Melbourne, 10.33am
Back in the day, I was in London - final destination! By the time I was leaving Helsinki I was in major pep talk mode whenever I had to deal with my suitcase. "This is it, you're off to your final destination, you just have to get to the airport and then you'll be in London and that's it, nowhere else." Except of course I changed accomodation in London three times, so until I very happily arrived at Jess and Marcus', everytime was not the last time and secretly, I think my suitcase knew it.
While in London, having a fabulous time, I stayed in Kentish Town with Sharon, Rickmansworth with Melinda and Ian and Notting Hill with Jess and Marcus. I really did the right thing by leaving London till last and hanging out with friends at the end of my trip, not doing the hostel chat thing, which I was pretty over. I also got to catch up with Carl, who I met on my Contiki tour, for a few beers in Leceister Square on my last evening. (The Jonas Brothers were also there, I restrained myself from throwing beer at them and using big words to confuse and insult them.)
One of the most exciting events of my trip was meeting Antonia of Whoopee fame, who I adore. I think she's one of my favourite writers and one of the funniest people on the planet, but I was very proud of myself for not hyperventilating or gushing when I met her. I think the stupidest thing I did was get half my lunch stuck in my teeth, which I didn't realize until I got home to Melbourne and saw the photo of the two of us outside Buckingham Palace enlarged on my computer screen. I'm so cool.
Another great part about London was the discovery that I had bucketloads of cash left and could essentially spend as much as I wanted on EVERYTHING while I was there. So I did. I shopped HARD right before I left, threw out half the clothes, shoes and a handbag that I'd taken with me. I also discovered the love of my life (for this month), a black Kenneth Cole handbag. I refuse to put it on the floor anywhere and you must have spotlessly clean hands to touch it. We will be besties for the next ten years, to justify the cost, but it's totally worth it! I don't think London would be fun, as a tourist or a resident, without plenty of money though. Everyone there was incredibly stressed about money and nobody was making enough and they were either unemployed or worried about being made redundant.
I didn't go as hard in London at all the touristy hotspots as I did in lots of other cities, I had nine days and I wanted to have fun and not try and tick everything off in my guide book. Despite that, I still managed to see and do plenty. I did the London Eye, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tower of London, Camden Market, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Madame Tussaud's, Westminster Abbey, the Tate Modern, outside St Paul's, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, plus lots of parks and gardens like St James' Park, Green Park, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I spent a very long and happy Saturday at Portobello Market with Melinda and Sharon, followed by a lazy Sunday afternoon in beautiful Windsor with Ian and Melinda. Jess and I went and saw "The Lion King", which was wonderful. I ate lunches and dinners at more pubs than I can remember, I had scones with jam and cream at the Crooked House of Windsor and Toad in the Hole at the Coy Carp. I ate banoffee pie at Trafalgar Square and breakfast at Pret almost every morning. I finally had pad thai (four months sans Thai take away was killing me) at an Irish pub in Kensington and a gorgeous Chelsea Bun from Covent Garden. I hunted down and visited a Nigella Lawson recommended baking supplies shop to buy two cookie cutters.
Basically, I had a ball!
And then, sadly, it was time to come home. I have to admit, I was kind of ready to leave Europe. Although I also believe that's a mental thing. I knew I was going for four months, so that's what I was mentally prepared for, if it had been two weeks or two years it would've been fine with me! Despite thinking that I was running out of "wow's", right up until the end, I was impressed and delighted and excited by everything. The only regret I have is that I didn't leave the time and money to go back to my favourite place, Barcelona, for another couple of days. Not to worry, I'll be going straight there next time, not passing go or collecting $200!
My flights home were fine, the timing everywhere was all wrong for my body clock, but my favourite part was my ghetto upgrade (as it's known in the travel business) on my final flight from Hong Kong to Melbourne, when I got four seats in the centre of the plane all to myself. I wolfed down the meal as soon as they brought it, whacked on the eye mask and conked out for several hours. That doesn't mean I wasn't totally antsy to get out by the time we arrived in Melbourne, but at least I wasn't exhausted and deranged as well as over it and smelly. After an hour of queueing for EVERYTHING at Melbourne Airport, I was out, ginned up, my luggage was taken by the family and two hours later I was finally in my own bed and happily passed out. Four months of random beds certainly gave me a new appreciation for my own bed!
Now, two weeks later, it's all completely normal and it feels like I didn't go anywhere. Or if I did, then it was only for two weeks, not four months. I just have to keep looking at my photos (half of which are still on their way from Prague with the child porn and home made bomb) and emailing my new travel friends so it doesn't feel quite so much like a dream. I plan to post one more blog, which will be all my top fives or tens of my favourites and least favourites. Just in case anyone wants to know where the best laundry was. Because let's face it, that's important! So I will return shortly with the Grand Finale of my Continental adventure!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I Am Fine
Melbourne, 11.21am
Writing about what happened at the end of my trip I think will be good for me, because after a week back at work it kind of feels like I never left. Plus the story you get in this blog is a GOOD one, so enjoy!
In my last blog I mentioned that I left Helsinki, just, and arrived in London, just, and let's be honest, what's a travel adventure without trouble crossing a border?
In Europe, most of the countries are part of an agreement called the Schengen Agreement, which means you can travel through those countries without having to show your passport everytime you cross a border. For Aussies, you're allowed to travel there for 90 days without a visa. There was some kind of communication error between my travel agent and I and I thought I was fine for the length of time I would be in the Schengen countries, 112 days. Finnish Border Security had other ideas.
I'm standing at the Border Security office while the man there is looking very confused as to why I'm blatantly standing in front of him going 'Yes, I know I've been here 112 days. I was told it was fine.' He then said I'd have to follow his colleague. I think it was at this point that my stomach plummeted to my knees and the phrase 'Don't freak out Nicola' ran through my head. That phrase stayed on repeat for the next, oh hour, that I was sitting in the security office.
That's correct! I got to sit on a wooden bench in the Finnish Border Security Office with the other terrorists trying to get into Finland, while the security guys sat in a little glass booth, WITH MY PASSPORT, tapping away on a computer and discussing me at great length. Occasionally one would pop back in and ask me something ('What is your occupation? What is your income? Do you have any under age children?'), while I sat there flicking my nails and not getting into hysterics.
I figured the worst that could happen would be that they would send me straight back to Australia, or fine me 1000 or 2000 euros. I was fairly certain it wasn't a jailable offense, but only time would tell. As for the other terrorists, apart from one bloke who was escorted off the premises by the cops (trying to make a run for it on a stolen passport after killing his sister in law's uncle for cheating him in a reindeer deal, perhaps?), I think I was actually the one in the most trouble. So that was a first for me!
After an hour, two security guys came out and stated 'You have been in the Schengen countries for 112 days, 22 days longer than you're allowed. So we are fining you 300 euros. You will have one month to pay. Please sign here.' I was so delighted that I wasn't going back to Melbourne early and that I wasn't being fined for my life's savings which I'd just spent on four months on the Continent, that I signed with great relief and then proceeded to thank them as they showed me the door out. Sometimes I think a little less good manners and a little coldness is called for, but apparently my parents did too good a job on me.
Adding to the general movie-like nature of it all were the security guys' accents which sounded a bit Russian, so I was almost hoping they'd start telling me about their evil plan to take over the world by blowing up the oil line from Finland to New York. Honestly, I was quite glad that (hopefully) my one and only problem at a border was with the very polite Finns and not somewhere like Thailand.
After that little ordeal I sat very quietly on the plane to London, trying to unwind and regain my excitement about getting to London, finally! Until I got there and encountered English passport control. Apparently everyone had it in for me that day.
When I arrived, I got to passport control before I got my suitcase, meaning I didn't have my return ticket home in my hand luggage, a thought which never occurred to me. I had my passport, I knew that I had only holiday intentions in England. That wasn't enough however, and I was subjected to an on-the-spot interrogation. Stupidly, I'd put my occupation on the arrival card as waitress (not enough room to write cafe manager or better yet, Chief of Operations for the Eastern Branch of the Gusto Group). So as far as my passport man was concerned, I was another Aussie waitress with not much money arriving in London. I had to convince him that I had bucketloads of money for my nine days in England, a job in Australia to return to, and that I wasn't going to marry, procreate and sponge off the system with my friend Carl who I said I was staying with (I wasn't). After a lot of sighing, hmmming and long pauses and disbelieving eyebrows, he eventually stamped my passport and made sure I knew to carry my return tickets next time.
