Out with a bang.

This was not a reference to a bomb explosion… relax, people! :]
This was in fact a reference to two things… although both ironically similar to a bomb, well, explosively speaking at least;
a) fireworks
and
b) firecrackers.
Both of which I encountered in a single New Years Eve celebration in Berlin.

You may often [or not] hear the expression “it was like war”. Well, let me tell you something; if you’re not one of those lucky 1,000,000 people who make it onto the two kilometre ‘Party Mile’ before they close the entrances, you’ll feel like you’re on a European warfront. Apart from the booming of the midnight fireworks (as well as unofficial, and unscheduled firework demonstrations throughout the night), there was a cacophony of bangs surrounding us for the duration of the evening. Firecrackers, as well as the loud smashing of glass bottles (not to mention the “duck or you’ll be sprayed with shatters of glass” dance) led us to hitching  ride in a taxi back to my host dad’s apartment a little after one in the morning.

Oh the joys of exchange. ;]

I’m telling you now… I certainly won’t forget my most recent, and [unfortunately] last, trip to Berlin.

Highlights:

• Cheese fondue before heading into the city for New Years.
• Roncalli Circus, and seeing german actor Christoph Waltz in the flesh
• Seeing Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the Berlin Philharmonic
• Having Elton’s Your Song sung to me by a drunk german
• Spending an hour in Zara
• Watching the musical Tanz der Vampire (Dance of the Vampires) in German.
• Viewing a visually erotic cabaret called Wunderkammer performed by a Brisbane acrobatic troupe in Berlin’s beloved Chamaeleon Theater

Here’s a few pictures… I had a major fascination with the Berliner Dom on this trip…. fascination, not a fetish.

Enjoy.

A highly excited Ryan
x

We are young…

In the noble words of former Britpop band Supergrass (and no I’m not referring to keeping our teeth clean, although dental hygiene is important), “see our friends, see the sights, feel alright. And that’s exactly what I intend to do… make the most of my youth, in fact the most of my life. :]

You never know when one may just kick the bucket…

So quite recently I took to seeing those upbeat lyrics in action and rounded up a few friends and explored Augsburg’s amazing alleys, main streets, christmas lights, and cinemas… (yes, that’s a plural). Photos can be seen below. ;]

So get outdoors kiddies, and I don’t mean kick around a football… try something new…
because we are young, and before arthritis and wrinkles kick in (I hear it happens sooner than you think), we seriously need to live the true meaning of being a fun-loving teenager.

Ryan
x

Mamma Mia! I’m in Italia!

People, people, people. It’s hard to believe isn’t it? I’ve hit another European superpower… and lived to tell about it. :] But first…

…here’s your opportunity for two things. ;]

1. Let out all the anger I may have caused you in delaying this post for such a lengthy amount of time.
2. Get over it and read this to the end, enjoying all the lovely photos I’ve uploaded specifically for your enjoyment. :] mmk?

Anyway, the last time I left you wondering about my adventures in Italy, I’d just finished speaking about London, Albania and Croatia. Finally I’ve gotten around to the big one, so enjoy the photos below!

Arriving in Bari on Italy’s Eastern coast, we had our first overnight in an odd little hostel (thankfully with air conditioning) and the next morning picked up our hire car (a sexy Ford Fiesta) and drove west, just as the Village People first suggested in 1979. We were headed to Sorrento, on the furthermost tip of the Sorrentine Peninsula. One problem though, we had to drive across the country in a day (literally) and the last strip would turn out to be the worst… four hours along the infamous Amalfi coast; beautiful but deadly… for driving. The entire journey as we weaved along the narrow cliffside road, dodging buses and other cars by centimetres, with mopeds ducking in and out of the traffic at top speeds, I was scared. In fact, I remember saying something along the lines of “I’m frightened for my life”, whilst clenching the front seat with all my might.

Thankfully we made it there, and I was rather impressed with Sorrento, particularly after having seen so much of it on account of our non-functioning GPS not being able to get us to the camping ground we’d call home for the next three nights. By night, the camping ground would come alive, filled with Italians traveling from far and wide, as well as numerous German, Spanish and Australian tourists, all flocking to the bar that was served well with some delightful Karaoke music. Have you ever seen a fifteen-year old Italian sing Karaoke? Don’t. It might ruin your opinion of Italy.

The first day we visited the town that was ruined after nearby Mt. Vesuvius erupted and its gases suffocated the townsfolk. Pompeii was truly fascinating. We saw how the old Roman world functioned, from the collecting of water, to satisfying the sexual appetites of city officials. (There’s a famous brothel, noted for its erotic murals). Being a large city (see map below) with absolutely no shade whatsoever, the 40 degree (celsius) sun certainly had a bite. Sunburn was imminent and no matter how much sunscreen I applied, my skin couldn’t help getting sunburnt. Thanks pastiness, you’ve done it again. When the day was out and we’d done all the wandering our feet could manage, we headed back to the campsite and dined out… again. Italian food, I have to say, is the real deal. :]

Island hopping in the Adriatic

 

 

First of all, I’d like to update this post by letting you know that one of my photos is featured in a fascinating little blog called Toemail. 

