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Melbourne!
Monday, November 28th, 2011 /

Let’s imagine Australia as a family unit, focusing in on two of the major east coast cities.  If Sydney is the good looking energetic extravert than Melbourne is the funky, artsy, laid back cousin.   Melbourne, pronounced MelBIN  is an hour south west by plane, from its cousin Sydney (10 hour train if you’re a destitute backpacker).  Despite the relaxed feel, it has a very busy central business district and is an important financial center of Australia.

Amazing graffiti lane!

Melbourne is hesitant to show her hand right away, calling curious travellers to explore her back street “lanes” and cool suburban shopping strips.  There is no shortage of artwork to gaze at, whether it’s on the sides of buildings or housed in one of their world class museums.   There is also an impressive display of architectural achievement where past meets present in Federation square where folks can meet up, people watch or kick back and watch a TED talk on the giant screen. 

Flinders Station!

Just a stone’s throw away is the Yarra River, bending around the city in such a perfectly balanced arch that a stroll along the southern shore promenade requires you save space on your memory cards.  There is a subculture that looms in Melbourne, and if you look around as we did you are bound to not only find it, but love it!

Yarra River!

Another must-do is the famous Great Ocean Road Drive…although I would recommend taking a couple days to do it, rather than the 1 10-hour drive we rushed it in! Still…beautiful as ever with a pleasant drive along the coast along with some inland driving through forest! Eventually you’ll make it to the 12 Apostles, which are astounding upon first sight! With only 8 left, it’s something that could eventually disappear, so it was definitely worth the drive!

12 Apostles!

Our last day, we went back to one of our favorite spots , Brunswick Street. Similar to Fremantle in Perth, or Little 5 in Atlanta, it’s full of alternative, artsy people and weird shops :) Way more fun to walk down! We went to this awesome restaurant called “Naked for Satan”.. they brew their own beer and cider, and infuse their own vodka! Mon-Wed its 80c tapas, you pay after with your toothpick collection, and there is tons to look at with classic photos of naked men and women all over the place! Very cool vibe..just LOVED it! AND…there happened to be a Couchsurfing meeting there when we went..how cool! :)

Brunswick Street!

 A BIG THANKS to Julie and Jaq for hosting us during our stay in Melbourne! It was so great to see a familiar face and have a comfy bed to sleep in :)  

 

Category: Australia, Cities, Melbourne, Uncategorized  Tags: ,  2 Comments
Sydney!
Friday, November 25th, 2011 /

 

Olympic emblem

Sydney, once the site of Britain’s first Australian settlement is today the southern hemispheres stylish and lively hub of multiculturalism.  Approximately five million people from all around the world have made Sydney their home yet, it maintains the Aussie essence.  It is a bustling metropolis full of opportunity and wonderment with no shortage of happenings.  Whether you’re after the spectacular landmarks near Sydney and darling harbor, surfing beaches, endless shopping, a stroll through the botanical gardens, or letting hours melt away in a café – Sydney has something for everyone.  

Sydney Harbor

One first day in Sydney, we took it easy while we were overcoming the jet lag (which was affecting me unusually severely ) and took a stroll to the beach. Coogee Beach is one of the major beaches in Sydney that Sam happens to live 10 minutes walk from. It has a lot of character, with a street lined with locals cafes and smoothie shops, a park overlooking the water, and a promenade type area to sit and admire the view. The beach was already “packed” in the eyes of us WA beach bums, and it was only Tuesday!! Since it still wasn’t too hott yet, we decided to keep walking on to Bondi.

Bench for giants!

Little did we know, Bondi was really over 6 kms away, and walking around the jutted coastline took much longer than we expected. However, we were pleasantly surprised because not only was the view,of course, spectacular, but we happened to be there for “Sculptures by the Sea”!! We actually had seen this at Cottesloe in WA, and I got probably overly excited when I saw the same awkward red man in a different position!

Weird red man!

We finally made it to Bondi and were overwhelmed by how busy it actually was!! We plopped down on the sand, ate our peanut butter sandwiches, and people watched…hoping to see a famous Bondi rescue! … AND WE DID!!! It totally made the 2+ hour walk there worth it :)

Bondi!!

Sam and Ariel arrived that night and it was so so great to see a familiar face…..and a gorgeous happy as ever little Sam look-alike! We took a girls day with a stroll to some markets that sold all things i love most about markets. One purchase of this amazing broccoli/silverbeet/kale veggie juice, a gobble down of a chunk of buffalo mozzarella, and a few tastes of some local olive oils, and we were on our way to get our nails done, compliments of my love Brad :)

Nail Day!

