Greetings from Oktoberfest!

Ah, it’s good to be back in Germany. During my travels earlier in the year, one of my highlight stops was the city of Berlin, a cosmopolitan metropolis risen from the ashes of a dark history to become one of the liveliest, forward thinking and generally most fun stops on my trip. With Berlin leaving such a positive mark on me and the promise of the worlds largest beer festival, I was rather keen on seeing Germany’s other tourist draw: Munich.

Due to the difficulties of finding a room in Munich during the Oktoberfest, the budget backpacker mentality got the better of us and we decided we could only justify one night of extortionate festival prices at the hostel. With only one night to experience the festivities, we quickly dropped our bags in our room, trotted through the cool, grey back streets until we could see and hear the carnival like ambience. If I was to describe the mood of Oktoberfest I’d say it’s a bit like the royal show, only for adults, and way happier. The fair grounds are lit up like a Christmas tree, stalls disguised as mountain chalets try to tempt you with the smell of half metre bratwurst, pretzels, chocolate covered strawberries and of course the amber fluid. The drunk, both young and old link arms, stand on their chairs and belt out Bavarian drinking songs with great smiles and glazed eyes.

After knocking down a few pints, few steins and whatever greasy or sugary impulse food we bought, getting out of bed the next day proved quite a challenge. Finally however, about mid-dayish, we dragged ourselves from bed and decided to take a look at this City. Munich, like Berlin was pretty much levelled, during World War II, however where Berlin saw this an opportunity to re-cast itself as a modern city of the future, the people of Munich opted to keep this Ancient city traditional. Where Berlin makes bold statements about this countries grim past in the form of giant memorials, Munich keeps it’s memorials, subtle, stressing that 12 years of Nazism will not outshine 800 years of glorious history and tradition. It is slightly bewildering walking down these apparently medieval, cobblestone streets when considering this place was re-built in maybe the 50s?

While seeing this beautiful city was a treat by itself I was really keen to come to Munich to learn about it’s history and culture, so each of our days spent in the city was highlighted by taking a fascinating educational tour, if this is how I spend my holidays does this make me a nerd? Tour number one was the Munich walking tour, lead by, you guessed it another Australian chap, who walked though the streets teaching us about the history of this city specifically the Bavarian History. Bavaria is Germany’s largest state and pretty much the home of all traditional German stereotypes; lederhosen, sauerkraut, Bratwurst, Beer halls, German Brass Bands.

Tour Number two took us to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp. This was not our first visit to a concentration camp, earlier in the year we had visited the infamous Auschwitz/Birkenau and while I wasn’t sure before hand how keen I would be to see another human abattoir, I’m quite glad I did now as both provided very different experiences. Where Auschwitz shocked you with the severity and brutality of the Nazi regime, Dachau was set up more like a museum that helped teach you about politics and society at the time and how such a place could come to be. Being my second time in a concentration camp, a part of me believed that I would feel somewhat desensitized to it this time around, apparently not, during my trip around Europe I’ve visited many so-called haunted towers, dungeons and castles, but nowhere has felt even nearly as heavy and as tortured as these death camps.

Dachau acted as a somewhat perfect introduction to our final tour in Munich; The Third Reich tour, which sought to explain how Hitler and such a brutal regime could rise to power and commit the simply inhumane atrocities that it did. We once again traversed Munich’s cobbled streets this time stopping by all the sites relevant to Hitler, the rise of the Nazi party and the various resistance movements who tried to stop him. Personally I find World War II to be a fascinating case study in the worst of humanity, I think there is so much we can learn from it.

Well, my time in Munich proved both wild and educational, what a city! Now I’m off to Italy, last country before I go back to the UK for flights home! Counting down the days!

My last week on the road has been spent traversing the nation of Spain. While I usually can dedicate an entire blog post to a single city, my time in Spain has whirl winded past and with no single city really leaving a significant enough mark: I’m going to a brief review of the entire nation in one post.

Barcelona:
Our first Spanish port of call was the port town of Barcelona. Barcelona feels somewhat like a stone wrought hedge maze, narrow roads lined with four or five storied tenements carve a thin line of sky above us to light our way. When not scurrying though the stone labyrinth, you will either find yourself on La Rambla, the busy open market place or the rather stylish Marina. The recently established Marina stands in contrast to the old city by being lined with fancy modern buildings and ultra-chic, somewhat bizarre modern art.

