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17th October 1999, Sunday
Annecy, France
It's getting cold - the icy fingers of winter are starting to violate our sun drenched (un)buffed torsos in a decided unfriendly manner. However it's pretty cool (a pretty frosty pun too!) to watch winter coming - the leaves are all turning firey reds and yellows, the bars and restaurants are becoming even more enticing, cozy and WARM; we're rationalising our neverending high fat meals as our bodies natural preparation for winter. Pervesely we're actually looking forward to it...
We left Nice quite late in the day (leaving the beach and driving into winter is tough!), and ran out of daylight in some small foggy town that we didn't know the name of (the previous town was Corps - onimous sign?). The place we stayed in had an outstanding resturant - stunning, magnificient, droolable. One incredibly pleasant night, at the minor cost of 8000 calories each - so full we ached... and wanted to immediately do it all again!
Spent a few neat days running around Lyon - in the old city are all these secret courtyards, hidden behind ordinary looking old doors. Press an (almost) hidden buzzer and in we go - in WWII the Resistance fighters used to escape from pursuing Germans in these same hidden alleys. Cool! More stunning eating, but here we had to be really careful - the locals are way into eating parts of animals that should just not be eaten. Now given that almost nowhere else in the world eats these things, one may be forgiven for assuming that the oversupply would make these unsavory dishes cheap - far from it! Calling them "regional specialties" justifies an enormous price premium - all the more reason for us not to slip a few more levels down the evolutionery scale. Uhhhmmmm.
Arrived in Annecy today - amazingly pretty lake, with really cute clean canels running through the old town. Even the ducks / swans were all smiling!
Starting to suffer from the high price of beer - a thereputic trip to Germany is looking increasingly likely.
13th October 1999, Wednesday
Nice, French Riverria
Well, the bull fight was tres cool ... the bulls weren't the ones getting humiliated! Each "fight" would start with a huge black bull trotting into the ring - head right down, pawing the ground and having severly overdosed on the angry pills. Then about 20 guys dressed in white would work up the courage (and they needed lots of it!!) to run vaguely in the direction of the bull prior to verring off and leaping literally for their lives over the ring border. These guys would literally leap into the first / second row of the crowd (4m high) - amazing the motivation of 500kg of meanness and two needle sharp horns! These guys would be Olmpic champion high jumpers. A few times the bulls almost went over the barrier, and a few times they literally went through the barriers (4cm thick planks) in a cloud of splinters and panicing people. The meaner the bull, the louder the crowds would yell and clap for it. Excellent fun!
Post Arles we cruised into Nice and found a really groovy old room 50m from the beach (which is actually large pebbles). Cool town, really cool broadwalk stretching 6km along the sea. The place must be a mad house in summer - it's cooling down now, but we're hopeful for one more swim (the water is remarkably clean!). Food and accomodation is reasonable, but drinking is brutally expensive - over $10 for a pint in the local pubs. Gasp - soberiety - gasp...
Cannes was interesting, but mainly 000's of hotels cramed one on top of each other. Monarco was much more fun - driving through it, I oftern knew what was going to be around the next corner - thanks to countless hours playing Grand Prix 2 on the computer roaring around the GP circuit. Who said computer games have no real world application? We also found the local Ferrari shop, where Nika promised to take me back shopping one day ... they had 32 immaculate cars there, F40's F50's 456GT's - boy paradise - and the best (worse) thing was they let me wander all around and every car had its key in the ignition. Not really a dumb thing - with the traffic congestion and super narrow roads, a would be "test driver" like moi would easily be overhauled by a granny on foot. Unfortunately we spent too much time in the boy-toyatorium and didn't see Mr Bond, James Bond.
Drove over to Italy for a quick coffee - French coffee is crap!
Next stop - somewhere in Provence...
