After a marathon trip, I finally arrived in Athens. I left Rome at 7:30am yesterday morning, took a train to Bari, an overnight boat to Patras and then another train to Athens, finally arriving at 6:30pm. The train from Patras was certainly interesting... there were a bunch of backpackers all waiting for the same train to Athens. Halfway, the train stopped and we had to get onto a different train, which had a sort of a Y shaped line - we started on one limb and Athens was on the other, but to get there we had to go down the trunk and then back again. We were all very confused, but the Greek people on the train told us to stay on the train, so we did. We made it in the end.
Unfortunately, after arriving at my hostel, I discovered that it doesn't have a kitchen. I was fairly sure that they referenced a kitchen on their website, but apparently not. That's not great - apparently a lot of Greek food includes eggplant (aubergine), which makes me very sick, so I was hoping to self-cater to avoid the possibility of not understanding what I was ordering. The hostel is a converted hotel, where they've just taken the double beds out of the rooms and chucked in two bunk beds. It's also in the red light district, and stinks of cigarette smoke. I met some other tourists who are staying at a different hostel, so I might find out how good theirs is and leave this one if theirs sounds much better - hurts to have paid for 4 nights, but I'm tired of crappy hostels.
I've been a-plotting, and it looks like I can do the things I really wanted to in 3 days - tomorrow I am hoping to visit the Acropolis/Parthenon, and it looks like Delphi and Mycenae are both about 3 hours away in a bus (in opposite directions from each other), so I should be able to do two day trips for about 20 Euro return each (tour bus tours are 85 Euro each minimum).
Time for bed perhaps.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Lazy Sunday afternoon in Rome...
Yesterday I visited Ostia Antica, which literally means the Ancient River Mouth - it was the old port of Rome before the Tiber changed its course. It is all ruins now, and the site is HUGE - it's at least a kilometre or two long. There are ancient mosaics everywhere, columns, buildings, statues, and a huge ampithreatre... it was really cool. It was a beautiful sunny day too - I was walking around in a t-shirt for the first time since I left Australia :) And after so many cities, it was really nice to be out somewhere with grass, trees and birds.
I met up with some American music students in the hostel who were pretty cool, so we had been hanging out eating gelati, drinking cheap crappy wine and playing Uno. A nice change from hanging around on my own. I have also discovered that nutella gelato is the most awesome ice cream in the universe. Seriously. If heaven existed, it would serve nutella gelato. Mmm. (Note to all those people who said "you'll lose weight in Europe" - totally wrong.)
Today I walked to the other city of the city to visit a huge market, where I bought myself an Italian leather wallet and a fake Prada handbag. After this I walked all the way to the Vatican, where I was planning on visiting the Sistine Chapel, but unfortunately it closed at lunchtime.
Because it's Sunday, everything in Rome is closed. I have no idea how they manage to run an economy when people only work when they feel like it. Shops are generally open from around 10am to 1:30, and then from 4 to 7pm... Saturdays some things are open in the morning, and Saturday afternoon and Sunday pretty much everything is closed. I also have no idea how they get away with having absolutely no customer service skills, but that's another story.
So here I am having a lazy Sunday afternoon on the internet. Tomorrow morning I catch a train to Bari, which is where the boat to Greece departs from. I'm trying not to think about 16 hours on a boat. I did manage to pick up some seasickness tablets, just in case.
I met up with some American music students in the hostel who were pretty cool, so we had been hanging out eating gelati, drinking cheap crappy wine and playing Uno. A nice change from hanging around on my own. I have also discovered that nutella gelato is the most awesome ice cream in the universe. Seriously. If heaven existed, it would serve nutella gelato. Mmm. (Note to all those people who said "you'll lose weight in Europe" - totally wrong.)
Today I walked to the other city of the city to visit a huge market, where I bought myself an Italian leather wallet and a fake Prada handbag. After this I walked all the way to the Vatican, where I was planning on visiting the Sistine Chapel, but unfortunately it closed at lunchtime.
Because it's Sunday, everything in Rome is closed. I have no idea how they manage to run an economy when people only work when they feel like it. Shops are generally open from around 10am to 1:30, and then from 4 to 7pm... Saturdays some things are open in the morning, and Saturday afternoon and Sunday pretty much everything is closed. I also have no idea how they get away with having absolutely no customer service skills, but that's another story.
So here I am having a lazy Sunday afternoon on the internet. Tomorrow morning I catch a train to Bari, which is where the boat to Greece departs from. I'm trying not to think about 16 hours on a boat. I did manage to pick up some seasickness tablets, just in case.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
A day in Rome...
This morning it was raining again (surprise surprise). While wandering to the Colosseum, I stumbled upon some sort of political rally. There were Communists there! I didn't think Communists existed anymore!
After visiting the Colosseum, I tried to go to the Palatine, but apparently it was closed to due a strike. (Of course, they didn't advertise this at the Colosseum where one buys the combined same-day ticket for both.) I'm guessing this is the march I ran into.
In the afternoon I visited the Trevi Fountain, which was much bigger than I was expecting, the Spanish Steps, and wandered up Via del Corso to Piazza Popolo or something, passing a few piazzas and obelisks on the way.
I can't say I really like Rome - it's dirty, traffic is a constant rush hour and there are always crowds of people everywhere (the metro is packed all day). Customer service is terrible - the minute they finish serving you, they start talking to the next customer without even saying thank you or goodbye. People don't walk places, they meander like they have all the time in the world.
On the upside, the hostel has free breakfast and dinner, which is a nice change. I wanted to visit Pompeii, but the tours are €140, which is more than a little out of my price range, so tomorrow I think I'll visit Ostea Antica instead.
After visiting the Colosseum, I tried to go to the Palatine, but apparently it was closed to due a strike. (Of course, they didn't advertise this at the Colosseum where one buys the combined same-day ticket for both.) I'm guessing this is the march I ran into.
In the afternoon I visited the Trevi Fountain, which was much bigger than I was expecting, the Spanish Steps, and wandered up Via del Corso to Piazza Popolo or something, passing a few piazzas and obelisks on the way.
I can't say I really like Rome - it's dirty, traffic is a constant rush hour and there are always crowds of people everywhere (the metro is packed all day). Customer service is terrible - the minute they finish serving you, they start talking to the next customer without even saying thank you or goodbye. People don't walk places, they meander like they have all the time in the world.
On the upside, the hostel has free breakfast and dinner, which is a nice change. I wanted to visit Pompeii, but the tours are €140, which is more than a little out of my price range, so tomorrow I think I'll visit Ostea Antica instead.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Weather with me...
