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27/09/02 - Oktoberfest

Servus! (Hello - Bavarian style),

The Oktoberfest is something else. It is like the Schutzenfest and the Royal Show combined into one and then times by approximately a zillion!

At the Oktoberfest many people stay in camp grounds. We booked our accomodation about 6 months ago with a mob called PP Travel because their camp site is at the camping ground Thalkirchen which we were told is the place to be. We arrived in Munich on Friday afternoon and caught the U-Bahn to this campground. And oh my god, this campground was something else! Most people had just done the 100 shots in 100 minutes drink-off with some disgusting rules for when you went to the toilet or threw up and everyone, and I mean everyone, was super super polaxed. It was then that Wilbur made probably the best call of the trip when he said, "Welcome to Loose City!" I have had a few drinks in my time but I felt a novice at "Loose City". Guys with names like "Kega" and "Num Nuts" were everywhere. The first night ended up with us at the bar at the camping ground where these blokes all of sudden put all these tables covered in beer together and ran through hundreds of people and did "slidees" when there was broken glass everywhere. It was loose behaviour!

Opening day at the Beerfest was great. We spent the day at the Lowenbrau tent in the beergarden. When I say tent, I mean it is a building which holds about 8,000 people. The Frauleins who bring out the beer bring out 10 steins at a time! That is 10 litres of beer! It is unbelievable. The atmosphere was great. Ravs pronounced early in the day he was going to take it easy. Two hours later he is leading the crowd with these German dudes in the unofficial anthem of the beerfest "Hey Baby" by DJ Otzi. It was hilarious! His quiet day ended with the first Magnificent 7 spew for the trip at the campground that night! Quite surprising really that it took three weeks for one of us to Ralph! Hansie was quite pissed too and his German is actually really good and when drunk was teaching a table of Germans some English swear words. He then began to reel off his list of German swear words and the Germans were very impressed with his reportiare. One guy, Gunter, came up to me polaxed and said, "I just don't understand how is German is so good if he has not lived here!" My German I was told is quite good but I just think they were being nice. The other great thing about the Oktoberfest is the Wurst (sausage). Many of you may know I used to get a cooked breakfast every morning from my dad and it was usually sausages and I love sausages. So apart from having a few steins on the opening day, I found this Wurst store outside the Lowenbrau tent and went there about 5 times saying in my best german, "ich mochte zwei Munchen WeiBwurst bitte." (I would like two Munich White Sausages please.) I had so many by the end of the day the woman operator of the van was laughing at me and gave me a free sausage for the ride home on the bus!

Day 2 of the Beerfest! I did not believe this before I reached Munich but the beer brewed by the breweries for the Beerfest is brewed without preservatives which means no hangovers. This is brilliant because I woke up the next day with no hangover. I was a bit tired but I had no hangover! We started day 2 by going to Dachau concentration camp which is a must see. It is not a pleasant experience but something you should visit if you get a chance. We then went to the Andechs monastery. Great thing about the Germans is that even their monks brew their own beer, and it is really strong dark ale!. Had a couple of them and I was spinning wa (crap) once again!

Day 3 was at the Hippodrome tent where there are mostly Germans, and unlike the Hofbrauhaus you can get away from loose Aussies and Kiwis. We had this Austrian couple on our table and the guy was a smoking trick master. He puffed cigarettes through his nose, through his forehead and then blew smoke out his mouth... even inhaled from the ash end and blew smoke through the butt! It had to be seen to be believed. We then went on every show ride possible which is unusual for me because I am not that crash hot on heights. Maybe going skydiving with BJ has cured me. Then it happened. It has been drizzling for the last few days but then it rained non-stop. This is OK if you are living in a house, but when you camp and it is suddenly zero and raining and windy, and you are in Loose City it is crap. We woke up the next morning (did we ever get to slepp?) and decided to visit the Scheweinstein Castle (spelling? - the Walt Disney one) with the tour that day, but pulled up stumps one night early and headed to Stuttgart that night.

Our decision to not continue to camp was vindicated when travelling to the castle by bus. We were 20 minutes out of Munich when it began snowing! I have never seen real snow in my life so it was really awesome. We didn't get time to go inside the castle because the tour operator was worried that if we didn't leave soon we would be stuck at the castle. The fact it has been snowing around Munich and generally been so wet and cold is big news in Germany, and it is very unusual for it to snow in September which has meant it has wrecked the crops, etc. The castle looked amazing. It took 17 years to build and caused the King to go broke! Hopefully I will get a chance to actually go inside when on my Contiki tour.

Well that is the Oktoberfest section. Am running out of time to tell you about Stuttgart and Berlin. Hope all is well at home! Lastly the z and y keys on this keyboard are in opposite spots and it is bloddy annoying!

TchuB! (See you),

1/10/02 - Stuttgart (I had Frankfurt before?? Am going through Frankfurt in a week though) & Berlin

Well after fours night roughing it in Loose City we were likes cars which really needed a service. Our only dry clothes were the ones we were wearing. In Wilburs case they were the ones he put in the dryer at the campground which he waited for in his jocks! It drove the women wild! Ravs hadn't showered for four days and instead of looking suave, he looked bedraggled and Wilbur told me that he could smell my breath from a mile away!

Anyway we caught the train to Stuttgart because firstly it was close and secondly it is the home of Porsche and Mercedes Benz. Hence, it is Wilbur and Harmsy's Mecca! Harmsy arranged accomodation (he speaks German) through the Tourist Office which took a while because Stuttgart was pretty much fully booked. Well we finally got something in Marbach, which is 15 minutes by tube from the centre of Stuggart. We got on the train and everything was not well. The Space Cadet that I am did not notice, but the boys reckon two dodgy blokes had been following us and jumped on in the next carriage. Well I have never seen the boys so fired up! The lads had their pocket knifes out of their bags, Harmsy was hiding money in his shoe, and Wilbur was laying out a plan which entailed us leaving from each exit door of the carriage just before the train was to leave for the next stop so they could not follow us! I made a few jokes to calm the boys but they did not see the funny side. Well they got off the train 5 stops before us, and there was no problem but the boys were worried until we got to the Hotel because as Harmsy said, "They could have mobiles and ring ahead to their mates!"

I said Harmsy got something, well it was not just something, it was brilliant accomodation! "That is the best shower I have ever bloody had!!" said Harmsy. Very comfortable bed and TV which had some dodgy shows on at 7 pm! The big bonus was we found out the next day they will do our laundry and secondly a free buffet breakfast! We demolished the buffet, in particular Harmsy with the scramble eggs!

Well off to the Porsche musuem and their main car sales centre. This place is not like your Bob Moran car yard, if you worked there you would feel more like an art dealer! I have never seen so many Porsches, made me one, want to start working harder so I could get one, and secondly to learn how to drive a manual so I could drive it! Wilbur and Harmsy were in heaven and by the end of the days even Ravs and I could tell the difference between GT3s, GT2s, Turbos, 911s, Carrerras and Boxsters! Next stop was the Mercedes musuem which had Mercs from the very first to present day and actually had last years McLaren driven my Mika Hakkinen. Stuggart is nice, a bit like Adelaide with one main mall but would not put it as a high priority unless you love cars but I had fun!

We decided if we going to spend this time in Germany it was crazy not to go to Berlin. For U2 fans (Fras) we arrived at Zoo Station and again getting accomodation was tough because the Berlin marathon was on in a couple of days! As usual everything worked out fine and getting around Berlin is so easy because of their brilliant train system. Visited Checkpoint Charlie and the musuem and looked at the largest remaining piece of the Berlin Wall & the Reichstag. Saw the Brandenburg Gate which was a bit disappointing because it was being renovated! Berlin is all good though. However, like Rome you need a full week there.

