Now there is one thing that is very dangerous about getting your photo taken in front of something… Every tourist in a two mile radius then wants you to take their photo with their family… Elle and I were stuck there for a good few minutes as tourists mobbed us and robbed us of our kindness! We eventually were able to move on, and headed towards St James Palace, which turned out to be the better looker. We took a few photos of the guards that aren’t allowed to move (complete with loaded automatic rifles i might add) and headed out across St James’s Park towards 10 Downing Street. It was a fair hike and we were stuck behind a garbage truck for a significant period of the way… But the ducks were pretty. We saw the Horse Guards and the Cabinet War Rooms, as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth offices. Whilst we were standing at the back entrance to 10 Downing Street, Tony Blair arrived. Now I would say the Prime Minister, BUT he resigned yesterday. He arrived, walked inside, and then a minute or two later as Gab and I were walking down the street, he left again, complete with bulletproof Jaguar, Convoy motorcycles, and four fully armed guards in a very very nice looking Range Rover. I got it on film, and will post it to YouTube, see www.youtube.com/geordieb1

…

We eventually were able to move on, and headed towards St James Palace, which turned out to be the better looker. We took a few photos of the guards that aren’t allowed to move (complete with loaded automatic rifles i might add) and headed out across St James’s Park towards 10 Downing Street. It was a fair hike and we were stuck behind a garbage truck for a significant period of the way… But the ducks were pretty. We saw the Horse Guards and the Cabinet War Rooms, as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth offices. Whilst we were standing at the back entrance to 10 Downing Street, Tony Blair arrived. Now I would say the Prime Minister, BUT he resigned yesterday. He arrived, walked inside, and then a minute or two later as Gab and I were walking down the street, he left again, complete with bulletproof Jaguar, Convoy motorcycles, and four fully armed guards in a very very nice looking Range Rover. I got it on film, and will post it to YouTube, see www.youtube.com/geordieb1

We then continued on to see Big Ben, which was very impressive and much more than some old clock. The Houses Of Parliament were also quite a powerful scene, because i had spent many an evening watching broadcasts from London which showed the Parliament behind them. We walked across the Thames river and found a pub for lunch. I had steak and ale pie and it was very very nice, even though the mash was instant mash. Elle had the only Vegetarian option on the menu, a lasagna, which she whinged about all afternoon, even though she had said previously that some pasta like stuff would be nice… Very strange! We finished our meal and started heading for the Tate Modern. We walked along the river boulevard, called Southbank, which I found very amusing. Melbourne’s Southbank is better laid out and less pedestrian. We walked for a very long time, neither of us knew it was so far, but eventually we got there and fell onto the grass outside for a significant period of time. After we had regained some strength we moved inside the “Turbine House”.

The exhibition that was in there was named “Cities and their changing face”. It was an amazing exhibition, and featured a number of different artists. One particular exhibit was by an Indian Woman who was investigating the lack of public toilets in New Delhi and the living conditions people had to endure. Elle left me to go to work after about two hours and I entertained myself there for about an hour after that. I then left to head towards my final destination for the evening, Victoria Station, and the Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of Wicked, The New Musical!

I arrived at the box office at about twenty past six, and lined up for tickets, there was a couple of American tourists ahead of me and as i got called to the window, they were enquiring about two tickets, I asked for one and the box office guy turned to the guy serving the two Americans and asked if he was going to sell those tickets, they were the last two in the theatre, It turns out the two girls couldn’t sit together, so they had decided to see the show another night. Pure luck! So i paid my 25 pounds, very worth it in my opinion, as my seat was worth 85 pounds. I then had to entertain myself for about a half hour, so i headed out to get photos of the front of the theatre and of the local buses. I also grabbed some food (a vegetable pastie) and headed back to the theatre. When i got there I was compelled to buy a t-shirt. It is very nice, black, with the Wicked London logo on the front. The doors opened and so i headed out to do my usual, and check out the Lighting and Sound consoles. They had two GrandMA consoles, one running live backup, that controlled the movers, statics, practicals, smoke, and AV. The AV was run off two projectors on the front of the dress circle. The sound console i couldn’t identify, but got a photo of and all of the radio mic receivers and eq units and effects units were very impressive. They had added house lights throughout the theatre, which i found interesting. I got a few photos of the pre-show state also. I can’t wait until this show comes to Melbourne, I am going to get a secondment on it. I was sitting next to a quite nice American family and I got chatting to the mum, they were from Washington. They were well traveled and loved the theatre, so I gave them a chance, and it paid off, they were very nice theatre neighbors.

