Well, it is our last full day in Europe.
Today began nice and late. Just how I like it. Now that is a holiday - you sleep in, and do shit-all, and then get up and go have fun. The important thing on the agenda was that we visited a famous gelati shop called San Crispino.
We first visited the Spanish Steps, which had a church at the top. There were sketch artists at the top, as well as dodgy Nigerian types who try to use the friendship string scam on you. What they do is walk up to you and act all friendly, and then hold out a piece of string. They then tie the string to you, and then ask for a 'donation.' It is all friendly, but you can sense the threat behind that request for a 'donation.' It happened to me in Milan, but I acted like I only had some spare change, so the scammer only got away with 2 euros instead of 10. Nowadays, I am much more wise. As soon as I see a dodgy guy come up to me, up comes the hand, because the face ... it ain't listening.
After a visit to the Spanish Steps, we wandered down along until we hit this huuuge square with an obelisk in the middle, I forget what it is called. But nearby, up a rather tiring climb of steps, was a huge park. It being Sunday, there are lots of people out enjoying the customary day off for many people. There were also places you could hire bikes, roller blades, and tandem bikes.
There were also pedal-powered golf buggies.
Henry and I saw a few people zipping around on them, and decided to hire one for ourselves to try. At 10 euros for an hour, it is a lot of fun.
They basically convert the pedalling you do into electrical power, which then turns the four wheels ... I think. There are two steering wheels, but one is for show, while the other one actually steers. Henry and I had a lot of fun zipping around the park, riding offroad through the bumpy and less levelled parts of the park, as well as powering our way through the soft gravel, and terrorising other parkgoers with our whoops and yells of delight.
Well, my whoops and yells of delight.
Our fun was magnified when we decided to take some of the asphalted roads, and went down a long tunnel. Unsure of whether it was actually for pedestrians or cars, we ended up going down that way before we realised which it was. It was a long, sloping tunnel, which meant that it was a nice, downhill zoom to the bottom of the winding tunnel. However, once we got to the bottom, we found out one very important fact about that tunnel.
It was a carpark tunnel.
As we turned around to go up the other tunnel, we saw ...
A car coming up behind us!
We both screamed 'OH SHIT!!!' and pedalled as fast as our legs could pedal. We were both pedalling desperately, trying to outrun the car that was close behind us going up the tunnel. It was getting closer, closer ...
And it was keeping a leisurely distance from us. It seemed that the owners had a look of real amusement on their faces, as we both desperately pedalled to get up out of the tunnel and where the road would be a bit wider.
Just as it seemed the driver would speed up and run us over, we made it.
We got out of the tunnel, and veered off to the side and let the car pass us before stopping and trying to catch our breaths. We found out it was one way, so it would be hard to go back the way we came without a way to stop oncoming traffic.
In the end, I had to brave the dangers of returning through the tunnel, stopping most of traffic by using myself as a shield, and Henry bringing the buggy back down and around the way we came.
After those hijinks, we hooned around some more in the safer areas of the park, complete with more whooping.
After that misadventure, we decided to leave the park alone, and get some lunch after pedalling hard for an hour on that buggy. A trip to San Crispino later, we were contentedly munching on gelati while we headed for the nearby Fountain of Trevi, which apparently has magical powers. Supposedly, if you throw a coin into the fountain, from your right hand over your left shoulder, and it lands in the fountain, you will return to Rome. If you throw two over, then a wish will be granted. Henry thought it meant that you will be either married or divorced. I did at first too, and first refused to throw a second coin in because I didn't want to be destined to get tied down. However, on consultation of the Lonely Planet guide we had with us, it turned out that a wish would be granted.
After lunch at Burger King, we went to try to find a stone face which supposedly eats your hand if you lie. You are supposed to put your hand in. If you lie, the face supposedly slams shut. Surprise surprise, when we arrive, there is a long line of people wanting to test that theory. In front of the Church of St Valentine, no less. Unwilling to wait in line, we ended up wandering through the streets of Rome until we hit the Altar of the Nation again, and took a bus back to our room.
For our last night in Rome, and in Europe, we will be eating out.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 22 and 23
Still in Rome, where it is nice and temperate. I heard that there was a HUUGE heatwave in Australia, with temperatures up in the mid 40 celsius, and minimums in the 30s. Now that is HOT. I am very glad that I am here in temperate Rome, as opposed to being back there in Australia. The pools and beaches must have been veery busy. It would have been hard getting to the gym during those days.
In any case ... Rome has been rather interesting in some cases.
Day 22
After waking up at a more normal time (8:45), and having breakfast, we went to see some of the ancient Roman stuff. Arriving at the Colosseum, we found that surprisingly, there weren't that many tourists around.
There was a very good reason.
The Colosseum was closed for some sort of 'work assembly' and would reopen at '12am' so the notice claimed. I think they meant 12pm, as it would be rather hard to police people about on the Colosseum at midnight. In any case, almost all of the ancient monuments were closed for this 'work assembly.' Henry and I instead chose to wander off and check out Circus Maximus, which was a bit of a crapshoot.
It should really be renamed Circus Minimus. There are hardly any old buildings and stuff, it looks more like a drag-racing strip that nature had reclaimed. There was grass growing all over, only a few sets of steps remained, and there were cigarette butts littered everywhere. Of ancient Roman origin, I'm sure.
Returning to the Colosseum at near 12pm, we both found that there was a HUGE line of tourists lined up to go in - it must have stretched for at least 500m from the entrance where they have metal detectors and things. Getting in was fairly easy - pick a thin part of the line and jump in. Sure, it isn't totally legit to just push in, but all's fair in sightseeing and touring. Particularly the big tourist traps like the Colosseum. We went on a guided tour which was informative, but short. One interesting fact I will impart to you all - the Colosseum is actually not named for its massive size, but instead for the Colossus of Nero that once used to sit near the Colosseum after it was moved from elsewhere. Before, it was known as the Flavian Arena.
After the Colosseum, we went to the Palatine, and spent a good hour or two wandering through the ruins of the Roman Emperor's palace. There was even fruit growing from the orange trees in the gardens, so we stole fruit from the Emperor's Garden and ate of it. Henry remarked ot me that the orange he ate was rather sour.
After that was a stroll up the rode from the Palatine and the Colosseum, and we visited the ancient Roman Forum. A whole lot of ruins and archeological digs, which surprised me. I didn't expect to see an archeological dig in Rome, the capital of Italy. Goes to show you can find things almost anywhere.
Gelati and groceries followed, as well as a hamfisted attempt to cook spaghetti using mince, what we think was pasta sauce, capsicum and tomato. It was a rather interesting experience, going shopping and trying to go by what picture is on the label, and ignoring all the impenetrable Italian surrounding it. It makes cooking a lot more fun, admittedly - you have NO idea what you are putting in if it is canned, and only hoping like hell it has the stuff on the cover.
The spaghetti didn't turn out too badly, although it was rather bland. It needed something more ... like red wine, or MSG.
Day 23
Today was a nice, lazy day.
We got up, and took a bus to see the Pantheon, which to my surprise was actually a Christian temple. I always associated it with the classical Greco-Roman gods, but in this case, it is actually a Christian temple after it was donated to the Pope by the Byzantine emperor Phocas, and redecorated.
Lunch at Mcdonalds followed, as well as a visit to the Piazza Navone, which was a really nice place, with nice atmosphere. There were buskers playing Italian music, lots of artists displaying their wares, as well as sketchers and caricaturists who will draw your mug for a fee. As well as that, there were also a lot of sneaky and crooked Nigerians around, hawking all manner of wares. Bubble-guns which make toy laser gun noises, balls that buzz when you throw them into the air, fake Luis Vutton handbags, cheapo sunglasses, all manner of things.
There were a few fountains there too, it is a really pretty place and definitely a nice place to go with a lover.
If you are into that sort of thing.
Henry wanted to go to a 'famous market' which I objected to, on the basis that it was a market, like other markets all around the world. There was one near our hotel in Paris one day, and it was mostly food, fruit and dodgy goods. The stall owners there were a LOT more aggressive. One guy, when I walked near his stall, shoved a ladle filled with some sort of seed or nut mixture into my face! It was all I could do to raise a hand and gesture 'No, I am not interested in your strange mix of nuts or testing it.' Henry, however, was on a quest to find some fragola, which is some sort of Venetian strawberry liqueur. Instead, we came to a stand where a man of dubious Middle Eastern origin was trying to sell us on various flavoured liequeurs.
There were free samples, and I will hardly say no to free booze.
After some time 'testing' the drinks, I came to the conclusion that I liked the pistacchio liqueur the best. It tasted like pistacchio flavoured gelati, only in alcoholic form. It will go nicely with ice-cream. Henry bought some cream of lemon liqueur because it was on special.
We ended up back at the Vatican, where Henry was asked by a friend to get a poster of some sort for said friend.
It seems it won't fit in his bag.
Soon it will be dinner time, and tonight's menu ... frozen pizzas bought from the supermarket!
In any case ... Rome has been rather interesting in some cases.
Day 22
After waking up at a more normal time (8:45), and having breakfast, we went to see some of the ancient Roman stuff. Arriving at the Colosseum, we found that surprisingly, there weren't that many tourists around.
There was a very good reason.
The Colosseum was closed for some sort of 'work assembly' and would reopen at '12am' so the notice claimed. I think they meant 12pm, as it would be rather hard to police people about on the Colosseum at midnight. In any case, almost all of the ancient monuments were closed for this 'work assembly.' Henry and I instead chose to wander off and check out Circus Maximus, which was a bit of a crapshoot.
It should really be renamed Circus Minimus. There are hardly any old buildings and stuff, it looks more like a drag-racing strip that nature had reclaimed. There was grass growing all over, only a few sets of steps remained, and there were cigarette butts littered everywhere. Of ancient Roman origin, I'm sure.