Anyway must fly, will tell you about Amerstdam soon. Am travelling by myself now as the boys make their way home but was awesome fun travelling with the lads!

Auf Wiedersehen,

2/10/02 - Amsterdam

Dag! (Hello in Dutch)

Well we had Gabrielle the friendly, gay hotel operator in Florence, but in Amsterdam we had Karim the Iranian, tax evader hotel operator. He was great bloke but gee I would not want him as a client because the old ethical rules I learnt doing the PY would be severley tested!! We arrived at the train station and his rooms were a minute ferry across the river from the main station and then only another 5 minute walk. We crossed the river and his wife greeted us in a car and drove us the to their place. But she took the backstreets explaining that a women on their street works at the Holland equivalent of the ATO and we must keep a low profile because they do not declare the income they earn from renting the place out! They live in one flat and we stayed in the adjacent one. We had our own room but shared a bathroom with three others. Was a great location and cheap so we were happy with it! Karim also asked though when we leave the room that we leave in pairs so to keep down the suspicion and if the women asks us a question say, "We are friends of Karim!" As an accountant I had to laugh.

Amsterdam is a strange place, it has its small dodgy area which everyone knows what goes on but the rest of it is actually really nice and cool. We went and visited the bloke who has all my money from the last month, Mr Heineken, and looked at his factory. The bartender at the factory was giving Ravs and I free beers so by the time we left we were all quite merry! And to finish the last night with the lads on the Magnificent 7s last stand we had a few beers and watched the MTV Bon Jovi Special (Wilburs favourite band) and then the US formula one grand prix.

Later,

P.S. For the people who have emailed me regarding more photos, well when the Suave gets back to Oz in the next week or two he is going to post some photos on the site and they are corker!!

4/10/02 - Belgium (Brugge & Brussels)

Well after four weeks of travelling with the organised General Wilbur & Suavi, I was now by myself. I got to Brugge fine, and using the Lonely Planet got to the Bauhaus Youth Hostel no worries. I doubt this luck will continue for the rest of the trip! Brugge is great. It is a really well preserved medieval city which was a really important port, but when the river silted in the 1300s, population wise it died.

In Brugge I did a bike tour, 25km, around Brugge and neighbouring Damme, looking at some WWI and WWII battlefield stuff and some castles. Was good fun but my body felt it the next day! I also climbed the belfry tower, all 366 steps of it which had a great view, and just had a big look around Brugge. All this exercise has been offset by the fact that Belgium is well known for its beer (over 400 different types), chocolate, pancakes and waffles and I have been sampling! I love Haighs scorched almonds, but well they had these milk choclates little ducks, with this almond filling, and it was awesome and equal to Scorched Almonds back home. Disappointly, I went to the "t Brugs Beertje" pub which has 300 different beers but is closed on Wednesdays so I did not get to look inside. Also, drinking with some of the staff at the Bauhaus Youth Hostel I found out that very few Belgiums actually drink Stella Artois! It is similar to the fact few Aussies drink Fosters. The big beer over here is Jupiler.

Well onto Brussels. I had not heard great things about Brussels but it has been ok. Have seen the Grand Place which is impressive. The Manneken Pis statue and the Trumphal Arch were also good, but I thought the Atomium which is massive is a bit overrated. Then on the way back to the Hostel got totally lost and instead of taking 15 minutes to get back, it took 90! The lads will verify I have no sense of direction! Also did a tour of the beer & chocolates musuems in Brussels but they were very, very lame! My hostel is nice (The Centre Vincent Van Gogh) but is in a bit of a dodgy area. My roomates told me there are hookers on the street corner 50 m from the hostel!

Well that is Belgium, well worth a look if you get a chance, in particular Brugge but in my opinion not up there with Italy and Germany. Having a few drinks with my Canadian roomates, Danny & April tonight, before an early night where I hopefully will get from Brussels to Prague via Frankfurt. Is going to be a long train ride! But have heard great things about the Czech Republic so should be worth it.

Ciao,

9/10/02 - Czech Republic (Prague & Kutna Hora)

Dobry den or Hello,

Well I have just finished a great 4 days in and around Prague. I am so glad I got the visa to travel to the Czech Republic because it has been fantastic, with a scary moment thrown in! Before you read on, sorry about the length of this instalment, I just got a bit carried away!

I predicted it was going to be a big train trip and it was. Got up at 6am and caught the train from Brussels to Frankfurt no problem, and was in Frankfurt by midday. I was then hoping to catch a train from Frankfurt to Prague at 1pm but I could not quite understand what the guy was saying in German but the general jist was that it has been cancelled. He suggested one at about 4pm but this had about six changes and I would arrive in Prague at midnight. Without having booked accomodation in Prague and train stations not being that safe at night, I decided against it. Instead I booked a seat on the overnight train which arrived in Prague early the next morning spending the afternoon in Frankfurt.

Not much to see in Frankfurt. The lonely planet guide mentioned some musuems but was not keen for that. Decided to just go for a walk and after an hour or so I stumbled onto the German version of the TAB. Have not had a bet in ages, and it is spring carnival time in Australia so I thought I would have a punt! The races I could bet on were not only German races but English ones as well. As many of you know I am full of useless sporting information. However, this day it was not so useless. I was looking at the form for the next English race where I saw the trainers name,
D K Weld, who was the guy who trained the 1993 Melbourne Cup winner Vintage Crop! His horse in the race was 2/1 so I thought I would back it. Easier said than done because I had no idea how to fill out the German betting slip! The nice staff there helped me and the horse won!! Didn't pay much but I didn't care. Had one other bet and my extraordinary skill of backing horses that come 4th returned so I ended up about even. Interesting thing about the German Betting Shops which as a shareholder of some Australian TABS I hope they introduce because it will help my dividends, is there is a fee to put the bet on! I put a 3 Euro bet on and it cost me 3.30 Euro! The German betting shops are similar to the Aussie ones. They are filled with all blokes who know it all about racing but just had bad luck with their punting!

Well arrived in Prague at 8 am and I did not have the best introduction to Prague at all. With the lads we were often approached (Santorini & Amsterdam) with an offer of a room available and it worked out really well. I got off the train and was approached by a Czech Lady with the offer of a single room with bathroom in a close location to all the sites. She had all the maps, folder, photos and seemed fine so I went off with her. We walked to the room which was actually in a great location near some Youth Hostels and thought this will be great. Get there and speak to the operator and the room is not available as the person has decided to stay an extra night. She then says she has another room but this one is a little bit further out. That was an understatment, a bus, then a train and I was out in the sticks at this building. We then met her male German Cousin who lives there. I was starting to get a bad vide. We then go to the sixth floor and go into this unit. We walk towards what was to be my room and the German cousin gets a bit edgy and says he needs to tidy the room up and goes in for a second and then comes out but drops a truckload of condoms on the floor in front of me!?!? I then go into the room and it is this double bed surrounded by love hearts!?!? The lady then turns on the hallway light to show me the bathroom and the light is red! Also there is no lock on my bedroom door! This place is either used as a brothel or they have some wierd ideas about interior design! I said I am not too sure and needed a minute to think, so they both go of to the kitchen. Then I can hear them start arguing!! I thought at the time it must be about which way they were going to kill me, by strangulation or knife! It was then I thought I will check the next bedroom and find it is the same with all love hearts and stuff. Few minutes go by and the lady comes back and offers me a receipt and wants payment, and I said, "negative ghostrider!" Just kidding, I actually said in my most pathetic voice, " I am sorry, I do not feel safe here, I have got to go." I then grabbed my back pack and went for the door, praying one, they would not stop me, and two, the door was open. It was, and I got out of there pronto. As I have mentioned previously my sense of direction is terrible and I had no idea how to get back to Prague. Luckily, bumped into these Turkish female doctors away on a conference who spoke a bit of English who were heaps helpful and they helped me back to Central Prague and from there I got to the Tourist Office. Funny thing about the Tourist Office it has a big sign warning tourists about accomodation propertiers. Wish I knew that a few hours before! Don't know what the scam they had in my mind for me but it was a dodgy experience and from now when travelling by myself I am sticking to Tourist Offices and Hostels!

