Paris

Paris. What more can be said about the place? I’ve been only once, ten years prior, with my family instead of my girlfriend. At 13 years old, that would have been odd to have a girl with me back then. Because both Sarah and I had previously visited here, we could pick and choose what to see. There were the obvious tourist spots to hit: Louvre, La tour Eiffel, Champs Elysees, Sacre Couer, etc. Sarah wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower the most, and I was more than happy to oblige.

First, we had to find our hostel. I bought two tourist passes, giving us two days of unlimited travel on Paris transportation. And I ordered them en francais – the lady even understood me. I find that I learned a great deal studying the language from the age of 12 to 20. Over the next two days, I used it more than I probably ever will again. After getting to the metro stop we were instructed to go in order to find our hostel, we were a bit lost. A nice Frenchman stopped us on the street and tried to help us, even going to ask a few other people where the road was that we needed to find. It wasn’t that hard after we had our directions, and we dropped our stuff and headed towards the metro.

It was going to be lunch (dejeuner) and then Notre Dame. We ate at a restaurant by the side of the road – ordering in French again. Notre Dame was crowded, swelling with tourists. I sometimes forget that thousands of other people are in the same city as myself, looking to go to the same places. It didn’t take too long to get in, and we took a quick lap, stopping to admire the pristine stain glass windows adorning the walls of the cathedral. It was quite the view to take in. No sign of the hunchback, the story that probably made this place more famous than it should be. Not to take away from the luster of it at all.

With the weather seeming quite decent, our next stop was the tour Eiffel. This was after going to the Louvre and realizing that we could go for free after 6 PM on Friday night. Unfortunately, we left and saw that it was raining. We killed time, rode the metro to l’Arc de Triomphe, stopped for a bite to eat at a café, and then when the weather cleared, moseyed over to the Eiffel Tower. To nobody’s surprise, it was quite crowded, and the wait to get up to the top was a miserable experience. It started to rain, and the rain mixing with high winds you get a few hundred feet in the air made it quite cold. Not helping me was the fact I had left any kind of cold weather clothing I had with my luggage. Fortunately, by the time things cleared up, we were at the top, able to see all of Paris. Definitely a worthwhile wait.

The rest of our first day was dinner, then both crashing back at the hostel, ready for another day of Paris.

Day two was going to start at Versailles. The massive palace built by Louis XIV (I think), it was the one thing I really wanted to see. And it was worth it. After going to Hampton Court a few days before, Sarah and I decided that going into the palace wasn’t all that worth it. It was going to be nothing more than Hampton Court times 10. More of the same ridiculousness of that time period. But a walk around the Versailles Gardens, along with being free, was much more relaxing. No lines to wait in, no people to walk through, and no hassles. Once we were satisfied with a couple of hours spent there, it was time for Sacre Couer.

I wasn’t sure if I had been there before (turns out I had), but it was another mob scene. People were everywhere, snapping pictures and watching the street performers. The view from the top made the hassle worthwhile, and after just 20 minutes there, moved along to the Louvre.

This was another spot the two of us had seen already. So it wasn’t going to be a long stroll. Plus, I don’t really like art all that much. You see something like the Mona Lisa, and it just screams overrated. The painting is great and all, but I prefer the large paintings done by the French, such as Lady Liberty leading the People or the painting of the Wedding at Cana. Stuff like that is much more inspiring, as you wonder how someone can paint something that big. We walked around for about an hour total, trying to hit the big displays: the Code of Hammurabi, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and a few other works of art. It was definitely time well spent, and as a bonus, free of charge.

That was the essence of our whirlwind trip of Paris. Tomorrow morning was a train ride to Interlaken, where we would get a day and a half of the Swiss Alps.

London - Part Two

Thanks to a variety of reasons – lack of extra time, battery power, or anything else – I have given up in my quest to bring a daily update to my blog. And that’s ok, considering our journey is almost over. So I’m using this last post to update where we are. Right now, we’re on a train from Bern to Geneva, where tomorrow we’ll be flying out to Dublin, where our last two days of Europe will be spent.

Our last two days in London were some of our best. We went to Hyde Park, saw bits of Westminster Abbey, and went to see the Lion King on the West End. All three were quite brilliant. The weather finally turned nice, giving us a chance to sit under the sun, and not have to run for cover from the rains. The show on Wednesday night was a brilliant way to end what had been a successful first trip (for me at least) to one of the world’s most famous cities.

Thursday was an early morning, as our Eurostar train was leaving London at 6:30 AM. Our tickets were purchased, and I thought we would simply buy, get on the train, and be off. That was no the case. We go to St. Pancras station with 20 minutes to spare, got our tickets, a snack, and went through security. Unfortunately, the French guy manning the X-ray machine decided it would be fun to take all my electronics out of my bag and scan it for explosives. I was a bit panicked, and the guy wasn’t the nicest about my urgency. The scan seemed to take forever, and when it was done I jammed everything in my bag and headed towards Passport control. We were through that quickly, and had to have a train official hold our train for us – but we made it with probably seconds to spare.

