Oh cool well yeh.... I'm on my big summer holiday! In Venice... WOOO!!!
NOT!
It has been raining allllll day. So my day in northern Italy has been spent in bed.
Stupid "summer". Anyway time to catch you all up on the last week....
Last time I blogged was in Nice, which was nice. (Dad joke)
I had a great host, we went for swims in the ocean, to the Nice Jazz Festival for free, it was sweet.
After that I had to meet up with Jordan Welsh in the Cinque Terre, I arrived when he was in Barcelona. So I was by myself for the night at a camping site (which I wasn't too excited for) as Jordan was on an overnight bus arriving the next morning. Well I thought I was going to be by myself anyway. That afternoon when I arrived I was searching for directions to the camping site when I saw a group of about 25 people all around my age looking a bit lost as well so I asked if they were searching for the camping site as well. After that I met a lot of them, we went out to dinner together and it was so much fun and now I have about 20 or so American connections!
The next morning Jordan arrived so we went into the Cinque Terre (national park in Nth West Italy on the coast). It was beautiful. Just beautiful. We did a walk from one village to the next and when we arrived we got to have a swim in the ocean. It was just so awesome, lovely temperature and not too many tourists. I remember just thinking 'this is what I expected my summer to be like'.
For lunch it was Margherita Pizza (what else?) and in midst of conversation we were talking about meeting up with Jo Wilcox as she was in the same area with her sister. As soon as we started talking about this Jo and Kate walked by! It was quite funny, so for that afternoon we caught up over some delicious gelato.
For the night we went back to our camping site but the next day we met up with Jo and Kate again. Together we went for a swim, jumped off rocks into water, searched another village and had a great day! That night we stayed in Jo and Kate's apartment and had another delicious meal of pasta with some white wine.
The next day was Monday, we departed Jo and Kate and the amazing Cinque Terre to go to Milan. In Milan we had a couch surfer hosting us called Giulio, he was great, and his apartment was so modern and clean! Much better than any hostel. He took us to a street where they have countless bars with buffets of awesome food. We paid 8 euros, got a drink and unlimited food! Best dinner ever!!
Tuesday we headed to Venice and were to camp for the next 3 nights, Wednesday we spent about 12 hours actually on the island of Venice mostly spending our time getting lost (very easy to do there). It was actually really fun. And that brings us to today, rainy rainy Thursday.
Tomorrow Jordan and I split, he heads to Rome and I'm off to Florence. It has been really great to travel with a friend and especially Jordan, we've had many many laughs :)
By the way last thing, because we are worried of money we pretty much eat very basic food. Tonights dinner was smelly bread, cheap salami, cheap plastic cheese and cocktail sauce. So foul.
Anyway running out of time!!! Love you all, goodnight!!
Curtis
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
traveltraveltraveltravel
Here I am again, using a fast food chain's free wi-fi without buying their food. Mwahahaaaaa....
So! I am currently waiting for my train from Marseille to Nice and since I have 30 minutes to spare I thought why not write another blog cause they are fun.
Okay so last time I blogged was Wednesday, I was in Paris then and the rain was sucking all the excitement out of .... well being in Paris!! So yeh Wednesday I saw the Notre Dame but that's it. Thursday was going to have to be a big day!
I started with the Eiffel Tower (what else!) and it is pretty schweet to see it first hand. Right underneath it there was a bike tour going on so I joined in with other tourists and did a bike tour around Paris. It was alright. It was such a nice day by the way, so warm. Anyway after this bike tour I walked to the Arc de Triomphe which is massive! Went to the top and the view of Paris was great! Then I went to the Sacre Couer, another great view overlooking the city.
I went back to the Eiffel Tower later to relax a bit and on the way, just walking by the Seine a young woman probably 25ish asked me if I spoke English. So we chatted for a bit and it turned out her and her friend (American and English) were part of a mission group in Paris for a week or so and they were part of the evangelising team. We talked and it was really cool meeting these guys in the middle of Paris. Before I left they prayed for me which was so cool! Such amazing things happening right under your nose.
I relaxed on the fields in front of the Eiffel Tower that evening and took a few photo's and even had a go at a little sketch! Later I met with my couch surfing host guy and he was cool (the one the previous night was ... dull). Him, his girlfriend and I talked for a while, he had a Flight of the Conchords poster on his wall!! Quite sad I only had one night there but it was cool to make a contact in Paris.
