Austria – “Oh my god! What are you doing here?”

We boarded the train from Salzburg – destination Vienna. 3 hours later we were greeted with Bee’s Oma (Grandmother) at the station, all smiles and hugs. It was so fantastic for Bee, not only to see her grandparents for the first time in 4 years, but also for them to meet the elusive (because it’s a one hour drive from Melbourne to Vienna?!) Gerard for the first time...

Arriving in their 10th floor apartment we opened the door to find Bee’s parents, John and Susanne, standing there! Well, guess their New Caledonian Christmas cruise they led us to believe they were on took a slight detour via Europe – they had this planned for 6 months! Wow, Austria surely couldn’t bring any other surprises could it? Shock aside, it was so fantastic to have all the Scheubeutl/Womersley contingent of the family together for what we hoped would be a white Christmas.

Needless to say, we had such a lovely time over the festive period in Vienna:

• More Christmas markets (where mulled wine, punch and roasted chestnuts were a must in front of the Radhaus (Town Hall), a perfect backdrop).

• Dinner at the Donauturm, the revolving restaurant, 150m above the beautiful city centre.

• More dinners at Greek, Chinese, Austrian (believe it or not) with the family – oh and don’t forget a spectacular buffet on Boxing Day (fair to say their may not be any seafood left in Europe after our mammoth effort)!

• Strolling around the streets of Vienna, taking in the sites of the Hofburg, St.Stephens cathedral, Opera House and museum after museum... Absolutely stunning architecture

• Catching up with the Couston/Commerford clan for some antics at the, shame to say, Aussie Bars for some Ashes action – laughs, wrestles and cheers and some pretty funny snaps!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were, of course, also enjoyable and needless to say ‘well festive’ events. All in all Austria would have lived up to the expectations without the surprises that occurred and we both look forward to heading back to see the ‘other Austria’ (a la Sound of Music) around the end of Summer!

Austria – “Would Bad Gastein have been as good if we didn’t get ENGAGED?”

Enough said! We had such a wonderful time in Austria, for several reasons. Not only was the experience of the snow and returning to Bee’s homeland enough put a smile on both our faces, a very beautiful and unexpected ring blew her right away too....

We arrived in Salzburg (Austria – finally!) to -10C, ready to start our five day snowboarding adventure. After a Schnitzel, Stiegl (Austrian beer) and a good night’s sleep we boarded the train to Bad Gastein, part of the Gastein Valley. The scenery we passed was absolutely beautiful; snowy mountains, snow on wooden houses, snow lightly falling, footprints in the knee deep snow.... you get the idea! After checking in to one of Europe’s Best Hostels (and it was), we dumped our stuff, hired our snow gear, got the 10 layers on and we were off!!

Now, we probably should now mention that Bee had never snow boarded before. Gerard, well, his only boarding experience was in the early uni days on a boys trip, wearing a full body suit, stackhat and somewhat of a daily hangover... Two amateurs let loose! And we did well, slow and steady, fall and pick yourself up, slip and slide. But gradually there was an improvement and we can actually say we were having a blast! The breathtaking scenery also made it light work, nothing like we have ever seen – making Mt.Baw Baw (our only other skiing experience) look like a little mound of man made snow (or ice - take your pick)!

The combination of purely being in Austria, being at 2000m with breathtaking landscape made it the perfect place for Gerard to be the true romantic that he is. Bee was caught totally off guard but of course did not hesitate in her answer (actually she did hesitate with ‘Your shitting me aren’t you?’). We shared a bottle of Moet & Chandon and had a lovely Italian dinner to continue celebrations. A special mention must go to the old Italian Austrian waiter who congratulated us by informing us his third marriage of 18 years recently broke down – what a heart warming thing to say to a newly engaged couple! On a brighter note, Bee did score us a couple extra shots of Jager by flashing her ring around so that kept the party going (or finished it – whichever way you look at it!!) The next day we did find out that both of our crushes - Andy and Megan Gale had called stumps but, as they say timing is everything. Jokes aside, we are both so happy and thank everyone for their congratulations on our engagement.