Croatia may very well have been the best part of our European trip. A lack of sand was the least of our concerns… with golden sunshine, crystal clear waters and cheap seafood to dine for! ;]

Beginning in Dubrovnik, where we recently arrived from Albania, our one-week round trip cruise consisted of stopping at gorgeous locations such as Mljet, Korčula and Hvar, as well as numerous smaller islands dotted along the Central and Southern Dalmation Coasts. Each night we would dock in port and discovered the best of the local seafood and other traditional meals… all for very reasonable prices. In places a bit off the beaten track, we found cheap souvenirs, and I swear I could not find one dodgy postcard…. it was so damn hard to choose just one!

Anyway, I suppose you’d be wanting to see the photos. So here you go, sorted by the location. :]

Dubrovnik:

Yeah, I went hiking… Here’s the proof.

You probably never would’ve thought I actually did do that 12 Hour hike last weekend… well I did. And here’s some pictures from that lovely outing that I took throughout the day. And directly below is a map of where I hiked… or in the whereabouts, of Schachen, where I visited Schachenhaus, built by infamously bizzare King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

Bring on the Balkans.

“Oh look a drug-dealer”… was one of many phrases we threw around whilst in Albania. It joined other brilliant lines such as “that Merc was stolen from Germany”, and “that BMW was stolen from Switzerland…”
My god, I thought, what on earth had our Lonely Planet guide gotten us into now?
After an amazing four days in London, it certainly didn’t turn for the worst when we ended up in the Balkans… but it was by far the biggest eye-opener.

First stop was an overnight in Corfu, Greece, with a view from our hotel, The Pink Palace, that looked a little something like this:

Apart from arriving at 10 o’clock at night, having a street post that blocked our stunning view and being fed sandwiches as a replacement dinner, I had a good night. I met a few lovely gals from Sydney and even discovered an old school friend was working there… small world.

We woke up early the next day and headed for the port where we then set off to infamous Albania by ferry (apparently you can hear gunshots at night from Corfu). This was the sight we saw on arrival:

Looking slightly nicer than one would expect, this coastal city of Saranda was certainly the jewel along Albania’s coastline. Looking like a slightly under-developed French Riviera, the city left an impression I won’t easily forget.

After we got off the ferry, we located our tour bus (that would take us to Dubrovnik) and were informed just how young Albania was… they only got cars in the early 1990′s… and everything there is dirt cheap. Goes to show that their economy is a little out of whack… clearly aren’t aware of inflation.

London’s calling…

It’s been quite a while since I’ve told you how things are going for me. But now I’d like to mention just how good it is on this holiday so far. With many thanks to Lonely Planet‘s hit travel guide Europe on a Shoestring, we’ve made it from London to Corfu in Greece, survived Albania, swum in Montenegro and sailed for a week through Croatia‘s gorgeous island coast.

But, as there is simply way too much to talk about for one post, I think I might start things off with a mention of Sunny London- the place I’d love to live in a few years time (followed in the next post by a brief run-through of what we got up to before hitting Croatia’s beautiful coastline). :]

So, it’s a city and the capital of England with a population of about…. pssh you all know the stats. Onto the juicy stuff :]

Flying in from Munich was just the beginning. Independent from the get go, I was looking forward to London for a bundle of reasons, ranging from it’s culture, world influence and importance, to its people, infamous weather and funny looking phonebooths. Upon arrival, I wasn’t too impressed. Heathrow is a BIG airport… I was in terminal 5 (Sydney only has 3 terminals…). Thus, it was a chaotic rush just figuring out how to locate the train that would connect me to the city itself.

The other thing that came as a worldly shock was the fact that everyone was speaking english… it felt so strange to see it everywhere on signs, posters and all over people’s lips. Clearly i’ve been stuck in a german frame of mind. :p No english what so ever.

Once I eventually found the hostel, I got to share a room with some lovely Swedish girls and we ended up going out together for an evening stroll through Buckingham Palace gardens, Trafalgar Square and a Tesco’s supermarket aisle, and then hitting up a nightclub till four in the morning. (Then we hit up Maccas) :] Then eventually I ended up in bed…. at 5am :p It was a good night…. that’s all to be said.

Above are some photos I took on the very first day in London. It wasn’t till the next day however, that I caught up with my aunt and uncle. 10am in the morning (yes, that works out to be only five hours sleep) I was startled by a knock at the door and I finally saw the faces of my two relatives. So naturally I said hello: “Can you grab me my towel? You were supposed to bring it right?”.

¡Viva la France!

Two weeks in a leaky boat… well not very leaky, and not really every waking hour in the boat. Just the odd day or two. :] But of course that makes absolutely no sense… so to explain what I mean, I’ll have to take you back to the beginning. Way back to the year of 1893.

It was a mild summer’s day and Mister I’mpullingyourleg couldn’t help but smile as his pet doves flew gracefully in the breeze…. Yeah that’s all hogwash. Perhaps also a little too far back. So we’ll start at the beginning of the real story. The non-fiction gem that morphed into a great love for my new host family.

When the school holidays began, I didn’t really think to what I was getting myself into. All I knew was, my host mum, dad and brother were taking me to Southern France (Provence to be precise) on a road trip with our infamous* campervan Willy.

We started off heading to Switzerland, an easy trip, only 6 or so hours to take a route via the Alps, particularly for the splendid views. Here’s a few shots I took when we arrived. (Note the rabbit hole… a sign of adventure in a wonder-ful-land to be had!)