The end

These last few days in London involved a lot of winding down, attempting to fit everything in my suitcase, and reflecting on what really has been a fantastic month.

My trip had been 10 months in the making; I was planned, prepared and organized to the letter (I am a stickler, I can't help it!) Then the actual doing - the filling in time between my organised points - was spontaneous and random and great!!!

It was really thanks to the people I came here to see, and is why I adore them so much. There is always things to do with the people you love seeing, even if is just strolling through the city, chatting over a meal or going out for drinks and dancing...

With Emma, it was so great to experience her 'new' life here, visiting the places and people she now has in her day-to-day. And then we still did things together she hadn't done before either, like visit Brighton or dance salsa in Camden.

Introducing Em to my friends and family from Austria and Germany was really wonderful; and I hope they can have a friendship in their own right. It's nice when two parts of your life meet, and get along so well :) Introducing her to, and sharing stories of my life when I lived in Salzburg was so fun. And like Em in London, I did new things And learnt new things about Salzburg that I didn't know while living there... It really was a unique visit and one I won't forget.

And so, as this chapter of my life and travels comes to a timely end, I can only be so thankful for having he opportunity to see these people go really do enrich my life, in places that make me feel happy, rested and rejuvenated.

London, you were exciting.
Rhodes, you were relaxing.
Athens, I still love you...
Vienna, you were magical.
Salzburg, you are special.
Munich, you were delicious!

Auckland, I'm coming home :)

The last days...

Once Em and I awoke from our nap, following the longest return from the airport ever, we got ready to go and watch Chris' band play. Robyn (who works with Chris) picked us up and we drove to Wycombe, to a pub that looked like a house and had bright pink walls inside.

Chris' band were playing later in the evening so we went to forage for some food, and found a Pizza Express. Yummmm!!!! After, we browsed M&S (huge supermarket-come-department store) and I bought some Jaffa Cakes. They may not survive the flight home, but I'll do my best...

Back at the pub, Budweiser in hand, we watched Keiland Ridge rock out. Chris plays the bass, and they have a chick drummer, who has a super intense face and did this awesome trick at the end of the set - she flicked the drumstick up and it spun around, then hit the cymbal, perfectly timed! After the show, I said my goodbyes to Chris, Corinne and James, as I wasn't going to see them again (this trip!) Robyn dropped us home and we spoke about her moving to Melbourne. In excited, am totally going to go visit her!! We crashed out pretty quickly free we got in bed...

Saturday day was a bit of a dud; it took me a good two hours to pack all my stuff into my new pairs of boots. Amaaaazing how much space I managed to save though! (considering I was packing clothes on top of these while in Greece and Austria...) My suitcase is shutting without any strenuous pushing or grunting!! Success :D

We went for one last trip to Reading in the afternoon, had a wrap from Pret, it was oh so good, and a browse through Zara - oh so tempting!!!

Once home, we had a quick turn around and toddled off into London for one last night on the town! We were going to attempt the infamous all-nighter...

We went to visit Nick, a friend of mine from Uni, who lives in Putney. His flat is literally under the rail bridge, and six people live in there (or was it seven?) Em and I had bought tickets earlier to Ministry of Sound, as Basement Jaxx were playing a set... However that was about an hour away from Nick, so we were going to play the night by ear...

So glad we did, because we had a really fun night with Nick and his flat mates! There were two Aussies - Lobo and Emma aka Milky - who were hilarious, and a few kiwi guys from west Auckland - Nico and Tom. We played a drinking game based on a game show on TV, which is basically one guy and a whole bunch of girls who have a light, and if they're not interested in the guy based on info given, they turn the light off! It's totally harsh and trashy, but very funny.

At 'some stage of the evening' we ventured into Putney to go to a bar. This was really fun, good music and nice crowd... Until Em's iPhone and camera got stolen :( that was pretty shit, so we ended up leaving, grabbing some k-fry and walking back to the flat. We crashed out until about 9am when the trains were going past the flat, so Em and I made our long and hungover journey back to Maidenhead (three tubes, the overground, a taxi halfway to Em's house then walked the rest cos the taxi driver was an arse!) we were home at 12pm, and blobbed the rest of the day...

All in all, it was a pretty funny night out, drama and all. As we dawdled our way down to River Road in last nights clothes and make up, me busting to go to the loo and laughing to ourselves, Em made the point - 'I would love to just watch us right now'

Oh, what a night!!

Early riser

This is not ideal!!

We had to be up at 6am today, to get on the 7:09am train to the airport....

*pause for big yawn!*

Surprisingly both Em and I managed to survive this ungodly hour, said goodbye to Helge and the kiddies, an I basically slid my 25.7kg suitcase down the three flights of stairs and into Petra's car... We made it to the train, airport, gate and plane successfully; landed in Gatwick and caught three trains (went past maidenhead on the second and had to go back from Slough) eventually made it back home at 2.25pm, and I am having a nap...

So this is the end of Em & Zo's Bavarian Adventure!

And might I just say, it has been bloody brilliant, even if a little sleep deprived...!

Dinner in Ratskeller

Ok, so Ratskeller doesn't sound awfully appealing! but this translates to the cellar of the Rathaus, which is where it is!

The Ratskeller is a huge restaurant (or numerous restaurants?) in the basement of the town hall. It has been here for a number of years, it has a unique decor (our table number was a monkey) and a lot of frescos on the walls...

I got to meet Petra's boyfriend, a lovely guy called Helge (this is a scandinavian name, I had to ask how it was spelt). We had a traditional dinner together after getting the English menu, which came with pictures!

Em had a selection of würst, I had meat which was close to corned beef (but wasn't) with kartofelknödel (potato dumplings) which was yum yum yummy! Both Petra and Helge had a variation of meat mit nudeln... So, now I can't wait to return and try some more Bavarian food, it's fantastic!!

It was so nice to have some time with Petra, and meet Helge, and just enjoy the company; especially as we didn't have as much time as originally planned (our trip was shortened as they moved our flight).

As well, unfortunately the babies (who are no longer babies, they're 7!!!) couldn't make it or dinner. Thankfully, they woke up early the next morning and I got cuddles and a little conversation in English, Greek and German with Felix! And I got to listen to Melina being 'müde' (tired) after her alarm clock kept going off :P I don't blame her...

Ahh, what a wonderful German family I have!

People of Hofbrau

After our big day out in Munich, we had some time before Petra and the kids came home. So we made a short trip down to the Hofbrauhaus, home of Hitler's Munich Putsch and a very nice brewery... Inside, it's got big wooden tables and benches, painted roof and women selling pretzel. Half the fun of this place is the beer, the other half is the people you see!

Firstly, we saw a man with a full All Blacks track suit on, strutting through the hall. The difference with this guy was he had a Louis Vuitton man bag on... In Em's words, you either have the track suit or the man bag. Definitely not both - "Take one off!"

We met a couple who asked "ist das noch frei?" to which I responded, "ja, bitte!" ('Is this seat free?''Yes!' Proud moment of understanding). They were from Cologne and I took their photo; the lady borrowed my beer for the photo as she was drinking water!!

The traditional band started, which has trumpets, tubas, clarinets and everyone's wearing traditional lederhosen. We moved to get a better view of the band, and ordered ein maß. Very exciting!

One guy started dancing with anyone he could (he accosted both of us on our way back from the loo!) and it was very funny, he had what looked like a massive shaving brush on top of his hat! It looked very silly indeed, as he danced around!

I pointed out to Em that we should be sitting at the next table over, to get a better view of the band playing. This table was currently fully occupied by older men and three guys our age. As I pointed, two of the young guys thought I was talking about them, and with the Dutch courage that comes from drinking beer, they came over and introduced themselves to us and invited us to sit with them...

Which we happily did; here I met an old, rotund German man called Caspar, dressed in lederhosen. He was jolly, drunk and only spoke German. Surprisingly, I remembered a lot more German than I thought, and had quite a lot of conversation with him!

Also, there was a sleazy old guy who resembled Colonel Mustard/the KFC guy, who kept giving me shoulder rubs if I turned away from him... Geuhhh!

Thankfully our new young friends helped us with these guys. Our new friends were Craig and Aaron (brothers) and Gregory, who was Russian but now lived in the UK and had a very weird accent; occasionally he sounded like Borat, others he sounded like Ali G! This made me question the authenticity of his Russianness, but when he spoke in Russian, it seemed pretty legit...

We had so much fun laughing, drinking beer vom fass and people watching; it was a great way to pass the time before dinner!

Our day in Munich!

This morning, Petra had made us breakfast and bought some fresh pretzels and pain-au-chocolat from the bakery downstairs. We had fresh berries, yoghurt and boiled eggs too, along with strong coffee. How fantastic is my German Aunty!!

She took us on a walk about the city before she had to go work; this was fantastic and really helped me get orientated with this beautiful city. It was such a sunny day, and the first touches of spring were on the trees, and the river that flows through the city was full and blue.

We walked down Maximilianstraße , then right into the Hofgarden, which is right in front of the opera house and other grand municipal buildings. We walked down past a monument and church, towards the city centre. We visited an amazing delicatessen where Petra had come since she was a kid; it had the most delicious looking everything on display!!!! We walked through Alter Hof, which is the oldest building in Munich - built in 1261 (or near abouts)!!

