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in 61,920 minutes: Taking over the world 18 steps at a time | 
in | 
Belgian Beer Cafe | 
the other side | ||||||||
chto na nem visyat devchenki | 
i whisky | 
a new look | 
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get their hands on Shurik's hair | 
when you get too close to the main hairdresser, Israel :-) | 
neznakomaya devchenka mahaetsya sablei | 
emy eti prava?! | ||||||||
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with patterns, Israel admitted he had no skill & decided to just shave the whole thing off (apart from the plat in the back) :-) | 
do at 3am on a friday night :-) | 
in Australia, but my mind is already seeing the world | ||||||||
who couldn't wait for us to leave :-) | 
teplih slov na dorozhku | 
while we are away! | 
with religion | ||||||||
Our first stop. Vadim & Shurik decided to use the 5 hour stopover to explore the nearby town Narita, while Monya & Zoya stayed in the airport. (Could not help but underline the fact that Quantas cannot even align the instructions on the ticket) | 
raining and Shurik's shoes had their first experience in getting completely soaked | 
a Japanese Temple | 
in the air, then stabbed to the table with a knife & within seconds it is cut to little pieces, ready to be rolled into sushi. This is all on one of the main streets we walked past | ||||||||
train station. The air felt kinda clean! | 
giving change in a place like this, Japanese show full respect & politeness | 
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the Japanese Airport. Out of all the airports we visited during our trip, this was by far the most organised, clean & quickest. | ||||||||
a little out of place at the airport - was their public toilet. But the one in Macdonald's, just down the road, had options of a luxury car. | 
from our short stopover | ||||||||||
This is now our first major stop. Yeah!. (As shown, the Japanese seem to line up all the instructions without a problem, unlike Qantas ) | 
horrible shit. Feel sorry for anyone who has to eat this on regular basis. This meal, on JAL airline, was probably the best tasting out of all the others that we had. | 
the air. About to land, excitement hard to describe. | 
the very first minute, Monya started studing the maps and taking us around the world. We just had to keep up with his fast walking pace. :-) | ||||||||
your attention - are bicycles. | 
that you can hire... (but never did!) :-( | 
ones too. Classics! | 
your whole family around | ||||||||
bicycle lanes, which make it quite safe and convenient to ride | 
car parks, but here, they have multi-story bicycle racks. This place is massive and is packed to the max with bicycles only. | 
gives you the option of taking photos from different angles. It also gives you that extra security, in case your memory card decides to suddenly stop working, as it happened to Monya, so we will not see his side of this and some other photos. | 
streets here are full of traffic. You can just feel the pollution! :-) | ||||||||
outfit. In case she ever got lost, we just looked for a girl in an orange nighty | 
is a big problem. This car looks like a toy and would fit almost anywhere | 
countdown. Pretty helpful when you want to know how long it is before a car hits you | 
everywhere, all over Europe. Thankfully, we did not encounter any | ||||||||
a ferry though the city... | 
our boat traveled past | 
House & Museum | 
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take a look at what made Amsterdam so famous & attractive to tourists from all over the world... | 
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there is a school assignment, just take a walk to the local markets & grow some weed. It comes with instructions! | 
grow it yourself, almost every coffee-shop will be more then happy to fulfill your needs. So, let's go inside one and see whats on the menu... | ||||||||
we have nice a variety, except the coffee is only a picture, what's for sale is weed. By gram or already rolled & packed for your convinience | 
choose what you want, it gets weighted, packed and off you go. (Photos of course are not allowed, but who follows the rules?) :-) | 
If you know what you are looking for, feel free to look at the product through a microscope. | 
that headache, just buy a pre-rolled joint that comes packed & branded straight from a factory. Where else but Amsterdam!? :-) | ||||||||
are against smoking, there is always a choice. Funny thing is, they sell those in souvenir shops, right next to the postcards! :-) | 
sure which one to buy, here is the guide - enjoy! :-) | 
are simple. You can smoke anything, eat almost anything, but whatever you do - NO TIT TOUCHING! :-) | 
whatever you do, never, ever order a cappuccino in Amsterdam! They just have no idea what it is! :-) | ||||||||
stuff, lets now see the other side of Amsterdam that not many people talk about, but was probably our favourite part | 
it's here, IAMSTERDAM, the heart & the city of Amsterdam | 
in Amsterdam! | 
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Well, at least I have the first letter | 
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visiting museums, Van Gogh one of a few | 
Photos of travka by Zoishe :-) | ||||||||
