Thessaloniki is a bit of a wasteland, a bit dirty and boring so Ill skip our day there...from here we caught a sleeper train to Istanbul. After sleeping on the airport floor in Athens and all day waiting in Thessa, the hand basin in our private carriage became a makeshift foot and underarm shower hehe ALL CLASS we are...The sleeper was suprisingly good, comfy even. We slept until the border at which point we were woken by a man yelling at us to surrender our passports and get off the train. An interesting experience when there isnt much english goin around and its 3,30am. You just trust your not getting ripped off with the visa entry...there wouldnt be a hell of a lot you could do even if you were! The train got into the city at about 9am and we found our hostel and passed out till the afternoon, then got up to sample our first turksih kebab. Let me just say it aint no Uncle Tobys! They cut open a bread roll and wipe up the fat drip tray with it..then they fill it with meat and a few bits of salad..no sauce unless you ask, so it can be quite dry...although I guess thats what the fat is for..lubricant.!
The next few days we did the tourist route...pausing for a day because poor trent got a tummy bug :( Among the notable sites were the two large mosques - Aya Sofia and The Blue Mosque. They are beautiful from the outside and we were keen to take a look inside, but the entry fee for one was just stupid and the other we visited during prayer, so we admired from afar. Later we visited an old underground cistern, used to supply the city with water. Check out the photos, I think they came out nicely. The same afternoon we had a poke around the Grand Bazaar and met a few characters. Some delightful, some a**holes...all part of the experience of bargaining I guess! Its fun to look around but not as cheap as we would have liked.
Around the hostel we stayed at in the Old Town there were some beautiful alleways decorated with creeping vines, hanging lights, turkish cusions and the ever present hookah! The old town has so much more charm than the New Town, which is practically the same as every other main city we have been to. Same old stores...H&M, Nike, Billabong etc etc. I didnt rate it too highly although it looks like it has a good modern bar scene which we unfortunately didnt check out.
We also visited Topkapi Palace and saw among other things, the Circumcision Room of past Sultans. A whole room dedicated to that! The palace was nice, reminded me of Aladdin so I loved it hehe. Ill never forget the wealth we saw there. Rubies, diamonds, emeralds, pearls...adorning everything. A VERY wealthy empire id say. Later on we returned to the bazaar and bought ourselves some matching leather poofs and a hookah...the start of our very own international backyard lounging area!
Istanbul isnt only interesting for its history and monuments, its an interesting city to walk around as a female. Things are a bit different for the fairer sex. The country is predominantly muslim and dress standards in Eastern Turkey especially, follow the religions strict rules. I was mindful to dress modestly, although even when I did I was still stared at left right and centre. We heard stories of women being felt up and leered at, and its just plain annoying and rude from my point of view so I had to remind myself it was just the norm in turkey. I also wasnt looked at or involved in conversations between men and Trent and I. They would speak to Trent and ignore me, that can be annoying too, except for when theyre trying the sell.
The very last morning in Istanbul a cab driver didnt think his first two trips around the block to stare at me were enough, so he followed it up with a third driveby and a leer.. I was more than happy to get on the bus and leave at that point...Leave for our next stop....Gallipoli...
More soon xoxo
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Beach n Booze n Ball n Bat
Ios.. Finally, a holiday! We deserved it by the time we got there... hehe kidding, i bet so many of you will get angry at me saying that. All I mean is, after a few months of travelling non-stop, a whole week of hedonistic activities is more of a treat than usual!
We booked in to a really good place called Far Out Village and Camping. We shared a decent triple room, and the place had the most important facilities for our week there.....several pools and several bars. There is also a beautiful beach right out the front with free umbrellas and sun lounges. We also played tennis most days and and bought a ball and bat so we could play out on the sand. There's not much to fill in your days on Ios so to break up our beach, drink, nap routine we hired a scooter and a quad bike and rode to a beach across the other side of the island. I got super crispy on the ride because the sun is so intense, but it was worth it to check out a relatively empty beach on a greek island. I had a little scooter too and found it really fun, I wish I had rented my own out! (I was on the back of T's scooter)
It's time to confess my greek island sins now.....I didn't adhere to party island rules....I only went out once!! And even then I made myself sick with drinking!! Such a bad effort I know, I was too busy catching up on sleep and reading the Twilight books! But, the other Andy really picked up the slack though and sinned in many other ways im sure!! I wont go into details in case mother Smith reads, but lets just say his average bed time was 7am in the morning! Such a good effort, kudos. Trent had a couple of good nights out too and the both stayed away from the porcelain bus unlike myself. In my defence....as weak as it may be....the drinks on Ios, more specifically the Fun Bar, are so hectically potent! One menu read.....Vodka, Midori, someorrather liquer and a dash of lemonade...they weren"t kidding. My whole glass was alcohol, and literally a dash of mixer! Hence the trouble....
The bar scene on Ios is incredible though, I was pleasantly suprised to find out that there were no big clubs charging ridiculous covers like the Belearic islands. I think Ios nightlife may be geared toward the single population although still fun for us boring couples.... but most people are there for a big night out and whatever that may lead to!
The photos pretty much tell the story of Ios I think....Beers, cocktails, beach....I dont think I have missed anything...
Although it seems there's not much to tell, it really was a fantastic week. I'd love to go back one day with a group of friends...perfect for a week hang out.
From Ios we hopped aboard another ferry back to Piraeus..this one was just a tad horrible...there are no smoking regulations in the sitting area so for 3 hours I breathed in second hand smoke which made me feel ill. Wasnt impressed. We got back to the mainland, revelled in the fresh air and jumped on a bus to Athens airport. It was a long bus ride and I was shattered by the time we got the airport, so I happily set up camp with my towel as my mattress, sarong as my sheet and bag as my pillow. I zonked out so much I didn't realise Andy had left for his flight! sorry Andy! We decided sleeping in the airport was a better option than trawling our gear around the city for 8 hours of down time...so here we stayed until check in for our flight to Thessaloniki....a large coastal town in the north of Greece...
It's from there I will pick up the next blog...enough of this one already!
Love from us, T & A!
We booked in to a really good place called Far Out Village and Camping. We shared a decent triple room, and the place had the most important facilities for our week there.....several pools and several bars. There is also a beautiful beach right out the front with free umbrellas and sun lounges. We also played tennis most days and and bought a ball and bat so we could play out on the sand. There's not much to fill in your days on Ios so to break up our beach, drink, nap routine we hired a scooter and a quad bike and rode to a beach across the other side of the island. I got super crispy on the ride because the sun is so intense, but it was worth it to check out a relatively empty beach on a greek island. I had a little scooter too and found it really fun, I wish I had rented my own out! (I was on the back of T's scooter)
It's time to confess my greek island sins now.....I didn't adhere to party island rules....I only went out once!! And even then I made myself sick with drinking!! Such a bad effort I know, I was too busy catching up on sleep and reading the Twilight books! But, the other Andy really picked up the slack though and sinned in many other ways im sure!! I wont go into details in case mother Smith reads, but lets just say his average bed time was 7am in the morning! Such a good effort, kudos. Trent had a couple of good nights out too and the both stayed away from the porcelain bus unlike myself. In my defence....as weak as it may be....the drinks on Ios, more specifically the Fun Bar, are so hectically potent! One menu read.....Vodka, Midori, someorrather liquer and a dash of lemonade...they weren"t kidding. My whole glass was alcohol, and literally a dash of mixer! Hence the trouble....
The bar scene on Ios is incredible though, I was pleasantly suprised to find out that there were no big clubs charging ridiculous covers like the Belearic islands. I think Ios nightlife may be geared toward the single population although still fun for us boring couples.... but most people are there for a big night out and whatever that may lead to!
The photos pretty much tell the story of Ios I think....Beers, cocktails, beach....I dont think I have missed anything...
Although it seems there's not much to tell, it really was a fantastic week. I'd love to go back one day with a group of friends...perfect for a week hang out.
From Ios we hopped aboard another ferry back to Piraeus..this one was just a tad horrible...there are no smoking regulations in the sitting area so for 3 hours I breathed in second hand smoke which made me feel ill. Wasnt impressed. We got back to the mainland, revelled in the fresh air and jumped on a bus to Athens airport. It was a long bus ride and I was shattered by the time we got the airport, so I happily set up camp with my towel as my mattress, sarong as my sheet and bag as my pillow. I zonked out so much I didn't realise Andy had left for his flight! sorry Andy! We decided sleeping in the airport was a better option than trawling our gear around the city for 8 hours of down time...so here we stayed until check in for our flight to Thessaloniki....a large coastal town in the north of Greece...
It's from there I will pick up the next blog...enough of this one already!
Love from us, T & A!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Gyros and Cheese Pies
Arriving in Athens, we took a horrendous bus ride into the city. A sweaty hour later we arrived in a not so special looking square and used the metro to get to our hostel. Anyone who has ever had to use a metro system anwhere, would appreciate the cleanliness of this tube. They have added pieces of Athen's history to the walls and so it doubles as a museum in some parts. Impressive, refreshing and makes a difference when you arrive to a new country.
We checked into Athens backpackers which I would recommend to anyone. We met up with Andy Smith on our first night and so had a good little trio goin on for our Greek travels.
This hostel we all stayed at had a great rooftop bar that overlooks the city. They mix mean drinks and have a cool floor cushions so that you can share shesha and travel stories. We only had two nights in Athens so this is as crazy as we got in the city. Gotta have some stamina for sightseeing ya know! Together (and with some Canidiots*) we walked to the Acropolis. For all the hoo ha it was really disappointing for me. Whoever is running the joint needs to clean it up, put some signs around the place..just something. Of course it is impressive to see such old buildings on top a hill overlooking the whole of Athens. If you cast your mind back to its time its flabbergastering. Its just that after travelling so much and seeing so many well planned out sites, it can be a let down that you can only get information if you pay more for a guide...and I think that is a rort. Same goes with The Temple of Olympus Zeus. There is no landscaper assigned to this area clearly apart from the big crumbling temple, its a wasteland. On the counter of my negative spiel we a) got in to both for free although have no idea why and b) had plenty of fun enjoying modern Athens. Although Athens is quite large, there are some really fantastic squares or plazas surrounding the Acropolis area. We generally just enjoyed walking about the place, eating gyros (new favourite) and cheese pies. These two foods will be new home staples for us. Gyros are just greek style kebabs although they are made with thick pita, meat, salad, hot chips and tatziki and are just plain amazing. Cheese pie is any kind of pastry mixed with any kind of cheese and is perfect for a pastry garbage guts like me. We did indulge in a traditional greek meal although the names escape me now. Just think moussaka and souvlaki. That about sums up our short stay in Athens. From here we took the metro to the harbour at Piraeus and took a ferry to Ios, one of the greek islands. We arrived at night time but could still see that it was going to be good choice to stay for a week. A whole week!! woohoo!! one place for more than 2 days!! Well thats what was goin on in my head anyway..
I think from now on I really need to break up our stories into shorter blogs, so I will let you digest this short story before I begin the next....enjoy. trent and andy
We checked into Athens backpackers which I would recommend to anyone. We met up with Andy Smith on our first night and so had a good little trio goin on for our Greek travels.
