Hey...
Well we are in London ATM and about to take off back to Paris.
Our last few days in Russia were great. We did heaps of fun things. That place was a really good stop on the trip, we love saint petersburg!!! Anyway we flew out early and got a transfer from the hotel to the airport, but the dude dropped us at the wrong terminal, errr, so we had to get another taxi to the other terminal. He was a bright one that guy.
When we got to Paris we just stayed in a hotel for a few hours and slept until we flew out to London.
Well the flight to London was quick and we got the around 9 at night. Then the little problems began to start. The number my friend Janos gave us to contact him on wasn't working, so were got stuck at the airport all night. Janos and irini were expecting us all night, but we didn't want to just turn up. Haha, so we slept at the London airport on these rough benches. By the time I got in contact with Janos around 12am midnight, it was too late to catch the tube to his place. We were soooo tired the next day!!! It ruined the next day of sightseeing, as we just slept and stuff. Anyway, we did arrive safe and sound eventually, and Janos and irini have been very good to us the whole time we have stayed. It has been great being he in London. Yesterday we looked all around the city seeing some sights, and walking alot. We met up with mckenzie glee I'll for lunch, and then met up with Sarah and Andy young. It was good to have 5 friends in London.. Hahah also, the 2 days we were here the weather has been beautiful. Everyone has been saying we brought the nice weather. It's true, because we are leaving today and it looks like the rain may start to fall as we jet back off to Paris.
So yeah, one more day in Paris and then we fly home. The trip has been a great experience for me and for maddy. She thought she would get more home sick but she has pulled through well.
London has turned out to be really good, and we like it alot.
Well we will maybe write once again, then it's back to normal life.
Thanks for looking at the blog.
Love maddy and jay
Cya all very soon!!!!!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
From RUSSIA with Love!!!!
Hello hello hello.
Well... It's currently our last day in Russia, and we only just got some Internet in a pub. Haha, as our hotels Internet died. Maddys sister MEL is here with us, so it has been extremely fun! The weather has been beautiful everyday and the people have been surprisingly friendly, but don't speak any English..haha
Well here is how our 3 days have gone!!!!
We flew in from prague and got the hotel taxi into the city. On the way into town we were thinking this might not have been a very idea to come here, as the place was so scummy. We drove through areas where I would not have gotten out of the car!!! If we would have, we probably would never been found again!! Maddy and Mel were thinking the same..haha but eventually the streets became cleaner and stuff as we got into the city.. So our 1st sights were not the best intro to what is actually a beautiful city with beautiful buildings and parks.
We felt very safe on the streets walking around. Funny enough though, it wasn't the police that made us feel safe, they are actually pretty scary, and seem like they would demand money off us. Lucky it hasn't happened yet!!!!! Fingers crossed we have no run ins before tomorrow morning!!!!!
Our hotel is in the most awesome location! It's like 100metres from the hermitage and everything else is so close. We thank maddy for it everyday. But the hotel room is tiny, and we have all 3 of us to accommodate. The hotel staff thought the was only 2 of us coming and stressed out hard..haha it has worked out, but it's a tight fit. Fun though!! The 1st night Mel and myself slept with our heads 30cm apart, but last night it was maddys turn. Haha our snoring orchestra must have been nearly as good as the one we heard at the ballet!!
Our first day we settled in fast and got out and saw most of the sights, but we realized some places were shut on Wednesday's!!! Damn!!other we went around to places like the church of the spilled blood but couldn't get in..errrrr but we did manage to get into the back door of the Russian museum..haha maddy go us in free being royalty here. And later that afternoon we visited the hermitage which was amazing. We also got in free because of maddy, and were shown secret parts of the winter palace reserved only for royal eyes! Haha the rooms were beautiful, and I even got yelled at in Russian for taking a picture of something I shouldn't have.. Very scared! Haha
Lunches and dinners were our saviour though. Everyone said it was expesive here, but we found retaurants that were awesome and cheap. Some we have paid as little as 5 Aussie bucks for a decent plate of food. The chicken here is the best!!! That night for dnner though, we went to the supermarket and got some food which we ate at the park.. It was a nice park, but the pidgins again had maddy on their radar. We aren't sure why, but they always go for her.. We ended up moving on from the park at her demand!! It was funny!! She is terrified of them!(note: Mel wanted all to know that maddy is freaked out by pidgins, and none attacked her!)
Our second day on the town we got out early! But it all fell apart in our adventures to post a package home. We wanted to go to this hotel that the guide book said had a courier service... Blah blah blah... So we walked in the stinking hot sun up nevinksi prospect looking for it, looking at the building numbers. We even got on a bus which was fun. Little did we know that the stupid book had the address wrong, and we were looking on the wrong side of the road. Haha so we got off the bus and were about to give up when we saw it! Haha so we went in, and the hotel people were funny. It turns out they didn't send packages at all. They did say we could try russian post, which when asked how long it would take, responded hesitantly saying in their Russia accents "it can maybe take a month or longer" Hahaha Bloody guide book!!! Seriously don't use guide books! So we ended up sitting in this fancy hotel and paid 1000 rubles for 3 drinks. Hahaha my fanta cost $10.... hahaha what a rip, but it was worth sitting in the air conditioning in the foyer of this beautiful hotel.
After this failure we were stuffed, and ended up getting a nice lunch and falling asleep in the hotel for a little longer than we planned..hahaha we were a bit stressed that we might miss the ballet at the meriinsky theatre!!! Well we got there on time, and got our tickets. The theatre itself was amazing. It was so old and beautiful. Type it in on google and have a look. The ballet was the best too.. I thought I would maybe like it a little as I'm up for anything, but it was actually awesome. After each scene the crowd would go nuts and the dancers were loving it! Bravo bravo etc and clapping, our hands were sore after a few scenes. Our seats were great. Mel did a great job picking them. The ballet was a pirate theme. Really cool. After the ballet we went to this Georgian restaurant that we had been eyeing off.. It ending up being amazing, with delicious food! The dumplings we had were the best ever!!! Was a great night all together.
Well I'll end it there, but Russia has been beyond anything we could have imagined. Maddy and mel have been running round like crazy. Buying cool things and all the fun stuff.
Petersburg has been great. It's so good having so much daylight. We have been out each night late, and it only gets darks at 12:30pm. Very different but cool.
WeLl we are off to London in a day or so, so we will check in again then!
Love jay, maddy and Mel
Well... It's currently our last day in Russia, and we only just got some Internet in a pub. Haha, as our hotels Internet died. Maddys sister MEL is here with us, so it has been extremely fun! The weather has been beautiful everyday and the people have been surprisingly friendly, but don't speak any English..haha
Well here is how our 3 days have gone!!!!
