Last stop before Thailand.....

Hello! Since the 24th of May I have been staying with my cousin Carola and her family in Bad Schönborn which is just south of Heidleberg. They are so nice and I am having a really nice and easy, stress free, relaxing time here! Watching movies, eating yummy home cooked food and here is what I have been up to in photos....these are all of my time Heidleberg. I went with Aniela (Carol's daughter) to Heidelberg for the day and met up with my frend Sam who is on exchange from Melb uni too! We were friends in Melbourne and thought we might meet up so it was pretty trippy to have it finally happen just a bit before I flew out!

The order is all mixed up:


Sam had a dinner party and I was invited!


Aniela and I eating ice cream at her favourite spot in Heidelberg! They have really good ice cream here!


Cara and the castle! Heidelberg Castle of course!


The Castle and fireworks....I think this is one of my favourite photos so far! The castel is so beautiful!


Sam, Cara and more ice cream! So YUMMY! Now how happy do we look about that!

To the future....to Thailand....

Today at 6:50pm I will take my flight from Frankfurt airport to London (1 hour 40mins) and then onto Thailand (another 8 and a half hours). I will arrive in Bangkok at 3pm the next day.

Yesterday I bought bug spray, sun screen and some food to take. It will be bottled water and eating only boiled food for the next 3 weeks. No salad, no ice cubes (even though the heat will be stifling) and no raw vegetables due to danger of Hepatitis.

I have reduced my bag to practically nothing and intend to fill it with silky fabrics, flowy pants and things along those lines. I am hoping to be able to take my almost empty bag onto the plane with me therefore avoiding checcking my bag entirely (no one can mess with your lugguage if it is on the plane with you and locked up).

Random facts about Germany!

-'Boh!' is an expression of 'Wow!'.
-There is a yellow light between the red and green...so everone can get ready I guess.
-When a child is born in Germany and you decide on a name it has to be a real name. The name must be on the registry offices's comprehensive list which covers all offical names in the world apparetnly and if it is not on the list then you can't use that name so i guess you wont be getting children called Apple or Jagged Blade or anything like that.
-You loose your licence for 4 weeks for running a red light (and getting caught for it)
-With Nicole in Munich I drove 150km/hour on the autobarn which means freeway.
-With Carola (aka: Schumacher) in Heildberg we drove 170km/hour.
-There are some words that have been incorperated into the German language which sound English...but are not! Like handy for mobile/cell phone so when German people talk to you in English they usually use these words....it's cute!
-Fashion: leather pants and Birkenstocks with socks are more common then you think. Birkenstocks aren't as hippish or cool as they are in the States and Australia.
-'Shower and Care Sport' advertises a bottle of shower gel....that combo doesnt make any sense!
-A store called 'Bad and Wellness'...Bad means bath but wellness is just well, not a word and the sad fact is I have hear it often and now I am starting to think it is a word!
-World cup fever sweeping Germany and evidence can be found everywhere. Flags are hanging in villages and towns. You acn buy merchandise practically everwhere. Berlin had massive souvenir shops which looked as if they had just been set up for the occasion. A little fabric store in a small town near Carola had football fabric and curtains. Supermarkets have backpacks and otherrandom things.
-For Nicole's secondary school it was a field trip to a concentration camp. One person fainted and Nicole said she felt sick afterwards and couldn't eat. Cara did not visit one whilst in germany.
-I am learning baby German. In the 20 baby German words that I have learnt, there are 2 sounds that I have great difficulity saying and there are no equivalents in English. My friend Ivan told me to pronounce a u like an e...you try it...everyone all together now...
-Cara thinks everything is soooo cheap in Germany as she has been spending way too much time in Italy's big cities (or isolated areas like on the top of a freezing mountain with a bunch of crazy athletes) and France! German's however, think everything is soooo expensive because when the Euro came into effect prices pretty much stayed the same (there was a rule that they could not for 6 months) and salaries halved.
-Bus stops are marked by a green a gold H in a circle. H is for haltestellen.
-Bavaria is a state (there are 13 states within Germany and 3 free states) of Germany.
-There are hot dog vendors which walk around with a grill starpped to their tummy and a giant umbrella above them...thus far I havent had thre heart to take a picture of them...I feel to soory for them as if I had to do that job I wouoldnt wnat ti documented!

Photos of Budapest that were never shown before!

Yes, gasp! It's exclusive Budapest photos! (no, not back in Budapest just sharing the love from afar!)


Cara on the Danube River (second longest river in Europe) with Budapest's Parliament in the background (third biggest parliament in the world they told me on the tour!) Oh...just overflowing with facts!


Cara post bathing (that bathing is said with a very posh accent and a hand gesture to accompany) at the Gellért Turkish Bath! This is the most famous in Budapest and you will see it in pictures everwhere! So much fun! I went into the women's bath and swam naked! Lovely feeling minus bathers! It had to be done...how often do you get to do that!?!


Cara and the Citadel. I can't help thinking is cute (and very cool) because it reminds me of a sand castle (awwww...it's so cute! pinches widdle castle's widde cheeks) but in fact it is a serious fortress built in the mid 1800's atop Castle Hill (also called Gellért Hill)....serious! Castle Hill is on the west side of the river which is the Buda side and from the hill you can look east and see all of Pest below you. Great view, especially in the evening sunset or at night as I saw it.


I met some American girls in the hostel bathroom (I swear I could meet anyone anywhere) who were on on exchange in Malta. Here we are having afternoon tea after high powered sight seeing around Budapest for the day. Cara, oops...I forget, Anne, Jamie!


So this was the best train trip ever...and it wasn't due to the alcohol! The journey from Budapest to Zagreb with complete train randoms (from L to R) Staffan (Sweeden), Heather and Nicole (USA) was so much fun I didn't want to get off the train! You will notice in the photo we are all holding someone else's passport! Staffan's was the best passport photo I had ever seen and definetly not a photo that would be deemed offical by Australian standards! So funny!

To Munich!

