Pack up your things, it's time to go home.

Australia, I'm ready, are you?

6 months have gone by since I left Australia for Germany and now everything is moving in reverse, closing accounts I'd struggled to open, feeling the weather cool down instead of warming up and saying goodbye to old friends instead of saying hello to new ones.

The time has been nothing if not filled with all sorts of experiences, good and bad.

All I can say is that the best memories would not have been possible without all the friends, family and all the other major and minor characters that made the story what it was. So this post is dedicated to all of you to say thank you and whatever you did, I noticed and appreciated it.

Until next time....

Strasbourg, the town that inspired a sausage

This is my last week in Europe and my focus is on getting everything cleaned, closed and sorted before I leave. Somehow the way the appointments are I managed to get in a free day and took the opportunity for a day trip. Not only is Strasbourg very close to Mannheim, it has been highly recommended to me as town worth visiting. France's 7th largest city, Strasbourg is the capital of the Alsace region in France, a region that is squished in between 3 countries, mountains and the Rhine river. All this pressure has not crushed the culture but rather forced out something quite unique that could define it as a separate country.

Strasbourg

When I arrived I knew nothing except there was a special clock that the city was famous for, its treasures are more than this but it is very impressive.

Astronomical Clock

The Astronomical Clock is found in the city's Cathedral, which is quite easy to find as it is right in the heart of the city and is 142 metres high. It is an impressive piece of Swiss craftsmanship that has a wondrous display of planetary movement and other measurements of time combined with a display of figurines that carry out a religious parade daily.

Strasbourg Museum Garden

A long history, the city was established by Romans wanting to make more wine and since has changed hands many times. A big attraction of the city is its old buildings particularly in the area known as 'Little France'. Why a city in France would call part of their city 'Little France' perplexes me but at least it is nice to look at.

Little France

The centre of Strasbourg is an island with canals running through parts of the city. The water cutting paths through the buildings gives the place a very different feel, very relaxing and very beautiful. It was in this area that I spent the last part of my day in drinking a beer outside a cafe while a band of buskers played some great music.

Where the day ended

At first when I saw the cathedral I began to think I was going to see just another city like so many others but when I left, I left thinking that this is place that really need more exploring to try all the unique culture that is on offer.

Developing a taste for it

While staying with the Schaefers recently we took a day trip down the Moselle river to a town called Alken to see one of the region's first wine festivals. A day of beautiful scenery and delicious wines, people in high spirits and people getting high on spirits.

The town of Alken was built on the banks of the Moselle, at the bottom of a tall hill.

When you have a town you need a castle, and every good castle should be at the top of a hill.

What do you do with all the space between though?

You fill it full of grape vines of course.


And if you have lots of grape vines, you really should make lots of wine.


Well, if you're going to make lots of wine, you might as well have a festival.


And you can't have a wine festival and not invite Bacchus, the god of wine.


And every good wine festival needs the blessing of the Onion Queen.

Personally, I'm not one for traditions, I have my own ways of celebrating the time of harvest, which mainly involves falling asleep in a car and then blinding myself with mustard fumes at the old mustard factory.

But each to his own.

New York Times

New York, New York

The journey to New York was to see a good mate Seb and his girlfriend Doreen in their home. I thought it was best to use the opportunity of the proximity to bring him some OZ or just an excuse to leave work early and drink too much Tequila.

I arrived late in the night due to a 6 hour delay caused by the liquid explosive paranoia fiasco, and apart from being grilled by some smart mouth customs officer, Times Square at night was my first real impression of New York. What a way to start.

Times Square

The place felt literally unreal, as though the buildings were empty with only the facades of high tech signs all created in some giant building. The movies can not prepare you for it.

The view from Seb's work

I went to Seb's work the next morning for a free coffee and an awesome view of New York, a little easier on the brain by day. From there I took off on foot to go see Central Park.

In Central Park

Central Park is huge, I walked from the southern end to the northern end and it took several hours. I like the idea thought that in such an overpopulated place, such a large area has been maintained for the beauty of nature. The sky scrapers are like the frame of a painting the way the edge every view and surround the park.

