My article about HelpX: Tips for HelpX volunteers and hosts

HelpX is something of a hidden gem.

Sounding like something of an urban myth, when I first heard there was a way to 'travel for free' I didn't quite know what to expect. The thing about HelpX (Help Exchange) is that it is not just a way to travel on a shoestring - that is just an added benefit. It is really about the experience of it all.

After two very successful experiences HelpX-ing in Europe, I decided to write this article to spread word and introduce people to the idea. I used the website to track down hosts in my hometown and see what it was like from their perspective, and what I found was that travellers looking for a free trip aren't the only ones getting something out of it.

My article has been published in the Newcastle Herald, the hints and tips for HelpX at the end are pretty handy if anyone wants to give it a try!

Here it is in full:

Country house in Italy, 50 minutes from Rome, beautiful garden, lake view.

THE online ad showed a picture of a yellow stone house perched on a hill overlooking a lake. An Italian woman was looking for help around the house – gardening, stacking firewood and helping her teenage kids with English. 

I had never met her before or knew anything about where she lived. A quick Google of the town Bracciano showed it had a grand castle that was the setting for Tom Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes. But apart from that trivial knowledge, it sounded distant, foreign and altogether unknown. An adventure.

I emailed the owner and within a day I had a reply from a woman named Valentina. A few emails back and forth and it was settled: Italy was waiting for us.

The idea of living with a stranger on the other side of the world was something I knew nothing about. Websites like couchsurfing.org sounded intriguing but, after hearing a few stories, the thought of freeloading on someone’s lounge wasn’t too appealing. But then I found a website offering a lot more than just a place to sleep. 

Help Exchange (helpx.net) is an online database connecting travellers looking for cultural immersion with hosts who can provide it. Launched in 2001, the site was created by an English backpacker who realised there was no online portal where people seeking a working holiday could connect with hosts from around the world. Today there are more than 5000 active host listings worldwide, ranging from work at farms, hostels, homestays, B&Bs and all things in between.

The premise is simple: hosts set up a profile about what kind of work they need doing, and volunteers (known as HelpX-ers) create their own profile about the skills they can bring. Helpers then contact the hosts and if both sides agree, the exchange is formed: about four hours’ work a day in return for accommodation and food. 

The idea of opening up to your home to a stranger is not entirely new. The more widely known WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) has seen people travelling to work on organic farms for decades. The difference with HelpX is that it is entirely online, meaning constant updates about opportunities. Unlike WWOOFing, where volunteers pick a country and receive a book of the hosts available for a year, HelpX is an interactive database of online profiles, where reviews can be left for volunteers and helpers alike. 

Not only does the online nature of the site keep hosts accountable, it provides a way for new HelpX-ers to get in touch with past volunteers to hear their experiences. Before heading to Italy, I contacted an African-born Spaniard named Assim. 

His words reassured any doubt I could have had: “Valentina’s family is highly recommended. So simple and honest, I am sure you will love the experience.” 

Sitting on the train from Rome, it was a feeling of one part excitement and one huge part apprehension. 

We were heading to a town that we couldn’t even pronounce (as we learnt when buying the train tickets). We had never met this family, or even knew what they looked like. All I had was a phone number and an instruction to call it when we got off the train in Bracciano. 

But all that changed once we were welcomed in true Italian style – over a plate of pasta. We joined Valentina and her family for the task of stockpiling wood for the winter and gardening using permaculture methods. But work was barely the point of the experience – most days we would be finished in less than three hours. 

The true meaning of HelpX is about cultural exchange. We shared in their lives, from evening dinners with friends to summer festivals in town. In return we showed them a bit of Australia, making a pavlova and playing Crowded House and Cold Chisel on YouTube. 

It was this chance to live life like a local that enticed 25-year-old Sean Gilchrist to become a HelpX-er. The Las Vegas filmmaker worked in Scotland and Austria during his exchanges, doing everything from cleaning toilets in a hostel to editing an entire back catalogue of dance concerts on videotapes. 

“For me it was the easiest way to travel on a small budget and not see anything like a tourist,” he says. “HelpX provided a diverse and safe way to travel and to gather stories.”

It’s not just backpackers looking for a cheap holiday who make the most of the exchange. For hosts, it’s a way to experience new cultures without leaving their own home.

Heather Stevens, a 32-year-old environmental scientist, has hosted more than 25 HelpX-ers to her Hunter home. Together they’ve tackled the challenge of renovating her house at Wallsend – a task she wouldn’t have the time or money to complete on her own as a single mother. 

