Melbourne Beats

Have we had one of these before?

I'm currently planning a trip to Mexico and Cuba next year with a little 5 day stopover in Beunos Aires.

Went to Morocco only a few months ago. I can't stop. Guess it's either in you or it's not. I need to go somewhere every year and there's always another dream on the backburner.

Where have you been? Where do you recommend? Where do you dream of going? Stories, feedback, inspiration: apply within

Ha ha!!! I was thinking of doing the same thing for when I head to Europe. May do it in a few days though .

I am heading to Mexico, Miami and Spain next year -- I can't wait!

Gnat -- BA is a wicked city and the people over there are awesome

My best friend spent two weeks there last year and reckons it is THE city for me. I imagine frenetic energy, streets alive at night, music and dancing so think she could be right. Can't wait, and also for Cuba. I want to drive one of those old cars and smoke cigars with the old boys in Havana.

hmm. last year was adelaide, boston, ottawa, london, oxford, stuttgart, copenhagen, london again, cambridge, barcelona. out of that lot, boston is really pretty, but barcelona is stunning. was staying with awesome people there (belgians, incidentally), and it was more the people ... they're all so warm, friendly, and they love to party! it's crazy. apparently havana is more of the same; a friend did uni there on exchange for six months, and said it was absolutely brilliant. crazy architecture and so there, mainly all the gaudi stuff; sagrada familia (google it if you're unfamiliar, it's utterly insane) is incredible, if still under construction about 80 years on.

this year, it's been karlsruhe (the one near frankfurt, not the one halfway to bendigo), sydney/canberra (ugh, canberra), helsinki, and montréal. the pick of those so far is probably helsinki, as it's a really beautiful city. really digging the thought of heading back there in winter (see below). lots of steel and glass, as you'd expect. lots of crazy stuff near there though, like this amazing old medieval fortress just off helsinki that's still pretty intact ... take a daytrip on the ferry or helicopter to tallinn just over the baltic in estonia ... pretty small though, only 1m people.

on the cards, there's portland (the one in oregon, not the one with the huge aluminium smelter and fuck-all else) in a couple of weeks, hopefully dunedin in january (if not, then sydney and maybe coffs), then moving to helsinki at the start of february.

will definitely try to see a lot more of europe (always wanted to see eastern europe in particular -- hungary, romania, czech republic, the former russian states).

maybe spend some time teaching english in prague ... slacking off a bit, but really finding myself.

fooishbar wrote: maybe spend some time teaching english in prague ... slacking off a bit, but really finding myself.

Prague is without a doubt one of my fave cities in the world. Have many happy memories of sinking cold Czech Buds in Malostrana Park in summer- magic

gnat wrote:

fooishbar wrote:maybe spend some time teaching english in prague ... slacking off a bit, but really finding myself.

Prague is without a doubt one of my fave cities in the world. Have many happy memories of sinking cold Czech Buds in Malostrana Park in summer- magic

i wasn't serious -- was (mis)quoting stewie from family guy -- but would love to spend some serious time in czech rep/romania/hungry. good to see I'm not entirely on the wrong track, heh.

elysium wrote:I am heading to Mexico, Miami and Spain next year -- I can't wait!

Gnat -- BA is a wicked city and the people over there are awesome

you now going Mexico? you never told me of this change! that's it girl we needs to talk again. you and me babe in Mexico for sure

going to europe? Get a car a do it that way. Drove from Norway to Poland this year (about 8/9 countries in all) and saw stuff most travellers don't get to sniff. Nothing like a few aussies driving across europe to give the country a bad name :teef

Also did London, Brighton, Barca (and bits of Catalonia[sp]), Milan and South of France.

Berlin, Barcalona and West Chzeki were the pics of the lot for me.

Don't hit Prague or Talin in the English peak seasons cause football trips and bucks parties can own the towns, not great.

Use www.bugeurope.com for hostels, uses reviews from people that have actaully stayed in the places so you get a sense of what they are like.

DBoy wrote:going to europe? Get a car a do it that way. Drove from Norway to Poland this year (about 8/9 countries in all) and saw stuff most travellers don't get to sniff. Nothing like a few aussies driving across europe to give the country a bad name :teef

nice! my plan goes something like this: start helsinki, ferry to tallinn, drive down through estonia/latvia, maybe bulgaria, romania, czech republic, austria, get to switzerland, go snowboarding, then germany, belgium, netherlands, denmark, across to norway, then sweden, then back home.

and yeah, no doubt ... there's a pretty strong cultural divide between aussies and finns, who don't really talk much, if at all. luckily half the other dudes at work are spanish, and totally batshit insane and really loud, so I don't look half bad by comparison.

