The end of my walkabout

Sadly, everything has to end, and although I know I’ve learned more about life, history , art, and geography in these nine months of travelling than I did with 16 years cooped up in a classroom, it’s time to go back and start a new chapter in life – student hood is over, and the working life is nigh!

While on this trip I have lost half my clothes, bought new ones and lost them again, walked through two pairs of shoes and a pair of thongs, broken a laptop, lost my hat, a raincoat, at least 10kg of weight, and my girlfriend.

I have gained so much, too – friends all over the world, practical knowledge, new views on politics and a million memories, in photos, in my mind, and in this blog. And the whole trip only cost a total of 12,000 AUD including flights, accommodation, food, travel, sightseeing, and drinking – that is, including everything! So if you’re thinking of having a gap year, do it! It’s probably even cheaper than living at home, depending on where you travel, and now is the perfect time to do it, with such a strong Aussie dollar. Best of all, like John Butler would say, it gives you a chance to go out and ‘see what’s shaking in the real world’.

Paris!

My first day in Paris, I wasn’t impressed. I woke up early and grumpy from little sleep the night before – after catching a late flight from Prague, I arrived at my hotel at 1am, where, despite the fact that I had received an email telling me that my booking had been confirmed, they had cancelled my booking at 2pm on the day of my arrival. Although there were still beds free, the American guy at the counter made me wait an extra 15 minutes before he checked me in – despite the fact that he was waiting on two people who also had been cancelled for no reason. They were a no-show, so I got the bed, although I was pissed off at having to wait, and that my order had been cancelled. Finally, I found there was some sleep in the night, until someone’s phone alarm woke me up in the early morning. Phone alarms are the most insidious evil of the dorm room (probably almost as bad as babies on night flights!), as the person with the alarm rarely even wakes up, while everyone else wakes up every time it goes off every ten minutes.

So I was awake, poorly slept and grumpy – probably not the best start for a day in Paris. I walked to the Eiffel tower, then to the Arc de Triomphe, and down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre. While the Eiffel tower certainly was a big tower and the Arc de Triomphe certainly was on a big roundabout, and the Champs Elysees certainly is a long road, I wasn’t able to appreciate their charms properly in my grumpy, half-asleep state of mind. Passing through the Jardin des Tuilleries on the way to the Louvre, I stopped to munch on a tuna baguette and admire the gardens. Next I entered the Louvre. Even in my grumpy state of mind, I couldn't fail to be mightily impressed by the magnificence of the Louvre. The amount of world history they have amassed is amazing, from whole Egyptian tombs, statues of Ramses, and Assyrian fertility statues to great works by Greek, Italian, and French masters. I couldn’t help thinking that the museums in other countries could be much more interesting if the French hadn’t taken these articles from them.

That night, I went to bed early and woke up late the next morning, fully refreshed. Happier, I met some Canadian, American and Aussie travellers and we chatted over breakfast. Then I rested for a bit longer before starting my walking around Paris again – this time, ostensibly to see some vintage markets. I never made it, as they closed before I arrive, although I did see the Hopitale des Invalides, and the gardens and palace of Luxembourg, before heading towards the city centre and checking out the Notre Dame. It looks good from the outside, although I didn’t bother entering as the line to get in stretched beyond the black stump. Next I dropped by the flower markets, and then jumped on the metro to the Sacre Coeur. Although I did go inside this church, it’s just a normal church. It’s what’s on the outside of the Sacre Coeur that’s important. I checked out the artist’s quarter, where there are rows of painters and artists sketching portraits, as well as some very cool cafes and restaurants. As the Sacre Coeur is on a hilltop, there is a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower from one point. The best view, however, is from the steps of the Sacre Coeur, where entrepreneurial masterminds were selling ice-cold beers for two Euros each. I passed a perfect twilight watching the sun sink over Paris, drinking my beer. After the sun had fallen sufficiently, I walked down the hill to nearby Pigalle, Paris’ notorious night life district, most famous for the Moulin Rouge. Sex shops abounded, with interesting costume displays outside and even some specialty ones, like ones especially for lesbians.

I decided to see more of Paris at night, so walked from there back to my hostel (about a 4 hour walk), passing by Opera, Madeleine, les Galleries Lafayette, the Palace, a short stretch of the Champs Elysees, and back via the Eiffel tower, perfectly lit up at night. This whole day, Paris had been weaving its infectious charm over me, until by the time I reached the hostel, I was punch drunk in love with this amazing capital city. My last day in Paris was a perfect end to my trip, and when I woke up early the next morning, I was very sad to say goodbye to the last city on my travels, especially one so full of charm. It was still night as I walked to the metro station, and above the tops of buildings as I was going down the steps to the metro, I caught a final glimpse of the top of the Eiffel Tower. Goodbye Paris, and Goodbye travels!

Bohemia - Cesky Krumlov

If you think you’re in the middle ages when you’re in Prague, nothing could convince you of this further than a visit to Cesky Krumlov. A leaf ripped from a fairytale about knights, princesses, and dragons, this place is built of stone around a rapidly flowing river in a valley. The cobblestones lead you to boutique gift stores and old hand-made wooden toy stores the like of which Pinocchio was born from.

For dinner, I had an Old Bohemian feast that consisted of roasted rabbit, potato dumplings, millet, corn cakes , boiled potato and cabbage, along with a big slab of ham in case you weren’t already full. You really can get everything you want for ten dollars! Afterwards, I had local spiced mead with cloves and cinnamon, which ensured that I felt cosy. After two enchanting days in Krumlov, Vicki and I headed back to Prague, sad to put our backs to the most fairytale of villages.

After one more night in Prague, my adventure with Vicki was sadly over. It all passed so Quickly – Venice, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, Austria, and the Czech Republic all in a month – only four or five days to a country on the dust-devil adventure – springing up, taking us all over the place and then ending just as suddenly. Thanks, Vicki, for a great month!

