SUMMER FUN: England, Netherlands, Germany & France

Hi Everyone
Since I last wrote (when I described my advetures in Amsterdam), I have been watching the World Cup and enjoying the summer weather in London.The latter has involved sightseeing within London on the weekends, andon work days spending lunchtime in the park.It has been so hot that the Tube (underground rail system) has beenrunning at reduced speed (to avoid derailing) and blaring frequentannouncements warning people to carry water bottles on trains.
In the absence of the beach (which I miss dearly), the parks are theplace to be in London. The parks are super lively, with peoplepicnicking, sunbathing and of course playing "football".But as the mercury hit record highs, the air conditioning in our workbuilding stopped working, resulting in a massive 7-floor sauna tryingto be a law firm. It wasn't fun. But having drinks in London alley-waybars provided good relief on numerous nights.It has been great watching the World Cup unfold in one of the world'sgreatest footballing nations. St George Crosses (white and red Englishflags) are draped in every second window and flying from the top ofmany many cars.As well as watching various England and other games, I have beenfollowing the Socceroos progress carefully. Took the afternoon offwork to watch Australia destroy Japan at a pub near work; but thendecided to take it a notch higher for the Brazil game and head toMunich, Germany.
It was a tour run by the Irish company that I did my Ireland tourwith. Early on a Friday morning we (myself and 20 other Aussies and Irish) departed London and headed to Dover for the Ferry across theEnglish Channel. Amazingly enough, on the Ferry I randomly bumped into Ben, an Aussie dude I met in San Diego, and flew to Las Vegas with, when I wasbackpacking the USA. It really is a small world!!!Upon landing in Calais, we drove all day until we reached Amsterdamfor a stopover. I had been to Amsterdam only a few weeks earlier, so Iwas delighted when our city accommodation suddenly didn't have spacefor us, and we ended up staying in cabins in a picturesque caravanpark ouside of Amsterdam, that lay beside a marina in the Dutchcountryside by the coast. We caught public transport into the city andhad a night on the Red Light District (as you do) and then attemptedto catch public transport back to the campsite. We managed to get asfar as the nearest town but the [last] bus didn't go any further. Weended up walking for over an hour in the pitch dark on a desertedcountry road to eventually find our caravan park - but what afantastic experience on a beautiful warm night in the fresh seasideair with a bunch of great Aussies!!The next morning we embarked on our long drive from Amsterdam toMunich. And long is no exaggeration. Holland is of course to the Northof Germany and Munich is in Bavaria in Southern Germany, and as I found out, Germany is a very large country! But a nice one!! I reallyenjoyed the forest covered hills and valleys and fast cars speedingpast on the autobahns.We found home in a camping site a couple of hours outside of Munich. It was run by Germans who couldn't speak English with the aid of anEnglish guy providing the tents and luxuries such as air mattresses.On the first night I lost my tour group so I mingled in the outsideseating of the campsite's restaurant/bar with some English footballfollowers and local German kids. That was fun, especially with the aid of the German beer that was flowing for €2/500ml (significantly cheaper and tastefully superior beer to what I have had to get used toin London). It was interesting attempting to order pizza and beer inGerman but I think I managed to get the point accross.Early the next day we headed to Munich! We started drinking early onthe bus and got into the spirit of things, hanging Aussie flags fromthe [clearly Irish due to the leprachauns on the side] bus anddrinking breakfast beers. German beers go down surprising well at 9amon a hot day!
We arrived at the Munich Olympiastadion where the official fan zonewas located. But before heading in, we decided to wander onto themetro and take a ride into the main part of town. Some of us exploredthis old part of beautiful Munich amongst a sea of yellow and greencrowds supporting Australia and Brazil. My favourite part of the daywas sitting in a huge traditional beer hall drinking fine beer fromhuge litre stines (€6.20 ea. - great value) while chanting Australiasongs [from classics "Waltzing Matilda" to "Stand up for theSocceroos..."] at the Brazilians, completely drowning out the German folk music band.After that we boarded a crowded metro back to Olympiastadion uponwhich we further exchanged some chants and competitive banter with theBrazilians on board. Then we headed into the official fan zone wherewe drank many more beers and had fun all dressed up in our Aussiegear. I had never felt so Australian and loved every moment of it!! The Brazilian fans had a great attitude and all of the interaction wasfun in great spirits - not the slightest bit of violence or even batattitude at all.As Australia came on we sang and we cheered to the, unfortunatelydisappointing, end. But that didn't totally dampen the mood as thepartying continued until we eventually boarded our bus back to thecampsite and fell asleep exhausted. The atmosphere that day was sofantastic that I can claim it had been one of the best days of mylife!The next day we drove from Bavaria to Paris, arriving in Paris late ona hot and humid afternoon. We went on a bus ride, checking out all thesites and almost crashing in the crazy, seemingly rule-less roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe. Some of us then made our way by footto Sacre-Cour where we climbed the steps and enjoyed the magnificentParis views during a beautiful pink Paris dusk. By the time we werefinished there I was in a group of only 4 people, and although we weredesperate for dinner by about 10pm, we instead decided to just grab anice cream and make the most of our short time in Paris by making ourway to the Eiffel Tower.We found a metro station and somehow managed to buy tickets and getthe metro to take us to the right stop for the Tower. And it was worthsurpassing dinner for!! As we approached the tower, the 11pm lightshow had just illuminated, and we gazed at the amazing structure as itsparkled and lit up the Paris skyline. We then went up the tower andmarvelled at the Paris views until the midnight light show and theneventually made our way down, some of the last people to leave. Wow,spending midnight of a perfect summer night on the Eiffel Tower! Whata week!!
The next day it was time to head back to London but Kylie, an Aussie girl from Bathurst, and I didn't let that stop us. We got up earlyand insisted on doing further sightseeing before being forced to leavethe magnificent city. We managed to check out Notre Dame and thenwandered the streets for a bit before resting for coffees at a streetside cafe and heading back for the bus and the long drive back toLondon.My favourite thing about being in France was using my very limitedFrench from school to speak to people, including the usual niceties (bonjour, bon soir, merci....) and ordering things like coffees andmetro tickets; with a huge sense of satisfaction when my mutteringswere understood!As we sailed back across the English channel I enjoyed sipping on some French wine, in an attempt to grab hold of the French experience forjust a few moments longer, but indeed the trip was soon over as Ifound myself back in South London, boarding the Tube for the long rideback to my North London "home".
Since coming back life has been just as busy. Watching Australia play"football" matches in pubs (being particularly horrified at whathappened with Italy just an hour or two ago in the 94th minute), goingout, shopping, and going to the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park, which I somehow managed to score some free tickets to. Saw acts including The Strokes, Ben Lee (about 80% Aussie audience for him) and James Blunt. Not the best acts, but there's something really cool aboutwatching bands play on a sunny day in the middle of Hyde Park, one ofthe greatest parks in one of the greatest cities in the world.Next weekend I'm hoping to make it to Belgium for a huge rockfestival, and the weekend after, a trip to an English beach atBournemouth with some Hungarian friends. Eventually I'm hoping to dosome sailing around the Croatian islands. I hope it all works out sowish me luck! I also hope all of you in the Southern Hemisphere [whatthey call "antipodeans" here] are surviving the winter as I enjoy the sun. I never thought I'd be saying that about London!
Missing you and wishing you were here to share the exprience......