Prague is awesome, up there with Rome as my favourite city, only thing is it has been really cold. Went on a great walking tour on my second day and saw Wencelas Square which is where 200,000 Czechs rallied every day in 1989 for a while to end the Communism regime here. The Square also has the Europa Hotel where some filming of Mission Impossible was done. Also saw the Old Town, the Jewish Quarter which the guide said has the oldest Synagogue in Europe! However, the highlight of the tour was seeing the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. From the Charles Bridge you can see a marker which shows how high the water got during the recent floods and it must have really rained because the marker was bloody high. Amazing that a bridge built over 700 years ago withstood the stormwater! If in Prague make sure you climb the Prague Steeple in the Prague Castle as it has the most amazing view, and check out the Charles Bridge not only during the day but at night as well.

Did a day trip tour of Kutna Hora today which was good but if you go there make sure you go to the Ossuary which basically means "bone chapel". It has the bones of 40,000 people in it!! That is how many people go to watch the Crows every week at Footy Park. For Power supporters it contains twice the number of supporters who go to your games!! It was very strange but well worth a look! Last night in Prague I went to a show by the Czech Black Theatre company. Was this dance show with special 3D lighting and special effects and it was really cool.

Well been staying at Hostel Tyn and it is brilliant. Have not been to many Hostels but is clean with a great showers (how you appreciate a good shower when overseas!) and only a couple of minutes walk away from all the big tourist sites. The Hostel was not affected by the floods but buildings only streets away were. Have had an interesting group of room mates! Went out one night with this guy from Florida called Zane who to quote Stifler from American Pie 2, "The force is very strong in that one!" He picked up a girl on the train to Prague, the night before I arrived he picked up this Russian Girl, and has left Prague for Ceske Krumlov to travel with this stunning American Girl he and I met!! Hopefully some of his form will rub off on me! Ravs, he also has a better website than us, www.inzane.com. Also a Mexican, who was a good bloke, who lives in San Diego. He must have been very wild as a teenager. He told me he used to smuggle people and drugs for this bloke when a minor from Mexico to the USA and got busted when he was 17! I jokingly told him I knew about that sort of stuff, I had seen the movie "Blow" with Johnny Depp and "Traffic" with Michael Douglas! Well that would not go down very well with any parents, but to make matters worse his are mormon and hit the roof and they sent him to Military School for a year!! The strangest guy was this East German Guy, Sebestian, who thankfully only stayed a night who was one of the most intense people I have ever meet. The sort of guy who never smiles. He did not like many people and made some generalisation which even though he was dead serious I found hilarious. In his voice which is like Arnold Swarznegger from Terminator he said, "Russians, I don't like them, they drink Vodka and they never brush their teeth." Got the impression he did not think much of me either in particular when he saw me reading Harry Potter one night! That reminds me. Dougy, Wilbur and Leitchos, I have almost finished the third Harry Potter book and it is corker!

Well that is it. Of to Luxembourg tomorrow for a couple of days and then Spain in search of warm weather. Big news is I am catching up with Simon Kokar, one of the best drinkers I have ever seen from the Uni Footy Club who lives in Dublin now and am going to stay with him and see the international rules game between Australia and Ireland on the 20th October. Should be huge. So look out for Bob Neil banners!

Na Shledanou,

P.S. Wilbur, Bon Jovi greatest hits is getting a fair crack at the moment, and rate it highly.

Also Rich, followed your advice and got the new Coldplay album today.

And how big is Kylie in Europe? Just heard again "Can't get you out of my Head" in this internet Cafe in Prague!

15/10/02 - Luxembourg & Madrid

Hola!,

Have been really keen to get to Spain but it is a long way from Czech Republic by train so I made a stop for a couple of days in Luxembourg and add another country to my ever growing list of countries visited! Is a really picturesque place, that was founded just over 1000 years ago with amazing valleys, bridges and countryside. The hostel I was staying at, was actually at the bottom of a massive valley! Did a tour of Luxembourg City with the highlight being the view from the Place de las Constitution.

From Luxembourg I caught a train to Paris and then caught the overnight train to Madrid. It was one of those trains that has cabins and you have your own bed. I was in a cabin with three others. The thing I will remember about this trip is this old scruffy guy, he must have been about 70, travelling with his daughter. I don�t where he thought we were going but he brought enough food and drink (including a bottle of vodka as well, respect!) to feed a third world. I don�t really like fish but in particular canned fish. He cracked open a tin of sardines and a tin of tuna in this airtight cabin and I had to get out of there or I was going to throw up! Is that bad form on his behalf, I thought so? Anyway I bailed for an hour or so to the bar and waited for the smell to die down. When I finally went back I actually could not find my cabin for a while and in the end found it by the smell coming through the door!

Madrid has been amazing, there are hundreds of monuments and musuems. Am staying in a Hotel on the Puerta del Sol. It is the equivalent of living in a place on Rundle Mall. Only tricky thing is the Puerta del Sol has about ten roads going into it and the buildings around it are very similar. Took me half an hour on the first night just to find the place where I was staying!

In Spain, a massive spectator sport is bullfighting. My first day in Madrid was a Sunday when the bullfighting occurs. I went out to Spain�s largest bullring, the Plaza mental de las Ventas and actually got a ticket in a great spot for only 10 Euro and went to the bullfight that night! Was an amazing experience, the stadium of about 25,000 absolutely packed, and atmosphere electric (I am sounding like Bill Lawry!). All said and done I don�t think I would go again. I am showing my ignorance here but I did not realise that the bull actually dies every fight. And if the Matador (bullfighter) doesn�t kill the bull in the alloted time he is a big disgrace! Have some amazing footage, particular the last fight, where the Matador got knocked by the bull. After the fight, the crowd went nuts, giving him a standing oviation, waving their white hankerchiefs which is the tradition to show your appreciation, and then he was raised on some guys shoulders and did a lap of honour! Overall though was really glad I went.

I have jumped on the city bus tour for the last two days and had a pretty good look around Madrid. Seen the Plazas Mayor, de la Villa and Espana, Gran Via area, the Royal Palace, Real Madrid�s Stadium and Prado Musuem to name a few. Madrid also has the most amazing Post Office, it is massive, and from the outside one could easily mistake it for a palace! The Madrid masters tennis tournament is also on at the moment and I went out to Caso de Campo because I thought Lleyton Hewitt was playing as his photo was in a lot of the promos. Well he and Sampras are about the only big names not playing but I got a ticket for centre court last night and it was good fun. First professional match I ever been too and gee they hit ball clean! Saw Corretja win his first round match and as he is a Spainiard the crowd was pretty happy.

Am heading to Paris tomorrow to catch a flight to Dublin for the International Rules game. Am looking forward to travelling to a place where the first language is English. After that London for a few days where I will be staying with a couple of mates (George Capozzi and Little Dreens) and then the big Contiki tour!

Finally, congrulations to Charlie Abbott from my tennis team on his engagement to Sarah! That is great news! It may inspire the boys from TH to win their first round game this Saturday! Good luck lads!

Adios,

P.S. Been catching up with current events and cannot believe what has happened in Bali. Really bad business that. Must be big news back home.

