Sooo due to the cold weather I've been too lazy to blog about my time here in Prague. Once we get back from sightseeing I just take a shower and knock out. Internet connection sucks, too >.< Let me recall as much as I can...
[WED 14.10.2009] Once we got to our room we were so amazed at how much space we had. I wanted to roll around in all the free space hahah. I refrained myself though. Its very clean and although we're staying in a hostel, we booked for a private room so we get our own bathroom and we don't have to worry about random people staying in our room. In our bathroom we have a toilet and a low sink-like structure. The thing next to the toilet is a bidet aka butt washer. Lets just say that I tried it and it was a little awkward for me. I don't think I'll be using that again hahah.
After we dropped off our luggage we were hungry for lunch and ate at a restaurant next door. The restaurant was like going into a tavern but the ground level was actually the bar only so we had to go down the stairs in a cave hallway to the sit-down portion. I ate a risotto in a creme sauce which cost me about 90CZK. We heard that lunch here is pretty cheap but with big portions and dinner is the same portions but twice the price so we loaded up on lunch. After we had a hearty meal (which was much needed after living off of street food and produce in Paris), our waiter offered us a drink to finish off our meal with: a shot of Becherovka. It wasn't a strong liqueur but it was very spicy and kept me warm for a good 10 minutes or so. I wasn't much of a fan of it. That was my first alcoholic drink in Europe, believe it or not!
We decided to walk of our meal by exploring the area and looking at all the different souvenir shops. There were a lot of bohemian glass things, pashminas, beanies with the word PRAGUE knitted around it, and wooden puppets (like Pinocchio!). The puppets reminded me of the goat puppet play in the Sound of Music =) Although seeing a whole store of puppets was a little creepy. We ate dinner at an Italian cafe where I just ordered onion soup with cheese for 45CZK. Not bad. I missed out though on the tiramisu which was apparently the best that Ling's ever had... we might go back again before we leave.
On our way back to the hostel, we had to pick up the key at reception so we dropped of our 50CZK for a towel deposit (per person). It was funny b/c Pui has the worst time understanding accents. The man asked "how many",and she replies "more money??" then he asks again, and this time she goes "no money?". They both seemed frustrated then I realized the 2nd time that he asked how many so I told him 4 hahah. We finally got our towels. At the restaurants, people were smoking so our clothes and hair reeked of cigarette smoke. We all felt so refreshed after taking a shower that night and it was even better since we didn't need to hold the shower head while we showered. It was probably one of the best showers I've had in Europe. =) The London bathroom was too tiny and the Paris one smelled of mold.
[THU 15.10.2009] Soapy woke up first and went to the post office to attempt to buy some boxes to ship stuff. However, no one understood what a box was. We told her she should have done the vogue thing and frame her face with her hands while saying box hahah. Then we had to ask receptionist how to ship stuff via fed ex but they have a PPL and DHL instead. Since we only knew of DHL we decided to hunt them down in old town after eating at Cafe Louvre (where F. Kafka and A. Einstein have dined).
Cafe Louvre was packed for brunch and the only open spot was in the bar area next to the billiards room. Every table other than ours was smoking but we had no other choice and we were starving. I had turkey and these bread dumplings for about 89CZK (I ordered from a menu that was written in Czech only with no English translations). I also ordered a horka cokolada which I thought was a hot chocolate but turned out to be a hot chocolate syrup in a small teacup. The texture was somewhere between a pudding and syrup. It was tasty but extremely rich so I just drank water with my meal.
After our smoky brunch, we headed to nove mesto aka new town to see the dancing building. It took us awhile to find it but we kept going into different stores to defrost on our way there (it was snowing/raining all day). We took lots of pictures with it and the scenery around it then our search for DHL began. On our hunt, we found a cute cafe hidden in an alley that served illy coffee. The cafe was very clean and had plenty of desserts and coffee so we defrosted there for a good hour or two. I ordered a latte macchiato and some jam and chocolate crepes for a total of 120CZK.
We stumbled upon Wencelas Square on our way to DHL and realized it was actually just a huge rectangle, not quite a square. It was a lot like a Champs de Elysses but not as high class/brand-name centered as Paris. We found a C&H which is like an H&M where I bought a cute floppy beanie to keep my head warm (350CZK). It was a little pricier than I'd hope to spend on a beanie but at least I know I'll get good use out of it since I'll be wearing it when I go home, too.
After circling a block we finally found DHL and realized we almost made a full 360 around that block to find it. We found out it would be $300+ to send about 5 kilos to the US. Also, we found out that they didn't have boxes there and that you take your stuff to be shipped to DHL and they pack it for you. After that, we walked around the "square" and shopped some more. Soapy and Ling got hungry so they bought some sausages from a nearby hot dog stand. The sausage had some kind of yellow mustardy gravy on it and the color of the sausage was a light beige color. They said it was good but then later they said it had a weird aftertaste... Hmm interesting.. I'm glad I didn't get one hahah.
After more shopping we headed home but decided last minute to attend a concert at the st vitus cathedral near our hostel. The concert was very beautiful and the musicians were talented. We heard an organ introduction/starting piece and a quartet played for the remainder of the concert. They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons and also pieces by Bach, Tchaikovsky and some others. The acoustics in the cathedral glorified the sound of the music and the concert lasted for about an hour. In the middle of the concert, Pui left to use the restroom which was in a nearby hotel but she never came back. We were so worried about her and were scared so as soon as the concert finished we left the cathedral only to find her there at the entrance. Apparently she didn't understand where the bathroom was and went back to our hostel instead. Then when she wanted to come back to the concert, she couldn't figure out how to open the door to exit the courtyard for awhile. By the time she reached the concert is right when we got out so she ended up missing half of the concert.. sadness! Ling also swore that Pui would never go to the restroom alone again >.<
After the concert, we decided to eat dinner at a nearby tavern where I ended up ordering almost the exact same thing I ate for lunch except instead of turkey meat it was roast beef. I was extremely saddened that I didn't have something new because I didn't like how the dish was lukewarm. Pretty dumb that I ended up ordering the same thing since I didn't know the name of my lunch dish in English hahah. Soapy ordered half a duck and I had some of hers which was much better than my roast beef. Ling also ordered the beer they claimed was "the best beer on the world". In fact, it was pretty good, and I'm not a beer fan either. Ling turned red but she claimed she didn't feel anything but was shocked by her color when we got back to our room hahahah. Good times. We pretty much washed up and knocked out.. It was a long day.
[FRI 16.10.2009] Today, we planned to see Bethlehem Chapel, Old Town Square and the Prague Castle. The girls also wanted to drop off their stuff at DHL to get it shipped so first thing we did was take a taxi with all the stuff to DHL. They all shipped their stuff home to allow for more room in their luggage for Italy and also make their loads lighter for travel between the cities. I, on the other hand, cannot shell out as much as they did for the convenience of a smaller luggage so I am stuck hauling all my stuff around but I think I'll manage. If I managed to drag my stuff through the subways in London and Paris I think I can survive Italy commuting.
We decided to go back to the little cafe we ate at yesterday for breakfast since they also had savory crepes and eggs. I ordered a spinach and bacon savory crepe which was about 80CZK. I also had a latte macchiato to accompany my meal. I still wanted dessert though and settled for a 35CZK apple strudel. The strudel reminded me of Sound of Music again from the song "My Favorite Things" haha.
We took too long to make it to the walking tour that met up at Old Town Square but headed there anyway to check it out and see what the astronomical clock was all about. It was 40 after the hour so the clock wouldn't go off for another 20 minutes. Although 20 minutes doesnt seem that long it seemed forever in freezing cold weather so we ended up walking around and going into the nearby shops. We planned to head towards Bethleham Chapel but instead went the opposite way towards the water. We just walked back to our place to defrost since our frozen faces didn't have the capacity to be outside any longer.