9th October 1999, Saturday
Arles, Southern France
Sneaking back into France wasn't as hard as I thought - there are no longer any border posts. Shame to leave Spain, but Southern France is pretty cool. We stayed the first night in Carcassonne - cute little chic town, with yet another magnificient castle on the hill (yes, we are getting quite castle blaise). The next morning we ate our way through the local pastry shops and the local fruit market - rationalising it as feeding the mind and body. They have the strangest pumpkins there - red on the bottom, with a top umbrella of orange and white (no, we haven't been licking the local mushrooms....).
Driving to Nimes the next day, we stopped off and had the most amazing picnic in a field, watching unbleiveably happy cows munch on unbelieveably green grass under an unbelieveably blue sky, while we scoffed baguettes stuffed with brie, jambon and lettuce. This lunch marked the beginning of Nika's lettuce fixation (we paid 8 francs for one today!!??!!). Nimes itself was cute but forgetable - save for seeing our first english movie in a while (Ghost Dog - US gangsta trash) and staying in a room with an amazing matching mustard fur bedspread and chair. Obviously stolen from the Flintstones!
Arles is Van Gogh town - appart from that it's pretty cool. We only planned to spend a nite here, but this has stretched to at least three. Great cake shops, interesting muesums and (even more) Roman stuff. We visited a holy shrine today - a Christian La Croix boutique - where (unfortunately for the budget) Nika scored!! Gulp!! Gasp!!! Choke!!!
Tomorrow we're off to a bull fight - in France they don't wound or weaken the bull - just humiliate it by putting ribbons on its horns (that would piss me off too!). Ole...!
4th October 1999, Monday
Barcelona, Espania
Ahhhhhh...!!!! Back in the land of cool. We tried the Algrave, staying in a little town called Sarges. Well, there was a (medicore) beach there, but it was pretty slummy - no incentive to stay.
So we hot tailed it across the boarder into Seville, soaking up the energy and style that just oozes from the locals. Beautiful city, but not designed for driving! Some of the streets were so narrow that we had to fold in both of the cars mirrors to squeeze through the gaps between the buildings! If it was any tighter we would have needed to grease the walls...
Post Seville, we felt we had to get to Planet Beach - to fully chill out from Portugal and to prepare for the coming US winter. We drove for a few hours through desert that felt strangly familiar (later we read it was where a lot of the Western movies were filmed) and finally ended up in a village of 300 people called San Jose, on the end of the Cabo de Gata. This place was devastating! Our own appartment 20 steps from a dazzling white sand beach, which framed crystal clear water and no package tour trash. It was tough, but our travels had prepared us for the rigours of four days of sunbaking, swimming, siestas, and monumental decision making ("another drink?"). We even worked up the motivation to cook with our next door neighbours, a cool Dutch couple. Amazing how after a few months "chores" like cooking (and washing clothes) actually becomes fun!
Post Paradise, we spent a night in a walled city Morella - the oldest continuously inhabited town in Spain. Cool place, with (another) neat castle to explore - but the most gruesome thing about the place was eating. Never thought we“d be eating pigs snouts ..... one of the few things in life that doesn“t taste like chicken!
The 200km fast, twisty, exhilarating drive to Barcelona was a great warm up for the city. This place pumps with energy and style. We“re staying in the old city, just off the very aptly named La Rambla. Any hour this street is a sea of people - all talking simultaneously at max volume. The Gaudi cathedral was awesome - it looks like dribbled sand castles - fantastic fun climbing through all the towers (000“s of narrow steps - another great death match arena!). We went to the Joan Miro modern art muesum, where we finally reached art saturation ("a black line painted across three huge canvases? care factor?"). Having just slagged this, there was a really cool mercury fountain - not the thing we want in our living room though.
The nightlife here literally rocks - the waterfrount clubs are atomic powered, and don“t start filling up until around 1am (on a Monday morning - Spainards are genetically engineered not to need sleep!). We feel like real deadbeats sneaking off to bed at 2:30am. Today, we“re out to check the shops and then the Gaudi appartment building - from the outside this looks like a goblin castle crossed with a skeleton - incredibly different and stylish - every city needs buildings like this!
Another day or so here, then off to the French Riverria. Must brush up on our James Bond moves beforehand so we“ll fit right in.