So tomorrow at 10am I will leave Berlin and my newly adopted German fraternity family for Munich! I am getting there by carpool as trains are expensive in Europe (100 Euros for this trip) and the buses are cheaper but also slower and not so flexible. There is a well known site here called ´Mitfahrgelegenheiten´ (a word I am not even going to try and pronounce) which links riders with cars....I can hear my mother panicing already buts its very common, they have offices in the main train stations and its really ok.....and way better then some of the other stuff I have done...hehehe....just kidding MUM (those are the stories I don´t write that you´ll all hear about later when I am home safe and sound and writing my first novel)! So I have arranged it for tomorrow.

Munich is the place of October fest and most Germans tell me that there is not much to see there if it is not October however the southern part of Germany is called Bavaria and there is a bit of a rivalry (and a different accent) between it and the rest of Germany so maybe that has something to do with it! I am staying with my friend Nicole whom I met in Spain. If you look at photos from Valencia I met her the second time I was there and she is playing the guitar in the photos. We were all posterboards for the perfect youth hostel bonding experience and it just gets better that I am goign to visit her now! She is stuying to be a music teacher in Munich! I called her yesterday and she was very happy to hear from me, it´s going to be really fun seeing her again!

´Eello ´Eello Amsterdam!

So I finally made it to Amsterdam.....if only for a day. I intended to stay over night there but ended up staying with the policeman instead. We went to the seaside on Saturday and then Sunday I went off to Amsterdam by train.

The train ride was much like other train rides with beautful scenry until I saw a windmill, got completely excited and then saw another!!! Giant beautifully sterotypical windmills....YAY....what more could you ask for! The girl across from saw how excited I saw so we started to chat. She was from Belgium lives in Amsterdam and her boyfriend sitting next to her is a DJ who sells hash in cafes to make money! The after that we pulled into the main station and I saw the most amount of bikes concentreated in one place on the planet I am sure. It was a multi level parking structure....FOR BIKES! Crazy wonderful Idea! I saw the main tourist attractions purely becasue they interested me the most. I saw the Van Gogh museum and finally got to meet ´The Bedroom` which I studied in Lyon. When I asked the women at the information desk where ´The Bedroom` was she gave me this blank look as if to say ´There are no bedrooms here only galleries of Art` then she giggled...oh different languages.

After that it was to the Anne Frank house which was pretty sobering. Anne Frank is the daughter of Otto Frank, a jewish business owner. Otto Frank put his business in the name of his second in command when the Nazi´s banned Jewish people from owing bussiness. When the Germans invaded The Netherlands he took his family into hiding in his office at work along with another Jewish couple. His loyal staff cared for them and brought them provisions. They converted the upper levels of the office into a small house and Anne kept a diary which has been published in just about every language. The famillies hid for 2 years until someone informed on them and they were taken to concentration camps. The only survivor was Otto, Annes´s father. He said at the house that he imagined that he and his wife would not survive but never thought that the children would not. What a wonderfully talented writer and so young. It is more then a shame that the world did not benefit from her writings for years and years to come. We lost.

So on that happy note....after Amsterdam that it was off to Berlin, Germany by air! I slept in the airport for my 6:50am flight because it wasnt really worth getting accmodation. By the time I wasted a whole bunch of time finding something (something which I am extremely tired of doing by now) and then I stayed out in Amsterdam until midnight seeing the place with new friends and then if I planned to get an early train to be at the airport I would leave at like 3am or 4am to make sure I didnt miss the 4am train....needeless to say 3 or 4 hourse sleep in a hostel for 20 plus Euros (they are expensive in Amsterdam on the weekends) was not worth it.

Belgian photos! Cara´s day in Brussels

Cara´s day in Brussels!


The night of arrival: My friend Mike (from Mauritius, met on the train) and I out for a drink meeting Belgians next to us! Everyone was oputside enjoying the nice weather on an intersection with lots of bars. It was very alive.


One day to see it all: I visited la musee de Beaux Arts/Fine Arts museum and saw La Mort de Marat/The death of Marat...which I studied in Histoire de l´Art Contemporain/Contemporary Art History in Lyon. It was a complete surprise. I had no idea it was there. Very cool!


The off to Brussels Park...once again everyone was out enjoying the weather, lounging on the grass. Behind me is Palais de la Nation, Brussels parliamant.


Cara with a really yummy Belgian waffle! YUM YUM YUM! I ate 2 yesterday just to make the most of it. They are so good you don´t need whipped cram, strawberries, chocolate or any of those things.

Belgian waffels and Belgian chocolate! and French again!

Hey! So after Hannover I visited Munster and spent a fantastic eveing with my friend Jens and his lawyer freinds...everyone was soo nice and hand picked by Jens for their english speaking abilities. Believe it or not it was the best conversation I´ve had in ages and it was with non native english speakers! I am so lucky!

After that I spent the next day in Cologne and then entered in Belgium to visit the capital Brussels. I spent all of today there and saw it all including alot of Art Nouveau architecture and an exhibition which made me wish I had more time here....always a good thing! I ate Belgian waffels and Belgian chocolate while here and let ,e tell you it was fablous, amazing and incredible to say the least!

Tomorroz off to Amsterdam for 2 days, just a quick visit, and then I fly to Berling early early Monday morning! Forgive all the mistakes in here as I am so tired and also they speak French in Belgium so I am back to the French keyboard however I am loving speaking French again. Tonight I am staying with a Belgian policeman and his son (believe me its a long story but I am not arrested) and I have practised my French all night. They are SO nice! Belgian people are very friendly.

Cara =)

Made in Munster!

Hi everyone! I travelled west in Germany today to Munster where my friend Jens lives. We were at the same uni in Lyon. The train trip here was beautiful! Everything is so green and German countryside is completely underated! There are fields and fields of yellow flowers which I think is mustard....it is so yellow it contrasts with the dirt around it making the dirt appear violet! The whole countryside was striped with yellow, green and brown. Spring really is here...in fact Jens says that this year the weather went straight from wintrer to summer!

