Oendrila Roy’s blog

Hi everyone

To be honest its a pretty big miracel that anyone in our party of 4 (ana, Tienen and tim) made it to Venice given how unbelievably wasted we were to begin with the night before. We went to a place called fish pub on fri night where there were 5 shots for 5 euro and given it was Tim's birthday and we had had only cake and wine for dinner it didnt take long for the night to get completely crazy...but all well that ends well and we were actually able to stagger onto a train at 9:27am the next morning

But given everyones state it wasnt suprising that we found much comfort in just sitting on the ferries cruising along the grand canal. so much easier to do that then anything else. And although the weather was somber it atleast kept the hords of tourists at bay. Plus being the freak that i am i quite sometimes enoy the omenous weather (though i must admit that we have been gettting random wet and gloomy weather for italy in summer).

Anyway, we walked to San Marcoàs basilica. and i hate that i say this everytime i go to a new city but it was unbeliveably beautiful and might be a favorite! Venice was a point where the east and west met so the church has reminance of eastern vibe. And all the ceiling has gold mosaics which was stolen from Constantenopel! St markàs tomb was there and we climbed the basilicca for the view. But its a shame that we didnt go into the palace but there is always next time cos i am so going back to venice!

We made our way around the city and then headed back to our camp site. me and ana decided that perhaps our livers deserved a chill out session. so we sat around and chatted and somehow it got to 1:30 am when tienen came stumbling in quite drunk and tim...who knows when time got back. im impressed with people who get back on that horse so fast. i always feel like the world is against me and like scum of the earth needing only sleep and cuddles and greasy food

The next day we went to Murano island and saw some actually glass blowing. its amazing and i have never seen it from that close. i was v impressed. apparently the island was created for glass making because the glass factories kept catching fire and they didnt want venice to be catching on fire! And then we went shopping...good times!

After that we had lunch by the canal and then trained our way home. If i went again to venice i would love to see the lace making, go inside the palace and go for a gondola ride which i am saving to do with a special someone....

Hi everyone

realised i had forgotten to tell you all about my weekend in milano!

It was pretty good. The duomo there is probably the nicest one i have ever seen. I walked around the fashion district, saw the first ever prada store and generally felt like a bit of a hick. but also there was some pretty ugly bags and wat not for an enormous amount of money!! i ran into a transexual portrageus man who wanted to read my hand (creepy yet funny). and then i went to the Bicare (an art gallery) and lastly the castle. pretty big day!

The next day i went to Bergamo. This gorgeous little town that has an ancient vienese area perched on top of a hill and then down the bottom it is like your everday modern city. It was ok in the old area but i think at first i was really dissapointed because it was meant to have one of the nicest ancient city squares but i have been somewhat spoilt by prague, budapest and the like. but after a while i just happened to walk into one of the most stunning views of my life. you could see rolling hill tops and little housses scatered across the plains. very amazing and i came away feeling like life was quite grand! Then i ran into a creepy old man ( a story for another day ) and was thankful to make it back to my hostel.

I think all up it was a nice weekend but at the same time it was a bit lonely cos i had to do it all by myself. I am much more looking foward to this weekend where we are going to Seinna (on purpose this time!), San giminiano, and Assisi. yep we are covering that all in one long weekend!! but it should be all right cos they are tiny little cute towns on hills. But the most exciting part is that all us girls are going together. I think its quite lucky cos the 4 of us girls are getting along like a house on fire and we all just clicked (knock on wood). Everyone here that is studying is so nice and helpful that its making the expereince that much more awesome!

anyway, i miss you all and am looking forward to showing you photos...maybe i should learn how to load them up...maybe

love you

O

well here i am living in florence ...and its certainly different to the last 2 weeks. for starters i have had to go back to uni. damn it! and i have a billion pages to read - seriously i have no idea how one person is meant to get through that much reading...maybe thats the idea you are meant to share the work load. i got quite depressed in my room when i woke up the other morning thinking about how much work i had to do. so i read only for a bit then walked around Florence and remembered why i had decided to leave everything i know...its beautiful! i am in love with the buildings, the dumo, the cathedreal, the archways, the windy lanes, the shops and the leather bags and shoes! I got lost and found the most beautiful churches. people say you get °churced out° in italy but i havent yet experience that!

today we got on the wrong train and went 1/2 way to sienna - to a place caleld montoloppa (wold mountain) and had to make it back to class. we only got here in the last 5 mins of a 3 hour class! it was ridiculous. but it was pretty funny too

Thanks darren for the post - but i meant that they have a copy of the last supper in my room but your right there is heaps and heaps of amazing art. David is lieterally around the corner from us but the lines are so massive! bt yes soon i will motivate myself to go down their and wait. im sure i wont leave flroence without seeing it

take care all of you and hope to ehar from you all soon. being back to semi normal life makes me miss you guys a lot!

love o

ps: i have learning to be self sufficent. had to come home from class at 10pm and cook my own food. dont know how you kids do it!!

hi everyone

lets finish the end:

