The long awaited blog entry…

Hi everyone (anyone still cool enough to read this thing). We are just fine and we must apologise for not writing of late (in over a month). We have been having an awesome time exploring London for the past fortnight and we have really let ourselves down in the blogging department. Well where do I start? Last time we made an entry we had just explored the quirky and cool Baltic region, and since then we have made some great discoveries travelling through Western Europe via Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona. It really does not do justice to group all of these places together in one entry but I will have to for the time being. Berlin itself could take up pages on its own. It really is a great city.

After leaving Latvia we took a reasonably cheap* Easyjet flight to Berlin. We spent five nights in this amazing city exploring the politically and historically important sites, drinking beer in the street and making use of some really good public transport. Whilst our hostel felt like a week at the Ned Flander’s holiday house with more rules and regulations than a cereal packet competition we made use of our daily ‘freedom’ in the urban wonderland that I believe Berlin is. Catching up with some student friends we had met in Budapest, we spent the night exploring ‘East Berlin’ and the crazy atmosphere of a city that is still finding itself after a long and often dark history. This entry really isn’t doing this city justice, but it will have to do for now. Just know that if you get me started about how amazing Berlin is it may be a very long engagement indeed. It will include stories of Punks with stray dogs, North Korean embassies, an amazingly unhealthy Berlin dish called the ‘Currywurst’ and descriptions of old beer factories, free universities and a public transport system that is pretty much on par with that of the London Tube system.

Spain was really interesting too but I will leave that up to Em to enter into the blog over the next few days.

Right now we are in London and it has been really fun. Despite the crappy weather, bomb scares, shitty weather, converting AUD into Pounds, ridiculous weather and slightly warm beer, we have both really enjoyed just laying low, sleeping in and doing some shopping here and there. I myself have never been here before and I am already in love. We have made use of some really great family over here and it has been a real blast meeting everyone for the first or second time in my life. London itself deserves an entry on its own so I think I will leave that for a few days and sum up our time here in one, extended piece that it deserves.

Well we hope that everyone is safe and well and we will speak soon. Hopefully this entry makes up for the terrible neglect of the past few weeks. Peace out.

cam

*LONG story.

Another Blog Takeover

Hi friends,

I, Dave, am leaving tomorrow, so I thought I would, once again, draw your attention to my blog, ‘Dave And Laura Are Running Away To Europe’, which is available here or on the side of the site.

Cam, see you soon!
Dave.

The Baltics: Magical Towns, soothing Folk Songs, and a Pump-Action Shotgun

Hi everyone, here is an ‘uneducational’ piece about our Baltic travels since the last post Cam wrote largely resembled a sumbission for the Lonely Planet guide…

We started off our Baltic adventures with a visit to Vinius in Lithuania, who’s main claim to fame is a very old Old Town and a plaque on the Town Hall that was a gift from President George Bush. Vilnius was laid back and charming; we spent our days wandering the streets and investigating back alleys. Our best find was the area of Vilnius referred to as the Republic of Uzùpis – a small bohemian suburb filled with artists that actually declared themselves independent from the state and promptly erected a statue engraved with the Uzùpis Constitution (including such inalienable rights as “everyone may own a cat”). They even have a river separating the Republic from Vthe rest of Vilnius which the locals refer to as the Uzùpis Seaside! Crazy Lithuanians…

So from Vilnius we bussed it all the way north to a trendy little wi-fi nation known as Estonia, where we spent 3 nights chilling with the local students in an apartment/hostel, smoking water pipes and playing old Soviet records. Tallin (the capital) has the best Old Town of any city we have visited – its cobbled streets and gothic spires even got Cam (who I my add NEVER gets excited about historical places) into a tizzy. The days flew by in a haze of mead, beer, sugared almonds, and communist songs.

