Urbex # 1 Prague

As you may know I(Rick) have a short attention span and even though we are travelling the world it seems looking at Architecture isn’t enough.  
So we have been looking for some adventurous things to do while travelling and it turns out that there are hundreds of abandoned buildings around Europe and there are groups online of Urban Explorers that get the craps and giggles from “entering” these old falling down places and taking pictures.. Seems like a perfect activity on a sunny afternoon for two adrenalin hungry New Zealanders.

So we jumped off the tram near these two old buildings on the out skirts of Prague.  We were pretty nervous as we walked around the buildings and scoped them out. The gates at front were tall and locked however around the back there was great access.. over a railway and through a sprawling overgrown garden of what must of been poison Ivy and stinging nettle and bidybids.  Camera in hand we crept around the side of the 3 story house, obviously the owners had been trying to keep squatters out and had concreted all the windows to the basement. 

We found one that had been smashed in and poked our heads into the dark.  The putrid and hideous smell of Urine lead us to not hang around that door way and continue to the first floor. We were quietly freaking out until we saw the obvious signs of squatters, clothes up drying, empty bottles and trush everywhere. I took one crappy frame of the dark hall way and we looked at each other.   We turned and rushed back through the weeds and garden toward the other house on the same property.  Legs scratched and burning from the stinging nettle and no useable path to the other house we decided to give up.

Our 5 minutes as urban Explorers was short lived but exhilarating.  We would gather reinforcements try again in another place.

Rick

Prague

Berlin--Dresden--Prague and into our Hostel-Plus Prague. The plus is code for Swimming pool and sauna!! That's how we roll. Prague was a bit cheaper than Amsterdam and Berlin so we enjoyed cheap beer and Pizza. I am loving the cheap beer!!

We had screwed up our Busbabout bookings and so we had 7 nights to be in Prague until the next bus.  Our highlights were the Castle, the Zoo and the views of the terra-cotta roofed city with it's many twisty-turny streets.

Prague Castle was build over hundreds of years to house the various kings of the huge Bohemian Empire. It had new wings added onto and changed as successive kings came into power. It stands proud above the city with dark churches spires able to be seen from afar. It has the world record for the largest Castle in the world!

On the day we visited the sky was overcast and rain clouds were progressing over the city. This only helped the panoramic views of the city from the top of the hundreds of stairs up into the Castle. As it was now raining steadily we indulged the budget and bought a ticket to get inside some of the buildings.

We were rewarded with the breathtakingly huge and stunning St Vitus’ Cathedral. We also visited the Old Royal Palace which had a long ornate Ball Room, the famous window used for the Defenestration of Prague(google it) , the royal records room, Coat of Arms murals and my favourite a little modification that meant that they could ride their horses right up to the main doors.  
Next was the Basilica of St George, a understated type Cathedral which held the Body of Saint George in stone that will be remember because it had a little underground cellar room with a very weird Zombie looking copper statue of someone, looked like something from an Iron Maiden T-shirt. 

After a nice warm Caffe Latte(1/3 shot weak strength tall milky coffee drink not to be confused with the 2shot NZ Latte) we moved onto the Golden Lane where now small quaint shops stand to sell all sorts of high priced goods.   At one end stood the Armoury with a long corridor of very shiny stainless steel looking suits of armour, helmets of all shapes and sizes, swords, spears and muskets.
Last was the dungeon.  In true style it was low in the Castle equipped with murder holes, dungeon type cells and multiple torture apparatus of all shapes and sizes.  From the full Spanish rack and stretching stands to small finger traps all with rusty spikes.  Sadly it looked as though most of these things were real, as gruesome as they were.

Next on our adventures was the Prague Zoo. Rated in the top 7 in the world I was so excited.   At 5 Euros each it was a bargain.  The design of the Zoo is nothing like I have seen.   Build on a hill above the city you enter on the ground level and above you is a cliff which has on top of that another plane of rolling hills.

We were greeted with colourful parakeets scarwarking and making a racket on the trees right by the path without a fence or rope keeping them in.   Then after passing the birds we saw a large African vultures, cranes, crows and falcons all in the one large netted Cage.. you simply walked through two doors and into their cage, with only a small rail between you and these amazing but scary scavengers.

