France - Bordeaux / Nante / Kerloc'h

Blanca, my old housemate in London, sent me a message saying she's in Barcelona and that I should visit! Toulouse isn't that far from Barcelona when you look at a map so I thought YEAH!

Toulouse, as it turns out, is about a 6 hour drive from Barcelona and it is a largely uninteresting drive.  The guy taking me there was ok but at times he kept veering between lanes which, after observing a few drivers, seems to happen a lot. Don't just drive in the middle of two lines guyz! This isn't India.

So I get to BCL and find my way to Blanca's apartment and it's awesome! It was just like old times in Whitechapel except this time she's got a new flatmate and we're in a different country. What did I do in Barcelona? Very little actually ... I've been before and I was really just going to hang out with Blanca so during the day I just kind of bummed around the old town, had some tostas, patatas bravas, beer etc. Then at night we explored the Gracia and Borm areas. I feel like this trip to Barcelona was more 'natural' than the last. I suppose I haven't really gone back to visit cities that I've travelled to. There's a sense of familiarity ...

(YEAH!)

(The English spirit lives on)

My sojourn to Barcelona was short lived though and I ended up jumping into another car to Bordeax after just two awesome nights. The trip to and from Barcelona ended up being a bit expensive and took quite a while hahaa... I can't say I regret it but I frown a bit when I look at my credit card. Actually I was really lucky with the car I got into (lucky in regards to convenience... the guy didn't speak any English so that wasn't great). I left it to the very last minute - surprise! - but the ride was put up super last minute as well which saved a lot of hassle.

In Bordeaux I had arranged to stay with Sebastien from Couchsurfing whom I knew absolutely nothing about besides the countries he had been to, one picture on his profile, and his exceptional English in the messages to arrange things. The couch surfing website can sometimes have some pretty bare profiles I must say. However because there's nothing on their profiles I don't have any issues sending a hasty request and luckily it turned out he was pretty cool. I was his first couchsurfer (setting the bar high obvs) so he was really generous.

As it was a weekend we decided to get in the car and drive out to wine country. An hour or so later we were in Saint Emilion - a beautiful town and area famous for it's red wine. The famous Bordeaux red wine! The town is very easy to explore but still so satisfying! We found a nice restaurant and indulged in some duck (a speciality of France's south west) and wine until we visited a vineyard for a wine tasting.

(Rows of them)

(€25 was the cheapest bottle)

Out of the group of 11, 8 of us only spoke English. Despite this fact, the tour guide spent twice as long with his French explanation than his English explanation and managed to make the same joke twiiiiice. It culminated in a tasting at the end and some obligatory buying of wine... but I didn't buy any (Sebastien did so pressure off). I get that good wine should be properly enjoyed but I don't want to look like a fucking twit with every sip so ... I might just stick to my current method of drinking wine normally instead of aerating it noisily and swishing it about in my mouth.

(Tried the grapes and yeah! Not bad!)

I was in a bit of a rush to head northwards actually. I had made plans the month before to stay somewhere in France through the helpx website. It's like couchsurfing but you help them out doing whatever they need in return for free food and free accommodation - so I needed to be around for that. This necessitated only one night in the city of Nantes but even then I managed to get a nice tour of the town (something I never actually did in Bordeaux!) and still pulled it off relatively cheaply. Bravo to me.

Since Nante I've come to a small little Bed and Breakfast near Camaret-sur-mer. It's a nice house right by a beach and it's lovely! Everyone is really warm and friendly, the work is quite light (I'm fixing a bird house at the moment), the food is incredible if vegetarian and after lunch I'm free to just hang out and explore the area!

(Moon AND sunset sans pollution or buildings or whatever)

(Snorkelling with a loose mask results in mild panic. Pretty though.)

(Some of the company at the bed and breakfast)

The owners are really lovely and there are two other helpers around too, a cool girl from New Zealand and a Moroccan/French guy. We usually spent our afternoons together either going to a beach or just hanging out in the lounge room. My tea and vegetable consumption both skyrocketed during my stay. I got massively into brioche, got a bit sunburned, did NOT learn much French, Watched some cool movies and made the worst pavlova I've ever made or been witness too. It was all very relaxing, however, there were some peculiarities.

