Berlin to Prague

Prague

The wall
Brandenburg Gate

Our 6.25am flight meant a very early start in Wembley. After our over night stay at the airport on the last trip that was not an option, so we got up at 3.30am with a car booked to drive us to Stansted. Bryce blames this for the first of 2 mishaps with the camera. In the darkness at the airport drop off zone neither of us saw the camera left in the boot, luckily after checking in straight away we realised we were missing something. With a quick call to the transfer company, a wait in the cold and 20 quid the camera was back in safe hands. All good and we were off to Berlin!
We caught the S Bahn (train) to the hotel located in the former East, dumped our bags and headed for the middle of the city. Straight to Alexanderplatz a main square in Berlin, where people were abseiling forwards down the tallest modern building in the city. We quickly sussed out the local food stalls. Bryce recalled some high school German to ask the locals what they were eating. The reply… Currywurst (chopped up sausage with curry sauce and dipping bread) which remained the staple food for the next few days. Refuelled we headed for the Brandenburg Gate. To get there we walked along the main street Unter Den Linden, the road which Hitler chopped the Linden trees down in order for the crowds to admire him and his troops as they held fire lit night marches. Along the way we stopped at markets and souvenir shops. At the end of the road was the Gate that survived the devastation of the Bombing of Berlin. We walked from the former East through the Gate to the former west to face the Reichstag (parliament) off to the side. We were amazed and impressed to be in this place with such a potent history and it was only the beginning. It was now mid afternoon and the weather had started to turn for the worst so we headed for Einstein’s, a café we had noticed on the walk. Once inside we felt like we had gone back in time to the 1930’s. Caitlin had the best ever hot chocolate, tip if you go to Berlin make the effort to come here. Back to the hotel by 6pm to check in and meet our Contiki group. In the hotel lobby we could pick who some of the Contiki travellers would be…. An Akubra and Wallabies jumper just a small hint. After a slight hitch with us being assigned separate rooms we headed for the tour run down with our group. Our tour manger Dom was extremely friendly as was the driver Eelco. After filling out some paper work and signing up for some extra activities we grabbed our bags and made it to our room to freshen up for dinner. We met some very nice people on our tour at dinner and got the latest sport and political news from home.
Day 2 we were up at a more reasonable time to catch the big blue bus for a quick tour of Berlin on the way to the East Side Gallery, or to us a section of the Berlin wall still standing (Luckily we had the camera even though we left it in the hotel restaurant and fortunately someone had handed it into hotel reception overnight. The art work was interesting and to look from one side to the other it was clear to see the difference between East and West. Then it was off to experience an even darker side to Germany’s history at Sachsenhausen concentration camp just outside Berlin. This camp was slightly different to Auschwitz in that it was a work camp (rather than an outright death camp) holding political prisoners and Russian soldiers, along with the Jewish and Gypsies. Yet it was still a place where unimaginable torture and contempt for human life took place. We were frozen in our warmest clothes in Autumn but this was nothing as the prisoners who once lived here were clothed in thin pyjamas in the middle of winter. Puts things in perspective. It was then we headed back to Berlin for an afternoon exploring on our own. We met up with the group again for a German dinner and a night bar. Drinking Schnapps in the street and smoking shish as in the Turkish themed bar. The second bar was like an East Berlin underground club used as a cover for smuggling people to the West. Our final day in Berlin started with a walking tour with an English guide who reminded us of Michael Palin. He was excellent, taking us to places like the Holocaust monument, burning of the books location, Hitler’s bunker (now a car park), another section of the Wall, Check Point Charlie and past one of the only Nazi built buildings still standing that was the offices of the Luftwaffe (only minus the swastika ) . Along the way we got a history lesson on WWII, the cold war and heard about escape attempts by East Germans, some successful some not. The rest of the day was spent in the Check Point Charlie museum followed by a beer hall (Best beer was Heffavasen). Berlin is a place we could definitely go back to.

