Bled in Slovenia

Today we started heading West again, leaving the former Soviet states into former Yugoslavia en route to Italy.

Day 24: It took us 10 hours to get from Budapest to Bled, but when we arrived, we were greeted by the most hilarious Slovenian fat man who owned the Mlinar pension. We went to the adventure center to book our Emerald River trip. From there we walked past the Park Hotel, home of the Bled cake, which is like a vanilla slice, only better.Like a Vanilla slice. Only better.

We walked around the perfectly azure waters up the hill to the restraunt. While we were ordering the mayor of the town, who was self admittedly tipsy after his daughters wedding introduced himself to us and recommended the cheese curd scroll which I shared with Jeff. I also got the grilled squid. SO GOOD. After dinner I walked up to the Castle. The view was beautiful, Bled by night, with all the lights reflected in the lake. That night I treated myself to some Bled cake before bed.

Day 25: Adventure day! We had an early start for our day exploring the Triglav national park, Slovenia's only national park and home to the nation's highest peak. We went through the mountain pass and went for a hike up to the mountain peak and then down to the source of the Sava Bohinjka River. It was amazing. We drank straight from the mountain! 

After some lunch in Bovec, half the group went rafting, while I went with the other half to the raftings end point and went for a swim in the icy clear waters and read my book. Absolutle bliss. While we waited we encountered a very entertaining dog, Maxy, who would fetch rocks from the river bed, drunking his head underwater and dragging giant rocks to the shore.

Next stop was Slap Kozak waterfall. We swam right up to, and underneath it. It was heavenly. This was followed by the 10m bridge jump. I was first off the ranks. So scary, but SO FUN! After that, I set a standard, so a couple more people plucked up the courage to do it. Our last stop was the car train to get us back to Bled. There are no tunnels on this side of the mountain for cars, so the cars are taken back through on trains. We sang along to Micheal Jackson with the doors open and drinks in hand as we enjoyed the last hour of sun. Tevz our guide dropped us off at a place for dinner where we had a feed before bed and a well needed rest.

Slovenia was a really cute and simply beautiful country. I wish I had time to go to Ljubliana, the capital, but Bled definitely whet my appetite for this young nation. But for now, bring on Italy! 

Hungry for Hungary

Day 22: We are well and truly in the old USSR now. We caught the trolly bus (a cross between a tram and a bus) to our hotel before facing the deliciously humid weather and heading to Margit Island. On the island we went to the pool and thermal baths which were perfect for the hot day we had just endured. We all sat down and had some langos, fried bread lathered in sourcream and cheese (first ticked off my list of Hungarian delicacies) before heading in. Post-swimI relaxed in Palatinus for the next 3 hours. That night I met up with Kirtan, Jeff and Dave to hit the Budapest town. We grabbed some chow in a really cute cafe, I had paprika chicken (my second Hugarian delicacy) and Hungarian sponge cake. We went to this really cool club called Szimpla. It was decked out with flags, wooden furniture, chairs, giving it a really cool underground feel.

Day 23: First stop today was Heroes Square at City Park, from there I walked down Andraddy, Budapest's Champs Elysee, gazing at all the designer stores. I grabbed a coffee at Vosmarty Square to join the free walking tour. We saw St. Stevens Cathedral, an underground bar, Kiskivaly Statue, and the parliament buildings before leaving the Pest side over the chain bridge to Buda. We went up castle mountain, across to the fishermans bastion and the Matthias cathedral. From there Tori and I (my new friend) went to the Market Hall - Europe's biggest, for lunch, local style. I had a cabbage leaf parcel (4th local cuisine). GoulashAfter that we got our cultural on at the House of Terror, probably one of the best museums I have been to in Europe! I learnt so much about the Communist world. Tori and I said our goodbyes, before I went back to the apartment, smacked on some lippy and went out to dinner.The menu was goulash (Number 5, the big one). Yum yum yum. A good way to say goodbye to this amazing country. 

Crisp apple strudel, door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.

Day 20: Today we crossed the border to Austria as I slaughtered Jeff at yahtzee and connect four. Tomi said, as we drove over the border, that you could tell when you had got to the Austrian roads because they were smoother then Czech ones. We arrived in Vienna by lunch time and Tomi took us on our routine orientation walk around the city, introducing us to Stephensplatz and cathedral, Staatsoper, the Albertina, Kaisergruft, Museum Quater and the Castle where the Rathaus, Parliament and Spanish riding school are. We ended at a little foodies festival in the Rathaus park. From there I went to Stadtpark, passing Beethovenplatz, then on to Karlskirche to see Mozart's Requiem. Waiting in line, I met two lovely Italians from Trento who invited me to come and visit. The concert was pretty awesome, but the acoustics were pretty lousy because it caused the whole piece to drag. After the concert, the boys and I went out to get some coffee and studel. Yum!Man. This is cool.

