Soooo....i have a job...and i have started working. I am working for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...official sounding huh. But really i am just a CYFs worker, so a social worker for the government. Although i am in one of the richest areas of London, we include Notting Hill which is very pimped, my area is in the North of it, kinda like the forgotton part of the borough. The part which they say doesnt belong to them, kinda like Howick being included in South Auckland...lol. Anyway i am working in an office that is in the middle of a housing estate, which is pretty much just a massive area of state housing. Everywhere around us are flats and big tower blocks of flats. I am shadowing the worker i am replacing, i have one more week with her before she leaves. I am frantically trying to learn about laws, legislation and local agencies in the area....its very full on at the moment, although i feel like im not really doing work. One of the most unique areas in my patch is the area where the Irish Gypsies live! The politically correct name for them is the Travellers. In our local area is a little settlement of them. I have been to their patch twice, its only one street, everyone knows everyone and its all like caravans that are permanent. Lots of yappy little dogs and lots of issues, like anywhere that is affected by poverty. I think i will become a frequent visitor to this area, which should be a challenge because the community is very closed and they shut up shop to outsiders whenever anything happens, and there are lots of violent incidents. I was just hoping to see Brad Pitt there ( seeing as Snatch was my only experience of Irish Gypsies up to this point!)
Anyway thats my work. Im really scared, but also kinda excited.
Caleb is still looking for work. He was offered a crazy job doing like cleaning supervising sorta, but it was a franchise thing, and was really involved with tax etc, and he pretty much hates cleaning, so that wasnt really a good option. He has signed up with recruitment agencies and we are following up some contacts so hopefully he will find something soon.
We are getting more settled, but until we are both working its still kinda weird. We are hoping to buy a bed soon, had an amazing visit to Ikea.....which set my covet alert on high. Maybe in a couple of weeks, after a couple of pays. We did buy some beanbags tho, cos Jess n Andys house is set up for like just the two of them, including the lounge which just had a two seater couch. The addition of the bean bags means we too can watch the telly in comfort....Caleb had the lovely experience of carrying the two bean bags from the shop to our house ( a 10min walk), all the way up the main street. I would have helped but i had my hands full from eating icecream! Anyway we are loving them!
Im also really excited cos i booked a weekend in North Ireland in late Oct, goin to catch up with my girls there! Caleb isnt coming cos he doesnt want to face a weekend of insane girl gossip and catch up....the last time i saw them was in 2003!
We are also planning to have an amazing albeit cold christmas day in Paris!!! To be exact, in Eurodisney.....Jess and Andy are coming and just waiting to hear if Ben and Megan are gonna join us too.....found a good deal for the hotel and Eurostar tickets.....how fun is that gonna be....although i bet we will be wearing a million layers, but i figure that Christmas days should be memorable, and im sure this will help make lotsa awesome memories! Fingers crossed that it doesnt rain!
Anyway that is about all that is happening for us at the moment.
Would love to hear from you all
Luv us!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Back to reality
So unfortunately we have finished all our fun tripping around, and are back here in London and forced to face reality.
However i will fill you in on the end of our trip first...photos are up on my facebook page if you havent seen them already.
Berlin is a strange city, not beautiful or amazing to look at, but full of history from WW2. The first night we arrived in Berlin we had dinner at this place called the Happy Pig....the food was ok, Schnitzel again! but the best part of the night was at the end when we did karaoke...lol. My personal favourite was seeing caleb and another guy perform achey breaky heart....i wish you guys could have seen it, very funny. I got to sing some classic S-Club 7 song, which i know you are all very jealous of.
The next morning we started with a walking tour, our guide was amazing and he was able to bring to life what would have otherwise been just boring buildings. We got to see bullet scarred buildings, ex Nazi headquarters, the location of Hitlers bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish memorial and lots of other stuff. Germany is amazing the way they have embraced the role that the Nazi's played in WW2 but also how they have distanced themselves from their past and managed to move on. What is interesting to note is that whenever anyone speaks of the WW2 era it is very deliberately phrased as 'Nazi Germany', not just Germany.
