Thursday, July 10, 2014

DAY 19 - Prague, Czech Republic

Kia Ora Guys,

It’s the two kiwis here, Tameka & Usale & welcome to Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC!

Our journey today started around 9am with a 3hour tour around the Prague Castle which is the
official residence and office of the President of the Czech Republic.



 
We then had 2 hours for lunch with a challenge of finding our own way from Prague Castle to Charles Bridge. For lunch we made our way to the famous restaurant ‘Lokal’ for a typical Czech dish ‘Smažený sýr’ which is Fried Cheese. Once everyone found their way to Charles Bridge we met up with our tour guide again and he then showed us around the Old town including the Old New Synagogue, Old Town Square and Astronomical Clock, the John Lennon Wall, Franz Kafka monument and many other beautiful places around the city.






By that time everyones feet were hurting from walking so much but that didn’t stop us from having another 2 hours free time for shopping.

After returning to the hotel, we had an hour to chill where some of us went swimming and others went and got manicures & pedicures.

Dinner was then served at the hotel with an emotional speech from the main man, Raphael.. second to last dinner of the trip.. noooo ); 11pm was bedtime so between that time we had time for swimming,
massages & the sauna. Overall Prague treated us well except for the weather which was a drizzle of
rain!

Peace & love xxxx
Tameka & Usale from New Zeland

DAY 18 - Vienna, Austria / Bratislava, Slovakia / Prague, Czech Republic

We sadly had to say "see you later" to Hannah in Vienna this morning cuz she was going to have a new trip with her parents.

We left the city of music, Vienna, and went to Slovakia. After one hour of bus driving, we arrived to Bratislava, Slovakia where is Petra's home country!!! We began the city tour. We were so impressed that Bratislava is a much more beautiful city than what we thought.We saw the castle and some buildings with interesting stories. We learned some holiday traditions there; it was different, but cool. For example, on Easter, boys hit girls with the whips to show their strength, and boys splash water on girls, who they like to wish them beautiful year. It's quite interesting. And by the way, Slovakia is mega cheap.






 
 There was a statue called MAN AT WORK; the tour guide told us, if you touch his head, it could make you have a good luck, but don't touch his nose!!!!! otherwise you'll get pregnant, but for sure it's just a saying.


 
After the city tour, we had free time for lunch; we followed Raphael to find typical Slovakian food as always. We thought this idea would always be right, but we didn't know the typical food was more special than our thoughts. Vivi ordered the most typical one, which was made out of goat cheese; it was too cheesy and too special for us to eat, and she didn't even finish half plate.
 
 
Typical food for Slovakia, called: Halusky
 
We were then on the way to Prague. And the streets were so bumpy. Five hours later we arrived to the hotel. After the dinner we went out to take the walk to see the night view of the city. The view was awesome, we totally fall in love with the city.We are looking forward to seeing the Prague during the day.
 
 

By Vivi Lo and Winnie Chen from Taiwan

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

DAY 17 - Vienna, Austria

Today we started our day with a fantastic breakfast that even offered Kaiserschmarren and Leberkäse which made it an authentic Austrian experience.


After we fueled our bodies with a beautiful breakfast, then we started off our city tour with a bus ride around town. We saw places like the Stadtpark with the Johann Strauss Statue or the Votivkirche, the Mexikokirche, the Gürtel, the Heldenplatz, and much, much more.
We then got off the bus to walk around the Belvedere Gardens. Here we heard about Prinz Eugen and why he was such an important character in the Austrian History. We then went to the Volksgarten, where we saw the Sisi memorial.
Afterwards we started exploring the city by foot and saw remarkable buildings like the "Building Without Eyebrows", the Stephansdom, the Minoritenkirche, the president, the Hofburg and the Nationalbibliothek.


Yeah, that's right. We saw the president. He kissed me (Luisa) on the cheek. No big deal.


At noon we had two hours of free time to enjoy typical Austrian cuisine such as Schnitzel or a salad in a traditional Wiener Beisl. (Some of us went to Subway, but we don't talk about them)


In the afternoon we went to the Mozarthaus in the first district to learn more about an important person in Austrian cultural history, a man called Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in his former apartment.


We ended our stay in the downtown of Vienna with a Fiaker ride to some of Vienna's most historical sites.