Barcelona carries a reputation of being one of Europe’s biggest party cities, located deep in the Mediterranean it’s hot and brimming with shops, pubs and clubs, spilling into the streets and staying open way into the wee’ hours of the morning. While such things bring the tourists over by the bucket load, Alyce and I dismissed most of this in favour chasing culture, cuisine and history. Thankfully Barcelona, has enough of these things to keep us occupied for a few days too. One unique piece of Barcelona was a bizarre parkland named Park Guell, designed by visionary (some might argue mad or over-rated) architect Gaudi. Another definite highlight of our stay was taking a Spanish cooking class where we prepared and ate plenty generous servings of Sangria, Tappas and Paella, much decadence occurred that night.

Valencia:
Next stop was the large but much quieter city of Valencia; The historic birthplace of Spain’s national dish: Paella. While our hostel was located quite near a traditional bull fighting ring (currently hosting an Oktoberfest event) and various old forts, city gates and churches, the heart of Valencia is surprisingly contemporary. Valencia once had a large river running through the middle, but generations ago it flooded, so the officials had it drained and in the space where the river ran, they have now inserted a beautiful green park. This huge streak of greenery cuts right through the centre of the city providing an excellent retreat from the everyday busyness. One of Valencia’s most spectacular sites is the museum district, down in the park. Stepping into the museum quarter feels like a step into a future depicted in comic books and science fiction movies: giant crisp white rings and obelisks dance around glass formed buildings as turquoise waters provide a Xen-like calm, seriously it’s like the space ship from Wall-E.

Madrid:
Finally we made our way to Spain’s capital city. Madrid, to me felt a bit like a busy version of Canberra, sure it’s an important place but it’s not really the most spectacular place in the country. Madrid has the same maze-like quality of Barcelona, broken up with a few large plazas, but with construction running rampant city wide and a much denser population, I found it very hard to relax in Madrid. Another point that irked me somewhat was everything costed a little more than I really wanted to pay in this city. Between the language barrier and some tricky business practices like surcharges per person, per item ordered, per table used and paying (and seeing prices) after you’ve finished, Madrid is loaded with nasty tourist traps.

However despite minor annoyances, we did have some fun in Madrid. The city is loaded with beautiful and ornate architecture and we eventually discovered the central park, which was thankfully very green and peaceful. While in the park we hired a row boat, paddled across the pond and chilled out in the sun listening to buskers. Eventually, however, Madrid’s lack of excitement drove us into a bout of boredom, so we hit the movies to see the new Tarintino flick, known here in Spain as Malditos Bastardos.

Nestled away in the Swiss Alps lies a quiet little town called Lauterbrunnen, which is probably the most visually spectacular place on Earth. Lauterbrunnen was our first destination after Paris and from the moment we crossed the border from France we could tell we where heading somewhere special. Rolling green hills, rising up to craggy, snow capped mountains defined the Swiss countryside. Our destination was further up these aforementioned Craggy mountains and after several long hours on a stuffy bus, it was long past time to breathe in the sweet, fresh (and thin) mountain air.

The entire town of Lautterbrunnen is buried in a high mountainous valley. On either side we where faced with tall stony cliffs with pine trees precariously balancing on the edges. Crisp clear glacial runoff pours down the Cliffside in a spectacular display, pumping the river that surges through the town. Our Hostel was actually a campsite, but our dorms where tucked away in an authentic wooden Swiss Chalet. The setting for Lautterbrunnen was a fantastic treat on the senses, everything looks, smells a feels serene. Our general impression of the place was amplified by brilliant weather, despite the fact we could see the snow on the tops of the mountains and could touch the glacial waters, the sun was shining and t-shirts where showing.

Activities included: Mountain hiking, cable car riding up to unreachable (by foot) peaks, visiting an in-mountain waterfall, white water rafting and drinking beer on a mountain peak.

Now that I‘m done with all this snow and mountains I’m heading to the French Riviera and Spain for some sun and beach chilling.

After leaving Disneyland, we had a few days stop in Paris: the City of Lights, the City of Love, Europe’s crown jewel… the place has one hell of a reputation to live up to and in my opinion met (if not exceeded) expectations with ease.

