A Day in Abu Dhabi

Wow what a city. You're kind of expecting desert when you get here but it's full of high rise buildings and is surprisingly green- maybe something to do with using 250 000 gallons of water each day- 97% of which comes from the ocean- their desal plant!

The second thing I learn is that everyone is so nice and helpful! From the air hostesses to the bus driver to passers by. It may be because one of the 5 principals of their religion is to help someone less fortunate if they can afford to. The other principals being: pray 5 x per day, fast for ramadan, and I can't recall the others... Anyway I got on the bus and only had a note which the driver wouldn't let me use and a girl sitting on the bus pulled out some coins and paid for my fare! Then I went to a hotel to see if I could leave my bag there for the day and not only did he open the door for me and welcome me like I was a guest in his very fancy hotel (I was wearing baggy pants and a singlet!) but he let me leave my bag there for free! 

And everyone speaks English- even to each other, and their English has an Australian- sounding accent. 

I set off at the start of the day (having arrived at 6.15am at the airport) with a dodgy map. I walk down some streets for about 20mins (which were full of construction sites) and sweat and quickly decide this is not fun. I'm not prepared for 34 degrees so I head back and take the hop on/hop off bus tour instead. Only then do I realise I was also heading in the complete wrong direction before.. 

Basically there are 12 stops all over the city (impossible to walk to) and you can hop and off as you please as buses arrive at the stops every 30 mins. Along the way you listen to headphones with information about the city and each landmark. I see a beach that is divided into male section and the women/children section and you have to pay to sit on the beach! I visit a "traditional town" which has been staged so out of context in an outer part of the city. The greatest is the mosque. It is white and enormous and so so white and inside there are gems and pearls and diamonds on the walls imported from all over the world. There is a chandelier. We have to cover ourselves from head to toe in a black gown- so hot! And we take a tour of the mosque. It is magnificent and the most expensive thing I have ever seen. After a long long long day of sightseeing I have dinner at the top of a tower with a panoramic view of the city and finally head back to the airport for home! Home sweet home.  

Lido Di Ostia

My next stop was Lido di Ostia for my last night in Europe. It was about half an hour by train from Rome and it was a lovely beach town- though very quiet and somewhat neglected at this time of the year. I was feeling hot and bothered and achey from all my trudging and carrying ridiculous amounts of kilos and I almost fainted on the train. Half a dozen old Italian ladies offered their seat for me and insisted I ate some of their lunch and biscotti- so sweet! When I arrived at the hostel I collapsed in bed and then called mummy and cried to her on the phone. At some hour of the evening someone joined me in my room but I couldn't even wake to introduce myself. In the morning we made friends and he ended up walking me to the chemist to get some drugs for my flight and then walking me to the bus later on to go to the airport, so sweet. 

Tivoli

Day 2 in Roma I went with Cisi to Tivoli. It's such a sweet little town exactly how you would imagine a small Italian town- little winding streets with tall houses, a town square being the town centre. The main attraction was Villa D'Este - a cardinal's house with a magnificent garden of fountains. It was designed by two well known architects which is the reason Cisi wanted to go as she is an architect.

There were so so so so so many fountains- some large, some hidden in caves, rocks, one was a statue of water pouring from multiple nipples. One of the most famous is the organ fountain- the water causes the music to play every two hours- it's fantastic! But my fav was a little system of fountains all flowing into each other with a little boat and it seemed to tell a little story.

I filled the camera card, soaked up the sun and was soothed by the sound of running water. Cisi suggested maybe we were calmed by the sound because there was a time when running water was very welcome to a traveller and a sign of life for them.

We had delicious freshly made pumpkin-filled pasta in a creamy tomato sugo and tirimisu for lunch.

That night my Italian cooked us all pasta for dinner for free and we drank a litre of Eu 2.50 vino rosso (the good stuff!) between the 2 of us. Being quite chirpy after this I headed out with the boisterous group of Spanish students whom spoke little English- it was entertaining!

My last day in Roma- I woke up very early because I wanted to see the Trevi with absolutely no one around it so I jogged there (slowly as I was nursing a hangover) and got my empty Trevi at about 7.30 am. I was able to admire the magnificence of the actual fountain and have it all to myself. But I think it's charm is mostly having all the people around it- picnicking, making wishes and photographing.

I then jogged through a lovely park. More gelati, more piazza people watching and then back to the hostel to pack. My Italian had a bowel of pasta for my last lunch waiting for me. He did not want to see me go.

As I carted my oversized Crush and 2 extra suposedly carry-on sized bags to the station, I was stopped by a blonde, blue- eyed dreamy Italian man. He had a suit slung over one shoulder and was strolling confidently. He stopped me and asked if I needed help, then went on to tell my I had lovely eyes and he would like to take me out to lunch before I left if I had time! Ha ha what a fairytale! I politely declined and trudged on most inelegantly in comparison to the station.  

