Trip notes worthy of blogsphere..

After our long trip, we were sipping on an ale and came up with some interesting facts about our trip, we hope you find them as funny as we did:
1. Number of stairs in Holland our 20kg bags got carried up: 38.
2. Longest transit time: Florence to Cinque Terre, 7 hours.
3. Number of nights in Italy we ate Pasta in a row: 8.
4. Highest number of Tapas items ordered in one sitting: 5.
5. Number of seasons of 'The Wire' watched: 1 & 2.
6. Number of Easyjet flights taken: 7.
7. Number of times in Malta resort an instrumental Phil Collins* track was played: 18. (*post-Genesis)
8. Best Mullet found: Barcelona on arrival, with an accompanying 'prince' style cross earring.

Food glorious food...

As you’ve previously read, we like our food, but I think it actually makes up a huge part of the experience. We have really tried to taste local foods from each region, a fair cry from my last Europe adventure when it was the closest kebab shop would do. We have decided to do a Top 5 foods from each of us:
Nick’s Top 5:
1. Stamppot – Amsterdam, Holland
2. Spanish Doughnuts – Barcelona, Spain
3. Chorizo – Barcelona, Spain
4. Croquettes – Van Dobben, Amsterdam, Holland
5. Tuscan Pork Pasta – Rome, Italy
Patricia’s Top 5:
1. Lobster & Pasta – Cinque Terre, Italy
2. Chorizo Sausage – Barcelona, Spain
3. Spanish Doughnuts – Barcelona, Spain
4. Beef cheekbone – St.Emilion, France
5. Trofie Pesto Pasta – Cinque Terre, Italy

Malta

We chose Malta as the ‘operation wind down’ section of our trip. Time to sit back and recap the events of the last 3 months. The place is a mix between Italy and Egypt in landscape, with beautiful water and friendly people. The island is quite small and we stayed in a resort in the North overlooking the islands of Gozo and Camino. It was definitely an R&R session worthy of retired folk, as we shared the resort with an eclectic mix of German and old old English people. We visited a famous fish market on the Sunday, with us getting a little green watching a lady play with live Squid, and caught a glimpse at a Swordfish bigger than a small child. Overall Malta was very cool to chill out and enjoy the spring sun.

Cinque Terre

Hype is a huge thing when travelling. The expectations we had on this place were obscenely massive, talking to our friends who had travelled there would result in this “you’ve gotta go” type of look on their faces. After being there for 4 days, if anyone wants to talk to me about the Cinque Terre, I’m going to be giving you the same look! Italy in all its glory; coastline and villages that make your eyes stop and stare in wonder at their beauty. If there is any chance anyone of you reading this are heading anywhere near Europe, this is the one and only place I implore you to visit. We had a massive day in transit from Florence by train, due to some cancellations and the electronic departure board at Florence termini shutting down! In the end, it all didn’t matter when we arrived at Manarola, the second village and the home for the next 5 nights. We were just in total shock the first few days, the place is amazing, and nothing a camera will ever capture. We found out that one section of the walk was closed due to mudslides, we were shattered as we wanted to complete the entire walk. But as we had dinner one night we were chatting some Americans who told us about another hike we had to do instead. So, we searched through our packs for our expert hiking boots, I went for the Nike Air Max, Patricia chose the ever reliable Asics Tigers. And we hiked, we hiked, we hiked some more, and then hiked some more. We hiked for 5 hours in total, going from Manarola high up into the mountains, and hiked right along the ridge to the other villages. It was an amazing view up that high, as you could see all five villages from one point. We then hiked the coastal routes also so we could see the other villages. Vernazza and Manarola to us were our favourites, and we were lucky to stay in Manarola as the two little restaurants were unbelievable. Patricia had this spicy lobster pasta for 8 Euros, it was so good, and will feature in the “food post” shortly on the blog. In short, the Cinque Terre blew our minds and confirmed its place in my Top 5 destinations of all time.

