Gap Year

Ghost tours and strange experiences in Bohemia...

2008-08-01T20:00:06Z

I'm too tired to do this now but if you still want to hear about the end of my trip, I'll write when I get back. It hit 35 degrees c in Prague today and sans airconditioning I'm sweating from the few places I didn't put deodorant on, like my toenails...lol and I'm not actually joking not that you wanted to know that! Onwards to my last stop tomorrow: Cesky Krumlov.

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.

2008-07-26T18:44:29Z

I´m flying home on the 5th. There´s just been too much trouble with student finances and other things

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Vienna

2008-07-24T15:29:40Z

I don't have the time to update you all on everything but since I last blogged, I've been to Skofja Loka, Bled and Bratislava. I'm in Vienna atm which is very beautiful and Salzburg in a few days if I EVER get this finance thing sorted which is looking less and less likely at the moment. Sigh. Anyway no time to waste as it is finally sunny out (it's been 15 for the past few days, real shock after Ljubljana which was ten degrees warmer!) so I'm off.

Amelia

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Ljubljana

2008-07-18T16:21:26Z

For those of you that don't know Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia. I flew here from Helsinki via Prague and the plane I got on the second stage was quite possibly the smallest I've ever been in -15 rows of four. Bertie very nearly didn't fit! It did mean however that we were flying fairly low so I got to see some countryside and my first impression of Slovenia is that it's well, gorgeous. It pains me to say this and you'll know why in a moment but...ok big breath you can do it...I actually agree with George Bush. You'll never hear me say that again I promise you but he said famouslythat Slovenia is a little slice of Heaven and it's true it really is gorgeous. Ljubljana is said to be the child of Prague and Vienna (I think that's right) and it's name is rumored to come from the word beloved. Does that tell you how pretty it is? I've spent two lovely days just wandering around and I'm going to go to Bled tomorrow or the day after. The sun is shining, people are smiling and it's all good! Actually I can only think of one bad thing: racism. It's rife here. I heard some quite offensive things from an Estonian woman on the plane and even the hostel owner who is the friendliest man you could ever hope to meet uses some words I can't quite get over. I am the girl who gets annoyed with her friends for refering to the Paki shop after all. ANYWAY Lubljana is as pretty as it's name promises though pocket sized. Actually what am I doing, it's sunny out so I'm off!

Amelia

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piccies

2008-07-17T15:59:26Z

Thanks to unlimited free internet I've uploaded about a gazillion photos from my whole trip so check them out! Don't expect more though -I've used 95% of my monthly upload limit! Anyways, enjoy!

P.S. If you can't figure out how let me know.

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Helsinki

2008-07-14T11:02:26Z

I've just been reading back over my blog and realise quite how awkward it sometimes sounds so I apologise! I don't often have time to read back over what I've written. I did a little self-guided walking tour today and I have to say I did all that I want to see of Helsinki within 3 hours. Oops! Whatever will I do tomorrow I wonder? I think Finland must be full of activists though as although today was only my fifth day here I had my sixth attempted recruitment between just Amnesty International and Greenpeace. Now that does impress me! But for now, there' speople behind me waiting so...

ttfn

Amelia

P.S. Oh and July is Finland's hottest month. Average temperature: 18.6 celsius. Yay lol

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Onwards to...Finland

2008-07-13T17:17:41Z

So after nice chat with a couple of the guys at my hostel on to the ferry -Viking Lines, naturally me being a Viking! Nothing to be said about that really. Got as much sleep as is to be expected in a deck seat on the shopping and restaurant/bar deck which is to say none and some jobs-worth cleaner threw away my half-full food bag but otherwise OK. Arrived in Turku, Finland early in the morning. Again not much to be said to be honest. Wandered around some over the next couple of days then onto Tampere. My guidebook was right in this respect: Turku may be older but Tampere is better. Some pretty buildings and a couple good museums. But still not much. I enjoyed my night in a hotel more to be honest with you! (They had a pillow menu for God's sake!) I got to Helsinki this afternoon so we'll see how I like this. I have noticed a couple of things though -Finland's reputation for liking heavy metal is not mistaken. Everyone wears black here. Finland also feels much edgier than the rest of Scandinavia and much more like Russia than Europe -if they'll forgive me for saying that- oh and Finns do have a certain look to them, as distinct as the Swedish but I don't really know I can describe it. Wow I haven't exactly been promoting Finland have I? Becki if you're reading this I'm sorry! I love Finland really! No to be honest it's not bad, it's just not particularly exciting either. And at least it's warmer than Sweden!