Back in Roma

God I love Rome. How can you not? I had about four people fall in love with me in the space of three days. I ate pizza, pasta and gelati everyday. It was a sunny 22 degrees everyday. And I could shop, because it was my last stop. Really what more could you want?

The hostel I was sceptical about at first. It was run by four young men. One of them spoke a little English, he say my surname and I was his "bella" from thence forth. Another worked in the British army from December to February each year and then at the hostel for the rest of the year and whenever I said, "Gosh it's hot", he would say, "You're hot"- Italian at heart. The other two were Indian and very lovely and polite - one was a fantastic cook too! Each afternoon when I walked in the hostel doors, I received a very warm welcome, a cup of tea and some biscuits- special treatment for "mio bella".  

Number three faller for me was a Spaniard staying at the hostel. He said to me, "I am in love with you and tomorrow I will follow you"- (I got up super early the following morning!) And the fourth: well I was walking to the station with my ridiculously large heavy crush when a dreamy Italian man (who's name should have been Fabio) stopped me in my tracks and said, " May I help you? Where are you going?... Why are you going now? Do you have time to go out for a coffee? You are beautiful... May I see your eyes?" -OMG, stop! (But don't stop- I was enjoying the attention, it was extremely amusing.) He had this long blonde hair, light blue eyes and tanned skin and carrying a suit in a dry cleaning bag smoothly over his shoulder. It was difficult to say, "Sorry I have to leave" but if not for the tonne of bags I was carrying I no doubt would have had a coffee.

But anyway so Rome. Beautiful, amazing Rome. I walked past the Colloseo and Pantheon and loved the fact that I could watch all the tourists lining up and taking photos and I that I wasn't because I'd been there and done that. I stumbled across a quiet pretty park where I lay across from someone practising acoustics and listened for a while with the sun shining and settling in my bones. It felt so nice.

As I sleepily strolled out of the park I witnessed a very funny site- an old man exercising in his underwear in the middle of the grass. I had to sneak up and take a snap of this.

I have probably written this previously but one thing I love about Rome is everywhere you look there is something great and impressive looming in front of you and right around your next corner. It's just fantastic.

I walked to the trevi and again sat in the sun watching everyone take the same photo- throwing a coin into the fountain. I relaxed thoroughly enjoying a nutella/caramello/profiterole flavoured gelato. More and more and more walking followed this- it's too hard to stop! I went across the bridge to the castle, to the vatican, up a very long hill and stumbled upon another park. It was afternoon now so all the joggers were out. I could picture myself living here- coming out for an afternoon jog in the glorious parks... Then across to a passaggiato way with great views of the city and then down to Travastere- famous for it's food so I had to get a pizza. And then I was wrecked.

That night a group of us went to dinner - a four course meal... num num num my swollen tum tum tum

Budapest: Goulash

The hostel is great. It's a bit like a little house with 5 dorm rooms. The woman who runs the place lives upstairs and it's located on the second floor of an apartment building. My room is quite cute. There are two beds with hut- type roofs over them and draping canopies. The strange part is the whole room is decorated with wigs which is a little creepy. Each room has a separate name and a theme to go with it.

I pair up with two American travellers- who soon become five Americans (and by the end become five too many).They are all just in Budapest for the weekend and doing a study semester in Prague.

Budapest was originally two separate cities - Buda and Pest - and became Budapest when they were joined by a bridge- logical. Today we did Buda. First stop was the largest mosque in Europe. It was large. And over the top. We then bought tickets to a food festival and strolled around sampling a million different types of cheese, jams, meats, biscuits, chocolates, mustards etc. I even daringly tried horse meat- it's disgusting (and not just because I knew it was horse meat). The day was full of walking, we walked to a church where the main attraction was the fantastic view (it's funny how far you go just for a  view), we walked to the royal palace, got a bit lost, back tracked then walked up a mega never ending hill to see the liberty statue but mainly another fantastic city view. By this stage it was getting dark and the lights started coming on along the river. We spotted our next destination- the second biggest bar in Europe and walked to it. On the way down however, one of the girls slipped and rolled her ankle and by the time she had hobbled all the way to the bar her foot had swelled to double the size. The bar was located on a three- levelled ship. We were a little early for kick off so meanwhile we went to Europe's first biggest bar- the Ruins bar. It's pretty cool. Seats are anything from a bathtub to a toilet seat. You write on the wall any message you want to give to the world and there are plants and vines lining the roof.

