In Salzburg, the town of Mozart because the locals here do not know what The Sound of Music is about. Came for the weekend via Munich and I was a bit worried initially because the connections were pretty tight. Luckily for me I managed to clear customs and made it to the S-Bahn in time for my connection to Salzburg at Munich Ost. I was pretty tired after a 4am start and wasn't impressed to find the train packed so I had to stand for some part of the journey. All was forgotten though when I got to my destination as glorious sunny weather was there to welcome me. When I checked into the hotel I asked them about certain tours but unfortunately the afternoon tours were all booked out. It wasn't a bad thing I guess and I decided to have a longer lunch before heading up to the fortress to get a view of the city.
Lunch was at the oldest restaurant in Salzburg and the food was pretty good. Wasn't impressed with the initial service though as the waiter at the front basically ignored me while I was standing in front of him. I was given a small table by the window and the guy who served me was a lot better, so I gave him a tip at the end.
Walking past the funicular entrance I decided I couldn't be bothered lining up so I decided to walk up the hill... damn it was steep and tiring... It was a nice day so the view was pretty good, but the tour inside the fortress itself wasn't that great. Wouldn't recommend unless there is nothing else better you want to do. I took the funicular back to town and had an ice-cream while watching people play with the giant chess board.
I rested a bit back at the hotel before going out for dinner. This place was listed as no 2 on Trip Advisor. I had a schnitzel and I was quite full after that. I walked around a bit after dinner before calling it a night as I was pretty buggered by then.
Woke up the next day by the church bells and after breakfast I went to the meeting point for my Sound of Music bicycle tour. I had a bit of time on my hand so I walked around the Mirabell Gardens before all the tourists start packing the place. I waited for a while and the guide didn't come until 5-10 minutes before the tour start, but no matter because she was pretty hot. Maclaria was probably like some of the girls' experience with Mike the hottie but in no doubt hotter because she is female. The tour itself was great and highly recommended if you don't want to be on a bus singing along to the Sound of Music and want to get some exercise on a nice day while enjoying the scenery of Salzburg. It takes you to all the places you expect to see from the movie. You don't have to be fit either as there was an American family with 3 girls all less than 10 year old doing the tour. Their dad however being American was being an American asking me 'can...you...speak...English?' after telling him I'm from Australia... He then said 'Oh...Australia...so...you...must...speak...English...then...' all in slow motion.
I was pretty tired by then and after lunch I sat in the gardens for a bit before collecting my bag and headed back to Munich. As I was buying my ticket some guy offered to sell me his Bayern ticket so I got it for a slight discount. The only issue was it was a group ticket and when the guard checked my ticket and asked me whether I was by myself I was like I don't speak German and I have no idea what you are talking about. A fellow passenger then offered to translate but it didn't really matter since it was a valid ticket.
Right now I'm sitting in the BA lounge waiting for my flight, probably try to get a bit more food before the flight so hopefully photos will be up sometime later in the week.
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
South Africa check list
Need to do:
- Organise transfer from airport to accommodation (emailed a few)
- Organise day tours (emailed a couple of places)
- Binoculars
- Lens hire (looking at 100-400mm)
- Torch
- Malaria tablets
- Spare camera battery
- Bigger camera bag, perhaps a backpack, need more research
- Pick up tickets in Johannesburg on arrival
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Bulgaria
Even though I am a bit behind with my posting (Switzerland/Italy trip, games at the Emirates) I thought I would share with you my skiing trip to Bulgaria. I didn't know what to expect from the start with everyone telling us how crap the resort is and all but it can't be that bad right if people are still going there? I'll let you decide.
Day 1:
3:15am wake up for the 4am cab ride to Gatwick. Apart from the lack of sleep, it wasn't too bad. The flight over was quite smooth as well and the landing was so much better than some of the ones I have experienced recently. The car ride to Bansko allowed us to see the city a little bit in Sophia and it has a China feel to it being ex-communist and all. It could have been the weather but everything seems dull and gray. We managed to check into the hotel and it looked quite nice outside, but as we inspected closely, the build quality is not so good and you can feel the wall wobbling when you touch it. I guess if an apartment costs 22,000 euro to buy you shouldn't expect too much. We went to sort out our gear and bought our lift pass, ate some food, then called it a day.
Day 2:
Got up early to get up to the mountains, the breakfast in the hotel wasn't too bad. The line for the gondola up the mountain wasn't too long, I think we waited for around 30 minutes but the ride up actually took another 30 minutes. It felt quite warm when we got there and the snow is well... at least you can ski on it. Went to practice a bit on a baby slope in preparation for our lesson. As the day went by, the lines for the ski lifts and T-Bars got longer and longer. The slopes had more and more people, we were told by another couple in the group that it took them 1.5hrs to get up to the mountain in the morning waiting for the gondola when they lined up at 9am. Went back to the hotel and hit the sauna and steam room, according to the posters the hotel charges 3 euro for 30 minutes in the sauna. As a guest at the hotel, it should be free. Didn't pay.
For dinner we went to a local restaurant. We soon realised that every restaurant sells the same food. Which is not a problem because food is actually quite good, cheap, and lots of meat. The problem is it makes the whole town smells like BBQ with smoke everywhere. We tried to look for a place for New Year's eve but everything was so expensive for local standard. We went back to the hotel and crashed.