That night we went on a pub crawl...was fairly tame, one club was fun, i got to dance on the tables etc, so fun. We were all wearing David Hasselhoff t-shirts, which is a wee bit of a novelty...nothing quite like a massive group of tourists travelling in a pack all looking strange. Not a bad night tho.
The next morning was our drive to Amsterdam and as we entered the city we visited a Clog and Cheese factory. This was pretty cool, apparently there are only 5 clog makers left in the whole of the Netherlands. We got to eat the cheese and then buy stuff, i added to my collection of christmas tree decorations that ive been collecting in each country..fun, cant wait till christmas just so i can hang them.
Amsterdam itself was a real eyeopener. I had only ever heard of it because of the redlight district and weed, and yes both are very prevalent there, but its a gorgeous city in its own right. We hired bikes one day, had a little bit of a tour and then headed off on our own to explore and its full of canals, and so flat that its really lovely to ride round. Teh houses are all on a lean cos of the fact that the area is sinking because of being on reclaimed land. One highlight was visiting Anne Franks house, they havent changed the house inside where her family were hidden before being betrayed to the Nazi's. Very cool to see the bookshelf etc which hid the entranceway, after having read the book as a kid, and trying so hard to imagine what it actually looked like.
We had dinner that night at a floating Chinese restaurant. Funny story, when it was originally built the engineers etc spent ages working out how much buoyancy etc they would need to keep it afloat...on opening night, once the guests had come onboard, it started to sink, because they had forgotten to factor into the equation the weight of the guests....lol. Had an amazing meal there, and then got on a boat for a canal cruise. This was a lovely way to see Amsterdam.
This was our last night on the tour and definately a good way to finish.
The next morning the alarm didnt go off, i must have set it wrong and we woke up with 10 min before we had to be on the bus...arghhhh. Just threw everything into our suitcases and raced downstairs...made it just! It was a long trip back to London, we left Amsterdam at 7am and arrived in London at 8pm....long!
Now its back to reality. Jess and Andy who we have been staying with have offered us the room long term, so thats pretty cool. The apartment is so conveniently located to everything, so now we just have to buy a bed, at the moment we are sleeping on an airbed which is actually amazingly comfortable.
I have had some interviews, some worse than others, hoping that i will get a job soon. Caleb is out today checking out a job, to see if he likes it, not building, cos its quick difficult to get into and Caleb hasnt done the stuff he needs to just walk into a job.
But life will hopefully settle soon into a bit of a routine. We are heading to stratford-on-avon in a couple of weekends for Jess's birthday. Thats where Shakespeare was born, and its apparently really beautiful.
Anyway, thats us and our latest news.
Keep in touch
Luv Caleb and Maree
However i will fill you in on the end of our trip first...photos are up on my facebook page if you havent seen them already.
Berlin is a strange city, not beautiful or amazing to look at, but full of history from WW2. The first night we arrived in Berlin we had dinner at this place called the Happy Pig....the food was ok, Schnitzel again! but the best part of the night was at the end when we did karaoke...lol. My personal favourite was seeing caleb and another guy perform achey breaky heart....i wish you guys could have seen it, very funny. I got to sing some classic S-Club 7 song, which i know you are all very jealous of.
The next morning we started with a walking tour, our guide was amazing and he was able to bring to life what would have otherwise been just boring buildings. We got to see bullet scarred buildings, ex Nazi headquarters, the location of Hitlers bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish memorial and lots of other stuff. Germany is amazing the way they have embraced the role that the Nazi's played in WW2 but also how they have distanced themselves from their past and managed to move on. What is interesting to note is that whenever anyone speaks of the WW2 era it is very deliberately phrased as 'Nazi Germany', not just Germany.
That night we went on a pub crawl...was fairly tame, one club was fun, i got to dance on the tables etc, so fun. We were all wearing David Hasselhoff t-shirts, which is a wee bit of a novelty...nothing quite like a massive group of tourists travelling in a pack all looking strange. Not a bad night tho.
