At last, sunlight! It had been so long, but finally we escaped from the rain that had been following us through Europe. It only rained once during our time here in Paris, and it was while we were underground so we didn't mind. Except for in some areas where it seemed to be leaking.
We were really hungry and tired and indecisive when we first got in. Fortunately we found a little shop with really delicious sandwiches and pastries. After we were properly nourished we were able to make plans. We decided to start out big and headed off to the catacombs. Awesome! We went down about a million stairs and walked a ways through tunnels under Paris, eventually reaching the tunnels full of bones. It was pretty amazing and intense. The evening was spent back in Montemartre, where our hotel was. We had a delicious salad for dinner.
The second day we did the Louvre, because it needed to happen. It was quite easy to get there and there was hardly a line. There were, of course, tons of other people there, but it didn't feel too crowded for the most part just because it was so big and open. It was really cool to get to see such impressive and beautiful art. I was especially excited to come across the Raft of the Medusa, a painting I studied in an RC class. After standing and walking for so long we were a little tired, so we chilled out at the courtyard fountain. We wandered off from there and saw the Arc de Triumph, also cool. That night we went to another classic, the Eiffel Tower. I must say, it was quite impressive. It was both visually larger and physically smaller than I had expected, if that makes any sense. We heard that going up to the third (top) floor wasn't worth it due to crowd and expense, and that it was better to just go to the second floor and go to Sacre Cour for the full city view. The second floor was amazing! We went at night, and we could see Paris stretched out before us, expansive and bright.
The third day Alex and Constantina had a date planned so I went off on my own. I just kind of wandered about, ending up at the Notre Dame. I'm really really glad I went. It was just awe-inspiring. It was so huge and ornate and beautiful. I took a lot of pictures, and asked some other tourists to take pictures with me in them (for you, Mom). We had planned to meet up at the Gare de Lyon train station to get our train to Germany worked out. While walking there I saw a whole bunch of police vehicles go by and wondered why. Not long after that I got a call from Constantina's mom in Sweden, telling me that Alex and Constantina had been delayed due to some sort of threat on their subway line. It sounded like they were fine, and I was fine, so everything was fine. I just meandered my way over to the station and sat outside in the sun until they got there.
Working out train stuff was a lot easier than I'd thought it would be, other than one significant problem-Alex no longer has his Eurail Pass. Ack! Fortunately he didn't need it for the book, but unfortunately he was unable to find it. It was really stressful, and we had to go find the police station to file a report (which was difficult due to the police being unhelpful), but he'll get his money back at least. On our way back we stopped by Sacre Cour, which did give a wonderful view of the city! Worth all the stairs we had to climb to get up there.
Also, we met up with Molly McGuire for coffee! Alex and I also went with her and some of her friends to a party on a boat. It was entertaining, though getting back was kind of a pain. We ended up taking a cab because it was tons faster.
Today we're heading off to Freiburg. We're going to stay with Andrew Nicholson there, before heading off to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
I have now uploaded all of my Sweden, Denmark, England, and Ireland photos, as well as some of my French photos! Some of them are flipped wrong and most don't have comments, but I'll work through them bit by bit.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The end of England, all of Ireland, and the introduction of France
We had an afternoon flight out of London, so we decided to take the underground partway to the airport so we could hangout there with less stress. We explored the train station by the King's Cross station some and had some really delicious pasties and tea. My pastie was chicken and vegetable. Unfortunately we ended up being rushed after all, but we made it on the plane and that's what matters. Could've done without the brisk run through the airport.
Dublin was awesome! I had thought that Irish was kind of a dead language, but it turns out it's used there much more than I thought. We saw it on all the signs everywhere. We got there in the evening on Saturday, so most things were closed. It was kind of weird how early everything closes on the weekend in Dublin. Our hostel there was pretty good. It had the most disappointing breakfast ever, but we also met two really cool people from Croatia who were staying in the same room as us.
