Tuesday 15 May - St Johann in Tirol, Austria to Prague, Czech Republic, via Salzburg, Austria

Stopped in Salzburg on the way to Prague. Salzburg is best known as the birthplace and childhood residence of Mozart. As Justin kept insisting, Mozart the world's first great rockstar, a man of booze and womanising. The city was also the scene of numerous shots from The Sound of Music.

One of Austria's major quirks, if not a pet hate of its people, is that it regularly gets confused with Australia, and its residents often gets asked if they have a pet kangaroo. Hence one of the typical Austrian souvenir t-shirts proclaims that there's 'No Kangaroos in Austria' - although the North Melbourne Football Club haven't ruled out playing a few home games here apparently, which will lead to a lot of merchandise being tossed out. I've managed to add one of these shirts to my ever expanding t-shirt collection.

After a decent game of Phase 10 (a fun card game - well worth googling the rules and having a crack at it) on the bus, we arrived into Prague in the early evening, before jumping onto the bus and heading into the rain-soaked city for a night walking tour. We've been blessed with the weather ever since leaving the US at the end of March (the majority of that country really does have a cold climate), but the heavens opened on us tonight. As a result, a lot of the Topdeck crew were by concerned about not getting a wet backside than enjoying Prague. This really was a pity as Prague might be the most beautiful city we've been to yet. I've certainly got it at the top of my list.

Fair to say that of all the countries in our travels of the world, the Czech Republic was probably the one that I'd had the least pre-conceived ideas of; both myself & Libe really did not know anything about its history, its architecture or its people. It was interesting to see that no less than a couple of hundred metres after crossing the border from Austria, there were liquor stores and 'nightclubs' (that really should read strip clubs) on the side of the road.

The country itself has a tragic history. After WWII, it was controlled by the Soviet Iron Curtain. The opening of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 was the start of the independence conversion, which was completed a month later, and it wasn't until 1993 that Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Thus, for a lot of the 20th century the Czechs experienced the same oppression of freedom and human rights that any of the other Soviet annexed countries went through.

In the last 20 years, the country has managed to become a fully fledged capitalist nation in its own right, complete with the neon signs, fashion stores and McDonalds restaurants that accompany this economic ideology. However, these things have developed in Prague in harmony with the long-existing architecture, thus making the city very easy on the eyes.

To dry off, Justin led us to an underground bar to sample a bit of Absinth, the secondary local alcohol special. Beer is number one - the country is home to perhaps the best kinds of beers on the planet, and some of the cheapest beers as well (half a litre of Budvar, the original Budweiser but with a far better taste, costs AU $2). Absinth is number two - 50% alcohol content, with a taste like methylated spirits, as asserted by Libe. This stuff is lethal - one of the chemicals that may be used in the drop can bring on hallucinations. Three or four shots of this is enough to bring anyone undone, as it did to a number of our group - Rachel, both Justins, Laura, Pete, Phoung the major self-victims. Two and a half was enough for me and I was well on my way (but not as bad as this other lot).

Drinking absinth requires:
* dunking a teaspoon overloaded with sugar into the alcohol
* holding the spoon above the glass and lighting it
* letting it burn for about 10 seconds or so
* dropping the sugar into the absinth
* blowing out any flames that make it into the glass
* rapidly stirring the sugar into the absinth
* skulling this concotion
* following up with at least a sip of your chaser (e.g. a beer) to wash the taste out of your mouth.

We've got numerous videos and pictures of these antics - many of which make for hilarious viewing, and may help a few piece together memories of the night.

Staying at the funnily-named Hotel Dum, in the outer suburbs of the city. The hotel was once a commission flat block (of which most people in the communist country would have lived in), but since the Soviets moved out, there has been little apparent effort to change the structure of the rooms to suit a hotel. Thus, we're basically staying in a two-bedroom apartment, albeit with very few furniture and appliance pieces.