Florence

I was particularly looking forward to getting back to Florence as it was my favourite Italian city previously, and it didn’t disappoint a second time around. We strolled around this beautiful place for two days, taking in “David”, the basilica, Ponte vechhio, and even managed to climb up to the viewing point that overlooks the city. An amazing piece of Italy, and again Michelangelo’s “David” blew us away, but the pasta and coffee again showed why Italy is the best in Europe. Mind you, I’ve had some coffee over this trip, and our cafes in Melbourne can compete with any in Italy.

When in Rome...

The famous saying took exactly 2 hours to come out. We decided to only do a whirlwind trip of Rome, spending only two full days there. My previous travels there had figured this would be enough time and we were spot on. We managed to get to all of the major tourist spots bar one. The Vatican Museum was closed on the day we went, the only day outside of Sundays in the month of March, we were shattered! Luckily, we had to come back to Rome in order to fly to Malta, so we raced from the termini to the museum just in time before it closed, and Patricia got to finally see the Sistine Chapel. Rome was as I remember it, smelly, dirty, buzzing and full of the greatest historical monuments in Europe.

The South

This was one place in my time in London that I always regretted not getting to. Thankfully, Isabelle took a day off and we sped down the motorway to see the sights and sounds of the south of France. We were only gone for one night, but we went through Marseille, St Tropez, San Raphael, Nice and Monaco. The coastline is amazing and we really loved all of the towns we went through. I think it may have been a nice little introduction to the coastline we will be seeing a bit further along called the ‘cinque terra’, I’m seriously in hyperventilating mode looking forward to it, trust me!! To keep you all updated with our trip, we fly to Rome on Thursday, then up to Florence to see my mate David, then to the Cinque Terra, then back to Rome and fly to Malta for a week, before heading back to London and onwards to Melbourne. We arrive back in Melbourne on April the 9th so look forward to seeing everyone when we get back.

Lyon

When we arrived back in Lyon, Isabelle and Adrien picked us up from the airport and we spent some time in Lyon. Isabelle booked us on a fantastic walking tour of the ‘old city’ of Lyon, which we really loved.

Barcelona

Bar-they-loyna…as they say it, blew us both away. It was awesome to arrive in a city neither of us had been before and take it all in for the first time. Our five days here were super, from the tapas, sangria and Spanish doughnuts, fair to say if we didn’t walk so much during the day we would have put on 10kg I reckon. The sun was out every day, and even though it was only 12 degrees, it felt like 30 for us after the weather we’ve had so far. Highlights for us and probably for anyone who has been to Barcelona is clearly Gaudi’s works. The Sagrada Familia is clearly one of the greatest things ever ‘being’ built, and we made a pledge to travel there 10 years from now when hopefully its finished. We took a journey to the zoo which was also very cool, I spent 3 months in Africa and never saw a Leopard up close like I did in this Zoo, it must have been feeding time cause it was snarling and prowling around its pen, awesome animal and awesome sight, number 3 on the ‘coolest animal in the kingdom’ awards. We stumbled upon an amazing street art gallery called ‘Montana’ which blew us away, but some of the street art we got photos of in town were ace. Overall though, I must say it was a huge contrast going from France to Spain and seeing the atmosphere’s change. We felt really relaxed and content in Barcelona strolling the streets, and sitting in bars, it reminded us a lot of home and the outlook we have on our lives. Anyhew, enough philospihisationing……

Divajeu

Upon saying goodbye to Lysel, Valerie and team, we hitched a train ride out east to Patricia’s other cousin Isabelle’s house in a tiny mountain town called Divajeu. It’s about an hour from the Alps and their house is this amazing stone mansion that sits in a lush valley. My stomach let me know who was boss the first day we arrived, so I missed out on the sunshine on the farm. I was all geared up to feed the chickens, sheep, rabbits and Isabelle’s donkey called ‘Balthazar’. If we ever have to live on a farm (which thanks to the current home buyers market in Melbourne we may have to), we are so getting a donkey. Just a little behind the Warthog for the title of ‘coolest animal in the kingdom’. So, when we woke up Sunday morning it had started to snow, not UK-type frostings, hardcore Japanese-powder type snow. On the Monday morning we woke up and it had snowed 25cm in one day, it was awesome. Isabelle’s son Adrien couldn’t get to school so we got out the sleds and went crazy! Only time the whole trip I wanted my snowboard as there is a huge glade right behind their house.

