Thursday 30 June 2005

In three hours we board the flight to Auckland and then it's off home for Chaucey and me.

This morning we arrived in Hong Kong just after breakfast. Our suitcases are checked through to Auckland so we went through Immigration and straight through customs onto the train to the city.

Once we arrived we walked from Central to the Peak Tram terminal. It's not really a tram, it's a cable car and in places must be close to 45 degrees. From the Peak Terminal you get a fantastic view of the city and harbour. We then had a look in the shopping centre at the peak terminal and stopped for a drink. When we came out the fog had rolled in so any chance of getting another look at the view was gone before descending in the tram back to Central.

From there we walked to the Star Ferry and caught the ferry to Kowloon. The ferry cost HK$1.70 each (about 0.35c). Once we got off the ferry it started to pour down. We sheltered outside the Hong Kong art musuem until it eased off a little and then walked over to Nathan Road.

We had a go at haggling with the electronic stores for an I-Pod but found only one that was cheaper than what we found the NZ price was. With the one we agreed a price he checked out the back he found he'd run out of stock and tried to sell us a MP4 player. He said we could pick up the I-Pod at 5pm but it would have cut getting back to the airport a bit fine. I was tempted to buy a new camera but decided against it in the end.

After all that we headed back to the airport. I fell asleep on the train (I had been up for 30 hours by then) and when we got back to the airport Chaucey has found a centre that rents quiet, dark spots for naps. So while she sleeps I have looked through the huge airport and found a free internet terminal where I can update this blog.

So this is it - the last blog post from outside NZ for a while. (At least until the bills that will roll in after we get back are all paid off.) Normal political posting will resume next week, once I properly catch up with what is happening in NZ (although I am pleased that it looks more likely that I've won a bottle of wine for predicting the election date.)

I will post a review of the holiday sometime soon - I've tended to stray away from reporting anything negative while we've been away or really evaluated the places and people.

But I'll give one award for a conversation I heard this morning as I got off the plane. An elderly man, in a wheelchair, was complaining to ground staff that he wouldn't never go back to France again. His problem? - it was that the french don't speak english.

So to the elderly man in the wheelchair gets the "stupidest tourist encountered" award!

Wednesday 29 June 2005

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin’, it’s early morn
The taxi’s waiting, he’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry.

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go.
I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

Au reviour, auf wedersein, bon journo, prosim, pozegnalny, farewell Europe.

Tuesday 28 June 2005

This is it - our last real day in Europe. Tomorrow there will be packing our bags, catching the train to CDG Airport and boarding a flight to Hong Kong. So how did we spend the day?

First thing we got up and onto the Metro to Invalides, a hospital for wounded soliders built 180 years ago. When it was first built there was 6,000 residents, now there are a dozen. We didn't go in but admired the facade and church dome which is covered in gold leaf. We walked around the district past all the government offices and had breakfast before going to the Rodin Museum and gardens.

Rodin's most reknown work is "The Thinker" which is displayed in the gardens, along with his other sculptures. The mansion that Rodin lived in has been converted to a Museum with many of his models for the sculptures, some smaller works, and some of his paintings. The museum also has paintings by Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

After the musuem we made that famous Paris rock pilgramage to Pere Lachaise Cemetery to the grave of Jim Morrison of The Doors. The grave was simple and did not have the graffitti I expected. (There is a guard standing by the grave.) The cemetery also has the graves of many other famous Paris residents like Oscar Wilde (whose tomb is covered in lipstick kisses), Frederic Chopin and Collette. We tried to find the grave of Edith Piaf but couldn't, but the same area has memorials to all the french residents killed by the Nazis. Some are graves of resistance partisans killed and others are for each of the Nazi concentration camps.

The day has been very hot so we headed back to the hotel afterwards. Tonight we are off on a dinner and dance cruise on the Seine.

Thursday we are in Hong Kong and Friday we are back home!

Monday 27 June 2005

Up very early this morning for our trek across Paris to the Eiffel Tower. We stopped for coffee and croissant before catching the rush hour metro to the far end of the city. We joined the queue and half an hour later we were in the elevator up to the second level of the Tower. From there it was all the way to the top for a magnificent view of the Paris smog and city.

On the very top deck of the Tower is where Tom proposed to Katie, so while we were up there another American proposed to his girlfriend. I was taking a photo of Chaucey at the time so it should come out with some guy in the background on one knee. I'm happy to report that the proposal was accepted. Around the outside of the top level are signs advising the direction of cities from around the world. Wellington is between Copenhagen and Stockholm, a mere 19,000km awy from the tower.

It was into the lifts - looking through the window at the ground below gives you a good idea of how high up you are - down to the second level. The view from the second level is a much nicer vista of the city. The gift shop and cafeteria are very overpriced so I gave them a miss despite some of the gifts being very attractive. Then it was back down to ground level.

it was off to the Louvre next. We joined the queue to get in, which was only held up by the scan of the bags. Once we were past security it was no problen getting in. All the english language brouchures had gone so we grabbed a french one and entered the musuem.

The first exhibit we saw was the greek marble statues. Most of them are worthy of being as famous as the Venus de Milo. We then made our way through the musuem looking at all the art we could. When we got to the Mona Lisa, it was surrounded by hundreds of tourists taking photos. I joined the queue, elbowed my way to the front and admired the most famous painting in the world with hundreds of camera flashes. When I moved away I kept my eyes on the painting and got the famous smile.

After the Louvre we had lunch and caught the Metro to Lafayettes and Au Printemps Department stores. Imagine a store the size of Kirkcaldies dedicated only to Menswear - that is the size of Lafayettes Menswear section. The selection of clothes is amazing and I was sorely tempted by the items until I picked up the price tags. Even the sale prices are astronomical!

The same building also has a grocery store the size of an ordinary supermarket with only gourmet food. Across the road is seven stories of womenswear, and across another road is four floors of home decor. It is Paris sale season so the department store was packed with people.

If you walk 50 metres down the road is Au Printemps, Lafayettes great rival store. Printemps is almost an exact duplicate of Lafayettes, complete with the sale and thousands of people. I thought Lafayettes was better, but Chaucey thought that Printemps was superior.

After all the shopping and touristing we had enough of the day so headed back to the hotel.

Sunday 26 June 2005

This morning it was up early as we wanted to go to Notre Dame for mass. On the way we passed the Pet Market where vendors were setting up for the days trading.

We arrived half-way through one service so we went for a walk along the Seine behind Notre Dame and found a Geocache on a bridge over the Seine to the left bank.

Once we had found the cache we went back to the church for a mass that was all sung. We were given hymm sheets that were in French and we did our best to follow but got lost a couple of times. All the way through the service tourists would take photos of the congregation and the attendants kept having to throw out the tourists who had come into the area reserved for prayer. At the end of the service the organ began playing an impressive piece of music - I have no idea who wrote it or the name of the piece, but it sounded very good in the big cathedral of Notre Dame.

We then walked along the Left Bank and through the Latin Quarter for a while. It was still before most of the shops had opened and before the tourists arrived so it wasn't overly exciting. We caught a metro out towards the west end of the city, near the Eiffel Tower to check out the mini Statue of Liberty. When we got off the metro a huge thunderstorm was approaching. We managed to get over to the statue before the worst of the storm and when it really arrived we were back on the metro.

