Pamplona - It's go time
Thursday, 9 July 2009


It's 5am. The alarm has just gone off. Blurry eyed, we all stumble out of our beds and head for the car.

6.40am. We arrive in Pamplona and park the wagon. It is only now that the it is starting to register. In just over an hour, Reuben and I will be standing on a crowded street, waiting for the annual running of the bulls to start.

7.30am. Reuben and I make our way through the barriers, and enter the already packed street. We are informed by a seasoned runner, that in 25mins the Police barrier would be removed and we could take up a starting position anywhere on the course. Our preferred starting point, after Dead man's corner - tight right angle corner where bulls often loose their footing (point 4 on this map)

7.50am. Time check. The crowd is cheering, camera flashes are flickering, our hearts pounding at a million miles an hour, with the anxiety levels rising every second. Was this possibly the last dumb thing I will ever do?

8am. Go time! The first rocket is fired, shortly followed by the second. The bulls are on their way. Moments later the first wave of people rounded the corner. Reubs and I gave each other a look, then started legging it. The bulls came thundering past us, and we headed to the side to stay away from them, and their horns. Adding to the danger, people were loosing the footing all over the place and created further obstacles to move around. The end was close, and we could see the stadium entrance. The road narrowed, and people pushed their way through the emerging bottleneck and out into the safety of the open arena. The bulls were now in their holding pen.

8.05am. Breathing a sigh of relief, we congratulated each other on not becoming a victim, unlike fellow runners, who just one day later, would show how dangerous this festival actually is.

8.10am. Just when anxiety levels began normalising, the first of six smaller bulls is released into the arena to cause chaos amongst the people that have now gathered. After enduring the challenge of this first bull, we retreated to the safety of the barrier - adrenalin levels depleted.

10am. After watching the last 5 bulls have their fun with the crowd, we make tracks back to the car. Exhausted and hungry, we return back to San Sebastian for a brief kip, then hit the beach for the afternoon sun.

Putting life in extreme risk - tick

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posted by Tim @ 3:18 pm, ,


Start spreading the news
Monday, 2 February 2009


We're leaving today. New York. The city that never sleeps. This was the destination of our first USA adventure - not counting the glorious stop over in the Air NZ transfer terminal in LAX.

We had popped over the pond to welcome in my 29th birthday. As with the UK, NYC was cold at this time of the year, but we did not let this ruin or mission.

We checked into the aptly named Wellington hotel, located on 7th ave and close to all the sites we wanted to see.

NYC is amazing! Everything is big, in the way that you'd expect American things to be. The buildings are amazing and grand. They make you feel so very small. We took in a view from the 'top of the rock', a viewing platform at the top of the Rockefeller Centre. Needless to say, the view was breathtaking.

We also sussed out Times Square, caught the Staten Island ferry to see lady liberty, strolled central park, and most importantly, ate a hotdog from a street hotdog vendor.

We by no means have seen and done everything this amazing city has to offer, and feel another trip will be scheduled for round two.

Needless to say, New York is truly a must see place.

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posted by Tim @ 8:54 pm, ,


Yasus, Yamus and Effaristo Crete
Thursday, 14 August 2008


The long awaited summer holiday had arrived, and so our lust affair with Crete began. After a dodgy(ish) flight and a confusing bus service, we had arrived in Rethymno City to soaring temperatures and a pretty impressive beach - ahhh bliss!

We stayed with Tor and Dom in a little village called Messi, about 14km out of the main city. It was good to get into rural life that came with an overprotective 'spinning dog', a language we could barely understand and even the token old man and his donkey living across the road!