I should really apologise to the other tourists who happen to be visiting places at the same time as I am - I seem to be dragging a huge raincloud behind me. Yes, today, as per the last week, it was raining.
Last night in my Venetian hostel was hilarious. The hostel had assigned beds - all the beds have numbers, and they give you the number of your bed when you check in. I checked in, was given bed 11, went up to my room, and found sheets on the bed. I went back to reception and said "someone is in that bed, there are sheets on it". Reception said that someone had probably just forgotten to take the sheets off when checking out, so I should just bring them downstairs. (I knew this wasn't likely - someone was in the wrong bed.) After dinner I was sitting on my bed reading when I am accosted by an angry Asian girl - "this bed taken! get off my bed!". Her mother was there too and started pointing and ranting at me in what I think was Cantonese or Mandarin. I showed her the bed number, my key number, and pointed her to her own bed. She started yelling - "no, that my bed, I sleep there last night, my sheets". (I hate yelling.) By this time, the whole room was listening, and one of the other occupants of the room stepped in to get shouted at too. I gave up pretty fast - "You have the wrong bed. Go and talk to reception." and went back to reading. 10 minutes later, the hostel reception guy walks in with her, and she starts yelling at him. He's pretty much an Italian stereotype, and starts yelling at her and waving his hands around - "why never you look at numbers? this your bed, go get sheets, make bed. not my fault you can't read!" After 10 minutes of this he laughs at her and walks out. She realises she isn't going to get her own way and heads off to get new sheets, and her mother (who is also in the wrong bed), moves her sheets across - and of course, I get pointed fingers and looks and what I'm guessing was verbal abuse in whatever language it was for the next two hours. (Your question will be - why didn't I just take a different bed when I checked in? Because Murphy's Law says that someone will check in at 11pm and be given the bed I took, and reception will make me change beds. I'd rather not have the hassle.)
The fun with the Asian guests wasn't over yet though - at 11pm, 14 out of 16 room occupants were in bed trying to sleep (turns out those "like, totally" girls were on a school trip and their teachers were in the room), but the two others are still walking around talking and rustling plastic bags with their lights on. At 12:30am they finally go to bed, so we can too. Ten minutes later though, the snoring starts. This wasn't the annoying snoring of the previous night, it was an earthquake emanating from the old woman's bed. Soon there are girls from the rooms on either side of ours congregating in our room - that's at least 45 people she's keeping awake. They finally poke her and wake her up and ask her to roll over. After another rude tirade, she does and at 1am, we finally get to sleep.
At 5am, a loud alarm goes off. Who should it belong to, but the old woman, who gets up, turns the light on and starts rustling plastic bags again. I can't believe it and hope she'll go back to sleep - I have to be up at 6:30am to catch a train, but I'm hoping I can get another hour's sleep in. No such luck - she starts boiling water and cooking noodles in a stove next to her bed. I give up and get up. When checking out, I tell the people behind the desk that someone is cooking food in the room and leave. Sometimes hostelling is just one joke on top of another.
This afternoon I arrived in Rome, raincloud in tow. It's not exactly what I had in mind - the ancient ruins are there, but they're right next to Metro stations... it seems a little strange. I got drenched walking around the Colosseum and wandered around for another hour venting my frustrations at the weather on the annoying umbrella salesmen who followed me around. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for sightseeing.
Last night in my Venetian hostel was hilarious. The hostel had assigned beds - all the beds have numbers, and they give you the number of your bed when you check in. I checked in, was given bed 11, went up to my room, and found sheets on the bed. I went back to reception and said "someone is in that bed, there are sheets on it". Reception said that someone had probably just forgotten to take the sheets off when checking out, so I should just bring them downstairs. (I knew this wasn't likely - someone was in the wrong bed.) After dinner I was sitting on my bed reading when I am accosted by an angry Asian girl - "this bed taken! get off my bed!". Her mother was there too and started pointing and ranting at me in what I think was Cantonese or Mandarin. I showed her the bed number, my key number, and pointed her to her own bed. She started yelling - "no, that my bed, I sleep there last night, my sheets". (I hate yelling.) By this time, the whole room was listening, and one of the other occupants of the room stepped in to get shouted at too. I gave up pretty fast - "You have the wrong bed. Go and talk to reception." and went back to reading. 10 minutes later, the hostel reception guy walks in with her, and she starts yelling at him. He's pretty much an Italian stereotype, and starts yelling at her and waving his hands around - "why never you look at numbers? this your bed, go get sheets, make bed. not my fault you can't read!" After 10 minutes of this he laughs at her and walks out. She realises she isn't going to get her own way and heads off to get new sheets, and her mother (who is also in the wrong bed), moves her sheets across - and of course, I get pointed fingers and looks and what I'm guessing was verbal abuse in whatever language it was for the next two hours. (Your question will be - why didn't I just take a different bed when I checked in? Because Murphy's Law says that someone will check in at 11pm and be given the bed I took, and reception will make me change beds. I'd rather not have the hassle.)
The fun with the Asian guests wasn't over yet though - at 11pm, 14 out of 16 room occupants were in bed trying to sleep (turns out those "like, totally" girls were on a school trip and their teachers were in the room), but the two others are still walking around talking and rustling plastic bags with their lights on. At 12:30am they finally go to bed, so we can too. Ten minutes later though, the snoring starts. This wasn't the annoying snoring of the previous night, it was an earthquake emanating from the old woman's bed. Soon there are girls from the rooms on either side of ours congregating in our room - that's at least 45 people she's keeping awake. They finally poke her and wake her up and ask her to roll over. After another rude tirade, she does and at 1am, we finally get to sleep.
At 5am, a loud alarm goes off. Who should it belong to, but the old woman, who gets up, turns the light on and starts rustling plastic bags again. I can't believe it and hope she'll go back to sleep - I have to be up at 6:30am to catch a train, but I'm hoping I can get another hour's sleep in. No such luck - she starts boiling water and cooking noodles in a stove next to her bed. I give up and get up. When checking out, I tell the people behind the desk that someone is cooking food in the room and leave. Sometimes hostelling is just one joke on top of another.
This afternoon I arrived in Rome, raincloud in tow. It's not exactly what I had in mind - the ancient ruins are there, but they're right next to Metro stations... it seems a little strange. I got drenched walking around the Colosseum and wandered around for another hour venting my frustrations at the weather on the annoying umbrella salesmen who followed me around. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for sightseeing.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Alone in Venice...
