The Adventures of Josip & Melanie

I still could not believe that we were actually going to watch a World Cup match in Stuttgart, Germany. I applied a while ago for tickets but had no luck then was put on a waiting list and we ended up getting tickets to 3^rd place play off. Even though we were not going to watch Australia or Croatia we were still really excited and happy to be watching Germany, the home team play Portugal. We found some private accommodation which turned out to be close to the train, city and stadium and Ralf the Guy who lived there was extremely cool.

We went and checked out the main town square and the football fan fest. On the day of the match the atmosphere was awesome. The match started at 8pm but there were thousands of people all dressed up, drinking beer and being noisy from early on in the day. As the match time approached there were just so many people about, it was absolutely awesome. Josip and I got all dressed up with our German face paint and our Flags over our shoulders. Josip loved it here, he loves the way German people speak as he thinks it sounds grunty and the food was as equally pleasing.

One thing I noticed about Germany was that so many Croatians actually lived here in Stuttgart. When we went to pick up our world cup tickets the guy working there asked if we were Croatian as he was too. Also at the actual match there were so many people wearing Croatian team jerseys, so Josip did not feel out of place. The match was amazing the atmosphere and the ambience of the crowd is difficult to explain in actual words but I am sure you will get more of a feel from the pictures. Well the home team won, final score was Germany 3 - 1 Portugal which everyone was pretty pleased about including us. People were going crazy for hours after the match people were tooting their horns until all hours of the morning.

The next day we were gearing up for the final match which of course you all now know that Italy won. Well we ate so much food that day German food does involve a lot of meat and potatoes but the Turkish kebabs and Italian food were also fantastic. Check out the size of that mans Kebab! Even though it was lamb which I don't usually eat, it was fantastic to taste real garlic sauce again not the mayonnaise crap they have in London. Anyway the Final day was much quieter than the day before but as there is a large Italian community here the place was full of many Italians and their sexy mullet hair styles.

We had fun that night Ralf and his nice friends invited us to a beer garden where we watched the Final match. Josip and I were pretty drunk from all the German beer we were drinking. Josip's wallet was just about to fall out of his back pocket without him noticing. When a lovely local came up to him to let him know. As you can probably tell I was not going for the Italian team but France kind of suck as well. Both teams and their supporters have egos the size of Mount Everest so either way we were doomed.

Germans I think have a reputation for being boring they are not at all boring or rude, maybe a little reserved but very polite. So next time we will have to make our way to Bavaria and have some fun with the Germans. Be warned that Germans are super recyclers and we even got told off by a local for throwing some cardboard in the wrong bin. However on the upside every plastic cup used at the World Cup when returned for recycling gives you 2 Euro! A bit better than the 5 cents you get in Australia. The world cup was fun while it lasted but now we all have to wait another 4 years to see how our socceroos will do.

Today we headed down to Clapham Common for something a little different. For all of you that are not familiar with a common it is another word for a park. A huge green area in an urban jungle where people hang out, try to catch some sun but usually end up becoming dehydrated and turning a darker shade of pink. The Sprite Urban games are basically a big day out with BMX biking tricks, skateboarding, break beating and djs. It was hot today even by Australian standards, the sun was beating down, the skies were blue and it made for a perfect atmosphere for the Sprite urban games.

The event runs for three days but we just attended the last day. Honestly I had no idea what to expect but London just has so many things happening in summer it's a must to try something a bit different. We started of at the BMX bike track where loads of young guys were practicing for the finals which were on this afternoon. I can barely ride a bike and these guys were flying in the air and at the same time doing some nifty trick while suspended in the atmosphere.

We then moved on to the break beat dancing  which involved lining up in the hot sun but we found a little bit of shade where we relaxed while sipping on a slurpee (slush puppee). For those of you that have never seen a break beat dance off I will explain. Two groups compete against each other with usually two people per team. They then take it in turns to strut their stuff and do all kinds of funky things. They exhibit loads of cool attitude while trying to intimidate their opponents with their suave moves. The team that gets the biggest cheers from the crowd usually wins but the head spinning moves are just amazing and the DJ mixing in the background playing funky tracks just completes the whole atmosphere.

