More European adventures

Big update today. Bear in mind that these entries were written at separate points in time, so I may be referring to ‘yesterday’ or ‘last night’ or whatever but it is not necessarily relative to today. But anywho...

Radio Ga Ga

Last night we saw We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre. It was an awesome show, especially for people who know the songs. I didn’t really know what to expect (apart from Queen songs, obviously) and was very pleasantly surprised.

Earlier in the day, we had checked out in the morning to switch to budget rooms then had a quick lunch before heading off to Paddington station to book tickets for Chippenham. Afterwards, we checked out a bit of the British Museum. The place was massive and beautiful, but alas we didn’t get to see all of it). We then headed over to see a view of London from the London Eye. We went there just after the sun set, so we got to take some great photos of London at night. This was the last sightseeing stop before checking in to the new rooms at the YHA then seeing the show.

We had both stayed up late after having a big night out on Wednesday, so at this point we were incredibly sleepy. Dave was dozing off at various points in the show. I was almost falling asleep in some of the slower songs too but, despite the tiredness, the show was well worth it (£30 each).

This morning we checked out of the hostel and put our things in the luggage storage room then checked out more of the British Museum. After leaving the museum we got some roasted chestnuts that were selling on the street just outside of the museum. They were... very interesting. This was the last "meal" I would have for quite a while because, unbeknownst to me at the time, Buckingham Palace, our next stop, was, shall we say, out of the way. Walked a lot to the palace, took a couple of photos, then walked a lot to the station so we could go back to the YHA to pick up our things.

After much lugging of luggage in London’s Underground (I now regret taking way too many things), we eventually made it to Paddington station 10 minutes before our train was to leave. That meant not having time to get any lunch. I am writing this entry on the train to Chippenham (and quite a nice train it is, albeit expensive) only having eaten breakfast, a roasted chestnut, and a barley sugar. But anyway, tonight we’re meeting up with Liza (whom I met on my last snow trip) in Chippenham and staying at her place for the next two nights. Should be a nice change having somebody show us around.

Hello lamppost, what’cha knowin’?

(I apologize in advance if I spell anybody’s name wrong)

Our first day in Chippenham was supposed to be laid back and uneventful, but eventful it turned out to be. After getting settled into the humble abode that was Liza’s caravan and checked emails we went out to a local pub known as The Plough. It was a nice little establishment, and Liza, Dave and myself treated ourselves to some pints whilst waiting for Liza’s friends. Soon enough it got busier, with some of Liza’s friends and Alison, a new girl, who also happened to be from Australia (and looked strangely familiar), turning up.

We had some cheesy chips, played ‘I have never’, I was paid to drink some pepper-laced Guinness, and all was having a good time. Then, as the night was about to come to a close Kirsty (one of Liza’s friends) accidentally bumped into one of the lampposts outside. It nudged a bit then snapped back into place. For one reason or another she thought it a good idea to keep shaking the lamppost. She was shaking it really hard and, all of a sudden, the middle of the pole broke and top half of the lamppost came crashing down to the ground. We all stood there in amazement. Kirsty refused to clean up the mess and started mouthing off who I assumed to be the owner of the pub. Needless to say, I don’t think she’d be welcome there anytime soon.

When in Bath, do as the Romans do

On our second day out of London, we decided to check out Bath. Matt, Liza’s brother, chauffeured myself, Dave, Liza and Alison to Bath, and the five of us saw the sights. This involved eating KFC, having some incredibly delicious milkshakes from a place called Shake Away, and seeing a street performer put on a show. Oh, and we saw some sights too.

The Roman baths were quite impressive, albeit a bit smelly. It would have been nice to actually go for a spa, but they weren’t allowing that yet. The other four seemed to have a good time listening to the audio guides while I was taking loads of photos (which all probably turned out very blurry due to my shaky hands).

Just a side note, since Internet access here seems so varied (i.e. lack of CD drives and USB drives, or just lack of time in general), I probably won’t bother posting photos until the end of the trip unless I get the chance to transfer some over. Anyway, back to Bath...

After wrecking some stamp machines at the Roman baths and confessing to it on the comments book, we checked out a street performer doing some performing. Matt was asked to help out in the massive unicycle segment and was having a hard time keeping the unicycle up. He did a good job though. When the street performer finished we had a look at Bath Abbey, which was a nice looking church. I guess it wasn’t really the best idea for Matt to bark like a dog since it could be heard throughout the entire abbey, but in the end it was pretty entertaining.

Later that night we went out to some pubs and clubs in Chippenham. Liza got hit on by a lesbian, I danced with a whole group of lesbians, and Dave was dancing like... well I have no idea really. One thing I noticed is that the music played in clubs here is exactly the same as it is in Australia.

Who is Jessica Baker?

