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  • Dia 57

    Tour Day 8 - Bratislava & Vienna

    16 de julho de 2023, Áustria ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Today we woke up and left Budapest. We drove to Bratislava for a lunch break and wander around the town. The old town was small but cute. We ended up grabbing a burger and a beer, Marlene and Paul came over and grabbed a beer while we ate. The strangest thing in the town was the UFO tower on top of the bridge which the Soviets made which is now a restaurant. Closely rivalled by a statue of a man peeping out of a manhole which our tour guide Kristzi described in a much more creepy manor (judge for yourself).
    We continued on to Vienna which was only a short drive away. We checked in and then met our local guide for a driving/walking tour of the city. We welcomed Walter the walking red flag, as white and ancient as tour guides come. Initially he was cracking a few jokes and explaining about the great public housing system they have in Vienna, and I was hopeful my initial thoughts were wrong. However, when a joke was made regarding a queen having a miscarriage as an 'easy way out' and a comment about seeing Adele on TV before she lost the weight and her being not attractive, I knew it was going to be a long tour.
    The city had so many elegant buildings, from palaces, museums and even the parliament. The first place we walked around was a church, however there was a festival going on and there were strong sounds of Olivia Rodrigo coming from the area... Turns out there was a choir singing pop hits. Unholy by Sam Smith was a risky choice but About Damn Time by Lizzo was a personal favourite.
    We then walked to main areas like the parliament, palace, through a rose garden and came out in the main centre of town. All with Walter's sexist and interesting commentary. It was also very hot so the group were struggling with the heat. Our guide Kristzi was getting slightly annoyed with the complaints which was funny to see. We ended up in an old storage cellar for a traditional Austrian meal. Unfortunately for us, we were last to arrive so had little say in where we sat. We were with 2 South African ladies, who were a little patronizing regarding our ability to travel the world at such a young age and used any conversation as a way to speak about South Africa. The schnitzel was nice though.
    The other interesting thing about the restaurant was that the waitstaff were the most stressed individuals we've ever seen. Kristzi had warned us about 'Austrian' effeciency of waitstaff and how they try and get you in and our very quickly. Seeing it in action was a different story, we watched Lukas the waiter chug glasses of water while running to tables. We've heard he refused to get people drinks as he was too overwhelmed and busy. Erin and I made sure to stack our plates so he could quickly retrieve them. Honestly that man may have an ulcer.
    Next we wandered around Vienna and went to a rooftop bar that was suggested by my friend. It was an eventful time. First we went up in the elevator with others and none of us got off the right floor, so we went back to the ground floor... Finally we got off at the top and walked up stairs to a beautiful bar in the middle of Vienna. We watched the sunset and the views were stunning. I then made a mistake of pointing at a glass belonging to an interesting and creepy guy who approached us, begging us to stay multiple times. Luckily we were saved by our waiter... (Please ask for more detail in person, I attempted to write the story but it was too cringe to retell). We then finished the night at an Australian bar which wasn't too over the top actually. Then we met with our tour group who had returned from the classical concert which majority seemed to enjoy. It was a big day but we really got an experience of Vienna!
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  • Dia 56

