So we are off to Europe again in 2011, flights are booked and this looks to be our itinerary. We are doing a 7 night cruise along the coast of Croatia and attending Hellfest Open Air (France), Metal Camp (Slovenia) and Wacken Open Air (Germany). Soooo excited :D
16-Jun Nantes (France)
17-Jun Hellfest Open Air
18-Jun Hellfest Open Air
19-Jun Hellfest Open Air
20-Jun Toulouse (France)
21-Jun Toulouse
22-Jun Montpellier (France)
23-Jun Montpellier
24-Jun Montpellier (France)
25-Jun Gillian's wedding
26-Jun Milan (Italy)
27-Jun Milan
28-Jun Venice (Italy)
29-Jun Venice
30-Jun Venice
1-Jul Ancona (Italy)
2-Jul Split (Croatia)
3-Jul Croatian Cruise
4-Jul Croatian Cruise
5-Jul Croatian Cruise
6-Jul Croatian Cruise
7-Jul Croatian Cruise
8-Jul Croatian ruise
9-Jul Split (Croatia)
10-Jul Ljubljana (Slovenia)
11-Jul Ljubljana
12-Jul Ljubljana
13-Jul Postojna (Slovenia)
14-Jul Postojna
15-Jul Metal Camp
16-Jul Metal Camp
17-Jul Metal Camp
18-Jul Tolmin (Slovenia)
19-Jul Salzburg (Austria)
20-Jul Salzburg
21-Jul Salzburg
22-Jul Vienna (Austria)
23-Jul Vienna
24-Jul Vienna
25-Jul Munich (Germany)
26-Jul Munich
27-Jul Munich
28-Jul Stuttgart (Germany)
29-Jul Stuttgart
30-Jul Frankfurt (Germany)
31-Jul Frankfurt
1-Aug Cologne (Germany)
2-Aug Cologne
3-Aug Hamburg (Germany)
4-Aug Hamburg
5-Aug Wacken
6-Aug Wacken
7-Aug Wacken
8-Aug Hamburg
9-Aug Copenhagen (Denmark)
10-Aug Copenhagen
11-Aug Reykjavik (Iceland)
12-Aug Reykjavik
13-Aug Reykjavik
14-Aug Reykjavik
15-Aug Copenhagen
16-Aug Depart Hamburg @ 5:45PM
17-Aug Arrive Melbourne @ 4:50AM
Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, September 13, 2010
I love NY.
Generic post title I know. Anyway there was not a whole lot to do in Helsinki so thank god we were only there for 2 nights. The city itself was nice but very quiet and chilled out, not a lot happening at night. I dont mind being in a city where there are not that many actual tourist attractions to go to because sometimes it is more about the vibe of the city or lifestyle which is how I felt about Gothenburg. I really liked Gothenburg because of the lifestyle and the general feeling of the city more than actual attractions that were there, however Helsinki is just really......simple. If I ever went back to Finland it would definitely be to Oulo or something like that.
Anyway Helsinki was good to relax anyway before we got to New York. The flight was ok, I watched Office Space on the flight and annoyed the guy next to me a bit with my loud laughing ha ha. We went past the Van Wyck expressway on the way to our hostel which made me laugh because of Seinfeld. Our hostel is right next to Broadway in Times Square so its pretty crazy. As soon as we stepped out of the subway onto the street we couldnt wipe the smiles off our faces because it was just so confronting. Billboards EVERYWHERE and bright lights. Our hostel is ok....enough said. We are going to another hostel for the last 5 nights which I think will be a little better. It is kind of expensive here which sucks, the first day we went for a stroll through Central Park and had a stroll down Broadway and saw Carnegie Hall etc. We also saw Trump Tower and the Columbus monument and spotted a few things I recognized from Seinfeld and stopped for a Cosmopolitan. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art to see a screening of the Mogwai film Burning which was really good and saw the Guggenheim etc. Today we went to the free Broadway on Broadway concert in Times Square hosted by Kelsey Grammer and saw a few songs performed by the cast of The Lion King and a few other musicals on broadway at the moment. We saw the building where David Letterman is filmed, The Empire State Building, Madison Square Gardens etc. Some guy that I bought a bagel from thought that I was a movie star which was kind of funny. Its been making us laugh listening to some of the conversations American people have ha ha.
Tomorrow we think we will go see the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street etc and maybe make the trip into Brooklyn. Still have to take a trip to the Bronx and Harlem etc.....still so much to do. We are really enjoying ourselves here though, off to San Francisco next but that isnt till the 19th. Not long now until we are home but I think we are both definitely ready :)
Anyway Helsinki was good to relax anyway before we got to New York. The flight was ok, I watched Office Space on the flight and annoyed the guy next to me a bit with my loud laughing ha ha. We went past the Van Wyck expressway on the way to our hostel which made me laugh because of Seinfeld. Our hostel is right next to Broadway in Times Square so its pretty crazy. As soon as we stepped out of the subway onto the street we couldnt wipe the smiles off our faces because it was just so confronting. Billboards EVERYWHERE and bright lights. Our hostel is ok....enough said. We are going to another hostel for the last 5 nights which I think will be a little better. It is kind of expensive here which sucks, the first day we went for a stroll through Central Park and had a stroll down Broadway and saw Carnegie Hall etc. We also saw Trump Tower and the Columbus monument and spotted a few things I recognized from Seinfeld and stopped for a Cosmopolitan. We went to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art to see a screening of the Mogwai film Burning which was really good and saw the Guggenheim etc. Today we went to the free Broadway on Broadway concert in Times Square hosted by Kelsey Grammer and saw a few songs performed by the cast of The Lion King and a few other musicals on broadway at the moment. We saw the building where David Letterman is filmed, The Empire State Building, Madison Square Gardens etc. Some guy that I bought a bagel from thought that I was a movie star which was kind of funny. Its been making us laugh listening to some of the conversations American people have ha ha.