We flew in from prague and got the hotel taxi into the city. On the way into town we were thinking this might not have been a very idea to come here, as the place was so scummy. We drove through areas where I would not have gotten out of the car!!! If we would have, we probably would never been found again!! Maddy and Mel were thinking the same..haha but eventually the streets became cleaner and stuff as we got into the city.. So our 1st sights were not the best intro to what is actually a beautiful city with beautiful buildings and parks.
We felt very safe on the streets walking around. Funny enough though, it wasn't the police that made us feel safe, they are actually pretty scary, and seem like they would demand money off us. Lucky it hasn't happened yet!!!!! Fingers crossed we have no run ins before tomorrow morning!!!!!
Our hotel is in the most awesome location! It's like 100metres from the hermitage and everything else is so close. We thank maddy for it everyday. But the hotel room is tiny, and we have all 3 of us to accommodate. The hotel staff thought the was only 2 of us coming and stressed out hard..haha it has worked out, but it's a tight fit. Fun though!! The 1st night Mel and myself slept with our heads 30cm apart, but last night it was maddys turn. Haha our snoring orchestra must have been nearly as good as the one we heard at the ballet!!
Our first day we settled in fast and got out and saw most of the sights, but we realized some places were shut on Wednesday's!!! Damn!!other we went around to places like the church of the spilled blood but couldn't get in..errrrr but we did manage to get into the back door of the Russian museum..haha maddy go us in free being royalty here. And later that afternoon we visited the hermitage which was amazing. We also got in free because of maddy, and were shown secret parts of the winter palace reserved only for royal eyes! Haha the rooms were beautiful, and I even got yelled at in Russian for taking a picture of something I shouldn't have.. Very scared! Haha
Lunches and dinners were our saviour though. Everyone said it was expesive here, but we found retaurants that were awesome and cheap. Some we have paid as little as 5 Aussie bucks for a decent plate of food. The chicken here is the best!!! That night for dnner though, we went to the supermarket and got some food which we ate at the park.. It was a nice park, but the pidgins again had maddy on their radar. We aren't sure why, but they always go for her.. We ended up moving on from the park at her demand!! It was funny!! She is terrified of them!(note: Mel wanted all to know that maddy is freaked out by pidgins, and none attacked her!)
Our second day on the town we got out early! But it all fell apart in our adventures to post a package home. We wanted to go to this hotel that the guide book said had a courier service... Blah blah blah... So we walked in the stinking hot sun up nevinksi prospect looking for it, looking at the building numbers. We even got on a bus which was fun. Little did we know that the stupid book had the address wrong, and we were looking on the wrong side of the road. Haha so we got off the bus and were about to give up when we saw it! Haha so we went in, and the hotel people were funny. It turns out they didn't send packages at all. They did say we could try russian post, which when asked how long it would take, responded hesitantly saying in their Russia accents "it can maybe take a month or longer" Hahaha Bloody guide book!!! Seriously don't use guide books! So we ended up sitting in this fancy hotel and paid 1000 rubles for 3 drinks. Hahaha my fanta cost $10.... hahaha what a rip, but it was worth sitting in the air conditioning in the foyer of this beautiful hotel.
After this failure we were stuffed, and ended up getting a nice lunch and falling asleep in the hotel for a little longer than we planned..hahaha we were a bit stressed that we might miss the ballet at the meriinsky theatre!!! Well we got there on time, and got our tickets. The theatre itself was amazing. It was so old and beautiful. Type it in on google and have a look. The ballet was the best too.. I thought I would maybe like it a little as I'm up for anything, but it was actually awesome. After each scene the crowd would go nuts and the dancers were loving it! Bravo bravo etc and clapping, our hands were sore after a few scenes. Our seats were great. Mel did a great job picking them. The ballet was a pirate theme. Really cool. After the ballet we went to this Georgian restaurant that we had been eyeing off.. It ending up being amazing, with delicious food! The dumplings we had were the best ever!!! Was a great night all together.
Well I'll end it there, but Russia has been beyond anything we could have imagined. Maddy and mel have been running round like crazy. Buying cool things and all the fun stuff.
Petersburg has been great. It's so good having so much daylight. We have been out each night late, and it only gets darks at 12:30pm. Very different but cool.
WeLl we are off to London in a day or so, so we will check in again then!
Love jay, maddy and Mel
Monday, July 18, 2011
Good times in Beautiful Prague.
Hello and sorry for being slack at blogging!
I feel a little bad as we have a few followers. Sorry guys!
Well we arrived here in prague by train on saturday afternoon with no hassles. The only thing that was annoying about the train were the uncomfortable seats, people sitting in your assigned seats, and dogs on the train... Ewww.. Its so wrong.. I dont even think dogs can go on sydneys trains, let alone an intercity train.
Anywho, we were sad to leave berlin as it was awesome there! But prague has won us over, but not totally. You will find out why if you decide to read the rest of my 1am ramblings!!!!
When we arrived our hotel was only a 100metre walk feom the station. Very happy about that, and our room was very nice. We didnt do too much this afternoon, as the train really make you feel rough. I feel soo bad for the people who travel the whole of europe by train.. Planes are better and cheaper in my opinion.
Our first full day we did a 6 our tour that took us to most of the city sights. Our tour guide was a local czech woman who was very nice and had loads of good information throughtout the trip. We were amazed by some of the stories. This contry has had a rough past.
The tour took us to wenceslas sqaure, the old city square, a cruise along the vltava river, across charles bridge and up to the prague castle and st georges basilica. They were all beautiful places. We found that the city was pretty small, but very nice. Some of e areas such as the old city sqaure were packed with people wantd to see the astronomical clock that is like 600 years old, and on the hour from 9 am to 9pm, the clock cmes alive with the apostles, and the little figures on it move like puppets and ring little bells and so on, which is impressive for a 600 year old clock. Its so old that the astronomical part of the clock, has earth as the centre of the universe, with the sun and other planes surrounding us. Another crazy interesting thing in the old sqaure was the crosses on the ground, wich marked the place where lots of protestants were tortured on the streets. The guide said it wasnt great to be a protestant at the time in the city, forget the year, but they basically were tortured, by having limbs cut off one at a time, and then killed a time after. It was pretty barbaric, but what was worse was that they hung a few of the heads of the protestants at the city entrance for 40 years to stem the influx of protestants into the city. Crazy. At wesceslas sqaure, which we saw alot of as out hotel was close, was the scene of the invasion of the nazis as they rolled into town in their tanks. There is a big musem at the top of the sqaure, and we did alot of shopping along the streets here. One of the stories our guide told us was the story of 2 students, jan palach and jan zajic who were protested against communism in 1969. This totally blew my mind. Both of the 20 year old men committed suicide by setting themselves alight in the sqaure in protest. Absolutely nuts. Made me think how bad it would have been to live here up until novemeber 1989.
