tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78317792590929473922024-03-14T04:45:21.038+13:00Tobi's Geeky Bloggy ThingThis blog is basically to keep people up to date on my German ongoingsTobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-38489655074214139272008-02-27T21:09:00.006+13:002008-12-12T00:04:03.898+13:00World Famous in NZ (just like L&P)Hey,<br /><br />Long time no update.<br />But I've been way too busy... and I need to do a big back date which is going to take some time. Eeek.<br /><br />Anyway. Life is fantastic for me right now. <br /><br />Bought the Mercedes car for my research (with Uni money of course)... a 2007 A-Class.... oooh... aaaah :-)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bjki2X_Fvgw/R8UeT_-uioI/AAAAAAAAFJw/Pvsohmwtq88/s1600-h/15Feb08.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bjki2X_Fvgw/R8UeT_-uioI/AAAAAAAAFJw/Pvsohmwtq88/s320/15Feb08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171573076045761154" /></a><br /><br />We had a conference last week related to my research, and somehow Campbell Live found out about it. They came along and found out about lil ol me.<br /><br />So they did a story on me and my research :-) Exciting huh?!?!<br /><br />You can see the story here:<br /><a href="http://www.tv3.co.nz/VideoBrowseAll/CampbellLiveVideo/tabid/367/articleID/47537/cat/84/Default.aspx">Cars that drive themselves</a>Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-87917864299385905512007-11-20T21:11:00.000+13:002007-11-20T21:20:40.957+13:00Home Safe and SoundHello everyone,<br /><br />Just thought I'd give a quick note to everyone that I've made it back to NZ home safe and sound.<br /><br />For anyone traveling, avoid LAX at all costs. It is a stupid airport which has increased my hatred towards the USA.<br />You think that if you are flying with an airline, on a connected flight, that everything will be sorted out with your check-in luggage and it will be a quick walk to the connecting terminal... however, in LAX, this is not the case. <br /><br />They want you to go through customs (so you are actually leaving the airport) then get your bags, and re-check into your connecting flight.<br />On top of this, the boarder security are not very nice, no room for jokes.<br />Then you have to run to your other terminal... after missing your original flight... which is about 1km away!<br /><br />I can't even be bothered explaining how crap this airport was. Just try to avoid it.<br /><br />Other than my LAX experience, the rest of the trip went by smoothly. Debra was at the airport to collect me, which was great to see my first friend back in NZ :-)<br /><br />Got home back to mums. Went to "We Will Rock You" in Auckland. And that is about it really.<br /><br />Don't currently have a fixed abode, or a cell phone. So to contact me, email is the only way really.<br /><br />See ya'll soon.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-73393289479229597502007-11-09T21:03:00.000+13:002007-11-09T21:11:59.530+13:00Alive and WellHello,<br /><br />Just a quick update to say that I am alive and well.<br /><br />Contiki was great. Saw a lot and had a good amount of fun. Our group was pretty "tame" compared to other Contiki tales. Little to no hook-ups as there were a lot of couples / people with partners back home. Also, not much drunken madness... only a couple of nights :-)<br /><br />Saw a shit load of sites though: Amsterdam, St. Goar, stayed up Mt. Pilatus, Litchenstein, Innsbruck, Venice, Rome (LOVED ROME!), Vatican City, Florence, Pisa, Nice, Monacco, Lyon, Avion and Paris.<br /><br />Was pretty shattered yesterday so did SFA.<br /><br />Oh and this morning, I tried using the "lovely" London public bus service to get to my flight. I used the website, which gave me exact directions. The bus drivers had no clue... which is strange, you think they'd know how to get to the connecting station for a major airport????<br /><br />Anyway, long story short, they told me to get off at the wrong stop, then no bus driver knew where I was trying to get to, so I had to call Anna to come get me (god bless her). In the end I missed my flight back to Germany and had to rebook for tomorrow.<br /><br />Oh well, it's only money... just pisses me off how crap the buses were. When in London... stick to the trains!<br /><br />Tschau and see you all shortly.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-72791011924644524272007-10-08T20:44:00.000+13:002007-10-10T08:04:49.633+13:00Sorry for the lack of updatesHello,<br /><br />Ok I have actually had the busiest time of my entire trip over the last two weeks.<br />Summary:<br />- Full on week finishing my paper. For those of you brave enough, you can see it online at: <a href="http://www.citr.auckland.ac.nz/techreports/show.php?id=206">http://www.citr.auckland.ac.nz/techreports/show.php?id=206</a><br />- Went to Lisbon and had a fantastic time.<br />- Went to Oktoberfest for a few full on days<br />- Went to Strasbourg (France) for a day trip... watched the AB's lose, bugger. The town went nuts though!<br />- Went to Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart) for a day.<br /><br />Now, do you want to know why I haven't updated you on these things?<br /><br />In Munich, I was going up an escalator on my way to a Crowded House concert... and I got 2 of my fingers caught between the rubber rail and the metal. Don't worry, I came out ok. I only got two huge slices in my fingers... so went to hospital and it was only a couple of stitches, no broken bone and no damaged tendons.<br /><br />But as a result, I can't really type... so I'll write the full updates at a later stage. In fact, I'm not going to get a chance to write anything up until I get back to NZ.<br /><br />So once I'm back, you'll get some stories coming through, starting with Lisbon.<br />You may even hear the stories from me before reading them, hehe!<br /><br />Really busy last week at work this week... then I'll be off to England via Barcelona.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-35888016524283565022007-09-23T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-28T08:11:23.270+12:00Last day in TurkeyUp at 9:30am (just woke up… I was running on adrenaline or something), had breakie with Sheena, then got ready to go. Ollie also decided to join us to go see the Topkapi Palace.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114565210880535778"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqV9g8a7OI/AAAAAAAAE8s/HxUiCY_RG98/s288/DSCF0814.JPG" /></a><br /><br />This palace was where the head of the Ottoman empire was located. It was really impressive. On of the main highlights was the crown-jewels. There was an 86 carrot diamond!!! It was the size of my palm. And also a crest with a ruby and two emeralds, each about 5cm in diameter. Soooo much wealth in there, if anyone knows any good thieves, that’s where they should be hunting.<br /><br />The other highlight was the harem. This place has very nice designs on all the walls and some magnificent bedrooms. It also had a lot of boards with text explaining the whole thing. The sultan had a band of eunuchs (guys with their nuts chopped off) protecting his harem (bunch of chicks who “serviced” the sultan). From the harem, the sultan had 4-8 “favourites” whom he shared his bed, and 1 Queen Mother (main wife). The Queen Mother had the power to choose who the sultan could and couldn’t have, and also had lots of political power, sounds like a fair system.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114565545887985106"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqWRA8a7dI/AAAAAAAAE-o/aWhj5Mi9o0U/s288/DSCF0920.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, after 4 hours wandering around the palace, we were toured out. So we went somewhere for a traditional Turkish lunch… kebabs :-P<br />Ok, this was actually traditional. They give you the meat and all the veggies, and a plate of flat Turkish bread, then you make your own. It was really yummy, and quite cheap.<br /><br />After lunch we all went our separate ways to do stuff. I went to the Grand Bazaar again to get a couple more things. After the Grand Bazaar, I was very sick of people harassing me to buy stuff… and people using their favourite phrase “My friend… where do you come from?”<br /><br />Another thing that was very strange about Turkey was the traffic. It was so chaotic and pedestrians had no right to cross when they had a green walk symbol. You risked your life everytime you were near a road! Oh and they so desperately want to be part of the EU, they even have the EU number plate design, with the EU stars missing :-P<br /><br />So I got back to the hostel: touristed out, shopped out and sick of crowds. I decided I wanted a simple evening, so found one of the three bars in Istanbul that was playing the NZ rugby game. It was good fun to watch (especially coz NZ kicked Scotland’s ass), and met a random Kiwi living in Denmark (Sam), and a German girl living in Munich (Bea). Ended up talking with them for a couple of hours after the game.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114565752046415410"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqWdA8a7jI/AAAAAAAAE_Y/_e6dGxrNl9E/s288/DSCF0966.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I got back to the hostel around 10pm and caught up with Sheena an Ollie again. We ended up heading down stairs to have a few drinks with the people in the hostel, including the bar-tender. It was so funny, we would ask for a drink and he would make jokes like “can’t you see me working hard here?” (while he was sitting at our table drinking beer with us).<br /><br />It was a fun way to end the night, as at mid-night I got picked up by the shuttle. I slept all the way to the airport (1 hour). Then got through customs et al, and started chatting with a couple of random girls who I met in line waiting for customs. One was Polish and the other Latvian… both living/studying in Zurich. It was a good way to kill some time, then got on the plane and had a couple more hours sleep.<br /><br />Train ride back to Stuttgart was interesting, the train broke down in the middle of the track for about an hour. I didn’t mind, I just dozed while they fixed it.<br /><br />So got to work at 10am… nice and “fresh” with a few hours sleep.<br /><br />Good weekend though. It was so different to everywhere I’ve been so far. Well, kind of a mix of China meets Europe, with a friendliness that is hard to describe.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-54803364771578042002007-09-22T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-28T08:10:50.797+12:00Day two in TurkeiI got up around 9:30 as I was meeting Tolga at 10:30am. I had another traditional Turkish breakfast (at the hostel) with Sheena (Canadian girl I met the night before). Chatted about all sorts and then I left to meet up with Tolga.<br /><br />He was with his girlfriend and they wanted to show me more of the city. Also, the dinner was cancelled for some reason, so he wanted to come tell me in person. His girlfriend was training to be a tour guide of Istanbul… for Turkish tourism. She could speak English (but was shy about it) and some German. <br /><br />We headed over to Taksim, which is the “really” European part of Istanbul. The tram took us to the bottom of the “hill”… then the metro took us to the top. This was a cool metro system, it was all up-hill, and they don’t use a motor in the metro. It is pulled up the hill by a big pulley system. As one is going up, the other is coming down… cool huh?<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563527253355458"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqUbg8a68I/AAAAAAAAE58/KJqZJTZo8co/s288/DSCF0754.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We wandered down the main shopping street of Taksim and had a look around. At the bottom of Taksim, there was a pedestrian underpass to get to the other side of the road… in here there was a gun market. Was really strange to see.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563707641981986"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqUmA8a7CI/AAAAAAAAE6w/YJf8FimFVJo/s288/DSCF0769.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We wandered back along the bridge, and again through the Egyptian Bazaar. We walked around the city for a bit, then Tolga and his girlfriend went on their way. He was such a friendly guy and just couldn’t do enough to help me :-) He told me to ring him if I had any problems at all… it was a really kind gesture.<br /><br />Anyway, after they left, I went straight to the Grand Bazaar. This place was absolutely packed to the brim! I spent about 4 hours wandering around, getting haggled and doing a bit of shopping. It reminded me much like China… except they could speak English here and were not as pushy. Ended up spending quite a bit, but getting some really cheap stuff: couple of casual jackets, socks, belt, t-shirt, jeans… all the essentials.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563832196033618"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqUtQ8a7FI/AAAAAAAAE7I/MGN34vt0HU4/s288/DSCF0785.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After my shopping, I went back to the hostel to unload. I met up with some Slovenians and a German guy in my room. The Slovenians were heading over to Taksim for a beer, so the German (Ollie) and I joined them. On the way out I bumped into Sheena again and made half a plan to go see the Topkapi palace the next morning.