Day 21: After breakfast I met up with Frank, David and Jeff, first stop Stephensdom. I went to the mass, which was beautiful in the native language. Next we went to Zentralfriedhof, burial place of some of music's greats: Brahms, Schubert, Strauss, Beethoven... even Falco! Jeff was excited about that one. We bypassed St. Marks because we figured Mozart was buried in a mass grave so no one was even sure where his body was.

We headed back to Karlzplatz for some lunch, where I had the BEST felafal in Europe : ) Next stop was Schloss Schonbrunn, which in a nutshell, is HUGE. The palace makes Buckingham look feeble, and the gardens are something like 2.5km square, all perfectly manicured, complete with a hedge maze, fountains and zoo. I settled under a tree and read for a while before going back into town to get some Schnitzel for dinner with the crew. My my my was there a lot of schnitzel! Dig in!

And it was on that note that I ended the Austrian leg of my trip. I think I got in as much as was humanly possible! I'm getting hungry for Hungary! 

Czech it out!

Day 17: It took 3 trains and 10 hours to get from Krakow to Prague which involved lots of reading eating and Tomi sitting on my lap. When we arrived, we caught the tram to the local city flats we were staying in, with some locals. The ladys flat is right out of the 1950s, floral curtains, cup and saucer sets, chandeliers and a little book and record collection.

We met up with the group again for a little orientation tour of the city. That night we went for dinner at a local Czech pub, where we all sampled some local cuisines: dumplings, pork, duck, fried camenbert... After that we headed to "The Pub". A completely unique drinking experience. Each table has taps and you pay at the end of the night, by the liter! Then, there is a running score board for how many liters each table has drunk, and then a score baord for how much each pub has drunk, all over Europe!Disney's inspiration

Day 18: The next day we had to ourselves. I started with running some errands before joining the walking tour. We were shown around the Old Town New Town and Jewish Quarter - Astronomical clock, Tyn Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church, the 400yr old mummified arm in St. James', Charles Bridge, Powder town, Jan Hus Statue... So much! When we disbanded I grabbed some lunch n Karlovo Namesti Park before walking up to Vysehrat, to take in some great views of the city. From there, I walked over the river to Prague Castle. I walked through the complex, the cathedral, chapels, squares, it was beautiful. Although, there were no information boards or labels or anything, so I didn't really know what I was looking at.

I walked down the hill, to get some dinner at the Lokal.Cesky Krumlov Castle

Day 19: Today we travelled from Prague to Cesky Krumlov, a little town in the south of the Czech Republic. We dumped our stuff and headed in to the town center where we met Oldriska, the coolest hippy ever, who took us on a tour of the center and castle. She told us some really interesting facts and gave us one of the golden quotes of the tour "If you befriend it; it will let you milk it". I dedicated the afternoon to doing absolutely nothing which was lovely. Frank and I shared an icecream, Tomi and I had a chat and I read mybook before heading off to dinner with the crew. We went to a medieval style place where I tried some Moravian mead and some South Bohemian mead. So good. After dinner, we went to a Celtic rock concert. Oldriska and I danced the night away. After that I went to the town square to watch the laser show. It was probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen. David and I had a lot of fun afterwards pulling it apart and laughing a lot. 

The Czech Republic is a very very cool country. Prague is just the most amazing city. I think it is my favourite European city so far! The food is good, everything is cheap, the people are SO nice and the whole place just has a vibe which made me fall in love.

Meady mead mead

Poland. It didn't even get invaded.

While we only saw a small corner of this country, my eyes were definitely opened to its wonders and exports: Zlotys, 24hr dumpling shops, seasame snaps and Micheal Klim to name a few.

Day 15: We arrived in Krakow from the overnight train at 7am and found the Hotel Polonia. Frank shouted me breakfast before Tomi tok us on our orientation walk. It was eeriely empty, because it was a public holiday, and at 8:30am, the tourists hadn't emerged yet, but it was nice having the place all to ourselves. Once we were oriented, I went for a wander up to Wawel Castle. En route, I heard some beautiful music playing, which turned out to be the Krakow Philharmonic. As I was listening, I noticed a poster on the wall advertising Emma Kirkby's concert that night! And just like that, I was 25zlotys poorer. At 11 I went to the free walking tour and would you believe it, I bumped into RUSSEL GILMOUR. Our guide makes use of the local artThe tour was lead by a crazy Pole, with far to active eyebrows, who took us around to the Barbican, City Wall, St. Marys, Wawel Castle... After that I went to the Jewish Quarter, which is a very very cool part of town, like Krakows Camden.

