My time with the Geislers, Part 1!

Today my blog comes to you from outside! I am currently sitting in the beautiful weather in Neuss, Germany, at the house of my friends the Geisler's. Just to prove it, here is me:

Me. I haven't changed that much really...

Mum don't worry that's just the lighting-I'm still very blonde rather than dying my hair blue (although how cool!I kid, I kid). It also shows how sunny it is.

I've got some music playing, I'm wearing shorts (it feels weird showing my legs after so much time covering them in Morocco and the cold!) and just finished eating some Vegemite and cheese sandwiches. You can take the girl out of Australia but she WILL hunt down Vegemite and eat it to feel like home has joined her on the road.

Germany has really turned on the charm these past few days and we have had stunning weather, almost like the Australian Summer that I missed when I was in Morocco. Needless to say I have taken full advantage of this and spent a great deal of time in the sun relaxing.

Since my last blog about Hamburg and Kiel so much has happened! When I last wrote I was also in Neuss, but now I'm in Neuss blogging about a different set of events; that of my travels with Ron and his family. This will be a small series of blogs as we covered so much ground in the few days we were on the road in North-East Germany before returning here, and then we set off again for a day trip (but that one is a surprise). Without further ado, I give you "My time with the Geislers, Part 1!"

View from the top of the Cathedral in Lubeck

Whilst I was staying with Mara, I had been in contact with Ron about staying with his family for a little while in Neuss, Germany. I was originally going to leave Mara's on the 17th and make my way slowly through Hanover and surrounds to Dusseldorf, and arrive at the Geisler's house on the 21st. However, on the 14th Ron emailed me and invited me to travel with them on their family holiday for a few days in North Eastern Germany. I was surprised but very excited; I had been in the North West of Germany but didn't know much about North East, and this would mean that I could see more of the country whilst getting to know Ron and his family. We decided that we would meet on the 17th, and after my day of recoding with Gerrit, Mara and I drove down to a city called Lubeck so I could meet the Geislers.

View #2

It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived and found a park, and I bid my goodbyes to Mara and set off. We were to meet at the Holzentor, Lubeck's main tourist attraction. The Holzentor was an old city gate; an arch between two large towers that leaned towards each other. I'm not quite sure why, but it provided a good and simple place to meet.

As I walked up I was quite nervous. I had never met the family before, and had made contact through my Mum who had known Ron when they were teenagers and he had visited Australia.However, I was quickly put at ease as they were lovely. We made our way to a coffee shop and sat down and discussed our next move. We were to spend the evening exploring Lubeck and then make our way to a small Bed&Breakfast to spend the night just out of the city.

In Wismar, the more windows you had, the wealthier you were.

After our coffee we made our way to the Cathedral and Ron, Christoph and I proceeded to take the lift to the top. The view was quite lovely but the wind not so much, and after all taking a few photos we headed back down in the lift to meet Elisabeth and make our way to a different old marketplace, before jumping in the car and driving out to the B&B, where we had a lovely dinner and then headed to bed.

The next day after a small sleep-in and a nice breakfast we set off. Our target for the night was a place called Schwerin after a stop over in Wismar for some sight-seeing in the morning.

Wismar was quite a pretty little port town of about 46,000-47,000 people on the coast about a hours drive from Lubeck. Once there we found a car park and made our way to the centre of town. It was decided that since Christoph had hurt his ankle, we would take a bus sight-seeing tour around the city to see more in a smaller amount of time. The bus took us past the town hall and main market square, down to the port and then back through the town, showing us the brewery and some more beautiful old houses. I felt that the city was a bit like an open-air museum. The bus tour was lovely (if in German-Elisabeth translated for me!), and afterwards we made our way back to the brewery for a massive lunch. The serving of Rouladen was so incredibly big that I couldn't actually finish the sides of red cabbage and apple. Considering my appetite (let's just say I can eat) that is a feat. After lunch we made our way back through the town to the main market square and then to the car, where we once again started driving, this time to Schwerin (pronounced "Shver-een")

Wismar town hall

Schwerin is a beautiful little town set inland from the coast and a only a little while from Wismar. As we pulled in to a parking lot to try to find a hotel, we passed the Schloss Schwerin (Schwerin Castle) which is a work of art and to which we would return later on to sight-see.

We ended up staying in a lovely little Pension just behind our original stop. After we unloaded our bags, we set out to explore with our first stop being the Schloss Schwerin.

Schloss Schwerin

The castle was amazing. We didn't go inside, but the outside was enough to give us a fair impression of how opulent and beautiful the inside would be. However, the castle is not typical of Germanic architecture. It is in the middle of restoration and is being re-painted in a beautiful yellow colour similar to that of the castles in Austria. With over 600 rooms and beautiful gardens, it was incredible.

We wandered around the castle through the gardens before heading towards the centre of town, passing some more beautiful buildings on the way. If you're a fan of old, stone architecture, then this city would be right up your alley. Once again it felt a bit like an open-air museum. We continued wandering for a little while, making our way to one of the many lakes that surrounds the town
 and then to a Greek restaurant. I didn't believe that I was that hungry having had such a large lunch, but I soon proved myself wrong. After a delicious dinner we made our way back to the Pension, relaxing and watching television (the search for Germany's next super-brain" and some ridiculously confident/arrogant young people) until eventually falling asleep later on.

