Well, the rest of the Euro trip went excellently - train to Cologne, then hopped in a VW with two friends and drove to Barcelona, camping near Lyon along the way. The motorised scooter in the camper van made it all a bit squishy the first few days, but we met up with a friends of the scooters owner and offloaded the thing. We had a bunch of fun in and around climbing areas in Barcelona and the pyrenees, very picturesque.
After we gave the van back and our German friends had returned home, Mikl and I flew down to Malaga where I met up with Desiree and her boyfriend Miguel, and their cute 1 and a half year old Laura. I haven't seen Desiree since we were 10 - she used to be my neighbour when we were kids but then she moved to Queensland, and then back to Spain. We've kept in touch - albeit sporadically, and I always promised to visit if we ever went to Spain. Desiree and miguel live convieniently close to El Chorro, mega climbing destination in Southern Spain. All very fun.
On the way back to Oz, we stopped off in Singapore to visit my brother Richard, his wife Li, and my ever so cute nephew, Jonothan - who is one and a half, very cheeky, and very sociable. It was great to see him again, I saw him when he was 8 months old, and he is much more fun to play with now.
Anyway, so i write this from a hotel in Seoul, after a week long conference on Je Ju Island, off the coast of souther South Korea. The island was OK, a bit boring - its the number one destination for weddings etc.. for Koreans, so Seoul is a bit of a change from that sort of thing. I'm only here for another day - I had only been back in Sydney for a few days before leaving again so i didn't want to stay too long (plus, no more holidays and actual work to do), but i couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Soul. Today I managed to see most of the main attractions I think, my feet are quite sore from all the walking, and the air temp is coolish (about ten degrees) and I got a bit windswept. Korean food is awesome, except for kim chee, which i hate. I've finally stopped trying it to see if "this one is any better". I have a problem with vinegar, but anything that actually fizzes in your mouth is just too much for me. But everything else has been supurb.
I'm looking forward to going home though - I've been on the go for so long now!