Internet - Oh how we've missed you!

Finally we have an internet connection! Unfortunately it's only in the lounge of our hotel in Florence but that's OK we'll make do! We haven't had time to write our blog yet (maybe tonight) but just wanted to let you know that we have uploaded some photos from Grosseto, Siena and San Gimignano to Facebook today. For some reason we could only upload a few so we'll finish the rest later. To check them out CLICK HERE or go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=442094&id=664955104&l=165a6a1acd

When in Rome....

Pronto & ciao from Roma!

Today is our 5th day in Rome and what a fantastic 4 days we have had so far! As we have done and seen so much since we have been here (and so that we don't bore you with too much detail), we have decided to put our experiences into point form..... so here goes;

• Flying from Prague to Rome on Smart Wings - after our overweight luggage charge with Transavia from Amsterdam, Stu and I decided to wear as much heavy clothing as possible to try and reduce our load. Leaving the hotel I was wearing jeans, boots, a singlet, cardigan and two jackets (must have looked like the michelin man) and Stu was wearing jeans, a tshirt and two jumpers! This was all well and good until we walked out into the 25 degree heat of Prague! Thankfully the cab (not a dodgy one this time) was air conditioned! Anyway we got to the airport to check in and they didn't even weigh our hand luggage - can you believe it? Time to strip off and repack! I love Smartwings already! Anyway after purchasing some Slivovice (local plum liqueur) we were soon on our way and flying over the snow capped mountains of the Alps!

• Arriving at the airport we were met by my lovely Aunty Babette and were soon whisked away to her beautiful family home in the town of Infernetto, south-west of Rome. The drive to the house was interesting; it appears that the Italians have no road rules what so ever. You really have to have your wits about you to drive here. As my Aunty said, she can only drive here because she has driven in Seychelles! Not only are the drivers bad, so are the roads; there are pot holes everywhere! We would later find out that these road conditions will make for a interesting bus ride to the metro station each day! Anyway thanks to Babette's skilled driving we made it to her house in one piece and were soon enjoying a glass of wine in the sun, while Uncle Perin cooked some kebabs on the BBQ! We were soon joined by the entire family for an Italian BBQ dinner and finally got to meet Nikki's husband Paolo and their beautiful baby Amelie (plus all of the dogs - Mocha the baby Pug, Coco the Pomeranian from Oz and Luna the Italian speaking Lab). All in all a lovely first day in Rome.

• Sunday - a day of rest (much needed after the full on tour of London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague). Waking up nearing lunch time we stumbled downstairs to meet the family basking in the hot Italian sun - perfect. Once we were suitably cooked we headed to the local supermarket to buy the ingredients for Babette's infamous Amartriciana and bruscetta! Yum! Once we were all stuffed the family went for a very Italian Sunday siesta while Stuart and I decided to walk to the beach at Ostia Antica. Hoping to dip our toes into the Mediterranean we soon discovered that the beach is covered in beach clubs, each with an entrance fee of 10 euro! Seeming as we had cash on us we headed back to the house, our feet still dusty and dry! My Uncle then took us to an art show/dinner at the home of one of his EFAD work colleagues! The paintings were amazing and very beautiful, depicted scenes from Africa and the Middle East! Sangria in hand we were introduced to a melting pot of people; French, Italian, Arabic and then there were the three American gospel singers! These guys did a few tunes accapella and blew everyone away. Not only were these ladies a complete hoot, we later found out that they were quite famous and had just returned from Oslo from singing at the Eurovision Song Contest! Amazing who you meet along the way.