The next morning was our drive to Amsterdam and as we entered the city we visited a Clog and Cheese factory. This was pretty cool, apparently there are only 5 clog makers left in the whole of the Netherlands. We got to eat the cheese and then buy stuff, i added to my collection of christmas tree decorations that ive been collecting in each country..fun, cant wait till christmas just so i can hang them.
Amsterdam itself was a real eyeopener. I had only ever heard of it because of the redlight district and weed, and yes both are very prevalent there, but its a gorgeous city in its own right. We hired bikes one day, had a little bit of a tour and then headed off on our own to explore and its full of canals, and so flat that its really lovely to ride round. Teh houses are all on a lean cos of the fact that the area is sinking because of being on reclaimed land. One highlight was visiting Anne Franks house, they havent changed the house inside where her family were hidden before being betrayed to the Nazi's. Very cool to see the bookshelf etc which hid the entranceway, after having read the book as a kid, and trying so hard to imagine what it actually looked like.
We had dinner that night at a floating Chinese restaurant. Funny story, when it was originally built the engineers etc spent ages working out how much buoyancy etc they would need to keep it afloat...on opening night, once the guests had come onboard, it started to sink, because they had forgotten to factor into the equation the weight of the guests....lol. Had an amazing meal there, and then got on a boat for a canal cruise. This was a lovely way to see Amsterdam.
This was our last night on the tour and definately a good way to finish.
The next morning the alarm didnt go off, i must have set it wrong and we woke up with 10 min before we had to be on the bus...arghhhh. Just threw everything into our suitcases and raced downstairs...made it just! It was a long trip back to London, we left Amsterdam at 7am and arrived in London at 8pm....long!
Now its back to reality. Jess and Andy who we have been staying with have offered us the room long term, so thats pretty cool. The apartment is so conveniently located to everything, so now we just have to buy a bed, at the moment we are sleeping on an airbed which is actually amazingly comfortable.
I have had some interviews, some worse than others, hoping that i will get a job soon. Caleb is out today checking out a job, to see if he likes it, not building, cos its quick difficult to get into and Caleb hasnt done the stuff he needs to just walk into a job.
But life will hopefully settle soon into a bit of a routine. We are heading to stratford-on-avon in a couple of weekends for Jess's birthday. Thats where Shakespeare was born, and its apparently really beautiful.
Anyway, thats us and our latest news.
Keep in touch
Luv Caleb and Maree
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Auschwitz, Prague and beginning of Germany!
Hello everybody.....well where should i start.
We visited Auschwitz and the adjoining camp of Birkenau just a couple of days ago, and i think it was probably one of the most harrowing places i have ever been. The camp is still standing and they have turned the different barracks that housed prisoners into incredibly moving memorials and exhibits that give you a disturbing look into conditions at Auschwitz. I had read lots about the war and the inhumane conditions etc but nothing prepared me for the reality. There was a ban on taking indoor photos, but we have some moving outdoor ones. Some of the exhibitions inside include the size of the ingoal of a rugby field of hair that was collected and bagged up by the nazis from the bodies they gassed. They had piles and piles of shoes, hairbrushes, pots and pans etc that were all collected and stored in warehouses and have now become haunting memorials to the deceased. Rows and rows of pictures line the hallways of the prisoners up till 1943 with their arrival and death dates below...most lasted only couple of months, because if thez werent immediately exterminated on arrival, they died from the cold and starvation. One of the most disturbing exhibits was the piles of suitcases of the deceased, they all have birthdates on them, and you can see the cases of children included in the exhibitions. Fair to say i was teary throughout the exhibitions. We finished up the tour at the main Auschwitz camp with a walk through one of the extermination chambers....i found it horrific, i wanted to vomit. Seeing the place where so many people spent hideous last moments is quite gruesome, and being able to see the holes in the roof where they dropped in the gases etc really makes it real. We then moved up to Birkenau, which is part of Auschwitz and its expansion when it became too small, here you can see rows and rows of rebuilt barracks where the prisoners were housed, and it was here where they had the most prisoners exterminated....they had 4 more gas chambers here which were very busy. Prisoners literally arrived at the camp, if they werent selected for work duties they were sent immediately to the gas chambers...mostly women and children. All in all just over 1 million people were killed at these camps. Today it is compulsory for all German school children to visit the concentration camp sites twice in their schooling, once in primary and once in high school.