That night we went to get dumplings for dinner, yum yum yum yum yum, before Dave and I set of to get Kirkby-ed. After the show, which was amazing, I went out for drinks with Russel and some of his trumpet friends to a really cute and quirky bar in the Jewish Quarterm which was really fun. I had tatankas - bison grass vodka, apple and cinnamon - so so good. On my way home though I got caught in a MASSIVE rain storm, in the middle of which I called Genevieve to sing Happy Birthday. I ended up sheltering in the doorway of a bank with two Czechs and two Poles for about 15 minutes, but I ended up grabbing a cab back.I polished those off quickly!

Day 16: Today was a day of intensity. Auschwitz. We were taken through the barraks of Auschwitz 1 which had different displays - correspondence, documents, medical slips, surveys, photos, artefacts. Some amazing things were 2 tonnes of human hair, millions of spectacles, and piles and piles and piles of shoes. Next was Auschwitz 2, Birkanau. The sheer size of this place just blows your mind.

That night we went out to dinner in the Jewish Quarter and I had Bigos. So so so yummy. Followed by Polish apple pie.

Overall, Poland has definitely grown on me as a country.

Deutschland. Görlizerbanhof. Think about it.

I moved from France to Germany, to begin the next fortnight of my Eurotrip. I replaced crossants with sausage, crepes with pretzels, wine with beer and merde to scheiße!

Day 4: This morning I jumped on the train and arrived in Cologne for lunch, where I found Farina's house before setting off to Bonn to get my Beethoven on. I followed the tourist walk to see the Beethoven memorial, Beethoven house, Cathedrals where Beethoven performed and ended up at the Rhine. 

That night Farina and Yüg took me out to Thai. Yum.

Day 5: Today was my day to tackle Cologne. First stop, Cologne Cathedral. I climbed the 533 steps and enjoyed the view. Next I went to 4711 and bathed in cologne from Cologne. Cool? I thought so. After that I went to the Nazi Documentation Center. There were cells there where the gestapo used to hold prisoners. The walls were covers in writing and scratchings from the prisoners. Some were really shocking, others were inspiring, but it realy added an element of humanity to the place. There was also a museum upstairs which was interesting.The Cathedral

I made my way back through the town, stopping in on some cathedrals until I got to the Rhine. I had a nice read by the river, before strolling down to the Chocolate factory. Chocolate pasta anyone?

I went back to Farina's for dinner - traditional German with bread, cheese and meat.

Day 6: Today was a travel day from Cologne to Berlin. Kiki met me at the station, and we went to her flat. COOL COOL COOL. Kiki cooked us borscht and then we hit the town. We went and salsad the night away : )

Day 7: Sunday. Market day. Mauerpark, here we come! Cue Poloroid, Jacket, Dress... We had a corn on the cob, went home for a snack and then HARRY POTTER! With homemade popcorn. Kiki and I feel the need to draw to your attention that DANIEL RADCLIFFE HAS UNEVEN ARMS!

Day 8: Today we got our tourist on. We started off at the East Side Gallery and walked along the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall to Alexanderplatz. Next was Hockeschermarkt for lunch. Berlin doner. Yum. We walked to Berlin Cathedral, talk about beautiful, then down Und de Linden to see Bebelplatz, the location of the 1933 Nazi book burning. We passed the Reichstag and ended up at the Brandenburg Gate. 

That night, Hetti took us out for drinks at her favourite pub which was fun.

Day 9: Today I jumped on Jill - Hetti's bike, and went to buy some poloroid film. I came back via Tiergarten and Siegerstrasse. When we came back Kiki and I painted Hetti's new head board, bright red! That afternoon, we went to the Holocaust Memorial and Information Center. It was intense, but really informative. We stopped by the memorial for homosexuals on the way back to the U-Bahn.

That night, after taking my first poloroid picture, we went out to dinner at Dicke Wirtin and had the BIGGEST SCHNITZEL EVER. Yum yum yum yum.

