Oh I miss Prague, how wonderful and beautiful and magical you are

26 – 29 June, Prague

Woke up early to pack because we got home late last night.

I’ll miss Nanda’s cute little Italian apartment, what an awesome place to stay.

Won’t miss the weather or the dust.

Our flight to Prague was uneventful

I’m glad we booked a Prague shuttle to take us to our apartment because it would’ve been hell trying to find this place on our own, not knowing anything about Prague and not being able to say anything in Czech and not being able to read the language. Our driver was really nice and gave us some little bit of info of the place before dropping us off.

Our apartment is cute, very simple but comfortable, spacious, and well located. We even have a kitchen! Except for the bathroom, everything is in the same room, so effectively, my bed is located in the “kitchen” while Marisa’s is located in the “lounge room”

I never thought there’d be a day where I’d have to sleep in the kitchen, like a maid.

We really didn’t do much on our first day in Prague, we walked around a bit to get a feel for the area, went to the train station to buy our tickets to Berlin, then went to Tesco’s to get some groceries and make dinner.

From what we had, which is not much, I think I prepared a pretty decent meal for the 2 of us. Beef stroganoff and rice, with vegetables, soggy chips and yucky “hamburgers” We could only have soggy chips because we didn’t have an oven or any oil to cook with, note to self, must remember to steal some butter from breakfast tomorrow to use for cooking!

Flicked through the tv to spot lots of porn. Must try to avoid porn.

Went to a really dodgy internet café, which was full of devious layabout men, who all stopped and looked at us with evil eyes when we walked in. Perhaps because we looked so different from everybody else there, or perhaps they saw easy asian female targets to rob? I’m not sure, but that place made me feel immediately uncomfortable, but I needed the internet to book some flights… and I had so much trouble there, what should’ve only taken me less than 10mins ended up taking over 30mins with trouble with the websites, the flights and times, the dates, and then with my credit card. AARRRGGHHHHH

All the while, a dodgy looking aunty sat down next to me and started looking over my shoulder while I was putting my credit card details in. What more can I tell you about how dodgy this place was? I only learnt afterwards from Marisa, who was keeping a lookout for me in case those dodgy men wanted to rob us, that the dodgy aunty was not only looking over my shoulder, but also picking her nose! EEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Glad I didn’t see that!

Day 2 - Prague

The 2^nd day in Prague, we woke early to take advantage of the free breakfast on offer, it was simple and does the job but nothing worth mentioning. There was a coffee machine there, which thrilled Marisa. She being the Melbournian Coffee Connoisseur, and me not touching the foul stuff. So, happily she made herself a nice cup of frothy milk with a few sprinkles of coffee granules (I think it was a little disappointing for her).

We made our way to the meeting point for the free tour of Prague, and our guide looked remarkably like Veronica Mars and coincidentally, is also called Veronica.

The free tour was awesome, the guide was really good, very knowledgeable, very friendly and the tour gives you a good brief history of Prague, but being “free” also means that it tends to attract a much larger group than most tours. Still, we really enjoyed it a great deal.

When it finished, the 2 of us went searching for a cheap and cheerful meal before re-tracing our steps of the tour, and take a bit more time enjoying each location.

While trying to find a nice place to sit down and eat, we met 2 fellow Aussies from the tour, Sib and Steve. Great people, and great company for lunch.

Lunch was in this quaint little garden café, and it fulfilled the cheap and cheerful criteria with perfect weather. I had the deer goulash and the obligatory Czech Pilsner, while Marisa had roast pork with the obligatory Czech Pilsner. Both were delicious and all for under 2000Kz (or about $Au13)

After lunch, we said a quick goodbye to our new friends, who went exploring Prague further because they only had 1 full day in the city, so I really hope we didn’t waste too much of their time at lunch when they could be meandering around this beautiful city. They were such lovely people, so I hope they have a great rest of their journey.

While we continued to re-trace the steps of the tour. Went back to Municipal House, a very grand looking building containing a really grand looking restaurant that I somehow, in my ditsy brain, managed to recognize from a Czech movie that I watched nearly 2 years ago, called “I served the King of England”

What were the chances of that! It looked almost exactly the same as I had remembered from the movie, and that was set in the 1930s! Marisa and I were so excited that we decided to come back for dinner the following night for something special.

Other places we re-visted, Tyn Church, which I think the guide told us was where some burgler tried to steal some gold from a statue, and this statue grabbed his hand and cut it off. From there on in, this shrivelled and dried up hand remains in this church as a reminder to would-be burglers never to steal from this church. Now, was it this church?? Or some other church?? Hmmz.... Fascinating story anyway, so of course Marisa and I had to go back and see this dried up hand, but before we could the priest on duty kicked us out of the church! I have never in my life been kicked out of church! What did I do wrong????

I would've like to spend more time in the Jewish quarter, visit a few of the synagogues and see the Jewish cemetary, read their stories..... unfortunately, time was against us. Next time, I will definitely spend more time in this area.

These were the things that I wanted to eat in Prague:

- One of them great big giant sausages

- Goulash

- Sauerkraut

- Those curly bread pastry things

- Pork knuckles

- Roast duck

Why? Just because every bloody “genuine” Czech food place sells these foods and I’m really gullible, especially when it comes to food.

Instead, for the 2^nd night in Prague, we have another Tesco dinner. I made pad thai noodles with veggies. I must say, I do pretty well with not much around!

Prague – day 3

A very take it easy morning for us. We will be taking the free afternoon tour to New Town and Prague Castle so our morning is free to explore and do some souvenir shopping.

We missed breakfast so went to find a decent place for breakky and luckily for us, there’s a cute little bookstore/ café just round the corner from our apartment, frequented by locals, which is always a good sign. And it was cheap. Double bonus!

Then souvenir shopping, I was looking for a specific postcard for someone, but despite seeing them everywhere the day before, I just could not for the life of me, find them anywhere…. Until late morning. *phew* all that walking finally paid off.

We walked around to Charles Bridge, saw some local artists, went to a few towers but didn’t climb them. Saw a lot of crystal places.

Had a cheap and fulfilling lunch and guess what it was? A great big giant sausage! And boy was it good. Very very good.

Then our free afternoon tour. It was pretty good, but the group was even larger than the morning one, probably because more people are awake at this time. This tour was very exhausting but it was well worth it and I highly recommend these free tours of Prague if you ever happen to be there.

Here are some of the things I learnt on these tours”

- It is one of the most difficult languages to learn

- In 2002, there was a terrible flood that turned this city into a ghost town because most houses and shops were completely submerged in water.

- Albert Einstein lived in Prague for a year teaching at Charles Uni.

- Communism started in 1948 and ended in 1989.

- 1918, it became Czechoslovakia

- 1993, it became Czech Republic and Slovakia

- Jan Palach, a 21 y.o student burned himself alive to protest against communism and made himself a hero for eternity. His name lives on in a square dedicated to him.

- A giant metronome operates in place of a Stalin statue, which was taken down when the Czech people realized what a terrible person he was.

- The astronomical clock is an amazing piece of work

- How to tell which is the left/ right side of the river

- Czech girls are super hot! If I was into girls....

- If you want to be anyone of worth in the Czech Republic, change your name to Wenceslas, because all their heroes have this name.

