busabout part three

So we left our borrowed hostel and headed back to our own. in the daylight, we actually found it with out too much hassle. when we walked into the reception area of the hostel our tour guide was amazed to see us. he was like "wow, did you guys only get back from the club now!?!?! you guys sure can party!!" we just laughed and explained to him what happened. After we told him he just shook his head and laughed.

We went upstairs and then had to explain to every one else what happened. upon first seeing us, all the did is give us sly looks. they all thought we went and paid for a seperate hostel just so we could get some private time...thanks guys.

that morning we went on a cycling tour of krakow which was very interesting and lots of fun. the most memorable part of it for me was the story of the local dragon that used to eat all the virgins in the area. One day, the dragon announced that he wanted to eat the daughter of the king. Do i need to say that tzhe king didnt like the sound of this? So he devised a plan: he stuffed some sheep with sulfer and made them available for the dragon to eat. After the dragon had his meal, we went to the river to wash it all down. Now guess what happenes when you mix sulfer and water? KA BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!! and with that, the kind thwarted the dragon and saved his daughter. this is probably the most scientific legend concerning dragons ive ever heard.

Also on that tour, we saw the old jewish ghetto that was used to house all the unwanted during hitlers reigeme. the jewish ghetto just ended up as a ghost town, the nazis were that hell bent on killing all their unwanteds.

our guide also explained to us the importance of football culture here. its absolutly manic, he told us that we cannot wear any football colours because of we walk into the wrong part of town with the wrong colours on, we will get bashed up. he then went on to add that several people die every year from holligan violence. that maked england look like a bunch of kittens compared to this.

after the tour we had free time to explore the city. most of us ended up in the most touristy part of the square, in the part where all the cheesy souvineers are sold. We all laughed at where we had run into each other. from there, some of us went to the local markets we had been shown on our tour in the jewish quater. when we arrived, most of the market was packing up, but that didnt stop all the girls in our group going and looking at EVERY. SINGLE. PIECE. OF. CLOTHING. sigh. it got to the point where us guys went to a local bar for some drink and wait for the girls.

With the weather not looking very good, we decided to head back to the hostel to get ready for dinner that evening. Most people went to a rather expensive restraunt. steph and i decided to gosomewhere else for diner. we ended up at a kebab shop eating stuff that wasfar too spicy for me. after dinner we walked around a bit, but headed back to the hostel early. reason being, we didnt want to get lost again nor did we want to spend the money on going out. so that night we took advatage of the fre internet and got ready for the rest of our trip.

The next day we left Krakow and went to Zakopane in poland. zakopane is a neat little skiing town in the west of poland. On he way into zakopane our tour guide carlos told mus all the things that we could do here. including skiing. at the time we didnt think things through (skiing in may?) so we decided to find out if we could go skiing for a day. it turns out theseason had just finished so it was out of the question. So, with that we decided to to some mountain biking with some other people on our trip. after much stuffing about we finally got on the road to the bike hiring shop.

we caught a local bus about 5 mins out of the town to get there. when we got off it took us about 15 mins to find it in this deserted little nowehere of a place. we found it right near a ski lift, on a hill that would probably be a black run if there had been snow. The place was shut, and it looked like it had been that way for a while. With no way of descreetly breaking in, we decided to go for a walk up to the top of the hill. This hill was about 300 meters long and really steep. we all took bets on how long it would take us to get to the top...we were wrong by about triple the time of pr guesses.

When we were at the top, we found a little kiosk place (closed) and we decided to rest there for a while. when we got our energy back, we were a litle bored, so we started hanging out on the ski lift, taking lots of fotos and stuff. then we got really bored and decided to stack some of the kiosks tables ontop of each other. we managed to get the stack 3 high beore we were seen by some locals. We decided to make tracks along the ridge we were on, and where we were originally going to bike ride.

the locals that saw us were harmless, drunk, and couldnt really care less. they were wondering up and down a track on their horse and cart drinking vodka. when we were walkign along this track in sunny poland, we passed a wooden barn with about 20 people outside it drinkng. hooray for gypsies.

further along the track we saw houses that were half built. What surprised me was how good the houses were. When i upload foos to face book, you will see what i mean. they are built in a really solid way with local materials. pretty cool stuff.

