theplaceswe

May 29, 2016

The word on the street is: Awkward

It should have taken us 2 hours to get from Barcelona to Munich. Instead, thanks to all of the delays it took us 8 hours. The hotel we were staying at in Munich was a relatively big family-run hotel. When we arrived and went to check in the family were sitting in the breakfast room which at night is closed to guests. We of course didn’t know this as we had just arrived so we followed the husband from outside into the breakfast room while he looked for our booking. We walked further into the room only to be told by an older lady that the room was out of bounds and we had to stand by the door. We apologised and went to stand awkwardly by the door (but still in the room) to wait. After we had moved, there was this awkwardness that descended over everyone there. It was like those times in movies when something awkward happens and people try to find things to pre-occupy themselves with. I wanted to laugh because it didn’t bother us at all where we were allowed or not allowed to be but it seemed to make some of the workers/family members awkward.

As I think about our days in Germany I wish we had filmed our time there. If I had to find one word to describe our time there it would be awkward. Awkward situations don’t actually really bother me most of the time and I find them more awkward for other people, watching how they react to the ‘awkwadrness’ – I myself generally find them amusing. On our second day in Munich when we were walking around the city we noticed groups of people all by the side of the park eating, drinking and playing bocci. Mark walked off to watch some of the games close up and I walked a bit further on and was just observing the entire area when I noticed a rather tall blonde guy walking towards me. At first I thought he was walking to someone behind me so I thought”woah better move out of the way otherwise he’s going to walk straight into me” this was quickly followed by “oh no, I think he is actually walking towards me” and then it was at this point when he was mere steps in front of me rapidly speaking in German that I just stood there, laughed and said “sorry English only” to which his reply was “Oh no problem. I was just saying that I thought you looked cute and that I should come over to introduce myself”. I hadn’t expected him to be able to speak such good English so this is where I got awkward and ungracefully pointed to Mark and said “I’m here with my partner”. After a bit of small talk I realised he thought I said parents and had pointed to an older couple standing near Mark. While trying to be polite I just couldn’t help but think about how ridiculous I must have looked and sounded the entire time, especially when I was talking about “our round the world trip” and he was thinking I was travelling with my parents. When Mark finally sauntered over the conversation ended pretty quickly but was followed by Mark’s questions and mocking. He found the entire scenario hilarious and then at the end of the day decided to tell me that he had been wondering what I was doing and had a photo…

Munich was a beautiful city, extremely clean and really quite so we were looking forward to seeing what Berlin had to offer. We got to Berlin early in the morning and couldn’t get access to our room at the hostel (yes, we stayed at a hostel again) until 4pm so we thought we would be productive and put on some loads of washing to kill some time. After our washing was done we sat outside with another Aussie and talked complete crap for an hour or so while we people watched. Our hostel was down the road from arguably the most famous club in Berlin, The Berhain. The club is infamous for its strict door policy, or lack thereof, which, according to numerous posts online, says that you can wait in line for 4 hours to be rejected simply because you didn’t fit their type. Well what is their type you ask? People speculate that it is a variety of different things but in the end I don’t think anyone but Sven, the main bouncer knows. So while watching people walk up the street towards The Berhain we would guess on who we thought would get in and who wouldn’t. So many people didn’t get in that we eventually stopped guessing because we just knew they wouldn’t be getting in.

Berlin is so full of history that when it wasn’t raining, we spent our time outside checking out the Wall, monuments to those that died or other historical landmarks. Berlin is so free from what most people would call ‘they normal way of life’ that it can be a bit of a shock. We definitely didn’t blend in with those in East Berlin – neither of us had enough piercings, tattoos or colours in our hair to be able to fit in, although my usual all black attire worked just fine. Apart from the huge variety of people in Berlin I don’t know if I can describe the general atmosphere there. My mind is all over the place when I try to think of a way to explain it so I think I’ll just leave you with a few contradictory words that could be used to describe Berlin all at once. Mournful, sunny, cheerful, dark, bright and grim. Also, I can’t forget to mention the vast amounts of graffiti that covers everything from buildings to rubbish bins, park benches and the ground.

DSC05903_Fotor — East Side Gallery, Berlin

I think we will definitely come back to Germany, although next time we want to explore the countryside as I think it would be so picturesque and authentic there. I’m not sure when we will be back though so I’ll have to start writing a bucket list so I don’t forget about it. We fly to Latvia tomorrow afternoon. I have no idea what is to be expected there and that makes me excited.

May 23, 2016

Hola!

A couple of days in Madrid was enough for us especially because the weather wasn’t the best. We stayed on a street equivalent to that of Bourke Street in Melbourne which meant when we walked out of our apartment the first thing we saw were shops, shops and more shops. I don’t think we could of left without buying something, so Mark bought new shoes to replace the old pair he was wearing. Apart from buying new shoes we spent our time in Madrid wandering around like we do. After 2 days there we got an early morning train to Seville. Just before leaving we were trying to remember why we were going to Seville as there didn’t seem like there was a whole lot to do compared to other parts of Spain. After spending a couple hundred dollars on train tickets though there was no way we were changing anything so we got on the train and figured we would use the time to relax if there was nothing else to do.