This lead us through to Marienplatz, where the Neues Rathaus is (a very impressive Gothic building) and also the Viktualienmarkt; potentially one of my favourite places in Munich!

We went to Martine and Petra's favourite place, that's sits overlooking the markets. Here in the sunlight, we had a glass of Prosecco and discussed what else to do in this great city!

Once we finished our Prosecco and farewelled Petra, we spent the next hour or so strolling the markets, which sells fresh fruit and veges, dips, sauces, the widest selection of olives I've ever seen, breads, dips, cheese (oh the cheese!!!!) and chocolate-covered fruit... As well as other inedible knick-knacks, but being inedible they were not of much interest!

We couldnt resist; the buying began. We got two different kinds of cheese, then chocolate covered strawberries on a stick (om nom nom!!). Then we found the deli section and got some peppers, olives, mozzarella, a Mediterranean dip, loaf of turkish bread, and a basil dip that was made by this company.... Then we sat beneath a statue, in the sun, and ate our impromptu lunch :D

After gorging ourselves, we decide to walk up the St Stephan's church tower. I'm glad we did this, as the view was spectacular! Unfortunately I wish we'd waited a little longer to digest our lunch, because it was 304 steps up = Angry tummy!

Upon our decent, we walked back through the city to Hofgarten and on to the English Gardens. This place is like a nicer version of the Auckland Domain but with a river and more trees... There were lots of people playing frisbee and football, waking dogs, we even saw three guys practicing walking a tightrope!! Like you do...

We strolled around and sat for a while on a park bench, for a spot of people-watching...

As it got a bit cooler, we strolled back down to Maximilianstraße, past all the super expensive shops like Chloé, Dior, Jimmy Choo... And went for a beer at the famous Hofbrauhaus, to celebrate a great day around this beautiful city!

Salzburg - Munich

We finished the Sound of Music tour at 5.50pm, and ran straight from the bus in Mirabellplatz to the Hauptbahnhof. We jumped on a bus to save some time, collected our bags from the locker and power walked through to the platform... We ended up having a lot of time left over (10 minutes!!) so got some decent seats on the train :)

On train, we saw a beautiful sunset over the farmlands, and as we sped out of Austria and into Germany it got darker and the countryside less descript.

Two hours later, we arrived at Ostbahnhof. I hadn't asked Petra where exactly we should get off, but something lurking in my memory told me it was here. A last minute dash to gather our stuff, collect our suitcases and then jump off the train was a little crazy, but we made it and didn't forget anything (I don't think so, at least!)

We caught a cab to Petra's, I was disorientated by the dark and also think we came out the wrong exit...

Once at Preysingerstraße, I hauled my 20+ kg bag up three flights of stairs and we met Petra, my German Aunty!

It was so awesomely fantastic to see her; she is one of my favorite Germans and also a little Greek - a great mix for me :) we had a deliciously fresh chicken salad for dinner, with some red wine and a good catch up. About 11:30, Em and I hit a wall and went to bed... And were out like a light!!

Sound of Music tour!

Today Emma and I did the ultimate tourist attraction in Salzburg (especially for Americans) ... The Sound of Music tour!

We had a very charismatic, flamboyant man (read: queen!) who knew the entire script, history and trivia of the film, as well as a lot of information about Salzburg. Here's what I picked up...

The film was released in 1965, and was actually a German film originally, called 'The Von Trapp Family Singers'. US filmmakers couldn't buy the rights to this movie, so it was made into a stage show and elaborated the storyline; it was this which was made into the film. As such, it is not factually accurate, but utilized the surroundings of Salzburg quite well :)

Fun fact! When the family were climbing the mountain at the end to go to Switzerland, they were actually climbing Untersberg (by my uni!) which borders Germany; thus they were going the wrong way.

Fun fact! The real Maria was going to sue the filmmakers because they were taking so many liberties; they silenced her with $900,000.

Interesting fact: A lot of the architecture in Salzburg was built by Italians. Only two churches were built by Austrians!

First stop, saw visited the lake where they fell in from the row boat (when dancing in their curtains) and next to this was the house the wanted to use, but couldn't get permissions, so they rebuilt all the locations in London or Hollywood! They did use the gardens though...

A joke from our tour guide: What happened to the guy with no left side?
He was all right!

Interesting fact: There once was a wall surrounding the city, which protected Salzburg from invasion during the 30 years war in the 17th century. Salzburg only became a part of Austria in the 19th century, following six years of being part of Germany, and one year before that it was a part of France after being invaded by Napoleon. Didn't know that!

Another interesting fact: The burg (castle) was started in 1077 when fortress started. Finished 600 years later; there are lots of artists live in there - there are some private apartments.

Saw the Von Trapp household - the castle Froenburg, the Month castle, by archbishop Markus Sitticus. And a castle owned by Sisi, who was Empress of Austria. We also saw the payola/glasshouse Liesel and Ralph, then Maria and Captain Von Trapp danced in...

Interesting fact: The Abby that was featured in the movie is actually a working abby, and was built in 700! The Mother at the time allowed for filming to take place in the Nunnery.

Interesting fact: Steigl is the oldest privately owned brewery in Austria, it's over 500 years old... And delicious!

After leaving the city centre, we headed off for the lakes and mountains region :) we saw lake Fischl, which is drinking quality water. This is where the Red Bull headquarters are, in an amazing glass building...

We went to Mondsee, which is where they filmed the wedding scene. This was past St Gilgen, where we were yesterday! Interesting fact: Mozart's mother was born in St Gilgen! Mondsee was a beautiful town with colorful, traditional buildings and a huge cathedral and rather large lake. Em and I had some lunch of gulash mit kartofel, and a Radler (half beer half lemonade) for good measure. Unfortunately it took a little longer to drink this and when we got back to the bus, it was pulling away!! We ran, then noticed the driver was laughing at us!! Cheeky guy...

On the bus back to Salzburg, we had a singalong to all the Sound of Music songs, and while it was a little embarrassing and so corny, it really was so much fun!!

And aside from feeling a bit dorky, I'm really glad we did it :)

Around my Old City

On Monday, Salzburg weather turned sour and we got a rainy, grey day! What?!!! I never had these days! Oh well, this was still a good day to wander the Old City.

Once we ran to the bus station (for no reason, it didn't come for another five minutes!) we caught the 25 into Salzburg, and got off ... somewhere I didn't recognize! So we strolled for about five minutes until I got my bearings - at the Man on the Mozartkugel in Domeplatz!

Most of our wander was spent with me pointing out random things I knew about the city, or little stories that had happened in this street/bar/area. Such as, when we walked down the main shopping street, Getridegasse, I told Em the story of Roger on his 27th birthday, when he stole balloons then jumped on Kylea to get a piggy-back... They both collapsed, it was very funny (at the time, anyway!)

I introduced Em to the original Mozartkugel, which are in silver and blue foil and have dark chocolate. Even though they have marzipan which makes her pull funny faces, she ate it all :) we also got pretzel's from 'Der original Brezlstand in Salzburg'!

We saw Mozart's Geburthaus (his birthplace) and had a coffee and cake at Cafe Tomiselli, one of the original cafe houses in the city. Apparently it's been there since 1621...!

There are a lot of shops selling traditional clothing, lederhosen and dirndl's. We were suuuper tempted to try a dirndl on, there were some gorgeous colors and we would look so cute in traditional Bavarian dress! But we didn't want the shop keepers to hate us, and so refrained. Aside: Emma noticed how many underwear stores Salzburg has. So true!!!

On the way back to the bus stop, we walked through Marienplatz, looking back over the gardens up to the berg, and walked up the steps Maria & the Von Trapp kids sung 'Doh A Deer' on...

On Wednesday when we visited the old city, it was a stark contrast: cloud free, shining sun and warm! Thus, we walked from the Hauptbahnhof to the Old City. We passed over the footbridge that some people have put padlocks on; I assume they then throw the key into the river? (some had dials or combination locks, which I think defeats the purpose of this gimmick, but anyhow)

We played tourist and had a ride in a Viaker - a horse and cart. We had two big honey-colored horsies who didn't even flinch at buses, who gave way to us! It was amazing how nice the city looks when you're being driven around!

We had another pretzl from 'Der original Brezlstand in Salzburg' and went up Monchsberg, which has my favourite view of the city and also quite a nice cafe. We enjoyed a glass of Prosecco while also drinking in the beautiful view of my city :)

A drive through Salzburgerland

Today we hired a car and drove south-east to a little town called Pfandl, by Bad Ischl. The reason for this visit was not nice; my dear friend Markus was killed in a car crash at the end of January, and I had to visit his grave to really believe it was real.

However solemn the drive was, it was still beautiful. We drove along the highway, past giant mountains still topped with snow, and down along lakesides of Wolfgangsee. The little towns and farms along this drive we're so well kept, so traditional; some were so big and others were positioned almost over the water. It really was so picturesque.

