Aussie Meets Alps

Buses this time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:05:00 +0000

The trip on the bus was a day in itself so in my mind it constitutes its own little section.

After being an hour late in starting, probably caused by the fact that it was pissing down with rain all afternoon, the bus got underway and was a long trip. I got literally the last seat on the bus but was fortunate in the fact that it was against the window which meant leaning over to get some sleep was that little bit easier – sleeping on buses is something I am proud to say is becoming much easier than it used to be all that time ago when I started. Sleeping on and off for a few hours saw the time fly by and before I knew it we were at the border between Hungary and Ukraine

(Not “the Ukraine” – it pisses off the locals).

This was probably one of the worst things about my fucking long 22 hour bus ride into Ukraine. We, the bus and everyone on it, were stuck waiting at the border for an eternity – 3-4 hours is the guess that I would make for them to check all of the passports/visas etc. I have to say that having the British passport in this situation was an understated bonus. If I was on the Aussie passport I would have needed a visa to get in but with the EU passport it wasn’t needed and I unlike at least 4 other people on our bus, got through the border with no problems at all.
Had to give a slight snicker at the people who got turned away at 5 in the morning in the middle of nowhere on the border, but it freed up enough seats for the woman next to me to move so I could have the pair of seats to myself and that made getting some sleep so much easier.

The wonder of Ukrainian roads is something to marvel at.... or not.

They made getting sleep while we were on the move a challenge to say it lightly.
The entire day was a combination of broken sleep and looking at the very poor rural areas that we were passing through.

Ended up getting to Kiev around 7 pm and then got a taxi to the hostel.

I was in Kiev, Ukraine after all this time.

And to think, I had no intention of going even as east as Krakow, Poland when I started all of this travel.

Down the Rabbit Hole and off to Carpe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:44:00 +0000

Budapest, Budapest, Budapest.... where to even start with Budapest and the people that were there.

This city was by far some of the most fun I have had in all of my travels. The hostel while giving you the opportunity to go and sightsee and play tourist is not geared towards that type of traveller in any way shape or form.

Carpe Noctem (seize the night) is a party hostel and the people working and living there make it some of the most fun you will have in Europe provided that you are willing to be open and join in on all of the fun. Every night has a destination and usually a good drinks deal.

My first day there I had only had a bed for about 30 minutes when I was invited out in passing to Mongolian BBQ, which was 4000 florins and included unlimited food, beer and wine. The guys I went with turned out to be staff for the most part and this led to some great impressions of them as I learnt the wonderful back stories of a few of them. The day progressed quickly and then before I knew it tequila had been ordered, much to Suzi’s dismay. The three guys who were hitting it hard got some shit for their antics to put it lightly, in the end one of them even lost the battle with his stomach at the table and resulted in me making a hasty retreat while it was dealt with – not my problem is the phrase that came to mind.

That night was, like all at Carpe, one for going out, the exact specific destinations on that night eluding me at this point but there was drinking and more than one bar that we went to over the course of the night.

The drinking specifics is something that will come in a later post, after I grab the schedule from Carpe’s site.

More importantly is the fact that some sightseeing was enjoyed. On one day I went with three other people to the House of Terror/Horror which is based in the old headquarters of first the Nazi secret police and then the Soviet secret police. It was an experience to say the least, I had no real idea about the role that Hungary had played in the second world war, other than the fact I knew they were in it, and then the information about what the Soviets had done in their time in the country was a bit of a shock.

I recommend to anyone who heads to Budapest to go there, but at the same time make sure you have something to do afterwards that is a bit more uplifting as the museum in the end is depressing in the reality that it portrays.

After the museum I headed with one of the other guys to Hero Square which is one of the quintessential things that most people see in Budapest and it is on almost all of the post cards that you will get. It was nice and made, like so many sights in Budapest, for some nice pictures. We then wandered around for almost 3 hours in Budapest and took in the main tourist street, one that we were warned not to go near at night, and also the market hall and one of the main bridges in town which gave some nice views across the city.

The other main chunk of sight seeing that I did, embarrassingly, was not done until the day I was leaving, very hung over from the Shit Pub Pub-crawl, to be explained another time, I wandered quite some distance in a random direction and ended up at some of the sights I had not managed to get to the time before and even with the mediocre weather that day it made for some nice pictures and being able to get to almost all of the sights on the Pest side of Budapest.

This leaves the other city, with respect to my experience, unexplored and will probably prove to be the excuse for me going back there at some point for another drunken week of Carpe madness.

The time I was going to be spending in Budapest was only 4 nights, this number quickly changed once I checked the time tables for the buses and discovered that the bus to Kiev that ran on Fridays no longer existed – I had to stay till I got the bus on Monday night. This meant a weekend in Budapest which in the end was the best way to have it and it was just as fun as I expected it to be but once it was over the bus on Monday to Kiev was looming and it was not something I was going to miss.

After a goodbye that was almost on par with when I left Australia from the people at Carpe I went to the bus station and wait is something that I certainly did. The bus was scheduled to arrive in Budapest at 9 pm. Waiting there early as always 9 pm came and went, and with no bus in sight, concerned to say the least I waited, and waited and then over an hour late the bus arrived much to my relief. I go the last free seat on the bus and then we were away.