Tomorrow we think we will go see the Statue of Liberty and Wall Street etc and maybe make the trip into Brooklyn. Still have to take a trip to the Bronx and Harlem etc.....still so much to do. We are really enjoying ourselves here though, off to San Francisco next but that isnt till the 19th. Not long now until we are home but I think we are both definitely ready :)
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Stockholm Syndrome.
So we didnt do anything too crazy whilst we were in Gothenburg, on a whole there are not a lot of touristy things to do in this city its more just about the lifestyle I suppose. We chilled out a lot at our hostel, watched a bit of MTV cause Swedish TV is mostly in English with subtitles and wandered the streets of Gothenburg going out for dinner etc. Everyone in this city is really stylish and all the men have the same haircut, its really strange. Swedish men dress really nicely too :)
We rode the big wheel for a view of Gothenburg and on the last night we met up with our Swedish pal Dunken who we met at Hellfest and Wacken. We went to a metal bar called Rock Baren and had a few drinks and ended up pretty spastic. Met an Australian guy there who lives in Sweden and was a bit of a racist dick. I didnt like it from the beginning though because he said Melbourne sucked. Met a few other nice Swedes and partied to Bloodbath and Satyricon before having my first snus experience. Dunken has been trying to get me to try the stuff since Hellfest but I refused until this night. It burnt my gums at first but then I got used to it and it was alright. Had an awesome vege burger on the drunken stumble home.
We headed to Linkoping after that to see some more of our Swedish friends from Wacken. Linkoping is sort of between Gothenburg and Stockholm. I pictured it to be a real one horse town but it was actually pretty big but I still felt like we were in the middle of no where ha ha. We were staying in a nice hotel where it was good to have a room and bathroom to ourselves for a change and watch some movies on TV. One night Global Metal was on which made my night. Timmy came and met us at our hotel and took us to get some beer and what not before meeting Jesper at a soccer field where they all sit around drinking beer before the show we were going to because it was a drug free event ha ha. Needless to say I felt like I was 16 again back at the Arboreetum at home. So we had some beers adn watched one band then went to Tommys ridiculously clean place for a visit. We had some drinks there and some of Tommys friends came over who were really nice and we listened to some nostalgic music ha ha. We went to Pitchers aka Hitlers after that for more drinks before Timmy, myself, Manda and Kim went back to the Mooses house. After that most of the night was a blur but we some how made it back to the hotel. The next night we did much the same except we went to one of Timmys other friends houses and met more of his lovely friends and then our time was up. We said our goodbyes and were off for Stockholm.
Stockholm looks like a huge city and its strange because there are so many old nice buildings around but new factory looking buildings seem to be wedged between them all? So it makes it hard to get a nice picture of the city. Anyway I liked it here, we had some nice meals out on the harbor as our hostel was right next to it and we made a trip to Sandsborg Cemetery to see Quorthons grave. It was kind of confusing when we first got there to find but we eventually did.
We are at the airport now waiting for our flight to Finland where we will be for 2 days before heading to New York. Only about a month to go now, I cannot believe how time has flown. We are staying in an Olympic stadium in Helsinki which should be interesting.
We rode the big wheel for a view of Gothenburg and on the last night we met up with our Swedish pal Dunken who we met at Hellfest and Wacken. We went to a metal bar called Rock Baren and had a few drinks and ended up pretty spastic. Met an Australian guy there who lives in Sweden and was a bit of a racist dick. I didnt like it from the beginning though because he said Melbourne sucked. Met a few other nice Swedes and partied to Bloodbath and Satyricon before having my first snus experience. Dunken has been trying to get me to try the stuff since Hellfest but I refused until this night. It burnt my gums at first but then I got used to it and it was alright. Had an awesome vege burger on the drunken stumble home.
We headed to Linkoping after that to see some more of our Swedish friends from Wacken. Linkoping is sort of between Gothenburg and Stockholm. I pictured it to be a real one horse town but it was actually pretty big but I still felt like we were in the middle of no where ha ha. We were staying in a nice hotel where it was good to have a room and bathroom to ourselves for a change and watch some movies on TV. One night Global Metal was on which made my night. Timmy came and met us at our hotel and took us to get some beer and what not before meeting Jesper at a soccer field where they all sit around drinking beer before the show we were going to because it was a drug free event ha ha. Needless to say I felt like I was 16 again back at the Arboreetum at home. So we had some beers adn watched one band then went to Tommys ridiculously clean place for a visit. We had some drinks there and some of Tommys friends came over who were really nice and we listened to some nostalgic music ha ha. We went to Pitchers aka Hitlers after that for more drinks before Timmy, myself, Manda and Kim went back to the Mooses house. After that most of the night was a blur but we some how made it back to the hotel. The next night we did much the same except we went to one of Timmys other friends houses and met more of his lovely friends and then our time was up. We said our goodbyes and were off for Stockholm.
