It was inevitable. I got lazy. If it didn't take so damn long to upload photos I wouldn't mind but it's seriously time consuming.
After Florence came Rome. The city was pretty amazing as far as the history side of things goes but it was marred by the people. Italian men are incredibly sleazy which makes it difficult going out with 38 girls in your group. We went on a pub crawl and one of the girls ended up in hospital with her drink spiked and a bunch of people having their belongings stolen after she collapsed on the dance floor. Rome - beautiful but just another big city.
While in Rome we ventured into Vatican City for a couple hours. As you guys know, I'm not fussed on religion and Vatican City was a pretty big reminder of the hypocrisy that is the Catholic Church. Despite this, it's hard not to be impressed with the grandiose of this place. We walked around St. Peter's for a while then spent a while in Sistine Chapel. I couldn't help but wonder if I was the first person in history to talk about donkey shows in St. Peter's and have a photo of his balls taken inside Sistine Chapel...
After Rome was Venice. A gorgeous city that made for the perfect opportunity to throw the map away and just get lost. There's relatively little to see in Venice except the beauty of the city itself, which meant we weren't rushing around trying to fit in all the "big attractions". I'm glad we were there in winter because the infamous stench was hardly noticeable.
We took a gondola ride which was rather unimpressive then just wandered aimlessly for a few hours. Just as the sun was setting we decided to take the Vaporetto (water bus) from St Mark's Square back to the bus station. This took us almost the entire length of the Grand Canal.It more than made up for the gondola ride... Absolutely stunning.
Overall, I wasn't too impressed by Italy. So much history and beauty but some serious disappointments too. I was not at all impressed by the food in Italy, which was often extremely over-priced, very small portioned (9 euros for 4 pieces of ravioli?), and bland. Also, with the men being so incredibly sleazy, it made it difficult to enjoy a night out.
Next, we went to Salzburg, Austria, for a night. By this point of the tour there hadn't been a night that I wasn't incredibly drunk... It caught up to me in Austria. After celebrating a girl's 21st in spectacular fashion, the flu I could feel coming hit me like a tonne of bricks. I was out of action for any sightseeing and didn't get any photos.
Prague... I fell in love with Prague. Prague was the first city that I really felt that I needed to stay a lot longer. It's the perfect mix of middle-ages, 19th century industrialisation, and blossoming modern culture... and the food and booze was delicious, cheap and plentiful. I even got to try real Absinthe :D
We checked out Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral (an absolutely amazing example of gothic architecture), wandered over Charles Bridge (which I seem to be missing pictures of), the peeing statues, the torture museum, the sex-machine museum (which I also seem to be missing photos of), and the mind-blowing astronomical clock.
The only small blemish on Prague was me getting into a (one sided) punch-up with a czech guy. We were on a pub crawl and having a lot of fun when this steroid junkie in this club started being an asshole and was just looking for a fight. After sleazing all over some of the girls, abusing our tour guide and stealing my hat in an attempt to piss me off and still not succeeding in getting into a fight, he decided it was time to up the ante and grabbed one of the girls, shake her around and start dragging her off the dance floor like a caveman... I snapped, charged across the dance floor and punched the guy in the head then slammed his face into the bar. He still hadn't gotten to his feet by the time we were all out the door.
Despite this, I absolutely loved Prague. The beauty of the city itself combined with the liberal feeling, great food, cheap booze and general oddness meant I felt very at home. I'm definitely going back!
I'll eventually get to the rest...
Monday, 19 April 2010
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Paris to Florence
Rather than farting around uploading pictures to this stupid blog (it's a real pain in the ass), I'm just going to link you to my photobucket pages.
First stop on my 18 day tour was Paris. I had no expectations of Paris and didn't think I'd be overly impressed by the Eifel Tower. Admittedly, during the day I wasn't... but at night time it's stunning. Paris is definitely a city that's at its most beautiful at night.
The photos of the tower that you can see were taken from the very spot that Hitler stood and admired the tower when he invaded Paris. The skulls and bones you're looking at are in the Parisian Catacombs. These catacombs stretch on for kilometres under Paris and were a place to intern the dead during plague and influenza years. There are possibly millions of skeletons down there. Of course, I had to see Notre Dame - what a stunning building.