Has been some funny town names discovered in the last week or so. Austria has the town "Wank" (clearly the locals are known as Wankers) and "Bad Aussee"; Switzerland has 'Wankdorf". Yet to confirm if there really is a town called "Schizenhausen" though.

The German language clearly has the most long words in its vocabulary. Fifteen, or even twenty, letter words are not uncommon. For the true hard-core fans (like myself, and Justin (tour guide) as we've discovered this trip) It brings to mind an episode of The Simpsons where a baby Ranier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) sings his fathers middle name...

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Wednesday 16 May - Prague, Czech Republic

Not trying to imply that we've been harshly done by the weather to date, but the Tuesday's rain had cleared by the morning, to the relief of us all. Because Prague really is a beautiful city and one which deserves to be admired.

Took in the Old Town, the oddly named Lesser Town, the Charles Bridge which separates these two, the Prague Castle and its St Vitus Cathedral, and the Jewish Quarter. I'm happy to go on record that this is one place that is well worth a visit on any trip through Europe. And it's very accessable too - being pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the continent.

The Old Town is, obviously, the oldest part of the city. It is centred around the Old Town Square, which itself is dominated by the dual-towered Tyne Church. Rumour has it that this was Walt Disney's inspiration for the Disney emblem - if you check the pictures out you can see this could be true.

The Charles Bridge crosses the Moldau River, connecting the Old and Lesser towns. On it are many statues, which has made the Bridge world famous. During the day the Bridge is full with artists displaying their various works, particularly paintings of the city, buskers and tourists.

The Prague Castle sits on Castle Hill, overlooking the Lesser Town side of Prague. It really is its own little community, complete with superbly manicured gardens, a great view over the entire city and St. Vitus Cathedral. The Gothic Cathedral is probably only beaten by the larger ones in the rest of Europe for beauty. We climbed its tower to get an even better and higher view of the city.

One of the little known-facts about Prague, and particularly its Jewish Quarter, is that Hitler planned to exterminate all Jews apart from a few, who would remain alive but captive here in this small area of the Prague CBD. He wanted it to be a museum of the race of people that he'd "rid" Germany of.

Not that there would be anything of such nature anyway, but there's been nothing to paint Hitler and the Nazi's in any more of a positive light while on our trip.

Although the country has been free of Soviet rule for nearly two decades, there are still elements of the country in which the communist habits linger. In particular, client service leaves a lot of room for improvement; there would have been no motivation to provide as good a service as possible when everything was state run under the Russians, and it appears as though there's been no rapid rate of change since.

At least the exchange rate here is quite good - 1 Aussie dollar gets you 17 Koruna. Having said that, apart from alcohol the other consumer goods here (e.g. fast food, clothes, internet access) are as dear as most other places, apart from maybe London. It feels a bit weird to hand over 90 units of the local currency for a Big Mac Meal, however it translates to only AU $5.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Thursday 17 May - Prague, Czech Republic to Berlin, Germany

Managed to get ourselves a train ride from Prague to Berlin for 3000 Koruna, which translates to about AU $175. Prague was a place, although not massive on sightseeing options, I'd be happy to come back to again for sure.

The Czech Republic capital is towards the northern part of the country, thus isn't wasn't a long trip to reach the Czech-German border. As expected, when nearing the border, the architecture and scenery becomes very German, and there is widespread use of the German language on signs. Although the German language is difficult, the Czech dialect is no better - it ranks among the hardest to learn. Luckily for us, the understanding of English in both countries is pretty good.

The train ride itself was as comfortable as anything we'd had so far, largely due to getting a carriage booth all to ourselves, complete with closed curtains. Having said that, we did miss the sociable nature of the Topdeck bus & its crew.

First impression of Berlin is that architecturally it's the most modern city in Europe we've seen. It has a lower percentage of 'old' buildings than any other Europe city - 90% of the city was destroyed by the WWII bombings.
However, it's a very cosmopolitan city, and one in which we already feel comfortable by day's end. This could sound silly, but upon asking someone who hasn't been to Germany of the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word Berlin, there's every chance that the Nazis will be mentioned. I might have previously amongst this crowd. Now, I'd be far more inclined to think of the modern, fashionable city.

