quick summary

Ok, first thing, the food in Europe is amazing, deliciously amazing. If i had the money i would eat and eat and eat! From kebabs too over the top icecreams, they have everything yummy. Sooo Laur and i have been waddling along with our oversized backpacks, past the mouth watering street food trying to walk off our last meal of waffle icecreams.

Our trip started in Amsterdam, where we spend a couple of free nights with my auntie's wealthy sister. We went on a private canal tour in the husbands boat, which really made us, or me anyway, feel like a real Amsterdamian! Miek came and we spend two relaxing days sitting on canals, finding treasures in markets, window shopping and using our uttermost strength not to spend our hard earned money.

Monday we reluctantly left Miek to her adentures and headed to Berlin. At the help desk (which has become our haunt) we found a high but friendly Korean guy who was also going to Berlin. It was comforting having a man to help us with the trains, but we ended up leading him around, and also to our hostel, because he had not booked one. We had two nights in Berlin, which wasn't enough. We visited the Berlin Wall, and a museum island, but only saw the outsides of the musuems, except for the free ones. There were a lot of things to do there but we were eager to get to our next destination.

Prague. Don the Korean ( who i just found out is actually called 'Dong', whooopss!) came with us to Prague, which was good. Laur and i dumped our packs in our mixed dorm and joined some girls we met in Berlin, in a park that looked over the city. BEAUTIFUL. We had pizzas and wine for tea. DELICIOUS! The next day we did a free walking tour through the city, which was very interesting, but i didn't take much in because the man talked wayyyyy to fast. He was obviously in love with Prague, and could have walked us around for days. The arcitecture of Prague is so beautifully amazing. Every building is special, hardly any ugly ones.

Our hostel is right near the Old Town Square, which is really popular with tourists. Every hour we hear someone play a tune with a trumpet from the clock tower. Everyone crowds around and strains to see the ridculous costumed person play for about a minute. Apparently it is the most overrated tourist attraction in Europe, and i agree. Buuttt maybe if i knew the full story behind it, it might be a tiny bit more interesting. The sqaure is popular for wedding photos. We saw about 3. It is a really nice spot, but the lost tourists walking around really spoil the wedding photos. Though there is someone who takes care of this . A homeless man, who is off the planet, makes it his job to control the square. Quite funny,but sad because no one really listens to him.

We walked to the castle, which beaaaaaaaaatiful ( i need to start using synomyns).! It is especially beautiful at night. The castle had a panorama view of the city, which would have made the ruler back then feel powerful and mighty. We came back and decided to go to a jazz concert with some people from the hostel. It was good, but the seats were sooo straight that i found it hard to relax. I'm sure the seats were make like that so people wouldn't doze off. It was a good experience and also the same jazz club that Bill Clinton went to awhile back. It was weird to think i was sitting in a jazz concert in the middle of Prague!

We spent our last day, today, just lazing around. We walked around the city, bought food and lazed about. In the late afternoon we walked to the bridge, which is also a big tourist attration. It is really nice and it has a good view of the castle. When we walked back there was a kind of show/concert playing and we watched that for a long time.It started to rain and a nice old man held an umbrella for us. Then we went back to the hostel and said no to a pub crawl and relaxed before our next destination: CESKY KRUMLOV.

*Pictures Coming Soon to this Blog* hah =)

inspired and content - miek

i dont know where the other girls have disappeared to, but its just annnnother post from me :)

having a wonderful time in holland still! weather isn't something to rave on about though, really untrustworthy! the other day, just when i happened to be by myself at the house in wormer (quite a small town, even train conductors dont know where it is) a mini tornado tore through. and as it seems, only through wormer. wonder if i should take it as a sign haha. was just looking out the windows at the pouring rain, when suddenly bits of roof, branches and miscellaneous other were whipping about the air.. eeek only lasted two minutes though.

