and here are the photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macartnotwar/tags/europe/

:)

i'd also like to delayed-post that i almost got mugged in Paris by a big fat-middle eastern guy offering "directions", so if you are reading this, Big Fat-Middle Eastern Guy: sucked in you fat-fuck, you didn't get me. I hope you trod in more dog shit and get mugged when you're in a foreign country! And yes, i did have a camera.

thanks, i feel purged:)

and thanks for keeping up with my travels, everyone.

If you get bored during the downtime, go back and read all of Donny D's comments... priceless! I hope you find a new blog to post comments on, dad:)

stay tuned for more MacNeil Travel Tales!

One week between posts. Yep, i'm a slack bitch:)

today i write to you from Tom's computer, because mine is so virus-ravaged i had to restore it to factory-issue condition...

which also means, i'm home!

hahah.

soon when i get my comp back on the internet, i will upload photos, and fill in the gaps you've all been hourly-checking this blog to read!

soon.

It's sunday night and it's another country, another language.
At 12.30am Jess and i caught the train from Eberswalde into Berlin, so that we could catch the 5.30am train to København via Hamburg and a ferry.

So that means that i am at Jeanette's, in the eastern districts of Denmark's capital. Our train arrived at midday, and the weather continues to be mild and quite hospitable. My fun game with Europe's ATMs to work out which ones will actually give me money continues, again without any logical pattern (*exceeded daily transaction limit* x2, then it gives me money). And trying to understand the conversions of Krone to Euro's adds to the complexity...

Anyway, Jeanette met us at the train, and we walked through the main city centre to a coffee shop, watched a guy wave his dick around across the river, and caught the train out to her student housing block. We then went out for a walk and ate at the Sushi bar she works at, which was a cool place.

However, having had only 4 odd hours of broken sleep, i am so about to pike its not funny...

a quick message to anyone trying to txt me, vodafone's prepay global roaming doesnt work in Denmark, so e-mail me if you need...

i'll be back in perth on saturday, ready for a jet-lagged sleep followed by a bigtime derby!

i'm off to crash. cya

Yo, guten tag

i've been in Deutschland almost a week, and it rules.

Some notes:

• Jess' apartment block has a guy smoking a bong carved in cement (sic) above the main entrance.
• We went to the Fairtrade shop, and the guy behind the counter was cool with australia, and wore a nirvana shirt... the food is great
• We rode bikes all over town, and out to a kick arse lake in the middle of the forest, kinda Donelly River esque
• Berlin is amazing, we spent Wednesday visiting all of the "touristik" sites which i should have heard of before, but haven't. We went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum which loved Gandhi, and to the subtly named Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Which they were, but i was kind of expecting something without Murder in the title... who am i to say, tho?
• I've eaten all kinds of "real" breads, quark, pretzel things, a lot of döner, grün somethings, and other rad stuff. i like the food, and its kind of nice to be in a country not solely dedicated to pizza and pasta (the moon does that too)..
• today we trained back to Berlin, and they'd closed off a major road and opened special markets, so there was a great atmosphere..
• Oh, why the bloody hell is Fosters so popular overseas?
• I went to H&M, where Madonna shops... rad
• i'll no doubt remember more later, ask me!

tomorrow night Jess and i catch a train to Copenhagen, via Hamburg for 4 hours. In the middle of the night. I'm keen tho.

Jeanette's sister got married today, which interupted our plans somewhat, but hey. Thats cool. We get into her fair city at mid day, then stay until wednesday, when i train to Paris for a friday flight home...

I am still yet to meet Dirk Nowitzki yet, somewhat disappointed...

Yesterday afternoon Jess and I caught the Intercity Express from Bielefeld to Berlin, and i didn't even need to get a paper ticket, just wave my eurail pass around in the air...
Jess is studying in a small town about half an hour north Berlin called Eberswalde, in old east germany. awesome. here they study environmental sciences, and her dreadlocked housemate backpacked in manji in 2003, selling weed:)
small world:) too cool.

we will check out her campuses today, then tomorrow train into the city tomorrow, likely...

Shout out to Tom, Colm, Jake and Coup, hope the realo's take it easy on us.. and tom, i transferred you more rent yesterday.

tschüs!

Last night we played Deutsch Monopoly with Jess' good friend and his brother. I got to read out all the Community Chest and Chance cards in my best Deutsch pronounciations, averaging about 5 minutes per card. I managed to buy the equivalents of Parklane and Mayfair - my favourite strategy - but we ended up calling it a draw cause everyone had hotels and no money..

We also saw another friends house, who lives on the 5th (top) floor of an appartment complex and had windows into the angular roof looking in 3 directions... coolest student pad ever...

we also went to the zoo, with all local animals and plants, and i had sunday lunch with Jess' great aunt and family. the food was amazing.

just wanted to add all that in.
great fun:)

donny

you are retarded.

but thanks for the laughs.

