Hola! Barcelona!

(Written on Monday)
Barcelona RULED.

It was sunny and beautiful and full of fun things to see and do and there was sangria and tapas and paella and plenty of fun times and casual dips in the Mediterranean Sea.

Its definitely a holiday city. So so good. And Jacqui and Phil were with us. And we made some American friends too. A wee gang.

Highlights:

Awesome crew

Lovely ladies

Lovely views

Lovely beachSynchronised swimming in the Mediterranean.

Phil on the beach with a mojito and a massage. The Barceloneta has everything!

Gaudi - that wacky dude. He is brilliant and his stuff blew my mind.

This stuff was built in the 19th century!

The Sagrada Familia (the cathedral above) has been in construction since 1882 and it still its bot going to be done until at least 2030! Mental! Its going to be amazing.

Jess and I made friends with a lizard.Possibly the best photo ever taken...

Our American friend Joe lost his glasses for about 2 and a half minutes in the Mediterranean. It was the most hilarious 2 minutes of the entire trip.

Barcelona was wonderful. It was nice to end the Jess and Niki adventure lying on a beach in the non-burny European sun. The Geneva drama meant we only had two full days to explore. I think we did pretty well though. We saw lots and ate lots and still found time to relax.

This morning I said goodbye to everyone and went to Ireland to meet Maddy.

Goodbye Phil - have fun back in Glasgow. Goodbye Jacqui - pizza! pasta! Italy!

Goodbye Jessica - amazing travel buddy, lovely creature and fantastic friend. I will see you all very soon.

The Barcelona Adventure: Prequel.

We only had one full say in Lyon and then the plan was to fly to Barcelona where we were meeting Jacqui. However, this seemingly simple plan became a huge drama thanks to French strike action. So when we got to the airport our flight was cancelled. We then found ourselves in the middle of a swarm of people trying to rebook flights for the next day. Rather stressful - did not understanding all the French yelling that was going on. The flight from Lyon the next day was full, and we didn't want to be stuck in France when everything was shut so we decided to go to Geneva. From there we could get to Barcelona, and Jacqui, the next morning. Drama drama drama. But all the buses and trains weren't operating either. Damn French and their damn striking. The only option was to drive. And that is how we found ourselves in a taxi with two French guys, a Mexican and an Argentinian, doing a Von Trapp and heading for Switzerland. We took a taxi to Switzerland. Across a border. Mental. And it only cost about the same as a train fare. Excellent.

So, we arrived in Geneva, stressed out that the strike would last another day - our flight needed to go through French airspace. Damn French. And we needed a place to stay - so we booked a hotel room. But then we met this lovely Brazilian who told us that we could get a free room at the Crowne Plaza through the airport. 5 STAR HOTEL!!! Epically awesome.

This is Jess in her courtesy robe, on her double bed after taking a long rejuvenating bath in a CLEAN bathroom. We also got dinner and breakfast included. It really was the best. Apart from the part about leaving Jacqui stranded alone in Barcelona, we really did feel like the fates had shone very brightly on us.

And then in the morning after waking up from the best sleep since 2009 and feeling clean and refreshed, we successfully made our way to Barcelona! What an adventure.

When we finally arrived at the hostel and explained that our friend should be here and we needed to find her and we had stranded her etc etc. The women assured us Jacqui was fine and that she would be back shortly. And that she was... with PHIL in tow. What a surprise! That sneaky sneaky man had snuck his way to Spain. Wooohoooo. Fun times ahead in Barcelona! :)

Lyon

Our brief stay in Lyon was unfortunately plagued with illness and general backpacker wear and tear. We saw some of the city and had some lovey food (beaucoup de olives!) and cheap french wine. Otherwise we rested a lot. Travelling like this certainly takes its toll. Our hostel was a bit ave but had the best view; we enjoyed the view a lot.

Grindelwald and the Mountain of Death

After Zurich Max took us to Grindelwald (yes, as in Gellert!) a small town in the Swiss Alps, about 1000 metres above sea level. It was very pretty.