Now here I am doing laundry in the internet room of the hostel and my internet connection still sucks. It costs us 100CZK to do one load of laundry and also another 100CZK to dry our laundry. Ling and her sister are currently eating dinner next door since Soapy and I aren't hungry. I just finished my leftover crepes for dinner =) When they get back, hopefully our laundry will be done and we will head to the castle and savor its beauty at night. Tomorrow we shall be leaving at about 10am to catch our flight to Rome.. one more week in Italy then back home! I'm kinda homesick though but I think I can manage for another week. I'm sure Italy has plenty more experiences in store for us. I think I'm most excited about the gelato and chocolate festival though =)
K. Going to check on laundry now.. Ill update when I'm in la citta eterna!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
AU REVOIR PARIS
Yesterday was a bit hectic so I didn't get the chance to blog about our last day of Paris.. here's as much as I can remember...
[TUES 13.10.09] Our last day of Paris we did much more sight seeing than we've done our whole time there. We finished washing our last load of laundry early in the morning to get more done throughout the day. As I was walking back up the hill towards our apartment, I got to see the sunrise peeking through the tall elegant buildings.. it was so pretty. I definitely know I want to come back to Montmartre, it's such a cute place. If I had more time in Paris I'd be content staying in that neighborhood only.
Our first stop was to see the last scenes Montmartre had to offer. We left our apartment at about 1000ish to find the "I love you" wall that apparently we passed by so many times before. It was hidden in a park across from the Abbesses metropolitain station. The wall is a black wall with "I love you" written all over it in different types of script in various languages in white. I was disappointed because they had so many but no Tagalog =( Sadness. Nonetheless, I still liked it. The park where the wall stood was very small but so peaceful. Down the street and parallel to Rue de Abbesses lies Moulin Rouge in the red light district aka Boulevard de Clichy. I've never been to Vegas but it was kind of what I imagined Vegas to be like. Left and right there were dirty stores everywhere. Sex this and that and boobs and man junk in all the store windows. I felt a little awkward and paranoid (since it was pretty busy... aka pickpocketer central) so I walked really fast and made the group catch up with me lol. We finally found it and took our pictures. It was one of those things where you just take the picture and go.. not much else to see. On our way to Moulin Rouge we saw a few shops that were actually open, though, and I got the chance to buy some souvenirs and buy my last goodies from a patisserie. I ate a chocolate croissant (1,60E) for my late breakfast, a sammich (4,50E) for real food when I got hungry again later and some doughnuts (1,50E for 5) to snack on later... just living it up in Paris hahah...
The rest of our day we planned to take our time to see the Eiffel Tower and see Notre Dame then walk around to shop or whatever we decided to do. The metro took us to the Eiffel tower and it crossed the Siene River to get there. It was a good view from the metro but when we finally got to the tower ourselves, part of it was under construction and we were too close to get a good shot. We decided to enjoy the view and I ate half of my sammich while the others snacked on glace (ice cream). I also took my favorite picture EVER of our trip in front of le tour de eiffel.. has something to do with a Ling and turtles hahaahha. After a bazillion shots with the tower and its surroundings we took the RER to the Notre Dame. Notre Dame was so beautiful and detailed. Its amazing how much detail is in the building's outer structure. The inside was also extremely detailed as well. I wasn't sure if there was an actual service going on but we got to walk around it while a choir sang. It was so peaceful despite everyone having mini side conversations. From there we did some shopping and walked around til our feet could no longer take it anymore. At the apartment I got to see the sun set in Montmartre on the Sacre Coeur for the last time... one of the best moments in Paris.
[WED 14.10.09] This morning I awoke early enough to do all my last minute packing and getting ready. I literally finished everything at about 605 when our landlord arrived at 610. The taxi picked us up at 615 to take us to the airport to catch our flight to Prague. We bought our plane tickets via smartwings.net but our itinerary didn't mention the airlines we were riding nor did it have a contact number listed for the airline. Our taxi cab driver kept asking us which CDG terminal and we had to stop by the first terminal to find out we were supposed to get to terminal 3. We made Pui get out since she was closest but she disappeared for a good 3 minutes or so.. but enough to freak Soapy out (she saw a bunch of army dudes around) and make me bite my nails as I watched the meter price increase. Terminal 3 seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere for all the little airlines. Right when we got out of our taxi at the destination (he pulled into a parking lot in front of terminal 3) the price on the meters was about 59 euros so we gave him 60 euros when we got our luggage out. Then apparently that wasn't the real price and our total price ended up being 66 euros because it included the ticket to park when he was in the lot for less than 5 minutes (it said 0-10min = gratuit). Something tells me we ended up getting ripped off but we didn’t analyze it until we were already in Prague. Sadness.
Our check-in for the flight went smooth other than me forgetting to take out a knife and fork out of a set for my godchild (that was super expensive and cute *tear*). The flight was only an hr and twenty minutes to Prague but we still got a free ham sammich and cup of juice.
PRAGUE
When we arrived in Prague, it was frrrreeeezing. “Welcome to Prague, the current temperature is 2 degrees.” We took a taxi, who didn’t rip us off, to our little hotel. The driving here is really unorganized. Our taxi took forever to take a left and we were stopped on a tram railway. Soapy freaked out bc she saw a tram heading our way and then realized that it would stop hahah. At the intersection there is no right of way, people go if they can or let others go to be polite. You either have to hope someone will let you in or be an aggressive driver. Once we arrived at our place it was so cute.. the buildings are medieval so we enter through the street via a large and tall doorway then in the alley there are other restaurants and doors that are very narrow. Our room, though, is like an apartment that’s probably 2xs as big as our Paris apartment. I’m getting a little tired but I’ll write about these tomorrow:
- Boudet
- Becherovka
- Lunch
- Towels & money
Good night <3
[TUES 13.10.09] Our last day of Paris we did much more sight seeing than we've done our whole time there. We finished washing our last load of laundry early in the morning to get more done throughout the day. As I was walking back up the hill towards our apartment, I got to see the sunrise peeking through the tall elegant buildings.. it was so pretty. I definitely know I want to come back to Montmartre, it's such a cute place. If I had more time in Paris I'd be content staying in that neighborhood only.
Our first stop was to see the last scenes Montmartre had to offer. We left our apartment at about 1000ish to find the "I love you" wall that apparently we passed by so many times before. It was hidden in a park across from the Abbesses metropolitain station. The wall is a black wall with "I love you" written all over it in different types of script in various languages in white. I was disappointed because they had so many but no Tagalog =( Sadness. Nonetheless, I still liked it. The park where the wall stood was very small but so peaceful. Down the street and parallel to Rue de Abbesses lies Moulin Rouge in the red light district aka Boulevard de Clichy. I've never been to Vegas but it was kind of what I imagined Vegas to be like. Left and right there were dirty stores everywhere. Sex this and that and boobs and man junk in all the store windows. I felt a little awkward and paranoid (since it was pretty busy... aka pickpocketer central) so I walked really fast and made the group catch up with me lol. We finally found it and took our pictures. It was one of those things where you just take the picture and go.. not much else to see. On our way to Moulin Rouge we saw a few shops that were actually open, though, and I got the chance to buy some souvenirs and buy my last goodies from a patisserie. I ate a chocolate croissant (1,60E) for my late breakfast, a sammich (4,50E) for real food when I got hungry again later and some doughnuts (1,50E for 5) to snack on later... just living it up in Paris hahah...
