Hi guys,
Thought I would get this out of the way now. I start camp tomorrow and I have no idea what facilities there will be for internet. It has been quite difficult getting on in the last couple of days.
I went downtown today and checked out the mississipi river ( i know i spelt that one right! sorry bout all the typos in the previous posts but time is of the essence). It was pretty cool, I went and saw the largest monument to McDonalds ever. Jokes, its a big silver arch, imagine if you will a Mcdonalds arch cut in half and silver but the size of a skyscraper. After that i wandered about 15 blocks to go to this place called City Museum, i think its a clever "drop off your kids" playground place where parents go to deliberately lose their children. Nah they don't let you leave your kids there but it wouldn't be hard to lose them. Its like a three story playground with a few art exhibits and crazy interior design, was definately pretty fun especially for a big kid like me.
Yesterday I wandered to the main station where there is kinda of a mall. I have also made a stunning conclusion as to what the worlds most universal language is, no its not music or maths its Chinglish. No matter where you go this language will be spoken somewhere. I wish i was a little more fluent in Chinglish as my attempt to not get a haircut failed yesterday after I woke up utterly pissed off with it and walked out of the chinglish hairdressers with a haircut that I haven't had since i was in 3rd form complete with a choir boy part. I walked out the door and put my hat on where it will remain for the rest of summer.
Can't think of what else to say about St Louis, it seems to be quite a black community and people kinda talk like Craig's dad out of Friday. I have to concentrate a little harder than normal to deceipher.
Just quickly a rant that'll sound more familiar coming out of one of the girls on tours mouths: "i feel fat", "I've put on weight" or "does my ass look fat in this?". I don't think i have really but I am really missing European food, the cheap pizza, baguettes and bratwurst. Its all burgers and fried chicken or steak, oh ribs as well. I already miss vegetables and thats a big statement coming from me! Also can anyone tell me what Chicken Fried Steak is, I'm too scared to ask and i have the feeling it will induce a heart attack.
Keep the mails coming coz I love getting them, and if I don't respond personally don't take offence but these things take a bit of time and I'll try and answer in here!
Anyway see ya when i sees ya!
Uncle Travelling Matt ( damn you Trish I was saving that one! )
PS: Leave comments so i can write bitchy comments back!
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Super Size Me please....
Hi all,
Have made it safe and sound to St Louis.
My last day in London was pretty fun. After a very late wakeup as me Anna caught up till 3 in the morning we made it into town finally. First stop was Madam Tussauds, which was a ball. It was quite scary how life like some of them were. As we were leaving Anna says " wow that one looks really life like" only for him to move and turn out to being an usher. Afterwards we wandered down to Liverpool St and had a look round the markets there and bought a pretty cool pic of the Abbey road sign. On our way back to the tube station we passed the the Ten Bells where Jack the Ripper or the ladies of the night used to frequent. After one last wander round Picadilly Circus we made our way to meet the rest of EE860 (my tour) survivors to go to Fame. Fame was awesome, i only knew the one song from it but it was still had an amazing time.
Did the mad dash to the airport in the morning and finally landed at JFK where i had my first cultural american experience and watched a lot of people get super sized, they must have missed the doco. I've been getting funny looks here when i've ordered medium sized meals. Made it to the hotel late at night and watched tv for a while, they still play Golden girl reruns!
Went into town today which was interesting am currently sitting in the library typing this out. When i got in here around 11 today it was worse than wellington on easter weekend but things have seemed to pick up here now. How is it that I make another public holiday somewhere else in the world? Its bloody Memorial Day weekend here so not to sure whats going to be open. Although The Roots are going to be playing I'll see if i can get a ticket, should be pretty fun.
I think I'm getting culture shock where ever I'm going, as soon as i get used to one culture I'm off to another, although the gap between european culture and american culture seems bigger than I would have expected. its cool though I guess it keeps me on my toes.
I'm about to go see Kung Fu Hustle as there's not much else going on here on a Sunday and with tomorrow being the equivalent of ANZAC day don't think much else will be on tomorrow either also the baseball is on so maybe thats where everyone is.
The few people here that I've spoken to have been really nice and friendly which is nice hopefully it stays that way even when I do get out to Lesterville. For the record i haven't seen a single trailer park yet but will keep my eyes peeled. Although Ike Turner is on the walk of stars here if that tells you anything, Tina's a little further down on the other side of the road.
See ya later alligator
Matt
Have made it safe and sound to St Louis.
My last day in London was pretty fun. After a very late wakeup as me Anna caught up till 3 in the morning we made it into town finally. First stop was Madam Tussauds, which was a ball. It was quite scary how life like some of them were. As we were leaving Anna says " wow that one looks really life like" only for him to move and turn out to being an usher. Afterwards we wandered down to Liverpool St and had a look round the markets there and bought a pretty cool pic of the Abbey road sign. On our way back to the tube station we passed the the Ten Bells where Jack the Ripper or the ladies of the night used to frequent. After one last wander round Picadilly Circus we made our way to meet the rest of EE860 (my tour) survivors to go to Fame. Fame was awesome, i only knew the one song from it but it was still had an amazing time.