“Now I’m a mum, I don’t get to travel as much as I used to,” Stevens says. “HelpX brings interesting people from around the world into my home and lets me share in their lives.”

Opening up her home to strangers with a young son on board was something Stevens admits was daunting in the beginning.

“Although at first I thought I’d never leave my son alone with HelpX-ers, it’s amazing how fast you create a bond and trust with them,” she says. Now her five-year-old son loves the novelty of having new volunteers. “He’s even learnt to sing in French, German and Mandarin.”

The trick to finding the right helper is setting ground rules. Buchanan residents Adrian and Christie Roach, in their time as hosts, have welcomed volunteers to their home from France, Germany and the Czech Republic, and they have found a couple of tricks along the way. 

“Great communication of expectations is the key to success,” Adrian says. 

His helpers have done everything from assisting in their flower store to mowing grass and baiting rabbit traps. In return, they are treated to tours of Newcastle, the vineyards and visiting the koalas at Blackbutt reserve. 

“It’s a win-win for host and helper,” he says. “I like to help other people and I like to get things done that I don’t have time to do.”  

Heather Stevens agrees. “It’s a way to become part of a global community,” she says. “Everyone has a story to tell and those stories make my life so much richer.”

Tips for work/volunteer holidays

HelpX helpx.net

Cost: Free to create a profile to see host listings, €20 for two-year premier membership which allows volunteers to contact hosts worldwide.

WWOOF  wwoof.net 

Cost: Each country has its own WWOOF organisation, prices vary depending on country of choice. A 12-month membership in Australia is $70.

TIPS FOR VOLUNTEERS:

❏ Read the reviews and contact past helpers who have stayed with the particular host.

❏ Get to know the host and what they expect before you arrive – asking basic questions about food, sleeping arrangements and even how far away from town their house is will give an indication of the experience

❏ Remember that the point of it is an exchange – be prepared to work, but also to share in their lives.

TIPS FOR HOSTS:

(from Hunter HelpX Host, Heather Stevens):

❏ Write a clear profile explaining who you are, what you want done and general house rules. 

❏ Screen your applications – look at how well they communicate, if they have specifically emailed you or just a mass mail to anyone, if they have references and what skills they have. 

❏ Get some simple meal ideas going that you can rely on (meat pies are an Aussie cultural experience to HelpX-ers). Be generous when you can – cheap bottles of wine, a big tub of ice cream or a packet of Tim Tams can be so appreciated.

❏ Be bold – if a traveller is not working out, remember you can ask them to leave.

My article is published: A Backpacker's Guide to a weekend in Lisbon!

Head on over to Gapyear.com to find one of my published travel articles.

It's a travel guide to Lisbon, the amazing capital of Portugal.

My Moroccan travel tale published on the ABC!

It was over a year ago that we first flew out of Australia and started our Four Feet Forward adventures. It is coming up to 7 months since we have been back home (I can't believe how quick that has gone!)

A lot of the time it seems like life just goes on, and we forget all the amazing things we did.

But a conversation I had with Mike's family reminded me of something and inspired me to write about it.

His aunt and uncle are going to Morocco soon and it brought back all of the memories: the heat that we were so thankful for after coming from a European winter, the tagines and cous cous that made up 90% of our diet, the smell of mint tea that was offered to us on a daily basis.

But there was one memory that really stuck out, and so I decided to write my story for the ABC open project. Haggling for a bargain in the maze-like medina of Fez.

I wrote it the second I got home that day with Mike's family, and within a few days I was excited to see it live on the ABC website.

So if you want to read about 'Bartering like a Berber in Morocco', you can find it published here. If you are feeling extra friendly, feel free to leave a comment!

That time we saw a Liverpool F.C game...

"You'll never walk alone...."

 

This one is long overdue, but I guess you could say I was saving the best for last.

If there is one thing that sums up our experiences in the UK, sitting in the Kop at Anfield Stadium to watch a (winning) game with Liverpool F.C has got to be it. And there's a certain Liverpool supporter on the other side of the world that we have to thank for that.

We were down to our final 5 days in the UK before we had to board that flight home, and our chances of seeing a live football match were slim to none. Then we got an email from the friendliest, most generous people we met in our trip. Andy and Sue were the people we stayed with in Oxford in around October last year, and this time they offered us to come to Liverpool to see a home game at Anfield Stadium.

