Stay tuned......

 

 

 

<rant>

I made the fundamental mistake of getting out of bed this morning......  you see, it snowed overnight.  10-15cm of the crap.  Normally I would get excited about snowfall because I generally asscociate snowfall with skiing.  However, as I  a) am currently not on holidays at a ski resort and b) have to go to work today, I am not too thrilled about the idea of snow.  Here's why:

 

Firstly, it's cold.  Really cold.  Not "ooh-it's-a-bit-chilly-today" cold......  more like "hmm-I-swear-my-fingers-shouldn't-be-that-colour" cold.

 

Secondly, it seems that Islington Council has an inability to grit and salt the pavements.  As a result, I fell on my ass about 3 times in the short walk to the tube station, seriously hurting my knee on one occasion.

 

I've jsut re-read the above and am going to cut it short there.......  I fear that I am beginning to sound like a whinging Pom!

</rant>

 

Screw the snow - Chuck a sickie and stay home!  I know I will be next time there is any hint of the white stuff on the pavement.  Such is the Aussie way  =P

Arrived in Prague last Friday evening and met Sam and Mum.  Was great to see them both, as I had not seen either of them since leaving Sydney.

 

Nev also came to Prague and the 5 of us had a great old time meandering through the Christmas Markets while getting toasty on Gluhwein!  We had a traditional Czech dinner on Christmas eve and an Italian meal on Christmas day......  just for something different!

 

Visited the castle and cathedral on Christmas eve which was nice.  Although, from the looks Rachel and I were attracting, it seems that dancing in a church on Christmas eve is not the done thing!

 

Went back to the nice art shop (Marlene knows the one!) and Rach selected some nice things for her Christmas presents to take home.

 

Hired a car yesterday and we drove down to Cesky Krumlov.  Will be here for another few days before heading to Vienna for New Year's.  Krumlov is just as beautiful in the winter as the summer, but freezing cold!  Rachel is very disappointed that it hasn't snowed yet......  but it is still very cold!

 

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and that Santa was good to you all!

 

Will update in Vienna!

 

Rach and Jules

So, this is what I’ve been drinking when I get home from work lately.

But before I receive a torrent of abuse for a) drinking Fosters and b) drinking shandys, allow me to defend my choice of beverage.

Fosters is crap, we all know it. However, as it is brewed over here under licence, it isn’t quite as bad as back home. Also, it’s cheap. And seeing as though it’s only being used in a shandy, I may as well buy the cheapest beer at the supermarket. No arguments there.

Shandys. Well, actually…… there’s no excuse for that really.

Right, I’m off to take a good, hard look in the mirror and re-assure myself of my masculinity.

Ok, I've gone and got myself a new phone......  with a 3.2 Megapixel camera!

 

So, I'll endeaver to post more often now that I have a mobile device which I can use to upload pictures on-the-go.

 

We have taken a few photos since being in London, but none of any particular interest so we haven't uploaded them.  Will see what we can find for y'all.

 

 

Jules

Hi all,

 

Unfortunately, our European travels have at long last come to an end!  We will be flying back to London tomorrow (20/6).

 

Were in Munich for the Australia Brazil game......  what a night!

 

Will upload all the rest of our photos when we return to London.

 

Jules & Rach

Hi all,

 

Been in Germany for a week or so.  Arrived in Berlin on the overnight train from Krakow, which was far less scary than people make out!  There was a conductor/security gaurd for every single carriage, so there were no security concerns......

 

Berlin was great, we were there for 4 days.  Saw all the sights and took a day trip to Sans Soucci, which was great.  We wanted to hire a tandem bicylce but there were none, so we had to get one each.  Just for Alex and Alice, we have lots of photos of Rach riding a bicycle very competently!

 

Went to Magdeburg for a night and caught up with Manfred, which was good fun.  He took us out to dinner and showed us the sights the next morning......  Thanks again, Manfred!

 

Left Magdeburg and headed down to Naumburg and Schulpforte (where I went to school in Germany).  It was weird, first time I had been back in 10 years and a lot has changed.  Only stayed 1 night in Naumburg before heading to Leipzig.

