The Greek Islands are packed with history, beautiful scenery, fine food, arts and lots more, but unfortunately I didn't see any of that. I went there to party, and that I did.
I spend 2 nights on the island of Samos - a quiet island near Turkey, but only because it was a 5-day Greek holiday and ferries were very difficult to get.. Then Jesper (Danish dude, still travelling together) and I headed for Mykonos for 5 nights. I have actually never felt so "over" partying as when I left here but after 5 solid days of party all night, sit on the beach all day, the dehydration and fatigue began to take its toll. Accommodation was a wooden shoe-box with 2 jail-style beds (actually I would complain if I got these in jail) and no floor space. Jesper even ended up in hospital after one night out - can only be attributed to partying too hard.
So after Mykonos, I took a ferry to Athens then flew to München. Spent just enough time in Athens to see the Acropolis and the world's worst pub crawl...
Monday, June 30, 2008
TURKIYE
PICTURES ARE AT
http://picasaweb.google.com/agcousins/TURKEY
After spending 2 weeks in Turkey, I really gave that place a big "Tick off"!. My plan was to stay for 4 nights, but then things changed...
Istanbul - an amazing city of 8 Million people, despite being a predominantly Muslim country it is actually a very secular city, besides the 5 prayer calls every day starting at 5am (mostly I was still up from the night before..) Actually the religion in Turkey is Football.
Taking the streets of Istanbul, staying in "Bahaus Hostel" (highly recommended!), I did all the touristy things including Topkapi Palace, Turkish Baths (Hamam), The Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, The Grand Bazaar, The Spice Market. I thought the small streets filled with market stalls beside the Grand Bazaar were more impressive than the actual Grand Bazaar (its a giant indoor market). The small streets nearby sold everything for the locals - fabrics, kitcheware, produce, animals, garden products as opposed to fake handbags and cheesy souvenirs.
I also got off the beaten track and experienced a few parts of town for the locals, including a Soccer stadium (Besiktas - a Turkish team), a walk along the old city wall (very confronting & scary - me and a Danish friend, Jesper, were the only 2 white, non-homeless people there) - its a place where homeless people live and also trade clothing which is dumped and burnt on the wall. There were children sorting through rubbish... ) Also visited some other districts where there was no tourists - a change from Sultanahmet (where I stayed) - the tourist centre!
The Turks are surprisingly nice people - more than willing to talk to strangers, especially about football!, but yes, there are many trying to sell things, and the competition is tough!
After Istanbul I headed to Selcuk with my new friend Jesper from Copenhagen - in search of relaxation and beach to escape the metropolis! This place is mid-way down the West coast of Turkey facing the Aegean Sea. After a 10-hr overnight bus, we checked out the ancient site of Ephesus - the best preserved ancient city in the Mediterranean. Also we had a look at the beach.. certainly not the nicest, but our hostel (or pension rather) had a swimming pool hidden in a mandarin grove on the edge of town. Totally awesome!
Contemplating how to get to Greece from this place, I saw an advertisement for a 4 day yacht cruise on a traditional Turkish yacht for about $250!!! I couldn't say no to this!! so Jesper and I headed to the town of Fethiye (south coast - on the Mediterranean, where all the fantastic beaches are). We didn't spend long in Fethiye - just ate some local seafood and stocked up on Vodka for the boat cruise. The yacht cruise was absolutely amazing, there were 15 passengers including some young couples, an older couple, a home-schooled family (Boy were those kids in for a surprise!).
By the end of the cruise, we were all dark-brown and reasonably good friends with the other people, after cruising through remote beaches, un-inhabited islands, through the "sunken city", and experienced waters unlike anything else I've seen!
After 4 days, we paid our bar tabs for the boat and headed to the tiny village of Olympos (still south coast of Turkey). The accommodation is "treehouse" style and apart from the ruins, beach, and vast amounts of rock cliffs, there is only one thing to do here: Party. Along with our friends from the yacht - Prue and Eric, Chris and Lisa, Gokul, Leigh and still with Jesper, we certainly supported the tourist industry in this little town. I am definitely coming back to do this cruise and stay in Olympos again.
One final stop in Turkey before heading to the Greek islands - to Capapdocia. A little region in central Turkey with some of the weirdest naturally formed landscapes I have ever seen. The highlights here were a bike ride through the hills, and "Turkish Night" - all you can eat & drink with Turkish entertainment including "Whirling Dervishes", belly dancers, even a donkey!
After this, time to high-tail it to Greek Islands...
http://picasaweb.google.com/agcousins/TURKEY
After spending 2 weeks in Turkey, I really gave that place a big "Tick off"!. My plan was to stay for 4 nights, but then things changed...
Istanbul - an amazing city of 8 Million people, despite being a predominantly Muslim country it is actually a very secular city, besides the 5 prayer calls every day starting at 5am (mostly I was still up from the night before..) Actually the religion in Turkey is Football.
Taking the streets of Istanbul, staying in "Bahaus Hostel" (highly recommended!), I did all the touristy things including Topkapi Palace, Turkish Baths (Hamam), The Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, The Grand Bazaar, The Spice Market. I thought the small streets filled with market stalls beside the Grand Bazaar were more impressive than the actual Grand Bazaar (its a giant indoor market). The small streets nearby sold everything for the locals - fabrics, kitcheware, produce, animals, garden products as opposed to fake handbags and cheesy souvenirs.
I also got off the beaten track and experienced a few parts of town for the locals, including a Soccer stadium (Besiktas - a Turkish team), a walk along the old city wall (very confronting & scary - me and a Danish friend, Jesper, were the only 2 white, non-homeless people there) - its a place where homeless people live and also trade clothing which is dumped and burnt on the wall. There were children sorting through rubbish... ) Also visited some other districts where there was no tourists - a change from Sultanahmet (where I stayed) - the tourist centre!
The Turks are surprisingly nice people - more than willing to talk to strangers, especially about football!, but yes, there are many trying to sell things, and the competition is tough!
After Istanbul I headed to Selcuk with my new friend Jesper from Copenhagen - in search of relaxation and beach to escape the metropolis! This place is mid-way down the West coast of Turkey facing the Aegean Sea. After a 10-hr overnight bus, we checked out the ancient site of Ephesus - the best preserved ancient city in the Mediterranean. Also we had a look at the beach.. certainly not the nicest, but our hostel (or pension rather) had a swimming pool hidden in a mandarin grove on the edge of town. Totally awesome!
Contemplating how to get to Greece from this place, I saw an advertisement for a 4 day yacht cruise on a traditional Turkish yacht for about $250!!! I couldn't say no to this!! so Jesper and I headed to the town of Fethiye (south coast - on the Mediterranean, where all the fantastic beaches are). We didn't spend long in Fethiye - just ate some local seafood and stocked up on Vodka for the boat cruise. The yacht cruise was absolutely amazing, there were 15 passengers including some young couples, an older couple, a home-schooled family (Boy were those kids in for a surprise!).
By the end of the cruise, we were all dark-brown and reasonably good friends with the other people, after cruising through remote beaches, un-inhabited islands, through the "sunken city", and experienced waters unlike anything else I've seen!
After 4 days, we paid our bar tabs for the boat and headed to the tiny village of Olympos (still south coast of Turkey). The accommodation is "treehouse" style and apart from the ruins, beach, and vast amounts of rock cliffs, there is only one thing to do here: Party. Along with our friends from the yacht - Prue and Eric, Chris and Lisa, Gokul, Leigh and still with Jesper, we certainly supported the tourist industry in this little town. I am definitely coming back to do this cruise and stay in Olympos again.
One final stop in Turkey before heading to the Greek islands - to Capapdocia. A little region in central Turkey with some of the weirdest naturally formed landscapes I have ever seen. The highlights here were a bike ride through the hills, and "Turkish Night" - all you can eat & drink with Turkish entertainment including "Whirling Dervishes", belly dancers, even a donkey!
After this, time to high-tail it to Greek Islands...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monaco Grand Prix
Sunday, May 25 was the Monaco Grand Prix!!! I was lucky enough to go there, was a most amazing day. It rained pretty much all morning, which made sitting on a muddy cliff a little uncomfortable, had a really good seat considering my ticket was for "general admission" - could see at least half of the track... 2 corners and the finishing line as well as pit lane were reasonably close as well.
I was happy with the result - young Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) taking out first place and Kubica (BMW Sauber) coming second. Some other red car came in 3rd, think they call themselves Ferrari...
There's photos from this too - in the Contiki album on the link below!
Andrew
I was happy with the result - young Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) taking out first place and Kubica (BMW Sauber) coming second. Some other red car came in 3rd, think they call themselves Ferrari...
There's photos from this too - in the Contiki album on the link below!
Andrew
CONTIKI, May 5-22 2008
PHOTOS Are at http://picasaweb.google.com/agcousins
check them out!
Hi everyone.. greetings from Nice, France.. following a 2-week tour of Western Europe on board contiki bus.
check them out!
Hi everyone.. greetings from Nice, France.. following a 2-week tour of Western Europe on board contiki bus.
So the tour starts at 7.30am outside a hotel in London, continues to the Netherlands via some industrial looking roads through Belgium and France. At least it was a good time to meet people on the tour & begin to make friends with those who I would spend every waking minute with, travel with, share a room with... basically "become family" to quote Jacqui, our tour manager.
The tour consisted of mostly Canadians - probably at least half - with the rest from USA, Australia and others from South Africa and Korea.
First stop, Amsterdam - 2 night stop over where we stayed in a hotel in the outskirts of town. Some of the attraction there:
- Drinking Heineken beer
- Visiting a coffee shop (man! some strong coffee!)
- Bike ride through Edam. Bikes dominate this country. the most important road rule - give way to bikes...
- Cheese and clog factory tour
- Ann Frank house
- Van Gogh Museum
- Hitting up the red light district
- Boat cruise along a canal - unlimited drinks
- Partying all night until sunrise and being on the bus, checked out of the hotel at 7.15 or something ridiculous.
I really didn't know what to expect there, the language is a little bit like German - which I can say a few basic greetings and stuff. They generally speak a fair amount of English too which was good.
Next Stop, St. Goar, Germany.
This was a little town hidden in some little hills in the Rhine Valley. We did a boat cruise, tour of a beer stein shop and wine tasting. Also stayed up drinking beers at the local pub there. Picture the hills from the sound of music with little castles dotted through the view. Off to Switzerland next.
Lucerne & Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland
Got some money converted to Swiss Francs instead of Euro's to spend big in this country. Super expensive, but totally amazing.
Went on a boat cruise around the lake on Lucerne, views of the Swiss alps were totally unparalleled. Got a cable car up to our mountain-top hotel - was an awesome experience.. We spent 2 nights up there. Missing a lot of detail here but some other highlights were a Swiss-style lunch with entertainment including alphorns, yodelling and whirling a coin in a bowl. Also visited a swiss army knife & watch store but all i purchased was a little knife, coloured white which is exclusive to Switzerland for Victorinox. Yes cows in Switzerland do wear cowbells.
Anyway we pressed on to Austria, quick stopover in Liechtenstein for lunch (the royal family is where the story for the Addams family came from) and then into Austria for white water rafting. It was so cold, the water being 5 degrees C, and we had to jump in several times. Afterwards we were given shots of schnapps and red bull to try and warm up.
In Austria we hit up Innsbruck, most people went to the Swarovski store but Colin and I went for a beer. The town is very old-fashioned, narrow streets, cobbled streets and swarming with beggars. They approach you with a sign, or one man approached with his 2 kids pleading for money.
Thats about it for Austria, apart from another wild night of shenanigans at the hotel and all the festivities for the Euro cup (soccer) which Austria are co-hosting.
After Austria, Italy. Even less detail here, sorry I'm a bad writer and slow typist.
First stopover - Venice. Did all the touristy things and went on a gondola ride. Had a few drinks at the hotel before going to bed... Now the interesting bit.
I packed my stuff and got on the contiki bus. Packed everything except my money belt (which I was wearing around venice - what a tourist!). I left it in the hotel, it contained my passport, 3-month eurail pass (cost 900 euros and not replaceable) and 500 euros cash and 2 credit cards.
Cutting a long story short, yes I did get it back with every dollar inside, thanks to some unusually honest staff there.
Off to Rome for 2 night stop. We were told this would be the longest days on the tour so not to go out and piss it up the night before. I dont think so.
Touring Rome with under 2 hours sleep was a challenge, got to see:
- Vatican City and St. Peters Basilica
- Spanish steps
- Trevi Fountain
- Some chapel full of bones and skulls
- the Colosseum
- loads of restaurants, etc...
Next Stop, Florence
Cruised around the city through the tight streets with enormous old buildings crowding the streets, went to a leather shop, then I had to get a train back to venice real quick to collect my passport. took 7 hours and I missed out on seeing the statue of David. (but saw enough marble statues of naked men around italy...)
When i returned to Florence I went to the night club to catch up with everyone.. i was smelly and wearing running shoes but had a mad night at "space electronica discotheque" was packed with contiki'ers..
The next day we drove through Pisa, got a quick pic of the leaning tower and drove on. Drove past ING/Renault Formula 1 team which got me excited for the Grand Prix...
Nice & the Cote d'Azur
Spent 2 nights in Nice - went to the Cannes film festival and saw Harrison Ford. Was the premiere for Indianna Jones, Cate Blanchett was there too and Steven Speilberg. Sorry i didnt catch up Cate...
Hit up Nice by sitting on the beach (rocky beach though) drinking cheap beer and eating olives. Got quite sunburnt but was worth it for sure. Went to Monaco for a meal and the Monte Carlo Casino to make a profit, but unfortunately it got the best of me that night...
Stopped at Avignon for an expensive lunch and checked out this old castle. Continued on to Lyon.
Spent an overnight in Lyon - went to a little restaurant which served traditional peasant food at modern tourist prices. Was definitely good though. Got to use some of my French every now and then.. it's quite cool knowing some of their lingo. Then the drive to Paris...
Paris
First stop - dinner at the hotel restaurant, then in to town for a night tour. Checked out the eiffel tower among some other sights. Drove the bus through the roundabout at the ArcDe Triomphe - this roundabout has 5 lanes, no road markings and no rules. its like a washing machine full of cars, trucks and buses. Went out on the town that night, was pretty interesting but only a quiet night.
The next day - full day in Paris, we hit up Tour d'Eiffel again - went up top (by stairs) and took photos and checked out the view. then on to the Arc de triomphe and walked down the champs elysee (main shopping strip) for some shopping... oh rather some looking. Then of course, went to the louvre (saw the mona lisa) and went on to notre dame. was absolutely amazing, but not as big as i had imagined.
Went to a cabaret show that night - was quite expensive but a must-do for paris. After that we had a massive party in an irish pub in paris to say goodbye to everyone... went on quite late, actually i saw the sun come up that night too.
In the morning everyone Me and a contiki friend Heather stayed in Paris and saw some more sights (the only alcohol-free day to date). I was planning on getting a train in the evening to the French riviera (back to Nice) but there was a train strike and a lot of bookings so I had to stay in Paris for an extra 2 days. getting accomm was a nightmare but it gave me the opportunity to continue to see Paris, and I had a friend there so it worked out real good.
The next day in Paris we went to the Chateau of Versailles (an absolutely enormous castle) which is a short train ride from Paris. Also had a picnic on the grass outside the eiffel tower in the evening, was good to go cheap for a change, we had wine, baguettes, cheese, salami, etc... for about 10 euro's. Thats all folks.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Farewell Vegemite and VB
Planning a holiday is so exciting! I'm currently trying to find a ferry trip from Athens to Istanbul & accommodation in Pamplona, Spain during the Festival of San Fermin, aka Running of the Bulls. Mon Dieu! I'm smiling already.
A look at my trip as planned so far:
- Contiki tour 7 May - 22 May: European Encounter
- Monaco F1 Grand Prix (also it's just around the corner from Cannes Film Festival so I might check that out too) 22-25 May
- Greek Islands (hopefully a cruise through there to Istanbul)
- Turkey
- Central/Eastern Europe to Austria
- Czech Republic - Berlin
- Fly to Barcelona
- tour Spain and Portugal
- Running of the Bulls (7-14 July)
- Maybe tour UK here
- Paris for last day of Tour de France on 27 July
- Travel to Northern parts of Germany (via Netherlands & Belgium)
- Scandinavia
- Enter Russia via Finland perhaps, to St. Petersburg
- Begin Epic train journey across Russia for 10,000 km to Vladivostok
- come back to melb to face reality & get a job prob for the next 45 years!
Oh, that last bit sucked! I might stay there. I will be equipped with a passport, eurail ticket, "learn french in 7 weeks" graduation certificate, and a bag with a toothbrush & clean jocks.
please let me know what you think & email me your address if u want a postcard :-)
agcousins@gmail.com
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