Did the mad dash to the airport in the morning and finally landed at JFK where i had my first cultural american experience and watched a lot of people get super sized, they must have missed the doco. I've been getting funny looks here when i've ordered medium sized meals. Made it to the hotel late at night and watched tv for a while, they still play Golden girl reruns!
Went into town today which was interesting am currently sitting in the library typing this out. When i got in here around 11 today it was worse than wellington on easter weekend but things have seemed to pick up here now. How is it that I make another public holiday somewhere else in the world? Its bloody Memorial Day weekend here so not to sure whats going to be open. Although The Roots are going to be playing I'll see if i can get a ticket, should be pretty fun.
I think I'm getting culture shock where ever I'm going, as soon as i get used to one culture I'm off to another, although the gap between european culture and american culture seems bigger than I would have expected. its cool though I guess it keeps me on my toes.
I'm about to go see Kung Fu Hustle as there's not much else going on here on a Sunday and with tomorrow being the equivalent of ANZAC day don't think much else will be on tomorrow either also the baseball is on so maybe thats where everyone is.
The few people here that I've spoken to have been really nice and friendly which is nice hopefully it stays that way even when I do get out to Lesterville. For the record i haven't seen a single trailer park yet but will keep my eyes peeled. Although Ike Turner is on the walk of stars here if that tells you anything, Tina's a little further down on the other side of the road.
See ya later alligator
Matt
Thursday, May 26, 2005
More Fun than you can shake a stick at......
Hey guys,
So much has happened since I last wrote that I don't even know where to start!
But I'll try from where I left off. The Jungle Animal party that we had went off I have some cracker photo's from that night. Everyone got into the swing of things with plenty of thanks going out to the girls working hard in the sweatshop producing ears, tails, manes and the like.
One of the guys on tour (the guy that drunk 9 black absinthes and 20 odd bundys and cokes, Jase you know who you are) went round the world which in 28 seconds which is basically 20 shots from around the world and walked himself to bed unlike the guy from the other tour that got carried home by his tourmates.
The next morning we left Lauterbrunen, Switzerland. Its a little out of the way but boy was it worth it. Imagine if you a will a village like atmostphere with a camping ground in the valley surrounded by the swiss alps. With Eiger in the background and waterfalls running of the cliffs every 50 -100m. I went on the highest cog railway to the top of the Jungfrau mountain passing through the Eiger and wandered round the observation decks there for a good couple of hours. A few of the guys on tour had never seen snow before and had purchased these plastic plate looking things that had handles so you could sit on them and slide down the hill a little bit.
The two nights spent in Lauterbrunen were spent at a bar called the Bomb Shelter. I'll tell you now it got pretty messy. I ended up playing drinking foosball for about 2 hours and pretty much drunk every goal. I went to the bar after finally getting knocked off the table and proceeded to do a few more torpedoes which impressed the bar maid and a couple of the Contiki reps there. I followed up with a good second innings the following night and due to the previous nights effort and the fact that I had made it back to the bar I got a few freebies.
The next morning we packed up the bus again for a travel day (read recovery) back into Germany with a few site seeing stops on the way. We did our drive through Lichenstein where the hi light for a lot of the group was getting there passport stamped there for 2 Euro. We had to leave in a hurry due to the riots and lynch mobs forming as I caused a mass downturn in the local economy by not getting my passport stamped. We stopped In Heidelburg where I checked out the castle there which was pretty cool although somewhat of a hike to get to but the view was great. I quite liked Heidelburg it was quite picturesque and managed to get a few good pics. we arrived in St Goar, Germany for what was called our sleep stop before the big bash in Amsterdam (aka The Dam or The Damage) . St Goar is by the Rhine so it was pretty cool to see all the old castle / toll places. We had to go to this beer stein factory and have a look. I left as soon as I could as I could see myself going to pick something up and dropping it. Although I did have to go back in the store when one of the americans on tour came and told me he found an Operation Iraqi Freedom stein. We had a good chuckle. Also I went over and had a look at the Steir Bear shop for Alexis which was pretty crazy. Alexis you need to make those kind of bears they were going for minimum 100 Euro.