The French capital, despite being the home to over nine million people oozes an unusual atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. Wide pavements, tree lined boulevards and remarkably few cars on the road helps Paris attain a chilled out vibe, big European capitals like London or Berlin could only dream of. The River Seine decorates the city like a garden water feature, while the cities many landmarks stand on the horizon like a lighthouse guiding you to your next stop.

Our big day in Paris was motivated by a desire to cross off every major piece of Parisian iconography from our tourist checklist. Over the day we sought out all the major draws: Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, The Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triumph as well as taking a free walking tour which pointed out some other interesting sights. Seeing all these world renown landmarks all on one beautifully sunny day, made our stay in Paris one to remember.

Being in Paris is not just about seeing the sights, the real beauty of this city is experiencing it’s mood and atmosphere.

After a summer of working, in Edinburgh, our batteries are re-charged, our bank accounts are looking healthier (sort of) and we are back on the path to adventure. What better place to resume our year long holiday than Disneyland Paris!

Upon stepping through the grand entrance plaza and into Disneyland’s main street, the park performs a miraculous transformation: turning two 20-something year olds, dealing with money and responsibility issues into starry eyed children high on life. I think this in a nutshell is Disneyland’s lasting appeal: The ability to unleash the inner six year old within all of us as we explore this highly imaginative fantasy world.

The decor and atmosphere in Disneyland is exceptional, five unique larger than life districts depicting the kind of places every kid dreams about exploring. A mysterious jungle land, the wild west frontier, a retro-futurist’s vision, a fantasy kingdom and a Victorian main street all rendered in painstaking detail. The immersion is amazing, while walking down the main street, horse drawn carriages ride past as you hear the train steam off into the background, however should I step into fantasyland, I’m on cobbled roads facing a giant castle. In other amusement parks or funfairs, the themed elements can lose their appeal as it can be easy to see behind the smoke and mirrors, however Disneyland is seamless, never at any point do you find yourself behind the scenery, realising this epic castle is actually a two dimensional set piece.

While the scenery is great, any theme park’s main draw lies in its rides and once again Disneyland hit’s the bullseye. The underlying theme of Disney’s rides is it’s seamless implementation with the fantasy, while a roller coaster may seem completely out of place in the wild west, a runaway train through a dangerous mine site is completely fitting. My favourite ride, space mountain, from the outside is a futuristic dome with a orbital cannon mounted on the side. Watching from the outside you see the riders fired out through the cannon, before disappearing at the top (apparently fired into space), but when riding It you are taken into this dome which contains an enormous roller coaster that is lit up like planetarium, creating the illusion of whizzing though space.

Disneyland has been a blast, but now it’s unfortunately time to leave the make-believe world behind, I’m off to Paris now for something… real and …educational.

Like the moist, soil drenched zombie bursting from the earth, this blog has risen, back from the dead! This site has been collecting dust over the last few months as my adventures have come to a bit of a stand still, while I’m still having a fantastic time, I have not really strayed too far from Edinburgh, it’s beautiful parks and cavernous pubs.

I finally managed to attain that elusive employment that I had so desperately been seeking, I landed a job where Alyce works at a hotel filling in night porter duties while the regular guys are on holiday. While the work pays okay and I’m getting a lot of hours, it’s really helped me appreciate my job in Australia, I really am in my element most when I’m flexing my brain and pushing adobe creative suite through it’s paces, I look forward to returning to design work when I get home.

In another shocking turn of events, due to a minor lag in payments, the occupants of our flat were curve balled by an eviction notice. Without a place to stay, it was beginning to look like our holiday was going to come to an abrupt and early end, but thanks to the generosity of one of the ladies at work (and the dread of losing two workers during the busy tourist season): we have found a new flat to live in. We are a little bit further out of town, which is a pain, but the flat is much nicer and it’s kind of nice not sharing a tiny space with three other guys.

During our stay in Scotland, we had until recently barely left the towns and cities, not realizing that we where but a stones throw away from epic landscapes and rugged mountainsides that have inspired countless works of art and fiction. With my parents stopping by on their world tour, dear old mum and dad insisted that we spend a day seeing the famed Scottish Highlands and so we packed into a car and headed north.