23rd September 1999, Thursday
Lisbon, Portugal
FILE MEMO TO GOD: If you are looking for a deserving candidate for natural disasters (earthquakes, fire, flood, pestilance, etc), we strongly recomend Portugal. Humble regards Ian + Nika.
Well there are great places in the world, and other places which help one appreciate the great places. Portugal falls into the later category. We drove in from Spain (in the rain - we're poets! and we know its!) to visit the national park Serra da Estrela which in fairness was ok, but shrouded in cloud, 8", windier than a baked bean convention and the cool youth hostel we climbed 9km uphill to get to was closed (so we stayed in an industrial wasteland at the bottom of the hill that had been teleported in its entirety from somewhere forgetable in central Russia).
The next day we contributed to the GDP, as part of a government endorsed highway scam where they don't give you a ticket when entering a "freeway" and then fine the hell out of us 50km down the road when we didn't have one. This was partially redeemed by a darsteadly act that we can't admit to in cyberspace (ask Ian later.....oh it felt great!!). Stayed in a cute walled town called Obidos, but ended up eating 2 day old bread in the pub for dinner, as all the restaurants here close at 8:30-9pm.
Aiming for a fresh start the next day, we visited Sintra which had a pretty groovey old Moor runied castle dominating a hill overlooking the town, followed by wandering around another "royal fruitcakes" dreamtime palace. Lunch was also pretty cool (as cool as dried salted cod drowned in oil, onion and olives can be).
Then Lisbon - why oh why did Ronald Regan have to retire ("Gentlemen, we have outlawed the state of *Portugal* - we commence bombing in five minutes....."). This place is a circus of losers trying to sell us blocks of hash, in-ya-face beggers, aids victims, corrupt tourist officials, filthy traffic, real UGLY people, chaotic layout, the worst muesum on tour, vile pollution and did we mention expensive? To add insult, the restaurants and nightlife also stops here at around 9pm (and out come the decomposing creatures of the night).
Tomorrow we're heading down to some of the "undeveloped" beaches on the Algarve which we've heard are good (from people who may not have been sober for 15 years). If this doesn't work - hhhhheeelllllooooo beautiful Espana again! (we're drooling typing this - thinking of delicious tapas, lively nightlife, friendly people, charming cities, and no condoms floating in the main harbour lookout).
Husta la vista Portugal!
18th September 1999, Saturday
Madrid, Espana
uuugggghhhhh...... uuuugggghhhh..... uuuuuggggghhhhHHHH ahhh.
Nitelife is pretty good here (understatement of month). We lost count of how many beers we drank though. Damn. Must repeat experiment tonite.
Went to a few (huge) galleries today, and amoungst other things discovered a rather unique historical art fixation. We saw a dozen or so paintings of the Virgin Mary lactating, like full flow into priests mouths, forming constallations of stars, just letting go, etc. Bizzare.
17th September 1999, Friday
Madrid, Espana
Holas amigos! Spain is totally cool - so cool infact that I“ve cut short my siesta in a fit of enthusiasm to do this update! We crossed over from France and stopped in an amazing town Cuenca. The old town here is perched high on dramatic cliffs, where some of the houses literally hang out over the edge on thick wooden beams. One of these houses was a stunning modern art gallery - this would make an awesome flat (complete with the paintings of course!).
Our days have been typically a long afternoon lunch (with lots of 'vin tinto'), followed by a 2-3 hour siesta, then nights of drinking and tapas. Eating tapas is a gastronomical minefield - 2/3 are delicious, but the remaining 1/3 are pretty gross, and only for the hardcore (try; sheeps intestines in lard, pig liver in goats cheese, sows ear, etc). What makes this really fun is that almost no-one speaks English, so inititally we had no idea of what was coming! Very amusing! Ask us one day what we“ve eaten (related story - in Bordeaux we unkowningly had a great snail salad dressing. Makes Rob's blue cheese dressing look decidedly tame!). There are cafes / shops / bars selling delicious snacks everywhere - definately not good for the pro-adrenalin physique.
