Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Inventory
At this point in my trip I have come to the realisation that I did not bring enough warm clothes. One long-sleeved jumper is not enough, especially since you kind of end up *living* in it day and night... Enter the purchase of a new jumper in Prague. Inventory: two jumpers.
Prague
Wow - what a city!! Talk about beautiful! All the buildings are gothic and multi-coloured - and the cobblestone streets! :D Checked out Charles Bridge today - the view is great, the river is high (almost to flooding level) and there are stacks of art vendors with their little wagons set up all along the bridge. Up the hill we went to go to the castle and do a tour - got my photo taken with one of the guards in classic "Buckingham Palace" style. But, I think the most amusing thing has been the currency. Don't get me wrong, everything is *really* cheap, it's just trying to figure out how much things cost in AU$ . . . I was great at maths when I was at school, but there was no way I learnt my 17 times tables . . . Pity, though - would've come in handy!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Movin' on...
Well, Amsteram was a little *interesting*. . . For those of you wondering, no, I didn't smoke any pot, and no, I didn't eat any mushrooms. I did, however, try their traditional Dutch fries. Meh, a little overrated. But tell me this - what is the obsession with mayonnaise on chips??!! I was willing to give it a go and get over my judgemental attitude towards the mayo, but no . . . I have to tell you it was an experience that shall be reserved for a torture chamber. Blurgh! Didn't meet my roomies until the night before I was leaving - they were either stoned the whole time, or sleeping it off!! What a way to see the world... Did a bike tour as well - what fun. Not. It rained the entire time - I thought my fingers were going to fall off!! But, the tour itself *was* fun. The scenery was beautiful - it's amazing how quickly you can escape the city into the countryside! We went along one of the rivers and out to a farm where they make wooden clogs and also produce various cheeses - yummo! Cracked pepper and garlic was a winner! The worst thing about amsterdam? My accommodation. Not very encouraging when you rock up and they have fliers about "building up your immune system". For all you 5-star hoteliers, basically they have a reputation for bedbugs - but thankfully I didn't get any!
Right now I'm in Berlin. The hostel is *excellent*, with swipecards, comfy beds, spacious bathroom and massive windows.
Now, you would think that doing your washing is pretty mundane and a task worthy of procrastination. However, doing my laundry here in Berlin has become a bit of a highlight!! For starters, trying to find the laundromat was such an entertaining exercise for myself and 3 other girls. It took us about an hour and a half, and it was *pouring* with rain - I was walking along with the bag on my head. Needless to say, my pants ended up drenched to the knees. When we got to the laundromat (which ended up being only about 700m from where we were staying) we hit it off with the owners and couple of fellow launderers. One of the guys ended up being a fascinating artist with some published on the net. Obviously his arty talents run in the family - nice work Denes! :D
Doing a bike tour tomorrow, seeing all the sights. Berlin is a beautiful city - so much history. Will keep you posted!!
Right now I'm in Berlin. The hostel is *excellent*, with swipecards, comfy beds, spacious bathroom and massive windows.
Now, you would think that doing your washing is pretty mundane and a task worthy of procrastination. However, doing my laundry here in Berlin has become a bit of a highlight!! For starters, trying to find the laundromat was such an entertaining exercise for myself and 3 other girls. It took us about an hour and a half, and it was *pouring* with rain - I was walking along with the bag on my head. Needless to say, my pants ended up drenched to the knees. When we got to the laundromat (which ended up being only about 700m from where we were staying) we hit it off with the owners and couple of fellow launderers. One of the guys ended up being a fascinating artist with some published on the net. Obviously his arty talents run in the family - nice work Denes! :D
Doing a bike tour tomorrow, seeing all the sights. Berlin is a beautiful city - so much history. Will keep you posted!!
Monday, May 22, 2006
Parisian antics
Here I am in another internet cafe... did some sight-seeing 'round Paris today and managed to find the holocaust memorial. Wow. Very sobering. I probably should've visited the one at home first just as a little mental/emotional preparation.
