So I learned some Polish today: "jendobray", which means "hello".
Two girls our age took us around Paris to see the sights. We saw the Louvre, many little streets and shops, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, and many more stuff. Once I post the pictures, you'll see.
My french language skills are greatly improving as the days go by. The first day I could hardly speak any French, but now I'm pretty good. This is useful because the Goldas only speak Polish, French, and just a little bit of English.
Tonight we take the night train to Carcassonne and from there we take another train to Barcelona.
Au revoir mes amis.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Day 03
* The next two blogs will be quick.
On day 03 we saw the British Museum which was very close to our hostel. We saw Egyptian mummies, Assyrian statues, Roman and Greek sculptures, and many other things. We ate English style hot dogs with onions from a vendor on the road.
Then we took the train to Paris and arrived at the Golda's (friends of Tyler's parents).
On day 03 we saw the British Museum which was very close to our hostel. We saw Egyptian mummies, Assyrian statues, Roman and Greek sculptures, and many other things. We ate English style hot dogs with onions from a vendor on the road.
Then we took the train to Paris and arrived at the Golda's (friends of Tyler's parents).
Friday, October 3, 2008
Day 02
* We still can't upload any pictures because I forgot my USB at home, and Tyler forgot his SD reader at home too (but his parents will hopefully bring the SD reader for us in Gimmelwald).
Today we went to the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Horse Guards, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park the London Eye, ate at Sherlock Holmes Restaurant, Trafalgar Square, and finished our day off walking around Piccadilly Circus.
The Palace of Westminster is in session so we weren't able to go in, but we did walk around the outside of it and got some good pictures. And yes we saw and heard Big Ben chime 3:00.
Westminster Abbey was very cool as it's basically a huge church doubling as a tomb. Most of the royal family is buried here with some effigies of them carved into their coffins. There are also some writers and scientists buried here such as: Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Isaac Newton. Ironically, Charles Darwin is also buried here in a church and Tyler and I walked over his grave (he's buried underneath the floor).
Then we went walking towards Buckingham Palace. On the way we stopped to get a picture of the Royal Horse Guards, presumably Britain's version of the Mounties. Then we walked past Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), and passed some royal residences including St. James's Palace.
Then we arrived at Buckingham Palace which we also couldn't go in, but we got some good pictures of the outside and of a big fountain. There was a furry hat guard outside Buckingham who couldn't stop twitching. He should be fired ;-)
Then we made our way through St. James's Park, a royal park, that has pelicans. Yes, pelicans. It also has many other types of birds. The swans reminded me of Ottawa. It also has the most friendliest squirrells I've ever seen. They eat right out of your hand (like chipmunks). At one point Tyler knelt down to take a picture of some picgeons and they all started crowding around him like he was going to feed them, and I feel something on my leg. At first I think it's a pigeon, but it's a squirrel who has wrapped his legs around my leg and is climbing up my body. When I tried to take my camera out to take a picture of it, it ran away.
Then we rode on the London Eye, the world's biggest ferris wheel (or something like that). While getting in line to get our ticket we encountered James Bond/Pierce Brosnan (picture coming shortly). Each pod can hold about 15-20 people and it takes 30 minutes to complete the full cycle. I got some good pictures from the ride, including one of Vauxhall Cross (MI6 Headquarters).
Next, Tyler and I got some fish & chips at the Sherlock Holmes restaurant. The food was excellent and I'll post a picture of my meal once we're able to upload pictures.
We quickly stopped at Trafalgar Square which has a couple of fountains and statues.
Piccadilly Circus was our last stop of the day. No, it's not a circus with acrobats and human cannonballs. Instead, it's London's version of Times Square. It has big electronic billboards and theatres. Seeing the theatres in this area reminded me of Broadway in NYC. Some big stars like Josh Hartnett were starring in the shows. The area was packed with people going to shows or shopping at the high-priced stores.
Tomorrow is our last day in London and at 5:30 PM local time, we are leaving for Paris (a 2 hrs and 45 min train ride).
The weather today was 11 degrees Celsius with some sun, some cloud, and some rain. The wind was pretty cold at times.
