Aug 2008

After Prague I had a couple of days in beautiful Cesky Krumlov in the south of the Czech Republic, it was very relaxing and I enjoyed all the little buildings, they were so cute! the shops were great too, I did lots of browsing. It was the most gorgeous place atnight, the lights lit up the town so well I took heaps of night photos there. Next stop was Salzburg, which itself as a city was quite disappointing but I did a day trip tour to an Ice Cave in the Austrian Alps which was incredible! The whole cave runs 42km into the mountain but the ice is only in the first km so thats where the tour took us, it was amazing at the entrance of the cave, somehow the air pressure creates a really strong wind but its only for less than a metre when you enter the cave. On the way out it nearly blew us off our feet, I think the guide said it was an 80km wind, an amazing natural phenomenon. Next stop Munich to visit Michaela and Lillith came down for 1 night to celebrate my birthday, we all had a great time together. Thanks to everyone for my lovely birthday messages! Sol I loved the card it was awesome! It was great to talk to family on my birthday as well, it was good to catch up again after so long. Since I've been here in Munich, I've been for a wander in the city and the gorgeous english gardens, tried on the Bavarian dresses like you see at Oktoberfest, been swimming in a very cold but beautiful lake, been to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest alpine peak in Germany where I played in the snow and built a baby snow man!, its on the border to Austria, also up another mountain called the Blomberg where they have a slide coming down which was great fun! We spent one day at home in our pyjamas which was great too, we really needed it! The next part of the trip will be hopefully Freiburg to visit someone mum met at school last week then on Monday and Tuesday I will visit relatives in Zurich. My trip is sadly coming to an end but I've had such a great time! Today there is 4 weeks left before I come home, so after Switzerland I'm going to Italy and Michaela will hopefully come to Venice with me, and after Italy I will meet class 12 in Santorini, I'm very excited because originally I thought I wouldn't get to Greece. I had to leave Croatia but next time I'd like to spend maybe 2 weeks exploring so I think its better to wait instead of rushing it this trip. I had a fantastic birthday and thanks again for all the greetings from Australia, it was great to hear from you all! Have to go now, we're getting ready to go to the Chiemsee, Bavaria's largest lake. Lots of love to all, xox Clare

I fell in Love with Prague, it was gorgeous, I had heard so many people rave about it and I wondered whether it would lose some of its magic with my expectations being so high, but not at all! Lillith and I just made it on the train puffing and panting, Lillith stressing even though we were actually on the train which came as quite a surprise! Most of the train trip was along the river which was beautiful, although I slept for about an hour, I enjoyed the wakeful moments of scenery anyway. We were planning to find somewhere to stay when we arrived, which maybe wasn't sensible after my previous national park experience, however we were rather unexpectedly met at the train staion by a number of older men and women with very good english offering rooms rather forcefully. There were a couple we met on the train who also needed somewhere to stay so we stuck together the 4 of us to make a decision about which mad Czech we would be taken hostage by. We eventually decided on the first man that had approached us which turned out to be a good choice. We had a little apartment with 2 rooms, one for us and one for the couple and we shared the bathroom, it was perfect and much cheaper even than the 10 bed dorm I had in Dublin! We spent most of our time sightseeing with the couple, David from Ecuador and Nora from Germany, they were great company. The first night we explored the city, I think it was perfect to see Prague first at night time, the lights are gorgeous and the whole place looks like a fairytale. Unfortunately it was packed with tourists, which obviously I can't complain about because I'm one of them but it be nice to walk the streets without having to push past people and getting bumped all the time.........ok maybe thats an exageration but there were lots and lots of people. The next day we went to the Mucha museum, Alfons Mucha was an art nouveau artist his work is absolutely exquisite, there was a film about his life too which was very interesting and loads of souvenirs to tempt you in the shop! We then had a picnic on an Island in the Vltava River before hiring a little rowboat for an hours float on the river, all of us realisiing we were pretty hopeless at rowing, but we managed in the end and it was great fun, and amazing to see the city from the river, such a different perspective. The following day was our castle exploration, it