(The birdhouse I made!)

There were just a lot of times when there was touching that I would deem inappropriate (Me. Kris Burridge. Would find inappropriate). Particularly from one of the owners to the Kiwi girls. He kept offering her these massages and although she was interested in learning how to give massages they apparently became quite tantric? I, however, as a man was not offered a massage. It was all just a bit more intimate than normal. Don't get me wrong, I've been in much weirder situations with much more overt behaviour but this is a bed and breakfast!

I stayed for just one glorious week and then made my journey to Paris. A Journey that started at 6:30am and ended at 3:30pm. Which is certainly not the longest trip I've ever made but I was in a car with two people that didn't speak English (it was bound to happen eventually) so I just kind of chilled out in the back and was a bit antisocial.

My host in Paris, Yannis, was a nice guy but he was very quiet. It took a lot of energy to get a smile and after a while you have to think "why try?". He worked during the day so I spent the time exploring. On the first day I walked from Bastille (where I was staying) to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a nice walk past a lot of brasseries and shops. It seems that every road I walked past had some beautiful building at the end of it, not least of all the arc itself. I was told that the view from the top is the best in Paris but just as I was considering it I decided instead to meet up with Arnaud instead.

Arnaud is a native Parisian and self-described epicurest. He was very generous and spent two days showing me around his favourite places in Paris. It was great having a guide and he suggested some really great, authentic restaurants too. We spent a lot of time just kind of walking around and enjoying the beautiful weather.

(Yes it's a generic picture but it IS quite impressive as a structure)

(Some gardens as the sun sets)

(Some of the food I mowed into)

As a consequence of meeting a local guide, however, I found I did not really manage to do as many as the touristy things as I perhaps was expecting too. I saw the Notre Dam (beautiful on the outside ... average on the inside), Saw the Louvre but did not enter it - also the bridge with all the locks close by, Had a somewhat hurried trip to the Eiffel Tower as the sun was setting (very pretty time but impossible for posed pictures), saw the city at night from Belleville, and spent most evenings in the Oberkampf area. The cool area. Naturally.

Paris was amazing. People had warned me that it was smelly and dirty but I honestly did not experience any of that at all. For me, the weather was beautiful, the food was lovely, the people were kind and the city itself was marvellous. Expensive though - Paris is fucking expensive. Also it is, obviously, a touristic city. I understand the nature of tourism but at one stage I was stuck between two bus groups in the Notre Dame for about 4 minutes as people idly shuffled by each other with those stupid ear piece things.

(This terrible photo was taken by some Australians (Surprise!). They suggested a strong man pose)

So it's been a long journey. Cologne - Hamburg - Schwerin - Berlin - Leipzig - Dresden - Prague - Brno - Ceske Budejovice - Cesky Krumlov - Prague again - Munich - Lyon - Montpellier - Toulouse - Barcelona - Bordeaux - Nantes - Quimper - Kerloc'h - Paris. There have been some great times aaaand times where I've thought "This isn't even fun. I'm just tired and stressed". However I can say that I've appreciated the trip as a whole and I'm glad I got to spend a good amount of time exploring some amazing countries and meeting some great people. Hopefully the next time I come back it'll be a little more organised (but only a little bit) and more of a re-visiting than an exploration of a new frontier.

I wonder if I'll travel again before I leave London? Hmmm...

France - Lyon / Montpellier / Toulouse

(This is where I am y'all)

The journey that should have only (only) taken about 8/9 hours ended up taking about 11 hours which meant I was quite late in getting to my host's  house in Lyon. He had band practice and I literally made it with about 5 minutes to spare. He gave me a quick run-through, a set of keys, then was out the door. So for my first night in France I decided to go to the supermarket and buy some food for some wholesome home cooking. As usual, made too much then ate too much - good times.

