A post from down under

Well, we've made our way to Australia now. Before I get to that, we've developed the pictures from Monaco so here they are:


Ryan is sad about his broken digital camera.


A view of Monaco from on top of a large hill.


Ryan driving a car from the Monaco Grand Prix.


Me with a Ferrari.


Ryan poses with some nice cars.


Ryan in front of the Monte Carlo casino.


The Monte Carlo casino can be seen in the reflection on that sphere.

Our flight from Singapore was quite nice, with a couple of included meals, although it was a bit harder to sleep. We arrived in Melbourne around 9am, and after surprisingly breezing through customs and quarantine without any questions, we were on the road to Warrendyte to stay with Ryans family. The first night here we relaxed (and had a much needed nap). In the morning we headed out to a couple of shopping malls to buy some new clothes - after 2 months with the same few t-shirts we felt like we needed something else! We're all set for a little while now, that's for sure.

Saturday night we went into Melbourne with Ryans cousin Vicky and her friend to go to a couple of bars.


Ryan and I with our Australian lager.


Ryan, Vicky and Amanda.

While at this particular bar, Ryan had the idea that we should try a couple of shots of "something Australian". What this actually got us was 3 shots - Aussie Rum, Aussie Beer, and Aussie Bourbon, which you shoot in a row. I realize this sounds tasty, but trust me, it's not.

All of this liquor ended up incapacitating us for all of Sunday, where we basically did nothing.

Monday morning we headed into town, and after taking the train the wrong direction for a while, finally ended up in Melbourne at the department of immigration. Here, we picked up our paper working visas and are now one step closer to getting a job (sigh). With some time to kill during the day we headed over to the Crown Entertainment Complex, which is a large casino, movie theatre, shopping center and restaurant area. After lunch, we tried our hand at some gambling. Ryan said goodbye to $20 at Casino War faster than he sat down, but I managed to win a bit at Blackjack. My luck ran out when I was leaving the bathroom and walked into the door, breaking my digital camera screen. Fortunately it still takes photos, so we should be okay until Ryan's camera is repaired. We have not had good luck with our cameras so far!


The Melbourne skyline outside of the Crown Casino.

With my broken camera in hand, we wandered the streets of downtown Melbourne. We eventually came across a Vodafone store - where we each picked up a new cell phone. It's something we'll need when we settle down, but also feels kind of nice to have now. We didn't realize how much we missed having phones (even if they are mostly useless right now).

It's now 5:30pm on Tuesday (12:30am Vancouver time), and we're about to watch some missed TV from home before going to a BBQ. We're in the Melbourne area until the 29th before heading to Sydney. Both of us are really enjoying Australia so far.

Cheers!

A pit stop in Singapore

We've now both added a new country to our list of places visited, Singapore! We luckily arrived at London Heathrow airport with plenty of time to spare before our flight because the airport is a completely disorganized zoo of people. We finally managed to make it through security after having to cram the contents of 4 carry on bags into 2 (the maximum allowable through this airport). The flight was a long one (approx. 12 hours) but Singapore Airlines did a good job of helping us pass the time. We were served two meals, had a snack, personal TV's with new release moves on demand and video games. We also slept for a few hours so the time passed rather quickly...then again once you've been on a 40 hour ferry trip that goes no where anything seems like a short voyage. We weren't really sure what to expect in Singapore as it was the first time either of us had been to Asia.


We were given a warm welcoming with this message printed in red on our immigration papers. I knew the laws were strict here but WOW!

Day one in Singapore we took it fairly easy and found some dinner, played on the computer for a while and then watched some TV. Singapore doesn't really seem to have its own identity, instead it seems to be a mix of many Asian and Arab cultures. This means the a lot of the food here is strange and uncooked, this makes eating a little weird for me and very strange for Jordan. After a good nights sleep in our hostel we awoke for a day of adventure. Without our trusty "Europe on a Budget" or "Europe on a Shoestring" books to guide us along we explored the city fairly aimlessly. Singapore doesn't have all that much to offer in the way of tourist attractions or activities so we mainly just admired the city for it's beauty and architecture.


Jordan and I posed for pictures in front of the downtown district. In the foreground is the famous Merlion (Mermaid Lion) statue that sprays water into the ocean.


We weren't at the statue long before the sun dropped and the city lights came on.


This is the view looking in the other direction. The strange bubble shaped building in the center is an opera house, similar to the Sydney Opera House that we will be seeing soon.