I’ve realised Mark just loves European life – especially those that encourage a siesta. Seville was great. Everyday we would get up and go out for a walk before deciding what we would actually do with our day. To decide what we would do we would have to go and buy some croissants or donuts for breakfast and then walk over to a local cafe so Mark could have his morning coffee. It was at this cafe that we decided to do our usual – Walk around. So after walking around for a bit we would stop by a small bar that was across the road from our apartment. We would buy 1 Euro beers and possibly get a pork and prosciutto toasted roll, possibly when translations didn’t work we would get a prosciutto and blue cheese – we did prefer the pork and prosciutto over the blue cheese. We would then walk across the road with the intention of writing/reading/emailing but just fall asleep like the rest of the town and wake up after our siesta feeling like we really did what we had secretly planned to do all along. After our siesta we would walk back across the road, drink more beers, eat more rolls and often get a plate of olives and some roasted chicken. As uneventful as all of that may sound we really enjoyed our time in Seville. We stayed out of the main city so we were away from all of the tourist sites which meant we could live just like the locals.

Living like locals also meant we had to do our own washing.

Mark was a bit sad to leave Seville. He absolutely loved the bar we went to everyday and he loved the entire vibe Seville had but we had already paid for our train so we left one afternoon to go to Barcelona. Barcelona was probably just as we had imagined. It didn’t move us the way Seville did as everything seemed more forced upon you. In Barcelona things felt forced whereas it didn’t feel like that in Seville, nonetheless we were in Barcelona so we had to make the most of it. We spent our first full day getting to know the city and checking out a few things before heading back to our apartment. We weren’t happy with our accommodation so that afternoon we packed up our things, wrote a note to our host and left. Our new room at a hostel in the Gothic District of Barcelona was so nice we were disappointed we didn’t get to spend our first night there as well! We ate at a new Spanish burger house down the road, downed some beers and sangria and woke up early the next day for our visit to Casa Batllo and Sagrada Familia. Both sites were amazing and were unlike anything we had ever seen before but if I had to pick between them I wouldn’t even need to think about it. Sagrada Familia was so amazing that when we went to leave the lady at the gate reminded us that once we left we couldn’t come back for the day so we turned around and ran back inside just to make sure we had had our Sagrada fix! Antoni Gaudi thought in a way that I would never even contemplate and everything he did in the cathedral, no matter how different just worked perfectly.

DSC05710_Fotor — Have you ever seen a ceiling like this? I hadn’t until I stepped into Sagrada Familia.

Barcelona is known to the yachting world for it’s huge port and boating lifestyle. We walked along the port throughout the day to look at all of the multi-million dollar boats and along one part of the walk I actually started to get really angry. In the water there were so many boats all worth a ridiculous amount of money, then there was a path running along the waters edge, along that path there was a wire fence (I assume to stop people from just walking straight onto the boats) and then on our side of the fence there were groups of people set up selling souvenirs, gadgets and fake shoes and handbags. The stark contrast between wealth was overwhelming and quite sad. Something that did cheer me up was seeing a rooftop garden on a building (I’m obsessed with them at the moment) – It was a proper roof top garden with grass and all, not just a roof with some pot plants! – and I know that Mark was secretly laughing at me getting so excited that while yelling “rooftop garden” and pointing hysterically, I tripped over while trying to run to get a better look. (My father-in-law would say that’s another reason why I shouldn’t attempt to run)

That night we met up with a friend who lives in Barcelona and funnily enough works on the huge boats that dock there. What was meant to be quite dinner and drinks turned into a very late night with us missing our flight this morning. Because we missed our flight we had to book one the of cheapest flights available and now for that reason we are sitting on a plane that took off and then turned back around because the landing gear didn’t go up which could apparently cause problems throughout the flight. Luckily, they have found us another plane that isn’t currently being used so once we are able to board that one they will be moving us from one plane to the other, or so they say. At this stage I don’t really mind because there is no-one seated next to me so I’m going to lay down and try to sleep so I can function slightly better when we get to Germany.

Adios Amigos!

May 14, 2016May 14, 2016

The Hostel life just isn’t for me

After spending a couple of hours in no-mans land between Jordan and Israel, we arrived in Israel and made our way by bus to Jerusalem on Friday morning.

I pictured Jerusalem to be this city that was so full of magic and history that it would be like stepping back in time. My first impression was that it was quite modern and clean but then I thought to myself “it won’t be like this in the old city”. After arriving at our hotel we thought we should go change our money and get some food. We were told we should go “quickly as it’s Sabbath and everything will be closed soon”. I thought this would be one of those times when ‘everything’ actually just means the shopping centres and restaurants, cafes and supermarkets would still be opened. Turns out that isn’t the case in Jerusalem. They take the Sabbath very seriously and before we knew it everything around us was closed and I still hadn’t had lunch. Mark had eaten a kabab but after weeks in Turkey and then Jordan I just couldn’t stomach more BBQ meat. On the way back to our hotel we stopped by a supermarket that remains open during Sabbath and bought some food thinking we would go out and eat dinner later at one of the few restaurants that don’t close. I don’t know what happened but we laid down while we waited for a movie to download and BAM! 4 hours later I woke up to a half downloaded movie and a rumbling stomach. Mark woke up shortly after me and being half asleep suggested that we eat the 2 minute noodles we bought as a snack for dinner. I quickly agreed and while waiting for the water to boil, I reflected on how quickly our circumstances can change on the road. One minute we are tanning by the pool at our resort on the Dead Sea and the next minute we are eating 2 minute noodles for dinner in a hotel in Jerusalem during Sabbath.