The following day my host, Julien, had to work so I just walked around and explored Lyon by myself. The city doesn't really seem that big given the population. I've heard it described as a big little town and I guess that rings true. There's a medieval area, a cathedral on a hill (great views), a shopping area, big squares and all that. It's a nice place! Lots of side streets to wander around in. It was cool to turn a corner and see a beautiful courtyard shaded by a tree with some chairs and tables for the local cafe. There was a lot of nice things to see.

(reflectioning like a boss)

(At the moment I'm sweating like a whore)

(Courtyard YEAH!!)

I met up with Julien in the afternoon to have wine and cheese in the park. He is from a small town outside of Lyon so the wine and cheese were both from his area. Very thoughtful. Instead of going out we just decided to go back to his place and drink some more wine with a bit more chat. Julien is really into heavy metal and I, as it turns out, am not! I must admit though his playlist was decent. We hung out in the park and we busted out a few Red hot chilli pepper classics. I was supposed to help translate the meaning of the lyrics but I suppose like all songs they're a bit vague.

Afterwards we had crepes for dinner! I did mention that I wanted an almost stereotypical French experience and it was almost certainly delivered!

(He loves it)

From Lyon I carpooled again to Montpellier. When travelling it's always nicer to visit the smaller towns but, practically, it can be difficult organising accommodation and transport in France, which means so far I've stuck to the bigger cities - Montpellier included. Indeed, it's a very nice city! You can tell that many parts of it are new because they're so shiny and cleaaan!

We were able to spend some time at the beach which was great! I haven't been to a beach for a very long time and, although I wouldn't really say I'm a beach guy, I really enjoyed it! Jumping in the water then resting on the sand afterwards to dry was just the best! Afterwards we went to an old town inside castle walls. It was a really chilled out day.

(Beach selfie)

(onwards)

Let me say it though ... My couchsurfing host was very strange. Lying down in the street with no explanation, insisting that we keep going to bars, asking to keep my book when I hadn't finished reading it yet, criticising the dinner I had bought for him, suggesting we try French then launching into extremely fast conversation about the current government (then saying I've got a bad accent when I try to speak)... I don't know... My overall conclusion is just that he's a really lonely guy that struggles to make friends and he really wanted people to go to a bar with or just be seen with I suppose. On the second night he wanted to go out and I said, verbatim, "I'm really tired but if you want to go out, we will. I just don't really feel like a nightclub and I guess I'd prefer somewhere close by?"

So of COURSE we ended up at a nightclub that was a 25 minute walk away. When we arrived it was utterly dead (being a Monday night, y'know?). Eventually more people came but my host was trying to meet women in just the worst ways ... touching their hands or grabbing their asses. It did make me feel a bit uncomfortable I'll be honest. It's not my job to be a wingman. I mean, he was going after the bar staff and that's just ... that's just not the done thing.

(There he is. Symbolic)

After Montpellier I managed a lift to Toulouse - another bigger city! I stayed with a really great couple and had a blast! We played petanque on the first night I was there (I'm terrible), explored the city by bike, they had arranged a party before I asked to stay with them and it turned out to be, literally, a wine and cheese party. Turns out one of their friend's house mates was leaving France so they wanted to indulge him before he left ... we had to dress in red, blue, and white and everything! Both the cheese AND wine were lovely! It was MORE lovely to meet their friends and hang out in the nice atmosphere. Everyone was pretty good at English which was a big relief. It didn't feel like a hassle for them to speak it - it seemed quite natural.

(Petanque pros)

(French party prep)

(Wine n cheese demolition)

While exploring the city by bike, my host's girlfriend and I stopped to have some cake at a shop recommended to me by a friend. We were enjoying a nice pear/chocolate crumble when all of a sudden everyone around us got up to leave warily without much of an explanation. Turned out someone had called in a bomb threat! After this flash of adventure we bought some cheese and artisan bread (because it's fucking FRANCE y'all!).