Once we reached Markus, Diana and I took our time to say goodbye to our lovely friend; I wrote a card while sitting there. I had carried it since Auckland and couldn't find the words to write in it until I reached his grave...

To celebrate Markus' life, we drove back to St Gilgen - a little town we had driven through to reach Pfandl - and had a beer in the sun for our friend. Here, Diana, Emma and I became better friends as we chatted over pizza about life and it's happenings...

The drive home was a little improvised when I missed the turn to Elsbethan, so we drove this narrow, single-laned road down along a river (and by along I mean right next to, at the bottom of a 6m drop). For those who know me well, I dont like to drive by water, especially if there's a drop involved! So this white-knuckled drive in our Opel Astra wasn't so pleasant, but we came out at Hallien, the town just down from Puch, where my university is!!

So on the way home, I got to show Em the FH! We went up the hill at the back of the campus to look over to Untersberg and watch the sun setting behind this huge mountain. I pointed out my room and had a wee reminisce about our parties, antics and volleyball games we had onsite.

We made it back to Roger & Diana's with minimal incidents; minus a few stalls, we had a good day...

Antipasti

While Em and I wandered the Old City on Monday, we came across the markets in Universatätplatz. There was a pretzl stand, a blumen stand (florist) and a fruit stand. There was also one selling sausages, speck, salami and a wide variety of cheeses... We spent 'some time' here and tried 'most of' their offerings. By the end we were cheesed out, but bought a 5-year-old Gouda with Carraway, and some other stinky cheese, plus two salami's for an antipasto platter tonight before dinner.

Once home, we joined Roger & Diana on their monthly shopping trip to the supermarket Aldi, in Germany. I love these places; they got a FULL trolley of food - milk, cheese, meat, juice, bread - for €90!!!!!!!!!!!!! That would easily be $300 in NZ :( while here, we got some more yummies for our platter (sundried tomatoes, bell peppers, nice bread) and by the time we assembled it at home, it turned out we had enough for dinner for four people!!

We ate and drank wine and chatted over dinner, and then retired to the lounge where we watched Terminator 2, dubbed into German.

The irony was that Arnie was dubbed into German by some random, when he's a native speaker! So silly... It also sounds odd when instead of yelling 'NOOOO!!!' you get 'NEIN!!!' or instead of 'RUN!!!' you get 'LAUF!!!!' ... I digress.

Our antipasti platter was a hit, and made me ponder the irony of our multiculturality (new word); that two Kiwi's, a German living in Austria with his Mexican girlfriend, had an Italian inspired dinner, then watched an American film featuring an Austrian speaking English, dubbed back into German when only one person in the room understood the movie... It was so great!!

Vienna - Salzburg!

Heute ist dein tag!! We checked out of our hotel (sad face!!) and went for one last trip around the city on our tram to Sudbahnhof...

After our Sacher torte and apfel strudel for breakfast, and an Anker leberkäsesemmel for good measure, we collected our bags and made our way through the U-bahn to Westbahnhof, the west train station. Here we got our tickets to Salzburg on the newest train the OBB have, and had (another) sandwich... Yes, it was a leberkäsesemmel... They are just so good!!!

On traaaaain (Michael McIntyre reference) we got to see a nice slice of Austrian countryside; a lot of which was flat farmland with sweet traditional farm houses. Then the Alps appeared, high and majestic and covered in snow! This is the Austria I remember...

Arriving in Salzburg was such an awesome feeling, it's like coming home as everything is familiar and friendly. One obvious improvement however was the Haiptbahnhof (main station) has been renovated, and now it looks quite like a modern Munich station! (formerly it was very dirty, uninspiring and quite '70s)

My darling buddy Kathrin surprised us on the platform and after a humongous hug and introductions for Em, we went for a drink up the Hotel Stein. This has one of the prettiest views in all of Salzburg, as we sat on the rooftop balcony and looked out over the river and rooftops to the Old City spires and the burg :)

Then we went to Roger & Diana's house - their new flat in Grödig. After the worlds longest hug with Rog, my bro, we got shown around the flat (wowzers!!!!) and then went for dinner in the city.

Ahh, it feels good to be home and to be amongst the friends I made my family while living here :)

To the Palace

Today we were gifted an extra day in Vienna! While out last night, my wunderbar Papa organized for us to stay in the hotel an extra day!

So we used it wisely. Again having an 'aneurism' I jumped off the tram at the Rathaus; even though we'd decided to go on the one to Karlzplatz so we could get off in the centre...

This lead us to an amazing street with fountains and more beautiful buildings, which is near where we got lost the other day! How fantastic to stumble upon it... We walked down in search for my favorite Austrian sandwich place, Anker, so I could introduce Em to leberkäsesemmel, my favourite Austrian sandwich.

Once found, bought and devoured, we caught the U4 to Schönbrunn to visit the palace of the former Austrian ruling family.

Wow! It looks like a picture; this fairytale building was huge, with an elaborate staircase and grounds that went on (seemingly) forever. We walked around the side to see the Gloriette gate high up on the ridge line, with a statue on ground level... We were too excited to go inside so we didn't walk up to the Gloriette.

Inside, we bought tickets for the grand tour, which included an audio guide. We wandered through these elaborate rooms and saw the wealth, extravagance and lifestyle of this family. From the wall fittings to chandeliers to furniture, everything was so ornate and rich, it went further Ito this fairytale life.

There were some rooms that had Chinese ornaments or wallpaper made of rice paper; a sign of the dealings between this Austrian ruling family and the east. It was very interestig to learn about how they kept international relations by selling off their daughters; there was only one daughter - the Emporess' favourite - who was allowed to marry for love. The most famous was Marie Antoinette, who was married to Louis XVI of France, and was beheaded during the French revolution by guillotine!

All in all, it was very interesting and really puts into perspective the ways of how life used to be....

Our night with Mozart

And Strauss...!

Emma and I decided to indulge in a little classical music, by coming to a concert.

It was in a palace on Johangasse, in a beautiful ball room that had five chandeliers, parquet floor, and relief sculptures on the roof...

The orchestra was conducted by the lead violinist, an older Austrian man who was very jolly and enthusiastic. Apparently Strauss conducted his orchestras like this, too...

They played Strauss, which was lovely, and then Mozart's pieces, which were really a lot different to Strauss; perhaps more intense would be the word to describe it... There were two dancers and two opera singers who came onstage as well, and i was especially amazed by the singers. The woman's voice was so powerful it gave me goosebumps!

Emma was especially hilarious when hearing music she has danced to before; she got this glazed look over her face and started swaying and moving her hands, obviously remembering the moves. Was funny to watch and sit beside, I don't know what the people whined us thought :P

Also, it was so interesting to think that all those years ago, these musicians penned all these pieces one at a time, and could hear the whole thing together!

The show ended with a standing ovation for the orchestra, and we left a little more cultured than when we came in :)

Wien mit Emma

This morning we overslept by an hour, our bed was so comfy! We got ready and it took us three attempts to actually leave the hotel; we booked tickets to go to a concert tonight, then forgot our train tickets..

Eventually we got on the tram to Sudbahnhof, where we got off yesterday and stumbled upon the Imperial Hotel, where the Imperial Torte was invented. We stopped in to have torte for breakfast... It was delicious, marzipan and chocolate and almonds. Yum! Running commentary by Emma about the cute, young waiter and her change made me almost cry with laughter!

We found a concert cafe after breakfast, but after the cake we weren't ready for more... So we got on a tour bus to learn more about the city and where we got lost walking last night...

What we learnt in the bus: Vienna has 1.6 million people and some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen! It is tidy and clean and well cared for; it has 2800 parks!

This tour had a lot of information which explained what we had walked passed last night... Turns out the big building we walked passed last night was the Hofburg Palace, which houses the Imperial Silverware museum. The park behind it had the Mozart statue in it... The statue between the two museums was of Maria Theresa, who was Empress of Austria ... A while ago ...!

It also played traditional Austrian music like the waltz. This was funny as Emma had danced to a lot of this music and thus spend much of the ride doing dance movements...

We also drove past the Hunterwasserhaus, and learnt a little about the man behind the crazy buildings: he was born in 1928 and was influential in the development of the Prater area. He spent a lot of time in New Zealand and did the toilets in Kawakawa; and he's buried there!

The bus took us to the Prater ferris wheel, which featured in the Orson Wells film 'The Third Man' which I haven't seen but was voted film of the century in 1999 and Em's studied it a lot. Thus, it was imperative that we came here!

I'm glad we did, because the view up on the big ferris wheel was spectacular! We could see all of the old city, with it's towers and spires... Also, Emma sung the Harry Lime theme dog the whole time, however as she only knew the first four bars, it was a little funny as a lot repetitive... Oh well, the shoe fit!

Once down, we went to a little hotdog stand and went to sit in the sunlight on the grass infront of the ferris wheel. The hotdog was delicious, the company was great and it was very relaxing...

The plan from there was clear: we got an ice cream (Em's was called bum bum!) to accompany our walk to see the 'blue Danube!' again, my map-reading skills left a little to be desired when we ended up walking the longer of the two roads to get there... However, once there and strolling along the river, it was nice and a lot bigger than I had expected.

