Salzburg, Austria

The unfortunate occurrence of my visa ending has to have some kind of silver lining, right?

Of course there is! Something that pretty much all those my age do these days - TRAVEL!

I had a couple free weeks before the start of my Asia trip so where better to spend my time than in the relaxing city of Salzburg before the more happening cities of Hannover and Berlin.

I took the cheap option and flew into Linz to take the train to Salzburg. The trains were a bit of good luck, had a whole train compartment to myself! It was very Harry Potter-esque.

I checked in to my hostel, YoHo International Hostel and had a quick nap after arranging dinner with a fellow traveller I had connected with on Facebook.

We had a lovely Austrian dinner before buying a cheap bottle of wine each and making our way up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. We sat on the fortress wall, playing our drinking games, watching the sunset over Salzburg.

It was such a lovely view and then the rains came! Luckily, the rain only lasted as long as the wine did! 

Luckily, the next day saw the sun shining brightly and a short walk bring the sweat on!  Unfortunately I had not looked at the extended weather forecast, otherwise I would have made more of the sun on Wednesday instead of making use of my bed for a nap! 

Thursday I woke up early to go on a tour to the Eagle's Nest. 

The Eagle's Nest was built high up on a mountain in the 1930s as a present for Hitler's 50th birthday. It was purely for conferences and Hitler only visited around 10 times. 

Unfortunately, I thought the actual building wasn't worth the price, but the view is absolutely to die for (and 6 - 8 people did die during construction).

Even on the rainy, cloudy day I went the mountains are magnificent to view. And I even met a lovely couple from Adelaide up there!

Thursday night had me back at the same restaurant, Zum Eulenspiegel with a bloke from the hostel. They have their own gluten free menu so I had some Austrian cuisine options. Unfortunately the rain stopped us from exploring Salzburg Old Town at night so we made our way back to the hostel for the nightly viewing of Sound of Music. 

I had to have a refresher of the songs as on Friday morning I was on another tour, this time to the different locations of Salzburg that are featured in the film.

We drove past the Von Trapp villa, the lake in the boating scene, the gazebo and the church in Mondsee where the wedding took place as well as the different locations featured in the 'Do Re Mi' song.

Typically, the sun had to come out and stop the rain AFTER the tour had ended. I made the most of it and wandered into the Old Town where I stumbled across a fresh food market! Score! No more paying €3.50 for breakfast! And the size of the strawberries! I'm pretty sure they were bigger than my nephew's head when he was born! 

Luckily, the fresh fruit, cheese and ham have sustained me all today as I have been cooped up inside the hostel due to the miserable weather.

Hopefully Germany will bring out the sunshine for me on Monday. 

Warsaw - Capital of Poland

My roommate and I found flights from London to Warsaw for £19 (£35 inc luggage) and we thought 'why not?'  Booked. Hostel booked.

A couple weeks later we remembered we need to get home somehow.  We had already discussed going to Krakow but flights from there, while still cheap, were expensive. We had a look at Skyscanner and saw that there were cheap flights out of Gdansk. 

We looked at the map, saw the Poland was about the size of Victoria and decided it wouldn't be that hard to get from Krakow to Gdansk. Another flight booked. 

So in the last week of October we packed our bag full of heavy winter gear - the weather report said it would get down to zero! brr!

We arrived into Warsaw around 4pm, got on the local bus that took us to the train station and that took us to downtown Warsaw.

The hostel we stayed at (TripAdvisor reviews here) did give us amazing directions but it was dark and a bit creepy, deserted looking when we emerged from the station. We flagged down a taxi and arrived at our hostel 5 minutes later. 

After settling in our room, our receptionist gave us directions to the closest restaurant serving gluten free food. Before leaving I had printed out a 'Coeliac Restaurant card' in Polish (this website has cards in almost every langauge) which spelled out what I can and can't eat.

La Cantina is an amazing Mediterranean restaurant and almost every dish comes gluten free! You can tell the difference as the chefs stick in little Bez Glutenu flags in the GF dishes.