“The Sabbath is commanded by God. Every week religious Jews observe theSabbath, the Jewish holy day, and keep its laws and customs. The Sabbath begins at nightfall on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday.” – Wikipedia.
The Old Town in Jerusalem still opens on Saturday’s so we wandered down there the on Saturday morning and it was here that I expected to see an old city swathed in history and religion. I saw more of a restored city filled with cheap market stalls and tour groups. Our whole experience in the Old Town was completely underwhelming. Nothing seemed sacred and the large masses of people pushing everyone else out of their way just ruined any sacred atmosphere that may have been present. We left after a few hours of walking around really disappointed in what had become of one of the most sacred places in the world for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.
One good thing that did come from our day in the Old Town was that while we were out our movie finally finished downloading so we watched that after yet another dinner of 2 minute noodles. It was a really interesting movie and would highly recommend it to those who don’t mind reading subtitles in a film. It’s called Dheepan and is about a soldier leaving Sri Lanka for France with a random woman and child to try to start a new life there.

After a rather underwhelming time in Jerusalem we were hoping Tel Aviv would cheer us up – after all it’s right by the beach! Getting to our hostel there was a fairly simple experience with just a bus and taxi from Jerusalem. Once inside the hostel we met a few of the workers there and a whole bunch of volunteers. At first I thought they were volunteering in Israel and were just staying at the hostel for a few days but I quickly learnt I was wrong. They were volunteers at the hostel, which meant they worked there and in return got a free bed. After a couple of hours observing these ‘volunteers’ I realised that they didn’t actually do much work and I could quite easily assume that the cleanliness of the bathrooms were thanks to them. I’ve never seen so much grime and soap scum on a set of taps before in my life – they really needed to invest in some Jiff or maybe methylated spirits would help. You must be thinking “ohh but Bianca why would you shower somewhere that was so dirty, that’s just gross”. Well my loyal readers, please don’t judge me when I tell you this but I did not shower there for the 2 days that we stayed and I still felt I was better off than simply being in those bathrooms, let alone showering in them. Hostels are very interesting places. I’ve stayed in a couple of good ones before but generally they really push me to my limits. I just can’t find it in myself to be interested in everyone’s story on how they “are trying to find themselves”.

We spent as much time as we could away from the hostel and walked around Tel Aviv and spent time at the beach. It was too cold and windy to be in the water but it was nice to be outside catching the sun at times when the clouds weren’t too strong. After 2 days we were leaving the hostel to spend a day/night at a really nice hotel. The first thing I did when I got there was shower, then second thing was to go spend the entire day by the pool. It was a really nice way to end our time in Israel especially because our last day was also Memorial Day and at 8pm a loud siren went off for 1 minute to remind everyone to stop and remember all of those who had lost their lives for Israel.

Before arriving in Israel we had been told that we would get questioned crossing the border and the process could take hours. This didn’t happen to us on the way in as we had been told but it did happen on the way out. The process to leave Israel was so ridiculous that by the end we really couldn’t see the benefit of it whatsoever. Firstly, when we arrived at the airport and walked over to our check in desk there was a line and security a few meters in front. After waiting in this line for over half an hour we get to security where they advise us they need to ask us a few questions. Obviously we said “sure, no worries”. I’ll add a few of the questions we got asked by one security team officer and then again by a superior officer.

Q: “Where are you going?”
A: “Athens and then onto Madrid”
Q: “How long are you in Athens for?”
A: “We aren’t staying there, it’s for transit”
Q: “How long are you in Spain for?”
A: “ummm 8 days.” Neither of us could remember at this stage so I didn’t take time to pretend to count the days on my hand.
Q: “When do you go back to Australia?”
A: “Not sure, we are travelling for 12 months”
Q: “How do you know each other?” I was a bit shocked at this question
A: “He’s my boyfriend”
Q: “How long have you been dating for?” Now at this question I simply wanted to walk straight onto the plane and leave Israel and all of it’s ridiculous security questions behind but I thought to leave I would need to answer
A: “6 and a half years”
This was the end of the questioning by the first officer. He then took our passports and gave them to his superior who held onto them while she questioned the man next to us.
While we waited I tried to listen in to what she was asking him so I could be prepared for when she was ready to speak to us. In the end she asked us pretty much the same questions we had already been asked along with questions on where we had been prior and what we did in Israel. I’m glad we weren’t the man next to us though. He was asked what time he got to the airport and what he had been doing in the 45 minutes since he arrived. He had to calmly tell her that he had been waiting in line to be questioned. The look on her face gave the impression that she didn’t even believe him.

I was simply dumbfounded by the entire process on leaving Israel. We learnt quite a bit while in Israel though but I’m glad we are no longer there and made it to Spain. Bring on Europe!

May 7, 2016

This is the Middle East

Leaving Turkey was hard. We both loved being there so much but we thought Jordan would surprise us just as much as Turkey did.