Jens picked me up from the train this afternoon, we got ice cream and walked around the town. Visited the river, lake, church and old part of town. I saw his university and now we are off to what we are calling a BBQ party at his girlfriend Julia´s house! I am doing laundry here and just took a shower! How about that! P.S. I think I fogot my camera cable in Hannover so thats not so good for the photos on the blog idea! oooppps!!! Currently looking for a flight from Brussels to Amsterdam....or trains! =)

Hannover with Ivan!

The Church and old city building!


Hannover from above!


A statue commemorating 7 guys who believed in the contitution over their King...wonderful idea!


Cara and the Hannover Opera.


The Hannover Town Hall which I fell in love with and think is absolutely beautfiul!

Off to Munster!

Hello! So I have done Hannover and am off to Munster today to visit and stay with my freind Jens whom I was on exchnage with in Lyon. He was the diver and instigator of the St Etienne trip that I did when in France! That was an incredible trip...you may remember the photos with autumn leaves and a cascade (waterfall). It will be nice to see him. After that the plan goes continue west to Brussels, and then who knows. Amsterdam? Swisterland? Copenhagen? But the plan is to end up back in Munich and then go north to Heidelburg and Frankfurt where I fly out and where Sam (a friend on exchnage with Melb Uni) and Carola (my step dads cousin who came out for the wedding and is soo nice and excited to have me spend time with her family). YAY!

Croatia in a nutshell

Hi Everyone!


So I have left beautiful sunny Croatia and am now in Germany!

Croatia in a nutshell:

April 24th-Left Budapest (capital of Hungary) for Zagreb (capital of Croatia). My train ride was hands down the best EVER! As I got onto the train I started talking with 2 American girls, we went and found our own compartment together. Before the American girls I said some offhand remark to a Danish woman (Lis). I went back and spoke with her and she had invited me to come and stay with her. She lives on an island north of Germany and off the east coast of Denmark! YAY! The American girls were really wonderful to chat too and very interesting women. We were chatting away, went out to look at the view of the lake as we trained past and ended up invited a Swedish guy into our compartment after which time we took lots of silly photos, drank 2 shots of Absinth, complained about that and tied one of luggage tags onto each on of us somewhere…mine is on my hiking boot and will not take it off for at least a month!

April 25th-Spent the day in Zagreb touring around with a German girl. We went to the outdoor market, jumped on a tour of American high school students, saw one of the oldest and prettiest cemeteries in Europe and food shopped for our upcoming trip to the National Park which is only 2 hours by bus from Zagreb

April 26th- Cara and German girl separate as Cara needs to clense her camera of a multitude of photos. Agreeement is to meet at the bus station at 10am. German girl makes casual joke of ‘well I will just leave if you’re not there’. Photo burning takes longer then expected and Cara arrives at bus station at 10:30 therfore missing 2 possible German girl buses….hummm….where is she? Maybe she has gone to the park already? Waiting for me there? Cara decides to catch the 11am bus with or without German girl as she must already be in the park if she doesn’t make it to the bus station….all she had to do was get on one tram so she should have beat me there. Arrive at park. No German girls anywhere. There are multiple entrances and German girl could be anywhere….hurrm…ask park rangers…they are fresh out of German girls. Cara rents a big room with 3 beds and a bathroom, feels incredibly luxirous and then goes for a walk around the park! The park is a waterfalls national park, full of travertine waterfalls and incredibly beautiful! Cara meets Adam (Canadian backpacker) who is really nice. Cara and Adam have dinner and then go back to Cara’s palace sharing stories of traveling (Adam did a missionary trip to Albania and most notably slept in a tree atop his bag to avoid finding out if the wild looking dogs outside a Serbain train station were really wild) and taking long showers in the nice bathroom….separately.

April 27th- I’m up early and spend the day touring around the park with Satoshi (Japan) and Christine (Australia). Satoshi is almost retired and Chris is in her 40s so it is nice to hang with a different crowd. Chris heads back to Zagreb and I have dinner with Satoshi or rather he bought me dinner. He is very very nice and has traveled just about everywhere multiple times. Maybe I will visit him and his family in Japan someday.


April 28th- Head out early with the intention of getting a bus. Wait 2 hours with Satoshi and finally when we get a bus I remember that I have forgotten my passports cleverly hidden in my room! So its back to the little village for me. The woman who I stayed with completely cleaned the room and didn’t find it so I guess that’s good right. I am so good at hiding things I hid it from myself! So I had to wait around the park for the next bus at 5pm! I bought some lunch (yougurt and bread) and sat on the path and low and behild who did I meet. A backpacker I gave advice to on where to stay who was getting off the bus as I was getting on. We hiked around togtehr on some of the rim trails which I would have been sorry to miss and then I went and waited for the bus for 2 hours...when they say it comes at 5 its a rought guesstimate! Arriving in Split quite late I asked the guy at bus info if he knew anywhere to stay after looking for something in my Lonely planet and finding it said very little in general about the city of Split. He had a friend whos grandmother rented rooms and a free taxi to get me there. prefect. It was not that close to the town and my room with 3 beds was completley empty (a good thing if you look at it one way and alone therefore bad the other way) but at the hour I didnt care.

April 29th- Headed out taking all my stuff and went looking for a hostel and from this point on life in Croatia starts. I founf Al's hoste, run by a nice englishman and stayed there for 2 days. I met the people there who I travelled with to the Islands of Havar and Korcula. I ended my trip in a beautful city called Dubrovnik and took an overnight bus back to Zagreb where I flew to Germany with a budget airling called German wings!

Hamburg!

Cara on top of a tower in Hamberg!

Hamburg photos!

So I met Ivan comming off the plane. He is Crotian and studies in Hanover and we walked around Hamberg togther. He showed me some of the sights.

Korculan Photos! hahaha

Cara at church (in Korcula's old town)



This is a the town of Korcula from above. Nice photo if I dont say so myself!