The design allows you too see the creatures in a habitat close to what you would assume them live in the wild.   Like mountain Ibex and Goats jumping and climbing a steep cliff like something from National geographic. All with a clear view, and no fence or glass to look through.

We jumped on the gondola and up to the top level where the African safari animals were. Girraffes and Springboks, Pumba’s and prarie dogs, Snakes and Lizards and Zebras. No hippos or Elephants though as they have a new house being built, but we did see a baby hippo from a distance.   But not only African animals though, otters and peacocks, Kangaroos and Kasuari, Shoebill Stalks and Fishing Cats, Bush Dogs and Squriell Monkeys, plus hundreds more.

My favourites had to be the three polar bears. The had no ice but a huge pool with waterfall to play in, and play they did. The pool was supported by a huge glass front and to see these huge big teddy bears jumping and diving and playing was just awesome.   Groups of small children(and me) would run from side to side of the pool and follow the ginourmous beasts with screams of joyous laughter.

Jasmines least favourite animals were the Bats in the Indonesian Jungle area.    It was in a huge dome and upon entering we were hit with the all too familiar smell and suffocating heat of Asia.  With heaters to maintain the temperature and the animals making sure it smelt authentic we walked into a huge opening where orange-tang filled trees and vines crept to the roof and fish filled ponds covered with fluorescent green duck weed.  We could hear tiny squeaks and thumps and then we were greeted by agitated small bats, hanging from the tree tops.. and flying where they liked.  We passed through a door and thought we were safe, but no.. this was indeed the BAT CAVE!! Jasmine wasn’t keen and truth be told I also had my hood over my head and hands in my pockets but it was awesome having to duck and get out of the way of bats, flying around as they wish in the dark.

Jasmines favourites part however was the Ring Tailed Lemurs.. We saw their cage and went thru the two doors and then into the open where about 10 of these little guys were having a small feast on the reeds in the water.   The best part is their was NO fence and only a friendly Zoo staff member between me and the monkeys.. He was not so keen for us to touch them so we had a seat on a bench about a metre away from them and sat for nearly an hour. At times they would come and sniff at your hand or foot and were perfectly happy for us to be there.

The Zoo was really well designed and was a fantastic day! We loved Prague and we saw so much. We are now keen to return in the winter to see the beauty of its bridges and scenery in the snow!!

Rick

Zwolle-Amsterdam-Berlin

.Leaving Zwolle was a bit intense, we all shed a few tears saying goodbye to Tante(Auntie) Co at the train station. It was almost harder than leaving NZ! We'll look forward to October when we will visit again.

Arriving less than 2 hours later by Snell(fast) Train in Amsterdam we decided to tram the 2kms to our accommodation... Followed by 2 hours of ping ponging around the streets surrounding Vondelpark in search of the bed and breakfast we had booked. Each place we stopped to ask for directions sent us to a totally different address! It seems Vondelpark is quite large and that Vondelpark B&B is quite the common selection for a hotel name.

We arrived at the bed and breakfast.. Which turned out to be a very small room, on the third floor of steep Amsterdam stairs with no towels..and the best part.. No breakfast we were told! All for a casual 50euros/100NZ(that's cheap). Bed and... NOTHING!!!

That evening we had a great catch up with mum's side of the family, and caught up with cousins I hadn't seen in 13 years! So nice to spend time with family, very emotional giving Mum's sister a cuddle, made me a slight bit homesick.

An early morning wake up to get to the bus stop to head to Berlin. We joined Busabout after much deliberation, as they have a route that was very similar to where we wanted to go, but without all the organized tour stuff so we could be flexible and organize our own discoveries of each country/ city. And you can adjust your journey as you want, so good if you fall in love with a place!

I can't believe how many Aussie's we've met! I'm sure I didn't even meet that many in Australia itself! The hostels and tour buses seem loaded with them.

Berlin was amazing, we spent 4 days discovering it's streets, Cathedrals and history. Our highlight was Berlin wall which the Nazi's erected to separate Communist ruled east berlin from west Berlin. Upon the liberation they destroyed much of the wall, but the longest(1.3kms)preserved section is now covered in murals and street art, the East Side Gallery. Rick left Germany with a little bit of NZ by scaling the wall and sitting up there much to my horror for a few minutes, posing for the other hundreds of tourists!