- AND a whole lot more I can’t remember right now

That night, we heard a lot of amorous noises and squeaking beds in the next room, so even though we avoided all the porn on tv, we can’t get away from it anyway… well, for me it’s not too bad because I can sleep through anything.

I learnt from Marisa that lots of porn is made in Prague castles and old buildings here, so her theory is that those noisy people were making porn all night…. Alrighty….. I’m not sure how she knows that, but ok.

We went to the train station early because there is “no reservation” system for this train route, apparently you just turn up, hop on and take a seat, so if you miss the train, you just catch the next one (one every 2 hours), so we thought we’d go early so avoid the rush, and hopefully get a good seat. I wasn’t too sure about it because Germany managed to make it through to the finals of Euro 2008, so I had expected a lot of Germans wanting to make it back home to see the game…. I was a bit scared it was gonna turn out like the train ride from Nice to Milan.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t too bad at all. We had really good seats, and the train was comfortable and we didn’t have to fight with many people for seats.

In Paris, I saw people start drinking beer at around 10am… here in Prague, I saw people clinking bottles at 8am! But I guess, like our guide says, Czech’s don’t have a drinking problem, they just enjoy their beer. And good on them, I quite enjoy their beer too (*gasp* did I just admit that?!)

Nice Nice Nice and Milan

23 June, 2008 – Nice to Milan

I had a really late one the night before. As I mentioned in an earlier post (from weeks ago, sorry), our friend, ‘Fernando’ drove in from Barcelona on his way to Zurich while we were still in Nice and it’s not often you get to meet up with a friend from Melbourne in an exotic location like Nice, France so one must make the most of it…

So, for the few short hours he was there, we watched the quarter-finals between Spain and Italy. I was going for the hot Spanish boys really, but was made to side with Italy just because... Then after the game, Marisa and I played tour guide and showed him around Nice town, because having spent 3 days there, we were of course, almost locals.

Anyways, late night and I had to wake up early to pack my bags as we were heading to Milan that day. I wasn’t as prepared and ready as Marisa so I had to wake up extra early just to pack. I reckon I must’ve only had about 3 hours sleep max. Not to worry, I can always sleep on the train (hopefully).

This morning, it is goodbye France and HELLO ITALY!

Got to the train station really super early and it was chock-full of people, pushing and shoving themselves into my personal space – urgh – as Otis will say ‘GO – AWAY!’

We waited and waited and waited and waited for our train, then shoved our way onto the train and found that it was one of those old compartment one rather than one of them new ones like the one we took from Paris. That’s mark #1 against Italy.

Got to our compartment and there was this stupid selfish Italian woman who was hogging the luggage space for her husband/ boyfriend/ partner/ whatever. You should know that luggage space is a privilege on one these trains, especially if you have huge pieces like ours. We’ve heard stories where people have had to keep their luggage in the corridors of these trains…. And that’s what we didn’t want to do because we had a somewhat comfortable position in the compartment. Anyway, no luggage-space hogging lady! We have luggage too and it’s first-come first-serve dumb bitch! It’s hard enough to lift our 20kg suitcases that high to begin with, we don’t need the hassle or the fight to get a little bit of space.

That’s mark #2 against you Italy.

Luckily, another passenger in our compartment moved some of his stuff around and helped me lift my suitcase onto the racks above. Kind gentleman, thank you so much.

The horrid part is now we’re stuck listening to this stupid woman talk and talk and talk and talk for the entire journey. *sigh* it was an awkward uncomfortable journey for us. Marisa and me, versus 4 Italians. Luckily I have my MP3 player, so in goes the earpieces and up goes the volume to drown out her irritating voice. Peace at last.

The train leaves about 30mins late, mark #3 against Italy.

I didn’t have a great time in Rome last year so I didn’t expect Milan to be any better, that’s mark #4 for you.

The train has intermittent electricity and air-conditioning, so sometimes when we go through tunnels, it goes completely pitch black in the carriages and you can’t do anything, can’t read, can’t write and Lordy knows what happens if you happen to be in the toilet at the time.

Horrid train journey, we departed late and we arrived in Milan at 4.04pm, only about 74 minutes later than scheduled. That’s 1hr & 15mins late. Mark #5 for you.

The toilets on the train were disgusting, filthy, awful and nightmarishly indescribable (if I knew more words, I’d use them). That’s mark #6.

When we got off the train, it was hot and humid, but not a nice heat like in Nice, it was an awful uncomfortable heat. That’s mark #7.

Long walk from the metro station to where we’re staying, I reckon I got more tan in that walk than I did in 3 days in the sun in Nice. That’s mark #8.

The gypsies hassling us at the ticket machine, that’s mark #9. I reckon this is one of the worse things about traveling… the gypsies/ street people hassling us. And they’re worse in here Italy than anywhere else I’ve traveled to. Opportunists preying on tourists, even after telling them to piss off, they persist, the little buggers. The first few hours in Milan and I had the feeling that I was gonna hate every moment of it….

Now that the bad stuff is out of the way, onto the good things about Milan.

Marisa’s friend, Nanda, was very kind to let us stay with her in her very cute little apartment. We had the entire basement level to ourselves, and it was gorgeous and it was cool and it was spacious. Nanda had only moved into the place the week before so she was still just settling in when we crashed over. Thank you so much Nanda for having us!

Nanda lives in an apartment block right on a canal that has many shops during the day and the entire strip turns into a restaurant / market stall street during the night. So finding food, and good food was not a problem for us. That night, since Nanda was busy with work stuff, Marisa and I went out looking for somewhere nice and cheap for dinner. We went into a little bistro place and while Marisa decided on a pizza, I instead had some pasta because I saw the size of the pizza they served at this place. One word to describe them, ENORMOUS!

We had a great meal, Marisa felt full after about 2 slices, and still had more than ¾ of the pizza remaining before setting herself a challenge to finish the pizza before the woman sitting next to us. This woman also ordered a pizza, but started 10mins after Marisa and still managed to finish her pizza BEFORE Marisa! All the while, still holding a conversation… how do they do it? How do they eat so much, so quickly while talking???!?!!!???!!??!

Anyways, I don’t know if it was her paranoia, but Marisa reckons the waitress gave her dirty looks when she took away her half-finished pizza. But we sat there for awhile wondering how do we say “can I have that take-away?” considering they don’t speak English, but then again, we also didn’t know how to say “Can we have the bill, please?” but they knew what we wanted…. I guess we just needed to learn some more hand gestures.

24-25 June, 2008 – Milan

Marisa and I ventured out into the hot Milanese sun in search of some breakfast before attempting to explore this new city. First stop, Il Duomo, the Cathedral which is conveniently located next to a big shopping area.

Observation #1 – everywhere you look, it’s just clothes shops and a few expensive cafes. At this stage, we just want a simple baguette or a foccacia! Something cheap. Where are these all hidden?

After 2 hours and starting to get really frustrated (that’s what hunger does to you), we finally found a place just near a Ciao’s Restaurant. Now, I vaguely remembered that in Rome, in many places we had to pay for your meal and get a ticket before heading to the food counter. Best way to determine whether this was the case here was of course, to watch a few people do it first and we just follow.