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Finland

2008-07-13T13:46:43Z

in Helsinki and no time, sorry everyone!

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Stockholm

2008-07-09T11:20:17Z

I'm leaving Stockholm today, night ferry to Turku so to update you as I've been wandering around quite a bit more. One thing I've discovered about Stockholm is that it's essentially built in two layers, roads down below then roads say a story or two up on bridges above the lower roads. And when you're up you might never realise there was more of the city beneath you quite honestly. Went on a walk with 4 or 5 other people in my hostel a couple of nights ago and saw a completely gorgeous view of the city below all lit up although the sun doesn't set till half eleven or so so it wasn't exactly dark! Then last night after a good meal cooked by an Australian girl with some of the unlimited free pasta -of which I've been having so much it's coming out of my ears beause it's free!- a few of us went out last night too. Found a really tiny jazz bar after wandering around but didn't stay very long anyway. Ummm...went to the Vasamuseum with the same girl -for free, still being a child apparantly lol- which is a completely preserved 300 odd year old ship and one of the king's at that which capsized shortly after it started it's maiden voyage. It was pretty amazing how well preserved it was but there were almost as many tourists as at the Eiffel Tower for goodness' sake! Craziness. It occurred to me in the last couple of days just how many completely amazing people I'm meeting and places I'm seeing all the time -admittedly probably because I've made so many friends in Stockholm, much more than . However did this happen to little Millie hey?
Oh and travel towel number one died a sad death last week (well what do you expect, twas like a giant piece of kitchen roll) so on to number two and I have shockingly actually managed to put quite a substantial hole in my really thick pair of american jeans just purely from the amount of wear they're getting so I'm down to my french supermarket pair and have invested into some capris for summer which amazingly are 2 sizes smaller than these jeans which were snug in Paris! Not that any of that is especially interesting of course but hey this stuff is part of my day to day life at the moment!
Now off to prepare for my dreaded 13 hr night ferry on deck as no cabins left :-( promise to blog agan before I leave Ljubljana (the dates are on here) but not sure if will have time/money in Finland.

Talk before I'm old!
Amelia
P.S. Hopefully Finland will be warmer, fingers crossed!

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update...

2008-07-06T13:30:53Z

as some of you may know, I haven't quite been feeling like stopping with Finland so I have decided to swing back to a few places I passed by. I've booked basically about one more month. Not all trains and stuff sorted out so this is variable but as it stands, my schedule is:

16-20 July Ljubljana, Slovenia (plus daytrips)
21-25 Vienna, Austria
26-27 Salzburg, Austria
28-1 August Prague, Czech Republic
2-3 Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
4-6 Munich, Germany
7-12 Berlin, Germany

then back home. Really looking forward to some of these places. Slovenia suppossed to be really beautiful and EVERYONE has been saying Cesky Krumlov so I'm excited!

Anyway, in Stockholm atm and the best way of describing it is nice. Boring as that sounds, that's just how it feels: pleasant. This hostel is very cool though -no shoes inside so everyone's barefoot free pasta and saunas... oh and I'm staying in the tent in Munich. Look it up if you really want to know!

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Norway...stuff I forgot

2008-07-05T06:52:54Z

I'm waiting, yet again, at the train station and I remembered a couple of things I meant to tell you. The Norway in a Nutshell tour started at 06:35 so I was at the station at about 05:45 because I was pretty paranoid I was going to miss it! Anyway so I saw my train's platform had been announced so it being so warm I thought I would just go and wait there rather than by all the shops and so on. So I head down the pretty much deserted gangway and the first thing I see is these insanely fancily dressed conductors all stood by the train but hey I'd been up since about 04:00 so my brain was just like ggnnnhhh...whatever. Then this man comes up to me and goes 'era norsk?' or whatever it is they all keep saying to me. 'No...' 'well, you have to go back inside, we're about to shoot for a movie down here' ! What??? Whyever didn't they shut the doors I wonder? I was not properly awake so I would totally just have got on that train in the middle of the shoot lol! Anyway, pretty eventfull day! The other thing, quickly because I've got a train to catch: guess where I stayed in Bergen? It's fun to stay at the... well, it made me laugh anyway lol!

