Trust me; you don’t ever want to mistake a Canadian for an American. They don’t just decorate their backpacks with the red and white maple leaf for fun! For reference (and in the absence of a backpack), Canadians are the ones that say ‘eh’ a lot. Since I studied in Toronto a few years back, I’ve always had a special fondness for Canadians. Friendly, modest, overly polite, politically correct and generally pretty conservative, they don’t always get sarcasm, but they always laugh at your jokes (quite possibly they’re laughing at my Aussie accent)! O [View Full Entry]

---

---

Real Aussies all have nicknames. Our Prime Minister is 'Little Johnny', our most notorious and controversial ex-crim is simply 'Chopper' and the former Captain of the Aussie cricket team is 'Tugger'. Witty, ridiculous or just plain embarrassing, the theory is that the more nicknames one has, the more endeared or loved they are. Judging by this, Bologna is one popular city! Bologna, it seems, has more nicknames than you'd hear down at the local footy club. 'La Grassa' - the fat, 'La Rossa' - the red, 'La Dotta' - the learned and 'Basket City'- are probably the most common Bologna nicknames [View Full Entry]

---

---

Everyone's talking about Croatia. 'It's SO summer 2006', they say. Fabulously clear blue water, lazy days filled with sunshine, seafood, yachts and chilled beers in beautiful walled old towns. Unfortunately, this means that literally everyone is there. On arrival in Dubrovnik I was greeted with two sights that were enough to cause any backpacker to shudder with fear and revulsion. First, a hulking white cruise liner crammed with Yank coffin-dodgers with greenbacks to burn. Then, perhaps worse, a Contiki bus overflowing with leering, drunk-at-lunch Aussie revelers and their hair-straight [View Full Entry]

---

---

Slovenia was back on the Mediterranean. The easiest way to tell I’d hit the Med again was the men. Perhaps they should rename it Slobber-enia. They stared, they whistled, they called out, there was a backside slapping incident… I could barely hear myself think over the din. I caught the train from Czech through Austria to Ljubljana. My opinion of Vienna is well-publicized (ie. Most boring city in Europe - perhaps the world) - so I completely bypassed it. The scenery was all green mountains and blue rivers and lakes. My cabin mate Anna was on her way to Zagreb for [View Full Entry]

---

---

World Cup fever was rampant by the time I hit Poland. Fellow travelers had come from Germany, others were going there. In hostel circles you could be guaranteed to have at least one backpacker from the country that was playing (except maybe Guana) to make things even more interesting. The atmosphere was incredible, further fuelled by the sweltering heat. Complete strangers became best mates or enemies over a game of football. Whilst in Poland and Czech I watched football every night it was on. Bars were decorated with team flags, sometimes entire tables were reserved in front of the big [View Full Entry]

---

---

Riga is undoubtedly beautiful. An art noveau overload with cobbled streets, spires and turrets. Its medieval old town is heritage listed by UNESCO and it was nothing short of bustling when I arrived a few days before the summer solstice festival. However, now Riga risks losing its UNESCO status with the construction of too many modern buildings. Even worse, the cheap airlines have got in and every weekend bring obnoxious and arrogant groups of bucks parties across from the UK. There is a vibe about Riga I just didn't like. Organised crime is a problem and strip clubs, casinos and other [View Full Entry]

---

---

So were the hell is Estonia I hear you thinking? And why would anyone want to go there?! Estonia is on the Baltic Sea, just below Finland, with Sweden to the west and Russia to the east. In 1991 Estonia broke free from Communist rule and in 2004 its tiny population of 1.4 million joined the EU. I was keen to visit Estonia's capital Tallinn, hoping to find a quaint little city, off the Eurail tourist trail, that was undiscovered, quaint and just a little bit different. I got all that and a whole lot more! Tallinn is modern and progressive, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Every time someone asked where I was going after France and I responded 'Belgium' their eyes glazed over. What was wrong with Belgium? On paper certainly a country whose two local specialties are beer and chocolate should be sensational. I didn't get it. Personally I was curious. I'd passed Belgium over on my previous trip and my Grandma Maynes' grandfather came from Belgium - so after my heady weekend in Paris, I caught the train to Bruges. Everyone agrees that Bruges is picturesque. There is no doubting that. The place gets a whopping 3 million visitors each year and of these [View Full Entry]

---

---

In Pushkar, India a tarot card reader solemnly predicted my future. He drew the nine of cups, which meant that every happiness I wished for in my life would be fulfilled. He also had a warning, 'avoid over-indulgence', he said and specifically advised me to be cautious where food and wine are concerned. It was with those words ringing in my ears that I embarked on a gastronomical and wine adventure through Bordeaux and Paris! Re-visiting France became an unexpected highlight. I didn't dislike it last time, but back then I wasn't overwhelmed by the experience. This time was different, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Landing in Valencia, the pilot announced to the t-shirt and shorts clad passengers that the weather outside was 16 degrees and raining. A collective protest went up from the crowd. "How rude!" Surely we´d been through enough bad weather in chilly Ireland? Fortunately, Spain is renowned for its warm weather and things all came good on my second day when I headed to Barcelona. The sun came out and the weather hotted up. For me, Spain had always conjured up images of lazy days in the sunshine, of seafood, paella, tapas, cold beer and sangria. Of suntans, beaches and nightlife. It [View Full Entry]

---

---