Now our intended rout took us prettry much half way around zakoapne before we went back down to the actual town. Since we wernt on bikes, we decided to take a short cut, and this is where the adventure really begins. We could see the town down below in the valley, and we knew where we were on the map, and if we did this right, we would come out right near the hotel we were staying in. So we start tromping down the hill, not expecting much to be in the way, and for the first bit there wasnt.

we ran into a problem when there was a wall of forest in front of us, but some one had the bright idea to follow the power lines down, as they are all most allways clear underneath. This went well for a while untill we hit a wall of forest. we saw a track sort of to the side of it, so we decided to follow that. Looking back on it, i think that track was used for a young couple who wanted some time together, because it quickly ran into a clearing, then stopped. So, we just kept going on making our own track. we shortly came along side a river, so we followed that down the hill. as we continued along, the hill got steeper and our little stream merged into another one. So what we had infront of us was almost a cliff face leading into a little river...great.

What makes this is funny is that allmost all of us are in thongs and jeans, not at all equipped for this. i, on the other had, wore my cargo pants and hiking boots, and because i that, i wasnt sliding down these hills on my ass. (end of bragging session)

So at this little juncture we had to jump onto a fallen tree from the steep steep hill to cross the river. i was having a great time, but other people were at the O my gawd stage. Eventually we all got over the river and continued on a track that had popped up on the other side. We followed that along the river, in what we thought was the right direction. I wasnt sure of this so i bounded up the hill , out of the forest to find the powerlines!!! hooray. but the wind was taken out of my sails when the path took every one else out of the forest about 20 meters away.

any way, we continues down the hill, through another little bit fo forest, and popped out where we caught the bus from. hooray!!! we all then went to the local supermarket for some drinks because in the typical australian fashon we just thought, no worries mate she ll be right.

that was my day in zakopane. we shure had a story to tell at dinner time.

cheers
jash

News flash

I hate to intrupt the story of my busabout trip, but i am curently in bosnia

kthx

jash

Busabout part two

We left Olomouc the next morning and headed to Auchwitz. We did a three hour guided tour of bouth parts of the concentration camp. When we were there we saw where people were gasses using a substance called cyclone 10. We saw where the bodies were stripped of anything valuble, ten where the corpses were cremated. Auchwitz one was a converted barracks for polish soldiers. Achwitz two was specifically built for the effecient killing of unwanteded. The whole experience was very sobering and very full on. not something i want to see again.

From Auchwitz we went to Kracow, a lovely city with a great old town surrounded by 4km of garden that used to be the town wall. The main square in Kracow is argued to be the largest in eastern europe, measuring at about 200m by 150 (i think) When we arrived, we were taken on a walking tour of the main sights, but didnt stay long because we were doing a cycling tour the next day. (its now been a while since this happened, so the details my get a little fuzzy) After that, we did the usual thing of getting ready to go out that night. We had traditional polish food for dinner, then went to a local bar. Steph and i decided to leave early for the hostel to try and get a good nights sleep. However, neither of us really took much notice of where the hostel actually was or what it was called. So we set off to look for it, but with no luck at all. we ended up wandering up and down a very similar looking street, swearing to ourselves that it was right here, but either way we couldnt find it.

so i had the bright idea to try and call daniel on his phone, who was out with Carlos, our tour guide. however, i had no credit on my phone, so i had to use my credit card to pay for it. It was around midnight by this stage so i was tired and not thinking straight. I tried making a couple of calls to daniel before remembering he had no credit either, and since we were on international roaming, he wouldnt be able to receive any calls.

shit

steph and i then went to the local maccas that was open to try and stay warm while i sorted this out. i then had the bright idea to call home and get them to message daniel to tell carlos to message me the address of the hostel. at the time i was quite proud of this little idea i had, but looking at it now, it was...a clumsy idea.