Trains, I tried but no

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:41:00 +0000

The transit to Budapest was an…. Interesting day.
I had every intention of getting my first train since I had left Austria.
This didn’t happen.
I had packed my stuff and left for the train station with about 45 minutes of buffer time, lots or so I thought. Heading down the pedestrian zone to a spot where I had seen lots of taxis before I was greeted with a grand total of NONE. Unperturbed I continued walking on as there was a shopping centre in the distance and where in the world is there a shopping complex that doesn’t have a taxi rank somewhere on its periphery – I was wrong, apparently Banska Bystrica is a place where this concept is completely abstract. So I walked some more and then some more and then back tracked to the spot where there was meant to be taxis initially and this time there wasn’t just one, there were two.
By this point there was no point trying for the train connection that I wanted, bus station.
Got to the bus station, waited almost 40 minutes and then got a bus back to Bratislava.
Once in Bratislava I was presented with the idea that there are only three buses a day from there to Budapest, so I had two hours to kill. That too passed soon enough with the help of a book and some food.
The one thing that was a great surprise was that when I got on to the bus to Budapest, it cost me a grant total of €2 for my ticket, and €1 for my bag. Getting into Bratislava from Banska had cost me almost €10 so it was a pleasant shock to say the least. Had an uneventful bus ride and then got into Budapest at around 9.30 and made my way to the go between hostel I had booked – Carpe Noctem was booked out for that night.
Got in slept got up early and bailed out ASAP to the other hostel where I was greeted with a coffee and one of the most laid back atmospheres I had ever seen in a hostel.

Ba Ba Banska Bystrica

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:38:00 +0000

Banska Bystrica was a small place to say the least, small but good.
After spending about 4 hours on the bus to get there and then a fucking long time attempting to find the hostel and make my way in, the office was closed on weekends so it was a 40 minute wait for me till I could get in, I finally got myself into a bed and was able to relax a bit.
The relaxing is something that I most definitely needed, in Bratislava I had managed to get a bitch of a cold and it was holding on for dear life.
Both nights in Banska were early ones with me in bed ridiculously early and sleeping for in excess of 12 hours both nights, but even with that I did manage to get some random sightseeing in and wandered around town aimlessly for a bit, at one point stumbling into a spot with some WWII vehicles and then the uprising museum which I had no clue was there till it was found. It was a nice town, a small one but a nice one.

One of the amusing highlights for me was the search on the Sunday for both wireless and a supermarket. I seriously wandered around town searching for unsecured wireless for almost an hour before I found some, and in the process I found the only open supermarket in town and spoilt myself to some rather unhealthy food and a giant thing of Multi V juice, which did not make it back to the hostel as the 2 litres barely even lasted the time I was leaching internet in the town square. The internet I finally managed to find was reasonable on speed and the place I set myself up was café that wasn’t quite open yet so I had a comfy chair and a table to work on and all, pretty good.
Plotting my move I knew where I was headed, Budapest and the Carpe Noctem Hostel, confirming my booking I searched my bus/train connection and got myself ready to move for the next day.

Bratislava, cheap but not cheap enough

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:05:00 +0000

The fair city of Bratislava is nothing like the wonderful image created by Eurotrip, the main point of contention being that they had changed over to the Euro on the first of January this year and while things were still cheap they were not as cheap as they could have been.
The hostel there in Bratislava was a good find, cool atmosphere and good to chill out in for a bit, the only problem I had was finding it initially as the street it was on was nicely hidden behind a bloody big building.

In Bratislava my days were spent doing the type of sight seeing that I had done way back when I started travelling, which for the most part involved walking around aimlessly for a quite some time and finding what things I could which I found for this city worked quite well, everything was easy to find and the old city lent itself to some fun photos being taken. Some of the more interesting ones being that of the statues and other random things that had been put up around the old town. To me, Bratislava definitely lent itself to be a city that was advancing quickly towards a good European city like so many others.

One of the definite good things that I managed to be shown in Bratislava is the wonders of a place called “Bagel and Coffee Story”, great place, cheap and good for an easy breakfast.

I was planning to hang around in Bratislava for something like 4 nights but on the second day it was quite apparent that the city was not one to hang around in for that long so I hopped on the internet and looked up some of the other cities in Slovakia. Some look good but had no hostels, others looked average but had horribly reviewed hostels; but in the end I did manage to find a place to go that was ok.

Buses onward to Banska Bystricka.

I came, I saw, I left

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:42:00 +0000

The next stop was Brno.
I had every intention of spending a while in Brno, until I got there and found that it was shit, the hostel almost empty and just no fun at all… I got out of Brno the next day without hesitating once.
Onward to Bratislava...

Kutna Hora - Bones and Churches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Kutna Hora was a great place to head.

We met up at the main train station and then headed out in the morning around 11 pm. All of us, except for me who forgot, with an extra bag of stuff for the picnic like thing that we were going to have later on. The train was uneventful and then we were there.

The walk to the church was easy enough and then the experience of heading in was amazing, you haven’t even paid and you can still see bones everywhere. Really it is smaller than I or the other people in the group were expecting for 40000 persons worth of bones but it was still cool to see never the less.

After spending some time there we headed out and then moved into the town in an effort to find somewhere for lunch, and a supermarket so I could contribute my part. We eventually found a park near a church that was undergoing massive repairs. The picnic was good and me randomly finding my pocket knife in my bag was a bonus.

The time after lunch we wandered aimlessly for a while and headed up the hill a little, eventually finding the main square and then the cathedral on the hill.

All in all it was a relaxed afternoon before we headed back to Prague and a good change of pace from the drinking and everything else.

Prague, the city of a thousand spires

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Prague was a different feel to the small place I had been the previous couple of nights, got there mid afternoon, got the bed, stored the stuff and then sorted dinner, then got my directions to the Pub Crawl, the main reason I had wanted to get into Prague on the Friday night. The crowd was massive and it looked to be a ton of fun.

The first Bar was from Euro trip, the English bar that the guys meet the football hooligans in, which made it cool, then was a couple of other places including one that had like 4 levels and an awesome Czech scar band playing in the basement, great for something different. The last place was a club, also in the movie Eurotrip, the one where the twins hook up, had an awesome time and with a little chemical help, danced like an idiot till 4 in the morning before pulling the pin and leaving. I discovered walking back that it was quite far from the hostel and that the buildings in Prague look amazing as the sun comes up at 4 am.