The house lights dimmed and the orchestra started playing the opening theme. It was magical to be back in a theatre again, as i cant remember the last time i was in one. The music in this show was truely amazing, the lighting changed the scenes so effectively, the set was elaborate and quite stunning, but out of everything Kerry Ellis who played Elphaba was the most amazing voice i have ever heard, she sent shivers up my spine with the most amazing control over her voice and flawless switching between text and song. This musical renewed my faith in the theatre industry, the theatre was packed out with over 2000 people and the atmosphere was electric. I could go on for weeks, but i won’t, YOU ALL NEED TO SEE THIS MUSICAL!!!

The show finished and I exited the theatre, finding my way to the bus stop after asking a few bus employees where to go. I still got lost on the way home and took way too many buses. I caught Elle on her way back from work, which was nice and then went to bed!

I woke up late and got hooked on a certain website on the net called LinkedIn… Essentially it’s a Professional Facebook, where you put your job history on it and it becomes a kind of online resume/job sharing and finding service. Find below, an extract of what i wrote for the union, as a kind of review for it…

“We have all heard of online communities such as MySpace, and Facebook and MSN Spaces etc etc etc , and there are more popping up each day. The Internet is becoming a hub of information sharing and community. It all really began with chat rooms, which are less prominent these days due to the large number of predators, stalkers and general weirdos online. All the chatting has moved to Blogs, and Friend networks. There are literally thousands of sites where people can upload information about themselves, their friends,, and their interests and hates. Now i have embraced this sharing and loved finding old classmates online on such communities as MySpace and Facebook, people I wouldn’t really seek out to communicate with, but people who i enjoy an occasional, “What are you up to?” with. I can admit that I have many accounts with many online communities and web sites (MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Blogger, YouTube etc.) but i have come across an interesting one out of the many.

The site is named “LinkedIn” and is the MySpace of the business world. It doesn’t feature blond scantly clad girls or Arnie style half naked men trying to message you and get you to view their pictures. This online community is built around professional networking, jobs and recommendations. Okay, here is how it works…

You sign up on their website (www.linkedin.com) and enter your main information, contact details and such. You then enter your experience, current job, interests, education and ambitions. You then add your colleagues, who can comment on your jobs, recommend you and be one of your “connections”. You choose an industry you want to be included in and give yourself a profession. You can then search for people you have worked with, old classmates, and network with others in your industry. There is a job listings section, and you are able to chat to people about their work and their company.

I joined this site two days ago and have been busy adding my past jobs and filling up my profile with information. I am liking it so far, and have found a few people who i have worked with or know, for example a lecturer from VCA, and a classmate from Drama School. I am still figuring out the buttons and the main concept. I will report back with my findings as i go along, and i encourage people to join me in this weird and wacky experience. I am wondering though, could this be the new way that we find jobs in our industry (Arts)?”

