Photos
The photos are getting closer. The official tally was 2330 photos and 5 short movies! Pretty impressive. Many many many many many thanks again to my awesome workmates who bought me the compact drive to take away. Perfect present. All the photos were still on it safe and sound upon arrival in London. Without it I wouldnt have got half the photos that I am happy with through fear of having to get 100 rolls of film developed upon arrival !!
Here is a taster for now until I trim the collection down a bit.
Here is a taster for now until I trim the collection down a bit.
London Town
Arrived safe and sound in London Monday night. Unfortunately blogging has taken a low priority compared to, well, sleeping. Its funny how you only realise how tired you are when you have the chance to sit back and relax ! The original plan was to start looking for work, house hunt etc on Tuesday but that, surprise surprise, didnt happen. Still, nice to relax for a bit.
Am staying at A's folks place for the time being which is pretty handy. Nice to be in a family environment after 2 months on the road. Spent today (yep nearly a whole day .....) setting up a wireless network in the house. Just like being at work ...... the upside is that I got it to work and am now using my laptop to update my blog from the comfort of the couch in front of the TV - sweeeeet. Handy hint: if you cant ping the modem/router, try enabling ping through the software firewall. Doh!
Next use for it - job hunting.
Am staying at A's folks place for the time being which is pretty handy. Nice to be in a family environment after 2 months on the road. Spent today (yep nearly a whole day .....) setting up a wireless network in the house. Just like being at work ...... the upside is that I got it to work and am now using my laptop to update my blog from the comfort of the couch in front of the TV - sweeeeet. Handy hint: if you cant ping the modem/router, try enabling ping through the software firewall. Doh!
Next use for it - job hunting.
E.O.T.T.S.
(EOTTS - see previous entry)
Sadlz the trip is nearlz over - flz back to London, from Prague, tonight a bit after nine, getting us to London just after ten. Was quite strange walking around last night, knowing that at the same time the next night we would be in London. Verz odd feeling. Although I am quite looking forward to not having to repack my bag every two or three days.
Am a little nervous about heading to London - finding somewhere to live and, joy of joys, finding a job. Hopefullz it shouldnt be too bad, but after three months of not working and getting out of bed at nine thirty, it is probablz going to be a bit of a shock to the system.
The trip has been awesome but it is sooooo hard to write about some of the amaying things we have seen. (and as I have found, these blog things dont actually update themselves ... shock horror - writing takes time) Over the coming few days I should be able to get some of my photos up for all to see. Will be a bit nerve wracking copying all the photos (about 15G worth I think, about 2000 or so photos) off my portable hard drive onto my laptop and checking some of them out. They always look so different on a big screen compared to the LCD on the back of the camera.
Hmmm ... I am rambling now. Next entry will be from London - the end of the tour.
Sadlz the trip is nearlz over - flz back to London, from Prague, tonight a bit after nine, getting us to London just after ten. Was quite strange walking around last night, knowing that at the same time the next night we would be in London. Verz odd feeling. Although I am quite looking forward to not having to repack my bag every two or three days.
Am a little nervous about heading to London - finding somewhere to live and, joy of joys, finding a job. Hopefullz it shouldnt be too bad, but after three months of not working and getting out of bed at nine thirty, it is probablz going to be a bit of a shock to the system.
The trip has been awesome but it is sooooo hard to write about some of the amaying things we have seen. (and as I have found, these blog things dont actually update themselves ... shock horror - writing takes time) Over the coming few days I should be able to get some of my photos up for all to see. Will be a bit nerve wracking copying all the photos (about 15G worth I think, about 2000 or so photos) off my portable hard drive onto my laptop and checking some of them out. They always look so different on a big screen compared to the LCD on the back of the camera.
Hmmm ... I am rambling now. Next entry will be from London - the end of the tour.