The skate boarding was the last feature for the day but before that started we quickly popped home to grab some more sunscreen and refreshments. While we were walking back trough the common they were giving away Frisbees and peanut butter kit Kats. I think I would have preferred an ice-cream as the chocolate bar melted in about 5 minutes. But this gives you an idea of the great atmosphere of summer in the parks here as there is no local beach many people strip down to the bare minimum.

The skate boarding was also very cool and had a much more varied age group participating. There was this one poor guy who was trying to do a certain trick but just kept missing it but finally he did it after 15 attempts or so. These guys also fly in the air but I warn you watch out for the flying skateboards. The day ended at around 20:00hrs but it was still light outside, I love summer. It was an awesome day thanks to the fantastic weather and abundance of talent and definitely something worth seeing.

We woke up early with a headache from the drinking games the previous night. But knowing that we would be seeing the beautiful sights of Scotland was enough to get us out of bed. The morning started off with us eating our breakfast and as usual I brought my little jar of vegemite along for our travels. The French tourists seemed amused by this and giggled and pointed at our vegemite. But it is a fact that most Australians take a small jar with them when they travel the globe so I am not the only one who loves my vegemite. We then all jumped into the bus and set off to the Isle of Skye.

The Isle of Skye is actually an Island that is reached from the mainland by a bridge. The Island has some of Scotland’s most dramatic and challenging mountain terrain. It is also rich in ancient monuments, castles, and memorials. Celtic myths of fairies and selkies are also associated with the region. One of our first stops of the day was at Eilean Donan Castle. It is known as Scotland’s most romantic castle and was used in Highlander the movie.

The castle is lovely from the outside and also on the inside. I especially loved the Kitchen that has been recreated to what it would have looked like in 1932. The castle had undergone reconstruction in 1912 and is now owned by the McRae family. Today was another day when we noticed that Neil (Tour Leader) was talking non stop but his stories are always interesting and amusing. My favorite part today was when we went for a walk down to a stream with a little old cobblestone bridge. This is where Neil was telling us some stories about mystical creatures and fairies and once again his accent rocks. He could be talking about paint drying and we would still listen intently taking in every word.

We stopped for lunch in a lovely little port town where Josip and I enjoyed a lovely lunch of some hot soup and a toasted sandwich. We then walked down to the port and Josip got a nice shot of one of the locals, a beautiful big seagull. Just like the cows, the seagull was much cuter than the ones at home maybe it’s just a Scottish thing. Next stop was another Castle that had been reduced to ruins but it still looked lovely with the scenery.

We then proceeded to make our way back to the hostel again, for our last night in the highlands. Tomorrow we will be making our way back to Edinburgh. On our way back to the hostel we stopped once again to go for a wee walk amongst the wonderful scenery. There was a waterfall that you could walk to but as it was raining and I could see it from the car window, I could not be bothered. But my adventurous Josip could not resist and was the first to the top of the hill. The amusing part was watching people come back down the hill. As it was slippery many people fell while I laughed from my seat of the comfy bus but Josip managed to keep his footing.

Our last stop for the day was at a whisky store and I was definitely out of the car for that one. We brought some Scottish whisky that was delicious it was kind of sweet similar to southern comfort but better. When we got to the hostel we had dinner which included nachos and also some haggis for those who were brave enough to try it. I had some and it was quite nice but apparently it was the canned stuff so we must try some of the real stuff before we leave. But it was not really what I expected it looked like mince meat I was thinking it would be something much nastier.

We watched the world cup that night, Australia got beaten by Brazil. It was not really a shock but still disappointing. We managed to get to bed a little earlier that night and were up early again for our journey back to Edinburgh. First stop along the way back to the lowlands was at these weird rock formations. They are Scotland’s version of Stone Henge. Well they have some similarities with Stone Henge one is that they are not quite sure of their purpose and why they are there. The other is that they are very old and yes they are both made of stone.