Stockholm looks like a huge city and its strange because there are so many old nice buildings around but new factory looking buildings seem to be wedged between them all? So it makes it hard to get a nice picture of the city. Anyway I liked it here, we had some nice meals out on the harbor as our hostel was right next to it and we made a trip to Sandsborg Cemetery to see Quorthons grave. It was kind of confusing when we first got there to find but we eventually did.
We are at the airport now waiting for our flight to Finland where we will be for 2 days before heading to New York. Only about a month to go now, I cannot believe how time has flown. We are staying in an Olympic stadium in Helsinki which should be interesting.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Its been a while.....
Well I have been super lazy and havent updated this thing in ages so here is a brief attempt at summing up what we have been doing since Party San.
We headed to Dresden after Party San for a few days recovery before we went to Nurnberg to go to Summerbreeze. Dresden was a cute little city and the area we were staying in reminded me a lot of Brunswick street. Lots of hippy types and tattoo covered people etc. Everyone was so trendy and there was a nice Vegan place nearby. We made our way into Old Town which was very pretty and spent most of the time relaxing and recovering yet again.
Summerbreeze was good but it was way too hot, it was the complete antithesis of Party San. There was little to no shade in the festival so you had to stand in the sun which sucked. Most of the time we would make a trip down to the shops to chill for a little in the shade or nap in the park ha ha. We saw some great bands though, Anathema were fantastic as well as Insomnium, Pantheon I and GWAR! They were hilarious ha ha. We were camped next to some Spanish guys who made us laugh. We certainly werent upset to say goodbye to our tent as we are totally over camping at this stage.
Next stop was Switzerland where we traveled to Bern first. This city was really beautiful and we were right in the centre of the old town. We made a day trip to Gruyeres for the H.R Giger Museum. The little town was so beautiful!! It reminded me of one of the little towns from Zelda. The museum itself was also amazing! They had a life size Alien there and room after room of amazing artwork including Gigers own personal collection, his Academy Award etc. They were playing the first Alien movie and all I wanted to do was sit down and watch it in its entirety ha ha. We went to the Giger bar afterwards which is soooo cool, all the chairs and tables, the ceiling etc all designed by Giger. All in all it made a really nice day trip.
We went to Zurich after this and didnt really do any sightseeing cause we had a flight to Norway the next day. I was so excited to arrive in Bergen!!! We had no issues finding our hostel, really we were just thankful we had a place to stay. We were up in the hills with really nice views of the mountains and the city below. We went to the Fantoft Stave Church which Varg burnt down for those who know anything about the Norwegian Black Metal scene and the woods surrounding it were really nice so we went for a wander. The city of Bergen is really nice, all nestled between the hills. We went to Hole in the Sky on the Friday and Saturday night and saw some amazing bands including Venom and Nunslaughter who were really good! We ran into a whole bunch of famous people including Ihsahn, Cronus, Abbath, Apollyon, Frost, Cathedral and Nunslaughter.
After this we headed to Oslo where the train ride was really scenic and it snowed and it was just beautiful, the countryside in Norway is breathtaking! In Oslo we visited the sculpture park, the fortress and castle etc and tracked down where Helvete used to be again for those who know anything about the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Anyway it is a coffee shop now but still cool to be there. Presently we have just arrived in Gothenburg in Sweden where we will spend the next few days before heading to Linkoping to see our Swedish friends from Wacken for the weekend :)
We headed to Dresden after Party San for a few days recovery before we went to Nurnberg to go to Summerbreeze. Dresden was a cute little city and the area we were staying in reminded me a lot of Brunswick street. Lots of hippy types and tattoo covered people etc. Everyone was so trendy and there was a nice Vegan place nearby. We made our way into Old Town which was very pretty and spent most of the time relaxing and recovering yet again.
Summerbreeze was good but it was way too hot, it was the complete antithesis of Party San. There was little to no shade in the festival so you had to stand in the sun which sucked. Most of the time we would make a trip down to the shops to chill for a little in the shade or nap in the park ha ha. We saw some great bands though, Anathema were fantastic as well as Insomnium, Pantheon I and GWAR! They were hilarious ha ha. We were camped next to some Spanish guys who made us laugh. We certainly werent upset to say goodbye to our tent as we are totally over camping at this stage.