This too

I grabbed the subway and rode down to the southern end of Manhattan island to catch a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Due to the price and the time waiting in line, I took a boat cruise around the bay instead.

Brooklyn Bridge

It was a really nice way to see the bay but it was a bit ridiculous the way all of us photographers ran around the boat like cockroaches trying to take the perfect picture.

There she is

The next day we headed down to Coney Island to satisfy my curiosity of this New York tradition. We decided that we would take Doreen's dog Buster with us, arguably the world's 2nd cutest dog. So cute, that a kid on the street came up to him and hugged him and I watched a huge security guard melt at the site of him. Anyway, walking along the street we got caught up in a conversation that built up into four separate conversations. I was amazed at just how friendly people could be while I had also been shocked at how rude they are. I guess the way to put it is that they don't hold back, which I think would take me a while to get used to. Although I did get into the spirit of things when I told someone on the street to "Go shove it up your @$$!", but I assure they deserved it.

Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs

A Coney Island institution, you can't go to Coney Island and not get a Nathan's Hot Dog.

Seb and Doreen

and the Chili Cheese Dogs

I'm not too sure what Nathan's make their cheese sauce out of but I'm pretty sure one of the ingredients omitted is cheese.

Doreen and Buster on the Boardwalk

We watched the sun go down from the board walk and walked the streets of rides, games of skill and the purveyors of all that is deep fried and sugary. I was not allowed to leave without taking part in the other major institution of Coney Island, the roller coaster, the Cyclone. Its one of the oldest roller coasters at 79 years old and trust me it looks and feels like it. The first scary thing about it is standing underneath the wooden beams as the wobble from the force of the cars on the track. There is the thrill from the acceleration and the ride but also the mistrust in the construction and the way the wheels leave the track in sections. I would have ridden again, but the whiplash I received told me once was more than enough.

Here's a picture of Manhattan Island

There are no photos to accompany the tale but when we arrived home we chilled out in front of the TV eating sweets from Little India, drinking, watching Miami Vice and playing Othello. Before we knew it the sun was coming up and instead of taking a hint from the sun, we pulled ourselves together to head to Harlem to get us a real Soul Food breakfast. I was looking forward to eating Soul Food but unfortunately in New York people don't serve breakfast until lunch time. However all disappointment was lost when I saw water spraying over a street from a busted fire hydrant. I was so happy running through the water and felt like I'd really captured that piece of New York that you just won't get on any tour.

Guggenheim Museum

On the Monday, after having a Sushi lunch with Doreen in Bryant Park, I headed off for an afternoon of museums. First I thought I'd check out the famous Guggenheim museum, a great building but the collection is disappointing for a one off visit. The visit to the Museum of Natural History made up for it though. Any good thing you've heard about it is true and it was free!

Museum of Natural History

The trip really proved that to get a real idea of a place, you need people who live there so that you can live it too, not just look at it. I was happy that one of the last things we did was all have lunch together but even more so becuase the area the retaurant was in is called Hell's Kitchen. So now I can say I had lunch in Hell's Kitchen. It was difficult parting ways and as I tried to make light of the situation in my favourite way, the Richard Nixon departure wave, I was cut of in true New York fashion by the bus driver saying "Get on the bus, I want to go home today.". Well I guess that's the Honk for you.

Rome if you want to

Rome is famous for many things, mainly due to its rich history. I went in with ideas of what I wanted to see but not really knowing what to expect. Well if you knew what to expect why would you do it? By the time my plane landed I had worked myself into a bad mood as reading my Lonely Planet guide I began to realise the time I'd allowed for Rome was not going to be enough to see what I wanted to. This was added to by the Italian posers on the plane who no matter the light conditions refused to remove their designer sunglasses. I went looking for my Hostel trying not to look like a lost tourist which is always hard when you're a lost tourist. On the way there a guy came off his scooter riding down the street, apparently it was his fault so I didn't know how to feel. I thought this must be a crazy town, which it is, traffic wise. You cross the road at your own risk, whatever the light colour and the number of scooter corpses abandoned by the sides of roads indicated that what I saw was not uncommon.


