Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha

Of course I couldn’t stay at this slow pace too long and so dragged myself out of bed after a long night to rendezvous with PJ downstairs for a cab ride across town to view the Grand Palace.
Now I had read the websites advising of scams where “guides” say a certain place is closed and persuade you to follow them to another site. Well we almost fell for one but I better explain the first scam of the day.

PJ was given some bird seed to feed the birds, no problems he thinks except after the fact he is told it is 50 baht which can buy you a small local meal here…

Anyway we rock up to one of the gates of the palace and are told by a scruffy (this was odd I thought) guard that the palace is closed until 2pm for religious reasons and that we should hop on the tuk tuk waiting just 5m away to go to other sights before returning.
We said we first go across the road to look at a small temple and then come back for the tuk tuk. However while crossing the road back we noticed a main gate further down the road that is open and has tourist flowing in and out. Scam avoided but we could still see the tout trying to convince others at the other gate (its closer to the main intersection hence everyone passes it) that the palace is closed, blah blah blah…

The Grand Palace is the home of the king but also is site of several major temples aspiring to various faiths, mostly Hindu and Buddists to no doubt safeguard the well being of the residence.

Afterwards we managed to walk and find the Reclining Buddha temple, where a giant gold reclining Buddha rests plus numerous other entities of Buddha. By this time we were a bit templed out on what was a typical hot and muggy day and so the call was made to go back to the hotel where we passed the Giant Gate on the way back.

Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha

Bangkok

Got into Bangkok early morning on a 1/3 full Thai flight, was able to stretch out across 3 seats across the back and enjoy superior service. Arrived in Bangkok to meet up with an old work colleague PJ aka Paul. Anyway PJ has been here many a time and so he slowly showed me around on what would be my holiday from my holiday. I slowly adjusted to the tourist way of life here where for once the AUD was stronger than the local currency, this meant late starts to the day, an afternoon and evening meal accompanied by some Chang or Singha.

There are temples everywhere of which one we did visit up the road and of course many shopping malls with magnificent air conditioning.
One day I decided to visit the Independence Monument but it starting raining monsoon buckets that even the raised footbridge just below the skytrain was flooded.

But otherwise basically didn’t really do much in Bangkok except a few long nights out when both PJs older twin brothers were in town...

Bangkok

Zurich

20/07/09

Possibly the most expensive city in Europe, Zurich's cost of living was noticeably more expensive than continental Europe and so I decided to save some $ by couchsurfing, my good host was a guy called Sam who had an apartment only a kilometer and a bit from the main train station.
Had one full day and so walked up to the local university for some skyline views before taking the Polybahn down to walk around the old town which meanders around the river Limmat. The river eventually reaches its source, lake Zurich where I boarded a vessel for a 90min cruise around the lake with the swiss alps in the distant horizon.

After the cruise had to have the local fare, veal sausage with a local beer before walking the other side of the river where further downriver locals swim in the river in what is essentially an urban beach, think no sand but grass and concrete and a pier with bars too. There was still hundreds on a Tuesday afternoon plunging into the currents slightly upriver to be slept downriver about 100m by the currents before swimming out. Plus the odd person jumping from the road bridge several metres above into the river before. All good fun.

The next day before the long flight to Asia took a free bike rental (thats right its free here in Zurich as they have a 1st rate public transport network, they have too much $ here) and biked around some more of Zurich as far as the east lakeside foreshore. Unfortunately it wasn't a great day and it actually drizzled a bit. I guess it was a sign, so farewell Europe and hello Asia next...

Zurich

London III

03/07/09 Goodwood Festival of Speed

I had heard of it from Top Gear and other auto mags but had forgotten about the Goodwood Festival of Speed until upon chancing a billboard advertisement in London.
Persuaded Tony to join me and so we had an early start catching the train out to Chichester which is about 1.45 hr on the train out of London. Boarding the special chartered buses to take us out to the estate to view the cars on show and the practice laps on the circuit on what was the first day of the festival and this avoiding the weekend crowds. The highlight of the day was the Red Arrows display which actually lasted a good 30 mins and which commentary was provided through particular FM radio channel too. All in all, a long day on another blazing summers day.

Goodwood Festival of Speed

Last week in London and Sig had already left to go back to Canada for summer, so here goes...


15/07/09 Imperial War Museum

A guy from London staying in my Dublin hostel recommended this museum which is not near the other main museums in London so I decided to check it out with Tony.
The Imperial War Museum is wholly dedicated to the perils of war and therefore promoting peace, it’s a small but effective museum with tanks, planes, arms and a special trench experience with authentic smells!

Imperial War Museum

16/07/09 British Museum

Decided to finish viewing the British Museum during my last few days in London, we actually went there to visit a section on my second or third day in London many weeks ago.

British Museum

18/07/09 Greenwich

My last weekend in London and we decided to visit Greenwich which none of us had been to before. Greenwich is site of the Royal Observatory and the National Maritime Museum. Greenwich is also famous for the Greenwich Meridian Line, where the longitude is 0 and where all time is measured from. This line separates the western and eastern hemispheres. Before that we had time to wander the Greenwich markets where we had lunch.

After the observatory we visited the nearby National Maritime Museum where various exhibits of the empires glorious maritime past were on show.

Greenwich

Thanks to Tony and Lauren again for their hospitality, don't know when I will be back in Europe...

London II

01/06/09 London Monument and Tower

Sig was back from his short trip out of London and so we went to visit the London Monument, dedicated to the great fire of 1666 (if ever a bad year) and onto the Tower of London. We thought we start with the free tour by the Yeoman aka as the Beefeater but gave up and did our own exploration due to the large crowds of tourists. We did see the Crown Jewels (no jokes thanks) but of course no photos allowed.

