2010:Europe Trip

19 June

Left Auckland destined for Incheon, South Korea. The first flight was around 11.5 hours and I managed to see ~5 movies on the plane. The Boeing 777 (Korean Air) had bigger screens than I was used to seeing on planes (widescreens) and they also touchscreens. At I met a couple of kiwi girls who had been on the same flight and were also heading to Europe (Paris however). Together we found the helpdesk which organised transport to hotels and caught a taxi van. It was quite misty and it wasn't possible to see very far at the airport and it became dark on the way to the hotel. The airport was quite modern and stylish as was the freeway to the hotel. I got to travel on the Incheon Bridge which was very impressive.

I stayed at the Paradise hotel which was half an hour away from the airport. It was a bit more run down than it looks on the website, but still quite nice. After dinner I went for a walk around the area (north and slightly east of the hotel [1]) which was very quaint. At night there were lights/lanterns everywhere and the buildings all had a very Asian feel to them with traditional architecture and art mixed in everywhere. I spoke to a New Zealand couple at the hotel who called it the china town (so it could have been a Chinese area?).

20 June

I managed to get some sleep and had breakfast at the hotel. I found a huge cockroach at the hotel and left it under a glass. The hotel did have free wireless but I went and used one of their three very slow computers in the 'Business Room'. There was a bus on the way back to the airport and the mist/smog had subsided a bit and I was able to see the Songdo Business District.

I caught a Beoing 747 (Korean Air) to London (11.5 hours) and this time the screens were the much older and smaller ones however still touch screen. I watched movies most of the flight. I took of at around 1:30 pm and landed in London at about 5:30 pm the same day making it a very long 4 hours (the day before the longest day of the year in the norther hemisphere). That could quite possibly be able, in the future, to take the title of the longest day of my life.

I was greeted in London and taken to stay the night in Mill Hill. I had a small stroll around the area before seeing the great news on TV that New Zealand had held up a 1-1 draw with Italy before I went to bed.

21 June

Today I had another walk around the area before being taken up the A1 towards Sheffield. I was surprised that I still haven't seen any seemingly densely populated areas. On the way to Sheffield we went through Sherwood Forest before going back down the M1 to see some of Derbyshire. On the way down we could see the crooked spire in Chesterfield. The main destination was the Chatsworth estate. The estate was very beautiful and the weather was lovely.

22 June

Today jet-lag was still hitting me a bit and the long hours of light weren't helping much either (17 hours of daylight). I spent most of the morning dazed in bed. Again there was lovely weather all day. One thing I find interesting is that whenever I look at the sky there are at least a couple of long contrails trailing behind jets. The botanical gardens are very close by so I went to see them. There was a riddle trail around the gardens so I couldn't resist doing it. It was interesting seeing the section inside the greenhouse dedicated to New Zealand flora (somehow it didn't quite capture what the bush is like, unfortunately). Some of the interesting things in the garden are a fosalised tree and a Victorian bear pit. In the evening we went for a walk through some of the parks to the Norfolk Arms for dinner and then back down to Hunters Bar.

23 June

Today I went for a bit more of a wonder around Sheffield and spent a bit more time in the botanical gardens. I went to get lunch from the supermarket, trying a few things we can't get in New Zealand. When I went to pay, the lady on the checkout looked genuinely surprised and checked the watermark. She said she had never seen a ten pound note like it before and called over the supervisor. Apparently the note (which we had from a while ago) is no longer legal tender. Luckily I did have a note she would accept. After watching England beat Slovenia I went rock climbing on some gritstone cliffs Burbage Edge.

24 June

Today I painted a gate and most of a fence. I also got slightly sunburnt.

25 June

Today I wend for lunch in the middle of Sheffield and walked around the winter gardens. Later I finished painting the fence.

26 June

Traveled to the lake district through Manchester and met family in Langdale

27 June

Went for a walk to x and watched the Formula 1 and England vs Germany game where England was knocked out of the world cup. Had Lamb Henry for dinner and then a pub quiz, our team came second.

28 June

Went rock climbing on one of the crags above the wainwright inn (apparently this pub has amazing lamb shank) and saw my first rain in England. Watched Murry play tennis.