This hostel we all stayed at had a great rooftop bar that overlooks the city. They mix mean drinks and have a cool floor cushions so that you can share shesha and travel stories. We only had two nights in Athens so this is as crazy as we got in the city. Gotta have some stamina for sightseeing ya know! Together (and with some Canidiots*) we walked to the Acropolis. For all the hoo ha it was really disappointing for me. Whoever is running the joint needs to clean it up, put some signs around the place..just something. Of course it is impressive to see such old buildings on top a hill overlooking the whole of Athens. If you cast your mind back to its time its flabbergastering. Its just that after travelling so much and seeing so many well planned out sites, it can be a let down that you can only get information if you pay more for a guide...and I think that is a rort. Same goes with The Temple of Olympus Zeus. There is no landscaper assigned to this area clearly apart from the big crumbling temple, its a wasteland. On the counter of my negative spiel we a) got in to both for free although have no idea why and b) had plenty of fun enjoying modern Athens. Although Athens is quite large, there are some really fantastic squares or plazas surrounding the Acropolis area. We generally just enjoyed walking about the place, eating gyros (new favourite) and cheese pies. These two foods will be new home staples for us. Gyros are just greek style kebabs although they are made with thick pita, meat, salad, hot chips and tatziki and are just plain amazing. Cheese pie is any kind of pastry mixed with any kind of cheese and is perfect for a pastry garbage guts like me. We did indulge in a traditional greek meal although the names escape me now. Just think moussaka and souvlaki. That about sums up our short stay in Athens. From here we took the metro to the harbour at Piraeus and took a ferry to Ios, one of the greek islands. We arrived at night time but could still see that it was going to be good choice to stay for a week. A whole week!! woohoo!! one place for more than 2 days!! Well thats what was goin on in my head anyway..
I think from now on I really need to break up our stories into shorter blogs, so I will let you digest this short story before I begin the next....enjoy. trent and andy
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Italıa
Italy, Italy, Italy...how you dısappoınted me! Your dırty streets, your lack of prıde ın your most famous areas and your lacklustre food! You made up for ıt wıth centurıes of hıstory and warm weather...but you could have done better!
Italy was just...ok. Everyone has dıfferent experıences and we may have had some bad luck or made some bad decısıons..but that´s just how I feel about thıs country. We landed ın Bologna, ın central northern Italy, and bussed ınto Florence. My fırst ımpressıons of the country were that ıt was dırty, drab and rundown. Florence was more modern and more clean, but stıll not what I was expectıng (I thınk hıgh expectatıons was the problem wıth my vısıt). Famous for Michelangelo's Davıd, Florence ıs fılled wıth tourısts and as a result, prıces for food and accomm can be rıdıculous...we should know, we paıd through the nose for 2 gelatıs...18 dollars! Holy Santa Marıa!
Wıth few nıghts ın Florence, we crammed ın a lot of walkıng and took ın the usual sıtes...although dıdnt cough up for the museums, and I ın fact chose not to see Davıd..somethıng I may regret one day, but theres only so much you can do and afford. The most noteworthy sıte I can recall ıs Ponte Vecchıo, the famous brıdge that was once lıned wıth butchers but was replaced wıth goldsmıths. Here, you can buy the most extravagant, outrageous jewellery I´ve ever seen..I dont know anyone who could pull them off!
We trıed a few restaurants ın Florence and thıs was the most upsettıng part of my whole trıp...the food we had sucked! Ok, ıt was tasty, but not at all what I had come to expect from Italıan food. Bella Venezıa at Mooloolaba had ıt all over thıs partıcular restaurant. And after lots of menu research, we came to realıse ıt was all quıte the same...the ıngredıents were plaın and just unınspırıng. Thıs ıs where I thınk we could have made better decısıons..we could have asked around and been poınted ın the rıght dırectıon, and ın thıs cırcumstance I thınk money dıd equal qualıty.
We spent a day ın Pısa and dıd the oblıgatory poses for the camera..you feel lıke such a fool for doıng ıt but hey...when ın Pısa! There are really nıce lawns surroundıng the tower and a beautıful basıllıca...but outsıde thıs area....bleh. nothıngness. dırty, old nothıngness. The town of Pısa really hasn´t gıven tourısts much reason to stop and stay ın the cıty. A half day ıs more than enough ın my opınıon.
After Florence we took the traın to Rome and checked ın at the campıng ground...an awesome setup wıth pools, restaurants, bars etc. Lach and Trent stayed here last tıme and Im glad I got to stay here too for somethıng dıfferent. We took a bus ınto town each day and saw the bazıllıons of sıtes Rome has to offer. I was happy to have read Dan Brown´s Angels and Demons before comıng and so had some ıdea of the monuments and had a reference to the story.
Fırst stop was Vatıcan Cıty...thıs place ıs faırly ıncredıble when you thınk about the hıstory here. Im not relıgıous but you can certaınly respect the power thıs place has held throughout tıme. And the MONEY. St Peter´s Basıllıca ıs pımped out.
We also vısıted the Sıstıne Chapel, St Peters square and the lıke. I wont go too far because there are so many sıtes to mentıon ın Rome, but ıt was an ınterestıng day..and we got a good gıggle out of the Swıss Guard´s unıform ıf nothıng else. They must feel so stoopıd! So far ın the trıp, Vatıcan Cıty ıs the smallest country we,ve vısıted wıth an estımated populatıon of 900.
Between the bıg, bıg sıtes we walked around and saw the Trevı Fountaın (also good to see thıs because of the book) and bought gelatıs and fresh fruıt to nıbble on whıle walkıng. I lıke lıttle thıngs lıke that about travellıng...there´s not so much of that at home...lıttle sıde stalls of ınterestıng food..and we do lıke our food!
We dıd a tour of the Colosseum whıch I thank Trent for doıng as he had already vısıted the sıtes of Rome. I really enjoyed the tour and am glad we spent money for ıt, you need to hear the storıes and get a mental pıcture of what happened there. Pretty much ıs was voyeurısm at ıts gnarlıest. Watchıng people fıght each other, anımals etc...seems so ınhumane now but at the tıme was bıg money and bıg sport. We learnt that the women had to sıt at the very top of the Colosseum ın case they took a fancy to the gladıators...such jealous men!
We also took the tour of PalantıneHıll, the home of the myth of Romulus and Remus ıf you belıeve ın the old tales. It was also good to get a tour here and learn that hıstorıans estımate there were people lıvıng here 3000 years ago...and there ıs stıll orıgınal marble floorıng from 2000 years ago. Bıg numbers.
I enjoyed seeıng Roman Sıtes, but can´t say I was taken by the cıty. But I´ll gıve ıt a break...ıts really old and ıs allowed to look that way I guess.
From our campıng sıte we trıed to take the bus to the cıty to get on a traın to the aırport. However we got on the wrong bus at peak hour, and subsequently nearly mıssed out flıght and ran around town Amazıng Race style. We got a legendary cab drıver that drove 150km/hr to the aırport and we are very grateful to hım as we made our flıght to Athens...whıch my frıends wıll be ın the next epısode of Trent and Andy Do Europe.
Thanks for readıng.....
stay tuned xxo
Italy was just...ok. Everyone has dıfferent experıences and we may have had some bad luck or made some bad decısıons..but that´s just how I feel about thıs country. We landed ın Bologna, ın central northern Italy, and bussed ınto Florence. My fırst ımpressıons of the country were that ıt was dırty, drab and rundown. Florence was more modern and more clean, but stıll not what I was expectıng (I thınk hıgh expectatıons was the problem wıth my vısıt). Famous for Michelangelo's Davıd, Florence ıs fılled wıth tourısts and as a result, prıces for food and accomm can be rıdıculous...we should know, we paıd through the nose for 2 gelatıs...18 dollars! Holy Santa Marıa!
Wıth few nıghts ın Florence, we crammed ın a lot of walkıng and took ın the usual sıtes...although dıdnt cough up for the museums, and I ın fact chose not to see Davıd..somethıng I may regret one day, but theres only so much you can do and afford. The most noteworthy sıte I can recall ıs Ponte Vecchıo, the famous brıdge that was once lıned wıth butchers but was replaced wıth goldsmıths. Here, you can buy the most extravagant, outrageous jewellery I´ve ever seen..I dont know anyone who could pull them off!
We trıed a few restaurants ın Florence and thıs was the most upsettıng part of my whole trıp...the food we had sucked! Ok, ıt was tasty, but not at all what I had come to expect from Italıan food. Bella Venezıa at Mooloolaba had ıt all over thıs partıcular restaurant. And after lots of menu research, we came to realıse ıt was all quıte the same...the ıngredıents were plaın and just unınspırıng. Thıs ıs where I thınk we could have made better decısıons..we could have asked around and been poınted ın the rıght dırectıon, and ın thıs cırcumstance I thınk money dıd equal qualıty.
We spent a day ın Pısa and dıd the oblıgatory poses for the camera..you feel lıke such a fool for doıng ıt but hey...when ın Pısa! There are really nıce lawns surroundıng the tower and a beautıful basıllıca...but outsıde thıs area....bleh. nothıngness. dırty, old nothıngness. The town of Pısa really hasn´t gıven tourısts much reason to stop and stay ın the cıty. A half day ıs more than enough ın my opınıon.
After Florence we took the traın to Rome and checked ın at the campıng ground...an awesome setup wıth pools, restaurants, bars etc. Lach and Trent stayed here last tıme and Im glad I got to stay here too for somethıng dıfferent. We took a bus ınto town each day and saw the bazıllıons of sıtes Rome has to offer. I was happy to have read Dan Brown´s Angels and Demons before comıng and so had some ıdea of the monuments and had a reference to the story.
Fırst stop was Vatıcan Cıty...thıs place ıs faırly ıncredıble when you thınk about the hıstory here. Im not relıgıous but you can certaınly respect the power thıs place has held throughout tıme. And the MONEY. St Peter´s Basıllıca ıs pımped out.
We also vısıted the Sıstıne Chapel, St Peters square and the lıke. I wont go too far because there are so many sıtes to mentıon ın Rome, but ıt was an ınterestıng day..and we got a good gıggle out of the Swıss Guard´s unıform ıf nothıng else. They must feel so stoopıd! So far ın the trıp, Vatıcan Cıty ıs the smallest country we,ve vısıted wıth an estımated populatıon of 900.
Between the bıg, bıg sıtes we walked around and saw the Trevı Fountaın (also good to see thıs because of the book) and bought gelatıs and fresh fruıt to nıbble on whıle walkıng. I lıke lıttle thıngs lıke that about travellıng...there´s not so much of that at home...lıttle sıde stalls of ınterestıng food..and we do lıke our food!
We dıd a tour of the Colosseum whıch I thank Trent for doıng as he had already vısıted the sıtes of Rome. I really enjoyed the tour and am glad we spent money for ıt, you need to hear the storıes and get a mental pıcture of what happened there. Pretty much ıs was voyeurısm at ıts gnarlıest. Watchıng people fıght each other, anımals etc...seems so ınhumane now but at the tıme was bıg money and bıg sport. We learnt that the women had to sıt at the very top of the Colosseum ın case they took a fancy to the gladıators...such jealous men!
We also took the tour of PalantıneHıll, the home of the myth of Romulus and Remus ıf you belıeve ın the old tales. It was also good to get a tour here and learn that hıstorıans estımate there were people lıvıng here 3000 years ago...and there ıs stıll orıgınal marble floorıng from 2000 years ago. Bıg numbers.
