So I'm back in Europe again...

for probably another 12 or 13 months. My holiday visa for Germany ends mid-May and then I HOPE to get a visa for either Ireland or the UK, depending on how understanding each of those places are to my situation. Dublin or Liverpool would be my first (and maybe only!) ports of call in those respective places, and they both rock anyhow, so I'm not too fussed where I end up.

Anyone ever tried between 1-3 consecutive flights, where the only time you leave the plane is to wait in an airport lounge, which totals about 24-30 hours?? Not that much fun, especially when you cop the window seat and the two old farts next to you must have bladders the size of friken watermelons, as they only went to the toilet inflight ONCE and basically slept the rest of the way, so asking them to move was next to impossible. Luckily, I was able to go at the brief stopovers in Singapore and Vienna, which meant that in this regard, the flight was merely slightly uncomfortable and not a nightmare.

Arriving at Frankfurt, I go straight to the baggage claim, only to find no carousel has my flight. I ask an airport dude, who informs me that I am in the wrong Terminal! F#@K! I eventually find my bags doing laps all alone and about 40 people waiting impatiently for mine to piss off so that their flight's luggage can start coming in. Somehow, in all of this stuffing around, I have skipped both the passport check and customs, so I ask a few different airport officials, who amazingly tell me that neither of them is that important and not to worry about it!! Given that I know the day I arrived and the approximate time, finding the names of those people shouldn't be hard if I get arrested for entering the country illegally!

I do love travelling, though. Really!

Good to have ya back with us Europeans buddy!

That actually made me laugh!!! Poor Chris.... Nice to see you back in Europe and hope you get the visa you want next

Welcome home Christopher see ya soon

good stuff my man.

if you're going to ireland just about every aussie i met both in september and there at new year who was travelling and had been to ireland said galway is the place to be.

as far as a visa is concerned. not that i'm suggesting you break her majesties laws but i'm pretty sure there's plenty of pubs in the UK that will employ you for minimum wage, cash in hand and no questions asked...

an aussie working a bar in the UK.... you might even start a trend

Yeah, it is much more handy going to countries where you actually KNOW the language, rather than just learning it. Still, it is all good. If I do end up in a pub, you'll have to come down and I'll repay the favour you and your brother so graciously paid to me a few years back. LOL

Probably not a good idea coming to Liverpool or Glasgow then.

Aye, Glasgow especially

Well, Dubliners aren't exactly as clear as a bloody bell to understand, either.

I hear you about Galway, Jim, it is really nice there. I'll be checking it out at some stage later this year, for sure. The entire Irish west coast, in fact.

if my memory serves me correctly we took you to firewater and got so drunk you went for a piss and we thought you'd went home so we left you in the middle of town alone :-S not so sure i want that favour repaid

geordie kev is coming up here in february. ill need to take him to check it out cos him and the scouse wimps wouldnt let me take them up town during the summer