After writing that and also replying to some emails and such (i’m just trying to make it sound like i did something), Elle woke up and the plan was that she was going to show me around, do Buckingham Palace and such… But, she didn’t have enough time before work, so we went to the local coffee shop and chatted about what she wanted to do with her life and ended up getting all excited about how she could make Photography into a career, but, she needs more skills and needs to buckle down and get cracking. I explained what i knew about tax and ABNs and such, and she really lit up to it. We were there for a while and eventually she had to get her eyebrows plucked… Thank god i ain’t a woman, because that looked very painful! I then walked her to work, via home, so she could “change her shirt” which turned into a 35 minute stop over, resulting in her being late to work… (She does take over an hour in the bathroom! She is worse than me…)

I had a Jack Daniels and coke, which was very nice after all this beer i have been drinking. Elle then convinced me to have a half pint of Guinness, which I have never tried before… It tasted exactly like she said it would (Drinkers of Guinness advised to not read past here…) Beer, with a Soy Sauce aftertaste… If she hadn’t told me about the aftertaste, I probably would have enjoyed it, but with every sip came the thought and it tasted quite foul! I ended up having dinner at the pub, because the food is nice. I had Fish and Chips, something I faintly remember being credited to the English, so maybe it was another Authentic Meal???

I left Elle at work and walked home. I watched some TV and then collected her from the street corner after her shift. Tomorrow we are being tourist like and seeing the sights, i also hope to see a show, and maybe convince Elle to take a day off work!

His knowledge is amazing, its almost like he makes it up, but every fact is backed up and when i checked a few, he was very correct. We made our way back towards Hanwell, (the suburb where we are staying). We took the bus instead of the train, which is cheaper but takes longer. I enjoy it more, despite my like of train, because you can see the people and the shops pass you by. You also get a better idea of where you are, and that is a big deal around here, as all the train lines operate in a direction on the compass, Northeast, Southwest… It gets very confusing and i often find myself staring at the tube map making sure i am going the right way.

We got back to Hanwell and back to the house. I checked my email and Reg complained about the BBC website not working. We then went down to the local pub “The Dolphin” which isn’t exactly the closest local, but is the best. The closest one was involved in one of the biggest drug hauls in London recently and doesn’t invite people with open arms. The pub is very interesting. The drinking culture over here is amazing, people simply pop by the pub for a beer on the way home, regardless of if they are meeting someone, or want to have a chat, or play darts, or avoid the wife; its what they do, and the bar manager knows them all by name and greets them upon their arrival. The pub is quite typical, similar to my uncle Phill’s pub, a nice place to relax with a few tables, and a separate eating area, a few gambling machines and a few TVs. Reg and I arrived and I avoided the Fosters and got a Stella.

Fosters is amazingly popular over here, which i find very interesting. Fosters and Neighbors, two things that typical Australians couldn’t give a toss about are Australian icons over here. The Stella was quite good and soon enough Elle’s Mum arrived and we ordered. I ordered the Bangers and Mash, to sample the true English cuisine. It was very good and the mash was particularly nice. Elle was at her other job (Internet Chatsite Monitor) so it was just us three, we went through about three rounds of drinks and then Reg retired home. Janice and I stayed on for a bit and then followed, waving goodbye to the bartender as we went.

This is the kind of London experience i want. I dont want to go home and for people to ask me how London was, and whether i saw Bucking Huge Palace and Big Ben and the Tower Bridge. I want them to ask me how i liked it, in regards to the people and the culture, i mean after all these people are responsible for the creation of our country… We came from this culture, and bizarrely enough, i find only slight similarities. I will see the main sights, but the cultural experiences are what i really want.

I received and email from the Union, which wasn’t good. We aren’t getting any funding from Melbourne Uni next year, so we have a bit of a campaign ahead of us. The email also stated that the Prez has gone awal! Not good, and i am feeling quite bad that i am over here, but never mind, i will be back and plan to hit the ground running! I showered and did my washing which i desperately needed to do, and sat on the net all arvo. Elle woke up and we chatted about her work and boss and no life as we know it. Reg rang and organized to come and pick me up. We walked down to the Dolphin Hotel, where we met Elle’s mum, and had dinner and a few drinks! I had sausages and mash, a traditional English meal! We then returned home and watched some TV, before bed!

I promise i will see some sights tomorrow, im just so into this relaxing thing! I have had very little sleep, no thanks to the sun coming up at 4am each morning! London is pretty and busy, not like home, but similar!