Once back in the city (we successfully caught the U-bahn back to Stephansplatz) we went into the St Stephans Cathedral, which is right in the middle of the city. It is beautiful, gothic and very dark. Also, it only has one tower, as the north tower was never finished. We decided to walk up the south tower to the 'watchmans room' - 343 stairs and 67 meters up the smallest spiral staircase! We got a little claustrophobic and the walk was made harder with Em cracking jokes the whole way: Me 'think of how cool this is, some people can't do this' Em 'ohhhhh poor then, can't walk up this deliciously sweaty stairwell!' and so on.

The view from the tower was awesome, there were four windows so you could see all directions of Vienna, back to Prater and the ferris wheel, to the other spires around the old city, and out to the greater city area. Also, the roof of the church was very colorful and made for some nice photos :)

Once we had successfully seceded the horrid spiral staircase (which was so much worse going down!!!) we true to do a little bit of shopping, by when we realised this may involve more stairs, we flagged the idea and went back to the hotel to get ready for the concert! I wanted I go for an evening walk at dusk back to where the bus had driven; down Dr-Karl-Luger-Ring and Burgring (part of the ring road around inner-city Vienna). These streets are home to the Rathaus (town hall), House of Parliament and Hofburg Palace, and Museum Quarter (the Fine Art museum an Natural History museums face each other, and are very majestic buildings).

It was very fun to be a tourist today!

A little lost...

Emma arrived on the train to much excitement on my part! Our jubilant reunion on the platform was quite funny, and we happily babbled on all the way to the hotel.

For our first night in Vienna, an authentic Austrian dinner and beer were on the cards, so we jumped on a tram to Sudbahnhof and got off quickly when Em spied a beerhall.

Inside, we initially tried I read the German menu, but weren't too successful... Em had the frankfurters mit gulash und kartofel, although Viennese call kartofell (potato) earth apple... I had schnitzel mit kartofel salat und semmel. I had an Ottakringer vom fass (from the keg) and Em had a Pils.

We ate, took photos, chatted and people watched for a good two hours, and planned that once we left we'd go waking back down the road we came down on the train; it had some pretty old buildings on it that were nicely lit. However, by the time we left it was 11.30, and we were a little disorientated...

We were also a bit shocked at how cool he night air had become, so decided a quick walk back to the hotel was the best idea.. Unfortunately we didn't know exactly where the train came from... Ok, I said I did, and so we started walking, and hit Kärntner Straße, which I had been on earlier. So we went down there an hung a right and walked for a solid ten minutes....

Turns out that lead us to Stadtpark, which we had both learnt earlier today that it is not near our hotel... So we went left, and ended up at Stephansplatz, almost in the middle of town... But not near the road we wanted to be on! 20 minutes wasted on this route proved less hopeful than Stadtpark, because we still didn't know what direction to go to! And now it was past midnight and there weren't many people around to ask. So we just kept walking... It was an adventure!

We stumbled upon a very pretty but unlit church and building, which originally looked like it was on a main road. Turns out the one taxi that drove past it was really the only car using this way... On we walked, around the back of this nice building, and came out to a bigger old building an a park... We mayyyy have just found or way back to the main road!!!

We walked out onto Burgring, and found out bearings to make it back to the hotel... As we walked around the ring road, we came upon the pretty buildings we originally wanted to see - and all of them had their lights off!! No wonder we were disorientated from the start!

When we eventually found our hotel, we collapsed into bed; or 'quick walk home' turned into a two hour adventure through the old streets of Vienna!

Arrived in Vienna!

And it is beautiful!!!!

Dad's friend Vera was on the same flight as ne and was very helpful once we landed. She is a native and helped me find my way to Scottenring, where a taxi dropped me from the train to the hotel because my bag was giant and I didn't have a map... Also, it's more glamourous to arrive by taxi at the Hilton Plaza!

As it sounds, it really is awesome. We had the executive suite thanks to my super amazing dad, featuring a huge bed, double wardrobe, bathtub and a great view over the main rjng road aroubd cebtral vienna. I unpacked my pregbant suit case and, in true travelers fashion, had to wash some socks in the sink. Glamorous...

At 3pm I met up with Ivo, my awesome 'nerd' from Salzburg; he helped me learn German, and I helped him cook :) We went to a Viennese coffee house which was beautiful; it had vig chandeliers and decode fit for the 1920s. It really was like time stood still... We had a massive catch up about life, love, jobs, travel, and his birthday - which was today! (March 15)

We went for a walk through the City and it was gorgeous; old but well kept, classy, and has lots of sculptures! Even just on ordinary store fronts... So nice!

Other observation is that Vienna is buzzing. The recession hasn't touched them, it seems. As the sun went down ad the brigt lights of stores came on, the jubilant people who were walking the streets became more noticeable. The stores were full of people, everything looked clean, tidy, there were nice cars and even the pavements were tidy and well-kept. Such a contrast to Greece...

I walked along the Kärntner Straße, which seems to be a main road through the city. Once I said goodbye I Ivo, I walked around and took heaps of photos (especially when I found Stephansplatz!!) and then caught the train to Wien Mitte - Landstaße - to wait for Em!

So, first impressions of this city leave me very excited to explore, explore, explore!!!

Friends as family

I have been coming to Athens to visit Yiayia & Pappou for a long time, since I was a blonde-haired cherub child. And along with visits to my grandparents, we saw friends of dads, who have become friends of mine over the past few visits when i have come alone.

More over, the Ghikas family have become my extended family in Athens. They are fantastic - Nikos has been a friend of dads since school. Sabine is French and wonderful, and together they have saved me from numerous travel faux-pas on my part; driving me high-speed into Athens when I lost my passport at 16, or when I missed my plane by 24 hours when I was 17...

On top of being my Greek travel saints, their daughter Nathalie is like my big sister. Sab was pregnant with her when my parents moved to NZ and ever time we visited when I was little, we dod family things together like camping trips and beach days. We have missed each other on my visits for many years as she studied in France or travelled abroad.

This time though, she is living in Athens!! So I have been able to hang out with her; she took me to a very nice bar called 'home project' which has couches, bean bags, beds, television areas, play stations, and a pool room. It has nice lighting, chilled music and great drinks. We also went to Nathalie's apartment in Glyfada which she shares with her boyfriend, Pavlos. It is a fantastic little apartment, which Pavlos' parents own and renovated for them so it is really modern and funky, and they have LED lighting which makes the space transform depending on what color and intensity the light is! It's nicely thought out, which impressed me. On Wednesday night we three went to a bar in Glyfada called Living for cocktails. I asked Pavlos to choose for me, as the menu was only in Greek. Good idea, he chose a delicious champagne cocktail... We were only supposed to be having a quick drink, but eded up getting back at 1am!!

I got to spend a nice time with Sabine the first night I was here, when she made vegetarian lasagne (which was delicious and I'm going to attempt when im home!) Sab drives into the city for work, so I hitched a ride on Tuesday to have a look around, and she picked me up from Pappou's too... This was my awesome shopping day :)

Nikos owns a jewellery shop in an arcade in the city, and I made my way there on Wednesday And had a good play with all his lovely pieces. We had lunch together then I made my way in the metro to Sab's work (got a little disorientated and ended up waking the same street three times. Doh!)

We had a big family dinner on Wednesday night; Sab made calamari and black eyed beans which are really nice, and we had he last of the lasagna (almost better a day later!!) for dessert, Nat and I made a sokolatopita - chocolate pie!!!! Well, I say we made it, but really Nat did all the hard stuff, I just stirred and licked the bowl... This pie has orange-chocolate icing, but as were running a little late after baking, we didn't wait for the pie to cool, and put all the icing on. This subsequently melted instead of setting, so it ended up being a little pool of goo in the middle of our pie. Not such a bad thing in my opinion! It was delicious :D

It is so nice to stay with then, they really are my family.

My Pappou

My Pappou is awesome. He is 91 (i thought he was 89 but he corrected me!) going strong, and has survived losing my Yiayia three years ago, a lot better than expected.

To be fair, because I don't speak enough Greek to converse, I don't know if he's old or funny, because I don't understand a lot of what he says... We communicate through very slow and broken Greek words and sentences, English words and a bit of German; I don't know how much he understands me, but oh well!

He still dresses like it's the 1950s, in a three-piece suit and nice shoes, with an overcoat as well. And he still drives his blue Opel which must be well over 40 years old by now! Parts of it are held together with duc tape, other parts like the bumper are wired together. It's still going, and he drives pretty well - even though I think now it's more a glamourised shopping trolly than anything else!

When I showed up from the bus stop, he was waiting in the window to greet me. Miraculously, he had left the gate open - last time I was here he locked me out for half an hour! We went to lunch at the taverna in Glyfada, where we always go and he always introduces me as Costas' daughter and they never remember. Then he tells me three times Nikos, the owner, went to school with dad. It's kind of a ritual :P

We had had patates and Greek salad and beeftekia (meatballs), with kokino kressi (red wine). Then Nikos bought out pork steak with more patates, but we were both too full so we took it home. We had a little joke about being so full and still eating chips because they were there; Pappou has such a sweet face when he chuckles.

