Well, I made it home. I woke up in London plenty early for the flight and since I'd used Air Canada's internet check-in, I even had an aisle seat (you can pick your seat assuming the plane's not full already). Just before 1:00 London time, the wheels lifted off and my stay in Europe ended. The movies being shown were Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, which I'd seen, some black and white movie where the guy from Spiderman and Reese Witherspoon enter this TV show (called Pleasantville) and introduce emotion (and therefore colour) to the characters, and Fantastic Four. A pretty good lineup, Pleasantville wasn't as bad as it sounds, and Fantastic Four wasn't as good as it could've been, but I already had heard that so it was good to see it free on a plane.
That said, I don't know if I'd use Air Canada again for a transatlantic flight. There were no problems, BUT from what I hear almost every other airline in the world (I believe Virgin was first) has personal TV and you can choose the movies, pause, etc. Nevermind looking around the stewardess to try and make out the charactersin a show you don't really want to see anyway. But I suppose I made it home safely and with the only mishap being further damage to my backpack (they broke a zipper) so personal TV's aren't really that important in the scheme of things.
Well, that's not quite true. They also changed my connecting flight from Calgary to Saskatoon. It was supposed to leave at 4:00 leaving me to arrive at 6:05 in Saskatoon. However, I'd not memorized the details and when I got to the gate and saw that the flight was leaving at 6:15, I just remember the 6:05 and thought it sounded right. With the time change, I reasoned, one hour difference, plus a 45 minute flight, that should be about right. Of course, it didn't occur to me until I was on the plane that the time change was an hour in the opposite direction (I seem to have problems with these time zones, don't I?) and too late to alert anyone in Saskatoon that I'd given them the wrong time.
Nevertheless, when we got home (my cousin Gus and his family was on the plane home from Athens as well) everyone was waiting and had eaten so I didn't feel AS bad. And it sure was nice to see everyone again. It IS nice, I should say. Aside from the fact that I wake up inexplicably and uncorrectably by 6 AM everyday, and occasionally am tired by 10 PM, there's not much jet lag to get over. It was a little weird to look on a map and see myself back in North America again, but things really haven't changed much. The restaurant's been renovated (again), there are a few things different around the city (HEL is closing, the College/Circle interchange is coming along and they've started digging for the new cinema) but otherwise, things are seemingly as I left them.
Oh sure, my car wouldn't start (I replaced the battery and it's fine now but I think it's running a little strangely), my old 373 phone number has been given to an old lady (who I feel sorry for this week), my cell phone doesn't exist (I'm going to get a new number today), the cabin is sold, my room was clean, Mariah is twice as tall, Nicole has moved out, and various other bizarre phenomena, but things are still the same.
I've spent the two days here running errands, getting replacement cards, a new license, sorting out papers, bills, and so on, and getting life back in order. I start work again on Monday, and then I will be back to where I was when I left almost exactly 7 months ago.
Now, so far as this site goes. A few things. First of all, I've finally gotten around to picking out my Favourite Photos of 2005. Check them out and please feel free to vote for your favourites so that the best come to the top. Or go through all the photos and pick out your own favourites. You may have noticed I added a link on the left hand side called "Site Feed". If you have a news aggregator, use FireFox, or have any other means of subscribing to feeds, then this may be something for you. It basically lets you know when I update the blog so you don't have to check. In FireFox, if you add it as a Live Bookmark, it will also tell you what the latest 'headline' is.
Which is where I'm going to leave it this time in order for a nice segue into my next post about a site you've probably heard about (it starts with a 'g' and rhymes with 'zoogle'). Meanwhile, I'll be working on getting everything done I said I would, more photos and so on posted, and other more Christmas related stuff. If I don't see you before then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all the best. Thank you for sharing this past year with me.Read More...
So, without a doubt, this is the last post I will be making abroad for a good span of time. For you see, it is Sunday night, 11:40 PM at this exact instant and I leave for home in exactly 13 hours. But, before I go and do a hastily thrown together recap of some of the good times that we've shared in this last 7 months of bloggery, let me complete my trip up until the time that I go to sleep tonight by recapping this final fantastic weekend (and the days leading up to it).
Wednesday. London, England. Temperature: +3C. Looked around London. Amazing Christmas displays, Oxford St. is lit with Christmas-light chandeliers. Carnaby St with multi-coloured flourescent lights and spinning mirrors that act to make it look like there are more bulbs than there really are and also give a cool effect. Regent St is covered with ice blue lights, flashing/'falling' snowflakes, and various other effects, not to mention characters from the highly anticipated Chronicles of Narnia. London really does shame every other city in the world (well, okay, I've really only been to a few cities at Christmas time, but New York was one of them) when it comes to lighting up for the season. Not that London itself is better than New York, of course, nor even that individual homes have much festiveness at all, even compared to Saskatoon, but the city lights are something to be seen. So, I walked and looked and shopped a bit the backpackers' way: walking near all the places with stuff you'd like to buy AFTER they've closed. Of course, with the humidity (not as bad as Dublin but still, to use a local expression, brass monkeys out there).
Thursday. London, Still. Temperature: What am I, an almanac? Thursday, I had to switch hostels from the Generator (big, lots to do, fun, but a little grotty) to a place called the Ace Hotel (they missed the 's' when they did the signage and decided to keep the name as a result, I think). It's not as central and on the other end of the centre, but not too far. I also wanted to go up to the north end and the Hellenic Bookstore and pick up the Greek text I ordered. Finally, today was the day I wanted to get to Oxford, since Friday I was meeting up with Catherine, a friend I met on Contiki in Scandinavia. However, the bookstore took longer to get to and to visit than anticipated, largely due to the great selection of Greek texts. I wound up buying the one I'd ordered anyway, but it doesn't hurt to look at the others. I also picked up some other Greek books that might help my sisters if they're so inclined, including Learn Greek in 25 Years, which seems overly optimistic for me but is quite a funny book (written in English thankfully).
