so it's nearly midnight, and I've been up since 2am - so this blog will probably be a short one even though so much has happened today. I woke up bright and chippy after my unexpected nap. I only planned on sleeping maybe 2-3 hours - but my body seemed to think 12 was a better idea. Unfortunately I missed out on the Notting Hill Carnival in London but to be honest from what the others said I just missed out on some violent drunken gypsies. So it was probably better I got an amazing sleep in! So I was all ready to go in the morning bar one thing - breakfast. I seem to be very unlucky with getting food over here. Anyway, so I am told by one of the people on the tour that there is a starbucks 'just down the road'. So, me being a typical tourist in shorts and a t-shirt ( A PARIS T-SHIRT NO LESS. Yes Ben and Renee, today I was 'that guy' - just for you two ! ) I'm wandering around at 530am looking for something open and edible.
No starbucks, but after an hour or so of searching I found the beacon of hope for all travelers - Mcdonalds. After that it was on the bus. I met our Tour Guide who, no joke, looks EXACTLY like the wolf pack guy from the hangover. If that guy, and Emile Hirsch in the wilder parts of Into the Wild had a love child - it would be Dan. But he's great. Um. 99% of the tour are 25ish couples from Sydney, so that's a bit weird for me. But they're all so incredibly nice and stuff, so I'm having a ball. Today we took the bus from London to Dover to catch a ferry into Cassailles? I think that's how you spell it. Anyway, we saw the white cliffs which were beautiful and I had hell trying to get money out. Had a moment of homesickness and called Tim ( thanks for listening! ) but that soon cleared up as well as my mild sea sickness.
The day is so beautiful over here. I got away in tiny shorts, sandals and a light t-shirt all day. Albeit we spent most of it on a bus. But anyway, there is this running joke about this girl Sarah Wellington who's paper work was all fucked up and it said she was supposed to be meeting us in London when in fact we're picking her up in Rome. So the whole trip dan is like 'WHERE IS SARAH WELLINGTON?!' and as a joke, when he's trying to remember 42 people's names, we all respond as sarah wellington. Hah. So a lot happened today, fuck. And tomorrow - my God. That will be a momentous blog entry, I promise. Fuckload of photos and shit too.
But today, we went on a bus tour of Paris, which was lovely. There is just so much to see and do, and I know I can't get it done in the one day we have here. Today we stopped at the Montmarte, a beautiful building that I got a few photos of. But here is where I got my first real test as a tourist and, according to both the guide, the bus driver and a travel agent on tour with us - I passed with flying colours! There are these men who (and I am not being racist, just honest ) are all black, that hang out outside popular tourist destinations as proffessional thieves. These type are called 'string men' and they have colourful strings that they tie around your finger while talking to you, and simply refuse to let go until you give them money. It sounds insane right? But the amount of peopel I saw handing over euros was amazing. They would have made hundreds of euros in the 3 or so hours we were there. Anyway, one approached me and I simply said 'no no no'. He persisted with things like 'hello beautiful, hakuna matata' etc. and then he started to touch my arm, side etc. So I raised my voice NO, and started to walk off. He followed, as all thieves in Paris are apparently notoriously persistant, and finally I shoved him away. I think he was shaken that I'd reacted, and he left me alone.
I was so proud!
Got some lovely photos and I took a 45 minute detour with a French University student with such a typical Parisian name of Jon-Pierre, as he showed me where the ATM was. I had a really wicked leek pie for lunch and got to buy a pretty cool shirt for 30 euros or so. Tonight we did a bus tour that got a bit tedious - especially when my camera runs out of battery at........you guessed it - the eiffel tower. Such a massive fail.
But all is well! Because tomorrow, I have it all planned out on my map. I'll be up in 7 hours to take the metro down to Notre Dame, then walk my way back past the Lourve (hopefully the Old Opera House if I plan it right) for a 3pm bike tour of Paris starting at the Eiffel Tower. It's run by American Scholars that are the definite experts on French History. Could my life be anymore amazing? But wait. There's more. After the bike tour, I'm going up the Eiffel Tower - then with teh group I'm having a picnic underneath it. But wait - THERE'S MORE. After that dinner, I'm off to a cabaret show. Tomorrow is a jam-packed day and I am literally trembling with excitement.
There really is so much beauty and history to Paris - I am definitely coming back!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
an interesting start
Greetings from London! I have absolutely no idea what time it is here, but I'm guessing it's around 4-5pm? There is some major carnival that apparently 2-3 million people a year flock here to see, but alas, after the last 24 hours I think I may give it a miss for a while. I'll fill you in on the...interesting...start to my independance.