When we arrived in Amman we thought we were super prepared. I had the cash on me that we were to exchange for Jordanian Dinar and Mark was going to investigate the Visa situation. The exchange rates at the airport were terrible. We were going to lose so much money by exchanging it there so we went to the ATM to withdraw as much cash as we could. This worked out better for us and we were a bit annoyed that we couldn’t exchange our cash but it all worked out – we would just exchange the cash once we got into the city. Just before we had left for Jordan we had read about a Jordan Pass which got us entry into the country and entry into tourists sites but Mark couldn’t see any mention of it at the airport so we paid the equivalent of $80 each for a visa and about half an hour later were finally getting our bags and searching for a bus to take us to town. We flew Royal Jordanian Airlines who have a shuttle bus for passengers which takes them from the airport to 7th Circle in the city. We couldn’t find their bus so jumped on another airport link bus and told them to take us to 7th Circle. An hour later we were being kicked off the bus right on a main road and were being told to get a taxi. We tried to explain to the driver that we were at the wrong spot and wanted to go further into the city. At this point he didn’t speak English which was odd considering he could tell us in very good English that we had to get off the bus and get a taxi from there to our hotel. A lady who spoke Arabic & English eventually helped us get a taxi but by this stage we were just doing what we were told.

The next 2 days we spent in Amman walking the city, seeing some of the cites and relaxing in our room which was quite big compared to some places we had stayed in. We were also hanging out with a guy from Yemen who was in Amman trying to get a study visa for Canada. We invited him to join us on our road trip to Petra. He accepted and we drove later one afternoon to Petra. It was an interesting experience having an Arabic person with us. For one, he helped us save money by always getting Arabic prices for us. He was charged JOD0.85 for a bottle of water and 2 cokes whereas we were charged JOD3. He kindly asked us to stop going into stores with him and just telling him what we wanted as he said that as soon as the shopkeepers saw that we were with him they bumped up the Arabic prices. At one point he told us we would have paid 10x what he had paid simply because we were foreigners and the shopkeeper tried to get more money out of everyone. It’s simple things like this that can make travelling difficult, especially when we don’t speak the language.

There was definitely a lot more foreigners in Wadi Musa, the town Petra is in but we didn’t have time to socialise. We got in late, were tired, hungry and had to get up early in the morning. We were completely unprepared for what Petra had to offer. Of course we did our research like we normally do but we usually find that people suggest we allow a lot more time than we actually need to visit any type of monument/attraction so when people online said you need days we thought “narh, we’ll get it done in a couple of hours”. Mark was so happy he put on his Nikes instead of Vans because 7 hours later we were completely exhausted. The monuments there were incredible and we were so glad we took the hardest routes through the site – they offered us some amazing views – but it was hard work. We had a bit of a joke going on which helped us (me) get through some of the hardest parts. Mark would ask “How you going?” in an extremely cheerful voice and I would simply look at him with the most exhausted face I could manage and then we would laugh and move on. It probably doesn’t sound funny to anyone reading this but it worked, surprisingly. It’s now something Mark continues to do when he thinks I’m tired.

DSC04657_Fotor

Petra was unlike anything we had ever seen before but we were really looking forward to going so that we could get to the Dead Sea to relax and sit by the pool. Mark and I are both beach people and as amazing as Petra was, for me it was trumped by the Dead Sea. When we first arrived our hotel upgraded us to a suite room where we had a view of the water. The water was so still and looking at it calmed me immediately. I don’t know if I am able to put into words what it looked like… I’ll try though. The Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea but a huge lake, half in Israel and half in Jordan. The water is this cloudy blue-white colour that at some points blends so well with the sky that you can’t see where the water ends and the sky begins. It was surreal for us standing on one side of the lake in Jordan and looking across to see all of the lights on at night in Israel.

Besides being famous for all of the minerals in the water and surrounding ground, the Dead Sea is of course famous for being so salty that you can float without doing anything. The water has what I can only describe as a thicker feeling than normal water and it makes your skin feel slimy while in the water. Being so salty means that the water searches and very quickly finds every tiny little cut or scratch you have on your body. I think I must have looked like a kid in the water. Mark went in before me and was just there floating that I couldn’t stop smiling. Once I got in there I just couldn’t stop giggling (I’m not usually a giggling type of girl). It was so weird being in the water and just floating on our backs. Floating on your stomach is a lot harder as your constantly trying to keep your head out of the water. I had read that you shouldn’t put your face under the water because when the water gets in your eyes it will feel like someone is scratching them out. We didn’t stay in for very long as everything starts to sting after a while. It’s as if tiny little cuts that didn’t hurt at first start to eventually let the salt in and start to sting. We couldn’t help ourselves though. We had to go back in the next day. I’m so glad we did because we also covered ourselves in the mud of the Dead Sea which is said to be full of minerals. We sat in a mud bath and covered ourselves as best we could. A local told us we should we 30 minutes before going to wash it off. We couldn’t wait that long – the mud started to seep into our skin and burn and sting just like the water. Ohh what we do for beauty. Washing the mud off in the salty water was a lot harder than putting it on. Mark got the tiniest bit of water in his eyes and said it was like “someone stabbing [his] eyes”. I could imagine what he meant because while I was washing the mud off my face I got the water on my lips and it made them so dry and then made them burn. It also tasted foul.