While the weather was a tad blustery and overcast, the beauty of the landscape was amazing. Rolling green meadows, castles nestled in craggy mountain ranges with rivers carving through the scenery like throbbing veins, simply awesome. Here are some photos:

Right, off to Paris on Wednesday, more blogging to come soon!

Well it’s been a little while between posts and with the slight change of pace on my travels, I’m going to have to find new things to write about. Seeing as how I’m based in the one place for the next few months, I’m going to have to find new material to write about outside giving my personal review of each new city.

I’m back in Edinburgh again, settling into our new apartment with new room mates. Things are going well, Edinburgh (especially in the sun) is a very beautiful and picturesque city, the Georgian buildings have this unique golden glow when the sun is shining. And how the sun has been shining! In a blinding sign of global warming, Edinburgh has actually been enjoying beautiful clear 30 degree weather in last few days. I spent a rather chilled out Saturday with a carton of beer and a few mates down by the Princes St Gardens at the base of postcard perfect Edinburgh Castle.

Here are some photos from around town:

Here is our Apartment Block:

Edinburgh Castle:

Princes Street Gardens:

On the working side of this working holiday, things are proving a bit tougher. We have an apartment in a fairly central location, we are right next to the cinemas and a shopping centre and are only a ten minute walk to the tourist centre of town (the royal mile). We have applied for our bank account and National Insurance Numbers (a bit like a tax file number), they’ve been giving us a bit of a run around, but it’s all coming together.

Employment is proving an ever illusive goal for me, unfortunately. I have made a solid effort blanketing the city in resumes, but am still yet to hear a peep. I took a look into a few design positions, but everyone was looking for long term contracts and I really intend on being home by Christmas, so they are a bit out of the question. There is a charity sales person job going, you know, being out on the streets trying to chat out someone’s bank details, but I don’t think I’m that desperate yet. Thankfully Alyce’s experience working at the Hyatt has proved useful as she got a job working at a housekeeping department in a block of luxury apartments. At least one of us has an income, if another week goes past, I might have to sell my soul to that sales job, thankfully Kevin Rudd’s stimulus plan is covering the rent for the summer.

Oh and here is a photo from London the other week with some familiar faces:

After our rather rad time in Germany, we flopped into the bus for another long drive to our next destination, Amsterdam. After crossing into Netherlands we where soon spotting Dutch stereotypes fitting of a place on a postcard, Canals, Windmills and with the riverbanks sitting right on sea level there is a very fine line where the water seems to just transform into turf without actually rising out of water. Our tour of rural Netherlands was capped off with a stop at a cheese and clogs factory, oh how delightfully Dutch.

We finally pulled into our campsite on the outskirts of Amsterdam and after a in-no-way-at-all-sad last time setting up tents we quickly zipped into the heart of town for a big night out. Amsterdam is a very quaint city, long criss-crossing canals lay out the foundation of the city as the rest squishes into the islands between. The buildings in Amsterdam are a truly curious piece of work, the buildings are thin, about 4 or 5 stories high and they are tightly squeezed against each other to look like a crooked bookshelf. The buildings foundations must be pretty wacky as the buildings don’t seem to stand up straight, they lean out in all directions, like a city of leaning towers of Pisa.

Amsterdam’s nightlife is centralised within it’s famed red light district, narrow, crowded alleyways, neon lights, sex and the distinct smell of not your average cigarette. The first night out was more of a sightseeing tour than your typical big night out. In a normal shop window you might see mannequins dressed in the latest fashions, but here they are bound in chains and leather. The red light district has to be seen to be believed, I unfortunately don’t have many pictures, rumours have it that you can get in mega trouble (from the law? or perhaps organised crime?) taking photos of the working ladies, so just to be safe I kept the camera tucked away.

The next day we decided to get away from the district and see what else Amsterdam had to offer. We kicked the day off with a peaceful bike ride around town, cycling around Amsterdam seems to be popular, apparently they have more bikes than cars and with the lovely flat landscape why wouldn’t you. We also visited the Anne Frank museum which is made out of the house where she and her family actually hid from Nazis during world war 2. A nice pub lunch was finished with a visit to the Museum of Sex which showed off some of the more devious elements of societies past. Shopping for souvenirs in Amsterdam proved a bit tricky as Amsterdamiens have a penchant for selling incredibly tacky things, like seriously who really wants a salt and pepper shaker in the shape of two big penises?

