Returning to the scene of a crime…

So, here we are again! But where is here I hear you all wondering. Well, here is the middle of April and the subject of rail travel across Europe has been broached once more. Now last year the talk of travel had already been going on for a good while prior to April but for circumstances beyond our control the final decision to go wasn't made until April. And so begun the planning and preparation that all lead to that final morning before the off, stood outside Rich's, bacon butty in hand, staring up at the sky dreaming of what lay ahead. Fantastic!

Where to this time you may wonder, well that's something that'll have to be ironed out over the coming days / weeks / months, honed to perfection over many the beer and contraband snacks (Frazzles anyone) at that trusted local, the Squizzer. The ideas will be getting posted here, so if you've been to any of the places we plan to sully with our presence please let us know of stuff we should look out for or visit.

One desitination suggestion I've already made is the fabled Munich Beer Festival, if nothing other to exercise the demons of the previous excursion to this age old bastion of beer, ladyhosen (can't spell it) and oompah (again, spelling??) bands. Perhaps this time I'll be able to stay out of the clutches of the revenue raising Facists? Perhaps this time Rich won't have to add ten years to his life agonising how he's gonna break the news to my olds that I've been kidnapped by aliens in green and black outfits? We'll have to wait and see won't we.

Ahhhh, so many decisions to be made, so many blog updates to follow, so much money to save and so many shifts to put in at the social. Can't wait already and the decision to go hasn't definitely been made, still, it'll be right, who can resist an inter rail ticket and the promise of so many memories in the making.

Until next time my voyeuristic readers...

Snack Point Charlie...

So, the next installment of my blog is here...

So, where was I the last time we posted. That's right, in good old Prague. Cool place man, not quite as cheap as I was led to believe but still cheap compared to the likes of Paris and Rome, and the accomodation is pittence compared to Munich....

So, the night following my last post I partook (think that's how you spell it) in a brilliant night out, certainly one for the memory books. We arranged to go out with most of the people populating our dorm of 12, with the exception of two Ozzy girls who really managed to taint my image of all Ozzy's being cool. These two were a real pain in the backside, a real pain, who somehow thought the world revolved around age and not much more. Put simply, and in a real English way, a right pair of tossers (and not in a good way..).

So, back to the good night, the attendees for the night were 5 gals from Agentina, 1 guy and 1 girl from France and a couple of likely lads from Blackpool. Good make up, screamed good night. We finally made it out by something like 11pm on a Sunday evening, and boy was I in need of a beer to chill out & relax in all this new company. Made it to the first bar by around 11.30, with me holding the seats whilst Richy went back to fetch the troops. Well, me left in a bar on my own, had to sneak in a couple of cheeky ones (yep mate, had a couple, not one before you got back, rude I know..). Once everyone arrived it was a top night, beers were flowing and everyone was really cool, many pictures were taken to document the stages of drunkness most people made it two. Once the bar me and Richy had suggested closed we must had sunk about 40 odd beers between us, altough a couple of the girlies only had one. Left a lot for the rest of us to sink...

Well, having been chucked out of there bang on closing time (hmm, good idea that..) we began wondering what else we could do. Carol, a rather lively Argentinian chica suggested we all get a bottle and hit the hostel, so there we were walking up there and we come across the Hernia bar that was still open. I popped my head in to find out what time Leah (the manager) closed and she said "whenever..". Well, that would do for us, let us continue. The place was small, but some would say perfectly formed, and so we all continued to drink until around 4.30. Brilliant night, totally brilliant, one definitely to remember (as I've said).

So, that was that night, heavy to say the least. So the next day was a bit of a none event really, which I was very happy about as I was totally in need of a day of doing nothing!!!! The only real thing we did was hit the hot dog and burger stalls for some scran, I had two burgers and a hot dog, all for around 1 pound 90, cheap as chips. Had some pasta in the evening, hats of to Richy for that, the chef done good.

So, next day, Tuesday I think it was, we headed out early and got the 6.30am train to here in Berlin. As we left it looked to be brightening up, so we were hopeful of the weather being ok(ish). Well, after a long journey of farts, more farts and even more farts (man that carriage stunk) we arrived - unfortunately as much as Rich endevoured to erradicate the ozone layer with said farts we arrived to grim weather..

