Bordeaux Wine and Cheap Kebabs

We'd been on the bus for 12 hours from Madrid when we arrived in Bordeaux so the last thing we wanted to do was anything energetic. It was really just a stopover point more than anything else. We got a wicked room on the top floor of the hotel with a great view of Bordeaux, and that was enough sight-seeing for me.


We met up with the Canadian twins, Lindsay and Lisa, as well as Tim and a couple from New Zealand, Darryn and Jackie. Travelling all of one block down the road and we arrived on a street filled with cheap kebab and pizza shops. They all looked the same so we sat at the only place with enough seats and I treated myself to another kebab with fries - I know I'll miss those when I get home!

A few bottles of wine later and we all headed home to bed. The end.

A New Love

By the time we got to Madrid I think we'd had enough of being cultured and looking at historical monuments, which is probably why my whole time there is a little bit fuzzy and hard to remember. I'll try my best...

It was another long day on the bus from Barcelona but I perked up as soon as we hit Madrid. I was completely overcome by just how massive and grand the city was. It looked amazing. Everything from the stunning buildings, huge fountains and statues and clean streets - it was perfect.

Our hostel was at the top of the most... erm... 'colourful' street in Madrid. There were hookers, tattoo parlours, gambling shops, wedding dress and flower stores. Spain must be heavy on convenience. You can win at the pokies, buy your bride and her wedding dress then have her name tattooed on your arm. All in the one spot.

Our room was on the fourth floor with a balcony looking out over the Gran Via. I couldn't beleive what a great place we had for only 19 Euro a night each. You'd normally pay so much more for that kind of location and spectacular view. The staff were very friendly and helpful, from telling us good places to see and go out and even sticky-taping one of my 5 Euro notes back together. There was a cool, relaxed bar and kitchen downstairs where everyone seemed to chill out.

Kat took a siesta that evening while I went shopping at Madrid's main department store. El Corte Ingles. They were everywhere you looked! And they're huge too - 5+ levels in each. Each one has a different purpose. Clothes, electricals, homewares, supermarket. You name it, they've got it. After an hour of going from one to the other trying to find clothes I finally found them and got a singlet to try and stop myself from getting a more noticable shirt tan. Then I needed underwear but couldn't find them so picture me asking a non-English speaking attendant where the underwear was while making motions with my hand around my bum and you've pretty much got one of the more embaressing moments of my life. Europe have different sizes too so I ended up buying the wrong size, and you can't exactly return underwear, so I guess I'm stuck with them.

One thing I noticed was how comfortable I felt walking around in Madrid only an hour after I arrived (underwear aside). I can't explain it but it's part of why Madrid is now one of my top 3 cities in the world. Another reason came later that night. Kat and I went down to the bar for a quiet drink only to find Bianca, Elijah, Jess, Eliza, Tim and a few others already partying hard. Kat wasn't feeling too well so we sat away from the others while I sipped (hehe, yeah right) on a few pints that went down far too easy. After which we all went out for dinner with another Aussie from a different backpacking hostel as our guide, Joe. He led all ten or so of us to a tapas bar with huge hams hanging from the walls above our heads where the beer was only 1.40 Euro. We left there quite soon after as the dead pigs were getting to a few people.

We sort of split up after that as half the others couldn't afford to eat out and Kat, Joe, Tim, Elijah, Bianca and I went to a cute, small place a few streets back from Puerta del Sol, the central spot of Madrid. Before dinner, I suggested we all do some sort of Spanish 'cheers' but none of us knew the word so we all started singing the soccer anthem "Ole, ole, ole, ole..." while clanging our forks in the air - bad tourists, bad!

Kat went home after that and the rest of us started crawling the streets trying to find a club to go to. Having great difficulty and going in a complete circle at least once, I stopped a Spanish guy on his way home from work who spoke a little bit of English and showed us around to a few bars. Now comes one of the other reasons I loved Madrid so much. Whenever we went into a new bar, the bartender would count how many there were and pour a shot for each of us - for free! I guess it's in the hopes that you'll stay and buy more drinks so I was sure not to disappoint them. The whole night was so much fun. I can't remember what time I got home (or how) but I woke around midday and turned on the TV to Dawson's Creek playing in Spanish. The good old days. I got ready and met up with Kat over a delicious Spanish tortialla after which we went on our own self-guided tour around an older part of Madrid that Kat's very helpful grandma had printed for us. It was actually much better than I thought and we got to see some great old buildings and learn their history in a tourist-free part of town. Except for us of course.

We started in Plaza Mayor, a square completely surrounded by grand, Spanish buildings and littered with tapas bars. The most impressive was the old bakery, covered in bright artworks. The tour took us past some old prisons, ministries, churches, the only gothic-style church in Madrid and finally down a street filled with small, indoor, cheap tapas bars that looked untouched by tourists and even more astoundingly, untouched by time.

Later that afternoon we went back to Plaza Mayor for some tapas. We were going to head back to the strip of authentic looking tapas bars but the waiters that entice you into the touristy ones within the plaza itself must have been doing their job pretty well that day. I ended up paying 7 Euros for a mediocre plate of Patatas Bravas but it was worth it if not just for the amazing surroundings.

I met Kat back at the hostel later in the evening after another round of shopping at my new favourite department store, El Corte Ingles. She was all ready to go so I whacked on some brand new apparells and we headed off to an area of really cheap tapas bars near Plaza Mayor. They were only like 2 or 3 Euro each! Very tasty indeed, apart from the conjeeled-blood-sausauge (black sausage) that we accidentally ordered from the Spanish menu.

After that it was too early to go out so we went back to the ever-so-friendly hostel bar. It took all of 30 seconds before we were both sitting at a table of around 20 playing a drinking game, and I use the expression lightly. It was called Kings and we each had to flip a random card in turn and do whatever the card warranted. What rhymes with 'buck'? There was this gross cup in the middle and if you drew a King you would have to pour a little of your drink into it. The person to draw the fourth King would then have to do the same and scull the scary-looking concoction.

