Giza, Egypt

Giza, Egypt
Originally uploaded by StaceyS2006

Cow with Bell, Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Cow with Bell, Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Originally uploaded by StaceyS2006

Ice Skating, Natural History Museum, London

Ice Skating, Natural History Museum, London
Originally uploaded by StaceyS2006

2008 Travels Part II

Since the first email/post here is what I have been up too. After Florence it was of to the beautiful Cinque Terre. Caught the train from La Spezia. Learnt something really important on that train – you’re not supposed to use the loo’s in the Italian trains when they are parked in the station. Whoopsee…

Spent a great four nights at a campsite in a village called Deiva Marina. Spent two days exploring the Cinque Terre and the third day I headed to Portofino. Was really great to be not in a city. No sirens wailing. Instead, I could lie in me tent and listen to the sounds of church bells, and the sound of people singing. Wanted to go on a boat to visit a stature of Christ underwater off the coast, but it wasn’t to be. From there it was back to London.

Late September my sister Brady and I headed to Cairo, Egypt for 3 nights. It was a crazy few of days. Very hot! We were on a tour just by ourselves, and the tour guide tried to teach us the history of Egypt and religion all in two days! I got told off so many times - for not looking at the guy while he was talking and for taking photos while the guide was talking... He had no idea really. After all, we were paying him! It wasn't like photos were banned, he just thought I should be looking at him while he was talking. Brady informed him that I could listen and take photos at the same time! My brain was so overloading from trying to listen to everything. All in all we had a pretty good (if a little mind boggling) time. One of my favorite parts was being driven along Pyramids Road (in our air conditioned tour van). It was really interesting to watch all the people going about their everyday life. I particularly enjoyed seeing the old white VW combi vans which seem to be used as some kind of bus network.

After deciding to take off on Busabout again, I was money poor but reasonably time wealthy, so I caught a bus to Paris (long day!). Had been to Paris before but had more to see. Managed to see the Moulin Rouge (at night), Sacre Cour, visited Rue de Quatre September (or whatever it was - the street that appears to be named after my birthday). Stayed at a rather new backpackers - great place with a great view. Back on Busabout I headed for Switzerland. Spent three nights in Lauterbrunnen. A tad cold, but very beautiful! Went up to Gimmelwald, a beautiful little village complete with chalets and cows with bells. While up there, I saw a guy wearing a Waikato Draught shirt and a Maori bone carving. A Waikatonian I thought! So, I asked him if he was going to steal some cow bell's to take home and use at the Rugby. Unfortunately, he didn't speak much English. Obviously a European with a Waikatonian friend!

Next stop was Munich (just for one night but I enjoyed it so much more than the first time). The autumnal colours of the trees were splendid! Back to Paris where I went in to see the Eiffel tower at night with some people from Busabout. Was cool to have people to go out and explore with - one of the worst things about traveling alone as a female is not feeling safe out at night (it is up there with not having someone to look after your pack when you want to use the loo, or not having anyone to talk to about the cool stuff you are seeing).

After three more nights in Paris, it was on to Amsterdam five nights. Did a cycle tour of the city, and another night tour with our Busabout guide. Visited the Van Gogh Museum, and other things Went on a day trip to Den Haag (The Hague) to visit the M C Escher museum (dude who did the famous 3d illusion graphic works). Also visited Rotterdam (possibly just because I had heard of it in the song called 'Rotterdam' by The Beautiful South, and was curious to see what was there!)

Next was Berlin. I was supposed to be there for two nights, but thought it was three. Forgot to catch my plane so had to fork out extra for another flight... Berlin was ok, was a bit over the travelling by then and keen to get back to London!

Back to London for a long weekend, then a cheap bus to Bristol. Visited the famous bridge and the camera obscurer (still think these things are great!) then off to Cardiff to Penny and Tutty's Welsh retreat. Ok, so it may just look like a 2 bedroom house, but I was so excited by having a bed in a room all to myself! It was great to chill out for a few days and try and suss my life out! Thanks for your hospitality guys!