The thrills and spills of Bad Gastein continued, as did the sore and bruised body parts! The Thermal Pools were a perfect way to relax those aching muscles, the warm water and array of saunas doing wonders. Nude saunas, by the way – now that was interesting!

We got through our snowboarding week relatively unharmed, with minimal tanties (including a couple ‘face fulls’ of snow from some cheeky teenagers) and with tears of both sheer pain (Bee) and overwhelming joy (Bee). We boarded the train back to Salzburg happy but tired, ready to meet Alex and Happy, sons of one of Bee’s Mum’s friends. Strolling around the streets of Salzburg, drinking mulled wine and beers at the Christmas Markets, catching up on life at a local bar – what a perfect way to finish our Part 1 of Austria! Who would have guessed what was around the corner in Vienna....

London Living - the Saga continues...

So believe it or not, we are still finding things to do in London despite the increasingly cold weather! Who would have thought?!
 

The Winston Churchill Bunkers (part of the Imperial War Museum) were very interesting, with the dugouts, dorms and chamber rooms still depicting the exact same environment as it was during the First World War. It is amazing that the bunkers were so close to 10 Downing Street and not even fully bomb proof!
 

Shimmy shimmy!! Bee had her end of term belly dancing cabaret show one icy Sunday evening. It was such fun to be up on stage and she even attracted some paparazzi in Gerard and Jamie with their new whiz-bang cameras.... why are there dozens of shots of attractive females and glitzty costumes???? Hahhaha. Jokes aside, great evening and Bee is much looking forward to starting Level 4 in January.
 

Work talk. Boring. We know it is, but we have been enjoying the flexibility of teaching and the variety of experiences different schools and year levels are giving us. Next year we will most likely continue working at a number of schools on a regular basis throughout the week to keep us on our feet and allow us to keep doing what we came here for!
 

The below freezing temperatures and snow of late have also provided us with an opportunity to go ice-skating at Hyde Park’s ‘Winter Wonderland’. Let me say, Gerard is good... really good – watch out Blades of Glory (minus the fluoro lycra)! We are happy to say that there were no spills, icepacks or stretchers needed and that the mulled wine, Paulaner beer and Bailey’s hot chocolate went down a treat afterwards! PS. Bee scored a bargain – 6 QUALITY perfumes for only 20GBP!!! See Gerard!!!

Gerard is unavailable / unwilling to comment.

Mad in Madrid

Another weekend, another trip to the real Europe to meet ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (AKA Nicky and Jon) in Madrid. Hot in the Summer and due to its altitude at 600m above sea level the Winter is well, cool to say the least. However, with beautiful blue sky above us we felt right at home with a Mojito in hand at 2am on our first Spanish night. The hostel / hotel curse struck again (to be known as the phantom accom) whereby it takes Gerard and Bee a good hour of walking in circles before they either call reception (10 pounds later) or after removing all their hair finally stumble on their Lion’s cupboard! Mind you, when Gerard carries the luggage Bee still can’t handle the weight of expectation!

All this aside, the mantle of favourite city is always being challenged, whether it be by the people, geography or originality of the city as a whole. This ‘grunge’ city was amazing. By day you can see fresh bakeries, butchers and cute little corner stores. By night you will see graffiti covered roller doors of the bakeries, butchers and cute little corner stores and so much more... The bars are littered throughout the one way streets (how people know which way is the ‘one way’ is anyone’s guess) and we quickly found our ‘local’ only 20m from our hostel door (if you call a jail like door without any advertising and graffiti sprayed all over it – no wonder we didn’t).

