Wednesday 23 May - Cairo, Egypt
I was pretty much expecting this - waking up in what I would call "South Australia" or "SA"; in other words, "a pretty ordinary state". While we were on the Topdeck bus, a flu-like virus spread and claimed a number of victims. It hit Libe basically when we finished the tour and now it's got me.
(For those Adelaide readers out there - Libe bought a little book in Notting Hill, London, of the 25 things 'you must do' in Australia. One of those is go to Adelaide, called 'the city of festivals' in this book. If you look to the back of this guide, there's a list of the 10 top festivals down under. And - not one of them is in Adelaide!! There's nothing else in the Top 25 in Adelaide, by the way).
As it is, I'm pretty happy to be sitting here, 5:30pm Thursday, typing quietly on this keyboard while Libe has a mid-arvo nanna nap. Wind the clock back a day and a couple of hours and I was shitting myself, watching a near-full water bottle I'd just knocked off our balcony fall to the pool deck a mere six floors below. Luckily for me it missed everyone, but exploded on the tiles on impact, with a few drops getting on people in the vicinity. Anyway, after a few puzzled, probably angry looks up to me looking over the balcony, and a struggle to hear each other, I headed down to the floor deck to explain myself.
One of the blokes that got a little wet was a big bloke, probably of mediterranean descent. Even though I told him it was purely an accident, he still told me that he would have punched me if I'd thrown it, which I thought was a little uncalled for. Then there was some absolute tosser of a rich bloke, who was staying in the exclusive poolside rooms. This bloke was going on to me and the hotel staff that people like me, standing there in a t-shirt, boardies and thongs, shouldn't be allowed into hotels like this (at least half of the hotel's people were middle class people). I felt like absolutely shooting this bloke down and telling him to pull his head in but managed to restrain myself. Please, everyone, if I get to have some financial success in life, never let me carry on like this fruit loop.
It's time like these when you see people who are a little above the normal definition of 'well-off', that you admire those who remain down-to-earth and don't look down their nose at those with less in the bank balance. There's a few partners at PP that come to mind who are great at this and who are fantastic role models (and, I'm going to be brutally honest here, a couple that maybe do the opposite).
Anyway, the big picture is that no-one was hurt and lesson learnt. Move on.
Despite all this, we actually did see some remarkable things today. With a free day in Cairo, we slept in to catch up on the shut-eye that we'd been depriving ourselves on, and settled for a walk across the Nile and through downtown Cairo. Although we walked along streets teeming with people, we could count the number of fellow tourists we passed on one hand.
During the course of our walk, three men tried devious tactics to drag us cash-loaded (and also debt-loaded) tourists into their stores. The first of these joined us walking across the Nile from the corner of the Cairo Sporting Club, telling us how he was studying English at the local American University. After we'd crossed the bridge and spent five minutes chatting, this bloke tried to drag us into his 'sister's art gallery', where he was apparently headed, to give us his email address. We'd said we wait on the corner of the bridge for him to come back with it. Well, clearly he didn't want to give us that but to get access to our spending, as instead of heading to the gallery, he gave us as bad a look as I've seen and walked back over the Bridge.
The remaining two sellers weren't as persistent but still tried to drag us into their stores. Libe & Ryan 3, Cairo's sellers 0.
Speaking of counting things on one hand, I think I can use the other hand, if not the same one, to count how many local men we passed that didn't check Libe out. I also got a few comments that I was a 'very lucky man'. Not sure how Libe didn't manage to get any comments that she was a 'very lucky girl' from the Cairo women, but I best not say this to Libe in case she gets the idea to brag a little.
Downtown Cairo is a madhouse. Cars, broken down cars, taxis, broken down taxis, apartment complexes, people, and shops all create an atmosphere that you've just got to experience in life. This city is certainly more hectic and more impoverished than the most similar city to which we've been on our ventures, Lima.
Crossing the roads was great fun. We simply had to do as the locals did and walk between moving traffic to get across the bitumen. It was like playing Frogger, although in the real life version there's more reliance on the moving cars to dodge the 'frogs'. I did feel briefly that my life might have been danger when one rusty old Toyota ute, overloaded and with four tyres far from fully inflated, swerved at too high a speed and looked like it was about to lose control. Fortunately the driver was skilled enough to regain composure and pass us by safely.
We had plenty of taxis drive up next to us and beep, looking for our patronage, even when the car in front was another 'Fred & Maxy' (rhyming slang) that had just done the exact same thing.
After a big day for the wallet yesterday, it was Coco Pops for tea tonight. We might be the first people staying in the Sheraton in Cairo to have done this.
One of the really amazing experiences here has been listening to the singing (actually, it's more like a wail) that occurs during prayer time. It's almost an eerie feeling listening to this being broadcast over loudspeakers when one of the quintuplet of scheduled prayer times comes during the day. You cannot help but admire the Muslim's dedication to their faith - it's just got to be considered that the overwhelming majority of the followers of this religion are not the radicals or extremists that dominate our media coverage and therefore our perception, but are instead peaceful, accepting, normal people.
There's a photo of myself & Libe counting some Egyptian currency in out apartment. A lot of the currency, particularly the smaller denominations, is really worn and tattered, so much so that (1) I haven't seen an equivalent anywhere elsewhere, and (2) I doubt it would be accepted as legal tender in any other country. In fact, I'd back Dad to be able to print up some dollar bills that would have more chance than these to change hands (don't laugh - I remember how successful he's been with footy tickets).
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday 24 May - Cairo to Luxor, Egypt
We're supposed to be on holiday. However I'm tipping we would have had less early starts if we were back smashing chargeables at PP. A 7:30 flight this morning so up early to check in to an Egypt Air flight to Luxor.
You may have heard of Luxor before. It was once called Thebes. Australians may know of it from the classic INXS song, "Listen Like Thebes".
Driving through the Cairo streets at 6am in the morning on the way to the airport showed a different side to the city. The lack of traffic on the roads was a little surprising; it's almost as if the city doesn't come out until 7am, when they all hit the streets as one big traffic jam. I believe the reason for the shortage of people was due to prayer times.
Cairo airport was a bit of a schemozzle really. Security, as with the rest of the city, is pretty much just a token gesture. No bags are individually weighed: they are all just thrown on the conveyor belt. No ID checks performed. Metal detectors are set off but little to no investigation is made of the reason. And you get the feeling that your bag could very easily head in the wrong direction, although the fact that Egypt Air has a monopoly over the domestic market and thus there's not a massive amount of flights departing makes it less likely.
Luxor is a very different place to Cairo. Whereas Cairo is a huge, crowded city, Luxor is more like a Geelong or smaller. Its population is dependent on the Nile for its survival and thus all live within a few kilometres of the water, and the majority within one. Our hotel, the Sonasta St. George, was again a luxury accomodation, well and truly above the standards that we've been used to since leaving the US at the end of March.
Having just dropped our bags at the hotel and kept moving, attempting to get today's sightseeing done by the time the day reached its hottest point, we headed off to the Karnak Temple with our guide Salwa. The Temple was once the construction playground of the kings & pharoahs in Egypt's greatest dynasties, thus the statues, pillars and walls were the finest built in their time. Although many of these items have not been able to withstand the test of time, many of them still exist in a condition either near their original state, or in a good enough to be enjoyed and to be considered as to how they would appear in their heyday.
In particular, the huge pillars of the Great Hypostyle Hall make you wonder how ancient buildings techniques were able to result in the erection of such tall, heavy things, particularly given the artwork (e.g. hieroglyphics) that have been delicately carved into them.
After this it was off to the smaller Luxor Temple, around which the present day city has been built. The Temple was similar in splendour but on a much smaller scale. In their prime, a 3 km long avenue of sphinxes joined the Karnak to the Luxor Temples, the relics of which can be seen outside both temples, and at a few spots in between.
It was back to the hotel to escape the afternoon heat and to do a little blogging. In the early evening, as the sun went down behind the desert mountains on the other (western) side of we headed back to the Karnak Temple for a night sound-and-light show, taking us through the building and history of the Temple and the region.
Not surprising, today was a clear, hot day in Luxor. 'Not surprising' particularly given the fact that the last time it rained here was 5 years ago, and then it was only for 10 minutes. In fact, we can't recall seeing a cloud in the sky since arriving here. Somehow I don't think being a meteorologist here would be a hard job.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Friday 25 May - Luxor, Egypt
Libe woke with a cold today - that means both us will have noses running like Kenyan marathon runners. I'm guessing also that the desert dust won't have help. There seems to be a higher than usual proportion of people here coughing and spluttering.
Surprise, surprise, no cloud in the sky when we left the hotel at 7am to fill the morning doing the tourist things. By 8am it was already in the mid 30s with a scorching sun, and there were plenty of tourists drenched in sweat.
The photos I've taken driving around the local roads will show just how dry it is here. Put it simply, all of Egypt that is south of Cairo (as Luxor is) is only suitable for civilisation because of the Nile. North of the capital it is a little more hospitable as the river splits into the delta (ie. into a number of rivers) before they hit the Mediterraien Sea. However Luxor and its surrounding communities are certainly in desert country.
The first stop was Dier al Bahari, or the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This structure is in as good a condition as any other ancient Egyptian relic in the country, although much recent restoration work has been required.
From there it was off to the nearby Valley of the Kings. The dynasties of Egyptian kings & pharoahs that preceded those that are buried in the Valley, were those that had built pyramids for their tombs. However, these pyramids had been raided by tomb robbers, and the precious goods that were meant to accompany the deceased into their afterlife were stolen. The later dynasties, having learnt from their predecessors' mistakes, were buried here in the this very non-descript places. Unfortunately their plans did not come to fruition and their possessions were stolen, for which historians believe was due corrupt guards and officials. The tombs in the valley were not discovered until a donkey put his foot in a pot hole early in the 20th century. Since then, many tombs have been discovered, with more expected to be found. Perhaps the most famous of them, the tomb of Tutankhamen, evaded the treasure-seeking grave robbers and thus remained intact until discovered in the modern age.
Anyway, we had a look at 3 of the tombs (this is what your 70 egyptian pound ticket allows you), and on the advice of Salwa had a look at the burial sites of Ramses I, III and IV. There is nothing in the tombs apart from the hieroglyphics on the walls; that, combined with the structure of the tombs, is what you're there to see. They were hot and humid inside but well worth a look; a huge amount of effort was placed into ensure all corridors and chambers were decorated to the hilt.
The nearby Tombs of the Workers were decorated with slightly less fanfare, and their artwork depicted the life of the common ancient Egyptian, rather than the god-like lives that were used in for the kings & pharoahs.
After a couple of hours back at the hotel for a bit of R&R, we decided to fly solo and head for a walk around the city itself. Now out of all the sightseeing, touristy-stuff we've done in Egypt (and around the rest of the world for that matter), I still think walking through city streets, away from the tourist areas, are the best parts of the trips. It was no exception here in Luxor. I've got a heap of pictures from the markets, which start off in the more tourist-orientated areas, where, as you can see, we were hassled by most shopkeepers to come into their stores, by males of all . ages. After a few hundred metres however, the markets cross a road and turn into the local markets. Instead of a brick pavement, the path turns into dust. Rubbish is everywhere. Animals roam between the stalls, being led by thin men wearing tattered, dirty clothes. Kids dart around, playing with their next door neighbours. A number of stores have underdeterminable skinned animals hanging out the front, covered with flies, their meat gradually being cut off and sold to local women. Cheap, basic clothing is sold in probably every second store. And then, when we nearly reach the end of the markets, Islamic prayers are broadcast via loudspeaker throughout the city, dominating the sound.
I can't put into words the feeling of walking through these places - it's as good a life experience as you can get in my (humble) opinion.
Having tea on the balcony of the hotel, we were able to get some cracking photos of the sun setting over the Nile, some of our best work behind the lens to date.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 26 May - Luxor to Cairo, Egypt
Our tour effectively finished this morning with our return flight to Cairo. We've got one more night here and then it's off to HK.
We're both still 'Barry Attling' with a cold. I've got 'Gwen Stefani' (no doubt!) that we'll improve, hopefully during the time we spend in Honkers (although it does suffer from a big air pollution problem). I'll have my last Pavarotti (tenor, read 'a tenner', as in ten dollar note) that I'll still have this cold in a years time though. As Libe will attest to, I'm forever blowing my nose.
Lost most of the day in transit with a 9:30 flight, and a transfer back to the Cairo Sheraton. Managed to be allocated a 'junior' suite for our sole night here on this visit, which consisted of two large rooms, both of which would easily be a decent room in their own right, and a decent balcony where I was able to hook into someone's wireless internet (god bless 'em). Both Libe & I agreed that this place was big enough to be turned into a one-bedroom apartment. We would only use one of the rooms anyway.
The only real thing we did today, particularly with Libe not feeling 100% (as mentioned before in this column she gets more ill than me), was to grab a taxi for 30 Egyptian pounds to the Khan al Khalili markets. This equated to about AU $6.50 - in Oz this probably would have cost between AU $20 and $30 itself. Taxis do have meters here but they're not used in commercial reality - you have to haggle with the driver before getting in and agree to a price at which you hand your safety over to him.
The markets were no less as great an experience than those in Luxor yesterday. The sights, smells and sounds make you feel as alive as you ever will. For the first ten minutes or so a young local man walked us through the less tourist orientated area of 'the Khan' - not that there was any area that was really 'tourist orientated' anyway. For most of the time that we were being led around by him we were fairly suspicious of what his motivation was, and where he was taking us, despite he insisted that he was an English student and wanted no money, but instead was merely practising his English. As it turns out, it appeared as though he was genuine (a first for Egypt to date).
The true markets themselves is one long, major dirt-covered laneway, surrounded by many smaller alleys. The intoxicating smell of fresh spices dominated the area. Libe managed to buy herself a ridgy-didge Egyptian womens shirt for about AU $9 (there's a photo on the Picasa site of Libe wearing it), and an Alabaster candle holder for about the same, which were being flogged at other places for 2 to 3 times as much.
All of the stores, which are all run by men, which is consistent with almost all other businesses here, appear to sit on the ground floor of the shop owner's residence. Hence I'm sure we walked past a number of families who spend their week here together, with the children unlikely to be receiving schooling and the wife unlikely to have employment. The sellers here, although very eager to pass a comment to the passing tourist, especially Libe, were certainly not as aggressive as those in Luxor in trying to drag you into their store.
Back to the hotel to have a quiet feed in its Italian restaurant. As usual, we've loading up on bottled water here at about AU $2 each. The Egypt water is heavily chlorinated and thus not pleasant tasting, although I've swallowed enough pool water over the years for my body to be acclimatised to it.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Tuesday 15 May - St Johann in Tirol, Austria to Prague, Czech Republic, via Salzburg, Austria
Stopped in Salzburg on the way to Prague. Salzburg is best known as the birthplace and childhood residence of Mozart. As Justin kept insisting, Mozart the world's first great rockstar, a man of booze and womanising. The city was also the scene of numerous shots from The Sound of Music.
One of Austria's major quirks, if not a pet hate of its people, is that it regularly gets confused with Australia, and its residents often gets asked if they have a pet kangaroo. Hence one of the typical Austrian souvenir t-shirts proclaims that there's 'No Kangaroos in Austria' - although the North Melbourne Football Club haven't ruled out playing a few home games here apparently, which will lead to a lot of merchandise being tossed out. I've managed to add one of these shirts to my ever expanding t-shirt collection.
After a decent game of Phase 10 (a fun card game - well worth googling the rules and having a crack at it) on the bus, we arrived into Prague in the early evening, before jumping onto the bus and heading into the rain-soaked city for a night walking tour. We've been blessed with the weather ever since leaving the US at the end of March (the majority of that country really does have a cold climate), but the heavens opened on us tonight. As a result, a lot of the Topdeck crew were by concerned about not getting a wet backside than enjoying Prague. This really was a pity as Prague might be the most beautiful city we've been to yet. I've certainly got it at the top of my list.
