Complications
Thursday there is supposed to be a German rail strike.
Thursday I'm supposed to head to Salzburg.
This could be interesting.
8.07.2007
8.06.2007
Thoughts and Highlights from the Past Week+
(In bulleted format! Woo!)
+ I´m quite glad I got to see the Tour de France. It hit me that it´s just about the only completely free-to-watch competition that is the crowning challenge of a sport. Just about every other major sporting event is held in an arena or stadium and requires a ticket to enter. the only exceptions are maybe the Cambridge-Oxford boat races (and that´s not a big international competition), and the major marathons (Boston, New York, London, etc.), but there are several of those. The Tour de France is BIG. And our spot on the Champs Elysees to watch was prime.
+ Three days was definitely enough time for me in Paris. The weather was gray and drab, and as I stood at the top of Montmartre in front of Sacre Coeur that grayness and drabness seemed to be reflected in the very monochromatic city view.
+ This probablz also contributed greatly to my enjoyment of Amsterdam. I entered the city and it was lively and colorful and each building looked different from its neighbors. (That could have been partly because each building was leaning haphazardly into its neighbors.)
+ I did not actually partake in the local "delicacy" while in Amsterdam. Getting high by myself sounded to me more like a cry for help than a cultural experience, and most of the fellow travelers I met along the way were stoners there just to indulge. I´d rather be surrounded by like-minded friends than potheads if I´m going to test those waters.
+ Amsterdam was a very, very friendly city, but it´s the only city I´ve visited so far where I didn´t really make friends. I analyze this to be because most people head to Amsterdam with their little group of friends so they can all get high together rather than venture out on their own.
+ I was sitting in a cafe on the street in Amsterdam and a local guy came up trying to get me to come to some club party thing he was advertsing. He asked where I was from and I said Kansas, at which point he said, "Oh! You guys have a great football team, don´t you!" My first thought was, "Well, the Chiefs aren´t really that good, actually." But before I could say anything, he followed that with, "The Kansas State Wildcats, right?" I almost fell off my chair. I never knew anyone in Europe would have known anything about college football, but apparently this guy wanted to get away from Holland for a while and headed to California to play baseball for a small college, during which time he became a big college sports fan. I didn´t get the name of the school he attended because he was on to the next person he was trying to attract to his party.
+ After I met the Wildcat fan, I turned the street corner only to run into a Nike ad with a picture of Steve Nash! I nearly did a little dance right there in the street.
+ Bikes are awesome, although my butt the day after my bike tour was quite sore.
+ I´m now in Munich. This morning I went on a free walking tour of the city, and I´m headed in a few minutes to do another walking tour detailing the rise of the Third Reich in the city, then this evening I`m going to learn about "liquid bread" on a beer/brewery tour. Tomorrow I think I´m going to head out to the Neuschwanstein Castle (the castle Disneyland based the Cinderella castle on).
Not to Stereotype, But...Well, Yes, to Stereotype
I have found the following generalisations regarding cultural groups:
+ Americans can be easily spotted by our shoes, our baseball caps, and something about our faces. I can´t place it, but I have gotten pretty good at figuring out an American face. Maybe it´s the mish-mash of cultures that make our faces not have a distinct look and in that they become distinct. Woah, that´s getting a bit deep.
+ Germans speak very good English and when I´ve asked why, the common response is that they read books published in their original langage rather than translations. This has been the common answer I´ve received from several different Germans.
+ In playing a fun game I call "Name That Nationality" (whereby I have to try to pick the nationality of a passing tourist before I hear them speak) I have found an easy way to pick out North Africans, specifically Moroccans and Algerians: They´re the men who try to pick me up. My first week after leaving the UK I was approached by no less than 6 Algerians or Moroccans. No Frenchmen, no Dutch, and only one Belgian if you count Simon. :)
+ "Thank you" in the language of the country you´re visiting is the most important phrase to learn. "Dank ja wel" (sp?) was the only Dutch I learned and everytime I said it to a shopkeeper or restauranter, their face brightened and they looked at me with unbelief; like they were thinking, "Wow! She knows Dutch!"