Charles bridge as cool too, with views to all the city, and heaps of statues and things that you touch and make a wish at. I have no idea what these little monuments are called, but the whole monument is black, bar the little sections, which millions have touched which are a goldy colour. I saw another statue like this up at the palace of a naked boy, that was all black bar one place on his body. I have no idea why people touched him there. Sickos.
Prague castle was also beautiful, along with st georges basillica. The views fom the hill over the city are really nice. Our camera ran out of puff wile we were there the first day, so i got up at like 7 and ventured across the city on the train to get the photos this mornng. It was very different there with no tourists. So quiet. Had a good laugh up there though. At the palace they have guards, which stand there for an hour, very still, no smiles, no talking. Each hour they do a changjng of the guards. Its a cool little process which im sure you can look at on youtube. Anyway they are really serious, and were very serious yesterda in front of 300 or so tourists. But this morning was a little different. I was the only person therre at the 8am changing of the guards. All was normal during the change, with marching and the clicking of their shoes and the swift movements of there guns. It really is cool. But as they changed, and the guard who has been standing for an hour walked forward, he let off the loudest fart i had heard in ages, and they all cracked up for abour 2 seconds before pulling it back together for me..haha i had been fiming it right up to ths part and had just stopped the camera. I was so annoyed that i had missed out on capturing it. Oh well. The memory makes me laugh.. I hope he didnt get in too much trouble. Poor fella.
The food here has been great. We tried sour crout and all that, and had been really getting into trying all this food. Its a shame though, as both of maddys dinners have been ruined by finding a hair in her food each time. Talk abouy bad luck. I must have shovelled them straight in..haha
Maddy bought some new clothes today and was very happy. We visited the sex museum here which everyone has raved on aout, but it made us feel ill, so we left after a very quick tour.
Thngs are pretty cheap here, like choclates and drinks frm the supermarkets in comparison with italy and france. Gee they rip you off over there. But its definently a bit cheaper than home which is great. It was cool using koruns too, which s the currency here, its fun aftEr using euro for a while. We are worried about russia, and how expensive it will be..haha you all know we are pretty stingey with our money! But it should be great. We leave for st petersburg at like 11 am tmorrow morning, so we are excited, but a little worried. I guess we have felt like that everywhere, but russia is definently another level. Hope they let us in. We all know maddy is from russia, so she will get in, but im scared they will turn me away with my dirt clothes and peeling sunburn..hahaha luckily i had a shave today..
Well i better stop now. Im sure i missed something i wanted to say, but oh well.
Its time for bed, and must be around 2 am. Haha
Make sure you follow us in russia.
Speak soon
Maddy and jay
I feel a little bad as we have a few followers. Sorry guys!
Well we arrived here in prague by train on saturday afternoon with no hassles. The only thing that was annoying about the train were the uncomfortable seats, people sitting in your assigned seats, and dogs on the train... Ewww.. Its so wrong.. I dont even think dogs can go on sydneys trains, let alone an intercity train.
Anywho, we were sad to leave berlin as it was awesome there! But prague has won us over, but not totally. You will find out why if you decide to read the rest of my 1am ramblings!!!!
When we arrived our hotel was only a 100metre walk feom the station. Very happy about that, and our room was very nice. We didnt do too much this afternoon, as the train really make you feel rough. I feel soo bad for the people who travel the whole of europe by train.. Planes are better and cheaper in my opinion.
Our first full day we did a 6 our tour that took us to most of the city sights. Our tour guide was a local czech woman who was very nice and had loads of good information throughtout the trip. We were amazed by some of the stories. This contry has had a rough past.
The tour took us to wenceslas sqaure, the old city square, a cruise along the vltava river, across charles bridge and up to the prague castle and st georges basilica. They were all beautiful places. We found that the city was pretty small, but very nice. Some of e areas such as the old city sqaure were packed with people wantd to see the astronomical clock that is like 600 years old, and on the hour from 9 am to 9pm, the clock cmes alive with the apostles, and the little figures on it move like puppets and ring little bells and so on, which is impressive for a 600 year old clock. Its so old that the astronomical part of the clock, has earth as the centre of the universe, with the sun and other planes surrounding us. Another crazy interesting thing in the old sqaure was the crosses on the ground, wich marked the place where lots of protestants were tortured on the streets. The guide said it wasnt great to be a protestant at the time in the city, forget the year, but they basically were tortured, by having limbs cut off one at a time, and then killed a time after. It was pretty barbaric, but what was worse was that they hung a few of the heads of the protestants at the city entrance for 40 years to stem the influx of protestants into the city. Crazy. At wesceslas sqaure, which we saw alot of as out hotel was close, was the scene of the invasion of the nazis as they rolled into town in their tanks. There is a big musem at the top of the sqaure, and we did alot of shopping along the streets here. One of the stories our guide told us was the story of 2 students, jan palach and jan zajic who were protested against communism in 1969. This totally blew my mind. Both of the 20 year old men committed suicide by setting themselves alight in the sqaure in protest. Absolutely nuts. Made me think how bad it would have been to live here up until novemeber 1989.
Charles bridge as cool too, with views to all the city, and heaps of statues and things that you touch and make a wish at. I have no idea what these little monuments are called, but the whole monument is black, bar the little sections, which millions have touched which are a goldy colour. I saw another statue like this up at the palace of a naked boy, that was all black bar one place on his body. I have no idea why people touched him there. Sickos.
Prague castle was also beautiful, along with st georges basillica. The views fom the hill over the city are really nice. Our camera ran out of puff wile we were there the first day, so i got up at like 7 and ventured across the city on the train to get the photos this mornng. It was very different there with no tourists. So quiet. Had a good laugh up there though. At the palace they have guards, which stand there for an hour, very still, no smiles, no talking. Each hour they do a changjng of the guards. Its a cool little process which im sure you can look at on youtube. Anyway they are really serious, and were very serious yesterda in front of 300 or so tourists. But this morning was a little different. I was the only person therre at the 8am changing of the guards. All was normal during the change, with marching and the clicking of their shoes and the swift movements of there guns. It really is cool. But as they changed, and the guard who has been standing for an hour walked forward, he let off the loudest fart i had heard in ages, and they all cracked up for abour 2 seconds before pulling it back together for me..haha i had been fiming it right up to ths part and had just stopped the camera. I was so annoyed that i had missed out on capturing it. Oh well. The memory makes me laugh.. I hope he didnt get in too much trouble. Poor fella.