19/09/02 - Monza

Boungiorno everyone! After Rome (click on link below to view Rome instalment) we headed to Monza. Monza was awesome but was tainted ever so slight by their first class thieves. Our accomodation at the Grand Prix was a camping ground only forty metres from the track!! This was organised by Magnificent 7 member Dougy and his girlfriend Tenille and their hospitality was first class. Thanks guys. The atmosphere at the track was amazing. Michael Schumacher and Ferrari are treated like gods here. The amount of Ferrari merchandise seen was astronomical. Thankfully, Ferrari finished first and second because if they did not the fans would have torn the place apart!
The big story from the first night in Monza is the fact we went out to a street party around the track to take a look around. I took my video camera and was videoing everything in sight. There were people everywhere. I put my camera back into my case and was closing it when in an instant it was gone! It was like lightning, I did not even see who did it! Had heard the pick pockets in Italy are good but this was just something else. So if anyone is offered a Canon video camera with a free tape with footage of 4 drunken loats in Rome let me know! To top the evening when we woke up the next day Dougy's tent had been slashed by a knife and 30 Euro stolen out of Wilburs wallet. Wilburs comment a classic though "not all bad, least I am not dead!".

Enough of that! The race itself was fantastic. We got up early and had these great seats on the corner before pit straight. Everytime a Ferrari car went past the crowd went beserk, when Mark Webber (Aussie) from Minardi went past we (and only us) went beserk! After the race we ran onto the track and was under the podium. I have never been in a mosh pit at a Metallica concert but it could not have been anymore pycho than what we experienced under the podium when the drivers spurted the champagne. It was crazy and a bit scary. Guys were fighting over merchandise that the drivers threw off the podium. It was full on!

I did say that Schumacher was big in Italy. Well maybe his only equal is an Aussie. Megan Gale was at the race and waved from a private box after the race for about 45 minutes and the crowd went nuts. She is hugh over here.

Am about to get kicked out of this internet place in Florence so I will tell you about Florence later. But before I do, congrats to ET on the Grand Final victory with Fosters Green Arseholes. To Mudgey and Co, good luck this Saturday against Phos Camden at Adelaide Oval and finally go Crows against Collingwood (sorry Labba!)

Ciao,

20/09/02 - Florence and Venice

Well we have now almost spent a full week in Italy and the first thing that comes to my mind is "no more museums!" We had a great couple of days in Florence. Went to the fourth largest dome in the world which is surprisingly called "The Duomo". From up there we had a great view of Florence. Also saw the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, the Uffizi Gallery, where we had to line up for 2 hours beforehand and has stuff by all the big names like Leondaro, Bottecelli, Lippi etc. If in Florence make sure you check out the Galleria dell Accademia because it houses Michelangelos sculpture of David which Michaelangelo did when he was only 24. Is unbelievable.

If you are going to stay somewhere in Florence go to this litte Hotel near the train station called Hotel La Scala. The guy there called Gabrielle looked after us really well while in Florence. He is this loud, portly guy with a big beard who kept hugging us. We think he is gay. He runs it with this other bloke Gi Gi. Gabrielle said to me in a real Italian accent, "Gi Gi is my best friend, without him my life would be crazy!" The great thing about Gabrielle was he took a real shine to Ravs calling him "the gorgeous baby!!" and hugging Ravs and doing the double cheek kiss thing. Hence, we are now calling Ravs the "Bella Bambino" which we find very amusing but Ravs does not share our view. I have bought a new video camera in Florence to replace the one that was pickpocketed in Monza and have decide to name it Gabrielle in honour of him.

I am now in Venice and nursing a massive hangover after having a few too many reds at a Tratorria last night. We have been pretty tame in Italy due the cost of booze but enough was enough and we all got hammered. We ended up having a few drinks at this restaurant with a couple of Canadian Girls, Jordan and Kim, and a Melbourne bloke Ben whose birthday was last night. Venice is bloody expensive, was A$13 for a beer in this crappy club last night where we were about the only people on the dance floor! Everything though is just generally more expensive. Jumped on a boat yesterday and did a tour through the city and are we are going to go on a gondola tonight with the four guys which should be very romantic!!

Off to Munich tomorrow for the big one, "the Oktoberfest" so keep your fingers crossed for me because it is going to be huge!

10/09/02 - Ios

Well just arrived back to Santorini today after spending 4 days in Ios. Ios is like no place I have ever been to before. It is a place where you go to just drink, laze around and party. I checked out the Village area and there is not much there. It is so different to Santorini. Our days were spent recovering in our hotel "the Purple Pig" which I highly recommend then down to Mylopotas beach (nice beach and as Ravs would say, plenty of eye candy!) for a swim. I actually did a bit of snorkling which was cool, then to the Purple Pig bar to drink and watch this bloke Grazza play his live sets. We were his best customers as we not only drank there but continually assisted him with backing vocals in particular "You've Got That Lovin' Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers and "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi. My only complaint with Grazza is he didn't play Holy Grail. If we could, we went on to the Village which is where everyone stays out till 8am or in Ravs case you are so hammered you get lost and just sleep at the Port! I found Rav's drinking in Ios very impressive, but the bouncer at the "Bulldog Bar" didn't share my view. Wilbur was happy to help at the Purple Pig so much he also did a dance on a table where he started stripping. Don't worry he only took his top off, although I did try to rip his board shorts off. Most places if you act like that - barring Cafe Canton on O'Connell Street - you get kicked out! Not in Ios, he was given a free shot for his trouble! Gotta love it.

Other thing about Ios is there are Australians everywhere and Ios didn't feel that foreign at all. We did meet some great Aussies. Sarah, Bess and Ness from Melbourne, and Michael from Sydney were great. How they put up with our banter for 4 days I don't know? The girls actually met Micheal Kidd and Kate Bierworth on their travels who we know from Adelaide! Just shows you it is a small world.

This relaxing in Greece has been really great as this tour is meant to be a holiday but I am really ready to do the tourist thing in Italy. Back in Santorini has allowed us to get everything in order mainly getting our clothes clean and get some sleep before a hectic few days in Rome. With a plane ride back to Athens (on September 11?!?), a bus ride and then a 13hr ferry to Italy we needed it. And just to make you all more jealous this Sunday I will be at the Monza Grand Prix. Crazy!

Later,

17/09/02 - Rome

Well sorry for the delay for this instalment. Computer issues in Rome which
could not be resolved by just turning the computer on and off (at work this use to resolve all computer problems!) meant this instalment is written in Florence.

Well the 36 hours it took to get from Santorini to Rome were more exciting than expected. The Taxi Driver in Athens was a "frontarse" or in Italian a "Testa Stugartz" who took almost 2 hours to get us from the Athens airport to the train station. Slowness on highways and back streets were the order of the morning and when we finally arrived at the train station he made up all these charges which meant the bill had doubled. In all the confusion we paid and before we had time to find out what was going on he was in his poorly maintained volvo taxi and gone.

We took a train from Athens to Patras and then a 13 hour ferry to Bari where we disposed of the bottle of Canadian Club I had bought duty free in Athens. We all slept pretty well that night on the deck! We had a few hours to kill in Bari before our train to Rome and had a look around. Bari is a really nice university town where we found a cheap and great Pizza place called Cafe Sprint. My memory of Bari though will be of their Rambo style Police service. We saw this cop running towards this guy and when this guy finally looked he just bolted. Then they ran past Wilbur and Ravs and then they were running at me. I had my full back-pack on, I was not going to be able to avoid them! Thank God the thief left the foot path and went to the road where this cop tackled him down and put him in a head lock. Funny thing about Italy is that even the thieves are better dressed than me! This incident was something out of the movies!

Well finally Rome. Rome was fantastic and am looking forward to seeing more of it on my Contiki tour. We did a lot of sightseeing, by the end of it, I felt like I had played two games of football and spent all night at the Havelock! We saw St Peters Cathedral, Vatcian Musuem, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Pantheon and plenty of Piazzas. Highlight was the Sistine Chapel in Vatcian City which is amazing and where Michaelangelo spent 8 years painting the ceiling!

