Final Thoughts for London-a-go-go...

1) Robinhood boots and their wear-ers. You know who you are. Stop it. Your slouchy brownn/red/gold/sliver boots are fugly.

2) The Euro-mullet. Say no more.

3) Men in pinstripe suits. Love you.

4) Heather had a 'white beer' with her fish and chips... Delightful. Fruity, yet refreshing. Mentos, the fresh maker.

In the words of Patty and Edina from Ab Fab, 'Cheers, thanks a lot.'

London-a-go-go

Here we are in London town--aren't we fancy?

Yesterday we managed to squeeze in as much sightseeing as humanely possible: Hampton Court, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, St. Paul's for evening prayer, Westminister, we 'minded the gap', we ate in a pub, crossed many a bridge, and went to the Globe for a play.

The play, Antony and Cleopatra, was awesome for three reasons: one, we were so close--in fact standing at the front of the stage with our arms resting on their boots--that we were "spit upon from great heights" as Granny Byers would say. B) we managed to find the only two people from 'Ra-chester' New York to stand next to, the wife asking us if guns were around in Roman times. Three, we managed to understand what was happening--cheers to you, Mr. Matyjck (sp?)

Today, the Tower, the Eye, galleries, shopping, eating, and avoiding the dude that's joined our hostel room... Oooo, awkward.

See you tomorrow!

The Final Stop...

Well, not quite, but it's the end of our tour. And we're a little bit sad.

We're in Dubrovnik, the walled city, and it's just as beautiful as we thought it would be. Last night we ˝walked the walls˝ that surround the old town, and took loads of pictures... you'll have to sift through them all... all 1900-ish of the group pictures our tour leader has put on a DVD for each of us (don't worry, there's a condensed 15 minute slide show that will give you the highlights... but if you want all 1900, you can see all 1900...)

Today was an early start (mostly because we were eager to escape our ultra sketchy accomodations... bullets in the bedside table, pictures of our host in Rambo ensemble, etc.), with an attempt at the beach. Rain rain rain. So we walked. And we looked. And we ate. And we napped.

Tomorrow we fly to London and cap off our trip with fish and chips, Henry VIII, and The Eye.

Personally (Amanda), I'm ready to come home and get some hugs and sleep in my own bed. Heather? She says ˝No, could stay here forever with frequent visits from fam and friends of course.˝

Three Hour Tour...

We're in Budva! Hurrah! Beach, sun, and most things cheap...

Scratch that, make it: Beach, rain, and most things cheap. We spent yesterday trapped on an all day 'boat cruise', following a rain cloud around the Bay of Kotor. Pretty backdrop for a rocky seven hours. Highlight: crowding two grumpy Russian ladies under the covered part of the boat for the last half of the trip... Have pictures to prove said grumpiness.

Today made up for it... Hot hot hot, and lots of sun. Watermelon for an afternoon snack, and lots of floating on my ridiculously expensive floatie doo-dad in the clear blue salty sea. Ho hum... You know, it's hard work, but someone has to do it.

Tomorrow, off to Dubrovnik. Pretty excited 'bout that... Not so excited about the 21 Londoners who have worked us over by jamming up the Heathrow/Gatwick airports... Sigh. Such is travel. I'm not complaining if I get to spend another day on my floatie.

Am tanned... As Val would say, I might be OT'd (overly tanned)...

Exciting times in Montenegro ...

man oh man the time is really flying by ... here are acouple of highlights from the last couples days:

- driving through the bosnia/montenegro border ... interesting to say the least ... scary border guards who take your passports off the bus and than remove one person off the bus (not with our tour) for acouple minutes!
-driving on the mountain roads of montenegro with about 6 inches of road to the right of the van you are travelling in and than a straight drop down about 500 m ... good times :) better than anything at canada's wonderland
-walking up to the monastry in ostrog and somehow getting stuck in the orthodox mass all in serbian ... all by my self ... interesting but didn't understand a word
-falling asleep in our dorm room of the monastry while monks on the other side of the door walk up and down the hall with incense ... very cool!
-the next morning walking up too early and watching the sun raise over the mountains!
-buying floating air materess in budva and laying for hours attached to the lbuoy line in the water watch the people and the mountains ... this place is soo beautiful!
-finally today taking a boat cruise around the bay of kotor ... a bit rainy and sitting next to some not so pleasant russian tourists who kept telling us that we took their seats (which we didn't) but really gorgeous blue water and coastal towns!

tomorrow is a free day and we are hoping for no rain ... than it's sun, swimming and people watching all day long!!!