Like other places in Europe, smoking bans are not a common thing. The German restaurants and bars that we patronised tonight were generally pretty smoky.

One of the things I've already noticed is that there's plenty of blonde-haired men around - perhaps they should be nicknamed 'Riewoldts'. Blonde hair on males is something we just haven't seen to date in this continent.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Friday 18 May - Berlin, Germany

Nice to have a kip in this morning. When on the tour, early starts were the norm, either because we'd be jumping on the bus, or we'd be getting into the city as early as possible to give us a full day in there. However, here we've booked ourselves into a basic but solid hostel in the middle of the city.

Started with a free walking tour of the city (although everyone tips the guide at the end of the trip). For anyone coming to Europe in the future, these tours, which are run by foot and by bike, are in a number of cities (e.g. Paris and Amsterdam), and are super value.

The tour started at the Brandenburger Tor (Gate). This was once the boundary between both East and West Berlin, and the communist Eastern bloc and the capitalist Western countries.

Just the other side of the Tor to the Paris Square is what looks like an ordinary road. What is different about this road however is the double brick line in the bitumen. This line runs through the city and shows where the Berlin Wall stood, less than 18 years ago now.

Nearby is the Holocaust Memorial. It's a square full of big concrete blocks which are exactly the same apart from their height. As discussed by the guide, the Memorial is a very vague tribute to the Holocaust - it's up to the visitor to look and walk through it, and to interpret its message in their own way.

Very little of the Berlin Wall remains standing. We were able to see a section of it still standing, complete with graffiti originating from the days when it still split the city. This wall wasn't too hard to climb over by itself. However, there were a couple of other obstacles to be beat to get into the West. Apart from the Soviet soldiers on the other side (a little known fact is that the wall was built by the Soviets a metre on their side of the division), if you made it into West Germany, those that you left behind (family, friends etc) would be harassed, tormented or subject to even worse actions, in order to find out your whereabouts, or for punishment for your actions.

There's little that remains of Checkpoint Charlie, a major crossing point between East and West. Typically only the soldiers and officials of the two areas were able to cross over freely.

Surprise, surprise - Berlin has a cathedral / church which is amongst its major sights. This has become a theme throughout Europe. Like others versions of these buildings throughout the continent, we climbed its tower for a better view of the city. From up high, Berlin is similar to London, albeit with little of the centuries-old buildings and squares that make London appealing. The German capital is really flat, with a massive urban sprawl.

Late in the arvo we jumped on a cruise down to Spree River. There wasn't a great amount of sightseeing on the river, due to the lack of spectacular attractions on or near the rivers' banks. It was still nice to sit on the boat on a beautiful Berlin day though. And we managed to find ourselves sitting next to a couple of Aussies - from Ivanhoe, one even a Cats supporter.

From there we had a quick drink at Monbijou Park, effectively Berlin's beach, at which many of the city's young and hip had spent the afternoon sitting in the sun socialising and drinking.

One area that the locals haven't really impressed us in is customer service. You tend to wait a while to get served, and then are dealt with coldly and rudely (the attitude of the bloke in the cafe at lunch today was startling). In particular, last night at the Mexican restaurant, the staff lied a couple of times to Libe as to what she was drinking, clearly not a Savignon Blanc!If you're going to try to pull the wool over someone's eye on wine, particularly the difference between Savvy B and the best, I doubt they could have chosen a worse target. The best service we received during our stay in Berlin was at the Indian restaurant tonight, where the staff was all Indian.

A question for Melbournians - we don't we have more river ferries? Brisbane and Sydney have a lot. There's plenty in the European cities too. Perhaps we could have a few more travelling up the Yarra from both east and west, easing the traffic burden on the roads?