Our journey then took us to Riga, Latvia where we indulged ourselves in the age-old Latvian pastime of cheap, safety-regulation free shooting. Yes, Cam and Em went all Commando in an underground Soviet bunker and fired off a couple of rounds of ammunition from a pistol, an AK-47, and a big, black pump-action shotgun. We were shown how to shoot live bullets by a Russian who spoke no English; needless to say that miming is not an effective way to communicate proper gun handling. Don’t worry though, Cam didn’t shoot himself by accident despite hitting everything but the paper target. It was a bit difficult trying to explain to the Russian ‘instructor’ (and I use that term loosely) that Cam was actually left handed and couldn’t aim properly. We did leave Riga having learnt 2 valuable lessons though – 1. Guns are bad, and 2. Guns are really bad in the hands of Cam.

Photos!

Ok everyone here you all go…

We are sorry for the big delay, but we have been having difficulty getting our pics onto the net. If you follow the following link by copying and pasting it into your browser clicking the link that awesome dave made you will be blessed once more with our faces. Sorry about all of them being the wrong way around. (oh! look! awesome dave fixed them too) We were a little rushed and did not have enough time to fix them up. When we get back you will all see the entire collection…the right way around!

Our latest photos (Turkey and Eastern Europe thus far)

They saw, I saw…We all saw Warsaw! (minus those who didn’t…or have not)

Hello family, friends, and those who accidentally stray onto this blog in the tangle of all tangles – the internet. Currently it is 23:13 on the little digital clock at the bottom right of my screen and I find myself in the city of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. After Krakow Em and I did the natural, and also most popular thing to do after visiting and took off north to the Polish capital of Warsaw. We didn’t stay too long in Warsaw really. We stayed at the Nathan’s Villa hostel again – a McDonalds-like chain of hostels in Eastern Europe – yet for only two nights. Warsaw is not as nice to look at like Krakow was, but one must consider that over eighty percent of the city was obliterated by the Nazis after their invasion in 1939, and in the years after the war much of the city was left in ruins or built in the fashion of the Soviet era, meaning grey, dark and ‘practical’ rather than ‘pretty’. Although, this is not really true. The Communists did make the effort to rebuild the historic ‘old town’ that had been raised to the ground during the war, and in 1980 it gained UNESCO listing. Don’t hold me to that though…I’m just checking my facts with Wikipedia!

Modern Warsaw is today a wide, spread out area of high rises, towers and appartment complexes, and other than the rebuilt ‘old town’ the city looks like a recently developed metropolis. However, it is ironic, I think, that the tallest building in the skyline is the ‘Palace of Culture and Science’ that was built as a gift from Stalin to the people of Warsaw. It is hated and loved by the population today, and it resembles something out of Gotham City rather than anything else in Europe that we have seen so far.

As usual by day we would walk around the city and explore many of the sites, including the rebuilt City Palace and even the local Multiplex where we saw the new Pirates film. At night we visited some of the local clubs and pubs, and even a local Irish pub where one of Warsaw’s finest cover bands played songs from the 80s, 90s and mid-90s…just like Coma FM! We also ran into Simon, one of our prior travel buddies who couldn’t help but join in on the dancing and try his newest pick up lines. We also got talking to some locals at the pub who couldn’t work out why we wanted to travel to a ‘dump’ like Warsaw. It was interesting to hear their thoughts and perceptions about Poland, and also about their history. For many Warsaw is nothing special and a pretty boring place. Poland is, I suppose a pretty bland place to grow up in, considering some obvious poverty compared to the relatively high standards of Australia or Western Europe, and unemployment, especially the unemployment of the youth is a serious issue. However, despite these issues it must be said that Poland and Warsaw in particular shows serious signs of growth and development. EU membership is bringing investment and increased funding, and this is leading to tourism which is bringing in millions of visitors each year. Many of the travellers we have met so far are seriously considering buying property in Poland as well as in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, who have all only recently entered the EU. There is a serious feeling that a property boom is only around the corner and much money is to be made in Esatern Europe. It was also interesting to talk about Poland’s tragic history with some of the locals we met. There is a serious negative attitude in Poland towards the West of Europe, and in particular the UK that the nation was left to die at the hands of the Nazis in 1939. For many in Poland – even for the younger generation -  it is evident that the nation’s history during the 20th century has seriously scarred them and is still slow to heal. We visited Auschwitz only days before going to Warsaw, and it was clear from speaking to many Poles that the tragedy of the Second World War is still haunting them in their daily lives.