Monument and London Tower

02/06/09 Tower Bridge

After meeting up with my old boss Burgo, started a small section of the Square Mile walk (as featured in the Lonely Planet) before meeting up with the bros to watch the Tower Bridge open. Thereafter me and Sig continued inside the Tower Bridge Experience, a self guided tour of the workings and history of the iconic landmark.

Tower Bridge

03/06/09 Square Mile

Finished the Square Mile walk, this is basically a walk around old London City taking into account the following:
St Pauls, Australia House, Royal Court, Temple Church, Temple of Mithras, Royal Exchange, Leadenhall Market, Lloyd’s of London building (the building that outside looks like the inside of a factory), “Gherkin” building, Spitalfields, Christ Church and Petticoat Lane.

Square Mile Walk

06/06/09 Natural History and Science Museums

For once an overcast showery day, perfect for staying indoors and so the call was made by me and Tony to go and visit the Natural History and Science Museums, both are close to each other near South Kensington underground.

Natural History and Science Museums

07/06/09 Abbey Court and Lords

With Sig back in town after a sidetrip, he wanted to see Abbey Court Rd and Lords, the home of cricket; so off we all went. After dodging traffic and numerous attempts we got that pic…
Afterwards back to the old days of playing cricket in our driveway but this time outside the home of cricket. Just like our XI high school days I was wickie and Sig was the medium pacer bowling inswingers, all imaginary of course.
Lastly we went to the house of my brother's namesake, the Sigmund Freud mansion (now converted into a museum). The last pics are from the rooftop of Tony's building to catch the sunset and views from Putney.

Abbey Court and Lords

London I

Thanks to Tony and Lauren for having me and Sig over at their place in London, which we used as a hub for short trips across Europe. Will miss playing PS3, watching "Greys" and that addictive Strawberry and white choc cereal...

26/05/09

Finally in London but I was so exhausted that that I spend my first day in Europe having a midday nap at my youngest brothers Tony’s flat and did not venture out.
The next day was a late start and we just dipped down to Piccadilly for some tourist info and a quick walk through to Coventry Court passing Trafalgar Square and into Chinatown and wrapped up by a visit to the British Museum.

London - First Day

28/05/09

Nice day so caught the tube to Hyde Park Corner and walked through all the tourist spots like various memorials (including a NZ one), Buckingham Palace, Downing St, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, etc till Westminster where I caught the tube just before the afternoon peak starts.

London - Hyde Park

29/05/09 Southbank

Today tackled the Southbank trail starting from Westminister where I had left off the day before and continuing along till Cannon St. A detour was required to view St Paul and to cross the Millennium Bridge in what was a glorious summers day! The pictures speak for themselves about the major sights on either bank of the Thames River.

Southbank

30/05/09 Trooping the Colour

Trooping the Colour first rehearsal was on today so went to enjoy it with the relative sparse crowd; I am guessing it will be at least 10 fold more on the actual day. Afterwards met up with Tony and Loz to go to Harrods at Knightsbridge, with the day still perfect we went to Hyde Park where all Londoners go to when nice weather. I joined the friendly family atmosphere in and around Princess Diana’s memorial pool and had a lazy stroll around The Serpentine. Sideswipe, we saw a Bugetti Veyron on the street while walking back to catch the tube home…what GFC!!

Trooping the Colour

31/05/09 Richmond Park

Another glorious sunshine day, where is the crappy English weather that people always go on about? We made our way to Richmond Park for a bike ride around the perimeter and a well deserved ice cream at the end.

Richmond Park

South Ireland

Southern Ireland, three words…rain, rain, rain!

10/07/09

Joined a 3 day coach tour of south Ireland with Shamrockers, starting with a visit to The Rock of Cashel, Mitchelstown Caves and Blarney Castle to receive the gift of the gab by kissing a dirty brick in the castle wall while supported upside down! All this time there would be prolonged showers with short fine intervals, no doubt this is why the Ireland countryside is so lush and green. Our overnight stop would be Killarney.

11/07/09
Second day of the tour and this time it would rain the whole day, I had not seen this much rain since living in Auckland but enough whining about the weather, starting to sound like some other people across the Irish Sea.
Along we went on the scenic coastal route while viewing the most western point of continental Europe towards the fishing town of Dingle, where Fungi the dolphin resides. An ice cream to enjoy the liquid sunshine before catching a glimpse of “the sleeping giant and three sisters” (an island whose contours look like a big belly person asleep and 3 hills). Then a short ferry ride across the Shannon River towards the Cliffs of Mohar. Our stop that night was Doolin where I had some Irish stew in a local pub watching the weird weird sport of hurling (cross between AFL and hockey).

12/07/09
Our last day of the tour started with trips to Clonmacnoise (an old monastery) and Burren plateau which is a raised ancient limestone seabed.
However our first activity was a quick stop to walk around a fairy ring, an abandoned mound ruin like a ring where the middle had scrub inhabited by fairies, true! We were sternly warned not to walk through the middle otherwise something bad could happen…

Now the coach we were on was not the most modern and in fact there was a problem as it could not engage 1st gear from the 2nd day onwards. While on a slight incline it started to roll backwards towards a parked car while trying to pull out onto the road outside Clonmacnoise. Everyone out and a big stone for leverage did the trick but there was only inches between the bus and the car.

One more stop for some Irish whisky at Locke’s Distillery Museum at Kilbeggan and then back to Dublin where I will catch the overnight ferry back into London.

South Ireland

Dublin

09/07/2009

Tossed up between Ireland or Munich and/or Amsterdam. In the end upon some recommendations from my old boss Burgo did the Ireland thing.
Being time rich and money poor I thought I’ll for a change take the long way around with an overnight coach and ferry crossing into Dublin.

After about 4 hours sleep arrived into Dublin with the rising sun; being early walked around the now quiet streets of Temple Bar and surrounds of the Liffey river before a traditional Irish breakfast watching people commuting to w_o_ r_k.
Then into Trinity College to look at the Book of Kells (one of the oldest books in the world), before visiting the National Art Gallery and the nearby shops of Grafton St.
Lastly finished the day by visiting, sampling and learning to pour the perfect pint (certified too) of Guinness at the storehouse museum. Simply tastes better here than anywhere else in the world!

That night noticed Dublins claim to skyline glory, a massive stainless spike that sticks up from a traffic island in the middle of the road…

Dublin

Paris

24/06/09
Got up super early to catch the 7.27am Eurostar London to Paris, as noted by others the chunnel is a non event as one moment you are in the UK and the next (well after several minutes in darkness) you are in France. Checked into our hotel and promptly caught the metro to the Notre Dame church. Impressive gothic features which are refreshing after visiting all those churches in Italy. There is no queue to get into the church but a long one for ascending to the roof which was worthwhile indeed when we did. Those cute little gargoyles crawling everywhere, but you also get to go inside one of the bell towers and ascend to another higher rooftop too.
Afterwards we walked past the Musee Du Louvre and into the park towards Place de la Concorde, before crossing the river towards our objective that night, the Eiffel Tower.

Paris

First encounter of French inhospitality was at the tower, you can climb or take the lift to the 2nd level to buy another ticket that ultimately takes you to the top. We brought the lift ticket but were not told that the lifts are in another pillar even after showing the attendant our ticket. Therefore we ended up climbing to the 2nd level wondering where is that lift which is not fun at all after a long hot day!
Now I been on the 1/3 scale model in Shenzhen of the tower and even that was high, the Eiffel Tower due to its isolation from other tall structures accentuates it height even more for superb views.

Eiffel

25/06/09

Today we went to the Louvre, just beat the crowds to get that picture with Lisa. Now any gallery would kill to have such masterpieces in their collection, and if they did they would be their own room as Lisa was but not here. Here hung casually in one of the main corridors were several Raphaels lots of Rembrandt too. Many other masterpieces are scattered throughout the museum and hence we ended up spending most of the day searching for them before leaving for a belated lunch at Avenue des Champs. Then a quick hop to ascend Arc de Triomphe Etoile for yet more skyline views.
Some sudden downpours almost brought the day to an early end (note this was the first rain I’ve seen for almost 3 weeks) but it cleared in time for us to continue to Cite de L’Architecture for some ground level night views of the tower.

Louvre

26/06/09 Friday
Woke up this morning to the BIG news. Michael Jackson is dead, RIP. Sig told me after he heard about it last night from a friend in NZ. Therefore I will remember where I was when I heard the news, Paris…

Anyway we went to visit the Sacre Couer which is on the highest point in Paris and therefore gives a free view of the Paris skyline from a northerly aspect. After that a stop at Galleries Lafayette, a 7 level department store that I know a lot of girls would love. To finish the day we walked to Ecole Militaire (which also gives a straight view of the Eiffel Tower), passing on the way Opera Garnie, la Madeleine, Assemble Nationale and Musee de Armee.

Later that night as we were back early I decided to watch some TV and the first thing I tuned into had a tribute news hour to Michael Jackson! Seems the French loved him and some smaller stores and radio stations were playing his music during the day.
On that note RIP MJ…

27/06/09

Nearby our hotel is actually a large park with a canal running through it. The park also contains the Science Museum housed in a modern building with a large shiny sphere in the front and of all things a decommissioned French submarine! Couldn’t resist going into the sub to add to our list another warship we have been into. I had a later train than Sig and so after sending him off biked around Paris for the afternoon before the last train back to London.

Asturias

19/06/09
Managed to squeeze some time in my itinerary to visit Carlos, an ex work colleague in his home town. Therefore had to make the longer journey to Stansted airport for yet another delayed Easyjet flight to Asturias, Spain. There the local police perform the immigration checks and they spent a good few minutes with a small magnifier and UV lamp to see if my passport was autentico or not. After that Carlos and his good friend Josen drove me to a nice hostel in Gijon (prononced Hihon) that Carlos had organised.
I was then given an orientation tour by Josen in his little red Seat car which Carlos calls "de tank" around Gijon which is the major town of the Asturias region before introductions to the local Cider drink.
Now the locals love this stuff and its cheap too, but the best fun is that they pour it from head height with one hand into a small cup held waist level with the other hand. This is meant to air it for a better taste before you skull the small quantity served leaving a small residue to chuck away. The true cider bars have a small open drain next to the bar inside for you to do this. Finished my first day in Gijon in the warm company of Carlos, Josen and his gf Christina though I really need to learn some Spanish as Carlos was running his throat dry with translating duties.

20/06/09
I was warned by a random guy from Asturias who I met in Florence that the weather is like London, grey and mild in summer; and unfortunately it was true yesterday but not today. Therefore Carlos and his granddad took me to experience churros dipped into a thick chocolate drink for my breakfast before taking me for a walk around Gijon. After a mandatory siesta (as the locals do), I met up with Carlos to catch the train to a small town called Mieres, where Carlos's mum was from. There was some festival there and so was happening (for a small local town anyway).
Afterwards met up with some people that Carlos knows back in Gijon for a late dinner at 11pm and some bar hopping afterwards…

21/06/09
Carlos jokes I must have brought the good weather as another exceptional day. Was kindly invited by Carlos's grandparents for some traditional food before I made my own way around the areas visited yesterday. This time I walked till the other side of the main Gijon beach and it was packed like Bondi beach, guess the sunshine is really rare around here.