• Monday - we were finally ready to brave the Italian public transport system and head into the city. After some directions from my cousins we learnt that we had to hop on the 070 bus to EUR Fermi (metro station) and then catch the metro into the city - easy enough right? Well the trick was that you couldn't pay for the bus trip on the bus nor anywhere other that in the city so we had to ride the bus without a ticket to the metro and hope you don't get caught! Argh! Lucky for us there were no inspectors on the way in and we were soon able to buy our week passes without drama. Anyway we finally made it to the Colosseum where our tour of the city began. Joining a tour group we bypassed the queues and were soon inside, marveling at its sheer size and history. It would have been amazing to see the Colosseum in its former glory but the ruin was just as breathtaking. Apparently the Vatican "recycled" a lot of the white marble that used to coat the current structure and used it to build St Peter's Basillica. From the Colosseum the tour moved on to Palentine Hill and the ruins of the Forum. After signing up for the Vatican tour the following morning, Stu and I continued our sight seeing with a visit to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Narvona.

• Tuesday - after our experience coming home on the bus during rush hour, we decided to leave home at 7:30am to ensure we got to our meeting point for the Vatican Tour in time. In Australia taking the bus during peak hour wouldn't be such a concern however in Rome there are no bus lanes so the bus gets stuck in traffic like everyone else. Anyway it was lucky that we left at 7:30am because we only just made it to the meeting point at 9:30am. Arriving at the meeting point and seeing the line for the Vatican Museum snake around the block made us realise that our tour reservation was worth it's weight in gold. We again bypassed the line and were soon inside learning all about the history of the Vatican and the art collections inside. There were so many pieces from the great painters of the Renaissance era; namely Raphael, Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Truly amazing to see these famous paintings and sculptures in the flesh. Check out our photos for a sneak peak into the Musei Vaticani. Our tour guide Jonathan was amazing and as we snaked our way though the museum he pointed out all of Michelangelo's inspirations for his most famous piece of work; the roof of the Sistine Chapel. Before we knew it 3 hours had flown by and it was time to say goodbye to our tour group, or so we thought... Jonathan then invited Stuart and I, along with our new friend Tania for lunch at a local cafe. What a fantastic afternoon that turned out to be! Bumping into another 2 from our group, we all sat together eating pasta, drinking wine and chatting. Before we knew it 2 hours had flown by and after a quick limoncello, impromtu "Happy Birthday" and portion of "fragolino" (strawberries) we swapped business cards and said our goodbyes. We will definitely be in touch with these guys! From here Stu and I strolled along the Tiber to walk off our lunch, seeing the Castel di Angelo and the many beautiful bridges that cross the river. After some random wandering we found ourselves at the Spanish Steps and the start of an amazing street of designer shops! I was in LOVE!

• I now hand over the reigns to Stu for the last chapter in our Roman blog so far..... Hi all relaxing morning, then we went into town to catch up with Zac for dinner and a few drinks. On our way to meet Zac, we were planning to get to the "Bone Church" which is the church from some weird sect of Christianity who believes that the body must remain within the church after death, so there are basically a few rooms of bodies in varying states of decay, and then finally when all the meat, hair and juicy bits are gone, the bones are used to make all sorts of trendy interior decorations, i am considering joining this Church, as i will save my family having to pay for a burial or cremation. I think my skeleton would look awesome as a plasma tv stand, or maybe it could be used to build some modern art installation? Anyway we arrived at the church at 6.01pm, one minute after closing time, so we will have to make a return trip to this place! We then went to Termini station to meet with Zac, and from there jumped in a taxi to the Jew Ghetto for some traditional Roman Jewish food, which was very nice, there were brains and tongue on the menu, but we opted for the more conservative Osso Bucco and Amatriciana.... and a few bottles of red! We then went in search of a taxi to start the trip home, a couple of buses later and two nearly burst bladders and we had made it!

• To view photos from Rome CLICK HERE or follow the link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=437377&id=664955104&l=5c77b51a8b

Czech It Out!

Time for our blog from Prague...

As you can imagine our expectations for Prague were at an all time low after the taxi scam incident when we arrived. Arriving at the hotel we were left quite deflated and after checking in we headed straight for the hotel restaurant for a quick bite to eat before bed. We woke up the following morning still slightly unenthusiastic about Prague, however stepping into the streets of Old Town, we were soon blown away by the beautiful and amazing city that Prague really is! The taxi drama aside, we would definitely recommend Prague as a must for anyone planning a Eurotrip of their own!

As some of you may have seen from my Facebook, Stu and I decided to start our Prague experience with the Sandman's free walking tour of Prague. Arriving at the Old Town Square far too early for the tour, we wandered around, ogling at the amazing period architecture and gothic towers of the square. Before we knew it 11am was soon upon us and we headed off with our guide Colin (the Scot) for a 3 hour walking tour of the city. We started the tour with the history behind Old Town Square and the Tyn Church, St Nicolas Church and the Astrological Clock within it. Moving into New Town (which is really not that new at all) we learnt about Wenceslas Square and the Communist regime. During this segment we leant about the sad demise of Jan Palach, a 21 year old man who set himself alight at the square to protest Communism - very sad story. He now has a plaque at the top of the square under the National Museum in memory of all those who lost their lives to Communism. From here we moved onto the Jewish Quarter where we again heard sad stories of the many Czech Jews who lost their lives in WW2. There is a synagogue which displays the paintings of some hundred Czech Jewish children who were imprisoned and soon died in the many concentration camps. This is the only record that they ever existed. Very sad. To liven the solum mood, Colin our guide started to tell us about the Travi (a Russian plastic car), Franz Kafka (kookie writer), the legend of Jewish Gollum (no not the Gollum from Lord of the Rings) and the history of 'defenestration' (an interesting art of throwing people from windows in protest)! Before we new it our 3 hours were up and our next tour was about to begin; the Prague Castle tour.

Our new guide at the helm (Brisith Emma), a few of us headed across the Vltava River and into the Mala Strana. After once again hearing a brief history of the Czech Republic and how it came to be, we headed into the Secret Garden of the Senate; a traquil escape from the bustling city streets just outside the walls. There were a few quirky items located in the grounds which I have to mention, namely the giant man made grotto, the huge owls and the white peacock (see photo link below). From here we boarded a tram up to the Loretanske Monistery (famous for the beer the monks brew "St Norbert's Beer"), took in the scenery from a few elevated sites and then headed to the Prague Castle. Now before the tour started, I though the Prague Castle was the gothic building dominating the hills of the Mala Strana - I was wrong! Turns out the Castle is a sprawling compound that encapsulates numerous architectural styles, from the numerous rulers who resided there. You really must have a look while you are in Prague! You can see a few shots of the Castle by following the photo link below.

As you can imagine after 6 hours of straight walking and learning (in the cold rain I might add), we were soon tired and hungry. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at "El Toro Negro" in Old Town Square for a seafood paella and some local brew before crashing out.

Opening the curtains the next morning we were greeted with blue skies and bright sunshine - perfect! We decided that we would spend the day taking in a bit more of a few of the stops from yesterdays walking tour. We first climbed one of the towers in the Old Town Square for some panoramic shots of the city and then headed across the famous Charles Bridge (as seen in Vin Diesel's action movie XXX) and up to the leafy green park on the Mala Strana hinterland. All in all a lovely relaxing day in the sun and the perfect conclusion to an amazing time in Prague. This has to be one of our favourite stops so far.

To CZECH out our photos CLICK HERE or got to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=435101&id=664955104&l=f43027cc8a

WARNING: TAXI SCAM!

Just a quick warning to all you travellers planning a visit to Prague; beware of the scamming taxi drivers prowling the airport, train station and any tourist spots. We have just discovered (the hard way) that taxi's are unregulated in Prague and that most taxi drivers will charge over ten times the real cost of the correct taxi fare.

Arriving at the train station in the pouring rain, Stu and I opted against walking to the hotel as we had planned (1.5km away) and headed to the nearest signed taxi rank. Watching a few taxis pull away we waiting until the next taxi pulled in. The taxi looked fine to me, it was signed, had a taxi light on the roof but my suspicions arose when the taxi driver advised that as it was peak hour the standard city fare was 980 czk (about 40 euro) - extremely steep. Stu and I were both shocked at the price but we could see no other option being in a strange city. Plus the taxi driver had already loaded our bags into the trunk. He chatted away to us the entire trip and seemed nice enough but my gut feeling still screamed "dodgy" (that and the fact that the meter was not turned on).

Anyway soon enough we were at the hotel (which is lovely by the way) and upon checking in asked the receptionist how much a taxi would usually be. The look she gave us confirmed that taxi scams were a serious problem in Prague. She said the average fare is about 200 czk but that it can vary depending on the driver. She said that booking a taxi through the hotel or using a shuttle would be the best option for our forthcoming trip to the airport. I have since found out that there are only a handful companies that can be trusted to run their meters correctly;

AAA Radiotaxi - tel. 140 14 or 222 333 222, www.aaa-taxi.cz

City Taxi - tel. 257 257 257, www.citytaxi.cz

Let's hope this is the only problem we run into in this beautiful city. Lesson learnt.

Railways & Rollaways

As I am writing this we are sitting on the EC177 train bound for Prague. Luckily for us Stu and I have scored the only 2 window seats in our compartment of 6 so we can gaze out and watch Germany slip by.

We have quite the melting pot of passengers in out little 6 seater compartment; one older German lady, two middle aged Asian ladies, an Aussie man in shorts (Stu) and myself.

Oh and I can't forget our two massive hard Samsonite cases that stand out like sore thumbs! What a nightmare! It is apparent that these cross country trains were not designed with the long haul traveller in mind! Thankfully one seat in our compartment is empty until Prague so my red suitcase is sitting comfortably in Seat 16 with Stus out in the corridor. For anyone planning on travelling Europe by rail I would recommend a small backpack and nothing else! Like I said - nightmare!

Anyway that drama aside (well at least for the next 5 hours) we can now kick back and let the scenery drift by. What a beautiful countryside Germany has. Such a contrast to the cold concrete jungle that was Berlin!

Prague here we come...

PART 2: Dresden - Praha

Hello again. Were now 3 hours into our trip and Stu and I find ourselves alone in our cabin after all our room mayes left us at Dresden - no more awkward silence - perfect!

The countryside is becoming even more beautiful the further south we head. Looking out the window I can see green rolling hills, quaint German homes with exposed wooden beams and a fast flowing river - stunning! This is what I imagined Germany to look like! Let's hope Prague is as pretty!

Location:EC177 from Berlin to Praha

Berlin - Achtung Baby!!!

Hello loyal followers - Co-writer Stuart here for todays episode......

Ok, after a short flight in from Amsterdam (and 40 Euros in excess baggage!!) we came down into Tegal International Airport, Berlin.

First impressions were that it was freezing and a pretty miserable concrete jungle, however after a couple of days adventuring through its streets we discovered a pretty cool city!

What we did in the couple of days in Berlin......

Day One - 12 Degrees, Intermittent Rain, Windy

• Arrived around five in the arvo
• Got settled into our apartment (which turned out to be just across the street from where Mr Hitler came to an end!)
• Went for a quick dinner at a little Italian restaurant downstairs from our apartment
• Called it a day with an early night to recover from a few big days in Amsterdam!!

Day Two - 12 Degrees, Intermittent Rain and a freezing wind!

• An early start, and off for a five minute walk around the corner to Checkpoint Charlie, where the old American Guardhouse still remains as a constant reminder of the past. We then spent an hour or so walking through the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, which had all sorts of stories of escape over the wall with varying degrees of success!
• After the museum it was still cold and miserable weather so we boarded a local bus tour, where we managed to score the front seats on the top level!! We spent the next couple of hours in heated, waterproof comfort seeing the sights around Berlin - all of them i think!
  