Returning to the Colosseum at near 12pm, we both found that there was a HUGE line of tourists lined up to go in - it must have stretched for at least 500m from the entrance where they have metal detectors and things. Getting in was fairly easy - pick a thin part of the line and jump in. Sure, it isn't totally legit to just push in, but all's fair in sightseeing and touring. Particularly the big tourist traps like the Colosseum. We went on a guided tour which was informative, but short. One interesting fact I will impart to you all - the Colosseum is actually not named for its massive size, but instead for the Colossus of Nero that once used to sit near the Colosseum after it was moved from elsewhere. Before, it was known as the Flavian Arena.
After the Colosseum, we went to the Palatine, and spent a good hour or two wandering through the ruins of the Roman Emperor's palace. There was even fruit growing from the orange trees in the gardens, so we stole fruit from the Emperor's Garden and ate of it. Henry remarked ot me that the orange he ate was rather sour.
After that was a stroll up the rode from the Palatine and the Colosseum, and we visited the ancient Roman Forum. A whole lot of ruins and archeological digs, which surprised me. I didn't expect to see an archeological dig in Rome, the capital of Italy. Goes to show you can find things almost anywhere.
Gelati and groceries followed, as well as a hamfisted attempt to cook spaghetti using mince, what we think was pasta sauce, capsicum and tomato. It was a rather interesting experience, going shopping and trying to go by what picture is on the label, and ignoring all the impenetrable Italian surrounding it. It makes cooking a lot more fun, admittedly - you have NO idea what you are putting in if it is canned, and only hoping like hell it has the stuff on the cover.
The spaghetti didn't turn out too badly, although it was rather bland. It needed something more ... like red wine, or MSG.
Day 23
Today was a nice, lazy day.
We got up, and took a bus to see the Pantheon, which to my surprise was actually a Christian temple. I always associated it with the classical Greco-Roman gods, but in this case, it is actually a Christian temple after it was donated to the Pope by the Byzantine emperor Phocas, and redecorated.
Lunch at Mcdonalds followed, as well as a visit to the Piazza Navone, which was a really nice place, with nice atmosphere. There were buskers playing Italian music, lots of artists displaying their wares, as well as sketchers and caricaturists who will draw your mug for a fee. As well as that, there were also a lot of sneaky and crooked Nigerians around, hawking all manner of wares. Bubble-guns which make toy laser gun noises, balls that buzz when you throw them into the air, fake Luis Vutton handbags, cheapo sunglasses, all manner of things.
There were a few fountains there too, it is a really pretty place and definitely a nice place to go with a lover.
If you are into that sort of thing.
Henry wanted to go to a 'famous market' which I objected to, on the basis that it was a market, like other markets all around the world. There was one near our hotel in Paris one day, and it was mostly food, fruit and dodgy goods. The stall owners there were a LOT more aggressive. One guy, when I walked near his stall, shoved a ladle filled with some sort of seed or nut mixture into my face! It was all I could do to raise a hand and gesture 'No, I am not interested in your strange mix of nuts or testing it.' Henry, however, was on a quest to find some fragola, which is some sort of Venetian strawberry liqueur. Instead, we came to a stand where a man of dubious Middle Eastern origin was trying to sell us on various flavoured liequeurs.
There were free samples, and I will hardly say no to free booze.
After some time 'testing' the drinks, I came to the conclusion that I liked the pistacchio liqueur the best. It tasted like pistacchio flavoured gelati, only in alcoholic form. It will go nicely with ice-cream. Henry bought some cream of lemon liqueur because it was on special.
We ended up back at the Vatican, where Henry was asked by a friend to get a poster of some sort for said friend.
It seems it won't fit in his bag.
Soon it will be dinner time, and tonight's menu ... frozen pizzas bought from the supermarket!
Friday, January 30, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 19, 20 and 21
Ave to you from Rome!
I haven't been near a computer for awhile, so I haven't been able to update as frequently. In any case ...
Day 19
Our second day in Venice. I liked the place we were staying - it was classy. They were playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons when I arrived at the breakfast table, and there were some nice selections of food available. After breakfast, we left and took a waterbus down to Piazza San Marco, where, much to my delight, it was partially flooded! There were walkways around for tourists to travel through, and with the huge volumes of people trying to make their way around, traffic was fairly slow. There were a lot of Chinese and Japanese tourists around, still playing true to the stereotype. In fact, there was even a whole primary school class around, easily spotted by the large amount of noise and the white marshmallow jackets. Inside the Basilica St Mark, the front was flooded, which I rather liked - it made it feel kind of like something out of an Indiana Jones movie or something.
After some time wandering through St Mark's Basilica and looking at the various religious things, Henry and I amused ourselves watching people in the Piazza San Marco work out whether or not to slosh through the above-ankle high water, or to try to find a way around. It was amusing to see people try to slosh their way through, most of the time by stepping with the heels of their shoes.
After the hijinks in Piazza San Marco, we ended up wandering around for another good hour or so trying to find our way through to some good restaurants. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming. So we ended up heading back to our room because Henry forgot his bus pass (good thing that the Italians don't seem to enforce having valid tickets very strongly), and we ended up eating lunch at a place near our hotel.
After lunch, we ended up taking a long ride out to an island in the sticks of Venice, called Burano. Now, unlike yesterday, where we went to Murano and there were some really nice examples of glasswork, Burano was famous for ... lace.
Lace.
I wonder ... why the HELL would a red-blooded man want to go out for an hour's ride to see ... lace? Because that is apparently what Burano is famous for. The only times that the word lace and man should go in a sentence is if it is man as in WOman, or it involves the giving from the man to the woman of lace unmentionables, or the removal of said unmentionables. I am rather worried about sleeping in the same room with Henry now, since he wanted to go out to an island to see LACE.
It was also pouring with rain.
On our way back, we made sure we were entertained.
Because it was cold and pouring with rain, the windows were fogged up. I was bored, so I started doodling kanji on the windows. Henry dared me to draw a hand giving someone the one-finger salute.
I did.
What I didn't notice was that there was also a little girl doodling on the windows and chatting rather loudly with her father.
She copied me.
Henry and I burst out laughing, and we couldn't stop for a few minutes.
Monkey see, monkey do.
We topped the day off with some dinner along the tourist strip of the Grand Canal, near the Rialto bridge over said canal.
Day 20
Most of it was spent travelling, first in the morning rush onto the waterbus back to San Lucia station, before buying tickets and rushing for the train to Mestre station. After that, a looong, five hour trip to Rome. It was surprisingly warm in Rome, considering how cold it was in Milan and Venice. Rome seemed more like an Australian winter, considering how it is sunny, but slightly cold at the same time.
It also has one of the most confusing metro systems, considering there are only two lines - the A line and the B line. You switch lines at Termini station, so it is one of the largest stations in Europe. Apparently the city council is rather proud of it, but as our host states, it is also the biggest confusion in Europe.
After setting up in our room, we went to get our laundry done, at a place which also doubled as an internet cafe, which was handy. We went grocery shopping, since our place had a KITCHEN this time! The night was spent enjoying the joy of cooking, and watching what cable channels Italian cable gets in English.
Day 21
The day started at 5am.
We got up at 5am, got cleaned up and ready to go, and then went carousing about the city, blindly stumbling through streets in pre-dawn light, looking for the Vatican, and the Musei Vatica. We ended up finding it after an hour or so of wandering the streets, and sitting in the cafe near the entrance to have breakfast and watch for the formation of a line.
The majority of today was spent wandering through the Musei Vatica, and the attached Sistine Chapel, as well as seeing St Peter's Square and the Basilica of St Peter. After lunch, we wandered down to see some fountains, like the Trevoli Fountain, I think it was called, and the Altar of the Nation.
I haven't been near a computer for awhile, so I haven't been able to update as frequently. In any case ...
Day 19
Our second day in Venice. I liked the place we were staying - it was classy. They were playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons when I arrived at the breakfast table, and there were some nice selections of food available. After breakfast, we left and took a waterbus down to Piazza San Marco, where, much to my delight, it was partially flooded! There were walkways around for tourists to travel through, and with the huge volumes of people trying to make their way around, traffic was fairly slow. There were a lot of Chinese and Japanese tourists around, still playing true to the stereotype. In fact, there was even a whole primary school class around, easily spotted by the large amount of noise and the white marshmallow jackets. Inside the Basilica St Mark, the front was flooded, which I rather liked - it made it feel kind of like something out of an Indiana Jones movie or something.
After some time wandering through St Mark's Basilica and looking at the various religious things, Henry and I amused ourselves watching people in the Piazza San Marco work out whether or not to slosh through the above-ankle high water, or to try to find a way around. It was amusing to see people try to slosh their way through, most of the time by stepping with the heels of their shoes.
After the hijinks in Piazza San Marco, we ended up wandering around for another good hour or so trying to find our way through to some good restaurants. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming. So we ended up heading back to our room because Henry forgot his bus pass (good thing that the Italians don't seem to enforce having valid tickets very strongly), and we ended up eating lunch at a place near our hotel.
After lunch, we ended up taking a long ride out to an island in the sticks of Venice, called Burano. Now, unlike yesterday, where we went to Murano and there were some really nice examples of glasswork, Burano was famous for ... lace.
Lace.
I wonder ... why the HELL would a red-blooded man want to go out for an hour's ride to see ... lace? Because that is apparently what Burano is famous for. The only times that the word lace and man should go in a sentence is if it is man as in WOman, or it involves the giving from the man to the woman of lace unmentionables, or the removal of said unmentionables. I am rather worried about sleeping in the same room with Henry now, since he wanted to go out to an island to see LACE.
It was also pouring with rain.
On our way back, we made sure we were entertained.
Because it was cold and pouring with rain, the windows were fogged up. I was bored, so I started doodling kanji on the windows. Henry dared me to draw a hand giving someone the one-finger salute.
I did.
What I didn't notice was that there was also a little girl doodling on the windows and chatting rather loudly with her father.