Next stop was Toledo - touristy, but really interesting to get lost in the narrow cobbled back streets (constantly stopping in tiny & really interesting looking bars). Spainish churches are really fascinating - they“re huge, but inside are segmented into dozens of little chapels (surrounded by bars). It“s a bit like God“s shopping mall.
Drove into Madrid today - an experience right out of a precision arcade driving game. We“ve met quite a few people here who say the nightlife is simply unbelievable - it goes hard every night from about midnight until after dawn. We“re looking forward to checking the scene tonite! Scary how much we can both drink and remain upright now!
The BEST Things About The Netherlands
* Le Bleg - hot chips with egg mayo
* Van Gogh / open air sculpture muesum in Arnhem
* Drinking lots and biking
* Hienekien factory free for all
* Brush with the stars (Elton, Jack & Sean)
* Ristafal - Indonesian rice table
* Pyscotic cheese sellers
The WORST Things About The Netherlands
* Smelly green canals
* Tacky, sticky red light district
* Way expensive accommodation
* Impossible lanuage to speak
The BEST Things About The France (North & West)
* 12 meter tides
* Mind numblingly good eating out (esp. sauces)
* Speaking (un petit peu) Francias
* (Ian) Whole country is a pissior
The WORST Things About The France (North & West)
* Dog turds
* Snail salad dressing
* Broken air conditioner for 3 days (34" heat)
* (Nika) Whole country is a pissior
The BEST Things About England & Scotland
* Scottish real ales - real smooth
* Cider on tap
* H&M's in London
* Sunny hot weather
* Giant water lillies in Kew Gardens
* 1000's of magazines in English
* Drinking by the Thames
* Awesome muesums
* Eating at the Aberlady Inn (Scotland)
* Scottish highland cattle
The WORST Things About England & Scotland
* Horrifically brutually expensive
* Bumpy, loud, crowed tubes
* Bomb scare at Victoria Station
* Gypsies begging with dirty kids
* Ugly accents on beautiful people
* Traffic jams on motorways
* Plagues of speed cameras
11th September 1999, Saturday
Bordeaux, France
CHECK OUT THE NEW 18 PICTURES IN THE OS PICTURE GALLERY!!
Quelle horror! Je must buy une pair au gumboots toute suite! More on this later.....
A mad dash out of London, driving at wrap nine , and we made it to the EuroTunnel terminal. This was totally cool - we then drove our car into the train (weird feeling), they sealed the airtight doors and 35 minutes later we drove off en Francias. First stop was at a beach resort 'le Touquet Paris-Plage'. Huge beach - at low tide it was around a 500m walk out to the water. This place is fameous for "land sailing" but unfortunately the wind wasn't up.
So, blowinng that place (bad pun intended)we drove down to a fantastique petite town called Etretat. Our temporary home was in this magnificient seriously really old hotel, which had stone tile floors / exposed ancient beams / stained glass windows - tres cute! The town is perched on a picturesque pebble beach, nestled in between huge towering cliffs which had sea arches eroded into them. At low tide, we walked out to sone of them (inspiring), not seeing the "falling rocks" signs until our safe return. Here we also finally (temporarily) abandoned our "waistline control programs". The French food is SERIOUSLY good - most restaurants have set price meals, which deliver 3/4 mouthwatering courses without radically savaging our dwindling funds. No bunnies have (knowingly) been consumed during these feasts, though we have eaten some unidentified items.
Next stop was wandering around le Mont St Michael - a huge fortified Abbey which was built on top of an island 1km from the mainland. From a distance it looks magical - as if it's floating on nothing! Drving around the coast is fascinating here - there is an average 12 (twelve!!) meter height difference between high & low tides - you can literally see the water going in & out.
Drove around the D-Day beaches, and visited the American military cemetary at Omaha beach. Deeply moving place - 9,386 pristine white crosses percisely set in immaculately groomed grounds. The sheer size and number of graves (=individual lives) cannot really be described. Humbling.