The rest of our day we planned to take our time to see the Eiffel Tower and see Notre Dame then walk around to shop or whatever we decided to do. The metro took us to the Eiffel tower and it crossed the Siene River to get there. It was a good view from the metro but when we finally got to the tower ourselves, part of it was under construction and we were too close to get a good shot. We decided to enjoy the view and I ate half of my sammich while the others snacked on glace (ice cream). I also took my favorite picture EVER of our trip in front of le tour de eiffel.. has something to do with a Ling and turtles hahaahha. After a bazillion shots with the tower and its surroundings we took the RER to the Notre Dame. Notre Dame was so beautiful and detailed. Its amazing how much detail is in the building's outer structure. The inside was also extremely detailed as well. I wasn't sure if there was an actual service going on but we got to walk around it while a choir sang. It was so peaceful despite everyone having mini side conversations. From there we did some shopping and walked around til our feet could no longer take it anymore. At the apartment I got to see the sun set in Montmartre on the Sacre Coeur for the last time... one of the best moments in Paris.
[WED 14.10.09] This morning I awoke early enough to do all my last minute packing and getting ready. I literally finished everything at about 605 when our landlord arrived at 610. The taxi picked us up at 615 to take us to the airport to catch our flight to Prague. We bought our plane tickets via smartwings.net but our itinerary didn't mention the airlines we were riding nor did it have a contact number listed for the airline. Our taxi cab driver kept asking us which CDG terminal and we had to stop by the first terminal to find out we were supposed to get to terminal 3. We made Pui get out since she was closest but she disappeared for a good 3 minutes or so.. but enough to freak Soapy out (she saw a bunch of army dudes around) and make me bite my nails as I watched the meter price increase. Terminal 3 seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere for all the little airlines. Right when we got out of our taxi at the destination (he pulled into a parking lot in front of terminal 3) the price on the meters was about 59 euros so we gave him 60 euros when we got our luggage out. Then apparently that wasn't the real price and our total price ended up being 66 euros because it included the ticket to park when he was in the lot for less than 5 minutes (it said 0-10min = gratuit). Something tells me we ended up getting ripped off but we didn’t analyze it until we were already in Prague. Sadness.
Our check-in for the flight went smooth other than me forgetting to take out a knife and fork out of a set for my godchild (that was super expensive and cute *tear*). The flight was only an hr and twenty minutes to Prague but we still got a free ham sammich and cup of juice.
PRAGUE
When we arrived in Prague, it was frrrreeeezing. “Welcome to Prague, the current temperature is 2 degrees.” We took a taxi, who didn’t rip us off, to our little hotel. The driving here is really unorganized. Our taxi took forever to take a left and we were stopped on a tram railway. Soapy freaked out bc she saw a tram heading our way and then realized that it would stop hahah. At the intersection there is no right of way, people go if they can or let others go to be polite. You either have to hope someone will let you in or be an aggressive driver. Once we arrived at our place it was so cute.. the buildings are medieval so we enter through the street via a large and tall doorway then in the alley there are other restaurants and doors that are very narrow. Our room, though, is like an apartment that’s probably 2xs as big as our Paris apartment. I’m getting a little tired but I’ll write about these tomorrow:
- Boudet
- Becherovka
- Lunch
- Towels & money
Good night <3
Monday, October 12, 2009
MONMARTRE
[12.10.2009] We didn't leave Montmartre at all today which was fine with me. All we had planned was to explore the area and find some cute shops to buy our souvenirs. We didn't get the memo that most stores are closed on Mondays so we were pretty disappointed with our shopping selection but found some shops that were open. We were hungry since Soapy's early morning pastry shopping didn't hold us over. I ate half a chocolate croissant this morning (thanks Soapy!) and it was delicious! Extremely flakey and buttery just the way croissants should be. I wonder if the French eat them daintily without getting crumbs and flakes all over themselves like I do =/ Later after walking around a bit, we got hungry again and I halved a pizza-like sandwich thing from a nearby patisserie and ate a mille feuil (??) aka some thousand layer pastry with flakey dense crusts layered with creme. cést bon. We wandered down rue abbesses or abscess street as we call it haha.
Then after more wandering and window shopping the closed stores, we went back to the apartment to hang out, watch pop music videos and take a nap. After waking up and watching more pop videos we left the apartment to do some grocery shopping for dinner where I bought my cannelloni in a box (4,50E). The grocery store was overwhelming because it was busy and extremely small. Most of the French I spoke today was "pardon" or "escuse moi".. I haven't learned much since I came here haha. Pui asked the produce guy for some grapes by pointing to the green grapes and saying one. Then he pulled off a grape and said one? Hahahah.. then she was like noo one whole then he pulled a HUGE bunch of grapes hahah. I bet he had the time of his life teasing her.. poor Pui.
After heating up dinner in our "trusty" microwave in 4 different heat settings, we ate our gummy cheesed out lasagna, etc then headed to the laundromat. The laundry place closes at 22h and we got there at about 21h so just enough time to dry my hand-washed clothes and run one load of laundry. When we got there and stuffed our clothes in we were perplexed by the number of holes there were to put detergent in. Apparently there were 2 holes for detergent because one was for the 1st wash or pre-wash and the 2nd was for the "good" wash. We were so confused at first but luckily there was a guy who spoke english and explained it to us... but it was AFTER we dumped all our detergent into the first hole.. The owner lady who was black only spoke French but she felt bad that we put all our soap in the wrong hole and filled our second one with free detergent. She even stayed after until our laundry was completely finished at about 22:10. Verr nice. At about 22:05 the lights turned off and we were sitting in the dark waiting for the last of our clothes to finish its drying cycle. She explained to us that it automatically turns off at that time so it was ok. Cést bon she assured us =) As for laundry prices.. it costs us 4E to use the small washer and 1E per 10 minutes of drying in the jumbo dryer.
Since today was chill day tomorrow we're gonna try to see the last of the sights since we're leaving for Prague on Wednesday morning. We have planned Moulin Rouge and the "I love you wall" in Montmartre then a close up of the eiffel tower and notre dame. Hopefully I can find some more cute stores and paperies that are open tomorrow since its Tuesday..
Anyway, its about 100 here.. Bon soiré =)
Then after more wandering and window shopping the closed stores, we went back to the apartment to hang out, watch pop music videos and take a nap. After waking up and watching more pop videos we left the apartment to do some grocery shopping for dinner where I bought my cannelloni in a box (4,50E). The grocery store was overwhelming because it was busy and extremely small. Most of the French I spoke today was "pardon" or "escuse moi".. I haven't learned much since I came here haha. Pui asked the produce guy for some grapes by pointing to the green grapes and saying one. Then he pulled off a grape and said one? Hahahah.. then she was like noo one whole then he pulled a HUGE bunch of grapes hahah. I bet he had the time of his life teasing her.. poor Pui.
After heating up dinner in our "trusty" microwave in 4 different heat settings, we ate our gummy cheesed out lasagna, etc then headed to the laundromat. The laundry place closes at 22h and we got there at about 21h so just enough time to dry my hand-washed clothes and run one load of laundry. When we got there and stuffed our clothes in we were perplexed by the number of holes there were to put detergent in. Apparently there were 2 holes for detergent because one was for the 1st wash or pre-wash and the 2nd was for the "good" wash. We were so confused at first but luckily there was a guy who spoke english and explained it to us... but it was AFTER we dumped all our detergent into the first hole.. The owner lady who was black only spoke French but she felt bad that we put all our soap in the wrong hole and filled our second one with free detergent. She even stayed after until our laundry was completely finished at about 22:10. Verr nice. At about 22:05 the lights turned off and we were sitting in the dark waiting for the last of our clothes to finish its drying cycle. She explained to us that it automatically turns off at that time so it was ok. Cést bon she assured us =) As for laundry prices.. it costs us 4E to use the small washer and 1E per 10 minutes of drying in the jumbo dryer.