I enjoyed seeıng Roman Sıtes, but can´t say I was taken by the cıty. But I´ll gıve ıt a break...ıts really old and ıs allowed to look that way I guess.
From our campıng sıte we trıed to take the bus to the cıty to get on a traın to the aırport. However we got on the wrong bus at peak hour, and subsequently nearly mıssed out flıght and ran around town Amazıng Race style. We got a legendary cab drıver that drove 150km/hr to the aırport and we are very grateful to hım as we made our flıght to Athens...whıch my frıends wıll be ın the next epısode of Trent and Andy Do Europe.
Thanks for readıng.....
stay tuned xxo
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Edınbrrrrrr
So pıckıng up from Edınburgh....ıts gettıng so long ago now I have forgotten what we dıd! To be honest, we dıdnt do much. We had far too much fun at Kıngy´s apartment to get out...oopsıes! It was so nıce to have a clean shower, clean sheets, clean everythıng! And a kıtchen...cant forget that...ıt makes such a dıfference to your dıet. The household took ıt ın turns to cook dınner and we were spoılt wıth pastas, salads and awesome chıcken schnıtzel. Shoppıng for grocerıes ıs always fun ın another country I thınk...you get to suss out the cost of lıvıng a lıttle more, and I´d have to say the french have got ıt good. REALLY good. Theır supermarkets are much cheaper than ın Brıtaın and they have fantastıc produce. Anyway...I could talk about food all day....to the sıtes...
We vısıted Edınburgh castle wıth Kıngy...there ıs a lot of ınterestıng hıstory there but I maınly remember the crown jewels..there ısn´t much on dısplay but ıts a defınıte drawcard. We also attempted to vısıt Hollyrood House (Scottısh royal resıdence), but there was royalty stayıng there for the week so we werent able to do the tour..ı was a wee bıt dısappoınted because ı wanted to see ınsıde but ıt turned out better for our pockets..
The other thıng people do ın Edınburgh ıs drınk! The nıght we got there the streets were fılled because of a football fınal was on...there were just so many bars! And so many crazy people out...the men were crazy because they were drunk...and the females because they were wearıng freakın nothıng! It was wındy and VERY cold and these gırls had barely covered theır taıls! They were wearıng less than gırls at Frıdays ın summer! But to be faır, there was a faır share of gırls that were wearıng the most AMAZING dresses and shoes and I got depressed ın my same old same old stuff....but ımpressed nonetheless. We went out a few nıghts later to Lulu, a really cool bar. I was super ımpressed wıth how nıce the bar was. There was even candles and mırrors! Dont see that round home way....they´d be broken by the drunks by 10pm!
It seems sılly now that I have so lıttle to report on from Edınburgh, all I can say ıs we had a fantastıc tıme. Between lunches ın the park, Lulu´s, and the sıtes, we relaxed and generally unwound from the last two months of travellıng...and were ready to move on and hıt Italıa...home of the pızza and pasta!! stay toooned frıends...
p.s... Just another thanks to Kıngy, Mıtch and Danıelle for beıng absolute legends for lettıng us stay and showıng us a good tıme! Mıtch and Danı...you wıll have to come vısıt us on the coast!
We vısıted Edınburgh castle wıth Kıngy...there ıs a lot of ınterestıng hıstory there but I maınly remember the crown jewels..there ısn´t much on dısplay but ıts a defınıte drawcard. We also attempted to vısıt Hollyrood House (Scottısh royal resıdence), but there was royalty stayıng there for the week so we werent able to do the tour..ı was a wee bıt dısappoınted because ı wanted to see ınsıde but ıt turned out better for our pockets..
The other thıng people do ın Edınburgh ıs drınk! The nıght we got there the streets were fılled because of a football fınal was on...there were just so many bars! And so many crazy people out...the men were crazy because they were drunk...and the females because they were wearıng freakın nothıng! It was wındy and VERY cold and these gırls had barely covered theır taıls! They were wearıng less than gırls at Frıdays ın summer! But to be faır, there was a faır share of gırls that were wearıng the most AMAZING dresses and shoes and I got depressed ın my same old same old stuff....but ımpressed nonetheless. We went out a few nıghts later to Lulu, a really cool bar. I was super ımpressed wıth how nıce the bar was. There was even candles and mırrors! Dont see that round home way....they´d be broken by the drunks by 10pm!
It seems sılly now that I have so lıttle to report on from Edınburgh, all I can say ıs we had a fantastıc tıme. Between lunches ın the park, Lulu´s, and the sıtes, we relaxed and generally unwound from the last two months of travellıng...and were ready to move on and hıt Italıa...home of the pızza and pasta!! stay toooned frıends...
p.s... Just another thanks to Kıngy, Mıtch and Danıelle for beıng absolute legends for lettıng us stay and showıng us a good tıme! Mıtch and Danı...you wıll have to come vısıt us on the coast!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I heart Topshop
So we are in warm Italy at the moment, but yet again, I've been lazy and haven't updated since we were in London! We had a great time in London, me maybe more so than Trent, as I got to catch up with two great friends while we were in town! One night we had several drinks at where else but the Walkabout (my friend Brendan works here) and tried the berry cider which i now wish they served in Oz...and the other I went and had dinner with Holly. I think it made a big differene in how I was feeling to be able to chat with friends again... We haven't met very many interesting people, believe it or not, on our travels so it was brilliant to see them. Im starting to think that I like my own friends too much that Ive become very picky with meeting new people! They're just so substandard haha.
As I said in the previous blog, we took in the 'usual' sites and visited Topshop about 946 times. It made me very sad that I couldnt buy anything :( When Im rich and famous I am going to fly to London for the weekend just to buy shoes and clothes :) They truly have the best fashion there that I have seen anywhere...sigh
So anyway, we didn't eat fantastically in London because of the prices, so we abused Tescoe's good nature everday by buying them out of 2 pound pastas and sandwhiches. 'I wish there was a Tescoe around here' is my new line wherever we go now....
We also visited the Camden markets on our last day in town, which was great, really worth having a look at the vintage area! If you were living in London you could truly have an eclectic mix of homewares, clothing etc for cheap prices...I loved the vintage suitcases, I wish i could have brought one home....
Trent had an unusual experience in our gigantic backpackers one evening....he went to the toilet and someone asked him to pee into a bottle for him...when he told me I thought he needed some clean urine for testing, but the guy assured him it was from a jellyfish sting he acquired in Spain...a likely story haha.
Umm what else did we get up to.....erm, we went to see The Lion King at West End.. That was a great show, the childrens lead parts were a let down, but the set was phenomenal..very impressive and we're glad we forked out the cash for a show. Overall, I really enjoyed London. I think I could have lived and worked there, but being coastal at the core of me, I would have needed a predetermined amount of time there. Just some light at the end of the tunnel I think. And on the other hand I can see how others don't enjoy London..it is busy, noisy, hectic..all those things, but the mix of fashion, art, parks, experiences is too rich not to enjoy. I'm glad we spent less than a week there, and then moved on to Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is just a lovely city. Lush green gardens break up the city like no other place we've been. Roaming the city is more of a pleasure when you arent faced with wall upon wall upon sidewalk upon building of concrete. And having a castle overlooking the city isn't too bad either..
We were really fortunate to be able to stay with an old friend of mine, Kingy, who has scored the ultimate situation in Edinburgh. Kingy is living in a really lovely neighbourhood, in a beautiful apartment, while coaching and playing cricket...what a life! Kingy and his lovely room mates let us sleep on their couch, and I can tell you after being in hostels and crummy hotels for 2 months, being in an apartment was phenomenal!
NOTE TO SELF....FINISH BLOG NEXT TIME!! STILL TO COME...EDINBURGH SITES, FLORENCE AND ROME!!
Sorry for the crappy ending, but I really must get off the internet!! Greece tomorrow, need sleep!!! LOVE FROM US xoxox
As I said in the previous blog, we took in the 'usual' sites and visited Topshop about 946 times. It made me very sad that I couldnt buy anything :( When Im rich and famous I am going to fly to London for the weekend just to buy shoes and clothes :) They truly have the best fashion there that I have seen anywhere...sigh
So anyway, we didn't eat fantastically in London because of the prices, so we abused Tescoe's good nature everday by buying them out of 2 pound pastas and sandwhiches. 'I wish there was a Tescoe around here' is my new line wherever we go now....
We also visited the Camden markets on our last day in town, which was great, really worth having a look at the vintage area! If you were living in London you could truly have an eclectic mix of homewares, clothing etc for cheap prices...I loved the vintage suitcases, I wish i could have brought one home....
Trent had an unusual experience in our gigantic backpackers one evening....he went to the toilet and someone asked him to pee into a bottle for him...when he told me I thought he needed some clean urine for testing, but the guy assured him it was from a jellyfish sting he acquired in Spain...a likely story haha.
Umm what else did we get up to.....erm, we went to see The Lion King at West End.. That was a great show, the childrens lead parts were a let down, but the set was phenomenal..very impressive and we're glad we forked out the cash for a show. Overall, I really enjoyed London. I think I could have lived and worked there, but being coastal at the core of me, I would have needed a predetermined amount of time there. Just some light at the end of the tunnel I think. And on the other hand I can see how others don't enjoy London..it is busy, noisy, hectic..all those things, but the mix of fashion, art, parks, experiences is too rich not to enjoy. I'm glad we spent less than a week there, and then moved on to Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is just a lovely city. Lush green gardens break up the city like no other place we've been. Roaming the city is more of a pleasure when you arent faced with wall upon wall upon sidewalk upon building of concrete. And having a castle overlooking the city isn't too bad either..
We were really fortunate to be able to stay with an old friend of mine, Kingy, who has scored the ultimate situation in Edinburgh. Kingy is living in a really lovely neighbourhood, in a beautiful apartment, while coaching and playing cricket...what a life! Kingy and his lovely room mates let us sleep on their couch, and I can tell you after being in hostels and crummy hotels for 2 months, being in an apartment was phenomenal!
NOTE TO SELF....FINISH BLOG NEXT TIME!! STILL TO COME...EDINBURGH SITES, FLORENCE AND ROME!!
Sorry for the crappy ending, but I really must get off the internet!! Greece tomorrow, need sleep!!! LOVE FROM US xoxox
Friday, May 22, 2009
Damn it! I've done it again! It's been too long since the last blog, but at least there is plenty to update you with. We are in London at present, but let me take you back.......