Jess is going to Guest-Blog now...

Heyho!
Viele Grüße aus Bielefeld!
We went out to the hippest clubs - for sure-
which are called "Rinklogschuppen" and "Stereo".
@Coup: Move your ass over here to check them out, too!
Well, we checked out nearly everything the town has to offer (which isn't that much)
and will move on to berlin 2day.
@donny: Keep on blooging, even james reckons your have gone crazy, i really enjoy your comments =) And don't worry, I'll keep us away from all dangerous places of prowar german people...

James: Bielefeld is not small, it is huge!
320,000... i love it.Ja

In a very quick rundown,

on friday, i went to florence, booked a train to Milano and a ticket from Milano to Jess' hometown Bielefeld, and i actually got there (here)..
i amaze myself sometimes...

anyway, we went out with all of jess' friends clubbing last night, and that was awesome fun... today is sunday, and we are planning on when to go to Berlin.

awesome

It has just occurred to me that i have spend nearly 4 weeks in Italia and have barely blogged about it... I have a bit of free time, so i'll try to fill in some gaps for you all:

- Almost every second day is a "concert night", which roughly translates to the following: Wake up around 8.30 to find Pete and Marg already having spent an hour or so in the kitchen... Head down to the main house for some toast and juice/coffee, then up onto the computer to whip together a layout for the evenings programme (items, composer notes, musician bios)... then i e-mail that to the local printers, and head back to the kitchen to start cutting up tomatoes/garlic/herbs etc... At some point around 11am, find Fran who has put together all the crockery and cuttlery, wine, water, tableclothes and other rubbish and with the boys, load all of it into the van... Drive with the boys to the venue, empty van's contents into the venue's kitchen, and bring out all the required tressel tables and seats... drive back to the house, and help in the kitchen... lunch gets served outside on the large tables with for the crew and musicians... Pete and Marg skip lunch cause they are too busy... Do the dishes for lunch, then report back to the kitchen... keep self busy until around 7pm... drive to the venue with food, lay out food, assemble antipasto platters... guests arrive after concert, eat between running errands... try not to fall asleep, then clear away tables/chairs/dishes, load van, drive home, put leftovers in the fridge, die...

Although that sounds a bit... rushed... it is actually quite fun, as our work is very appreciated, the food at the end is perfect, and if we are lucky, we can catch some of the music...

In contrast, days off are spent at the musicians' hotel pool, reading, and getting drunk again with the musicians...

Today is the last sunday of the festival (the last concert being wednesday night), and sadly most of the musicians have left by now... although there has been a total of about 20 musicians over the course of the festival, coming and going continually, the last group has especially made us feel equal and included us in all their fun. Which is pretty flattering, considering each and every one of their overwhelming musical abilities...

Anyway, i have to get my flight home rescheduled, and then it is ciao to italia and off to see the rest of Europe (in my own, rushed kind of way)...

Bron said...
Hmm it's not just you whose confused Donny - I think it's our whole family...
Confusion #1- I thought Devon and Junior were Jamaican, not Dutch.
Confusion #2 - Why are you being invaded by the English? Is the festival split by nationality and the Dutch can't play at the same time as the English?
Confusion #3 - Who's Fran?

Addressing Confusion 1. Devon and Junior are Jamaican: the two dutch teenagers they were chasing were... Dutch!

Addressing Confusion 2. It seems that yes, the festival is almost split, as the first few weeks were almost entirely Dutch, and now three poms have joined the programme. However, they do play at the same time, and quite amazingly. Note: there is also currently 1 x Australian, 1 x American, 2 x Italian, and 1 x German performing. It just seems that they are all Dutch and English.

Addressing Confusion 3. Fran is also english, but she is on the "helping-out" side of things. She is a friend of the organiser, and is very nice. She also bought a new Sony Digital Camera, which i can use the cables to upload my own photos. When i get the chance...

Okay, that took all my time up... :)

All is well, tell us of Perth!

Guys!

Finally!

The internet is back on in Linari!

Over the last week, the weather has followed this simple equation: Day's Weather = (x= 40° day), or if not x, (y= Electrical Storm)... and during a day of y, we lost both our modem and hot water system, apparently from some acurate lightninging. So the internet has been down, which means programme printing and blogging copped a forced absence.

Until now!

• The Dutch crew are slowly returning home, some to Holland, others to The Netherlands. They have been replaced by the English!
• The two Dutch teenagers Devon and Junior were tuning also left, but they have found some local italian girls to court. All right!
• The food is fantastic. There is way too much wine enjoyed night after night.
• today is the busiest day yet, and i am wasting time blogging. Correct priorities:)
• We customised some speakers so that they could broadcast iPods. Neccessary.

I might even be able to post some photos, thanks to Fran's camera connections.

Stay tuned!