With Berlin finished we were off to Prague, a place Caitlin had wanted to visit for a long time. On the way to Prague we stopped in Dresden for lunch. As with Berlin the city was virtually destroyed in the final stages of the war with much criticised massive bombing campaigns, aimed at breaking the German people’s moral than specific military locations. Apparently the fires in the city were so hot that the oxygen was sucked out of the air and the flames sucked people into the burning buildings. All the war stories we have heard over the last few trips through Europe have really been fascinating but so tragic, its alleged 50 million people died in WWII.
Arriving in Prague late in the day we went on a walking tour of the city at night. The group then headed for a bar while we went to find a pub that was showing the Arsenal v Sparta Prague match being played at home. We think every Pom in Prague was in the pub watching the Champions League matches. 7-0 to the Arsenal!!!!! So it was a good night. The following day we had a Czech guide take us to Hrdrcay Castle and on a more extensive city tour. It was fun just to listen to him speak, great accent. We then took a boat cruise on the river and drank far too much so had to walk it off in the afternoon. We took ourselves to the spot where Mission Impossible 1 was filmed (the beginning of the movie where all the agents are killed and the car blows up). We walked to the highest point in the city where Michael Jackson once erected a massive statue of himself when he was performing in Prague, when the Russians occupied Prague after the war till the early 90’s a massive statue of Stalin stood in the same spot, as you can imagine neither statues went down to well with the locals. The view was impressive but not spectacular. Prague is a very picturesque place but it is also very commercial, it’s a more touristy city than we had imagined. Comparing cities is wrong but I guess we thought it would be more like Brugge. The night before Bryce’s birthday we ate at a great restaurant with a string band playing and all traditional Czech meals. We ate duck, beef goulash and potato dumplings. Before the meal we drank a medicine tasting traditional drink that is supposed to basically erode the existing food in your stomach so you can fit more in. Would come in handy on Christmas day. On his birthday we had a nice day walking the streets and a relaxing dinner in a restaurant near the banks of the river backing onto the Charles Bridge, a good way to finish our trip before heading home the next day.

COMING SOON….
SPAIN AT CHRISTMAS
PARIS FOR THE NEW YEAR
FEBRUARY IN TURKEY

Life in Zone 4 - Bryce's version

Everyday Life in Zone 4.
By Bryce.

Although we are living in Zone 4 we are only 15 minute from Baker St Station which means travelling throughout London to different places isn’t too much of an issue. Behind our flat (complex of about 10 two bedroom flats) is a large franchised pub so it’s a bit more expensive than the pubs down the road near our tube stop (Wembley park) but has a huge beer garden which has a good view of the new Wembley Stadium arch and just see the London eye in the distance. From the front of our flat you can see the whole stadium about 150 meters away. Travelling on the tube is ok with plenty of trains mostly all on time. The biggest issue is peoples BO, not just men.

I’ve worked at the stadium a bit doing electrical maintenance work (if you can call it work) at the live earth concert (chilly pepper, foo fighters from about 20 meters away), metallica concert (which was an eye opener) and Man Utd vs Chelsea (at times no more than two meters from the pitch), I’ve also worked in Beckham’s box (with large football pictures of himself on the walls) and the Chelsea box but no one was there at the time. The Chelsea box is quite grand with a giant glass dinning table and letter couches.