She copied me.
Henry and I burst out laughing, and we couldn't stop for a few minutes.
Monkey see, monkey do.
We topped the day off with some dinner along the tourist strip of the Grand Canal, near the Rialto bridge over said canal.
Day 20
Most of it was spent travelling, first in the morning rush onto the waterbus back to San Lucia station, before buying tickets and rushing for the train to Mestre station. After that, a looong, five hour trip to Rome. It was surprisingly warm in Rome, considering how cold it was in Milan and Venice. Rome seemed more like an Australian winter, considering how it is sunny, but slightly cold at the same time.
It also has one of the most confusing metro systems, considering there are only two lines - the A line and the B line. You switch lines at Termini station, so it is one of the largest stations in Europe. Apparently the city council is rather proud of it, but as our host states, it is also the biggest confusion in Europe.
After setting up in our room, we went to get our laundry done, at a place which also doubled as an internet cafe, which was handy. We went grocery shopping, since our place had a KITCHEN this time! The night was spent enjoying the joy of cooking, and watching what cable channels Italian cable gets in English.
Day 21
The day started at 5am.
We got up at 5am, got cleaned up and ready to go, and then went carousing about the city, blindly stumbling through streets in pre-dawn light, looking for the Vatican, and the Musei Vatica. We ended up finding it after an hour or so of wandering the streets, and sitting in the cafe near the entrance to have breakfast and watch for the formation of a line.
The majority of today was spent wandering through the Musei Vatica, and the attached Sistine Chapel, as well as seeing St Peter's Square and the Basilica of St Peter. After lunch, we wandered down to see some fountains, like the Trevoli Fountain, I think it was called, and the Altar of the Nation.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 18
Three things happened today.
It was Lunar New Year, so Shin-yeng, gong fat hei choi and chuc mung nam moi. It's now the Yes r of the Ox, my animal year.
It was also Australia Day.
We also arrived in Venice.
Venice is a beautiful city. We were lucky enough to arrive when the sun was shining above a beautiful, clear sky. It was a surreal experience, to emerge from the train station and be greeted by the sight of the Grand Canal. Boats going up and down this huge waterway, with houses on either side. The streets were tiny, and wouldn't fit big crowds.
Henry and I spent the day wandering Venice, making a trip to Murano to see the famed Murano glassware, which is really pretty. I imagine that guys who take their girlfriends there would come back with their wallets considerably lighter.
It was a surreal experience, puttering up and down the Grand Canal in valporetos, water buses. They are Venice's equivalent of a metro system, each even having individual lines for the routes they take. They are also rather rickety things, and have a tendency to grind and grunt like you would think they were scraping the bottom of the canal. They also bang up against the pontoon-stops that they periodically stop at along the way, which shows on the pontoons.
Happy New Year of the Ox to you all!
It was Lunar New Year, so Shin-yeng, gong fat hei choi and chuc mung nam moi. It's now the Yes r of the Ox, my animal year.
It was also Australia Day.
We also arrived in Venice.
Venice is a beautiful city. We were lucky enough to arrive when the sun was shining above a beautiful, clear sky. It was a surreal experience, to emerge from the train station and be greeted by the sight of the Grand Canal. Boats going up and down this huge waterway, with houses on either side. The streets were tiny, and wouldn't fit big crowds.
Henry and I spent the day wandering Venice, making a trip to Murano to see the famed Murano glassware, which is really pretty. I imagine that guys who take their girlfriends there would come back with their wallets considerably lighter.
It was a surreal experience, puttering up and down the Grand Canal in valporetos, water buses. They are Venice's equivalent of a metro system, each even having individual lines for the routes they take. They are also rather rickety things, and have a tendency to grind and grunt like you would think they were scraping the bottom of the canal. They also bang up against the pontoon-stops that they periodically stop at along the way, which shows on the pontoons.
Happy New Year of the Ox to you all!
Monday, January 26, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 17
Today we spent the day at Lake Como.
Despite the fact it was a rather warm 7 degrees, it still felt like a warm summer's day down at Como, which had the real feel of a resort town. It is a very beautiful, picturesque place, sitting on a lake, Lake Como, with boats moored, ferries running around, and against the backdrop of towering mountains. About an hour and a half's train ride from Milan, I get the feeling that life at Lake Como is a lot more relaxed, and the vibe more laidback. Of course, it being Sunday may also help with that, as there were lots of Italians out and about - walking with the family, having a coffee at cafes, or even walking their dog.
If there's one thing I noticed about many Europeans, it's that they love their dogs. Really love their dogs. They take those damn mutts everywhere with them. Onto trains, inside restaurants, and even into bookstores. I am wondering, what the hell has happened to the hygiene code in Europe that they permit dogs into places that they normally aren't allowed? I have only ever seen dogs allowed into places like that when they were seeing eye dogs for the visually impaired, and clearly many Europeans are not visually impaired.
If there's another thing I've noticed, it's that the Italians like their foot pedals. A lot. In many toilets and bathrooms, the toilet has no flusher, and instead just a button you press with your foot. Likewise with washbasins - there is no tap, there is no laser sensor, just a pedal you press with your foot to get the water flowing. I think I also found a pedal that operates a hot air dryer.
But I digress, back to Lake Como.
After getting lost trying to find the cable car, Henry summoned up the courage to approach an Italian mother walking her baby, while I chose to stand around and look cool wearing black and sunglasses. She must have been very impressed, for she suddenly spoke good English and gave us detailed instructions.
The view from the mountain at the top of Como was absolutely breathtaking. Spread out beneath us was the city, all the little houses looking so small and insignificant against the big mountains that surrounded the valley, their snow-capped peaks something that I don't think I would ever tire of looking at. There was also much snow on the way to the panoramic view on that mountaintop, to which I chuckled and laughed like a slightly disturbed schoolchild, stomping in the snow and revelling in the crunching sound and occassional sinking of my boot further into the snow than expected.
After a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise and chinotto, we went to Belaggio, a small town along the banks of Lake Como. It was a nice, tiny place, a perfect place for a romantic getaway. It had those small, ascending stairway streets, all these little shops scattered all over, with the houses painted what is undeniably an earthy Italian orange, and the street network was a real maze. After we tired of wandering around, we amused ourselves feeding the ducks at the lake with a 2-day old sandwich Henry found in his pocket.
On the way back to Como station, Henry went ahead and got on the train while I embarked on the epic quest of finding a toilet. It was surprisingly hard, considering I walked into about four bars before I found one with a toilet. I wondered how the locals got about - did they piss in the lake or something? It would explain why it is so polluted. I know in Amsterdam there are public urinals, but what about in Como?
It boggles the mind.
Despite the fact it was a rather warm 7 degrees, it still felt like a warm summer's day down at Como, which had the real feel of a resort town. It is a very beautiful, picturesque place, sitting on a lake, Lake Como, with boats moored, ferries running around, and against the backdrop of towering mountains. About an hour and a half's train ride from Milan, I get the feeling that life at Lake Como is a lot more relaxed, and the vibe more laidback. Of course, it being Sunday may also help with that, as there were lots of Italians out and about - walking with the family, having a coffee at cafes, or even walking their dog.
If there's one thing I noticed about many Europeans, it's that they love their dogs. Really love their dogs. They take those damn mutts everywhere with them. Onto trains, inside restaurants, and even into bookstores. I am wondering, what the hell has happened to the hygiene code in Europe that they permit dogs into places that they normally aren't allowed? I have only ever seen dogs allowed into places like that when they were seeing eye dogs for the visually impaired, and clearly many Europeans are not visually impaired.
If there's another thing I've noticed, it's that the Italians like their foot pedals. A lot. In many toilets and bathrooms, the toilet has no flusher, and instead just a button you press with your foot. Likewise with washbasins - there is no tap, there is no laser sensor, just a pedal you press with your foot to get the water flowing. I think I also found a pedal that operates a hot air dryer.
But I digress, back to Lake Como.
After getting lost trying to find the cable car, Henry summoned up the courage to approach an Italian mother walking her baby, while I chose to stand around and look cool wearing black and sunglasses. She must have been very impressed, for she suddenly spoke good English and gave us detailed instructions.
The view from the mountain at the top of Como was absolutely breathtaking. Spread out beneath us was the city, all the little houses looking so small and insignificant against the big mountains that surrounded the valley, their snow-capped peaks something that I don't think I would ever tire of looking at. There was also much snow on the way to the panoramic view on that mountaintop, to which I chuckled and laughed like a slightly disturbed schoolchild, stomping in the snow and revelling in the crunching sound and occassional sinking of my boot further into the snow than expected.
After a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise and chinotto, we went to Belaggio, a small town along the banks of Lake Como. It was a nice, tiny place, a perfect place for a romantic getaway. It had those small, ascending stairway streets, all these little shops scattered all over, with the houses painted what is undeniably an earthy Italian orange, and the street network was a real maze. After we tired of wandering around, we amused ourselves feeding the ducks at the lake with a 2-day old sandwich Henry found in his pocket.
On the way back to Como station, Henry went ahead and got on the train while I embarked on the epic quest of finding a toilet. It was surprisingly hard, considering I walked into about four bars before I found one with a toilet. I wondered how the locals got about - did they piss in the lake or something? It would explain why it is so polluted. I know in Amsterdam there are public urinals, but what about in Como?
It boggles the mind.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 15 and 16
Salve from Italy! I have arrived in the final country on our merry dance across Europe.
Yesterday, after a hearty breakfast and an amusing conversation with our German host (who seemed to speak more German in her English than English), Henry and I set off for a walking tour of Berlin, joining up with a tour group at Zoologischer Garten station. Our tour guide, surprisingly, was an Australian expat living in Germany, and the rather assuring accent reminded me of home. What also reminded me of home, and which I observed, was the rather large Vietnamese presence in Berlin.
