Athens, Greek Islands, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre and Nice

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EDIT:
Finally all photos are up to date! There is also one of the river pub crawl back in Cesky Krumlov if you search back through the album.

Today we went on our canyoning adventure and it was one of our favourite times of our trip! See the photos for an idea of what we did as we hiked down the river surrounded by some of the best scenery we have ever seen.

Going out for dinner now in Nice and are going to stop past Finnochio's - which has over 50 types of gelati, including beer flavour and tomato flavour. Interesting...

Au revoir.
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Well, it has been a while, but we are back for another blog entry!

Photos have been updated, but they only go as far as Santorini because the internet here is slow. I will upload more tomorrow though!

Due to popular demand (mainly from Uncy B), this post will adopt the dot-point format.

Athens

• The Acropolis and restaurants nearby were very picturesque took us by surprise.
• Other areas of Athens weren't as nice and quite a bit of graffiti and shady looking characters.
• Due to the economic state of Greece, we saw a few riot police here too.

Greek Islands

Mykonos

• The bars along the beach here were a great place to chill out and grab a yiros or three ($2 each)
• Partying at the big clubs in Mykonos by night was amazing but we had to watch out for keen Italian men...

Paros

• A great island to relax after the big nights in Mykonos with some beautiful sites and good food.
• Attended a typical greek party which involved greek dancing and of course, plate smashing!
• Took a boat cruise around the island stopping at sea caves and beaches along the way, where we enjoyed freshly caught octopus on the BBQ.

Santorini

• With its iconic white buildings built up along the cliffs, Santorini was the prettiest island of our tour.
• Hired quad bikes here for a day with mates and visited the famous black beach and red beach with a bit of drifting in-between.
• Enjoyed the Santorini sunset, which was met with an applause by everyone watching when it eventually set.

Ios

• In terms of the amount of fun we had - Ios would be our number 1 island.
• The pub crawls here are like a drinking marathon, where each bar has drinking challenges to win t-shirts (eg. scull 7 shots in a row).
• We attended the bar called "Slammers" where we ordered their famous slammer shot - This involved us putting a helmet on our head and having a shot of tequila before we were hit with one of the following: hammer, fire extinquisher, beer crate, baseball bat or just the bartender's foot as he stood on the bar and kicked us. We got 2 of these each in one night and it is fair to say we all had headaches the next day...
• In the day we took part in Mach II jet boat surfing (photos will describe this better).

Rome

• Rome had the best sites and attractions out of all the cities we have visited - Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica, Colloseum, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, Spanish Steps and Victor Emmanuel Monument should be seen by all. Michelangelo's works were probably our favourite though.
• We loved the local Italian pasta and pizza down the side streets of Rome.
• Our final day in Rome saw the PPAD group turn into PD as Paul and Adrian left back to Adelaide.

Florence

• Beautiful city with some great gift shopping (our suitcases are well and truly full now).
• Saw Michelangelo's David in the Academia Galleria where we were able to take a sneaky photo behind the security guards!

Pisa

• Though we only stopped here for an hour, we were able to see the leaning tower of Pisa and get our corny photos. The tower itself was bigger than expected and the area of Pisa was very nice but also very touristy!

Cinque Terre

• These 5 towns built up along the cliffs of the Ligurian coastline were the most unique and picturesque of our trip.
• We stayed in the town of Monterosso, but visited the other 4 towns during our stay after much walking up and down slopes and stairs.
• The walking was offset by some of the best food of our trip - the quality and freshness of the produce here, especially the seafood, cannot be beaten. Our favourite dish would be the lobster pasta we shared as we enjoyed the view with all the other couples by candlelight at Ristorante dal Billy's (not our finest moment...)
• Cinque Terre is the home of Pesto and we enjoyed many pizzas and foccacias filled with the yummy green paste.

It is now about 12am here in Nice. Our drive here was one to remember as we drove along the French Riviera looking down on probably the wealthiest areas in the world. Tomorrow we have booked in an extreme adventure day in the southern alps called "canyoning" which involves cliff jumping, absailing and sliding down rivers. We have also booked in a cruise the following day to visit all the celebrity mansions along the coastline including Johnny Depp, Brad/Angelina and Bono.

Not long now before we are back in Adelaide (132 hours). It has all gone so quick! But we will be happy to return home and see everyone again. We'll aim to get in one more blog post before we get back on Sunday, probably from Singapore. See you all soon!

Munich and Krakow

Czesc everyone!

Just a quick update on iPhone so no photos unfortunately. Will try get photos up when we can.

We are now in Athens and will be traveling to the Greek islands tomorrow morning.

After our last few days horse riding and rafting in Cesky, we travelled by car to Munich. Known as the beer capital of the world for good reason. Around the city there were many beer halls and beer gardens capable of accommodating up to 10,000 beer drinkers. Typical German sausage, schnitzel and pork knuckle were great accompaniments to the beers. During our time here we visited BMW World, took a bike tour around the Munich streets and went on a tour of Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich's football stadium).