On an amusing side, I did the massive walk yesterday. Got the train to just near Notre Dame, did that and St Chapelle, then walked over to Isle de Paris and walked all through there, over to the Louvre, through the Jardin de Tuilleries (sp?), down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triumphe. What wasn't so amusing was that it started absolutely *pouring* with rain when I was just starting up the Champs Elysees, and then one of my sandals broke.
:-( My first day as a tourist, in a foreign country, and my shoe dies. *sigh* Well, they have fared me well (pre-travelling), so I will have to bid them a sad farewell and figure out what I will do without them.
So, post-shoe-breaking I ran into an American woman who looked like she was *completely* lost. She was ecstatic to find someone who spoke english, but of course she was very unimpressed with my efforts when she realised I couldn't give her directions to anything other than the obvious - the Arc de Triumphe! So off she went a little disgruntled... :D
*enter pouring down with rain*
The next thing you see is me hitching up my pants ('cos they're dragging a little . . .) and scooting up the street to try and find a shop to shelter in. Picture this: Christian Dior, Gucci, Ermenagildo Zegna (sp?), Calvin Klein, blah blah blah, you get the picture, and here's me shuffling along in true backpacker style looking for a haven. Needless to say, I spent the next 20 minutes in the Disney Store (DS) and felt guilty at even *that*! I did a token "perusal" of their wares to satisfy even the crabbiest of salespeople. Tell me, who buys all that stuff??!!
Back to my huge walk. I've now stood in the DS for 20 minutes waiting for the rain to subside, and even though it hasn't, I plunge into the great outdoors shuffling at a much faster pace - urged on by the glaring of the security guard watching me drip on the floor. Hmmm. . .
As I make my way "up" (literally - the Champs Elysees is a gradual incline *all the way*) towards the Arc de Triomphe, thankfully, the weather clears, but it appears that the traffic does not. I thought Sydney was bad. Parisian traffic is incomparable (at least I thought that until I went to Italy). Imagine a massive roundabout, with about 10 streets coming to a junction at it. Imagine it is the width of about 8 lanes all the way 'round, but of course, there are *no* lines marked . . . It is a case of the gamer, the quicker. You hesitate, your car gets bumped. You hesitate again, the car behind will just give you a little nudge until you get the idea . . . Now you tell me - who would pay 11 euros just to go and stand in the middle of that insanity?! Stacks of people apparently, but not me.
Right. Down the hill from the Arc, and I'm making my way towards Trocadero (thanks, Ails!) for an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower. Of course, I'm not going to come all this way and just look at it from a distance, so now that it is no longer raining, but blowing a gale at a mere 120km/h (in round figures), I think I will in fact go up. :D Funnily enough, a couple of Aussies were standing next to me in the queue so we got chatting. Man, was it cold. I don't think I could feel my toes at the end of that little episode!! Oh, and what's with the guide book? Apparently that walk was meant to talk 3.5 hours. For me, 8 hours later and I still have about 4 kms to go!! Maybe I'm a stroller... :D
And now to today. My walking today (which included the Holocaust Memorial) also took me through the Jewish Quartier (funnily enough) - man, do they make good felafels! Also found a simply smashing store and bought some new sandals! They are *the* most comfortable shoes I've ever worn in my life! I tried on ONE and said I'd buy them... :D
Also randomly ran into a crazy parade going on - what was with that?! I have *no* idea what it was all about. There were about 10 semi-trailers, oh, maybe about 800m apart, each with a different band on the back and they were just driving through all the streets belting out their gear! Wow! :D So I walked in the opposite direction and managed to see them all a little quicker and ended up sitting near the Bastille memorial and watching the post-party procession - i.e., the street-sweepers and garbage cleaners. Those guys are ruthless! They use massive pressure hoses on the trucks and spray you if you get in the way. :D Some drunk guy was collapsed on the ground next to me - the police nudged him then left him there. Nice work.