Now French driving - really bad! Not psychotic (Italian), death defyingly fast (German), military convoy like (Croatian), agricultural (Turkish) or frustrated (UK) - no just really bad - they don't care where their car & especially trucks go! It's not uncommon for a vehicle just to "wander" into oncoming traffic etc. And we've lost one of our cars greatest advantages - French number plates. No, someone hasn't stolen them - just in other countries, whenever we sped / cut people off / went the wrong way up one way roads / etc, people just looked at our plates and said "?!ą*$ French drivers!". Now we just blend in.
The gumboots - well, we need these as a side effect of national pride. The French love dogs - everyone has one or two - and from our observations, the pride and respect for a dog is based on a) how nuch it looks like it's owner, b) how ugly it is & c) most importantly how much dog shit it can leave on the footpaths. Literally, every public surface is coated! Very, very dangerous to walk around in the dark!
Lastly, our appologies in being a bit behind in our emails. We still love you all. Please keep writing. We promise that we will catch up soon! Really. Just got to drag ourselves off the beach a little earlier. Just kidding - got to find more net cafes! At worst, we will have heaps of time in Atlanta late November. Au revior....
4th September 1999, Saturday
Earls Court, London
The "myth" continues - London continues to be warm, sunny and blue skyed! Just spent the most excellent two hours playing in Hamley's, which is a five story toy store. Slot cars, computer games, remote control cars and betting on mechanical pig races (called by a hyperactive Cockney giving it 110%!) - just to name a few.
Caught up with Paul Alexander (an agency friend) the other day - wierd to be talking about the commercial / packaged goods / advertising world again!?! Things at Kellogg appear to be same stuff, different day.
Must go, have chronic and urgent need to play with a BBQ before we leave London on Monday.
31st August 1999, Tuesday
Kew Gardens, London
Nika rescued successfully - she had a great time in Scotland with Linda, Richard, Cloe, Aaron & Ethan even though they all thrashed her at bowling. Hard to say bye! Have been in London for 48 hours now, and it hasn't rained - halucination of blue sky yesterday. Staying at a friends place in Kew Gardens - great to have a house again, with all those little luxuries - like a fridge and a Play Station.
Yesterday we saw giant water lillies, Venus fly traps and piranhas in Kew Gardens - unfortunately couldn't take any souveniers with us. Had a great afternoon just lying in the local park - this is what people actually do here whenever (rarely) it's sunny - reminds us of ostriches staring at the sun. Nika had her first "Snake Bite" (50:50 lager:cider) - damage not too terminal - thinking about another!
Today spent shopping (yaaaayyyyyy. ffffuuuuunnnnn. yaaaayyyy) and wandering around Sloane Square and other inner city haunts... Thinking about seeing the new Star Wars movie, but it costs £10 (A25) each - now this is 5 pints of lager / cider each. Tough call! Suggestions anyone?
Tomorrow the serious site seeing commences - watch out London!
27th August 1999, Friday
Aberfeldy, Scotland
Key learning - don't go to a distillery in the middle of the day if you want to do anything useful in the rest of the day.
It's been fantastic driving around with my Mum, we've been almost everywhere in Scotland - I've got "Loch" fatigue from seeing too many beautiful lakes and inlets. Went to the best beach so far on the trip literally on the top of Scotland - lush green grass rolling down to a sheltered bay of stunning white sand - even a mild left handed swell. Shame the temperature was only about 16'! John O'Groats (the top corner) was pretty tacky - infested with cheap tourist shops sell souveniers that Darryl Kerrigan (aka "The Castle") would love to bring back to his pool room. Regardless, 99% of the Scottish highlands are outstanding, and must rate of one of the worlds great drives.
Next stop, (happily) rescue Nika from the farm and (sadly) drop mum off at Heathrow.
24th August 1999, Tuesday
Ullapool, Northern Scotland
Just been to the Isle of Skye where the ancestors came from - evidently the clan was almost totally slaughtered by the McLeods and hence spread to all corners of the world. The experience was a bit like what I assume the English cricket team would feel like after being thumped (yet again) - not much to celebrate!
