Opps - couldn't find the Euro symbol on this keyboard. We're finally in a place where they respect beer with cheap prices so we're making up for lost time - Munich! Not that beer wasn't cheap in Switzerland - except at the British pub where a pint of Guniness was about 11 NZ!! Anyway, we relectantly left Switzerland this morning, where we had a great time. It's a beautiful country whose scenary rivals NZ, except that they don't have any sea - altough they do have ashtrays in toilets which means you can go for a smoking shit!!
Ate lots of cheese and chocolate, which I hear can block you up a bit. Yesterday in Lucerne we went up Mt Pilatus on a crazy railway which reaches angles of about 48 degrees - unfortunatly the top was in cloud but it was a great day out anyway. We enjoyed our time in our Lucerne hostel where we had a room with a balcony that looked out on the river (and no bed bugs). The infastructure in Switzerland is quite full-on compared to NZ - if there's a mountain in the way they just build a tunnel through it - though sometimes you do get the feeling that you're travelling down a road rather than through a country.
Looking forward to our couple of days in Munich and sampling the local beers. Miss NZ a lot but having a great time over here and apparently the weather's crap over there anyway. About half way though our journey - phew!!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Paris and Switzerland
Hello,
Finally getting round to doing a post - the keyboards here are all messed up and Internet cafes are very expensive so updates are going to be less frequent. Made it to Paris last Wednesday on the Eurostar train and then took 2 Metro (tube) trains to our hotel, which was very small and smelt of cigarettes but was in a great part of the city. We met Clare's friend Bryony and she took us on a whirlwind tour of our part of the city. We were feeling a bit shellshocked with the language difference but soon Clare got the hang of things. I navigated.
We went to the Airshow and it POURED with rain, but it was worth it (Clare may disagree). On Saturday we went up the Eiffel Tower and got sick of all the tourists - how dare people want to see the same things as us.
We joined our busabout tour yesterday and got dropped off in the beautiful town of Bern - Switzerland's capital. Scenery is amazing (so are some of the prices - e.g. about NZ $11 per hour for shit Internet access, makes me want to cry).
Finally getting round to doing a post - the keyboards here are all messed up and Internet cafes are very expensive so updates are going to be less frequent. Made it to Paris last Wednesday on the Eurostar train and then took 2 Metro (tube) trains to our hotel, which was very small and smelt of cigarettes but was in a great part of the city. We met Clare's friend Bryony and she took us on a whirlwind tour of our part of the city. We were feeling a bit shellshocked with the language difference but soon Clare got the hang of things. I navigated.
We went to the Airshow and it POURED with rain, but it was worth it (Clare may disagree). On Saturday we went up the Eiffel Tower and got sick of all the tourists - how dare people want to see the same things as us.
We joined our busabout tour yesterday and got dropped off in the beautiful town of Bern - Switzerland's capital. Scenery is amazing (so are some of the prices - e.g. about NZ $11 per hour for shit Internet access, makes me want to cry).
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saturday in Dublin
Had a pretty good sleep last night and recovered from our tour - really wished we had our own room but it was good to have a bit of a sleep-in regardless. We got up just in time for some free breakfast at the hostel, checked some emails and then made our way to the Guinness factory via the river, while also seeing 'Christchurch Cathedral' on the way. The factory is huge and takes up several blocks. The tourist part has been created in the old fermentation area of the factory and is quite impressive, taking up several floors with a large, pint-glass shaped glass atrium in the middle. We seemed to arrive at a reasonable time to beat the crowds although it was still busy.
I've reversed my previous dislike of this dark ale for what I hope to be genuine reasons but you still have to admire the genius of this marketing triumph - the building is packed with people, many who probably don't even like beer. We both really enjoyed the tour and it's generally very well done, though some bits are bordering on the cheesy. We were sure to visit the section on enjoying Guinness responsibly where we were assured that we didn't actually have to drink the stuff - it was 'our choice'. Here we heard a regretful tale about how Jimmy had a really engaging conversation with some bird after a few glasses of wine and then didn't know what to say to her when sober - this is supposed to put people off drink??!! We enjoyed a pint at the gravity bar up top and admired the views of the city, before heading to the obligatory stop at the gift shop.
After this, we stopped for an non-nutritional snack at a convenience store on our way to Kilmainham Gaol. It was only after much walking that we read on our map that it wasn't to scale - no kidding!! Kilmainham is an old Victorian-style prison where many from the Easter rising were held and then executed in 1916. The tour was very informative and the place has been restored into a great historic place. After, this we were a bit buggered and headed back to the hostel.