Schloss Schwerin gardens

The next morning we awoke and had another nice breakfast (German people do breakfast really well) and then set off. We were that day headed for Rostock, a larger city on the Baltic Sea after a stop over in Bad Doberan and the area of Heiligendamm to see the resort where George Bush II caused major offence by putting his feet up on a table. It really does live up to it's name of "the White City", due to almost every building there being incredibly large and built in white stone. Being a resort city we only spent a small amount of time there before heading in to Rostock for lunch.

The Baltic Sea

Rostock was again a slightly larger town situated on the Baltic Sea. We arrived and parked the car, and then set off to explore and find a nice place for lunch. We wandered down the boardwalk and settled on a Greek restaurant right on the beach-front. After another big lunch we set off walking again. We made our way down to and wandered along the Port before heading into the older part of town (The Oldstadt) and then making our way back to the car.

We had decided that morning that instead of continuing our travels in the North Eastern part of Germany we would return home that evening and then travel to a different destination the next day which I was quite happy about as it meant that we would be going along the autobahn, one of Germany's finest inventions (in the opinion of a car-lover). On the autobahn, unless it is signposted the speed is unlimited, so you drive to the road conditions. As conditions were good, this meant some lovely, spirited driving and we returned home to Neuss in the evening of Friday the 17th.

Rostock Port Area

We went inside and I was shown to my room, a lovely converted attic space, and fell asleep later that evening, ready for the next day's travels. Since those travels were to a completely different destination, I will leave this blog post here! No, there will be no hint. You'll just have to read on and find out *smiles*






Until next time,

Love Love!

Clem xx

Where are the four queens, Gerrit?

I'll admit as I write this I'm a bit melancholic. I'm sitting in my attic room in Neuss listening to some brilliant Ed Sheeran whilst reflecting. I've still got over a month to go on my travels, have only a little idea of where I'm going to end up (country names, no further) and have already come so far. I find it a little crazy. Sometimes I could be back in Australia, not Germany or Spain or wherever I have made it to. Then someone speaks and it hits me "actually, Clem, you're on the other side of the world". I'm melancholic because this blog is about "My week with Mara" (and friends) and I miss them all terribly! However, without further ado, I give you the recap of my time in Hamburg and Kiel.

Cruise Ship!

I arrived after my 3 hour bus ride tired but altogether fairly excited. I hadn't seen Mara since NCYC'11 and was keen to have a good catch up and see both Hamburg and Kiel with her. As I disembarked from the bus I saw her and her friend Katrin walk up and all my nerves dissipated as they both gave me a big hug and said hi. I quickly collected my bags and we started walking towards Mara's car to drive back to Katrin's place where we were staying for the next couple of nights.

The Old Tunnel under the Harbour

When we arrived we had a quick planning session. I had somehow, by some stroke of insane luck, arrived in Hamburg on the weekend of the Port Birthday Celebrations. Hamburg is the biggest port in Germany and second biggest in Europe, and as such these celebrations were going to be quite impressive. Mara and Katrin printed out the timetable and it was decided that we would wake the next morning and after breakfast set out to explore the Port.

St Michel's Cathedral

As we left in the morning, I was treated to typical Hamburg weather-windy and very, very cold with a very, very high chance of rain. Charming! We had decided to head to the Port and take our Boat Tour as the first activity, so we could see a bit of the Port and Old Town before exploring on foot. However, the boat tour changed routes at the last minute as apparently the water was too high for the boat to pass under the Bridges, which there are, incidentally, more of in Hamburg than in Venice. True Story. As such we were instead treated to an extensive tour of the Port itself, taking in the AIDA Luna, a cruise ship about to be baptised in the celebrations later that night and the dry-docks where the ships were taken to be painted and repaired. I actually found this fascinating as I've had a bit of a fascination with big ships since I was young.

But one of the views from the top!

After the boat tour we made our way through the throngs of people (seriously-like sardines) towards St Michel's Cathedral. Once there we made our way inside and after taking a quick look at the actually worship space, bought our tickets and climbed the stairs (to the lift *giggles*) so we could go to the top. We did walk the entire way down though, after being blown around so forcefully by the wind at the top that I was being physically moved backwards towards the other side of the tower. The views were incredible; we could see the entire city and beyond. Afterwards, as we made our way down the stairs, we discussed out next move.

Hamburg Town Hall

It was decided that we would walk to the downtown area. There we would see the fountain and the "not-a-lake" yet "not-a-river" body of water, as well as the Town Hall and then the shopping district. I quickly decided that the Gummi Bear shop was my favourite (they gave out free samples as you shopped-so good!) after which we moved on once again. We made our way down the the Port and caught a ferry down to the Hamburg Beach, and after a short walk around and deciding that it was too windy and cold, caught the ferry back again. Once back at the Port, we decided that I had to try "Kartoffelpuffer", which are quite like hash browns but saltier and eaten with either sugar or applesauce.  We were packed in like sardines as the number of people at the Port had swollen greatly over the course of the day, so after fining our Kartofellpuffer, we made our way back to Katrin's place, quickly stopping at the Gummi Bear shop so that Mara could buy a Mother's Day gift on the way.

Party.

Once back at the apartment we made dinner and cocktails before resting for a while. The port Birthday Celebration were coming to a head that evening with a massive fireworks display after the baptism of the AIDA Luna and we planned to go and see them before we met up with another friend for drinks.