It is also interesting to note that some of the institutions of the Soviet era still remain in Warsaw today. ‘Kitchens’ or ‘Diners’ which were cheap places to eat during the communist times are still open today and subsidised by the government. Even though the Soviet Union fell over a decade and a half ago, it is interesting that many of the older generation still rely on the cheap food on offer in these kitchen and expect the government to provide them for their needs. Even much of the youth decide to eat in these kitchens rather than go to other, more modern restaurants. It was a very educational and rewarding time spent in Warsaw.

Well I think that that is it for now. As I said we are in Lithuania today and expect to stay a couple of days longer.

Until next time, Peace Out.

A Tale of Two Cities…

Sorry everyone for the delayed update, but we have been really busy the past week exploring Krakow and also making our way around Poland. Right now we are in Warsaw, Poland’s capital but news of this will have to wait until a later date…

What can I say about Prague. Before we arrived we were told by countless individuals that Prague is a must as it was apparently the new jewel of Europe and the ‘must-see-before-you-die’ location.  Let me firstly state in black and white that Prague is definitely a beautiful city, and despite the thousands and thousands of tourists (like ourselves) Prague really is an amazing place.

Em and I arrived in Prague late at night about ten days or so ago. We arrived by train from Budapest and by the time the train stopped and we disembarked it was already fairly dark. We did have some slight hiccups trying to locate our booked hostel. Firstly, we accidentally hopped into a ‘mafia’ taxi that charged around one hundred US dollars per trip. Whilst we were able to get out before the ‘taxi driver’ (Tony Soprano) realeased the hand-brake, the confrontation did leave us a little confused, and perhaps even left us feeling a little uncomfortable about the city in general. I must add however that it was completely our falt. Our ‘bullshit radars’ were completely ignored when we decided to jump into the brand new black Mercedes Benz ‘taxi’ complete with tinted windows to conceal the drugs…and a monstorous boot to conceal our bodies. There is really no excuse for that…

Then, although we had asked some Police where the local tram station was and found our tram, once we arrived at our stop the hostel didn’t appear to be where it was supposed to. Whilst it is funny to look back on now, I’ll have to admit that I found it pretty nerve racking walking around the back streets of Prague in search of a hostel. Luckily we were kindly shown the correct way by a young man on the street.

We stayed at the ‘Plus Prague’ hostel’ which is less like a hostel and more like a hotel except that it lacks the niceties of hotels like charm, service and staff that know what they are doing. I really shouldn’t write like Bill Bryson, and I am being a little too harsh, but really…

Prague itself is quite stunning. The city includes one of the oldest and most carefully preserved ‘old towns’ in Europe (its even a UNESCO World Heritage Site!). It is a place of amazing architecture, countless bars, pubs and restaurants and is scattered with museums and many other ‘arty’ things to do. But our favorite by far was the Communism Museum. It was a really solid sort of place that told the story of communist rule through the eyes of the Czech citizen and its exhibitions were rich in historical detail and original material from the times, plus there were some neat little postcards with funny little ‘Communist’ slogans. Both Em and I spent our four days in Prague walking through the old cobbled streets, visiting the many attractions and soaking up the atmosphere. Be warned though. Don’t visit Prague thinking that you will be able to enjoy the beauty of Western Europe with the freedom of Eastern Europe, because Prague is awash with tourists and we were not even there for the peak season in a month or two. It was like package tour hell!

