The language

The Rand seems to have strengthened again, but I have realised that following exchange rates is really boring, so I'm not going to do it anymore.

Today I got some Spanish courses and a an English-Spanish dictionary from Exclusive Books. Is anyone else interested in learning the language? I know it's not the easiest thing in the world, but I personally love Spanish, and I am determined to speak it well before we go. I'll let you guys know how it goes, and if anyone is interested, it would be much easier if I had people to practice dialog with.

Euro Trouble!!!

R 7.60 :O

Oi!!!!

Hey A & J, how's that thesis coming? The blog misses you! We all miss you! Bring back gadget girl and blog boy! Sorry, made the blog boy thing up, but it just seemed unfair...

Also, we may have a new member on this mission, should he choose to accept it :D Dare I say it's been too long?

Tickets JHB - BAR - JHB are currently at R 3990. The Euro has strengthened against the Rand as follows:

R7.54 (02/02/06)
R7.43 (22/01/06)
R7.33 (19/01/06)

Source: FNB Forex rates

Interesting fact: Since the deregulation of forex controls, we can now buy forex online at any time, so watching the exchange rate will do us good!

Excellent!

Well Bravo, A! Sorry to contradict J's (Oh hell, his identity is toast anyway) James's hypothetical opinion, but I was kind of hoping you'd go gadget-postal on this blog's ass! :D

15K is good, and should be reachable, provided no major shit happens (again!)...

Oh hey, the 'Big City Life' song just came on the radio! I LOVE that song!!!! Woohooo! And, oddly, I'm loving big city life too...

I am gadget girl, hear me roar

The Euro Project now has its own Gmail account, a Sitemeter account, a 43 places account, a FeedBurner account...

In Template news: dropdown doodads added for link thingies... any other requests?

James would probably say either "Why bother" or "Why not just use your own accounts?" but I want all the contributors to be able to access this information on their own, if they're curious...

I am getting to the Podcasts - I promise. There is just one left, but it keeps crashing my laptop (and its the first in the series, so I can't post the others in the mean time).

I think we should say a ball-park figure of R15 000 minimum (for spending, partying, drinking, condoms, etc).

Cool stuff :)

Good going A. I like the feed additions! If you have a minute, could you work your magic on the links with the whole disappearing/drop down thing?

So what do you guys think of the budget?

BTW, had a shit day at work / life today, but it's getting better...

Approximate Budget

Ok, I've done some very basic research on costing for this trip, based on the backpackers estimates. Assuming we are in Europe for about 20 days, this is the base cost:

Average cost per day for accomodation, food and local travel is US $57.60.
Current exchange rate: R6.16/US$
$57.60 * 6.16 = R354.82 / day
Round up for safety and a little fun: R400
20 days * R400 = R8000

Return Ticket to Madrid: R4000

Total: R 12000
==============

Still need to add Visa fees, airport taxes, customs, forex fees, flights/trains in Europe.

This, obviously is the base price and does not include night clubs, tours, entrance fees, alcohol and other fun things, but everything above that should be fun money!

A motion...

I hate to start mentioning problems this early in the blog, but there's a bit of a scheduling issue. I've had a chat with Tom since our initial discussion and here's the thing:

We were planning to go after Tom's wedding, in September this year (we can't go before, because there is much going on relating to the wedding in early September). The wedding is on September 22, which puts our timeframe (in my opinion) too late in the year for the wather to be reliable. To go much earlier than that throws up serious budgetary and leave issues.

Therefore I would like to (humbly) suggest that we move the date to April/May 2007, which will line us up for good weather and allow enough time for budget and leave accumulation efforts.

Let me know how you feel about this.

Went gambling with Helge last night, which was great fun! (and no, it did not come out of my travel budget, and besides, I was up a grand when I left)

The premise....

HEY!

I'm finally online! Just as a quick, personal aside, I have finally got my friggin broadband (wireless, no less) and am now properly online.

In terms of the project, it all began at Catz Pyjamas in Melville, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Boxing Day (26 Dec) 2005. We decided to go down the cocktail list, and then the shooters list, systematically. And we succeeded. We also recorded about an hour of our conversation, which details the marvellous plan, and which, Dreamweaver, I would please like a copy of...

The original (basic) plan is this: Europe, in September 2006, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany. 3 weeks in total. ABSOLUTE PARTY! There are many, many details, but those will be added later, as I am now late for Saturday morning brunch with the fandamily...


The Sagrada Familia, my main reason for wanting to go Barcelona Link to the Barcelona City Council site