Oktoberfest Pics

Happenings in the HB tent at Oktoberfest


Richard, Alex and Kel try out some German sausage!


Ash and Jem do some catching up!


Certificate of drunkedness!


Richard and Jem. Richard won the BAC competition registering an impressive 2.14


Alex and Richard in the HB tent!


Freddy, Me and Kel drink up at the Oktoberfest!

Oktoberfest, Frankfurt and Porto

Jem, Kel and I are now in sunny Porto, Portugal after spending four days at the Oktoberfest.
We just had an afternoon nap after pulling an all nighter and are about to go out and venture for some healthy food!
Our bodies are definitely paying for the Oktoberfest big time! All those steins and fried food!
Kel and I drank five steins (each) in one session, that´s five litres of beer or 20 pots and quite disgusting when you think about it! And I'm pretty sure Jem would have done more!
The Oktoberfest camping was a bit of a rip off. We each paid $200 for three nights and had to buy our own toilet paper!
It was also freezing in Munich, but other than that no complaints!
Last night we went to O'Reilley's in Frankfurt before boarding a 2.30am bus to the airport. Once again I made the mistake of drinking too much and needing to go potty the entire way!
It was great to see Ash, Jess and co at the Oktoberfest and we had a blast with the Swedish boys Alex, Freddy and Richard!
Despite being a little worse for wear, we plan to push ahead to celebrate Jem's 22nd birthday tonight!

Stockholm Part 2

We are going to the Oktoberfest!

We can't wait to get to the festival to drink more beer! I just read this blog and noticed that it sounds like that's all we've been doing, but I can ensure you there has been much more going on during this trip (although sinking lager has been a part of it)!

We've just had an awesome weekend in Stockholm.

Jem and I agree that it is our favourite city we've visited so far on this trip.

While Paris is a gorgeous city, the Scandanavian capital is definitely more liveable!

We arrived here on Saturday night about 9.30pm and had some drinks at Marti's apartment before hitting the town.

By the time we got out the lines at some places were pretty long! We ended up going to a hard rock bar called Medusa and didn't get back to the apartment till 5am.

We started Sunday with Burger King and spent most of the day recovering from two big nights!

We are about to board a bus bound for the airport. I still can't believe we'll be at the Oktoberfest in 48 hours time!

Will post again in about five days when we get to Porto.

Bye for now!

Leaving Jönköping

We are about to head back to Stockholm where we will be staying for two nights before flying to Germany for the Oktoberfest!
We have had a great stay here in Jönköping, and while it's a little sad to be leaving we are looking forward to the rest of our trip.
After the Oktoberfest we head to Porto, Portugal and then Barcelona, Spain. I then leave, but the girls are lucky enough to travel for a bit longer!
Last night we went to the Bongo Bar (which was a lot smaller than we expected) after quite a few beers at Marci's place!
Tonight we will go out for a few beers in Stockholm (our bus arrives about 9pm).
Not sure when our next post will be, but stay tuned for Oktoberfest reviews and photos!
Thanks again for the comments.
Mel, Jem and Kel.

Foreign exchange

Just a quick note about the currency over here.
Sweden and Norway aren't on the Euro and instead have Swedish and Norwegian Kronas.
This has been a source of confusion for me as there is about 5.5 kronas to each Aussie dollar.
This means that everything appears to cost the earth. For example, it cost us 50 Kronas (about $10 to get into an Oslo bar).
While most things are pretty expensive over here, the beer is pretty reasonable.
A bottle of Estrella (Spanish) beer costs 13Kronas (about $2.20 each, or $13 for six).
Needless to say, we are making the most of the imported beers while we are here.
But we can't wait to get back on the Euro which is not so much like play money with £1 equalling almost $2.

Candy Canes and the City

Yesterday we travelled to Gränna the home of the candy cane! Yes you read right, the small town, about 20 minutes drive from Jönköping, is the place where the red and white striped lolly was created.
As you could probably guess there were many lolly shops with countless varities on the candy and at some you could see them getting made!
We had lunch by the lake, although it was a freezing 8 degrees (bring on the Australian summer).
Last night we had some beers and stayed at Marci's apartment which is in the heart of Jönköping.
Today, we head into the city.

More pics

Me and Jem during Beer O'Clock in Gothenburg

Jem and Kel get smart!

Kel and Jem at Vista Kulle in Jönköping. Isn't the view great?

Jem and Kel with Marianne (centre) whose house we stayed at in Oslo

Hitting the town in Olso

Eurotrip photos

Me at the famous Eiffel tower!

Me, Kel and Jem at a famous park of statues in Oslo. This is the angry child but a lot of statues were much more sexual

Jonkoping

We are now in Kelly's new hometown of Jonkoping, about two hours south of Stockholm.
After spending three nights in Oslo, we headed back over the border and had a one-night stop over in Gothenburg before arriving here.
Jonkoping is a gorgeous place, right next to the second largest lake in Sweden.
Today, we climbed a mountain down the road from Kelly's new home. We have also done a few loads of washing (it's going to be awesome to wear some clothes that don't smell).
We plan to see a castle tomorrow and head to the hockey on Saturday. Also, we will hit the town on Friday night at the famous Bongo Bar.
The night life is interesting over here, with bar staff kicking you out at 3am. Buying alcohol is also strange. You can buy beer from the supermarket, but if you are after wine or spirits you have to head to a special bottlo which closes at 3pm on Saturday. And supermarkets close at 5pm on Saturday so if you want to drink you need to plan ahead.
Not sure what we're doing tonight. We plan to go fishing down at the lake but it has been spitting this afternoon so we'll see.
Hope you all miss me at home.
I've been thinking of you all chained behind you desks and whatever else!

Bye for now!
Mel.

Oslo

We have only one more night in Oslo before we head to Gothenberg, Sweden, and then Kelly's new hometown of Jonkoping.
Today we visited the famous ski jump and dined at a restaurant overlooking the city. We have been lucky enough to be staying with a Norwegian family here, so the second most expensive city in the world (behind Tokyo) hasn't cost the earth.
Tonight we hit the town.
It's been difficult to post regularly here but hope to do so again in a few days.
Thanks to everyone who has been commenting.
Bye!

Stockholm part 1

We came and we will soon be back.
Stockholm is an amazing place and we can't wait to return after a whirlwind eight hour tour on Thursday.
After missing our original flight to Sweden, we only had eight hours to spare in the scandanavian capital.
After meeting up with Kelly at the bus terminal, we headed into the city for a quick sight and beer tasting tour.
We then caught up with Kelly's friend Marti who took us to a couple of cool bars, including the Garlic bar where you can get garlic in your beer!
Needless to say, we boarded the overnight bus to Oslo in not the best of states.

The 'F' Word

You would think the French, particularly those working in the tourist industry, would know where the airports in their country are located.
Right? WRONG!
Jem and I learnt the hard way on Wednesday.
Leaving our hostel, we asked the man at reception to direct us to Beauvais airport. He circled a couple of train stations on our map and we headed on our way. Little did we know that we were headed 20 stops in the wrong direction.
When we got to the destination this man had told us, we asked for further directions from three people working at the train station only to get three different answers. Finally we found an information desk, but unfortunately we discovered we had only two hours to make it to the airport and three trains (about 20 stops) to catch!
Turns out the station we needed to get to was one, that's right, one stop from our hostel. Let's just say Friends Hostel in Barbes won't be getting a good review!
Anyway, we finally got to the station we needed to and had to catch a train through the countryside. It was an hour long journey, a race against time, and one that we unfortunately did not win.
When we arrived at Beauvais airport there were no taxis in the rank. We had to wait 20 minutes and MISSED our flight to Sweden.
That cost us 75 euro and an overnight stay in Beavauis.
Needless to say, the F word was said a few times that afternoon.

Barbes, Paris, Eurotrip

Barbes, Paris

After 24 hours in the air and four airports we're finally here.
Paris is truly a beautiful city. The weather is perfect here, sunshine and about 22 degrees.
Today we visited the eiffel tower and the Notre Dame. It occurred to me while at the Notre Dame that it was only the second church I had been to in my life (the other being the one in Camberwell for Bel's wedding.)
We're staying in a place called Barbes. The best way to describe this place is this: Dandenong meets Kings Cross!
The people here remind me of Dandenong (saw two men pissing in the streer last night) and it lights up like Sydney's red light district. Did I mention this is a red light district mum?
I'm struggling to find the keys - I've had enough!

Correct Weight!

I DID IT!
I'm fully packed and my whole backpack (including the day bag) weighs under 15kg.
According to my calculations it weighs about 13kg.
Just hours to go before I leave for the airport.
Bon voyage!