Before we knew it we were flying off to Poland, where we stayed in the city of Krakow. We all loved our stay here. The massive town square had many shops and sights to see that are lucky to remain standing after Germany invaded Poland in world war 2. Krakow is by far the least expensive city we have been to. Though we don't like to admit it, a lot of the time was spent shopping. We all got polish haircuts too. Photos to come of course. Pete has a hair cut resembling Manto (he looks hot).
Our second day in krakow saw us visit Auschwitz concentration camp, which was the biggest nazi concentration camp where over 1 million prisoners were executed including all the women and children the Germans caught. This was the main extermination area during the holocaust. The tour was a real eye opener we will never forget. Walking into the gas chamber and past the 'wall of death' was a real moving experience.
On a lighter note, polish food and polish vodka is amazing. Pierogi (little dumplings) were our favourite of the cuisine. We enjoyed many varieties of vodka including a plum vodka weighing in at 72% alcohol. Good times followed.

Not sure if will have good internet on the Greek islands, so if we don't get to update you guys will here from us in Italy next week! We all send our love to family and friends back home. Goodnight!

London, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and Cesky Krumlov

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay between blog posts but we have finally found a good Czech computer. New photos have been updated in the album on the right. As usual the photos will be in chronological order starting from Photos from San Sebastian and ending with our photos in Cesky Krumlov, where we are currently staying.

Since we have covered a fair bit of Europe since our last post and don't have much Internet time, we will split up the post into dot points about each city. Everyone loves dot points.

London

• Wish we spent more time here, so much to do ranging from theatre productions to soccer games.
• Took a double decker bus tour and saw all the big sites including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Fun fact 1: The Big Ben is actually the Bell inside the tower, and not the clock face.
• Went on a soccer stadium tour of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium with ex Arsenal legend John Radford.
• Visited Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Spot which one is the shiny wax model below...
  

Paris

• The sites in Paris were the most impressive yet. The Eiffel tower was much larger than what we expected. Also saw the Louvre, Notre Dame and Arc de Triomphe
• Stumbled across the tunnel where Princess Di passed away.
• Visited Moulin Rouge at night with its interesting toy stores.
• Dined out on the town and tried Snails and Frog's Legs, which were both surprisingly delicious!

Amsterdam

• Beautiful little city with little canals and bikes everywhere.
• Met a lot of people here that seemed to be very happy.
• Went on a bike tour through the Dutch windmill countryside where we tasted Gouda cheese and bought wooden clog shoes.
• Visited the Heineken Factory and took part in a beer appreciation session.
• Went for a stroll down some street that seemed to have red lights everywhere. Window shopping at its best.
• Pub crawl with almost 300 people was a night we don't remember but will never forget!

Prague

• The capital of the Czech Republic. An amazing medieval city surrounded by castles and cathedrals.
• Hired bikes and made our own tour down the cobble streets of Prague.
• Visited the famous John Lennon Wall, filled with graffiti art inspired by John Lennon and the Beatles.
• Enjoyed a night at the famous 5 story club in Prague - with $1 AUD beers we weren't complaining.
• Note: Eastern European females are very easy on the eyes to say the very least.

Cesky Krumlov

• One of our favourite cities so far. Small little town also in the Czech Republic. Fun fact 2: The film 'Hostel' was shot in Cesky Krumlov.
• The town is built around a castle that resembles something out of a fairy tale. Buildings are immaculate and a spectacular river runs through the city, which we plan to row down tomorrow on a raft pub crawl.
• The castle moat has real live brown bears in it, as they served as castle protection in the 16th century.
• Took part in extreme downhill riding on these little modified scooters with bicycle wheels. High speeds saw many bugs splat on our faces.
• Have booked in horse riding for tomorrow morning. There are whispers that one of us will slap Paul's horse and watch him gallop uncontrollably down the countryside.

I guess that about sums it up! We miss you all very much and always look forward to reading new comments from everyone. Our next couple stops are Germany and Poland before heading off for 8 nights on the Greek Islands, so will try and update at one of these stops.

For now, dobrou noc!

PS. We'd also like to mention an ongoing soccer table feud between the early starters Dom and Pete vs. the late starters Age and Paul. Current tournament score is 4-0 in the favour of Dom and Pete. This means that Age and Paul have won approximately 0% of all tournaments. Updates to follow.

San Sebastian & Pamplona

First off - we are all alive everyone so no need to worry!

Second - we are now in London and this hostel doesn't let us upload photos, so just writing a quick post on iPhone.

The running of the bulls was an experience we will never forget. The excitement and adrenaline that kicks in just before the bulls are released was overwhelming. People around us could be seen warming up and praying on their knees. We decided to stand about 100m from the start of the run, just before the accurately named "dead man's corner". Once the bulls were released all we could do was hope the massive 600kg beasts would run in a straight line and ignore us, which they did. Phew!

Apart from the bull run, the parties associated with the festival were crazy. The opening party in Pamplona square saw us get completely drenched in sangria (like cheap wine). Will upload photos of before and after shots of our nice white clothes and new purple alcoholic smelling ones. The town we stayed in, San Sebastian, was about an hour out of Pamplona but was a beautiful little city on the west coast of Spain, with pristine beaches and cheap pintxos (like tapas, but even better). We tried some interesting food such as pig ear, quail egg and duck liver.