We found our hostel (cheap), dumped our stuff and headed out in search of the (in)famous check point charlie. A few stop on the uber efficient underground later we landed in Cochstraße (yes we giggled). We wandered up there and were at the check point, and oh my god, utterly dissapointing. There was a guy stood in from of the check point decked out in american army uniform with a sign on him letting people know it was 1 euro for a picture - bad enough - but he didn't hide the sign when pictures were taken, and he left his starbooks coffee cup sat atop the sand bags behind him - again, no doubt clearly visible in pictures. The whole place was alreadz leaving a bad taste. Next, the stalls were selling all sorts of crap, USSR hats, hats saying "you've now left check point charlie...", gas masks etc etc, you get my point. Just utter shit basically. So I turn to leave, then see the worst of it, there is a food court across the road and yes, as you may have guessed "Snack Point Charlie" I mean come on, utter shit, utter disrespect. So we left.

Next stop was the Holocaust Memorial, now that was different altogether. This place is definitely a must if in Berlin, done very tastefully, respectfully, and a moving experience. Once in the learning centre you are given a time line spanning a number of walls of the events leading up to, including, and following the Holocaust. The words are enough, but the pictures that accompany them make it even more real. The only bad thing about this was a stupid Ozzy girl, yes another one, reading out loud one persons story and LAUGHING about it. I wanted to clump the daft bint there and then, my image of Ozzy girls truly tainted. The rest of the walk around the centre was equally moving, and just shows how history should be treated, not like the crap around the check point.

So, last night, after our sight seeing succumbed to the elements (around the Reichstag), we headed out for chicken and chips. Man, what a feed, that food was awseome. Oh, and a good few 60p beers to help wash it down. Delicous. We were joined by one of the lads from the dorm, Danny from Toronta. Cool guy.

Off to the Dam now, oh and my money running out again. Till next time peeps, keep on trucking Wooo Wooo....

Foreign Land = always keep your phone charged..

So, it's been a while since I last posted here. There are a number of reasons for that, lack of time and laziness mainly.

So, the last time I posted I was in Rome, loving the hot weather and chilling out at the apartment. Man, soo much has happened since, so much. With it costing a fortune to use the internet here in Prague (yep, that's where we are) I'll have to give you an abridged version.

So, left Rome to travel down to Innsbruck, with that stop being a bit of a staging post for the scenic leg of the trip. Unfortunately the weather was rather poor to say the least. What we did find though was a really cool bar to have a few lollies in and taste a bit of local food. Really chilled out night, was really good, and we managed to get talking to the bar owner lady and her hired help. They were really cool, with the hired help (I can't remember her name) giving us her number in case we ended up staying at Octoberfest (more on that later) an extra day. So that was Innsbruck, just a quick stop.

Next day it was on to Zell am See, again the weather was pretty poor but still enjoyed chilling out on the train, listening to my iPod and readying a book. Zell am See was cool, both the place and the weather, but really liked it. Intend on going back there one day to take in a bit more of the scenery and what not. Really liked it. Didn't stay that long in the end, with us deciding on making use of the inter rail ticket and going on to a place called Bischofschoffen. Odd place, really quiet, but some funny shop names to say the least. The pictures of these will no doubt be posted somewhere on our return.

Next was Salzburg, didn't really do much there and the weather was bad, had a chinese for our T then had a pretty early night. I was beginning to get really tired and didn't want to be totally shattered for when we hit Munich and beyond.

So, next morning we set out to Munich pretty early, arriving around midday. As Richy boy has said in his post, we headed to a big square where there was loads of benches, people and of course beer. We had a really good laugh here then headed to what was billed as the oldest beer house in the world. The place was packed and we eneded up sat with a bunch of Swiss lads, with one of them looking suspiciously like Bobby Ball, really funny bunch of lads and the place was mint. The whole place was singing, laughing, and generally having a good time. So we left there and decided we'd have a bit of a look around, and ended up at this political rally. Now, I've never seen one of these before and it was a bit mental to say the least. One minute I'm looking up at this guy shouting loads in German, next thing I look around and Rich is gone. Not the best, not the best at all. There must have been a few thousand people in attendance, I thought I really need to find him. So I begin scouting around the place trying to see if I can see him, unfortuntely I couldn't - and unfortunately my phone was out of charge and I didn't have an adaptor to charge it, not good. I must have spent an hour or so looking around to no avail, so ended up making my way back to the train station. First thing I do on arriving back was to leave a message at my folks just in case he rang there.