That same night we all went to Kristy and Colins for dinner! After eating way too much cheese and crackers, we enjoyed some delicious pizza for a really nice night in playing with the girls and chatting over wine!

My little buddies :)

Brad and I took to the city the next day and fell in love with Sydney Harbour! The water with the bridge and opera house make it so picturesque…. even in the rain, we enjoyed the view. After roaming around all the little towns, we walked across the bridge for the best view of all! 

LOVED this view!

On the other side, the famous Luna Park awaited our arrival. It was actually closed…. but the gates were open and we wandered around this abandoned clown park  in foggy rainy weather. It was eerie!! I loved it!

We were lucky to get another nice day in Sydney, and took the ferry across to Manly! Although the beach was nice, it was similar to Bondi, and I actually found I enjoyed the bay more. Our favorite by far though was the 4 pines microbrewery. I recommend anyone to go…it’s got a really laid back atmosphere, a tasting plate of good sized beer for only $15 and everything else you could hope for in a microbrew! 

4 Pines!

We waited until dark to catch the ferry back, so we could see the city lit up at night! It was so beautiful, and I feel like we were SO lucky, because we saw fireworks at the Sydney Opera House and it was such a cool atmosphere!

Fireworks!!

The weekend arrived, and that meant only one thing…. STAMPEDE!! The valley stampede in Glenworth Valley to be exact. My family friend, Michelle picked us up for the road trip up there to what turned out to be one of the most unique and crazy things any of us have ever experienced. Dressed in Christmas gear, a group of 8 of us set of on a 5k obstacle course through the mud. After some log rolling, tire skipping, ice trenching, rope climbing and hay jumping….we were all wondering why everyone was finishing this thing SO dirty.

Straight Grossness!

WELL… bring on the mud. Next was running through deep wet mud, crawling through muddy tunnels, slip and sliding down into mud and straight up jumping into a sloppy mud pool! It was MAYHEM!!! The funniest obstacle of all was probably running through an electric maze…which really did electrocute you!! How they got away with that…I’ll never know!

The gang!

Anyway it was an absolute blast, and even better being able to catch up and spend time with Michelle and her friends! We finished the day off perfectly with a BBQ and drinks at a nearby hotel. Thanks Shelly for organizing everything!

Our last day in Sydney was spent exploring Darling Harbour. It’s got lots to offer, and the Chinese Garden looked very cool….BUT we mostly just walked around and took in all the crazy Santas floating around :)

It was really great to get back into the thick of it again and the busy streets of Sydney was a great launching pad.  Thanks so much to Sam, Valerio and Ariel for hosting us as we remembered how to be budget travelers again.  Much love to Kristy, Colin and the girls as well.  

We’re excited for phase two of our travels and hope we have as many amazing stories to share as the first half.  Thanks for reading!

Category: Australia, Beaches, Cities, Sydney  Tags: , ,  2 Comments
Kuala Lumpur
Sunday, August 14th, 2011 /

For the majority of  people the vision or expectation of a place is shaped by outside influences before or even ever visiting.  There are a number of these potential picture painting influences, but one particularly powerful opinion generating machine is Hollywood.  The movie Entrapment staring Sean Connery and Cathrine Zeta Jones, places the two stars dangling from the mammoth Petronas Towers in grandiose Hollywood fashion.  At the time they were the two tallest buildings in the world, and today they are the twin symbols of Malaysia.

As a powerful drifting trio, we cruised into Kuala Lumpur at about 4:30am.  It was still dark and the taxi totes were on us as we made our way off the bus, which seemed to have dropped us off at a city bus stop, as opposed to a depot.  Still sleepy and not knowing exactly where we were, it would have been easy to get disoriented and opt for the taxi; it also would have cost us about 120 ringgit ($40).  But since Chels and I were becoming pro’s at this 4am, pitch black, sleepy drop off thing, we collected ourselves, crossed the street and boarded the 2 ringgit city bus which was to drop us off right in Chinatown (if we knew where that was).  When we all were feeling like we were in the area we wanted to be we hopped off (usually the bus drivers are really friendly and tell us but not this early), plus there was a McDonald’s.  I don’t know about other travelers but the sight of a McDonald’s when sort of lost in a foreign country gives me an easy feeling. 

Nice view!