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Norway

2008-07-04T10:44:39Z

That was a long last blog, wasn't it? Are you ready for another? Ok well Gothenburg: Gothenburg was a pretty nice city with I must say some very good museums -and I've been in a lot in the past couple of months so you know I mean it! I seem to be developing quite a taste for modern art especially photography (now I bet you never thought you'd hear me say that!) so I enjoyed that and the Museum of World Culture was surely one of the coolest museums I've been in in a while. Check out the webpage, see if it seems as cool to you: http://www.varldskulturmuseet.se/smvk/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=126&l=en_US I particularly liked "83 ways to change the world" I also first experienced how much nature there is to be found in Scandinavian cities -I kept turning corners and coming across mini mountains! Anyway, made a few new friends in Gothenburg then onwards to Oslo. At Oslo, my sense of direction decided to take a little holiday of it's own so although my hostel shouldn't have been hard to find, it took me nearly 5 times longer than the actual walk itself :-( but hey, anyway. Umm...I enjoyed Oslo although the prices made me seriously consider giving up eating! They were even expensive compared to England, people and that is saying something! Not much else to say for Oslo really. Wandered around a bit! Kept getting talked to by gorgeous guys in what I presume was some form of Norwegian which I must say was not unpleasant lol! Oh. I went to the Norwegian Folkmuseum which basically they had transported old buildings from all over Norway and put them here in an outdoor mini village with the staff dressed up in traditional costumes and traditional dancing. Anyway, quite a nice day out in suburban Oslo though you wouldn't believe it. Cities don't get very big this far north. Then: Norway in a Nutshell. This was a bit of a splurge but it was well worth it. It included train Oslo- Myrdal, the Flam railway to yes you guessed it, Flam. A fjord cruise to Gudvangen, a bus to Voss -including the steepest road in Norway, and a train to Bergen. Now all that may not mean that much to you but these routes are, as my guidebook says, some of the most scenic in the world. They have to be seen to be believed. (If you go here: http://www.fjord-tours.com/video.asp?tur=nin there are some of the views) A very very packed day but so beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone. Overnight in Bergen -which seems quite a friendly city but smallish (only 235000, a midget lol! No, it seems smaller than it actually is but I'm getting used to big cities. Good for when I go to Birmingham, perhaps?) which was good fun and then this afternoon the whole of the Oslo-Bergen railway -all seven hours worth and on to Stockholm tomorrow. Oh and who would believe it could be hot in Oslo? Boiling compared to recent weeks. And this midnight sun thing is really throwing me off! I keep waking up a 3 in the morning thinking I've overslept!

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Well, actually...