+ Americans are not the only "ugly" tourists. We get a bad rap, and some tourists give good reason for that reputation, but I´ve seen just as many "ugly" tourists from all sorts of countries.
Pictures to come when I can find a place that actually lets me attache a USB cord and has software to let me view thumbnails. The console I´m currently on only lets me view the pictures full-size, and as I have nearly 2,000 pictures already, it would take my whole hour of Internet time to sort through and find a handful of good ones to share.
(In bulleted format! Woo!)
+ I´m quite glad I got to see the Tour de France. It hit me that it´s just about the only completely free-to-watch competition that is the crowning challenge of a sport. Just about every other major sporting event is held in an arena or stadium and requires a ticket to enter. the only exceptions are maybe the Cambridge-Oxford boat races (and that´s not a big international competition), and the major marathons (Boston, New York, London, etc.), but there are several of those. The Tour de France is BIG. And our spot on the Champs Elysees to watch was prime.
+ Three days was definitely enough time for me in Paris. The weather was gray and drab, and as I stood at the top of Montmartre in front of Sacre Coeur that grayness and drabness seemed to be reflected in the very monochromatic city view.
+ This probablz also contributed greatly to my enjoyment of Amsterdam. I entered the city and it was lively and colorful and each building looked different from its neighbors. (That could have been partly because each building was leaning haphazardly into its neighbors.)
+ I did not actually partake in the local "delicacy" while in Amsterdam. Getting high by myself sounded to me more like a cry for help than a cultural experience, and most of the fellow travelers I met along the way were stoners there just to indulge. I´d rather be surrounded by like-minded friends than potheads if I´m going to test those waters.
+ Amsterdam was a very, very friendly city, but it´s the only city I´ve visited so far where I didn´t really make friends. I analyze this to be because most people head to Amsterdam with their little group of friends so they can all get high together rather than venture out on their own.
+ I was sitting in a cafe on the street in Amsterdam and a local guy came up trying to get me to come to some club party thing he was advertsing. He asked where I was from and I said Kansas, at which point he said, "Oh! You guys have a great football team, don´t you!" My first thought was, "Well, the Chiefs aren´t really that good, actually." But before I could say anything, he followed that with, "The Kansas State Wildcats, right?" I almost fell off my chair. I never knew anyone in Europe would have known anything about college football, but apparently this guy wanted to get away from Holland for a while and headed to California to play baseball for a small college, during which time he became a big college sports fan. I didn´t get the name of the school he attended because he was on to the next person he was trying to attract to his party.
+ After I met the Wildcat fan, I turned the street corner only to run into a Nike ad with a picture of Steve Nash! I nearly did a little dance right there in the street.
+ Bikes are awesome, although my butt the day after my bike tour was quite sore.
+ I´m now in Munich. This morning I went on a free walking tour of the city, and I´m headed in a few minutes to do another walking tour detailing the rise of the Third Reich in the city, then this evening I`m going to learn about "liquid bread" on a beer/brewery tour. Tomorrow I think I´m going to head out to the Neuschwanstein Castle (the castle Disneyland based the Cinderella castle on).
Not to Stereotype, But...Well, Yes, to Stereotype
I have found the following generalisations regarding cultural groups:
+ Americans can be easily spotted by our shoes, our baseball caps, and something about our faces. I can´t place it, but I have gotten pretty good at figuring out an American face. Maybe it´s the mish-mash of cultures that make our faces not have a distinct look and in that they become distinct. Woah, that´s getting a bit deep.
+ Germans speak very good English and when I´ve asked why, the common response is that they read books published in their original langage rather than translations. This has been the common answer I´ve received from several different Germans.
+ In playing a fun game I call "Name That Nationality" (whereby I have to try to pick the nationality of a passing tourist before I hear them speak) I have found an easy way to pick out North Africans, specifically Moroccans and Algerians: They´re the men who try to pick me up. My first week after leaving the UK I was approached by no less than 6 Algerians or Moroccans. No Frenchmen, no Dutch, and only one Belgian if you count Simon. :)
+ "Thank you" in the language of the country you´re visiting is the most important phrase to learn. "Dank ja wel" (sp?) was the only Dutch I learned and everytime I said it to a shopkeeper or restauranter, their face brightened and they looked at me with unbelief; like they were thinking, "Wow! She knows Dutch!"