We needed to sort out accommodation and since it was the only place with internet that was open And serving breakfast, we indulged.  We scarfed down food, cleaned up in the bathroom and semi-sorted where we would get accommodation.  As we were leaving the ladies had a creepy crazy guy following us which had to be told to bug off.  Guess they don’t see too many blondes or something. 

Knowing that we didn’t have long in the city we figured a hostel could be sorted later.  We stashed our bags at the nearest place that would have them and headed for the most famous landmark in Kuala Lumpur, Petronas Towers. 

Famous Petronas Towers!

We rushed to get there because they stop selling tickets for the viewing floor at the top around 10am.  Unfortunately they close the top on Monday’s and we just happened to be there on one. They were still a sight to see and hard to even fit properly into a photo. There was a mega mall inside that was nicer than Lenox or Fipps Plaza…all high end fashion shops. The bathrooms were the cleanest we had seen all trip! I wanted to hang around just so i could go in there again :) I felt cleaner after I had been in there! Poor Ashley was probably loving the shopping, but Brad and I were heavily avoiding shopping….sorry Ash Bash! We walked around a bit before taking off to figure out our next move.

The rest of the day was spent cruising through the shops of China town and finding accommodation.  We had read about a few places in Lonely Planet in the China town area and the spot we ended up choosing looked abandoned and rundown from the outside, but was truly a  hidden gem. Wheelers It was a smaller hostel but had just what we were looking for, cheap rates, a private room for the 3 of us…breakfast… and Ashley shelled out the extra money for AIR CONDITIONING!!! Wooo we hadn’t had that in ages! SCORE!

KL was a bit of a different destination that what Brad and I were now set of visiting. After exploring Europe for 6 months, we were OVER the cities, and ready for jungles and beaches…so although I am sure there is TONS of amazing things to do, and of course, AMAZING shopping, we didn’t actually do or buy much!~ We did check out the Batu Caves, which were easy to get to…just outside of the city. The train ran straight there, and after walking up decently steep stairs, and heavily avoiding the monkeys!!!!… we were given a nice view of the city in the distance, but were able to enjoy some natural beauties at the same time!

The view from the caves!

Ashley held a snake!! Very cool, i was tempted, but just jumped in the photo instead! The actual cave was nothing special, but still easy to appreciate. The middle opened up, with clear sky above us, and a small temple covered with monkeys shined in the light!

Snakes!!

We visited a few botanical gardens, considered checking out a huge bird sanctuary, and of course browsed through heaps of markets. Actually we stumbled upon an orchid garden and both bought our Mum’s some Orchids in a jar….which i think turned out to be total FAILS! I know my Mums did…! 

Orchid Garden

I think one of the highlights for Ash and myself was getting ancient Indian body art…Mehndi, or Henna as most know it, or I think it’s called Inai in Malaysia… on our hands! It was so incredible watching how quickly and easily this woman did it, but when she was finished, it looked like such a work of art! I had wanted to get one on the streets in India, but never found any, so i was super thrilled! I think she only charged 10-15 ringgit! (5 bucks max!) We were starving, and poor Brad waited so patiently for us girls, so we ducked into a food hall right next to us, and very appropriately grabbed…. Indian food.

Mehndi!

The next morning, we all left with excitement running through us, because Bali was our next stop and the place all 3 of us had been waiting for!

Category: Cities, Hostels, Malaysia  Tags: , , ,  One Comment
Bangkok 1.0
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 /

We were definitely sad to leave our new friends Roy and Arnav; not to mention so many unexplored regions of India, BUT we had been looking forward to Thailand since the start of our trip and with Bangkok first on our itinerary , there was no time to dwell on what had been left behind.

Thai Airways!

We arrived very early in the morning and as in some places we’ve visited before, Bangkok had energy.  Unfortunately for us, we didn’t.  We caught the taxi to our CS host, Mai’s apartment in Sukhumvit.  She answered the door, still in pajamas looking sleepy, with evidence of a party in the background.  As it turned out, her celebratory birthday dinner got a little crazy the night before and had plans to go into work a little late.  SO, she went back to bed and Chelsea and I passed out on the amazingly comfortable futon leaving the intro phase till later that night.

Finally Thai Food!!

That night we got to know Mai a little bit over some delicious Thai street  food in a area set up for vendors with little plastic table and chairs set up besides their portable kitchen.  We were really excited since we’d been looking forward to that since the inception of our trip. The service was quick and personal, and the mixed meat and noodle dish did not disappoint, especially the mango and sticky rice for dessert!

Mai and Sticky Rice!