These fireworks were spectacular. I would hazard a guess that they lasted for at least 15 if not 20 minutes, consisting of every shape from golden waterfalls to planets with rings around them to hearts, and then finished by a golden finale. It was almost magical. We sat up on the hill after climbing through stinging nettles and from there we could take in everything. The AIDA Luna had been joined by her four sister ships; all brilliantly lit up and shooting spotlights into the sky, the Russian sailing ship was blasting music (I swear I heard Ai Se Eu Te Pego) and the atmosphere was excited, not dampened at all by the light rain that started halfway through the fireworks display.

Best Ice-cream. NO contest.

When the fireworks display ended, we watched for a while as the many thousands of people (who looked a lot like a swarm of ants) on ground level moved as one towards the S-Bahn.
We made our way down the hill in a different direction, eventually (after a very close brush with a cyclist) ending up in the trendy night district and settling in for the rest of the night at a bar called the Goldfischglas.

The next morning we awoke a little later. I had plans to skype the family, after which we were going to drive to Hendstedt to Mara's family to have a big Sunday Lunch.

It was without the best lunch I had eaten since Morocco, possibly even including Morocco. Mara's dad had cooked us a typical North German winter meal (as it was still very cold weather it was OK) of Rouladen with red cabbage and potatoes, and then Mara's mother had made us this amazing, trifle-like desert with Yogurt and cream and fruit. Needless to say I was incredibly full and content afterwards! We spend the afternoon playing Rumikub before Mara and I took the bikes around Hendstedt and got ice-cream. We arrived back at the house early in the evening, and made our plans to go and get Mara's friend Gerrit and drive to Kiel, where Mara lived in an apartment for uni.


Kiel Beach-The Baltic Sea!

I am now debating as to whether to break this post up as I still have two more days to report, but I think I shall persevere...

When we arrived in Kiel it was late, but having only just gotten dark it didn't feel as such. We dropped Gerrit home and then made our way to Mara's apartment where we had a quick bite to eat and then relaxed as I did Arabic homework (yes, I am still studying whilst travelling) after which we slept. The next morning Mara had university from 2, so after breakfast we went for a quick drive and she showed me the Port and the Beach before dropping me home and heading off. I spent the next few hours catching up on blogs and family news (time differences are a bitch) before Mara got home. We had no plans for the evening, but Mara had spoken to Gerrit and decided that we would do something.

Mara and Pavlova.

We got to talking. I had met Mara in Australia and she was missing Australian food, so naturally we decided to do some cooking. Although it had been a while I made a pavlova. After a quick message to Gerrit we picked up some drinks and went to his place for the evening, as apparently, I needed the true "Kiel experience". This involved a box of 30 small drinks called "Kleiner Feigling".

Kleiner Feigling, for those who don't know, is a deadly drink. It comes in a range of bottles, but you buy the small ones as there is a ritual for drinking it. You tap the bottle three or four times the right way up, then again upside down, before taking the cap off and putting it on your nose (don't ask). You then say cheers (whilst looking each other in the eyes-very important *giggles*) and down the bottle, which is basically equal to a shot.

Now, Gerrit is a fantastic musician, and after a bit of a challenge from me (I had found his lyrics and wanted to know what the music sounded like) he picked up the guitar and started playing. This set the tone for the rest of the night, however as his room-mates were trying to sleep we decided that we would take the bikes and go back to Mara's place. Many hours and a few jams later Gerrit left before Mara and I quickly fell asleep.

The next day I took it easy. Not because of a hangover (there wasn't one) but as exhaustion has this funny habit of creeping up on you and then pouncing when you stop moving quickly. Mara had Uni again and I took it easy until the afternoon. Mara had spoken once again to Gerrit, and apparently he felt like cooking, so we did the logical thing and invited him to cook for us. Mara had made a strawberry cheesecake (which was absolutely delicious) and he bought the ingredients, and we settled in for a long nigh of chatting, a few drinks (understatement) and card game shenanigans. We hadn't planned much apart from some music in the morning, so why not?

The next day was actually one of my favourite days out of my whole travels. When I awoke Mara had left for uni and Gerrit was eating breakfast, and so after a quick pack up we headed over to Gerrit's. The plan was to record vocals on top of Gerrit's already recorded music for a cover of "White Blank Page" by Mumford and Sons. The plan was successful and we produced a fairly good (if I do say so myself) recording by the end. I'd post it here but I'm not actually sure how to, so when it's on Youtube I'll link it. Promise *smiles*.

The afternoon was over as quickly as it started with Mara arriving and Gerrit and I finishing the recording. We had to return to the apartment for a little while to pack our things; Mara was going to Hendstedt for Youth Group and then on to Hamburg the next day, and I was meeting Ron and his family that night in a place called Lubeck to commence my time with them. Mara drove me to Lubeck and we said our goodbyes before we both continued on our travels once again!

Once again we come to the end of another blog post! I still have much to catch up on, however my story takes a different direction with new friends and new destinations from this point on! As always,

Until next time,

Love Love!

Clem xx

The walls with the murals

We pick up the blog postings in Berlin; a city of amazing nightlife, diverse history, good people and many cultures.

I arrived in Berlin around noon on the 11th of May. Of course I had chosen the bus station that was on the other side of town from my hostel and that I had actually forgotten to write down directions for.

Oops.

