travel plans...
howdy folks!
Well made it safely back to the uk... - this was despite after getting halfway to the Riga airport, I realised I didn't have my passport, so had to go back (all by bus) - but still made it ok for the plane... flew fancy Finnair (cf to cheapo, no meals ones) which was good, and there was my mummy waiting for me when I got off the plane!!! :)
We have been taking it pretty easy over the last couple of days - doing a bit of country-side driving, planning for my Greece and Turkey trip, preparing for my uncle's 60th etc :). Had tea in Chenie's english garden which was nice - did a fantastic maze - we got lost, went round in circles, bumped into people who were asking for help on how to get in or out but it was big enough with enough paths everywhere that you didn't ended up following them or bump into them again! (I had lots of fun!) And all the english garden are beautiful with all their pretty flowers!
Travel plans...
- thought while I have the chance may as well let you know what I am up to...
I am doing Greece at the beginning of August - probably just a few days each at Santorini and Athens and then going to Capadoccia (the fairy chimneys in Turkey) before starting my eastern europe tour in Istanbul through to Prague 19-31 August... by the end of my travels I will have been to 28 countries in the 9 months!!!
Then on the 4th September I fly all the way back to Oz!!! - Yep finally coming home! (the money is starting to wear thin). I will be back on the 6th (urgh - doesn't that sound awful - in the air for 2 days!) and then start work on the 19th (a Tuesday - thought I wouldn't subject myself to a Monday straight away!). So I have a bit of time to settle in and catch up with people before starting back at work... and since Harry has been rented til 16 December, I will be moving in with Helen at Forest Lake til then (I shared with Helen at Chapel Hill for a couple of years...)
Since I wasn't going to have enough money to do all of what I wanted to do in Russia (the Altai Mtns and Lake Baikal) I have put that off til next year or the year after...- plus that'll give me chance to better organise things, and perhaps learn a bit of russian before I go, which will be handy since I was planning on doing a few home-stays. (Siberia is still one of my favourites!!!)
And gotta tell you, it is definitely good being australian - when you say you are from Oz their eyes light up and they go 'Ohhhh Australia' (they always have the 'Ohhh' in front!) - it is like it is a magical place far far away! (always better response than for England, where they sometimes have assumed I am from)... - Altho I must've mingled pretty well as sometimes the locals came up to me asking me questions in their language.
The tour:
* Istanbul for 2 days, then overnight train to Bucharest
* Bucharest for 2 days
* Brasov for 2 days (get to visit Dracula's castle and Rasnov Castle!!!) Overnight train to Budapest
* 2 days in Budapest
* 2 days in the High Tatras Mtns. Overnight train to Prague
* 2 days in Prague
- looking forward to doing the tour thing - someone else having to think about train connections and where to sleep etc, and travelling with a gang!
And have Portugal & Spain, as well as Iceland to look forward to before that! Woohoo!!! :)
Well made it safely back to the uk... - this was despite after getting halfway to the Riga airport, I realised I didn't have my passport, so had to go back (all by bus) - but still made it ok for the plane... flew fancy Finnair (cf to cheapo, no meals ones) which was good, and there was my mummy waiting for me when I got off the plane!!! :)
We have been taking it pretty easy over the last couple of days - doing a bit of country-side driving, planning for my Greece and Turkey trip, preparing for my uncle's 60th etc :). Had tea in Chenie's english garden which was nice - did a fantastic maze - we got lost, went round in circles, bumped into people who were asking for help on how to get in or out but it was big enough with enough paths everywhere that you didn't ended up following them or bump into them again! (I had lots of fun!) And all the english garden are beautiful with all their pretty flowers!
Travel plans...
- thought while I have the chance may as well let you know what I am up to...
I am doing Greece at the beginning of August - probably just a few days each at Santorini and Athens and then going to Capadoccia (the fairy chimneys in Turkey) before starting my eastern europe tour in Istanbul through to Prague 19-31 August... by the end of my travels I will have been to 28 countries in the 9 months!!!
Then on the 4th September I fly all the way back to Oz!!! - Yep finally coming home! (the money is starting to wear thin). I will be back on the 6th (urgh - doesn't that sound awful - in the air for 2 days!) and then start work on the 19th (a Tuesday - thought I wouldn't subject myself to a Monday straight away!). So I have a bit of time to settle in and catch up with people before starting back at work... and since Harry has been rented til 16 December, I will be moving in with Helen at Forest Lake til then (I shared with Helen at Chapel Hill for a couple of years...)
Since I wasn't going to have enough money to do all of what I wanted to do in Russia (the Altai Mtns and Lake Baikal) I have put that off til next year or the year after...- plus that'll give me chance to better organise things, and perhaps learn a bit of russian before I go, which will be handy since I was planning on doing a few home-stays. (Siberia is still one of my favourites!!!)
And gotta tell you, it is definitely good being australian - when you say you are from Oz their eyes light up and they go 'Ohhhh Australia' (they always have the 'Ohhh' in front!) - it is like it is a magical place far far away! (always better response than for England, where they sometimes have assumed I am from)... - Altho I must've mingled pretty well as sometimes the locals came up to me asking me questions in their language.
The tour:
* Istanbul for 2 days, then overnight train to Bucharest
* Bucharest for 2 days
* Brasov for 2 days (get to visit Dracula's castle and Rasnov Castle!!!) Overnight train to Budapest
* 2 days in Budapest
* 2 days in the High Tatras Mtns. Overnight train to Prague
* 2 days in Prague
- looking forward to doing the tour thing - someone else having to think about train connections and where to sleep etc, and travelling with a gang!
And have Portugal & Spain, as well as Iceland to look forward to before that! Woohoo!!! :)