    Tour Day 7 - Budapest

    15 de julho de 2023, Hungria ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Today we woke up and I decided to go running with Erin due to the amount of sights in Budapest. We ran to Margaret Island which is connected to the city via a bridge. It was a beautiful morning. The island is MASSIVE, with a swimming pool, mini zoo, small football stadium and Erin even ran past an outdoor cinema. Erin loved the run around the river and I enjoyed a walk around to see a giant lego lion. We got breakfast then headed off to a walking tour of the city. Our guide was funny and passionate about giving good tips for visiting the city. We met a lovely German woman called Annie, who was around our age and travelling by herself. We got to know her on the tour while seeing beautiful buildings in Budapest. Highlight of pettiness was seeing the communist Russian monument that has been left by the Russians (in an agreement with the Hungarians) right by the American embassy. The Americans have erected statues of 2 presidents standing quite close as a retaliation move we think.
    The tour ended at the parliament building which is an absolutely stunning building and puts parliament house to shame. We then walked to the shoes on the Denue which is a memorial to the Jews who were killed and pushed into the river during the Nazi period. They were told to leave their shoes as leather was valuable. Just a sad but fitting tribute.
    We then headed to get Langos for lunch, which is fried bread recommended with sour cream, cheese and garlic. We actually met our new friend Annie there and had lunch together. Next we headed to the House of Terror which is a museum about the rule of terror by both the Germans and the Soviets with a heavy focus on the Soviet occupation. The 'house' was the 'headquarters' of both these regimes and we even got to see places where people were tortured and wrongly imprisoned. It was a lot of information and very emotional. We then decided to head back to the hotel, and outside was Budapest Pride march! There was bright colours, music and we got to walk along for a short period. It was awesome to see.
    We freshened up and headed to the ruins bar which was a massive old building that has about 6 bars inside and now covered in graffiti. It had a super cool vibe and even had some market stalls inside. Then we headed towards our river cruise, got lost and had a drink in a questionable bar.
    The river cruise was very fun, we sat with Marlene and Paul who after hearing about the wine debarcle bought us a corkscrew... We had great food, great wine and saw the city at night. It was beautiful. Everyone got along really well, there was a large glass of grapa being passed around to drink which helped... Everyone has been so nice and have such interesting stories, it has made the trip really interesting.
    We walked back to the hotel, Paul has smuggled white wine out for us and we chatted with 2 guys we hadn't spoke to much. They are a gay couple and live in America, they told us that the pride march today was actually illegal as kids under a certain age cannot be exposed to LGBTQI+ ideas. It was a good conversation and we even considered going out with them but as soon as we hit the hotel it was bed time. We didn't drink the white wine either. Don't tell Paul...
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  • Dia 55

    Tour Day 6 - Banská Bystrica & Budapest

    14 de julho de 2023, Eslováquia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today we woke up jumped on the bus and said goodbye to Krakow. We had been warned that today's journey was going to be mainly on smaller roads so the trip would be longer. We drove through the Slovenian mountains and stopped in a small town called Banská Bystrica for a lunch break. It is mainly a ski resort town and has heaps of water activities and hiking during the summer. The old town was beautiful and it is wild that some of the buildings were built in 1303. We got a coffee and a fried dough tube filled with jam which was delicious. Erin spoke to her family while I walked by a church which was nice. We jumped back ok the bus and drove a few more hours before entering Hungary. At the petrol station stop, I grabbed a beer called a Meggy which made me chuckle. We hit Budapest and did a driving tour of the main sights. The main square had military vehicles and a helicopter as it is a military graduation tomorrow. We drove to Buda Castle which is no longer a castle and walked to the top of the viewing platform to the most incredible view of the city looking back to the Pest side.
    Finally we drove into town and stopped for dinner. We sat with Marlene and Paul who we met on the first day and once again they were so lovely. We chatted about everything and they even invited us to stay with them if we were ever in Florida. Paul made us take a traditional Hungarian shot, that is described by some locals as 'medicine'. It literally burnt all the way down my body, it was poison. The dinner was lovely but it was so hot, it made it harder to enjoy. Then finally we walked back and went to bed, another long bus day but Budapest looks amazing!!
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  • Dia 54

