With our journey in Czech Republic sadly over with, we ventured our way via overnight train (thankfully with a bed this time) into Poland. Krakow (pronounced Krakov) was our destination and having heard so much about the place from friends, we were pretty excited.



The city is one of central/eastern Europe's more beautiful cities, largely due to the fact it was largely untouched from the air raids of WW2. Unfortunately the Soviet Union thought it a great idea to industrialise the city in an attempt to remove the threats of uprisings, however that idea failed. The major downside being that the whopping big steel plant resulted in massive pollution and acid rain which wreaked havoc with the old buildings and health of the city's inhabitants. Thankfully that's all in the past and now Krakow is back to...

Well we've been moving around like crazy of late and apart from barely contacting anyone, we've also not written any blogs. My apologies for the lack of updates, but sometimes having fun just gets in the way.



Having spent some time in Amsterdam, we caught the supposed direct train to Brussels, which turned into a nightmare. A disruption on our line meant we ended up making 5 connections on what was meant to be a short and direct train ride. Eventually we made it into Brussels and caught up an with old mate Woollard. Noel was in town checking out some work prospects and through some late planning managed to book into the same hotel as us.



A nice meal was had in down town Brussels before heading to bed...Noel was feeling under the weather and Jess and I pretty exhausted after our stressful travel...

Having travelled through some of Germany's most beautiful regions, we hopped on an Intercity Express train to Amsterdam which was made all the more pleasant by the company on board. We met a young German musician who travels the world playing the trombone and studies in Rotterdam. He was a real gentlemen and the conversations made the time fly past. Before we knew it we were in Amsterdam with a myriad of expectations running through our heads. For what is often touted as a seedy city, the greeting was pretty pleasant. Maybe it's the canals or the buildings, I'm not sure to be honest, but the city is quite beautiful and definitely worth adding to any Euro Trip itinerary.



After much persuasion I convinced Jess to stay on board a boat rather than a traditional hostel. Threats were abundant on the walk to...

Having finished our stay in Vienna we couldn't see how anything could possibly top what where we had just had the pleasure of staying, and to be honest we still haven't topped it, but the rest of Austria has proven to be just as good. We took a short train ride to north west to Salzburg only to find out that we were visiting the picturesque region in which the Sound of Music was filmed. Now if I sound slightly dismayed by the fact, it might have something to do with the fact our hostel played it every morning and Jess didn't stop talking about it. It did however mean we were guaranteed some pretty amazing scenery.



Our stay was only short so we got to it pretty quickly with a stroll around the tight walking lanes in the main part of the city. The city is surrounded by hills and has a crystal clear, albeit extremely...

During a recent discussion with a fellow traveller the topic of first impressions of people and cities came up. The common quote, “you only get one first impression” was thrown about and a conclusion made that, like people, our first impression of a city is often the one that lasts. Our arrival in Vienna, Austria is a testament to that, we arrived, judged our new place of temporary abode and have been sentenced to a life of love for what is my favourite city in Europe (thus far at least).



On arrival I did my best to get us lost yet again (I have no idea what has happened to my sense of direction) and were saved by a very friendly and helpful info/security guard at the train station. Our tickets purchased for us (we did pay though) and we were on our way into the main part of the Vienna. It took...

Well it's been a while since I posted on our travel blog, but I can't say I'm too sorry for that, as it really has been a case of the two of us being far too busy having a great time doing things slightly more exciting than typing away on our trust travel laptop (which on that note is an Asus 1005...it's absolutely perfect for travel).



After a few days in Zagreb in the awful hostel we were stuck with, we caught the train north east to the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. We lodged in at the Celica Hostel after a quick walk from the train station, having read some great reviews on Hostel World and the trusty Lonely Planet. This hostel is not your run of the mill youth hostel, it is a former military prison renovated for hostel use, with each private room decorated by a different local artist. Additionally the location is the heart of the alternative and arts district of Ljubljana. Celica hostel has become a tourist destination of its own and hosts functions and lunches almost daily, along with tours of the cells/rooms that are vacant. The atmosphere is brilliant all day long and breakfast is a handy bonus every morning.

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As you know from our last blog, the weather in Dubrovnik hasn't treated us all that well. Despite this we've still be able to get out and see the normal sights and even chose to go for a nice run (not sure nice is the correct word given how many hills are in the region) despite the rain. We chose to stay on a couple of nights and catch up with some friends from home (Cat, Vonny, Laura and Ryan). The other crew were staying in the old town at the “Old Town Hostel” which is a fantastic hostel run by an American/Croatian dual citizen who has renovated a property he has owned for a number of years. He is young, friendly and very laid back, which shows through in good service and a relaxed atmosphere. His future plans for the hostel will ensure it only gets better and is certainly a place...

Having been blessed by a week of amazing weather in London, we arrived in Dubrovnik (Croatia) to the sight of grey skies and the threat of rain for the first time on our trip. It took only 24 hours for the rain to appear and dampen our party (ha ha see what I did there?) Thankfully it is still anywhere between 16 and 20 odd degrees even when raining at this time of the year, so we aren't complaining too much.



Dubrovnik certainly lives up to the hype in terms of geographical beauty. The coastal city is hundreds of years old and has long been a holiday destination for Europeans (even the Roman Empire enjoyed the area), but it also has a chequered history of conflict, being remembered infamously for the attack on the city by the Yugoslav Navy and Army in the early nineties. We have had running history lessons from our hostel owners and also a highly educated history boffin from the UK who was staying with us, so we need not buy any books on the matter. The attack and continuous bombing of the UNESCO Heritage Listed “Old City” was a tragedy of the conflict and still pulls at the heart strings of locals and visitors alike. Thankfully the “Old Town” has been almost completely rebuilt back to near original beauty. We came across an older Croatian lady who appeared to be visiting the Old Town for the first time since the conflict. Her emotional state as she walked the walls surrounding the city was something we found quite moving. We are incredibly lucky to have grown up where we did with conflict and wars being something we see on TV and read in the papers.

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With the English preparing to win the ashes on Aussie soil, Jess and I arrived in London looking to represent our convict heritage in the only way I knew how...bagging the English about their terrible weather, which given our cricket teams recent performance, is about the only thing we've got on the Poms at the moment. Unfortunately we somehow managed to bring Perth's glorious weather with us and with that went all my bragging rights. Then again, who am I to complain, so far we've had four straight days of glorious sunshine and blue skies in a city notorious for rain and gloomy dark days.



So with London blessing us with amazing weather, there was nothing more to do than visit the “Terry Tourist” (thanks for that Caitlin) sites and sample as many beers as we could in London's seemingly endless supply of pubs. It was after the third or so pub that I realised we had...

Thankfully Jess and I have made it to our first stop alive and well.  It's not the first time we've stayed in Kuala Lumpur, but this time we've had time to see a lot more and have come to really enjoy the mix of culture and diversity. We are staying at the Pacific Regency after having such a great experience last time we stayed here with our good friends Guy and Em (who I must say a quick congratulations to regarding their recent engagement).  The service is great, rooms are amazing (we have a deluxe room) and the breakfast is brilliant.  I can't fault the hotel at all and must strongly suggest a visit to the Luna bar on the roof for an evening if you visit KL.  It's certainly not the sustainable pricing we will be adjusting to when we arrive in Europe, but the whole point was to relax and break-up the long...