http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/nelsonvic/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from nelsonvic en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:27:26 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:27:26 +0000 Visited the Citadel and Mohammad Ali Mosque Not that Mohammad Ali today. Big mosque made out of marble and has a crypt with the body of M.A. who is known as the man of modern Egypt as he was around only a couple of hundred years ago. Went to Cairo museum saw Tutankhamen but no photos from here as not allowed. Spent a long time stuck in traffic and visited the Bazaar of Old Cairo. Then so http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/blog-349449.html Cairo is maddest place we have ever been to. The traffic is absolutely unbelievable. The population is somewhere between 18 and 22 million people everyone you ask gives a different number and I donrsquot think anyone really knows anyhow and theyrsquore all trying to drive somewhere at any given time. It seems to be anarchy rules with everyone honking horns cutting in and out and basical http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Lower-Egypt/Cairo/blog-349097.html Visited the Louvre to see lsquothatrsquo painting. We had heard about horrendous waiting and queues to get into the Louvre. Apparently anything up to 2 hrs to get in and get a ticket and almost the same again to see the Mona Lisa. We arrived entered through the glass pyramid purchased tickets and were standing in front of DaVincisrsquo bit of work within 10 minutes. Everyone kept saying http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-349091.html Welcome to Paris. A picture tells a thousand words so i wont say much besides i havent got much time. Hired a couple of pushbikes and toured around the city. The traffic here is the most hectic we've seen worse than NY and London combined. Anyhow we climbed to the Eiffel Tower which the light up at night as you can see. Rode and walked down the Champs De Mars and Champs Elysees the Lou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-348098.html Nice set of photos as we were flying over the Swiss Alps. It looks like little islands in the middle of the sea. We left Zurich only there few hours after a flight transfer from Dublin. It was very cloudy and as we broke through the thick cloud bank we were greeted by this at 20 30000 feet. The sun was just starting to set and you can see the Matterhorn to the left. The cloud bank looks li http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/blog-348094.html Left early this morning to drive the spectacular Irish west coast. The weather was still warm and sunny with blue skies. The plan was to drive the three rings of Beara Kerry and Dingle. The Beara penisula is where the Sullivans are from. And they are everywhere. Ever business was owned by one. Thought i might try and stake a claim on a nice house.Anyhow as we left Cork the cloud started roll http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Kerry/blog-345704.html Left the UK via a ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare. It rained for us on our last day so that was a fine farewell. The ferry is a much more relaxed way of travelling you can walk around drink pints of Guiness and generally move unlike a plane. It was a smooth sailing with no wind and only a little bit of swell rocking the boat. Arrived in Ireland and picked up our hire car. Travelled through http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Cork/Blarney/blog-345645.html Wales is still nice weather still isnt. Drove down through Snowdonia and through Prembrokeshire. Lots of slate mountains. Stayed in Fishguard last night just about to catch the ferry to Ireland. Hope to catch a lepruchuan. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Snowdon/blog-344685.html In Wales. Another day another castle. Wales is lovely. Weather is not. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Wales/Llandudno/blog-344304.html The weather has turned from bad to shite. It has poured with rain most of the day and flooded hlaf the country. Well almost. Anyhow it rained and rained and the wind was blowing about 40 knots all day. Didnt stop much so we drove and drove. Left Scotland through Glascow and down the west coast. Stopped at Carlisle while it briefly stopped raining. Saw another old castle starting to get sic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-343805.html Drove from Edinburgh up through the Scottish Highlands to Inverness at the mouth of the River Ness.Inverness is a nice towncity and at the start of Loch Ness. It seemsrsquo a whole industry has been built upon lsquothe monsterrsquo. There is BBs and hotels restaurants etc etc everywhere. Our BB host was a fine example of a gruff Scotsman. He was shitty we wanted breakfast at 8.30 in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Inverness/blog-343801.html Wee bonnie Scotland. Arrived in Edinburgh and me hair turned red and I got angry. We even ate haggis. Ahrgh. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/Scotland/Edinburgh/blog-343020.html Still havenrsquot got much time to write well I have I just canrsquot be bovered so another quick run down of the days events.Stayed the night in York at a BB. Funny side note the owner had a broad Yorky accent which was funny on its own but he also had a stutter which probably wasnrsquot funny but was great to take the piss out of all the same. He sounded like the Thomas the Tank http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/North-Yorkshire/blog-343004.html Havenrsquot got much time to type and write so I wonrsquot. Drove through the Cotswolds towards Stratford upon Avon hangout for Bill Shakespeare. When we come back next time might hire a boat and go lsquopuntingrsquo down the canals of the UK. Moving on we ended up at Kenilworth Castle. Home to Earl of Leicester Bob Dudley. He got looked after lsquocos he was Elisabeth 1 the vir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Warwickshire/blog-343001.html Headed west from London towards Salisbury and Stonehenge. Quite funny really your driving down the motorway and then there they are they just seem to pop out of nowhere. Big hunks of Blue stone plonked in the middle of a paddock by the Druids or aliens no one can agree. Irsquom not sure about the sundial thing and the fact they line up with the sun etc because the sun never shines here b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/blog-342057.html We finally made it to London. It was only a 6 and half hour flight. We left Toronto late at night and would arrive about 8 in the morning. But some inconsiderate person had a heart attack or something and the pilot was asking if there were any doctors onboard. I told them I had a firstaid certificate but they didnrsquot seem reassured by that. They decided to go with a real medic that had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-342041.html A lot of things must happen late at night in Toronto as nothing seemed to be going down during the day. We had a lot of time to walk around here and I think this may have been to long. Went up CN Tower which is the largest building in the world but itsrsquo days are numbered with Dubai about to take that honour view was great but we were not allowed outside right up the top as it was too win http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Toronto/blog-340076.html Boston is a very old town with a lot of old money. Its great claim to fame is where the war with England started over taxes on tea amongst other things to Ben Franklinrsquos birthplace and being a cultured hub with universities like Harvard and the birthplace of JFK and the rest of the Kennedysrsquo. Itrsquos also where the lady who was the original lsquoMother Goosersquo fairytales http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Massachusetts/Boston/blog-338737.html New York New York. We landed in the Big Apple and well it is big. We thought Las Vegas was crazy. This place is something else. The whole of New York needs to take one big deep breath and count slowly to ten. Everything is a hundred miles an hour. It just doesnrsquot stop. The roads are chock a block. Have no idea how anyone one drives around here donrsquot think I would even attemp http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/Manhattan/blog-338149.html Finally made it to Washington DC after almost a 12 hour wait at Denver. We left our hotel in Denver at 7 am and arrived at our Washington hotel at almost 1 am the next day. Not bad for a 3 hour flight. Anyhow we spent the day looking around 'DC'. Seen nearly all the sights or at least what can be seen in 1 day. It has monuments for this that and everything in between and in true Yankee tradi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-336749.html