Xcpsion
Sion and Niki Joined: February 11th 2007
Logged in: February 11th 2009
Logged in: February 11th 2009
I can't believe it. We head off for the states tomorrow to get a taste of American liberty in and around Arnie's great state of California, maybe do some gambling in Vegas, look at a large hole in the ground at the Grand Canyon, escape from Alcatraz like Clint, and make some idle yet amusingly funny observations on social eitquette outside Jerry's 'New York' apartment, thats actually in L.A. It should be fun. Carl and Becky, me cuz's, we'll see you in a couple of days. To everyone else, we'll be back before you know it, and it won't be long before you'll be begging us to piss off again.
Tally Ho!
Bye Bye England. It's been a merry jolly time. Niki got to see snow. I got to see family. We went to Liverpool to visit the Beatles, and London to visit the Queen. We got to see Stonehenge which my great-great-grandad helped to rebuild and we went to Shakespeares house in Stratford-upon-Avon, and we spent an awful lot of time workin at the Townie in Solihull. But alas, all things must pass, so off we go again.
Travel Blog Posts
Arizona state border
Wooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We flew in from L.A yesterday morning. Well, we left L.A on Tuesday evening, were in the air for 14 hours, and landed at 9.15 on Thursday. So, as far as Nikola and I are concerned, Wednesday the 6th of February never existed. Does that make us one day older or one day younger than we actually are? Think about it. So, last time we spoke, my cousins Carl and Becky had just dropped us off in Hollywood, land of the stars, before they boarded their flight for Samoa. We stayed in a hostel on Hollywood boulevard for a few days, and surprisingly, theirs actually not much to do in Hollywood, and its a real bitch to get around L.A without a car so we just sort of wandered around Sunset Strip and ... read more
Hey Loyal followers, how are we doing? Nikola and I have had quite the adverture since we last posted a blog. We've been to Monterey, Carmel, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and we are currently residing in the little known town of Flagstaff, Arizona sitting at 7000ft (about 2500m for you metric types in less developed nations than the almight USA) and completely covered in soft white snow!!!!! (Niki finally got to see some, yay!!) Its been quite a trip I have to say. Carl and Becky picked us up in San Francisco, which you already know about, from there we headed south to Monterey Bay, we were heading for Carmel-by-the-sea (remember where Clint Eastwood was mayor) but we realised that Monterey was cheaper, so we found a nice cheap motel, complete ... read more
The Land of the Free
Hey Guys!!!!! Wow. America is crazy, everyone is so fucking American. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that they all have American accents, and they really are larger than life, real characters. And i have to say, i've always hated Americans and in just one week they have completely challenged my preconceptions of them, so far the Californians have been some fo the most lovely, helpful, friendly, outgoing people I have ever met, but then I am comparing them to your average English shopkeeper who couldn'y care less if you dropped dead in their shop, so maybe the bar has been set rather low. We left San Francisco yesterday to start our Griffer-Ander-spoon road trip down the West Coast, with a brief visit to San Jose, the second time we've been to a ... read more
Cerveza y Bocadillo
We Do. But, before we let you in on the secret of how to find the elusive San Jose, the place Burt Bacharach longed to return to, we must start at the beginning of our Spanish caravan tour into Andalucia, at the heart of this beautiful region, the capital, Sevilla. Sevilla is a city famous for its oranges, flamenco, bull fighting, sangria and all things quintessentially Spanish. It is a quaint city, that feels more like a large village than a capital city. The streets are lined with orange trees, every corner has a bodega or cerveceria overflowing with punters munching on tapas and drinking dirt cheap canyas all day and night. Groups of musicians sit by the river strumming their guitars, and dancing the flamenco. It was a really nice change of vibe after racy ... read more
Sagrada again