To Budva and Back Again...

So... Spent a night in Ostag... In a monestary... Interesting...

It was a strict schedule with lights out at 10:30... The guy/monk in training next to us spent his last half hour awake dancing and singing to techno beats... Um, so not monk like. Stayed six to a room. One of our roomates set our alarm an hour early, so we were up at the crack of dawn, or at dawns crack, as the aussies would say... Sickos.

Now in Budva, at 28 degrees, swimming in the Adriatic with floaties we paid way too many Euros for, surrounded by a plethora of ˝banana hammocks˝ or speedos for the politically correct. Who knew Montenegrian men were so harry?

This place is ridiculously beautiful: surrounded by mountains, palm trees, and sun. The water is blue blue blue, and the pizza and tacky tourists buys are plentiful. What more can you ask for?

Im tanned, and Heather with her +50 sunscreen is getting there...

Off to Ostrog ...

It is 7 am in Sarajevo and i must admit I have loved visiting this city ... we are heading to Ostrog monastry in about 30 minutes and I am sad to leave this beautiful city ... Last night we had a pizza, sheha and gelato all within 200 m of each other, and less than 10 marks ... 5 euros, 7.5 canadian dollars for the whole thing!

Yesterday we took a scenic train ride through mountains and blue green water to the city of Mostar which has a world famous bridge ... it was really beautiful! there is also a funny tradition of boys in speedos jumping off the 21m high bridge ... it was a sight to see .... they only jump after they have collected enough money from the tourists.

Gotta run to catch our bus ... hope everyone enjoyed their long weekends!

Crbon monoxide induced sleep

(cant figure out how to use the apostrophe)

Took an early bus this morning to Sarajevo from Belgrade... 7.5 hours on a comfy, yet monoxide filled Serbian Greyhound. Slept the morning away, and awoke to tiny houses built into the mountainside, rittled with motar holes. I dont even know what to say about this place... Unreal. Thats about all I can put into words. I thought Budapest was the highlight, but something tells me Im just getting started...

Dinner: had something that in english translates to Meat Fingers. Hmmm... Actually pretty good. Amy, you would die... Bread is THE thing to eat here. This morning for breakfast I had a chocolate covered bread role and Turkish coffee... Thick as sludge, but it was served by the cutest little Babushka with a big beehive doo.

Miss you...

p.s. The Hoff, fo sho, and Gary cat, I lurve you the mostest.

Sarejavo ..

Just arrived about 4 hours ago ... after a 8 hour bus journey where at one point the bus broke down and the driver (and mechanic) basically threw water on the engine and than climbed inside it ... now that is dedication! I also experienced my first squat toilet (exactly what it sounds like) and i took pictures ;) tomorrow is a city tour and an afternoon in a park. the city is very interesting and there is still much evidence of the war of 92-95 ... especially on certain apartment buildings that were used as targets by snipers. very surreal for this canadian girl.

The actually landscape is beautiful and i can see why it was choosen for th 84 olymplics ... can not wait to explore more of it tomorrow

luv to all!

Booty Shakin'

Up.
Way.
Too.
Late.

Shook a tail feather at the local boat bar last night... Called, yes, you guessed it, "Vlaywatch"... No joke. Totally normal bar until, that is, a girl got up on stage in her knickers and shook her booty in your face. A bit much, but such is Belgrade, I'm told.

At dinner yesterday we ate at a restaurant called "?". Bowels, Glands, and "Sex glands of a young calf" were on the menu. I had chicken. No Bowels for me.

Home to the boat I go for an afternoon nap.

Belgrade ... fortresses, markets, and Blay Watch!

Ok ok ... here's another quick update!

