I spent today in the former capital of England - Oxford. The town just oozes intelligence. My first stop was the Christ's Church College and Cathedral. Of course, the big highlight for me there was seeing the Hall. It's the same place that inspired some of Alice in Wonderland, as well as the filming location for the Great Hall in Harry Potter! That was probably more exciting for me than it should have been.
After, I wandered through the Botanical Gardens before coming across the University Park where I sat and ate my lunch while watching a Cricket team practice. Then I ventured into the Oxford Museum of Natural History and then to the Bodleian Library. The library was most impressive (and also the location for some more scenes in Harry Potter) with books older than I have ever seen.
Yesterday, I spent my morning in the British Museum and then walked all the way down Oxford Street for some quality shopping. After that, I visited Piccadilly Circus and bought an impromptu ticket to that night's showing of Les Misérables. The show was great, even with part of stage left out of my view.
The night before, when Erica was still here, we went to see the show Wicked. That was also an excellent production. Earlier in the day, we did a walking tour of London, saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and then finished off with a trip on the London Eye.
I don't know if it's due to the fact that there are so many tourists from right-side-of-the-road countries, but walking in and around London can be incredibly frustrating. To me, it made sense to veer left of people coming toward me, however that doesn't seem to be the case for everyone. Instead, you get a giant mob of people moving in all directions and not one smooth flow in one way or the other. This carries down to the tube stations, where no one waits for others to get off before trying to cram in. I'm shocked that I'm saying this, but the French are actually much more efficient in this domain of human traffic control. In Paris, you see everyone stand to the side of the Metro doors, waiting for all to exit, before jumping on themselves. But in London, it's another push-and-shove battle just to board the trains before the doors nip your nose.
I can't decide whether London is what I expected it to be or not. I guess this is because, after so many cities, I have lost expectations and just take it all as it comes. One thing I can definitely say after all this travelling is that the world seems so much more tangible and real to me now. My first visit to Paris, 3 years ago, felt so surreal and like a dream. But now, there's this sense of reality that has set in. While the excitement of all these new and incredible places still exists, the incredible factor has disappeared. It's like suddenly Mumbai or Hong Kong don't really seem so far. Having said that, I feel like I've already travelled the world. But when I look at a map of the world, I see how tiny of a dent Europe actually is, and it's humbling to think that there is still so many more things out there.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
scotland
The day after our bike trip around Killarney, we spent a couple hours on the lakes of Killarney in kayaks. We had a guide take us around, he showed us some really cool caves and islands. It was the lake we had previously just biked around the day before. It was only the two of us, our guide Nathan, and another girl, who works for the company, Bridget. It was stunning, the water was as smooth as glass.
The next day, we hopped on a bus northward to the town of Galway (via Limerick). It was a much more boisterous place, but we avoided the craziness and walked out to the pier. It used to be a port town, but now it has died down. We sat out on a peninsula for a while and just took in the sun and breeze and everything around us. That night we headed to a pub for some music, but we couldn't find any traditional Irish bands, just covers, so we headed to bed after one drink.
The last three days caught up to me that night and I got sick. I could barely move the next day. Erica and I were supposed to go on a full day tour of the Cliffs of Moher, but instead, I made sure she went and I stayed back and slept.
Since we had changed our plans around so much, we were staying one more night in Galway before taking a 3:45am bus to Dublin (to catch a 9am flight to Inverness, Scotland). But our hostel didn't have any room, so we had to move about 6 blocks over to another hostel. I spent my day in limbo, sleeping on the couches of the respective hostels between check-out and check-in times. Since it was a weekend, there was so much cleaning to be done that no one would let me stay longer or go earlier to my bed.
I was all fine and rested up after a full day and half night's worth of sleep. I was WIDE awake on the 3 hour bus ride to Dublin airport that arrived at 6:45am. We flew to Inverness, Scotland, in the Northern Highlands. Erica and I took a bus out to Loch Ness and checked out the ruins of the Urquhart Castle and then toured the lake on a boat. (I have spent way too much of the last 30 hours on moving objects. Buses, boats, trains, and planes... :S) Our guide was someone who has actually worked as part of the Loch Ness Monster Research Team. The general consensus regarding the Loch Ness Monster is that it's a combination of different animals and fish that people have seen and miscontrued it to be something much bigger and intriguing than it is. Most of the time, what people saw were seals.