been lazing around the house here, going to sleep at 1am, waking up at 10am :) cooking rich and oozy chocolate puddings, pancakes. reading classic literature (the only english stuff they have at dutch libraries). went to rotterdam yesterday , just to a shopping centre though, they have such good shops here! really cheap too but soo stylish :) spent too much but oh well, whats the point of money if its just numbers in your bank? ;)

haarlem today. had lunch in a quirky little coffee shop, bakery. dark, tall ceilings, all sorts of tea on the shelves. manager/barista doing his accounts at one of the tables, then whipping up yummy looking coffees right next to us. low candelabras chasing away the gloom and lighting the assortment of ornaments. pink hanging things, shielding the windows from the rain. waitresses wearing beautiful floral aprons which matched the plates and whipping up intricate toasties .. strolled through the rainy streets, our hair frizzling and shining with drizzle :) wanted to buy out an interior shop. they have reallllly nice interior shops here, people have to keep their houses nice, they spend so much time inside due to bad weather!

wanted to buy fitted blazers, funky white ankle boots and floaty tops, but thought they probably aren't the right clothes to be walking around with a backpack on. inspired me to draw and write and dream :) went to the cinema and watched step up 3d. not the best acting, but delicious actors and amazing moooves! music that made me wanna stomp. but as i'm very potassium lacking (mum says) i am wayyyyyyy to clumsy to even think about getting up and shaking my body haha.

am feeling very inspirrred now. wanting to go into fashion design , or interior, or floristry, but architecture is a good start. then i can be rich and buy alll these things that i want and be uber stylish haha.

off to the hague for the weekend tomorrow, then pariiii(s) on monday for a week, lyon next saturday for a week, and then grapepicking . all is lovely dovely

buskers and circus acts

amsterdam day 2, high on life :)

three free girls in amsterdam - miek

choofed into amsterdam central, nerves in a fritter. managed to find my way to the front entrance, and relatively easily found lei and laur, crouching against a starbucks wall. had a little chat about all the swearwords crossing our minds, due to various, unrationally nerve wrecking at the time, situations. lei a few tears in her sparkly eyes, her parents nearing australia.

trotted out the front entrance, to be enswarthed by an unbelievable amount of people. i have a new theory, the more people there are, the better the goodlooking ratio :) lei and i sent a few "did you see that one :O" smiles over laur's head, who is starting to think we are a little bit shallow haha. annyway trying to avoid straying into the paths of trams, and angrily fast dutch cyclists we wondered down our first street.

first priority was to widen our eyes, widen our knowledge of the world.. really an excuse to check out the red light district. Amsterdam is like everyone's naughty dreams when they were younger. all the taboos are openly broken, everyone staring at the nearly naked women straight out of those seedy mens magazines (only a bit fatter) behind thin glass doors. we sort of looked, haha ok we looked, but also didnt know where to look. it was a bit like a zoo, these women standing there showing off their wares, shaking their booty (boobs, bums, thighs, cellulite wobbling all over the place) , in underwear slightly too small for them, beckoning the men with two fingers. amongst our gasps of "why on earth would they want to do that?""imagine the seedy old men , all sweaty that they have to do""they wouldn't want to spend their money from that on stupid things""wonder how long they work for, how many they fit in" we tried to spot any men making their transactions. nope, none, too early..we decided to come back later.

walking around the blocks, we accidently walked down the same street again. putting our pace on and looking down so they wouldnt think we were perverts, we walked a few kilometres to observe the tall ships that sail into amsterdam once every 5 years. milling with about 20 000 other people, we climbed through giant I amsterdam letters sat down and stared at the river. lets just say you wouldnt have been able to fit a canoe in there let alone cross to the otherside, it was like a highway. finding the ships amazing, we decided to leave it at that look and head back to amsterdam city.

aleida finally got her wish of having chips in a cone, piled with mayo. also a plastic cone filled with candy goodness from jamin (the biggest lolly shop ive ever seen). the sun was shining alll day causing a little sweat to rise, so we searched for a shady seat. a square on the main st had a few tall trees so we headed in that direction. finding no chairs there, thought stuff it and sat down on the pavers. got quite a few stares from passing by amsterdamers, not sure if they'd ever seen a person sitting on the pavers amongst the pidgeons before, but we started quite a trend. by the time we left after about an hour of giggling, bloatedness, trying on my headphones etc, there was about 5 groups all lounging around.