(also completely unable to talk without waving their hands around wildly.)

Also did London, Brighton, Barca (and bits of Catalonia[sp]), Milan and South of France.

nice! kicking myself I didn't get to france ... was going to, but my phone got stolen and it was all dependent on just rocking up in paris at some random time after taking the train from brussels to paris and saying 'yo pasc, can you come pick me up?'. so it all got a bit much and I just spent a few days really chilling in barcelona. bestest city.

Don't hit Prague or Talin in the English peak seasons cause football trips and bucks parties can own the towns, not great.

christ, even in tallinn? ouch. thanks for the tip tho

Use www.bugeurope.com for hostels, uses reviews from people that have actaully stayed in the places so you get a sense of what they are like.

nice, nice. i was crashing in the kabul hostel in barcleona, which is totally run-down but has a certain charm. turned out the dudes in the bunk next to me (brothers) lived about 1km away in glen waverley, heh.

right, i stayed at Kabul too for a few nights before moving into a flat. As far as hostels in Spain go, its fits the bill. I didnt really sleep there much, you need a balcony room. loved in that Plaza that you could party all night, until the "hosed the city down" then just return a bit later.

Def. recommend barca to anyone going that way.

fooishbar wrote:

gnat wrote:

fooishbar wrote:maybe spend some time teaching english in prague ... slacking off a bit, but really finding myself.

Prague is without a doubt one of my fave cities in the world. Have many happy memories of sinking cold Czech Buds in Malostrana Park in summer- magic

i wasn't serious -- was (mis)quoting stewie from family guy -- but would love to spend some serious time in czech rep/romania/hungry. good to see I'm not entirely on the wrong track, heh.

yeh www.dnb.sk is where it's at. seriously though, i'm going back to my hometown next year fingers crossed. I may live there for a while; get work, ride a bike to a norsk town and get chilly wid it., thank god for dual citizenships

my travel plans go something like this...

stop spending money on SHIT
save money
realise I don't have time to go on a holiday
travel to the Bank (it's quite an exotic one, with a Palm in the corner) and get money out
spend money on SHIT

Rob M wrote:yeh www.dnb.sk is where it's at. seriously though, i'm going back to my hometown next year fingers crossed. I may live there for a while; get work, ride a bike to a norsk town and get chilly wid it., thank god for dual citizenships

ooo, rad. anyone know any good finnish dnb sites?

Planning to go to Laos again next year. This time for honeymoonary. Can't get enough of Laos

Rob M wrote: thank god for dual citizenships

Mellogs wrote:

Rob M wrote: thank god for dual citizenships

to both of you.

my kindom for an EU passport.

witty_pseudonym wrote:

Mellogs wrote:

Rob M wrote: thank god for dual citizenships

to both of you.

my kindom for an EU passport.

I have an EU passport and was once offered marriage because of it.

she couldn't afford the asking price ($50 000), so I said No

Lizkins wrote:

elysium wrote:I am heading to Mexico, Miami and Spain next year -- I can't wait!

Gnat -- BA is a wicked city and the people over there are awesome

you now going Mexico? you never told me of this change! that's it girl we needs to talk again. you and me babe in Mexico for sure

Yeh Liz, Mehico for me- I'll even have a joint for the occasion

After this one, I am soooo saving for a six monther to South America before I get too old for it- Peru, Argentina, Brazil.... oh, I'm getting excited thinking about it. Life.Long.Dream

I can't wait to go travelling, have too many friends who are abroad at the moment and hearing their stories makes me green with envy!
So this year I have finally got a savings account clearly marked "HOLIDAY"
My dream trip(s) is to go to:
Spain
Eygpt
USA (just to see the biggness of it all)
UK
South America
Hmmm....and lots lots more, maybe I'll win the lotto and just have a house on every corner of the globe with my own private jet! LOL.

Mellogs wrote:

witty_pseudonym wrote:

Mellogs wrote:

to both of you.

my kindom for an EU passport.