After going to bed early and feeling well rested, actually thats a lie, my body didn't really appreciate a proper nights sleep and the previous 35 odd days worth of damage seemed to catch up on me we left for Amsterdam. On the way we stopped in Edam for cheese tasting, a clog demonstration and to ride a bike on a dike ( I almost called this post Ride a Dike on a Bike). Anyway we went for a leisurely ride round Edam over some dikes and canals on an omarfitz, a granny bike. We all wished the ride had gone on for longer it was such a fun, cruisy day. After we finished there we went off for some demonstrations and finally made it into the dam. Later that night after I had my first steak in some 6 odd weeks the majority of the group went to experience the cultural side of amsterdam. As soon as i put my name down on the sheet I was regretting it! We went to this live sex show which was pretty funny. Some of it was like aerobic / dance porn and then they had some real fat guys up there as well. The highlight of the evening was defintely the audience participation which i won't go into here but remind me to tell you. And yep I did have to get on stage but i got off lightly (no pun intended, jeez you guys are filthy).
After the show we wandered round the red light district which really does bring a new meaning to the phrase window shopping. I can't really put into words what its like but there was definately some culture shock for me and a lot of the other people on tour. We went to the Grasshopper after that were a lot of the guys had a medicinal smoke, I ended up watching the Argentinians getting robbed by the Lions before returning to see the aftermath of decriminalised marijuana. One guy got carried home and the other whose 21st it was spewed on the balcony at the Grasshopper and me being the good sort that i am took a little bit of his eyebrow for his trouble and to celebrate his birthday.
The next day I went to Anne Franks House after pedalling my ass off on a canal bike. Having had a near miss with a Canal ferry. God knows how I do it? It's not like the canals are that big that you can't see them, perhaps I was too busy taking in the sights or something. If you ever get a chance to go to Anne Franks House you should, its one of the most well made museum / monuments that I have ever seen. I bought a copy of the diary to read afterwards as I'd never read it and had to know more after wandering through the exhibits.
Our last night in Amsterdam we had pre dinner drinks on the canal, where a lot of people took the opportunity to get last minute photos of each other. We had dinner on a floating Chinese pagoda restaurant which seemed rather fixed to me. Anyway a lot of people really enjoyed the meal it just made me crave Shanghai. Our tour manager got up and made a speech about what a great group we were which set a bunch of the girls off crying. After dinner more drinks and smoke were had at the grasshopper before we all returned home for the night.
The last day on tour was a complete contrast to the first. The bus was dead silent as everyone was pondering bout the previous 36. We lost 3 Canadians and an American at the airport in Amsterdam which set all the girls on the bus off even the ones that weren't that close to them.
When we arrived back in London a few more goodbyes were said and a few more tears were shed. The survivors all skulked off to the pub for one last hurrah and a few drinks later slowly everyone started to leave. The few harcore and mainly the No More Sober Nights Pact were left and we were the ones that found it hardest to go to bed as nobody wanted to say goodbye. Its funny i'd read travelogues where people had said that the girls had had a cry and thought how bloody stupid but when you've been on the road that long and in such close confines and have made so many new good mates you do feel a little sad. For the record I didn't have a cry because real men don't cry but at the same time I really wanted to stay in London as so many of my good mates were staying on.
This morning felt a little lost as I wasn't sure what to do but hey....
Anyway more adventures to come when Tintin goes to America so stay tuned and make sure you email!
See ya
Matt
So much has happened since I last wrote that I don't even know where to start!
But I'll try from where I left off. The Jungle Animal party that we had went off I have some cracker photo's from that night. Everyone got into the swing of things with plenty of thanks going out to the girls working hard in the sweatshop producing ears, tails, manes and the like.
One of the guys on tour (the guy that drunk 9 black absinthes and 20 odd bundys and cokes, Jase you know who you are) went round the world which in 28 seconds which is basically 20 shots from around the world and walked himself to bed unlike the guy from the other tour that got carried home by his tourmates.
The next morning we left Lauterbrunen, Switzerland. Its a little out of the way but boy was it worth it. Imagine if you a will a village like atmostphere with a camping ground in the valley surrounded by the swiss alps. With Eiger in the background and waterfalls running of the cliffs every 50 -100m. I went on the highest cog railway to the top of the Jungfrau mountain passing through the Eiger and wandered round the observation decks there for a good couple of hours. A few of the guys on tour had never seen snow before and had purchased these plastic plate looking things that had handles so you could sit on them and slide down the hill a little bit.
The two nights spent in Lauterbrunen were spent at a bar called the Bomb Shelter. I'll tell you now it got pretty messy. I ended up playing drinking foosball for about 2 hours and pretty much drunk every goal. I went to the bar after finally getting knocked off the table and proceeded to do a few more torpedoes which impressed the bar maid and a couple of the Contiki reps there. I followed up with a good second innings the following night and due to the previous nights effort and the fact that I had made it back to the bar I got a few freebies.