Today, we got to Edinburgh and we are staying just beside the Edinburgh Castle. We are about to go tour the city and then tomorrow we will be heading down to London. We will have a full day there before Erica takes off on the 18th.
The next day, we hopped on a bus northward to the town of Galway (via Limerick). It was a much more boisterous place, but we avoided the craziness and walked out to the pier. It used to be a port town, but now it has died down. We sat out on a peninsula for a while and just took in the sun and breeze and everything around us. That night we headed to a pub for some music, but we couldn't find any traditional Irish bands, just covers, so we headed to bed after one drink.
The last three days caught up to me that night and I got sick. I could barely move the next day. Erica and I were supposed to go on a full day tour of the Cliffs of Moher, but instead, I made sure she went and I stayed back and slept.
Since we had changed our plans around so much, we were staying one more night in Galway before taking a 3:45am bus to Dublin (to catch a 9am flight to Inverness, Scotland). But our hostel didn't have any room, so we had to move about 6 blocks over to another hostel. I spent my day in limbo, sleeping on the couches of the respective hostels between check-out and check-in times. Since it was a weekend, there was so much cleaning to be done that no one would let me stay longer or go earlier to my bed.
I was all fine and rested up after a full day and half night's worth of sleep. I was WIDE awake on the 3 hour bus ride to Dublin airport that arrived at 6:45am. We flew to Inverness, Scotland, in the Northern Highlands. Erica and I took a bus out to Loch Ness and checked out the ruins of the Urquhart Castle and then toured the lake on a boat. (I have spent way too much of the last 30 hours on moving objects. Buses, boats, trains, and planes... :S) Our guide was someone who has actually worked as part of the Loch Ness Monster Research Team. The general consensus regarding the Loch Ness Monster is that it's a combination of different animals and fish that people have seen and miscontrued it to be something much bigger and intriguing than it is. Most of the time, what people saw were seals.
Today, we got to Edinburgh and we are staying just beside the Edinburgh Castle. We are about to go tour the city and then tomorrow we will be heading down to London. We will have a full day there before Erica takes off on the 18th.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
smiling at irish eyes
My legs hurt, my back hurts, my bum hurts, my neck hurts... everything hurts. But it was so worth it. Yesterday, Erica and I took bikes and rode them for over 40km in and around the lakes and mountains of Southwest Ireland. We are in a town called Killarney (east of Cork) that is surrounded by beautiful areas to explore. The ride was much hillier than we expected and never seemed to end.
The first stretch was getting out of town along highways and such. Then we got to the Gap of Dunloe which was absolutely breathtaking. We rode along a couple lakes and creeks through two big stretches of mountains and rocks on a road that was only wide enough to fit one car. And there were cars coming in both directions occaisionally. Once we hit the end of the Gap, we got to ride down the most magnificient downhill slope ever. An incredibly long and winding gravel road took us all the way to edge of Kerry Way, when the road turned into a hiking and bike trail for another several kilometers. Then we reached Killarney National Park and had another hilly ride though the woods for 4kms. We finally hit a highway again, which was terrifying. There were two narrow lanes and cars speeding up and down the motorway. It would have been terrifying enough to drive down that road in a car, but on a bike, it was 100 times worse.
But again, the scenery was beautiful and we came out unscathed. Except for the bruised sits-bones, aching legs, and broken back. We rode through tree covered roads, along sparkling lakes, mountains in the distance, creeks running along or under our paths, and finished up as the sun was starting to set. And we're off to do another adventure today. We're heading out kayaking on the lakes of Killarney and checking out Ross Castle.
Our two days in Dublin before heading down to Killarney were great. We took another free tour of the city with a local tour guide. Saw the Dublin Castle, old Viking settlements (that have been paved over by the city council :S), and experienced Dublin nightlife. We spent one night in a comedy club which turned out to be pretty terrible, but fun nonetheless.