Next stop on our trip was to the German capital; Berlin. Sandwiched between beautiful Prague and the apparently wild Amsterdam on our trip‘s itinerary, I didn’t have high hopes, for this city to astound me. Despite my ignorant assumption, Berlin proceeded to blow my proverbial socks off and skyrocketed to become one of the trips real highlights.

Berlin, the site for some of modern histories most important and defining moments (World War II, Berlin Wall, Cold War), proved not only to be a fascinating history lesson, but in recent decades has undergone a phoenix like resurrection to become Europe’s top boom city. Often called the London (or New York) of the 21st Century, Berlin is a dazzling ultra modern metropolis, built on a strong historical and cultural foundation and proved to be an intriguing place to spend a few days.

At the conclusion to the second world war, Berlin was reduced to little less than a pile of smouldering ashes, meaning that modern Berlin is the product of only the last 60 years of re-construction. This is a little surprising when walking down many of the older districts of town, where the museums, clock towers and libraries have been lovingly restored to original blueprints, using original materials. In other districts of town, the modern re-birth is very apparent as Germany proudly displays some of fanciest examples of modern architecture. This exciting mix of old and new extends to cities entertainment and activity options, visitors can investigate the cities fascinating back story or get knee deep in it’s exciting night life.

Our first night in town involved our entire tour group flooding a local pub, for a great meal, followed by many a German beer being knocked back. While it was a challenge to drag ourselves out of bed again the next morning, it was well worth the effort as our first activity was an interesting historical tour through the streets of Berlin. On this tour we where walked to many of the sites made famous by the rise and fall of the Nazi party and the rise and fall of the Berlin wall. This detailed history lesson of wartime Germany, gave great insight into what made the divided post-war Germany of the cold war and how that has in-turn made Germany the country it is today. Some highlights of this tour included seeing the square where Hitler staged the book burnings (now ironically the site of a giant book market) and the SS headquarters which are left in ruin, with a winding path through the rubble guiding you past a series of informational walls explaining how the Nazi party tried to brainwash the masses. One other major highlight was seeing the Holocaust memorial, a massive piece of street art covering a whole city block. The memorial is a maze of grey obelisks that from the outside resembles perhaps a mass grave site, when you venture into the middle, it’s easy to become lost in shadows of these intimidating constructs. Very thought provoking.

The Holocaust memorial from the outside:

Inside the Holocaust memorial:

A view down a very modern district of Berlin:

You would not think this building was constructed in the last 50 years:

A big night out:

Alyce at the Berlin Wall:

It’s been a while between posts, I know, but circumstances both expected and unexpected have made it rather difficult to keep up to date. Over the last week or so, our trip has taken us to Budapest (Hungary), Beautiful Vienna (Austria) and now we are just leaving Prague in the Czech Republic.

Prague, like Istanbul, has been one of those surprise highlights of our trip. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know very much about Czech Republic or Prague, but it’s beauty and generous food proportions have made a fan out of me. Prague has that enchanting Disney like charm about it, beautiful castle towers and grand statues gaze down the hillside over it’s cobbled streets and quaint shops. Walking the streets it’s easy to think you have been transported into the middle ages , even cars are scarce on these twisting streets and alcoves.

We just so happened to be in Czech Republic on some of the sunniest days we have had all trip, so trotting along Prague’s cobblestones was needless to say a treat. During our day we saw the enormous gothic church at the top of the hill, watched a traditional polka band and hit some shops, cafes and restaurants. Dining in Prague is delightfully decedent, we sat atop a rooftop restaurant and ate pork knuckle the size of our heads and chilled out on the streets drinking a jumbo Mejito for six (among four of us). On the Saturday night we found an amazing bar/club called the Beer Factory, where you pull up a table that has it’s own set of beer taps on it, so you can get well smashed without having to leave your chair. What else was hilarious about the Beer factory was, in a clear attempt to encourage binge drinking, your tables score in litres drank is displayed on a big screen overhead, we made a firm effort to stay in first place the whole night.

Alyce and Jackie at the Cafe for lunch:

Alyce overlooking Prague:

Big gothic looking church:

Astrological Clock in town square: