Estamos en Madrid. ¡Hace Calor! I was reminded why the Spanish like a siesta over the two days we were in Madrid and why I fell into the pattern of having siestas when travelling through Spain the first time.... it´s outrageously hot! After walking around all morning the last thing you feel like doing is walking around all afternoon.... but we did! The day started with a little administration before we headed off to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real...

Up, down, up, down...... We've just come back from a few days walking in the mountains - the idea being that we get in a bit of practice before the Inca Trail. Weird to think that we only climbed to about 2000m in the Tatras and we will be doubling that on the Inca trail with the highest point at 4200m. There were plenty of ups and downs on our walks - literally and figuratively. To be honest, the weather was pretty crap! Though we did have the odd spell of sun...

2 person sleeping cars are better than 6! We made the journey from Prague to Krakow last night on the overnight train. We were considering the 6 bed couchette, but decided to splash out for the two. Crazy stuff, glad we went for 2 - check out the photo! The carriage was full of other backpackers and we took some photos for our Canadian neighbours. It seemed to be a novelty for most on the train. We took it easy again today with a wander around town in the early...

Defenestrate: to throw out of a window (Oxford English Dictionary) I have many things to thank my colleagues for in England. Aside from their humour and endless entertainment, they furnished me with a greater understanding of the English language. Don't ask me how we got to talking about defenstrate (I think it had something to do with wanting to defenestrate a computer) but today Tim and I visited the site of the first defenestration. That's right, back in the...

Its raining outside (of course) and I'm in the last stages of packing up the house. Only a little way to go now and we will be footloose and fancy free! First stop Prague (yes I know it says South, Central and North America, but we've allowed ourselves a week in Eastern Europe first!).