On our way home, we all decided to get Thai Massages!! Yay we had been waiting 6 months to get a massage (it was especially difficult turning down 5 a day on the beach in Santorini!), and the moment had finally come! Mai knew this CHEAP place, only 100 baht, which is just over $3!!! We may have been sketched out if Mai had not been with us. This place was dark with little cubicles to lay in, BUT it ended up being amazing! A Thai massage is more like being stretched out after a work out. The outfits they give you to put on are the coolest too :)

Thai Massage!

The next day on our way to the train station to buy tickets to the Cambodian border, we were lured in by a travel agency.  A bit skeptical but intrigued enough to listen we sat in there for over 2 hours figuring out plans for what would turn out to be, the next two weeks.

First stop on our tour was Kanchanaburi and this involved an early next morning “bus” to experience the River Kwai and surrounding areas.  These new travel plans had us booked for two return trips to Bangkok.  Since we had to be up-around 5:00am we opted for a visit to China Town knowing at some point in our returns, we would explore the  cities famous attractions.  We got lucky picking China town on this particular night, where the vegetarian festival was underway.  We took advantage of the  street vendors and even caught a glimpse of some ancient Chinese dancing.  The night concluded with the long walk back to the sky train.

Chinese Dance!

Category: Bangkok, Cities, CouchSurfing, Southeast Asia, Thailand  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
Kolkata!
Saturday, February 05th, 2011 /

We were sad to leave such a wonderful place but as it turned out, Kolkata was the best way to end our Indian adventure.  We had lined up some CouchSurfing hosts that lived close to the airport.  Managing  our way to their apartment appeared to be simple enough, given our instructions were to take the bus  that stopped right near their place; so we figured easy as, lets give it a go.

Walking out of the train station, shooing off the taxi totes offering rock bottom bait and switch deals, and to the hectic bus stand that would turn into our latest adventure.  Although it appeared unorganized at first, the bus we were looking for showed up after only a few minutes.  This was a reoccurring theme of India transport, appearance of no structure but  somehow, it gets you where you need to be (but never on time).

Kolkata thanks to Google!

Before we had to jump on, and I mean quite literally ‘jump’ on the moving bus we decided we’d better get a water.  It was blistering hot, we were carrying backpacks and had been traveling for 18 hours.  I reached into my pouch, grabbed 100 rupees and as I pulled it out realized there was a tiny tear in the top left corner of the bill.  Our experience with ripped rupees was that NO ONE accepts them (at least from a foreigner). We had no extra money and no ATMs in sight.  On the walk back to the station, we stumbled upon a man who tried gluing it back together, BUT we watched it fall apart within seconds. Luckily we found a kind old lady at the medical tent who went out of her way to get it switched out for us.

Now, back to the bus stand, we grabbed a water and very kindly were told about the air-conditioned bus, only a few rupees more.  We were hot , and spotted it right away so we made a run for it.  Chels had fallen behind a little bit and had to stand in front of the bus to make sure he stopped for her lol (of course I was telling him to as well but they don’t always listen).  It was a good thing that we opted for the air con bus because it took us 2 and a half hours at high noon, sitting in dead stop traffic to get to our CS, Roy and Arnav’s apartment.

Roy and Arnav!

We spent the rest of the day getting to know each other, chowing down food (at this point we had not eaten for 24 hours) and exchanging music.  At night we hit up this great hotel bar that had a live band playing some grunge and classic rock tunes.  Roy and Arnav were absolutely rocking out dancing and singing and we happily joined in.  After the close of the bar we went to the local late night food spot.  They did all the ordering and it was delicious and fiery hot!

Rocking out!

The next day we hung out all day together. Roy graced us with his chilled-out guitar skills, and we completely fell in love with one song, “Bana Bana Bana Bana, Bana Bana Bana” hahaha sounds silly when we write it out like that. It basically means “Keep Moving”. Keep moving along in life! He has a really deep southern sounding voice… Johnny Cash style in a lot of songs he wrote!

Bana Bana!

When we decided to grab some food, Roy took us to a local spot to get a Chicken Roll and it was the best thing ever!!! We broke our vegetarian-only habits on our last day in India but ohh it was sooo worth it!

Chicken Roll Yum!

A bit later on, we picked up one of their good friend at the airport.  Roy was surprised at the amount of traffic for that time of day and as it turned out, a Haj pilgrimage, which is a Muslim pilgrimage to mecca was underway (wanna freak out an American, visit the airport during a Haj) and again bonded over our love for music. Roy picked up a bunch of beer and Indian snacks. Brad and I taught them some American drinking games (our specialty) before we all headed to the rooftop to light off fireworks! Probably NOT the best idea with a buzz on! The boys had a massive firecracker war…runing all over the roof, brad seriously burnt his hand on a sparkler, and we had another “Bana Bana” singalong sesh! It was like we had been friends forever!

