Monte Carlo

Expensive cars, big boats, designer clothed somebodies... and us. We were so out of the Monte Carlo loop, that we even had to stay in Nice (a 20 minute train ride away) where we could afford a hotel.

We only went into Monaco for a walk around to see what the super rich did with their "extra" cash and also for bite to eat. Well, we were not let down. In just 20 minutes, we had lost track of how many Ferrari`s we saw on the streets and the boats were just HUGE... more like cruise liners. Dinner was amazing and a quick walk around the casino and we were back on the train with all the other ordinary people.

Cinque Terra- Italy

Well what a saga we had trying to find accomodation in these five UNISCO protected towns. But after a mini melt-down and a chat with a yank, we found a cute little room in the town of Vernazza.

Vernazza was one of the tiniest little fishing villages we have stayed in. It had a train station, a coble stone street, half a dozen restaurants and mini market, oh and a cool little bay.






The sole reason for us coming, was to do the Cinque Terra Walk that takes you through the lemon groves and wraps around the cliffs through all 5 towns. Little did we know that most people only do the "easy" section from the last 2 towns. We found out the hard way by doing the hardest part first and ended up on more of a hike than a walk. 3 hours later we were back in a town and we had a quick team discussion (more like, "Lee, can you be stuffed doing the next part". Reply "Nah"). It was decided to just go a bit "easier". Not really piking, just skipping quantity for quality. But it was actually much nicer and still took us a good part of the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon jumping off the pier, where Brooke gave instuctions to Lee to get cool shots of her diving in so that her kids would know she once did fun stuff!!

On our third day in Cinque Terra, we went to the beach and lazed about, read books and just generally chilled out. That night we met a great couple Dave and Emma who are from Sydney. We spent our last night talking to them until the early hours of the morning, but it was great to have conversations with some other than each other.

Greece

2 buses, 2 trains and a nine hour ferry and we were in Greece - well the Greek Island of Corfu to be exact.

Corfu was an unexpected beauty. We had been recommended to go by Ben and Jen and had just planned to stay 2 nights. We loved the cool holiday vibe and white sandy beaches we ended up staying for 4 nights.

We again got a perfect hotel smack bang on the beach in the town of Pealekatsritsa. We hired a moped to cruise round the island. So that's what we did, we cruised. We went to beautiful look-outs and bays perfect for swimming and also found some great places to eat.

The beaches in Corfu were so amazingly beautiful, but the water was freezing. We would lie about in the sun and have to run and jump in the water, then jump out before our fingers froze off. We managed to find this great Blue Grotto that we spent the day at, lazing on rocks and climbing up further to jump off.

The food in Greece was the best so far. We ate a lot of chicken pitas, kinda like a kebab crossed with a chip-butty. YUMMO!!!! We ate lots of souvlaki, greek yogurt, meat balls and capsicum stuffed with feta, it was always a long decision and thought out process on dinner options each night.

After we missed our flight to Santorini (that's why we stayed 4 days in Corfu). OK, OK, we know what your thinking, "How could we miss ANOTHER flight" Well how were we supposed to know that Greece is on a different time zone to Italy..... not us for the 3 days we were there!!! We can justify it to ourselves by saying we were in the "holiday" timezone.

Anyways, we grabbed another flight the next day and headed to Santorini, that's the island with all the white houses and blue doors.

We hired a scooter again and zipped up to the north of the island to see the sunset over the those famous cliffs with the white houses, with the hordes of other tourists. So we went to a beach close by to see the rest of the sun set alone.......we are very romantic fiances we are!!

Next day it was time to hit the beach. The beaches were so cool. They had tiny black pebbles made from the lava from the volcano that blew it's top a couple of thousand years ago (and was like walking on coals in the sun). Due to the lack of sand, it had the bluest, super clear water - and was warm. We spent the afternon watching kids climb and jump off the biggest cliffs.

After Santorini we did a quick 1 night in Athens. We booked a random hotel on the internet, which turned out to have a view from our balcony of the acropolis.. We didn't just look at the ancient roman building from the hotel though, we walked up and around it and we really surprised at how big the antire area was....very old and way cool. Not too much else to report of in Athens.

All in all, Greece was the bomb. Cheap (in comparision to everywhere else), the food was great and they have sweet jump rocks.

Amalfi Coast- Italy

Well we didn't rough it for too long. We managed to (at the last minute) score a studio apartment perched high in the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast overlooking the ocean.

We were so excited to see the sea that we could hardly wait to get in the salt water. On our fist day we headed straight to the main beach in Amalfi and found our little patch of sand/pebbles and dove into the warm after. The water was so clear that it felt like we were in paradise.

After washing away the Rome pollution and another 40 degree day we made top dinner and settled in for a night on a balcony watching the sun go go down.

The next day we went on a day trip to the ritzy island of Capri, it´s where all the rich and famous peeps head for their holidays. An hour boat trip later and were being shown Sophia Laurens holiday house, Versace's mansion and the president of ferraris residence, and wow do they know how to build a house.......oh and the beaches were great.
Our last day we went down 400 steps our 'local' beach where we found our new fav beach. Naturally more jumping from platforms was had and we spent the day laying on the beach and going for dips....ahhhh life's tough.
"Weeeeeeeee"

Rome - Italy

It was difficult to leave our tranquil villa for the hussle and bussle of Rome.... but we had to move on with the adventure.