Our last night in Paris, we went to dinner and then to a cabaret where we watched gorgeous girls theatrically get their boobs out and got sloshed on red wine (hence the beautiful wine stained smiles on everybody). Afterwards, we got shitfaced on the bus and in the lobby of the place we were staying. This was the first night of what became an 18 day bender. I got caught stealing beer at 4am by the ninja receptionist. I thought he'd gone to bed. He hadn't. He wasn't happy haha. An incident which coined a phrase that became very popular on tour; "That'll be 8 euro."
Next stop was Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. This place was breath taking. I've seen the Canadian Rockies and didn't think I'd be overly awed by the Swiss Alps... but this town was magnificent. It's situated in a valley with 800m cliffs on either side. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Our first night in Lauterbrunnen ended up in people dancing on tables, hooking up and someone fucking in my bed. It was probably the biggest night of the tour and ended with Ben, Rueben and I walking down a pitch black road, passing around a bottle of wine, falling over fences, standing in the middle of a field taking swigs of gin from the bottle then chasing them with fists full of snow. We talked crap for ages before one of us looked up and noticed the moon had come out and we could see the cliffs. The three of us just kind of stared at them for the next half an hour and didn't say much. We didn't need to.
After a quick stop in Pisa (forgot to upload photos) Florence was our third destination. Though it was later trumped, up until this point Florence was the most fun I'd ever had in one day. Four of us started the day by just walking around. We saw the statue of David and then climbed the bell tower of the Duomo cathedral. I was quite hungover so the 480-something steps to the top nearly killed me. It was worth it.
We walked a little further before discovering something that made our day and changed our lives; Segways for hire. We hired some and just before tearing away I was heard to utter the immortal quote, "Lets go Segway the fuck out of Florence". We did just that.
From then on we "segged" around town on our "seggys" (I named mine The Segasm), defying death on huge roundabouts and seeing all that Florence had to offer. Although I was nearly killed in traffic, I can't begin to explain how much fun it was to segway around Florence. We went to the Ponte Vecchio, Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy - the world's oldest (and still operating) pharmacy/apothecary, street art, Piazzale Michelangelo and just about everything inbetween.
When we finally had to give the segways back, it was Ben who pretty much summed up how we all felt when he said, "Walking is for chumps," and then later, "Fuck legs. Are you listening God? You've been trumped."
What a day.
Next blog will be Rome onwards.
First stop on my 18 day tour was Paris. I had no expectations of Paris and didn't think I'd be overly impressed by the Eifel Tower. Admittedly, during the day I wasn't... but at night time it's stunning. Paris is definitely a city that's at its most beautiful at night.
The photos of the tower that you can see were taken from the very spot that Hitler stood and admired the tower when he invaded Paris. The skulls and bones you're looking at are in the Parisian Catacombs. These catacombs stretch on for kilometres under Paris and were a place to intern the dead during plague and influenza years. There are possibly millions of skeletons down there. Of course, I had to see Notre Dame - what a stunning building.
Our last night in Paris, we went to dinner and then to a cabaret where we watched gorgeous girls theatrically get their boobs out and got sloshed on red wine (hence the beautiful wine stained smiles on everybody). Afterwards, we got shitfaced on the bus and in the lobby of the place we were staying. This was the first night of what became an 18 day bender. I got caught stealing beer at 4am by the ninja receptionist. I thought he'd gone to bed. He hadn't. He wasn't happy haha. An incident which coined a phrase that became very popular on tour; "That'll be 8 euro."
Next stop was Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. This place was breath taking. I've seen the Canadian Rockies and didn't think I'd be overly awed by the Swiss Alps... but this town was magnificent. It's situated in a valley with 800m cliffs on either side. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.
Our first night in Lauterbrunnen ended up in people dancing on tables, hooking up and someone fucking in my bed. It was probably the biggest night of the tour and ended with Ben, Rueben and I walking down a pitch black road, passing around a bottle of wine, falling over fences, standing in the middle of a field taking swigs of gin from the bottle then chasing them with fists full of snow. We talked crap for ages before one of us looked up and noticed the moon had come out and we could see the cliffs. The three of us just kind of stared at them for the next half an hour and didn't say much. We didn't need to.
After a quick stop in Pisa (forgot to upload photos) Florence was our third destination. Though it was later trumped, up until this point Florence was the most fun I'd ever had in one day. Four of us started the day by just walking around. We saw the statue of David and then climbed the bell tower of the Duomo cathedral. I was quite hungover so the 480-something steps to the top nearly killed me. It was worth it.
We walked a little further before discovering something that made our day and changed our lives; Segways for hire. We hired some and just before tearing away I was heard to utter the immortal quote, "Lets go Segway the fuck out of Florence". We did just that.