Fireworks Fun!

On our way out the door to catch our super late flight, Arnav gave me a surprise going away pressie! A great big handbag! They both manufacture luxury handbags and wallets, specializing in leather, and made me one <3 ! So thoughtful, and it ended up being so handy throughout the rest of the travels! We were so sad to leave Roy and Arnav, and almost considered changing our flight to spend more time with them! We didn’t leave before promising a return visit to India sometime in the near future :) Thanks boys!

Looking back on India… well actually I hated it at first.  India has extreme polarization of rich and poor and it is painfully obvious, there population is massive making things cluttered and it has some of the dirtiest places I’ve ever seen.  Corruption is rampant and you will be ripped off  in some way shape or form.  Mostly everyone knows the bad stuff from either a travel show or having known someone who has been.  BUT India is magical.  By the end of our trip and soon after I realized how mother India’s fascinating people, places and culture transcend all the negatives.  It breaks you down then builds you up, a constant roller coaster of sights, sounds, smells and emotion; I’m sorry we only had two weeks.  Even though it started off tough,in the end India was exactly what we needed and had been searching for.  It’s top on the list of places to revisit, and next time, I’ll be ready.

Category: Cities, CouchSurfing, India, Kolkata  Tags: , ,  3 Comments
InDiA!!! Finally
Thursday, November 25th, 2010 /

Brad and I were so lucky to have found a couchsurfer for our first stop in India…New Delhi! It was a good way to ease us into it. His name was Kaushik and he picked us up from the airport, brought us back to his home where we had a yummy breakfast together before separating ways. On the way, we immediately noticed the craziness in driving… people in between lanes, driving on the other side of the road, CONSTANTLY honking… but it didn’t seem to phase Kaushik!

Rickshaw!

 

The Hazy city!

Brad and I wandered to the nearby markets to pick up some necessities. Crossing the street was interesting :) It took us a little bit to get the conversion down while we were shopping too, 45 rupees to 1 dollar. We didn’t end up going into the center because we were going to stay a couple days. However when Kaushik got home from work, he told us that tomorrow was the verdict after 16 years of waiting to decide a fight between the Muslims and the Hindus, for a mosque or a temple. Apparently there was super increased security because they were expecting some outrage and crime… so unfortauntely we decided we had to leave Delhi tomorrow.

Kaushik and his magic!

 

SpiCYYY!!

We DID however make our last night there count, and Kaushik took us to a cool Tibetan joint with cheap cheap food..but a lot of it! Deliciousness! Loads of dumplings accompanied by a super hot chili sauce that Brad had to eat a heap of after losing to a rock paper scissors contest :) He took it like a champ though! We finished off a great night with Kaushik showing us his incredible magic tricks! Still am amazed and have no idea how he did what he did!!!

Brad in deep thought!

The next morning, we woke up super early to catch a train out of Delhi, but it didn’t quite turn out as we hoped. When we arrived, the train station was packed with Indians, all apparently trying to leave Delhi during the Commonwealth Games. We found out the usual tourist ticket office was closed, and we had to go into the city center to get them. And so we did. THEN we found out ALL the trains were waitlisted at over 100 people, and we had to change our WHOLE India trip.

Cooling off!

New plans…. Delhi->Udaipur->Jaipur->Agra->Varanasi->Kolkata. It cost more than we hoped, but now ALL of our trains AND accomodation were booked, so i guess it took some stress off, especially since the Indian trains can be a nightmare sometimes! Since our train wasn’t leaving until late that night, we were lucky to actually be able to see Delhi for the day, with a free driver too!

 

Indian girlies!

We went to a couple temples and forts, took our first Rickshaw ride, saw our first snake charmer (which i unfortunately didn’t get a picture of), and ate our first official Indian dishes! Girls kept asking me for pictures, and i don’t know if they think I’m famous with my big sunnies, or if it’s just because I’m white! haha! But most of all, we spent the day just watching everything going on around us. Craziness. Traffic. Poverty. Wealth. Kids running in Sprinklers with not a care in the world. Praying. Colors everywhere. Great aromas of street food. Disgusting wiffs of dog piss and sewerage. It was overwhelming.

 

crazy trains!