¡Hola! Spain is amazing. Gaudi is fucking awesome. Barcelona rock...when it's not overrun by loud abusive Scottish football hooligans. Madrid is a bit lame. But first i have a story to tell, it is one of coincidence and craziness. We arrived in Barcelona and were blown away by the mass of street performers along La Rambla, the main drag of the city; human statues, magicians, painters, and a whole array of others, all doing their thing, and bloody well at that. We checked into our hotel, a cute little pensiones (pension alamar), basically a home-stay sort of thing, run by this friendly little Spanish family, we had our own little double room with a balcony overlooking the street, nice and quiet (except at night when the streets are overrun by dealers, drunks, and prostitutes) but still ... read more
Prosecco, canals and gondolas. can it get any more stereotypical
Venice. Wow! It is exactly how you always imagined. When we jumped off the bus from Munich, I literally couldn't believe my eyes. The movies often lie, but Venezia is no lie, although it is a place that needs to be seen to be believed. Gondola's fill the landscape, serenaded by larger than life opera guys, in the background pizza bases are twisted and launched, whilst the gelato sellers whip up a frenzy of colours, as Niki and me lie comatose in a prosecco induced daze, compltely unaware of any of it. Not quite, but it is a magical experience. We met this guy in Munich that said Venice was a horrible, despicable, lonely and boring place. How wrong he was, but I think perhaps it had somehting to do with Venice being were he and ... read more
Neuschwanstein Castle 2
Howdy Everybody. Munich is cool. Beer halls, pretzel girls, oompah bands, lederhosen and magical fairytale castles nestled in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps just a trains ride away, as long as your willing and brave enough to request information from the guy at the information office at the hauptbahnhof, and then proceed to ignore everything he tells you, then it's easy. Munich had quite a few surprises for us. The first was our hostel..bad surprise. After the week long party that was hostel elf, hanging with mick and claire and tom, ally, and brodi and eveyone, we discovered upon arrival that we'd chosen a bit of a ghosttown called Munich 4 U, literally deserted, and nothing to do. We did end up meeting some cool people near the beer vedning machines over the next few ... read more
Karlow Most again
Hi guys!!! Well, after Berlin we certainly needed some cheering up, not that it wasnt a really fascinating city, but were on holiday and if youre budget backpacking around Europe there is no beter place to be than Prague. If you havent been there then go - go now! And if you have been then you know exactly what Im talking about, cheap, cheap, cheap beer....There is more though, incredible medieval architecture, friendly people, great food and awesome nightlife. We have never met so many travellers who had already permanently moved to Prague or where seriously considering it, I think everyone that goes there just knows theyve hit gold, not surprisingly it is actually known as the City of Gold. We arrived in Prague at 5am after a horrible nightbus, (where Sion got dragged off the ... read more
Brandenburger Tor by night (Brandenburg Gate)
Gutentag. Berlin is a strange place, not exactly what I had been expecting, but defintely a blast, although our visit was rather brief. The effects of the wall are still clearly evident, despite the wall being almost completely physically non-existent, the vast vacant blocks across the city centre give Berlin a sparseness; a desolate and empty atmosphere that we haven´t really experienced anywhere else in Europe so far. The wall fell in 1989, fell isn´t really the right word is it? It was pushed. Yet Berlin still felt, if not just like a warzone, then like the immediate aftermath. Buildings are still being reconstructed, the skyline is a collage of cranes, scaffolding and semi-complete structures. However, despite the rather dull and depressing imagery that i have just conveyed, Berlin has a real energy and freedom that ... read more
Amsterdam 2
Amsterdam. ahhh...Amsterdam. If only I could remember any of it. We have just arrived in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, after a 'lovely' night bus from Berlin and we have a few hours to kill before we can czech-in to our hotel room, so i figured it would a good opportunity to write up a little blog for Amsterdam before it becomes a hazy distant memory, which it already was even when we were still there. I wonder why? Ever since I was a teenager hanging out in Darwin, it has been a dream of mine (and Niki's) to visit Amsterdam, to sample a piece or two of the liberal culture that has found a home in Amsterdam's many cafe's, and what a nice cosy home it is, complete with cats, hot chocolates, hookah's, ham ... read more