Day 3:
Our ski lesson was at 9am so we had to get up early again. Instant noodles was magnificent. NJ_La decided to sleep in a bit and ended up having to wait 1.5hrs at the gondola. Skiing condition was so so since it didn't snow and it was warm again so on the way back, we decided to take the gondola down rather than the long ski road down to the bottom of the mountain. The ski road is actually quite a good idea, it is an easy run down the mountain but the problem is the lack of snow towards the end and since it was pretty flat, it was a tough work out for the arms to push yourself to the finish line. While waiting for the gondola, we noticed that there was a family next to us, no matter, it fits 8 and including us there were only 7 and 2 were little kids. As the door open, I went to the back door to put my skis in, I then tried to get on the gondola but the mum who first pushed in front of us just before the gondola came decided to stick her hands out and blocked my way to the gondola so her family can get on first. In any other sport that move would have been a foul and I protested and thought WTF but the operators didn't care and just shook his head and told me to get on. It wasn't his fault and he probably couldn't do much about it either. We did however told them how rude they were knowing that they would understand a bit of English. Went back for a sauna session, didn't pay.
Since it was New Year's eve, we headed out looking for a place but most places were charging ridiculous prices or were full. We stumbled upon a bar and when we asked them how much it was only £20 per person so we thought why not. We couldn't really understand the waitress so we sat down anyway, looking at the other tables it looked quite decent. Our communication was flawed in many ways because in Bulgaria, they shake the head sideways for a yes, and they nod when it's a no. The entire time we asked her whether there were more food than the salad she was shaking her head and mentioned something about meat and rice. She then tried to ask us what we want to drink but soon gave up and proceeded to the fridge and took a whole bunch of soft drinks to the table. She then put 3 bottles in front of everyone and pointed at the drinks and then pointed to the person and said 'You!'. The drinks were included and we also got 100ml of a Bulgarian brandy. I just looked it up and it's called Rakia, the explanation says high concentration of alcohol and it is rather accurate. Some of the guys decided to order some other drinks and it was so damn cheap. A 100ml of Bombay Sapphire costs £1.25, you can't actually get less, it comes automatically at 100ml. It was a happy night for all and it also involved me getting roped into a local line dance thing at the restaurant. After a while, more food came out and she was right, it was rice with 3 types of meat. We also got dessert which was some form of fortune baklava. I took a bite and there was a piece of plastic inside. I opened it up and it had Bulgarian writing on it. No fricken idea what it said but a woman from the next table came by and explained in broken English. To this day I have no idea what it meant and I only caught the bit saying you will buy stuff with old coins. The night was complete with local fireworks display and a cheap bottle of champagne that came with our deal.
Day 4:
We slept in after a late one and since the walls were so thin we could hear the next room talking really loud at 5am in the morning. More instant noodles goodness and we were off to the snow again. The ride up wasn't bad at all since most people were probably sleeping or resting. Had a good run before meeting our instructor again and had quite a good lesson. He told us we should try the tripe soup but all the restaurants we went to didn't have soup for dinner, "only day time". For dinner we went to a place recommended by a Greek couple we met in the sauna. The instruction was to head to the old town square, past the monument, and it's a restaurant with a big barrel with vegies on top. Damn that was accurate and as we got close, there were vegies on top of a barrel. We did come by a couple of nights before but it was packed and we found out why. The food was awesome! BBQ meat again but it was at a high standard, it was cheap as well and they had this home made wine that costs like £3 for a litre and it was fantastic.
Day 5:
Last day of skiing and got up early for it. There were more gondola action! This family wanted to have the gondola to themselves and when this woman put her skis on and stepped into the gondola, this guy pulled her out and pushed her away! She had to take her skis off and wait for he next one. What is wrong with these people! By 11am we have had about 6 runs and the lines were absolutely crazy by then! We decided to take a break at one of the restaurant sitting outside so we could monitor the queue. Our friends who waited for us for 20 minutes already directed our attention to the little kid behind us. apparently he had been waiting for his parents since they got there and he even fell off the chair. Our friend picked him up and tried to wipe his tears away but since he was probably told not to talk to strangers (plus he doesn't speak English) he pushed our friend away. He then proceeded to walk around and started crying really loud looking for his parents. Eventually his mum came back and for her to line up for the lift, go up and ski down the kid was probably sitting by himself for a good hour at least. Asian parents leaves kids in cars to go to the casino, Europeans leave them to go skiing. We decided to have a long lunch and I didn't actually make it back up to the mountains.
The last dinner in Bulgaria we went back to the same restaurant with the barrel and vegies on top. Our "waiter" for the night was probably not a waiter. We ordered our food and wine and he came back with 4 glasses for 6 people, we told him and he said no problem. When the salads came, we asked for some plates, first he rolled his eyes, then came back with 5 plates. He quickly did a count and said 'you want 6 right?' and damn straight we do and he went away rolling his eyes again. Even though he had a massive mullet he did grow on us and some of us even took a photo with him. The food again was great and had a bit of wine to drink again.
Day 6:
The last day we had an early ride back to Sophia airport. It was absolutely bucketing down with snow all the way (almost like right now as I look outside the window in London). We thought that our plane would be delayed since it's Easyjet and all but it actually came on time and we were on the plane in no time. Then the bad news hit, there was a problem and because there was a massive head wind they had to load more fuel on the plane and given the huge amount of ski gear the plane was too heavy to take off. They wanted 5 passengers to volunteer and surprise surprise, no one did. After 15 minutes and a £100 lure 2 people decided to take the later 9pm flight (we were on a 1:50pm). with no more volunteers, they said their next option is to pull luggage off the plane. Normally it would be fine but they also said that there is no way for them to tell who's luggage got taken off (even though the checked in bags are all marked with name and barcode) and the only way to find out is at the other end when your luggage don't come out! Luckily, they recalculated and said if 1 more person get off then all the luggage can come along as well. Eventually, a Bulgarian guy decided to get off and everyone clapped.
