much to do in this town than to pose for stupid photos and browse souvenirs, so we did just that and hopped back on the bus.

Arrived at Nice around 6pm. The last hour of the trip was filled with stunning views of the French Riviera, including a drive through Monaco, hearing from the bus guide some stories of the rich and famous locals and trying to spot their homes. We strolled Nice's Old Town for a while in amazement of how many bars and restaurants have been filled in one area. It's cool.

Thursday was time to do our own strolling through the 2nd smallest country on our itinierary, Monaco. Safest country in the world apparently. (Tell that to Grace Kelly). The luxury is everywhere. Everyone seems to have hundreds of millions of dollars. All up the cliffs there are high rises with mammoth ocean views, and everyone seems to own a couple of boats, and in those boats they can fit smaller boats.
We watched the palace changing of the guard, checked out their aquarium which is the best we've seen...awesome. Walked a fair bit of the Grand Prix track, and made our way to Monte Carlo Casino where Chris is proud to say he defeated the roullette wheel by €5! It cost €10 to enter, but a win is a win hey?

Back to Nice for a bit of rest then a long walk down Promenade d'Anglais, a huge long stretch along the beach with hotels, restaurants, casinos and a bunch of cool stuff. Pleasant as the sun set on our second day in the area.

The 3rd day we jumped on a Busabout organised day tour which included:
Bus down the coast to Port Grimaud where we had a walk and a swim.
2 hour boat cruise which included an open bar while an Irish guy told us who owned which ridiculous mansion. Saw homes owned by the Royals, (conveniently neighbours with the Al-Fayed clan, how romantic) Bryan Adams (isn't he cool) and a bunch of other people with too much money.
Cruise docked at St.Tropez where apparently all the celebrities go to splurge and work on their tans. We didn't see any. But Alicia did find a lolly shop with huge barrells of every candy piece you'd want and ended up spending about 20 bucks. The teeth were nice I must admit.

Got home around 11pm and rested before our bus to Barcelona. Nice and surrounds were....nice.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1246006716/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1246006716/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1246006716/tpod.html Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:22:43 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Busabout came along at 8am to snatch us from Rome and drop us off most of the way to our next destination. We stopped off in a little town called Orvieto for a couple of hours, which required another funicular ride, nice hillside views and a pretty cool church. Then we continued on our way to Siena, where the "fun" began.

Siena is where we decided to make our own way to Tavarnelle, a small regional town in Tuscany. After arriving at the wrong transport station and scaring ourselves into thinking we were trapped in Siena without accommodation, after sandwiches and a beer we found that we could get to Tavarnelle, it would just take 2 buses and about 4 hours of waiting around. Haha oh well.

It was worth it. Staying in a regional town meant we could relax and unwind for a few nights. Tavarnelle is in Italy's Chianti region, most famous for its wine. And that night we had the best damn wine we've ever had. In the main square we took a punt on a small restaurant with a handwritten menu out the front and one 60 year old man serving who couldn't speak English. Our meals were fantastic, the wine was nice. Then we ordered dessert. Tirimasu and chocolate souffle. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww yeah. Then because we ordered dessert, and probably because we were the only ones in the restaurant, he bought us a nice little nightcap glass of the house dolce wine. THE BEST EVER. It was similar to a fortified wine like Muscat or Port, but was just a sweet, gorgeous red wine.
We went back the next night to purchase a bottle of the stuff, but they only used it in house and didn't have bottles. the ladies were kind enough to pour their stash into a water bottle and still gave it to us! Went down very nicely with our Viennetta the next night.

Anyway, apart from this, the next two days in Chianti were spent riding mountain bikes. Yes. Through the green valleys and up the bloody hills. So many hills. Oh man. We were sore, Alicia has taken her leg bruises to France with her, but we had beautiful views, saw a couple of nice towns, and really enjoyed riding through the region even if it was hard work.

This takes us to June 22. Chris' birthday. Spent the first hour with Keanu Reeves driving our bus to Florence as if a bomb was triggered to the speedo. Then spent the day wandering through Florence deciding it was our favourite place in Italy. Quaint like Venice, yet a city kind of like Rome, but friendly, easy and manageable. There were massive market stalls that we splurged a bit on. The Duomo is massive and a great sight to see. After dinner at the hostel, we hit the red wine. Met a couple of Adelaide girls and through the night with them developed a posse of American, Canadian and South African friends to have a great night with. One of these people was evil, and had a bottle of Grappa. Chris was silly enough to have a shot of said evil drink, and by 11:30 Alicia kindly put him to bed. She continued dancing till about 3am! Fun had by all.