There seems to be a lot of electrical work in the city with 90% of the work force foreign, I’ve worked with Poles(many early 20’s couples who are here for the pound and don’t seem to want to mix in English culture. One guy said there was no culture in England but when I asked if he knew anything about the country he had no idea of even the obvious things), Portuguese (laid back and cool), Australians, Kiwis, South Africans (black and white), many African nations you only hear of at the Olympic opening ceremony, Indians, Moroccans, Kenyans, West Indians (lots of cool handshakes and slang), Zimbabweans, one Ex Nepalese Ghurker and a couple of devout British Muslims who after a few conversations seemed a bit out there, one said he cant wait for the war in Iraq to finish so they can start a jihad in Britain. One guy was white and well educated and even the other Muslims on the jobsite said he had a problem. After a week they kicked him off site even though the foreman was shitting himself and for a day or so we all were a bit concerned. The other Muslims I’ve meet are lovely caring people who are so open to explain there religion and lifestyles without forcing it down your neck, compared to some of the black African Christians on the jobsites. The way the white South Africans talk about the state of there country is very interesting compared to the way the black South Africans see it. A lot of the whites I’ve meet between 20-30 say they will never go back because a lot of them are losing there jobs to blacks who are a long way from qualified for there position because of ‘Affirmative Action’. They believe this is happening in every field of employment over the country. But on the other side one black guy told me of some of the atrocities that his family and friends experienced in the dark times of there country. Now members of his family can become anything they want to be and go to university and study what they want and not be told what occupation they will do. The whites believe there economy cannot sustain the financial loses from the down turn in qualified labour and will soon be on its knees, many say they want to move to Australia.

Over the past few months I’ve been working at a financial estate next to Liverpool st station which is becoming a bit of a drag compared to the jobsite l was on for the first three months. Working with an Italian and a Pole who have poor English is becoming frustrating and in the electrical field that can be a little dangerous. I’ve done some night shift work at Sky TV (Foxtel) studios which consists of watching full sky on a Lcd TV until about eleven o’clock then they pull out giant mats and sleep till six o’clock, then off to my normal day job. I work most weekends coz the money is good. I miss working on the large jobsite I was on only because of the different cultures and people I meet, but I’ve caught up with a couple of guys since. All the work I do is through an agency which is perfect for when we travel but you only get paid for the days you work, but the money is good so it all works out pretty well.

Outside of work we have been to Lords a couple of times to a test match and a county 20/20, done a tour of the pavilion, good mushroom and chicken pies. Went to the tennis at Wimbledon had strawberries and cream, didn’t realise how close to the court you can get. Sight seen all the London stuff big names and did a tour of the tower and went up the wheel on the weekend just gone. On Katrina’s (my cousin) birthday we did a jack the ripper tour which was great. I’m working right near some of the murder scene at the moment and it’s pretty cool to walk the streets on my lunch break. Spending probably to much time in the London cafés, but fried eggs on toast loaded with butter with red sauce and a cup of tea is a growing man fuel(just side ways not up). Most nights are spent watching Eastenders (fantastic soap) or at the pub watching cricket/footy. Our memberships to Arsenal have finally come through and since we became members they sold Henry (my reason to follow them) and Freddie Ljungberg (Caitlin’s reason for following them), but are flying at the moment. We went to watch them in a pre-season comp at the Emirates (new home ground) against Paris St Germaine and on Wednesday night we are off to see them play Sevilla in the Champions League. Tickets to the footy here are hard to get, you can’t get a ticket without a membership and Arsenal have 180,000 members with a ground capacity of 60,000, making them the second richest club in Europe behind Real Madrid. Off to a Xavier Rudd concert next week, but refuse to go to a Walkabout pub (Australia theme pub) ever again after we went to one with Lockie Grace and his girlfriend Anna to watch Geelong play the Kangaroos and heard someone say “oh, Lamby’s would be going off tonight”. The concert is next to a walkabout.

The weather has been great over the past few months but the nights are just starting to get colder and its getting dark by 7.30 pm, winters on its way. Hope every ones births, pregnancies, engagements, jobs, new houses, footy/netball finals and lives are all well.
Oh, here they don’t have cruisers so I drink cider or shandies!
Cheers Bryce.
Text or email if you care. (+44 7 94 232 6012.)