After dinner some of us will go to the opera to experience more of the music culture.


Luisa Gartner (Austria) & Louis Hefford (New Zeland) 



Stop at Belvedere Castle


Andres in front of the Belvedere gardens






Shanon and Karen in one of the statues from Egypt.



And our tour continues...






Fiaker Ride with Ellen, Emily, Sarah and Tegan



Connor, Andres, Luciana and Andrea



Liam, Emma, Darcy and Alex



Athena, Tameka and Usale



Louis, Heidi, Hannah and Louisa.



and we met the President of Austria...


Monday, July 7, 2014

DAY 16 - Budapest, Hungary / Vienna, Austria

Today, we drove 4 hours from Budapest to Vienna and here we visited Schonbrunn. We stopped by supermarket to buy some food. After that we went picnic at the park in Schonbrunn and we had  lot of fun.





Then we met our you guide. She showed us the outside of the castle, which is full of trees and flowers. It was so beautiful.













Then we went into the 44 rooms inside of the Schonbrunn Castle and we learnt so many new things about the history of Austria. It was so interesting. After that we went into the nice hotel Renaissance. inside the hotel it looks so luxurious. There is a pool, sauna, fitness etc.

So we swam in the swimming pool. It was so much fun and we ended our day with Sandy's birthday celebration at the hotel and Hannah's piano playing. 













by Lunlana Khunavoratham (Thailand) and Hsin Li (Taiwan)

Sunday, July 6, 2014

DAY 15 - Budapest, Hungary

G'day fellas of the internet,

For the Belo exchange tour today we explored around Budapest in Hungary. After a beautiful buffet breakfast, we drove to the former royal palace as well as a breath-taking view over Budapest. With Budapest formerly being separated into two cities, Buda and Pest separated by the Danube River, we looked upon the former city of Pest, the flat city. After walking down a beautiful old street, we came to Stefan's Church, with a gorgeous and colourful ceramic roof. With another beautiful sight of Pest, that called for a group photo (and of course, plenty of selfies!!).
 
 
 
 



 
 We then headed back onto the bus, and drove into the city of Pest, for a seated city tour on the bus. Taking in the rich history and exquisite archetectual designs of the buildings, we awed over Budapest (seemingly every building in Budapest was built in 1896). Then we got off at the Parliament building, we had a guided tour through the Parliament of Hungary. The gorgeous old building is still being used as parliamentary meeting grounds, it is also a museum housing the original Hungarian crown, which is very, very old.
 


 
Then we met in the centre for a lunch break. Some people got lost looking for Subway, some people had Italian, and some people kicked a massive FIFA football. However, everyone filled their tanks and explored Budapest at the same time. After regrouping, we journeyed to one of the most famous Budapest thermal pools. With pools situated in beautiful, old bulidings, everyone had a relaxing time getting sweaty in pools of people sweat. Despite that it was enjoyable.



Finally we went to dinner in Buda. Having dinner in a wine cellar turned restaurant, we were entertained by traditional Hungarian dancers and musicians whilst enjoying a delightful Hungarian meal. Some lucky, or unlucky kids, got called up to perform some dancing routines as well, and got apple juice shot into their mouths by the waiters. Everyone had such a fun day, and Budapest is a very beautiful city.

By Alex "Gorm" Keen (New Zealand) and Liam "Shrivel" Mackay (Australia)

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Day 14 - Lido de Jesolo, Italy/ Postojna, Slovenia/ Budapest, Hungary

Today we once again hit the road; this time heading north-east;through picturesque northern Italy, gorgeous Slovenia and all the way up to Budapest, Hungary. 


The undeniable highlight of the day was our stop in Postojna, Slovenia; sight of the well-known Postojna caves. We got our tickets and boarded a cute makehift train that took us a very long two kilometers  underground.



I was initially taken back by its depth and size  and obviously the sheer beauty of the rocks. They come in all shapes and sizes; coincidently coming in different ages.


We then had a tour around some of the caves “galleries” which were incredible and it was great to explore  something natural on the tour. I was very impressed and would love to see similar places around the world.





Today we passed through three countries and an amazing cave and we’re all really looking forward to tomorrow’s tour of Budapest. 

Darcy Matthews (AUS)