Amazing food - fresh and well prepared. The fresh squeezed juices in ice cold oddly shaped cups was a nice treat.

Tried Black Pudding for the first time - not bad actually.

After breakfast we went for a walk along the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Walked past the Tower of London.

Spent the afternoon wondering around the Imperial War Museum - amazing and very interesting!!! Lots of interesting artefacts and a very touching and moving exhibition on the Jewish experience. There was also a very open and challenging exhibition about torture in the Museum.

Therese and Sarah cooked a fantastic roast dinner - pity they didn’t do the Yorkshire Pudding though!!

written by  Tickles on April 16, 2006 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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Lots of noise and I almost got lynched when I clapped for the away team scoring a goal!!!

It says a lot about the community that they actually have a law the stops away supporters from being allowed to sit in the same areas of a football ground as home supporters.

It’s just a game - get some perspective.

written by  Tickles on April 17, 2006 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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Visited the Cabinet War Rooms (including the Churchill Museum). Quite interesting.

It is interesting to think about and reflect on how the fortunates and impact Churchill had on both British and Australian political and military history.

19 April 2006 - London

Spent the day preparing myself for a trip to Venice tomorrow and then on to Turkey the day after.

written by  Tickles on April 18, 2006 from London, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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Travelling with a large group of Brett’s work colleagues for this day trip.

Venice is nicer than I was expecting - I had heard lots of stories about the smell and how dirty it was, but I actually found the place to be very nice. We spent most of the day just wondering around - it’s easy to get lost for a short while, but you always end up back on one of the main paths.

We had a lovely pizza for lunch at a quiet little Ma and Pa restaurant in the back of Venice - great traditional pizza and home brewed red wine - fantastic. Topped of my the violins and the local cat visiting us.

Dinner was at a nice restaurant on the edge of the main canal - pasta was the order of the day. A tad expensive for what we ordered, but it was in the main tourist area.

Our flight left at about 10pm and we arrived back at Stansted at about 10.30pm - due to typical British inefficiency and poor customer service it took a further 3 hours to get through Immigration Control - it was about 3am before we got home and I had to be up and out the house at 6am to make my flight to Turkey.

written by  Tickles on April 20, 2006 from Venice, Italy
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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Traffic was something that can only be seen to be believed - bumper to bumper and there is really no rules except for the largest and brashest and most constant horn driver taking priority.

Whilst sitting in the bus in a traffic jam we saw a young run coming sprinting up the street with a crowd of people in pursuit. Just as he crossed in front of us, one of the pursuers grabbed him and pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the young guys head. A tad freaky. The tour guide informed us (after getting off the bus ant joining the crowd) that the young guy was a pickpocket and the person with the gun was an undercover police officer. Whilst the crowd was waiting for the uniformed officers to arrive they pummelled the young guy - they take a very very dim view of crime obviously.

Finally got to the hotel at about 1800hrs - had an argument with the reception - they want to take my passport and hold on to it for a while, told them they had two chances of that ever happening - buckleys and none.

After dropping my bags in the room (my room mate had yet to arrive) I went down to the reception to meet our “Topdeck” Rep - Sarah Hopkins - and several other tour participants. We all went out for drinks on the local party strip at a place called “Just Bar”. There we meet several other Topdeck tour group participants and guides.

Dinner consisted of a few kebabs from the side of the street (possible not a smart start) and looks of “Efes” beer 0 until the early hours of the morning.

My roommate was there when I arrived back - we were impressed that a Muslim country could show porn on TV at night - interesting contrast in value systems!!

written by  Tickles on April 21, 2006 from Istanbul, Turkey
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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A few of the tour participants who had booked in Australia (9 day tour - those who booked in Europe were on an 8 day tour) were taken on a bus tour of Istanbul today. Tour consisted of a visit to overlook the Golden Horn, to look around Mini-Ataturk (a miniature display of historic and significant Turkish sites) and the Transport Museum.

In the afternoon, after much bugging of the Tour Guide (Cengis) we visit the Grand Bazaar for a short time (about 40 minutes). An interesting experience, one you have to do, but not something I really enjoyed. Hard sellers and very demanding - certainly not somewhere you just think you’re going to be able to wonder around and browse. It was mentally and physically exhausting.

One of the really great experiences of the day was trying a wide range of cay - these people really do know how to make a great tea.

Getting more and more excited about going to Gallipoli - especially as we see more and more Australians around.

Another hard night at “Just Bar”!! Only had a slightly sensitive stomach this morning from last nights kebabs - so we had more again!!

written by  Tickles on April 22, 2006 from Istanbul, Turkey
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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We were told that legend has it that the Medusa heads in the Cistern are upside down because a worker got the shits with his boss and laid them incorrectly as pay back.

You really come to appreciate the history of this place when you wonder around Topkapi Palace and see how worn the granite steps are - you can only imagine how long they’ve been around to be so worn down.

Highlight of the day was a decision to go and watch the ANZAC Fanatics play a local soccer team in their annual ANZAC game. The tour guide wasn’t keen to go, but as the tour had technically finished I offered to take a group with me - in the end the whole tour group came along. Lots of drink and cheering and mixing with the locals, streakers - it was great fun - even if the ANZACS did lose in a penalty shootout. All money raised by the Fanatics on the day (from drinks, food and memorabilia) was given to the local soccer team to give to local charities.

This evening we had a cruise on the Bosphorous starting at dusk - it was spectacular. The cruise included a number of other Topdeck and Fez tour groups and there was lots of drinking and further partying at “Just Bar” afterwards - only downside was that Peter (roommate) managed to lock me out - he crashed and burned - and reception couldn’t open the door with their master key - ended up sleeping in reception, not a great experience.

Tomorrow we head to Gallipoli - there is a strange feeling amongst the group.

A quote from “Right Turn at Istanbul”:

‘You know why you go there don’t you…that’s where your people learned that they were different from the English. You found your soul there, so you have to keep coming back to pay your respects. Your country started there, and so did our country. You know about Ataturk? If he hadn’t fought your grandfathers at Gallipoli, he wouldn’t have become the man to save Turkey and make it a new independent country.’

written by  Tickles on April 23, 2006 from Istanbul, Turkey
from the travel blog: First European Adventure - A Gallipoli Experience
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