wondered around, found a canal, took our shoes off (didnt want them falling into that murky looking water.) and perched on the edge of the cobbled street. the sun twinkled through the trees, a sweet breeze blew off the water, we ate our lollies, sipped our precious water and iced tea and smiled at passing boys in boats :) (me and aleida mostly) watched a wedding party climb into four beautiful cream boats. a boat we all wished we were on passed. a group of about 20, men in top hats and dreadies, brown and laughing, women in summery hippy clothes, brown and laughing, pulled up beside the wedding boat, whisked out a trombone, and put on a circus act for them. all in front of our eyes :) boats passed to and fro for another couple of hours, while we sat and relaxed. people in canal tour boats took photos of us.. wonder if they would if they knew we were tourists too?

(sorry couldnt rotate it.)

finally decided to move on, walked past a few weed shops, another taboo broken. quickly glanced around before sneaking into one. bought a brown cocacola looking hash lollypop for a giggle. once unwrapped and in our mouths, it tasted like sugary parsley soup and utterly disgusting so was immediately plopped into the depths of a canal. sat again on another canal's edge. proceeded to lie down, hot stony ledge beneath our backs, sun beating down on our closed eyelids, legs swinging on other side of the ledge to the beats of our headphones. totally relaxed amidst the fishy smells, the weed smell, the pidgeons cawing, the weird seagulls of the northern hemisphere cawing, the traffic motoring, and the people chattering.

thought it was a good time to go back and check out the red lights again. this time crowded with people. lots of groups of men, but lots of women too. one women desperately kissing her husband/partner , which we interpreted as an attempt to stop his wandering eye. lots of couples, lots of everyday people like us. saw a couple of men making transactions, pointed and stared, spotted some getting dressed through gaps in curtains, transactions over. again thought it was a zoo, but were slightly tempted to check out a show. lei squeaked, so we decided to follow our better judgement and again decided to move on to sit somewhere else, found another canal, sat down, said hello to the man who said hello to us and realised we'd sat next to a rather open urinal. eeek tried to unembarrassedly stand back up and walk away. wandered around again for a couple of hours, wondering what backpackers do.. but not unhappily. we all loved sitting by the water, relaxing, people watching, sitting.

found that square again, sat for a bit. a group of frisbee throwers, frisbeed around showing off their tricks to about two people ..wearing "create peace, play frisbee" t-shirts. they were quite good, but frisbee is only so entertaining. called it a day and straggled back to the trains and home.

a little heart shaped hole in my universe

Sitting in a little house in Uitgeest where the weather is miserable, the rain is beating the window and the branches are waving their skinny arms to the sky. Soup is boiling on the stove and I’m trying to lose myself in a delirium of music, pushing two and a half years of happiness and heartache to a far recess of my mind. All my playlists flash little memories, and I’m desperate to find new songs without any attachments..

Eri’s “songs about un beau garcon” album, given to me in French class when we were young and naive dreaming of scruffy haired men serenading us on red guitars, whilst lying in a silky sheeted bed and staring out the open doors to the sleepy waves, reminds me of those first nights when he snuck into my little bedroom in the shed. My red lamp shining at 12am, these songs floated around while he snuggled me.

His techno list beating out of his new Subaru, while tearing along the highway, throwing it back a gear to get ahead of the bogans and telling me all the stories of his partying days in Perth. My 16yr old eyes wide and laughing.

Band of Horses when eating maccas looking out over the ugly city of Burnie after a night out of trailing after his friends and sleeping in unknown beds.

ATB and Tiesto for running along Turners Beach trying to catch a speeding rocky, a flashing black and white furball a kilometre in the distance chasing seagulls, other dogs and snooping in peoples yards, him saying “I told you we shouldn’t have let him off, I told you blah blah” and me just laughing at him, all scruffy and smelly in his work clothes.

Twilight soundtrack, which is really good compared to the actual movies, him dragging me protesting and teasing him to see New Moon. Him getting outraged after me taking it a step too far and him saying scathingly “well you like Angus and Julia Stone” with me seeing nothing wrong with this.

Angus and Julia Stone for me lying on my bed with my head in my pillow after him always winning our arguments. He has a way with words, he always made more sense than me.