It turns out that apparently a lot of North Vietnamese emigrated to East Berlin during the Cold war as labour, and to join their Communist brothers on the front line against the capitalist pigs. I was rather amused to see that my people had ranged even as far as Germany. Paris is kind of a given considering that Vietnam was a former French colony, but Berlin ... that was an interesting tidbit of knowledge.
That morning, I learned the very definition of cold weather. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon trudging about Berlin, learning about various sites, while freezing our collective arses off. The winds would not let up, and I ended up by the end having numb feet and hands, constantly moving my fingers in an effort to keep blood flowing. The generous fellow handing out free samplse of coffee outside a Starbucks was a real godsend.
Despite the cold, we learned a lot about the history of Berlin, including the looming presence of the Wall, which only fell about eighteen years ago. Berlin is very much a new city. We also visited the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, which was where many foreign diplomats and soldiers moved into and out of East and West Berlin.
After the tour, Henry and I bummed around the city, where I went shopping for a stein, and Henry for some posters or something. Dinner was a nice, traditional German dinner - sausages, steak and sauerkraut, followed up with some nicely brewed beer. After some Haagen-Dasz for desert, it was time for a night at the Philharmonie, listening to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra playing a couple of Schumann's pieces.
I have to say, it was my first time at an orchestral concert, and I began to feel a bit like I was in Nodame Cantabile, mainly because that is the extent of my orchestral concert experience. The concertmaster was even a Japanese guy! Nevertheless, I found that Henry enjoyed it more than I did, probably due to his inclination to classical music, and me to music from a rather different source. It was an interesting experience.
The following day, we were up at 4am to get ready and fly to Milan from Tegel airport. The trip was filled with fun. Firstly, we both got up at 4am after going to sleep at midnight the previous night, so we were both functioning on about 4 hours of sleep. Once we got to Tegel, I panicked and thought that I'd lost my passport. If I had lost my passport, I was screwed. No, make that we were screwed. I couldn't check in, I'd miss my flight, and then I'd have to wait while the mess is cleared up with the Australian embassy and I get a new one or something. Luckily, it seemed that I had just misplaced it somewhere. While I went through the security area, I set off the metal detector too many times, and while the guard scanned me with his metal detector, I frantically wondered why I had set it off, even though I had removed everything that I had thought was metal.
It turns out, it was a 5 cent coin sitting in my pocket.
Always the lsat place you look.
When we arrived in Milan, securing transport was an interesting endeavour. We had to get the Malpensa Express shuttle bus to Central Station. After paying 7 euros and getting on, I slept most of the way there. Once there, we bought our tickets for transport in the rest of Italy via Trenitalia, and then tried to find a place to buy local passes. Unfortunately, there were none. We ended up getting on one of the trams to our hotel anyway, and it was lucky for us there was a friendly old Italian woman on the way to the same place as us. They are very lax about checking passes in Milan - you're just assumed to have one, and to flash it, in the rare event that a transport cop tries to bust you. We later found out you also need one to get on the Metro underground train system. Like in Berlin, each station had big TV screens to entertain commuters with ads, news, and other interesting tidbits. I found this to be quite an innovation, and wish that some of these ideas would find their way back to Adelaide.
After checking in, we visited the Duomo, where some overfriendly Nigerians gave me a friendshop bracelet in exchange for a 'donation' of 2 euros (he originally wanted 10, but I pretended that I only had spare change). We visited the Duomo cathedral, ate lunch at a nearby Mcdonald's (amusingly enough, Henry wasn't big on the idea of lunch when I brought it up, considering pizza too big for lunch. I asked him what would constitute a good size, so he said something like Mcdonald's. It just so happened ... we were standing outside one as he brought that up), and got to witness what appeared to be a Communist rally, supported by feminists and anarchists. I was rather amused, particularly at the idea that there was still Commuist rallies happening. They all had their big red flags with the hammer and the sickle, and were singing songs in Russian. They were also accompanied by heavily armed police wearing riot gear, which was a kick to watch.
Next: a visit to Lake Como!
Yesterday, after a hearty breakfast and an amusing conversation with our German host (who seemed to speak more German in her English than English), Henry and I set off for a walking tour of Berlin, joining up with a tour group at Zoologischer Garten station. Our tour guide, surprisingly, was an Australian expat living in Germany, and the rather assuring accent reminded me of home. What also reminded me of home, and which I observed, was the rather large Vietnamese presence in Berlin.
It turns out that apparently a lot of North Vietnamese emigrated to East Berlin during the Cold war as labour, and to join their Communist brothers on the front line against the capitalist pigs. I was rather amused to see that my people had ranged even as far as Germany. Paris is kind of a given considering that Vietnam was a former French colony, but Berlin ... that was an interesting tidbit of knowledge.
That morning, I learned the very definition of cold weather. We spent the morning and most of the afternoon trudging about Berlin, learning about various sites, while freezing our collective arses off. The winds would not let up, and I ended up by the end having numb feet and hands, constantly moving my fingers in an effort to keep blood flowing. The generous fellow handing out free samplse of coffee outside a Starbucks was a real godsend.
Despite the cold, we learned a lot about the history of Berlin, including the looming presence of the Wall, which only fell about eighteen years ago. Berlin is very much a new city. We also visited the infamous Checkpoint Charlie, which was where many foreign diplomats and soldiers moved into and out of East and West Berlin.
After the tour, Henry and I bummed around the city, where I went shopping for a stein, and Henry for some posters or something. Dinner was a nice, traditional German dinner - sausages, steak and sauerkraut, followed up with some nicely brewed beer. After some Haagen-Dasz for desert, it was time for a night at the Philharmonie, listening to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra playing a couple of Schumann's pieces.
I have to say, it was my first time at an orchestral concert, and I began to feel a bit like I was in Nodame Cantabile, mainly because that is the extent of my orchestral concert experience. The concertmaster was even a Japanese guy! Nevertheless, I found that Henry enjoyed it more than I did, probably due to his inclination to classical music, and me to music from a rather different source. It was an interesting experience.
The following day, we were up at 4am to get ready and fly to Milan from Tegel airport. The trip was filled with fun. Firstly, we both got up at 4am after going to sleep at midnight the previous night, so we were both functioning on about 4 hours of sleep. Once we got to Tegel, I panicked and thought that I'd lost my passport. If I had lost my passport, I was screwed. No, make that we were screwed. I couldn't check in, I'd miss my flight, and then I'd have to wait while the mess is cleared up with the Australian embassy and I get a new one or something. Luckily, it seemed that I had just misplaced it somewhere. While I went through the security area, I set off the metal detector too many times, and while the guard scanned me with his metal detector, I frantically wondered why I had set it off, even though I had removed everything that I had thought was metal.
It turns out, it was a 5 cent coin sitting in my pocket.
Always the lsat place you look.
When we arrived in Milan, securing transport was an interesting endeavour. We had to get the Malpensa Express shuttle bus to Central Station. After paying 7 euros and getting on, I slept most of the way there. Once there, we bought our tickets for transport in the rest of Italy via Trenitalia, and then tried to find a place to buy local passes. Unfortunately, there were none. We ended up getting on one of the trams to our hotel anyway, and it was lucky for us there was a friendly old Italian woman on the way to the same place as us. They are very lax about checking passes in Milan - you're just assumed to have one, and to flash it, in the rare event that a transport cop tries to bust you. We later found out you also need one to get on the Metro underground train system. Like in Berlin, each station had big TV screens to entertain commuters with ads, news, and other interesting tidbits. I found this to be quite an innovation, and wish that some of these ideas would find their way back to Adelaide.
After checking in, we visited the Duomo, where some overfriendly Nigerians gave me a friendshop bracelet in exchange for a 'donation' of 2 euros (he originally wanted 10, but I pretended that I only had spare change). We visited the Duomo cathedral, ate lunch at a nearby Mcdonald's (amusingly enough, Henry wasn't big on the idea of lunch when I brought it up, considering pizza too big for lunch. I asked him what would constitute a good size, so he said something like Mcdonald's. It just so happened ... we were standing outside one as he brought that up), and got to witness what appeared to be a Communist rally, supported by feminists and anarchists. I was rather amused, particularly at the idea that there was still Commuist rallies happening. They all had their big red flags with the hammer and the sickle, and were singing songs in Russian. They were also accompanied by heavily armed police wearing riot gear, which was a kick to watch.
Next: a visit to Lake Como!
Friday, January 23, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 13.5 and 14
Gutentag from Berlin!
The keyboard here isn't too bad, they only really changed the Z and Y buttons, as well as moving the @ button and the quote buttons.
After my last entry, I went cruising around central Amsterdam with Henry. The sites were many, varied, and interesting. Down one street we walked, we saw a whole collection of green-lit 'coffeeshops' selling many things, least among them coffee. I know that you know what I am talking about.
We also walked past one shop that rather spooked Henry - it was marked 'Gay Cinema,' and it stood out rather blaringly. We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant on the edge of the Red Light District, which we found after walking down a street which had some suspicious black guys mumbling 'coke-hash-ecs' to the passersby.
I also paid a visit to the Amsterdam Sex Museum, which was as informative as it was hilarious. Any museum housing exhibitions on pornography, masturbatory aids and general sex through the ages can never get boring in my opinion.
Afterwards, we went to the Red Light District, just to check it out. True to word, there were the characterstic windows. How it works is, there are red lights on in the lamps attached to the facade and in the windows, with girls standing behind them and doing a variety of things, among them smoking, having a coffee, standing in the window, tapping on the window to get your attention, or even posing sexily. I took Henry down Bloedstraat, which was filled with blue lights, and therefore notorious for being the main thoroughfare of ladyboys and transsexuals, to see how he would react. Funnily enough, we actually saw a man emerge from one of the blue-lit windows. Absolutely hilarious.