On Rome and Italy generally the food and drink is amazing. The souvlaki and frepe coffee in Greece was great. However, the pizzas, pastas, cakes and coffee in Italy is just something else. For someone like me who enjoys their food this place is great.

Ciao,

Name:
Occupation:
Marital Status:
D.O.B.:
Most embarrassing sporting achievement:
Sporting Hero:
Favourite Book:
Best Day's Drinking:

Matthew John Walsh
Accountant/Professional Boozer
Free Agent (the only one on the trip with this status)
31st July, 1978

Representing SA in U/12 Chess and winning.
Bob Neil/Darren Jarman
Master Tax Guide ('97 Edition)
Chardonnay Socialist Grand Final v TTG in 1999 at Henley... I was in "The Zone" that day.

Player Profile

Hi Loyal Fans of the Magnificent 7,

Usually people ask what have you been up to, and as an accountant living in Adelaide I would reply, "not much." Well if you ask the question today I could go on forever.

Singapore was pretty cool. The first night dining in a restaurant with 4 different proprietors (most without front teeth!) was a pressure cooker situation which was dealt with no tact whatsoever and quite a few Tiger beers.

The 10 hour flight from Singapore to Athens left at 1am so we arrived in Athens pretty tired. Poor old Harmsy got no sleep at all. I did however get a few hours and apparently snored which is a tad embarassing! In a fantastic effort we fired up today and have been today to the Acropolis and the Plaka. Our hotel is actually in the Plaka. The Acropolis was amazing and would recommend it highly.

Now must go as I need to crash before tonight but we are heading out for tea (I am going to try souvlaki) in the Plaka and then onto a bar with this Canadian Hotbox Laura we met today which she recommends.

Tomorrow Greek Islands (Santorini) and cannot wait.

Having an awesome time.

Later,

5/9/02 - Santorini

I had heard great things about Santorini but it has exceeded all expectations. Since the last instalment I can tell you the following:

Had an awesome night in Athens. Dinner at the Plaka was great. Most people don't go out for dinner in Athens until 10pm. When we left some people were still arriving!

Whilst waiting for our plane from Athens to Santorini we got talking to this Amercian bloke who we were having shots of vodka with. It turns out this bloke is a pro Ice Hockey player (Robert Dome) who was playing for Pittsburgh in the NHL and has just been traded to Calgary and played against Wayne Gretzky! Please note I didn't get time to drink this bloke under the table.

Did a tour of Santorini yesterday. As the other guys have said Santorini is awesome. We had probably the best day of the trip so far. We saw the Volcano on an island next to Santorini, got to swim in a hot springs and went to Thirassia where I was "taken out" by group of donkeys which I have on video and may win a funniest home video competition. The day ended with us going to Oia for the sunset where there were thousands of people.

Finally, to DAZ and Frankie, you boys would cope very well here in Santorini. The beaches are topless which the other lads on the tour find fantastic. To Frank, in regards to your query I am still on zero but remember slow and steady wins the race and this race has a long way to go.

Please note this is the first instalment made where I have been above .05 as I have been on Perissa Beach all day sinking Heinekens. The owner has taken a shine to us and has given us free shots which has not helped the quality of this installment.

Later,

PS: Off to Ios tomorrow (the Party Island) so having a quiet one tonight because I have got some hard socialising sessions ahead.

23/10/02 - Dublin

Hello Everyone,

To be sure, to be sure! An English speaking country at last! Although some of the Irish I could not quite understand. This was due to a few reasons. Firstly, some of the accents were exteremly tricky to understand at times - it's amazing that the accent varies so much in a small country compared to Australia! Secondly, and most commonly, was the fact I spent most of my time here in the pubs and my comprehension skills were not quite what they should be! Dublin has so many pubs!

Arrived Friday night in Dublin after flying from Paris. Only had a night in Paris and had very little time to look around. Saw the Arc de Triomphe which is huge and on a roundabout 20 times bigger than Dequeteville (Spelling?) Terrace in Adelaide so would not fancy trying to negotiate that roundabout in a car! It was unbelievable! However, Paris is my first stop on my Contiki tour starting on the 26th October so I will get to have a look at all the sites properly in Paris then.

I met Simon Kokar at his place and after the five days I spent in Dublin I am so glad I did. Thanks Simon and his flatmate Mark very much! I have heard that places where people live in Britain and Ireland are small and dingy and that is what I was expecting. However Simon is on secondment from Melbourne and his engineering firm have put him up in a massive apartment with a car and it is a bloody excellent place. Saturday morning he took me for a drive around the Dublin countryside and neighbouring Glendalough which was very beautiful with awesome valleys, hills and lakes.

As I have mentioned on this website previously, Simon Kokar is a big drinker and it was no surprise that I found out on arrival I would be joining him on a pub crawl Saturday afternoon starting at four in the afternoon with his workmates! Don't remember many of the pubs names, the last one was called the Bleedin' Horse though! Was a great night where I drank quite a few Guiness. I did not enjoy Guiness really back home but it tasted awesome when I was in Dublin. However, Simon, myself and his Irish mate Martin decided that we weren't getting drunk so decided to move to a swift round of Jameson's Irish Whiskey with a shooter called an "aftershot" thrown in. Well 30 minutes later, Martin was in trouble on his way home and fell asleep in his mate's car and they didn't know where he lived so they had great difficulty getting him home! This is when Simon's memory becomes rather sketchy and my speech became very slowed and slurred apparently! Simon also fell asleep in the take away shop later in the evening! I was OK - just cannot remember anything I said which is annoying becuase of what Simon's flatmate Mark told us the next day. At the Bleedin' Horse there were these two stunning girls, one which I do remember being in the shortest dress I have ever seen. It was like a porno nurses uniform! Every guy in the pub was going to up to these girls and all of them were being not so politely told to go away. Then myself and Simon go up and Mark thought at the time we were going to be told to get lost as quick as you like but didn't! Mark told us he could not believe these drunks were talking to these girls! Do not know what I said but I talked to these girls for ages and we all had a bit of a dance! Mark said everyguy in the pub was giving me "death stares" but I was too polaxed to notice! Would love to know what I said to these girls for future reference!

Well woke up Sunday with a rather big headache and headed to Croke Park for the game between Australia and Ireland. Weather was shocking - raining, windy and cold - and was so happy when we arrived at our seats and they were undercover! Great atmosphere at the game with a crowd of over 70,000, particularly the last five minutes of the game. The game ended up being a draw. I then met up with Tenille and Dougy, friends from Adelaide and we all went to the Q Bar which Simon and his mates recommended. I wasn't sure why as it was quiet for ages and then Chad Cornes started a procession of players and past players who were there! I have on my video camera Chris Johnson (Brisbane) jokingly giving me the finger! Funniest was speaking on my camera to Trevor Marmlade from the footy show. I said, "I can't believe I am talking to Trevor Marmalde!" He replies, "I can't wait to tell the people back home I was speaking to you!" He was on crutches and I asked what was wrong, his reply, "tennis elbow!" He was very funny but gee he looked old. All the Port players were really great blokes, in particular Brett Montgomery who I had a chat with. Andrew Kellaway (Richmond) was also great and very modest and Craig Bradley (Carlton) was all class as expected! Chad Cornes had his photo with Tenille giving her a kiss on the cheek! She is a big Port supporter and was very happy indeed. I had my photo with Jim Stynes who is bloody tall! So after a slow start the Q Club was great!

Well have decided to have a look at Edinburgh for a couple of days and then onto London for Contiki. I will tell you more about Edinburgh later but am going out to the traditional Wednesday night student drinks night with Dougy and his Scottish mate Graham for one pound drinks. It should be great.

Lastly, thanks to Suavi for putting the photos on the website and tidying up my page. Much appreciated mate!

Later,

PS: I am running out of internet time so haven't had much time to read through what I have written. Hope it makes sense!