It turns out that on the ground floor of our Hostel(Helter Skelter Berlin) said to be the only last REAL hostel in Berlin.. there is a huge club that runs till nearly sunrise on Saturday nights.. So it was a tired start Sunday Morning at 7am to walk a few kms and onto the Blue Lady..that's what they call our buses.. Off to Prague.

Rick & Jazz

Germany and the land of Nether

A quick weekend in Germany, brought my first experience of the crap side of travelling... A whole lot of crap if you know what I mean. A combination of dodgy BKK street food before we left, spicy Oman Air beef roulade option and a re-introduction of dairy led my body to pack a bit of a sad. A single loperamide helped me through what would become on of our best 'travel wins'...

We had researched trains and buses to get us up to my Aunt and Uncle's place in the Netherlands and were so shocked. Train was €175 each (about $300 NZD) and bus was €40 each (about $70 NZD) we were shocked at the prices for a 4 hour journey!  We then remembered Mika, the German girl we had met on the bus back to BKK a few days back. She had told us about Ride Share, basically a carpool website usually for students.

So that led us to an awesome ride share with Bernhard, the thankfully English speaking South African. We laughed the entire journey, and he was super nice and detoured to drop us off at my Aunt and Uncle's doorstep! Saving us a train ride and a taxi from Arnhem. And all for €25 each!

The next 10 days we took time to rest and regenerate energy for our Europe adventure. Including both of us catching a cold and sleeping copious amounts. We sorted out paperwork for our Dutch working holiday visa, which we found out that once our residence permit comes through (usually 3 months) we can work the remaining 9 months with one employer! This is a vast contrast to the usual 3 months with one employer at a time with 6 months maximum of work as most other countries rule the WHV. Absolutely stoked!

So our time with my Tante Co en Om Gerrit was so good! Incredible tasty(lekker) food, they really spoiled us with all the Dutch deliciousness. Rick found it a bit hard, as he doesn't understand a word of Dutch, but me having wonderful Dutch parents means I can speak a bit, and understand most conversations. I loved spending time with my cousins too, thankfully their English was good and they helped me with my Dutch, sweet deal! By the end of the 10 days Rick could say good morning, good afternoon and even can I have mayonnaise( Mag ik de frieten saus), very important in Holland.

Xx Jaz

Phnom Penh, MBK and a taste of Europe

So it seems we are a bit behind in our blog. So this will be brief.

From Siem Reap in Cambodia we moved onto the Capital Phnom Penh via bus, with bonus fan belt breakage stop on main highway in the heat of the day.
We arrived late to be greeted by the smiling faces and kiwi accents by friends from NZ, Sam and Katy. It was great to stay in a real house with people who spoke English. We had a couple of guided tours around the city, visited a rubbish dump where whole families live in shacks, the killing field and S21 from Pol Pots regime.

But our time in Asia was coming to an end and so back on the bus and returned to Bangkok for the last 2 days. We did some final shopping at MBK, imagine 6 huge floors of anything you desire. Our favorites were the leather bag shops, the numerous camera stores($20 tripod), the mazes of electronics, iphones, ipads and chuck tailors in every color, the food court and of course the huge cinemas, 2D, 3D and even 4D.

Back to the Khao San road for a legit Thai massage if a little painful.. Then a slighty worrying speedy van trip to the airport at 11pm in torrential rain.

Thus begins our airport fail #1. I had read the email wrong and thought we had a 5am flight so we avoided half sleeping the night at our hostel and went early to the airport. Really early.. Turns out the flight was at 9am. My bad. We slept on wooden benches in shifts guarding our bags whilst illegally charging out iPods in the power sockets. All to save 400baht. Which we spent on airport food anyway.

It wasn't too bad and we jumped on our Oman air flight full of sheet wearing muslim men and woman to Muscat, Oman. Cheap fares, good food, sweet movies and half empty flights meant jazz slept across 4 seats from Oman onto Frankfurt.

We arrived in Germany after 12hrs and tried to sprenkens the Deutsche and figure out the train to get to our hotel. We had book this in nz before we left and got upgraded cos its our "honeymoon"! I filled up good and proper with the buffet breakfast and we explored the paved old streets of Frankfurt Germany.

Rick