• Everything on the tour bus seemed to be either something to do with the War, or something to do with the Wall, without either - i think Berlin may struggle to attract the tourists that it does!
• We jumped off the bus in the main shopping district to grab a bite to eat, and as we were in Berlin, thought it only right that we sample one of the local Currywurst Sausages - mmmmmmmmmm. Not too sure how many of them i could eat before vomiting, however the one i had was great!
• We then ventured down to the Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish Memorial and then on to the old undercover SS headquarters located across the road from our place.
• And again - with it being too cold to venture too far outside - it was down to the Italian restaurant downstairs where we thought we were being stalked!!!! Firstly - we had "German Jen" come and sit at a table right behind us (see Facebook for photographic evidence). After we composed ourselves following our meeting with "German Jen" we noticed a cool dog who was barking at everyone from under his owners table. I could not see him, however Tash described him as looking like Whisky, but a bigger version - this got a little bit more funny when the dog (who was a local, well known to the restaurant staff) was called out from under the table, and his name was actually Whisky!!!!
• So there we were, in an Italian restaurant in Berlin, dining with "German Jen" and "German (reincarnated) Whisky"!!
• Off to bed again with our fingers crossed for some sun on our final full day in Germany!

Day Three - about -123412 degrees, bloody windy and a bit of rain..... come on Global Warming!

• We started our day in a lineup to get into the German Parliament House, which has a great big glass viewing dome on the top of it - which would have had great views over the German capital, however after standing in the line for about an hour, and not seeing much movement we decided to make a dash for the warm and dry shopping centre only about a fifteen minute walk away. There are probably people frozen to death, still waiting in that line at the Parliament House!
• After a quick defrost in the shops, we were off to the Berlin Zoo, quite possibly the only toursit attraction in the city that has nothing to do with either the war or the wall! The zoo was fantastic, the rain held off for a couple of hours, there were no people there, and we were able to get so close to all of the animals that it was a pretty amazing experience, and 13 Euro well spent!! Check out the link to photos to see the snaps of the Elephants, Monkeys, Bears, Polar Bears, Lions, Tigers, Penguins, Seals and Hippos - one of which we saw do a massive explosive poo, and immediately after, another of the Hippos surfaced from under the water and made what could only be described as a really loud laughing noise!!! It seems that humans are not the only animals to find poo and farts funny!!
• After the zoo, it was still freezing cold (and i was wearing shorts) so i was roped into seeing the new Sex and the City movie, i heard Tasha's suggestion as "do you want to go and sit in a warm dry comfy chair for a couple of hours?" so after the movie it was back out into the cold. (a nice escape from that movie!)
• Dinner again at the Italian - no German Jen, No German Whisky :(
• Off to Prague tomorrow!

For photos visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=433284&id=664955104&l=210eb6f5c2

Dutch Courage. Dutch Oven.

On our second day in Amsterdam we decided to avoid the tourist traps of Amsterdam and experience some of the real Holland!

Hopping in Conners car we headed out to Utrecth for a wander around the historic town! Like a mini Amsterdam (without the tourists), Utrecht is a maze of canals and tiny cobbled streets filled with bicycles and colourful tulip vendors.

After a canal side lunch we decided the next stop of our tour would be the seaside town of Zandervoort - home of Hollands only beach!

Heading down the road a large old windmill caught my eye and we had to stop for a photo (one cliche photo op off my list) - now to find a field of tulips an my list would be complete (i would later find our Tulip season had just finished - sigh)!

Arriving seaside we were met with a chilling wind, brown sea and a deserted beach! A little disappointing my Gold Coast standards! That said people were about and the seaside vendors were out in force selling the local favourite herring rolls!

Back to Amsterdam that afternoon we decided to venture out into the city for our last dinner and to bravely wander around the red light district after dark! What an eye opener that place is! Window after window scantily clad women (and sometimes men) flaunted their wares - trying to coax the men (and their wallets) off the streets and into their booths! But like us it seemed that most tourists (the bucks parties aside) were only out for an after dinner sticky beak!

Location:Utrecht & Amsterdam