When it was time for the train, Brad and I had no idea what to expect….. an unorganized crowd of people? Chickens running through the train cabins? People hangning out windows? Yes…it was like that in the unreserved second class cabins, but luckily we got Third Tier AC reserved seats. So basically there are 3 bunks stacked and another set across from it….pretty crowded but still enough breathing space. Not the most lovely, but definitely good enough.  And so we left Delhi, sad to leave Kaushik, but excited for what was to come…especially since we had never even heard of Udaipur before.

 

Category: Cities, CouchSurfing, India, New Delhi, Temples  Tags: , ,  Leave a Comment
Budapest!
Monday, November 08th, 2010 /

I think Chelsea and I both agree that our time in Budapest was less about wandering around the city, discovering cool, exciting things to snap photos of and marvel over but about chilling out and preparing ourselves for our two weeks in India!

Pretty!

We thought we had a CouchSurfer lined up for the entire length of our stay but when we failed to connect the first day we were no longer sure. Lucky for us he lived in the same building as a cheap hostel, where we would bed down for the next two nights.

The first morning we woke up with a purpose, attain our Indian visas.  Now, we had been putting this task off for the entire six months in Europe, praying that our research was right and we could apply for the visa at our port of exit to India. The processing takes three days and the embassy only excepts applications between the hours of 10am-12pm, Monday – Thursday.  It was Wednesday and if we didn’t get there this day, we were screwed!  Needless to say we woke up stressed to find the embassy and get it done.

Chain Bridge!

Three quarters of the way through our cups of coffee and  halfway out the door, our CouchSurfer, Gyuri comes wobbling in to our hostel.   He is a good looking guy and well spoken so I guess I would say he has charisma! You could talk to him about anything from US monetary system to Scientology, and we did.  BUT, not on this morning.

Sneaking in!

Once we had the Indian Visa situation taken care of (and realized there was no way for a Russian transit one) we felt like we could relax and take in Budapest.  Our host Gyuri was a really interesting guy, probably one of the most unique individuals we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  He had heaps of advice about traveling in India and Southeast Asia and we swapped stories about touring Europe and America.  Like I mentioned earlier, he is a guy that could talk about anything so conversation flowed super easy laying the groundwork for a quickly formed friendship.

Playmate party!

He taught us about the national sport of Hungary… sneaking in to places (or getting in for free).  Of course Chels and I were all about the price of free but when it came to hopping fences to get into a mineral bath we took a pass. Riding the tram and bus without tickets, dodging the conductors was enough of a thrill for us and as much risk as we were willing to take.  A highlight of our “sneaking in” experiences with Gyuri was when we somehow scored VIP to the Playboy Playmate of the Year Party at this uber cool night club.  The place was packed with people, especially for the strip-tease show at the end.

Strip tease!

This girl apparently was a famous Hungarian porn star (The OTHER National sport of Hungary), and an amazing stripper, opening her own place, and teaching girls ha! She’s pretty old now in the face, but rocked a great bod….and put on a fabulous show!

The next day we finally caught up with Courtney, ready for this…Brad’s mom’s co-workers daughter! haha! It was cool to have a mutual soon-to-be-friend to meet up with in another country! We met at St.Stephens Basilica, which is MASSIVE and beautifully placed in a big square with lots to do and see around it….it’s the center of attention!

After eating at a yummy Italian restaurant where it was soooo nice to have a delicious Caesar Salad…. Courtney and her friend took us to this “underground pub” called Szimpla. This place reminded us of the festival put on by the squatting community in Amsterdam… lots of Art and what might be considered junk…turned into something funky and fun.  Apparently there are a few places like this in Budapest; they are called ROMKOCSMA or “ruin pubs” because the buildings had no use any longer. Anyway, we loved it..super cool AND they brewed their own beer!

The next few days Brad and I spent relaxing, wandering the city, picking up our visa (yay!), having a picnic in the park which Brad completely organized :)   Gyuri also took us to the flea markets one morning which turned out to be great timing, because there was a massive marathon happening in the same area. I’ve never been to one, so it was cool to see the hundreds and hundreds of people preparing, and all the commotion and excitement going on!

Marathon

Before we knew it, it was almost time to leave Budapest. But not before meeting Courtney’s Dad! It just so happened he was coming into town while we were there, so it was great to meet Jeanne’s coworker and get some juicy stories on her :) It all turned out to be good of course! He treated us to a meal and the conversation flowed. Thanks again Richard :)

Next stop: India!!