The metro we caught was an elevated track so we could see the Eiffel Tower as the thunderstorm was going. I saw one lightning bolt hit the Tower - it hit the tower and arced down the side a little bit. Very cool! (But I was glad that I wasn't on the tower)

After getting back to the hotel and getting changed into dry clothes we went to the Georges Pompidou centre. We found it a little dissapointing as the centre was mostly taken up by the library and a modern art museum, although it did have a very cool design store. The bookstore was full of wonderful books of art but little else. We couldn't work out how to get on the external escalators without paying to go into the musuem so we gave up on that idea and went and sat by the Stravinsky Fountain. Again this was a little dissapointing as the fountains different animations were in a constant, predictable motion. I had been expecting the characters to move in a more random fashion.

Dinner was in a cafeteria by the Pompidou centre - you ordered your meat at a grill, then picked the salad and vegetables you wanted from different islands then queued up and paid for your meal. It was all a bit strange.

Tomorrow we will queue for the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre however long it takes!

Saturday 25 June 2005 - Paris

This morning we had a sleep-in (It is Saturday after all) before heading out to check out the Paris monuments. The queue at the Eiffel Tower stretched all the way around the courtyard so we skipped going up and walked up to the Arc de Triumphe. We had a good look around before walking down the Champs Elysse towards the Louvre.

On the way, we stopped at the Gap Store as we had never seen one before. It is sale season in Paris so the store was packed. I couldn't find anything I liked but Chaucey purchased a new wrap around jumper.

We then walked down towards the Louvre and saw the Concorde Plaza, Gardens and the famous glass pyramid before catching a metro to Montmatre.

Rather than climb up the hill to Sacre-Cour we caught the Funicular and got a wonderful view of Paris for free. We had a look through the church before walking back down to the streets of Montmatre. At the bottom of the hill we ran into some street vendors who try to scam you into buying a piece of plaited string for an outrageous price. They don't take 'non' or 'no' for an answer and one really started to harass Chaucey so I stepped in and told him to get lost.

After all the excitement we headed back to the hotel for a lie down.

Friday 24 June 2005

Faced with a choice of activities to do on your first day in Paris would you:

a) Take in the iconic Parisian sites like the Eiffel Tour and Arc de Triumphe?
b) See the historical places where world history changed like the Bastille?
c) Go to the worlds most famous art museum - the Louvre?

Not us! We spent the day at Disneyland!

There is a reason for this - today is the last schoolday for a month for french schoolchildren. So to avoid the crowds at Disneyland we went today. Make sense, right?

EuroDisney is smaller than Disneyland in Los Angeles and many of the rides I remember are missing. There is no Gondola or 'Tron' people-mover but most of the rides that are there are still the same. There is still a haunted mansion, there is still a Pirates of the Carribian and Mickey Mouse still wows the children. We rode the Pirate cruise first, then the Haunted Mansion, then queued for an hour for the Space Mountain - a rollercoaster in a dark man-made mountain. After lunch we went on "It's a Small World" ride and then Casey Junior (The train from "Dumbo".) Our final ride was the "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril". (Yes, it's Peril in French)

We headed to the Disney Studios afterwards and had fun adding our voices and sound effects to Disney cartoons. By this stage it was very late so we headed back to the city and went to our lovely air-conditioned hotel room.

Tomorrow it's off for a tour of Paris icons!

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Thursday 23 June 2005

This morning we risked the crowds on the Rome Metro with our suitcases and caught the underground to the main train station. From there it was onto the Eurostar service to Milan with the countryside whizzing by at 200km/h.

One thing that is not good about the TrenItalia Eurostar service is the gouging in the buffet car - €26 for a small meal! The snack bar is not much better and with people jostling and being served in order of who can attract the attention of the attendant it was no surprise that I didn't realise I'd been overcharged until after I got back to my seat.

In Milan we changed to the French TGV service - if you think the Eurostar is quick at 200km/h then check this out. We used Chaucey's GPS to measure the speed and distance and from Lyon to Paris it travelled at speeds up to 295km/h. Despite the impressive speed the train was 90 minutes late so we ended up queuing for a taxi at 12.30am for a taxi to the hotel.

The taxi meter came to €6.50 but the driver charged us €9 - €2 for the bags and €0.50 for picking us from the railway station. I'm not sure if she ripped us off but at 1am in a seedy looking Paris area I wasn't going to argue.

We went to bed straight away with our window open for the heat. (Note to Linda - we wanted to catch an overnight train but it was fully booked so we came on a day train and arranged our accom for the night at a hotel close to the train station.)

Wednesday 22 June 2005

Today we were out early to the Vatican to join the queue for entry to the Vatican Musuem. We arrived at 8.40am and got in at 9.10am. There we had a brief tour of all the Vatican statues, paintings and rooms (including the Map Room, which is a gorgeuos corridor with maps of all the different Papal states). We stopped in the Sistine Chapel and admired the walls and ceilings with Michelangelo's magnificent paintings.

Along the ceiling is the story of creation, mans fall and banishment from the Garden of Eden and Noah and the flood (Basically the whole book of Genesis). Along the right wall (as you go in) is the old testament books, with the prophets and of course Moses and the flight from Egypt. The right wall has the story of Jesus, including a scene showing Jesus passing the Keys of Heaven to Peter (thus showing the Papacy to have been appointed by Jesus, which was in dispute at the time). The far wall shows the death of Jesus and the Ressurection and the near wall shows the judgement of man, with people being cast into purgatory or being admited to heaven.

We then hurried around to St Peter's Square where we joined the queue to be admitted to the reserved area for the Wednesday Audience. We where right at the front of the queue when the gate was shut and we were turned away. We had to stand outside the Audience area so a tip for any pilgrims who get tickets - Get there early! It was alright in the end as Pope Benedict (or Papa Ratzi as he has been nicknamed) came within a couple of metres of us in his Pope-mobile blessing the pilgrims. He drove right up to his seat, blessed the crowd and then proceeded to give a sermon in Italian. The square was very very hot and I felt ill so we left about halfway through the service so I could rest.

After a rest and lunch we headed out to do some Geocaching. We found one of the two we were looking for, but while searching for the elusive second cache we stopped and ordered two gelati. I was impressed that I was able to converse in Italian that was understandable with the vendor who spoke no english.

Afterwards we had dinner at McDonalds. I ordered a burger, fries and a beer. Yes, in McDonalds in Rome you can order beer - It wasn't light beer either. I had seen it at KFC in Prague but still it was a surprise that McDonalds, the 'family' restaurant sold beer. I guess they accept that responsible adults might want to have a drink with their meals and offer the service. The thing about alcohol in Europe is that is savoured and binge drinking is almost unheard of. It's considered acceptable to have a drink at any time of the day (we saw two men having a beer at 8am in Salzburg) but it is not acceptable to have many drinks in one session like we do in NZ.

Another thing about Rome is the traffic. The city is jam packed with cars, buses, trucks and mopeds. There are so many vehicles that the city is in constant gridlick so the mopeds are popular as they are able to negotiate traffic better than cars. Petrol is about $2.50 a litre in Rome but that doesn't put anyone off.

Tomorrow we are on the train all day and most of the night to Paris.

Tuesday 21 June 2005

Rome is again very hot - today we headed back to the Colosseum and actually went in. The queues were not as long and we got in pretty quickly. The arena area is not large but the stadium is quite high and it is not surprising that it could seat 50,000 people. It was hot in the sun so after awhile we left and went to the San Clementine Church, which is nearby.

San Clementine has excavations underneath which go back almost 2000 years, including earlier churches and a Pagan temple to the god Mithras. Being below ground it was nice and cool. The original artworks have deteriorated badly but you can still make out the original pictures.

