LAGOS, OH MY GOSH!!!

Where to begin...?

The train rocked in and basically a dude was there to meet every young backpacker as soon as we stepped onto the platform... Headed to quite possibly the best Hostel ever, Carlos House (http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/CarlosHouse-Lagos-12301 check it out for future trips), amazing views and great people, who know everything there is to know about the night life, travel information, and the best places of interest. A huge thankyou to Carlos, Artur, and Little Kat for an amazing stay... The Roof top Balcony, the three kitchens and that little landing outside the window which i read my book and played guitar most afternoons was the bomb. What started as 5 nights, turned into 10...

Everynight we would have pre drinks on the balcony and then out to Inside Out (Go and see Mick) for a couple of cheeky ones, including the world famous "fish bowl" and then hit up all the other clubs in town. Three Monkeys, Whites Bar (fluro lights down stairs, bit hot but always loads of fun) Grand Cafe (to finish off the night) And Joe's Garage (rock music and some massive podiums) were my favourites.


Lagos as a city is an maze of charming little cobble stone streets, not too dissimilar to Santiago, but smaller and some great restaurants, with both beaches only walking distance from the old town. I think we spent most days just relaxing at potato beach (closest to town), playing skims with the world cup ball. Skims is probably the best game ever invented... apart from knocking out the occaisional toddler or it smacking the face of an unsuspecting tourist, the game became
a staple in the Lagos routine. And everyone wanted in.

At Potato Beach, there was a rock formation that that you could jump off, i reckon 15m high, I told The Doff to make sure the coast was clear and Cowabunga and some profanities on the way down and i hit, hard. It is seriously one of the best rushes ever. But once was enough.

On one of the first nights there they had a dance party on the beach. i decided against it, 20 euro just to get in and no real good DJ's headlining... Really wish i had've been there when Groove Armada played, bout two weeks after... Seems they have these parties quite regularly around summer.

Met some killer lads from England, and have since caught up with them, well Tommy boy, and even did a little bit of FEESSHING (Fishing!). My self and The Doff had been threating for weeks, we had seen many a "HOT SPOT" whilst on our travellings but never had the rods or tackle to get amongst it. We got to do both, check out the wicked rock formations (Portugals very own 12 Apostle look-a-likes), and have a crack at taking on the beasts from the deep of the Mediterranean.

The Doff was on fire early with three mackeral and Mills was battling until, as if in a movie, with his last cast, pulled in the biggest fish of the day, a moon fish the size of tennis racket head. Wicked. unfortunately for new found mate Matt, he did not catch anything, and nor did George, but he slept (well passed out) early on... Everyone else had a terrific outing and G cooked up the feast back at the Hostel bacony. Word going around, was the batter was a bit average, but who can complain to free feed. I chose to stick to my no fish policy.


Woke up on the beach about 10 o'clock on the last morning, with, you guessed it no wallet, some cheeky bugger had swapped my wallet for a brochure, or maybe i traded it with him... hmmm probably the first one. so back at the Hostel cancelling cards and trying to work out how to pay for the room for me and The Doff (sorry the Doff and I), as he had lost his wallet too. Going through my backpack i found a spare travellex card, wicked, and got the cash out to pay for the room, and then had to rush to the train station, a 20min approx walk. Now in Lagos the beach is separated by a river that flows back into the port, and unfortunately there is only one foot bridge that crosses it, and it was a draw bridge to let the boats underneath. Now the whole time we stayed in Lagos, we never had one boat pass under, this time with minutes only before the train left, Three Freakin Boats went under... The Doff and I bolted as soon as that bridge went down. Made the train and got some free pizza off a guy when we sat down... Today was looking up from the disastrous start.

Oh and by the way, we met some great guys from Perth on the last couple of days and i decided to, whilst having a couple of pints at Shakers, to book a couple of flights from Madrid to Amsterdam, and then Amsterdam to Oslo to meet up with Grunter. That story will come to a bad ending later in the blog... stay tuned.

So in conclusion, Lagos, Amazing i love you and met some great people.

