As i walked back from dinner to the hotel people were all over the streets with paint cans, brushes and rollers painting words in various languages and drawing picures of flags and phalluses among other things in preperation for the international television cameras and riders who were less than 20 hours away! Day 1 went out with a bang- as I was laying in bed I heard some explosions which turned out to be an impressive fireworks display out my window. Alpe d'Huez had certainly lived up to the high expectations I had of it so far.
The following morning I walked out the front of the hotel to find all preparations for the tour pretty much complete. Over 5kms of barriers had been put up overnight and covered with advertisements and the entire road was covered with paint. But most impressively of all was the number of people riding up the mountain. There was a constant stream of cyclists young, old, fat, skinny, male, female, you name it and they were riding up the mountain.
Between 10(when i got up) and 12(when they closed the road to everyone still 5 hours before the tour was due) atleast 20,000 cyclists must have ridden past. Sounds like a big number but considering estimates were that well over half a million were on the mountain for the tour for the day it's actually a pretty small percentage. And they weren't all riding expensive lightweight road bikes, there were mountain bikes, tandem bikes and even one guy with snow skis with wheels who was skiing up the mountain!
I went for a walk 3km down the mountain just taking it all in, people sleeping on deckchairs, drinking beer, playing cards-basically anything to kill time whilst reserving a prime viewing spot. The 3km back up the mountain was a lot harder. Despite being 3 degrees at night, when the sun was out it was just over 30 and sunny, actually a perfect day for watching the tour. The temperature differences are hard to get used to though, especially when you see people swimming and sun-baking at the public pool - right next to the outdoor ice rink with people skating on it, all with an amazing snow capped mountain backdrop.
But after over 24 hours on the mountain already, a late lunch and a couple of beers it was time to seriously get ready for the tour. So i got my camera out, got my Australian flag out and headed from the tv room at the hotel where we were watching the stage down about 15 steps and waited right there on the side of the road for the tour cars to arrive. For those of you who don't know jack about cycling, about 30-60 minutes before the riders arrive a huge entourage of merchandise and sponsor vehicles drive past playing music, beeping, waving and chucking free stuff out basically to get the crowd excited and to promote the sponsors. The cheap stuff they chuck into the crowds however are highly sought after 'tour de France souvenirs' and consequently it gets pretty hectic in the crowd trying to snag something cool to take home. It's safe to say my new Friend from Texas Jake and I got a little to into it when we were practically wrestling kids for a free hat.
To be continued...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The tour part 1 - Alpe d'Huez
One of the most legendary mountains in Europe, filled with cyclists among other sports fanatics (hikers, mountain bikers and downhill bikers) in summer and skiers, snowboarders etc in winter. The road up to the village, which was the finishing point forthe tour de France stage is a couple hundred meters from the top still but there's no roads any higher, just ski fields. The bus trip up the 2Km high mountain was certainly interesting to say the least. 21 switchbacks, and over 11kms of spectators lining the roads to watch the tour, which wasn't even scheduled to arrive for over 30hours. But of course if you want a prime viewing location, be prepared to camp on the mountain for at least a few days. But these campers were prepared, I saw one group of young lads who had a keg to person ratio of at least 2:1.
The most impressive of the camps on the way up was the Dutch who as you may have noticed if you watched the stage on tv overrun turn turn 7. The day before the tour arrived they were all singing and dancing with music blaring from their highly elaborate temporary Dutch village. It was good to see the dutch so enthused about the tour despite having no riders with any chance of winning the tour. When we finally reached our primely positioned hotel I walked around the village a bit just soakin up the atmosphere and waiting for the next morning Which is what I'd been waiting for since early February when I booked the tour.
And that was just the first day on the tour!
The most impressive of the camps on the way up was the Dutch who as you may have noticed if you watched the stage on tv overrun turn turn 7. The day before the tour arrived they were all singing and dancing with music blaring from their highly elaborate temporary Dutch village. It was good to see the dutch so enthused about the tour despite having no riders with any chance of winning the tour. When we finally reached our primely positioned hotel I walked around the village a bit just soakin up the atmosphere and waiting for the next morning Which is what I'd been waiting for since early February when I booked the tour.
