Back to Paris and it felt comfortable right from the opening salvo, though there were some apparent changes: - Paris had become even more expensive in the last six months, if that is at all possible. - The trees had leaves. - The skies were greyer. - The tourist masses far more noticeable. September is a lot more popular than March in France. We also managed to hitch up with the MacKay’s, Julie, Greg, Bryce, plus their cousin Chris, a young (compared to us) Seppo from Boston. If all Americans were like him, the good ol USA wouldn’t be in half [View Full Entry]

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Our first encounter in Belgium and we wander into a plaza on a Sunday aftenoon in Antwerp to be greeted by a Flemish Elvis impersonator. Just as impressive as it sounds. Firstly, I don't understand the whole phenomenon of the Elvis impersonation genre. Secondly, if you are going to do it, at least try and do it well. The Elvijk Preslijk we saw was a shocker. He'd struggle for a gig at Cronulla RSL. Five minutes into Belgium and the busker bar had been set awfully low. Ten minutes later and the Flemish belly dancer was trying very hard to lower [View Full Entry]

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670 klms from Berlin to Amsterdam. God bless the autobahn. Approaching the German/Dutch border and it was time to disrobe the leiderhausen and slip on the wooden clogs, working on the theory we try not look like tourists and dress like the locals. Why does everyone still keep staring at us? Amsterdam in 3 days. In fact Holland in 3 days. We ARE in a hurry. Is Amsterdam tolerant or just plain decadent? Let me position myself strategically on the fence and say - DUNNO. Get over here to this "joint" and decide for yourself. You can wander into a "coffee [View Full Entry]

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Then we take Berlin. In doing so, we welcome back Tomtom for our final 2 months in Europe. We also cash up on the sturdy euro. Eastern Europe was everything we had hoped for and more, but negotiating a new obscure currency every 5 minutes was....... Have a look at these: Croatia - kuna Bosnia - convertible marc Albania - leke Bulgaria - leva Romania - lei Hungary - forint Slovakia - koruna Czech Republic - Czech crown Poland - Zloty But while we were back onto the euro, the financial news in Berlin greeted us with: "Oz dollar drops 15% [View Full Entry]

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Poland was one of those countries about which I wasn't overly informed. In fact what did I know about Poland? - for a long period, the whole country was criss-crosed by German and Soviet tank tracks, the Poles having been the general whipping post for its aggressive neighbours. - they like vodka. - there is a very good Polish female butterfly swimmer. How about some famous Poles. The ones I could rattle off included: - Chopin - Lech Walesa - Pope JP11 - Killer Kowolski. One who I didn't know was Polish was Marie Slodowska. Don't know her? Same as me, [View Full Entry]

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The Czech Republic. Try and pronounce it with a faux Russian accent, like Natasha out of Rocky and Bulwinkle. It works for me. Again we're on a roll with only 5 days and 2 stops. Across the border from Austria and into stop numero uno, Czesky Krumlov. Through another minor miracle, we found our hostel straight off the bat, but the fun was just beginning. We had reserved all 4 beds in a 4 bed dorm with private ensuite - cheaper than all the doubles we had seen advertised on the net. Perfect. Inspection of the room revealed a joker the [View Full Entry]

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The blogs they're a comin thick and fast. When you are on a mission, you can rack up countries in Bradmanesque fashion. Hitting Austria from Slovakia and we welcome Tomtom back on board. Hugs and kisses, we missed you Tomtom. In Vienna, Pepe received his 20,000klms service (280 euro - Ouch!). So you would think everything was peachy. Well let me tell you - NOT HAPPY JAN!!. You see, my life is, and forever will be, unfulfilled. Before departing on this around the world jaunt, Warwick Humphrey informed me of the worst tour in the cosmos- The Vienna Sound of Music [View Full Entry]

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1993. Czechoslovakia is broken neatly in 2. Divide the country and the word roughly in half. The second half, Slovakia, is generally regarded as the little impoverished brother of big bro 1st half. Sounded like a good enough reason to us for a few, in fact 4 days. What do you do for 4 days in country you don't know a great deal about? HEAD FOR THE HILLS MA!!! We found a room in the midst of a bunch of national parks, all for the princely sum of 15 euro per night. Slovakia is bargain Europe. The national park closest to [View Full Entry]

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Its times like these I wish I was Tasmanian. That way I could give Hungary 4 thumbs up rather than my stock standard 2. (it's a joke Taswegians). From the border crossing onwards, Hungary has been a joy. For starters, better roads with rational drivers to boot. The people - my previous exposure to the Magyars was limited to Aussie Joe Bugner (Hungarian Joe Boojnay in this corner of the world) but he seemed like a pretty decent bloke so confidence was high and they didn't disappoint. The Hungarians from our encounters were generally everything a struggling tourist could hope for. [View Full Entry]

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Let's start with a quiz. In which city was KAOS formed? (all non afficionados of "Get Smart" may tune out now). According to one episode, Bucharest in 1907 (I could be corrected on the date if someone would like to fill me in). My mission, thus, was to find a retired KAOS agent in Bucharest. Preferably a Sigfried or a Starker but I would settle for any of the minors: Dr Yes, Leadside, Bronze Thumb, Simon the Likeable, the Groovy Guru or even the Maestro (if only he had used his baton for good instead of evil). Alas, I came up [View Full Entry]

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