So cut to the chase Bee says.... After meeting the Coustons at the airport not knowing their flight (detective work of the century) it was time for a walking tour taking us through the main sights of town. Through the plazas and streets we strolled to find out about the Greek, Roman, Islamic and Christian history of the city smack bang in the centre of Spain. A highlight was definitely the Real Palace (Real meaning Royal) which was the most exuberant display of how to waste money we have ever seen (seriously who needs a specific changing room, or a room just for conversation?) Anyway the Palace was fantastic along with the views of the snow capped mountains to the south and the museum of Spanish armoury on display. Frolicking in the Autumn parks, the El Rastro market and visiting the oldest restaurant in the world were also other highlights followed by a great afternoon of grazing on Tapas! The best tapas you ask? Ox tail in melted chocolate.... Paella, check. Flamenco, check. Sangria, check. Adios.

Amsterdam

A weekend trip was in order to a city we had heard so much about from so many people and finally were going to see for ourselves. A side note was our visit turned out to be a personally guided tour from some good friends who showed us the ins and .... actually there weren’t any outs!

We hadn’t even left London yet and thanks to Ryanair we were already 4 beers down at the airport and over 2 hours delayed. Oh well, with the good comes the bad!

So - coffee shops and the red light district aside, Amsterdam is such a beautiful city. The narrow canals and waterside architecture made strolling along the cobblestone streets truly magic. And the bicycles! Wow, is that a lot of pedal power... Can you believe that we did not once ride a bike on our weekend? Sacrilege. Mind you, in a land of giants (they are huge, like enormously tall) we don’t think we would have been able to touch our feet on the ground, safety always comes first and we know where the BFG was thought up. With the Anne Frank house and Heineken Museum under our belts during the day (Gerard, for the record, cannot pour beer), our personal tour guides took us to some not so touristy eateries and bars, to indulge in some of the many Belgium beers on tap - cheers!

While it might seem that visiting two landmarks for the weekend was a ‘busy schedule’ walking the canals and street of A- Dam was enough to keep ones heart content on a weekend break. ‘Boom Chicago’ an American comedy in a Dutch city – we’d prefer the Dutch humour in Chicago!

St.Nikolaus (the Dutch equivalent to Santa Claus) must have heard we were in town as he made a massive entry by boat from Spain on the Sunday! We found it rather amusing that he has over 200 little black helpers in tow. There seriously were over 200 adults with their faces and bodies painted black – apparently from all the chimney soot... Couldn’t get away with that in Australia that’s for sure!

Like so many places, we’ll be back!

Ireland – Happy days ..... and happier nights

Off to Ireland we went for some sun and relaxation. Oops sorry wrong holiday. It was off to Ireland for ‘Oktoberfest spread over a week’ (but this time oil not beer was served) and some greenery, cliffs and St. Patrick history! We were in awe at how hospitable a nation of likeminded fellows could be albeit the stories sound a lot better with an accent where the speech comes from your stomach not your mouth. “I R LAND it’s my I R LAND” was the grunt of the trip and hammered home at the football on our last night. We now know where Gerard’s mother’s loud supporting habit comes from – the Irish roots.

Highlights of the Emerald Isle on our ‘Paddywagon’ Tour include:

• The cities of Derry and Belfast - both with so much conflict and division still evident today. The political statement murals and peace walls were almost beyond belief. Interesting walking tour and taxi tour of both unique cities provided an insight in to daily life.
• The Cliffs of Moher – all spectacular cliffs and steep drops close to the winding roads.
• Blarney Stone and Castle – we puckered those lips in order to feel more inquisitive!
• Guinness Brewery – Should Guinness taste better at 9.00am on a Monday morning?
• The Giants Causeway – again breathtaking scenery and stone formations.
• Celtic crosses and ancient cathedrals - the history of these places just blows you away!

• The rope bride at Carrick-a-rede – some adrenalin released on a rocky bridge over crashing waves (fair to say Bee’s heart skipped a beat!)

• Riding through a forest on a horse and carriage to Ross Castle – like a fairytale!

• Cheering on the Aussie’s in the International Rules in Dublin – you beauty!!

We had a wonderful time playing the harp, chasing leprechauns and fairies and searching for four leaf clovers!

Oktoberfest

Pi@$ed.