We then decided to head to 'Temple Bar' - the bar district near our hostel for a look and some food. We stopped at an alright looking kebab place hoping to get something similar to the great kebabs back home. I did my best to communicate to the English-as a-second-language order taker, emphasising 'Falafel' every time she couldn't understand what I was saying. But it still didn't work and we ended up with two taco kebabs - not really fancying grotty beef mince, we ate the bread and cheese and then retreated to a dairy to try and make-up for our crap meal with a fruit smoothie. Clare's was fermented so we decided we'd had enough bad-luck and headed back to the hostel (while carefully dodging all the human and canine feces, spew, glass, piss and cigarette butts - this place is so dirty there aren't even many pigeons around!). We recently just headed out to a quiet close-by bar and enjoyed a couple of final pints in Ireland.
I've reversed my previous dislike of this dark ale for what I hope to be genuine reasons but you still have to admire the genius of this marketing triumph - the building is packed with people, many who probably don't even like beer. We both really enjoyed the tour and it's generally very well done, though some bits are bordering on the cheesy. We were sure to visit the section on enjoying Guinness responsibly where we were assured that we didn't actually have to drink the stuff - it was 'our choice'. Here we heard a regretful tale about how Jimmy had a really engaging conversation with some bird after a few glasses of wine and then didn't know what to say to her when sober - this is supposed to put people off drink??!! We enjoyed a pint at the gravity bar up top and admired the views of the city, before heading to the obligatory stop at the gift shop.
After this, we stopped for an non-nutritional snack at a convenience store on our way to Kilmainham Gaol. It was only after much walking that we read on our map that it wasn't to scale - no kidding!! Kilmainham is an old Victorian-style prison where many from the Easter rising were held and then executed in 1916. The tour was very informative and the place has been restored into a great historic place. After, this we were a bit buggered and headed back to the hostel.
We then decided to head to 'Temple Bar' - the bar district near our hostel for a look and some food. We stopped at an alright looking kebab place hoping to get something similar to the great kebabs back home. I did my best to communicate to the English-as a-second-language order taker, emphasising 'Falafel' every time she couldn't understand what I was saying. But it still didn't work and we ended up with two taco kebabs - not really fancying grotty beef mince, we ate the bread and cheese and then retreated to a dairy to try and make-up for our crap meal with a fruit smoothie. Clare's was fermented so we decided we'd had enough bad-luck and headed back to the hostel (while carefully dodging all the human and canine feces, spew, glass, piss and cigarette butts - this place is so dirty there aren't even many pigeons around!). We recently just headed out to a quiet close-by bar and enjoyed a couple of final pints in Ireland.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Warning: this may sound like a rant
Ireland, what to say about Ireland... I think it's fair to say we were spoiled on our Scotland bus trip as we certainly found this week a lot tougher and less enjoyable. It all started off pretty well as we scrambled to get our appropriate seat on the bus - very important in establishing the social order for the week to come. We go for a middle seat - slightly toward the back as this says 'we're middle of the road, but still cool'. Of course, you have the cool but slightly naughty people in the back seat and the geeks up the front. We also go for seats on the right hand side but I haven't yet worked out what this means.
This weeks group was bigger than Scotland and we soon realised, a different mix of people. Although, of course you have the similarities to last week with the loud mouth Aussie lads, who only bought a pair of jandals for footwear and only T-shirts to keep warm (of course, it's not their fault - they were led astray by the 4 days of good weather in London last week so didn't think it might rain in Ireland). You kind of have to admire them for showing it can be done, but also at the same time you want them to slip off a big rock in their jandals so you can say, 'I told you so'. You also have a similar spectrum of kiwi couples with the 'North Islanders' - this time a couple from Rotorua. You have the 'Southlanders' or 'Westcoasters' this week (actually living in Wellington, but their natural habitat is the coast). And then there is of course, us - the ultra-hip urban liberals.
This time round, we had a bit of a surprise with the stereotypical, ignorant and wealthy Americans - this was a mix of two related families, sans the fathers who were presumably still hard at work financing this shopping trip. This was the Americans first experience in staying at hostels and was great entertainment value. I had to stop myself from laughing when asked on the first night if I'd stayed in hostels before - I tried hard to level with them and said that I wasn't that keen on it either. Good thing is, no matter how much you were suffering this week, you could take comfort in the fact that you knew that it was far more painful for them. Of course, they tried the Jesus trick and turned our free breakfast toast into muffins and bagels on the second morning. 'Opps, we bought too much food, help yourselves...' Clare did her best to help out by pointing out where to get coffee, but it wasn't enough to fulfil someones craving for a Starbucks triple iced frappe mocha latte. Another annoyance was the ultra-neurotic Australian girl, who was finding the whole experience a tad stressful - 'where am I? who am I? Just breathe! I'm going straight to hell!'. Though she might be correct about that last one, you should go to hell for sleeping with the tour guide! If he'd been more interested in acting as a tour guide than pimp daddy we might've had a better time. The most vivid piece of commentary on the bus wasn't about the historical relevance of some castle, but about the great deeds of some footballer from Cork. Of course, I would've posted feedback this feedback of the evaluation forms provided at the end of the tour instead of this blog, except he didn't provide any.