We went home to Voula after lunch and had more slow conversation; about Martine, the weather, my travel, my boyfriend... I think my Greek improved a little bit, and I promised him I'd practice and be better before the next time I come! Unfortunately, as I explained to him - what I want to say, I can say in German. My Greek, as much as i want it to, stays away while I know some German!

Pappou took out some old photo albums which were sent to him and Yiayia when I was little. So many nice memories to go back over, so many nice moments captured on film... There were photos from Yiayia's visit to NZ when I was little, photos from Sydney trips to see dad's friend Mike, and photos of my cousins when we were young and adorable and badly dressed (badly as in so early 90s, by the way!)

It was such a lovely afternoon with my Pappou!

Supporting the Greek economy

Sounds a lot better than 'the day I went crazy in Zara'...

But it's true. But my actions are completely justifiable if I explain it as supporting the local economy!!

And to be fair, although this may be slightly worse, it wasn't just Zara I went bananas in. But it began here...

On Ermou, the main street going down from Syntagma, there is a 3-story Zara right t the top of the street. As the weather was grey, freezing and wet, I ducked in to seek shelter. I had a.. Sizeable browse around the ground floor, and tried on about 15 garments. I selected a few and put them behind the counter, while I continued to browse the other floors... I went into three different changing rooms with a minimum of four garments (I really couldn't help myself!) and am pretty sure I searched all three floors quite successfully. In the end, I loved so many of them, and subsequently own about six of them; 3 tops, 2 jumpers (one with elbow patches!!) and a skirt.

In Pandora, I fell in love with this black onyx flower ring; unfortunately it was out of my 'under €50 budget' (self imposed, not buying one item more than €50 unless totally and utterly, almost life-changingly unavoidable) so instead I got a charm for my bracelet, with the evil eye. This is the Greek protector, and I'm currently wearing it on my necklace as a pendant :)

I tried on THE MOST AMAZING shoes - Jeffrey Campbell 'rock me' heels. They are tan leather with pops of almost magenta/fluro pink... The best part was the heel, cut out wedge! So in love, but for €205, it again blew my €50 limit... Sigh!

I popped into H&M because I liked their blue wide-knit jumper on display in the window. Five minutes later I walked out with said blue jumper, and another skirt...

All day I was thinking my poor boots were looking quite sorry for themselves (my Pimkie €50 winners from last trip to Munich.) so I popped into some shop near Zara. They had 25 next to all their boots, and I thought 'that's not a vey clever numbering system'... Turns out, all the boots were €25!!!!! Thus, i tried on two pairs - a knee-high grey pair, and patent black ones with a bit of puff (ultra Greek). As they were so cheap, I got them both!!

As such, when I arrived at Pappou's I had a whole new outfit to wear to lunch :)

ENOIKIAZETAI

This is my reality check, of how bad Greece really is right now.

Really, Emma and I joked about all the 'Shop for Lease' signs in Maidenhead; that is nothing compared to Athens. All along the main road into the city, in the market, in all the arcades that used to bustle and buzz for your business, now it is quite and empty. All have the sign 'enoikiazetai'. For rent.

There are car yards with all of five vehicles for sale. There is a lot of graffiti and a lot of grime, and while Athens has never been particularly clean, now it is looking very run down.

Because of what's been happening economically, there is a lot of theft and you can almost see the paranoia on people's faces that someone's going to pickpocket them. I don't believe someone will take me on, so I don't think of these thoughts.

The weather today in Athens matches the mood of the city. It is cold and makes you want to stay inside and hibernate. Be antisocial. It's 7 degrees, but the wind chill makes this a lot lower. The cloud isn't moving, and it's very thick.

For these reasons I haven't spent much time in the city. I also didn't take many photos; even though I wanted to, it somehow didn't really feel appropriate.

It's sad to think how mighty this city used to be. I wish, hope and pray that it recovers and improves; in so many ways...

Getting to Athens...

I swear it must be something to with the Athens airport - trying to keep me away for some reason! I was delayed going to Rhodes, and then my plane leaving on Sunday was cancelled due to bad weather!

Savvas dropped me off early so i could write some postcards, so i was at the gates at 7.45 for an 8.30pm flight. Unfortunately I was given no gate... At 8.30 we still had no gate, and 'more information' coming at 9pm... Then 'more information' at 9.30pm... Then a new departure time of 10.50pm!! Yay.

Then at 10.45pm, an announcement in Greek basically confirming bad news.

From the gate the whole mass of people who should have been on my plane queued in front of the Aegean ticket office, where two stressed out women worked frantically to clear the line. Everyone got put up in a hotel jn Rhodes city, and taxi's would be reimbursed. After collecting my bag, I waited in line for a taxi.

Might j mention now that not only was it blowing a gale, it was now raining metaphorical cats and dogs. Such fun!

I should have stayed in the hotel the airport offered, so I could have 1) had some dinner and 2) get a wake up call, so I could sleep easy. Instead I went back to Savvas so I could be in a familiar place. This was actually really nice and comforting at midnight. Unfortunately though I then didn't sleep, panicking I'd sleep through my alarm and miss my plane!

In the taxi back from the airport, I did meet some girl guide mentors from Athens. They were lovely, and we taxi'd back together at some ridiculous hour - 6am!

The plane ride went quickly but sometimes I felt like i was spinning, I was so tired. When we landed, a group of young kids all clapped and cheered, it was funny but I also felt like clapping; I'd finally arrived in Athens! Relief and excitement washed away the drowsy feeling, even if only temporarily.

Thankfully I had an awesome taxi driver - an Aussie lady - to keep me awake and drop me at Nikos' place in Vari, and the rest is history! No, in fact, the rest is now just a funny story of my luck with planes...

Greek hospitality, take II

Vangelis Pavlidis is a good friend of my Aunty. His wife Noomi is from Sweden, and it is their son Savvas who saved me from the airport.

Vangelis is a cartoonist with a very clever sense of humor. So great is his talent that he worked for the newspaper for many years as a political cartoonist. He is also a great character himself, very knowledgeable, very opinionated and very jolly. He and I met some years ago, before I went to Austria. I have very fond memories of our conversations and debates, so seeing him again was so nice for me.

I went to their place (i drove Martine's car!) and we had a glass of delicious, almost sweet red wine, had a chat then went to Mesanagros for souvlaki. This is the next village up from Lachania, high in the hills. There is a 13th century church there, still standing in decent condition!

Over dinner we laughed, debated, listened to Vangelis playing the harmonica and try started singing Greek folk songs!! It was really nice and so different to having dinner with friends in NZ, that's for sure!

One thing I noticed was how many mannerisms Vangelis has in common with my wonderful dad. This isn't specifically a Greek male thing; no, it's more specific than that. It's the way they animate their words with their hands and faces as they talk, the way they laugh with their whole body, even down to little mannerisms like raised eyebrows... Yes, I have concluded that indeed Vangelis is my dad's older brother, and therefore is my uncle :)

I digress... Over dinner, I tried another Greek traditional alcohol - Retsina. This is white wine with resin; centuries ago it was created by accident when the Greeks lined their terra-cotta pots with resin to waterproof them. Unfortunately this tainted the wine's taste, but then people liked this taste. Hence, we now have retsina!

It was so nice... Coming home, we squeezed five of us into Vangelis' Lada and drove home. We stopped at the taverna at the top of the village (which I just learned existed!) and then said our kalineithta's (goodnights) and I drove Martine's wobbly little hyundai back to the house.

I love this family, and as mentioned, have adopted them as my own!

Birthday party, Rhodian style

Saturday, 10th of March, is Vangelis' birthday. I managed to move my flight to Sunday 830pm, so I could stay for his party. I am SOOO glad i did!!!

We went to Gennadi, to a restaurant where the owner was obviously a friend. There was a great mix of family, friends from the village and newbies - the teachers from the local school, whom Vangelis had met the night they came to Platanos. The 'village people' included John who hails from Manchester but has lived in Lachania for over two decades, and Hans the German who I met (apparently) when I was 11, at Martine's 40th. He doesn't remember either, but now we're old friends :)

We all sat in a U-shaped table configuration with Vangelis at the centre, able to rotate and talk to whoever he wanted. We had a big meal and beer and wine and dessert (strawberry birthday cake - yum!). There was great and interesting conversation (John and I discovered we both loved 'chicks on guitars' as a genre of music and got carried away with that for quite a while!) and then the singing started!

Just like last night, we had a singalong, but on a bigger scale, and with more instruments. There was even some Greek dancing!! It was honestly so much fun, with the drums and Savvas' guitar, Vangelis on the harmonica and one of the teachers from the school knew a lot of folk songs. I, of course, knew none, but did enjoy the sing music and was clapping and smiling and humming when I could.

The night ended at 2am, well past my bed time, but I am so glad I got to attend such a fun and unique experience... I think I need to come back for the next birthday though - Vangelis' big 70th; if this was anything to go by!!

Cooking lessons

My Aunty used to have her own restaurant in the town next along. She is notorious as a great cook, and also a messy one. When she came to visit me in Salzburg, the mess from one dinner - onion skins, spaghetti, tomato sauce - was momentous!