So, by the time I was done there, and knowing as I did that I had to pick up my bag from the Generator, transfer to Ace, and so on, I gave up on the idea of Oxford today. I instead walked around nearby Camden Town, though I didn't make it to the market (I've seen my share anyway), and finally transferred hostels. By then it was 3:00 and I was meeting some friends (Simon and Tre) at 6, so I strolled around for awhile, looked into musicals (nothing playing that I especially wanted to see, so I didn't bother), and met them a little after 6 in a small pub off Tottenham Court. We had a drink there and then they took me out for Indian food, which was great because it was something I'd been wanting to do while in London anyway (they have a very large Indian population and a good reputation for it). The dinner was great, I tried a sample of a bunch and can definitely recommend Chicken Tikka Masala, quite the tasty dish. We went out to a bar and sat on the patio (so I guess it wasn't too cold, though even with the heaters on it wasn't exactly warm) and passed the evening. It was great to meet up with them here, both very cool people and great to chat/catch-up with. It was a good Thursday.
Friday. London. Etc. Friday was the day for me to go to Oxford. Catherine wasn't in until 9:00, and I woke up and got ready to go. I'm not sure where the time went, but by the time I'd wandered over to Victoria Station to catch the Oxford Tube (really a bus service), eaten, and so on, it was 1:30. Still, away I went, after all, I'd been told it was only a quick 30 min hop. 45 mins at the outside. However, whoever told me this must have forgotten to mention that this number applies to only ideal conditions, no traffic, and getting on at the very last stop in London and off at the first in Oxford, possibly using a plane instead of a bus. So almost 2.5 hours later, I was in Oxford. 4:00. It was already getting to be dusk, and most of the things I'd come to see, I wasn't going to be able to anyway. The College buildings were closed. The museum (called Ashmoleum Museum amusingly - to me anyway) was open but I didn't have time. And of course I'd travelled without a map and just got off the bus somewhere I thought looked remotely centralish. Given the duration of travel and my meetup at 9:00, I didn't have much time. So I wandered the town centre and bought some books for the way back/plane. It's certainly a nice town but a little quiet and there's not much to see in the evening, so that was the extent of Oxford for me. I got back right in time to meet Catherine (after a pretty nice dinner of sorts - tapas, actually - in a Spanish restaurant) and we went out for a drink or two and the weekend officially began.
Saturday. The Weekend. Oops, I mean London. England. Temperature: Really quite pleasantly warm. Finally Saturday had come and with it, the one thing I was most looking forward to in London: Franz Ferdinand LIVE(!!!!) First, of course, we had to pass the day. This proved relatively easy. We had breakfast at a restaurant on the corner, the first time I'd had eggs in who-knows-how-long, and, surprise surprise, walked around some more. Catherine, who's living in the UK at the moment, showed me some cool places she knew. But for some reason, even with the little drink we'd had (really, one beer and we shared a bottle of E&J Cabernet) we were both a little drowsy and fighting headaches. Stupid California. So, to get rested up for Franz, we went to a movie. I'd seen everything playing, so we went and saw Harry Potter since I'd missed the first (now having seen it I know) hour and a bit last time. It's a long but good movie, but with the ads in front, it was too long. I really hate paying as much as we do for a movie and then sitting through COUNTLESS ads. Trailers/previews, yes. Good. I love previews. But car ads, insurance ads, sometimes the same ad twice (for a shampoo, except once was with a blonde and once with a brunette). Then they had the nerve to talk about pirating and how it wasn't as good as the cinema. Newsflash: Pirates didn't pay £12 for the show (WAAAAY too much to begin with) and didn't have to sit through a SINGLE SECOND of crappy ads. But I'm ranting. Again.
With the movie out, however, we realized that thanks to these ads we were behind schedule, since we got out at 6:00, still had to get all the way up to Wood Green, and then take a shuttle to Alexandra Palace, where the doors opened at 6:30. So much for a spot right at the front, but we made it there by around 7:00 and only missed a few songs of opener The Rakes' set. We managed also to work ourselves to very near the border of the tall people so we were looking over a sea of short people not too far from the stage, right in the centre, close enough to see everything but far back enough to get a good mix of direct and speaker sound and see the screens. Next up was The Cribs, I believe, who were not bad at moments but need to learn a thing or two about dynamics. And then, stomach aching minutes later (for you see, I'd made the mistake of a beer at the show and there was NO WAY I was going to get to the washroom and back to my spot again so it was time for a hold-a-thon), the lights dimmed. Enter Franz Ferdinand.
The show was brilliant, and the more I think about it, the better it gets in my head. The venue is, incidentally, the courtyard of an old palace, not open air, but covered with a collapsable canopy that they opened a little to let some fresh air in and keep it from getting too warm. So, there's Alex Kapranos (a Greek/English boy, by the by) and the band and all of a sudden who needs the washroom anyway? The set was great, a good mix of old and new. The sound was flawless. And I've become a convert for their new record. Well, OK, I liked it, but now I love it. I don't remember the setlist by any means, but they played Dark of the Matinee twice (two versions of it), Take Me Out (the crowd went nuts, of course), Auf Asche, well, really, they covered it all. They opened the encore with Jacqueline. Well, Alex did. Then, intro finished, the lights came on and the band came in and it was one of the best encores out there. What a Saturday night!