The first stretch was getting out of town along highways and such. Then we got to the Gap of Dunloe which was absolutely breathtaking. We rode along a couple lakes and creeks through two big stretches of mountains and rocks on a road that was only wide enough to fit one car. And there were cars coming in both directions occaisionally. Once we hit the end of the Gap, we got to ride down the most magnificient downhill slope ever. An incredibly long and winding gravel road took us all the way to edge of Kerry Way, when the road turned into a hiking and bike trail for another several kilometers. Then we reached Killarney National Park and had another hilly ride though the woods for 4kms. We finally hit a highway again, which was terrifying. There were two narrow lanes and cars speeding up and down the motorway. It would have been terrifying enough to drive down that road in a car, but on a bike, it was 100 times worse.
But again, the scenery was beautiful and we came out unscathed. Except for the bruised sits-bones, aching legs, and broken back. We rode through tree covered roads, along sparkling lakes, mountains in the distance, creeks running along or under our paths, and finished up as the sun was starting to set. And we're off to do another adventure today. We're heading out kayaking on the lakes of Killarney and checking out Ross Castle.
Our two days in Dublin before heading down to Killarney were great. We took another free tour of the city with a local tour guide. Saw the Dublin Castle, old Viking settlements (that have been paved over by the city council :S), and experienced Dublin nightlife. We spent one night in a comedy club which turned out to be pretty terrible, but fun nonetheless.
Monday, June 8, 2009
in belgium
We've just flown into Dublin this evening after spending 4 1/2 days in Belgium.
We started out in Bruges, the most visited town in Belgium. For those who may have seen the movie 'In Bruges,' it's pretty much exactly like that. We had decent weather, a little bit of rain, but we got some sun at times. We were there for 2 nights which was more than enough. Since we were tired of museums at that point, we spent most of our time walking around the town and sitting by the canals. Bruges is called the Venice of the North, and legitimately so. The town is circled by a single canal, and is split up by winding waterways through it. We hopped on a boat at took in the city in the most typically touristic way.
The big Belfry church (which we walked up - 366 stairs... that get smaller, and smaller, and smaller...) looks over the city's square. There are two fries stands in front of the entrance that compete on a daily basis for the most business. We ate lunch there every day.
Our hostel's bar turned out to be quite the locals' spot. We hung out there in the evenings and it was a good time. The second night we were there, we ended up with roommates from Winnipeg. Not only that, but both girls just graduated from U of M... and Asper. What are the chances? It was so weird and we recognized them when we walked into our room. Then of course we go to talking, and made all the connections of mutual friends and such. Smalllll world.
After Bruges, we moved on to Brussels. While we were kind of exhausted by that point, we trekked on through the city. I found it to be quite an interesting place. Every few blocks seemed so different from the last. The main square was impressive, and the statue of Manneken Pis was incredibly unimposing. However, it's quite funny to see so many people crowded around a small corner in the street and photographing a statue of a peeing toddler. Yes, I said peeing toddler. And there is a man who goes to change his outfit everyday. We even saw his 'sister,' Jeanneke Pis. She hangs out near the bar that serves the most varieties of beer in the world, Delerium Cafe. No one gives her the dignity of wearing clothing though.
We started out in Bruges, the most visited town in Belgium. For those who may have seen the movie 'In Bruges,' it's pretty much exactly like that. We had decent weather, a little bit of rain, but we got some sun at times. We were there for 2 nights which was more than enough. Since we were tired of museums at that point, we spent most of our time walking around the town and sitting by the canals. Bruges is called the Venice of the North, and legitimately so. The town is circled by a single canal, and is split up by winding waterways through it. We hopped on a boat at took in the city in the most typically touristic way.
The big Belfry church (which we walked up - 366 stairs... that get smaller, and smaller, and smaller...) looks over the city's square. There are two fries stands in front of the entrance that compete on a daily basis for the most business. We ate lunch there every day.
Our hostel's bar turned out to be quite the locals' spot. We hung out there in the evenings and it was a good time. The second night we were there, we ended up with roommates from Winnipeg. Not only that, but both girls just graduated from U of M... and Asper. What are the chances? It was so weird and we recognized them when we walked into our room. Then of course we go to talking, and made all the connections of mutual friends and such. Smalllll world.