Rome is one of those cities that everyone says 'You have to go to Rome and see the Colloseum' and 'Oh you will love Rome - make sure you go to the vatican!', so I guess you can say 'When in Rome'

Although Brooke was sick as a dog and struggled round Rome like she had the plague, and Lee walked around 'Ohhhing' and 'Ahhhing´ and how old everything was, we still saw all the sites.

The Collosuem was one of those places you've seen all your life in books and photos, so to actually see it in person was a very cool experience. We wandered around it and marvelled at construction and saw where they held gladiators during those bloody battles.

As luck would have it, we managed to to be there on the last Sunday of the month. That meant FREE day at the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, WHOOO HOO! We got there at 8.30am hoping to beat the crowds, but a line had already wrapped around 3 blocks (again gotta love those summer hordes). Nonetheless we got in about an hour later. The art works through the entire muesum were truley amazing and way old.


Once into the Vatican City we lined up some more to get into the Sistine Chapel to see the famous 'Creation of Man' - it's actually a lot a smaller than what you would think. Everyone must enter the Sistine Chapel under strict rules that must be observed... No talking or noise & No photos whatsoever.
Everyone had their cameras pionted upwards and were flashing away and all having a great chat to one another. The guards were yelling at everyone 'NO FLASH' 'NO TALKING!' Well as soon as he said that, we noticed one nun yell to her 3 friends to take a photo of here. Too funny. Well that seemed like our cue to leave.

Tuscany - Italy

From Venice we hopped on the train to Florence and another childhood dream for Brooke. We walked around the Tuscan capital in the 40 degree heat and still loved it. We waited 2 hours to get into the ..Uffizzi Gallery - summer isn't exactly the best time to visit Italy. The gallery houses loads of famous artworks by Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and all the other Ninja Turtles. We even saw the statue of David - ok, it was the copy, but there was no way we were waiting another 2 hours in line to see the real thing


After Florence it was off to live the Tuscan dream... but not before a few bumps in the road, while trying to collect our hire car from Pisa. All we will say is 5 hours in the Pisa airport on the phone to easycar... was far from easy. We now hate them with a vengence. After having the hide to tell us the booking for our car we hired (and paid for) weeks in advance had been lost, they told us good luck finding another one... AND for our convenience, we may now APPLY for a refund online. WE HATE EASYCAR!!!

Anyways, we ended up going with Avis (who rock!!) and got on the highway with all the crazy Italian drivers and headed for the small country village of Montepulciano.

We managed to score this amazing apartment in a villa overlooking vineyards, olive trees and rolling hills... Bellissimo!! We spent our days exploring local villages ands lazing by the pool, and our nights cooking up a storm, drinking local wine and watching the sun go down. It was a week of pure bliss.

One evening we had cooked up a great meal, watching the sky turn orange, pink and purple, talking about friends who had found the one (insert violin music). The next thing Brooke knew, Lee was on bended knee, opening a ring box, giving a beautiful speech and asking her to marry him. You all know what happened next!!

Venice - Italy

Brooke was excited about going to Italy she could hardly contain herself. The first place we headed was to Venice. From the moment we got off the train, the first thing we said was, "shit, it's hot" and "god, there are too many yanks here".
Naturally we got lost on our first outing - between canals, bridges and gelato shops, it all looked the same.
As everyone knows, Venice is very romantic. As we were on a budget, we thought we would get take-away pizza, a bottle of wine and sit by a beautiful canal. Not only did the canal smell like an outhouse with rubbish floating by, but on cue to our cheers, a rat decided to take it's evening bath past us. Too funny. Naturally we moved spots.

Switzerland

Our fist stop in Switzerland was Zurich, which by the way is now up there with one of our favourite cities in the world. What was not to like, super trendy cafes and clothes shops lined the coble stone streets, amazing old architecture, a river that you can swim in and all under some mountains.....oh you could smell the dirty money.

One of the main reasons we went to Switzerland was to see Lee's mate Dom (www.mouldyheads.com) before he packed up and left to work with a big time photographer, Horst Diekgerdes in Paris. We happened to arrive smack bang on Doms big 3-0. So off we went to have an indian feast with Dom's friends and then onto to the pub for some more celebrating (thanks again for a great night everyone).

After a tough start the next day, we dragged our sore heads and sorry asses out to explore Zurich. We walked along the river, umbrella in toe, went on the dodgems at the carnival and saw all those sneaky Swiss banks. Later that night Dom took us for a a traditional Swiss meal in the original Swiss artillery room where we ate a yummy mushroom chicken thing, underneath William Tell's actual bow and arrow on the wall....COOL! A big thanks to Dom for having time to have a beer or 2 in Zurich!!!

Next stop....The Swiss Alps. We jumped on a train from Zurich and even the train ride left us staring to the sky and saying 'ooohhhh aaahhhh' at the far away mountains. So you can only imagine what we did when we arrived in our little village, Grindelwald, under those snow capped mountains.