Sunday. Today. Last Day In London. We went out for breakfast again, with me singing various Franz songs all day. We went shopping in earnest for people at home, though in the end I came away with nothing for them. It's hard to do when you haven't seen them in so long. I'll have to do that when I get back. We had a nice Italian meal, we walked in Hyde Park, and now I'm packed and typing this. Hyde Park was nice, but more open then I expected (I guess with all the Jack The Ripper history, I was expecting a lot of trees). So here I am ready to go home. Excited but somehow nervous. Or, well, that's not the right word, but either is excited. It will be weird to leave Europe behind and return to reality, but at the same time, I can't imagine travelling anywhere at the moment.
So I'll save the recap for later, I guess, and just say that it's been great and I'm looking forward to seeing many of you tomorrow and in the coming week. It's been a long time, too long (well, for most of you) :) and I hope we get that rectified soon. See you next time in Saskatoon, and the blogging will continue. Thanks for reading and travelling with me.
UPDATE: I am pilfering photos of others to at least spice up the blog a bit. I'm doing my best to use photos of things I saw and from this year so it's KIND OF like I took them. Read More...
Manchester was a great time, I finally got to meet Mike (aka Mike1) and visit with him. As has been the case with everyone I've met here, he was a very generous and great host and I definitely appreciated the place to stay and taking me around Manchester. I got in at about noon and after some food, we went back to his flat to drop off my backpack. Then, we headed out, by now, probably around two or three o'clock. And we went to the boulevard of a street, where a staircase was located, and went down into a place called The Temple Bar. Ironic, a little, considering that this was the place in Dublin that precipitated my loss of property. However, the experience was much more enjoyable, with all sorts of good music on the jukebox and various European beers at our disposal. Interestingly, the place used to be one of those under-the-street-washrooms. Don't worry, you wouldn't have guessed.
Anyway, with the music flowing the beer was not far behind. Yes, it is still mid-afternoon. There was a gig that night (of course, it's a Saturday after all) and so we left there a little later and went to see The Wolf Parade and some other bands, but the sound wasn't so great. Or perhaps my ears were clouded considering it was 8:00 and I'd been drinking with Mike since about 2. In any case, we stayed for them and the next band, which wasn't too bad either, and then I'm sad to say that I became quite drowsy. I can't keep up with these Brits, what can I say? Or perhaps it was jetlag from, you know, the lack of time zone change from my early morning flight from Dublin. Actually, I had had a late night and early morning, so that probably factored in, Anyway, instead of going out clubbing in Madchester, I wound up at their flat, fast asleep, halfway through a Family Guy episode. I woke up again at about 2:30 AM and watched some TV before Mike and his roommate came in. We hung out for a while, they filled me in on what I'd missed at the club, and then, since I'd already slept quite a bit, I watched some tv, read, and watched a movie before going back to sleep.
The next day, we went out to a pub again and watched a couple soccer (okay, okay, 'football') games. It was kind of cool to be sitting in a pub in Manchester watching a really great game between the famed Manchester United and the less famed Everton. It started, 50 seconds in, 0-1 but that was tied up in the second half and then Manchester took the lead. A great game, as I said. We all hung around (we were there with a bunch of Mike's friends), got some groceries for dinner/breakfast, and that was that.
Another night in Manchester and before I knew it, I was headed for York via train. The ground was covered in what looked to be frost but was actually snow. It took a while before I realized it was snow at all. I said goodbye to Mike, stopped in a bookstore to read a guide, and decided York was a good idea. So on the train I went. Leaving Manchester, the skies were cloudy and maybe the odd snow flake could even be seen if you looked long enough. But 10 minutes out, it became a full flurry, snow falling down like it was Christmas Day or something. I never imagined I'd see that in England. The ground and trees were covered, so clearly it had been snowing for a good spell. I also sat next to a nice old man named Dennis who talked with me about the UK and other things and the trip really did speed by.
I got to York around noon but it was a bitter cold and while I did walk around, even to the famous York Minister (which was closed, sadly - it is Europe's oldest gothic church and home also to the world's largest stained glass piece), but it was just miserable out and the snow was falling mostly as rain. I ate dinner and hung around in the hostel, then went out that evening for a bit before calling it a night. York is a nice town, though, and I was determined to see the rest of it before departing for Oxford the next day.
The next morning, I met Marci, a Vancouver business/tech journalist staying in the same room, who actually looks like a shorter Minnie Driver quite a bit. We both went around the town together and, after I discovered there were no available beds in Oxford for that evening, I decided to go to London instead and take a day trip out to Oxford. It turned out that she was actually also London bound and that there was an embassy party she was invited to. She managed to get me on the guestlist through a friend of hers at the embassy and so that was settled. We did explore the rest of York first, the old Viking tower, castle, and a bit of a walk through the Shambles and a free museum. Then, we picked up our backpacks, took a look around at the railway museum near the station (it is usually home to the famed Flying Scotsman, but it was out on loan and apparently actually in use again for a short time). Even so, there were some very impressive and massive old steam engines, if only I'd had a camera for grandpa. There was a particularly big Chinese one that for all I know is still in use today. They also had a replica of the Japanese bullet train.
Chugging along, after looking at old trains, we got on a new one bound for London and off we went. The timing was tight and her London flat is quite a ways out, so we just went to the hostel quickly and got ready there. Then, after a cheap dinner here that wasn't too bad considering, we went off to the party. It turned out to be a cabaret of sorts, first a comedian, then a pianist (she was originally from Saskatoon and good though her songs weren't exactly what the party called for), then another comedian who was spastic and annoying at which point it was time to leave. The party wasn't too great and there really wasn't much mixing going on for a party whose intent was supposed to be to meet other Canadians abroad. The MC, Craig something, was the only good point of the party, he was bloody hilarious. Well, that and being able to say I went to an embassy party, I guess. We hung out at an English pub for awhile and called it an evening.