We ended up with around 30 people all very happy and chatty by the time the bar shut at 1am, an hour later than usual just for us. The bartender probably could tell just how unguided we were at that stage so he took it upon himself to take all of us on a little tour of Madrid's nightlife. Half of the group broke off to a full-on dance club but the rest of us just wanted simple bars and clubs so off we headed, down our little street in Madrid, led by a very amused Spaniard. A few of the boys had a bit of fun flirting with the prostitutes on the way down which somehow resulted in me getting slapped on the arse and groped in the most... inappropriate of places!

From there, the all-too-willing tour guide led us to a few different bars basically in the same area as we'd been the night before. With the same free shot each as the night before. And the same lack of disappointment through my drink purchasing. We had a really great night dancing around dancefloors all over Madrid and having a good laugh along the way. That night I made friends with a few other Busabouters including Lisa and Lindsay, identical twins from Canada who had been attacked by bed bugs in Barcelona, and Tim, a kiwi aircraft engineer. I also hung out with a very 'interesting' guy from Melbourne and a guy from Quebec, the French region of Canada, who had just up until recently thought Canadians were all French.

We stumbled home around 5am and as most of the others went to bed, the guy from Melbourne, the guy from Quebec and some other guy all tried to buy prostitutes while I fell over in hysterics at the scene before my eyes. Strangely enough, I got to talking to one of the 'ladies of the night' about travelling and fashion for about half an hour while the boys still had a crack. After which I left them to their own devices and headed to bed.

Poor Kat had only managed to get one hours sleep before I dragged her out for the days tourist events (she got home later than the rest of us - much later... if you catch my drift). With every intention of visiting the Sofia art gallery, a kind of modern, surrealist gallery, we made our way on the Metro to the nearby station. I couldn't believe how paranoid I was thinking about the Madrid train bombings with London fresh in my mind. Once we eventually found it we wisely decided we both weren't up to the mental challenge of visiting a gallery and found our way over to the nearby parklands, Parque del Retiro.

They were very impressive and peaceful. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed walking around and seeing the landscaping. The definite main spot would have to be the huge rectangular lake with a great Roman monument, Alfonso XII, on one side, complete with waterfalls. We would have hired one of the boats and rowed around for a while if it hand't been so hot and the sun so intense. Instead we found a shady spot under a large tree nearby and rested on the grass for a couple of hours which was a very refreshing change.

Not wanting to waste our last day in Madrid had us atop one of those open-roofed, double-decker tour buses. It was great - I've never felt like such a tourist! The one we were on took us around all of the newer areas with large buildings and grand parades. I was glad we did it because I never would have known just how extremely huge Madrid really is. The coolest things along the way were this really, really tall thin building with an enourmous statue of a guy riding some sort of bird on top, and the infamous Real Madrid football stadium. The least coolest - Kat kept falling asleep the whole way and I had to keep waking the poor girl up!

We got off near our hostel at Puerta del Sol and I managed to get a few more shopping hours into my time in Madrid. Another night, another new outfit, and we thought we'd go back to the cosy area we found the night before. Collecting the Canadian twins along with Tim and Graham along the way, off we went. Our friend Alexis from Barcelona arrived on Busabout that night from Valencia so Kat stayed behind to wait for her.

It was a bit of hassle trying to find a tapas bar we could all sit at so we went to the restaurant area of the place we'd been at the night before and decided to share plates. One dead battery drama later and Kat managed to find us along with Alexis and a few girls from Australia that also arrived that day. It was a very cultured dinner and everyone was talking about art and technique at my table. I struggled to keep up. Michaelangelo who?

Since the next day on the bus was going to be another long one, we headed back the hostel after that for some farewell drinks and got to bed at an impressive time of 1am.

Barcelona - Beach, Bars, Beer, Bloody Hot

Our longest trip yet of 11 hours and we hopped off the bus in a very sunny Barcelona. Amidst the rush it didn't take long at all for drama to follow. As I misguidedly followed other Busabouters, I turned after crossing a road to find Kat, who was nowhere to be seen. I looked around for another few minutes then tried to follow the other guys, thinking she might have been ahead of me, but couldn't find them either. Panicing just a tad I managed to find an Internet cafe after half an hour of blind wandering and got the directions to our hostel that Kat already had hold of. After a few wrongs turns I got help from some guy in the street speaking English and eventually found Kat wandering Calle Ferron just as aimlessly as myself. We found the hostel right after that so phew - crisis averted.

We'd planned to meet up with some guys from the bus - Alexis, Elijah, Bianca, Jess and Eliza. When we got there we joined a night tour that was just about to leave and headed off for some amazing tapas. We had salami, cheese, roasted baby capsicum, calamari, croquettes and my instant favourite, patatas bravas - fried potato served with a spicy sauce. It was divine. Once we were relaxed over a glass of the national drink San Gria, we headed off to see a Flamenco dance in a bar near our hostel. There was a singer, guitarist, bongo player and of course - the main attraction - two flamenco dancers in their frilly frocks. The whole show was very impressive and full on. They dance so fast with their feet, kind of like tap dancing but much more festive and everyone gets involved with the cheering and whistling.

Time for more San Gria and we headed to an Irish bar near the famous Placa St Juames. We got free drinks and Bacardi promotional pieces including the ping pong balls that were being thrown around everywhere and bouncing off of everyone just as we left to meet Vinnie, a friend of mine from Sydney.

It was good to see Vinnie again. The lucky bastard had been living in Barcelona since the start of the year as part of a one year exchange to learn more about Spain and speak the language better. He's really good at it, I was very impressed. It made me look forward to Spanish lessons in Sydney even more. He was doing well and more than happy to show Kat and I to a few clubs along with his friend "red wine" Markus and a couple of British tourists we met along the way. It was a pretty good night but it's a shame that Barcelonians are still stuck in the trashy-skanky-look phase. Oh, and the dancing and singing and jumping while hugging to the background music of Aretha Franklin and more embaressingly, "I Will Survive". Not wanting to ruin our Saturday in Barcelona, we headed home to bed at a reasonable hour. 4am.


We woke up around midday the next day, an increasingly disturbing trend. A couple of hours later we were climbing the 340 steps of La Sagrada Familia with Alexis who we'd caught up with earlier. The church was started in 1882 (I think) by the infamous architect Gaudi and still under construction. The whole place was over 100m tall and stunningly detailed, it looked kind of like one of those castles you make at the beach by dripping wet sand. Only eight of the eighteen towers had been built and experts say it won't be finished until late this century! The view as you climb the towers and cross between them is an absolute must-see, we got some great photos.



The bike tour brochure we used to find out where to go by their tour hightlights had so many places we decided to go on it the following day. We spent the rest of the Saturday relaxing on the beach. It was 6pm when we got there but the weather was still scorching hot. The sun was high in the sky and people were still sprawled out everywhere. We got a spot in front of a beach bar and worked on our tans while listening to some great dance/chillout music. Very hard work - definately something I could get used to.

The shops were still open when I left the girls on the beach but I must have been looking in the wrong place because it certainly didn't accommodate for my expensive tastes! 10 Euros for a shirt is not my style at all ;-)

Later on that evening, 10pm, we set out to find one of Spain's finer dishes, paella. The place we stumbled upon was great and full of locals. Even though the waiter didn't speak a word of English which was kind of frustrating, I had a go at the little Spanish I did know and ended up having a great night with good company, enjoyable conversation and terrific food. Since our bike tour was rather early the next morning we were all in bed by 1am.

The bike tour was so much fun. Eleven of us met up under the Christopher Columbus monument then collected our 'fat tire' bikes to use for the next four hours. We started in Placa St Juames then checked out the main cathedral where some people were doing the national Catalunya dance, technically the former country that Barcelona was the capital of. We then moved on to the square where Christopher Columbus announced the discovery of the Americas. Following that we checked out a concert hall created by Gaudi, which looked just as eccentric as him. After a huge ride we made it up to La Sagrada Familia (again) then back to the zoo and then the beach for lunch and a drink. The whole time we stopped every so often while the tour guide told us about the history and little known stories behind each stop. He was actually quite good and we all had a great and interesting time.

Once we'd returned our bikes, Kat and I met up with Vinnie and a friend of his but only for a shortwhile as we were both completely wiped out from the days riding in the sun. So we went back to the hostel for a shower and I accidentally fell asleep for half an hour, after which we met up with Alexis for some beach bar hopping with tapas and cocktails.

Vinnie and his friend caught up with us later that night after quite a bit of sex on the beach. The cocktail of course. We spent the rest of the night chatting away and having some good laughs until I got to bed at 2am, Kat 4am. For the first time we got up in time for a shower and headed off for another long haul to Madrid.

Paragliding and Stray Fireworks in Nice

Have you ever been suspended from a parachute some twenty metres in the air being towed by a speedboat on the French Riviera while being exposed, 'down there', if you get my drift? I haven't. Or at least I wish that wasn't the case but sadly this isn't so.

Nice started out terrific. We drove through a massive amount of rain from Venice but when we arrived most of the rain cloud held at bay up in the mountains for the entire evening. Kat had already booked us a hostel for the two night stay but after seeing that we'd have to catch a train every trip in and out of the city, we tried our luck with the much closer Busabout hostel and managed to get a room.

Once we'd settled in we went for a walk towards the main strip then down to the beach. Nice looks spectacular but all of the expensive casino's everywhere gave it a bit of a cheap and tacky feel to it. Down at the beach we stood in awe at the relaxed outdoor atmosphere and detailed coastline. It was just becoming dusk at the time so there were lights everywhere - Nice lights up well.

Outside the hostel later on we met up with a few of the Busabout crew and mostly other Aussie backpackers and headed down to the beach with a bottle of wine each. The beach here is not sand at all, there's pebbles everywhere which makes it a somewhat uncomfortable yet much less messy trip to the beach. We sat around for a few hours smoking cigars and drinking while soaking in the atmosphere and watching massive fireworks down the coastline towards Cannes. With only half of us left by that stage we headed to a pub close to the hostel and sat around drinking and watching a Robbie Williams concert on FHM TV with Kama Sutra tips and tricks popping up every now and then. Bizarre. An hour later we headed home to bed but not before trying a great kebab with fries in it!


Around lunch the next day we'd slept off the hangovers and headed by train to the ritzy Monaco area with not a cloud in the sky. We started high up in the hills and made our way down to the mariner taking a few amazing photos along the way.

Once there, we sat in a cafe next to one of the massive, expensive boats and munched on breakfast/lunch while sipping on a Pina Colada from a coconut. About an hour later we trekked up to the casino area and had a wander. The cars up there were insane! Most of which would have easily cost 100,000 upwards.


Back in Nice that afternoon we grabbed a straw mat to make the pebble experience slightly more comfortable and relaxed on the beach for a few hours through massive waves of nostalgia for my hometown Byron Bay, Australia. Just like most of the other things we've done, we decided on the spot to go on a tandem paraglide for only 30 Euro each. It was so much fun and such a brilliant view of the city from our harnesses. The corners were the funnest part. When the boat made a turn there was slack on the rope and we started falling but just before hitting the water the rope tightened and we were hoisted back into the air. All except for the last turn where we saw the mischievous look on the boat drivers smile and knew he was up to something. As we fell towards the water we were expecting to be pulled up again but this time we actually hit the water and got dragged through for a few seconds. Enough to expose my commando-style fashion to the French Riviera. 'Nuff said.

I swam back to the shore after the sharp fall into the water suffering from a chronic case of embarrassment. We spent the next hour passed out on the beach tanning in the 7pm sun thinking 'this is the life'.

We were lucky enough for our day in Nice to be Bastille Day, kind of like Australia Day for France. All dressed up we headed back to the main strip which was now all blocked off to traffic and full of people, entertainment, fireworks and the French flag. The vibe was intoxicating (and so were the drinks). It felt like New Years Eve with legal home fireworks going off everywhere. We ran into some people we knew and headed down to the beach where about twenty other Busabouters were sitting. Kat and I left to grab drinks and stumbled upon Old Town, a beautiful part of Nice with pedestrian only streets packed with glamorous restaurants and cute markets. One rushed tour later and we were back on the beach just in time for the spectacular fireworks shot from a brigade close to where we were sitting.

After those finished and half the crowd left, we were left sitting amongst the drunks and firework enthusiasts, most were both. My unsettled feeling that I'd had all night about the amateur fireworks proved well-founded when a precariously placed spiral firework fell over and skimmed the ground towards us. Sparks ablaze it passed between two of my friends and hit my arm, singeing a small patch of hair and burning me in a few places! I couldn't believe it, what a day. First the wardrobe malfunction and now this. Suffice to say I was too unnerved to stay and went back to the hostel to bed. Probably for the best as the next morning we got up with time to spare for the bus for the first time since we started.

Venice Romance

If travel plans can go completely wrong then of course they can go far better than expected, as was the case when we pulled into a very sunny Venice at 1pm. Six hours earlier than we had expected. We missed the first main stop in Venice because of it but didn't have to wait too long before we were at the next.

As the entire city is pretty much one huge island, there's not much room for hostels and such so we were staying at a camping ground about 15 minutes drive out of the city. Thankfully they had an hourly shuttle bus service that picked up right next to the station we were at. While we waited in the hot sun we met a couple of Irish girls, Roshine and Della, who were waiting around looking just as lost as us. When the bus did finally come 45 minutes later we headed out to the camping ground.

The moment we walked down the dirt road to our cabin I could feel just how relaxing and fun our stay would be. The place had a swimming pool, pub, restaurant, kebab shop and its own supermarket and nightclub. It was like it was a little town full of young backpackers. There were people hanging out around the pool and playing sports here and there. Being out of the city certainly had a very calm, relaxing vibe.

We dumped our stuff and caught the shuttle bus back into the city while very grateful to have the afternoon to explore. It was still very bright and shiny so we ended up walking through the quiet, less tourist-filled canalways and soaked in the calming beauty of it all. There's not much to see in Venice and it's not very big but it's a very unique city with a unique atmosphere that just has to be experienced to be believed.

Just like most other cities, we found the main attraction by accident. The Plaza San Marco was a huge square surrounded by three walls of large 30m or so high Roman buildings with columns spaced evenly around it all. On the other side, there was a very large Persian-looking cathedral and throughout the whole plaza were a lot of pigeons being fed by tourists trying to get the perfect shot. One lady was even putting pigeon feed on her childrens heads! I can't really think of how to describe the grandness of it all so take a look at the photo.

We walked around the corner to the edge of the island where all the boats and gondola's park for that one shot that defines Venice. The one you see everywhere of the 'parking lot' made of sticks protruding from the water looking out towards a couple of huge, majestical buildings on the one island of Venice unreachable by foot.


Another hour of cute alleyways and high-arching stairways across water-filled canals and we thought we'd soaked in enough for the day. We caught the ferry down the Grand Canal back to the Piazzala Roma (main transport spot). The views of Venice from the water are one of a kind. I loved seeing really old, large buildings with their main entrances on the water and stairs leading down into the water.

That night we headed to the camping ground pub for some pizza and beer. 10 Euro for 1.5L of beer is far too good to pass up so we all ended up very merry after a few hours. There was Kat, Roshine, Della and I as well as Suzanne, a Scottish girl we met and her friend. After a while hanging out there we headed on over to the nightclub for happy hour where we ran into our Busabout driver, Matt, who had driven us from Amsterdam and from Berlin. We had an absolutely awesome night! The nightclub closed at 3am but that didn't stop Kat, Matt and I as well as some other randoms sitting around until 5:30 in the morning belting out some good old classics like 'Thunderstruck' and 'What's Goin On'. "25 years and my life is still"...

Our plans for the next day involved us getting up before 9. Fat chance of that happening. We finally did stir awake around lunch and headed to the restaurant for breakfast. After which we relaxed in the pool for a while with some of the others until we felt the urge to take a bit more of a wander around Venice in the parts we'd missed the day before.

It was pretty much more of the same but still very beautiful. We found a great designer store hidden away that was having a sale so we did our first bit of European clothes shopping. I got a very European looking shirt, one with lace on the chest, and a really cool pair of jeans with random patches sewn on here and there.

We bought a nice salad and I had pizza for dinner before we caught the shuttle back out to the camping ground. The salad was very refreshing after all the junk and heavy food I'd been eating since arriving. After that we got dressed up and went back to the nightclub for another big one.

It was pretty much the same group as the night before and it was also a nice surprise to run into Amy and Lucy from Prague and catch up with them. A few memory blanks here and there and I was being woken up by Kat with 15 minutes before the bus was about to leave. For some reason I was in her bed and she was in mine but don't ask me how that happened because I couldn't tell you for the life of me. We made the bus in time and Matty had a bit of a laught at how hungover we looked before he turned the key and took us all off to Nice.

When Travel Plans Go Wrong

Our original plan for once we arrived in Vienna was to get a ticket for an overnight train to Venice then explore the city for a few hours. Now I'm definately not one who likes things to go all pear-shaped so you can guess the world of lost I was in once the overnight train was all booked out and the proverbial pear was thrown in the blender.

There were other trains the next morning but the thought of wasting a sunny day travelling instead of experiencing a new city wasn't one I was prepared to entertain. The non-English speaking information officer at the train station then sent us on a wild goose chase for a bus to Venice that didn't even exist. This was made even longer looking for a second bus station that the guy at the main bus station told us to go to, but it too also didn't exist. It must have been the stress of that day as well as almost missing the bus in the morning that erupted a huge fight between Kat and I. Finally we decided to stay in Vienna for the night and catch the next night train. Of course, that was booked out as well but by that stage the available 6am train the next morning sounded like a first class private jet.

I rung the Busabout hostel and we managed to get a night there so I guess we were lucky that wasn't another drama we needed to work out. We spent the night wandering the city alone for some much needed space after all the commotion. I didn't get to see much apart from some really old, gothic-style church before it started to rain. Oh yeah, and some weird guy from Boston who started talking to me in the street and asked if I wanted to go to a bar! Tell me again how horror tales begin?

Once the rain looked like it was settling in I grabbed some fantastic cherry gelato and headed to the hostel bar. I spent the night talking with the couple from Prague that had almost missed the bus as well, Matt and Sally, and playing pool with a few guys from Canada. I guessed I needed to get at least a few hours sleep, you hear all these scary stories about the train so I wouldn't want to sleep on that, and I headed to bed around 1am.

Not an overly exciting stay in Vienna but I do have plans to do the more eastern European countries at some stage, including Austria. Let's hope these come to fruition in any other shape than a pear.

