• Prideaux Family
jul. – des. 2023

Overseas trip

Et 154-dagers eventyr av Prideaux Family Les mer
  • Reisens start
    23. juli 2023
  • Melbourne airport

    24. juli 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    We got to the airport by Uber. His name was John. We arrived at the airport and realised we got here a bit too early so there was a lot of waiting around.

  • Singapore

    24. juli 2023, Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our first destination was Singapore. We landed safely by plane and immediately drove through the very humid weather to our apartment. Then we explored the colourful streets of Singapore.

  • Tioman island

    25. juli 2023, Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After our stay in Singapore we crossed the border to Malaysia where the streets looked very different to Singapore, we also past many monkeys and a-lot of beware of elephant signs. .We then took a boat ride over to Tioman island which took around 3 hours. Then we checked in at our room and went for a swim in the 29 degree water ( a nice change from the 19 water temperature of Phillip island.) On our second day at tioman island we decided to have a day of relaxing in the pool and swimming in the warm ocean. That day we all realised that most people ( including us) need to remember to wear sunscreen. On day 3 at tioman island we decided to take a walk to the marine park which we thought wouldn’t be too long. So we were off and first we saw a couple of monkeys and they started getting a-bit territorial. But we got through there okay. As we got on further we realised the weather was much more hotter than we bargained for, so we went down to the beach and jumped off the jetty. Then a storm arrived and we had to hide under a bridge. We finally got to the Marine park and it was worth it. We got to feed all the fish and swim up to them and everything which was cool. The only sad part about it was that we had to walk back. In the end it added up to 8km. On our 3rd and final day we rested by the pool and swam in the warm ocean. That night we went to a fire show where people blew fire out of their mouths and did a bunch of cool dancing. We got home, packed and got ready for the next day of travelling.Les mer

  • Singapore nu. 2

    29. juli 2023, Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After we left Tioman island we hopped in another Uber to drive us to Singapore, he seemed to not worry about getting us there alive but he was set on getting us there fast, like 50km over the speed limit fast!! Anyway, after that near death experience we set out down the street again and we went into a Buddha temple where Jemilla and Mum had to wear coverings over their legs and shoulders. It was very big and cool to see all the people praying to the statues. We then passed another Indian temple which were playing some really loud music. It was interesting to see how many different cultures could live so close together so happily. After that we went to the bay of gardens, but on the way we got dinner in this big food court place and it was delicious. While we were eating a massive stunt jet flew over making it sound like an air raid but it was all good. And coincidentally we stumbled across the practise for the practise for the national day of Singapore where we got to watch free fireworks and it also explained the stunt planes. The fireworks were the biggest fireworks I’ve ever seen and even over the crowd you could still hear them.In the bay of gardens we got to see a light show on all the trees with music and everything. So we just lay on the grass and watched which was quite relaxing. Then we spent 30minutes trying to find a taxi and also discovered that Singapore is a pretty cool and safe place.

    The next day we stayed and slept in because we knew we were gonna have a late night knowing our flight left at 12:00 at night. Then we walked around the street a little and went into this big supermarket with an escalator which I’ve never seen before. We headed to Singapore airport to prepare for a flight. It was very fancy and there was a shopping centre attached to it which was random but a cool feature. There was this big waterfall coming from the roof and a marvel exhibition with a bunch of trams going over the top and trees lining the walls. It felt like you were in a futuristic jungle. But sadly the rest of the airport wasn’t as cool, how could it be! So we hopped on our flight to go to Paris.
    Les mer

  • Paris Nu.1

    1. august 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We got to Paris and I felt immediately more comfortable because the heat wasn’t as harsh. Our first day in Paris we decided to go to the Arc de Triumph. As we walked to the Arc de Triumph we walked into a supermarket ( and it seems that all supermarkets in Paris are two story) and got some lunch. We also stumbled across a museum of French history with World War Two and Napoleon. It also had Napoleon’s tomb attached to it. We learned all about the concentration camps and Napoleon himself. His tomb was massive( for such a small guy) it felt like we were in the set of lord of the rings. We then walked the rest of the way to the Arc de Triumph, it was quite massive and the streets around it were full of performers and people, and a-lot of people taking Instagram photos. The culture seems very different too, like everyone seems to dress very well and for some reason there are a lot of vans, but I don’t think that’s culture. The Architecture around Paris is so cool because they have old things that look really old and are nice to look at and their modern things look old because of the style,if that makes sense.

