BreconBoysGoBalkan

Due to our desire to conserve funds and being the victims of our first scam of the trip, a 10 pound charge for bread*, Prague was spent mostly meandering around the city, absorbing, like a single sheet of Bounty, the numerous sights and general ambiance of the city. Of particular note were the clock tower, Charles' bridge and Prague Castle. Prague was a picturesque and delightful end to the eastern and central leg of our tour. We are currently preparing for our 24 hour journey to Preuilly-sur-Claise in France with much trepidation. We may not be in contact for a while as we will be heading up 'the Murderer' a mountain in northern Spain, which we are fairly confident lacks internet access (and water). Furthermore, Flopsy has consistent failed in his long struggle to heroically brandish ... read more

It was a warm afternoon, but mild enough that elderly gentlemen could don their overcoats as they went about their Vienna related business. A calmness hung in the air and over the crowd, like a Chimpanzee on Ketamine. That was, however, excluding five young boys who stood tense and edgy in a ring, glancing nervously into the crowd, as if hoping tio catch the thoughts of the unsuspecting masses. The reasoning behind the behaviour of these questionable youngsters was their intention to meet with their contact, a UN employed Serbian political refugee. Liz was kind enough to give up 2 days of her life to be wasted guiding us, with great knowledge and boundless conversational abilites. We saw all the major sights of the city and more, including Mozart's house, the cemetary and two palaces. We ... read more

And then there were five, although Rayman made up for McGregors absence with his effervescent wit and northern charm (well Swindonian). Thanks to the logistic and organisational prowess of Ms Puddleduck Budapest was a resounding success. We arrived late at the Domino Hostel and found ourselves sharing a room with two Americans who were thoroughly encapsulating. To the extent that we spent every night in the hostel drinking till inebriated enough to discuss politics and international relations at length (they also taught us King Cups- the best card game ever). Day one was spent on the Pest side of the city and consisted mostly of a walk to Heroes Square, with numerous stops, including Ice Cream and the excellent Terror Museum. This was a memorial museum to the victims of the Nazi and Communist occupations of ... read more

A significant event occured on the Sarajevo to Zagreb train whereupon we met a delightful chap from Swindon, who goes by the name Rayman. We were pleased to discover he could devour a carton of milk in under 15 seconds. However, he has turned out to be rather difficult to shrug off. Zagreb was benile but beautiful due to our only full day there being a Monday, on which everything is closed. We were pleased, however, to meet up with our sponsers (see pictures). The major Zagreb incident was a fairly hefty theft of Jemimah Puddleducks cash and beloved iPod. This did, it must be said, provide Miss Puddleduck and Peter Rabbit with the opportunity to sample the Croatian equivalent of the Spanish inquisition. Contrary to expectation, they were treated rather more like criminals than victims ... read more

In the words of Ian Oliver, translated on the internet, "Behold, come down percussion hammer". PROLOGUE Serbia, Serbia, Serbia. Ah Serbia. In order to fully appreciate our experience the reader should imagine a constant stream of beautiful, leggy, 6ft1 women. Now, with that in mind, the blog may begin. We arrived in Belgrade after a lengthy 13 hour overnight train journey, in our own 3 person sleeper cabins, which we were slightly ill at ease about, particuarly as we stood on the platform surrounded by a gaggle of very suspicious looking characters. They, we later discovered after later observation by means of the train window, were in fact smuggling all manner of goods. Despite our shuddering terror, the journey turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable. From the moment we arrived in Belgrade we could tell it ... read more

Day 3 Late waking, due to a heavy international poker session the previous night involving locals of the hostel and assorted others. Valiant attempts from all, most notably Mr McGregor's four hour marathon and the Mopsy/Puddleduck contingent who came a respectable 3rd. Unfortunately, Flopsey pulled out after 15 minutes because he was wilting. In the morning we visited the Museum of the Romanian Peasant, in which we were stalked by strangely intimidating middle-aged women, who were ready to pounce at the slightest hint of an exposed camera. Nevertheless, we overcame the unsettling tension to enjoy the incredibly uninformative pile of old things. Still, it was interesting, including several whole 18th Century peasant buildings literally lifted from the surrounding countryside. Also, some amusing relics of the communist era, including the jacket of Ceauşescu, complete with bullet h ... read more

Day 1: Terminal 5 = magic, especially B Gates? B gates gut yes, well. We left Mopsy's at 2 am for a 6 20 flight, the taxi only took an hour. Wayne if you're out there, you're a real hero. but, unbeknown to us, check-in didn't open till 5 15 so we were forced into socialising with DJ Shadow and his 20 plus entourage, striking up a particularly close bond with the mental nuts Australian sound engineer/drug supplier. even weirder was that they were on the same flight as us. turns out UNKLE were playing a festival in Bucharest. anyway back to our trip. after emerging from our airborne prison we were welcomed by our hostel escorts. already flopsy's feet were giving him grief, claims of trench foot were rife. it is hot, the nights are ... read more

Entry One currently in Henry's kitchen. We have drank and eated. The Booths went for a quiet curry only to be descended upon by the BreconBoysGoBalkan+Guests fanclub. Henry is still packing... severe deja vu we have assigned ourselves some highly personalised travel psuedenyms which are as follows - Tom Oliver - Peter Rabbit Jake Lambert - Jemimah Puddleduck Tom Booth - Mrs Tiggywinkle Jonny Fitzpatrick - Mr McGreggor Barney Garcia - Flopsy Henry Bird - Mopsy we now eagerly await the arrival of Wayne the taxi driver... read more