So, that's me back at the station, trying to look for Rich, but no sign what so ever. I don't remember the time but it was starting to knock on a little, which was a concern. However, I thought Rich would be ok, maybe just headed to the beer festival and would meet me for the train we'd arranged to catch at 5.15am the following morning. So I go and have a couple of beers at a place at the station, with a view onto the main part of the station in case he came back. Time ticked on, no sign, so I went out for a walk to get some fresh air. Outside there was another politcal thing going on, not the best, so just wandered through it. Next thing I know, I'm offered a room in a state run facility, with a charge of 50 euro's a night, not the best but thought I'd take them up on there offer. Unfortunately I didn't realise the time and had a bit of a sleep in, not making it back to the station until around 5.45, missing the train and putting Richy boy through some terrible terror, sorry mate. I wandered into the station and pretty much immediately Richy saw me, and my God, just a touch of relief was felt that we had finally found each other. Was an altogther barmy night, so remember kids, when in a foreign land, always keep your phone charged - I know I will.

So, hopefully post again soon, much sooner than the last time!!

Keep on keeping on people.

Neil

Battery out and no access to Facebook...

First of all, lets get this out the way, BRUV (hopefully I got your attention), let the olds know I've run out of charge on my mobile hence the lack of response if they've sent me anything (or caz, text him will you x)..

So, I'm trying to get access to facebook, not the best after about a bottle of wine, but still, plenty of pasta to soak it up so shouldn't be so bad. Not working though, doing my head in to say the least I have to say. Still, pretty drunk now so nuts to it, another big travelling day tomorrow.

So today we went to the Vatican, by all accounts Richy boy wasn't so blown away with that, totally understand cos I wasn't either, I put that down to the fact that I was last there on a rather religous Sunday (might have been u2 playing that night, I don't know..). Anyway, we then moved, via street after street to the Pantheon. Holy shit (and that's holy in a wholey un godly way) how mint was that place. Unbelieveable structure, never seen anything like it, don't suppose I will again - unless I return. Next big place was a church with the name Lazio in it's location (cheers Rachel), not the footy team might I add. Fresco's on the ceilings were totally amazing, there was one where the painting was of a dome, and boy did it look like a dome. It wasn't though, merely an optical illusion and the ceiling was flat (as an skinny chicks chest), amazing, the rest of it kinda took me back as well - I've never be religous, never will be, but I sat there for some time in reverench of the history the place held. The faith people have in this place (the church) to donate sums of money to allow such buildings is amazing, in the past, and clearly (from the collection boxes I've seen) in the present. I've got to set up a cult me thinks...

Anyway, waffle over, more vino to drink, keep on trucking y'all..

Disconbobulated..

Morning people, been a couple of days since I posted, that'll be down to the fact that we've been mental busy since arriving here in Rome. So i'll rewind a little, back to the old overnight train journey from Paris to Rome - interesting that one..

Basically we ended up with the night traveller from hell. All big ass, big jewelery, and an even bigger attitude to boot(y). No one in the carriage wanted to go bed too early, bonus for me and Rich cos it turned out our beds were like coffins, but the sixth (as she was christened by Rachel, an American girl we were sharing with) was not having any of it. In the end she went to her top bunk and, with much huffing and puffing, tusking and tutting, got her head down and pretty much left us in peace - except if anyone laughed, then it would be more huffing and puffing, a few choice Italian words thrown in no doubt. We cracked a bottle of wine we'd got during the day and shared between three of us (Rich, Rachel and myself). After much talk of Americal politics (them two, not me, my head couldn't keep up). We had a couple in the restraunt carriage then retired. I tried to doze off, struggling, but next thing i knew, the crazy cow the 'sixth' was pulling away my sheet in front of my face trying to get my attention - nothing naughty, think just trying to piss me off. A quick, "f**k off, what you doing" put paid to that!!.

Anyway, we arrive, pretty shattered but looking forward to a new city, seeing some sights and having a few glasses of vino, hoping it could live up to Paris's bottle of bougaley (boo - ja - lay), god know's how you spell that!!

