Oooooooh Viennnaaaaaaa - or at least how we got there!

Its day 5 today and we are heading off to Vienna – I’m glad of a day on the bus – As much as I have enjoyed Prague and after a great day out yesterday, its nice to have a rest and sit down again.

Before I start though here’s a bit of 'Czech' for you to translate to get a feel for the country we have just left....

(IJsem tak ráda, že jste se rozhodli přeložit to! Nechtěl jsem si, že byste obtěžovat. Byl jsem trochu nudil, když jsem napsal dnešní blog. Každopádně dobrá práce pro získání takhle daleko. Slibuji, že budu dělat tento jazyk překladu věc opět brzy, v jiné zemi, jen příště to bude správné malé překvapení! Nyní si gratulovat, že jsem tak chytrý, a pokračovat ve čtení blog !!)

Last night ended well, as a dance contest started between Frankie, Matt and Alan, which ended up with nearly everyone on the dance floor and a few random dance moves being thrown – Being old, sensible and absolutely crap at dancing I chose to stick to my beer.

It was also our last night in Prague, so everyone left the change from their Czech money on the table in the bar and quite sensibly (and because we already knew we would need it tomorrow.) Becky took it and put it into her purse for safe keeping.

Most of the group left the bar just before midnight – except the two American lads who were last seen throwing moves on the dance floor with a couple of good looking girls who were also staying at the hostel!Next morning it was breakfast followed by the usual rigmarole of getting on the bus and trying to grab a special seat – Its just human nature I suppose and I am guilty of it, but we do tend to gravitate towards the same seats or area of the bus all the time and hope we don’t have to share – The little comforts of stretching out and doing your own thing makes the journey easier. Its only fair though that everyone shares now and again – so hopefully it will all even out over time.

Lana introduced us to the rules of the bus today -No hanging washing out on the seats, no farting on the bus (Too late for most of us I think) and finally if you are late you have to sing for bus. Should be fun next time someone’s alarm fails or they have a late night!

So it was off to Vienna, via a small church in The Czech Republic that had been decorated with the bones of dead bodies. This was the surprise that me and Becky knew about from last night and Becky had saved the money for, but most of the bus didn’t know about it till we were nearly there.Dem bones dem bones them dry bones

Dem bines and a baby with a trumpet - of course!