With the intention to go for a nice mountain walk to a pretty lake and amazing views we took the gondola up to First. Pretty high up - 2000m. The gondola was fun.

And the views were amazing.

But as we got higher we realised that our planned walk with lake and views was not going to be feasible.
Ominous.

It was snowing (in June!) and the clouds were super low. No views for us. Instead a treacherous death walk to where we hoped there was a bus stop to take us down the mountain, via death cliffs covered in death clouds.

At first we frolicked.

Then we panicked. We were not dressed appropriately for death hike and there was a feeling we may get lost and dead and be written about in the Swiss news under the headline 'Tights wearing tourists freeze to death in the Alps.'

It was a pretty funny situation. We could never see more than a few metres ahead of us and we couldn't be sure that we were going the right way or that when we got where we were trying to go that there would be anything there. And it was snowing. It was rather spooky. With the eerie sound of cow bells echoing around the mountains. It was reassuring to know that Max has seen enough Man vs Wild to get us through a night on a mountain. Eventually we made it to our destination. And luckily there was a bus stop! Even more luckily the service had only been running for one day and it came only 3 times a day, 4.30 being the last and it was 4.15. 4.35 and we would have been Bear Gryllsing it in the Alps. The sight of that bus backing its way up that narrow mountain road was sure something.

And the wearied adventurers lived to tell the tale of the time they nearly died in the Swiss Alps.

PS. Its getting home stretch time. This time in two weeks I will be on a plane home!
PPS. Mum - we weren't really in as much danger as I have made out, I promise.
x

Bern/Zurich

First of all. This is Max:

Max is Swiss-Australian. He is 6 foot 8. He plays for Switzerland in the European AFL league. He likes Rivella (a weird Swiss lactose fizzy drink). He dislikes sing-a-longs. And his idols are James Bond and Bear Grylls.

Max is Jess' friend who is currently living with his auntie in Bern, Switzerland. He was kind enough to offer us beds, chocolate and general guiding services.

We had a goooooooood time in Switzerland. Max was the best guide ever.

His aunties house is really cool - in the kitchen all the cupboards had something different painted on them.

Bern is a really cool city. All the pathways are undercover and there are these cool trap doors on the streets that lead down to underground rooms some of which are now used as shops or bars. You can see some of them open in the bottom left of the photo. They really are very cool.

The city's symbol is a bear and they used to have bears in a pit by the river, but now they have a river bank to themselves. Grizzly bears in the city.

We had a picnic in the rose garden but it started raining so we relocated. I cut my finger on a Swiss knife. Damn the Swiss and their superior knife making skills.

Our first night in Bern Max took us out and we went to an underground art gallery opening, a non-ironic Eurotrash bar, and ex-riding school now super cool drinking venue.
The riding school.

We also went to Zurich. Theres nothing much to see in Zurich. We were there for the food. Max wanted to eat a meal known as a Jumbo Jumbo. Which is essentially two bits of schnitzel with bacon and cheese in between all deep fried... gross. And a sausage thing.And rosti, which was yummy, and chocolate. Oh boy, the chocolate. So so so good. Max told us that the truffles we ate have so much cream in them they go off after two days. They were SO GOOD.

Zurich is a strange place. Its a city for the super wealthy thats for sure. All the cars are flashy and everything is generally ritzy. It seemed to attract a lot of stag and hens nights too.

Conclusion: Bern is beautiful, Zurich is a bit strange.

Journeyman!

WE MET A JOURNEYMAN!

On the train from Munich to Bern we saw a Journeyman!

We recognised him straight away because Liz (see this post) had met one in Ireland and she is the best story teller in the world and had given us the most amazing description.

We were too shy to talk to him, but then a Swiss women who we had been chatting to got up and went and asked him if he spoke English - Jess and I were in a fit of hysterics and being generally silly. But we had to go talk to him after that. He was lovely. He is a carpenter and was on his way to meet some other Journeymen and then they were going to Romania to build a house for poor children.

