http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/chrisj/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from chrisj en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:22:29 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:22:29 UTC Amazingly I am sitting on my couch in my flat in Dee Why watching my television and drinking a cup of tea from one of my own cups. It is raining outside the sounds of traffic in the street are very familiar and the accents very normal. It feels like I have woken up from a normal night of sleep Oh I did have a great dream last night though quite weird and wonderfulI flew to Europe on this a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Sydney/blog-346356.html Sitting in the departure lounge at Barcelona airport I carefully and patiently unravelled the skin of my clementine. I have become quite the master of the single peelcombined twirl pirouette technique Fruit in one hand thumb making itrsquos away around it anticlockwise as the turning fruit spins in my hand in a clockwise direction. If clementine peeling was a sport I would be high up in it http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Kent/Maidstone/blog-345060.html I needed to drop in a few more photos of my trip around Catalonia on Wednesday and so here is but a small selection http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Catalonia/blog-344597.html Itrsquos 11.30pm in Barcelona and today sadly is my last day in Barcelona and my last day in Spain. At lunchtime tomorrow I fly out from here to London for the last four days of my holiday.Today has been a lengthy one. It started very early just after 730am when I went searching for a coffee in nearby Gran Via. It was then on to the Bus Turistic for the trip to the Torres Vineyards Montserrat http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-344545.html Once I had sorted out my washing I headed to Plaza Cataluyna and jumped on the bus turistic for a tour around Barcelona. The Barcelona tourist bus like so many of its type in other cities is a great way to see the sights and gain some knowledge of the history of the place.I took the southern route this morning which snaked its way around the southern part of the city up to Montjuic down via http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-344049.html I started today at the crack of dawn determined to get to the lavandara to get my clothes washed. It had been a few days and although my clothes werenrsquot beginning to smell I was down to my second string apparel. The brochure for Wash n Dry stated that they were open from 7.00 am so I charged down to beat the rush I still didnrsquot think that there would be many there at 7.30am when http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-344042.html Its Monday morning here in Valencia today Irsquom taking the train to Barcelona the last leg of my journey in Spain. Valencia was a very pleasant experience and being near the coast even if I didnrsquot go to the beach made a change form the inland cities and towns that I had visited. Valenciarsquos a great city and its residents are very friendly. I had some lovely food during my stay h http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-343676.html After a sleepin by my standards I decided I would Valenciarsquos fresh food market the Mercado Central. Situated only five minutes from the hotel the market is THE place for locals to buy their fresh produce. The market is open Monday Saturday and if you want to taste the real Valencia I recommend a visit and mingle amongst the locals and curious tourists.From its fruit and vegetables fresh http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-343268.html It is Friday morning and an early start as I check out of the Hotel Petit Palace Italia bound for the coastal city of Valencia about 350km south of Barcelona and the same distance west of Madrid. With its idyllic coastal location Valencia enjoys a Mediterranean climate warm dry summers mild winters and beautiful beaches. Having arrived in Madrid in my overcoat it would be a relief to pack it a http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Valencian-Community/Valencia/blog-342625.html Yesterday Wednesday I took a trip out to the historic town of Segovia. I caught the train from Chamartin Station in Madrid and the journey takes only 35 minutes. It was cloudy and very cold on arrival about 5c at 1030am.The train to Segovia was fantastic very comfortable and incredibly fast. Once at the train station at Segovia you need to catch the local bus to the centre of the town. They http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/Castile---Leon/Segovia/blog-342121.html At the start of this year the French enforced new laws in regards to smoking in public places. This was a massive cultural shift but one that the French are embracing albeit with great difficulty it is a shame that the Spanish do not enforce this law here especially in Madrid. Normally I can accept the fact that people want to smoke what I donrsquot accept is that people choose to smoke at http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-342119.html Wandering down Gran Via towards Puerta del Sol I noticed the most extraordinary of sites. Even the icy wind could not prevent hundreds of Madrileos queuing for tickets in one of the richest lotteries in the world. El gordo the fat one. To call it a national obsession would be a pretty accurate statement.Apparently the prize pool is worth more than 1 billion and the jackpot is usually divide http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-341610.html It was with a great sense of relief to make it to Madrid after the minor annoyance of not having accommodation secured until Saturday night. Much to my satisfaction everything has gone well since arriving. My flight was 90 minutes late however the airport transfer that I had arranged from Madrid Barajas airport was sitting patiently waiting for me when I arrived. The trip from the airport to t http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-341143.html Dinner tonight was with Paul and Mark at the Blueprint Caf a restaurant east of Tower Bridge sitting above the Design Museum with great views of Tower Bridge and the city.The menu whilst not extensive was certainly an eclectic mix of ingredients and styles. With interesting entrees such as sardines on toast with a fried egg and haddock fish cakes with aioli we were expecting our taste bud http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Southwark/blog-340925.html Saturday was a wintery day in London the clouds were low a cold arctic breeze was blowing and the rain slapped against the apartment window. Paul myself and Mark who has now returned from Hong Kong ventured out to get some breakfast at Borough Market . We headed straight to the Roast to go for some sausage and bacon baps to eat whilst we meandered around the busy market. We had coffee a http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Southwark/blog-340582.html On a very cold Friday morning in London I awoke to the news that my apartment in Madrid which I thought was confirmed more than six weeks ago is no longer available.This is not the greatest information to recieve two days out from arriving in the capital of Spain. I had to quickly start looking for a new place of abode and I've fired off a couple of emails to places that had vacancies however http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Southwark/blog-340341.html After our visit to Sir John Soane Museum we had lunch at Cote Restaurant in the middle of Soho. The restaurants clean lines and its highly professional and friendly staff was a great introduction to the restaurant'. Its food which could be best described as French bistro was fresh tasty and provided good value for money by London standards.Their menu includes classic dishes such as steak frites http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Soho/blog-340105.html My brother Paul and I had an early start to the day early by holiday standards at least. We headed off across London Bridge at 9am with what seemed like a procession of thousands heading into the City. We were meeting Paul's P.A Denise her husband Dave and her Aussie friend Mouse.I will be first to admit I had no idea who John Soane was prior to my arrival in London this week. When my brother http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Holborn/blog-340100.html Another cold clear day in London as my brother and I undertook our latest adventure in London. The destination was Hampstead and its adjoining Heath.We caught the tube from Borough Station directly to Hampstead. Hampstead is located about 6km northwest of Charing Cross. It is part of the London Borough of Camden. It is also home to some of the most expensive housing in the London area with large http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Hampstead/blog-339569.html As the sunshine streamed through my living room window this morning the news here continues to be dominated by the world financial crisis. Sterling took a nose dive last night against the US dollar and it has many here in a spin. I have no idea what the implications of this drop in the value of the pound means for my exchange rate and frankly I am not going to worry too much about it. Yesterday http://www.travelblog.org//Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-338837.html