So when I said I wanted to make spanakopita - potentially my favourite Greek dish of all time, ever - i knew my favourite aunty wouldn't let me down, and it would be fun to get a bit messy in the kitchen!

Realistically I only helped by stirring; but i did pay attention! We started with leek and red onions in sunflower oil. One whole leek and onion later, we added the frozen spinach to steam and then fry itself. My OCD went into overdrive as I tried to clean up after Martine, whose response to almost anything I asked to put in the sink, was 'oh no, we're about to use that!' Fair enough, that does save on dishes later!!

After the spinach was finished cooking, in goes a healthy portion of feta. Then we took layers of filo pastry and lined the base of a square tin, four layers with oil in between. We mixed an egg and THE SECRET INGREDIENT! (dill!) into the spinach & leek mix and then spooned it into the pastry-lined dish. Folding the four layers back over to cover the spinach, one more egg on top and the. We cut the pastry so it could breathe, into the oven for 50 minutes and it smelt SO delicious!!!!

We also used some of the leek mix, combined with ricotta, and made some mini pies using fresh dough. This was really fun to make, and i am going to attempt these at home! (Ultimate Housewife Award here I come!)

We also made panna cotta, which I have never been a big fan of. Until now!!! Coffee and white chocolate panna cotta, get in my life!!! Although realistically I can't say j remember exactly what went in except 6 teaspoons of coffee and half a block of white chocolate; I know Martine put some cream and marzipan in as well... it was all very exciting, and tasty. We made a big one for Vangelis' birthday, and there was just enough for one cup for us to share as well.

Deeeeelisshhh!

Friends in the village

Lachania is such a crazy, cool environment. Not only is it beautiful, it has a population of eclectic nationalities, mixed into a Greek melting pot known as this little village.

I have known a few of them for years; I stayed in Petra's house on this visit as she is in Germany (I will be seeing her when i leave Salzburg!) her place is authentic and colorful.

John is a friend of Martine's who originally hails from Manchester. He speaks Greek with a funny British accent, has an earring and drives a Fiat Panda. On top of all this, we have similar taste in music, he is very funny and a genuinely awesome guy. During our discussions at Vangelis' birthday, I got talking about how YouTube can have playlists which you can have to save your favorite videos. This morning he came by Petra's (while I cleaned my teeth in my PJs) and took up my offer of showing him how this technology works. We went to Platanos to use their free wifi, John made me coffee and I set him up his account. I also learnt the Greek word for crazy : trelos. John's nickname :)

At Vangelis' dinner I also was introduce to Jerry & Uta, a couple who are from Belgium (?) and Germany respectively, who now live in Lachania. Jerry is very good on the guitar, and the two of them are very much in love. It is so sweet. Uta also knew some of the folk songs at Vangelis' dinner, and it was so nice to see someone not Greek to be singing along... I hope next time I visit to be a little more like Uta!

I got to meet Dino, from Belgium. She lives in the village too, and is really lovely. She speaks Greek as well, with an accent that makes it sound a lot softer that Greek really is :P I have promised to go and visit her for coffee the next time I visit Lachania.

I also got to know Hans the German. What an interesting guy, so laid back and so kind; he is also a real character! He has a front tooth missing, long grey hair tied in a ponytail, grey beard too, and black eyebrows. He is also very tall! His house is gorgeous too, so well made and charismatic. The courtyard has stones from the local beach, and he has a 20 year-old yakka tree which is easily 4 meters tall!!

I had the pleasure of having lunch with John and Hans at Platanos. We shared plates, in true Greek custom. We had everything from fava beans to patates, squid and pork dishes, chickpeas, and psomi (bread) to soak up the juices - of course! Once almost full-to-burating, we were then spoilt to get some loukoumathes - Greek doughnuts covered in meli (honey) and cinnamon. Om nom nom!!! As Hans aptly noted, there must be a special part of your stomach for sweet things, because you can always fit them in!

Saying goodbye to my village friends was a little sad as they are such nice, genuine and happy people. However, this is is part of the allure to return to Rhodes!

A day in the village

Incase I haven't previously mentioned my love of this little village, allow me to elaborate...

Today I woke up to the sound of nature. The sun was shining, the chirp of birds and crickets was all around, and I have a window at the foot of my bed that looks out over the green hills of Lachania.

Martine and I had a coffee together and I played with some of the cats - I have named my favourite Micró, as she is the smallest girl and a little feisty. I have noticed the personalities of these cats does differ quite a lot; Mouse is very skittish, Sweetie is cheeky and has a big fluffy face as if to prove she's innocent, and Claus is the dominant male who eats first and as much as he wants.

I went for a big walk through the village, to absorb its personality. This village is like an old friend to me; it's familiar and comfortable, there are some things that you wish would improve for it but it doesn't, and there are some things you think will never change and then it pleasantly surprises you.

Case in point: my favourite houses in this village are run down, old things with rusty locks on rusty gates. These are still here, waiting for some kind soul to clean them, fix them up and make them beautiful again. I hope someone will do it, as these places do not deserve to get lost in time...

There is one in particular in which I have stayed many times. It was Martine's friends place, with bunker beds and an open fireplace, big courtyard and upstairs bedroom. This was the place where I was doused in yogurt after terrible sunburn, where I watches dad shoot mandarin pips into the fire like a machine gun. This was the place I painted for Dad, that now hangs in his bedroom... This place is now in ruins; the owner took it back and removed all it's charm - and now the weeds are taking over. The lock on the brittle wooden gate has broken off, so I went in and climbed upstairs and reminisced for a while.

Then there is the pleasant surprises. The church tower in the village square has been under construction for as long as I can remember. It was always surrounded by a wooden barrier so you could never see inside... As I walked in to the square today, I noticed it looked different. Was it he tree that had no leaves? No.. Was it that there are no tourists at Platanos? No (but it has modernized! It's moved, modernized, and even has wireless!) Then I realised the biggest change - the church tower!!! It is beautiful, made from sandstone and very mighty. Wow, they finally completed it!

I love Lachania, this quaint little village is so gorgeous, I will let photos elaborate the rest... :)

To Lachania we go!

My darling aunty Martine is a bit of a hippy. Self-confessed, of course. She likes markets and dangly earrings and making a bombsite of a kitchen while cooking. She is also talkative (although I think this doesn't do justice when describing just how much she talks). She is one of the most unique characters you'll ever meet, and one of my favourite people on this planet.

Part of her charm is her town, Lachania. It is about 60kms south west of the city, and the roads in Rhodes are a bit shit, so it's a bumpy ride. The town is nestled back from the main road by a 2 minute drive, with it's own church, taverna and white-washed houses.

Another part of Martine's charm is her pets. She has roughly 20 cats and two flokati-rug dogs as pets, all of whom make up the welcoming committee when driving into Lachania. The cats are a bit wild but she has names for all of them, and they know when it's dinner time or how to break into the biscuit packet for an extra snack. Cheeky and Snoopy are like big teddy bears, who wag their tails and headbutt you for cuddles.

One of the most wonderful things about my Aunty is her cooking. When I was a kid, she had a restaurant in the next town over, Katavia. I used to write the specials board and play backgammon there... I digress! So her skills in a kitchen are thus that I have asked for a few of her recipes to take back to NZ. Obligingly we have spent most of this afternoon getting supplies for cooking lessons - from four different supermarkets. Then a stop for petrol. Oh, and a stop for cigarettes! Earlier, before the supermarket shopping spree commenced, we went to a delicatessen which sold Rhodian sweets, one of which I am quite fond of. It is honey and sesame seeds and it's chewy and awesome...

So! The plan for tomorrow is cook, eat, cook some more, visit friends, cook more and eat! And I'll probably take a million photos along the way :)

Needless to say, I am exciiiiteeeeeddd!!!!!!!

Greek hospitality

We came for lunch at Pizanias Kyriakos, the taverna where we came yesterday, and at least once each time I visit Rhodes.

Today being off peak Thursday, the old city was again quiet, and as it was past lunchtime, we are the only ones in the restaurant.

We arrived as Dimitri, the owner, was sitting for lunch. He invited us to sit with him. He already has Horta (wild spinachy type vegetable), pickled aubergine and taramasalata on the table. With the exception of going to make food for us, we sat and shared lunch. Like yesterday, I was served a glass of suma (a Greek white liquor likened to italian grappa) which I did my best to drink... Not to sound uncultured but I would have preferred a coke!

We had more Horta, special bread, Greek salad, patates and fava beans... It was delicious, and we ate and talked and Martine smoked and the cats lurked around us hoping for some scraps...

Even though i thought it might be a bit rude if we sat and ate his lunch, Martine reassured me. In her words, "eh! It's Greece!"

Kala!

Old City, Rhodes

It's interesting when you revisit a place after some years, with the knowledge of time.. I guess i have always naively thought would be that a place remains as wondrous as your memory. Unfortunately time and economy has not been kind to Rhodes.

This island is like my other home. It has always felt familiar, friendly and fresh; these days it is not the same, knowing they are desperate for tourism to feed the failing economy. Gladly, this city still provides the same fond feeling of love and awe of antiquity, and I think Rhodes will be okay...

