Uzbekistan

Arriving in Tashkent was a relief. The train may have been loads of fun but we were all overdue for a good nights sleep, a proper shower and a meal that didn’t consist of 2 minute noodles and canned meat (it may have looked like dog food but it actually tasted pretty good). That night we had one of the best meals though. It may have been because we wanted it so bad but nonetheless it was amazing. Salads all round with an interesting pasta dish (genuine traditional uzbek pasta) finished off with some awesome fruit.

That night we may have laughed at the money situation but we would soon come to hate it. Essentially the largest uzbek note was worth only 50 cents and changing it was more like a drug deal than an exchange of currency. Carrying around a large wad of money worth little more than 50 dollars was fun at first but finding somewhere inconspicuous to hide it whilst we walked around soon become a chore.

The next day we left on the train for Samarkand. The train ride passed by some beautiful uzbek countryside on the way. After the 5 hour train ride that was only supposed to take 3 we arrived in Samarkand. Samarkand is probably one of my favourite cities that I visited during my entire trip. It was spectacular wherever we went. Enormous mosques, bustling bazaars and the piece-de-resistance, registan square. Our hotel was an extremely short walk from Registan Square, the main tourist attraction of the city. Interesting is probably the best word to describe our hotel. It was extremely haphazard in its design and architecture and we all loved it.

We would visit registan square numerous times during our time in Samarkand. However first we got some awesome traditional food at a family restaurant. Plov is an uzbek specialty and everybody needs to try it before they die. During the afternoon we visited the massive mosque, bazaar, and the incredible cemtary where many of the nations important historical figures are buried. To finish off the day we visited an observatory where an uzbek astronomer made accurate calculations of the distance to many of the stars.

That night would become one of the most memorable of my entire trip so far. First we walked down to registan square just as the sun was setting. It was absolutely breath taking. We bribed the guard 5 dollars each and he took us round the back and up to the roof. The way up there was sketchy at the best of times, running across thin roofs climbing up rickety ladders made of reo. The view from the top was well worth it though. Afterwards we headed out to a nightclub. We sat down for dinner in a nightclub it was very strange but the food was really nice and we could dance in between courses. The dj was fantastic and we all had lots of fun dancing the night away. Afterwards we headed out to another club but headed home fairly shortly afterwars. We had so much fun that night partying whilst quite inebriated with sober muslims.

.

The next day we saw a few more mosques but in the afternoon all of us bar Julia got an incredible stomach bug that would not leave me until well into Thailand. Julia enjoyed mike jones’ cooking her plov from ingredients that they bartered for at the local bazaar. I heard that it was amazing. Next time maybe.

Luckily I started to feel a little better the next day since we would be catching the train to Bukhara.

Sorry i wrote this ages ago and never got around to uploading it

So it has been a fair while since I have updated everyone on my activities. Last time anybody really heard from me was st Petersburg. Since then I’ve been constantly doing things and I’ve rarely had access to any internet. However here is basically what happened whilst I was on the vodkatrain through Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

I left st Petersburg late at night and only just managed to catch the train to Moscow. To say that I was uneasy about the trip ahead would be an understatement. Luckily I met Julia, one of the group members on the train that night and immediately started to worry a little less.

We arrived in Moscow and the last thing that either of us wanted to do was go outside and sightsee, so we figured that watching borat would be just like reading a guide book for Kazakhstan. That’s when we met Jamie, the third member of our group and later we met valentin the final (little did he know we already facestorked him after getting his details from reception).

At each stop on the vodkatrain you meet up with a ‘honcho’ which are effectively just guides but theyre always locals and are just there to help show u round and to have a nice chat. Our first guide was marina and she was awesome. Over the next few days she took us to all the cool places in Moscow:

·         the kremlin

·         st basils cathedral

·         Red square

·         The metro system which is decorated with very beautiful soviet architecture and art

·         Some of the extremely fancy department stores (they’re built in old aristocratic palaces. Very fancay)

·         Many of the sculptures that dot the city

·         The state circus (where we would make the first of many bribes on the trip)

·         And Moscow’s answer to Disneyland. It wasn’t much of a reply and thankfully was closed

·         We also sampled some Russian vodka at a dodgy student bar one night.

Anyway we had a lot of fun hanging out in Moscow with marina and teaching her proper English such as the meaning of does a bear shit in the woods. It was sad to see her go as we left on the train headed for Tashkent. That trip would take 3 days but was just as fun.

So the train trip. It was epic in so many ways. The first night we cracked out the vodka and saw how much fun a drunk Julia is. Unfortunately the next nights were more subdued since we had a bit of a run in with a kazak official who wanted to kick us off for drinking beer. He was asking for a 7500 ruble bribe which is around 250 dollars. We weren’t have’n none of it so we stood our ground. Thankfully he spoke no English and valentine spoke Russian so we good tell him to go jump. We were all still pooing our pants though and were perfectly prepared to pay the bribe. Luckily after about 20 minutes we managed to get him to piss off since their wasn’t much he could actually do.

The other highlight was teaching some uzbeks returning home after a year working in Moscow how to play uno. They were a little slow to pick it up but loved it so much. A little vodka helped the process along. From that point on they never left us alone always wanting Jamie to go and play cards wth them.

Anyway the train was a good laugh and the days passed fast and pretty soon we made it to Tashkent where we met the legend that is mike jones.

живой Санкт-Петербург

Btw thats viva saint petersburg in russian.

So I finally got to russia and i start my train trip in a few days from moscow. St. Petersburg is absolutely amazing. Its like europe meets Russida since Peter the Great was a big fan of daish architecture. at least thats what the guide told me on the boat.