Cara rented a Peugeot Vivacity scooter and crossed the entire island of Korcula to visit the town on the other side of the island! YAY! And I drove through a town called....CARA!!! (ok, in all honesty the accent on the top of the C renders a different pronunciation but I am still ecstatic!

off 2 another island...Korcula

the weather here iS sUNNY AND AMAZING. OFF 2 ANOTHER ISLND TO EXplore and then off 2 the main land flying to germNY AFTER THT. THIS COMPUTER IS NO GOD11111 AHHH....BYE 4 NOW1!1

Havar-ing a good time in Havar! haha

The island is beautiful and quite big too. Last night Pauline (French- met her in Budapest and found out we were going to be in Croatia at the same time), Marcus (USA met in Split hostel) and Bryan (Aussie- met in Split hostel) went out for dinner. Drank some wine which I am quite licking I must admit. We then went and partied a bit at the main square right on the water as there was a concert there for the first of May whihc is a holiday here. We hung out at one of the bars right on the water (the town is pretty small so there are not very many) and all tried to find out accmodation again in the dark!

Today, was my first day of nice weather since I left the capital Zagreb. It is nice not to be soggy and the colours here are spectacular. Just add sun! I spent today chilling out and it seems we have quite a big crew for dinner tonight. There is a group of people we met in a bar last night, guys who were in Split and came to Havar earlier and the group of us that travelled over here for dinner together. Should be fun. I will be here tonight too and then visit another island tomorrow. Alright, must go climb up to the castel up the top of the island. Thank you to Havar public library for letting me post this!

Cara who is safe and happy and will go to Germany at the end of the week....so everyone can stop worrying!

From Split a costal city to Havar island.

So today I am off on the 2pm ferry to Havar which is a popular island. It is pretty chill here and I have made lots of friends who are going to Havar today and know others who went yesterday! Will try to find more net soon! Love you all....I am very safe.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONCERNED:
I cant try to reassure the people who are concerned about Croatia. You dont know till you get here. I cant describe it....you have to come and see for yourself. It is normal here. VERY VERY normal. There are alot of tourists but not too many that they would be targetted. There are people of all ages that work and play and live normal lives. Croatia is probably safer then most places at the moment. Croatia and most easter European countries are off the map a little bit and there is no terrorism here. Why werent people concerned when I was in western countries which were being targetted? Discussion over...everyone stop worrying. If it wasnt a public holiday I would call and reassure everyone but its just not an option.

Split...oh I'd love to think of a whitty title....suggestions please!

Hi guys!

I just spent 2 nights in the Nationsl Park Plitvička jezera. It was amazingly beautiful! Tiers upon tiers of waterfalls! I have soooooo many pictures of waterfalls you will all be sick of them when I get back!

I am now in the city of Split on the coast and I like it here too! I have to go to dinner with some American guy, his brother, fiance and friend. The to live Irish music I think....wacky! I PROMISE photos soon!

Cara with a big grin!

Thank you all for your comments! I felt soooo warm and fuzzy inside! I will try to talk to you sometime soon Claire bear, great to hear flights are booked Rhiannon I am both happy and relieved and STOP WORRYING FAMILY!!!! Croatia is beautiful, modern and friendly! Rainy too at the moment but we hope that will pass by monday!

P.S. Suggestions for a title guys!

Croatia

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now in Croatia. Ibn the capital, Zagreb. It is beautiful spring weather here and otday I toured around with a German girl whom I met yesterday night when I arrived. Today we saw the parliament, the two famous chuches, a cultural museum and one of the most beautiful cemetaries in Europe. We also had a nice lesiurely lunch....felt a bit lazy for that one! National park tomorrow

Going going....where?

Hi all! I am leaving Budapest within the next 2 hours....I think I am off to Croacia or Solvenia...looking for a hostel now....also looking for a way to get to Malta as met American studying there. We hung out yesterday and today so I might go and have a look! Love you all and being very very carefully Mummy! Will call you tonight and tell you where I am so you can worry sick!

Looks like Im staying!

Ryan left for Brno in the Czech republic today (Sad!) so he flys out on our flight tomorrow (he goes home in several days from london) and Im staying here to explore Budapest and plan my next move!

Hi all from Budapest!

Hi there! Hungry is wonderful! Budapest sounds so forigen and far away but its not that at all...its great! I have so many stories and so much to tell but i just dont have the time....i am always rushing to my next location or trying to soak it all in or trying to find food or accmodation (that takes up alot of time).

Today I did a tour of Budapest and then went and found somewhere to stay tonight. Ryan and I bascially rented a room with a kitchen and lounge room for 9000HUF which is about 30 Euros...its huge, its modern and its EXCITING! We are a bit blown away! We then went to the Hungarian National Gallery (Magyar Nemzeti Galeria) and saw the permanent collection which is free. The museum was packed full of art and they had a really nice collection. It is on top of a hill that looks over all of the pest side od Budapest! Very nice!

Tomorrow Ryan flys back to London with Ryan Air and I have a flight booked. I am not sure if I am going to take it! Right now I am leaning strongly towards staying here and seeing a bit more of Hungury and Easter Europe which is severely under rated!

Dont know what I am going to do but will keep you posted! Right now I am looking for tours on the net for this area!

Im in Budapest!

Im in Budapest, Hungury! Its GREAT! Just got here this morning!