After Bruges, we moved on to Brussels. While we were kind of exhausted by that point, we trekked on through the city. I found it to be quite an interesting place. Every few blocks seemed so different from the last. The main square was impressive, and the statue of Manneken Pis was incredibly unimposing. However, it's quite funny to see so many people crowded around a small corner in the street and photographing a statue of a peeing toddler. Yes, I said peeing toddler. And there is a man who goes to change his outfit everyday. We even saw his 'sister,' Jeanneke Pis. She hangs out near the bar that serves the most varieties of beer in the world, Delerium Cafe. No one gives her the dignity of wearing clothing though.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
freaky deaky dutch
When I used to think of Amsterdam, three things came to mind: canals, bicycles, and weed. And while all of those things were abundant in the Dutch capital, I was pleasantly surprised over the beauty of the city. Personally, the architecture in the city is my favourite. I never made the connection to expect that my favourite design style of Dutch colonialism would be all over, duh, Holland.
Another surprise was the amount of canals that ran through the city. I only thought there would be a few, but they are at about every other block. It got incredibly hot around 4-5 o'clock and then a cool breeze would really pick up around 9pm.
The day we arrived, we rode the tram through the main parts of the city to arrive at our hostel, about a block away from Amsterdam's two famous museums; the Van Gogh Musuem and then Rijkstag Museum - that houses some of Rembrandt's most famous paintings. While we were on the tram, we could hear tons of music and people from Leidseplein, a square that hosts lots of small concerts and events.
That night, we braved a walk through the Red Light District. For those of you who may not know, prostitution is legal in Amsterdam and pot is decriminalized. So the Red Light District is the condensed collection of all of these things in about 3 square blocks. Girls stand in windows in their underwear waiting for clients along a canal street, also lined with coffee shops and sex shops and museums. I thought I had prepared myself for what I was about to see, but no. Not at all. My jaw dropped in shock after walking past the first window. What was even more shocking was to see how some little, local kids found this so normal.
The next day, we did a free walking tour of the city. Our guide was a lively, dreadlocked Australian who has been living in Amsterdam for about 5 months. We saw the building of the Dutch East India Trading Company, the highest point in Amsterdam (a bridge over a canal that is, if my memory serves me correctly, 3 metres above sea level), and several other quirky Amsterdam sights. The tour finished at the Anne Frank house - which was another surprise to me. I never realized that the family was Dutch.
At the Anne Frank house, we met up with my friend Jenna from Carleton and her friend Shelby, who has been studying in Amsterdam this past semester. We toured the house together and then went for dinner at a restaurant on a canal, while the sun set. It was great to meet up with old friends and have a nice evening out. (Hi Jenna ;)
On our third day, we got up to take a look around the Van Gogh Museum. There was a special exhibit on at the time, centered around his Starry Night painting, which was really interesting. Then we went to go check out some markets, but none of them were actually there because it was a holiday. So we shopped around town until it was time to meet up with Jenna and Shelby again for "The Heineken Experience." It was a funny and interesting tour of the former brewery that ends with you getting 2 1/2 free beers before having to walk through their gift shop. :S
That was the end of our Amsterdam visit. A few more things about Holland that I learned from our tour guide...
1) Dutch houses have very skinny, tiny staircases so you can't fit any furniture through there. So people attached hooks to the top of their houses to pull furniture up and through the window. But the problem was that things would swing and damage the outside of the house. So what did they do? Build the houses crooked of course. The tops of the houses all stick out further than the bottom. It wasn't until 200 years later that someone came up with the idea to make the hooks stick out longer. :P
2) Napoleon's brother Louis was the king of the Netherlands for a year. He didn't speak any Dutch, and when he tried to announce to the people in Dutch, "I am your King," he screwed up and said, "I am your rabbit." It never got any better from then on.
3) The Dutch live by 3 rules. You can pretty much do anything, just as long as it A) Doesn't hurt anybody, B) You're discreet about it, and C) It's good for business. This is an explanation for the decriminalized use of pot in the country. Technically, you can still get fined because it's not legal. But that's why all the pot houses are called "Coffee Shops" - the discreet part. And it's very good for business... you can find several food vendors around these spots. Another little interesting tidbit - you can't sell marijuana and alcohol in the same venue. But some coffee shops have beer on tap - it's alcohol-free beer... they just don't have to tell you.
Cologne (Köln)
The birthplace of the original male eau de toilette (4711) is about an hour north of Frankfurt. We went there for two nights to visit my friend Linda, who I met while in Montpellier. She took us all around Cologne and made us walk 533 steps up the bell tower of their beloved Dom. We also visited their Museum Schoklade (Chocolate Museum).