Sometimes night trains are great... other times, they're not quite so awesome. Last night on the way from Vienna to Venice I was in a sleeper with five Koreans who didn't speak English. They spent 2 hours before bed taking off their make-up and turned the heat up as far as it could go. At 1am I woke up when the girl above me (it's always the person directly above me) started snoring. The room was boiling - it was like being inside an oven. I got up, turned the heat right down and spent somewhere close to an hour kicking and punching her bunk - to no avail, every time she woke up, she went back to sleep without rolling over. Eventually I fell asleep out of pure exhaustion. An hour later (3am), the passport guys came through and woke everyone up, although I don't know why, as we weren't going outside the borders of the Schengen thingy. Blessedly, snoring girl had stopped snoring! I soon realised why - turning the heat right down made her turn onto her side and curl up into a ball to keep warm. Unfortunately my wonderful roommates noticed that I had turned the heat down and turned it back to the "oven" setting again. I gave up and slept fitfully until 6am, when they started putting their makeup on again. (It's an overnight train, no one expects you to look like you just stepped off a catwalk...). We actually got breakfast on this train, so after bread, jam and coffee I was feeling a little more alert and managed to find an empty carriage to hang around in for the 2 hours until Venice.
Unfortunately, my genius plan backfired - there are no showers at Venice train station. Tired and in desperate need of a shower, I deciphered the public transport ticketing system and eventually after half an hour of platform hopping, found myself aboard a vaporetto to the hostel. I had tried to book this hostel earlier via email, but got no reply - this is actually really annoying, because if I didn't get a bed, I would have to head to another city to find somewhere to sleep for the night. After 45 minutes on the ferry (and we all know how much I love boats), I arrived at the hostel... only to discover a sign on the door saying "Closed from 9:30am to 1:30pm, check-in from 1:30pm". Great - tired, in desperate need of a shower, and now having to carry my heavy backpack around because the hostel was closed.
Did I mention that it was freezing cold, grey and raining? I headed over to Piazza San Marco, which was half-underwater with little boardwalks everywhere, and dodged tourists for 45 minutes, before giving up and finding a restaurant that would allow a solo person with a huge backpack to take up a table for lunch. Pizza was actually quite nice :) I eventually headed back to the hostel and sat around reading until it opened at 1:30pm.
Short story is I did get a bed, but I'm doubtful of how much sleep it will provide - this hostel runs only 16 bed dorms (eugh), and upon walking in, what should I find but a bunch of 18 year olds singing dodgy pop songs and talking about all of the wine they were going to drink tonight ("like, totally!").
After that much needed shower I spent the afternoon wandering around laughing at those fake-designer bag vendors evading the police in the backstreets near the Piazza, and ended up catching a romantic twilight vaporetto back to the hostel with my photo of Stephen. Venice is quite pretty after all.
Unfortunately, my genius plan backfired - there are no showers at Venice train station. Tired and in desperate need of a shower, I deciphered the public transport ticketing system and eventually after half an hour of platform hopping, found myself aboard a vaporetto to the hostel. I had tried to book this hostel earlier via email, but got no reply - this is actually really annoying, because if I didn't get a bed, I would have to head to another city to find somewhere to sleep for the night. After 45 minutes on the ferry (and we all know how much I love boats), I arrived at the hostel... only to discover a sign on the door saying "Closed from 9:30am to 1:30pm, check-in from 1:30pm". Great - tired, in desperate need of a shower, and now having to carry my heavy backpack around because the hostel was closed.
Did I mention that it was freezing cold, grey and raining? I headed over to Piazza San Marco, which was half-underwater with little boardwalks everywhere, and dodged tourists for 45 minutes, before giving up and finding a restaurant that would allow a solo person with a huge backpack to take up a table for lunch. Pizza was actually quite nice :) I eventually headed back to the hostel and sat around reading until it opened at 1:30pm.
Short story is I did get a bed, but I'm doubtful of how much sleep it will provide - this hostel runs only 16 bed dorms (eugh), and upon walking in, what should I find but a bunch of 18 year olds singing dodgy pop songs and talking about all of the wine they were going to drink tonight ("like, totally!").
After that much needed shower I spent the afternoon wandering around laughing at those fake-designer bag vendors evading the police in the backstreets near the Piazza, and ended up catching a romantic twilight vaporetto back to the hostel with my photo of Stephen. Venice is quite pretty after all.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A different day trip...
After consulting the Magical Book of Possibilities (also known as the European Rail Timetable), we decided to change our day trip from Salzburg to the closer and potentially more interesting Budapest, Hungary.
Budapest was... interesting. It didn't give a great vibe on arrival - the whole area around the train station looks like it belongs in a communist comic book, grey concrete, broken windows, dirty run down shops. We walked along a very very long street and eventually made it to the Danube though, and the city showed a totally different face - the Parliament building is beautiful, the Danube is wide and actually looked fairly clean with cool bridges, and there was even an art show. We actually didn't realise that tomorrow is Hungarian Republic Day or something, so most of the shops were closed (4 day weekend I think), but walking around was pretty good. We eventually found our way to the Heroes Square, which was huge and had really cool statues. Pictures to come when I can find a computer that allows it. (Would you believe this hostel is running Ubuntu?)
Tomorrow night I am catching a sleeper train to Venice, where I can hopefully find a bed for the night - apparently hostels there have never heard of online booking.
Budapest was... interesting. It didn't give a great vibe on arrival - the whole area around the train station looks like it belongs in a communist comic book, grey concrete, broken windows, dirty run down shops. We walked along a very very long street and eventually made it to the Danube though, and the city showed a totally different face - the Parliament building is beautiful, the Danube is wide and actually looked fairly clean with cool bridges, and there was even an art show. We actually didn't realise that tomorrow is Hungarian Republic Day or something, so most of the shops were closed (4 day weekend I think), but walking around was pretty good. We eventually found our way to the Heroes Square, which was huge and had really cool statues. Pictures to come when I can find a computer that allows it. (Would you believe this hostel is running Ubuntu?)
Tomorrow night I am catching a sleeper train to Venice, where I can hopefully find a bed for the night - apparently hostels there have never heard of online booking.
Monday, October 22, 2007
You shall not eat strudel...
I arrived in cold, raining Vienna yesterday evening at around 4pm, and checked into the hostel. Heading out to find food for dinner, I walked past a bunch of supermarkets, and thought "I'll just see what's up this street and buy groceries on the way back..." - not expecting that the supermarkets would all close at 5pm on Saturday. So last night I went out for dinner on my own - I've been avoiding it partly to save money and partly because the smoking in restaurants puts me off my food. I went to dinner early to avoid crowds, and sat in the furthest corner away from the only two other people in the restaurant... and five minutes after I ordered someone comes in, sits down 2 tables away from me and gets a pipe out. Seriously. I enjoyed my Wiener Schnitzel (not quite as big as my head by diameter or volume) and my huge stein of beer anyway, and got out of there as quickly as I could.