The time we spent in Dublin felt like really productive travel. We got in a lot of museums, tours, and other experiences. We went to a museum about vikings, churches, parks, stores, walking tours, pubs, and the coast. Going to the coast was probably my favorite part of Dublin. We just took bus 31 east to its very last stop. From there we walked a little ways to where there were paths along the side of mountains at the edge of the sea. The view and scenery was absolutely spectacular. Just indescribably beautiful. The mountains were small and lush, with green grasses and kind of scrubby, thorny plants with yellow flowers. The descents were steep-cliffs in some places. The sea was beautiful and the sky seemed endless. Sadly I won't be able to post pictures of it until I'm back at the hotel room and can recharge my camera's batteries.
The only bad thing about Dublin was that the rain followed us there. Sometimes the rain there is so light it's like a heavy mist, and they call days with that kind of weather 'soft' days. Also, it was even colder there than it had been in Sweden, somehow. Plus we had to get up at 3:30 to catch our 6:30 flight, which was not particularly great. But at least we had plenty of time at the airport and weren't all rushed for once.
Paris has been great! We've eaten a seen a lot in our two days here. However, I'm going to detail all that next time I'm on the internet, either later today or tomorrow. This internet cafe is kind of slow and pricey, so I'd rather hold off until I can be uploading pictures at the same time.
At this point I've uploaded all of my Sweden and Denmark photos to my Picasa account, as well as some of my England photos. You can find them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mdekenzie. One of my travel companions, Constantina, is ahead of me in uploading and has all of hers here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/irisi/.
Dublin was awesome! I had thought that Irish was kind of a dead language, but it turns out it's used there much more than I thought. We saw it on all the signs everywhere. We got there in the evening on Saturday, so most things were closed. It was kind of weird how early everything closes on the weekend in Dublin. Our hostel there was pretty good. It had the most disappointing breakfast ever, but we also met two really cool people from Croatia who were staying in the same room as us.
The time we spent in Dublin felt like really productive travel. We got in a lot of museums, tours, and other experiences. We went to a museum about vikings, churches, parks, stores, walking tours, pubs, and the coast. Going to the coast was probably my favorite part of Dublin. We just took bus 31 east to its very last stop. From there we walked a little ways to where there were paths along the side of mountains at the edge of the sea. The view and scenery was absolutely spectacular. Just indescribably beautiful. The mountains were small and lush, with green grasses and kind of scrubby, thorny plants with yellow flowers. The descents were steep-cliffs in some places. The sea was beautiful and the sky seemed endless. Sadly I won't be able to post pictures of it until I'm back at the hotel room and can recharge my camera's batteries.
The only bad thing about Dublin was that the rain followed us there. Sometimes the rain there is so light it's like a heavy mist, and they call days with that kind of weather 'soft' days. Also, it was even colder there than it had been in Sweden, somehow. Plus we had to get up at 3:30 to catch our 6:30 flight, which was not particularly great. But at least we had plenty of time at the airport and weren't all rushed for once.
Paris has been great! We've eaten a seen a lot in our two days here. However, I'm going to detail all that next time I'm on the internet, either later today or tomorrow. This internet cafe is kind of slow and pricey, so I'd rather hold off until I can be uploading pictures at the same time.
At this point I've uploaded all of my Sweden and Denmark photos to my Picasa account, as well as some of my England photos. You can find them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mdekenzie. One of my travel companions, Constantina, is ahead of me in uploading and has all of hers here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/irisi/.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Bussing around London
So yesterday we got up and headed over to London Bridge for our bus tour. It was definitely the right way to see London. Even our British roommates at the hostel suggested taking a bus tour to see the city.
On the topic of roommates, we had some pretty awesome ones. One was a man named Steve, who is in London visiting his father, who is sick. Steve has the type of life I'd love to have some day. He retired young and has spent the last 10 years traveling the world and studying languages. Two years in China, two in India, one in Indonesia, months in Russia, all around Central America... I never thought I'd get to compare Chinese, Russian, and Indonesian grammar, all with the same person. The other really cool person was Henna. She's been in London a few years, but lived in India beforehand. She was very friendly and also very interested in travel.
As for the bus tour, it was pretty great. We started off at Tower Bridge and went in this big loop heading west southwest and then north and back around to the east. We went to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the Green Park, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Temple Church, and the Royal Courts of Justice. There were people protesting outside of Parliament, though we weren't quite sure what it was they were objecting to. Westminster Abbey and the Royal Courts of Justice were particularly beautiful. After the bus tour we went on a walking tour. It was really interesting to get to learn the historical background of some areas.
Time's up.
On the topic of roommates, we had some pretty awesome ones. One was a man named Steve, who is in London visiting his father, who is sick. Steve has the type of life I'd love to have some day. He retired young and has spent the last 10 years traveling the world and studying languages. Two years in China, two in India, one in Indonesia, months in Russia, all around Central America... I never thought I'd get to compare Chinese, Russian, and Indonesian grammar, all with the same person. The other really cool person was Henna. She's been in London a few years, but lived in India beforehand. She was very friendly and also very interested in travel.
As for the bus tour, it was pretty great. We started off at Tower Bridge and went in this big loop heading west southwest and then north and back around to the east. We went to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the Green Park, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Temple Church, and the Royal Courts of Justice. There were people protesting outside of Parliament, though we weren't quite sure what it was they were objecting to. Westminster Abbey and the Royal Courts of Justice were particularly beautiful. After the bus tour we went on a walking tour. It was really interesting to get to learn the historical background of some areas.
Time's up.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The end of Sweden, all of Denmark, and the beginning of England
Sweden finished up with some hail and a rush for transportation. Constantina's mom took Alex and I for a short hike up the mountain behind their house. It was a really lovely area, and I wish we'd had more time to wander and explore. However, we needed to be on our way, and it started hailing not long after we'd been out. At first the hail was fun and interesting, but then it kept going, and started getting larger, and became progressively less fun through the run back to Constantina's family's house. Good fun overall, though. Then we had to rush about to get ready and get to our train on time, though we of course made it.
The train ride to Denmark was nice. The Swedish countryside is really beautiful. We also made friends with two Swedish guys across the aisle. Apparently they were in Goteborg for a robot building competition, which sounded pretty cool.
Copenhagen was a whirlwind. We couchsurfed there with an awesome guy Christian. He was really great and I wish we'd had more time to hang out with him and his equally awesome friend Bill. The city was also very cool, and hard to see in a day. But we did our best. We made it to the seceded anarchist area, Christiana, which is very small, and very interesting. We also ate delicious Danish pastries and wandered around the city some.
From Kobenhavn we flew over to London. Getting checked into our conveniently close hotel ended up being kind of a pain, but it all worked out. Things have been kind of chill since then. It's nice to have more than a day in a city. We're staying at a hostel in Greenwich, which is strangely pronounced more like "gre-nich". Yesterday we went and were touristy at the Prime Meridian. Eastern and Western hemisphere at the same time! Tomorrow we're taking a bus (double-decker, of course) tour. Sounds really touristy, I know, but I think it'll be a really conveniently and affordable way to get all around the city and see everything. Internet cafe computer time is almost up, so that's all for now.
The train ride to Denmark was nice. The Swedish countryside is really beautiful. We also made friends with two Swedish guys across the aisle. Apparently they were in Goteborg for a robot building competition, which sounded pretty cool.
Copenhagen was a whirlwind. We couchsurfed there with an awesome guy Christian. He was really great and I wish we'd had more time to hang out with him and his equally awesome friend Bill. The city was also very cool, and hard to see in a day. But we did our best. We made it to the seceded anarchist area, Christiana, which is very small, and very interesting. We also ate delicious Danish pastries and wandered around the city some.
From Kobenhavn we flew over to London. Getting checked into our conveniently close hotel ended up being kind of a pain, but it all worked out. Things have been kind of chill since then. It's nice to have more than a day in a city. We're staying at a hostel in Greenwich, which is strangely pronounced more like "gre-nich". Yesterday we went and were touristy at the Prime Meridian. Eastern and Western hemisphere at the same time! Tomorrow we're taking a bus (double-decker, of course) tour. Sounds really touristy, I know, but I think it'll be a really conveniently and affordable way to get all around the city and see everything. Internet cafe computer time is almost up, so that's all for now.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sweden
Sweden is a beautiful, friendly country. My impression of people here is that they are very helpful and speak excellent English. They also have a lot of birds that remind me strongly of ones I saw in Beijing.
Our first day in we mostly settled into Constantina's family's house. We went out to the World Culture Museum (Varldskultur Museet) for a little bit and learned about Bollywood and theft of Peruvian artifacts.
Our second day (yesterday) we went to the Fish Church, an important part of Goteborg. Apparently it used to be a church, and now it's a fish market. I'm not really sure how that happened. After that we wandered around Goteborg with Constantina's younger brother, Sotiri. We never quite managed to get to the old city of Haga, but we did find other interesting things. My favorite were the buildings built into the rock. Swedish buildings in general are pretty. It seems like each building has at least one particularly nice or interesting characteristic.
In the evening we went to an event at the Chinese Embassy. I never expected I'd get to use Chinese so much in Sweden! The event was celebrating China's upcoming hosting of the World Expo next May. Strange that the best Chinese food I've had in a while was in Sweden.
Today we took a ferry out and wandered around one of Goteborg's little islands. It seemed like each of the houses there was really cute and had beautiful landscaping. We ended up mostly exploring a small island off of the island we went to. It was a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks there. Wading was sadly short, as the water was pretty cold. But still fun! We also played scientists and observed the life in a little tide pool.
Tomorrow we'll hike up the hill behind Constantina's house, wander a little more, than hop a train to Denmark and Kopenhagen!
Our first day in we mostly settled into Constantina's family's house. We went out to the World Culture Museum (Varldskultur Museet) for a little bit and learned about Bollywood and theft of Peruvian artifacts.
Our second day (yesterday) we went to the Fish Church, an important part of Goteborg. Apparently it used to be a church, and now it's a fish market. I'm not really sure how that happened. After that we wandered around Goteborg with Constantina's younger brother, Sotiri. We never quite managed to get to the old city of Haga, but we did find other interesting things. My favorite were the buildings built into the rock. Swedish buildings in general are pretty. It seems like each building has at least one particularly nice or interesting characteristic.
In the evening we went to an event at the Chinese Embassy. I never expected I'd get to use Chinese so much in Sweden! The event was celebrating China's upcoming hosting of the World Expo next May. Strange that the best Chinese food I've had in a while was in Sweden.
Today we took a ferry out and wandered around one of Goteborg's little islands. It seemed like each of the houses there was really cute and had beautiful landscaping. We ended up mostly exploring a small island off of the island we went to. It was a lot of fun climbing around on the rocks there. Wading was sadly short, as the water was pretty cold. But still fun! We also played scientists and observed the life in a little tide pool.
Tomorrow we'll hike up the hill behind Constantina's house, wander a little more, than hop a train to Denmark and Kopenhagen!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Arrival
I'm in Sweden! We arrived yesterday morning. We almost didn't make it past Amsterdam due to a short connection time, but fortunately the airport sent a fierce German lady to help us make it through in time.
We're staying with Constantina's family in Mölndal, which is just outside of Gotesborg. Her parents and brothers are very friendly, and I'm enjoying spending time with them. It's noon here now and we're making lunches so we can head out and explore Gotesborg some, so I'm going to go help with that. I'll try to post again with more details before we head out for our next country.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
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