Europe Photo Dump #4

Europe Photo Dump #3

Europe Photo Dump #2

Europe Photo Dump #1

Below is a collection of photos from my 35mm film camera, in no particular order. This is the first in a series of 6 photo dumps.

Perth

From Budapest I traveled back to London for the last leg of my stint.
It was a fairly uneventful few weeks; I spent a lot of my time making friends at the hostel and shopping with the little money I had left. Oxford st managed to take the last of my savings.

I stayed at a hostel in Shepherd's Bush, just east of the city center. It was a good time to catch up on some much needed rest before my flight back into Perth.

I flew back into Perth on November 17, 2011 and back to reality...at least for a little while.

Go to Budapest

It was a phrase I'd heard over and over during my travels. "Go To Budapest!".

From Barcelona Joe and Ali went to France. I had just over a month left until I flew home. I decided to listen to everyone's advice and travel solo to Hungary's capitol.

After a big night in Barcelona with Ali; where I tried my hand at karaoke for the first and last time, I boarded a plane for Budapest. The 5 am flight was wretched. I realised I was still drunk when I tried to get on the plane without checking in. I was escorted off the plane with my backpack and made to check in before I could re-board.

I made it to Budapest later that morning, tired and hungover. 

It didn't take me long to see what all the fuss was about. The city is a magical place, almost something out of a storybook. Budapest Castle, and the Castle District as a backdrop to the city really set this scene.

Budapest is a beautiful city, full of contrast and colour. During the day I would walk through the scenic Central Park, and cross over the city's stunning Chain Bridge, and by night I would party in underground bars and clubs hidden in alleyways and beneath the subway.

Budapest was a different experience to the rest of Europe, largely because I was travelling solo.
I was lucky enough to meet some great people at my hostel however, including a Canadian girl; Justine who'm I spent a lot of time with.

Other must do's in Budapest include visiting the towns baths; where your able to lounge in 40 degree water all day, Great Market Hall, and the array of nightclubs and bars; Budapest is known to have some of the best nightlife in Europe. I found this link useful; We Love Budapest-Nightlife

Chain Bridge

The Castle District

Tres cerveza por favor

After an alcohol fueled week at Oktoberfest Mel was homeward bound.

She left Joe and I to gallivant around Europe, a bit worrying I know. The first order of business was Amsterdam. We figured we'd try to get most of our partying out of the way, and eventually move on to France and then Barcelona; Europe's skateboarding capitol.

Proceeding what was certainly an eventful few weeks making our way around The Netherlands (all mentioned in a previous post; (The Netherlands) , we boarded a train to Metz; France to meet up with our friend Anthony.

Metz is a town in Central/Northern France. Anthony would often complain of the weather and was very spiteful of those living in Southern France. I must admit it did rain a little, but not enough to stop us from having a great time.

Anthony was very accommodating; he cooked for us, taught us how to pick up French women and took us skateboarding all over Metz, including a day trip to Luxembourg; a landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France and Germany. 

I was back in my favorite European city; the beers and the smiles were flowing. After a week in Barcelona Joe and I were upgraded to our own private apartment at the top of our hostel.

We soon organised to meet up with our friend Ali, who was in the UK. Ali rolled into Barcelona to join the party. We were really soaking in the Barcelona lifestyle. Our routine was as follows;

After two weeks in Metz we bid farewell to Anthony and headed towards Barcelona.

• 2.00 pm: Wake up

• 3.00 pm: Lunch

• 4.00 pm: Skate until sundown

• 8.00 pm: Pick up beers on the way home

• 10.00 pm : Dinner and drinking

• 12.00 am : Jump on the metro and party on

After 5 weeks of this you think we would have tired, but Barcelona never disappoints.

We also met some good people at our hostel; a group of loud and obnoxious American girls who turned out to be great company, and 5 British lads who were also in Barcelona for invariably the same reason as us; to skate and party. We spent a few weeks with them visiting some of Barcelona's most prominent skate spots.

Some highlights of our time in Barcelona included a run in with a drug dealer, skateboarding at some of the world's most famous spots, karaoke with Ali, being kicked by a prostitute, the countless nights out and the endless 1 Euro beers that were consumed beach-side.