We then grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to the hotel for seista. After the tempature made it under 35 degrees again we headed out to the Piramide di Caio Cesto - Caius Cestius built the 36 metre Pyrimid in 330 days. It's made of stone wth a marble exterior and forms part of the old city wall.

We then walked around the corner to the Protestant Cemetary where the Shelley's (Percy and Mary) and Keats are buried, but it was closed. When we went to move away a slinky black cat appeared and we spent 20 minutes sitting in the shade stroking and playing with it before catching a tram to Trastevere.

We walked along a main shopping street looking at all the stalls and shops with lots of yelling in Italian. The stalls sold fresh fruit and veges, cheap clothes and sunglasses. There were also plenty of copy handbags and cds for sale. The shops tended to sell the more expensive fashion clothing, but there were a few gelateria and cafés along the way.

We then caught a bus back to the main train station and then back to the hotel where we had dinner at a nearby restaurant. We had pasta dishes and for dessert I had a chocolate ravioli. It's not a pasta dish, but a pocket of pastry with chocolate inside.

Tomorrow it's back to the Vatican.

Monday 20 June 2005

Hot again - only hotter than yesterday. We've given up on the middle of the day (1pm-4pm) when we headback to the comfort of our air-conditioned hotel room for a siesta before venturing out for a second bite of Rome.

As Obelix observed, "These Romans are crazy". Some of them are extremely nice - for example, the clerk at the hotel offered very good advice when I inquired about the Papal Audience on Wednesdays - he offered the choice of a €40 organised tour then told us how we could go for free. The information centre at the rail station told us the easiest way to get to the hotel and the restaurant we dined at tonight gave us a free drink as we were tourists. (The restaurant is "Dal Bersagliere" only one walk north block from the Furio Camillo - a highly recommended by Michael Roman Pizza Restaurant.)

But then, put them behind the wheel and the Romans become intolerable - any tourist who has ever been to Rome will understand. The roads are so crowded that Mopeds are popular as they can jump the queues of cars and buses. However, they ride on the wrong side of the road, ignore red lights and are generally unpredictable. I think about half of the mopeds I have seen have damaged windshields. The car drivers are worse - when you are crossing with the lights they come tearing at you and stop at the last possible minute. Yesterday we were on the pedistrian crossing when a taxi driver reversed into us - I banged on the back window to let him know we were there and he jumped out and tried to blame an old dent on me. (So don't take taxi 772 in Rome.) Just about every car has some damage on some panel!

Anyway, today it was an early rise to get to the Vatican before the crowds. The queue to the Sistine Chapel was already long when we arrived so we skipped it and went to St Peter's Square. The square is impressive, so different from the rest of Rome as it is open and clean. We joined the queue to go into the basilica and got through in 10 minutes. We then waited about 20 minutes to see the tombs of the late Popes. The tombs are all very impressive, but the tomb of Pope John Paul II is very popular. I was offended at the way that some tourists clambered over each other to take photos, even while most stopped to pray.

We then went in to the impressive St Peter's Basilica. St Peter's is full of art and statues, with little side chapels for those who want to pray (which we did). The queue to the Cupola was very long so we didn't join but had a good look through the church. Afterwards we got some tickets to the Wednesday Audience with the Pope and found the Vatican Post Office.

After another walk through the square we then caught the Metro to the Spanish Steps. They were a disappointment, with nothing special about them to report. Even the fountain at the bottom was underwhelming. We walked on to the Trevi Fountain, which was much more impressive. The fountain was crowded with tourists but we found a spot and threw three coins over our shoulders to ensure that we would return to Rome. (Chaucey is encouraging me to say it was better than the Bucket Fountain but I'm not going to say that.)

We then walked around the corner and caught a bus through the city to just have a look at what was around. After the bus trip we went back to the hotel for a rest during the heat of the day (36 degrees according to the gauge near our hotel). While we were at the hotel we saw that Michael Campbell won the US Open - another boy born in Porirua done good!

Afterwards we caught the Metro again and went to the Panthoen. Originally a pagan temple, it is now a church with the unusual feature of an opening in the roof. Buried in the Pantheon are various Italian Kings and Queens and the famous renaissance painter Raphael.

We alked through the Pantheon district and saw Benini's elephant column, the Marco Aurelisus Column and St Ignatius Church. The unusual feature of St Ignatius's is that if has a dome painted on a flat roof. If I hadn't had known that I could have sworn the roof was a dome until we got right underneath it and the distortion is obvious.

We then walked up to Augustus Pax Temple and Masoluem - both are closed off for restoration work but they were by the Tiber so we sat and watched it for a while. We then walked back up to the Spanish Steps and caught the metro back to have dinner.

Tomorrow we will head to San Clemitine, where the church is built on ruins going back to the early Roman empire days.

Sunday 19 June 2005

This morning we headed to the rail station to book our tickets to Paris on Thursday. To my disappointment the overnight trains were all booked so we have to shorten out stay in Rome by 12 hours and arrange an extra night in Paris. (Chaucey is doing this now.)

The day was very hot - 35 degrees and we sheltered in the hotel during the middle of the day. The heat was so much that the footpaths were melting.

We went out in the afternoon to the Collesuem and the Roman Forum but the heat was still stiffling. The queues to get into the Collesuem were long so we skipped that and walked through the forum. We entered through the Titus Gate, which is a large marble archway and walked through the ruins of the forum. A number of buildings are still standing (including the Curia, which I'm sure David Farrer is pleased about) but most of the buildings are just a pil of rubble. We shuffled in the heat back towards the Metro and went back to the hotel for another rest.

While we were resting from the heat a massive thunderstorm started. After the storm cleared we headed out to a pizza restaurant near to the hotel for dinner. We sat outdoors as the storm had completely cleared and each had a wonderful pizza followed by dessert - the menu had Tiramisu and Pana Cotta (which the waitress said she couldn't translate to english) but we went for the two items we didn't recognise. I'm sorry that I can't remember the name of the desserts as they were both excellent.

Next door is an internet cafe, so that was convientent for updating the blog. Tomorrow morning we will be up early to avoid the crowds and the heat to get to Vatican City.

Saturday 18 June 2005

This morning we headed out and about in Venice in the morning near the railway station end of town. We headed down the narrow alleys, stopping to look in the shops for Venice's famous Murano Glass items.

I purchased a set of Rosary Beads and Chaucey got a miniture cat with a goldfish in it's stomach (it's very cute) and a new necklace. We walked along until we found a open air market selling fresh fish, fruit and veges (and tourist nick-nacks) After the day got hot again we grabbed lunch at McDonalds and headed back to the railway station to shelter from the heat for an hour before getting our train.

We are a little jaded of medievil churches and buildings after visiting so many European cities in which they are common so apart from the novelty of the lanes and canals I can't say that Venice really appealed to me. There were some nice touches - the owner of the shop I bought the Roasary Beads in didn't speak english, neither did the girl in McDonalds, so I got to try some Italian out. But overall, I wouldn't recommend spending more than a day in Venice - there is just too many tourists and every local is out to rip them off.

We caught the TrenItalia Eurostar from Venice to Rome - it is probably the fastest land vehicle I will travel in - we left Venice at 1pm and were in Rome by 7.30pm. As we were in first class we got complimentary soft drinks throughout the journey (the attendent described them as a 'present'). We headed to the hotel and then grabbed dinner at a restaurant just around the corner. A couple from California sat next to us and we chated to them for the evening about our experiences as tourists before heading back to the hotel for bed.