    On our third day we went to the Eiffel Tower and the catacombs. We walked to the Eiffel Tower, and found that there were a lot of “influencers” and people standing in the middle of the road to take photos and of course, Dad being Dad decided to join them. We walked to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, but we couldn’t go to the top because it was closed due to the wind. You could see all of Paris laid out in front of you, and the walk up was definitely worth it. After the Eiffel Tower we walked to the catacombs which is a room full of people’s bones super far underground. Under there it was cold, eerie, and a-bit Scooby dooish. All the walls were lined with bones and dirt which made you feel a-bit sick. We also learned that the orphans of France were trained to dig up dead people( because there wasn’t enough space in the graveyard) and bring them underground by candlelight and line the walls with there bones. To some up the day they both had extremely different vibes and for one we went to the highest point in Paris and the lowest.
    Les mer

  • Paris Nu.2

    4. august 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    On our 4th day we had a big down day. We walked down a street to Luxembourg Palace which was owned by a queen who was widowed. We also went to the Pantheon, which was pretty cool. On our way we saw a bunch of gardens with statues too, and for some reason Paris seems to have an obsession with naked statues.

    On our 5th day we went to Versailles Palace, which was owned by Marie Antoinette or as I call her ‘cake lady’, but most people know her from the quote “let them eat cake”. The Palace was massive and had a whole art gallery, mirror room, and a whole theatre. Each child got their own apartment with 6 rooms and the king had chairs around his bed so he could invite people to watch him fall asleep and wake up ( which was really weird and creepy.) We then took a double decker train back to our apartment and got a treat from the bakery. That day I also realised that many people is Paris smoke or vape, so it felt like every 3 minutes you saw people walking down the street looking like puff the magic dragon.

    On our 5th day we went to Notre Dame, it wasn’t to far of a walk either. It was a pretty relaxing day, we ate lunch out in front of the Luxembourg Palace which we went to two day before and watched the boats in a fountain( small ones not big ones ) and it was fun watching a particular one and hoping it didn’t sink. We got to Notre Dame and learned all about how much of it burnt down and why which was interesting. It was also cool seeing the construction going on too.

    The next day we went to an art gallery called Musee d,orsay where we got to see statues and art work from a long time ago. It was really good because we had already gone to the catacombs and Napoleons tomb and places like that, and a lot of the art work mentioned it so it was good having that information background going into it. There were also a lot of painting from Ancient Greece which was pretty gruesome and gross to look at.

    On our last day we had to go pick up the car to drive out of Paris. On our way Jemilla wanted to go to a Starbucks that was apparently really good. So we walked there having low expectations of what we were about to go to, but when we got there I was actually pretty impressed. It wasn’t some crappy looking Starbucks, it had mirrors everywhere and gold on the ceiling,and the milkshakes there were really good. (Jemilla shouted the drinks) then we walked to the car and Dad was getting confident and said he was going to drive around the Arc de triumph, but when he saw how much he had to pay if we damaged it, he changed his mind pretty quickly. We got home (alive) and went out for a hot chocolate to close off our time in Paris excited to explore more of the country side of France.
    Les mer

  • Allouis

    9. august 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    The day we left Paris we woke up early and went to drive to Allouis, but on our way we decided to drive to Monet’s garden. It was good because I had seen some of his pictures in the Musee D’Orsay which he painted in this garden. It was one of the biggest gardens I have ever seen(apart from the city ones) but I reckon it was better than the Melbourne botanical gardens. We also got a tour of his house which was very colourful. My advice is that if you want to go to his garden you should go early in the morning,because there are less people there and less tour groups. Our next stop was a big town on an island called Mont Saint-Michel and it was the busiest tourist destination I had ever seen! There were people everywhere. You had to do a pretty big walk to get there and once we did all the shops looked all medieval and old. We didn’t get to see much of it due to all the people but later we looked up how many people were there per day, and it said 15,000 people. Once we had done that we drove into the country of France and finally got to Allouis where we were staying in a three story tower.

    On our 2nd day at the tower we had quite the down day which we wanted to do for the rest of our 3 days here. We hung around the pool(which had a few floating donuts which was fun for me) and just sat and read on the deck chairs outside our tower.And on the 4th we repeated everything we just did on the 3rd and 2nd. Jemilla and I learnt how to play 500 so I think we might be playing a bit of that on the rest of our trip. Now off to our castle.
    Les mer

  • Dargoire

    12. august 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We left Allouis and didn’t make any stops on our way to Dargoire except for our lunch. We got to this small town around 5:00 and we were greeted by an old lady who showed us around and how to work everything. Then we drove around the town looking at things and getting dinner from the supermarket.

