East side....what!

Man i havent written for a while so i apologise in advance for what is likely to be a very disjointed blog....also cos im holding a conversation whilst typing...multitasking...its a girl thing, males you just wouldnt understand!

Had a wicked toga party in venice, who woulda thought that sheets were so attractive...was stinking hot that night, so we quite enjoyed the breeze under our sheets...lol. Headed off the next morning to Austria which was amazing. It was so beautiful and so clean after Italy. Lots of gorgeous buildings and lovely things....lots of money from days past, and you can see the effects of that in the architecture of their palaces etc. We ate the most massive schitnzel in the world and have pics to prove it... Caleb wants me to say he had a Stein too....for those who have no idea (like me) its a litre of beer, he felt manly afterwards...lol.

From Austria we travelled thru Slovakia and we got to stop off in Bratislava, the capital....oh my gosh so gorgeous...well at least the old town is. We only got a couple of hours which was not enough to do it justice, but it has gorgeous wee cobbled alleys and also has the dubious accolade of having the narrowest house in europe, 160cm across...why?????? We loved Bratislava and would love to return....well i would, Caleb is ambivalent in his lovely non commital way.

We hit our 3rd country in one day....Hungary, and felt a sense of accomplishment! doubt many people are crazy enough to try and pull that off too often. One of the girls celebrated her birthday that day...how cool is that, in 3 countries. Budapest was where we stayed, but the countryside leading into the city was really sweet, tiny little houses...lots of dirt roads.
Budapest is beautiful. We got an orientation of the city from the citidella, took pics of the two halves of the cities separated by the danube. That night we had a night tour and then dinner at Fatal Restaurant...no lies, that was its name...funny huh, way to draw in customers. Caleb tried goulash, wasnt that enamoured, i had a ridiculously large portion of fried turkey covered in sesame seeds....weird, but not too bad. We also had bed bugs in our room, which our roommates kindly discovered for us, so we got moved rooms....oh the joys of hostels.

There is sooo much to see in budapest so the next day we had so much fun. We started the day at the most amazing new museum called the House of Terror...That is its actual name, because it was named that during WW2 when the house was the headquarters of the Nazis in budapest. They have turned it into a very moving, funky museum that is very emotional, even though most of it is in polish! Probably most moving was seeing the actual cells under the house that were used to keep jews in and also the gallows used to hang them....i was really moved by the cells, seeing the dark, damp adn tiny conditions that these people spent their last hours in...although i have read so much about the holocaust, seeing these cells really rammed it home for me. The museum was really really worthwhile. We moved from them up the hill to the castle and fishermans bastion, which pretty much just means lots of pretty architecture. After lots of walking we were totally stoked to finish our day at the Gellert Baths which were mint!!! Lots of pools and areas to hang, all dating back to a long time ago. The architecture inside is like columms and mosaics etc, totally cool. We spent lots of time outside, and Caleb loved the wave pool, practiced his body surfing. However it was here that i swear that we met a member of the russian mafia.....let me explain. We are hanging out in the pool and Caleb startsup a conversation wiht this stranger. We are chatting and we ask him what he does. He answers us by saying that hs is a fixer. We sort of dwell on this for a second, and then we ask him to clarify just what a fixer is. I fix problems, he says????? And then hes like, its cos im ex army!!!! Ok, so im totally sure that we are talking to a hit man or assassin, or a crazy man...funny huh. Anyway he drifts away, then later on in the afternoon Caleb decided he thought it woudl be funny to go see the men only part, where pretty much they are all naked.,....and he runs into this guy again. They start talking and this guy schools (grooms???) him on the art of the sauna and how to use it and the plunge pools correctly, and then asks Caleb if he has a good memory. Caleb says yes and then the guy rattles off his n ame and address and tells Caleb it will be beneficial for him to remember these details. Then he invites caleb to call round and see him....the guy frickin lives in Chelsea...loaded. Caleb thinks he is gonna visit him...i am sooo not going with him, but im interested to see how it pans out....will keep you posted.

The next day we drove to Krakow, Poland,which is where i am writing this. i thought budapest was my favourite place so far, but Krakow has assumed the number 1 position now. Although i must admit, every place i go moves into number one, maybe cos i have a ridiculously short term memory. We did a night walking tour of the 0ld town of Krakow, oh my word, drop dead gorgeous. Then this morning we did a Schindlers list tour which Caleb hated and i enjoyed...learnt sooo much about Jewish history, got to go into a jewish synagogue, old cemeteries, and see the old ghetto wall. Again very moving and so cool to put history to life. Then Caleb and onother guy went to the castle, while i had to cram over freakin UK legislation about child protection laws cos i found out i was havin a phone interview in an hour. It went ok i think....not sure if im even that keen on the job, but for 35 pounds an hour i can do anything!!! Again will keep you posted...oh and i have to spend the next few days free hours putting together a power point presentation to email to the lady who interviewed me, cos apparently part of the interview was a presentation that i obviously couldnt do...just what i want to do on my holiday!
Krakow is sooo sooo cool. Really beautiful, incredibly cheap, very clean, lots to do and just really wicked vibe. Totally recommend you come and visit it.

We have a crazy early start tomorrow...6am, cos we are going to Auschwitz and then on to Prague. This is what i have been most looking forward to the whole tour, so i hope it lives up to my expectations. I think it will cos what i have seen so far re the holocaust has been so moving.
Anyway , better go get some sleep, hope this isnt too boring. We miss everyone.
Luv yas.