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Salzburg + Prague

SALZBURG The drive in from Venice was stunning! It reminded me of Norway. Clear lakes surrounded by towering snow capped mountains. This kind of scenery I really feel like I’m away from home, in a good way. Everywhere else I could relate back to Australia which was nice but I really wanted to feel in a different world. And there’s certainly nothing like the Austrian and Norwegian countryside. Salzburg is where most of the Sound of Music was filmed. We did a walking tour of the town and learnt a lot about its history and a bit about Mozart (which was very interesting- give his childhood a quick research, explains his crazy antics and small statue!). Salzburg is crazy expensive (I could easy go into the history of why, which once again is very interesting), but most people tend to do day trips and 1 nights stay because it’s so expensive. I had a traditional Austrian schnitzel for dinner- delicious!

Highlight: National dish Schnitzel and potatoes 🤤& visiting the Red Bull Hanger - eating traditional Austrian chocolate cake at a cafe Mozart used to frequent.

PRAGUE Everyone was gearing up for a big night. This was my first taste of what everyone thinks Contiki is. We caught the tram into the city center. The walk across Charles Bridge was stunning at night. The club was a multi story cave like place with a strip club on one floor. I had a boot scoot, of course. It got to that stage in the night where things started to get a bit crazy. The point is it was definitely an eventful night, but everyone got home safe and no one ended up in jail, which is always a plus. I woke up the next morning not 100% and it ruined Prague for me which I’m pissed about!

HIGHLIGHTS: - We had a lunch cruise which was full of traditional Czech food. Thank god their national dish is a pancake like thing!!!! It was meant to be! #hangovercure - visited the John Lennon Wall - Went to a torture museum: god people are f*#$ked up!!! So  f*#$king disturbing, it doesn’t seem real that we could do such things to each other let alone it was our justice system! Interesting none the less. - Nuclear bunker tour: 16m below to surface and learnt about Soviet Czech.

Up next is Berlin which I’ll do separately because it was amazing, and have a few things to talk about. Not long until I’m home! Still have Iceland to go though!

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Italy: Rome - Venice

I'm now on contiki so will try group a few destinations together to keep it as short as possible. Flying into Brussels we encountered the gnarliest turbulence. So bad I actually threw up! Which is petty crazy as you know, I'm pretty good with being thrown around between bungee jumping and skydiving just to put things into perspective. I got some Belgium chocolates at duty free though, so I was stoked!

 ROME:

 - I only had 1 day here so I made sure I made he most of it. I walked literally all over Rome = 30,000 steps (I haven’t put up photos from Rome yet as they are too large to put up on Facebook no matter how small I make the file, I’m still working on that).

 - I went from my hostel- Colosseum - Palatine Hill - Roman Forum - Trevi Fountain - Piazza Di Spanga + Spanish steps - The Vatican - The Pantheon - Trevi Fountain - (back way to) hostel. I did a guided tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum- definitely worth the money.

- Highlight: Trevi Fountain- as stunning as it looks! *Fact: around €3,000 is swept up every night from the fountain and donated to charity.

- Lowlight: Carbonara (set myself up for a failure with that one as dad makes the best Carbs, as most of you know) 

 VENICE (+Verona):

 - 4 hour drive up to Verona. A beautiful little town, a mini version of Rome is how I'd put it. Still very busy though! Shakespeare wrote a number of his plays here. Juliette's balcony is the main draw for this little town.

 - The next day we caught the boat into Venice. It just so happened that we were there for the last day of Carnevale! Our trip manager said it's the busiest he's seen Venice in his 4 years. It was certainly busy, but didn't ruin it for me at all! I had a ball taking photos of unbelievable Carnevale costumes. The Venetian's certainly go all out! 

 - Did a walking tour in the morning and gondola ride in the afternoon 

HIGHLIGHT: 'street food' style pesto pasta from a hole in the wall called Pasta Del Moro. The freshest pasta and can honestly say it was the best pasta I've ever had in my life (along with Dads)!  A must have in Venice!! No exceptions!