<br /><br />It was a pretty casual night, wandered around the main shopping street, which was absolutely packed! And stopped in a bar for a few drinks… then eventually went back to the hostel. Once we got back, the Slovenians went off to bed, so Ollie and I went down stairs for a couple of beers and watched Oceans 13.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563965340019858"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqU1A8a7JI/AAAAAAAAE7o/7BxiVPCfGtc/s288/DSCF0800.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I was in bed around 4am… which was much later than I thought it was!Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-27461548948036016582007-09-21T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-28T08:10:30.992+12:00Big first day in IstanbulWell… travelling there was a major journey. I left work at 7 to catch the train to Frankfurt (about 3 hours away). I managed to get a couple of hours work done on my paper during the journey. My flight was at 11 pm… arriving at 3am… eek :-P<br /><br />It was ok, I got a couple hours sleep on the plane. Then a friend of a friend picked me up from the airport, named Tolga (friend of Ersin). It was really great… I got a ride to his home where his mum had prepared breakfast/dinner and a bed for me. So I ate breakfast/dinner at 4:30am, then had a couple of hours sleep. After freshening up, I was invited to Tolga’s sister’s house for breakfast. They just kept feeding me :-) It was traditional Turkish breakfast: tomatoes, olives and cucumbers from the garden, with different cheeses, eggs, sausage and Turkish bread.<br /><br />Tolga’s mum took a real liking to me ( don’t even mention the yo mama jokes peoples :-P ), even though she couldn’t speak a word of English. They invited me to a big family gathering and dinner the next night, of course I accepted.<br /><br />Tolga and I started our journey from Asia to Europe. Istanbul spans two contents, and he lived in a small city just outside Istanbul on the Asian side. It took an hour for us to get to Istanbul. During the train ride, people would jump on between stops and walk around the train selling stuff: pens, watches, all sorts. It was common practise in Istanbul, so sayith Tolga.<br /><br />Istanbul is HUGEMUNGOUS! (I know that’s not a word). From 20 mins into the train journey… we were in the outskirts of Istanbul. Upon arrival we had a wander around the Asian part of Istanbul City. There were lots of souvenir shops and stuff. Tolga knew half the owners… but they didn’t have anything that tickled my fancy.<br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114562075554408802"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqTHA8a6WI/AAAAAAAAE1E/5Q50FqVBKz4/s288/DSCF0587.JPG" /></a><br />(Sultanahmet from the fairy)<br /><br />After that we headed across the water to the European Istanbul via fairy. The views were cool and you could see a panoramic view of the city. Upon arrival, we quickly made our way to the hostel so I could check in and drop off my heavy pack (laptop adds a bit of weight). My hostel was in Sultanahmet, which is the main tourist part of Istanbul. It was a strange experience… anytime you even thought about reaching for your map, someone asked “Can I help you”. The Turks are extremely friendly and helpful… which is lucky because their streets don’t have road signs! So the map was pretty much useless except if you had view of a landmark. <br /><br />After sorting myself out, Tolga guided me around Istanbul. It was the middle of Ramazan, a Muslim period where they can not eat or drink (nothing! Not even water) during sunlight. So everywhere you went, the restaurants were empty. Also, Tolga didn’t have much energy because of it… but he still showed me everything.<br /><br />The first stop was walking around the outside of the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia. They were spectacular, very very different to what I’ve seen so far, so they still had the wow factor on me ( unlike Catholic churches nowadays :-P ).<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114562496461203922"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqTfg8a6dI/AAAAAAAAE18/FsxGr_W5vcw/s288/DSCF0624.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114562509346105826"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqTgQ8a6eI/AAAAAAAAE2E/dlj_xsy_XUk/s288/DSCF0625.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After that, we wandered through the gardens of Topkapi Palace. There wasn’t much there really… really quiet and not much beauty about it.<br /><br />Next destination was the Egyptian Spice Bazaar. This place was a bustling Bazaar that sold gold, spices, sweets and honey. Every 5 steps you walked, people gave you free samples to try. It was great… if you’re a slight bit hungry, go here and you soon will be full!<br /><br />We wandered through the city, then caught the train to the University near Sultanamet. This was a pretty cool looking uni… but it was guarded, and security would only let you in if you were a lecturer or a student of the uni. The Uni was also close to the Grand Bazaar, we just walked past and had a quick look. It was packed with people... sooo many people.<br /><br />After this, Tolga had to leave, so I said good-bye and I would see him tomorrow.<br />Upon Tolga’s departure, I visited the Blue Mosque to see the inside. This was a cool experience. You have to take your shoes off when you go in… but it is great because the carpet is so soft that you sink into it. Inside was beautiful. Really different. I took my photos and sat around for a bit. Probably spent an hour there. It was free to enter as well… their religious buildings aren’t perverted by tourism yet, like some other places.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114562771339111074"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqTvg8a6qI/AAAAAAAAE3o/HhIH9bLRjF8/s288/DSCF0655.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Nachste halt, Aya (Hagia/Saint) Sofia. This was a bit church built during the ….. and was converted to a Mosque during the Ottoman empire. It was now a museum. Going inside was really different. You think that when you convert a church you would completely change it to meet your religion… but here it was something special. There were still mosaics of Jesus and Gabriel on the walls, along with big Arabic inscriptions and shields. A mix of Catholism and Islam…. Really different.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563084871723810"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqUBw8a6yI/AAAAAAAAE4s/8HWkJ4pCguM/s288/DSCF0710.JPG" /></a> <br /><br />I wandered around this place reading everything, learning the history and admiring this strange construction. Spent over two hours cruising this place. I then went back to the hostel to chill.<br /><br />The next few hours consisted of writing my paper (I know I was supposed to be on “holiday”) , watching pirated movies on the massive screen at the hostel and chatting with randoms. Ok, it was more of the latter two, but I still did some work :-P<br /><br />Oh did I mention how awesome this hostel was? It had its own bar, along with a massive plasma screen and surround sound system, with a bunch of pirated movies to watch. The staff were extremely friendly and one even joined us for drinks quite often :-) If people go to Istanbul… then stay here: “Istanbul Hostel” (I know it’s a hard name to remember).<br /><br />I went out for a couple of hours in the evening to see the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofia by night. There were also thousands of people out on the streets, eating and having fun. Apparently it is always like this during Ramazan, everyone comes out to party in the evenings because they are allowed to eat!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToIstanbul/photo?authkey=PnSvFMheM9E#5114563492893617074"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvqUZg8a67I/AAAAAAAAE50/_WtX1tJfhQo/s288/DSCF0751.JPG" /></a><br /><br />It wasn’t too much of a late night, I was in bed by 1am.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-53166049195784750032007-09-16T12:00:00.001+12:002007-09-20T06:40:46.648+12:00Last day in HungaryToday I got up at a reasonable hour of 10am.<br /><br />Had seen pretty much all I wanted to see of Budapest, so decided to head to the flea markets.<br />I took the directions in the travel guide, and couldn't find it when I got off the bus! Also, I left my infamous Highlanders hat on the bus.... many good memories gone with that hat :-(<br /><br />I think the markets were closed though. I had conflicting information from different sources. I couldn't be bothered wandering around a section of the city, without a map, looking for something that may or may-not be there. So got back on the bus to head back to the city... over-all a pretty crap start to the day :-P<br /><br />Anyway, I got back to the city and checked out a massive building in the south of Pest. It happened to be the Grand Market Hall of Budapest. There was heaps of stuff in here: meat, alcohol stores, souvenirs and all sorts of knick-knacks. There was a restaurant in there called "Fakanal" hehe. After wandering around for a bit, and getting some yummy fruit, I headed to the Statue Park.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969727983518210"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFdYhsCAgI/AAAAAAAAElA/kc23sOsQa-A/s288/DSCF0455.JPG" /></a> <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969779523125794"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFdbhsCAiI/AAAAAAAAElQ/TwDwj5_nx0I/s144/DSCF0460.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After a bit of a mission (catching about three different buses/trams) I arrived at the Statue Park. This thing was truly weird. After the communist occupation of Hungary, they decided it wasn't a good idea to have all these Soviet Communist statues around the city. So, instead of destroying them, they packed them up and moved all of them to this park that's about 45 minutes out of the city! It was really cool and some of the statues were massive! There was even a flower arrangement in the shape of the Communist Star :-)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969882602340946"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFdhhsCAlI/AAAAAAAAElo/3nhbR_mQpwo/s288/DSCF0475.JPG" /></a> <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111970299214168770"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFd5xsCAsI/AAAAAAAAEmk/LIXiQOXPSzQ/s288/DSCF0505.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Back to the city, chatted with some fellow travellers on the bus (Americans + Aussie). I walked up toward the National Museum, which was quite an impressive site from the outside. During my walking, I bumped into a huge march of Hungarians, all waving flags and chanting. I asked one of the locals what was going on, and it was a right-wing protest against the current government... I guess it was the same thing at Heroes Square the day before.<br /><br />It was kinda cool to watch for a few minutes, then I got over it. My last stop was the Cow park again. Just to see this truly weird and memorable exhibition. The best one was the "Rubik's Cow"... chosen so because the "Rubik's Cube" was invented by a Hungarian (bet ya didn't know that!) I found it out from a store vendor, who was selling the "secret boxes" designed by Mr. Rubik's as well. It took 7 steps to open this keep-safe box, which was pretty cool.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111970711531029314"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFeRxsCA0I/AAAAAAAAEnk/XokWG9s4JGs/s288/DSCF0533.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I made my way back to the hostel, stopping for a bite to eat. Checked my email (for the first time) and found out that Justin (American from Krakow) was also in Budapest! If I had actually bothered checking my mail I would have been able to catch up... oh well, shit happens.<br /><br />Left for the airport and that's about all she wrote.<br /><br />Oh, talked to a random Hungarian dude named Czaba (Pronounced "Chubba"). He was living in Germany and could speak English and German. Kept me entertained for the flight home, got his contact details just in case I was heading down to Freiburg in my travels.<br /><br />Got home and half unpacked before crashing... as I didn't get back home until just after mid-night.<br /><br />Overall, Budapest was alright. 3 days was plenty for it though, and after seeing Prague and Vienna, it wasn't as impressive.<br /><br />Next weekend is a big flight though... Istanbul! The largest city in Europe (depending on which rankings you look at of course). Looking forward to it.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-71659611681092441202007-09-16T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-20T06:36:40.722+12:00Day two in HungaryWoke up at about 9:30... felt like lunch time though!<br /><br />It was a slow start to the day and it wasn't until around lunch time I actually left the hostel. I managed to get a couple of tag-alongs to keep me company throughout the day, Laura and Alice (Pommy girls that I talked to when I got home).<br /><br />So, started the marathon of a walking tour and got to the waterfront of the Pest side (Budapest used to be three cities: Buda, Pest and Obuda). Saw the main things down there: Parliament, Chain Bridge some pretty awesome buildings. Very similar to Vienna and Prague, but lesser impressive, with lots of traffic around.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111968482443002034"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFcQBsCALI/AAAAAAAAEiU/dGFCqiZCjlQ/s288/DSCF0343.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We crossed along to the Buda side of the Danube and wandered around the Royal Castle Hill, which was quite nice. Hardly any people about, you didn't even feel like it was a tourist destination. It was very peaceful and very nice to walk about.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111968722961170658"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFceBsCAOI/AAAAAAAAEis/xKC4yx9BQd4/s288/DSCF0362.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After Royal Hill, we decided to head up to the Citadell... where the best views of the city could be obtained. It was a bit of a hike, but I'm glad I've still got most of my fitness about me. The views were great! We sat up there admiring the view for around half an hour. There was also this massive statue of a chick holding a feather.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111968808860516642"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFcjBsCASI/AAAAAAAAEjM/-Mkiul4Bg-I/s400/DSCF0396.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111968877579993426"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFcnBsCAVI/AAAAAAAAEjk/pTVpzjNLI24/s288/DSCF0414.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br />After that we wandered around the top of the hill as there was a nice walking path. Then walked back down the hill and across to the Pest side of the river again... along one of the other bridges. We were taking lots of photos everywhere, as there was quite cool stuff all over the show.<br /><br />Eventually we made it to the main shopping street. I was the "bad" conscience and gave the girls that little edge they needed to buy some scarves they were looking at :-P<br /><br />At one of the main metro stations, there was this strange little set-up with all these painted cows! Very artsy fartsy, but cool to see. And a club that had a water fountain above it... so when you look through the roof you see this rippling water, very interesting.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969337141494194"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFdBxsCAbI/AAAAAAAAEkY/-qYHfziidsk/s288/DSCF0432.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The girls had to book their train for Krakow, so we wandered to one of the main train stations... which happened to be the wrong one, so had to make it to the other one (quite far east of the other one). The train stations themselves were quite impressive. And one thing you have to love about European cities, you can walk everywhere! Everything is centrally located, which is great!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969216882409874"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFc6xsCAZI/AAAAAAAAEkI/aIQIKP7rF_4/s288/DSCF0441.JPG" /></a><br />(Train Station)<br /><br />So after our massive day of walking, we decided to go get some Hungarian cuisine for dinner :-) Met an Aussie girl in our room who had just arrived and she came along with us. The restaurant was quite cheap. For four of us, with drinks, mains and side dishes it cost 9000 forints ($NZD 70)<br /><br />We got home and the girls went off to bed as they had very early trains to catch: 5:50am and 6:30am.<br /><br />I started chatting with the Swedish girls and the American guys from the first night. We ended up heading out... just for a drink at a pub on a Sunday :-)<br /><br />We never made it to the bar as we bumped into a couple of Hungarians on the street. They started chatting with us and we ended up drinking with them on the street! A real random experience. Oh, btw, Budapest seemed really safe at night, even with the molesting prostitutes :-P<br /><br />It was a fun night, just getting some drinks from the local 0-24 and chatting with them. The two-Americans plus the Hungarians were musicians. They ended up doing some freestyle beat-boxing and rapping on the street. Our group grew when some other randoms joined us, an Irish guy and some Aussies.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111969470285480402"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFdJhsCAdI/AAAAAAAAEko/yODn7zJ5oVc/s288/DSCF0442.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The Irish guy was, I hate to say it, very stereo-typical. He was pissed and looking for a fight. He ended up having a bit of a scuffle with one of the Hungarians, which I found most amusing. After that, our hostel-crew left and went home to bed.<br /><br />Such a random night but heaps of fun. That's something you can't really do in many places isn't it! I'm loving Europe's loose drinking laws.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-30091403741050042002007-09-15T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-20T06:32:33.636+12:00Day one in HungaryWell hello kids.<br /><br />Skip the boring stuff (no hassles at all)... and arrived in Budapest at 1pm.<br />I had read the guides and had a minor idea of what I wanted to do.<br /><br />The hostel was a little hard to find, and turned out to be a quite little 3 bedroom one in this random apartment. It was still good and the staff were extremely friendly. Oh... and once I got back to Germany I realised I had double booked myself at hostels in Budapest! Luckily they only charged me for the first night... ooops... I guess I just lost track of which places I had booked.<br /><br />Anyways... upon arrival I met two Swedish girls (they seem to be everywhere!) named Isabella and Julia. They had just arrived as well and were going to check out the local baths. It was on my list of things to do, so I tagged along with them.<br /><br />Walking up to the baths was quite cool, I walked through the Oktagon which had the museum of Terror (didn't visit it but heard it was cool). Also walked through Heroes Square which had a protest going on against the current government.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111967344276668306"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFbNxsB_5I/AAAAAAAAEgA/M0XwUjROjXw/s288/DSCF0278.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Arrived at the baths and realised I hadn't changed any Euros over... so they sent me on a wild goose chase to try and find an exchange. There were none around the area! I then actually stopped to think for a second and used my credit card :-P<br /><br />Anyways, the thermal baths were quite nice. The hottest they were was 38 degrees, but it was a big outside pool that you could just relax in. Pretty cool atmosphere with people playing chess in the water! They also had a sauna, which had a 16 degree pool right outside. You hoped in this freezing water for a few minutes then went in the sauna. It was a strange experience.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111967382931374002"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFbQBsB_7I/AAAAAAAAEgQ/kYp7e76h0zs/s400/DSCF0285.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Ended up staying around 3 hours before leaving. Overall impression was ok, NZ's thermal baths are slightly cheaper and you have more variety in temperatures. These baths were just bigger. I wouldn't complain about the $5 they charge at the Mt. Hot pools anymore :-P We do have it quite good in NZ and I'm realising it more and more while I'm over here.<br /><br />After the pools, the girls went off to the supermarket to get some dinner. 1 was vegan and the other vegetarian, so found it very hard with the Hungarian cuisine. I decided to go check out Heroes Square and City Park. It was a nice walk with some strange art exhibitions around the place.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBudapest/photo?authkey=962Xk-v_0_g#5111967464535752690"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFbUxsB__I/AAAAAAAAEgw/HMCWaARQ5MI/s288/DSCF0298.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I eventually got back to the hostel around 7pm and cracked open a Hungarian beer while watching some basketball. Started chatting with some people from the hostel and eventually there was a large group that were heading out on the town (2 American girls, 2 American guys, the 2 Swedish girls, and me). Went to this really cool bar that had vines growing all over the walls. It was really strange but awesome! I ended up chatting to a couple of Pommy boys at the bar for a bit then joined the rest of the group.<br /><br />After a few beers, bed was calling me (I was shattered!) so I left and walked home. Got lost for a bit and had to get my drunken sense of direction with my map. I got accosted by a prostitute on the way home. They are pretty full on, she flat out grabbed my crotch and told me 2500 florints ($NZD 20). When I said no and tried to walk away she grabbed my belt, so had to basically force her off! They must be desperate for money when they are only charging that amount!<br /><br />Anyway, after my escape from the STI machine I got home and was in bed :-) Talked to a couple of Pommy girls who came home just after me then promptly went to sleep as I was shattered.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-52157626586966972612007-09-14T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-20T06:30:05.989+12:00HeidelbergOk, I’m here for a gathering of geeks guys. It’s an international conference for Pattern Recognition (among other image analysis techniques). So boring to most of you, but interesting to me.<br /><br />Monday night stayed in a pretty nice hotel.<br /><br />Tuesday, went to conference all day. Then went for drinks with some of the people there. After that I checked into my new hotel which was closer to the venue.<br /><br />Wednesday, In the evening, did a guided tour of Heidelberg.<br />Was pretty cool little city, but I think I heard more Americans than I did Germans! It is one of the places that Americans like to visit. Mark Twain visited here when he was writing his novels.<br /><br />Also, learnt a bit of history. Heidelberg went through a shitload in the past. The biggest one was the castle being destroyed several times during the 30 Year War and it has been left in ruins. It has got one of the thickest walls out of any medieval structure... 11m thick!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/ConferenceInHeidelberg/photo?authkey=vDfn5oeytMY#5111973013633500434"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFgXxsCBRI/AAAAAAAAErw/w2LtFmKQxcs/s400/DSCF0258.JPG" /></a><br /><br />There were some pretty cool views of the city by night!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/ConferenceInHeidelberg/photo?authkey=vDfn5oeytMY#5111972304963896370"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RvFfuhsCBDI/AAAAAAAAEp8/jtaxy1LGXeI/s400/DSCF0138.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Thurs, conference then the conference dinner which was pretty cool.<br /><br />Friday, conference, then on the train home. Writing my paper at every spare moment I had!<br /><br />Anyway… short and sweet. I’m going to try and keep up with my blog but I’m pretty flat out with writing my paper and stuff. May not be as detailed as I have been in the past :-) Head down bum up until I leave.<br /><br />Next destination… Budapest! Woohoo.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-11510768894382017182007-09-10T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-14T02:50:56.549+12:00Half a day in the Polski Capital.Got up and had breakie then out the door as I only had 4 hours to visit the city!<br /><br />I went to the Old City…. well what was left of it! In fact, the old city that I visited was mostly rebuilt after the war. It was a flying visit and then I went to the Uprising museum.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109655658676848690"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rukkv9v_iDI/AAAAAAAAEZA/3_8kB4SD_Iw/s288/DSCF0047.JPG" /></a><br /><br />This museum was pretty good, the main focus was about the Warsaw / Polish uprising near the end of the war. It also explained how the Nazi’s tried to eliminate Polish culture completely during the occupation. Banning Polish language and destroying Polish history / cultural literature. <br /><br />It also explained how the Polish combated the much superior Nazi forces using guerrilla urban warfare. They lasted quite well until Hitler wanted to make an example. If people want to see the summary / Hollywood version of it, see “Uprising”, I thought it was a good movie and the museum just helped fill in some gaps missed by the movie.<br /><br />One major thing… Hitler wanted to make an example to Europe showing what happens when you stand up to the Nazi empire… so he ordered the complete destruction of Warsaw. The entire old town was blown up and 30% of the city was levelled… this is not including the amount of buildings destroyed during the battles. Warsaw was just ruins after the war! After the war, when the soviets were in power, they rebuilt the main town square and the old city.<br /><br />Just outside the museum was the “wall of remembrance” which has got the names of the Polish people that died during the uprising… it wasn’t a small wall.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109655997979265170"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RuklDtv_iJI/AAAAAAAAEZw/9xObQVnRx38/s288/DSCF0080.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After this I didn’t have much time, so it was a quick trip back to the hostel to grab my bag then off to the airport. I didn’t get a chance to get to the top of the “Palace of Culture” to see Warsaw from a vantage point… but oh well.<br /><br />I arrived at the airport about 15 minutes before I needed to check in (which is usually plenty of time). I found out that my terminal wasn’t the main one and was a 5 minute walk away. When I arrived there were people queuing out the door. Luckily, some other people were in the same boat as me so we pushed through to the front and checked in… with 1 minute to spare!<br /><br />Got through the customs checks (got another stamp) and got on the plane. Arrived back in Stuttgart where the pilot got claps for the landing because of some minor-turbulence. In Germany, they seem to applaud the pilot in the most minor of turbulences. But I guess anything is a soft, easy landing after my Croatian flights!<br /><br />So, as you can see… that was the most disorganised, badly planned, losing things, almost missing every bloody train/plane/everything trip I have ever done. And it was fantastic! I really loved Poland and want to go back at some stage (next time round). The time I spent there was defiantly not long enough. Don’t know why it was so great… it just was.<br /><br />This week I’m off to Heidelberg for a conference.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-90173561718292934122007-09-09T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-14T02:48:40.299+12:00Krakow to WarsawI got out early enough to try and enjoy the day. I walked around the old city of Krakow and did the touristy thing. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109655147575740226"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RukkSNv_h0I/AAAAAAAAEXE/pVhQfYTphVU/s288/Image%28185%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />My next stop was the police station to report my camera… of course, they didn’t speak English, but they managed to communicate I needed to sit in this room and wait to be served. After about an hour (time for me to do some more work) they had a translator on the phone. I explained that I just needed to make a report so I could make an insurance claim. They said they could do it and they arranged an appointment at 5pm to see the translator.<br /><br />So, I went out and enjoyed the rest of the day. I walked around in the overcast / semi-raining day. I saw the Old Town and Castle (which were pretty cool). <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109655327964366786"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rukkctv_h8I/AAAAAAAAEYI/JR5eoXw9WD8/s288/Image%28209%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The main church in the old city had one of the most impressive interiors I’ve seen in a church. On my way back to the hostel I randomly bumped into Rachel and Richard again… such a strange coincidence! <br /><br />I got back to the hostel about 4pm… just as it started to piss down. I started talking with the girl on the desk (who was the one that joined us the first night) and told her about my camera… and she said “this one” and pulled out my camera from the desk. So yay! I got my camera back… and even got her to call the police station to cancel my appointment so I didn’t have to walk in the rain. It was such great news!<br /><br />I ended up chilling out at the hostel chatting with Justin for a couple of hours until I needed to go to the train station and head to Warsaw. I didn’t want to leave Krakow because I thought it was a fantastic city! Don’t ask me why, because I can’t put a finger on it. It’s just a great city… good atmosphere, not too many tourists, yet it’s tourist (English) friendly. Just a great city and I want to go back. Oh also, Poland has lots of great eye candy for me… those of you who know me know I’ve got a weakness for dark hair with blue eyes… which was a plenty in Poland.. Heaven :-P<br /><br />Anyway, I arrived in Warsaw and it was pissing with rain. I walked to the hostel and got pretty wet, well I had my rain jacket so not too much. Two most useful things in my travels so far: my snow-jacket and my big back pack (thanks mum!)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109655512647960594"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rukkndv_iBI/AAAAAAAAEYw/YW_dTI25Kg4/s288/DSCF0027.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I couldn’t be bothered facing the rain again, so I sat down and chatted to some guys in the hostel. We watched the final of the US Open and watched Federer win for the 4th time in a row. Then I went off to bed.<br /><br />If anyone goes to Poland or Romania, stay in a “Nathan’s Villa Hostel”, it is the greatest hostel I have ever stayed in. You won’t believe how good until you stay in one! It’s the cleanliness and convenience of a hotel, with the atmosphere and friendliness of a hostel.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-53314712074756592492007-09-08T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-14T02:40:30.952+12:00AuschwitzWelcome to the most depressing day ever!<br /><br />First, I woke up at a reasonable time and got ready for the day. My camera case was open and my camera was gone. I went to the front desk and they didn’t have it. So… I assumed it was stolen. I was surprisingly not too upset, travel insurance would cover it, but I was gutted that I couldn’t take any pictures.<br /><br />Anyway… can’t let that hold up my day. I tagged along with a couple of people from my dorm room as they were heading to Auschwitz (if you don’t know what this is then I don’t know what hole you’ve been living in) as well. Chatted with them on the 2 hour bus ride and then went our separate ways when we got there because I wanted to do a guided tour. Today happened to be the only day with semi-reasonable weather… still cold but at least it wasn’t raining.<br /><br />Now, this was probably one of the most morbid experiences of my life. The tour started with a 15 minute documentary explaining how Auschwitz was run. It had live footage of when it was liberated by the soviets and other such stuff. After the movie, people were crying walking out.<br /><br />We started the tour… first we got given these badges and then the tour guide let us through the main gates. It turns out the badges we were given were used to mark the Auschwitz prisoners… and we got lead through the gate like people were back then… it was really strange. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654099603719698"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RukjVNv_hhI/AAAAAAAAEUo/ZbvsNfdAGDs/s288/Image%28137%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I managed to get some pictures of the complex using my phone camera. Some places I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures though. Anyway… I’m not going to go into too much detail on this but you can read a lot on Wikipedia and other such stuff on the Holocaust. I am just going to let you know some of the morbid details that really hit home fore me. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654275697378866"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rukjfdv_hjI/AAAAAAAAEU4/aQShSTJHHnk/s288/Image%28140%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />1 - 1.5 million people (men, woman and children) were exterminated at Auschwitz during the time it ran from 1939 – 1945, most being Jews. It was the largest Nazi extermination camp. When a train arrived containing a load of passengers, the fittest men were selected to be “slave labour” the rest were sent straight to the gas chambers… about 75% of each trainload was sent there. Most slave labour people lasted less than 3 months due to poor conditions. The burners there could burn up to 2000 corpses in 24 hours… yet some days this wasn’t fast enough and they had to burn piles of bodies. Over all the extermination camps and Ghettos, 6 million out of 11 million European Jews were murdered during the war… and almost 100% of the Polish Jews were exterminated.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654301467182658"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rukjg9v_hkI/AAAAAAAAEVA/XGyrDELzBNU/s288/Image%28146%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />I only cried twice during this tour (which surprised me how little). The first was the room showing the medical experiments that were performed on children, seeing their deformed malnutrition bodies was just horrible. Most of them were then executed or tortured to death, then autopsied to see how the experiments affected them. The second was the story about Father Maximilian Kolbe. A prisoner escaped, and as punishment, the SS selected 10 men to die in his place… by starvation. One man that was selected cried because he had a family on the outside. The Monk heard his cries and chose to go in his place. After two weeks in the “starvation chamber” the monk would still not die and had to be executed by the Nazi. The man who’s life he saved survived the war and lived to a good age.<br /><br />The gas chambers did not affect me as much as I thought they would. They were pretty bad… but still not as bad as I imagined.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654374481626722"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RukjlNv_hmI/AAAAAAAAEVQ/B6WXEkHi2PA/s288/Image%28148%29.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The whole experience I could write a LOT about… as it really did affect me. Not a pleasant experience, but I’m glad I did it. With seeing the Nazi museum in Nuremberg and Auschwitz, the events tie together… and it’s still hard to believe such an atrocity happened.<br /><br />Anyway… got a bit teary even writing the above passage.<br /><br />I met a couple of people on the tour and started chatting with them afterwards, they were heading back to Krakow by car. I caught a lift with them. It was a Scottish lass (Rachel), an Irish bloke (Richard) and a Polish guy (can’t remember his name).<br /><br />I ended up going to dinner with them at a random town pizza place that was in the basement of someone’s house! They were really cool and I’m going to try and make it to Glasgow to catch up with them.<br /><br />I got back to the hostel after dinner etc, and the Poms and Justin were there, along with another Pommy girl (Tori). So, we got some drinks and after a few hit the town. Got home and went to bed eventually.<br /><br />So a bit of a weird day really… I fully recommend that anyone go to Auschwitz if they get the chance. It’s just so unbelievable you just have to do it!Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-83966477403457990062007-09-07T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-14T02:23:01.786+12:00On my way to PolandWell, I didn’t do much this week. I have started writing my paper now so I’ve been pulling 12 hour+ days at work to get it done on time. At least I’ve got something to write about and I’m confident that I will be able to get it done on time :-)<br /><br />Friday morning I started my journey to Poland… now just to let you know, this was the worst planned everything going wrong weekend I’ve done so far :-P but it was still fantastic!<br /><br />First, I had booked my flights in and out of Warsaw… as soon as I had booked them, everyone said “Warsaw’s shit… you should go to Krakow”. More about that later :-P<br /><br />I got on my bike and just made it to the train station in time. I biked as fast as I could and ran as soon as I got off my bike, and the train just pulled up…. Whew!<br /><br />So, from there everything was ok and I got some work done (reading that I’m doing at the moment) while on the train and on the plane. Checked in and arrived at Warsaw no problems. It was raining in Stuttgart, but above the clouds the weather was lovely.<br /><br />Even though Poland is part of the EU, everyone still needs to go through a control point (which I haven’t had to do much)… I got another stamp in my passport! Woohoo.<br /><br />Ok, so I got on a bus and went to the main train-station…. to head to Krakow :-) It wasn’t too expensive and only a 3 hour train ride. It took me an hour to get a ticket though because I had to find someone that spoke English, then wait to be served for ages.<br /><br />Fast forward 4 hours (getting some more reading done) and I was in Krakow…. Where it was PISSING down! <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654052359079410"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RukjSdv_hfI/AAAAAAAAEUY/voHgDfdVUCw/s288/DSCF0020.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I walked to my hostel, got some beers, and sat down with some of the people in the hostel and proceeded to drink quite a lot. I met some Poms and an American named Justin. Also, the girl on the hostel front desk for night shift joined us for a drink and some conversation… running to the door to let people in when need be.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPoland/photo?authkey=y2nacesvtLU#5109654060949014018"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RukjS9v_hgI/AAAAAAAAEUg/y0Bh2VWeayo/s288/DSCF0025.JPG" /></a> (Justin)<br /><br />That was my first day: travel, rain and mayhem… I could have planned this soooo much better, oh well.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-48883186518631082392007-09-02T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-06T07:56:41.745+12:004 Corners of PrahaToday I was up and out of the dorm by 9am. The others in the room were not so awake, as I heard the Portuguese guys and the French girls come home at 6am... another big night for them!<br /><br />Today I wanted to do all the things I hadn't done yet, well... within reason :-)<br /><br />The first stop was the Czech markets, to the east of the city. This was pretty much the same as any other markets I've been to, but it was pretty big. I couldn't find much I wanted to buy, so I only got some boring stuff: undies, socks, bike light and a new back-pack. It was all quite cheap too which was nice. I did walk around checking it out and ended up spending a couple of hours here.