Praha / London / Jordan

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PRAHA

When I went to France in July of 2010 to meet up with friends from Melbourne who happened to be travelling & living in Europe, I made a rough plan with Kerry & Marty to visit them in Praha (where they would live for six months). As time went by and I ended up in Lebanon, thanks to the facilitated conversations via Hotmail, it was decided that Angela (living in London at the time) and I would meet the couple in Praha, stay with them for a few days and then head back to London together 😊 and there you have it!

a bit of planning, booking of some flights and off I went from Beirut to Prague*via London* - a convenient flight offered by Czech Airlines and with some help from Easyjet for the return home :p

I dont think I will ever be able to pronounce the name of the street where K & M were living, but I miraculously managed to find my way there from the Station after an all-night flight :D

It was sooo cool and surreal to see everyone there! hehe... the wonders of facilitated travel in the modern world! In short, the three of us spent 3 days talking! debating everything and anything, reviewing, discussing and just catching up (much to Kerry's dismay when these conversations were carried to public transport and it seems Angela and I were the loudest people there - in a city where people DONT talk loudly in public)! 😉

In between our chatter, Marty managed to squeeze in the most detailed and informative facts and accounts about the beautiful city and country we were in.... seriously! If you ever want to visit Praha, you HAVE to see it with Marty and in Autumn!!!! It was simply MAGICAL!

Needless to say, with all the talking and slightly colder air which often drove us inside for a drink or yummy food.... we werent being the most attentive tourists! hahaha..... but Loved the city all the same and mostly loved the company and generosity of my hosts and companions =) awwwwww!!!

I have to say too... that I can still taste Bear's milk every night before I sleep.... the best night cap ever!!!!

recap of activities in Praha - other than walking around, making / eating awesome food:

- going to see classical music at the Opera house the first night
- visiting an old medieval castle in the hills
- Marty's great tour of the city centre =)

LONDON

I flew to London with Angela from Prague. Since I knew I was arriving with her, I didnt bother to write down her address or number or anything! Why is this a problem? because they wanted that information from me at the airport - customs check - and I didnt have it :/ haha
A bad-humoured, rigid, moronic man in uniform tried to refuse me entry into England if I couldn't provide these details.... but I stood my ground and without saying the actual words, let him know that he was being a w@#$%!^(MISSING) .... hahahaha... and he finally let me through the gates!

Thankuflly! Because I Loved it here!!!!

I stayed 10 days with Angela in her flat in Tooting Bec. During the days she had to go to work and I had to explore the abundance of tourist sites, history, museums, art and culture that this city has to offer. I had always expected that I would dislike London, that it would bore me.... but on the contrary!! I really fell in love with this city... its markets, funky styles, mixture of races, food, tastes, designs, architecture, scenery, etc... the only that doesnt change much is the grey sky... but even then, in the middle of autumn I found myself in a T-shirt on a couple of occasions, enjoying some sunshine 😊

Angela introduced me to her Capueira crew, through which I made a friend - Saif - and he invited us to Hampshire (I think) to watch a yacht race.... he also invited us to the capueira fiesta in Baths, but sadly we didnt make it there.

My other friend Connie who was also living in London at the time and had heaps of spare time often joined me on my tourist escapades through the city and showed me heaps of cool bars, foods I must eat and was just great company =)

I also happend to be in London for the Guy Fawkes night and Halloween and I go to see the fireworks and all the cool pumpkin displays around the city and in Hyde Park!
the only thing missing from my trip was a typical Sunday roast :p hahaha.... but I made up for that with some warm lager, a cornish pie and a great Indian meal =)

Jordan

Just before heading off to Europe, I had found a great tour to Jordan from Lebanon. I told my cousins about it and in the end Lena confirmed that she would join me :D

I endured another night flight from Prague (spent another day there on the way back from London to Beirut), very little sleep and 3 days of running around organising things, Lena and I borded the night bus from Beirut to Jordan (via Syria) - a trip that cost me over $US100 in visas thanks to my stupidity in not making a Lebanese passport! I became famous during the night as "the Australiyeh" who had to get off at every check point, present all my documents and pay a lot of money!!!! ufffaaa!!!!

Finally made it into Jordan with the best tour guide ever! This was by far the most touristy thing I've ever done! we even had matching green hats with "Vladimir tours" written on them ...hahaha.... but it was great!!!

4 days and nights, jam-packed with tourism, information, visiting ancient sites, taking heaps of photos, eating desert foods with nomads, riding a jeep in the sand dunes, 'galloping' on a camel and then a horse through Petra, hitting the clubs at night (Lena had some Leb friends who took us out one night) going to the organised dinner with the group where Lena and I took over the dance floor with our bellydancing moves :p really not by choice... we were dragged out there an forced to dance in front of everyone!!!! and being as "modest" as I am, she hated every minute as much as I did!! :p
erhm...

Some of the most magical moments in Jordan included:
- finally getting to swim in the dead sea and painting ourselves black with its mud :D
- standing at a point in Aqaba at the Red Sea and facing Israel and Egypt across the waters and Saudi Arabia was just down the coast
- Jeep safari and Bedouin nite
- our little "back of the bus gang
- some of the places I remember going to .... Amman (ofcousrse); Aqaba and glass bottom boat in the Red Sea; Petra; Dead Sea; Desert; ancient city in ruins of Jerash; River Jordan (baptism site of Jesus Christ) which also faces Israel - actually its just across the river!

Magical trips, magical adventures, magical times shared with magical people =)

A truly memorable section of my travels and a lovely break from "living" in Beirut!

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