Category: Cities, CouchSurfing, Eastern Europe, Hostels  Tags: , , ,  One Comment
Prague!
Sunday, October 31st, 2010 /

Recently Prague has become a tourist hotspot.  And why not, it’s got plenty of old stuff to poke around at during the day, a lively nightlife and most importantly a weaker currency.  All jokes aside, Prague is a cool city for sure and beautiful.  As like a lot of places we’ve been to, most of my expectation were derived from the media, mostly Hollywood and the city delivered.

Pretty Prague!

So yummy!

We woke up bright and early to get a good days start seeing the sights! We didn’t get very far before the aroma of delicious food leered us in!  Chicken on a stick and sausages, complete with sugary pretzels for dessert! YUM! So now with full bellies, we made our way across the famous ­­­Charles bridge before exploring a pretty park which gave us a beautiful view of the whole city! And after some trials and tribulations in the woods, we finally made it to the castle!

Charles Bridge

After walking up a moderately sized hill and proud of our accomplishment, we decided to reward ourselves with a few beers.  We ended up stopping at this medieval times type place which was absolutely pitch black inside, aside from a few flickering candles.  The tables and chairs were made of heavy wood and the place was decorated like a dungeon.

Medieval bar!

We were lucky to arrive at the castle just in time for the change of the guards….so serious! Checked out the cathedral and castle…always a magnificent site, and snapped some fun pics from the outside.

Castle!

Dancing away the Night!

As soon as the sun went down, we got ourselves ready for Prague’s nightlife! There are tons of clubs, bars, and restaurants open late, and we first got lured into an empty one with go go dancers on crack before managed to find “Eastern Europes biggest club” ha who knows if that is true! Nevertheless, it was a blast. The dance floor was lit up in all different colors and constantly changing, and the 4 of us danced the night away! Brad and I called it a night, but Chris and Joe stayed out til all hours of the night :) Not really…they left shortly after us but got horribly lost and made a 3-hour walk home! Sorry boys! Makes for a good story though :)

We left Prague with an appreciation for the cities beautiful mixture of architecture, its green parks overlooking the river, and of course its nightlife!

Category: Camping, Cities, Eastern Europe, Family, Prague  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
Berlin
Friday, October 29th, 2010 /

Berlin!

We arrived in Berlin to rainy weather.  Chris and Joe’s train was suppose to arrive at 1pm, leaving just enough time to find the location of the RV lot.  Apparently missing your ride out of Amsterdam is contagious or common or something, because when they didn’t show up by 2pm, we assumed they had done the same as us… which they did, only in the form of oversleeping.  Saw that one coming! :(

LegoLand!

By the time we got to the RV, it was pretty late but we were exccittteeeed! We whipped up a yummy dinner and just parked it in a grocery parking lot to stew up plans for the rest of the week. The next day, the journey began to find parking for this beast. Keeping an eye out for other Rv’s to buddy up with, we found a parking lot near the Sony Center and decided to check our the massive infrastructure. It was pretty impressive, with tons of restaurants, a movie theatre, and shops….none of which heavily appealed to our needs (The Lego Land was cool though!)

Poo!

We did end up finding a special RV lot where the boys collaboratively emptied out the WC and filled up the water. HAhahaha it was hilarious! I was inside happily doing the dishes and cleaning when suddenly i heard them all just howling and laughing and eww-ing! It was then we decided ONLY pee IF it’s an emergency…we’ll stop at rest stops from now on!

When everyone felt fresh again after a few showers, we headed out to the nearest absinthe bar! Being a Tuesday night, it was dead but we didn’t let is stop us. We found ourselves a comfy couch and ordered the strong flaming shots. I actually didn’t know Absinthe was supposed to be lit on fire, but the process is pretty cool! You dip the sugar cube into the stronngg liquor, then pull it out on your spoon to light it on fire for a few seconds before dropping it back in! It’s pretty rough.

Absinthe!

The funniest thing though was that we all thought it was going to be a crazy night and we were going to hallucinate or something…like the movies say haha! We ended up having this intellectual conversation about gravity and physics and who knows what?! And we all felt really relaxed! Maybe we didn’t drink enough…i don’t know! But it ended up being an early night for everyone!

On our way out, we caught the Berlin Wall! It’s crazy to think that it came down only 20 years ago!!!  And yet Germany seems like such a put-together country…impressive! Of course on the day we had to leave, the weather finally cleared up…but we were determined to get to Oktoberfest for opening weekend, so on we went! Next stop…Prague!

Berlin Wall!