Fair to say that of all the countries in our travels of the world, the Czech Republic was probably the one that I'd had the least pre-conceived ideas of; both myself & Libe really did not know anything about its history, its architecture or its people. It was interesting to see that no less than a couple of hundred metres after crossing the border from Austria, there were liquor stores and 'nightclubs' (that really should read strip clubs) on the side of the road.
The country itself has a tragic history. After WWII, it was controlled by the Soviet Iron Curtain. The opening of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 was the start of the independence conversion, which was completed a month later, and it wasn't until 1993 that Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Thus, for a lot of the 20th century the Czechs experienced the same oppression of freedom and human rights that any of the other Soviet annexed countries went through.
In the last 20 years, the country has managed to become a fully fledged capitalist nation in its own right, complete with the neon signs, fashion stores and McDonalds restaurants that accompany this economic ideology. However, these things have developed in Prague in harmony with the long-existing architecture, thus making the city very easy on the eyes.
To dry off, Justin led us to an underground bar to sample a bit of Absinth, the secondary local alcohol special. Beer is number one - the country is home to perhaps the best kinds of beers on the planet, and some of the cheapest beers as well (half a litre of Budvar, the original Budweiser but with a far better taste, costs AU $2). Absinth is number two - 50% alcohol content, with a taste like methylated spirits, as asserted by Libe. This stuff is lethal - one of the chemicals that may be used in the drop can bring on hallucinations. Three or four shots of this is enough to bring anyone undone, as it did to a number of our group - Rachel, both Justins, Laura, Pete, Phoung the major self-victims. Two and a half was enough for me and I was well on my way (but not as bad as this other lot).
Drinking absinth requires:
* dunking a teaspoon overloaded with sugar into the alcohol
* holding the spoon above the glass and lighting it
* letting it burn for about 10 seconds or so
* dropping the sugar into the absinth
* blowing out any flames that make it into the glass
* rapidly stirring the sugar into the absinth
* skulling this concotion
* following up with at least a sip of your chaser (e.g. a beer) to wash the taste out of your mouth.
We've got numerous videos and pictures of these antics - many of which make for hilarious viewing, and may help a few piece together memories of the night.
Staying at the funnily-named Hotel Dum, in the outer suburbs of the city. The hotel was once a commission flat block (of which most people in the communist country would have lived in), but since the Soviets moved out, there has been little apparent effort to change the structure of the rooms to suit a hotel. Thus, we're basically staying in a two-bedroom apartment, albeit with very few furniture and appliance pieces.
Has been some funny town names discovered in the last week or so. Austria has the town "Wank" (clearly the locals are known as Wankers) and "Bad Aussee"; Switzerland has 'Wankdorf". Yet to confirm if there really is a town called "Schizenhausen" though.
The German language clearly has the most long words in its vocabulary. Fifteen, or even twenty, letter words are not uncommon. For the true hard-core fans (like myself, and Justin (tour guide) as we've discovered this trip) It brings to mind an episode of The Simpsons where a baby Ranier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) sings his fathers middle name...
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Wednesday 16 May - Prague, Czech Republic
Not trying to imply that we've been harshly done by the weather to date, but the Tuesday's rain had cleared by the morning, to the relief of us all. Because Prague really is a beautiful city and one which deserves to be admired.
Took in the Old Town, the oddly named Lesser Town, the Charles Bridge which separates these two, the Prague Castle and its St Vitus Cathedral, and the Jewish Quarter. I'm happy to go on record that this is one place that is well worth a visit on any trip through Europe. And it's very accessable too - being pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the continent.
The Old Town is, obviously, the oldest part of the city. It is centred around the Old Town Square, which itself is dominated by the dual-towered Tyne Church. Rumour has it that this was Walt Disney's inspiration for the Disney emblem - if you check the pictures out you can see this could be true.
The Charles Bridge crosses the Moldau River, connecting the Old and Lesser towns. On it are many statues, which has made the Bridge world famous. During the day the Bridge is full with artists displaying their various works, particularly paintings of the city, buskers and tourists.
The Prague Castle sits on Castle Hill, overlooking the Lesser Town side of Prague. It really is its own little community, complete with superbly manicured gardens, a great view over the entire city and St. Vitus Cathedral. The Gothic Cathedral is probably only beaten by the larger ones in the rest of Europe for beauty. We climbed its tower to get an even better and higher view of the city.
One of the little known-facts about Prague, and particularly its Jewish Quarter, is that Hitler planned to exterminate all Jews apart from a few, who would remain alive but captive here in this small area of the Prague CBD. He wanted it to be a museum of the race of people that he'd "rid" Germany of.
Not that there would be anything of such nature anyway, but there's been nothing to paint Hitler and the Nazi's in any more of a positive light while on our trip.
Although the country has been free of Soviet rule for nearly two decades, there are still elements of the country in which the communist habits linger. In particular, client service leaves a lot of room for improvement; there would have been no motivation to provide as good a service as possible when everything was state run under the Russians, and it appears as though there's been no rapid rate of change since.
At least the exchange rate here is quite good - 1 Aussie dollar gets you 17 Koruna. Having said that, apart from alcohol the other consumer goods here (e.g. fast food, clothes, internet access) are as dear as most other places, apart from maybe London. It feels a bit weird to hand over 90 units of the local currency for a Big Mac Meal, however it translates to only AU $5.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday 17 May - Prague, Czech Republic to Berlin, Germany
Managed to get ourselves a train ride from Prague to Berlin for 3000 Koruna, which translates to about AU $175. Prague was a place, although not massive on sightseeing options, I'd be happy to come back to again for sure.
The Czech Republic capital is towards the northern part of the country, thus isn't wasn't a long trip to reach the Czech-German border. As expected, when nearing the border, the architecture and scenery becomes very German, and there is widespread use of the German language on signs. Although the German language is difficult, the Czech dialect is no better - it ranks among the hardest to learn. Luckily for us, the understanding of English in both countries is pretty good.
The train ride itself was as comfortable as anything we'd had so far, largely due to getting a carriage booth all to ourselves, complete with closed curtains. Having said that, we did miss the sociable nature of the Topdeck bus & its crew.
First impression of Berlin is that architecturally it's the most modern city in Europe we've seen. It has a lower percentage of 'old' buildings than any other Europe city - 90% of the city was destroyed by the WWII bombings.
However, it's a very cosmopolitan city, and one in which we already feel comfortable by day's end. This could sound silly, but upon asking someone who hasn't been to Germany of the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word Berlin, there's every chance that the Nazis will be mentioned. I might have previously amongst this crowd. Now, I'd be far more inclined to think of the modern, fashionable city.
Like other places in Europe, smoking bans are not a common thing. The German restaurants and bars that we patronised tonight were generally pretty smoky.
One of the things I've already noticed is that there's plenty of blonde-haired men around - perhaps they should be nicknamed 'Riewoldts'. Blonde hair on males is something we just haven't seen to date in this continent.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Friday 18 May - Berlin, Germany
Nice to have a kip in this morning. When on the tour, early starts were the norm, either because we'd be jumping on the bus, or we'd be getting into the city as early as possible to give us a full day in there. However, here we've booked ourselves into a basic but solid hostel in the middle of the city.
Started with a free walking tour of the city (although everyone tips the guide at the end of the trip). For anyone coming to Europe in the future, these tours, which are run by foot and by bike, are in a number of cities (e.g. Paris and Amsterdam), and are super value.
The tour started at the Brandenburger Tor (Gate). This was once the boundary between both East and West Berlin, and the communist Eastern bloc and the capitalist Western countries.
Just the other side of the Tor to the Paris Square is what looks like an ordinary road. What is different about this road however is the double brick line in the bitumen. This line runs through the city and shows where the Berlin Wall stood, less than 18 years ago now.
Nearby is the Holocaust Memorial. It's a square full of big concrete blocks which are exactly the same apart from their height. As discussed by the guide, the Memorial is a very vague tribute to the Holocaust - it's up to the visitor to look and walk through it, and to interpret its message in their own way.
Very little of the Berlin Wall remains standing. We were able to see a section of it still standing, complete with graffiti originating from the days when it still split the city. This wall wasn't too hard to climb over by itself. However, there were a couple of other obstacles to be beat to get into the West. Apart from the Soviet soldiers on the other side (a little known fact is that the wall was built by the Soviets a metre on their side of the division), if you made it into West Germany, those that you left behind (family, friends etc) would be harassed, tormented or subject to even worse actions, in order to find out your whereabouts, or for punishment for your actions.
There's little that remains of Checkpoint Charlie, a major crossing point between East and West. Typically only the soldiers and officials of the two areas were able to cross over freely.
Surprise, surprise - Berlin has a cathedral / church which is amongst its major sights. This has become a theme throughout Europe. Like others versions of these buildings throughout the continent, we climbed its tower for a better view of the city. From up high, Berlin is similar to London, albeit with little of the centuries-old buildings and squares that make London appealing. The German capital is really flat, with a massive urban sprawl.
Late in the arvo we jumped on a cruise down to Spree River. There wasn't a great amount of sightseeing on the river, due to the lack of spectacular attractions on or near the rivers' banks. It was still nice to sit on the boat on a beautiful Berlin day though. And we managed to find ourselves sitting next to a couple of Aussies - from Ivanhoe, one even a Cats supporter.
From there we had a quick drink at Monbijou Park, effectively Berlin's beach, at which many of the city's young and hip had spent the afternoon sitting in the sun socialising and drinking.
One area that the locals haven't really impressed us in is customer service. You tend to wait a while to get served, and then are dealt with coldly and rudely (the attitude of the bloke in the cafe at lunch today was startling). In particular, last night at the Mexican restaurant, the staff lied a couple of times to Libe as to what she was drinking, clearly not a Savignon Blanc!If you're going to try to pull the wool over someone's eye on wine, particularly the difference between Savvy B and the best, I doubt they could have chosen a worse target. The best service we received during our stay in Berlin was at the Indian restaurant tonight, where the staff was all Indian.
A question for Melbournians - we don't we have more river ferries? Brisbane and Sydney have a lot. There's plenty in the European cities too. Perhaps we could have a few more travelling up the Yarra from both east and west, easing the traffic burden on the roads?
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 19 May - Berlin, Germany to Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Up and at 'em early to catch a train to Amsterdam. The Berlin station from which these trains run is certainly very swish, having only been completed in the last year.
As with other countries that are in the European Union, there's no border between Germany and the Netherlands, apart from a sign welcoming you to either, depending on which direction you're headed. The scenery gradually changed from German to Dutch; although the land itself is pretty similar, the quaint Dutch houses and communities are more easy on the eyes than Germany with its higher proportion of industry.
Arrived in Amsterdam mid arvo. We're staying right in the middle of the Red Light District, and have made it into the city handily enough for a Saturday night. Anything goes here for sure. Our street is full of sex stores, some of them gay. The Red Light District is smack bang in the centre of the semi-circular canal system, through which we drifted through until the early evening.
Amongst the pictures you'll see a cart with a bunch of blokes on it. These carts are available for hire, come equipped with a keg and tap, and are able to be pedalled throughout the city at your wish. They looked like great fun for a group of people - which, here, tend to be Pommy men. Unfortunately the harder drinking laws of Oz make these an unattractive busines venture down under.
Despite finishing our Topdeck cruise on Thursday, we were able to join the group (who had continued on to the Rhine Valley for one night, and were headed back to London to finish their journey in the morning) on a night cruise through the canals. Twenty five euros each got us about 90 minutes of all-you-can-drink. We may have sat down for the first five minutes or so to take in the sights, but after that it was all about the booze and the chin-wag (chat).
Afterwards, the group drifted off to a local bar 'The Last Waterhole' (the first non-Aussie pub our great driver PJ had taken us to) for a few drinks. On the pictures website there's a few photos of 'Streets of Amsterdam at night', taken when we were walking from this pub back into the Red Light District. Apart from PJ apparently relieving himself in a fountain in Leidseplein Square, there's also pictures of one of the urinals that sit in the streets, in which Damien decides to empty his bladder while Laura pretends to do so. This is absolutely typical of the anything-goes Amsterdam ethos. There are a few of these urinals throughout the city, and there's nowhere provided nearby to wash your hands either. Should a women really want to use these, there are funnels available in nearby stores (e.g. pharmacies) to assist.
The Red Light District really isn't the place to bring children. Apart from a abnormally high proportion of bars and 'cafes' (which are places where you are legally able to buy and smoke marijuana), there's also countless sex shops and strip joints. To top it off, there's also (1) a number of live sex show 'bars' and (2) plenty of buildings in which prostitutes in lingerie stand in the front windows offering their services. These windows are generally lit up with a red light, hence the name of the district. Pictures of the prostitutes aren't allowed to be taken - it would have been great to take a few to capture the sight of these women plying their trade.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 20 May - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
My updated AFL Ladder - the Hawks probably aren't the best team in the league, but they're at the top. Time to get on the bandwagon, like Luke Carey will - they're going to be a great side in years to come. The Cats are gradually climbing their way up, but (1) we've got a few hard weeks to come, and (2) there's not much difference between us and a lot of teams below us.
Hawthorn 43
Adelaide 39
Western Bulldogs 39
West Coast 37
Collingwood 35
Port Adelaide 29
Essendon 28
Fremantle 27
Geelong 26
Kangaroos 24
Sydney 24
Brisbane 24
St. Kilda 22
Carlton 8
Melbourne 0
Richmond 0
A change of hotel in the morning as we were only able to lock in St Christopher's Inn for one night. It was still enough to see a couple of Poms launching into their first beer while we settled down for breakfast at the Inn.
A free day so we basically just drifted around the city until we had a planned bike tour of the nearby countryside at 4pm. Managed to put AU $300 on the CC at H&M, loading up on clothes before we do a similar thing in Honkers in a week or so.
H&M has two major celebrities with whom they are designing and branding merchandise at present. One is Madonna, and the other is our very own Kylie. Amongst the pictures taken today in Leidseplein Square you'll see a massive billboard poster of Ms Minogue - this picture, and other similar ones, of Kylie have been seen throughout Europe; Austria, Italy and Czech Republic come to mind.
A large number of buildings in Amsterdam are leaning, either to the front or to the side. Some of these are architectural defects and / or caused by being built in a canal system, while others have been used to allow residents to pull furniture up to the top floors via a rope and pulley system.
As stated above, at 4pm we left for a bike tour of the city's outskirts and the surrounding countryside. It's amazing actually that as soon as you pass throught the inner suburbs, immediately you're in a rural area dominated by farms. Thus, there's no real urban sprawl here, at least on the side of the city that we rode out of. The heavens opened on us shortly after setting off, dampening the enjoyment somewhat, but it was still enjoyable.
This city is great - it's certainly a very liveable one, although I haven't really got a great idea of what the living costs are like. The architecture reminds me of London more than any other place. Also, unlike Venice, the canals here don't smell.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 21 May - Amsterdam to Cairo via London (Heathrow)
Another day basically lost in transit. That's what you've got to expect when, like us, you try to cover so many places in such little time.
Smoking is allowed everywhere in Amsterdam. It's OK, but can get on your nerves, particularly when you're eating and someone on the table next to you reaches into their pockets and pulls out a Winnie Blue / Darren Gaspar.
The city layout here is abnormal but good. A couple of decades ago the city's management had a choice to make - let those looking to build the skyscrapers and facilities associated with a typical finance district completely reshape and remodel the city's inner, including its canal system, or to build them on the city's outskirts and retain those features that are the heart and soul of Amsterdam. Thank God they chose the latter. Anyway, the OBDs (that's 'Outskirts' Business Districts, rather than 'Central') isn't that far from the city anyway - as proof, we rode out of the city yesterday, which only took us half to three-quarters of an hour.
Security at Amsterdam airport is a little different, too. This probably won't surprise anyone who knows the Dutch as they are an intelligent, yet eccentric breed. The screening points at Schippol airport are at each gate (yep, there's a crapload of them). For the passenger, it reduces the queues usually associated with the one central checkpoint. For the airport, it obviously means a large increase in their security staff.
Despite losing the day in the air, we haven't avoided a hit to the wallet. First came the fee associated with Libe's excess baggage (a low 20kg per passenger is allowed in Europe) at $10 per kg, then came the unexpected cost of a Visa at Cairo Airport (which was only $25 anyway). When you add in the costs of airport shuttles, it all adds up to contemplation that maybe a train from Amsterdam to London could have been a cheaper option without adding a ridiculous amount of time to the day.
Can airport baggage handlers please not throw bags onto the conveyor belts? Is it too hard to not place them on the belt instead? Had wry smiles on our faces watching the handlers at Schippol chucking bags like Murali today, knowing full well that the passengers of the entire plane could see them from the gate.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Tuesday 22 May - Cairo, Egypt
Even though it's pretty much been used every day, the alarm on my mobile hasn't failed in waking us up. Until this morning. Supposed to be in the hotel lobby at 9, at 9:20 we got a call from out guide waking us up. Happy to admit it was pilot error, probably brought on by getting to sleep around 3am. Funny thing is, generally I set the alarm and then double check that it's set correctly. Ironically, last night was the first night I can remember not double checking.
Once we got going, 40 minutes late, it was into our private van (just us two, the driver and the 'Egyptologist' Ahmed who was to be our guide for the day) and off to the Pyramids of Giza, the last standing of the seven wonders of the ancient world. First however was an eye-opening drive west across the Nile into Giza. Fact: there are actually two cities here - Cairo on the rivers' east bank, Giza on the west. Combined, the two have a whopping population of 18 million, basically the same as Australia. The roads here are just amazing. If we thought Peru was madness, there's no doubt that they are more crazy here.
Pedestrians just have to walk over the road between moving traffic, relying on the approaching cars to control their speed sufficiently to allow them to reach the other side. There's no stopping on behalf of the driver - they may stop to a crawl (at the most), but they'll still be moving. There are lanes marked on most roads, but not all, with some 4 to 5 lane roads going unmarked, and effectively becoming about 8 lanes. Even when they are marked, they are pretty much useless. There's also horse and donkey-pulled carts to dodge. Fair to say that the thoroughfares were just about worth the trip to Cairo themselves.
On the side of the roads is a third world country. I think Peru is more developed than this place. There is poverty everywhere, and the only accomodation buildings that have been completely built are the international hotel chains. The rest remain to be completed and/or extended.
The Pyramids are on the outskirts of the city, but as the pictures of them will portray, they're basically in their own little dusty desert. They stand on the top of a small hill, visible for a long way from the city. They are amazing structures, particularly due to the volume of the rocks used to build them. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the one at the front as you drive in and also the largest, was built between 2,600 and 2,500 BC, is made up of 2.3 million blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tonnes each. Some stones weigh up to 15 tonnes. Standing 136 metres high, it was once covered with limestones which made the four sides absolutely flat, rather than the stepping stones appearance that it carries today. It's a pity that the limestone was not still there, however it was used to build other buildings in the city.
Inside the pyramid is a row of chambers, approximately 1 metre in height, however due to queues we decided to give these a miss.
Some idiot who was having a great morning (after an alarm clock mishap earlier) decided it would be a great idea to leave a smudge on his camera lens. As a result, basically all of the photos here are blurry in the middle. Also, in his haste to get out the door, left his sunnies at home, hence in the blurry photos often he's got his eyes closed or pulling a very weird face in order to deal with the blinding glare. Disappointing stuff really.
The other pyramids are the Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, and the smaller Queens' and Royal Family pyramids. The photos taken with a number of the Pyramids in the background were taken from the plateau reached by driving past them. Here we also jumped on a camel for a 5 minute ride, just to get a feel for being on one in the vicinity of these awesome structures. I'm happy to go on record as saying that they beat Geelong's infamous Pyramid. These ones have been around for a hell of a lot longer AND are yet to fall over.
There's another famous landmark here as well (come to think of it, there's one of these in Geelong as well). In front of the Pyramids stands the Sphinx, carved out of the hillside. The statue remains a mystery - the head is of King Khafra, however the lion body might be as much as 2,600 older than the face. Unfortunately the giant cat (perhaps named after the Sphinkter, Brett Spinks?) isn't in the best of condition, lacking a nose like a well-worn boxer, however restoration work is keeping it in a reasonable state.
Future advice of Cairo / Egypt visitors is to be wary of the shopping etiquette here. When you are taken into a luxury items store e.g. art, jewellery, fragrances & oils, you are generally expected to buy something. Although if you're hard enough you can easily walk out, the staff won't give up on you until you've produced some Johnny Cash. When you walk in, a staff member will be ready to show you around, try to flog you a few things and follow you through the store when you're browsing. You've just got to be a hard-nosed shopper or you'll part with a bit - we're lacking in the former area (of being hard-nosed), so now we're lacking in the latter as well.
Took in the Egyptian Museum after a quality lunch. The museum is dominated by the relics from Tutankhamun's tomb. No pictures allowed unfortunately; quizzingly, only the sunlight coming in through the windows may evaporate the inks & dyes, not the flashes. This museum should hold more items, however the Poms stole most of it and are flogging it beside the Thames.
Museums, sights and hotels here have metal detectors. Like the road lanes, they are useless as they go off everytime and typically you just walk straight through. If you're stiff, you cop a half-hearted pat down from security.
This might be a record - Ahmed the Egyptologist was engaged 10 days after meeting his fiance in a lift. I'm not feeling any pressure though (that might change when I get back to 36 Girton).
Tipping is massively the go over here. There's not much that I'm 'over' on these travels, but this is one of them. We've only been here 24 hours but already I've been through more than I'd plan to go through $$ wise in perhaps 3 days. Might be back to eating 'crap on toast' or the wallpaper when we get home....
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Stopped in Salzburg on the way to Prague. Salzburg is best known as the birthplace and childhood residence of Mozart. As Justin kept insisting, Mozart the world's first great rockstar, a man of booze and womanising. The city was also the scene of numerous shots from The Sound of Music.
One of Austria's major quirks, if not a pet hate of its people, is that it regularly gets confused with Australia, and its residents often gets asked if they have a pet kangaroo. Hence one of the typical Austrian souvenir t-shirts proclaims that there's 'No Kangaroos in Austria' - although the North Melbourne Football Club haven't ruled out playing a few home games here apparently, which will lead to a lot of merchandise being tossed out. I've managed to add one of these shirts to my ever expanding t-shirt collection.
After a decent game of Phase 10 (a fun card game - well worth googling the rules and having a crack at it) on the bus, we arrived into Prague in the early evening, before jumping onto the bus and heading into the rain-soaked city for a night walking tour. We've been blessed with the weather ever since leaving the US at the end of March (the majority of that country really does have a cold climate), but the heavens opened on us tonight. As a result, a lot of the Topdeck crew were by concerned about not getting a wet backside than enjoying Prague. This really was a pity as Prague might be the most beautiful city we've been to yet. I've certainly got it at the top of my list.
Fair to say that of all the countries in our travels of the world, the Czech Republic was probably the one that I'd had the least pre-conceived ideas of; both myself & Libe really did not know anything about its history, its architecture or its people. It was interesting to see that no less than a couple of hundred metres after crossing the border from Austria, there were liquor stores and 'nightclubs' (that really should read strip clubs) on the side of the road.
The country itself has a tragic history. After WWII, it was controlled by the Soviet Iron Curtain. The opening of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 was the start of the independence conversion, which was completed a month later, and it wasn't until 1993 that Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Thus, for a lot of the 20th century the Czechs experienced the same oppression of freedom and human rights that any of the other Soviet annexed countries went through.
In the last 20 years, the country has managed to become a fully fledged capitalist nation in its own right, complete with the neon signs, fashion stores and McDonalds restaurants that accompany this economic ideology. However, these things have developed in Prague in harmony with the long-existing architecture, thus making the city very easy on the eyes.
To dry off, Justin led us to an underground bar to sample a bit of Absinth, the secondary local alcohol special. Beer is number one - the country is home to perhaps the best kinds of beers on the planet, and some of the cheapest beers as well (half a litre of Budvar, the original Budweiser but with a far better taste, costs AU $2). Absinth is number two - 50% alcohol content, with a taste like methylated spirits, as asserted by Libe. This stuff is lethal - one of the chemicals that may be used in the drop can bring on hallucinations. Three or four shots of this is enough to bring anyone undone, as it did to a number of our group - Rachel, both Justins, Laura, Pete, Phoung the major self-victims. Two and a half was enough for me and I was well on my way (but not as bad as this other lot).
Drinking absinth requires:
* dunking a teaspoon overloaded with sugar into the alcohol
* holding the spoon above the glass and lighting it
* letting it burn for about 10 seconds or so
* dropping the sugar into the absinth
* blowing out any flames that make it into the glass
* rapidly stirring the sugar into the absinth
* skulling this concotion
* following up with at least a sip of your chaser (e.g. a beer) to wash the taste out of your mouth.
We've got numerous videos and pictures of these antics - many of which make for hilarious viewing, and may help a few piece together memories of the night.
Staying at the funnily-named Hotel Dum, in the outer suburbs of the city. The hotel was once a commission flat block (of which most people in the communist country would have lived in), but since the Soviets moved out, there has been little apparent effort to change the structure of the rooms to suit a hotel. Thus, we're basically staying in a two-bedroom apartment, albeit with very few furniture and appliance pieces.
Has been some funny town names discovered in the last week or so. Austria has the town "Wank" (clearly the locals are known as Wankers) and "Bad Aussee"; Switzerland has 'Wankdorf". Yet to confirm if there really is a town called "Schizenhausen" though.
The German language clearly has the most long words in its vocabulary. Fifteen, or even twenty, letter words are not uncommon. For the true hard-core fans (like myself, and Justin (tour guide) as we've discovered this trip) It brings to mind an episode of The Simpsons where a baby Ranier Wolfcastle (aka McBain) sings his fathers middle name...
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Wednesday 16 May - Prague, Czech Republic
Not trying to imply that we've been harshly done by the weather to date, but the Tuesday's rain had cleared by the morning, to the relief of us all. Because Prague really is a beautiful city and one which deserves to be admired.
Took in the Old Town, the oddly named Lesser Town, the Charles Bridge which separates these two, the Prague Castle and its St Vitus Cathedral, and the Jewish Quarter. I'm happy to go on record that this is one place that is well worth a visit on any trip through Europe. And it's very accessable too - being pretty much smack-bang in the middle of the continent.
The Old Town is, obviously, the oldest part of the city. It is centred around the Old Town Square, which itself is dominated by the dual-towered Tyne Church. Rumour has it that this was Walt Disney's inspiration for the Disney emblem - if you check the pictures out you can see this could be true.
The Charles Bridge crosses the Moldau River, connecting the Old and Lesser towns. On it are many statues, which has made the Bridge world famous. During the day the Bridge is full with artists displaying their various works, particularly paintings of the city, buskers and tourists.
The Prague Castle sits on Castle Hill, overlooking the Lesser Town side of Prague. It really is its own little community, complete with superbly manicured gardens, a great view over the entire city and St. Vitus Cathedral. The Gothic Cathedral is probably only beaten by the larger ones in the rest of Europe for beauty. We climbed its tower to get an even better and higher view of the city.
One of the little known-facts about Prague, and particularly its Jewish Quarter, is that Hitler planned to exterminate all Jews apart from a few, who would remain alive but captive here in this small area of the Prague CBD. He wanted it to be a museum of the race of people that he'd "rid" Germany of.
Not that there would be anything of such nature anyway, but there's been nothing to paint Hitler and the Nazi's in any more of a positive light while on our trip.
Although the country has been free of Soviet rule for nearly two decades, there are still elements of the country in which the communist habits linger. In particular, client service leaves a lot of room for improvement; there would have been no motivation to provide as good a service as possible when everything was state run under the Russians, and it appears as though there's been no rapid rate of change since.
At least the exchange rate here is quite good - 1 Aussie dollar gets you 17 Koruna. Having said that, apart from alcohol the other consumer goods here (e.g. fast food, clothes, internet access) are as dear as most other places, apart from maybe London. It feels a bit weird to hand over 90 units of the local currency for a Big Mac Meal, however it translates to only AU $5.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday 17 May - Prague, Czech Republic to Berlin, Germany
Managed to get ourselves a train ride from Prague to Berlin for 3000 Koruna, which translates to about AU $175. Prague was a place, although not massive on sightseeing options, I'd be happy to come back to again for sure.
The Czech Republic capital is towards the northern part of the country, thus isn't wasn't a long trip to reach the Czech-German border. As expected, when nearing the border, the architecture and scenery becomes very German, and there is widespread use of the German language on signs. Although the German language is difficult, the Czech dialect is no better - it ranks among the hardest to learn. Luckily for us, the understanding of English in both countries is pretty good.
The train ride itself was as comfortable as anything we'd had so far, largely due to getting a carriage booth all to ourselves, complete with closed curtains. Having said that, we did miss the sociable nature of the Topdeck bus & its crew.
First impression of Berlin is that architecturally it's the most modern city in Europe we've seen. It has a lower percentage of 'old' buildings than any other Europe city - 90% of the city was destroyed by the WWII bombings.
However, it's a very cosmopolitan city, and one in which we already feel comfortable by day's end. This could sound silly, but upon asking someone who hasn't been to Germany of the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the word Berlin, there's every chance that the Nazis will be mentioned. I might have previously amongst this crowd. Now, I'd be far more inclined to think of the modern, fashionable city.
Like other places in Europe, smoking bans are not a common thing. The German restaurants and bars that we patronised tonight were generally pretty smoky.
One of the things I've already noticed is that there's plenty of blonde-haired men around - perhaps they should be nicknamed 'Riewoldts'. Blonde hair on males is something we just haven't seen to date in this continent.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Friday 18 May - Berlin, Germany
Nice to have a kip in this morning. When on the tour, early starts were the norm, either because we'd be jumping on the bus, or we'd be getting into the city as early as possible to give us a full day in there. However, here we've booked ourselves into a basic but solid hostel in the middle of the city.
Started with a free walking tour of the city (although everyone tips the guide at the end of the trip). For anyone coming to Europe in the future, these tours, which are run by foot and by bike, are in a number of cities (e.g. Paris and Amsterdam), and are super value.
The tour started at the Brandenburger Tor (Gate). This was once the boundary between both East and West Berlin, and the communist Eastern bloc and the capitalist Western countries.
Just the other side of the Tor to the Paris Square is what looks like an ordinary road. What is different about this road however is the double brick line in the bitumen. This line runs through the city and shows where the Berlin Wall stood, less than 18 years ago now.
Nearby is the Holocaust Memorial. It's a square full of big concrete blocks which are exactly the same apart from their height. As discussed by the guide, the Memorial is a very vague tribute to the Holocaust - it's up to the visitor to look and walk through it, and to interpret its message in their own way.
Very little of the Berlin Wall remains standing. We were able to see a section of it still standing, complete with graffiti originating from the days when it still split the city. This wall wasn't too hard to climb over by itself. However, there were a couple of other obstacles to be beat to get into the West. Apart from the Soviet soldiers on the other side (a little known fact is that the wall was built by the Soviets a metre on their side of the division), if you made it into West Germany, those that you left behind (family, friends etc) would be harassed, tormented or subject to even worse actions, in order to find out your whereabouts, or for punishment for your actions.
There's little that remains of Checkpoint Charlie, a major crossing point between East and West. Typically only the soldiers and officials of the two areas were able to cross over freely.
Surprise, surprise - Berlin has a cathedral / church which is amongst its major sights. This has become a theme throughout Europe. Like others versions of these buildings throughout the continent, we climbed its tower for a better view of the city. From up high, Berlin is similar to London, albeit with little of the centuries-old buildings and squares that make London appealing. The German capital is really flat, with a massive urban sprawl.
Late in the arvo we jumped on a cruise down to Spree River. There wasn't a great amount of sightseeing on the river, due to the lack of spectacular attractions on or near the rivers' banks. It was still nice to sit on the boat on a beautiful Berlin day though. And we managed to find ourselves sitting next to a couple of Aussies - from Ivanhoe, one even a Cats supporter.
From there we had a quick drink at Monbijou Park, effectively Berlin's beach, at which many of the city's young and hip had spent the afternoon sitting in the sun socialising and drinking.
One area that the locals haven't really impressed us in is customer service. You tend to wait a while to get served, and then are dealt with coldly and rudely (the attitude of the bloke in the cafe at lunch today was startling). In particular, last night at the Mexican restaurant, the staff lied a couple of times to Libe as to what she was drinking, clearly not a Savignon Blanc!If you're going to try to pull the wool over someone's eye on wine, particularly the difference between Savvy B and the best, I doubt they could have chosen a worse target. The best service we received during our stay in Berlin was at the Indian restaurant tonight, where the staff was all Indian.
A question for Melbournians - we don't we have more river ferries? Brisbane and Sydney have a lot. There's plenty in the European cities too. Perhaps we could have a few more travelling up the Yarra from both east and west, easing the traffic burden on the roads?
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 19 May - Berlin, Germany to Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Up and at 'em early to catch a train to Amsterdam. The Berlin station from which these trains run is certainly very swish, having only been completed in the last year.
As with other countries that are in the European Union, there's no border between Germany and the Netherlands, apart from a sign welcoming you to either, depending on which direction you're headed. The scenery gradually changed from German to Dutch; although the land itself is pretty similar, the quaint Dutch houses and communities are more easy on the eyes than Germany with its higher proportion of industry.
Arrived in Amsterdam mid arvo. We're staying right in the middle of the Red Light District, and have made it into the city handily enough for a Saturday night. Anything goes here for sure. Our street is full of sex stores, some of them gay. The Red Light District is smack bang in the centre of the semi-circular canal system, through which we drifted through until the early evening.
Amongst the pictures you'll see a cart with a bunch of blokes on it. These carts are available for hire, come equipped with a keg and tap, and are able to be pedalled throughout the city at your wish. They looked like great fun for a group of people - which, here, tend to be Pommy men. Unfortunately the harder drinking laws of Oz make these an unattractive busines venture down under.
Despite finishing our Topdeck cruise on Thursday, we were able to join the group (who had continued on to the Rhine Valley for one night, and were headed back to London to finish their journey in the morning) on a night cruise through the canals. Twenty five euros each got us about 90 minutes of all-you-can-drink. We may have sat down for the first five minutes or so to take in the sights, but after that it was all about the booze and the chin-wag (chat).
Afterwards, the group drifted off to a local bar 'The Last Waterhole' (the first non-Aussie pub our great driver PJ had taken us to) for a few drinks. On the pictures website there's a few photos of 'Streets of Amsterdam at night', taken when we were walking from this pub back into the Red Light District. Apart from PJ apparently relieving himself in a fountain in Leidseplein Square, there's also pictures of one of the urinals that sit in the streets, in which Damien decides to empty his bladder while Laura pretends to do so. This is absolutely typical of the anything-goes Amsterdam ethos. There are a few of these urinals throughout the city, and there's nowhere provided nearby to wash your hands either. Should a women really want to use these, there are funnels available in nearby stores (e.g. pharmacies) to assist.
The Red Light District really isn't the place to bring children. Apart from a abnormally high proportion of bars and 'cafes' (which are places where you are legally able to buy and smoke marijuana), there's also countless sex shops and strip joints. To top it off, there's also (1) a number of live sex show 'bars' and (2) plenty of buildings in which prostitutes in lingerie stand in the front windows offering their services. These windows are generally lit up with a red light, hence the name of the district. Pictures of the prostitutes aren't allowed to be taken - it would have been great to take a few to capture the sight of these women plying their trade.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 20 May - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
My updated AFL Ladder - the Hawks probably aren't the best team in the league, but they're at the top. Time to get on the bandwagon, like Luke Carey will - they're going to be a great side in years to come. The Cats are gradually climbing their way up, but (1) we've got a few hard weeks to come, and (2) there's not much difference between us and a lot of teams below us.
Hawthorn 43
Adelaide 39
Western Bulldogs 39
West Coast 37
Collingwood 35
Port Adelaide 29
Essendon 28
Fremantle 27
Geelong 26
Kangaroos 24
Sydney 24
Brisbane 24
St. Kilda 22
Carlton 8
Melbourne 0
Richmond 0
A change of hotel in the morning as we were only able to lock in St Christopher's Inn for one night. It was still enough to see a couple of Poms launching into their first beer while we settled down for breakfast at the Inn.
A free day so we basically just drifted around the city until we had a planned bike tour of the nearby countryside at 4pm. Managed to put AU $300 on the CC at H&M, loading up on clothes before we do a similar thing in Honkers in a week or so.
H&M has two major celebrities with whom they are designing and branding merchandise at present. One is Madonna, and the other is our very own Kylie. Amongst the pictures taken today in Leidseplein Square you'll see a massive billboard poster of Ms Minogue - this picture, and other similar ones, of Kylie have been seen throughout Europe; Austria, Italy and Czech Republic come to mind.
A large number of buildings in Amsterdam are leaning, either to the front or to the side. Some of these are architectural defects and / or caused by being built in a canal system, while others have been used to allow residents to pull furniture up to the top floors via a rope and pulley system.
As stated above, at 4pm we left for a bike tour of the city's outskirts and the surrounding countryside. It's amazing actually that as soon as you pass throught the inner suburbs, immediately you're in a rural area dominated by farms. Thus, there's no real urban sprawl here, at least on the side of the city that we rode out of. The heavens opened on us shortly after setting off, dampening the enjoyment somewhat, but it was still enjoyable.
This city is great - it's certainly a very liveable one, although I haven't really got a great idea of what the living costs are like. The architecture reminds me of London more than any other place. Also, unlike Venice, the canals here don't smell.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 21 May - Amsterdam to Cairo via London (Heathrow)
Another day basically lost in transit. That's what you've got to expect when, like us, you try to cover so many places in such little time.
Smoking is allowed everywhere in Amsterdam. It's OK, but can get on your nerves, particularly when you're eating and someone on the table next to you reaches into their pockets and pulls out a Winnie Blue / Darren Gaspar.
The city layout here is abnormal but good. A couple of decades ago the city's management had a choice to make - let those looking to build the skyscrapers and facilities associated with a typical finance district completely reshape and remodel the city's inner, including its canal system, or to build them on the city's outskirts and retain those features that are the heart and soul of Amsterdam. Thank God they chose the latter. Anyway, the OBDs (that's 'Outskirts' Business Districts, rather than 'Central') isn't that far from the city anyway - as proof, we rode out of the city yesterday, which only took us half to three-quarters of an hour.
Security at Amsterdam airport is a little different, too. This probably won't surprise anyone who knows the Dutch as they are an intelligent, yet eccentric breed. The screening points at Schippol airport are at each gate (yep, there's a crapload of them). For the passenger, it reduces the queues usually associated with the one central checkpoint. For the airport, it obviously means a large increase in their security staff.
Despite losing the day in the air, we haven't avoided a hit to the wallet. First came the fee associated with Libe's excess baggage (a low 20kg per passenger is allowed in Europe) at $10 per kg, then came the unexpected cost of a Visa at Cairo Airport (which was only $25 anyway). When you add in the costs of airport shuttles, it all adds up to contemplation that maybe a train from Amsterdam to London could have been a cheaper option without adding a ridiculous amount of time to the day.
Can airport baggage handlers please not throw bags onto the conveyor belts? Is it too hard to not place them on the belt instead? Had wry smiles on our faces watching the handlers at Schippol chucking bags like Murali today, knowing full well that the passengers of the entire plane could see them from the gate.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Tuesday 22 May - Cairo, Egypt
Even though it's pretty much been used every day, the alarm on my mobile hasn't failed in waking us up. Until this morning. Supposed to be in the hotel lobby at 9, at 9:20 we got a call from out guide waking us up. Happy to admit it was pilot error, probably brought on by getting to sleep around 3am. Funny thing is, generally I set the alarm and then double check that it's set correctly. Ironically, last night was the first night I can remember not double checking.
Once we got going, 40 minutes late, it was into our private van (just us two, the driver and the 'Egyptologist' Ahmed who was to be our guide for the day) and off to the Pyramids of Giza, the last standing of the seven wonders of the ancient world. First however was an eye-opening drive west across the Nile into Giza. Fact: there are actually two cities here - Cairo on the rivers' east bank, Giza on the west. Combined, the two have a whopping population of 18 million, basically the same as Australia. The roads here are just amazing. If we thought Peru was madness, there's no doubt that they are more crazy here.
Pedestrians just have to walk over the road between moving traffic, relying on the approaching cars to control their speed sufficiently to allow them to reach the other side. There's no stopping on behalf of the driver - they may stop to a crawl (at the most), but they'll still be moving. There are lanes marked on most roads, but not all, with some 4 to 5 lane roads going unmarked, and effectively becoming about 8 lanes. Even when they are marked, they are pretty much useless. There's also horse and donkey-pulled carts to dodge. Fair to say that the thoroughfares were just about worth the trip to Cairo themselves.
On the side of the roads is a third world country. I think Peru is more developed than this place. There is poverty everywhere, and the only accomodation buildings that have been completely built are the international hotel chains. The rest remain to be completed and/or extended.
The Pyramids are on the outskirts of the city, but as the pictures of them will portray, they're basically in their own little dusty desert. They stand on the top of a small hill, visible for a long way from the city. They are amazing structures, particularly due to the volume of the rocks used to build them. The Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the one at the front as you drive in and also the largest, was built between 2,600 and 2,500 BC, is made up of 2.3 million blocks weighing an average of 2.5 tonnes each. Some stones weigh up to 15 tonnes. Standing 136 metres high, it was once covered with limestones which made the four sides absolutely flat, rather than the stepping stones appearance that it carries today. It's a pity that the limestone was not still there, however it was used to build other buildings in the city.
Inside the pyramid is a row of chambers, approximately 1 metre in height, however due to queues we decided to give these a miss.
Some idiot who was having a great morning (after an alarm clock mishap earlier) decided it would be a great idea to leave a smudge on his camera lens. As a result, basically all of the photos here are blurry in the middle. Also, in his haste to get out the door, left his sunnies at home, hence in the blurry photos often he's got his eyes closed or pulling a very weird face in order to deal with the blinding glare. Disappointing stuff really.
The other pyramids are the Pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure, and the smaller Queens' and Royal Family pyramids. The photos taken with a number of the Pyramids in the background were taken from the plateau reached by driving past them. Here we also jumped on a camel for a 5 minute ride, just to get a feel for being on one in the vicinity of these awesome structures. I'm happy to go on record as saying that they beat Geelong's infamous Pyramid. These ones have been around for a hell of a lot longer AND are yet to fall over.
There's another famous landmark here as well (come to think of it, there's one of these in Geelong as well). In front of the Pyramids stands the Sphinx, carved out of the hillside. The statue remains a mystery - the head is of King Khafra, however the lion body might be as much as 2,600 older than the face. Unfortunately the giant cat (perhaps named after the Sphinkter, Brett Spinks?) isn't in the best of condition, lacking a nose like a well-worn boxer, however restoration work is keeping it in a reasonable state.
Future advice of Cairo / Egypt visitors is to be wary of the shopping etiquette here. When you are taken into a luxury items store e.g. art, jewellery, fragrances & oils, you are generally expected to buy something. Although if you're hard enough you can easily walk out, the staff won't give up on you until you've produced some Johnny Cash. When you walk in, a staff member will be ready to show you around, try to flog you a few things and follow you through the store when you're browsing. You've just got to be a hard-nosed shopper or you'll part with a bit - we're lacking in the former area (of being hard-nosed), so now we're lacking in the latter as well.
Took in the Egyptian Museum after a quality lunch. The museum is dominated by the relics from Tutankhamun's tomb. No pictures allowed unfortunately; quizzingly, only the sunlight coming in through the windows may evaporate the inks & dyes, not the flashes. This museum should hold more items, however the Poms stole most of it and are flogging it beside the Thames.
Museums, sights and hotels here have metal detectors. Like the road lanes, they are useless as they go off everytime and typically you just walk straight through. If you're stiff, you cop a half-hearted pat down from security.
This might be a record - Ahmed the Egyptologist was engaged 10 days after meeting his fiance in a lift. I'm not feeling any pressure though (that might change when I get back to 36 Girton).
Tipping is massively the go over here. There's not much that I'm 'over' on these travels, but this is one of them. We've only been here 24 hours but already I've been through more than I'd plan to go through $$ wise in perhaps 3 days. Might be back to eating 'crap on toast' or the wallpaper when we get home....
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Friday 4 May - Paris
A great day in Paris, certainly the most beautiful city of those that I've seen.
We were dropped off at the Place de Concorde, known as arguably the world's busiest roundabout. From there, as with most of the Topdeck crew, we walked through the beautiful Jardin de Carrousel, a large park which sits between the Place de Concorde and the Louvre. Paris is full of beautful parks, which are well patronised given it was another very comfortable European day.
Just outside the Louvre's western edge is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, a smaller cousin of the Arc de Triomphe. These two erections, the Louvre and the Place de Concorde are in a perfect straight line together, just one of the many facets of Paris architecture that leave you amazed.
The odds of bumping into anyone you know in the Louvre would have been quite big I'd think. Throwing up a ballpark figure, perhaps 100,000/1 might be reasonable. Couple that with the odds of Luke Carey being alive after his sojurn through the Caribbean islands for the World Cup being even money, thus the odds were doubled to 200,000/1. Rest assured, walking through the main foyer of the museum a big beaming, a familiar face was spotted. I can pass on to Noel & Sally Carey that their son is (most importantly) alive, but looking quite the worse for wear after countless big sessions on the squirt, particularly in the party stands cheering on the Aussie boys.
Without a doubt a day could be spent at the Louvre, perhaps even two, however today in Paris, a day free of Topdeck-provided activities, we were going to cram a fair bit in. Thus myself and Libe took the Da Vinci Code audio tour through the museum, which guided us through the many parts of it which the book discusses. These included the Mona Lisa, which we were fortunate to get within a few metres of it, enclosed in bullet-proof glass. The famous painting carries an aura about it that could be witnessed via the many people standing in front of it carrying awestruck expressions.
Unfortunately for much of the museum through which the tour took us, photos were not allowed, thus I haven't got too many. I'll admit to not being a huge art buff - historical-type museums (e.g. war) are more my kind of scene - however I'd love to come back through the museum one day and really get to explore it.
The glass pyramids (one sits at the main entrance one, rising from the roof, while the other, on the Rose Line, hangs from the ceiling) were able to be photographed and thus there's a couple of them. They are a tourist attraction in their own right really.
After a couple of hours in the Louvre it was back on the footpath and east towards Notre Dame, the chapel that was home to Quasimodo. From there it was north to the George Pompidou centre, a remarkable moden building that had been built inside out. This meant that facilities that are generally in the centre of the buildings - pipes, stair cases, elevators, air conditioning ducts - are on the outside of the building. Depending on one's viewpoint, it's either great artistry or an eyesore - it was worth a look anyway.
We'd previously received some local knowledge from Libe's NY-based cousin Amanda and her French husband Vincent (Aussies - to be pronounced Von-son) on the best places to go in Paris. The Pomodou centre was one that they'd recommended to check out.
After this it was off to the most famous Parisian structure of all, the Eiffel Tower. The tower is just massive. The best place to truly appreciate it is standing by the side of one of its masive legs, or from directly underneath. We didn't have time to climb it - such a thing will have to remain on the life to-do list.
From here we left on a bike tour with Fat Bikes of the city. Although it took us to many of the places that we'd already seen, and the information received from our guide was quite similar from what Justin from Topdeck provided us last night, it was still great fun. The bikes were old and a little unstable; two hands were often needed. There's a couple of great videos I've got of Libe & myself riding helmetless down one of Paris' major thoroughfares. Most of the tour group joined in the ride and there were very few complaints. Mark, the farmer from the NZ South Island, nearly made the tour enjoyable by himself with his 'big kid' antics while knocking back a couple of Heineken cans.
Tea was a picnic in a park opposite the Eiffel Tower - even the rain didn't detract from the background.
One of two optional activities tonight was a cruise down the Seine. It was great to see the city from another angle, and at another time of day. Again, if nightfall doesn't add to the city's beauty, it certainly doesn't detract from it. The sight of the flickering lights being turned on on the Tower was specatular, as was the Statue of Liberty just a little further down the river (yes, the original Statue is in Paris - the one in NY is actually a copy that was gifted by the French to the Septics.
One of the few possible negatives of our Topdeck tour so far has been that the optional activities, and accomodation, have been slightly on the ordinary side, although with accomodoation the locations have been good. But tonight, for example, the boat that we were on for our cruise was very basic, and it would have been nice to have been on one of the few luxury ferries that sailed by with a restaurant and / or bar on board. But these kind of things don't really fit the Topdeck mould of being a relatively low-cost tour operator.
Something that I'll have to keep in mind on future travels - wherever possible, when paying for something, use the highest denomination bill first. It minimises the pain when you rip or lose a note (I've written off a 5 pound note in London, equivalent to $11 or so), and it makes it easier to deal with public transport and tipping.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 5 May - Paris, France to Mt Rigi, Switzerland
A full day of travel, through the western French countryside, across the Swiss border to Mt Rigi, which sits to the south side of Lake Lucerne in Central Switzerland. Thus the sightseeing today was limited to what could be seen out of the bus, but it was still pretty handy.
Driving out of Paris revealed its grotty outer suburbs, something that I'm sure is never considered when attempting to quantify the city's beauty - which is probably fair enough, I doubt there's any city in the world which wouldn't have an area that it would like to be more visually attractive.
Once outside of the city limits, the freeway speed limits were upped to 130 k/m. The Topdeck bus is electronically limited to 100km an hour due to strict European bus rules, thus we were passed emphatically by many very nice cars while sitting in the right hand lane.
In our whole travels, both myself and Libe have relished the challenges and novelty of dealing with foreign languages - although it's only happened twice so far (Spanish in Peru and French in Europe). There's a few more opportunities to come though - Italian, German, Dutch, Catonese (HK), Egyptian....
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 6 May - Mt Rigi, overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
Amazing scenes on TV here tonight in Switzerland. With the French presidential elections being held today, there has been some rioting by maniacs in the Place de la Bastille in France, a place where we were just 2 days ago. Obviously glad we're not going through there today. On the other hand, it was interesting to see so many people around the Arc de Triomphe - being there would have been a great experience.
Stunned by the Cats v Tigers score. I don't think anyone should concede 200+ points in today's football; I actually wondered recently whether we'd seen such a score for the last time. Although the club should get a little credit for the win, given their loss last week drew so much criticism, it's a little disappointing that we often need a barrage from the media to spark us up. Here's hoping that the days where this doesn't have to happen isn't too far away.
Being here in Mt Rigi is different to the theme of the rest of this Europe tour, and from the rest of our travels, in that it's a rural area, as opposed to the cities where we're usually based. But in reflection it's been a welcome change - the Swiss countryside is lovely, consisting of stunning mountains, lush, undulating territory, and the most clear waterways that you could possibly see. Also, the pure fresh air is wonderful for the lungs which have worked in the smog of London and Paris for the last week and a bit.
Today consisted of:
* A train ride down from our hotel, near the top of the mountain, down to the town of Vitznau, which sits on the banks of Lake Lucerne.
* An hour or so long ferry ride across the lake to Lucerne, the city in this area of Switzerland. Lonely Planet's Western Europe guide tells us that the population of Lucerne is 58,000 but it's not accurate, as it won't include those living in the suburbs and nearby towns. Lucerne would probably be the size of Hobart. The ferry to Lucerne didn't offer the complete scenery that it usually might due to the thick, 'pea soup' morning fog which was taking its time to clear.
* Taking in Lucerne's highlights. The sightseeing list isn't massive here, but it's more about walking through the town and soaking in a genuine Swiss township. The major sight here is the Lion Monument, carved into a small cliff in the inner city as a memorial to 700 Swiss Guards who lost their lives during the French Revolution in the 18th century.
* A ferry ride back to Lucerne mid-afternoon. By this time the fog had cleared, revealing the enthralling Lake Lucerne environment for a few pictures (actually, make that a s'load).
* A train ride up to the top of Mt Rigi. The peak is at 1,800m; one thing that amazed myself and Libe was that this peak, although certainly very high, was like 'chicken feed' (i.e. small & insignificant) when compared to the heights of Peru (Cuzco 3,300m and Dead Woman's Pass 4,200m). The view from the peak was spectacular and the pictures taken probably give a good indication of the majesty of local area, surrounded by the Swiss Alps, some of which are still holding snow.
A few points of note:
* Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living in the world and it shows. A couple of things in particular. First, the cars they drive are all in good condition and certainly the average car driven is higher in standard than anywhere I've seen. There's a higher proportion of Mercedes Benz and the like than anywhere else it seems. The 'distance to' signs on the highways seem to be more frequent than normal. If there's a hill in between two towns (and the country is full of them), there's every chance there's a tunnel that's been blasted through it.
* The whole country is immaculately clean and in order. The streets are free of litter; public transport is easy to use, super efficient and on time basically without fail; the lawns and gardens are perfectly manicured and maintained. I think one word can be used to sum up the Swiss - efficiency.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 7 May - Mt Rigi, Switzerland to Florence, Italy, via Pisa
Another new country - add that to the list of the US, Peru, England, France and Switzerland.
Most of the day was lost in transit from Switzerland to Florence. The drive to the Swiss border was picturesque as expected - dominated by the Alps, a few of them still bearing snow and may do so through the northern hemisphere summer.
The borders here in the mainland of Europe have been very easy to cross - at both the France / Switzerland border, and the Swiss / Italy one, passports haven't been checked, thus making it hard for those wanting to get the souvenir stamp in the passport to increase their collection. But when you see these kind of procedures in place you can see why Tony Mokbel slipped away from the Federal Police in Europe - it's effectively one big country given the borders.
As soon as we crossed over into Italy, the terrain became quite boring. Northern Italy is a flat place, with little or no undulations apart from the Appennine mountains, off in the distance towards the Western coast. Even Milan, one of (if not the) world's fashion capitals does not sit in a really attractive landscape.
On the way to Florence we stopped at Pisa, home of the famous leaning tower. We were only there for two hours and that's all you need. Fair to say that if it wasn't for the poor construction skills of the tower's builders, the Pisa tourist industry would be 'Barrying' (as in Barry Attling). The sights are limited to the town's main square, the Campo de Miracoli (Field of Miracles), which the locals claim is among the world's most beautiful squares. Unfortunately for them I'd say I've seen a few squares in my time, and that the Market Square in Geelong might have them covered; there's many others that have for sure.
The square contains three major buildings - the Tower, Baptistry, and Cathedral. Amazingly, all three are officially leaning. The tower itself is quite a sight - the lean is certainly remarkable, even despite the efforts of the builders to have the top couple of levels a little more vertical than the bottom ones to make the Tower's lean appear a little less (yes, it started leaning during construction, but they just kept on building anyway).
We've got the obligatory photo's of us kicking over the tower and holding it up - I'll get them up here a.s.a.p..
Off to Florence, with a night tour on the cards. First impressions were that the city is really beautiful, certainly matching expectations. There just does not appear to be a building that is not at least a couple of hundred years old, and all renovations (e.g. to allow shops on the ground level) appear to fit in quite seamlessly with their surroundings.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Tuesday 8 May - Florence, Italy
Again blessed with the weather in Europe. As confirmed by our guide Justin, this seems to be a fantastic time to see Europe. The climate is just perfect, and the tourism season hasn't hit peak time yet, thus the queues and crowds are nowhere near as big as they will be come July / August.
As with France and Switzerland, there's no shortage of scooters and motorbikes on the streets of Florence. Given the city was built before the time of the automobile, the roads are quite small and thus these two vehicles are worth their (low) weight in gold. It's quite a sight, and a common one, to see a bunch of professionals in suits and ties flying past at 60 km/h on their little two-wheeler. As well as this, there are quite a number of small, 3-wheeled trucks (refer the photos of this day - there's one in there of these trucks).
Florence has plenty of quiet little streets heading this way and that. It's been great just to wander pretty aimlessly and to soak up the culture of the city that exist in places like these.
Florence is home to an artisitc heritage probably unrivalled in the world. It was home to the Renaissance, the greatest period in the history of art where the greatest artisans of the time - Michaelangelo and Raphael, later known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among them - were freed of the restrictions imposed by the Catholic Church and freely expressed themselves in their works with the sponsorship of the Medici family.
Michaelangelo's David is in the Galleria Dell'Academia, but comes with queues that may be up to two hours long, and there's a perfect replica of it that sits in the Piazza Della Signoria, so we were happy with that.
Perhaps Florence's main feature is its Duomo (Cathedral), among the country's most-loved structures and the dominating feature of the city skyline, which came about as the Church forbid any other buildings to be built as tall or taller than it (imagine if the church were able to apply that rule in NY!) The huge interior is dominated by its Dome and the frescos painted on it (which are paintings made on freshly laid plaster, with the desired effect being that the paint soaks into the plaster and becomes permanent). Myself and Libe made the climb up to the top of the Dome to view the skyline of Florence.
The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria Degli Uffizi) holds the greatest collection of Italian and Florentine art in existence, including many world-reknowned paintings. We queued for 20 minutes to get in but then gave up, insteading prefering to head across the Ponte Vecchio and to the southern side of the Arno River, to the Palazzo Pitti, home to the Pitti family for many years. The Palazzo itself holds a huge collection of art so it was worthwhile to browse around there for a couple of hours. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed, thus none were taken.
Justin had recommended that we head up to Piazzale Michaelangelo, an open square set on a small hill on the south side of the river, to view the sunset, thus we sat up there for a while on the steps, smashing some crackers and salami. It was nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of sightseeing for a while to soak in the view of a lovely city. We managed to take a few photos of the sunset over the river which might be amongst our best work behind the lens for this trip, apart from my work from in front of the pavilion at Lords.
For the second night in a row we ventured out to experience a bit of the local night culture. Red Garter is a centrally-located bar which plays similar music to the Eureka Hotel and has been patronised by the Topdeck and Contiki tours on both nights. Given both tours are dominated by those from Down Under, it was good to be pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone and spending time with the locals for a couple of nights out on the town.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Wednesday 9 May - Florence to Rome, via Orvieto
No rest for the wicked. Off to Rome today. We're currently knocking off cities quicker than Dezzie from the Geelong Racecourse used to knock off cans at the ground staff xmas parties (rest assured it was a cracking pace).
Heading south down the Italian highways the terrain became a lot more interesting than what was served up to us on Monday in Northern Italy. The road in Rome's direction crosses the Appennine mountains, which creates many of those "postcard" images of the Tuscan home on the sunkissed hills surrounded by vineyard and olive crops.
On the way we had an 90-minute or so stop in Orvieto, an authentic rural Italian town quite untouched by the tourism industry. The town is perched on top of dramatic small hill, appearing to be surrounded by cliff faces and steep inclines the whole way round (this we can't confirm as we didn't see at least half of the hill. To get up to the town requires a cable car up the incline and through the city walls.
Like many places in Europe, the Catholic Church has had a considerable influence over the city's skyline and Orvieto was no exception - it's cathedral, splendidly built with bricks in alternating vertical colours which thus create hoops inside and out (yes, it's been too long since I'd seen a set of hoops - looking forward to seeing them that's for sure), dominates the town.
The other highlight of our visit was a hat I managed to pick up. Although the hat has been worn very frequently since, it's just got the Spring Racing Carnival written all over it (not literally of course). It's a little balltearer, perhaps my best buy all trip (excluding the laptop which I've just been watching the Geelong v Carlton replay on of course).
Our hotel in Rome is in the inner western suburbs, thus required a subway trip into the city. One thing that has been quite alarming and disturbing for Italy is the need for our tour leader Justin to advise us on the dangers of pickpocketing. It is quite common here and thus we're best to avoid crowds of people, and to be aware of strange situations occurring around you. Some of these situations include being surrounded by a group on public transport, being 'accidently' bumped into, and being distracted, particularly by children. Justin told us of one particular disgusting bit of behaviour he experienced in being surrounded by a group of men & women on an otherwise quiet Mexico City subway train. It's all pretty low really - here's hoping nothing happens. Nothing is likely to, anyway.
The afternoon involved a walking tour of Rome, through Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna and its Spanish Steps, the spectacular Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia (yep, the Italians love their Piazzas as well as their Pizzas), the Imperial and Roman Forums, and finally the Colisseum.
Little known fact - the Colisseum remains the only sporting venue in the world not to have sold its naming rights to a company. But given its history of persecution of Christians & Catholics, expect something British to get them. Also, given the lopsided nature of the previous contests between the Christians and the Lions at this venue, it's been thought appropriate that the Richmond and Melbourne footy clubs, and the English cricket team, move their home games here.
There's a few comments that I've put on the pictures from today about the places we've been to. I personally consider today to be a little above average from my usual standards (devout Christians may be a little offended, but unfortunately there are a few minor differences between this religion and mine, Australian Rules football).
First impressions of Rome is that it's a very hectic city. You can't help but think it would have been great for some of these structures that were built two millenia ago to have survived all the way through and still be standing in all their glory, but despite this you still stare in wonderment at them.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday 10 May - Rome
If I did another tour of Europe, or any other place for that matter, I'd probably choose one that is a slightly lower pace. The Soho to Boho itinerary is rated medium for speed, which suits us perfectly given the limited amount of time we've got here. Ideally however, in major cities like Paris you'd prefer to have two full days to take everything in rather than one. Rome's the same I'd say after today.
The queues at the Vatican City's major attractions start quite early in the morning thus we were up early, given we weren't keen to be stuck at the back of these. It was straight into the awesome St Peter's Basilica & the massive square (Piazza San Pietro). The Basilica is just massive and is very impressive inside. It's dome, for which Michelangelo was responsible for when he wasn't kicking The Shredder's backside, is particularly enticing. It's the world's second best dome, after Melbourne's sacred Telstra Dome. The church allows the visitor to take pictures, which I think it's got to receive credit for, because there would be many people who would count a visit here as among their life's most memorable moments, thus it's good to allow them to take home plenty of snaps.
We had to queue up for maybe 30 to 45 minutes to get into the Vatican Museums, however given Justin's groups have previously sat through 2 hour queues on a lot hotter summer days, we were pretty happy with this. The Church has plundered its way across the world since Jesus Christ was a little boy (i.e. before he pulled on the magic No 5 in the blue and white), thus its Museum has a lot of artifacts from around the world. Although it's not going to happen, I'd actually like to see Pope Benedict hand back a lot of the stuff to Egypt, Greece and the like, but I can't see the Vatican parting with a small percentage of it's massive fortune (the same goes for the Poms and their loaded British Museum in London too).
Anyway, the musuems were pretty good - the Louvre would have it covered, but it was worth the time. The number one attraction inside the museums was the Sistine Chapel, thus we skipped a lot of the different galleries to head there. Brendan & Jen Tranzie were right on one thing - the walk to the Chapel is a long one. The signs to the Chapel mischieviously take you through a bucketload of other rooms on the way there, to really show off the collections held by the Museum.
The Sistine Chapel is a wall to wall exhibit of some of the Church's greatest frescos. Once again, Michelangelo was the hero - his 'Creation' and 'Last Judgement' pieces dominate the building. No pictures allowed here, but I'll probably be able to dig up something from Google for the picture library. It'd be worth it.
Whether you're religious or not - and I'll admit I'm that not a practising Catholic at all and can be quite negative of the Chuch at times - the Vatican city is certainly worth a visit sometime during your life.
Walked through the city and over the Tiber River on the way to the eastern side of the city containing the Forums and the Coliseum. On the way we past the Castel Sant'Angelo, probably best known for its role towards the end of the Da Vinci Code more than anything else.
Crossing the road in Italy is an experience by itself. Even though there are zebra crossings all over the city, and the pedestrian has the official right of way, for drivers to stop the walker is generally required to gradually step out onto the crossing, look the oncoming driver in the eye and win the battle of wills.
Buying items at shops and service stations is also a challenge. Italians are generally quite abrupt, and what we would perceive as quite rude. Queues mean nothing - the locals will push in and force their way to the counter first. The staff behind the counter don't have much patience either, and will drop 'prego' (this word can mean a lot of things, but at its basic level it's probably 'hello' and 'you're welcome') at second long intervals until you answer them. There's been one or two times I've been tempted to give someone a spray, but the realisation that it's a different culture here stops here before I do so. The best practice has just been to give the locals a bit of their own medicine I've found, and to use blocking tactics to make sure you get your rightful spot at the counter.
Spent an hour or so drifting through the ruins on Paletine hill, once home to Ancient Rome's rich and famous, which is not surprising given its very handy location, next to the Roman Forum and the Colisseum.
Next up - the Colisseum. Officially known as the Flavian Ampitheatre, it really was a forerunner to the modern stadium. Given it was built starting AD 72, it might just be the most impressive structure I've seen so far. Put in in this context - the ruins of Machu Picchu were constructed a lot closer to today's date than the birth of baby Jesus (otherwise known as Gary Jnr).
Had one of the worst Italian feeds you could find on the way home, one of the rare occasions where Libe knocks back food.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Friday 11 May - Rome to Venice via Verona, Italy
Another day on the road. There's a wide variety of methods of how everyone in the group fills in their time on the bus. Generally the day goes from 8am, until somewhere between 5pm and 7pm, broken up by a 2 hour or so stop in some place on the way, and by 15 minute breaks every couple of hours or so. Usually over half of the group are having a kip within an hour of departing. I generally can't sleep in transit, whether it be on a bus or on a flight, so within an hour or so I've got the laptop out and are sorting photos, putting together a blog or two or (better still) watching some footy. Have already got plenty of value out of this machine.
Just wish I'd bought a spare battery for it so I can get more out of it than 2.5 - 3 hours. Once the laptop died in the bum around lunchtime today, I was bored shitless for the arvo really. This was either our longest day of driving, or close to it, too.
After lunch, the bus is a lot more active. By now, the laptop is dead and I'm either reading about the next place, getting involved in a game of cards up the back of the bus, or sitting in the front chatting to PJ our bus driver and getting the best view of the surrounding scenery. Libe is either reading, chatting (and sometimes indulging in a bottle of vino), or kipping.
Luke Carey sightings are now two (with more to come). Bumped into Barrel in the streets of Verona, a fashionable city an hour west of Venice. Luke had been through Barcelona and Nice since the last sighting in Paris, and had survived another one of his 'doing a number on myself' nights on the squirt. Classic King.
Verona is known for two things - its Colisseum (called the Ampitheatre), which it still uses for rock concerts (Pearl Jam recently played there), and being the home of Juliet, half of the partnership with Romeo.
Thus had a look at a statue of Juliet, and the balcony where she supposedly spent here time swooning with Romeo. Romantic 'superstition' suggests that you rub Juliet's 'heart' (actually, you rub the other thing, on the other side of her chest) for either a new lover or for good luck, depending on who you get the advice from.
Around the courtyard beneath the balcony there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of little pieces of paper stuck to the wall, all (or most) containing messages of love and romance. Myself & Libe add the following notes for each other:
From Libe to Ryan:
"Roses are red,
Violets are plastic,
I know I'm dumb,
But you're just a spastic"
From Ryan to Libe:
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I know you're hungover,
I hope you don't spew".
The locals were dressed up 'to the nines', and there were Versace and Loius Viutton stores all over the place. The Topdeck crew stood out 'like dog balls', walking around in wifebeaters, boardshorts and thongs.
Drove onto to Venice, or Venezia as called by the locals. Actually staying in Mestre, on the mainland. There's a bridge which connects the Venizia island to Mestre. Accomodation, whether permanent or temporary, costs more than Libe's shoe collection (if that is believable), thus most people stay in Mestre and travel into Venice via bus or train. We'll be catching the no 7 in in the morning. Mestre, meanwhile, is a really nice place by itself; certainly a younger population than what we'll find in Venice, and they've got an Australian pub as well (as have London and Florence, and yep, we've been to one in both places).
Having to pay to go to most toilets here; excluding those that are in hotels, bars or restaurants that you're patronising. And they're generally ordinary quality.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 12 May - Venice
Luke Carey sightings = 3. Crossed paths with Barrel as I was exiting, and he was entering, of all things, a lace making exhibition in Venice. I would have thought that if I was going to bump into Luke 3 times overseas, at least once would have been in a bar.
Venice is certainly a fascinating place. It is hard for anyone lacking wealth to get their foot in the door here accomodation wise. The architecture is lovely, a mix of eastern europe (particularly Turkish) and traditional Italian influences. However, you would baulk at buying anything here as the city is actually sinking. When it was first built, the base of the island was a mixture of soil, logs and reeds, thus not really meant to hold the many bricks of which Venice is constructed. The Italians haven't been smart enough to stop it yet, however the recent formation of the European Union has seen money, and the brains of the Dutch, come in to start rectification actions.
In some buildings, the once-accessable basements and first floors have been abandoned for those above them due to the rising waters.
The canals, and the streets in which you get lost just so easily, are fun just to wander around. That's one of the great things of doing a Topdeck tour - their style of allowing plenty of freedom to the group allows you to really experience a place. The charm meter is off the richter scale. The city smells in most places, as the water running through the canals is mixed with the sewer and storm drains of the city, however the scenery makes it bearable.
In terms of actual attractions, there isn't a massive amount. The major place of significance is the Piazza & Basillica Di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), which although is impressive, is pretty similar to the churchs & squares seen in Rome and Florence. The one area where St. Mark's differs from those previously seen is that at high tide the Piazza regularly floods, due to the combined effect of the sinking city and the rising waters caused by global warning (yes, those from the US & little Johnny Howard, global warming does exist!). We left the island before the waters hit the Piazza, thus didn't see this occur.
Took the requisite gondola ride in the early afternoon. While it was good, it wasn't quite the romantic, two-to-the-gondola-with-the-gondolier singing ride. There was six of us on it, because the gondola rides are very exxy (36 euro each for probably 20-25 minutes). It's bit of a rort really: to become a gondolier here is actually controlled by 'someone' (I'll guess and say the local Mafia), and they would get paid better than the city's top lawyer for what's a very easy job. As well as the crowded boat, the canals really did stink in some occasions, perhaps even more than the Tigers did against the Cats last week.
Not that I ever doubted him, but Geoff Hollis was right - Italy is the place to load up on ties. Have bought 6 good quality ones here for about 8 euro ($13-14 Aussie) each. Anyone who ventures here in the future should keep that in mind. And also the fact that many of the retail stores close up in the early arvo for a siesta. One place we saw closed between about 12 and 3.
There are counterfeit goods sellers all over Europe, and Venice is no exception. They sell their stuff on sheets, which, when a member of the constabulary is approaching, they fold up quicker than you can say "yeah, bullshit, that's not real", and start bolting in the opposite direction. The sellers are always nervously looking around for the boys in blue, and it appears as though they operate with a 'lookout' as well. It's funny to see them selling fake Gucci stuff right outside the actual Gucci stores but it appears as though no one minds. Simply, if the cops wanted to bust them, they would.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 13 May - Mestre (Venice), Italy to St Johann In Tirol, Austria
Another day pretty much spent entirely in transit.
Italy is an interesting country. Although it's certainly developed, there appears to be a greater number of less well-off towns than in the countries that we've drifted through previously. There were quite a few tin shanties we spotted from the bus window on running alongside the highway.
North Italy is basically Switzerland. The architecture is certainly more German than Italian. It's got to be remembered that for most of its history Europe either didn't have borders or was divided up differently to what it is now, and that the borders are still really being settled. Most of them were determined folowing WWII, and thus they're pretty rudimentary and probably not truly reflective of how the continent is divided socially.
On the way to St Johann, we stopped off to do a little white water rafting. This was really great fun, jumping into the flowing river about 5 times (Libe a pretty similar amount). The river and its rapids were quick enough to provide entertainment, but not sufficient to make you feel you were taking a risk with your health and well being.
Found ourselves in another Aussie-themed pub tonight, this time in the relatively small town of St Johann. It's amazing how we manage to just find these familiar places overseas. It was there that I was able to jump onto the internet and find out the Cats score, probably about 10 hours after the game had been completed. Fair to say I was pumping the air walking back in the main bar (I think most people in the Topdeck crew were able to guess what I has celebrating about).
Given it's the first real team we've beat, it's been the best result so far. The next steps now are to consistently play good footy, and to start winning interstate. Reading the history of teams that make a grand final, all of them have proven themselves as being able to win on the road, PARTICULARLY in finals games.
Anyway, here's my updated ladder after 7 rounds, which works on who you've beaten:
Adelaide 40
Port Adelaide 35
West Coast 35
Hawthorn 34
Collingwood 31
Western Bulldogs 25
Brisbane 24
Essendon 24
Fremantle 23
Kangaroos 22
Geelong 21
St. Kilda 18
Sydney 14
Carlton 6
Melbourne 0
Richmond 0
I think this shows the fact that our 4th position on the ladder is a little flattering at the moment - there remains to come most of an important month of footy for the GFC.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 14 May - St Johann in Tirol, Austria
There's not much sightseeing to do in St Johann; it's more of a activities town - skydiving, paragliding, canyoning and bike riding were those activities offered to the Topdeck crew for the arvo. Myself and Libe opted for the least extreme bike ride option, which allowed us the first sleep-in for a fair while, and to spend the arvo sitting in a laundry washing our clothes for the first time since leaving London nearing two weeks ago.
The bike ride was OK; the bikes were a little uncomfortable, and the hills pretty tough, but the exercise was overdue, scenery nice, and the lake into which a couple of us jumped into very refreshing.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
A great day in Paris, certainly the most beautiful city of those that I've seen.
We were dropped off at the Place de Concorde, known as arguably the world's busiest roundabout. From there, as with most of the Topdeck crew, we walked through the beautiful Jardin de Carrousel, a large park which sits between the Place de Concorde and the Louvre. Paris is full of beautful parks, which are well patronised given it was another very comfortable European day.
Just outside the Louvre's western edge is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, a smaller cousin of the Arc de Triomphe. These two erections, the Louvre and the Place de Concorde are in a perfect straight line together, just one of the many facets of Paris architecture that leave you amazed.
The odds of bumping into anyone you know in the Louvre would have been quite big I'd think. Throwing up a ballpark figure, perhaps 100,000/1 might be reasonable. Couple that with the odds of Luke Carey being alive after his sojurn through the Caribbean islands for the World Cup being even money, thus the odds were doubled to 200,000/1. Rest assured, walking through the main foyer of the museum a big beaming, a familiar face was spotted. I can pass on to Noel & Sally Carey that their son is (most importantly) alive, but looking quite the worse for wear after countless big sessions on the squirt, particularly in the party stands cheering on the Aussie boys.
Without a doubt a day could be spent at the Louvre, perhaps even two, however today in Paris, a day free of Topdeck-provided activities, we were going to cram a fair bit in. Thus myself and Libe took the Da Vinci Code audio tour through the museum, which guided us through the many parts of it which the book discusses. These included the Mona Lisa, which we were fortunate to get within a few metres of it, enclosed in bullet-proof glass. The famous painting carries an aura about it that could be witnessed via the many people standing in front of it carrying awestruck expressions.
Unfortunately for much of the museum through which the tour took us, photos were not allowed, thus I haven't got too many. I'll admit to not being a huge art buff - historical-type museums (e.g. war) are more my kind of scene - however I'd love to come back through the museum one day and really get to explore it.
The glass pyramids (one sits at the main entrance one, rising from the roof, while the other, on the Rose Line, hangs from the ceiling) were able to be photographed and thus there's a couple of them. They are a tourist attraction in their own right really.
After a couple of hours in the Louvre it was back on the footpath and east towards Notre Dame, the chapel that was home to Quasimodo. From there it was north to the George Pompidou centre, a remarkable moden building that had been built inside out. This meant that facilities that are generally in the centre of the buildings - pipes, stair cases, elevators, air conditioning ducts - are on the outside of the building. Depending on one's viewpoint, it's either great artistry or an eyesore - it was worth a look anyway.
We'd previously received some local knowledge from Libe's NY-based cousin Amanda and her French husband Vincent (Aussies - to be pronounced Von-son) on the best places to go in Paris. The Pomodou centre was one that they'd recommended to check out.
After this it was off to the most famous Parisian structure of all, the Eiffel Tower. The tower is just massive. The best place to truly appreciate it is standing by the side of one of its masive legs, or from directly underneath. We didn't have time to climb it - such a thing will have to remain on the life to-do list.
From here we left on a bike tour with Fat Bikes of the city. Although it took us to many of the places that we'd already seen, and the information received from our guide was quite similar from what Justin from Topdeck provided us last night, it was still great fun. The bikes were old and a little unstable; two hands were often needed. There's a couple of great videos I've got of Libe & myself riding helmetless down one of Paris' major thoroughfares. Most of the tour group joined in the ride and there were very few complaints. Mark, the farmer from the NZ South Island, nearly made the tour enjoyable by himself with his 'big kid' antics while knocking back a couple of Heineken cans.
Tea was a picnic in a park opposite the Eiffel Tower - even the rain didn't detract from the background.
One of two optional activities tonight was a cruise down the Seine. It was great to see the city from another angle, and at another time of day. Again, if nightfall doesn't add to the city's beauty, it certainly doesn't detract from it. The sight of the flickering lights being turned on on the Tower was specatular, as was the Statue of Liberty just a little further down the river (yes, the original Statue is in Paris - the one in NY is actually a copy that was gifted by the French to the Septics.
One of the few possible negatives of our Topdeck tour so far has been that the optional activities, and accomodation, have been slightly on the ordinary side, although with accomodoation the locations have been good. But tonight, for example, the boat that we were on for our cruise was very basic, and it would have been nice to have been on one of the few luxury ferries that sailed by with a restaurant and / or bar on board. But these kind of things don't really fit the Topdeck mould of being a relatively low-cost tour operator.
Something that I'll have to keep in mind on future travels - wherever possible, when paying for something, use the highest denomination bill first. It minimises the pain when you rip or lose a note (I've written off a 5 pound note in London, equivalent to $11 or so), and it makes it easier to deal with public transport and tipping.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 5 May - Paris, France to Mt Rigi, Switzerland
A full day of travel, through the western French countryside, across the Swiss border to Mt Rigi, which sits to the south side of Lake Lucerne in Central Switzerland. Thus the sightseeing today was limited to what could be seen out of the bus, but it was still pretty handy.
Driving out of Paris revealed its grotty outer suburbs, something that I'm sure is never considered when attempting to quantify the city's beauty - which is probably fair enough, I doubt there's any city in the world which wouldn't have an area that it would like to be more visually attractive.
Once outside of the city limits, the freeway speed limits were upped to 130 k/m. The Topdeck bus is electronically limited to 100km an hour due to strict European bus rules, thus we were passed emphatically by many very nice cars while sitting in the right hand lane.
In our whole travels, both myself and Libe have relished the challenges and novelty of dealing with foreign languages - although it's only happened twice so far (Spanish in Peru and French in Europe). There's a few more opportunities to come though - Italian, German, Dutch, Catonese (HK), Egyptian....
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 6 May - Mt Rigi, overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland
Amazing scenes on TV here tonight in Switzerland. With the French presidential elections being held today, there has been some rioting by maniacs in the Place de la Bastille in France, a place where we were just 2 days ago. Obviously glad we're not going through there today. On the other hand, it was interesting to see so many people around the Arc de Triomphe - being there would have been a great experience.
Stunned by the Cats v Tigers score. I don't think anyone should concede 200+ points in today's football; I actually wondered recently whether we'd seen such a score for the last time. Although the club should get a little credit for the win, given their loss last week drew so much criticism, it's a little disappointing that we often need a barrage from the media to spark us up. Here's hoping that the days where this doesn't have to happen isn't too far away.
Being here in Mt Rigi is different to the theme of the rest of this Europe tour, and from the rest of our travels, in that it's a rural area, as opposed to the cities where we're usually based. But in reflection it's been a welcome change - the Swiss countryside is lovely, consisting of stunning mountains, lush, undulating territory, and the most clear waterways that you could possibly see. Also, the pure fresh air is wonderful for the lungs which have worked in the smog of London and Paris for the last week and a bit.
Today consisted of:
* A train ride down from our hotel, near the top of the mountain, down to the town of Vitznau, which sits on the banks of Lake Lucerne.
* An hour or so long ferry ride across the lake to Lucerne, the city in this area of Switzerland. Lonely Planet's Western Europe guide tells us that the population of Lucerne is 58,000 but it's not accurate, as it won't include those living in the suburbs and nearby towns. Lucerne would probably be the size of Hobart. The ferry to Lucerne didn't offer the complete scenery that it usually might due to the thick, 'pea soup' morning fog which was taking its time to clear.
* Taking in Lucerne's highlights. The sightseeing list isn't massive here, but it's more about walking through the town and soaking in a genuine Swiss township. The major sight here is the Lion Monument, carved into a small cliff in the inner city as a memorial to 700 Swiss Guards who lost their lives during the French Revolution in the 18th century.
* A ferry ride back to Lucerne mid-afternoon. By this time the fog had cleared, revealing the enthralling Lake Lucerne environment for a few pictures (actually, make that a s'load).
* A train ride up to the top of Mt Rigi. The peak is at 1,800m; one thing that amazed myself and Libe was that this peak, although certainly very high, was like 'chicken feed' (i.e. small & insignificant) when compared to the heights of Peru (Cuzco 3,300m and Dead Woman's Pass 4,200m). The view from the peak was spectacular and the pictures taken probably give a good indication of the majesty of local area, surrounded by the Swiss Alps, some of which are still holding snow.
A few points of note:
* Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living in the world and it shows. A couple of things in particular. First, the cars they drive are all in good condition and certainly the average car driven is higher in standard than anywhere I've seen. There's a higher proportion of Mercedes Benz and the like than anywhere else it seems. The 'distance to' signs on the highways seem to be more frequent than normal. If there's a hill in between two towns (and the country is full of them), there's every chance there's a tunnel that's been blasted through it.
* The whole country is immaculately clean and in order. The streets are free of litter; public transport is easy to use, super efficient and on time basically without fail; the lawns and gardens are perfectly manicured and maintained. I think one word can be used to sum up the Swiss - efficiency.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 7 May - Mt Rigi, Switzerland to Florence, Italy, via Pisa
Another new country - add that to the list of the US, Peru, England, France and Switzerland.
Most of the day was lost in transit from Switzerland to Florence. The drive to the Swiss border was picturesque as expected - dominated by the Alps, a few of them still bearing snow and may do so through the northern hemisphere summer.
The borders here in the mainland of Europe have been very easy to cross - at both the France / Switzerland border, and the Swiss / Italy one, passports haven't been checked, thus making it hard for those wanting to get the souvenir stamp in the passport to increase their collection. But when you see these kind of procedures in place you can see why Tony Mokbel slipped away from the Federal Police in Europe - it's effectively one big country given the borders.
As soon as we crossed over into Italy, the terrain became quite boring. Northern Italy is a flat place, with little or no undulations apart from the Appennine mountains, off in the distance towards the Western coast. Even Milan, one of (if not the) world's fashion capitals does not sit in a really attractive landscape.
On the way to Florence we stopped at Pisa, home of the famous leaning tower. We were only there for two hours and that's all you need. Fair to say that if it wasn't for the poor construction skills of the tower's builders, the Pisa tourist industry would be 'Barrying' (as in Barry Attling). The sights are limited to the town's main square, the Campo de Miracoli (Field of Miracles), which the locals claim is among the world's most beautiful squares. Unfortunately for them I'd say I've seen a few squares in my time, and that the Market Square in Geelong might have them covered; there's many others that have for sure.
The square contains three major buildings - the Tower, Baptistry, and Cathedral. Amazingly, all three are officially leaning. The tower itself is quite a sight - the lean is certainly remarkable, even despite the efforts of the builders to have the top couple of levels a little more vertical than the bottom ones to make the Tower's lean appear a little less (yes, it started leaning during construction, but they just kept on building anyway).
We've got the obligatory photo's of us kicking over the tower and holding it up - I'll get them up here a.s.a.p..
Off to Florence, with a night tour on the cards. First impressions were that the city is really beautiful, certainly matching expectations. There just does not appear to be a building that is not at least a couple of hundred years old, and all renovations (e.g. to allow shops on the ground level) appear to fit in quite seamlessly with their surroundings.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Tuesday 8 May - Florence, Italy
Again blessed with the weather in Europe. As confirmed by our guide Justin, this seems to be a fantastic time to see Europe. The climate is just perfect, and the tourism season hasn't hit peak time yet, thus the queues and crowds are nowhere near as big as they will be come July / August.
As with France and Switzerland, there's no shortage of scooters and motorbikes on the streets of Florence. Given the city was built before the time of the automobile, the roads are quite small and thus these two vehicles are worth their (low) weight in gold. It's quite a sight, and a common one, to see a bunch of professionals in suits and ties flying past at 60 km/h on their little two-wheeler. As well as this, there are quite a number of small, 3-wheeled trucks (refer the photos of this day - there's one in there of these trucks).
Florence has plenty of quiet little streets heading this way and that. It's been great just to wander pretty aimlessly and to soak up the culture of the city that exist in places like these.
Florence is home to an artisitc heritage probably unrivalled in the world. It was home to the Renaissance, the greatest period in the history of art where the greatest artisans of the time - Michaelangelo and Raphael, later known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among them - were freed of the restrictions imposed by the Catholic Church and freely expressed themselves in their works with the sponsorship of the Medici family.
Michaelangelo's David is in the Galleria Dell'Academia, but comes with queues that may be up to two hours long, and there's a perfect replica of it that sits in the Piazza Della Signoria, so we were happy with that.
Perhaps Florence's main feature is its Duomo (Cathedral), among the country's most-loved structures and the dominating feature of the city skyline, which came about as the Church forbid any other buildings to be built as tall or taller than it (imagine if the church were able to apply that rule in NY!) The huge interior is dominated by its Dome and the frescos painted on it (which are paintings made on freshly laid plaster, with the desired effect being that the paint soaks into the plaster and becomes permanent). Myself and Libe made the climb up to the top of the Dome to view the skyline of Florence.
The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria Degli Uffizi) holds the greatest collection of Italian and Florentine art in existence, including many world-reknowned paintings. We queued for 20 minutes to get in but then gave up, insteading prefering to head across the Ponte Vecchio and to the southern side of the Arno River, to the Palazzo Pitti, home to the Pitti family for many years. The Palazzo itself holds a huge collection of art so it was worthwhile to browse around there for a couple of hours. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed, thus none were taken.
Justin had recommended that we head up to Piazzale Michaelangelo, an open square set on a small hill on the south side of the river, to view the sunset, thus we sat up there for a while on the steps, smashing some crackers and salami. It was nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of sightseeing for a while to soak in the view of a lovely city. We managed to take a few photos of the sunset over the river which might be amongst our best work behind the lens for this trip, apart from my work from in front of the pavilion at Lords.
For the second night in a row we ventured out to experience a bit of the local night culture. Red Garter is a centrally-located bar which plays similar music to the Eureka Hotel and has been patronised by the Topdeck and Contiki tours on both nights. Given both tours are dominated by those from Down Under, it was good to be pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone and spending time with the locals for a couple of nights out on the town.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Wednesday 9 May - Florence to Rome, via Orvieto
No rest for the wicked. Off to Rome today. We're currently knocking off cities quicker than Dezzie from the Geelong Racecourse used to knock off cans at the ground staff xmas parties (rest assured it was a cracking pace).
Heading south down the Italian highways the terrain became a lot more interesting than what was served up to us on Monday in Northern Italy. The road in Rome's direction crosses the Appennine mountains, which creates many of those "postcard" images of the Tuscan home on the sunkissed hills surrounded by vineyard and olive crops.
On the way we had an 90-minute or so stop in Orvieto, an authentic rural Italian town quite untouched by the tourism industry. The town is perched on top of dramatic small hill, appearing to be surrounded by cliff faces and steep inclines the whole way round (this we can't confirm as we didn't see at least half of the hill. To get up to the town requires a cable car up the incline and through the city walls.
Like many places in Europe, the Catholic Church has had a considerable influence over the city's skyline and Orvieto was no exception - it's cathedral, splendidly built with bricks in alternating vertical colours which thus create hoops inside and out (yes, it's been too long since I'd seen a set of hoops - looking forward to seeing them that's for sure), dominates the town.
The other highlight of our visit was a hat I managed to pick up. Although the hat has been worn very frequently since, it's just got the Spring Racing Carnival written all over it (not literally of course). It's a little balltearer, perhaps my best buy all trip (excluding the laptop which I've just been watching the Geelong v Carlton replay on of course).
Our hotel in Rome is in the inner western suburbs, thus required a subway trip into the city. One thing that has been quite alarming and disturbing for Italy is the need for our tour leader Justin to advise us on the dangers of pickpocketing. It is quite common here and thus we're best to avoid crowds of people, and to be aware of strange situations occurring around you. Some of these situations include being surrounded by a group on public transport, being 'accidently' bumped into, and being distracted, particularly by children. Justin told us of one particular disgusting bit of behaviour he experienced in being surrounded by a group of men & women on an otherwise quiet Mexico City subway train. It's all pretty low really - here's hoping nothing happens. Nothing is likely to, anyway.
The afternoon involved a walking tour of Rome, through Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna and its Spanish Steps, the spectacular Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia (yep, the Italians love their Piazzas as well as their Pizzas), the Imperial and Roman Forums, and finally the Colisseum.
Little known fact - the Colisseum remains the only sporting venue in the world not to have sold its naming rights to a company. But given its history of persecution of Christians & Catholics, expect something British to get them. Also, given the lopsided nature of the previous contests between the Christians and the Lions at this venue, it's been thought appropriate that the Richmond and Melbourne footy clubs, and the English cricket team, move their home games here.
There's a few comments that I've put on the pictures from today about the places we've been to. I personally consider today to be a little above average from my usual standards (devout Christians may be a little offended, but unfortunately there are a few minor differences between this religion and mine, Australian Rules football).
First impressions of Rome is that it's a very hectic city. You can't help but think it would have been great for some of these structures that were built two millenia ago to have survived all the way through and still be standing in all their glory, but despite this you still stare in wonderment at them.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Thursday 10 May - Rome
If I did another tour of Europe, or any other place for that matter, I'd probably choose one that is a slightly lower pace. The Soho to Boho itinerary is rated medium for speed, which suits us perfectly given the limited amount of time we've got here. Ideally however, in major cities like Paris you'd prefer to have two full days to take everything in rather than one. Rome's the same I'd say after today.
The queues at the Vatican City's major attractions start quite early in the morning thus we were up early, given we weren't keen to be stuck at the back of these. It was straight into the awesome St Peter's Basilica & the massive square (Piazza San Pietro). The Basilica is just massive and is very impressive inside. It's dome, for which Michelangelo was responsible for when he wasn't kicking The Shredder's backside, is particularly enticing. It's the world's second best dome, after Melbourne's sacred Telstra Dome. The church allows the visitor to take pictures, which I think it's got to receive credit for, because there would be many people who would count a visit here as among their life's most memorable moments, thus it's good to allow them to take home plenty of snaps.
We had to queue up for maybe 30 to 45 minutes to get into the Vatican Museums, however given Justin's groups have previously sat through 2 hour queues on a lot hotter summer days, we were pretty happy with this. The Church has plundered its way across the world since Jesus Christ was a little boy (i.e. before he pulled on the magic No 5 in the blue and white), thus its Museum has a lot of artifacts from around the world. Although it's not going to happen, I'd actually like to see Pope Benedict hand back a lot of the stuff to Egypt, Greece and the like, but I can't see the Vatican parting with a small percentage of it's massive fortune (the same goes for the Poms and their loaded British Museum in London too).
Anyway, the musuems were pretty good - the Louvre would have it covered, but it was worth the time. The number one attraction inside the museums was the Sistine Chapel, thus we skipped a lot of the different galleries to head there. Brendan & Jen Tranzie were right on one thing - the walk to the Chapel is a long one. The signs to the Chapel mischieviously take you through a bucketload of other rooms on the way there, to really show off the collections held by the Museum.
The Sistine Chapel is a wall to wall exhibit of some of the Church's greatest frescos. Once again, Michelangelo was the hero - his 'Creation' and 'Last Judgement' pieces dominate the building. No pictures allowed here, but I'll probably be able to dig up something from Google for the picture library. It'd be worth it.
Whether you're religious or not - and I'll admit I'm that not a practising Catholic at all and can be quite negative of the Chuch at times - the Vatican city is certainly worth a visit sometime during your life.
Walked through the city and over the Tiber River on the way to the eastern side of the city containing the Forums and the Coliseum. On the way we past the Castel Sant'Angelo, probably best known for its role towards the end of the Da Vinci Code more than anything else.
Crossing the road in Italy is an experience by itself. Even though there are zebra crossings all over the city, and the pedestrian has the official right of way, for drivers to stop the walker is generally required to gradually step out onto the crossing, look the oncoming driver in the eye and win the battle of wills.
Buying items at shops and service stations is also a challenge. Italians are generally quite abrupt, and what we would perceive as quite rude. Queues mean nothing - the locals will push in and force their way to the counter first. The staff behind the counter don't have much patience either, and will drop 'prego' (this word can mean a lot of things, but at its basic level it's probably 'hello' and 'you're welcome') at second long intervals until you answer them. There's been one or two times I've been tempted to give someone a spray, but the realisation that it's a different culture here stops here before I do so. The best practice has just been to give the locals a bit of their own medicine I've found, and to use blocking tactics to make sure you get your rightful spot at the counter.
Spent an hour or so drifting through the ruins on Paletine hill, once home to Ancient Rome's rich and famous, which is not surprising given its very handy location, next to the Roman Forum and the Colisseum.