Next stop was Switzerland where we traveled to Bern first. This city was really beautiful and we were right in the centre of the old town. We made a day trip to Gruyeres for the H.R Giger Museum. The little town was so beautiful!! It reminded me of one of the little towns from Zelda. The museum itself was also amazing! They had a life size Alien there and room after room of amazing artwork including Gigers own personal collection, his Academy Award etc. They were playing the first Alien movie and all I wanted to do was sit down and watch it in its entirety ha ha. We went to the Giger bar afterwards which is soooo cool, all the chairs and tables, the ceiling etc all designed by Giger. All in all it made a really nice day trip.
We went to Zurich after this and didnt really do any sightseeing cause we had a flight to Norway the next day. I was so excited to arrive in Bergen!!! We had no issues finding our hostel, really we were just thankful we had a place to stay. We were up in the hills with really nice views of the mountains and the city below. We went to the Fantoft Stave Church which Varg burnt down for those who know anything about the Norwegian Black Metal scene and the woods surrounding it were really nice so we went for a wander. The city of Bergen is really nice, all nestled between the hills. We went to Hole in the Sky on the Friday and Saturday night and saw some amazing bands including Venom and Nunslaughter who were really good! We ran into a whole bunch of famous people including Ihsahn, Cronus, Abbath, Apollyon, Frost, Cathedral and Nunslaughter.
After this we headed to Oslo where the train ride was really scenic and it snowed and it was just beautiful, the countryside in Norway is breathtaking! In Oslo we visited the sculpture park, the fortress and castle etc and tracked down where Helvete used to be again for those who know anything about the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Anyway it is a coffee shop now but still cool to be there. Presently we have just arrived in Gothenburg in Sweden where we will spend the next few days before heading to Linkoping to see our Swedish friends from Wacken for the weekend :)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Recovery.
So I havent updated this in a while....after Wacken we were in Erfurt for 2 days and didnt really do anything because we are still recovering from Wacken as we speak ha ha. Erfurt was a small quiet town with friendly people, we also met another Australian who was also heading to Party San. We were pretty sad for these few days because we just wanted to be back at Wacken all over again ha ha.
Party San was full of complications getting there, from getting the wrong train to getting off at the wrong stop and having to walk half the way. Once we were there it was fine, we met some nice German lads who let us camp with them and gave us some beer. Unfortunately one of the Germans in that area was a Nazi, yes a full on Nazi. So he was saying inappropriate things the whole time and he was a dick. We met a few more nice Germans and some lovely Danish men who kept us entertained. The only downfall was excessive rain which led to ridiculous amounts of mud all over the festival!! Our boots were completely caked all weekend long and you could only walk at a snails pace to avoid falling over. All in all the festival is very small though so only one stage which was kind of nice, if you met someone the night before you were sure to see them the next day, not a good thing if you were drunk around them the night before ha ha.
Aura Noir were fantastic to see live as well as Napalm Death surprisingly. All in all we had another great weekend which is good considering the weather could have made it a bad one! Now we are in Dresden which is a lovely city and the area we are in is a lot like Brunswick st with hippies everywhere and people covered in tattoos and weird hairstyles ha ha. We wandered through the Old Town which was very pretty but again spent most of the time recovering before Summerbreeze tomorrow!!
Sue I am going to post a link to my Facebook here so you can check out our photos for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/WhereTheSlimeLive
Click on this link above or copy and paste it into the web browser and once it takes you to my page click on the tab that says PHOTOS and you will find all the different folders of photos from all the different countries :) xx
Party San was full of complications getting there, from getting the wrong train to getting off at the wrong stop and having to walk half the way. Once we were there it was fine, we met some nice German lads who let us camp with them and gave us some beer. Unfortunately one of the Germans in that area was a Nazi, yes a full on Nazi. So he was saying inappropriate things the whole time and he was a dick. We met a few more nice Germans and some lovely Danish men who kept us entertained. The only downfall was excessive rain which led to ridiculous amounts of mud all over the festival!! Our boots were completely caked all weekend long and you could only walk at a snails pace to avoid falling over. All in all the festival is very small though so only one stage which was kind of nice, if you met someone the night before you were sure to see them the next day, not a good thing if you were drunk around them the night before ha ha.
Aura Noir were fantastic to see live as well as Napalm Death surprisingly. All in all we had another great weekend which is good considering the weather could have made it a bad one! Now we are in Dresden which is a lovely city and the area we are in is a lot like Brunswick st with hippies everywhere and people covered in tattoos and weird hairstyles ha ha. We wandered through the Old Town which was very pretty but again spent most of the time recovering before Summerbreeze tomorrow!!
Sue I am going to post a link to my Facebook here so you can check out our photos for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/WhereTheSlimeLive
Click on this link above or copy and paste it into the web browser and once it takes you to my page click on the tab that says PHOTOS and you will find all the different folders of photos from all the different countries :) xx
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Wacken 2010.
Words simply cannot describe so I wont even try, all I can say is this was the best weekend of my entire life and I am going to try and go back every single year to relive that feeling. We just purchased our tickets for 2011! Thanks so much to the amazing Swedish boys that we camped with, you are all insane!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.
