accents!

people always say they meet australians! and apparantly mine is strong enough to distinguish straight away

drugged up

On paracetamol and some german medicine and got to Frankfurt eventually. No doctors open on a Friday, now I know after being referred to doctor to doctor. The hostel I'm staying in is literally next to a sex shop, in the red light district so..not leaving my room at night.. there's some pretty shifty characters during the day but they won't harass you. Frankfurt, I'm only here for a day, it might be alright but on face value there doesnt seem to be a lot other than goethe's house. Super busy place, just masses of people in the streets, and I thought Stuttgart or Muenchen were busy shit, its like christmas sales every day

heidelberg

Heidelberg is possibly the most beautiful little town i have ever been to. I'm staying at the Lotte which is in the Altstadt, 10min from the castle itself. There's probably more tourists here than locals, and I mistook one for a local cos he was riding an old bike with a german flag on it! Unfortunately, I've come down with a fever and dizzy spells so i've been stuck in bed for two days. But Heidelberg ist echt schoen. Lots of young people too which is a nice change, because of the university here. A potential exchange destination..

Stuttgart

So Stuttgart's not that bad. Compared to yesterday's weirdly hostile looking people today was a helluva lot better (Sunday night seems to be the time when the shops are closed and the turks and hard knts come out). I spent a lot of time shopping...so I now either have to decide to abandon some things or accumulate enough to warrant spending probably 100 bucks to ship a whole lot of shit home.

Stuttgart: I'm staying in probably the dodgy area (which seems to be where most hostels are) and walked around koenigstrasse, schlossplatz und schlossgarten etc. Stumbled upon Markthalle on my way home, which has lots of cafes etc and a lot nicer to sit down and eat. Walked around Schlossgarten hoping to go to the Naturkunde Musuem with dinosaurs and shit but it's monday! Geschlossen! scheisse! It's not just a stroll either, its a good K or 2. Massive park, but would be nice to jog through or lie on the grass. The ticket lady at Wilheim was nice enough to let me through (for an Ausschwitz) to use the toilet too. German people are relatively nice - not a lot of asians here so I have to get used to some people almost blatantly staring. Some rude people like some little shits when i passed the playground yelled out random asian phrases they knew, and some old german men i think almost scoff or grumble or something, but it's rare.

Bit more of Stuttgart tomorrow and then finally a much needed relaxing time in Heidelberg.

usw.

In Stuttgart, i could be just short sighted or people like to stare at me. Bit shifty where i'm staying, lots of turks usw. 2 older men so far for room mates, viel Spass. Ulm was nice, stayed over night at Sandra's so I got a nice long sleep. Climbed up the church, 161m, but I must be getting fit from all this travelling cos it wasn't that bad at all. Ulm is like upscale but in a small town way, like melbourne if it was 1/4 the size, sort of.

As the days roll by, the more and more tired I constantly become. But, it's only 3 weeks left, and although I'm getting more and more massively homesick for mein lieber Melbourne I'll make the most of it now cos I can bum around Melbourne as long as I want when i get back...
CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE I GOT A CUTE GERMAN BOY IN MY ROOOOOOOOOOOM, it's looking up now.

Actually, travelling in Jugendherberger isn't so bad, the people are from all over the world and you can kind of report back to them what you did and find out something cool to do in the city you're staying in that you didn't find out before. Age doesn't matter so much, just making the effort to socialise is what it's about, and that makes travelling in foreign cities not so scary. 

BACKLOGGGGGGG

2/3 of the last flight to go. Somehow feels longer than the 16hr flight! Currently around Turkey/Istanbul. So sick of airplane smell. The food smells worse. Just craving sitting down for a nice homely Schnitzel and a refreshing stein of bier. But! This flight I’ve had more room to spread out (a whole middle aisle to myself) so it’s not as bad. I think one of the hosts was interested in me – 20 years too old. Also – more Asian people on this flight to Munich than Germans… like one German family.

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The family is nice – my cousin or something who’s 28 is becoming like my friend/tour guide. The sun in summer lasts well past 9, but only low 20’s so far. I’m absolutely knackered at 10pm.

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Oh man,  I’m tired but awake at about 3:35am here. So my uncle and cousin and I went for a walk around the Altstadt, sehr schoen! The buildings are so nice and it was a Sunday so almost everything was closed. My uncle keeps insisting how dead this town is but I think it’s a nice small town, bigger than Bright. 

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Heute war schoen. Nach dem abendessen war ich nach onkel’s haus, gegangen – scheisse denke ich auf deutsch jetzt. Lang geschichte kurs – den deutschen Freund von irgendetwas war sehr nett…ich will ein deutschen Freund. Ich habe meine cousin (oder etwas) getrennt. Er ist nett, wir haben ein fussball spiel beim geschaefte gesehen mit seine Freunde. Ich hatte das gefuehl wie ein aussenseiter ein bisschen, doch das war normal. Selbstverstaendig. Seine italienischer freund sieht freundlich. Sie sagen sie moechten nach Melbourne urlaub machen jetzt – das wird toll! Jetzt, total muede. 3 biers heute. 500ml ..each. phwoah. Abs are still there.

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bout 3 days in and im already losing my figure. But I bought some cool breezy European pants yesterday so it doesn’t matter so much. I’m gonna cycle more when I get home, wear some normal clothes and cycle to knox usw. Save on petrol money too. I’ve bought a lot of souvenirs already..its only the first town…not even muenchen my initial first town. But im relatively happy with the photos ive gotten so far, a little bit embarrassed to just stand in the street with my camera but I should just not care and do it cos no one knows me really so they can’t judge me..for long. Still lots of room in my bag..if I get rid of those tim tam packets. 

am Anfang

Pure excitement and will power overcame motion sickness for the 16hr flight. Not til after I landed I realised I left my German Rail Pass at home. cool. Currently waiting to get checked in or something in Doha, 35 stinking degrees at 6am.  1hr and 20minutes to kill...