Boon arrived this morning, and I went out to the airport to meet him - after checking back into the hostel and having lunch in a cafe, we were wandering around and found a beisl (apparently a local pub) advertising apple strudel outside. We were still a little peckish, so we went in - after being sat at a table with someone else, and waiting 10 minutes for a waitress, we tried to order our apple strudel, but the waitress rudely told us "this is not a coffee house", took the menus away and refused to serve us. So much for hospitality.
Apart from the rude locals (the person in the tourist information booth was also rude when I asked her which tram to catch), Vienna has been cold (currently 7 degrees), raining on and off, and doesn't seem that interesting a city. We visited the Hofsburg today and saw lots of cutlery and crockery, visited Obie's recommended Cafe Demel which was packed and had unimpressive sacher torte, and wandered around. Pretty much everything was closed.
Tomorrow the plan is to head to Salzburg for a day trip. Unfortunately I think I have some sort of throat or chest infection, so not feeling the greatest - I am under orders to dress warmly and drink lots of juice. Hopefully I feel better for the delightful 3 degree maximum in Salzburg tomorrow. Maybe I'll get that snow after all.
Boon arrived this morning, and I went out to the airport to meet him - after checking back into the hostel and having lunch in a cafe, we were wandering around and found a beisl (apparently a local pub) advertising apple strudel outside. We were still a little peckish, so we went in - after being sat at a table with someone else, and waiting 10 minutes for a waitress, we tried to order our apple strudel, but the waitress rudely told us "this is not a coffee house", took the menus away and refused to serve us. So much for hospitality.
Apart from the rude locals (the person in the tourist information booth was also rude when I asked her which tram to catch), Vienna has been cold (currently 7 degrees), raining on and off, and doesn't seem that interesting a city. We visited the Hofsburg today and saw lots of cutlery and crockery, visited Obie's recommended Cafe Demel which was packed and had unimpressive sacher torte, and wandered around. Pretty much everything was closed.
Tomorrow the plan is to head to Salzburg for a day trip. Unfortunately I think I have some sort of throat or chest infection, so not feeling the greatest - I am under orders to dress warmly and drink lots of juice. Hopefully I feel better for the delightful 3 degree maximum in Salzburg tomorrow. Maybe I'll get that snow after all.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Karlstejn Castle...
Today I visited Karlstejn Castle, yet another of the Czech Republic's ridiculously photogenic buildings.
Unfortunately you couldn't take any photos inside.
Unfortunately you couldn't take any photos inside. 
But the countryside was quite pretty too - lots of autumn reds and yellows.
Later on I went for a wander and found the "Dancing Building", supposedly modelled on Fred Astaire and that Ginger chick. Pretty random.
I managed to find a bookshop today, so I picked up a couple of books - tomorrow's either a lazy day, or I might wander around and find out what cubist architecture looks like.
Prague shops and restaurants seem to have a thing for dodgy 90s pop music - seriously, when was the last time you heard Chocolate Starfish or Joshua Kadison in Australia? I'm quite enjoying it :)
Word on the street is that it's going to snow tomorrow.
Photos from Kutna Hora...
Sedlec Ossuary... a family crest. 
Real life skull and crossbones, yarrr!
Bones can be used to make all sorts of ornaments...
Cool roof on the Cathedral. I wonder how well that copes with snow though...
Cathedral of Saint Barbera.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Visited Kutna Hora...
Damnit, Blogspot is being a pain and refuses to upload photos right now :(
Today I took a very expensive tour to Kutna Hora, which is a town around 60km east of Prague. The tour consisted of me, two English pensioners, and two Czech pensioners who live in California. The old people were quite nice, but started talking conservative politics after a while (how dare they say "partner" on forms instead of "husband or wife"!) so I tuned out.
We visited the Sedlec Ossuary, which has decorations made from 40,000 human skeletons (the pensioners didn't really like it here), wandered around the town, had a tasty Czech lunch (goulash and dumplings with Czech Budweiser) and visited the Cathedral of St Barbara, which is another cool gothic building (gothic architecture is so cool). I took lots of cool photos, but unfortunately I can't upload them now, so I'll upload soon.
I am feeling rather lazy, so instead of heading to Munich I've decided to stay in Prague for another 2 days if I can (hopefully the hostel reception will open sometime tonight...). I'd like to visit Karlstejn Castle, and I'm sure I could kill another day (yes Mum, I am looking after myself :)).
Today I took a very expensive tour to Kutna Hora, which is a town around 60km east of Prague. The tour consisted of me, two English pensioners, and two Czech pensioners who live in California. The old people were quite nice, but started talking conservative politics after a while (how dare they say "partner" on forms instead of "husband or wife"!) so I tuned out.
We visited the Sedlec Ossuary, which has decorations made from 40,000 human skeletons (the pensioners didn't really like it here), wandered around the town, had a tasty Czech lunch (goulash and dumplings with Czech Budweiser) and visited the Cathedral of St Barbara, which is another cool gothic building (gothic architecture is so cool). I took lots of cool photos, but unfortunately I can't upload them now, so I'll upload soon.
I am feeling rather lazy, so instead of heading to Munich I've decided to stay in Prague for another 2 days if I can (hopefully the hostel reception will open sometime tonight...). I'd like to visit Karlstejn Castle, and I'm sure I could kill another day (yes Mum, I am looking after myself :)).
Photos from Prague...
Prague is just too damn photogenic for its own good!
Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge. (Charles Bridge at 8am)
Bridges and towers through the early morning mist...
Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge. (Charles Bridge at 8am)
Bridges and towers through the early morning mist...
By popular demand, not one but three pictures of me in the mirror maze!
Charles Bridge at 3pm... totally packed with tourists.
Photos from Berlin...
There were some random performers with this model outside of the Reichstag Building, it took 6 of them to work his arms, legs and body, and it looked really lifelike :)
After waiting an hour to get inside the Reichstag Building, all I found was a big dome with ramps and tourists. Bleh.
Apparently they recently cleaned the Brandenburg Gate. I thought it was pretty :)
Photos from Kiruna...
There were no really good photos from Gothenburg or Stockholm unfortunately, but here are are a couple from Kiruna...
When driving your dogsled to the airport, make sure it is correctly parked...
When driving your dogsled to the airport, make sure it is correctly parked...
Kiruna Church, shaped like a giant Sami (Lapplander) dwelling. Kinda cool.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Addendum that I forgot to mention yesterday...
