Polish Dreams

We are writing from Prague, a far cry from Krakow. How we seem to miss Krakow. A land of beautiful woman and cheap food and drinks. It seemed to have everything one would want from a Distant holiday spot. Mundo hostel was an amazing hostel that was very clean with an amazing staff. One ting that we later learned was that outside the hostel was a Brothel. We never entered and it never caused us any concern. I suppose it added to the ambiance and the character of the city. We took full advantage of the city and its surroundings. We made our way on an organized tour of Aushwitz and the death camps. Truely a sad and overwheming experience but something that needs to be experienced and understood. The actual size of the camps and the silence that surrounded the capms was spooky and hard to believe at times. We captured some images that we hope will help people understand the sadness we enountered. We will never forget our short time there but since I have been I think of it Everyday. Poland proved to be very cheap which was great for us but at the same time you wondered about the locals who struggled to get by. Krakow was a verry clean and toursity destination but you had the feeling that a short distance outside the city center it became very poor. We made excellent friends in our hostel and partied pretty hard in a variety of clubs and pubs. We truely miss Poland and hope to make it back some day. Full of history and beautiful people making our stay one of the best stops on the whole trip. So we have spent a night in Prague but it does not seem to hold the same flavour as Krakow did or Barcelona did. We will try to make the best of it and enjoy all Prague and the surrounding area has to offer and soon we will be in Amsterdam and beyond. Ciao

Techno Troubles

Well we have reached our first two months away from home. After leaving Munich we decided to slow it down a touch, so we made our way west to Freiburg. Germanys universoty town at the foothills of the Black forest, home to Hansel and Gretel among other famous tales. We stayed in a relaxed and friendly hostel just outside the old town walls. Black Forest hotel had lots to offer, ping pong-pooltable-kitchen and hot showers. We made new friends and hit the town, having a great time at a small club but of course listening to electronic music which is something like a plague spreading itself throughout Europe, almost impossible to avoid. We medicated the problem with tequilla, seemed to do the trick. Having only one full day in Freiburg we tried to make the most of it. We had noticed there was a rather large hill behind the hostel with a viewing tower so we made our way to the top for some spectacular views of freiburg and the Black Forest, well worth the workout. We didn't have much time at the top as we had made plans to go to the Planetarium which was showing "Queen Heaven" a spectacular laser and light show mixed with the music and footage of Queen. It was really good and we have found ourselves to be quite fond of Queen over our trip. Certainly a great break from random noises they call music everywhere else. So that night we made an asian infused meal in the hostels amazing wok setup. I know, we are in Germany making stir frys, what's up with that? Too be honest we were there on a Sunday and nothing happened to be open except for this little asian market near the Planetarium. So now you know. Our time in Freiburg was up. We enjoyed walking the cobble streets and taking in as much scaffolding as possible. It is so beautiful. Freiburg proved to be a nice break from the craziness of Munich. Next was Berlin which easily made Munich feel like Berlins boring math teacher. We thought Paris was big, Berlin is nine times the size of Paris. Beautifully enough the train system really facilitates the travel throughout the city and we managed to find the hostel without any problems. The hostel was voted top ten hostels in the wotld in 2005 so we were expecting good things. It deilvered. The best shower we've had in a while, a kitchen where we could get back to cooking our own meals, and a nice laid back staff and common room. The only problem was we were right back into party central. Our first night we made friends with a couple guys from the London area and we had a good night out, until we left the bar to thunder and lightning storm. We ran home in the pouring rain! The next day we soaked up what Berlin had to offer. We went on a five hour walking tour of the city and saw the various sights. The Museum island, which is an island full of museums, creative name; the victims of war memorial, dedicated to every victim of any war; the Berlin wall; the book burning square; the Nazi Air Force building; the Brandenburg Gate; and the Holocaust memorial, a very chilling environment. That night was another night out. Another electro-dance music club and lots more tequilla to medicate. Our next day we went to the German history museum, a very vast and extensive history that tends to get overlooked due to the troubles during the 20th century, a shame really the museum was extremely informative and interesting. That evening we decided to go to the strangest club we've ever heard of. It used to be an old power plant that was transformed into a night club, but not redecorated, it was like walking through an abandoned plant we crazy electro house music blasting everywhere. You really have have to see it to believe it. We were honestly a little overwhelmed by the whole affair and ended up leaving soon after arriving there, needless to say it wasn't really our type of scene. On our last day in Berlin we decided to take in as much of the city as possible, so we rented bike's and biked all around the city. It was a beautiful day. Berlin was massive and quite the experience, we've decided now to go another direction before heading to Holland. Poland and the Czech Republic are next in line to meet us two, laid-back, Canadian boys. Hope they're ready!