And that was just the first day on the tour!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
PHOTO TIME 5
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| Real original photo |
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| Milan - day |
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| Milan - Night |
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| Geneve |
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| Geneve |
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| Yee-haaa |
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| Meanwhile in $witzerland.... |
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| They love trains in Europe, so much |
$$witzerland
Switzerland - or as I think it should be more appropriately named '$witzerland' (more on this soon) is the most stereotypically correct country so far. Cheese and watches, thats what these people are about. We went down to the restaurant for breakfast in Brig and sure enough there was about 15 different kinds of cheese available, along with some crossaints, ham and cereals among other things. And, naturally, the cheese was amazing. Only in Switzerland would I consider cheese a breakfast food. Walking the streets of even the tiny town of Brig i noticed that the watch shop to normal shop ratio is absolutely ridiculous.
We headed off on the train around the north of the big lake in $witzerland (that I cant remember what its called) on what is meant to be one of the top 25 scenic train routes in Europe. Firstly ill say that the train from Austria to Venice last week was just as impressive scenery wise and secondly ill say that I dont really have any good photos from the train for two reasons; the train was going to fast, and I fell asleep. When we got to Geneve there were times when we would walk past 5 or so watch shops all next to each other with watches usually ranging from $500 to $10 000 displayed in the windows then there would be a clothes or a shoes shop before another 4 or 5 watch shops. It's really ridiculous to see how many watches are for sale in one street. What would a trip to $witzerland be without buying a watch though?? So naturally, Kelly Jamie and myself all bought a Swiss watch and spent a solid few hours looking at thousands of watches, most of which were well out of our price range, but then again, every thing in $witzerland is way out of line as far as prices go.
Before I left Dad warned me that Switzerland would be pretty expensive but I only planned on spending a day or 2 there so I wasnt too concerned on it affecting my budgeting. But still, I didnt expect it to be anywhere near as ridiculously expensive as it is. $3.80AUD for a McDonalds cheeseburger?? That's daylight robbery. In America they were 80c AUD! The first night we went out to an average Mexican restaurant for dinner, ordered 3 meals, 2 cokes and 1 water between us and spent just over $100AUD. So the second night we were more than happy to cook a microwave meal in our hotel room, just to even out the average dinner cost of $witzerland.
But nevertheless $witzerland and in particular Geneve is a beautiful place, even if it did rain on us most of the day and I had a pretty good day strolling the city. Tomorrow it's off to France with the other two then four solo days watching 3 stages of the Tour De France, which was actually one of the main reasons I went on this trip which is sadly well into its last 2 weeks. The other 2 are heading up to Belgium and we will meet again in Paris in the 24th, my birthday! :)
We headed off on the train around the north of the big lake in $witzerland (that I cant remember what its called) on what is meant to be one of the top 25 scenic train routes in Europe. Firstly ill say that the train from Austria to Venice last week was just as impressive scenery wise and secondly ill say that I dont really have any good photos from the train for two reasons; the train was going to fast, and I fell asleep. When we got to Geneve there were times when we would walk past 5 or so watch shops all next to each other with watches usually ranging from $500 to $10 000 displayed in the windows then there would be a clothes or a shoes shop before another 4 or 5 watch shops. It's really ridiculous to see how many watches are for sale in one street. What would a trip to $witzerland be without buying a watch though?? So naturally, Kelly Jamie and myself all bought a Swiss watch and spent a solid few hours looking at thousands of watches, most of which were well out of our price range, but then again, every thing in $witzerland is way out of line as far as prices go.
Before I left Dad warned me that Switzerland would be pretty expensive but I only planned on spending a day or 2 there so I wasnt too concerned on it affecting my budgeting. But still, I didnt expect it to be anywhere near as ridiculously expensive as it is. $3.80AUD for a McDonalds cheeseburger?? That's daylight robbery. In America they were 80c AUD! The first night we went out to an average Mexican restaurant for dinner, ordered 3 meals, 2 cokes and 1 water between us and spent just over $100AUD. So the second night we were more than happy to cook a microwave meal in our hotel room, just to even out the average dinner cost of $witzerland.
But nevertheless $witzerland and in particular Geneve is a beautiful place, even if it did rain on us most of the day and I had a pretty good day strolling the city. Tomorrow it's off to France with the other two then four solo days watching 3 stages of the Tour De France, which was actually one of the main reasons I went on this trip which is sadly well into its last 2 weeks. The other 2 are heading up to Belgium and we will meet again in Paris in the 24th, my birthday! :)
Monday, July 18, 2011
PHOTO TIME 4
Okay well I've found a computer so im posting what I've had ready on my USB to post for about a week now and hopefully I'll post a whole heap more photos in the next day or so. Also good news is if i leave the pictures small you can still see them and if you want to view them full screen like you probably have been then just click on them. ~I only just worked this out haha. Enjoy!