Ah yes, the title. Well, first of all, there was that whole Temple Bar Manchester thing. Then, of course, my return to London, my final stop before going home, 7 months after arriving here in May. And finally, walking to the embassy, we happened to pass Russell Square, and more specifically the Royal National Hotel, where I first stayed when arriving in London 4 years ago. Not to mention a red phone booth I have a picture in and the pub where I tried (and hated) my first Guiness. Yes, many circles have been drawn this week, and I guess there'll be a few more to come yet.
In any case, the remainder of my time should be fairly active. I'm going to take a day trip out to Oxford, I have managed to get some tickets for Franz Ferdinand (there's another circle for you: I was going to see them in Dublin before I lost everything (which is why I left Belfast that day). I just missed them in Manchester. And now, finally, I'm set to see them). I'll probably go see a musical while I'm here, and I will be meeting some friends on Thursday and Friday. I can't believe that the days remaining are now in single digits. Quite likely I'll be reporting my final stories in person. See you soonRead More...
To conclude the drama, in the end, nothing was found (perhaps a leprechaun ran away with the stuff as depicted here). I was wholly unable to track down my camera, passport, or wallet, but am now ready to continue my travels. After all, there are only 10 days left - I have to make the most of them. The week itself was rather uninteresting, I spent a couple days working with the embassy, saw a few movies, read a few books, and walked around Dublin just looking. Not exactly the type of stuff that fills blog pages (yes, I hear you already saying that's exactly what has filled my blog for the past however long). By the end of Monday, as you know, I had cash in my pocket once again. By Wednesday, I'd finished my paperwork with the embassy, and I had a new credit card delivered to me. And today, Friday, I am now the not so proud owner of a replacement passport. Not so proud, but much uplifted. It was time for a celebration on Friday night.
There've been other distractions, thankfully. I visited the Guiness brewery, which was interesting in a way but in another, more accurate way, over priced. Still, I had a nice view of Dublin from the top of their 65 acre (!) facility. Well, sort of. It was nice, but because it's been so cold here and is humid to boot, it was mostly a misty haze beyond 2 km. I stopped in at St. Patty's Cathedral. I walked the old town. I've visited with Barry a few times and I must say that it's nice to have company. And of course, I've been visiting with the people in my hostel.
So the time has passed quickly given how little there is to do. I'm going to head off to Manchester tomorrow and see some other friends, and then from there, I'm not sure. Probably just travel around England seeing what there is to see and doing what there is to do, and making it to London on Thursday or so to spend my last weekend there. I guess I'm not done with that city after all. I do hope the weather warms a bit, it's humid and cold! And, yes, I witnessed a little bit of Dublin snow last night and this morning. Brrr. 17 degrees above back home isn't sounding too bad at all...
Update: I'm now in Manchester and should be meeting a friend, Mike, who's letting me stay with him, in an hour or so. Which is lucky because the hostels here are full. And I guess because I've been reporting negative things for the last bit, I'm coming across as unhappy, but really, aside from Friday, I've been about as happy as I could be under the circumstances. I've been enjoying a little down time, though it wasn't really my plan, it's just not very interesting to report. I am, as someone else said, still travelling Europe, after all, how bad could it be? And no, I'm not getting that for Christmas. JOHN.Read More...
So, I wasn't going to post about this, but thinking further, I realized I have no choice. The lack of photos was bound to draw suspicion. When I left you last, I still had my camera, wallet, and passport. I had finished typing my latest update and the internet cafe had failed to recognize my camera and so, no pictures. I got on the bus, which was an hour late, and headed for Dublin. It turns out there's a transfer at the Dublin airport, so I switch busses and head from Dublin Airport to the City Center. The time is 16:30, and I still have my camera, wallet, and passport. In fact, they are sitting on the seat beside me, with the exception of my wallet which is in my jeans' pocket. The camera bag, containing all the other items listed, is firmly attached to my belt - the passport and backup documents in a separate pouch because, well, when you wear something under your clothes on a four hour bus, it gets a little sweaty and gross.
So, as this bag is on my right and I'm listening to my iPod, a woman gets on and sits beside me. I have to move my stuff. The backpack goes on the floor, and I have to take my camera bag off my belt because it's on her seat. While I'm there, I decide that since I'm listening to my iPod, which is usually in the camera bag but now is not (leaving room for something else), I'll keep it out. I further decide that the wallet is uncomfortable sitting in my pocket, and so I put it in the camera bag. The ride goes on into the city and I have no idea where the hostels are. I know it's somewhere around a place called Temple Bar. That's all. Our first stop is very near to a pub called Temple Bar, but it was an unscheduled an unannounced stop and quite likely not where I should get off. But I started to worry. I asked the woman beside me if she knew what area I was best getting off at. She said City Center was the place. Well, a minute later, no warning, we're there.
With no warning given and no time, I hurriedly jumped off the bus. There was a tourist information right there on O'Connell St. and it was just closing (the time now was 4:55) and I managed to get a map from the security officer. Now where to go to get to my hostel. There was a Burger King on the corner, so I went over there to sit down and open the map. I didn't find out much except that Temple Bar is an area and not a single Bar. The street I knew a certain hostel to be on, I couldn't find. Well, I decided to wander down to the Temple Bar area myself and hope to stumble across something. I got up to leave the Burger King. Noticed anything?