Bohemia - Prague

Going to bohemia is like stepping back to the middle ages. Some places, like the Old Town Markets, have an atmosphere that has you checking what year it is on the calendar. The markets are smoky from all the wood-burning used to roasts pigs on spits that are everywhere, while other stalls sell grilled cheese and still others; Burcak; a half-fermented wine. I loved Burcak, it probably tastes better than fully fermented wine or unfermented grape juice, and it’s pulpy. I’ve never seen the like of these markets before, and likely never will again except perhaps at some medieval fair.

There are lovely cafes on Tyn Road, where Vicki and I spent hours admiring the cafe we were sitting in before getting on to more serious matters, like what sort of cafe we would like to open. There are beautiful royal gardens near the castle, as well as a formidable church.

Slovakia and Bratislava

Departing from Budapest, a short train ride and we had arrived in Bratislava. We quickly found out that there wasn’t a great deal to see in Bratislava. The top three tourist attractions are different activities with Slovakian strippers, so it seems that Bratislava is selling itself to tourists as a buck’s night destination. Our hostel was really cool - it was horror-themed, with a blood-stained bath, a headless woman on the menus, and mannequins locked behind bars. The old town is quite nice, although we have seen so many beautiful narrow alleywayed, cobblestoned towns that the charm was lost on us. They do seem to be a specialty of Eastern Europe, in which all the towns have a more charming, old-town feel. While in Bratislava, we checked out nearby Devin Castle, which has some of the coolest towers on the castle walls that I have seen. The castle has been built atop a cliff, so it totters on top of the cliff, looming over the bars below. After our second night in Bratislava and a visit to the world’s largest pub (and probably the world’s emptiest pub), we headed to Vienna.

I found it hard to work out Vienna – it seems to be mostly about classical music and dances, although credit to them for also inventing the Sacher Torte.
I got us a bit lost in Vienna, taking Milfergasse instead of Milferstrasse, two main roads that head in perpendicular directions. Milfergasse lead us to a seedy section of town in which every second building was a strip joint. Milferstrasse, as it turned out, was a lot more interesting, with lots of boutique shops. Vienna sells a lot of gentleman’s clothes – coats, vests, and fob watches, and evening dresses for women.

Budapest, Hungary

So many things to see in Budapest! After checking into our groovy hostel called Flow hostel, which had the computer up a ladder in a little birds nest above the hostel, as well as the coolest bunk beds I've seen, we went out to look at the town. Vicki and I found a cafe and, as we are wont to do, chatted for hours before finally realising the time and rushing around trying to see things - the main street, Andrassy Utca, and the parliament building, as well as the chain bridge. The first day there we went on the Jewish walking tour, which was very interesting - I had no idea that Hungary was so badly off in the war. The next day, we got up early so that we could see more of the city, but once again got waylaid at an Eco Cafe after seeing the museum/palace on the Pest side of the river (the same side that we were staying on). Just in time, we speed-walked to the Fisherman's Bastion, which is one of the best things in Budapest, such amazingly beautiful architecture. Poor Vicki had walked her legs off by then, so I explored it alone, then we headed down for another walking tour, this time the Communist tour. This was even more interesting than the Jewish tour, and had such great information about how the Russians invaded Hungary and drove out the Nazis, but replaced their Fascism with their own government and Communism, which was in place up until the 1980's. My feet are so blistered from walking over the city that I'm going to have a non-walking day tomorrow while they recover. I thought by now that blisters would be a thing of the past, after walking every day for 9 months!

Serbia - Belgrade and Novi Sad

Serbia is a strange mix of everything. They're not greatly liked by their surrounding countries since the break up of Yugoslavia, but have the best food you could want, women that are so attractive men come from overseas just to see them, and the cheapest food in Europe - one dinar, the Serbian currency, is worth 1 Eurocent. Vicki and I checked into an amazingly good hostel in Belgrade, called Green studio. 5 minutes walk from the bus station, it has everything... free laundry, a free welcome beer, the nicest staff anywhere, and comfy beds. I have the nastiest flu, so Vicki went out while I stayed at the hostel and got an early night.

The next day, we went out to see the Nikola Tesla museum. I was excited to see it, as I knew he had invented a bunch of cool stuff, not least the Tesla Coil. On the way, Vicki got a coffee and I got an ice coffee at a groovy looking cafe. However, it turned out to be iced glass, as the barrista had (accidentally, I hope!) put glass in the blender with the drink. I only realised this when I got to the bottom of the drink, but I'm sure it wasn't good for my already sore throat. Hopefully I didn't ingest any, and the glass I found at the bottom of the glass was all of it! Even worse, it turned out to be an ice chocolate instead of an ice coffee!

The Nikola Tesla museum was so cool. Despite not having a gigantic tesla coil that made lightning jump 10 metres (my hopes were high!), they had various smaller coils, and one that was powerful enough to light flourescent rods mid-air as we held them. After holding rods, and letting lightning jump to our fingers, and all the fun things you can do with Tesla coils, as well as a healthy induction (get it?) into the many electrical innovations of Nikola Tesla, we left, headed for the ruined Roman fortress on the other side of town. It provided a good viewpoint over the city, and we had a peek over the walls before heading to Princess Llubjana's house. Unfortunately, it was closed, but we found multiple cocktail bars on the way that waylaid us so by the time we reached the final tourist destination, we weren't too bothered that it wasn't open.

We wanted to see a small town in Serbia as well, so went to Novi Sad - not exactly small, as it's the second biggest town in Serbia, but still. The main shopping street was lovely - all the towns in Serbia have such nice big old buildings.

Bosnia and Hercegovina - Mostar and Sarajevo!