There are too many highlights, but there's a few:
- Gyros - tzaziki, shaved pork, onions, tomatoes and fries wrapped up in pita bread. Cheap as chips and very tasty
- Arkadi Monestary - a beautiful old monastery that was going to be invaded by the Turks, so they decided to blow themselves up before the Turks could
- Georgeopoulis - a morning of snorkelling then hiring paddleboats to go down 'Turtle Lake' to feed the turtles. Special mention to the little white church at the end of the rocky pier - did we or didn't we ...
- Spilli beach - we were told to swim where the locals swim and only jump off rocks that the locals jump off. This secluded beach had 6-8m high rocks that young kids were jumping off. Initimidating to do it, but worth it
- Preveli and Plakias beaches - scooter #1/4 got us there and only just got us back, but it was totally worth the trip. As was seeing the ANZAC monument, very impressive with a stunning backdrop
- Gramvousa - the mighty fortress with a hundred million steps to climb to reach it, but with a view worth more than a hundred million dollars.

As well as: hanging out with Dom in his office (the beach); meeting Tor and lots of new faces in the old town maze; vague recollections of a big night that started in hostel rethymno and ended up crashed out on the beach with slices of pizza; and of course the introduction to Raki - serbian styles (some would describe this as a cross between tequila and meths!).

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posted by Em @ 7:16 pm, ,


Paging, the wandering chimps
Thursday, 8 May 2008


OK, so we have really fallen off the wagon in terms of keeping this blog updated. So what has been happening you say? Well, in short, quite a bit.

Since the last post, Christmas and New Years has come and gone. Both good affairs, with Christmas here in Dublin with a friends, then New Years in London. We also managed to sneak a peek at Cardiff on the way over to London.

So what else has been happening? My brother came over at the end of January for a look at this side of the world. We hired a car for a week and drove around the emerald isle. Needless to say, there are some pretty impressive castles and cliffs to be seen, and beer to be drunk. Good times indeed.

We have also: dressed like chavs (facebook ID required) and attended a chav party; locked in a date to attend electric picnic; had a St Pats day in Dublin - messy; taken time to explore Dublin

Our latest excursion was the weekend just gone, where Em and I headed to Spain for hens and stag parties respectively. Em and the girls headed to Valencia for Kat's hen party, whilst the myself and the lads headed to Barcelona to give Ben a send off. More on this will follow in the next post.

Well, for now, I think that is it. The only other update is that we are leaving Ireland at the end of this month. We are heading home for a few weddings, then will look to relocate ourselves to the UK. Seeing that we are not in a hurry to resume desk jobs, we are going to treat ourselves to some sun and have a little sailing break around Croatia, and then catch up with friends in Crete.

The countdown to departure is on...again...

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posted by Tim @ 11:02 am, ,


Cork Jazz Festival
Wednesday, 5 December 2007


OK, so the festival was actually on the 26-28 October, but it would be fair to say that we have been a tad slack with our updates of late. The plethora of websites to update nowadays is insane!

Anyhou, so the team made the mission down to Cork for the Guinness Jazz festival. It was good to get out of Dublin for the weekend and see another part of Ireland. Cork is a cool place, and like Wellers, you can walk everywhere.

From the moment we left the train station it was not long before we meet a friendly local, our taxi driver. Despite the man thinking we were from Poland, he proved to be a laugh (he knew we weren't from Poland)and told us some pubs to check out.

With this advice in hand, we dumped our kit at the hotel and made the mission into the township. The town was still in set-up mode so there were not too many folk around so we were able to get a good lay of the land. As standard, a beer was the reward for our exploration.

The next day the rest of the team arrived. Our numbers had multiplied and we were all amping for a weekend of food, drink and of course, jazz. No matter where you went, you didn't have to look hard to find music, or us from a bar.

The next few days became a bit of a blur as we soaked up the atmosphere, but at the end of the day it was a great weekend away with friends.

