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Blogs from Europe - page 10067
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November 12th 2005
My appointment at the poliklinika was at mid-day in a building between ulitsa Tolbukhina and Yaroslavl Glavnyi train station. I met Valentina Ivanovna in a big winter overcoat, and we walked there together. On the way we stopped at a menswear shop, so I could help her choose a jacket for her son's birthday present. The building was exactly how I had imagined a Russian clinic: cold, grey and dull. The room I was taken to was medium sized which was shared by two doctors. Valentina Ivanovna explained that I was "the student-Englishman" and that I probably had Ostrochandros. They made me take my shirt off and explain my symptoms then one of them took my pulse and blood pressure. As if my Russian language hasn't been tested enough lately: imagine speaking it half-naked in front ... read more
If you like eating Haggis and getting caught in the rain
Published: November 12th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Midlothian » Edinburgh
November 12th 2005
My Escape to Edinburgh! Last weekend (4-6 November) I went to Edinburgh to meet up with one of my old flatmates, Lauren, and seven of her friends. I took Friday off and caught my train at 11:00a up to Scotland. No problems at all with the train trip. Everything ran smoothly and I arrived at Edinburgh's Waverly Station at about 3:20p as expected. We stayed at St. Christopher's Inn which is just outside the train station in about the best location ever. To the north was the Royal Mile and to the south was Princes Street--just about anything you want to do that's tourist-y can be done on these two streets. I got checked in and then went for a walk around the city. Didn't have too much time because it was getting quite dark, but ... read more
Life in Granada--Almost Like Home, Sort Of
Published: December 7th 2005Europe » Spain » Andalusia » Granada
November 12th 2005
I guess this was never sent to the web. Seems a bit old now, but it is a lot on our time in Granada. Part 4 October 26 Granada A spectacular day--probably about as good as it gets in terms of biking and a glorious way to end the cycling part of the trip. Perfect weather, roads, terrain, and time together. Without a cloud in the sky, it was downright chilly when we started out, dropping into the foggy valley of Guadix, then climbing in the sun to warm up through the small ceramic selling town of . Dropping down through town, we turned left towards Granada and for the next 2 hours we didn't see a car as we climbed through the rocky, red cliffs of the lower Sierra, stunning in contrast against the clear ... read more
November 12th 2005
Hoorah! Have just got an email with my Electronic Tourist Visa for Australia. All systems go! At last! Now all I need to do is get my flight (one way to Sydney, Australia), travel insurance, insurance for my laptop and business essentials, pack my bags, kiss mum and dad good bye and begin a few years of adventure. Have just searched on the interet and found a flight on November 21st from London Heathrow for about £440 one way, so will probably buy that. At least that will give me a few days to pack my bags, tidy my room, and oragnise a few leaving drinks with the boys and girls of tropical essex before I head to warmer shores. Got an email from my mate Oli saying it's 35 degrees at the moment over there ... read more
November 12th 2005
Here I am in beautiful Killarney...its so nice here...probably due to its small town-esque. I have decided on this trip that the big towns are just not me. I think deep down I was just a tree hugging hippie...wait what am i saying! So yesterday since it was supposed to rain (do they really need to provide a forecast here?) I decided to be nice and warm on a bus tour of the ring of kerry. Quite beautiful actually. Too bad I could hardly understand the tour guide. The bus was chock full of Americans who had not a clue what he was saying...well at least we got some great scenery. However...I was SOOO damn cold all day. and mind you this is with several layers on and a jacket and a scarf. I never warmed ... read more
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'Lest we forget'
Published: November 13th 2005Europe » United Kingdom » England » Nottinghamshire » NottinghamNovember 11th 2005
To borrow a quote from Leslie, today is Remembrance Day (or Veterans' Day). It's actually pretty cool that they actually celebrate today with much more remembrance than we do in the US (unless I'm mistaken). They take a moment of silence for at least 1min at 11:11am and in Australia they have half-days in commemoration of all those who fought. Everyone wears red poppies too, which is really awesome. It seems that Vets' Day is way downplayed in the states when it shouldn't be at all but celebrated with gratitude. Being Friday, I had a seminar this morning discussing the Arab-Israeli Conflict. It was quite an interesting seminar, but also somewhat frustrating. I didn't do much reading on it but found a really good website on the topic that really helped me out and I ended ... read more
November 11th 2005
Place: Sierra de Gredos Gredos is an unspoilt region, known by only a few visitors. Beautiful Sierra de Gredos are the biggest mountains in central Spain, a small but impressive range forming the western section of the major mountain system which divides the higher plains of northern Castile from the lower plains of southern Castile and Extremadura. A paradise for lovers of nature and outdoor adventure, Gredos is an unspoilt region known by few visitors to Spain. ... read more
November 11th 2005
Yeah, I can access this site again. I haven't been able to get to this site since Tue. I kept getting a message from the University of Trier that I couldn't understand and thought for some reason they had blocked this site. I was really sad. Anyway, it's all good now. This past week has been pretty good. If you haven't seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, I would really recommend seeing it. It's a very heavy and moving movie. I really think it presents the issues surrounding the genocide very well. It makes me soo mad that the international community knew that genocide was being committed and yet we all turned a blind eye. Why do we continue to do that? We keep lying to ourselves saying that genocide will never happen again and yet it ... read more
November 11th 2005
Well, im at the airport in Venice waiting for my miniature flight to rome. yes another RYAN air flight haha.. I was just taken into a very shady room by airport security, with a very shady guy who put his hands all over my entire bag including my underwear! Airports.. Grr... Anywaysm, Venice was amazing. We went to Saint Marks Square which looked like something from alladin. We also decided to feed the pigeons where they came in swarms and just landed on you. Since we were in Venice we took a full tour gondola ride where i saw MArco Polos house and Cassanovas house. It was definately a great time. All we did was eat Pizza and gelato ice cream 5 times a day! im not kidding. and i wonder why i gained so much ... read more
November 11th 2005
It gets dark here really early now. Berlin is really far North, about as far up as the southernmost part of Alaska (Southernmost part of Alaska is about 55° Lattitude and Berlin is about 52°). By about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, the sun is low on the horizon and it starts getting dark around 4pm now, wich sunset around 4:30. By about 5pm it feels like the middle of the night. Sunrise too is not until about 7 or so. It has also been getting significantly colder too, with highs in the lower 50s and lows of just above freezing. There are not too many days left for outdoor excursions so I am using my time to do as many of of the remaining ones as I can. Today I made an excursion over ... read more