Venice is definitely top 3 best days on the trip for me!!! Just got into Austria and on our way to beautiful Salzburg. So far the scenery is similar to Norway 😍

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Sweden

I wasn’t expecting much, if anything at all from Stockholm. I nearly didn't even go as it never really interested me. But I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Ben and Ali so I tagged along, and am I glad I did!

Stockholm is a stunning city. It perfectly mixes old and new together (however I am always biased towards the old- in more ways than one ;) )  I decided to slum it and stay in a hostel instead of a hotel with Ben and Ali. I never actually saw their room, but from what they said I’m very happy with my decision as they could barely move in the room it was so small. Whereas at my hostel I got unlimited free pasta, plenty of space and free ice skates (which I didn't take advantage of and spent $70sek on skates).

We walked through Gamla Stan (the old town) on our way to the ice hockey and immediately fell in love. It dates back to the 13th century and has certainly kept it’s charm. 7km later in new boots (horrible decision) we arrived at the ice hockey. God, it’s a great sport! No need to say anything other than that.

We visited the Vasa Museum, home to an old, old wooden ship. Vasa is a genuine Viking ship that sunk 20 minutes into its maiden voyage, lied at the bottom of the harbour for 333 years before being found and restored in the 1950’s. This is a must when in Stockholm. Most people recommend 1-2hours, but if you’re anything like us, you’ll read every word in the 7 level building and spend close to 4 hours there. Extremely interesting and worth looking into even if you don't make it to Stockholm. We then went ice skating at a stunning isbana (although the ice was fairly average). Once again we walked through Gamla Stan to dinner.

On out last day together we did a free walking tour of Gamla Stan (we probably did about 50 laps of the island- *fact: Stockholm is made up of 14 islands, venture 20 minutes out of the city of Stockholm to the Archipelago and you’ll be faced with 35,000 more islands to explore, if you have the time that is). *Interesting fact from the walking tour- if you commit any tax evasion etc. you can receive the highest prison sentence in Sweden, even harsher than if you murder someone. However, going to prison doesn't sound like much of a punishment as you get to decide what prison you go to. Each prison has a ‘speciality’ of sorts. They might be big on sports, education etc. So pretty much you choose to go to a free camp specialising in something you’re interested in that is paid by the tax payers, the same tax you’re in jail for not contributing to.

Anyway, I could talk for hours about what I learn on these tours. They're often available in most major cities, I even did one in Melbourne the other month. I think they’re an absolute must to do in a new city. After Ben and Ali abandoned me for Russia (which sounds unbelievable by the way!) I did another free walking tour, this time on the famous Stockholm subway station art. Very cool.

That night I got my first taste of a real hostel. Being a Saturday night everyone was in the common area playing drinking games and making new friends. I highly recommend hostels, especially when travelling alone. You get to meet people from all over the world and hear all about their awesome travel stories.

I am now currently in Rome! I have a couple of days to explore before I start my Eastern European contiki. I have now said goodbye to Sweden and my uni friends, which was very weird. I got to spend my last night in Sweden with them at the ice hockey, which was awesome! Even though I spent more time away from Jönköping than I did there, it still fells very weird to leave and know I’m not going back (on this trip anyway). I’m planning my last post to look back at Sweden and the actual everyday life of Swedes as I haven't even touched on life in Sweden and there are a few things I want to mention that I think is pretty cool.

Happy to hear you’ve all been freezing your asses off like me the last few days (I’ve chosen to ignore that fact you have a 30 degree week coming up). Sorry these posts have consistently been longer than I anticipated.

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Copenhagen

Exploring Copenhagen with Ben and Ali was so much fun. I didn't feel like I was half way around the world from home with them. Copenhagen is beautiful, sunny and cold. Those last two seem to contradict each other one might think, however Copenhagen found a way to bring those two climates together. Everyday was clear, sunny blue skies, however Copes has been the coldest place I have been so far (Ben and Ali concur, even coming from Iceland and Norway). Our first day was spent walking around Strøget (pronounced ‘stroll’ with a danish twist) which is the longest pedestrian shopping strip in Europe. We made our way down the the famous Nyhavn (roughly pronounced ‘New-hown’), the original red light district of Copenhagen, now filled with beautiful cafes and colourful Scandinavian buildings. 