I walked into my Hostel room with the direct intent to get out as quickly as possible and go see as much as I can before the day comes to an end. Instead of introducing myself to the others in the room, I just tried to unpack and get out of there. Luckily I was sharing a room with some really lovely people. Chris from Korea is one of those people you could never get angry with he was so nice and one breakfast time he said I reminded him of Elvis, so he is immortalised for the best compliment ever. On the other side of the room was Lauren from, would you believe it, Adelaide. Serendipity is probably the best way to describe it. I walked into my Hostel room and ten minutes later walked out with an instant friend with whom I shared the rest of my time in Rome with. Traveling by yourself is ok, but it sure is a lot nicer to share the experiences with someone who is on the same level.

Do I need to tell you?

Rome can be a bit weird in the way it seems to contradict itself. They use to kill Christians here as part of their stadium entertainment yet became the centre of Catholicism. The Vatican is filled with riches yet the streets are lined with beggars. You try and haggle with a street seller and somewhere in the conversation he's trying to give you 50 euros. Add to that the fact that we wanted to do the same things having Lauren around made me relax and just enjoy Rome for what it is.

Roman ruins

Rome is filled with sites of Roman ruins, at times they take you back to a time where an Empire ruled and many modern concepts were born. Other times t looks like a rubbish dump that won't ever get cleaned up due to its historical significance.

The greatest range of the Roman Empire

The Tiber river

The Tiber river is not mentioned as an attraction of Rome, but turned out to be a great spot for walking and was quite lively with bars restaurants and various other establishments. One night we came across a stage setup especially for Tango dancing. The other nice thing about it is it is actually clean, surprising for a big city.

The river by night

The first day we started fairly late in the day and everywhere we went, we went on foot. The trouble with walking in Rome is that the streets are twisted, short and poorly signed. Just because you have a good map does not mean you can find your way around. Even using the best of my navigation skills it took ages to find some of the biggest attractions of Rome. We knew we weren't the only ones because we kept bumping into other lost tourists along the way.

The Trevi Fountain is crowded...

... but really beautiful at night.

From the Hostel it seemed no matter where we wanted to go, we always ended up walking past the Coloseum. The second time I had to take the picture below.

Roman cops, old and new.

On our way to the Pantheon we came across another vacant lot/ancient ruins site. Looking at it, Lauren noticed that there were a lot of cats.

Not what it seems

I noticed it to and didn't think much of it until I saw the sign which I still don't understand.

I was under the impression that cats were anything but an endangered species, perhaps even too many. Yet here is a whole block dedicated to there protection.

Send your donations now!

The world's smallest country, Vatican City.

The extravagances of the Holy See is quite astonishing, its centre piece is Saint Peter's Cathedral, the world's largest church. Apparently the Statue of Liberty can fit under its dome its so big. A reason that so many of the ancient Roman ruins are in such a bad state is during the renaissance period, all the sites were raided for their marble and whatever else was of value to help build churches.

Inside St Peter's Cathedral

The undisputed story is that St Peter was killed in the square in front of St Peter's Cathedral and his bones lie in a crypt underneath the church.

The resting place of St Peter

The other amazing attraction of Vatican City is the Vatican Museum. Filled with the treasures retrieved during the age of the Roman Empire and religious artworks commissioned by the church.

Gallery of Maps

The most impressive site for me was the Gallery of Maps. A 200m long room covered with maps of the section of Italy running from South to North with the West on the left and East on the right. Painted hundreds of years ago it is almost satellite accurate and the accompaniment on the ceiling is pictures depicting miracles that occurred in those areas.

Italy, everyone's favourite boot shaped country.

The Vatican City tour was an intense session of history and art, so we headed down to the river for some cold beverages and a sit down. Our next move was across the city up to Pinzio Hill to get a beautiful view of the city.

Lauren and Rome

As the sun came down we went in search of somewhere nice to eat. We found a nice area and what looked like a reasonable place to get some real Italian Pizza. I was a bit surprised what the waiter brought out to us.

Pizza in Rome

To put it into words it is a quarter of an artichoke heart, a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, two black olives (with stones) and some ham and mushrooms. I expected real Italian Pizza to be different, but not in an abstract art kind of way.

I'll just close with a thank you to Lauren who helped make Rome an adventure and not just another sight-seeing tour.