The bus ride itself had been rather pleasant; sitting next to a young German man who kept trying not to laugh at "How I Met Your Mother" but not quite succeeding meant that I was kept constantly amused as I listened to B.o.B. and watched the beautiful country side roll by. However, after booking my bus ticket to Hamburg for two days time I managed to find my way to the U-Bahn (the Subway, for those uninitiated) and find the line that I needed to take, the station at which I needed to change, and then the station at which I would disembark. 20 minutes later I arrived on the other side of town, slightly disorientated but altogether proud of myself as figuring out the U-bahn in a place such as Berlin is highly important for quick and easy travel. Once I had disembarked and found my way out to Kotbusser Tor I started walking. I had "Google Mapped" the area and so I knew roughly where to go and where I had to find my accommodation, or so I thought.

Brandenburg Tor

An hour or so later after walking up one side of the street a good 500m and then back down the other passing graffitied walls, tattoo parlours and slightly dodgy looking restaurants I returned to the Subway station and waked behind the bank of shops immediately surrounding it. Success! I found the door that lead to the staircase and up into the Hostel and made my way inside, just about ready to throw my pack away from me in detest (had I had the energy).

I checked in and decided that as it was now late and most things would be closing soon, I would take care of my food and beverage situation and have a small look around before heading back to the hostel.

Jewish Memorial

The hostel itself was nice; nothing fancy but for a traveller who was looking for a comfy bed and who wasn't panning on spending so much time inside anyway it was perfect. Situated in the Freidrich-Kreuzberg neighbourhood, Comebackpackers was an alternative little place that seemed to be filled with Australians and comfy couches. As I settled into one of said couches with my book and an interesting looking pastry (I still have a weakness for bakeries) I was joined by more people; some on laptops, others reading, others cooking.

The night passed quickly. I had met a British guy earlier on who had offered to introduce me to some other Australians in the hostel, and at 9:50pm as I was preparing to go to bed I was joined on my couch by a guy called Kieran who originally hailed from Geelong. We got to chatting and he invited me out with a small group of other guys and some girls from Munster in Western Germany.

Two hours later after a few drinks we made it to our destination; Club Matrix, on the way passing the East Side Gallery. I haven't really said much about my clubbing experiences as I've travelled but about Matrix I will say this: awesome. Many different rooms playing all different styles of music (including going against tradition and starting with those songs from the nineties that you only ever play at 4am when everyone is too drunk to care) as well as 2-4-1 drink specials. Winner.

Mural on the wall of  the old Luftwaffe Headquarters

After returning to the hostel at a ridiculously early hour, serenaded by the rising sun and surprised that it was almost daylight (northern summers-long daylight hours) I awoke from a sound slumber to eat a small breakfast an discover that I had managed to leave my camera charger in Prague. I boarded the U-Bahn feeling like a genius as I had managed to track down the store to buy a universal charger and had my map in my bag. I arrived at Alexander Platz bought my charger and then hightailed it back to the hostel for lunch and camera charging.

After lunch and a quick check in with the group from the night before (Kieran had only just awoken from being comatose at 1pm) I met another young Australian from Melbourne called Pat and he opted to join me on my walk through Berlin.

Remains of the Berlin Wall

We started out by catching the U-Bahn back to Alexander Platz and then set off in the direction that we thought was the Brandenburg Tor.

We passed the Television Tower; a building steeped in controversy as it was originally hated by the inhabitants of Berlin when it was first built (I can see why-not that attractive), the Lust Gardens, a series of Museums and then finally arriving at at the Brandenburg Tor.

The Tor itself is incredibly impressive. Standing at the end of a square (of which I will detail more in a second-read on!) surrounded by relatively unimpressive buildings, the gate is the centrepiece of Berlin in more ways than one.

After the obligatory photos and comments about people dressed in costumes as photo props Pat and I made our way to the S-Bahn and headed back to the Hostel to make dinner. It was pasta and sauce take 2 as we made our own pasta sauce (don't add too much carrot or the sauce wont be "sauce-like"-lesson learnt) and drank beer and laughed. We were planning on hitting another party that night but nothing had been decided with regards location. Kieran had one idea; the German girls another, and we were invited to join them at their university party.

Museum

We made our way once again to somewhere on the other side of town and found the building, noticing that it was nothing brilliant and leaving early. The venue itself was really cool; an underground bar with walls covered in street-art like creations but that lack of people there meant that the atmosphere wasn't as good as it could have been. Had it been full the party would've been amazing, however it wasn't and we left to find another bar fairly quickly. We ended up at this small bar playing Latin music to start, but after a while this changed to (what seemed like) Russian music so we made a graceful exit into the thunderstorm to commence a search for cab, eventually arriving back at the hostel in the wee hours of the morning.

Memorial

The next morning after eating breakfast and packing my things, I made my way with Ryan and Jean-Yves to a chicken place (it was amazing, no joke) and then with Pat to the walking tour of Berlin. We started at the Brandenburg Tor, moving along to the Jewish Memorial; from there going to a parking lot under which Hitler's bunker was apparently located. After a quick speech from Grace, our excellent guide, we made our way to the old Luftwaffe Building, now the German Taxation building, and from there, to the remains of the Berlin Wall. We finished the tour by viewing some of the many Museums in Berlin including the memorial to the burnt books of May 10, 1933 and then relaxing in the Lust Gardens as we listened to the story of how the Berlin wall fell.

Museum and walking group

As the tour finished, Pat and I made our way to a BierGarden at which we were meeting Ryan and Jean-Yves for a few drinks before I was to leave the city for Hamburg. I made my way to the bus station in time for the bus and settled in for my 3 hour ride to Hamburg where I was to meet Mara.

