As a Valentines treat, we took a trip en route to Vienna to a church filled with bones! It wasn't really a V-day treat but it was actually amazing! The bones are not simply displayed in any old way though, they are piled up, made into garlands and chandeliers and generally employed as interior decor! I will add pics as soon as I'm able to.
The drive over the border was interesting, going through towns and villages rather than just motorway as well as an amusing rest stop at Excalibur City - a service station decorated with castles, knights and other paraphenalia as well as a giant globe, a model resembling She-Ra and dolphins in a frozen-over pond.
Once in Vienna we visited (flyyyyying visit) the Schonbrunn castle and arrived at Wombats hostel. A few of us had dinner at a restaurant cheesily named Mozarts, but with good food, then it was drinks back at the hostel for all. There was dancing to be done, mostly on the tables...
Friday 22 February 2008
prague - 13th feb 2008
Happily woke sans hangover; breakfast at the hostel and then out to do some sightseeing. Saw, amongst others, Wenceslas Sq & the big moving clock, I think it's astronomical or something? Just re-read that sentence and I think my intelligence may be ebbing away by the minute on this trip! Time to learn a new skill. Poker, maybe - or just extra bus magnetic hangman games for me?
Anyway, I also saw Charles Bridge of course, the castle and nearly a Barbie exhibition, except that it was up a lot of stairs and cost lots. Plus a funky modern building with what looked like a birds nest on top. This normal-speed tourism is quite nice really. Best not get too used to it though, sure there will be a lot more speed-visits to come!
Anyway, I also saw Charles Bridge of course, the castle and nearly a Barbie exhibition, except that it was up a lot of stairs and cost lots. Plus a funky modern building with what looked like a birds nest on top. This normal-speed tourism is quite nice really. Best not get too used to it though, sure there will be a lot more speed-visits to come!
Wednesday 13 February 2008
st goar to prague - 12th feb 2008
If it's Tuesday, then this must be Prague? We set off early in Germany, having said our goodbyes to our gracious hosts, Hermann and his wife, cold but well rested. The bus headed off at a good pace along the Rhine in a fog (both metaphorical, after the wine, and meteorological). The journey was uneventful but for a wee lecture about group tardiness at stops.
The only sign we had crossed the border into the Czech Republic (now an open border with not even a passport check!) was a greyness of sky descending upon the earth. Eastern Europe, could you be throwing me a cliche?
Arriving after 5 at our hostel in Prague, we are informed that the place has a huge bar, free internet access as well as sauna, swimming pool and TV lounge. A great hostel for sure and a welcome increase in temperature from Hermann's! We had a delicious buffet & wine on Ozbus. The free wine was the downfall - quite literally - of one Ozbuser, so drunk that no-one could fail to notice, especially when she fell down twice in a minute! Bless. It wasn't me, by the way!!!
The group (well most of it, anyway) headed out to Muzeum on the metro - first to a bar called Beer Factory, then to a bar/club followed finally by a last club playing cheesy music.
The only sign we had crossed the border into the Czech Republic (now an open border with not even a passport check!) was a greyness of sky descending upon the earth. Eastern Europe, could you be throwing me a cliche?
Arriving after 5 at our hostel in Prague, we are informed that the place has a huge bar, free internet access as well as sauna, swimming pool and TV lounge. A great hostel for sure and a welcome increase in temperature from Hermann's! We had a delicious buffet & wine on Ozbus. The free wine was the downfall - quite literally - of one Ozbuser, so drunk that no-one could fail to notice, especially when she fell down twice in a minute! Bless. It wasn't me, by the way!!!
The group (well most of it, anyway) headed out to Muzeum on the metro - first to a bar called Beer Factory, then to a bar/club followed finally by a last club playing cheesy music.
brugge to st goar - 11th/12th feb 2008
We hit the road from the hostel in Brugge just after 9am - or so we thought - the bin men had other ideas! We were stuck behind them for 15-20 mins and then hit bad traffic due to an overturned lorry on the motorway. However, we soon got going and then the dreaded moment arrived - we each had to introduce ourselves on the bus microphone (age optional!) with a potted career/geographical history and the answers to the following: did we quit our jobs to come on Ozbus? what are our plans post-Sydney? what are we most looking forward to? and of course the questions we were all dying to have answered abut our fellow travellers: favourite ice cream flavour? favourite mythical creature? I discovered that the youngest Ozbusers are 18 and the oldest will be 70 while we are away. I am impressed! There's also a challenge for the first person who can name everyone on the bus. I very much doubt it will be me!