Vezere Valley

On our second day with the red Citroen beast of a car, we ventured east this time, into the heart of the Vezere Valley. This region of France is best known for its grottos and prehistoric artifacts. The mountain grottos here have carvings and paintings in the caves that date back to 30,000 BC. Now that’s old school…
One of these grottos was actually found in 1940, by some kids looking for their dog believe it or not, and the paintings are so diverse that Picasso commented after seeing them that; ” we haven’t created anything like this’. So, with all this in mind, we drove the red rocket through dense woods to find this grotto. Upon arrival, we saw an opening, darkness, and two white vans there in the parking lot. Fair to say we didn’t feel like being in the next Silence of the Lambs, so we bolted. Seriously, this is one of the major pitfalls of travelling in the winter, a lot of stuff is closed! Nevertheless, we found the National Museum of Prehistoric History. This place is something Ross from ‘Friends’ would really love, full of bones and rocks from 20,000 years ago. To see the bones of mammoths, cave bears and cave lions were very cool.

Toulouse

Our weekend in Toulouse didn’t go entirely to plan however. Although our Friday night was huge because of the Vampire Weekend gig, we unfortunately stayed in a hotel near the venue, in other words, we were out of town a bit. The metro and buses stopped at 8:30, so we opted for a quiet pizza Saturday night because we couldn’t get back from the city if we went in. We did, thanks to the lonely planet, discover this amazing Photography exhibition on at an old water tower across the river. The gallery was in a spiral shape all the way up the tower, amazing use of space yet again from the French. Our personal favourites were the pieces based in IKEA. The photographer had organised her subjects to appear in IKEA kitchen/bedroom setups, it was so clever, she dressed the subject in the colours matching the bedspread for example. Was very cool. On the Sunday, thanks to the lonely planet again, we found a cinema, which screened original versions of films, that is, it hasn’t been over dubbed in French. We caught Tom Ford’s first feature “A Single Man” in this wicked little indie cinema in Toulouse, great way to spend a Sunday.

St Emilion

We have been staying at Lysel’s house in Bergerac (Patricia’s Aunt), and she kindly lent us her car for the past two days. So in true Aussie fashion we just basically hit the road!! We drove ourselves west to the medieval wine village of St Emilion. This is our most favourite place so far in France. It is the epicentre of the wine region in and around Bordeaux and Bergerac, with some history of its own aswell. The village is named after a miracle-working monk who lived in a cave here between 750AD and 767AD. We climbed the belltower for an amazing view of the village and surrounding vineyards, and then ventured down to this quaint café for some lunch and red wine. We bought 3 bottles of plonk from the local wine merchant, and drove away fully satisfied that we had seen a perfect piece of French countryside. The wine was very very nice by the way….

Vampire Weekend

The venue was ‘Le Bikini’, placed in an industrial estate in outer Toulouse. It housed about 2000 people, so was very intimate, especially as they served Heineken pints. Thankfully the sound was spot on that night, Vampire Weekend were so great live, we were both sceptical about how they would transform their CD sound to a gig, but they just blew us away. They were fun, energetic and we danced away all night!! The drummer had a Spurs long sleeved home kit on, which Rohan would have been proud of no doubt. Highlights included some newbie tracks including ‘Run,’ ‘Cousins’, while a crowd chanting version of ‘Blake’s Got a New Face’ was sensational. I hear they are coming to Melbourne, do yourself a favour and go, they are a must see live.

