There and back again...

Hey Gang,

Well after Salzburg I took the train directly to Rome as someone I spoke to said that Venice wasn't worth visiting, that the canals were smelly and the food was only slightly better than La Porchetta.

After a few quick pics I then headed over to Barcelona, missing out on Monaco, and the south coast of France. Again, I took a few pics, took in some bull fighting and some Tapas and I was off on the train again.

I decided that I wasn't that interested in the Bordeaux region of France (after all - who really likes wine?) and journeyed straight to Paris, home of the Louvre, the Moulin Rouge and Jacques Cousteau. I ate a few croissants and drank Parisienne beer, which strangley only came in red or white varieties...

And... fortunately for me, Ben and Kath knew how much I was missing not seeing their newborn baby so, in a gesture of incredible sacrifice, they bought Poppy an airline ticket so that she could meet me in Rome and continue with me on my travels (which is why she is featured so heavily in this blog). Unfortunately the conversation was very limited so after we got to Paris we boarded the first flight home and arrived in sunny Melbourne.

Amazing as it was to take in Italy, Spain and France in a few short days and to have a travelling companion - I am glad I'm back!

P.S. As I was travelling so quickly I had to take my own toilet with me. Here's the model I used.

A bit warm on hot days, a bit cool on cold days, it proved very draughty and didn't provide much privacy...

Up to the Eagle's Nest

Since I'm in Salzburg and I've watched Band of Brothers, I took the tour that journeyed high in to the Bavarian Alps and in to the lair of the Fuhrer. Actually he hardly ever stayed here. It was a gift for his 50th birthday and unfortunately the only way to access it was by elevator (Hitler was claustrophobic) and it stood high on a peak overlooking the surrounding Alps and Salzburg below (Hitler was scared of heights). So he didn't visit it often and never stayed overnight.

Why it was important for the Americans to capture it is anyone's guess but then they did invade Iraq, invent Dr Pepper and make the film White Chicks...

The surrounding mountains are snowcapped but it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be.

Nice tour washed down with a Bavarian Ale...

P.S. I asked if Hitler's toilet was available for pictures but it has since been removed...

...with the Sound of Deano...

Salzburg is a very beautiful little town. It is surrounded by mountains and the views from any part of it are breathtaking.

Very close to here is the birth place of Hitler - and he was bad. Arnold Swarzenegger, born in Graz, which is about half way between Vienna and Salzburg - is good. Except in the Terminator - he played a baddie in that... but then in the second film he was a goodie... The last 2 movies were just bad, so I won't include them...

What was my point? Oh, yes. Salzburg. Birthplace of Mozart and one of the greatest films of all time. A film about religion, rebellion, romance, Nazis and music.

I always wanted to come here and do the tour and I wasn't disappointed. I went to all the locations either on the tour or travelling on foot.

Truly a rememberable day....

P.S. Sorry Stu - toilets look like ours...

Ohhh... Vienna...

With the sounds of Ultravox and Mozart blaring out of loudspeakers on every street corner, it's hard to ignore that I'm in Vienna. Very nice city, very clean, very big.

I was only stopping here on my way to Salzburg so I stayed one night and booked a very romantic tour (for one) down the Danube.

After a bus tour of some scenic villages, towns and castles, I made my way on to a big riverboat. As I cruised past castles perched high on peaks I downed a quick chardonnay or four.

I don't know why they call it the "blue" danube, it looks quite muddy - reminding me of the crystal clear waters of our own Yarra.

At the end of the river cruise we arrived at the huge monastery of Melk.

Stunning building and the artifacts, books, chapel and paintings are extraordinary. I then hopped back on the bus, caught my train and set off to the more mountainous region of Austria.

P.S. This is the toilet in my motel and without doubt one of my favourite models. The top of the bowl has a little pool of water resulting in zero stiction or splashback. Once flushed the water carries the waste down to the front of the bowl and away for ever.

No Buddha but plenty of Pests

Caught the overnight train down to Hungary. Was actually a better experience than I thought. Stayed in a motel that looked like it was modelled on Sex and the City - Blah!

There's a lot of beggars here, lots of people trying to scam you on the exchange rates, lots of girls trying to rob you blind on bar scams (helped a Yank who was going to pay $50 just for a Red Bull!). Stayed here a couple of nights and it pretty much drizzled the entire time - so no Segway tour. Did take a bus tour though and there are some sights to see - it's a pretty city when you get away from all the thieves, scammers and criminals.

I'm obviously generalising here - the lady at the Segway place was nice as was the hotel staff...

The great thing was that beer came in one litre steins and I got to try foie gras which was delicious!

P.S. For Stu - this was the toilet in my hotel. The little despenser on the left hand side is not toilet paper but plastics bags - for the disposal of feminine hygiene products...

Look at my Krakow

Arrived in Krakow after a lengthy train trip and despite a shaky start I have a really beautiful room overlooking a small square filled with cafe's.
The first day gave me an opportunity to catch up on some washing and have a look around (and drink some beer!). It has a lot of historical buildings but then, it's no Prague.
Headed off to Auschwitz and Birkenau today - sad, grim, depressing, macabre (just keep adding miserable adjectives). You can't help but feel touched by the terrible things that happened here, especially when you visit the gas chambers and see the Nazi mechanism that tried to wipe out an entire race.
Needless to say, I was constantly wiping my eyes...

P.S. Stu - these are pics of the toilets they used in the Birkenau death camp. I had to ask for special permission to take these photos inside the building.

