| Received 08 Jul 02: Adam & Becky reach Vienna! Hi everyone, Firstly to those we�ve met along the way, sorry we haven�t sent personal responses to all your emails, but you, more than anyone, should understand what it�s like on the road! We had just written a long email but the stupid computer decided to close all applications on us when we stopped typing for a minute so we lost the whole thing. Arrgghhhhh!!! So as Adam typed the one we lost and is too fustrated to do it again, I�m going to have to try to use my memory to rewrite it! So far, touch wood, we seem to have left our bad luck in Italy - we�ve only had to push start the bus about 5 times since Italy! We still have water pouring in all over the place when it rains hard but we�re used to it by now! We left Ljubljana on Friday morning and headed north to Graz in Austria. The campsite we stayed in has the largest swimming pool in Europe, we think about 200m by 300m, with 22 million litres of water! It even has ducks swimming on it, but is filtered like a normal pool, and has a separate naturist area. But the best bit is that it�s open 24 hrs, so Adam and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary by going skinny dipping at midnight! We�re both becoming so adventurous!!! We arrived at the campsite in Vienna after spending a couple of hours searching for some electric cable to buy as the campsite in Graz managed to keep our adapter, only to find ourselves in the biggest thunderstorm we�ve seen for a long time! Yesterday, after we dried out, we spent the evening walking around the sausage stands of central Vienna, admiring all the pretty lights and the amazing shop front of Swarovski Crystal (they make the little crystal animals etc you find in jewellers in the UK). Later on we visited the Vienna Prater, they say: "Many people regard the Vienna Prater as just another fun-fair. But it�s much more than that: it�s a Viennese institution, like the coffee houses or the Heuriger (wine taverns). Its landmark, and one of Vienna�s too, is the 65 metre high Giant Ferris Wheel. It towers over the 200 booths in the Prater, the ghost train, go-karts and grotto railways, the merry-go-rounds and fruit-machine halls, throwing and shooting galleries. The Prater has something to offer for the whole family: take a ride with the children on the fairy-tale railway, the children�s dodgems and the scenic railway. Plummet down the extra-long slides, laugh yourselves crooked, bent, fat or thin in the hall of mirrors, savour the romantic nostalgia of an old merry-go-round or the great variety on offer from the Prater caterers: from pickled gherkins to boiled beef." We didn�t get there until about 11pm so expected most things to be closing but managed to get an hour in before it shut. We took a trip on the Ferris wheel (much the same idea as the London Eye - slow moving carriages showing the nightime vista of Vienna). But the taxi ride back was probably the scariest ride of them all! Today we�ve spent mostly in this internet cafe as they had a deal on - �3 for unlimited access - (lucky for us as we lost our first email!) but we do intend to see some other stuff before heading to Bratislava tomorrow. Hopefully we should be in Prague by Thursday and aim to stay there for 10 days. Time�s flying by, we have less than 6 weeks left (back 15th August) but who knows what we�ll do then! (any suggestions can be sent on a postcard to 'The Bus, Somewhere in Europe'!). Well hopefully I�ve remembered most of the info (Adam�s calmed down and has been prompting me!) so take care everybody and see some of you in 6 weeks. Becky & Adam Received 16 July 2002: Hi everyone!! Less than 5 weeks to go!!!! Yes.. we'll be home on the 15th August, and coming round to get free food from you all. So get ready, prepare the matchsticks, so you can keep your eyes open through 2000 digital pics, and accompanying stories. Anyway, we are having a ball in prague. Beer is only 40p a pint, and about 15p a bottle in the supermarkets (shame we don't drink it!). The people are wonderful and its probably the place we will miss the most, except maybe some people in Rome and Oliva. Ok, well one of the places anyway.... The city is beautiful, and the bars are 24 hours. Yesterday we went up the funicular to Petrin hill (near Prague castle) around a mirror maze, and we got to go into the private house of a famous fantasy artist I had met 4 years ago here. His gallery had closed down, but the new tenants gave us his rough address. After a bit of research we found the house, and he took us in and showed us round his workshops, and personal gallery. It was a truely amazing experience, and we can't wait because he's opening a huge new exhibition in Vienna in two years time, all built out of the forest! Anyway, we are safe and happy, kinda looking forward to getting home to see you all (those that are there anyway). Its been a real adventure, and there is still Dresden, berlin, Hannover, Amsterdam, Antwerp and maybe Paris to come! Take care Ads & Becks |
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