Prague Magic

The Busabout hostel where we were picked up and dropped off was quite a fair way out of the city so we'd booked accommodation much closer to the city right near the Prague markets. As soon as we got off the bus we had to try and work out how to use the public transport system with the help of a London couple who were trying to do the same, Matt and Sally. The Prague metro would have to be, by far, the most complicated and confusing I´ve seen. There's all these rules about how many changes and what type of transport you use affecting how long the ticket is valid for... I think.

It took us about an hour to finally make it to Sir Toby's Hostel, a very cute, homely place with a basement bar - very important! After taking a moment to settle in, we caught the metro to the centre of the city and got off at the spot we thought could have been closest. I guess we got it close enough because ten minutes later we were standing near the ancient National Museum looking down Wencesles Square with a beautiful sunset backdrop, checkout the photo.

As per usual, we had no map and no plans other than to find somewhere to eat, eventually, so we wandered down the main strip into the maze-like cobble streets of The Old Town. It was definately a nice surprise when we stumbled upon the Old Town Square and the astronomical clock tower by accident just as the sun was setting. The place was indescribable. Gorgeous, majestic, magical atmosphere while horses trotted through the cobble square and people sat everywhere engrossed in their conversations. All this beneath a lit up gothic tower and bright, olden, palace-style architecture as well as a water fountain. Even though the prices inside the restaurant we ate at were up to 60% cheaper inside, we thought it very worthwhile to sit outside and soak in the overwhelming majesty of it all over a traditional Czech meal and a few local brews.

After that it was a bit more good old wandering around through the cute, warm alleyways filled with food, laughter and your occassional homeless person until we stumbled upon the tourist-filled Charles Bridge. Perfect opportunity for some photos of the Prague Castle on the hill across the river all lit up. After some potentially perfect shots of the castle that ended up suffering from horrible hand-shake, we called it a night and headed home for a sleep.

Another rainy morning in Europe sank our poor little hearts and our heads back into bed until midday. On the way into the city we stepped into a mini market to get change and pleasantly discovered how cheap Prague really is! The currency here is not the Euro, as in all the other countries in our trip, but they use the Koruna and you get around 30 for each Euro or 20 for each Australian dollar. I bought myself a Twix for 10 Kr! Everything was so cheap. Two minute noodles were only 6 Kr! Thinking back, the meal we had in Old Town Square on our first night was also extremely cheap considering where we were and what we ate.

Once we were in town we thought we'd do all the indoor touristy-type stuff given the weather. First we checked out the National Museum where the outside and inside of the building were impressive enough. Gold statues and red-carpeted stairs in the main hall, large rooms and tall ceilings. Basically much like the home I'll be living in when I become a billionaire! There were exhibitions on Taiwan, mammals full of stuffed models, precious stones in their raw and polished forms along with a few we skipped once it became too much like a school excursion.

A journey back through Old Town, over the Charles Bridge, up a few hundred stairs and getting lost a couple of times along the way led us to Prague Castle, just in time to see the changing of the guards. I've no idea how anybody can stand to attention like that for as long as they do. We checked out the main church while there was a service going on and the organs were filling the place with an eery, holy feel. It was quite an awe-inspiring experience with all the colour and detail as well as just how large it was. Kat grabbed some photos even though we weren't supposed to. The Lord shall smite thee! There's not much else to see to the castle, it's rather empty and bare yet still definately something to see and a great view of the city.

That evening we went back to Wencesles Square for dinner where we had another Czech meal over some cocktails. I had the beef sirloin with bread dumplings in a mustard sauce with cranberry jam and whipped cream. The Czech meals are far too heavy for my tastes but still enjoyable. The cranberry was a surprisingly nice addition I'd never think of.

With every intention of hitting Krumly Lane that night, Europe's biggest nightclub, we went back to the hostel to get ready but ended up all dressed, too tired to go anywhere, so we landed ourselves in the basement bar for a few drinks. It wasn't a waste of a night by any means though. We met two English girls, Lucy and Amy, a Brazilian guy Marcos and a few randoms and spent a good while having drinks and chatting about all the big things.

The sun was out when I finally got out of bed the next morning and met Kat in the basement for breakfast, which was probably why we were in such good moods. First we checked out the Prague markets but they were rather disappointing. Just a lot of junk really, much like Paddy's Markets in Sydney. We didn´t spend long in there and then got a bit lost on the trams until we got off where we thought we should have. We still had to walk around for a while looking for the carnival we read about.

When we did finally find it, we thought it a bit weird it was surrounded by forest and there were more carnies working there than there was visitors. Even though it was a bit freaky, we still jumped on the ferris wheel, rollercoaster and some spinny thing for some mad photos and videos. I was most freaked out when I found some carnie's office with the Beverly Hills 90210 logo and main characters painted on the side. That shit is whack. On the way back into the city we walked past one of the most festive, fun-looking entertainment arena's I've ever seen, here in the photo.

The Jewish Quarter was next on our to-do list but we only took a quick stroll through there since it's closed every Saturday. The Jewish cemetary was very creepy. Back in the day during the opression, the Jewish were given only a certain section of the town to live in. As more and more died, they didn´t have anywhere new to bury them so they had to be buried on top of each other. This resulted in a patch of land filled with old headstones everywhere you look.

We took a walk across the river and up the hillside to get a great view of the city in the very welcome sunlight. I was amazed at the literally hundreds of skaters in the parklands up there. This was the third city that I'd seen from an elevated view and each was as amazing as the last.

Since it was our last night in Prague we couldn't leave without going to Krumly Lane so Kat, Marcos and I headed out to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, it was much ado about nothing. The whole place was very tacky and touristy and the bartenders cunningly tipped themselves by asking to keep your change! I guess with such a cheap economy you'd have to. There were five levels of R'n'B, golden oldies ("Do you come from a land down under?"... why, yes, how did you know?), trance, house and chillout but the whole place was far too touristy so we spent all night chatting away in the chillout area on the top floor. We tried to find another bar to move onto but were gravely unsuccessful and I scoffed at least three burgers and a hotdog before admitting defeat and going to bed.