So our last day in Berlin was solely dedicated to visiting the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp which is located about 30 minutes outside of the city centre. The camp was somewhat revolutionary in terms of the Holocaust as it set a standard for many of the camps that were built after it. Our tour guide was fantastic as he had studied the Holocaust, Hitler, WW1 and 2 etc so he was extremely knowledgeable and had toured this camp many times. He had also been to Auschwitz and several other camps and thought that Sachsenhausen was the more interesting. This made me happy as I really wished we could have made it to Poland to see Auschwitz.
I dont feel I can really accurately describe everything we saw and the ins and outs of the whole experience other than to say it really was amazing. Our tour was extremely thorough, not skipping one single detail and some of the stories left me with goosebumps. Watching interviews with survivors of the camp describing the guards who had become bored with their everyday routines taking prisoners caps and throwing them into the "death strip" and forcing the inmate to retrieve it knowing full well he would be shot. Seeing the actual device which was made to resemble a height measuring tool which actually used a mechanism to reveal a crack in the wall where inmates were shot by a guard in the next room. Seeing the crematoriums....
I had tears in my eyes nearly the entire time but one quote I will never forget by an inmate telling what an SS guard said to a new influx of inmates;
"There is a way to freedom, but only through this chimney".
We will also be visiting Dachau and Buchenwald as well. On a lighter note we got drunk at our local Indian on free booze again and we are off to Hamburg today and Wacken is in 2 days!!! Cannot believe it.
I dont feel I can really accurately describe everything we saw and the ins and outs of the whole experience other than to say it really was amazing. Our tour was extremely thorough, not skipping one single detail and some of the stories left me with goosebumps. Watching interviews with survivors of the camp describing the guards who had become bored with their everyday routines taking prisoners caps and throwing them into the "death strip" and forcing the inmate to retrieve it knowing full well he would be shot. Seeing the actual device which was made to resemble a height measuring tool which actually used a mechanism to reveal a crack in the wall where inmates were shot by a guard in the next room. Seeing the crematoriums....
I had tears in my eyes nearly the entire time but one quote I will never forget by an inmate telling what an SS guard said to a new influx of inmates;
"There is a way to freedom, but only through this chimney".
We will also be visiting Dachau and Buchenwald as well. On a lighter note we got drunk at our local Indian on free booze again and we are off to Hamburg today and Wacken is in 2 days!!! Cannot believe it.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Good Morning Germany.
So we had a big day of sight seeing after our day trip to Kutna Hora and we began with some morning Mojitos after crossing the ridiculously tourist ridden Charles Bridge. We basically hurried across to get away from everyone. We got stuck talking to an American girl whilst drinking our Mojitos, your typical solo traveler desperate to talk to somebody who speaks English. She was nice enough but it was impossible to get away, we had shit to do! So finally escaped and made our way to Prague Castle which was really cool. Saw St Georges Basilica and the St Vitus Cathedral which were the highlights. We also made our way up a mammoth hill near the Monastery and mini Eiffel Tower for a kick ass view of Prague.
We had an amazing meal at a Vegetarian restaurant as well where we had sundried tomato and peanut pesto and I had vege burritos with goats cheese salad etc and it was seriously unbelievably good. We were lucky to get a table because it is a well known restaurant. The following day we explored the Jewish quarter where we saw one particular synagogue where the walls were covered in the names of the Jews who died that once lived in Czech Republic, it was really overwhelming. We visited the eery Jewish graveyard which was also at this site and then we made our way to the miniture museum. Now this was really awesome. Tiny little drawings and metal structures the size of a pupil. There was a jesus portrait on a poppyseed, portrait of John Lennon the size of a pinky fingernail etc etc you had to view them with a magnifying glass.
We saw a performance of Vivaldis Four Seasons at a local chapel which was really cool. So lovely to listen to music like that whilst in such an amazing building. Aside from a lack of party vibes Prague was a really cool place. Just a shame that if you wanted to go out at night you had to know exactly where you were going because there is no designated bar strip or anything like that.
So we got a cheap as chips bus ride for 25 euros to Berlin that only took about 4 hours or so. It was really weird because we were watching "The Good German" just as we were crossing over into Germany near Dresden. We got to our hostel called Helter Skelter and it turned out that we had accidentally booked for the month of August instead of July :S but the lovely metalhead at reception sorted us out. The place is really cool, they play good music and breakfast is included and we are in a really good location so its great. We have found an Indian restaurant just around the corner where we have got drunk the past 2 nights because they feed us free cocktails ha ha. We saw one of the Wall memorials on the first day and went to the Topographies Des Terror which really got to me. We spent a good hour in there just walking around the exhibition from beginning to end and the entire time I could just feel the tears in my eyes, it was so hard not to cry. Probably one of the best museums I have been in that detailed all about the Gestapo etc and the building is actually in the same site as where the original SS headquarters was.
We also visited Checkpoint Charlie which was kind of....surreal. The portrait of the 2 soldiers is really eery. Then its kind of weird how there is a little beach cafe in the middle of it. We saw the Brandenburg Gate of course and strolled past the Berlin Dome which was actually a really impressive building the the TV tower etc. We also went to the Book Burning square and what not. Probably the biggest highlight has been the largest stretch of the Berlin Wall where all the graffiti is. This stretch of the wall was nothing short of AMAZING! Some of the artwork on there was stunning and some really moving. I really like Berlin so far, only downsides have been that my ankle is really hurting which has been a pain with all the walking we have done. I cannot believe Wacken is not this weekend but next! So crazy!