    The next day we walked in the main part of the town with a small church and a bakery. It was pretty hot walk but worth it because we got to see the amazing scenery which I thought gave a Mexican vibe but no one agreed with me. It was good to see the difference between our country and their country because there were a few differences in architecture and there wasn’t a beach down the road. For the rest of the day we did the usual routine reading, writing and drawing. And then played 500 to finish off.

    It went exactly like that the next day, but the 4th day we did something. We went to Lyon. The second biggest city in France next to ParisWe went through all the nice streets and went into a couple of churches. In one of them we saw a old astrological clock. We got a ice cream a saw a big old Roman amphitheatre, which we think was a couple of centuries old. It was cool to see the difference between Paris and Lyon, Lyon seemed to be a-bit more modern, and I noticed the rivers in Lyon seemed much cleaner.

    On our 5th day we wanted to get our rest up for our early start on Friday, because on our 6th day we went for a drive up to the tallest mountain in all of Europe. It was a very nice drive because 1 we got to see the sunrise and 2 because we could see all the mountains around us. I also learned that the mountain were going up in a gondola was around 6 times taller than mount Oberon at the Prom. The gondola was pretty big and could fit around 25 people and the way up was one of the scariest things I’ve done in a long time. But the way up the other half and down again wasn’t nearly as scary as the first one. Up on the mountain the air was really thin which I had never felt before, so after you went up like 10 stairs you had to catch your breath again like you just did the 100 meter sprint. The views where amazing and even though in was 30 degree weather down the mountain,it was 2 degrees Celsius on the top. From the mountain we could see all the other mountains(obviously) a few parasailers who were doing a bunch of tricks in the sky, and Italy( which we nearly crossed the border to by accident and nearly got charged 80 euro.)
    We got down the mountain,ate lunch and went on this cool red train that took us back up the mountain so then we could go into a glacier. It was worth the big walk to it, because there was a few carvings within it, and the ice was so thick and solid and cold, I felt like a beer in a esky(and that was the most Aussie thing I’ve ever said) but in my opinion it was a good way to wrap up our time in Dargoire.
    Les mer

  • Schalkendorf

    19. august 2023, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    We got up semi early and actually left on the time we said we would( 8:00 ) . I reckon it was one of the longest drives of my life, my only pause to the boredom of the 7 hour drive was our break for lunch in a really nice park. We passed through all these nice towns that were made when Germany ruled France in the Second World War,and I noticed that the style of the German houses were much more colourful to the dark bricks of French architecture. When we got to our Airbnb we met a lady called Gabby whose family had been in the renovated barn for 6 generations. She showed us around the house and the pool and it was really nice. From our deck we could see the old church which chimed every 15 minutes. They also made home made apple juice that they picked from the orchards around us.

    On our second day at Schalkendorf I awoke to the sounds of the church bells that wrung for 15 minutes which would be fine if it hadn’t gone off at 6:00 in the morning!! We spent our day by the pool and having a look around neighbouring towns of which all had there own church. Although our stay here was short,it was a cool experience living in a small French village for two days (but my highlight is still the apple juice)
    Les mer

  • Rothenburg

    21. august 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After our stay in our nice farm house. We set off again to drop off our car, hop on a bus, get on a train and pick up our new car. I was surprised that there wasn’t any border security from France to Germany. Like I said in my last blog I noticed that the German houses were much more colourful than it is in France. My frist impression of Germany wasn’t the best because we got off at the train station so there were a few odd people about. But once we got to Rothenburg all those train station events were wiped from my mind. It was one of the most amazing towns I’ve ever seen, it had the old town from olden days and it had a wall around it and about 3 clock towers. The shops were bright with ( I assumed ) local made puppets, toys and many other things. It is also known to be home to one of the biggest Christmas shops in the world. We checked in at our apartment which was also amazing with real comfy couches,and got a tour around the place with a night watchman who told us about the history and the security it used to have. It was even better though because he was all dressed up.