London living

In between checking out some ‘day trip treasures of the UK’ we did in fact visit some treasures of London itself – as we have been told many times ‘when you become bored of London you are six foot under’. Shortly after we had been offered a couple of lovely houses ‘after you transfer a deposit into my account – just so we know you’re serious’ we were a little over the search and ready to pitch a tent and call Hyde Park home. So finally we moved into a cosy little apartment with Jamie and Mel (fellow Victorians) in Hammersmith on the main street where every night brings something different (with three pubs in 200 metres of our flat it makes for some interesting late night (head) cases!) The London Dungeon, Tower of London, National Museum, Brick Lane, Jack the Ripper Tour, China Town, Camden and Borough markets have been some of the main tourist attractions we have ticked off and now we are beginning to feel like Londoners at heart!

After settling down into ‘Hammer-Town’ it was time to remind ourselves that nothing in life comes for free and finally put our hard earned teaching skills to the test in what is proclaimed as the toughest environment of all!! So far the ledger weights itself to the positive experience with most schools proving to be very welcoming. The only difficulty has been in the pronunciation of names and the ability to identify some long haired students as males. Oh also - the long tube rides (by far the BIGGEST expense) have given Bee time to read four novels already!

Wales – “See I told you they talk funny over here!”

First of all, let me explain this quote... Bee heard some people talking what she thought was Welsh but it was in fact Japanese. Easy mistake – could happen to anyone!

We arrived in Cardiff ready for a huge day of sightseeing. Fair to say there wasn’t an abundance of tourist attractions to keep us occupied, however we enjoyed strolling along the Marina and river, sipping cocktails while eating dim sum and laughing our heads off at a comedy show.

And then it was time to donne the lycra and hydration packs (yes, Bee laughed at the time when Gerard wanted to buy them in Aus, but they actually did come in handy. Mind you, we still haven’t used the compass!!) and embark on the 100km Taff Trail bicycle trail. The trail spans from Cardiff city centre through small villages and parklands until Brecon, at the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park. After a full day of riding, behinds began to ache, Gerard’s handle bars slowly twisting (making it dangerously hard to break) and Bee was a tad cold.... Despite this, the ride was extremely enjoyable and scenic, and we reached our first night stopover in the small town of Merthyr Vale relatively unscathed. A beer and a pub meal at a typical Welsh pub were a must (mind you, couldn’t understand a word of what the locals were saying – were they speaking English or Welsh? Or Japanese?), the owners of the attached B&B were so friendly and welcoming.

On ya bike the next day and what does it do. Rain. Lots. Oh Bee wasn’t sure if it was tears or raindrops falling down those cheeks... Gerard – very encouraging though!!! Again after some scenic views of mountains and lakes, we finally arrived in Brecon and could not wait for a hot shower! Fair to say we also slept well that night too.

The aching legs couldn’t take anymore riding so we had to figure out how to get our rented bikes back to Cardiff without having to ride them. After much sweet talking from Gerard, we were allowed to manoeuvre them on to both a public bus and train – back to the city of dreams....

Right on in Brighton & Bathing in Bath

We took the opportunity (at the advice of Gerard’s wise cousin) to spend some time seeing the sights of the UK for the remainder of the sunny weather on offer – ‘otherwise we would never see it’. The seaside town of Brighton was the first day venture, bringing us pebbled beaches, a carnival pier (where we felt like 5 year olds again placing pennies in machines next to grandmas) and a nice bike ride that wasn’t too nice when the wind and clouds decided to make their way over and against us... Unfortunately Bee has stuck to her guns and it seems like her feet will remain firmly planted on the floor – but I’ll still try to get her on at least one ride in our time here! Into the laneways and markets we headed for a shop and a nice little peek at some of the lovely graffiti on offer.

The older town of Bath was a delight to visit, taking in the old Roman ruins and some blue green algae. In all historical seriousness, it was quite a sight and astonishing that they still remain as remains. Similar to this was the visit to Stonehenge (bizarre that this formation is in the middle of nowhere!). We did our best to make it Brickhenge but unfortunately it doesn’t have the same ring to it... Highlight of the trip had to be the comedy tour at night that took us through some of the unknown streets and had us in drowning in tears!