Heading out to amsterdam tomorrowmorning - been brushing up on my dutch. Actually, I think I'd better not say a single word, since I don't know any dutch and am liable to abuse someone by saying something awful. Or amusing, at the very least. :-(
On an amusing side, I did the massive walk yesterday. Got the train to just near Notre Dame, did that and St Chapelle, then walked over to Isle de Paris and walked all through there, over to the Louvre, through the Jardin de Tuilleries (sp?), down the Champs Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triumphe. What wasn't so amusing was that it started absolutely *pouring* with rain when I was just starting up the Champs Elysees, and then one of my sandals broke.
:-( My first day as a tourist, in a foreign country, and my shoe dies. *sigh* Well, they have fared me well (pre-travelling), so I will have to bid them a sad farewell and figure out what I will do without them.
So, post-shoe-breaking I ran into an American woman who looked like she was *completely* lost. She was ecstatic to find someone who spoke english, but of course she was very unimpressed with my efforts when she realised I couldn't give her directions to anything other than the obvious - the Arc de Triumphe! So off she went a little disgruntled... :D
*enter pouring down with rain*
The next thing you see is me hitching up my pants ('cos they're dragging a little . . .) and scooting up the street to try and find a shop to shelter in. Picture this: Christian Dior, Gucci, Ermenagildo Zegna (sp?), Calvin Klein, blah blah blah, you get the picture, and here's me shuffling along in true backpacker style looking for a haven. Needless to say, I spent the next 20 minutes in the Disney Store (DS) and felt guilty at even *that*! I did a token "perusal" of their wares to satisfy even the crabbiest of salespeople. Tell me, who buys all that stuff??!!
Back to my huge walk. I've now stood in the DS for 20 minutes waiting for the rain to subside, and even though it hasn't, I plunge into the great outdoors shuffling at a much faster pace - urged on by the glaring of the security guard watching me drip on the floor. Hmmm. . .
As I make my way "up" (literally - the Champs Elysees is a gradual incline *all the way*) towards the Arc de Triomphe, thankfully, the weather clears, but it appears that the traffic does not. I thought Sydney was bad. Parisian traffic is incomparable (at least I thought that until I went to Italy). Imagine a massive roundabout, with about 10 streets coming to a junction at it. Imagine it is the width of about 8 lanes all the way 'round, but of course, there are *no* lines marked . . . It is a case of the gamer, the quicker. You hesitate, your car gets bumped. You hesitate again, the car behind will just give you a little nudge until you get the idea . . . Now you tell me - who would pay 11 euros just to go and stand in the middle of that insanity?! Stacks of people apparently, but not me.
Right. Down the hill from the Arc, and I'm making my way towards Trocadero (thanks, Ails!) for an excellent view of the Eiffel Tower. Of course, I'm not going to come all this way and just look at it from a distance, so now that it is no longer raining, but blowing a gale at a mere 120km/h (in round figures), I think I will in fact go up. :D Funnily enough, a couple of Aussies were standing next to me in the queue so we got chatting. Man, was it cold. I don't think I could feel my toes at the end of that little episode!! Oh, and what's with the guide book? Apparently that walk was meant to talk 3.5 hours. For me, 8 hours later and I still have about 4 kms to go!! Maybe I'm a stroller... :D
And now to today. My walking today (which included the Holocaust Memorial) also took me through the Jewish Quartier (funnily enough) - man, do they make good felafels! Also found a simply smashing store and bought some new sandals! They are *the* most comfortable shoes I've ever worn in my life! I tried on ONE and said I'd buy them... :D
Also randomly ran into a crazy parade going on - what was with that?! I have *no* idea what it was all about. There were about 10 semi-trailers, oh, maybe about 800m apart, each with a different band on the back and they were just driving through all the streets belting out their gear! Wow! :D So I walked in the opposite direction and managed to see them all a little quicker and ended up sitting near the Bastille memorial and watching the post-party procession - i.e., the street-sweepers and garbage cleaners. Those guys are ruthless! They use massive pressure hoses on the trucks and spray you if you get in the way. :D Some drunk guy was collapsed on the ground next to me - the police nudged him then left him there. Nice work.
Heading out to amsterdam tomorrowmorning - been brushing up on my dutch. Actually, I think I'd better not say a single word, since I don't know any dutch and am liable to abuse someone by saying something awful. Or amusing, at the very least. :-(
Thursday, May 18, 2006
I have arriv-ed!
I'm here . . . in Paris!
Am sitting in an internet cafe right now 'cos they've blocked off two of the platforms at the train station - yep, one of them was mine. Something happened, not sure what, but loads of scary looking guys, variously uniformed, all running 'round with guns ranging from the size of holstered pistols to massive machine-gun-type things. weird. So, yeah, just biding a little time until the platform opens again so i can go *one* stop, then change lines again and get to the hotel and settle in.
Flight over was a little eventful, but definitely an education. First leg was pretty bad - 9.5 hours - had an aisle seat which i prefer, but leg space was limited and I realised (too late) that I didn't walk enough. The second leg was 12.5 hours, but *much* better. I spent the entire 2-hour layover in Hong Kong just walking 'round to get the circulation going again! Thankfully I managed to sleep about 9 hours on the flight, but had an idiot sitting next to me who wouldn't turn his mobile phone off so the air-hostess would come and say something to him about it every hour or so. Of course, by this time, I've been awake for 19 hours with only 6 hours sleep backing me up... I didn't take it too well!! Eventually he did turn it off, but only after the air-hostess was leaning over me in the wee-hours of the morning (Paris time) and woke me up with a massive jump 'cos I thought she was talking to me! Tosser!
Am sitting in an internet cafe right now 'cos they've blocked off two of the platforms at the train station - yep, one of them was mine. Something happened, not sure what, but loads of scary looking guys, variously uniformed, all running 'round with guns ranging from the size of holstered pistols to massive machine-gun-type things. weird. So, yeah, just biding a little time until the platform opens again so i can go *one* stop, then change lines again and get to the hotel and settle in.
Flight over was a little eventful, but definitely an education. First leg was pretty bad - 9.5 hours - had an aisle seat which i prefer, but leg space was limited and I realised (too late) that I didn't walk enough. The second leg was 12.5 hours, but *much* better. I spent the entire 2-hour layover in Hong Kong just walking 'round to get the circulation going again! Thankfully I managed to sleep about 9 hours on the flight, but had an idiot sitting next to me who wouldn't turn his mobile phone off so the air-hostess would come and say something to him about it every hour or so. Of course, by this time, I've been awake for 19 hours with only 6 hours sleep backing me up... I didn't take it too well!! Eventually he did turn it off, but only after the air-hostess was leaning over me in the wee-hours of the morning (Paris time) and woke me up with a massive jump 'cos I thought she was talking to me! Tosser!
Friday, May 12, 2006
Closure
Today is my last day at work...but not forever! I've been offered another contract, and of course I accepted. This one is for 12 months, which is what I asked for - woo! :D
5 days to go...
5 days to go...
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
My life in 7 months...
...wow - so much can happen! For example, I'm going *overseas* next week! Woo! Yes folks, for the first time in my life, I will be flashing my passport, lugging luggage and jet-setting off to Europe for 8 weeks. Let the countdown begin... 7 days to go.
Friday, May 05, 2006
World's Greatest Shave
Folks, today I shaved my head. :D Yep, you heard me. Shaved my head - a No. 2. "Why on earth would you do that?" I hear you ask? Well, because I was raising money for The Leukaemia Foundation (final tally: $6,898.50). Lots of fun on the night, and it turns out I don't have an odd-shaped head!! Here're a couple of pics for your visual entertainment. :D Thank you so much to all of you who sponspored me in my efforts!
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