so i called home and spoke do dad and clare, and they eventually got my step sister steph to msg dan. some time when by and we got no msgs or anything, so with one more quick call home, we decided to check into another hostel i saw right on the square (by a quick call, i mean i had to call the credit card charging number from the paphone, then enter my CC number, the expiery date and security code number 33 digits so far, then enter the phone number i was calling- another 9- so a quick call was 42 digits long before i heard a ringing tone.) also, it was a weekend, and this hostel had rooms looking right on to the main square. the beds cost us about 60 aussie for the night, with breakfast included.

we slept badly that night because kracaow had one the polish soccer competition, so there were hooligans everywhere.

more to follow later

cheers
jash

Ive been up to alot

Well, since leaving scotland, i have done lots and lots of exciting and interesting things.

our first destination from leaving scotland was the lakes disctrict. well, not the lakes disctrict its self, but not far from it. we were staying at daniels' mums' cousins house. Elizabeth was kind enought to put us up for around a week and show us the sights. What we didnt anticipate was that she would vacate her house for us, stay at her parents house and then pretty much pay for everything we did, no matter how much we wanted to pay.

our fist day there was pretty uneventful- all we did was arrive, get taken to Elizabeths' house and eat dinner. Elizabeth lives in a place called Cleator Moor, which is a little town that doesnt have much happen there. The next town over has a reputation for being inbred, much like tasmania. Although, here you can see proof of this because some peoples faces look a little flatter and like theyre actualy inbred. Too many people who dont know who their mother or father is in a small town. (this is what ive been told, i cant actually say for myself.)

on the second day there, we intended to find beatrix potters' house. This was all good, but we didnt actually know where this place was. We ended up spending most of the day driving around the lakes district looking for 'Hill Top' but in the end we found out it was closed. So, with that little adventure thwarted, we went to the local pub in a town called Hawkshead and tried some traditional english ale.

On the ale topic: im not really a fan. its a bit of a culture shock for me drinking something thats almost flat and almost room temperature. Althought, it can taste quite good. My conclusion is that im a larger man. After our ale, we went back home and got chinese take away started on the 16 tinnies of beer dans granmum bought us, then went to bed.

On day three we decided to go on a trip on a nearby narrow gauge railway that used to serve the mines. The locals affectionatly called this the La'al ratty. The actual train trip is about 40 minutes long, and it took us through...well i dont know where it took is ut, but it was a lovely trip. at the other end of the railway line, we went and had lunch at the local pub (which is in the middle of nowere!) and caught the train back. that was prety much our day. we had chinese for dinner again that night.

Day four found us make it to Beatrix Potters' house and then off to William Wordsworth house. Talk about a day for dropping in on the locals! Beatrixs' house was really quite interesting, despite the fact i cant remember reading any of her book...well none aside from the peter rabbit story i read in the souvineer store before we were due to go in the actual house. Alot of the illistrations in her books are taken directly from places in her house and garden. They even had the books open at the pages where she had done this.

Wordsworth's house was something i could appreciate even more, since i had studied his good mate S.T Coleridge in high school. It was interesting to see all the rooms he compsed his poems in and how they actually lived. The room i found most interesting was the room the children slept in. All over the walls were newspapers (not originals). Mrs Wordsworth did this to try and keep the room warm at night. One particular article that interested me was the summary for the budget for the British Defence Forces from around the 1800's (i cant remember the actual date, but i did get a god piccie of it)

Day five was a rest day for us. we did our washing and drank beer. In the evening we saw some relatives of daniel. In fact, every night, we would go to another relatives house for daniel to meet.

Day six we went on to london, and stayd at the hostel called the generator. We drank cheap (relitavly speaking for london) beer and played pool. that was about it.

day seven after leaving Edinburgh, we dropped our bags off at the airport and then spent a day in london. We took a walk through soho and saw some pretty interesting stuff along the way. We spend alot of timne in a vintage magazine store that was jam packed with cool stuff. It was amazing to see mags as vintage as from the late 40's. after our walk through soho we went back to the airport, had dinner and then flew to prauge.