Bordeaux

We caught the train into Bordeaux today, which took only an hour. We wondered aimlessly around this great French town, it was awesome to see the heritage listed Cathedral and Victoria Place. (I did wanna give it the Teddy Whitten 'stick it right up em' but thought the gypsys might not quite get it) We spent the afternoon in this amazing Museum of Modern Art in north Bordeaux. It is housed in the ancient warehouse that used to be used for stocking coal, tobacco and wine etc. It is by far the coolest gallery we've visited so far, because you are in awe at the building before you even see any artwork. Mind you, modern art as the usual 'this is crap', and then something pops up that really takes your eye. A photo I've attached is this amazing photo piece, where the subject is covered in clay, and gradually takes it all off to reveal himself. Very cool indeed. The complete highlight of my day.....I found a french version of the 'Empire Strikes Back' movie poster. To some that will mean nothing, but I know a few out there will appreciate it. It's going straight to the pool room!

Bergerac

We left chilly UK for France, more specifically Bergerac. At 16 degrees, we felt like we were in Port Douglas, the jump of 10 degrees might not seem like much, but we were stoked to not have to wear a coat! Patricia's cousin Valerie picked us up from the airport which was great. Her family have been so awesome having us for the last couple of days. Their house is amazing, the countryside beautiful, and the wine, well you know the rest. The image attached is a statue of Cyrano himself.

Durham aka.Hogwarts..

On our last day in the North East, Andy and Mandy drove us to Durham. It coincided with some awesome snowfalls and cold weather as only Newcastle can bring. The cathedral at Durham was amazing, holding the gravestone of the famous St Bede, and more importantly, the exterior hallways of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter franchise. 2 weeks in North East was just awesome, giving us time to take a breather, not from drinking of course, but for washing, sleep etc etc.. Thanks to Andy and Mandy for making it unreal!! For the soccer fans out there, Andy is currently living at Mandy's flat, which is ironically located on the old Sunderland football ground Roker Park. So, in short, the mad geordie is living in the heart of opposition territory!!

We are the Geordies...

Scorelines: Toon vs Coventry City 4-1, Toon vs Preston 3-0. I was praying that Patricia would get to see some goals when we went to St.James', and by hell we got em. Both games the Toon played well, apart from Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan (yes, they are still playing there). Patricia was stoked to see the mad Geordies go nuts after their beloved scored and won easily to remain top of the league. They look like going up, but not sure how long will stick around for, although, with teams like Wigan, Hull and Stoke, reckon we'll be right. As for the mackems, lets hope they continue to slide and we wave to em as they drop down!! Howay the toon...

Mo Money..

Patricia had bet me 1 Euro a day if I'd grow a beard for the entire trip. So, ten days in, and itching my neck and chin like I had fleas, I decided to can the bet and shave it off. Coincidentally, the Geordie had also grown a beard upon our arrival in the toon, so heres the photos of what happened next...

Lake District

Our first weekend up in the toon and we got whisked away to the Lake District, easily the most impressive landscapes in England. We were both in awe at the sights of this district as we had no expectations what the weekend would bring. The photos might not do it justice but I think Patricia’s lake shot shows you how impressive this region really is. We stayed in an old little B&B and had dinner in an even older lakeside pub. I feel ashamed to say that all the time I lived in London that I never came up to the Lakes, because anyone who comes to the motherland must get up here.

Angel of the North

I wanted to make special mention to this photo Patricia took of the great Angel of the North, it is the symbol of the gateway to the north up here and represents this amazing part of England and all it stands for

Toon Toon, Black and White Army..

Some of you will wonder why in the hell I ever supported Newcastle Utd, well, his name is Andy Allen and lives in the great North East of England. I must admit I was a little excited to get to the Toon to see Andy and booze up for two weeks, but Mandy (Andy’s girlfriend), had beaten us to the punch by getting me and Patricia a bottle of Newcastle Brown for us as we arrived!! It was awesome for the first time on our trip to see a familiar face and be greeted at our destination!! The first week included a lot of drinking, downtime for me and Patricia, plenty of washing of clothes, and some great laughs. Andy got us tickets to two toon games next week where the level of excitement in the room will probably burst a lung.