But wait there’s more…

Lots more! Beacuse Krakow was the Craic! From Irish-accented Brazilian football players to Hemp vodka, Krakow in Poland is definately now one of our favourite cities in Europe. We started off rocking up to our really uber-cool hostel – another apartment that was just rented out by the room – and promptly met up with Eduardo (a Brazilian from Sao Paulo studying in Dublin), Lisa (a Sydneysider who was visiting a Polish friend) and some Canadian guy who’s name no-one could remember. In true backpacker style we all went out drinking and dancing and were soon the best of friends, hanging out during the day and seeing the sights. And what sights! Krakow has it all – from a massive castle on a hill over the town to a rockin’ Market Square ringed with nightclubs, pavement cafes and beautiful churches. After a few days in Krakow we were joined by a UK couple (Joel was from Manchester and Rachel was from Derry) who took us to watch the European Champions League Final at a bar and cajoled us into going for a little overnight trip to a nearby town in the countryside. “Come with us” they said, “its this gorgeous little village called Zakopane where you can get a cable car to the top of the mountain, then walk down a bit to a hostel and spend the night in the hills!”. Well, it sounded fantastic, but when we got there the cable car had been dismantled so we decided it would just be easier to walk the 2-hour trek up the mountain to the hostel. I’m sure you all know that I myself have never been particularly fond of hiking (Cam loves it of course…). So what posessed me to assume that this would be ‘fun’ I do not know. Let’s just say it was tough, I fell over quite a few times, and I sweated about 3 litres of body fluid. But, just like the cliche says, it was SO worth it in the end! The view was stunning – snow capped peaks, lush green hills, and pure mountain springs bubbling over rocky ledges. I couldn’t resist dragging out the Micheal Kerrigan line “How’s the serenity…” 

The night spent in the cosy last-century stone hostel, we trekked back down the mountain and arrived back to Krakow exhausted but strangely satisfied, particularly after we had each partaken of the most spectacular-looking soft-serve icecreams you have ever seen. I swear that these were about 15 cms high not including the cone! But that night we said goodbye to our new friends as everyone departed for different points on the map… that’s the way things go when your backpacking in hostels – your new friends walk into your life, and then almost straight out again. At least we can keep in contact with the magic of the Interweb….

Blog takeover!!

This is a stickup, nobody move.

Hi all, Dave here, the friendly maker / technical wizard of Cam and Em’s blog. There has been some discussion as to how we should all keep in touch while we all run around the world. My answer? Multiple blogs! If you scroll down to your right, you’ll notice under the heading ‘Blogroll’ there are two new blogs. One, ‘Luke and Jas’ is about our friends Luke and Jasmine as they run around the world. The other, ‘David In Europe’ is about ME! And my travels around Europe. Both are empty at the moment, but soon be filled with exciting tales of danger, drama and my attempts to find love in Paris. Compelling reading? I PROMISE!

So yes, just want to let everyone know that Cam and Em aren’t the only ones with the magic of the interweb at their fingertips.

Ciao, darlings! (Apparently that’s italian for something!)
Dave, master of the universe.

PS: Cam, all flames will be ignored.

Hungary For More…

Thought we better get a bit more up to date with our blogging (oooh, I feel so uber cool when I say that word!) so here is the new entry for our time in Budapest, Hungary. Cam would like me to tell you that everyone should move immediately to this city and begin their new life filled with chilling out in parks, drinking cheap beer and listening to jazz. I think that’s pretty much what everyone does here in Budapest and let’s just say that the atmosphere is the best we have come across yet!

The city is actually formed of 2 separate cities, called – wait for it – yep, you guessed it, Buda and Pest.  We rocked up at the train station on the Pest side at about 3pm, and walked straight into a downpour, complete with dark clouds and rumbling thunder. And we had to walk a couple of kilometres to our hostel with our backpacks. And we had managed to get absolutely no sleep on the overnight train beacause we ended up sharing a cabin with 2 huge (and I mean HUGE) angry Romanian women who wouldn’t let us open the window for fresh air and who spread themselves over 2 seats. This is particularly annoying when there are only 6 seats in a cabin and there are fully 6 people trying to sit in it. Add to that the fact that we had managed to pick up a really irritating Kiwi guy somewhere on the train trip who continually asked if we knew where we were going, all the while referring to us as ‘cuz’ and ‘bro’, and you can imagine just how cheery we were at this stage. But it got much better when the dingy and difficult-to-locate nature of our pre-booked hostel encouraged a hasty departure of said unbearable Kiwi! Our hostel turned out to be, in fact, not a hostel but an apartment owned by a guy who sub-let the rooms for next to nothing, smoked a LOT of joints, and let us generally lounge around the place – as long as we washed the dishes. Cam and I managed to score a room all on our own for the price of a dorm bed which had its own fridge and TV. Unfortunately, it is hard to enjoy your own television when all the channels are in Hungarian or dubbed in German, and the only English channel is CNN News. Enough said.