29 June

Visited Ambleside for lunch and went mountain biking in the afternoon. Pub quiz at wainright and one of our teams came first.

30 June

Today we went for a walk and had lunch at Rydal Hall and an ice cream at Grassmere.

1 July

Today was the first wet day. We went on a family hunt to find the 'Malcolm Stone' and given a riddle and an indication on a map of where it was. The first to find it won a hundred pounds. I got soaked right through looking for it. We had a presentation to the winner in the evening and sang a couple of Scottish songs before playing boggle. The winnings were put to drinks at the pub.

2 July

Today we went mountain biking which was quite tiring and painful! The view of the valley we reached was wonderful though.

3 July

Today we played some tennis and watched Germany beat Argentina 4-0.

4 July

Today we went to see the Gala. Unfortunatly it was raining and we missed much of it (including the fell race and the Cumbrian wrestling). We did see some of the childrens plain race and sack race. There was a band playing an sheep sheering too. In the afternoon we watched the final mens wimbleton tennis game in the gym and went to play some table tennis before going swimming. For dinner we had tortillas.

5 July

Today we went for a walk and saw a few waterfalls. We found a couple of slow worms and ate some wild berries. For dinner we went to Warinrights for the Lamb Shank (lamb shoulder on the menu) which we had been looking forward too all week. It was very good and filling.

6 July

Today we went to the beach. We went to Whitehaven and had a look around a viewing tower which we could easily see scotland from. Next we went to a beach and had a swim in the freezing water. We then went south a bit to a stone circle before coming back in time for a semi final soccer game. After dinner of bobotie, we went to Wainrights to finish off a pub quiz and then to the Britannia.

7 July

Today we had a quiet day.

8 July

Today we went to Grizedale to go mountain biking. Some of the tracks were quite tricky.

9 July

Today was a bit wet so we played table tennis. For dinner we went to Wainrigths again.

10 July

Today we drove out of the Lake District back to Sheffield.

11 July

Today we drove back to London and watched the Final of the World Cup.

12 July

Today I took the train into St Pancras railway station and had a walk around London. First I went to the British Museum and saw many of the main attractions such as the Rosetta Stone. Next I went to the British Library and saw their list of precious works including a couple of copies of the Magna Carta, Song scribblings of the Beetles, and some pages of Leonardo de Vincis notes. The library also had a maps exhibition on.

13 July

Today I went to see St. Pauls cathedral. It was quite impressive from the outside but I didn't feel it was worth the entrance fee to look around inside. Next I walked over the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern. There was a lot of strange art which made more sense after watching a film they had showing about many of the pieces. There were a few pieces I recognised such as ones by Picasso, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. Next I saw the recreation of Shakespeares Globe theatre which was also quite expensive so I passed on going through. After that I walked back over London Bridge, passing a prison museum towards the Bank of England. There I went through the museum where I cracked their safe and got to put my hand into a plastic cage and lifted a 13 kg gold bullion (which I suspect could be fake, although nothing alluded to that).

14 July

Today I went into the city to stay at the Clink hostel which is a converted courthouse. I met an interesting character who manages networks for Verison apparently he has been staying at the Hostel for about a year, jumping between rooms, because he can't find a suitable apartment.