Saturday morning is market time. The market is well under way by 8.30 when we get there. We head straight for breakfast- an interesting idea for brekky but we have to have it as Budapest is famous for it's fried bread. Picture a giant deep fried pancake with whatever topping you like- sweet or savoury. We opt for a semi healthy topping to try and balance out the artery clogging- sour cream, onion, tomato, cucumber and garlic. We purchase cheap fruit, admire the whole dead skinned pigs sitting on top of each other on the shop front ledges and take in the atmosphere of the hungarians fighting over food.

Then it's park time as it is of course a lovely sunny day. The park is home to an old lovely castle, a bustling flea market, crappy stalls all selling bathing suits, towels and fairy floss, and the largest thermal spas in Hungary.

Tonight there is a spas festival! You pay 20 euro and can go to any of the spas to enjoy bathing, music, dancing and drinking... Not a very smart mix but it's quite an atmosphere and awesome fun despite the filthiness of the place. I had to laugh at some of the swim costume choices... hideous!

By Sunday, I'm a bit sick of the Americans. They were a lovely people but too big a group so I get up early and escape. I market, shop, wander and then sit in a cafe called "Anna's cafe". I choose it purely for it's name because it is damn expensive!

That evening I decide to go to the opera, primarily because the building looks amazing and I'm dying to see inside and also because you can get cheap last minute tickets. I paid five euro for a pretty good seat- I could hear and see everything. On the way to my first opera experience I stopped in to a dingy dingy looking pub for some goulash made in a loaf of bread. The pub had two other customers having a beer and the lighting was tinged green. But the goulash was the most delicious meal I had had in Hungary and it was about 80 cents! The opera was great. I couldn't understand the first half so I bought one of the books mid way through and then things started to make more sense. But the theatre itself was spectacular. I was sitting next to a bunch of old ladies who couldn't speak English at all so I had to put up with my own company but lucky I had a block of chocolate as a companion!

And then I fly to Roma. But hec the train is hard to navigate! And I'm forced to remove half my clothes at the departure gates and still beep as I go through the damn detector. So then I have to be body checked and then my bag beeps, so then my bag has to be emptied and OMG... but it turns out I'm not a criminal so I can go to Roma after all. Thank the lord, I need to get out of here!

Salzburg- the hills are alive

I arrive just in time for the hostel happy hour so I sit with the other hostellers who are all, bar two, Australian, and we drink and eat pizza :)

The next day the hills are alive for it is time for my Sound of Music tour. I am soo excited. Our tourguide, Paul, picks me up from the hostel and immediately I assume he is homosexual. He has an American sing song musical tone and is in love with the musical, but... he has a wife. ?? Apart from one other Aussie girl from my hostel, the carload is over sixty but they are fun. Paul drives us around Salzburg pointing out the the best walks and sites before driving up into the hills. Along the way he identifies the church where Maria was married, the hills where the opening song was sung, the wall the children march along, the river they fall into, the trees they climb- "and the this is where the scene was filmed where the children were in the trees and the captain drives past!" We visit the glass gazebo where Leisel and Ralph danced and pranced around singing "I am sixteen..." It is monumented in the park with a plaque and all but disappointingly small (one of Europe's disappointments for sure, up there with Munich's bloody glockenspiel). On the way home we listen and sing along to the soundtrack- Paul singing the loudest and occasionally turning the volume down to relay a terrible joke to us...

That afternoon I meander Salzburg. It is a beautiful sunny day - a coat is not necessary. I walk through the beautiful palace gardens, through grand piazas lined with horse drawn carts and up a big hill to the castle on top. From there you can walk all the way along the top of the hill spoiled with a fantastic view of the whole city on one side and the countryside on the other. Then you come down on the opposite end of town. I visit a hidden cemetery- which is actually very pretty, it is a little strange but the graves are quite beautiful. And by the end of the day I feel I have walked an entire country and my legs are about to drop off- time for some goulash and a movie.

 

Munich walking tour

Tuesday we do the city walking tour- a little late as I've been there for days now and have explored most of the city but I still hadn't seen the famous glockenspiel- for good reason it turns out. At 11 am the glockenspiel comes to life- well when I say that, I mean a little man comes out, there is a joust and a jig and that's it. It is apparently the second biggest let down in Europe (second to Paris is what they said). I think it's perhaps the biggest, it's pretty crap.

There is a statue of Juliet in the city as Munich is said to be the 'Verona of Germany'. The Germans believe if you put a rose in Juliet's hand you will have luck with the ladies. The Italians believe you will have luck with the ladies if you rub Juliet's breast- and this is why Juliet's right breast is a very dulled texture in relation the rest of the sculpture...

Another fun tour fact: it was believed that the water in Munich was very unclean in the early days and for that reason everybody drank beer, even the kids.

Further facts: The famous beer hall- the Hauffbrauhouse - used to have a trough under the seat so you could pee without losing your spot at the table! Gross!!