Oh the blessing of the qwerty keyboard, let me sing thy praises.
Your Q is next to your W, not on the bottom row where some would have you sit; oh no! You take your rightful place under my last two fingers of the right hand, on the top rows, in important places!
Okay, enough.
We have been in Amsterdam for a few days now and it is such a relaxing, friendly city. Again the architecture is something from a story book, a pop-up one, as if there is nothing behind the facade. Canals are everywhere, as are the bicycles and the cats (I miss my little Genki very much in this town for every cafe seems to have a resident cat who lolls about on the footpath accepting pats). It is much cheaper here than in Paris and the service is friendly and English is so widely spoken that we do not feel lacking in communicative abilities.
We are staying at the Singel Hotel, right on one of the main canals - it is staffed by lovely people, especially the breakfast manager who is delicate in his attentions to the half awake guests - an important skill indeed! Yesterday morning Jason and I rushed down to breakfast at 9.50 (it finishes at 10am) and with glazed eyes surveyed the almost full room and heard giggling as we entered - it seems the whole room had come for breakfast in the last few minutes and it had become a little joke amongst them. Check out is 12 noon, which for a city which allows you to get ripped off your tits, is courteous.
Ali, Christian and Sara left this morning - Ali & Christian to fly home and Sara to spend a few more days in the UK before heading back. It was a little teary.
Jason and I meet up with Arna and Alex in Liege tomorrow night (Belgium) and perhaps to Germany thence.
Keep tuned!
x
Friday, July 29, 2005
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
What to do in Amsterdam?
I love France. Paris was lovely though expensive and the service and hospitality was nothing compared to the countryside. I highly recommend getting down to the Alps - cities like Grenoble and Gap and fab and do remind one of Adelaide with some wide boulevards but also some really narrow cobblestoned streets that I can certainly recommend not to take a 'camping carrrrr' down. I plan to go back to Paris because there's so much to see and so little time. The things about France that I do not take to as well: widespread lack of toilet seats, paying to go to the toilet. It all about the toilet, really. That and two camping grounds: Camping Bois de Boulonge in Paris is absolutely, by far, the WORST CAMPING GROUND IN FRANCE. The service is abominable, the services very few (pools were standard in just about every other place in France), they wanted six euro to use a washing machine (read about 10 dollars) and the sanitaires were the most disgusting place where their version of cleaning them was to take a hose and spray cold water across the floor - and even, as Mum found, under the door when you're on the toilet. I can not say enough rude things about it. The second camping ground to avoid is the one in Briancon in the Alps. We took the trouble of booking the day before because the Tour de France was stopping and starting a stage from there. We turned up, it was raining and tremendously busy. Of course they'd put my booking in for the following day and now they had no room but they would find somewhere. They wanted to give us the side of the road at the back of the camping ground, next to a huge under road drain, and run our electricity cable over the road! And pay for the privilege! We went back to the office and said it wasn't acceptable and the man was so rude, I can hardly tell you. But clouds and silver linings, or even abrupt about turns of luck do exist. We left in very poor humour and had gone down the road a couple of hundred metres to a T junction when we saw a sign in French which we desiphered to mean - free camping for the tour de france. A farmer had opened up a field on the side of the road and there were a couple of other camping carrrs there. Gratuite!! What's more, the next morning we awoke to find we were on the Tour route so we brought the van back up to the side of the road and drank our morning coffee as the bikes sailed by. We also got a bunch of free stuff from the 45 minutes of caravan that comes before the bikes: some hats, coffee, pretzels, keychains. So we fart in the general direction of those campsites.
In Paris Jason and I went up the Eiffel Tower, up god knows how many steps, to the second viewing platform. Me and heights are not the best of friends but I conquered. The view was of course fabulous. We did have a worried moment when we walked around the western side to see two separate columns of black smoke pouring into the sky, not terribly far apart - was it the metro? Had the bombs come to Paris too?
Still don't know what it was. And the next morning (yesterday) when Jason and I left Paris we arrived at the metro just as a train left. No one was on the platform and someone had left a small backpack on the seat.
It's paranoid yes, but you can't help looking about you and being wary. You sit on the train and think, this is where this sort of stuff happens.
Must say it has given me a little to think about with living in London - one of the failed attacks last week was on the line I will be taking.