Another thing that adds to the displeasure factor is the endless playing of boring middle of the road pop rock packed onto everyone's ipod that you've heard 10,000 times before. I was reaching for the razorblades this afternoon when they played a James Blunt album and was only able to save myself by imagining the Pogues' Shane MacGowan drunkenly smashing a glass of Guinness into his pretty little face.
We're found the scenery here to be somewhat unspectacular after being in Scotland and I guess it doesn't help being a from NZ... 'you call that a mountain??!!'. A lot of the country-side is scraggy, rolling farmland and looked a lot drier than I expected. I was wondering on the first day if things would look better when raining and was granted that wish as soon as we got to Westport and started walking to the supermarket. The stupid thing about these raining places like Scotland and Ireland is that none of the shops have verandas to stop you getting soaked. Some of the coastal scenery is spectacular and I wished we'd spend more time around these areas.
The Irish are kind of funny with their tourist spots - they've made a huge thing about the cliffs of Moher, having just completed a 30 million Euro tourist centre in the side of the hill. This place is packed with tourists and here you can spend money on the 'Cliffs of Moher Experience' which seems odd when the spectacular cliffs are outside for free. And of course, natural beauty never gets in the way of all your shopping and crappy gift buying needs. The other extreme of the tourist experience is funny little curiosities situated on private land, after many twists and turns down terrible, narrow country lanes. Here you find some crappy, hardy visible sign and realise the ticket office is actually someones uninviting cottage where some old queen of the harpies is waiting to relieve you of your hard earned cash.
Of course then there's Blarney Castle, the Paris Hilton of Irish tourist attractions - famous for being famous. The operators must be laughing all the way to the bank and obviously very thankful to who ever made up the load of BS about kissing the stone. There doesn't even seem to be a decent tale behind the stone, our guide had to make something up. After forking out 8 Euro to get in, you can also throw away another 2.50 to get a certificate that you have to fill in yourself saying you kissed the stone and now possess the gift of eloquence. And of course, because you can't take photos, you'll need to fork out some more to get an official photo of you slobbering the stone. Bah humbug! we decided to spend out cash on some yummy seafood chowder at a local cafe and shelter from the rain instead. Plus we both already have the gift of eloquence.
What the Irish may lack in an abundance of natural beauty, they make up for in their hospitality, nightlife and music - even in rather small places where we stayed, such as Doolan there's no shortage of cosy pubs and good music. It's hard to imagine such fun being had in similar sized places in NZ and this is certainly one thing we'd love to take back home if we could.
And yes, if you couldn't tell from my ranting, I still have my cold :(
We're looking forward to it just being the two of us again as we spend a day in Dublin tomorrow, before returning to London and then beginning our Western Europe travels.
This weeks group was bigger than Scotland and we soon realised, a different mix of people. Although, of course you have the similarities to last week with the loud mouth Aussie lads, who only bought a pair of jandals for footwear and only T-shirts to keep warm (of course, it's not their fault - they were led astray by the 4 days of good weather in London last week so didn't think it might rain in Ireland). You kind of have to admire them for showing it can be done, but also at the same time you want them to slip off a big rock in their jandals so you can say, 'I told you so'. You also have a similar spectrum of kiwi couples with the 'North Islanders' - this time a couple from Rotorua. You have the 'Southlanders' or 'Westcoasters' this week (actually living in Wellington, but their natural habitat is the coast). And then there is of course, us - the ultra-hip urban liberals.
This time round, we had a bit of a surprise with the stereotypical, ignorant and wealthy Americans - this was a mix of two related families, sans the fathers who were presumably still hard at work financing this shopping trip. This was the Americans first experience in staying at hostels and was great entertainment value. I had to stop myself from laughing when asked on the first night if I'd stayed in hostels before - I tried hard to level with them and said that I wasn't that keen on it either. Good thing is, no matter how much you were suffering this week, you could take comfort in the fact that you knew that it was far more painful for them. Of course, they tried the Jesus trick and turned our free breakfast toast into muffins and bagels on the second morning. 'Opps, we bought too much food, help yourselves...' Clare did her best to help out by pointing out where to get coffee, but it wasn't enough to fulfil someones craving for a Starbucks triple iced frappe mocha latte. Another annoyance was the ultra-neurotic Australian girl, who was finding the whole experience a tad stressful - 'where am I? who am I? Just breathe! I'm going straight to hell!'. Though she might be correct about that last one, you should go to hell for sleeping with the tour guide! If he'd been more interested in acting as a tour guide than pimp daddy we might've had a better time. The most vivid piece of commentary on the bus wasn't about the historical relevance of some castle, but about the great deeds of some footballer from Cork. Of course, I would've posted feedback this feedback of the evaluation forms provided at the end of the tour instead of this blog, except he didn't provide any.
