Spain

Sorry either of us hasn't updated the site, but you'll have to put up with it!

Ok, we´re in Spain at the moment after enter a new phase of our journey. We got to Barcelona after the long (8 hours) trip from Nice and stayed at the same hotel we stayed at when we came in 2003 (to see the world swimming campionship). Interesting fact? You decide.

Anyway, we have hired a car for the next 3 weeks as we tour Spain and Portugal. We have bought a cheap tent ( and other equipment) which should hopefully prove to be slightly cheaper we camp around. We have camped 3 nights already down the coast from Barcelona to Valencia and further down to Almeria, but we are taking a break for a couple of days (from the camping) as i try to get over a very bad cold i caught in Switzerland. I think it was the whole sliding down the mountain without skis incident which brought it on!

In summary, Spain is good and stuff.

Swimming in Nice....special!


Thoughtful...yeah i'm thinking about how effing hungry i am... (still in Nice)

A crazy vending machine, French style....well probably more likely Japanese

Anyway, thats all for now i'm feeling faint...

Montpelliere

We're waiting for our contecting train to Barcelona in Montpelliere and we've found the cheapest internet yet... 90 cents an hour!

Just enough time to download a pic...

This is Monte Carlo...We tried to get into the casino but the door bitch said we weren't on the list...(this is where i say that i kicked his arse Jackie Chan Stylie, but i didn't) so Tham opened a can of whupass on the unsuspecting clown. Job done.

seeya

Day 60 still in Nice

Still in Nice.

We went to Monaco today, saw some stuff and came back.

I have decided to compare the number of gadgets we are currently travelling with, with the gadgets I travelled with around Europe in 1992 (oops showing my age there).

2005
2 x MP3 players
1 x Digital camera (with 1 x 1GB memory stick, 1 x 128MB, 1 x 32MB)
2 x Mobile phones
1 x IPAQ PDA
1 x Gameboy Advance
1 x Video camera

...and all the chargers associated with them...around 5kg worth!

1992
1 x CD walkman and CDS
1 x film camera
...and no internet...haha

Life was simple in the olden days...stupid olden days

Nice is nice

Currently we're in Nice...it's nice. The End. Not funny at all.

This is Interlaken, it's blue and wet

Yet another pic of me on a ye olde dunny...in a Lausanne fort or castle or some such shit

Fondue in Switzerland (original)...after 2 litres of molten cheese, the novelty wears off i can tell you.

A train in Switzerland...Zzzzzzzzzzz

The story continues as follows: We left Sion after an uneventful night and onto Chamonix (contrary to what i said before about going to Zermatt...what do i know, eh)........crazy french keyboard is playing havoc with my RSI....it was pissing down the whole time in Chamonix, and we left the next day and went onto Zermatt.

I hired a bike (Cannondale Prophecy) for the day while Tham relaxed by walking up and down the mountains. In summary: Went up 2 lifts, rode for about 5 hours (99% downhill), went over the handlebars twice, 1 cut wrist, 1 corked calf, 1 chunk removed from shin, zero visits to swiss hospital.

This is me on the aforementioned Cannondale Prophecy with the Matterhorn in the background, before the siding down the mountain on my face. If you are thinking of getting one of these bikes, don't. Avoid all bikes with those shitty Lefty forks all together...enough said

Holding up the leaning tower in a photo...this has never been done before! Originality in pictures was the theme of this post.

Auvoir (i think)

Day 53 Lausanne

As you can see, neither of us has posted an entry for a while, and its basically because internet cafes are quite expensive in switzerland...and we're lazy.

Anyway, we stayed 2 nights in the youth hostel in Zurich. Standard concrete facilities built in the 60's/70's, and internet which cost 12SFr/hr (12AUD or 5GBP). Not much to say about Zurich other than its very very clean (apparently the joke goes that you can eat off the streets...i'll be sticking to a plate thanks very much swiss-joke-guy), and you can use the public transport for free. (when i say free, i mean we jumped on the trams and didn't pay...haha, suckers...) If we'd got caught, doubtless it would have turned into some sort of international bloodbath involving the large blade on the swiss army knife.