A Liverpool supporter through and through, Andy was the best person to show us what a football match really was in England. So it was arranged- two final nights in Oxford, with a road trip to Liverpool to watch the home team (and sorry Sue, but I'm not  talking about Everton!) take on Swansea. It is safe to say we were a bit excited to have the experience, and Andy really made sure it was one we won't forget.

The day started with a road trip to Liverpool with one of Andy's friends. The 3 hour drive from Oxford to Liverpool made me realise just how passionate they are about their football- recounting stories from when their team took out the cup in Istanbul in 2005, they spoke like it was only yesterday that they saw their team win the European cup. I've only ever heard one person speak about football like that, one of my Dad's work friends (who coincidentally is a huge Liverpool supporter)... We have since put him in touch with Andy and now he has someone to share his love of Liverpool with.

With Andy for some pre-match talk

Before the afternoon match we joined Andy's football friends at a bar for lunch. Liverpool had been having a bit of a dry spell up until that game and so they were all expecting the worse for the match up with Swansea, and telling us not to expect a win. If only they had been a bit more optimistic, because it turned out we bought some Australian luck with us that day. Oh, and did I mention that we met this guy:

Ian St John is a bit of a Liverpool legend, we were told. He played for Liverpool for 10 years from the 60s. I don't think we quite grasped just how much of legend he is at the time, but a quick google of his name now brings up pages and pages of results. On the Liverpool FC website, it says he was responsible for one of the "single greatest moments" by scoring an extra-time goal to take out the FA Cup in 1965. Sheesh, that sure does give a player a legendary status. He signed a copy of the game day book for us, an impressive souvenir to remember the day.

Famous ex-players aside, there was one thing that we had actually prepared ourselves for that day- the game. We had Andy's membership passes (again, we can't thank him enough) and so we were seated right in the Kop. Before the match he had described what happens when the Liverpool anthem 'you'll never walk alone' plays out through the stadium. The home crowd chant the words in unison. "It gives you goosebumps," Andy had said. Well he wasn't lying.

Hearing the crowd sing along and having the Liverpool flag pass over the top us, we knew we were in for something special. Turns out that was a 5-0 win to Liverpool.

I don't think we could have gotten a better football experience if we had tried. That day easily goes down as one of the top memories of England, and was a high note to end our trip on.

Cheers for everything, Andy and Sue.

The Best of Budapest

When I think back about Budapest, there are a few things that come to mind.

The fact it was the last stop on our grand European tour before we returned to the UK to make our way home; or that it was laid out in a way almost identical to Prague, so much so that you could almost just use a map of Prague to get around; or that met one of the nicest Canadians who we spent five days with while we were there.

So basically, there are a couple of pictures that sum up the best of our time in Budapest:

1. Caving Under Budapest

Not for the claustrophobic

The space is about as big as Mike's feet....

This one goes into the pile of 'things I never thought I'd do'  before I went to Budapest. Before we arrived we had never even heard of Caving. Then we met a couple at our hostel that were from Sydney. They showed us a photo that was pretty much like that one of Mike's feet above, and told us how you had to maneuver your body through tiny holes to get through, and in some points had to crawl vertically on your stomach to get under the caves. It was our last week in Europe, and we were up for the adventure.

So on our last day in Budapest we decided to try it out. After a small map-reading mishap on my behalf, we eventually made it to the caving grounds on the outskirts of Budapest. We were greeted with some grungy looking overalls covered in dust and miner helmets with torches on the front. From there the fun began.

Over a few hours we crawled, walked and slid on our stomachs through spaces that many times we just looked at and went 'we won't fit in there'. But each time we did. At one stage we got through by pulling a superman-like pose: lying on our sides with one arm out in front, we had to wriggle through the small, uphill hole to get through. It was the most tiring thing you could do, and wasn't easy on the knees either. But to be able to say we have squeezed our way through tiny holes underneath Budapest was definitely worth it.

2. Thermal Baths

Wearing swimmers.. in the middle of winter?

One thing that we had heard about before we got there were the thermal baths of Budapest. The city is famous for its baths full of natural water, meant to be full of healing minerals. Apparently there are 118 springs in Budapest, and 15 public thermal baths dotted around the city.