The journey was quiet and the two of us slept practically the whole time. Up next: Paris.

London - Part One

Well, we've been in London the past few days. I've given up on trying to keep a daily recounting of the trip, so I'll highlight a few things from the past few days. On Thursday we got up in Dubai super early to catch our 7:30 flight to London. Things went smoothly, and we met Sarah's parents at the Pimlico Underground station. It was a happy reunion, and we dropped off our belongings at the flat they are renting for the week we were staying in London.

My first impression of London was that it is super crowded, especially compared to Sydney. The Underground doesn't have air conditioning either. Which really sucks, because it'll end up being much hotter on the train than outside. Bummer.

The Binghams have already been here, so it was hard to determine what sights we would go see. On Thursday we ate lunch at a pub, hung out at our flat, and then went to meet Jess' flatmates for dinner. I was quite knackered, having woken up at around 1 AM London time. It was a pleasant sleep that night.

Friday we took a train to Greenwich Village, home of Greenwich Mean Time. The area surrounding the Royal Observatory provided a lovely view of the Thames and the city proper. It was a nice day trip, considering I felt overwhelmed by the crowds. A highlight of the day was taking a boat from Greenwich to Westminster, then taking the tube back to our flat.

Saturday I got the chance to head to Emirates Stadium for Day One of the Emirates Cup, which featured Arsenal playing Juventus and Real Madrid against Hamburg SV. The experience wasn't the same as it would have been seeing a regular season EPL match, but it was awesome nonetheless.

On Sunday we went to All Souls, Jess's church and took in the morning service. After we visited the Royal Museum, home of the Rosetta Stone, and meandered around the city. It has been a fairly touristy experience, but worthwhile seeing as though we are tourists. Only one more day left tomorrow, then off to Paris.

It's Hot in Dubai

Today was our extended layover in Dubai. And let me say, that it was hot. Now, in SE Asia, it was very warm. Humidity was through the roof there, making it gross and sweaty wherever you went. In Dubai, it was instant misery once you left air conditioning. And with my motivation to see a lot waning once that happened, I wasn't sure what we were going to do with today.

We walked outside and took a cab to Emirates Mall. There, we saw Ski Dubai and decided against actually skiing. We had Cinnabon for breakfast (yum and gross at the same time) and then meandered around in the air conditioning for six hours. Those hours included going to see Wall E, the new Pixar movie, and by the time it was all said and done it was now 4:30 PM. We caught a cab to Jemeirah beach, hoping to see the Burj Al Arab along the coast. However, today there was a haze hanging over the city, possibly from the sand blown into the atmosphere. We managed to stay outside for an hour or so, before getting another cab to Dubai Creek Park. We walked and walked and walked some more, all the way back to our hostel after stopping a couple times for food and water. It was so stinking hot out, I cannot emphasize that enough. Misery. We managed to also see the Burj Dubai, the tall tall building that is gigantic. It is a monstrosity.

We were done with Dubai and ready to go, so at around 10 PM we collapsed and slept, with an early wake up for our flight to London.

Bangkok, Thailand - Day Three & Dubai, UAE

With today being the last day in Thailand, and with the need to leave by 4 PM for the airport, it was time to get moving early. With us that doesn't always go over so well, but we were up and ready to go by around 10. The Grand Palace and Wat Pho were the top two destinations of today, as they were both astounding views from the street. This required a walk to the Sky Train, a boat ride up to where we had been before, and we were there. Wat Pho was first, seeing as it was closer to the river.

This temple was really neat. The Buddha inside of it was gigantic, and lying down. I was amazed at the audacity of a belief to build gold statues as big as they possibly could. It was really a sight to behold. Along with a giant Buddha, it had a lot of structures that fit the region we were in. We didn't spend way too long at Wat Pho, but it was definitely worth the visit.

Up next was the Grand Palace, which required a bit of walking to make our way around the miles of wall that surrounded it. I was required to wear pants, so I had to rent clothing in order to see it. The Grand Palace was built in the 1700's when Thailand was known as Siam, and it features a mansion and a large temple, including the supposedly famous Jade Buddha. Not sure why it's famous, but it is. Understanding Buddhism would have helped a bit on this trip. But it's not like it mattered all that much. Despite the length of the wall surrounding the whole palace, it only took us around an hour and a half to see the whole thing.

After the Palace, we stopped for some food from a street vendor that would come back to haunt me, hopped on a boat taxi back down the river, and with a couple more hours to kill checked out two of Bangkok's shopping centers, Siam Paragon and MBK. Both were crowded, gawdy, and pretty much like all Western malls. So it was nothing new to see, really.

With that done, we returned to the hostel and got a taxi to the airport for our flight to Dubai. The flight itself wasn't bad, but upon arrival we discovered just how hot it is in the desert in July. NEVER GO. Along with that, we had to take a bus to the terminal (took forever) and then waited an hour for our luggage, then another 45 minutes for a cab. And it was so hot that I was a sweaty mess all the time. So gross.