    Our second day in Rothenburg was even better, we looked in the church that apparently had a few drops of Jesus blood, old shops like this massive Christmas shop with a big Christmas tree and a wooden spiny thing. We went into a medieval shop. There were helmets, a quill and ink, and a few daggers and swords, there was also a shop full of stuffed animals. We walked around the wall of Rothenburg too. To sum up so far I think that Rothenburg had taken top spot in my list of favourite places.
    Les mer

  • Garmitch

    23. august 2023, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After we left the fairy tale town of Rothenburg we got back on the road to the mountain countryside where we were going to do a fair bit of hiking. But before we got there we wanted to go to an old nazi concentration camp at Dachau which was very confronting because we learnt all about what they did to them and where they stayed and the terrible conditions they went through. We kept driving and we got to the mountains kinda like Mont Blanc but these where smaller( not by much ) our little house was next to a little river and a few of the mountains. We met a really nice lady who owned the Airbnb and we just chilled out for the rest of the day.

    Our next day we woke up semi early to catch a gondola up a 2628 metre mountain and then walk down. It was very steep and Rocky but the views were amazing . As we were going we saw cows with bells attached to their front and they didn’t have any gates either, people paragliding off the mountain and mountain bike riders which confused me because the hills were extremely steep! Even at the top there was this hangover part that hung over the big drop 1km. It didn’t help that it felt like it was wobbling. After our walk down the mountain we all kinda hated each other after a 5hr hike, but Dad planned to go on this swim in a lake, which I didn’t really want to do, but we did it. And I’m so glad I did, the second I got in I wasn’t hot anymore,it wasn’t salty and it just dropped off into the deep. The sand at the bottom was so soft because the lake was so still that when you touched it your hand went straight through it like air. It was so deep that you past this invincible line in the water that when you dived down and passed it it was freezing cold. We even had a big view of the Mountains behind us and a few fish and ducks.

    The next day we woke up extremely sore. But in spite of that we wanted to go to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castle. We had a tour around hohenschwangau which was a big yellow castle and was said to be their summer retreat. It was much more colourful than any of the castles in France and all the furniture in it was original,only because German medieval history seemed more peaceful (sort of)We then walked up to Neuschwanstein Castle of which the Disney Castle was based on and one of the most famous castles in Europe. We walked around the White turrety tower and went on the bridge above it ( which didn’t feel very stable at all). But all and all was a really good sight seeing day.

    Our next day I believe was one of my highlights. Dad had planned this gauge thing which was near our first mountain hike. It was around a 3 hour hike through a gorge. Minus 20 minutes to walk to it, but it was no boring 20 minutes. We walked passed a few horse and carriages, some really cool little huts, a busker at a cafe playing a piano accordion ( which was very different from the kind of music we hear at our dining places ) we even saw a grass cutting competition of people cutting grass in traditional German cloths and cutting grass with the weapon like the grim reaper uses. Thankfully these guys did not look like no grim reaper. Once we got to the gorge we immediately had to pull our rain jackets on due to all the water flying about. It was so loud in their because of the water rapids that run through there. The walk pathway was cut into the wall of the gorge so in some parts we were walking through stone tunnels. On the other side we ate lunch next to the calmer water and had a competition of who could keep their legs in the ice cold melted ice mountain water. I got 3 minutes 10 and won, but at the cost of not feeling my legs for a while after.

    Our next and last day we had a bit of a rest day ready for our journey to Austria tomorrow
    Les mer

  • Hippach - Ausria

    29. august 2023, Østerrike ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    After our stay in Germany we wanted to drive to another country. So we got on a bus for an hour and we achieved that goal by heading into Austria. It was a very cold and rainy day,but that did not stop us from walking an hour to our rental car. Because of all the rain all the rivers were brown and overflowing. Luckily it wasn’t supposed to flow over as we were passing but later in the day. We got to our valley of Hippatch and I think it might be the best accomodation we’ve had so far. It had an amazing view( because we were quite high on the valley ) seperate beds, and a really good shower. That night we stayed and looked over the view. At one point we thought there was a black out further down the valley, but that’s only because a cloud was passing through us.

    Our next day we went for a walk down to the town and looked in a few shops. Sadly we couldn’t go up to any of the mountain because of the clouds so we had to wait for them to pass to go. We did the same thing the next day too but instead we walked beside the river.

    On our 3rd day here we went up and drove up the mountains. We were driving 4 times the height of mount Oberon. We came across a place called Marmul world where it was like a petting zoo and we went for a few walks too. We kept driving through really skinny roads and we were like 3000 meters in the air. There was a lot of mist too and we got a few really good photos.