The weather up here is still stunning! It's literally like a postcard - really remote, crystal blue skies, mirror smooth lakes reflecting towering bleak mountain craigs. There's even beaches with really clear water, but the water is just a bit too chilly (10') for the German nudists (this is a good thing!) Seen quite a few otters.
I'm just driving around with my Mum at the moment - we dropped Nika off just outside Edinburgh to stay with her aunt for a few days (bunnie spotting) - probably a good thing, as World War Three would have broken out over who would have had to sit in the backseat while driving over the Highland hills. The driving is absolutely stunning, very twisty & cambered - ideal for keeping up my Grand Prix (computer game) skills. Unfortunately haven't "scored" a sheep or a highland cow yet - I'm still hopeful for an impromptu roadside BBQ.
The Scottish ales are OUTSTANDING, the smoothest and most flavoursome of the trip so far - great drinking in a warm pub on a cold crisp clear comforting cosy (can't think of anymore "c" words) night. Haven't been to a whiskey distillery yet - waiting until we get up to the very top of the country for a few wee drams. Can't wait to play with Nika again...
20th August 1999, Saturday
Oxford, United Kingdom
Leaving Amsterdam was sad - so much to see and do - on our last night I bumped into Jack Nicholson just wandering along the streets and we had a bit of a chat ("G'day Jack, love your work", etc). Devious looking guy, but not as fruity as Elton John who was close by (incredibly bad rug!!). Sean Connery was also in the neighbourhood, and in real life is quite a dignified guy. Unfortunately didn't get the invites to drop around when we are in the States.
Caught a car ferry to the UK, and met up with Caitlin (old friend of Nika's). She was flying out to the US and then Oz the next day, so a bit sad that she was going so quick but still great to see her and Paul (who owns a Play Station - I didn't realise what major electronic withdrawal I was in!!!).
Picked up my darling mum in London, and headed for the quaint English countryside - green fields, old stone cottages and obscene brown liquid whose only redeeming quality is 5-6% alcohol (the locals call it "bitter" - "nasty" would be a better name). Seen lots of wild bunnies - Nika hasn't caught one yet / no comment on whether one has been eaten... The weather here is surprisingly good - actually sunshine and blue sky - either we're here on a 1 in a 1000 week or I've had too many bitters and am halucinating!
Must fly - parking meter about to run out - going to get wheel clamped - this would be serious deleption of beer funds!
16th August 1999, Later on Monday
Amsterdam, Netherlands
More Heineken administered. Back to "normal".
16th August 1999, Monday
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Must sleep. Must not drink anymore. Must get darker sunglasses. Must not eat anymore chips with mayo. Must have another beer. Must rescue Nika from shops. Must not go to the Hieneken factory again. Unfortunately must leave tomorrow.
Amsterdam is a seriously cool city, where anything that "does not cause harm to others" is legal - there are people smoking wicked head everwhere! It's just a fascinating place to walk around and look at cool / unusal / gross things. Watched a street betting 'sting' - a guy set up three matchboxes, put a marble under one and then shuffled them. If the person guessed which one correctly, then they doubled their money. Min price to play was $100, and within 15 minutes this guy had cleaned up about $5,000 before he disappeared into the crowd (I didn't play, as I know I'd get cleaned out!). Red light district - graphic, tacty, a bit sad and totally grossed Nika out! Some people really do love their dogs...
Went on a really cool bike tour (Mikes Bikes - just do it), cycling around the city for 4 hours with visit to a cheese factory run by a totally crazy psychotic dutch guy, and also a multi-pint beer / cider stop in the middle. Very loose riding style going home!. This morning we went on a tour to the old Hieneken factory (which explains the rather disjointed nature of this rambling). For an hour we watched a very slick high tech AV presentation on the company's history - which was designed to convince all that Hieneken is the greatest company on earth, and a benevolent friend and brother to all humankind. Actually, this presso was a great reminder of all the "joy / compassion / persuasion" that we have left behind in the corporate world! The second part of the tour was much more persuasive - as much free beer as we could drink in an hour. Twelve beers (each) later, and upon leaving the sunlight seemed much brighter than when we went in....