Cara had arrived in the Czech Republic

Hi guys. So I have arrived in the Czech Republic...cant find the exclimation mark on this thing otherwise there would be an abundance appearing as always. So I got to Stansted airport and couldnt find my travel buddy. I waited and waited and in the end flew alone. Amazing how things turn out. Dont know what happened but I got an email saying Ryan will be coming tomorrow and is spending tonight at the airport to ensure he doesnt miss his next flight....sounds like a bit of a story. I am going to find a hostel now. I was looking for the internet and asked 2 guys on the street and they let me into their office. So now I am sitting with the receptionist and a security huard typing away. On the way over I bonded with the woman next to me, as I am so famous for doing, and she escorted me into town, bought me my bus ticket, helped me exchnage money and gave me her number in case of emergency. So, so far outstanding reports of how freindly the Czechs are. hooray....its just not the same without my beloved exclimation marks1111

Cara had arrived in the Czech Republic

Hi guys. So I have arrived in the Czech Republic...cant find the exclimation mark on this thing otherwise there would be an abundance appearing as always. So I got to Stansted airport and couldnt find my travel buddy. I waited and waited and in the end flew alone. Amazing how things turn out. Dont know what happened but I got an email saying Ryan will be coming tomorrow and is spending tonight at the airport to ensure he doesnt miss his next flight....sounds like a bit of a story. I am going to find a hostel now. I was looking for the internet and asked 2 guys on the street and they let me into their office. So now I am sitting with the receptionist and a security huard typing away. On the way over I bonded with the woman next to me, as I am so famous for doing, and she escorted me into town, bought me my bus ticket, helped me exchnage money and gave me her number in case of emergency. So, so far outstanding reports of how freindly the Czechs are. hoory....its just not the same without my beloved exclimation marks1111

London!!!! for the second time!

So my Dad returned to California on April 10th and I am hanging around London with mates!

Friends in London:




Crazy Cara sporting a fablously yellow hat belonging to an of the Italian girl from Venice staying in my room in the London hostel.
Christina (USA-another hostel room mate), Cara and Emily (Cara's friend from high school whom Cara told 'Emily, you must come to Europe' and here she is!) at lunch in London's Chinatown with wonderfully presented Japanese (hrrmm...in CHINAtown) cusine. After lunch I trained it south to Chichester (in the county of Sussex) to visit my friends Emily and Lucy Budge (and stay with their family) to celebrate Emily's 21st birthday. I was a birthday surprise! Being a surprise is fun!. I met the sisters in my first ever hostel when I visted Honolulu, Hawaii at the start of my trip! Lucy pointed out to me the other day how crazy it is that they met me at the start of my trip and I am STILL travelling....and when you put it like that is seems amazingly wonderfully odd!

Tomorrow I will see my uncle (my Dad's sister Ava married an Australian) Michale's brother who lives very close. He is going to pick me up at 1pm and I am going to meet his family. How nice! Here here for random relatives!

I am here until the morning of April 15th (Saturday) when I will take the train back to London and then a bus to Stansted airport (one of London's discount airports) to rendez-vous with my friend Ryan. We will then fly to Prague, Czech Republic for a week!

It's been so nice being here. Sleeping in a comfy bed, washing clothes,havidng the ability to jog, being surrounded by cats (I miss my puddies!), eating fablous food....today the sisters, their mother and I all went to their country club and went for a dip (oh how posh!) in the pool, spa and steam room! So by the time I set off for Prague I should be organised, clean and ready to hit the road and be homeless once more and here after!

Cara and her Daddy at the Palace of Versailles

Here is my Dad and I at the Château de Versailles! Behind us is the Château! Big! Fablous! Beautiful!

Part 1-Barcelona and Valencia!

Part 2-PHOTOS of Spain! Spanish photos! Photos with Spaniards!

So we left Valenica and went to visit Madrid but just couldnt keep away from all the fun so back to Valencia we went for acouple more days before exisitng Spain from Barcelona where I went off to Rome!Now that was the summary here are the photos!


So here is me with a bunch of traditionally dressed Spanish gals! The dresses and detail are amazing! I saw pieces of these costumes in stores in Spain for sale and I thought they were a bit over the top but when you see the whole ensemble it is magically beautiful. Ryan and I were on our way out of Valencia to Madrid when we were lucky enough to stumble across almost everyone who participates in the Las Fallas parades. It was registration day! So we got pictures of everyone and with some before the festival started and they were probably harassed all the time. I even found a girl who spoke english and asked her every single question I could possibly think of! Each Fallas house is for a region of the city and has its own emblem/pins which they give to eachother...and I was given 2!!!!!!!!! Lucky me!


So I raved on and on about the Spanish countryside and here it is in an all impressive out the window bus shot! Now if that doesnt impress you I dont know what will....raise your hand if you want to come to Spain immediately!


So here is the hostel I stayed at in Valencia! This is like the perfect promotion shot for hostels everywhere. Random youths all participating and sharing travelling together, creating moments they will remeber for the rest of their lives, bonding....almost makes you sick but it was a lot of fun and definetly one of my favourite things about travelling! The girl with her back to the camera and playing the guitar is Nicole from Munich, Germany who is studying to be a music teacher and has music pouring out of her soul and mouth at most times of the day. I hope to visit her when I stop by Germany in May!


Cara and Nicole (Munich) perched on high watching the Mascletta which is a firework display everyday at 2pm during and even before the festival! The sounds of the firworks are so lound they shake you from the inside out!


Cara and Ryan sandwiched between 2 Argentinians! And the message of this photo folks is that the world is smaller then you think and heres why. I met the guy on the left and his cousin in Valencia. I then went to Madrid and met the guy on the right who told me he was from Argentina in an intro conversation. I commented that I had been meeting a lot of Argentinians lately in Spain like in Barcelona and Valencia and he replied that his brother was in Valencia....yep....I met his cousin and brother in my hostel in Valencia! Out of all the hostels what are the chances! We also ran into them on the streets of Valenica on the last night of Las Fallas while jammed in the busiest crowds of the festival which hosts about 4 million people! Crazy!

Back in France again!

Hey all! I am sorry I am not keeping you all as informed as I would like but I am running around crazy busy organising things with my Dad who arrived in Rome on the 22nd!

So to sum up so much info into acouple of sentences (which I hope to eloborate on later) I flew from Barcelona to Rome on the 22nd and met my Dad. After we spent acouple of days in Rome and Florence, saw the leaning tower of Pisa on the way to Turin. Spent time with my friend Sumita in Pinerolo so we could see Sestriere and now we are in Lyon! I have showed my Dad my old apartment and university and tomorrow off to Paris! Oh it was exciting and so good to see 3 old friends today. My friend Alisa cried when she saw me and I felt the same! I need to visit her in Canada and also need to visit so many friends all over the world now that it makes you never want to stop travelling just so you can see the ones you love being with!