I got my ticket and checked in my bags and headed to find a toilet and a shop to buy Elle a duty free present. I found both and brought a carton of cigarettes for Elle and Reg (her Dad). I was quite bored as i had got there early, only to find out easyjet dont have allocated seating. The flight was at capacity, a majority of which was taken up by hung over English boys on their way home after a stag weekend in Prague. I really did feel for the flight attendants. The flight was okay, i honestly couldn’t tell you how long it was, i simply don’t know. We were late in departure and that made us a late arrival. The airport terminal was very nice and modern. I took a rail train style thing to the “UK Border” and waited in the significantly shorted Non-EU Passport line. I was checked through with no problems, and made my way to collect my bags. My bag was already there waiting, going around in an endless circle. I grabbed it, cut off my cable ties, and messaged Elle. There was no reply, so i braved it and called her. She had thought i was arriving in the evening. She gave me directions that probably cost me the world and i headed out for the Stansted express train. It took 45 minutes and i slept for most of it.

I arrived at Liverpool Street Station and took the Central Line to Ealing Broadway. There i met Reg, Elles father. He took me to the local on the way home and we had a Becks. He then showed me the main street and we boarded a bus, using my newly acquired oyster card, and headed for home. Elle was up when we got back, and we spent the next 4 hours catching up on everything and chatting in general. I am going to bludge in front of the TV tonight and look at what i want to do tomorrow, tomorrow. I am exhausted as you can probably tell by my writing style and abrupt wording. London is quite nice, i think i will like it here!

Till tomorrow!

Geordie

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I will update this very soon, but for the moment you are all going to have to imagine how beautiful and fun Prague is.

Much love!

GB

I arrived at the airport and navigated myself to the correct terminal number, ’3′ (at the first half of the airport!) and found my check in desk. It was the first flight i have kept my locks on my bag, because i had packed in a hurry the night before and had packed my cable ties right down the bottom! Annoying but okay! I checked my luggage and started lining up for the security checks. The line was long and I was a little anxious! It took about 30 minutes to get through and i had little trouble, apart from the usual checking of my empty water bottle. I found the right gate, and brought a croissant for breakfast. I had my ticket ripped and got onto a very wide bus, ready for boarding. We sat there at the terminal for about 20 minutes, then eventually drove onto the tarmac and boarded the 737. The airway was run by Swiss air, i cant quite remember the name, but they were quite good. I scored a seat over the bulkhead, with no one next to me. They fed us on the flight, despite it being a discount airline. The flight was really really good, and i am considering writing a letter of thanks.

I arrived in Prague and navigated myself through baggage collection, customs (lax), and immigration. I was chatting to two American girls in the line for immigration, they were quite boring, as usual! I had to withdraw money and then transfer it to euro to pay Govin for accommodation, and that took a while, then i caught a bus into town and then transferred to the metro, and caught the red line to the area my hostel was in. I found my hostel pretty easily, and unpacked. I am sharing a room with Govin and Danny Pettingill. After settling in, I then made my way to PQ the main area, where i met Tiffany. We lined up for two hours to get registered and it sucked and i almost got sun burnt legs, NOT FUN! We eventually made it and got our little pass things and a showbag! We then went back to my hostel and dropped tiffos stuff off. She doesn’t have accommodation in Prague yet and is hoping to stay at our Hostel.

We then freshened up and had dinner next door. I had steak with garlic butter and onions and frites! It was tres bien! Not that i’m still in France, but the meal was very good! We then went to the PQ opening and drank beer and looked around. I met up with all the VCA Crew and had a good chat with most! Peter Wilson, who I met in Kuala Lumpur was there and greeted me nicely, he is the head of puppetry at VCA and a man that could lead to some good jobs! We drank the night away, and ended up walking most of the way back to the hostel, where Tiff slept in Dannys bed, his absence was due to an english girl he had met! We got McDonalds on the way, it was very good, different, but nice. I slept okay, although the hostel is noisy, on a main road.