February saw the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, so we planned to take full advantage of this. We found a place called Mojo’s. The musican played awesome blues and country, however we struggled to last a set as smoking inside was allowed. Smoking indoors is illegal in Denmark, with the exception of venues smaller then 40sq meters and don't serve fresh food. The place was bigger the 40q meters, however was a well known smoking venue. We couldn't handle the jandle and had to leave. Thank god you cant do that anywhere in Aus!

I could take you through a step by step of our 5 days (was meant to be 3 but somehow ended up with 5 days). So I’ll just give you some brief highlights.

Copenhagen Highlights: - Free walking tours: we did two, the Grand tour which takes you to the main attractions and streets. The second being the Classical tour which explores the northern, older part of the city. Definitely give the walking tours a crack, interesting information. - Bicycle hire: we hired bikes for a day, in my opinion a must do! So easy to get around the city on bike...         + Explored Amalienborg Palace (residence of the Queen, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary). I have since learnt if Ali had the chance, she’d drop Ben in a heart beat for Prince Frederik, there’s a slight obsession going on here. Also saw the changing of the guard.         + (Unintentionally) rode into the lower end of the socio-economical area in search of Carlsberg Brewery. Eventually found it, pretty cool, would be the perfect place to be on a hot summers day.         + Dinner at Papireøn (Paper Island), an old paper mill turned into a street food market. Was very cool, and best prices in Copenhagen (everything’s extremely expensive). Give the roast duck from the thai truck down the left side a go.         + Rode to a park and walked around the snow. There were so many puppers there! Got amazing Nutella crepes!

- Rosenborg Castle: is set up with over 400 years of royal history. The castle is set up as if a King was still living there and houses the crown jewels. We learnt a lot of the Danish history. *Interesting fact: The danish haven't performed enthronements since 1840, and just announce the handing over of the crown without any use of a crown, unlike England who still perform coronations etc.

- Charlie Scotts: had an awesome jazz band, the lead musician was a clarinet player from Australia. He had an amazing jazz voice too.

- We had dinner at the oldest restaurant in Copenhagen; Det Lille Apotek. It used to be a pharmacy dating back to 1720. H.C Andersen (author of Little Mermaid, Ugly Duckling and many more) used to eat there. We ordered the Danish nation dish of fried pork strips, they were deliciously salty! 

We are currently on a train to Stockholm and going to the Ice Hockey tonight!!!! I still haven't decided what I’m doing at the end of this week. Budapest, Helsinki and the Stockholm Archipelago are all on the cards at the moment. I’m sure you’ll hear what I end up doing. Got to love Europe hey?

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Norway: Flåm - Bergen

PATRIOOOOOTTTTSSSSS!!!!! Yeh boii!! Definitely worth staying up until 5am and probably giving my laptop herpes to watch these machines turn donuts into a glorious ring!! Patties, I love you.

(Below: boat from Flåm to Gudvangen on Aurlandsfjord)

Now, back to Norway. Bergen is stunning. It’s actually quite a large city when looking at it from the top of the mountain (well large compared to the towns I had just come from), but still had the charm and atmosphere of a charming little fishing village. I met a girl from Sydney in Flåm and we happened to be staying at the same hostel, so we explored Bergen together. We found a small Norwegian bar (it was like you were sitting in the inside of a Viking ship) with AH-MAZING live music. I painfully paid $17.50 for a Jack Daniels and coke, and it had never tasted so good.

Saturday we were told numerous times how lucky we were that we got to experience the clear, sunny weather. I had finally seen the sun for the first time in 3 weeks!! And what a perfect day for it too. We planned to do a 7km Hike up in the mountains behind Bergen. We went on our way and I immediately fell in love with the forests. It's exactly like what you'd expect from a fairytale. Bright green moss covered the ground and climbed up the trees. Crystal clear rivers wound their way along the forest floor. It was perfection. I could have spent a year walking around that forest, and I almost did!

