From Alice to Darwin, and every disco I get in...

Ok so there was no disco, but I'm hoping that some of you out there get the reference I'm making in the title. If not, moooooving on then...


Day 4

We were picked up from our apartment at 6:30am ready for our tour up to Darwin. The company we were with was called WayOutback, and they do all kinds of outback tours. The original plan was to actually hire a car and drive ourselves up to Darwin, but after extensive research, it seemed like too much hassle to have to make that drive up. Besides, on a tour, I could sleep between attractions and have everything organised for me! On the tour bus besides us were mainly Europeans. Out of the 15 of us, there were eight Aussies, two Germans, one French, one Dutch, one Italian, one Belgian and one Canadian.

Rendezvous in Krakow...

Day 24

So last time I posted, I was on an overnight train from Budapest to Krakow. I got into Krakow at about 8am and bade farewell to Tom and Kaisey, and then went to dump my luggage at the hostel. Luggage deposited, it was time to explore the Old Town. I need to kill about 6 hours before Tash and Aniqa arrived. Luckily, much like in most other cities, there was a free walking tour that took up three hours of my time. And this guide was great. She was really knowledgeable and being pretty also helped haha. But more than that, she was just really engaging, and I actually learnt (and retained) a lot as evidenced later when I took Aniqa and Tash on a tour.

Not the last time I'll see Budapest...

Day 21

Time to leave Croatia and head to Hungary. Got to the station and was so confused with the train. All the carriages were labelled differently indicating that somewhere down the track they would be splitting off and heading to different destinations. For anyone planning to travel Europe, make sure to check where your carriage is heading. Don't just assume that the by being on the right platform that you'll end up in the right destination. After finally finding the only carriage heading to Budapest, we were off.

Still alive after Hamburg, Berlin and Prague...

Well well well...once again, it's been a long time since the last post. I am still alive. In the past nine days, I've been to three cities: Hamburg, Berlin and Prague.

Day 40: Leaving Amsterdam for Berlin. Was woken up quite early by the Brits who had an extremely early plane to catch. Mind you, they were still quite high on weed and shrooms. Used the early wake-up call to get everything packed and was curious to see what the Brits had left behind in their sleep-deprived and high state. Looking around on the ground, I saw a few coins, which added up to about 10 euros. But my most impressive find was when I looked under one of the beds and found a phone. It was a Nokia something, designed as a music player. Looks like I got myself a new phone (albeit quite scratched). But I doubt I'll be using it since I don't have the charger plus I really want a different phone lol.

For me, Bruges shits all over Amsterdam...

Well it's been a while since I've posted, and I would like you all to know that I'm still alive lol. I haven't been able to post since I've been having so much fun in Bruges to type up a lengthy post, and plus I haven't had access to internet to do anything besides the occasional email check and facebook status update. Anyways, I'm now using free internet in Amsterdam's library so I can take my time and give an account of the last week.

Day 33: Last day in Paris, and all I did was some souvenir shopping and Wii tennis during the day. For my last night, I went out with my cousin and her friends and had an awesome dinner with lots of wine. I'm not usually a fan of wine, but I couldn't say no to alcohol lol. Anyways, pretty much just a nice little night out with alcohol to celebrate my last night in Paris.

Let it snow...

Day 30: The original plan was to go to Musee D'Orsay but I woke up to see a bright blue sky, and knew that I needed to take advantage of it. So without even having breakfast, I rushed straight over to the Eiffel Tower and was surprised to see that the line wasn't that long. Odd. It was ridiculously long the other few days that I had walked past, and those days were miserable. Guess I was in luck. After waiting in line for 20 minutes, I was on my way up!! However, apparently they don't have a lift which takes you all the way to the top, which is really disappointing. Had to get out on the second floor to wait in line for another 20 minutes for another lift. But then it was only up from there!! And when I got out of the lift at the top, the wait was definitely worth it. The view is gorgeous from up there. I never knew Paris was such a white city. Everything looks white from way up there. They were also selling ridiculously overpriced champagne up there (20 euros for a flute). I guess they were trying to take advantage of the lovers up there who were desperate to toast their love for each other. Anyways, I did laps around the top of the tower taking photos from almost every spot to capture the entire scope of awesomeness that is the top of the Eiffel Tower. It seriously is breath-taking, and it is one of the highlights of my trip so far.