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Its day 5 today and we are heading off to Vienna – I’m glad of a day on the bus – As much as I have enjoyed Prague and after a great day out yesterday, its nice to have a rest and sit down again.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Before I start though here’s a bit of 'Czech' for you to translate to get a feel for the country we have just left..</span>..</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">(IJsem tak ráda, že jste se rozhodli přeložit to! Nechtěl jsem si, že byste obtěžovat. Byl jsem trochu nudil, když jsem napsal dnešní blog. Každopádně dobrá práce pro získání takhle daleko. Slibuji, že budu dělat tento jazyk překladu věc opět brzy, v jiné zemi, jen příště to bude správné malé překvapení! Nyní si gratulovat, že jsem tak chytrý, a pokračovat ve čtení blog !!)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Last night ended well, as a dance contest started between Frankie, Matt and Alan, which ended up with nearly everyone on the dance floor and a few random dance moves being thrown – Being old, sensible and absolutely crap at dancing I chose to stick to my beer.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It was also our last night in Prague, so everyone left the change from their Czech money on the table in the bar and quite sensibly (and because we already knew we would need it tomorrow.) Becky took it and put it into her purse for safe keeping.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Most of the group left the bar just before midnight – except the two American lads who were last seen throwing moves on the dance floor with a couple of good looking girls who were also staying at the hostel!Next morning it was breakfast followed by the usual rigmarole of getting on the bus and trying to grab a special seat – Its just human nature I suppose and I am guilty of it, but we do tend to gravitate towards the same seats or area of the bus all the time and hope we don’t have to share – The little comforts of stretching out and doing your own thing makes the journey easier. Its only fair though that everyone shares now and again – so hopefully it will all even out over time.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Lana introduced us to the rules of the bus today -No hanging washing out on the seats, no farting on the bus (Too late for most of us I think) and finally if you are late you have to sing for bus. Should be fun next time someone’s alarm fails or they have a late night!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So it was off to Vienna, via a small church in The Czech Republic that had been decorated with the bones of dead bodies. This was the surprise that me and Becky knew about from last night and Becky had saved the money for, but most of the bus didn’t know about it till we were nearly there.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">After the driver and Lana had a slight bit of navigational confusion followed by the now obligatory 3 point turn in the middle of the road, we arrived at the church, once we had gone through all the change we had and passed around coins to everyone for their entry we spent a good 20 minutes looking around the church – apart from one unknown person who decided it would be funny to 'get up close and personal' with one of the skulls – (Probably because the girls who he had been dancing with last night didn’t let him!!)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Soon it was time to get back on the bus and we shared around a big pile of sweets that Lana had bought with the last remainders of the Czech money. It was then a couple of hours drive to the border with Austria.We stopped just a few hundred yards short of the border, when we saw a children’s play park – 'Excalibur Land'. It had large knights on horses, dragons and a large purple airplane parked in the car park, which turned out to be a restaurant. It also had KFC!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So we all piled off for lunch – some to KFC and others for a sandwich. All too soon it was time to get back on the bus and we all made it in time. A couple of people even managed to do some power shopping for swimming gear.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Then it was across the border to Austria accompanied with the now obligatory beep of the horn from the driver!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Then on to Vienna – it wasn’t far and after a short tour of the city to find somewhere to park, we all wandered up to the hostel and got our rooms.</p>

Ozbussers look at dem bones and discuss the good and bad points of licking a 2 hundred year old skull

After the driver and Lana had a slight bit of navigational confusion followed by the now obligatory 3 point turn in the middle of the road, we arrived at the church, once we had gone through all the change we had and passed around coins to everyone for their entry we spent a good 20 minutes looking around the church – apart from one unknown person who decided it would be funny to 'get up close and personal' with one of the skulls – (Probably because the girls who he had been dancing with last night didn’t let him!!)

Soon it was time to get back on the bus and we shared around a big pile of sweets that Lana had bought with the last remainders of the Czech money. It was then a couple of hours drive to the border with Austria.We stopped just a few hundred yards short of the border, when we saw a children’s play park – 'Excalibur Land'. It had large knights on horses, dragons and a large purple airplane parked in the car park, which turned out to be a restaurant. It also had KFC!

So we all piled off for lunch – some to KFC and others for a sandwich. All too soon it was time to get back on the bus and we all made it in time. A couple of people even managed to do some power shopping for swimming gear.

Then it was across the border to Austria accompanied with the now obligatory beep of the horn from the driver!

Then on to Vienna – it wasn’t far and after a short tour of the city to find somewhere to park, we all wandered up to the hostel and got our rooms.

We then went down to the bar for a cheap beer and to listen to what can only be described as 'A NOISE' I think it was some kind of drug induced chillout tunes, but soon it was replaced with something much better.

That there Prague - Thats right I said Prague!

OK then - Today is the day after the last day. I thunk its Wednesday.

So we all met up this morning after breakfast (I actually didn't have breakfast as I went on a run into Prague instead, did about 3-4 miles, but not sure how far cos of all the underpasses and backtracks!- How sad eh!! Anyhoo, we all met up and jumped onto the number 12 tram into town to take the free tour of the city. However, it soon became apparent that, like buses , the trams go both ways and - yep - we were going the wrong way! We were sure enough, when we got thrown of the tram at the last stop and were not even on the map, never mind in the centre of town. After a few glances at the street maps however we saw there was an underground station nearby that ran into town and so we all piled down to it and after a bit of map reading managed to find the square for the tour just before 11.... This meant that we also saw the absolutely magnificent spectacle of someone blowing a horn on a balcony!! Fook me, it was the highlight of my life so far - Obviously the 1000 or so people in the square also thought so, pictures of the crowd HERE

