The world is too small for walls...

Hello from crazy berlin!

Lets see since I last wrote......

We went and checked out Fussen, this lovely little town in Bavaria. We went up and had a look around Neuschwanstein Castle, built by Ludwig II. This castel was amazing. If youre ever going to go and visit a castle, I reccomend this one. It was the inspiration for the disney logo (castle at the beginning of the films). As we walked up the mountain to it, through the misty forest, it was atmospheric....so disney. We half expected snow white to walk around the corner. The castle was amazing inside with decorations and artwork on the walls. It even had a man made grotto built inside between rooms. Crazy!

We made it to Dresden and had a look around there. Although it was heavily bombed during the war the town still had its old town charm with an amazing opera house, church and so on. We were staying in a very funky hostel in the cool part of town so that was nice.

We got to Berlin Thurs and that afternoon went on a walking tour around this city. And im glad we did. The history here is so dense, with so many layers. From Medieval times so modern 20th century history we learnt a lot and saw a lot - The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie amongst many many other things. So interesting.

Yesterday we went and had a look at the east side gallery, a collection of artworks displayed on the old berlin wall. Really interesting stuff. We also had a look at some monuments and memorials, and the Olympic stadium (where they played the world cup final). Last night we went out on a pub crawl which was good fun. Amongst many cool bars we went to this one in particular which was in an old building up to 5 levels filled with squatters and artists displaying their work. It was really, really cool.

Having a quiet day today. This is penny and my last stop before we head back to london on monday and then I start to make my way back to sydney. Im so glad we made Berlin our last stop though. It really is a fantastic world in itself. You HAVE to come here.

I promise photos next time!

Ciao Ciao xo

Oktoberfest Pictures

Prost!!!!!!

I SURVIVED OKTOBERFEST 2006

What a fun fun fun time. Before I got to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany I was not a beer drinker. Well I could do it if I had to but never really enjoyed it. Well I am converted after drinking many many steins of beer (1 L each)! German beer is awesome. Yum!!!

We got to Munich onThurday night after a 12 hour train trip from Warsaw, Poland. Not much to say about Warsaw really, was not particularly impressed. The city was basically flattened after WWII and so all the old buildings have been rebuilt. Good on them for that but when walking around the old town it just felt like a movie set really. It was very grey there and no one smiled. I obviously did not fit in.

Our first day in the beer halls was Friday and we went into the Augistina tent (I think thats how you spell it). We were reccomended it by germans and it was great, loads of germans and good beer!! I cant really paint a picture of the halls, you kind of have to go and see for yourself.

But imagine... a huge, huge hall, an oompah band playing traditional german songs and tacky english 80s love ballads, bavarians dressed up in the lauderhousen (sorry for the spelling!!) traditional get up and everyone dancing on the tables after a few too many steins. The steins are 1 litre each and huge!!! The beer wenches can carry like 12 at a time. Crazy!!!!

You drink from 10 am in the morning until 10 pm at night when they stop serving beer. As you might imagine it gets a little messy!

We had saturday off and had a look around munich at another church, another amazing old building (im not over europe at all!!). No, Munich is actually really nice and the bavarian people here are loively and very chilled out.

We had another big day in the tents yesterday and did basically the same thing but tried a few different tents which was good!! Were off to Fussen today to see the castle that inspired the disney castle. And then Dresden and Berlin. Cant wait for Berlin should be great!

Ciao for now and Prost (Cheers!)

xoxoxoxo

Some of my favourites....

Finally my life is complete. My Blog has pictures! I love free internet =)

They are of :
Baths in Budapest, Hungary (top left)
Me in Budapest (top right)
Queen of the Alps in Innsbruck, Austria (middle right)
View from our hostel in Granada, Spain (middle left)
Meet Penny my partner in crime - enjoying tapas in Barcelona, Spain (middle right)
Striking a pose at the Royal Palace in Vienna, Austria (bottom left)
Plaque commemorating lives lost at Auschwitz, Poland (bottom right)

We are currently in Krakow, Poland. We left Budapest the other day planning to head to Slovakia for a bit, but changed our minds on the train (aahhh the joys of having an interail pass) and had a night back in Vienna before we came here yesterday. Had a nice meal last night (3 courses, chinese) for 3 euros!!!! It's very cheap here, we like very much!