I had a delicious Buffolino Burger, it was a thin foccacia with buffalo mozzarella, pancetta and rocket leaves and it was yum!

After that, we just wandered around the shops for a bit. There are a helluva lot of shops here.

Went to the Gucci café for a refreshing drink. Here, even the menu has a leather-bound Gucci branded cover, how posh!

Anyways, I really just wanted something refreshing because it was awfully hot. I had wanted something they called “Punch Rum” but the waitress lady said it may be too strong for me…. Ok then, so fruit juice it is!

I couldn’t read the Italian menu, and I didn’t know what juices they had so I asked for apple juice because it was bloody hot and I just needed some fresh and light and cold. Problem was, she brought me a pear juice (blech, urgh, vomit, yuck) I hate pears, any kind of pears, hate them. Yucky. See, it didn’t even look appetizing, it wasn’t juice, it was more like pulp and pulp is not refreshing and is definitely not juice. So I had it changed but what came out next looked just as bad, it was not the crisp, clear and refreshing apple juice that I had wanted but a pulpy and brown muck. It almost looked like vomit. Actually, I won’t sugar-coat it, it did look like vomit!

It was horrible and it cost me 10 euros, worst drink ever. I should've stuck to the Punch Rum, at least I would've been happy drunk.

It wasn’t until later that it dawned on me that Italians must not drink apple juice because I was at the supermarket and there were juices of all sorts except apple. How bizarre. Pear juice, however, can be found everywhere. Who the hell drinks pear juice?! Yuck.

After Gucci Café, we met up with Nanda and a couple of her friends and we all went shopping (what else do you do in Milan?). This place does funny things to you, I’m not much of a shopper but even I got caught up in the frenzy of Milan. I bought a nice little gift for my little brother because I realized that I have never really bought him anything nice on any of my trips, I always get lil Lulu lots of stuff but rarely anything for my one and only brother, but I made up this time, I’m good, I got him something really decent and nice.

After that, we made our way to San Siro, home ground of AC Milan (so I’ve been told) but by the time we got there the guided tours had finished so all we could do was take a few happy snaps outside those famous curvy roundy bendy column thingies.

Everybody was hot, tired and sticky from sweat. I think I may have even put on a bit of colour, my legs are looking just a tad less sickly white than they did before.

On our way home to meet up with a few more people for dinner, we passed by a PwC building… nice, but not as nice as the one I work in.

I wasn’t sure how many people was expected to come for dinner with us, but it sure surprised me, we were a rowdy group of 10 and when we get a bunch of Indonesians together, a lot of noise they do make! But it was a good pleasant change from the dinner for 2, yes, sometimes even a hermit creature like myself will crave a bit of social company.

Funny thing was, we were told we were going to this restaurant that specializes in horsemeat steak, and we should try it… umm… yeah, this was one of them, thanks but no thanks situations. This restaurant, funnily enough, was the same one we went to the night before! Same waitress served us too. How awkward. This time, Marisa learnt her lesson, no more humungous pizza for her, a nice sized pasta was all she wanted.

We were taken to a street party near an old church where apparently every night, people just congregate and drink on the street and socialize. So this proves that yes, it can work, people don’t cause fights and can be trusted to drink on the streets and have fun as well. Curfews don’t work. It just causes resentment and more trouble and frustrations.

This street party is an interesting concept, so kind of Nanda to take us out like this, despite having to work the next day. What a terrific host.

I’m finding that I’m enjoying Milan a whole lot more than I had expected to, despite the poor start, the heat and the poor experience I had in Rome. I hadn’t expected to like it because Italians are well-renowned for their extremely slow service and over dramatizing minor situations (sorry, dear Italian friends in Melbourne, you know I love you), I hadn’t expected to like it because there is honestly not a lot to actually see and do in Milan.

Our last night/ day in Milan was packed full of shopping. Shopping in Milan is surprisingly affordable, despite the brand names there. Marisa and I went our own separate ways and I actually got swept up in the euphoria of it all, I blame the heat. I bought quite a lot of stuff, including a few pairs of shoes, and I would’ve bought more if I didn’t have more sense. Shoes are gorgeous and cheap and most important of all, they have my size! Italy has shoes that fit me! I’m in shoe heaven! In hindsight, I probably should’ve bought some work shoes…… damnit!

I found a cute pair of casual shoes in my beloved Richmond colours, unfortunately, only in a size 36, still too big…. Bugger. Such a shame, they were prettiful shoes

After a long day of shopping, we met up with Nanda and went out to watch the semi-finals between Germany and Turkey at Duomo Piazza on the big screen. A few of Nanda’s friends joined us later in the night. There wasn’t as many people there as I had expected because Italy bowed out of the Eurocup a few days earlier and they’re just not that interested anymore. The piazza felt a little empty considering the size of the place.

There was a man who was trying to sell the most adorable little puppy, a brown cocker spaniel looking thing, just beautiful. I really really wanted to hold her for a bit but he approached a couple of ladies sitting next to us, perhaps because we looked like tourists and wouldn’t buy a puppy anyway. He managed to get them hooked, patting and hugging the puppy but I guess he may have pushed too far when he tried to sell them more and more ‘accessories’ and they just moved away from him. I feel sad for the puppy, she just wanted to sleep and this man wouldn’t let her rest. Poor thing.

After the game, we found a place in a part of town called “Birera” (I think?). Nanda told us that this was where the rich people go, where models and their kind hang out. So, we very un-model-like bunch rocked to this fancy area for a very late dinner. We had originally planned to have they the Italians call “Aperativo” where you order and buy drinks and they feed you for free. What an awesome idea! We should have that in Melbourne! When Marisa and I heard about this concept, this wonderful deal, we were…. Well, how should I put this….. completely up for it!

Unfortunately, by the time we got anywhere, it was kind of late and past Aperativo hour, so we just found a place that was still opened and had a super late dinner. A wonderfully scrumptious Risotto Milanese. Very delicious indeedy.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about my new shoes. I wore my new jelly shoes, which a super dooper comfy, but I had neglected to take into account sweaty feet in the hot weather, and sweaty feet make jelly shoes very slippery, especially so if your shoes are still just a tiny little bit too big (yep, 35 is still just a margin too big for me). So, here I am sliding around in my shoes and occasionally slipping out of one of them, but knowing me, I don’t like doing things by halves, when I do something, I like to do it well so when I slip out of my shoes, I don’t just slip out of one, I slip out of both shoes at the same time while crossing a busy road! I had to run back, pick up my shoes and run across the road barefoot and put my shoes back on. All in front of a huge crowd of people. How embarrassment.

The ''I'm lazy and don't have time'' excuse for not updating more blog posts

Sorry.....

I'm not as diligent as I was last time in updating this travel blog, mainly because I've found that I'd rather be doing something while I'm travelling rather than sitting in front of a computer.

Time is of the essence and I don't have much of it, plus, internet is troublesome to locate, time-consuming and expensive. BUT I promise I will post all when I get home, at least, will be uploading some photos cos people have been asking for photos.....

In the meantime, Marisa is a lot better at blogging so if you want to see what we've been upto, it's good to read her blog :) (see links at the side :)

I can tell you, I love love loved Prague! Wished I could've stayed a bit longer to explore it a bit more in detail.