Prior to coming here, we stopped off (very briefly) in Berlin - a daunting, dark, fascinating city that looks like it's a set for an old Pink Floyd moive (although most of it was rebuilt post WWII). The 'Checkpoint Charlie' wall muesum was excellent - however there's very little of the actual wall left (built over by nondescript appartment buildings and the like). Must come back and spend more time in this city - heaps to see! Also visited Arnhem (in my current state can't quite remember how to spell it correctly - need more beer to refuel brain). Inspiring Van Gough gallery set in the midst of a huge national park (tres chic), and a fantastic pub / party scene in town - seems to be a common Dutch trait! Caught up with a friend Carolien who we had met on the Turkish boat cruise - great to catch up and talk about the 1000's of things that have happened in the past months!
Just realised I'm rambling, and a headache of deinal is starting - must go. Must have another beer.
11th August 1999, Wednesday
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna was fun - great nite life (amazing floating pubs on the river, complete with exotic dancers) and a really absorbing modern art muesum called the Succession House, which has what looks like a huge Ferrero Rocher on the roof. Amongst other artworks, we we went into a dark white room, with a solitary couch and watched "documentaries" on such things as a guy("Bent") who collected lace, and an old lady who specialised in European K-tel products. Hard to belive, but fascinating in a voyeuristic way (...people actually do this????...).
Next stop was Prague - now this is a place that rocks! Not only is it stunningly beautiful with heaps of unspoilled buildings (you've got to thank the Communists for keeping out the "developers"), but world class beer is literally cheaper than water! A round for three in a pub is 40kr (around A$1.70). Wonderful place!!
We made contact with a cousin of Nika's, Alena who had just come back from Australia - she (very kindly!!!) insisted that we come and stay with her. Great flat, only minutes by tram from the centre of town. Walking around town is just a visual feast - around every corner is an amazing Gothic cathedral, town square or bridge. Particularly good was a stunning modern art muesum (Veletvzbi Palac - try asking for directions to it when you're sober!) - the building was huge, and the quality of the works was outstanding! Art overdose!
We went down to the south of Czech to stay with Alena's parents for two days, in a tiny village called Kozhi. We could not have been made more welcome! After being fed and fed and fed by Alena's mother, we ventured out to see another amazing castle (Hlnboka nad Ultavou), where Hitler holed up during WWII. Nika has decided to live in this place, converting the bottom floor to a bunnie-torium. Met up with some of Nika's relatives (Dad's side), which was "interesting" - they spoke only Czech, and we felt like a bit of a novelty! We visited a game reserve where Alena's dad works - saw a HUGE wild pig - decided not to pat.
Back in Prague, the eclipse was a bit of a fizzer, just before it was totally covered it started hammering down rain. And, it was only twilight - I was secretly hoping for darkness and stars (and maybe some cataclysmic event)! Wandering around Prague castle more than made up for this. I'm getting bruised legs from constantly walking into things while wandering around looking up at buildings, churches, etc.
Next stops - Berlin and Amsterdam. We have around 15 rolls of film to develop, and heaps to scan in (still no reliable scanners!).
The BEST Things About Italy
* Divine coffee
* Italian dress style
* Three layered sandwiches in the bars
* Snoopy's gellato in Cortona
* Rome's statues, fountains and muesums
* Pompeii - best ruins so far
* Walking and lunching in Tuscany
* Umbria jazz festival
* Botticelliei
* "Duck love" in Florence
* Slumming in a Tuscan villa for a week
The WORST Things About Italy
* Naples
* Scooter drivers
* Astronomical petrol prices
* Brutal accommodation charges
* Lake Como dorm room - 3 naked hairy snoring Italian men
* Scary motorway tolls
* Italian men on the constant pick-up
The BEST Things About Croatia
* Swimming in the national park
* Meeting other cool backpackers
* Huge meals for $10
The WORST Things About Croatia
* Drunk 13yo Germans
* Soviet style appartment buildings
* Oil pollution
The BEST Things About Switzerland
* Staying with Scottie, Ricky & Aimee
* Fete de Vignon festival
* Sunbathing and swimming in Lake Geneva
* Awesome mountain scenery
* Mark's Indonesian / Indian cooking
The WORST Things About Switzerland
* Uphill walk home from Montreaux station (hills!)