So much food everywhere...

Day 25: Did the New Europe Paris tour. I realise that I don't actually remember where I go on these tours. I just like to hear the history and the stories behind them, but I don't remember where I walk so I usually don't know how to get back. Tour ended at the beginning of the Champ Elysees, which used to be the most expensive shopping street in the world. It's still quite overpriced, and it's still home to all those high-name brands. Even Maccas is more expensive on the Champ Elysees - a meal was 60c more expensive!! Walked down the Champ Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. Did you know that you are not insured if you have a car accident on the roundabout around the Arc? It has 12 roads leading into it, and has 10 "lanes", but there are no line markings in the roundabout. An accident occurs every half an hour apparently, but I assume a lot would be minor accidents.

Wicked way to leave London...

Day 22: Went to line up for Wicked tickets at the Apollo Theatre. Got there at 8:30am and was surprised to see two people sleeping at the front of the box office. I was thinking that they must have been real big fans to be sleeping there, until I saw the security guard shoo them away. Then I realised that they were hoboes. But I didn't need to be there so early. I could have shown up at 10am and still have gotten front row tickets. But anyways, after walking around the block  few times, I noticed a few people show up around quarter to, so I decided to stay put. Luckily the guard had told me which door was for the box office so I sat there whilst the other losers were waiting at the wrong door. As the doors opened, I was first in, and managed to get the best ticket. Front row, dead centre. All for the low low price of £27.50!!

Tower, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath...packing so much in...

Day 20: Finally went to see the Tower of London, and it was amazing!! I'm really cut that I didn't get there earlier because I was only able to be there for three hours before they closed for the day (at only 4:30pm). But I love the Tower!! The history behind it is so interesting, and the stories behind all the beheadings that took place in there, as well as the torturing in the dungeons really had me enthralled in the place. Had to speed through the second half since it was 4pm and there was only half an hour left for me to explore so much more. This is what you get for sleeping in (but London weather really does make you just want to stay indoors all day).

Guy Fawkes. Awesome dude...

Day 11: Didn't get to explore the British Museum and Tate Modern as planned today. Went on the New Europe London Tour, which pretty much went to every place that I went to myself yesterday. But the cool stories at each spot definitely made the attractions more interesting. Did you know that Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, and not the clock itself? And that it's actually sloping and they're doing restoration work on the building joined to it because it's tearing apart? The only new thing today was Buckingham Palace, where I happened to catch some of the changing of the guards ceremony. However, I only saw a bit since the tour had to move on, and my camera battery died so I couldn't get any cool photos. Besides, the massive crowds there meant I couldn't really see much anyway. Who knew that there were so many tourists in London on any given day? Apparently the Queen wasn't in today so the guards could play some more informal songs. They played the James Bond theme!! But when the Queen's there, they play the formal songs lol.

Adios Madrid...

Day 9: So I thought I was going to post once I got to London, but I have a bit of time now before I have to leave for the airport. I actually have 4 hours since I had to check out by 10am, and now I'm just sitting here blogging. There's a guy in my dorm who never seems to leave the room, besides to have a cigarette now and then. Every single time I enter the room, he's there on his laptop. I'm not sure whether he's a traveller or not. He's Japanese though. But he has an annoying alarm which goes off every morning and just leaves it to ring until it stops. And then it goes off again 5 minutes later. And he's still asleep. Glad to finally not have to share a room with him anymore. Plus the room really stinks.

Halloween and churros...

Days 6 and 7: Last night was Halloween. I never realised how big it was in Madrid. Actually I never realised that Halloween existed outside of the USA. It definitely doesn't exist in Australia, and I tend to not open the doors to greedy kids who don't take the effort to dress up and are just there to get lollies for nothing. Good riddance to you. But here, I'm not sure if they trick-or-treat or not, but they all wander the streets as they normally do, just dressed up. Even the adults were dressed up. There's a very strong police presence in Madrid (or in Puerto de Sol which is the absolute centre of Spain and is where I'm staying). Lot of fake goods being sold on the streets, and every time a cop car approaches, they pull on a string and everything is scooped up conveniently into a bag and they're off running. Quite amusing really. But walking these streets are OK at night. I feel really safe, mainly cos there were just so many people around.