Category Archives: Europe

British Museums

Squatzi London PassVisiting the British Museum in London is free, and it is absolutely worth the time. (The website has A History of the World in 100 Objects which is pretty cool.) We wandered the entire museum. A few of the high lites – The Rosetta Stone, the Hoa Hakananai’a, Egyptian Art & Mummies. The museum even has a Haida Totem Pole from BC. We also went to the Natural History Museum, and the Tate Modern which are also free. I’d have to say of the three, the British Museum was the best by far.

During our shortened stay in London we managed to visit several other sites as well. Tower Bridge and Tower of London were interesting. And, the HMS Belfast The Imperial War Museum was kind of neat to see, but there were a trillion school kids on the ship with us and they were not well behaved! All of them were wearing their little school uniforms running around like little psychos all over the ship.

London BridgeThe most mundane part about London that was also one of the best=Marks & Spencer food shops. We need more grocery/food opportunities like this in Canada. M&S has outstanding policies for a retailer. Here’s a quote from their site:

We launched Plan A in January 2007, setting out 100 commitments to achieve in 5 years. We’ve now extended Plan A to 180 commitments to achieve by 2015, with the ultimate goal of becoming the world’s most sustainable major retailer.

Through Plan A we are working with our customers and our suppliers to combat climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials, trade ethically, and help our customers to lead healthier lifestyles.

I don’t know if shoppers actually appreciate that the food has no GMO’s, or that M&S support fair trade, but it was kind of refreshing. If we had not had to deal with the whole passport fiasco, and actually been able to enjoy another day in London, I’m sure we would have seen so much more.

European Graffiti

I started collecting photos of graffiti in Paris. There was no shortage for the rest of the trip. My preference is for the stencils–not that it takes as much effort to spray a stencil as it does to spray a huge wall of street art; I just like them better. Parisian graffiti was pretty mellow for the most part. Italian graffiti had some serious anti-Bush sentiment. See if you can tell the difference.

Panthéon

The Panthéon, Paris France
The Panthéon, Paris France

The first Panthéon of the trip was in Paris. The second in Rome. Both awesome!

When we arrived, the Panthéon had just closed for the day, but the sun was shining which made for some alright exterior photos. I knew it wasn’t an option to miss out on seeing the inside, so we made a point of going back.  If you’re in Paris, check it out.  You won’t be disappointed.
The Panthéon, Paris France
The Panthéon, Paris France

The Panthéon made me feel very insignificant for several reasons. The size of the building itself is magnificent. There are incredible figures buried in the necropolis–famous authors, philosophers, and scientists. The likes of Victor Hugo, Voltaire and Marie Curie to name a few. To see their tombs was both unnerving and enchanting at the same time. And then, you have Foucault’s Pendulum which is fascinating.

Foucault's Pendulum, Paris FranceFoucault’s Pendulum shows the rotation of the Earth as the pendulum swings. I’m no physics buff, so I won’t try to explain the science behind it. You do your own research!

I’ve have a short video clip I took when we were there. You can tell it was between noon and 1:00pm simply by how the pendulum swings.

“In 1851 it was well known that the Earth rotated: observation evidence included Earth’s measured polar flattening and equatorial bulge. However, Foucault’s pendulum was the first dynamic proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment, and it created a sensation in the academic world and society at large.” (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Orvieto Duomo

Orvieto DuomoWe went to A LOT of churches on the trip. Most were absolutely amazing, but none were quite as fanciful as the Orvieto Duomo (at least on the outside–clearly St. Peter’s Basilica is way fancier on the inside!).

Wikipedia has some learning for you. Abridged version–the Duomo is very glittery; when the sun shines on the front it is gorgeous. Story goes, that in Bolsena, Italy, a traveling priest doubted the transubstantiation as occurs in the Eucharist. His Host began bleeding, bled more, and stained the alter cloth. Upon seeing this miracle, the priest’s faith was restored. This alter cloth is now stored in the Duomo. During Corpus Christi celebrations, the Corporal of Bolsena is displayed on parade around the city.

Now after this Catechism lesson, here’s for the science believers! (Straight from Wikipedia, so you know it is true!)

It is only within the last ten years that the Academies of Science would not have been sorely puzzled to explain so strange a phenomenon. Now, no one thinks of denying it, since the discovery of a microscopic fungus, the spores of which having germinated in the meal or dough, offer the appearance of clotted blood.
Le Jardin de l’Epicure, Anatole France
Orvieto was exactly what we needed after the horrible experience we had in Venice. There was so much to do and see in such a little place. We toured the Orvieto underground, went to St. Patrick’s Well, shopped, had amazing gelato, and a fantastic hotel room. If you’re going to Italy–stopping in Orvieto is a must!