On our last day at the Dead Sea we thought we would try the resort spa, after all it was one of the largest spa in the Middle East. You would think being a part of a huge resort that there would be at least a few people in there. Nope, we were the only ones, so we swam around in the pool like 2 kids being told by their mum that we had 30 minutes before we had to leave. Being the only people in the spa though meant that the lifeguard followed us around and he did catch me splashing water into Mark’s face just as he was coming up out of the water – got a few laughs from the lifeguard.

The most amazing sunset from our last night on the Dead Sea

Driving through Jordan was a good opportunity for us to see a lot of the country. At some points we would look around and say “Yep, this is definitely the Middle East”. But Mark simply described Jordan as one big $2 store. Everywhere we went people would try to sell us things for “1 Dinar only” which is $2 for us so we started calling it the $2 store of the Middle East.

I’m writing this post as we sit on a bus in the middle on no-mans land between Jordan and Israel. The next time you hear from us will be, hopefully, from Israel!

May 1, 2016

G’day mate

Being in Turkey for ANZAC Day meant that we were going to the Dawn Service in Gallipoli. We had read before going to the Dawn Service that we needed to be a part of an organised tour so we booked ours with Intrepid. It was here that we met our amazing guides, an Aussie – Jen, and a Turk – Suleyman. With Mark’s birthday on the 24th April it meant he spent his 27th birthday on a 4 hour bus ride to Eceabat, Turkey. That may sound pretty bad but it wasn’t a completely terrible birthday. We made friends with the other Aussies on our bus and he was able to have a BBQ and drinks at a bar called Boomerang. We stayed there for a few hours before we were told we had to get back on the bus at about 11pm for the drive to ANZAC Cove. The drive wasn’t very long and we were at ANZAC Cove and through security before we knew it. Mark had had a bit to drink at the bar so on our walk from the carpark to our spot on the grass he kept us all entertained. But what tends to happy when you’ve had a bit to drink is that you repeat yourself. While walking Mark asked where his “Uber was at” we all laughed at this and thought he was funny. It was only funny the first time though and the other 7 times it was just repetitive. Once we reached the ceremony grounds we found a spot on the grass, set up our sleeping bags and tried to get some sleep.

A couple of hours before the sun came up everyone started to slowly pack up their things in preparation for the Dawn Service. Just before the official ceremony commenced they played a short film called The Telegram Man, which really got the waterworks going. The service itself was quite moving and it was amazing to be in Gallipoli for ANZAC Day. I know it sounds cliche but there was something really special being there with other Aussies and Kiwis remembering those who gave their lives for us 101 years ago. After the service we walked for about 4 and a half hours up to Chunuk Bair for the Kiwi memorial. We stopped along the way to look at major landmarks of the battles that happened there and spent quite a bit of time at Lone Pine which is the Australian memorial site. There was no actual memorial service this year for Aussies so we all went to the Kiwi one. At Chunuk Bair they could only allow a certain number of people up to the site for the service, the rest of us had to watch the service on a big screen. It was quite amazing though because as the site started to fill up and they began turning people away all of the Aussies remaining had the same idea – we wouldn’t go to the site just in case there were a few Kiwis that showed up at the last minute. After all it was their memorial service, not ours. After the service at Chunuk Bair finished we waited for our bus to arrive so we could head back to Istanbul. It was a very quite bus ride. The experience as a whole was quite amazing and definitely once in a lifetime type experience. What made it even more amazing was hearing the history of the ANZAC’s from a Turk. Back home we learn about the war from Australians and we learn about it from our Australian point of view and hearing about it from a Turk’s point of view seems to sum up everything we have learnt and shows us how terrible it was for everyone involved, even if, ultimately the Turks won the battles in Gallipoli.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest We Forget.

The next few days we spent in Istanbul and Suleyman was nice enough to meet us on his day off to show us around. Istanbul is unbelievable. We absolutely loved going to the market and buying Turkish Delight, nuts, fruits and spices. None of it is like what we get back home. There is so much to see in Istanbul and we spent hours each day walking around. Everywhere we turned there was something to look at or new food to eat. It wasn’t just the sites and food that made our time in Istanbul great but the people as well. Everywhere we went people were always more than happy to help us – a guy stopped us in the street and asked us if we needed help getting to where we were going (we must have looked super lost). Even when people stopped us in the street to try to sell us something and we said no, they always just asked to talk to us. It may have been their way of building rapport so we did eventually buy something but it never felt like that. To top it all off every time we said we were from Australia, no matter where we were they always replied “G’day mate”.

I’m glad we ended our time in Turkey in Istanbul. It is such an amazing city and I can’t wait to go back. It was also really fitting that we reached the 100 day mark in Istanbul.

I’m really sad thinking about leaving here but we are off to Jordan and I have no idea what it will be like there. Hopefully just as amazing as Turkey has been to us.