    Tour Day 5 - Krakow

    13 de julho de 2023, Polônia ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Today we got up and had breakfast, then got ready for a morning walkong tour with the group. The guide was hilarious and very enthusiastic about the city of Krakow. I personally was waiting for someone to get hit by a car or a bike as it was incredible how unaware the group was. We saw the main town square, former city walls and walked up to the castle area. It was beautiful city once again along a river.
    Erin and I went to the cathedral within the castle which houses many tombs of important people within Polish history as well as being a beautiful place of worship. It was definitely a highlight of the day, including a climb to a bell which if you touch you'll allegedly be married within the next year. Stay tuned for that update.
    We emerged and it was raining so we quickly walked back towards the hotel to have lunch at a Pierogi cafe. Erin tried to stop me from over ordering bur I didnt listen so we had more than enough of the delicious dumplings, including dessert ones. We rolled out of there, grabbed my rain jacket and headed for a beer at a bar. We were scheduled to go for a walking tour but with the weather decided against it instead we caught a tram to a museum.
    The museum was a pharmacy which was a part of the ghetto quarter, where the Nazi's had originally forced Polish jews in the area to live. The museum was interesting, with the employees seeming uninterested and it being unclear at first who ran the pharmacy. There was a lot of information and reading, not the most interactive musuem but heaps of amazing stories of things that occurred in the area. Next we walked to the jewish ghetto wall and then made our way to the jewish quarter of shops. We stopped at a craft brew house and I had a delicious gelato sour beer.
    Next we walked back towards the river to see the dragon statue. We attempted to grab a drink by the river on a boat but it looked closed and when we approached the door all the employees were sitting and/or playing frisbee. We waited for rhe dragon statue to breathe fire as we'd been told it was every 5 minutes... However after about 10 minutes it hadn't stirred, so we missed that. We walked through the town markets and went to watch the trumpet player who plays every hour st the church. We also missed seeing him play as he didnt come to the window we were standing near...
    Then we went for dinner at a traditional Polish place. It was very unusually decorated but the food was delicious. We then grabbed some snacks and alcohol for very cheap and headed back to the hotel. Erin's wine looked like blackcurrant juice and allegedly tasted the same, so she went to grab another bottle. Unfortunately for her this bottle had a cork... We had an early night especially early for sad no wine girl.
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  • Dia 53

    Tour Day 4 - Driving to Poland

    12 de julho de 2023, Polônia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Today was another early start and we jumped on the bus headed for Poland. It was a quiet and snoozy coach ride. We stopped for lunch at a Czechia shopping centre which is very similar to Australian shopping centre food courts but the menu is all in Czech. We did a lap and asked a few tour members what they ate. One couple got liver accidentally which spooked me. However Erin went with sushi and I miraculously got chicken fried rice. We got back on the bus after I took a picture of the sign showing you can't bring your pig into the centre. We drove again for a while and our guide talked about the Holocaust as we were headed to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
    We got there and it was busy but we had our own tours organised. There was a lot of security to get through then we met our guide who was lovely. It was such an intense experience seeing the camp artifacts, photos and hearing the stories of the atrocities that happened. There was two sites and they were both overwhelming but incredible to be able to experience. We both felt so emotionally drained and it was interesting to see other tour members reactions. It really reminds me of how lucky we as as Australians to be able to travel and live so freely, but also makes me sad that humans around the world still live in fear of a similar situation happening to them.
    We jumped back on the bus, watching some episodes of selling sunsets to repair the spirits. Finally after a long day we arrived at the hotel and had dinner. We sat next to a mother and son pair from Canada. Darlene told us she was 82 and I was honestly geniunely shocked, she looks bloody amazing and is so active. They were so lovely. We got back to our room and went to sleep quickly.
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  • Dia 52