The next day was essentially a write off and not a whole lot was done at all.
The day after, the Sunday I was determined to do something more productive and I dragged my ass up so I could make the walking tour. It was good and like all of the free tours almost all of the good sights that you want to see you do.

On the tour I got talking to a couple of girls, an Aussie and an American and we all had the idea of meeting up the next day so we could sort out going to Kutna Hora and the Bone church which is there. The next day we met up near the castle and ended up spending a good chunk of the day hanging out and exploring around the castle and then some more of the old town, finally organizing the next day over coffee at Bohemian Bagel.
And the next day was Kutna Hora and the Bone Church…

I, the walker, move unto thee

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:45:00 +0000

So after a hiatus of far, far too long I am finally going to put a little bit of information on this wonderful blog of mine, probably with about 1 blog per city that I have been too so far.

Leaving the YOHO was an interesting time, I had many a drink with Phil on the Monday night and then spent my time with Gail on Tuesday, saying good bye was not an easy thing for either one of us I think, and I hope she took it well considering I think I was acting rather cold near the end, the future can only hold that answer and I am sure we will meet again. The Tuesday night I think some of the people at the hostel may have been around in an attempt to say goodbye but I wasn’t there, I headed out to O’Malley’s to have a couple of beers and say my farewells to the staff there that I had gotten to know to a certain degree. Getting back late I packed the very last of my things and crashed out so I could be up for my early train. I was up at half five, late believe it or not, had a quick shower and was out of the YOHO before 6 without more than a quick goodbye to the night porter, who was someone new and didn’t even know the significance of it. That wonderful overused T.S. Elliot quote came to mind as I walked to the train station.

[So] This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

I missed the train I was aiming to get, but managed to get one not 10 minutes after to the same initial destination. What I did not realize was that those 10 minutes would result in a 2 hour wait in Linz train station waiting for the next train to Summerau where I would get my connection into the Czech republic before getting a third train to Cesky Kromlov.
In a way the trip was great going out to Summerau, it was empty grain fields in a sea of green on a beautiful clear day and just gave that great feeling that things were headed for change. The stop itself was in the middle of nowhere, not even platforms to wait on really. The wait was short lived as I boarded the third, train of the morning and it rattled its way to České Budějovice where after waiting a short time I made my way on the final train for my trip through Eastern Europe to the town of Cesky Kromlov.

The town was great and the stop was exactly what I needed to get myself out of work mode after being at the YOHO and working myself into the ground. There was a free keg on the Wednesday when I got there and it was a great treat to have. The night was an enjoyable one with the crowd that was at the hostel, one of the best I have ever been to when it comes to atmosphere and fun, Hostel99.

The next day was a search for a memory card to take its place in the camera that Gail had given me as a go between before I got my new one. After much searching I finally got a chip for it and played tourist for a little while. Then I heading back to the hostel I ran into a group of people from the hostel that were going to the local brewery for a tour…. Great idea.
The tour was a bunch of fun and for 180 Krone you got the tour, 2 draught beers and a “gift pack” of 4 more.

Straight after the tour there was more fun to be had, the “Rafting tour”. This was a 6 hour leisurely tour down the river on inflatable rafts on a wonderful clear and warm day with 4 stops at places to buy beer along the way, not to mention the beer you had already had before getting on the raft and then the stuff you drank on the rafts as well…. It was a great and thoroughly enjoyable day.
The night was a comparatively early one but the rest was well earned and Prague was on the horizon for the weekend. The next day was a slow pack up and then I made my way to get the bus to Prague; it was faster and cheaper to get the bus than it was to get a train.
And then I was in Prague by day’s end…

Update....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:50:00 +0000

Oh my... has it been a while or what?

where to begin on the life of me since the last little blurb of crap I informed everyone about...

After the weekend of snowboarding and excessive drinking I got myself back to working and was promptly brought into the office my my wondrous idiot of a boss and was told that I could have been fired for taking the weekend off... even though I had organized it with Phil, the good boss, almost a month in advance... then in a rather round about was Gottfried said that he wanted the kitchen open every night... which is nice and all except for the fact that I am the only person who works night kitchen... fun... no days off...

Exactly what I came to Europe for....NOT!

To say that this has played a major theme in my mind set for the rest of the month is an understatement.

I'm a traveler who happens to be working, not a worker who travels.

The one thing that has most likely been keeping me from quitting out right and just leaving is Gail, keeping me sane can be a challenge at times and she certainly helps to say the least.

But on the subject of leaving... I am.

Come the end of this month... 8 days away now... it will be my last shift. I have told Phil this and I am assuming that he has told his wondrous father that I am leaving. I have a birthday to go to in Munich on the night of the second and then on the third I want to be in my first destination in the Czech Republic. The exact list for my intended travel is, in order, the list of places I am going to go, in order, is

Cesky Kromlov
Prague
Brno
Bratislava
Budapest
Kiev
Odessa
Constanta
Bucharest
Belgrade
Sarajevo
Dubrovnik

Most places for 2 nights, some for 3 or 4 and one, Constanta, just one.

It should be a ton of fun and my money should in theory last a little bit longer over there.

On other subjects... I could have been going on a boat trip from Amsterdam to England, Portugal, Spain and a good chunk of the Mediterranean but alas... the wonders of people back home lumping me with bills because they don't get the concept of paying for the internet service that they are given, drained my funds by a couple of hundred dollars and forced me to reconsider that awesome opportunity.

The other opportunity that came up was from a guest who stayed here for about 2 weeks, a chef, who had got a job in a hotel and told me that if I wasn't happy with the YOHO he could talk to the head chef at his place and try to get me a job where he was as a proper cook - double the pay room and food included fixed roster. But at the moment I just want to travel some more and get some more awesome memories and photos.