I'll leave it there for now. Will update with photos soon either at an internet cafe or once we get to Paris.

Thanks for all the comments and stay tuned!

Ibiza and Madrid

Greetings everyone and to all the new people that wrote us blog comments (we will mention you all individually when we have time).

We are quite tired but will blog to the best of our abilities!

Photos have been updated in the album. Also, note that the photos are in chronological order from newest to oldest. Newest 2 photos are from Madrid.

Last couple days in Valencia involved us seeing the 'sights' at the beach, beating the local Spaniards in a game of soccer (photos to come) and visiting the Oceanographic centre.

The last 4 nights in Ibiza were ones to remember to say the least. Ibiza surprised us, as it wasn't just a 'party' island. The beaches were pristine, the chillout bars were really cool and we had our best meals of the trip so far at the restaurants. The promo girls walking around also caught our attention.

However, it goes without saying that the nightlife in Ibiza was something that must be seen to be believed. We went to 3 of the big clubs - Amnesia (where we saw Mr. Snoop Dogg), Es Paradis and Space, which had a capacity of over 10,000 people.

One of the highlights of our stay on Ibiza was the 2 nights we stayed in the Ibiza Gran hotel. Was a great place to relax during the day after a long night out on the island.

Paul and Adrian have now joined us on our trip. The PPAD team is now at full strength. Our first mission together was to go watch the sunset at Cafe del Mar - but it was overcast...

We are now in Madrid, which is quite a nice city, though we only stay here 1 night before we are off to San Sebastian for the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

After reading this entry I realised it is not funny so might edit it later on the include some degree of humour... For now we'll let the comments provide the humour for us!

We will update again in San Sebastian after we have run (successfully) with the bulls.


PS. Just thought of some humour:

When Manto goes to Pamplona, he doesnt go running with the bulls - he goes running with the people.

Haha, Adios!

Valencia

Hello everyone and to new commenters David, Paul, Robocop, Nat, our mums and fake mums, Marni, Rex, Roxanne, Patty and Aaron.

We are happy to see many people following our trip and complimenting our superb blogging abilities. Some are classics.
To Mr. Mircosoft (never heard of this company..) - Less is more in the case of the blog title!
To the plant (Rick) - BRN.asx shares have risen 20% due to purchase of after sun cream.
To Howler Express (Manto) - Total runs we have went for to date = 0.

New photos have been added to the album on the right. You may spot a bloke in a red hat that just came from the burns ward.

Our final couple days in Barcelona saw us hire a little 50cc tour buggy with in-built GPS and voiceover that educated you on the sights as you drove around. We drove to Camp Nou and a monastery just out of the city. Driving around wasn't too difficult and we got plenty of laughs from local drivers passing us at 50km/h.

We are in Valencia now, which is a more laid back city compared to Barcelona on the Spanish coast. The city is very clean and there is a mix of old and new buildings that are very impressive. The Spanish dish Paella (another of Dom's favourites) originated in Valencia. The night life in Valencia is also very fun and people can be found drinking in little squares over the city.

Another bike tour helped us see the sights such as the famous Art and Science Centre, which was built in the old river that ran through Valencia. The river was purposely run dry and now there are many nice gardens and Valencian orange trees that run through it.

Pete is in his element with siestas being a big part of the culture here. Most little stores close between 2-4pm here so people can get a nap in.

We are flying off to Ibiza on Thursday so will try and update the blog sometime on the island. Adios for now, we are off to walk in 35 degree heat and get some tapas (slip slop slap will be used to its full potential).

Barcelona

Hola!

We have arrived in Barcelona, Spain.

Out of all the places we've been so far (zero), Barcelona is definitely our favourite. Our first impressions were that the people here are very relaxed. We swear the immigration officer didn't even look at our passport pictures and just waved us into the country.

The city is massive with thousands of little side streets boasting different sites and tapas bars (Dom is in heaven). The architecture is sthunning.

The coastline is an incredible sight with many bars, marinas and beaches with crystal clear water. We got a sense that there were quite a few topless Spanish women around, but of course we didn't look...

We decided to hire bikes today so we could cover more ground since the city was so huge. We booked for 2 hour hire, but ended up taking 5 hours getting lost down side streets and down the beach boardwalk. Pete came off the ride second best and now looks like a roasted capsicum.

The Spanish tend to free pour their drinks here. After ordering 2 scotch and cokes, half the bottle was gone. The beer and sangria also come in fairly large glasses.

Tomorrow we are going to have a go at driving a little 3-wheel buggy around the streets to Camp Nou (Barcelona soccer stadium). Hopefully we can adapt to driving on the wrong side of the road sooner rather than later!

We will upload more photos into the album on the right ---> tomorrow.

That's all for now, we are off to go have a siesta.

Buenos noches.

PS. Hello to Uncy B, Dianna, Nicole, Uncle Caesar, Age, El Naturale` (manto), Brunswick and all others who have posted comments. We love them. Don't forget to leave your name every now and then though so we know who is posting!