Tomorrow, see the rest of the VCA ppl!

Now in Paris, they are a little paranoid in the areas of Terrorism (can i say that word on the net, will the CIA be reading my blog… Hey George!!!) They have the army, walking around in groups of 3, with… Armed semi automatic rifles! They are the scariest looking dudes i have ever seen. We encountered a number of them throughout the day! We walked down a famous street that i cannot remember the name of, that housed all the big names, Chanel, Louis Vitton, Prada, Quicksilver… Okay, that last one, not such a huge name, but they were there, i got a photo in front of their store… Go Aussie Go! It was a long walk, and by the time we were at the Louvre, all of us were ready for a sit down and some water. Mary and I both forgot our sunnies and so we were squinting and had headaches throughout the afternoon. We saw the inverted pyramid and the louvre pyramid and Mary and Inger took lots of photos. We then moved on to the Museum D’Orsay, we took a photo out the front, one of which included Inger cupping the testicles of a statue of a Rhino. You cant blame us, we were exhausted and dehydrated.

We decided that we were now going to take the subway, as we had walked for a majority of the day. We caught it to the main station and Inger and Mary brought tickets to Nice, and I got my ticket to the airport! We walked from their to our temporary home and needless to say we all collapsed on our beds whilst re hydrating.

So here I am now, its 6:30pm in Paris and I am in an Internet Cafe, writing this blog and for the first time in the history of this blog, I am up to date! YAY FOR ME! I head off to Prague at 8:30am tomorrow morning. I will be in Prague by 10:30. I love flying! So until i find another cheap Internet place in Prague, this is me signing off. I am leaving the Busabout camp and heading off to PQ Festival, then London, then Vietnam and then Cambodia! I hope everyone is well, and please let me know what you are all up to!
Much love!

GEordie!

This is where my day got bad. I had accidentally booked it for the 16th, way too late for my liking, and even if i wanted to wait, there was no accommodation in Paris for the next three nights, ANYWHERE! So i handled it like a pro, i rang Lufthansa and asked to change it. They informed me that it was not modifiable or refundable, essentially i had wasted 270 Australian Dollars. I was freaking, because the only other flight they could offer me would cost 850 Australian Dollars. I checked on the net and happend to stumble across a site called SkyScanner, which had cheap flights from Paris to Prague (About 100 Euro), the only problem being that they were on the 14th. I went back and moved my washing into the dryer. I was really really annoyed. I rang dad and whinged to him, waking him as it was 12 midnight Australian Time. He calmed me somewhat and gave me advice, informing me that it was just money and that it would all turn out okay. So with good advice at hand, i booked the cheap 100 Euro flight, and then went and got my washing off, thinking all my problems were solved. I had one more problem to come though.

I had forgotten that there was no accommodation for the next three days, i needed accommodation for the 13th to catch my flight on the 14th. I begged the reception guy, and after 5 minutes, he had done some shuffling and had managed to fit me in. All was good. I had calmed down a little, folded my washing and went down to the Internet cafe to catch up on my blog. Mary and Inger were getting in from Munich around 9pm, and so that was at least something to look forward to. I spent two hours on the computer, got my blog up to date, answered a few emails and was a lot happier. Inger and Mary arrived and we met in the foyer. I shouted them dinner at the restaurant next door as they had been eating bread and cheese for the past two days, as that was all they could afford. Inger and I had steak and chips, and Mary had chicken, which she later regretted, because she doesn’t like it to be on the bone, and it was.

