Geo: 41.3879, 2.16992An 11pm kick off. One of the worlds best football teams, in one of the worlds most famous football stadiums in front of around 80,000 fanatical fans. It was an amazing atmosphere and spectacle to behold. A shame about the lack of goals and an uncharacteristically 'Messy' penalty. You would have got long odds for a Barcelona game to finish 0-0 at the Nou Camp and Lionel Messi to miss a penalty. None the less, it was a great experience to see FC Barcelona play with the likes of Messi, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta, Neymar and Villa running around. Even Nat enjoyed herself and thats saying something. I might have finally got her into enjoying beer, but Ive still alot of work to do to make her a football fan. The day started at a ... read more

Geo: 45.9253, 6.86979What a great way to celebrate our four month travel anniversary! Todays expedition to the top of Mount Blanc, the highest point in Western Europe, would prove to be one of the most memorable of our trip. It didn't start perfectly. We were up at 7, to get up, get ready and find the departure spot for our tour. Nat obtained directions from Google. They werent remotely helpful. We wandered aimlessly, only finding the spot thanks to assistance from locals. On the bus, it didn't take long to discover our 'tour' was actually pretty crappy. The guide wouldn't accompany us anywhere really, and just take us to locations, with a bunch of erratic directions and guidelines in broken English. It was an English speaking tour. What was a fail in tour terms, we made ... read more

Geo: 46.6855, 7.8559Todays title I saw on a map of the area of Interlaken. Its a fair description of this beautiful place. I figure you would struggle to design a more picturesque perfect scenic town. Nestled in a valley, between two still aqua blue lakes, surrounded by towering mountains, covered in thick green woodland, with the sights of whitecaps and glaciers, under a warming bright sun and blue skies.Turns out, theres no domestic intercity buses in Switzerland? The con of this, is train travel is painfully expensive. The trip from Zurich to Interlaken, via a stop in Lucern, costing us around $110AUD for the two of us for a few hour journey. The pro, is the trains are excellent. The route was also amazingly scenic, giving us great mountain views and lake views coming into Interlaken. ... read more

Geo: 47.3667, 8.55After the general mediocrity of recent train experiences, today was a welcome and refreshing trip. Day travel is a million times better than overnight. The train was excellent, heaps of room, leather seats and tray tables. The journey itself was very scenic. The countryside between Vienna and Zurich was lush and green. We were treated to aqua blue lakes, rolling hills and towering mountains. It was better than a flight and 7 hours flew by really. The walk from the station to our accommodation didn't. 30 minutes, through a slumming neighborhood wearing our packs. Given the price of Zurich, we picked a guesthouse that fitted our budget. We were pleasantly surprised. With no reception, we obtained our key by entering a code in a security box. The room, for a 2 star was an ... read more

Geo: 48.22, 16.37'The-Hungary-Special-Ultimate-Leave-Hotel-In-Budapest-Fun-Tax-for-Tourist' tax. Budapest wouldn't let us leave without one last subtle mugging. Once that unpleasantness was complete, we boarded a westbound train towards Budapest's Coach terminal. Here we would be boarding an 'Orangeways' bus bound for Vienna. Or so we thought we would depart from the coach station. Orangeways are too budget for that. Rather, their 'pickup spot' was across the road, denoted by a faded poster, blowing in the wind, before a construction site, as tumbleweeds blew by. The bus ride itself, was bearable enough. It was cosy, but air conditioned and 3 hours later we were to arrive in Vienna.On first glimpse, the city itself seemed somewhat underwhelming. We found the nearest U-Bahn station and made the short trip from the city centre to Langenfeldgasse in the so... read more