And to clarify my very sleepy blog post from last night, the intersections don't just have 4 streets intersecting (which is pretty common everywhere), but they all seem to be diagonally meeting each other and some are one-ways, others are 4-lane streets. It's very confusing. Especially knowing which way to look.
Today we went to the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Horse Guards, Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park the London Eye, ate at Sherlock Holmes Restaurant, Trafalgar Square, and finished our day off walking around Piccadilly Circus.
The Palace of Westminster is in session so we weren't able to go in, but we did walk around the outside of it and got some good pictures. And yes we saw and heard Big Ben chime 3:00.
Westminster Abbey was very cool as it's basically a huge church doubling as a tomb. Most of the royal family is buried here with some effigies of them carved into their coffins. There are also some writers and scientists buried here such as: Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Isaac Newton. Ironically, Charles Darwin is also buried here in a church and Tyler and I walked over his grave (he's buried underneath the floor).
Then we went walking towards Buckingham Palace. On the way we stopped to get a picture of the Royal Horse Guards, presumably Britain's version of the Mounties. Then we walked past Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), and passed some royal residences including St. James's Palace.
Then we arrived at Buckingham Palace which we also couldn't go in, but we got some good pictures of the outside and of a big fountain. There was a furry hat guard outside Buckingham who couldn't stop twitching. He should be fired ;-)
Then we made our way through St. James's Park, a royal park, that has pelicans. Yes, pelicans. It also has many other types of birds. The swans reminded me of Ottawa. It also has the most friendliest squirrells I've ever seen. They eat right out of your hand (like chipmunks). At one point Tyler knelt down to take a picture of some picgeons and they all started crowding around him like he was going to feed them, and I feel something on my leg. At first I think it's a pigeon, but it's a squirrel who has wrapped his legs around my leg and is climbing up my body. When I tried to take my camera out to take a picture of it, it ran away.
Then we rode on the London Eye, the world's biggest ferris wheel (or something like that). While getting in line to get our ticket we encountered James Bond/Pierce Brosnan (picture coming shortly). Each pod can hold about 15-20 people and it takes 30 minutes to complete the full cycle. I got some good pictures from the ride, including one of Vauxhall Cross (MI6 Headquarters).
Next, Tyler and I got some fish & chips at the Sherlock Holmes restaurant. The food was excellent and I'll post a picture of my meal once we're able to upload pictures.
We quickly stopped at Trafalgar Square which has a couple of fountains and statues.
Piccadilly Circus was our last stop of the day. No, it's not a circus with acrobats and human cannonballs. Instead, it's London's version of Times Square. It has big electronic billboards and theatres. Seeing the theatres in this area reminded me of Broadway in NYC. Some big stars like Josh Hartnett were starring in the shows. The area was packed with people going to shows or shopping at the high-priced stores.
Tomorrow is our last day in London and at 5:30 PM local time, we are leaving for Paris (a 2 hrs and 45 min train ride).
The weather today was 11 degrees Celsius with some sun, some cloud, and some rain. The wind was pretty cold at times.
And to clarify my very sleepy blog post from last night, the intersections don't just have 4 streets intersecting (which is pretty common everywhere), but they all seem to be diagonally meeting each other and some are one-ways, others are 4-lane streets. It's very confusing. Especially knowing which way to look.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Day 01
First of all, no pictures in this Day 01 blog. Hopefully we'll get some uploaded tomorrow (if this computer lets us do it).
Today we went to see the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower of London was very neat and interesting. Unfortunately, as I've said in a previous post, we were half asleep, so we didn't enjoy it as much as we would have otherwise. We do have some nice pictures though. After that we went to eat at a little Italian restaurant in the Chelsea area, and walked around Chelsea/Kensington after. It's a very rich neighbourhood with BMWs and Mercedes all over the place. Also saw a nice Maserati and two different Bugatti Veyrons drove past 2 minutes apart.