With so much to choose from, we decided on the biggest and grandest looking one of them all:

Széchenyi Baths. That place was the best way to spend a cold winter's afternoon. Inside there were abut 4 or 5 different rooms full of pools with thermal waters of different temperatures. We spent about an hour or so in there, thinking that was a pretty nice relaxation. Then Mike got curious and went outside, where we found this:

It looked like a huge palace with two big pools on either side. One side even had a whirlpool in the middle of it that would work every half hour or so (so much fun). On the other side there were old Hungarian men crowded around Chess tables in the middle of the Baths. I think that's the picture I'll remember when I think of Hungarians. One of my best friends is half-Hungarian, so I was thrilled to tell her what her people get up to.

3. Bars and Bathtubs

Szimpla, possibly one of the best bars in Europe

I've got to hand it to Budapest- that city had some of the best bars I saw throughout Europe. We are not exactly super club people, so we loved the chance to go to unique, laid back bars and have a few beers while sitting in a bathtub...wait, a bath tub?

Along with the caves and the thermal baths, Budapest has a reputation for places known as 'Ruin Bars'. Take a derelict-looking building, add some unique furnishings and some good music, and basically it makes a ruin bar. We heard that they are especially good in Summer time, with a lot of them having huge outdoor areas. But still we found a place called Szimpla that we returned to a couple of times in our stay. I think I can sum it up by saying if this place was in Newcastle, we would be there in a heartbeat.


4. And a pretty cool Canadian

Alex, who we spent our time in Budapest with.

That guy on the left is Alex.

We met him a few days earlier in Krakow, Poland on a night out and when we realised we were both heading to Budapest soon, we decided to do it together. Basically, we spent 5 days with this guy who was the easiest person to get along with. He is a writer from Ontario, who just finished college and was traveling Europe in the hope of finishing a book. Instead he found people and travel and so that was that for Alex.

Everything that I mentioned above, Alex did too. It was Valentine's Day while we were in Budapest, and so the three of us went to a 'fancy' restaurant for lunch that day to celebrate (when I say fancy, I mean delicious meals and they were still under about $15). This guy reminded us what was so great about travel, and I think because we met him at the end of our trip, we appreciated that even more.

He's planning a trip to Australia in the next year. And so when we said goodbye to him a few hours before our 6am flight out of Budapest, all we had to say was 'see you when you make it here'.

So that's Budapest. The land of bars, baths and bathtubs, deep fried Hungarian cooking (I mean, they even deep fry BROCCOLI there) and the final European city we got to visit before our trip was nearing the finish line.It was a hard place to leave behind.

Here Comes the End (I Promise!)

They say time flies when you are having fun.

Turns out it also flies when you return to full time University study. Full time study after six and a half months backpacking was not such a great idea.

But the good news is I made it. The bad news is it's been a whole semester since we came back, and sadly this blog got a little neglected along the way. But now it is semester break and I am officially free.

So here comes the end, where there will be stories of the time we crawled through tiny holes under Budapest; where we got to sit in the Kop and watch a Football match in Liverpool; and where we said goodbye to one of our favourite cities in the world. For those who have been waiting, my apologies. I hope these next few will make it up to you....

Eight once in a lifetime experiences to save for...and we did some of them

Since being back, I have found I'm pretty easily distracted when sitting in lectures at university. No shock there.

Surprisingly, professors talking about the theories of property law tend to cause me to switch off, and before I know it I am trawling through the internet looking for any sort of distraction.

And lately, my favourite distractions are travel blogs.

There's a blog on the Sydney Morning Herald website by a guy called "The Backpacker" which has had me hooked lately. Basically he has been everywhere we have been, plus more, and he is living the dream of being paid to be "Fairfax's Globetrotter on a Shoestring". It's a good read, especially to see his take on so many things we learned through backpacking: like how expensive it is when you get back to Australia.

But there's this one article he wrote called 'Eight once in a lifetime experiences to save for'. 

Some were in countries we didn't get to visit.

Some were just ridiculously expensive, even for regular travelers (a cruise to Antarctica?)

But then there were these: 2 out of 8 that we actually got to experience:

See a Liverpool game at Anfield

It can be done - probably for far too much money, given you'll have to go through an agency to get your hands on the precious tickets, but it can be done. And if you're into sport, then this is the holy grail, and you'll never regret the expense. Once the Kop breaks into You'll Never Walk Alone, all that cash will seem like a pittance.

Before the game at Anfield stadium, and without the expense thanks to some very generious friends in Oxofrd!