I'll pick up from Hossegor...we moved apartments when our two weeks were up, and we stayed in the most fantastic spot in all of town. We were above the square that overlooks the ocean so it was perfect. We rented it from a new friend we made, Dave, who runs Dicks Sand Bar. DSB is a legendary place on the ocean front, and we spent a fair whack of our time drinking here. Dave really helped us out a lot while in Hossegor..with drinks, information, the apartment, bikes...everything. We are eternally greatful. Anywho, so in the second week in Hossegor we started pounding the pavement and looking for jobs. I found it really hard at the beginning because our french is so basic, it often became embarassing, but after the first 5 times I changed my attitude and thought...stuff it. So we walked for hours on end, asking every outlet we thought might hire us, to no avail. All we got were blisters and sunburn. Word on the street was that if we kept trying we would definitely find something, so we banked on that. Eventually we got a number for a cleaning agency, which turned out to be a good lead. We were told that we would most probably be able to work for them in the start of June, but it wasn't a definite. Also, the money was a bit up in the air because its dependant on the season. But we thought it was a good time to look for accommodation after hearing that news....and thats when the plans began to well and truly unravel. I visited every immoblier (real estate) in hossegor asking about renting for the summer, only to find out they just dont do it. You can't rent by the month in hossegor because its a seasonal town. People make all their money on the apartments during summer, when the prices rise from between 600-1200euro per week. Remember that equates to about 1200-2400 aus dollars a week! For a shoebox! I asked around and the only way we could see to renting was to organise something privately. This was hard for us for two reasons...firstly because we would have needed to organise it with french speaking people, and secondly because most of those arrangements are made well before the season. So in the end, we might have had a job but we didnt have anywhere to live, and after throwing around the pros and cons, we decided we have enough moeny to make the most of a european summer travelling and not working.
It was a hard decision to leave, we thought maybe we hadn't tried hard enough, but the longer we stayed and looked, the more money we were spending. BUT, on the positive side, we only have good things to look forward to. So we started our merry, big adventure in Bordeaux. What a lovely city! It has the best information centre we've come across yet..so we found accommodation quite easily. We took in the sites for a day or two, strolled along the largest pedestrianised shopping strip in Europe and had lunch in the most fantastic cafe ever! Cassolette Cafe it was called, and you got to choose 5 dishes form the menu and have them ALL! We had every dish with cheese in it, and finished it off with a choc brownie in custard. Perfect! The streets around Boreaux are nice just to walk around, they seemed a little wider than usual and there are some lovely parks. The riverfront area is great, everyone goes down there to read their books and practise skating. Good people watching are.
As Bordeaux is one of the most famous wine regions of the world, we thought it was only right to do a tasting tour. We sampled wines from the Blaye and Bourg regions, which arent the most prestigious wines, but beggars cant be choosers. We only sampled reds which was a pity for me, a white wine drinker, but the reds were very nice, and it was a fun experience. Bordeaux is lovely, but hard to write about because we mainly walked, ate and just took in the sites. From Bordeaux, the best flights are to London, so we chose the big smoke for our next destination.
We have been in London for 3 days now. And what a change it has been. No more foreign languages!! Although, ironically we had our first meal in chinatown.. and its so multicultural that you always hear another langauge anyway!
We are staying in Piccaddilly at a massive backpackers. 700 beds over several floors. Its like being on a big school camp. Showers and toilets are divided between the sexes...its a good place to be social though...IF you got social room mates...and we, unfortunately..did not. But have met some nice people in the common room. this is of noteworthy importance you see, because so often we cant socialise because of the language barrier.
So we have been out and about, doing massive walks....have seen Buckingham Palace (very ordinary), Big Ben, the London Eye etc etc. Because of our central location we have been able to avoid the tube which makes me very happy :)
Anyway, Im going to end this quite abruptly sorry, but we have been in this internet cafe for far too long, i am hungry and quite fancy enjoying London while we are here! Will update again very soon I hope, until next time....xoxo
I'll pick up from Hossegor...we moved apartments when our two weeks were up, and we stayed in the most fantastic spot in all of town. We were above the square that overlooks the ocean so it was perfect. We rented it from a new friend we made, Dave, who runs Dicks Sand Bar. DSB is a legendary place on the ocean front, and we spent a fair whack of our time drinking here. Dave really helped us out a lot while in Hossegor..with drinks, information, the apartment, bikes...everything. We are eternally greatful. Anywho, so in the second week in Hossegor we started pounding the pavement and looking for jobs. I found it really hard at the beginning because our french is so basic, it often became embarassing, but after the first 5 times I changed my attitude and thought...stuff it. So we walked for hours on end, asking every outlet we thought might hire us, to no avail. All we got were blisters and sunburn. Word on the street was that if we kept trying we would definitely find something, so we banked on that. Eventually we got a number for a cleaning agency, which turned out to be a good lead. We were told that we would most probably be able to work for them in the start of June, but it wasn't a definite. Also, the money was a bit up in the air because its dependant on the season. But we thought it was a good time to look for accommodation after hearing that news....and thats when the plans began to well and truly unravel. I visited every immoblier (real estate) in hossegor asking about renting for the summer, only to find out they just dont do it. You can't rent by the month in hossegor because its a seasonal town. People make all their money on the apartments during summer, when the prices rise from between 600-1200euro per week. Remember that equates to about 1200-2400 aus dollars a week! For a shoebox! I asked around and the only way we could see to renting was to organise something privately. This was hard for us for two reasons...firstly because we would have needed to organise it with french speaking people, and secondly because most of those arrangements are made well before the season. So in the end, we might have had a job but we didnt have anywhere to live, and after throwing around the pros and cons, we decided we have enough moeny to make the most of a european summer travelling and not working.
It was a hard decision to leave, we thought maybe we hadn't tried hard enough, but the longer we stayed and looked, the more money we were spending. BUT, on the positive side, we only have good things to look forward to. So we started our merry, big adventure in Bordeaux. What a lovely city! It has the best information centre we've come across yet..so we found accommodation quite easily. We took in the sites for a day or two, strolled along the largest pedestrianised shopping strip in Europe and had lunch in the most fantastic cafe ever! Cassolette Cafe it was called, and you got to choose 5 dishes form the menu and have them ALL! We had every dish with cheese in it, and finished it off with a choc brownie in custard. Perfect! The streets around Boreaux are nice just to walk around, they seemed a little wider than usual and there are some lovely parks. The riverfront area is great, everyone goes down there to read their books and practise skating. Good people watching are.
As Bordeaux is one of the most famous wine regions of the world, we thought it was only right to do a tasting tour. We sampled wines from the Blaye and Bourg regions, which arent the most prestigious wines, but beggars cant be choosers. We only sampled reds which was a pity for me, a white wine drinker, but the reds were very nice, and it was a fun experience. Bordeaux is lovely, but hard to write about because we mainly walked, ate and just took in the sites. From Bordeaux, the best flights are to London, so we chose the big smoke for our next destination.
We have been in London for 3 days now. And what a change it has been. No more foreign languages!! Although, ironically we had our first meal in chinatown.. and its so multicultural that you always hear another langauge anyway!
We are staying in Piccaddilly at a massive backpackers. 700 beds over several floors. Its like being on a big school camp. Showers and toilets are divided between the sexes...its a good place to be social though...IF you got social room mates...and we, unfortunately..did not. But have met some nice people in the common room. this is of noteworthy importance you see, because so often we cant socialise because of the language barrier.
So we have been out and about, doing massive walks....have seen Buckingham Palace (very ordinary), Big Ben, the London Eye etc etc. Because of our central location we have been able to avoid the tube which makes me very happy :)
Anyway, Im going to end this quite abruptly sorry, but we have been in this internet cafe for far too long, i am hungry and quite fancy enjoying London while we are here! Will update again very soon I hope, until next time....xoxo
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Bonjour encore!
Bonjour encore! I hope everyone is well and had a good Anzac Day at the RE. We are very greatful for the emails and updates from everyone by the way, sorry we cant reply all the time, hopefully we will settle down in Hossegor and sort out some regular internet.
So Hossegor is where we are at this very minute, Capbreton to be more precise, but again I will have to rewind to San Sebastian. Also, if there are more mistakes than usual...deal with it! These keyboards give me the shits!
So we stayed 3 nights in San Sebastian, I think I covered our journey there last time but I just needed to add this part in...we went into a cafe that had the menu in both English and Spanish out the front so we went in, and I put on a big smile and said hola to the man serving, and he replied in Spanish...I appologised, said I couldnt speak Spanish and we took a seat. And then...nothing. The rude p#+ck served everyone around us, cleaned tables and blatantly ignored us. Anyone who knows me, knows this is playing with fire, and it took every ounce of strength in me to not yell expletives at him and have a fit. We ended up having to walk out and find somewhere else to go. Would that happen in Australia? I think not, be happy that you just get moderately rude people in Oz, not full blown jerks. phew, out of my system....
So we left San Sebastian, and headed for Biarritz on a sunday. Not an awesome idea, its probably best to travel weekdays when everything is running..We walked the streets and I swear took the longest route to get to our accomm but it was worth it when we got there. Les Alize was a really lovely hotel overlooking the ocean and a popular street. Nice room, but no fridge...we made a makeshift fridge out our window with a plastic bag and some water...its not the first time we`ve used our Macgyver skills to make a fridge. In Paris it was a rubbish bin and water on the balcony for the beer! Anyway, while in Biarritz we saw the local markets. Markets..HAH! They were selling jackets roadside for 250euro! Nothing was under 30euro (60ausdol). Who goes to the markets with 600dollars! The french do apparently. We went to the Museum de la Mer (Museum of the Ocean) and it was worse than underwater world if you can believe it. Ahh, we went to the Chocolate Museum which was moderately amusing because we got chocolate buttons on entry, but the signs were in French, so we were in and out pretty quickly.
One night we went and had an amazing dinner at Le Surfing on the ocean front. I had a salmon fillet and Trent the lamb chops, why am I telling you this? Because things like that are super exciting when you`ve been eating ham and cheese on a baguette day in and day out. But don`t get me wrong, im not over bread yet. It will never defeat me! In fact thats what we had for brekkie this morning, peanut butter on a baguette! Peanut butter!!! A small home comfort.
So yet again, we suffered from bad weather, the winds from the ocean are so cold! We really had to force ourselves to leave the room on some occasions.
We generally enjoyed our stay in Biarritz, we met some lovely people in the shops and restaurants and the town is nice to walk around if you dont mind the odd uphill walk. So moving on again, we took the train from Hendaye near the border of Spain and France to Bayonne (a town that has a chocolate festival soon!) and a bus o Hossegor. We were dropped off at about midday, the worst time to be looking for accommodation! The siesta is common here too, and the shops shut til about 2 so we had a relax in the park til my provider, my man, went and found us a unit on the beach. We have booked for 2 weeks, and the apartment is small, but nice. I can`t believe though, that some people live in these tiny places permenently. You would go crazy, im sure of it. Anyway, we have a kitchenette so we have been able to do some grocery shopping at a place called L.Clerc. Rude sods they are; you have to pay to use the trolley! I dont fink so!! So far we have cooked up some pasta, salads and quiches, and generally saving a lot of money. Hossegor is a really lovely town, and the beaches, when the sun decides to play, will be lovely im sure.
I will update you more on our adventures in Hossegor soon, but right now i need to get off this internet that is costing me 14 dollars an hour!
love you all..xoxo
So Hossegor is where we are at this very minute, Capbreton to be more precise, but again I will have to rewind to San Sebastian. Also, if there are more mistakes than usual...deal with it! These keyboards give me the shits!
So we stayed 3 nights in San Sebastian, I think I covered our journey there last time but I just needed to add this part in...we went into a cafe that had the menu in both English and Spanish out the front so we went in, and I put on a big smile and said hola to the man serving, and he replied in Spanish...I appologised, said I couldnt speak Spanish and we took a seat. And then...nothing. The rude p#+ck served everyone around us, cleaned tables and blatantly ignored us. Anyone who knows me, knows this is playing with fire, and it took every ounce of strength in me to not yell expletives at him and have a fit. We ended up having to walk out and find somewhere else to go. Would that happen in Australia? I think not, be happy that you just get moderately rude people in Oz, not full blown jerks. phew, out of my system....