So there is the little spiel that I can be bothered doing for now and with more travels on the way there should be a lot more for me to say in the weeks and months to come.

Interesting nights....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:18:00 +0000

Back to the wonders of the text form for this post...

So after the last update I haven't been doing too much, come Saturday I had to pack all of my stuff up and store it at the lifts for the day, boarded the entire day away and would have liked to have managed to get one more run in but the Bastards on the lift said it was close.... you know, as they let some of their friends go straight past...

WANKERS!!

So after dragging myself back to the lift where my bag was I returned the rentals and headed to the Felsentherme, the hot springs that Bad Gastein is famous for. Chilled there and had a swim for the first time since I left Oz, the wonders of things that get you remembering home... it was fun.

Got a fucking awesome dinner at a random restaurant, had a steak for the first time in Europe... with pepper sauce.... it was untold levels of awesome. Upon finishing up all of my food I looked at the time and realised that I had a bit over an hour to kill before the last train for the night that was heading back to fair old Salzburg.
Headed to a bar, couldn't go to the Silver Bullet, they had closed for the season the night before so I followed the sound of music to another random bar, had a couple of beers and then was given shots by the barman which was pretty good, then got chatting with them and one of them offered me a place to stay for the night... and this is where the story branches a little bit...

What I said to work... I had missed the train for some unseen reason and there wasn't another until the morning, which I was going to be on.

What actually happened was that the person offered me a place to stay and I thought about it for a little bit and then took the offer, called the YoHo and told my lie, proceeded to drink at that bar for a bit, then dropped off my bags and stuff and then headed to Haegblooms as it was their end of season thing, then drank very large doubles of vodka and lime for 5 Euros each. After a few of those I was given a couple of Captain Morgan and Coke's as the other people had bought a bottle from the bar...

that is one great thing about being over here they let you buy entire bottles in one hit and then give you unlimited mixer to put with it

and then somewhere in the mix my memory ends... which is unusual, normally I at least remember leaving the bar... but it all worked out as I woke up in the bed I was given and I still had all of the things I left with minus the last of the money I have until the end of the month.

I got myself onto a train around noon and got back to the hostel at around 2.30 and spun another lie.

I was on the early train, I fell asleep and woke up just outside Münich, Which is 2 hours by train past Salzburg

I do my best and I'm still pretty good at spinning shit like that... and I don't do it much at all these days so its not too bad.

Now I am probably going to retire for the evening and then contemplate the wonders of working breakfast tomorrow morning... or do my washing... either or.

A short update this time...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:37:00 +0000

The world must be coming to an end, two videos in two days.... enjoy.

Video of the day... Greener Grass by Millencolin

A small update... in person...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:42:00 +0000

The 1 Drawback

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:48:00 +0000

The one thing that may have gone wrong in Paris is that my camera has disappeared.

It was in the hotel on Saturday night as far as I remember, I did not take it out with me that night and the next day when I left the hotel I don't remember if I put it in my bag.

The camera I couldn't give a toss about, its more the 220 pictures that I had taken in Paris that I can't really replace.

I've contacted the hotel to no avail yet, there is a chance that Robert may have put it in his bag by accident but I haven't been in touch yet.

One can but hope for the best.

Paris - Sam and Robert

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:56:00 +0000

Next day was one consisting of a good chunk of required sleep, killing a few hours and then heading to the hotel where I was meeting up with Sam and Robert. Got there, waited for a bit and then they arrived... A familiar face after all of this time is a bit beyond words, we chilled for a bit, then headed out for dinner at a random restaurant which we found on the main square thing near by where we were staying- good enough for us to go back every night for the rest of the stay. After dinner and chillaxing for a bit we headed out in search of a bar and a couple of drinks... this was an effort to say the least, after walking for fucking ages we came across a small place that met the standards of the guys, I would have been happy with alot less but they are picky bastards. Two beers later I get to see in person just how much of a light weight Sam is when it comes to drinking... but that's what he gets for not drinking for almost 2 years or something before he came overseas. Headed back not too soon after that and crashed out... the next day required a level head.

The next day was awesome fun.

Disney Land!

I didn't quite know what to think when it came to the idea of Disneyland, it was an idea that Sam had been fixated on since before we left Oz and we were planning all of this shit out. It turned out to be pretty fucking awesome, some cool rides and the novelty of now being able to say that I have been to Disneyland... worth it in the end... that and I got some cool merchandise for both me and some other people back home which they should like.

That night we got back and recovered a little bit, got some more food and then got the crazy idea of heading out, this time however we got a tip on at least the right direction to walk in to find some decent places to be, Bastille. Got there, still walked for fucking ages but eventually found a street with bars/clubs and got into one as soon as we could, naturally though Sam and his impeccable standards told us we had to go somewhere better than one of the places that were right there so me and Robert said fuck it and decided that we would move on. We got to a taxi and managed to convey that not only did we want a club... we wanted a strip club, at least I can now say that I have been to one in Paris too. Got there, wasn't too bad, the place was a normal club before 11pm and it was pretty cranking for the most part. Stayed until the change over when the girls came out and they were nothing that spectacular, I'm not the biggest fan of skin clubs, why should I pay when I can work that little bit harder and get a full show for free?

After a little while the guys realized what I already had, that the place was pretty shit and over priced to all fuck, Pulled the pin and headed back to the hotel.