Finally got back to London and we were only 50 minutes late. Our car ride home though was crap because the driver went over to Fulham and a Chelsea game just finished. I think in the end it took us almost 2hrs to get back home from Gatwick.
So there it was, an interesting time in Bulgaria. Other highlights include:
- a kid during a ski lesson got cleaned up by a snow boarder and when confronted the boarder didn't care and said it's not his fault
- a kid fell of a chair lift while getting on, the operator didn't stop the lift but just kept watching, eventually he stopped the lift when the next lot of people were about to get off
- people pushing in and the absolute chaos at the ski lifts queues
- our hotel running out of hot water and said it would take 40 minutes to fix the problem, then they turned the water off for a while
- we asked for towels but it never came because they couldn't find the maid
So to summarise, the local people and food was great, but the skiing, resort, and people on the slopes were not.I don't think I will go back for the snow and wouldn't recommend it. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time and when I made it onto the slopes, it was fantastic.
Day 1:
3:15am wake up for the 4am cab ride to Gatwick. Apart from the lack of sleep, it wasn't too bad. The flight over was quite smooth as well and the landing was so much better than some of the ones I have experienced recently. The car ride to Bansko allowed us to see the city a little bit in Sophia and it has a China feel to it being ex-communist and all. It could have been the weather but everything seems dull and gray. We managed to check into the hotel and it looked quite nice outside, but as we inspected closely, the build quality is not so good and you can feel the wall wobbling when you touch it. I guess if an apartment costs 22,000 euro to buy you shouldn't expect too much. We went to sort out our gear and bought our lift pass, ate some food, then called it a day.
Day 2:
Got up early to get up to the mountains, the breakfast in the hotel wasn't too bad. The line for the gondola up the mountain wasn't too long, I think we waited for around 30 minutes but the ride up actually took another 30 minutes. It felt quite warm when we got there and the snow is well... at least you can ski on it. Went to practice a bit on a baby slope in preparation for our lesson. As the day went by, the lines for the ski lifts and T-Bars got longer and longer. The slopes had more and more people, we were told by another couple in the group that it took them 1.5hrs to get up to the mountain in the morning waiting for the gondola when they lined up at 9am. Went back to the hotel and hit the sauna and steam room, according to the posters the hotel charges 3 euro for 30 minutes in the sauna. As a guest at the hotel, it should be free. Didn't pay.
For dinner we went to a local restaurant. We soon realised that every restaurant sells the same food. Which is not a problem because food is actually quite good, cheap, and lots of meat. The problem is it makes the whole town smells like BBQ with smoke everywhere. We tried to look for a place for New Year's eve but everything was so expensive for local standard. We went back to the hotel and crashed.
Day 3:
Our ski lesson was at 9am so we had to get up early again. Instant noodles was magnificent. NJ_La decided to sleep in a bit and ended up having to wait 1.5hrs at the gondola. Skiing condition was so so since it didn't snow and it was warm again so on the way back, we decided to take the gondola down rather than the long ski road down to the bottom of the mountain. The ski road is actually quite a good idea, it is an easy run down the mountain but the problem is the lack of snow towards the end and since it was pretty flat, it was a tough work out for the arms to push yourself to the finish line. While waiting for the gondola, we noticed that there was a family next to us, no matter, it fits 8 and including us there were only 7 and 2 were little kids. As the door open, I went to the back door to put my skis in, I then tried to get on the gondola but the mum who first pushed in front of us just before the gondola came decided to stick her hands out and blocked my way to the gondola so her family can get on first. In any other sport that move would have been a foul and I protested and thought WTF but the operators didn't care and just shook his head and told me to get on. It wasn't his fault and he probably couldn't do much about it either. We did however told them how rude they were knowing that they would understand a bit of English. Went back for a sauna session, didn't pay.
Since it was New Year's eve, we headed out looking for a place but most places were charging ridiculous prices or were full. We stumbled upon a bar and when we asked them how much it was only £20 per person so we thought why not. We couldn't really understand the waitress so we sat down anyway, looking at the other tables it looked quite decent. Our communication was flawed in many ways because in Bulgaria, they shake the head sideways for a yes, and they nod when it's a no. The entire time we asked her whether there were more food than the salad she was shaking her head and mentioned something about meat and rice. She then tried to ask us what we want to drink but soon gave up and proceeded to the fridge and took a whole bunch of soft drinks to the table. She then put 3 bottles in front of everyone and pointed at the drinks and then pointed to the person and said 'You!'. The drinks were included and we also got 100ml of a Bulgarian brandy. I just looked it up and it's called Rakia, the explanation says high concentration of alcohol and it is rather accurate. Some of the guys decided to order some other drinks and it was so damn cheap. A 100ml of Bombay Sapphire costs £1.25, you can't actually get less, it comes automatically at 100ml. It was a happy night for all and it also involved me getting roped into a local line dance thing at the restaurant. After a while, more food came out and she was right, it was rice with 3 types of meat. We also got dessert which was some form of fortune baklava. I took a bite and there was a piece of plastic inside. I opened it up and it had Bulgarian writing on it. No fricken idea what it said but a woman from the next table came by and explained in broken English. To this day I have no idea what it meant and I only caught the bit saying you will buy stuff with old coins. The night was complete with local fireworks display and a cheap bottle of champagne that came with our deal.