2008-06-28T11:21:20Z

apparantly I do have time to blog seeing as I'm stuck in the train station in Malmo as although the trains to Gothenburg were SUPPOSSED to be every hour, the next one I can get on isn't until 15:08 and even that is without a guaranteed seat. Namely, it's entirely possible I could be standing for THREE HOURS! And so I thought I would book my train to Oslo while I'm here but apparantly part of the line is down so I have to get a bus (aaaarrrrgggghhh, I dread getting buses because you never know where you are and might miss the stop... oh no :-( ) and change to a train later on. *sigh* typical, huh? Anyway so things that have been going down... well I think I forgot to tell you all about these scrumptious fillo pastry twists covered in poppy and sesame seeds that I had for breakfast everyday in Denmark because it wasn't included and they were just so good! And I'm still losing weight would you believe? Travelling is miraculous! Anyway, lol I had a pretty good time in Malmö, it's quite a cool city. Umm...cool ethnic market, Sweden's tallest building the Turning Torso which was quite cool but my feet didn't appreciate the treck all the way out to the industrial part of the city to see it but nevermind, Sweden's oldest Renaissnce castle and some other stuff besides. Hostel was really amusing - had it's own sauna, a guitar to play if you wanted to serenade the other guests and amusingly a basket of knitting to help you relax. That seemed to have been quite popular actually and it resulted in a mass that might have been part way towards beeing a very large sock but with a handle and some bobbles etc. lmao. Apparantly knitting is something Swedish people like to do I guess! Bonded with a couple of Italian girls in my dorm over being so tired then woken up at 0:30 by a woman who came in and turned all the lights on and started rummaging around! Thank god for ear plugs and filthy looks lol! Anyway, next day onto Ystad. When I got to the tourist office I first asked about going to Ales Stenar the next day -seeing as the bus only goes each way twice a day- and then asked for directions to my hostel as I couldn't see it on the map. "Ah" she goes. "That's because it's not actually in the town." WHAT???" OMG no wonder it had space!!! Thankfully 'twas only about a kilometre and a half though let me tell you that's no joke with all my stuff but anyway it was pretty, walking along these foot paths right beside the sea with all the birds nesting there - a few little cygnets amongst them. And then when I got there about 14:00 and the reception was closed with no where to leave my stuff until 16:00, I'm not going to lie to you I just went and sat on the beach and pretended like it wasn't freezing with my strawberry and white magnum (which I've only just discovered but are wonderful! mmm...). Anyway, next day got up insanely early so as to be sure I didn't miss the first bus to Kaseberga and when I arrived there I saw that I had been foolish wondering which Kaseberga stop to get off at. If I tell you that Kaseberga's population is 150, will you get what I mean? Anyway I set off up the hill to find Ales Stenar and was thinking how nice it was on this little path high up surrounded by fields and then I realised that to get to Ales Stenar I was actually going to have to walk through a field. Indeed, I made friends with a couple of curious cows and actually from the cow pats up there I imagine the animals are allowed to wander pretty much as they please throught this ancient monument. Ales Stenar when I got there was cool -a bit like Stonehenge but in the shape of a ship and directly overlooking the sea. I stayed enjoying the peace and quiet and did a little yoga (well, why not?) until 10:30 or so when the tourists began to arrive and then wandered down to go and have a look around the village. Well, I kid you not, I walked the entire length of every single road in Kaseberga, wandered down to the harbour and sat watching the fishermen for a bit and I kid you not I was still done by 12:00 and had to hang around for another hour for the bus by which time I was like "get me out of here!" even though it was very cute so I definitely know I'm still a city girl! As such can you imagine how excited I am to be going to Gothenburg which is, I believe, Sweden's second largest city? Then onto Oslo and Bergen before back across to Stockholm and then Finland.

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no time to blog...

2008-06-28T08:31:09Z

sorry,Ive got a train to catch and Im not sure Ill have time to blog until after my interlude in Norway but just tolet you know, Im ok

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Odense, Helsingor and Malmo

2008-06-25T17:36:16Z

I forgot to mention that in my hostel in Odense there was an ice cream parlor and as there were so few people the lady behind the counter asked if I'd like to do a taste test. Well what would you have me do? Dissapoint her??? In the end I settled on a scoop of this basil sorbet which sounds incredibly odd but was actually very refreshing and good, probably enhanced by the fact that she said most of the ingredients for the ice cream were grown locally and some even in the hostel gardens! So ANYWAY...next day I went to Helsingor aka Elsinore which was pretty good though I must admit Rosenburg in Copenhagen was better with the crown jewels but anyway...! Um, the casemates (beneath the castle) were probably not for the afraid of dark or claustrophobic as they only lit every fourth room or so and there was a quite horrific modern art exhibit in the torture chamber -a perfect place to take your children for hallowe'en though! Also an interesting story with the statue of a viking that in time of need will come awake and save Denmark. (You know a bit like those King Arthur stories) Anyway, it was quite nice to see another town in Denmark particularly as this was right on the Baltic and so beautiful if very very windy. I hadn't anticipated I was oing to the seaside! Little fishing shacks and so on. Actually that said, if you couldn't feel the temperature even though it sounds crazy Denmark looks sort of like the Italian countryside did. Lots of green and beautiful blue skies as a backdrop to yellow and red houses with terracotta rooves. Lovely. And I'm sure you now all think I'm crazy but nevermind!