Bangkok, Thailand - Day Two

The previous night featured a great sleep, as our new hostel - named Lub d Bangkok, whatever that means - was comfortable, clean, and quiet, all elements that brought a great deal of rest. It was now going to be our fourth different city in South East Asia, and by this time we were used to the little nuances to look out for. Our experiences on the MRT gave us clues about the right places to go and how to best get there. However, today was going to be a bit different, as we were going to get in as many touristy things as possible.

Leaving our hostel, a taxi driver approached us, offering 20 baht to drive us to a bunch of places. Knowing that also would require stopping at various markets or shops to get petrol passes, we negotiated a ride towards the Dusit Zoo, as it was a good 3 or 4 miles from our hostel and a decent starting point to walk down towards other sites. Finally reaching our destination took a bit of haggling, as I opened the door and was ready to get out, but the driver relented after first claiming the zoo was too far. We actually went into the zoo, which was dirty and unimpressive, although did get pictures with elephants. Which I guess is an accomplishment.

Our next stop was Wat Benchamabophit, or the marble temple. There was going to be a lot of temples these next few days. In case anyone was wondering, "wat" is the Thai word for temple. It was the first of many, but this one was very ornate and over-the-top, as most Buddhist temples appeared. Leaving towards the next destination, the Golden Mount, we were somehow talked into getting a tuk tuk for the day for 20 baht. He took us to various temples, each with a different Buddha mood.

One of the best parts of it, was that one of the temples was open only a couple times a year. We even ran into this Thai man who suggested buying sapphires or rubies and selling them for a profit overseas. Strewn within our temples, were two trips to Thai export jewelry stores and a tailor. I bought a suit (why not?) and Sarah a sterling silver ring - much cheaper than my purchase.

After all that it was now late in the afternoon and I was tired of the dirt and soot of the tuk tuk. The driver dropped us off at the Golden Mount and left us to go on his way. It was definitely worth the time experiencing the economic shake up of the tuk tuk driver. Not a good job to say the least. It was a quick walk up the Golden Mount, and also a nice view of the whole city. We climbed down and made our way towards the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, unsure if they were going to be open or not. Along the way, we passed another big temple and a Giant Swing. These Thais are crazy.

Unfortunately, both our destinations of interest were closed. We found a small restaurant on the docks of the Chao Phraya River at Tha Tien. Tomorrow we would take the boat taxi up the river and explore Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. Tonight, we ate delicious Pad Thai and took a picture of Wat Arunratchawaaram. We had to take a cab to Hua Lamphong to get the MRT back to our hostel. We were both tired from so much exploring. Tomorrow is our last day in Bangkok. This trip is moving by crazy fast.

Bangkok, Thailand - Day One

I woke up on the train feeling refreshed - it had been the best night of sleep, despite a continually rocking felt though out most of the night, plus the light being left on in the car. We got up and just hung out, watching various parts of Thailand go by. Of course, there was no way to know where we exactly were.

The morning passed by slowly, and as time went by, the countryside that had been dotted with foliage began to reveal buildings. The train employees would give us different information as to how much of the trip was left. But it seemed to drag on and on, until finally arriving at Hua Lamphong station at around 3:30 PM, making the trip over 24 hours. Not surprising, however.

Sarah and I grabbed our belongings and headed out towards the station. It was hot, smelly, and the heat from the trains made it much worse. The station itself was one large room, packed to the teeth with Thai people. We were approached by an information lady, and figured out how to get the appropriate money, map, and transport to our hostel. After getting out 3,000 Baht, I went to buy a map of Bangkok for 50. Handing a 1,000 Baht bill to the lady, she gave me a look of surprise and dropped the money. It was too big, but she still took my money and found the change.

We left the station and were approached by one of the many drivers waiting outside who wanted to know where we were going. I told him the address and he seemed to understand. What I didn't know was that he was a tuk tuk driver, which is basically a scooter with room for passengers. It was an interesting drive, but we made it in one piece, dropped our stuff off, and walked towards the MRT/Sky train, with a few things planned.

My friend Gale had drawn up an itinerary for my three days there. Our first destination was the weekend market at Chatuchak. It was an enormous place, complete with anything and everything you might need. There was clothes, pets, food, shoes, and even fake plastic fruit. Sarah and I browsed for hours, overwhelmed by the number of people and the number of shops. We even got lost trying to leave and make it back to the park near that MRT.

Once we were back in a semi-familiar place we made our way to Sukumvhit Rd, a hotspot for shopping. However, there wasn't all that much going on, and it made for a quick stop. We made it back to our hostel pretty early to look up places to go the next two days we had.

My first impression of Thailand was all over the place. It was a dirty and smelly place, as indicated from the tuk tuk ride, and the next few days would only reinforce this opinion. There is a quaint feeling to it, as it is a combination of a unique past with a struggle for modernization. The next two days were going to be interesting, that's for sure.