We ended up so far off our intended trail we were even on the map anymore! Even though the trails were adequately signed at points, we missed our and the fact it was in another language didn't help. 13km's later we made it back to our hostel (with extremely sore feet). Keep in mind, I haven't done a whole lot of exercise for I don't know how long now, and definitely have a few more K.G's than I'm used to, so pulled up a little sore (which is embarrassing).

Norway Highlights: - Flåm snowshoe Hike: so much fun and breathtaking views - Fjord cruise: there's nothing like slowly working your way through a Norwegian fjord on a boat - Bergen hiking: fresh air, amazing scenery and a bit of adventure. Ticks all the boxes

Tomorrow I head down to Copenhagen to meet up with Ben and Ali!! I'm so excited to hear about their Iceland and Norway adventures and explore Copes with them :D

Stay hydrated back home folks ☀️

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Norway: Oslo - Fläm

Nanna would be proud to hear…. I’ve fallen madly in love. She would be not so happy to hear that it's not with a man, nor a woman (as she’s always hoped).

 I’ve had to split my Norway posts in half so it isn’t a 2,000 word essay 🤓 

Despite the bumpy start I had in Norway at the border, it has lived up to every (high) expectation that I’ve had. At the Swedish/Norwegian border a sniffer dog came on board. There was a bit of a ruckus behind me, and two people were escorted off. Anyone who had luggage underneath had to get off and stand by it (nothing happened with that). One suitcase went unclaimed (don’t know what happened with that, but it was taken away). I then hopped back on the bus, passport check again and got grilled about where I was coming from and where I’m going and why. 40mins later we get to leave. The chick in front of me travels the route often and said it’s never happened before and usually takes not even 5mins.

 From then on it’s been smooth sailing. I caught the train down to Myrdal to then transfer onto the famous Flåm (pronounced Flom) railway. It was beautiful, however all of the scenery on the ‘normal’ train from Oslo was just as beautiful, I thought. Th history of the Flåm railway is very interesting. I arrived in Flåm, checked into my lovely hotel (a hostel wasn’t an option, but happy to spend the money for the gorgeous hotel in the end). 

 The snowshoe Hike has been by far, my favourite experience this trip so far! So much fun learning how to use the snowshoes and Hike our way up the mount to find some amazing views of Aurlandfjord! Hiking our way back down was a bit trickier as it was dark and the snow had started to ice over. We have to climb our way down backwards at one point as it was so steep. It felt like we were rock climbing down the mountain. 

 The next morning I woke up relatively early (for me) to get some photos before the sun came up. Breakfast was included in the hotel fee and there was BACON!!!! Naturally, I filled up my plate with half a pig and then made my way to the dock to board my ferry to Gudvangen. To say it was stunning would be an understatement. Weaving our way on the glassy fjord, surrounded by steep mountain faces and frozen waterfalls. Words cannot describe, so I won’t even try as this post is LONNNG. 

 After a bus and another train I arrived in Bergen. To be continued…

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Sweden

Getting up at 3:25am Sunday morning to catch the Tube from Jayde’s place to Heathrow wasn’t my favourite thing in the world, but at least I had some free entertainment. My first train’s carriage had the largest volume of vomit I have ever seen (which isn't a casual statement seeing as I’ve dealt with a lot of vomit between Sarah at age 16 after a bottle of vodka and BBQ chicken pizza, and my time on nursing placements). 

The second train consisted of a rather intoxicated couple, with the girls heels in her hand, head buried in the guys chest and when their stop came, watching the guy have to physically lift her limp body off the seat. And here I was, with my massive backpack and reading my book by Stephen Hawking on the debate of religion vs science.