Southampton, Winchester, Amsterdam and Sunny London

Since I sent my last [blog entry] I spent first week working in the city and settling into the apartment in London's outer northern suburbs. 

 

The highlight of that week was Friday night,  when work shouted us to excellent cocktails at a nearby bar.

 

That weekend, I decided to get out of London and see some other parts of England, after all, it would be a shame to leave England only having been to London. So on Saturday morning (quite hung over after said cocktails), I made my way to Waterloo Station and jumped on a train to the city of Southampton, a port city on the South coast of England.

 

The train ride (about £30 return) was pleasant and comfortable. The views were nice (very green lush forests and fields, small towns, creeks and rivers and towards the end some harbours) and the ride was generally relaxing, until at the time I thought the train was due to arrive at Southampton we were still in the middle of nowhere. I spotted a station and found a route map and realised we were somewhere completely different to where I believe the train went via and panicked, thinking I was on the wrong train. Eventually I worked out that the train was indeed heading to Southampton, but taking the 2 hour out-of-the-way route instead of the one hour fast route I thought I was on. So I was comforted but at the same time feeling quite guilty because my friend Mel who was picking me up at the station had to wait an hour for me to get there!

 

Mel is a friend I had met in San Diego earlier in my journey. She lives in Southampton and was kind enough to let me stay the weekend with her and show me around the region. Unfortunately on the way home from the train station an old couple decided they didn't have to give way to their right at a roundabout and crashed their car directly into the side of Mel's car, without even slowing down. Luckily no-one was hurt, but when the man drove the car away from the accident, he made maneuvers on road which unfortunately showed he should no longer be driving. Sad, but true. Anyway, it was an interesting welcome to the city. 