Walked up to the Lighthouse and had some home made sandwiches with old mate Maple and Danielle on the rocks looking down into the Grottoes. I highly recommend it.

Kinda wished i had've done the booze cruise (a day out on a boat, all you can drink) which we heard about, but there is a good chance i will be returning to Lagos very very soon...

Speak soon

Madrid next up

Across Spain with almost no dramas

So a short stay in Pamplona, and a long drive to the West Side of Spain to a little town called Santiago... Now that long drive, all done by Kelly, hey, we offered to drive some of the way, but she insisted (insurance reasons though), but i think the combination of a little fatigue and the tight streets of the spanish towns and the fact that she was drving a left hand drive car for the first time, all contributed to the car going up the gutter and the need of a quick stop and change of the front right tyre.

Now in most cars that i know, the spare tyre is identical to the other four already on the car... oh no, not in the European "Seat", the spare was half the thickness which meant we could only travel at 80km/hr which meant we wouldn't make it to Santiago in time to make our check in... We checked the Europcar guide and found one close by, and after explaining the situation, they gave us a new car and we were on our way again... The Doff has to be congratulated with his knowledge of the spanish language too.

Now I hadn't organised any accomodation in Santiago, but the lucky streak continued as i found a place just across the road the guys... and it was cheap too... just a room and a shared bathroom...

Now that night in Santiago there was a huge concert in the square outside the massive and gothic looking Church of Santiago... The new Spanish Idol, "Rosa" hit the stage with a six piece band and two dancers, she was amazing... although most songs were in Spanish, she is such a good singer, and the best thing about music is, it still moves you, regardless of the language...

So after a couple of big nights out, i woke up in the street one morning, i just couldn't walk the extra km to my room, it was up hill... checking i had everything with me... tick, i went back and grabbed the Doff to head to our favourite Kebab Shop... Now this guy can make a kebab in under 15 seconds for only 3 euro... THE BEST!!!

The nightlife was really cool in Santiago, the streets of the old city all surround the magnificent church so you can never get too lost, and there were bars scattered throughout, and always live bands or music playing everywhere you went.

The main thing Santiago is known for is the the church and pilgrimage people walk (30days) from the Spanish and France border ever year to the church... I met a dude with one arm who had done it, and he said he wasn't even religious, it was just something he wanted to do. nice... 30days without a shower... i have gone 3 days... but that includes swimming in the ocean... so that's kind of a shower...

Next stop on the tour was Lisbon, a long train ride down the coast and into Portugal, another language i was yet to master... I recommend trying to pick up Portugese though, that's what they speak in South America alot of the time... very valuable assest to have.

Photos to come...

photos

The view from the waterfall in Nice... Nice


A quick little massage in Barcelona... is that guy wearing socks behind me? What the? Must go with his sandals...

The guns

"I don't know if you noticed, i did over a thousand"...

Those beers were mighty large... and you gotta drink em, cause nobody likes a warm beer.

The Ipod goes missing... AHHH!!! A guitar purchase is the obvious next move

The Night we left Barcelona was actually the night of the World Cup Final... And the song, that had been hauting me the whole of my trip, "My Hips Don't Lie" Shakira, was performed that night... by the sexy Columbian and WyClef at the Stadium... It seems i could not escape the song or those hips...

We had to leave at half time, which was a bit of a bummer, but, hey, Aussies were out, and i didn't think much of the French after the dog poo incident and well, the Italians, although leaving a good impression while i was there, i was still upset with "the dive" in the 94th minute episode...

So off we trotted... A long long train ride where i didn't really get that much sleep, but it seems in the time that i had fallen asleep someone had come along and pinched my speaker case which contained my Ipod... BRILLIANT... i didn't notice until later on when we were on the beach... We couldn't check in till after 3 and it was only 8 in the morning... The beach was calling, so we slept there for a good 4 hours, when i woke to about 200 hundred school kids (7-8 year olds) just absolutely running a muck... WHY?
The funniest part was The Doff had fallen asleep with his runners still on... here is a a great pic...
check the hands...
So we checked in later in the afternoon, and headed out for dinner... i am a bit sketchy, on the exact events of San Sebastian, but i will tell you what were the highlights...