Today, we went to Berlin. I like Berlin. It was cold, but sunny, frosty but not too cold. Lots of nice modern buildings, juxtaposed against all the old architecture. Getting to the accomodation was rather tricky, because I didn't have the house number, and I was shitting myself about finding it. We did end up finding it, though, since thankfully the woman had put a sign up on the building. Our host was this nice little old German woman, whose english was just a little bit better than my German. She thought for awhile we were actually sleeping in the same bed, since it seemed strange that it was two guys travelling alone through Europe. After overcoming a few barriers in language, we were able to get settled nicely, in a much bigger room albeit.
Berlin had bits of path and water frozen over. It was awesome. I have never seen proper frost before, and Berlin properly embodied the idea of a cold European city, although it wasn't so bad until it got dark.
I'm sitting in Alexanderplaty typing this, so we will see how things go.
The keyboard here isn't too bad, they only really changed the Z and Y buttons, as well as moving the @ button and the quote buttons.
After my last entry, I went cruising around central Amsterdam with Henry. The sites were many, varied, and interesting. Down one street we walked, we saw a whole collection of green-lit 'coffeeshops' selling many things, least among them coffee. I know that you know what I am talking about.
We also walked past one shop that rather spooked Henry - it was marked 'Gay Cinema,' and it stood out rather blaringly. We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant on the edge of the Red Light District, which we found after walking down a street which had some suspicious black guys mumbling 'coke-hash-ecs' to the passersby.
I also paid a visit to the Amsterdam Sex Museum, which was as informative as it was hilarious. Any museum housing exhibitions on pornography, masturbatory aids and general sex through the ages can never get boring in my opinion.
Afterwards, we went to the Red Light District, just to check it out. True to word, there were the characterstic windows. How it works is, there are red lights on in the lamps attached to the facade and in the windows, with girls standing behind them and doing a variety of things, among them smoking, having a coffee, standing in the window, tapping on the window to get your attention, or even posing sexily. I took Henry down Bloedstraat, which was filled with blue lights, and therefore notorious for being the main thoroughfare of ladyboys and transsexuals, to see how he would react. Funnily enough, we actually saw a man emerge from one of the blue-lit windows. Absolutely hilarious.
Today, we went to Berlin. I like Berlin. It was cold, but sunny, frosty but not too cold. Lots of nice modern buildings, juxtaposed against all the old architecture. Getting to the accomodation was rather tricky, because I didn't have the house number, and I was shitting myself about finding it. We did end up finding it, though, since thankfully the woman had put a sign up on the building. Our host was this nice little old German woman, whose english was just a little bit better than my German. She thought for awhile we were actually sleeping in the same bed, since it seemed strange that it was two guys travelling alone through Europe. After overcoming a few barriers in language, we were able to get settled nicely, in a much bigger room albeit.
Berlin had bits of path and water frozen over. It was awesome. I have never seen proper frost before, and Berlin properly embodied the idea of a cold European city, although it wasn't so bad until it got dark.
I'm sitting in Alexanderplaty typing this, so we will see how things go.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 13
Just went to a few places in Amsterdam today.
The Rijksmusem is their main 'art' museum, which is filled with all sorts of interesting things from the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th Century, and a lot of interesting tidbits. For a change, there was a lot less religious artwork, which I was glad for (Louvre, I'm lookin at you). They had some fairly well known pictures around, like Rembrandt's The Night Watch. That is really the only one I know, mainly because it was parodied on the cover of the Discworld book Night Watch.
The Van Gogh museum ... the only thing I can say is that there was a rather cute girl at the audiotour counter. Otherwise, it was almost all about Van Gogh, and I was bored to tears in the place by the time I got to the bit where he goes crazy and cuts off his ear. Although there were some rather nice girls in there ... ;)
Anne Frank House, on the other hand, was very interesting, and very heavy. You could really feel the oppressive atmosphere in there, and feel a bit like how the Jews who were hiding in there for years before being found by the Nazis felt, being cooped up, virtually prisoners already. It was almost like a carnival ride, the way we went through all the rooms in the house, with presentations from surviving members of the plot, and excerpts from Anne Frank's diary put up on the walls around the house.
That was capped off by a quick visit to an area near the Red Light District. Lots of 'coffeeshops,' and sex stores around, which was rather amusing, including a place that called itself a 'Condomerie.'
Tomorrow, we head for Germany!
The Rijksmusem is their main 'art' museum, which is filled with all sorts of interesting things from the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th Century, and a lot of interesting tidbits. For a change, there was a lot less religious artwork, which I was glad for (Louvre, I'm lookin at you). They had some fairly well known pictures around, like Rembrandt's The Night Watch. That is really the only one I know, mainly because it was parodied on the cover of the Discworld book Night Watch.
The Van Gogh museum ... the only thing I can say is that there was a rather cute girl at the audiotour counter. Otherwise, it was almost all about Van Gogh, and I was bored to tears in the place by the time I got to the bit where he goes crazy and cuts off his ear. Although there were some rather nice girls in there ... ;)
Anne Frank House, on the other hand, was very interesting, and very heavy. You could really feel the oppressive atmosphere in there, and feel a bit like how the Jews who were hiding in there for years before being found by the Nazis felt, being cooped up, virtually prisoners already. It was almost like a carnival ride, the way we went through all the rooms in the house, with presentations from surviving members of the plot, and excerpts from Anne Frank's diary put up on the walls around the house.
That was capped off by a quick visit to an area near the Red Light District. Lots of 'coffeeshops,' and sex stores around, which was rather amusing, including a place that called itself a 'Condomerie.'
Tomorrow, we head for Germany!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
A warning
I have just discovered a potentially devastating surprise that may drastically alter my trip.
Oh, hated enemy, thy name is mobile roaming.
Oh, hated enemy, thy name is mobile roaming.
EuroX Trip: Day 12
Here from Amsterdam, and am I glad to be back to keyboards that look more normal, and don't have buttons changed around. I am glad I don't have to relearn the keyboard after getting used to and trying to lose the influence of the dreaded French keyboard.
We took the train from Gare du Nord to Rotterdam this morning. Since we got to the train station early, Henry and I went to Quick, the French fast food chain comparable to McDonalds. We had seen these ads for 'Extreme Cheesebuerger' all around Paris and Rheims while we were in France, and Henry decided he wanted to try one. Unfortunately, the burgers didn't start being served until 8am, and we were there at 7:40am. So I ended up, with much difficulty, trying to explain to the girl at the counter in my limited French, that we would order the burgers and pay for them now and wait for them.
Not interested in eating so much grease in the morning, I decided to leave my things with Henry and go exploring around the station for a bakery which served pate chaud, which is a kind of meat pasty. Unfortunately, I looked high and low (for about 15 minutes) and couldn't find one. Grease for breakfast!
We got our burgers and hurried to the station, passing a campout of bums in front of the station on the way. Soon enough, we were riding to Rotterdam, passing through Brussels and Antwerp on the way there.
Once we got there, we had to stash our stuff. One thing I've noticed about the Dutch language is their vocabularic predilection for hard-sounding consonants and double vowels. It makes for interesting listening to a Dutch conversation, sounding something like German.
We met up with my friend Razor, who took us around Rotterdam, and was even kind enough to pay for us too! I will have to do the same if he ever comes to Adelaide. We went and saw several 'interesting' statues, including something that absolutely made my day.
They had a statue of the V2 Gundam in Rotterdam! I don't know of any place outside Japan that has a statue of a Gundam. It was absolutely awesome to see, and I just fangasmed over seeing it. We wandered Rotterdam, chatting about lots of things for several hours, before camping out at a bar and chatting about stuff.
One train ride, and sad farewell later, we were in Amsterdam! City of sin and all that jazz. I am looking forward to tonight's visit to the Red Light District.
We took the train from Gare du Nord to Rotterdam this morning. Since we got to the train station early, Henry and I went to Quick, the French fast food chain comparable to McDonalds. We had seen these ads for 'Extreme Cheesebuerger' all around Paris and Rheims while we were in France, and Henry decided he wanted to try one. Unfortunately, the burgers didn't start being served until 8am, and we were there at 7:40am. So I ended up, with much difficulty, trying to explain to the girl at the counter in my limited French, that we would order the burgers and pay for them now and wait for them.
Not interested in eating so much grease in the morning, I decided to leave my things with Henry and go exploring around the station for a bakery which served pate chaud, which is a kind of meat pasty. Unfortunately, I looked high and low (for about 15 minutes) and couldn't find one. Grease for breakfast!
We got our burgers and hurried to the station, passing a campout of bums in front of the station on the way. Soon enough, we were riding to Rotterdam, passing through Brussels and Antwerp on the way there.
Once we got there, we had to stash our stuff. One thing I've noticed about the Dutch language is their vocabularic predilection for hard-sounding consonants and double vowels. It makes for interesting listening to a Dutch conversation, sounding something like German.
We met up with my friend Razor, who took us around Rotterdam, and was even kind enough to pay for us too! I will have to do the same if he ever comes to Adelaide. We went and saw several 'interesting' statues, including something that absolutely made my day.
They had a statue of the V2 Gundam in Rotterdam! I don't know of any place outside Japan that has a statue of a Gundam. It was absolutely awesome to see, and I just fangasmed over seeing it. We wandered Rotterdam, chatting about lots of things for several hours, before camping out at a bar and chatting about stuff.
One train ride, and sad farewell later, we were in Amsterdam! City of sin and all that jazz. I am looking forward to tonight's visit to the Red Light District.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 11
The Louvre.
7 hours. Nuff said.
You can only gaze at Christian paintings, nudes and portaits for so long before you start to go insane. On the upside, I got to see the source picture for the cover of Coldplay's album Viva La Vida. It was a piece by Delacroix, called La Liberté or something.
7 hours. Nuff said.
You can only gaze at Christian paintings, nudes and portaits for so long before you start to go insane. On the upside, I got to see the source picture for the cover of Coldplay's album Viva La Vida. It was a piece by Delacroix, called La Liberté or something.
