Thursday, October 7, 2010

Amsterdam

After 6 hours of trains we arrived in Amsterdam... still feeling the effects of Oktoberfest. We climbed 4 sets of steep stairs to get to our room and then went and had some dinner and went for a wander through the Red Light District. We then caught a train out to Harleem to meet up with Cal and Ilse - someone in Ilse's appartment block was having a party! So good to see Cal!! His girlfriend is from Holland and lives in a great spot just out of Harleem - she rents two appartments next to a school for 140 euro a month! Bargain!! Such a great area too! ended up having a sleep over there!


We made our way back to Amsterdam feeling a bit slow and then met up with Lauren and Andy! It was so nice to have so many friends in the same place at the same time!
Saturday night Cal, Ilse, Rory and I drank some wine before heading out for all you can eat ribs and then on for a couple of drinkies! We met up with Lauren and Andy again and then Lisa, Clare and Lauren, Had a really nice night out!
Ilse, Cal & Rory

Following day we went for a wander through the city and made our way to the iAmsterdam sign - felt a bit sorry for ourselves still so we went back for afternoon naps, had a small rest before meeting up with Cal again and then Lauren and Andy and then farewelled them all :(
Rory on the A

Lauren and I Clogging it

Friends <3

Bye Friends :(

Caught up with Lisa, Lauren and Clare again and headed to the flower markets and then continued on to some other markets, had a great lunch with the girls before spending some time with them in a cute little cafe and then eating some space cake.

Rory and I then checked out the Sex Museum before heading out to a soul food place with Carly and Cat - last dinner with our travel crew! Really good though!
Bye Guys :(

Nachos!!

Our last day in Amsterdam we headed to Anne Franks House, very interesting and sad - so glad we managed to get in- by the time we left the line to get in was around the corner!
Loved Amsterdam so very much - We think it is one of our favourite places so far and could have stayed for longer!

Oktoberfest

Woo hoo!!
We loved Oktoberfest and spending time with Lauren and Andy!
We got in to Munich around 4pm and checked in to the hotel etc before going for a little wander around the area and then meeting Lauren and Andy and going in to Oktoberfest!
It took us over an hour to find somewhere to sit and get a beer but it was good fun finding somewhere anyway as we were soaking up the sights, so much to take in!
First Beers

First Beers (Looking excited!)
Rory and I drank 1.5 litres of beer each and we then went on a spinny chair ride to get a night view over the grounds! So much fun! They stopped serving drinks so we headed home excited for the next days adventure!!
Fun ride

Night Views of Oktoberfest
Woke up and wandered in to the main shopping area and had some breakfast before heading in to Oktoberfest- we managed to get a beer each at Hofbrau house and then got a seat outside and continued drinking, singing and ate a couple of different foods- chicken,gerkins, some doughnut things!
Inside Hofbrau Haus

2 beers in
We remember buying 3 litres of beer but there are a couple of hours un-accounted for so we figure we would have bought another each in that time!
Had a really great day and sent ourselves home around 8.30pm!! Hahaha!
Loved it!
Didn't love waking up at 7am to be sick.. But luckily all was good and settled by the time we had to catch the train to Amsterdam at 9.55am! Such a good couple of days- we would head back again!

Prague

The overnight train from Budapest got in at 3.30am.. We were lucky enough that we were able to go to the hostel/hotel but we couldn't check in until 2.30pm. The woman working the reception desk wasn't very nice and told us we were allowed to SIT on the couches but we couldn't LAY and sleep on them.. We managed to all get some rest and they let us in to our room around 9.30am!
We then went for a wander to the old town square and to the Charles Bridge. Prague has really taken advantage of the tourism market, lots of overpriced things in the old town square but it is very beautiful!!

The weather had drastically changed from Budapest where we were wearing shorts to needing jumpers and me investing in a pair of boots. Carly Rory and I did a bike tour which covered some of the other side of the bridge, lots of art work, the John Lennon Wall and lots of historical buildings- it started raining so we were lucky enough to get to wear some trendy ponchos.. It was a good laugh!
Poncho's at John Lennon Wall

Such good Cyclists
Had a delicious lunch at Bohemia Bagel and then a quiet afternoon before heading out on Prague Pub Crawl- had a great night out! Really enjoyed the pub crawl- it included free sangria, wine, beer and shots of cocktail mix (which wasn't as bad as we imagined it would be) and Rory and I only paid for one more drink during the night!
Preview of how good the pub crawl was...
The next day we were all a little behind the 8 ball.. Woke up late and then went out for lunch a very lazy day!
The following day we got all of our train tickets sorted and went to the shopping centre for a look around- the weather was really wet and cold so we couldn't spend much time outside, we then had a BEAUTIFUL dinner at a place down the road from our hotel. Everything was lovely and the meals were cheap too, under $30 for both of us and drinks!
The next day the girls left us and Rory and I headed over the other side of the bridge- once again fantastic view and really cute buildings and streets! We went to a Traditional Czech restaurant for dinner and then packed up ready to leave for Munich in the morning!
View of the City

Cute walkways

Budapest

We arrived in Budapest around 9.30am and made our way to the hostel,we were actually staying in a really cute little apartment which only had 3 rooms. We shared a 4 bed room with Carly and Cat.
Went for a wander around through the shopping streets and got some lunch. it's amazing how much difference there is between the shops in Budapest versus Brasov! Carly and Cat both arrived in late afternoon so we headed out for dinner and had an early night.
We headed over to the Buda side of the city the following day, beautiful views over the city from the other side, which had a castle and lots of touristy attractions. they have tried to maintain the old town feel, it's very cute but felt touristy (Until we got to Prague).


 
Rory and I had scoped out an all you can eat and all you can drink place on one of our walks on the first day so we went there for dinner. The food was really nice, very good quality they even had a selection of meats, poultry and seafood that you could have grilled in front of you. Alcohol selection was beer, wines and champagne- we were well and truly impressed as it cost us about $22 Aussie each and def not like an Aussie all you can eat!! I was so full afterwards that my stomach was hurting- couldn't even fit in much alcohol!
All You Can Eat!
Spent a good part of the next day at the traditional Hungarian Baths. It was a big old building with around 30 different sized pools/spas with hot water and minerals in it. They were jam packed with people! Also had a few different Saunas and steam rooms on offer- we found it hard to relax as there was a strong eggy smell and so many old people wandering around and laying in the pools it was a bit off putting, an experience though!


We had an amazing dinner at a Hummus restaurant! Best hummus I have ever had!! Rory went out with some guys he had met on our last night but us girls were buggered so headed home!

We spent our last day wandering around Budapest and then caught an overnight train to Prague.. Not the best overnight train we have caught, very squishy but we slept well enough!!
We really loved Budapest and regret not staying another couple of nights! Such a cool city and so much more laid back/smaller/less full of tourists!