Since today was chill day tomorrow we're gonna try to see the last of the sights since we're leaving for Prague on Wednesday morning. We have planned Moulin Rouge and the "I love you wall" in Montmartre then a close up of the eiffel tower and notre dame. Hopefully I can find some more cute stores and paperies that are open tomorrow since its Tuesday..
Anyway, its about 100 here.. Bon soiré =)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
PARIS
[11.10.09] I just finished a delicious pastry from a patisserie nearby.. I have no idea what it was called but its layered with flakey dough and creme. The top part of the pastry was glazed with sugar then topped with strawberries. Cést bon! As of now this is marking the end our day 2 in Paris.. sad that time is going by so fast! I'm beginning to love it here, especially in our neighborhood of Montmartre. The beginning of our Parisian adventure was a very bad impression of the city but its growing on me =)
--NOTE: Let's rewind back to yesterday and how it all went down... also keep in mind I never studied french so I probably have it all wrong... >.<
[10.10.09] As soon as we arrived in Gare du Nord, everything around us was French including the signs. Luckily I can read pictures and we were able to easily find our way to the Metro. The sad thing was that we did not know how to buy our Metro tickets via the machine since that, too, was in French. We ended up buying a pack of 10 metro tickets via the Ticket window where the lady spoke English.. YAY. On our way back to the Metro line, some gypsies asked us for money. The way they asked was weird. "Do you speak English?" If you responded yes, which I did... they show you a paper in English showing their situation and asking for money. I thought it was weird how they just didn't ask me straightaway after I responded I speak English rather than showing me the paper...
Anyway, we got on the line and got off at Chateau Rouge where there were a LOT of Africans. There was a swarm of people attempting to enter the Metro station as we exited and someone shoved me back through the turnstile so I got stuck for a bit in the middle. Did I mention that I was hauling my luggage with me?? I was really scared and hung on to my purse and luggage for dear life. When I finally got out of the station onto the main street, my friends were waiting for me and were wondering where I went since I was just behind them before I got shoved back.
We got lost finding our apartment even though we knew it was by the Sacre Coeur church but we couldn't manage to locate ourselves on the map. When we finally saw signs pointing toward the direction to the church all the streets were uphill and steep so we dragged our luggage up and down 5 or 6 blocks before we got onto the road we were looking for. That totally drained us out so we were happy to finally reach the apartment. However, once we put in the code to the door, we entered only to come across another door which we could not open. The lady who was supposed to meet us could not be contacted until another 10 minutes passed then she finally said she was coming down to meet us.
She was very kind and told us that it was busy because of the wine festival happening at the church later on in the evening. Also we mentioned that we got off Chateau Rouge and she called it Africa. She told us the area that we were staying in has very different parts of it such as "Africa"and "China"and some others I forgot. She showed us around the apartment which is very cute. We are on the 3rd level but luckily there was a lift to bring our luggage up. The lift is the smallest room in the world. It says max capacity is 2 persons but I'd say it only fits one skinny/small person comfortably. I went in the lift last with my luggage and it was so small.. once the elevator doors close then there is barely any light inside as it goes up. I wouldn't recommend it to claustrophobic people. When we get to our floor there are 3 doors, we go into one then there are 2 more doors. One of those doors leads to our apartment. We have to lock both that door and our door when we enter/leave so I feel very safe. It is a hassle though since it takes a lil time. What if there was a real fire coming..? We'd be screwed trying to scramble with our keys to open the doors. Our view from the apartment is spectacular. From one room, we see the back of the Sacre Coeur and from the main room there is a panoramic view of Paris.
After getting settled in we decided to explore the festival happenings. When we were leaving we realized we didn't know how to open the 2nd door to enter the apartment complex without having someone open it for us so we asked the restaurant next door. He showed us that the key had a remote that you touch to a sensor to open it automatically. He laughed after he explained and looked at us... "Japan.. technologie!! China.. technologie!!" Yeah apparently even though we're all asian we don't have the concept of technology lol. The festival was super crowded but exciting. It was right in front of the church and there were people playing music and tents set up selling food and wine all around the church's perimeter. We ordered some street food (7E) and bought some macaroons (100kg = 10E). Our food was delicious and I attempted to go back today, the last day, but they were closed by the time I reached them. I spoke my first French words in France when I ordered my food.. parlais vous englese? Luckily the asian guy serving the food also spoke fluent English and French and I was able to check the ingredients (no fish or peanuts please). He gave us generous portions which we still have leftover in our fridge here.
After we saw enough wine, sweets, meat, bread, and couples making out, we wandered away from the festival to sit down and eat. We found a spot to grub along a fence, listened to some guy play the tetris theme song on a clarinet, and enjoyed the view of the church lit up at night. We wandered a bit around the area and saw some cute shops, cafes and picked up some dessert. Gelato for 2 of my friends and 2 sucre crepes for me and my friend. Crepes were 2,50E and I think was quite a steal. "Un...sucre...crepe..si vous plait?"she went along with my lame french but I was happy. Ling ordered hers by interrupting and putting up 2 fingers. Deux?? Oui. We headed back to our apartment after that and called it a night.
[11.10.09] Today we had the whole day reserved for the Louvre but we took our sweet time getting ready and arrived there via metro around 11pm. The line was long but luckily we didn't wait that long. We ended up getting in line at the museum store to buy tickets so we weren't even sure where the main entrance was. The metro tunnel took us directly to the store entrance which was convenient. The Louvre is enormous, lovely, and exhausting. We went up and down so many stairs there that we didn't care to see Mona Lisa after seeing 2 wings of the museum. We were starving when we first go to the museum so I ate an apple turnover (1,30E) in hopes that it would hold me over until dinner time. Stupid me had a throbbing headache and got fatigued after going up and down so many steps.
After we saw the egyptian artifacts and mummies we wandered around the area and almost everything was closed since it was Sunday. We were in search of some good food (a real meal) that cost less than the fare for food at the museum. We stumbled across a ramen restaurant and ate there. I had shoyu ramen (7,50E) which was pretty good. Still, the price was expensive and a lot more than I would expect to pay for a bowl of ramen. Nonetheless, I was satisfied and reenergized by my bowl of carbs.
We headed back to the Louvre since its a day pass to see the Mona Lisa but we decided to wander the jardin in front of the Louvre instead. They were very beautiful and surprisingly colorful considering the weather. There were a lot of random modern sculptures (gigantic silver heads) put up as well which was weird because it was right next to all these classical statues.. but it was still cool haha. We could see the Arc de Trimophe from the place de concorde (where I bought a sucre crepe for 2,50E again hahah) and decided to walk towards it and shop around Champs de' Elyses. We ended up walking all the way up the street and empty handed b/c everything is brand-name and super pricey. The Louis Vuitton store was 3 stories! We caught the metro and came back to the apartment from there.
We bought some fruits on our way back from the metro station. They were so delicious! Very fresh and even the grapes did not taste sour at all. We bought green ones that were large and round with seeds. After resting for a bit, Soapy and I decided to check out the wine festival one last time before it ended but once we got there they turned off the festival lights. A little disappointed, we decided to wander the area and see what else was open. We saw some extremely cute shops, that were closed, along the way to revisit tomorrow. There were a lot of cafes still open but not that many shops/vendors. We found one patisserie that was still open where I bought my layered pastry/cake and Soapy got a strawberry tart.
Now here I am, pastry devoured and exhausted from walking up and down stairs all day. I think I shall call it a night from here... good night moon. <3
--NOTE: Let's rewind back to yesterday and how it all went down... also keep in mind I never studied french so I probably have it all wrong... >.<
[10.10.09] As soon as we arrived in Gare du Nord, everything around us was French including the signs. Luckily I can read pictures and we were able to easily find our way to the Metro. The sad thing was that we did not know how to buy our Metro tickets via the machine since that, too, was in French. We ended up buying a pack of 10 metro tickets via the Ticket window where the lady spoke English.. YAY. On our way back to the Metro line, some gypsies asked us for money. The way they asked was weird. "Do you speak English?" If you responded yes, which I did... they show you a paper in English showing their situation and asking for money. I thought it was weird how they just didn't ask me straightaway after I responded I speak English rather than showing me the paper...
Anyway, we got on the line and got off at Chateau Rouge where there were a LOT of Africans. There was a swarm of people attempting to enter the Metro station as we exited and someone shoved me back through the turnstile so I got stuck for a bit in the middle. Did I mention that I was hauling my luggage with me?? I was really scared and hung on to my purse and luggage for dear life. When I finally got out of the station onto the main street, my friends were waiting for me and were wondering where I went since I was just behind them before I got shoved back.
We got lost finding our apartment even though we knew it was by the Sacre Coeur church but we couldn't manage to locate ourselves on the map. When we finally saw signs pointing toward the direction to the church all the streets were uphill and steep so we dragged our luggage up and down 5 or 6 blocks before we got onto the road we were looking for. That totally drained us out so we were happy to finally reach the apartment. However, once we put in the code to the door, we entered only to come across another door which we could not open. The lady who was supposed to meet us could not be contacted until another 10 minutes passed then she finally said she was coming down to meet us.
She was very kind and told us that it was busy because of the wine festival happening at the church later on in the evening. Also we mentioned that we got off Chateau Rouge and she called it Africa. She told us the area that we were staying in has very different parts of it such as "Africa"and "China"and some others I forgot. She showed us around the apartment which is very cute. We are on the 3rd level but luckily there was a lift to bring our luggage up. The lift is the smallest room in the world. It says max capacity is 2 persons but I'd say it only fits one skinny/small person comfortably. I went in the lift last with my luggage and it was so small.. once the elevator doors close then there is barely any light inside as it goes up. I wouldn't recommend it to claustrophobic people. When we get to our floor there are 3 doors, we go into one then there are 2 more doors. One of those doors leads to our apartment. We have to lock both that door and our door when we enter/leave so I feel very safe. It is a hassle though since it takes a lil time. What if there was a real fire coming..? We'd be screwed trying to scramble with our keys to open the doors. Our view from the apartment is spectacular. From one room, we see the back of the Sacre Coeur and from the main room there is a panoramic view of Paris.
After getting settled in we decided to explore the festival happenings. When we were leaving we realized we didn't know how to open the 2nd door to enter the apartment complex without having someone open it for us so we asked the restaurant next door. He showed us that the key had a remote that you touch to a sensor to open it automatically. He laughed after he explained and looked at us... "Japan.. technologie!! China.. technologie!!" Yeah apparently even though we're all asian we don't have the concept of technology lol. The festival was super crowded but exciting. It was right in front of the church and there were people playing music and tents set up selling food and wine all around the church's perimeter. We ordered some street food (7E) and bought some macaroons (100kg = 10E). Our food was delicious and I attempted to go back today, the last day, but they were closed by the time I reached them. I spoke my first French words in France when I ordered my food.. parlais vous englese? Luckily the asian guy serving the food also spoke fluent English and French and I was able to check the ingredients (no fish or peanuts please). He gave us generous portions which we still have leftover in our fridge here.
After we saw enough wine, sweets, meat, bread, and couples making out, we wandered away from the festival to sit down and eat. We found a spot to grub along a fence, listened to some guy play the tetris theme song on a clarinet, and enjoyed the view of the church lit up at night. We wandered a bit around the area and saw some cute shops, cafes and picked up some dessert. Gelato for 2 of my friends and 2 sucre crepes for me and my friend. Crepes were 2,50E and I think was quite a steal. "Un...sucre...crepe..si vous plait?"she went along with my lame french but I was happy. Ling ordered hers by interrupting and putting up 2 fingers. Deux?? Oui. We headed back to our apartment after that and called it a night.
[11.10.09] Today we had the whole day reserved for the Louvre but we took our sweet time getting ready and arrived there via metro around 11pm. The line was long but luckily we didn't wait that long. We ended up getting in line at the museum store to buy tickets so we weren't even sure where the main entrance was. The metro tunnel took us directly to the store entrance which was convenient. The Louvre is enormous, lovely, and exhausting. We went up and down so many stairs there that we didn't care to see Mona Lisa after seeing 2 wings of the museum. We were starving when we first go to the museum so I ate an apple turnover (1,30E) in hopes that it would hold me over until dinner time. Stupid me had a throbbing headache and got fatigued after going up and down so many steps.
After we saw the egyptian artifacts and mummies we wandered around the area and almost everything was closed since it was Sunday. We were in search of some good food (a real meal) that cost less than the fare for food at the museum. We stumbled across a ramen restaurant and ate there. I had shoyu ramen (7,50E) which was pretty good. Still, the price was expensive and a lot more than I would expect to pay for a bowl of ramen. Nonetheless, I was satisfied and reenergized by my bowl of carbs.
We headed back to the Louvre since its a day pass to see the Mona Lisa but we decided to wander the jardin in front of the Louvre instead. They were very beautiful and surprisingly colorful considering the weather. There were a lot of random modern sculptures (gigantic silver heads) put up as well which was weird because it was right next to all these classical statues.. but it was still cool haha. We could see the Arc de Trimophe from the place de concorde (where I bought a sucre crepe for 2,50E again hahah) and decided to walk towards it and shop around Champs de' Elyses. We ended up walking all the way up the street and empty handed b/c everything is brand-name and super pricey. The Louis Vuitton store was 3 stories! We caught the metro and came back to the apartment from there.
We bought some fruits on our way back from the metro station. They were so delicious! Very fresh and even the grapes did not taste sour at all. We bought green ones that were large and round with seeds. After resting for a bit, Soapy and I decided to check out the wine festival one last time before it ended but once we got there they turned off the festival lights. A little disappointed, we decided to wander the area and see what else was open. We saw some extremely cute shops, that were closed, along the way to revisit tomorrow. There were a lot of cafes still open but not that many shops/vendors. We found one patisserie that was still open where I bought my layered pastry/cake and Soapy got a strawberry tart.
Now here I am, pastry devoured and exhausted from walking up and down stairs all day. I think I shall call it a night from here... good night moon. <3
Saturday, October 10, 2009
PARIS
ENROUTE TO PARIS:
[10.10.09] We are currently on the EuroStar train leaving London St. Pancras or London's Pancreas =) Sadly, we thought it would be better to just buy our train tickets at the window in person so we could have some flexibility when leaving London. However, when we got there, the cheapest train would leave at 1600 hours when the one we originally planned to take was at 1300. We decided that leaving at 1600 hours would make us arrive in Paris at 1930hrs.. too late. The price we paid for our train ride at 1230 is double the price of the 1600 one but it seemed as we were left with no choice. We ended up just getting a first class ticket for all of us so we could sit together. It comes with a 3-course meal and champagne for 10GBPs more than 2nd class. Sadly, this cuts into the rest of my budget by a lot but I think I'll manage.