I got the train to Malmo Sweden today and so I'm off to explore a new country. There is a saying: "Haur du sitt Malmo, haur du sitt varden" which apparantly means if you've seen Malmo, you've seen the world so we shall see!

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Continuing on journey...

2008-07-09T11:23:09Z

So to make you all happy, here's my itinerary as it stands at the moment.
23-24/06: Copenhaguen
25: Malmo, Sweden
26-27: Ystad
28-29: Gothenburg
30-2/07: Oslo, Norway
3: Bergen
4: Oslo
5-8: Stockholm, Sweden
9: night ferry yay!
10-11: Turku, Finland
12: Tampere
13-15: Helsinki

Nothing else booked beyond this point. Am having a lot of trouble even getting hold of a letter of invitation to Russia so it's looking a little like that isn't going to be happening atm. I'm going to keep evaluating my bank balance and I think possibly I might like to go back to the Netherlands for a bit longer but I haven't decided about that so who knows? I change my mind all the time so...! Anyway just to keep you updated! Went to Odense yesterday which is Hans Christian Andersen's home town and so old and quaint -or at least some of it was-! I was pretty impressed by the museum too which had all the info you could ever possibly want on him and then some, including his dentures in case you were interested! Anyway I had fun as you all know how much I love fairytales! And to be frank I haven't felt any signs of growing out of that anytime soon. Anyway Helsingor tomorrow -a place you may know better as Elsinor. Still not ringing any bells? Hamlet my dear, Hamlet. Oh btw I think I forgot to tell you -I booked a bed in a large dorm in Copenhaguen as my guidebook said about 30 beds which was a little unpleasant to think about but I decided to just suck it up and save the money. Then I got here and he was like: you're in number 54. 54!!! How many are there??? 64. Yay!!!!!! (I guess it meant 30 ish bunks, 2 to a bunk) Ah can you just imagine how happy I was at this news? That said, it was only 110 ddkk -about 12 pounds- and I slept like a baby. So why complain really?

There was one quote at Hans Christien Anderson's hous I want to put:

"To travel is to live."

Enough said really.

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Copenagen

2008-06-21T09:36:31Z

So did a self-guided walking tour yesterday that was supposed to be 3 hrs long. Well. Maybe if you ran the whole way and never stopped to take pictures or as it went to wait out the occassional thunder storm. Anyway I saw a huge swathe of the city but to summarise: some cool little alleyways, Nyhavn (which was pretty much what people think of when they think of Denmark), Little Mermaid statue, Changing of the Guard at the winter palace, Christianborg Slot -home of parliament-, citadel complete with windmill, outside of Rosenburg Slot, Round Tower...as you can see I was pretty busy! For today: Christiana -you know the 'you are now leaving the eu' free town where everything is so green because a sewage pipe broke and ran into the water hence lots of nutrition in case you wanted to know! And maybe Rosenburg Slot I think. Tommorrow; Odense then back to Copenhaguen for a couple of days before on to Sweden.

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Copenhagen and Amsterdam

2008-06-20T17:26:15Z

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so not ready to leave Amsterdam but anyway quickly to finish writing about it,

-went to Anne Frank's house which was not that touching at first but then there was an interview with her best friend and also her dad. Tears were flowing...I am such a sap but nevermind

-went to world press photo exhibit in the Old Church (you know, the one in the red light district) which was also even more moving but I don't really think I can describe it. Photos of modern times is all I can say.

-found out where name Big Apple came from. There's a Dutch saying, if you didn't get much money for something you sold it for an egg and an apple. Well, when they traded NYC to Britain it didn't seem like it was a big deal but now...

-as if I didn't love Amsterdam enough, several things happened. first it was sunny and glourious, then I met my hostel's cat, then I found a Lush and had a wonderful time people watching -e.g. a woman knitting behind the apparantly intentionally phallic war monument, a guitarist being chased by someone in an m&m costume, etc... Anyway v.fun.

