a summary of six months since.......
as i sit in the lounge bar of a very swanky hong kong place i feel like i've come full circle. yet again i am bound for europe and do so having not kept you up to date with the last months of stage 2 travels in europe.
rather than detailing everything that went on, i will (probably to the great distaste of some readers) only give a brief thumbnail of the events.
Italy:
after adopting our mafia names, "dangerous dave" couventry, richard "dickie 7 slices" large and matty "2 prongs" ho set about reeking havoc throughout northern italy. upon arrival in pisa we flagrantly ignored our parking ticket, parked in one of the most blatent no-parking zones ever (directly out the front of the leaning tower complex in the bus zone) before driving at excessive speeds (thanks dave)to meet our hosts (marco and his family)who had no idea that there would be three of us and not two.....and that was within the first 12 hours.
thankfully, no more parking tickets because this would have distracted us from the wine we took it upon ourselves to try....basically anywhere we could!!
Berlin:
back to berlin to catch up with the girlfriend. not really sure how far to go on that one...since most already know everything i've been advised to leave it there. berlin is an awesome city. each time i go there i find myself more and more settled. unfortunately my great lack of ability in the german language made me feel very isolated at times. nonetheless, i would strongly recommend it as a place to spend a week or more if you have the time.
Amsterdam:
being met by a naked russian male is not necessarily the best introduction to an "insiders view on amsterdam"....mind you we made sure that we walked up the stairs to his 3rd floor apartment ahead of him!!
despite his very cultural attraction to paying for sex with prostitutes, serge was a wonderful host and showed us some little niches of amsterdam that wouldn't find by yourself. nonetheless, despite the lack of snow, my first christmas in europe was not disappointing and i will take this moment to thank serge for his hospitality and rod (a fellow australian x'mas orphan) for the weekend.
Paris:
new years in paris at rod's place!!! as things declined into outright war as far as the housemates were concerned, the house party at rod's for new years was a welcome relief to running around trying to find something special to do. complete with a contingent of russians who insisted on doing shots of vodka for every time-zone on the planet (unfortunately by the time midnight came in paris it had already been through new zealand, australia and most of russia). nonetheless, the party continued as our russian friends staggered out (not...how the hell do they drink that much vodka and stay upright?!!?) in search of some place else (given that serge was amongst them) to get naked with high class (paid) women....it's a russian thing??
London:
finally, after much excitement, i finally entered the united kingdom. nowhere near as expensive as i thought it was going to be (given that i was taken for dinner on each of my three nights there) the overall feel was exactly as i expected.....take me back to paris!! i'm sorry to all of my english mates and, as i head back there in less than 12 hours, i am sure that i will change my mind. however, london felt like a big drain on the soul. the architecture, whilst amazing, was tempered by the fact that when you build something in light-grey stone it will absorb water and look even dirtier than it already does. it was this simple fact of colour that confirmed that spending an extended period of time there was not high on the priority list...however, on the other side i know that first impressions are not always the correct one and am looking forward to giving it another go.
for a number of months, i returned to australia, worked, wined and dined and packed. after seeing friends get married, have babies, have more babies or just get bigger in the belly it was time (after yet another going away party....although at least this time it was a dinner) to venture off again.
and so we find ourselves sitting in Tsai Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong getting ready to set off for europe. so, in a completed circle i finish this blog. the next travels will continue to be updated as always however they may move to another site simple becuase this site enables you, the reader, to register so that you will know when the next episode arrives. i'm not set on this idea yet so your feedback will be welcome. (yes craig......i know collingwood fixed the match so you guys could win).
miss you ALL.
big bises,
Matty "santa 2 prongs" Ho xox
rather than detailing everything that went on, i will (probably to the great distaste of some readers) only give a brief thumbnail of the events.
Italy:
after adopting our mafia names, "dangerous dave" couventry, richard "dickie 7 slices" large and matty "2 prongs" ho set about reeking havoc throughout northern italy. upon arrival in pisa we flagrantly ignored our parking ticket, parked in one of the most blatent no-parking zones ever (directly out the front of the leaning tower complex in the bus zone) before driving at excessive speeds (thanks dave)to meet our hosts (marco and his family)who had no idea that there would be three of us and not two.....and that was within the first 12 hours.
thankfully, no more parking tickets because this would have distracted us from the wine we took it upon ourselves to try....basically anywhere we could!!
Berlin:
back to berlin to catch up with the girlfriend. not really sure how far to go on that one...since most already know everything i've been advised to leave it there. berlin is an awesome city. each time i go there i find myself more and more settled. unfortunately my great lack of ability in the german language made me feel very isolated at times. nonetheless, i would strongly recommend it as a place to spend a week or more if you have the time.
Amsterdam:
being met by a naked russian male is not necessarily the best introduction to an "insiders view on amsterdam"....mind you we made sure that we walked up the stairs to his 3rd floor apartment ahead of him!!
despite his very cultural attraction to paying for sex with prostitutes, serge was a wonderful host and showed us some little niches of amsterdam that wouldn't find by yourself. nonetheless, despite the lack of snow, my first christmas in europe was not disappointing and i will take this moment to thank serge for his hospitality and rod (a fellow australian x'mas orphan) for the weekend.
Paris:
new years in paris at rod's place!!! as things declined into outright war as far as the housemates were concerned, the house party at rod's for new years was a welcome relief to running around trying to find something special to do. complete with a contingent of russians who insisted on doing shots of vodka for every time-zone on the planet (unfortunately by the time midnight came in paris it had already been through new zealand, australia and most of russia). nonetheless, the party continued as our russian friends staggered out (not...how the hell do they drink that much vodka and stay upright?!!?) in search of some place else (given that serge was amongst them) to get naked with high class (paid) women....it's a russian thing??
London:
finally, after much excitement, i finally entered the united kingdom. nowhere near as expensive as i thought it was going to be (given that i was taken for dinner on each of my three nights there) the overall feel was exactly as i expected.....take me back to paris!! i'm sorry to all of my english mates and, as i head back there in less than 12 hours, i am sure that i will change my mind. however, london felt like a big drain on the soul. the architecture, whilst amazing, was tempered by the fact that when you build something in light-grey stone it will absorb water and look even dirtier than it already does. it was this simple fact of colour that confirmed that spending an extended period of time there was not high on the priority list...however, on the other side i know that first impressions are not always the correct one and am looking forward to giving it another go.
for a number of months, i returned to australia, worked, wined and dined and packed. after seeing friends get married, have babies, have more babies or just get bigger in the belly it was time (after yet another going away party....although at least this time it was a dinner) to venture off again.
and so we find ourselves sitting in Tsai Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong getting ready to set off for europe. so, in a completed circle i finish this blog. the next travels will continue to be updated as always however they may move to another site simple becuase this site enables you, the reader, to register so that you will know when the next episode arrives. i'm not set on this idea yet so your feedback will be welcome. (yes craig......i know collingwood fixed the match so you guys could win).
miss you ALL.
big bises,
Matty "santa 2 prongs" Ho xox
posted by santas walkabout at 2:00 am
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