I love love love Berlin, it's a beautiful city

After Berlin, I took a little detour to Belgrade while Marisa moved onto Amsterdam first.

I love love love Belgrade, such a beautiful city and the greatest thing about it now is that there are very little tourists there, so I felt pretty darn special. Again, more on this place next time.

Now, here I am in Amsterdam, only been here a day and a bit, and so far, finding it pretty nice but for the weather (it's been pouring, windy and cold today). Our hosts, Sidhi and Amie have been wonderful and so accommodating.

Ummm... yeah, all I can say now is, read Marisa's blog for the time being for further updates, I will be taking it easy and actually enjoy my short time here in Europe hehehehe, sorry Marisa!

Take it easy, I'll be back in a few days (hopefully)

Magical city of Prague

I'm in Prague and I love it here. Beautiful city, beautiful weather, beautiful people, beautiful food, cheap prices. Love it.

Even found a decent internet cafe for a change, and I was SO excited about finally uploading some pics to show you all, but wouldn't you know it, for once, I left my cable to the camera back at the hotel :( And these computers do not have a card reader..... oh well, guess it's just not meant to be. I reckon I'll have to do all these uploads when I get home. If I can be bothered by the time I get home.

Anyways, only a short post today, I have heaps to tell you about Milan and our stay in Prague, I love this city, wish I could stay just a little bit longer.....

Well, until another internet cafe somewhere some place, you be good now.

Follow those ORANGES!!

So, on Saturday we decided to train it down to Monaco for a day trip, it was hot and it was sunny and I was just very unprepared for it.... so after getting tired of squinting in all my photos, I just had to go buy one of them touristy caps just to keep the sun off my face. Plus, I was having a real bad hair day - urgh, of all the days to have a bad hair day! Monaco day trip should definitely not have been one of them.... I may have crossed paths with my potential future rich husband but he would've completely overlooked me because of my bad hair day.... So, I was looking rather unglamourous in this rather glamourous city, which is apparently full of wealthy people, lots of nice cars, and lots of nice yachts....

Anyway, the place is small, but beautiful, we pretty much just walked everywhere and it didn't take long and even in the sun it didn't feel very far and we didn't get tired from all the walking, it is very pretty place Monaco, I guess when you have so many rich people coming here, then it's easy to make things look good on the outside.

We walked up a hill just in time to see the changing of the guards at the Palace. That itself was kind of boring, all I saw was a whole lot of old people taking photos of a marching band, poor old people.... it was quite a lot of climbing up a rather steep hill to this palace. They probably had to take lots of photos just to make it all worthwhile :p

Sports mad Marisa was really excited about the race track that she recognised from watching motorsports, so we had to go to a few of the key spots along the Grand Prix track and of course, take the obligatory cheesy touristy snap at those locations. So, there was the 'Hairpin' and the 'Tunnel' and I would upload these pics to show you, but.... at this internet cafe, the computers are looking really dodgy, so I really don't want to bring my camera out to start uploading photos......

At this place, nice cars are aplenty, and they don't even turn heads anymore, if you really want to stand out, you have to have something different............................................

TADA!

How cute is this little hippy flower child car? And the man in a shirt standing next to it? Priceless! All that is missing is a hot hooker in the passenger seat.


Went up to the other side of the waterfront, to the Monte Carlo Casino, and yup, no surprises, luxury cars aplenty, heaps of them, it's almost like they cost nothing here....
Even the sales assistants look glamourous, the guy that served us at the souvenir shop is a spitting image of Alex Dimitriades, very handsome and very sexy with that French accent.

After that, we saw a huge commotion outside the Casino, and for that to happen you know it's gotta be good, perhaps someone famous? But no, we are not that lucky to spot a celebrity, it was an old lady driving a brand spanking new Lamborghini (spelling??). Thing was, she was having problems parking her car and needed a little assistance.... the sports car needed to be put pushed, yes, PUSHED into the car spot. So, either she is your stereotypical female driver and she cannot reverse park or it was a stupid car that cannot be put into reverse. I'll let you decide.

On our way back to Nice, we stopped by a little town by the name of Eze (we're still unsure of the exact pronounciation). This place apparently is famous for its ancient village, but when we got there, we found out that it was a 60 min walk up a mountain to get there, and we weren't sure which bus may or may not take us there, so... umm, thanks but no thanks. We're too buggered.

Instead, we headed towards Eze beach to wait for the next train to Nice.
Eze Beach, pebbly, quiet but still gorgeous. It's not nearly as crowded as Nice's beach, but it does the trick, here is where the families go, Nice is where people go to be seen. I think there will be lots of these kinds of beaches like Eze around. It would be great to be able to do a bit more exploring of this area, I really love it down here in the South of France. Despite the heat.

Had a quick Monoprix dinner (God bless Monoprix), relaxed a little before making our way to find a pub so we can watch the Quarter-Finals between Netherlands and Russia in a bit of atmosphere (that's the Euro Cup, soccer, for the uninitiated).

We hadn't expected so freaking many people out on a Saturday night, but what we hadn't realised was that France was celebrating some kind of national music festival, (Fete de la Musique) so every little corner of every little town had some sort of little concert for it's people, and Nice was no different. There were little bands playing at street corners, creating havoc and human traffic everywhere. It was getting more and more frustrating for us to get around and locate a decent looking place with a big tv for us to sit and enjoy the game. We were trying so hard to look for soccer mad fans wearing orange shirts, we need to follow the oranges! Where are all the oranges?! But we couldn't see any oranges, so we just had to find a pub....

AND, find one we did and you will never believe it, it was an Irish Pub! With tv's tuned to stations that had ENGLISH commentaries, how convenient was that! Oh it was a Godsend and it was fun.
We both had an enormous beer each, sat in a what was a quiet corner until all the Russian fans turned up... it was happily a Dutch supporting pub until the Russions turned up, but considering the Russians did win that match, I guess it wasn't too bad that it turned out that way. I'm not too sad that my Dutch boys lost, because I've come to expect that from them already....

After the game and the enormous beer we had, we both desperately needed to pee..... and pub toilets weren't that great, and public toilets are no better so we had to madly rush back, walking, no running of course, to our hotel just to pee.... heheh, what a fun night.

The next day, our last day in Nice, we just had a 'take it easy' day. Pretty much did nothing really.
Walked up to the Matisse Museum, came back down to town, went to the beach.

Matisse Museum was ok, it really doesn't compare at all to the wonderful Picasso Museum in Barcelona but the walk up to the suburbs of Nice was pleasant and made it worthwhile. A nice change from the craziness of last night. Nice town on a Sunday is very dead.

Considering that the Ironman competition is on today at the foreshore, I'm surprised not more shops are opened because there definitely is a lot of tourists around this weekend. It's too bad I had a massive headache marring my last day in Nice, I really like this place a lot. But you can't help getting sick.

A pleasant surprise happened on our last night in Nice, my good friend 'Fernando' managed to make his way to Nice from Barcelona while we were still in town, so of course we had to catch up. And even though we weren't able to contact him because he conveniently had no more credit left on his phone, and the Iron Man Competition still going, and lots of people and hellish traffic and no parking, he still managed to find us in the restaurant we were at, watching the other Quarter-Final match between Spain & Italy. You manage to amaze me everytime, Fernando, but it was great to see you again.