 

On Saturday night we decided to catch the bus instead, and head into town where we hit the bars and clubs so that I could experience the Southampton nightlife, which was actually really good and quite a bit of fun.

 

On Sunday Mel took me to the nearby city of Winchester. It is an old city that was the centre of William the Conqueror's kingdom after he invaded in 1066 and was the capital for a few hundred years before everything moved to London. We walked around town in the pouring rain, and visited the famous Winchester Cathedral, the biggest in all of Europe. Many of the cathedral scenes in the new Da Vinci Code movie were filmed there. Upon returning to Southampton in the afternoon we were inspired to go see the movie on the very same day, and did so to get away from the rain. It was cool seeing the places I'd been to just a few hours earlier on the big screen. After that, we went to the harbourside and fantasized about how great it would be to own one of the big boats there. I was then dropped off at the train station and made my way back to London, arriving home at about midnight, just in time to retire to bed and prepare for another week of work in the city.

my first flat in England 

It was a fairly non-eventful week just going to work, applying for longer term and better paying jobs, and doing all sorts of homely stuff I'm not used to doing, like laundry, ironing, cooking and washing dishes! (What is this world coming to?)

 

On Friday I went to work with all my things packed for the weekend. After work I had some drinks with colleagues and headed to Paddington Station to check in to my Spring Bank Holiday long-weekend tour to Amsterdam!

 

I enjoyed the coach drive from London to Dover, having some beers along the way and chatting to the the other travellers (again mainly Aussies). Once we arrived at Dover the bus boarded a ferry and we sailed across the English channel in pitch dark, to the port of Calais in France. Once on the European continent I slept all the way to Amsterdam, ready to start enjoying it bright and early in the morning.

 

Most of the tourist attractions weren't open so I headed to a local market with some of the people in my group. It has everything from a wide range of fresh flowers, to cheese, fish and even chocolate bottoms, breasts, penises, vaginas! [the Dutch are very liberated] One of the girls bought one and we nibbled on her vagina all afternoon long.

 

Breakfast and many meals after that were at some of the city's many gourmet bakeries selling beautiful pastries and cakes. The rest of the morning was spent visiting some of the city's coffee shops and then going on a long canal cruise (complete with picnic lunch) along some of the city's many old Canals, which criss cross throughout the whole city like a large spider-web.... until we were eventually let into our hostel to check in and have an afternoon nap to recover from the long overnight drive and busy morning.

 

On Saturday night our group visited the famous Red Light District, walking around doing some "window shopping", seeing a live show and then partying in some of the areas nightclubs.

 

But Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. We went on a big bike ride around Amsterdam, weaving trams, cars and other bikes on the city streets, and riding along beautiful parks and canals and even the odd windmill. Riding a bike seems to be the standard method of transportation in Holland, and it was good fun riding along the mainly flat terrain, when I wasn't being yelled at by locals for fatal mistakes like riding on the left, not giving way or stopping suddenly. I got sworn at in Dutch several times!

 

But when they weren't yelling at me from their bike seat, I found the Dutch to be very pleasant and helpful people. I really enjoyed it in their country.

 

We hit a few bars on Sunday night and headed home early on Monday morning. I enjoyed the drive home, staring out of the window at the Dutch, Belgian and French scenery.

 

We again caught the ferry from Calais to Dover, this time in the rain. But just as we approached British coastline, the sun came out and we watched the famous White Cliffs of Dover glisten in the sun as they grew nearer.

 

Then back to London and back to work the next day (a bit of an anticlimax but gotta earn the money to support these weekend trips somehow).

 

Since coming back to London I have been enjoying fantastic summer weather. It has been in the mid 20s and sunny just about every day. My aunty is visiting me from the Czech Republic at the moment, so I spent the weekend with her sightseeing, shopping and doing a ferry cruise down the Thames.

 

I hope all is well back in Australia. I think of you guys in Melbourne as I frolic out in the warm European London sun. Oh, and go the Socceroos! I have become very patriotic since leaving down under. Unfortunately I won't be able to watch them play Japan as that is 2pm on Monday, London time and work calls. 

[Edit: it turns out the English are very understanding of the need to watch world cup football, so I worked through lunch and then went down to the pub next to work to watch it during work time!]

Cheerio!