Monday, January 19, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 10
Whew, what a day.
We hit the Paris Catacombs, the Arc de Triomphe and the Paris Opera House, all in one day. The Catacombes were most memorable for me, and most ghoulish. I was kinda nervous going in seeing what the Catacombs would be like. The long buildup is probably the worst part, it's the anticipation ... thinking 'OMG OMG I'm walking into the Catacombs, where they stored the exhumed bones of millions of dead Parisians.
The Paris Opera House was kinda meh, supposedly it is where the legend of the Phantom of the Opera started, but I wasn' that interested in that.
The Arc de Triomphe was hella windy.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm bored of Paris already. Bring on the Netherlands!
We hit the Paris Catacombs, the Arc de Triomphe and the Paris Opera House, all in one day. The Catacombes were most memorable for me, and most ghoulish. I was kinda nervous going in seeing what the Catacombs would be like. The long buildup is probably the worst part, it's the anticipation ... thinking 'OMG OMG I'm walking into the Catacombs, where they stored the exhumed bones of millions of dead Parisians.
The Paris Opera House was kinda meh, supposedly it is where the legend of the Phantom of the Opera started, but I wasn' that interested in that.
The Arc de Triomphe was hella windy.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm bored of Paris already. Bring on the Netherlands!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 9
More and more I get the feeling that Paris is a city for lovers. Particularly this time of year, where the cold encourages snuggling on the street. Never a bad thing, snuggling.
Today, we went to ... The Eiffel Tower!!! That's right, that iconic of French attractions. It was really, really windy today, not to mention wet. The climb up was tiring, and looooong. There are many steps, and I am glad that I had training climbing the stairs at St Paul's Cathedral to get to the Stone Gallery at the top.
We returned back to our hotel, where there was a minor crisis! I had lost the key to my luggage, so I had to call the handyman, who kindly sawed the lock open. He was Vietnamese, and there was much rejoicing, for I could finally hold a proper conversation in a language I was (semi-)fluent in. I asked him about a good place for pho, to which he pointed me to this place near the Tolbiac station, called Pho 14. Maan, what is it with pho places giving themselves random numbers? I know there is a Pho 75 in Adelaid, and there were other ones in Saigon.
After this disaster was averted, we headed for Notre Dame cathedral, for a guided tour. The woman giving the tour was not very good - she kept forgetting things and would trail off into irrelevant anecdotes. It lasted TWO hours, and not as good as the tour we had at Westminster.
Dinner ... was absolutely divine. After navigating our way to Tolbiac station (we ran into some trouble along the way when we discovered one route was closed for maintenance, and saw three French military dudes patrolling the Place d'Italie station carrying FAMAS guns), dinner reminded me of home. I suppose the japanese saying about the taste of your mother's cooking is true ... it can never be replicated, but things that come damn close can remind you of it.
Dinner done, we went to Montparnasse Tower, a huge skyscraper that goes up to 210m. Coming up, the Paris nightscape was lit up, and the Eiffel Tower was very visible. The way it lit up makes you want to embrace someone and enjoy their company. This will be one thing I will do should I ever return to Paris with a lover.
Today, we went to ... The Eiffel Tower!!! That's right, that iconic of French attractions. It was really, really windy today, not to mention wet. The climb up was tiring, and looooong. There are many steps, and I am glad that I had training climbing the stairs at St Paul's Cathedral to get to the Stone Gallery at the top.
We returned back to our hotel, where there was a minor crisis! I had lost the key to my luggage, so I had to call the handyman, who kindly sawed the lock open. He was Vietnamese, and there was much rejoicing, for I could finally hold a proper conversation in a language I was (semi-)fluent in. I asked him about a good place for pho, to which he pointed me to this place near the Tolbiac station, called Pho 14. Maan, what is it with pho places giving themselves random numbers? I know there is a Pho 75 in Adelaid, and there were other ones in Saigon.
After this disaster was averted, we headed for Notre Dame cathedral, for a guided tour. The woman giving the tour was not very good - she kept forgetting things and would trail off into irrelevant anecdotes. It lasted TWO hours, and not as good as the tour we had at Westminster.
Dinner ... was absolutely divine. After navigating our way to Tolbiac station (we ran into some trouble along the way when we discovered one route was closed for maintenance, and saw three French military dudes patrolling the Place d'Italie station carrying FAMAS guns), dinner reminded me of home. I suppose the japanese saying about the taste of your mother's cooking is true ... it can never be replicated, but things that come damn close can remind you of it.
Dinner done, we went to Montparnasse Tower, a huge skyscraper that goes up to 210m. Coming up, the Paris nightscape was lit up, and the Eiffel Tower was very visible. The way it lit up makes you want to embrace someone and enjoy their company. This will be one thing I will do should I ever return to Paris with a lover.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 8
Hello to you all from, Reims, where I have landed for the day. It was a lot colder today, considering yesterday was actually rather a nice day, with the sun out and all.
After sleeping for what seemed like an eternity last night in our small Parisien hotel room, we left this morning for Reims, aboard the TGV. Despite the fact it promised a quick trip to Reims, it still took about two hours. During this exciting train trip, I fell asleep and drooled on mself. I checked my scarf when I got off the train, and there was still a small string of drool on my scarf.
Henry and I spent the morning wandering Reims, sampling Reims chocolate, which kicks ass, and we also visited the Notre Dame de Reims cathedral, which was undergoing restoration work. It was interesting to see the differences in architecture between Reims and London, particularly Westminster Abbey.
The visit to GH Mumm winery was a very interesting experience. We learned about the history of the champagne house, how they make champagne, and most important of all, how they remove the dead yeast from the champagne so that the booze doesn't taste like dead bacteria.
I have decided that in France, since so many cathedrals open to tourists seem to offer those €2 medals, I will start collecting them. Let us see how big the collection gets by the time I leave France.
After sleeping for what seemed like an eternity last night in our small Parisien hotel room, we left this morning for Reims, aboard the TGV. Despite the fact it promised a quick trip to Reims, it still took about two hours. During this exciting train trip, I fell asleep and drooled on mself. I checked my scarf when I got off the train, and there was still a small string of drool on my scarf.
Henry and I spent the morning wandering Reims, sampling Reims chocolate, which kicks ass, and we also visited the Notre Dame de Reims cathedral, which was undergoing restoration work. It was interesting to see the differences in architecture between Reims and London, particularly Westminster Abbey.
The visit to GH Mumm winery was a very interesting experience. We learned about the history of the champagne house, how they make champagne, and most important of all, how they remove the dead yeast from the champagne so that the booze doesn't taste like dead bacteria.
I have decided that in France, since so many cathedrals open to tourists seem to offer those €2 medals, I will start collecting them. Let us see how big the collection gets by the time I leave France.
Friday, January 16, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 6 and 7
Bonjour to you all from Paris, France! Where the keyboard is confusingly rearranged!
Yesterday, we went to Buckingham Palace, and saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Despite how cold it was, it was still in very crowded attendance by all these tourists. It was a bitingly cold, foggy London morning, yet there were still so many people in attendance. It was hard to see much without resorting to using a camera.
Afterzards, a quick visit to Leicester Square for tickets to see Avenue Q, which was awesome. Until Avenue Q in the evening, we went to St Pauls Cathedral and visited Nelson's Tomb.
We returned home, packed and left to see the musical.
THE INTERNET IS FOR PORN!!!
We left this morning for Paris. Two observations: crepes must be their national snack, and that the cops have a much bigger presence in Paris.
Yesterday, we went to Buckingham Palace, and saw the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Despite how cold it was, it was still in very crowded attendance by all these tourists. It was a bitingly cold, foggy London morning, yet there were still so many people in attendance. It was hard to see much without resorting to using a camera.
Afterzards, a quick visit to Leicester Square for tickets to see Avenue Q, which was awesome. Until Avenue Q in the evening, we went to St Pauls Cathedral and visited Nelson's Tomb.
We returned home, packed and left to see the musical.
THE INTERNET IS FOR PORN!!!
We left this morning for Paris. Two observations: crepes must be their national snack, and that the cops have a much bigger presence in Paris.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 5 and 6
Les Mis was awesome. I can now brag that I went to see a West End musical, and having seen Les Mis, one of the longest running musicals in the West End, I can now officially say that I am Cultured. It was a fun experience, and now I want to take the opportunity to see Phantom of the Opera when it comes to Adelaide later this year. I still want to see if I can squeeze seeing Avenue Q in before I leave London purely because I want to see a live performance of 'The Internet Is For Porn.'
Today, Henry and I went to Kensington Palace. It was interesting to hear and see all the historical stuff there, and I was quite amused by the Last Debutantes exhibit. Hearing the music from the 40s and 50s made me think of and want to play Fallout 3. I might do that once I return home. The acronyms that were used as code between a debutante (aristocratic teenage girl being presented to the court) and her mother/chaperone were quite amusing - MTF (Must Touch Flesh), NSIT (Not Safe In Taxi) and VVSITPQ (Very Very Safe In Taxi, Probably Queer).
It was really interesting, and there were parts that reminded me of 19th Century court life, which brought to mind the setting of Count of Monte Cristo. I imagine it will be evoked again when I see the sights in Paris.
We stayed at Kensington Gardens a bit after, and watched the large numbers of swan, ducks and geese who live there swarm anyone with breadcrumbs willing to feed them. There was even the obligatory lonely crazy woman who feeds the birds and treats them like her babies! We went to this chain restaurant called Wagamama for lunch. I seriously wish that Australia had some cool chains like that place.
The day was topped off with a visit to Westminster Abbey, of which we took a guided tour. The guided tour was really interesting, and we were able to take in all the architecture of the abbey, and just marvel at the wonder - technical, spiritual, and architectural. The intricate carvings on the walls and the memorials to people, the tombs of kings and queens ... it really rammed home that London is an old city. We stayed for evensong, which was something of an experience. I was overwhelmed by the solemnity and holiness in the ceremony. Incidentally, I also saw something else I didn't think I'd ever see ... coin-operated toilets! Near Westminster Abey, I went to the toilet, and the nearest one charged you 50p (AU$1) to go in and use its facilities!