Stockholm, Amsterdam to Normandy

Mont Saint Michel

Normandy
Brugge and Bryce at the Ice Bar

Poffertjies

We have been back from our last trip about two weeks now and have found it hard to find the time to update the blog, but here goes. Four weeks ago we flew to Stockholm in Sweden which was a lovely city and the capital of Scandinavia. We spent three days there enjoying the city. The slower pace to the city compared to London was a welcome change. The city was similar to a few places in Europe where there is a newer post war side of town compared to the old preserved medieval side of town with peaceful cobble stone undulating streets, featuring quaint cafes, restaurants and shops. Quite happy with that sentence. The highlight of the trip was a night at the Vodka ice bar which consisted of a choice of seventeen Absolut vodka cocktails served in frozen iceblock glasses. We had to dress in silver cloaks with white furry hoods and black snow gloves, quite attractive. The drinks were fantastic, but it was bloody cold. You could only spend about 30 minutes in there, before it became to cold.

After Sweden we flew back to London and connected to Amsterdam after a night at the airport. Sleeping over night in an airport is crap!!!!!!!!!! Once in Amsterdam we spent some entertaining times in the areas you spend when in Amsterdam. Watching blokes come and go and trying to look incognito is just funny. We hired some push bikes and road around the city along the canals which we’d earlier taken a relaxing river cruise along, and found some great local places in the city. Good pofferjies. Leaving Amsterdam by hire car we drove through Holland down to Belgium to stay in Brugge for the night. Once there we meet a guy at the hostel who was keen to show us the sights of the city, so we headed into town. Once there we watched a parade which only occurs every five years and we knew nothing about. The costumes and performances of the people were amazing. The city was fantastic so we decided to stay for an extra night. Although it was a city so close to the front line in both world wars it has been untouched for centuries and a real step back in history, great chocolates and Belgian waffles. At night the city was illuminated and we walked the old streets scoffing chocolates.

Leaving Brugge we travelled to many of the WW1 battlefields and cemeteries where Australian soldiers fought and died. Places such as Tyne Cot, Ieper’s, Paschendale and Polygon Wood. Beautiful, peaceful and fitting locations for such amazing people. The pictures of the battlefields and the stories of what the people endured during the war compared to county side we travelled through was an unbelievable contrast. From this point on the trip turned into a WW1 and WW2 education. Leaving Belgium we headed to Normandy in France. We stayed in a small seaside town (Bayeux) central to all five D-Day beaches. We drove down to Saint Mont Michel; an old Abbey built on an island with fantastic views of the Normandy country side and Atlantic Ocean.

Back in Bayeux we visited all the landing beaches and several museums. We spent time at the large American cemetery overlooking Omaha beach and saw the most amazing sunset over Point Du Hoc surrounded by destroyed German gun batteries and giant craters in the earth as a resolute of massive allied bombing runs on the morning of d-day. We spent time in many of the locations from ‘Band of Brothers’ following many of the soldiers stories from a book to actually being there for Bryce was a dream come true, and felt like we were living history. Knowing that we were standing on the locations (beaches) were such horrendous events occurred was not just eerie but thrilling (for Bryce anyway). Caitlin just like seeing a beach again and smelling sea air.

Driving ourselves through these countries was an experience in itself, giving us the choice to go our own direction at our own pace instead of a tour. Driving on the other side of the road was at times comical but so frustrating particularly in Belgium. We rarely noticed the change in the quality of the roads and lack of signage compared to Holland and France, although we got so lost in Versailles (grant palace and gardens) we some how got from the middle of the city into real slums then the countryside, some how we ended up on a motorway not knowing where we were until all of a sudden there was the Eiffel tower and a five lane double highway to the airport (About three times the size of Melbourne airport). As we approached the airport we missed all the signs to Budget hire car drop off and ended up in the basement of some car park when all of a sudden there is signs everywhere for Budget car drop offs. Just plan dumb luck. The stress of it was horrible and just as things seemed too deep; the light at the end of tunnel comes through. The beauty of travel.

It was a great trip with fantastic food, cheap french wine, experiences and history. Our next trip is to Berlin and Prague via Dresden from October 20th for a week, and will be looking forward to have some else drive us this time.