I had a really amazing farewell with loved ones and I miss them already - but now the intersting stuff starts. So, Etihad are a pretty cool airline, pretty spacious seating - I was stoked. This French guy sits next to me that does not speak a word of English, which is fine for me. 14 hours is a long time to be talking to someone you don't really want to. I watched Master and Commander, Clash of the Titans, Emperor's New Groove (best movie ever) and The Bounty Hunter - and still couldn't get to sleep. So I was a little irritated at not being able to sleep, but the food was good so I wasn't complaining.
The strange thing? Pocari Sweat adds every 15 minutes or so that interuptedhte program. Their selling point? It's composition is similar to bodily fluid, so you obsorb it quicker than water ... um ... pretty sure nobody wants to drink something that's compared to bodily fluids? I nearly barfed like three times because of my imagination. But it also gave me a bit of a giggle.
Amazingly, the 14 hour flight went without a hitch and I was feeling pretty ok at the end of it. Now the fun starts. I get to Abu Dhabi, and I'm a bit peckish. So, I take a seat, open up a packet of chips and start to chow down when suddenly, I feel the strong hand of a security officer behind me. I'm informed that I'm breaking the law, and taken into the security office where they check my passport etc. By this time, I'm thoroughly freaking out. It takes me about 15 minutes, but I finally get him to tell me what I've done wrong. It's Rhamadan, and eating in public is strictly forbidden. A heads up would have been nice. But, long story short, I'm sent off with a warning this time and manage to just make the flight to London. Amazingly, this flight feels 10x longer than the last. But I had a mushroom omelette that was just fucking amazing. Seriously. Best omelette EVER.
I arrive in Heathrow, and all the staff are really, really nice and helpful. My baggage is all where it's meant to be and so that went really well. I also had a really awesome English cabby called Bruce, who was very casually racist - it was an itneresting tip! So, I get as close as he can take me, because half the streets in London are closed for this carnival thing and, after about 45 minutes of misdirections and wrong turns - I make it to the hotel. Not that I minded the walk though, the weather over here is beautiful at the moment and so far everyone has been super friendly and helpful. Australians must be popular over here.
However, the hotel don't have my accomodation booked, so after a frantic over-dramatic call to mum - they manage to squeeze me into a single room with 5 beds. This way, I can get up 5 times during the night and have a brand new bed! or...put them all together and make a super bed. So, I go up to my room, settle in - I have the perfect view of Hyde Park, it's gorgeous. All the beds are comfy and I'm right near a window too! It's a great setup, I kind of don't want to leave tomorrow hah.
Now comes another funny start to this trip. The showers here are weird? Super complicated little gadgets and with a bath installed in it. So after like, 20 minutes of freezing my tits off and fiddling with the stupid thing - I manage to get it to work. However, not used to the high bath bottom to it, when I stepped out - I fell flat on my face. Needless to say it looks like soeone has punched me in the lip.
Another thing? My camera's battery is dead, and I have no charger for England. So it doesn't look like I'll be getting any photos the first day of the tour I'm afraid. But I'm sure I can get some photos that the others take. I thought ahead and brought my USB stick. Mum's starting to rub off on me, clearly.
I'm hoping I'm getting all the hiccups over and done with at the beginning ! All that being said, I'm all showered and comfortable now, and I feel sooooo much better than half an hour ago after the shower incident. I can't go on facebook much at this hotel because it's graphic heavy and costs me more money, so feel free to comment here and I can get back to you! You don't have to join blogspot to comment btw.
So until tomorrow probably, bye!
xo
I had a really amazing farewell with loved ones and I miss them already - but now the intersting stuff starts. So, Etihad are a pretty cool airline, pretty spacious seating - I was stoked. This French guy sits next to me that does not speak a word of English, which is fine for me. 14 hours is a long time to be talking to someone you don't really want to. I watched Master and Commander, Clash of the Titans, Emperor's New Groove (best movie ever) and The Bounty Hunter - and still couldn't get to sleep. So I was a little irritated at not being able to sleep, but the food was good so I wasn't complaining.
The strange thing? Pocari Sweat adds every 15 minutes or so that interuptedhte program. Their selling point? It's composition is similar to bodily fluid, so you obsorb it quicker than water ... um ... pretty sure nobody wants to drink something that's compared to bodily fluids? I nearly barfed like three times because of my imagination. But it also gave me a bit of a giggle.