25/10/02 - Edinburgh

Hi Everyone,

The not so great weather followed me to Edinburgh with maximum temperatures of five degrees celsius and pretty much constant rain. You know when the weather is bad when even the locals are complaining about it!

Had a great couple of days in Edinburgh. It is the capital of Scotland but only has 500,000 people living there. Stayed with Graham who I met at Monza and Oktoberfest and he actually does where a kilt every now and then! Cheers Graham, I had a ball!

On my only full day there I did some sightseeing on one of those hop-on/hop-off bus tours. Had a good look at the Edinburgh castle which was great. I did not think I would find anything to match the Prague castle but this one does! Spent only a couple of hours there but you could probably spend a whole afternoon there. Among other things at the castle I saw the Scottish Crown Jewels and Edinburgh's oldest building the St. Margaret's Chapel which is still in use. Also did a guided tour of the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is where the Queen stays when in Edinburgh. I am not a big monarchist or anything but it was really cool tour. Saw the Queen's dining room, her reception area which was where Sean Connery was knighted, and a selection of other rooms which the royal family used over the last few hundred years. Also had a look at the famous Royal Mile Street and Princes Street which is Edinburgh's main street.

That night I went out with Graham, Sean and Tenille to Students' Night where they have one pound drink specials all night. Reminded me of the few times when at uni I went to Diamonds Night Club on Wednesday nights for 50 cent beers! These students' nights in Edinburgh are huge. Graham organised an annual leave day for the next day so he could have a big one... and it was a big night! We went to some massive clubs. We were out with Graham's mates Phil and Jenks who are great blokes. Phil managed to get us into this club which had the biggest line up I had ever seen. There was a two hundred metre line up which was about six deep and then a separate 50 metre line up for the members! However, due to Phil we just walked straight in! But as it was so packed we struggled to get a drink so we went to this other club down the road which was busy but at least we could get drink. I must had been pretty merry because I spent all night on the dance floor! Lost Dougy for half hour or so who fell asleep in the toilets but this power nap helped him as he recovered brilliantly!! Great night, standard 4am finish, but was feeling it yesterday on the plane ride to London! Edinburgh was really great and am very tempted to live there after this Contiki tour.

What is going on in Australia and the world generally at the moment?! Bali bombing, guy with a gun at Monash University, train crash at Salisbury and the Washington Sniper! Crazy!

Enough of that! If you read this before the Cox Plate, my tip is Lohnro. In London at the moment with Capozz and Drines who went on a Contiki a few weeks ago and after what they said and the photos I saw I am really, really excited!!

Cheers,

30/10/02 - London & Contiki (Paris, Lyon & Barcelona)

Howdy everyone,

I am so tired! Contiki is not a holiday. It is a tour where you do not stop for a second and socialise every night! Hope no one backed Lonhro in the Cox Plate, apparently it finished 6th. Just proves I should stick to accounting!

Arrived in London with a massive hangover from Edinburgh and on my first night just had a quiet night with Drines (Mark) and Capozz (George) who fired me up about Contiki showing me their photos and telling me their experiences and reliving the famous Intervarsity trip of 1998 in Melbourne. Capozz gave me advice on certain tactical issues about the trip which have been very useful already! Checked into the Royal National Hotel the next day in London and that next night went out with Capozz and fair to say it was a big night. 3 am finish with me eating sausages from the guys on the street with portable stalls. George tried so hard to convince me not to eat them because apparently they have a terrible reputation but I was so hungry I had them anyway! Went to the London Pub at the Hotel and then the Walkabout Pub in Covenant Gardens where I ran into two girls from my bike tour in Brugge! What a small world! Was a great night, London is a pumping place at night! Did not see any of the London sites and I was busy organising stuff for the Contiki trip but all I can say is that it is massive and expensive! Thanks Capozz and Drines for letting me stay and will catch up with you lads soon!

Only five days into Contiki but it has been awesome and action packed. Fifty people on the tour from about 11 countries and such a wide cross-section of personalites but so far I am getting on with everyone really well. Has been really hard to learn everyones names. And yes lads, there are some very good looking girls on the tour! About 30 girls and 20 guys. A large proportion are people from Australia. The tour leader, Dorien, who we call "Midgie" is a relaxed, cool guy and the driver, Brett, likewise is great. Not only do they know the sites but they know where the nightlife is!

Just some of the interesting people on the tour are as follows:

Clinton - Who commentates for 3AW with Rex Hunt and has his own show on Fox Footy! I knew I had heard the voice! Nice bloke. Have had quite a few beers with him most nights and crap on about sport heaps to him... the poor bloke.

Keri - An Americian girl who believed me when I said that I used to live around the corner from Nicole Kidman and does the most American "Gday Mate" I have ever heard!

Ned (Aus) & Rupert (NZ) - These two ocker blokes are a laugh and always up for a few drinks. A lot of NZ v Australia banter. The group enjoyed my joke I told on the bus:

Q: What do you call a Kiwi with a sheep under one arm and a goat under the other?"
A: Bi Sexual

The main thing on Contiki which I am famous for is for keeping us half an hour late on the second day due the fact I was at a Police Station in Paris for a couple of hours! The day before I was sightseeing in Paris when I thought I ost my Contiki pouch. It had the tour documents and some travellers cheques. I told Midgie, and he told me it was no big deal and we will organise to cancel the travellers cheques tomorrow. So I went out that night and was woken the next morning by Midgie at 7am saying the police have rung the hotel and have my wallet and to leave now and to go get it! Got the address and got to the Police Station by cab as quick as possible. This is when I got quite a few surprises. Firstly, once I told the Police who I am, they go and get a female detective!?! I was thinking a detective to give me some lost property... that is a bit over the top! Her English was patchy but she starts telling me that the pouch was taken out of my backpack when I was walking down the famous street in Paris, "ave des Champs Elysees"! I am thinking how the hell did you know I had a backpack and how the hell did you know where I was yesterday? Did they have cameras? Well apparently what happened was that I was walking down the street when this 15 year old Romanian kid, they even told me his name, opened my backpack and took it out without me noticing! However, behind him was two undercover detectives and they busted him! Then I am thinking, how come firstly, why didn�t I see this, and secondly why didn�t they stop me when they got him? Well apparently, they waited a little while to grab him and by that stage I had ducked into some shops and they could not find me. I made a statement (in French!) and have pressed charges! Thought after all the effort they went through I better. Do not need to make court appearance as the fool I am didn�t see or even hear anything! What is it about me and picketpockets? They must just look at me and think this Space Cadet will be an easy target! Go the French Police! Anyway scoreline Pickpockets 1 - Bugsy 1! I have a copy of this document to prove I made this statement and hopefully with Ravs help will post it on the website in a month or so!

Highlights of the tour so far have been:
1. The Eiffel Tower which has an awesome view
2. Drove around the crazy roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe on the Contiki bus to the music "Highway to the Dangerzone". Apparently insurance doesn�t cover crashes on the Arc and an accident occurs every 12 minutes!
3. Mona Lisa
4. Went to Moulin Rouge which is a French Caberet. Fras, you highly recommended this optional excursion and just as you said it was awesome! Was this dancing caberet but also had crazy acrobats with one guys balancing another guy on his head with no arms or anything and another two where one guy was being spun and tossed into the air who was being caught by the other with his feet! A ventriloquist (spelling?) who was unbelievable, and a girl who swam with these massive snakes. Dinner was included and it was a great night!
5. Drinking jugs of Sangria for 6 Euro a jug in the Black Sheep bar in Barcelona!
6. 1992 Olympic Stadium
7. Catherdral of Notre Dame

Alright must go, need to catch the bus back to the Hotel. Am going to dinner and then Flamenco dancing. Should be great.