The next morning we packed up the bus again for a travel day (read recovery) back into Germany with a few site seeing stops on the way. We did our drive through Lichenstein where the hi light for a lot of the group was getting there passport stamped there for 2 Euro. We had to leave in a hurry due to the riots and lynch mobs forming as I caused a mass downturn in the local economy by not getting my passport stamped. We stopped In Heidelburg where I checked out the castle there which was pretty cool although somewhat of a hike to get to but the view was great. I quite liked Heidelburg it was quite picturesque and managed to get a few good pics. we arrived in St Goar, Germany for what was called our sleep stop before the big bash in Amsterdam (aka The Dam or The Damage) . St Goar is by the Rhine so it was pretty cool to see all the old castle / toll places. We had to go to this beer stein factory and have a look. I left as soon as I could as I could see myself going to pick something up and dropping it. Although I did have to go back in the store when one of the americans on tour came and told me he found an Operation Iraqi Freedom stein. We had a good chuckle. Also I went over and had a look at the Steir Bear shop for Alexis which was pretty crazy. Alexis you need to make those kind of bears they were going for minimum 100 Euro.
After going to bed early and feeling well rested, actually thats a lie, my body didn't really appreciate a proper nights sleep and the previous 35 odd days worth of damage seemed to catch up on me we left for Amsterdam. On the way we stopped in Edam for cheese tasting, a clog demonstration and to ride a bike on a dike ( I almost called this post Ride a Dike on a Bike). Anyway we went for a leisurely ride round Edam over some dikes and canals on an omarfitz, a granny bike. We all wished the ride had gone on for longer it was such a fun, cruisy day. After we finished there we went off for some demonstrations and finally made it into the dam. Later that night after I had my first steak in some 6 odd weeks the majority of the group went to experience the cultural side of amsterdam. As soon as i put my name down on the sheet I was regretting it! We went to this live sex show which was pretty funny. Some of it was like aerobic / dance porn and then they had some real fat guys up there as well. The highlight of the evening was defintely the audience participation which i won't go into here but remind me to tell you. And yep I did have to get on stage but i got off lightly (no pun intended, jeez you guys are filthy).
After the show we wandered round the red light district which really does bring a new meaning to the phrase window shopping. I can't really put into words what its like but there was definately some culture shock for me and a lot of the other people on tour. We went to the Grasshopper after that were a lot of the guys had a medicinal smoke, I ended up watching the Argentinians getting robbed by the Lions before returning to see the aftermath of decriminalised marijuana. One guy got carried home and the other whose 21st it was spewed on the balcony at the Grasshopper and me being the good sort that i am took a little bit of his eyebrow for his trouble and to celebrate his birthday.
The next day I went to Anne Franks House after pedalling my ass off on a canal bike. Having had a near miss with a Canal ferry. God knows how I do it? It's not like the canals are that big that you can't see them, perhaps I was too busy taking in the sights or something. If you ever get a chance to go to Anne Franks House you should, its one of the most well made museum / monuments that I have ever seen. I bought a copy of the diary to read afterwards as I'd never read it and had to know more after wandering through the exhibits.
Our last night in Amsterdam we had pre dinner drinks on the canal, where a lot of people took the opportunity to get last minute photos of each other. We had dinner on a floating Chinese pagoda restaurant which seemed rather fixed to me. Anyway a lot of people really enjoyed the meal it just made me crave Shanghai. Our tour manager got up and made a speech about what a great group we were which set a bunch of the girls off crying. After dinner more drinks and smoke were had at the grasshopper before we all returned home for the night.
The last day on tour was a complete contrast to the first. The bus was dead silent as everyone was pondering bout the previous 36. We lost 3 Canadians and an American at the airport in Amsterdam which set all the girls on the bus off even the ones that weren't that close to them.
When we arrived back in London a few more goodbyes were said and a few more tears were shed. The survivors all skulked off to the pub for one last hurrah and a few drinks later slowly everyone started to leave. The few harcore and mainly the No More Sober Nights Pact were left and we were the ones that found it hardest to go to bed as nobody wanted to say goodbye. Its funny i'd read travelogues where people had said that the girls had had a cry and thought how bloody stupid but when you've been on the road that long and in such close confines and have made so many new good mates you do feel a little sad. For the record I didn't have a cry because real men don't cry but at the same time I really wanted to stay in London as so many of my good mates were staying on.
This morning felt a little lost as I wasn't sure what to do but hey....
Anyway more adventures to come when Tintin goes to America so stay tuned and make sure you email!
See ya
Matt
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Where is the Von Trap Family?
Munich was great! the pork knuckle we got served was awesome, i love the food over here! I saw the cuckoo clock in the main square that goes for like 10 minutes it was pretty a cool story although the "grand finale" that our tour manager hyped up was a bit lame, in fact i missed it because i was talking to somebody about it, all that happened was the rooster cuckooed a few times.
