budapest & ljubljana

hmm.. budapest was ok.. can't think of anything ridiculously interesting to say about that.

currently in ljubljana, slovenia.. staying in a former prison.. the current prime minister of slovenia was held here once. had a crazy night last night on the train from budapest.. the guard came and tried to get us to give him money, but didn't speak english.. we showed him that all we had was about 1500 forint between us (about AU$10).. he just kept saying "shtampa" and making a stamping gesture at out eurail passes. so apparently we were supposed to validate them at budapest before we left. and because we didn't, he was trying to charge us 50 euro. which was fair.. it was all in the small print.. but we just didn't have any money.. so he eventually gave up, and we ended up essentially getting a free trip worth about $120.. so.. sweet..

got lots of new fun stamps in my passport. hooray.

praha & karlovy vary

been staying in prague. we paid for a 36 bed dorm, but they overbooked, so we ended up in a 6 bed dorm instead! sweet!.. and we had a private kitchen and bathroom in our room and only paid about $20 per night. so that's cool.

yesterday went to a place called karlovy vary, which is famous for 12 'healing' hot springs. we went and tasted them all (disgusting.. very salty and iron-y tasting.. but perhaps they have healed some great ill i was unaware i suffered from).. they directed each of the springs into a sort of fountain, and the tiny fountains were housed in these enormous, ornate, beautiful buildings. it was very strange. but it was a beautiful little city and an interesting day. and now i have a spa cup in the shape of an elephant (you drink from its trunk.. awesome) and who doesn't need one of those???

tonight an overnight train to budapest, hungary. i believe we're staying in pest. so.. interesting times ahead.

oh.. awesome vegan restaurant in prague called 'country life'.. they have heaps and heaps of fresh, raw or cooked vegetables as well as tofu and rice dishes and so on. so we'll be heading back there before we leave prague to stock up on much needed nutrients. i have the ghostly pallor of a vegetarian living in a place that only serves potatoes and meat. potatoes on their own are not a healthy diet for anyone (HA), though i love them dearly. no.. it's really not that bad. don't worry dad.

edinburgh

currently in edinburgh.. it's lovely.. there are seagulls all over the city. climbed a mountain yesterday.. met great people at the hostel. i hope i can find a place as nice as this in dublin. they have a system where long term residents of the hostel can earn a free night's accommodation by cleaning for two hours in the morning. which is a pretty good deal. so something like that in dublin would be ideal.

went to 'treefest' a couple of days ago. it was great.. just my kind of festival. all about environmental this and that. you know.. hippies and whatnot getting together for a good old fashioned bongo/african drum jam session.

i've been invited to travel with a really interesting person around south africa for a month early next year, and stay with their family there etc. so that might be fun if i can afford it at the time.

heading to london tonight, then on to prague on saturday.