“My foot hurts"

Now is when we should probably introduce Gerard’s right foot. The said foot progressively got redder and more swollen over the first few days of our French adventure, something possibly accounted to a bite or insect sting but most likely a spider bite... Anyway long story short Gerard ends up in hospital on his second visit (1st in Bordeaux, 2nd Toulouse) and has a little bit of surgery – see photos if you’re game!!! A lovely trip to Southern France turns into ‘Le Tour De Hopital’ instead of Le Tour De France a la wine, cheese, walks and beach but there’s plenty more time for that.... The upside was a return via Paris on the train as I needed to keep my foot up – we needed to stay the night in Paris as it worked out cheaper to stay than go straight back to London.... 

PS. Gerard owes Bee one trip to France....

France - “Parlez-vous l’anglais?”

Bordeaux welcomed us with open arms, ha well, after a few bumps along the way... We were ready to tackle it though!!! Happy Bastille Day eve!

1. We got lost. It was midnight and dark and even the locals didn’t know where to go to get to our hotel!

2. Gerard got yelled at by an angry, drunk man on the Tramway for who knows what... we don’t speak much French!

3. The phone number for a taxi wouldn’t work, which we only realised once we got off the tram in the middle of nowhere....

4. Bee lost her walking shoes somewhere along the way and only realised the next morning...

5. We checked in to another hotel back in the city at about 2.00am and headed straight out for some food and wine. Mind you we were sans (without) a corkscrew and they put their chips INSIDE their kebabs!!! Sounds better than it really is....

This aside, the next morning we were ready to hit the streets! We moved accommodation to our campsite located on the Lac, hired some bikes for only 1Euro for the day and off we went. What a beautiful city.... We also headed on a wine tour the next day, as the Bordeaux region is obviously quite famous for its vineyards, tasting wines from two very different Chateau’s. The French version of Joan Brick (or otherwise known as our tour guide), wouldn’t stop to take a breath – frequently commenting on “the natural nature”, “the micro-climate” and “the importance of adapting to the geography”. Who knew making wine was more complex than just squashing some grapes???

London - “Yeah there are skyscrapers in London”

We are in London – and the first beer is a Peroni – go figure! After a 4.00am wake up call at Stansted airport (to the call of “thanks ladies and gents, time to move on. I know it’s early” (damn right it is). The 6.40am bus took us right in to the heart of London, peak hour. Hmmm. We found our accommodation at The Green Man hostel, and let us tell you we are definitely not ‘green with envy”! Shoebox size room, 45C sweltering heat and 9 dorm beds.... but the beer was great! We were also reminded of how small the world actually was as we met a colleague of Gerard’s cousin Amanda, who works in Singapore! He is obviously scouting for more teachers....

What better way to start a visit to London than the very touristy Buckingham Palace to witness the changing of the guard. Little action but lots of people! This was followed by a walk to visit Hyde Park, Wellington Arch, Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly and several other Monopoly sites. Bee was very starry eyed...

The main aim of the first week was to attend some teaching agency meetings and start setting up bank accounts etc (quickly reminding us that we actually will need to do some work at some stage in the future), however we were still able to put the walking shoes on and take in some sites. It was also great to catch up with some Aussie mates in Hyde Park and relax with a drink or two...

Some observations from Week 1 in London:

• Public displays of affection, whilst common, are not the main form of public display. The other PDA (public display of abuse) is the main form, whereby females will yell uncontrollably into their mobiles on a busy street.

• The lack of skyscrapers in London is obviously attributed to the Londoners inability to stack a decent burger.

• We thought Wardy was great at singing in the shower, you should hear some of the guys singing in the park while riding their bikes!

After moving hostels a few times in four days, our last few nights before jetting off to France were spent in the famous Notting Hill with cousin Rita and Tim. Here we were introduced to Portobello Road, Market Thai and Moroccan fish. YUMMY!

“Wow, who booked this holiday”

We went tenpin bowling – highlight – Kuala Terengganu.