Oh Journeyman!

VULGARIA!

On our last day in Bavaria Jess and I went to Neuschwanstein. The CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG caslte. Awesome.

It ruled.

Munich

Our trip to Munich was not particularly eventful. It rained the whole time, which was a welcome change from the 40 degree heat, but still inconvenient.

The night we arrived we somehow found ourselves hanging out with these two obnoxious American dudes. One of which insisted on calling me his 'belladonna' - they had just come from Italy. This guy was so drunk. His feeble flirtation attempts were hilarious.

At one point he tried to pick me up and throw me in a fountain.

This belladonna was not impressed. And yes, he is shirtless. Oooh the randoms you meet in hostels. What a tosser.

Not long after this Jess and I ditched the randoms and ran back to the hostel.

Otherwise the only activity of note in Munich was our trip to Hofbrauhaus - the most famous beer hall in Munich.

This is where Hilter delivered some of his earliest speeches.

This is me drinking 1 litre of beer.
It was difficult to lift.

Salzburg.

(Written a few days ago - had the worst internet in Germany and couldnt upload anything)
Yesterday Jess and I went to Salzburg in Austria, near the German border. Motivating factor: SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR. It was all filmed in Salzburg in 1964. The tour was HILARIOUS. At times excruciating. There was this old American woman sitting next to us called Francis who sang a along to every song - yes the soundtrack is played on board - she was AWFUL. Never heard such a voice in my life. She certainly was persistent. At one point she even took the guides microphone and started singing karaoke stylz. Lovely.

Most enjoyable were the husbands - and even one death metal t-shirt wearing teenager - who had blatantly been forced to come. During Francis' rendition of Do Re Mi the husband sitting behind me had his face squished up and his fingers in his ears. Poor guy.

Jess and I did have a good time. We saw lots of pretty Austrian countryside and Sound of Music sites.

Gazebo

Mirabell gardens - Do Re Mi steps.

Do Re Mi archway

Church where Maria and George got married.

Pretty Austrian village. Not the best weather.

Also learnt a lot about the real Von Trapp family which was cool. I would recommend this tour only to those with an extremely high tolerance for obsessive American fanwoman who can't sing in tune.

x

Apfelstrudel and fun parks.

I deliver what I promise:

Apfelstrudel!

Fun park!

We went on this ride..
It was scary.

and on this 115 year old ferris wheel. The Prater Wheel!

And Jess ate Wiener Schnitzel

and fairy floss

and we made friend.

The fun park RULED!

Then later we went on a big walk to Shonbrunn Palace.

Another lovely day
xx

Vienna!

Today was really hot again. Really hot. Mid 30s. Gross.

But we didnt let it stop us. We had Vienna to explore!

Breakfast in the cutest cafe EVER. Felt like we had gone back in time. Everything from the outfit of the waitress to the hairstyles of the clientèle screamed 1960s. Excellent. Apfelstrudel and Sachertorte for all!

Then we went wandering in the museum quarter.

Vienna certianly is very grand.

Ginger needed some shade.

Elephant!

And a lovely rose garden.

Then we took the tram around for a bit admiring all the grand old buildings and got off to admire the famous Hundertwasserhaus, designed by Mr Hundertwasser (the same dude who designed the public toilets in Kawakawa!)

The coolest thing we did today??

Jess and I went to the state opera house to see the Vienna Ballet Company perform Coppelia. It was brilliant. Yes. We are some classy dames.

Its awesome actually - you could spend 200euro on a flash balcony seat, or you could do what we did and turn up early, queue around the back, pay 4euro, and get a standing ticket with the other plebeians. It was excellent. We had a perfect view. The theatre was spectacular. And Coppelia is really funny. Most enjoyable evening. AAAND when we left the theatre, it had been raining the the temperature was significantly cooler. Yusssss. Happy girls.

Tomorrow: fun park! More apfelstrudel! Woohooo!