Amsterdamn

ok all of you are going to think im wrong and broken when i say this but amsterdam was my favorite place on the tour. and no it wasnt because of the sex and drugs (although that was perhaps a small part of it :P) its just an amazing place with something for everyone

saw quite bizarre and hilarious things at the sex show. people actually had sex right in front of me(makes sense with that name huh?) but it was def not a turn on. but damn do they make it look easy to bend like playdo! anyway, i dont think i would go again but i felt it was my duty to go and see it as first timer in amsterdam. and no ash i didnt take photos - punishment for you not coming to amsterdam - no in all seriousness they break cameras if you try to take photos.

we went down big mama ally which i think is sufficent and ample description on what there is to offer! we did some drugs but i gotta say the pot there is very mild! didnt feel much so decided not to keep wasting money.my mates wallet got nicked so had to do a bit of running around with that.

but the day was much nicer. i biked around amsterdam and it was the most beautiful feling with the wind if my face, the sun bathing me, the feel of the smooth track below me. its hard to imagine a more serene exp. then i checked out the van gough museum and the rijsk museum (it has rembrandt and vermeer paintings) i was so excited cos i studied them in HS...i actually did happy dance! but all together it was awesome and then we partied a bit as the end of the tour

we went to brussels the nxt day for lunch but since im not a massive choc fan it really didnt do it for me. fiona a gal on tour licked her plate (a bit gross actually)

after that we said good bye to the tour in London and went to our very nice little appartment in London. we hadnt realsied it was an apartment so we were pleasently surprised esp cos we were the only inhabitants. we met some nice americans and we went out for a few drinks with them. HEAPS of fun!! the next day we wondered the sites of london

- buckingham palace: saw a parade!! i belive they call it chaning of the guards

- we saw west minister abby-big ben

- tregalfure sq

- picadiilly: a bit of a let down really

- tower of london and tower bridge (the famous one cos the real london bridge is a little shit house and the tower of london is actually a castle. go figure)

could i live in london? that was the big question and the reason i forced shoba to stay there for 2 days. hell yes! there is so muh to do. so many galleries, museums, theater, opera and just stuff hapening that it boggòed my mind. cant wait to go there!!

after that i came to Florence and so far its just been about becoming aquainted with the whole place. getting it together. our apartment is gorgeous. all the furniture is antique italian, and the paintings are all very famous ones such as Devinci last supper! tres cool!! starting uni tomorrow so looking forward to that too (yes im a nerd) but will keep you guys posted. thanks to everyone that posted

Pinku: cant wait to have a massive pow wow with you. i got a sim here so if you get a calling card yuou can call me and i def want to know what going on with you. glad to know you are happy and missing you here

alv: def keep us posted on when you are cming down. cant wait to atch up. will def atleast see you in londonm

lefty; i like it. i like it a lot. anyway, yes poo to you for not taking holidays and poo to pwc. but cant wait for thailand. 

take care all of you

much love

o

and yes i love it!! I cant believe there is such wonder in the world. i am reallz reallz looking forward to traveeling more in this part and perhaps even more to actuallz living here. but i will back track a little

NB: cos im using a european kezboard - all the Z are a Y and vice versa. sorrz!

Krakow (pronounced Karakov) in Polland

Legend has it that this town got its name from a man named Krak. he killed the mean dragon that lived under the castle and ate chidlren and animals and so in honour he was allowed to name the castle and he choose to call it krakow. its a verz fairztale kind of little town that used to be the capital of old polland.

it has a beautiful and amaying square in the middle of the grounds where something is ALWAYs happening. we saw a parade, jugglers, a memorial, and perhaps most excitinglz 9 polish zoung breakdancers! its so awesome. i havent seen anything so vibrant and dinamic. we climbed the old town hall, (a billion stairs), we met some street performers who had met the pope. we went to the top of the castle and found an amaxing little church. and dont even get me started on the food. its like heaven. to anzone who comes here zou have to trz; perogie and zurek. verz verz yummy! i think the best thing about krakow is just its vibe. its so jollz and fun and so quaint. i cant describe it. its just a great citz!

Aushwitz in Polland

this i think is one of those must dos on people - ``what to do in life' lists. i dont know if zou have one but i do and im verz happz to be able to cross this of. its a reallz tripy place to go. you can go to where the barrakcs were and you see pictures of all of those victims who didnt survive and how long they managed to survive. to be honst zou feel sorrz for those who lasted anz decent period of time becaue it was hell there. people were just crammed in,. given 5 min toilet breaks for an entire barrak (1000 of people) in an entire daz! people were treated less than animal. zou saw the ``jail within the jail' that is - that is where people were suffocated, starved to death or where thez were forced to stand in a 90cm by 90cm space for 5 people after working all daz as punisment and as examples of what could happen to those who disobezed. it was just a nightmare.

all of their things were stolen of them and there is a fraction of it displazed in the camp and there is just mounds and mounds of it! the most dreadful thing for me was the prosthetic legs, crutches, braces of the disable people which was taken of them as soon as thez arrived (because thez would be killed immediatelz as thez were incapable of work) and used for german soliders. nothing was wasted. even their hair was shaved and sold to make materials. it makes zou want to be sick

we saw inside the gas chambers and it was a horrible sensation konwing that not long ago thousands of people died in this area. and lastly we had the freedom to walk out of the gates and it was such an eery moment to feel how easz that was for me and how it was never possible for them, never,. perhaps the most haunting thing for me is one line from the tour guide `zou are not in a museum - this is a cemetry and you walk upon the graves of millions'. its frightening what we humans can do...

Prague in Chezch Republic

wow - it is no wonder that this is the place that inspired Mouzart. my first view of it was in the night and for that i will always be thankful. So beautiful. zou climb up the charles bridege and the whole citz just glows. everz part of it is lit with tinz lights and its a citz of heaven almost. zou can go the square where there is a giant clock that has been there from the medievil times and has not broken down since. (the artist was blinded after the work was completed so that he wouldnt be able to replicate the work) and across zou can see the Thine church which is made like a castle from the medievil period. the actual castle is gorgeous in all its splendour and glorrz! we went to a dali exhibition and it seems fritting as this citz is made for love, art and the bohemian spirit.

everzthing about this town was spectacular - especiallz the number of tourists! i would love to come here again but i cant think of a time when it would be quite cos i definatelz cant do it when it is this busz ever again. its suffocating

Berlin in Germanz

this is perhaps the first citz in mz travels that i would not call beautiful. its stark, its confronting and its real. it has amaying historz, strength and character that is perhpas unrivalled. Germanz as we know it was onlz unitied in 1870 and alreadz it has experience 2 world wars and 1 cold war. and the scars remain. even upon the buidings themselves which have large bullet wounds. and monuments and statues with pieces missing´- living historz i guess.

todaz we went on a walk where we saw the old natzi buildings´- or atleast the ones that have been bombed or torn down. we saw where hitlers bunker was. we saw where the gestapo buildings were. the holecaust memorial. and the parliament after its been renovated to its old glorrz.

Berlin does monuments better than anz other citz. we saw the momument against facism and millitarism - it was a verz touching monument of a mother with a dieing grown son in her arms. it envokes a lot of szmpathz. i gues its hard to think of millions of people dieing but when zou consider it as 1 plus 1 plus 1....it becomes harrowing. we saw the monument to where all the books were burnt by the natzi partz that didnt fit in with their propoganda and there was an awesome quote ; when zou burn books zou will surelz burn people. which was said in 1820. quite prophetic reallz.

inside the hollacust memorial we saw the diarz entried, postcards and pictures of those who died in the concentration camps. its quite confronting but i think its best to look such things in teh face. because when zou ignore them zou run the risk of it all happening again.

we saw where the berlin wall used to stand which has now been turned into a murial. where people from around the world come and paint pictures. its prettz amaaxing - i actuallz bought a piece of the wall. couldnt resist reallz. its mz lil piece of historz.

tomorrow is the last lefg of the tour; amsterdamn! bring it on!!

please post guys so that i feel more loved

oendrila

Hi guys

so here i am in Europe. i really cant believe im here!

Well our tour started with Budapest. we had to make our way from the airport which was an adventure all on its own because budapest has these weird subway tunnels to cross main roads and it is perhaps the most disorintating thing in the world. you go in hoping to simply go straight to the other side but there is no such choice...you gotta make a right or left and then you come out and you cant work out where the hell you are - this is perhaps made worse by the fact that im spatially challenged!

But its beautiful here - the street we are in is cobbled with lamp posts well lit and buildings that are so beautiful that they take your breath away. We spent yesterday exploring the city. as soon as we got up we headed out - had the cutest little bruchetta sandwiches - and climbed the gellet hill from where you get a spectaculur view of the city. we didnt know where to look - everywhere/everything was so beautiful. we then went to the national museuem and there was so much history. this country is so rich in culture/literature/art and history its just awesome

After that we checekd out our local market and then met up with the rest of our tour group. mostly aussies, except one korean guy and we had the Most MASSSIVE meal you can imagine!! it was literally bought to us in a saucepan and i think we did well to get through even 1/2 of it. pretty buggered after that as im still suffering from jet lag

Day 2: today we went to the st christian bastian (church) and its so gorgeous. i have never seen such a beautiful church and inside is the hand of king stephen who died in 1943! it's fisted up - like he died fighting. pretty awesome and slightly creepy. then we tried to make our way to the gallery but the map lied (like wtf - how can a tourist map lie!) but we ended up at the opera house. its beautiful cos we could here the opera rehersing! and now we are of to the labrynth (a maze) and then for wine tasting followed by a night walk through the castle district! its been awesome so far (in case you couldnt tell)

Tomorrow we go to austwitch (i spelt that terribly wrong) but i think its going to be very sobering but probably unforgetable moment

anyway guys - my phone has stuffed up and i have no reception here :( but hopefully it will work in poland. hope you are all well!

much love

Oendrila