Prague
Prague is beautiful. What else can you say (except I cant wait to get to a kezboard where the punctuation kezs work and the y isnt where the z should be .....) Have spent the passed couple of days wandering the streets soaking up the atmosphere. First morning walked up through park to tower giving great view over down town and charles bridge, then down through the castle, across Charles Bridge (which was packed) and then into Old Town. All punctuated with the beer stops that seem to be necessary to give us the strength to go on - have been doing an awful lot of walking over the passed eight weeks (although the diet heavilz augmented with beer and chocolate has nicelz balanced out all that exercise).
The sheer size of Pragues' Old Town far exceeds any of the other cities we have visited in Eastern Europe. Definitelz a highlight of the trip, although it has been a little overshadowed by a case of E.O.T.T.S. (end of the trip syndrome.) .....
The sheer size of Pragues' Old Town far exceeds any of the other cities we have visited in Eastern Europe. Definitelz a highlight of the trip, although it has been a little overshadowed by a case of E.O.T.T.S. (end of the trip syndrome.) .....
Krakow > Prague
Krakow turned out to be a pretty nice city, much better than Warsaw.
Wednesday we went to Auscwhitz (60 or so km south west of Krakow) which was a pretty sombre day. May it never happen again.
Thursday we caught the train from Krakow to Katowice (still in Poland), and then from Katowice to Prague (Czech Republic). For most of the 6 hour trip we were the only ones in our compartment so had plenty of room to stretch out. Sweeeet! Mixed feelings on arriving in Prague. Was a bit sad as it is the last destination of the trip (fly to London on Monday.) At the same time so many people rave about Prague I was looking forward to checking it out.
After some pretty interesting accomodation on the trip we decided to stay in some comfy digs in Prague, resulting in most of the first day in Prague lazing around the hotel room! Did get out for a bit of a look around though. Stunning city!! Cant wait to have abetter look around tomorrow.
Anyway. Gotta go. Have already used up 30 mins of the 15 minutes I am meant to be on this machine in the hotel lobby (sadly the hotel room has free broadband internet access, but we have no laptop!!!)
Wednesday we went to Auscwhitz (60 or so km south west of Krakow) which was a pretty sombre day. May it never happen again.
Thursday we caught the train from Krakow to Katowice (still in Poland), and then from Katowice to Prague (Czech Republic). For most of the 6 hour trip we were the only ones in our compartment so had plenty of room to stretch out. Sweeeet! Mixed feelings on arriving in Prague. Was a bit sad as it is the last destination of the trip (fly to London on Monday.) At the same time so many people rave about Prague I was looking forward to checking it out.
After some pretty interesting accomodation on the trip we decided to stay in some comfy digs in Prague, resulting in most of the first day in Prague lazing around the hotel room! Did get out for a bit of a look around though. Stunning city!! Cant wait to have abetter look around tomorrow.
Anyway. Gotta go. Have already used up 30 mins of the 15 minutes I am meant to be on this machine in the hotel lobby (sadly the hotel room has free broadband internet access, but we have no laptop!!!)
Warsaw-->Krakow
Warsaw old town ended up being pretty cool in the end. especally considering what it looked like after wwII.
Monday we headed in, with packs in tow, to buy train ticket from Warsaw to Krakow. After waiting about 30 mins in line the lady at the ticket counter just closed up and told everyone to go - apparently it was break time!! I joined another queue while A decided to try his luck at one of the ticket sellers in the subway maze just outside the station. He returned triumphant about ten minutes later while I still hadn't moved a single spot!! Bizarre. At least we found a quicker way, those queues weren't exactly humming along.
Train to Krakow took about 3 hours in which time I managed to read Wired magazine cover to cover. Good for a technology fix!!
Wandered around Krakow old town last night. Amazing. The square is stunning, especially in the setting sun. Thumbs up.
Anyway, off to check out the castle now.
Monday we headed in, with packs in tow, to buy train ticket from Warsaw to Krakow. After waiting about 30 mins in line the lady at the ticket counter just closed up and told everyone to go - apparently it was break time!! I joined another queue while A decided to try his luck at one of the ticket sellers in the subway maze just outside the station. He returned triumphant about ten minutes later while I still hadn't moved a single spot!! Bizarre. At least we found a quicker way, those queues weren't exactly humming along.