I belted out of there, got my suitcase, stopped and tried to regroup. Good grief! What is it with the Finns and the Poms? Why don't they like me? I'm delightful and inoffensive and my only intention is to spend my hard-earned Aussie dollars in their silly countries. Pfft.
By the time I made it to a seat outside the Kentish Town tube station in central London, I was seriously in need of a stiff drink, but I settled for some wine and a take away curry and a venting session with Sharon instead.
It's a good thing I had such a wonderful time in London to block out that very tiring day! I will save my nine days in London for later this week - that story includes Toad in the Hole!
Writing about what happened at the end of my trip I think will be good for me, because after a week back at work it kind of feels like I never left. Plus the story you get in this blog is a GOOD one, so enjoy!
In my last blog I mentioned that I left Helsinki, just, and arrived in London, just, and let's be honest, what's a travel adventure without trouble crossing a border?
In Europe, most of the countries are part of an agreement called the Schengen Agreement, which means you can travel through those countries without having to show your passport everytime you cross a border. For Aussies, you're allowed to travel there for 90 days without a visa. There was some kind of communication error between my travel agent and I and I thought I was fine for the length of time I would be in the Schengen countries, 112 days. Finnish Border Security had other ideas.
I'm standing at the Border Security office while the man there is looking very confused as to why I'm blatantly standing in front of him going 'Yes, I know I've been here 112 days. I was told it was fine.' He then said I'd have to follow his colleague. I think it was at this point that my stomach plummeted to my knees and the phrase 'Don't freak out Nicola' ran through my head. That phrase stayed on repeat for the next, oh hour, that I was sitting in the security office.
That's correct! I got to sit on a wooden bench in the Finnish Border Security Office with the other terrorists trying to get into Finland, while the security guys sat in a little glass booth, WITH MY PASSPORT, tapping away on a computer and discussing me at great length. Occasionally one would pop back in and ask me something ('What is your occupation? What is your income? Do you have any under age children?'), while I sat there flicking my nails and not getting into hysterics.
I figured the worst that could happen would be that they would send me straight back to Australia, or fine me 1000 or 2000 euros. I was fairly certain it wasn't a jailable offense, but only time would tell. As for the other terrorists, apart from one bloke who was escorted off the premises by the cops (trying to make a run for it on a stolen passport after killing his sister in law's uncle for cheating him in a reindeer deal, perhaps?), I think I was actually the one in the most trouble. So that was a first for me!
After an hour, two security guys came out and stated 'You have been in the Schengen countries for 112 days, 22 days longer than you're allowed. So we are fining you 300 euros. You will have one month to pay. Please sign here.' I was so delighted that I wasn't going back to Melbourne early and that I wasn't being fined for my life's savings which I'd just spent on four months on the Continent, that I signed with great relief and then proceeded to thank them as they showed me the door out. Sometimes I think a little less good manners and a little coldness is called for, but apparently my parents did too good a job on me.
Adding to the general movie-like nature of it all were the security guys' accents which sounded a bit Russian, so I was almost hoping they'd start telling me about their evil plan to take over the world by blowing up the oil line from Finland to New York. Honestly, I was quite glad that (hopefully) my one and only problem at a border was with the very polite Finns and not somewhere like Thailand.
After that little ordeal I sat very quietly on the plane to London, trying to unwind and regain my excitement about getting to London, finally! Until I got there and encountered English passport control. Apparently everyone had it in for me that day.
When I arrived, I got to passport control before I got my suitcase, meaning I didn't have my return ticket home in my hand luggage, a thought which never occurred to me. I had my passport, I knew that I had only holiday intentions in England. That wasn't enough however, and I was subjected to an on-the-spot interrogation. Stupidly, I'd put my occupation on the arrival card as waitress (not enough room to write cafe manager or better yet, Chief of Operations for the Eastern Branch of the Gusto Group). So as far as my passport man was concerned, I was another Aussie waitress with not much money arriving in London. I had to convince him that I had bucketloads of money for my nine days in England, a job in Australia to return to, and that I wasn't going to marry, procreate and sponge off the system with my friend Carl who I said I was staying with (I wasn't). After a lot of sighing, hmmming and long pauses and disbelieving eyebrows, he eventually stamped my passport and made sure I knew to carry my return tickets next time.
I belted out of there, got my suitcase, stopped and tried to regroup. Good grief! What is it with the Finns and the Poms? Why don't they like me? I'm delightful and inoffensive and my only intention is to spend my hard-earned Aussie dollars in their silly countries. Pfft.
By the time I made it to a seat outside the Kentish Town tube station in central London, I was seriously in need of a stiff drink, but I settled for some wine and a take away curry and a venting session with Sharon instead.
It's a good thing I had such a wonderful time in London to block out that very tiring day! I will save my nine days in London for later this week - that story includes Toad in the Hole!
Friday, May 8, 2009
I Am Still Here
You poor things, you thought I'd forgotten about you, what with all the fun I've been having and many many countries I've managed to cram in since I last posted. (That would be four countries, if anyone cares!)
I left you in Norway, back when I was about to start having hissy fits if the people on my tour didn't leave me alone for half an hour. I am nobody's Siamese twin and I'm not in a thriller movie being tailed, so let's all just back off the Nicola for a moment or twelve.
After leaving Bergen, we had Fjord Day. We spent three hours on a ferry burbling up and down two arms of the Sognefjord. Beautiful. Huge huge rocky mountains, little houses and occasional villages on the edges of the fjords, seagulls drifting along with us on the ferry, warm sunlight and icy shade. Pretty relaxing way to spend your Saturday!
Back on the bus and off to Fagernes with a quick stop at another stavkyrkje. Fagernes was very pretty, our hotel was on the edge of a huge lake, with plenty of ice still on parts of it. After dinner I managed to duck out without anyone following me and wandered out to a little tree-covered mini peninsula into the lake while the sun went down. It was incredibly quiet and gave me a chance to breathe and unwind, let some of the tension from my fellow travellers go.
The next day we headed for Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics. They actually only had the ski jumping and opening and closing ceremonies IN Lillehammer, so headed up to the ski jump stadium. Obviously not much happening, but it was a nice view over Lillehammer. For my Mt Gambier readers, Lillehammer is about the same size - can you ever imagine Mt Gambier getting it together to host anything bigger than a BBQ for all the locals?
We were off to Sweden after that, so our tour guide put the 'Mamma Mia' DVD on for us, to get us in the Swedish mood as it were. The Swedish meatballs we had at the truckstop for lunch, bang on the border, also helped get us in the mood. Stayed in Karlstad that night, again about the size of Mt Gambier and even less to see - no Blue Lake in Sweden!
Finally we were off to Stockholm! Had a walking tour of the old town and a 'traditional' Swedish dinner after we arrived. I was imagining Stockholm to be all slick and contemporary buildings, steel and glass. In reality, it's built on HEAPS of little islands, some of which are built half on land fill from the 13th century, and the heart of the city is the old town. It was all built around the 13th century, everything had been burnt down a few times, but it was all wonderful. Really pretty and so unexpected. Our 'traditional' dinner did include more meatballs and nothing else that I thought was particularly traditional, but it was good food despite its inauthenticity!
On the way back to the hotel that night, we went quickly out to Drottningholm (where the royals live, include their unmarried prince who looks like Orlando Bloom, hello!). The palace and gardens were based on Versailles, but not quite as big and the gardens were a bit prettier, less stark.
The next morning we had a city tour, then two others and I watched the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. One of the people I was with said it was a million times better than the one at Buckingham Palace so I'll be skipping that one. The Swedish one went for about an hour, we were about a metre away from the soldiers, there were horses and swords and a band all on horseback doing formation type things, great!
Went and did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, had to get some genuine H&M since it's actually a Swedish company. For anyone unfamiliar with H&M, it's like Ikea for clothes. Heaps of stuff, cheap, decent-ish quality, best accessories for the ladies EVER. I now own three H&M scarves for example.