Him whizzing through the kitchen, teaching me his expert skills of making chocolate mousse.

Eating bucketfuls of ice-cream within the space of 5 minutes.

Me tickling him, his cute and cheeky laugh turning into coughs and hyperventilating from claustrophobia..whoops.

Melbourne, just us together, holding hands along the Yarra, laughing over cocktails and beers, watching people, guessing which ones were drug dealers. Watching the Socceroos in a packed out sportsbar, him turning all patriotic and yelling along with the rest of the crowd.

Adelaide, us ricketing around in eve’s old bomb, g-strings hanging off the gear stick, smelling like fumes when we stepped out. He can’t read maps, I can. I can’t drive without being distracted, he can.

Falls festival, snuggling up to him lying outside in our sleeping bags under a fall moon, watching the electric storm, listening to midnight juggernaughts and getting a bit freaked out it being new years eve.

Rumbling down the east coast in his diesel ute, eating at every stop, our bloated stomachs making it easy to float while snorkelling Coles bay, lying in the huge bath listening to the rain patter on our balcony. Me forcing him to climb over the Hazards to get to wineglass bay, me puffing all the way and him whizzing along with all our packs and picnics.

All his kisses, his jealous glares, his softness and tears, his tensed muscles and hard faces, his athletic prowess and insecurities, his cuddles..

A little chunk of my heart will be hiding in that recess of my mind with him, im starting to wonder like laura at the funny ways of this world where loved ones float in and out leaving a heart shaped holes in our universe..

I shall be free

pretty people, so much delicacy, latest dior and chanel mixed with my choice of big solid foghorn blues.timelessness and finally three free souls playing on the cobbled streets with the railroad days and youth our maniac giggling only interrupted by the sudden pauses of realization, wild anxious silence of mystery.Such a wonderful, concerned family filling the quiet sunday morning with dutch hymns and pounding chords on the piano, im priveledged to be amoungst it.Complacent ecstasy of joyous life, permeating vibrations of creativity, im home, im a bum. Hallelujah. Everything grin inducing, like some warped time machine, collective of all time and all people.Jimi Hendrix shrining next to the grand cathedral, abodes filled with odd paraphernalia, next to the simply elegant opposite the bong smoking student, obvious the thing thats bound this weird world together is invisible and so damn delightful.ZEELAND no signs of failing energy and i love that we spend a day out exploring and say its time to go home now! Home to zierikzee to a house filled with streamers, teacups, bibles,bikes and flowers.Whales penis's are bigger than italians. I have mastered my favourite sentence in dutch and english lekker kroket (yumm dim sim) ill get by fine now. At the cathedral booksale the dutch priest informs us (in dutch) 'i cant speak any english (shaking his english dictionary) i have no idea what these are about but there only one euro, great' we smirk as we notice roald dahls my uncle oswald in his collection, ignorance better left blissful.'so do we give way to the cars or do they give way to us' LEI replys 'umm i dunno just what ever' but we manage to give way to the lekker dutch boy riding carefree into the sunset, with his lasting waft of cigerette, asi wipe the dribble from lei's open mouth we resume with our laughter.Yay we belong to the world now,getting ready to hit Berlin via Amsterdam, its time we mastered the delicate art of beer appreciation. And Amsterdam, i can hardly wait. Laura

things to know things to do - MIEKE

Netherlands

Things to know:
· You have to pay at least 25c (euro) to go to a public toilette... even if theyre really scungy.

· There are animal ambulances. Apparently one time, at the end of someone’s street there was a goose dying. The ambulance arrived and desperately tried to re-animate the goose, but it didn’t quite work and so they covered it with a white sheet and carried it away!

· Cars give way to each and every cyclist. (Australians worst nightmare!) They have to. I can’t get used to it and the drivers keep getting angry at me for giving way to them. (you have to ride your bike fast, never give way or look around, and just ring your bell for people to get out of your way... eek)

· Don’t come to Holland for its beaches. (unless you’re in Zeeland... still not as good as Aus though.) They’re always windy and the water is all shades of brown; pollution brown. Out to sea all you can see are cargo ships and heaaaaaaaaaaaps of wind turbines. The one good thing is they have nice cafes and sorbet shops right on the sand. Aussie beaches are definitely right at the top somewhere!