Train to Krakow took about 3 hours in which time I managed to read Wired magazine cover to cover. Good for a technology fix!!
Wandered around Krakow old town last night. Amazing. The square is stunning, especially in the setting sun. Thumbs up.
Anyway, off to check out the castle now.
Filling In The Gaps
Time to face reality. I don't think the gaps after Sigulda are going to be filled in anytime soon. Will wait to write about those places when I can get my photos off my portable hard drive (which is still going strong thanks, nearly 1500 photos later!!)
Warsaw
After a 9 hour overnight bus trip we made it to Warsaw with another stamp in my passport. Definitely not the best way to get a good nights sleep. Managed about three hours. Paying for it today with a severe lack of interest in anything but sleep!!!
Warsaw has been a little underwhelming so far, probably a little marred by lack of sleep and the fact we got a dodgy taxi within about 15 mins of getting into town and paying (literally!) the consequences. C'est la vie ... the rest of the trip has gone pretty smoothly so can't complain (touch wood).
Off to see the "Old" Town now, most of which was rebuilt after it was flattened in WWII. And then an early night! Off to Krakow tomorrow and then Prague next Thursday. Can't wait until Prague, especially considering we have decided to give up beer while in Poland - before our livers give out!
Warsaw has been a little underwhelming so far, probably a little marred by lack of sleep and the fact we got a dodgy taxi within about 15 mins of getting into town and paying (literally!) the consequences. C'est la vie ... the rest of the trip has gone pretty smoothly so can't complain (touch wood).
Off to see the "Old" Town now, most of which was rebuilt after it was flattened in WWII. And then an early night! Off to Krakow tomorrow and then Prague next Thursday. Can't wait until Prague, especially considering we have decided to give up beer while in Poland - before our livers give out!
Bye Bye Baltics
Am at the Vilnius Bus Station waiting for our 2300 bus to Warsaw (Poland). Quite sad to leave the Baltics. Vilnius has been great - could have done with an extra day. Out to Trakai castle today. Was a great way to spend a relaxing day.
Anyway .. thats about it ... 1 Lita doesnt buy a lot of time on this internet kiosk !!!
Promise to fill in some blank spots once I get to a decent internet place !!!
Anyway .. thats about it ... 1 Lita doesnt buy a lot of time on this internet kiosk !!!
Promise to fill in some blank spots once I get to a decent internet place !!!
Sigulda, Latvia
Next stop after Parnu was Sigulda, the "Switzerland of Latvia". Caught the bus from Parnu to Riga (about 2 1/2 hours) and then caught a local bus in Riga to Sigulda, about another hour out. FWIW, the driver looked an awful like Hunter S. Thompson. Spooky.
Arriving in Sigulda I realised that I hadnt actually bothered to look up the address of the place we were staying in. Slight oversight. Headed to where the Lonely Planet said the info centre should be, colocated with the rather swanky looking Sigulda Hotel, but no dice. Bit of a regular occurrence - things seems to change quickly in this neck of the woods. Asked the girl behind reception for directions to info centre. She talked, we nodded our heads, walked out, looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and then headed off in the wrong direction. Got chased by a young guy who had been sitting in reception who spun us around and headed us in the right direction! Never did find the info place (well not until the next day). Instead stumbled across an info post that had our Guest House on it. Sweet. Finally found the place okay and checked in okay with the help of A's German.
Next day was spent hiking around Sigulda. Caught the cable car across the Gauja valley, catching glimpses of the restored Turaida castle across the valley, to the ruins of Krimulda castle. After a beer stop on the steps of the Krimulda Mansion (now half hostel, half youth sanitorium) we headed off down the valley to get to Turaida castle. Wandered along the valley floor, via Gutmanis cave in which there are carvings of crests/names dating back from the 16th century. Quite cool.
We got extorted by an accordion player who, spying us coming his way along a narrow track, quickly struck up a tune. Talk about a captive (captured?) audience. Would've been a bit hard to walk pass without dropping some coins. Points before audacity!