Category: Berlin, Camping, Central Europe, Cities, Family, Germany  Tags: , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Amsterdam 2.0
Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 /

There is something about backtracking that usually bothers Chels and I but of all the cities we’ve been to going back to Amsterdam didn’t seem so bad ; ), especially since with my brother Chris and his friend Joe were coming for a visit.It took a few hours, but once we found Chris at the train station, we dropped our bags off at the hostel and met up with two of our new favorite people, Hyung and his lovely wife Sash for some lunch.

 

Brothers!

 

Brewery!

We hoofed it to the brewery Brouweij’t IJ, a favorite watering hole for locals.  Located next to an old windmill, the brewpub opens in the late afternoon and closes early evening thanks to a high demand for its specialty brews.  The inside was lined with beer bottles and behind the bar was a glass window allowing a view of where all the magic goes down.  Chris taught us the ins and outs of blackjack as we enjoyed some of the best beer I’ve ever had!

Another reason we chose to visit the brewery on this particular day was for the free tour.. which we took full advantage of, but mine was cut short on account of me already “breaking the seal” .  At some point we realized how strong the beers were (between 7 – 11%) and headed back to the hostel, devouring snacks along the way.

 

Blackjack!

Had a few...

 

Freeedom!

A brief nap and a rally cry got us moving towards the infamous red light district.  There are no warning signs when you enter the area, nobody waving a flag telling you there are half naked hookers swimming in windows up ahead.  So, literally all of a sudden you make a turn down a side street and Bam!  It’s funny and sad at the same time.  I suppose most of the women choose to be there; they even have a union called the De Rode Draad in Dutch or “The Red Thread”.  Although there ARE some girls who do it for drugs or against their will.  Nevertheless, the reason it is not illegal, is actually for deterrence purposes.  By permitting prostitution (among other things) they hope to avoid forcing it underground or to the black market where violence and abuse is rampant.  Probably better to have it as an isolated, contained issue than a non regulated and destructive problem.

 

Out on the town!

 

Red Light District!

Call girls are the main attraction to the Red Light District, but sex is sold on other levels in and around those few glowing city blocks.  “Live sex shows” (yes, it is exactly what it sounds like) and various sex shops ranging from classy to down and dirty are there for those of us who just enjoy the novelty of the area.  And of course there are coffee & smart shops every 10 feet.  The ratio of men to women, naturally, is heavy on the men side which makes it a bit awkward as you’re squeezing through these narrow alleyways.  Without saying much more, the Red Light District is.. truly a unique experience.

Joe came the next morning and we decided it would be fun to rent some bikes for the day!  Cruising around Amsterdam on a bicycle is the best way to see the city.  Since Chels and I had done this before and loved it, we thought it would be cool for Chris and Joe.  It is also a great way to participate in the culture.  After touring the streets for a bit we hit up Vondlepark for some snacks, a nap and a photoshoot.

 

Ridin in the Park!

 

Great Atmosphere!

Since we had bikes now we thought about what the next move should be… Brewery!!  We went back to the Brouweij’t IJ.  But we really DID have a good reason to go back! I was SURE i left my beloved scarf there that Kelly got me for Christmas! I was sending off good vibes the whole ride there, and it WAS!!! The sun was shining and the place was packed, good vibes all around.  The brewery makes 6 different beers and being such big fans (not to mention the great prices) we tried every single one; then rode home, taking back roads of course. I left my umbrella there…hahah…boo.

 

Fun Fun!

Chels and I were to catch our final busabout ride from Amsterdam to Berlin the next morning, so we had an early night after one last stroll through the Red Light District.  Up at 6:45, and at the Flying Pig Hostel (drop off/pick up point) in plenty of time for a good seat on the bus.

BIKESSSS rule!

As we stood in the middle of this tiny cobble stone street in front of the hostel, we had a funny feeling we might not be in the right place.  Well, turned out that the Busabout uses the OTHER Flying Pig Hostel for pickup.  After 3 failed attempts to catch a taxi, we gave up and found the nearest internet point, booked a Eurolines bus for that night then went back to take advantage of the free breakfast at Chris and Joe’s hostel.

Love this pic!

We rode around in the rain all day, mixing sight seeing with lots of coffee!  The last place we stopped was a bar playing some NFL games, and we watched the Patriots pummel the Bengals (WooHoo!)   We left Chris and Joe there, reminding them of the 6:50, morning train they had to catch and we rode off.

 

The Boys!

Category: Amsterdam, Central Europe, Cities, Family, Hostels  Tags: , , , ,  Leave a Comment
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