The food here has been great. We tried sour crout and all that, and had been really getting into trying all this food. Its a shame though, as both of maddys dinners have been ruined by finding a hair in her food each time. Talk abouy bad luck. I must have shovelled them straight in..haha
Maddy bought some new clothes today and was very happy. We visited the sex museum here which everyone has raved on aout, but it made us feel ill, so we left after a very quick tour.
Thngs are pretty cheap here, like choclates and drinks frm the supermarkets in comparison with italy and france. Gee they rip you off over there. But its definently a bit cheaper than home which is great. It was cool using koruns too, which s the currency here, its fun aftEr using euro for a while. We are worried about russia, and how expensive it will be..haha you all know we are pretty stingey with our money! But it should be great. We leave for st petersburg at like 11 am tmorrow morning, so we are excited, but a little worried. I guess we have felt like that everywhere, but russia is definently another level. Hope they let us in. We all know maddy is from russia, so she will get in, but im scared they will turn me away with my dirt clothes and peeling sunburn..hahaha luckily i had a shave today..
Well i better stop now. Im sure i missed something i wanted to say, but oh well.
Its time for bed, and must be around 2 am. Haha
Make sure you follow us in russia.
Speak soon
Maddy and jay
Friday, July 15, 2011
Berlin has been awesome!
Gottentag....hahah
Well guys, berlin has been great to us the last few days. We have felt very welcome, and safe in this great city. Maddy and i were talking about it earlier, but we didnt expect the hospitality we recieved from the people here in berlin. We thought people were going to be a little mean etc etc, but its been totally opposite.
The city itself is very clean and modern, and laid out with precision. The are no traffic jams etc and the place just dosnt seem crowded at all. Trust the germans to get it right.
Our 1st full day we walked around the city. Our hotel was a little way out, but there were alot of cool thngs to see on the way in. Our first stop was the victory tower, which is a big monument in the middle of a big roundabout. We went inside it and climbed the stairs to the top. From the top there was a nice view into the city, and of brandenburgs gate. The road leading towards the brandenburg gate was the road that the nazi army marched up. Along the road was a monument to the soldiers and there were 2 tanks on display. Pretty cool. Near the monument was a photo of the area looking toward the brandenburg gate after the war, which was insane. In photo There was nothing but rubble, and the gates. The whole area and city was just ruined from air raids and the fighting that went on. Being there and seeing the city as it is today made it hard to image that the war even happened.
We eventuaaly made our way to the gates. They are a cool site. I made sure we walked through the middle arch, as in the past, only the royal family and bigwigs could go though it. It was a cool experience. We then headed over to the reishtag, which is the building where the german parliment is. Is is a massive building and was damaged badly in the war, but is all fixed up now. We then went and sat at the monument for the murdered jews. The monument is not that old, but is very cool. Its a whole heap of cement rectangles. It seems to be level, but as you walk into the middle of thr monument, the level of the ground goes up and down, and its like your in a sort of maze.
We then went to a place they call the topography of terror, whe there is around 60 metres of the wall still remainng, and a visitors centre with the timeline of events from the election of the nazi party, ww2, the wall goiing up, and the breaking down of the wall. It as super interesting. We had a different picture in our minds of what the wall was like. I always thought it was very thick, as i hadnt seen a cross section of it before. It was actually not that thick, but was reinforced concrete panels about 12 feets high, by 6 or so feet wide. The panels had a thickened triangular bottom so they could stand, and be place next to eachother easily and quickly. They were then cemented in, and a thick round coping slid onto the top of the wall that was long, so as to hold and stabalize around 4-5 panels of the wall in place. We were both amazed by all this and the division of the city into east and west. It would have been crazy to live here then.
That night we ate at a cool little resturant. Our waiter was super funny.
Today we saw a few museums, one of which was set up to souw you how life was like for people living in eat berlin. It would have been wierd. Everyone was given pretty much tge same stuff, and everything had to be approved before it could be had. Eg music, clothes.. There were only a limited collection of clothes that could be purchased.. Haha talk about a strict dress standard.. No wonder they eentually got the wall down and went nuts with excitement.
Sorry to go on and on, but we have been so impressed by it all, as its just so different to how we have it in australia. Berlin now is very similar to australia, but they went through hell to get it. We are lucky.
We have loved it here and dont really want to leave. The weather has been nice and cool too!
We head to prague tomorrow on the train, so hopefully all goes well and to plan.
We have had so many cool experiences and have seen so much.
Talk to u all in prauge.
Well guys, berlin has been great to us the last few days. We have felt very welcome, and safe in this great city. Maddy and i were talking about it earlier, but we didnt expect the hospitality we recieved from the people here in berlin. We thought people were going to be a little mean etc etc, but its been totally opposite.
The city itself is very clean and modern, and laid out with precision. The are no traffic jams etc and the place just dosnt seem crowded at all. Trust the germans to get it right.
Our 1st full day we walked around the city. Our hotel was a little way out, but there were alot of cool thngs to see on the way in. Our first stop was the victory tower, which is a big monument in the middle of a big roundabout. We went inside it and climbed the stairs to the top. From the top there was a nice view into the city, and of brandenburgs gate. The road leading towards the brandenburg gate was the road that the nazi army marched up. Along the road was a monument to the soldiers and there were 2 tanks on display. Pretty cool. Near the monument was a photo of the area looking toward the brandenburg gate after the war, which was insane. In photo There was nothing but rubble, and the gates. The whole area and city was just ruined from air raids and the fighting that went on. Being there and seeing the city as it is today made it hard to image that the war even happened.
We eventuaaly made our way to the gates. They are a cool site. I made sure we walked through the middle arch, as in the past, only the royal family and bigwigs could go though it. It was a cool experience. We then headed over to the reishtag, which is the building where the german parliment is. Is is a massive building and was damaged badly in the war, but is all fixed up now. We then went and sat at the monument for the murdered jews. The monument is not that old, but is very cool. Its a whole heap of cement rectangles. It seems to be level, but as you walk into the middle of thr monument, the level of the ground goes up and down, and its like your in a sort of maze.
We then went to a place they call the topography of terror, whe there is around 60 metres of the wall still remainng, and a visitors centre with the timeline of events from the election of the nazi party, ww2, the wall goiing up, and the breaking down of the wall. It as super interesting. We had a different picture in our minds of what the wall was like. I always thought it was very thick, as i hadnt seen a cross section of it before. It was actually not that thick, but was reinforced concrete panels about 12 feets high, by 6 or so feet wide. The panels had a thickened triangular bottom so they could stand, and be place next to eachother easily and quickly. They were then cemented in, and a thick round coping slid onto the top of the wall that was long, so as to hold and stabalize around 4-5 panels of the wall in place. We were both amazed by all this and the division of the city into east and west. It would have been crazy to live here then.