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posted by Tim @ 2:32 pm, ,


Galway - the Wellington of Ireland
Monday, 10 September 2007



Our first adventure out of Dublin into another part of Ireland was Galway, you could say it’s the culture capital of Ireland. We trained it into Galway, got picked up by the charming Dominic and had a beer while waiting for the lovely Victoria to arrive home. We had an absolute blast, and we’ve made a wee list to illustrate why:

Things we liked about Galway:



Things we didn’t like:

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posted by Tim @ 4:55 pm, ,


Don't dream it's over
Friday, 7 September 2007

After dispatching team after team throughout the season, finals finally came around, providing the custard squares (Hot Custard fame) with two very close games.

In the semi, Marmighty – the old foe. The game was a hard fought battle sending both teams into extra time as there was a two all draw at full time. In accordance with the rules, a drop off situation applied, with golden point to decide who progressed to the final.

The custards D held strong and their attack was full of passion. They were not losing this game! The custards had enough gas in the tank to edge over the line securing their place in the finals – amongst rumours of a mis ‘touch’ call, but the ref played on.

Deservedly in the final, the custards need to once again rise to the challenge and muster all their energy to take on speed and skill of

With the light dimming, and on the back of two successive games, the custards season was about to turn to, well, custard.

Grand Masters went on to claim the fame and glory that comes with victory.

The season is not quite over for everyone. Teams have been assembled to head to Aberdeen on September 16th to compete in a tournament. So before he can hang up his boots, duty calls once more for young Timmy – I’ll keep you posted.

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posted by Tim @ 4:35 pm, ,


Guinness is good for you...


So their advertising campaigns would lead you to believe! In fact, it is, who Gnu?!

Yes, we did the traditional tourist thing in Dublin and visited the old Guinness factory. To put old into context, Guinness has been around for longer than New Zealand has!

Making Guinness seemed easy really at first, I mean it only has 4 ingredients: barley, yeast, hops and water. But as we were wandering through the self-guided tour, we found out that it is really quite a lengthy process.

When we got to the adding water part, there was an amazing water feature, where water was running over the clear glass ceiling above and pouring off the ceiling into a huge waterfall. An excellent photo opportunity for the many tourists!!! Yes, this included us, we had a token photo under it as well : )

The marketing campaigns were very entertaining using selling points like; Guinness helps you overcome illness, insomnia . . . and the list goes on. It seems one of their artists was quite obsessed with animals as well, which made for some interesting posters.

We had lunch at their restaurant and their beef and Guinness stew was amazing, a must-try! It even inspired Em to download the recipe off their website and try it at home.

Finally, the highlight of the tour – the free pint of Guinness at the gravity bar. This was like a nightclub - but open only during daylight hours. It was packed full of people and the music was pumping. The bar had amazing views looking out over Dublin and many people taking advantages of yet more photo opportunities.

So, you might be thinking, is Guinness the new Tui, Corona, or Export Gold for the wandering chimps?? Well, Em struggled to get a whole glass down her (but she did and is very proud of it), and Tim is coming around to it and drank it with ease. Locals tell us that it’s an acquired taste and it takes 6 or 7 pints to really start liking it, so I s’pose there’s no harm in having a few more pints to make a fully informed decision!

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posted by Tim @ 3:54 pm, ,


Sunny Portugal
Wednesday, 15 August 2007



30 degree heat, clear skies and naturally tanned people. Yes we were definitely not in Dublin anymore.

We left Faro airport heading to Quarteira – our base for the duration of our holiday. Nothing gets the old heart pumping than a mumbling Portuguese taxi driver talking to himself while pushing his car to speeds of 160kph plus. Needless to say we were glad to be out of the car. He must have known we were keen to enjoy the sun.

And enjoy it we did. Essentially the whole holiday consisted of the following routine: Get up, eat breakfast, gather beach gears, buy 3litres of water, go to beach (5 mins away), cook, swim, cook, swim, cook and swim some more before heading home for showers and then out for dinner and drinks. What a grand way to relax.

Quarteira is a nice place, and it is cheap. It is 5 minutes in a taxi from Villamoura which was filled with the typical sun chasing tourists, and the associated price hikes. Where we stayed seemed to be the place the Portuguese families seemed to go, which provided a very relaxed environment.