Lastly, heard the trade news, Pickett to Port, Ronnie Burns to the Crows, Woewodin to Collingwood, and Des Headland to Freo. Really interesting.

Seeya,

6/11/02 - Contiki (Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Assini, Venice)

Hello Everyone,

Well it has only been a week since I made my last entry but it feels like so much longer. We have crammed so much into this week, it is just crazy! It is taking its toll as I am now one of the victims of the "Contiki cough" which everyone on the tour seems to pick up at one point or the other!

The Flamenco dancing night in Barcelona was great. They thankfully did not get me on stage to try it. Looks very difficult to do properly but some of the girls on the tour picked it up the basics pretty quickly. However, was on stage for this other dancing comp which I actually survived to the end in! We also learnt the Ketchup song dance which is handy because you hear it every night at a bar in Europe! After Barcelona we went to Nice. Nice is a very popular holiday spot on the French Riveria and spent the day just walking around but did visit the Le Chateau which is a really nice park on top of a hill with great views and went for a swim in the Mediterranean! The water was fantastic! We were so lucky with the weather as it was quite warm. Charlie Clover's family, an English mate who was a tutor at Saints and who I used to play tennis with back in Adelaide has a place there and I can see why! It is a really beautiful place and I will try and get back there at some stage. We also had a massive night out there at a place called "Waynes Bar". Is obviously not very French but with a live band playing covers and dancing on the tables approved, we went beserk! The lead singer challenged anyone on Contiki to put all there clothes on backwards and I drew the shortstraw and did it!

The next night we spent in Monaco and went to a few of the casinos in Monte Carlo as well as looking at a few of the sites including the Start/Finish line of the famous race track. Did not go into the really ritzy casino which was a bit of a bummer mainly due to the fact that no one really wanted to pay the A$20 entry fee and minimum bet of A$200 but went to another one down the road and actually won a A$100 on roulette! I was ectastic and shouted a few drinks in the casino! The minimum drinking age is 21 and I was appointed a designated "sugar daddy" for one of the girls (Laura) which involves acting as a boyfriend so that she looks older! Well all the underages guys and girls got in so it worked out well!

The next day was on the bus and I bought some traditional French aftershave from Fragenaro and also saw the leaning tower of Pisa which now leans by 4.4m! It is an amazing building! We then arrived in Florence that night and probably had the biggest night on the tour! If in Florence go to "La Certosa" for dinner. It is a must! We had a beautiful four course meal of antipasto, pasta for entree, beef for main, and this cake dish for dessert and it was amazing. Then for drinks: champagne cocktails and all you can drink Chianti wine. Opera Singers and Pianist for entertainment! The whole group were up dancing all evening, doing the Ketchup song we learnt a few nights before with an eighty year old couple! It was hilarious! We also did the Macarena which I learnt from watching Oprah Winfrey during my uni days! Then onto Space Electronic disco where we had one free cocktail with most of us having a "Zombie" which is very potent. The youngest on the tour, Kabir (nicknames of Westlife and Mexico) who is 18 from Mexico City, was found wanting this night and I was the sensible lad who helped him outside, got him a glass of water and organised a cab. I have never see someone throw up so much! After drinking the "Zombie" Kabir actually looked like a zombie! It was an awesome night!

One of the lads has just popped in and said we are having beers just down the road now so I think I will wrap this up quickly. Other things I have seen which I had not seen previously include:

1.Piazza Della Signora in Florence which was where Hannibal the movie (which I almost died of terror watching) had some scenes shot. Also has some famous statues and monuments.
2. Michealangelo's tomb in Florence.
3. Mouth of Truth in Rome.
4. Climbed St Peters Basilica at the Vatcian. Sistine Chapel I saw again and reminded me why it is one of the most amazing things I have seen on my travels so far.
5. Piazza San Marco which flooded today during high tide today in Venice!
6. Doges Palace and the bridge of Sighes in Venice.
7. Saw the town of Assini which is the home of the Francescan Monks.

Have just done a gondala ride today! This time during the day and they are awesome. Very relaxing!

Lastly, have decided that after Contiki I will be moving to Edinburgh and sharing a house with Graham and his mates. So if you get any calls from people where I have applied for a job in Edinburgh asking about me, just tell them how good a bloke I am!

Anyway better go to the pub and join the crew. Will tell you more about them another time. They are great fun! Vienna tomorrow, should be great!

Ciao,

15/11/02 - Contiki (Venice, Vienna, Munich, Lucerne, St Goar, Berlin, Hamburg)

G�ten Tag Everyone,

Sorry this is so long but a lot has happened in the last week or so!

Hope all is well where you are logging in from. Well I mentioned I had the "Contiki Cough" previously. Well I managed to shake that off in Switzerland after about 10 days so to celebrate then decided to have a big one in the Rhine Valley town of St Goar and now have the "Contiki Flu"! Can't believe it. Pretty much everyone now on the bus has a cough and or cold. It is ridiculous. However, in Hamburg now and on the improve after Shaz (NZ Girl) recommended I drink a brandy with boiling water! I am even taking vitamins to try and get over this flu!

Well the sightseeing and socialising has been relentless. I am averaging one quiet night a week at the moment and I think is why I just cannot shake the colds I have been getting. Was told jokingly by Leitchy that I should book myself into hospital after this trip and he is not far wrong!

Had a great dinner in Venice at "La Valigia" where we had our own accordian (spelling?) player and a singer. It was great fun. Next stop was Vienna in Austria. First time I have been to Austria and again got a chance to use my German. We have a language lesson on the bus whenever we need to use a new language just teaching the basics. Well I taught the group hello, goodbye, do you speak German etc. However for the lads I threw in, "Sie haben sch�ne Augen," which roughly means "you have beautiful eyes". Everyone on the bus thought it was funny! Had really interesting night when I so was not expecting too. Decided to do my washing in Vienna and went to the Laundromat with an Aussie girl from Warnambool called Dayna who is a real laugh. It wasn�t easy getting there. We needed to catch a tram, and then a train. Then to get the washing machine and dryers going was we found complicated but was helped by the nicest woman there who was also doing her washing. She is Albanian living in Austria with a Cuban boyfriend and she is studying law! Puts me to shame. She speaks German, English, Spanish, Italian and Albanian! After all that was done I came up with the idea that Dayna and I should stop off at a pub on the way to have some shots as all the others were boozing at a night club near our hotel and we did not want to fall too far behind. So we went into "Cafe Romeo" in Vienna and ordered a Scnapps each. The guy next to us at the bar started chatting to us and found us fascinating as we came from Australia. His name was Boro I think. Boro was a portly, balding 42 year old guy with glasses who loves a drink. Anyway from then on he and the girl behind the bar got us drinking these Czech Scnapps for free. They shouted us eight drinks each! Was really funny chatting to them and they made a rule that I had to speak German! We only stayed there for an hour but we had fun speaking to these locals. Boro funniest call was he said to Dayna, "Are you boyfriend/girlfriend?" to which Dayna replies "no" and then Boro says, "oh, so you just have sex together then!"

After Vienna it was off to Munich where we had a great night in the Hofbrauhaus. Everyone let there hair down and had a great time. We were on a table with a French group of friends who now live in Munich and are from Lyon where we had been on this trip. We had a great night drinking with them. I have got about 50 minutes of video camera footage of most of the group which we watched at the hotel the next day and it is was really funny.