Then we also climbed the Arc de Triomphe. I do advise you don't climb them both in the same day. Unless of course you're aiming for a butt of steel. The tomb of the unknown soldier at the bottom is sobering and the art on the arc itself is stunning.
So Jason and I took a train from Paris to Amsterdam yesterday and have ended up in the same hotel, indeed two doors down the corridor, from Christian, Ali and Sara.
Last night we went out for a lovely Thai meal (yes! Green chicken curry at last!) and thence to the red light district. We dawdled down the streets filled with shop windows with red lights and women in their underwear. Some are talking on their phones, some are doing their toilette, some are gyrating and some are so young it's heartbreaking.
But what is a visit to Amsterdam without trying the local produce?
We found a coffeehouse called Free Adam. It had the obligatory reggae music, pictures of Bob Marley etc. And a large menu of grass and hash.
Feeling a little Sound of Music, we ordered the Eidel Weiss. He warned us that it was strong and we thought 'ha! we're from Adelaide!'. I think he had the last laugh. We couldn't finish a joint between four and debated for some time as to whether we were allowed to take it with us for we had barely touched the baggie. It was about Adelaide prices - a 12.50 euro bag was about equivalent to a $25 one.
So we wandered about the red light district some more with increasing paranoia. Men stand on the street and speak as you go by: "Cocaine? Ecstasy?" We were offered it all. Live sex shows "real fucking and sucking?" for 25 euro. We were kindly informed by an English man whose mate had just entered one of the shop windows to partake of a black woman that a headjob was 20 euro, 30 for the lot and 50 if you want a white girl. So there you are - cheap, no?
We slept very late indeed today and took a canal cruise for an hour. There are canals everywhere, coming out in a concentric circle from the main train station. Some of the buildings were built in the sixteenth century and they love their tall, narrow decorative ones. Almost cardboard cut outs. We will stay here another day or so and then catch up with the folks somewhere nearby. We will then probably journey to Germany. Will write again soon!
x
In Paris Jason and I went up the Eiffel Tower, up god knows how many steps, to the second viewing platform. Me and heights are not the best of friends but I conquered. The view was of course fabulous. We did have a worried moment when we walked around the western side to see two separate columns of black smoke pouring into the sky, not terribly far apart - was it the metro? Had the bombs come to Paris too?
Still don't know what it was. And the next morning (yesterday) when Jason and I left Paris we arrived at the metro just as a train left. No one was on the platform and someone had left a small backpack on the seat.
It's paranoid yes, but you can't help looking about you and being wary. You sit on the train and think, this is where this sort of stuff happens.
Must say it has given me a little to think about with living in London - one of the failed attacks last week was on the line I will be taking.
Then we also climbed the Arc de Triomphe. I do advise you don't climb them both in the same day. Unless of course you're aiming for a butt of steel. The tomb of the unknown soldier at the bottom is sobering and the art on the arc itself is stunning.
So Jason and I took a train from Paris to Amsterdam yesterday and have ended up in the same hotel, indeed two doors down the corridor, from Christian, Ali and Sara.
Last night we went out for a lovely Thai meal (yes! Green chicken curry at last!) and thence to the red light district. We dawdled down the streets filled with shop windows with red lights and women in their underwear. Some are talking on their phones, some are doing their toilette, some are gyrating and some are so young it's heartbreaking.
But what is a visit to Amsterdam without trying the local produce?
We found a coffeehouse called Free Adam. It had the obligatory reggae music, pictures of Bob Marley etc. And a large menu of grass and hash.
Feeling a little Sound of Music, we ordered the Eidel Weiss. He warned us that it was strong and we thought 'ha! we're from Adelaide!'. I think he had the last laugh. We couldn't finish a joint between four and debated for some time as to whether we were allowed to take it with us for we had barely touched the baggie. It was about Adelaide prices - a 12.50 euro bag was about equivalent to a $25 one.
So we wandered about the red light district some more with increasing paranoia. Men stand on the street and speak as you go by: "Cocaine? Ecstasy?" We were offered it all. Live sex shows "real fucking and sucking?" for 25 euro. We were kindly informed by an English man whose mate had just entered one of the shop windows to partake of a black woman that a headjob was 20 euro, 30 for the lot and 50 if you want a white girl. So there you are - cheap, no?