That night we ate at a cool little resturant. Our waiter was super funny.
Today we saw a few museums, one of which was set up to souw you how life was like for people living in eat berlin. It would have been wierd. Everyone was given pretty much tge same stuff, and everything had to be approved before it could be had. Eg music, clothes.. There were only a limited collection of clothes that could be purchased.. Haha talk about a strict dress standard.. No wonder they eentually got the wall down and went nuts with excitement.
Sorry to go on and on, but we have been so impressed by it all, as its just so different to how we have it in australia. Berlin now is very similar to australia, but they went through hell to get it. We are lucky.
We have loved it here and dont really want to leave. The weather has been nice and cool too!
We head to prague tomorrow on the train, so hopefully all goes well and to plan.
We have had so many cool experiences and have seen so much.
Talk to u all in prauge.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Berlin
Good morning, And goodnight.
Well, where to begin...
We left beautiful venice this morning at 9am and caught the aliliguna boat to the airport which was a bit different from your normal travel to an airport. We got t see the city from afar on the water, but it was a bit of a rort at 15 euro each. Maddy wasnt impressed. Haha
We arrived at the airport and did the usual. We are staring to feel like cattle, lined up, branded, jump on a shuttle, loaded out and onto the plane and then dash to a seat, as easy jet doesnt assign seats. Hahaha
The flught was smooth, only an hour and a bit and we were in another new city, with a new language to begin to pick up. Not that we pick up much.
Berlin is really cool. It has an insane rail system which we have sort of worked out. We got to the hotel in one try, didnt get lost, so we were happy. Everything he is very well spaced and big in comparison to italy.
Our hotel is really good, and is really cheap. We are very happy. We have good views being on the 6th floor. We went to an austrian resturant and had the best food we have had on the trip so far, and to make it better, we paid the price that was on the menu... No rip offs like in italy. Haha
We have had a lazy night in the hotel, savng our energy for an assault on berlin tomorrow. We have already looked up where we are headed, and are excited. There is so much recent history to learn about this city, its facinating. Just on our walk down from our hotel was an old church that was bombed in the war, really cool that they left it like that, and made it into a touristy place.
Well so far so good in berlin, hoping that tomorrow will be awesome.
Also another good thing is the change in the weather from venice to berlin. Dropped 10 degrees, but hoping it doesnt rain. We can finally go outside for longer than 10 minutes..haha
Tune in tomorrow.
Love love
Jay and maddy
Well, where to begin...
We left beautiful venice this morning at 9am and caught the aliliguna boat to the airport which was a bit different from your normal travel to an airport. We got t see the city from afar on the water, but it was a bit of a rort at 15 euro each. Maddy wasnt impressed. Haha
We arrived at the airport and did the usual. We are staring to feel like cattle, lined up, branded, jump on a shuttle, loaded out and onto the plane and then dash to a seat, as easy jet doesnt assign seats. Hahaha
The flught was smooth, only an hour and a bit and we were in another new city, with a new language to begin to pick up. Not that we pick up much.
Berlin is really cool. It has an insane rail system which we have sort of worked out. We got to the hotel in one try, didnt get lost, so we were happy. Everything he is very well spaced and big in comparison to italy.
Our hotel is really good, and is really cheap. We are very happy. We have good views being on the 6th floor. We went to an austrian resturant and had the best food we have had on the trip so far, and to make it better, we paid the price that was on the menu... No rip offs like in italy. Haha
We have had a lazy night in the hotel, savng our energy for an assault on berlin tomorrow. We have already looked up where we are headed, and are excited. There is so much recent history to learn about this city, its facinating. Just on our walk down from our hotel was an old church that was bombed in the war, really cool that they left it like that, and made it into a touristy place.
Well so far so good in berlin, hoping that tomorrow will be awesome.
Also another good thing is the change in the weather from venice to berlin. Dropped 10 degrees, but hoping it doesnt rain. We can finally go outside for longer than 10 minutes..haha
Tune in tomorrow.
Love love
Jay and maddy
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Venice
hey guys.
we got to venice on the train after a few hassles. we left cinqe terre at 9am. We got on and didnt validate or ticket properly, and on our way to the next stop a train person came along, and was going to fine us. i swear i could have won an academy award for my clueless acting, and we got away with it. It was worth the 80 euro. Later on we saw a big group of asians get fined, and also have their tickets for their next train taken from them.. it cold have been bad for us. anyway, our train got delayed, and we missed the next train to venice, but eventually arrived in venice at 3pm.
We walked all the way to the hotel, as their are no taxis or cars, but they have water taxis which wanted 50 euro for the short trip, we said no wayyy in hell.. what a rip.
the hotel is small and traditional, and has an airconditioner which is amazing. The city is so nice. the bridges and streets are just awesome. we were saying how we would have cut our time in rome to spend more time here, but tomrrow we head to berlin. We have been shopping,taking photos and eating. We both love the gelato here. its so cheap in comaparison with what they charge at home. we are loving it.
its now night time and its all lit up. Its such a nice place and will definently come back again. Its such a shame we only have one night here.
well we shall talk again in berlin tomorrow.
ciao
p.s sorry about caps and spelling, i only had a few mins left on the internet
love maddy and jay
we got to venice on the train after a few hassles. we left cinqe terre at 9am. We got on and didnt validate or ticket properly, and on our way to the next stop a train person came along, and was going to fine us. i swear i could have won an academy award for my clueless acting, and we got away with it. It was worth the 80 euro. Later on we saw a big group of asians get fined, and also have their tickets for their next train taken from them.. it cold have been bad for us. anyway, our train got delayed, and we missed the next train to venice, but eventually arrived in venice at 3pm.
We walked all the way to the hotel, as their are no taxis or cars, but they have water taxis which wanted 50 euro for the short trip, we said no wayyy in hell.. what a rip.
the hotel is small and traditional, and has an airconditioner which is amazing. The city is so nice. the bridges and streets are just awesome. we were saying how we would have cut our time in rome to spend more time here, but tomrrow we head to berlin. We have been shopping,taking photos and eating. We both love the gelato here. its so cheap in comaparison with what they charge at home. we are loving it.
its now night time and its all lit up. Its such a nice place and will definently come back again. Its such a shame we only have one night here.
well we shall talk again in berlin tomorrow.
ciao
p.s sorry about caps and spelling, i only had a few mins left on the internet
love maddy and jay
Monday, July 11, 2011
Cinque terre, Italy
Hey guys.
