A quick update and stories of Greece

So I have not posted an update in a long time! And I really should, as there has definitely been lots of travel going on.  I got back a few days ago from Germany for Oktoberfest, and earlier that week I was up in Edinburgh for work.

I will try to find some time to write some updates, but between getting proverbially raped at work, and all the fun of buying and fitting out a flat in London, things have been pretty busy!

I am pleased to say I have written about the trip to Greece back in June. But I have just read a blog entry from one girl who was on the tour boat with us. Her post is excellent and tells the story of the trip better than I could do. She should be a journalist. Oh hang on, she is! Here's Beth's account.

Newcastle and Birmingham

It is 10:20pm on a Wednesday night in late August.  I am on a train from Newcastle to Birmingham.

This morning I made the trek to Heathrow to fly up to Newcastle. I thought perhaps flying was a bit excessive. 

Yes, it is only a 45 minute flight, but when you factor in getting to Heathrow, getting through security, waiting to board, boarding, taxiing, cueing for takeoff, takeoff, landing, taxiing, disembarking and getting from the airport, it is probably not that much less than the three-and-a-half-hour train journey.

But my doubts were today put to rest. Flying is definitely the way to go. The trip to Heathrow, albeit long, was smooth. Checking in online made the process at the airport quite quick, and getting on the plane didn’t take that long at all. Once on the plane, I was served drinks and snacks, as well as free newspapers. To get the equivalent treatment on the train would have cost a hefty first class ticket. And an hour later, I was “oop-North” in Newcastle. But I didn’t really make up my mind that flying is the way to go until an hour-and-a-half into my train journey down to Birmingham tonight. This is when I realised, that despite being on the train for what felt like forever, I still had 2 hours to go. At least travelling to and from the airports provides changing scenery. Sitting in a single train seat, especially when it is dark outside and there’s no-one interesting to look at inside the carriage, makes for a dreadfully boring trip. Especially when you have forgotten your iPod earphones!

The day up in Newcastle was good. My meeting went well, and I had some spare time to look around either side of the meeting. Despite being miserable weather today in London, Newcastle was actually warm and gloriously sunny. Who would have though the North could have a better climate?

I have a meeting tomorrow morning in Birmingham, so I am staying there tonight. Only another half an hour to go on this train!

Barbados

The start of May was a busy time for me in terms of travel. On 24 April I arrived back in England after 2 weeks in America, seven days later I was having a long weekend away in England, and 2 days after that it was time to fly back over the Atlantic to Barbados. But who can complain about that?

My then girlfriend worked for a travel magazine, and managed to get us a great deal for a week’s holiday on the Carribean island. Our package included flights and all-inclusive accommodation in a beach resort in Holetown, all for about the value of the flights alone.

As soon as we touched down and left the plane, it felt like somewhere tropical. A constant 31 degrees greeted us to the airport that was more outdoors than indoors – even the check in counters were outside! Must be a great way to save on air conditioning.

Most of our days were spent like this:

• Get up after a small sleep in, and head to the buffet breakfast.
• Absolutely stuff yourself with a fantastic breakfast selection, including Bajan hot sauce on your eggs and delicious sausages, and maybe plantain pancakes for dessert.
• Head to the beach for the morning.
• By 11 am it is probably time to start drinking. Afterall, the poolside bar is serving free cocktails.
• Lunch by the pool provides a choice between the Bajan buffet, usually rice with something delicious like slow-baked chicken or flying fish.
• Back to the beach for the afternoon: swimming, snorkelling, relaxing and drinking rum punch.
• Watching the sun set over the Carribean.
• Dressing up for cocktails in the evening bar, followed by yet another delicious buffet dinner.
• A few more drinks and an early night.

The majority of the days went along those lines. The highlight was on the first day when we took a boat trip out to a spot where you can snorkel with the massive turtles. The turtles can be found around the same spot where they are used to being fed, and they are quite tame. Swimming with them meant just that, and these majestic creatures that just glide through the water even came close enough to be touched.

One morning I was excited to see a monkey run across the garden, as normally all you could see running around were the mongoose.  But of course we did not spend the whole time just around the resort. The biggest two days were where we hired a car and went exploring around the island.

We rented a Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drive, and explored all around the island with the roof down. We went swimming at the wild surf beaches on the Atlantic coast, drove through lots of towns consisting mainly of corrugated iron shacks, got off the beaten track through the sugar cane country and spent some time relaxing on well manicured beaches of the south coast.

My favourite part was the wildlife park, outside of which you could hand feed green monkeys (that’s what they were called but they were more grey than green), whilst inside you could find everything from large tortoises to peacocks wandering around, and even the odd crocodile in the pond!

I found Barbados to be a really interesting place, but also a place of contrasts. One day I was walking down the beach in front of the luxurious and very expensive Sandy Lane resort, and the next day I was driving through a shanty town where it appears people don’t have enough funds or resources to build a solid house.

Yet people were hospitable, and it all felt very safe. Often if I was lost, a local would yell out to tell me which way to drive.  At times the locals were hard to understand, but you could always understand their unrivalled sense of hospitality.

Minneapolis, Chicago and New York

I am on an early morning train from London to Leeds. And I forgot my iPhone earphones! On the bright side, this presents an opportunity for me to catch up on my travel blog.

In April I went on a business trip to America.

My company’s head office in a suburb of Minneapolis. And I was due to visit for a week.

I decided to fly with American Airlines. They didn’t have direct flights, but I was up for a stopover in Chicago. I figured that AA, being one of the flagship members of the oneworld alliance, would be a comfortable, full service airline just like Qantas or British Airways.

But I soon found out that AA is quite poor in comparison, and doesn’t even serve free alcohol on transatlantic flights!

I landed in Chicago in the late afternoon, and had a couple of hours to kill before my regional flight to Minneapolis.  Once I got to Minneapolis, it was quite late. I was quite scared about having to get a rental car and drive it on the wrong (right) side of the road whilst jetlagged and tired, but it turned out OK.  Driving on the other side of the road is always tricky but the wide roads of America and the courteous Midwest drivers made it alright.

I spent the next few days in the Minneapolis suburbs, going to work during the day and enjoying the glorious spring sunshine in the afternoons. It was the hottest April they had had in a long time, and a perfect way to thaw out after a long London winter.

On the Friday afternoon I left the office and headed straight to the airport, and flew back to Chicago for the weekend. It was going to be a rushed weekend, arriving in Chicago late Friday night, and having to fly back to London early Sunday morning.

But as luck would have it, the Icelandic ash cloud descended over northern Europe that Friday, so my flight back to London on the Sunday morning was cancelled.

I had a few extra days to enjoy Chicago – thank you ash cloud! Chicago itself was a lot nicer than I had expected. I had been to the States a few times before, and had always wanted to go to Chicago but never made it there as it was a bit out of the way of my travels.

I stayed on the Magnificent Mile, where everything was clean and sparkling, with interesting high rise architecture all around. I enjoyed going to “the Loop” (downtown), where the raised “El” trains rattled above the streets, just like in the movies.

I did a lot of shopping in the various stores, and look forward to sporting my Chicago Cubs jumper this autumn.

By Tuesday, flights back to England had not yet resumed, and the first flight I was able to get booked on was the next Sunday.

But what to do in Chicago all this time?  Ought I go back to Minneapolis so I can at least do some work? My boss had a better idea. “Why don’t you go to New York and visit our office there?” Brilliant!

So on Tuesday I booked myself a flight to New York city.  And my work managed to find me a flight back to London a day early, on Saturday. The only flighty available was premium economy with British Airways, so I saved myself a cattle class, teetotaller route back across the Atlantic with AA.

There’s a reason why people all around the world wear “I love NY” T-Shirts. New York City has a great vibe about it, a really unique atmosphere. Though sadly being my third time to NY, the excitement had worn off a little bit. Nevertheless, I had a great time. I managed to catch up with a friend from uni who was doing an internship. My New York colleagues were really accommodating, and took me out to various lunches near our Times Square location, and I enjoyed perfect April weather for a few days before having to head back to rainy London.

My trip was twice as long as it was meant to be, and it didn’t cost me anything as being on a business trip meant all my food and accommodation was paid for. Thank you ash cloud!

Greece

I peaked too early! It is mid July and all my summer holidays are over and done with.  After Barbados in May and Greece in June, I have nothing else to look forward to, apart from enduring muggy London, watching the tourists have fun outside my work building, while I sit in the office.

But would I change my summer plan given the choice? No. I’ve had a wicked summer so far! And actually I am just loving London right now - plenty of time to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

A definite highlight of my summer has been my trip to the Greek Islands. It was me and seven friends. We all met in Athens on a Saturday morning to climb the Acropolis and do some general sightseeing. I liked Athens. It reminded me of Melbourne in many ways, and not just by the abundance of Greeks. I think the main thing was the choice of interesting cafes, bars and bakeries all over and late into the night.

And cafes were very useful, given my 2:30 am arrival at Athens airport the night before, culminating in checking in to my hostel at 4:30.

Athens - view from Acropolis

After a great day of sightseeing, and a big night of drinking, we eventually crawled into bed. But only for a few hours, as we had to be on the early ferry from the Port at 7am.

So we all started with a very hung over 5am start, and boarded “Highspeed 4” in Piraeus, bound for the island of Mykonos.  A few hours later we were there, and found our boat quickly, moored in the next dock.

The others of the 30-strong contingent had not yet arrived, so some of us made instant use of the closest beach and went for a hangover-relieving swim. Then the others started arriving, and we had some drinks on the boat before sailing off to Naxos.

The boat was comparable to the one I had sailing Croatia four years ago, but more spacious and slightly less engulfed with diesel fumes! The common area was much more spacious and the bar was well equipped. I was excited and thought this would be a fantastic trip!

But we did have some hurdles along the way. Our one -night-stop in Paros turned into 3 nights due to strong winds, our boat broke down and we lost running water and power for the best of two days. It was quite challenging at times (seasickness and lack of running water don’t mix well!) and we lost  a few destinations on our itinerary, but overall being with a great bunch of people, in a beautiful part of the world made it hard to feel down.

We spent our days on the islands quad-biking around, exploring many beaches, coves, hills, and some very forgotten-looking deserted tracks.

exploring islands by quad

When we got stuck a second day in Ios unexpectedly, we got lucky because it was the Swedish midsummer party. The boys and I enjoyed a long day at Far Out Beach Club watching the Swedish girls in their hundreds strip off into bikinis, throw each other into pool and generally frolic around drunkenly!

On the down side, we missed any amount of useful time in Santorni, arriving one evening and having to set sail back to Mykonos the next morning.

So what of the Cyclades? These islands are quite amazing. The natural landscapes are mainly brown, baron, and dry, but against the contrast of the bright blue seawater and dotted with chalk-white buildings all over, it actually makes for stunning scenery!

The towns mainly consist of narrow, cobbled, alleyways between softly rounded buildings showing off their bright white paint with blue doors and window shutters, and colourful flowers for extra contrast. All the time under a bright blue sky, everything glimmering in the bright sunlight.

a typical Paros street

If I had to retire and live somewhere in Europe – these Islands would probably be one of the first choices!

Daytrip to Durham

Last Thursday I had a meeting up in Durham.


Durham is way up North, almost in Newcastle, which is almost in Scotland.  It was an early meeting that would have involved getting a 6am train from London.  So a better idea was to go up the night before and stay in a hotel up there.


But the night before was the night of a work trip to Lords to watch some county-level Twenty-20 cricket. I wasn't about to miss that! So my colleague and I went to the cricket. An innings and 4 pints of lager later, it was time to head to Kings Cross for our train.


We found our way there, stocked up on more alcohol, bought some greasy dinner and boarded our train.


The next 3 hours was spent drinking on the train.  Once we arrived "up north" at about midnight, we battled the rain and caught a cab to our hotel.


The hotel had already given away our rooms and offered us a drink to make up for it. By this time I had had certainly enough to drink, but surely I cannot say no to a free drink. After all, it was to make up for the inconvenience of losing a hotel room! "A whisky and coke, please," my colleague led.


An apt summary was this email I wrote while I was there:

My trip has been eventful. When we got here last night our hotel had given away our rooms. So they drove us to another hotel which wasn't anywhere near as nice. They did give us each a whisky and coke to make up for it though.

This morning our cab driver didn't know where he was going and we drove around looking for where our meeting was. Eventually I pulled out my iPhone and guided him with GPS.

But in the process I managed to drop my blackberry.  Realised just a bit before getting on a train back to London. I called the cab company and they said they'd drop it off back at the hotel but when I got there he hadn't come yet. Apparently it will be an hour till he does.

So Colleague and I are sitting at a cafe waiting, watching the world go by.

Yes, it was an eventful trip. Durham, overall, was a very picturesque little city. It was a great place to spend a few hours just sitting around!

World Cup 2010 in London

Back in 2006 when I was living in England the first time, I went on a trip of a lifetime to Munich for the Australia vs. Brazil World Cup football game.

Now it is 2010 and the World Cup is back, and I am in London once more. No trip to South Africa planned but I did manage to head out to the Australian stronghold of Shepherd's Bush last night to watch Australia try to take on Germany.

On the way there is saw lots of Aussies all kitted up and ready to support their team, as well as Germans. The great thing about London is there are samples from all nationalities around.

I watched the start of the game at "Shé Bu Walkie" which provided a magnificent atmosphere.  I watched the rest of the game at the Pavillion, where they had stadium seating set up in front of a massive screen.

Overall, London is going football crazy. Productivity at my work has dropped to a low, ITV and BBC streaming coverage is clogging up the bandwidth, and most conversations are based on how our predictions are going.  The English take their football seriously, and it's great to be a part of it!