London... again

Tuesday 28th October
A very early start this morning to fly back to London one last time. Had a pretty good flight (4hrs meant entertainment!). Through the British questioning again and I made it into the city. Didn't realise it was school holidays though, my god it is busy! I met up with Jus & Dom for a late lunch and made my way to Abbey & Jonathan's new place in Balham to meet them. They were actually moving in today so after dinner with Abs, we all got settled in their unit.

Christmas had arrived while I've been in Turkey, with decorations staying to go up everywhere. Have to say that I am excited for Christmas this year, not having to fall with any of the usual stresses that working in retail brings!

Wednesday 29th October
Abs took the day of work today so we started with brunch at their new local cafe. We had tickets to the matinee of Book of Mormon which was great. Definitely what they warn (inappropriate and offensive) but it's done in such a light hearted way that it is hilarious. Couldn't believe it, we had had mocktails at TGI Fridays before heading to the theatre and who should we see waiting for tickets bit Susan from my Turkish tour! Who said Loddon was a big city?

After the show we did a little bit of shopping (I need to start picking up warmer clothes!) and met Jonathan for dinner.

Thursday 30th October
The only plans I've made for this trip toLondon is to try and catch up Ruth all the people I've met over the last 5 months who are living here. I'm not got to manage to see everyone but today I caught up with Bethany (from my Scotland tour) for lunch and some shopping (woohoo got a big winner jacket so I won't freeze when I get to America). Then I met Kirsten (from my Baltics/Eastern Europe tour) for coffee. And finished the day with dinner with Abs & Jonathan. I quite like the south of London, there is so much around, I didn't even have to go into the actual city today at all.

Friday 31st October
Happy Halloween! While there is a few things around for it, I thought that it would be a bigger deal here, especially seeing is getting so big at home now. Had another day of catch ups with a late brunch with Ashey (Croatia tour) and drinks/dinner with Barbara in the evening. In between I went to see London Tower now that the WWI poppy memorial is finished. There were soooooo many people though so could barely see it but it is very impressive what they've done. Then I just killed done time in the city and finally at least started my planning for America (even if it was just 2 nights accommodation so I have somewhere to go when I arrive).

Saturday 1st November
It is Abbey's birthday today so we got up and went for breakfast and then headed into the city to do something. Unfortunately we didn't organise anything but we had a good day around the city and ended up going on the Emirates Airline (a gondola across the Thames) and had afternoon tea at Attendant (a little cafe that is in an old public toilet that I went to with Bethany last time I was here). In the evening we met Abbey's sister and partner for her birthday dinner in the city.

Sunday 2nd November
Can't believe I'm actually going to America today, it was always so far away - the end of my trip - and now it's here! Sad to be leaving the normal/social aspect of London now that I know so many people here but ready for the last leg of my trip. It's a very long day of traveling though, have to leave 5hrs before my actual flight time, then 2 hrs to Zurich before a 9hr flight to New York (at least it's only a quick lay over in Switzerland).

Turkey (G-Adventures tour)

Saturday 11th October (con't)
Arrived in Istanbul, Turkey and slowly made my way out of the airport (definitely a busy one!) and to my hostel. By the time I arrived they were preparing dinner (falafel) so I just hung around until that was ready and had an easy night (seeing l didn't have my bearings in the city yet).

Sunday 12th October
Joining my tour today so I moved to the hotel we are staying in before heading out to see some of Istanbul. l walked along the river and through Gülhane Park and found the Aya Sofya. It is very interesting in the fact that it is both a Christian Cathedral and a Muslim Mosque together. Unfortunately half of it is under renovation though which kind of ruins the atmosphere. After a quick lunch in the park (with the stray cats!) and a wander around the area, I found the Basilica Cistern. Very cool, complete with fish and 2 Medusa heads that no one really knows why they are down there.

This evening we had our tour meeting and met the group. My first tour that is not majority Australian. We have 7 Canadians, 5 Australians and a South African, plus a Turkish guide. After the usual tour briefing we went to a local restaurant for dinner.