Yep, i am the best driver the right hand side of the road has ever seen!

There was a thunderstorm yesterday, thankfully, snapping a two week string of bloody hot days.

We have taught Devon and Junior the great australian measurement - the shitload.

They are teaching me some dance moves!

go read up on liz at www.daytripperstravelblog.blogspot.com
...

perdona il mio italiano, siamo australiano.

today is my 22.5 birthday, and i have been a week in Toscana to the day.

i am staying in an abandoned old hill-top village called Linari, about 15 mins out of Poggi Bonsi, half way between the historical enemies Florence and Sienna. Airdrie, our generous host and festival organiser, shares her beautiful house with a host of Australian kitchen crew, Dutch musicians, 10 cats and one German Shepherd.

Anyway, you guessed it - dot points!

• Day one and we drove our hired van to the northern industrial districts of Firenze. Ikea! Yep tom, you should get a placement in Firenze Ikea (pronounced Ick-eer)... so foreign, yet so familiar. Then we went to a Big W-cross-European Foods-cross major f*cken warehouse called Metro which we arranged a trade-card for and yesterday spent enough to cover half the staff's annual wages. Awesome! Plus, you dont need a licence to buy spirits - yeah!
• On the next day the Dutch movement arrived, and they are amazingly friendly and talented! They have taught me how to find the north star, how to skull tankards of beer, and how to talk dutch - lecker, lecker!
• The next day, we had to cover our first venues catering staff, and prepare a meal for our opening night for the festival-funding members. I drove our van, a manual with the gear stick on the right, and hung out with my new Jamaican friends Devon (18) and Junior (14). they are rad! I'm trying to set them up with the 14 year old daughters of two of the Dutch performers... yeah!
• Last night we got lost on our way home from Firenze, and ended up an hour off course... that was too cool!

Hmmm, i think that's about it... Ian, Marg, Sue and John have arrived, and suddenly Perth is dominating... unlike the eagles...

Cool, i have a few minutes, so i will recount my 2.5 days in the ancient capital of the Roman Empire (in rapid fire dot-point format):

• Nuns
• Ambulances
• Parking is fun. If you can't find a spot, park someone in. Or park in someone who is already parking someone in. Or park in the middle of an intersection.
• Lanes don't exist, but funnily enough no one ever appears upset when they get cut off.
• I thought the first statue i saw was amazing. Then i saw a few more. Then i went to the Vatican... Must have had a bulk discount for angel-statues.
• The subway system was fun, and don't be put off by the naysayers, i wasn't pick-pocketed and Termini is a nice area:)
• Yes, i did throw up in the Termini area. It was heat-stroke and Malaysia Air breakfasts, what else is a man to do?

hmmm, that seems enough points. Roma was great, but it was fucking hot (i will swear as i wish), and i was very glad to find Pete at Termini on sunday and train away from the chaos. Very touristy, but hey, what's moreso?

I am currently in Toscana, between Florence and Sienna. The festival starts on the weekend, and we are all working ahead of schedule.

Happy birthday to Coup.

Happy day to you all!

Shit, i only have a quick minute now (before lunchtime) to update this crazy site.

-- Donny, thanks for all the banked up comments
--- Liz, and spammers, my addy is bigsackjamesmac@hotmail.com

i am currently in day two in Linari (Toscana, near Poggi Bonsi), and Pete, Airdrie and i have been to Ikea Florence and a major European foods... hmmm

pete and i got a small van, so we are going into town right... now!

more posts coming!

Yep, all is well in Roma this morning.

its bloody hot already at 8am, but that's cool.

i only have 12 mins of internet time left, so i will post again soon.

Oh, and i ate pizza and lemon gelato last night, Liz. Cop that.

haha, am in rome, but two things are troubling me. firstly, the spacebar keeps going awol on the 2nd line,_and_then_my_global_roaming_seems_buggered,_recieving_msgs_but_not_sending_them...
might keep trying...

Okay, here we go.
First of all i should mention that if anyone is interested in placing a banner or other link/advertisement on this site -- taking advantage of it's forecast popularity and high traffic -- my rates are competitive and the service is convincing. Have a think about it.

In less than 24 hours i will say goodbye to my beloved Perth, its plentiful opportunity and hospitable warmth. Although i am only away for 7 odd weeks, a lot can happen in 7 weeks. Really. I'll miss it (you).

My flight leaves at 4:30pm on thursday and I arrive in Rome on Friday at 6am New Roman times. Mind you, i think the flight is a lot longer than 13.5 hrs. Or maybe it isn't. Fuck, i'll need to look into that one.

Anyway, against recommendation (and reasoned by late organisation) i am hostelling near the Termini Station, for two nights, in two different places. While you're out on Friday night, have a drink for jet-lagged me and my mixed dorm of 4, and then on Saturday, remember that i am in a packed out room of 12 guys. jealous, ladies?