I forgot to mention the amazing feat I performed yesterday - after hopping on the train from Berlin to Prague, I then realised that my special Prague ticket needed a stamp to validate it, which I could only get from a station ticket office (not the conductor). Once the train got to Dresden, I jumped off, fully laden with my pack and my backpack, and dashed madly to the ticket office, waited behind 5 people in the queue before getting the ticket stamped, and once again running fully laden back to the train, which pulled out 30 seconds after I got on board. Running with a 10kg pack on your back and another small pack on your front is no mean feat! Go me!
Sore legs in Prague...
Prague is much more like what I was expecting from Europe - the whole city is just beautiful :) Cobblestone streets and awesome architecture. Today I had a mammoth touristy day :)
I got up early to catch Charles Bridge pre-most of the tourists, and wandered around for a few hours looking for breakfast and an ATM, eventually finding one, and a calling card, in an attempt to stave off my increasingly ridiculous phone bill. I wandered through the grounds of the castle, with about a thousand other tourists, visited the Church of St Nicholas, which was very pretty, and walked 300m up (straight up) Petrin Hill to see the fake Eiffel Tower and the highly disappointing mirror maze. Yes, I chickened out on the first floor of the tower :( Damn heights.
Tomorrow my plan is to take a trip to Kutna Hora and see the Bone Church. It would be much cheaper to go on my own, but there's a(n expensive) tour for 1300 crowns available that I thought I might go on - it would be nice to talk to people again, plus there's a free lunch :P
I bought a painting today of the bridge and the skyline which should look nice on my wall... if I can get it back to Sydney in one piece.
I was scheduled to leave the day after tomorrow and head to Munich to meet up with Selvans from WoW, but it turns out that he can't make it, so I'm debating whether I should still go to Munich or find somewhere else. I hear that Oktoberfest is over, so there should theoretically be less drunk tourists around. Either way, I have three days to kill between leaving Prague and meeting up with Boon in Vienna. Hrm.
I got up early to catch Charles Bridge pre-most of the tourists, and wandered around for a few hours looking for breakfast and an ATM, eventually finding one, and a calling card, in an attempt to stave off my increasingly ridiculous phone bill. I wandered through the grounds of the castle, with about a thousand other tourists, visited the Church of St Nicholas, which was very pretty, and walked 300m up (straight up) Petrin Hill to see the fake Eiffel Tower and the highly disappointing mirror maze. Yes, I chickened out on the first floor of the tower :( Damn heights.
Tomorrow my plan is to take a trip to Kutna Hora and see the Bone Church. It would be much cheaper to go on my own, but there's a(n expensive) tour for 1300 crowns available that I thought I might go on - it would be nice to talk to people again, plus there's a free lunch :P
I bought a painting today of the bridge and the skyline which should look nice on my wall... if I can get it back to Sydney in one piece.
I was scheduled to leave the day after tomorrow and head to Munich to meet up with Selvans from WoW, but it turns out that he can't make it, so I'm debating whether I should still go to Munich or find somewhere else. I hear that Oktoberfest is over, so there should theoretically be less drunk tourists around. Either way, I have three days to kill between leaving Prague and meeting up with Boon in Vienna. Hrm.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Cash problems in Prague...
Well I've arrived in Prague... interestingly the book I had says 28 Czech crown for every A$1, but according to XE it's 17 now... what happened there? Isn't the Aussie Dollar supposed to be strong?
Either way, I got 1000 out when I arrived, and headed over to my hostel... once I found out that they don't take credit cards so I had to pay in cash I went to an ATM to get out some more money only to get "insufficient funds". Uh oh...
I transferred money from my ING Savings account but I'm not sure where it's gone, hopefully it will arrive soon. I found an internet cafe and took a cash advance off my credit card in the meantime to avoid waking people up a 3am.
Either way, I got 1000 out when I arrived, and headed over to my hostel... once I found out that they don't take credit cards so I had to pay in cash I went to an ATM to get out some more money only to get "insufficient funds". Uh oh...
I transferred money from my ING Savings account but I'm not sure where it's gone, hopefully it will arrive soon. I found an internet cafe and took a cash advance off my credit card in the meantime to avoid waking people up a 3am.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Berlin and onwards...
Today I learned all about German politics when I checked out the Reichstag Building (their youngest politician is 22, crazy), but was unimpressed that what I waited an hour for was just an elevator to the dome and not a tour. I saw the Brandenburg Gate, full of tourists and idiots in American and Soviet military uniforms who you could pay to pose with for a photo in front of the gate. I wandered through the Jewish Memorial thingy, which was an interesting forest of different sized blocks, saw a lot of closed shopping centres. I visited the East Side Gallery, which is apparently the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall, and was very disappointed that it was full of tourist scribblings - "Bob was ere 2007!!!!" etc.
A little homesick and very tired. I've seen everything I wanted to see in Berlin, so tomorrow I'm heading to Prague.
A little homesick and very tired. I've seen everything I wanted to see in Berlin, so tomorrow I'm heading to Prague.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
I made it to Berlin...
Two more trains later, I made it to Berlin at 7pm. I'm pretty exhausted, but at least I got here I guess.
I knew that hostels were a hit and miss thing, but seriously, I am really tired of pubs with a few rooms masquerading as hostels. A hostel should have a guest kitchen, a laundry, and lockers for your things. The hostel I booked into (Citystay Hostel Mitte) has no kitchen (it has its own restaurant), it has no laundry (it has a within-24-hours laundry service), and it has no lockers (just hope your things don't get stolen I guess). They also require you to pay €3 for bed sheets, whether or not you have your own. Before finding all this out, I was thinking I might eat in their restaurant tonight, but after realising I was in another pathetic joke of a hostel, I decided to have dodgy noodles from the fast food asian place around the corner. This hostel is getting as little of my money as possible.
I knew that hostels were a hit and miss thing, but seriously, I am really tired of pubs with a few rooms masquerading as hostels. A hostel should have a guest kitchen, a laundry, and lockers for your things. The hostel I booked into (Citystay Hostel Mitte) has no kitchen (it has its own restaurant), it has no laundry (it has a within-24-hours laundry service), and it has no lockers (just hope your things don't get stolen I guess). They also require you to pay €3 for bed sheets, whether or not you have your own. Before finding all this out, I was thinking I might eat in their restaurant tonight, but after realising I was in another pathetic joke of a hostel, I decided to have dodgy noodles from the fast food asian place around the corner. This hostel is getting as little of my money as possible.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Good news in Copenhagen...