We spent most of our time in beautiful Budapest just wandering around the city, admiring the buildings and the river cutting the city in two. On our first day we climbed to the Citadel overlooking the city to admire the view, and in the afternoon we checked out the Heroes Square Memorial, which commemorates the failed resistance movement of 1956 against the invading Soviets. The building houses a museum and on the outside, it is covered in small framed photographs of all the Hungarian citizens (most of them under 20 years old) who were either killed during the fighting or were imprisoned in the Soviet gulags (prison camps in Siberia) after the Communists took control. It was haunting.

We spent our nights hanging out with our friends from Romania who had travelled with us, sampling the excellent Hungarian beers and trying out goulash with plenty of paprika. We now have our sights set on the Czech Republic, and we are hoping to ‘czech’ out (see, I’m super funny) Prague as well the original home of Pilsner beer, Pilzen (the PR people really worked hard on that name), Cesky Krumlov, and the centre of Bohemia, Brno. So until then, its farewell from us for now!

Romania – A Renovator’s Dream

After a small train trip overnight which at times was very uncomfortable, we have now arrived in the historic city of Budapest, Hungary. Romania was a really great experience. As I wrote in the last post, travelling there was a decision made at the last moment when we had already planned to trek it to Greece. We were not disappointed though. Romania as a backpacking destination has really started to take off in the last few years. Partly due to a greater interest in Eastern Europe in general, but also as a result of its recent EU membership, Romania is an often exciting destination rich in culture, and yet still recovering from the legacy of the Cold War.

We first arrived in Bucharest, the nation’s capital. There is nothing really remarkable about Bucharest. To the eye one finds him or herself looking at ugly grey apartment complexes built during the communist era, unfinished and half dug out roads, and casinos littering footpaths in every direction. Yet despite the dull architecture there is a really unique vibe about the city. There is no doubt that when we entered the metro stations we could have thought we had entered the set of The Breakfast Club, or even landed roles in similar films such as Ghost Busters or The Goonies. The entire city seems to be trapped in time with its delayed fashion sense and 80′s-like feel, however, once we began to walk the long pathways connecting the city sprawl we could appreciate the youthful feel about the place and the development going on. As we mentioned, we visited the Palace of Parliament and also, we think, the old headquarters of the communist era. Now used to house a specific government ministry, the old building now finds itself sharing space with the European Union’s headquarters. We also found the most random building of all time. Hidden in an outer suburb of Bucharest, just outside of the multiplex we found the Crocodile Dundee 2 family restaurant. During our travels many have commented about how they did not appreciate Bucharest. It is definitely not a picturesque city – that is for sure, however, we were both glad that we decided to visit the city for its recent history and also for its unique character.

After Bucharest,we ‘escaped’ to the north to the cute country town of Brasov. Brasov is really only a popular tourist destination because of its position near Bran Castle famously the residence of Dracula in Bram Stoker’s novel. But that’s not to say that Brasov has no charm or allure, because it does! The town is quaint and quiet, with winding narrow streets hedged in by the towering mountains on either side of a beautiful wooded valley. Brasov even has its own version of the Hollywood sign perched above the town, just in case you drink too much Palinka (god awful Romanian spirit that I was assured would taste like delicious schnapps, only it ended up being more like brake fluid) and can’t remember which Eastern European town you’re supposed to be in. We made the trek to Bran Castle by bus, and were overloaded with cheap rubber Halloween masks and bottles of ‘anti-vampire holy water’, which was amusing considering that the actual Dracula – Vlad Tepes – had nothing to do with Bran Castle; it was actually the lovely summer home of the last Romanian royal family, full of dark wood furniture and panoramic valley views.