our whole experience in Amsterdam :-) | 
Monya otkluchilsya :-) | 
better then water where the dogs take bath | 
obratno! | ||||||||
shock horror! Amsterdam as we know it will never be the same | 
our hotel management explaining to their guests the new laws of Netherlands | 
rain outside... | 
felt the impact straight away - the cafes were empty! (But, as with any law - there is a loop hole. You cannot smoke tobacco or weed mixed with tobacco inside. Pure weed on the other hand - go ahead and smoke inside! Makes sence? Not really) :-) | ||||||||
third side to Amsterdam, the night life! We are now walking into the red light district... | 
vending machine you buy Mars Bars & Chips. In Amsterdam you buy porn with animals & whips. Interesting! | 
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main street and took a still shot. The quality is crap, but if I stopped for more then a second to take a proper photo, one of the ladies would probably chase me down the street with her dildo. Safety first I say! | ||||||||
Y Zoi glaza razbigalis! :-) | 
go home | 
give each other super-cool haircuts :-p | 
iz zhopi, kosichky vot takuu zaplesti ona ne mogla, vot i prishlos togda vse sbrivat' :-( | ||||||||
The last time we did this was in Brisbane, exactly a year ago | 
there :-) | 
On tak-zhe lubit Avstraliu. | 
colourful unhealthy snacks. | ||||||||
on a chair, eating a burger, wearing an Aussie jersey and a cactus on his head. How can you just walk past and not take a photo? 10 seconds after the photo was taken, he was almost chasing me down the street, asking for money since apparently this is his way of busking. Personally, I prefer this dude. I escaped untouched :-) | 
in Amsterdam, make sure you order a McKroket! | 
toilet. That's just plain rude! | 
do it for free in the middle of the main strip, where the urine flows straight into the river. Not so sure what choices do the ladies have... | ||||||||
THE TORTURE MUSEUM | 
made it™ | 
made it™ (2) | 
one of the major highlights of our trip. Now lets go and see what the French are all about! | ||||||||
enjoying a beer on the train | 
Brussels. Vadim & Monya can tell people that they have been to Belgium | 
na bilet babki potratili | 
(– Mi pizdili, a vi pizdili!?) | ||||||||
Finally arrived to France & as all good tourists do, we took a tour to the famous Louvre. | 
poteryaites'! | 
artifacts at the museum. This one probably does not even belong to France. | 
about looking at photos of art. It's either you see it live, or you don't see it at all. Here, figure this one out. | ||||||||
worth taking a photo of. Mona Lisa is one of them. NOT Monya, Mona! | 
of love is another one thats quite difficult to get close to | 
a little bored | 
head | ||||||||
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statue | 
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de Triomphe | ||||||||
podarki | 
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odin, religiozniy | 
It is quite normal in Paris to leave your car parked anywhere, even half way on the road. It's a little difficult with parking there. | ||||||||
can rent a bike on almost every second major street. Once again we did not rent one ourselves, but this is a great service and will hopefully be adapted in Australia soon! | 
should do, though, are bike-lanes such as these ones! Those are even safer then in Amsterdam | 
English! The French seem to ignore these ads, even the 'English speaking' tour guides | 
Tower | ||||||||
kotoruu nenavidit pochti kazhdiy frantsuz | 
especially this tower. Here, every angle captured | 
before going on this holiday. The camera has a pretty good zoom. Stood next to that lady with a dog, took a photo. Called Monya, told them to look this way, zoomed in & took another photo. You can just make out Vadim, Monya & Zoya. Cool stuff :-) | 
much, that decided to wear it as a hat. | ||||||||
all over the world, by randomly leaving it in cafes, cabs, shops & even bicycles, like the one here, parked outside the Eiffel Tower. | 
portrayed as a hero in France even the french cannot explain | 
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looking forward to but was a bit of a disappointment | ||||||||
nowhere, in large groups, searching for things to steal or people to fool | 
for a while, while Monya, Vadim & Zoya were stuck in a lift, that broke down half way down the Eiffel Tower | 
If you answer "Yes", you are then presented with a letter, explaining how the poor 'gypsy' woman has come to this country, lost her husband, has a sick brother and 3 hungry kids. All the letters from different women are more or less identical | 
police kicks them out | ||||||||
you! :-) | 
This bridge, like 90% of all the other artifacts or structures in Paris, is not French. It's from Saint Petersburg. Most other things in Paris are either a gift or stolen by someone like Napoleon, who apparently was an art-collector | 
looking for a place to try the famous french snails (escargot) & frogs. Found the snails, with frogs it was a little difficult, the french just laughed at us, especially when we tried to imitate what we wanted to eat | 
that's bottled in Bordeaux (our next stop), those snails actually taste pretty damn good! | ||||||||
go to strip-clubs when the entry costs only ˆ5 + you get a free drink. Not the safest decision | 