was yet another perspective of Prague, completely different from the River, it was high on a hill looking out over the whole city, the rooftops of Prague are all red with some beautiful pastel green ones dotted in between. The Saint Vitus Cathedral in the heart of the castle was the highlight for me, the most amazing stained glass windows I've ever seen, the colours were incredible and they were all blended together so beautifully. One of them was actually designed by Alfons Mucha himself and that was the best one. That night Lillith and I met Rosa's niece for dinner and beers, she was great fun and introduced us to the best Czech beer Gambrinus, which I have to say is nothing like Australian beer because I could actually drink it, and I enjoyed it which was a new combination for me and beer. The next day was raining so we didn't feel very inspired to explore but after locking our bags at the train station we headed back in to the city, we just wandered then the rain got heavier and heavier......I didn't have an umbrella so I spent a ridiculous amount of money to buy one which turned out to be the crappest umbrella I've ever seen within 5 minutes of purchase it was virtually useless and within half an hour had me and Lillith in stitches, we couldn't stop laughing it was turning itself inside out at the slightest breeze, had metal sticks poking out in several directions and had a few dangling dangerously close to my eyes...........all in all, a waste of money! We found a nice cosy cafe with cheap pizza and pasta for lunch and decided it was better to sit inside for the 3 hours before Lillith's train than to wander around getting soaked under useless umbrellas so we sat down very relaxed, ordered delicious gnocchi and chatted away over our drinks. She decided to check the train times yet AGAIN maybe only the 10th time, to suddenly realise the train she planned to catch was only on sunday and the train she had to get instead left in half an hour so she went into a mad panic and stress once again! We got our meals takeaway, power walked to the metro, arrived at the station with 20 minutes to spare, and read on the board that the train was delayed by half an hour. I couldn't stop laughing, but I don't think Lillith could see the funny side, she was still panicking. So instead of being nestled into a cosy cafe for lunch we were sitting on the big train platform where it was raining! That night I met Angela again and she'd offered for me to stay at her place which was really generous, I was so grateful to stay in someones home again, its great to be able to cook and eat well. I have to say I felt very spoilt, but it was lovely! We met at the Big horse statue in Wenceslas Square, the same meeting place from the night before. We went to her place and relaxed watching the olympics in Czech so it was good when they just showed the event rather than talking about it which we didn't understand. The next day poured with such heavy rain the whole day so I stayed at the house, being lazy in my pyjamas most of the day, it was great, in the afternoon I watched Chocolat and ate chocolate, at night I had a relaxing bath and basically I didn't do much the whole day, it was a good break after a busy sightseeing week. My last day in Prague I organised my bus trip for the following day, then went to see the church which lonely planet said was fantastic, but compared to Saint Vitus Cathedral in the castle it was quite disappointing, it was very lavish and extravagant all gold and marble but it didn't really impress me like the other one. I also walked up the clock tower in the old town square for a beautiful panoramic view of the city and get this Lillith......I saw the clock do its magic, it was so short and not really very amazing but I saw it!........The twelve apostles come past the little blue windows above the clock and then in about 10 seconds its all over! I went to the jewish quarter in the afternoon but all the sights were closing so I missed that which means I'll have to go back another time. That night I met Angela and her friends at Vysehrad to go to a beer garden with amazing views across the city then we were both falling asleep so we went home. Her and her boyfriend Jan were so welcoming, I felt so comfortable there, I really enjoyed home cooked food, it was so good! This has been a really long update so I need to finish up now but just quickly and I'll do more depth next time, on Monday morning I left Prague for Cesky Krumlov, which is almost more magical in a fairytale sense than Prague, but it is much smaller which helps to give it that feel. Tomorrow I head to Salzburg for 2 nights then I'll be with Michaela for the few days around my birthday and Lillith will come down to celebrate with us in Munich where Michaela lives. I'll write again soon, keep the emails coming, love hearing from everyone! Hey Sol, did you get my msg today? I'll let you know MIchaela's number when I get there but in the meantime my email is clarealison87@hotmail.com thats probably easier for you than this travellerspoint, it doesn't matter to me though because it goes to my email anyway. It was great to hear from you, can't wait to show you my photos, you should come to Sydney in the holidays and I can show all the photos and tell you lots of stories. Can't wait to talk to you on the weekend, lots of love, Clare xox