Cara in Lyon and feeling at home again! Vive la France!

Old Photos!

See loooook! My finger is all better now! Isn't the body an amazing thing!

Las Fallas

So Las Fallas was great and I didnt have to sleep on the beach or in a park with friends in the end. I got really really lucky and got a bed in the hostel we stayed at the last time we were there. It was alot of fun and amazing to see the burning of the fallas. They were SO hot. We crowded around a fallas at 11 when they burnt all the large fallas (the smaller ones for the kids were burnt at 10). They wound an extremely long fuse around the fallas, sprayed it with flamable liquid from water bottles, removed the crowd barriers and torched the thing.

I Really liked the Fallas. Many if not most depicted topless women and would not be considered ´decent´ in Australia or the USA. There were also many figures which were were not your typical model type seen in magazines. The same is seen all across Europe with Art and especially statues and fountains in public places. It is nice to be open about it and recognise that everyone has the same body and that its not something to be ashamed of or hidden.

Back to Valencia!

Hey everybody! So I am off to Valencia to participate in the festival Las Falles even thought I don't have accmodation becasue you had to book months and month ago thanks to the biggest festival in Spain! The population of Valencia increases from 4,000 to 4 million for the event which is like a huge street party with parades. The main spectacle is the giant float like creations that they build and then set on fire on Sunday night. Then spend the whole year building close to 400 of them, 2 for each Falles house (a Falles house is like a suburb). So my possey and I are now going. The group consists of Ryan (Oregon), Sean (USA but studying in London), Tony (Arizona) and Stephanie (Arizona). So we are off today on a bus we hope! YAY! Then it´s back to Barcelona and then I fly to Rome to meet my Dad! More YAY!

Cara is in Madrid!

Hi everyone!
So I made it to Madrid safe and sound. I took a bus from Valencia becasue in Spain it seems that the trains are way more expensive then the buses so for half the price of the train I took a bus through the beautiful countryside of Spain! It was gorgeous! I mean absolutely beautiful. The earthy colours were amazing and the landscape was very different to France and other countries tht I hve visited. Covered in soft looking grass, the very definition of green and dotted with flowering trees, rocks and exposed red earth. I was wirting some post cards at the time so if you get an ´I love Spain´ type of inftuated post card thats probably when it was written. I can see myself returing here and maybe living here for sometime.

So I got to Madrid and I was at the bus station in the middle of nowhere (with 2 friends from the previous hostel). I had to ask the bus driver and then 2 people on the street just to find the metro station. Then I followed some little old lady around because she was going the same way as I. Meanwhile I was wihtout a map or guide book.
I made it to Plaza del Carmen, my meeting point with Ryan nd found he was not there. After waiting for about an hour I decided action was required. We had arranged to meet there in a smaller plaza then Barcelona which was clever and showed that we learned from previous mistakes however at this point I relised many stupid things: 1-that Ryan had the addresses of hostels which I wrote down including phone numbers etc, 2- we had no back up plan if one of us did not show up and Ryan could have missed the train or the train may have been full or one of a hundred other problems could have arisen meaning that I would wait in the plaza forever, 3- becasue it was approaching 9pm stores to buy phone cards, food, maps etc would be closing.

So as i was planning my next move without any information a pair of Americans (Robert and Katie) walked past as which point I shouted out and we talked. It turned out Robert was staying at the Cat´s hostel one which seems to be the talk of the town at the meoment becasue it is new and everyone says how nice it is. So I proceeded to get directions from him to the hostel, a map from a hotel (who didn´t look impressed that I had a massive backpack...suck it up people) and took the metro back the way I´d come to the hostel station. Its all abotu who you meet, who you talk to and how much you throw yourself out there. After getting off the train I saw a guy I decreeded as looking American (sad but true you can start to tell these things). So I asked him if he was going to Cat´s and its a good thing to otherwise I would have NEVER found my way! I checked in so overjoyed to haver arrived and was given a watch as a key. It´s a little plastic blue watch which you scan to get into the hostel and your room and your locker. It´s pretty cool technology but at the same time I think it´s fuuny that everyone likes Cats for their little blue watches (I´m wearing mine right now!). It is also becasue the foyer is decorated like the Thaji Mahal with a nice fountain and mosaics.

So I met Stephanie from the USA in my room who is absolutely adorble and convinced her to come to a Jazz bar back near plaza del Carmen as Robert and Katie had invited me there. I love other peoples stories. Stephanie had booked her ticket in June last year to meet a friend on exchange but the friend decided to change and exchnge this summer instead. So now she is here in Spain for a week, having never travelled to Europe before or having stayed in hostels. So we wnt to this somky little jazz bar down in a basement that you would only know if you were a locl or an exchange student hunting for cool dark corners (Katie). The jazz was good too.

When I got home a note from Ryan was waitig saying that he has checked into Cat´s too...what a coinsidence (would have been a great back up plan)! So its the next day and I´ve had breakfast (provided by the hostel) and am going to head out today with Stephanie to explore...she seems big into eating pastry here (one of her favourite things) so I guess I will just have to grit and bear it! Bye for now! xoxox

P.S. It is definite that my Dad flys into Rome on March 22nd. I booked a flight from Barcelona to Rome that day so I slide into Rome and skid to a halt just before him to greet him at the gate!

P.P.S. Rhiannon is planning to accompany me in Thailand. YAY!

Off to Madrid today!

Off to Madrid today! YAY! New city. Valencia and the beach was good and it was fun to be in the sun aghain! The weather is amazing! I am never going North into Europe again!

Going to Valencia!

This morning Ryan and I are heading south to Valencia by train where we hope to sit on a beach in nice weather and explore a smaller city!