We slept very late indeed today and took a canal cruise for an hour. There are canals everywhere, coming out in a concentric circle from the main train station. Some of the buildings were built in the sixteenth century and they love their tall, narrow decorative ones. Almost cardboard cut outs. We will stay here another day or so and then catch up with the folks somewhere nearby. We will then probably journey to Germany. Will write again soon!
x
Saturday, July 23, 2005
In Gay Paris
Okay, so we're in Paris and have found more internet!
We arrived yesterday (Friday) in the late afternoon and oh my god - DO NOT DRIVE A MOTORHOME AROUND THE ARC DE TRIUMPH!! (pardon the spelling). It was absloutely crazy, an enormous roundabout that admits of perhaps eight lanes though none are marked - vehicles come from all directions to cross in all directions!
We have met up with Christian, Ali and Sara and Arna and Alex are at present with Nick and Caroline. The Aussi contingent is now grouped!
We have been travelling around the French countryside which is absolutely beautiful, the French Alps and Provence particularly are awesome - picture postcard villages with narrow main streets and shutters on all the windows; we stayed for a night by a lake, swimming in the 36 degree heat whilst viewing the snow topped alps.
We met up with Phil and Sue in Nice but we had not been there long before Sue's bag was stolen from under her feet - goodbye passport. Unfortunately they then had to cancel the trip to Italy we were to take and go back to Paris to get another passport.
Arna and I rode our bikes a couple of times - once through the Alps from just outside Briançon (the highest city in Europe) for around 30km of descents in the 13 and 12%!!! I screamed out loud coming down through hairpin turns with both brakes on - awesome.
We also rode from Nice to Cannes; again around 30km of coastal road. Beach wise, Nice has stones, like river stones and you have to wear your shoes right down to the water; some people weren't bothered and we lying on their towels on the rocks. But Cannes! Sand, kiosks, topless women (I put that in for the benefit of the blokes for Jason and Alex were in heaven!)and the water is so much warmer and saltier and they don't have sharks at all - best swim in the ocean I've ever had.
Jason and I went out on the town in Aix en Provence (pronounced ex, like the letter x); we drank at a pub where the bartender clocked me as Australian as he'd spent some years in New Zealand, though born in Poland, lived in other places - I think he spoke about four languages which was handy. After the pub closed we had a postcard moment when we went down the road to a club - the doors were closed over and then a small sliding at eye level came open and we were checked out by the doorman before being allowed to enter. The place was jumping; a live band (they LOVE reggae in France!) and heaps of people; it was really fun and the first time we'd gotten to really go out in a decent sized place.
Today we went to the cemetry and paid our hommages to Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and all that - really amazing monuments and graves. There is a permanent security guard stationed at Jim's grave - they've cleaned up all the graffiti and fenced it off and the bust of his head that used to be there is long gone.
Tonight we plan to climb the Eiffel tower and tomorrow we will watch the Tour come down the Champs Elysee and somewhere in there too we will fit in the Louvre etc. There is so much to do and I hope we get through it all!
After Paris we do not have any fixed engagements so perhaps to WWI country in Northern France, thence to Amsterdam, Germany and who knows shere else - we have three weeks before heading back to the UK.
Sorry I've not had time to email - the pressure is on in these cafes and progress still somewhat impeded by the strange keyboard. I hope you are all well.
Au Revoir, mon amie!
xx
We arrived yesterday (Friday) in the late afternoon and oh my god - DO NOT DRIVE A MOTORHOME AROUND THE ARC DE TRIUMPH!! (pardon the spelling). It was absloutely crazy, an enormous roundabout that admits of perhaps eight lanes though none are marked - vehicles come from all directions to cross in all directions!
We have met up with Christian, Ali and Sara and Arna and Alex are at present with Nick and Caroline. The Aussi contingent is now grouped!
We have been travelling around the French countryside which is absolutely beautiful, the French Alps and Provence particularly are awesome - picture postcard villages with narrow main streets and shutters on all the windows; we stayed for a night by a lake, swimming in the 36 degree heat whilst viewing the snow topped alps.
We met up with Phil and Sue in Nice but we had not been there long before Sue's bag was stolen from under her feet - goodbye passport. Unfortunately they then had to cancel the trip to Italy we were to take and go back to Paris to get another passport.
