By David Press on
1/16/2011 3:11 AM
 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...
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By Jess Williamson on
1/6/2011 2:37 AM
 After a tip off from one of Dave's mates we headed to a town called Cesky Krumlov, 3 hours south of Prague. When we got there, what looked like an easy short walk to the hostel, turned into a long frustrating adventure (as Dave put it, not sure if 'Adventure' was what I was looking for at that time of night). Dave was adamant he knew where he was going, so who was I to question. The route took us slightly cross country (not what the map said) and resulted in me slipping in the thick 20cm plus snow and down a small hill with my backpack on. Dave thought this was hilarious especially as I couldn't get up. Anyway freezing cold and a while later we found the hostel thanks to a tip off from a local. So to recover and thaw out we enjoyed a few drinks by the fire and a lovely meal at the restaraunt, adjoining our hostel – Hostel...
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By Jess Williamson on
1/2/2011 11:39 PM
 First of all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone back home and fellow travellers. I hope the new decade has started well for everyone and you all brought in the new year with a bang. Thinking of you all back home over the last few weeks and missing you all. I cant believe we have been away for 3 months already.
So after a long overnight 15 hour train ride from Belgium we arrived in Prague. We always swear whilst on the train that we will never ever do overnight trains again, but being suckers for punishment we always go back on that statement. The overnight train was definitely an experience. As we left booking tickets till the final minutes all that was left was seated tickets in a cabin of six. Dave and I had to two middle seats nestled in amongst a chain smoker, some horrible body odour and someone who liked to stretch out over two seats when sleeping. So 4 hours later that we were meant to, extremely over tired and starving, we arrived at Praha Central Station a tad grumpy. ...
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By David Press on
12/22/2010 12:08 AM
 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...
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By David Press on
12/8/2010 3:06 AM
 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...
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By Jess Williamson on
12/7/2010 1:52 AM
The land of the beer!! Well so they claim. Having travelled through Europe there seems to be a lot of European cities that try claim this. Random fact Number 1: In Munich it is legal to drink a stein of beer and still go to work .... slightly scary!
When we first arrived at our hostel, I was slightly put off as nestled between strip clubs, casino's and seedy sex shops was our hostel. Interesting location but it seemed this was the place for all hostels and in hindsight was reasonably good location (Not for that reason).
First on the itinery was the Free Sandeman Walking Tour in Munich which are run thoughout Europe in various cities, and rely on tips (If you think its worth it) as payment. Excellent way to get your bearings in a new...
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By David Press on
11/24/2010 7:57 PM
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...
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By David Press on
11/24/2010 1:00 AM
 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...
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By Jess Williamson on
11/12/2010 3:59 PM
 Well I must first apologise for the lack of updates recently. We have been way to busy playing tourist and partying that havent had spare sec to write a blog.
So last post was Ljubljana .....We were really stoked when we went to the train station in Ljubljana and found there was a special on all tickets to Budapest (Half price in fact). However half way through the trip we were questioning our decision when we were told to get off the train and board a bus. (It was meant to be a no transfer, direct train to Budapest). As we didnt understand any of the language, we just followed the pack, boarding one bus then another., getting quite frustrated and annoyed. Anyway we eventually ended up on an even older rackety train which took us to Budapest. And to make the trip even better the teenagers in front of us were listening to Justin Beiber a few decibels too loud. Just the music you want after the terrible travel day we had. ...
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By David Press on
11/5/2010 3:27 AM
 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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By David Press on
10/15/2010 3:27 PM
 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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By David Press on
10/10/2010 11:44 AM
 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...
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By David Press on
10/2/2010 10:04 PM
 Well I'm almost there. I'm definately still lagging behind Jess who was packed a few days ago, but today I went on somewhat of a shopping spree and bought up on the last few things I needed.
Top of the list was the new camera I figured I absolutely must have. I squeezed in a cheeky Nikon L110 (thanks to the folks for the present). It's a pretty handy little number which sits somewhere between a Digital SLR and your typical compact, which suits me perfectly as I wanted something with a bit more quality than the compact, but less technical than the DSLR.
The above purchase was made late in the day, early on Jess and I had some fun at Mainpeak and Mountain Designs with a couple of vouchers our respective employers and fellow employees gave us as gifts. My new boots are epic and will no doubt save my feet and keep me warmish in the snow later this year...the rest were little odds...
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By David Press on
10/1/2010 11:02 AM
 Well this signals the end of a journey that began at the ripe age of 18 while fishing with good mates Evan Cranston, Geoff Roberts, Steven Brown and no doubt a few more good mates I've met along the way. JiggyJigs.com as most previously knew it is now gone. Over time fishing became something I simply didn't have the time for on a competitive or remotely professional level and given I owned an online tackle store, I really wasn't doing any of it justice. Now certainly seems the right time to change track given we are off on a trip around the world (predominantly Europe at this point) and won't be here in Australia to run the store.
So here begins the next chapter for myself, Jess and certainly JiggyJigs.com. We'll be using the site as a personal blog, capturing all of our experiences and thoughts as we travel...
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