It was definitely a great break away from the Irish summer. We are planning to head to Galway at the end of the month to see some friends. It will be good to get out of Dublin and see another part of Ireland. We’ll keep you posted.

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posted by Tim @ 11:00 am, ,


Some familiar faces
Tuesday, 26 June 2007


Nice is nice. OK that was sad. Anyways, it is. On the way in we dropped some folk off so they could go to Cinque Terra. We had never heard of these islands, but when the guide explained them to us we had travel envy for those getting of the bus. Again, another place to add to the to-do list.

We arrived in Nice and the weather was mint! 29 plus degrees. We were stoked. The summer we had been waiting for. We caught up with Reuben and Anna and headed out for a feed and some beers and shared stories about each other travels to date. The next day we head out and explored some of the sights of Nice.

Nice is a place that can be done in a day, but it is not Nice that you really have to see. It's the surrounding areas, namely Cannes and Monaco. Our mission to Cannes was great. The beaches were excellent and it was easy to see why this place gets all the press that it does - swimming pools and movie stars. We even managed to bust the hacky on the beach, although a bit rusty and no doubt attracting a few 'what the' looks from the soccer mad locals. Young Tim and Reuben also made a new friend in the water...a jellyfish! It left a nice little mark for each of them, but nothing the magical tea tree oil couldn't fix.

Monaco was next on the to-do list. This place was truly amazing. The money that was in this town was crazy, and nothing said this more than the lineup of cars outside the casino. We rocked along to the famous casino to try our luck - unfortunately we still need to work! It's worth a look for the prestige, but unless you are a high roller, then the experience is somewhat limited.

Nonetheless, Nice was a great part of the world, and it was good to catch up with Reuben and Anna. Floating in the Mediterranean, the cooling waters soothing the sunburnt skin. It was hard to think we were half way around the world, relaxing in the French Rivera.

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posted by Tim @ 1:03 pm, ,


Art, thunderstorms and David's shlong



When plans for Croatia and Egypt fell through, we had to resume the original route which meant that Florence was the next stop. To be honest, we were not that excited about visiting as Florence is really an art lovers paradise with great works like Michelangelo's David residing here. Still, we went out and saw some of the sights, ate some more gelati and did a spot of shopping. We saw the fake David and then queued to see the real McCoy. It was at this stage that we made a decision that we should have made earlier in the trip - we brought our first umbrella.

Amidst the queuing we heard an all to familiar sound, the sound of the sky about to open and give us a mid afternoon cooling. And they did. Next thing we knew we where caught in the middle of the worst torrential downpour and thunder storm of the whole trip - thunder bolts and lighting very, very frightening me! The new toy got a real good work out keeping our heads nice and dry, but it was unable to save the rest of our bodies from complete saturation. After a mad dash for the bus (which was unable to go the normal route due to flooding) we arrived back at the safety of the camp ground.

The one place we wanted to go to was San Gimgaiano, a small town outside of Florence. We brought tickets and waited and waited and waited for the bus that never arrived. We were gutted, especially as others that did manage to get there said it was spectacular. We are definitely coming back to check that out.

This may sound silly, but being caught in that storm was probably (in our opinion) the most exciting thing in Florence. Not sure if we would go here again, but as we were on our way through, we had to check it out.

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posted by Tim @ 1:02 pm, ,


Then there were three


Rome marked the closing of this chapter for team Busabout, with a majority of the crew embarking on separate missions around the continent. Em and I were not ready to hit the big lights of Florence, and young Greig still had time to kill before he was New York bound. What were the remaining three to do? Hello spontaneity. Two buses and three trains later we were in Sorrento, southern Italy.

Needless to say, this place is amazing. Forget the tourist factor (heaps of Americans and Brits), Sorrento is a beautiful town and the people here are so friendly. Sorrento is built along the cliff face that surrounds the bay of Naples, and you have a great view of Mt Vesuvius - the volcano that blew its top to bury Pompeii ages ago.