<br /><br />Next stop the Jewish Museum. Now, the Jewish Museum is actually. The actual museum itself is just an admin office, and all the exhibits are inside the Synagogues spread out all around Josefov (Jewish Quarter). So I got the ticket to see everything except the New-Old Synagogue (the oldest Synagogue in the world). But I took pictures of it anyway, just couldn't go in.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076464754180706"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtfdWnwmI/AAAAAAAAEDY/_T0DRADlLHQ/s288/DSCF0574.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Jewish cemetery: This was pretty morbid. The cemetery was about the size of a small city block, and there were 12,000 grave stones (and more buried than that!) The Jews were denied any more land to bury their dead, so they build a wall around the area, covered it with dirt, then buried more people. They did that several times. The result is:<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076370264900162"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtZ9WnwkI/AAAAAAAAEDE/X-cpbJm1fDs/s288/DSCF0559.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Klausen Synagogue: This one didn't have much to offer, some silver collections and books and stuff.<br /><br />Ceremonial Hall: Again, lots of books and stuff. Had some quite impressive massive silver crowns... but you weren't allowed to take pictures.... so I did :-)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076511998820978"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtiNWnwnI/AAAAAAAAEDg/egs7AbjDgeo/s288/DSCF0576.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Maisel Synagogue: Can't really remember what was in this one, silver pointers and things I think. Didn't leave much of an impression.<br /><br />Pinkas Synagogue: This one has been turned into a holocaust memorial with a difference. The walls are painted white, then over that is 80,000 names printed on the walls. They are the names of the Jews from Bohemia (area of Czech that Prague is located) that were exterminated during WW2. This is only 80,000 names, and it covers every wall from top to bottom, 3 rooms, 2 stories. Imagine how much 6,000,000 would take up! On the top story there were 4,000 pictures from Jewish children. They were collected by someone who used to entertain the children (well try to take their mind off things) at Terezin extermination camp... out of the 10,000 children there only 242 survived. Pretty morbid huh.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076559243461250"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxtk9WnwoI/AAAAAAAAEDo/-3UY-0hIP3o/s288/DSCF0578.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Spanish Synagogue: This one was the most impressive. It's not actually Spanish, but is named so because it is as beautiful as another one located in Spain. The inside was painted in dark colours, with gold trimming everywhere. Very impressive. It also had one of the larger collections of Jewish Silver.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076593603199634"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxtm9WnwpI/AAAAAAAAEDw/D3KGZTPEOFw/s288/DSCF0581.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076632257905314"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtpNWnwqI/AAAAAAAAED4/js7FqmH0vBc/s288/DSCF0583.JPG" /></a><br /><br />That was the end of my Jewish tour... onward and upward (literally). I was heading for the Petrin Observation Tower, which is a small replica of the Eifel Tower (Paris), only built ontop of a hill. It was West of the city, and along the way I stopped at a set of gardens (don't even know what ones). There were peacocks and peahens wandering around, even had an albino one which I have never seen before. It also had a massive fountain with heaps of goldfish in the water. I then started my ascent and got to the top of the hill (took a while), then started my ascent of the tower (366 steps)... but it was worth it. You could see for miles around every direction of Prague... and further! Got some nice panoramic shots of the place.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076975855289138"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxt9NWnwzI/AAAAAAAAEFA/ZSk_QUGVDl4/s288/DSCF0614.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Next stop... the big swinging pendulum thingy. Yip that's right :-) It was to the North of the City so a bit of a hike. The story here is once Czech was freed from Soviet occupation, they ripped down the Stalin statue... and had an idea to put a massive metronome in it's place.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106077263618098034"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxuN9Wnw3I/AAAAAAAAEFk/AjHJmxEIBpE/s288/DSCF0647.JPG" /></a><br /><br />From here I headed to the TV Tower to the East of the city... by Metro this time. This building was just weird. They decided to put babies crawling around on the outside of the building. I went to the top of this and chilled out over an expensive beer (for Prague anyway... cheap by any other standard). I watched the sunset from here which was quite cool. I was one of the only people in the cafe, so I ended up talking to the bar-girl for a bit as she was also bored. I stayed until it was quite dark and you could see a really cool view of Prague by night, simply stunning.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106077456891626434"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxuZNWnw8I/AAAAAAAAEGM/yUfAL1vqlsA/s288/DSCF0666.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106077572855743474"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxuf9Wnw_I/AAAAAAAAEGk/xxyrUq5qnbs/s288/DSCF0690.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I left here around 9pm, and took some photos of Prague by night along the way. I hadn't actually seen Prague by night yet... and it was amasing. Check out the photos in my gallery and you'll see.<br /><br />I got back to my hostel (south of the city) around 10pm... and after a shower + talking to a couple of people I was on my way to the bus station. I couldn't find it at the Metro stop and I almost missed my bus :-) I got there in the end and that is the end of my grand tour of Prague... all 4 corners in one day.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-22613620611721623682007-09-01T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-06T07:00:18.634+12:00Vysehrad and Czech LocalsWell... because of the late night (early morning) I didn't get out of bed until noon.<br /><br />I got ready then half organised to do dinner at 9pm with the Portuguese guys and the French girls in the room. Then we all headed our separate ways to see the sites.<br /><br />My first stop was the National Museum and the Opera House. The museum was especially cool. Now there's a lot of really cool stuff in Prague, so most stuff blends into the background... but not this.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075382422421826"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxsgdWnwUI/AAAAAAAAEBA/Gq_kqeJiA9I/s288/DSCF0476.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After that I got on the Metro and headed to Vysehrad, a big church complex to the south of the main city, Old Town and New Town (which was founded in the 1400's so isn't that new).<br /><br />I was walking beside two people most of the way to Vysehrad... my Aussie-dar went off again. I had a quick chat with them, an Aussie dude and a Czech chick. After we arrived we walked around and saw different things. The church was pretty average on the inside. and up close it doesn't look nearly as spectacular as from a distance. The grave-yard was pretty cool... lots of interesting style grave-stones and stuff.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075704544969090"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxszNWnwYI/AAAAAAAAEBk/q_E_Rfp7A5w/s288/DSCF0506.JPG" /></a><br /> <br />I ended up walking around the parameter of the complex because it was a really nice walk with beautiful views of Prague (Vysehrad is built like a fortress on top of a hill). I ended up bumping into the Czech and the Aussie again, so I joined them for a beer.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075764674511266"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxs2tWnwaI/AAAAAAAAEB0/a_EiuuQF9Rw/s288/DSCF0513.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The open air bar was really random. There were tables of people sitting around, and a lot were getting stoned. Not something you usually see... I later found out that Czech doesn't really police it as there's much worse things out there. After the beer with Johnny and Katerina, we had a walk along the streets back toward New City. Took some photos along the way... then we stopped for some dinner, pizza and beer :-) Now if you like beer, you will like Prague.<br /><br />Over dinner we talked about all sorts. They told me about a Indie-Rock concert that was going on in a local park. It wasn't really a touristy thing and it was mainly going to be locals... which I thought was cool! So off we went.<br /><br />We eventually found the park, which was a difficult task, even with a translator. And met up with some of Katerina's friends. There were probably around 100 or so people, so it wasn't a big concert. We lined up for beer... and it took about 45 minutes to get to the front... so we got 2 each :-P Murphy was playing tricks on me again, as we walked up to the field I stepped into a little hole in the field, fell over and lost most of one beer :-( I did pretty well to keep that much considering I fell right over.<br /><br />We chilled out listening to the music, and again you could see and smell the pot coming off the crowd. It was pretty cool just chilling out drinking beer and listening to Indie-Rock. One really cool thing that happened was this little girl got up on stage with the band and starting dancing around... it was really cute!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075884933595618"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxs9tWnweI/AAAAAAAAECU/7Cm8txEGDHA/s288/DSCF0527.JPG" /></a><br /><br />The concert finished just before 10, and there was an after party... so we went to that. Now this was a REAL underground party. What I mean is... it was in an old bunker! So we went down into the ground about 4 or 5 stories. It was really interesting. We hung out here until about 1 or 2am then we left and caught the tram to our separate homes (gotta love European public transport!)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075945063137778"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtBNWnwfI/AAAAAAAAECc/di_0c1UIQbI/s288/DSCF0532.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106076099681960482"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxtKNWnwiI/AAAAAAAAEC0/n8wpvTbJddw/s288/DSCF0549.JPG" /></a><br /><br />It was a really random day and I had a lot of fun. It's good to, because Johnny lives in Sydney, so I'm going to catch up with him when I head over there at the end of this year. And Katie is probably going to head out to NZ at some stage... so that's one of the most random encounters to date :-PTobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-46636594148985397112007-08-30T12:00:00.001+12:002007-09-06T08:00:31.936+12:00Grand Tour of PrahaFor those of you wondering, Praha is the local name for Prague.<br /><br />Right... today I woke up pretty early considering. I was up and out on the streets by 9am. Today I decided I would do the "Free Walking Tour" and get an overall view of the city. So off to the centre of the Old City to get to the meeting point.<br /><br />We weren't meeting until 10:30am, so I decided to watch the Astronomical clock go off at 10am (it goes off every hour dusk - dawn). It is a really big build up to something that is a little bit of a let down. When the clock goes off, 12 saints appear through these doors at the top, then go away... yip as good as it sounds. The clock itself is quite cool though... try reading it, I think there are 7 hands! I only found out how to once the tour guide explained it fully.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106073913543606274"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxrK9WnwAI/AAAAAAAAD-E/koaAYHQdefM/s288/DSCF0356.JPG" /></a><br /><br />So after that I took some photos of the Old Town then waited at the meeting point. I wasn't the only person from our neck of the woods. There were about 4 other Kiwis (older people) and around 8 Aussies (older people again). The younger people on the tour were from England, Italy and Spain. Our tour guide was Nicole (a German born Czech), but she had a Billabong bag, with a Paua Kiwi attached to it. She had lived in Aussie for 6 months or so.<br /><br />Anyway, first she showed us the Astronomical clock and explained it all (no I'm not going to write an explanation). After that the tour went like this: headed around the back streets of the Old City to see some more sites, then the Jewish Quarter, then over Charles Bridge, past the John Lennon wall (which is the only wall you're allowed to tag on in Praha), past St. Nicolas Church in the Lesser Town, then up to the Castle, a quick walk through the castle and done. It doesn't sound like much but it took over 4 hours.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106074072457396258"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxrUNWnwCI/AAAAAAAAD-U/kLdQm0681Zs/s144/DSCF0374.