Day 4:
We slept in after a late one and since the walls were so thin we could hear the next room talking really loud at 5am in the morning. More instant noodles goodness and we were off to the snow again. The ride up wasn't bad at all since most people were probably sleeping or resting. Had a good run before meeting our instructor again and had quite a good lesson. He told us we should try the tripe soup but all the restaurants we went to didn't have soup for dinner, "only day time". For dinner we went to a place recommended by a Greek couple we met in the sauna. The instruction was to head to the old town square, past the monument, and it's a restaurant with a big barrel with vegies on top. Damn that was accurate and as we got close, there were vegies on top of a barrel. We did come by a couple of nights before but it was packed and we found out why. The food was awesome! BBQ meat again but it was at a high standard, it was cheap as well and they had this home made wine that costs like £3 for a litre and it was fantastic.
Day 5:
Last day of skiing and got up early for it. There were more gondola action! This family wanted to have the gondola to themselves and when this woman put her skis on and stepped into the gondola, this guy pulled her out and pushed her away! She had to take her skis off and wait for he next one. What is wrong with these people! By 11am we have had about 6 runs and the lines were absolutely crazy by then! We decided to take a break at one of the restaurant sitting outside so we could monitor the queue. Our friends who waited for us for 20 minutes already directed our attention to the little kid behind us. apparently he had been waiting for his parents since they got there and he even fell off the chair. Our friend picked him up and tried to wipe his tears away but since he was probably told not to talk to strangers (plus he doesn't speak English) he pushed our friend away. He then proceeded to walk around and started crying really loud looking for his parents. Eventually his mum came back and for her to line up for the lift, go up and ski down the kid was probably sitting by himself for a good hour at least. Asian parents leaves kids in cars to go to the casino, Europeans leave them to go skiing. We decided to have a long lunch and I didn't actually make it back up to the mountains.
The last dinner in Bulgaria we went back to the same restaurant with the barrel and vegies on top. Our "waiter" for the night was probably not a waiter. We ordered our food and wine and he came back with 4 glasses for 6 people, we told him and he said no problem. When the salads came, we asked for some plates, first he rolled his eyes, then came back with 5 plates. He quickly did a count and said 'you want 6 right?' and damn straight we do and he went away rolling his eyes again. Even though he had a massive mullet he did grow on us and some of us even took a photo with him. The food again was great and had a bit of wine to drink again.
Day 6:
The last day we had an early ride back to Sophia airport. It was absolutely bucketing down with snow all the way (almost like right now as I look outside the window in London). We thought that our plane would be delayed since it's Easyjet and all but it actually came on time and we were on the plane in no time. Then the bad news hit, there was a problem and because there was a massive head wind they had to load more fuel on the plane and given the huge amount of ski gear the plane was too heavy to take off. They wanted 5 passengers to volunteer and surprise surprise, no one did. After 15 minutes and a £100 lure 2 people decided to take the later 9pm flight (we were on a 1:50pm). with no more volunteers, they said their next option is to pull luggage off the plane. Normally it would be fine but they also said that there is no way for them to tell who's luggage got taken off (even though the checked in bags are all marked with name and barcode) and the only way to find out is at the other end when your luggage don't come out! Luckily, they recalculated and said if 1 more person get off then all the luggage can come along as well. Eventually, a Bulgarian guy decided to get off and everyone clapped.
Finally got back to London and we were only 50 minutes late. Our car ride home though was crap because the driver went over to Fulham and a Chelsea game just finished. I think in the end it took us almost 2hrs to get back home from Gatwick.
So there it was, an interesting time in Bulgaria. Other highlights include:
- a kid during a ski lesson got cleaned up by a snow boarder and when confronted the boarder didn't care and said it's not his fault
- a kid fell of a chair lift while getting on, the operator didn't stop the lift but just kept watching, eventually he stopped the lift when the next lot of people were about to get off
- people pushing in and the absolute chaos at the ski lifts queues
- our hotel running out of hot water and said it would take 40 minutes to fix the problem, then they turned the water off for a while
- we asked for towels but it never came because they couldn't find the maid
So to summarise, the local people and food was great, but the skiing, resort, and people on the slopes were not.I don't think I will go back for the snow and wouldn't recommend it. Don't get me wrong, I had a good time and when I made it onto the slopes, it was fantastic.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Lisbon
The last leg of my Spanish-Portuguese adventure took me to Lisbon, the land of egg tarts. They were seriously selling Portuguese egg tarts on every corner in the city centre. I had 3 egg tarts while I was there for a 2.5 days visit and the best one has to be in Belem where the lines for the store was constantly stretching outside the shop.
Lisbon's traditional centre was rather old as expected and you can tell that Portugal is probably not as rich as it used to be. The place itself is actually very cheap by Europe standard. I probably should have guessed since the flight over from Madrid only cost me £15 including taxes. Since the temperature was pretty much in the mid 30s when I was there, I decided to get a bottle of water from the supermarket. I also wanted some change for the tram ride later so I thought I would go to the supermarket and break my tenner. When I walked in and found what I wanted I had to check the price twice because they were selling 500ml of still water for 10 cent. I had 10cent in my pocket and since I don't like carrying coins I decided not to break my 10 euro and ended up walking up to the castle instead of taking the tram. To this day I am still amazed that I can get a bottle of water for 10 cent in Europe.
Apart from the tarts, the rest of Portuguese food was pretty ordinary. I wasn't very impressed with what I sampled but at least it was cheap. I think overall it is definitely worth visiting. A day trip out to Sintra was also very nice and the warm weather was definitely a welcomed escape from the crappy cold condition in the UK!