Friday morning it was time to leave for Blois, first I had to see the Lourve. It was cool. Mona Lisa was cool. Small, but cool. So many people. I left. Train to Blois.
(This is getting a little long)
BLOIS - I stayed for one night, with a hippy, one of the first things he asked me was if I would like a joint. I politely refused. He was really cool though, with a few friends we went to a bar and saw a blues band.
BORDEAUX - Ahhh.... I had two nights here but I got sick :( Like... weird hallucination sick haha. I stayed with 3 people in there very big house just outside Bordeaux. They were slightly hippy, they had a massive vege garden, skateboard ramp, and a book on beginner's composting. In the day I saw the city on bike and it is a very lovely city.
MARSEILLE - I stayed two nights here with a 30 something year old dude, he was cool. We went out to an island on his boat and had a swim, drove to the top of this cliff which had an amazing view of the city. Overall it was pretty great.
So in summary, travelling has been really good, quite challenging at times but worth it. Most of my time I've been seeing amazing things, eating different and very tasteful things but all of it reminds me that I'm not home. It just makes me realise just how much I like Australia and being 'comfortable' with the environment around you. So Europe is great, like... REALLY great. But it's not home for me. (And this just makes me even more excited for when I go to my real home if you know what I mean)
Lots of love to all, I'm staying stafe, enjoying travelling but also looking forward to September when I return to my temporary home, but even more so in December when I return home.
Just one photo today peeps cause my train leaves NOW! (hopefully I'll be able to put up more on facebook in the next few days)
So! I am currently waiting for my train from Marseille to Nice and since I have 30 minutes to spare I thought why not write another blog cause they are fun.
Okay so last time I blogged was Wednesday, I was in Paris then and the rain was sucking all the excitement out of .... well being in Paris!! So yeh Wednesday I saw the Notre Dame but that's it. Thursday was going to have to be a big day!
I started with the Eiffel Tower (what else!) and it is pretty schweet to see it first hand. Right underneath it there was a bike tour going on so I joined in with other tourists and did a bike tour around Paris. It was alright. It was such a nice day by the way, so warm. Anyway after this bike tour I walked to the Arc de Triomphe which is massive! Went to the top and the view of Paris was great! Then I went to the Sacre Couer, another great view overlooking the city.
I went back to the Eiffel Tower later to relax a bit and on the way, just walking by the Seine a young woman probably 25ish asked me if I spoke English. So we chatted for a bit and it turned out her and her friend (American and English) were part of a mission group in Paris for a week or so and they were part of the evangelising team. We talked and it was really cool meeting these guys in the middle of Paris. Before I left they prayed for me which was so cool! Such amazing things happening right under your nose.
I relaxed on the fields in front of the Eiffel Tower that evening and took a few photo's and even had a go at a little sketch! Later I met with my couch surfing host guy and he was cool (the one the previous night was ... dull). Him, his girlfriend and I talked for a while, he had a Flight of the Conchords poster on his wall!! Quite sad I only had one night there but it was cool to make a contact in Paris.
Friday morning it was time to leave for Blois, first I had to see the Lourve. It was cool. Mona Lisa was cool. Small, but cool. So many people. I left. Train to Blois.
(This is getting a little long)
BLOIS - I stayed for one night, with a hippy, one of the first things he asked me was if I would like a joint. I politely refused. He was really cool though, with a few friends we went to a bar and saw a blues band.
BORDEAUX - Ahhh.... I had two nights here but I got sick :( Like... weird hallucination sick haha. I stayed with 3 people in there very big house just outside Bordeaux. They were slightly hippy, they had a massive vege garden, skateboard ramp, and a book on beginner's composting. In the day I saw the city on bike and it is a very lovely city.
MARSEILLE - I stayed two nights here with a 30 something year old dude, he was cool. We went out to an island on his boat and had a swim, drove to the top of this cliff which had an amazing view of the city. Overall it was pretty great.
So in summary, travelling has been really good, quite challenging at times but worth it. Most of my time I've been seeing amazing things, eating different and very tasteful things but all of it reminds me that I'm not home. It just makes me realise just how much I like Australia and being 'comfortable' with the environment around you. So Europe is great, like... REALLY great. But it's not home for me. (And this just makes me even more excited for when I go to my real home if you know what I mean)
Lots of love to all, I'm staying stafe, enjoying travelling but also looking forward to September when I return to my temporary home, but even more so in December when I return home.