The beer hall dinner was so much fun everyone got into it, even girls that don't drink beer downed a stein or two. i have learnt a trick with a stein glass that i'll have to show you when i get home, don't worry you won't get too drenched with beer. There were dancing girls and a bit om pah music it was going really well then one of the guys who had 4 steins chopped what was left of his girlfriends stein turned around and spewed, we made a very hasty exit.
I have somehow turned into the recruiter for the No More Sober Nights pact and with only a week left more people are wanting to join in the fun.
I'm back in Austria now in the Tirol region we had a 25k bike ride today. The first leg was pretty hard but after that it wasn't such a bad ride. I was too busy to take many photos but will get them of the guys later. The views up there were spectacular. It's funny Austria really wasn't one of the highlights when i chose this tour but now that i'm here its definately on of my favourite stops. Although i feel like i've written the last sentence a few times now.
Tonight we're having a Jungle Animal party which should be a laugh as a couple of the guys have been named after characters in the lion king thanks to their prowess with the ladies. Sit down, i got Rafeke the monkey, the other guys Mufasa, Simba and Hyena so draw your own conclusions! but tonight i'll be going as a sheep just for a laugh!
Laters
The beer hall dinner was so much fun everyone got into it, even girls that don't drink beer downed a stein or two. i have learnt a trick with a stein glass that i'll have to show you when i get home, don't worry you won't get too drenched with beer. There were dancing girls and a bit om pah music it was going really well then one of the guys who had 4 steins chopped what was left of his girlfriends stein turned around and spewed, we made a very hasty exit.
I have somehow turned into the recruiter for the No More Sober Nights pact and with only a week left more people are wanting to join in the fun.
I'm back in Austria now in the Tirol region we had a 25k bike ride today. The first leg was pretty hard but after that it wasn't such a bad ride. I was too busy to take many photos but will get them of the guys later. The views up there were spectacular. It's funny Austria really wasn't one of the highlights when i chose this tour but now that i'm here its definately on of my favourite stops. Although i feel like i've written the last sentence a few times now.
Tonight we're having a Jungle Animal party which should be a laugh as a couple of the guys have been named after characters in the lion king thanks to their prowess with the ladies. Sit down, i got Rafeke the monkey, the other guys Mufasa, Simba and Hyena so draw your own conclusions! but tonight i'll be going as a sheep just for a laugh!
Laters
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
The Hills are alive with the Soúnd of Music
Guten Targ (sp),
Hey guys made it to Vienna the other day. I´m doing round 2 on the Black Death which is really getting on my nerves. I spent the first night in Vienna just wandering around really got some Wiener Schitzel and saw some soccer celebrations which was basically a bunch of drunk soccer hooligans standing in a circle outside of St Stephens cathedral throwing bottles into the middle of the circle while the police stood on the outside enjoying the festivities. After that I decided i was stil la bit hungry so i got a bratwurst from a street stall, man those things are good. Spent the day just wandering around really around the Burg Ring and ended up falling asleep under in Marie Therese Park. Later that day i went to the schnaps muesuem which was pretty fun tried a few and i think everyone got well on the way for dinner. Our last night in Venice a few of us made a "no more sober nights" pact and we lived up to it in Vienna, we were treated to a few beers and some apple schnapps which is all good and then danced our way on the bus to the chant of "no more sober nights" and back to the hotel which quite amusingly and somewhat childishly was called Hotel Kuntner. Well we laughed anyway...... Vienna was definately a highlight some pretty cool streets just to wander down. By the way mum i went to the Sacher Hotel and after laughing at an aussie tourmate who asked for a "sucky tort" leaving everyone quite bemused i tried some orignal Sacher Tort.
Stopped off in Mondsee (where some of the Sound of Music was filmed) for lunch, its a great little town, real quaint and really pretty. Me and four others walked passed the trees where the Von Trapp kids apparently did and wandered to the waterfront where an old austrian dude ina nautical outfit asked us if we wanted to hire an electric motorboat for 8 euro. We figured 8 per person but no it was 8 euro for the 5 of us for half an hour so we had a pretty cool time cruising round the lake. Which was a far more pleasant stop than the one we had in the morning. For our first stop this morning we went to Mauthausen concentration camp. It was quite a sobering experience for many on the bus, the place had a quite an eerie feel to it. Mauthausen was the last camp to be liberated by the allies.
After Mondsee we made our way to Deutchland, and we are going to a Beer hall tonight, which should be more than amusing, am really looking forward to trying out that pork knuckle and having a stein or 2. What does concern me is that there are a couple of people on the bus who i can just imagine having a Basil Fawlty moment with " Don´t mention the war".
By the way heading to Missouri for summer camp to look after some not so fortunate kids with some behavioural problems but figure it should be a walk in the park after coaching some of those Penguin kids like the Jamesons and the Wilsons. Here´s the camp website www.vsyouthranch.org
Cheers for all the updates on the footy
Auf Wierdersen
PS: No more sober nights!No more sober nights!No more sober nights!No more sober nights!