Just a quick blog today as we don't have much time on the net.
We caught the train from Rome to cinque terre. I'm so glad we only have one more train trip tomorrow to Venice, as the train sucks.. Haha. It was just soo hot in the cabins. Anyway we arrived in cinque terre safely and found our hotel, which is nothing special and is right up the top of the main drag of riomaggiore. We get so tired going back up to the room..
Today we walked some of the cinque terre path which was beautiful. The path connects the 5 little towns which hang on the edge of cliff tops. It's an amazing place. You'll be happy to hear it's still hot, but at least the is a small ocean breeze. Our favorite place here is definently the beach at montorosso. The water was so blue and clear, and the beach was little stones that were burning hot. Great to relax on...if you have something under your bum. Haha we went swimming and sunbaked. Was very nice. The only downside was the rubbish and dirty stuff floating around in parts of the water. They need to sort that out.
We waited for trains for so long today. I'm so over trains here. They never come and if they come they don't stop at your platform, or the damn doors don't open and the train just goes and your stuck and then have to get off and wait for another train to get back. We have had a nightmare with it. Give me Paris metro please!!!! The towns are all so nice and the little places to eat are good. The way they have built this place is really cool. It's a must see if yo come to Italy. We like it here more than we liked Rome.
Well tomorrow morning we are off again to Venice. Hopefully it doesn't smell too much, and stuff as we have heard it's a strange place. Fingers crossed the train gets us there.
We stay in Venice one night and then take off to Berlin whee we will have Internet again. Yay.
Hopefully Venice will be cool and we can haggle a gondola guy to give us a cheap ride.
We are having a great time, but will be glad to see the rear end of Italy soon.
We love you all and hope you are all safe.
Speak to you all in Berlin.
Arrevaderci
Just a quick blog today as we don't have much time on the net.
We caught the train from Rome to cinque terre. I'm so glad we only have one more train trip tomorrow to Venice, as the train sucks.. Haha. It was just soo hot in the cabins. Anyway we arrived in cinque terre safely and found our hotel, which is nothing special and is right up the top of the main drag of riomaggiore. We get so tired going back up to the room..
Today we walked some of the cinque terre path which was beautiful. The path connects the 5 little towns which hang on the edge of cliff tops. It's an amazing place. You'll be happy to hear it's still hot, but at least the is a small ocean breeze. Our favorite place here is definently the beach at montorosso. The water was so blue and clear, and the beach was little stones that were burning hot. Great to relax on...if you have something under your bum. Haha we went swimming and sunbaked. Was very nice. The only downside was the rubbish and dirty stuff floating around in parts of the water. They need to sort that out.
We waited for trains for so long today. I'm so over trains here. They never come and if they come they don't stop at your platform, or the damn doors don't open and the train just goes and your stuck and then have to get off and wait for another train to get back. We have had a nightmare with it. Give me Paris metro please!!!! The towns are all so nice and the little places to eat are good. The way they have built this place is really cool. It's a must see if yo come to Italy. We like it here more than we liked Rome.
Well tomorrow morning we are off again to Venice. Hopefully it doesn't smell too much, and stuff as we have heard it's a strange place. Fingers crossed the train gets us there.
We stay in Venice one night and then take off to Berlin whee we will have Internet again. Yay.
Hopefully Venice will be cool and we can haggle a gondola guy to give us a cheap ride.
We are having a great time, but will be glad to see the rear end of Italy soon.
We love you all and hope you are all safe.
Speak to you all in Berlin.
Arrevaderci
Saturday, July 9, 2011
3 days of Rome
Hi all.
Yes we are alive. Sorry we have gotten a little slack on the blogging front.
We have been in rome for the last 3 days seeing all the sights and watching our backs at every turn.. Well not that much, but this place is a bit dodgy thats for sure. There are so many tourists here its insane, and so many people trying to sell you stuff constantly. Its ok at first, but after a while it gets bloody annoying.. Im so glad there are none of these people in australia.
Anyway, we have been here for 3 days, and it has been so hot, like 35 each day. It really takes it out of you, especially when the water tastes like garbage (yes im talking about their natural spring water that you buy in bottles) and you dont want to drink it..hahaha
Other than the heat, and the annoying people, the city is pretty cool. Its not our fav city by any means, but the history you walk on and around is pretty amazing.
Our first day we visited the colesseum, which was pretty awesome. Its huge, but not as big as the MCG, and the crowds are like an ocean of people that you have to swim through. We literally stood in line for an hour and a half to get in, and left after 30mins walking around because the sun was our in force.
Our next stop was the vatican, which was also very hot and very crowded. St peters square is massive, and the basilica is massive... There was even a massive banner of the pope up.. We went in the basilica which is the biggest in the world, and you could look at things for hours in there. So many statues and so many stories to learn about. I think i read somewhere that peters (christs deciple) burial site was under the alter of the basilica. Crazy if true. We also found a little stairwell which took us down and under the floor of the basillica to a hall lined with so many past popes burial tombs (i cant think of the proper word for these). Anyway, we were very curious to know if the remains of the popes were actually inside of them. Thats something i will have to look up!!!
our next stop was the trevi fountain. Again there were so many people. The fountain is cool, and ws a great sight to sit at and relax, but would be better if you could hear the person speaking next to you. Hahaha We both threw a coin into the water and made a wish and took off to another place called castel st angelo, which was a fortress back in the day i think. There was a heaps of steet dealers here, and we had a good laugh when we saw a policeman chase them all across the bridge and away..hahaha from here we ate across the street.. The food sucked and they over charged us, so i left them a 5 cent tip to share between them.. I was so mad about it..haha
Our 2nd day was a little more organized thanks to some tips from greg. We ditched the bus which was not stopping where we wanted to go for our legs, which in the end got a work out in the heat. We started again at the colleseum and walked past the ruins of the old city, and up to the pantheon. On the way we stopped at a nice little basilica and saw a very nice staue of christ done by michalangelo (sorry about spelling). The pantheon was amazing, and i dont think i have seen anthing like it ever. The front of it was awesome, but inside was even better. We didnt realise that at the top of the dome is a huge skylight which beams down a hure ray of light into the church. The dome is so high that it makes you dizzy looking up into it. Got some great pictures. From here we went to the piazza navona, which wasnt anything special, but would be a nice place to eat, and get your face sketched. I wanted to but maddy didnt want to. Some of the artists there have some talent. Wow. Our next stop was the spanish steps. There is a little fountain there where everyone was filling their water bottles. Haha but at the same time a lady was sitting on the edge with her feet in the water. A policeman soon noticed her and blew his whistle so loud right next to us to get her attention. I can still hear that stupid whistle. She jumped out pretty fast..haha I think we went home after that as it was just too hot.