The quickest way to get to Turaida castle is to follow the road up when the track hits the main road. We didn't go that way, instead following the track along the river. Of course, not only was the road the quicket, it was also the simplest. We walked and walked. We saw one track up into the forest but, well, I'm not sure why we didn't take it - it was obvious in hindsight. Instead we wandered on a bit further until we came to a collection of three or so deserted houses. Quite spooky. According to our map there was a track leading up from behind the "village" but we couldn't find it. Ended up walking back to the track we saw earlier and heading UP it. Hard work.
Came out of the forest into a clearing containing a very cool statue/sculpture park. Quite bizarre after out little detour to come across a sculpture park amongst manicured lawns. If you ever get there, the statue of the woman's face was definitely my favourite - will post photots when I get to London.
The sculpture park was in the grounds of the Turaida Castle so we wandered over to it. This time we agreed with the Lonely Planet, it was "best viewed from afar". And full of tour groups to boot. Wandered back to the main entrance to find that by coming up the forest track we had avoiding the "whopping" entrance fee of 1.5 Lats (about $3)!.
After another beer stop (well two actually, mainly because of a rather full on thunderstorm which stranded us under an umbrella for 45 mins!) we walked the 5km back to Sigulda centre, via the bobsleigh track which snakes its way down the side of the Gauja valley at one end of the town.
Nice to have a day out away from the city after Tallin and the packed beaches of Parnu. Definitely worth a look, just don't expect castles in the Alps - it aint that Swiss(h) !!!
Arriving in Sigulda I realised that I hadnt actually bothered to look up the address of the place we were staying in. Slight oversight. Headed to where the Lonely Planet said the info centre should be, colocated with the rather swanky looking Sigulda Hotel, but no dice. Bit of a regular occurrence - things seems to change quickly in this neck of the woods. Asked the girl behind reception for directions to info centre. She talked, we nodded our heads, walked out, looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and then headed off in the wrong direction. Got chased by a young guy who had been sitting in reception who spun us around and headed us in the right direction! Never did find the info place (well not until the next day). Instead stumbled across an info post that had our Guest House on it. Sweet. Finally found the place okay and checked in okay with the help of A's German.
Next day was spent hiking around Sigulda. Caught the cable car across the Gauja valley, catching glimpses of the restored Turaida castle across the valley, to the ruins of Krimulda castle. After a beer stop on the steps of the Krimulda Mansion (now half hostel, half youth sanitorium) we headed off down the valley to get to Turaida castle. Wandered along the valley floor, via Gutmanis cave in which there are carvings of crests/names dating back from the 16th century. Quite cool.
We got extorted by an accordion player who, spying us coming his way along a narrow track, quickly struck up a tune. Talk about a captive (captured?) audience. Would've been a bit hard to walk pass without dropping some coins. Points before audacity!
The quickest way to get to Turaida castle is to follow the road up when the track hits the main road. We didn't go that way, instead following the track along the river. Of course, not only was the road the quicket, it was also the simplest. We walked and walked. We saw one track up into the forest but, well, I'm not sure why we didn't take it - it was obvious in hindsight. Instead we wandered on a bit further until we came to a collection of three or so deserted houses. Quite spooky. According to our map there was a track leading up from behind the "village" but we couldn't find it. Ended up walking back to the track we saw earlier and heading UP it. Hard work.
Came out of the forest into a clearing containing a very cool statue/sculpture park. Quite bizarre after out little detour to come across a sculpture park amongst manicured lawns. If you ever get there, the statue of the woman's face was definitely my favourite - will post photots when I get to London.
The sculpture park was in the grounds of the Turaida Castle so we wandered over to it. This time we agreed with the Lonely Planet, it was "best viewed from afar". And full of tour groups to boot. Wandered back to the main entrance to find that by coming up the forest track we had avoiding the "whopping" entrance fee of 1.5 Lats (about $3)!.