We both loved our adventure in Scotland and were a bit sad to be going back to London. We managed to get sunny clear weather on our last day which toped off a fantastic break. We ended the day with a lovely walk through the forest and got to see another beautiful waterfall. One of the other walks we did for they day was hiking up a steep cliff where I slipped and almost took Neil down with me. Josip loved this walk and I managed to get a few shots of him on the cliffs edge trying to look scared.

After all the walking for the day we were so tired and sad to be leaving this amazing place. But we still managed to get a group shot before we all departed our separate ways. The tour was a great taste of Scotland and Neil was fantastic. This is definitely a place Josip and I would love to visit again as the people and the beautiful green scenery made it a wonderful place to visit.

P.S. Josip and I managed to taste real Haggis at a pub in Scotland and it was much better than the canned stuff and I recommend you try some next time you visit Scotland.

Today we woke up early to depart for our three day tour of the Scottish highlands with a tour company called Haggis. Well the day did not start off as expected. As I was waiting to board the bus I received a lot of luck from some birds up above. But this is no ordinary bird crap story I think that the damage the birds caused could only be compared to the damage caused by a B52 Bomber on a mission. Luckily Josip had ran back to the hostel to grab something he forgot and when he got back the look of shock on his face said it all. There was bird shit all over our back packs which luckily have protective covers, all over my t-shirt, pants, some in my hair, all over the road and they even managed to get a few girls next to me.

Unfortunately we did not have the camera out but let your imagination do the work. Josip was lucky that he left something at the hostel because if he was standing next to his bag he would have felt the full force of the bird bombers. Everyone on the tour now knew who we were for all the wrong reasons but our journey had begun along with about 15 other tourists and our awesome tour leader whose name is Neil.

Our first stop was at the William Wallace memorial. Now for those of you who have never watched brave heart, he is Scotland’s National hero. The memorial overlooks the scene of his famous victory at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 which would definitely have some fantastic views from the top if the weather was clear. The statue of Mel Gibson who played William Wallace in the movie Brave heart is apparently sometimes mistaken as being the monument much to our tour leader’s disgust.

Our next stop was on route north to Glencoe. We stopped for lunch at a lovely roadside restaurant selling hearty food but no Haggis in sight. Perhaps a little later we will try the traditional meal of Scotland but for now we were enjoying looking at the cute hairy coo’s (Cows). They are much nicer than the ordinary cows back at home and you just want to squeeze them. Our tour leader was fantastic at explaining all the history of Scotland and had something to say about everything. I honestly think he did not stop talking the whole day but it was cool as Josip and I just love his Scottish accent.

When we arrived at Glencoe the scenery was just breathtaking. Glencoe is a historic sight where a bloody massacre took place in 1692. It is ironic to think that something so terrible could happen in such a beautiful place. The shortened version of the story basically involves the MacDonald’s being slaughtered by government troops led by Captain Robert Campbell. This was after Campbell and his men had enjoyed the traditional highland hospitality before turning on their hosts (that included his own niece and her husband) in an attempt at what today would be called ethnic cleansing. Even today generations of Scottish children have been taught not to trust a Campbell.

To make the scenery even more spectacular there was a Scottish man dressed in kilt playing the bagpipes. I tried to get a cheesy tourist shot with the guy but as usual some other tourists were just getting in my way. Our group then drove on to Fort William and stopped to go for a wee walk with the stunning backdrop of Ben Nevis. Britain’s highest mountain standing a mighty 1344m is a beautiful sight and even though the sun was not quite shining or the sky blue, the scenery still made for an amazing experience.

Our accommodation for the night and last stop for the day was at Morag’s Lodge which is just a few minutes walk to the bustling village of Fort Augustus nestled on the banks of Loch Ness. Before we chilled out for the night we were entertained by a man who taught us a little more about Scottish history and why Scottish men wear skirts. Josip got to be the centre of attention as he was dressed in traditional kilt worn by the highlanders for the practical reasons of warmth and comfort. It was only until a revival in the 19th Centaury that the kilt became irreversibly associated with highlanders. It was subsequently adopted by the lowlanders and as you can see the original is quite different to the tartan version worn today.