On the complete other side of the city, we slept through our alarm and woke an hour and a half later with only half an hour before our bus was to leave for Vienna. I immediately went into panic mode and woke up Kat. We packed our bags at the speed of light and rushed downstairs to checkout. Once we'd done that we weren't sure to get a cab or gamble with the public transport but thankfully as we ran for a tram an empty taxi drove past. We jumped in that and told the guy to hurry, just like in the Amazing Race, but the taxi didn't seem to like that as it conked out soon after. He managed to get it started again and thankfully got us there with no time to spare. Matt and Sally followed a few minutes later after having troubles trying to find the right bus and walking around instead. We all caught up through heavy panting as we made our way out of Prague.

Terezin Camp

It might not have been the day for it after hearing little about the London explosions and being stuck on the bus all day, but we decided to go ahead with it anyway and check out a former concentration camp on our way to Prague. When we arrived it was actually quite sunny which was a welcome change as our tour guide took us through the buildings. We started in the administration area then moved on through the prisoner's quarters. I was shocked at the living conditions. Three shelves of wide, wooden planks served as beds in a filthy concrete cell holding one hundred prisoners but barely able to accommodate ten "comfortably".

We walked through the showering room which was terribly spooky, just like in the movies where prisoners showered all at once from pipes hanging overhead. As if we weren't all spooked enough, the next thing we did was walk through a 500 metre tunnel used as part of the defense system when the place was a fortress. It led to what the Germans used as the execution area, where we were shown the place where prisoners stood and where they were shot from and even the gallow where three prisoners were hanged. Just as if the weather knew exactly when we were most unsettled, it began to pour down rain so we took shelter under a small passageway. Once that lightened we were shown a video I didn't quite understand. It kept showing video of the concentration camp while a voiceover spoke statistics on transfers to prisons and how many survived. It was horrible, normally around ten surviving from a thousand prisoners. An interesting tour but boy was I glad to be out of there and back on the bus.

Berlin's Tale

A captivating history and great, cheap food and beer would be my best attempt at summarising Berlin in nine words or less. Oh yeah, and the rain. Ten.

The first night we got there we were so tired from Amsterdam so we kept it short. A delicious dinner down the road and a quick walk around the entertainment area of Berlin and we were already in bed. The food in Germany is very heavy but delicious. I had sausages 'nurnburger' style with fried potates, pickled cabbage and a salad drenched in dressing.

The next day we were supposed to go on an early morning tour of the city but when we woke it was pouring down rain so we caught up on some more much needed sleep. When we finally did get up we grabbed some breakfast, my first heated chocolate-filled croissant, and definately not my last. What a treat!

Later that afternoon the sky had cleared a bit so we joined up with the later tour. We started just near the hotel and got a brief overview of the city's history and culture. I honestly never knew the history of Berlin that well and I was amazed at just how intense and complicated it was and just how recently some of it occurred. We ran from point to point as our tour guide pointed out a few of the major historical sites and buildings and told the story behind them. Halfway through, the rain settled back in again and we all pulled out our umbrella's, looking more like a mobile shelter than anything else.

The tour covered a fair bit of ground. We started at Hackesher Markt then hit Museum Island, Book Burning Square, Checkpoint Charlie, a part of the old Berlin Wall, Hitler´s Bunker, the Jewish Memorial, Brandenburg Gate and the very grand government building among many other hotspots.

We had to run through the rain for the train back to the hostel. Completely soaked and sniffling an ocean, we quickly changed and went out to meet everyone for the pub crawl. It was so much fun. In Berlin, as in most of Europe, you can drink on the streets wherever you want. We sat around for a while drinking shots and warming ourselves up in the rain. The first bar we went to was kinda small and very empty before we arrived. I suspect these places would pay just to have them on the list of pubs. We had our free drink, sat around for a while chatting and meeting new people, then headed off to the next bar for another free drink but not before all 30 or so of us kneeling down at the feet of our pub crawl guide on the street while he poured a "shot" down our throats. This went on pretty much the same until our fifth and final bar where I couldn´t possibly drink anymore and staggered back to the hostel. Casualty #21.

Another rainy morning in Berlin and we managed to get out of bed with enough time left in the day to drag ourselves over to Checkpoint Charlie Museum where we met up with Karen again. After lunch we headed into the museum and wandered off separately, completely engrossed by the story of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and the many, many inventive attempts to escape from former East Germany to former West Germany. Speakers, car engines, underwater propellers and hot air balloons - people used the most impressive means to escape. Some far less successful than others. Still in a Berlin Wall history lesson mood, we caught the train to Ostbahnhof to see the largest piece of the Berlin Wall still standing and covered in artwork currently being restored.

While we were there we walked past some band during sound check in an old, abandoned warehouse. On our way back there was a guy standing outside the gate doing signings and not knowing who it was, we went up and got him to sign the first thing we could find in our bags. As it turned out, the guy was from 'The Killers' and they were performing sound check for their concert that night.

The weather had cleared up by then so we shot up TV Tower and got a bird's eye view of the massive city that is Berlin. For our final night we went out for Thai with a couple of other Busabouters from the hostel, Nathan and Ta. It was a great spot Karen had found earlier, the food was bloody brilliant. I ate every last bit, down to the last grain of rice. We said goodbye to Karen and everyone else then headed to bed. That was Berlin.

Take Me Back!

Amsterdam would definately have to be my favourite city so far (although that´s not set in concrete just yet, I´m on the bus to Barcelona right now). I was amazed at how comfortable I felt doing anything at all there, it really was a home away from home. It was our first city we visited and I didn´t feel at all a foreigner. Of course, Amsterdam is quite an accommodating city. Most people we met spoke great English and we had no troubles at all getting around.

The architecture was stunning. There was so much detail everywhere we looked. The streets were all over the shop, the footpaths were dramatically uneven and buildings leaned this way and that and looked as though they were about to fall over. I know it sounds horrible but it was the complete opposite, especially since the cars had to give way to practically every other mode of transport. Everyone smiles at each other and says hello. It´s like the entire city is one huge, warm hug.

We Survived The War

Wow, what a ride! Words can't even explain how brilliant Sensation White 2005 turned out to be. It was, quite simply, perfect. I had waited four years to go and it was worth every minute of it.