Stay in Venice

Loads of people have been to Venice, but if you're like me and you did it on a budget, then you would have stayed at one of the campgrounds or budget hotels that are off the actual island. Those places are party central, but surely it can't compare to being in the city of an evening, when the few locals that are left there come out to play. And if you have to get a vaporetto to your front door, all the better.

Even a hostel in Venice was expensive, but it was worth it to be there at night

 So there, not one, but TWO once in a lifetime experiences we can tick off from this list. Now off to plan how to get the other six..... the final cities will be blogged about soon.

Czech-ing in with Prague

PRAGUE

“No one realises how beautiful it is to travel 

until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” 

– Lin Yutang

About three weeks since we have officially been back, and already it is feeling like a long time since we were in Prague.

 5 days in the beautiful Czech Republic capital capital breezed by, and before we knew it we were moving on to discover the very last country that we would be able to add to the list of places we visited in nearly 200 days of travel (wow, that sounds like a lot when it's counted in days.)

Now that we are home we have the difficult task of settling back in- a lot harder for me since my blissful days of working as a waitress are over and I am now back to intense full-time study. So to distract me from the fact that it really is over for now, I have started sorting through all the 5000-odd pictures I took throughout our travels...which brings me to Prague.

Prague is one of those places that immediately springs to mind when you think of a grand european trip (and fun fact we learnt while we were there, most of the movie Eurotrip was actually filmed in Prague.)

The city has all the trademarks of European cities that I have loved throughout our trip: cobblestone streets- check (or should I say...czech); old town area with at least one cool old building; river separating the two sides; big old castle on hill over the other side.

So here's my 'must-see' of Prague, compiled with just a hint of hindsight and a huge dash of longing that I was back there.

1. Prague Castle

St Vitus Cathedral

Without a doubt, the main sight in Prague is the looming castle across the banks of the river. We saw our fair share of castles throughout our trip, but Prague Castle is something different- instead of having a big building that looks (well, there's no better way to say it: 'Castle-y'), here the grounds are made up of a range of different buildings- churches, the massive St Vitus Cathedral with stained glass windows and ornaments inside, buildings and palaces that used to house the royalty, and little preserved laneways linking it all together. The grounds themselves are actually free to go to, and you can even watch the changing of the guards for free from about 10 metres away.

Changing of the guards at Prague Castle-
sadly didn't do an ABBA routine like the Buckingham Palace one

But to get the most out of the castle, you need to purchase a ticket. We chose the 'express' (read: cheaper) ticket that had all but one of the main sights, which was to climb the powder tower in St Vitus cathedral for a view out over Prague. But this aside we still got to see the rest of the beautiful buildings, and check out the Golden Lane, complete with preserved little cottages from the time.

A not so comfortable looking chair

A preserved tiny cottage on Golden Lane

2.  Walking tour of Prague

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the tip-based 'free' walking tours that happen around Europe are backpackers  every travellers best friend. We did one on one of those particularly cold days that fool you when you wake up- it looks like a sunny day when you look out the window, and then it's about -5 degrees when you get outside.

        


















The tour was really interesting because we really had no idea how bad it was in the communist era in the Czech Republic. They were saved from Nazi occupation by the Soviets, who then decided that they weren't going to clear out any time soon. We visited St Wenceslas Square where a student in 1969 burned himself alive to protest the way the Czechs just passively accepted the Soviets at the end of the war. Hard to think that only happened not that long ago.

3. Communist Museum
After doing the walking tour and hearing a bit about the country's communist past, we decided to visit the Communist Museum. Although I think the museum's kitsch advertising had a lot of the reason we actually went, we found it was a really interesting display of the period of occupation.

So cute, until you see the rifle

4. Kutna Hora Day Trip
About 50 minutes away on a ridiculously cheap Czech train, the town of Kutna Hora is famous for it's Kostnice, a church decorated entirely of human bones. After finding our first macabre bone display back in Rome and and our second more recently in the catacombs of Paris, we thought we'd keep up the tradition and check out this one too. When we arrived in this tiny town, you could instantly tell we were away from the tourist hotspot of Prague. The locals didn't speak much English, but they were about as friendly as they come. When we were reading the bus timetable, we had one man come over and point to the times we needed, and then we had another one point in the direction of the church, and mime a big arch above his head with his arms, to signal that the church was down that way. It turns out it shuts for one hour in the middle of the day- the time we arrived- and since the church lays about halfway between the deserted train station and the town, we caught a 10 minute bus into the town to pass the time until it opened. Eventually we made it to the church, and here it is:

The story goes that a blind/mad monk made the ossuary out of something like 40,000 bones. If it's not too weird to say I had a favourite 'part' (geddit?), the guy made a coat of arms literally out of human arms. Thumbs up for that pun.