Another morning where I was feeling great as always, I didn't give the guys a choice in the matter, they were going on the free walking tour that I had done and I was going to the Louvre. I dropped them at the spot where the tour was starting, got them signed up and then bailed on them, walked to Notre Dam, Got a couple of good pictures and then meandered to the Louvre, headed in and was greeted by the busiest Museum that you can ever imagine, after getting through the security and then heading to one of the wings I got the big name out of the way and saw the Mona Lisa, over rated but I had assumed that it was going to be, the GIANT picture on the opposite wall has much more too it and it gains such little notice in comparison, did I mention that the fucking thing is probably about 7 meters tall and 13 wide. I wandered around that wing for some time and then headed to another area and looked at a great variety of oddities and interesting pieces of art. They have an awesome collection of Egyptian stuff and similar areas. Looped back at one point and had a better look at the Venus De Milo, that one does live up to the hype a bit more. Wandered aimlessly in the galleries for a while and then made my way back to the central atrium, got some cool shots of the pyramid and the cool effects you can play with, then headed to the second entrance, the inverted pyramid and got some shots of that.

Being in another art gallery I just had to go and get some prints, all 90 Euro's of them. Then headed back to the spot where I was meeting Sam, met up with him, went back to the hotel and then after yet another good dinner went to meet up with the pub crawl.

Oh the Pub Crawl... jebus!

Drinking, a bit more drinking, a little more drinking, a Girl called Cindy from the US, a night club and a bit more drinking.

That sums up the entire night briefly with the only bit I will elaborate on being that it could have been a better night if either of us had had a room that we weren't sharing with friends already.

I eventually got back to the hotel, alone, and crashed out.

-five hours after that Robert came back from the Girl he had taken home, WOOF!

The next day we were determined to do stuff... we went to the Arc de Triomphe and took a good chunk of pictures, then we went to the tower, again for me but a first for the guys. More pictures and stuff and after that everyone was fucked and we decided to head back and crash for a couple more hours. Upon rising Sam had decided to go to dinner with someone he had met the night before, a group of them, but me and Rob weren't keen so we stayed at the hotel, buried almost 2 bottles of vodka between us and then headed out to club REX, one of the biggest and best in Paris.

It was a blast and somewhere I could say I would go again if I had the chance.

Got back at around 4am, slept for a few hours and then the guys had to make a move as their train back to England was at around 11.30am. Still rather glazed from the night before we packed up, made a move.

I said my farewells and then headed to the airport a few hours early, I was written off so I figured somewhere comfortable to read my book would be a good idea.

Hours passed and eventually I boarded, got back to Munich and then got a train back here to Salzburg as tired as all hell around midnight

Paris - the beginning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:32:00 +0000

So since the last little chunk of a post I put up a few weeks ago a couple of things have happened, nothing too bad, a few good things to be honest.

After the week passed and we made our way into the joyous month of March I had done some interesting shifts at work as always... think a little over 30 hours from Friday morning through till Sunday night. Then after packing like mad and making sure I hadn't forgotten anything I made my way to Munich to get the plane from there to Paris... uneventful and easy in all.

My second time through Paris was by far a distinct improvement on the first time through, my love of the metro system continued in roaring fashion, being able to get trains almost anywhere in next to no time at all either is beyond awesome.

I got to Paris on the Monday afternoon/night and made my way to the St. Christopher's hostel, one I can easily recommend to any prospective backpacker or even budget traveler. Great bar and atmosphere, awesome rooms and just a great feel in all. Drank my first night away without much hesitation and was even joined by my boss from here in Salzburg as they were in Paris doing a marketing meeting for the group.

I'm also pretty sure that the manager of the hostel from Amsterdam, a cute blonde, was flirting up a storm with me but I, while being flirtatious in kind, avoided the possible repercussions of such actions if I decide to go back to Amsterdam, for work or otherwise - although a section of my brain was still thinking, "You're only in Europe once," meh - these things come and go.

The next day, after dragging myself out of bed feeling rather shabby to get the breakfast that was included, after getting six times my RDI of caffeine I waited for the group from the walking tour, free, to leave from the hostel at around 10am, the group at the door got to a reasonable size but there was no sign of the guide that was meant to be picking us up. Once 10.15 came around we pulled the pin on waiting for the guide and decided to catch the tube to the spot where we were meant to be meeting the rest of the people on the tour. Easy as always on the tube. Did a massive tour of the city lasting around 4 hours and met a few random people as you do, then proceeded to go to the Eiffel tower after the tour had finished with the people I had met up with. hung around with them for a few hours, then went back to the hostel, got warmer clothes and then headed out to dinner with the before mentioned people. Fun times, more drinking and getting back to the hostel on one of the last tubes running.

Righty O then

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Well I have managed to get myself along nicely in this fine town of Salzburg for the last few days and have been having a bit of fun making random crap in the kitchen. The wonders of getting bored and making Brownies or Choc Chip cookies.

Hell, if I had the right type of trays and things to use I'd probably be making muffins and possibly even cakes.

My first couple of days here I had off because they didn't know for sure if i was going to be coming, had the breakfast on the Saturday which was OK except for the fact that the lazy topdeck assholes left the majority of their plates on the tables, all 50 of them, and I was working my myself; a lot of people got free breakfast until I could clear all of the tables off and clean them down. The rest of that day was a bit of a nothing day... it was Valentines and being wonderfully single and not in the mood to go out and play the field it was a boring day - although I did get a message from a fellow single friend of mine, Jen, which lifted my day from a chore to just another day which at the time was an achievement.

Dinner that night was a breeze and the wonders of having to do breakfast the next morning was something that I was so looking forward to. The one thing I did do that night which was a little bit different was to make myself, and the two other people working, a roast chicken. It was meant to be a two hour chicken but the wonders of a fan-forced industrial oven cut that cooking time down to just under an hour and got rave reviews all around.

The next breakfast was another snooze, only had a couple of people come in, 15-20, and only had to break out the fry pan twice for the eggs so it made for another boring morning. The day dragged on and then I crashed out early so I could manage to stay awake through my night shift which I had the joy of doing.