"What is the word contrary to soft?"
"... hard?"
"yes! This cheese is hard!"
"How do you know the word 'contrary' but not the word hard?!"

(This would be a hard cheese! Conveniently the same one Julien offered in Lyon!)

I was planning on going to Bordeaux but then I got a message from an old housemate of mine!

Germany - Munich / Bavaria

 I'm sure a lot of you - or at least those who have put any thought into it - may be wondering why I'm all of a sudden back in Germany. Well I was told by several people (including a stranger in a cafe who was listening to a conversation) that there just isn't much happening in central Germany. So I made a detour to Prague, which became a whole thing in the Czech Republic, but I've finally returns to G-town in the form of Munich. The capital of the south.

Munich is kind of the economic powerhouse behind Germany. Berlin is 'poor but sexy' - Munich is where the strict, time-orientated and unintentionally rude stereotype of Germany comes from. I was fortunate enough however to couchsurf with the ever-delightful Murat who is Turkish but has lived in Germany for several years. All the delights of Germany without having to apologise for existing too loudly. Murat's beard and long hair were both amazing - obviously we got on well.

(Majestic. Even in the face of a "Hey Murat, SMILE!")

I only really spent one day in Munich, and then one day in Bavaria but both were v. satisfying, y'know?

Munich Day involved such a logical path of activities I was impressed at myself. The market on Viktualienmarkt, the English garden for a rest (and naked people ... Germany does that you guys), watched the river surfers, saw the angel of peace, strolled around the technology museum, saw a church or whatever and then went back to the apartment to have some beers and pasta with Murat.

(Like Couch Surfing but on a river instead)

(Gold and grey - you guys I should be a famous photographer)

Now I've GOT to say that Munich has the largest science and technological museum in THE WORLD. So you'd think "Oh Kris, you studied science, you'd love this place!". Wrong. Well ... not right in any case. This place is super big yeah but it's full of things like steam engines and water wheels. Even the 'Modern Technology' part which I really wanted to see was pretty dull. Not really hands on; just a lot of stuff to look at. I don't need to see a picture of a DNA analysis machine ... show me cool genetic experiments!

(Literally the two most interesting things in the museum - and both involve meeeee)

It was a beautiful day and I had a great time walking around town! I had an amazing sandwich (aubergine and sundried tomatoes largely but with a pesto-y mayo) and some cherries at the market so I still actually managed not to spend too much money. I've been looking for some cheese from Norway that I discovered but alas ... Just as well as the morning was spent trying to wrangle with banks and eventually getting my friend in England to send some money etc. Don't lose your bank card overseas kids! It's a fucking pain.

The next day I was amped to head to the south and do some hiking in Bavaria. This is the south part of Germany with the alps and awesome natural sights; it's also the place where lederhosen, big steins of beer and food bigger than your face come from. However the weather was a bit grey - forecast to thunder! I manned up and jumped on the train anyway. I had planned to go to one town in particular but then the train I caught was heading straight to another town that I had also investigated so I just went there instead... Tegernsee.

(Pretty innit)

At the station I just started walking uphill and eventually found myself on a walking trail strolling though a forest. After quite an uphill climb the path opened up to a fantastic open field at the top. There was a restaurant at the top but I ONLY HAD 6 EURO so I couldn't buy anything. Well ... nothing GOOD. So I strolled back down and as I went I started to collect wild flowers which I put in my beard. Passerbys loved it. I removed them before I hit general public in town don't worry.

(Four pictures in a row - can you handle it?)

At the bottom, in the town, I had a quick exploration and found beautiful houses all with flowers! I was absolutely dying for a typical Bavarian feast so I asked the tourist office (cringe) for the nearest typical Bavarian restaurant (cringe) - a short walk later and I was sitting in an outside beer hall and you guys ... the pork knuckle I had was ... cathartic. I gorged on pork and beer (plus pretzel) for quite a while until I walked, slowly, back to the train.