...Jeff - the tour guide

From up the tower

So we started the tour with our American guide -Jeff. He was a good geezer and in between super quick, funny stories about the history of Prague, its buildings and people we were treated to advertisements about his pub crawl!! It was actually done very tongue in cheek and made the tour even more entertaining. He showed us a lot of stuff including Wenceslas square, the town hall and a church that has a severed arm hanging on the wall. I KID YOU NOT! Picture below!!!

Alright it doesnt look much -But I promise you - its aa arm - in a church!

So after 2 hours the tour ended and we all went back to the severed arm church, but it was locked - so we had a but of lunch in a local Australian bar and finally got to see the arm and the rest of the church later!

The rest of the day was spent touring Prague's sites including the clock tower - this time we decided to try and catch the horn show from inside the tower, so we all sprinted up the many stairs and ramps to the top only to be blighted right at the death, by - would you believe it - traffic lights on the stairs!! Anyway, the views over Prague were spectacular including a view of a 6 person wheeled red bicycle thing spotted by Becky - It is now the best thing she has EVER seen! Its also on one of the photos that above - can YOU spot it!!?

After that we lost a few people, but spent the rest of the day walking the river, doing bad impressions of germans and northerners (Well Becky and Frankie did anyway!! ) AAAAAALLRIIIGHT AAARRR KIIID etc, also we spent time looking at the many pictures of which Becky wanted to buy them all, we walked the old bridge and climbed the hill to the castle - Again you cant say anything but 'spectacular' about the buildings and architecture. We had a little show as the guards changed and I had to show my military prowess to Frankie, who asked if I too could still march! Becky and Frankie were getting cold by now, so Frankie pulled on her coat and hood, while Becky dressed up in her military camouflage outfit!! Sorry again Becky!!;-)

We finished the day with a tram ride home (The right way this time) and it was uneventful apart from a local complaining that I shouldn't stand on his foot - sorry dude!

After a quick cold swim, it was then back down to the cafe/bar for tea and biscuits!!

That's it - another day done - Tomorrow - Vienna? or is it Budapest?

Just a quick one - updated today!!

Not much time today and no photos,
So heres a quick update of whats happened so far.....

I forgot to write about Ernest, who we met yesterday – Whilst we were looking around the castle, a nice old German came to speak to us and asked if we had seen the special footprint....We said no, so he led us towards the middle of the courtyard, where there was a footprint in one of the flagstones. He told us that the footprint comes from when the king came home early one afternoon and his wife was with one of the footmen – The footman had to jump out of the window and this is where he landed before running off..... It was a good story and Ernest then continued to tell us another about the lions heads on the building. There are 8 lions heads in total and all have their mouths closed except one. Ernest explained that this was because it was a female lioness and like women, then dont shut up!! With that, Ernest gave a wry smile and slowly walked off! What a cool old fella!

Today, we had a good german breakfast and headed off towards prague – 500km away in the Czech Republic. First though we had to walk down to the bus, which wasnt too bad with the light rain, but we also had to squeeze past the local binmen, which stunk!!

Anyway, we all got on the bus and started off, just after 8am. The journey was another good one – Gummi bears were passed around, a rubiks cube came out from Kenneth and we spent a while teaching Frankie how to start solving the thing.

We reached the border with the Czech about 2pm ish and after changing money at one of the many exchange we sat and had lunch – Well some people did, while others slyly ate their doggy bags taken from breakfast! Gypsies!! haaahaa! The food didnt look too good, but when Michele let us all have a taste of his meal, it was really nice – Dumpling type bread and a nice slightly spice meat dish.

Then after conversations that shouldnt really be mentioned, it was back on the bus towards Praha.