I opted for a creamed sauce pizza and Cara went for a delicious sounding pizza - she got GF so we could go halfsies.

 

The food was so filling! Although we were stuffed from our mains, there is ALWAYS room for Creme Brulee!

We only had 2 nights in Warsaw so we were determined to make the most of our one full day. We found a free walking tour company (here) and did the Old Town Walking Tour with Blaise. Our tour guide had a lot of information on both the history of Warsaw and local legends.

During World War II around 90% of Warsaw was bombed and destroyed. After the war and during the Communist regime a lot of the buildings were restored and today it looks almost as if the city was untouched. 

market square

   

Warsaw has a rich history and is the home of a few famous people - Pope John Paul II and Marie Curie both hail from here. 

Marie Curie Museum

Marie Curie is the only woman who has received a Nobel Prize in two different categories - chemistry and physics. 

 

Narrowest house in Warsaw

Many would have heard the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but during World War II (1944) there was another Warsaw Uprising that involved all Poles. The Polish Resistance Home Army attempted to drive Nazi Germany out of Warsaw. The Uprising lasted for 63 days, with little outside support. The uprising ultimately failed and resulted in a massive loss of life through injury and mass executions.

A memorial showing the Polish Home Army using the sewer system to escape the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. 

The Old Town walking tour went for approximately 2.5 hours. The same company also offered a Jewish Walking Tour so Cara and I went of to lunch to wait out the 2 hours in between.

Blaise was our guide once again for our second tour.

The raised bit in the middle shows the walls of the Jewish Ghetto in 1940. 

Over the war years and with subsequent executions, rampant diseases and mass transportations, the ghetto got smaller and smaller.

As the ghetto was completely destroyed by the Nazis after liquidation, the boundary is now marked by pavers.

Our tour took us through what was the ghetto, which is now residential buildings, and ended at the Umschlagplatz memorial. 

This memorial stands where the Jewish people were gathered to be deported to the Treblinka Extermination Camp. On some days as many as 10,000 Jews were deported.

Warsaw is a vibrant city with a rich history and delicious food!. The 2 nights we spent there were definitely not enough and I would love to go back at some stage and explore the rest of the city. 

My Turkish Bath Experience

During my stint in Turkey I tried to partake in every traditional cultural activity - from the food to the relaxation.

One of the things that I (and 3 other girls) tried was the Turkish bath. 
Also known as the Hamam, it is a place for relaxation or cleansing. 

We walked in to the change room to be greeted by another English speaker who advised us to take the plunge and partake in the bath in the 'traditional' way - that is, get down to the buff - or our undies would get saturated and you would get wedgied.

Seeing as I only had the one pair of knicks on me that day, I got starkers, wrapped around the 'towel' they give you, slipped on my thongs and headed for the first room. We were greeted by a lady who didn't speak much any English, but she gave us each a glass of apple tea. Apple tea is a delicious traditional Turkish drink that you can get just about anywhere - and sometimes even for free! 

The lady then lathered face masks over us, it was a lovely puke green colour.

Once we were all covered, we were directed to the steam room where we waited for 15 minutes then hit the showers to wash it off.

Walking through the next door we were greeted by the sight of bush. Bush was everywhere (no boys, not in a lesbian porn movie good kind of way). I didn't know where to look! So I checked out the architecture instead.

In the middle of the room was a hexagonal bench/table. On the edges were naked women being soaped up and massaged by the ladies in black bathers.
The walls of the room were lined with benches interspersed by water taps.
It wasn't overly hot as it was in the steam room, but it wasn't cool either. 

We four sat lined up on the wall bench awaiting our turn. There were a few ladies in front of us who were participating in a cross country bike ride. It took us 12 hours on a bus! I couldn't imagine doing it by bicycle!

I was lucky enough to be first up in our posse. 
The bathing lady instructed me to lay out my towel on the seat behind me. I was standing the butt naked while she proceeded to throw a few buckets of water of me before I sat down on my towel. Then she got out the exfoliating cloth and started rubbing me down, she was extremely gentle of my epic sunburn from 5 days previously and pretty much missed my whole stomach. 