Today was Rhodes Celebration day (unofficial name) to commemorate the unification of Rhodes back with Greece. There was a parade, with cannons, the army marching, tv cameras and lots of Greek flags! It was nice to see such unity of a small island. I walked through the end of the procession as crowds were still lingering and mingling. Along the promenade which once famously held the Collosas of Rhodes, I basically people watched and enjoyed the fine weather.

Observation: everyone was in jeans, thick jackets with fluffy hoods, and scarves.... It was easily 15 degrees!! I was in a singlet!

I walked around to the lighthouse to look back at the promenade and people. I also saw my first greek cats of 2012... Just as relaxed and sleepy as I remember...

Into my favourite fortification - the Rhodes Old City! With its cobblestone paved streets, wooden shutters, colorfully painted wooden signs and awnings, it really is a beautiful place. And today because of the commemoration, everything was shut, which meant I got to take my photos and stroll around in peace :)

After enough of the walled city, beautiful streets and cool shade, I made my way to another square by the promenade and had a gyros. Waiting for Martine, I read my book in the sun and enjoyed the food.

Martine and I finally caught up- between her phone being blocked And it costing me $3 to call her each time, it was A little disastrous...

Once reunited, we went for a walk around the water, and back into the old city where we came to our favourite taverna. Yes, I had just eaten, but that was at 2pm and was breakfast, I had room for some more! Especially Dimitri's patates - they are so good!!! He is such a cool guy, he remembered me from when I was little and brought me Suma and pickled fish, a Greek antipasti, as a welcome back to Rhodes... Unfortunately the pickled fish was not for me, too salty, no matter how much lemon and olive oil I covered it with. The suma is also strong, but got through half the glass! Martine also had fish - barboni, which is red mullet, fried whole and you can still see the eyes! I had one and it was so good, but i was at capacity in my stomach, and was in serious need of a lie down, hahaha...

We walked around a little more, then checked into a hotel and I got my lie down. We met savvas and his girlfriend for dinner at 830, an authentic Italian woodfire pizza place where we had... Pizza!

Then I found myself going with savvas to a bar in the old town to see two of his friends play. I left my camera at home in case it was a messy night- ohhhh my regret when i saw the beautiful old city streets lit so romantically... Oh well; the band was so great! Yiannis voice surprised me, it was quite deep! (we had just had a conversation about bands and lyrics) He sung neil young, pink Floyd and REM, as well as so many awesome Greek songs. The pianist/ bassist / percussionist was also really good, and they harmonized so nicely!

this older guy with a ponytail got up and sung a few songs too. He sounded exactly like how I expected any Greek singer to sound; deep, and raspy, like he has smoked since he was 14 and drinks brown liquor... Turns out he was the owner and shouted us shots. Happy!

It was also on this bar that i heard a saying i thought i should share: Corona is like having sex in a canoe: fucking close to water! ...

Savvas sung, some other musician friends of yiannis sung, and it was a great night. I love this beautiful city, it always shows me a great day!

Funny British Names

Just thought I'd share with you some funny placenames I stumbled across in the UK:

• Dorking
• Elephant & Castle (last stop on the Bakerloo line)
• Tooting Beck
• Cockfosters
• Anything with a silent W - Southwark / pronounced Southerk... Ohhh I cant remember the others!
  

Will add to the list as I remember them! Haha

How delicious...

Savvas and I had gyros tonight for dinner. Its got lamb, cucumber, tomato, tzatziki and fries, wrapped in a thick, doughy pita.

This is one of my favorite things about Greece - this is more than a kebab. This is heaven, with chips!

Airports

So, as previously mentioned, I had a nice little delay on my flight to Athens. No biggie - except there was no free internet or wireless, so that was a bit of a pain...

We got on the plane at 11.30, and took off pretty quickly. The flight itself was shite - too hot, cramped, couldnt sleep because they left the lights on, and the captain kept coming over the intercom to inform us of ... nothing important! I was grumpy face by the time we landed in Athens...

Athough this was the first time in a long while that I flew in over Athens itself; down along the coast and banked left to align with the runway. We got a great view of the glistening lights of the city, so widespread and sparkly - it looked like a lot of Christmas lights...

The stopover in Athens was made more interesting (at least!) by two people I met - the first was an American girl called Kelli, who was as confused as I was about going through the passport check - are we all going in the EU passport line? Cos noone is going in the 'All other passports' line... We ended up sitting in a cafe on their comfy couches from 5.30am - 7am, talking about travels and what she's doing in Greece - she was on her way to Corfu to work in a hostel, then her sister was coming and together they'd go to Santorini :) She's travelling around the world for 4 months, went to Stanford University and hales from California... I cant believe I met someone from such a super Uni! I didnt tell her about me going to a fake Uni, I didnt think she'd be impressed :P

We parted ways at the check-in; where I wandered shops until I got given a gate. As I wandered down towards B03, I found a place where I could charge Alan (my iPod) so I could at least have some music for the flight to Rhodes... Where I met Georgina!

She was an Aussie, and let me use her adaptor cos the charging things werent even working... We started talking, about travelling and work and relationships; it was like we were old friends just having a yarn! I had my first Spanakopita (spinach pie) and we had a cup of tea, then all of a sudden 7am turned into 9am and I had to go to my gate! We had a massive hug, became Facebook friends and she is now officially my new Greek-Aussie cousin - I would love to go see her in Melbourne; she IS the older version of me!!!!

So that was exciting... The flight to Rhodes was great, as I had three seats to myself, and had music and Angry Birds to occupy me :)

Landing in Rhodes, Martine called to let me know Savvas, Vangeli's son, would be picking me up and she would come into the city later to collect me... No worries, Savvas and I hung out on my trip to Rhodes when I was 18 - he took me to a bar called Sticky Fingers (named after a Rolling Stones album) and drove me to Prasonisi where there are crazy windsurfers...

Driving through Rhodes was pretty interesting; it is a lot more run-down than I remember. This was obviously not the 'touristic' part, but it was still sad to see how many properties were for sale, how much was rusty, how much plaster had chipped off the building facades... We spoke of the recession and Greece's current financial struggles, how hard it is for people in our age group to find work and what the options were for them... Savvas thinks that, if they can all get out of the country, they will become 'the lost generation' and this poses more problems than solutions... :(

Anyway - so now I'm at his place, about to have a nap as I am fading fast following only 2 hours of sleep. Am still very happy to be on 'my island' and am SO looking forward to seeing my favourite Aunty! YAY FOR RHODES!!!

Walkabout - to Rhodes!

This morning we woke up a little late (Emma could possibly blame this on dreaming of Ryan Reynolds...) so I had to pack my suitcase speedy quick and get ready - as I am off to RHODES tonight!!

We were meeting Anna G for lunch at the Tate Modern, so I dropped my suitcase in Paddington and we caught the tube to Waterloo. The wind today in London was bitterly cold, but it was a sunny day so it was a nice walk along the Thames.

Lunch with Anna was great, as she is such a fantastic girl, a great friend, as well as the fact that I totally adore her accent :P unfortunately she had to leave, so Emma and I went over the Millenium Bridge to the grand St Paul's Cathedral. This is such a magnificent building, it has been there since 604AD! It burnt down in 1666 in the Great Fire of London, and was rebuilt... We didnt pay the £14 to get in, but did take many photos.

We wandered our way down Fleet Street - another Monopoly photo for my collection! - and stopped into The George pub for a cheeky pint of .Englands Glory'. Tasted like Lion Red, which was a bit... Anyway! It was a very quaint pub, and had beautiful old artwork around the bar stools. Great contradiction...

We continued on our wander of London's old streets, it was beautiful and I totally love how the old and the new work side-by-side. This is better illustrated in photos, which I will add soon...

I got muchos excited about going into Michael Kors store on Regent St... Not so muchos excited about the price of handbags, but one lady did just walk in while we were there, was recognised by the assistants, picked up a handbag, said 'Oh this is nice, how much' - '£845' - 'Ok, thats not bad' ...........!!!!!!!! Em and I decided this is our future. Ha ha.

Exciting moment of the day: While browsing in Zara, a guy literally RAN out of the store!! The old grey security guard chased him, caught him (somehow) and when they brought him back in, he had the money to pay for the bag of clothes he had, so they let him WALK OUT!!! So odd...

Anyway, as it was windy, cold, and the sun was setting, Em and I made our way back to Paddington, where we said our temporary goodbyes and got excited about the fact we could say 'See you in Vienna!' Then I boarded my train to Heathrow, walked to check in, and thus noticed my flight has been delayed until 11.30.... Crap!

So now I sit, paying £1 per 10 minutes, to use this shitty computer to update my blog :) My nose is blocked, my Pret orange juice isnt helping, so at the end of this session I am going to Boots to get some nose spray...

Aside: I just saw a traditional Jew! Big hat, long coat, long sideburns, the whole shebang!

Anyway!! I'm SO SUPER EXCITED to see Martine that I dont even care that I have to wait in a shitty airport. I may revisit this; however for now I will sign off and HOLAAAA from Rhodes!

