You don't have to eat it, just order it
The days have been rolling by so quickly; Bradley and I have moved between three cities since I last sent an email. The experiences (and accomodation) have been mixed, though the food has been delicious and the wine plentiful. All the important things.
After leaving the absolutely freezing conditions of Berlin (along with Wham), Bradley and I boarded our last Eurail train bound for Prague. The morning was cold, the weather snowy and as we travelled along the country side the climate got progressively warmer (to a balmy 2 or 3 degrees I think). We stayed at quite a nice looking hotel in the Mala Strana (I think) district but found that they overcharged for everything (and the price of two gin and tonics floored us and actually put a real damper on the stay - everything at the hotel was so unbelievably overpriced and the service not particularly helpful but when you're staying over Christmas it is kind of hard to argue....).
So the hotel stay was quite mixed but the rooms were comfortable and as we were mainly trying to relax and catch up on a lack of sleep that worked for us. Over Christmas the majority of the city closed down so we took this chance and recharged the batteries. Walking through the different districts was gorgeous; the castle was swarming with tourists, black ice and tacky souveniers but the views were spectacular. Bradley and I wandered through Christmas markets, enjoyed $2 beers and had our fill of goulash. After five days I was quite ready to pack up and hit the streets of Paris.
We decided to fly to Paris rather than getting a train across as it was a case of 2 hours vs 2 days. We arrived in a Parisian airport out in the middle of nowhere, about 70 minutes out of Paris. We missed the first bus into the centre of town and had to wait an hour or so until the next flight arrived as they wouldn't take a half empty bus. Once we eventually got on the road we took in the countryside, enjoyed the fleeting moments of sunshine and eventually made it into civilisation. The Paris metro (in fact all the public transport systems we've used) was really easy to navigate (though not always so easy to spot) and after a few 'Which direction do we go?!' moments we found our hotel.
Now the 'Modern Hotel' was perhaps a modern hotel in the 50's. We walked in and I remember Brad saying 'It's fine as long as it is clean'. Well that just jinxed us as we went into our room and found it covered in rubbish from the last guests. However the bed had been made and the bathroom cleaned so we thought housekeeping must've just been distracted and forgot. A little old lady came to our room, exclaimed 'Ooh la la' and cleaned up for us. It wasn't until we went to bed that we discovered the dirty sheets. We ended up getting some clean sheets, making our own bed and being thankful we were on a quiet side street and able to have a good nights sleep.
With only three days in Paris we tried to make the most of it and visited all the usual haunts - Le Louvre, Arc de Triomph, some big tower thing, Grand Pompediou... there were so many people everywhere! I don't remember it being so incredibly dense with tourists last time I visited. In the end Brad and I had to plan one key thing we wanted to do, get there early and try to avoid queues. We didn't climb the tower as there were literally a thousand people queuing for tickets! It was nice wandering through side streets, getting lost in Marais, eating delicious gamey food while drinking beautiful wine (though one night we stayed in, bought cheese, cold meats, baguettes and sat on the bed, getting a little drunk while watching French tv). We had breakfast at the cafe from Amelie and were served by a remarkably surly waiter (it had to happen at least once!) and found a small restaurant on our last night that had a fabulously entertaining waiter who joked to one table regarding the three course set menu for €20 - 'You don't have to eat it, just order it' when they tried to get away with not ordering an entree. C'mon, it's Paris! Some people come to shop, some people come to eat.... and eat we did.
The three days passed so quickly and now, after a drunken new years eve in London I find myself in 2010! We arrived mid afternoon yesterday and after battling the crowds at Oxford Circus in search for something new to wear, Brad and I met up with an old friend and drank the night away, reliving the wonderful times I had here in 2003. Now I'm hoping I wake up enough for another fun night out!
I hope everyone had a grand new years and is looking forward to the year ahead! Goodbye from London town x
After leaving the absolutely freezing conditions of Berlin (along with Wham), Bradley and I boarded our last Eurail train bound for Prague. The morning was cold, the weather snowy and as we travelled along the country side the climate got progressively warmer (to a balmy 2 or 3 degrees I think). We stayed at quite a nice looking hotel in the Mala Strana (I think) district but found that they overcharged for everything (and the price of two gin and tonics floored us and actually put a real damper on the stay - everything at the hotel was so unbelievably overpriced and the service not particularly helpful but when you're staying over Christmas it is kind of hard to argue....).
So the hotel stay was quite mixed but the rooms were comfortable and as we were mainly trying to relax and catch up on a lack of sleep that worked for us. Over Christmas the majority of the city closed down so we took this chance and recharged the batteries. Walking through the different districts was gorgeous; the castle was swarming with tourists, black ice and tacky souveniers but the views were spectacular. Bradley and I wandered through Christmas markets, enjoyed $2 beers and had our fill of goulash. After five days I was quite ready to pack up and hit the streets of Paris.
We decided to fly to Paris rather than getting a train across as it was a case of 2 hours vs 2 days. We arrived in a Parisian airport out in the middle of nowhere, about 70 minutes out of Paris. We missed the first bus into the centre of town and had to wait an hour or so until the next flight arrived as they wouldn't take a half empty bus. Once we eventually got on the road we took in the countryside, enjoyed the fleeting moments of sunshine and eventually made it into civilisation. The Paris metro (in fact all the public transport systems we've used) was really easy to navigate (though not always so easy to spot) and after a few 'Which direction do we go?!' moments we found our hotel.
Now the 'Modern Hotel' was perhaps a modern hotel in the 50's. We walked in and I remember Brad saying 'It's fine as long as it is clean'. Well that just jinxed us as we went into our room and found it covered in rubbish from the last guests. However the bed had been made and the bathroom cleaned so we thought housekeeping must've just been distracted and forgot. A little old lady came to our room, exclaimed 'Ooh la la' and cleaned up for us. It wasn't until we went to bed that we discovered the dirty sheets. We ended up getting some clean sheets, making our own bed and being thankful we were on a quiet side street and able to have a good nights sleep.
With only three days in Paris we tried to make the most of it and visited all the usual haunts - Le Louvre, Arc de Triomph, some big tower thing, Grand Pompediou... there were so many people everywhere! I don't remember it being so incredibly dense with tourists last time I visited. In the end Brad and I had to plan one key thing we wanted to do, get there early and try to avoid queues. We didn't climb the tower as there were literally a thousand people queuing for tickets! It was nice wandering through side streets, getting lost in Marais, eating delicious gamey food while drinking beautiful wine (though one night we stayed in, bought cheese, cold meats, baguettes and sat on the bed, getting a little drunk while watching French tv). We had breakfast at the cafe from Amelie and were served by a remarkably surly waiter (it had to happen at least once!) and found a small restaurant on our last night that had a fabulously entertaining waiter who joked to one table regarding the three course set menu for €20 - 'You don't have to eat it, just order it' when they tried to get away with not ordering an entree. C'mon, it's Paris! Some people come to shop, some people come to eat.... and eat we did.
The three days passed so quickly and now, after a drunken new years eve in London I find myself in 2010! We arrived mid afternoon yesterday and after battling the crowds at Oxford Circus in search for something new to wear, Brad and I met up with an old friend and drank the night away, reliving the wonderful times I had here in 2003. Now I'm hoping I wake up enough for another fun night out!
I hope everyone had a grand new years and is looking forward to the year ahead! Goodbye from London town x