Hey guys made it to Vienna the other day. I´m doing round 2 on the Black Death which is really getting on my nerves. I spent the first night in Vienna just wandering around really got some Wiener Schitzel and saw some soccer celebrations which was basically a bunch of drunk soccer hooligans standing in a circle outside of St Stephens cathedral throwing bottles into the middle of the circle while the police stood on the outside enjoying the festivities. After that I decided i was stil la bit hungry so i got a bratwurst from a street stall, man those things are good. Spent the day just wandering around really around the Burg Ring and ended up falling asleep under in Marie Therese Park. Later that day i went to the schnaps muesuem which was pretty fun tried a few and i think everyone got well on the way for dinner. Our last night in Venice a few of us made a "no more sober nights" pact and we lived up to it in Vienna, we were treated to a few beers and some apple schnapps which is all good and then danced our way on the bus to the chant of "no more sober nights" and back to the hotel which quite amusingly and somewhat childishly was called Hotel Kuntner. Well we laughed anyway...... Vienna was definately a highlight some pretty cool streets just to wander down. By the way mum i went to the Sacher Hotel and after laughing at an aussie tourmate who asked for a "sucky tort" leaving everyone quite bemused i tried some orignal Sacher Tort.
Stopped off in Mondsee (where some of the Sound of Music was filmed) for lunch, its a great little town, real quaint and really pretty. Me and four others walked passed the trees where the Von Trapp kids apparently did and wandered to the waterfront where an old austrian dude ina nautical outfit asked us if we wanted to hire an electric motorboat for 8 euro. We figured 8 per person but no it was 8 euro for the 5 of us for half an hour so we had a pretty cool time cruising round the lake. Which was a far more pleasant stop than the one we had in the morning. For our first stop this morning we went to Mauthausen concentration camp. It was quite a sobering experience for many on the bus, the place had a quite an eerie feel to it. Mauthausen was the last camp to be liberated by the allies.
After Mondsee we made our way to Deutchland, and we are going to a Beer hall tonight, which should be more than amusing, am really looking forward to trying out that pork knuckle and having a stein or 2. What does concern me is that there are a couple of people on the bus who i can just imagine having a Basil Fawlty moment with " Don´t mention the war".
By the way heading to Missouri for summer camp to look after some not so fortunate kids with some behavioural problems but figure it should be a walk in the park after coaching some of those Penguin kids like the Jamesons and the Wilsons. Here´s the camp website www.vsyouthranch.org
Cheers for all the updates on the footy
Auf Wierdersen
PS: No more sober nights!No more sober nights!No more sober nights!No more sober nights!
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Wheelchair Strikes Again
Nah jokes, I'm ok although I had an incident with a bottle top at the Corinth Canal on the way to Athens much to everyones amusement. One of the girls wanted me to open a bottle of soft drink for them so i got my lighter out and went to pop it off and shot off like a champagne cork, i now have four neat little serated hole type shapes in my forehead where it looks like someone has attacked me with a fork. Other than that Athens has been pretty uneventful haven't really had much of look round. Got back here about 9pm after a frolick through Corfu and Mykonos.
George's boat in Corfu was hilarious basically just kicked back on a boat and sailed round (not literally) did some water sports for the first time ever on this speed tube things, to be quite blunt I was shitting my pants, i ended up buying one of the photos where I am screaming like a little girl. We had the toga party later that night which was interesting but I was feeling really tired and sore after the water sports. I think I had a bit of heat stroke or something and was feeling pretty cold, i know i was wearing a Toga but everyone else seemed fine maybe it was just that I was too big for the baby sheet they gave me.
Got up the next day and wandered into Corfu town to feed my Gyros addiction and went back to the hotel to laze the rest of the day away, we were going to head out to a beach but we had missed the next bus and the next one was 4 hours away so a whole bunch of us watched Top Gun. We had the traditional greek dinner that night, it was pretty fun, and yep i had to get up and participate but then so did the whole group. There were a whole lot of opas and ouzo going round. i can't believe how salty the greeks like there food, even the salad was salty.
The next day we went of to Mykonos and to be honest there isn't that much to tell except that we were staying on a resort on Paradise Beach that had an awesome pool, free tennis, soccer, pool and dvd's so not too much was achieved but body definitely needed the break. Quite a few people went to town but I only left the resort once when we left to head back to Athens.
I went and saw the Acropolis and the Parthenon, it was pretty cool got some really good pics, things are definately heating up now and i tried to find as much shade as possible, god knows what it would be like in the middle of summer, i can see why they have siestas over here.