It was mostly enjoyable and we retired to my room with the balcony and sat watching the evening traffic and pedestrians go by. We had purchased a bottle of apple schnapps from Aldi in Vienna that was 5 Euro. We poped the bottle and it was horrible. It smelt of really bad goon mixed with rotting apples. We had a lemonade to mix with it, but it didn’t help much! Inger managed to drink two, Mary and I gave up at the first sip. We chatted and chatted and i caught up on the Busabout goss, including the goss on a certain Canadian and another Busabout boy from Sydney (Josh). As we were sitting there, Inger screamed out at two people in the street. I thought maybe the apple schnaps was secretly absinthe, and she was crazy. But it turned out that two girls from Brisbane who Mary and Inger had travelled with in the early part of busabout were walking below. They came up and joined us on the balcony and we chatted about Paris and the couple in their room… A story for later perhaps.

It got to about 1am and we all decided it was bedtime. I was buggered. The two girls in my room had gone on the bike tour at night and they weren’t back yet. This was because it involved a large quantity of wine. I was woken by them coming in at about 4am, but when i woke up at 9am, they were gone, on the bus by 8am.

A traumatic day, but Paris made me smile still, it is just so pretty!

We met up with Wes, our friendly American tour guide from Texas, and hung out waiting for others to show up. After a few photos of the tower, a brief talk from Wes and 20 minutes, we set out for the “shop”. It was a 5 minute walk and when we arrived, we paid (20 Euro) and were allocated bikes. Once again, no one over here believes in helmets, so that wasn’t included. The bikes were very similar to the ones from Munich and Berlin, Fat Tyre! We all got used to our bikes on the strange street and Wes gave us a pep talk, explaining that Parisians only respected bikes in numbers, so where ever possible we would take up a whole lane, not single file. He then allocated me as the Ass Man! Essentially, like the pub crawl, i was to stay at the back and make sure no one got left behind. I was okay with that, it gave me some standing within the group and i was asked throughout the day questions about the monuments, to which i explained that i didn’t work for the company, i had just been lugged with a shitty job! We passed a number of cool sights, including the newly erected peace monument, featuring peace written in over 70 languages.

Our second spot was the Military School where Napoleon had been taught and to which he credited all of his knowledge. This site had been a hiding place for the Nazi’s during the war as they believed Allied soldiers wouldn’t bomb such an important monument, they were partially right, as the building features scars from bullets and mortar shells from the Allied troops and the French Resistance. We then moved onto a church that is one of only two monuments in France that featre real gold tops. We also visited the Louvre, the Notre Dam, the best photo spot for the Eiffel Tower and conquered a French round about which was a very odd experience because not only was it the wrong way (from Australia) it also had no lines on the road. The tour took about 4 hours and was sort of worth the money. We were asked to tip Wes, and I did, because he was genuinely nice.

Veronika and I then headed straight to the Louvre as it is closed on Tuesdays (today being Monday) and so it was the last opportunity to see the Mona Lisa. When we arrived we deviously avoided the lines by entering through the “locals entrance”… I will never reveal it, you will have to beat it out of me! We then made a bee line for the Mona Lisa. It was a lot smaller than i though… nah only joking, apparently that’s what everyone says. It was very impressive and i found myself standing there for some time marveling about the amount of people she sees every day, and at 9.40 per entry, how much money she makes! We then got suitably lost in the museum until we got kicked out at 5:30. I got some amazing photos and saw some really stunning works of art. It was exhausting and so we almost fell asleep on the tube back to the hotel. We got back around 7:30 because we had done a bit of a round trip, lost in the streets and trying to find a shop for Veronika to buy cigarettes, which aren’t sold in supermarkets here.

I was planning to go and see the Cat Empire at a bar at the other end of town, and i got Ariana to call up for me, because she did French Immersion in school so she can speak french. I found out that it was 21 euro and it would take me 40 minutes to get there, so i would be late. It was a very painful experience, but i chose to stay with the girls, so we got some dinner and went down the supermarket and got some booze and drank in our room. We were quite tired and didn’t last long, i think we were in bed around 12:30.

Paris is beautiful and the view from my balcony gives me a good taste of the culture and atmosphere in the street. It is a very beautiful city, more beautiful than i imagined. I am going to the Arc De Triumph (spelling is wrong) tomorrow and the Notre Dam, and visiting some other sights. I am tossing up the Moulin Rouge, but at 99 Euro, its a bit of a stretch.

