Budapest - Prague - Berlin - Amsterdam - Brugge - Paris
Another whirlwind week has passed and i've forgotton what we have done.
Firstly i whole-heartedly recommend Kamuka. And we met a great bunch of people. Its hard not to make friends since you're all having the same experiences, but we've been spoilt with the group. Mostly OZ and NZ, two English and two Korean. And we're already missing Adrian, Matt and Kelly... and Alistair and Christian and crazy Matt, and Peta and Haley, Tina... i could keep listing names.
Ok, to holiday... or hightlighs.
BUDAPEST
Had an all inclusive coach tour after dropping bags to the hotel, and a dinner we'd rather forget. After the Vienna Orchestra (which was amazing) the seedy guy on his rusty violin (yes, i know violins are made of wood- but this guy was that bad that the wood rusted) leered at us as he screeched along and then played in your ear demanding a tip. This was followed by a traditional gypsy performance... there is a reason these gypsys don't have a country anymore.
The following day was all walking around Pest (pronounced Pesht); art gallery, heroes square, Andrassy street (pretty), great lunch (15 of us) with a giraffe. (giraffe is 2.5 litres of beer that comes in a tall glass tube with a tap on the bottom).
PRAGUE
Beautiful city. Smaller cobblestone streets, walking tour at night. The city hadn't been bombed in the war so it remained traditional. Dinner was eye-opening; a famous (and rather dirty) cartoonist had adorned our subteranean room with the equivalent of far side... but dirty. We could get most of the jokes, even though they were in Czech.
Dani's dinner was labeled as a beef with a creamy vegetable sauce... it was whipped cream and strawberry jam. (later we saw signs for the crazy dish everywhere) I had goulash which was more like mongolian lamb. Simple, but tasty.
That night half of us went out to the self-proclaimed largest club in central europe. 5 floors of music ranging from r&b to retro to 80's to doof doof. It was a fun night.
The following day we saw the castle tour, and changing of the guard, went into Dani's new favourite cathedral, attempted to buy tickets for a black light theatre which wasnt on that night, went to the markets and bought a few pictures of the fantastic Prague sites and finally headed back to our hotel.
BERLIN
I was excited to get back to Germany. We stopped off at a Gestapo camp (which wasn't as horrifying as Mauthausen) and waited half an hour at the German/Slavic border.
The next day included a trip to the Brandenburg gate, check point charlie, remaining sections of the wall, the Zoo (aussie birds are so noisy! and an irate lion peed on a few kids.) And since our room was huge we hosted a room party. (its usually in Adrian and Alistairs room)
AMSTERDAM
We were expecting to see people riding bicycles and wearing clogs. We were horrified. The city was dirty an all senses of the word. The red light district, the abuse of drugs, the canals and the dirt on the unswept paths. Dani and I declined a sex show (as did most people, a stroll through the red light district was eye-opening enough) and an offer to experience the 'culture' (dope infused brownies, muffins, cookies, milkshakes...).
During the day, we explored Ann Frank's house, Van Gogh exhibition, hotdogs chilling with Kelly and Matt (NZ), having Australian ice cream (we do pretty well with ice cream, apparently) and the main event- the Heiniken Experience.
If you ever go to Amsterdam you have to go to the Heiniken Experience. We were bottles, we were hops, we were DJs... and we got free beer. Now we are Heiniken people.
BRUGGE.
Before our only afternoon in Brugge, we stopped at a Cheese and Cloggs factory. What cheese and clogs have in common is beyond me. But it stank of foul milk and sawdust. The girl wearing clogs and a hat that resembled a lace boat was multitalented; making clogs and cheese as demostrations.
Finally in Brugge we got to our hotel and found a free pool. Most of us went for a swim. It relieved sore aches, re-energised us and washed away the reamnants of Amsterdam.
Brugge itself is a cute city full of chocolate and waffles. We purchased a few of the finer morsels and are now stuck lugging a styrafoam box around until we get home.
PARIS
Back to where we started. This was the final stop where we had to say goodbye. It was emotional. Some of us went off to London, others journeyed to Spain to continue their trip.
We made some good friends on the trip. But since i have less than five minutes i'll sign off.
Right now we're in overcast London. It was raining when we woke up.
I'll post again in Bangkok.
Firstly i whole-heartedly recommend Kamuka. And we met a great bunch of people. Its hard not to make friends since you're all having the same experiences, but we've been spoilt with the group. Mostly OZ and NZ, two English and two Korean. And we're already missing Adrian, Matt and Kelly... and Alistair and Christian and crazy Matt, and Peta and Haley, Tina... i could keep listing names.
Ok, to holiday... or hightlighs.
BUDAPEST
Had an all inclusive coach tour after dropping bags to the hotel, and a dinner we'd rather forget. After the Vienna Orchestra (which was amazing) the seedy guy on his rusty violin (yes, i know violins are made of wood- but this guy was that bad that the wood rusted) leered at us as he screeched along and then played in your ear demanding a tip. This was followed by a traditional gypsy performance... there is a reason these gypsys don't have a country anymore.
The following day was all walking around Pest (pronounced Pesht); art gallery, heroes square, Andrassy street (pretty), great lunch (15 of us) with a giraffe. (giraffe is 2.5 litres of beer that comes in a tall glass tube with a tap on the bottom).
PRAGUE
Beautiful city. Smaller cobblestone streets, walking tour at night. The city hadn't been bombed in the war so it remained traditional. Dinner was eye-opening; a famous (and rather dirty) cartoonist had adorned our subteranean room with the equivalent of far side... but dirty. We could get most of the jokes, even though they were in Czech.
Dani's dinner was labeled as a beef with a creamy vegetable sauce... it was whipped cream and strawberry jam. (later we saw signs for the crazy dish everywhere) I had goulash which was more like mongolian lamb. Simple, but tasty.
That night half of us went out to the self-proclaimed largest club in central europe. 5 floors of music ranging from r&b to retro to 80's to doof doof. It was a fun night.
The following day we saw the castle tour, and changing of the guard, went into Dani's new favourite cathedral, attempted to buy tickets for a black light theatre which wasnt on that night, went to the markets and bought a few pictures of the fantastic Prague sites and finally headed back to our hotel.
BERLIN
I was excited to get back to Germany. We stopped off at a Gestapo camp (which wasn't as horrifying as Mauthausen) and waited half an hour at the German/Slavic border.
The next day included a trip to the Brandenburg gate, check point charlie, remaining sections of the wall, the Zoo (aussie birds are so noisy! and an irate lion peed on a few kids.) And since our room was huge we hosted a room party. (its usually in Adrian and Alistairs room)
AMSTERDAM
We were expecting to see people riding bicycles and wearing clogs. We were horrified. The city was dirty an all senses of the word. The red light district, the abuse of drugs, the canals and the dirt on the unswept paths. Dani and I declined a sex show (as did most people, a stroll through the red light district was eye-opening enough) and an offer to experience the 'culture' (dope infused brownies, muffins, cookies, milkshakes...).
During the day, we explored Ann Frank's house, Van Gogh exhibition, hotdogs chilling with Kelly and Matt (NZ), having Australian ice cream (we do pretty well with ice cream, apparently) and the main event- the Heiniken Experience.
If you ever go to Amsterdam you have to go to the Heiniken Experience. We were bottles, we were hops, we were DJs... and we got free beer. Now we are Heiniken people.
BRUGGE.
Before our only afternoon in Brugge, we stopped at a Cheese and Cloggs factory. What cheese and clogs have in common is beyond me. But it stank of foul milk and sawdust. The girl wearing clogs and a hat that resembled a lace boat was multitalented; making clogs and cheese as demostrations.
Finally in Brugge we got to our hotel and found a free pool. Most of us went for a swim. It relieved sore aches, re-energised us and washed away the reamnants of Amsterdam.
Brugge itself is a cute city full of chocolate and waffles. We purchased a few of the finer morsels and are now stuck lugging a styrafoam box around until we get home.
PARIS
Back to where we started. This was the final stop where we had to say goodbye. It was emotional. Some of us went off to London, others journeyed to Spain to continue their trip.
We made some good friends on the trip. But since i have less than five minutes i'll sign off.
Right now we're in overcast London. It was raining when we woke up.
I'll post again in Bangkok.
posted by Steve at 3:18 am
2 Comments:
Heya Steve and Dani, how's that clog going? Hope the rest of your travels have gone well. Spain and Portugal were fantastic, it was a real shame you guys didn't come on that tour as well :-(
Hi Steve and Dani, glad to have came on tour with such a great bunch of people. Oktoberfest was awesome the Crazy Germans know how to throw a party, although camera was stolen, so if you can, could you send some pic's from the booze cruise and brugge to my email, that'd be awesome!
Matt
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