Picture this - Amsterdam Arena (the size of Telstra Stadium), Kat and I dressed in our white tennis gear, racket not included, along with Irma, Grant and Arnold also dressed in white, Irma in her massive white fur vest, dancing in the middle of the arena with 45,000 of our closest friends all dressed in white while David Guetta drops 'The World Is Mine' with live vocals! It was epic.

The theme for the night was about a futuristic man vs machine war that's erupted across the entire world. The story goes something along the lines of humans creating machines intelligent enough to realise us pitiful humans were merely a waste of space and determined to extinguish the entire race. They pulled it off impressively, I couldn't imagine it could of been done any better. There were fireworks, actors, massive screens with wicked visuals, a chick voice-over robot telling the story throughout the night. The highlight would have definitely been the Megamix, a half-hour or so long mix of all the biggest trance and house tunes hitting the floor these days. We saw them preparing for it up in the stadium steel beams a few minutes beforehand and knew it was going to be sweet. Next thing the music screeches to a halt and the robot narrator informs us all the machines are launching a full scale attack against us and our only weapon of defense is the Megamix. Guys dressed in black bungy jumped from the beams holding laser guns slicing through the crowd among a billion pieces of silver foil as the Megamix got revved into gear. Machines appeared on the stage right in front of us 'attacking' the crowd with their lasers. I'm embarrassed to say but I was actually a bit frightened. As the attack went on our defense system moved into place and fireworks representing missiles shot up into the arena. There were awesome fireworks setup that were supposed to be shots ricocheting off the walls, the lights, the TV screen, all above our heads. I guess we won because the next time I looked around all the machines were gone and I didn't see them again apart from a few here and there partying with the rest of us.

The whole night was made even better by just how great everyone we met was. The people there were so nice and it was surprising that every single one of them could speak pretty much fluent English. Not only that but they seemed ecstatic to meet someone they could speak English with. Actually, there was this one chick who grabbed my phone while I was texting a friend back home and started speaking Dutch at me. She was giggling and everything and when she realised I didn't understand a word of what she was saying she literally ran off from embarrassment. Quite bizarre really. Where we were dancing was where all the dancers and DJ's were coming through the crowd to get to the DJ booth and stages in the middle of the Arena. I was lucky enough to shake hands and say 'hi' to David Guetta after his set, it was so damn cool!

I couldn't believe it and was extremely surprised when Irma dragged us over to meet her friend from Sydney who'd come over and met her there, and it was one of my friends Karen! Neither of us remember the next five minutes after that because we were so excited and overcome, it was really weird running into someone I knew like that, but apparently we were screaming and hugging each other like we were long lost relatives. Another unbelievable part of the night was when the one of the world's top classical piano players, Jan Vayne, appeared on stage and mixed it up with Armin Van Buuren for half an hour or so. You'd never think of it but it was great. You can checkout photo's and video of the Sensation White 2005 party at http://www.id-t.com/ if you can get past the Dutch.

It got light at about 5am and flooded the Arena through the glass rooftop. Probably not one of the nicest moments of the evening as I looked around at all the rubbish everywhere. It all wrapped up a bit after 7am and we all caught a cab back to Arnold's place after fighting with the cab driver who was trying to rip us off something chronic. Contemplating about going out into the city for lunch over a few glasses of champagne, we eventually did and went to a gorgeous restaurant for some more drinks and a great tasting bread with goat's cheese and honey. It's really yummy, you should all try it. After a few minutes we met Fermin. Fermin is from Spain.

Later on that evening we hauled ourselves onto a cruise near Centraal and basically danced ourselves crazy while cruising around the outskirts of Amsterdam. I met some more friendly, fun dutchmen who were always up for a good chat. The boat was rather impressive - a rooftop deck fully equipped with a DJ where we spent most of our time, a pub/lounge mid-level and a nightclub down the bottom with fully illuminated walls. I somehow managed to get the bartender to bring me drinks from the bar to where we were laying about in the nightclub. Feeling a bit like royalty, we left the cruise around 11 and headed to Arnold's favourite bar. Deliriousness, population all six of us, spent the next hour acting like complete crazies and laughing until we cried.

Back to Arnold's place far later than we should have, we all collapsed, some making it barely a few feet from the door. Three hours of sleep later had Kat and I running through the streets of Amsterdam back to the Hans Brinker in the rain to catch the bus to Berlin. Absolute blast of a time!

Amsterdam. Was Good? Was Great!

When thinking back on our time in Amsterdam, I don't even know where to begin when trying to describe just what a great time we all had. I guess I'll just start from the beginning...

Touching down in Amsterdam early Friday morning after almost 24 hours in transit, I had no idea of where to go or what to expect. It was definately a major one of those "Well... what now?" moments. Trying to gain our bearings, we took a seat at Burger King, Schiphol Airport and attempted to eat breakfast without inhaling too much cigarette and "happy smoke". After a few photos of us posing beneath massive Amsterdam airport signs (and one of some lady's massive butt, don't ask me how that got in there), we headed down to catch the train. With our second-class ticket in hand and a train about to set sail we jumped in the nearest cabin, which turned out to be first-class, and giggled like schoolgirls the whole way to Amsterdam city from all the excitement.

Since we weren't really sure when we could make it to Irma's brother, Arnold's place to stay for a few nights, we had no reservation but were (un)fortunate enough to get a room for the night at Hans Brinker Budget Hotel - "Now with FREE flushing!". I had a massive blonde moment when the lady told us the price of our room. Completely overcome by the whole experience I asked "Is that in Amsterdam dollars?". She gave me a weird kind of look before I realized what I'd just said. Dumping our stuff and getting out of there as soon as possible, we wandered around senselessly and maplessly for a good few hours before spontaneously deciding to hire a bike for the day on a coffee-inspired rush. To anyone that's planning on going to Amsterdam, I highly recommend getting a bike as soon as you get there and riding around in the morning for a few hours. You really get a great sense of the place as well as learning all the hot spots to go (along with one red-hot spot!), it's definately a highlight of my trip.