Cool, so then on Sunday morning Pete (my cooking companion) and i will head to Toscana via rail. From there i will be part of the logistical crew of the Linari Classic for the duration of the festivities. In mid August i will move on to Berlin, and Copenhagen, visiting Perth fans Jess and Jeanette.

Bookmark this blog and stay tuned for engaging entertainment and some more poorly constructed sentences.

Non capisco inglese, parlo non c'e bene. Ciao!
James (Giacomo)

This site has just been warming up...

on the 13th of July...

James leaves the country...

!!!

G'day readers, from Perth.
For those of you who haven't been here before, Perth is a city on the western coastline of Australia with a population just under 2 million people. It has some great attractions, such as the majestic Bell Tower, Underwaterworld, and the Mitchell Freeway. Today's itinerary included bringing in my washing (which thankfully didn't get wet from the seasonal weather), driving into Northbridge and working at European Foods.

Hope to blog again soon

seeyas

Hi all,

This is becoming a truly global MacNeil Travel Tales blog. It's actually the only way that our family communicates with each other nowadays!

I've arrived safely in Tanzania but not without incident.

After arriving in Dar yesterday afternoon, I headed out for a spot of shopping only to discover all the shops were closed. Heading back up to my room, I stopped to talk to the porter when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a man waiting at the lift. The lift had arrived, the doors had opened, yet he didn't get in. Instead he was looking at me. Anyway after finishing my conversation with the porter I wandered over to the lift and the waiting man. He immediately introduced himself to me. Quite a long confusing name, but he told me to call him Ambassador Terrence. Ambassador Terrence was about 60 and I actually couldn't tell you what country he's the Ambassador of!

Ambassador Terrence was very chatty in the lift going up to our rooms. So chatty in fact that he got out of the lift at my floor and continued his conversation with me while the lift disappeared. Unfortunately I can't actually tell you what the majority of this enthralling conversation was about as I couldn't understand a word he was saying. But my vacant look and occasional smiles were apparently encouraging enough for Ambassador Terrence.

Ambassador Terrence then told me that we really needed to catch up for a drink. While thinking "Not on your life Pal", I said to him I was very busy and already had plans for that evening but it was lovely to meet him and goodbye. However that wasn't enough for my Ambassador friend. He insisted on taking my number and giving me his and told me to call him when I returned from my night out and we could have our drink then. To get rid of him I told him I'd call.
An hour or so later I called him to "cancel" our plans however I couldn't get through and forgot all about him. That is until he started calling my room every half an hour or so between 8pm and 10:30pm. I ignored him until the 10:30 call at which point I realised I was going to get no sleep unless I did something about him. I explained to the Ambassador that I was very jet lagged and needed to go to sleep. He suggested we meet up in the morning. I explained that I was getting picked up at 6:15am and he suggested we meet at 5:30am. Still trying to be as polite as possible but with my patience wearing thin I said no to a 5:30am rendezvous. Upon realising that he was not going to get the chance to meet with me, the Ambassador got quite narky and told me that it was very, very important to him that we meet and that he'd been waiting up all night to meet with me! Honestly, how I manage to attract these odd men is beyond me. Anyway I was quite firm and managed to convince him that we were not going to meet up.

He left me alone after that and I made the long journey to the mine site this morning. The drive from Shinyanga airport to the mine site takes 2.5 hours, the vast majority of which is on very bumpy gravel roads. When I was over here in July last year, the Tanzanian government had started to construct a bitumen road the majority of the way to the mine site. They're still constructing the road and I couldn't actually see any advancement from last year. There's just no hurrying the Tanzanian people!

Hope all's well with everyone.

"No more maybes
Your baby's got rabies
Sitting on a ball
In the middle of the Andes

Yeah, i'm a freak of nature
Yeah, i'm a freak" - Silverchair

If you can please get a photo of one of you sitting on "a ball" in the mountains, please please do! If you could froth at the mouth without freaking the guides, please do that too.

The old's contacted Bron and I via telephone (?) this morning to request that we post a blog on their behalf.

*** ************* * ************ ***

Today they are in the Peruvian town of Nazca, where they plan to view the ancient Nazca Lines via light aircraft.

The Nazca lines cannot be recognized as coherent figures except from the air... there are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, and lizards. Since it is presumed the Nazca people could never have seen their work from this vantage point, there has been much speculation on the builders' abilities and motivations. (Wikipedia, view photos & further information here)

After the trip, i believe they will visit the other Nazca Lines...

Welcome!

this blog was created on the eve of Helen and Donald MacNeil's highly anticipated and celebrity-trash-magazine-headlining holiday to Latin America.

Don't believe the rumours unless you read them here first!

Bookmark this site and stay tuned as Helen and Don post interesting facts and tid-bits from their times overseas.

This time around: the Andes!