Hope everyone is well!

Much love, from the city of love.

Geordie

It was strange to be on my own again, I didn’t really like it much and looked forward to Prague, where I was meeting up with the my fellow VCA Students. We dropped some people off and picked some people off in some town, i really wasn’t watching, but instead sleeping. The first rest stop that we had was for lunch and was in France. I tried speaking to the lady in German first and she looked suitably amused, i then apologised and tried my French. I was surprised at what i had remembered and unfortunately “Mime et un chat” didn’t come to mind, so i kept a straight face. I ordered a chicken baguette which was very good, with very fresh bread and normal salad. I finished that off and we were back on the bus. I dazed in and out of sleep, whilst watching the Da Vinci Code, very fitting considering out destination. We arrived around 9pm and were all completely wrecked. We then had to walk 4 blocks to our hotel because of the lack of bus parking. I was walking with two girls, everyone else had pealed off to their separate hostels, and two boys had an apartment here so they bee lined for the subway.

The hotel was called Hotel Avenir, and was the first non-hostel based accommodation I had stayed in. It was also the most expensive so far, at 26 Euro a night! It was nice, the room was small, but had a balcony that we could use. I was in the room with the two girls, one of whom was from Kew in Melbourne (Veronika), and the other was another Canadian girl (Ariana). They had met on Busabout and had traveled together for about the last two weeks. They were really nice and I hit it off with them quite well. We claimed beds and then decided collectively that it was time for dinner. We all wondered the street inspecting menus and looking at the scenery. The Hotel is on the fringes of the Montmartre (Moulin Rouge and surroundings). We eventually came back towards the Hotel and settled for the restaurant just over the road. It was the cheapest and also happened to be the closest. I had a steak, chips and salad, Veronika had a salad and Arianna settled for a beer (healthy or what?). We all chatted about our travels and compared impressions of hostels. It is interesting that over here you can chat to anyone and get along really well, because you all have the one main thing in common, the traveling. It is really quite nice to be able to instantly relate to people.

We finished our meals, which were quite good and then decided it was time for another walk and maybe a drink. We found a cute little artisan bar across the road and up a few blocks. They had a huge wine selection, beer and very few spirits. We all settled for Rum and coke, and ended up with very little coke and a lot of rum. After we had managed to knock them off, we were really exhausted and decided it was time for bed. We wondered into reception and collected the key (one per room, very annoying!) and collapsed into bed.

I am going on the bike tour tomorrow and will hopefully then revisit some sights.

We passed some sights that I had visited the day before with my American friend, but it was really good to get an explanation on what we were actually looking at. I had mistaken the palace for the theatre, see my previous post… I’m just a sucker for theatres i guess. We also visited the nudist park and that was where i learned of the local “Tripod” (self explanatory) and the other local, “Robocock” ( large amount of piercings he has… down there!) It was very amusing. We stopped for lunch at the worlds 2nd largest beer garden; it turns out that the one we visited on the pub crawl was the 3rd largest, and the tour guide lied to me! The beer garden could seat over 7500. 9000 when they needed it, but only in peak times; they simply removed the kids playground and put seats and tables there. There was a massive Chinese inspired tower that had previously burnt down three times. They now no longer allow the public access and instead it is used as a band stand. We sat there and drank beer and ate lunch. I had a half chicken and chips. It was very very good after all that exercise! There was a band in the band stand. They played general brass band songs and a Happy Birthday for a member of our bike group, which was lovely. After an hour or so we returned our glasses and received our 2 euro refund (so you are discouraged from stealing them) and we were on our way to see my favorite thing in Munich, the surfers wave; see my previous posts!