The Flat

Various living/ kitchen shots

bedroom (obviously)

large bathroom

View From front door

first door on right is guest b/room
1st door on left is bathroom, next door on right is living area/kitchen
there is another door across from living area to bedroom.

view from landing down to front door of building, we are on the second floor

front of building, we are at the back so you cannot see our windows.

So we've been in London for 4 months now and have settled in. Other than work we've been doing a few things. Katrina (cousin) has been staying with us in between her travels. We all headed to Wimbledon a few weeks ago early in the morning to queue for tickets and luckily got one of the only days in the first week and a half that wasn't interupted by rain. Saw Marat Safin, Tommy Haas, Williams sisters (doubles) james blake, sat on Henman hill and wathced him lose on the big screen. We did a Jack the Ripper tour through the streets of Whitechapel, very interesting with a good consipracy theory, saw the lane that is used as Diagonalley in Harry Potter too.

We went to a 20 20 game at Lords on a gorgeous Friday night, saw Essex and Middlesex, Strauss, Bichel and Flower were playing. Ended up being a really good game after a dodgy start by Middlesex.

Bryce worked at Wembley for a few weekends, set up for the Diana concert, then the following weekend worked during the Live Earth and Metalica concerts. Caitlin went to see the tour de france prologue through the streets of London.

USA

Las Vegas, Washington and New York City
So after the world cup and a visit to Florida to stay with Stew and Caroline we headed back across the US to Las Vegas. Happy with an upgrade on arrival which meant we were in a room that was bigger than where we are currently living. Obviously we didn’t win or lose our fortune, not much gambling, more seeing the sights. Did all the major casinos, Caesar’s Palace was quite impressive as they bring the day inside. Loved Sarah’s tip about M’n’M world, ate more than our fair share. Loved going from Paris to Venice in a matter of minutes. Took a day trip to the Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam which were amazing sights.
From Vegas we continued to zig zag to the Capital. Walked what felt like a marathon all over the city from the hostel to Arlington Cemetery (JFK’s grave), to Iwo Jima to Lincoln Memorial to the White House, to Capital Hill and the Washington Monument at the end of the reflection pool. Went to another NBA game, which is entertainment plus, unfortunately no draw and over time for this game.
Then it was up to NYC for 6 days. We stayed uptown on Broadway a few block from Central Park where we spent most of our time. Did ground zero and walked across Brooklyn Bridge. Got lost in Little Italy and found an amazing little Italian restaurant that served the cast and crew of Donnie Brasco while they filmed around the corner, also George Bush picked up a heap of pizzas from there too after he visited ground zero and took them to the local fire houses. Lots of signed pictures of celebs on the walls. Went to the Seinfeld Restaurant, where Bryce ran into a family he had taken on a snow mobile tour in Whistler, quite bazaar. Picked up a $5 (meant to be $30) basketball from KMart and took it to a local court in a housing estate (high rise apartments). A couple of young boys came out of the local YMCA and asked if we wanted to play ½ court against them. 2 games best of 50 later and we were towelled up. In the picture you will see the boys, Bryce (not Foster) and Gelvis at the court.
By this stage we were ready to plant ourselves permanently for awhile.

St Kitts - World Cup

As we emailed earlier we stayed in the hotel with both the Aussie and South African teams. Everywhere we went in teh hotel we saw 1 or more players from either team. So here is Caitlin (aka Sharon Strezlecki) with Gilly, Shaun Tait and coach John Buchanan. Slightly embarrassing but had to be done. The hotel was amazing we stayed with Stew and Caroline (see photo in front of Pirate ship) No pirates spotted in the Carribbean though.

So what happened....

We arrived 2 days before the game so just eased into Carribean life with a few drinks on the beach. The following day we took the ferry to Nevis and drank 'Killer Bees' at Sunshines, the creater of the drink fiercly guards the secret ingredients that make it soooo good.