London is though extremely busy, confusing, and BIG!. Here it is, a Thursday night, and there are loads of people out at clubs, restaurants, theatre shows. It's crazy! Then there's the confusing intersections. They're not really traffic circles, but there are always about 4 streets interecting at each intersection. Plus, the cars of course drive on the left side of the road, but we're always looking on the right hand side first (because in Canada we drive on the correct side of the road.) So we're always in danger of getting run over ;-) The subway is also confusing. The trains come very often, but we're constantly walking great distances underground lost in a maze, or traversing giant escalators.
But overall, I'm a fan of London and its culture and am looking forward to the next 2 days spent here. Hopefully Tyler and I will be more awake tomorrow when we go to the British Museum and the Westminster/Whitehall area.
And in case you're wondering, the weather today was 8 degrees Celsius (pretty cold) but sunny. Tomorrow is supposed to be 11 degrees and sunny, and on Saturday it's supposed to rain but be warmer.
Today we went to see the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower of London was very neat and interesting. Unfortunately, as I've said in a previous post, we were half asleep, so we didn't enjoy it as much as we would have otherwise. We do have some nice pictures though. After that we went to eat at a little Italian restaurant in the Chelsea area, and walked around Chelsea/Kensington after. It's a very rich neighbourhood with BMWs and Mercedes all over the place. Also saw a nice Maserati and two different Bugatti Veyrons drove past 2 minutes apart.
London is though extremely busy, confusing, and BIG!. Here it is, a Thursday night, and there are loads of people out at clubs, restaurants, theatre shows. It's crazy! Then there's the confusing intersections. They're not really traffic circles, but there are always about 4 streets interecting at each intersection. Plus, the cars of course drive on the left side of the road, but we're always looking on the right hand side first (because in Canada we drive on the correct side of the road.) So we're always in danger of getting run over ;-) The subway is also confusing. The trains come very often, but we're constantly walking great distances underground lost in a maze, or traversing giant escalators.
But overall, I'm a fan of London and its culture and am looking forward to the next 2 days spent here. Hopefully Tyler and I will be more awake tomorrow when we go to the British Museum and the Westminster/Whitehall area.
And in case you're wondering, the weather today was 8 degrees Celsius (pretty cold) but sunny. Tomorrow is supposed to be 11 degrees and sunny, and on Saturday it's supposed to rain but be warmer.
We've arrived!
Tyler and I have arrived in London, and we hardly got any sleep on the plane. So we're walking everywhere half asleep. Pictures will follow tomorrow (hopefully).
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Departure Day
Tonight our flight leaves from Toronto. Tomorrow we will be walking the streets of London.
At the bottom of each post, there's a comment section where you can leave comments for us like how cold it is in Ottawa, or how good the Habs are doing.
At the bottom of each post, there's a comment section where you can leave comments for us like how cold it is in Ottawa, or how good the Habs are doing.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Revised Schedule #2
Ok, I think this is going to be the final schedule...
October 1: Fly from Toronto to London.
October 2 - October 4: London, England
October 4 - October 6: Paris, France
October 7: Carcassonne, France
October 7 - October 9: Barcelona, Spain
October 10 - October 11: Gimmelwald, Switzerland
October 11 - October 13: Munich, Germany
October 13 - October 15: Salzburg, Austria
October 15 - October 17: Vienna, Austria
October 17 - October 19: Budapest, Hungary
October 20: Venice, Italy
October 20 - October 22: Florence, Italy
October 22: Pisa, Italy
October 22 - October 26: Rome, Italy
October 27 - October 29: Paris, France
October 29: Fly from Paris to Toronto
October 1: Fly from Toronto to London.
October 2 - October 4: London, England
October 4 - October 6: Paris, France
October 7: Carcassonne, France
October 7 - October 9: Barcelona, Spain
October 10 - October 11: Gimmelwald, Switzerland
October 11 - October 13: Munich, Germany
October 13 - October 15: Salzburg, Austria
October 15 - October 17: Vienna, Austria
October 17 - October 19: Budapest, Hungary
October 20: Venice, Italy
October 20 - October 22: Florence, Italy
October 22: Pisa, Italy
October 22 - October 26: Rome, Italy
October 27 - October 29: Paris, France
October 29: Fly from Paris to Toronto
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