April 23, 2016April 26, 2016

Destination: Antalya

Göreme at night is just as beautiful as during the day. Lights are turned on throughout the town and hillside that it looks like fairies are covering the entire town. I simply loved it there. I was sad to leave after 2 days but was looking forward to seeing the famous thermal waters in Pamukkale which was a 7 hour drive away. On the way we stopped at Lake Beysehir which is simply breathtaking. The mountain behind it was enormous and the water was so still. The lake itself was surrounded by parkland which had public ovens that people could use to cook food for a picnic and I could just picture how busy it would be there in summer.

DSC04191_Fotor — I would picnic here constantly if I could

Up to this point I had been surprised with everything Turkey had to offer so when we got to Pamukkale I was super excited to be able to see the thermal waters there. When you go somewhere and the main feature is the water it’s hard to not be disappointed when you get there and there isn’t any water. Apparently they are working on some repairs there so have stopped the water flowing onto the terraces. It was still a pretty amazing thing to see although we didn’t hang around long and left for our drive to Bodrum.

Bodrum is a beachside town with the nicest people. Everyone there was always willing to help us and we spent our 2 days there wandering around and relaxing. It was nice to be near the beach again and I’m really looking forward to summer now and spending days by the beach. It was here in Bodrum that Mark booked in a game of golf in Antalya for his birthday so I know he was looking forward to the next couple of days going by relatively quickly.

Our next stop after Bodrum was Olympos where we stayed in a treehouse which was pretty cool. The guesthouse itself is quite big and they included breakfast and dinner in our room price. Breakfast is often included in room prices but dinner was a first for us. Eating there felt like we were on school camp, lining up to scoop food onto our plates, secretly wanting to be first so you didn’t miss out on anything. On our second night as I was making up a plate for myself and Mark another couple were in line behind me and I was wondering if they would think I was being greedy by taking so much and I wanted to turn around to ensure them that I was getting food for myself and Mark but I thought was overthinking it. I quietly laughed to myself though as I reached the rice dish and saw there wasn’t much left as they saw it as well and the girl said, much louder than she had been talking, to her partner “ohh there isn’t much rice left, I hope we get some”. This may sound bad but I did scoop an extra spoonful on my plate because of this, after all they hadn’t seen the chef in the kitchen holding a new tray of rice so I knew they would be getting more than they thought.

After a couple of days we left Olympos nice and early so we could reach Lykia Golf Course in time for Mark’s 11:10am tee off. My present to him was not the golf game itself but me walking the entire 18 holes with him. I think he played well. I’m not very good at knowing, especially considering I was often looking at the wrong flag on each hole, wondering why he was hitting it in the completely wrong direction. I always find it funny watching people take golf so seriously, especially all of the etiquette and rules. Sometimes, when it’s really quiet, I just want to say to others there, lighten up a bit, a bit of noise isn’t going to hurt. I don’t think Mark would appreciate me doing that in his presence. I don’t think I’m cut out for golf.

We are at Antalya airport as I write this with an absolutely ridiculous sunglasses tan from walking around all day. I’m so glad we drove through Turkey as we saw so much of the country that we wouldn’t have been able to if we had flown everywhere. We also were able to listen to hours of songs from our iPods – songs we hadn’t listened to in years. It was roughly about 21 hours of music, over 1700kms. I’m looking forward to what Istanbul has to offer and of course being at Gallipoli for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service. It will be a once in a lifetime-type of experience.

April 19, 2016April 23, 2016

The land of fairies, balloons and tranquility

After we first arrived in Turkey and I had a fear we were missing our bags again I was a bit apprehensive about what our experience in Turkey would be like. We got to our hotel just before 11pm, checked in, had some soup for dinner and went to bed. The next morning Mark left to go pick up our hire car while I got ready and packed up. For those back home who have been in the car with Mark know he can be a bit of a crazy driver, not bad, just crazy, so getting into our hire car I was a bit nervous at first because I saw it was a manual and I thought it would be hard enough driving on the other side of the road in an automatic let alone a manual. After a couple of repeated suggestions that he move slightly further away from the cars beside me I think he understood I was a bit nervous and our drive to Göreme quickly turned into a pretty fun experience. We stopped at the service station and picked up your typical road trip food – chips, chocolates and drinks – and before we knew it we arrived in Göreme, thanks mainly to my amazing navigations skills which only cost us 2 wrong turns. This is big for me considering I don’t actually possess any sense of direction whatsoever and I can get lost driving around my local streets back home.

Göreme was amazing. I am actually lost for words trying to describe the town in Cappadocia. It was a quiet town with the nicest people, people who loved Aussies which was a bonus for us. We were told that years ago the town was filled with Australians and a lot of the locals learnt to speak English from them which resulted in them speaking with an Aussie accent. So many people from Göreme had travelled to Australia or had family there that we were quite amazed. The locals said that these days they don’t see as many Australians as they used to, one guy said that it was because our entire population had already been so they weren’t coming back – I think he was trying to emphasise just how many Australians used to be there.

Of course you can’t visit Cappadocia without doing a hot air balloon ride and we didn’t miss the opportunity to. We got picked up at 5am the morning of our hot air balloon flight and taken to have some breakfast before hand and of course some tea, you can’t go anywhere in Turkey without having some tea. The balloon ride itself was beautiful. We watched the sun rise while just floating in the air, it’s in unusual feeling when you look around and see all of the other balloons just staying still in mid air and then realise that you are doing the same.