Friday 17 June 2005

This morning we were up very early for the train to Venice. I was very proud of being able to converse enough with the taxi driver to get us to the Train Station. We boarded our train in Salzburg and headed into the mountains. Along the way we passed many chalets, clear blue mountain feed rivers and long tunnels. We had breakfast in the dining car, which was novel for us.

We changed at Villach in southern Austria and had to wait for an hour for our train to Venice to arrive. The train was a high speed train that takes less than 7 hours to go the 730km from Vienna to Salzburg, including all the stops. We headed into more mountains and more long tunnels before arriving on a plain in Italy. After a couple of hours we crossed the narrow road/rail link to Venice.

We got out of the station to a hot day (over 30 degrees) and straight out of the station to the Grand Canale. We purchased a 24hr ticket for the ferries and waited for our ferry to the Rialto bridge. The first ferry was full, so we pushed our way onto the second ferry. The Rialto bridge is the biggest in Venice with shops and stalls (and tourists) everywhere. The combination of the noise and heat made me a little grumpy so I pushed through the crowds to get to our hotel.

We went out for a walk and discovered all the narrow lanes and canals that is Venice. The only problem is the canals and lanes are packed with tourists. We walked from the Rialto bridge to San Marco Square, had a look around then caught a ferry to Lido, which is a sandbar island in the same estuary that Venice is in.

We walked accross Lido to see the Meditarrainian Sea for the first time then walked back through the centre of Lido. We bought a litre of mineral water in a supermarket, but in the heat it didn't last long. We caught the ferry back to San Marco and had dinner. After dinner we caught a ferry that goes all the way along the Grand Canale, then around the south coast of the island. The Grand Canale was packed with tourists enjoying an evening Gondola ride, complete with accordian accompanient.

It was getting late so we then caught a ferry back to Rialto before heading to bed. Tomorrow we are off to Rome!

Thursday 16 June - supplemental entry

I'm sitting in a Internet Cafe in Salzburg, feeling just a little homesick from reading the Lions tour news and my friends blogs, so I grabbed a look on the webcams around Wellington.

Currently it is:

Wellington-------Salzburg

Dark at 7.15am-----Sunset at 9.15pm
6 deg celcius------26 deg celcius
Going to work------Going to bed
Tomorrow Wgtn------Tomorrow Venice

Okay, home-sickness cured!

Michael.

Thursday 16 June 2005 - Salzburg

The two most famous residents of Salzburg are Wolfgang Mozart and Maria Von Trapp. Today we had the priviledge of meeting Maria with the rest of the Von Trapp family in the Thursday morning market in Mirabellplatz.

Well not really - we met an American family who were dressed as the Von Trapp family for the "Sound of Music" tour. They were walking through the market this morning and at first I thought they were touting for business but then they opened their mouths and the unmistakeable American accent (and english language) came out of their mouths. I did a deal. We could take a photo of them if I took a photo of them all with their camera. They had the locals in stiches. The husband said it was his wifes idea to do the tour in costume (Yeah, right).

The market itself was interesting, there was lots of huge cheese wheels for sale and many different types of ham and salami. There were also stalls selling hats including traditional Austrian style hats. One thing we have noticed is that a number of Oxpainters (that's the nickname for the residents of Salzburg) wear a traditional style of clothing.

After the market we went to the Mozartuem, where Mozart was born. The museum was a bit of a disappointment with very little about Mozart and only his Violin and Harpischord on display. All the other items were just furniture from the same period. The museum had a very rose-tinted view of Mozart, not mentioning the hard living that probably caused his early death.

After wards we caught the Cable car to Hohensalzburg, the fortress on the hill above Salzburg. The fortress has amazing views over Salzburg and the alps. We did a tour of the interior which included access to the roof of the highest tower for even better views of the city.

Afterwards we caught the bus to Hellbrunn Palace with it's trick fountains. The best was a fountain around an open air table. Whenever the Archbishop (who own the palace) thought his guests were too drunk, too hot or otherwise deserving a good wetting he would signal his servant who would turn on the fountain. The fountain then drenched everyone except the Archbishop. Throughout the rest of the garden there were all sorts of water powered items for getting people wet. Chaucey got caught out once and the squirt got her right in the groin so it looked like she had wet herself! It was another hot day so it dried quickly.

We then caught the bus back to town and went to the C&A Department Store where I got some T-shirts for the continuing hot weather. It is actually about the same price to buy two shirts than it is to get them cleaned!

Dinner was at the "Koala" restaurant. There are many T-shirts in the souvineer shops with the slogan "No Kangaroos in Austria". This Australian restaurant is very genuine - they were rude to the two Kiwis.

Tomorrow it's up early for a train to Venice (Why do all trains leave at 7am?) At least from now on we are in first-class on the trains. Then on Saturday it's off to Rome for the second-to-last city on our holiday.

Wednesday 15 June 2005

This morning it was an early rise to get over to the Spanish Riding school to watch "Morning Excercise". I was really hoping the excercise would be in the 'winter' ring inside as this is the one that is the one I recognise from all the TV programmes of the school. It was! (Yay!)

The programme consisted of the riders excercising the adolescent horses first - I could tell they were younger as they were grey, not white. The excercises were mainly walks, trots and canters, but after 30 mins the riders changed horses and then adult horses were bought out. The older horses practised some of the famous tricks. There was one adolescent horses who was more technically perfect than the adult horses - the über-horse, perhaps? After another 30 mins more adult horses were bought out for more excercises.#

After the riding school we grabbed a pastry from the train station, grabbed our bags and caught the train to Salzburg. The ride was a little over 3 hours and the carraige was much more comfortable than the trains in the Czech Republic and Poland. In our compartment we had a chinese girl who I helped with her bags. She didn't speak any english but her german was about the same level as mine - she kept saying "danke".

We arrived and caught a bendi-trolley bus into the city then walked to our hotel. Afterwards we went for a walk in the city and stopped for a beer in a cafe. I had a Birter Radler and it was the best beer I have ever had - it had a crisp lemon taste and wasn't bitter like the Monteiths Radler. Hmmmmm, very nice.

After dinner we walked around the city area looking for a internet cafe but couldn't find any. We did find a magnificent park with gardens laid out precisely and an interesting artwork of an Owl and a Pussycat. If you approached from the left it was an owl, if you approached from the right it was a pussycat.

Tomorrow we will visit the Mozart Musuem (at his birthplace) and the Hohensalzburg castle which overlooks Salzburg.

Tuesday 14 June 2005

It has been hot again today, in the high 20s. We got up after a little sleep-in and went into the city. We caught a tram out to the Hundertwasser apartment building - an impressive structure with nothing aligned and free of straight lines. The apartment is close to the Danube so afterwards we walked over to it. Far from bring blue the Danube is very green!

We then caught the tram back to the city where we walked along the canal past pleasant parks and impressive architechture. The city overall is not is impressive as Prague but the public buildings all have beautiful marble statues of Greek gods and heroes.

After lunch we went to the Spanish Riding School to see if there was any performance on during the day we could attend. They have only one show a week, on Sundays - but they have morning excercise open to the public. A performance is €50 to €200 and the excercise is €12 each.

