Back to London... and then out to the Greek Islands

Ok so back to London, and coming in unannounced, i stopped off at the florist to surprise auntie Lol... She is the best...

So in those five days, i caught up with Tommy boy (whom i met in Lagos), a great kid with a passion to be an Aussie, we helped him with several Aussie-isms... and he was quick to greet the Doff and I with an Absa-fruitin-lutely...

Found out that the Mambo store in Fulham was having a sale and everything was 5quid... So we bought up big... everything from t-shirts to jumpers and pants... Awesome...

Met up with my cousins again and we had a little pub crawl through Parsons Green and Fulham... I think i may even move back to this area... It has terrific night life. We ended up at the Wilton, which is the pub where my Auntie runs kareoke... Yes i did... and so did all the boys as well... Terrific night...

The next day, being totally sick of my hair, it was time for a cut, and i mean a cut... the boys brought out the clippers and i gave myself a number 4... No more worries, just had to remember to put sun cream on the head when i went to the Greek islands, which was next on the agenda...

Met up with my mate Mick at the train station and headed to Gatwick Airport, check-in opened at 4am for our flight to Athens, so Mick and I set up camp (with my new sleeping bag purchased the day before, excellent) and slept... Some very grumpy Virgin hostess' woke us up, so we moved to the check in line... and we waited... and waited... and waited... and waited...

For about 2hours to check in... There had been a massive Terrorist Attack foiled by British Intelligence. Peroxide bombs were what we were to learn the next day... Apparently all other airports had been closed down that day but flights out of Gatwick were still allowed, yessss!!! But for Mick, who couldn't even carry his magazine on board, or me, my book!? And the line to get through security, the length of the entire airport... ridiculous... i thought everyone was getting a body cavity search... I was wrong, but everyone was almost down to their knickers before they went through... and certainly no water bottles were getting through!

Another three hours wait at the boarding gate, obviously bag checks were extensive down stairs, and we were away...

Because of the delay, our trip to the Acropolis had to postponed indefinitely, Mick and I caught the night ferry to Santorini... Not something i would ever recommend... First class does certainly not mean "First Class"... This was the longest journey and the boat stopped off at every single island on the way... and everytime there was this horrendous sound and then the announcement!!! AHHHHH!!!!! I just wanted to sleep! The longest day of my life!

Having booked no accomodation, again, we just decided to go with the guy holding the Anna Hostel sign... excellent choice as it turns out. Although Mick had just purchased a gyros (greek kebab) for me and the driver was absolutely adament that i was not getting on his bus with the kebab... "NO FOOD ON THE BUS!!!" were his words, kinda like the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. I was scared. Not a great start with the locals...

Met a great guy from Canada named Steve who explained that his job was a travel researcher, the envy of every Traveller, to get paid to travel. I hated him instantly. no just kidding... He was a great guy... So the first day was just relaxing on the beach and having a couple of beers back at the resort up the road... i love a good pool and a beer in the sun.

That night we made Pimms (kind of an English Sangria, but no red wine, it was on sale duty free, i couldn't resist), a great drop... we bought the fruit and even found some mint (thanks big steve). Had a great night and then booked in for the pirate ship tour the next day...

18 Euro for a full day guided tour to see the sites of Santorini... The best money ever spent... Found out that Santorini is actually a dormant Volcano (that would explain the black beaches) that erupted years before creating its shape... and even felt the warmth of the volcano itself when our tour guide Maria dug deep into the dirt... very cool...

We swam from the boat to the hot springs, and i even put the mud on my face, meant to be very good for the skin... my face was yellow for a while, and so are my shorts now.

There were a couple of highlights from that day, the oppotunity to ride "TWO DONKEYS"! oh yeah, i did it twice. My first one was quite possibly a relative of Makaybe Diva, just kept pushing the whole way up the hill, had chamions blood in her. And then there was the sunset in Oia... i filmed the whole thing and will put it up on You Tube as soon as i get my laptop... It was breath taking... I can imagine a lot of men proposing to their girlfriends here... I was right up the top of this cocktail bar with some new friends...

Bought a beautiful picture from Oia, which i cannot wait to put on the wall next to all my other little purchases from around europe...

Missed the tour bus back to Perissa, but it was ok, so did many others... Got back on the public transport, left my sunglasses on the bus... AHHHH!!! Gotta stop losing things.

The next day headed to Ios with Mick to meet up with the Doff and the rest of the gang...

Next Chapter... The Doff is not happy and Ios becomes home for almost a month...

Probably would've liked to have stayed another day in Santorini as well... but i had a brilliant time there.

Ios next

Mills

Madrid and beyond... oh and The Doff tragedy

Well, The Doff and I made to Madrid and awaited the girls to arrive... I hadn't booked any accomodation, again, yes again, but luckily for me (and i had been quite lucky) they had a bed for me... The hostel wasn't anything flashy but the location in the city was prime...

The city itself is wonderful, old school buildings with amazing (there's is that word again) achitechture...

I read somewhere in my travel book about a market they had every Sunday, so we all went down and checked it out... I have never seen a market so big with so much diversity of stuff... Everything you would expect to find, ie Jewellery, brick-a-brack plus well, actually maybe it was just big and i was just taken aback... The worst thing was though, no food stalls... i am going to go back there and sell kebabs, icecreams or anything really, i reckon i would make a killing. But anyway, it definitely worth a look, but eat before you go.