First day in Rome was great, sights were brilliant, got some great pictures. Oh, and the ice cream, kicks the backside out the old mans soft scoop Walls back home, best ice cream I've tasted - a picture was took for prosterity.

We met Rachel later on and went out for some pasta at a restruant by the Trevi fountain, as Rich was determined to see if anyone could beat his brilliant (his words) carbanarra. Put it shortly, it beat it by his own admission (this morning, last night it was as good as his..lol).

Well, post out the way, we're off to the Vatican today along with the Pantheon and other stuff that's years old. Cool.

Till next time peeps, I'll leave you.

PS - Disconbobulated - a word that Rich came out with as we were nearly run over for the umpteenth time, can't quite remember what it means but it sounded good at the time...

Paris...the near miss....and the total stoner...

So here we are, the first morning of the trip, can't wait to get out there today and do some serious culture vulturing (well, we've got to get some in before we go to Munich and beyond..).

Just had my breakfast (free, well impressed), stocked up on the old caffeine, orange juice - my arse my regret that later, and so might my wallet being one Euro a dump - and some cereal and bread. A very hearty breakfast for nowt, as I said, well impressed.

So, we arrived here, as Rich's blog says at about 11.30, completely shattered, and me personally I was still trying to get my head around the fact that here we were at the start, in a different country. Strange when you fly, as Rich pointed out, the sense of distance isn't there - like compared if we came all the way by train. Anyway, talking about flights, you may have seen on Rich's blog him explaining we had a near miss with the flight. The guy telling us on check in it was 30 mins delay certainly didn't help, the info boards definitely didn't help, and Neil's desire to get another beer in was indeed a hinderence. Anyway, we managed to get on the flight.....just. Most pleasant it was too, I had a whole row to myself, so big credit to easyJet for supplying us with a good flight, and a bit of eye candy at the airport.

So, the total stoner. When we arrived we were starving so we set out to Mac D's, dodgy choice in a city so jam packed with culernary delights, but needs must, and my tummy is very needy (obviously). So, as it was past 12am we had to queue up at this night hatch, where what we could see you could only get burgers. Anyway, not important, the stoner is what I'm talking about. This guy, completely wrecked, rolling up what looked to be a bit of a splifter was bouncing against everything and anyone, was funny as, blowing smoke in the face of all around, even into the cashiers bit - funny thing was, no one was really bothered, which was pretty cool. He got his stuff and off he went for his munchies. Now, that's the difference see, in Britain we'd have been kicking right off with this lad (not me personally, but you know what I mean), but everyone just let him get on with it. Laid back, that's the feeling I get here, completely laid back, now I've got to get me a bit of that...

Well, Paris today then overnighter to Rome later. The European invasion will continue an unabated for a while to come, till next time peeps. Keep on keeping on...

Sore heads and shared breakfasts..

Well peeps, the day has finally arrived. Me and my good buddy are set to invade Fortress Europa later on today, and boy can I not wait. All the packing (and re packing) is now complete, I'm just charging up the phone, iPod and camera (cheers Dan). My money is now changed to Euro's - about that, how turd is the pound now, I was checking the converter on my phone (about 2 years old) and for £550 you could get about 830 odd euro's, now it just gets you 670. Harsh, cheers Gordon, well played.

Yesterday was Rich's birthday so we couldn't let the day pass without a few cheeky ales to celebrate that - and the fact we'd finished work for a couple of weeks. Well as usual it didn't turn out as expected, the couple turned into quite a substantial session. I was rather drunk, hence not remembering dishing out a 20 during the night (thanks for reminding me mate), but a good night was had, and a great start to two weeks of fun. So the sore head, now you know why.

I had to drop a few things off to Rich's this morning so I thought I'd turn up with a good old bacon barm for the lad - I was assuming he'd have a sore head as well (I was right). So there we were, eating our breakfast barms stood outside his gaff and looking up at the sky saying what a great day it is to go to Europe. Sweet!! One of the items I had to drop off was an awful shower bag, loving the grey mate, love it. But costing just a pound, you can't grumble at that. I think we're going to come back from this trip with a degree in money saving ideas. We'll see.

Anyway, rubbish post this time but my head is too full of giddyness to write anything the least bit interesting. Just wait until next time, I'll be posting from Europe. Hey, what are the key boards like over there, when you start typing does it come on the screen in the native language. Hmmm....