    On our last day we wanted to walk up a 2300 metre mountain ( as you do ) We drove up to 1700 metres and walked the rest. It was right next to a dam so it was really pretty and the dam was tall. It was a pretty steep and hard walk up and had plenty of rests. Up on the top there were sheep goats and chickens. It was like a whole animal farm. There was also a bridge that made it look like we were dangling over a really steep hill. I think I had my favourite lunch spot there looking over the Alps. The walk down too was much faster and warmer but we were going down pretty fast so the heat didn’t bother us too much. At the end of our walk we went for a shorter walk along the Dam wall which was very high. Hippatch was one of my favourite spots so far with the mountains and the really nice owners. Even though it was a pretty slow start and we didn’t do much because we could go up for the clouds. When it cleared the waiting was definitely worth it.
    Les mer

  • Weng

    2. september 2023, Østerrike ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After we left Hippach we took a drive to Salzburg where they filmed the Sound of Music and the birth place of Mozart. We looked around at all the locations in the movie and in the gardens. The city felt very quiet and small but very pretty. It also happened that we came on the world pride festival day. We got a cinnamon Pretzel which was delicious and walked up to the hill where we saw the view of Salzburg from above, All the street signs were really rustic and old including the Maccas one. We got to our Airbnb, and down the street from our place are paragliders landing. It was a small place and it had a view of the mountain.

    The next place we went to was amazing. Hallstatt I think was my 2nd favourite place we have visited. (1st being Rothenburg) It was a town right on the edge of a river. Its buildings were very similar to Rothenburg’s, colour wise and design wise. Becuase it was Father’s Day we got to have lunch out ( kebabs ) which we haven’t done for ages and I think it’s the fullest I’ve ever been in a long time. The drive there was really nice, looking around at all the mountains and hills. It was a pretty short stay but I think we made the most with what we did. Ready for a 4 hour bus trip and a 3 hour wait tomorrow… yay.
    Les mer

  • Ljubljana

    6. september 2023, Slovenia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our 4 hours bus trip was quite the journey. It wasn’t as bad as I originally thought it would be. While we were on the outskirts of Ljubljana it seemed like a very dirty and gross town with a lot of vandalism, but the more we got into the heart of it the nicer it got untill we got to the section ( where we were staying) that gave a very Paris vibe. The inside of the apartment was very artistic because there was a yellow fridge, a bunch of local art work, and across the street we saw a painter painting on a canvas.

    The next day we had a relaxing morning and slowly eased ourselves out onto the streets to look at shops. We got a burek for lunch which is a triangle thing filled with a bunch of yummy stuff ( sorry that I’m not informative there’s a reason I’m not hired as a food critic ). We then went out to the street later at night for a drink by the river.

    On our last day in Ljubljana we went for an 11am tour around Ljubljana. Even though it’s history is kinda grim with the communist stuff it was kind of a funny history art wise. The statues throughout the city add so much to the vibe of the place. We got our Burek again and chilled out for the rest of the day. We also saw a band playing on a boat going down the river, and a violinist playing on the triple bridge. The good thing is because there were no cars we could hear it from a distance. There was also an Irish soccer team celebrating so it was cool to see the contrast of cultures. To sum up our stay in Ljubljana it was a quiet small city with delicious food and cool music and culture and would definitely recommend going.
    Les mer

  • Zagreb

    7. september 2023, Kroatia ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Our bus ride to Zagreb was short and quick. We got to Zagreb and walked to our Airbnb. It was much more spacious than our other ones. It also came with a membership to a fancy pool. That night we got to go to a really cheap kebab shop that was really good. And the area around was very graffitied and run down but that makes sense because there was a war for 10 years here.

    The next morning we took a tour in the old city which was pretty cool knowing the history which also linked to the history of Ljubljana. We passed farmers markets, towers, and a 18 hundreds canon that fires at 12:00 each day which was extremely loud. We got home and went for another swim in the fancy pool which was very nice. And saw some more of the graffiti on the way.
    Les mer

  • Dugirat

    10. september 2023, Kroatia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Our relaxing start to the day was greeted by a Uber Tesla which was super fancy. We had to take one to get to our rental car which wasn’t quite a Tesla. We then went to Plitvic national park where we had a walk around a lake that was crystal clear and a few waterfalls. On our way out of there we saw a big Croatian choir plus dancers plus a little band, all dressed up in their traditional clothing. At our place we met a really nice guy called Igor which was right across the road from the beach. Which didn’t have any sand but that’s ok.