I got into the airport and damned if i was going to get the metro at 11 at night. the taxi wasn't too expensive and it only took 30 minutes. that was probably due to him doing 110 down main streets where everyone else was doing 50.

Got to my hostel and immediately started talking to one of the other guys in my room. ended up heading out for pizza and then going on a midnight cruise along the rivers of saint petersburg. it was amazing.

today i visited the peterhof which is the summer palace of peter the great. there were gold fountains and opulent architecture everywhere u looked. finished up the day by visiting a few of the local cathedrals which were equally opulent.

till next time.

West Highland Way Day 3

The footpath along Loch Lomond coming up to the bothy

Ok, so I have been a little slack lately when it comes to most things especially keeping people up to date. Firstly, I'm still in london at the moment as my visa for Kazakhstan has not come yet. A few phone calls and emails later has established that somewhere along the line my invitation letter has been mixed up with four Korean passports. Apparently it is far too difficult for the Kazakhstan embassy to find and correct the issues even with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan and two travel agencies. Anyway enough of the boring stuff and back to the West Highland Way.

DAY 3

The Bothy with the loch in the background

I woke up on day 3 to find that it was raining outside. I laid in bed for a lot longer than I had hoped while I worked up the courage to get up and out into it. I eventually got up at around 8:30 and headed out into the driving rain wearing my $500 goretex jacket that was still not enough to stop my phone from getting wet in the pockets. It was a difficult slog over rocks and around trees along the banks of Loch Lomond during the morning. The rain was coming down and it was still quite cold. To keep myself going, I promised myself not to stop until I reached a bothy, which is basically a Scottish version of a hiking hut. Unfortunately it was around 6 miles and by the time I got there I was completely drenched.. Once there I stopped and dried out my feet and socks and put on my rain pants.

Glen Falloch

After a short break I continued along the path towards the Inverarnan Hotel where I enjoyed lunch with a few of the other walkers. Met two girls from Ireland in the hotel and thought it might be nice to have some company for the next section of the walk to Crianlarich. The views were spectacular as we followed the fast flowing Glen Falloch River to Crianlarich.

The Glen Falloch River

The plan was to stay in the hostel in Crianlarich along with the other walkers that I had met along the way due to the inclement weather. Unfortunately they were booked up and my only choice was to head to the next town along the way. By this time it was starting to get dark so I had to catch the train. It nearly killed me to think that I was skipping five miles of the way but reminded myself that I was there to see beautiful scenery and not just for the sake of saying I beat it.

Misleading sign

The train to Tyndrum was gorgeous. I watched as the sun set over the hills. It also just so happened that I would be sharing a room with the german walker I had stayed with in Inverarnan. It didnt take long to have some dinner with some nice Scottish walkers and head off to bed ready for the next day.

By this point i was feeling pretty good. my feet were holding up nicely and I was halfway through day 5 having covered 52 of the 95 miles by the end of my 3rd day, so I was making good time.

The path that it talks about

Just before Crianlarich

West Highland Way Day 2

Day 2

The view of Loch Lomond from the top of Conic Hill

Unfortunately it rained lightly overnight. I got up late, in the hope that the morning sun would help dry my tent, at least thats the excuse that I told myself. The slog over Conic Hill was quite difficult but gave great views of Loch Lomond before the path descended down towards Balmaha. At this point the rain was managing to hold off. Balmaha gave me the opportunity to buy a little more food and grab a cup of tea from the local pub.

After Balmaha, the path followed the shores of the loch wherever possible, with brief intervals of road walking. The going was easy and the views were spectacular. I watched as storm clouds formed over the opposite bank of the loch. The forest along the edge of Loch Lomond was filled with beautiful broad leaved trees.

The banks of Loch Lomond just up from Balmaha

Most of the time, the going was easy along well maintained wide paths, however the last few miles before Inversnaid started to get narrow and it also started to rain. It was during this stretch that i was lucky enough to see the famous wild goats of Scotland. At first I thought they were bears, and then I reminded myself that there aren't bears in Scotland. As I was calming down I noticed the size of their horns and immediately thought they were going stab me with them. I eventually made it to Iversnaid that afternoon. The original plan was to camp at a campsite just outside of 'town', however the weather was miserable and there was a taxi waiting to pick up some other walkers to take them to a bunkhouse. I met some people along the walk her were staying at the bunkhouse and decided that I would have a miserable night in the tent so it was worth paying some money to stay in the bunkhouse.

Watching a storm roll in

Awaiting me at the bunkhouse were warm showers, hot food and a real, albeit springy bed. I caught up with the walkers that I had met earlier that day and also made friends with a German walker from my room who I would encounter numerous times along the way.

The scary as hell goats

Just before Inversnaid

Even though the weather turned bad, I had a great day walking down on the 'bonny' banks of Loch Lomond. By the time I reached Inversnaid I was over a third of the way, having walked 33 of the 95 miles.

West Highlands Way

The start of the way

So I promised some people that I would do some  blog posts detailing my experiences in Scotland on the West Highlands Way. Where to start? Well since my visa application was taking longer than expected I decided that a week long hike through Scotland would be good fun. It was definitely an adventure I don't know if I would say that it was fun.

I bet your wondering, "Michael, wtf is the West Highlands Way". Basically it is a long distance trail from the beginning of the scottish highlands on the outskirts of Glasgow, 156 kilometres north (I think thats right) to Fort William through some of the best scenery that the UK has to offer. The website said that it should take between 7-9 days, around the same amount of time that my visa would take. Perfect. What follows is what I saw and got up to along the way.