Brasov was also a great place to socialise and explore. By night we would take to the streets and enjoy the local brew, exchange emails with other travellers and soak up the atmosphere. We also managed to catch an old episode of that awful excuse for a comedy series – comedy inc – that had been sold to Romanian television and televised in the local pubs. There was also the chance to do some hiking in the hills above Brasov. Cam took off one afternoon with two other backpackers and spent the day observing bear tracks, snow capped mountains and dark caves. Funnily enough they found themselves lost and had to make a decision to either hitch a ride with two local gypsies in an old Dacia or risk the chance of encountering bears, mountain cats and wolves. They chose the bears, mountain cats and wolves and after a few hours of walking in woods littered with bones hanging from string – for whatever wierd reason – they made it back to the hostel safely.

In Brasov we also joined forces with three other Australians who accompanied us on our journey north to the historic, and impossible to pronounce town of Sigisoara. In the town we spent two days enjoying the local Goulash, playing table tennis and pool, and avoiding the mostly always drunk Russian receptionist who spent her time speaking tongues and telling horoscopes. We also enjoyed visiting the local sites that included old cathedrals and the birth place of Vlad Tepes.

Well there you have it, thats the news to date. We are leaving tomorrow for Prague, and will be sure to paint a picture of Budapest for you very soon.

Peace out.

cam and em

We caught the Midnight Express…and passed through Bulgaria ‘in transit’.

Hello all! I write from the ‘Elvis Villa’ hostel in Bucharest, Romania. We arrived yesterday after 18 hours by train from Istanbul via Bulgaria. We were happy to leave Istanbul, and despite the fact that we made two amazing friends in the city and were sad to say good bye, we were still excited about where we were headed – Romania. You all might be wondering why were chose to ditch Greece and head north, but I must assure you all that it had nothing to do with a bias formed against the Greeks after two weeks in Turkey. For the both of us Romania simply looked like an interesting place.

Today we spent the day walking around Bucharest where we visited ‘the Palace of Parliament’. I had honestly never heard about the Palace of Parliament until yesterday when Em started enlightening me about the place, but after today I don’t think I will ever forget it. The place is massive. Built in 1983 by the dictator Nicolae Cescescu (baaad spelling – sorry) during the Soviet era, the palace is the third largest building in the world after the Pentagon in Washington and somewhere else…I think the Pyramids of Egypt (Note from Em – Cam is COMPLETELY wrong about that. The largerst building is NASA’s Cape Canaverel in Florida and the second is the Pyramid of Quetzacoatl in Mexico.) It is grand in the mightiest sense, remarkable in its scope and size and ridiculous in its opulence. I’m not sure how much it cost to build but it has something like 1 million cubic meters of marble and 2400 crystal chandeleirs within it! It is obviously very important to the Romanian people, however, it is a classic example of the greed and illogic of those who governed during the Soviet period. They really should have spent half as much on their people…or the roads for that matter.

The train ride from Istanbul was interesting in many ways. Em and I shared a six person berth on the 18 hour journey lacking fresh air, food or even water. In the end we had to ‘purchase’ some bread, water and tomatoes from one of the conductors after we learned that we would not be able to eat until Bucharest. Let’s just say that the price I paid for the stale bread was ‘excessive’, but then again the $10 I paid was ‘fair’ considering the lack of supply and the height of demand. Keynes would have been proud! We also had an interesting passport check at the Bulgarian border. Lacking English, (or any sense of politeness) the Bulgarians jumped onto the train, waking us up at 3am and demanding our passports, then deciding that it would be a good idea to walk off with our passports for almost an hour without explaining what the hell was happening. After returning they asked us to step off the train and walk to a special office where we were given the all-clear and a special Bulgarian stare. It was very funny in the end…

I can’t write anymore as of yet as I am hogging the only internet point at the hostel. I will write more asap. Peace out people!

cam and emily