The next day, as tired or seedy as anyone may have been, we woke early to queue up to enter the Academia Gallery, home of Michelangelo's David. After 2 hours waiting, we saw it. Yeah, it was alright I guess. Until you walk around it we realised we never knew what his butt looked like, or took notice that he was standing in front of a stump. He has massive hands too.

Walked through Florence again after a picnic lunch, climbed a hill for some great views, then joined a Busabout planned dinner. 4 courses which were pretty darn good, some good company courtesy of some fellow Kiwi and English travellers, followed by more karaoke!
This venue had 3.5 litre beer "Towers" on offer that we shared with the two English girls. Great stuff. Then Chris got on stage to perform "What Is Love", much to the delight of the screaming, rampant Contiki tour group that shared the venue.

Tomorrow up early again to head to Nice via Pisa. Arriverdeci Italy, you have been brilliant.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1245344129/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1245344129/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/promking22/1/1245344129/tpod.html Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:34:29 -0400 Chris & Alicia's Majestic 115 Day Travel Extravaganza

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Our first Italian experience wasn't too good. It was like magic, as soon as we crossed the Swiss border and changed trains... the informative and efficient Germanic train system was replaced with a dirty, lazy, hot Italian one so we had a few stinking hours. Cancelled train to Venice, the next train henceforth contained twice the number of passengers. Above 30 degrees. Couldn't use our reserved seat. Train then decided not to take us all the way to Venice, and had to get another one, only to find no helpful information at our new train station.

Oh well! We got over that when we arrived in Venice and sussed out the water town for an hour or so, and at around 8:30 took the shuttle bus to our new camping stlye hostel home for the next two nights.

Saturday was then front to back loaded with Venice, as we didn't see much our first day. 12 hours walking around the main island, crossing canal bridges, walking down alleys filled with restaurants and markets, and yes, we got absolutely lost, more than once. But that's part of it. Not many street signs...just a few signs pointing you towards the places of interest. Gets funny when you approach an intersection that suggests you go left, and also right, to get to your destination. Confusing, and the locals probably just sit back and laugh, so we have to aswell.

It is a beautiful city, we perhaps didn't quite think it was great as some would tell us, be we had a great day. Chris got to try out the language skills he learnt in primary school, we had lasagne, gelati AND pizza, and we think we covered most of the island in the full day we had. Our last hour or so was spent watching the sunset beside a canal with a nice bottle of red. We had to spoil ourselves a little of course.

Fun times in the middle of that night. Woke up at 2am and found the dreaded BED BUGS!! They don't like Chris, which served him very well. But they just loved Alicia, and her legs will wear the memories for quite a while we think. Many little red, itchy bumps. She's coping OK :-)

Sunday we began our journey with Busabout, and boarded our all day coach ride to Rome. 5 nights, which is absolutely plenty. Again our accommodation is with a camping style hostel group which is located outside town, we have been catching a bus and train combo to get into Rome proper. But at the price we paid for our two person tent, it's great value. There's a pool...two bars...

First full day we had a tour of the Vatican. It is ridiculous how rich that place is. The art in their museums and courtyards is mindblowing. It's an experience to check out, and great to learn the history. We both got sore necks looking up to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel...couldn't imagine how Michelangelo's felt as he was painting it! Climbing the dome was a tight struggle with a few hundred steps but worth it for the views. The coolest thing though was crossing our first national border by foot, and taking photos with one foot in each the Vatican and Italy.

Across the other days we've had plenty of walking around, and much more public transport. We checked out "Ancient" Rome with the Forum, Paletine Hill and of course the Collosseum. Alicia threw coins into the Trevi Fountain, which looks amazing in the evening. We climbed a few Spanish steps, entered the Pantheon, and ate more delicious food. Oh we learnt the valuable lesson of how to tell if gelati is good. Check out the banana flavour, and if it looks yellow then give it a miss. If it's white, then the flavours are made with real fruit and they're made properly! See there you go. Who says we ain't learning on this trip?

We hop back on the bus to head to Tuscany tomorrow...a few days in the Chianti wine region then a couple in Florence. Hope all is well with you.

P.S. Chris is impressed he got through this without making an Ancient Rome gluteus maximus joke.

]]>