Most of Cologne was destroyed in the war, but they have a very optimistic attitude among the people. Their population is very easygoing and are a unique kind in Germany. We had an awesome time just relaxing at her house and having a barbeque.
Another surprise was the amount of canals that ran through the city. I only thought there would be a few, but they are at about every other block. It got incredibly hot around 4-5 o'clock and then a cool breeze would really pick up around 9pm.
The day we arrived, we rode the tram through the main parts of the city to arrive at our hostel, about a block away from Amsterdam's two famous museums; the Van Gogh Musuem and then Rijkstag Museum - that houses some of Rembrandt's most famous paintings. While we were on the tram, we could hear tons of music and people from Leidseplein, a square that hosts lots of small concerts and events.
That night, we braved a walk through the Red Light District. For those of you who may not know, prostitution is legal in Amsterdam and pot is decriminalized. So the Red Light District is the condensed collection of all of these things in about 3 square blocks. Girls stand in windows in their underwear waiting for clients along a canal street, also lined with coffee shops and sex shops and museums. I thought I had prepared myself for what I was about to see, but no. Not at all. My jaw dropped in shock after walking past the first window. What was even more shocking was to see how some little, local kids found this so normal.
The next day, we did a free walking tour of the city. Our guide was a lively, dreadlocked Australian who has been living in Amsterdam for about 5 months. We saw the building of the Dutch East India Trading Company, the highest point in Amsterdam (a bridge over a canal that is, if my memory serves me correctly, 3 metres above sea level), and several other quirky Amsterdam sights. The tour finished at the Anne Frank house - which was another surprise to me. I never realized that the family was Dutch.
At the Anne Frank house, we met up with my friend Jenna from Carleton and her friend Shelby, who has been studying in Amsterdam this past semester. We toured the house together and then went for dinner at a restaurant on a canal, while the sun set. It was great to meet up with old friends and have a nice evening out. (Hi Jenna ;)
On our third day, we got up to take a look around the Van Gogh Museum. There was a special exhibit on at the time, centered around his Starry Night painting, which was really interesting. Then we went to go check out some markets, but none of them were actually there because it was a holiday. So we shopped around town until it was time to meet up with Jenna and Shelby again for "The Heineken Experience." It was a funny and interesting tour of the former brewery that ends with you getting 2 1/2 free beers before having to walk through their gift shop. :S
That was the end of our Amsterdam visit. A few more things about Holland that I learned from our tour guide...
1) Dutch houses have very skinny, tiny staircases so you can't fit any furniture through there. So people attached hooks to the top of their houses to pull furniture up and through the window. But the problem was that things would swing and damage the outside of the house. So what did they do? Build the houses crooked of course. The tops of the houses all stick out further than the bottom. It wasn't until 200 years later that someone came up with the idea to make the hooks stick out longer. :P
2) Napoleon's brother Louis was the king of the Netherlands for a year. He didn't speak any Dutch, and when he tried to announce to the people in Dutch, "I am your King," he screwed up and said, "I am your rabbit." It never got any better from then on.
3) The Dutch live by 3 rules. You can pretty much do anything, just as long as it A) Doesn't hurt anybody, B) You're discreet about it, and C) It's good for business. This is an explanation for the decriminalized use of pot in the country. Technically, you can still get fined because it's not legal. But that's why all the pot houses are called "Coffee Shops" - the discreet part. And it's very good for business... you can find several food vendors around these spots. Another little interesting tidbit - you can't sell marijuana and alcohol in the same venue. But some coffee shops have beer on tap - it's alcohol-free beer... they just don't have to tell you.
Cologne (Köln)
The birthplace of the original male eau de toilette (4711) is about an hour north of Frankfurt. We went there for two nights to visit my friend Linda, who I met while in Montpellier. She took us all around Cologne and made us walk 533 steps up the bell tower of their beloved Dom. We also visited their Museum Schoklade (Chocolate Museum).
Most of Cologne was destroyed in the war, but they have a very optimistic attitude among the people. Their population is very easygoing and are a unique kind in Germany. We had an awesome time just relaxing at her house and having a barbeque.
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