The first day we arrived we got up at the crack of sparrows and headed for the highest train station in Europe 'Top of Europe'. Once we were there we could see as far as the eye could see - and also there was snow EVERYWHERE!!!

After a look out stop we ran down to the snow freezing our butts off (we packed for summer not snow) and had a snow ball right. After the fight we calmed down and had a picnic lunch on the snow overlooking a huge snow filled valley.

The next day we went on a hike through one of the mountains above Grindelwald. With wild flowers everywhere, patches of snow and streams you could drink from. The first words Brooke said when we got up was 'Yo-de-lah-he-heeee'.

We loved Switzerland and the best way to describe it was it looked just like a swiss chocolate wrapper.mmmmmmmmmmmmmm chocolate.

NEWS FLASH

We interrupt this blog to bring you a special news update...................WE ARE ENGAGED! That's right we're getting hitched. Lee popped the question while we were in Tuscany. Deatils to come soon (Italy update).
Hugs. the engaged couple.

Salzburg

We will start with the Sound Of Music (SOM). For anyone who knows Brooke, will know how she loves a good musical. So naturally she was very excited at the thought of actually going to THE place SOM was filmed....Salzburg that is.

Brooke dragged Lee on the 3 hour tour of the Von Trapps mansion, the famous gazebo for the ' I am 16 going on 17' scene and of course the church that the wedding took place. While on the bus they played the soundtrack, TWICE, and everyone sang along. Lee smiled helplessly at me...god he must love me!

We did get in a little romance time as it was our 4 year anniversary. We went out for a rack of lamb and some very tasty wine. After dinner we took a walk up to the look out over the beautiful city.

Other notable food things to mention was a chocolate pretzel Lee ate... that was bigger than his head.

Cesky Krumlov

We caught the train from Vienna to Linz where we were met by the owner of our hostel for Cesky Krumlov, a 1 1/2 hour transfer back to Czech republic. Turns out 'Jan' (the male owner) lived in Oz - 25mtrs across the road from us in Manly (above the Interpolitan)

Cesky Krumlov was looking the goods when we arrived. It was hot, and there were hundreds of people floating down the river in canoes and stopping frequently at the river pubs on the way. With 2 days here, we pencilled some canoeing in for the next day....but rain set in for 2 days. Taking a break from the expensive Euro, we spent lots of time in the cafes, pubs, restaurants and reading books.

Vienna

We chose Vienna as a time to chill after being 'go go go' for over a month. While we were there we picniced in the catherdal parks, went for runs in the palace gardens and heard Mozart being played in the famous Viennanese Opera House. While we listened and hummed along, the Koreans' in front row us snored their heads off.


We happened to be in Vienna for the opening of the famous Vienna Film Festival. Food stalls packed the square where the fetival was held, while the biggest screen we've ever seen played famous opera and classical music concerts from all over the word. We always manage to be in a place when a festival is on.......

.....Lee says it's the Hulsman arsey-ness - I say it's the McGregor Luck.

Poland

This was an unexpected detour, but Poland rocked!!


We stayed in the historical Krakow with trendy restaurants, teenagers loitering and a kebab shop on every corner... who would have thought it was a communist country (except for the odd commy car (the Polski Fiat 126p) parked on the street).

The reason we came to Poland was to go to Auschwitz - a nazi death camp from WWII. It was extremely moving and a heart felt experience, one we are glad we had.

Krakow was the unexpected bonus and it was cheap enough to dine in some of the better places - in between sightseeing the castle and Jewish quarter. We highly recommend that you visit this cool country.



Oh yeah, we did create a snall scene one day. While taking a tram we had undercover ticket inspectors raid it... and suprise suprise, we didn't have a ticket. We had them yelling and circle us on the footpath trying to make us pay 200 bucks. Lee tried to test their authority and told him to piss off and started walking away. Lucky for them, they hailed a cop car driving right past. With police car now parked on footpath, 3 ticket inspectors and 2 poleizi telling me us we're going to jail. Lee offered them 6 dollars in change and told them we had no money and were leaving the country the nextday. At this point we were at a stalemate. A standoff for 10 mins with some yelling and a translator helping... then an old local lady intervened (which obviously held a bit of respect) comes to our defense and tells them go bugger off and don't scare the tourists away. Police left without saying a word, and the situation just evaporated. sweet.

Prague

The saying 'fuller than a fat chicks sock' comes to mind. More American tourists here, than flies in Australia.




While nothing physically had changed in the last 8 years since Lee was here last, Prague has definitely lost its 'semi secret' feel. The costs have also changed, we left booking out hotel until we arrived, but of course it was Sunday and all the tourist offices were shut. We dragged and carried our legs along the coble stones and found and internet place and booked the cheapest place we could. Not holding any high expectations, we arrived to a massive suite in the best area we could have asked for.

We visted all the touristy things like the castle, the bridge and even saw a weird Dali exhibition. Lee drank beer as it was cheaper than water, while Brooke sipped on wine. Gotta love that Czech's not on the Euro... YET!

It's always interesting to find something new on the menu in these kind of countries.