Another thing that adds to the displeasure factor is the endless playing of boring middle of the road pop rock packed onto everyone's ipod that you've heard 10,000 times before. I was reaching for the razorblades this afternoon when they played a James Blunt album and was only able to save myself by imagining the Pogues' Shane MacGowan drunkenly smashing a glass of Guinness into his pretty little face.
We're found the scenery here to be somewhat unspectacular after being in Scotland and I guess it doesn't help being a from NZ... 'you call that a mountain??!!'. A lot of the country-side is scraggy, rolling farmland and looked a lot drier than I expected. I was wondering on the first day if things would look better when raining and was granted that wish as soon as we got to Westport and started walking to the supermarket. The stupid thing about these raining places like Scotland and Ireland is that none of the shops have verandas to stop you getting soaked. Some of the coastal scenery is spectacular and I wished we'd spend more time around these areas.
The Irish are kind of funny with their tourist spots - they've made a huge thing about the cliffs of Moher, having just completed a 30 million Euro tourist centre in the side of the hill. This place is packed with tourists and here you can spend money on the 'Cliffs of Moher Experience' which seems odd when the spectacular cliffs are outside for free. And of course, natural beauty never gets in the way of all your shopping and crappy gift buying needs. The other extreme of the tourist experience is funny little curiosities situated on private land, after many twists and turns down terrible, narrow country lanes. Here you find some crappy, hardy visible sign and realise the ticket office is actually someones uninviting cottage where some old queen of the harpies is waiting to relieve you of your hard earned cash.
Of course then there's Blarney Castle, the Paris Hilton of Irish tourist attractions - famous for being famous. The operators must be laughing all the way to the bank and obviously very thankful to who ever made up the load of BS about kissing the stone. There doesn't even seem to be a decent tale behind the stone, our guide had to make something up. After forking out 8 Euro to get in, you can also throw away another 2.50 to get a certificate that you have to fill in yourself saying you kissed the stone and now possess the gift of eloquence. And of course, because you can't take photos, you'll need to fork out some more to get an official photo of you slobbering the stone. Bah humbug! we decided to spend out cash on some yummy seafood chowder at a local cafe and shelter from the rain instead. Plus we both already have the gift of eloquence.
What the Irish may lack in an abundance of natural beauty, they make up for in their hospitality, nightlife and music - even in rather small places where we stayed, such as Doolan there's no shortage of cosy pubs and good music. It's hard to imagine such fun being had in similar sized places in NZ and this is certainly one thing we'd love to take back home if we could.
And yes, if you couldn't tell from my ranting, I still have my cold :(
We're looking forward to it just being the two of us again as we spend a day in Dublin tomorrow, before returning to London and then beginning our Western Europe travels.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Erie
Just a quick update tonight - we're staying the night in Galway tonight on the second day of our tour. It's a great small city and apparently we're going out tonight to learn some Irish dancing and then see some music. Been a bit tiresome with still getting over my cold and stupid things like leaving my towel at last night's hostel and dealing with idiots in supermarkets, but we're still having a great time. Stayed last night in Westport where I got over my historic hatred of Guinness and enjoyed a few pints + saw some great local musicians and some great old local guy, telling jokes and singing traditional songs.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Where are we now?
I'm finally getting round to doing an update - have been suffering a bad cold for the past few days so haven't felt like posting. Clare also had a cold this week, so we're hoping the coming week will be better.
We arrived in Dublin this afternoon to great weather, but were pleased to get off the plane due to my cold and a bunch of Irish tossers who thought they were comedians in front of us. True, the UK is small but it still took us 8 hours door to door to get here. We're liking Dublin so far, and had a much better time once we got our bearings - there wasn't a free tourist map in sight and the only one we could find was in a window and had no 'you are here' thing. So after a good walk round in a few circles we made it to our hostel which isn't too bad. They have ice cold showers but free Internet! (which kind of cancel each other out). Found a free tourist map here - I think there's something wrong with it though as it actually folds back up easily and in the correct sequence!
