Switzerland, Land of Cloud

Today being our last full day in Switzerland, it is lovely to look outside to see rain for the 4th day in a row. Some days it is heavy, others only light but everyday it has rained.

Death to Swiss clouds. 

Zurich is a small town

Or so the citizen's say. As we left the train station to find our youth hostel we were looking at a tram timetable and a man walks up to us and says that if we want to go to the youth hostel then we need to catch tram 7 to Morgental which we knew, and shows us where it is, This seemed a little strange at the time because how did he know which hostel we were going to? As we get off the tram we look boths ways to try and find a street number, then a woman sticks her head out of the tram directing us by pointing in one direction. We figure we will go with her idea however after a few minutes it seems the numbers are going the wrong way so we stop. A woman on a bicycle then pulls over and asks if we are going to the youth hostel of which we reply the obvious answer of yes. She rides besides us down the street towards where she says the youth hostel is. While walking with her i ask why everyone knows where the hostel is and she says there is only one in Zurich, which i didn't think made much sense however she was sure of it.

Anyway as we approach where she says the hostel is we see a huge building about the size of Adelaide town hall, maybe bigger and suddenly realise with only one hostel in Zurich and that hostel being the size of a small country, no wonder everyone knows where it is. it was hilarious all the people telling us where to go without even asking where we want to go.

By the way, Zurich internet assess is a rip, 15 CHF or 15 AU for 1 hour access in most places.

Monaco O’ Monaco, Nice

Our last few days in Barcelona were pretty good, possibly better then Madrid, saw some really cool stuff like Gaudi's half built temple which is amazing, i would love to see it when finished. Outside the temple i bought a mini FC Barcelona football and so i want to play with that a bit, see if i can get any good at juggling it.

On the last night of Spain i tried the traditional dish of Paella and i have to say that for the 15.95 euro i paid for it i would not be getting it again, it was alright but not 16 euro worth. Anyway when in Rome do what the Roman's do.

For those of you interested, Caleb shaved his beard our first night in Barcelona.

So Monaco, as the title suggests would be mentioned in this post. We are not going to Monaco anymore, because of problems with trains and stuff, we are killing time tonight in Nice and then first thing in the morning travelling to Geneva, basically a day wasted today but oh well, atleast we are alive and the Eagles won today, something to get out of the day. 

Uno Bordillos Jamon y Queso

Such a fine sentence that is, One Cured Ham and Cheese Baguette, today´s being toasted turkish bread rather than baguette. So we arrived in Barcelona today, the train was a bit long but a really nice train so it was far more pleasant then a plane. Pastries are also a popular foodstuff here, tomorrow i aim for my first piece of fruit.

Last night we went to a Flamenco bar, Flamenco being a traditional spanish dancing and singing extravaganza, it is awesome, i have video footage of both dancing and singing which i may put up some time. The singing particularly impressed me, these guys were going for it and had such power in their voice that it seemed like their cheeks would explode from the facial expressions they did while singing. As the singing and dancing became faster and more intense our hearts would race with the beat of the music. I suspect Tim might be jealous.

So far we have met some really nice people. A room mate in Madrid called Megan who we went to some stuff with and a guy here in Barcelona called Matt, who we shared some sangrei (spanish wine/punch) with tonight. Madrid also had four aussie girls who were 18 and got way to drunk for there own good, when we saw them in the hostel kitchen one morning, all four of them had been vomitting the last night and 1 vomitting in her bed, so glad we weren´t around to see it.

Madrid

Well we have arrived in Madrid, after too long in planes and airports we are now actually doing something and it is good to feel like we are travelling and exploring, sitting in a plane does not really do this.

The planes were interesting, I watched a few movies and played super nintendo games which was cool however planes don´t exactly provide room to move. This was most prevalent when a large man sat next to me on the 12 hours from Singapore to Frankfurt and proceeded to sleep and take have my room for the first 9 hours. Once he woke we started talking and turns out he is a nice fellow, felt a bit guilty about my complaining to Caleb about that afterwards.

Anyway i will keep it short so; Hostel is good, very clean; Caleb freaked out about how much things cost but is calming down after understanding the exchange rate better; Madrid looks awesome and have a light sprinkling of rain today; Food from an Irish pub in Madrid is not worth the low price we paid and finally i actually don´t feel jetlagged.

Itenarary

Some people have been asking what my intenarary is so that they can know where i am pre-emptively so here we go.

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Madrid 17/4	Barcelona 20/4	Monaco/Nice 23/4	Geneva 24/4
Zurich 26/4	Florence 28/4	Rome 29/3	Venice 2/5
Vienna 4/5	Salzburg 7/5	Munich 8/5	Berlin 11/5
Amsterdam 14/5	Brussels 17/5	Paris 19/5	London 22/5
Edinburgh 25/5	London 27/5	New York 28/5	Spicer 30/5
Minneapolis 18/8	San Fransisco 20/8	Los Angeles 24/8	Las Vegas 28/8
Honolulu 2/9	Home 10/9

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So if you have anything which you particularly loved from somewhere on the list and think we might want to see then email me and we will try any get to it if it sounds good, like a Mexican restuarant in Barcelona which is apparently excellent.

Packed with room to spare

With only 4 sleeps remaining, today i packed, not because i thought i was running out of time but because for the next week, someone else gets my room. It's it lovely when you get kicked out of your room for relatives when you only have 4 nights left anyway.

It turned out packing wasn't as exciting as i had hoped, no revelations or anything, just rolling up clothing and putting it in a big bag. Fortunately i have plenty of room to spare which means i can bring plenty of new stuff home. The purchases are unlikely to be diamonds even though Diana keeps on hinting (but not in a marriage kind of way (i think)).

Obviously i was never going to be able to carry all my clothes for the trip. Due to this when i was deciding what clothes to take, part of the assessment was if the garment fitted well with a student travelling, for example a rather small orange t-shirt from a university acrobatics and gymnastics troupe which i got for 50c in a op-shop is classic travelling clothes and had to go in.

That is all in the adventures of Josh for now, i hope your mattress on the floor in as comfortable as mine.

Welcome

Greetings and exultations to all,
It is now 13 days till Caleb and I leave Australia and travel the world, or atleast a decent portion of it. I am starting to feel ready to go, it seems so close that i want to go although i am glad i still have time in Adelaide to spend with friends and family as i am sure i will miss them, unlike work, hehaheahaeea.

 I will next post either after packing or once i have actually left and i hope the blogs get more interesting there after.