Had our oh so sad and teary tour farewell dinner that night, wasn't quite as emotionally wrenching as my Contiki farewells!
The following day I decided not to try and cram in more of the excellence that Stockholm had to offer, but to go with my gut and go and visit the BIGGEST IKEA IN THE WORLD. Hell yeah! They run a free bus service to and from the city, so hopped on that and headed to the 'burbs for some storage solution goodness. Turns out Ikea's no fun when you can't buy anything and everything. And it was just like every other Ikea in the world, sad. The one thing they had different were a range of Ikea toiletries (shampoo, sunscreen, towels) so I bought an Ikea deodorant!
That night I caught the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, which is a HUGE ship and is packed to the rafters with tax free booze. The next morning when we got off in Helsinki people were literally rolling shopping trolleys full of slabs of alcohol off the ship. Personally, I opted to go and see a movie ('The Boat That Rocked', cute) and then get an awesome night's sleep so I was fresh and perky for Finland.
In Helsinki I stayed at a hostel in the 1952 Olympic Stadium (have for some reason managed to fit in all this sporty action very late in my trip). So at least my hostel was easy to find, tucked right behind the HUGE Olympic tower! Helsinki was not what I was expecting, it was less European and Scandinavian and a lot more Russian than I was expecting. Not the prettiest city, although the White Church was incredible, you could see it from everywhere. The harbour area and Esplanadi were really cool too, little orange tents with some seriously good food happening. My first day there I had Baltic herrings with tartare sauce and salad - yum!
The second day I was in Helsinki was May Day and a public holiday and crazy fun for all the Finns. The whole city packed its picnic blankets and booze and put on little white sailor caps and headed for Kaivopuisto Park to celebrate graduation and the end of winter. I mingled with the masses, had a huge plate of whitebait and potatoes and then tried to catch a tram. Not the best day to be relying on public transport.
From Helsinki I also did a day trip to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. It was only an hour and a half on the ferry to get there and it is a very pretty city. Very small, I wandered around, had lunch, visited the Photography Museum, bought some postcards and was back on a ferry in 2.5 hours, but definitely worth it.
There was also a highly entertaining, if a bit crazy, Dutch guy at my Helsinki hostel too. The three main countries that I haven't visited on my trip are Germany, Belgium and Holland. When I tell a German I'm not visiting their country, they are okay about it and agree that it should be top of my list for next time. The Belgians are sad that I'm not visiting their country, mainly because I'll miss out on all the good beer. But the Dutch! MAN are they cranky when I say I'm not going there! So this Dutch guy at my hostel proceeded to tell me how my entire country and life were all because of everything the Dutch have done for us Aussies, from Gus Hedding coaching our soccer team into the World Cup, to the Dutch naming New Zealand and inventing Heineken. He then took great joy in showing off his new pimp shoes that he'd just bought. He was fairly interesting.
I left Helsinki on Tuesday, just, and arrived that afternoon in London, just. That story is a special one though, which needs my full attention and wittiness so I'll leave this here and leave you with the super tantalizing to be continued....
I left you in Norway, back when I was about to start having hissy fits if the people on my tour didn't leave me alone for half an hour. I am nobody's Siamese twin and I'm not in a thriller movie being tailed, so let's all just back off the Nicola for a moment or twelve.
After leaving Bergen, we had Fjord Day. We spent three hours on a ferry burbling up and down two arms of the Sognefjord. Beautiful. Huge huge rocky mountains, little houses and occasional villages on the edges of the fjords, seagulls drifting along with us on the ferry, warm sunlight and icy shade. Pretty relaxing way to spend your Saturday!
Back on the bus and off to Fagernes with a quick stop at another stavkyrkje. Fagernes was very pretty, our hotel was on the edge of a huge lake, with plenty of ice still on parts of it. After dinner I managed to duck out without anyone following me and wandered out to a little tree-covered mini peninsula into the lake while the sun went down. It was incredibly quiet and gave me a chance to breathe and unwind, let some of the tension from my fellow travellers go.
The next day we headed for Lillehammer, home of the 1994 Winter Olympics. They actually only had the ski jumping and opening and closing ceremonies IN Lillehammer, so headed up to the ski jump stadium. Obviously not much happening, but it was a nice view over Lillehammer. For my Mt Gambier readers, Lillehammer is about the same size - can you ever imagine Mt Gambier getting it together to host anything bigger than a BBQ for all the locals?
We were off to Sweden after that, so our tour guide put the 'Mamma Mia' DVD on for us, to get us in the Swedish mood as it were. The Swedish meatballs we had at the truckstop for lunch, bang on the border, also helped get us in the mood. Stayed in Karlstad that night, again about the size of Mt Gambier and even less to see - no Blue Lake in Sweden!
Finally we were off to Stockholm! Had a walking tour of the old town and a 'traditional' Swedish dinner after we arrived. I was imagining Stockholm to be all slick and contemporary buildings, steel and glass. In reality, it's built on HEAPS of little islands, some of which are built half on land fill from the 13th century, and the heart of the city is the old town. It was all built around the 13th century, everything had been burnt down a few times, but it was all wonderful. Really pretty and so unexpected. Our 'traditional' dinner did include more meatballs and nothing else that I thought was particularly traditional, but it was good food despite its inauthenticity!
On the way back to the hotel that night, we went quickly out to Drottningholm (where the royals live, include their unmarried prince who looks like Orlando Bloom, hello!). The palace and gardens were based on Versailles, but not quite as big and the gardens were a bit prettier, less stark.
The next morning we had a city tour, then two others and I watched the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. One of the people I was with said it was a million times better than the one at Buckingham Palace so I'll be skipping that one. The Swedish one went for about an hour, we were about a metre away from the soldiers, there were horses and swords and a band all on horseback doing formation type things, great!
Went and did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, had to get some genuine H&M since it's actually a Swedish company. For anyone unfamiliar with H&M, it's like Ikea for clothes. Heaps of stuff, cheap, decent-ish quality, best accessories for the ladies EVER. I now own three H&M scarves for example.
Had our oh so sad and teary tour farewell dinner that night, wasn't quite as emotionally wrenching as my Contiki farewells!
The following day I decided not to try and cram in more of the excellence that Stockholm had to offer, but to go with my gut and go and visit the BIGGEST IKEA IN THE WORLD. Hell yeah! They run a free bus service to and from the city, so hopped on that and headed to the 'burbs for some storage solution goodness. Turns out Ikea's no fun when you can't buy anything and everything. And it was just like every other Ikea in the world, sad. The one thing they had different were a range of Ikea toiletries (shampoo, sunscreen, towels) so I bought an Ikea deodorant!
That night I caught the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki, which is a HUGE ship and is packed to the rafters with tax free booze. The next morning when we got off in Helsinki people were literally rolling shopping trolleys full of slabs of alcohol off the ship. Personally, I opted to go and see a movie ('The Boat That Rocked', cute) and then get an awesome night's sleep so I was fresh and perky for Finland.
In Helsinki I stayed at a hostel in the 1952 Olympic Stadium (have for some reason managed to fit in all this sporty action very late in my trip). So at least my hostel was easy to find, tucked right behind the HUGE Olympic tower! Helsinki was not what I was expecting, it was less European and Scandinavian and a lot more Russian than I was expecting. Not the prettiest city, although the White Church was incredible, you could see it from everywhere. The harbour area and Esplanadi were really cool too, little orange tents with some seriously good food happening. My first day there I had Baltic herrings with tartare sauce and salad - yum!
The second day I was in Helsinki was May Day and a public holiday and crazy fun for all the Finns. The whole city packed its picnic blankets and booze and put on little white sailor caps and headed for Kaivopuisto Park to celebrate graduation and the end of winter. I mingled with the masses, had a huge plate of whitebait and potatoes and then tried to catch a tram. Not the best day to be relying on public transport.
From Helsinki I also did a day trip to Tallinn, capital of Estonia. It was only an hour and a half on the ferry to get there and it is a very pretty city. Very small, I wandered around, had lunch, visited the Photography Museum, bought some postcards and was back on a ferry in 2.5 hours, but definitely worth it.