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Saturday 19 May - Berlin, Germany to Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Up and at 'em early to catch a train to Amsterdam. The Berlin station from which these trains run is certainly very swish, having only been completed in the last year.

As with other countries that are in the European Union, there's no border between Germany and the Netherlands, apart from a sign welcoming you to either, depending on which direction you're headed. The scenery gradually changed from German to Dutch; although the land itself is pretty similar, the quaint Dutch houses and communities are more easy on the eyes than Germany with its higher proportion of industry.

Arrived in Amsterdam mid arvo. We're staying right in the middle of the Red Light District, and have made it into the city handily enough for a Saturday night. Anything goes here for sure. Our street is full of sex stores, some of them gay. The Red Light District is smack bang in the centre of the semi-circular canal system, through which we drifted through until the early evening.

Amongst the pictures you'll see a cart with a bunch of blokes on it. These carts are available for hire, come equipped with a keg and tap, and are able to be pedalled throughout the city at your wish. They looked like great fun for a group of people - which, here, tend to be Pommy men. Unfortunately the harder drinking laws of Oz make these an unattractive busines venture down under.

Despite finishing our Topdeck cruise on Thursday, we were able to join the group (who had continued on to the Rhine Valley for one night, and were headed back to London to finish their journey in the morning) on a night cruise through the canals. Twenty five euros each got us about 90 minutes of all-you-can-drink. We may have sat down for the first five minutes or so to take in the sights, but after that it was all about the booze and the chin-wag (chat).

Afterwards, the group drifted off to a local bar 'The Last Waterhole' (the first non-Aussie pub our great driver PJ had taken us to) for a few drinks. On the pictures website there's a few photos of 'Streets of Amsterdam at night', taken when we were walking from this pub back into the Red Light District. Apart from PJ apparently relieving himself in a fountain in Leidseplein Square, there's also pictures of one of the urinals that sit in the streets, in which Damien decides to empty his bladder while Laura pretends to do so. This is absolutely typical of the anything-goes Amsterdam ethos. There are a few of these urinals throughout the city, and there's nowhere provided nearby to wash your hands either. Should a women really want to use these, there are funnels available in nearby stores (e.g. pharmacies) to assist.

The Red Light District really isn't the place to bring children. Apart from a abnormally high proportion of bars and 'cafes' (which are places where you are legally able to buy and smoke marijuana), there's also countless sex shops and strip joints. To top it off, there's also (1) a number of live sex show 'bars' and (2) plenty of buildings in which prostitutes in lingerie stand in the front windows offering their services. These windows are generally lit up with a red light, hence the name of the district. Pictures of the prostitutes aren't allowed to be taken - it would have been great to take a few to capture the sight of these women plying their trade.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Sunday 20 May - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

My updated AFL Ladder - the Hawks probably aren't the best team in the league, but they're at the top. Time to get on the bandwagon, like Luke Carey will - they're going to be a great side in years to come. The Cats are gradually climbing their way up, but (1) we've got a few hard weeks to come, and (2) there's not much difference between us and a lot of teams below us.

Hawthorn 43
Adelaide 39
Western Bulldogs 39
West Coast 37
Collingwood 35
Port Adelaide 29
Essendon 28
Fremantle 27

Geelong 26
Kangaroos 24
Sydney 24
Brisbane 24
St. Kilda 22
Carlton 8
Melbourne 0
Richmond 0

A change of hotel in the morning as we were only able to lock in St Christopher's Inn for one night. It was still enough to see a couple of Poms launching into their first beer while we settled down for breakfast at the Inn.

A free day so we basically just drifted around the city until we had a planned bike tour of the nearby countryside at 4pm. Managed to put AU $300 on the CC at H&M, loading up on clothes before we do a similar thing in Honkers in a week or so.

H&M has two major celebrities with whom they are designing and branding merchandise at present. One is Madonna, and the other is our very own Kylie. Amongst the pictures taken today in Leidseplein Square you'll see a massive billboard poster of Ms Minogue - this picture, and other similar ones, of Kylie have been seen throughout Europe; Austria, Italy and Czech Republic come to mind.

