The Adventures of Josip & Melanie

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.

Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

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.

Antonio Gaudi (25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect of the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) movement famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs. In his time his work was considered a little eccentric but now he is considered one of Spain’s best and brightest.

Continue reading

Josip and I both wanted to escape the British weather and find some sun, so Spain was the perfect destination. Barcelona was our first stop. We arrived late at night and chatted a little to our new room mates before we went to sleep.

Our first stop the next day was at the local fruit market and I already loved the place. Nice juicy cherries and peaches, they were so cheap. We grabbed a map of Barcelona and only then realized there is just so much to see here. The weather was perfect so we saw most of the city by foot.

Continue reading

Part I: This weekend was a celebration of two major events. One of course was Easter and the second was Josip’s 26th Birthday. It was kind of weird to have a birthday away from our family and friends but we did our best to make it feel normal. It was great to hear that Josip’s friend Daniel May was coming to visit us after he finished doing some work in Manchester. As it was a long weekend we decided to go on a day trip to Bath. Bath is a unique city which is known for its hot springs and Roman Baths. It is a beautiful town set in the rolling Somerset countryside and made for a great relaxing place to visit.

Continue reading

One of the highlights of living in London is the amount of awesome bands that come and play here. Not only do they come often but as London just has so much to offer in form of entertainment, bands that would play in Australia with a large audience only play here to small crowds of around 1500 people. I think it is mainly because there are just so many different types of people here that there is an audience for anything.

One of the bands that Mel and I went to see was Simple Plan. They are a cool Canadian group whose music is somewhere in between punk, pop and rock. The venue was excellent as the capacity was only 1500 people. It makes the whole atmosphere feel so intimate and personal. The band is actually really close and it was an awesome concert.

Continue reading

Kutna Hora is a small medieval town in the Czech Republic around 70km from Prague. We decided to go there for a day trip as we were intrigued to see the church decorated with bones. The Sedlec Ossuary (a.k.a. Kostnice) is a small Christian chapel decorated with human bones. It’s located in Sedlec, which is a suburb in the outskirts of the Czech town Kutna Hora.

Continue reading

Our holiday to Prague started off as one of the most memorable but this had nothing to do with great times and beautiful scenery. We actually missed our flight due to train delays and getting onto the wrong train. So we had to sleep in the crappy Stansted airport which is north of London and wait until morning. After a not so terrific night sleep on a cold airport floor we finally arrived in Prague a little bit grumpy and lacking enthusiasm.

Continue reading

The Natural History Museum is something that you must see if you come to London. The actual building is a marvelous feat of architecture and is one of the most beautiful and recognized in London. The building is designed by Alfred Waterhouse and was built using Victorian Building techniques, an iron and steel frame concealed behind arches and columns, embellished with sculptures of plants and animals.

The museum is huge and now has more than 300 years worth of collections, with over 68 million specimens. The museum takes more than a day to visit and your feet will be tired before your brain starts hurting. So make sure you wear comfortable footwear and bring lots of drinks and food. It is divided into Life and Earth galleries.

Continue reading