a tiny example of how much work has gone into everything around you | 
spend ˆ50 for 1 dinner, other times you stack up on sandwiches to last you 3 days! Good job Zoishe! | 
a major part of our days. Monya's socks lasted exactly 2 days | ||||||||
It is hard to explain how much we hate Europcar. Especially love the service. | 
in the boot of this little hatchback was always a mission. (Note: we booked a sedan) | 
of Paris, in a manual car, on the other side of the road without 1st figuring out how to put the gear in reverse usually ends bad. 10min after starting out, Shurik has slightly connected with a road pole. :-) | 
idet po plany, ne nado nervnichat! We are on our way to Bordeaux. | ||||||||
$4 for a toll in Sydney, you get a little angry. When you come up to a toll booth in France, & find out the toll is ˆ29, and that's just one of 3 - you begin to curse in every language you know. Not mentioning the ˆ1.50/l petrol! WTF?! | 
made it™ | ||||||||||
The World-Famous festival "San Fermin", a.k.a. "The Running of the Bulls" is once a year event, around which we planned a good part of our trip | 
the opening day of the festival, also the biggest event this town sees all year. Stick together or you will lose your friend, everyone is dressed identical! | 
with people & rubish | 
for us to do is to get drunk. And what else do you drink in Spain but Sangria! We even bought little carry-bags, so we can walk around with it strapped over the shoulder | ||||||||
a nice view & began our adventure | 
that only in a few hours will be wondering the highways of Pamplona, lost, tired & angry, trying to find their hotel & running like little girls when a cab finally drives past & picks them up | 
are not very popular in this neighborhood. Not that they are popular anywhere, but this was not the last of these signs that we came across there | 
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were placed in the square. Compared to the amount of people at the event, this toilet was immensely overcrowded | 
it behind illegaly parked cars. As seen here, the cars aren't very liked by the crowd & the air out of the tire is quickly let out, while a kid is trying to cover his eyes | 
found a big empty wall & wrote our names on it | 
things found was the wiring they had in Pamplona. And this is not temporary just for the event, this is the way all buildings are connected with each other | ||||||||
alarm went off at 6am. It was the first day of the bull-running, & Shurik was on of the contenders. While you are standing, waiting for the bulls to be let out, you are watching the clock on top of the tower. At 8am you hear a loud bang and then everyone is for themselves, you run for your life... literally | 
into a narrow street like a sardine. There is no room to move or breathe. Most people have been drinking all night & you can smell it in the air, apart from many other things. Zoya is asleep in the hotel, Vadim & Monya are on the side of the fence. Shurik is here, somewhere in the middle of this all | 
off & everyone begins to run. Whatever the other people in the crowd were talking about doesn't matter at this point, there are 11 massive fucking bulls that are running less then a meter from you, you are watching your back & trying not to trip over fallen people | 
it clear, that if you run any further - you'll get really hurt (by them, not the bulls) | ||||||||
continuation of the bull show | 
the police and through those gates, he would be one of those people, playing with the bulls. Damn! | 
your information, weight up to 600kg each! | 
of the circle, they need to bring out another, older bull to "walk" the younger, crazier one out | ||||||||
when you did something you watched on TV all your life &, I guess, survived :-) For Shurik, this was one of 3 more or less extreme things done in 2008! | 
ended up in one of these | 
nashli Shurika! | 
bull fight | ||||||||
streets were a little filthy. In an hour, it was all hosed away and the festival continued | 
the festival as much as the tourists | 
you were great! | 
huyarim v Madrid | ||||||||
Unfortunately, the car didn't make it back to Europcar. Well, it almost did, the last place it stopped was exactly outside their front door | 
little poles in the ground are very hard to see, especially when one is stuck under the bonnet of the car, you don't know about it and someone is telling you to put your foot on the gas | 
just amazed at the fact that Shurik & Monya found the whole incident so funny! :-) | 
Spanish, this form may tell you a little more then it told us. But the picture kind of explains what the problem is | ||||||||
go out for some paellas | 
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down for a dinner, dudes like this one come along and play some music. This guy was actually pretty good, so we didn't feel bad giving him a tip. Some, though, were just annoying | 
from exploring the city | ||||||||
Madrid | 
of police | 
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sebya kak doma v nashem otele | 
his computer was a bit too much for Monya | 
rodnoi yazik | 
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the Madrid airport, where we were more then happy to eat some Maccas | 
made it™ | |||||||||