We then moved on to the old Nazi military command post, now an office complex, which still has reminders of its original use, in the form of the original window frames featuring soldiers hats and the eagle. We then rode along the river, and saw a number of historic buildings including the peace monument erected after WWI. Other stops included the dam that allows the flow of water for the English Garden, the only Protestant Church in Munich, and other buildings that just managed to survive the bombings of WWII that leveled 80% of the city. It was then finishing time, so we returned to where we had started and once again locked up our bikes to each other and tipped the guide. He was a funny man, a little strange, but friendly. I gave him the contents of my pocket, which ended up to be around 8 euro, a bargain as far as I’m concerned. The gang and I were exhausted, so we began the long walk back to the hostel, not willing to risk the S Bahn, where Adam had received a fine the day before of 40 euro, for purchasing the wrong ticket.

We got back to the Hostel and I decided to rest up before meeting back with the Canadians and Inger and Mary for dinner before the pub crawl. I showered and got a significant chunk of my new book (The Beach, minus Leonardo DiCaprio, Thank God!). We went to the local pizza place for dinner and shared two pizza’s between the four of us. We encountered a little bit of resistance from the waiter in the area of obtaining tap water, not bottled water with gas, not bottled water, but tap water. It took us three attempts, and he was suitably pissed off by the time we got what we wanted. We literally had to resort to imitating a tap and a glass being filled! We went to the meeting point and began our “Hour of Power!” It is a very amusing thing, 50 people sitting on the sidewalk drinking beer from plastic cups, smoking cigarettes and being chatted up by the local drunk Germans! We all finished our hour of power and headed off to the first beer garden. I had stopped drinking by that stage and because the guide had remembered me and given me a discounted ticket price, i was given the great job of strangler wrangler; ie, i had to get the slow pokes to get moving back with the group. It was both entertaining and annoying. We got there and I immediately took the opportunity to get some good food. I had chips and an onion based dish, it was very good! And yes nan, they probably will have to roll me onto the plane… the food is just soo good though! On the tour, there were a group of particular annoying Americans. They were loud, and made inappropriate comments, and were generally rude to the guide who was a great bloke. They had my disapproval already, and i really wanted them gone, but the fun was just beginning. As usual, Oli, our 19 year old English guide was showing everyone how to Prost properly and he needed a volunteer to do it with. He choose the most annoying of the three American guys. This guy got up and on first example didn’t look Oli in the eyes, condemning him to 7 years of bad sex… Oli had a plan, he made him do it again and look him in the eyes, the American did and as their glasses clinked, Oli strategically aimed for the dimple of the glass on the lower half and clinked his glass in a downwards direction. The effect, the whole glass except the handle side and part of the base fell away, sending glass and beer all over the Americans shoes. In all honesty it was the greatest moment ever. The shock and awe on everyones faces and the sheer pleasure on Oli’s face was the most classic moment i have ever witnessed. The whole group cracked up and Oli was cheered and congratulated. Many people got their photo with the American guy and his glass. Serves him right.

After the buzz died down, we hit the road and headed out to the Hoffbrau House. It was pretty much the same as the Thursday night, laid back and about 1/3 full of people enjoying a beer. It wasn’t my favorite place, but i was enjoying watching all the drunks, particularly a dear friend of mine, Inger… We left the garden after an hour and several 1 litre steins. We were heading along to the Hostel Youth, just two doors up from Wombats. We made it after a few stops to catch the stragglers once again and the group did their third shot of Jager for the night. This was my cue for bed, so Steph and I walked back. It was their last night in Munich and they went onto the Southern loop from here, so i said my goodbyes and we swapped emails and phone numbers. She headed back to the bar. They were lovely girls, Steph was a little crazy, but intoxicating-ly fun.

I went back to my room, only to find a full room of people chatting and listening to music. We all chatted for a few hours, then i got to bed, fearing my 10 hour bus trip the next day, the longest of the loop.

Onto Paris tomorrow, I leave Inger and Mary in Munich, they will catch up with me on my last night in Paris. Onto a 10 hour bus trip… Oh well, travelling has to have some down points.

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Much love
Geordie