5. Czech Food, Beer and Nightlife

A soup bowl, and a bread roll in one? Cheers Czech.

Roast beef with whipped cream and cranberry sauce? Only in the Czech Republic would that all be served on one plate. If I am going to be true to this blog, of course I need to comment on the food, otherwise I can't really say we ate our way around Europe now can I?

After coming from Poland, I think I can see a trend with central/eastern European cuisine- hearty, fatty, warming foods that are glorious to eat in minus temperatures. I mean, I ate crumbed, deep fried cheese. Don't even think that is allowed. But as no one ever said, 'when in Prague....'.

Mmm roast beef and... whipped cream?

But by far one of the best parts of Czech cuisines was the range of great beers they brew there. Not only is a pint ridiculously cheap (around 1-1.50 euro mark), the beers of Prague had Mike very impressed.

One night we got to sample the best of Czech beers and nightlife when we went to a bar called Usudu. From the ground level it just looked like an average bar- plain wooden walls and furnishings and only half full. But after going down a few flights of stairs when you entered it became a cave/cellar kind of thing, with a bar at every level and stairs enticing you to keep going down. The place was insanely cool, aside from the fact that smoking is legal inside there and so we left smelling like we'd had about 20 packs of cigarettes.

6. The John Lennon Wall


This one kind of speaks for itself, but just around the corner from the wall we stumbled across something we really didn't expect. It was Prague's version of Carnival, where people were dressed in medieval style clothes with crazy makeup, there was folk dancing and even a whole pig hung above a fire by its feet! I think that image is what I will probably remember most of Prague.

Thanks for the memory Prague!

This one I probably don't want to remember all that much

 

Poland in Winter

 

KRAKOW

**Anyone following this blog will know that yes, we are back to reality now, after arriving home in Newcastle over the weekend. It's less than a week until I return to finish off my Law degree, so writing this blog will be my bit of procrastination from all of that over the coming weeks....**

Three days filled with snow, dark history, small dumplings and our first taste of the backpacker-friendly East, our visit to Poland was something I'm definitely glad we did. When we first told people we were going to Krakow (confusingly pronounced 'Krak-ov') in the middle of winter they thought we were crazy. "It's like -15 degrees there in winter!". Lucky for us we managed to miss the most of the cold, with temperatures just below zero and some light snow that made the city look picture perfect.

We arrived on a late flight from London and spent three nights in the city, which was just enough time to see the main sights of town, take a daytrip to Auschwitz- Birkenau concentration camp, and also to sample some of the infamous nightlife that sees backpackers flocking to Krakow each year. The city centre itself is quite compact, which made it easy to see all of the sights in one day.

The main square by night

We joined a free walking tour (with an actual native Polish guide) through the Jewish quarter of Krakow, telling stories of how Poles from this area were persecuted during World War 2. We visited a square right on the edge of the Jewish ghetto that was used by the Nazis as an assembly point for the Jews, where they would routinely gather them before they took them to the nearby concentration camps. As the camps started to become full, selections were made in that very square and the weak, elderly or children were killed then and there on the spot. Today the square is marked as a memorial, and 68 different sized chairs are placed around the square to represent the 68,000 polish Jews killed from Krakow.

The chair memorial

On the tour we also visited the sight of Schindler 's Factory - made famous because of the movie Schindler's List. Now I haven't actually seen that movie, but our guide did a good job of explaining how the character of Schindler had been 'Hollywood-ised' in the movie. In the movie, Schindler is supposed to be this hero who 'saves the Jews' by hiding them in his factory, and then when they are taken to Auschwitz at the end he dramatically goes to the camp and demands for them to be released. In reality, our guide told us a story that made it seem like Schindler was a little more concerned with his self-preservation and the productivity of his factory than any great heroic gesture. Guess we'll have to watch the movie now just to see how much they changed the truth.

Our time in Krakow was a bit of a historical tour, especially since one of the main sights we were there to visit was Auschwitz. We joined a day bus tour that took us to visit both Auschwitz and the nearby Birkenau death camps, with a local guide taking us through all the old blocks and telling us what they were used for. The time in the concentration camp was such an unusual experience that it's really quite difficult to describe what it felt like when you were there. The sheer scale of people who were sent to those camps- Jews, poles, gypsies and homosexuals- was so hard to comprehend, especially when we knew that most of them never made it out.