Accommodation was a dag. After being in camp grounds that had all the mod cons, we were placed into a camping ground that resembled one at home. Our first two days were in this classy green cabin (no. 2 two, camp fortunata, mint), then we made the upgrade to the Hilton suite - now we had a shower and our toilet and even our own patio thing with a table and chairs. Speaking of the toilet, this piece of machinery was classic. You flushed the thing then when it refilled it made this crazy, vibrating moaning sound that could be heard outside the cabin. Avoid flushing after 11pm!

Sorrento was the first place that we had visited in Italy, thus far, that served fantastic Italian food - the type we had imagined and craved since arriving. As such, this was the first place we embarked on the customary three course meal. Warning to the weight conscious, you eat a lot of carbs in Italy, so much so that one could run the risk of gaining weight (2kgs for Timmy and climbing). It's a good thing we walk everywhere.

We did a day mission out to the island of Capri, the ancient playground for the well to-do Roman empire, and still is for the wealthy. We took a tour around the island via boat to see some of the sights, namely the caves and grottos that surround the coastline. The water here is beautifully blue and clear, and had the weather been more favourable we would have jumped in. Capri is worth a look should you be in this part of Italy.

We have been trying to arrange a seven day sailing trip around the Croatian islands prior to arriving in Sorrento. However due to a computer system 'glitch' our bookings were lost - technology! Oh well, we will go there another time as one of the beauties of being on this side of the world is tat you are never far from anywhere.

We also ventured out to see the buried city of Pompeii. The city was a lot bigger than we all expected, and we were amazed at how much was buried, let alone how much they have managed to recover. You could spend hours here, and we did. It was fascinating to see all the Pompeii ruins and we all agree that this is a must see, and only a 30 min train ride. After Pompeii we came back to the Hilton and jumped in the pool to make the most of the nice weather . . but not for long as we heard the thunder and a minute later it was pouring with rain - again!

One thing all the shops sell in Sorrento is the liquor limoncello - it's everywhere. So, we were quite stoked after lunch one day when we got a free taste of it. For the boys they are given the hard stuff, and the girls are given the creamy version of it. It's definitely worth a try.

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posted by Tim @ 12:58 pm, ,


The heart of an empire


Rome was an amazing city filled with ancient buildings and plenty of history. We thought it would be cool to see the city by night, so jumped on board a bus to see it all lit up. Unfortunately luck wasn't on our side: it seemed like it was the guide's first tour and she was awful, the Colosseum lights weren't working, and we didn't get to stop to take a pic of the Vatican all lit up. We did get to see the Trevi fountain though, and that was stunning at night. The only problem was that there was almost an army of street sellers trying to push roses into your hands, sell annoying clackety clackers that they throw in the air, and other toys - something we soon had to get used to being around.

The next day we got up bright and early and checked out Roma. We went to the Pantheon, the Colosseum - and the huge queues to get in, the Roman Forum ruins, the Vatican City (caught a sneaky glimpse of the Pope!), and the Sistene Chapel. We were quite exhausted so spent the day after we spent relaxing by the pool (yes it was actually sunny for a day or two!). We stayed in Rome for four nights, ate far too much gelatti (even found the elusive meringue variety) and started planning our trip to Croatia - this would later prove harder than it seemed.

Rome is amazing. There is soooo much to see, so much that words can;t explain it. You will have to come and see for yourselves

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posted by Tim @ 12:56 pm, ,


Mamma mia!
Tuesday, 12 June 2007


Welcome to Italy! This place is everything, every movie or postcard has ever portrayed. Old buildings that look on the verge of collapse, canals where roads should be, venetian masks and of course gelatti. However, before we made it to Italy we had to endure one of the longest bus trips ever. Left at eight am, arrived at half six! This was due to the compulsory (but completely unnecessary stop for an hour and a half stop at St Johan, Austria!) A really really small town, with not much to do - but it would be an absolute gem in winter. We also encountered what people say about crazy Italian drivers - it's all true, there's no road rules here, you just go for it!!