DAY 1

Mmmm, lunch

Day 1 started on the back of an 8.5 hour bus ride to Glasgow the night before. The trail started in Milngavie (pronounced Miln-gie) on the outskirts of Glasgow. Immediately the trail headed off through a wooded section and I quickly noticed the large number of people wearing gators along an extremely wide, well trodden walking track. It would soon make sense. I should probably mention that it was aready raining on day 1 and would continue to rain for most of the time that I was in Scotland. The beginning of the trail was very pretty with wooded sections and rolling green hills. I was initially surprised to meet some people drinking beer along the way and I would soon come to learn, that walking in the UK usually involved drinking. At this point I was confident and powering along the track chewing through miles quite easily.

The view from my tent

It absolutely started to pelt down with rain just as I reached the pub for lunch. due to the inclement weather I thought, "Stuff it, I want some hot food". Listening to the woman telling me the specials with a strong Scottish accent I heard the word anchovies and ordered that particular dish. Turns out that it was chicken schnitzel topped with egg and anchovies. It was unusual but luckily I like all those ingredients and scoffed it all down.

After lunch i continued the walk past lovely Scottish farms and up to Drymen. This is supposed to be the end of day 1 according to the guide, instead I pushed on further since it was only 3 and i wanted to camp out. The nex part of the trail took me through a conifer forest and out into a sheep paddock at the base of Conic Hill. The view was spectacular with the steeply rising hill and Loch Lomond surrounded by the highland mountains.

My tent in the middle of nowhere and by nowhere I mean a
Scottish sheep paddock 

I wandered around the field for about half an hour trying to find somewhere flat and dry. . i managed to find somewhere, pitched my tent and ate some food before heading off to bed early, in high spirits, albeit a little lonely.

And that concludes day 1

Heading off to Scotland

So im still in late, at least for the time being. tomorrow night i will be catching an overnight busto glasgow, where i will beginning a 7-9 day hike through the highlands. it finishes at inverness just near Ben Nevis. it shoul be an exciting adventure.

I had to buy a pack today specially for it since my backpacking one is far too large and heavy. consequently i am going to smell really really bad since clothes were low down on the priority list for packing. Whilst looking for a backpack i got to see some more of London. walked from Piccadilly Circus down Regent St, then down Oxford  St to Hyde Park and finally High St Kensington. The buildings were really nice even if i couldnt afford anything inside them.

Managed to buy myself a sweet pack very cheaply and got a further student discount on it. Score.

Anyway I am sure nobody cares much. If u are interest in the walk here is a link to it http://www.west-highland-way.co.uk/home.asp

cheers guys

Down to my last five pounds.

Ok so the last days haven't been the best. I discovered that i had run out of money on my debit card. Unfortunately it takes 2 days to for the money to transfer into. Luckily i have somewhere to stay for free and have been living off the 20 quid in my pocket.

I've still managed to get and see plenty of things. I went on a massive walk around london from St Pauls to Tower bridge and then back along the south bank to Westminster. From Westminster i continued through Hyde Park to Bayswater for some foodage and finished off the day in the museums. So the day was completely free and i got to see some of the best sights in london.

Today i visited the RAF museum in Hendon. it was AWESOME! i spent 7 hours there and still didnt see anything.

Anyway hopefully tomorrow i will be able to apply for my visas since i should have access to money.

will keep in touch

Visa Dilemma

Ok so Laura has headed home leaving me alone in London. I promised her that i would try to keep this blog guying. Don't get too excited though, my writing skills haven't progressed since the 4th grade so don't expect the same quality that Laura was providing.

Anyway, (btw be prepared for lots of sentences starting like this) Laura left me to head home from Heathrow Airport. It was sad to see her go both since we would not be seeing each either for nearly 3 months and because our amazing three months together in Europe had finally come to an end. I am remaining in London, at least for the time being, in order to apply for visas to Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China. Unfortunately it is most likely going to take far longer for me to get them all then i head previously thought. Apparently visas for foreign nationals take far longer to be processed then for UK and EU citizens. Wish i had known this early. Therefore my plans have to change.

Croatia is looking more and more unlikely and Scandanavia is looking unlikely too. Its alright though since i can remain in England until the train leaves in St Petersburg. To fill in time i hope to see lots and lots of london as well as get myself a Britrail pass (if it is in fact worth it) and explore as much of England, Wales and Scotland. The idea is to head off for a few days at a time and do some short walks or visit other landmarks before heading back to London to apply for the next visa in turn.

Ok so that is the boring stuff over and done with. Currently i am crashing at Martyn's house in London enjoying socialising with his room-mates that all seem to be heavy drinking Irishmen. Last night was fun, although i did pay for it the next day. Btw the stereotype about Irish drinking ability has so far seemed to be spot on. I'm a pathetic lightweight at the best of times but i never stood a chance.

Anyway till next time (hopefully i will have some interesting stories by then)

london, still

hey all, i finished up last time in Amiens - just to quickly bring you up to speed, since then we drove through the incredibly peaceful and moving old battlefields of the somme and up into Belgium. Ypres was incredible, the battlefields of Paschendaele so far removed from what happened there - pretty and ordered, birds chirping. So surreal. The 'In Flanders Fields' museum was incredible, exhaustingly good. Crossed over on the ferry to Dover (not very roman conquerorish i'm afraid) and the next morning explore the beautiful white cliffs. Drove up to Canterbury and got our history nerds on - the cathedral was incredible! After that, Cambridge, and a glorious walk through meadows by the Cam to pretty Grantchester. We then explored Derbyshire (there is no finer county in England!) and the gorgeous Peak District - switching up Industrial Revolution sites with rambles through extremely impressive landscapes. The next day we explored the lovely city of York - cathedral spires, old steam trains, an excellent bookstore, teddy tea-rooms and a dodgy funfair = excellent day :).
Drove through the gorgeous yorkshire moors to stay with some lovely family friends in Stockton, with a pretty impressive walk/run through wild moorland on the way. Day trips through the moors to the coast (pretty but crowded Whitby!) and Hadrians Wall ended with awesome home cooked meals and good company. Drove back down through the lovely yorkshire dales, looking very different from our last visit! this time the rivers stayed WITHIN their banks (thankfully). All through the Peaks district, moors and dales i had several squeal inducing moments due to thousands of gamboling lambs. I think i took more than a thousand photos of them alone. Visited my old favourite Fountains Abbey and had a practically private, incredibly informative guided tour. Next up was Stratford upon Avon, BEST ever: an incredible performance of Macbeth by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Then a super relaxed day in the Cotswalds - parked in the tiny Upper Slaughter and walked to the even tinier Lower Slaughter and the super touristy but cute Bourton-on-the-water. The next day we took a steam train through the lovely Forest of Dean before heading to the gorgeous Wye valley and Tintern Abbey! After this brief stint in Wales we headed back to england for 'the world's oldest watt-style beam engine performing its original task.' Michael got excited. I know there was water going uphill, that's for sure. Then we went back much much further - the prehistoric Uffington White Horse (and iron age hill fort AND dragon's hill aka Uther Pendragon's resting place! oh arthur...) and Stonehenge! (speaking of Arthur...) It was busy, sure, but it was free due to National Trust membership and still worth it. Very picturesque as well as full of history and mystery! Finished the day at Old Sarum, outside of Salisbury - once far bigger and more important than the latter until the cathedral was moved. Occupied in the Iron age, through to Saxons and Normans. The next day we made the most of our travelodge accommodation (15pounds! oh yeah) and spent the morning packing before exploring lovely Winchester. Travelled on through the south downs to the spectacular Petworth House, drove down to Arundel and across to the outskirts of Brighton before heading up toward the excellently named Ticehurst! Spent my birthday exploring its cute bookshop and church before picnicking at Scotney castle - cos its fashionable to have some ruins in your garden :) Then back to London! We handed Lupus back over and relaxed at the hostel before heading out for Thai - satisfying my three month long craving :) The next day was the royal wedding - CRAZY - then we moved to the Raddison. Which brings me to today! Explored Camden, Regent's Park, Trafalgar Square (and my favourite room of the National Gallery - the Sackler Room!) and Westminster Bridge with its spectacular views. I go home tomorrow. And hopefully to Greenwich. But mostly home. I do and don't want to go. Argh!

Anyway I'm going to keep putting my favourite photos on here and Michael will update it as he keeps travelling! Love love love

xxx

more francey-pants updating

so! last time i left you in the lovely loire valley, so an update on what we got up to since then..

From the Loire we drove up to St-Malo and spent the afternoon walking around the walls, admiring island forts, sailing boats and urine-soaked watchtowers. Michael refused to go into the last one despite promising photo potential. Jackass. There were loads of people participating in a very colourful scavenger hunt that focussed mainly on men in drag (often singing). We descended into the town proper and discovered it had been almost completely taken over by souvenir shops, most of which were making the most of the town’s (probably self-ascribed) moniker of ‘City of Pirates.’ (Cite de Corsaire DOES sound prettier.) After  escaping the crush we set off for Mont-Saint Michel, which, especially at sunset, seems to have managed to retain its otherworldly beauty and charm despite the proverbial crapload of tourists descending on it each day. We ate dinner watching the light disappear over the water, to be replaced with floodlights (which were ok by us too). The motorhome community is obviously also a big fan, with a huge contingent parked up a little way back from the mount. We returned in the morning to find a now pay-and-display carpark (bummer) and thousands and thousands of people. Walking up the steep spiral streets was not so good for my back, or the hundreds of other people I ran into because there was literally no room to breathe, and I’m clumsy. The views and the gorgeous abbey itself were worth it though, despite the fact they had run out of english audioguides (and we thought they were prepared for tourists!) and the next free tour wasn’t til the afternoon. It was nice to wander by ourselves though, marvelling at how they had ingeniously built the abbey on top of the rock, and exploring the crypts below. The monks seemed to only manage an activity if the room they were in was devoted entirely to it. So, we saw huge halls to read in, huge halls to pray in, huge halls to meet guests in, huge halls to meet slightly less wealthy guests in, huge halls for thinking about god in, huge halls for thinking about OTHER things in (to clarify, things like JESUS and PRAYING)… and the list went on. We flouted the rules and spent the whole time thinking how magnificent it was, no matter what room we were in. Drove through the lovely countryside of Normandy up to a position from which to start our d-day beaches tour the nest day – near Cherbourg.

Drove down the peninsular, visiting the extremely pretty Barfleur (and barfleur point) and finding some delights on the way south – including a damn good kids playground. Not only did it have swings (which Michael couldn’t figure out) and a see-saw, but a roundabout thingy which didn’t seem prepared for our weight. We tried to go for a walk around the point (with the obligatory fort) but Michael kept throwing rocks and then I discovered the ‘danger’ signs were there because the ‘walk’ took place on a  thin wall rising out of the sea, with a drop on both sides. So yeah, no walk for me. Michael seemed to enjoy it though. After that we drove past Utah beach, stopping at some gun emplacements/batteries both on the beach and several miles away in the beautiful green fields with speckled cows grazing. Finished off the day at the very moving and physically beautiful Pointe du Hoc. The cliffs were extremely impressive, which made the actions of the Rangers there even more difficult to imagine. Met an American girl studying at the Sorbonne and her boyfriend, who thanked us for taking their picture by telling us ‘you guys are such chaps’. We assume that’s a good thing. Parked for the night in Bayeaux. After eating delicious potato pizza, where the potato was ROASTED and then put on top – EXCELLENT, we went on a massive hunt for a macdonalds, which wasn’t were the gps said, and was also closed, just for that night. The public toilets were also out of order. This marked a low point in our luck, without the ever reliable golden arches we were forced to drive half an hour to the next town just to find a toilet. And then back to Bayeaux, which we were planning to visit the next day. Awesome. (Michael also wants to point out that I dropped my pizza on the ground, and he swapped for his, salami picked off, because he is a grand gentleman. Yes Michael, you are, and I still feel horrible about it so SHUT UP. But thanks.)

Bayueax:

Visited the amazing Bayeaux tapestry, telling the story of the Norman invasion of England – 1066 and all that. Of course, it told it entirely from the Norman side (and the museum didn’t seem to think it should vary from that line either) but that was interesting in itself, especially the fact that they did show Harold as fairly honourable up to the whole betraying thing. Anyway there are thousands of theories about that so I won’t go into them.. What got us most were the incredibly bright colours of the tapestry, and the detail it went into – for example in the scenes showing the cooking, serving, eating and interruption of a meal. Also I think Michael enjoyed the fact that it had naked men crouching randomly in the friezes, and at one point grasping for a woman with enormous hands. Because he’s actually five. (ok it was pretty funny). The museum also had a great exhibition on the tapestry and equivalent works in Japan, and their links to film. The afternoon consisted of Michael visiting the Pegasus Bridge Museum, and me writing postcards in between agonising searches for a public toilet (seriously, what is up with france!) Michael’s comments on the Museum: “extremely good, very detailed but not boring, nicest staff ever.” He’s very economical. The capture of Pegasus Bridge was the objective of the first battle of D-Day as it protected the eastern flank and provided a passageway off the beach-head. It was the first successful Allied glider-borne assault, so had twice the significance for Michael.

The next day was extremely different (I LOVE how varied this country is – in Normandy alone we passed through so many different areas) – the relaxed and super pretty La Route Cidre. This was my one day driving so Michael could get his tasting on, and thankfully the roads were pretty much empty so it wasn’t too bad. Also, they were far too narrow for me to worry about what side of the road I was driving on, I just had to make sure it was, in fact, the road. The route is a wellmarked circuit in the ‘Calvados’ region, covering 40km and 17 producers of cider, calvados (an apple brandy) and pommeau (a mixture of calvados and apple juice.) At first we were a bit nervous about just walking in and asking for a taste, and our first visit didn’t really calm any nerves – it was big and swanky with heaps of different varieties and everyone else there was rich, middle-aged and knew lots about cider. Oh and could speak French. Michael tasted some different ciders and some pommeau and we escaped with what we thought was a relatively cheap bottle of cider. The next place couldn’t have been more different – there was no car parking area, this was just a working farm, the woman had no English whatsoever but on the word ‘Cidre’ took us down to a cellar and poured out glasses of her one variety of cider, costing about a third of the price of the first place’s. We both tried to communicate several times but it all just ended up in wild sign language and laughter. She did however understand us giving her money, so it was all good. The third and final farm we visited was definitely the most educational – they took us around and showed us the old cider press and explained the different methods that have been used over the years, and had a video following the apples from picking to crushing. My favourite part was a room containing a couple of the huge old barrels with calvados fermenting away inside them – it smelt amazing. The woman told us how they made tens to hundreds of thousands of litres each year, and 70% of it was sold directly from the farm. Michael tasted apple cider, pear cider, pommeau and calvados, with the pear cider being a surprise hit – I absolutely love it, and at home i'm not a big cider fan.

We left the route and drove up to Honfleur – of the lovely harbour that inspired so many future Impressionists. It was quite the pretty but it didn’t have magical powers, I still can’t paint to save my life. Next stop was Etretat – gateway to the alabaster coast of France and also beloved by Impressionists. We hauled ourselves up the steps (ma would be proud) to get a better view, only to find a carpark at the top. The beach was pebbled but pretty, and the cliffs spectacular. Etretat also has the honour of being the home of the absolute worst/most amazing postcards we’ve ever seen. (I guess I have to say ‘so far’ but I don’t think we’ll be getting worse..)

We reluctantly got on the motorway to get us to Amiens quickly, but not before the gps took us on a bizarre shortcut that allowed us to see the nervous steps of a newborn calf. So we didn’t yell at it again for a whole ten minutes!

Amiens cathedral was spectacular (its little Venice less so – even more pathetic than Colmar’s! J) and absolutely enormous. This was the place that had ruined Paris’ Notre Dame for Michael – and it could fit two of that lesser cathedral inside it :P (NB: I still love Notre Dame, I promise). The intricate carvings on the outside were incredible. Definitely more impressive than the supposed face of st john the Baptist inside, but then again I steered VERY clear of that one. I don't know, cut off faces just aren't my thing. Amiens was also moving for its connection with the war, with plaques inside dedicated to the allied forces who defended it on the battlefields of the Somme. 

aaaaaaand now I have to go, because DOCTOR WHO has finished downloading from BBC iplayer, and i must watch it immediately. Coincidentally we're just outside of Swindon, home of the much hated (by us, of course) Billie Piper. I can't believe how much better Miss Pond is. Swindon is ALSO however the home of my beloved Thursday Next, and it reminds me of SWINTON, so its not all bad. 

love to you all

xoxo

p.s. I (laura) would like to point out that today has been an excellent day, not only due to the winningness of Tintern abbey and the wye valley and the lovely lady in the gift shop and pretty castles on cliffs. Also because Michael made me a daisy chain and bought me a dalek easter egg (with mug!). So now I have to publicly acknowledge his wonderfulness. Which is just embarrassing for everyone. but YAY DALEKS! so, love. xx.

poland, slovakia, hungary

wawel

spissky hrad

tatras

the history books forgot about us...

basilica in esztergom.

oops, spissky hrad again

the basilica. and tiny michael.

across the danube. the SIZE of it!

some more pics very quickly, i need sleepytime! we're staying with family friends in norton getting spoilt rotten. clean clothes! home-cooked meals! fresh sheets! SHOWERS! spent today driving through the moors to whitby and back, tomorrow = hadrian's wall. better get some sleep! love to all xx

picturelove.

above the clouds on the rossfeld panoramastrasse

konigsee, berchtesgarden

Hallstat in the Salzkammergut, Austria (view from where we parked the car overnight!)

view from Traunkirchen, Salzkammergut

Cesky Krumlov at dusk

Michael wearing a rather fetching neckwarmer in Telc's extremely long square.

Rynek Glowny, Krakow

lovely church right near our apartment, Krakow

xx

Loire Valley

we are having super lovely times in the Loire valley! Yesterday we visited the ridiculously splendid Chambord, which was beautiful inside and out. Especially out. But inside was also cool, it wasn't fully furnished but it was interesting to read about the history and see how it had been changed by its many occupants over the years. Plus, the very excellent centrepiece - two staircases winding up to the top in one well, never meeting, leading up to the spectacular roof.
We decided that was it in terms of paying for chateaux or we'd run out of money by the end of the day, but most of them are pretty incredible from the outside anyway! It was lovely driving along the gorgeous rivers with grand houses and palaces rising up all around us! Today we went to the lovely Chenonceau, but parked across the other side of the river Cher and walked down along it to a superb, and free view of the castle spanning the river. The scenery was gorgeous, such a bright green with wildflowers scattered all around. Heaps of people were riding their bikes by the water, once again fuelling my desire to do a trains-and-bikes tour of europe. Because there's nothing like planning your next trip while you're still on your first one...
Also saw Chateau d'Usse (the supposed inspiration for Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty's castle).
We're now in Saumar, which has a rather nice chateau of its own, plus an excellent collection of carparks for sleeping in. Perfect.
Off to bed now, hope australia is being magnificent!
xx

Why being really lonely is sometimes super awesome!

continuing with the how i met your mother and scrubs jokes...

going to briefly catch you up from last update to where we are now, just because i CAN.

we continued with the alps through switzerland and into france, unfortunately missing out on a mont blanc viewing due to horrible weather. we were relieved to get into france and find prices back to 'reasonable' rather than 'you've got to be kidding me', although switzerland was definitely pretty enough to make up for it. And austria's rest stops were worth any money - and they were free! love campervan loving. Drove on to pretty Annecy, where we stayed in a very cute b&b in the middle of nowhere, run by a woman and her adorable dog Chipie. Because the village she lived in was SO out of the way, we got completely lost looking for her place and had to ask a random french man walking his dog for help. Unable to communicate with us properly (because we fail at French) he hopped in his car with HIS adorable puppy and drove us round the town, knocking on random doors where MORE french strangers helped us find our accommodation. wish there was another way to thank him, our poorly pronounced 'merci beaucoup's didn't quite feel like enough. After a breakfast of woodfired bread and homemade jam, as well as some truly smelly cheeses, we drove south towards Provence through some incredibly pretty countryside, and found an amazing fort that, while shut, provided a jaw-dropping view of the Grenoble basin and the surrounding snow-capped mountains. I was more than a little nervous standing near the edge of its 800m drops.

Provence was BEAUTIFUL, and the sun came out to help us enjoy it. The scenery on the way south was gorgeous, changing constantly. Beautiful azure rivers,rocky hills, bright green fields, vinyards and huge snowy alps towering over it all! Luberon region was GORGEOUS, beautiful Rousillon bright red from the cliff’s ochre, and lovely Gordes shining in the sunset. We had a little ramble around the latter, through some very cute little (steep) streets to some terraces with incredible views of the surrounding area. We drove on to Avignon to see the famous bridge lit up at night, and we danced NEAR it. Michael was not at ALL embarrassed.

Drove down towards Arles on the scenic route – through the bizarre yet gorgeous rocky landscape of Les Baux de Provence – where bauxite was discovered. Arles was great, a lovely ampitheatre and a beautiful relaxed feel. I got very Van Gogh excited, often. Kept on going south through the gorgeous Camargue - glimpsed some flamingos through the trees! - to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a very cute touristy beach town! I went for a paddle in the Med, Michael was far too wussy. After that we turned north towards spectacularly Roman Nimes - amazing arena, beautiful temple (inside which we watched a 3D movie on its history? bizarre) and lovely tower in roman gardens. Pont Du Gard at sunset was all we needed to make it a perfect day!

aaaaaaaand then we drove along the coast toward the Pyrenees, stopping at Beziers to see the eight locks in the canal du midi (michael got his nerd on) and then driving inland to explore beautiful Cathar country. Read up on the old religion and explored their particularly impressive castles. OH this is also when we ate pizza out of a van. so good. SO good :)

Next up was Carcassonne, where the light and expensive parking kept foiling our plans for photos. Visited pretty Mirepoix on our way south, rounding off the day with a visit to the Grotte de Niaux, as i described before.

Had a lovely drive through the Pyrenees, into the beautiful regions of Aragon and Navarra in Spain. Bit disappointed half the iconic Tour passes were shut! Still definitely glad we were in a car and not powering ourselves up those hills.

Up through Pau and the amusingly named but very cute Condom to the Dordogne region, which was magical, and already described!

So now we're in Orleans, holing up in a f1 for SHOWERS and a BED. So exciting. Michael's hair is actually sitting properly. I can get a brush through mine. Miracles!! Tomorrow we set off to explore the Loire Valley, looking forward to the glamour of the chateaux! I can't quite believe that a month today it will be my last night over here. Its gone so quick! but there's still a whole month, and i'm going to make the most of it!