We had an amazing meal at a Vegetarian restaurant as well where we had sundried tomato and peanut pesto and I had vege burritos with goats cheese salad etc and it was seriously unbelievably good. We were lucky to get a table because it is a well known restaurant. The following day we explored the Jewish quarter where we saw one particular synagogue where the walls were covered in the names of the Jews who died that once lived in Czech Republic, it was really overwhelming. We visited the eery Jewish graveyard which was also at this site and then we made our way to the miniture museum. Now this was really awesome. Tiny little drawings and metal structures the size of a pupil. There was a jesus portrait on a poppyseed, portrait of John Lennon the size of a pinky fingernail etc etc you had to view them with a magnifying glass.
We saw a performance of Vivaldis Four Seasons at a local chapel which was really cool. So lovely to listen to music like that whilst in such an amazing building. Aside from a lack of party vibes Prague was a really cool place. Just a shame that if you wanted to go out at night you had to know exactly where you were going because there is no designated bar strip or anything like that.
So we got a cheap as chips bus ride for 25 euros to Berlin that only took about 4 hours or so. It was really weird because we were watching "The Good German" just as we were crossing over into Germany near Dresden. We got to our hostel called Helter Skelter and it turned out that we had accidentally booked for the month of August instead of July :S but the lovely metalhead at reception sorted us out. The place is really cool, they play good music and breakfast is included and we are in a really good location so its great. We have found an Indian restaurant just around the corner where we have got drunk the past 2 nights because they feed us free cocktails ha ha. We saw one of the Wall memorials on the first day and went to the Topographies Des Terror which really got to me. We spent a good hour in there just walking around the exhibition from beginning to end and the entire time I could just feel the tears in my eyes, it was so hard not to cry. Probably one of the best museums I have been in that detailed all about the Gestapo etc and the building is actually in the same site as where the original SS headquarters was.
We also visited Checkpoint Charlie which was kind of....surreal. The portrait of the 2 soldiers is really eery. Then its kind of weird how there is a little beach cafe in the middle of it. We saw the Brandenburg Gate of course and strolled past the Berlin Dome which was actually a really impressive building the the TV tower etc. We also went to the Book Burning square and what not. Probably the biggest highlight has been the largest stretch of the Berlin Wall where all the graffiti is. This stretch of the wall was nothing short of AMAZING! Some of the artwork on there was stunning and some really moving. I really like Berlin so far, only downsides have been that my ankle is really hurting which has been a pain with all the walking we have done. I cannot believe Wacken is not this weekend but next! So crazy!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Prague and Kutna Hora.
So to begin this post in a more positive way than the last one ended our bags arrived around 3 the next day and we got all of our clothes washed at the nearby laundromat. Had a really good sleep cause our hostel really is awesome. Super dooper clean and comfy beds and loads of space in the rooms and clean showers and bathrooms, its more like a hotel. We wanted to celebrate getting our clothes and shit all washed and having our bags back so we headed into the city centre to find a place to drink. I had the address of 2 metal bars but we couldnt find one of them and the other one was really far out so we decided to head directly into the centre and have a look. Basically there is no set area in Prague for bars etc it is mostly cafes and restaurants. So we came across the people that run the pub crawl who basically said all the bars and stuff are scattered throughout the city and there really arent many. So we went with him to where the pub crawl starts and took one look at the type of people in the line and decided to bail, so we left. We wandered around and saw a few of the sights like the Clocktower and the Powder Gate etc which looked really pretty at night time and found absolutely no bars. We went back to our hostel pretty defeated.
Another good nights sleep and then it was time for our Kutna Hora field trip :) I have been looking forward to this throughout our entire trip cause seeing the Sedlec Ossuary is like a dream come true. So we joined a tour group for this one so we didnt have to mess around with transport getting there etc. So we got a little info about Kutna Hora and its ties to Prague and were on our way. We started with St Barbaras Church which was one of the best examples of Gothic Architecture I have seen, it is still a very modest church but when you look closely the detail is amazing and it has been so well preserved. It actually has the biggest organ in Central Europe which was quite impressive. We saw the Plague Column and a few other little buildings around the area and got some really interesting information on some of the local history and its people.
Last but not least was of course the Sedlec Ossuary and it really was amazing. It is so small inside but so intricate and awesome. I really couldnt believe I was laying my eyes on the main centre peice, the chandelier made out of every bone in the human body. An interesting fact was that there are just over 20 thousand people living in Kutna Hora but there are 40 thousand sets of human bones in the Ossuary, so more than there are alive ha ha. The coat of arms of the family which purchased the land and contracted the organisation of the bones in the ossuary was also very cool. So after spending a good 20 minutes or so inside we headed back to Prague, thanks to Eva who was a lovely and informative tour guide.
So we are pretty pooped after a long day of walking and train travel so just going to lay low tonight cause we also have a big day of sight seeing tomorrow if we want to get it all done so we can take a day trip down to Brno.
Another good nights sleep and then it was time for our Kutna Hora field trip :) I have been looking forward to this throughout our entire trip cause seeing the Sedlec Ossuary is like a dream come true. So we joined a tour group for this one so we didnt have to mess around with transport getting there etc. So we got a little info about Kutna Hora and its ties to Prague and were on our way. We started with St Barbaras Church which was one of the best examples of Gothic Architecture I have seen, it is still a very modest church but when you look closely the detail is amazing and it has been so well preserved. It actually has the biggest organ in Central Europe which was quite impressive. We saw the Plague Column and a few other little buildings around the area and got some really interesting information on some of the local history and its people.
Last but not least was of course the Sedlec Ossuary and it really was amazing. It is so small inside but so intricate and awesome. I really couldnt believe I was laying my eyes on the main centre peice, the chandelier made out of every bone in the human body. An interesting fact was that there are just over 20 thousand people living in Kutna Hora but there are 40 thousand sets of human bones in the Ossuary, so more than there are alive ha ha. The coat of arms of the family which purchased the land and contracted the organisation of the bones in the ossuary was also very cool. So after spending a good 20 minutes or so inside we headed back to Prague, thanks to Eva who was a lovely and informative tour guide.
So we are pretty pooped after a long day of walking and train travel so just going to lay low tonight cause we also have a big day of sight seeing tomorrow if we want to get it all done so we can take a day trip down to Brno.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Two womens erotic journeys from Olympos to Prague.
SO we had a great send off from Olympos! Manda and I went up to Chimaera to see the flames that naturally burn from the earth. Once they were much bigger but now they are 5 seperate small flames which legend says is the breath of some Mediterranean monster or something. The hike up there was brutal and really took it out of us but it was worth it once we reached the top. The drive to Chimaera was about half an hour from Olympos and on the way the driver stopped to do some grocery shopping and drop it off to his wife ha ha. It was funny seeing all the little houses in the middle of no where, it reminded me of Texas Chainsaw Massacre ha ha.
So after the flames tour we headed back and proceeded to get extremely wasted with the boat cruise crew plus one turkish man and his half asleep wife. I convinced him to buy us tequila shots and then convinced the bar owner we should get more free shots because we were the only ones drinking, bad idea! A few puffs of a sheesha or whatever its called later and everyone was wasted and decided to head to Orange Bar which is a little barn like nightclub in Olympos. As 4am rolled around I was far too drunk and had to retire to my room to refund my food and pass out on my bed but the rest of the crew soldiered on.
Woke up with a killer hangover and had to jump on a 1.5 hour bus ride to Antalya...brutal!! The Air Con was dodgy and the seats were cramped and Manda and I were basically wearing next to nothing because of the heat offending Muslim women left right and centre but we couldnt care less at that stage. We finally made it and set out on our journey to our hostel in Antalya for the night. Antalya was actually really nice and it would have been awesome if we could have stayed longer. Our hostel was clean and the dude was nice and we had an AMAZING meal at the place down the road! Unfortunately we both woke up covered in bites in the morning :( we wandered around and saw Hadriens Gate etc before our bus ride to Istanbul at 9pm. It was so bloody hot though that we had to retire back to the hostel earlier.
The bus to Istanbul was average. It was 11 hours and I didnt really sleep and my bites itched but I guess it could have been worse, Manda came off it with massive cankles ha ha. Got to Istanbul where it is a horrible hot heat and found our peice of shit hostel! The owner was asleep on the couch which turned out to be his bed and attempted to wake up to tell us we cant check in till 1 so off we go to get breakfast and we both felt like crying. Our bites were SO itchy and we wanted a shower and it really was the worst day we have had so far. Our room was tiny with no Air Con so it got so stuffy and horrible and the showers were yuck, I cannot believe people gave this place good reviews!! The only positive was that it was in a really good location, right in the party centre near Taxim Square.
We came across a great metal club called Docken and decided to get wasted in order to forget our bites and how shit our hostel was. Many a beer was consumed and many a metal tune sung whilst Detroit Rock City played on the tv in the background. Met some nice people, some a little too nice and managed to stumble back to the hostel. We hit up Sultanahmet the next day to do a little sight seeing but the weather here is so yucky hot that its hard to wander the streets without feeling like passing out. It was raining in the morning which was a pleasant surprise so I was in jeans and then later it was stinking hot so after visiting the Grand Bizaar and catching a few glimpses of some Mosques we headed back. Had a nice meal and met up with the boys from the cruise then hit the hay.
Headed back to Sultanahmet again and went inside the Blue Mosque which was really cool, being decked out in cloths and all. We also wandered the gardens of Topkapi Palace which was nice and shady and did a little Jewellery shopping. It is such a bizaar experience wandering the streets during prayer time when all the Mosques start airing the Turkish prayer music throughout the streets. Got hassled by many a Turkish man throughout our entire stay, highlights were the pick up line "Dont you wish your boyfriend was hot like me?" They also use tokens here for the trains etc instead of tickets ha ha. One of the worst moments in Istanbul was when we went to a bar for beers with the boys and I went to use the bathroom and when I came out of the cubicle the bar tender was standing in the door way. He mumbled something to me about how he loved me and then in many an untasteful word said he wanted to have sex which I obviously did not agree to and then he tried to take me into the guys toilets but I pushed my way past and got out of there. Manda went to the toilet after me and he propositioned her aswell. Its kind of messed up when you have to worry about the employees at a bar! We didnt intend to but we ended up getting trashed at Docken again tonight and I had an amazing vege burger at this great restaurant, best meal I have had in ages.
So awoke with a killer hangover once more and headed for the airport to get our flight to Prague with a stop over in Budapest. Had no hassles what so ever until we arrived in Prague to find out our luggage was still in Budapest so I cried. I so wasnt in the mood for this, our mozzie bites finally begin the heal and everything is working itself out and now this. So basically tomorrow we have a wasted day of waiting for our bags to arrive at our hotel because we have nothing!! On the brighter side our hotel is awesome and I know we are going to have a great time here. I cannot wait to get to the Sedlec Ossuary :)
So after the flames tour we headed back and proceeded to get extremely wasted with the boat cruise crew plus one turkish man and his half asleep wife. I convinced him to buy us tequila shots and then convinced the bar owner we should get more free shots because we were the only ones drinking, bad idea! A few puffs of a sheesha or whatever its called later and everyone was wasted and decided to head to Orange Bar which is a little barn like nightclub in Olympos. As 4am rolled around I was far too drunk and had to retire to my room to refund my food and pass out on my bed but the rest of the crew soldiered on.
Woke up with a killer hangover and had to jump on a 1.5 hour bus ride to Antalya...brutal!! The Air Con was dodgy and the seats were cramped and Manda and I were basically wearing next to nothing because of the heat offending Muslim women left right and centre but we couldnt care less at that stage. We finally made it and set out on our journey to our hostel in Antalya for the night. Antalya was actually really nice and it would have been awesome if we could have stayed longer. Our hostel was clean and the dude was nice and we had an AMAZING meal at the place down the road! Unfortunately we both woke up covered in bites in the morning :( we wandered around and saw Hadriens Gate etc before our bus ride to Istanbul at 9pm. It was so bloody hot though that we had to retire back to the hostel earlier.
The bus to Istanbul was average. It was 11 hours and I didnt really sleep and my bites itched but I guess it could have been worse, Manda came off it with massive cankles ha ha. Got to Istanbul where it is a horrible hot heat and found our peice of shit hostel! The owner was asleep on the couch which turned out to be his bed and attempted to wake up to tell us we cant check in till 1 so off we go to get breakfast and we both felt like crying. Our bites were SO itchy and we wanted a shower and it really was the worst day we have had so far. Our room was tiny with no Air Con so it got so stuffy and horrible and the showers were yuck, I cannot believe people gave this place good reviews!! The only positive was that it was in a really good location, right in the party centre near Taxim Square.
We came across a great metal club called Docken and decided to get wasted in order to forget our bites and how shit our hostel was. Many a beer was consumed and many a metal tune sung whilst Detroit Rock City played on the tv in the background. Met some nice people, some a little too nice and managed to stumble back to the hostel. We hit up Sultanahmet the next day to do a little sight seeing but the weather here is so yucky hot that its hard to wander the streets without feeling like passing out. It was raining in the morning which was a pleasant surprise so I was in jeans and then later it was stinking hot so after visiting the Grand Bizaar and catching a few glimpses of some Mosques we headed back. Had a nice meal and met up with the boys from the cruise then hit the hay.
Headed back to Sultanahmet again and went inside the Blue Mosque which was really cool, being decked out in cloths and all. We also wandered the gardens of Topkapi Palace which was nice and shady and did a little Jewellery shopping. It is such a bizaar experience wandering the streets during prayer time when all the Mosques start airing the Turkish prayer music throughout the streets. Got hassled by many a Turkish man throughout our entire stay, highlights were the pick up line "Dont you wish your boyfriend was hot like me?" They also use tokens here for the trains etc instead of tickets ha ha. One of the worst moments in Istanbul was when we went to a bar for beers with the boys and I went to use the bathroom and when I came out of the cubicle the bar tender was standing in the door way. He mumbled something to me about how he loved me and then in many an untasteful word said he wanted to have sex which I obviously did not agree to and then he tried to take me into the guys toilets but I pushed my way past and got out of there. Manda went to the toilet after me and he propositioned her aswell. Its kind of messed up when you have to worry about the employees at a bar! We didnt intend to but we ended up getting trashed at Docken again tonight and I had an amazing vege burger at this great restaurant, best meal I have had in ages.
So awoke with a killer hangover once more and headed for the airport to get our flight to Prague with a stop over in Budapest. Had no hassles what so ever until we arrived in Prague to find out our luggage was still in Budapest so I cried. I so wasnt in the mood for this, our mozzie bites finally begin the heal and everything is working itself out and now this. So basically tomorrow we have a wasted day of waiting for our bags to arrive at our hotel because we have nothing!! On the brighter side our hotel is awesome and I know we are going to have a great time here. I cannot wait to get to the Sedlec Ossuary :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)