I got an e-mail from my parents saying they found a card in one of my shirts that was going in the wash. It had an e-mail address and mobile phone number on it, both of wish were UK-based. From what I gather it belongs to a girl named Jessica Baker. Who is this girl? Did I magically gain girl attraction powers one day and got a girl’s contact details before going on my trip? I guess it will stay a mystery forever.

Stonehenge rocks

Well, not really, I just wanted to say that. It was a nice little trip down to Stonehenge, and it looked nice enough, but the fact that they were charging £5 each person to get closer to it (and you don’t even get to touch it) was a bit annoying. Instead of paying to get in, we decided to just take photos from over the fence, which was good enough for me. We then checked out Woodhenge (heehee) and the Avebury Ring, more ceremonial landmarks. Afterwards, we had a Sunday roast at the Swan Inn then headed back.

Dave and I got packed and got ready to say our goodbyes to Chippenham but, according to Liza, we couldn’t end our stay without going to a place called ‘Scabby Kebabies’. It was a charming trailer on the side of the road that served kebabs, and was supposedly the best in Chippenham. I had a small kebab that I couldn’t even finish (I blame the salad and garlic sauce!) before heading off on the bus and train back to London.

We got lodging at the Oxford Street YHA (which was the closest to Paddington station) and headed off to Heathrow airport the following morning via the Heathrow Express (a.k.a. Hex) from Paddington station. It was amusing because we spent about 3 times more time in the airport than we did in the flight (where Dave spilt some water onto my newspaper and my jeans).

England overview

Days spent: 6 nights (4 in London, 2 in Chippenham)
Aussies met: 4 in London, 1 in Chippenham
Starbucks sightings: Far too many
Times carded at pub/club: 1

BICYCLE! BICYCLE!

We arrived in Amsterdam and caught a train to Amsterdam Centraal (the central station in Amsterdam) then a tram to where we thought was the hostel. We got lost a couple of times but finally found the ‘Stayokay’ hostel in Vondelpark. It is a very nice YHA, and beats the living hell out of the two hostels we stayed at in London. One thing that stands out in this city is the bicycles. Dave and I have almost been twice run over by streams of people riding through on the bike lane. It’s something we have to get used to.

After checking in, we had a complementary dinner and Heineken then headed off on a bit of a pub crawl. Oddly enough, half the pubs we went to were Irish pubs (and even stranger was the fact that we didn’t go to any in the UK). I had quite a few to drink, the most memorable of which was the appropriately named ‘Irish Car Bomb’ (which was actually not too bad in terms of taste). At the end of the night we got some Burger King then headed back to the hostel. Dave says I tried to kick him in the groin as he was climbing up the bunk bed, but I don’t remember that.

Today we’re going to hire out some bikes and check out the Van Gogh museum and maybe some other sights.

Dutch women are hot

That is all.

Skating on thin ice

Yesterday we hired out some bikes. Dave was alright on them but they were a bit too big for me, so stopping was a bit of a hassle. But anyway, we visited the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum (which had the Night Watch on display, which excited Dave probably a little too much). After dinner we were both feeling rather dodgy (more so Dave due to his flu) so we just decided to call it a night.

Today we went on a canal cruise and got to see some of the sights of Amsterdam through that. After being ripped off to use the Internet for a short amount of time and nearly having a spectacular crash on the bike due to being led onto a road and not having the ability to stop and get out of the way, we at some Japanese restaurant near the YHA. Possibly the best food we’ve had in Europe. It’s a shame it wasn’t European food.

Lunch was followed by a stop over at the Heineken Experience (after getting a bit lost). It was pretty good, mainly due to the admission price including 3 beers and a Heineken beer glass, which made it worth it. In our tipsiness after the Heineken ex-brewery (beer isn’t actually brewed at the factory anymore), we decided to go ice-skating at the local rink. I wasn’t going as good as I had hoped (haven’t skated for about 8 years and haven’t roller bladed for nearly as long) but Dave came out worse, with a bruised knee and elbow.

Right now we’re waiting for the laundry to finish before we head off for some dinner and see the spectacle of the infamous Red Light District.

The girl at the laundry room

As I was heading down to check on my laundry I held open the door for a girl who also happened to be going down for laundry. We got to talking and it turned out that she’s from Melbourne. Aussies seem to be everywhere. Anyway, she was really nice, but I was stupid enough not to get her name or anything like that. I’m really bad at this kind of thing, and I feel like smacking my head on a desk.

Accidental layover in Amsterdam

After a rather amusing yet boring tour of the Red Light District last night, Dave and I packed our things this morning and got ready to go to Paris. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the Amsterdam Centraal, we found out that the trains were all booked out for today. I had forgotten that we had to reserve seats in some of the trains in advance. Silly silly me. Anyway, this meant that we had to book the earliest train tomorrow morning, which is at 6:56am (ouch). I guess it gives us another day to look at hot Dutch women. Hooray!

The Netherlands overview

Days spent: 4 nights in Amsterdam
Aussies met: 6
Starbucks sightings: None (I’m freaking out!)
Times carded at pub/club: 0