· Europeans are mad about soccer, if you didn’t know already. (and REALLY competitive while playing)

· They cook delish meals! (lekker is good, heerlyk is reallly good.) and they are just as hospitable. They definitely know the meaning of “gezellig” .. which we dont have in english, bit its a sort of combination of the following: cosy, inviting, opposite of depressing, good feng shui, warm, friendly, you want to live thereeee....

· They call things Australian to sound exotic.

· The weather: Unreliable. It is probably quite intelligent of you to pack an umbrella at all times! And a funky one to make you feel good

· The dutch/Europeans know their ice cream.



Things to do...as of 27/7/10

· Main thing: Hire, buy, borrow, (steal or build if necessary) a bicycle. It is a MUST, MUST, MUST.

· Canoe through the canals of small villages. (we went through Wormer) When the Dutch go canoeing/kayaking/boating they like to go out into wide open spaces, the lakes and through the marshes. They sort of think canoeing through the village is yuck (for want of a better word.) Buuut if you want an eye-opener into the Dutch culture, well summer culture, there is hardly any better thing to do. The houses and their small gardens border onto the canals, which are about as wide as roads. Huge old willows hang over and dip their leaves in the waters. In some places white and pink water lilies sprawl halfway out. The gardens are really well tended, neatly trimmed hedges and pruned trees, but the colourful flowers run riot. Every house has been kept in the same (old) dutch style. Peaked tiled rooves, all small brown brick, white trimmings. In Australia this would sound disgusting, but here everything is synchronised and there is so much greenery it looks beautiful. The houses are all quite small but every single window you look in, is inviting and spacious. It is normal to never close the curtains, so people can look in and see everything. This makes the community “gezzelig” (close-knit).
The best time to go canoeing would be summertime..obviously. Oh and another cool thing is that in winter all the canals turn into natural ice skating rinks!

· Have “frites met mayonnaise” or fritesausse! And kroketten met mustard! And and and.. So delicious! They have vending machines (sort of) that you can put in your coins, open a little door and pull out a fresh whatever! Sounds like magic, I know, and definitely tastes like it. With the frites (chips) they pile them into cones and pour a huge amount of mayo on top. Yumm! Now I know why I love mayo so much... its in my genes

· Also cones and bags of licorices and packets of stroopwafels. Dutch are the royalty for sweets.

· Visit Alkmaar. Its heaps smaller than Amsterdam but quite similar. It has canal tours, cheese markets and so many old buildings ie. 1520 etc. Cathedrals are dotted here and there and about 500 shoe shops..joking. but every second shop is a shoe shop..not joking. There are also lots of guys clothes shops, which have really good style and makes me wish I was a guy or had brought my boyfriend along! Alkmaar is fairly touristy though.

· Drive along routes that take you through all the small towns and villages. This is best done at a leisurely pace, with a flexibility to end up anywhere. (unlike Papa.)

· Markets. Cheap markets. Ooooh so cheap. 10 big apple pastries for 5 euros. Fresh stroopwafels the size of your dinner plate for 1 euro. Fresh fish, mountains of summer fruits, beautiful flower stalls, bicycle parts, funky clothes, everyyything.

i am sterdam - MIEKE

Senses - LEI

I close my eyes and let my senses go free..

I can feel the rays forming new freckles on my face, the sand getting cooler as i dig deeper with my feet, the towel leaving a soft imprint on my back, the sand exfoliating my skin,..

I taste the salty air along with the leftover taste of croquette,..

I smell the expensive perfume of an nearby sunbaker. the smell of freshly cooked chips joins the breeze. cigarette. sunscreen. salt. seaaaa

I hear children, lots of children, the constant lap of the sea, laughs, squeals, chatter, the flap of seagulls, excavation of sand, the faint music playing as a soundtrack to everything around me

I see redness of the sun behind my eyelids. I rest my eyes and use my imagination to form pictures in my mind that go with the sound, smell, taste and feel of the atmosphere around me.