Just one photo today peeps cause my train leaves NOW! (hopefully I'll be able to put up more on facebook in the next few days)
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Good afternoon!
Just dropping in to share my first experiences in France (it will be short as I am using wireless from Subway without food, I'm sure they will kick me out soon).
So I caught my ferry to France and all was good! Great weather and no complications. I managed to find my train to get to my first stop in Europe, Lille.
I arrived in Lille and straight away called my host for the night (couchsurfing). I called him and he met with me and took me to his apartment. He was very nice and very French! Except that he played the didgeridoo?? That afternoon we took his didgeridoo and a guitar down to the park and had a little jam which was great! Here I met some of his friends who we met up with later that night. As the World Cup final was on, we went to a small bar/restaurant to do some wine and cheese tasting (so excited!). Coco (my host), his friend and I had 3 different wines each and a plate of different cheese and sausages. The weirdes thing happened... I liked the wine! Anyway that was a great night because another 7 of his friends arrived and they could all speak English quite well.
Just dropping in to share my first experiences in France (it will be short as I am using wireless from Subway without food, I'm sure they will kick me out soon).
So I caught my ferry to France and all was good! Great weather and no complications. I managed to find my train to get to my first stop in Europe, Lille.
I arrived in Lille and straight away called my host for the night (couchsurfing). I called him and he met with me and took me to his apartment. He was very nice and very French! Except that he played the didgeridoo?? That afternoon we took his didgeridoo and a guitar down to the park and had a little jam which was great! Here I met some of his friends who we met up with later that night. As the World Cup final was on, we went to a small bar/restaurant to do some wine and cheese tasting (so excited!). Coco (my host), his friend and I had 3 different wines each and a plate of different cheese and sausages. The weirdes thing happened... I liked the wine! Anyway that was a great night because another 7 of his friends arrived and they could all speak English quite well.
The next day I walked around a bit and Coco gave me a free tour of Lille on his taxi bike! II couldn't believe it, and iit was free as well! That night we went to a local pub and I met more of his friends who are going to Australia later in the year so I was able to give them some advice.
After two nights in Lille it was time to go so I caught my train to Paris and arrived in the afternoon with no accommodation planned. CouchSurfing failed me! i ended up paying 40 euro's for a bed but that's Paris I guess. It was cool though as I met a few Californians who I hung out with that night. Noww it is Wednesday, my 4th day travelling and I have two more nights in Paris and people are hosting so no more lame hostels.
So I better go, oh I haven't even seen the Eiffel Tower yet! It's pretty bad weather here but tomorrow it is supposed to be nice so it will be tourist time! Well until next time... au revoir
Here are just a few pictures...
check out these parrots going at it!
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Parlay voo anglay??
Well hello there,
I'm very excited, not because I am listening to 'Take it Easy' by the Eagles while drinking diet lemonade (dieting of course) but because tomorrow I head off on a 7 week holiday.
For these 7 weeks I will be travelling Europe going to France, Italy, Malta, Czech Republic and Spain. I will be 'CouchSurfing' most of the way, I will be doing most of it by myself and I will be seeing my parents for the first time in 6 months!
I've created this blog for friends and family (and the casual stalker) to see where I go, what I do, what I see, and who I meet. If after this holiday I may continue "blogging"... we will see....
So tomorrow I am catching a ferry to France and heading straight to Lille which is in the north-west. Following that I will be hitting up Paris so you should hear from me quite soon.
Curtis :)
oh. and I'm going to see if I can upload photo's on this, here's a test run. (this is a photo of pretty much my backyard in England)
I'm very excited, not because I am listening to 'Take it Easy' by the Eagles while drinking diet lemonade (dieting of course) but because tomorrow I head off on a 7 week holiday.
For these 7 weeks I will be travelling Europe going to France, Italy, Malta, Czech Republic and Spain. I will be 'CouchSurfing' most of the way, I will be doing most of it by myself and I will be seeing my parents for the first time in 6 months!
I've created this blog for friends and family (and the casual stalker) to see where I go, what I do, what I see, and who I meet. If after this holiday I may continue "blogging"... we will see....
So tomorrow I am catching a ferry to France and heading straight to Lille which is in the north-west. Following that I will be hitting up Paris so you should hear from me quite soon.
Curtis :)
oh. and I'm going to see if I can upload photo's on this, here's a test run. (this is a photo of pretty much my backyard in England)
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