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| Vodka Museum in Amsterdam |
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| Bought one each of these for the whole family... |
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| They like bikes in Amsterdam |
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| Germany! |
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| Roman fountain which you can't see yet |
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| Bad panorama from the top of the Sistine Chapel |
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| :) |
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| Vatty square |
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| Holy light |
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| Roman Ruins |
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| Military museum among other things |
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| More ruins |
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| True |
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| Just before my epic gladiatorial battle |
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| wowzers |
Pisa-Milan-Geneve?
Pisa is a pretty small town actually and if it wasn't for the leaning tower It would certainly not be world renown. Luckily for us it was pretty much on the way anyway so we didnt really have anything to lose by spending the night there on our way up to Milan. To be honest the most interesting thing in Pisa that we saw besides the leaning tower was a dog poo that was stuck to a wall in the main street about 15cm off the ground. I have absolutely no idea how to explain that.
So we headed off early to to Milan and stopped in at Florence on the way and I showed the other two around quickly. Our few hours in Florence was he highlight of the trip for kelly so far because she managed to find the pizzeria that the Jersey shore cast worked in for the upcoming season to be aired and we had lunch there.
All that's really in Milan from what we saw of it is a lot of shops. There was only one cathedral worth seeing (got some real good photos) and it's right in the middle of the largest shopping plaza I've ever seen. Probably one of the highlight of Milan for me was a stupid street salesman (they're everywhere in big Italian cities, especially Milan) who was trying to sell a bubble gun to a lady:
Salesman: "2 Euro?"
Lady: "no"
Salesman: "1 Euro!?"
Lady: "NO."
Salesman: ".....3 Euros?"
As the title would indicate we were the. Meant to go from Milan to Geneve in Switzerland. After lining up for half an hour to find find out why the train seat reservation machine was letting me reserve seats to Geneve the lady told me the 12:30 train was cancelled and the 5:30 train is full. So she wrote Down a list of trains to catch successively that would eventually get me to Geneve, hopefully.
By the time we waited for connecting trains we only got as far as a little town called 'Brig-Glis' so we walked to the nearest hotel and got a room for the night. Pretty much from the moment we boarded the train in Milan the temperature began to fall and by the time we arrived in the alpine town the jumpers and jeans had returned from their long hiatus in Italy. There's snow capped mountains, white water rapids and mountains that disappear into the clouds surrounding this little place so naturally there's some amazing photos. Speaking of which I honestly haven't found a computer with a USB port in over a week! I even went to an Internet cafe and paid then found out the computers had no USB ports :(
So we headed off early to to Milan and stopped in at Florence on the way and I showed the other two around quickly. Our few hours in Florence was he highlight of the trip for kelly so far because she managed to find the pizzeria that the Jersey shore cast worked in for the upcoming season to be aired and we had lunch there.
All that's really in Milan from what we saw of it is a lot of shops. There was only one cathedral worth seeing (got some real good photos) and it's right in the middle of the largest shopping plaza I've ever seen. Probably one of the highlight of Milan for me was a stupid street salesman (they're everywhere in big Italian cities, especially Milan) who was trying to sell a bubble gun to a lady:
Salesman: "2 Euro?"
Lady: "no"
Salesman: "1 Euro!?"
Lady: "NO."
Salesman: ".....3 Euros?"
As the title would indicate we were the. Meant to go from Milan to Geneve in Switzerland. After lining up for half an hour to find find out why the train seat reservation machine was letting me reserve seats to Geneve the lady told me the 12:30 train was cancelled and the 5:30 train is full. So she wrote Down a list of trains to catch successively that would eventually get me to Geneve, hopefully.
By the time we waited for connecting trains we only got as far as a little town called 'Brig-Glis' so we walked to the nearest hotel and got a room for the night. Pretty much from the moment we boarded the train in Milan the temperature began to fall and by the time we arrived in the alpine town the jumpers and jeans had returned from their long hiatus in Italy. There's snow capped mountains, white water rapids and mountains that disappear into the clouds surrounding this little place so naturally there's some amazing photos. Speaking of which I honestly haven't found a computer with a USB port in over a week! I even went to an Internet cafe and paid then found out the computers had no USB ports :(
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Roman around again
For those of you paying close attention youll notice i posted the last post and this one at the same time, because i wrote the other one the other day but didnt have the internet to post it so insuggest reading the last post before reading any more of this one ;) also the photos since England are almost ready to post, just need a little longer!