Tomorrow ... shopping!
Today, Henry and I went to Kensington Palace. It was interesting to hear and see all the historical stuff there, and I was quite amused by the Last Debutantes exhibit. Hearing the music from the 40s and 50s made me think of and want to play Fallout 3. I might do that once I return home. The acronyms that were used as code between a debutante (aristocratic teenage girl being presented to the court) and her mother/chaperone were quite amusing - MTF (Must Touch Flesh), NSIT (Not Safe In Taxi) and VVSITPQ (Very Very Safe In Taxi, Probably Queer).
It was really interesting, and there were parts that reminded me of 19th Century court life, which brought to mind the setting of Count of Monte Cristo. I imagine it will be evoked again when I see the sights in Paris.
We stayed at Kensington Gardens a bit after, and watched the large numbers of swan, ducks and geese who live there swarm anyone with breadcrumbs willing to feed them. There was even the obligatory lonely crazy woman who feeds the birds and treats them like her babies! We went to this chain restaurant called Wagamama for lunch. I seriously wish that Australia had some cool chains like that place.
The day was topped off with a visit to Westminster Abbey, of which we took a guided tour. The guided tour was really interesting, and we were able to take in all the architecture of the abbey, and just marvel at the wonder - technical, spiritual, and architectural. The intricate carvings on the walls and the memorials to people, the tombs of kings and queens ... it really rammed home that London is an old city. We stayed for evensong, which was something of an experience. I was overwhelmed by the solemnity and holiness in the ceremony. Incidentally, I also saw something else I didn't think I'd ever see ... coin-operated toilets! Near Westminster Abey, I went to the toilet, and the nearest one charged you 50p (AU$1) to go in and use its facilities!
Tomorrow ... shopping!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 3, 4 and 5
After the previous entry, I went to carouse around a bit more around the Mall, the big shopping street near where we're staying. I think that the Burger King/Hungry Jack's they have in the UK shits all over the one in Australia, mainly because ... they have STEAK burgers! They have burgers which have patties made from Angus-Aberdeen beef, which is pretty much a steak patty.
I picked up my travelling companion, Henry, from the airport, where he had been stuck for four hours due to the foule influence of the fogge. Afterwards, we wondered the Mall a bit more before I went off to meet another friend, Ben, in London city.
The amusing part was that I was supposed to meet him at Victoria station - I thought he meant the Underground station, and as a result spent about half an hour trying to find him before realising that there was a train station that connected to Victoria Station, which was where my friend was waiting. He complained to me he was 'freezing his balls off' while waiting for me, and while I was giving him landmarks he hadn't even heard of.
We roamed Picadilly Circus, and the Chinatown they had there, looking for a good Chinese restaurant for dinner. After dinner at a Chinese place, we went to Covent Garden to meet with said friend's Kiwi (New Zealand) friend at a bar. We hung out for awhile, chatting and 'birdwatching.' I gotta say, London has some mighty fine women.
The following day, Henry and I went on a marathon tour around London.
When Big Ben and Parliament House came into view, I was goggling. It was this amazing experience, like - "OMG I've seen that on TV so many times, now I'm actually seeing it with my own two eyes!"
We went to the London eye, which was unfortunately closed for maintenance. The whole time we were supposed to be in London >_< So that was scratched. Instead, we had waffles with ice cream and took a cruise along the River Thames, seeing many things, like London bridge, Tower Bridge, Charing Cross train station, this huge building that looks like a bullet (locals call it the Gherkin, apparently), among other things.
We got off at Greenwich, and went to the National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory. I actually stood, for a moment, on the line of the world - the Greenwich meridian. Seeing all those things, I could really feel the weight of history and time - seeing all those old buildings and the historical artefacts inside.
We took the Thames Clipper to the Tower of London and went for a fairly amusing and informate guided tour, done by the Yeoman Wardens of the Tower. The cool thing is that they all seem to be ex-military, yet the one we had really enjoys his job. Afterwards, we went to meet up with Henry's friend, Athena, in London, at the Tate Modern museum. I swear, the exhibitions we saw there were WEIRD. There was this huge thing in the window that looked like something had tried to crawl out a polluted primordial soup, and had died in the attempt, covered in rubbish. There was this huge spider thing inside like one of the walkers from the Tom Cruise edition of War of the Worlds, and there was this huuge hall filled with empty bunkbeds which had strange, radical fiction books attached to them, and this big screen playing bits of old 60s and 70s sci-fi movies.
We went back to Athena's place, where she was kind enough to cook us dinner. The three of us then took off back to the Tower of London, to witness the Ceremony of the Keys, where the tower guards close up the Tower of London for the night. It was a very interesting, historical and solemn ceremony.
We finally staggered back into our beds at about 11:50pm, tired after a whole day out seeing London.
And now, today as of writing.
Henry and I set off for Leicester Square to find the booth selling half-price tickets to the Les Miserables musical, after which we wandered along to Trafalgar Square to check out the huuuge monuments, including Nelson's (very phallic) Column. Despite the weather, which was wet and windy, we managed to brave the elements to get there, as well as visiting the National Gallery, and seeing all sorts of paintings which I have zero ability to appreciate properly (lol). We walked down to get lunch and into Parliament House, but unfortunately it seemed to be closed at this time of year to tourists. That didn't stop us from trying to find a way in, before we went to Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey is HUGE. Absolutely HUGE. So HUGE that I have to write huge three times and in capitals each time. The architecture is amazing. I noticed the same thing with Parliament House - all those crenellations, spires, the windows, as well as the reliefs and the inlaid statues and carvings. We couldn't get a tour for Westminster, so instead, we went to the nearby St Mary's Cathedral, which seems to have a lot of people buried within its walls (literally). The walls were festooned with plaques to memorable members of the Parish who had 'fallen asleep' over the centuries.
Later tonight, I'm going to see my first musical! Les Mis - which promises to be a highly entertaining three hours of entertainment.
Bye for now!
I picked up my travelling companion, Henry, from the airport, where he had been stuck for four hours due to the foule influence of the fogge. Afterwards, we wondered the Mall a bit more before I went off to meet another friend, Ben, in London city.
The amusing part was that I was supposed to meet him at Victoria station - I thought he meant the Underground station, and as a result spent about half an hour trying to find him before realising that there was a train station that connected to Victoria Station, which was where my friend was waiting. He complained to me he was 'freezing his balls off' while waiting for me, and while I was giving him landmarks he hadn't even heard of.
We roamed Picadilly Circus, and the Chinatown they had there, looking for a good Chinese restaurant for dinner. After dinner at a Chinese place, we went to Covent Garden to meet with said friend's Kiwi (New Zealand) friend at a bar. We hung out for awhile, chatting and 'birdwatching.' I gotta say, London has some mighty fine women.
The following day, Henry and I went on a marathon tour around London.
When Big Ben and Parliament House came into view, I was goggling. It was this amazing experience, like - "OMG I've seen that on TV so many times, now I'm actually seeing it with my own two eyes!"
We went to the London eye, which was unfortunately closed for maintenance. The whole time we were supposed to be in London >_< So that was scratched. Instead, we had waffles with ice cream and took a cruise along the River Thames, seeing many things, like London bridge, Tower Bridge, Charing Cross train station, this huge building that looks like a bullet (locals call it the Gherkin, apparently), among other things.
We got off at Greenwich, and went to the National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory. I actually stood, for a moment, on the line of the world - the Greenwich meridian. Seeing all those things, I could really feel the weight of history and time - seeing all those old buildings and the historical artefacts inside.
We took the Thames Clipper to the Tower of London and went for a fairly amusing and informate guided tour, done by the Yeoman Wardens of the Tower. The cool thing is that they all seem to be ex-military, yet the one we had really enjoys his job. Afterwards, we went to meet up with Henry's friend, Athena, in London, at the Tate Modern museum. I swear, the exhibitions we saw there were WEIRD. There was this huge thing in the window that looked like something had tried to crawl out a polluted primordial soup, and had died in the attempt, covered in rubbish. There was this huge spider thing inside like one of the walkers from the Tom Cruise edition of War of the Worlds, and there was this huuge hall filled with empty bunkbeds which had strange, radical fiction books attached to them, and this big screen playing bits of old 60s and 70s sci-fi movies.
We went back to Athena's place, where she was kind enough to cook us dinner. The three of us then took off back to the Tower of London, to witness the Ceremony of the Keys, where the tower guards close up the Tower of London for the night. It was a very interesting, historical and solemn ceremony.
We finally staggered back into our beds at about 11:50pm, tired after a whole day out seeing London.
And now, today as of writing.
Henry and I set off for Leicester Square to find the booth selling half-price tickets to the Les Miserables musical, after which we wandered along to Trafalgar Square to check out the huuuge monuments, including Nelson's (very phallic) Column. Despite the weather, which was wet and windy, we managed to brave the elements to get there, as well as visiting the National Gallery, and seeing all sorts of paintings which I have zero ability to appreciate properly (lol). We walked down to get lunch and into Parliament House, but unfortunately it seemed to be closed at this time of year to tourists. That didn't stop us from trying to find a way in, before we went to Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey is HUGE. Absolutely HUGE. So HUGE that I have to write huge three times and in capitals each time. The architecture is amazing. I noticed the same thing with Parliament House - all those crenellations, spires, the windows, as well as the reliefs and the inlaid statues and carvings. We couldn't get a tour for Westminster, so instead, we went to the nearby St Mary's Cathedral, which seems to have a lot of people buried within its walls (literally). The walls were festooned with plaques to memorable members of the Parish who had 'fallen asleep' over the centuries.