Trained to Birmingham for dinner with Sharlene. Then, trained on to Stratford-Upon-Avon. At this stage, I should note how nice it was to be backpacking around an English speaking country. I hadn't really done this since my Ireland trip in April 2007. It was a lot less stressful. Also, as it was November (not really high tourist season!) the Hostel's weren't very packed. Once you get into the countryside, the YHA provides 2 pillows (bliss) and are housed in some cool old buildings. So, I arrived at Stratford-upon-Avon in the dark, on the last train of the night (only about 9pm though). I didn't feel too scared walking into town. Planned to cycle round the Shakespeare properties but hiring a bike proved a bit harder than envisaged. Got a cheap day bus pass (even after the bus driver was rude to me telling me I should be on the tourist bus). Met some nice old ladies on the bus who pointed out the direction of Ann Hathaway's cottage. From here it was back to London to catch a little Guy Fawkes Action.

Two nights later I joined a group of Kiwi's heading to Vienna (via Bratislava in Slovakia) for a friend's 30th. Had to catch a taxi to the airport at something like 3am in the morning. Wouldn't have done it alone but it was fine with a group of people. Stayed at a hotel in Vienna. Was excited to not only have my own bed, and room, but bathroom too. Bit gutted that the cleaner obviously thought my flash toilet bag (aka a plastic bag all the way from Greece 3 months earlier) was rubbish and chucked it. It was a fun weekend and great to actually be traveling with people I knew!

From Vienna it was straight to Nottingham (where some of the crazy Brittish louts on the plane were arrested when we got off for harassing the Ryan air hostesses!). Nottingham didn't really do much for me, though I didn't really give it a chance. Instead, I gapped it to York on the bus. Love the YHA here too, and spent the night chatting to a South African girl and some kiwi guys (very amusing – kind of stereotypical) while also doing my washing. York Minster was cool, the Shambles weren't quite as shamblistic as I had imagined though.

Trained to Newcastle-upon-Tyne to catch up with my flatmate from London last year. Had a great time sampling Newcastle's version of butter chicken and getting a guided tour round some cool old buildings and the bridges of Newcastle by night. Didn't really want to leave as it definitely exceeded my expectations. Caught the train (but only just) to Edinburgh. Didn't realise until I was on the train that we got to go via the coast. It was a beautiful day and I wish I could have stopped at some of the villages along the way. Edinburgh hadn’t changed much since I was there last year. Onto rainy Glasgow, where it was raining. Was there for a night to check out some Charles Rennie Mackintosh buildings – very cool to see the Glasgow School of Art. A Ryan Air 13 pound flight took me south, where I visited Helen and Ricky’s Bournemouth Retreat. Similar to the Welsh Retreat mentioned earlier, it was great to catch up with Helen and Ricky and nice to escape from the hostels for a couple of nights.

Once back in London, I went on my last day trip out of London. I will miss these heaps! The destination was Whitstable, at the mouth of the Thames. After a Sunday roast, a walk down the beach and a pint on the waterfront it was getting dark and time to head back to London.

Headed back home via LA. I like movies, but, I’m not really into following the lives of movie stars. Did a tour and had a bit of a look around, but didn’t do too much.

I think that just about covers this years travels! It has been great to see old friends and meet new ones! A big thank you to those of you who have given me a bed/couch/piece of floor! It has been much appreciated!

2008 Travels Part I

I will try and summarise my OE Part II aka Round Europe with a half a thyroid, a bike helmet and Big Cam(era) and Little Cam(era). Hong Kong was hot but good, as was my day trip to Macau. had some great Asian food, took heaps of pics with Big Cam (the new SLR Camera). Little Cam (who came with me last year) got to come to the Counting Crows concert in Hyde Park. Was a great concert and good to catch up with some friends. Managed to use my shoe throwing skills to win a free pair of shoes. Unfortunately they didn't have my size but one of my friend Ben now has a new pair of blue shoes! Prague and Cesky Krumlov (Czech republic) were cool. Lots of pics. The coolest thing I saw in Praque was a retro 1950's tram. Hard to decribe, Maroon I think with 3 silver racing stripes. No photo, too slow!

Vienna was cool - didn't really know what I was going to do there, but found out about an Architect called Otto Wagner so saw a few of his buildings from early 1900's so that kept me and Big Cam quite occupied. Also did a night bike tour (where the bike helmet had an outing) and Big Cam suffered a bit of an injury - lenses case is a bit scarred but generally ok.