So we're in a formule 1 now, which is absolutely tiny but WAY cheaper than the aussie ones! Conveniently got a park right outside the window, rather than walking around the hotel with all our stuff we unpacked through the window, and since then michael has been using it as a door. Classy. They show super 15 on the tv over here, which is making me a bit homesick! but oh wait... they don't at home. stupid pay tv. anyway should go so i can enjoy the rugby/get a good night's sleep before tomorrow!

love to you all

xoxoxo

french food love

hi! we're currently motorwaying up the middle of france, after a lovely visit to the beautiful Dordogne region. We stayed the night in Domme, a very cute little town built up above the river. It appeared to have a cave in the square where we parked for the night? I don't know... Unfortunately it started to rain in the morning, but I was determined to run so it didn't stop me, and nor did the angry french man with an umbrella who seemed to think I was trying to get in all his photos. I apologise, angry french man. Your camera was sort of pointing the other way, but we won't quibble on the details. The view over the region was just superb, even through the rain! It cleared up as we drove through more cute villages - La Roque Gageac, Beynac-et-Cazenac (where Michael explored the very impressive castle!) and on to Sarlat. It was pretty but I'm afraid after the intense amount of 'les plus beaux villages de france' (the most beautiful villages in france, they're ORGANISED) we've got a bit picky, and thought there were just too many people! We drove on through castle-dotted, verdant green landscapes to Rocamadour, where the returning rain cleared up just enough to give us a glimpse of the pretty town perched on the cliff.
 We splurged and had dinner overlooking this beautiful town - Michael had "the best animal i have ever eaten. Oh my god, foodgasm. I wanted to revive it and thank it before getting them to kill and cook it again. Oh god" in the form of roast duck, while my chocolate fondant (english translation: 'the heart melting into honey') definitely melted my heart. Unfortunately the restaurant felt a bit too posh to pull out the camera, a la Alsace, but trust me, it was pretty :)
So, in short, we're loving France.
Well, most of it. Michael does has some notes about road and traffic organisation. He keeps yelling randomly at the lack of reflectors and the bizarre organisation of intersections. In fact I think he's so impassioned he may be writing a post about it soon :)
anyway, bed time, hopefully be hearing from you all soon! xx

Her teeth are crooked and she lived in a car, so she has stuff to write about!

photoinators

Nordlingen 

Rottenbuch church

Peiting

Neuschwanstein

St Coloman's Church and Neuschwanstein

Michael, the Wieskirche and good old Bavarian kitsch

Neuschwanstein!

Hohenschwangau

we are in franceypants, going to go check out the Dordogne region tomorrow, fingers crossed for more good weather! Hopefully France keeps up this trend of beautiful days and rainy nights... if it must rain at all. Spain was beautiful, love love loved the scenery of the Pyrenees, and the diversity in landscapes we've seen. Daylight savings has hit here, so better get to bed to try and get our body clocks working on time. love love xx

I don't have time to do another long post, just letting you know we're in Languedoc-Roussilln in France - St-Liziers to be specific - and we're about to cross the Pyrenees for a short trip into Spain!!
Its incredibly sunny and warm here, the only probem being I don't exactly have the right clothes for this weather! Luckily I bought a skirt in Austria (op-shops rule) but eventually I will have to change.. ha.
Yesterday we went to Grotte de Niaux - an incredible cave that you have to walk for about 20 minutes through (with torches) to reach some incredible prehistoric art. The tour was in French but it was still pretty exciting to see the paintings, knowing how old they were, and the cave itself was spectacular! A very cute baby was on the tour, and displayed to us all the excellent acoustics of the main chamber :)
Before that we checked out Carcassonne, to try and get some of those iconic pictures (didn't work so well) and a whole string of magnificent Cathar Castles, all perched on top of impressive rocky outcrops.
At the moment we're in a supermarket carpark having breakfast, stealing macca's free wifi and generally feeling pretty good :)
In other news:
Europe is obsessed with Natalie Imbruglia. But that's ok cos, honestly, so are we.
The constant playing of 'Torn' was just interrupted by 'Beds are Burning' at this supermarket. Odd. Homesick-inducing.
For a continent so obsessed with cheese, and with so many cows, you really wouldn't expect this morbid fear of fresh milk.
One of the best pizzas we've had came from the back of a van. Not just any van. It had a freaking wood-fired oven in the back of it. So now we're planning a pizza-van adventure through Europe where we finance our own journeying through selling gourmet pizza. Except for the whole where-would-we-sleep problem.
aaaaand now its time to go see the word.
love! x

germany and austria and germany and austria and on!

So! Where was I up to?

There’s not that much to be said about Neuschwanstein that can’t be expressed (far better) in pictures. But unfortunately macca's internet is too slow for pictures at the moment. sooo, you'll see soon. Basically, its very, VERY pretty, and we went there. yay!

Its also a rather lovely place to run your battery out, if that’s your thing. It is our thing, apparently. Michael had his tour booked so he ran off all stress-y while I went up to complete strangers and asked if they spoke English and could they pretty please jumpstart our car. Two different lovely families tried but we couldn’t manage it til Michael got back, apparently there’s an art to connecting wires to things and turning the ignition (at least when your jump leads are dodgy, and smoke a bit, and terrify the nice Japanese people who are helping you out…)

Anyway we got on and continued into Austria – very briefly, before driving along the border towards Berchtesgarten, seeing some very pretty mountains and lakes on the way (clearly the best type of scenery.)