We then went to find the travel agent that sells a ticket to use the free bicycles around the city. Once you register you can pick up a bicycle from stands all over the city and use them for less than an hour at no cost. After you return the bike you wait 15 mins and you can then take a bike for another hour. Chaucey and I picked up bikes from Schwedenplatz and went for a ride on Prater Island. We wanted to head back to the park but couldn´t work out how to get there so ended up returning the bikes after 45mins of fruitless searching. Cycling in Vienna is very different to Wellington. There are cycle lanes everywhere with their own traffic lights. Also, you do not need a helmet. It was very hot so after the ride we had a cold drink.

Afterwards we caught the U-bahn back to the hotel. After a rest we went out to a pizza restaurant for dinner and then back to the hotel for a well deserved sleep. Tomorrow we will go to the Spanish horse school in the morning and then on the train to Salzburg.

One thing to note is the odd layout of the german computer keyboards. The 'Z' and 'Y' are swapped and there are extra keys with accented letters and the special characters are in unfamiliar places. It takes a little getting used to and a lot of backspacing while you type!

Monday 13 June 2005

It has now been a month since the wedding - time does fly!

This morning it was up at 4.30am as we had to catch a train at 6.10am from Krakow to Katowice. We got on the train to find it was a supplement service adn we should have booked. The cost for the two of us was 23zln, about NZD10, so it wasn't too bad.

At Katowice we had to wait a while for the next train, so we ate the breakfast the hotel packed for us. We got a service that goes to both Vienna and Budapest. When we got to the Austrian border the train is split into two - one part goes to Budapest, while the back half goes to Vienna.

When we got to the Czech border (with Poland) we got examined by the Polish Immigration guard very carefully. When we entered Poland on Friday no official checked our passports so we had no entry stamp. When we explained this the guard was happy and stamped us out.

We had the compartment to ourselves for the whole journey from Katowice to Vienna. Once again we got our passports stamped on exit and entry, I am getting quite a collection now.

We arrived in Vienna about 1.30pm and caught the tram to the main transport interchange. Along the way the tram went underground along a tunnel. When we got to the main interchange we caught another tram - it turned out the hotel was so close we could have walked.

After checking in we caught the U-Bahn (Underground) to Stephansplatz. In the playa there is an impressive cathedral and stars dedicated to the famous musical residents of Vienna - Mozart, Strauss and Hayden. before walking through the city to the Musuem Quarter. The buildings along the way are stunning - lots of marble and bronze statues of Austrian kings and Greek heroes. Also many statues are dedicated to horses - not surprising as Vienna is home to the famous Spanish Horse School.

We caught another U-Bahn to Prater Park, which is a large fun-fair on an island in the Danube. It has go-karts and rollercoasters but we went through the Labyrinth with it's trick floors and unusual stairs. One set of stairs has half the steps moving up while the other half moves down - very tricky.

We also went in th ghost house. Along the way some gory figures pop out at you - and then towards the end I was examining one figure and he came to life and chased after both of us! We found it very amusing.

After our early start we began to tire - it has been very hot in Vienna today - 28 degrees. This has been the first really hot day we've encountered so we've got out the T-shirts and shorts today. Forecast tomorrow is for more hot weather with possibly heat thunderstorms in the evening.

Before I sign off I must tell you about a funny incident we had last night in Krakow. We went to a pub just off the main square for dinner and I ordered the steak (which was very nice) and Chaucey ordered the Pepperoni Pizza. When the pizza arrived it was good, except it had no pepperoni. The waitress insisted that the pizza was what we ordered - pepperoni. They obviously had never heard of sausage with pepper as they just put peppers and ham on the pizza.

12 June 2005 - Krakow

Today we went to the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps near Krakow.

This morning we set off in the rain in a minibus from our hotel, west towards Auschwitz. The concentration camps are about an hour drive away. On arrival we were taken to see a film of how the condition the Red Army found the prisoners in on arrival.

After the film we were taken on a guided tour of the camps. In Auschwitz we were shown through the buildings as they are pretty much intact. We saw the belongings of the Jews and others who were bought to the camps - the shoes, the suitcases (which were named), the artificial limbs that were taken from the detainees when they arrived. Above the entrance gate is the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" - Work will make you free.

From there it is a very story of how the detainees, mostly Jews, were either killed on arrival or worked to death. The statistics are grim - at least 1,500,000 killed in these camps. Of these 232,500 were children, only 650 survived. They only did so as the doctors in the camp used them for medical experiments. The saddest part was when the guide explained that the children could not comprehend that they would grow old and die naturally - they had only seen people die from hard work or being executed. The children could not understand that when they were given adequate food they didn't need to save most of it for the following days. Most could not even remember their names, only the numbers they had been tattooed with on arrival at the camp.

We headed through Block 11 - the death block. In the cells condemned prisoners would prepare for their execution by firing squad. Others were placed in cells for death by starvation. The most famous case is of Father Maximillan Koble, who volunteered to take the place of another man condemned to the starvation chamber as the man was young and had a family. Father Koble prayed and sung hymms with other prisoners. After 14 days the SS gave up on starving the group and shot them. There were also standing cells, about the half the size of a small wardrobe in which 4 or 5 people were placed for at least three nights as punishment.

In the corridors are pictures of the prisoners showing when they arrived at the camp, how old they were and when they died. Most lasted only 3 months, although a few managed to stay alive for over a year.

Afterwards we were taken to the Gas Chamber at Auschwitz. In this chamber 10,000 prisoners were killed, a fraction of those killed in Birkenau. This is the only remaining intact gas chamber as the others were destroyed by the SS when it was clear that the war was ending and they tried to destroy the evidence. Along the walls are fingernail scratchings left by those who were dying of suffocation. Contary to what I thought the gas would take up to 20 minutes to work - it must have been horrible. By the chamber is the camp commanders gallows, where Kommandant Hoss was hung in 1948.

We then shuttled over to Birkenau. Most of the huts have been destroyed, but a few still stand. We passed through the famous death gate to the long rail track (about 1km long) where new arrivals were sorted into those who were deemed strong enough to the forced labour camp and those who were killed immediately. Along the rail track are guard towers. If any arrival walked off the path, or argued, or were too slow they were shot immediately by the guards in the towers. There was no escape.

We went into the huts where prisoners were packed into beds. The weakest were made to sleep on the floor, the next strongest where in the middle bunk and the strongest in the top. There was no bathroom in the huts and the prisoners could only use the camp bathroom for less than a minute morning and night. Any prisoner unable to work was taken to the camp hospital. If they did not recover within a week they were sent to the gas chambers.

At the end of the track is the remains of the gas chambers. The SS blew them up a few days before the Red Army arrived but the buildings are still visible. The prisoners would enter down the stairs going below ground from one end, be told to change and move into a side chamber. They were then gassed. After 30 mins they would be removed from the chamber and placed on an elevator to be taken to the furnace. As we walked around there were bits of white visible in the ground - these are fragments of bone.

The tour ended at the memorial to all Victims of Facism. The memorial asks that we never forget so we can never again let this happen.

We returned to Krakow for dinner. Tomorrow we are off to Vienna by train, departing at 7am.

11 June 2005 - Krakow

Today it has been wet and grey in Krakow.

In the morning we set out for the Krakow castle, by the Wisla River. We visited the armoury and looked through the complex at the Basilica, it's fine courtyard and views over the river and city. We finished by going into the dragon cave. You go down a spiral staircase a long way - I wondered if it ever was going to end. Eventually we got to the cave which could have housed Krakow's famous dragon.

The dragon was around in the reign of King Krak, and it was a nasty dragon. It would attack stock and people without warning and although many brave knights tried, no-one could slay the dragon.