Dragged myself down stairs after a few hours sleep at 11.30pm and headed into the bar where the reception guy was hanging out with the barman and the regulars. Two beers quickly disappeared and then I was on the job, didn't really do much for a couple of hours till the people in the bar finally fucked off and left. Then I setup the breakfast bar, chatted to random people on FaceBook and then decided to use the random baking supplies I had the foresight to buy the day before, no shops are open on Sundays.

At 4 am I made Choc Chip Cookies, and then at 5 am I got bored again and made a tray of brownies.

After dragging the last few hours the shift was over and I headed to bed at a bit after 8am.

The rest of the day was a non item and then the night came around... I had ten euros and some change to spend, had three beers here at the YOHO and then decided to go out and see if I could run into the random American girls at O'Malleys again. They weren't there but I got a beer anyway and got talking to a guy called Toohey (like the beer) and a girl called Amber at the front bar. One beer turned into two and then I headed with them to a live music joint where Toohey was playing, great little place and the first that I have managed to find that has beer that is cheaper than here at the hostel. Got a couple of beers, chatted randomly with a couple of cute local girls and then decided that my lack of money was a sign that I had better get back seeing as I had the breakfast shift that coming morning too.

Breakfast was another non item, then I got pro active and did a total stocktake of the kitchen from scratch, which apparently hadn't been done in months. That wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be considering what I was used to doing back at the football club. Then it was another slow night in the kitchen but no breakfast which is something I was grateful for... back to the repetitive monotony of work.

On this fine day I have finally been told the kind of hours I would be working and how much money I should be expecting per month.

-6 nights a week
-5 mornings a week
-1 day a week off with the following morning off as well.

around 40 hours a week and around 500 euro's a month, and that includes accommodation and some food as well so its effectively around 1000-1200 euro a month if you add those costs in too.

Things are starting to become a bit more solid which after so much variability is a bonus.

That and its only a bit under two weeks till I get to catch up with my old mate Sam in Paris...

Today's feature is an old favorite.

"Johnny I hardly knew ya" - Dropkick Murphys

The light at the end of the tunnel...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:51:00 +0000

So after the mounds of shit that had quietly presented themselves to me things have taken a move towards the positive.

An emergency credit card care of FedEx turned up half way through Thursday and then I got packing. The card with with emergency increase in limit so I can actually move myself between cities is what i needed. I paid my accommodation and got on the first train that I could get myself onto to Salzburg, EC115.

Hadn't been on an EC train yet but it was nothing to complain about, good fast train with comfortable seats, I was in Salzburg just under 2 hours later and couldn't wait to get myself back to the wonders that are the YOHO. Good to be somewhere where I know the accommodation is covered and the food is free... and I get to use the kitchen.

Upon coming through these doors here at the YOHO I was greeted with a cheer from the people at the front desk... apparently they had been trying to get in touch for a few days to confirm when I was going to be turning up... surely enough I was here and to the sound of it, it's a good thing.

Chrissy from the kitchen has her last shift tonight, Anita is leaving the kitchen soon too, Sabina the cleaner/kitchen person left without notice a few days ago and one of the people from the office got fired the other day - I picked a fucking great time to come back; from tomorrow I have:

-three kitchen shifts
-two morning reception shifts
-one night porter shift

And that has the opportunity to grow to even more so it should be fun.

So from where I was just a few days ago, I am loving where I am now.

Lets just hope that it stays this good... and that I keep remembering to update this thing often enough.

And then things go pear shaped...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Things have gone from great to fucking abysmally bad.

Somewhere in the mix my credit card and possibly my cash card as well have been cloned.... got an email from my bank on Monday which prompted me to check my balance online only to find that my credit card has been over drawn by $250, which is a difference of around $800 from the last place I left it at. I made a call back home to number my bank had provided and was told that I should cancel my card, which I have, but then I went to go and use my cash card – the main one I have been using all the time over here but it only works in ATM’s – the cash card is saying that I have exceeded my limit which is its way of saying I have no money left.

FUCK is the only thing I could think of saying at the time

After too many phone calls I have an emergency replacement for my credit card coming along tomorrow which is good for the simple fact that this way I can pay for my current accommodation and the train ride back to Salzburg where hopefully I can earn enough money to cover at the very least my visit to Paris in march, the one set plan I have made is to meet up with Sam in Paris on the 4th and that is the only thing that is keeping me from cutting my losses and regearing my flight back to OZ a lot sooner .

The one thing that I’m not certain about yet is whether or not my cash card got cloned or not... I can’t get through to the service number that they provide and their internet service has been a stonewall for the last three days so I can’t even register for it let alone login. I get the feeling that if I’ve lost all of this on one card then chances are that both have been ripped off which is fucking annoying.

I’ve finally managed to talk to Dad though which is a massive relief, he’s going to sort out some money for me which is more than I could ask... I know for a fact that there isn’t anyone else in the family I could ask on this short notice.

I have been a hermit at the hostel for the last two days and then this one too, but with the phone call and the other stuff starting to look in the right direction it can only get better.... pity I have no money to even buy myself a beer... or some post cards to write.

But if nothing else I have free internet and a ton of movies I grabbed off someone a while back... time to waste another day, tomorrow will have to be a day of something at least...

And the random music selection today is something I saw on a German music channel, I know some people from back home aren’t into this scene, but some most certainly are....

"Ring Frei" by LaFee

Where have I been of late?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Ok, once again it has been far too long and just a little bit has happened.

I was in Salzburg for quite a stint, and funnily enough on the day I decided to leave I was offered a semi permanent position in their kitchen five days a week, I was a bit floored by that but left the offer hanging for a bit to see if I could manage to scrounge up something a bit different or different in one of the other destinations in one of the towns I was aiming for.