After the introductions were over, we crossed the border into Germany - hooray, my first new country of the trip! The terrain became almost instantly less flat - as if someone had flicked a switch, causing hills & mountains to pop up out of the earth! Arriving in Heidelberg late in the afternoon, we had a flying hour and a quarter to explore. While some walked up to the castle, high above the town, I and a few others decided to pursure the vital exploits of shopping, eating crepes and a bloody good cup of tea.
Once back on the road, with darkness falling around us, we were bound for Hermann The German's (I kid you not) in a town called St Goar. Impressions of Germany so far are of friendly people (the 3 or 4 I met were anyway!), incredibly clean streets and pretty houses with a few Schlosses and Kircher (castles and churches to you) lit up in between.
As we drove, I overheard someone talking about the near future when everyone has let their hair down and "the gloves come off" so to speak. I'm really looking forward to that too - just chilling out with some proper friends - maybe even friends for life?
Hermann's, open out of season just for our group of 42, was a small, quaint place with dorm rooms and some caravans. Our first night needing sleeping bags and I had a great sleep, surprised by the warmth from my tiny sleeping bag! Of course before that was dinner - Schnitzel, some traditional German fare, and on to the bar & some wine tasting. A fab chance to bond a bit more with everyone. The group is already gelling a lot more and a night out in Prague, which is fast approaching, will surely cement that?
After the introductions were over, we crossed the border into Germany - hooray, my first new country of the trip! The terrain became almost instantly less flat - as if someone had flicked a switch, causing hills & mountains to pop up out of the earth! Arriving in Heidelberg late in the afternoon, we had a flying hour and a quarter to explore. While some walked up to the castle, high above the town, I and a few others decided to pursure the vital exploits of shopping, eating crepes and a bloody good cup of tea.
Once back on the road, with darkness falling around us, we were bound for Hermann The German's (I kid you not) in a town called St Goar. Impressions of Germany so far are of friendly people (the 3 or 4 I met were anyway!), incredibly clean streets and pretty houses with a few Schlosses and Kircher (castles and churches to you) lit up in between.
As we drove, I overheard someone talking about the near future when everyone has let their hair down and "the gloves come off" so to speak. I'm really looking forward to that too - just chilling out with some proper friends - maybe even friends for life?
Hermann's, open out of season just for our group of 42, was a small, quaint place with dorm rooms and some caravans. Our first night needing sleeping bags and I had a great sleep, surprised by the warmth from my tiny sleeping bag! Of course before that was dinner - Schnitzel, some traditional German fare, and on to the bar & some wine tasting. A fab chance to bond a bit more with everyone. The group is already gelling a lot more and a night out in Prague, which is fast approaching, will surely cement that?
up to 10th Feb 2008
After a hectic week and a half involving an amazing wedding in Sweden and a lot of packing, I am finally on my way. On Friday and Saturday I met up with some fellow Ozbus passengers who confirmed my worst fears. They are all as nuts as I am and as raring to get on the road as me.
Sunday morning was a very early start and I arrived at Cleopatra's Needle, our assigned starting point for the trip, just after 7am. The first leg of the journey was to take us from London to Dover on the bus, then on the ferry to Calais and back on the bus to Brugge. However the bus wasn't as I expected, there was no Ozbus sign on the side and it seemed like any bus I'd been on a school trip on! Colin, our tour leader, told us what had happened. When the bus departed from Galway the previous day, it broke down. The Ozbusers then got on a train instead, which then also proceeded to break down. Surely I can't have been the only one who checked the location of lifeboats & lifejackets on the ferry after that?!
We made good time to Dover to pick up a last passenger & hop on an early ferry. I was just tucking into a Full English when the captain made an announcement of "engine problems". Oh dear! Well, we departed only a half hour late and all was well with the crossing. I took some photos on deck of the famous White Cliffs...though I must confess I didn't feel any emotion towards them - not like when I was walking through my beloved London at sunrise to get on the bus. I felt sadder than expected when I said goodbye to/got good luck messages from my friends and family as well - hope they don't forget about me! I'm just going to think of all the stories I'll be able to tell them when I return.
On the road to Brugge, I was peer pressured...into agreeing to a bike tour of the city. After initial fears over the "not my bike"/cobbled streets combo, I really enjoyed it. Especially the beer at the end. And not all the scary horses that kept appearing right behind us from nowhere!
Dinner and a few delicious cherry beers at the hostel later and it was an earlyish night to end an exciting day.
Sunday morning was a very early start and I arrived at Cleopatra's Needle, our assigned starting point for the trip, just after 7am. The first leg of the journey was to take us from London to Dover on the bus, then on the ferry to Calais and back on the bus to Brugge. However the bus wasn't as I expected, there was no Ozbus sign on the side and it seemed like any bus I'd been on a school trip on! Colin, our tour leader, told us what had happened. When the bus departed from Galway the previous day, it broke down. The Ozbusers then got on a train instead, which then also proceeded to break down. Surely I can't have been the only one who checked the location of lifeboats & lifejackets on the ferry after that?!
We made good time to Dover to pick up a last passenger & hop on an early ferry. I was just tucking into a Full English when the captain made an announcement of "engine problems". Oh dear! Well, we departed only a half hour late and all was well with the crossing. I took some photos on deck of the famous White Cliffs...though I must confess I didn't feel any emotion towards them - not like when I was walking through my beloved London at sunrise to get on the bus. I felt sadder than expected when I said goodbye to/got good luck messages from my friends and family as well - hope they don't forget about me! I'm just going to think of all the stories I'll be able to tell them when I return.
On the road to Brugge, I was peer pressured...into agreeing to a bike tour of the city. After initial fears over the "not my bike"/cobbled streets combo, I really enjoyed it. Especially the beer at the end. And not all the scary horses that kept appearing right behind us from nowhere!
Dinner and a few delicious cherry beers at the hostel later and it was an earlyish night to end an exciting day.
Wednesday 30 January 2008
So much to do, so little time!
So, here we are. I left work on Friday - an epic work day that ended at 8pm after the computer system broke and we, as Holidays Team, fixed it by manually logging in and one by one saving over 6,000 files. You would think after a day like that I'd be euphoric at leaving. Instead, I felt a bit lost really.
However, it's now Wednesday. I've had a brilliant leaving do on Saturday (thanks to all my friends - guys, I had an amazing night)...and I'm finally getting the hang of this 'not working' malarkey. I have so much to do, much of which involves shopping (as all will testify, something I'm very good at) and the rest packing (I myself will testify, something I am terrible at and loathe to perform).
I have 10 and a bit days before I set off. Set off for where, you ask? I am heading to the other side of the globe - Sydney, to be exact, on a 3-month bus trip with over 30 strangers. I can't wait! The concept of my trip has caused much controversy among all who have heard about it (responses ranging from "You lucky b**tard!" to "A bus?? Why on EARTH??? There are planes, you know!" and not much in between). But one thing remains constant: it is a major talking point. So here, over the next few months, I will be keeping a note of my journey. Not with the sole purpose of boring the pants off all my friends and family - but also for myself, as a note of what happens to me, so that I may look back on it (fondly or otherwise!) in years to come.
On that note, I had better get back to the matter in hand. The dreaded sorting of possessions for the trip of a lifetime.
However, it's now Wednesday. I've had a brilliant leaving do on Saturday (thanks to all my friends - guys, I had an amazing night)...and I'm finally getting the hang of this 'not working' malarkey. I have so much to do, much of which involves shopping (as all will testify, something I'm very good at) and the rest packing (I myself will testify, something I am terrible at and loathe to perform).
I have 10 and a bit days before I set off. Set off for where, you ask? I am heading to the other side of the globe - Sydney, to be exact, on a 3-month bus trip with over 30 strangers. I can't wait! The concept of my trip has caused much controversy among all who have heard about it (responses ranging from "You lucky b**tard!" to "A bus?? Why on EARTH??? There are planes, you know!" and not much in between). But one thing remains constant: it is a major talking point. So here, over the next few months, I will be keeping a note of my journey. Not with the sole purpose of boring the pants off all my friends and family - but also for myself, as a note of what happens to me, so that I may look back on it (fondly or otherwise!) in years to come.
On that note, I had better get back to the matter in hand. The dreaded sorting of possessions for the trip of a lifetime.
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