    Our first full day at the beach was extremely wonderful. We spent time by the beach and our Airbnb host gave us an inflatable donut for us to ride in. The water was 25 degrees which is much warmer than Phillip island and very clear, so much so that you could see the bottom for ages away from the shore.

    Our next day we did the exact same thing as we did the day before. This time though I got on my inflatable donut and sailed all the way to the rope where they don’t let boats passed ( which is really far out)

    On our last day after our initial swim at our local beach. Dad and me decided to do an aqenture. ( you didn’t read that wrong Dad just put aqua and adventure together) On our aqenture we walked along the beach and swam in spots that looked cool. One of the spots was so clear and deep that when you dived off this platform you would go extremely deep and look around all the surrounding waters. Then we sat on our deck and watched the sun go down. Dugirat I decided was my second favourite place. I think it was because we where in the cities so long it was a nice refreshment.
    Les mer

  • Dubrovnik

    13. september 2023, Kroatia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We left Dugirat, our little beach town to go to Dubrovnik, another beach town. It was a mix of my two favourite things about Europe the beach and the old towns. We went for a swim at the beach and went back up to our apartment (which was pretty spacious) and played a few rounds of 500.

    On our second day in Dubrovnik we took a tour in the old town. We learnt a lot about it all but I think I liked Germany’s old towns only because it’s more colourful. The city had a funny history with lots of story’s from cats who got a small palace outside a museum to a monk who cursed a whole island. That night we chilled on the beach and then watched a movie to finish off our day.

    Our 3rd day Dad and Mum got up real early and went down to the old city. We then went to a new beach and chilled there. I finished another book too.

    The next day we went to the orchestra and into the old town at night. The orchestra was really cool to watch and see the professionals do it. It was also in a really cool room. Then we got ice cream. We also saw a tv news presenter

    On our last day in Dubrovnik we basically did what we did most days. Hang out on the beach and chill around Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik was really good and relaxing the only downside to it was that there were a lot of stairs.
    Les mer

  • Dabrota

    18. september 2023, Montenegro ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Our trip to Dabrota. I reckon this was one of my least favourite change overs of the whole trip so far. First off we had to walk 50 minutes, a lot of it uphill with suitcases and backpacks on a hot morning to the bus stop. So starting off great!Then the bus driver was corrupt so he made us pay 2 euro each so he could put our bags in the bus. At the border we had to get out of the bus twice because Montenegro is not a part of the EU so it’s more strict on its border control. Once we got off the bus we ate lunch which was all good. But then the Airbnb person who said they would drive us to the Airbnb backed out so we had to walk 50minutes to the place. 10 minutes into the walk we were texted saying that her driver can pick us up so we had to walk back to the original destination. Plus there were a lot of noisy motor bikes and cars. The guy got there and it was extremely squishy and he charged us 5 euro extra because apparently we were too heavy. Slightly offended!! But luckily our accomodation was great looking over the sea and it had a pool and an awesome couch.

    We woke up and went to the old town and had a tour around the place. It was much smaller than dubrovnik and more colourful. I think that’s why I like it more. Then we went for a swim on our way home and chilled at home for the rest of the day.

    For our 3rd day we walked around the wall of the town and got ice cream. We explored the streets abit more and tried to find one that the tour guide suggested that only one person could fit down but becuase none of the streets had names it was abit hard.

    The 4th day was a complete relax day to get ready for our biggest travel day yet. But overall our time in Dabrota was good. I really liked the old town but everything around us was abit too loud.
    Les mer

  • Rome Nu. 2

    25. september 2023, Vatikanet ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today we went to St Peter Basilica and it was the biggest church I’ve ever been to. It was a long line but definitely worth it. The statues at the bottom were 6 foot and then the ones above them were 7 feet taller to make it look smaller than it actually is. We learnt all about the paintings and statues and there was a church session going over the speakers with choirs and things which was really cool to see.