Monday 13th October
We started early this morning with our orientation walking tour. First stop was the Blue Mosque. It is very impressive, both inside and out. We came out into the Hippodrome and explored the area. From there we walked through some of the Grand Bazaar and made our way to the Suleymaniye Camii Mosque. Also very beautiful and with a great view over Istanbul. Next we went down to the (general) bazaar which has "everything you can think of and everything you can't". We then made it to the Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar and l had my first taste of real Turkish Delight. Yum! The Bazaars are very clean and tidy, considering just how much stuff is there and I don't think I was expecting the proper store setup of some of them.

After some time to explore and have lunch, we took the ferry down the Bosphorus River to meet our van to take us to Ankara for the night. We got an amazing view back over the city from the ferry, a nice way to see it. Ankara is actually the capital of Turkey and looks like quite a big city but we really were just there to break up the drive to Cappadocia so didn't see much. We did find a great local restaurant though that have us so many free appetisers that no one really needed their dinner; it was great food though.

Tuesday 14th October
Road trip day today as we make our way to Cappadocia, with some awesome stops along the way. First stop was at Anitkabir, the monumental tomb of Ataturk, the founder of the republic of Turkey. A very impressive monument and we were there during a visit by the President of Singapore.

Next stop was at a salt lake which being the end of Summer is mostly dry so we could walk out into it. Such an amazing view and a great little pedicure/massage for our feet ;) Our last stop for the day was at an ancient underground city, built BC, they were used by many different civilisations, first of which was the first Christians, hiding from the Roman Empire.

We arrived in Goreme, Cappadocia in time to head to the local Hamam before dinner. Definitely an experience; the massages were fantastic though and the staff definitely have fun with all the tourists. We tried the pottery kebab for dinner which was tasty but unfortunately I succumbed to all the different food (in particular our lunch today on the road) and was sick all night. I've done very well with not being sick so far so I guess it had to happen once.

Wednesday 15th October
After a long night and basically no sleep, it was up well before dawn for our hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia. I still wasn't feeling well but the views were just amazing (I really need some new words to describe everything I'm seeing!). The scenery of this area is just so unique but maybe even more impressive was the 100-odd other balloons taking off and flying through the sky!

Once the rest of the world woke up we travelled slightly out of town and visited a local pottery workshop for a demonstration and shopping. The pottery was so nice pretty much everyone bought something. After lunch by the river, we went to the Goreme open air museum. This is the main tourist area to see the famous fairy chimneys of the area. The natural formations are impressive enough but then people have carved homes and churches etc into them!

Tonight is our local dinner at a local family's home. Lucky by then I was starting to feel a bit better so was able to enjoy the food which was really good.

Thursday 16th October
This morning we started with a walk through the valleys. So beautiful and such amazing scenery: the fairy chimneys, valleys, autumn colours and countryside. We even saw the original pigeon holes (cut into the side of the cliffs so the inhabitants could collect their droppings for fertiliser). We stopped at a local place for traditional gozleme (Turkish pancakes) for lunch.

After a relaxing afternoon we visited the Whirling Dirviş. The religious practice is definitely unique and was interesting to see. After another big day tonight was our Turkish night. A very fun night with good food, entertainment and even some dancing. We watched a number of different traditional dances including belly dancing, which I was called up to participate in!

Friday 17th October
Time to leave Cappadocia this morning so back onto the van. Our first stop was at a little place, Aksaray - Sultanhani Caravanserai. It is now just an empty building with lots of rooms but it was cool to see and imagine what used to be there. Next stop was in Konya (birthplace of Whirling derviş) at the museum, followed by lunch (Turkish pide! Yum). This afternoon's stop was at Catalhoyuk, an archaeological site with 7 layers/levels of civilisations! The oldest of which is said to be the oldest ever found! It reminded me of my interest in archaeology when I was little, there is just so much history in Turkey, it really was central in so many aspects of history.

Tonight is our homestay in a local family's house in a local village. We arrived and found our rooms, they have a great set up for tour groups in the whole downstairs area. We are mixing up roommates from now on so excited to get some sleep and spend more time with the other people on tour. We've got a really good group, with great dynamics, including with our CEO (leader) Mutlu.

After a quick walk around town we were back and had dinner, prepared by our hosts. It was such a nice meal, followed by a night of just chatting and enjoying our homestay.

Saturday 18th October
After a great breakfast we said goodbye to our hosts and drove south to Antalya (Mutlu's hometown). We did an orientation walk and saw the clock tower, Hadrian's Gate (entrance into the old town) and the great water views near the harbour. It is a really nice city so glad we have the afternoon to explore. Some of us took the tram down to the beach which was gorgeous. We saw lots of people paragliding off the cliffs which would be so much fun. We stopped for a drink and enjoyed the crystal clear water and beautiful afternoon sun before slowly walking back into town (stopping for another drink and then dinner on the way back). We wandered through the local shops for a bit and then relaxed by our hotel pool for the evening. It is a nice hotel here but so random, when I got into my room with Nancy, it was a ground level room and there was a scooter parked outside, plugged into the power inside our room! We thought it was a bonus feature of the room but no such luck ;)

Sunday 19th October
Pam and I woke up early to go to Starbucks for a 'real' coffee but unfortunately being Sunday it was closed that early. Still, it was a lovely walk through town while it was quiet on the streets. Leaving Antalya, along the drive we stopped at the Church of St. Nicholas (yes, Santa) in Demre. We arrived at our boat and accommodation for the night. The afternoon was spent sailing along the coast and through some of the islands. We saw some ancient ruins and even sailed over the 'sunken city' from about 300AD. We made a couple of swim stops and enjoyed the beautiful Mediterranean Sea... just amazing! Before we settled in for the night we went to Kekova Island to see the Simena Castle and archaeological ruins. We had a nice relaxed night on the boat and our boat crew and Mutlu gave us all Turkish names, mine is Ceylin [Jaylin]. So we have Mutlu and Australian name: Matilda. We headed to bed early on the top deck of the boat underneath the most amazing sky I've ever seen! There were so many stars you almost couldn't make out individual ones. It was crazy to see whole galaxies and the northern hemisphere sky (it's always weird not to be able to see the southern cross though).

Monday 20th October
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise on the boat before sailing and one last swim stop in the Mediterranean. Once we disembarked we had short drive to Kaş, a really lovely little seaside town. We spent the afternoon wandering around the shops, stopping for lunch and a drink by the water. We have had fantastic weather for the costal part of our trip; I'm enjoying the last of the warm weather I'll be getting for a while.

The whole group met this evening for a walk around town to see 'The Ancient Theatre'. A Greek style amphitheatre with stunning views. After a lovely dinner we did a bit more shopping (I'm buying more souvenirs in Turkey than I have my entire trip so far) and some of us continued on to a local bar. We had some great entertainment (a group of oldies dancing to the Elvis/Johnny Cash style band) plus the moment when 2 dogs came straight into the bar and just hung out with us for a while!

Tuesday 21st October
We're saying goodbye to the Mediterranean and the Anatolia area today as we drive up to Pummukele. On our way we stopped for some local yoghurt (natural yogurt with honey & crushed walnuts... yum).

Once we arrived in Pamukkale we headed up to the ancient site of Hierapolis built on top of the white "castle" (the famous cliffs). There's a museum which we saw but the highlight was the 2 Chinese ladies (1 of which was a tour guide) absolutely going at it, screaming at each other while everyone just walked past. So random but kind of amusing. Then we headed to the actual city ruins which are amazing. They reminded me of Delos in Greece, just because of the size of the ruins. There is so much still there! One of the most intact (& restored) buildings is the amphitheatre which is enormous and had the most amazing view over the ancient city. Just before sunset we made our way to THE white cliffs. They truly are incredible; just a build up of calcium from the thermal waters but looks more like a snowy mountain. We took our time walking down and enjoying the spectacular view, the warm thermal water and taking hundreds of photos. We also got treated to a fantastic sunset on the way down and a great view over the twinkling lights of the city as it got dark. A seriously good afternoon. This tour has been so amazing, with so much happening everyday!

We found out that it was Clara's birthday today (she kept it very quiet) so after singing to her on the van, we all had dinner together at a nice outdoor restaurant just next to the hotel and they (& Mutlu) surprised us all with a cake and even fireworks (or life size sparklers).

Wednesday 22nd October
On the van again this morning and off to Selçuk. We stopped just outside of town at a carpet maker's workshop and briefly saw how they handspin, dye and make traditional Turkish carpets. It is very impressive and I can see why they are so expensive. After tea and cake we went into town to go to the actual carpet store where we saw the finished products. After lunch we checked into our hotel and quickly went and saw the ruins of St John's Basilica and castle (honestly not that impressive after yesterday and knowing we are going to Ephesus this afternoon). We made it to Ephesus and saw it all. There is an extra section that is currently being reconstructed that was cool. They have all the excavation findings laid out so you can kind of see the archaeological process. Then we saw the famous library which has been rebuilt using original parts and another impressive amphitheatre. Finally at the end is the 'harbour road' which led to the harbour that no longer exists which is a cool view.

In the evening we had dinner at our hotel and then went into town to a local bar where we had a great, relaxed night. We had a few drinks, tried Nargile (Turkish Shisha) and even learnt to play backgammon.

Thursday 23rd October
Before we left today we saw one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis. Only basic ruins are there now but cool to say I've seen one of the ancient wonders.

Off to Ayvalik today for a relaxing day after the last few which have been so busy. We are staying in a local 'pansion' which is really cool, kind of a large B&B, or a cross between a small backpackers and someone's home. Today is market day where people from the nearby islands (some Turkish,  some Greek) visit for their shopping. It is definitely more of a local market than for tourists but we had a look around and wandered down to the waterfront. Not the best weather today (rainy and very windy) so a lot of us ended up in this cute coffee shop Mutlu found and then she took us back to the markets to shop with a local's knowledge.

A quiet night tonight, we all went out for a basic dinner (Turkish jacket potatoes), then back to the pansion for some quiet drinks.

Friday 24th October
Making our way back to Istanbul, first we have one night in Canakkale. On our way we stopped at Troy. Lucky we were warned because compared to the last couple of ruins we'd been to, it is nothing special. The excavation site has not been kept up so everything's starting to overgrow again... kind of a good example of how they disappear in the first place though. It was cool to see though and of course we saw the Trojan Horse.

Once arrived in Canakkale we had a little bit of a look around at the local bazaar and shops. After a group dinner at a local restaurant we saw the Trojan horse that was used in the movie Troy that is now in display on the harbour. Then Mutlu took us to a local bar that had a great live band playing. It was kind of strange not knowing or understanding most of the songs, especially when everyone else is singing along, still a lot of fun though.

Saturday 25th October
An early start this morning to visit Gallipoli. We took the ferry back to Europe and stopped first at Anzac Cove and one of the Anzac cemeteries, then we headed up to Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair. Definitely an emotional experience to be there; I've been to a few war memorial places now but nothing anywhere near as close to home as Gallipoli.

A long drive back into Istanbul this afternoon. After a quick rest, we all met for one last group dinner. I am sad to be finishing this trip, it was amazing and we had a really great group and fantastic tour leader. After dinner, some of us went over to the Taxim area (across the water) to a club for some drinks and dancing. It was a cool place, on the top floor of a pretty dodgy looking building with great view over the city.

Sunday 26th October
The end of another tour means a lot of goodbyes. Throughout the morning we said goodbye to those leaving and a few of us that still had another day explored the Spice Markets again. After saying goodbye last night, then again at the hotel this morning, we ran into Mutlu again on our way so had our personal shopper back! After picking up some last minute souvenirs we walked over the Gatala Bridge and back again to the hotel.

After seeing how nice the area around Taxim Square is last night, we decided to go back and explore a bit more. After our actual final goodbye to Mutlu (I think we said it at least 5 times) we made our way slowly up to the square doing some shopping on the way. It is definitely a busy area but quite nice. Daylight savings finished last night so it was well and truly dark by 5:30pm so we had an early dinner in one of the many restaurants on the Gatala Bridge and made our way back to the hotel for an early night (the hectic 2 week tour has caught up in us all).

Monday 27th October
The last few of us still here met this morning to visit the Topkapi Palace museum and harem. It was very impressive, sooo many tiled walls! Also countless amounts of jewel encrusted items, the Ottomans definitely had a lot of wealth! After a quick lunch we said our final goodbyes and I had quiet afternoon at the hotel repacking and relaxing after such a busy tour.

Bulgaria

Tuesday 7th October
A big travel day today with 3 flights to make it to Varna, Bulgaria.
l flew via Berlin (it was either that or Russia or Ukraine!) and it wasn't until l was going through immigration that I realised that I was leaving the Schengen area for the last time (and lucky I play by the rules because they went through my whole passport checking all the dates I've come and gone). Those Germans certainly are thorough, I also had my first security pat down of the trip.

Arriving in Bulgaria, I am staying with an old work colleague of Dad's, Damien and his family (Stella, Laurence and Danny). A nice short holiday from my travelling, l won't be doing much at all!

Wednesday 8th October
After a sleep in, it was off for a massage and coffee before a late lunch with Damien.

Thursday 9th October
Another relaxing morning (Damien downloaded some episodes of Revenge onto my tablet... the novelty of tv!) We went out to a traditional little place for lunch (yummy chicken soup).

Friday 10th October
In the afternoon Damien and I headed out to get some lunch and he showed me around the central area of Varna. There's not a lot to it and they are refurbishing it at the moment but we saw the Cathedral and the 'CBD'.

Saturday 11th October
After breakfast Damien and I took Lawrence out to the 'Sea Garden' where they have a whole lot of kids rides set up. Then it was back for lunch before I was off to the airport.

Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary)

Friday 19th September
Flew into Tallinn, Estonia; it looks lovely from the sky, very green! I made it to my hostel and the town has a nice vibe to it. The UK was interesting and great to take it a bit easier for a while but it's nice to be back in Europe. I went out and explored the old town around my hostel a bit before finding dinner. They definitely embrace their medieval history here, there are a lot of themed restaurants around.

Saturday 20th September
I am meeting my tour (Baltics Adventure with Tucan Travel) today but realised that we don't actually see any of Tallinn as part of the tour so I went out and did the free city walking tour. Wow, the biggest one ever, there was literally about 80 people on the tour! It was very good though, we saw the main sites and heard about the history of Tallinn and Estonia. I haven't been to a country like this before so it was interesting to hear, it is a bit of a blend of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Fun facts... Estonia is actually the least religious country in Europe (although they still have lots of impressive churches). They also invented Skype and are really advanced in terms of doing everything online... eg they can vote online (something I've always thought is surely something we can do)!

I moved to the hotel to meet my tour and although they had my name so I could check in, reception didn't have any information about meeting my tour (a little concerning). So I chilled out at the hotel (and caught up on this blog) before giving up and heading back into town to find some dinner. I found this little takeaway sandwich place attached to a supermarket so I just grabbed something there which turned out to be fantastic! Just a chicken teriyaki roll/bap but done very well, I love those little random finds/surprises.

When I got back to the hotel there was finally a note to say the tour was meeting in the morning so I enjoyed my private room (thought I would have a roommate from tour but apparently not) and finally had a good nights sleep (after 4 nights at noisy hostels and very little sleep!).

Sunday 21st September
Met up with the tour at breakfast, it's a small group (13) and a lot older but still mostly Australians. 8 of them had actually been on tour already (in Russia) and it seems as though everyone will be finishing at different times. I didn't realise this tour is actually a 40+ day tour but there are lots of different starting and finishing points.

We are off to Riga in Latvia first thing today, so it's straight onto a bus.
Once we arrived in Riga, our tour guide actually left us as he was specifically for the Russian leg, so we are meeting our new tour guide tonight. After a traditional Latvian lunch at a cafeteria style restaurant, I went for a walk around the city centre, which is lovely. As usual, a lot of churches and a nice river front. There is also a canal running through the city with a really lovely green area. Lots of statues around the city too.

Our new tour guide, Andy, took us to a cool basement restaurant for dinner, it was massive but you would never know it was there if you just walked by. Tried same traditional food but it wasn't overly fantastic (barley risotto and 'grey peas' [they were more like beans/lentils in an onion and bacon sauce served in a bread bowl]).

Monday 22nd September
Most of our group started the day with the free city walking tour. A very cold, wet tour but good. Our guide was an interesting guy and very passionate about his city. Like Tallinn, lots of history of the back and forth of the country between communism and facism. Honesty I didn't know a great deal about the Baltic countries so it is good to learn - they certainly haven't had an easy recent history.

Another group dinner tonight at the same place as I went for lunch yesterday. It's a nice, relaxed place with tasty, traditional food and we got more of a chance to get to know each other (not having the usual tour bus you don't get as much of a chance to talk).

Tuesday 23rd September
Another bus trip today to Vilnius, Lithuania. Once we arrived we did our orientation tour with the group through the old town. We saw a small chapel with an elaborate virgin Mary which apparently people come to from all over for it's healing powers. We also went to the Republic of Uzupis. Although not an actual country, they have their own constitution and stamped my passport. Is really a cool little artistic area and quite pretty on the river.

The 'Baltic Chain' ended here (a line of people which ran non-stop from Tallinn, through Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania, consisting of 2 million people). It was done to represent that the people of the Baltics didn't support communism and to celebrate their freedom (basically).

We had a traditional dinner of Zeplins (massive dumplings)... not great but you've got to try these things. Our hotel here has an amazing view over the old town - one of the best views I've had!

Wednesday 24th September
Today most of us ventured out of town to Trakai where there is an old medieval castle on an island. I was a bit hesitant to go (I've seen a lot of castles on islands) but I'm glad I ended up going. It was a nice day trip and the castle was actually quite different to the others that I've seen and they had a museum which was actually quite different too. On the way back we just jumped onto the first bus headed to Vilnius which ended up being the local bus so we got a nice scenic drive back to town. There was still a bit of daylight left when we arrived so I walked through town and up the hill that is right in the middle of the city (so of course has a fort on it). As I was walking up, a whole bunch of hot air balloons were sailing up and around the hill, such a nice sight!

l have not been getting much sleep lately as I found my roommate and she snores! Its starting to take it's toll so I'm hoping I can change rooms when some of the group leave in Warsaw.

Thursday 25th September
This morning we had a tour of the KGB Museum. Very interesting but horrible. Again, not a history I knew that much about so glad I went but not exactly a pleasant morning.

This afternoon is our bus to Warsaw, Poland (8+hrs). Thankfully these buses have personal entertainment systems!

Friday 26th September
We said goodbye to some of our tour group today but most were still around for the day. Seeing we arrived so late last night we did our orientation walk with the group before some of us did the full free city walking tour. Warsaw is a big city with a lot of history, especially in regards to WWII and the Warsaw Uprising of 1939. Then there's Marie Curie, Choplin and countless other interesting facts and stories. This is definitely a city that you could spend a week in and still have things to see. A few of us went to a Perogi restaurant for lunch (Perogis are the Polish version of the dumpling and much closer to what we are used to so we all wanted to try them!) More like ravioli, we were not disappointed... yum!

Thought it was important to also do the Jewish city walking tour, so joined that for the afternoon. Again, a good tour leader that is very passionate about what he does. He took us all through the Jewish Ghetto from WWII and to other important places. After such a big day of walking I was even more thankful to change rooms tonight and get a good nights sleep.

Saturday 27th September
I'm glad we have another full day in Warsaw, so have a chance to explore more on my own. I went to the Marie Curie Museum (more of a small exhibition in the building where she was born but still interesting). Found the Apple festival (stall after stall giving away free apples, apparently they are trying to revive the industry that is suffering with the Russian sanctions in place).

I had a good walk around the city and made my way to the Uprising Museum. The museum was massive, such a detailed exhibition too. I ended up spending quite a few hours there until they closed early for some event that was on (looked like they were seeing up for a concert... bizarre place to have it but anyway).

Tonight we had our official welcome dinner for the new members of the tour (I am now the youngest in the group significantly!). More perogis... I am enjoying the Polish food). Warsaw has a massive fountain which is an attraction in itself but over summer they have their 'water, light, sound' show where they set a big water and laser show to music. It was the last show for the year tonight so we went down to watch. It was great, they even had a projection of dancers on a large fan of mist which I've not seen before. Not a bad replacement while at home everyone was at Riverfire.

Sunday 28th September
An early start for the train to Krakow this morning. As soon as we arrived you can see the difference between Warsaw and here. After WWII, they completely rebuilt Warsaw true to how it was, which means that while the architectural style is old the buildings are relatively new. Krakow however escaped the war unharmed so the buildings are original.

We started as usual with our city orientation walk. I really like Krakow, the old town is really nice and as it's Sunday they have all these markets set up in the giant square. We had lunch and a quick look around before most of our group met for our tour of the salt mines. With little time in Krakow I wasn't sure whether to bother with the salt mines but everything I read said it was not to be missed. I have to disagree. It was impressive and definitely something different but I wouldn't stay unmissable. The best part was the underground church/cathedral. That was definitely a 'wow' moment, a full church made of salt over 100m underground. It was quite late by the time we got back so it was the local food, zapiekanka for dinner. Basically it is half a baguette toasted with toppings. Simple but delicious!

Monday 29th September
We had a little bit of time this morning to see some more of Krakow. I checked out one of the churches (which had a free audio tour, very high-tech) and the Royal Castle.

This afternoon we had our tour of Auschwitz. This is my third concentration camp but it still gets to you being there. The tour guides are really passionate about the history and the stories they tell. Definitely a long, unpleasant afternoon but very glad l went.

Once we got back it was a quick dinner and then onto our night train to Prague. This was my first night (sleeper) train and I didn't find it too bad.

Tuesday 30th September
An early arrival from the train so after breakfast we did our orientation tour with group. Having been to Prague before and not really loving it, I am keen to see if my opinion changes this time. l didn't really do the touristy stuff last time so decided to do the city walking tour. While l waited for that I grabbed some lunch and did some people watching which was pretty fun - there are so many buskers around it makes for a lovely atmosphere with music, dancers, giant bubbles etc. The tour was good, took us around to some of the main areas in the old town and we got lots of history.

Wednesday 1st October
We have heard a lot about Kutna Hora and the Sedlec Ossuary ('bone church') so a group of us decided to again do the out-of-city day trip. It was one of those adventure days, with too many people trying to plan and read the maps etc but it was a good day and we saw everything we wanted to see and more. The bone church was very impressive albeit weird! It was made because there was an excess of human remains from a cemetery which grounds were blessed with soil from the 'holy land' so everyone wanted to be buried there and there was obviously limited space. So after 12 months their bones would be exhumed to make room for the next person. Someone then came up with the idea of using the exhumed bones for decoration in this church. Not sure what the people would think of their skulls being used as candelabras etc but it does make for an interesting church.

We walked through the actual town of Kutna Hora and had lunch by the plague column. Then found our way to St Barbara's Church. Extremely impressive, was definitely a 'wow' moment coming around the corner and seeing it! We missed our bus back to get our train so another walk through town and a bit of a longer trip (3 trains) we did make it back to Prague.

A couple of the girls that had left our tour in Warsaw (Alex & Kirsten) had made their own way to Prague so I caught up with them for dinner in the main square area. Prague is pretty at night with all the buildings lit. Our walking tour guide told us the story of (supposedly) how the Royal Palace was lit. The Rolling Stones were drinking with the president and asked why such a big, beautiful monument wasn't lit up at night. This was just after the fall of the Soviet so the answer was as simple as the fact that it wasn't their first priority when putting the country back together. So The Rolling Stones paid and organised for it to be done!

Thursday 2nd October
I really felt like I needed to see the big tourist things today (I can't leave Prague a 2nd time without doing them). So this morning it was off to Prague Castle. It is enormous, almost like it's own little city. When we arrived there was a big entourage coming in and we figured out a representative from Mozambique was visiting the President. I watched some of the changing of the guards and then checked out some of the main buildings including the St Vitus Cathedral, the old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane (a mini medieval city within the castle walls).

Before I headed back over the river I walked up to the largest metronome in the world. Unfortunately it isn't actually a working metronome and it seems to be the place for kids to hang out and drink etc so it's definitely not the nicest area.

After lunch (where I was served traditional Czech goulash with a smile! Shocker!) I explored the Jewish quarter. I went to the various synagogues which make up the Jewish Museum, where they have exhibitions on the Jewish faith and from the wars. I also went through the old Jewish cemetery (again limited burial space caused problems but because the Jewish believe that you can't disturb remains once buried, they buried people on top of each other. So over the years the land was built up and there is said to be people buried 14+ deep).

We all meet up for a group dinner again before our night train again.

Friday 3rd October
An early arrival into Propad, Slovakia followed by another train to Nový Smokovec, a little town in the Tatras Mountains. After breakfast and getting settled in our lovely hotel, it was time to start hiking. I decided to do the hike up to Popradské pleso (lake). I set off by myself up the pathed road and was welcomed with a bit of sunshine and beautiful scenery. After a long while I took one of the offshoot paths into the forest and found the lake that I was headed to anyway. Another 'wow' moment, absolutely stunning! The crisp, beautiful lake at the base of the mountains. The trees are starting to change colors too which is a novelty and something that I've always loved. I ran into a couple of my group as l walked around the lake and they had taken a different route up and found the monument to all fallen hikers in the Tatras. So I continued back along that way and found it too. l made it back to the lake for lunch and found Barbara and Janina again. So I joined them for the hike back down to Strbské Pleso. The way down was more of a proper hike and was absolutely stunning. The fog was starting to fall so it got quite cold and dark along the way. We took it very slow so by the time we finally got down you could barely see anything in front of you. We ran into more of our group at the bottom and together we managed to find the train back (which we were lucky to do, we had no idea where we were and couldn't see buildings right in front of us. We never did find the 2nd lake!). The fog made for a great atmosphere though and would have made awesome photos but most of mine came out a bit blurry.

We made it back just in time for our group dinner at a small local restaurant. I'm glad we did too because it was really good. We all shared a traditional Slovakian platter with sausages, schnitzel, perogi style cheese dumplings and a cheesy pasta thing (basically macaroni cheese but very nice).

Saturday 4th October
After such a massive day yesterday and the bit of a cold I have developed I decided today was a relax day. I took advantage of the beautiful, quiet surrounds and had a totally 'off' day. No exploring, no planning, no thinking. Just reading, some lunch & relaxing!

Sunday 5th October
Straight onto our minibus to Budapest, Hungary this morning. Our usual orientation walk this afternoon, but a bit more detailed as some people were off again first thing tomorrow. We walked through the city to St Stephen Basilica, then continued down to the water for a great view of Buda (we stayed on the Pest side of the river). We crossed over the Chain Bridge and walked up to the Royal Palace. The Matthias Church was closed for renovations but Fisherman's Bastion (fort) is impressive, as is the view back over the river and Pest. Budapest is a beautiful city. Another one that I didn't really have any expectations of but made for a great surprise.

Everyone that is continuing on another tour had their meeting this evening but afterwards all of our group, plus a few newbies that are joining Andy (our tour guide) met back up for dinner. Apparently 'ruin bars' are big in Budapest (basically they are old abandoned buildings from the Soviet era that have been converted into bars) so I joined the new group to check one out after dinner.

Monday 6th October
0fficially finish tour this morning but still have today in Budapest. I really like this city and think I've had enough of the horrors of the 20th century in Eastern Europe so l just spend the day just exploring the city a bit more. I found a new monument to the victims of the Nazi occupation however found at that there has been protests about it all year (even before it was erected) as it is of the German empirical eagle rather than the Nazi swastika and therefore people are angry that it is not historically accurate and therefore not appropriate. So people have made their own monument of rocks, photos and personal possessions in front of it.

After that I made my way down to the Parliament building which is extremely impressive. Then I just wandered through town and up to 'Hero's Square'. There is a massive park behind the square with it's own castle so I had a look around there and found the big baths. I didn't know Budapest was so famous for thermal baths but apparently they are very good.

I had lunch at a place just known as the Book Cafe but it is this beautiful big ballroom that looks like it's part of a museum or art gallery that was originally built in 1902. It's now a cafe upstairs from a bookstore (hence the name) but with a live pianist and the surrounds it was a lovely place to have a late lunch!

After chilling at the hotel for a while (finally a bath tub!) I met up with the last Tucan people still here for dinner. A lovely relaxed day to finish up another tour.