I've spent the last 2 nights on a ferry to get to Venice and am most excited about checking it all out tomorrow, i get to go on a gondola, see St Marks Square and get lost in Venice in general. We stopped by Lake Garda and Verona today which was awesome, it was so different to Rome and I think a lot of people on the bus had a very different perspective on Italy. There were quite a few people on the bus who said they hated Rome and didn't much like italy but after walking round Verona and Lake Garda they definately changed there mind. A few of the girls on tour have gone absolutely mad on Gelati and are concerned that they will shortly turn into one.
Anyway have bloody contracted an ear infection so that will probably put a curb on the whole drinks thing tonight but i'll still head down to the bar to support the team. The bar at the campsite had a website where they have webcams and pics so if you wanna check it out its at:
www.fusinabar.com
Ciao Ciao
PS: Please send money and a new liver....
George's boat in Corfu was hilarious basically just kicked back on a boat and sailed round (not literally) did some water sports for the first time ever on this speed tube things, to be quite blunt I was shitting my pants, i ended up buying one of the photos where I am screaming like a little girl. We had the toga party later that night which was interesting but I was feeling really tired and sore after the water sports. I think I had a bit of heat stroke or something and was feeling pretty cold, i know i was wearing a Toga but everyone else seemed fine maybe it was just that I was too big for the baby sheet they gave me.
Got up the next day and wandered into Corfu town to feed my Gyros addiction and went back to the hotel to laze the rest of the day away, we were going to head out to a beach but we had missed the next bus and the next one was 4 hours away so a whole bunch of us watched Top Gun. We had the traditional greek dinner that night, it was pretty fun, and yep i had to get up and participate but then so did the whole group. There were a whole lot of opas and ouzo going round. i can't believe how salty the greeks like there food, even the salad was salty.
The next day we went of to Mykonos and to be honest there isn't that much to tell except that we were staying on a resort on Paradise Beach that had an awesome pool, free tennis, soccer, pool and dvd's so not too much was achieved but body definitely needed the break. Quite a few people went to town but I only left the resort once when we left to head back to Athens.
I went and saw the Acropolis and the Parthenon, it was pretty cool got some really good pics, things are definately heating up now and i tried to find as much shade as possible, god knows what it would be like in the middle of summer, i can see why they have siestas over here.
I've spent the last 2 nights on a ferry to get to Venice and am most excited about checking it all out tomorrow, i get to go on a gondola, see St Marks Square and get lost in Venice in general. We stopped by Lake Garda and Verona today which was awesome, it was so different to Rome and I think a lot of people on the bus had a very different perspective on Italy. There were quite a few people on the bus who said they hated Rome and didn't much like italy but after walking round Verona and Lake Garda they definately changed there mind. A few of the girls on tour have gone absolutely mad on Gelati and are concerned that they will shortly turn into one.
Anyway have bloody contracted an ear infection so that will probably put a curb on the whole drinks thing tonight but i'll still head down to the bar to support the team. The bar at the campsite had a website where they have webcams and pics so if you wanna check it out its at:
www.fusinabar.com
Ciao Ciao
PS: Please send money and a new liver....
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Veni Vidi Vici take 2
I came, I saw and in all honesty i got conquered by Rome. I have contracted what has affectionately been dubbed as the black death.
The metro in Rome is mad, people were almost falling out of the train when the doors opened on the way to the Vatican. I had a near run with a pick pocket who was a short sleazy balding italian man tbat started rubbing his crotch against my leg. I looked down at him and gave him my staunchest look possible and so do my tour mate Josh. The guy promptly left at the next stop. Another of the guys wasn't so lucky and after losing his wife in Rome later that day without any money had his wallet pickpocketed on the very first train in the next day.
We made it to the Vatican with half an hour to spare so secretley i laughed at the 14 others who spent an extra 50 euro and got up at 5am to make sure they got there. That place is amazing all the ceilings had huge artworks all over it but nothing compared with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I have no idea how he got up there, i'd seen pictures but i hadn't realised before that the pictures were only segments of what he painted there. It was definately the work of a lifetime and i'm glad i've seen it. Sorry no pics though as you're not allowed to in the Sistine Chapel.
After we went on a 10 -12k power walk which i was struggling with thanks to the black lung, I saw some huge building opposite where Mussolini used to fire up the Itais but was having trouble remembering details. After that we went on a forced march (only joking) to the Trevi fountain, I have never seen a fountain that big in my life it was awesome unfortunately there were a ton of tourists (aren't there always?) and I didn't really get a good shot of it and couldn't squish up the front to make a wish (here's hoping I'm lucky enough). After that me and the other really sick guy plonked down in a doorway and got a couple of tips, people must have thought we were lepers or something. I gave up on the walk at this point coz i couldn't breathe due to the heat, the sickness and the sheer weight of people. So i did like most other itais and walked a couple of the girls to get some gelati and then sat in front of the spanish steps for and hour and half just chatting people, watching and eating gelati.