:script:

My last big trip was in 2001-02. I went to London to do a 6-week internship and accidentally ended up staying for a year… whoops

After staying around to experience world cup fever in the UK, I headed off on a 6 month journey around Scandinavia, the Baltic, Eastern Europe, Turkey and Spain with a couple of mates. My tips and highlights:

Sweden… we met a couple of local lads in a record store who told us about a party in the forests north of Stockholm. We rented a car and dialled the number they had given us for directions. Unfortunately the message was in Swedish, but luckily we got someone at our hostel to translate it. Turned out that our translator had missed out a step, so we got hella lost in the middle of buttf*#k nowhere in some canola fields. Fortunately we managed to backtrack until we ran into a carload of Swedes who were on the same mission as us. The organisers had paid off the local landowner with a keg or two and told him they were shooting a film, so there were no hassles with getting shut down. The people were really friendly, the music was wicked, and jumping around all night in the middle of a fairytale-like spruce forest with huge granite boulders everywhere and soft springy moss on the ground was loads of fun, even if I did come done with a case of bronchitis as a result. After that we decided to drive to Lapland to look for reindeer (and also Lapdancers according to the boys’ lame running joke…). We resolved to “drive until it got dark”—a woefully stupid idea in high summer when you are in the general vicinity of the arctic circle. It was no wonder we were getting really, really, really tired by dusk because, when we checked the actual time, we sheepishly discovered it was 11:30pm.

Estonia taught us that the removal of thujone from absinthe is among the many compliance measures undertaken by former Eastern-bloc countries trying to get into the EU. We didn’t know this at the time so the lads took the “maybe if we just drink some more it’ll kick in…” approach and, unsurprisingly, got themselves completely and utterly ratfaced. Our apartment was in the old town which is a striking example of Hanseatic League architecture and is excellently fortified, being located at the top of Toompea, an extremely steep hill. Dragging 2 fully grown and semi-paralytic males up this hill gave me a first hand appreciation of the challenges posed by hill fortification to the art of siegecraft, and also a rather sore back.

Lithuania had the most gorgeous beaches, who woulda thunk it? Head to Klaipeda if you are looking for long stretches of white sand and beautiful blue water. And it is so cheap there! (at least it was in 2002)… We were eating incredible omg-this-is-better-than-Laurent style patisserie for around 5c per delectable piece (not the best when later trying to fit into one’s bikini to hit those splendid beaches). On the flipside of our fine dining experience, my mate got duped into eating an Ox testicle for dinner by someone on the pretext that it was “genuine Lithuanian cuisine”…

Berlin is the coolest city ever – go there if you go nowhere else in Europe! We chanced upon an awesome BPitch Recordings night at a club there, then accidentally stumbled into an early morning movie shoot when we left at 7am to go beat the crowds and climb the Reichstag. We possibly ruined the shot (which appeared to be some sort of proletariat mob scene) when we got into the spirit of things by jumping up and down in the background waving our fists and yelling “what do we want…!”. After that we chilled for hours in the Tiergarten – a huge park where, if you go in far enough, you can’t tell you’re in a city at all. I stayed in two very different, but very good hostels there. Circus Hostel was all swipe card security, pristine rooms and hotel quality breakfasts. Mittes Backpackers was cooler, shabbier and much better for meeting people.

In Budapest we met these Irish dudes who had found a wooden leg (complete with foot) on the way back from a club that night which, whilst initially hilarious, had started kinda freaking them out, and then proved impossible to dispose of. Each time they tried to rid themselves of the prosthesis, people kept running after them to give it back, thinking that one of them was the unfortunate amputee that had misplaced it.

Next morning I jumped on a plane to Istanbul. The first night there we spent on a rooftop under a full moon with the Blue Mosque at our backs looking out over the Bospheros, smoking hookah pipes and eating vodka-soaked watermelon, Iranian pistachios and pomegranate. My tip for Turkey is to avoid the boat cruises that everyone does in the south out of Fethiye or Oludeniz. Admittedly they are cheap, but I got stuck on this most disgusting, filthy scow for 3 long days… A girl we met later said she had banded together with 10 people from her hostel and chartered a really lush yacht out of Marmaris. Not only did it work out at around the same price we had paid for considerably worse conditions, but they got to decide when and where they sailed.

In Spain we met a rockclimber in a bar in Malaga who gave us directions to get to a remote part of Andalucia for some proper camping and climbing. This involved taking a train to a stop so tiny there wasn’t even a platform—you just had to throw your pack through the doors and jump out after it. He had instructed us to follow the railway tracks for about 6 kms until we had passed through 3 tunnels cut into the mountainside (got shitscared by a huge freight train that came hurtling through when we were inside one of them! ). After that, he said we would reach a valley where we could camp. We found it and, after slipping and sliding down its steep side, realised we had discovered paradise. Soaring, vertical rockface on the far side, dwarf palms everywhere and a river running through it to swim in – and nobody else around for miles!

tiggus85 wrote:IM OFF IN LATE MARCH to new york, mexico, guatelmala, brazil then over to barcelona for sonar

Can I come? Wicked agenda!

I saw an article on Tahiti in the paper on the weekend and those little Maldives style huts sitting out in the ocean were calling me. I haven't had a total relaxo holiday for years and years= always choose the 'adventure' options or at least it's pretty hard going.

Hmm... Tahiti... Cuba....Mexico.... decisions, decisions. If I won the lottery, I would travel forever and just keep sending word to my mates that it was their turn to join me for the next leg.

I did a 4 month Europe trip like a bit over a year ago.
Went to Thailand first (2 days stop over)
then Greece (Athens, Corfu)
Italy (Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice)
France (Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Paris)
Germany (hamburg, Berlin)
Holland (Amsterdam)
UK (London)

had a fuckin blast, but pretty much ate bread and water whole time.
This trip gave me my appetite for travelling. There are too many stories and awsome experiences to mention. But all i can say is I want to go back.
I plan to move to London and use it as a base and travel all of europe for a year or two after my course is done.

But before then i really wanna see Thailand (properly) or fiji
whos up for it ? Full moon party in thailand ??

I've never traveled, so want to, love to go to Thailand for a mini travel/holiday first, then do the Europe thing, with South America in there as well.

I posted this in another thread but i'm going to invent a time machine and travel back to the year 1337.

Has anybody got a travel pack for sale??

Excellent idea for a threat gnat

My round the world trip went as follows:
Flew from London (home) to India (3 weeks - Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan, Jaipur, Mumbai), Singapore (10 days of solid boozing), overland through Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Penang), ended up staying on Perentian Island Kecil for 3 months living in a shack, then on to Thailand for a full moon party (have been to Thailand twice b4 & travelled Nth, Sth Islands & East).
After staying in Malaysia for a bit longer travelled overland through Indonesia, did Sumatra, Java, then Bali before finally landing in Sunny Perth in 2000.
Flew to Adelaide, drove to Melbourne and have been here since
didn't quite make it around the world..

still looking to go to indonesia (sumatra, jakarta, jogja). done the language for nine years (primary school, both high schools inc. vce, uni) and still never been. three cancelled trips (two due to riots, next one was all set to go until my stepmum decided that her and my older sister needed to go to europe on one of those ten day see-stuff-from-a-bus-window trips). gnrgh.

the locals in Jakarta were fantastic, I was there on Indonesian independance day and they let all the tourists join in with their traditional celebrations and dinner.

breaksRbest wrote:I have an EU passport and was once offered marriage because of it.

she couldn't afford the asking price ($50 000), so I said No

RB has one, but I'm still having trouble getting him to move OS. He likes Melb too much!
His is an Irish one, but the last time I applied for a job OS it was in Switzerland which I didn't realise is not a member of the EU! Damn!

elysium wrote:Berlin is the coolest city ever – go there if you go nowhere else in Europe! We chanced upon an awesome BPitch Recordings night at a club there, then accidentally stumbled into an early morning movie shoot when we left at 7am to go beat the crowds and climb the Reichstag. We possibly ruined the shot (which appeared to be some sort of proletariat mob scene) when we got into the spirit of things by jumping up and down in the background waving our fists and yelling “what do we want…!”. After that we chilled for hours in the Tiergarten – a huge park where, if you go in far enough, you can’t tell you’re in a city at all. I stayed in two very different, but very good hostels there. Circus Hostel was all swipe card security, pristine rooms and hotel quality breakfasts. Mittes Backpackers was cooler, shabbier and much better for meeting people.
!

Nice, we went a lot of the same places in Europe eh.

Berlin def. a pick of the bunch for me. If you go try to get to a TRESOR party. Went to one down on the river in a shack next to the old wall. DnB room and main room with fucking killer Techno. Insane sound and lights too, yet the bar didn't even have proper refridgeration. Ended up walking the streets for 2 days afterwards taking it all in. No sleep, tripping and meeting the most amazing people in Mette. Some dope vintage clothes stores with sneakers and Adidas stuff that would make any sneaker freaker cream dem selves. THere is something so vibrant about the city. So bohemian.

DBoy wrote: THere is something so vibrant about the city.

absolutely. I would love to be able to go live there for awhile.

And it has got such a crazy history too -- being two cities in one during the cold war. Did you get out into old East Berlin DBoy? I went to visit some freinds at a record label in Prenzlauer Berg then decided to just keep wandering and got right into the midst of that grey, concrete leggo block soviet architecture -- was quite surreal.

I lived in a squat for a week with a bunch of artists in the east. Not a pleasant or safe place to stay but mad mad experience.

wikkid

AIRFARE ?
looking to head over to the U:K in may . i have copped a email from the agency i am keen to do business with,asking for a deposit this week . this wat she sent me .

you are right it is the cheapest at $1100 plus taxes of $170. All up $1270. I have put a seat on hold for you for the 15th May one way. To keep this on hold a need a $100 deposit by the end of the week. You can do this

advice please , should i hold off and see if i can get better deal ? or just do it ?

try www.bestflights.com.au and see how cheap you can get them on there -- travel agencies will often match them

elysium wrote:try www.bestflights.com.au and see how cheap you can get them on there -- travel agencies will often match them

thanxs !

i'm heading os in late Feb for 4 weeks.

Flying out of AU into Tokyo ... staying for a night then off to NYC for 3 weeks for 1 week work stuff and 2 weeks of holiday ... will check out Philly and Chicago as well. Am getting an apartment in NYC which should be mad.

Then back via Tokyo again and will be staying there for 7 days ... very exciting as I haven't been to the East Coast of the US or Japan before so should be a real adventure!

Am booking tickets to the Knicks V Bulls game on March 5 as well - looking to go check a NHL game as well. Would even consider going to Philadelphia to see Iverson play.

Have been thinking of doing it for years and finally decided to bite the bullet and do it.

mecka wrote:I posted this in another thread but i'm going to invent a time machine and travel back to the year 1337.

Did everyone ignore your post in the other thread too?

dj awesome wrote:i'm heading os in late Feb for 4 weeks.

Flying out of AU into Tokyo ... staying for a night then off to NYC for 3 weeks for 1 week work stuff and 2 weeks of holiday ... will check out Philly and Chicago as well. Am getting an apartment in NYC which should be mad.

Then back via Tokyo again and will be staying there for 7 days ... very exciting as I haven't been to the East Coast of the US or Japan before so should be a real adventure!

Am booking tickets to the Knicks V Bulls game on March 5 as well - looking to go check a NHL game as well. Would even consider going to Philadelphia to see Iverson play.

Have been thinking of doing it for years and finally decided to bite the bullet and do it.

Madness.

Although I had a bit of a picturing you in Tokyo. You may attract some attention.

A rollercoaster I went on in Japan a few years ago ..

At the time it was the longest, fatsest, biggest and had the greatest incline. So full on it had to be closed once the wind reached a certain number of knots.









Fucking OUT OF CONTROL !!!

that looks mad.

I love roller coasters.

i havent been able to travel since i got back from germany/austria trip about 5 years ago. And it is probably going to be a while before i travel again. But India is definately next. Ive done a lot of Asia and Ive done a fair bit of the west coast of the U.S, a little of Mexico. A friend of mine is currently in Singapore, so I am thinking of going to see him and then jetting on to India. real quick trip, cant be away from the business for too long.

Can someone give me a headz up on travel insurance... who is good, who isn't, what I need etc...

Well its not for me, my girl is going to Europe for 3 months, and was recomended to get travel insurance.

Thanx in advance...

dj awesome wrote:i'm heading os in late Feb for 4 weeks.

Flying out of AU into Tokyo ... staying for a night then off to NYC for 3 weeks for 1 week work stuff and 2 weeks of holiday ... will check out Philly and Chicago as well. Am getting an apartment in NYC which should be mad.

Then back via Tokyo again and will be staying there for 7 days ... very exciting as I haven't been to the East Coast of the US or Japan before so should be a real adventure!

Am booking tickets to the Knicks V Bulls game on March 5 as well - looking to go check a NHL game as well. Would even consider going to Philadelphia to see Iverson play.

Have been thinking of doing it for years and finally decided to bite the bullet and do it.

Shep, you gotta hook me up the NYC apartment deets! Gonna squeeze your brain for NYC juice.

:practicingnewyorkerspeech:

that rollercoaster looks the shit...

I'd love to do Goa... maybe one day...

Kinda just back from nearly 2 years in europe and asia... cities are cities IMO... some are great, but all the same after a while...

this is the view I'd like to wake up to for the rest of my life

been to england, italy, america, sth africa, france, greece... and some other random places


im going to japan in june 2007!