In Venice we checked out the town, the old buildings, the beautiful glass jewellery, the millions of pigeons and we didn't even get that lost (forget maps in this city, you just need to use your instinct!!) Our first, and by no means last, taste of gelatti was sensational, especially the chocolate flavour. The old lonely planet guide book recommended a restaurant with over 90 varieties of pasta and pizza that we were very keen to try, but after searching for ages and ages we found that it wasn't where they said and once we found it wasn't even open (we even tried the next day) - very disappointing!

We stayed at a flash camping ground and one night played drinking games with red wine - probably not the best idea we've had! Our American friend introduced us to few new games (thanks Aaron!) where one of us started losing very badly and will never be playing that game again!! We met an italian guy who started teaching us italian later on that night (very handy - we even managed to remember some phrases the next day!). Some time later that night (or early morning) we decided to go for a swim in the pool. Em fell off the fence on the way over, Greig fell off (and broke) the fence on the way out, but we did manage to go for a quick dip before being shouted at us to get "Out, out!"

Even though we had thunderstorms every night we were there, Venice was a very beautiful place, and one we also need to go back to in the future.

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posted by Tim @ 11:46 am, ,


Let the beer flow...
Wednesday, 30 May 2007


Drink that liver tonic, cos there is only really one thing to do in Munich, home of Octoberfest...drink, and drink big (and see a few other things too :p)

With all the excitement surrounding the legendary beer gardens we were keen to make this priority number one once we got off the bus. This coupled with the fact some of our group were preparing to split off on separate ways, we wanted to have one big blow out as a team. What better way than to do a crawl of the beer gardens. What a night. Luckily we took photos. The beers were great, big and cheap. The old Radlers weren't bad either, despite being essentially a chandy - great on those hot munich days. As usual the night ended up at MacDonalds and really there was no way to refuse a Macbeer to wash down the burgers!!

To walk of the beer, the next day we ventured out into the city. We saw the Glockenspiel, the inner city surf wave and the city park. We stumbled across the chinese beer garden located in the park, where a traditional bavarian band was playing. This was great and added great atmosphere while we had a cheeky beer.

The following day, Em and I ventured out to Dachau. Dachau was the training grounds for the SS and the first of the Nazi concentration camps, in which all future camps were modeled. As with Terezin, this was a very somber place. Dachau is now a memorial site so most of the prison dorms had been removed and you were not aloud into the old SS wings. They did however, preserve the crematorium which was used to burn the bodies and the gas chamber - although this was believed not to have been used, unlike those in camps such as Auswich. It is just too hard to comprehend that in such recent history man could commit such crimes.

As this was our last day in Munich, upon our return we had to go to the beer garden and try a pretzel. Who would have thought that one beer would lead to a three hour domination / occupation of the pool table at the hostel. There must be something in the beer because we were in the zone (and in a world of hurt the next day on the bus).

Beer aside, Munich is a fantastic city, and it reminded us very much of Wellington in that there was a great vibe everywhere. We will definitely be returning.

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posted by Tim @ 6:22 pm, ,


Food, glorious food


So Vienna, like most cities in Europe, is caked in art history. By this stage we were a bit museum'd out so decided to take a break from the usual tourist spots and explore the other thing that makes Austria, Austria - food.

We had heard on the bus when entering Vienna of a place called Centimeter where you can get a ridiculous amount of food, cheap as chips, and the food is served literally in wheel barrows and on swords. We had to check this out, and believe us, you do not leave here hungry. Six of us went along for a feed, first up - a two meter sausage followed by the sword - six schnitzels, six steaks, chicken wings, chilli con carne and enough potato to satisfy an irish family. This was all for just four of us, as the other two went for just a schnitzel and salad. Man were we full! We'd do it again though, and recommend that you check this place out when you are in Vienna.