Day 10: Today was our day in Potsdam. We jumped on the S-Bahn, and went to Sanssouci Park. On the way to the station, Kiki introduced me to Adelbert, the most bizarre taxidermied concoction I have ever seen - park fox, bever, owl, chicken, duck... In Sanssouci, Kiki and I planned our lives there as royalty, rooms for friends, step-mothers, concerts, tea, dinner, baths... When we got a little parked-out we went to Brandenburger Strasse for some lunch, tea, postcards and other goodies. For lunch I had currywurst, which was an experience. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it, but I am glad I did it.That afternoon we met up with Kikis friend Tamara for afternoon tea before we headed back home.

Day 11: Today we hit up Kreuzberg. Kiki introduced me to Arrarat, the most divine stationary shop. Then we went to colours, where they sell second hand clothing by the kilo! After a lot of fun and rummaging around, I went to Museumsinsel to go to the Neues Museum. There I saw the famous bust of Nefertiti. That night Kiki and I played boggle at watched university challenge. Woo.

Day 12: Today we did brunch at 1900, the cutest little cafe ever. After that we went to see the Ladies in Kiki and Hetti's favourite secondhand shop where I got some great bargins. That evening, we were treated to a lovely dinner at SIR SIMON RATTLE'S castle between Berlin and Potsdam. We also played some epic rounds of boggle and pictionary. The perfect dinner party.

Day 13: Today Kiki went to Italy, and I met up with my first Intrepid group in East Berlin. I checked in, and met my first room mate, Laura (A primary school teacher from Colorado). We went for a walk around the area, past the East Side Gallery and things. That evening, we had our first group meeting where I met the other 8 travellers and Tomi our group leader. Once all the formalities were out of the way we went for dinner at a truly German pub and got to know eachother over some good chow.

Day 14: I woke up early, so I went for a walk to Treptower park where I saw a big Soviet sculpture. Jeff (A photographer from Washington) and I met at 10:30 to begin our day of sightseeing. We had both already seen the major sights, so we went a bit off the beaten track. First we went to Tacheles, an old Gestapo prison now converted into an art gallery, which was really cool, before walking past the New Synagogue to the Berlin Wall Information Center, where a section of the wall exists as it was set up by the Soviets. Our last stop was the German History Museum which takes you from 500BC through to the present day. That night we hopped on the overnight train to Krakow, ready for our next country.

All in all, Germany is a pretty sweet country. I also have developed a real taste for pretzels, and German bread. Ohhhh German bread. 

Bonjour Paris

Paris. The city of love. Unfortunately, I was a little love deprived, but these things happen. Instead I filled that gaping hole with lots of pastry, bread, crepes, coffee and shopping. Problem solved I'd say.

Day 1: I arrived in Paris and found the hostel before wandering off towards Montmarte, what I would say is the coolest part of Paris. There are tonnes of second hand shops, and beautiful shoe stores, I had to resist blowing all my cash on my first day. Naively, I began walking up some stairs, thinking I could see the top after a few flights. Many many many stairs later, I was at the Sacre Coeur. The view over the cityWhat a view! From there I went to the Place du Tertre, the home of portrait artists and tourist art. That night, Tessa arrived, and we went for a walk around Paris Plages (The Seine is converted to a beach over Summer) before calling it a night.

Day 2: Today Tessa and I set out on our free walking tour, where we met a bunch of other cool travellers. Over the day we saw Paris' main sights including: the obelisque, the Louvre, Napoleons Arch,Pont Neuf, the Eiffel Tower, and the Palace of the Invalids. After the tour, Felicity (our new Melbournian friend), Tessa and I strolled up the Champs de L'essey, the world most beautiful boulevard, to the Arc du Triomph. It really is quite big. From there we went back to the hostel for a nap, before our Eiffel Tower picnic and light show. We staked out our spot, assembled our picnic, and got out tourist on as we ate, drank and laughed the night away.Picnics in front of the Eiffel Tower are the best.

Day 3: Today I set off alone, first stop Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This place gave me goosebumps as soon as I walked through the gates. It was eeriely beautiful. I saw the graves of Rossini, Bizet, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and CHOPIN! One that I also got very excited for was Joseph Gay-Lussac. The man who's acid-base theory got us through HSC Chemistry. That afternoon I met up with Tessa and Flic to do the Louvre. People said that it was busy, but really, it was pure mayhem. The crowd in front of the Mona Lisa was ridiculous and it really ruined it. All the pushing and flashing was just plain rude. Tessa headed after that, while Flic and I took in some more of the art, seeing Aphrodite and some 16/17th Century Dutch Art - my favourite.

Next stop for me was the Moulin Rouge, via Rue Monmarte - one of my favourite Parisian streets. I stopped along the way for my crepe fix - nutella and banana, not very authentic, but oh so good.

And that, my friends, is how you do Paris in 3 days!