Today we just went into the city and chilled. Did some shopping and looked around. But again it was so hot that it took all the fun out of being in rome and all its nice things it has to offer. Maddy ordered some bruschetta for lunch and was horrified by what she got. Haha a piece of bread with two normal, unseasoned crappy slices of tomato..she wasnt happy. Maddy bought a lovely dress and a louis vouton money pouch which cost a fortune (for a fake).. Haha nah i think its good. Well that is pretty much a wrap of our time in rome. We liked it, but the heat ruined it.
Tomorrow morning at 9:35am we catch a train to cinque terre. We are staying in riomaggiore which is one 5 small towns on the coast around 500kms north of rome. We dont think our hotel has internet, but we will see. If not, we will pick up the blog again we get to venice in a few days. We enjoyed our time in rome and definently worked on our tans a fair bit, but we wish it would have been cooler. We saw so many things that been around for soooo long it just blew up away. We are happy we came here, but are happy to move onto cinque terre for a cooler sea breeze, and for a hotel that doesnt have prostitutes on the other side of the road..haha they have been a laugh.
Hope i didnt put you all to sleep.
Onto cinque terre.
Ciao guys
Yes we are alive. Sorry we have gotten a little slack on the blogging front.
We have been in rome for the last 3 days seeing all the sights and watching our backs at every turn.. Well not that much, but this place is a bit dodgy thats for sure. There are so many tourists here its insane, and so many people trying to sell you stuff constantly. Its ok at first, but after a while it gets bloody annoying.. Im so glad there are none of these people in australia.
Anyway, we have been here for 3 days, and it has been so hot, like 35 each day. It really takes it out of you, especially when the water tastes like garbage (yes im talking about their natural spring water that you buy in bottles) and you dont want to drink it..hahaha
Other than the heat, and the annoying people, the city is pretty cool. Its not our fav city by any means, but the history you walk on and around is pretty amazing.
Our first day we visited the colesseum, which was pretty awesome. Its huge, but not as big as the MCG, and the crowds are like an ocean of people that you have to swim through. We literally stood in line for an hour and a half to get in, and left after 30mins walking around because the sun was our in force.
Our next stop was the vatican, which was also very hot and very crowded. St peters square is massive, and the basilica is massive... There was even a massive banner of the pope up.. We went in the basilica which is the biggest in the world, and you could look at things for hours in there. So many statues and so many stories to learn about. I think i read somewhere that peters (christs deciple) burial site was under the alter of the basilica. Crazy if true. We also found a little stairwell which took us down and under the floor of the basillica to a hall lined with so many past popes burial tombs (i cant think of the proper word for these). Anyway, we were very curious to know if the remains of the popes were actually inside of them. Thats something i will have to look up!!!
our next stop was the trevi fountain. Again there were so many people. The fountain is cool, and ws a great sight to sit at and relax, but would be better if you could hear the person speaking next to you. Hahaha We both threw a coin into the water and made a wish and took off to another place called castel st angelo, which was a fortress back in the day i think. There was a heaps of steet dealers here, and we had a good laugh when we saw a policeman chase them all across the bridge and away..hahaha from here we ate across the street.. The food sucked and they over charged us, so i left them a 5 cent tip to share between them.. I was so mad about it..haha
Our 2nd day was a little more organized thanks to some tips from greg. We ditched the bus which was not stopping where we wanted to go for our legs, which in the end got a work out in the heat. We started again at the colleseum and walked past the ruins of the old city, and up to the pantheon. On the way we stopped at a nice little basilica and saw a very nice staue of christ done by michalangelo (sorry about spelling). The pantheon was amazing, and i dont think i have seen anthing like it ever. The front of it was awesome, but inside was even better. We didnt realise that at the top of the dome is a huge skylight which beams down a hure ray of light into the church. The dome is so high that it makes you dizzy looking up into it. Got some great pictures. From here we went to the piazza navona, which wasnt anything special, but would be a nice place to eat, and get your face sketched. I wanted to but maddy didnt want to. Some of the artists there have some talent. Wow. Our next stop was the spanish steps. There is a little fountain there where everyone was filling their water bottles. Haha but at the same time a lady was sitting on the edge with her feet in the water. A policeman soon noticed her and blew his whistle so loud right next to us to get her attention. I can still hear that stupid whistle. She jumped out pretty fast..haha I think we went home after that as it was just too hot.
Today we just went into the city and chilled. Did some shopping and looked around. But again it was so hot that it took all the fun out of being in rome and all its nice things it has to offer. Maddy ordered some bruschetta for lunch and was horrified by what she got. Haha a piece of bread with two normal, unseasoned crappy slices of tomato..she wasnt happy. Maddy bought a lovely dress and a louis vouton money pouch which cost a fortune (for a fake).. Haha nah i think its good. Well that is pretty much a wrap of our time in rome. We liked it, but the heat ruined it.
Tomorrow morning at 9:35am we catch a train to cinque terre. We are staying in riomaggiore which is one 5 small towns on the coast around 500kms north of rome. We dont think our hotel has internet, but we will see. If not, we will pick up the blog again we get to venice in a few days. We enjoyed our time in rome and definently worked on our tans a fair bit, but we wish it would have been cooler. We saw so many things that been around for soooo long it just blew up away. We are happy we came here, but are happy to move onto cinque terre for a cooler sea breeze, and for a hotel that doesnt have prostitutes on the other side of the road..haha they have been a laugh.
Hope i didnt put you all to sleep.
Onto cinque terre.
Ciao guys
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Lisbon to rome
Alright, so we are finally in Rome and it's a new day and new experiences await.. Only if I can get Maddy up!!!! Hahaha
Well we left sintra the other day and spent a night in Lisbon. It is portugals capital I think, and seemed like an ok place. The place we stayed at was nice and had a washing machine so we were able to clean our clothes...fresh clothes yay. The apartment was nice, except when we got there they had trouble getting the power to go in our room.. Hmmmm anyway, we didn't get up to much in Lisbon, as we were there only for an afternoon. We took a walk around looking at the shops and stuff, and went down to the water. One thing that was cool was all along the main streets there were people all painted up and acting like statues etc. One of them looked like a monument and fully freaked Maddy out..hahaha. The only downside to Lisbon was that everywhere we went we could smell sewerage in big wife's as we walked around.. Eww.