After our day of fun we decided to check out some of the Singapore nightlife and have a couple drinks. The hostel we are at recommended a bar called the Ministry of Sound. We hung out at the bar for a couple hours, had some extremely overpriced drinks (nothing new there), and watched a bunch of Asian (primarily Chinese) people dance to retro beats...it was quite amusing. Today we have spent much of the day strolling the streets around our hostel and doing our best to kill some time before heading to the airport for our flight to Oz...we'll just have to remember to leave the drugs at the hostel :)

Goodbye Europe

Day three in Tunbridge wells we headed south to Hastings with Ryan's parents for lunch. Here we were treated to a view of the English coast line. After walking around for a while we stopped for lunch - Fish & Chips.


A hill in Hastings.

Following lunch, we found an arcade/games place on the pier where we all gambled away some change at one of those games where you try to knock pennies off a ledge. At least it was an entertaining way to lose some money, but keep in mind that bumping the machine sets off an alarm!


The pier that bankrupted us. Most of it is closed because they are worried about it collapsing.

That night we headed to Tonbridge for a dinner with a large group of Ryan's family. They are definitely an entertaining group of people, and it was great to meet all of you. Afterwards we parted ways and Ryan and I took a cab back to our hotel for our last night in Tonbridge wells.

In the morning Ryan's parents picked us up from our hotel and took us to the train station where we would head back to London (and they would fly home). It was good to see some familiar faces and we both are very grateful for all of the hospitality! Thank you!

In London we checked into our hotel which was quite nice and in a great location, and then headed out for the day. We had still not seen Picadilly Circus (which had been compared to Times Square), so that was our destination for the day.


Some of the advertising at the Circus.

It's not quite as tall as Times Square, but is a busy area with lots to do. There are theatre & comedy show promoters everywhere, lots of shops, and lots of restaurants. We had lunch here, and afterwards tried a "99" ice cream cone which was pretty good.

That night, England was playing France in the Rugby World Cup in a game that would decide who went to the finals. We went to an English pub for dinner & beers and watched this game. Neither of us know anything about Rugby but it was still entertaining, especially since England won!

The next day we decided it was time to get a decent aerial view of the city of London, so we made the short tube trip over to the London Eye. It's quite expensive, but you do get a 30 minute journey with great views of the city in all directions (even though it was a bit smoggy).


Some of the city in the background...


A view from the top where you can see one of the capsules we were in.


Ryan shows us The London Eye from the ground.

At night we went back down to the Picadilly Circus area for dinner, and then found a night club to go to (since it was our last night in London, AND Europe). Cover was a bit pricey, and after we were there for maybe 20 minutes they announced that the bar was closing soon. Apparently on Sunday nights they stop serving alcohol at 12:30am, but stay open until 3am - what a joke!

Today we left our bags at one of the train stations and went to Oxford Street to do some shopping (or "Window Shopping" given our budget). Since we have my laptop now, we decided it would be good to find somewhere to kill some time before our flight. Since Starbucks charges for wireless Internet, we stopped at McDonald's where it is free (this is where we are now). We're just killing another hour before hopping on the train to Heathrow for our 10pm flight to Singapore.

We're both a bit surprised at how fast the last 2 months have gone, but know we have seen a ton of sights in such a short time on this trip. We're now ready to move on, and are both excited about seeing a bit of Asia on our way to Australia. The most disappointing thing is that it's not long before we have to find jobs again!

Anyways - good bye from Europe, the next time you hear from us will be from Singapore.

A jolly good time in England!

After a couple days taking in the sights of Amsterdam we headed towards the coast of Holland. We were actually kind of forced to do this because there was little accommodation left in Amsterdam and the flights to London were too expensive over the weekend. The coastal city, Noordwijk, we went to was about 1hr outside of Amsterdam but well situated to the airport for our pending flight to London. There wasn't a whole lot to see or do in this city which was actually a nice break for us. During our couple days here I also celebrated my 24th birthday. In typical fashion we purchased a cheap bottle of Vodka and drank it in our hostel room. Once we were sufficiently inebriated we walked down the street to a group of local pubs and bars. We met a few local guys on the street who guided us to the best one. We spent the majority of the night here having a couple more brews and talking to the local Dutch population (who speak remarkably good English!).


Jordan and I having a drink on the day of my birf (inside joke)

After this short stint in Noordwijk we boarded our flight to London. Once arriving we took a train to our new accommodation. The Hostel was little more than a few bed rooms over top of a pub, but it had a good location in the heart of London. We spent our first day walking the streets seeing as much as we could. Unfortunately for us the weather was terrible and we got soaked despite the cheap umbrellas we purchased. Before we were rained out we were able to see the exterior of Buckingham Palace, St. James park, the Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and the London Eye.



Jordan modeling his £3 umbrella in front of Buckingham Palace. Normally this is where the famous 'changing of the guards' would take place but due to the weather it was cancelled this day.


I teased the swans in St. James park, they thought I had bread...suckers!


The Big Ben clock tower and a well timed drive by of a double decked bus.