Scotland

We did somewhat of a whirlwind tour of Scotland, in two days in fact. Due to immense fog flying from Amsterdam to Edinburgh we were delayed big time, so the day we got in we simply looked around Edinburgh with the other thousands of French rugby fans (there for the 6 nations rugby). On the Sunday, we took a one day tour of Scotland which Cammy,Hantie, Dan, Andy and myself had done almost nine years ago, this time however, I wasn’t hungover as I was that day!! The tour takes you through Stirling, through the fields where Mel Gibson (oops, I mean William Wallace) battled the English, the bus driver didn’t like my blue and white facepaint by the way. We went up through the highlands and onto Loch Ness, where the only monster sighted was a huge German man feasting on crisps and lager….

Delft

On Cammy’s recommendation, we went from Wassenaar over to the quaint town of Delft. We were both blown away by this small and quiet town and were lucky enough to be there on market day in the square. Patricia got a real sense of the real dutch when seeing the herring, Flemish fries, croquettes, hams, cheeses and licorice on offer at the market. We had such an awesome day strolling around Delft.

Wassenaar

We hired a car for the day and headed south down to Dad’s village that he grew up in called Wassenaar. Having been here before I had some idea which street he lived in, but Patricia and I were both surprised when half way down a narrow street, I said “This is it.” I looked to my right and Dad’s house was right there. I don’t know what it was but something drew me there because we weren’t even looking for his street at that point! They were doing renovations on the house so I was hoping to bust the door open and have a look inside, all to no avail. The village was great and we went up to the beach and saw the beautiful beach resting against the violent North Sea, coincidentally, only one week later we would be looking at the same North Sea but from the Newcastle side…

Van Dobben

Van Dobben is an institution in this city, it makes the greatest croquettes in Holland, and the oldies behind the counter are sensational. The white tiled décor and “Katz” like atmosphere makes this an unmissable ‘dutch’ experience

A glimpse of Amsterdam

Here are some photos that Patricia and I have taken in this amazing city.

Rainy days in Amsterdam

Our second day in Amsterdam, we wake up and its raining cats, dogs and guinea pigs. Our first thought, what to do in this town when its raining heavily, only one answer: Heineken…..
After the great experience of the Heinken brewery, a little tipsy, we stumbled upon a fantastic bar/diner that was packed with locals. As the rain kept falling all afternoon, we stayed in this place for around 6 hours, drinking coffee, then beer, playing wicked board games and people watching. The waiter brought out the chef who was a young aussie so we had a chat to him too. We missed Harry and Lochie so much that we played this awesome Twin Memory card game (see picture), and have been looking to buy it everywhere Cammy, my eyes are peeled for it!!

Stairs and Hutspot

If you been following the blog, you would have seen the garden gnome sized lift we had in our hotel in Paris. Well, we get t our place in Amsterdam, and I feel like Jack and the beanstalk looking up at this flight of stairs with a 16kg bag. Our room is conveniently on the third floor, so I felt like I did 80 squats, probably the only squats I’ve ever done in my life too for that matter. Showered and refreshed we burst out the door in to the night.
For our first night Patricia was keen to try some authentic Dutch food, so we went to a quiet little place off the Leidse Plein, we had croquettes, pofferjes and this awesome Hutspot. Of course the chosen drink was a Heineken, when in Rome of course…

Train travel and Amsterdam

We hopped a high-speed train to my ancestors homeland, The Netherlands. The train was so awesome, quick, and gave us a great opportunity to sit back and take in the landscapes of Belgium on the way. When we arrived, we instantly felt at ease here; the contrast between the busy Parisian lifestyle and the laid-back streets of Amsterdam are very different. Amsterdam gets a bad rep for the red-light and coffee shop culture, but I really forgot how rad this city is. The canals, the trams, the people, the art, the food and the beer; this city is a class above.