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106074222781251666"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxrc9WnwFI/AAAAAAAAD-w/hYcBKp2vmy0/s144/DSCF0418.JPG" /></a> <br /><br />The highlights for me were the story about Josephov (Jewish Quarter). Basically, one of the queens kicked all the Jews out using high taxes and other such methods (poor Jews)... then once she started kicking them out she realised that they were a bunch of her revenue (tax etc). So she got her son to start the Jewish Quarter and invite them back. I'm sure you can guess what his name was :-P<br /><br />Throughout the tour I was chatting with Nicole about all sorts. Also chatted quite a bit with a pommy chick and an irish lad (ummm... Kate and Toph... I think... too many names in such a little time). Who had been to NZ and Canada to work for some ski-seasons. I learnt a bit about Belfast and the tank-like-police cars that were kitted out during the IRA days :-P After the tour they took off to catch up with his parents for dinner.<br /><br />It was Nicole's last day doing the tour as she had a new job. She got some photos taken during the tour so I'm going to be famous (along with everyone else on the tour)! I ended up talking with for about half an hour about all sorts after everyone had left. She said she might head out to NZ and got my contact details (hopefully I can remember all these people when they come calling on me). She then had to run off because the boss was taking her out for dinner.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106074295795695730"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxrhNWnwHI/AAAAAAAAD_A/VI50XyvSeZs/s288/DSCF0423.JPG" /></a><br />(Me and Nicole)<br /><br />Anyway, I would recommend the tour, once again the "Free Tour" (you tip what you want) was great. The tour guides seem to be more passionate about it than on the paid ones for some reason. It wasn't run by the same company as in Berlin, but was still pretty good.<br /><br />After that I wandered down to see the inside of St. Nicolas Church... which I was told was impressive. Now, Prague has got soooo many churches, and throughout Europe I have seen many many more, so it had a lot to live up to. It was pretty cool, but I have seen others that are just as great.<br /><br />I was then walking down the street... and I bumped into two Asian fellows that I had helped at the metro station on my first day (the day where I almost got caught!). They were heading to see the "Baby Jesus"... which I had no idea about. So I tagged along with them. And it was exactly that... a little doll of a very young Jesus. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106074824076673218"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxr_9WnwMI/AAAAAAAAEAA/6_Qo-gt7ddc/s288/DSCF0445.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I was a little tired (shock... horror) so took a walk back to the hostel to relax. I had been walking around for 9 hours so I thought I deserved it. There was one guy asleep in my room... so I took a nanna nap as well :-P<br />The sleeping-guy woke up when his mate arrived back. So, I started chatting to them. Two Portuguese guys named, Filipe and Miguel. We ended up going out for dinner then hitting the town. I found out they live in Lisbon (where I'm heading in 4 weeks time) so they offered themselves as tour guides for me... looking forward to it!<br /><br />We went to a club that had 5 different dance floors, each one playing different styles of music. Ranging from hip-hop to 70's disco. The hip-hop floor was quite funny, there were guys on the dance floor having dance battles. They also had two live dudes rapping on stage. Which was pretty cool.<br />On the top floor was the "chill-out" room which had bean-bags and comfy sofas to lounge about in... we headed after a bit (well, Filipe and I, we lost Miguel as soon as we got there).<br /><br />After a few minutes, I wanted to test my Aussie-dar (which is pretty accurate now). I walked up to these random chicks and asked them what part of Australia they were from. I was right on the money :-P 2 girls from Perth (Sam and Naomi) and 1 from Sydney (Jules). Ended up talking and hanging out with them the whole night. Had a lot of fun... and may bump into them at Oktoberfest... along with the other millions of people there :-P<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106074970105561314"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxsIdWnwOI/AAAAAAAAEAQ/lr6v6hl_GOc/s144/DSCF0460.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075107544514818"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxsQdWnwQI/AAAAAAAAEAg/0MCDidHV5UM/s144/DSCF0465.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106075154789155122"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxsTNWnwTI/AAAAAAAAEA4/PVA3ELzPpww/s144/DSCF0471.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We got home around 5 or 6am and we crashed.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-69159199181029807002007-08-30T12:00:00.000+12:002007-09-06T08:00:54.199+12:00Onto the Czech RepublicHello Kids,<br /><br />It's story time again :-)<br />This week was a very short one for me... Monday night I booked a 4 day trip to Prague leaving Wednesday night... how's that for last-minute planning! I'm becoming a pro at it now... hehe.<br /><br />So busy busy Mon and Tues updating blog and working. Then Wednesday night.... the overnight bus to Prague... woohoo and oooh damnit all in one breath. The overnight bus is not fun.<br /><br />Onto the travels.....<br /><br />I arrived at 5:30am after getting a couple minutes sleep the whole night. I had this lovely old Indian dude sitting behind me who loved to cough then spit out whatever he was coughing into a bag.... yummo.<br /><br />I got onto the Metro (subway) on my way to my hostel. Now, I didn't have any Czech Crown (currency) and there were no exchanges open, so I had to get on illegally. Now, what does Murphy's Law say? Some metro police got on board and started flashing their badge around checking tickets. Luckily, my stop was next... but those 30s seemed to go on forever and my heart was racing. I managed to get off just before they got to me... phew. That was an adrenaline rush for the day! Who needs coffee for a wake-up call? :-)<br /><br />I then got off and started walking trying to find my hostel. I couldn't find any landmarks as I was surrounded by massive old buildings (kind of like Vienna). I wandered around and then found I was walking the complete wrong way. I had managed to walk half way to town before I realised :-P<br /><br />Anyway, got into the hostel and checked in. The hostel was run by this lovely middle-aged woman and her son. She was very friendly and really willing to help. It was too early to go into my room (at 7am), so she gave me a map and told me of all the places I can go. So I left my bag with them and headed out for adventure!<br /><br />My first views of Prague were simply breathtaking. I walked along the river and you could see the magnificent views of the Praha Castle, the biggest castle complex in the world! Now, before visiting Prague, Vienna was the most impressive city that I've seen. I think Prague topped it as a first smack-smack-in-the-face impression of a city.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106071113224928370"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxon9WnvHI/AAAAAAAAD2w/H_vDId2qMd8/s400/DSCF0013.JPG" /></a><br /><br />There are so many old buildings around the aptly named "Old City". Prague was not bombed during the war because of the Munich Pact (whatever that is) so everything is very much intact.<br /><br />I walked along the river taking in the grand architecture of the place and headed straight for the castle. Over Charles Bridge which is a medieval bridge with statues along the side. Then up the hill to the top. I got an audio-guide and wandered around the castle for about 6 hours (yes it is just that big!). It was very very touristy, but was an entertaining way to spend a day. <br />It was not cheap though... Prague has two extremes: the touristy area - where everything is way overpriced, and everywhere else - where you get $1 beers from a bar! I'm not going to bore you with too much about the castle as the pictures speak for themselves (check out my online photos - when they are ready). The St. Vitus Cathedral was very spectacular though and a randomly cool thing I did see was a guy doing some blacksmithing with some old gear which was pretty cool. Oh Chris (my brother-in-law) would have loved it. There was an armoury of all sorts of medieval forged war-gear, which could be purchased :-)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106072380240281154"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxpxtWnvkI/AAAAAAAAD6c/U-d5Wdxbnwg/s288/DSCF0204.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106073058845114130"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtxqZNWnvxI/AAAAAAAAD8I/MFwqE4vey04/s288/DSCF0282.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After the castle I headed back to the hostel. I was pretty shattered and just wanted to chill. So I grabbed some Chinese (really cheap as I wasn't in a touristy area) and some beers then went back to the room to eat.<br /><br />I talked to some random Pommy chicks that were travelling, then 2 of my room-mates came home. It was two Polish people named Luke and Ewa (Eva for us English folk). They were pretty cool and we talked about Polish politics.... now I know what you are thinking. But this was good. Polish politics are a complete joke, the stuff they were saying was just so funny. In Poland, if you commit a crime, you can't leave the country or do almost any job (teacher, etc.)... but you can still become a politician! They have got one leader who went to jail for... "raping a prostitute"... how silly is that!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106073574241189810"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxq3NWnv7I/AAAAAAAAD9c/7aeJ2BPJRoI/s288/DSCF0330.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToPrague/photo?authkey=Q3rLvGYvbrQ#5106073707385176002"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rtxq-9Wnv8I/AAAAAAAAD9k/OhkUMh3onuU/s288/DSCF0343.JPG" /></a><br />(Luke and Ewa)<br /><br />I also learnt a few Polish swear words... 1 of thousands. Polish has the most swear words of any language. They even have a Polish swearing dictionary that is 500 pages. A lot of Polish people use the word "coorvah" (bad name for a whore) as a comma in their sentences :-P Also a word that sounds like "who-ya" is a really offensive saying in Polish. So they laugh when they hear it in English songs. Oh, and the Czech name for girl... is the Polish name for "prostitute".<br />Random huh?!<br /><br />Anyways, after talking half the night we managed to get to bed around 2 or 3... so was a long day for me :-PTobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-17972440901992793852007-08-26T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-28T08:28:02.260+12:00Farewell to Anna + Alex :-(Today was Anna and Alex’s last day in Stuttgart.<br />We woke up at 9:00am… and eventually got up at about 10. I caught up with Le Fourgue and Janath, who wanted to join us to see the Porche museum.<br /><br />We were on our way via S-Bahn at 11… with a quite bite to eat at subway (which is almost exactly the same here).<br /><br />We arrived at around 12:30… and we only had 1 hour and a half before they had to leave. We hoped we had enough time!<br /><br />Walking into the museum, we realised we had plenty of time. The Porche museum is nothing compared to the Mercedes museum. It is one room with about 30 cars around the sides… a bit minor to the 7 stories that is the Mercedes museum. We did notice they are building a new Porche museum… which looks like it will be bigger than the Mercedes one. Car companies and their competition huh?<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103471086052817826"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMr6dWnu6I/AAAAAAAADuc/snitqOazpec/s288/DSCF0295.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103471159067261890"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMr-tWnu8I/AAAAAAAADus/unuDhMTRpXY/s288/DSCF0298.jpg" /></a><br /><br />So after about an hour we were done. And on our way back to the S-Bahn. I saw Anna and Alex off at the Hauptbahnhof and said our see yaz (I’m going to see them in just over a month… so not goodbye yet).<br /><br />Le Fourgue, Janath and I had some late lunch then headed back to the dorm... where we all had a nana-nap :-)<br />Janath cooked dinner for all of us this night... our own resident Indian cook, yummo!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103471537024384034"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMsUtWnvCI/AAAAAAAADvc/jgZFQQem2iY/s288/DSCF0351.jpg" /></a><br /><br />That’s about the end of my weekend. It was very nice… and great to see Anna and Alex again. Reminding me of my friends at home. I will be back in a couple of months… and I have a lot of destinations to visit before getting there :-)<br /><br />Oh… last week I planned a whole bunch of weekends and firm bookings on flights. So I have a massively busy travel schedule now… check out "My Planned Calendar" in the right hand panel to see, or just click on my map for those of you interested. :-)<br /><br />TschauTobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-27340706269947452502007-08-25T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-28T08:47:55.338+12:00Mercedes Museum and LudwigsburgToday we woke up at 10am and headed out for the day. Had some bakery food for breakfast along the way, then straight to the Mercedes Museum. We arrived around 12. The building was pretty big… so we thought it should be good.