Unfortunately we did not spot nessie or any other creatures on the Loch. We then proceeded to our hostel for the night after a very eventful day. The hostel we stayed at was pretty awesome and we shared a room with a Canadian couple on our tour. Most of our night was spent in the bar first playing monopoly and then moved on to drinking games. Tomorrow we were moving on to the Isle of Skye and visiting some beautiful castles and maybe we might even be eating some haggis for dinner.

The highlands, whiskey, kilts and awesome accents can only mean one thing, a trip to beautiful Scotland. It is a place we have always wanted to visit and managed to find a weekend in June to go and see what it really has to offer. Scotland does have a lot to explore so we decided to go for a three day haggis bus tour to get out first taste.

The first day started off in Edinburgh as the tour was not due to start the following day. This was a day to see the nation’s capital and Scotland’s second largest city behind Glasgow at our own pace and leisure. Words cannot describe how gorgeous this place is. Imagine a bustling metropolis with all today’s modern amenities and then right in the middle of town there is a huge old castle, surrounded by green rolling hills and cliffs.

Edinburgh Castle is the most visited and popular tourist attraction in the country and dominates the city skyline. It is the venue for many events and festivals and does not disappoint. Unfortunately due to time constraints we were only able to admire the castle from a distance but I highly recommend a visit. For the first time ever Josip and I decided to do an open double Decker bus tours. We always prefer to walk and take in everything at our own pace. After the tour our opinion did not change. I still recommend you grab a map and do it yourself instead of a tour as for 15 pound it’s just not worth it.

We stayed at a hostel in the centre of town which had great access to all the main sites of the city. The royal mile is the name given to a specific succession of streets located in the Edinburgh ‘old town’. This particular part of town is full of tourists but it is just lovely to see all the old buildings and the cobblestone streets. Don’t let that deter you as Edinburgh has such a different feel to other Major cities such as London. The area is very lively and full of entertainers and buskers but it still has a relaxed and laid back atmosphere.

One day is really not enough to see this city properly. But we managed to fit in a few extra sites such as the Scott monument and the Cow exhibition. Believe it or not you can actually go up the Scott monument. It is a bit like the statue in Barcelona where we were not quite sure because it looked so narrow. But this time we did not make the claustrophobics’ nightmare journey up the tower. The monument is in honor of Scottish Author Sir Walter Scott and is 61.1 meters tall and requires you to walk up a very narrow spiral staircase.

The Cow Parade is probably not what you are thinking. It is part of the world’s largest public art exhibition and comprises of 100 life size decorated fiberglass cows, situated in the streets and parks of Edinburgh. The cows are then decorated by local artists and celebrities where they are later sold off for charity. There have been cow parades all over the world including Sydney.

If you decide to visit Scotland make sure you make your way to Edinburgh and remember that one day is not enough as there is so much more to see. Such as visiting the warren of hidden streets below the city where most people lived and died between the 17th and 19th Centaury. And you must not forget Arthur’s seat which is also formed from an extinct volcano and is a good one hour hike too some amazing views.

Next we are off to the Scottish highlands where there are many hairy coos (cows) and endless green scenery to take in. The weather is looking a bit gloomy but hopefully the sun will make a guest appearance as I heard the weather can be worse than London.

In the time that we have been living in London we have had a few friends come to visit and this weekend my friend Mirko and his girlfriend Ivana were adding to the list. Mirko and Ivana were about to embark on a huge adventure which was to start in London and then continue on to Europe, the World Cup 2006, Croatia and then finally North America.

The first night they arrived we let them just relax. Ivana was the first to crash but Mirko was a bit more pumped so we all went out except Mel, who decided that walking around Piccadilly Circus at night was not worth getting out of her pyjamas. Mirko managed to wake Ivana up and we all set of to Piccadilly and Leicester square way. There was not much happening their on a Sunday night. I managed to take a picture of a great pile of garbage which is a regular site in London but might surprise a tourist. We also spotted this awesome car and the owner was more than happy for us to take a picture of his pride and joy which is highlighted by his huge cheesy grin.