With that in mind I moved on to a ski town called “Bad Gastein” where there was another hostel with a possible position that I could have. I got there and the manager, as so many are, had a degree in being vague when it came to whether or not the position actually existed. The position in question being running the hotel/hostel’s second bar which they had yet to open this season, if I was going to take the position I would be essentially the only person running the bar along with marketing it; which while daunting was something I was looking forward to taking on as a challenge. But after being left in the lurch for two days doing a whole lot of nothing I decided to enjoy the fact I was in a ski resort and started snowboarding with a lesson and it went well and even with the copious amounts of pain involved I made what was good progress.

Day 1. Lesson
Day 2. Practice/bunny slopes
Day 3. Blue runs
Day 4. Blue and Red runs
Day 5. Red runs and a bit of off piste

And it kept going on from there for a few days before I finally pulled the plug on that spot and made a move to my next ski town and possible job in “Kirchberg.”

Getting myself to Kirchberg was easy enough and I got chatting with a guy from London on the train who was heading in the same direction as I was. When I got to the hostel, which had lost my booking, I ran into him again and it turned out he was staying there too. The guy was great and the next thing I know he’s letting me use his spare snowboard and bindings for the time I'm there which is great for me, good reduction in the rental cost for me. I snowboarded for the next few days before my Lift pass finally expired and I didn’t feel like shelling out for another one, €140 for 4 days, so I moved on to Munich.

After missing a train by 1 minute I and waiting for an hour for the next one, and then another hour for a connection to Munich I finally managed to get to the home of beer in Bavaria. Got here and got reasonably drunk with the manager here that night, then the next night I went on a beer tour and then went drinking (plus other things) with a few people I met in Bad Gastein who work in the hostel next door – I got messy, messy drunk; probably the worst I’ve been in Europe.

But who said that something like that could stop me... the next night I went out again... and controlled myself a little bit more than the previous night. I started slowly on the Saturday night and then moved venues at least four or five times and then it gets hazy, but I am sure that I got in around midnight on the Sunday night... and then slept well... it was a good party session. Not something I could do every weekend but definitely something I could do again.

An awesome time and it makes me glad that the offer in the kitchen at the YOHO was still there and it’s only 2 hours away by train if I want to drop in and have fun with the guys.

and the feature of the week...

"E-Talking" by Soulwax

Whoops...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:35:00 +0000

Just realized that I haven’t said much on this one for a while... I’m still alive and I’m still going as best I can at the moment. Once I find a quiet corner I’ll make another video to put up here...but alas that time is not now... stay tuned.

... so a few words from me.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:33:00 +0000

So I've finally managed to pull out that nice web cam of mine...

There's my little chat for now, you might have to turn it up after 20 seconds... I didn't get around to fixing the audio levels.

The random vid of the week is:

Eisblume - "Eisblumen"

My new friend - Buses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:55:00 +0000

It has been quite some time since I’ve managed to get around to thinking about doing all this stuff to do with the blog. After being either stone walled or being told that advertised jobs didn’t exist I got pissed off and left the joyous town of Sankt Anton and travelled to Bern in Switzerland with no real idea of what to expect considering I hadn’t even heard of the city until then – it’s the capital of Switzerland by the way. It was a nice town...very old and had a cool museum and stuff. I enjoyed my quick stay and moved on after a couple of days with the intention of going to Lyon in France.

I got myself to Lyon and it was a bit of a drab day.... and I was far from in the mood for actually caring about it, I got myself a train ticket to Paris straight away and got there around 7pm at night.... after spending an hour finding an internet cafe I managed o get online and find a hostel that I had recommended to me. It wasn’t that good and was probably the worst “included” breakfast I’ve had so far. The day after getting myself to Paris I was still in a shit of a mood and I didn’t like the vibe so made my way along to the bus station (my new friend). When I got there I had a choice of going to Rotterdam, Brussels or Amsterdam. What do you think I chose?

Amsterdam was the way to go.

The bus there was pretty par for the course, until we almost left some one behind in Brussels, I thought it was hilarious at the time but in retrospect it wasn’t but it all sorted itself out in the end. On the trip there I got chatting with a group of American art students who where based in Paris and were tripping it up for a couple of days. Managed to work it so that I could stay with them as they had a hostel organised with an extra bed in the room and that way the overall cost was less. Ended up spending the next two days hanging around with them and they are by far the best people I have met in my travels and it made the days that much better. To be honest it was the most fun I’ve had since I got over here.

After spending a couple more days in Amsterdam I figured it was time to move on again, I was going to hop on another bus and go somewhere....but they weren’t being cooperative so I ended up having to catch a train. Was going to go to Dusseldorf but that changed when I saw that Köln (Cologne in English) on the list of destinations after that one so I paid the extra few Euro’s and went there.

The main reason for me wanting to go to Köln was to go to the Cathedral, the Dom. It was opposite the main train station so I got to see it in all of its glory pretty much straight away...and it was fucking awesome. Got to the hostel and did my usual part. The next day I went into the cathedral and had fun with my camera, and then I paid to climb the tower..... Fucking hell is that thing massive. After that I wandered around for a while.... there are Christmas markets every city I’ve been to and all of them are cool....great food too which is always a bonus.

After much walking I made my way to the bus station again and got myself ticket to the destination that looked different, so I got on a bus to Krakow, Poland.
At this point I should mention that it cost me less to go from Köln to Krakow by bus than it did to go from Amsterdam to Köln by train – buses are my new friend.
After spending 17 hours on a bus I got to Krakow.... got to my hostel about half hour after that (10.30 am) and got myself a bed ASAP. This is the bit where this hostel is one of the best so far. Normally at a hostel they have a lock out from around 11 am through till about 2 so they can clean up and stuff....this place didn’t. I got in, got my bed and then after making it....crashed for four hours.

Did a free tour around town yesterday which was good, got to see a ton of stuff I wouldn’t have even known was there. Last night was fun....it was shots tasting night.... between four people we polished off a big bottle of vodka and I had already had three beers so I crashed out before I got too messy. Today I got up feeling very fuzzy around the edges but I still managed to get myself on a bus and out to Auschwitz....it was hard to describe, moving is one word but it doesn’t quite give it justice.