I realize I didn't get the chance to blog much about our hotel accommodations. It was decent priced for a decent room. It was clean: bed made, the paint was new, furniture wasn't aged much but the spring bed mattress was horrible and uncomfortable. Also, we had no clock radio so I never knew what time it was unless I asked Soapy since she had her phone on. The bathroom was extremely small but clean. Once you walk into the bathroom, everything is within arms-length. I could probably take a dump, brush my teeth and scrub someone in the shower simultaneously if I wanted. The flusher was a little difficult to maneuver at first since pulling the handle down wasn't enough to make the toilet paper go down the drain. Instead, doing so only made it sink to the bottom. We found out (after freaking out that we couldn't take any #2s in our hotel) that if you hold down the flusher long and with force, everything eventually goes down.
As for checking out of the hotel today, it was no problem. The biggest problem we had was not how large our luggage was but transporting our luggage through the British Transit tunnels and transferring trains. The only lift we came across was when we first got to the station, which then opened its doors to reveal a flight of steps to go down to catch the train. This wasn't too bad. However, when we transferred, or should I say try to transfer, to the Victoria Line, it was closed so we had to go with plan B and transfer 2 more times. We went up and down steps to transfer to different platforms and it was difficult without the assistance of lifts and escalators. Maybe first class is a better ride for us to rest our weary bodies.
Anyway, my overall perception of London?? It's not too bad.. people are generally friendly and I didn't feel like someone was going to pickpocket me. There are a lot of Indians though, I've noticed. At the palace I saw some sort of memorial for a number of East Asia countries since they helped Britain fight in the war. I assume that's probably the reason why the Indian population in London is so large. I feel like I saw enough of London though and I wouldn't mind coming back. I'm a little scared though for Paris since only one out of 4 of us studied French... I know it will be a completely different experience there with the language barrier.
-- RANDOM SIDE NOTE:
We just got the menus for the 1st class train and inside it says their motto is "tread lightly, eat well"... sounds like my kind of motto hahaha. =)
I shall update you all later when I'm in the city of lights... goodbye <33
[10.10.09] We are currently on the EuroStar train leaving London St. Pancras or London's Pancreas =) Sadly, we thought it would be better to just buy our train tickets at the window in person so we could have some flexibility when leaving London. However, when we got there, the cheapest train would leave at 1600 hours when the one we originally planned to take was at 1300. We decided that leaving at 1600 hours would make us arrive in Paris at 1930hrs.. too late. The price we paid for our train ride at 1230 is double the price of the 1600 one but it seemed as we were left with no choice. We ended up just getting a first class ticket for all of us so we could sit together. It comes with a 3-course meal and champagne for 10GBPs more than 2nd class. Sadly, this cuts into the rest of my budget by a lot but I think I'll manage.
I realize I didn't get the chance to blog much about our hotel accommodations. It was decent priced for a decent room. It was clean: bed made, the paint was new, furniture wasn't aged much but the spring bed mattress was horrible and uncomfortable. Also, we had no clock radio so I never knew what time it was unless I asked Soapy since she had her phone on. The bathroom was extremely small but clean. Once you walk into the bathroom, everything is within arms-length. I could probably take a dump, brush my teeth and scrub someone in the shower simultaneously if I wanted. The flusher was a little difficult to maneuver at first since pulling the handle down wasn't enough to make the toilet paper go down the drain. Instead, doing so only made it sink to the bottom. We found out (after freaking out that we couldn't take any #2s in our hotel) that if you hold down the flusher long and with force, everything eventually goes down.
As for checking out of the hotel today, it was no problem. The biggest problem we had was not how large our luggage was but transporting our luggage through the British Transit tunnels and transferring trains. The only lift we came across was when we first got to the station, which then opened its doors to reveal a flight of steps to go down to catch the train. This wasn't too bad. However, when we transferred, or should I say try to transfer, to the Victoria Line, it was closed so we had to go with plan B and transfer 2 more times. We went up and down steps to transfer to different platforms and it was difficult without the assistance of lifts and escalators. Maybe first class is a better ride for us to rest our weary bodies.
Anyway, my overall perception of London?? It's not too bad.. people are generally friendly and I didn't feel like someone was going to pickpocket me. There are a lot of Indians though, I've noticed. At the palace I saw some sort of memorial for a number of East Asia countries since they helped Britain fight in the war. I assume that's probably the reason why the Indian population in London is so large. I feel like I saw enough of London though and I wouldn't mind coming back. I'm a little scared though for Paris since only one out of 4 of us studied French... I know it will be a completely different experience there with the language barrier.
-- RANDOM SIDE NOTE:
We just got the menus for the 1st class train and inside it says their motto is "tread lightly, eat well"... sounds like my kind of motto hahaha. =)
I shall update you all later when I'm in the city of lights... goodbye <33
Friday, October 9, 2009
EUROTRIP BEGINNINGS
The following was written on Thursday, Oct 8th... in case you get confused about my writing tense:
NORTHWEST AIRLINES:
We scored a $675 plane ticket, open jaw from SEA --> LHR / VCE --> SEA but unfortunately you get what you pay for: a delayed outgoing flight, only 10 minutes to spare to catch our transfer in Minneapolis/St. Paul and bad quality airplane monitors.
Our first flight was domestic but due to some weather and apparently construction issues, our flight was delayed by 30 minutes, leaving us only 10 minutes to deboard the plane, find food, and find our transferring flight gate before boarding to London. The movie they played was "My Sister's Keeper" but the monitor ended up blurring the movie for the last 30 remaining 30 minutes of the movie. Both Soaps and I were sad since we heard good reviews about the movie and have been meaning to watch it.
Our second flight was much roomier and we also got dinner, which I assumed we didn't since I never get fed for free on domestic flights. We were served dinner right after we stuffed our faces with Chinese food we bought at MSP. Our touch screens were pretty cool until they kept restarting every once in awhile =/ On the other hand, I saved my food for a midnight snack and it was actually really good vegetarian pasta.
LONDON:
[WED 7.10.09] Once we landed in London it was a long line to get to "interrogation". They only asked me a few questions and I was on my way but for some reason they held Soaps back for a few more questions. It was her first time traveling international and she was nervous already so this did not help with her stress level. We got through and everything was fine until we picked up our luggage and couldn't find our other friends who flew via British Airways. We landed in different terminals and had to meet at the central terminal after costing each other 1.50 in text messages.
We then purchased a train ticket to London which cost about 7 pounds. My friend almost purchased the Heathrow Express ticket for double the price. Our stop, Paddington was only a few stops away . Our first view of London was the stop immediately following the airport, Harem, which reminded me of the ghettos of the Bay Area when riding the BART. I was surprised at how ghetto most of the stops were, actually. I just assumed everything in London was pretty like in the movies. Our area, however, is quite nice and sometimes I wonder if love actually is all around... The point of the Heathrow Express was to skip all the ghetto parts and travel straight from the airport to Paddington Station.
Most people vacation to a spot where weather is nice and everyone dresses half naked, however, the weather in London was almost identical to our dreary Seattle weather. The irony of this was that when we left Seattle, it was nice sunny weather. We had to roll our luggage through puddles and find our hotel. However, once we found it, there was a sign saying we had to check in across the street... pretty inconvenient if you ask me! On top of their reception being in a different building with a different name, we have to drop off our room key at reception whenever we leave our room, then return to the reception to retrieve it when we return... apparently we go through all this trouble because they only have 1 key to the room. What I want to know is, how do they know if we end up keeping the key when we go out?
Crossing the street took some getting used to even with signs on the ground saying "LOOK LEFT" or "LOOK RIGHT". Being a jay-walking rebel here could be more dangerous than in the states for me. Our first day in London we spent it settling down and catching up on sleep since we were all exhausted. We also discovered that wifi was not free and that it costs 2 pounds per hour. Not knowing where to eat, we asked a receptionist where she suggests a good dinner place for us and she asks us "what do you fancy?"*sigh* British English is so cute! But then when I hesitated to answer she asked if we were looking for Chinese food.. um WRONG. Just because we're all Asian doesn't mean we want Chinese food... We asked for Indian and ate at a place called "taste of India". The food was OK but I've had better... so much for Indian food being super good in London!
[THU 8.10.09] Today, day 2 of London, we bought a day pass on the tube for 5.60 pounds and explored a few places. We first caught the tube at Lancaster Gate right across from Kensington Gardens, which reminds me of central park but prettier. Its a land where dogs roam leash or "lead"-free and are extremely obedient! Also, I got to see a swan up close =) The park is beautiful and I hope I can go back at least one more time before we head to Paris. We took the tube to Tottenham Ct Rd station to find Ling's all-time favorite designer flagship store: Orla Kiely. She pined over everything and left with a gigantic shopping bag. I kind of wanted a small shopping bag since they were so adorable and bought a face towel with cars on it. =) Technically I left with more than I paid for, a face towel and a lunch bag hahah. I also was tempted to buy a cup of Starbucks to see how it compared. After waiting for my drink I realized that everyone before me got their drinks before I did! I found out the hard way that once you pay for your drink, you tell the barista what drink you had so they can hand it to you. They don't call out completed drink orders here =/ Although I find that it is less convenient, it seems much more proper to talk to the barista directly rather than not say anything at all, have them yell out your order, then take it and go without having to say a word...
Anyway, we explored the area, saw Trafalger Square, The National Gallery, and ate at a cute cupcake place that had delicious sandwiches (mine cost 3.85 pounds). We also visited the British Museum which was gorgeous and had many cool artifacts. Being the language nerd that I am, my favorite exhibit was the Rosetta Stone. I still cannot believe I got to see the real slate in person! We tubed over to St. James and saw the St. James Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern Museum. We soaked in the rest of the sunlight by the bridge sipping mochas and hot chocolates while a man sold the most annoying bird whistles behind us. The view and the music was unforgettable... We topped off our evening by revisiting Monmouth Street (home of Orla Kiely) with a plan to eat bangers & mash at a pub next to the cupcake cafe. Unfortunately the pub and almost every surrounding restaurant was packed but we managed to find one with an open spot for 4: a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called Pete's Salad Bar Cafe. We all ended up ordering meat dishes which were OK. The best part of the meal was the dessert: Brazilian Pudding which was similar to tiramisu but possibly more delicious.
Now, here we are back at the hotel. We saw a lot today, much more than I expected to see but I don't feel overwhelmed, nor do I feel like there isn't enough time to see the rest of the sights tomorrow. I'm relaxed and enjoying my time here. The only downside is I felt we had wasted too much time looking for the right street or direction to head to but hey, its not like we know this area so its expected. I did however research our itinerary for tomorrow so we spend less time wandering where we don't want to. I am exhausted after all the walking but still feel chubs from all the food I ate. I thought that being on a budget would make me spend less money, which it does, but I still end up buying food. Without the convenience of a microwave it seems that leftovers aren't an option. Of course I hope my mindset about this changes when we stay in Paris but we'll see.. once a foodie, always a piggie =)
--UPDATE ON 9.10.09:
[FRI 9.10.09] Our last full day in London I think we museum-ed out. We wanted to see all our last sights while we were still here since we're leaving tomorrow. We started our day off by taking the tube to Piccadilly Circus to see how crazy it was but it wasn't as busy as we thought since it was only 10am. Most of the shops here open late (11am) and close early (5pm). We wandered around Piccadilly Circus area and ended up walking to Chinatown by Leicester Square Station. Chinatown was pretty small but we found a bakery that was open early and bought some pastries (egg tart, custard bun and hotdog buns). We paid 3.80 pounds for our total when our friends, who spoke Cantonese to one of the sellers paid 4 pounds total for more food than we bought. Sucks to be ripped off =( Then we took the nearest tube to head to Hyde Park Square to see the Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace.
We got to the palace before the changing of the guards but were too cold to stay outside and wait so we ended up walking to the Victoria Line to tube to some museums. Today's weather was overcast with strong cold winds so we wanted to defrost indoors. Soapy had been waiting to visit the Natural History Museum and we were not disappointed! There we saw dinosaurs and other stuffed animals (not teddy bears but dead animals who were stuffed) and minerals. My favorite exhibits was the Vault that had the most expensive gems and stones and the brontosaurus skeleton. It reminded me a lot of "A Night at the Museum"haha =) After spending a few hours there we tried to leave but the Museum was so huge we just kept walking through and found more parts of it. After exiting, we went to the Science Museum next door but could only manage to explore for an hour. I'd say half of the hour was dedicated to their gift shop haha. I really wanted to buy a little Lego man on a keychain who had a "torch"/flashlight on the bottom of his feet but he was too expensive and would have cost 8 pounds. We had originally planned to see the Victoria & Albert Museum next door but our legs were tired and some of us had blisters on our feet so we headed to Westminster to see the last of our sites and make it home ASAP.
As soon as we got off Westminster Station, Big Ben was standing there before our eyes! It was beautiful and also conveniently located so we didn't have to walk too far. Westminster Abbey and the view of the London Eye were also just around the corner so we were able to take pictures of those. Westminster Abbey, where Princess Diana's funeral service was held, was breathtaking and definitely worth the trip over there. Unfortunately it was closed for tours so we couldn't see the inside. From there a sign said that the Victoria stop was nearby but it wasn't really and the gloomy rain came back to shower us. Fortunately, there was a pub where we could rest our weary feet and order some "bangers and mash". It was delicious and decent priced. Soapy and I ordered 2 orders of sausage and mash for 10 pounds. Very filling. Luckily the nearest tube station was across the street, the St. James Station.
We just got back a little bit ago and there's plenty of evening left to spare. I'm spending the rest of the evening packing and planning for country #2: France. Tomorrow we shall be en route to Paris =) Hopefully we will have WiFi access from there!
-- UPDATE AN HR LATER:
just realized I had free WiFi access in the lobby at the reception across the street. pretty lame considering my discovery happened our last night here.. BOO.
NORTHWEST AIRLINES:
We scored a $675 plane ticket, open jaw from SEA --> LHR / VCE --> SEA but unfortunately you get what you pay for: a delayed outgoing flight, only 10 minutes to spare to catch our transfer in Minneapolis/St. Paul and bad quality airplane monitors.
Our first flight was domestic but due to some weather and apparently construction issues, our flight was delayed by 30 minutes, leaving us only 10 minutes to deboard the plane, find food, and find our transferring flight gate before boarding to London. The movie they played was "My Sister's Keeper" but the monitor ended up blurring the movie for the last 30 remaining 30 minutes of the movie. Both Soaps and I were sad since we heard good reviews about the movie and have been meaning to watch it.
Our second flight was much roomier and we also got dinner, which I assumed we didn't since I never get fed for free on domestic flights. We were served dinner right after we stuffed our faces with Chinese food we bought at MSP. Our touch screens were pretty cool until they kept restarting every once in awhile =/ On the other hand, I saved my food for a midnight snack and it was actually really good vegetarian pasta.
LONDON:
[WED 7.10.09] Once we landed in London it was a long line to get to "interrogation". They only asked me a few questions and I was on my way but for some reason they held Soaps back for a few more questions. It was her first time traveling international and she was nervous already so this did not help with her stress level. We got through and everything was fine until we picked up our luggage and couldn't find our other friends who flew via British Airways. We landed in different terminals and had to meet at the central terminal after costing each other 1.50 in text messages.
