2008 already?

Happy New Year to everyone! It's about that time right now in Australia (42 degrees I hear!) and all going to be happening soon in Edinburgh. It is cold and grey and I am not sure about the fate of the street party if the weather continues to go downhill. Having a great time back here but it no longer feels like "home" and that makes me want to come back to Australia even more. Still, though I have one more major leg in my journey which is Thailand. I fly out from London on the evening of the 2nd of January (staying with good friend Claire who I met at VaughanTown) and arrive the next day in Bangkok. Have a few days there then off to Pai in Northern Thailand for a weeks then down to the Andaman Coast. Sometime around the 1st of February I will have to leave and reenter the country as I won't be able to get a Visa due to having no time in London! So I'll be wasting a weekend by flying from Phuket-Singapore or somewhere similar then turning straight around to head back so i can get another 30 day Visa exemption stamp in my passport. Crazy rules, who needs them?

So I wish all the best for everyone in the new year and hope you are all happy and healthy. See you in 2008!

Merry Christmas!

Photo: On top of the Bell Tower in Valencia, Spain.

Although very aware that for most of you, Christmas is already over and you are kicking back on Boxing Day, or hanging out for the Stocktake Sales - right now it is Christmas Day in Madrid!

Staying with Marcos' family, last night we had a supper with 10 members of his family (lots of seafood, and yummy prawns) and today after a lazy morning people are coming back for Christmas lunch, which will probably be in a half an hour (around 4pm!) or so, so I must dash.

I hope you all have a great time over and around Christmas and am thinking of you. Family, friends, all the people I have met over my travels.


Leave me a comment if you still drop in on this page, lately only my everloving Jen seems to be the only one to be replying to my posts (which makes all this effort typing absolutely worth it). It takes no effort at all to click on the comments button below and would give me great joy if you do! I am surrounded by beautiful people here in Madrid but it is still so nice to hear from dear ones around this time of year.

Spain, Part 1

Caught the plane from Rome-Madrid. Everyone on the plan must have been hungry, by the time the food trolley rolled up to 18F there was no food left! They guy next to be in 18E nabbed the last packet of Pringles and offered them to me. Alas, I was stuck with my bottle of water and a rumbling tummy for the next few hours. A few hours later I was in Spain! No Passport control at the airport, so I walked straight through with no stamp in my passport, damn! Followed the directions Diana gave me to her train station, it was really easy and in no time I was with Marcos and Diana in SPAIN! Rest assured there were many exclamations from all of us "Lisa is in SPAIN!" Crazy. Stayed that weekend with Diana and Diana's family (who had visited Edinburgh before, beautiful family). Later that night we went for rationes, like tapas but in bigger portions. Our choices included patates bravas - potato with spicy tomato sauce, calamares - calimari, and orecheo(sp) - pigs ears!!! Now I can say I have tried them but they won't become a regular fixture on my plate...it's a texture thing. The bar we went to had a medieval theme and the tables had real tree stumps as bases. Weird. Also, you can sit at tables with a keg and beer tap all set up so you can pour your own Mahou and help yourself! Apparantly they measure how much you use after you've finished drinking so you can settle the bill.

We head back home after a few drinks and it is cold! There is also a really heavy fog which is baffling - I wasn't expecting this from Madrid at all! Apparantly the change came over that day and was the first day of "cold"...good timing Lisa!

Saturday I was greeted in the morning with Spanish muffins for breakfast - Magdalenas - Marcos loves these even more than Tesco chocolate muffins, which is a lot. Off we go into town and Marcos and Diana give me a grand walking tour of Madrid. Puerto Del Sol, the Heart of Spain (aka kilometre zero), the Royal Palace and Gardens, the Opera House, Gran Via and lots of other places I can't remember right now. The other photo with all the people is in he laneways leading to the Christmas markets, sooooo many people out this Saturday it was unbelievable.

Madrid has real pride of its art collections and I had planned on seeing the Prado or the Reina Sofia but it's a long weekend in Spain and lots of people have come to the capital - the lines for these places are crazy!

We have a yummy lunch, more walking and then time for a coffee stop. By this time, it's 7pm and time for me to head to my Tapas reception for VaughanTown...next post!