+ Americans are not the only "ugly" tourists. We get a bad rap, and some tourists give good reason for that reputation, but I´ve seen just as many "ugly" tourists from all sorts of countries.
Pictures to come when I can find a place that actually lets me attache a USB cord and has software to let me view thumbnails. The console I´m currently on only lets me view the pictures full-size, and as I have nearly 2,000 pictures already, it would take my whole hour of Internet time to sort through and find a handful of good ones to share.
8.01.2007
7.29.2007
Tour de Butt
I spent today with a fun group of fellow hostelers staking out a place on the Champs Elysées, waiting (sometimes patiently) for the start of the race, and watching all the action. Unfortunately for my butt, some of the action was in the form of the dirty European men copping a feel in the crowded street. Seriously? That gets old after a while.
On to Amsterdam next!
I spent today with a fun group of fellow hostelers staking out a place on the Champs Elysées, waiting (sometimes patiently) for the start of the race, and watching all the action. Unfortunately for my butt, some of the action was in the form of the dirty European men copping a feel in the crowded street. Seriously? That gets old after a while.
On to Amsterdam next!
7.25.2007
Quick Recap
Here's bit of a run-down of things I keep meaning to write about:
Once my parents arrived in London for my dad's choir tour, I got a bit more into sight-seeing mode. We did a scrumptious chocolate walking tour, hosted by Jon's cousin, Jen. I've never eaten so much absolutely fantastic chocolate in my life. The mint chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat (the "Tiffany's of chocolate" according to Jen) were earthy, divine and simply out of this world.
Later that day, after meeting Laura and Gino for tapas, my mom, dad and I attended Wicked. I've never seen an audience so into a musical like this one was. It was almost like being at a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening, complete with audience members dressed in costumes like the characters. No throwing toast or rice on stage, but the most enthusiastic cheers every time a major character entered the stage for the first time. After the wonderful show (better than the book, in my opinion), we were surprised to learn that half of the cast were members of the original London cast and had just performed their final show. Ahhh...so that's why the audience was so enthusiastic!
After my dad's choir's participation at Sunday services at Hinde Street Methodist Church (link to pics below), the three of us headed to Greenwich to straddle the Prime Meridian. A boat tour along the Thames followed.
New in London this Visit
+ PM Gordon Brown (duh!)
+ The design of the £20 notes
+ No smoking in pubs (yay! that means less laundry to do!)
+ Lots of work being done on the Victoria line
+ A bumper crop of recyling bins have appeared
+ The Cadbury Egg dispensers on the Tube platforms are all out of service
Same in London this Visit
+ The "eau de London," best described as a melding of scents including congestion, dampness and newsprint
+ My annoyance with people who can't read the "Stand on the Right" signs on the Tube escalators
+ The thrill of jumping through closing Tube doors just in time.
Á là Mode
The overwhelming new style trend here is leggings beneath everything. This is quite handy when you're from Phoenix and just can't accept wearing long pants every day. Leggings make skirts, dresses and shorts possible in this dreary weather. (see pictures for examples)
Albums
Here's bit of a run-down of things I keep meaning to write about:
Once my parents arrived in London for my dad's choir tour, I got a bit more into sight-seeing mode. We did a scrumptious chocolate walking tour, hosted by Jon's cousin, Jen. I've never eaten so much absolutely fantastic chocolate in my life. The mint chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat (the "Tiffany's of chocolate" according to Jen) were earthy, divine and simply out of this world.
Later that day, after meeting Laura and Gino for tapas, my mom, dad and I attended Wicked. I've never seen an audience so into a musical like this one was. It was almost like being at a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening, complete with audience members dressed in costumes like the characters. No throwing toast or rice on stage, but the most enthusiastic cheers every time a major character entered the stage for the first time. After the wonderful show (better than the book, in my opinion), we were surprised to learn that half of the cast were members of the original London cast and had just performed their final show. Ahhh...so that's why the audience was so enthusiastic!