Our tour group is getting along famously ... Amanda and I are slowly picking up the Aussie jargon so no worries :)

Yesterday we left novi sad early in the morning to catch a train to Belgrade. The 2 hour train ride was quite an adventure with train compartments mostly full and some serbian girls giving us all the stink eye but we all survived :)

We are now staying on a boat on the Danube river and it's cosy and quaint to put it nicely ... 1 womens shower for the 13 of us ... and 2 bathrooms .. but luckily we can use the mens or we'd never get outta there! We had a great walking tour yesterday afternoon to the fortress with a local women who recounted Belgrade sordid past to us ... all I remember at this point is that it has been completely burned to the ground 60 times! We than had a great dinner in a local restaurant .. Goulash, sopska salad (kinda like greek salad) for me and bread lots of bread ... it's soo good here!

Last night we decided to head out to a club along the waterfront and arrived just before 11 and although there was about 100 staff we were the only people there but by midnight it was happening and there was some ladies dancing on platforms in some pretty interesting outfits ... don't worry guys we got some pictures :) OH yeah I forgot to mention that the place was called "blay watch" ... too funny!

Needless to say we slept in a bit today and than went to a local market where most tourists don't go ... bought a cucumber (for 10 dinar ~ 1 cent), some amazing waffle cookies and berries ... that taste just like candy! For the rest of the afternoon I'm going to wander around the shops and see if there's anything I can't live without, than maybe sit down in a park and read and watch the people!

Tomorrow should be an adventure ... 7 hour bus ride on a local bus (i.e. rustic to say the least) that will take us into Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Keep the comments coming I love 'em

people, food and fortresses!

I've gotten a couple emails asking for some more details ... so here's a bit of a run down on the past couples days!!!

Out tour group is really good .. all girls .. aussies, welsh, americans and amanda and I ... we are pretty much the average age but there are a mother and daugther (from California) ... two friends from New yorks and acouple of friends travelling together from australia and the rest are solo travellers. Everyone is super nice and most have done alot of travelling ... it's great to have such a dynamic and diverse group!!!

Budapest was lots of fun and beautiful .. we took a tour to try and get lots in since we only had one day to explore. It's really a beautiful city especially by the riiver. We meet our group on monday and than went out for dinner. Early yesterday we also went to a local bath ... so fun. They have these wicked pool areas that spin you around in a circle and we spent about and hour giggling and getting pushed around in cicrles ... the locals were wondering if we were right in the head! Yesterday afternoon, we took a train from budapest to Novi Sad in Sebia. The train trip was 7 hours and part of it on a car without any air conditioning in 30+ weather ... good times! The food and restaurants we've been going to have been great ... that's a big bonus of the tour i think... they always have a great restaurant recommendation! ... I've tried some local dishes like last night ... schnitzel type thingy stuffed with goat cheese and rolled up ... really good! We just got back from the fortress in novi sad which is pretty much just an artisan studio commune right now but was built in th 17 century.. one of the artists invited acouple of us drinks ... check him out ... www.poprzan.co.yu I think that's the best experience of the trip so far ... amazing!

Tomorrow we head to belgrade ... to sleep on a boat for two nights. can't wait. Having a blast! and slowly ... very slowly starting to forget about poo and other such things :)

Novi Sad--second post...

Bog!

Or Chow... That's how we roll here. Acutually, Christian is teaching us Serbian. So far we can say hello, goodbye, thank you, please, how much is it, beer, one, two, three, snail, and tuna... Not fair, becuase tuna is tuna... Heather tests me on a regular basis.

Another beautiful day--tour, walk to the local fortress, and a random afternoon spent talking to a Serbian painter who spoke little to no English, but who could charm the pants off a snake wiht his smile and willingness to try the language. Too fun.

Tonigh: dinner and a birthday celebration for a co-traveller... Serbian beer is huge--the bottle, I mean. Should be a good time.

Dovidenja (s'later!)

Bonus Schnitzel

We might have spelt that incorrectly, but its a funnz keyboard. Sorrz (damn ys)

Day in Hungary was delightful. Took a bus tour, went to a market, visited a church in a cave, and met... THE GROUP!

12 girls, mix of ages. Lovely. Mix of Aussis and Americans. Then us. Christian is our leader... a German fellow. Really nice.

Went for dinner, and Heather ordered a salad wich came with a bonus bunch of deep fried meat... We think it was schnitzel... Good times.

Off to Novi Sad on the train. Bought two cumcumbers and pretzels for the trip... For a total of 1.15' Whoot! Whoot! Cheap snack food... Heaven!