Venice-Rome

Although more "luxurious" (and expensive) I was more comfy on the sleeper train from Berlin-Krakow than i was on this one. The 4 person female only sleepers are lockable from the inside which makes me feel more comfy about the safety on this train. the ride is not very smooth and sometimes jolts us awake (really jolts us) and also, 2 ladies come into the cabin at a later station about 1.30am and chat etc. before going to sleep. Arrive 6.50am bleary eyed. head to the hostel which is a metro ride away, get crammed in to peak hour public transport and see people sleeping rough at the station. The hostel is more like a hotel, I'm in a 4 bed dorm with a young British couple and the boy's father. they have connections to Australia and the father had been to Adelaide earlier in the year so we chat a lot. I am relieved as my couchsurfing fell through in Rome I booked this place at the last minute and didn't have high hopes. I have a shower and a nap then head out about 10.30am, armed with my sunglasses (one of my simplest pleasures is being able to wear my sunnies, Scotland isn't a great place to indulge in that). Again, take a million photos, everywhere you turn you want to take a picture. It is so sunny I find a patch to lie down and soak up the rays for half an hour.

Met two girls from South Africa and spent the rest of he day with them, we all got along really well. One is studying medicine and they have 2 weeks in Italy before her break is over and she has to return to study in Johannesburg, Siena is next on their itinerary. We visit the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (picture), the Spanish Steps and Fontana di trevi. When we were in the Collesseum, I run into one of the girls who was on the Paddywagon tour in Ireland...small world. She is doing a Contiki tour at the moment and sounds like she is having lots of fun. Surreal moment, running into someone you know at the Collesseum!

At 6.30pm the SA girls and I separate so I can go home to pick up my jacket and we meet up again about 10pm for a few drinks in the Trastevere area. I love all the little bars and clubs but wish I knew more Italian to speak with the locals! Have a great night, again on Italian wine. Sleep soooo well that night as I must have walked 15 kilometres today (or it felt like).

The next day I head to the Vatican City, i'm too late to go to the museum and Sistine Chapel but that doesn't bother me. Hang out and look for the Pope but don't spot him. Again, another beautiful day, slightly colder but still sunny and clear blue skies. Have two gelatis today (!!!) one is Nutella flavour, my world is complete. After Vatican City I walk a few blocks to a lively food market in a residential area. Sadly it is starting to close by the time I get there and I wish I had a fridge so i could buy the yummy cheeses and meats to bring to Marcos and Diana in Spain. The rest of the afternoon I spend in Palazzo del Popolo, sitting next to a group of art students drawing the area (picture). When I did art at school we would draw pieces of fruit and bottles of Coke and erasers, these guys are spoilt!

Spend the night at the hostel bar, there is free pizza and hang out with a few Aussie travellers then later Holly and Dan (dormmates). They are a lovely couple and we chat for hours about nothing and it is great fun. They are waiting for their visas to come through so they can return to live in Australia for at least 3 years, in Maroubra. If all goes to plan they might be back there in about a month. They give me their address in Maroubra and I think next time I'm in Sydney I will definitely catch up with these guys.

It's now Friday morning and I'm at the internet cafe typing up all my nonsense...hope you're still reading! After this I will head to a cafe for a coffee and maybe another gelati and then start to head to the airport for my flight to Madrid. Spending 2 nights with Marcos and his family and can't wait to see Diana also. On Sunday morning I head to Avila which is where I will be for the following 5 nights at VaughanTown doing my spot of volunteering helping to teach English. Just a note there is no internet there, Wifi but no internet so I won't be checking my email or updating my mobile until after the 15th December most likely. See you then :)

Venice!

It was a toss up between Verona and Venice for me to see before rome. I kept changing my mind as I thought Venice would be so much nicer with someone to share it with. I am glad i ended up choosing Venice as I'm having a great time. When I get into the train station at 2pm it is so sunny I consider leaving my jacket with left luggage. I stay wise and keep it on though. i have the rest of the afternoon and evening before getting on the overnight train to rome at midnight. I'm getting a couchette as theives work on this route apprantly.

But before that, yes, that's right - I explore! I don't even bother with a map as I knew I'd get lost so instead just follow the yellow wall signs to San Marco. Take a million pictures, the scenery is intoxicating...as is the smell sometimes (not in a good way). I do hate to think what it would be like in summer with the heat and the crowds. Go to Castello and follow the Canale di San Marco to Lido while the sun sets. There is a beautiful park along the water and it's further up than a lot of tourists bother to venture...very rewarding. At Lido I catch the Vaporetto 1 (water bus) all the way down back near where the train station is. It takes an hour and is my cheat's gide to an expensive gondola. I dit right at the front and my hands freeze but the scenery makes up for it. The sun is down now but the buildings are all lit up and the place looks magical.