So...on to Cophenhagen. But wasn't ready to leave Amsterdam! So I think I'm going to try and go back! Anyway Copenhagen seems quite nice, my first taste of Scandinavia but no more time to blog so ttfn

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Amsterdam is heaven

2008-06-17T07:41:04Z

page views 2138 people keep them coming! And write to me! Let me know what you think!

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Amsterdam

2008-06-17T07:39:04Z

Amusingly when I put the title in the computer suggested "Amsterdam is Heaven" and it is people! It is! I would have written my last post big enough to fill a whole page if I could have! I've done so much here all ready but have had loads of fun just wandering around and I did this AMAZING free tour! When the pics are put up on their website I'll post them but I had a guide called Kevin who was completely hillarious and so so interesting. Saw the smallest house which if I remember correctly was only 2 metres wide, looked around the red light district, saw the coffee shop where Ocean's Twelve was filmed (as an extra interesting tidbit part of the national square was closed off on my first day here and the rumour is going around that it's filming for the next James Bond), the outside of Anne Frank's house -going to see it today and lots of other things besides. Plus he showed us where to go for the best chips in Amsterdam and I went back later and they were wonderful though I imagine they were probably deep fried 3 times but anyway! Plus such interesting stories about grafiti, holy pilgrimages to Amsterdam revolving around a fire-proof piece of bread, public toilets, prisons, and just all kinds of things! I was walking around with a German woman I met who's living in Amsterdam and afterwards we shared the hugest piece of unsweetened apple tart you have ever seen -it had at least 3 whole apples in it- and watched the boats go by. That's not even nearly everything even from that first day but Í only have so much time! Also been to Van Gogh museum - never before do I think it's been so clear to me the artist's mood but you can really tell and it was a very good museum, even worth 10 euros so it must have been good! Also went to a pretty famous (lots of people go to Saturday Night Live from it) comedy club last night called Boom Chicago which was very fun though undeniably very American humour and had a delicious pineapple passionfruit daquiri! Yummy! Anyway I'm starting to feel a little light headed from the smoke down here so moving on but I just feel I need to reiterate I LOVE AMSTERDAM. I'm promoting it to my favourite city ever. People are so friendly! Just on the tram to my first hostel -one woman gave me her seat because she said I needed it more than her and then when I failed to figure out how to open the doors :-( and missed my stop another woman got off at the next one with me and walked me back as she was so concerned I would get lost, even though you know I could just have followed the tram tracks! I mean wow! It doesn't get much nicer than that! And Amsterdam is so beautiful too! They said to me if you like Brussels go to Paris, if not go to Amsterdam and it's so true! I think I need to learn Dutch and move here! In case you didn't already get this I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Amsterdam

2008-06-15T20:39:54Z

I AM IN LOVE WITH AMSTERDAM

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Brussels

2008-06-15T20:26:48Z

Just to say...I feel quit phillisophical today about how odd travelling is. I mean I have essentially spent today looking at a little boy -plus his girlfriend and dog- peeing. If you dont know what Im talking about look up Mannekin Pis. A little odd, isnt it? Says a lot about Belgians I feel! I have to say I havent really enjoyed Brussels. It just doesnt seem a very likeable city, though to be fair its probably not helped by the fact that my hostel is in a bit of a ghetto! Oh well, I enjoyed lookingat all Mannekin Pis costumes in the museum and people watching -listening to what people said by it. Also twas quite amusing as the British costume on show was -oh I forget his name_ but from My Fair Lady. So to see this little boy in bronze wearing tweed and peeing... Anyway on to Bruges tomorrow.

Interlude...

So I ran out of time before I could post that but really briefly...Bruges was nicer. Had the best cup of -white- hot chocolate I have ever had in a shop that sells 44 different varieties of hot chocolate wandered around some with a friend I made on a park bench no less and chatted to this somewhat crazy American girl. Had to go through the bar to have a shower which was less than great esp as all the locals frequented the bar as during happy hour it was a beer from €1.10. Ummm...saw some lace making and some sugar spinning and just generally FROZE MY ARSE OFF. Wearing all my clothes at once. But Bruges was pretty. And I got to freeze my arse off some more on my trains on from Bruges as Belgian trains are always late -seriously, they're so often late that the information desk was able to tell me which ones would be late and for how long so I was sat in Antwerp's huge station freezing to death for ages but never mind hey anyway, are you ready for this...