Late night, early start, must pack to move onto our next destination - MILAN!
Just gotta sleep it off on the train, let's hope it's a comfy one.......

The "I've lost track of time and day" post

Okie dokie, firstly, sorry about the long post... and again, lack of pictures, but lack of time and unreliable internet service has prevented me from updating these posts to their full potential. I promise, I'll try to upload some photos soon, cos we took some doozies. And thanks for all your comments and emails, knowing that there are at least 3 people who read this - well, it validates my life :) heheh ok, so that's a blatant lie, I'm just into using the word 'validate' at the moment... but it does make all these hours spent typing these long posts all worth it, that's for sure.

Now where are we? Where am I now?? It’s been a few days, and a lot has happened and it’s been an extremely fulfilling few days, this is what a holiday should really be like. It feels like I've been away for ages, and I'm not sure what day of the week it is anymore, my concept of time is based only on dates, no more hours nor days....

Mind you, after a very brief 2 day period where I was completely recovered from my lingering cough, I unfortunately, caught yet another cold and have since regained the cough I have been trying so hard to get rid of these last few months… oh well, C’est la vie….

So, PARIS on Wed, 18th June:

We 4 girls got up bright and early (as we do) to get ready for yet another big day out in this huge metropolis of Paris. Considering there are 4 girls using one bathroom, it’s a miracle that we are so consistent in how long we take to get ready, which is approx. 2 hours altogether, I really don’t think that’s too bad for us.

So anyways, first stop Wed, Montmartre Arts Market. A very interesting place indeed, many a famous artist had made some spare change and hung out in this area in the past, I didn’t visit this area last year with my sister, but I’m sure she would’ve loved it also. I really enjoy the Montmartre area, it’s small, cute, old and full of little tiny laneways waiting for me to discover. And even hiking up those many many steps doesn’t detract from this beautiful place, those tourist vultures who hang around the bottom of the Sacre Coeur are the only thing I don’t like about this area but that’s just a small blip on the radar.

We had lunch at a little pub in the Montmatre area, and had perhaps the best service we’ve encountered anywhere in Paris but the waiter may just be after our tourist tips, who knows. So service, in comparison to other Parisienne service we’ve had so far, was good, my Salade Nordique wasn’t bad either, although the pink spread on the bread was a little off-putting, so I didn’t eat that (I think it was some sort of caviar spread, blech)

Drinks are pricey here, 4 euros for a teensy little bottle of juice, so that’s like about AU$7.30 and I’m talking a very tiny drink, one that even children can drink in one mouthful. That’s just plain outrageous (yup, this is me, prone to exaggeration).

Next stop after lunch, one for the tennis fans, thanks to Marisa and Manda (Tennis Nuts) we made our way to Roland Garros to see the famous clay courts… I had my reservations but I must admit, it actually turned out quite interesting and very fun.

We took a guided tour behind the scenes and learnt a little about the history of this tennis centre and stadium. Our guide, Agnes, bless her, was fun, funny, knowledgeable and made the tour worth every euro that we paid. Must remember to write a complimentary note to her boss because you don’t get service like that everyday in Paris. And, yes I know, I’m sounding like a broken record now and I’m not sure how many times I’ve complained about service in Paris, but when it’s good, it’s gotta be recorded! Marisa went into a lot of detail about what we got upto there, basically, we saw where the reporters and journalists sit, we saw the main court which was being set up for some sort of concert that night so we saw rehearsals, that was good. We saw where the boxes for VIPs and families sit, we got to go into the locker rooms, we got to be tennis players for a few minutes each and give interviews in the interview room (yes, there is photographic proof!). Very enjoyable indeedy.

Then, shopping at Galleries Lafayette. However, before we get there, let me tell you about this fine specimen of a man I saw on the metro. Tall, dark haired, beautiful eyes, and a sharp suit, and he sat right opposite me, nice nice nice! I smiled, he smiled, and I looked away embarrassed.... and he looked away, oh well. It was good while it lasted, I'll always remember the 3 seconds we had together Phillipe du Roule :)

I won’t go into too much detail about the shopping, shopping is boring for me, I like buying things but only if I know I need it and I can afford it. This place, is a little like Myer mixed with David Jones but classier than both. Some stuff was really affordable and reasonably priced, but others were priced outrageously. I saw a pair of earrings at over 6,000 euros, I mean, come on! Who buys these things??? And when am I gonna meet someone who can afford to buy 6000 euro earrings for me? I have my ears already pierced and waiting : )
But, I am a simple girl with simple tastes, all I wanted was this beautiful watch worth not even a mere AU$1,000, I beg and I beg and nobody will buy this for me : (

Perhaps next time I visit La Tour Eiffel, I will finally have a somebody to be with, and this somebody will present to me a wonderful expensive gift, a la the 11y.o. girl I saw last week (15 quid is a lot of money for an 11 y.o. boy from Birminghamshire, or where ever those pommy kids were from) - not that I'm blatantly dropping hints, but if you know my Mr. Right, please let him know where I am (ahem, Milan for the next few days, then Prague, okies?)

Anyways, getting back to business…

After the little shopping spree, we decided to see Paris from a different angle, and so trudged off to find a Batobus to take us on a cruise up and down the Seine to see some of the main sights. It still strikes me that so many people use the Seine so practically and all the time. You will never see this in Melbourne, not in the near future anyway.

All along the Seine, it’s a gathering place, a place that people of all ages and cultures go to socialize. And it’s not just one or a few particular sections either, it’s all along the entire length, up and down the Seine, on both sides of the river.

You will find lonesome figures, just after a quiet place to themselves, or contemplating life, you will find couples or people on their first dates, you will find groups of friends, or co-workers having lunch, or celebrating some special occasion or just hanging out. You will also find families enjoying some time together and buddies out for a drink, you will find old people holding hands, or young people dancing or vice-versa, it’s fantastic. I love that about this city.

Last full day in Paris – Thursday, 19th June – Designated shopping day.

Not much more needs to said really….

I’m not feeling all that magnificent today, I think it was the beginning of the cold that I caught from somewhere…. I just wasn’t all that together or up for anything else, plus the weather kind of sucked, otherwise I probably would’ve gone off exploring on my own for a bit, I’d like to get to know the Latin Quarter and the Marais a bit better…. But there’s always next time: )

By night time, we all chipped in and prepared dinner and cleaned the apartment ready for departure on Friday morning. It was gonna be an early start, Marisa and I had to catch a train at 8am, so to avoid the peak hour commute on the metro we thought we had better leave very early.

Bye bye Paris 20th June

8am Paris time: we are boarding a train that will take us to Nice. Eating a pain au chocolat for breakfast and absorbing the last smell of the Paris before leaving.

Meanwhile, 4pm Melbourne time, most of you are stuck at work.

10am France time: we are sitting on a comfy train, in the middle of France somewhere, awestruck by the beautiful scenery that we are winding through.

6pm Melbourne time: perhaps you are stuck in traffic? Perhaps preparing dinner or waiting for dinner to be ready?

1pm, France time – we reach Cannes, the scenery is beautiful. The weather is gorgeous, clear skies, warm, perfect.

9pm, Melbourne time – you are probably at the footy or at home watching tv or maybe for those with a more active social life, out at some trendy bar just to be seen, but Marisa and I are in Cannes! So we win.

By the time we get to Nice, we are inundated with choices of what to eat and that’s just stepping outside of the station, we haven’t even got our bearings yet. There are so many different cafes, restaurants and fast food outlets to choose from, this place is great! Of course, that’s the first thing I would notice, where all the food places are in relation to where we’re staying : )

The weather is quite a contrast to Paris, It’s so hot and balmy. I immediately had to start stripping on the street to cool down. It’s sunny and bright, and I think it was 32 degrees when we arrived. Paris was a very Melbourne-like 20 degrees, which really suited me more I think. I get grumpy in the heat.

Our hotel is small but quaint and does the trick. It’s very central and in the new part of Nice, so not really that much charm but conveniently close to the station.

Marisa and I wandered around on foot to the beach and fell instantly in love with it, all bumpy pebbles and all. The water is so blue and looks so clean that it makes you want to jump right on in and swim. But I am too shy…. For now….

Already, there’s a noticeable difference in service-quality (I think I’m beginning to sound like a service Nazi or Service cop or Service critic….whichever suits best)
From memory I think I’ve only received poor service once, and that was at Monoprix (a huge supermarket that sells absolutely everything). The check-out-chick, which I shall call, Shazza, like any other c-o-c, obviously loves her job, decided to snatch money right from my hand!

This was the situation:
Total cost of my purchase – 8.01 euros
I gave her a 50 euro note (so I can have change) and as I opened up my coin pouch to get the 1 cent piece, she saw I had a 10 euro note, which happens to be my last small note, thus the need for change. Shazza, decided it would be ok to take this 10 euro note straight from me because you know, we are the bestest of buddies considering I met her only 10 seconds beforehand.

Ummm….. ahem, no Missy, I want to use my 50 euro note, which is why I gave it to you, merci beaucoup. So, relunctantly, she took my 50 and gave me four 10 euro notes in return, plus coins, and counted and counted and counted it over and over again. But, just to make sure she didn’t miscount four 10 euro notes, because counting to 4 may be too difficult for Shazza, she flicked the money a few times, counted it yet again, and then slowly gave me the money. I received the money in my hand when she decided to snatch it right out of my hand and again began counting it – gees! Talk about rudeness and OCD. This was way up there, she either loves counting money, or just loves snatching money out of people’s hands.

Otherwise, all other people were great, info lady was ok, train tix man was ok, hotel staff are good, postcard seller was very nice, love them all.

That first night, we went down to Vieux Nice (Old Nice) for dinner, it was cheap and atmospheric, and we avoided the touristy traps, our salad was good, the local specialty, Socca (some kind of chickpea pancake) was different, but ok, nothing too special to write about. Afterwards, we couldn’t resist having a gelato for sweets.

This Monoprix though, despite the poor service I had originally, has become my new favourite store here, they sell absolutely everything! You name it, they sell it. It’s awesome.

Oh, before I forget, I should write about the hot waiter who I thought was checking out Marisa, but Marisa reckons he was checking me out… but then again, perhaps he wasn’t checking out either of us and it was somebody else he was looking at altogether, hehe

But, there was no mistaking the ambulance driver who was on his way to an emergency, sirens blaring, who decided to slow down and smile at us. How funny, nevermind whoever is dying and waiting for your medical expertise, cute girls up ahead, must wave and smile….. great start to our few short days in Nice : )

Versailles - a lovely outing

I was really excited about going to Versailles because it was a lovely day and it would be beautiful to visit a beautiful palace and famous gardens in this weather. I didn't have time to visit Versailles last time so this was perfect.

But first up, I want to make a public apology.

I want to apologize for being such an inconvenience, all I wanted to do was ask a few stupid dumb touristy questions, for afterall, I am but a dumb stupid tourist. I may have also, perhaps, wanted to buy something, and give you money for it, because I thought that's how you make your living, but I'm sorry that I'm such a waste of your time, I'm sure you have better things to do than work and serve people, because silly me, I thought that's what customer service staff do. I thought that by giving you my time, it would validate your life somehow, but apparently not. And for that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you're in a job that you obviously don't enjoy, and in a country that tolerates such poor behaviour, and I'm sorry that I have the freedom and money to go exploring your wonderful country whereas you are stuck in your dead end job serving me, a happy visitor to your country.
Thanks for making me feel welcome Ticket peoples, Info Desk peoples, Waiters, shop assistants.
Now that that's outta the way.

Versailles.

Grand, Beautiful. Opulent. Amazing.

The palace, good but a little on the boring side. Kind of felt a bit like going to the Vatican - you go here, here, here and then here, and then you go outside and please leave your audio guide at the door. Thank you and visit us again. No flexibility to explore it on our own. Too many people squeezed into the rooms. Most of the palace was closed to the public for restoration work (although I know that was just bad timing for us)

But I will say, if I come back to France, or Paris, I will definitely go back to Versailles because the gardens are just awesome. We had a super quick tour and didn't get to go everywhere. The gardens are free to enter, so I'm definitely coming back.

You can explore the gardens by foot, or by bike, you can go rowing, you can picnic, you can jog, but the best way to explore the gardens? Rent a buggy like we did. So much fun. I was a driver! ME! The one who loathes driving, ME! The bad driver, and not afraid to admit it. It was fun though, I felt like royalty driving through the crowds. We had wheels while the common people only had foot power, so here I am, waving to them like a Queen, buggy swerving dangerously as I wave :)

But what can I say, I can now truthfully tell people, yeah, I drove in France, and I didn't run anybody over (although, some of them kids were really asking for it....)

Great fun, but perhaps no where near as much fun as hiring a Segway.... and if you don't know what it is, JFGI - just f!@#! google it as Kent would say.

Perfect weather for a nice day out.

Sore tired feet, and a little bruised behind

Oh boy did I have some things to write about, but I don't really have time and I can't really be bothered, but my feet are killing me, we start out at around 10am each morning and we don't get back to the apartment until around 9-10pm so we make the most of the daylight hours here.



It doesn't really get dark until about 10:30pm here. It feels so weird to still be so bright at 9:30 at night, I don't really feel hungry because my body is telling me it's too early to eat....



And it makes it worse that we walk everywhere, and use up so much energy, not eating really doesn't replenish our energies.



There are so many stairs to walk up and then walk down, there are so many bridges to walk over, there are so many doors to walk through, there are so many metros to run after, so many cars and bikes to avoid, if I don't have buns of steel by the end of this holiday, I'd be really disappointed.



Things I'd like to remember:



- Making our way to the apartment at 10pm at night, and trying to lift our somewhat heavy luggage down some steep stairs to the metro station, one kind lady decided to help me lift mine down the stairs for me. My luggage was perhaps the lightest and smallest compared to the other 3 girls, but I was the one that got assistance, I feel special :)



That happened to me last time I was here as well. I must look really weak... oh well, whatever gets me sympathy assistance :)



- We all got a 5 day metro pass to use, but mine decided to stop working earlier than the others, so I kept getting stuck behind the gates :(

The last time, this kind old man, one who looks remarkably like Morgan Freeman from his Shawshank Redemption days, offered me to take me through with him, so I took his arm and we squeezed through the gates together. All he wanted in return was a peck on the cheek, what a life saver (I'm easily impressed).