Cara xoxox

Photo captions:

1- Joel and Cara at dinner in Bologna
2- Ravena mosaics from around 500AD

Ravena Mosaics!

Barcelona- day 2!

Had an exhausing day in Barcelona and need more sleep then my current 6 hours in 48 hours! Today I got up at 8:15 even though Flamanco kept me out until the wee hours of the morning (2am) and intened to eat the fab breakfast (its pretty good. It has juice and 4 different kinds of cereal, toast, muffins, fruit...yum-o...imagining tomorrow). So at breakfast I talked with one of the girls who was at the Tapis/Flamanco night and she was going off exploring. So of course I decided to dely a shower, not re-sleep and go touring. We went to Parc Guell where Gaudi did more mosaics and he designed a system to save water in summer. We then took the bus and randomly hopped off at another well known and one of the best Gaudi creations- another house like yesterday. It was a bit more of a museum....all that educational stuff (you know how I hate that...sarcasm) and was interesting as I had already seen the parc and a house. Then we took a metro to the waterside (even though we didnt really need to...the distances on the maps look pretty big but everything is pretty easy to get to in walking distance) they seem to have a pretty nice system here. I am still waiting for the day when Melbourne trains come very 3 mins!

Se we wandered a bit until my friend decided she had better go and head for the airport as she was leaving. I laid in the sun a bit...oh did I mention Barcelona is in SPRING!!!!!!!! That´s right and if you were here you´d understand what a big gigant humongous deal that is! At the park I saw evidence....cherry trees in bloosom! In blosoom I tell you! And I was actually hot today and wished I was in a t-shirt! No way! I went outside wearing only 2 layers...one would have surficed but I couldn´t take anymore off, 2 is the min because I am not used to having to remove anymore layers then that! I am not sure how hot it was here today beacause like the pharmacys in France and Italy there are green crosses that flash telling you it is a phramacy and also they tell you the time and the temp. The ones that I saw this morning said anywhere between 17 to 21.5...either way I am happy and it is warm.

So I baked in the sun for a bit and enjoyed it. I arranged acouple of days before via email to meet Ryan (American who I met in Venice and spent a day touring together) in Plaza Catalunya. We found eachtoher there eventaually. It was nice to see him again. His smile is nice and sense of humour reassuring/comforting. Took him back to my hostel so he could get a place to stay and then finally got my shower! Oh it was good. Supposed to meet Ryan in Lobby at 17:30 (the 24 hour time thing is just how they do it here) but he slep and I thought he might have left so I wandered down Las Robles (a big main street) with Matt, an American who I had met a few hours earlier that day. We visited the Catedral...big...and the the Mercat Boqueria which is a market like the Vic Market for those that have been. I bought coconut beause it was already cut up frech and I thought it was novel. Ages since Ive eaten that! Then I went to meet 2 girls from the flamanco night for a Vegetarian all you can eat buffet for 8.80 Euros! Not bad! Ryan awoke and tried to meet us but to no avail since he could not find us. We met him after in out fav Plaza Catalunya, chatted for a bit and then wanderedto the beach just cos we wanted to see it even in the dark. We played in parks on the way, on a giant climbing rope structre which brought much amusement, stopped by a few clubs but just didnt feel the vibe and then walked all the way back home with sore feet. Need better walking shoes and something besides hiking boots! You cant wear them all the time!

Tomorrow I am up at 8am again to meet Ryan for breakfast so we can decide where we are going to travel in Spain. Breakfast is better then cos there arent so many people and if we get an early start we can see more of Barcelona. I will sleep when I´m dead! I will say I will take another nap tomorrow but I wont in the end! Too many things to see to miss out!

Love you all and take care! Have fun above all!

Barcelona Ole!

Hi guys! I am in Barcelona on Spain´s east coast!!!!!!

Okay, so I have obvoiously never seen photos of this place. I had no idea what to expect so I expect nothing and the city is amazing! It is huge! I arrived yesterday and came to Centric point hostel which is nice and new and in the midlle of the city! It has really big windows which look out on the street called Passeig de Gracie and like 2 doors up from me is the Gaudie house!

So my plane got here at 1:30 in the afternoon. I came to the hostel and should have gone to bed seeing as I pulled an all nighter packing (and having dinner with Joel...yeah, dinnerand wine and cider and gelato!) but instead you have to be in it to win it so I got out there and wandered the streets of Barcelona while it was still light! In my wandering I have discovered that Barcelona is full of great shops with beautiful clothes and jewellery and bakeries or chocoloteries to make your mouth water ten times over! I went and ate a hot chocolate (liquid chocolate) with churos as is traditional, bought a pair of earrings (hey what can I say. Its the only thing I can carry and afford to buy!) and then went and saw the Gaudie house. I was a bit hesistant to pay to go inside beacasue it is expensivebut I bit the bullet and went on in and I am so glad! An amazing house and very well done. Gaudie was an architect/designer ahead of his time who remodeled this house. It only´took him 2 years which is pretty incredible considering the work done and he did it without plans (only a model and himslef)! Sounds like mykind of thang! So I went and wandered aound there for a long time. I went back to the hostel because I booked a Tapis night throught the hostel. We went to a Tapis bar which means that there are lots of plates with decorated baguette slices. Decorated with cheese and vegetables and meat, fish was prtty popular too. We got to choose five and then went to a club to see a flaminco show. It was nice, a band and the first people of dance were 2 guys. Pretty incredible and very different culture. I liked it a lot. They took great pride and pleasure in what they were doing and the Spanish audience was very appreciative...clapping and cheering and wooooing! Then we went to 2 bars and by this time I was dying to go to bed!

So now I am eating breakfast. Its provided by the hostel and is GREAT! Fruit, cereal, muffins, juice....yum! And now I have to go beacsue I am going with one of the girls from last night to see the city. She is going down to the water and that is where the city centre is so I am jumping on the bandwagon and going! Bye guys! Photos soon.....this place has the internet so if I manage to get it again pics no prob!

Made it Bologna!