Hooray! After catching a sleeper train and a normal train, I arrived in Copenhagen and was told that I could get a train to Hamburg at 11am. Only 3 hours to wait, and I'll get to Berlin just one day later than I would have. (Plus I got the woman to exchange some of my Swedish money for Danish money when I paid for the reservation, so I can eat too without paying ATM fees!)
Now, I wonder if I can get a shower in this train station...
Now, I wonder if I can get a shower in this train station...
Unlucky...
I thought leaving for a plane 4 hours early would be enough to stave off any misfortune...
Apparently Skavsta, the airport I was supposed to be flying out of, is 80 mins away on the bus. I knew this, hence the 4 hours early. Unfortunately, I didn't plan on them running buses every 30 minutes throughout the day... until a big gap between 4pm and 6:30pm. (I have no idea why, it seems ridiculous to me.) So when I arrived at the counter at 4:10pm, I was told that the next bus was departing at 6:30pm, arriving at the airport at 7:40pm, meaning that I would be too late to check in for my 8:05pm flight. I tried another bus company that was going somewhere near, and was told it would be too slow and I wouldn't make it.
So, with the flight no longer an option, there were two goals: goal 1, work out where I am sleeping tonight; goal 2, get to Berlin. I saw people turned away from the hostel because they were full tonight, so that was out. The highly useful train timetable book, however, listed a night (and most of the day) train from Stockholm to Berlin, which I tried to get on (two birds with one stone!). I was partially successful - I need to get from Stockholm to Malmö, Malmö to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Hamburg and then Hamburg to Berlin. I got a bed on the Stockholm to Malmö overnight train (goal 1, check), and there is no reservation necessary from Malmö to Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the train is fully booked from Copenhagen to Hamburg.
This leaves me in Copenhagen tomorrow morning, and fingers crossed I should be able to sort something out there - hopefully a train to Hamburg sometime tomorrow, where I can apparently easily get a train to Berlin. So, now I have another 5 hours to kill until my 11pm train... I hope the power on my DS and my mobile hold out.
Apparently Skavsta, the airport I was supposed to be flying out of, is 80 mins away on the bus. I knew this, hence the 4 hours early. Unfortunately, I didn't plan on them running buses every 30 minutes throughout the day... until a big gap between 4pm and 6:30pm. (I have no idea why, it seems ridiculous to me.) So when I arrived at the counter at 4:10pm, I was told that the next bus was departing at 6:30pm, arriving at the airport at 7:40pm, meaning that I would be too late to check in for my 8:05pm flight. I tried another bus company that was going somewhere near, and was told it would be too slow and I wouldn't make it.
So, with the flight no longer an option, there were two goals: goal 1, work out where I am sleeping tonight; goal 2, get to Berlin. I saw people turned away from the hostel because they were full tonight, so that was out. The highly useful train timetable book, however, listed a night (and most of the day) train from Stockholm to Berlin, which I tried to get on (two birds with one stone!). I was partially successful - I need to get from Stockholm to Malmö, Malmö to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Hamburg and then Hamburg to Berlin. I got a bed on the Stockholm to Malmö overnight train (goal 1, check), and there is no reservation necessary from Malmö to Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the train is fully booked from Copenhagen to Hamburg.
This leaves me in Copenhagen tomorrow morning, and fingers crossed I should be able to sort something out there - hopefully a train to Hamburg sometime tomorrow, where I can apparently easily get a train to Berlin. So, now I have another 5 hours to kill until my 11pm train... I hope the power on my DS and my mobile hold out.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Raining in Stockholm...
My flight back from Kiruna was delayed by 2 hours yesterday, for which, Scandinavian Air gave all the passengers 100 kronur ($20) in vouchers to use in the airport cafes or on the plane for food, which was a welcome change from Qantas and Virgin's "your plane is late, deal with it".
Unfortunately, the 2 hour delay meant that instead of arriving at 4pm into Stockholm, I arrived at 6pm, when it was dark and pouring down rain. The hostel I stayed at was what I imagine College would have been like - I haven't seen that many drunk 18 and 19 year olds since the Dome was closed down.
I posted a bunch of stuff back to Australia - clothes I didn't need, souvenirs and my sleeping bag - 5kg all up for less than $100. I was impressed. It's been 4 degrees and raining (occasionally hailing, and there's a pile of melting snow in the main square) all day, so I decided not to visit the Open Air Museum, and, with my bag now being half empty, I had to find something to fill up all the space, so I hit the shops. Stockholm has excellent clothes stores, and for some reason, it's cheap by Australian standards, so I bought a new outfit for work.
4 hours until my flight to Berlin and I'm killing time. I might catch the bus to the airport early and see if there are any good bookstores there - I've been having real trouble here.
Unfortunately, the 2 hour delay meant that instead of arriving at 4pm into Stockholm, I arrived at 6pm, when it was dark and pouring down rain. The hostel I stayed at was what I imagine College would have been like - I haven't seen that many drunk 18 and 19 year olds since the Dome was closed down.
I posted a bunch of stuff back to Australia - clothes I didn't need, souvenirs and my sleeping bag - 5kg all up for less than $100. I was impressed. It's been 4 degrees and raining (occasionally hailing, and there's a pile of melting snow in the main square) all day, so I decided not to visit the Open Air Museum, and, with my bag now being half empty, I had to find something to fill up all the space, so I hit the shops. Stockholm has excellent clothes stores, and for some reason, it's cheap by Australian standards, so I bought a new outfit for work.
4 hours until my flight to Berlin and I'm killing time. I might catch the bus to the airport early and see if there are any good bookstores there - I've been having real trouble here.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Even colder today...
Currently 0 degrees, -6 with windchill. There were still no tours last night, so no northern lights :( Instead, I bought myself some beer and moped in the hostel watching Simpsons (the one constant of international travel is that wherever you go, they have the Simpsons on TV). The alcohol situation here is amusing - you can buy light beer (3.5% max) at the supermarket, but wine, spirits and fullstrength beer must be bought from the government outlets. Light beer is actually quite cheap - it only cost $3 for 500mL of Heineken.
Yesterday I visited all three of the tourist attractions of the town, the Sami (Lapplanders) Museum (2 rooms, no reindeer), the City Hall (which they proudly told me won an award for Most Beautiful Building in Sweden in 1984!!!), and the Church. Photos later maybe. I gave up after that and huddled in the hostel room where it was warm. I don't understand how people can function when it's so cold :(
... I just checked the forecast for Stockholm, to where I am flying in 3 hours. Currently 4 degrees, maximum of 7... you're kidding me. I was planning on posting all of my warm clothing back to Sydney once I got back to Stockholm, but now I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea...
Now, how to kill 3 hours before my flight...
Yesterday I visited all three of the tourist attractions of the town, the Sami (Lapplanders) Museum (2 rooms, no reindeer), the City Hall (which they proudly told me won an award for Most Beautiful Building in Sweden in 1984!!!), and the Church. Photos later maybe. I gave up after that and huddled in the hostel room where it was warm. I don't understand how people can function when it's so cold :(
... I just checked the forecast for Stockholm, to where I am flying in 3 hours. Currently 4 degrees, maximum of 7... you're kidding me. I was planning on posting all of my warm clothing back to Sydney once I got back to Stockholm, but now I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea...
Now, how to kill 3 hours before my flight...
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
It is absolutely freezing in Kiruna...
Yesterday I took a flight to Kiruna, 200km north of the Arctic Circle. Be in no doubt, it is COLD. I had thought it was going to be cold, but now I don't think I knew what "cold" was before. Outside currently it is 2 degrees (at 11:15am), with windchill bringing it down to -3. My body is warm in a thermal shirt, a t-shirt, a thin jacket and a ski jacket, but my face freezes - going outside is like having a constant ice cream headache, sans ice cream.
I discovered yesterday after arriving that it's a pretty bad time to have come - it's not tourist time, and it's between seasons: winter activities haven't kicked off yet because there's no snow and it's too cold for summer activities. The only tour running currently is the northern lights tour... but they won't run it for one person. I'm hoping that some other tourists arrive today and book a tour that I can tag along on. Last night I went for a wander at around 11pm (it was cold), but there are city lights, trees and buildings in the way so I didn't see anything, even though it was a clear night - I'm guessing you have to go outside the city.
Apparently there are a few things open - there is a Sami museum (hopefully with reindeer!), and the Sami-style church... and I could always go for a wander somewhere outside of the city.
Interesting factoid of the day: Kiruna used to be the largest city by area in the world, until Mount Isa in Northwest Queensland took it over.
I discovered yesterday after arriving that it's a pretty bad time to have come - it's not tourist time, and it's between seasons: winter activities haven't kicked off yet because there's no snow and it's too cold for summer activities. The only tour running currently is the northern lights tour... but they won't run it for one person. I'm hoping that some other tourists arrive today and book a tour that I can tag along on. Last night I went for a wander at around 11pm (it was cold), but there are city lights, trees and buildings in the way so I didn't see anything, even though it was a clear night - I'm guessing you have to go outside the city.
Apparently there are a few things open - there is a Sami museum (hopefully with reindeer!), and the Sami-style church... and I could always go for a wander somewhere outside of the city.
Interesting factoid of the day: Kiruna used to be the largest city by area in the world, until Mount Isa in Northwest Queensland took it over.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Now in Stockholm...
What is it with old people and hostels? I understand that age isn't always representative of a person, but I would seriously expect that by the time you're 60 or 70, you'd rather stay in a hotel than in a youth hostel with a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings. Especially if you need a stick to get around like my current roommate. Surely that's what pensions, super funds and grandkids are for...
This morning while still in Göteberg I visited Liseberg, which is the biggest theme park in Scandinavia. There was a (cheap) entry fee and then extra cost to go on the rides, which I found interesting, as you'd generally think paying an entry fee would absolve you of any further costs in enjoying the place, but I digress... I was in the market for a few rollercoasters, and I went on all three that were there: Balder, which is a wooden roller coaster with an interesting track (no loops but a lot of steep drops), Lisebergbanan, which is a fairly boring rollercoaster (no loops and many wide circles), and Kanonen, which was a launched coaster - at the start, instead of being dragged up a hill, you are shot forward at a huge speed. I have to admit, I chickened out and closed my eyes on this one :) It had an interesting (though very very short track), including an extended slow corkscrew that was pretty scary.
Rollercoasters over, I took the much slower train to Stockholm and checked into my practically empty hostel, where they charge you for fridge space. I was originally planning to stay here again for one night after my trip to Kiruna, but have cancelled that booking and booked into City Backpackers instead, which was highly recommended by two separate people while I was in Copenhagen. I mustn't be a very good liar, because when I told the guy at the desk that my plans had changed and I was no longer staying overnight in Stockholm on my way south, he said that he hoped it was a travel change and not a problem with the hostel.
In two days time I leave for Kiruna, north of the Arctic Circle. It's a Sydney winter-esque 12 degrees max 6 degrees min here in Stockholm, but the weather report for Kiruna on Tuesday gives a maximum temperature of 3 degrees and a minimum of -4, which I find highly concerning. Unfortunately too, the forecast for the aurora is almost as low as it can go for the two nights I'm there - although the prediction does say that it should be "visible low on the horizon as far south as Rovaniemi Finland and Mo i Rana Norway", which are a long way south of Kiruna. The weather forecast is "partly cloudy". Maybe I'll be lucky (but I'll try not to get my hopes up).
Have been feeling quite ill for the past couple of days when eating, not quite sure why. I guess the trip, as well as being stressful, is a big diet change due to the limited kitchen facilities, so I'll put it down to that and hope for the best.
Happy Birthday to Stephen for his birthday that has already begun in Australia :)
This morning while still in Göteberg I visited Liseberg, which is the biggest theme park in Scandinavia. There was a (cheap) entry fee and then extra cost to go on the rides, which I found interesting, as you'd generally think paying an entry fee would absolve you of any further costs in enjoying the place, but I digress... I was in the market for a few rollercoasters, and I went on all three that were there: Balder, which is a wooden roller coaster with an interesting track (no loops but a lot of steep drops), Lisebergbanan, which is a fairly boring rollercoaster (no loops and many wide circles), and Kanonen, which was a launched coaster - at the start, instead of being dragged up a hill, you are shot forward at a huge speed. I have to admit, I chickened out and closed my eyes on this one :) It had an interesting (though very very short track), including an extended slow corkscrew that was pretty scary.
Rollercoasters over, I took the much slower train to Stockholm and checked into my practically empty hostel, where they charge you for fridge space. I was originally planning to stay here again for one night after my trip to Kiruna, but have cancelled that booking and booked into City Backpackers instead, which was highly recommended by two separate people while I was in Copenhagen. I mustn't be a very good liar, because when I told the guy at the desk that my plans had changed and I was no longer staying overnight in Stockholm on my way south, he said that he hoped it was a travel change and not a problem with the hostel.
