thehallidayinn

The update from Marine Station Stareso in Calvi, Corsica: We left Vienna on the 18th of June, driving first through the vineyards south of Vienna, then winding through the Alps into Italy, straight across the breadth of Italy through fields of sunflowers and pinon trees, and to the coast. About nine hours after starting out, that delicious salty sea breeze hit us. We took an overnight ferry from Savona, Italy to Bastia, Corsica. We drove across the rough terrain of Corsica to Calvi, a terracotta-roofed town, and then off down a dirt road poking out onto a penninsula. The road got worse and worse, but now and again we would see blue spots painted on the rocks, which we followed, and after a fifteen or twenty minute drive we found Stareso. The station is nestled into ... read more

I couldn't think of a better title, so i stole this one from a tshirt. Here are some of my photos from Prague. So, now that I have had some time to proess my time in Prague, I'll add a note to try to sum up my thoughts. After a day of "Prague Spring" - by which i mean, fresh grass, trees by the castle laden with flowers, enjoying views from the Charles Bridge and lounging in the sun in the old square, I was pretty enamoured with the city. The town is rife with history and legend which is interesting, and yet surprisingly modern, but rising above all it feels cozy. (Maybe adding to the coziness was the fact that i had to share every walkway in the old town and by the castle with ... read more

After spending hours lost in in the shadows of grand but crumbly buildings, in mazes of narrow streets always dead-ending at (uncrossable) canals of still, dark green water, and being surrounded by pidgeons and the suffocating smiles or ceramic carneval masks, I decided: Venice is creepy. Or possibly romantic, judging by the numbers of American honeymooners/vacationing couples - but i thought it was one of the creepiest places I've ever been. My photos don't do justice to the creepiness because I only took pictures when the sun was out - but with overcast weather, people stalking around in coats, gonolas creeping around silently through the water, old men yelling at eachother in italian, Venice was very different then what I imagined. I felt like it was the perfect city for crime followed by a dramatic chase ... read more

Bled... sounds vaguely forbidding and things looked a little dark at first. Took a very early train to the nearest station, which is only 4km away from the lake, and my guidbook just said to "take one of the frequent buses" for the last leg. This was a cheap but unfortunately impossible plan, as there were no commuter buses, least not on a Sunday in April. After looking around for said buses we decided to just split a cab with two Aussies who also wanted to get to the lake. We arrived... it was a little grey and a little cold, not too many people were out and about (they were all in church I guess) and we were lacking strength/motivation, so settled down for some coffee. The people next to us ordered cake and that ... read more

But which border is the question? :) Not towards the spring break strongholds of Cancun or Rocky Point, but - Slovenia! Lindsay and I are going to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, hopefully to be followed by some sunshine on the Istrian coast, and then over the Adriatic to Italy for a few days in Venice. First stop - before leaving Austria - Graz, a beautiful town in the south. The day we left, we had coffee with my roommate, and she had lots of good recommendations of stuff to do and see. We had trouble getting out of Vienna, just barely missed the train we were supposed to take, but it was a-ok, the weather was great so we went and sat in the backyard of the Belvedere Palace, ate sandwiches and played music. Graz ... read more