Today we went and had a look at Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. Phew - what an emotionally draining experience. What can I say. It was an interesting experience - you do learn a-lot and see a-lot of what happened in these places. It was absoulutely horrific, and to stand where some of these events took place was really chilling. It really makes you question humanity and the cruelty of people. Heavy stuff.

On a lighter note, Krakow is a really nice city. It was the only major city to have buildings survive the bombing in WWII. We're off the see the castle tomorrow before we head to Warsaw. And then it's Oktoberfest this weekend in Munich!!!!!!!!

Ciao xoxo

The Best Cure....

Hello alll!!

Finally we got our pictures back from la tomatina, and yay they worked on the computer!!!!!! Note the before and after shot. Crazy times.

Since my last blog I have been quite busy actually. We went to Vienna, Austria for a few nights. It was lovely there, lots of amazing buildings and architecture. We pretty much just had a look around at the different sights and sampled the local viennese coffee culture (yum!). One day we rode bikes round the ciy which was so much fun!!! Nice to feel like a local (all the locals ride bikes - they have special bike lanes all over the city). I also went to the ballet for 3 euros which I was pretty chuffed about! Had to stand up but had a great view!!!!

We have been feeling a little 'europed out' - as in, a bit over seeing just another church/amazing old building and so on. So we decided to go totally against our plans to head to germany and headed to Budapest, Hungary instead. We got here yesterday and it's really nice to see something a little different for a change, its an interesting mix between eastern and western europe. We had a big one last night after going to some really cool outdoor clubs and so today decided to mix in with the locals and go to the local baths. It was really nice and just what we needed. Did the whole sauna and then jump into icy cold water thing which was fun!!

Anyway were of to Slovakia tomorrow for a night so hopefully more interesting adventures to write about. Until then xoxox

Pictures....Finally? Nooooooo

Hello!

Still in Austria, Salzburg at the moment (where they filmed The Sound of Music). We got here yesterday, wandered round the town which is really nice but touristy. Watched The Sound of Music last night as you would. Today we went and checked out the biggest ice caves in the world just out of the city up in the mountains. Was a mission to get there but they were awesome!!!

Here are some of my favourite pics from my trip so far (fingers crossed they work!)

Not working....bah...I give up =(

The hills are alive...

Hellloooooooo from Austria!!!

Ok let me think back to where we have been over the past week.....

Last weekend we left Valencia (Spain) for Barcelona. Had a great time there, I really love that city. We had a look at the sagrida familia (my most favourite piece of architecture in the world), Gaudi´s masterpiece. We also had a look at the Gaudi museum which had lots of stuff on all of the buildings he designed over barcelona. We had yummy tapas, one of the best things about spain. Checked out some great flamenco dancing and chilled out on the beach as it would be the last one we would see for a while....

Beginning of this week we left Spain behind for Switzerland. First we checked out Bern, the capital, which was really nice. We had a look and climbed up to the top of Switzerland´s tallest church for great views of this lovely city. Snow capped mountains as far as the eye could see....amazing. We also had a look at the bear pits there and had a walk along the river before hopping on a train to Zurich. We weren´t too fussed on Zurich, which seemed like just another big city. Although it does have a lovely huge lake you can chill out by....we found the swiss franc to hefty for our budget and left the land of Swiss cheese and chocolate for greener pastures.

We arrived into Innsbruck, Austria a couple of days ago. Although our hostel has resident rats and the doors don´t lock, we are having an amazing time here. Innsbruck has a lovely old town and every where you look amazing mountains take up the sky. Yesterday went for a hike up to 2200 m (no we didn´t hike the WHOLE way, just most of it). It was so lovely to get out in nature and leave the city behind. And what a view!!! After meeting some lovely people at our hostel we went out for a few drinks last night and yes I drank german/austrian beer and yes, I liked it very much =). This afternoon I went white water rafting which was something Ive ALWAYS wanted to do so im quite chuffed. It was beautiful floating downstream through a picture perfect valley...and then you had to paddle hard and cross fingers no one fell out over the rapids. Luckily no one did cos the water was freezing!!

We´re of to Salzburg tomorrow to see if the hills are really alive with the sound of music. Stay tuned for the verdict.....