Slovakia and Austria in One Weekend

Hi Fans!

So last weekend we headed off to Bratislava which is the capital of Slovakia for all of those who don't know. I arranged a tour for the Saturday which worked out really well as there was no one else booked so we had a driver and a tour guide all to ourselves! Apparently only crazy people go in seasons other than summer. haha.

First we went off to a pottery workshop where they make traditional Slovak pottery. It was really quite interesting and the lady demonstrated everything to us including the hand painting. She only spoke Slovak so the whole thing was translated by our guide.

After that we went to Cerveny Kamen Castle which had an amazing collection of really well preserved furniture and weapons. Again the tour was only in Slovak so our guide translated (i think she'd been there a quite a few times before). It was absolutely freezing in there and i think living in a castle would be completely overrated if it was in Eastern Europe. They had some big heater things, but still!

Anyway, next we grabbed a 83cent(!) hot dog from the cafe along with the local Czech/Slovak Cola. It was really nice and I'd happily drink it over coke any day.

Next stop was wine tasting in what essentially was a tasting room in someone's house. Nate has posted something about it on his new wine blog (see link on right). We were greeted by the wine maker who took us to see his dog's new puppies. So cute. After that we tasted some of his wines. He had to leave but sent his wife down to entertain us. We got chatting with her (via our guide) and she told us about this plum spirit that Eastern Europeans drink. It's 50% alcohol. Next thing we know she's pouring us (and herself) some from their private collection. It tasted like acid to me, but Nathanael loved it.

Here's a picture of Nate and our guide/translator Susan.

After the tour we got dropped off in the centre and had a wander round the old town. We found a Belgian Beer Cafe with the exact same sign as the one in Perth.

On Sunday we decided to go to Vienna for lunch because we could. It's only an hour away by train. We didn't have much time but we had a quick walk around in the centre and saw some of the amazing architecture. And more horses and carriages than Bruges!

And then it was on to the important stuff...tasting the local delicacies. So of course i had to have a Wiener Schnitzel.

And then the best part of all...Mozart balls!!!

This weekend we're off to Brighton but it looks like the weather is going to be very British:(

A Weekend in London

Well seeing as we only have a few weeks left in London before we head off on a big adventure we thought we should do the things we've been meaning to do for ages. So we've written a list of things we want to see before we leave. Last weekend was the Saachi Gallery, a contemporary art gallery near Sloane Square and Harrods as we hadn't done that either.

Although in true London style half of the trains weren't running due to the standard weekend engineering works. So one bus and three trains later we arrived a Knightsbridge . We couldn't even get off at Sloane Square because that part of the line wasn't operational! haha.

Anyway, thought I'd better get the touristy shots in too so here's a pic of Nathanael at Baker Street with Sherlock Holmes.

I can't say i was a fan of everything at the Saachi gallery. I'm not much of an art person anyway, but a few things were really cool. At the moment they have some stuff from artists from the Middle East. This one below is all made of aluminum foil. It was really cool but i got in trouble for standing too close to it!

This one I'd seen written about in the paper and it looked interesting. It's a selection of sculptures of aged world leaders in automatic wheelchairs. It was really cool and they looked quite real. And the wheelchairs moved!

This one is called 'The Bed" and is made or paper mache. It was massive. There is a watch you can't see on the ground and the band had door hinges holding it together.

We also managed to check out Harrods and i must say, what credit crunch? The place was pumping especially the food court which was packed with people eating oysters and drinking champagne. There were lines for every food place and it was about 3 in the arvo. Nate and i had a wander around. Checked out the toys and walked through all the designer baby and kids clothes. I mean Roberto Cavalli for babies?! Are you serious. Who buys this stuff? There was every designer brand imaginable.

I stopped by the Laura Mercier cosmetic counter and was served by a really nice chick from Melbourne. I was expecting Harrods to be expensive but it was exactly the same price as buying the stuff online so i made a purchase.

We also went to check out their wine shop. Nate spotted a bottle of red from the Two Hands winery in the Barossa. We've been to their cellar door in Barossa and they seriously make the best red wine we've ever had. Then he spotted the price tag. It was 13 pounds! Which is an amazing price even for Australia but especially when you consider shipping costs etc. Needless to say we bought it and drank it that night. This one is called the Canny Butcher and was a 2005, but they are all good. If you ever want an amazing red wine, then check out Two Hands. Worth every cent (or penny in this case!).