    Tour Day 3 - Prague

    11 de julho de 2023, República Checa ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we woke up and grabbed some breakfast before jumping on the bus and heading to the castle district of Prague. One of the more quiet guys on the tour asked a couple of us if we wanted to try 'holy water'. We were all very confused but watched as he pulled out a ziplock bag with a coles plastic water bottle full of a clear liquid. We offerred for people to smell it before offering us a sip out of the lid. Turns out 'holy water' is 52% alcohol made out of fermented grapes. So that really woke us up.
    We walked from the castle district down to the astronomical tower to watch the performance on the hour. Highlight is a skeleton ringing a bell. Then found a place for coffee on the water which had stunning views. We then joined our free castle walking tour. We caught the tram up to the castle and then explored the surrounding areas before arriving at a non-traditional yellow palace looking building. Our guide got us a great view of the changing of the guard, which was incredible. The precision around it was amazing. We then went into the cathedral which took 500 years to build and includes a stained glass window sponsored by an insurance company. We had another 90 mins walking around the grounds, we saw a statue that we called Pissing Man 2 (see yesterdays post) and back to the Charles bridge. It was a great tour.
    Next we headed to a pub for a light lunch and a beer, then to an hour river cruise with coffee and cake. The cheesecake was delicious and made me tolerate the cruise more.
    Then we went to the Pilsner Urquell immersive experience, which was a tour of how they make this czech pilsner. It was a tour with headphones and the headphones are triggered in each room by sensors. We ended by trying the beer. I tried the Mlíko which is 7/8 foam, 1/8 beer meant to give the beer a sweet taste. It was interesting to say the least.
    We headed back to the hotel and got ready for a traditional dinner with folk dancing. The dinner was great but the best part was the all you can drink beer. Paul, who has become our drinking dad kept telling the servers to give us more beer and everyone was enjoying the Aussie girls drinking a tonne of beer only 2L. The dancing and music was so entertaining. Such talented people! We got suckered by the photographer and bought the souvenir photo.
    It was a very busy, full on day but we had a great time.
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  • Dia 51

    Tour Day 2 - Nuremberg & Prague

    10 de julho de 2023, República Checa ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today we woke up nice and early for our first bus travel day. The breakfast area was absolutely hectic but we got to eat before leaving for Nuremberg. Our guide Kristzi talked us through everything we needed to know for the trip and we had to pick out meals and extras for the next few days. We then arrived in Nuremberg which was a gorgeous city with a castle and beautiful churches. We walked around the castle, churches then grabbed a kebab for lunch to break up the German food. We then grabbed a beer from an Irish pub, a stock standard in all the tourist spots.
    We then jumped back on the bus, we have such characters in our group including 4 women - 2 sisters, their friend and mum. Mum has been identified as the weak link by the other women and keeps getting called out by her travelling companions. They told our tour guide she'd be slow walking and mum was not impressed. Stay tuned for more mum stories.
    We drove a few hours and crossed over to Czechia, land of the cheap beer. First stop we bought some fried chicken chips and peanut puffs as an introduction to culture. Next stop there was a KFC and I tried a quritto which was a popcorn chicken quesadilla. Very delicious. We then got beers for $2.50 from the petrol station.
    Finally we got to Prague and went on a walking tour. Everywhere we looked the buildings were beautiful. They are bright and colourful, all from different time eras as well. The country has had a crazy history as well and preserved a lot of it. Highlight was a sculpture refered to as pissing man, two male statues looking like they are peeing in an outline of Czechia. Allegedly you used to be able to text a word and they would move their hips to spell it in the water.
    We finally got to the restaurant and had a traditional meal in a brewery. The beer and food were great. We then walked back to the bus past some more stunning buildings and headed back to our hotel, which is a repurposed communist bloc. It was massive and everyone was keen to check in, so Erin and I grabbed a drink before heading to bed.
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  • Dia 50

    Tour Day 1 - Munich

    9 de julho de 2023 ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Today we woke up and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel which was delicious and had all the classics like meats, cheeses and bread rolls, a perfect German brekky. We then got ready and packed, walking to another hotel to start our tour. The hotel was packed with people all meeting and starting tours, 3 were starting today. Bags, humans, chaos everywhere. We found our guide and took our bags to a storage room. Next we all met in the breakfast room and had a chat about tour expectations. Everyone seemed very nice but very different walks of life.
    We then walked to the train station to head into Munich. It was incredible watching our guide try to teach people how to use public transport and then watch everyone scuttle to get on the trains. We finally made it to the city and it was gorgeous. Everywhere you turned there was more beautiful, old buildings. We had an orientation tour showing us mostly churches, then were taken to one of the most famous beer halls in the world. We sat down and a couple from the tour from America sat with us too. Erin and I had a few beers and some food, all were so good! The vibes were unmatched too, there was a live Oompa band playing and the building was beautiful.
    Next Erin guided us on a tour of the city. So many big, grand buildings, lovely outdoor spaces and a park with a river. A bunch of people had their feet in the river so we sat down and did the same. It was super refreshing. We then went into one of the churches which was gorgeous. It was then time to find a pub to watch the formula one in. We went to the Irish/Aussie pub and it was on all the screens. It was a great vibe and such an exciting race. Lots of beer later, we headed to dinner. We were running one minute late and somehow were the last to get there. So we have a slight reputation of being late, leading to much banter being thrown our way.
    Dinner was very nice, we sat with an Australian and Canadian couple who were lovely. The Australian couple have adopted the role of tour experts, so it will be interesting to watch that unfold. We caught the train back to the accommodation and got our rooms. Erin and I watched selling sunsets and then headed to sleep.
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  • Dia 49