The entrance to Auschwitz and the infamous words 'work makes you free'

But as if a number on the wall wasn't enough to represent all the lives that were lost, a big part of the Auschwitz exhibition are rooms full of things taken from the prisoners when they arrived. There's a display of all the suitcases that were taken from the people as soon as they stepped off the trains, a window of spectacles, and an entire display of shoes that were stripped off the prisoners and taken to 'Canada' (the name for the area where all of the stolen belongings from the prisoners were kept, since Canada was a prosperous place at the time).

But worst of all was a glass cabinet, about the length of a room, filled with human hair. The prisoners were all forced to shave their heads on arrival to the camps, a way to slowly strip any sense of identity these people once had. The Nazis then kept all of that hair- some was used to weave blankets and uniforms to sell in Germany, and the rest remains as a macabre reminder of just how many people were there. But as well as these rooms of personal objects, one of the most vivid parts of our visit was seeing for ourselves the remains of one of the gas chambers in Auschwitz. We walked down into this bunker-like room, cold with concrete walls. As soon as we walked in I noticed there were scratch marks from fingertips of people still on the walls. This part was definitely the most difficult sight to see as we stood in the very spot where thousands of people were murdered.

It's strange to describe how we felt after visiting Auschwitz. The day we went was pouring snow and our feet were frozen from walking in the cold, yet it felt wrong to complain about such a small inconvenience when you were surrounded by such a place as Auschwitz. Halfway in the visit we had a break where we snacked on a little bun thing, and even eating felt strange when so many people died in that place because of starvation. But despite being left with this strange feeling, the trip to Auschwitz was definitely worth it- as our guide said, people need to remember what happened there, what one man did to another, so that it does not happen again.

Despite spending some time confronting the heavier parts of history that took place in Poland, our time in the city wasn't all just doom and gloom. We managed to experience some of the best of the local food and entertainment places, thanks to some handy recommendations from the hostel we stayed at called Greg & Tom's. The hostel itself was great, set up over a couple of floors in an apartment building near the train station. For about €13 a night we got our own room in a little separate apartment shared with two other rooms, plus free breakfast and free dinner each night, and some super friendly staff members who had some good recommendations for food.

Polish food in general is nothing too exciting and is definitely food made for cold climates, with lots of warming carb-heavy meals and very little vegetables to be seen on the menus. We tried traditional Polish dumplings called Pierogi, which have a springy outer potato layer and are filled with either cheese, meat, spinach or mushrooms and sauerkraut. We also managed to find a good (and cheap) restaurant in the budget-friendly Jewish quarter called Marchewka z Groszkiem where we had lunch to thaw out from the cold. Proving just how carb-heavy the meals in Poland are, I had battered potato pancakes covered in a garlic and mushroom sauce- basically a chicken scnhitty without any chicken! But it sure did the job, as I wasn't cold after that feed.

Along with the food, we also got to check out some of the local nightlife spots which were awesome, so I could only imagine what it would be like in the summer time. We went to this one place I'm the Jewish quarter called Alchemia that is probably the best atmosphere I've ever seen in a place: when you first entered the room it was just a small, dimly lot room with candles flickering on each of the little tables. But then you walked through wardrobe doors to create this Narnia-like feeling and you would end up in another room altogether... Super cool.

Poland was somewhere that really surprised us- our main reason for visiting was something quite grim, and yet we managed to find a city that was worth a visit in its own right. From here, we moved West towards Prague, so more on that when my boredom kicks in.

Homeward Bound

So it's come to an end, six and a half months of living out of our backpacks.

We have been too busy packing in as much as we could in these last few weeks for me to keep this updated. From being covered in snow in Poland, to hanging out in a castle in Prague, crawling through caves under Budapest and becoming Liverpool FC supporters in England, this last bit of travel has reminded me what it's all about.

I'll keep the posts going to fill in the blanks when I get home, but for now we have one last day in London before we begin our journey home tonight.

I'm not going to lie, we have mixed feelings about heading home- but I am so excited to see everyone back home that I think that feeling wins out overall. And any leftover feelings of restlessness will mean only one thing- planning for the next big trip. Until then, off to make sure all our stuff fits: