Sunday 28 July 2013

On The Road Again

Internet is actually quite hard to come by now that I am staying in campsites. For example, I don't know when I'm going to be able to post this. I'm on the coach traveling through the south of France from Avignon to Barcelona but I can't say when I'm going to be able to actually upload it.

Anyway, the rest of my time in Switzerland was amazing. To say Switzerland was beautiful would such an understatement. The snow-capped mountains, the trees, the bright blue lakes, the quaint Swiss houses and just the general atmosphere made it feel as if you were walking through a fairy tale or a postcard. I think I'm going to need to post a lot of pictures for this section to try and capture it, but I don't think it will work. We camped in the small town of Lauderbrunnen in the Interlaken region. Lauderbrunnen is in a lush valley with steep cliffs on two sides and views of the mountains in every other direction. When I walked out of the tent in the morning, i was greeted with views like these. From my tent.

 

On our free day in Switzland, most people (myself included obviously) decided to climb Jungfrau, the tallest mountain in Europe accessible by train. The train ride through the Swiss countryside and then the Alps was beautiful enough but the views from Junfrau were completely mind blowing.

There was also an ice cave carved into the glacier with ice sculptures.

I also bought a proper Tissot Swiss watch to replace the one that broke in Budapest.

Last night we stayed in Avingnon. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my phone or my camera into the actual city itself but it was pretty fantastic as well. The city is only small, but it is exactly how pictures europe to look with its narrow, cobblestoned streets, Roman architecture and people with baguettes everywhere. I much preffered it to Paris. It was also a street performers festival while we were there which was fun. I did think to bring my camp to the Pont de Gard, which is an old Roman aquaduct on the outskirts of Avingnon though.

U

The people I'm with on the tour are actually pretty good. Nights are usually very late and mornings are usually very early but there's a lot of time on the coach to sleep.

 

Wednesday 24 July 2013

Going Gorillas in Paris

Bonjour from Paris! Actually, I'm on the bus on the way to Switzerland but I am still technically still in France, so that's close enough. This is day three of thirty-four on my Top Deck eurotrip tour and its all pretty good so far. We met in London early on Sunday morning and caught the bus to Dover and the ferry on to Calais from there. Everyone seems cool although literally everyone here is from Australia, New Zealand or Canada so it's kind of like being home again.

We camped last night and the night before in a campsite on the outskirts of Paris. Yesterday was just a free day to wander around and check out the city which was exhausting and cray. There is a lot to see and do in Paris but I think I made the most of the day. I'll attach some photos and label them which seems the easiest way to recount my day.

Notre Dame outside

Notre Dame inside
Smaller replica of Napoleons' Arc du Triumph
Bridge with many padlocks
The Louvre
The Louvre gardens
The Madeleine Church

Place du Concorde

The old Paris opera house
Also the old Paris opera house
Not sure what this building was but it looked pretty cool

This is the end for Jim Morrison. He broke on through to the other side.

 

Oh, and we just crossed into Switzerland which is cool.

 

Saturday 20 July 2013

Anarchy in the UK

I know it's been a while since my last post but I've been too busy to sit down and write. Also, and this will probably come as a surprise to no one, I've been having some technical problems with regards to Internet access and my camera. I imagine this is what it's like working for SBS. Anyway, I think I've sorted it all out now. I still can't get a lot of my photos from my first day in Edinburgh off my camera for some reason but I've got all the rest.

 

Anyway, on Tuesday I went on a Scottish Highlands tour up to Loch Ness, Glencoe and down the West coast of Scotland. I'll put in some photos but they really can't come close to capturing the natural beauty of the Highlands. It really is beautiful. Loch Ness was really just a big lake (and no, the only monsters I saw were some incredibly precocious American teenagers) but Glencoe was incredible. Also, I had haggis for dinner which was surprisingly good then a pub crawl with a friend who I used to work with (Rachel, that's you!) and some other backpackers I met in Edinburgh.

Nessie did it

At 5:45 the next morning (it was just as bad as it sounds) I caught a bus back to London. That night I went and saw a band from Camperdown (the Australian one) playing in a pub in Camden (the English one). Thursday I went back into down and checked out Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I'm not sure what I was expecting of the Tower of London but I think I was a little underwhelmed. I appreciated all the history and all but it was just very...touristy and artificial. Still, there were some good exhibits and things. The Crown Jewels didn't particularly phase me either but then, as the guide said, that really is one exhibit for the ladies.

 

That night I decided to take in some of the local culture (sarcasm) so I went to the movies to see the new Seth Rogen/James Franco movie "This Is The End" which was like no movie I have ever seen but I highly recommend. Seth Rogen has a direct link to my funny bone.

 

Yesterday i did the British Museum which was incredible. It was nice to really get my history nerd on and there is no better place to geek out than the British Museum (or as they jokingly refer to themselves "the attic of civilisation"). The Roman exhibits especially caught my attention. I was there from open until almost close and I didn't even get to see everything. Yes, I know. I'm wild (the name of this blog post is somewhat ironic).

The head of Augustus (one of my favorite people from history)

After a whole day at a museum, I thought I should keep the high culture thing going and decided to do something very out of character. I went to a West End show. I went and saw "We Will Rock You" at the Dominion Theatre. Honestly, musicals are so totally not my thing but for a musical based on the music of a man who was literally so gay it killed him (all the songs in the show are Queen/Freddie Mercury songs) it was actually pretty good.

 

Shut up Kate, I can hear you laughing from here.