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468414583158866"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpe9WnuFI/AAAAAAAADno/HaEptDE58MA/s288/DSCF0046.jpg" /></a><br /><br />We were not disappointed. The museum was English friendly, with audio headsets and every sign being in Deutsch and English. We ended up spending nearly 5 hours in there! Very entertaining way to spend a day.<br /> <br />Timeline:<br />As you went through the floors, it worked its way forward in history. As you went between the floors there were snippets of major events in history and it showed where Daimler fitted into everything.<br />Daimler invented the first ever combustion engine to power a horse drawn cart. It went a massive 18km/h. And was called the “Grandfather Clock”<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468474712701042"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpidWnuHI/AAAAAAAADn4/Ibh5MboH9vA/s144/DSCF0054.jpg" /></a><br />Daimler were involved in the World Wars, creating planes and other weaponry. They even had forced labour using POWs to do their manual labour.<br />After WW2 they admitted their faults and turned the image of DaimlerBenz around. They created their safety first approach and headlined the automotive industry… and still do today. They invented and were the first to commercially install ABS (anti-lock breaking system) and airbags. Also, they were the first to initiate crash testing.<br />They merged with Chrysler for financial reasons (and now have recently split after a massive loss in the company).<br />They are still producing a large number of cars, and are number 2 in Germany for car registrations (after VW).<br /><br />Highlights:<br />The guy who founded Porche, was a designer for Daimler in the early days.<br />The Pope-mobile was designed by DiamlerChrysler.<br />Mercedes are still headlining the safety systems research for automotive companies… and that’s what I’m working for guys ;-) I even saw some people I work with, and software that I have seen on display in part of the museum, which is quite cool.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103469535569623410"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMqgNWnuXI/AAAAAAAADp8/iy4Ctj2FUl0/s144/DSCF0160.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103469076008122658"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMqFdWnuSI/AAAAAAAADpU/m24M5i8wmiY/s144/DSCF0123.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103469733138119106"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMqrtWnucI/AAAAAAAADqk/kEE-r-5i27M/s144/DSCF0177.jpg" /></a><br /><br />After this most of the day was gone… so we decided to grab some dinner then see Schloss Ludwigsburg by evening light. This time we got into one of the restaurants Alex wanted to go last night and had some traditional German food… really, A&A had schnitzel and I had pork roast. <br /><br />We made it to the Schloss around 7pm. It was quite pretty by the evening light and seemed like a really new castle. You could walk through the courtyard for free… then you had to pay to go see the gardens. There were hundreds of people heading there and we had no idea why. We found out that there was a fireworks display on tonight. So we decided to spend the evening here… why not?<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103470020900928034"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMq8dWnuiI/AAAAAAAADrY/Ghl2mOLbUho/s288/DSCF0188.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The evening was pleasant. We found ourselves a seat and enjoyed a couple of drinks. The entire place was lined with tea-light candles and reminded me of the lantern festival in Auckland. Shortly after dark they started the fireworks… to the songs of Queen… random. They didn’t last too long, and weren’t overly exciting. But they were still fireworks!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103470613606415106"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMre9WnuwI/AAAAAAAADtM/nlz4MA-ZQCE/s144/DSCF0239.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103470738160466738"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMrmNWnuzI/AAAAAAAADtk/ew51C-kagoQ/s144/DSCF0249.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103471017333341058"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMr2dWnu4I/AAAAAAAADuM/T_NKvCwWpwo/s288/DSCF0283.jpg" /></a><br /><br />After that, we found our way to the S-Bahn and made our way home… straight to bed because we were shattered. It was a really pleasant day, and a nice way to spend the evening.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-8904996916956945832007-08-24T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-28T08:10:30.338+12:00Another Taste of HomeHello peeps.<br /><br />No real news from the week. Did my work as per usual, Wednesday night I played Squash and had a sauna, other than that... status quo.<br /><br />This weekend Anna and Alex were coming to visit me in Stuttgart… and this was going to be my last weekend in Stuttgart for the rest of my time here :-P<br /><br />So… I left work early on Friday afternoon to meet up with them at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station). After the hugs and greetings we went on to see Stuttgart. <br /><br />The first stop was lunch, we had some traditional German cuisine… Doner Kebaps (hehe). After our hearty meal we decided to head up the Stuttgart TV Tower. This is the oldest TV tower in the world. Now I didn’t have the “local” know-how of the city that one should have… as I had only spent a couple of days in Stuttgart, and hadn’t done any of the touristy stuff yet. So we had to muddle our way through the map to find out which U-Bahn to catch etc. Luckily we had Mr. German Alex who could translate anything perfectly... finally a use for him ;-)<br />We got there in the end. The view from up there was pretty cool. The day was absolutely beautiful and you could see for miles. Unfortunately… there isn’t much to see in Stuttgart. Lots and lots of orange/brown roofs that all look the same, and some of the factories. Stuttgart was bombed heavily in WWII so everything is relatively new. One of the things we found amusing was the “Anti-suicide” barriers… which were these massive spikes. If you didn’t make it over… you weren’t going to be very happy.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468131115317202"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpOdWnt9I/AAAAAAAADmo/AwsDv8QVYNw/s288/DSCF0020.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103467955021657986"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpENWnt4I/AAAAAAAADl8/u0zdCPOeDpQ/s288/DSCF0008.jpg" /></a><br /><br />After this we headed back into Stuttgart. We had a wander around the city… I got lost a couple of times trying to find some gardens I had been told about, and in the end we gave up. We did find some small “gardens” and we aptly named these “Tobigarten” :-P<br /><br />We walked back into the main part of the city and found ourselves at Schlossplatz. We stopped for a drink and ice-cream. This square of Stuttgart is beautiful.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468229899565042"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpUNWnt_I/AAAAAAAADm4/HwFjL4vwwDk/s288/DSCF0028.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468281439172626"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpXNWnuBI/AAAAAAAADnI/j3goooEPRpc/s288/DSCF0031.jpg" /></a><br /><br />We wandered around the city for another hour seeing some of the side-streets and then found our way back magically at Schlossplatz, no matter where you go you always seem to end up here! It’s like the city wants you to go here. We sat down for a little while enjoying the sun and catching up. (Don’t ask me what we talked about… but it was good to see them again).<br /><br />Dinner was the next stop, and all the restaurants that we wanted to go to were either way too expensive, or had no tables free. Eventually we stopped and had Pizza Hut, which was nice anyway.<br /><br />A final walk through Stuttgart by night, we walked again past Schlossplatz, then found our way to the Hauptbahnhof. Went on our way back to my place.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/StuttgartWithAnnaAlex/photo?authkey=myC7tL_eXKw#5103468350158649394"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/RtMpbNWnuDI/AAAAAAAADnY/9YZXoYjfScQ/s288/DSCF0041.jpg" /></a><br /><br />We spent the evening having a couple of drinks and catching up and talking about all sorts. We were in bed by 1am.<br />This was my 2nd taste of home in 2 weeks :-)Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-34930798757679509852007-08-20T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-24T17:45:20.143+12:00Auf Wiedersehen BerlinToday was my last day... and there was only a couple of things I really wanted to see today.<br /><br />We headed to the first touristy destination, the Reichstag Building. This is the the main government building of Germany. It has a really cool design with the glass dome on top. The architect designed it as such so that anytime the people of government need reminding who's running the (democratic) country, all they need do is look up and see all the people above them. It's free to go up and have a look... it also offers a premium panorama of Berlin. Unfortunately... everyone wants to see it so it took an hour and a half queueing to get in! The time flew by though, because Ruth and I started chatting to a couple of Americans, father and daughter; Bob and Claire, who were "touristing" (my new word) Berlin. I found out about one of the places that I missed in Berlin which is where there are a bunch of palaces. Oh well, next time. The wait was worth it because inside the dome was pretty cool and the view was amasing.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958248247309650"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3L_tWntVI/AAAAAAAADXQ/zWNT0SqxWGw/s288/DSCF0360.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958480175543698"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3MNNWntZI/AAAAAAAADX0/OJeI_gpsvnQ/s288/DSCF0399.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We walked from here through the Tiergarten, and saw the Soviet monument... which had tanks and artillery! Cool huh!<br />We also walked through the Sony Centre where there is a massive giraffe made out of Lego.<br /><br />After this we left the Stadtmitte and headed out to Schloss Charlottenberg, which is the only remaining castle within the central city of Berlin (the rest being bombed or demolished). This was a "relatively" small palace and we had a quiet walk around the gardens... we were pretty tired after our full on last days. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958905377306114"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3Ml9WntgI/AAAAAAAADYs/-E5phHyIUfo/s144/DSCF0438.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958956916913682"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3Mo9WnthI/AAAAAAAADY0/qx7DyeXpSJs/s144/DSCF0448.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After this we went back to Ruth's place and went out for a final drink. I had to try the Berliner-Weiser, which is a famous Berlin beer with green syrup (Waldmeister, kind of like spearmint only not) in it. It was a bit too sweet for my liking.<br /><br />After that, I got my things, walked down to the U-Bahnhof and said my farewells to Ruth. She was a great host and I had a fantastic time in Berlin.<br /><br />I got to the airport with no dramas... and slept on the plane. Back home and in bed at about midnight... ready for a week of work :-)<br /><br />I highly recommend Berlin as a place to visit... sooo much history there and you can feel it because some of it is so recent.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-65208976025727404772007-08-19T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-24T17:47:47.370+12:00Sunday in BerlinNow after our big night out, we didn't get up until 2pm. That was ok, we still had plenty of time to make it to the walking tour. So 1 breakfast + a bus trip later, we were at the meeting point.<br /><br />Just to summarise this walking tour... it is fantastic! It is FREE and probably the best guided tour I have ever had. Well, it's not actually free, the guides work for tips... so they are very very good because otherwise they don't get tips.<br />Their website is here: <a href="http://www.neweuropetours.eu/">http://www.neweuropetours.eu/</a> and I recommend people go if they are heading to London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam or Edinburgh.<br /><br />Ok now onto the tour itself. We met our tour guide Katie, who was an over-energetic very-excitable extremely loud American... and that description is an understatement. But, once you got used to her, she was very well informed, entertaining and passionate about Berlin. I learnt so much on this tour that it would be half a novel to write it all down :-)<br /><br />We started at the Brandenburg gate, which is one of the most famous things in Berlin. It has been around since the Prussian-Empire, and was part of the Berlin wall.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101956787958428594"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3KqtWns7I/AAAAAAAADT8/4falwGsp7xM/s288/DSCF0227.