 

Arrived on Uli's doorstep in Leipzig on Friday.  He promptly called Mum and assured her that her "refugee son" was fine, but only after he had fed and showered me!  Thanks Uli!  Been watching a lot of Football games while drinking beer in beer gardens in Leipzig......  probably a little too much beer, according to Uli's scales   Also caught up with Henriette and a whole bunch of old Pforta students, which was fantastic.

 

Leaving Leipzig today and heading to Dresden, then Prague tomorrow.

 

Have brought our flights forward, so after Munich, we will be heading back to London on the 20th.

 

Take care all,

 

Jules & Rach

Ok, so we're in Krakow, Poland and being a new month, we can upload more photos.  But first, we must back-track!

 

 

Left Ljubljana and headed to Bled, which is just so pretty.  The people in Slovenia are so friendly, they went out of their way to help us.  The guy we stayed with in Bled (a friend of the girl in the Tourist Office in Ljubljana!) was great, drove us around the lake and gave us a personal little tour of Bled.  When we mentioned that we wanted to see the Soca Valley, he took us to a friend of his who runs an adventure company!  Through this guy, we went on a day tour of the Soca Valley and Julian Alps and also went White Water Rafting......  so much fun and so cheap!  Bled and the Julian Alps look great in Winter from photos we've seen, and will definitely be on the cards for a cheap skiing get-away.

 

 

We've now realised that not everyone in a uniform in this world is honest after the ticket collector on the train to Budapest attempted to charge us a "Seat Reservation Tax" which was almost the equivalent of our ticket price.  Fortunately we were with a few other Aussies and Kiwis that we had just met and, after collectively deciding it was a scam, ganged up on him and refused to pay.  We reached Budapest and nothing more was said about it, so clearly the guy was out to make a few bucks.  Since then, we are constantly on the look out for those wishing to add a little "tourist tax" to our budget.

 

Budapest itself is really great.  We decided that we weren't really able to see all that the city had to offer with the time allocated and the fact that it was raining for a few days, but it is certainly one of the better cities we have travelled to.

 

 

Bratislava is smaller and has more charm than Budapest, with a really pretty old town.  For a capital city it is quite small, but this means that everything was within walking distance of our hostel, which was great.  Cheaper dining, cheaper/better beer, friendlier people and similar old towns to Budapest and Prague make Bratislava a great alternative......  Highly recommended.  (Geez, I sound like I'm writing a guide book!)

 

Took a train from Bratislava up to the Tatras Monutains on the border of Poland. Wow.  First day of Summer and we got 10cm of fresh snow overnight at the top of the mountain.  Snowball fights occured, Rach lost.  This place looks much better than Slovenia for Skiing and seems cheaper......  come winter, I'll be back!

 

 

Got a bus to the Polish border and walked across.  That was interesting.  After waiting at the bus stop on the Polish side for a little while, a really nice Polish couple (about our age) stopped and picked us up.  They told us that the bus was really unreliable and gave us a lift all the way to Krakow!  So nice!

 

Krakow is really beautiful.  Definitely one of the best cities yet.  The photos really don't do it justice as it has been raining most of the time.  You just have to come here for yourself!

 

Did a day trip to Auschwitz yesterday......  very sombre day, but very interesting.

 

 

 

So, we're going to Berlin on an overnight train tonight, then down to Leipzig, Prague, Munich......  well, that's a very rough plan, anyway!

 

 

Will keep you all updated as much as possible!

 

Take care,

 

Jules & Rach

Slovenia is absolutely amazing!  So beautiful......  unfortunately, we can't upload any more photos  =(  We've gone over our monthly limit or something......  doh!

 

Will try to upload more as soon as we can.  In Ljubljana at the moment and heading to Bled today.

 

Take care, all.

 

 

Jules & Rach

 

Well, Brač was great.  Very relaxing, however a US Navy Carrier pulled into Split and then the prices doubled......  jumped on the first bus to Dubrovnik and just in time!