ketchup

Finally we are back on the blog. We apologize for not keeping everyone up to date but we have run into either expensive internet or no internet. Many things have happened since our last entry, so we will try to update everyone without writting a novel. Montserrat was beautiful, we hiked around the surrounding area and took in some incredible views. We highly recommend the journey if you find yourself in Barca. Adrian and I made sure our last night in Barca was a good one so we partied until 7am and I (mike) ended the night/morning with a swim in the Med. As we mentioned before we had made arrangements to ferry across the med to Rome. Things did not start well for us as the boat was delayed and we didn't depart until 12am. Fortunatly we met 2 canadian girls and we became fast friends and hung out together the wqhole trip and beyond. Good thing for them as some of the passengers were a bit odd and Spaniards and Italians seem to be a bit forward when it comes to good looking girls. Long story short the ride lasted 28 hours and we are sick of playing Rummy. At last we were in the eternal city, Rome. We got kicked onto the street when we arrived because the hostel was a little less than understanding when you arrive at 5am and don't have a reservation because their computers were down. So there we were walking around Rome at 5am. Quite peaceful though, no one around, we took in all the sights and got somme photos of the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps, usually packed with people, completely barren. After a couple days in Rome we were ready to leave, in was a nice city but the hostel we stayed in really soured our experience. Luckily we headed off to heaven on earth, Cinque Terra. I can't even explain the beauty of this place, five coastal town on the Med connected by train and hours of hiking trails. Words can't do it justice you'll just have to wait and see the photos, trust us there are lot's of them. Our next stop on the journey brought us back into France to Chamonix, the host city of the 1924 winter Olympics and the home of Europe's tallest mountain, Mt. Blanc. More hiking and a furniculure trip to 12000ft views that would blow your mind, see not just drinking all the time, we have seen so many beautiful places. First time we saw snow inquite a while was when we were up at the top of Mt. Blanc, I guess it got us excited because on the waqy back down we trail ran a two and a half hour trail descent in just about an hour. One of our days in Chamonix involved some white water rafting. We rafted in the freshest water in France the river l'Arve. The home of Evian water and quite cold, our guide had us jump in and practise rescues, and needless to say it wakes you up when you hit that water. Awesome! So after 3 days of camping and eating bread and cheese we decided to indulge in a traditional meal. So after walking through beautiful Chamonix we decided on a restaurant and we had a cheese fondue. Adrians first time. It really capped off a wonderful few days in the mountains. After a 12 hour, multi train journey we landed in Munich. We went on a free bike tour and had really nice weather. We got to see a lot of things that you probably wouldnt know about if you were on your own. Did you know there is a local surfing spot in the English Garden? That´s what I thought. So we have busied ourselves with massive beers and plenty of local cuisine, including sausages, saurkraut and mustard. Our time is up in Munich and we are not sure where we are heading. The reality is that the weather is not what it was in the south so it's back to rain and being cold. I hope we havent put anyone to sleep with our stories. We look forward to reading your comments and sharing our trip with everyone in the near future, we still are unsure on that as well. Take care...ciao

We have entered our 4th country, Spain!! We are in Barcelona, a beautiful city with amazing architecture and narrow side streets and a nightife that rarely begins before 2am..Before we arrived in Barcelona we travelled from Paris via train to the south of France in search of the Med. We found it in the form of Valras Plage. Without even knowing it we managed to go to the "camping capital of the world", full of caravaning families and disturbing tans. Haven't these people heard of skin cancer? So we lounged in the heat (35C+) and uncovered our farmer tans. 4 days later, after having enough of camping and being dusty we made a charge for Barcelona. Our hostel is very small but full of fun people. We didn't manage to book our next two nights so we are in the midst of arranging more nights in this hostel, if not we move on to a new one. Our first full day in Barca we went to Nou Camp, the home of FC Barcalona, what a site it is. Fifa awarded Nou Camp with the prestigious 5 star award for stadiums and it doesn't dissapoint. We practicaly had full access to the field and stadium with our tour. Nou camp is the largest stadium in Europe and the 4th largest in the world, with a maximum capicity of 98,000 people. They love their football in Europe but it seems much more evident in Spain then it did in France. Here it is a religion. Today we will go to the Picasso musuem and take in somemore sights. If all goes to plan, tommorow we will go to Montserrat, which lies an hour outside the city center. After that we will cross the Med for Rome on a 19 hour ferry ride. Such be fun. Ciao for now....Mike & Adrian