Travel Blog Posts
November 7th 2010
Right, now I've got time to write a blog I shall fill you all in on what has been going on in sunny Greece this last week. It really was fantastic and was helped by absolutely perfect weather. It was sunny, 20 degrees and virtually no wind at all. It was warm but not humid, just great for climbing hills and clambering over old ruins. It was great for the dogs too. Every dog in Athens just lies flat on the pavement sleeping in the sun. There were even a couple napping on the Acropolis. If you threw a stick they'd blow a raspberry at you and go back to sleep. They know they've got it good! While I'm on the subject of animals, sparrows in Greece are in competition with the pigeons to nick food ... read more
November 3rd 2010
I had a fantastic day yesterday. I'm like a kid in a sweetshop with all this ancient stuff. Trouble is, I really don't have much time for blogging. Only got two days left and loads to do. I've uploaded some photos, they will have to do for now. Oh, and I've caught a cold. I've gone 5 star 3 times in my life and caught a cold twice. Something tells me they don't want oiks like me in these posh establishments. :)... read more
October 23rd 2010
I've got the money back from my now unnecessary flight from Hawaii to Japan and spent it on a trip to Greece. For the cost of a one way flight from Honolulu to Tokyo I got a return flight to Athens and four days in a five star hotel in the city centre. Go figure! Off on 1 November and will update from the birthplace of Western civilisation and culture.... read more
October 15th 2010
Didn't do much on my final day in Paris due to walking sickness, mad queues and the rather nice beer in a Scottish pub so I'll just put up some pictures and leave it at that. ... read more
October 14th 2010
I went to Pere-Lachaise cemetery today, Paris' equivalent of Highgate. It was really beautiful, lined with tombs that had little chapels above them, other tombs were overgrown in that fairytale way and some were just great works of art. The sun shone, there was no wind, it was quiet and relaxing and lovely to get away from the bustle of the centre. Oscar Wilde's tomb was covered in grafitti and lipstick from where people had kissed it. One wag had even written 'You're one of the few reasons I'm proud to be Irish'! By the tomb was a warning saying it was protected by law and should not be grafittiied or marked in any way, but surely that's what Oscar would have wanted? He was a rebel and he did say 'Resist everything but temptation'. It's ... read more
October 14th 2010
With the rail strike dragging on I'm definitely not going to be able to make it to Versailles, which is a bit miffing. On the other hand, I have walked myself silly the last few days so at least I won't have to suffer sore feet yet again! Yesterday I went to the French Army Museum and Napoleon's Tomb. The tomb is amazing, an exercise in self-loving grandiosity second to none. Even the Prussian kings didn't manage this level of self-worship. The exterior is like St Paul's Cathedral, the Parthenon and the Temple of Zeus combined, the interior is full of towering ceilings painted with scenes of the lovely Mr Bonaparte consorting with angels and the walls are covered in reliefs of Napoleon as either Caesar or God, imparting his knowledge to the world. It's at ... read more
October 13th 2010
The area my hotel is in is a shopping district which also houses a gigantic market. It never ceases to amaze me how different continental shops and markets are from ours considering they are only 2 hours away by train. Our shops have more in common with the US, an entire ocean away, than they do with the French. For example, in the market today there was a mushroom stall with twenty different types of mushroom. When do you ever see that in England? Then there are the fromageries, each selling a hundred different cheeses and nothing else, save some bottles of wine to compliment them. Apparently there are four hundred different cheeses made in France. Puts England in the shade! There are the delicatessans selling scores of different types of cured meats and the boulangeries ... read more
October 12th 2010
There is something frustrating about Paris, like the fact that every Irish pub or English pub I come across is shut, like the fact that they closed the stairway up the Eiffel Tower just as I was about to make the climb, like the fact the Conciergerie with its Reign of Terror prisons still intact is shut for three weeks for refurbishment, like the fact the transport strike means I probably won't get to see Versailles or the Asterix theme park and like the fact that the weather is weirder than England's. Yesterday morning was so cold and windy that my ears hurt, yesterday afternoon was so hot and sunny that I got a tan! But gripes aside, another fine day was had by moi. The Eiffel Tower is so much bigger and more impressive close ... read more
October 11th 2010
So said Doctor Who and who am I to argue? The sun is shining as if it has just risen from the galactic cradle and the sky glitters azure as baby blues. My impression of Paris is that it is simply stunning. That wasn't my first impression however. My first impression was what rubbish their ticketing system on the metro is. One ticket machine for all one gazilion people coming off the Eurostar, result: massive queues. My second impression was that they must have known I was coming because three soldiers in combat fatigues carrying very large assault rifles wandered menacingly towards me in Gare Du Nord. Fortunately I remembered my SAS training and gave them the slip. My third impression was that rubber wheels on the metro is a myth as the train I was ... read more
October 8th 2010
Went to the National Army Museum (NAM) yesterday but due to tube troubles ended up walking from Temple to Chelsea. It's quite a way but there's lots to see on the walk, loads of public gardens full of statues of people who deserve statues (eg Michael Faraday), people who really don't (General Gordon anyone?) and people who make you go 'Huh?' (the hostage Burghers of Ghent!). We also passed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, a lot of war memorials and Westminster Abbey (and later Westminster Cathedral in its strangely orange brickwork. I always thought orange was a Protestant colour. Oh the irony!). We even saw a police escort of four bikes and a car with sirens wailing ensuring that the big van they were escorting did not stop at any lights. It was either a ... read more
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