Yeah, that's right! I wish I'd had you with me that dark Friday. For those who didn't, well, guess what I stopped mentioning I still had in my possession... my camera, passport, and wallet. Well, I won't lie, I wasn't as calm as I could've been, but I think I did pretty well in that I didn't fall to my knees with my hands splayed and screaming "Nooooo!" at the heavens. Which, if I may say, was exactly what I wanted to do. Instead, I rushed back to the tourist info and convinced the guard to open the door. I told him I'd left my bag on the floor of the bus and he went inside and had the ladies working call the bus company for me. Then he came back a few minutes later and told me to go across the street and ask for a man named Kevin. I did. It turned out that they'd put me in contact with the wrong shuttle bus company (there are two that get off at the exact same place) but Kevin continued trying to ring them for me. After all, my cell phone was on it's last dollar of credit (well, last pound) and I had not a single cent on me. Not one penny. Which ruled out the possibility of showing it to people and telling them it was all I had in the hopes of generating any sort of income.
They didn't answer, so I went to the bus stop where the busses going back to the airport halt on the opposite side of the street. While waiting, far too long, incidentally, I wound up talking to a family there about what had happened and the man gave me his phone to call their office again. No answer for a long time. Finally, they did answer, and I told them what had happened and they said there was nothing they could do but check the busses when they completed their loop through the city and got back to the airport. I insisted there SURELY must be a way to get in touch with the driver, though I didn't have a bus ticket (it was in my wallet) I knew I'd left at either 4:30 or 4:45. Nope, sorry.
I stopped the bus driver and told him my story. My bus should be along in another 30 mins, he told me, and I should call the office. Been there, done that, fine. Thank goodness, literally, the man who'd lent me his phone gave me 20 Euro which I'd never accept except, well, what the %^("*%^" was I going to do for food and shelter?! I probably could've cried at that point, and only found out his name was John. I don't think he'll ever read this, but if somehow he does, well, John, thank-you. Anyway, 30 mins, OK, so, what could I do? I waited the 30 mins. A few busses didn't even stop. One of them was probably him. 45 mins. Not him. An hour. Not him. I went into the police station at this point and reported my stuff lost. Conveniently, it was right behind me. Also conveniently, a friendly police officer (Paul Reilly) was working. He filled out the report with me after getting my story, and called the bus company for me again. I told him that I was going to continue waiting outside before I officially filed anything, and he actually came by and talked with one of the uncooperative drivers at one point (who, then, became much more helpful).
Still nothing, until one of the busses that stopped had a man whose name I NOW know is Zil. A Lithuanian man, and he actually took the trouble to call the driver he suspected it was, on his cell phone. If their bloody office (Air Coach is the perpetrator, incidentally) had done that in the first place, I wouldn't be in this situation. Unfortunately, no answer, but then he called someone in the know at their company, Brendan. I told Brendan (through Zil) that I'd lost a bag with my wallet and camera, but never said anything about a passport. After relaying this, Zil turned to me and said, "with a passport?" Well, I couldn't have been happier. Yes, with a passport. It has been found, I was told, and is on the bus. The driver has it at the front with him and it is safe. "What do I do?" I asked very thankfully, and he said that I could wait here and see if I caught the driver before he went back to the airport, and if not, they'd call once he got to the airport and send it back in on another bus.
To be continued next time... when the internet cafe is not about to close.
I spent my last day in London visiting the science museums in Kensington. I saw the museum of Natural History, which was more geared towards kids and then went to the actual Science musem which I wish I'd gone to from the start. As it was, I had to catch a 6:30 flight to Porto from Stansted airport, which is about 45 mins by train, plus be there early enough to check in, go through security and get to the gate. I'd left my backpack in the hostel as well, so I had to make the tube trip to get it, throw my stuff in, and tube back to Liverpool St Station. All said, I did the math and thought that I should leave my hostel with everything at about 3:30. Well, I didn't even leave the museum 'til then, though not for lack of trying. The emergency exits were well marked enough, but by the time I'd followed my intuition of where I came in, the "exit" signs, and finally asked for directions, I'd wasted a lot of time. So I spent the next hour rushing, running back to the hostel and rushing like a madman. I got there at 4:40, to find that trains only run every 15 minutes until 4, then it's every half hour. So I had to wait until 5. And my plane left at 6:35! I got to the check in booth just as she was closing down and managed to make my plane, which was delayed about 30 mins anyway. Whew.
Regrettably, in my haste to get to the gate, I didn't stop at the money changer, and so I had no Euro at all when I arrived into Porto at 9:30. The bus came at 10 though we were wondering if it would ever come, and I'd been talking with a Scottish girl about splitting a cab. Thankfully, she spotted me the €2.50 for the bus (or I'd either have to cab it or wait another hour for the next bus IF there were an exchange in the airport), and we also met some Canadian girls when we got to the town centre an hour later. Talk about a long bus ride. My hotel is just off the main square, and while small, is actually pretty decent. It's nice to have a little privacy and a TV to boot. I watched a little to wind down before bed. The picture here is a view from my window.
The next morning, I went to get my money exchanged and stopped by the internet cafe just long enough to find out where I was supposed to meet Rita and family and also answer a few emails. I met them at the Majestic cafe (on Santa Catarina), which really lives up to its name, and then we did a small walking tour. Paulo & Rita design and manufacture small ultra-modern household accessories, like coat racks, CD holders, lamps, and so on. They showed me their catalogue and my first thought was that my mom would love their stuff. Anyway, they took me walking and we strolled through the street market which is always an interesting experience. It was remarkably subdued, though, and apparently they are quickly dieing across Portugal and this is one of the few remaining.