    On our last day in Rome we went to the Colosseum. We took a bus about half the way there and walked the rest. Jemilla was sick so she didn’t have the best day but she said she was glad she went. On the way Mum took a bunch of photos of doors. We went into a bunch of church’s as well as the pantheon. We saw a castle which was much more ugly than the ones in France and Germany, and finally made it to the Colosseum and had a look around listening to Ricks Steve’s audio guides. The Colosseum was smaller than I expected but that might be because in the movies it’s intact but in real life half of it’s destroyed. We also accidentally went into the below levels where only people who paid 50 euro each extra and in a tour were allowed to go. So we had a look around there until we realised our mistake. My summary of Rome is i definately liked it. Most of the food seemed pretty cheap. If I went there again I would walk more because then you could get a better vibe of the city. I didn’t like how there were so many people trying to sell you things and come up to you and stuff. The architecture was way more flat and square than Germany or France. But I would definitely come to Rome again because I still feel like there is so much I haven’t seen. That makes sense considering how long this place has been doing history!
    Les mer

  • Rome Nu.1

    26. september 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Our travel day from Dobrota to Rome was one of our biggest and longest yet. It started from 6:00 am and ended at 8:30 pm. We walked for a hour and 45 minutes to the bus stop with our bags. Which was fine because we got up before everything got too hot. Then we got on a bus back to Dubrovnik where it started to rain but it was good because we were all really hot. Then we got an Uber to the Airport and hopped on a tiny plane to Italy, which was kinda scary because I had never been on a plane so small. Then we arrived in Italy and waited an hour for our bus, and we got to listen to all the Italian accents and languages. We then arrived in Rome and met the guy who owned the place who was super nice. The apartment building also had this tiny lift that only one person could fit in. We settled in getting ready for exploring Rome for the next few days.

    We had a slow morning before we started to Rome around the streets. (Pun intended) we wanted to go to St Peters but they wouldn’t let us in because our clothes weren’t suitable enough so instead we went to the Trevi fountain and as a bonus we got to ride a bus because everything was so much cheaper in Rome. There were so many people at the Trevi fountain and we had to hold onto our pockets because there were a lot of pickpockets and after that we went and got an ice cream and went back to our apartment.

    On our 2nd day in Rome we got up early to get in line for the Vatican which was free that day. In the line we met this girl who was really nice and then we did the whole tour with her and we became like friends. She was from turkey. It was also good because we had a deal going on. She got to listen to our tour guide in our phones and she took photos for the 4 of us. Win win for everyone. In the Museum thing there were thousands of statues and roof paintings. We also saw that famous one in the Sistine chapel where we weren’t allowed to take photos. I was abit sneaky and took one of the ceiling before the person caught me and I felt bad for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. That night we went out for dinner and it was soooooooo good. I had bolognaise (obviously I would never choose anything else) Mum had risotto, Dad had a pizza and Jemilla had carbonara.

    P.S I will have to split this blog into two parts because there are too many photos.
    Les mer

  • Venice

    27. september 2023, Italia ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    We left Rome at 5:45 in the morning to catch a train. I was surprised that so many people were up jogging and going to work. It was also the first time that I went on an underground train which was super deep down. We then got on a double decker bus that took us 7 hours to Venice. In Venice we checked in at our apartment which was really snug with a lot of bricks. Apparently when it rained too much the apartment flooded ankle deep because the sea level is so high. We then went for a walk after dinner and got the best ice cream I think I have ever had. It was salted peanut caramel! It was extremely delicious.
    On the way back we did get lost in the streets of Venice so there was a-bit of de touring going on. But while we were lost I noticed that people (that I assumed were locals) used the more empty squares away from tourist spots where they played with their dogs and hung out with their friends.

    On our second day in Venice we went out onto the streets to have a look around and go to a famous church called St Marks. On our way we got distracted by another church which had an exhibition of Jesus’ life where someone had made all the scenes out of the Bible. They even put hand made clothing on to the wooden figures which was really cool to see. We went to St Mark’s square and half of it was covered in water. We weren’t allowed in the church sadly because we were dressed inappropriately. As if a red head was gonna wear long pants and a long sleeve T-shirt on a 30 degree day! So instead we went on a Gondola boat on the river which was really fun. It seemed that everyone that lives in Venice knows each other because the Gondola driver talked to everyone he passed in Italian. We also discovered that it’s not just Rome that has cheap things
    It’s all of Italy so we got to go out for dinner again in Venice and I had the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had in my life. I also had spaghetti carbonara. So all in all I came out of Venice now having a new favourite place and having the best hot chocolate and the best ice cream. And I think Venice takes top spot on a favourite places beating Rothenburg because it wasn’t too loud because it only had boats, I liked the colourful buildings and ( most importantly) good food.
    Les mer