The day after the meat feast, Remy, Greig, Em and I headed out on bikes for the day to check out Vienna. Our travels brought us to the fun park - one of the oldest in the world. We rocked on in and got the adrenaline pumping by jumping on a few rides. It was happy times until we encountered the bell. This ride made us all feel sick, especially as we went around twice - mad monday the operator told us afterwards. Never again! Imagine being spun around in a circle until everything was dizzy (gravitron styles), slowing down thinking it was over, then whammo! round two. We spent the next hour at a park whilst our stomachs returned to normal.

All and all, Vienna was fun. We may not have done the usual sights, but had a good time with great people.

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posted by Tim @ 6:22 pm, ,


A city trapped in time

Enroute to Prague (after an hour an a half of being held up at the Czech border!) we stopped off at a concentration camp in Terezin. It wasn't an extermination camp but many prisoners suffered here before being shipped off to worse places (if they survived). One of the interesting things was seeing what horrible conditions the prisoners were put through and right next door were the guards and their families, kids etc in huge living areas with large lawns and movies theatres, and they were seemingly oblivious to what was going on next door.

We went out to dinner the first night with a big group from the bus, where we met some great mates who we'll definitely keep in touch with. After a good meal we went out to a club called Mecca which was apparently the place to go to. Unfortunately it really wasn't and we didn't stay there very long at all.

The next day we went and checked out the centre of Prague. It really is an amazing place and you kinda walk around with your jaw wide open. We decided to do another bike tour here which was an extremely good work out, but nothing compared to the tour in Berlin. In fact our tour guide had only been living in Prague for four months!!

2nd night in Prague we went on yet another pub crawl. We had heaps of fun but went to some very average places. The first place was a hostel bar (yep and it was a scummy hostel at that too). However we did get to stand in a line and try a shot of absinthe which was good. So many people complained about the disorganisation of the crawl and the general disinterest of the people running it, that we managed to get it cancelled as a busabout recommendation!

Our last day we spent at Prague Castle, which was absolutely stunning. Definitely recommend this site and I think we'll be back in Prague at some stage as 2 days is not enough to appreciate all that is Prague.

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posted by Tim @ 6:21 pm, ,


War history 101

So there is more to Berlin than just beer - really there is. This city has figured in many a war and has the sites to prove it. To get our bearings and a better appreciation for the city, we embarked upon a tour via bikes. This was by far the best tour we have been on to date. Not only did we get some much needed exercise, but we also got a crash course into Berlin's history.

We went and checked out what was left of the Berlin wall (a line still marks where the wall stood separating east from west - traffic lights still reflect the split), the typography of terror (outlines the rise and fall of the Nazi party etc), got our passports stamped at Check point Charlie, visited the site of the Nazi book burnings. We also went to the holocaust memorial where we learned about the atrocities that were committed against the jews in WW2.

After a day on the bikes, we rewarded ourselves with a much deserved bar crawl - particularly as Timmy hurt his leg trying to be clever on the bikes, and Em rode into a pole whilst being distracted by some drunk protesters - we're fine though. Berlin has some great bars and we had a really good night.

To be honest, we found Berlin to be a bit soulless and still very much a city rebuilding itself. This was evident through the numerous construction sites. Nonetheless, Berlin still has a lot to offer.

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posted by Tim @ 6:20 pm, ,


AO - Adults only
Monday, 14 May 2007

Amsterdam! Wow, wow, unbelievably f*&^ing wow! Sure there are canals and old buildings, but by the time we reached Amsterdam we were a little building'd out. There were only a few missions to tick off the list, but by no means was two days going to be enough time to get around and fully immerse ourselves in the town. One bit of useless trivia, back in the day they wanted to dam the river amster, they did, setup a town and, whammo! Amsterdam is born.