On to Salzburg where I did the Sound of Music tour (our guide was dumb but scenery was good), saw Crowded House live in concert - very cool (Little Cam took some videos so I will post them sometime). Also did an ice caves tour - big hill, very cool retro cable car that I was freaked out to be in (steepest in Europe), pretty ice caves, great views.

From there it was onto Munich where I did saw one of Van Gogh's sun flower paintings, got some photos downloaded onto dvd, bought some cheap memory cards for the Cam's and did my washing. Shared a room with 5 Hamiltronians - very cool to see some kiwis, I thought I was the only one here!

Onto Venice where my room mate made me get up early and go exploring with her which was cool. Venice was great. I went to St Marc's basilica, and out on the boat to Murano (glass place) and Burano - pretty pastel coloured buildings. Have heaps of pics of washing hanging on sides of buildings casting shadows etc. Really enjoyed just wandering round Venice and having a look at the old buildings and stuff. Then it was onto Rome...

It started with my room mate and I sleeping through our alarms and waking up 17 mins before the bus was to leave. We had not had a late night, we just didn't wake up. We made it to the bus, but without a shower and breakfast, for what was the longest day for me on the Busabout Bus - Venice to Rome. 8am until 6.30. On the bus, my Ipod spat the dummy when I was trying to download pics onto it, and went into a vicious cycle of resetting itself. The sound it was making was not pretty. Consequently I have not been able to use it for about three weeks and will have to wait until I get to a reliable computer to reformat it. We got to Rome at 6.30pm, however, John the bus driver got lost finding the camp site. The first couple of times we went past the derelict old building and the old guy tending his garden plot was cool, by the third time I was laughing out loud...! Got to the camp site at 7.30, and then they wouldn't open the gate for the bus... so it was 8.30 before we finally got into the camp site. Not a bad day, just a funny, long and slightly smelly one!

The next day was really frustrating. I was a bit scared of doing stuff in Rome by myself because I had heard some bad stories of people having their bags stolen and being interrogated by fake policemen. It was all very hot and overwhelming. First mission was to the post office to try send a package containing some warm clothes that I didn't need and other stuff to James in London. I had 1 hour to get to a tour I had booked, and finally after waiting about 25 mins the number for the person in the queue before me came up. However, some lady pushed in front, and held us up. My number finally got called, the teller was more interested in talking to his workmate than helping me, and after about 10 mins of trying to sort it out I told him to give me the parcel back. Consequently I missed my tour, 19 euro down the drain... I was actually more disappointed about the fact that because I had missed the tour I would miss saying goodbye to one of my room mates and some of the others as I was off to Athens the next morning. I made the most of my afternoon by going to the Coliseum (I think I possibly could have been more impressed). While I was walking away from the Coliseum I heard a wolf whistle. I thought it was someone getting smart, but it was the tour group I was supposed to be on. So, I got the last 30 mins of my tour, and got to say see ya later to the others. Also went to the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, then had to catch the stupid metro (which by the way is covered in graffiti and looks like it belongs in Russia instead - not sure why I think that but I do) and the bus out to the camp site. Next time I go to Rome I plan to stay in town! So that was Rome part I.

Next came Athens, which was way too hot but I managed to get quite a bit of stuff done and slept in a few times. Flying into Athens was interesting - the land was so dry and brown and the buildings were all white. With some of the windows reflecting the sun they looked like jewels. I was a bit scared about Athens too - the area I was staying in was Omonia which, according to the lonely planet is home to "pickpockets, drug dealers and prostitutes". Wicked...sounded great. I managed to meet an Aussie girl as we got of the bus so we figured out where to go together as her hostel was near to mine. The top bunks in the hostel had no railings - bit scary but I just had to reassure myself that I don't usually fall out of a normal bed so I should be able to stay on a bunk.