 

As the bus pulled into the bus station in Dubrovnik, we were swamped by little old ladies who wanted us to stay in their homes.  The Croatian government has encouraged ppl to open their homes to tourists, so there are many to choose from.  We decided (on the advice of the bus driver) to go with the shortest, oldest woman there.  She must have been 80 if she were a day!  Also had a bad hip, so we had to take the bus to her place.  As you can see from the photos, she has a rather strange affection for lace.

 

Croatian Beer is fantastic!  Rach and I have worked out that we have consumed a litre per day since coming to Croatia.  That's each, by the way!

 

Dubrovnik is very beautiful.  The city was badly damaged during the civil war in 1991-92, but everything has been repaired extremely well.  You can see the mis-match in the colour of roof tiles where the have had to be replaced from the photos.  The walk around the City Wall was an absolute delight......  views of everything.

 

Taking an overnight bus to Zagreb tonight and then on to Slovenia by train tomorrow.

 

Take care,

 

Jules & Rach

 

 

Thanks for the tip, Sars!  Siena was a really beautiful little town.  We only had limited time there, because we had to get to Ancona to get a ferry accross to Croatia and time was short.  The Cathedral in Siena is a must see according to the guide books but when we went to enter, there was a security gaurd who was adament that we weren't allowed in because Sunday evening Mass was starting in 30 mins and we weren't going to get another chance to see it!  Not to worry, Rachel to the rescue!  Rach was able to convince the woman that we, of all people (with cameras around our necks), were there for Mass!  We were in and out just as Mass was starting....  phew!  So glad we went, it was absolutely amazing  ->  see photos.

 

Now on the island of Brač in Croatia.  Very peaceful little island and so warm and sunny!  Rach and I are going to try our hands at windsurfing tomorrow, should be a laugh for all involved!

 

Take care,

 

 

Jules & Rach

So, we spent the last few days of our time in Istanbul chilling out.  We've both been pretty sick with the flu, so we needed a little down-time.  Although hectic, we headed to the Bazaar on our last day and headed home with a few fake shoes and jackets.  Rach also bought me an actual genuine Armani shirt (it still had the tags and price.... €120!) for $20...... off the back of a truck, for sure.

 

The cheapest flight from Istanbul to Milan, it seemed, was via Brussels......  after an hour in the transit lounge and a Hoegaarden the size of my head (see photos), we were finally on the way back to Italy.

 

Milan was like another world, compared to Turkey!  One sight captures Milan totally;  a professional, 20-something woman dressed in a suit and high heels riding a moped to work pulls up, parks her scooter, and proceeds to take out a Gucci handbag from the luggage container!  Classic!  If only I had a picture......

 

Venice.  Wow.  Caught up with Nadean, which was fantastic.  Had a belated celebration for her birthday - pizza and red wine by the Grand Canal, finished off with Gelato and a stroll through the deserted alleyways.  Caught a boat down the length of the Grand Canal and saw all the touristy things at San Marco before jumping on a train to Florence.

 

Florence is great......  pity about all the Americans!  The locals are a lot more relaxed here than most other parts of Italy.  A very cultural and intriguing city, able to be seen on foot in 2 days......  or so we hope!  Went to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition where a bunch of engineers and artists have transformed all his contraptions from paper to real-life.  Quite amazing, he was truly ahead of his time.  We seemed to have arrived during some sort of cultural festival......  still haven't worked out what it's for!  But the bonus was that the "1000 Mile" Classic Car Rally passsed through Florence today.  (see Photos, Dad! [both Dads])  Hundreds of classic cars all streaming through downtown Florence.  AWESOME!

 

Off to Siena tomorrow, then to Croatia.

 

Take care, all!

 

 

Jules & Rach

Well, we've finally finished our 2 week tour of Turkey and are back in Istanbul!  We've had an absolute ball and met some really great people - it was great to socialise after travelling by ourselves for a month.

 

Cappadoccia was fantastic, really beautiful as you can see from the photos.  Hot air ballooning was an absolute experience.  Best place to go ballooning in the world, they say!

