Photos will be uploaded soon

Zagreb 29_300809

After Bled we drove over the border into Croatia towards the capital Zagreb. Same old story, the lads fell asleep as soon as we started down the road, only stopping to get some breakfast. Zagreb isn't the nicest city in the world but worth a visit.
The first night we were there we meet up with some people in the hostel but I could face going out again. The next morning we got up early to get breakfast (getting very tired of bread and jam thats for sure). Meet up with an Australian girl at breakfast who was traveling alone and she decided to come with us for the day.
The weather was unbelievable for the previous but as soon as we got into the city a thunder storm kicked off and lasted the whole day. There isn't much to do in these cities when the weather is bad so we headed back to the hostel, cooked some food and tried to see what the inside of an empty bottle of wine looks like...several times. As it was Luke and Pete and myself were heading different direction the next day there were a lot of roads toasted. One unfortunate out come for me from this was that I managed to damage my glasses. It wasn't my fault, I blame the shopping trolley and the snorkel I was wearing under the glasses at the time.

Ljubljana and Bled 23_280809

The last few days have just kind of rolled in to one big session. After Maribor we moved on down the road to Ljubljana the capital city of Slovenia. All was good, it has a cool old town and some good bars (check out the skeleton bar if you ever find yourself there) but not much happening during the week. The good thing about the hostel was the kitchen. I'm getting tired of eat out all the time. Found somewhere to swim during the day and that was us set. We stayed in Ljubljana for three days, while there we heard about a cool tourist town to visit called Bled about an hour down the road.
In Bled you can do loads of adventure sports, (river rafting, sky diving, etc.) . The boys didn't really have the money and I wasn't too bothered and when we meet about ten Irish women and a few Scottish lads the days kind of planned themselves, swimming in the lake...food ....beer.
On the last night I got talking to a couple who had drove from Scotland to Greece and were on there way back to the UK. It was just good to find out what problems they had, how to avoid tolls and what was in store for the next week.

Maribor 220809

After Vienna, Peter and Luke the two Ozzie's, decided to stay with me until Zagreb in Croatia. The plan thus far is to drive around Slovenia for about a week then head for Croatia. Im happy enough with that as there a good laugh and they stop me from falling asleep while im driving (Pete never shuts up ...:) )

Drove for about an hour from Vienna and reached the Slovenian border. First thing I love about Slovenia...tourists don't have to pay tolls on the road......second beer is half the price of any place iv been so far (2.40 euro). Id definitely come back.

First city was Maribor. It was a nice place but we had a strange experience with our hostel manager. Maribor is a fairly small city and only has one real youth hostel which a 50/60 year old English women runs. Anyways it was fairly obvious very quickly that she was a bit lonely like an idiot I asked her if she wanted to join us for a drink. Well she was dressed and taxi called within 15 minutes. It was all going ok at first and she brought us to some cool bars around the town but then she started asking us some weird questions and feeling us all up. If im honest, she fancied the boys more than me. Im very happy that I was not her “ favorite little boy ” but bit of a blow to the ego all the same .....:) :) We didn't think she was going rape us and then pack us into a freezer or anything like that but the city wasn't that good and the hostel was crap so we didn't stay the second night as planned. Before you laugh iv seen “Hostel” 1,2 and 3. I probably would have stayed the second night but the other two were too afraid ......:0 isn't that right Pete and Luke

Day 9 / 10 Vienna

Road to Vienna


Arrived in Vienna a little after 4 and found our hostel for the next two nights.We didn't go out that night because we were all destroyed from the previous night so just hung around the hostel playing cards. Unfortunately for us the hostel had been taken over by a religious prayer group who were spending a week on a retreat praying in the hostel.....I didn't understand it either.

The next day we done some site seeing in the morning. Vienna is a beautiful city but I have to admit I am and thankfully the two boys are, pretty shit tourists. After two hours walking around the city in 30 deg heat, we decided to find the spot on the river running along side the city where we could swim.That was the best part of the day by far.Just relaxed and burned the hell out of myself.
We went out that night to an Australian pub some where I had my first taste of a veggiemight toasty and it was alright when your drunk. Good night out but the 4 km walk home wasn't so good.

Day 8 1485 miles on the clock

Zurich

The last few days have just flown bye. After leaving France I went straight to Zürich. Having lived there for a summer, I kind of knew my way around and had seen a lot of the tourist stuff already. My plan in Zürich was just to meet some of my old flat mates and just to chill out for a few days.
On the Monday night I meet up with Lukas and Pit for a few drinks. It was cool to meet them again and talk about some of the stuff that happened when we lived there. It was hard to believe that it had been 3 years since I had meet them last.
The next day I didn't really get up to much, just had a walk around the city and went for a swim in the lake which is right on the edge of the city. The water was quality and so was the talent walking around it.
That night I stayed in the hostel and had a few drinks with some people who were there for the night.

The next day I had to check out around 10. Got my stuff together and decided to drive to Innsbruck in Austria. Stopped off along the way a few time just to have a look around but basically floored it all the way.
Stayed in shitty hostel in Innsbruck with a Neo-Nazie in the opposite bed, but meet up with two young Ozzie guys and went out with them for the night. It was a good laugh but one of the lads after we got back spent the night driving the porcelain bus. As all three of us were heading towards Vienna the next day I said id give them a lift.

