Blogs from Europe - page 11909

Oh dear, two days is not enough for Oxford. I think I could spend weeks and weeks here. There’s so much history. In the morning we met outside Blackwell’s bookstore for a literary tour of the college. But first, we went through the bookstore which has the largest number of books for sale in one room anywhere—over half a million books in one room. See what I mean? I could spend three days in there alone, at a minimum. The literary tour was fascinating—we saw the houses where C. S. Lewis and Tolkien lived when they were first writing their books, the library used to film the interiors of the Hogwarts library, and some very impressive architecture which I have now forgotten all the details of. One warning about Oxford: don’t step on the grass. I ... read more

Today I decided to visit Westminister and Chelsea Hospital. Not on too many tourist maps but a lovely place just the same! I don't think it was a great idea to go sightseeing in the rain the other day...I couldn't seem to shake this bug I had (even after a week of rest and no alcohol). Coughing all night wasn't the best way to introduce myself to the other people in my hostel room either, so I thought it best to get checked out. Wasn't the easiest thing finding a free hospital (first place I went to wanted to charge $200!), but found a hospital that did the whole NHS scheme so I didn't have to pay a thing and only waited an hour (quicker than a Sydney hospital). Met a nice Aussie pharmacist from Gosford, ... read more

From Venice, Italy we took a train for several hours to Salzburg, Austria. The train ride was really gorgeous and went by faster than I thought. When we got into Salzburg we didn’t have to much time to explore. We put our stuff in the hotel and headed for dinner. As a vegetarian I found it a bit hard to find something to eat, most foods contained some form a meat and when the waitress didn't speak English I had NO idea how to ask for a meal without it. The next day is when we actually got to go around the city. It was a Sunday so a lot of the shops were closed, but as we traveled on there was what I can only describe as a flea market that we were able to ... read more

On the side of the Autostrada near Reggio Emilia, there stands an effigy of a ferrari and a sign advertising the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, the birthplace of Ferrari. It was something I had to see and how could my father possibly refuse, they have a place in his heart as well, so we set off to find it one afternoon. It was just him and I this time and we managed to get really really lost. We ended up taking backcountry roads and kept missing Maranello somehow, which means when we finally reached Maranello and saw the first prancing horse, it was already 5pm. Tensions were running high, as we were both frustrated and worried, my father about getting lost again on the way home, and myself about it being too late to go ... read more

Cycle stats: 2 hours 22 minutes cycling 20.1 miles traveled 8.6mph average speed 27.6mph top speed. There was no 12.05 ferry from Berneray to Leverburgh in Harris due to the low tide so we had to wait for the 14.40 instead. We headed to a local tea shop for some toasted sandwiches while we waited. The sailing to Leverburgh took one hour and as we cycled out of Leverburgh we were straight into the mountainous areas and straight into headwind. What we lacked in miles compared to yesterday we made up for in ascending and winds! We passed Scarista beach, apparently voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world but we could barely see it due to the misty grey, drizzle. We arrived at Luskentyre beach, also apparently voted one of the world's most ... read more