We then purchased a train ticket to London which cost about 7 pounds. My friend almost purchased the Heathrow Express ticket for double the price. Our stop, Paddington was only a few stops away . Our first view of London was the stop immediately following the airport, Harem, which reminded me of the ghettos of the Bay Area when riding the BART. I was surprised at how ghetto most of the stops were, actually. I just assumed everything in London was pretty like in the movies. Our area, however, is quite nice and sometimes I wonder if love actually is all around... The point of the Heathrow Express was to skip all the ghetto parts and travel straight from the airport to Paddington Station.
Most people vacation to a spot where weather is nice and everyone dresses half naked, however, the weather in London was almost identical to our dreary Seattle weather. The irony of this was that when we left Seattle, it was nice sunny weather. We had to roll our luggage through puddles and find our hotel. However, once we found it, there was a sign saying we had to check in across the street... pretty inconvenient if you ask me! On top of their reception being in a different building with a different name, we have to drop off our room key at reception whenever we leave our room, then return to the reception to retrieve it when we return... apparently we go through all this trouble because they only have 1 key to the room. What I want to know is, how do they know if we end up keeping the key when we go out?
Crossing the street took some getting used to even with signs on the ground saying "LOOK LEFT" or "LOOK RIGHT". Being a jay-walking rebel here could be more dangerous than in the states for me. Our first day in London we spent it settling down and catching up on sleep since we were all exhausted. We also discovered that wifi was not free and that it costs 2 pounds per hour. Not knowing where to eat, we asked a receptionist where she suggests a good dinner place for us and she asks us "what do you fancy?"*sigh* British English is so cute! But then when I hesitated to answer she asked if we were looking for Chinese food.. um WRONG. Just because we're all Asian doesn't mean we want Chinese food... We asked for Indian and ate at a place called "taste of India". The food was OK but I've had better... so much for Indian food being super good in London!
[THU 8.10.09] Today, day 2 of London, we bought a day pass on the tube for 5.60 pounds and explored a few places. We first caught the tube at Lancaster Gate right across from Kensington Gardens, which reminds me of central park but prettier. Its a land where dogs roam leash or "lead"-free and are extremely obedient! Also, I got to see a swan up close =) The park is beautiful and I hope I can go back at least one more time before we head to Paris. We took the tube to Tottenham Ct Rd station to find Ling's all-time favorite designer flagship store: Orla Kiely. She pined over everything and left with a gigantic shopping bag. I kind of wanted a small shopping bag since they were so adorable and bought a face towel with cars on it. =) Technically I left with more than I paid for, a face towel and a lunch bag hahah. I also was tempted to buy a cup of Starbucks to see how it compared. After waiting for my drink I realized that everyone before me got their drinks before I did! I found out the hard way that once you pay for your drink, you tell the barista what drink you had so they can hand it to you. They don't call out completed drink orders here =/ Although I find that it is less convenient, it seems much more proper to talk to the barista directly rather than not say anything at all, have them yell out your order, then take it and go without having to say a word...
Anyway, we explored the area, saw Trafalger Square, The National Gallery, and ate at a cute cupcake place that had delicious sandwiches (mine cost 3.85 pounds). We also visited the British Museum which was gorgeous and had many cool artifacts. Being the language nerd that I am, my favorite exhibit was the Rosetta Stone. I still cannot believe I got to see the real slate in person! We tubed over to St. James and saw the St. James Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern Museum. We soaked in the rest of the sunlight by the bridge sipping mochas and hot chocolates while a man sold the most annoying bird whistles behind us. The view and the music was unforgettable... We topped off our evening by revisiting Monmouth Street (home of Orla Kiely) with a plan to eat bangers & mash at a pub next to the cupcake cafe. Unfortunately the pub and almost every surrounding restaurant was packed but we managed to find one with an open spot for 4: a vegan/vegetarian restaurant called Pete's Salad Bar Cafe. We all ended up ordering meat dishes which were OK. The best part of the meal was the dessert: Brazilian Pudding which was similar to tiramisu but possibly more delicious.
Now, here we are back at the hotel. We saw a lot today, much more than I expected to see but I don't feel overwhelmed, nor do I feel like there isn't enough time to see the rest of the sights tomorrow. I'm relaxed and enjoying my time here. The only downside is I felt we had wasted too much time looking for the right street or direction to head to but hey, its not like we know this area so its expected. I did however research our itinerary for tomorrow so we spend less time wandering where we don't want to. I am exhausted after all the walking but still feel chubs from all the food I ate. I thought that being on a budget would make me spend less money, which it does, but I still end up buying food. Without the convenience of a microwave it seems that leftovers aren't an option. Of course I hope my mindset about this changes when we stay in Paris but we'll see.. once a foodie, always a piggie =)
--UPDATE ON 9.10.09:
[FRI 9.10.09] Our last full day in London I think we museum-ed out. We wanted to see all our last sights while we were still here since we're leaving tomorrow. We started our day off by taking the tube to Piccadilly Circus to see how crazy it was but it wasn't as busy as we thought since it was only 10am. Most of the shops here open late (11am) and close early (5pm). We wandered around Piccadilly Circus area and ended up walking to Chinatown by Leicester Square Station. Chinatown was pretty small but we found a bakery that was open early and bought some pastries (egg tart, custard bun and hotdog buns). We paid 3.80 pounds for our total when our friends, who spoke Cantonese to one of the sellers paid 4 pounds total for more food than we bought. Sucks to be ripped off =( Then we took the nearest tube to head to Hyde Park Square to see the Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace.
We got to the palace before the changing of the guards but were too cold to stay outside and wait so we ended up walking to the Victoria Line to tube to some museums. Today's weather was overcast with strong cold winds so we wanted to defrost indoors. Soapy had been waiting to visit the Natural History Museum and we were not disappointed! There we saw dinosaurs and other stuffed animals (not teddy bears but dead animals who were stuffed) and minerals. My favorite exhibits was the Vault that had the most expensive gems and stones and the brontosaurus skeleton. It reminded me a lot of "A Night at the Museum"haha =) After spending a few hours there we tried to leave but the Museum was so huge we just kept walking through and found more parts of it. After exiting, we went to the Science Museum next door but could only manage to explore for an hour. I'd say half of the hour was dedicated to their gift shop haha. I really wanted to buy a little Lego man on a keychain who had a "torch"/flashlight on the bottom of his feet but he was too expensive and would have cost 8 pounds. We had originally planned to see the Victoria & Albert Museum next door but our legs were tired and some of us had blisters on our feet so we headed to Westminster to see the last of our sites and make it home ASAP.
As soon as we got off Westminster Station, Big Ben was standing there before our eyes! It was beautiful and also conveniently located so we didn't have to walk too far. Westminster Abbey and the view of the London Eye were also just around the corner so we were able to take pictures of those. Westminster Abbey, where Princess Diana's funeral service was held, was breathtaking and definitely worth the trip over there. Unfortunately it was closed for tours so we couldn't see the inside. From there a sign said that the Victoria stop was nearby but it wasn't really and the gloomy rain came back to shower us. Fortunately, there was a pub where we could rest our weary feet and order some "bangers and mash". It was delicious and decent priced. Soapy and I ordered 2 orders of sausage and mash for 10 pounds. Very filling. Luckily the nearest tube station was across the street, the St. James Station.
We just got back a little bit ago and there's plenty of evening left to spare. I'm spending the rest of the evening packing and planning for country #2: France. Tomorrow we shall be en route to Paris =) Hopefully we will have WiFi access from there!
-- UPDATE AN HR LATER:
just realized I had free WiFi access in the lobby at the reception across the street. pretty lame considering my discovery happened our last night here.. BOO.
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