Blogs from Europe - page 13048

Europe » Italy » Apulia » Brindisi July 22nd 2006

So how does one pack for a two-year adventure? Answer: Very slowly! Unlike other moves I have made in my life, this has proved to be a new challenge. We have to examine each item, one by one. We have created six piles in the process. One very, very small pile that we will take with us to Italy aboard the plane. One shipping pile consisting of a few books that we deem essential to classroom instruction. One pile that will be stored for two years - the litmus test being, "Will we need or want it in two years?" One pile going to donation. One is for sale items. And last but not least, the trash pile. We are now 16 days from departure. The house is in total chaos. Things are being continually lost ... read more

Some final thoughts....

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Surrey July 22nd 2006

Flying home in style!

Kay1982

Two weeks on and I'm back in England (after getting upgraded on our flight home to Business Class - we arrived back in style!) - I thought it was about time I put down some final thoughts and closed the travelling chapter of TravelBlog! I can't believe the adventure is over and now I'm back to the reality of life and the prospect of getting a job! Ok, here goes..... Total No. of flights: 22 Total No. of Countries: 12 BESTS Country: It's dificult but I think overall it's got to be New Zealand - such a beautiful country City: Melbourne - I loved it and also its the home of Ramsey Street! Nicest People: Australia and New Zealand Shopping: Beijing Most place likely to emmigrate to: Melbourne Greatest Achievement: Learning to dive, SCUBA dive that ... read more

Born to live in Switzerland!

Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Interlaken July 22nd 2006

Glyn Jones

Hey folks super quick update here. Internet in Switzerland is INSANELY expensive and being that this is going to be the last couple of weeks of my trip the budget cant deal with the $20 it would cost for an hour of internet to do a full update. Allright where was I? Oh yeah Florence! Last day there I was planning the rest of my trip and since I didnt catch the bus there I had to find the correct camping ground where the bus was going to pick me up the next day. After hitting up an internet cafe and the bus station to get the right directions I was going to do a dry run to make sure everything would work ok at 6am the next morning. Went to open the door to the ... read more

Alive and enjoying the beer and chocolate

Europe » Austria » Upper Austria » Linz July 22nd 2006

Jennita

Hallo! After a very long flight, almost being toppled by my luggage on the escalator(no idea how to spell that) in Frankfurt, and a 5.5 hour train ride with a couple that freakishly resembled my grandparents, I met Kefa on the railway platform. He had an ice cold coke and box of Austrian chocolates waiting for me- Much luv to him for that one! I absolutely love the train! People get in and out and they all talk to eachother ( which ´sounded and looked friendly, but I can't say for sure), at one point the 'Opa' of the group said something about food, and the people in the booth(?) all pulled out their bagged lunches, and shared. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen....sorry Pixie! It is so hot here, but the locals have ... read more

Bonnie Scotland

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Angus » Dundee July 22nd 2006

Bob Linda

It doesn't appear that my last blog has made it to the publisher?? In case you haven't received it, I will published an abridged version. We've now landed in bonnie Scotland. Flew from Amsterdam to Edinburgh and the weather has continued to be fine and warm. In fact England has had it's hotest day on record 32.5 degrees C and we've had it pretty warm up this way too. Anyway we've hired a car between, Stuart and Clare and Bird and I and the first thing you have to do is learn how to start it, without and operations manual and no car keys (a keyless car). Now that's different for those of us from the colonies! Finally figured it out, so we'll get on the road and figure out the other essentials as we go, ... read more

Final wander about town

Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana July 22nd 2006

jc80

Geo: 46.0514, 14.506Arrived back around 10 and we went for a final walk and drink in the old town. This place seems really alive and all the sidewalk cafes chairs are occupied. There are more locals than tourists and this country seems reasonably priced. We went to bed early after our big, tiring day.... read more

Eating seafood by the sea

Europe » Slovenia » Istria » Piran July 22nd 2006

01 Lighthouse

jc80

Geo: 45.4953, 13.5965Maeve and I checked out and began walking to the train station. I asked a taxi how much and he said 1200 Tollars!! That is three times as much as I paid a few days ago! I laughed and told him that and we walked away. Once again I fell asleep on the train. Two and a half hours we arrived at Koper and were bombarded with taxi drivers willing to drive us for 'bus price'. We didn't know if they were genuine or not, so we waited for the bus. It was a 20 minute scenic coastal drive to Piran. Piran is a cute little seaside town that has not being invaded by developers and there are no huge hotels or resorts. Walked to the town square were we were being met by ... read more

Beaches, Tapas, and all that Jazz

Europe » Spain July 22nd 2006

vagabondvoyager

Geo: 43.2158, -2.1062Once again, showed up in San Sebastian without a reservation and got screwed. Apparently, there is a major festival every weekend in July there - this weekend was the Jazz Festival. Managed to find a dumpy "hostel" - actually some lady's flat. Better than sleeping on a bench, I guess.Had some amazing tapas. The Basque region is the best for that. Actually was cold sitting on the terrace in the morning, even though it was probably 25 C. Did lots of walking - old town, along the ocean. Took a nap. Did lots of journal writing. After the high of seeing Isabel again, I crashed in a severe way. It's been a bit of a roller coaster ... no surprise. Getting lots of Spanish practice; helped translate for the owner of the hostel. Originally ... read more

Week 2

Europe » Russia July 21st 2006

darcy_fitzwilliam

It's been a while since I've been in touch but things have been busy and internet sometimes not an option... Last Sunday we were going to go on a picknick combined with some swimming in a beautiful lake but this got cancelled after they'd predicted a thunderstorm. We didn't see one drop of rain all day so we simply had another boiling day in town. We went to the biggest book shop here in Riazan and headed straight for the children's section - which is still far above my level of Russian. I bought some children's books and the typical Russian fairy tales which are always illustrated with beautiful prints, and on top of things I bought Garry Potter! I thought this might be easier as I've read the story before - and I could always ... read more

Home for a visit!

Europe » Portugal » Northern » Porto July 21st 2006

Rooj

Hello everyone! After being too tired to do much I decided to quit my tutoring and my weekend classes and I am no longer a money making machine. It didn't last long and I knew that my desire of making a lot a lot of money wasn't enough to make me work those hours. So now I am content earning a lot of money but not a lot a lot... I have now finished teaching for this year and hae been allocated these 3 weeks of holidays to do material development and preparation for next year. However, on the last day of teaching, which was Friday, I rang Air France on the off chance that they would tell me they had an available seat to fly home so I could see my family. I had been ... read more

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