A large number of buildings in Amsterdam are leaning, either to the front or to the side. Some of these are architectural defects and / or caused by being built in a canal system, while others have been used to allow residents to pull furniture up to the top floors via a rope and pulley system.

As stated above, at 4pm we left for a bike tour of the city's outskirts and the surrounding countryside. It's amazing actually that as soon as you pass throught the inner suburbs, immediately you're in a rural area dominated by farms. Thus, there's no real urban sprawl here, at least on the side of the city that we rode out of. The heavens opened on us shortly after setting off, dampening the enjoyment somewhat, but it was still enjoyable.

This city is great - it's certainly a very liveable one, although I haven't really got a great idea of what the living costs are like. The architecture reminds me of London more than any other place. Also, unlike Venice, the canals here don't smell.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Monday 21 May - Amsterdam to Cairo via London (Heathrow)

Another day basically lost in transit. That's what you've got to expect when, like us, you try to cover so many places in such little time.

Smoking is allowed everywhere in Amsterdam. It's OK, but can get on your nerves, particularly when you're eating and someone on the table next to you reaches into their pockets and pulls out a Winnie Blue / Darren Gaspar.

The city layout here is abnormal but good. A couple of decades ago the city's management had a choice to make - let those looking to build the skyscrapers and facilities associated with a typical finance district completely reshape and remodel the city's inner, including its canal system, or to build them on the city's outskirts and retain those features that are the heart and soul of Amsterdam. Thank God they chose the latter. Anyway, the OBDs (that's 'Outskirts' Business Districts, rather than 'Central') isn't that far from the city anyway - as proof, we rode out of the city yesterday, which only took us half to three-quarters of an hour.

Security at Amsterdam airport is a little different, too. This probably won't surprise anyone who knows the Dutch as they are an intelligent, yet eccentric breed. The screening points at Schippol airport are at each gate (yep, there's a crapload of them). For the passenger, it reduces the queues usually associated with the one central checkpoint. For the airport, it obviously means a large increase in their security staff.

Despite losing the day in the air, we haven't avoided a hit to the wallet. First came the fee associated with Libe's excess baggage (a low 20kg per passenger is allowed in Europe) at $10 per kg, then came the unexpected cost of a Visa at Cairo Airport (which was only $25 anyway). When you add in the costs of airport shuttles, it all adds up to contemplation that maybe a train from Amsterdam to London could have been a cheaper option without adding a ridiculous amount of time to the day.

Can airport baggage handlers please not throw bags onto the conveyor belts? Is it too hard to not place them on the belt instead? Had wry smiles on our faces watching the handlers at Schippol chucking bags like Murali today, knowing full well that the passengers of the entire plane could see them from the gate.

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42


Tuesday 22 May - Cairo, Egypt

Even though it's pretty much been used every day, the alarm on my mobile hasn't failed in waking us up. Until this morning. Supposed to be in the hotel lobby at 9, at 9:20 we got a call from out guide waking us up. Happy to admit it was pilot error, probably brought on by getting to sleep around 3am. Funny thing is, generally I set the alarm and then double check that it's set correctly. Ironically, last night was the first night I can remember not double checking.

Once we got going, 40 minutes late, it was into our private van (just us two, the driver and the 'Egyptologist' Ahmed who was to be our guide for the day) and off to the Pyramids of Giza, the last standing of the seven wonders of the ancient world. First however was an eye-opening drive west across the Nile into Giza. Fact: there are actually two cities here - Cairo on the rivers' east bank, Giza on the west. Combined, the two have a whopping population of 18 million, basically the same as Australia. The roads here are just amazing. If we thought Peru was madness, there's no doubt that they are more crazy here.