After another beer stop (well two actually, mainly because of a rather full on thunderstorm which stranded us under an umbrella for 45 mins!) we walked the 5km back to Sigulda centre, via the bobsleigh track which snakes its way down the side of the Gauja valley at one end of the town.
Nice to have a day out away from the city after Tallin and the packed beaches of Parnu. Definitely worth a look, just don't expect castles in the Alps - it aint that Swiss(h) !!!
Bumper Edition Soon
Okay. Its not that I haven't been chipper for the past week. Just been busy. Swimming in the Baltic, visiting abandoned Soviet missile bases, avoiding stag parties in Riga and visiting the bizarre Hill of Crosses in Lithuania.
Currently in an internet cafe in Nida surrounded by kids with high pitched voices playing shoot em ups while the lady behind the reception counter is listening to some very dodgy euro pop. Not conducive to a long blogging session .....
Off to Vilnius this afternoon.
Currently in an internet cafe in Nida surrounded by kids with high pitched voices playing shoot em ups while the lady behind the reception counter is listening to some very dodgy euro pop. Not conducive to a long blogging session .....
Off to Vilnius this afternoon.
Riga, Latvia
Got in to Riga (again, had been here briefly the other day on the way to Sigulda ...) today, a bit after twelve, from Sigulda. Dropped our bags off at the hostel (Friendly Fun Franks - run by an Australian .... ) and headed out for a drink where we saw the news of the London bombings. Aaarghh. Makes you feel sick. Hope everyone I know in London town is okay (well, anyone for that matter, but you know what I mean). Hmmm .. will blog more stuff about Parnu & Sigulda when I am feeling a little more chipper.
Parnu, Estonia.
We caught the bus from Tallin yesterday down to a place on the westcoast of Estonia, called Parnu. About a 2 hour bus ride (140 kms or so). The scenery on the bus ride wasn't bad - very lush and green.
Parnu is supposedly known as the Baltic Riviera, although the "stretch" of beach isn't much of a stretch compared to the Perth coastline! It also looked rather shallow with people wading out 50m offshore still up to their knees!!
There doesn't seem to be a lot to see, per se, in Parnu apart from some nice leafy streets\parks and intersting architecture. I think it is better known for its sanitoriums where people come to "recover"! Still, it will be a nice place to spend a day doing a few of the things we need to (organise more accomodation, catch up on internet, and most importantly washing (which we paid for by the kilo!)). Maybe even a lie on the beach could be in order. The weather is pretty spectacular. Sorry to those of you in winter climes .... ;-)
Parnu is supposedly known as the Baltic Riviera, although the "stretch" of beach isn't much of a stretch compared to the Perth coastline! It also looked rather shallow with people wading out 50m offshore still up to their knees!!
There doesn't seem to be a lot to see, per se, in Parnu apart from some nice leafy streets\parks and intersting architecture. I think it is better known for its sanitoriums where people come to "recover"! Still, it will be a nice place to spend a day doing a few of the things we need to (organise more accomodation, catch up on internet, and most importantly washing (which we paid for by the kilo!)). Maybe even a lie on the beach could be in order. The weather is pretty spectacular. Sorry to those of you in winter climes .... ;-)
Tallinn, Estonia
Arriving in Tallin was relatively painless. Passport control was pretty laid back compared to all that we had endured before! No visa required so I guess that makes life a little easier. Custom no hassle either. Was strange, even after being off the boat for 5 minutes, you could sense that it was going to be a lot different to Russia.
Found the hostel (Beata Hostel), just on the edge of old town, without too many hassles. Turned out to be a very handy place to stay, close to all of the sights.
Most of the time in Tallin was spent wandering the old cobble stoned streets and sampling the local brews. (Saku seems to be pretty popular, as well as A. Le Coq. About $2.50 for a pint. Not too bad. Although the cheap beer does have one downside, it does to seem to attract the stag parties from the UK.). So much easier in than Russia, people are actually interested in serving you!!!
The Old Town has been very well restored with quite a large amount of the old town walls still standing. Great for a wander at 11 at night with the sun just setting.
