Saturday Paris, I bought myself a two day pass on the Open tour bus. This is your typical hop on and hop off tourist bus that gives you very good coverage of the city and its principal sites. I will tell you more about the bus later. I left the hotel at 8.30am and heading to the Jardin des Plantes a quite beautiful park that seemed to be a popular circuit for joggers who take advantage of the park’s wide footpaths. Within the Park is the National Musee Histoire Naturelle. I walked through the park and then along with Seine. It [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday afternoon I decided that I was not going to stay any longer in the Hotel de Nesle. Sure it is in a fantastic spot however I expect more for value for money even in Paris. Having quickly looked on-line I reserved a room for three nights at the Hotel Austerlitz, still within the fifth arrondissement however a good 15 minutes walk from where I was. The hotel is adjacent to the Jardin des Plantes which was opened in the 1600's as a garden for medicinal plants. In comparison to Hotel de Nesle this place is heaven. Free wireless internet access, [View Full Entry]

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I headed off early this morning (8.30am might not seem all that early but on a cold and wet morning it was!). I always enjoy doing a bit of reconnaissance (pardon the French) on day one in a new city and so I wandered around the streets of the Latin Quarter ensuring that I had 'breadcrumbed' my way so that I could easily return to the hotel if needed. First stop was for a petit créme at Le Café de Flore, one of the quintessential cafés of this city. Le Café de Flore is where the local Bourgeoisie come for coffee [View Full Entry]

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The journey to Paris from Eurostar is one of the most enjoyable experiences you can possibly have in Europe. I have always been a fan of travelling by train however I've never invested much time in it. I was in car 18 at the very front of the train and once in my seat and my iPod earphones plugged in I was able to enjoy and incredibly smooth ride across England and France. The weather on arrival was quite miserable, steady rain and cool air. Taking a taxi from Paris Gare du Nord station, I landed at the Hotel de Nesle [View Full Entry]

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On a day when Gordon Brown appeared to have saved the financial world from doom with his bold move to invest heavily in the banks of Britain, I invested heavily on a rail ticket from Maidstone East to London Bridge. Greeted by a surly ticket seller I was told the fare was 26 pounds return. I'm not sure of the exact moment when I realised what he had just said but guess it was when I could only see 20 pounds in my wallet. I was beginning to realise I didn’t have the cash to pay for the fare. Scrounging through [View Full Entry]

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I have landed in London after an energy-sapping flight with Etihad Airways. I'm not sure I would fly with this airline again having endured 25 hours of poor quality food, a malfunctioning entertainment system and a general lack of service. There is a massive difference in quality between Etihad and Emirates (the airline I flew with last year). I get the impression that Etihad do things on the cheap (one flight attendant wheeling the trolley and serving) as opposed to two on Emirates (and most other airlines). The entertainment system became a focal point of my frustration. Constant 'reboots [View Full Entry]

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My five week European holiday is almost over and its now time to put my travel blog to sleep. The holiday has flown by at such a pace that I am still coming to terms with the fact that it is almost over. As with all holidays I walk away with many great memories. Last night (Friday 18th May) I met up with my friend Mai for dinner. Mai has been in London for a few months now and she suggested we pop into Soho for a bite to eat. We ate at a café/bar called Amato. It’s the kind [View Full Entry]

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I flew into the Irish county of Kerry on Monday afternoon (14th May). Unfortunately there is a lack of internet access on the isolated West Coast and although my cousins have it in the house they are still using dial up and it’s making things very difficult for blog updating so I will be publishing this entry after my return to London. I am staying in the town of Ballybunion. A place not renowned for good weather. It is where my mother grew up and it’s a lovely if somewhat quaint part of Ireland where the people are friendly but [View Full Entry]

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Its lunch time Sunday and I’m back in London, the weather here has been mixed since I arrived back last Friday, showers in between bursts of sunshine however today its taken a turn back to winter . I had an amazing time in Spain developed new friendships and am so glad that I decided to come over here if initially studying Spanish each day was a little difficult. My limited vocabulary was my weakness during that first week in the language school yet it’s amazing how rapidly it developed mixing with both Spaniards and my friends studying Spanish in the [View Full Entry]

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I am sitting at the keyboard in my penultimate night in Madrid. 11 nights have flown by and tonight I'm staying in with my adopted family before heading out and catching up with my friends from the school who are on an "Actividad Extra" this evening. The school arranges extra activities (such as last week's cooking that we attended) to free the students from the rather uninspiring surrounds of the class room whilst still learning about the language and life in Madrid and Spain. I have certainly had a great time in Madrid and its certainly a vibrant city, more [View Full Entry]

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