We went for lunch on the other side of the river in Vila Nova de Gaia. Lunch was very authentic, which was really good of them, since they knew that as a Canadian, I was probably a wuss when it comes to food. I tried everything, though I asked that they not tell me what it was until after I'd tried it so that I wouldn't be biased. Well, unbiased didn't help, I really couldn't swallow some of it. Particularly the pig's ears (crunchy cartilige) and the chicken innards. The sauce and beens that the chicken stuff was in was tasty though. We also had some salad, beef, beans (a Brazilian dish), and other goodies that were perhaps less exotic but still genuine. The ties this country has with Brazil are quite strong, and there is a lot of music and other stuff imported from there. I snuck in to the washroom but mostly to pay the bill since they'd been so generous to show me around and had also bought me a snack for breakfast under somewhat dubious circumstances. The guy inside wouldn't hear of it which I thought was strange, but according to him, I was a visitor so I can't do that. Anyway, they bought me lunch which was far more than they needed to do, but they're very nice people, as I've found most Portugese to be.
Then we got in their van and they toured me around, which was definitely the highlight of my stop in Porto. They took me to a fishing village at the mouth of the river and near the beach there, though the water is too dirty to swim (and I should think to fish as well, but...). We grabbed a wake-up (big meal, port, and wine = tired) which I DID manage to pay for and hung out in the park after seeing even more of the city. Then they dropped me off back in the square and I made my way back to the hotel.
I'd no sooner got in then the Julia (Scottish girl) rung me and we went for a bite and met some of HER local friends. They were a fun bunch, but man do they stay out late. They met us around 11 at a dead bar (we thought it was unusually quiet and that SOME people should be out). They then took us to a much better lounge and then another and then a really crowded club. REALLY crowded. As in, shut down in Canada crowded. We got in past the line because they knew the bouncer and we hung out there until about 5:30. At which point, it was as crowded as ever. Yikes! They charge you cover when you leave, apparently, which is a great scam if you know nothing about it, €10! It apparently goes down depending on how much you drink. Which, come to think of it, is a pretty good way of doing it IF the people know that it works this way. I didn't. :)
The next day, I strolled around Portugal taking in the life and scenery and getting a little frustrated because I always ended up at the wrong altitude to cross the river. I was at the top of one that was closed, at the bottom of another with NO apparent way to get up for miles, and so I wound up climbing the rocks and slope to get up.
As I walked around the city, it became very apparent that there was a BIG soccer game on. I could hear yells and cheers from the cafes all across the city. Apparently, it was the finals for the Portugese championship, and Porto was playing their bitter rivals, Lisbon. The game was a draw at the end and so because Lisbon went in higher, they won. You'd never know it from the amount of people honking and yelling after the game, though. In fact, I grabbed a cab back to the main square since my feet were dead and there were no safe ways back up the hill (just small dark sidestreets of which I've heard some stories) for a long distance, and the square was closed because a tonne of people were there. It turned out to be quite the gathering and the police were on hand in force. They were chanting their team's name and cheering, and even when I finally left for the night I could still hear them in my room blocks away.
Today, it's already getting to be three and I've no idea where I'm going. I figure I'll just walk to the bus station and try to find out when a bus leaves or if I'll be able to get to a park in the north at all today. If not, I'll head to Lisbon. I saw some photos of the park in central Portugal and wasn't really interested in seeing it. Plus, with my limited Portugese, this country can be tough at times. Like, I ate lasagna twice in a row without meaning to, though the second time I didn't eat much because the hamburger in the inside was undercooked. But try to tell them that. :)
Yesterday and today, I'm just basically kicking around London. I strolled through Covent Garden, Chinatown, Soho, Oxford, and that general area yesterday, which was kind of nice. Just walking around without any real itinerary. Today, I'm off to see some of the museums and touristy stuff and then I'll probably go out to a club tonight.
I haven't taken a single photo since last time because, well, I already took most of the photos I wanted to here a few years ago. It's familiar here which means that things like the "Look Left" painted at crosswalks aren't quite so picture-worthy. Not that I'm complaining, but I AM looking forward to seeing some new things.
I've discovered that instead of giving discounts for filling seats on empty trains/planes/etc, they like to call it "last minute" and charge extra. So I've started trying to book ahead a little. I was looking at the cost of getting to Paris from London, but it's quite expensive. In fact, it was so expensive that I took another look and, bearing in mind that I want to see new things as well, found a cheap flight to Porto,Portugal instead. So that's my next stop. I also booked a cheap hotel for €20 there since the hostels I called were booked. I may look around and see if there's something cheaper, but I get in at 10 PM, so probably not.
Anyway, what else? Well, aside from walking yesterday, I had my first restaurant meal in a while, since I wasn't really feeling that great. It was basically mini ravioli in a clear chicken-based (I think) soup, but actually tasted better than it sounds, and it was only £3. Which may or may not be sarcastic, I'm not sure. I booked a spot at Les Miserables as well from a discount vendor, which was, really, a terrific seat in what they call "dress circle" here, or grand circle back home. And it was a fantastic performance worth every penny. I sat by an old couple from Denver who were very friendly and I met a guy and his girlfriend from Kalamata in the row ahead of me, who told me to look them up when I visit.
While I was waiting for the show, I sat in a pub and had a Guiness and some fish & chips. It was quite tasty, and I have to say that brown sauce and fries = yum. Anyway, I'm off to continue exploring London, I'll probably report back after Revenge of the Sith tomorrow night. Hope you guys enjoy it over there. I've got the soundtrack on my iPod and am loving every minute of it.
Today was basically every Star Wars geeks dream. Almost. I woke up this morning and didn't bother showering. Hey, I'm in London. Plus, with the sleep I got or didn't get last night, well, I didn't want to. Sue me. I went off to Leicester Square around 9:30, picking up a fruit salad for breakfast, a duck wrap for lunch, and a few other things to snack on during the day. This is when I realized just how much more expensive London is than Scotland. Groceries (admittedly, from M&S [it tastes of nothing]) were almost £10. So much for not spending too much money here.