On our second day here, we went to Montmatre and Sacre Coeur (made famous in the movie, Amelie). It was a lovely Sunday, and probably good and bad for us because it was Sunday. There were a whole lot more people than the last time I was here, but that was Winter, and I'm quite sure wasn't a Sunday either.



I forgot that there would be Sunday Mass at Sacre Coeur, but this magnificent lady is still jawdroppingly beautiful, even with the mass of people there. If I was a worshipper, I don't think I'd like to go to mass with so many dumbass tourists around making noises and taking photos, even though you're not supposed to. It's a place of respect but some people just don't understand that.



Those nasty looking African slave kidnappers were still there scaring tourists, but this time I don't have my street smart lil sister here to protect me, I had to look out for myself. I'm smarter this time, a firm NON! seemed to do the trick and I walk on by assertively and keep my arms to myself and not flaying about like a tourist. I did feel about safer this time round though cos there were thousands more other people around so I knew they really couldn't do anything to us because there were other people to harrass.

That's the only thing that really mars the beauty of the Sacre Coeur, otherwise I do like it without the people and tourists, it almost feels like I own the place.

The headed off to the other lady, La Tour Eiffel.
What can I say.... OMG! There are SOO SOOO SOOOOO many people there. I hate crowds, I hate queueing, I hate waiting, I hate stupid tourists, and I hate crowds. Oh, did I mention I hate crowds??? Last time I had the entire floor to myself. It was awesome.

This time I had to share (I don't like sharing either) with a billion other people, and unfortunately, none that I care too much about. I found myself a quiet place to myself, contemplating why I was here alone - again, when I was rudely disturbed by 2 young girls, no more than 11 or 12 years old.... this is their story:

Girl 1: my boyfriend wants to buy me a present, it's gonna cost 15 quid, what should I do?

Girl 2: really? well, just say yes!

Boyfriend: Now, would you like chocolates or (something something, it was mumbled....boys...)

Girl 1: ummm.....

Girl 2: (*whispers to Girl 1*) chocolates, choose the chocolates

Girl 1: Chocolates

Boyfriend: ok, wait here for me

Me: *sigh* (*walks away from this depressing scene*)

An 11 y.o. girl was there at the Eiffel Tower with her boyfriend who got her chocolates...... that never happened when I was 11, and probably won't happen to me anytime soon :(

A.n.y.w.a.y.s, onto the next day.

The next day, we headed to the Louvre. If I haven't mentioned it to you before, I will mention it again here, the Louvre is one of my most favourite places in Paris. I love it there.

Once again, crowds of people absolutely everywhere. I'm really no good in crowds, I used to always have someone I can grab onto to but here, that may be just a little too weird for the person standing next to me... why is strange lady holding onto my hand????

Anyways, I couldn't breathe with all the people around me, so I had to make my way quickly to some other place with less people, and from previous experience, First floor, Denon Wing will always be crowded because of the Lady with the mysterious smile. She's the one that attracts the most attention and as I've said previously, Mona Lisa = Over-Rated. There are many more paintings far more beautiful and far more deserving of attention than that living at the Louvre (lucky paintings!).

so I left the other 3 girls behind and went exploring on my own for a few hours.
I love this place so much. I went straight to see my favourite painting, a gorgeous Charles Le Brun piece, and I discovered that Charles Le Brun was King Louis XIV's (I think) favourite painter, I can see why :)

For someone who doesn't like crowds, I do enjoy watching people though.
I walked into this room and there was one lone priest reading from the bible in front of a picture of Mary, (La Pentecote - Restout) it was a peaceful sight. And a refreshing change from the noisy tourists. I watched him for about 10 mins before deciding I had to take a picture of it, and just as I did, a stupid (American) tourist walks into the room and right into my shot! Dumbass!!

Then, walking through an exhibit about Napoleon's house, there was a really cute old man staring at some metal coins or badges or something. I watched him for about 10 mins also, and he didn't move a muscle, he even brought in his own stool so he could sit at this cabinet and stare at these coins..... so I decided to take a picture, and just as I was about to, he moved!

Luckily, I have lightening fast reactions, and pretended to take a photo of something else in the room..... and quickly snapped him when he settled into a different position. What a funny man. I'll try and upload some pics of this another time.

Before I knew it, I had spent 4 hours exploring this place on my own, and had even forgotten to eat.

I will tell you about the rude French waiter we had on the Champs Elysees, but that's just to be expected from French service.... but dumbass waiter that he was, he forgot to charge us for the crepes that Marisa and I had ordered, so that saved us 13 euros, so I ain't complaining.

Things I forgot in Seoul

It's been a few days... almost a week and even though this apartment includes free internet and a computer for us to use, we've just been too knackered to update (well, Marisa has, but I'm just slack :)



So here's some things I forgot about Seoul:



When we found the 24 hour snack bar, which happens to be RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the hotel we were staying at, the people there didn't really speak english and couldn't understand what we were trying to order (and we were trying to avoid ordering anything that involved 'head of beef' or whatever it was....)



I think the lady there was used to tourists not speaking Korean, I mean, afterall, it's not an easy language to learn.... and because the only menu was stuck high on the wall, she immediately gave us a long stick to point to whatever it was that we wanted.



What a fun and unusual concept! We couldn't stop giggling to ourselves, I think we should do that in Melbourne, have pointing menus, it's so much fun! We are silly girls, but we have fun.



The flight to Paris was not too bad, didn't feel as long as it was, 11 hours, but perhaps it was because we discovered we could play eachother with the games on the plane. Those games are so much more fun when you're playing somebody else. I gotsta get me one of them Yatzee (can't remember how to spell it) games.



so anyways, I was gonna upload some pics for you, just to make you jealous, but for some reason I can't upload anything to here or Facebook... oh well, next time perhaps

Seoul Food

Well, after waking up bright and early yesterday (5.30am¦) Marisa and I had a rather uneventful flight to Seoul.

Just as we are about to depart this city, we are making the most of the free internet to blog about this.... (btw, forgive me for anzy typos or nonsense because this keyboard is very weird, the keys are not in the place that it says on the keypad¦)

However, I think I will just dot point it....

Flight was alright, 10 hours, but did not really feel like it.
Service on Korean Air was ok
Food was quite good. Probably the best that I have tried on any airline
Got a bit confused coming out of the airport, and I think Korean Air could have handled us better, but hey, overall, its not really a complaint.
Hotel was ok, was not the Hyatt as we were told, poop
My sim card doesnt work here, this country is way too modern for my backwards of a phone
Free dinner was awful. No sorry, let me put that another way, it was a bloody let'down and certainly was not fulfilling nor satisfzyzing. Worse than all microwave meals and came out cold.

So Marisa and I went out venturing around the hotel, and after much deliberating and wondering what was on the menu and how much it was gonna cost us, we withdrew some money and had a wonderful meal at what I think is called the 24 hour Snack Bar¦

Satisfying, yes.