Apart from the beautiful scenery, San Sebastian has two main beaches, divided by a river that flows through the old, cobble stone street, town... It has an old castle up on the hill with a huge statue of Jesus at the tip... It's worth the walk...

On one of the nights, Bob Dylan played a beach concert to about 60,000 screaming fans... i think old Bob, as much as a song writing legend as he is, he is certainly past it... But the encore of "All Along The Watchtower" was certainly the best part of the show... I think soon after me and Doff we swimming in a pool that was on the beach... Why not hey?

There was a pontoon, about 200m swim from the shore of the main beach which had a slide for kids and a 3m high diving board... very very cool. Except for the fact that i am a terrible swimmer... but i was determined to get out there and dive off that board... Lucky i went out there with Kell, she is a fully qualified life saver... I made it there, but refused to do it ever again... Damn swimming is hard work.

I filed a report of the missing Ipod and speakers at the Police station with another half dozen or so saddened individuals, and decided i still needed music. The next obvious thing was to buy a guitar... 60€uro.. A bargain... have been playing ever since...

Met some really cool guys and girls from the states and spent a couple of nights with them and even had some of famous Spanish Paella... Mmm Paella... so good, it's rice with vegetables and chicken, but so so tasty.


Kell had organised a car for us to drive to Pamplona the next day, we had to leave at like five, to get there for the running, and after driving the wrong way for a bit, some great directions, from a taxi driver, my spanish still needs alot of work, once again, hand gestures and pointing came in to play... but we managed to get on our way and follow all the signs to Pamps...

Now was The Doff and Myself ready to run...

HELL NO!!! After hearing stories of one American who is now in a wheelchair from the first day of running... and with the Doff's foot and my lack of balls, we decided to watch the action from the Arena...

A lesson i have learnt is to always play by the rules whilst in the ring... you may tap the bulls and run in front (if you are crazy!) but never, never hold onto the bulls horns... This one guy i saw did that, and after he had let go and the bull ran off, every Spaniard in the place came and kicked the crap out of him... Not cool... but they are the rules...

I filmed prety much the whole thing and can't wait to get home and edit up the "best hits", so many dudes just got hammered!!! Loved it... and also loved being in the stands...

We kinda stood out in our civvies, so we bought some clothes to fit in with the customary red and white outfits that covered the small city streets. After purchasing our "Pamps Get-up" for the day, and in serious need of rest we headed back to the car with a quick stop off for some food and drink for a picnic in the park... It was wonderful... As soon as our bellies were full of chicken and ham rolls we all passed out and when we woke it was almost time for the big show of the Bulls vs Matador's in the Arena (which we had purchased tickets for prior, always a good idea).

The girls were not so keen but "When in Pamps" as they say, we headed in with our bucket full of beer and Sangria... Now sangria is a top drink to be consumed in copious amounts but at these events it seems, the only reason the Spaniards buy the Sangria is to throw it at the crowd... Kind of a Throwing beer up at the cricket when the mexican wave goes around... But not only do they thrwo Sangira but, prawn heads... oh yeah... prawn heads... i took a couple in the shoulder and the head and then retreated to the alcoves...

The whole spectacle of the Matador vs the Bulls was really a bit of a disapointment to me, the bull just doesn't have a chance... and by the time the Head Matador comes out the Bull has already been stabbed several times and has two spears hanging out its shoulders... The bull is clearly knackered (and i mean tired not de-bullocked)...

The tight sparkly outfits (very KAK, bedazzlered up to the Max) cracked me up and so did the mannerisms of the Matador's, but they are the kings of that domain and are looked upon as such by the people... So respect to the lads.

We left that night and slept on a beach somewhere between Pamplona and Santiago (our next destination)... The Doff and I were awoken in the early hours by a tractor that was combing the beach about 20metres from us... we bolted up the beach but had to wait till he finished before we could rest up again.

More to come..... Santiago, no not San Diego which is Latin for a.... never mind

"Oh yeah, it's impressive..."
The Forum, Roma













"You're coming with me!!!" In a park in Nice...