We had our final night of our Scottish bus tour in a fantastic little place called Fort Augustus which is at the head of Loch Ness (stayed here two nights). After spending the day sampling some local Whiskey, we headed into Glen Nevis and did a fantastic walk up the valley to Steel Falls. The track was pretty crazy compared to most tracks in NZ, with plenty of jagged rock and steep banks. The scenery here was quite stunning and certainly rivals NZ. After making it back to the hostel, we sampled some Haggis, and then went for a pint at the local. After this we had a fantastic time back at the hostel bar where a local musician played into the wee hours. Had some tense moments trying to tell the uptight bar maid that I only wanted the cheap whiskey though.
On the final day, after trying to summon Nessie, it was back on the road again to Edinburgh. By this time we were well sick of waiting for stragglers to get back on the bus in time. It was back to the crusty hostel for the night which wasn't too bad this time as we stayed in a room with some Kiwis from the tour. Everyone had an early night which seemed funny for a Saturday night in Edinburgh, but we'd had a great time on the tour so it didn't matter. We certainly enjoyed the small towns in Scotland more than the two big cities.
The next day, it was off to the castle - not Edinburgh castle but our own one! We took a train from Edinburgh to the nearby town of Stirling. We then took a taxi through some nice countryside to Culcreuch Castle, built by the Galbraith Clan around 700 years ago. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we'd been upgraded to a bigger room due to our last name! We had a walk around the grounds, along with several rabbits and squirrels before heading to the bar. We had a great meal in the Dungeon restaurant, while reading an information leaflet about a war-like clan named the Galbraiths. I didn't have a great nights sleep due to lots of creaking from the floor and old furniture, and anticipating a visit by one of the three resident apparitions, but the whole experience was definitely worth it.
In the morning, we took another taxi directly to Glasgow, as it was about the same distance back to Stirling. The centre of the city is quite modern and pleasant but it's easy to get to some grotty areas by walking a few blocks the wrong way as we found out the next morning while out walking. As we didn't have a lot of time in Glasgow, we mainly stayed around the city centre which is mainly about shops. I would quite liked to have found about some historical stuff such the city's ship building but you can't do everything. We had a great cup of tea and scone at the Willow tearooms designed by Charles Rennie Mackitosh - check out the massive chairs in the link!
Then, it was on another train bound for Nottingham to see Matt. The first train was made quite unpleasant by an extremely drunk Scottish munter in our coach, and the crew who didn't seem to care. We changed trains at Warrington (which also involved changing stations!) and then we were finally able to relax. Matt picked up from the station and then it was out for curry and a pint at the local pub. One thing over here you certainly notice is the smoking in bars (and all over the place such as malls). NZ is much nicer with non-smoking, though England is about to follow on 1st July.
The next two days we spent relaxing, and having a look around the city centre, which is quite large. We also checked out the remains of the old castle - this now contains a museum / art gallery which we found a bit strange as it's a bit of a mish-mash of stuff. We decided not to do the tour of the limestone caves under the city as we were feeling a bit tired at this stage. In defiance of the overcast and cool weather we even had a BBQ in true NZ style. Friday saw us take a bus trip to the beautiful Peak District. Because we left late and the bus arrived at our destination late, we basically spent 4.5 hours on the bus and half an hour in Bakewell, where we has one of their famous tarts. Despite our short stop, the scenery from the bus was great. This was our final night here, so despite feeling crap due to my cold we had a night on the town and as Matt said, 'you're only going to be here once'. Our first stop was a crazy pub in a massive former church - it felt quite sinful drinking here, but at the prices they charge I guess they give a cut to God or something. Next it was off to 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' which rumor has it was a local stop for the Crusaders before heading to the Middle East. This is quite an amazing place as it consists of caverns cut into the Limestone bank which runs through the city. Our final stop was 'Ye Olde Salutation Inn' (at least that's what I can remember). Thankfully tonight was hard rock Karaoke night complete with 80's hair metal barman, which made for some great entertainment. There was plenty of sing-along to Foreigners 'I Want to Know What Love Is' and Bon Bovi's 'Living on a Prayer'. I was keen to do an Avril Lavigne number but was only held back by my sore throat. Most of the singers were pretty good although one was almost as bad as me on my Stag's night according to Matt.
We all managed to pull ourselves out of bed the next morning and eventually hit the road in our rental car bound for Cambridge. After a few extra miles due to the complex nature of the roads and signage, we made it to Duxford airfield (this is a former WW2 airfield which is now a major aviation museum). After paying our admission, Matt and I were like kids in a candy store, while Clare now had some expensive benches to read her book on. After a couple of hours here, we headed into Cambridge where we managed to find Rachel and Nick's flat without a map! (Rachel is a former Stats friend currently living in Cambridge). After saying farewell to Matt, Rachel and Nick showed us around beautiful Cambridge - everyone was out and about because the weather was perfect despite the forecast. We had a picnic in one of the many parks - it's quite amazing how people seem to utilise their parks so much over here compared with NZ - there was activity everywhere, no doubt enhanced by all the students. Cambridge must be the bike capital of the world, with tons of bikes everywhere. You certainly won't be called a geek here even if you have mudguards and a wicker basket on the front. If Cambridge has any leather clad and tattooed gangs, it's a safe bet that they ride push-bikes. After some walking around we hit a local pub where I, probably for the first time didn't have a pint, but some juice - damn cold!
This morning, we got the bus to Stanstead airport to catch our plane to Dublin. Security was a breeze today, unlike when we went to Edinburgh - we suspected my beard must have made me look like a terrorist then, but it was only Clare who got a pat-down today. I'm still not used to the whole immigration thing here where EU passport holders are treated like angels straight off a plane from Heaven, while the rest of us are criminal scum who must wait forever and be subjected to their stupid questions. 'Purpose of your visit?'...'I'm just here to take your women, drink your beer and burn your cities'...'Thank you, have a nice time!'
Anyway, sorry for the long post, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow, we start our 6 day trip around Ireland.
We arrived in Dublin this afternoon to great weather, but were pleased to get off the plane due to my cold and a bunch of Irish tossers who thought they were comedians in front of us. True, the UK is small but it still took us 8 hours door to door to get here. We're liking Dublin so far, and had a much better time once we got our bearings - there wasn't a free tourist map in sight and the only one we could find was in a window and had no 'you are here' thing. So after a good walk round in a few circles we made it to our hostel which isn't too bad. They have ice cold showers but free Internet! (which kind of cancel each other out). Found a free tourist map here - I think there's something wrong with it though as it actually folds back up easily and in the correct sequence!
We had our final night of our Scottish bus tour in a fantastic little place called Fort Augustus which is at the head of Loch Ness (stayed here two nights). After spending the day sampling some local Whiskey, we headed into Glen Nevis and did a fantastic walk up the valley to Steel Falls. The track was pretty crazy compared to most tracks in NZ, with plenty of jagged rock and steep banks. The scenery here was quite stunning and certainly rivals NZ. After making it back to the hostel, we sampled some Haggis, and then went for a pint at the local. After this we had a fantastic time back at the hostel bar where a local musician played into the wee hours. Had some tense moments trying to tell the uptight bar maid that I only wanted the cheap whiskey though.
On the final day, after trying to summon Nessie, it was back on the road again to Edinburgh. By this time we were well sick of waiting for stragglers to get back on the bus in time. It was back to the crusty hostel for the night which wasn't too bad this time as we stayed in a room with some Kiwis from the tour. Everyone had an early night which seemed funny for a Saturday night in Edinburgh, but we'd had a great time on the tour so it didn't matter. We certainly enjoyed the small towns in Scotland more than the two big cities.
The next day, it was off to the castle - not Edinburgh castle but our own one! We took a train from Edinburgh to the nearby town of Stirling. We then took a taxi through some nice countryside to Culcreuch Castle, built by the Galbraith Clan around 700 years ago. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we'd been upgraded to a bigger room due to our last name! We had a walk around the grounds, along with several rabbits and squirrels before heading to the bar. We had a great meal in the Dungeon restaurant, while reading an information leaflet about a war-like clan named the Galbraiths. I didn't have a great nights sleep due to lots of creaking from the floor and old furniture, and anticipating a visit by one of the three resident apparitions, but the whole experience was definitely worth it.
In the morning, we took another taxi directly to Glasgow, as it was about the same distance back to Stirling. The centre of the city is quite modern and pleasant but it's easy to get to some grotty areas by walking a few blocks the wrong way as we found out the next morning while out walking. As we didn't have a lot of time in Glasgow, we mainly stayed around the city centre which is mainly about shops. I would quite liked to have found about some historical stuff such the city's ship building but you can't do everything. We had a great cup of tea and scone at the Willow tearooms designed by Charles Rennie Mackitosh - check out the massive chairs in the link!
Then, it was on another train bound for Nottingham to see Matt. The first train was made quite unpleasant by an extremely drunk Scottish munter in our coach, and the crew who didn't seem to care. We changed trains at Warrington (which also involved changing stations!) and then we were finally able to relax. Matt picked up from the station and then it was out for curry and a pint at the local pub. One thing over here you certainly notice is the smoking in bars (and all over the place such as malls). NZ is much nicer with non-smoking, though England is about to follow on 1st July.
The next two days we spent relaxing, and having a look around the city centre, which is quite large. We also checked out the remains of the old castle - this now contains a museum / art gallery which we found a bit strange as it's a bit of a mish-mash of stuff. We decided not to do the tour of the limestone caves under the city as we were feeling a bit tired at this stage. In defiance of the overcast and cool weather we even had a BBQ in true NZ style. Friday saw us take a bus trip to the beautiful Peak District. Because we left late and the bus arrived at our destination late, we basically spent 4.5 hours on the bus and half an hour in Bakewell, where we has one of their famous tarts. Despite our short stop, the scenery from the bus was great. This was our final night here, so despite feeling crap due to my cold we had a night on the town and as Matt said, 'you're only going to be here once'. Our first stop was a crazy pub in a massive former church - it felt quite sinful drinking here, but at the prices they charge I guess they give a cut to God or something. Next it was off to 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' which rumor has it was a local stop for the Crusaders before heading to the Middle East. This is quite an amazing place as it consists of caverns cut into the Limestone bank which runs through the city. Our final stop was 'Ye Olde Salutation Inn' (at least that's what I can remember). Thankfully tonight was hard rock Karaoke night complete with 80's hair metal barman, which made for some great entertainment. There was plenty of sing-along to Foreigners 'I Want to Know What Love Is' and Bon Bovi's 'Living on a Prayer'. I was keen to do an Avril Lavigne number but was only held back by my sore throat. Most of the singers were pretty good although one was almost as bad as me on my Stag's night according to Matt.
We all managed to pull ourselves out of bed the next morning and eventually hit the road in our rental car bound for Cambridge. After a few extra miles due to the complex nature of the roads and signage, we made it to Duxford airfield (this is a former WW2 airfield which is now a major aviation museum). After paying our admission, Matt and I were like kids in a candy store, while Clare now had some expensive benches to read her book on. After a couple of hours here, we headed into Cambridge where we managed to find Rachel and Nick's flat without a map! (Rachel is a former Stats friend currently living in Cambridge). After saying farewell to Matt, Rachel and Nick showed us around beautiful Cambridge - everyone was out and about because the weather was perfect despite the forecast. We had a picnic in one of the many parks - it's quite amazing how people seem to utilise their parks so much over here compared with NZ - there was activity everywhere, no doubt enhanced by all the students. Cambridge must be the bike capital of the world, with tons of bikes everywhere. You certainly won't be called a geek here even if you have mudguards and a wicker basket on the front. If Cambridge has any leather clad and tattooed gangs, it's a safe bet that they ride push-bikes. After some walking around we hit a local pub where I, probably for the first time didn't have a pint, but some juice - damn cold!
This morning, we got the bus to Stanstead airport to catch our plane to Dublin. Security was a breeze today, unlike when we went to Edinburgh - we suspected my beard must have made me look like a terrorist then, but it was only Clare who got a pat-down today. I'm still not used to the whole immigration thing here where EU passport holders are treated like angels straight off a plane from Heaven, while the rest of us are criminal scum who must wait forever and be subjected to their stupid questions. 'Purpose of your visit?'...'I'm just here to take your women, drink your beer and burn your cities'...'Thank you, have a nice time!'
Anyway, sorry for the long post, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow, we start our 6 day trip around Ireland.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Our Scotland tour group
Here's a photo of our tour group and big yellow bus at Loch Ness - we're in the middle.
Some things to hate about the UK
#1: Coins (aka shrapnel)
Grrrr, the coins over here are ridiculous - they're so backward that they still have 1p, 2p, and 5p pieces which just fills up your wallet with heavy but virtually worthless junk - I bet with today's copper prices, the 1 & 2p coins would actually be worth more than their face value if sold as scrap! You have to fiddle round for half an hour at checkouts trying to get rid of this stuff and they have also conveniently mixed up the coin sizes relative to value which makes things even worse.
#2: Toilets
One annoying thing over here is the flush handles on all loos - these resemble door handles and sometimes have to be pushed several times or pumped rigorously to actually flush (especially if trying to remove a large triple-coil deposit). Another problem is that they still use those horrible smelling sanitary blocks in urinals, and in large quantities. In NZ, I think they realised that these things actually make your bollocks shrivel-up and fall off so have stopped using them. There truly is nothing like the smell of these blocks mixed with the smell of urine, cigarettes and beer. Some of the hostels we've visited are pretty grotty and they seem to have some strange aversion to providing hand-drying facilities. Also, here's a tip - in flash automatic toilets on trains, always remember to push the door 'lock' button.
#3: CCTV
No, this isn't some local TV station running programmes about a jam making contests run by the United League of Women, but the thousands of closed-circuit TV cameras watching every square-metre of public space. Apparently, the average Briton is caught on camera up to a couple of hundred times a day. There are all kinds of debate about the necessity of these things, their effectiveness and so on. Whatever side you're on, most will agree that there is something quite unnerving about being constantly watched. They're even starting to trial speakers on the cameras so they can tell people off - 'Oi you, hands out of pants!'. Though I admit, some major fun could be had if you were the one sitting in the control room.
Grrrr, the coins over here are ridiculous - they're so backward that they still have 1p, 2p, and 5p pieces which just fills up your wallet with heavy but virtually worthless junk - I bet with today's copper prices, the 1 & 2p coins would actually be worth more than their face value if sold as scrap! You have to fiddle round for half an hour at checkouts trying to get rid of this stuff and they have also conveniently mixed up the coin sizes relative to value which makes things even worse.
#2: Toilets
One annoying thing over here is the flush handles on all loos - these resemble door handles and sometimes have to be pushed several times or pumped rigorously to actually flush (especially if trying to remove a large triple-coil deposit). Another problem is that they still use those horrible smelling sanitary blocks in urinals, and in large quantities. In NZ, I think they realised that these things actually make your bollocks shrivel-up and fall off so have stopped using them. There truly is nothing like the smell of these blocks mixed with the smell of urine, cigarettes and beer. Some of the hostels we've visited are pretty grotty and they seem to have some strange aversion to providing hand-drying facilities. Also, here's a tip - in flash automatic toilets on trains, always remember to push the door 'lock' button.
#3: CCTV
No, this isn't some local TV station running programmes about a jam making contests run by the United League of Women, but the thousands of closed-circuit TV cameras watching every square-metre of public space. Apparently, the average Briton is caught on camera up to a couple of hundred times a day. There are all kinds of debate about the necessity of these things, their effectiveness and so on. Whatever side you're on, most will agree that there is something quite unnerving about being constantly watched. They're even starting to trial speakers on the cameras so they can tell people off - 'Oi you, hands out of pants!'. Though I admit, some major fun could be had if you were the one sitting in the control room.
Some things to love about the UK
#1: They take public transport seriously over here
Though it isn't fun when you have service outages or have to share a journey with nutters or drunk a-holes, it's very easy to get all over the place quite efficiently using public transport, which is great for us backpackers. One thing that surprised us was the extent of bus services on Skye in Scotland - buses frequently run in the middle of nowhere on one-lane roads, though this can obviously be a bit of an issue when your tour bus meets one!
#2: Vegetarians are treated like actual humans
Though we're not fully vegetarian anymore, it's been refreshing to find this diet well catered for, even in traditional pubs where you wouldn't expect it. There are usually several vege options on menus (rather than one in NZ - usually pasta), all vege dishes are clearly marked and even traditional food such as haggis and bangers and mash is available in vege versions. (though this might seem crazy to the connoisseur). The only problem with comprehensive labeling is that it gets over used - did you know that water is vegetarian?
#3: Long grass
OK, it might seem strange to get excited about grass but I like the way that lots of the urban parks are left quite natural with long-grass and areas left to run wild. In NZ, there seems to be a obsession with perfectly manicured grass and an emphasis on creating gardens in urban parks rather than creating a bit of the country in the city. It's great seeing wildlife such as squirrels in the middle of Hyde park.
Though it isn't fun when you have service outages or have to share a journey with nutters or drunk a-holes, it's very easy to get all over the place quite efficiently using public transport, which is great for us backpackers. One thing that surprised us was the extent of bus services on Skye in Scotland - buses frequently run in the middle of nowhere on one-lane roads, though this can obviously be a bit of an issue when your tour bus meets one!
#2: Vegetarians are treated like actual humans
Though we're not fully vegetarian anymore, it's been refreshing to find this diet well catered for, even in traditional pubs where you wouldn't expect it. There are usually several vege options on menus (rather than one in NZ - usually pasta), all vege dishes are clearly marked and even traditional food such as haggis and bangers and mash is available in vege versions. (though this might seem crazy to the connoisseur). The only problem with comprehensive labeling is that it gets over used - did you know that water is vegetarian?
#3: Long grass
OK, it might seem strange to get excited about grass but I like the way that lots of the urban parks are left quite natural with long-grass and areas left to run wild. In NZ, there seems to be a obsession with perfectly manicured grass and an emphasis on creating gardens in urban parks rather than creating a bit of the country in the city. It's great seeing wildlife such as squirrels in the middle of Hyde park.
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