From then on we "segged" around town on our "seggys" (I named mine The Segasm), defying death on huge roundabouts and seeing all that Florence had to offer. Although I was nearly killed in traffic, I can't begin to explain how much fun it was to segway around Florence. We went to the Ponte Vecchio, Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy - the world's oldest (and still operating) pharmacy/apothecary, street art, Piazzale Michelangelo and just about everything inbetween.
When we finally had to give the segways back, it was Ben who pretty much summed up how we all felt when he said, "Walking is for chumps," and then later, "Fuck legs. Are you listening God? You've been trumped."
What a day.
Next blog will be Rome onwards.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
The tour ends.
I'm scattered after the 18 day tour. I've lost touch with the world and the people in it that I care about. This upsets me a little but I can say, without a doubt, I've never had so much fun and done so many new things in my life. I've met people who I hope I stay in contact with for a long time. I miss a few of them already. I'm also missing some specific people back home.
I'm back to Edinburgh tomorrow to start looking for work and meet up with Michelle. I'm going to give it a month and if I dont find anything decent then I'll go elsewhere. I hope I can stay there.
I'll update properly when life settles down again and I have time to pick and upload the best of my pictures.
I'm back to Edinburgh tomorrow to start looking for work and meet up with Michelle. I'm going to give it a month and if I dont find anything decent then I'll go elsewhere. I hope I can stay there.
I'll update properly when life settles down again and I have time to pick and upload the best of my pictures.
Friday, 8 January 2010
It's about to begin
Don't really have time for a proper update with photos. I'm paying by the minute right now.
I'm so hungover it's not funny. Couple of mates I went to school with are in Edinburgh so I went on a wee bender with them for a couple nights. Slipped on my ass on some stairs and have a big bruise and a sore wrist to show for it. Got that out of my system so I have no plans to drink myself stupid... for the first part of my tour anyway.
I'm in London now though... finally. These Brits freak out over a little snow so my flight was cancelled this morning and then the one they put me on was delayed. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make it here on time. I'm only here for a night and then leave at 6a.m (eww) on this tour. Looking forward to it!
I'm so hungover it's not funny. Couple of mates I went to school with are in Edinburgh so I went on a wee bender with them for a couple nights. Slipped on my ass on some stairs and have a big bruise and a sore wrist to show for it. Got that out of my system so I have no plans to drink myself stupid... for the first part of my tour anyway.
I'm in London now though... finally. These Brits freak out over a little snow so my flight was cancelled this morning and then the one they put me on was delayed. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make it here on time. I'm only here for a night and then leave at 6a.m (eww) on this tour. Looking forward to it!
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Hogmanay
2nd January, 2010 - Aberdeen, Scotland.
There wasn't much to do here for New Year's Eve, not even fireworks to watch. Apparently they have a street party here every year but they had to cancel it this year because their local government has run out of money. Seems rather strange given that Aberdeen is the "Oil Capital of Europe".
We started with a few drinks at Craig's (Linds' boyfriend) place then went to The Mooring's Bar where we saw in the New Year and then a place called Koruva
It wasn't an overly exciting night - no different to a normal night out except busier. The company was good though, so that's the main thing. Still, I'd have rather been in Edinburgh like I'd planned.
- Suicide fences are erected on all bridges in town. Apparently there's a few attempts every year.
- Rachael does her best Blue Steel impression
- Anyone would think Linds was excited.
- Midnight kiss
- The snow started almost on the stroke of midnight.
- Dodgiest kabab I've ever had. I never thought I'd miss aussie kababs.
- The aftermath the next morning, waking up on the couch.
There wasn't much to do here for New Year's Eve, not even fireworks to watch. Apparently they have a street party here every year but they had to cancel it this year because their local government has run out of money. Seems rather strange given that Aberdeen is the "Oil Capital of Europe".
We started with a few drinks at Craig's (Linds' boyfriend) place then went to The Mooring's Bar where we saw in the New Year and then a place called Koruva
It wasn't an overly exciting night - no different to a normal night out except busier. The company was good though, so that's the main thing. Still, I'd have rather been in Edinburgh like I'd planned.
- Suicide fences are erected on all bridges in town. Apparently there's a few attempts every year.
- Rachael does her best Blue Steel impression
- Anyone would think Linds was excited.
- Midnight kiss
- The snow started almost on the stroke of midnight.
- Dodgiest kabab I've ever had. I never thought I'd miss aussie kababs.
- The aftermath the next morning, waking up on the couch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)