Hi guys! Here in Bologna fine and dandy! Took a 2 hour train ride from Venice last night. I am staying with a friend Joel who is an awesome tour gide! He knows everything! I have booked my flight to Barcelona Spain on March 8th from Venice so I will be heading back to Venice to fly! Felt really organised becasue I asked before I left how to get to the airport and all that jazz! The I will fly to Rome....still gotta find that flight....to meet my Dad! Life is good! YAY! Alright, got o go out and see it! Bye for now!

Cara commented on last blog that:

Hi my lovely Kris! Moving out! What the! YAY for you! Emmy! Tell me your plans for London. My Dad is coming to viti and will fly out of London around mid April so I will be there so we can meet up my lovely! Best gelato is RIGHT! SOOOO Goood! Finger is actually one piece now so thats good!Davey baby...Sestriere is at the top of the mtn and Turin was once the capital of Italy and is at the bottom the mountain and then some. Rhiannon! YAYAY for coming to Thailand! We will organise man! Venice was great to wander....incredible! Blue...Sestriere was cold and the bakeries are better then I could imagine and I nthink I am trying to patronise eveyone in Venice! Cara is going on a mega diet when she gets back! Exercise and eat right!

Bye Bye Venice, Hello Bologna!

Yeah, it's not as romatic or exciting as venice but Bologna is my next stop. I am leaving Venice today (Mark my hotel buddy here is staying) and taking the train about an hour to two hours south west to Bologna. I will have to tell you about it when I get there beacsue I dont know very much about it except it is called Red Bologna becasue there is alot of red brick and also that there are lots and lots of enclosed walkways because long ago people decided to add onto their existing houses but on the first floor mind you so there were lots of jutting out first floors which were turned into walk ways. I met 2 exchnage students on the train from Sestriere to Turin who are studying there so I have myself 2 willing guides! Hooray!

After Bologna Spain might be on the menu depending on how much flights are and then my Dad is coming out to visit and see Europe! How wonderful is that! I am over the moon!

Bye for now! More photos soon I hope!

P.S. Can you believe it? What a coinsidence! I met the family of an Olympic skier in Sestriere when I was woking in the cloak room and they turned up at my hotel on Thursday night! What a crazy coinsidence. So we met on Friday morning and went to the Murano Island to watch Murano glass blowing together and then had dinner with Mark that night and wandered around Venice.

P.S. After watching glass blowing we were in the upstairs posh show room and the man who works there was talking to me. He told me to turn around and I thought he was looking at my hair (he had commented earlier) but instead he slipped a present into my backpack! He told me not to open my bag until I got out. I was thinking that maybe he gave me a little glass animal or something but instead he slipped a tiny red vase with golden flowers into my bag! From the top level of the show room! That little thing must be worth over 100 Euros. A present for me he said! Incredible! I was amazed!

Cara is in Venice

So I travelled from Torino to Venice with Mark and now we are staying in a....wait for it....one start hotel....with a GREAT location! Venice is incredible! I just had no idea about the canals and all that jazz. And Italian bakeries are amazing. Everything is so different and looks so good so of course I want to try ti all!!!!

Photos

Random German guy, Cara, girl nicknamed 'High Girl' and Lollo. I met up with Mark (my firend Lisa's brother...you remeber that both Lisa and Mark came to stay with me in Lyon) in Torino. In this picture there is Lollo who met us in Torino and wanted to party! They (Lollo and his step sister) were lots of fun and Torino was ALIVE with the Olympics. There were people on the streets everywhere and it was crazy fun. I also got to meet up with my friend Diogo who I met last time I was in Torino. He and his 2 friends Carolina and oh bother I forget looked after Niki and I when we got stuvk in Torino over night. It was good to see him again and I will probably go back through there again. I hit the museum of Cinnema (in the building called the 'Mole' which is the one pointy famous building in Torino or Turin for all your English speakers!) while I was there but there is also the best Egyptain museum outside Alexandra there and I will have to visit that next time.

Photo description (see photos below!):

PHOTO 1:Cara at work in the Irish Igloo Cloakroom (maiamed while setting up the cloack room it Ironically became the only place she could work!). Pictured with Lollo (Lorenzo) and Sheila whjo were visiting Sestriere for a bit from Torino. After I escaped from my horrible job there I went to Torino and met up with Lollo for a crazy night on the town..lol!

PHOTO 2: Cara departs and takes a picture of her co-workers: Helen (UK), Manu (Italian), Cara (hapopy to be leaving), H (UK....H is short for Helen).

PHOTO 3:Looking down the main street of Sestriere. The mntns where the womens Giant Slalom was run.....I saw that one...'cos I wasnt working for once cos I quit (I would have quit if I wasnt fired or fired it I didnt quit.....or would have gone nuts if I had to work there again!)

PHOTO 4: OOOOOOPPPPP!!!!!! Cara tried to cut off her finger.....this trip so far is a lot of firsts....first time to Europe, first time working in a bar....first stitches....yes, it was as nasty as it looked and the Department of State guys (my friends....met through work) were less then impressed with these lovely stitches so nicely sewn into my finger by less than competent doctors....and at the very end the last doctor they sent me too turned out to be a surgeon in Turin....thats right people....a surgeon.....someone who knows how to put in stitches....and waits for the anastetic to kick in.....oh first time in a forigen hosptial experinece....hummmm....next time I'll pass....P.S. finger looks much better now....the giant gap is actually gone!

PHOTO 5: Looking up the street in Sestriere. If you go all the way to the end of this road, out of the square, up the hill and to the left I lived up there. If you go up the street and look to your left you will see The Cavern which is the resturant owned by the same disorganised slave drivers/morons/bad guys/.....I mean guys....who own the Igloo.This photo the street is packed beacuse of the Olympics. There were people everywhere with flags of their countries, horns that were sold to cheer and lots of people decked out in Olympic team gear. The Russain Olympic team outfits were my favourite. White and red with a beautiful flower/vine patteren.

Photos I hope this time!