 

The order of things…

First, I’m sure you all suspect that I’ve lost all hand function in a tragic typing accident, not true. I’m just overwhelmed at where to start with the whole travel recap. It would have been much easier to have kept an accurate journal, or have used the internet each day. Moola doesn’t grow on trees and internet access was 2£ for 15 minutes in places.

I’ve given up trying to repost the stories that come to mind, in the order that the countries were traveled. My mind isn’t that organized.   So now you get a random hodgepodge of travels. LUCKY!

Here’s the travel route, you put your own sequence together!

Vancouver, London, Paris, Milan, Venice, Orvieto, Civita di Bagnoregio, Rome, Vatican City, Pompeii, Naples, Rome, Frankfurt, Toronto, Vancouver.

No one speaks English…

No one speaks English, but everyone speaks Coca-Cola!

Apparently in England NO ONE speaks English. I’d say about 80% of the people are tourists and the other 20% are non-English or broken-English speaking. And that isn’t only at typical touristy destinations!

Coke logoTo make things even more bizarre, we’ve noticed that Coke has become more multi-cultural as well. Jon had a can with a logo in what we’re guessing is Hebrew (we couldn’t read it to find out the actual country), a can from Poland, and one from England. And, I had 2 from Canada (in the UK of all places) and one from Northern Ireland. The highest price we saw for a Coke was 4€ , so about $6 for a 500ml bottle..not even 600ml. At that price we were not buying!

Peach Iced TeaIn France, where our cola addiction was cheapest to feed, Diet Coke became Coca-Cola Light. I sure wasn’t drinking coke the whole while because EVERYWHERE had Lipton Peach Iced Tea as the Iced Tea of choice–vending machines, fast food places, street vendors. It was an Iced Tea drinker’s paradise! That 1.5L bottle was my last little souvenir from Paris. Delicious.  Peach=my favourite!

While we’re on the topic of beverages…water, normal, non-fizzy water was SUPER cheap at the grocery stores. We got a 1.5L bottle for 0.58€. That is barely over a dollar. Here it would have been easily $3. Ridiculous!

ps: I was brave and drank tap water in almost every city.

Who needs sleep?

We weren’t going to sleep day the day we arrived in London even if we had made the original flight. Rumour has it that if you just push through being tired for the first while until a suitable bed time then you won’t be as affected by jet lag. (That’s Jon’s theory anyway!) Pretty sure we were awake for 36 hours before sleeping.

We figured out the Tube right from Heathrow to our hotel, so we didn’t have to spend a fortune getting there. Of all the transit systems we used, London was easiest and cleanest for sure.

London Tube Map

So, we went sight seeing. We walked from our hotel all the way to Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus. In the process we saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey (which was already closed). And, we took loads of photos. (Yes, photos are on the way…we took almost 4000, so they’re taking a while to go through!)

When in Rome…

So I have not been able to update as often as I would have liked, but we have been busy sight seeing. It is BEAUTIFUL here in Rome. The weather is warm enough most of the time to wander around in a tshirt or just long sleeves.

The other day we were in the little town of Orvieto for the night and we made a day trip to Civita di Bagnoregio (google it now…so beautiful!). Well let’s just say the bus ride there…we got our dollar’s worth. The dude was driving on crazy small town Italy streets windy as all get up and he was in a full size bus. The speed limit was 50, and the one electronic meter we went by said your speed 60, and that is what he slowed down to. He was hitting the branches on the trees on the side of the road, and I seriously thought he was going to drive us into a bridge abutment. And, stop signs…all optional. He didn’t stop for a single one.

I nearly puked. Jon thought it was awesome, and that the guy must have been a Tuk Tuk driver in another life.

ps: Be on the lookout for loads of post cards. They’ve been in the mail since London.

 

Tube & Metro Scams

Who knew it was easy to figure out the Tube or even the Metro?!? (It was easier than this fricken keyboard!)

Every book has about a trillion beware of pickpocket warnings; nothing can prepare a person for the amount of scams on the metro. In London there were warnings, but everything seemed kosher. The police/bobby presence was pretty crazy. At most stations there were sniffer dogs and officers or transit police–not to mention closed circuit cameras everywhere.

Paris is a whole other ball game! First day some dudes tried to offer an “African tradition” by which they occupy both of your hands in some ridiculous friendship bracelet making crap with coloured thread. All the while one of the other ones pats you down and takes your shit. Obviously we did not fall for it. Then there are the pathetic looking gypsy girls who approach with a “do you speak eenglish?” and then they hand you a printed card with a sob story on it asking for money. These chicks are EVERYWHERE!

And you also have the metro beggars who put printed cards on the empty seats asking for money because they are out of work and raising a family etc etc. Then you have your run of the mill pick pockets. I busted one who was trying to get into a woman’s purse. He was none too impressed. True story.

The Paris metro is the dirtiest grossest transit system ever. Read on my friends…