Anyways, as the title states, we all know the town is famous for various things, notably, liberal approach to certain drugs, prostitution, cyclists and of course, waterways and old buildings. So, if you don't want to read about anything involving the above fore-mentioned, then we are well and enjoying ourselves. Stay tuned for the Berlin post in a few days. Otherwise, prepare to be taken through the magical town...Amsterdam.

Well everything they tell you is true. You can smoke pot in coffee shops and some bars, you can shop for sex in the red light district, and there are indeed more bikes here than people, kinda like us with our sheep :)

It wasn't long before we found our first coffee shop. What an experience, and the coffee in most places wasn't too bad. On the Saturday we meet up with an American couple to do a bar crawl. This was nuts. Every stereotype under the sun, all with mostly one thing in their mind – getting 110% muted. The crawl organisers were more than happy to assist, with a mix of vodka and red food colouring poured into our mouths at every new bar, and two euro beers.

After hours on the bar crawl, we bailed to go and see what all the fuss was about this red light district thing. Well, I can tell you that everything they tell you, everything you've seen on TV, well
forget it! This place has to be seen to believed. One thing though, never take photos of the window workers. Rumor has it, that if you do, they press a button, then out come the big dudes, and, Whammo! They've got ya. It would work out cheaper to go in for a closer look rather than the prospect of having to shell out for a new camera – not to say less painful.

There is also a ton of history in this town, and we did manage to get out and appreciate it. We visited the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Both worth a look for their significance.
If you get a chance, also check out Boom Chicago – a live improv comedy act.

Needless to say there is a lot to do in this wonderful wee city, so much so that we will return for another round at some stage.

Next stop on the list...Berlin!

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posted by Tim @ 5:19 pm, ,


Beer and chocolates

A whirlwind visit to the medievil but quaint Belgium town of Bruges

Checked in and 10 minutes later we began our relationship with ridiculously cheap beers as we had to pass an hour until our room was ready. A Jupiler or a Hoegarden EURO1,60. This was a much welcome relief from the price of beer in Paris.
Hostel was warm and inviting, and looked a lot nicer than the hostel recommended by the bus company. The only gripe that we had was the terrible showers. Picture this...

To turn on shower:
1)Press the button on the shower wall
2)Stand under water for 15 seconds (maximum)
3)Water turns off
4)Repeat steps 1-3 until you've had enough of pressing that damn button, and you are only half clean.

As Bruges was such a small place, you could walk anywhere. This was to be our first (but not last) encounter with the local phenomenon- the cyclist. Forget the car, the two wheel machine is all the rave in this part of the world.

After Missioning around to get our bearings, we went to the bar at the hostel where we meet a group of folk on an Intrepid tour. We got to know them (Ozzies, a kiwi and a Canadian) and have a few more beers. We even broke out the Texas Hold-em, with bar straws as chips. It wasn't long before the first Euro was on the table. In the end, Em cleaned up, despite our new Canadian's friends confidence.

We eventually got dragged along with them to checkout a visiting fair, complete with rides and carney folk. Glad we went, as it turned out to be an experience. Nothing like progressing your way through the varying degrees of thrill seeking rides after a few beers! The highlight was this crazy ride that spun you six ways from Sunday, at ridiculous heights. As it turned out, you got the best upside down view of Bruges.

Needless to say, day two was somewhat subdued. We looked at the morning market for fresh foods. Following a light snack, we went sight seeing. There are a lot of old buildings, namely churches here – sounds boring, but this place was one of the few towns in Europe to escape any damage throughout the war. This means that everything here is old, a preserved piece of time. They even still have cobblestone roads, and horse and carts. One church also displays Michaelangelo's Mother and child, his only artwork allowed to leave Italy. We also hiked up to the belfry of the tower in the main square. 366 steps. Good way to burn off beer.

All in all, our trip, albeit brief, was fun. Next stop...Amsterdam!

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posted by Tim @ 5:18 pm, ,