Anyway, this is about my first impression of Sweden. Jönköping (Yon-joh-ping) is beautiful, modest and dark (literally). I’ve had to get use to walking in the dark rather quickly. I have yet to see the sun, but where ever it is during the day, it’s completely gone before 4:30pm (a drastic change from my usual 9pm darkness thanks to daylight savings back home). 

We are not staying on school campus like we were told, but student housing which is a 15 minute bus ride away from Uni. It is a large community of apartments, the university rents a section of the suburb that surrounds a small building that acts as a ‘common room’ called Sockertoppen. There is wifi, a pool table and ping pong. Everyone comes down and has some drinks, plays some games (a game called mafia is a big thing here, very complicated to explain). Everyone is so friendly and it’s a great opportunity to meet people from all over the world.

It is commonly known that after a couple of Jimmy’s, I often find myself talking in random accents. However, I am finding here, even without the help of Mr. Beam I am having to talk in an accent for others to understand me. English is most people’s second language, plus with my accent they are finding it difficult to decipher what I’m saying. So I’ve unconsciously adopted a mut of an accent that kind of suits everyone’s accent. I’ve mainly been hanging out with a group of people consisting of Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain and even American nationalities that struggle to understand my accent. So depending on who I am talking to, I adopt the relevant accent.

Jönköping highlights:

- Fika!: is very popular over here. It’s pretty much what we’d call a coffee date back home. I went and got Fika the other day with my Dutch friends. $13 for a hot chocolate and kakka (cake)!!!

- Akka: is a nightclub run by students. Water and soft drink is free and all the students wear these overall pant things. Every faculty has a different colour, so depending on what you are studying (e.g. health= white, engineering= green, education & communication= blue), you wear your respective overalls and receive patches (kind of like scouts) evertime you attend a student union activity.

- Ice skating: we went ice skating the other day. We were able to rent the skates for free and go skating at our local rink. It was so much fun! I’ve now decided I’m taking up ice hockey.

I am travelling to Norway today for 5 days, then back ‘home’ to Sweden for a couple of days and then am meeting Ben and Ali in Copenhagen!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well back home and making the most of the warmth! It half-heartedly snowed here the other day! I’m sure you’ll all see photos when I come across my first encounter with real snow! 

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London

I’ve had lots of family and friends ask me over the past week of how my travels are going. My friend Karli has inspired me to write a travel blog. I’m aware that my mother will really be the only that reads it, but I’ve leant from Karli that this is a great way to keep up with others adventures and peoples thoughts about different places. Thanks Karli!

Most of my photo’s will be on Facebook, I’m just going to post a couple up here that correlates to the place I’ll be talking about.

I started off in London for the first 3 days (really just to break up the travel and a quick chance to have a little look at London, as well as a great opportunity to visit Jayde who just moved over).

I wasn't expecting much from London, as most of you know I’m not a fan of the city. To my surprise, I fell in LOVE with London. The old buildings, the atmosphere and history sucked me in big time! It’s so easy to navigate your way around and see what London has to offer. I did the real touristy thing and did a hop on & off bus.  I couldn’t help but think of the Friends episode when they’re in London with Joey and Chandler on the double decker taking selfies. I of course did no such thing, but felt like an idiot non the less. It was great to catch up with Jayde and am so grateful for her hospitality. I plan on coming back to see you Jayde and explore more of your beautiful new home!

London highlights:

- Tower of London: definitely worth going in and doing the free tour. Some insane things went down in there, plus you can see all of the Crown Jewels (over the top is an understatement).

- Big Ben & house of parliament: cliché for sure, but I was surprise how I was compelled to just stand back and look at the detail and the size of it all. It’s rather cool and beautiful. - Greenwich: catch a 20 minute boat from the city down to Greenwich, it is stunning. It reminded me a lot of Boston (obvious reason why it’s on my highlights list). Home of the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory (where the saying ‘on the ball’ comes from- give it a quick google, I found it interesting).

My future posts should be much shorter, I felt I had to do an introduction of some sort. I hope everyone is enjoying the heat back home, I am certainly struggling with this cold!