Most of the time was spent strolling through the city, just taking in the sites... Kelly's day trip was excellent and she was a terrific tour guide... Contiki i can pass on her details. We went all around Madrid to the famous park, and down to the main train station... Which looked like a giant aircraft hanger and which had, wait for it, turtles in all the ponds... i love turtles... i think i am going to get me one.

The photos will be up shortly from Madrid, which includes a very beautiful sunset... On our last night in Madrid, we picnicked in a park and watched the sunset and played music... Met up with some peeps who i had met on my travels and had a crazy evening... Applez i hope you have recovered.

I flew out early the next morning to Amsterdam which almost seemed impossible at the time i got home... but managed to get my stuff together, get in a cab and get to the airport... brilliant.

Came into a small problem when i boarded and checked in my bag for my book, and low and behold here was Doff Mans passport!!! I had told him not to put it in there cause i would forget. And yes i did... i quickly jumped up and ran to the airhostess and told her the situation. She assured me the passport would be left at Lost And Found and The Doff could come and get it that day... which was excellent because he flew out at 6pm to Croatia...

This is where things get a little pear shaped... i landed in Amsterdam with 12 hours to kill and headed straight to the internet cafe to inform The Doff of the predicament... he seemed to be well too aware...

Long story short... After several attempts of persuading security that he had to get to lost and found (which was past customs), The Doff decided to rush through... Not a wise move... So after being removed from the airport in hysterics, The Doff pleading his case with every person he met, eventually made it to the Aussie Embassy the next day (sleepless night at the airport) to sign up for a new passport... The Airline eventually found his passport and he booked a another flight and eventually made it to Croatia... Well Done Doff Man, i hope you have learnt a valuable lesson... never leave your stuff with Mills.

Ok back to Mills, and my huge day in Amsterdam... After dealing with the Doff i decided to go for a bit of a wander, the beer tour at the Heiniken Factory was top priority, so i hollered a bicycle taxi and he took me to where the action was...

I highly recommend the tour and i made some new American friends who were only too eager to keep the spirit of the tour going at one of the surrounding pubs... Heiniken brings people together... after that bar we headed to the famous cafes of Amsterdam... nuff said...

The bus ride was interesting and so was the flight...

I was headed to Oslo to meet up with Grunter... ok so the last email i had received said he was going to pick me up from the airport... after about 20mins of waiting and trying to call his phone, i decided this probably wasn't going to happen. Awwww... I was ok and spent the night at the airport because it was too late to find a hostel... Airports are a great place for free accomodation... and much safer and warmer than the street. Write that down.

I spent the next day at the internet Cafe updating the blog and trying to get a hold of Grunter... i was later to find out that his flight had come in late and then he went straight to the harbour to jump on a boat and sail away for a week... That would've been lovely. So that night i was sitting at a table by myself when i thought, "The hell with this sitting alone feeling sorry for myself, i'm gonna go meet some people!" So i did, i met some lovely ladies who filled me in on the hot spots of Oslo and then i followed my ears to the sounds of this terrific blues music.. The lead singer sounded like the lead singer from The Commitments... Brilliant...

Although it cost about 250kruna (30 bucksAUS) to get in, the music and the vibe were well worth it... oh and beers cost about 10AUS for a pint... not cheap there...

I also met my very first Music Therapist, i didn't even know there was such a position, but after listening to the work, i was very impressed...

Kept strolling and partied with some randoms i met on the street to finish off my night...

The Viking Museum was something i really wanted to see, so i did just that... once again photos to come... Quite interesting... A quick nap in the park recharged my batteries and i had a crazy thought of travelling down the eastern side of Europe to meet back up with the group in Athens...

Good idea... but once again, better to plan these things ahead. Flights throught the roof, so i rang the old man, explained what had happened and he booked me a flight back to London...

To be continued...

Oh and Norway was the most stunning people in the world... Even better than Perth girls...

Photos

First Name... Tall
Last Name... Well i think you can read it...



















One of the biggest stadiums in the world...
Barcelona... An interesting fact is that they are the only footbal club to never have sponsor on their jersey.

Massive... holds 110,000 Catalunians










One of the famous buildings in the Guadi buildings...
See like drip castles mixd with Hansel and Gretel.



















Water Fall in Nice at the top of the hill... tough walk in the sun, but definitely worth it...

















This dude was at it all day in Cannes making this... I jumped on it...

Sorry Avid readers of "The Blog"

Too all readers of the "The Blog", I am terribly sorry for the lack of attention i have given you in the past month or so...

i could've made up some story about being in Tibet with the Dalai Lahma and his merry monks and therefore had no internet access but alas, this is not true and i have just been a tad lazy... ok very lazy...

Now for people who know me, will know that i have an appalling memory (i still blame the beatings i received at a young age from my brothers for this) so that is why i take my camera everywhere with me, and i can remember places and people i have met...

All well and good in theory until your camera, breaks or gets too much sand in it... who would've thought digital cameras and Sangria didn't mix?

Ok so i will tell you all i am back in London now and looking for work and a place to stay... And over the next week or so, you will get the tales from Madrid - Amsterdam - Oslo - London - Athens - The Greek Islands - Athens - Berlin - Munich - Salzburg - and finally London...

photos will come and i promise some killer pics...

but it does take time... so please.. bear with me...

Speak soon

Rob

PS Jaeger may have been the reason for my lack of attention to detail... just kidding