Eventually, a shoemaker's apprentice came up with a plan - he approached King Krak and asked for a whole mutton, some peppers and some mustard seed. The King thought these were crazy items to attack the dragon with, but if it would rid the town of the dragon it would be worth it, so he gave the apprentice the items.

That night, the apprentice opened the mutton up and placed the peppers and mustard seed in the mutton stomach. He sewed the mutton up and placed it near the cave. In the morning the dragon came out and ate the mutton. The pepper made him thirsty so he went to the river to drink. When he drank, the mustard seeds swelled up and he burst in a big explosion that shook every building in town.

Of course the apprentice was a hero and everyone was glad to be rid of the dragon. This is commenarated by the dragon statue at the exit of the cave, which breathes real fire every minute to scare the tourists!

We then walked up the royal way, past the home of Archbishop Karol Woytola until 1978, when he moved to Rome and travelled as Pope John Paul II. Everywhere you go in Krakow you see a devotion to John Paul II - many shops have his picture and there are mentions of him everywhere. There is also many Preists and Nuns in the town, I don't think I've ever seen so many religious people in one city before.

Along the royal way we found St Peter and Paul church. It is a beautiful church with statues of the 12 apostles facing the street. Inside we saw many wonderful paintings and statues. We couldn't take any photos as this was not permitted. Any tourist who tried was immediately told off by the attendant.

We walked along a little further to the Main Square, which is the largest outdoor market in Europe. The square has dozens of stalls selling souvineers, flowers and bread to feed the pidgeons. It started to pour so we took cover in the main building in the centre of the square where there are more stalls.

After lunch we headed to Kazimierz, the old Jewish part of the town. While the cementary was closed and the synagogue not impressive there was a street festival underway. Along the street a group of children were performing a play about an impoverished family. (I could make this out, but not much else as it was in Polish, of course.)

Afterwards we headed back to the main part of the town to see if we could find any bargains in the stores. The cost of most things in Poland is about half what the equivilant products cost in NZ, although we ended up not getting anything as it was either end of line and not in our sizes or just as costly for the brands we recognised. We did however find the last remaining part of the city wall and it had a huge art market along it - every scrap of wall had a painting covering it.

We had dinner at Pizza Hut and headed home after a big day of walking. We have booked our tour to Austwich tomorrow.

Friday 10 June 2005 - Prague to Krakow

After breakfast we caught a cab to the train station. Our train was at 11.00am but we were unsure of what time to arrive so we got to the station just after 9am. It turned out that we could have just turned up and jumped on so we sat around the station playing cards until the train arrived.

As we had no reservation the first seats we sat in were allocated to two others, but we moved to other seats in the compartment and then we were okay. The train headed east through the Czech Republic, making frequent stops to take on passengers. The countryside is mainly given over to crops and we only saw one pasture with cattle grazing.

Shortly after 3pm we arrived at the border with Poland at a town called Ostrava. The Czech Police came through and looked at our passports but no Polish official checked. By this stage the train was almost empty and we struck up a conversation with a girl called Natasha who was going to Katowice. This was handy as we needed to change trains there.

Once we got to Katowice we caught a service to Krakow. The train was vintage with hard plastic seats. It was very unstable, just like the red-rattlers in Wellington. The Polish countryside was not as picturesque as the Czech countryside, but we did pass through many industrial towns rather than rural areas, so it could be an unfair comparison.

On arrival in Krakow the station was very run down. There is a large construction site next to the station and the rain had turned the whole thing into mud. I had hardly gotten off the platform before a very pushy tout tried to offer accomodation. We walked around for a half hour until we found a taxi (with our heavy bags) before getting to our hotel over the river. The taxi was cheap, about NZ$5 for the 2km but we were very tired of looking for the taxi stand

As it was quite late we had dinner at the hotel and then went to bed. Due to a mistake with the reservation we had been put into a single room, so we were change to a twin room. Thankfully it is the disabled unit so is on the ground floor so no need to lug the suitcases up and down stairs.

Tomorrow we will go to the Krakow castle and main square, which is the largest market in Europe. On Sunday we will go on a tour to the Concentration and death camps at Oscweim (better known in it's German name of Auschwitz).

Thursday 9 June 2005 - Prague

Today will be our last full day in Prague.

This morning we had breakfast and walked down the street to the bottom of the hill. We walked along to the funicular railway (cable car) and caught it to the top of Petrin Hill.

On top of Petrin Hill you get great views of Prague. We then climbed the Petrin Hill Eiffelova - 299 steps up, 299 steps down - for even better views - although the viewing deck was packed with many tourists, and the wind was shaking the tower.

Afterwards we went into the Mirror Maze, next to the tower. It wasn't challenging, but cool to see yourself reflected thousands of times. After you get through the maze you see a diorama of the Swedes attacking Prague and the Czechs defending the Charles Bridge. The maze was full of French speaking students (presumably from France) who were very loud. The attendent kept telling them to be quiet and behave but they took no notice. After the diorama there is a series of distorting mirrors. While we were in this room some small schoolchildren came through - they were too short to see the joke in some of the mirrors, but had a very happy laugh when they could see themselves distorted.

We walked back down Petrin Hill through the park past the hunger wall - constructed as a public releif programme during a famine. We walked around looking for a church called St Michael's which had been moved to Prague from the Ukraine when the valley it was in was flooded for a hydro-electric scheme. When we found it, it was roped off as it looks in a very poor state.

We then walked into the city and had KFC for lunch. KFC in Prague is my kind of place - if you want a drink you can choose between Pepsi, Lemonade or Beer. I didn't notice until I had sat down that some of the customers were having beer with their lunch.

We then walked back through the city, looking at the puppet stores. There are several stores as Czechs are famous for their puppet theatres. Chaucey bought a Harry Potter puppet from one store.

We walked back over the Charles Bridge. It was packed with tourists and stalls for tourists. Because we couldn't walk very fast I stopped and looked around at the vista - Prague is a very beautiful city. I do recommend that if you are going to Europe that you make the effort to go to Prague.

We walked back up to our apartment to put away our purchases, stopping on the way for a homemade ginger lemonade from a cafe. Inside the cafe was a plaque, signed by Milos Forman, saying that a scene from the movie Amadeus was filmed in the cafe. The lemonade was very nice, and we will have to get the movie out on our return to see if we can spot which scene.

We got home and rested before going back to the city in the evening for a ghost tour. The tour ended up with just Chaucey, me and the guide so we had a more intimate tour than with a larger group, like we had with the communist walk the previous day. The guide told us interesting stories about the ghosts of Prague, some hidden treasures, and features of certain buildings.

One of the stories was about the Hotel "at the golden well". The story is that two french noblemen were travelling through Prague and stayed at the hotel. During the night the innkeeper murdered the two noblemen, beheaded them and stole their riches. The hotel changed hands and became a bakery . The new owner was visited by two ghosts, asking for a Christian burial for their bodies. At first he refused, so they promised him great wealth if he did. So he relented and arranged for the funeral they wanted. Then one day his wife fell into the well outside his shop. When they pulled her out she had drowned, but her pockets were full of gold. So no-one is quite sure what is reward is - his wife drowning or the gold. Afterwards he became famous and rich for his headless gingerbread men sold at his bakery.

Dinner afterwards was at a steak restuarant near the Charles Bridge. Very nice steaks. As an appertif I had Bechorova, which is a spirit with a cinnamon taste, very nice. Then it was off to the apartment to pack for our train journey tomorrow.

Wednesday 8 June 2005

Our first full day in Prague - the city of 1000 spires.