There was also a highly entertaining, if a bit crazy, Dutch guy at my Helsinki hostel too. The three main countries that I haven't visited on my trip are Germany, Belgium and Holland. When I tell a German I'm not visiting their country, they are okay about it and agree that it should be top of my list for next time. The Belgians are sad that I'm not visiting their country, mainly because I'll miss out on all the good beer. But the Dutch! MAN are they cranky when I say I'm not going there! So this Dutch guy at my hostel proceeded to tell me how my entire country and life were all because of everything the Dutch have done for us Aussies, from Gus Hedding coaching our soccer team into the World Cup, to the Dutch naming New Zealand and inventing Heineken. He then took great joy in showing off his new pimp shoes that he'd just bought. He was fairly interesting.
I left Helsinki on Tuesday, just, and arrived that afternoon in London, just. That story is a special one though, which needs my full attention and wittiness so I'll leave this here and leave you with the super tantalizing to be continued....
Friday, April 24, 2009
I Am In Woollens
Hotel lobby, Bergen, Norway, 3.20pm
Up here in good old Scando, it's like going back in time three weeks. The weather is back to being (at an absolute stretch) 17 degrees, the first wave of tulips and daffodils are just happening and I've had to put my new purple Budapest Tshirt back in the bottom of my suitcase. Was beginning to regret (again) bringing my ski jacket when I got a little bit sunburnt in Prague, then I was out at 6.45am in Bør in -1 degree yesterday morning, praising the wise and intelligent people in my life (ie Mum) for making me bring it. More thanks to Nicola as well, had the beanie on all day yesterday. Although to be honest, once it goes on it doesn't come off - I give new meaning to the term hat hair.
So where am I and what have I been doing? Well you'll be pleased to know that I'm younger looking and more intelligent due to all the salmon I've been throwing down! Started the Salmon Fest of '09 on Tuesday night in Oslo with a salmon and cucumber sandwich from 7-11 - and before any of you freak out, no I didn't get food poisoning. 7-11 is a godsend to travellers, they are always open and always have food and it's cheaper (generally) than going to a restaurant or cafe and sitting down for a meal.
Oslo was pretty, I didn't realize that it, and Norway, had such a small population. Or that they were completely povo till they discovered oil in the North Sea in 1969.
There are only about 550 000 people in Oslo, 250 000 in Bergen where I am now and it's the second largest city in Norway. At least it makes it easy to get around the cities and our hotels have always been in great locations. Oslo is quite pretty, wrapped around the Oslofjord, pretty little boats and wharf area. Their city hall, I'm afraid to say, is the ugliest building I've ever had the misfortune of being forced to go into and spend eons listening to descriptions of the whole place. We had an included city tour with a local guide and she was great, we saw some nice bits and pieces and then I guess they consider the city hall to be a bit spesh, but someone really should've let Edvard Munch loose in there and done more gloomy, crazy looking works (like 'The Scream', which I saw).
The best part of the city tour though, was going through the Vigeland Statue Park. It was a lovely big space and directly through the centre was a bridge, fountain and monolith, all designed by Mr Vigeland. He had a lovely simple style, we're not talking Michaelangelo type stuff, and all the works in the gardens were on the theme of the circle of life. I just missed my Contiki friends who would've happily posed AS the statues in lots of photos with me!
After the city tour, a few of us hopped on a ferry across the harbour to visit the Vikingskipshuset. Oh yeah, Viking ships! They found three in burial mounds in about 1905, completely covered in mud which meant they were incredibly well-preserved, especially one which had been used to bury a queen. They were so cool, exactly what I wanted to see!
We left Oslo that afternoon and drove to Bø (pronounced BURR, I am never learning Norwegian, too hard). After a very short night there (wake up call at 5.30am - ow, that hurt), we headed for Bergen. First stop was a quick photo stop at Heddal Stayvkirke, a stave church. Most of them (all over Norway) were built about 700 years ago, without nails. The Heddal one was amazing, very creepy looking, like I can imagine the Salem witch trials happening in.
After that we had the most incredible drive across Norway, past rivers, lakes, FROZEN lakes, until we ended up deep in the snow and above the tree line. It was so beautiful and exactly how you think Norway will look. Meanwhile the weather was perfect, COLD, but clear blue skies. Saw a few people heading out for a spot of cross country skiing. Stopped by a frozen lake for lunch and by frozen I mean you couldn't actually see the lake because it was frozen then covered in snow. It's the end of April and I'm guessing if they're lucky, that lake will unfreeze for maybe two months of the year. Crazy.
Stopped to take photos at a couple of waterfalls in the afternoon, took a quick ferry ride across a fjord, arrived in Bergen in the evening. Really long day, but incredible scenery. Took a gazillion photos out the bus windows all day, have been going through them today and deleting all the blurry ones, ones with trees in the way, ones with reflections off the glass in them. I did get a couple of good ones though!
Today we had a city tour of Bergen, bit of a waste, honestly. The city isn't that big and we could quite easily have taken ourselves to see the best bits. Never mind! Afterwards I STUPIDLY went into a shop called Ting. After about 5 minutes, the two girls with me suddenly realized what was going on and were like 'Nicola! What are you buying? How MUCH have you got there?!' Yeah, it was verging on ugly. I had stupidly realized this morning that I had way too much Norwegian cash on me for the short amount of time we have left in Norway, so was thinking I'd either spend it or I'd have to change it to Swedish dosh next week. Instead, I found the Best Shop In The World and decided to spend a lot there! To the point where I now have to go to the supermarket to do budget dinner and lunch for tomorrow! And I now have about 80 kroner left, for emergencies. 80 kroner is enough for a 7-11 sandwich, ie not much. But the stuff in Ting was FANTASTIC. Loved it loved it loved it. Oh and on the plus side, I can get some of the money back when I leave Norway, tax money, squee!
Tomorrow we're off to do our ferry ride on the Sognefjord, it's the longest, deepest and narrowest fjord in the world. Oh and I almost forgot! The position of the sun in the sky here is totally noticeable. It's up seriously early in the morning and doesn't set till after 9pm, wish I was here in July for some midnight sun action!
Up here in good old Scando, it's like going back in time three weeks. The weather is back to being (at an absolute stretch) 17 degrees, the first wave of tulips and daffodils are just happening and I've had to put my new purple Budapest Tshirt back in the bottom of my suitcase. Was beginning to regret (again) bringing my ski jacket when I got a little bit sunburnt in Prague, then I was out at 6.45am in Bør in -1 degree yesterday morning, praising the wise and intelligent people in my life (ie Mum) for making me bring it. More thanks to Nicola as well, had the beanie on all day yesterday. Although to be honest, once it goes on it doesn't come off - I give new meaning to the term hat hair.
So where am I and what have I been doing? Well you'll be pleased to know that I'm younger looking and more intelligent due to all the salmon I've been throwing down! Started the Salmon Fest of '09 on Tuesday night in Oslo with a salmon and cucumber sandwich from 7-11 - and before any of you freak out, no I didn't get food poisoning. 7-11 is a godsend to travellers, they are always open and always have food and it's cheaper (generally) than going to a restaurant or cafe and sitting down for a meal.
Oslo was pretty, I didn't realize that it, and Norway, had such a small population. Or that they were completely povo till they discovered oil in the North Sea in 1969.
There are only about 550 000 people in Oslo, 250 000 in Bergen where I am now and it's the second largest city in Norway. At least it makes it easy to get around the cities and our hotels have always been in great locations. Oslo is quite pretty, wrapped around the Oslofjord, pretty little boats and wharf area. Their city hall, I'm afraid to say, is the ugliest building I've ever had the misfortune of being forced to go into and spend eons listening to descriptions of the whole place. We had an included city tour with a local guide and she was great, we saw some nice bits and pieces and then I guess they consider the city hall to be a bit spesh, but someone really should've let Edvard Munch loose in there and done more gloomy, crazy looking works (like 'The Scream', which I saw).