I spend my evening in Dorosduro, a place where students and locals go for bars and nightlife. the university is right here. I visit a church which is open where a choir is practising and i listen for a little while then head to Cafe Blu, a place I'd been recommended - and get lost. Find it eventually after finding out I'd been walking in the wrong direction for 10 minutes. It is here I am writing this entry, drinking a glass of Italian Red that's going down pretty darn well. A little bit before this I had the biggest slice of pizza (funghi, of course) which was yummy and cheap compared to the tourist areas. I'm putting my high school Italian to the test as well as lots of hand gestures...when in Rome(!!!)

PS - look at all that Nutella...Italians go crazy for a bit of Nutella. These jars were like the size of my head...bigger...that's a lot of Nutella...mmm Nutella. I no longer have Vegemite withdrawals because of Nutella.

Lucerne

Pictures coming soon!

3 trains from Nuremberg to Lucerne, it's an early start and I see the sunrise on the first train. Beautiful scenery...and then the train went to Switzerland. Breathtaking. Giant waterfalls on this side, mountains on the other, green, green, green and beautiful houses. The line from Zurich - Lucerne was especially lovely, I can't believe I am in a place as beautiful as this. Laura is my host, I am couchsurfing with her for 2 nights. She lives right in the middle of the city in a beautiful apartment, set up perfectly and she is so lovely. What a character, we chat for over an hour over a yummy cup of tea and then she has to do a bit of marking (she is a teacher, her students are around 11 years old), and also go to the basement to get her Chirstmas decorations, so I leave her to it so i can explore the city. I basically just wander around, window shop at all the gorgeous boutiques, jewellers and watches! Stroll along the water and there is a concert on the waterfront, put on by Coca Cola for Christmas time, some kind of Coke festival with a big red semi trailer as the centrepiece! There is a music stage and a famous Swiss band plays, as well as gospel singers and a pop star. Good fun and i got a free Coke. Now that's advertising!

During the day I wander up to the Old City Wall. There's a little bit of fog aorund so it hampers the view of the mountains but lovely nonetheless. i wish I had more time to check out the rest of the country, maybe even try to attempt to ski. Or not...other sites in the medieval city inlcude the Chapel Bridge (picture), water tower and the city squares. The lake running through the city is gorgeous and I have a picnic lunch looking out across the river.

In the evening Laura comes home from work and we hang out and chat before she goes to her dance class. i go out quickly as well to get some supplies for the train ride tomorrow and spend the last few franks I have. When i come back I have a shower and it is so nice to be able to take my time instead of getting frustrated at timer showers like the hostels have. When Laura returns from her dance class we chat some more (noticing a theme, she has no TV so there's nothing else to do and it's great!) and exchange bands we think the other might like. Great evening, I wish I could stay longer but Italy is beckoning!!!

The train ride the next morning is long but scenic, the mountains and ravines and even waterfalls make Switzerland one beautiful country. The train takes us past Lugano, and in Italy Como (wow). There is a sparkling blue sky and even heat from the sun coming through the window. What a lovely feeling!!!

the train from Milan-Venice is so crowded I have to sit on a pull out seat in the hallway. No wonder it is a 'recommended reservation' journey! Only 1 hour though and I nab a proper seat. Food trolley and passers by make for interesting contortions with bags and what not from me and all the other people sitting in the hallway.

Nuremberg

To break up the journey from Prague to Switzerland, I chose Nuremberg to stop overnight. Originally I had planned this for Munich but it was simpler connecting to and from Nuremberg. Jen, Cara, you'll be pleased to know i think there was an emo convention upon my arrival at the train station, I have never seen so many emos in my life, seriously hundreds! The emos over here are much better than Australian emos, they have better hair. My Chemical Romance or some crap band must have been playing Nuremberg that night perhaps. Seeing them puts me in a way better mood than I was in in Prague.

The hostel is standard, disappointing as i had stayed at the same hostel in Berlin and that had more character. Spent the afternoon and evening wandering around the town, despite the rain. The city was packed as the Christmas Market has just started and the one in Nuremberg is the biggest in Germany, possibly Europe. It spilled out across several squares and the connecting streets. There are trinkets and lots of delicate gifts but more importantly Bavarian food! Everyone has food or drink in their hand so I decide to join them. First I try Bratwurstl, little sausages i bread which are scrumptious. then after a while I have potato pancakes and apple sauce, served on a wafer. Can't remember what these are called. The people serving at this tent were all in singlets as working with litres of hot frying oil is probably a little warmer than being on the other side of the counter. Hillarious!

The sweet stalls had giant cookies, little cookies, gingerbread in all shapes and sizes and lots of Christmas Cake, so i get a small slice of that. One of the photos I have added is of a stall selling half a metre long hotdogs...yes, that is serious. I really wanted a photo of someone holding one but alas, felt too much like a stalker. Changing the subject, there are bands playing on the stage and the place has a great feeling to it. I'm really glad I came here, the city is gorgeous, totally Bavarian and the view from the Castle is worth the uphill walk. Over on one side of the city the houses look like the view from the glass elevator from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I just googled it and the place was Rothenberg, oh well, I was close!

Prague

On the train from Olomouc I have this overwhelming sense of sadness as we approach Prague. This time last year was the time when I had to face a lot of hurdles with my back injury and Bella dying. I dont want to make a big deal of things as it will only make me sadder and I have done a lot of things in between then and now which has made me so proud. My back is really good at the moment, but it sucks just being so aware of it all the time, how it's feeling etc etc. There are some times where it still stresses me out but it's certainly not holding me back from doing anything and I am so grateful of that.

Feelings wise, I still get a bit blue and of course homesick sometimes, but nowhere near like I was. Again, it's keeping active and keping my back healthy as I know if my back gets bad then my mood tends to tumble.

It sounds silly, but if anyone who is still reading this knew Bella, I'd love if you could post a message on here and tell me a story about her. It will make me laugh, God knew that dog gave me a lot of laughs, stealing food etc. I don't think I ever told Mum about the turkey roll incident one day where she jumped up on the kitchen counter and grabbed a turkey roll fresh from the oven. Five second rule, it was still good (and too expensive not to eat it!). Hi Mum!

Prague is lonely. It's the first bit of the trip where I havent befriended anyone. I think I am also on 'beautiful sights' overload. On Thursday night upon arrival at the hostel I was accosted by a group of young American students studying Spanish in Madrid. They are loud, anoying and drunk but I don't say no when they invite me to join them on the town. I last the tram trip into town nd about 10 minutes of them stumbling aorund. There are two kinda sobre ones so i let the know I'm going off on my own and I think they wish they could join. They'll be babysitting the other 6 all night.

I walk around for an hour or so before the cold gets to me and I head back to the hostel. It's got a great bar downstairs that's like a friends' living room. Lots of comfy chairs, good music. there's a good group of people there to chat with but most are leaving the next morning. I retire about 1 am, full of Kozel, one of Czech's favourite (cheap!) beers.

The next morning I get up to head to a walking tour of Prague. The guide is lovely but we spend 3 1/2 hours and only se part of the Jewish Town, the Main Sqare and Wenceslas Square. I didnt learn as much history as I did n the Berlin walk although our guide was more than happy to tell us all about going to a Czech university, the admissions process and so on. Why, I don't know as the group clearly weren't into it.

After the tour, I visit the Museum of Communism, conveniently locaed above McDonalds! It took 3 weeks after the fall of communism here for the first one to appear in Prague, amazing. It was done quite well to show what it was like living in communism but I would have liked more of an exploration into the Velvet Revolution and the toppling of Czecheslovakia's communist regime.

At 8pm I go to a concert in St Nicholas' Church in the main square. It goes for an hour and a group of 9 muscians play pieces from Mozart, Handel and Werner and finish with 'Still Night' (Silent Night). It is a beautiful (albeit it freezing!) church and it was a great atmosphere listening to this classical music.

Get lost walking to the tram to take me back to the hostel and the workers are putting up Christmas decorations in the street with the tram line so service is suspended for the evening. Get lost again trying to find an alternative tram, but eventually make it back to the hostel. Organise my Couchsurfing in Lucerne for Sunday and Monday nights and my train to Nuremberg the following day then go to bed. I know Prague is a beautiful place but I found it very solitary and also the main parts full of tacky souvenir shops.

Krakow - Olomouc (updated 7.12.07)

I took the overnight train to Krakow on Sunday night. During the day there was a Couchsurfing meeting where we were supposed to go iceskating but the outdoor rink was closed. Instead we drank Gluhwein (hot wine with spices) and chatted, there were about 15 of us all sitting around a long table in an wooden building as part of a Christmas market.

I head to the train station after this and the train ride is fine, except we arrive about an hour later than expected in Krakow. My couchette cabin is full but surprisingly comfy for such a cramped space with 6 people and luggage. Perhaps I was pschying myself up for it to be a lot worse..

Hostel I stay at is great, good choice again. Staff are so friendly and give me the rundown of the city. But first things first, it`s laundry day. I picked the right place to do it as its free here! As they have no dryer I spend the whole day lounging around the place as I have no trousers or socks to wear! Lucky this place is small, like an apartment, feel right at home in Krakow watching a big plasma tv and using the free internet. There is free brekky and free supper too, I am getting the vibe Krakow has a very competitive backpackers market.

Make friends with some other travellers, and we go to dinner at U Babici Maliny. My clothes are not dry yet so must head out all rugged up on top but wearing 3\4 length leggings and no socks! I wish I knew Polish for "its washing day" so I could make a sign and wear it on my head. Everyone takes so much pride in their appearance here I feel like a bit of a fool. Oh well! I had a massive meal, as did Alan the guy who came out to dinner and with our beers all together the meals only cost about 5 pounds each! Its suprisingly not that bad walking back in the snow with my shins uncovered but Im glad to get back to the warmth. We organise to go together to see Auschwitz the next day, early in the morning.

So, we get up at around 7.15 to have brekky and take the bus to Osweicim/Auschwitz, it takes about 90 minutes. We decide doing a guided tour and its a good decision, we take our time with the museum instead of just being rushed in and out. Of course the exhibits are shocking in Auschwitzs museum but we are more struck by the sheer siye of the second camp, Bikenau. At Auschwitz you got an insight into how the victims of the Nazis were treated, some sense of the people and thier lives before the troubles and a very good display on the Polish Resistance. There were rooms which held amazing amounts of peoples property inlcuding suitcases, shoes, glasses, hairbrushes and human hair. The human hair was kept by the Nazis to make into material.

Birkenau was not so much a museum but gave you a feeling of how awful the conditions were for the Jewish. Absolutely awful, it made us even more sombre walking the length of the camp with the railway with the gates of death at the top at one end and the crematoriums at the other, while it snowed hard. We were frozen and in many layers, the victims had no more than a pair of pyjamas, not even shoes. Their calorie intake was counted so that with the labour they performed, they would only live to see 3 or 4 months before expiring. We take a long, slow ride back to krakow. it wasnt a pleasant day but something I felt I needed to see. No amount of seeing will ever make me understand how the Nazis could do so many atrocious things to so many people. Never.

That evening about 5 of us from the hostel go out to dinner at a Georgian restaurant. Good to chat although the big tables are only in the smoking section - bars are one thing but smoking in restaurants I just find repulsive now. Get over it though and have a yummy chicken dish with rice and the best thing about Georgian food is that it comes with lots of sauces you can add to the dish.

Left the gang who were all heading back to the hostel but I needed to walk off some of that sauce! It's so pretty all lit up at night and people are having snowall fights in he park. The next morning I do a bit more sightseeing before I catch my train to Olomouc. I took a tour bus as I thought it would be quicker and easier than walking but it was a waste of time and I have never been so cold in my life sitting on the top of a bus while it is snowing in order to get some good pictures. Especially when we picked up speed (for some reason we went on a highway), the wind was like knives. I wasn't the only one suffering either, there were a group of Enlgish tourists as well (although I suffered more than them as I had to overhear their very bad jokes).

Onto Olomouc, in Moravia, Czech Republic. I have a few train changes and one completely baffles me. In Katowice after askin at the window what the next train transfer I have a young Polish guy comes up to me ad says thats what he was wanting to ask too, he's going to the same place. I have to get rid of my Polish loose change so say to him 'see you on the platform'. Thank God I did after spending about 20 minutes of not knowing what was going on he spots me and tells me the train is delayed. We chat for the next few hours on the train he's a medicine student on an Erasmus programme in Olomouc. It's his last year of study. I am Couchsurfing with Anna, a uni student as well and we find out that they both live in the same uni residence...small world!

After meeting up with Anna, we all take the tram back to the residence and get numbers to meet up again that night in town. I get freshened up nd we head out to dnner at 'Torture' restaurant which was quite funny, the food wasn't very good but it was like eating in a dungeon (hoping that was part of the theme). After that we head to the club where Anna's classmates are (they study Chinese). It's great fun and many drinks are consumed, mine includes Kofola, the Czech alternative to Coke! I think it's nice although it has a lot more flavour than coke and is not as fizzy. There are a few Slovakian students and I get the lowdown on why I should visit Bratislava. It was on my wishlist, but again some other time. Next time. there is a guy who smokes cigarillos but is convinced he is not a smoker and I rile him up a about it. there is also another guy who was obsessed with Scrubs and loves the fact I know it as it is not shown over here.

We stumble home at 2am, my plans for getting up early the next morning are foiled but I spend mid morning enjoying a crisp, clear blue sy and the sights of Olomouc. This includes the many fountains, the astrological clock and the Christmas market, where I buy some things and a potato pancake for lunch. I ignore the amount of oil it was fried in and it as delicious. My host Anna showed me a great time in Olomouc an I'm glad I made the stop off there before continuing to Prague. I got a great glimpse of Czech student life and saw another city I'd never heard of until a few days before but would now recommend to anyone who will listen!