On the 8th of may, we alnded at prague and went straight to our hostel for some sleep. even though it was only 11pm by our body clocks, it was past 1am local time.

On the 9th we wandered around prague. We visited the summer palace, situated right near the castle. This place was amazing, we picked the right time for going to prague. The summer palace is a massive park that the royalty used to enjoy. The Royal Summer Palace, also called Queen Anne's Summer Palace, was built to the order of Ferdinand I from 1538 to 1560 on the eastern edge of the royal garden. it is a place where pixies could possibly live, its that good.

We also went to this massive mentronome on top of a hill about a Km away from the summer palace. The actual purpose for this working machine was unclear as there were no plaques or signs explaining it in any language. around the metronome were lots of youths skate boarding, grafiti'd walls and lots of empty aclohol cans everywhere. It had the feeling of something symbolic that had been pretty much forgotten.

apon some research of the metronome, i have found out that it was erected in 1991 to replace europes largest monument to Stalin that was ripped down in the 60's it sits atop nuclear bumnkers intended to shelter the countries elite should anything happen.

that day, we also just wandered around the city center. That night we drank in the hostel bar and had cheap cheap beer. The night peaked when we had a shot of genuine absynth. We did the shot properly by putting sugar in a teaspoon,soaking it in some absynth and lighting it. once the sugar had caramelised, we mixed it into the shot, lit the shot to take more of the edge off, then sipped away. The feeling of the absynth going down my throat was amazing, it started out as if it was a cool liquid, then over the space of about 10 seconds, it got warmer and warmer until it felt like it was burning, then the sensation died away.

On the 9th, we set off to the meeting point for our trip through eastern europe. We caught a cab to the meeting point and had to pay with a 10 pound note because we didnt have enough Czeck crowns, and our hostel receptionist wouldnt change any money because he was cashing out.

The meeting point was the prague plaus hostel, a massive hostel with a hotel like feel thats away from the city center. I aksed the receptionist if he could change pounds, but he couldnt, and then i asked him where the bus about tour leaves from. this guy had no idea what i was talking about and seemed to know of now tours leaving from the hostel...great.

with no information on where the tour was leaving from, we waited out the front for the bus. there was no sign of it at quater to 8, still no sign of the hour. then at about 10 past 8, a random busabout guy poked his head out and asked "your not busabout passangers are you?"

"yeah we are, wheres the bus leaving from"
"oh shit, the bus is out the back, we were almost about to leave without you."



with that little thought in mind, we went to the bus, stowed our baggage and got on the road. We did end up leaving two people behind, not knowing where they were.



Hooray! we were on the roud to our first stop in Olomouc (pronounced OO- loo-moost) However, it wasnt all smooth sailing, i had a hangover from the night before and was sitting up the back of the bus. The bus also had very soft, rolly suspension and we were on borderline third world country roads. I got motion sick pretty quick, and it didnt go away untill our first stop. If this wasnt bad enough, our tour guide Carlos had us do a speed dating trype activity so we all got to know each other. By the end of it i couldnt speak to any one i was so drained.

our first stop was a cemetery in a small village. Normally this would not be of any note, but this cemetary was decorated with the bones of several thousand people. I have fotos of all these that i will upload to facebook at some point. The reason why this church has so many bones in it is because when the plague was doing the rounds, so many people were being buried in the graveyard that room was running out. So they decided to decorate the inside of the church thus. The masterpiece was the shandelier hanging from the middle of the roof. Not only was it impressive to look at even in this particular church, but it also contained ecery bone that is found in the human body. In all, the experience was a little sickening. Im not one to enjoy peoples remains for art, or what ever symbolism the people at the time hand in mind.

We then drove to oloumoc and stayed in a hotel there. We had dinner at a local Italian eatery and edned up at a bar that was in a converted plane in a dark and scary amusment park.

theres more to come folks, but i havre to leave you with this for now...