After Zurich, we left unscathed for Interlaken, a backpackers hotspot. I previously visited this little town in '92 and had a great time. A lot has changed in 13 years. Its now jammed with Koreans, so many in fact, that they have a hostel just for them (Koreahof). Apart from the hordes of tourists, its still nice. Yesterday i went canyoning again, i can tell you its a lot different from Turkey. For 1, the swiss actually have this little thing called health and safety, which means you get a helmet and wetsuit and stuff. Second, the water in turkey was about 20 degrees warmer. I got to rappel down a cliff, go down a couple of ziplines and jump off heaps of rocks into water.

If you have been following from previous entries, you'll know that one of my goals is to jump from a large cliff into water in every country we visit. So far so good. Another goal of mine is re-enact a scene from a Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Jet Li movie, with a local inhabitant as my opponent...but thats another story.

We're off to Sion tonight, and then off to Zermatt the following day for some badass wicked mountain biking...If you don't hear from me again it means i'm checking the swiss hospital factilities.

Auf Weiderseien

Day 49 Zurich

From Florence to the vineyards of Tuscany, from Bologna to Venice now Zurich. So far Switzerland is a good change from the chaos and tourists of Italy. If you ever visit Italy I would say visit Naples and the Amalfi coast for unrivalled food, natural wonders and limited tourists. Before I sound like a chapter from Lonely Planet, I'll leave yuose with thoughts of Swiss chocolate and mountains and knives.

Thamo's first post

Due to popular demand, Tham now has her own account.

More pics at last!! Longish

We're in Florence at the moment, its very touristic as they say...well i don't say it but people do.

Anyway here are some pics from a little time ago...

This is in Santorini Greece. This is a church. Greece has them. I'm at the bottom looking very hot indeed.

This is me again (you can tell i write these entries!) taking a dip in the water at Santorini. There was a large rock here which i jumped off. One of my goals on this trip has been to jump off a rock into water in every country. I'm thinking it will start to get a lot harder when we get to London...

This is Tham at the Acropolis...interesting, if you like rocks and girls (i do, therefore i find it interesting)
Breakfast in Napoli...look closely at the sugar...spooky...sort of

Geezer taking a dirt nap at pompeii.

Yes! A packet of Fonzies...tasted exactly like twistees. I asked for a packet of Potsie's but they just looked at me funny.

The Blue Cave in Capri. They also had the Green Cave, White cave and the 'Pay extra for this' Cave. Capri is indeed very Touristic.

Me eating clam pizza (heheh, NOT a euphanism(sp) for something rude) in Amalfi...The most delish food everrrrrrr.

Anger and the Gellato by Leonardo Di Thamo (Rome)

The Spanish Steps in Rome...apparently other nationalities are aloud to climb them as well, even Americans.

This is the ceiling in the Cissteen (sp) Chapel. No photos are aloud in here. I had to kick the Pope's arse big time to get this picture out. He's a pretty good fighter i can tell you, skilled in the art of street combat.

This is the Colosseum. What you can't see is me reanacting the fight scene between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in 'Way of the Dragon' (http://www.fightingmaster.com/masters/brucelee/chuck.htm). I played Bruce and one of the local stray cats played Chuck. Chuck gave a pretty good showing but the script says Bruce should win. Muhahahah.

Dave by Michaelangelo. There was a little old lady preventing everyone from taking pictures. Like the Pope and the stray cat before her, i kicked serious ass, just so you, dear reader can view this picture. Its in Florence btw.

Thats all for now.

Roma

Ok we're in Rome right now.

After leaving Napoli, we headed for the Amalfi coast, which is awwwwwsome (said in american accent). Apparently all Italians leave the country in summer and are replaced by Americans. We stayed in the town of Amalfi in a little private room just behind the town square. We had the absolute best meal ever at a family run place just around the corner. It was clams and mussels in a white wine sauce followed by clam pizza. We like clams (derr) which is lucky because they are quite cheap on the Amalfi coast. We also mixed with the celebrities whilst there. Ever heard of 'Nigels place in the sun' on BBC? Well that geezer was eating next to us as we ate our clams. I know you're excited, because we were!!!

We left after a few days and are now in Rome. We've done all the sites now, including the Coloseum, Vatican, Trevi fountain, spanish steps, and all the Roman ruins you can shake a toga at. Off to Firenze (Florence for those not in the know) tomorrow and the Tuscan region.

Again, i can't put any pics up because this ENIAC doesn't even have a effing USB port. As you were.

Ciao!