15 July

Today my trip around Europe started from the Clink hostel. We got an a bus destined for Dover where we had a short stop before getting on a ferry. There was a slight delay in departure because previous ferrys had taken too long to manoeuvre into port at Calais. We got on the ferry which was quite large and had quite a bit of shopping on-board. As we left the captain announced that they would be using the stabilisers as the water was quite rough. Eventually we made it to Calais and left the Ferry from the car deck because it was too windy for the walkway. The weather otherwise was quite nice and the sun was out. We boarded the coach we would be travelling around Europe in for the first time and left for Paris! We arrived in Paris while it was still quite light and went straight to the hostel. The hostel was in a fairly rough area about 25 minutes from the centre of the city. On the bus before we reach a new hostel we were to sleep at, we put our names down on a room list. In Paris we had rooms of three. The rooms were fairly small (two normal beds and one bunk bed) but had an on-suite bathroom and air conditioning. After about 20 minutes of unpacking we had to be downstairs and we were off to our restaurant dinner which was just around the corner. For dinner, we had a starters of escargot where we each got a garlic snail to eat. They weren't too bad and were quite garlicky. After that, the table I was sitting at organised another starter of frogs legs. The frogs legs also weren't bad and the meat was quite smooth and otherwise chicken-like. The main course was beef with a macaroni like pasta. The pasta was, ok, but the meat tasted quite nice (later rumours were that it was horse meat but I don't believe that). One interesting note was that the light in the bathroom had a habit of going out a few seconds after you went in (apparently it happened to a few people) and one of the loos was a squatter toilet. After dinner, we walked back to the hostel (2 minutes walk) and hopped straight back on the coach for a night time tour of Paris. There was still a couple of hours of daytime left at this stage. On our bus ride on the way in we had a points system where you got points for seeing someone stereotypically French. 10 points for someone in a beret, 20 for a beret and a striped shirt, 30 for beret striped shirt and a baguette and lastly 100 points for a couple French-kissing. We saw a few berets and striped shirts. We also saw some rough characters smoking something possibly not legal. We went past a multitude of sights including many museums, bridges, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Les Invalides, fancy restaurants with bullet proof glass and menus where you can't afford it if you have to ask the price (they also come with bouncers who speak into their cuffs), the opera house (home of the Phantom of the Opera), Rodin museum (with the Thinker just visible over the wall), Chance Elysee, Arc de Triomphe and, of course, half way through we had a stop at the Eiffel Tower. We were given two hours at the Eiffel Tower where we were allowed to go up quickly and take some photos. I had to run around some back streets first to find an ATM. When I got back to the queue, people were being quietly ushered away from the tower and the queue dispersed. There was rumours of a bomb scare and it was apparent that they weren't letting people go up any more so we walked back to the coach (one of the girls in our group asked one of the soldiers that was about if we were safe and the soldier said that he couldn't say). Some people went to have a coffee in a cafe while we waited by the coach. All of a sudden there was a sharp explosion coming from the Eiffel Tower! I think that what happened is, that some poor persons unattended luggage was turned into a small pile of smoke. Who knows. About a minute later a flood of people moved back to the lines and I joined in the new queue for going up the tower. We walked up the first two levels and managed to see the sunset on the second level. We then took the lift up to the top of the tower. We had a short time at the top before we had to zip back down to the coach to continue the night-time tour of Paris. Paris is very pretty with continuous statues and grand buildings along the streets. After the tour we returned to the hostel.