Besides the hot air balloon ride we went on a huge walk through the valleys there. We kept passing groups of children who we figured were on a school camp or excursion and were clearly not dressed properly for the walk. I did feel sorry for some of them as the water running through some of the paths had made them super muddy. Our legs were long enough that we could pretty much step over them or jump sightly if we needed, but for some of the kids that just wasn’t possible, with one girl actually stepping into a stream of mud and sinking down past her white shoes and up past her ankles. We probably shouldn’t have laughed because a few minutes later some other kids came running and splattered mud all over us. Karma got us.

DSC04125_Fotor — One of the many views from our walk.

The next few days for us will be spent road-tripping through Turkey checking out as much as we can. Until our next stop, B. xxx

April 16, 2016April 16, 2016

You jinxed us!

These were the words Mark spoke to me when we arrived in Rome. I knew he was going to say it. I had thought it myself, but I was secretly hoping that he wouldn’t actually say it out loud – I felt bad enough already.

I should probably go back 48 hours and explain to you what had happened. It all started when we arrived in Ho Chi Minh. Our bags were some of the last to arrive on the baggage belt and I happened to say out loud what I was thinking. “Our bags haven’t gone missing yet” Mark pretty much had a heart attack then and there. He replied very franticly “I can’t believe you just said yet, you’re going to jinx us now.” If only I knew how quickly we would be jinxed.

The next day was when it all started to go wrong. The taxi to the airport usually only takes half an hour but there was so much traffic that we were running 20 minutes late which doesn’t seem too bad but we have our routine pretty down pat and it kind of threw us off a bit. It all seemed okay though because once we walked into the airport it looked empty and we walked straight up to the check in counter to drop off our bags. We got upgraded to Premium Economy which was a nice treat. However, we normally get access to a business class lounge because of Mark’s frequent flyer points but we weren’t given an entry pass and couldn’t be bothered going back to get one. This should have been our first clue as to how bad things could go. Then, whilst waiting for our flight to Hong Kong we were told it was delayed by half an hour, then an hour and it was at this time that we started trying to work out if we would make our connecting flight to Rome. We didn’t care though, we knew if we missed it we would get another one – after all we weren’t in a huge rush.

Arriving at Hong Kong airport we had 20 minutes to get off the plane, through transit security and onto another plane. The line for transit security was huge but there was a group of us who were rushing to get connecting flights so people let us through. Once through we had staff members telling us to run, so we walked really fast and got onto the plane in time. We were pretty happy with ourselves as we were seated 15 minutes before take off. I already had planned what movies I was going to watch during the flight and worked out I could sleep for maybe 5 out of the 12 hours. Neither of us said it but we were both hoping they would get our bags onto our new flight. And then, another delay. This time we were to sit on the plane, on the tarmac for at least 2 hours. I was so annoyed at this stage and starting thinking we should have just missed the flight, after all I could have at least slept in a hotel bed. It did occur to me though that they would have plenty of time to get our bags onto the plane so I watched the first movie on my list.

14 hours later when we arrived in Rome I was pretty stoked I would be able to use my Italian passport for the first time and I would get through security before Mark. My line took longer than his line and he ended up waiting for me. Not to worry though because we were in Italy and I was super excited. Once we got to Belt 9 to wait for our bags we jumped onto the free wifi to quickly tell our parents we had arrived safely. After a while of waiting our bags just weren’t there so we checked to make sure we had the correct belt and sure enough we did and this is where I started to realise that I had jinxed us. I didn’t tell Mark what I was thinking though because I was hoping I was wrong. After accepting the fact that our bags weren’t going around on Belt 9 we walked over to the help desk where we were told by a lovely lady that our bags “are not in Rome.” “Where are they?” I asked. “It doesn’t say that they are in Hong Kong but they aren’t here in Rome and there is no message to say they missed the flight so I do not know where your bags are.” We were then told that they would contact the airline for us but they only fly every second day to Rome so we worked out we would have to get back to the airport in 2 days time to make sure our bags arrived before we got on a flight to Turkey that day.

So our 2 days in Rome started with missing bags, us getting lost trying to find our AirBnb accommodation, having to go and buy some clean clothes and some toothbrushes, and then getting to the Police station to register Mark’s visa only to be told that they didn’t do that there. In normal circumstances I know that all of those things would have bothered me but they just didn’t. After a lot of help from our AirBnb host we worked out where we needed to go to get Mark’s visa registered, travelled an hour there, ran around the streets near the Immigration office looking for the post office so we could pay the registration fee, ran back to the Immigration office and sorted everything out all with an hour to spare before closing. I took this as a good sign and Mark told me that he kept thinking that the whole process was like a huge puzzle that had to fit together properly for our path to be cleared in time and that’s exactly what happened. Everything fell into place at the right time and worked out. We were only praying it would do the same for our missing bags.

And what do you know, the jinx was lifted. When we arrived at the airport super early – Mark said he wanted extra time to sort out what to do if our bags weren’t there – we were taken through a staff security entrance where the same lady that had helped us days earlier was there with a smile on her face. I had the biggest smile on my face when I saw her and she told us that our bags had just arrived. We were so happy to have our bags back and know that we wouldn’t have to worry about trying to get them while we were travelling around Turkey.

I couldn’t contain my excitement when we got our bags! Also, check out my bargain buy pants from H&M

Our flight to Turkey was delayed but we were too happy we didn’t care and once we arrived in Istanbul we went to our connecting gate to wait for our flight to Kayseri which was delayed as well. All up we were delayed by over 2 hours and when we were waiting for our bags in Kayseri they weren’t there. We had been told twice that our bags were going from Rome to Kayseri and we didn’t need to get them in Istanbul and re-check them but I started worrying. I didn’t want to have to go through this all again, so before we freaked out we showed the airport staff our baggage tickets and tried to explain that they weren’t on the baggage belt. They checked the tickets, looked at us as if we were simply tiring them out and told us that our bags were in the next building at the International arrivals. I’m not going to say I ran there, but I think I could have power walked for Australia. And what do you know – there they were, our bags, with 80% of our belongings for the next 12 months just circling around the baggage belt as if they were a glorious prize.

It’s been a hectic couple of days but here’s to our road trip through Turkey!

April 14, 2016

Same same but different

Sorry I haven’t written anything in a while. We’ve been traveling through Hong Kong and Shanghai as the last stops of our time in Asia. I find both cities quite amazing places, they are very similar to each other.

Our days in Hong Kong were spent traveling on the metro, shopping and eating dim sum at Tim Ho Wan – a Michelin star dim sum restaurant that doesn’t cost you and arm and a leg. If you ever go to Hong Kong you must go to one of the restaurants at least once! Hong Kong isn’t cheap though and it was fascinating to see how quickly we could spend our money. Of course we couldn’t miss going to Disneyland which I can only describe as the happiest place on earth. I think I actually skipped down the entrance.

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It was in Hong Kong though that stomach pains I had started getting in Vietnam were getting worse and worse.

We got to Shanghai after spending a couple of days in Hong Kong and Mark spent our first day there catching up with his friend while I declined and thought I would just stay in our room to relax, after all the pains seemed to have disappeared but I got really tired suddenly. Just before we left to go to dinner that night the pain was so bad that Mark took me to the hospital. The nurses there were so lovely and although it took them a couple of attempts they managed to get me onto an IV line. They kept saying I was “very thin and arms very small”. Why thank you Olivia Yen for that compliment. I don’t think it dawned on her though that she was in fact half the size of me. I’ll take it though 🙂

After being hooked up to this IV for hours while they pumped fluids and antibiotics into me we were able to leave and go back and I think I slept for a solid 10 hours. The next couple of days were spent with me recovering from the infection in my abdomen while also battling food poisoning from my lunch one day. It was a rough couple of days.

I was disappointed our time in Shanghai turned out the way it did especially because Mark was by my side most of the time keeping an eye on me but as I write this I am sitting on a plane that has been delayed leaving Ho Chi Minh and I’ve eaten a whole bowl of Pho soup so I think I’m on the mend!!

The next time you hear from me we will be in Europe! Until then, B xxx

April 3, 2016April 5, 2016

A free bed you say?

I mentioned previously how much Mark and I love Vietnam and how we were looking forward to spending 2 weeks exploring places we had never been before. That isn’t the case anymore. I’m still surprised by how quickly our plans can change while on the road. Mark got a call 3 days ago from a friend in China asking where we were and once Mark told him we were in Vietnam, he asked if we would mind going to Shanghai for a few days? We didn’t have any plans so checked the flights, and there are of course direct flights from Ho Chi Minh to Shanghai and there are also flights stopping in Hong Kong. I love both Shanghai and Hong Kong so we’ve decided to spend a few days in Hong Kong and a few in Shanghai before coming back to Ho Chi Minh. If I thought I would never be back to Vietnam I would have asked Mark if we could stay but I know that we will definitely be back so off we go. Who can pass up a free bed in Shanghai?

I think another reason we decided to go was because we’ve spent the last few days so relaxed in Mui Ne that we both secretly wanted to be amongst the hustle and bustle of a big city. Mui Ne has been amazing. When we first arrived at our hotel here after a 4 hour bus ride and 2km walk in the blaring hear the receptionist asked if we were interested in picking between 2 rooms – one in their budget hotel and one in their nicer hotel. Of course we were interested! So Mark ran off and picked the nicer room which as you could have guessed was not in the budget hotel so then after getting to our room we thought it was just a great start to Mui Ne that we should surely stay another 2 nights here especially when they would give us the room at the cheaper rate. I simply thought we were winning at life.

3 of our 5 days in Mui Ne were spent at the beach in the afternoons while Mark learnt to kiteboard and I read a couple books. 2 of our 5 days in Mui Ne were spent exploring the sites on offer. Quad biking on the white sand dunes at sunrise, wandering through the fairy creek, observing the fishing village and admiring the overall feel of Mui Ne. A place I think has the feel of an island but with access from the mainland.

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4 of our 4 nights in Mui Ne were spent down the road from our hotel at a small restaurant that offered the most amazing passion fruit mojitos which are my favorite.

I’m so content right now I feel ill just leave it there… Love B xxx