After 4 nights in Athens I joined a Busabout tour group around the Greek Islands. It was a nine day tour and I actually met some people who weren't from Sydney or Melbourne and were closer to my age than to half of my age, which was really nice. On the main part of Busbaout I didn't really meet many people who I will keep in touch with so was hanging out by myself a bit. Not too bad during the day but the dinner conversation isn't that exciting when I am having dinner with myself. Also, I love taking pictures at night but don't want to be walking round by myself at night! With the Greek Islands tour most people were spending the same amount of time in each place so we actually got to see more of each other and make friends more easily. Anyway, the Greek Islands. Mykonos was a little crazy for me. The town was beautiful and I managed to rope my room mate into coming into town with me and taking photos of the white buildings with shadows on them. Paros was next where we went on a boat trip. Apparently the ferries were cancelled that day but we still went out. I have just got rid of the bruises on my arm from where some young drunk girl fell on me and hit my back against the corner of the seats. It was really rough and scary, but the water was so beautiful, the colour was amazing. I took my swimming goggles so I could actually see stuff under water when we stopped to swim in the sheltered bays.
Next was Santorini. Our accommodation here was amazing. Beds with sheets and blankets, air con, TV, fridge, full sized shower that didn't wet the toilet. Despite four of us to a room it was heaven! Santorini was beautiful, and one island I would like to go back to. I spent the day wandering around looking for a church that is on heaps of postcards. Was quite hard to find but I found it, after possibly crossing some private property... We had a sunset picnic that night - very pretty. The last island was Ios. It was too hot and too loud for me, so the full day we had there I spent in the bamboo hut thingy reading the latest Marian Keyes book. I'm not really one for lying buy the pool or on the beach. It was great. Back to Athens for a night where I had dinner with Deb (Canada) and Tracey (Manchester) from the trip. I had some very good stuffed eggplant!!! We went shopping and managed to get a bargain for some greek sandals, one pair each. The shop keeper kept saying no to me each time I picked up a pair because he didn't have my size. Then, like usual, he tried to sell me anything that would fit, even if I hated it. Finally I found I pair I liked, and we were set. 5 euro discount on each pair. Bargain! Deb was staying at the same place as me and on the same flight to Rome, so for once I had someone to go to the airport with so that was fun! Meant we could do some shopping on the way too. Deb got a skirt and then she looked after my pack at the train station while I went a bought a couple of hand bags I had seen when I was in Athens earlier. It was cool to have someone to wait at the airport with as well.

Rome part II was slightly better, although, this time I bought a cold back from Greece with me. Went on a night tour from the camp site 'cause I felt safe on the camp bus instead of by myself. Saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain at night, St Peters, Coluseum and heaps of other stuff. The two most impressive things I saw by far that day were 1) the view of St Peters/Vatican City from the air as we flew into Rome from Greece and 2) St Peters Basilica lit up at night. Very cool. Next day I did a Vatican tour and climbed up the top of St Peters (nearly killed me in the heat - it was probably mid to high 30's I think). Wasn't as impressed about the Sistine Chapel as I could have been, but have realised I missed the last supper. Bummer. Could have had something to do with the fact I felt pretty crook. Although, I have decided that I would take this cold 1000 times over instead of the stomach bug I had the last week I was in Whakatane. That would have not been fun/possible to travel with!

So, I think I will have to head back to Rome sometime (when I'm not sure), but to have a look at the Sistene Chapel again, and other stuff, and will actually stay in the city and hopefully not be there by myself.

Am now in Florence, where for 18 euros a night I have somehow got a room to myself! AMAZING!!! it has two beds and a bunk but so far it is just me. Hopefully there won't be someone else there tonight. Two nights in a room by myself has been bliss! There is another bed room in the cabin, and a separate kitchen, with a table and couch. This morning I ate my breakfast in my pj's - bliss!!! Had a late night on Thursday night as we got lost getting back from town - the camp site is in the middle of nowhere again and our guide gave us really bad directions of how to catch the bus. Then, back at the campsite a young Kiwi from rural Auckland who is on Contiki took a short cut down a hill and jumped onto the road in front of us. He thought the drop was about 0.5m, it was actually closer to 2m. Hamish now has his foot in plaster for 6-8 weeks poor guy. He reckoned he was fine to walk on it but he wasn't so we took him down to get help. While one of the girls went to find someone we sat him on a wall which he then fell off... Had a bit sleep in yesterday then managed to see Michelangelo's David, the duamo, the Uffizi Gallery (some cool old painting that are beautiful close up), climb the bell tower and rub the boar's nose (?) all in one day without queuing! Primo! Especially seeing that the Lonely Planet says that you can't avoid queuing, I proved them wrong! Am finding things very expensive here at the moment. Am going through Euros like they are going out of fashion which is very scary!

Next stop is Cinque Terre just up the coast between Pisa and Nice. Then, back to London on the 14th.