Berchtesgarten was awesome! We had amazing weather, so we drove the Rossfeld Panoramastrasse, and saw intense alps scenery, so so beautiful, and then went for an (electric) boat ride on Konigsee (which was partially iced over). It reminded me of milford! Such a deep, long, narrow lake with a pretty little chapel at the other end, unfortunately couldn't get all the way there because of the ice. Oh and afterwards Michael ate sausages, a pretzel, a large amount of beer and some schnapps at a place on the lake. AND then some more beer and a hamburger at maccas. and then he ran around in the snow like a 3 year old, fun!

After that it was on to Salzkammergut, which was absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful lakes surrounded by gorgeous mountains and picturesque villages perched in between. The carpark we stayed in at Hallstadt was pretty excellent – part way along the tunnel above the town, it had a waterfall flowing almost through it and an incredible view over the town and lake.

We drove through the lakes up into Czech Republic, wandering around lovely Cesky Krumlov as the sun went down.

After stocking up on Czech beer, wandering around Telc’s gorgeous square (or rectangle?) and checking out Olomouc, it was on to Krakow! We booked an apartment on wotif and found it right in the middle of the Royal Route in the old town. It was pretty exciting considering we would have been psyched for it just to have a shower. Krakow was gorgeous, it was lovely to spend the day wandering around the town and sitting in the square people-watching. Michael had a far more confronting yet informative day at Auschwitz.

The next day we explored Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter and a couple of the churches before heading off to Zakopane – the doorstep of the Tatras! The drive through the High and Bela Tatras to Slovakia was quiet spectacular, although unfortunately too windy for any cable car action! Next up we arrived at pretty Levoca in Slovakia at exactly 4.01. Apparently everything shut at 4. Still nice to have a look around before driving on to the incredibly impressive Spisski Hrad – a 4 hectare castle on top of a hill. Even more amazing at sunset!!

The next day we drove through the centre of Slovakia, checking out the history of the Slovak National Uprising at mining town Banska Bystrica, before the car had a little panic attack and decided not to turn on. Michael managed to fix it and we set off for the Danube Bend – a scenic section of the river in northern Hungary.

Although we couldn’t convince the GPS to take us to the other side of the river, we saw some pretty towns and citadels on the way to Esztergom, of the incredible Basilica! It was ENORMOUS! Had fun exploring and then setting off along the Danube towards Vienna!

The next morning we woke up to the sound of the rain on the van’s roof and promptly went back to sleep. After a lovely lie-in we went in to explore the lovely city. Wandered through the pretty castle gardens, past the museums, through the main shopping strip, trying desperately to find a second hand shop from which to buy some clothes that WOULDN’T get us thrown out of the opera that night. We were looking  just a touch ratty. Eventually found one, Michael bought a sweet Austrian jacket, and sprinted back through the city to the State Opera, where we managed to get standing tickets but JUST missed out on the super fancy tickets being re-sold to students. Still, saw Verdi’s Aida in the Vienna State Opera! Hellyeah! Finished off the night with a drive around the RING, all the buildings lit up beautifully, and hopped on the motorway towards Klagenfurt, with a brief visit to pretty Graz on the way.

The next day was an intense and awesome drive through alps. Woke up super early for an incredible view of sunrise over the mountains. One by one the peaks were lit up as we drove along the Karnische-Dolomiten hochalpenstrasse, a twisty, tiny road that Michael loved and had me clinging to my seat. After Tessenberg we switched back to Lienz and drove through the middle of the Hohe Tauern national park. Unfortunately the very famous (and therefore very expensive) Grossglockner hochalpenstrasse (panoramic high alps road) wasn’t open yet, but we still got osme pretty spectacular views of the alps. At the top of the park we turned west toward Innsbruck, mainly because our atlas said it was scenic, and happened across another panoramic  road, the Gerlos alpenstrasse, which took us past the Krimmler Wasserfall, which is, according to Michelin ‘worth the trip’ J. More lovely passes, mountains, valleys and frozen waterfalls along the way!  Sped on after that to Feldkirch, a lovely little town with a hilltop castle and some impressive mountain views. Unfortunately the ice hockey game we were hoping to catch was back in Innsbruck, but we made up for it with our own trip to Italy – a wonderful dinner at a little restaurant where we took a chance on the german menus, and learnt that ‘knoblauch’ definitely, DEFINITELY means garlic. Mmm.

Started off the next day lazily with an awesome CONFERENCE CALL (no pigeons were hurt) with aussie folks! After discovering our original route through Switzerland wasn’t possible due to that whole pesky ‘buckets of snow on the passes’ thing, we realised we were going to get to go to Italy – if very briefly. Headed south, past famous St. Moritz, on some excellent passes – especially the Julierpass. Its intense amount of snow gave me a headache, but it was incredibly beautiful. The Majolapass too gave us some great views of beautiful valleys. We hopped into Italy and ate pasta and pizza in little terraced Chiavenna, before heading back into Switzerland for lovely Lugano and Lorcano. Man I love lakes and mountains! 

aaaand jumping forward just a little, we're now in beautiful, sunny provence, and we have to go because its a perfect day for exploring the roman ruins in Nimes. Will post pictures soon when we get a better internet connection!

love

xx

two. with photos.

the stadtpark in lubeck

the beautiful cathedral in aachen

the porta nigra (trier)

burggarten in rothenburg

ok so the internet and i are not getting along, so that's it for now. 

at the moment we're maccas carparking it up - free wifi and toilets, yess!  we're in feldkirch, in austria, a lovely little town with a castle on a hill, surrounded by mountains. what more can you ask for? last night was some kind of festival/celebrations, the fireworks went forever! and i celebrated with a pretend trip to italy at a gorgeous pizzeria. today, after a look around at the castle, we'll be heading through liechtenstein and into switzerland. its another beautiful day, looking forward to some more epic alps scenery :)

love

xo