I am in love............with Valencia

You feel like the city is yours alone, even when there is people everywhere


Hundreds of little twisty cobblestoned streets that you can get lost in and find amazing little tapas bars or courtyards in unexpected places

Oranges and the scent of orange blossoms line the streets and 14km of gardens run through the city centre

The beach is a short bus ride away, full of happy, smiling, free people and feels like walking into a warm bath - where you can buy cold beer, a massage or an icecream

The church bells chime every hour and ancient ruins are housed in the city centre







People are warm, friendly - welcoming - not afraid to try their English or to make sure you understand their Spanish

I could see myself living here

Stupid questions people ask (and expect you to know the answer to....)

So how much will my bank in America charge me when I make ATM withdrawals? Gee I don't know, just let me phone them and find out

Can I take my umbrella on a plane? Might be an idea to ask an AIRLINE genius

Does this service stop have boiling water for my tea bags?

Is the overnight train to Portugal better than the other one? Well considering we offer a BUS service, I'm not going to know that much about trains am I.....

Isn't a photocopy of my passport enough for presentation at the border? Sure, the border guards are pretty relaxed

How much money do I need to withdraw for my next three days? Well that really depends, are you planning on taking me out for drinks while I think about it?!?!

Do these stairs go down? True story.

How do I get to my (non recommended, in the sticks, off the map) hostel? Heard of google maps buddy.....

Oh hi, I know its your day off but can you show me how to use a computer? Sure I can't think of anything I would rather do, after all, it is my job

What language do they speak in France? German. Obviously.

Is this bag yours? I'm not sure. What does it look like. Ummm it's red. Ok this is the only red bag so it must be yours? Ummm I don't know....

days on and days off

Prague Old Town Square

Days off in prague..........lovely Italian owners of the hostel bar plying us with free food and beer, big sleep in, massive thunder storm and lightning struck the hostel, pub crawl in the old town with 2 awesome passengers - vodka shots, beers, vodka redbull, jager shots, who knows what else........dancing like a crazy till 3.30am, finding the 5 level club but not being able to find our way up past the second level ha ha ha great night!

Another big sleep in and then back into the old town for the best goulash that i have found yet.........but as my Hungarian friend says, i havent yet been to Hungary

Had my first chucker on the bus on the way to Grunau............not impressed, i almost didnt let the 5 of them on as they were all obviously still wasted............luckily they took that hint at my "suggestion" to get off in Grunau instead of Salzburg that they were supposed to be heading to..........hopefully not the first of many........

Xavier in shock at the size of the free beer at Munich Wombats -
I mean this is the home of 1 litre steins!!

Days off in Munich were a nice change - i did NORMAL things, read my book, got a mani and a pedi yesterday and spent the whole day shopping today........not sure how my suitcase is going to do up now i have 2 more dresses and 2 more pairs of shoes (LOVE H&M!).........so i realised the other day that i have SEVEN pairs of shoes in my case. now NINE. maybe a bit ridiculous?!

Italy here i come!