In two days time I leave for Kiruna, north of the Arctic Circle. It's a Sydney winter-esque 12 degrees max 6 degrees min here in Stockholm, but the weather report for Kiruna on Tuesday gives a maximum temperature of 3 degrees and a minimum of -4, which I find highly concerning. Unfortunately too, the forecast for the aurora is almost as low as it can go for the two nights I'm there - although the prediction does say that it should be "visible low on the horizon as far south as Rovaniemi Finland and Mo i Rana Norway", which are a long way south of Kiruna. The weather forecast is "partly cloudy". Maybe I'll be lucky (but I'll try not to get my hopes up).
Have been feeling quite ill for the past couple of days when eating, not quite sure why. I guess the trip, as well as being stressful, is a big diet change due to the limited kitchen facilities, so I'll put it down to that and hope for the best.
Happy Birthday to Stephen for his birthday that has already begun in Australia :)
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Göteborg is beautiful but...
I took a train to Göteborg (Gothenburg) this morning as I had a free day to kill before heading to Stockholm. The city is quite nice - I have decided that I definitely want to live somewhere with either a Tube/Metro/Subway or a tram system - so much more convenient than trains and buses. This afternoon I visited their Science Center Museum thingy, which was really cool. Disaster struck when I got back to the dorm room though...
The window was wide open and the whole room smelled strange. Later, there was a very old woman using a walking frame walking through the lounge/eating area in her underwear... we later discovered that she had wet the bed, hence the stench. After complaints I was moved to a smaller room with 4 beds (and 3 other fellow complainers), but no window. Luckily I'm only here for one night - this woman just trails stink whereever she goes, so I threw away half of the dinner I cooked (the first non-pasta and sauce meal since I went on holidays) due to increasing nausea.
Tomorrow it's off to Stockholm. Göteborg is a really nice place, but seriously...
The window was wide open and the whole room smelled strange. Later, there was a very old woman using a walking frame walking through the lounge/eating area in her underwear... we later discovered that she had wet the bed, hence the stench. After complaints I was moved to a smaller room with 4 beds (and 3 other fellow complainers), but no window. Luckily I'm only here for one night - this woman just trails stink whereever she goes, so I threw away half of the dinner I cooked (the first non-pasta and sauce meal since I went on holidays) due to increasing nausea.
Tomorrow it's off to Stockholm. Göteborg is a really nice place, but seriously...
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Photos from Copenhagen...
I visited the Danish Design Museum which was a big disappointment - half about fashion and half about this random display of empty containers saying various things like "sustainable innovation", "renewable energy" and "time for family and friends". I think the idea was that you're encouraging the virtues you want to see in future products by buying these empty containers (yes, you could buy them). 
I went to the "Oldest Cake Shop in Copenhagen" and paid a large amount of money for a substandard hot chocolate and a piece of cake made mostly of cream. Tasty, but sickening after a while.
Today I went to Elsinor Castle (the Hamlet Castle), which was beautiful, and nice to get out of the city for a change. The whole castle (officially named Kronberg) was in the shape of a giant crown.
One of their old globes showed "New Holland". Obviously they hadn't discovered the best bits yet...
That's Sweden, across the harbour. They used to collect "Sound Dues" (toll) here from the ships that passed, firing on them if they didn't pay with these cannons - difficult to avoid because the passage is so narrow. The Danish flag with the tails is only allowed to be used by the Royal Family.
Tomorrow I have a spare day before my hostel booking in Stockholm, so I'm probably heading to Malmo in Sweden for a night. Word on the street is that Sweden is even more expensive than Denmark - oh dear.
Photos from the Netherlands...
Visiting the Escher Museum in Den Haag...
World's strangest chandelier...
In the Netherlands, everyone gets around on bikes.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Goddag from København...
7pm Tuesday night I boarded a train in Utrecht which went to a town called Duisberg, which is in Western Germany, where I hung out for nearly 3 hours in a Burger King waiting for my night train to Copenhagen. They are having some sort of promotion for an "Angry Whopper", which I found highly amusing considering where I was.
I booked a 2nd class sleeper for the night train, which turned out to be a bed in a room of 6 bunks (top middle and bottom on each side), with barely enough room for one person to stand up between them. I guess it was good to avoid accommodation costs for the evening, but still...
So here I am in Copenhagen. The hostel I'm in is pretty terrible for the price they're charging (most expensive hostel in the guide book at 165DKK a night - the rooms aren't clean, the self-catering kitchen is this tiny room in the basement that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years (the fridge certainly hasn't been emptied in a month), and you must eat your food in that room rather than out in the bar with the people who paid for hostel meals - thus the dubbing of the Kitchen of Shame.
Internet time is about to run out, more later.
I booked a 2nd class sleeper for the night train, which turned out to be a bed in a room of 6 bunks (top middle and bottom on each side), with barely enough room for one person to stand up between them. I guess it was good to avoid accommodation costs for the evening, but still...
So here I am in Copenhagen. The hostel I'm in is pretty terrible for the price they're charging (most expensive hostel in the guide book at 165DKK a night - the rooms aren't clean, the self-catering kitchen is this tiny room in the basement that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years (the fridge certainly hasn't been emptied in a month), and you must eat your food in that room rather than out in the bar with the people who paid for hostel meals - thus the dubbing of the Kitchen of Shame.
Internet time is about to run out, more later.
Non-member commenting now allowed...
I have enabled non-member comments on the blog so that people don't have to set up an account if they want to say something - sorry I didn't do it sooner, I didn't know. Please tell me who you are when you write though :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Goedendag from Zeist in the Netherlands...
Quick post to say that I am currently visiting Stephen's Opa and Oma in Zeist, which is about an hour from Amsterdam. Today we went to Utrecht, which is an old Dutch city, and I climbed the Dom Tower (all 465 stairs or 95m of it), reminding me once again about how much I hate heights. Utrecht's other claim to fame is that the creator of Miffy is from there, so I bought a very touristy Dutch clog with a picture of Miffy on the front (turned into a moneybox).
Tomorrow morning I am visiting Amsterdam to see Anne Frank House, before catching a night train to Copenhagen.
Tomorrow morning I am visiting Amsterdam to see Anne Frank House, before catching a night train to Copenhagen.
Pictures from Paris...
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland :)
Obligatory faux-arty photo of the Eiffel Tower
You'd think they'd need a bigger moving truck for such a big palace...
Tourist trap?
The Moulin Rouge... cut off there to keep this blog family/work safe...Pictures from Edinburgh...
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh skyline from Edinburgh - cool houses and the Firth of Forth in the backgroundPicture from Yorkshire...
Unfortunately no panorama as I can't work out how to stitch pictures on this Dutch OS :) (Real Usability is when you can still use a program when you can't read any of the text.)
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