While we were at Auschwitz we saw loads of Jewish school groups visiting....i cant imagine how difficult that would be for them, after seeing how much it affected us.
Although it was a sobering visit, it was still a highlight of our trip.
Prague was next on our itinerary and we had a lovely day wandering round the city, not really doing much....but somehow filling in 8 hours.
We spent a lot of time...and money at the markets near Wencelas square...yes the one in the christmas carol...and we got some really cool stuff. There was really cool handmade wooden stuff, lots of toys and we had so much fun playing with everything at every single stall...probably why it took so long. Caleb brought himself a wooden train, that he is telling everyone is for a child of ours one day....oh ok, we believe you, cos im sure its gonna sit around till then unplayed with!
It was so fun just wandering, getting lost in the gorgeous cobbled streets and alleys of Prague, we went inside and had a look at a church and we wandered up to the old castle on teh hill to check out awesome views over Prague, but most of the time was spent just chilling. Overall a brilliant day. That night we decided we would be good children and call our fathers for fathers day, however the stupid calling card that we had searched for for ages, wouldnt work, so we got to speak to my dad for a whopping minute and half and Caleb left a message for his from our cell phone...it was super expensive!
This morning we drove from Prague into Germany. We spent a wee bit of time in Dresden which is quite cool...because of the bombing in WW2 they have done a lot of rebuilding and refurnishing etc in this area, and its very pretty. We also saw the best street performer we have seen on our travels....he was a guy dressed as a business man taking a dog for a walk, and he was frozen mid stride....incredible...its hard to describe how good he was....we took a picture, not sure if it does him justice tho.
Then we arrived here in Berlin, did a driving tour on the bus and then arrived at the hostel. Got dinner tonight at a restaurant called the happy pig...dont know how happy the pigs will be seeing as Germany is kinda known for its pork! Caleb will be happy tho, cos hes gonna sink his teeth into the pork knuckle...maybe he can be the happy pig! oink oink, wash it down with a stein! (one litre).
Tomorrow we are doing a 3rd reich tour and then no lies we are doing a pub crawl....really only cos we get a David Hasselhoff t-shirt (crazy germans), we have also been listening to the baywatch theme song on the bus quite a bit, caleb has been singing his lungs out and dreaming of Pam. Caleb also made one of the guys download the freakin schnappy song, you know the annoying alligator one...and yes that has been played on the bus too....however those songs are slightly better than some of the other horrid stuff that gets played by the bogans at the front of the bus...its what happens when you get too many australians in one place! ACDC are suck!
Oh yeah, i owe jess orchard big time, cos i emailed her a bunch of nonsense which she put onto powerpoint for me, so i can send it in for part 2 of my job interview...should know by the end of the week if i want the job...still not sure, its in east london, which will be a big move, but guess i will cross that bridge if i get offered the job...will keep you posted!
Havent posted any pics cos its just too much like hard work from the hostels....promise will put them up in london, prob so many that you will be begging me to stop.
Luv yas...