The next day we all woke up late and to our sheer delight the sun was out and the sky was blue. As you all are aware by now that this is a rare occurrence in London and is best taken advantage of immediately as it may expire sooner than you think. We headed of to the main attractions in London most of them are around Westminster including the South bank on the Thames, London eye and Westminster Abbey. Mel and I should start our own tour company because this is starting to become overly familiar. However we love having friends over and had a great time walking around London while the sun was actually making a guest appearance.

The next few days I had to go to work but Mel went out with Mirko and Ivana and they saw Buckingham Palace and even went to Harrods where they stuffed there faces with crispy cream donuts. Mirko and Ivana spent their last day in London without us as we were working. They went to Madame Tassauds. Mel and I have yet to visit Madame Tassauds but I am sure we will after seeing some of the great pictures Mirko took.

We had a great time with Mirko and Ivana around and will be catching up with them once again when we are in Croatia.

It was so hot today but we still found the energy to do some sight seeing. We checked out a Park (de la Montana) and came across an Egyptian monument. It is called Templo de Debod and is an authentic Egyptian temple built in the 4th Century BC. It is from the village of Debod, near the sacred temple island of Philae. The Debod Temple was dedicated to the gods Amon and Isis. To us this was not very exciting as we have seen so many temples but it was cool to see it in a park in Madrid. It was donated to the Spanish Government by the Egyptian Government as a gesture of appreciation for the Spanish engineers helping to construct the Aswan dam.

It was some kind of Special Christian feast day today and many things were closed. But we did manage to check out the Royal Palace from the outside and found it to be quite impressive. Apparently it is the largest in Europe and it has an amazing 2000 luxurious rooms but only 50 can be visited. After walking around in the hot sun we had some lunch  which was not tapas but a kebab. Yes the humble kebab is a savoir for the back pack traveler. It's cheap (around 3 Euro) and has meat and veg, you can't really go wrong. But the Kebabs in Germany are still the best we have tasted.

When we got back to the hostel we got ready for the bull fight which was on tonight. We really had no idea of what to expect. The arena (Las Ventas) was fantastic and it is the largest bull ring in Spain which holds 25,000 people. Due to it being a special feast day it was fully sold out. We sat on these concrete slabs with one little pillow to sit on. We were sitting in the cheap seats all the Spanish royalty and high class society were on the opposite side but who can complain as we only paid 13 Euro!

The bull fight is not for the faint hearted. It is really the most horrible  thing I have ever seen. You will probably figure out how it works from all our pictures but I will explain it to you in full detail. So if you feel queasy or squirm at the thought of somebody hurting an animal, stop reading now. Spanish bullfighting is called a corrida de toros which means running of bulls. There are six bull fights to see in which the three matadors (also called toreros) fight two of the total six bulls. Each bull is around 4 years old and weighs 600 kg. Each Matador (which literally means 'killer') has a team of five assistants. Two of these are the men you see mounted on a horse and they are the lancers (picadors). The other three are called banderilleros and they are the guys with the pretty pink capes.

There are three distinct stages to the bull fight. In the first stage the two picsdores who are mounted on horses stab the bull with a lance. I was squirming in my seat as this 600kg bull charged in to the horse but luckily the horse is heavily protected and wearing a blind fold. The aim of the lance is to weaken the neck and shoulder muscles of the bull. There was all this blood pouring down the bull's shoulders and it looked really angry. In the second stage the guys with the pink capes distract and run around the bull and each attempt to plant two colored harpoons into the bull. Once again this is to weaken the neck and shoulder muscles of the bull.

By this stage I just wanted to cry. But as I knew this would achieve nothing I just sat and quietly watched the horror unfold before my eyes. In the final stage that's when the 'hero' matador comes out. Oh he is so brave confronting a weakened and tortured animal who probably wishes for nothing more than to be put out of his misery. He comes out with a small red cape in one hand and small sword in the other. He uses the cape to attract the bull; he then finally stabs the bull between the shoulders and through the heart. In one particular bull fight the matador failed to do this and this poor animal had blood pouring out of its nose and mouth before collapsing. The matador then must cut the bull's spinal cord with a second sword which kills it instantly.