Arna and I rode our bikes a couple of times - once through the Alps from just outside Briançon (the highest city in Europe) for around 30km of descents in the 13 and 12%!!! I screamed out loud coming down through hairpin turns with both brakes on - awesome.
We also rode from Nice to Cannes; again around 30km of coastal road. Beach wise, Nice has stones, like river stones and you have to wear your shoes right down to the water; some people weren't bothered and we lying on their towels on the rocks. But Cannes! Sand, kiosks, topless women (I put that in for the benefit of the blokes for Jason and Alex were in heaven!)and the water is so much warmer and saltier and they don't have sharks at all - best swim in the ocean I've ever had.
Jason and I went out on the town in Aix en Provence (pronounced ex, like the letter x); we drank at a pub where the bartender clocked me as Australian as he'd spent some years in New Zealand, though born in Poland, lived in other places - I think he spoke about four languages which was handy. After the pub closed we had a postcard moment when we went down the road to a club - the doors were closed over and then a small sliding at eye level came open and we were checked out by the doorman before being allowed to enter. The place was jumping; a live band (they LOVE reggae in France!) and heaps of people; it was really fun and the first time we'd gotten to really go out in a decent sized place.
Today we went to the cemetry and paid our hommages to Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and all that - really amazing monuments and graves. There is a permanent security guard stationed at Jim's grave - they've cleaned up all the graffiti and fenced it off and the bust of his head that used to be there is long gone.
Tonight we plan to climb the Eiffel tower and tomorrow we will watch the Tour come down the Champs Elysee and somewhere in there too we will fit in the Louvre etc. There is so much to do and I hope we get through it all!
After Paris we do not have any fixed engagements so perhaps to WWI country in Northern France, thence to Amsterdam, Germany and who knows shere else - we have three weeks before heading back to the UK.
Sorry I've not had time to email - the pressure is on in these cafes and progress still somewhat impeded by the strange keyboard. I hope you are all well.
Au Revoir, mon amie!
xx
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Internet at last
Bonjour tout le monde!
I am typing on a french keyboard so I am perhaps not quite as expressive as I would like.
We are in Gap in the south of France and it is very hot today - this little cafe is boiling so I will not write much.
The day after we arrived in Windsor (an hour from London) the bombs went off in the tube. The landlady at the pub where we were staying spent an anxious day on the phone - her son's girlfriend was on the train that went past the one that was bombed; what a contrast in the newspaper headlines - from celebrating London having gotten the Olympics to terrorism.
We have come across the Tour de France a few times, sometimes by accident. We stayed in a farmer's field outside Biançon to find ourselves on the route agqin so we had our morning coffee in our PJs and watched it go past. We waved our Aussi and boxing kangaroo flags with pride. Yesterday we were watching the race in a bar when Aussi Robbie McEwen won - we were loud in our cheering as you can imagine.
We have travelled some hairy roads through the Alps in the motorhome (that is, camping carrrr) and geez the scenery sucked; hot days in a lake surrounded by mountains upon which you could see snow.
Tomorrow we go to Nice and thence to Italy.
Internet access has been very poor but here's hoping to be more frequent in future!
I am typing on a french keyboard so I am perhaps not quite as expressive as I would like.
We are in Gap in the south of France and it is very hot today - this little cafe is boiling so I will not write much.
The day after we arrived in Windsor (an hour from London) the bombs went off in the tube. The landlady at the pub where we were staying spent an anxious day on the phone - her son's girlfriend was on the train that went past the one that was bombed; what a contrast in the newspaper headlines - from celebrating London having gotten the Olympics to terrorism.
We have come across the Tour de France a few times, sometimes by accident. We stayed in a farmer's field outside Biançon to find ourselves on the route agqin so we had our morning coffee in our PJs and watched it go past. We waved our Aussi and boxing kangaroo flags with pride. Yesterday we were watching the race in a bar when Aussi Robbie McEwen won - we were loud in our cheering as you can imagine.
We have travelled some hairy roads through the Alps in the motorhome (that is, camping carrrr) and geez the scenery sucked; hot days in a lake surrounded by mountains upon which you could see snow.
Tomorrow we go to Nice and thence to Italy.
Internet access has been very poor but here's hoping to be more frequent in future!
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