Lisbon's traditional centre was rather old as expected and you can tell that Portugal is probably not as rich as it used to be. The place itself is actually very cheap by Europe standard. I probably should have guessed since the flight over from Madrid only cost me £15 including taxes. Since the temperature was pretty much in the mid 30s when I was there, I decided to get a bottle of water from the supermarket. I also wanted some change for the tram ride later so I thought I would go to the supermarket and break my tenner. When I walked in and found what I wanted I had to check the price twice because they were selling 500ml of still water for 10 cent. I had 10cent in my pocket and since I don't like carrying coins I decided not to break my 10 euro and ended up walking up to the castle instead of taking the tram. To this day I am still amazed that I can get a bottle of water for 10 cent in Europe.
Apart from the tarts, the rest of Portuguese food was pretty ordinary. I wasn't very impressed with what I sampled but at least it was cheap. I think overall it is definitely worth visiting. A day trip out to Sintra was also very nice and the warm weather was definitely a welcomed escape from the crappy cold condition in the UK!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Madrid
Ah Madrid, what can I say. What an amazingly BORING place! Lucky I only spent a day here because seriously, apart from some decent food, there really is not a lot that interest me. I even went to the Santiago Bernabeu for a visit but after Camp Nou, it really didn't do much for me.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Barcelona Day 2
After a night of excitement at the Camp Nou I decided to take it easy the next morning. Since it was such a nice day I thought I would roam around in Park Güell. Getting there itself was a bit of a hike and I had pretty good instruction from the guide book I was carrying. It warned me of the steep hill to climb and I was so not looking forward to it as I jumped off the metro. As I was getting off, I noticed that there were other tourists that stayed on the metro and I wondered where they were going. The walk up the hill was hard enough and the increasing temperature didn't help one bit, but when I finally made it there I think it was worth it. While I was admiring the design of the park, I saw some of the other tourists who didn't get off the metro where I got off, I think they got off at the next stop and perhaps avoided the steep climb to the park. I don't know for sure but they did get there before me.
After walking through Gaudi's creation, I decided to hit the beach and have lunch there. It was relatively hot so there were quite a few beach goers. I have never seen beach tennis before and didn't know such a game existed but there is a first for everything. After lunch I walked back towards La Rambla and decided to head towards the waterfront. I didn't know it was a shopping centre but if I had known I probably would've given it a miss. When I got near it the weather started to change and it started pouring down. I almost bought an umbrella from the FC Barcelona store but decided not to as the rain started to ease. I took the opportunity to head back towards town and when it started pouring again I ducked into one of the restaurants to have an early dinner. It claimed to have the best sangria in town so I had to have one. It was quite nice and it was massive but they all taste the same after a while. I did want to take some night shots of some of the Gaudi buildings that night but unfortunately it was raining too heavily so I decided to head back and call it a night.
After walking through Gaudi's creation, I decided to hit the beach and have lunch there. It was relatively hot so there were quite a few beach goers. I have never seen beach tennis before and didn't know such a game existed but there is a first for everything. After lunch I walked back towards La Rambla and decided to head towards the waterfront. I didn't know it was a shopping centre but if I had known I probably would've given it a miss. When I got near it the weather started to change and it started pouring down. I almost bought an umbrella from the FC Barcelona store but decided not to as the rain started to ease. I took the opportunity to head back towards town and when it started pouring again I ducked into one of the restaurants to have an early dinner. It claimed to have the best sangria in town so I had to have one. It was quite nice and it was massive but they all taste the same after a while. I did want to take some night shots of some of the Gaudi buildings that night but unfortunately it was raining too heavily so I decided to head back and call it a night.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Visit to the Camp Nou
One of the highlights of my trip to Barcelona has to be the vist to Camp Nou for the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid game. I got my ticket through the Barcelona FC website and I must say I got quite a decent seat in one of the corners on the second tier second row from the front. After dinner that night I did walk past one of the official Barcelona FC store and you can actually get tickets from there but I think they were all on the top tier so visibility would be quite low in a 100,000 seat stadium.
I got there pretty early because I wanted to take a few photos but at the same time, I didn't realise how quickly and easily you can get to the stadium. Although it wasn't far from the city centre, my experience of getting to a game in London kind of made me think I should try to get there in advance. Well how wrong was I, I got to the game in less than 30 minutes and the gate wasn't even open so I had to stand outside with the crowd for a while. With a 10pm kick off, the gate only opened at 9pm and when it opened I made my way into an empty stadium when half the lights weren't even on yet so I spent some time looking around a bit.
After a while, the players came out to warm up. It was interesting to see the difference the relationship is between the players and the fans. When the players came out, the people chanted the player's names and the players would wave back to the crowd. I don't think I have seen that in England.
When the game finally started, it was action packed from the start. Mr Henry didn't have a great game but in the first 2 minutes, he turned his marker and took a shot that came off the crossbar. It didn't take Barca long though to get on the scoreboard when new boy Ibrahimovic flicked the ball past the keeper. No wonder why they have a massive billboard with his face on it in the middle of the city. They made it 4-0 after 42 minutes and the visitor did pull one back after a stupid mistake by no 16 Sergio Busquets. With each goal, the fans chanted the goal scorer's name and you can understand and almost feel the passion the fans and players have for the club and the game.
The pace of the game dropped a little in the second half and although Barca did come close a few times it was the visitor who got on the scoresheet with Diego Forlan getting a late goal. It wasn't done though as Messi, who was by far the best player on the pitch made it 5-2 in injury time.