The best part of the city tour though, was going through the Vigeland Statue Park. It was a lovely big space and directly through the centre was a bridge, fountain and monolith, all designed by Mr Vigeland. He had a lovely simple style, we're not talking Michaelangelo type stuff, and all the works in the gardens were on the theme of the circle of life. I just missed my Contiki friends who would've happily posed AS the statues in lots of photos with me!
After the city tour, a few of us hopped on a ferry across the harbour to visit the Vikingskipshuset. Oh yeah, Viking ships! They found three in burial mounds in about 1905, completely covered in mud which meant they were incredibly well-preserved, especially one which had been used to bury a queen. They were so cool, exactly what I wanted to see!
We left Oslo that afternoon and drove to Bø (pronounced BURR, I am never learning Norwegian, too hard). After a very short night there (wake up call at 5.30am - ow, that hurt), we headed for Bergen. First stop was a quick photo stop at Heddal Stayvkirke, a stave church. Most of them (all over Norway) were built about 700 years ago, without nails. The Heddal one was amazing, very creepy looking, like I can imagine the Salem witch trials happening in.
After that we had the most incredible drive across Norway, past rivers, lakes, FROZEN lakes, until we ended up deep in the snow and above the tree line. It was so beautiful and exactly how you think Norway will look. Meanwhile the weather was perfect, COLD, but clear blue skies. Saw a few people heading out for a spot of cross country skiing. Stopped by a frozen lake for lunch and by frozen I mean you couldn't actually see the lake because it was frozen then covered in snow. It's the end of April and I'm guessing if they're lucky, that lake will unfreeze for maybe two months of the year. Crazy.
Stopped to take photos at a couple of waterfalls in the afternoon, took a quick ferry ride across a fjord, arrived in Bergen in the evening. Really long day, but incredible scenery. Took a gazillion photos out the bus windows all day, have been going through them today and deleting all the blurry ones, ones with trees in the way, ones with reflections off the glass in them. I did get a couple of good ones though!
Today we had a city tour of Bergen, bit of a waste, honestly. The city isn't that big and we could quite easily have taken ourselves to see the best bits. Never mind! Afterwards I STUPIDLY went into a shop called Ting. After about 5 minutes, the two girls with me suddenly realized what was going on and were like 'Nicola! What are you buying? How MUCH have you got there?!' Yeah, it was verging on ugly. I had stupidly realized this morning that I had way too much Norwegian cash on me for the short amount of time we have left in Norway, so was thinking I'd either spend it or I'd have to change it to Swedish dosh next week. Instead, I found the Best Shop In The World and decided to spend a lot there! To the point where I now have to go to the supermarket to do budget dinner and lunch for tomorrow! And I now have about 80 kroner left, for emergencies. 80 kroner is enough for a 7-11 sandwich, ie not much. But the stuff in Ting was FANTASTIC. Loved it loved it loved it. Oh and on the plus side, I can get some of the money back when I leave Norway, tax money, squee!
Tomorrow we're off to do our ferry ride on the Sognefjord, it's the longest, deepest and narrowest fjord in the world. Oh and I almost forgot! The position of the sun in the sky here is totally noticeable. It's up seriously early in the morning and doesn't set till after 9pm, wish I was here in July for some midnight sun action!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I Am Lilac
Hotel in Frederikshavn, 9.18 am
Time whips by too quickly and suddenly you haven't heard about Prague or Copenhagen or how old everyone on my Scandinavian tour is! Fun times! Keep reading!
Back in the day, I was in Prague. Actually it's a week ago now, but of course it feels like a month. The afternoon I arrived I went to the main post office to offload another 3kgs back to the parentals. That was fun. First I needed a box, then I had to tie it up with string (apparently the Czech Rep. aren't quite into the 21st century and our love of sticky tape), then I had to fill in a declaration form that was in Czech and French. So with my three words of French I filled in as much as I could, followed by the post dude asking me things in Czech and me just replying yes. I may well have told him it contained a homemade bomb and some child porn, but he seemed okay about that anyway and took my money. I guess now I just have to wait and see if and when it turns up! The excitement! Mystery! Suspense!
Prague is beautiful, as beautiful as you think it will be. What I wasn't prepared for, was sharing such a beautiful city with everyone from Italy, Spain, France and Germany. Easter holidays had brought all the Europeans out and they were soaking up the sun all over Prague. I had to queue for half an hour to get into St Vitus' Cathedral in the middle of a pack of 15 year old Italian students. Fun times. 15 year olds are appalling in every language.
Prague Castle was great and the area down the hill around St Miklaus' was also pretty cool. The Charles Bridge is very pretty, but it was lined with art/jewellery stalls and jammed with tourists. The Old Town Square was incredibly pretty too, but the middle part was full of ye olden Prague market stalls selling Stuff and food and beer. On the plus side - yay beer and sausages! And trdlo! Which is the dough cooked on a stick and dipped in cinnamon and sugar that I missed out on trying in Budapest. Not bad at all! Sadly on the two days I was there the Jewish Museum and main synagogue were closed for Jewish holidays, which was a shame because I'd heard such great things about the museum and how moving it was. Instead I went to the Mucha Museum - wonderful! Such beautiful and illustrative work. Went a bit crazy in the gift shop. Stupid notepads!
I had been hoping to see, somewhere anywhere, some lilacs on this trip too. They're my favourite flower and I can only buy them (expensively) for one month a year in Australia. Seeing that I'm on The Continent in spring, I thought I should get a chance to see them for an extra month this year. Sadly, nowhere. Until I was waiting to take the tram to the train station to leave Prague, the tram stop that I'd been at twice a day for three days in a row, when I focussed on what was across the road. Lilacs! Bushes and bushes of them! In flower! Right there! On the side of the road like a weed! And from there until half way out to the airport I saw them EVERYWHERE. Clearly they're not a big deal and quite common in Prague, not as rare as in Australia. I guess I just couldn't see the lilacs for the lilacs!
It was raining when I left Prague, which suited me fine, cooler for suitcase schleppage, plus I was pretty excited about heading up to Scandinavia finally. It was one of the areas I was most excited about visiting, even when I arrived in Portugal I just wanted to skip forward to this part of my trip! So I left rainy Prague and arrived under an endless blue sky in Copenhagen. Stunning.
Made my way into the city and was walking through their central city area towards my hostel thinking 'Oh yeah, this is fantastic! I am going to LOVE this!'. And I did! The city is small and very walkable, the people are ALL attractive, they have little hot dog vans everywhere which are the bomb, there are more bicycles than people so it's all enviro-friendly, Nyhavn is the most picturesque thing I've ever seen and their ice cream is just divine. On the downside they are crazy drunks, but their English is so good they can carry on normal conversations or abuse while alcoholically impaired.
I met up with the two girls I met in Budapest, Arden and Linda, and we went out for a few drinks and shots of Fisk (aka mouthwash), then on Saturday Linda and I had Mexican for lunch (yay eating what I want instead of feeling like I should eat local specialties!), followed by ice creams and sunshine on the wharf at Nyhavn.
Then I headed back to my hotel to meet the other people on my tour. Out of 24 of us, 7 of us are under 35 and the rest are all over 50. Bit different to Contiki. For instance nobody has yet mentioned the best clubs to go to and we never get offered the cheaper places to eat, just the super pricey and super touristy ones. Never mind, Scandinavia is gorgeous and for two weeks I get driven around to everywhere I wanted to go anyway. Plus they literally take your bags from your room to the bus and then bring them to your room at the next hotel - hello lazy! Of course in two weeks I won't be able to lift my suitcase, but eh! Not to worry!
So today we leave Frederikshavn on a ferry, we drive through Gothenburg, then straight over to Oslo for the night. Saturday is Fjord Day, so please think of me enviously around 8pm Saturday night (Australian time) when I'll be out on the water, being amazed. Which reminds me, I HAVE to get my photos burnt off my memory card!
Time whips by too quickly and suddenly you haven't heard about Prague or Copenhagen or how old everyone on my Scandinavian tour is! Fun times! Keep reading!