It is hard to do it justice in words. When I get to London town I will get around to posting some photos ! (The portable hard drive storage for my photos still seems to be working. Though I think it is going to be a nervous moment when I actually plug it into a computer to get my photos off it!!)
Tallin did have a bit of a Disneyesque feel to it, I guess it was just that it was sooooo charming - and swarming with tourists. Eastern Europe (at least Tallin, and I expect most places on our plan) isn't exactly the "undiscovered" part of the world I expected. To be honest, I expected it to be quite poor and behind the times, which has certainly not been the case. The streets sport quite a number of BMWs and AUDIs with the odd porsche or ferrari. There are also quite a few wifi access points as well. Even heading out of the Old Town in to the new town centre didn't really make that much difference to the standards.
I would definitely recommend Tallin for a weekend or so. Has been a great place to relax after some of the hassles of St Petersburg!
Found the hostel (Beata Hostel), just on the edge of old town, without too many hassles. Turned out to be a very handy place to stay, close to all of the sights.
Most of the time in Tallin was spent wandering the old cobble stoned streets and sampling the local brews. (Saku seems to be pretty popular, as well as A. Le Coq. About $2.50 for a pint. Not too bad. Although the cheap beer does have one downside, it does to seem to attract the stag parties from the UK.). So much easier in than Russia, people are actually interested in serving you!!!
The Old Town has been very well restored with quite a large amount of the old town walls still standing. Great for a wander at 11 at night with the sun just setting.
It is hard to do it justice in words. When I get to London town I will get around to posting some photos ! (The portable hard drive storage for my photos still seems to be working. Though I think it is going to be a nervous moment when I actually plug it into a computer to get my photos off it!!)
Tallin did have a bit of a Disneyesque feel to it, I guess it was just that it was sooooo charming - and swarming with tourists. Eastern Europe (at least Tallin, and I expect most places on our plan) isn't exactly the "undiscovered" part of the world I expected. To be honest, I expected it to be quite poor and behind the times, which has certainly not been the case. The streets sport quite a number of BMWs and AUDIs with the odd porsche or ferrari. There are also quite a few wifi access points as well. Even heading out of the Old Town in to the new town centre didn't really make that much difference to the standards.
I would definitely recommend Tallin for a weekend or so. Has been a great place to relax after some of the hassles of St Petersburg!
Ferry Ride
The ferry ride was great, just by virtue of the fact we were on it ! Was a reasonably large ship complete with several restaurants, gymnasium, swimming pool and casino. Was nice to leave Russia by ferry, slowly edging away from the harbour side and then cruising away from St Petersburg passed a huge number of dockyards.
Weather was good so had no worries with getting sick. (Not even Kwells even though i was prepared .... !).
The room wasn't bad. Two berth. No windows so that sucked a little but that is what you get when you go scummy class!!
Stayed up fairly late due to my body deciding that "normal" sleeping hours are no longer required. Wandered the decks for awhile listening to my walkman. Quite cool at one in the morning, still not completely dark (could only see one star despite it being a cloudless night), staring out at various cargo and cruise ships passing.
Slept pretty well, but the best bit of all was the included buffet breakfast. Hmm .. bacon. Best breakfast we've had since we left home! Sad the things you become obssessed with !!
Check out the ferry company. The sheer indulgent luxury.
Weather was good so had no worries with getting sick. (Not even Kwells even though i was prepared .... !).
The room wasn't bad. Two berth. No windows so that sucked a little but that is what you get when you go scummy class!!
Stayed up fairly late due to my body deciding that "normal" sleeping hours are no longer required. Wandered the decks for awhile listening to my walkman. Quite cool at one in the morning, still not completely dark (could only see one star despite it being a cloudless night), staring out at various cargo and cruise ships passing.
Slept pretty well, but the best bit of all was the included buffet breakfast. Hmm .. bacon. Best breakfast we've had since we left home! Sad the things you become obssessed with !!
Check out the ferry company. The sheer indulgent luxury.
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