So we left San Sebastian, and headed for Biarritz on a sunday. Not an awesome idea, its probably best to travel weekdays when everything is running..We walked the streets and I swear took the longest route to get to our accomm but it was worth it when we got there. Les Alize was a really lovely hotel overlooking the ocean and a popular street. Nice room, but no fridge...we made a makeshift fridge out our window with a plastic bag and some water...its not the first time we`ve used our Macgyver skills to make a fridge. In Paris it was a rubbish bin and water on the balcony for the beer! Anyway, while in Biarritz we saw the local markets. Markets..HAH! They were selling jackets roadside for 250euro! Nothing was under 30euro (60ausdol). Who goes to the markets with 600dollars! The french do apparently. We went to the Museum de la Mer (Museum of the Ocean) and it was worse than underwater world if you can believe it. Ahh, we went to the Chocolate Museum which was moderately amusing because we got chocolate buttons on entry, but the signs were in French, so we were in and out pretty quickly.
One night we went and had an amazing dinner at Le Surfing on the ocean front. I had a salmon fillet and Trent the lamb chops, why am I telling you this? Because things like that are super exciting when you`ve been eating ham and cheese on a baguette day in and day out. But don`t get me wrong, im not over bread yet. It will never defeat me! In fact thats what we had for brekkie this morning, peanut butter on a baguette! Peanut butter!!! A small home comfort.
So yet again, we suffered from bad weather, the winds from the ocean are so cold! We really had to force ourselves to leave the room on some occasions.
We generally enjoyed our stay in Biarritz, we met some lovely people in the shops and restaurants and the town is nice to walk around if you dont mind the odd uphill walk. So moving on again, we took the train from Hendaye near the border of Spain and France to Bayonne (a town that has a chocolate festival soon!) and a bus o Hossegor. We were dropped off at about midday, the worst time to be looking for accommodation! The siesta is common here too, and the shops shut til about 2 so we had a relax in the park til my provider, my man, went and found us a unit on the beach. We have booked for 2 weeks, and the apartment is small, but nice. I can`t believe though, that some people live in these tiny places permenently. You would go crazy, im sure of it. Anyway, we have a kitchenette so we have been able to do some grocery shopping at a place called L.Clerc. Rude sods they are; you have to pay to use the trolley! I dont fink so!! So far we have cooked up some pasta, salads and quiches, and generally saving a lot of money. Hossegor is a really lovely town, and the beaches, when the sun decides to play, will be lovely im sure.
I will update you more on our adventures in Hossegor soon, but right now i need to get off this internet that is costing me 14 dollars an hour!
love you all..xoxo
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Our Spanish conquests
Hola everyone! Its been funny saying hola to people, sometimes we accidentally go to say bonjour, and then hello, and then finally hola. Then other times I cant even think which one im supposed to be saying quickly enough so i just become a waving mute!
We are in San Sebastian on the west coast of Spain right now, but I´m going to rewind and add a few things I had forgotten along the way....
So if you looked at our photos of Spain you might notice some really random images. Like the basin with stickers on it, and the medical equipment. They were from the last hostel we stayed at in Barcelona (Saint Dominic something or rather, not highly recommended). At the beginning it was just random that there was medical equipment stashed in the hallway, and then really unnerving after I thought about it! Erm, black market kidney factory or what?! Were they going to bust into our rooms in the middle of the night and hook us up to machines while they removed our worthy bits? Stupid horror movies...made me sleep with one eye open they did. Only kidding... But in this same el creepo hostel was the basin in our room, that was brand spankin new. And we could tell...because they hadnt bothered to remove any of the stickers! Lame story i know, but at the time I thought it was uber lazy and weird. This same place didnt have any toilet seats, and I dont have weight lifters legs so I was really unhappy about that too. But thats when we moved on to bigger and better things, like our room at Hotel Hawaii in Mallorca. It was so clean and big! Showering was a little slice of heaven. And to have buffet breakfasts made us very, very happy.
Mallorca as I said is a really pretty place, and/but full of Brits! Completely overrun with them in Palma Nova/ Magaluf. But I got the best homemade meat pie, chips, peas and gravy I´ve ever had thanks to a Brit restaurant so I wasnt complaining. In fact, it was a small relief that there were so many english speaking places, it made our stay easier. We could read everything, we knew what to ask for, it wasnt a struggle to communicate. I know i know, thats what you travel for, for the different cultures, but its still nice to be able to communicate with other people every now and then. Oh and apart from that, there were so many horrendously FAT brits that I felt my love handles disappear. They were dwarfed. I saw one girl, around 12 years old, have three sugar buns for breakfast. And the next morning, the young boy beside us had a can of 7up. In comparison, the spanish people that were there were having pastries and cofffee, and still kept slim. Go figure.
We weren´t too adventurous while in Mallorca, I had grand illusions of travelling around the island, but in reality, all we wanted to do was chill. I didn´t want to sit on a bus and travel to the most beautiful beach I´d ever seen, and not be able to swim or tan because it was too cold. But the island isn´t too far away from France, so if the opportunity arises, I´m sure we´d come back. The night life looks like it would get pretty hectic in the summer time. We went out drinking one night after a Chelsea v Liverpool game (im now enjoying soccer! I still refuse to call in football), and went to a few bars. I learnt quickly that they are VERY generous with the amount of spirits they put in to a mixer. About half vodka, half mixer. Awesome. So much better than home. It tastes like dogs balls, but at least its value for money! I went home happy :) Trent gets the best end of the deal with drinking though because he drinks beer, 1 euro for a pint!
Unfortunately for us, the sun didn´t make an appearance for our stay in Mallorca so we didnt make use of the beach. Trent was so sure he was going to have a swim but the weather just didn´t cooperate. We did play a mammoth game of mini golf though! 54 holes! Trent came up trumps, but only just! Ridiculous that it cost more than the Louvre to get in though.
Anyway, not much more to say about our stay, we changed hotels once and stayed at Sol Trinidad which was a good location and nice enough if anyone needs to know where to stay!
I´ll move on to our current location....San Sebastian. We flew in 2 days ago and took a bus from the airport through some beautiful country. Very green and hilly, and I cant be sure but it looked like there were a lot of small, well looked after farms along the way...After we´d driven through the hills (kinda Maleny like actually) we came out on to the coast of San Sebastian.
So now we are staying...somewhere. In something about the size of a shoebox. But its actually turned out to be ok. We have free internet, and the use of a kitchen and all the appliances, which has allowed us to get cooking (nachos), make breakfast (bread and butter) and save some money. We´re in a good location, between two beaches, one a surf beach, YAY!, and the other a cove that´s protected by an island and the headlands. The still beach is amazzzzzing, just what I like...shallow, aqua coloured water that would be fun to play in. And the surf isnt too bad either, good size, but a little straight when we saw it. We attempted a sunbake, Trent more successful than I. I thought it was freezing still, but Trent, impervious to the cold, tanned and even went for a swim! Freak!! He then walked the whole length of the promenade with no shirt on which drew innumerable stares...picture it...the entire population is wearing no less than 3 layers, and this Aussie has no shirt on! But we´re used to the looks, I think he has been the least dressed person in every city we´ve visited so far! I don´t think some Parisians had even seen a strangers toes before!
Apparently San Sebastian is a foodies heaven, plenty of Michelin star chefs in the area, but as we can´t afford that luxury, we´re having fun with pintxos(tapas). We had deep fried bacon and cheese today! Its lucky we´re doing so much walking, because that was something we couldnt pass up! It was everything you´d imagine it to be and more. I had the best salad of my life too....lettuce, tomato, walnuts, blue cheese, bacon, chicken and dressing. Im telling you so I can remember to make it one day.
Trent went for a walk up to the top of the headland this afternoon while I´ve been blogging (aka getting out of walking more) and some of the photos you see will surely have been taken from up there. Its a town with a mix of city and sand, similiar to Barcelona but much smaller. I´ve taken note of a clothing store in the city area that I am DEFINITELY coming back to visit if I have the money. Zara..im not sure if its in Australia, but my girls, its the kind of store we could only dream about. sigh.
Anyway, we went out last night to a local club/bar. IT was pretty sad little place unfortunately. No seats whatsoever, black lights as decoration and was about the size of Fridays pokie room. Actually no, much smaller, and intensely smoky. But we had each other and the young guy that runs our accomm was there and gave us free shots from the bar so all was well and merry.
Which brings us to now...I think I have updated you with both our major and minor stories. We leave San Sebastian tomorrow for Biarritz, a surfing town in the far south-west of France. And god help them if they don´t have a cheap laundromat. Things are getting desperate!
From your stinky but happy friends/family....
lots of love
xo
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87884&id=699750387&l=c4d2c356fc
We are in San Sebastian on the west coast of Spain right now, but I´m going to rewind and add a few things I had forgotten along the way....
So if you looked at our photos of Spain you might notice some really random images. Like the basin with stickers on it, and the medical equipment. They were from the last hostel we stayed at in Barcelona (Saint Dominic something or rather, not highly recommended). At the beginning it was just random that there was medical equipment stashed in the hallway, and then really unnerving after I thought about it! Erm, black market kidney factory or what?! Were they going to bust into our rooms in the middle of the night and hook us up to machines while they removed our worthy bits? Stupid horror movies...made me sleep with one eye open they did. Only kidding... But in this same el creepo hostel was the basin in our room, that was brand spankin new. And we could tell...because they hadnt bothered to remove any of the stickers! Lame story i know, but at the time I thought it was uber lazy and weird. This same place didnt have any toilet seats, and I dont have weight lifters legs so I was really unhappy about that too. But thats when we moved on to bigger and better things, like our room at Hotel Hawaii in Mallorca. It was so clean and big! Showering was a little slice of heaven. And to have buffet breakfasts made us very, very happy.
Mallorca as I said is a really pretty place, and/but full of Brits! Completely overrun with them in Palma Nova/ Magaluf. But I got the best homemade meat pie, chips, peas and gravy I´ve ever had thanks to a Brit restaurant so I wasnt complaining. In fact, it was a small relief that there were so many english speaking places, it made our stay easier. We could read everything, we knew what to ask for, it wasnt a struggle to communicate. I know i know, thats what you travel for, for the different cultures, but its still nice to be able to communicate with other people every now and then. Oh and apart from that, there were so many horrendously FAT brits that I felt my love handles disappear. They were dwarfed. I saw one girl, around 12 years old, have three sugar buns for breakfast. And the next morning, the young boy beside us had a can of 7up. In comparison, the spanish people that were there were having pastries and cofffee, and still kept slim. Go figure.
We weren´t too adventurous while in Mallorca, I had grand illusions of travelling around the island, but in reality, all we wanted to do was chill. I didn´t want to sit on a bus and travel to the most beautiful beach I´d ever seen, and not be able to swim or tan because it was too cold. But the island isn´t too far away from France, so if the opportunity arises, I´m sure we´d come back. The night life looks like it would get pretty hectic in the summer time. We went out drinking one night after a Chelsea v Liverpool game (im now enjoying soccer! I still refuse to call in football), and went to a few bars. I learnt quickly that they are VERY generous with the amount of spirits they put in to a mixer. About half vodka, half mixer. Awesome. So much better than home. It tastes like dogs balls, but at least its value for money! I went home happy :) Trent gets the best end of the deal with drinking though because he drinks beer, 1 euro for a pint!