I spent the next day in bed recovering and ended up sleeping from 8.30 that night till 11.30 the next day. Am now feeling well recovered.
On the way to Corfu (or the Fu) we stopped off at Pompeii and did a flying tour of it, about an hour although i could have spent the day there just wandering around. If you ever get the chance and can spend more than an hour there don't miss it for anything. They had bodies that they managed to create molds off and recreate or some process like that, actually it might be the other way round. There are frescoes that you can still see and greek and roman mosaics.
After Pompeii we headed to "Sleazy Brindisi", not sure why its sleazy and i didn't get a chance to find out as we headed straight for the port and boarded the overnight ferry to Corfu. The trip itself was rather uneventful except for the cabins which was like sleeping in a sauna, i think i know what prisoners/sailors feel like.
Arrived this morning in Corfu all i have to say is I love Greece. Wandered through Corfu town this morning and bought a beach towel so i was all ready for the arvo. Tried some of the local cuisine, a gyro and those things can be addictive. After we all caught up again we headed back to our hotel. We're spending the next three days with another contiki group that we meet back in Paris and they're staying in the hotel at the bottom of the hill, so theres approximately 60 of us to party it up in greece. Our group got the appartments at the top of the hill that are only 2 to a room and has a pool and bar of course! Spent the day in the sun, getting pissed, chatting and doing my best to see if I really can pull off being a maori, starting to get quite brown and its only been day 1. George's boat and Toga party tomorrow so I think they'll be rolling us down the gangplank in order to get us to the party tomorrow, this feels reminiscent to the christmas party!
Yammas (cheers)
The metro in Rome is mad, people were almost falling out of the train when the doors opened on the way to the Vatican. I had a near run with a pick pocket who was a short sleazy balding italian man tbat started rubbing his crotch against my leg. I looked down at him and gave him my staunchest look possible and so do my tour mate Josh. The guy promptly left at the next stop. Another of the guys wasn't so lucky and after losing his wife in Rome later that day without any money had his wallet pickpocketed on the very first train in the next day.
We made it to the Vatican with half an hour to spare so secretley i laughed at the 14 others who spent an extra 50 euro and got up at 5am to make sure they got there. That place is amazing all the ceilings had huge artworks all over it but nothing compared with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I have no idea how he got up there, i'd seen pictures but i hadn't realised before that the pictures were only segments of what he painted there. It was definately the work of a lifetime and i'm glad i've seen it. Sorry no pics though as you're not allowed to in the Sistine Chapel.
After we went on a 10 -12k power walk which i was struggling with thanks to the black lung, I saw some huge building opposite where Mussolini used to fire up the Itais but was having trouble remembering details. After that we went on a forced march (only joking) to the Trevi fountain, I have never seen a fountain that big in my life it was awesome unfortunately there were a ton of tourists (aren't there always?) and I didn't really get a good shot of it and couldn't squish up the front to make a wish (here's hoping I'm lucky enough). After that me and the other really sick guy plonked down in a doorway and got a couple of tips, people must have thought we were lepers or something. I gave up on the walk at this point coz i couldn't breathe due to the heat, the sickness and the sheer weight of people. So i did like most other itais and walked a couple of the girls to get some gelati and then sat in front of the spanish steps for and hour and half just chatting people, watching and eating gelati.
I spent the next day in bed recovering and ended up sleeping from 8.30 that night till 11.30 the next day. Am now feeling well recovered.
On the way to Corfu (or the Fu) we stopped off at Pompeii and did a flying tour of it, about an hour although i could have spent the day there just wandering around. If you ever get the chance and can spend more than an hour there don't miss it for anything. They had bodies that they managed to create molds off and recreate or some process like that, actually it might be the other way round. There are frescoes that you can still see and greek and roman mosaics.
After Pompeii we headed to "Sleazy Brindisi", not sure why its sleazy and i didn't get a chance to find out as we headed straight for the port and boarded the overnight ferry to Corfu. The trip itself was rather uneventful except for the cabins which was like sleeping in a sauna, i think i know what prisoners/sailors feel like.
Arrived this morning in Corfu all i have to say is I love Greece. Wandered through Corfu town this morning and bought a beach towel so i was all ready for the arvo. Tried some of the local cuisine, a gyro and those things can be addictive. After we all caught up again we headed back to our hotel. We're spending the next three days with another contiki group that we meet back in Paris and they're staying in the hotel at the bottom of the hill, so theres approximately 60 of us to party it up in greece. Our group got the appartments at the top of the hill that are only 2 to a room and has a pool and bar of course! Spent the day in the sun, getting pissed, chatting and doing my best to see if I really can pull off being a maori, starting to get quite brown and its only been day 1. George's boat and Toga party tomorrow so I think they'll be rolling us down the gangplank in order to get us to the party tomorrow, this feels reminiscent to the christmas party!
Yammas (cheers)
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