Travel Blog Posts
March 6th 2007
Untitled Angela & Nicole McMaster It's great being back on the road again - heaps of adventures seen some amazing places, done loads of touristy things, had some great laughs at myself, met a million fantastic people and made lots of really good friends! NB. There are heaps of photos, but make sure you have a look through them. As for the rest, I know there's a lot of writing so I don't expect you to read it all, it's mostly like a travel diary for myself. Enjoy!! (I've only done until Ireland, so i'll update the text later..... sorry) My path - York, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, Belfast, Derry, Gallway, Killarney, (Dublin), Chester, Flint, Llududno, Bets-y-coed, Cardiff, Swansea, Rhossili, Bristol, Bath, Oxford, London - and back to Edinburgh! I only spent a day in ... read more
May 15th 2006
Today we drove through the border into the Netherlands and didn't even realise it. On the way to camp we stopped at a clog and cheese making factory. We were shown how they make dutch cheeses and clogs. It was really interesting and funny, especially when the clog maker flirted with Niki - and yep - she bought a set of clogs with a wink. Then we drove to camp and set up tents for the last time. 10 mins later we were back on the bus and going into town. Then we arrived in Amsterdam: the in-your-face drug and sex capital of the world. Katie gave us a little spiel about what to expect so that we would be prepared. Sex and drugs are au naturale for them, they don't blink at the thought of ... read more
May 13th 2006
This morning we hit the road at 6am and had breakfast on the bus. We had a lot of driving to do today, had a couple of stops and lunch at a truck stop -yum. Mid-afternoon we reached the Polish/German border then finally arrived in Berlin and started straight off with a driving tour of the city. First stop was the East Side Gallery which is part of the Berlin Wall that has been graffiti’d/decorated. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, Parliament House, the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony, the Holocaust Memorial and other buildings. We had a walking tour planned for the next day so we went to our camp and set up. It was a beautiful river side site and the showers were great- clean and hot. The next morning ... read more
May 11th 2006
Breakfast at 6.30, on the road by 7.30 as we had to be at Oswiecim by 8.30. You may not recognise that place as that is the Polish name, most of the world would know it by it's German name - Auschwitz. It was a sombre, moving experience that we will never forget. We were actually quite late arriving as there were road works and we had a take a large detour. The bridge that Topdeck usually go over was under repair and could only take traffic weighing up to 8 tons... our bus was 18 tons (without luggage and people!) We arrived at 9.30 which meant we had 1 less hour which wasn’t a problem because Auschwitz and it's neighbour Birkenau were emotionally draining and I know I couldn't have taken another hour. We started ... read more
May 9th 2006
Today was a drive day - Czech Republic to Poland. They are both part of the EU (but different currencies) so technically there should be zero problems at the border and we should be able to drive straight through. But today we had stop, get out of the bus, line up and get a stamp to say we were leaving the Czech Republic, get back in the bus, drive across no man's land, get out and line up for another stamp to say we were arriving in Poland. That's how it is... but not going to argue with a man holding a machine gun. Along the way several people needed a bathroom stop - we couldn't find a service station. Finally it got too much for practically everyone and we requested a bush stop. Everyone jumped ... read more
May 7th 2006
Another drive day. We were in camp by about 3.30 which gave us time to set up camp and then have a cocktail party! We had all paid €5 to Katie and she and Brad had gone shopping for a bunch of different alcohol and mixers so we could make cocktails. We had this party as an optional escapade tonight because we were going to a massive night-club - also due to being budget travellers - by drinking beforehand people hoped to cut down the cost. It was the first time we all got dressed up to go out to a club together so it was good fun and a cocktail party at the same time - what more could you want!? Not everyone wanted to go out (every now and then you need a night ... read more
May 5th 2006
We arrived in Vienna and were told we could drink the water again - it was delicious too. So refreshing and practically as good as bottled water. Got into camp late afternoon, we quickly set up camp (staying here for 2 nights) the cook tent so Brad could start our dinner. After we had eaten we left camp and headed into town for Prater Park- an amusement park. We loved it - had a great time. The whole group spent about half an hour on the bumper cars. It was also good because all the cars were filled with our group, so we were just crashing into each other. After them we went on one where it's a roller coaster but you lay down, then a couple of other rides, even the crazy up and down ... read more
Bite in Bratislava
Published: January 28th 2012Europe » Slovakia » Bratislava Region » Bratislava » Old Town
May 4th 2006
3 meals, 3 countries. Breakfast in Budapest, Lunch in Bratislava, Dinner in Vienna. Today we had to pay a really hefty fine to cross the boarder from Hungary to Slovakia - 2 cans of Coke. Both countries are part of the EU so border crossings are usually just a formality. The guard came onto the bus, looked up and down and saw Nev was drinking a Coke and said he wanted one. Of course Brad gave him one, then stopped and said he wanted 2. So Brad gave him another and he waved us through. No passport check - nothing... but the Cokes. Only in Slovakia for a total of a couple of hours. We barely even set our feet on the ground but our bums were solidly planted on the seats. All we did was ... read more
May 3rd 2006
Our arrival into Budapest was an interesting one. The city was full of one way systems and Nev found us driving in some very narrow street (and apparently not in the correct direction) so had to find a place to either turn around or get out. In the end we came to car park that had a Bus Only Exit in it. Obviously we made our way to this exit but before we even passed it, two police officers stopped him and made him pull back into the car park. Weird but ok. Once Katie and Nev got out to speak in sort of sign language (as neither spoke the other’s language) it was obvious that we were in trouble for something. Eventually we worked out that as punishment for who knows what, we were to ... read more
April 30th 2006
We crossed into Romania today and with crossing from ex-communist to ex-communist it only took 1 1/2 hours! We stopped at a small hilltop town called Vecchio Tarnavor (Velcro for short) which has a large fort overlooking the town. There was a little group of old men with a clarinet, accordion & singing for the tourists. They were sitting in front of a bar - playing for their beers. We arrived in Bucharest where the highlight of the tour was the 2nd biggest building in the WORLD - the Palace of the Parliament - (only the Pentagon is bigger) which for all extents and purposes, bankrupted Romania. It was commissioned by the ex-communist leader of the time as his house and office buildings but he never got to see it finished. He was executed on December ... read more
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