Amazingly, the 14 hour flight went without a hitch and I was feeling pretty ok at the end of it. Now the fun starts. I get to Abu Dhabi, and I'm a bit peckish. So, I take a seat, open up a packet of chips and start to chow down when suddenly, I feel the strong hand of a security officer behind me. I'm informed that I'm breaking the law, and taken into the security office where they check my passport etc. By this time, I'm thoroughly freaking out. It takes me about 15 minutes, but I finally get him to tell me what I've done wrong. It's Rhamadan, and eating in public is strictly forbidden. A heads up would have been nice. But, long story short, I'm sent off with a warning this time and manage to just make the flight to London. Amazingly, this flight feels 10x longer than the last. But I had a mushroom omelette that was just fucking amazing. Seriously. Best omelette EVER.
I arrive in Heathrow, and all the staff are really, really nice and helpful. My baggage is all where it's meant to be and so that went really well. I also had a really awesome English cabby called Bruce, who was very casually racist - it was an itneresting tip! So, I get as close as he can take me, because half the streets in London are closed for this carnival thing and, after about 45 minutes of misdirections and wrong turns - I make it to the hotel. Not that I minded the walk though, the weather over here is beautiful at the moment and so far everyone has been super friendly and helpful. Australians must be popular over here.
However, the hotel don't have my accomodation booked, so after a frantic over-dramatic call to mum - they manage to squeeze me into a single room with 5 beds. This way, I can get up 5 times during the night and have a brand new bed! or...put them all together and make a super bed. So, I go up to my room, settle in - I have the perfect view of Hyde Park, it's gorgeous. All the beds are comfy and I'm right near a window too! It's a great setup, I kind of don't want to leave tomorrow hah.
Now comes another funny start to this trip. The showers here are weird? Super complicated little gadgets and with a bath installed in it. So after like, 20 minutes of freezing my tits off and fiddling with the stupid thing - I manage to get it to work. However, not used to the high bath bottom to it, when I stepped out - I fell flat on my face. Needless to say it looks like soeone has punched me in the lip.
Another thing? My camera's battery is dead, and I have no charger for England. So it doesn't look like I'll be getting any photos the first day of the tour I'm afraid. But I'm sure I can get some photos that the others take. I thought ahead and brought my USB stick. Mum's starting to rub off on me, clearly.
I'm hoping I'm getting all the hiccups over and done with at the beginning ! All that being said, I'm all showered and comfortable now, and I feel sooooo much better than half an hour ago after the shower incident. I can't go on facebook much at this hotel because it's graphic heavy and costs me more money, so feel free to comment here and I can get back to you! You don't have to join blogspot to comment btw.
So until tomorrow probably, bye!
xo
Saturday, August 28, 2010
with a little help from my friends
So I had an amazing night last night with Bruce, Pete, Alex, Pete, Owen, Robbb, Ali (aka xerxes), Tim and Danny. From the completely male-populated Scruffy Murphy's, to the deserted Spanish Club ( purely for our convenience of course ), to the packed 3 Monkeys only to return to Scruffy's again - all in all it was an incredible night. It's made leaving you guys behind all the harder, but I'm sure we'll pick things up where we left off when I get back.
After last night, I feel I can really appreciate the amount of amazing people I have around me. Good friends are hard to find, but I think I've hit the jackpot with you all and I can go away in confidence, knowing that I have you guys to come back to. Thanks again to everyone who came, and thank you for making it such an amazing night (despite some of the down moments).
It was a good start to the morning, waking at around eight with this strangely thrilling, yet blatantly obvious, observation. In 12 or so hours, I will be out of the country. I don't feel like it's really sunk in yet, but I know that I sure as hell am excited!
The next post I promise will be much more interesting and will be delivered straight from London!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
the road ahead
I guess you're wondering about the name of my blog, so I thought I should explain that first. (no, I didn't make up a really complicated word to spell just to confuse you all!) I recently stayed up extremely late watching Go because there was a historical movie on that I thought I might like - turns out it was one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen, Alexander. I found the whole thing inspiring - especially the line that I think sums him up so well - fortune favours the bold. So, after a little bit of research, I found out it's actually a Latin proverb (fortuna audax iuvat) and I'm hoping it will be a running theme for this trip.
Unfortunately I can't make it to Cube on Sunday, so a big farewell to all you Cubers, and I'll see you again in October.
The purpose of this blog is to update you guys on what I'm doing, without sending out emails left and right. As you all know, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to that - and this also looks much nicer! So it's a win-win situation. If I don't update for a few days, don't fret, I may be out of wireless range, or just flat out with stuff.
I may update this blog once more before I go, and then I promise it will be a whole lot more interesting!
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