Met 2 really nice fellow Aussies, also travelling on Korean Air and had a beer with them as well as sharing some funny stories about the bad hotel food, the enormous yet outrageously cheap beer, gangs of nannas, nana cops, fried pizzas, and so it goes on. Thanks Chris and Nicole. And good luck to you both on your travels.

Free breakfast was far far better than the dinner we had last night at the hotel. Buffet hot breakfast (and I use the term hot very lightly here, it was more luke warm, but hey, it was free and it was filling)

We are about an hour away from boarding our flight to Paris to start the adventure, and so far, so good.

Sorry about the short blog, just thought I°d start things off so all you jealous people back in Melbourne can know what us 2 chicky babes are upto right now.

For now,
be good and we promise to be too

Welcome to the new M&M Show - The First Tour

Well, Marisa and I are about to embark on our first overseas trip together in FIVE days....

It's back to Europe for me, we'll be heading to Seoul, Paris, Versailles, Blois, Nice (and the French Riviera), Milan, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and very likely Switzerland as well (if I can get my act together...)

I'm christening this trip the new 'M & M Show - the First Tour' - apparently, as the saying goes, what goes on tour, stays on tour... however, considering that I am keeping a blog, I may be kind enough to let loose some juicy bits, if there are any juicy bits to let loose, if I'm allowed to reveal any juicy bits, assuming I remember any juicy bits ;)

It's the First Tour, because, well just imagine it, poor Marisa... sleeping with me, eating with me, walking around with me most likely getting hopelessly lost, listening to me whinge about the cold, the heat, the accommodation, the airport, the waiting around, the rude Europeans... how will she cope?

BUT, I suppose there'll be lots of laughs and giggles and a leeetle beeet of booze to go with all that, so it shouldn't be too bad, eh?

Lazy bum that I am, I can't be bothered setting up another blog, so I'm continuing on from the last one... changing it around slightly... afterall, it is still just as relevant now as it was last year for how can one not have blistered feet or be buttsore after what we have planned ahead - if you could only see our itinerary! Lots of trains, planes and automobiles (and I'm sure, quite a few internet cafes as well). We haven't planned lots of activities, but boy is there a helluva lot of travelling involved.

It's gonna be interesting, it's gonna be fun, it's gonna be exciting, it's gonna be stressful and exhausting but most of all, it's gonna be the magnificent break that we both need right now (mostly me, I desperately need a break from Melbourne).

And judging by the quality of my writing right now, I apologize in advance - there'll be loads of me rambling on lots :Þ

So, until we leave, let the countdown begin!

This is the end - for now

Just in case you haven't noticed... but I've kind of lost interest in this blog now.

I was going to write a little bit more about our time in Barcelona (my favourite city) and also our short stay in Belgium however, after getting back to work and doing lots of useless stuff again, I've lost all inspiration and can't really get back into the mood of thinking about our wonderful trip, partly because I miss it so much and it just hurts too much to think that I am actually back here at work and not trudging around whinging about heavy luggages and stupid airports and smelly Europeans.....*sigh* I miss it so much.

This is the end of the journey for Buttsore & Blistered Feet for now, although that's not to say that I will stop talking about it - hell, I'm still telling people about Malaysia and that was over 2 years ago!

Of course.... there are always our other respective blogs you can go back to, but it just ain't as exciting ya know :)

The adventures of Unlucky Lulu

Now, those who know my sister, Lucia, will know that she is a good person. She is nice, she is funny, she is smart, a genuinely good person. You will have great difficulty finding a better person than my little sister. And if I must admit it to the general public, she is by far a much better person than I am.

So why oh why do unfortunate things happen to her? Here are some of the ones we remember...

1. On the same day, two separate metro tickets in Paris refused to work for her, trapping her on the other side of the gates. One of them decided to work 10 minutes later when we tried it again - AFTER - we had tried to get it fixed at the service desk but the lady just told her it was bad luck, she can't help us and cannot offer a refund - stuffy French people
2. She dropped our room key down the drain on the first night in Rome so had to frantically run to reception in her PJs and thongs to get help, all the while, I was sleepily minding the bathroom making sure nobody used the bathroom while Lu was gone (this one place we had a shared bathroom).
3. Tried for hours to find a post office in Rome, even though the map indicated that there was definitely near our hotel. We circled and circled and circled but could not find one... until the very last day - AFTER - we had sent all our postcards buying stamps from the local tobacconist.
4. Getting miserably sick the day after heavy rain in Rome ruined our Australia Day. The day she got sick was also the day that Rome decided to provide the best weather for us, sunny and warm.
5. Queueing up at the check-in counter, quite pleased that we were 3rd in line, only to find that we were stuck behind the world's slowest check-in lady. The guy next to us must've gone through at least 5-6 passengers for every 1 passenger this lady did. Somehow, we ended up being the last to be checked in... how the hell did that happen?!
6. Train from Lyon to Paris - of all the many carriages of this train, ours had to be the one with the faulty door, that meant we had to drag our heavy luggage to the next carriage, drag it back into the correct carriage, put it into the luggage space and then do it all over again when we got off the train. So much trouble!
7. Somehow, Lulu always managed to get the cold showers, whether or not she went to have a shower first or last. At first she blamed me for using all the hot water... that could happen, I've been known to have long long hot showers, however, that theory doesn't hold when she had the shower first. Strangely though, when she used the bathroom first and got a cold shower, I somehow managed to get the nice warm showers.... don't ask me how or why.
8. She got these filthy mouldy sheets and bedspread in Barcelona - and that was the good hotel that we stayed at!
9. The maid left the hotel information booklet in her bed by mistake....
10. In Bangkok, her bed was missing a castor so was lopsided when she slept in it.
11. In Sukhothai, she had a severe allergic reaction to the sunscreen we used and a really really bad rash developed all over her pretty little face. Add to that, the dust and pollution didn't help with her hayfever, so she had a sore swollen face and sore red raw nose, Lulu wasn't having a good few days in Thailand!
    
12. In Sukhothai, her bed was right under the window so all the light, mozzies and bad karaoke was right above her head, made it difficult to sleep and get up bright and early.
13. In Paris, our double room had really mis-sized beds... mine happened to be a nice big double bed while hers was a teensy little single bed (Seriously, I didn't pick the big bed on purpose, I didn't even notice until day 2 that my bed was loads bigger than hers :)
14. Her suitcase.... that old piece of crap.... it was enormous, it was hard to drag around, it was heavy, it was falling apart piece by piece and it was BRAND NEW (almost). The final hammer in the coffin was when 2 of the wheels decided to fall off when we landed in Brussels. Oh ha ha ha, it was so funny - not. We were not looking forward to dragging that piece of crap around the Brussels metro system.
15. A glass jar in her suitcase had cracked and broken and left dangerous pieces of glass in her luggage.
    
16. When we got to Brussels, all the needles in her bag had fallen out and worked their way into all the pieces of her clothing. Lulu was convinced that somebody is trying to kill her.
17. Losing our very last 10 euros at Amsterdam airport, 1 hour before we flew out of Europe.

Hmm... that's all that I can remember... there probably were a few more minor incidences that we didn't take much notice of, but the saga of Unlucky Lulu will continue...