This particular matador who failed to kill the bull the first time and had to cut the spinal cord was booed out of the arena and had the cushions we were all sitting on thrown at him. I thought they were supposed to throw roses? Another incident which almost made my heart stop was when one of the matadors was thrown up in the air by the bull, but he was ok and managed to fight in another round with a bandage around his leg. Unfortunately we did not have our cameras on at this stage but as you can see by one of the pictures below all the assistants run in the arena to distract the bull if the matador is in danger. This matador got a standing ovation  however there were still no roses. Although the bulls are big and strong, with one matador plus five assistants all against them, it is no wonder that the list of bullfighters who have died in bullfights is much shorter than the list of bulls that have died!

After the bullfight we met up with some people from our hostel Anna, some girls from Canada and Josip's favorite three guys from Wisconsin Jesse, Damon and Justin. We had a few drinks together at the hostel and even the manager joined in and made us a Spanish specialty Sangria (fruity wine with lemonade). There was supposed to be some partying going on as it was a festival day but we got to the park way to late. The guys from Wisconsin were quite funny it was their first time in Europe and out of the US. They kept going on about Wisconsin's famous pepper jack cheese, apparently that's all they are known for.

We had a fantastic time in Madrid on the last day I even managed to fit in some shopping. Spain is definately a place I would recommend to everyone. However one thing I was not expecting form my holiday was bed bug bites. Why are all the bugs always attracted to me? Josip had not a single bite. And thanks to my allergies they turned into huge welts and gave me asthma. Well they were worth it, now we have Scotland to look forward too which I hope includes no bonus bed bugs.

Our hostel in Madrid was on the liveliest street in the city, the Grand Via. This street is the best shopping district and home to many large hotels. There is also some very cool architecture around which we could not wait to check out as the weather was beautiful. We checked in our hostel and grabbed something to eat at a place you might know? It's called KFC! Not very culturally adventurous but it was the only thing Mel recognized but she did order the cheese Jalapeño chilies.

As the weather was so perfect we thought we would go check out a park called Parque del Buen Retiro. It was full of people walking around and taking in the lively atmosphere but one thing that caught my eye was the lake in the middle of the park where you could hire a little row boat. I mastered it in around 1 minute where as Mel took a lot longer. She kept going the wrong way and bumping into people but it was amusing to watch.

After our hard work we had an Ice - cream, man it tasted good. We were only in Madrid for 2 full days so we made the most of the first day before the sun set. We went on to see the Plaza de Cibeles which is an amazing old building that is now used as a museum. In front of this building is also a pretty cool fountain that depicts a Roman goddess on a chariot with lions and is one of the most important symbols of Madrid.

We also saw one of Madrid's best landmarks the Puerta de Alcala which is a large decorated gate that stands in the middle of a busy plaza and road. Yes once again I was dodging traffic to get a good view of this one. After our busy day we chatted with a girl from our hostel from Canada her name was Kwun. Kwun and Mel went to get tickets for the main bull fight which was being held to celebrate a festival.

While they were gone there was some kind of protest going on and I managed to get some cool pictures. Apparently it had something to do with democracy and rent. When the girls got back Kwun, Mel, Anna (a girl from Miami) and I all went out for dinner.

This place is so busy at night people eat quite late here and it is usually some light snack food called Tapas. Most people know that Tapas has something to do with Spain but like me they are not quite sure what it actually is. Tapas is not actually a food but a way of eating and the word is plural so you should be asking 'what are tapas'? Tapas can be anything from ham, cheese, sausage, peppers, paella and so on but it is usually a small portion served with a drink. It can be eaten as a snack or served with a meal.

We shared around 8 dishes between 4 people and it was really good but to me it was kind of like what we eat at home anyway. A little bit of salami, with some olives, dip etc all the stuff Mel makes for me. We went back to the hostel and to bed early. Tomorrow we would be doing some more sight seeing and going to the bull fight in the afternoon.

One of the must do's in Barcelona is to see the artworks of Gaudi which include his most well known piece of work the La Sagrada Familia which is a wonderful cathedral that is like no other you will ever see. Here is more about the man and his work.