Prague Number Twos

So just for Stu - I found these on my last day in Prague. The first is a special seat that's missing the bowl. According to the documentation the fetishist slides under and the seat and uses their mouth as the recipticle...
The second toilet should adopted in public bathrooms worldwide. Includes video!

Czech me out!

Hey Gang,

Have probably arrived at the most beautiful city in the world. Hotel is nice, people are friendly, beer is good.

Went out on the first night and did the famous Prague Pub Crawl - ouch! My liver still aches just thinking about it - great night though. Did the Segway tour of all the famous movies that were shot here.
1) Prague is even more beautiful than I could ever imagined.

2) I did feel like a cast member from the Big Bang Theory but Segways are awesome to ride so it kinda cancels the geek factor out... Not really...

Have decided to stay an extra day just so I can see more stuff then I'm on to Poland.

P.S. Sorry Stu - no unusual toilets in this neck of the woods - yet...

Home of the Hamburger

Arrived in Hamburg yesterday afternoon after a long train trip.

Went in search of a hamburger and despite rumours to the contrary it was relatively easy to find. After a good night's sleep I caught the bus down to Miniature Wunderland as featured on James May's series and the place in incredible. The attention to detail is incredible and it's just so big. Really hard to describe so I bought a 3 hour DVD.

After I left there I noticed a few motorbikes, then a few more, then a lot more! Turns out I'm in Hamburg for the Mogo.de which is a HUGE motorbike rally. Bikes as far as the eye can see - 30,000 in total (not a typo).
Hamburg is an unusual city - beautiful yet downright ugly at the same time. Of all the places I've visited it's one that I probably wouldn't return to.

P.S. Stu: the bottom 2 pics are of German excellence in the W.C. department and on the 19th of June apparently you can go back for seconds...

Under the Sea

Hi Gang,
I'm in Amsterdam now and what a place. Coffeehouses everywhere, the smell of herbs wafting through the air, tall dutch women riding push bikes with their tightly toned...
The hostel I booked was miles from the station and funnily enough turned out to be a Christian hostel - complete with bible readings every evening. Crammed into a dorm full of snorers and inconsiderate people who insist on brushing their teeth at God knows what time in the morning... yep - done with hostels. I can pay a little bit more and stay at a hotel so that's what I'm planning to do.
Went for a cruise down the canals - fell asleep.
Ate dinner - they put mayonnaise on everything - fell asleep.
Visited a coffeehouse for an espresso - fell asleep.
Walked through the red light district - I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head!
I'm looking around the Dutch countryside today and then I'll be heading on to Hamburg - big train trip but should be worth it - might even get some sleep!

P.S. Hey Stu - found this little beauty in a pub in the red light district.

Cork - to be sure, to be sure...

Very early start but arrived in Ireland to be greeted by Claire at the Airport. After we stopped in at her apartment we went to the Jameson's Distillery, Cobh (last port of the Titanic), Middleton for Bangers and Mash and then on to an excellent pub playing Traditional Irish Music. Got very drunk on lots of different beers - great!
Next day I slept till the afternoon, did a bit of shopping, had dinner at the Ivory Tower restaurant and then met up with a group of Claire's friends for another night of drinking.
On Sunday we we to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone. Some say it gives you the gift of the gab (already have it) and some say it makes you more eloquent (can I get much more eloquent?). We headed over to Cappoquin, which is Claire's home town. We drank a few Bulmer's ciders on the roof. Ireland has been really warm since I've been here and really, it's just another excuse to drink. Having new potatoes and home-made Shepard's Pie tonight then off to see a Hurling match tomorrow and then back to Cork to get ready to fly back to London on Tuesday.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Ireland - do it! Gorgeous scenery, beautiful people and delicious food and beer.

The English Countryside

Hey folks,

I stayed in London for a total of 4 nights and I did end up seeing Phantom of the Opera. But now it was time to see the England that I've only read about and seen on TV. So I hired a car for 3 days and headed off down to Marlborough to visit The Green Dragon Pub and catch up with a friend. I then headed down to Axminster to visit River Cottage (after I had seen Avebury Circle and Stonehenge - excellent to look out if you have your headphones on and you're listening to Clannad). Had dinner at River Cottage (cool) and then drove over to Lyme Regis, Bournemouth, New Forest, Calne and then back up to Stansted Airport to fly out to Ireland the next morning.

P.S. The toilets pics are for Stu. One is a pay toilet near St Paul's Cathedral - the other is the Mens at the Tower of London.

Out and about in London

Well, I've seen a fair few sights since I've been here. I went to see Hair at the West End, went on the London Eye (and conquered my fear of heights), saw London Bridge, Millenium Bridge, Globe Theatre, St Pauls Cathedral and that weird purple penis shaped building that you see on so many shows. Today I'm off to the London Dungeon, the Tower of London and because I got the times mixed up yesterday, I'm going back to the West End to hopefully see Phantom.
Tomorrow I'm heading out to the English countryside to see Avesbury circle and visit a friend. The town I'm staying at even has a pub called The Green Dragon!
Don't know when I'll have internet access after tomorrow but I'll post again as soon as I can.
And here's another pic for Stu's collection - this one is situated at the hostel I'm staying at.

Merry Old England

Well I'm here. Got quite a bit of sleep on the plane and considering it was the longest flight ever it wasn't too bad. The place I'm staying out is clean but full of aussies so I did a little pub crawl of my own last night to meet the locals.
Got a chance to have my first English breakfast today... Yum! It was actually an Irish breakfast and tasted great with a pint!

And just for Stu's bizarre obsession with all things to do with the toilet - here's one I tracked down and caught on camera in Malaysia.