(At the time of writing this - the memory is still vivid)

Munich was great! A really cool city. I had arranged for a carpool from Munich ALL THE WAY TO LYON (which took 11 hours) and while I was waiting for my ride a lady stopped, spoke German, then said in English "Are you lost? Do you need some help?". That, my friends, was the perfect way to end my time in Germany. I didn't really need help lady but gosh darn THANK YOU for asking!!

Czech Republic - Prague / Bruno / Ceske Budejovice / Cesky Krumlov

Prague

"Oh Prague is LOVELY" - is pretty much the first thing anyone says when I say I'm going to Prague. I get it! You've all been there! Well now I have too ... and it's LOVELY!

(So lovely)

So I was malingering around Eastern Germany for a while waiting for this couch surfer to host me until he cancelled due to being sick. This meant I could head to Prague earlier and just find a hostel instead. I was perusing hostelworld and saw a hostel that had a 94% rating, was 12euro a night and included breakfast. I thought "hot damn! great deal!" booked it and organised a carpool for the very next day.

The car poolers were great! Two Germans that were just spending a nice weekend in Prague. I ended up bumping into them while walking around the city actually. If they weren't a couple on a romantic holiday I totally would have insisted we all grab a drink together. Shame. I got dropped off in the city and made my way to the hostel (after helping a lady who was literally trying to carry a punching bag). In Germany I had a German SIM card so I had ALL the internet! In The Czech Republic however I didn't have shit! It was hard to go back to scrounging for wifi, looking for the closest fast food chain to get internet from, choosing cafes based on the wifi signal etc. Ordinarily it wouldn't be a problem and I would just go offline for a while but because I'm doing couchsurfing and carpooling blah blah blah I needed to respond to people quite quickly. Anyway. The hostel was not that close to the city but it was on the underground system so it was ok.

(It's sort of like my Nanna's place)

I'm not quite sure why the hostel got such a high rating. It was essentially a house. An unclean house that had furniture everywhere. You know those houses where people have just accumulated crap? So there's framed pictures of knitted horses on walls and bizarre lamps that you can see aren't connected to a power source. However, I did have my own room and, as mentioned, it was cheap as balls.

Prague, the old part, is very pretty. I won't lie. However it is also a MEGA tourist trap. It's essentially boxed in by a river so it feels like the tourists are literally being herded together to spend money. I spent a day or two walking around. There was a guided walking tour but the man was waaaaaay too enthusiastic so I bailed after about 10 minutes. He connected his phone to a speaker worn around his waist and would strum notes on a guitar app? I didn't want to see what else he had in store. All the major sites are quite easy to find anyway - what was harder was finding somewhere that felt authentic.

(The sunshine belies the dark clouds)

So on my second last day I went to go meet Hugo. He lives on the other side of the river boxing everyone in and we spent some time at a beer garden that over looked the city. It was beautiful! We had some dinner and then he invited me to go to a batchelor party. I'll give you some context on this - it deserves it - Hugo used to work with a guy, this guy was getting married but until this point hadn't bothered to organise a batchelor party, until his wife-to-be called his WORK COLLEAGUE to organise a batchelor party and invite some people. Unfortunately the work colleague didn't really know who to invite or what to do so everyone just ended up going to a bar. I was lucky that people were friendly and could speak English but we just had a few shots of peppermint schnapps for some reason and left again. Weird.

On the last day I checked out the cool national gallery (surprisingly not filled with boring crap - there was some actually substantially interesting stuff) walked to the castle and back through town. I had been doing so much walking that I just wanted to chill out so I spent some time at the 'hostel' or in cafes. I organised to catch a bus to Brno - The Czech Republic's second biggest city. These buses have TVs in their seats, free wifi, a powerpoint and free hot beverages. I watched Gravity.

(The 'small' hall)

(Isn't this guy a babe? Frantisek Kupka - a well renowned Czech artist)

Brno

I had arranged to stay with Peter who is Slovakian (Slovak?) but lives in the Czech Republic. Apparently the languages are similar enough that he just speaks Slovakian (Slovak?) at work and people respond in Czech. I stayed two nights and while Peter worked I would explore the city. Because there aren't nearly the number of tourists as Prague (plus there's a lot more space) the town just has a really laid back atmosphere. There's a cathedral and a castle etc. but it was interesting just walking around the city.