16 July

Today began in the Hostel with a fairly nice breakfast. There were a lot of nice breads to choose from as well as bacon, eggs, cereal, yoghurt etc. After breakfast we got on the coach to be dropped off in the city for a free day to explore. On the way into the city we drove past the Moulin Rouge as well as the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur (where we had the option to leave the bus but only a couple of people did) and finally stopped at the Louvre where everyone departed the bus. Our main mission was to get to the Mona Lisa as quickly as possible! We went in through one of the side entrances and got a ticket from a ticket machine. We then walked underground to below the Louvre Pyramid and entered the wing containing the Mona Lisa. On the way to the Mona Lisa, we passed through a section of status including Winged Victory of Samothrace which I didn't really take the time to appreciate and have to go back one day to see. It was fairly easy to get to the Mona Lisa and the crowd wasn't too bad. After seeing the Mona Lisa we walked through more of the paintings section. A group of us had arranged to meet outside the pyramid at quarter past 11 so we had time to wonder around some of the rest of the louvre including the Venus de milo and some of the Egyptian artefacts. After the Louvre we walked to Notre Dame. We joined a long line going around the side of Notre Dame. While the group waited in line, I ducked out to get a crêpe from a café with a crêperie outside, just across the road. It was so good that I convinced many of the group to later get one (most got two) at lunch. After a while we started to worry that we were in the line to go up the bell tower and not the church itself. A couple of people went to check and found the line to just get into the church. We switched lines and the other line, while very long, moved extremely quickly. Inside the church we saw the impressive stain glass windows and styles of architecture. We left Notre Dame and found some lunch (when some people got crêpes) and ate around the back of Notre Dame in a lovely little park. After lunch we went to the nearest metro station to take a train to the Arc de Triomphe. We had a bit of trouble reading the map as the names didn't match up between maps, we ended up getting off at the wrong stop but then got back on the next train and managed to find our way to the Arc. From the station we could stay underground and come out of the exit right at the Arc de Triomphe. From the Arc de Triomphe we were able to see the Grande Arche which I thought was quite impressive (even if it doesn't line up). After looking around the arc for a while, we didn't go up, we went back into the tunnel and came out next to the end of the Champs-Élysées. We walked down the Champs-Élysées (seeing stereotypically French waiters with striped shirts) and a lots of expensive fashion outlets. We also saw a bit of French road rage with one can waiting to turn left at a light onto the Champs-Élysées while the man in the car behind mysteriously started yelling in French and honking madly. Near the end of the Champs-Élysées we crossed over the Seine to the Les Invalides. When we apprached the front of Les Invalides we saw one of the bike tour groups go past. After the Louvre there was the option for paying for a bike tour around the city but that would have meant not going into the attractions. Later we found out that the bike tour had also witnessed some road rage where there had been an accident between a motorcyclist and a car driver. Apparently the motorcyclist was much larger than the driver of the car and when they both got out, next to their vehicles there had been a rather one sided fist fight where the car driver hadn't stood a chance against a big biker with a helmet on. We walked up to the entrance of Les Invalides (on a very rough path) and walked through the courtyard with a statue of Napoleon looking down and cannons all around (Cour d'Honneur). There were also relief's of horses fighting around the walls. At the back we paid to go in to see the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. The roof of the tomb outside was impressively covered in gold and inside, the main feature was the sarcophagus of Napoleon with family members and other war heroes also in the building. After seeing Napoleons tomb we went across the road to the Rodin museum. We just paid to go into the gardens which had the Thinker statue. Coincidentally if we had paid to go into the gardens before going to see the tomb, we could have got a discount on going to see Napoleons tomb. After walking around the statues in the gardens we walked down the Champ de Mars towards the Eiffel Tower under which we had a picnic dinner. Half way down the park I saw a piece of tiled art of a space invader character. I had seen one on one of the arched openings to the Louvre the night before too as well as one on one of the statues. I suspect they were street installations by Invader. We met near the roundabout in the middle and exchanged stories before we had our buffet style picnic. After dinner the portion of the group that was going to see a Cabaret show went onto the coach bus to get changed. We packed up and got on the bus and left. I got off at the first stop which was for everyone who had chosen the option of going on a cruise on the Seine. The boats were quite large and slow. There was commentary but we sat on the top deck and it was barely audible over the talking. It ended up being more of a social cruise with lots of yelling under bridges and waving at Parisians on the banks. We even passed a 30th birthday party taking place on one of the banks. The cruise went down around Notre Dame and back up to the Eiffel Tower and it was just getting dark as we got back. We all got on the coach which was waiting for us (the cabaret group took a different coach back later on) and drove back to the hostel. When we got back to the hostel, some of us stayed behind to help the driver offload the fold out stools we had been sitting on for our picnic under the Eiffel Tower. We all got a few arm-fulls of chairs and walked around the bus. On the other side of the bus we heard screaming and the driver yelled "Come help, they are stealing her bag!" we were a bit stunned and ran back around the bus, just in time to see two mopeds driving off into the distance and the girl who was the last one to pick up chairs in hysterics. Apparently they grabbed her bag while it was still on and tore it from her. Her bag had her passport, wallet, camera and other valuables. A security guard from the hostel came out to see what happened and some people went in to phone the police. We finished carrying the chairs and tables back to the restaurant where we ate dinner the night before and went to have a drink at the bar next door. When we got back to the hostel, there were some people ready to take the girl down to the police station to give a statement. There was nothing more to do so we went up to bed.

17 July

We had the same breakfast again today

5 August

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