Tomorrow I was going to go to a seven hundred year old salt mine.... but Daniel happens to be in town so we’re going to some random markets in the morning which should be cool.

The fun topic of searching for work which I have been avoiding is no fun at all. In Sankt Anton I’ve applied for about a dozen jobs and gotten a few negative replies and a more no responses, which gives me the impression that the entire fucking town doesn’t check their fucking emails which I'm not liking very much. I’m going to go back to Innsbruck soon and try searching a bit more. If I have no luck there I’m probably going to move on to a German city and search there.... and if all of that fails I’m thinking that I might go and lean on my relatives in England and try and get myself a job over there....I’m just not sure....with the way my money is burning through I’m probably going to run out soon... failing at this endeavour is not what I want to do.

In a wrap....since last time I chatted to you I have been to Bern- Switzerland, Lyon and Paris- France, Amsterdam- Netherlands, Cologne- Germany and now Krakow- Poland.

Who knows where I might end up next...it's awesome.

I'm trying to stay positive in all of this.

-CJ

Jobs a searchin'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:03:00 +0000

It’s time for another update, I’ve made my way to St Anton which is a ski resort in the Alps, and it is the awesome. Yesterday I spent the bulk of the day walking around to different hotels that had advertised vacancies only to find almost all of them were closed, bit of a piss off but I can manage. I was going to catch the train last night to Zürich or where ever the train would take me...but once the sun goes behind the mountains it drops another 5 degree’s and the wind starts – it was already a nice 0oC when the sun was out. Found myself a cheap hotel and got a room...nice enough, staying here again tonight and possibly another night after that...

Today I woke to it snowing and it still is; great thing to be able to see out of your window in the morning. I’ve dropped my resume off at two different places and am hoping to get a response from at least one of them.
I was assuming way too much back in Oz in thinking I could step into a job but I will persevere and something will come up... the season hasn’t really started anyway... once it does apparently the amount of jobs around will go through the roof. Meh, after writing this I’m going to the net cafe to chuck it online along with a couple of pictures and then I think I might look at one of the ski schools....I’m here so I may as well start learning now...

Till next time...when I hopefully have free wireless to leach off.

-CJ

Theme song for this post – “Until The End” –Breaking Benjamin

I'm here

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:00:00 +0000

Another update here...when I actually get it online is a good question but I’ll worry about that later.
I’ve made my way to Innsbruck in Austria after my short stay in Frankfurt. Now that I have something to compare it too I can say that Frankfurt isn’t that nice a city, sure it functions and is a good starting point, it is in the end...boring....it is a collection of buildings and a fucking big airport. Good for a few photos but in what I was able to see in my short stay...not one to specifically go out of your way to go and see.
The nice train ride from Frankfurt to Munich was to be honest a bit dis -en-heartening (Word is telling me I’m making up words again) for the bulk of the journey my view consisted of either towns, light industry or farm land. I guess being an Australian I am used to being able to see vast stretches of empty land that has seen no use at all in all the time we have been there, it just came as a bit of a shock to see not one empty stretch. The only bulks of land I could see that weren’t in use were the occasional hilltop that was covered in a thick picket of local trees – pines I’m guessing. Fortunately the second train ride was, in some regards, a bit better. The surroundings did change significantly when I was heading towards Innsbruck from Munich, more snow and surprisingly a good chunk of random light forest or something like it...good to see...that and seeing so much snow was awesome.
Once I managed to get here, Innsbruck, I had the wonder of walking in the dark – it was only 5.30 pm and it was completely dark – and the walk wasn’t too bad, managed to find this abso-fucking-lutely awesome hostel that I’ve got myself into. I am so glad I managed to find this awesome place on the net before I left Frankfurt, its smaller, and just a better vibe than I think I would have had at the only other option that the internet told me I had.
After meeting a couple of the others staying here and dumping my shit I took my ass onto the street and walked about 50 meters to the local markets that are on every night apparently at this time of year, there were people everywhere and more importantly (especially compared to Frankfurt) they were almost all around my age, and god were there some cuties in the mix :P. Had a random dinner of sauerkraut, potatoes and sausage and a couple of cups of “Glühwein” (hot/warm wine) and then crashed out at the hostel.... I really didn’t realise how much the trains had taken out of me.
The breakfast this morning I get the feeling will kick the shit out of almost every other breakfast I’m ever going to get at a hostel. The Hostel/B&B is above a cafe which is run by the same people – breakfast was a pair of fresh-ish rolls, homemade jams, a bowl of cornflakes, coffee/tea/hot choc, and a slice of Cake. While most of that is standard for hostel...the cake... to die for, the cafe has its own section for selling cakes and an entire floor above it for making them. So yeah... I started with an awesome breakfast.
After that I plotted out the rest of my day...which was pretty much: go to the Olympic ski jump whilst also going to the Arbeitampt which was on the way, walked to both, got a list of jobs at the job centre and then made my way to the Olympic ski jump which they have here.... rather big drop that...gah....there are a few pictures and they are awesome.... great view of Innsbruck and the mountains. Had a coffee up there with an American and a New Zealand couple before heading down and going our different ways.
After all of that I proceeded to walk around town for around three hours....crossed two rivers and got a good bit of air, and also failed to find any free wireless... bugger. Eventually made my way back through town to near the hostel, bought some essentials – hair brush, gel, shaving cream – came back to the hostel and have been killing time ever since.

On a side note: I have managed to find both a beret and gloves over here.... pity they essentially cost as much as I budget for an entire day and then some....whoops.
Now I’m going to try and tally all of my expenditure up and see where I stand.
- CJ

Theme song for this post – “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” – Dropkick Murphys