Peter wanted to show me some of his favourite places so we had ribs at a great Czech restaurant, and went to some cool bars. We eventually met his friend and went to a bar that is down a dark alleyway and mostly hidden from sight. If I wasn't drinking a beer there - I'd probably be raped there. Towards the south west there's an area of buildings that were created by people a while ago out of whatever they could find. A kind of shanty town. It's up on a hill and it's a bit exhausting to walk there but eventually you get to this bar and it was awesome! We walked across the city to this electroswing party that was happening inside an old castle. There were just a lot of cool things happening, you know?

(Peter in front of a big wall. I should be a photographer you guys. So art. Much wall,)

It was also here that I noticed the bright colours that Czech buildings come in. Buildings that are lime green and yellow, blocks of flats in rainbow colours, the brighter the better really! This vain attempt to paint over communism is really quite charming! I think it portrays a certain sense of determined social progression. Those Czechs are working hard!

(I believe in you!)

Brno is also the home of GREGOR MENDEL! This was a complete surprise to me and was only discovered while idly flicking through a guidebook and finding a page labelled 'local celebrities'. Gregor Mendel is one of the fathers of genetics - my major at university. Truth be told he was father of the kind of genetics that I find a bit boring (Charles Darwin is the father of the science I prefer). I actually found it really engaging though to walk around the abbey where he planted his peas and developed his theory of trait inheritance. The museum was pretty dull - they really could have spiced it up a little maybe with some eye colour stuff or interesting anomalies blah blah. However it was pretty much to-the-point ... for better or worse.

(Gregor Gregor Mendel Mendel)

Ceske Budejovice

Working my way across the various cities I arrive at Ceske Budejovice - as irritating to say as it is to type I assure you. CB has nothing really noteworth other than the fact that Budweiser is originally from here. Not being an avid Bud drinker this doesn't really flash on my awesome-radar but it does mean everytime I meet a Bud-swilling 'Merican I can give my two cents. Look forward to that world.

However I do like that the city is virtually tourist free and I suppose it was more of a chance to take part in regular Czech life. I was staying with Jakub and his mother through couch surfing (in an olive green and pink block of apartments) and can I say what lovely people they are! They both showed me around the town - such as it is - and were very hospitable the whole time. During my stay there was a jazz festival that Jakub helped to organise so we went to that at various times across the two days I stayed. The final night had some flamenco music! Everyone loves flamenco.

Jakub and his mother are both vegetarian and it was a joy to finally get some VITAMINS into my system. It was nice actually - being in a city where there wasn't much to do because it meant I didn't have to do much! I've been spending a lot of time trying to organise my next few steps as I'm so shit at it! As I'm trying not to spend money I'm forced to do things cheaply but it just takes so much more work.

(Taken from the tower. It's tall but it's not, like, TALL tall)

Cesky Krumlov

Jakub's mother and her friend were going to see an art exhibition in this beautiful small town on the same day that I wanted to travel there so a quick 20 minutes later and we were strolling into Cesky Krumlov. It's a lovely small town hidden among cliffs and rivers. There's a castle, live bears (LIVE BEARS) and a sea of old pretty houses. There are also a fuck tonne of tourists and the opportunity to go paddling in the river. I did not participate in the latter due to the former but around lunchtime I sat by the river in a quiet out-of-the-way place and watched them go by slowly.

(Artist's sentiment noted. No need to point out. Posted on purpose.)

It's a peaceful town and it was nice to just walk around. It reminded me a lot of a videogame town actually - pipe music playing, nooks and crannies to explore, quite small but there was still lots to do. At one stage I was sitting in the main square and an old man called Jan sat next to me and almost delved into his life story. I say 'almost' as he was essentially explaining what happened in the two world wars and I don't really need an old man to explain it to me while I'm sitting in the sunshine so instead we just had a small chat about the usual things "Australia? That's a long way away! Are you here on a Eurotrip? Oh you're in London. That's closer. What do you teach? I never liked science in school but these days I find it very interesting".

(Kris)

(This is where I chilled out with one of those cinnamon log things)

I strolled around for a few hours and eventually I made my way to the bus stop. My plan was to go straight from Cesky Krumlov to Munich however due to the whole COMMUNISM thing the east-west transport links are a bit grim. Instead I decided to head up to Prague for one night then head to Munich. It was gay pride in Prague over the week I was away but on the final night (the night I was there) they had a cool outdoor party by the river so I hung out with my friend Hugo and his friends - I had a really nice time!

So I'm off to Munich for a few days now and that will round off My Germany trip and handball me into France!

Germany - Leipzig and Dresden

Sometime around Hamburg my friend from highschool/university/life Lauren sent me a message saying she was in Leipzig. Leipzig is a smallish city about 2 hours south west of Berlin. It would have been a waste to have come all this way and not meet each other and as I didn't really have any plans so I thought it'd be perfect!

So after Berlin I hopped on a bus and headed straight there. The hostel was quite cheap and had a great rating on hostelworld. It was pretty good except for the fact that there weren't many people staying there! On my stroll to the hostel I realised I didn't have my bank card which is pretty lame you guys. Turns out the combination of not having a wallet and wearing pretty short shorts can lead to things falling out of my pocket. Does make me wonder what else I might have lost ... aside from my dignity obvs... get it guys?

So I've got my Australian card and I've been using that so far. I can get emergency funds sent from my English account but it takes a few days and I'm moving around too much! I think in Munich I'll be able to work something out. Shall see!

So I met up with Lauren quite quickly (after an interlude with my bank) and we relaxed with a few beers before chowing down on a schnitzel FEAST. Hollandaise sauce, it turns out, is totally appropriate with a lot of stuff. Like schnitzel! Afterwards I went back to the hostel and met a cool Australian guy called Max who had been hitchhiking around Germany. He was a pretty cool guy - we made vegetable soup and he made a mean egg/bacon sandwich. Later on when leaving the hostel I really wanted to take some of the vegetable soup with me so I ended up jamming some into an empty water bottle. TURNS OUT it was SUCH a good idea! Had some veggie soup in Dresden! So phresh.

(Max chopping dem toms)

There was another guy in the hostel who would have been in his mid-30s, not very attractive, who immediately geared conversation to hooking up with chicks and how he prefers to go back to their place - describing it as a lioness bringing the prey back to the den? Otherwise he'd have to have sex with them in a communal toilet area in the hostel which he then pointed out to us. The guy was clearly a douchebag. So much so that I had to mention it in this blog.

I met up with Lauren the day after too! I went for a walk around the town with the hairiest man I have ever encountered (very interesting) and eventually met up with Lauren and had a brief picnic at her work/home of Leipzig University before meeting up with some of her friends at a Beer Garden. Leipzig is a very pretty city - parts of it felt almost Disney-esque. Flower lined streets with pretty wooden-framed windows, sunshine, opera playing in the main square etc. I think Leipzigers would be pretty happy with what they have.

(obviously excuse the construction)

(Arty ceiling shot)

(Does YOUR city have this?)

I went to the art gallery in town at the recommendation of the hairy man and I must say I have never felt so oppressed in a gallery. There were clearly more workers in this gallery than there were guests and they had eyes like a HAWK! Case in point, you walk into a room and there are simply three identical doors. You go for the middle one and oh hey! There's a mechanical heart beating inside. Interesting! You go back out and as you reach for the handle of one of the other doors the gallery employee shouts angrily to not touch it. It's a door handle lady. In a room of three doors. One of the doors worked, why wouldn't this door work? If there's no sign and if the door won't open for me anyway then CALM THE FUCK DOWN! Let me TRY the door then move on when it doesn't open! Jesus Christ. I felt I was being stared at the whole time.

(What the fuck, right?)

Unfortunately, around this time in my trip I was a bit stuck in what I should do or where I should go next. Losing my bank card was a massive bummer and had caused me to start looking into couchsurfing a lot more. I had a couch surfing guy in Prague willing to host me but it was still a few days away so I sort of had time to kill. I ended up going to Dresden as I mentioned but in the end it was a bit unnecessary ... the host cancelled on me as he was getting sick. I was overcome with an urge to keep moving, and that I was somewhat stagnating in one area (Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden are all very close to each other after all).

I left Leipzig and headed to Dresden via a carpool service which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare actually. This is a 3/4 paragraph problem so buckle up. Leipzig station has a west and an east hall - two different entrances to the same station. The carpool I had organised told me to be at the east entrance where 'all the travellers meet'. So on time I was standing at the east entrance when I realised my phone's internet wasn't working. I had become quite reliant on it actually - to the point where I didn't really bother remembering much information as I thought I'd just be able to send a message to the guy if there were any problems. All of sudden there WERE problems so I ran into the closest phone shop and asked the man for some help.

In any case, this was all about 5 minutes past the meeting time so when the internet did finally start working on my JUDAS OF A PHONE it was too late. I then immediately set out to find a new carpool and found one an hour later. The whole time though I was in the phone shop using their phone with my big back pack, speaking English and being a pain ... I bought the guy a big cookie at the end as a thank you.

So THIS carpool guy said meet at the east entrance too and yet, when the time came, nothing! Except this time I COULD communicate with the driver and I realised that they were both implying that there is actually an entrance to the building on the east facing wall - and not simply out the front of the east hall of the station. I feel that this isn't really a fault on my part ... that's really vague isn't it? If a building has an east and a west hall entrance then you need to be SPECIFIC that you mean the eastern entrance of the eastern hall. Not just 'meet at the east entrance'. In any case I got the carpool and got the lift I needed.

(I later had some messages with the first carpool guy apologising and explaining what happened. He completely understood and has adapted his messages to this format:

"Hey maria , you are welcome to drive with me. we will meet us here on friday the 15th at 13.30 location 51°20'40.2"N 12°23'03.1"E or check here http://goo.gl/maps/W5wYE . Please be there on time or better 5min earlier. If you cant be there please let me know asap because the seat is now reserved for you. See u on friday. Have a nice weekend. Matthias"

You're welcome Maria!)

I was able to book one night in Dresden on a Friday as the Saturday night after was booked out. Not thinking too much about it - half expecting a cancellation or whatever - I just sort of went with it and arrived at the hostel. Just as an FYI hostel owners out there, don't charge extra money on top of the booking costs for linens when they're mandatory - just include it in the overall price. Plus this tourist tax that is all the rage these days? I'm sorry ... I didn't realise I needed to PAY for the PRIVELEDGE of spending money in your city.

(oh you haven't paid the sunset tax yet? Yes, that's extra)

There were a lot of Germans in this hostel from other parts of Germany. More than I would have anticipated. In fact, it turns out that Germans flock to Dresden in summer and as it further turned out - there was absolutely no accommodation for Saturday night. At. All. Tried every hostel in the area to no avail and eventually tried out couch surfing which luckily worked! Stayed the night at a fellow named Martin's place after a few beers together.

(I can't rotate it but this took a lot of WERK. That circled place just didn't pick up but it was very unlikely they would have any vacancies)

Dresden is actually a pretty nice place. It was bombed to pieces by the British during the war (for reasons unclear) but was rebuilt quite successfully. There are loads of old looking buildings and even more fountains. A lot of fountains. Every turn there was a new fountain to behold. The first hostel was in the 'alternative' part so had some really cool restaurants and beer gardens. It's legal to drink on the street so everyone does it!

(Nice, pretty building)

(Oh look! A fountain! Shit what a surprise!)

I didn't spend too long in Dresden and instead opted to grab yet another carpool to Prague. This one went down without a problem.