Match day we got up early as we'd heard there were long queues and we wanted to secure a good spot on the hill. We got a spot right on the fence and didn't have to fight for it (there was no one else there for another hour!!!!) A few locals sat around us Bryce got friendly with one ( a historian) discussing cricket and life. The game went as planned, great to see Hayden's innnings and with the ground being so small we were very close to the action. South African Ahwell Prince was fielding on the boundry infront of us and coped a pasting from the Aussie's. Hogg fielded there for the Aussies and played it up winning everyone over. Was the hottest day and even though we slapped on the screen all day we all ended up like lobsters.

That night back at the hotel we sat near Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis for dinner who looked shattered!!!! Bryce headed to the pool after dinner to soothe his sunburn (fortunately not quite as servere as Bondi burn of 2003). When he got out of the pool to come back to the room he walked straight into the Aussie team sneaking in the back entrance. KID IN A CANDY STORE, NO IDEA WHAT TO DO OR SAY. McGrath said hi, Bryce managed to speak and said well done to Gilchrist, Hodge and Clark and gave Ponting a childish grin which by the look on Ricky's face scared him. Massive man crush!!!!

The next day surprisingly Andrew Simmonds and Hayden were checking out when half the hotel was, they were less than impressed with the footy's and t-shirts being thrust at them for signing and photos being taken.

We spent a few extra days in St Kitts, enjoying the sun after Whistler.

San Francisco

Well it is now over a week since the victory and we are only just getting around to updating the blog. But before that we have to back track to San Francisco.

The Greyhound bus ride was delightful... with all of America's most outstanding citizens joining us on our 24hr journey. The bus is the poor mans means of travel. We enjoiyed hearing ex cons bragging to young girls about their time in the big house.

However, the trip was worth it as we had a great time in San Francisco. We hired bikes at the waterfront and rode to and then across the Golden Gate Bridge with the fog closing in making it quite eerie. That night we did a walking tour which wasn't what we were expecting but we found it really interesting. Learnt about the earthquakes, fires and destruction the city has faced and how they have set up systems for future disasters.

Day 2 was spent at Alcatraz, exploring the prison and grounds. We heard some great stroies about some of the more famous inmates like Al Capone and the Birdman of Alcatraz who actually never had birds there. Interesting fact: Al Capone was responsible for having expiry dates put on milk as he owned a dairy and didn't want kids drinking sour milk. Very intersting place.

That afternoon we walked up and down the hilly streets to find the windiest street in the world and some tower we can't remember the name of that had 360 degree views of the city and bay.

Last Days in Canada

Well our time at Whistler is just about over as is the season. There is a lot less snow now with less falls and melting snow. The difference from when we arrived 2 months ago to now is huge. We've had a great time here and our skiing has improved enormously but we are definitely ready for some warmer weather and the World Cup. Not much has been happening since the last email. We went ziplining just outside Whistler which was awesome and skiied the peak to creek blue run whish tested us but we were both amazed with our efforts, only a few minor stacks. Great views all the way down the mountain. We are finishing up work soon and hope to have a few more days on the mountain. Our kiwi friends invited us over for a spa at their place last Saturday, but we were not prepared for it being outside. It was fantastic though sitting in a warm hot tub out in the snow, Bryce even rolled in the snow to cool down before jumping back in, Caitlin was not as brave and just had a quick dip in the pool before jumping back in. We did fresh tracks which is an early run before everyone gets up the mountain and include brekky. Caitlin went on a private snow mobile tour with the best guide in whistler and played with the bases husky puppies. It snowed last night (and has been snowing quite a bit) so we had one of our final skis on powder, Bryce is skiing through trees and shin deep powder. But there are still some face plants and mishaps.
Time is flying and we will be in the UK before we know it. We leave Canada on the 18th bussing it to San Francisco (a fun day and a half ride) so will be quite feral by the time we get there. We'll have 2 days there before flying to Orlando to connect to our flight to St Kitts on the 22nd. The game is on the 24th Aus v. South Africa so look out for us in the telly dancing with the Jamacian's and for Bryce's Alan Border like moe.
Keep in touch
Bryce and Caitlin