All things considered, my time in Berlin was way too short. However, I still managed to see some of the most amazing arts of the city and learn more of it's history which was absolutely fantastic. As I sat on the bus I very quickly made up my mind to return. Berlin was a city full of energy; there were buskers in most squares and on just about every train I took, there was a different daily protest and the constant construction meant that the city was full of energy.

As my time in Berlin comes to and end, so does this blog, and I will leave it here until the next instalment.

Until next time,

Love Love!

Clem xx

Welcome to the Czech Republic!

As I sit in Kiel and continue to catch up with my blog posts, I think of witty titles and try to plan out how exactly I'm going to include all of my adventures in Prague in one blog post without making it monotonous. You see, Prague was an adventure right from the start; twists and turns making the trip more memorable than any train ride I had taken so far.

Streetscape

As I boarded the train to Prague in Vienna after a few hours of wait, I was well ready to get on my way and continue my journey. I had a 15 minute train ride to Wien Meidling; there I would change trains to my main train and continue to Prague for about 3 hours. All was well. I found my platform easily enough; dodging the smoke wafting out of the smokers square, waiting patiently as train after train passed through until mine arrived. I made my way into the compartments, finding many "reserved" signs and hoping fervently that I would chance upon a compartment that was not only unreserved but completely empty.

As luck would have it, I found a compartment with only one other occupant, a man who was at the time reading. I decided to take my chances. I was accompanied in by another older Australian man, but he soon left as he discovered that there were plenty of empty compartments further up. As I bid him "No worries" as he excused himself with a smile, I was asked by the other man "You wouldn't happen to be Australian would you? The 'No worries' gave it away". I laughed and said yes, I was, and, hearing his accent, asked where he was from in Australia. We somehow skipped introductions, instead carrying on chatting about work, travels, life and everything in between.

Museum

About an hour into the trip we were joined by a young and (seemingly) quiet Czech woman. We continued chatting, but as we did the train started slowing down. We were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farmland on all sides. Confused, we had no idea what was going on. People started moving out of the train to stand on the tracks, and a short while later the conductor came around saying that there had been an accident on the tracks, and that we would be delayed for about 60 minutes. Whether this was a Czech 60 minutes or a normal 60 minutes no-one knew.

Streetscape #2

We started talking to the young Czech woman and it turned out that not only was she in no way quiet (she was NOT short of a word), she was quite funny and lovely, and in a way she adopted myself and this other man, whose name I later found out was David. She became our translator and guide, as she explained that we were waiting for another train to come to take us to the next station, at which we would most likely have to change to another train.

As we rolled slowly into the station, we collected our bags and disembarked the train, moving to another train to take us to a station along a different route, where we would have to change again. According to Rana this was not standard train fare in the Czech Republic, and she declared this quite a few times as she warmly welcomed us to her country.

More streetscape

After we changed trains, she explained to us that we would be taken to another station; out of two options we ended up at a place called Prubice. We once again disembarked the train, this time going and finding food and taking a small rest. The station was full of people all waiting for trains to Prague so we decided that we would buy food and then head to the platform to wait for a train.

After a short wait we boarded our final train and two hours later we arrived tired and jubilant in Prague. We made it in the end! Rana couldn't seem to believe that I was not only travelling on my own but that I had no map, only some (very detailed) written directions. I had studied the map the night before and knew where I needed to go; picturing in my mind the right turn out of the station, short walk and then the right turn taking me under the bridge and up into the suburb I needed to be. in. I bid both David and Rana adieu and started walking. 30 minutes later I was at my destination, the Clown and Bard Hostel.

Amazing clocks

The hostel itself was really nice. The reception was actually in the basement at the bar and rooms above, so after walking up my two flights of stairs I dumped my things. I was alone in the room until two others walked in. Paisley and Dorian were two friends staying in Prague for a few days; she was from Canada but working in the UK, he from Australia working in Vienna. They invited me out with them to a club for the evening, and as such I got my first real look at Prague by night, catching the metro and walking around, finally arriving at this amazing looking club. The outside was covered in ship parts spray painted in different metallic colours and highlighted by the lights; surrounding a Nice and relaxed beer garden that you walked through the enter the club.

Parliament

Now I'll be straight up here when I say that dubstep and drum-and-bass are not normally my scene. As in I don't listen to them, can't dance to them and sometimes find myself wondering as to what their purpose in the music scene is. HOWEVER. After a few drinks all this disappeared and I found myself losing myself to the thumping sub woofer and dancing djs. Something that I love about Europe is that the djs all without fail get into their own music and find themselves dancing along. It's great for atmosphere (and those who need to work out how to move to the music *coughs*).

The next day I awoke early, ready to make my way around Prague using my trusty "Mr Gordonskys Tourist Map" and see some beautiful sights. I had been told it was a beautiful city that I needed to see whilst in Europe, and as such had high expectations.

The Castle

I was not disappointed. Prague was a city of both old and new and once I had walked through the newer part of the city, down a small hill and past the museum I reached the part of the city that I really wanted to see. Streets lined by four and five story buildings with intricate detailing over the outsides, standing on the side of the cobblestone streets. Architectural styles moving from Romanesque to Gothic to Renaissance to Baroque as well as many other styles originating between the 19th and 20th centuries. It was a pleasure just to walk through the city, soaking it all in.