Day 4 160809 776 miles on the clock

Camping outside Orleans

Woke up in the morning to a German guy and his wife knocking or scratching on my tent trying to get my attention.....well they did. Apparently there tent was the same type as mine (self erecting....easy to set up but a bitch to pack away again..bit like myself I suppose) and they had spent the previous hour trying to pack it away. Anyways long story short I got up and packed the fucker tent away in seconds (he was sickened) and walked away happy as fuck until I stubbed my toe on a rock. Hid away in the tent for about an hour after that.
I had a great start to the day traveling through back roads and little towns and villages. Ya you can drive 90 or 100 mph on the highway but there boring as hell. Hopefully try and do the same again tomorrow.
Stopped off for lunch in city call Dijon. Had a quick walk around the city but as it was Sunday most things were closed. Nothing much happened for the rest of the day. I tried to couchsurf in Besancon but unfortunately due to the short notice no one was able to host me so I found another camp site and pitched the tent again. Went for a quick run then into the pool for the evening. Tomorrow a Hostel in Zurich. These campsites are cheap and handy (7 euro tonight) but there is absolutely no craic around.

Day 3 150809

It was hard to get out of the bed after the night before but it had to be done. My trusty medical was called into play and sorted me out. I had breakfast at Gantans and utilized his internet for about an hour trying to find a good p;lace to stay for the next two nights in Orleans (about 200 miles away from Caen and Besancon close to the Swiss border. I said my goodbyes to Marie and Gantan and got some supplies in the supermarket. It was time to give this camping craic a go so I got the address of a good campsite and hit the road.
After getting robbed by 5 toll booths on the way down I finally got to the campsite, payed 10 euro and set up for the night.I had to repacked the car because I had my stuff all over the place and dumped a load of crap that I didnt need

Day2 140809 First Day in France

The boat docked in Cherbourg at 15:00 and we were off in minutes. The whole process was quick and easy and it wasn't long before I was on my way to Caen.
A few days before I left home,using the website couchsurfing.org I organized a place to stay in Caen, a city about one and a half hours drive from Cherbourg. Thankfully I am so happy to say Suzie SatNav worked perfectly and brought be right to the front door of my accommodation for the night.

The couple who let me stay in there house for the night were Marie and Ganten. Both around 35, born and raised in Cane. First I was shown where I was staying, a massive room with a double bed ( not bad considering its free) then after I changed out of my winter clothes from Ireland in to a pair of shorts (28 deg outside) they tock me sight seeing around the city. Apparently Cane is where William the Conquer was born. After an hour of walking we started drinking. Gantans best friend who is also very involved in couchsurfing was hosting two Swedish girls for that night so they decided to have a bbq and and beer. Needless to say I was happy out. It was a good start to the trip.

Day 1 13/08/09 226 miles on the clock

Rosslare


Left home around 08:30. It was the best time to leave, everyone in the house was either gone or leaving for work and I really do hate goodbyes. Even dough I come and go so often with work, I still cant get used to it. If it was up to me I would quietly slip out the back door and hit the road, sending a group text an hour later saying 'take it easy, see ya in a few months'.Probably wouldn't be let back into the house if I done that. It was particularly hard this time because I was home for so long, seeing all the family, working with the three chiefs and going on the beer with the lads. But having said all that, by the last week I was getting the itchy feet again (the doctor said there was nothing that could be done......). Time to move Made my way down to Wexford anyways with feck all help from Suzie the SatNav (thought Id give her a name as there is only going to be the two of us talking in the car for a while so we might as well be on a first name basis). She led me up every country road possible and ended up nearly going into some bucks field to pick up a trailer of grass at one stage. Its been a while since iv been in Wexford , at least 8 or 9 years. I was surprised that I remembered some of the places I passed through. I even spotted the road that would take you up and over the hill and down to the church where my Aunty's has a shop across the way. I was so delighted with myself that I tried to show the driver in front of me how happy I was by almost converting his BMW estate into a hatchback. Wouldn't have been a good move. Giving him the two fingers as I over took his ass was the proper course of action, Suzie agreed..

Made it to the boat a little over three hours early...note to self, 'read the bloody departure time on the ticket probably next time'. Id swear Im dyslexic but the teachers in school would never admit it so that I wouldn't get the extra time in exams. Probably would have got all A's if they had.

So im in the queue 3 hours before I should be and if you have never been at Rosslare Port before, my only advice is, go at the right time and read the signs , once your in its hard getting back out. It was a bit like being at the top of a massive queue for a toll bridge and realizing you have no change in the car and you left your wallet back in the house with the dog minding it for ya or meeting a car on a one way street and realizing your the retard. Anyways the roughish good looks and a splash of charm helped sort out that problem.

Made it on the boat in one piece anyways but strangely enough seeing as I was the first in the queue (as I was so early), its funny that I was the last one to drive on to the boat.......a story for another day. Driving on the wrong side of the road tomorrow .......what could possibly go wrong.

Pre-departure

Iranian and Pakistan Visa's in the passport. Carnet de passage (car passport) sorted. 11 year old car....has 4 wheels. Spare key for the day I lose the original. Baseball bat for when I need to open a can of beans in a hurry. My kettle for when I want to spill boiling water over my hand. Three man tent for the nights I meet a hot swedish chick and her equally hot friend. Compass....for finding the car in the dark after a skip of pints. Medical kit filled with hangover cures, baby prevention plastic and 1 plaster, incase of an accident. The thickest sleeping bag I could find..suitable for the arctic because I hear Iran has really being effected by global warming. No real destination, map or plan to take me there, sure ill figure it out along the way.