Unfortunately for us, the sun didn´t make an appearance for our stay in Mallorca so we didnt make use of the beach. Trent was so sure he was going to have a swim but the weather just didn´t cooperate. We did play a mammoth game of mini golf though! 54 holes! Trent came up trumps, but only just! Ridiculous that it cost more than the Louvre to get in though.
Anyway, not much more to say about our stay, we changed hotels once and stayed at Sol Trinidad which was a good location and nice enough if anyone needs to know where to stay!
I´ll move on to our current location....San Sebastian. We flew in 2 days ago and took a bus from the airport through some beautiful country. Very green and hilly, and I cant be sure but it looked like there were a lot of small, well looked after farms along the way...After we´d driven through the hills (kinda Maleny like actually) we came out on to the coast of San Sebastian.
So now we are staying...somewhere. In something about the size of a shoebox. But its actually turned out to be ok. We have free internet, and the use of a kitchen and all the appliances, which has allowed us to get cooking (nachos), make breakfast (bread and butter) and save some money. We´re in a good location, between two beaches, one a surf beach, YAY!, and the other a cove that´s protected by an island and the headlands. The still beach is amazzzzzing, just what I like...shallow, aqua coloured water that would be fun to play in. And the surf isnt too bad either, good size, but a little straight when we saw it. We attempted a sunbake, Trent more successful than I. I thought it was freezing still, but Trent, impervious to the cold, tanned and even went for a swim! Freak!! He then walked the whole length of the promenade with no shirt on which drew innumerable stares...picture it...the entire population is wearing no less than 3 layers, and this Aussie has no shirt on! But we´re used to the looks, I think he has been the least dressed person in every city we´ve visited so far! I don´t think some Parisians had even seen a strangers toes before!
Apparently San Sebastian is a foodies heaven, plenty of Michelin star chefs in the area, but as we can´t afford that luxury, we´re having fun with pintxos(tapas). We had deep fried bacon and cheese today! Its lucky we´re doing so much walking, because that was something we couldnt pass up! It was everything you´d imagine it to be and more. I had the best salad of my life too....lettuce, tomato, walnuts, blue cheese, bacon, chicken and dressing. Im telling you so I can remember to make it one day.
Trent went for a walk up to the top of the headland this afternoon while I´ve been blogging (aka getting out of walking more) and some of the photos you see will surely have been taken from up there. Its a town with a mix of city and sand, similiar to Barcelona but much smaller. I´ve taken note of a clothing store in the city area that I am DEFINITELY coming back to visit if I have the money. Zara..im not sure if its in Australia, but my girls, its the kind of store we could only dream about. sigh.
Anyway, we went out last night to a local club/bar. IT was pretty sad little place unfortunately. No seats whatsoever, black lights as decoration and was about the size of Fridays pokie room. Actually no, much smaller, and intensely smoky. But we had each other and the young guy that runs our accomm was there and gave us free shots from the bar so all was well and merry.
Which brings us to now...I think I have updated you with both our major and minor stories. We leave San Sebastian tomorrow for Biarritz, a surfing town in the far south-west of France. And god help them if they don´t have a cheap laundromat. Things are getting desperate!
From your stinky but happy friends/family....
lots of love
xo
Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87884&id=699750387&l=c4d2c356fc
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Hola!
So we pick up our journey in Barcelona. I wish I could say we arrived happy and healthy. But screw it, we were miserable and sick. And I said stuff it at the thought of public transport, and we paid a cab from the airport into the city, lucky I did because it was raining on our arrival. We stayed at Hostal Rembrant (def reccommend), which has the perfect location off Las Ramblas (a long street with bars, restaurants, shops). It was more than amazing to have a good shower here as we´d boycotted Grot Hostal showers. Trent was started to feel better on our first night in Barca, but I was still really, really ill. We´re all friends here...so I was suffering from diarrhoea pretty bad, and I got no sleep yet again. I was hoping to awake squeaky clean and new feeling, but it wasnt to be. I choked down half a piece of toast and made camp in bed for the day. My lovely fiance (thats still weird) went foraging and checked out the local streets, markets etc and bought me back a mini fruit platter. What a legend. He then force fed me, for which im now thankful. Trent was still really exhausted from being sick too, so really, our first day was a major write off :(
I did wake the next day feeling much better/super skinny (thank you immodium) and decided it was time to hit the town. For about an hour we walked around and saw the sites. We ended up at the beach and it was really nice actually, I wasnt expecting it to be so clean looking for such a big city. Actually, ignoring the ocassional pee smell, I think the whole city is clean by city standards. The metro was great too. After a few hours of walking around I decided I really liked Barcelona. The people are lovely and there seems to be plenty of great places to eat/drink/things to see. We did some site seeing, but not much. We saw some Gaudi building and visited the Sagrada Familia which is just so ugly/beautiful/interesting. I really dont know what I think about that building! Gaudi seemed to want 3409835 different elements included in his work so he just found a way of putting it all together!
We were in Barcelona at the start of easter weekend, and we have seen several street processions held by the various churches in the city. I had forgotten just how religious the rest of the world is, you dont bare witness to many religious ceremonies on the Sunshine Coast! I wish we had the camera at the time of one procession, there were people cloaked in black with tiny eye holes, carrying the cross. It was a bit freaky to be honest.
So major kudos goes to Lach for telling us about Txapela! It was the highlight of our stay in Barcelona!! Txapela everyone, is a tapas restaurant that has a huge menu of finger food, and you choose as many as you like to become a meal. so so awesome, we had cod fritters with aioli, mini cheeseburgers, salami things, tomato and cheese thingies!! maybe google it and check it out...
The shopping in Barcelona looks epic. There are so many cool fashion shops that arent too expensive. Ive already told Jodie that it would be a good girls holiday! Plenty of bars, food and shops! Trent also had a good night out to watch Barcelona v Munich one night and he said the pubs seemed fun, although we didnt have a boozy night out here...I think we were still wrecked from being sick...Im sure we´ll make up for it along the way...
Id like to visit Barcelona again one day if I have more money, and although we havent visited many places, it is my favourite so far....but all good things have to come to an end, and we left Barca for Mallorca.....
And Tadaaa, here we are. The coast where we are staying is beautiful....crystal clear water, palm trees...typically tropical looking....but bloody freezing damn it!! Im a bit annoyed at myself for choosing to come here now, but its still beautiful, and its the first time we´ve relaxed and done absolutely nothing but eat and drink....a real holiday! There is enough bars here to never visit the same one twice...and a shit load of brits! The prices for food and drink are very reasonable, and as we plan to be here for just under a week, thats a relief. Our hotel (hotel hawaii) is good, although it resembles a nursing home! That must sound terrible, but we are surely the youngest couple there haha, but as we´re only playing cards, having afternoon drinks and naps, its really not that bad!
Anyway my lovelies, its time to try and get photos up. We´d love to show you what we´re talking up. Fingers crossed I Can get them up soon. Til next time. love love
PHOTOS (Scroll down and you will now find more links to other albums!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87884&id=699750387&l=c4d2c356fc
I did wake the next day feeling much better/super skinny (thank you immodium) and decided it was time to hit the town. For about an hour we walked around and saw the sites. We ended up at the beach and it was really nice actually, I wasnt expecting it to be so clean looking for such a big city. Actually, ignoring the ocassional pee smell, I think the whole city is clean by city standards. The metro was great too. After a few hours of walking around I decided I really liked Barcelona. The people are lovely and there seems to be plenty of great places to eat/drink/things to see. We did some site seeing, but not much. We saw some Gaudi building and visited the Sagrada Familia which is just so ugly/beautiful/interesting. I really dont know what I think about that building! Gaudi seemed to want 3409835 different elements included in his work so he just found a way of putting it all together!
We were in Barcelona at the start of easter weekend, and we have seen several street processions held by the various churches in the city. I had forgotten just how religious the rest of the world is, you dont bare witness to many religious ceremonies on the Sunshine Coast! I wish we had the camera at the time of one procession, there were people cloaked in black with tiny eye holes, carrying the cross. It was a bit freaky to be honest.
So major kudos goes to Lach for telling us about Txapela! It was the highlight of our stay in Barcelona!! Txapela everyone, is a tapas restaurant that has a huge menu of finger food, and you choose as many as you like to become a meal. so so awesome, we had cod fritters with aioli, mini cheeseburgers, salami things, tomato and cheese thingies!! maybe google it and check it out...
The shopping in Barcelona looks epic. There are so many cool fashion shops that arent too expensive. Ive already told Jodie that it would be a good girls holiday! Plenty of bars, food and shops! Trent also had a good night out to watch Barcelona v Munich one night and he said the pubs seemed fun, although we didnt have a boozy night out here...I think we were still wrecked from being sick...Im sure we´ll make up for it along the way...
Id like to visit Barcelona again one day if I have more money, and although we havent visited many places, it is my favourite so far....but all good things have to come to an end, and we left Barca for Mallorca.....
And Tadaaa, here we are. The coast where we are staying is beautiful....crystal clear water, palm trees...typically tropical looking....but bloody freezing damn it!! Im a bit annoyed at myself for choosing to come here now, but its still beautiful, and its the first time we´ve relaxed and done absolutely nothing but eat and drink....a real holiday! There is enough bars here to never visit the same one twice...and a shit load of brits! The prices for food and drink are very reasonable, and as we plan to be here for just under a week, thats a relief. Our hotel (hotel hawaii) is good, although it resembles a nursing home! That must sound terrible, but we are surely the youngest couple there haha, but as we´re only playing cards, having afternoon drinks and naps, its really not that bad!
Anyway my lovelies, its time to try and get photos up. We´d love to show you what we´re talking up. Fingers crossed I Can get them up soon. Til next time. love love
PHOTOS (Scroll down and you will now find more links to other albums!)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87884&id=699750387&l=c4d2c356fc
To the glue factory!!
Well Im really starting to wish I had updated this more regularly now! We have so much to update you all on! Lets start in Marrakech.....
Brilliant place, it is as the travel books say...a melting pot of cultures, sounds, colours, tastes.....
We caught a taxi (a mercedes) to ´the square´, and got dropped off god knows where, the driver pointed, mumbled and shuffled us out. Luckily there are hordes of locals whose day job is too suss out blank stares on tourists faces and offer them a ´friendly, helping hand´. Someone escorted us to our hostel which was just around the corner and then of course, asked for money....nothing comes free in Marrakech, but thats ok. We stayed at Hotel Assia, which we can now recommend to others, if you are willing to pay for the quality. (perfect location, nice rooms, nice brekky etc) Anywho, we had a squiz at the streets and souks and had our first tagine (chicken and lemon mmmm). The french influence is all around...there is free bread with all meals here as well. I mean, i like carbs, but europe really pushes my bread boundaries...never thought I would say that!