View from the Castle

I made my way down through the old city, stopping in the old Town Square and listening to the many buskers and street performers before making my way through more beautiful streets towards the lesser well known of the two bridges in Prague (so much so I can't remember it's name). After crossing it I walked through to the Parliament (I'm quite sure it's the most beautiful Parliament gardens I've ever seen) and then wandered my way up to the Prague Castle. After exploring the castle and surrounding areas for a while, I walked back down the hill, prepared to mingle with the hundreds of tourists crossing the Charles Bridge, the more famous of the the two main bridges crossing the river. However, I was sidetracked.

Street performers

As I was walking I found a small second hand English bookstore, and the next hour quickly passed by as I lost myself in a warm and inviting maze of books. I ended up buying one without a bag, and quickly felt like a complete and utter hipster as I walked around town in my RayBan-esq sunnies, skinny jeans and cardigan carrying my new purchase. I made the complete transition to hipster as I found a gorgeous little coffee shop and sat there reading for the next hour and a half as I drank my iced coffee.

After whiling away the afternoon in the sun reading I made my way back to the hostel to make dinner and have an early night, as the next morning I was to catch a bus to Berlin for the next part of my journey. As such, I will leave this post here!

Until next time,

Love Love!

Clem xx

Stop raining! It's only confirming my stereotypes!

I didn’t think it was possible, but in every town I have been since leaving Spain it has rained. This has varied from light showers settling in to form cold and damp nights, or heavy downpours bought on by thunderstorms.

I am now sitting in Kiel, typing furiously to try to catch-up on the last few cities worth of blogs (the count stands at 4 including this one). The journey continues in Vienna.

Random cathedral on my walk

As I waited at Salzburg Westbanhopf the sky went from grey and overcast to purple and angry; very soon I could hear thunder over the sound of the trains, and lightening illuminated in the face of the hills and electric lines. This made me more than a little nervous; waiting on a train station platform in the open whilst it poured was not going to be fun. By the time I boarded the train it was raining heavily, at an angle that would’ve ensured I was soaked had I stayed on the platform any longer. The train ride was comfortable and relatively short (only three and a half hours this time!) and I arrived in Vienna to markedly better weather and an easy to find info point; I picked up a map and set out for my next stopover, the “Hostel Ruthenstein”.

Ridiculously green

The hostel was very close to the station, and after a short walk down Mariahilferstraβe (passing several other hostels on the way) I arrived ready to find dinner; aware that everything would be closing very soon (it was almost six) and that I also needed lunch for the next day. Being a Sunday everything was going to be closed, so I had to think ahead (parents, be proud). I went for a walk and saw a bit of the city, finding a cheerful little corner store where I made friends with the owner and employees before I headed back to the hostel.

The hostel itself was quite nice; very friendly with a fair few people. As I was cooking I met a young Canadian couple from British Columbia who were taking their “delayed honeymoon” and travelling around Europe together for 6 weeks. We ended up eating together and having a lovely time. I turned in to bed early, still recovering from the excessively long train train rides and exhaustion catching up on me from not taking a break.

Statues

The next morning my plan was to explore. I had my trusty city map (these things are life-saving) and had plotted my course, ready to make the most of the time I had and see a lot.

My first stop was the amazing Schonbrunn Palace. Built in the late 17th century, the Palace houses the most tranquil and beautiful gardens I have ever had the pleasure of lazing in, and the most elaborate rooms inside. I found myself taking time out  just to sit and relax and watch life pass by in the sun. The gardens are of every shade of green linked by paths and arboured walkways, with hidden pathways and lovely cool stone benches to relax on when you tire of wandering.

Schloss Schonbrunn

After spending quite a few hours in the Palace, I made my way back into the street, aiming to walk to the other side of the city to the Older part of the city and Museums quarter. I walked the entire length of Mariahilferstrasse, passing the main shopping district, the Museums (there are too many to name and I didn't go in-I was on both a time and money budget!), making my way to Stephansdome, the major Cathedral in Vienna, also passing the Spanish Riding School on the way.

Stephansdome

I spent some time milling in the square outside of the cathedral, soaking up the atmosphere, keeping out of the way of tourists and taking my photos before heading back along Mariahilferstrasse to the hostel. One of the things that constantly amazes me is the way in which public spaces are used by the local people and the atmosphere that accompanies this. There were buskers and street artists of all different types, side by side with coffee shops, food stands and little children running around. I will really miss the way in which Europe is so relaxed and communal, and how people actually use the spaces available to them on a regular basis.



I found a deserted pathway. It was so peaceful.



I returned to the hostel, utterly exhausted but completely satisfied with my day of sightseeing. By walking everywhere I had managed to see so much of the city that wasn't in the guidebook; the Vienna that I felt was more local and less touristy.

Once I'd made my way back to the hostel I cooked dinner and relaxed for a while with another lovely young woman who was staying at the hostel, after which I headed to bed to get an early night, as I was catching the train to Prague the next morning and it was going to be a long ride yet again. Therefore I will leave this blog here. The next post will be rather more interesting, as the train ride was one of the most unexpected adventures yet!

Until next time!

Love Love!

Clem xx

And THAT’s why the population is so small.

Ok. Before anyone says anything, I know I am ridiculously behind with these blog updates. So,without further ado, I give you "Salzburg".

The train ride. I felt spoilt by the scenery

Salzburg, home of Mozart and the Von Trapp family. It is also home to a flamboyant tour guide, awesome hostel and quaint scenery. My time in Salzburg was far too short; however, it holds the first “touristy” venture of my trip, and what a venture it was!

After another absolutely beautiful train ride I arrived in Salzburg in the late afternoon on the 4^th to overcast weather and a train station in the middle of renovations. I managed to find my way to the info point and grab a map and some help with directions, before heading off to find my hostel, “The YoHo”.

“The YoHo” is a cute little building in the back streets of old town Salzburg. Coloured yellow (incidentally, the same as the palaces *gasps*) it is a newly renovated building, holding a small kitchen and laundry in the basement; above which sits a bar and kitchen alongside the reception. My room was nice and unoccupied for the time being so I dropped my things in my locker and set off to explore.

Mirabella Church

Although I had a map, it was the tourist days of old that came out as I walked in two circles around the block before deciding to use general guesswork and saying “I think it’s in this direction” and starting to walk.

I managed to find my way to the Mirabella Church an Palace and find not only an ATM but a supermarket. I was flushed with success, and returned home as night fell to a nice dinner of "instant ramen" (the Chinese ladies laughed with me on this one-they were also cooking it!). I was exhausted, so after dinner went to bed early. The fascinating thing about sitting on a train for hours is that it actually tires you out when you have actually done nothing except stare blankly out of the window.

Schloss Leopoldskron

However, as I sat to eat in the basement reading the graffiti scribbled all over the walls and door (it adds character, apparently) I was torn.

Those of you who know me fairly well will know that I detest anything remotely “touristy”. This includes guided tours in large groups, loud and conspicuous map reading, and any sort of photo that includes a ridiculous pose. But I was in Salzburg-the home of the Von Trapps and Mozart! Surely I had to do something?

I was torn; to go on a tour in a big painted bus; piling on and off at every stop and taking enough photos to fill 3 albums on Facebook, or to do my own guided tour; the guide being my trusty map and the group being me?

20, going on 16 going on 17

I bit the bullet; I wanted to see the Lakes District and doubted that I would get there on my own,so I went to the reception and bought a ticket on the Panorama “Sound of Music Tour” for the next morning.

I trundled off to bed, planning for an early night but not quite getting there (oh hello there 11:30pm), and awoke the next morning to face the music.

I walked my pack downstairs to the luggage hold and checked out; as I did meeting the tour guide and being told I not only looked Austrian, but like “Little Gretel all grown up”.  This was the first indication of how my day was to go. As I returned from the basement and made more conversation with our overly flamboyant, middle aged tour guide, I met three young American girls who were also staying in the hostel but were living in Vienna rather than travelling around for a long time. Eliza, Rebecca and Emily were all friendly and excited, so I joined up with them to experience the one and only “Sound of Music” tour.

Do you have confidence?

As we boarded the bus, we soon found our Tour Guide, Peter, to be quite the character. He made friends and then lost them again by telling female “kitchen” jokes, and male “beer bottle neck” jokes (I won’t’ repeat them, Google is your friend) but his knowledge was astounding. He talked nonstop for the first 2 hours, only falling quiet when someone was asking a question or there was music playing.

I found him hilarious. His voice bore more than a slight resemblance to Jon Lovitz ("Mel" from "The Benchwarmers" movie) yet he looked something like "Charlie", from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". My day was to be filled with Pop Culture references and this was just the beginning!  

Born in Austria and raised in the United States, he was quite lovely, and promised to take care of us if the “criminal” bus driver Ferdinand did anything out of line. He wasn't actually a criminal, but we had "fun" laughing nervously at the joke whilst he told us all the facts about the film interspersed with jokes and anecdotes about his time as a tour bus driver.

Lookout over St Gilgens

We started to tour by going through Salzburg itself; driving past some of the sights, before heading out to the “ice rink” which also doubles as the place where Maria and the children capsized the canoe. Schloss Leopoldskron, the Palace on the other side also provided the set of the gardens of the Von Trapp manor. After hearing Peter’s “Lovely speech” we hightailed it out of there toward the Hellbrunn Palace, driving past the actual palace (which is now the Mozart Music School) used as the Von Trapp manor; the lane which Maria skips down singing “I have confidence” and finally to our destination of the gazebo in which Rolf and Maria dance and sing “16 going on 17”. Peter jovially explained that it was locked a few years ago because an 80 year old woman had fallen and broken her hip trying to dance like Maria (whether or not this is true or his fabrication remains to be seen). It was originally set in the grounds of Schloss Leoopoldskron; however the owners soon got sick of people climbing the walls to see it in the 70s and relocated it to the other Palace.

St Gilgens

After taking our photos we again boarded the bus for a slightly longer ride, this time out to the lakes district. On the way was stopped on a lookout (alongside the other 3 tour buses) over St Gilgen, the place where Mozart's mother grew up.

We moved on from the lookout and made our way to the Church of St Michael's where the wedding scene was filmed. It was quite beautiful and the interior is lavishly decorated with gold highlights and Jesus figurines, as well as a beautiful old black and gold organ.

St Michael's Church

After this we had free time, effectively marking the end of the tour, and Peter had told us that the best “apfelstrudel” (Apple Strudel) in the world was served in a restaurant opposite the church. Hearing this, Emily, Rebecca, Eliza and I made our way to the restaurant for a while; sitting and indulging in delicious sweets and cakes. The strudel was incredibly delicious, and we were left feeling more than content as we left the restaurantAs we boarded the bus, the “Sound of Music” anniversary DVD was put on, showing us some of the sights we had seen already, but also some that we hadn’t had time to discover; the Mirabella Gardens being amongst them. We travelled along a part of the original autobahn built by the Nazis (which I found slightly unsettling but altogether very cool) and made it back to Salzburg by 1:30, leaving plenty of time for me to collect my baggage and hop on the train for the next part of my journey to Vienna. This post ends here as the next part of my journey makes it's way to Vienna, the musical city.