….....Thats it for today, but as a preview of tomorrow there will be a lost bus, swimming and someone staring at a wall

To complete last night post here's the bits I missed...

We finally arrived in Prague about 4pm, but due to dodgy roads and a bridge that wasnt highe enough for our bus to pass under we spent a while driving around the city...We even had to do a 3 point turn in a small lane beside the river when we trook a wrong turning. About half an hour after Lana had announced we were nearly at the Hostel, we finally arrived. After unloading the bus and walking in we saw a great Hostel, big clean, free internet and large en suite rooms. I ran into Becky and Frankie in the corridor and they then told us of a swimming pool too!! So we all got changed quickly and went downstairs oto the pool, where we messed about, playing sharks in the chilly water. We had a quick sauna too even though it was only as hot as a warm day!

Later we sat and used the internet and while Becky was waiting, she sat in a chair between the two internet terminals - the terminals however were 10 feet apart and when Becky tilted her head to the side to read a poster on the wall, from behind, me and david thought she looked a bit like a window licker, sitting staring at the wall!! heehee! Sorry Becky! At least we didnt get a photo!!

The night was spent chatting over dinner of pizza or chicken and a few drinkys, while a few of us stood watching the England game on an internet feed on the tv behind the bar.

Everyone seems to be getting on better every day and we are all off out today (Its Today now, dont know what day it is, but it is definitely today!) for a tour of Praha.

I hope it continues like this as so far it has been great!!

Day 2 Hedielberg

The first nights sleep wasnt too good – It wasnt the hostels fault, even though it was quite noisy outside and we had the windows open. I just couldnt sleep until gone 3am.
Anyway, I woke up and got out of bed in time for breakfast at 7, which consisted of the smallest bowl of cornflakes and a couple of slices of toast and jam. It was ok though as I don’t normally eat brekkie. We all packed our kit after eating an got on the bus in time for an 8am departure towards Heidelberg. Unfortunately after 5 minutes some idiot ran to the front of the bus to tell Lana, that he had left his phone and laptop charger plugged in back at the hostel. So the bus drove back around Brugge and stopped just outside the city walls. I then got off the bus and ran back to the hostel to get them – Yep, it was me who had forgotten them! Bugar It was only about a mile back to the hostel, so I made it back to the bus in about 20 minutes and we finally headed off.
We had a good laugh on the journey talking about all sorts – like old teachers from school, what boring conversations we can start in a few weeks and even about tying down elephants by their four feet!! We stopped for a break after 2 hours after passing Brussels and again for lunch at about 2pm. Then arrived in Heidelberg at about half 5 ish

View from Heidelberg castle

Moi

Me and a monkey

German baby riding a fish

Ozbussers on the internet

We climbed off the bus and up the hill towards todays Hostel - Its a bit bigger than last night but there are only 4 showers and toilets between 28 of us, plus other backpackers!! Should be fun!

We had a good wander around town, some of us climbing up the hill to the castle while others headed straight for the gummi bear shop - we then met up for dinner in the beergarden of the hostel after a few of us had been down to the river to see the heidelberg monkey and take a few pictures.

Dinner was nice - mainly german schnitzels and a few plates of salad and ravioli - with the added bonus of wine and beers!

Then it started to get chilly so the money for dinner was collected (by me, i volunteered!!) and we all headed into the bar where laptops/netbooksand ipadsall came out while we continued to add to facebook/hotmailand blogs - we had a couple of drinks and discussed why there was no 'dirt' yet on here......... its because theres no dirt to add yet.... but dont worry Lana, if it happens it will be on here soon after..........be careful, very careful!!!!

Day one........

I was up at 5 ish, well I was actually awake about 4 and couldnt get back to sleep...So I had a quick shower and left the UJC just before 6 - it was still dark!