Once we'd had enough of riding around (that is, Kat had fallen off or almost been run over a few too many times and I'd almost been flattened by a tram) we headed back to the hostel to move our stuff into our... "room". Leaving the good ol' Hans with a foul taste in our mouths, we headed to Rembrandtplein to wash them out with some divine tapas and beer (side note, from here on out, whenever I mention food it's quite safe to assume it was 'and beer'). Shout out to the little kitty that kept jumping up into my lap for some calamari (or perhaps the beer, he was walking a little funny come to think of it). One thing I noticed in Amsterdam was how often people asked if it "Was good? Was good?". Coffee, bike hire, lunch, trying on clothes... I wonder if the red-light-ladies extend the same politeness to their 65 Euro 'SnF' customers. How do I know the price you ask? Keep guessing...

During one last tipsy ride back to the bike depot we stumbled upon the Red Light District, which was interesting to say the least. There were ladies in little rooms with windows and a door everywhere. One scrag was standing in her doorway having a cigarette with one hand and trying her best to entice any of the numerous pommy louts with the other. Some guy in one of the laneways asked me if I wanted to get a piercing, and told me if I got everything pierced I'd get a discount. We headed back to the hostel for Happy Hour, and even though it was Amsterdam, the happy hour there was of the traditional type. As opposed to happy three hours down at the 'White Dolphin' shortly after, but I'm putting that and many other stories from Europe in the 'zipped file'.

I'll say this though - Pringles and Peanut M&M's rule.

It's amazing how long the sun stays up for in Europe. It was still light when we got back to the Hans at 10pm, which didn't help the jet lag at all. We fell asleep that night in our dirty hostel after twenty minutes of eating without saying a word while our crazy French dormies burnt incence, got drunk and basically displayed some of that great 'French charm'. I woke up in the middle of the night with Kat literally curled up in a ball at my feet (do I need to point out the irony?).

The next morning we got breakfast at the hostel restaurant, your standard toast, cheese and ham combo I've come to discover is the only breakfast hostels know how to dish out. We then went shopping for our clothes for Sensation White and decided on the spot we'd go along as tennis players for the night. After buying our whole outfit for less than 100 Euro each, we thought we'd get all the touristy type stuff out of the way while we still had the chance. I couldn't imagine anything worse than walking through the Anne Frank house after a huge night partying in Amsterdam.

We stumbled upon the Anne Frank house after spending far too much time searching for a mango smoothie (and only finding alcohol - the first time ever it was actually a problem). The queue wasn't too bad at that stage so we decided to go ahead with it. The place is incredibly moving. From the moment you walk in you're completely immersed in the Anne Frank world. Miniature house models, video footage of the opression with diary entry voiceovers, excerpts from the diary all over the walls along with posters and equipment from the jam company the office was originally used for... and that's just the museum next door.

There's an eery feeling about walking into the actual Anne Frank house where it all happened. There may be tens of people around you at any one time but no one says a word, completely captivated by the overwhelmingly sad yet sometimes cutesy heroic story the house has to tell. The most intense part of the tour is when you walk up the practically vertical stairs into her room where you can still see all the magazing cutouts she posted on her wall, one of the very few normal things she ever got to do as a teenager. Some people in the room were so touched they were even crying. It's not a pleasant place to experience but it's definately a tale that needs to be told. One thing that got to me was that if this is how strongly the story of one person can sadden you, how would anyone cope with all of the many other stories that have gone untold during that time?

The Van Gogh Museum was next after lunch. We discovered a massive ferris wheel on our way there which we were both more than happy to jump on. The view was breathtaking. The city of Amsterdam itself feels rather small compared with others but the amount of surrounding buildings and their architecture was quite simply phenomonal. I managed to get an amateur 360 video, finding it humanly impossible to keep turning towards the end and almost falling awkwardly from my seat.

Inside the Van Gogh museum and I'd have to say the place was... well... interesting? I guess I'm not really much of an art gallery type. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed walking around and seeing some impressive techniques as well as the original pieces that have become world renowned, but those moments were few and far between. More embarassingly, I tried to get into the swing of things - you know, "His hand held the paintbrush that stroked the canvas I'm standing right in front of" and "Wow, doesn't his artwork get much more defined towards the end", but I ended up sounding like a prize fool. Lesson learnt - never step foot inside an art gallery again. Incredible boredom ensues.

Meeting up with Irma, her brother Arnold and her boyfriend Grant, so began our wild, authentic Amsterdam experience.

Europe Sure Knows How To Rain

Hey guys,

Just a quick message to let you all know that I haven't completely forgotten about my website. I'll be sitting down with a pen and pad during the eight hour trip to Vienna and pouring out everything about my past week in Europe. Once I get to Vienna I'll be sure to run to the nearest Internet cafe and post them along with some gorgeous photos.

Anyway, in general, we're having an alright time. The fact that it has been raining almost the whole time has put us in a somewhat sombre mood, along with what's happened in London, so really just trying to beat the current climate and have a good time. Today we're off to the Prague Castle as it's the only indoors thing we can think of doing, not knowing much about this city. We went for a walk last night and had dinner in Old Town Square - absolutely amazing! We accidentally stumbled upon it and were gobstruck for a good hour or so. The people sitting down everywhere, horses trotting through the streets, the great smell of the food - all culminated into one amazing night in Prague.

So Kat's patiently waiting for me by the door so I should get off my butt and get out of here. Hope to hear from you all soon!

Day Zero

Hey guys!

A little over 24 hours before I hop on the flight to Amsterdam and sitting in front of a massive list of things to do, I can't help but fall back into student habits and procrastinate over my new blog. I'm hoping to stay on top of it and keep you all updated on all the latest crazy stories and photos from Europe as Kat and I jump around from one place to another on a bus full of backpackers, beer and... well... I can't think of anything else that starts with 'b' but I'm sure you get the gist.

So, down to business, for those of you interested here's where we'll be and when:

Friday 1st July - Monday 4th July:
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Monday 4th July - Thursday 7th July:
Berlin, Germany

Thursday 7th July - Sunday 10th July:
Prague, Czech Republic

Sunday 10th July - Wednesday 13th July:
Vienna, Austria & Venice, Italy

Wednesday 13th July - Friday 15th July:
Nice, France

Friday 15th July - Monday 18th July:
Barcelona, Spain

Monday 18th July - Thursday 21st July:
Madrid, Spain

Thursday 21st July - Friday 22nd July:
Bordeaux, France

Friday 22nd July - Tuesday 26th July:
Paris, France

Check back soon for all the latest Amsterdam mischeif!