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We then went onto the Jewish Holocaust memorial which was quite cool. Nothing in your face, just a bunch of blocks. Then straight onto Hitler's bunker... which was a parking lot :-P The soviets destroyed it when they took over East Berlin. We then walked past the Nazi Luftwaffe headquarters where they were still doing some filming for the movie. And again saw Checkpoint Charlie, which Katie called the "Disneyland of Berlin" because everything about it is fake. The only original thing left is a sign saying "You are now leaving the American Sector".<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957024181629938"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3K4dWns_I/AAAAAAAADUc/wuLIp2pHUgk/s144/DSCF0256.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957062836335618"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3K6tWntAI/AAAAAAAADUk/GR963r-97cw/s144/DSCF0258.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957397843784802"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3LONWntGI/AAAAAAAADVY/eoiBLQVOtXQ/s144/DSCF0281.JPG" /></a><br /><br />This was the half way point (after 2 hours) so we stopped for a bite to eat. The cafe we stopped at had an English menu... it had the UK and USA flag (normal) + the Aussie and NZ flag, I felt proud for our nation to make it onto a Berlin menu :-P It was at this point I realised there are only 4 main countries with English as their primary language... so you wonder why it is the international language now don't ya :-P<br /><br />The tour continued through Potsdamer Platz which is a new part of Berlin. It was pretty cool, after the fall of the wall, this place was empty. So they decided to let a bunch of architects go nuts and make all these cool high-rises there. The most famous building is the Sony Centre.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957195980321858"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3LCdWntEI/AAAAAAAADVI/tffss0hgZQI/s144/DSCF0261.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5102136287526631058"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs5t69WntpI/AAAAAAAADfY/n3nEddnlSdA/s144/DSCF0265.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We then walked to the main concert house of Berlin. There were identical churches either side of it... strange. Katie explained the story. The Swedes invaded in the 16th century and killed a lot of Berliners. They used evil ways such as tying a bunch of Germans together and having competitions to see how many they could kill with one bullet, and forcing them to drink the "Swedish Cocktail" which consisted of raw-sewage (which of course will kill you). After the Swedes left the population was decimated, so they got some French Huguenots to help repopulate. The Frenchies demanded something for their efforts... which was church #1. The people of Berlin wanted something too since they had to go through the atrocity... so they built the exact same church so no-one would be offended :-P <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957483743130754"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3LTNWntII/AAAAAAAADVo/SK-5WHdmqlY/s144/DSCF0290.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101986672340874834"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3l2NWntlI/AAAAAAAADak/whF-f7enP9Y/s144/DSCF0289.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957509512934546"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3LUtWntJI/AAAAAAAADVw/v5Dd2uewm4Y/s144/DSCF0291.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We walked through the square where the famous Nazi-book-burning took place, there is a memorial that is simply empty bookshelves. The tour ended in the Lustgarten where Ruth and I were the night before. I learnt a bit about the place here too. This is where the tour ended... but first we heard the best-part-of-the-tour (Katie had been talking about this all the tour). It was the story on how the Berlin wall came to fall.<br /><br />Now the Berlin wall officially was opened in 1989 (only 17 years ago!), and it was all a mistake. To make a long (and very entertaining presentation ala Katie) story short. A new "travel policy" which would allow travel from East-to-West. The proper policy was supposed to involve so much paperwork that nobody would actually ever be able to travel. Günter Schabowski, the person who held press releases, had not been properly updated about this as he was on holiday before the press release. During the live press release, they asked him some questions about it and he mis-read the quote. Thousands of people swarmed the boarder guards and in the confusion, they all got through. This event triggered the government to allow travel because once the people had been let out once, they couldn't keep them caged anymore.<br />(That is the very brief version)<br />It's amasing how recent the history of Berlin is... in our lifetime this occurred peoples! <br /><br />Anyway, that was the end of the tour, so Ruth showed me around some of the Eastern Quarters, a bit off the tourist track. I got to see some of the soviet buildings and statues which are quite different to the German ones.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101957939009664210"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3LttWntNI/AAAAAAAADWQ/KcFN5tEOoJ8/s288/DSCF0320.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We stopped here for dinner, which was Chinese Hot-Pot (very yummy). The owner was very friendly. He was retired and decided to start this restaurant just for fun, because he liked the cuisine when he was in China. He lived in West Berlin during the Berlin wall days and told us about the times then. It was party time for West Berlin, everyone had "reverse-tax", i.e. you got 10% more than you earned from the government. And everything was made easy to keep people in Berlin! A vast contrast to the communist East Berlin. <br /><br />After dinner we checked out a small cocktail bar and had a drink. Walking on our way home, we stopped at a "horror-rock" bar, which was cool! It was called "Cathedral"... and was anything but. Skeletons on the wall, and skulls on the beer taps. Main clientèle were of course Goths.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958029203977474"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3Ly9WntQI/AAAAAAAADWo/jpGGv1icrkw/s144/DSCF0336.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958089333519634"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3L2dWntRI/AAAAAAAADWw/W0ljzyqyaUA/s144/DSCF0343.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101958123693258018"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3L4dWntSI/AAAAAAAADW4/ocUo-CleRUU/s144/DSCF0344.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After seeing this part of the city we found our way home via bus... it was a relatively early night and we were home in bed at about 2 or 3.Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831779259092947392.post-59716510759643623942007-08-18T12:00:00.000+12:002007-08-24T06:51:52.567+12:00First day in the Deutsch HauptstadtOk… so I had only seen the German Capital’s nightlife so far… and we got up eventually at 1pm :-P Had a nice traditional German breakfast consisting of bread rolls, cheese and jam… all bought from the local flohmarkt (flea market), was very nice.<br /><br />Out to see the day, starting by seeing West Berlin. We walked past some of the common shops you can see in parts of Berlin: leather clothes and sex toys. It was good because my last gimp costume was getting a bit old :-P<br /><br />The main shopping street of West Berlin was pretty nice. We wandered around, went into the big shopping mall which was 7 stories up. There was a massive chocolate bear… oh the bear is one of the symbols of Berlin, so there are lots of them about the place.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101954893877850546"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3I8dWnsbI/AAAAAAAADP0/7S7r_g_ANqM/s400/DSCF0055.JPG" /></a><br />(Ruth with the massive bear)<br /><br />We saw the church that was bombed in the war as well. There are many places in Berlin that they have left the same since the war as memorials, this is one of the main ones.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101954992662098386"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3JCNWnsdI/AAAAAAAADQE/LG-FnD4to84/s400/DSCF0058.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We wanted to try and catch the last walking tour of the day, but it was getting too late so we would have missed it. I took this as an opportunity to see more of the West. We wandered around some of the not-so-main streets. Saw a Anne Franke museum… it was very sad and we only stayed for a little while. I felt a little too emotional in there. (Not sure how well I’m going to handle Auschwitz when I go in a couple of weeks)<br /><br />Also saw a photo exhibit by Peter Lindbergh, who is a very famous fashion photographer. One photo was of a bottle of water… and was worth $30,000. <br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101955177345692178"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3JM9WnshI/AAAAAAAADQk/O9erHk61In0/s288/DSCF0083.JPG" /></a><br /><br />After wandering for a bit, we headed into East Berlin… well the Stadtmitte (city-centre) anyway. We got off the bus near Check Point Charlie… the street just up the road was full of smoke, I was curious so of course went to check it out.<br />Turns out they were filming the controversial "Stauffenberg" movie, which is about the Nazi General that tried to kill Hitler. This is the one that Tom Cruise stars in, and because of his Scientology beliefs, they were not allowed to film this in the original locations. However, it was still a cool sight. A bit strange seeing a street full of smoke with the Nazi Swatzstika flags raised high and people in SS uniforms doing the Nazi salute… probably a once in a lifetime thing to see in Germany. For those of you who don’t know, it is illegal to wear or bear any Nazi memorabilia… an imprisonable offence. It’s amazing what you can get away with if you are in Hollywood.<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101955761461244514"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3Ju9WnsmI/AAAAAAAADRQ/yBLyBRCVBuk/s400/DSCF0113.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We wandered down past Checkpoint Charlie… probably the most unimpressive famous thing I have seen. I didn’t really want to see too many of the main stuff in the city, as we were going to see it on the walking tour the next day. We headed into some of the not so touristy areas of Berlin’s centre. I learnt about the “Ampel Men”, or in English “pedestrian crossing traffic light symbol” (isn’t German easier?). The East Berlin ampel-men are quite unique. They were designed to be cartoon like so children would take notice… and for those of you wondering… that is his arm!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101955898900198034"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3J29WnspI/AAAAAAAADRo/dR5-LZEsdAs/s288/DSCF0140.JPG" /></a><br /><br />We continued walking and saw the Döm of Berlin which was cool. We stopped at the location of the ancient Berlin Royal castle.... which was now a square with carnival + eating stuff. The Soviets destroyed it during their occupation of East Berlin. We stopped here for a Currywürst and Beer, can't get too much more German than that!<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101956199547908866"><img src="http://lh6.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3KIdWnswI/AAAAAAAADSg/7QsFVqC3-UE/s288/DSCF0165.JPG" /></a> <br /><br />After our snack, we went back to Ruth's to have a rest before heading out for the evening. We had been walking around for about 7 hours so I think we deserved it :-) After sitting around and chatting for a while, Ruth cooked a very nice dinner. By this time it was about 11pm, so time to go and see a Berlin Electro club!<br /><br />We went to a club called Tresor (means wall-safe in French), which is one of the famous clubs of Berlin. We arrived around mid-night, and things were just about starting up properly. This club was really cool! There were 3 different dance-rooms in various locations throughout the building. To get between them you had to go through a maze of stairways and tunnels. The main one we stayed in was the "hard-trance" genre. The lighting was fantastic, the sound was good, the atmosphere was pumping. Unsa-unsa :-)<br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101956392821437250"><img src="http://lh3.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3KTtWns0I/AAAAAAAADTE/dkipCiNDUmY/s288/DSCF0186.JPG" /></a> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/TripToBerlin/photo?authkey=6bJo9H4R-8I#5101956465835881298"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/tobi.vaudrey/Rs3KX9Wns1I/AAAAAAAADTM/xlxqUOhK95Q/s288/DSCF0189.JPG" /></a><br /><br />I met some Pommy guys that were on a stag due. Also met a local Berliner who could barely speak English, so between my bad German and his bad English we managed a conversation :-) Also had several dances with a couple of girls... they just come up and start dancing with ya... that doesn't happen in NZ. We danced the night away until 6am, and we didn't even have much to drink (or take anything else for that matter).<br /><br />Leaving the club we were more awake than when we were on our way to the club... but as soon as we got home we both crashed :-) Fantastic night!Tobi Vaudreyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00288946733989783278noreply@blogger.com1