After our day in the rain we were looking for something dry and relaxing to do. So, we headed to the theater district of London were we were able to see The Lion King. We purchased the cheapest seats available (which happened to be 'limited view') but they actually turned out to be great. The show was very entertaining and we are very glad we went.

Day two in London Jordan and I set out to see The Tower of London and Tower Bridge. At The Tower of London we paid the £16 entry fee (the exchange rate on the pound is killing us!) and spent the next few hours touring it. Inside we learnt a lot about it's medieval history, stories of torture, and viewed the famous 'Crown Jewels'.


Jordan stands in front of The White Tower, within the Tower of London.


Legend has it that if the Ravens are to leave The Tower of London the kingdom will fall. So, they clip the wings of the birds to prevent this...which is cheating in my opinion! Obviously this raven didn't read the sign.


Just opposite The Tower of London is the appropriately named Tower Bridge

After our second day in London we caught a train out to Tunbridge Wells to meet my parents and grandparents. Unfortunately we didn't get in until late because our train had electrical problems and we were delayed, which is becoming a regular occurrence as of late! We are now on day two in Tunbridge Wells where it has been very nice to see my family that I have not seen in some time. We have also been treated to a couple great meals which we are very thankful for!


We have been seeing a lot of the beautiful English country side in the past couple days. We stopped at this 15th century pub for lunch with my Aunt Julia and Uncle Tom.

We have one more night here in Tunbridge Wells before we move on to somewhere else, which as of now is not determined. Then Monday we catch our flight to Singapore which marks the end of our Europe trip :(

It's been a while

It's been a while since we last did an update. Last time we wrote, we were unsure as to where we were going. After some debate and an extra night in Salzburg, we headed north to Berlin. We'd heard plenty of good things about Berlin from all of the other travelers we'd talked to, so it was a relatively easy decision.

Our hostel was one of our favourites so far (The Circus). It had a great location, all of the amenities and we really had nothing bad to say at all. At night, we were recommended a Swiss restaurant in a park that is supposedly Brad Pitts favourite restaurant in Berlin (we doubt it). We checked out the bar in the hostel afterwards (where there is a ton of stuff advertising David Hasselhoff - apparently he is big in Berlin), and went to bed.

The next day, we signed up for a free walking tour of Berlin that would take us to many of it's famous sights. Here are a few..


One piece of the outer Berlin wall. Not much of it is left standing. I was unaware it was taken down so recently.


Me with the same piece of the wall.


While this grouping of trees does not look like much, it is actually quite famous. This was the site of Adolf Hitlers bunker. Between the three trees is where he was buried after he killed himself and was burned. Many people like to spit (and do other things) on these trees.



Just down the road is the controversial memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. As Ryan shows us, many of the columns are quite high. One reason it is controversial is that it is only for the murdered Jews, and not other groups of people that were killed. Each column was also treated with an anti-graffiti chemical, but after this was done it was realized that the company providing the chemical also provided other "chemicals" to Nazi death camps.


The Berlin TV tower at night.

That night we went on a pub crawl throughout Berlin. It was one of the better ones we've done so far, judging by the fact that we don't remember much of it.

The next day we boarded a train to Amsterdam, as we near the end of our European visit. We had booked a popular central hostel the first night, and something a bit of a walk away for the next 2.


Part of the Red Light district at night.

Taking pictures in the red light district is not allowed (especially of the girls), but this is one we managed to snap. No matter how much you hear about it, it's still unbelievable to see.

After wandering the streets for a while, we stopped to checkout a couple of Coffee Shops, where we spent some time watching action movies, and then "Mega Builders".

The next day we switched to our hostel across town. This hostel was a Christian hostel, but it was pretty cheap and had availability so it was an easy choice. Guys and girls have separate floors (no mixed dorms), and our room has 18 beds, all full.


This sign blocks the door on our floor.


One of the canals of Amsterdam.

The next day we made our way across town to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. The actual brewery has since been moved, so it's essentially a giant commercial for Heineken. 3 beers were included in the price, and a free gift, so it's not that bad. We didn't really learn anything, but got to go on an exciting ride of what it's like to be a bottle of beer.


Some video mail we sent ourselves.

After some much needed shopping, we wandered the streets some more, visited another coffee shop, and spent our first night in the Christian Hostel.

After lunch at the Hard Rock Amsterdam today, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. Once again, no pictures are allowed. It had a fairly large collection of his paintings, yet many of the most famous ones were not there.

Our plans are pretty much set for the rest of our Europe trip. We have 1 more night in Amsterdam, before travelling to a beach hostel just outside of Amsterdam (everything was booked!), where we will try and celebrate Ryans birthday. Monday afternoon we are flying to London where we have our own accommodation for 2 nights. After this, we will attempt to meet up with some of Ryan's family.

Now it's time to get a bite to eat, and find something to do for our last night in the heart of Amsterdam.