It was an awesome experience and if you love football, you should try to see a game if you visit Barcelona.
Score: 5-2
Best Player: Lionel Messi
Worse Player: Sergio Busquets, seriously, this guy made so many mistakes
Funny moment: I notice the away fans were sat at the top of the stadium where no one can hear them
Ugly moment: Dani Alves' goal celebration
I got there pretty early because I wanted to take a few photos but at the same time, I didn't realise how quickly and easily you can get to the stadium. Although it wasn't far from the city centre, my experience of getting to a game in London kind of made me think I should try to get there in advance. Well how wrong was I, I got to the game in less than 30 minutes and the gate wasn't even open so I had to stand outside with the crowd for a while. With a 10pm kick off, the gate only opened at 9pm and when it opened I made my way into an empty stadium when half the lights weren't even on yet so I spent some time looking around a bit.
After a while, the players came out to warm up. It was interesting to see the difference the relationship is between the players and the fans. When the players came out, the people chanted the player's names and the players would wave back to the crowd. I don't think I have seen that in England.
When the game finally started, it was action packed from the start. Mr Henry didn't have a great game but in the first 2 minutes, he turned his marker and took a shot that came off the crossbar. It didn't take Barca long though to get on the scoreboard when new boy Ibrahimovic flicked the ball past the keeper. No wonder why they have a massive billboard with his face on it in the middle of the city. They made it 4-0 after 42 minutes and the visitor did pull one back after a stupid mistake by no 16 Sergio Busquets. With each goal, the fans chanted the goal scorer's name and you can understand and almost feel the passion the fans and players have for the club and the game.
The pace of the game dropped a little in the second half and although Barca did come close a few times it was the visitor who got on the scoresheet with Diego Forlan getting a late goal. It wasn't done though as Messi, who was by far the best player on the pitch made it 5-2 in injury time.
It was an awesome experience and if you love football, you should try to see a game if you visit Barcelona.
Score: 5-2
Best Player: Lionel Messi
Worse Player: Sergio Busquets, seriously, this guy made so many mistakes
Funny moment: I notice the away fans were sat at the top of the stadium where no one can hear them
Ugly moment: Dani Alves' goal celebration
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Barcelona Day 1
On my first scheduled week long holiday I went to visit Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon. It started off pretty damn early since I had to catch a 7:15am Easyjet flight at Luton Airport. I took 24hr bus from Paddington to Baker Street and from there, the Easybus to Luton. I actually got to Baker St a bit early and the Easybus man was nice enough to let me get on the early one. The ride took slightly less than an hour and I had this grand plan to sleep on the bus except my fellow passengers had other ideas and talked (loudly) all the way to the airport. It's fricken 5am people, go back to sleep! Maybe I really should get some noise canceling headphones. I did however managed some sleep on the flight to Barcelona, and surprisingly there was no delay and we even managed to park at the bridge so we didn't have to take the bus to the terminal.
I got through immigration quite quickly and proceeded to look for first the information desk before heading to the Aerobus. The Tourist information desk was probably one of the smallest I have seen but they were quite helpful and I got one of those 2 days unlimited travel tickets on the public transport system. No issues taking the Aerobus downtown to Plaça de Catalunya and from there, I took the Metro to the BnB I was staying at. When I got to my destination, since I walked the wrong direction, it did took me a little while to find the place but I got there in the end. It turned out to be directly in front of the Metro exit but on the other side of a 8 lanes road. I must mention that the BnB (Ana's Guesthouse) is really nice and if you ever go to Barcelona you should definitely check it out as an option. When I was there, there was another group of 3 people staying there and I pretty much had the whole place to myself so even though I was suppose to share the (massive) bathroom, it wasn't an issue in the end.
After checking in, I made my way around town. Firstly down the Passeig de Gràcia and looked at some of the Gaudi buildings before heading to the Montjuic Castle. At the Montjuic Castle, I took the cable car ride up because after a 4am start, I wasn't too keen on climbing that hill. The view on top was pretty good and since it was a nice clear day, I was able to see most of the city from there.
It was late afternoon by the time I headed back towards the city and since I have some time left I went to see the Sagrada Família. It's an odd looking church and the tour guide said they estimate the entire building to be finished by 2030. Since it is funded by donations and they still have not worked out the design to parts of the structure yet this estimate is subject to change.
I ate dinner near Sagrada Família and it was OK. I headed back to the BnB first to rest a little before going to the game at Camp Nou!
I got through immigration quite quickly and proceeded to look for first the information desk before heading to the Aerobus. The Tourist information desk was probably one of the smallest I have seen but they were quite helpful and I got one of those 2 days unlimited travel tickets on the public transport system. No issues taking the Aerobus downtown to Plaça de Catalunya and from there, I took the Metro to the BnB I was staying at. When I got to my destination, since I walked the wrong direction, it did took me a little while to find the place but I got there in the end. It turned out to be directly in front of the Metro exit but on the other side of a 8 lanes road. I must mention that the BnB (Ana's Guesthouse) is really nice and if you ever go to Barcelona you should definitely check it out as an option. When I was there, there was another group of 3 people staying there and I pretty much had the whole place to myself so even though I was suppose to share the (massive) bathroom, it wasn't an issue in the end.
After checking in, I made my way around town. Firstly down the Passeig de Gràcia and looked at some of the Gaudi buildings before heading to the Montjuic Castle. At the Montjuic Castle, I took the cable car ride up because after a 4am start, I wasn't too keen on climbing that hill. The view on top was pretty good and since it was a nice clear day, I was able to see most of the city from there.