After my dad's choir's participation at Sunday services at Hinde Street Methodist Church (link to pics below), the three of us headed to Greenwich to straddle the Prime Meridian. A boat tour along the Thames followed.
New in London this Visit
+ PM Gordon Brown (duh!)
+ The design of the £20 notes
+ No smoking in pubs (yay! that means less laundry to do!)
+ Lots of work being done on the Victoria line
+ A bumper crop of recyling bins have appeared
+ The Cadbury Egg dispensers on the Tube platforms are all out of service
Same in London this Visit
+ The "eau de London," best described as a melding of scents including congestion, dampness and newsprint
+ My annoyance with people who can't read the "Stand on the Right" signs on the Tube escalators
+ The thrill of jumping through closing Tube doors just in time.
Á là Mode
The overwhelming new style trend here is leggings beneath everything. This is quite handy when you're from Phoenix and just can't accept wearing long pants every day. Leggings make skirts, dresses and shorts possible in this dreary weather. (see pictures for examples)
Albums
 |
| London 2007 |
 |
| Dayspring Chorale - London |
 |
| Chocolate Ecstasy Walking Tour of London |
 |
| Edinburgh |
 |
| Dayspring Chorale - Edinburgh |
 |
| Cambridge |
7.20.2007
Sticking Around
For various reasons, I've decided to stay in Edinburgh for an extra day. The hostel was booked solid for tonight, so I have a new plan (inspiration brought to me by Dan). The new Harry Potter book comes out at midnight tonight, meaning that I probably won't even get a copy until 12:30 or 1 a.m. The first train back to London King's Cross leaves at 6:15 a.m. (boarding around 5:45). By the time I make it back to the hostel to collect my luggage, that leaves me about 5 to 5 and a half hours to chill in the train station, which should get me at least a third of the way into the book, depending on my supply of caffeine. Suh-weet.
This is Why I'm Out Here
My adventure in Edinburgh has confirmed why I'm doing this trip. I've had 5 days here on my first solo adventure, my first hostel adventure (in 4 years at least), my first new city adventure, my first figure-things-out / make-new-friends / try-new-foods adventure. The first day or so was uneventful, but then I got up my courage to actually talk to people in my 14-girl dorm room. And -- surprise, surprise -- I found them all to be delightful! It's utterly fantastic to enter a city knowing not a single soul, only to be pubbing a day later with what feels like a contingent from the U.N. My nights have been filled with conversations, drinks and stories shared amongst Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Germans, Scots, Hong Kong(ers?), South Africans, Spaniards, Italians and the odd American here and there. This, my friends, is worth it.
For various reasons, I've decided to stay in Edinburgh for an extra day. The hostel was booked solid for tonight, so I have a new plan (inspiration brought to me by Dan). The new Harry Potter book comes out at midnight tonight, meaning that I probably won't even get a copy until 12:30 or 1 a.m. The first train back to London King's Cross leaves at 6:15 a.m. (boarding around 5:45). By the time I make it back to the hostel to collect my luggage, that leaves me about 5 to 5 and a half hours to chill in the train station, which should get me at least a third of the way into the book, depending on my supply of caffeine. Suh-weet.
This is Why I'm Out Here
My adventure in Edinburgh has confirmed why I'm doing this trip. I've had 5 days here on my first solo adventure, my first hostel adventure (in 4 years at least), my first new city adventure, my first figure-things-out / make-new-friends / try-new-foods adventure. The first day or so was uneventful, but then I got up my courage to actually talk to people in my 14-girl dorm room. And -- surprise, surprise -- I found them all to be delightful! It's utterly fantastic to enter a city knowing not a single soul, only to be pubbing a day later with what feels like a contingent from the U.N. My nights have been filled with conversations, drinks and stories shared amongst Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Germans, Scots, Hong Kong(ers?), South Africans, Spaniards, Italians and the odd American here and there. This, my friends, is worth it.
7.18.2007
Literary Lushes
Went on a Literary Pub Crawl last night. We saw the places where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to create the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, where Robert Louis Stevenson visited the man who inspired the character of Long John Silver, and the cafe where JK Rowling spent hours composing the start of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The cafe is actually a Chinese cafe, and because of the Chinese culture's attitude toward witchcraft, they don't really make it known. There's a man who stands along the Royal Mile (the tourist drag of Edinburgh) a few blocks away, holding a sign with the name of the cafe/restaurant and an arrow pointing the way. If only he'd hold a sign saying "Birthplace of Harry Potter This Way," the cafe would easily double their clientele. Pictures TK when I don't have to pay for the time to upload them.
Went on a Literary Pub Crawl last night. We saw the places where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was inspired to create the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, where Robert Louis Stevenson visited the man who inspired the character of Long John Silver, and the cafe where JK Rowling spent hours composing the start of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The cafe is actually a Chinese cafe, and because of the Chinese culture's attitude toward witchcraft, they don't really make it known. There's a man who stands along the Royal Mile (the tourist drag of Edinburgh) a few blocks away, holding a sign with the name of the cafe/restaurant and an arrow pointing the way. If only he'd hold a sign saying "Birthplace of Harry Potter This Way," the cafe would easily double their clientele. Pictures TK when I don't have to pay for the time to upload them.
7.16.2007
7.11.2007
7.10.2007
Taking it Easy
I don't know if jet lag is still affecting me, of if I've just taken full advantage of the vacation mindset, but I've been sleeping in laaaaate the past few days. Usually I wake up on my own sometime around 8:30 a.m., but recently I've been sleeping in past 10:30 or 11 a.m. Hopefully I start waking up at a decent hour so I can spend the days exploring good ol' Londontown.
Last night I had a dream I had quit my job but hadn't left for my trip yet. But I kept waking up early and going in to work. It wasn't until I'd been working for at least an hour that I'd realize that I was no longer on payroll. But then I couldn't leave. I kept opening drawers and filing cabinets and seeing things I had forgotten to bring home with me. Important things, like boxes of Kleenex and a squishy worry ball thing in the shape of a silly face, things that I just couldn't do without, of course.
Yesterday I went to my old haunts on Hogarth Road near Earls Court. I rang the flat where I used to live and a nice Mizzou broadcast student let me poke my head in my old rooms. Things have really fallen apart since I lived there. The carpet's ripping up and the furniture is tearing and breaking. They do have Internet access on the one computer. I don't know if that's the best idea, honestly. The whole point of being in a foreign country is to get out and explore. I'm afraid that if we'd had Internet access in our flat, we would have spent a lot more time chatting with friends and family back home and a lot less time exploring the neighborhood. Not to mention that our impromptu Michael Jackson dance parties would have been fewer and farther in between since there would probably have been at least one of us glued to the computer screen at all times.
I don't know if jet lag is still affecting me, of if I've just taken full advantage of the vacation mindset, but I've been sleeping in laaaaate the past few days. Usually I wake up on my own sometime around 8:30 a.m., but recently I've been sleeping in past 10:30 or 11 a.m. Hopefully I start waking up at a decent hour so I can spend the days exploring good ol' Londontown.
Last night I had a dream I had quit my job but hadn't left for my trip yet. But I kept waking up early and going in to work. It wasn't until I'd been working for at least an hour that I'd realize that I was no longer on payroll. But then I couldn't leave. I kept opening drawers and filing cabinets and seeing things I had forgotten to bring home with me. Important things, like boxes of Kleenex and a squishy worry ball thing in the shape of a silly face, things that I just couldn't do without, of course.
Yesterday I went to my old haunts on Hogarth Road near Earls Court. I rang the flat where I used to live and a nice Mizzou broadcast student let me poke my head in my old rooms. Things have really fallen apart since I lived there. The carpet's ripping up and the furniture is tearing and breaking. They do have Internet access on the one computer. I don't know if that's the best idea, honestly. The whole point of being in a foreign country is to get out and explore. I'm afraid that if we'd had Internet access in our flat, we would have spent a lot more time chatting with friends and family back home and a lot less time exploring the neighborhood. Not to mention that our impromptu Michael Jackson dance parties would have been fewer and farther in between since there would probably have been at least one of us glued to the computer screen at all times.
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