Until next time!

Love Love!

Clem xx

Well, this is interesting.

I’m now sitting on a train between Lucerne and Salzburg and it is absolutely stunning. We have passed large, blue, glass-like lakes, forests of all different shades of green and more snow covered mountains, whose valleys are filled with small villages with cute front gardens and brown tiled rooves.  The sky is a clear light blue and the snow is a brilliant white under the sunshine. Our next stop is Innsbruck and after that, Salzburg, land of Mozart and “The Sound of Music”. As I leave behind beautiful Switzerland, I reflect on my last night in Lucerne.

View from the train 1

I arrived in Lucerne just after noon on the 3^rd, planning only a single night’s stay and catching the train to Salzburg via Zurich the next morning. I had been debating over whether to go to Zurich and stay the night there instead, but after some decent, heavily influenced by wine research, decided on Lucerne. I was not sure what to expect as I had been told that Lucerne was beautiful, however I was coming from Interlaken, meaning my expectations of beauty were set very, very high.

Needless to say the two places are incredibly different-one is a metropolis and the other a small mountain city, but the fact remains that I actually preferred Interlaken, and found the scenery infinitely more beautiful.

View from the train 2

However as a city, Lucerne is still lovely. It is set around a large lake in a valley between the Alps. The mountains were snow-capped and the flowers in full bloom as I set out to explore after finding my way to the hostel and having a quick catch-up with Australia.

My hostel, Twins Minbak, was an interesting experience. Simply put, it primarily (in my opinion) catered to Korean tourists without much thought to others. I was one of only two non-Korean people staying in the hostel, the other being a person I had actually met at Interlaken and who had caught a later train into Lucerne. We were made to take our shoes off before entering the hostel and wear traditional Korean slippers instead whilst we stored our shoes in a communal set of draws. There were two rooms with twelve beds each; one for females and one for males, and only one bathroom with a shower for each gender. Needless to say I was glad that the hostel wasn’t at full capacity (whilst it was still fairly full). The owner/receptionist also thought it ok to let her dog stay inside, which I was not so keen on, finding it not only strange but incredibly unhygienic.

Lucern

Small complaints aside, it was a (uncomfortable) bed for the night, and I wasn’t planning on spending much time there anyway.

I had decided after consulting my map that my first stop on my walking tour would be the Lion monument, after which I would walk to the Rampart wall, and then I would meander my way down to the river and cross the historic bridges, before finding a supermarket and taking care of my food situation.

The Lion Monument, whilst I’m not sure what it actually commemorates, was quite nice. It is basically a carving of a sleeping lion set into a rock wall, at the base of which is a lovely little pond surrounded by grand old trees and pretty flower beds. It had Latin writing underneath, but Latin isn’t exactly a specialty of mine, and so the meaning goes unknown until I remember to Google search it.

Lion Monument

After spending some time people watching at the Lion monument, I made my way through the “Old Town” to the Rampart wall; it has a proper name but it reminded me more of the medina walls in Morocco. I walked inside and climbed the set of stairs up the first tower into the ramparts, walking along until I found another tower to explore. It was called “the Clock Tower” and contained old yet still functioning clocks, showing all of the inner workings and the way in which it connected to the swinging weights.  Knowing that I would give a horrible description when it came to this blog, I took a video to better explain myself. Enjoy!

I climbed back down the tower and continued on the walk, passing some lovely views of the surrounding mountains and the city. I made my way back down to the river behind the wall, walking beside it until I came to the first of two historic wooden bridges, which I promptly crossed. It was a beautiful afternoon and the tourists were out in force, so as I had finished my walking tour I meandered until I found myself a supermarket.

The Wall

After taking care of my food situation (don’t judge me-travelling makes me hungry *giggles*) I returned to the hostel, fully prepared for judgement as I ate my two minute noodles in an Asian majority hostel. To put this in perspective, the hostel had a proper rice pressure cooker and an array of sauces including Soy, fish and chilli alongside the normal salt and pepper. I felt my microwaveable “just add water” noodles were inadequate, but found it slightly hilarious at the same time.

I spent the rest of the night booking and planning for the next month or so, making dates to see friends and looking up train timetables. It wasn’t particularly thrilling, but exhaustion is setting in so I take my rest where I can get it.

I awoke early the next morning; eating my breakfast and hurrying on my way. The train that I wanted to catch didn’t leave until 9:35am; however I needed to get to the station early in order to book my ticket through to Salzburg. I boarded my train to Zurich and before I knew it was on my way.

Historic Bridge

This brings us to now, 4 hours later and sitting in the train in Innsbruck station. I have two hours to go on this train ride before I arrive in Salzburg, and I plan on using it to plan how the hell I’m going to fit everything in to my 24hours when I get there. As I look out over Innsbruck, whilst I’m sure it’s beautiful I’m glad I’m leaving it behind for Salzburg. The scenery that we have passed already leaves me in no doubt that Salzburg will be stunning, and I’m quite keen to make the most of the birthplace of Mozart and the setting of “The Sound of Music”. Be expecting some sort of “Maria” moment for the next blog. If I’m going to do the whole “tourist” thing, I’m going to do it well!

Until next time!

Love Love!

Clem xx