Luckily we got to KL in one piece and had a great night’s sleep at KLIA ready for our big trip to LONDON!!

Gerard - “You know, that diver” Bee - “Who, Stuart Diver?”

This isn’t a day but just shows that Bee is still old Bee....

“I thought it was a mozzie – but it was just my freckle”

The Perhentian Islands. We had such a lovely 8 nights, lazing around doing very little... See below for a few highlights and interesting times, hehehehe.

• Snorkelling: lots of fish and even a turtle! That is, after we almost got booted off our trip as they overbooked the numbers. PS. Our so called ‘waterproof’ camera may not work now...

• Walk around the top end of Perhentian Kecil: Gerard decided he was in need of some exercise (!) and we set off in the heat of the day through the jungle. Tracks, no tracks, snakes, lizards and falling coconuts were the order of the day.

• Gerard the stalker: spent many hours peering for the water monitors, hey there were anywhere up to 3m long, and may have been a tad scared too... Oh and not to mention him accidently walking in to the wrong chalet in the dark much to the surprise of the sleeping gals inside (who were from Geelong, by the way!)

• Canoeing: Wow, is Bee a great canoer!

• Gerard and Bee playing doctor and nurse to our chalet neighbour who may have bled to death if we were not there (thanks Mum for the first aid kit!!)

• The chalet move: being stalked by mozzies induced the first ‘I didn’t imagine it to be like this’ moment! Needless to say we moved accommodation after 2 nights to a place with a sturdy mozzie net and million dollar views for the hefty sum of 60RM per night, or less than $25AUD!

Well, we think the happy snaps tell the rest of the story...

“Ha ha, yes. How many, how many!”

The real action started when we arrived in Kota Bharu – we waited longer for the bus that never came (as in the one that went past after about 10mins and Bee says that’s not our bus) than our actual flight from KL... With a 70yo Muslim woman cracking up at us every five minutes, we weren’t exactly sure where to look. That is, until she and her companion hailed a taxi straight from the wreckers that looked at least 100 years old, and we jumped in next to them. Introducing “Mr.Man” - the taxi driver of taxi drivers. With his broken English and toothless smile (oopss, sorry there was one), he was a pisser. 6RM later and we were at our accommodation, the AR Garden Hostel. That’s pretty much all we have to say about Kota Bharu. Other than rats and cats of course....

 

Mr Man was the designated driver the next day to our jetty of Kuala Besut (1 hour - 30RM about 12 bucks) – the gateway to heaven. On the way he decides to partake in a conversation with Gerard. As is always the case Gerard bites off more than he can chew and decides to ask Mr Man in five different sentences how often per week he travels to Kuala Besut. Mr Man (obviously noting Gerard’s ability for a laugh) has absolutely no idea what Gerard is asking and laughs hysterically in agreement just about crashing into the tobacco fields “yes yes how many ha ha how many” and then turns and carries on his driving duties. After realising we had no money for the islands that, by the way had no ATMs, we decided to buy a bottle of vodka on the black market and we were on our way... We were travelling!

Malaysia - “I’m not going on any rides”

Well week one in Malaysia was an experience. Living in the Bronx otherwise known as Chow Kit brought about a delicacy of Malay foods and an introduction to rats and cats... We arrived at our hotel to find we were the only Westerners staying there, but that did not deter us from making the most of our sight seeing opportunities. Setting out on foot to explore the city (somewhat dirty but interesting), we sweated it up while seeing the Twin Towers, KL Tower and its accompanying cultural centre. Gerard even got up on stage to join in the traditional dancing!! When visiting the tourist centre Bee decides on day two of the trip to notify Gerard that she will not be partaking in any rides, of any sort (should have told me before we left!)

Highlights included the mona-doh otherwise known as the monorail and ‘Dr. Fish’ who ate the nasties off of our feet - needless to say that they had a feast on Bee’s big stompers... Maybe also the 1 ‘Ringy’ beers that were only 1 ringy after a first beer at a steep 30 ringy! Sucked in! Needless to say we got our money’s worth and didn’t quite make the soccer.