Post by Jules80 on Oct 7, 2005 13:35:58 GMT -5
So coming home I was expecting to find roughly the same weather in Montreal that I had been experiencing in switzerland and the uk... 15 deg or so and a sweater... not shorts and a t-shirt and 25! Is it really october???
ok, so the whole trip was fabulous! It started in the uk with my cousin's wedding. which was wonderful. while in stoke-on-trent (where my family is from), i also visited gladstone pottery museum (stoke is where royal doulton, wedgewood etc is all from) which was cool and we also went to the monkey forest which has real monkeys (adorable) in an enormous enclosure. apparently there are similar things in germany, too. anyways, it was fun but stoke's main attraction for me is my family and i don't recomend it for its tourism potential at all.
then we headed up to scotland, dunfermline specifically where my grandmother lived to visit her and the rest of my dad's family for a few days. we also visited edinburgh. saw holyroodhouse palace and just generally wandered around a lot. i love that city. dunfermline is also great - ancient capital of scotland! there are fabulous abbeys and robert the bruce's (braveheart) grave.
and then it was off to dublin where i met my cousin (not the one that got married). dublin is a really fun city tho not particularly beautiful. Dublin castle was very cool as was the guiness brewery
definate must see... and i don't usually like guiness. The jameson whiskey distillery was also very cool! we stayed at abraham house which did the job. clean enough and fairly central. comfy beds... all that is important.
then it was off to belgium... land of skeezy men. i hated brussels. in part because of the skeezy men. also the place is ugly and dirty. other than la grand place and the streets in the immediate vicinity, it was all very run down and dirty or ultra modern and ugly! admittedly la grand place was beautiful. we stayed at SleepWell which was very clean and very nice and brussels only redeeming quality. we did a day trip to brugge which was wonderful. i loved the city, absolutely gorgeous, and yummy chocolate too! we went into this fabulous chocolate museum! really really cool!
Then we moved on to paris but i had to leave my friend there and head back to scotland for 2 days for my grandmothers funeral which sucked. but then it was back to paris for 2 days (i'd been there before so i wasn't missing too much). in paris i saw the cathedrale de notre dame, le musee de cluny, le sorbonne, the louvre (napoleon's apartments rock) and we spent a lot of time wandering around the latin quarter... beautiful! where we found a canadian bookstore! so we had to go in. and of course we went up the eiffel tower. so cool! in paris we stayed at le village hostel in montmartre which was very nice. quite social but quiet enough to get a good nights sleep. comfy beds and private facilities (for 5 bed dorm). i'd stay here again.
next stop was Tours where we did a chateau tour! that was gorgeous! the chateau are fabulous! we went to chateau chenonceau which spans a river (don't remember which one) and was the division of occupied and non-occupied france in one of the world wars (again don't remember which). the gardens were just incredible as well. Tours itself was also very pretty and i wished we'd allocated more time there than we did. here we stayed in a budget hotel which was really really nice! i think it was about 54 euros a night which was only slightly more than we were paying each for our hostle rooms.
then it was off to bordeaux! and here we did a wine tasting tour. very cool. good wine... i've been spoiled now. the chateau we went to (chateau laniote) had amazing wine... sold for 22 euros a bottle at the vineyard... which would easily make this thing an 80-100$ bottle of wine in canada (but i'm sure its not even available here!). this chateau was in st-emilion and then we visited the town of st-emilion which is ancient and beautiful! bordeaux itself is okay although not fabulous. it has a beautiful cathedral and good shopping. but my opinion was a little biased cause the weather sucked (grey or raining the whole time) and our hotel sucked. we stayed at a place called hotel de la famille (which came up under hostels when we were searching) do not ever ever stay here. it was so old and run down and gross with saggy beds. eewwwwwww. horrible horrible horrible. it inspired us to take a night train to nice which we were not planning on. fortunately we had a very positive night train experience. we were only 3 in a 6 person compartment. i slept really well so i was happy.
and when we arrived in nice, the weather was gorgeous!!!! so we hit the beach! for two days straight! so incredibly beautiful! i loved nice! we did do a bus tour of the old city which was cool. on the third day we did a boat trip to monaco for the day which was very cool. we saw the prince's palace, the cathedral where grace kelly is buried and the oceanorgraphic institute (jacques cousteau and all that)... amazing aquariums! our hostel there was hotel des alizes and was very nice. 4 bed female dorm with private facilities... very nice and very clean... comfy beds and cool roommates.
then it was tiem for the 8 hour train ride to florence... pretty scenery for the most part at least. we finally arrived in florence and checked into our hostel... the fabulous archi rossi... one of the best of our trip. very clean, really nice, sociable, free good breakfast with lots of choice, and free internet. we were near the common room so it was a little noisy in the evening and early morning but not too bad. i loved florence... the market was a lot of fun (and resulted in a lot of shopping) and i loved michaelangelo's david... it really is a masterpiece and so worth seeing. but go at the end of the day... shorter lines and there isn't really anytihng else worth seeing in there. climbing the cupola of il duomo was also well worht the effort for the views. uffizi was also cool. we made the mistake of going in the morning and waiting in line forever. but it was cool all the same. the food in florence was amazing and really cheap compared to france. we could have an excellent meal for 11-12 euros.
next stop was siena. which was very pretty. however my view was tainted by grey weather again and also i got sick. i don't generally eat meat but decided not to let that stop me from trying local foods... so i tried proscuitto and it screwed up my stomach for days. the cathedral was well worth seeing inside of because of the marble floors. they're beautiful and only uncovered for sept and oct. piazza del campo was beautiful. we went to santa maria del scalla which was the first hospital. in the basement there was this chapel and it was the creepiest place i have ever been! there was a skull on the wall and curtains everywhere and you kept expecting some ghostly monk to jump out at you! we stayed at the fonti di pescaia. which was wierd... by chance we arrived when the cleaning lady was there... good thing or i have no idea how we would have gotten in! there is no reception there! its like guest rooms or something which was not at all clear when we reserved. at any rate, it was very nice and clean and comfy but a little odd cause of the lack of reception.
next stop was rome. i'm in love with the city and i threw my two coins in the trevi fountain so i will be back! we did the classic thigns... colosseum, forum, palatine hill, st-peter's, the vatican museum, sistine chapel, piazza navona, piazza del popolo (tried to go into the church but it was closed... the one with raphael's chapel)... and i went to the Capuccin crypt which has all the crypt walls decorated with 4000 monks bones. this was recommended to me by a friend who said this was the must see in rome and it definately was. very creepy and cool and creative all at the same time. i loved rome. it was magic! the food was fab and the shopping was fun, too!
oh yes and the pantheon, too. its just very humbling to be in the presence of these enormous ancient buildings... kinda makes you feel insignificant. here we stayed at the beehive... the best hostel of our trip. you must definately stay here but you have to reserve ahead of tiem as it is very popular. its very modern and clean. it was outstanding. breakfast is not included but totally amazing! a packed lunch is also available and very good and better than anything you can get on the go in rome for under 5 euros (packed lunch is 4 euros). they also have free internet which is great. it was amazing!
next stop was venice which is officially my favorite city i've visited in europe. its just magical and unlike anything else. we took a trip on the vaporettos which was great! and we took a public gondola across the grand canal... just to say we've been on one. we spent most of the time we were there just walking... and shopping for murano glass. we actually took a vaporetto to the island of murano which was very cool. we also saw vivaldi's four seasons performed in period costume. it was great. i jsut loved venice... it sounds like we didn't do much... but we just walked and walked and walked... i loved it! we stayed at ostello santa fosca which was clean and comfy enough. but i read a lot of rave reviews of this place which i don't understand. it was fine. i'd stay there again. but no where near the best.
next stop was innsbruck in austria. which figures in my top 3 favorite cities. it was absolutely beautiful. and the mountains were just incredible. we saw the golden roof which was cool and the crystal displays which was insane... they had fish and dogs and lizards made out of crystal. crazyness. then one afternoon we took a cable car up a mountain to hight of 2000m. amazing views! we were above the tree line! insane!! we also visited the imperial palace which was cool. it was a fun place to wander around. we stayed at pension paula which was a bed and breakfast and was 48 euros a night for 2. it was really really nice and in the foothills of the mountains and our room had a great view.
next stop was switzerland where we stayed with friends. we were staying near zurich but our friend took us to interlaken and luzern as well. a very very beautiful country. unfortunately we had crappy weather for the most part so we didn't see too many mountains. we did have some fabulous swiss food cooked by our friend. we had a real swiss fondue... was fabulous... the packet stuff in the supermarkets here seems incredibly insufficient. in zurich we saw the art museum which was one of my favorites as it had a decent chagall collection and he's my favorite.
our last stop was london where we stayed with my cousins. we only had a day there but i've been before and i will be back. i went to st-paul's cathedral which is beautiful. the clink prison museum (creepy but cool), and the hms belfast which is part of the imperial war museum. very cool. and of course i did have some good indian food... a definate must. also went to leicester square for drinks and dinner one night, too. i love cider... it should be more readily available here. and then we flew home! nice to be home but i'm sad to be gone from europe... i will go back one day!!!
ok, so the whole trip was fabulous! It started in the uk with my cousin's wedding. which was wonderful. while in stoke-on-trent (where my family is from), i also visited gladstone pottery museum (stoke is where royal doulton, wedgewood etc is all from) which was cool and we also went to the monkey forest which has real monkeys (adorable) in an enormous enclosure. apparently there are similar things in germany, too. anyways, it was fun but stoke's main attraction for me is my family and i don't recomend it for its tourism potential at all.
then we headed up to scotland, dunfermline specifically where my grandmother lived to visit her and the rest of my dad's family for a few days. we also visited edinburgh. saw holyroodhouse palace and just generally wandered around a lot. i love that city. dunfermline is also great - ancient capital of scotland! there are fabulous abbeys and robert the bruce's (braveheart) grave.
and then it was off to dublin where i met my cousin (not the one that got married). dublin is a really fun city tho not particularly beautiful. Dublin castle was very cool as was the guiness brewery
definate must see... and i don't usually like guiness. The jameson whiskey distillery was also very cool! we stayed at abraham house which did the job. clean enough and fairly central. comfy beds... all that is important. then it was off to belgium... land of skeezy men. i hated brussels. in part because of the skeezy men. also the place is ugly and dirty. other than la grand place and the streets in the immediate vicinity, it was all very run down and dirty or ultra modern and ugly! admittedly la grand place was beautiful. we stayed at SleepWell which was very clean and very nice and brussels only redeeming quality. we did a day trip to brugge which was wonderful. i loved the city, absolutely gorgeous, and yummy chocolate too! we went into this fabulous chocolate museum! really really cool!
Then we moved on to paris but i had to leave my friend there and head back to scotland for 2 days for my grandmothers funeral which sucked. but then it was back to paris for 2 days (i'd been there before so i wasn't missing too much). in paris i saw the cathedrale de notre dame, le musee de cluny, le sorbonne, the louvre (napoleon's apartments rock) and we spent a lot of time wandering around the latin quarter... beautiful! where we found a canadian bookstore! so we had to go in. and of course we went up the eiffel tower. so cool! in paris we stayed at le village hostel in montmartre which was very nice. quite social but quiet enough to get a good nights sleep. comfy beds and private facilities (for 5 bed dorm). i'd stay here again.
next stop was Tours where we did a chateau tour! that was gorgeous! the chateau are fabulous! we went to chateau chenonceau which spans a river (don't remember which one) and was the division of occupied and non-occupied france in one of the world wars (again don't remember which). the gardens were just incredible as well. Tours itself was also very pretty and i wished we'd allocated more time there than we did. here we stayed in a budget hotel which was really really nice! i think it was about 54 euros a night which was only slightly more than we were paying each for our hostle rooms.
then it was off to bordeaux! and here we did a wine tasting tour. very cool. good wine... i've been spoiled now. the chateau we went to (chateau laniote) had amazing wine... sold for 22 euros a bottle at the vineyard... which would easily make this thing an 80-100$ bottle of wine in canada (but i'm sure its not even available here!). this chateau was in st-emilion and then we visited the town of st-emilion which is ancient and beautiful! bordeaux itself is okay although not fabulous. it has a beautiful cathedral and good shopping. but my opinion was a little biased cause the weather sucked (grey or raining the whole time) and our hotel sucked. we stayed at a place called hotel de la famille (which came up under hostels when we were searching) do not ever ever stay here. it was so old and run down and gross with saggy beds. eewwwwwww. horrible horrible horrible. it inspired us to take a night train to nice which we were not planning on. fortunately we had a very positive night train experience. we were only 3 in a 6 person compartment. i slept really well so i was happy.
and when we arrived in nice, the weather was gorgeous!!!! so we hit the beach! for two days straight! so incredibly beautiful! i loved nice! we did do a bus tour of the old city which was cool. on the third day we did a boat trip to monaco for the day which was very cool. we saw the prince's palace, the cathedral where grace kelly is buried and the oceanorgraphic institute (jacques cousteau and all that)... amazing aquariums! our hostel there was hotel des alizes and was very nice. 4 bed female dorm with private facilities... very nice and very clean... comfy beds and cool roommates.
then it was tiem for the 8 hour train ride to florence... pretty scenery for the most part at least. we finally arrived in florence and checked into our hostel... the fabulous archi rossi... one of the best of our trip. very clean, really nice, sociable, free good breakfast with lots of choice, and free internet. we were near the common room so it was a little noisy in the evening and early morning but not too bad. i loved florence... the market was a lot of fun (and resulted in a lot of shopping) and i loved michaelangelo's david... it really is a masterpiece and so worth seeing. but go at the end of the day... shorter lines and there isn't really anytihng else worth seeing in there. climbing the cupola of il duomo was also well worht the effort for the views. uffizi was also cool. we made the mistake of going in the morning and waiting in line forever. but it was cool all the same. the food in florence was amazing and really cheap compared to france. we could have an excellent meal for 11-12 euros.
next stop was siena. which was very pretty. however my view was tainted by grey weather again and also i got sick. i don't generally eat meat but decided not to let that stop me from trying local foods... so i tried proscuitto and it screwed up my stomach for days. the cathedral was well worth seeing inside of because of the marble floors. they're beautiful and only uncovered for sept and oct. piazza del campo was beautiful. we went to santa maria del scalla which was the first hospital. in the basement there was this chapel and it was the creepiest place i have ever been! there was a skull on the wall and curtains everywhere and you kept expecting some ghostly monk to jump out at you! we stayed at the fonti di pescaia. which was wierd... by chance we arrived when the cleaning lady was there... good thing or i have no idea how we would have gotten in! there is no reception there! its like guest rooms or something which was not at all clear when we reserved. at any rate, it was very nice and clean and comfy but a little odd cause of the lack of reception.
next stop was rome. i'm in love with the city and i threw my two coins in the trevi fountain so i will be back! we did the classic thigns... colosseum, forum, palatine hill, st-peter's, the vatican museum, sistine chapel, piazza navona, piazza del popolo (tried to go into the church but it was closed... the one with raphael's chapel)... and i went to the Capuccin crypt which has all the crypt walls decorated with 4000 monks bones. this was recommended to me by a friend who said this was the must see in rome and it definately was. very creepy and cool and creative all at the same time. i loved rome. it was magic! the food was fab and the shopping was fun, too!
oh yes and the pantheon, too. its just very humbling to be in the presence of these enormous ancient buildings... kinda makes you feel insignificant. here we stayed at the beehive... the best hostel of our trip. you must definately stay here but you have to reserve ahead of tiem as it is very popular. its very modern and clean. it was outstanding. breakfast is not included but totally amazing! a packed lunch is also available and very good and better than anything you can get on the go in rome for under 5 euros (packed lunch is 4 euros). they also have free internet which is great. it was amazing!next stop was venice which is officially my favorite city i've visited in europe. its just magical and unlike anything else. we took a trip on the vaporettos which was great! and we took a public gondola across the grand canal... just to say we've been on one. we spent most of the time we were there just walking... and shopping for murano glass. we actually took a vaporetto to the island of murano which was very cool. we also saw vivaldi's four seasons performed in period costume. it was great. i jsut loved venice... it sounds like we didn't do much... but we just walked and walked and walked... i loved it! we stayed at ostello santa fosca which was clean and comfy enough. but i read a lot of rave reviews of this place which i don't understand. it was fine. i'd stay there again. but no where near the best.
next stop was innsbruck in austria. which figures in my top 3 favorite cities. it was absolutely beautiful. and the mountains were just incredible. we saw the golden roof which was cool and the crystal displays which was insane... they had fish and dogs and lizards made out of crystal. crazyness. then one afternoon we took a cable car up a mountain to hight of 2000m. amazing views! we were above the tree line! insane!! we also visited the imperial palace which was cool. it was a fun place to wander around. we stayed at pension paula which was a bed and breakfast and was 48 euros a night for 2. it was really really nice and in the foothills of the mountains and our room had a great view.
next stop was switzerland where we stayed with friends. we were staying near zurich but our friend took us to interlaken and luzern as well. a very very beautiful country. unfortunately we had crappy weather for the most part so we didn't see too many mountains. we did have some fabulous swiss food cooked by our friend. we had a real swiss fondue... was fabulous... the packet stuff in the supermarkets here seems incredibly insufficient. in zurich we saw the art museum which was one of my favorites as it had a decent chagall collection and he's my favorite.
our last stop was london where we stayed with my cousins. we only had a day there but i've been before and i will be back. i went to st-paul's cathedral which is beautiful. the clink prison museum (creepy but cool), and the hms belfast which is part of the imperial war museum. very cool. and of course i did have some good indian food... a definate must. also went to leicester square for drinks and dinner one night, too. i love cider... it should be more readily available here. and then we flew home! nice to be home but i'm sad to be gone from europe... i will go back one day!!!