* Swiss "retentiveness"
5th August 1999, Thursday
Salzburg, Austria
So much has happened since the last update (which was delayed by a minor computer problem - I thought I had already sold all my earthly possessions and my soul to leave those bugs back in the "land of the working").
Post Venezia we decided to do something a little bit different, and ended up on the end of the Croatian peninsula, just south of a place called Pula. Fantastic to be back by the sea, however the environs could best be described as "Soviet" (picture old concrete appartment buildings, old cars, drivers that still think the're in a military convoy, etc.). This area is a mecca for Eastern European and Scandinavin tourists who don“t want to spend the $$$ in the West. Coastline was beautiful, but polluted in places and heavily infested with nudists.
Next was a leisurely dash across to Lake Como (after about 5 boarder crossings - no stamps however! Everyone is going to think we“ve just gone to Dubbo for a year and told stories from travel guides!). The lake and town were stunning, but the youth hostel was something else! Segregated dorms, and I woke up one morning surrounded by three hairy, 40 yo, NAKED Italian men, all snoring their heads off! (fortunately, they were still in their own bunks....).
The need for adrenalin was calling, so down to Chamonix in France. Now this place is a serious adventure playground! I could live here for a few months (years!!!) very happily - biking, skiing, climbing, paddling, hiking, ice hockey plus a great party pub scene. We stayed in a super cool lodge (the Red Mountain Lodge), which only had one flaw (depending on what gets one off) - there was a large sky light over the bed, which the local paragliders sweep low over prior to landing.... The lodge was managed by a guy who used to race for Team GT (top mountain biking team) and I went out with him, after scoring a "test ride" of one of the lastest i-drive GT bikes (from a mate of his who was the Team GT mechanic). Face bending speed, and awesome adrenalin overloads - the only issue was remaining focused on the trail as the surrounding scenery was stunning. No blood, but an insane grin which is still bugging Nika. On the last day there, we went up two cable cars to get a close up look at Mt Blanc - breathtaking (literally - we were at 3842m - didn“t walk anywhere too fast!).
Next stop was an AMAZING four days in Vevey, staying with an old work mate Scottie (and his wife Ricky + Aimee). We arrived just in time for the Vevey festival, in which basically every Swiss person within 100km dresses up, and drinks & releases 25 years work of personality. Pure bliss going to bed around 2-6am, and not getting up until the crack of noon. Really chilled out swiming in Lake Geneva, looking out over to the French Alps. Evening drinks on the balcony were something else! Another highlight was Mark & Linda (Chalmers) cooking our first spicy meal in three months (Indonesian / Indian chicken) - it wasn't until we munched it that we realised how much we miss hot food!
After reluctantly leaving the Swiss luxury, next stop was Fussen - fameous for the Neuschwanstien castle (the inspiration for the Disneyland castle). Now, this may have only been built last centery, totally defensively worthless, and the king (Ludwig) a nutter and more than a little bit fruity - but it still was a totaly amazing place! Definately teleported straight out of a fairytale!
Stopped over in Salzberg - pretty town, but "Motzartized" to death - but it was awesome fun watching some of the locals hotrodding around town in their Ferraris (yes, they do corner like they are on rails!).
Just arrived in Vienna - survived my first autobarn experience (actually it was kid of fun!). Kind of freaky to see a car coming up behind me at 200km/h when I'm only doing 160km/h. Like a video game, but with a bit more perminant "game over". Every couple of km were the most scary 100m of black skid marks heading out ot some bright shiney new crash barrier. Enough said - now out to explore the town!
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