Bruges

What's the first thing that comes to mind when I say 'Belgium'? Chocolate? Chips? Waffles? Beer? Well the truth is, that that's exactly what Belgium's like. Here's some evidence:

Waffles.

Chips.

(That's the sign for the Friet Museum which teaches you all about the history, manufacture and indeed the art of the French Fry.)

Beer. (Bruges Zot, the local drop)
And chocolate
They have quite a nifty little chocolate museum in Bruges too where you can watch a demonstration of chocolate making. To be honest, I was more amazed by the way the chocolatier was explaining what he was doing simultaneously in three languages.


What I wasn't expecting from Belgium was a turn on a Segway :-) The guy behind me in the photo runs Segway tours around the city and let me have a go as a promo. It was awesome. Maybe I'll see if I can have my groomsmen arrive on them ;-)

And speaking of things technological check out this vending machine. Now, we've been to Japan which is the motherland of automated food and beverage delivery, but this takes the cake. It's nothing short of a robotic 24-hour convenience store. And don't think it's just Mars bars and Coke, there was everything from bread to cheeseburgers to kitchen roll.

More Portugal

After Sintra and a bout of serious food poisoning or bird flu or something we headed off in our tiny hire car to the Duoro Valley.

The Duoro is one of Portugal's more famous wine regions and most famous for it's production of grapes for Port. The roads in the Duoro were unbelievably steep and I was just trying to focus on the white line in the middle of the road. Nate advise me not to look at the sheer drop just metres away. The instructions for the B&B said to avoid the first turn off for the winery unless you were used to driving on steep roads. We saw the sign but couldn't even see the actual road because it was so steep! It looked like you'd be driving straight off the cliff. Scary stuff!

Anyway, we arrived there safely and here's a picture of Nate with the Duoro Valley in the background.

After the Duoro valley we headed to Porto itself and I was glad to get rid of the hire car. The driving was fantastic along the freeways but the tolls were pricey. I think we spent 30 Euros on tolls ($55AUD). We also got seriously lost in the city of Braga and couldn't get out! I drove around for about an hour in this stupid town which wasn't much fun seeing as i wasn't enjoying sitting in the left hand side of the car, changing gears with my right hand, driving on the wrong side of the road and basically driving in a busy, maze-like, cobble stoned Portuguese town.

Anyway, we finally made it to Porto and ditched the car. The sun was still shining and this is a picture of the river and Porto city in the background.

And here is a picture of me riding a pig. Yes, it was fun:)

We went off to the other side of the river to Vila Nova de Gaia, which is where all the port is(and the pigs too). Basically until 1987 all the port produced in the Duoro Valley was transported there to be aged. If it wasn't aged there, then it wasn't port. Simple. Things have changed now, but most of the Port producers have tasting rooms there and this is where all the tourism is. In the Duoro even though there was a lot of grapes being grown, very few of the wineries are actually open for tourists like in Australia.

Anyway, we wasted no time. Here is a picture of me sampling some of the delicious port at Taylors. Oh yeah and when they ask you if you know much about port and you say "yes, we drink it in Australia", they smirk and think that's not real port you stupid Australian!!

The next day we headed back to Braga (the Bermuda triangle like city) but this time on the train. I was adamant that i wanted to go and see Bom Jesus do Monte which apparently means good Jesus of the mountain according to wikipedia. So anyway it turned out that the train was a much better idea and we were there within an hour and a half.

We headed up the stairway which is actually much longer than you can see in this picture. At the top of the stairway is a church and on the way up there is a fountain on each level representing the five wounds of Christ, the three virtues and the five senses (there's some more detailed pics on flickr). At the top there was a fantastic view so we stopped to have an ice cream. There was also a park with a lake and yet another grotto. All in all it was worth the visit and I'm glad we finally made it.

And last but not least we ate this delicious starter on our last night in Porto. It was at a restaurant called Black Coffee and luckily for us Nathanael spoke French because the waiter only spoke Portuguese or French. Anyway, he suggested this. It was goat's cheese, possibly deep fried and then covered in honey and walnuts. YUM!