Back in the day, I was in Prague. Actually it's a week ago now, but of course it feels like a month. The afternoon I arrived I went to the main post office to offload another 3kgs back to the parentals. That was fun. First I needed a box, then I had to tie it up with string (apparently the Czech Rep. aren't quite into the 21st century and our love of sticky tape), then I had to fill in a declaration form that was in Czech and French. So with my three words of French I filled in as much as I could, followed by the post dude asking me things in Czech and me just replying yes. I may well have told him it contained a homemade bomb and some child porn, but he seemed okay about that anyway and took my money. I guess now I just have to wait and see if and when it turns up! The excitement! Mystery! Suspense!
Prague is beautiful, as beautiful as you think it will be. What I wasn't prepared for, was sharing such a beautiful city with everyone from Italy, Spain, France and Germany. Easter holidays had brought all the Europeans out and they were soaking up the sun all over Prague. I had to queue for half an hour to get into St Vitus' Cathedral in the middle of a pack of 15 year old Italian students. Fun times. 15 year olds are appalling in every language.
Prague Castle was great and the area down the hill around St Miklaus' was also pretty cool. The Charles Bridge is very pretty, but it was lined with art/jewellery stalls and jammed with tourists. The Old Town Square was incredibly pretty too, but the middle part was full of ye olden Prague market stalls selling Stuff and food and beer. On the plus side - yay beer and sausages! And trdlo! Which is the dough cooked on a stick and dipped in cinnamon and sugar that I missed out on trying in Budapest. Not bad at all! Sadly on the two days I was there the Jewish Museum and main synagogue were closed for Jewish holidays, which was a shame because I'd heard such great things about the museum and how moving it was. Instead I went to the Mucha Museum - wonderful! Such beautiful and illustrative work. Went a bit crazy in the gift shop. Stupid notepads!
I had been hoping to see, somewhere anywhere, some lilacs on this trip too. They're my favourite flower and I can only buy them (expensively) for one month a year in Australia. Seeing that I'm on The Continent in spring, I thought I should get a chance to see them for an extra month this year. Sadly, nowhere. Until I was waiting to take the tram to the train station to leave Prague, the tram stop that I'd been at twice a day for three days in a row, when I focussed on what was across the road. Lilacs! Bushes and bushes of them! In flower! Right there! On the side of the road like a weed! And from there until half way out to the airport I saw them EVERYWHERE. Clearly they're not a big deal and quite common in Prague, not as rare as in Australia. I guess I just couldn't see the lilacs for the lilacs!
It was raining when I left Prague, which suited me fine, cooler for suitcase schleppage, plus I was pretty excited about heading up to Scandinavia finally. It was one of the areas I was most excited about visiting, even when I arrived in Portugal I just wanted to skip forward to this part of my trip! So I left rainy Prague and arrived under an endless blue sky in Copenhagen. Stunning.
Made my way into the city and was walking through their central city area towards my hostel thinking 'Oh yeah, this is fantastic! I am going to LOVE this!'. And I did! The city is small and very walkable, the people are ALL attractive, they have little hot dog vans everywhere which are the bomb, there are more bicycles than people so it's all enviro-friendly, Nyhavn is the most picturesque thing I've ever seen and their ice cream is just divine. On the downside they are crazy drunks, but their English is so good they can carry on normal conversations or abuse while alcoholically impaired.
I met up with the two girls I met in Budapest, Arden and Linda, and we went out for a few drinks and shots of Fisk (aka mouthwash), then on Saturday Linda and I had Mexican for lunch (yay eating what I want instead of feeling like I should eat local specialties!), followed by ice creams and sunshine on the wharf at Nyhavn.
Then I headed back to my hotel to meet the other people on my tour. Out of 24 of us, 7 of us are under 35 and the rest are all over 50. Bit different to Contiki. For instance nobody has yet mentioned the best clubs to go to and we never get offered the cheaper places to eat, just the super pricey and super touristy ones. Never mind, Scandinavia is gorgeous and for two weeks I get driven around to everywhere I wanted to go anyway. Plus they literally take your bags from your room to the bus and then bring them to your room at the next hotel - hello lazy! Of course in two weeks I won't be able to lift my suitcase, but eh! Not to worry!
So today we leave Frederikshavn on a ferry, we drive through Gothenburg, then straight over to Oslo for the night. Saturday is Fjord Day, so please think of me enviously around 8pm Saturday night (Australian time) when I'll be out on the water, being amazed. Which reminds me, I HAVE to get my photos burnt off my memory card!
Monday, April 13, 2009
I Am Kulched
Expensive interent cafe, Mariahilferstrasse, Vienna, 11.40am
Am spending Easter here in Vienna, did lots of museums and sights on the first two days, leaving me two very relaxing days of sunshine and parks. However I have left you all a long way behind so I am here, now, to try and catch you up!
So way back in the day, when I was in Slovenia, after I arrived and stopped freaking out, I discovered that Ljubljana is one of my favourite places so far, top five for sure. The people in Slovenia are the NICEST I have come across anywhere, they are genuinely lovely and helpful and warm. Plus they ALL speak English really well.
My day of checking out Ljubljana didn't take long, the central old city part is tiny and only takes an hour to walk around. It's all centred on a river and there are some lovely bridges over it, including the famous triple bridge. Since it was Saturday the market was absolutely pumping, plus there was a Bosnian food festival on, which seemed to consist mainly of baklava and coffee. I chucked laps around the market and up and down both sides of the river, soaking it all up. Walked up the hill to the castle, took some photos of the View, gawked at a wedding party, then headed back down the hill for lunch at a bar I'd scoped out on the way past earlier.
Best coffee ever. I took a photo of it because it was so wonderfully presented, plus because I'm a tourist. Gorgeous cup and saucer, yummy little biscuit, glass of water, so civilized! And here I was thinking Slovenia would be all peasants with horses and carts (apparently that's Romania) and no teeth. Also had a big bowl of potato soup with the most delicious bread. (Best bread of my trip - Slovenia, everywhere, including my hostel.) And then I had to have another coffee to celebrate how much in love with Ljubljana I was.
I was so wrong about Slovenia, I thought it would be kind of pretty and old, but a bit backward by my oh-so-hip standards, but it is COOL. Great shops, great lifestyle, super trendy bars and cafes, and they were dressed in really interesting clothes, bit Brunswick St (the money side, not the filthy hippy side).
After lunch I headed for the Tivoli Gardens and spent a few hours reading in the sun, listening to some young guy practicing his sax and watching huge plots of daffodils wave merrily. Wonderful.
The next day I managed to arrange with Lisa (who I met in Naples) to meet and catch the bus to Lake Bled for the day. She brought along a couple of young Poms from her hostel so the four of us wandered around the lake all day, up to the castle and church, bureks and ice cream for lunch, Slovenian Snotblocks for afternoon tea! Lots of sunshine still!
Then it was off to Budapest. Long train trip again (what happened to everything in Europe being small and close?), but STRESS-FREE which is far more important than a quick trip. Budapest is a big city and has the filth to go with it. As soon as I woke up on my first morning there I went 'What's wrong with the sunlight? Why is it kind of dim and hazy?' That would be the pollution. It was bad, really bad. It was quite a hot day too so the hazy sky and nasty yellow Danube were just horrible.
On the plus side, made some great friends in Budapest at my hostel and we all hung out for the two days we were there. We did a free walking tour of the city, followed by lunch at this outdoor kitchen kind of thing - kebabs! Sausages! Salad! BEER! The beer certainly helped clear the pollution from my lungs! Had dinner at a nice Jewish Hungarian restaurant with a bunch of their friends who were studying in Budapest, followed by shots of the local specialty at a huge bar in an abandoned building.
The next day we went to the Szechenyi Baths, thermal baths that are all kept at different temperatures. So we did nothing apart from loiter in the baths and lie in the sun. I did NOT get sunburnt! If I'd been in Australia it would've been sunscreen every 30 minutes, in Budapest, three times in four hours and not a mark on me - squee!
All three of my new Budapest Buddies are studying in Copenhagen, which means I get to see them all again this weekend. Really looking forward to that, hoping they know somewhere cheap to get a drink, think I won't be doing much drinking in Scandinavia. Much of anything in fact!