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Luxembourg

2008-06-11T08:38:54Z

Ah did I forget to mention about the drunk girl throwing up in the room a few nights ago? I think I did... Not that anyone wanted to know that Im sure! Anyway just to say -it hit 28 degrees in Luxembourg yesterday plus I had to climb this hill from the hostel that practically makes San Francisco look like its not trying! Anyway, off to explore Brussels - Im thinking Mannekin Pis might be an azmusing first stop, what do you reckon?

Luxembourg remains copyright of the author amelia.n, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Versailles and Luxembourg

2008-06-09T11:11:50Z

I went to Versailles with a girl in my dorm and it was wonderful if incredibly expensive -25 euros for a day pass- but the palace was very beautiful and much more colourful than I was expecting. Every room had at theast " different colours of marble and there were so many rooms that you can hardly ever imagine what they could all be for. The queens' room was like feminity overload -so so girly that it would be a bit much even for me and I'm a girly girl! Pink and gold, flowers, lace and frills, feathers... actually the whole palace was so buisly decorated. Texture everywhere, velvet fleur de lys wallpaper paintings all over the walls and ceilings and as you would expect the hall of mirrors wqs even more amazing than it seems in the films. Took the sweetest Petit Train over to Marie Antoinette's playground and wandered around in all her little grottos and meadows though it was like 17:00 by then so didn't make it all the way over to her hamlet but nevertheless. Then wandered by the king's playarea shall we say. Couldn't go in as was closed but quite beautiful from the outside. Ditto for the grand canal with masses of marble and bronze statues everywhere. Lovely. Contemplated going out as was my last night in Paris but just too knackered so just shared a bottle of wine then went to bed -seeing as it only cost 2.67 for the bottle, isn't that unbelievable?

Next day of to the country that according to my guidebook 'puts the lux in Benelux', namely Luxembourg. Getting off the train it even smelt different to France but I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, Luxembourg is SO sweet. I think I may come back here just to have a wander around some of the villages. The capital city has a population of 76000 which compared to Paris just feels like a village but it's SO pretty and quiet although once again I get the impression that HI hostels are not exactly the most fun or chilled places to stay. Seriously, I got up at 7:30 this morning and I was the last one left in in my dorm! What is that about? Really people. In Paris that wouldn't even be true at ten thirty! Anyway, on to Brussels tomorrow just for a couple of days then Bruges and on to Amsterdam which I must say I am really looking forward to!

Versailles and Luxembourg remains copyright of the author amelia.n, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Normandy

2008-06-06T18:09:18Z

I set off for Normandy for a couple of days and now am back in Paris. Not much to say about Caen really. Went to the Castle of William the Conqueror with an Australian woman who seemed to have no idea at all where she was going so just came with me and then wandered a bit but that's about all. Bayeux, however was a totally different story. It's so quaint -you can turn a corner and see an old water mill with izy growing up the side or a small tudor-style building. It's really very sweet. Anyway... this morning I went to a memorial mass -with members of the royal British Legion and the Ambassador to France- which was so so touching you cannot even begin to imagine. To see all the veterans shuffling up the aisle and bowing their heads in respect of lost comrades. Well naturally it made me cry. What can I say, I'm a sap. It was so moving though. And basically the message was that we have to fight for what is right for tomorrow just like the war heroes did for us. *wipes eyes*. Then after booking my train back to Paris, I went to see the Bayeux tapestry which is really amazing. Even though I knew it was long I really never would have imagined it would be that long and so much work too...well this is my era of history so I enjoyed the whole William the Conqueror Centre. And I remembered the castle types from history... I then figured I had just about enough time to check out the British cemetery -so moving to see all those rows and rows of white gravestones and then the monument which brought my whole day together. In latin: 'We who were conquered by William have freed the land of the conqueror'

Normandy remains copyright of the author amelia.n, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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