  • Lake Como

    2. oktober 2023, Italia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Our trip from Venice to Lake Como was running very smoothly. We went on 3 trains, each one going for maybe one hour each. It was all going fine and smooth until we had to get on the bus and it all fell apart. We got off the train and out of the train station and just missed the first bus so we had to wait an hour. We were the only ones there for the first thirty minutes but then more and more people started to come until the whole bus stop was packed. There was even a whole gang of 14 to 15 year olds so when the bus came all the 14s and 15s pushed against the doors of the bus trying to get on first and they were pushing so hard that they pushed over an old lady who nearly got run over! We had to scramble on with our big suitcases and no one helped us, just pushed us aside. Me, Mum and Dad got on the bus but Jemilla got cut off by another wave of people and it took her ages to get back on. We were halfway down the bus when she realised she wasn’t on. When she finally scrambled on the bus the driver was saying she wasn’t allowed on. Dad was calling out to the Bus driver to let her on but he didn’t understand, but in the end a New Zealand guy realised what happened and sort it out. We finally got to our place and settled in with our awesome view and now have another good travel story!

    On our second day we walked down to the supermarket along this really nice trail which was really green and had a bunch of paths leading down to the ocean. We did get lost a lot of times.

    On our third day we stayed at home and watched the grand final because we always have to watch it late. It wasn’t like any of the grand finals we’ve watched before because there were no party pies or sausage rolls but a different experience is a good experience.

    After our grand final day we got up and got on a ferry that took us over to Bellagio where we looked around for a-bit. Everything there looked super rich with a lot of rich people and the area around had really nice streets with expensive food, so we had to walk 30 minutes to a super market were we got a delicious pizza for $2, which was cheap seeing that we saw the same pizza for $6 in the middle of town. Our next town (Verena) we visited on the ferry was much smaller and we had not as much time there unfortunately because we had to catch the bus. We then caught the ferry back and got some delicious ice cream while we waited for the bus.

    The next day we visited a really famous villa where a James Bond scene was filmed and half a Star Wars movie. It was a big garden with really nice views and it was really cool standing in the places that famous actors stood. All in all I loved Lake Como because it was quiet and the architecture was very colourful and Italian. I also loved Italy in general because this was our last place before we leave for Switzerland. I think Italy was my favourite country so far and Germany goes in second place.
    Les mer

  • Saas Fee

    5. oktober 2023, Sveits ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    On our travel day to Switzerland everything went much smoother than our last travel day. We hopped on three seperate trains and got to Switzerland. Everything in Switzerland felt very organised and clean, and I loved getting back to the mountains. The place we were staying in had the best view of the mountains and had the best inside. Everything had a very Christmas vibe and the beds were super comfy, and for some reason the light switches were super satisfying to turn on and off because it felt good on your finger.

    On our second day Jemilla and I chilled out in our cozy home for the majority of the day while Mum and Dad went for walks because the next day we had a big travelling day and we were going on a few hikes at our next Airbnb place. I loved our stay in Saas Fee even though it was short. I just loved being back in the mountains.
    Les mer

  • Lauterbrunnen

    6. oktober 2023, Sveits ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Our travelling day in Switzerland was one of our best travelling days yet. All the trains were amazing and really fancy, and the views from the train window felt like we were on a mountain tour train but we were just on a transport train. We did accidentally sit in first class compartment for about ten minutes until they checked our tickets. We got to Lauterbrunnen and it was amazing. On the bus ride to our accomodation Mum met an old friend called Sally from uni. Our Airbnb was awesome too, the view was super cool and it was one of the biggest Airbnbs yet.

    On our second day we wanted to wake up early to go for a few walks but that didn’t really work out, so instead we woke up at 9 and left around 10:30 to go up a few mountains by train and gondola. Some of the gondolas sat like 30 people and we had them to ourselves. We also looked around a lot of the towns on the hill. We even passed a park which had its own bowling ally which Dad said is very Swiss.

    On our third day we took a cruise on a lake which was very long. We then caught a lift thing that was super steep and took us up to another smaller mountain.

    On our 4th and last day we went up to Grindelwald for a walk to a lake and a cliff walk. We got a gondola to ourselves again too. The mountains were amazing. On the tops of them were snow and old glaciers and all the trees were turning orange because it’s Autumn in October which feels weird. To sum up, the mountains were one of my favourite parts of this whole trip and I will definitely miss them as we go on back to France.
    Les mer