Anyway, I hopped the tube to Leicester Square (£18 for a week-long pass) and checked out the square. There are a LOT of theatres (or rather, cinemas, although there are also a lot of theatres) here. All of them showing Star Wars movies. I checked out the square and was nearly arrested by a stormtrooper who didn't like being called "short". Since the orchestra didn't start until 1:00, I went and checked out Empire Strikes Back on one of their big screens. It was pretty huge. Additionally, they were giving away two tickets to the Revenge of the Sith premiere at every show! The odds were pretty great, I thought. At Empire, probably a 1 in 40 chance. I saw Phantom Menace later in the day and my odds increased to 1 in 20. Suffice it to say, I didn't win in either instance. I thought about buying other tickets and just coming in at the end, but with the cost of that and my usual not-winning streak, it didn't make much sense. Too bad, 'cause that would've been quite the thing. But I get to see it here on Thursday anyway (on opening night) and that's already more than I could hope for given how fast those tickets sold out.
Anyway, I watched Empire and went into the square for the London Philharmonic. They had their pieces set to film scenes, and it was really well performed as great as I'd hoped it would be. The only thing that could've made it better would be for John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Or playing The Imperial March. After that, there were some interviews with Star Wars stars Jeremy "Boba Fett" Bulloch, Chistopher "Count Dooku/Saruman/..." Lee, and Anthony "C3P0" Daniels <click for video>. Since I'd already worked my way to the front during the symphony, I stayed there and had the chance to ask them a question but I couldn't think of anything clever or insightful.
After that, it was either go sit by the red carpet or go see another show while waiting for things to kick off. I went and saw, as I said before, Phantom Menace. I don't understand how people like this less than Attack of the Clones, but what do I know? I got out and was NOT going to get in any position to see the parade clearly, but that was already the case when I went in. It had just gotten worse. So I snuck around to the other side and in a pub, and actually found a place behind the press where there were relatively few people. I bought a pint of Stella and waited by a window with a nice Scottish couple, who were very nice and made the time pass quickly. Since we were standing by the press, we got to see pretty much every star but it was hard to get pictures that turned out behind the glass and low light and constantly moving umbrellas. George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Anthony Daniels (who admitted that he has the first and last lines in the set of movies - hmmm), Kenny Baker, Christopher Lee, Ian MacDiarmid, Ewan MacGregor, and then some other people like Orlando Bloom and so on.
Some people got driven right to the door in three minivans and didn't go on the red carpet, no idea who, but my guess is that maybe it was a royal or two? And then I found this little cafe just off the square where I can upload my photos and resize and do whatever else I need to, so I thought, might as well. And that's why these last two blog entries are longer than a night in my hostel room. The photos are slowly uploading now.
Anyway, I should mention again since a few people I've managed to figure out were sending to a bad address that if you want to email me, it's just the name of this website (AKA my last name) at gmail.com. Some of you were clicking the link maybe? I had to do this to avoid spambots. They're everywhere.
Look forward to hearing from you, and I'm sure I'll be in touch much too soon.
No, this isn't about some woman in London. Or even a bunch of them. Rather, I've left Inverness and took the train to London. It was about four hours to Edinburgh and another four to London, and the time flew by. A lot of the rail ride was literally at the very edge of the coast and there were too many beautiful views to bother with pictures. I did try on a few occasions, but it wasn't pretty. I got to reading my Lonely Planet a bit, and also my Star Wars novel that I brought it along. A new one by Timothy Zahn. The sooner I finish it, the sooner my backpack is a little less crammed. I'm thinking of sending some stuff home, but we'll see. I have too much, that is clear. Packing to get out is a big headache. I really haven't found use for the sleeping bag yet, for example.
Anyway, train to London, arrived King's Cross about 10:30 Sunday night, and found that some of the lines were already shut down for the night. It wasn't too big a deal to catch another one to my hostel in Earl's Court, but it would be nice if there were something other than word of mouth posted about this. I made a passing joke about it to a girl standing beside me and got completely ignored. I felt like telling her that I certainly wasn't talking to her because I thought she was attractive in any way. If there were any ulterior motive, it might've been pity. But really, I was just being friendly. So she can be the London ho, I guess. For now at any rate.
I got to the hostel and checked in no problems. I'm in a room four flights up, which is how I will maintain my robust physique. That and little chocolate muffins. I'm rooming with four guys from Australia (sorry, that should be 'stralia). Four quite loud guys. Two of whom I interrupted on their last night with some Canadian women by sheer virtue of being in the room when they came in from the bar. I offered to leave for a little bit but once they came in, there really was no way to extricate myself. So I'm sure they love me. Though they certainly seem nice enough and probably a lot of fun, too. They just don't sleep is all. I had to plug in my iPod. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that one of the guys did sound effects for Jurassic Park. You should hear this man snore. It's unlike anything you've ever heard. Sporadic and then roaring. But that's it for today. Tomorrow... the Star Wars premiere.
Another change in plans, I stayed in Inverness today and skipped over Glasgow, because my bus got here too late yesterday for me to even get to the Loch. It's a small city, 40,000 people or so, and not much to see, so yesterday, I just kind of walked around and looked at stuff. I checked into a phone (because it'd be nice for calling home and booking hostels) but apparently there's no reasonably priced way to do that.