It was late afternoon by the time I headed back towards the city and since I have some time left I went to see the Sagrada Família. It's an odd looking church and the tour guide said they estimate the entire building to be finished by 2030. Since it is funded by donations and they still have not worked out the design to parts of the structure yet this estimate is subject to change.
I ate dinner near Sagrada Família and it was OK. I headed back to the BnB first to rest a little before going to the game at Camp Nou!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Trip to Bavaria
The final Bank Holiday for the year signifies the end of Summer in London. We chose to escape by venturing to Munich. Moving to Paddington has its perks and flying in and out of Heathrow can be counted as one of them making the early Saturday morning flight not so painful any more (unless you have to go to Stansted or Luton).
The flight over wasn't too bad, my many flights for work paid off a little with access to a "fast lane" to clear security and the BA lounge for breakfast. It took around and hour and a bit to get over to Germany and by the time we took the train to the hotel it was pretty much lunch time. We got a decent deal at the Hilton Munich City and it only cost us £108 total for 2 nights including buffet breakfast.
After we dropped our bags off we decided the first site to visit was Dachau, the first concentration camp and a model for others during WWII. It was a good educational experience and we were lucky enough to just make it for the last English guided tour of the day. It was disgusting to see how evil humans can be and the video clip we watched at the end was one of the most disturbing I have ever seen.
Day 2 was a much more cheerful and happier affair. We got up early for breakfast and took the train out to Fussen. Despite the hotel giving us the wrong instruction (giving us a Monday to Friday train time rather than weekend), we were able to find our way easily printing out the required train schedule from one of the machines at the station. This is a fantastic service and should be copied in other parts of the world especially when you have to change 2-3 trains to reach your final destination. The train ride took around 2.5 hours, we then hopped onto a local bus to take us to Hohenschwangu, the town below the Schloss Neuschwanstein. It is the castle that the Disney Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled on and the sight was pure fantasy. Beautiful day with clear blue sky and a fantasy land castle sitting on a mountain overlooking its land. The most disappointing part though was the view from Marienbrucke. It would have been such a breathtaking view if it wasn't for the bloody scaffolding on that side of the castle! If you ever visit Munich and you have a day to spare, I definitely recommend going there for a visit.
Day 3 was our final day in Munich and having not seen much of the city (besides Bavarian food and beer) we decided to go on a free walking tour with Sandeman Walking Tour. They operate quite a few tours around Europe and it was a very entertaining experience. Our tour guide was a hyperactive Canadian girl who was quite knowledgeable providing some insights into the history of the city with some amusing stories to tell. I heard their Berlin tour is better so if I ever get the chance to go, I will definitely try to get onto one of their tours.
Overall, I think it was a good trip with a mix of experiences. I definitely learnt a lot about the city and managed to see some amazing scenery (both good and bad). I look forward to my next trip in a couple of week's time to Spain and Portugal.
The flight over wasn't too bad, my many flights for work paid off a little with access to a "fast lane" to clear security and the BA lounge for breakfast. It took around and hour and a bit to get over to Germany and by the time we took the train to the hotel it was pretty much lunch time. We got a decent deal at the Hilton Munich City and it only cost us £108 total for 2 nights including buffet breakfast.
After we dropped our bags off we decided the first site to visit was Dachau, the first concentration camp and a model for others during WWII. It was a good educational experience and we were lucky enough to just make it for the last English guided tour of the day. It was disgusting to see how evil humans can be and the video clip we watched at the end was one of the most disturbing I have ever seen.
Day 2 was a much more cheerful and happier affair. We got up early for breakfast and took the train out to Fussen. Despite the hotel giving us the wrong instruction (giving us a Monday to Friday train time rather than weekend), we were able to find our way easily printing out the required train schedule from one of the machines at the station. This is a fantastic service and should be copied in other parts of the world especially when you have to change 2-3 trains to reach your final destination. The train ride took around 2.5 hours, we then hopped onto a local bus to take us to Hohenschwangu, the town below the Schloss Neuschwanstein. It is the castle that the Disney Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled on and the sight was pure fantasy. Beautiful day with clear blue sky and a fantasy land castle sitting on a mountain overlooking its land. The most disappointing part though was the view from Marienbrucke. It would have been such a breathtaking view if it wasn't for the bloody scaffolding on that side of the castle! If you ever visit Munich and you have a day to spare, I definitely recommend going there for a visit.
Day 3 was our final day in Munich and having not seen much of the city (besides Bavarian food and beer) we decided to go on a free walking tour with Sandeman Walking Tour. They operate quite a few tours around Europe and it was a very entertaining experience. Our tour guide was a hyperactive Canadian girl who was quite knowledgeable providing some insights into the history of the city with some amusing stories to tell. I heard their Berlin tour is better so if I ever get the chance to go, I will definitely try to get onto one of their tours.
Overall, I think it was a good trip with a mix of experiences. I definitely learnt a lot about the city and managed to see some amazing scenery (both good and bad). I look forward to my next trip in a couple of week's time to Spain and Portugal.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Back and plans ahead
After going away for a month due to our move to Paddington, finally, everything is back in order. We have electricity, gas, phone, and now the internet. Thanks to our neighbour we were able to borrow his connection while we waited for everything to get setup and although it was frustrating at times, we thank him for his generosity.
I will try to catch up and make a few postings in the coming weeks as I have just returned from Munich and will soon be going to Spain which will include going to the Camp Nou to watch Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (not quite el clasico). If I have time, I wouldn't mind visiting the Santiago Bernabeu but since I will only be there for 1 day, I'm not sure whether I can fit it in.