So there wasnt a boat load of things for us to see or do in Marrakech because of our money restraints...you can definitely go and see some nice gardens, mosques etc but I think the majority of the time you would shop here! There is a LOT of nice homewares that I would buy..lamps, tagines, rugs, tea sets etc and also beautiful jewelerry. (Rhonda, I saw some jewellery for around $1-$5 but I was really trying not to look..you and Glen would have a lot of fun in the markets). The one thing that really stood out to me was the quality of mens jeans. They are INCREDIBLE. I think theyre rip offs of every major fashion house in europe..so so stylish. and only around $30. All the men here dress very well actually, again, very stylish.
So for the few days we spent in Marrakech we mainly walked the streets while dodging the traffic (very similiar to Asia, except here there are donkeys and carts that dont move for nobody!) and ate. A perfect few days! We decided to move on and go to the coast for a few days. We chose Essouira and then let the wind take us there. We tried to get on the bus but god sidetracked and eneded up bargaining to ride in a van. And then the waiting began. Waiting for the guy to sucker in 7 other tourists to get in the van with us haha. Then the bargaining again. and again. and again until we got the trip for 100 Dihram each. The country side was desolate, with a few towns (and random people in THE MOSTrandom places) popping up in between destinations.
Essouira was awesome, we got out of the van and just walked around asking about accommodation when a young man helped me and we ran around together looking at rooms. The last one he showed me was epic. We got a little aparment to ourselves with a rooftop terrace and the most lovely owners...It was called Les Bastion and we would definitely reccommend this place (again, more money than we could have paid. oopsy, my bad). Essouira is a laid back town (think offerings of hooch, hash, opium kind of laid back). We walked around the town and the port and got whipped by the wind that is never ending apparently and booked ourselves a horse ride on the beach. WORST MISTAKE...EVER.
Now I love horses (ok I dont ride them, but have an appreciation for them) and was really excited about this. Apparently this excitement and confidence didnt translate to the horse, and the bastard animal tried to kill me. There´s no two ways about it, this horse had a vendetta against me. For what, I do not know, but it did. We strolled leisurely from the complex without so much of a safety/instruction run down (or a hello actually, for that matter, very unhospitable) and went out on to the beach. Trent and I were actually starting to get bored after a while, and I was looking forward to a little trot (maybe telekinetically the horse sensed this) and all of a sudden, my horse LOST HIS SHIT. (His name was Prince by the way) Prince decided he´d had enough and galloped down the beach and tried to go back the way we had came, lucky I had ridden a few times before and actually knew how to TRY and stop the beast (Beast=formerly Prince) but he wouldnt have a bar of it. He kept running and turned again and finally stopped and I relaxed on the reins (mistake) and he reared up and bucked me off! What a shit! I landed hard on my hip, luckily on sand, and was temporarily stunned. Its freakin scary being on a runaway horse! I practically refused to mount Beast again so I rode a different horse. ACtually now that I think of it, Im so greatful it was only trent and I doing it together and not a group....anyway, I rode Zine for approximately 3 minutes until it joined its bastard friend and reared up and HIT our guide! No joke, this horse hit him in the head! ( he was off his horse at this point) And luckily Id become rodeo queen by this stage and I stayed on, god I wish I had a photo of it! So anyway, that was the bulk of the story...I ended up with the most frayed nerves, a painful hip/ass and a disliking of two very beautiful animals. I will ride again, but it will be in Australia, with calm horses, and an english speaking guide. I have totally left Trent out of this story (sorry baby!), but his horse was a legend, only freaking out a little bit instead of a lot. Maybe it was Trents zen persona that kept that horse calm?
Anyway, we left Essouira after 2 nights so we could come back to Marrakech and do a Sahara tour. We made if back to Marrakech and stayed in the grottiest hostel (I think it had the name Palace in it, so dont book here). We left for the Sahara at 7am in the morning and boarded our minibus...Two long days in short...we stopped every now and then to have a look at Berber villages, snow capped mountains, Kasbahs, towns etc. I wasn´t doing brilliantly being on a bus for so long, but eventually we made it to our camels at 5.30pm that afternoon. The camels are cute (when theyre not foaming) and I trusted that they would remain calm for me! We rode out into the desert with our other tourist friends at sunset, and it was a really fun experience. It was one of those ´heh, I´m doing something really random´moments.
We rode until we hit our camp and had a fabulous dinner. The dinner tent was beautiful, it was lamp lit and full of rugs and pillows and we sat down and had mint tea, soup, a shared tagine and awesome oranges for dessert. I was stuffed after travelling all day, and we went to sleep in our tent, which were super comfy I thought! We woke early, but not early enough for sunrise unfortunately and had brekky. Another odd moment was brushing our teeth on a sand dune in the Sahara Desert. not everyone gets to do this I guess!
We rode our camels back to our van, jumped in, drove and drove and made a stop for lunch. The tour group split up and ol Trent and Andy went foraging for cheap, local food. WHY?! WHY?! Why couldnt we have eaten at the expensive place they dropped us at?! We ate at some random, back alley, random, lame, random, crap place and at the time were stoked with our meals. But now its hard to even type about them. It took me about 1-2 hours to become terribly sick. I had to ask the bus driver to pull over. At the time I thought it may have been motion sickness because travelling through the mountains is a nightmare, bends and curves everywhere. It wasnt until I had to stop the bus to be sick again that I realised it was food poisoning. We made it back to our grotty hostel that I had stupidly booked for our return and everything just got worse. Trent bought a bucket for me which was a godsend, the communal toilets were horrendous. Then Trent ended up getting sick, and then it was all on. Both of us were sick in more ways than one, all night...and we were supposed to fly the next day! I dont even know how, but we made the flight to Barcelona...
I wish we hadn´t have fallen sick in Morocoo because it has really made me bitter towards the place! I cant even say the word Berber Pizza, Morocco or Tagine without feeling like Im going to munt. Trying to put that aside though, it is a great country to visit. All the unconventionality of some Asian places Ive been to, mixed with European influences too. I have to disagree with some of the advice I received about it before I left. A lot of people tried to say how much of a shock it would be to me, that I wouldnt handle it initially bla bla bla, but I didnt find that at all. The men definitely didnt stare as much as I thought, if you wanted to wear shorts it was fine, everything was great! OH! Except one thing!!! I totally forgot to say....our whole stay in Morocco was sober!! No alcohol in the medinas! Maybe thats why we got sick...and are you changing your mind about visiting now Glen?! hehe.
anyway, Im going to leave this post and start the next one with beautiful Barcelona! and hopefully get some photos up for you all soon.
love you all xoxo
comment or email us lots!
PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87873&id=699750387&l=d3ac4770e9
Brilliant place, it is as the travel books say...a melting pot of cultures, sounds, colours, tastes.....
We caught a taxi (a mercedes) to ´the square´, and got dropped off god knows where, the driver pointed, mumbled and shuffled us out. Luckily there are hordes of locals whose day job is too suss out blank stares on tourists faces and offer them a ´friendly, helping hand´. Someone escorted us to our hostel which was just around the corner and then of course, asked for money....nothing comes free in Marrakech, but thats ok. We stayed at Hotel Assia, which we can now recommend to others, if you are willing to pay for the quality. (perfect location, nice rooms, nice brekky etc) Anywho, we had a squiz at the streets and souks and had our first tagine (chicken and lemon mmmm). The french influence is all around...there is free bread with all meals here as well. I mean, i like carbs, but europe really pushes my bread boundaries...never thought I would say that!
So there wasnt a boat load of things for us to see or do in Marrakech because of our money restraints...you can definitely go and see some nice gardens, mosques etc but I think the majority of the time you would shop here! There is a LOT of nice homewares that I would buy..lamps, tagines, rugs, tea sets etc and also beautiful jewelerry. (Rhonda, I saw some jewellery for around $1-$5 but I was really trying not to look..you and Glen would have a lot of fun in the markets). The one thing that really stood out to me was the quality of mens jeans. They are INCREDIBLE. I think theyre rip offs of every major fashion house in europe..so so stylish. and only around $30. All the men here dress very well actually, again, very stylish.
So for the few days we spent in Marrakech we mainly walked the streets while dodging the traffic (very similiar to Asia, except here there are donkeys and carts that dont move for nobody!) and ate. A perfect few days! We decided to move on and go to the coast for a few days. We chose Essouira and then let the wind take us there. We tried to get on the bus but god sidetracked and eneded up bargaining to ride in a van. And then the waiting began. Waiting for the guy to sucker in 7 other tourists to get in the van with us haha. Then the bargaining again. and again. and again until we got the trip for 100 Dihram each. The country side was desolate, with a few towns (and random people in THE MOSTrandom places) popping up in between destinations.
Essouira was awesome, we got out of the van and just walked around asking about accommodation when a young man helped me and we ran around together looking at rooms. The last one he showed me was epic. We got a little aparment to ourselves with a rooftop terrace and the most lovely owners...It was called Les Bastion and we would definitely reccommend this place (again, more money than we could have paid. oopsy, my bad). Essouira is a laid back town (think offerings of hooch, hash, opium kind of laid back). We walked around the town and the port and got whipped by the wind that is never ending apparently and booked ourselves a horse ride on the beach. WORST MISTAKE...EVER.
Now I love horses (ok I dont ride them, but have an appreciation for them) and was really excited about this. Apparently this excitement and confidence didnt translate to the horse, and the bastard animal tried to kill me. There´s no two ways about it, this horse had a vendetta against me. For what, I do not know, but it did. We strolled leisurely from the complex without so much of a safety/instruction run down (or a hello actually, for that matter, very unhospitable) and went out on to the beach. Trent and I were actually starting to get bored after a while, and I was looking forward to a little trot (maybe telekinetically the horse sensed this) and all of a sudden, my horse LOST HIS SHIT. (His name was Prince by the way) Prince decided he´d had enough and galloped down the beach and tried to go back the way we had came, lucky I had ridden a few times before and actually knew how to TRY and stop the beast (Beast=formerly Prince) but he wouldnt have a bar of it. He kept running and turned again and finally stopped and I relaxed on the reins (mistake) and he reared up and bucked me off! What a shit! I landed hard on my hip, luckily on sand, and was temporarily stunned. Its freakin scary being on a runaway horse! I practically refused to mount Beast again so I rode a different horse. ACtually now that I think of it, Im so greatful it was only trent and I doing it together and not a group....anyway, I rode Zine for approximately 3 minutes until it joined its bastard friend and reared up and HIT our guide! No joke, this horse hit him in the head! ( he was off his horse at this point) And luckily Id become rodeo queen by this stage and I stayed on, god I wish I had a photo of it! So anyway, that was the bulk of the story...I ended up with the most frayed nerves, a painful hip/ass and a disliking of two very beautiful animals. I will ride again, but it will be in Australia, with calm horses, and an english speaking guide. I have totally left Trent out of this story (sorry baby!), but his horse was a legend, only freaking out a little bit instead of a lot. Maybe it was Trents zen persona that kept that horse calm?
Anyway, we left Essouira after 2 nights so we could come back to Marrakech and do a Sahara tour. We made if back to Marrakech and stayed in the grottiest hostel (I think it had the name Palace in it, so dont book here). We left for the Sahara at 7am in the morning and boarded our minibus...Two long days in short...we stopped every now and then to have a look at Berber villages, snow capped mountains, Kasbahs, towns etc. I wasn´t doing brilliantly being on a bus for so long, but eventually we made it to our camels at 5.30pm that afternoon. The camels are cute (when theyre not foaming) and I trusted that they would remain calm for me! We rode out into the desert with our other tourist friends at sunset, and it was a really fun experience. It was one of those ´heh, I´m doing something really random´moments.