Day 2 in Rome didnt disappoint either, although we got to the colosseum at 8:30 we still had to line up for a halfa but It was well worth the wait. It reached atleast 39 again and the lady running the b&b I was staying in told me that the middle 2 weeks of July are usually the hottest of the year. I don't doubt it at all.
The colosseum and Vatican city aren't the only good things in Rome, the whole city is full of beautiful structures and historic sights, most of which I can't name but I have photos of. After the colesseum we took A scenic route back to the train station and i headed home for an afternoon snack, a cold shower and a few hours rest while we waited for the temperature to cool down before we headed out for tea. We made our way to the restaurant area on the outskirts of the city centre and strolled around while waiters tried to hustle us to eat at their restaurant. Then we had what kelly declared and I agree was the best gelato/ice cream I've ever eaten.
Rome is the most beautiful city in what I've decided is my favorite country and despite slow cooking myself walking around it, I had a super good time in Rome. And would recommend anyone goof there stay at least 4 full days. Personally I don't think we stayed long enough, so I guess I'll have to go back someday!
P.S.
1. I apologize for the spelling and grammar mistakes that I am aware are very common on this blog. I usually type them on my phone and the touch screen tiny keyboard combined with the iPhones stupid auto-correct make it pretty hard to write properly. If I'm bored enough one day I might go back through and fix it :)
2. Kelly has been hassling me about something I forgot to put in my blog from way back in Amsterdam. When we landed we needed a taxi to our hotel so we got In a taxi and he took off down the freeway, at just over 160km's per hour. He didnt have a seatbelt on, was taking on the phone, was overtaking without indicating and was telling out about how you can smoke hash in hospitals, police stations and whereever you want. "F**k the police!" as he told us. It was one of the funniest and scariest moments of the trip!
Day 2 in Rome didnt disappoint either, although we got to the colosseum at 8:30 we still had to line up for a halfa but It was well worth the wait. It reached atleast 39 again and the lady running the b&b I was staying in told me that the middle 2 weeks of July are usually the hottest of the year. I don't doubt it at all.
The colosseum and Vatican city aren't the only good things in Rome, the whole city is full of beautiful structures and historic sights, most of which I can't name but I have photos of. After the colesseum we took A scenic route back to the train station and i headed home for an afternoon snack, a cold shower and a few hours rest while we waited for the temperature to cool down before we headed out for tea. We made our way to the restaurant area on the outskirts of the city centre and strolled around while waiters tried to hustle us to eat at their restaurant. Then we had what kelly declared and I agree was the best gelato/ice cream I've ever eaten.
Rome is the most beautiful city in what I've decided is my favorite country and despite slow cooking myself walking around it, I had a super good time in Rome. And would recommend anyone goof there stay at least 4 full days. Personally I don't think we stayed long enough, so I guess I'll have to go back someday!
P.S.
1. I apologize for the spelling and grammar mistakes that I am aware are very common on this blog. I usually type them on my phone and the touch screen tiny keyboard combined with the iPhones stupid auto-correct make it pretty hard to write properly. If I'm bored enough one day I might go back through and fix it :)
2. Kelly has been hassling me about something I forgot to put in my blog from way back in Amsterdam. When we landed we needed a taxi to our hotel so we got In a taxi and he took off down the freeway, at just over 160km's per hour. He didnt have a seatbelt on, was taking on the phone, was overtaking without indicating and was telling out about how you can smoke hash in hospitals, police stations and whereever you want. "F**k the police!" as he told us. It was one of the funniest and scariest moments of the trip!
When in Rome....
We left Venice early Monday morning, arrived in Rome at lunch time and spent the afternoon washing clothes and shopping up on food and drinks for our whole 3 days in Rome. Yesterday morning we got up early and made our way a couple hundred meters from our B&B to Vatican city to climb the sistine chapel as early as possible to avoid the ridiculous line ups that begin to form as early as 9am. We walked straight in and began climbing just after 8:30 and by the time we left at 10:30 the lineup was atleast 2 hours long and about 35degrees. Suckers. Vatican city was pretty amazing and I would have to say that the Sistine chapel is the best chapel I've ever seen. I took a lot or photos including some panoramas from the top so when I find a computer I'll put some up of course. We then spent the next 8 hours walking almost non stop around Rome and I was not disappointed at all. The mercury soared to 41 but it must have been atleast 50 in the sun so by 3pm I had drank 2 cans of coke a powerade 2 bottles of water and a peach juice. I think I took more photos yesterday than any other single day of the trip so far so expect to see them soon.
As for today, were sticking with our plan of avoiding the big lineup by heading to the colosseum half an hour before it opens so we can head in straight up. Then the rest of the day is for exploring the other half of Rome we didn't cover yesterday and Thursday were heading to Pisa for a night then to Milan for a night or 2 then up to Switzerland for some more fun times!
As for today, were sticking with our plan of avoiding the big lineup by heading to the colosseum half an hour before it opens so we can head in straight up. Then the rest of the day is for exploring the other half of Rome we didn't cover yesterday and Thursday were heading to Pisa for a night then to Milan for a night or 2 then up to Switzerland for some more fun times!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Trains!
Goodmorning everyone, my name is Hamish and this is another story about my trip overseas. Been VERY busy the last few days. Busy As in training it from the Netherlands down to Italy in 3 days. 4 countries, 3 days. That might sound pretty boring and I'm sure for the locals on the train it was, but for me looking out the window of a train especially at the Alps between Austria and Italy was better than any city sightseeing tour.
We walked around Frankfurt when we were in Germany and I'm not sure weather I'm beginning to take foreign cities for granted or weather Frankfurt really just isn't that special. I didn't have an unpleasant time there but nothing really seemed interesting about the city.
As we headed south to Austria the mountains began to take shape and things started getting interesting. To be honest I never really liked the thought of Austria, I always thought the country was trying to rip off my countries name. But Austria changed my opinion of it in the 24 hours I was there. The two best things about Austria from what i saw were 1. The scenery and 2. McDonalds.
I've eaten mcdonalds in probably 10 countries and it's a pretty similar experience everywhere in the world, that's why people like it, they know what they are going to get when they go there. The only exception ive found was in Germany where the communist maccas didnt have free internet, and i really needed it. But the mcdonalds in Salzburg is my favorite in the world, easily. Curly fries, crumbed prawns, magnum flavoured mcflurrys, free drink refills, including ice tea.....Nestle ice tea on tap, free refills. They're just a few of the endless joys of mcdonalds in Austria.
Then down to Italy. It took no time at all to get across Germany many thanks to the highspeed trains that boost along at 300k's an hour. And before we knew it we were on a train bound for Venice. Salzburg to Venice was a train trip I can highly recommend. Waterfalls, mountains , castles, castles on mountains, tunnels, bridges, villages, everything. Everything looked amazing as we travelled between and through the mountains and I'm very glad I took Elisa's advice and went to Austria. I would definitely go back.
As you may remember after I went to Venice 3 weeks ago for the first time i said you could easily spend a few days there and not see it all still. I spent another full day there and still didnt see it all. But I did get a price on a gondola ride which I thought was pretty funny. $130AUD. Maybe one day.
And now I sit on the train next to an italian lady who just offered me one of her apricot tarts. "No Grazie." Approaching Bologna station which is a little sad but nothing 3 nights in Rome won't fix.
We walked around Frankfurt when we were in Germany and I'm not sure weather I'm beginning to take foreign cities for granted or weather Frankfurt really just isn't that special. I didn't have an unpleasant time there but nothing really seemed interesting about the city.
As we headed south to Austria the mountains began to take shape and things started getting interesting. To be honest I never really liked the thought of Austria, I always thought the country was trying to rip off my countries name. But Austria changed my opinion of it in the 24 hours I was there. The two best things about Austria from what i saw were 1. The scenery and 2. McDonalds.
I've eaten mcdonalds in probably 10 countries and it's a pretty similar experience everywhere in the world, that's why people like it, they know what they are going to get when they go there. The only exception ive found was in Germany where the communist maccas didnt have free internet, and i really needed it. But the mcdonalds in Salzburg is my favorite in the world, easily. Curly fries, crumbed prawns, magnum flavoured mcflurrys, free drink refills, including ice tea.....Nestle ice tea on tap, free refills. They're just a few of the endless joys of mcdonalds in Austria.
Then down to Italy. It took no time at all to get across Germany many thanks to the highspeed trains that boost along at 300k's an hour. And before we knew it we were on a train bound for Venice. Salzburg to Venice was a train trip I can highly recommend. Waterfalls, mountains , castles, castles on mountains, tunnels, bridges, villages, everything. Everything looked amazing as we travelled between and through the mountains and I'm very glad I took Elisa's advice and went to Austria. I would definitely go back.
As you may remember after I went to Venice 3 weeks ago for the first time i said you could easily spend a few days there and not see it all still. I spent another full day there and still didnt see it all. But I did get a price on a gondola ride which I thought was pretty funny. $130AUD. Maybe one day.
And now I sit on the train next to an italian lady who just offered me one of her apricot tarts. "No Grazie." Approaching Bologna station which is a little sad but nothing 3 nights in Rome won't fix.
Friday, July 8, 2011
NEIN!
Well here I sit on the train on the way to Frankfurt, Germany. It's hard to believe that half of my trip is already behind me, but the pace hasn't slowed and I anything the second half is going to be even more hectic than the first. I finished my time i london off by going to madame tussuads wax museum and going to some of the set locations of Harry Potter. Then we set sail for amsterdam where we spent the last 2 nights. And today we bought eurail passes which means that for the next 15 days we can travel via train whenever and to wherever in Europe. It certainly wasn't cheap at about $500 AUD but it's the best way I think, flights might have been cheaper but you waste time waiting in terminals and it costs Alot to travel from the airports which are typically out of the town centre to the town centre, Which is where you want to go. So between the savings on time At the airports and the time spent looking for cheap flights at ridiculous hours and the money wasted travelling to and from airports it ended up being beneficial to fork out the cash for a eurail pass and now we don't have to stress about transport, which leaves more time for fun activities. Speaking of fun activities.....
Amsterdam. Wow. Didn't think I was gonna forget to fill you all in on the Netherlands capital city did you? Of course not. The motto in Amsterdam is "if you cant have fun here, give up trying". Seriously, I saw it on stickers and t-shirts. We only really had one full day and there's so much I wanted to do I didnt know where to begin. Eventually we decided that a canal boat ride was a good way to see a lot of the city easily so we set off for an hour and saw some cool stuff including Anne frank house. We spent the rest of the day walking around looking at what Amsterdam has to offer, including the numerous 'coffeeshops' that are licensed to sell hash and the red light district, which really is a huge tourist attraction and not nearly as dangerous and seedy as most people think. Firstly it's in a residential district so there's elderly and children walking pass the red windows with scantily clad females in them and often they are next door to shops and bars so people gather in the area for much more that just the girls. We were briefly educated on the history of vodka in a small vodka museum which is just one of the many small museums in the city. (kelly bought 5 bottles of flavored vodka there, not even joking).
There's also a lot of history and nice buildings in Amsterdam but I'm assuming most tourists dont go to Amsterdam to study the architecture and history of the place. Despite amsterdam having the most relaxed laws of pretty much anywhere in the world (you can smoke weed in the police station if you want) I still managed to get myself in trouble. I got in trouble for taking photos. 'You sicko Hamish!' is probably what you're thinking right? Well unfortunately it wasn't taking photos of the girls that I got in trouble for sadly (apparently the security are known for physically reminding tourists that taking photos are strictly prohibited) but I managed to get in trouble for taking a photo of the menu in mcdonalds. Firstly I dont know why you can't take photos of the menu in Maccas but even more puzzling is the stickers plastered all over the walls saying ' no photos' that i didnt see. Do they really have such a big problem with people taking photos of their menu?
So pretty much at this stage all we have in the way of planning between now and July 20 ( when i go on the tour de France tour) is a eurail pass and a list of places we want to go. Nothing in concrete, nothing planned, nothing to worry about. But for those itinerary hecklers out there (mum, dad etc,) we want to spend a night of two in Germany, go to Austria for a day or 2, then down to Venice again so the other two can see it, probably for a night, then down to Rome where we want to spend atleast 2 full days and nigts before heading up North again to Milan for a night and the. To Switzerland for 1-3 days depending on how long we spent at cities along the way. Then I'll leave the other 2 and head just across the French/Swiss border to Lyon and meet them again 5 days later in Paris.
Amsterdam. Wow. Didn't think I was gonna forget to fill you all in on the Netherlands capital city did you? Of course not. The motto in Amsterdam is "if you cant have fun here, give up trying". Seriously, I saw it on stickers and t-shirts. We only really had one full day and there's so much I wanted to do I didnt know where to begin. Eventually we decided that a canal boat ride was a good way to see a lot of the city easily so we set off for an hour and saw some cool stuff including Anne frank house. We spent the rest of the day walking around looking at what Amsterdam has to offer, including the numerous 'coffeeshops' that are licensed to sell hash and the red light district, which really is a huge tourist attraction and not nearly as dangerous and seedy as most people think. Firstly it's in a residential district so there's elderly and children walking pass the red windows with scantily clad females in them and often they are next door to shops and bars so people gather in the area for much more that just the girls. We were briefly educated on the history of vodka in a small vodka museum which is just one of the many small museums in the city. (kelly bought 5 bottles of flavored vodka there, not even joking).
There's also a lot of history and nice buildings in Amsterdam but I'm assuming most tourists dont go to Amsterdam to study the architecture and history of the place. Despite amsterdam having the most relaxed laws of pretty much anywhere in the world (you can smoke weed in the police station if you want) I still managed to get myself in trouble. I got in trouble for taking photos. 'You sicko Hamish!' is probably what you're thinking right? Well unfortunately it wasn't taking photos of the girls that I got in trouble for sadly (apparently the security are known for physically reminding tourists that taking photos are strictly prohibited) but I managed to get in trouble for taking a photo of the menu in mcdonalds. Firstly I dont know why you can't take photos of the menu in Maccas but even more puzzling is the stickers plastered all over the walls saying ' no photos' that i didnt see. Do they really have such a big problem with people taking photos of their menu?
So pretty much at this stage all we have in the way of planning between now and July 20 ( when i go on the tour de France tour) is a eurail pass and a list of places we want to go. Nothing in concrete, nothing planned, nothing to worry about. But for those itinerary hecklers out there (mum, dad etc,) we want to spend a night of two in Germany, go to Austria for a day or 2, then down to Venice again so the other two can see it, probably for a night, then down to Rome where we want to spend atleast 2 full days and nigts before heading up North again to Milan for a night and the. To Switzerland for 1-3 days depending on how long we spent at cities along the way. Then I'll leave the other 2 and head just across the French/Swiss border to Lyon and meet them again 5 days later in Paris.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Harrods
Harrods. I'll be honest, I didnt know exactly what harrods was when I first saw it on all the tourist maps. I then learned that I was a place where you can shop, so when I finally saw the giant building thant was harrods I assumed it was an entire shopping centre. Wrong. It's just one shop. First we were denied entry because we had Starbucks drinks. "no drinks inside"
So we finished them then attempted to enter again. "backpack off" no wearing of backpacks inside either. By this time I was wondering what you CAN do at harrods. It didn't take long to work out that one thing you can do at harrods is spend money. A Lot of money. $270,000 AUD on a Rolex. $66,000 AUD on a pen. $300 AUD on havianas with gems on them. That kind of money.
I wanted to buy something from Harrods, but I still wanted to eat for the rest of my trip so I started looking at pretty basic things like wallets and belts. One thing I learned at Harrods was that if Kanye West had ever rapped about a brand, you could find it at there, so when I saw the most basic plain black wallet at the Versaci area I thought I'd maybe found a viable purchase. $300. No bingo. I didnt even like the wallet, I just wanted to buy something.
Between the three of us, all we left harrods with was about 100grams of designer popcorn at a cost of about $4. But Harrods wasn't a total disappointment and besides taking photos of the ridiculously expensive stuff there (photos will be up soon), one of the highlights was using the bathroom. I walked in and found myself face to face with a smiling man wearing a suit who gave me a nod of approval as I walked to the urinal. Then when I went to the sink to wash my hands he reached over and turned the tap on for me, as if having a sensor operated tap wasnt convenient enough and then squirted the soap onto my hands and while I washed them he prepared the soft hand towel and handed it to me. What a nice guy.
So basically if you're ever in London, even in you're not filthy rich and even if you don't like shopping, at least pay a visit to Harrods, even if it's for nothing other than to use the bathroom.
So we finished them then attempted to enter again. "backpack off" no wearing of backpacks inside either. By this time I was wondering what you CAN do at harrods. It didn't take long to work out that one thing you can do at harrods is spend money. A Lot of money. $270,000 AUD on a Rolex. $66,000 AUD on a pen. $300 AUD on havianas with gems on them. That kind of money.
I wanted to buy something from Harrods, but I still wanted to eat for the rest of my trip so I started looking at pretty basic things like wallets and belts. One thing I learned at Harrods was that if Kanye West had ever rapped about a brand, you could find it at there, so when I saw the most basic plain black wallet at the Versaci area I thought I'd maybe found a viable purchase. $300. No bingo. I didnt even like the wallet, I just wanted to buy something.
Between the three of us, all we left harrods with was about 100grams of designer popcorn at a cost of about $4. But Harrods wasn't a total disappointment and besides taking photos of the ridiculously expensive stuff there (photos will be up soon), one of the highlights was using the bathroom. I walked in and found myself face to face with a smiling man wearing a suit who gave me a nod of approval as I walked to the urinal. Then when I went to the sink to wash my hands he reached over and turned the tap on for me, as if having a sensor operated tap wasnt convenient enough and then squirted the soap onto my hands and while I washed them he prepared the soft hand towel and handed it to me. What a nice guy.
So basically if you're ever in London, even in you're not filthy rich and even if you don't like shopping, at least pay a visit to Harrods, even if it's for nothing other than to use the bathroom.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
PHOTO TIME 3
Photo time again!
Still have a lot on my phone I want to upload but forgot my cord so hopefully they will be up in the next few days! Remember to click on the photos to view them properly! :)
Still have a lot on my phone I want to upload but forgot my cord so hopefully they will be up in the next few days! Remember to click on the photos to view them properly! :)
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| Lake Wyndemere, England |
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| Kilkenny, Ireland |
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| Kilkenny castle |
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| Jamie, Kelly and Grace |
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| Mum? |
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| $45,000 AUD? |
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| Tall ships festival, Waterford, Ireland |
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| Bulmers! |
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| "A stupid pile of rocks" - Kelly McLoughlin |
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| Drugs :( |
Saturday, July 2, 2011
The good and the bad
Yesterday I had the opportunity to do something that I've been waiting a long time to do; drink a glass of Kilkenny beer in Kilkenny. Although it was only 12pm and I didn't feel like a beer, I took one for the team and downed it. We didn't have much of a chance to look around kilkenny apart from that but the lack of excitement in kilkenny was forgotten as soon as we arrived in Waterford. Our arrival in Waterford coincided with the biggest street party that happens in the city every 5 years. Huge sailing ships from all over Europe meet in Waterford and sail around Europe to promote sailing or something like that and I can honestly say I've never seen soo many people on the streets in my life. It was a summer Thursday night and the sun doesn't set until almost 10pm. Much like in Bologna the streets are crowded with people of all ages who were waiting for the darkness to arrive so that Waterford could put on one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen. I have some photos of the amount of people but they don't show the atmosphere of thousands of Irish drinking beer and listening to live bands on a warm summers night down by the river in festival season.
Yesterday wasn't such a good day as I woke up sick :(
Sure enough sitting on a bus for hours a day with 50 other people means that when one gets sick, purrs are soon to follow and about a third of the bus has the flu. Apart from that just nothing went my way yesterday, right up until bedtime when all I wanted was a good night sleep but my bed was the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever laid eyes on so much so that I ended up sleeping on the floor feeling sick. Not a high point of the trip. The only saving grace for the hotel last night was that it played host to a Welsh 'formal/prom' which the lobby proved to be an excellent viewing point for. It was the most amazing collection of females I'd ever seen and I'm certain that I went to the wrong school.
Today I'm still feeling like shite (as the English would say) but stocked up on meds yesterday to keep me going and were just going to Bath today to see the Roman baths and then a stop at Stonehenge. Then we arrive in London and haven't booked accommodation yet and then it's off to Amsterdam probably Tuesday (flights $65aud - cheaper than a taxi from the city to home in Adelaide).
Yesterday wasn't such a good day as I woke up sick :(
Sure enough sitting on a bus for hours a day with 50 other people means that when one gets sick, purrs are soon to follow and about a third of the bus has the flu. Apart from that just nothing went my way yesterday, right up until bedtime when all I wanted was a good night sleep but my bed was the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever laid eyes on so much so that I ended up sleeping on the floor feeling sick. Not a high point of the trip. The only saving grace for the hotel last night was that it played host to a Welsh 'formal/prom' which the lobby proved to be an excellent viewing point for. It was the most amazing collection of females I'd ever seen and I'm certain that I went to the wrong school.
Today I'm still feeling like shite (as the English would say) but stocked up on meds yesterday to keep me going and were just going to Bath today to see the Roman baths and then a stop at Stonehenge. Then we arrive in London and haven't booked accommodation yet and then it's off to Amsterdam probably Tuesday (flights $65aud - cheaper than a taxi from the city to home in Adelaide).
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