Since I have to use up all my leave for the year, in October I will be going to Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks so that should be exciting as well. For now, you will just have to wait until i make a new posting!
I will try to catch up and make a few postings in the coming weeks as I have just returned from Munich and will soon be going to Spain which will include going to the Camp Nou to watch Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid (not quite el clasico). If I have time, I wouldn't mind visiting the Santiago Bernabeu but since I will only be there for 1 day, I'm not sure whether I can fit it in.
Since I have to use up all my leave for the year, in October I will be going to Switzerland and Italy for 2 weeks so that should be exciting as well. For now, you will just have to wait until i make a new posting!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Legoland
Went to Legoland with my sister and her friend. It took way too long to get there because of stupid train delays. 2 defective trains in front of us and then the train decided it will no longer go to Windsor means it took us 2 hours to get to Windsor. Another 30 minute wait and 15 minute bus ride meant we did not get there until way after lunch.
Once we got there it was fine, nice weather, and not very crowded. 6 hours of walking around without going on any rides resulted in a lot of photos taken and some useless stuff bought (not by me). Photos as usual are on FB. I would recommend going there to relive your childhood since Lego is for everyone!
Once we got there it was fine, nice weather, and not very crowded. 6 hours of walking around without going on any rides resulted in a lot of photos taken and some useless stuff bought (not by me). Photos as usual are on FB. I would recommend going there to relive your childhood since Lego is for everyone!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
September Holiday
Booked to go to Barcelona -> Madrid -> Lisbon. Have pretty much organised everything apart from accommodation in Lisbon. The plan is to try to see if I can get tickets to see a Barcelona game at the Nou Camp. That weekend they are scheduled to play Athletico Madrid. I know it's not quite El Classico but it's good enough. Either way, even if I don't get tickets I want to do the stadium tour anyway.
I still have 21 days of leave left in total and taking 5 into next year meaning I still have to take 16 days off by the end of the year. I can probably get a week off per month until end of the year!
I still have 21 days of leave left in total and taking 5 into next year meaning I still have to take 16 days off by the end of the year. I can probably get a week off per month until end of the year!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Why so hard?
Have been trying to book accommodation for the World Cup 2010 from 1 July to 3 July in Johannesburg and 3 times we have paid deposit and then for them to tell us oh sorry, we are actually booked out, I thought you meant 2009. Fair enough, despite the fact that I specifically asked for 2010, people make mistakes. That however does not explain the latest episode when they contacted us saying we have availability and the message came AFTER 1 July 2009.
Tomorrow I will try to book flights at the BA ticketing desks at the airport. See what happens then.
So far, got tickets, booked safari trip, however, still no accommodation or flights.
Tomorrow I will try to book flights at the BA ticketing desks at the airport. See what happens then.
So far, got tickets, booked safari trip, however, still no accommodation or flights.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Experiment
Working away from home for a while now and at Dusseldorf I have been staying at the Hilton Hotel. Nothing really wrong about the place and it is actually quite nice. In fact, they even know my name now which is pretty sad indeed (although this week could be the last week). One thing that I notice though is that each night I get back to my room and I have to brush my teeth, something is just not right. Then one day, I realised what it is... They like to turn my toothbrush upside down. When I finish brushing my teeth I like to put my toothbrush with the bristles end down inside the glass (unless it has a holder like my cup at home). Each night I get back it gets turned upside down. Why do they do that? Am I doing something wrong? Why can't I have my toothbrush that way?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Back to London
Returning Thursday morning. Next stop Amsterdam for late May Bank holiday. Also submitted request for World Cup tickets, see if anything comes through for South Africa 2010!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Christmas Markets
I did manage to go to the Christmas Markets in Dusseldorf. I was walking along the Rhine to get to Old Town and decided that I have walked enough so I turned into the city. Out of luck I managed to hit one of the Christmas Markets and I thought it was pretty cool, can't wait to see the biggest one in town outside the town hall. When I looked at the street sign I realised that I was AT the town hall. The "biggest Christmas Market in Dusseldorf" according to the website is tiny as. I was rather disappointed but still managed to have a hot dog, crepes, and Glühwein. I didn't know I paid deposit on the mug so I just took it with me. Walked around for a bit and there are actually stores all over the place so collectively it was pretty big.
Since then I have been to the markets in Oslo (very tourist oriented) and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London. Comparing to those the one in Dusseldorf is actually pretty good.
Since then I have been to the markets in Oslo (very tourist oriented) and Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London. Comparing to those the one in Dusseldorf is actually pretty good.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Dusseldorf
Sitting in the hotel room in Dusseldorf because it is too cold to go outside. Going to be here until Friday, the client has finally found desk space here for us but the last I heard no one has setup email or anything for us so it will be interesting going into the office tomorrow. If I finish work early tomorrow night I am hoping to go to the Christmas Markets in Dusseldorf. Will update if I make it there.
Watching the news at the moment and it's all about the shooting in India. What is the world coming to...
In Germany you cannot go to www.gmail.com no idea why but when I tried it it told me if I am in Germany I have to use mail.google.com.
Watching the news at the moment and it's all about the shooting in India. What is the world coming to...
In Germany you cannot go to www.gmail.com no idea why but when I tried it it told me if I am in Germany I have to use mail.google.com.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Brrrr!
Damn it is cold outside. Not sure how I'm going to survive here in Malmo for 3 more weeks. I think I need to bring my beanie and need to get some gloves and/or ear muffs! Went outside for dinner and my ears were falling off!
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