Gijon

22/06/09
Josen is such a nice guy, he should be the ambassador for Gijon! Note Gijon is only 30kms from the capital of Asturias called Oviedo, but the cities have a Sydney/Melbourne rivalry happening, except Josen takes his patriotic pride for Gijon to a high level as do most locals, so I heard.
Anyway he was going to show me and Carlos around Asturias in Christina's car for the day! We went to Convodonga (also happened to be name of the hostel I was staying in), this is the site where the “reconquest” of Spain by King Peloya started. Then we went for a nice lunch in Cangas de Onis near an ancient foot bridge of Roman era where I tried the local recipes Fabadas and Lomo meat. Onwards to Ribadesella, Lastres and lastly meeting up with Christina after her work in Oviedo. All along this trip there will be comparisons between Gijon and Oviedo, such passion about Gijon by Josen; Carlos was right joking about him being the face of Gijon tourism, not only that but he always knew someone on the street too. Finished the night (the sun sets here after 10pm!) at a free bird park in Gijon where there were some Emus! No Kiwis though...on that note I actually think I was the only Kiwi traveler and (probably asian too) in all of Asturias as foreign tourism has yet not taken off.

Asturias

Oviedo

23/06/09
All in all, Asturias reminds me of NZ, its relaxed, green, hilly, has small towns and clean air. Though it also has the many small bars like Melbourne, much better roads and trains, and the weather of London (good and bad). Most of all the people take pride in their state, I think they should promote more foreign tourism as they have the infrastructure in place. There was a hop on hop off tour bus in Gijon that was running around empty!
Lastly I would like to thank Carlos for organising my travels in Asturias; it was relaxing and insightful as well as being off the beaten track.

Pisa

18/06/09
A hot restless night before meant a dip in the pool before packing for the trip home, not before visiting the Piazza de Miracoli to see the neighboring cathedral next to the leaning tower of Pisa.
Then it was another delayed Easyjet flight back into London where I was threatened to go to the interview room by immigration as apparently I have the dodgy visa stamp on my passport meaning they don't believe my intentions in the UK! @#%*! Had to explain my life story again!

Pisa

Chianti

17/06/09
Had enough of Florence and so decided to join the hostel organised wine tour of the neighboring Chianti region. Chianti is between Siena and Florence and is home to wines of the same namesake. The tour was hosted by Irene (pronounced Irina I think) who is a local from there and so we walked to the train station to hop on a coach to get there. There are 3 grades of wine from this region, table wine being called super Tuscany or IGT, the good stuff is graded DOC (has document of originality and manufacture) and lastly DOCG (same as before but guaranteed to an higher standard).
First stop was an sampler plate of the local cheese and ham with some IGT reds and whites. Then a stop at Greve before heading to another winery for some lunch where we had more DOC and DOCG wines. Lastly we went and had some Grappa (spirits made from the skin of the grape) which you have in small sips of 40 and 60% alcohol before a sweet version to finish the day.

Chianti

Unfortunately my day was not done as I had to catch a train to Pisa for my accommodation that night. When I got off the train in Pisa I bumped into a couple of Ozzies (Connor and Chris?) and their Irish friend Fenton, the two from Oz play in the Irish National Soccer League for Belfast and the trio of them had no idea how to get to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Luckily I showed them where to get the prepaid bus ticket and also where to get off, "kids" thesedays. After having dinner together they went on their way back to the train station to catch a train to Rome, their leaning Pisa photo mission done. I had to trudge to my campsite cabin with no a/c and no window too!

Florence

14/06/09
Good old Italian efficiencies! Had trouble with my non existent train booking and so after much confusion had to buy it onsite. Luckily I got a seat as there was only 1 seat left in my carriage. Got to Florence in the mid afternoon and promptly went to queue 20mins in the blazing heat to see big David (not the Tuaman too). No photo! again and so played hide and seek to sneak 2 shots, had to justify my 10 euros!
Then walked down to the Duoma (a church with a big dome), Batistery, Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio.
Some sights are closed today and some tommorrow (Monday), so a bit of back tracking to do in the next few days me thinks.

15/06/09
Decided to have a casual day and visited the stuff that were open which were not many as it was a Monday, Italians love their days off.
Visited the Piazza San Lorenza, climbed 468 steps up the Duomo for some panoramic views of Florence, viewed Piazza Strozzi, Church of Ognissanti (closed), Church of Santa Maria Novelle (did not enter, churched out now), Dante Alighieri's house, Church of Santa Croce (did enter as has tombs of Michaelangelo, Galileo and Dante!) and last but not least hiked up across the Arno river to Piazza Michaelangelo to see a (bronze) copy of David.
As the heat was unbearable had to have a beer from the street stall (no questions about age asked either). Thought I wait for the sunset as really nothing else was open and so escaped into the church of Santa Miniato al Monte where mass was being held in a small partition of the church yet the organ music reverberated nicely throughout the church.
Very serene indeed that you would be hard not to feel a little spiritual of sorts.
Finally with the sun setting across Firenze, walked all the way back to the hostel for a well deserved dinner and to see Italia beat USA in the Confederations Cup, Bravo Italia!

16/06/09
Damn Italian small lanes, got a little lost going to the Uffizi gallery which I have passed many a time in prior days! Got there at 8.30am and the queue was already massive as they only let in so many people in every 20minutes, that meant that I was there for 90mins! Got in and again Non Photo! signs so no pics to show for my effort. Got to see some famous paintings, being the art connoisseur I purchased a guide after the event to get an idea of what I was really looking at. Art can be so complicated...
Second stop of the day was the Medici Chapels, tombs of the leaders of Florence and where Michelangelo scrupled some of his famous creations being Lorenzo with Day and Night, Giuliano with Dusk and Dawn.
Third and last stop was crossing the Arno river to the massive Pitti Palace, long time home of the Medici dynasty. See if you can spot the private passageway that linked the palace to the Uffizi, this allowed them to travel halfway across town without being in public view. Sheer filthy opulence! Ended the day in the Boboli gardens, the (Pitti) palace gardens are massive that I only covered half of it; mind you I sat half the time in the shade escaping the (again) extreme heat and admiring the skyline.

Florence

Venice

13/06/09
Decided on an early start and caught the public bus across to Venice from my campsite in Mestre. Caught the scenic all stops vaproetta (ferry) through the Grand Canal to San Marco Square where I promptly entered the San Marco Batisque.

I avoided any queues simply because I checked in my backpack and got handed a card, which I confidently strolled to the front doors and handed in. I guess they presumed I had queued all this time only to be told I had to check in my bag and thus only happy to let me back in...old trick I read on the web.

Inside would be a taste of the extravagance that was to greet me in Venice. After countless churches in Rome the interior of this one was striking as it was pasted with gold mosaics! Afterwards I then unfortunately had to queue to enter the Doges palace where the showing off of opulent wealth continued, the ticket purchased also entitled me to wander into the St Mark museums on the other side of the square and one other museum of your choice, I chose the Ca'Rezzo art gallery.

Afterwards and maybe due to the frustration of navigating the maze they call Venice I had hit the wall with travel fatigue given the many museums, galleries and churches I had visited the last few days, not to mention the insane Italian heat.

A dash was made to Lido island to escape the mass of tourists for a quiet walk and a gelato. With my feet getting tired I caught the ferry back across San Marco for some snaps and walked back to the awaiting shuttle back to the campsite. There is definitely enough to do in Venice for 2 days but frankly the heat and a little of the same old same old was getting to me, I was starting to feel Italian out...

Venice

Rome

08/06/09
Flight was delayed coming into Rome, one of the pitfalls of flying easyJet, never on time! I spent a frustrated hour trying to find my hostel before heading out that evening for a small orientation walk.

09/06/09
Today first stop was of course the Colosseum, avoided the “free photo” Gladiator touts.
Afterwards next door to the ruins of the Roman Empire civic center the Palentino and then lastly the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument which was just up the road.

10/06/09
Luckily we were here at the right time to see the Pope give his weekly audience in St Peters Square, Vatican. As everyone has to pass through security checks the Pope is free to roam the crowds requiring only an open top jeep instead of his usual popemobile.

Afterwards we wandered through the Vatican museums to end at the Sistine Chapel. No photos allowed! But that didn't stop the tourists who numbered in the hundreds versus only two screaming attendants within it.

Ended the day with a lookie inside St Peters Basicilia and a stroll along the brown green waters of the Tiber River passing by some minor landmarks including the Spanish Steps.
As we had not found anything worthwhile to do at night we went on a hostel pub crawl with 50 odd other like minded people into the wee hours of the morning.

11/06/09
Had to shake off the tiredness to revisit the Vatican as we forgot about going up the Michelangelo Dome. This was well worth the revisit into the Vatican. Knocked off the last few sights on my to do list in particular the Trevi fountain and Pantheon. The Pantheon makes you appreciate how advanced and grandeur the Roman civilization was in its heyday.

12/06/09
Last day in Rome, the pounding of pavements, standing in queues and hot hot humid weather had taken its toll. Therefore decided to have a super slow day before we both left Rome and so dusted off some sights in the south east quarter which are less busy than the main tourist traps. Surprises being the Sacred Steps and the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the mother of all churches.

If Washington DC is the city of museums then Rome is the city of churches and fountains.

Rome

Vatican

Montreal

Day 46 24/05
I had booked the 9pm bus that arrives into Montreal at 3.45am. I thought the bus would be express but there was a 45 minute layover in a small café in Kingston. Arrived on-time into Montreal’s central bus terminal but nothing was open, neither the subway nor the lockers which I had planned to store the bulk of my luggage in order to make the most of my day.
Luckily the security guard allowed me to purchase a locker token through him that allowed me to catch the first subway at 5.45am out to the sights of Old Montreal, otherwise I would have had to wait for the locker cashiers to open at 8am.

Upon arrival at Champ de Mars metro station I hired a Biki bicycle from an automated booth. Now this is what every world class city should have, the bike was in top condition with 3 speeds, bell, kickstand, front basket, extremely comfortable to ride and cheap to hire by use of ones credit card (so I thought at the time, but actually I take it all back as it cost a bomb to hire after I checked my credit card statement later as I misread the Frenglish T & Cs).
Biki would allow me to cycle around the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal before the eventual busloads of tourists. Unfortunately not a single thing was open before 9am except Mcdees which I had for want of choice for breakfast.
By the time the helpful tourist office was open it seemed I had done everything that was open for the public (a lot were closed for restoration work).

With time in hand it was onto the 1976 Olympic tower near the Uaia metro station, this is the tallest leaning tower in the world but really who would build a leaning tower deliberately!
Afterwards only had time to get to the airport to finally leave North America, Bon Voyage to the land of big fast food and even larger high rises.

Montreal

Toronto

23/05
A travel day for Sig but we did squeeze in some central sights as Toronto was holding a special Doors Open weekend where buildings around the city were open for public access. After sending Sig off at the metro I continued wandering around into whatever building held my interest until my coach that night to Montreal.

Toronto

Niagara Falls

22/05
We booked a Niagara Falls tour the night before and before we knew it we were at the better Canadian side of the falls and prompted embarked on the Maid of the Mist ferry ride. You definitely get a drenching from the spray from the falls however the ferry ride is short lived and the boat way too crowded. A better bet which we did is to hike to the falls from the ferry dock and take the Journey Behind the Falls walk, this basically is a small lift ride that takes you down to the base of the falls where you gain access to some tunnels that are behind the falls and also to an adjoining observation deck. The noise of the falls is thunderous and you can stay there is long as you like.
Afterwards there was a small wine tasting in a nearby vineyard part owned by Dan Ackroyd where this region is famous for ice wine before some free time around Niagara-on-the-lake, an old loyalist colonial town.

Niagara Falls

New York

Day 39 17/05
Thought it would be nice to have lunch with our relatives so we caught the subway (here subways are simply named by a single letter or number, so we were catching the R line) to Chinatown, Manhattan for yum cha. Afterwards we walked around the nearby sights including New York Supreme Court, City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero which they are currently rebuilding so there is no memorial there and St Pauls Chapel which also has a memorial about 911, though its original claim to fame was George Washington frequented it. Our last stop was a tourist trap known as the Seaport which has a maritime museum and views of Brooklyn Bridge.

NY pt1

18/05
Today we would visit the major central sights of New York with Times Square being our first stop to get some tourist information.
On the way there we passed the offices of the Wall Street Journal and nearby the National Debt meter (only a measly $1,113,887,132,398 then). Time Square is really just a messed up traffic intersection with two small squares on the north and south side and the multitude of electronic billboards screaming from any vantage point around it.
We decided to pound the vibrant pavements to the famous Chrysler building, passing Grand Central Terminal and the Lincoln Building. Unfortunately the Chrysler building is 100% offices with no observation deck or facilities open to the public. Next was the Empire States Building (back to being the tallest building in New York after 911), we decided we would come back at sunset and so we continued to Madison Square Gardens, nearby is also the US Post Center. We did see Central Park but it is impossible to cover by foot and so we only scratched the surface there when we traversed the southern side. Nearby are some of Trumps buildings.

NY pt2

Sig was really keen to see a Yankees game and so we purchased tickets for a game the next night before finally making it up the Empire State Building to the observation deck. I’ll let the photos explain themselves but the orientation roughly is north is Central Park, west is New Jersey (where is the sun sets), east is where you see the Chrysler building and the twin bridges and south is the nearby skyscrapers of the financial district with the Statue of Liberty to the southwest.

Empire State Building

19/05
Today was going to be Statue of Liberty day or so we thought. Like the Washington Monument in DC, there is a tour that allows you inside the statue but again you have to go early in the morning to grab those limited special tickets. We decided to defer the statue for early next morning, but we did walk around the Clinton Castle in Battery Park where the tickets are distributed. A rare fact is that the Dutch actually purchased land off the natives back in 1625 to establish Fort Amsterdam; which the Brits would gladly take to establish New York.

NY pt3

We just had time before the Yankees game to quickly visit the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier from WWII that’s now a museum to yet more planes, the real highlight being able to go inside the Concorde.

USS Intrepid

Then it was onto the new Yankee stadium, we had mid range tickets to watch them play the Baltimore Doubles. After an even start the Yankees routed the Doubles with a triple and double home run for a final score line like 9-1. It was their most comprehensive win so far this season. Got to see 13* A-Rod in action, he wasn’t having a good night though…maybe Madonna was back in town?

Yankees

20/05
We got up early to easily snap those “special” Statue of Liberty tour tickets which lets you inside the pedestal which the statue stands upon where there is a small museum about it.
The statue was a gift from the French people basically to pat the US on the back for snubbing the British. Inside there is the original torch, the one currently visible is post 1984 based on the original design as the elements quickly corroded the original. This corrosion has also affected the public gallery that surrounds the torch which was closed back in 1916, with the crown closed after 911 this means the top of the pedestal is the highest one can climb the statue now. This still offers superb views especially when that day there was a naval review involving several warships cruising past in preparation for Memorial Day.

Statue of Liberty

Afterwards I decided to do a mini self tour of the financial center which is centered on Wall St where the NYSE is. Got to meet our long lost friend Mr. Bull, I am sure his companion Mr. Bear is rampaging somewhere inside the NYSE and so didn’t see him…

Financial District

21/05
Today we spend some time with our great uncle before boarding various subway connections to the airport for a flight into Toronto, which would be our base for visiting the Niagara Falls.

Philly

Day 37 15/05
The night before we caught a cheap Chinatown bus from DC to Philly, it was hot, crowded and late; luckily the hostel was one of the better ones so far when we arrived at around 10pm.
Of course the whole objective of visiting Philly is to see the birthplace of America, when they declared their independence from the Poms.
This is symbolized by the Liberty Bell (which has a famous big crack in it) and Independence Hall (where the declaration was signed). There are also many other landmarks being Philosophical Hall (where Philly’s famous son Benjamin Franklin was a member of), the US Mint (1 of 6 around the country), Benjamin Franklin’s final resting place, Philly’s famous LOVE sign near the JFK plaza and last but not least the infamous steps up to the Philly Art Museum (which we also entered), site of THAT Rocky scene and which now has a statue of Rocky nearby too.
There is also the National Constitution Center which we didn’t enter as many school tours were (as in DC) taking place. Later that night we visited the steps to the art museum again for a look at the city skyline.

Philly

16/05
Today the plan was to visit USA’s most decorated warship, the battleship New Jersey also called the “Big J”. We didn’t even know it was in the nearby Delaware River if not for a tourist card in the hostel. This battleship had served in WWII, Korean, Vietnam and the first Gulf war, hence the decorations achieved. We had to catch a ferry from Penns Landing with views of Benjamin Franklin bridge across the river to Delaware state where the ship was berthed.
Being the warship geek I am and also Sig (who had already gone on its sister ship in Hawaii), we pretty much spent a few rushed hours (the ship is that big) there as we had another Chinatown bus to catch to New York later that day. Not before earlier that morning visiting the namesake house where the first American flag was designed and created by Betty Ross.
There was much confusion when we arrived in New York that evening as I had misinterpreted my Great Uncle’s instructions (my Chinese is nowhere near to what it should be), and so we ended up by accident taking the longest way possible to his house in Brooklyn…

Battleship New Jersey

Planes and Space...

Just for any "geeks" like me, some of the planes and spaceships on display across the two sites in DC:
SR-71 Blackbird
Space Shuttle Enterprise (yes I know it didn't go into space)
Last Concorde (that flew)
Enola Gay (the plane that dropped that bomb...)
X-1, first plane to break the sound barrier
X-15, fastest rocket plane
Boeing's 707 forerunner the 367-80
Apollo, Gemini, Mercury space capsules
the actual 1903 Wright Flyer
Spirit of St Louis
Backups of Skylab, Moon Lander, Spacelab and numerous other satellites
JSF (semi stealth military plane that Oz intends to purchase)

Planes and Spaceships

DC

Been very lazy with updates…

Day 32 10/05

Today was just a rest day with relatives before we leave the West Coast for good and fly over to the East Coast. For fun we tried a batting cage where we had an automated pitcher pitch slow balls (at about 40 mph still)

11/05

We had an overnight flight into DC however due to time zones it was only a 5-6 hour flight and so sleep was minimal. That did not stop us upon landing navigating the morning peak using what was initially a confusing ticketing system. Basically you have to look up the exact fare required and buy a ticket of that monetary value.

After checking into our so called hostel (basically someone’s overcrowded home) we visited the following which are all close to each other in the east side of the National Mall (which is the area where a lot of american museums and institutions reside):

Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Capitol Hill and lastly the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Luckily the later closed late as we are big fans of military planes but there would be even more to come….

12/05

Yesterday we made slow progress as really each attraction constitutes almost a day if done thoroughly. We skipped several museums to concentrate on the following:

Smithsonian Natural Museum (where the new Ben Stiller film Battle of the Smithsonian was based on), the White House, Washington Monument, WWII memorial, Lincoln memorial, Vietnam war memorial, US Army Division I and II war memorials and lastly the Kennedy Centre of Performing Arts (the national centre was renamed to be JFKs “living” memorial).

We had dinner near the Hard Rock Café and I got talked into buying a pin of the local manager of the place, haha.

13/05

You can go up to the top of the Washington Monument!

There are tours every 30mins, chance your luck by asking for any spare tickets assigned to tours that are not utilized or like us today; go early in the morning to guarantee the tour at your preferred time slot. We went up on the 2^nd morning slot and the views are great! Downstairs is a small museum about the monument and the man who inspired it, George Washington.

For the rest of the day we caught the bus way out west to visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia; for planes, rockets and a space shuttle!!! My favourite plane of all time was there, the SR-71 Blackbird; the worlds fastest plane!

14/05

The famous Arlington War Memorial would close our stay in DC. Many school groups were there and each would present a bouquet of flowers to the tomb of the unknown soldier with a little ceremony thrown in. This tomb is guarded 24/7 where a sentry paces up and down for 30 mins with 21 secs exactly between each pass.

Lastly we caught the equally important memorials on the south side of the “mall”, the Jefferson and Roosevelt memorials.

The monuments/memorials of Washington DC symbolizes the history and ideals of the US of A, this is reinforced to the younger generation by the numerous school groups of almost every state that we came across. I can see why some Americans are so perhaps (viewed as arrogantly) proud of their country…

DC

LA

Day 28 06/05

Back in California state but this time sun (the burning stinging type too) and heat really does exist in LA compared to SF. Now LA is just an urban jungle (we could see the morning traffic from the air), it took us 90 mins by metro to get to our hotel in west Hollywood from the airport yet on the map they seem pretty close by.
We promptly dumped our bags and headed to the Hollywood tourist traps being the Hollywood Avenue of Stars (its very long and some “stars” look a bit worst for wear), Grauman’s Chinese theatre and an insiders tour of Kodak theatre (where the Oscars are held). The Hollywood sign was not easily accessible unless you have a car though we did hike several blocks to try and get a clear pic of it. In the end the best pic was from a balcony within the Kodak Theatre complex. Note this complex has reinvigorated the area, apparently it was a real dodgy area and you can see why if you wander a block either side away from it.

07/05
Another reason why we chose our hotel location was its proximity to Universal studios which we did today. The studio tour was at times forgettable and some “stunts” were so cheesy but they did keep the opening scene from War of the Worlds which is actually mind boggling (Air Crash Investigations anyone?).
The rides and shows were so and so and here are my take of them:
- The Simpsons ride, basically a virtual motion simulator ride; 3/5
- Terminator 2 3D show, actually a mix of live performance and 3D movie; 4/5
- Shrek 4D, 3D show with some sprinkler effects which they call the 4th dimension; 2/5
- Animals Movie show, good for kids; 3/5
- Water World show, I think they have this in Seaworld too; 3/5
- Jurassic Park ride, log flume ride, lamer than Rainbows End back in Auckland; 2/5
- House of Horrors, pitch black inside with actors in costume out to get you, quite fun; 4/5
- Revenge of the Mummy, inside dark rollercoaster ride, Seaworld has something similar which is better; 2/5

08/05
As LA is so spread out we transferred accommodation to our next locale, Santa Monica. It’s a very nice beachside village with lot of bars and cafés, beachside pier and boardwalk. We hired bikes on a prefect late afternoon and cycled the length all the way into adjoining Venice beach and back.

09/05
On our last day in LA we would visit the Getty Center http://www.getty.edu/ , an art museum located on top of the Santa Monica hills near UCLA and Bel Air. The centre is ultra modern, has its own mono rail to take you up from the carpark at the bottom of the hill to the top and best of all free. The main question was not about art but about how can they afford to run this place and not charge patrons? It’s a popular spot for photos too which we spotted a few prom groups doing (with their private limo and professional photographers in tow!, what recession?)

LA

Grand Canyon

05/05
We had booked a tour to the west rim of the Grand Canyon, this differs from the cheaper south rim tours in that the west side is on an Indian reservation which means you pay an extra $45USD to enter the Hualapai Nation (who consider themselves a separate sovereignty ), the good news though is that you save a few hours traveling time than taking the long way around it to the south, time put to good use by accessing the glass skywalk (itself separate and overpriced but since you are there might as well do it) and enjoying the views longer. In fact too long that we didn’t catch one of the sideshows there being the local ranch. Check out the first canyon shot at Eagle Point! (can you see it…).
Note the tours are not the most efficient time wise and the Hoover Dam “stopover” was a photo op from the “back” of it (note they are building a passover so you will not be able to walk on the dam in the next year or so which I would in hindsight have liked to do).
After the tour we wandered the strip once more before another morning flight to our next destination…the city of angels.

Grand Canyon

Vegas

Day 26 04/05
We had an early flight in Vegas which resulted in a 4am wakeup for what would be an extremely long day. The main strip is very close to the airport but this didn’t stop the taxi driver taking us the long way around to our hotel after discovering it was our first time here; we discovered this later when taking the short way back for the return flight. Anyway slots greet you at the gate of the airport, along the shops and at the baggage claim area too. There is a lot of free stuff you can do as casinos try to tempt punters their way, also accommodation was the best value so far though service was lacking. Given the recession there was still a lot of people, god knows how many more there could be during the boom times but maybe like us they did not gamble much or at all.
Las Vegas Boulevard is too long to walk and we gave in to getting the day pass on “The Deuce” tourist buses, one particular driver was singing like Chef from South Park for entertainment which was a laugh (pic included).
True to Vegas we got back to our hotel early next morning after walking the entire main strip and catching the Fremont St experience as well.
As you can see there is plenty to do without gambling, an unexpected free show was front row seats to a heated political debate between an Obama supporter and a drunk “redneck?” lady while on the bus back to the hotel, I think the country is as politically divided as ever….

Vegas

San Francisco

California, here we come…

Day 21 29/04
After a couple days relaxing, cleaning and repacking I was ready to leave the BC cold behind for what I thought would be some Californian sun starting in San Francisco. An early greyhound into Vancouver for a lookie at Granville Island for Sig’s benefit as he had not been there and we were off on a flight into San Francisco with a transit in Seattle.
Now the weird thing is that you clear US immigration and customs in Vancouver airport! So actually we had just entered the US by crossing the airport terminal before boarding our flight…

An In N Out burger (chain) made for a late dinner in our first night in San Francisco (locals call it SF); staying with our cousins (thanks Jason for sleeping on the couch to make space for us) some which I had not seen for about 17 years abouts.

30/04
Jason, our cousin would chauffeur us to Ocean Beach unfortunately the cold Pacific wind made for winter apparel at the beach! Then it was onwards onto a coastal trail that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge.
On the not to scale map we thought we would investigate by foot Fishermans Wharf (there is a free antique arcade museum there too), Lombard St, Coti tower and Chinatown. With its famous hills this really wasn’t a good idea. After dinner we braved the rain and again cold winds at a nearby outlook called Twin Peaks, already that summer dream was turning into a cold reality.
It was then (probably after I whined too much) we learnt that SF has a rather mild climate, rarely gets very hot or very cold yet you probably going to be wearing/carrying a jacket of sorts just in case.

01/05
Today we decided to walk by foot downtown SF and stumbled across City Hall and UN Plaza before crossing Chinatown on route to a WWII submarine docked back at Fishermans Wharf we saw the day before. Though this time we were better armed with Metro tickets to rest our tired feet.

02/05
What else is SF famous for? Alcratraz of course. The national park service allows only one tour operator to run tours to it and so it gets very busy, it felt almost every tourist in SF was on the island. We got to learn of the history of jails in the US and of that infamous escape from D block. Note that besides the jail block themselves (maintained for tourists) everything else on the island is in serious disrepair due to the harsh elements on the island and hence made way for a large seagull colony.

Afterwards I waited the 40mins to ride the infamous cable car back into town, every other mode of transport is faster due to the long queue caused by tourists like me but I got to hang off the side at the very front to enjoy the oncoming traffic, steep gradients and great views.

03/05
This was a catch up with relatives day and so it consisted of eating, shopping at Costco which is a large bulk discounter (note all big box retailers are banned in SF county and so we had to cross into another county), crossing the Golden Gate bridge for a view from the other side and yet more eating that night.

SF