We visited Auschwitz and the adjoining camp of Birkenau just a couple of days ago, and i think it was probably one of the most harrowing places i have ever been. The camp is still standing and they have turned the different barracks that housed prisoners into incredibly moving memorials and exhibits that give you a disturbing look into conditions at Auschwitz. I had read lots about the war and the inhumane conditions etc but nothing prepared me for the reality. There was a ban on taking indoor photos, but we have some moving outdoor ones. Some of the exhibitions inside include the size of the ingoal of a rugby field of hair that was collected and bagged up by the nazis from the bodies they gassed. They had piles and piles of shoes, hairbrushes, pots and pans etc that were all collected and stored in warehouses and have now become haunting memorials to the deceased. Rows and rows of pictures line the hallways of the prisoners up till 1943 with their arrival and death dates below...most lasted only couple of months, because if thez werent immediately exterminated on arrival, they died from the cold and starvation. One of the most disturbing exhibits was the piles of suitcases of the deceased, they all have birthdates on them, and you can see the cases of children included in the exhibitions. Fair to say i was teary throughout the exhibitions. We finished up the tour at the main Auschwitz camp with a walk through one of the extermination chambers....i found it horrific, i wanted to vomit. Seeing the place where so many people spent hideous last moments is quite gruesome, and being able to see the holes in the roof where they dropped in the gases etc really makes it real. We then moved up to Birkenau, which is part of Auschwitz and its expansion when it became too small, here you can see rows and rows of rebuilt barracks where the prisoners were housed, and it was here where they had the most prisoners exterminated....they had 4 more gas chambers here which were very busy. Prisoners literally arrived at the camp, if they werent selected for work duties they were sent immediately to the gas chambers...mostly women and children. All in all just over 1 million people were killed at these camps. Today it is compulsory for all German school children to visit the concentration camp sites twice in their schooling, once in primary and once in high school.
While we were at Auschwitz we saw loads of Jewish school groups visiting....i cant imagine how difficult that would be for them, after seeing how much it affected us.
Although it was a sobering visit, it was still a highlight of our trip.
Prague was next on our itinerary and we had a lovely day wandering round the city, not really doing much....but somehow filling in 8 hours.
We spent a lot of time...and money at the markets near Wencelas square...yes the one in the christmas carol...and we got some really cool stuff. There was really cool handmade wooden stuff, lots of toys and we had so much fun playing with everything at every single stall...probably why it took so long. Caleb brought himself a wooden train, that he is telling everyone is for a child of ours one day....oh ok, we believe you, cos im sure its gonna sit around till then unplayed with!
It was so fun just wandering, getting lost in the gorgeous cobbled streets and alleys of Prague, we went inside and had a look at a church and we wandered up to the old castle on teh hill to check out awesome views over Prague, but most of the time was spent just chilling. Overall a brilliant day. That night we decided we would be good children and call our fathers for fathers day, however the stupid calling card that we had searched for for ages, wouldnt work, so we got to speak to my dad for a whopping minute and half and Caleb left a message for his from our cell phone...it was super expensive!
This morning we drove from Prague into Germany. We spent a wee bit of time in Dresden which is quite cool...because of the bombing in WW2 they have done a lot of rebuilding and refurnishing etc in this area, and its very pretty. We also saw the best street performer we have seen on our travels....he was a guy dressed as a business man taking a dog for a walk, and he was frozen mid stride....incredible...its hard to describe how good he was....we took a picture, not sure if it does him justice tho.
Then we arrived here in Berlin, did a driving tour on the bus and then arrived at the hostel. Got dinner tonight at a restaurant called the happy pig...dont know how happy the pigs will be seeing as Germany is kinda known for its pork! Caleb will be happy tho, cos hes gonna sink his teeth into the pork knuckle...maybe he can be the happy pig! oink oink, wash it down with a stein! (one litre).
Tomorrow we are doing a 3rd reich tour and then no lies we are doing a pub crawl....really only cos we get a David Hasselhoff t-shirt (crazy germans), we have also been listening to the baywatch theme song on the bus quite a bit, caleb has been singing his lungs out and dreaming of Pam. Caleb also made one of the guys download the freakin schnappy song, you know the annoying alligator one...and yes that has been played on the bus too....however those songs are slightly better than some of the other horrid stuff that gets played by the bogans at the front of the bus...its what happens when you get too many australians in one place! ACDC are suck!
Oh yeah, i owe jess orchard big time, cos i emailed her a bunch of nonsense which she put onto powerpoint for me, so i can send it in for part 2 of my job interview...should know by the end of the week if i want the job...still not sure, its in east london, which will be a big move, but guess i will cross that bridge if i get offered the job...will keep you posted!
Havent posted any pics cos its just too much like hard work from the hostels....promise will put them up in london, prob so many that you will be begging me to stop.
Luv yas...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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.
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.
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