On Thursday I made my way to Vienna, met a girl in my train carriage who was actually staying at the same hostel as me, so we found it together then hung out for a couple of days too. Vienna is lovely, heaps to do, plus some really beautiful parks and gardens to relax in. Janie (from the train) and I went to the opera on Thursday night for €3, it was....an experience! Won't be racing for season tickets anytime soon, but now I can say I've been! I went on Saturday night to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (€5) - now that was AMAZING. And on Sunday morning I was up way too early to get into mass with the Vienna Boys' Choir (€5), so good. The mass part was all in German so I was fighting to stay awake for that, but the boys were incredible, the one who did the solo parts had a voice better than any woman I've ever heard.
Friday was Klimt Day, went to three different museums to get maximum Klimt action, certainly wasn't disappointed. Plus I saw a huge exhibition of gorgeous Art Nouveau work by Alfons Mucha. Hadn't been to a museum since Rome, so was ready to wander and appreciate more than I would've been two weeks ago.
Apart from all of that, have just been enjoying the extraordinary weather in the gardens of Schonbrunn Palace and Stadtpark, will probably head back to the hostel, make some sandwiches and go back to Stadtpark again once I finish this. Might actually go to the movies later this afternoon too, haven't been at all over here and am hanging out for some cinematic relaxation.
Tomorrow I'm off to Prague for a couple of days, really looking forward to that, still haven't met anyone who doesn't love it. Then it's up to Scandinavia, finally! Still only up to 3/4 of the way through my trip, feels like three years people!
Am spending Easter here in Vienna, did lots of museums and sights on the first two days, leaving me two very relaxing days of sunshine and parks. However I have left you all a long way behind so I am here, now, to try and catch you up!
So way back in the day, when I was in Slovenia, after I arrived and stopped freaking out, I discovered that Ljubljana is one of my favourite places so far, top five for sure. The people in Slovenia are the NICEST I have come across anywhere, they are genuinely lovely and helpful and warm. Plus they ALL speak English really well.
My day of checking out Ljubljana didn't take long, the central old city part is tiny and only takes an hour to walk around. It's all centred on a river and there are some lovely bridges over it, including the famous triple bridge. Since it was Saturday the market was absolutely pumping, plus there was a Bosnian food festival on, which seemed to consist mainly of baklava and coffee. I chucked laps around the market and up and down both sides of the river, soaking it all up. Walked up the hill to the castle, took some photos of the View, gawked at a wedding party, then headed back down the hill for lunch at a bar I'd scoped out on the way past earlier.
Best coffee ever. I took a photo of it because it was so wonderfully presented, plus because I'm a tourist. Gorgeous cup and saucer, yummy little biscuit, glass of water, so civilized! And here I was thinking Slovenia would be all peasants with horses and carts (apparently that's Romania) and no teeth. Also had a big bowl of potato soup with the most delicious bread. (Best bread of my trip - Slovenia, everywhere, including my hostel.) And then I had to have another coffee to celebrate how much in love with Ljubljana I was.
I was so wrong about Slovenia, I thought it would be kind of pretty and old, but a bit backward by my oh-so-hip standards, but it is COOL. Great shops, great lifestyle, super trendy bars and cafes, and they were dressed in really interesting clothes, bit Brunswick St (the money side, not the filthy hippy side).
After lunch I headed for the Tivoli Gardens and spent a few hours reading in the sun, listening to some young guy practicing his sax and watching huge plots of daffodils wave merrily. Wonderful.
The next day I managed to arrange with Lisa (who I met in Naples) to meet and catch the bus to Lake Bled for the day. She brought along a couple of young Poms from her hostel so the four of us wandered around the lake all day, up to the castle and church, bureks and ice cream for lunch, Slovenian Snotblocks for afternoon tea! Lots of sunshine still!
Then it was off to Budapest. Long train trip again (what happened to everything in Europe being small and close?), but STRESS-FREE which is far more important than a quick trip. Budapest is a big city and has the filth to go with it. As soon as I woke up on my first morning there I went 'What's wrong with the sunlight? Why is it kind of dim and hazy?' That would be the pollution. It was bad, really bad. It was quite a hot day too so the hazy sky and nasty yellow Danube were just horrible.
On the plus side, made some great friends in Budapest at my hostel and we all hung out for the two days we were there. We did a free walking tour of the city, followed by lunch at this outdoor kitchen kind of thing - kebabs! Sausages! Salad! BEER! The beer certainly helped clear the pollution from my lungs! Had dinner at a nice Jewish Hungarian restaurant with a bunch of their friends who were studying in Budapest, followed by shots of the local specialty at a huge bar in an abandoned building.
The next day we went to the Szechenyi Baths, thermal baths that are all kept at different temperatures. So we did nothing apart from loiter in the baths and lie in the sun. I did NOT get sunburnt! If I'd been in Australia it would've been sunscreen every 30 minutes, in Budapest, three times in four hours and not a mark on me - squee!
All three of my new Budapest Buddies are studying in Copenhagen, which means I get to see them all again this weekend. Really looking forward to that, hoping they know somewhere cheap to get a drink, think I won't be doing much drinking in Scandinavia. Much of anything in fact!
On Thursday I made my way to Vienna, met a girl in my train carriage who was actually staying at the same hostel as me, so we found it together then hung out for a couple of days too. Vienna is lovely, heaps to do, plus some really beautiful parks and gardens to relax in. Janie (from the train) and I went to the opera on Thursday night for €3, it was....an experience! Won't be racing for season tickets anytime soon, but now I can say I've been! I went on Saturday night to see the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (€5) - now that was AMAZING. And on Sunday morning I was up way too early to get into mass with the Vienna Boys' Choir (€5), so good. The mass part was all in German so I was fighting to stay awake for that, but the boys were incredible, the one who did the solo parts had a voice better than any woman I've ever heard.
Friday was Klimt Day, went to three different museums to get maximum Klimt action, certainly wasn't disappointed. Plus I saw a huge exhibition of gorgeous Art Nouveau work by Alfons Mucha. Hadn't been to a museum since Rome, so was ready to wander and appreciate more than I would've been two weeks ago.
Apart from all of that, have just been enjoying the extraordinary weather in the gardens of Schonbrunn Palace and Stadtpark, will probably head back to the hostel, make some sandwiches and go back to Stadtpark again once I finish this. Might actually go to the movies later this afternoon too, haven't been at all over here and am hanging out for some cinematic relaxation.
Tomorrow I'm off to Prague for a couple of days, really looking forward to that, still haven't met anyone who doesn't love it. Then it's up to Scandinavia, finally! Still only up to 3/4 of the way through my trip, feels like three years people!
Friday, April 3, 2009
I Am Unwinding
Vila Veselova Hostel, Ljubljana, 6.57pm
Man, what a mental day! No, actually, just stressfully uncertain. And you all know how trying that is for me, Little Miss Prepared. Today was Salzburg to Ljubljana, Slovenia and I should've known something was up yesterday when I tried to reserve a ticket.
The girl in Salzburg printed out the times of when the trains went, but couldn't reserve me a ticket. She said not to worry, with my Eurail pass I could just get on without a reservation.
Turn up this morning for the 10.12 train which should go straight there. Decide that I would feel better if I had a reservation so have another crack at getting one. This time I pay E9.40 and get a ticket but still no actual seat and carriage number. Hmmf. Whatever.
The 10.12 train does not seem to be stopping in Ljubljana, in fact half the train might be headed for Serbia. That's all wrong! There's an announcement in German and then in English which says something about going to one end of the train or the other. No idea. Get on, ask a teenager and she is unsure whether it's the right one. How strange, a clueless 15 year old, they're universal. Jump off and ask some staff, am told it's the right one but I should be down the other end and at the next station I should move to the other end. Okaaaaay.
Ticket inspector comes round and he tells me that I just need to change in Villach, the train for Ljubljana will be on the other side of the same platform. Relax until I get to Villach. Train is where he said it would be! It's going to Ljubljana! I get on!
There are lots of announcements in German and/or Slovenian. Not in English. Who cares?! I am on the right train for the right city!
What is that expression about counting your chickens?
We stop in Lidernitznowhere and one man gets out of my carriage. Then the Norwegians get out. It's not my stop so I keep reading and listening to my iPod. Glance out the window. Everybody from my train is wheeling their suitcases across half a paddock and getting on a bus. WHAT?!
Call out to the last two girls getting off the train 'Excuse me, Ljubljana?' and point madly at the bus across the paddock. 'Yes.' RIGHT! Shove book and iPod into backpack and fling that over one shoulder, jacket and jumper in left hand, thump down the corridor with my thirty kilo suitcase in my right hand. Almost fall down the steep steep steep stairs and into the paddock. Hare madly across the paddock with my suitcase, but it's okay, I'm not last now and the ticket inspector did check the train to make sure no one was getting left behind.
So now I'm sitting on a bus still in Austria, I think, going I don't know where. All I can think is 'WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT? WHAT?' Sit and panic silently for awhile. Then see that we are on a highway and following all the signs to Ljubljana. Okay, it's just a bus replacing the train, will just stay on it until I get to Ljubljana. I can handle this. Ooh and now we're in Slovenia. Okay.
Bus pulls in to the station in Jesenice, I don't get off because I'm not going to Jesenice. Except again everybody except me is getting off, perhaps I should too. So we all get back on a train. It's not a nice train. It's very Eastern European or vintage Spanish. Again I sit there for a very long time, hoping I'm not catching a disease from the 1970s and thinking 'WHAT? WHAT NOW? I DON'T UNDERSTAND! NOBODY ELSE SPEAKS ENGLISH! WHAT WAS I THINKING COMING TO THIS SCARY PLACE?!' And yes, I only thought in capital letters, it was that kind of day, hence I'm quite exhausted.
Train eventually starts to move. We stop in one place we're meant to and one place we're not meant to. By this stage the timing is all off, which means my safety back up plan which I normally use of knowing when to get off based on what time the train is supposed to arrive at my station, has gone out the window. I grip my iPod and give the Slovenian countryside desperate crazy eyes instead.
The train arrives in Ljubljana! I get off the train! It's okay! I'm here! Meanwhile, tell Communism I said hello, Ljubljana train station.
Now I just have to find my hostel. Directions. Exit station by main exit and go west.
Go WEST?! GO WEST?!?!
I'm not a compass. I didn't bring a compass. And I see no helpful signs saying 'For people wanting to go west, go this way'. The most helpful thing in my head is that Pet Shop Boys song 'Go weeeest, life is peaceful there. Go weeeest, da dee da dee dumm....'
The sun! I can navigate by the sun! Good lord, my intelligence knows no bounds. Locate the sun through the hazy cloud cover and realize that 3pm in Europe on daylight savings time is not a great time to start navigating by Old Man Tracker methods. Well anyway, if I were the sun, I'd be going....that way, I think.
I go that way. Find the right street. Dance madly in celebration in my head, continue dragging my suitcase and sweating profusely in reality.
The rest of the hostel directions are all in metres. 'Go 800 metres and turn right down Persenova'. Must have left my pedometer/measuring tape/wheelie measuring thing in my other pants. Bugger. So I keep going and going and going. 800 metres feels an awful lot like 3kms with a suitcase and too many layers on.
Found the hostel! It's quite nice! Brekky is included! Laundry is cheap! Internet is free! They have a TV with shows in English with Slovenian subtitles! The supermarket is nearby and huge and EXCITING!
Am absolutely exhausted by all the uncertainty, can't wait to go out tomorrow and explore and try to buy lunch. Am having SUCH fun!
Man, what a mental day! No, actually, just stressfully uncertain. And you all know how trying that is for me, Little Miss Prepared. Today was Salzburg to Ljubljana, Slovenia and I should've known something was up yesterday when I tried to reserve a ticket.
The girl in Salzburg printed out the times of when the trains went, but couldn't reserve me a ticket. She said not to worry, with my Eurail pass I could just get on without a reservation.
Turn up this morning for the 10.12 train which should go straight there. Decide that I would feel better if I had a reservation so have another crack at getting one. This time I pay E9.40 and get a ticket but still no actual seat and carriage number. Hmmf. Whatever.
The 10.12 train does not seem to be stopping in Ljubljana, in fact half the train might be headed for Serbia. That's all wrong! There's an announcement in German and then in English which says something about going to one end of the train or the other. No idea. Get on, ask a teenager and she is unsure whether it's the right one. How strange, a clueless 15 year old, they're universal. Jump off and ask some staff, am told it's the right one but I should be down the other end and at the next station I should move to the other end. Okaaaaay.
Ticket inspector comes round and he tells me that I just need to change in Villach, the train for Ljubljana will be on the other side of the same platform. Relax until I get to Villach. Train is where he said it would be! It's going to Ljubljana! I get on!
There are lots of announcements in German and/or Slovenian. Not in English. Who cares?! I am on the right train for the right city!
What is that expression about counting your chickens?
We stop in Lidernitznowhere and one man gets out of my carriage. Then the Norwegians get out. It's not my stop so I keep reading and listening to my iPod. Glance out the window. Everybody from my train is wheeling their suitcases across half a paddock and getting on a bus. WHAT?!
Call out to the last two girls getting off the train 'Excuse me, Ljubljana?' and point madly at the bus across the paddock. 'Yes.' RIGHT! Shove book and iPod into backpack and fling that over one shoulder, jacket and jumper in left hand, thump down the corridor with my thirty kilo suitcase in my right hand. Almost fall down the steep steep steep stairs and into the paddock. Hare madly across the paddock with my suitcase, but it's okay, I'm not last now and the ticket inspector did check the train to make sure no one was getting left behind.
So now I'm sitting on a bus still in Austria, I think, going I don't know where. All I can think is 'WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT? WHAT?' Sit and panic silently for awhile. Then see that we are on a highway and following all the signs to Ljubljana. Okay, it's just a bus replacing the train, will just stay on it until I get to Ljubljana. I can handle this. Ooh and now we're in Slovenia. Okay.
Bus pulls in to the station in Jesenice, I don't get off because I'm not going to Jesenice. Except again everybody except me is getting off, perhaps I should too. So we all get back on a train. It's not a nice train. It's very Eastern European or vintage Spanish. Again I sit there for a very long time, hoping I'm not catching a disease from the 1970s and thinking 'WHAT? WHAT NOW? I DON'T UNDERSTAND! NOBODY ELSE SPEAKS ENGLISH! WHAT WAS I THINKING COMING TO THIS SCARY PLACE?!' And yes, I only thought in capital letters, it was that kind of day, hence I'm quite exhausted.
Train eventually starts to move. We stop in one place we're meant to and one place we're not meant to. By this stage the timing is all off, which means my safety back up plan which I normally use of knowing when to get off based on what time the train is supposed to arrive at my station, has gone out the window. I grip my iPod and give the Slovenian countryside desperate crazy eyes instead.
The train arrives in Ljubljana! I get off the train! It's okay! I'm here! Meanwhile, tell Communism I said hello, Ljubljana train station.
Now I just have to find my hostel. Directions. Exit station by main exit and go west.
Go WEST?! GO WEST?!?!
I'm not a compass. I didn't bring a compass. And I see no helpful signs saying 'For people wanting to go west, go this way'. The most helpful thing in my head is that Pet Shop Boys song 'Go weeeest, life is peaceful there. Go weeeest, da dee da dee dumm....'
The sun! I can navigate by the sun! Good lord, my intelligence knows no bounds. Locate the sun through the hazy cloud cover and realize that 3pm in Europe on daylight savings time is not a great time to start navigating by Old Man Tracker methods. Well anyway, if I were the sun, I'd be going....that way, I think.
I go that way. Find the right street. Dance madly in celebration in my head, continue dragging my suitcase and sweating profusely in reality.
The rest of the hostel directions are all in metres. 'Go 800 metres and turn right down Persenova'. Must have left my pedometer/measuring tape/wheelie measuring thing in my other pants. Bugger. So I keep going and going and going. 800 metres feels an awful lot like 3kms with a suitcase and too many layers on.
Found the hostel! It's quite nice! Brekky is included! Laundry is cheap! Internet is free! They have a TV with shows in English with Slovenian subtitles! The supermarket is nearby and huge and EXCITING!
Am absolutely exhausted by all the uncertainty, can't wait to go out tomorrow and explore and try to buy lunch. Am having SUCH fun!
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