 

The underground city was unbelievable.  Wasn't able to take too many photos cause it was so dark.  The place was like a rabbit warren!  Up to 20,000 ppl lived under the ground at times when the city was being invaded.  You can see the stone wheels they used to block the tunnels in our photos.  It was 18 levels deep, had a school, winery, church and tunnels that were several km's long so messengers could get to the next city.  Amazing!

 

We're in Istanbul until Tuesday, then flying to Milan.  Got a day at the Grand Bazaar tomorrow......  haggling with the best.  We have our "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine of bargaining down to a fine art.  I feign interest while Rach insists that it's too expensive before dragging me away.  "Ok, Ok, best price!  5 lira!"

 

 

Take care, keep us updated with news from home!

 

Jules & Rach

 

 

Hey all!

 

Sorry for the lack of correspondence......  Turkey ıs lackıng ın functıonal ınternet cafes!

 

Only had a day ın Istanbul before headıng to Gallıpolı.  The dawn servıce was great.

 

Have been goıng down the coast and wıll be ın Fethıye tomorrow.

 

Can't upload photos yet....... net cafe ıs bodgy.  Wıll try to get them up ASAP.

 

 

Jules & Rach

Longneck of local beer from supermarket: 0.75c

Gyros from "Lucky Souvlaki's":  1.75

 

Lunch with a view like this:  Priceless!

Ok, we're finally in Santorini......   but we should backtrack first.

 

After saying goodbye to Amalf and Sorrento, we headed to the ferry port in Naples to travel to Palermo in Sicily. The guide book says that Palermo is run down but in the process of being done up.  That was written 3 yrs ago, and it seems that most of the restoration is well under way.  A much nicer city than Naples, the Sicilians are very proud, so everything is cleaner. Apparently the Mafia is still alive and kicking, not that you'd know it.  It seems to be a normal city......  you can't help wondering if the 4 guys in the Mercedes are "connected", though. 

 

Taormina is absolutely amazing!  The active volcano, Mt Etna, continually spews smoke and threatens to erupt (last eruption 2001), and makes things a little daunting.  The small, cobbled streets and little shops remind me of Positano and Amalfi.  After a couple of days of wandering through alleys and keeping our bellies full with pizza and pasta, it was time to sadly say goodbye and you guessed it...onto a bus to Messina, then a bus to Brindisi - they say that time is Brindisi is spent waiting...they're not wrong! Then an overnight ferry to Patras, bus to Athens and then an overnight ferry to Satorini. Needless to say, we've had enough of ferries!  Athens was a hole and the less time spent writing about it, the better for everyone.

 

Enjoying hot weather and relaxing days doing not too much.

 

Heading back to Athens Friday, then Istanbul for ANZAC Day at Gallipolli and our Turkey Tour.

 

Don't forget to check out the new photos we've added (there are quite a few).

 

Take care, all!

 

Jules and Rach

 

 

So, Naples redeemed herself on our last day there with beautiful weather and breath-taking views from Parco Virgiliano (see photos).

 

Caught the train down to Sorrento and hiked it up into the hills to our Hostel.  With the name "Hostel Sorrento", you would think that the establishment were situated in Sorrento.  You would be wrong.  It was a hefty 5km hike up into the hills in the town along from Sorrento.  Tired and annoyed, we crashed.

 

Next day, we hiked up Mt Vesuvius and wandered around the ruins of Pompeii.  We haven't uploaded all of the photos because it takes a while and internet is expensive.  Weather wasn't great for Vesuvius, as you can see from the photos, but still worth it.  Pompeii is amazing.  An entire city uncovered!  I never realised just how big it is - You could walk around for half a day.

 

Yesterday we went to the island of Capri.  Weather was great.  Took a boat ride all around the island and even went into the Blue Grotto.  Will upload photos when we can - again, no USB in this internet café.

 

Today was fantastic.  Our 2 year anniversary.  We hired a scooter and zoomed all the way along the Amalfi Coast to Salerno and back to Sorrento.  So much fun, if a little hair-raising at times!  Buses come flying around blind corners and almost take you out.  Don't worry, Mum/Marlene!  We made it in one piece......

 

Taking a ferry to Sicily tomorrow.

 

 

Take care,

 

Jules & Rach