Last night we went out to a pub called Hootenany's with Celtic music downstairs (a really good time) and some decent though not good rock bands (put it this way, they had piano but also a wah-wah pedal). We didn't stay for the headliners, Girl Said No, but saw their soundcheck and weren't really impressed anyway. We wandered out of there and into a pub that was in a tiny close (what they call alleys here). There was a 50-something year old guy was playing Dylan, Cash, and other covers, and he did a really good job of interacting with everyone too. People there were in good spirits. And man, oh man, you should've seen this Spanish girl dancing.
Anyway, today I was up early (6AM) because I had a jet-lag fuelled four hour nap the night before, and then I went biking up to Loch Ness to see Ogopogo's cousin. I'm rooming here at the Eastgate hostel (pretty nice, £10/night) with a couple of Germans and so the three of us undertook this undertaking. It was a 29-mile bike up into the mountains, which gave some amazing scenery and a nice look at the smaller communities in Scotland which reminded me of Greek villages a little.
Needless to say, I was NOT in shape for this largely uphill venture, and I felt bad because I was behind my German counterparts for most of the ride. My legs will be nice and sore tomorrow. It took us about four hours to get to Drumnadrochit where Urquhart Castle is, and while it is easily the most pain I've experienced in a long time, it was worth it for the views. I hope the pictures do it justice. However, with it having taken so long, and mostly with the three of us being so tired, we knew we'd never make it back before nightfall, ESPECIALLY with the crazy highway that we had to ride on for awhile. No shoulder at all, and the cop/various drivers got rather ticked at us riding into traffic, though the cop did understand the point that we could at least see who was coming at us. Nonetheless, he made us switch sides. So, without digressing further, we were very lucky to run across a nice bus driver who stowed our bikes in the luggage area against policy. Largely because the bus was empty.
Tomorrow, I'm taking a train down to London, 1:30 to 9:30 or something to that effect. The plane is £40 more expensive and I'm in London for five days already, so I'm not in a particular rush, plus then I get to see some of the countryside. And it beats the 14 hour bus ride, thank-you.
I'll be in London for five days, and maybe I can upload some pics there. See you then!
I decided sometime this afternoon, between breakfast which featured, well, a bag of chips, a Red Bull, and a double scoop of ice cream, and lunch, which was a slightly more healthy honey maple ham sandwich, that today was my last day here. I might have the chance to see more of England later, but I probably won't be coming back up here. So tomorrow, I'm heading to Inverness and the infamous Loch Ness, possibly hitting some other small town too. I'm taking the bus, because it's miles cheaper. Edinburgh->Inverness->Glasgow costs me £10 (they have a pound sign on the keyboard!) whereas the train is £42. After my day in Glasgow, I'll take either a train or plane back to London. Oddly enough, planes are cheaper here, so even though I'd like to travel through the countryside, I'd rather not pay £85 to do so. I've seen plane tickets for £35. Weird.
Anyway, today was mostly hiking. I'll update this with pictures when I get to a computer where I can do that, but I took a hike up the Salisbury Craig and then to Arthur's Seat. It was quite a long journey, all said, and my knees in particular are weak as kittens. Malnourished kittens. Who've just run some sort of kitty obstacle course. After a big meal and some wine. With turkey. And an overdose of sleeping pills. Yeah.
But, it was still well worth it. It gives a spectacular view of the city and I got some nice pictures from there and met some locals. Who, I should say, are a lot more attractive and less red-headed than previously thought. There are quite a few nice looking girls just walking by on the streets all the time. I hate to say this for fear of Scottish reprisals (tarifffs, trade interference, etc), but I am shocked.
I came back and met one Mr. Andrew MacGregor for a couple pints and some Scotch scotch. An extremely fun guy to hang around and pretty knowledgable about the town, too. He was rattling on facts as we walked from pub to pub, starting at Cloisters, and apparently, his dad, Stuart, started the whole folk music revival (i.e. Celtic music) here in Edinburgh and had more than one bar named for songs he wrote. We stopped at one of them called Sandy Bells and they had the sheet music on the wall as well as pictures and newspaper clippings, Andrew looks like his dad so much that customers were insisting that he was, in fact, Stuart.
After I departed from Andrew, I went out clubbing, but sadly none of these young women whom I'd been noticing on the streets the past two days was at any of the places I went. Or was there but with some other guy. But it was fun, I saw some (poor) live music, a bar with five stories and a different theme for each. And bouncers who don't bounce.
That's my story tonight and I'm sticking to it. G'night over there.
Well, it's really day one, but it started yesterday. Yesterday at 8 AM. It's now today at 1 PM. And I really didn't get any sleep the night before. So three days. I thought for sure I'd sleep on the plane, but nope, I sat there with my eyes closed, and that was as close as it got. I must be congested badly because it felt like the blood vessels in my eye were going to explode on each landing.
Anyway, it's only noon here (5:30 AM back home I think) and I've got a day of exploring Edinburgh ahead of me. I'm not sure yet what I'm doing tomorrow. After seeing how beautiful Scotland looked from the air, I've pretty much decided that I want to see the north before I go down to London, but I'm probably meeting Andy (from FB.Net) tomorrow for a pint, so we'll see... Edinburgh, incidentally, is beautiful, really a gem. Castles and mountains and old stone buildings, immaculately clean, it's one of the nicest European cities I've been to. We'll see if that holds up once I start exploring a little more.
Well, I'm off. It still hasn't sunk in that I'm here and not going to be home for sometime, and I'm starting to get scared that it might never really sink in. Or it might take a few more days to get used to the idea. And some sleep. Speaking of which, I'm at Brodies' on High Street for anyone wanting to keep tabs. 9 pounds/night, seems pretty nice even if I do room with 12 people. :)
OK, now I'm REALLY off. I'll have pictures and stuff when I have more than just a few to upload, probably I'll do that from London.