"I don't if you noticed, but i did over a thousand"
Those beers in Germany are HUGE!!!















Singing with Mara and the Crazy DJ at the Beach club outside of Roma...

Barcelona: Gorgeous Girls, Gaudy, and hmmm, G, G, think Mills, and Garbage Bags...

I arrived in the morning and it wasn't long before i spotted the Doff (my mate Matt)... He headed me straight to the ticket office to buy a ticket to San Sebastian, apparently we were headed there in three days time... I didn't complain... i liked the fact that there was sort of a plan for the next couple of weeks... Less brain power that way.

So after checking in, thanks Doff for organising my first nights accomodation... My very first proper hostel.. yes there was a moment to be had. Awwww. The Centric Point Hostel... and the Doff and I were quick to notice a pub crawl that was on that night... What better way to catch up then over a couple of frothies... Agreed!

The Magna Doodle was out in force that night and many were amazed and the simplicity and effciency of drink ordering at all the loud and packed night spots in Barcelona... Go Doodle. Thankyou once again Cleo for popping that into the show bag. Brilliant.

The first couple, actualy all of the pubs, are always pretty crap, but you get some free drinks and meet heaps of people... I do not recommend doing a pub crawl i9f you have already got a wicked hostel and or mates you are with.

The next day, the gang and myself were meant to all go to the Barcelona Football Stadium... Hmmm i didn't make it back to the hostel until after they left... But was all good, cause, Trev (south African dude we had met the night before) was keen to go check it out too...

Woah what a stadium... If you are a lover of Sport, it is a must, a fantastically well put together, do it yourself tour... The team has had quite a history and Trev was a wicked inclusion, he knew so much about soccer (sorry football) that i nearly paid him at the end for all his info...

Spent the next couple of days just baking on the beach with Kell, Beck, The Doff and new found friend (friend of Kelly's), Jay... Or Jayasuria as I call him now... he went from Geezer to Paki in three days... i have never seen english skin tan like that...
Same with the Doff... He went Black!!! In all the shops they keep speaking to him in Spanish... hahaha.

The beaches are beautiful in Bar'sa, and with massages on offer and the bloke that walks up and down the beach shouting, "vairdy cold beer my fren?" (very cold beer my friend?) every 5 mins, it has got its own little charm... Plus the guys that spin a massive board full of stacked donuts on their heads. I wanna know what came first... The spinning board or the donuts? Maybe he was getting enough tips for just spinning the board? Or maybe he needed a more creative way of selling the donuts... i will never know... But yes he was entertaining and the donuts were tasty...

Played kick ups (hackey sack with football) on the beach with some fellow backpackers, some of these guys are just freaks... Jay set me a task of six, still struggling...


Went to the Park designed by legendary architect Gaudy and that is definitely a site worth seeing... if i can sort of explain that its almost a cross between a drip castle and the gingerbread house from Hansel (so hot right now) and Gretel. I don't know where he came up with these designs but there are plenty of buildings scattered through the city... but make the journey to the park... It's Crazy!!! And you get a killer view of Barcelona...

Speaking of views... We went to an awesome, although a bit expensive, club up in the hills, which had about three levels and an outside garden... Very classy, and mostly locals which is always a good sign of a good club... apparently, Sydney rumour.





As for the garbage bag referencein the title... i knida misplaced my ticket for San Sebastian... On the last day... while at the Gaudy park, i realised that maybe i may have thrown out my ticket with the rest of the rubbsih i had accumulated the last couple of weeks... so whilst milling over the situation with the Doff at a McDonalds (i have only eaten it three times), i decided luck had perviously been in my favour and that i was feeling lucky today...

Sure enough... the bag had been replaced in my dorm, and i foudn the cleaning lady and she told me, in spanish, but with the help of some hand gestures, she handed me the rubber gloves and showed me the bag of rubbish... and yes... the ticket was there... lucky mills continues.. something has to go wrong soon...

Got on the train that night to San Sebastian... a long, long journey across Spain...