Later tonight, I'm going to see my first musical! Les Mis - which promises to be a highly entertaining three hours of entertainment.
Bye for now!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 2 and 3
Oh my god, oh my god ohmigod ohmigod! Snow! Real snow!
That's right, today I come to you from an internet cafe in London.
The flight from Hong Kong seemed to a looong time - I was very glad to be off that plane, particularly the doldrums of .... economy class. I want to try travellign business sometime, especially if it's a long-haul flight.
Once I got into London, it was about 45 minutes before I got out of Heathrow. I went through customs, got my gear, and got out into the terminal. It took a long time from the debarking gate to the border office, though - about 700m or so I think, of long corridors. It was quite an experience, riding the Tube from Heathrow to my stop at South Ealing station.
It was interesting to see my surroundings as I walked through the darkened streets, walking for another 15 minutes before I got to my accomodation. Once I had gotten settled in, it was straight back out to get some phone credit for the sim card I had bought at the airport.
Shock horror, the VodafoneUK sim card I had bought didn't work when I put it into my iPhone! Stupid Vodafone shop assistants ... they told me that it would work.
I woke up this morning at about 6:30am, which was freezing cold. You know those cold winter mornings where it's so warm underneath your blanket, but your head's so cold because it's above the blanket? This was one of those mornings.
I've spent the day wandering around Ealing. I wandered into a nice French cafe for breakfast, and just went browsing and window shopping. One of the most interesting places I have been to was this place called Argo's, which was like some sort of order-buying place or something.
You're supposed to look through a catalog, and pick out what you want. You key the codes for what you want into this number pad, and then you get issued a number. You wait for your number to be called up, and you come forward and pick it up.
But my favourite experience today, has to be when I stepped out of McDonalds, and saw that it was SNOWING! Real, honest to heaven snow! It was snowing fairly lightly when I set out to do some exploring this morning, but it was snowing a lot more now! It was just an amazing experience, and walking through the snow, I just couldn't help but smile.
Already, I am thinking ... best. experience. ever.
This is definitely gonna be a fun trip, especially the boring bit, flying here, is over.
That's right, today I come to you from an internet cafe in London.
The flight from Hong Kong seemed to a looong time - I was very glad to be off that plane, particularly the doldrums of .... economy class. I want to try travellign business sometime, especially if it's a long-haul flight.
Once I got into London, it was about 45 minutes before I got out of Heathrow. I went through customs, got my gear, and got out into the terminal. It took a long time from the debarking gate to the border office, though - about 700m or so I think, of long corridors. It was quite an experience, riding the Tube from Heathrow to my stop at South Ealing station.
It was interesting to see my surroundings as I walked through the darkened streets, walking for another 15 minutes before I got to my accomodation. Once I had gotten settled in, it was straight back out to get some phone credit for the sim card I had bought at the airport.
Shock horror, the VodafoneUK sim card I had bought didn't work when I put it into my iPhone! Stupid Vodafone shop assistants ... they told me that it would work.
I woke up this morning at about 6:30am, which was freezing cold. You know those cold winter mornings where it's so warm underneath your blanket, but your head's so cold because it's above the blanket? This was one of those mornings.
I've spent the day wandering around Ealing. I wandered into a nice French cafe for breakfast, and just went browsing and window shopping. One of the most interesting places I have been to was this place called Argo's, which was like some sort of order-buying place or something.
You're supposed to look through a catalog, and pick out what you want. You key the codes for what you want into this number pad, and then you get issued a number. You wait for your number to be called up, and you come forward and pick it up.
But my favourite experience today, has to be when I stepped out of McDonalds, and saw that it was SNOWING! Real, honest to heaven snow! It was snowing fairly lightly when I set out to do some exploring this morning, but it was snowing a lot more now! It was just an amazing experience, and walking through the snow, I just couldn't help but smile.
Already, I am thinking ... best. experience. ever.
This is definitely gonna be a fun trip, especially the boring bit, flying here, is over.
Friday, January 09, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day 1 and 2.1
Hello to you all from Hong Kong! I'm sitting here leeching off the airport wi-fi with a hot bowl of ramen next to me, courtesy of the Ajisen ramen chain. Good stuff :)
I had me a bit of an adventure yesterday. I had to go get my phone fixed, so I went all across Melbourne - from Brunswick near the city to Chadstone, which is on the other side of Melbourne. No luck there, so I spent another two hours getting lost trying to get to Springvale, which is like Asia-town in Melbourne. It was fun travelling the public transport system on Melbourne alone, and definitely one of the first of many memorable experiences - I took trams, trains, and even buses around Melbourne, ensuring I covered the full gamut of public transport.
Melbourne airport was all right, but the flight! Oh god, economy class really does live up to its name. Business class, you get little couch-booths, which you can lie down or sleep in. Economy class it's just rather uncomfortable seats that slide slightly backwards. I had a little kid sitting next to me, who kept thrashing in his sleep and disturbing mine ... not to mention how turbulent the flight was. Every so often I'd hear a beep indicating we had to fasten seatbelts. In fact, thinking about it now is making my body recall the rocking motion that the plane went through.
Airline food lived up to its standard - abysmal.
But Hong Kong airport ... it is AWESOME! Free internet over the whole complex, a mall worthy to rival any suburban place, and all these crazy stores and stuff you don't see elsewhere. Above all ... there's a shop that sells GUNDAM MODELS!! As you can see, I'm rather enthusiastic about being here at the moment.
I look forward to coming back to Hong Kong with spending money.
I had me a bit of an adventure yesterday. I had to go get my phone fixed, so I went all across Melbourne - from Brunswick near the city to Chadstone, which is on the other side of Melbourne. No luck there, so I spent another two hours getting lost trying to get to Springvale, which is like Asia-town in Melbourne. It was fun travelling the public transport system on Melbourne alone, and definitely one of the first of many memorable experiences - I took trams, trains, and even buses around Melbourne, ensuring I covered the full gamut of public transport.
Melbourne airport was all right, but the flight! Oh god, economy class really does live up to its name. Business class, you get little couch-booths, which you can lie down or sleep in. Economy class it's just rather uncomfortable seats that slide slightly backwards. I had a little kid sitting next to me, who kept thrashing in his sleep and disturbing mine ... not to mention how turbulent the flight was. Every so often I'd hear a beep indicating we had to fasten seatbelts. In fact, thinking about it now is making my body recall the rocking motion that the plane went through.
Airline food lived up to its standard - abysmal.
But Hong Kong airport ... it is AWESOME! Free internet over the whole complex, a mall worthy to rival any suburban place, and all these crazy stores and stuff you don't see elsewhere. Above all ... there's a shop that sells GUNDAM MODELS!! As you can see, I'm rather enthusiastic about being here at the moment.
I look forward to coming back to Hong Kong with spending money.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
EuroX Trip: Day Zero
Well, I'm in Melbourne - first step of the way to Europe.
I've been planning this trip for a long time, and saving up for the past year to travel to Europe. My friend Henry signed up for an internship in Glasgow, and asked me if I wanted to go travelling Europe with him after he finished, since it'd kind of be a waste just to go to Glasgow, do the internship, and then just go home.
So I left for Melbourne last night.
My parents were admonishing to the last - they were constantly saying to me 'Be careful!' 'Don't get drunk!' 'Always travel with a friend' and other things that concerned parents do. I suppose they can't help it - their son is going off travelling on his own for the first few days of the trip before they.
It was an interesting experience flying out of Adelaide. I had a whole row of seats to myself, and ended up actually arriving early to Melbourne - at 10:55pm Melb time as opposed to 11:15pm. The funny thing was, when I left Adelaide, it was from this shiny, steel-glass-and-marble terminal, but when I landed in Melbourne, it was like a goat-shed terminal. I walked out of the plane, down and across the tarmac, and to the outdoor luggage carousel - I swear, it was like I was back in Adelaide!
Adelaide Airport was a lot like that before the renovatoins a couple of years ago - utter crap.
I took the Skybus from Melbourne Airport into the city, enjoying the ride in. It was amazing - driving into the city and seeing all the lights, twinkling like stars in a sea of velvet night. Just sitting back and watching all these lights pass by - I think I may have my first memory of this trip.
I ended up at Southern Cross station, which is really close to the Telstra Dome. I took a taxi to Henry's place in Brunswick, where I met his housemate, a cool dude named Edgar. We talked long into the night, before I settled in for my first night abroad.
I've been planning this trip for a long time, and saving up for the past year to travel to Europe. My friend Henry signed up for an internship in Glasgow, and asked me if I wanted to go travelling Europe with him after he finished, since it'd kind of be a waste just to go to Glasgow, do the internship, and then just go home.
So I left for Melbourne last night.
My parents were admonishing to the last - they were constantly saying to me 'Be careful!' 'Don't get drunk!' 'Always travel with a friend' and other things that concerned parents do. I suppose they can't help it - their son is going off travelling on his own for the first few days of the trip before they.
It was an interesting experience flying out of Adelaide. I had a whole row of seats to myself, and ended up actually arriving early to Melbourne - at 10:55pm Melb time as opposed to 11:15pm. The funny thing was, when I left Adelaide, it was from this shiny, steel-glass-and-marble terminal, but when I landed in Melbourne, it was like a goat-shed terminal. I walked out of the plane, down and across the tarmac, and to the outdoor luggage carousel - I swear, it was like I was back in Adelaide!
Adelaide Airport was a lot like that before the renovatoins a couple of years ago - utter crap.
I took the Skybus from Melbourne Airport into the city, enjoying the ride in. It was amazing - driving into the city and seeing all the lights, twinkling like stars in a sea of velvet night. Just sitting back and watching all these lights pass by - I think I may have my first memory of this trip.
I ended up at Southern Cross station, which is really close to the Telstra Dome. I took a taxi to Henry's place in Brunswick, where I met his housemate, a cool dude named Edgar. We talked long into the night, before I settled in for my first night abroad.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