After last nights post we went to the cafe, but it was so popular we couldn't get in. We went to a different cafe where I had:

1, litru Krusovice Piva (Beer)
Krocan biftekand hranolky (Turkey steak and chips)
Bramborove (Potato pancake)

And Chaucey had:

,5 litru Krusovice Piva
Smazeny syr adn hranolky (Fried cheese and chips)
Salat (Salad)

Total cost of the mean was 320Kc (about NZ$20) including drinks.

This morning I was woken by Church bells at 7am. Breakfast this morning was rohilky (banana shaped bread rolls) with salam (ham) and grvias (cream cheese), Joghurt and Kava. (Kava is coffee, not Fijian Kava)

We walked down Uvoz towards the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) this morning with hardly anyone around, before wandering over to the Old Town square and Wenclasas square. We headed back to the Old Town hall where the astronomical clock does a show when it strikes the hour. There was a couple of hundred tourists around even at 10am. The old town square (and a lot of Prague) will be familiar to movie fans. The old town square was used for several scenes in Mission Impossible, and movies like Amadeus and From Hell were also filmed in Prague. It looks like how you imagine a European city to look.

Afterwards we went on a walking tour of Communist places in Prague. Just down from the town square was Stalin's statue, which was blown up by dynamite when Krushkev was Soviet Premier. A few years ago Michael Jackson put up a plastic statue of himself on the same spot to promote his upcoming concert.

We then walked past the Klement Gottwald buidling, which was a memorial to the first Communist leader. It is a huge building that was given over to exhibits about one man, trying to create a nationalist, communist cult. It's now a bank.

We then went to the memorial to the two students who died during the Prague Spring in 1968. Any friends from Viard reading this may remember the story of Jan Palach in the school production "Czechmate" who burnt himself in protest over the invasion. He died three days after the protest after begging his friends not to follow his protest.

Then we went to the 1989 Velvet Revolution monument. It is of many hands held up in 'V' for victory signs. The revolution story is very interesting. While there had been no official acknoledgement of the previous revolutions in Poland and East Germany it was reasonably well know. The day, 16 November, was 50 years after the Nazis had closed all Univerisities to stop protests and had killed a student who protested. The Communists organised a rally to commemarate this but the students broke free and pleaded with the army (who were conscripts of the same age as them) to allow them into Wensclasas Square. Word got out that a student had been killed by the army and this stirred the whole nation into action, forcing the overthrow of the government. A few days later the 'dead' student appeared on television to show that he was alright.

Our tour guide was very interesting and very anti-communist. She said that when McDonalds had first opened in Prague people queued to buy fries in a box because that was one of the most prominent images of western european culture they had. She also showed us a sculpture of King Wensclasas on an upside horse - it symbolises how Czech's had thought that throwing away communism would be like going from black to white. The reality is that they went from grey to grey, and some people hanker for the old days as they don't cope well with the new ways.

Afterwards we had lunch at McDonalds - I had a McCountry burger, which has Turkey patties. Chaucey had a Western burger, which had an interesting flavour and a McBacon.

We then went to the National Musuem, which is in a very beautiful building and has specimens of every conceivable rock, animal and bird. If you want to take photos inside the building you have to buy a special permit but I recognised the magnificent staircase from a scene in Mission Impossible.

We then walked over a the river and found the John Lennon wall before sitting down for a half litre of beer - a mere 35Kc (or NZ$2) each.

Tonight we will try to get into that cafe again - it's popularity means it must be good!

Tuesday 7 June 2005 - Prague

It was up very early this morning to catch a flight from Heathrow to Prague.

The minicab collected us at 6am and Chaucey chatted to the driver while I paid the hotel bill. It turns out the hotel charged the taxi driver 19 Pounds to collect us, so he would add that onto our charge. There was no way that the hotel provided that much value from ringing the minicab company, I'd have rather have taken my luck finding my own.

The flight was uneventful until after we arrived. I got a few glimpses of the city on final approach and we touched down on time. We spent almost 45 mins sitting on the apron waiting to get to a gate as the aircraft that was supposed to be gone had missed it's takeoff so the airline just left it sitting at the gate. Hmmmm.

It wasn't long to get through customs and out into the Czech Republic. We taxied to the guesthouse, where we registered for the apartment we have. It is very close to the Prague Castle, which is now the offices of the President. It has a lovely view of Petrin Hill from the private balcony and the girl from the guesthouse has pointed out a good restaurant only a few steps away.

We spent the afternoon at the Castle and in the surrounding gardens. After the costs of visiting castles in Britain it was a nice change to be able to get into most of the castle complex for free. St Vitus' Cathedral has wonderful, modern stained glass windows - the communists removed all the originals. It also has great views over the city.

We had a snack at the cafe and prices are much more comparable to New Zealand pricing. The only product that seems expensive is Coca Cola at 120Kc for a half litre (about NZ$8.50) but who needs Coke when a half litre of beer is 90Kc. And that's at the cafe in the castle.

After this we attended a chamber music concert with pieces from Bach, Handel, Mozart and Dvorak in St George's Basilica. It is no larger than an ordinary chapel so the acoustics were fantastic.

We're now off to the restaurant the guesthouse recommended for dinner as the Internet Cafe is closing and the clerk is wanting us to leave.

Monday 6 June 2005 - Last day in London

I remember being fond of Asterix as a child. One of my favourite stories was the Twelve Tasks which Julius Ceasar set Asterix 12 impossible tasks to rival those that Hercules did - if he could complete them then he would prove he was a god and Caesar would bow down to him.

One of those tasks was to go to "the place that drives you mad" and obtain a form from the clerks. Of course the clerks sent Asterix all over the place with contradicatory advice until he almost went mad. Today we had a similar experience with the British Post Office.

Chaucey and I wanted to post some excess items to NZ rather than cart it all over Europe. We boxed it up, went to the post office and asked how much - 56 Pounds! No advice was given on how to reduce it (even though Chaucey asked) and they wouldn't accept credit cards for mail transactions so we went and did some research. It turns out that is we posted the items in two lots it would cost less than 10 pounds each carton.

We did this, and went back - this time we struck a helpful and knowledgable postal worker who knew what to do and we got the parcels away.

On the way out Chaucey grabbed a 'Service Standards' brouchure. It promises to respond to queries quickly and to deliver on time, but not to be helpful. I promise never to complain about the NZ Post Office again. Or at least for six months.

This ended up taking most of the morning so we had lunch and then went to Trafalgar Square and Westminter. Trafalgar Square is a lovely plaza - I had been expecting another Piccadilly Circus - with fountains and lots of open space. While we were there a film crew were making a show, not sure what it was but the actor slapped a "Property of USA" sign on one of the lions on Nelson's Column.

We walked along to Westminster and there was a long queue of people waiting to get into the public gallery at Parliament. We had a look at the Abbey and then went back to the hotel.

Afterwards we went to "We will rock you" - the musical with Queen music. It was very corny but the music was excellent. It was a little spoilt by the Germans in front of us who didn't understand the jokes so one of the group kept translating for the others. They were shushed several times by others.

After the show we headed back to the hotel as we have an early morning tomorrow - off to Prague.

Sunday 5 June 2005

This morning I got to the last pair of clean underwear - so it was off to the Laundrette I noticed yesterday on the way back to the hotel.

Chaucey and I packed up three bags of washing and off we went - we did our coloureds in a huge machine (the cycle cost £4) and out whites in machine the same size as a domestic machine (cost £2.50). Then it was all into the gas fired dryer for 30 mins (£1.50) and then back to the hotel. As a contrast, if we had sent all the washing off to the hotel laundry for cleaning it would have been over 50 pounds!

I read the Sunday Express while we waited at the laundrette, the editorial was critical of the Argentine Parliament's motion to bring war crimes charges against Baroness Thatcher. The Express called Thatcher the best post-war British PM. (I was quite happy about that!) The other big news in Britain is the proposal to scrap petrol taxes and replace it with varible charges depending on which road you use. The charges would vary from 2p for using a country road to £1.30 for using the M25 (the motorway that goes around London) during peak time. To drive from South East London to Wales would cost £150+. Needless to say that this has gone down like a lead balloon with the British public and the media are asking why Labour didn't include this in their election manifesto only a month ago.

The sports pages were mainly about England's thrashing of Bangadlesh and of the Lions game against BOP. The biggest criticsm was not the Lions letting the foot of the throat but of the Kiwi ref penalising the Lions. A persecution complex after one game!

We then went off Leicesterter Square to buy tickets to 'We Will Rock You' for tomorrow night. After a quick lunch it was back onto the Tube to the embankment area. We walked along by the Thames past Cleopatra's needle (which looks ridiculous in the middle of London) to the Millennium Bridge.

Once over the bridge we got to the Globe Theatre, the new theatre modelled on Shakespare's Globe theatre from 400 years ago. We did the tour and got to hear the excellent acoustics of the theatre and afterwards had a look through the education centre and shop.

Afterwards we caught the tube back to the hotel for a rest before heading out to dinner at Wimpy burger. We've only got tomorrow left in London so anything we wanted to do but haven't done yet is got to be done now. I remember Adrian Mole was quite keen on Wimpy burgers and often went with his friend Nigel, and after eating it I can understand why - it's much better than McDonalds! The nearest Wimpy was over in the East End, so we walked back one Tube station before catching the Tube back to the hotel area. Once I've finished updating this entry it's off to bed.

Saturday 4 June 2005

Today was a movie-themed day.

Today we rose early and headed out to Kings Cross station to look for Platform 9 and 3/4. Being a Harry Potter fan I was shocked to discover an awful truth - there is no barrier between Platform 9 and 10 - Platform 9a, 9b and 10 are separated by tracks. The Platform barrier shown in the first movie is actually between Platforms 4 and 5. However, the train station does have a small monument to Harry Potter - a luggage trolley is half disappearing into a wall outside the walkway to Platform 9.

We then caught the tube to the Science Musuem for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy exhibition. I was dissappointed by the exhibit, it was just a few sets and props from the movie but no information about the science behind the movie or about how the movie was made.

Afterwards we caught the bus to Piccadilly and had a look through the Virgin Megastore - four floors of music and DVDs! I was tempted by the Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister DVDs but the exchange rate meant they were no more expensive than in NZ. I was also tempted by The Goodies DVD, especially as our Hotel is around the corner from the BT Tower that is destroyed by Kitten Kong. (Anyone under 30 will not understand.)

Afterwards we went back to the Science Musuem to see' Hitchhikers' in the IMAX cinema, before heading back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Additional Post

Check out a picture of us at Stonehenge from two weeks ago on Chaucey's blog. (Stonehenge can be seen over my right shoulder.)

Friday 3 June 2005

Today it's back to London.

After breakfast we loaded up the car and set off south from York. I realised I never explained the reason why York's streets are called Gates and the gates are called Bars and seeing as not much happened today apart from travelling on the M1 and M4 I will include the reason:

The city of York was settled first by the Romans in the 2nd century. By the 5th century the Roman Empire was shrinking so they abandoned Britain. Then came the Vikings who settled and called the city Jovirk (hence the modern name York). The Viking name for Street is 'Gait' so all the streets are called something Gate. (E.g. Mickelgate, Ousegate, etc.) The Viking name for gate is Bar, so all the entrances through the walls are called Bars.

There you have it - any errors in the above are my fault cause I should have listened more carefully.

After we got to London we negoitated the traffic and then I dropped Chaucey off at the hotel before taking the rental car back to the rental car company. If you ever come to Britain and want a rental car I recommend checking out 1Car1 who gave us the lowest price of any I checked and we got a new car with only 6000 miles on the clock, unlike most of the other budget operators who seemed to have slightly older vehicles.

For dinner we went to a Chinese Vegetarian restaurant - not a single meat dish but lots of fake meat dishes. (Sweet and Sour veg-pork, anyone?) Very nice and cheap, it's on Euston Road about 100 metres east of Regent Park Tube station.

After dinner I tried to pay the London Congestion charge - the hotel directed me to a self service machine that cancelled the transaction every time we thought we had completed it. We then had to ring up and they took the details over the phone and emailed the receipt. (Yes, I have got it!) All this for going 400 yards into the zone on a back street with no traffic.

That's it for today. Only three more days in London then it's off to Prague.

Thursday 2 June 2005

Wow! York is an amazing city. If you are ever coming to Britain make sure this is a must-do, at least two days.

Today we had breakfast and headed out for a walk around the city. We walked through lanes that look as though they are Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movies until we got to the York Minster. The Minster is huge! It's over 150 metres long and the main part is 45 metres wide. That's big enough to fit a Rugby field and have room on the end for some spectators. Also the entrance is wider than the church - it was destoryed by a fire in 1986 but rebuilt. We took a tour with a guide, it lasted 90 minutes and was only a breif look at the Minster. The guide said if you want to look at everything it would take a week! The guided tour is free and departs every 15 mins, so do it as we saw details that no-one not on the guided tour would notice.

We then walked through the town to the Shambles, which looks even more like Diagon Alley with the houses almost enclosing over the lane. You could literally shake hands with the person accross the street thre floors up.

After lunch we joined another free (walking) tour of York. The guide showed us all the old Roman Walls and the bars (which are the gates into the cities, not the drinking places) and some of the interesting things that tourists wouldn't know about, including the Holy Trinity church, which has box pews and private chapels. The walk was almost three hours and very good.

We then went back to the Minster for the Evensong service, which had a choir and the organ was playing - very good accoustics.

After dinner we were worn out so went back to the Hotel to rest before dancing some of the night away in the nightclub across the road. If you can't beat them ...

Wednesday 1 June 2005

A new month and today we're off from Edinburgh to York.

This morning we drove into Edinburgh for breakfast at Starbucks. After breakfast I attempted to drive from New Town (north side of Edinburgh) to the Old Town but it took almost half an hour. Traffic wasn't the problem, it was that every street seemed to be either closed, a bus lane or non-existant. Eventually I found the way and we headed south.

On the way south we stopped outside Borthwick Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots fled after her husband was murdered (along with the prime suspect) and Chaucey searched for a letterbox left near by.

We continued south to the border, where the hill we crossed at the border was shrouded in fog and headed south in heavy rain. (Yes, the northern summer started today.) We stopped for lunch in Newcastle-on-Tyne and then drove onto York.

York is a very beautiful city, lots of medievil buildings. We went on a walking ghost tour after dinner and passed a castle in which 150 Jews were slaughtered in the 12th Century, and a church where it is reputed that two Jews fled and hid in a room that was only discovered after a girl regressed to a previous life under hypnosis.

The tour went down many snickleways (alleyways) where you have to hide from the bagust (werewolf) which eats unaware people. Most of the gates (streets) are paved and closed to traffic for most of the day but are open at night.

After the walk we headed back to the hotel and listened to the nightclub accross the road until we drifted off to sleep.