Next up - the Colisseum. Officially known as the Flavian Ampitheatre, it really was a forerunner to the modern stadium. Given it was built starting AD 72, it might just be the most impressive structure I've seen so far. Put in in this context - the ruins of Machu Picchu were constructed a lot closer to today's date than the birth of baby Jesus (otherwise known as Gary Jnr).
Had one of the worst Italian feeds you could find on the way home, one of the rare occasions where Libe knocks back food.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Friday 11 May - Rome to Venice via Verona, Italy
Another day on the road. There's a wide variety of methods of how everyone in the group fills in their time on the bus. Generally the day goes from 8am, until somewhere between 5pm and 7pm, broken up by a 2 hour or so stop in some place on the way, and by 15 minute breaks every couple of hours or so. Usually over half of the group are having a kip within an hour of departing. I generally can't sleep in transit, whether it be on a bus or on a flight, so within an hour or so I've got the laptop out and are sorting photos, putting together a blog or two or (better still) watching some footy. Have already got plenty of value out of this machine.
Just wish I'd bought a spare battery for it so I can get more out of it than 2.5 - 3 hours. Once the laptop died in the bum around lunchtime today, I was bored shitless for the arvo really. This was either our longest day of driving, or close to it, too.
After lunch, the bus is a lot more active. By now, the laptop is dead and I'm either reading about the next place, getting involved in a game of cards up the back of the bus, or sitting in the front chatting to PJ our bus driver and getting the best view of the surrounding scenery. Libe is either reading, chatting (and sometimes indulging in a bottle of vino), or kipping.
Luke Carey sightings are now two (with more to come). Bumped into Barrel in the streets of Verona, a fashionable city an hour west of Venice. Luke had been through Barcelona and Nice since the last sighting in Paris, and had survived another one of his 'doing a number on myself' nights on the squirt. Classic King.
Verona is known for two things - its Colisseum (called the Ampitheatre), which it still uses for rock concerts (Pearl Jam recently played there), and being the home of Juliet, half of the partnership with Romeo.
Thus had a look at a statue of Juliet, and the balcony where she supposedly spent here time swooning with Romeo. Romantic 'superstition' suggests that you rub Juliet's 'heart' (actually, you rub the other thing, on the other side of her chest) for either a new lover or for good luck, depending on who you get the advice from.
Around the courtyard beneath the balcony there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of little pieces of paper stuck to the wall, all (or most) containing messages of love and romance. Myself & Libe add the following notes for each other:
From Libe to Ryan:
"Roses are red,
Violets are plastic,
I know I'm dumb,
But you're just a spastic"
From Ryan to Libe:
"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I know you're hungover,
I hope you don't spew".
The locals were dressed up 'to the nines', and there were Versace and Loius Viutton stores all over the place. The Topdeck crew stood out 'like dog balls', walking around in wifebeaters, boardshorts and thongs.
Drove onto to Venice, or Venezia as called by the locals. Actually staying in Mestre, on the mainland. There's a bridge which connects the Venizia island to Mestre. Accomodation, whether permanent or temporary, costs more than Libe's shoe collection (if that is believable), thus most people stay in Mestre and travel into Venice via bus or train. We'll be catching the no 7 in in the morning. Mestre, meanwhile, is a really nice place by itself; certainly a younger population than what we'll find in Venice, and they've got an Australian pub as well (as have London and Florence, and yep, we've been to one in both places).
Having to pay to go to most toilets here; excluding those that are in hotels, bars or restaurants that you're patronising. And they're generally ordinary quality.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Saturday 12 May - Venice
Luke Carey sightings = 3. Crossed paths with Barrel as I was exiting, and he was entering, of all things, a lace making exhibition in Venice. I would have thought that if I was going to bump into Luke 3 times overseas, at least once would have been in a bar.
Venice is certainly a fascinating place. It is hard for anyone lacking wealth to get their foot in the door here accomodation wise. The architecture is lovely, a mix of eastern europe (particularly Turkish) and traditional Italian influences. However, you would baulk at buying anything here as the city is actually sinking. When it was first built, the base of the island was a mixture of soil, logs and reeds, thus not really meant to hold the many bricks of which Venice is constructed. The Italians haven't been smart enough to stop it yet, however the recent formation of the European Union has seen money, and the brains of the Dutch, come in to start rectification actions.
In some buildings, the once-accessable basements and first floors have been abandoned for those above them due to the rising waters.
The canals, and the streets in which you get lost just so easily, are fun just to wander around. That's one of the great things of doing a Topdeck tour - their style of allowing plenty of freedom to the group allows you to really experience a place. The charm meter is off the richter scale. The city smells in most places, as the water running through the canals is mixed with the sewer and storm drains of the city, however the scenery makes it bearable.
In terms of actual attractions, there isn't a massive amount. The major place of significance is the Piazza & Basillica Di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), which although is impressive, is pretty similar to the churchs & squares seen in Rome and Florence. The one area where St. Mark's differs from those previously seen is that at high tide the Piazza regularly floods, due to the combined effect of the sinking city and the rising waters caused by global warning (yes, those from the US & little Johnny Howard, global warming does exist!). We left the island before the waters hit the Piazza, thus didn't see this occur.
Took the requisite gondola ride in the early afternoon. While it was good, it wasn't quite the romantic, two-to-the-gondola-with-the-gondolier singing ride. There was six of us on it, because the gondola rides are very exxy (36 euro each for probably 20-25 minutes). It's bit of a rort really: to become a gondolier here is actually controlled by 'someone' (I'll guess and say the local Mafia), and they would get paid better than the city's top lawyer for what's a very easy job. As well as the crowded boat, the canals really did stink in some occasions, perhaps even more than the Tigers did against the Cats last week.
Not that I ever doubted him, but Geoff Hollis was right - Italy is the place to load up on ties. Have bought 6 good quality ones here for about 8 euro ($13-14 Aussie) each. Anyone who ventures here in the future should keep that in mind. And also the fact that many of the retail stores close up in the early arvo for a siesta. One place we saw closed between about 12 and 3.
There are counterfeit goods sellers all over Europe, and Venice is no exception. They sell their stuff on sheets, which, when a member of the constabulary is approaching, they fold up quicker than you can say "yeah, bullshit, that's not real", and start bolting in the opposite direction. The sellers are always nervously looking around for the boys in blue, and it appears as though they operate with a 'lookout' as well. It's funny to see them selling fake Gucci stuff right outside the actual Gucci stores but it appears as though no one minds. Simply, if the cops wanted to bust them, they would.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Sunday 13 May - Mestre (Venice), Italy to St Johann In Tirol, Austria
Another day pretty much spent entirely in transit.
Italy is an interesting country. Although it's certainly developed, there appears to be a greater number of less well-off towns than in the countries that we've drifted through previously. There were quite a few tin shanties we spotted from the bus window on running alongside the highway.
North Italy is basically Switzerland. The architecture is certainly more German than Italian. It's got to be remembered that for most of its history Europe either didn't have borders or was divided up differently to what it is now, and that the borders are still really being settled. Most of them were determined folowing WWII, and thus they're pretty rudimentary and probably not truly reflective of how the continent is divided socially.
On the way to St Johann, we stopped off to do a little white water rafting. This was really great fun, jumping into the flowing river about 5 times (Libe a pretty similar amount). The river and its rapids were quick enough to provide entertainment, but not sufficient to make you feel you were taking a risk with your health and well being.
Found ourselves in another Aussie-themed pub tonight, this time in the relatively small town of St Johann. It's amazing how we manage to just find these familiar places overseas. It was there that I was able to jump onto the internet and find out the Cats score, probably about 10 hours after the game had been completed. Fair to say I was pumping the air walking back in the main bar (I think most people in the Topdeck crew were able to guess what I has celebrating about).
Given it's the first real team we've beat, it's been the best result so far. The next steps now are to consistently play good footy, and to start winning interstate. Reading the history of teams that make a grand final, all of them have proven themselves as being able to win on the road, PARTICULARLY in finals games.
Anyway, here's my updated ladder after 7 rounds, which works on who you've beaten:
Adelaide 40
Port Adelaide 35
West Coast 35
Hawthorn 34
Collingwood 31
Western Bulldogs 25
Brisbane 24
Essendon 24
Fremantle 23
Kangaroos 22
Geelong 21
St. Kilda 18
Sydney 14
Carlton 6
Melbourne 0
Richmond 0
I think this shows the fact that our 4th position on the ladder is a little flattering at the moment - there remains to come most of an important month of footy for the GFC.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Monday 14 May - St Johann in Tirol, Austria
There's not much sightseeing to do in St Johann; it's more of a activities town - skydiving, paragliding, canyoning and bike riding were those activities offered to the Topdeck crew for the arvo. Myself and Libe opted for the least extreme bike ride option, which allowed us the first sleep-in for a fair while, and to spend the arvo sitting in a laundry washing our clothes for the first time since leaving London nearing two weeks ago.
The bike ride was OK; the bikes were a little uncomfortable, and the hills pretty tough, but the exercise was overdue, scenery nice, and the lake into which a couple of us jumped into very refreshing.
Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Wednesday 2 May - London
Last day in London before our tour tomorrow. Both of us had things our to-see list that we hadn't done yet, but those places weren't the same, so myself and Libe both got a leave pass for the day and headed our separate ways.
One thing that might stand out is that I haven't done anything sporting yet in London. There's one notable omission in particular - Lords, the home of cricket. The ground is really in the suburbs, much like a old suburban ground like those that prevailed in the AFL for such a long time. In fact, there is a large number of homes that are on the same, large block that the ground is. In terms of size, both of the ground, and the combination of the ground and and its surrounds, would be dwarfed by the MCG.
Walking in was like being a little kid again. I don't think I've actually been as excited on this trip as when I walked into the ground.
The Lords tour starts in the Museum, and, as it cannot always do, took us into the famous Long Room. It was interesting to be shown the route that the players walk onto the ground via, right through the room and through a door in the middle of it. You just couldn't do it anywhere else, in any other sport, due to security being a problem, however in the sanctity of the MCC Members it's not an issue.
The ground is surrounded by a real variety of stands and structures. In particular, the media centre at the opposite end of the ground to the Members Pavilion dominates it. We had a trip up into the media centre, from which I confirm that the view of the ground is exceptional.
It was good that there was a game on, albeit only an MCC v MCC Young Cricketers one dayer. The pitch being used was number 1 of 18 on the very big square, which means it was on the very left of the square as you'd look at it from the pavilion. This meant that the boundary on one side was tiny, perhaps only 12-15 metres between the fielding restrictions circle and the boundary. The international pitches in the middle of the square, when used, would result in a ground that would be a terrific size for cricket.
As I'm sure most who'd seen the ground would agree, the slope on it from left to right (as the members would look at it) is quite pronounced, massive by today's standards. Our guide told us that the drop caused by the slope was about 2 metres in height.
Overall, a magical place. The next thing is to get there to watch some real cricket. The 2009 Ashes is beckoning (as well as a tour to India to follow the boys around - that's certainly on my essential life experiences list as well).
Tried to get into both The Oval and Emirates Stadium / Highbury (the home of Arsenal), however the former was not open to the public and the latter's last tour had already left; Emirates Stadium last for the day one left at 3pm while Highbury has nearly been completely torn down. There were few remnants left of the old Highbury unfortunately, otherwise it would've been great to see. To call its location quaint would hafve been an understatement - if I've said above that Lords is in the suburbs, I'd have to say Highbury was in someone's backyard. It's amazing how tight that ground must have been in all aspects; proximity to the homes surrounding it, the number of people that would've crammed in there to see a club with such a huge following play, and how close the players were to the players.
Off to the Globetrotter Inn in the arvo, from where we will start our tour of Europe in the morning. Within an hour, we were off on a pub crawl with a crowd that was 90% Aussie, but led by a British bird who had more stories than than the Empire State Building. It was a good way to introduce ourselves to a few of the crew who will join us for the tour tomorrow.
I've actually changed this blog a bit, for the better. Instead of posting a few pics here of each day, I'm uploading all my pics, and hopefully all of Libe's as well onto the website below. There'll be a few comments about the pics as well. This means that there might be a few ordinary shots on there, but I'll try to keep those off there. The website is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
The pics will be in date order, so hopefully you can find them easily enough on there.
You may need to sign up to see the photos, I'm not 100% sure yet, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
I'll try to put a few more blogs I'm behind here soon - the rest of Peru, Miami, San Fran, Vegas and London to come!
Last day in London before our tour tomorrow. Both of us had things our to-see list that we hadn't done yet, but those places weren't the same, so myself and Libe both got a leave pass for the day and headed our separate ways.
One thing that might stand out is that I haven't done anything sporting yet in London. There's one notable omission in particular - Lords, the home of cricket. The ground is really in the suburbs, much like a old suburban ground like those that prevailed in the AFL for such a long time. In fact, there is a large number of homes that are on the same, large block that the ground is. In terms of size, both of the ground, and the combination of the ground and and its surrounds, would be dwarfed by the MCG.
Walking in was like being a little kid again. I don't think I've actually been as excited on this trip as when I walked into the ground.
The Lords tour starts in the Museum, and, as it cannot always do, took us into the famous Long Room. It was interesting to be shown the route that the players walk onto the ground via, right through the room and through a door in the middle of it. You just couldn't do it anywhere else, in any other sport, due to security being a problem, however in the sanctity of the MCC Members it's not an issue.
The ground is surrounded by a real variety of stands and structures. In particular, the media centre at the opposite end of the ground to the Members Pavilion dominates it. We had a trip up into the media centre, from which I confirm that the view of the ground is exceptional.
It was good that there was a game on, albeit only an MCC v MCC Young Cricketers one dayer. The pitch being used was number 1 of 18 on the very big square, which means it was on the very left of the square as you'd look at it from the pavilion. This meant that the boundary on one side was tiny, perhaps only 12-15 metres between the fielding restrictions circle and the boundary. The international pitches in the middle of the square, when used, would result in a ground that would be a terrific size for cricket.
As I'm sure most who'd seen the ground would agree, the slope on it from left to right (as the members would look at it) is quite pronounced, massive by today's standards. Our guide told us that the drop caused by the slope was about 2 metres in height.
Overall, a magical place. The next thing is to get there to watch some real cricket. The 2009 Ashes is beckoning (as well as a tour to India to follow the boys around - that's certainly on my essential life experiences list as well).
Tried to get into both The Oval and Emirates Stadium / Highbury (the home of Arsenal), however the former was not open to the public and the latter's last tour had already left; Emirates Stadium last for the day one left at 3pm while Highbury has nearly been completely torn down. There were few remnants left of the old Highbury unfortunately, otherwise it would've been great to see. To call its location quaint would hafve been an understatement - if I've said above that Lords is in the suburbs, I'd have to say Highbury was in someone's backyard. It's amazing how tight that ground must have been in all aspects; proximity to the homes surrounding it, the number of people that would've crammed in there to see a club with such a huge following play, and how close the players were to the players.
Off to the Globetrotter Inn in the arvo, from where we will start our tour of Europe in the morning. Within an hour, we were off on a pub crawl with a crowd that was 90% Aussie, but led by a British bird who had more stories than than the Empire State Building. It was a good way to introduce ourselves to a few of the crew who will join us for the tour tomorrow.
I've actually changed this blog a bit, for the better. Instead of posting a few pics here of each day, I'm uploading all my pics, and hopefully all of Libe's as well onto the website below. There'll be a few comments about the pics as well. This means that there might be a few ordinary shots on there, but I'll try to keep those off there. The website is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/milky42
The pics will be in date order, so hopefully you can find them easily enough on there.
You may need to sign up to see the photos, I'm not 100% sure yet, but hopefully it'll be worth it.
I'll try to put a few more blogs I'm behind here soon - the rest of Peru, Miami, San Fran, Vegas and London to come!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)