These two are a traveller's mecca, I am not sure why everyone doesn't travel here. Mostar was the first stop on the trip, and was so interesting... grafitti about the Red army lined walls, a short walk from buildings ridden with bullet holes, and our apartment was next door to a wall with more bullet holes than wall. When we arrived at the bus station at 10pm at night without any prebooked accomodation (by my recommendation) I was a little worried... sleeping in car parks isn't really my thing. We were taking a bit of a risk, as we weren't sure whether there would be sobe grans, as there are down the dalmation coast and montenegro. Luckily, one gran was still awake, and we secured a room for 10 Euros pp/n. Our sobe gran (the host of the accomodation, usually an extra room in a house that is rented out to travellers) was the kindest yet - she offered us a mint tea with biscuits before dinner, and when we came in at lunch time the next day, offered us some of her honey-roasted capsicums and fresh fish. Amazingly, fish is the cheapest meat here, at about 5 AUD per kilo. In Montenegro, there were mussels for 1.50 AUD per kilo... ridiculous!


Mostar has an amazing old town section. The Stari Most, the most famous tourist attraction, is a tremendous piece of Roman architecture, 25 or so metres above the river below. Young men used to jump from the bridge at their coming of age. It sounded like fun; I really wanted to do it; and was revved up to take the jump when a Scottish traveller advised me that one side was shallow and the other was deep. I thanked him for that, but then realised that I had forgotten which side was the shallow and which the deeper, so didn't jump that day. Lucky I didn't, as it turned out, as my girlfriend told me the next day when I was talking to her on the phone that shallow divers practice diving off the bridge as the water is only 15 feet deep on both sides - only 2 and a bit lengths of my body! Breathing a sigh of relief at my near-death of my own stupidity, we checked out the markets. The Islamic influence of the markets is palpable, with beautiful tea sets and daggers being sold, with a fug of sheesha steaming through the air (although we never found where we could get some!). The old-town, cobblestoned feel of the place, along with the semi-hippy markets were brilliant, and it's been one of my favourite places to travel in the whole 8 months of world-visiting thus far.

Sarajevo, a short train ride away, has similar Islamic influences in the marketplace, although it is much bigger than Mostar. They sell the same things, so you just have rows of tea sets and etched metal to peruse. It was almost as interesting as Mostar, and also had some interesting historical icons. The most famous historical icon in Sarajevo is the bridge where Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian empire was shot, which precipitated World War I. You get a strong sense of history standing on the bridge, thinking how this assassination was the beginning of hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide.

Kotor, Montenegro

Our host in Debrovnik told us that Kotor would be 8 hrs away by bus. When we arrived after 3 hrs, we were surprised and relieved. I don't like buses! Kotor is like a scene from the Lord of the Rings, with a hilltop fort, with walls that stretch down the mountain ridge an hours strenuous walk away to envelop the old town. I took some great shots from the top of the fort after getting up early to miss the heat, then went for a swim in the water to cool off. The bay harbours water as clear as Croatia's, if not as azure-blue. Our next step is north-west, to the Balkans! Should be interesting!!!

Debrovnik

Travelling by bus has to be my least favourite forms of travel. Travelling by bus with my cousin is worse. On our third day together, she lost her lonely planet and camera on a bus. This time, I lost her. After we left Hvar at mid-morning, we arrived in Jelsa, ready for a connection to Securaj, all the way across the island. I had been feeling blessed today, because the travel fairy I have kicked in once again - we found out only that day that the bus only runs twice a week, once on Friday and once on Monday - and it turned out to be a Friday! So we're in Jelsa and Vicki says she needs to get some water. I say "Okay", and start looking for our connecting bus while Vicki goes off to look for water. Having found the connecting bus, I put my bag in and wait for Vicki. Minutes tick by, and no Vicki appears, but the bus driver does. I ask him to wait for a second while I run and find my cousin, and he rolls his eyes and nods. Off I go, looking in every store around town - no Vicki. Despondent, I returned to the bus. The driver raises his eyebrows, and I take my bag out of the bus. "When's the next bus?" I asked him. A real joker, the bus driver checks his watch, snorts, and looks up at me with a peircing stare... "Next bus Monday" he says. Now I'm really worried. I beg him to wait for another few minutes, while I take another run around town. This time, I find Vicki in the checkout queue at one of the stores. I shout "the bus is leaving NOW!" and run out of the store, just as the bus driver starts up the engine. We jumped on just in time - I was so happy we weren't stranded in Jelsa until Monday!

After arriving at Securaj, we took a scenic ferry across to Drevnik on the mainland. After a delay, the bus came to take us to Debrovnik at around 6pm. Arriving at 10pm, we were fed up with travel. It was well past dusk, and we quickly realised that we had only copied down half of the directions to the hostel. Knocking on a likely candidate, we came upon a 70+ year old couple in their bedclothes, who assured us that they did not rent out rooms. The other possible candidate street was on Radnick street. But no-one knew where Radnick Street was, or if it even existed. Luckily, the old lady was poor of hearing, and thought I said Rad-nitch-ka. She gave us directions there, and it turned out to be the right place. We fell into bed, so glad to have a place to sleep for the night.

The next morning, we explored Debrovnik's old town suburb, Pile. Pile has to be the richest place ever seen, with white marble flagstones and beautiful buildings wrought from the same rock. We explored the town for a few hours until we threw it in for an early night.

Split and Hvar - Heaven

Unfortunately, Vicki lost her guide book when we left the apartment in Zadar. Then, in her optimistic way, she said "At least it wasnt my camera". Only seconds later, her next words were "Hey, where is my camera?". She'd left it on the bus. To relieve her depressed emotions, she went out for some retail therapy, and bought a lovely blue and white striped sailor shirt. Transeversely, plans were made to celebrate the first losses of the trip (Vicki is reknowned for them), and Vicki started with a bottle of local Vodka, while I had a delicious lemon radler beer I'd discovered in Zadar. Our hostel in Split is amazing. The friendly owner showed us up to the hostel, where we met Americans and Irish and too many Australians. We got on so well with the Irish that the night started off with lots of dancing in the hotel room, and moved to the only club open on a Monday night, where we only realised there were dancers in lingerie after about three hours. I taught Kate, one of the Irish girls, to dip, and we all danced until the floor was burning. To cool off, we went for a dip in the water, before returning to the dance floor soaking wet for some more, slightly more slippery dancing. After another dip and more dancing, we headed back to sleep. The next night Vicki and I had a quiet one while the Irish went out again. A new Irish girl called Anna joined the Irish conglomerate, and was just as fun as the other two. We all made plans to meet in Hvar the next morning. Unfortunately, one of the Irish girls woke up with a strange allergic reaction that required medical help (apparently it was the Vodka, which tasted horrible, so it might have been true), and couldn't come to Hvar.

Little did we know that they would be on the ferry over the next day. Them being Irish and us being Australian, the night couldnt help turning rowdy, where we danced and drank in our apartment until late in the night. When one of the Irish girls threw up and Vicki passed out, our apartment host threw us out, so we went out on the town. The clubs were a bit dissapointing, however, and after picking up Vicki an hour later, we took a free boat ride to a club called Carpe Diem on a little island near Hvar. It turned out to be quite as bad as the mainland clubs though, so we left before even going in. The Irish girls stayed to party, and came back to the apartment at about 6am. All the Irish went back to theirs to sleep, and Vicki and I continued sleeping.

Hvar itself is amazing. Once you've seen the ocean at Hvar, crystals dont seem so clear anymore. The days are blissful, with weather hot enought that taking dips in the clearer-than-crystal water is compulsory, while at night the lights at the top of the masts on the moored yachts create their own constellations, swaying drunkenly in the night sky. Lavender scents flow to you from the markets in the town centre at all times of day, and theres little else to do but take walks along the beach and go for swims. You can find a beautiful spot on the beach at night, perfect for a midnight dip, and watch the city lights as you dry off.

The buildings in Hvar are an old-age Tuscan style that put the buildings in Italy to shame, with stained shutters and sone walls, while the pavements are made from the same stone. The buildings are all similar, with orange ceramic roofing tiles. While one building looks good, seeing the whole city by day from afar, combined with the crystal clear water, makes a composition that is not to be missed. If you only go to one place in Croatia, make it Hvar!

Croatia - Zadar

Thinking we should see somewhere a tiny bit off the tourist track, we next headed to Zadar after Venice, taking the night train to Zagreb and from thence a bus to Zadar. After not sleeping at all because the customs people kept waking us up hourly in a kind of sleep torture as we passed through multiple countries (but we got stamps!), we didnt get seats on the bus, so I slept on the floor - which is probably the most comfortable way to sleep on a bus, anyway. Contrary to being off the tourist track, this place was well known to Germans, and almost everyone spoke Deutsch, and looked surprised when we didnt know any of it. Everywhere was ridiculously expensive and booked out anyway, and our options were looking thin. Luckily, on a visit to a campsite to see if there were any tents for rent, I met two Chilean women, who were also looking for a place. We buddied up and quickly found an apartment which we shared, which worked out at 15 Euros a night with a kitchen, bathroom, and view of the ocean - deal! We beached it up the first day, and had great fun. We didnt even know there was more to Zadar until the next day, when Vicki and I found a maze of alleyways, as all good European towns have, lined with marble pavestones and buildings. The Pekaras (bakeries) are amazing, and we discovered burek, which is a delicious feta-filled pastry that resembles a quarter of a gigantic pie. Zadar has some great beaches with crystal clear water, as well as a sea-organ, that blows sound generated by the motion of the waves against the shore. It sounds as peaceful as an Enya song, and imbues the shoreline with a magical element. At night, solar panels that have been charging all day unleash their power, transmitting an amazing light show on the ground under your feet.

Cousins reunite - Venice, birthdays, and cocktails

Catching a 3pm train from the eastern side of Italy, I thought "this is a narrow country, surely it wont take long to get to Venice". I was in Venice at 9.30pm - not as short a trip as I had thought, and that's after I had to pay an augmentation to my ticket on the train. Arriving at night, I waited for a bus for an hour, and then found the timetable - the last bus had left at 9.20. It just wasn't my day. Anxious to meet Vicki, I grabbed a taxi. Taxis in Italy are expensive - I watched as the meter rose constantly, and shelled out 20 Euros for a 5 minute cab ride (ouch!). To my consternation, I found out that there was a different bus line that I had accidentally purchased a ticket for that ran to my destination. Oh well. To make the night better, I found a cheap bottle of wine at the campsite where we were staying in Venice and spoke to a nice Australian who was travelling for a few months. She gave me tips on going to Croatia and Hungary which were great, and a half an hour later my cousin walked in. It was so good to see a familiar face after more than a month meeting new people but no old ones.

Vicki took part in the drinking of the wine, while we had a quick dinner of cucumber, tomato, and focaccia bread. We talked late on into the night, catching up on all our latest thoughts on society, politics, philosophy, the whole deal - Vicki and I think so similarly that its great to compare notes on all our most recent thoughts. The next day we woke up at a reasonable hour, excited to see Venice. It has to be the best of the Italian cities; it has such charm in the narrow alleyways webbed throughout the city, and the canals interspersed with pathways. Getting lost is a must, and we did it as much as we could, not bothering with maps or anything. On my last day there, a call to my parents informed me that there were arrows on top of the buildings pointing to the main bridge, which would have been useful to know earlier on!

The next day, it was my birthday! My 22nd, and the first where I didnt get depressed for days before hand for being old. I figure there's no point now, as I definitely am old, so might as well just enjoy birthdays. After talking to my family and girlfriend, Vicki and I found a cute cafe, where we had cocktails - I tried a coffee kahlua something and a Vodka martini and Vicki had various fruity things. Vicki spilt the best part of both my drinks, so we decided to move on, and I decided to keep a close hold on my drinks. We found a wine bar later, where I had a couple of glasses of Pinot Grigio and we shared a cheese and olive and salami platter, which was far too big considering we were supposed to be having a two course meal for dinner. After looking around for a nice restaurant for a while, we found a place that looked decent and sat down. Vicki had camembert with walnuts and honey for primi piatti, and I the smoked ricotta and seafood Gnocci, and for secondi piatti, Vicki had a vegetable pizza loaded with vegies, while I had a platter loaded with seafood - far too much for my now shrunken stomach to hold! A great night, topped off with getting lost again. A friendly Russian-sounding family showed us the way to the bus station, and we got home very late and so full we both exploded and died.

Cinque terre - ultimate beach paradise

I decided to make things hard from myself from the outset, and set off from La Spezia train station, intending to walk to Cinque terre on the other side of the peninsula. After walking in the wrong direction (straight down, instead of across, the peninsula) for two hours, I started again, taking a path that threatened wild boars in the area. It was worth the risk of goring by wild boars, because at the top of the mountain (halfway to Cinque terre, 3-4 hours walk from the train station) there is a town called Campiglia nestled amongst the hills, that you wouldnt know existed without a strenous hours-long walk uphill. I have no idea how the residents get there.

After another 3-4 hour long walk, I arrived in Riomaggiore, the first town in Cinque terre with feet with worn-out soles at 3pm. After a snack of local lemon tart (exquisite!) I jumped in the warm, warm water. Cinque terre is a paradise, with brightly coloured buildings rising up out of a sharp cliff valley from the clear, clear water. Bright coloured sailing boats laden with nets cruise around, garnishing the sparkling sea and providing the final magical touch on the perfect beach. Nearby there is the Via Della Amour, (the way of love) to the second town. Along the walk halfway down a sheer rock cliff, locks enscribed with lover's names are suspended from nets on the cliff.

Agerola and the best of the Amalfi Coast

For a small town, the citizens of San Lazzaro in Agerola, overlooking the Amalfi Coast, sure know how to party. Every night I was there, something fun was on, starting with a birthday party for the owner - with fireworks! Italians know how to party, and the festivities dont even usually kick off until 10pm or so. Dinner is consumed at around 11, and drinks and dancing happens sometime after Cinderella has already lost her shoe. The next night, it was a festival in Agerola town centre, with a famous Italian singer up on the big stage, and corny carnival rides and cheap plastic toys everywhere. God I hate carnivals, they represent everything thats cheap and tacky in the world... I would love to see a proper fete like they would have had before horrible carnival rides and chinese toys were invented, with hay and boiled corn and animal shows. The night after, the hostel had a hot dogs and beer party. Initially I didnt join in, I didnt really feel like hot dogs and ate salad instead, but after an hour or so, the hostelier came in and offered us all free beer - they had a keg outside, so I couldnt say no. The last night I was in San Lazzaro, there was a star watching conference on the summit of the highest hill overlooking the town, with telescopes pointed at milky spots. I dont know what they are, but everyone was very excited about them, so I will have to look them up sometime in the future. After the stargazing, as I was walking down the hill I heard a few acoustic guitars and Italian singing, so I went to check it out. On the piazza below, a concert of an Italian singer was taking place... it was great, and such a lovely night, almost a full moon. I missed Bec a lot as I was standing on the balcony overlooking the concert, with the moonlight night making the view of the sea look even better than in the daylight.

So the nights were filled with fun, but that didnt make the days any less active. On the first day, I made friends with all the guests at the hostel - it was a particularly social one. Everyone was fun. There were two Canadians, one who had recently sustained a perforated eardrum from cliff jumping in Croatia, so he was initially a bit quiet. There was a dutch guy, who was always having fun, as well as two English girls who had been held up at gun-point in Naples, another English woman, and an Australian girl. This crowd just grew as the days went on, being augmented by extra Americans and Australians. The first day, all the guys decided to climb down the 3000 steps to the beach on the Amalfi Coast. The day was absolutely sunkist - after the climb, we took a boat to a grotto on the beach, where there was a rock arch to jump from into the water, and a cave that a Roman fellow cliff jumping girl told us was called the Lovers cave. Anyone can guess what goes on in there. Afterwards, we drank beer on the beach and sunbaked on the sun-warmed rocks. After a perfect day, for some reason we elected to climb the 3000 steps back up... not an easy accomplishment, but we beat the bus back to the hostel and were drenched in sweat and sunscreen. We definitely earned our dinner that night!

The next day, the Canadians, the English woman and I visited Pompei, which wasnt particularly impressive, apart from the awesome brothel, with a la carte sexual positions painted on the wall. Another day on the beach and it was sadly time to head up north again, to Bologna.

When I arrived in Bologna, I immediately was not impressed. After a mosquito-armageddon night in the out-of-the-way hostel, I decided to head to Pisa again instead of staying longer in boring Bologna. I didnt even get to eat a bolognese there, although my roommate Australian did, and said that it was horrible. No points for Bologna. Now that I am in Pisa, I intend to get up early the next two days and see Cinque Terre.

Naples: Pizza, pizza, pizza!

Not much to do in Napoli. For three days, I lived off the hostel breakfast - a croissant and juice, and one pizza for dinner. The pizzas are the best and cheapest in Italy. Napoli itself had very little to do, but nearby Hercolano is well worth the trip. Having since been to Pompei, I can say with certainty that it is by far the better of the two. While the most interesting sights in Pompei are all closed for reservation, and take ages to walk between, Hercolano is like a fairy... magical and small! Paintings from 2000 years ago are still in an amazing state of preservation, while the mosaics on the floor of the baths put modern tilers to shame. The one group of skeltons, 4 people clutching each other in fear and covering their heads, is far too lifelike, and gives an excellent idea of the fear the victims of Vesuvius would have been feeling.

Before the ruins, I checked out the local morning markets in Hercolano... extensive markets selling everything from cheap jewellery and thongs to fresh olives and bargain cheap fruit. I bought some olives while walking around, and the seller did not believe that I only wanted 100 grams. At the third ladle I realised what she was up to and hastily took the bag before she could ladle any more in. Just outside the fresh seafood markets, a fisherman had just caught a large octopus, which took up nearly a whole bucket. It was wriggling around in confusion when I saw it, although I fear it didnt have much longer to wriggle before it made a particularly fresh calamari lunch for some lucky local.

Rome - Random Amblings

After seeing the heavyweights of the Roman tourist sights, I had to work out what to do next. Lucky there were still many things left to see. The next day saw me at the capuchin crypt early in the morning - lucky I didnt go at night! This has to be one of the scariest things that I have seen. The capuchin monks used human bones - those of prior monks - to decorate the crypt in all sorts of designs. The first room has a painting of Lazarus and his resurrection, and is decorated with pelvises and skulls, with femurs making up a wall at the back of the room. The second room has ulnas and radii used as centrepieces with whole spines as borders. Gradually increasing in gruesomeness, the third room has a severed human arm - only half decomposed - hanging from the wall. The final room holds the piece de la resistance, the skeletons of children - one of which is nailed to the ceiling. What possessed these monks to preserve their dead in such a novel and admittedly creepy fashion, I will never know. I was happy to leave the place, with a visit to the Trevi Fountain next on the itinerary, hopefully a little more cheerful!

The Trevi fountain was absolutely packed with tourists when I arrived. The monolithic structure is worthy of its great fame, with superb marble statues much larger than man looming over the crowd. The Trevi fountain is also the beginning of the walk through the old town to the Pantheon, along which are lined lots of touristy restaurants. The pantheon is grand but quite a modest form of greco-roman architecture, and I did not spend a long time in there. After a short while, the constant loud recordings of "silence, please" in four languages seem strangely ironic.

After the Pantheon, I walked across to Trastevere, the most beautiful suburb in Rome. Small, well decorated and very cute restaurants line the pavements along a windy stretch of roads starting in piazza trastevere. The pavement-layer was clearly as drunk as all the guests in the restaurants, as all of the streets wind in the cutest way imaginable.

The day after these extensive wanderings, I was in for another long walking day. After the metro broke down on the way to the Vatican, I got off early at the Piazza del Popolo and wandered along the roads, seeing on the way the Augustus mausoleum, and a castle. The piazza of the Vatican is very grand, although I did not enter the basilica. I saved my time at the Vatican instead for the Vatican museum, which was more richly furnished than any I have seen. The hallway of cartographers was very interesting, as well as the statues. I loved Rafaels Stanza, filled with brightly coloured characters that almost seem to come to life, and preferred it to Michelangelos paintings in the Sistine chapel.

After wandering the Vatican museums for hours, I walked up a hill which promised to be a national park. Instead, it turned out to be where all the rich people lived. I did happenstance upon the nicest fountain in Rome, however - the Font dAcqua, which is much more peaceful than Trevi, and gives the grandest view of Rome that could be wanted for. The next day, it was to Naples - the city known for pizza and theivery, and not much else!

Rome – The Colosseum and Roman Forum

I have now endured the longest queue that I have ever submitted myself to. Needlessly, as it turns out – I could have gotten a ticket a lot faster if I had purchased it at the Roman Forum rather than the Colosseum (the tickets are combined for both attractions). After more than an hour, I finally got my ticket. At the time I was in the Colosseum, there was an exhibition on the Emperor Nero, famous for his strange sexual urges, killing his mother, and possibly burning down Rome so he could start again – quite the passionate individual. The room where he lived was absolutely amazing, a sunken marble terrace with spouting fountains all around. Lucky guy! The colloseum itself was quite amazing, it was quite brutal the way they put executions by animal or fire on show, as well as animal vs. animal, animal vs. human, and human vs. human fights on show.

The Roman forum nearby is beautiful, as well as the rest of the ruins, which stretch out over a long space. These included various arches, pillars, palaces, and gardens. The palace itself was absolutely huge, originally built with two massive wings stretching over hectares, and intended to have an extra wing. I found it very strange, seeing brick-and-mortar buildings from the time of Jesus, built as the normal masonry material of the time. I expected marble, but having seen this, it's amazing how little our building techniques have changed over time – 2000 years and no advancement!

Florence, part 2: The Uffizi and Michelangelo Square

The Uffizi was great. My favourite painting was Spring, closely followed by the birth of Venus. The statue hall was amazing, there were marble carvings from 50 BC! I didn't think art could have been preserved for that long. There were so many Madonna with child's and Jesus on the cross' that I couldn't stand to see another one, especially because christian-themed art is mostly quite droll. I loved the pagan art – Roman gods are much more interesting subject matter.

The next day I walked out of my hostel and there were my English friends from Pisa, walking by my hostel! I shouted out and took them for a brief tour of the bits they hadn't seen in Florence (their hostel was in a small town an hour from Florence). Then we headed up to Michelangelo square, where a copy of David in bronze stands, presiding over the whole of Florence. The view from the square is amazing – Florence is such a good city to have a view of, all the mediterranean buildings are awesome when seen en masse.

Florence

Florence has confirmed my love of Italy, although in Florence the tourist presence is much more obvious, and you have to fight against each other to get through crowds. Yesterday, after catching the train here I dropped my bag at my new hostel, a very basic dorm -no kitchen, fridge, or lounge area, just a bed and a toilet. It's quite good, because it forces you to go out and enjoy the city, as it's impossible to enjoy the hostel. I've spent the last two days walking non-stop, and now my ankles feel like jelly. Yesterday I went for a scope around the city, which encompassed the Ponte Vecchio, where the goldsmiths are, the Palazzo Vecchio, and a bunch of churches – the Basilica di Santo Spirito, the Cathedrale di Santa Maria del Flore, the Basilica di San Lorenze, and the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. While the churches are absolutely huge here, they are not very ornate – it looks like they scrapped the artistry budget and just built the biggest monstrosity possible, perhaps they needed the extra room to fit all the christians in. I checked out multiple markets, which line every street, as well as the leather markets with the hog. I also found the most awesome scribe's shop, with ink, pens, sealing wax and stamps, anything you could want in order to write the most stylish letter this side of Milan. While I walked past the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, I didn't go in yesterday. Today, I visite the piazza pitti after a bit of a walk around. The part I was most excited about was the Giardina di Boboli, which are supposedly famous. In my opinion, they turned out to be famously crap, mostly consisting of a bunch of overgrown trees with grass and weeds underneath. The occasional marble statue was nice, but nothing like the beautiful palace gardens in Sintra, Portugal. After circulating the massive garden grounds, I headed in the museum, which was much more wortwhile – the treasures of the Kremlin were currently on display, as well as the most ornate carvings you could ever expext to be possible, and a few oddities, like a whole display of small statuettes made entirely of shells. The latter part of the display included jewellery with more diamonds on a single necklace than a normal collarbone could be expected to hold.

The last exhibition I visited was a fashion throughout the ages exhibition – I always wondered how dress codes changed from ballooning, multiple-layered skirts and petticoats to slim dresses. There were even some very old, preserved clothes that had to be viewed under a dim light so as not to destroy them further. While the exhibits on the different clothes were interesting, I came out none the wiser why people used to wear so much and why we are now more practical – the exhibit only vaguely postulated the culture and women's desire for independence fueled the change.

Pisa e Luca

A short flight from Dublin and I was in Pisa, Italy. I would recommend to everyone to stay in Pisa Tower hostel - it's the best hostel I've stayed in yet!




Every country gives you that first wow! impression, which is usually marred by some sort of secondary impression. For example, in England, you think Wow!... it's really cold here.In Ireland you think Wow!... it rains a lot here. And in Scotland, you think Wow!... it's really cold and rains a lot here. In Italy, though you think Wow!... this is perfect. It's definitely got to be one of my favourite countries so far, with an agreeable climate, awesome food, amazing history and a vibrant culture. I am still deciding whether it is possible to live off of pizza and Gelato for every meal (for example yesterday's cuisine consisted of - Breakfast: Gelato, Lunch: pizza, and Dinner: Gelato). I thought that gelato was healthy because it isn't dairy-based, but someone at the hostel told me it has more sugar than your girlfriend's kisses. So maybe it isn't so healthy...

All dietician's advice aside, Pisa is a beautiful city. The park containing the leaning tower of Pisa has a bunch of tourists performing tai chi poses to get the perfect 'holding up the tower shot', and I couldn't resist trying the chance to look even more Brobdingnagian than I already am. Borgo Stretto, the main street starting from the centre of town at the Ponte di Mezzi, has some amazing Gelatissimos, and at dusk, the magic begins as candles come out on the streetside for every restaurant. If you peek down small alleys off Borgo Stretto, you can find hidden squares, where locals and tourists mingle for drinks and multi-course meals. The further down winding alleyway you go, the more chance you have of finding a magical venue for your evening meal. Pisa is such an amazing place that I don't want to leave tomorrow, when I head to Florence.

Today I spent my time at a small village, just a train's ride away from Pisa, called Lucca. The medieval city is walled all the way around, and when I visited it had an exhibition in the tunnels running around the city under the city walls. Paved streets and bustling piazzas recommend this city to the eyes and cement its place in your memory, especially the famous Piazza del Ampitheatro. The sheer volume of history bearing down on you from this walled city means one cannot fail to have a good time in Lucca, whether it's walking on the battlements of the city's walls, or traversing the narrow alleys, which usually lead you no place except utterly lost.

Newgrange and Knowth: A civilisation older than the pyramids

I had no idea that cavemen were such geniuses. Newgrange and Knowth, monuments older than the pyramids, are a testament to this. The sheer architectural brilliance it would have required to map out exactly where the sun would strike for the different position in the sky on one 365th of the year to mark the Winter solstice is amazing. How they did it back then, with no written language and no metals, rulers, or squares to build their buildings is just amazing. This single act of precision stunned me, especially when I was inside the structure and they showed what the solstice would look like at the end of the year. The design was so precise, in fact, that the ray of sunlight that penetrates the tomb once a year strikes to the left of the tomb, where 5000 years ago, it struck in the centre. The infinitesimally small movement of the axis of the earth over 5000 years has moved the beam about thirty centimetres from where it struck 5000 years ago. While Newgrange was built to mark the Winter solstice, Knowth was built with east-facing tunnels, which might mean it marked the equinoxes. Magic symbols surround the tombs, and one can even be used to tell the time, like a sundial.

Riverdance

Irish people are madmen. As I watched them spin across the stage as spritely as if they weighed the same as helium, I was amazed at this feat of human agility. The two main dancers, in particular, could dance so fast that their feet were just a blur, and only the staccatto tapping of their shoes told you what was happening. I was super impressed by Riverdance - there was even a dance-off between American style tap dance and Irish style dancing. I was very glad to have gotten a ticket to this amazing show, and it felt even better to be seeing it in Ireland, the home of where that style of dance was made. the whole production was very well put together, and at times made me sad and others really happy. An awesome production, I can see why it's been running for such a long time!!!

Heritage

Stuffy and underslept, I groaned out of bed the day I left Galway - and then I remembered what day it was! Nugent family castle day!! All looked like it was going to work out perfectly, until at the second last stop the bus driver told me that they no longer go to Delvin, my destination.So sticking my thumb out was the only option. On the way there, I hitched a ride with a father and son who were on their way to a bike race, and on the way back, I got a man looking to buy golf clubs that sounded so much like Gerard Butler that it was scary (yes, I know Gerard is Scottish!).

The Nugent castle in the middle of Delvin was awesome, I took a bunch of photos because I was so proud that my ancestors had a castle. Then i got taling with the salesman at the local shop, and it turned out that there were not one, but three Nugent castles - the one I saw was the first, built in 1100, while the second one was burnt to the ground in an act of defiance when Mr Nugent didn't want the castle to fall into the hands of Cromwell's forces. Finally, and most awesomelyu, the relatively newest caslte is amazing, and looks like a palace fit for kKings, not Earls as the Nugents were. It standsat the edge of town, and most of its grounds have been turned into a Galf course by the current owners of the castle.

What an experience, to see a castle named after your ancestors. It was an amazing day, abut a long one - by the time I'd caught the bus from Galway to Monegar, near Delvin, and then hitched rides, it was almost midnight by the time I got into Dublin at my hostel. What a day!!!

Galway Girls

I love finding the little nuances of speech in different english speaking countries. In England, everyone repeats themselves rapidly - when they are hanging up a phone, they go byebyebyebyebyebyebye. Or if theyre apologising, they say sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry. In Ireland, when something's good, it's 'class'. And a lot of things are good to Irish people, so they say 'class' about three times every paragraph.

Galway is defined by its pubs, which are such great fun that it's hard not to have a good time in Galway. I think Galway is a little Australian community in Ireland, as well, there are that many Australian toursits passing through.  In Galway I met a great bunch of Irish people who were down for the Arts festival that was going on at the time I was there. The arts fest meant that the streets were filled with buskers with really great acts, my favourite were a band standing on the curb poles and first singing 'you are my sunshine', which then turned into 'you are my moonshine' - typical of Irish to turn to the drink :P

I also 'took a stroll down the old long walk of a day', as they say - its a lovely spot and i've got lots of sunset photos there. Galways quite a peaceful town during the day, and at night it rocks - every pub seems to have live bands and the streets ae always lively every night of the week.


On my last night in Galway I was lucky enough to meet three awesome Australians, Aleisha, Troy, and Jacqui, and as Australians do, one drink led to another and before we knew it we were dancing to a live rock band in one of Galway's many great pubs. We danced for so long and had such a good night. I haven't spent a lot of time partying with people who are older than me before, and it's so refreshing - everyone just wants to have a good time, and it's not ruined by most peoples panic-crzed need to think that they have to make out with someone or the night's wasted. I will have to spend some time with an older crew, who are more after my own heart (having fun!) when I get back to Aus!

Blarney and Guinness

I now have the gift of the gab, the eloquence of poets and politicians. I'm not sure that I feel that different, although I made sure to kiss the stone well in order to get all the gifts that it could provide me. It's actually a bit gross actually, the stone has a big wet mark from all the lips that have smooched it (probably from all the lip gloss from girl's lips that has rubbed off onto the stone). The stone itself is rumoured to be half of the throne of kings, which I saw when I went to Edinburgh Castle, which kings used to sit on when they were coronated. Half was given to Ireland in exchange for their services during an allied Irish-Scots war against the English.

I was awe-struck by Blarney castle. It was ingeniously designed, built on a bed of rock so noone could mine in, and very attractively designed. The castle itself is still in excellent shape, and there are also escape tunnels from the castle from when Cromwell's forces overcame the castle and tried to take the treasure within - none of which they managed to get their hands on.

Blarney castle is only the start of the spectacular, though. My favourite area was in the surrounds of the castle, called Rock Close. In these gardens, the Blarney witch resides, who grants wishes to travellers who walk up and down the Witch's stairs with their eyes closed, walking backwards. It's a difficult feat, but one that I'm glad to say that I achieved. She gives wishes in exchange for the firewood that she steals from the house nearby. Apparently apart from giving wishes, she's really quite evil and attacks people - luckily she's trapped in the Witches stone by day and only comes out by night. I thought it was a bit harsh to trap the poor witch in a stone by day and that they should let her out - Irish nights are awfully cold, even worse than Irish days!

Amongst the wonders of the Rock Close, there is also a Fairy Glen and an old tomb from the first inhabitants of Ireland, even before the druids. There's a druids circle there, also, with a sacrificing stone and everything. Most fun place in ages, perfect for me and to take your children to!

Yesterday I travelled from Cork to Killarney, and spent the whole bus trip talking to a lovely old lady from Dublin who was headed on holiday. Killarney isn't as touristy as it's made out to be if you ignore the tour buses, and the national park looks awesome. Despite the rain, today I'm going to try and have a walk through the trails of Killarney National Park.

Last night, I met some Aussies at our hostel. The only possible eventuality when you meet Aussies is that you go out drinking at the pub. I met a Danish couple, and Irish, French, English and Dutch people, tried Guinness from the tap (really quite good!), and danced. It was a great night!

Fiddle dee dees and Potatoes

In Ireland! This is one part of the trip I had been especially looking forward to, and for good reason. I took the Megabus from Inverness down to London and stayed for one night in the worst youth hostel ever. I should have been tipped off when it was a 24 bed dorm (It was ridiculous! Bunks were piled sky-high and it looked like a library... but of people), but it was a bit grubby and unkempt. Luckily, I was only staying there one night, so it didn't really make any difference what it looked like. I spent the days in London bored and freezing cold, spending most of my time hanging out in Hyde Park like a lizard in order to soak up every tiny bit of sunlight warmth.

Both overnight buses were quite difficult to sleep on - both the Inverness to London and the London to Rosslare. I've found that the reason for this is the seat belts screwed into the bottom of the seats, meaning that if you lie down across the seats, they stab you in uncomfortable places. Luckily, for the trip to Ireland, I was on a ferry for half of it, which was extremely comfortable - probably the best ferry I've been on in my life. Turns out the Megabus wasn't that cheap after all, because they leave you at Rosslare ferry port - it costs another 20 Euros to get to Cork, while the National Express bus, while initially looking more expensive, may have worked out to be a similar price.

For some reason I find it much easier to sleep on the warm, sunny morning when riding a bus after a sleepless night on a bus - I have no idea why. It's somewhat inconvenient, as I was fighting to keep my eyes open so that I could see all that I could of Ireland from the trip between Rosslare and Cork. A young Irish gentleman at the bus station sparked up a conversation with me, which solidified my opinion that Ireland is amazing - if they even talk on public transport, they must be friendly types!

Now I'm in Cork - I'll have a look around Cork today, and probably go kiss the Blarney Stone tomorrow. If my blog posts start to sound particularly eloquent, you'll know that I have indeed been granted the Gift of the Gab by the Blarney Stone.