Salzburg Reunion!

First and foremost, my friends are amazing; it is great that true friendships can last over distance, time, communication and any life event - when you see each other, it's the time that counts!

On Friday, Emma and I went into London, checked into the hostel and waited for Kylea and Anna H to arrive... We went to a little Italian restaurant around the corner and had a fantastic chat and decent meal. Emma and I laughed that Penne alla Arabiatta was on the menu - we've been laughing at Eddy Izzarrd's joke all week! (will put the link on here soon!) Anyway We were waiting for Iva to show up, but she had told us she'd be arriving at 10pm...

We were all staying at the Palm Lodge in Swiss Cottage, and got back to Kylea's room to find my favourite Czech - IVA!!! We had a quick catch up, but she was hungover so Em, Kylea and I got ready, said goodnight to the others and got ready. We ended up drinking vodka, juice and red bull on my bed in our 20-bed dorm, having whispered conversation... We went into Camden, and not knowing where to go, we befriended a security guard eating a huge slice of pizza... He pointed us to the Cuban club, where had a massive night dancing salsa until the club shut! It took us a while to leave the Stables, cos we were chatting to all the locals (then I casually put on an American accent and claimed I was from Tennessee... Like you do)

Unfortunately we got to bed quite late, with quite a lot of vodka in the system, so waking up at 8am with the rest of the dorm was a tad difficult. We slowly manouvered towards the 31 bus, and went to the Camden markets - WOOHOO!! (Jordi practically ordered me to go while I was here three years ago; I never made it until now!) We had such great weather, and once we got to the main drag we ambled our way through the crazy punk stores, souvenir shops and then into the Stables Market. We browsed through the various avenues of this amazing place, looking at all the t-shirts, jewelry, postcards, nick-nacks and capturing as much of it as I could in my photos...

Another great part of the markets was the food places! Delicious looking curries, mexican, noodles - worked wonders for the hangover! There was a Chinese place that thrust fried chicken - 'bang bang chicken' - in our face, to try it for free! Which I did.... It was delicious, so I walked past a few times. Haha... We ended up having it for lunch; £2 for bang bang chicken and noodles! Yes please!

Once we'd basically exhausted the markets, streets and shops of Camden, we went back to the hostel and met up with Anna and her brother Matt. Saying goodbye to Em, we went for a walkabout in London. This was so nice, we walked around Soho, chatting away, catching up as we went through the bustling city. Along Oxford St we found HAMLEYS Toy Store!!!!! My childhood memories came flooding back, from when I was in here with Daddy when I was little! We saw all the plushies, the teddies, and the games (yes, I dragged all our friends around the toy store!) and I felt all the excitement of a child...

Sadly, noone else felt my enthusiasm for Hamleys, so down to Regent St and Oxford St we went. Then we walked through Green Park, where I complained there werent enough squirrels around, and Matt explained how they were hibernating... Makes sense, it was quiiite cold, and apparently snowed a few weeks ago... The sunset was beautiful, orangey red and very clear. Then we emerged at the wonderously lit Buckingham Palace!

And the best surprise was finding my wonderful Swiss friend, ANNA G!!!! It was so great to see her, we all gave her a massive hug, then took more photos. We walked back to the tube, said goodbye to Matt and trained back to Swiss Cottage. We went to the local pub 'Ye Olde Swiss Cottage' to have a drink, talk more, have some grungy pub food (steak and ale pie with chips and gravy, with a pint of cider for good measure) and catch up with my old friends from Salzburg :)

The five of us went to Camden (for a second night!!) and bar hopped, danced, drank and had a great time! We caught the 31 night bus back to the hostel at some ridiculous hour, had a great sleep and was up in time to check out, and see Kylea and her friend Megan off at the train station...

Sunday was spent in the National Portrait Gallery with Iva, and the two Anna's. All I can say is WOW!! From the building itself to the artwork, paintings ranging from the 13th century to the early 20th, it was beautiful, interesting, inspiring and awesome! It is hard to put into words just how fantastic a place that houses these masterpieces really is, but I took down some names of amazing works/artists that I saw: Da Vinci, Boticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, to Monet (my first experience with Impressionists!) and Van Gogh. There were others - from the Netherlands, Britain and Germany, which were amazing, and I will fill in later. Another great part about the NPG is that they ACTUALLY explain the painting - sometimes explaining its contents, what this represented for the time period, or information about the artist. Fantastic!

As the afternoon wore on, I farewelled Anna and Iva and caught the train back to Paddington, to go bowling with Emma and Chris... I got a Bagel Nation bagel for the train ride - ummm, delicious!!! Chicken, melted cheese and BBQ sauce, and zero calories! (SHHH TRAVELLING!)

I was so engrossed in said delicious bagel however, that I nearly got off the train at Slough (ARGH!) but thankfully I caught myself at the last minute, then went and sat in another carriage so I didnt look stupid... At Ems, we caught up on Em's favourite TV show 'Got to Dance' which features her future husband Ashley Banjo. It was the final and coolest dance crew Prodijig won!! They do Irish Dancing but to kinda hip-hop music...

Bowling was super dooper fun, I got to meet Chris' work mates Robyn from Yorkshire (tbc!) and Will from Wales (haha). Tto form I was pretty good in the first game, but went steadily downhill to lose the second, and barely beat Em for 4th place in the third game. However, we WERE battling a lane which cambered left - honestly!! It was ridiculous. We also got a plate of food (including curley fries! YAY!) and then greasy hand + heavy ball = gutter :(

At home, we planned on having an early night, however Em then decided she was going to watch The Proposal, featuring her other future husband Ryan Reynolds (did I mention Emma is now Mormon?) She went to sleep happy, and I went to sleep a little snotty as I seem to have a little cold. TOTALLY WORTH IT for the best week in London!!

Shoes... and Lozzie!

Today we went shopping. To be more precise; shoe shopping. It was MAD! (silly British saying meaning it was AWESOME!)

To put the day into context, I will elaborate quickly... Emma and I woke up, I met her cleaner Gwen (momentous as Gwen was often cleaning around Emma as we skyped, while Em was unemployed...) and caught a taxi into Maidenhead where I had a physio appointment to fix my gimpy knee (havent mentioned this previously - sore since Relay for Life and turns out its ITB getting irritated from not resting it... ouchies but getting better!)

For some fine-dining lunch we went to Noodle Nation - delicious! It definitely lived up to Emma's hype (apparently every food establishment in Maidenhead is amazing/delicious/great (especially the Italian!)!!) and well worth the £7... Once full of delicious noodles, we caught the train to Paddington then onwards to Oxford Circus...

Where we surfaced outside the flagship Topshop store - convenient for those who want to spend 2 hours in one store! Two rounds of changing rooms, many armfuls of clothing, about 20 pairs of shoes, accessories, bags, scarves.... Ridiculous.

More about the shoes:

• I met a very pretty pair of emerald green suede pumps - they looked lovely.
• My love of wedges was heightened by a beautiful pair of tan leather heels with a gold buckle. Very lovely...
• There was also a bright pink pair of clog wedges. Funky, a little bit Barbie, a lot exciting...
• I was introduced to FLATforms since arriving in London - what the hell?!! Having said this, I tried some on today and they look rad, I may be investing in some to bring back to NZ.... These ones were gold. Say nothing!
• HIGHLIGHT! I got to try on some Jeffrey Campbell (fave shoe designer) Night Walk Platforms.... These shoes have been in my dreams for some time. They are odd, they are funky, and they are seriously high - as experienced today. I didnt take a photo as I was being questioned by some British chicks "aren't you going to fall backwards??" They look like this - http://www.solestruck.com/jeffrey-campbell-night-walk-nude-leather/index.html

Following Topshop, we went to our second and final store of Oxford St - ALDO!!!!!! My love of shoes began here; I am currently in lust with a very beautiful pair of white leather and grey suede wedges with a high ankle buckle. Very much my mother, its almost embarrassing.

The other pair high on my List o' Desire was a pair of royal blue satin pumps. Very Carrie Bradshaw, I almost cried with happiness...

MOVING RIGHT ALONG!! We tubed down to Highbury & Islington on the Victoria line to meet my awesome-sauce cousin Lauren and her hubby Scotty from Aussie; they're living here, working and traveling and being generally fantastic...

We met in a pub called The Famous Cock (yes, I chuckled too) where our 'quick drink' turned into an hour-long glass of wine!

We eventually left The Famous Cock (hehe) and went to a funky restaurant down the road called Zilofs - which looked and subsequently tasted amazing!! I had the tempura prawns as an entrée and smoked salmon with pickled capsicums and other delicious veges... YUM! Dessert was three scoops of the most amazing, super flavoursome raspberry and mango sorbet, with chocolate ice cream and fresh berries.... Teamed with amazing company, I had a fantastic night - talking about everything from travel to history to jobs to imminent babies being born (Lozzie's about to become an aunty!!)

At the end of the evening, saying goodbye was tough. But after many hugs we parted ways, caught the train back to Paddington and on to Maidenhead, and now we're tucked up in bed ready to do LOTS more tomorrow!

xx