So my last night in Killarney I stayed in the Kangaroo room which was ironic, the Railway Hostel identifies each room by an animal as well as a number, it was quite funny. I arrived 10 minutes late to the station the next morning, thinking I'd probably have to wait another 2 hours for the next train but luckily the train in Ireland run by time......LATE!!! so it worked out I only had to wait 10 minutes. Back in Dublin, I went shopping on Grafton St, the main shopping strip, then guided by Lonely Planet found a delicious vegetarian restaurant down one of the side streets, after a week in Ireland I was desperately craving fresh food, like vegetables! They eat a lot of potato, meat and bread! The next morning was an early start..............4:30am to be precise. I had a flight due to leave at 7.45 but once boarded they announced it would be delayed, have to say I experienced some sort of dejavu at that point! anyway, an hour later we finally took off then after a reasonalby short flight through rain and clouds, me realising that the window seat was of no particular advantage over any other seat, we landed in Brussels..........or what I thought was Brussels but actually turned out to be a 15 min bus trip and an hour train ride into the city centre! Then after a full day of rushing from one train to the next, only just making once or twice, I finally arrived in Fulda to visit Lillith!!! She had an awesome surprise for me...........tickets to a Katie Melua concert in front of the town Cathedral, it was so cool, the best surprise ever!!! After the concert we went to a cafe and met up with Marie, another friend that I met in Australia a few years ago and more friends of theirs, best iced chocolate I've ever had! I crashed into bed that night, I was so exhausted! The next few days were so full, we fitted so much in it was fantastic! I had a sightseeing tour of Fulda including the castle, beautiful shops, and Lillith's school. On friday night we went to a performance that her mum was in, it was in German mostly but I understood some of it because it was acted out too, not just speaking. It consisted of lots of mediums including speaking, music, comedy, movement and film. It was a great performance, very creative. Them them was the number 8 because the date was the 8th of the 8th 2008 there lots of different acts interpreting the 8 it was very clever. After the performance we met up with some of Lillith's friends for drinks which was great fun, we went to a few different bars and danced, drank and had a great time, it was lots of fun! On saturday we went to a delicious cafe for a huge piece of cake and I had the most massive and creamy hot chocolate! that night we headed to an African Festival where her Dad was singing in an African choir, they were so energetic and sang lots of songs, it was such a great atmosphere with food, drinks, people all having fun. Afterwards we met up again with Marie and her boyfriend for a drink, it was really good spend some time in a small group and really catch up with them all. Sunday was quite a lazy day which was good then we went to Medieval market at the hunting castle nearby Fulda, it was really interesting, people camp in the old fashioned tents and the whole place felt like another time. Then went with Lillith's friend Johanna to the Rhone (which need and umlaut on the O but I can't find it on this computer) They are the mountains close to Fulda with a beautiful view, they reminded me a bit of Tasmania, they are not huge but are very gorgeous, it was well worth the visit even though it did start raining when we got there! The next morning Lillith and I were off on our adventure together, we met Marie at the station for a last goodbye and she surprised me with a beautiful shawl that she made and a really lovely card. Lillith and I spent the day wandering around Leipzig, where she will move for UNI in October, then in the afternoon we went on to Dresden and had the night there, the following day we explored Dresden which was really amazing, so many beautiful buildings to look at and photos to take, I felt like a real tourist there but I had to tak the photos it was beautiful. That afternoon we were really late for our train because I wanted to look at some shops we'd seen the night before and I had to look inside because the windows just didn't show me enough. Any way we made a mad dash for the tram then when we arrived at the station we ran off the tram, having only about 5 minutes to retrieve our luggage from the lockers, buy my ticket, find out which platform to go to and get on the train before its departure! It really was craziness but we made it! The last part of the gap is Prague, where am for 2 nights still but I fill that gap later because as I'm not a fast typer this has taken me forever and I can't stand sitting in front of a computer for too long but I'm having a wonderful time here, its such a gorgeous city with so many hidden corners to explore but I want to write about it when I'm not sick of the computer so it will have to be the next update. I have a new simcard if anyone wants to contact me please only send an sms but the new number is 00420776369381 look forward to hearing from you, either by email or sms! Hiffron I can't wait to show you my photos and tell you about my experiences and give you tips on where to stay!!! Bye for now, lots of love, Clare xox

I spent one night on the Aran Island of Inismor off the west coast of Galway in Ireland, it was magical, so remote it felt like I had stepped back in time. The ferry took less than an hour but standing at the back of the boat watching the waves it made and how incredibly rough and hostile the dark black water looked, I had great respect for those that sail solo, any length of time, they must be so courageous! I arrived on the ferry in the middle of the day and was greeted by a multitude of mini buses offering quick tours of the Island for those staying only a few hours, or for those with more time, there horse and carriage tours as well. But as I was staying the night there I decided to pass on the guided tours and explore the Island myself, being only 6km long and a couple wide, I thought I'd manage fine. I walked about 2k's up the hill out of the only reasonable sized town to my hostel which had beautiful views over the ocean. I was lucky to have a 6 bed dorm all to myself, I felt very spoilt! After settling in I walked back down the hill into town to hire a bike for the duration of my stay. With a bike and a map from the tourist office I began to explore the ancient Island. All the old farmhouses are gorgeous and the fences are tiny stone walls that look like they've been there for centuries. There are old castles and forts and ruins of old churches and cemeteries filled with stone celtic crosses, the views around every corner were beautiful! Although the water looked black during the ferry crossing, from the Island it looked tropical blue, it was incredible. There weren't many cars on the island, most of the traffic were either horses or bikes, it felt so remote, so far from anywhere it was lovely. I wanted to stay a second night but the hostel was full so I left the next day on the midday ferry, which meant I didn't arrive in Killarney till about 9pm. It was late and I wandered with my pack for over an hour searching for accommodation, only to discover that it was a bank holiday weekend and all the hostels were full. I then decided that I wouldn't mind paying extra to stay in a bed and breakfast, but even they were full, I knocked on so many doors! Anyway, when it started to get dark I realised there was a National Park on the other side of the road, so just went in and found a little hidden spot next to a tree to sleep. It was freezing cold, I didn't sleep much but at least I wasn't wandering around a strange town in the dark. The next morning I headed to the Tourist Information Centre and asked them to book accommodation, there was a lovely girl there called Clare, she rang several hostels and found beds for the two following nights but no hostels had a bed for that night so I stayed at a gorgeous B&B where I had a double bed to myself and an ensuite and tv which was luxury compared to the other places I stayed. I spent most of the day in the bed catching up on the sleep I lost the night before! That night I went to the theatre and watched Riverdance, it was fantastic, I used to love watchin the dvd when I was younger so it was amazing to watch it live after so many years! The next day did a horseriding tour of the National Park, taking in beautiful views of the rolling green hills, mountains, lakes and forests. I had a stroll through the shops, had a delicious Irish Pub meal and stayed in a very vibrant hostel for the night. The next day I unfortunately succumbed to a guided bus tour which thought I would avoid like the plague before I left, but it was the only way I would get to see the famous Ring of Kerry which is a road around the peninsular in county Kerry. I felt like such an idiot being one of those stupid tourists piling off the bus for 5 minutes to take photos then piling back on again! Then of course the lunch stop was at a small pub in the middle of nowhere with no other choices so I one of a whole big busload of tourists lining up for lunch only to have to get back on the bus about 5 minutes after reaching the front of the line! anyway the scenery was great so I guess it was worth it but I'd love to go back one day and hire a car to take it at my own pace. The next part of the trip update will have to be later because I need to eat dinner now! love to all, from Clare xox