Maddy also found a new loved called portugese tarts. They are the yummiest custard tarts ever, and you could get them really cheap!! So after a good nights sleep we jumped up and out of the apartment and got a taxi to the airport. No delays this time with easy jet. I slept most of the plane trip and we landed in rome at lunch time. We got a taxi to the hotel which was a little expensive, but was worth it. Italians seem to love speed, eg they make slot of sports cars etc, and this taxi driver was one of them. We were flying all the way to the hotel, doing like 150km/h through traffic..haha it was fun. Crazy Italians.
We arrived at the hotel safely if your wondering trish.
We are litte outside of Rome, but the hotel is nice. so soonish we are going to take off into Rome and explore this ancient city. Should be some awesome sights and photos!!!
We miss you all
We will blog again tonight!
Much love
Maddy and jay
Well we left sintra the other day and spent a night in Lisbon. It is portugals capital I think, and seemed like an ok place. The place we stayed at was nice and had a washing machine so we were able to clean our clothes...fresh clothes yay. The apartment was nice, except when we got there they had trouble getting the power to go in our room.. Hmmmm anyway, we didn't get up to much in Lisbon, as we were there only for an afternoon. We took a walk around looking at the shops and stuff, and went down to the water. One thing that was cool was all along the main streets there were people all painted up and acting like statues etc. One of them looked like a monument and fully freaked Maddy out..hahaha. The only downside to Lisbon was that everywhere we went we could smell sewerage in big wife's as we walked around.. Eww.
Maddy also found a new loved called portugese tarts. They are the yummiest custard tarts ever, and you could get them really cheap!! So after a good nights sleep we jumped up and out of the apartment and got a taxi to the airport. No delays this time with easy jet. I slept most of the plane trip and we landed in rome at lunch time. We got a taxi to the hotel which was a little expensive, but was worth it. Italians seem to love speed, eg they make slot of sports cars etc, and this taxi driver was one of them. We were flying all the way to the hotel, doing like 150km/h through traffic..haha it was fun. Crazy Italians.
We arrived at the hotel safely if your wondering trish.
We are litte outside of Rome, but the hotel is nice. so soonish we are going to take off into Rome and explore this ancient city. Should be some awesome sights and photos!!!
We miss you all
We will blog again tonight!
Much love
Maddy and jay
Monday, July 4, 2011
Sintra, the beautiful!
hi all.
well today was a very fun day.
It all started when i couldnt get maddy out of bed..hahaha. she finally got up at like 10am and we went down and had some brekky and headed out into sintra.
We wanted to visit the Pena palace and the Castelos mouros, so we took a bus up there, as the walk would have killed us. Its just too steep and too long a walk. Anyway, we got the bus up to the top of the mountain, and boy was it a ride. All of the streets here are tiny and narrow with so many crazy blind corners, but these bus drivers think they are rally drivers. We were going so fast and so close to the side of the road. Maddy was gripping my leg the whole way. At least the bus driver was confident in his skills, as he drove one handed the whole way as he nearly totaled 5 cars and nearly hit a bunch of people. Crazy! but we made it up in one piece, and our 1st stop was the Castelos mouros, which is a cool old castle ruin on top of the mountain at Sintra. From the top you could see all the way to praia das macas, and the other direction, you could see all of lisbon. It was an amazing place to be. We loved it, and felt like we were back in the medieval period looking out over the land for enemies. The pictures tell the story, but it was the best thing i have seen on the trip so far. The Pena palace was our next stop on the crazy bus, and it was ok. We expected a little more from the palace, but it was still cool. It was used by the royals of portugal a few hundred years ago. it was a very strange looking building. The people who operated the palace were very strict and no photos were allowed inside the palace. It was nice inside, with nice rooms and old furniture. our next stop was lunch, hahahaha. Some of the people who work in the hostel that we are in run a little tea house, and do 6 euro lunches, which included a can of drink, a big piece of quiche (is that how you spell it), a salad and a desert. it was an awesome lunch, and so cheap for what we got, i seriously dont understand how they make any money. After lunch we headed up to our last little stop called the Quinta da Regaleira, which was built by some rich italian. it was a cool mansion with heaps of rooms and amazing stone work. Apparently its haunted..hmmm.. we didnt se any ghosts, but we got a tonne of good photos. Sintra has been out favorite place so far on our trip. It is just so relaxed and nice. The people here are super dooper friendly too.. We dont want to leave tomorrow. We leave for lisbon at lunch, and stay overnight in the city, and then fly to rome. If we dont blog tomorrow, we will talk to you next in rome!
i hope its not too hot!!
boa noite
nós te amamos
well today was a very fun day.
It all started when i couldnt get maddy out of bed..hahaha. she finally got up at like 10am and we went down and had some brekky and headed out into sintra.
We wanted to visit the Pena palace and the Castelos mouros, so we took a bus up there, as the walk would have killed us. Its just too steep and too long a walk. Anyway, we got the bus up to the top of the mountain, and boy was it a ride. All of the streets here are tiny and narrow with so many crazy blind corners, but these bus drivers think they are rally drivers. We were going so fast and so close to the side of the road. Maddy was gripping my leg the whole way. At least the bus driver was confident in his skills, as he drove one handed the whole way as he nearly totaled 5 cars and nearly hit a bunch of people. Crazy! but we made it up in one piece, and our 1st stop was the Castelos mouros, which is a cool old castle ruin on top of the mountain at Sintra. From the top you could see all the way to praia das macas, and the other direction, you could see all of lisbon. It was an amazing place to be. We loved it, and felt like we were back in the medieval period looking out over the land for enemies. The pictures tell the story, but it was the best thing i have seen on the trip so far. The Pena palace was our next stop on the crazy bus, and it was ok. We expected a little more from the palace, but it was still cool. It was used by the royals of portugal a few hundred years ago. it was a very strange looking building. The people who operated the palace were very strict and no photos were allowed inside the palace. It was nice inside, with nice rooms and old furniture. our next stop was lunch, hahahaha. Some of the people who work in the hostel that we are in run a little tea house, and do 6 euro lunches, which included a can of drink, a big piece of quiche (is that how you spell it), a salad and a desert. it was an awesome lunch, and so cheap for what we got, i seriously dont understand how they make any money. After lunch we headed up to our last little stop called the Quinta da Regaleira, which was built by some rich italian. it was a cool mansion with heaps of rooms and amazing stone work. Apparently its haunted..hmmm.. we didnt se any ghosts, but we got a tonne of good photos. Sintra has been out favorite place so far on our trip. It is just so relaxed and nice. The people here are super dooper friendly too.. We dont want to leave tomorrow. We leave for lisbon at lunch, and stay overnight in the city, and then fly to rome. If we dont blog tomorrow, we will talk to you next in rome!
i hope its not too hot!!
boa noite
nós te amamos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)