From Munich we went to Lucern in Switzerland which is very beautiful and amazingly clean! We had the most amazing accomodation. We stayed on top of Mt Pilatus which is a mountain 7000 feet high. I have jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet! How they built a Hotel up there I do not know. To get up there you need to take a cable car and it takes 35 minutes to get to the top. Was snowing up there and mucked around in the snow and had a snow fight against the other Contiki group up there. They were due to come down the next day but due to 90km winds they were stuck up there an extra day which meant they had to endure a 15 hour bus ride straight to Amsterdam to catch up the day. I felt sorry for them! Being stuck up there for the day was no problem and let me sleep all day and finish another book! It is by Matthew Reilly called the Contest. Is Sci-Fi but was great. Never enjoyed reading but am starting to lately. Did some shopping in Lucern and almost bought a really cool Swiss Military watch which is not exported but after hearing about my finances a fews days later am glad I did not. I am sure I will get a chance another time.

Next stop was a little town called St Goar in the Rhine Valley region. Is a wine producing region and we went wine tasting that night and sampled some nice rieslings and their "ice wine" which is really nice but very sweet. That night we had a huge night at our hotel where we attempted to break a record. They sell this drink called "Freilich". They are small bottles, about 30 mls, with vodka in it. The Contiki record for a night is 900 of these between 50 people! Myself and Midgie, the tour manager, fired everyone up but after 200 of them people were not keen to keep going! The core group who continued got very drunk and again there was a full tape of drunken footage but well short of the 900 bottles. The 10 hour bus ride to Berlin the next day was horrendous!

Berlin was great. Had a guided tour this time by an English guy called Per and he knew his stuff. Was a great guided tour. Learnt a lot of history and saw some amazing things. Am now in Hamburg but does not seem to be that much to see. Then to finish up we are off to Amsterdam which Midgie calls "Amsterdamage"! Should be a huge finish to the trip.

Some of the things I have seen in the last week include:

1. St Stephen's Cathedral, Hofburg Palace & Johann Strauss Statue in Vienna.
2. Went to the Wiener Mozart & Strauss Orchestra concert in Vienna. Would not go again in a hurry but enjoyed the concert. Also went to the Night Shift nightclub which was huge and the boys were exceedingly impressed with the eye candy there!
3.Schnapps Musuem in Vienna where I bought a bottle of Vienna Blood which has the nickname "Rocketfuel!". Can wait to take it back to Edinburgh and sample more of it.
4. Glockenspiel and Church of Our Lady in Munich.
5. Had lunch in Leichtenstein which as I was told by Rizza Ryan and Leitchy is a country the size of Football Park and this is spot on description!
6. Sampled some very nice Swiss Chocolate in Switzerland.
7. 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin which is under construction as it is going to be where the final of the 2006 World Cup is going to be played.
8. Another section of the Berlin Wall, Hitlers Bunker in Berlin.
9. The 647 Room "Rathaus" or Town Hall in Hamburg.

Take it easy and apologies again for the length of the instalment. Will tell you about the other characters on this trip soon. Am running out of time so hope it all makes sense!

Ciao,

24/11/02 - Contiki (Amsterdamage), London & Edinburgh (my new home)

Hello Everyone,

Well Contiki is sadly over and I am now in my flat in Edinburgh settling in and on the lookout for work after an amazing three month experience travelling all over Europe. I actually have visited 18 different countries on my travels (Singapore, Greece, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, England, Liechtenstein, Monaco)! Isn't that crazy!

Amsterdam was huge with everyone getting into the party spirit. The final night was spent having a candlelight cruise with all you can drink for 90 minutes. We drank the boat out of beer! Had some real characters on the trip and some them are as follows;

1. Andy (Nickname Territory) - Andy was my roomate and what a funny character. Funny thing about Andy is he has a real Australian country accent and all the crew whose first language was not English did not understand a word he said for the whole trip! For the Uni players reading this, his speech is the closest thing I have heard to Aaron Parfrey! I threw up once on the trip and it was all Andy's fault! He got really drunk at the Hofbrauhaus and "threw up" at the Hotel in Munich on the front door of another Contiki person's room! I do have footage of him asleep hugging the toilet bowel at the end of the evening! Anyway Andy and I (why I had to help I still don't know) were made to clean up the mess the next day and I helped in vain but it just made me feel sick causing me to promptly run to the toilet and throw up myself! Lastly, although no one can understand him, he is quite a ladies man, with a mobile phone book list extremely long and as Shaun from the trip put it, "I have never met a person who likes to talk about his one night stands quite as much as Andy!"

2. Tony (Nickname Ned) & Rupert - Ned from country Victoria has provided me some of the best footage on my camera! Ned's thought for the day a favourite. Quotes likes, "There are big steins, there are little steins, but there aint nothing like good times!" and, "I came on this Contiki to get pissed but I ended up learning a lot about history!" Funny thing about Ned is when introducing himself to everyone on the bus he said his real name was Ethan! It was only after about 10 days in that I worked out his name was really Tony. Rupert from NZ was another lad who really had a big trip socialising and was often eager to help me "pick up", in particular the night out at a Vienna nightclub. The boys also attempted to come up with a new nickname for me everyday. Their favourite being "Mote Boy" referring to the fact I was in the "friendship mote" with all the girls on the trip!

3. Laura, Amy, Kari & Susan - These girls became a close knit group. Kari from Santa Cruz was great fun to talk to on the long bus trips as there was no topic which was taboo! Kari has a boyfriend called Matt which I found very confusing because Kari would say, "Matt will love this" or "Matt said this" and I kept turning my head all the time thinking she was referring to me. Susan from Canada who at 20 has her own painting business never stopped smiling and she and her boyfriend will hopefully be meeting up for a few drinks at Hogmany this year with me. Laura and Amy from Gloucester, an hour or so from Sydney were two young girls on the trip who were great fun and although younger than me you would not know in the way they acted compared to me! Hope Belgium is treating you girls well.

4. Annette and Christine - These girls both from California along with Kari on the trip single handely boosted the European economy with their spending. You name it, clothes, pearls, diamonds, jewellry, vases, they bought it. Christine fell in love on this trip... with a diamond ring she purchased in Amsterdam!

5. Clinton, Phil, Rachael & Jayne - These were the social animals on the trip. I had a few nights off on the trip, while these four had nil - they always carried on until stumps. Phil, a geologist in Broome had pains in his kidneys by the end of the trip! Clinton - you can tell he is a TV presenter - not only works hard but plays hard. Hope Fiji treated you well and if you ever need a guest presenter on Fox you know where to find me! Rachael and Jayne were the only others with a video camera on the trip and unfortunately have me talking absolute dribble on their video camera!

6. Nicky who I called Ricky for the first week! He works in the computer industry and is from Singapore. He is a big fan of Bon Jovi which we listened to together quite a bit on the bus and he told me an amazing thing that chewing gum is actually banned in Singapore!

I must also mention Dan and Kim who got engaged on the trip in Switzerland on Mt Pilatus which meant our swiss disco or "Swissco" was a very, very big night! Congratulations guys! We had about 6 couples on the trip and they were all great fun.

After Contiki stayed with Capozz and Drines in London and relived my tales with them. Little bit nervous about using the tube after the day before someone was arrested trying to put poisonous gas in the tube! Anyway no problems. Thanks again boys for letting me stay and safe travels back to Adelaide.

So that brings me to Edinburgh. My flat in Polwarth is great and my flatmates Colin and Graham are very cool and have been very helpful. Am only a 10 minute bus ride from the main street Princes Street and have pubs, shops, restaurants, bus stop, and post office all close by. Went out last night with some of Graham's friends and had a very funny night where I ate three quarters of the chocolate birthday cake at the party we ended up at! I was starving! Spent today at the Fiji v Scotland match which Scotland won. My landlord Jason who is a mate of Graham and Colins, actually is in the Scotland side and on writing this instalment is in the house at the moment but doesn't remember a thing about the game because he is badly concussed! Has not been raining lately but is very cold, with a maximum of 6 degress on average.

Anyway must go. Hope you have enjoyed reading my entries. Will keep updating it when interesting things happens. If you want my contact details in Edinburgh drop me an email because New Years is going to be huge!

Cheers,