Have you ever done this? Laying somewhere, anywhere, with your eyes closed and listening to every sound, picking up every scent, taste and feeling? I find it relaxing and eventually i drift into sleep, dreaming of beaches and journeys.

TO THE QUIRK - LAUR

She was a long, frizzy haired pig tailed, lanky, opposite to pigeon toed girl, with colorful borbles, a million bobby pins, big feet and a cartoon character smile. On the other hand I was a timid, short, freckled curious kid who spoke little and religiously wore a blue bomber jacket. Right from the moment these first impressions were cast I knew she was something very strange, little did I know she was going to be my bestest friend. Very few days have passed since this moment 9 years ago that we have not spoke, although some may not consider it real talk, perhaps large amounts of smack, consisting of ridiculous questions followed by equally ridiculous answers. Worlds away from reality at times. I cant wait until we meet in the land of the poms, pubs, castles and share a white cold Christmas, I hope we meet Luna Lovegood and Cassie and drink milk out of glass bottles. The naïve may say she is stupid and mad, but perhaps merely mad with the complete understanding of the origins of life’s ecstasies.

I have always struggled to grasp that people drift right on in and right on out. And it’s the people I adore that suddenly vanish, so unceremoniously. I don’t know what I expect fireworks maybe or a party with cupcakes iced goodbye nice knowing you. But they sneak out the same door they entered leaving little blotches of something. Too often I’m left in a bitter selfish tantrum wishing they’d stay but Im writing this jibberish to remind myself for future reference to suck it in and harden the fuck up.


‘What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and its goodbye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.’

LAUR

11th July 2010

3 days in zombieland, filled with 1pm starts, food that’s bad for me and daggy clothes. The plan of getting healthy before I leave was slowly sizzling and had almost been seized by the daggy masochist zombie that possessed my body. Day 3 presented an oversized revenge of the sixth star wars tee-shirt, a scrunchie and pokadot pants, although this amused me greatly, this is as far as id let my sad unsocial life get. Day 4 I would not be living in zombieland.
Day 4: Zumba? What the fuck is zumba. Still sticking to my promise I dragged myself to the gym. My sleepy eyes soon widened as the instructor started shaking it like fergie. ‘Am I supposed to attempt that?’ looking around realizing that soon id be on the other side of the world, I drew a deep breath and gave ‘zumba’ a well deserved go. It may have proved to be the high that delighted the rest of my sunny day.

Today was also the monthly ceremonious day of ‘the arrival of dads national geographic.’ shoot me for not emphasizing the dad part, as I didn’t realise that the greatest monthly pleasure was opening the parcel so he was the first to see what was on the front cover. But usual routine soon flowed from its arrival; dad studied it for a while, then educated me on his new found wisdom. I smile and nod. This month’s fascination was the male bower bird and its extravagant and artistic attempt to impress the stubborn female. I compared this to the male human species, a sobering juxtaposition; I imagined being a female bower bird how lovely.

Today I also offered to rise at 8am to take Lucie to her first exam, as I jumped in the car I could sense the fear that I could so easily relate to. I decided to bite my tongue and not speak of ee cummings sonnet, instead I thought it would be much more appropriate and comforting to blast sergeant peppers lonely hearts, at full volume most importantly Lucy in the sky with diamonds. As she jumped out of the car I searched my brain for some inspiring words, but instead I advised her to write what ever the fuck she wanted as this would be much more fun. Why did know one tell me this when it was me.

That night as I sat round the table with my little family of four plus the much beloved loyal beagle at the side the day ended on a much more somber note. Mum made her usual jokes of eating sticky date pudding, everyone laughed but I was preoccupied with a much more disturbing thought. I thought of our month back packing through Thailand, the four of us wandering around the beautiful northern countryside, bickering about rats in beds, elephants outside windows at 4am and four people top and tailing in two tiny thai single beds in 30 degree heat. I realise that in less than a month we will each be taking steps into the unknown, I think of mum and dad scampering there way along great ocean road with little more than a map, foam pretending to be a mattress and a stack high of national geographics. Lucie climbing up Hotham in the Volvo. Mollie still in good old tassie being spoilt by my energetic cousins. And me miles away from life as I know it.