    One perfect Prizza and life is changed

    8 de julho de 2023, Alemanha ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today we woke up and walked to a cafe for breakfast. It was really cute and nice to start our day with some good food. We then packed up our apartment and walked to the shopping district. We first went to the fancy shops to window shop, but there is a lovely stretch of water and trees. We then hit the regular people shops and Erin stopped to grab a few things.
    We then jumped on the light rail and headed to a street known for its graffiti art. The light rail was packed and was a gazillion degrees. The street was beautiful and the art was varied. People are so talented, it blows my mind.
    Next we headed back and grabbed some lunch and a beer, watched some more basketball then headed to the main train station. In a moment of panic, I was unsure I'd booked the right train but we got on and all was good. The train was over 5 hours to Munich but it gave us some time to listen to Speak Now Taylor's version and catch up on some F1 races. I also had some puzzle book time. It was a squishy journey and the train was so packed. We arrived in Munich and jumped on another train to get to the hotel. After a walk we arrived!
    We headed to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner and I got a Brizza... Not knowing what it was. It turned out to be a pretzel based pizza. Honestly it felt like a spiritual moment, it was so delicious and different. I was truly happy. I don't know if I can ever try one again, as it was so perfect.
    It was a long travel day but with lots of fun moments in between!
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  • Dia 48

    A Day in D'Dorf

    7 de julho de 2023, Alemanha ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today we got up and decided to head to Aldi to see what we could grab for breakfast. We found all my favourite foods and there was a massive range of pastries to choose from. We got 2 each and headed back to the apartment. We then headed to a river cruise along the Rhine. We got a nice seat on the top level, it was a beautiful day. The cruise was only an hour but we got to see some of the city and Erin got a beer.
    We then visited tourist information to see if there were any must see spots. We got some old school maps and headed back to make our own plan. We headed towards the art gallery K21. It was an interesting experience... There was potentially more security guards than art work and majority of the work was different. There were a few really good exhibits but some were very weird including animations of people crying, drawings that looked like they were done by 5 year olds and photos of mountains. Please see the video of my favourite art piece though. We also went into a paid exhibition accidentally which was the one we enjoyed most ironically.
    Next we walked to the parliament building and past these cool apartment buildings. We stopped for lunch and Erin had the worlds biggest schnitzel. We then walked along the Rhine promenade and saw where they were doing the pole vaulting. Back in the main town the 3x3 basketball tournament had started so we watched one of those games.
    We went back to the accommodation, got changed and headed back out. Erin took me on her own version of a free walking tour and we saw some lovely buildings. She even bought me a beer as you are allowed to open carry here. We found a nice seat overlooking the Rhine and had a beer. We then watched another basketball game while enjoying a beer. The quality of the competition was really good. The amount of people who had embraced the free merch from IMG was incredible, everyone in orange bucket hats or fedoras.
    Next stop was a bar we'd seen earlier which had 2 for 1 cocktails. We had a watermelon cocktail and then a pina colada. They were both very good. Then we had a 1€ shot because yolo.
    We grabbed another beer and sat down to watch a few more games before going for a late snack dinner as we were so full still.
    We had a pretzel and spinach bread dumplings which were delicious. We headed home after this, it was 30 degrees and had been a big walking day!
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