We rode until we hit our camp and had a fabulous dinner. The dinner tent was beautiful, it was lamp lit and full of rugs and pillows and we sat down and had mint tea, soup, a shared tagine and awesome oranges for dessert. I was stuffed after travelling all day, and we went to sleep in our tent, which were super comfy I thought! We woke early, but not early enough for sunrise unfortunately and had brekky. Another odd moment was brushing our teeth on a sand dune in the Sahara Desert. not everyone gets to do this I guess!
We rode our camels back to our van, jumped in, drove and drove and made a stop for lunch. The tour group split up and ol Trent and Andy went foraging for cheap, local food. WHY?! WHY?! Why couldnt we have eaten at the expensive place they dropped us at?! We ate at some random, back alley, random, lame, random, crap place and at the time were stoked with our meals. But now its hard to even type about them. It took me about 1-2 hours to become terribly sick. I had to ask the bus driver to pull over. At the time I thought it may have been motion sickness because travelling through the mountains is a nightmare, bends and curves everywhere. It wasnt until I had to stop the bus to be sick again that I realised it was food poisoning. We made it back to our grotty hostel that I had stupidly booked for our return and everything just got worse. Trent bought a bucket for me which was a godsend, the communal toilets were horrendous. Then Trent ended up getting sick, and then it was all on. Both of us were sick in more ways than one, all night...and we were supposed to fly the next day! I dont even know how, but we made the flight to Barcelona...
I wish we hadn´t have fallen sick in Morocoo because it has really made me bitter towards the place! I cant even say the word Berber Pizza, Morocco or Tagine without feeling like Im going to munt. Trying to put that aside though, it is a great country to visit. All the unconventionality of some Asian places Ive been to, mixed with European influences too. I have to disagree with some of the advice I received about it before I left. A lot of people tried to say how much of a shock it would be to me, that I wouldnt handle it initially bla bla bla, but I didnt find that at all. The men definitely didnt stare as much as I thought, if you wanted to wear shorts it was fine, everything was great! OH! Except one thing!!! I totally forgot to say....our whole stay in Morocco was sober!! No alcohol in the medinas! Maybe thats why we got sick...and are you changing your mind about visiting now Glen?! hehe.
anyway, Im going to leave this post and start the next one with beautiful Barcelona! and hopefully get some photos up for you all soon.
love you all xoxo
comment or email us lots!
PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87873&id=699750387&l=d3ac4770e9
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Baguettes, beer and 2 babes
Bonjour amis et famille!
Welcome to our little site! I hope I can update this often, and brag/ tell you about all of our adventures. Get comfortable people, you know I always have a lot to say!!
Our grand adventure started on monday the 23rd of march. Trent and I said a blurry goodbye thanks to teary eyes and set off. (cue bragging) Fortunately I nabbed a seat in Business class, wallowed in a champagne and some chocolates and generally started to have a great time. My poor, but better half flew economy but assures me his trip was just fine. After hours waiting between us in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London etc we made it to Paris, safe and sound...
We were buggered for our first day in Paris but ambled around our local streets and saw the Moulin Rouge, Sacre Couer and the sex district. The Moulin Rouge is very average looking during the day, becoming iconic at night when it is lit up. The Sacre Couer Basillica is quite beautiful and grand, and has free entry which is always a welcome change. And finally, the sex street, so named because the store fronts are called 'porno shop', 'sexodrome' and 'sex shop'. there really is no mistaking where you are!!
Day 2, we ventured further and visited the Louvre (9euro entry, a bargain considering how expensive some Australian theme parks are). We saw the obligatory sites...the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo etc but I was most impressed with the opulence of Napoleon's apartments. This man was a diva. We spent a good 4 hours navigating our way though Van Gough, Rafael and Leonardo and left for the Notre Dame Catherdral. Not as impressive in real life as maybe we had expected, but certainly beautiful on the inside. The stain glass is incredible. I found out later that the veil Mary was believed to be wearing as she gave birth to Jesus is housed here. Entry was free, which again...is awesome when youre travelling on the Aussie dollar.
As we walked the streets we accidentally found ourselves in 2 separate protests...I still dont know what they were for; but we did our part for the working french folk.
Taking the metro to the other side of the River Seine, we descended into the depths of the Parisian Catacombes (4euro). Here, right in the underground heart of Paris, is literally millions of human bones. Starting in the 1780's, the bodies from Paris' overflowing cemeteries were exhumed and moved to abandoned quarries, now known as the catacombes. For me, it wasn't scary, strange or unnerving to see such a large amount of skeletons, possibly because there are just too many to comprehend that they were once human beings. What I do find strange, is that the bones have been separated into matching pieces and made into walls and patterns. I couldn't help but think of someone yelling 'Hey! Pierre, throw me a head will you?! I have an empty spot here!'. Overall, a very unique experience.
The same day we visited the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and walked the Champs Elysees. All the big name boutiques are here...Louis Vuitton, Gucci etc. Cartier was a mind blowout, with a watch worth a mere 42000 euro in the window. The security guard had a little giggle at me when I swore out loud.
We caught the metro 'home' and walked by a small food market, which I'm sad to say, excited us more than the Eiffel Tower! We bought a crumble pomme and chocolate foundant and tried a local sweet which we were told contained no more ingredients than sugar and butter hehe. what arteries?!
On Saturday we met up with Andy Smith and walked to Place de Tetre and pigged out on a crocque monsieur and a crepe. Crepes are around 2 euro, so a nice cheap snack. We went out to Cafe Oz much later in the evening and found we were the only bloody Aussies there! It just meant more 5 euro Yagerbombs for us though. There wasn't a great nightlife near us (unless you wanted a sleazy show), so we called it a morning.
We woke late and took the metro to the Bastille markets which as we found out was mainly for fresh produce, but it will still great to see. The french really are spoilt for choice in their cuisine...there are beautiful meats, cheeses, chocolates..and everything so fresh.
Overall, we had a brilliant time visiting the monuments of Paris, but I personally had an even better time marvelling at the day to day life of french people. Everyday they buy their fresh baguettes from the boulangere, and nibble at the top as they're walking home. Millions of espressos are consumed everyday, and with most meals, it is a surprise they arent buzzing from caffeine overload. To address the popular stereotype that ALL french are arrogant, we have definitely found this to be untrue. There are some lovely people, with equal amounts of snobbery...just like any country. What I took away from our week in Paris is that as a whole, Parisians are just a bit conservative. Almost, dare I say...bland? I really didnt see much laughing or playing. This also goes with...their fashion! Yeh I just said that. The metro is a sea of grey and black trenches, and ultra boring shoes! The fashion was of a higher standard depending where we were, but sheesh! Bring on some colour! Bring on Morocco!! Until next time....
we love you all xo
PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87867&id=699750387&l=c1fa6b2c8d
Welcome to our little site! I hope I can update this often, and brag/ tell you about all of our adventures. Get comfortable people, you know I always have a lot to say!!
Our grand adventure started on monday the 23rd of march. Trent and I said a blurry goodbye thanks to teary eyes and set off. (cue bragging) Fortunately I nabbed a seat in Business class, wallowed in a champagne and some chocolates and generally started to have a great time. My poor, but better half flew economy but assures me his trip was just fine. After hours waiting between us in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, London etc we made it to Paris, safe and sound...
We were buggered for our first day in Paris but ambled around our local streets and saw the Moulin Rouge, Sacre Couer and the sex district. The Moulin Rouge is very average looking during the day, becoming iconic at night when it is lit up. The Sacre Couer Basillica is quite beautiful and grand, and has free entry which is always a welcome change. And finally, the sex street, so named because the store fronts are called 'porno shop', 'sexodrome' and 'sex shop'. there really is no mistaking where you are!!
Day 2, we ventured further and visited the Louvre (9euro entry, a bargain considering how expensive some Australian theme parks are). We saw the obligatory sites...the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo etc but I was most impressed with the opulence of Napoleon's apartments. This man was a diva. We spent a good 4 hours navigating our way though Van Gough, Rafael and Leonardo and left for the Notre Dame Catherdral. Not as impressive in real life as maybe we had expected, but certainly beautiful on the inside. The stain glass is incredible. I found out later that the veil Mary was believed to be wearing as she gave birth to Jesus is housed here. Entry was free, which again...is awesome when youre travelling on the Aussie dollar.
As we walked the streets we accidentally found ourselves in 2 separate protests...I still dont know what they were for; but we did our part for the working french folk.
Taking the metro to the other side of the River Seine, we descended into the depths of the Parisian Catacombes (4euro). Here, right in the underground heart of Paris, is literally millions of human bones. Starting in the 1780's, the bodies from Paris' overflowing cemeteries were exhumed and moved to abandoned quarries, now known as the catacombes. For me, it wasn't scary, strange or unnerving to see such a large amount of skeletons, possibly because there are just too many to comprehend that they were once human beings. What I do find strange, is that the bones have been separated into matching pieces and made into walls and patterns. I couldn't help but think of someone yelling 'Hey! Pierre, throw me a head will you?! I have an empty spot here!'. Overall, a very unique experience.
The same day we visited the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe and walked the Champs Elysees. All the big name boutiques are here...Louis Vuitton, Gucci etc. Cartier was a mind blowout, with a watch worth a mere 42000 euro in the window. The security guard had a little giggle at me when I swore out loud.
We caught the metro 'home' and walked by a small food market, which I'm sad to say, excited us more than the Eiffel Tower! We bought a crumble pomme and chocolate foundant and tried a local sweet which we were told contained no more ingredients than sugar and butter hehe. what arteries?!
On Saturday we met up with Andy Smith and walked to Place de Tetre and pigged out on a crocque monsieur and a crepe. Crepes are around 2 euro, so a nice cheap snack. We went out to Cafe Oz much later in the evening and found we were the only bloody Aussies there! It just meant more 5 euro Yagerbombs for us though. There wasn't a great nightlife near us (unless you wanted a sleazy show), so we called it a morning.
We woke late and took the metro to the Bastille markets which as we found out was mainly for fresh produce, but it will still great to see. The french really are spoilt for choice in their cuisine...there are beautiful meats, cheeses, chocolates..and everything so fresh.
Overall, we had a brilliant time visiting the monuments of Paris, but I personally had an even better time marvelling at the day to day life of french people. Everyday they buy their fresh baguettes from the boulangere, and nibble at the top as they're walking home. Millions of espressos are consumed everyday, and with most meals, it is a surprise they arent buzzing from caffeine overload. To address the popular stereotype that ALL french are arrogant, we have definitely found this to be untrue. There are some lovely people, with equal amounts of snobbery...just like any country. What I took away from our week in Paris is that as a whole, Parisians are just a bit conservative. Almost, dare I say...bland? I really didnt see much laughing or playing. This also goes with...their fashion! Yeh I just said that. The metro is a sea of grey and black trenches, and ultra boring shoes! The fashion was of a higher standard depending where we were, but sheesh! Bring on some colour! Bring on Morocco!! Until next time....
we love you all xo
PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87867&id=699750387&l=c1fa6b2c8d
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