Pedestrians just have to walk over the road between moving traffic, relying on the approaching cars to control their speed sufficiently to allow them to reach the other side. There's no stopping on behalf of the driver - they may stop to a crawl (at the most), but they'll still be moving. There are lanes marked on most roads, but not all, with some 4 to 5 lane roads going unmarked, and effectively becoming about 8 lanes. Even when they are marked, they are pretty much useless. There's also horse and donkey-pulled carts to dodge. Fair to say that the thoroughfares were just about worth the trip to Cairo themselves.

On the side of the roads is a third world country. I think Peru is more developed than this place. There is poverty everywhere, and the only accomodation buildings that have been completely built are the international hotel chains. The rest remain to be completed and/or extended.

The Pyramids are on the outskirts of the city, but as the pictures of them will portray, they're basically in their own little dusty desert. They stand on the top of a small hill, visible for a long way from the city. They are amazing structures, particularly due to the volume of the rocks used to build them. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the one at the front as you drive in and also the largest, was built between 2,600 and 2,500 BC, is made up of 2.3 million blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tonnes each. Some stones weigh up to 15 tonnes. Standing 136 metres high, it was once covered with limestones which made the four sides absolutely flat, rather than the stepping stones appearance that it carries today. It's a pity that the limestone was not still there, however it was used to build other buildings in the city.

Inside the pyramid is a row of chambers, approximately 1 metre in height, however due to queues we decided to give these a miss.

Some idiot who was having a great morning (after an alarm clock mishap earlier) decided it would be a great idea to leave a smudge on his camera lens. As a result, basically all of the photos here are blurry in the middle. Also, in his haste to get out the door, left his sunnies at home, hence in the blurry photos often he's got his eyes closed or pulling a very weird face in order to deal with the blinding glare. Disappointing stuff really.

The other pyramids are the Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, and the smaller Queens' and Royal Family pyramids. The photos taken with a number of the Pyramids in the background were taken from the plateau reached by driving past them. Here we also jumped on a camel for a 5 minute ride, just to get a feel for being on one in the vicinity of these awesome structures. I'm happy to go on record as saying that they beat Geelong's infamous Pyramid. These ones have been around for a hell of a lot longer AND are yet to fall over.

There's another famous landmark here as well (come to think of it, there's one of these in Geelong as well). In front of the Pyramids stands the Sphinx, carved out of the hillside. The statue remains a mystery - the head is of King Khafra, however the lion body might be as much as 2,600 older than the face. Unfortunately the giant cat (perhaps named after the Sphinkter, Brett Spinks?) isn't in the best of condition, lacking a nose like a well-worn boxer, however restoration work is keeping it in a reasonable state.

Future advice of Cairo / Egypt visitors is to be wary of the shopping etiquette here. When you are taken into a luxury items store e.g. art, jewellery, fragrances & oils, you are generally expected to buy something. Although if you're hard enough you can easily walk out, the staff won't give up on you until you've produced some Johnny Cash. When you walk in, a staff member will be ready to show you around, try to flog you a few things and follow you through the store when you're browsing. You've just got to be a hard-nosed shopper or you'll part with a bit - we're lacking in the former area (of being hard-nosed), so now we're lacking in the latter as well.

Took in the Egyptian Museum after a quality lunch. The museum is dominated by the relics from Tutankhamun's tomb. No pictures allowed unfortunately; quizzingly, only the sunlight coming in through the windows may evaporate the inks & dyes, not the flashes. This museum should hold more items, however the Poms stole most of it and are flogging it beside the Thames.

Museums, sights and hotels here have metal detectors. Like the road lanes, they are useless as they go off everytime and typically you just walk straight through. If you're stiff, you cop a half-hearted pat down from security.
This might be a record - Ahmed the Egyptologist was engaged 10 days after meeting his fiance in a lift. I'm not feeling any pressure though (that might change when I get back to 36 Girton).

Tipping is massively the go over here. There's not much that I'm 'over' on these travels, but this is one of them. We've only been here 24 hours but already I've been through more than I'd plan to go through $$ wise in perhaps 3 days. Might be back to eating 'crap on toast' or the wallpaper when we get home....

Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42