I crossed the Thames and got a few great pics of the sunrise over St Pauls and the City....London

There wasnt a bus waiting, but I saw someone with a backpack and made my first Ozbus friend - Isabelle from Germany.... Over the next half an hour other ozbussers arrived and made friends - People who have been chatting on facebook recognised each other, while others just said hello and made new friends. The bus arrived with Lana aboard and after a few photos, we left the embankment just after 7am - minus Michele - The italian dude had problems with the tube and managed to catch up with the bus behind waterloo and got a round of applause as he finally boarded the bus just after half 7.

The OzbussersMore Ozbussers

We arrived at Dover and boarded the ferry after waiting for everyone to get their Costa Coffees!! The ferry was Ok, a few of us found the outside bit and watched as Dover disappeared and others joined the queue for breakfast - I had a salmon sandwich and pan au chocolat and read the news of the world as well as taking a few photos of tourists (For them)
We arrived in Calais, left the ferry and headed towards Brugge (Bruges?) On the way Lana had covertly got a birthday card for Bev, who's Birthday it is today, so we all signed it without Bev seeing - Not! She may even have signed it herself!!! haahaa!
We arrived in Bruges after passing a few old haunt's that I have passed hundreds of times and after walking from the bus to Charlie Rockets, the hostel for the night we put our bags into our rooms - I'm sharing with Matt and Alan, two good lads from the US of A and Michele, the italian dude!! The girls were next door, but when we left they couldnt lock their dorm, so I helped them to move their bags into our room for security before they were given another room!!

Me, Chris, Matt and Alan then had a wander into town to have a look around - we climbed the church tower and took a few photos before having our first drink of the trip (I had a coke!!! )The view of Bruges square from the tower

Another view of Bruges

We then continued to wander aimlessly around Bruges, just getting to know each other and having a mellow afternoon........ Until we came across another square - Wher ethere were loads of stalls giving away free samples of lovely dutch and belgique cheese!! We spent a good 40 minutes going from stall to stall taking it in turns to get free samples!!! It was lovely!!

We had another wander around to walk off the cheese and then returned to the Hostel around 6ish to meet up with the guys who had been on the bike ride - We chatted about what we had all got up to during the afternoon and then split up again for dinner - I stayed in the hostel and decided to have a beer and do this blog -thats where I am now!! W have done a few ghost stories and are currently chatting about fires and bamboo!!!

Its been a a great day so far - Everyone has got on. Some people want to talk, others are good to listen, but as a group it seems great - Only 91 days to go........ Tomorrow up early, breakfast at 7am and depart at 8 for Heidelberg!!



More to follow...................

T minus 1.....

I had to add one more photo!!! Cheers Gareth and Trace!!!

Well its been a good last day and a bit.......

I finally got my kit sorted yesterday and had a nice surprise when James got home for work with a crate of beers and the news that he had the morning off work and could drop me off at the bus station. Cheers mate you are a leg!

James ready to drive me to the bus station!!

I got a picture of me with my backpack and all ready to go then, James drove off and I was on my way!!

James driving off and leaving me on my own!¬! Nice!!

I was booked on the National Express down to that London - But first we had to find the driver - The bus was there with its door open, but no driver anywhere! The girl next to me in the queue told me that last time she had travelled on the bus, the driver had locked himself in the toilet - I climbed aboard the bus to check it out, but he wasn't there!!

He turned up a few minutes later and we were off......... Until some daft woman jumped in front of the coach , with her kids, carrying balloons!! Seemed she had missed the bus and wouldn't get out of the any until the driver let her on.

It was a good journey down to London, with me pointing out the sites to s group of girls who were on their way to London for a birthday weekend -

Milton Keynes, Wembley and Marble arch along with Lords Cricket ground were the highlights!!

A bus!!

That was it - I got off at Victoria, jumped on the tube and arrived at the hotel (ujc) mid afternoon.... After a wander around London and a peek at the Olympic stadium, I went back to the hotel to get an early night for a 5.30 start tomorrow!!