More buckets of water to wash away the dead skin before being directed to the bench on the other side of the room to await my massage. 

Finally, a happy looking blonde lady was waving me over. Again I was instructed to lay out my towel except this time I was to lay stomach down on top of it. I did see her bending knees with previous ladies so I made sure to let her know about the old broken leg (read that little adventure here).

She started wacking me with a pillowcase full of soap bubbles, then proceeded to massage from my feet up till my neck - there ain't nothing better than a bum massage! -  before telling me to flip over. 
There's something just a tad awkward about laying naked on your back in front of strangers, but my massage lady soon had me covered with bubbles from her magic pillowcase. 

All too soon, it was over and she was washing away my bubbles by throwing buckets of water on me and directing me back to the shower. 

After the shower you exchange your soaking wet towel for some dry plush ones and relax on some loungers with another apple tea. 


It was a wonderful experience and one I would recommend to anyone. I would definitely do it again if i had some spare coin. 

Have you ever taken a Turkish bath?

ANZAC Day at Gallipoli

Over the last few weeks I have been able to strike a few things off my Bucket List. 

Turkey is an amazing country, relatively new in itself, but the every part of the big country is full of history. 

A friend and I decided to embark upon a Busabout Tour in time for the 99th ANZAC Day Commemorations on the peninsula where it originated.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (I will forgive you, as long as you're not an Aussie or Kiwi), ANZAC Day takes place on April 25 every year to remember all Australians and New Zealanders who have served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions. 

The date is the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire. it is the first campaign that led to major casualties.

"Those heroes that shed their blood 

and lost their lives...

You are now living in the soil of a friendly country

Therefore rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies

And teh Mhmets to us where they lie side by side

Here in this country of ours...

You, the mother,

Who sent their sons from far away countries

Wipe away your tears.

Your sons are now lying in our bosom

And are in peace.

After having lost their lives on this land they have

Become our sons as well."

Ataturk, 1934     

We arrived about 8pm the night before and made ourselves comfortable in the grandstand. All of the grass space had been taken by tour groups such as Fanatics and Topdeck laying out in their sleeping bags or sitting in groups shrouded in Australian and New Zealand flags. 

Throughout the night, there was entertainment, ranging from the Australian Air Force band to a Maori tribe dance to clips on the big screen about the history of the day - from both the ANZAC perspective, and the Turk perspective. 

                        

Us up in the grandstand had a bit of room, and I laid out my sleeping bag on the ground to get a bit of shut eye before the Dawn Service.

After a broken sleep of around 5 hours (thankyou to that can of Coke I had), it was 4am and the MC was back on the mic waking everyone up for the 5am Dawn Service start. 

We stood for the Turkish, New Zealand and Australian national anthems and then for the Ode and the Last Post. 

The Ode is a verse from the poem "For the Fallen' by a British poet and author Laurence Binyon.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, or the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, 

We will remember them.

The Last Post is a bugle call that signals the end of the days activities. It is also played at the funerals of soldiers to indicate that he is in his final resting place. As well as ANZAC Day, it is also played at Remembrance Day services. 

To be able to stand on the hallowed grounds where many of our ancestors fought and died for our way of life is an amazing experience and one I would urge all Antipodeans to make the pilgrimage to the battlefields of Gallipoli. 

After the Dawn Service it was time to make the 3km hike up to Lone Pine for the Australian service. 

I broke my leg about 6 weeks before, so I took advantage of the free Shuttle Bus (a service very well organised by the volunteers). Unfortunately this meant that I missed out on seeing the cemeteries that are scattered throughout the peninsula - I did get a free lanyard though! 

                                         

The Australian service didn't start until 10am, so we were entertained by the Master of Ceremonies till the start of the service. 

Turkey Highlights

I have just gotten back from an amazing 3 week adventure travelling around the sites of Turkey.
I will be doing in depth posts on the different aspects of my trip, but for now some photo highlights:

Balloon flight over Cappadoccia

Fairy Chimneys of Cappadoccia

Lone Pine Memorial, ANZAC Day 2014