Oh also went to the olympic Stadium and surroundings the last day there too, but not really worth mentioning... Nice views, but nothing much exciting... i was busting for the toilet for a long time, and ended up stopping the clock at 62 seconds...


Speak soon

more photos

This was taken in San Sebastian...
Just one of the many things i love about Europe, just random bands, sorry orchestra's playing in the streets... A May Zing!

And the best Kebab shop, that i have found on the trip thus far, was about 20 m to the left of frame... It got a 9.5 out of 10.

















Finished another book... Do not read this... I only bought it cause it was in english and had Gemini on the front... Lesson learnt... Never judge a book by its cover. Nah it wasn't too bad.










We had a quick stop off in Porto so we went and checked out the town centre... There were guys, playing some form of Water Polo/Soccer in this pool in the middle of the Square...

Wicked.. The Doff looks on in amazement








The monument to the Discoverers and Great Navigators of Portugal...

This is in Belem, Lisbon

The detail on the carvings are quite unbelievable... We do not have anything like this in Melbourne...






Just a World Cup Memory

That's at Mucich Airport with a Bloke named...

"Cuddles".. WE fit in quite well with all the greats of the game i think...

dog poo... plastic bags people, you get them everytime you shop!!!

i heard a terrible story from my friend while she was in Nice...

There are so many dogs (i don't mean wild dogs, but dogs being walked by their owners) in Nice and all of France, that there is inevitably going to be a mass amount of dog poo to collected... but for some strange reason the POOPER SCOOPER hasn't made it's way there yet.. Or the notion of picking up the poop with a plastic bag and disposing of it thoughtfully...

hmmm.... The story goes that while my friend was trying to take a photo of some beautifully lit sidestreet one day in nice, she walked backwards to get a better shot, slipped on some poo and landed in it...

Sure its funny, but if there is no camera or CCTV to capture the greatness that is someone falling in poo, it still makes me sick to think that i may one day be that person who falls in the poo...

So if you have any relatives in France or anywhere in the world... please... Spread the word that poo, is not a good thing on the sidewalk... or on your shoe... or on your back for that matter.

The French and The Spanish

With a little bit of sleep and some food i grabbed from the supermarket in Milan i was raring to take on the sites and sounds of Nice... I made my way to the tourist office and found myself chatting to a couple of young (18, 19) who i thought were both American, but no one was German/American and the other Canadian... turns out they were staying at the same hostel as me and we ended up spending that day together at the beach...

I told them of my dramas with cash and what not and said that i would be sweet as soon as i went to the bank to take out money from my credit card... well, dramatic pause... the last money to come off my credit card put it top the max and i couldnt withdraw any more money until it had been topped up plus i couldnt acces any other money until wenesday from my tracellex card...

With the help of Franny, and Amy (a massive thankyou to you both, you are beautiful girls and your parents should be proud, for not accepting candy, but for helping a young backpacker in desperate need), who spotted me some cash, both on extreme budgets as well mind you, for a couple of days... They even paid for my train ticket to Cannes for the day... The beach is GOLD i tells ya in Cannes... The water sparkles with gold and so does the beach... just perfect...

...After a couple of tanning on the beach by day and nights singing songs with some crazy Norwegiens, also on the beach, i took the girls out to dinner and repayed the money plus interest i owed...

...Franny a massive music fan, gave me heaps of music to look up when i get home, and i showed her some aussie bands on my ipod... We have a new Butler Trio Fan to spread the word....

I have to say that those girls were completely an odd couple (and i don't mean lesbian, grow up), they had met in high school when they had both moved to Florida and were almost complete opposites in everyway except their big hearts and good nature.... Amy a, a lovely (the best word to describe her) country girl, and a bright young, author, who would never say a bad word about anyone, and Franny a bit of a punk rocking rebel... It was brilliant and made me smile everyday... although they live in completely different places in the world, they were the best of friends and will be forever...

I said goodbye to the girls as they headed for France on the Wednesday and my train didn't leave until later that night so i musted up all my energy and climbed up to the waterfall that had been looming over the old city of Nice everyday... it was well worth the walk... the views were second to none and it helped burn some excess kilos that i seem to have gained...

That night was the one of the semi Finals for the World Cup, i can't remember what game, but i do remember our train being delayed because someone had jumped in front of the track about 4km up the way... hmmm nasty....

So not knowing when the train would leave i decided i would risk it and get some supplies for the trip... there wre plenty of American travellers on board and collected a small shopping list... yes, there was alcohol on the list.

Sprinting like i was running the 400m relay, promising myself not to drop the batton (well shopping bag). and i made it back with a couple of minutes spare.. actually no, i ran back twice... haha...

Barcelona and a familar face the next day... The doff

Photos

This is a photo of the beautiful waters and the Island of Dubrovnich, in Croatia...

We kayaked around the island for my birthday...


BRILLIANT



The walls of the old city and the back drop.. superb... looking back, that is a little gay that stance though...










The Colleseum... Damn that church... on the tour we found out that they were the ones who took all the Marble from this great wonder, and then have been fixing it up, and putting the churches name all through it... I just don't get it.

Venice... beautiful one day, tragic the next.

Met a fantastic Brazillian lady who let me tag along with her to her hostel when i arrived in Venice... It was 38degrees and the back pack felt 20kilos heavier than usual... but after a quick stroll through the beautiful, well not streets, but canals, we found the hostel but no luck for Mills... The man was nice enough to point me in the direction of a pension up the road which worked out super.

The guy that ran the place had his own restaurant and was quite a character... very Italian, his hand were, his english excellent. I had a couple of drinks with some Aussie girls i met at the restaurant that night, and we went up to the square to watch some of the World Cup... Great night had by all.

Everything was going smoothly until the next day when i realised i couldn't get any cash out of the ATM because i had left it too late to transfer money... And the train stations were only taking cash... Ahhh dilemma so after lining up for 45 mins the first time i decided i would come back later, and in the mean time see some of the glorious sites Venice had to offer...

I grabbed some pizza (massive piece 1.50 euro), and sat myself down in front of this church where a lady, on violin was accompaning a man playing "Wonderful Tonight" on a flamenco guitar... That was a beautiful moment... it is one of my favourite songs... so there, everything happens for a reason...

With no cash, and no idea what to do in Venice, i went to the tourist office and asked the stupidist question ever... "hello, i have no money, what can i do here in Venice"... she handed me a pamphlet, shook her head in disgust and pointed to the door... hmmm, lesson learnt... i just kept walking... spent a good hour in Piazza San Marco just writing in my journal and doing some people watching... after another stroll around (saw some amazing sites along the way), went back to the station to find out that the over night train that i wanted to Barcelona was booked out... SHATTERED!!!

So i booked the next one which was at 5am and thought i could just stay awake all night, or just sleep at the station. I had seen heaps of people do it.

Oh one thing i forgot was that, i didnt have any more cash to pay for another nites accomodation either... i had found some Kuna (from Croatia) to make the payment of 45 euro for the last night. hmmm....

So with the last 10 euro what did i do... i bought an icecream and then had a beer... But if i had never have have had that beer, i would never have met the Italian guys who introduced me to their friend, who later offered me a place to stay that night... Lucky lucky Mills.. And the girls had turtles in their house... REAL TURTLES, little baby ones but they were so cool.

So everything worked out and the next day was Sunday.. only one more day, so i thought, before i could get some cash out...

got the train to Milan was there for only two hours and then onto Nice...

YEAH BABY this is TRAVELLING... No money and one week to meet your friends... cool

Some new pics... old, but new for you...

That is the subway in Munich, it was absolutely jam packed with Aussie and Brazilian fans... a sea of yellow and green.. And the boys who we hung with during the big game!!!!













If you look closely you can see that, yes, we were on top the leader board for Group F for the first round... Timeless











Huge 60m squared screen at the munich FAN FEST
This was Italy vs USA










The ovens in Dachau used for burning thousands of bodies after they had been gassed to death during 1933-1945, under the Nazi regime... Scary, scary stuff