New London Pictures!

So this past weekend I took Friday evening to check out Sloane Square and Harrods in the evening. Saturday morning I went to the Borough Market, my favorite spot in London. I have attached a few photo's of each in the London set on my Flickr account. More than likely my next posts will also be photo based. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlundbe2/

Lisbon, Portugal

My final travel weekend took me once again south of England, not too far from Sevilla and my trip the week prior, to Lisbon, Portugal. The destinations in southern Europe had always been on my radar and when Monica mentioned she also had a free weekend in November and was looking to travel somewhere, I jumped to suggest Portugal. As I had subconsciously planned, I was to make my visits in a southerly direction, ending with “warmer” weekends in Spain and Portugal. Considering I call Denver home people seem to be confused at my “need” to travel somewhere warm. See, what they don’t understand is that, while it may get cold in Denver, we will get sun the next day… that is not the case here in London. But, this is all besides to point. On to Portugal!

For the last time, I was excited if you can’t tell, my alarm went off at 2:30 a.m. and I made way to Victoria for a bus to the airport. I have yet to touch on flying budget airlines so I will do that now. The bottom line is RyanAir and EasyJet both do what they are intended to do – get you from point A to point B on time (cant necessarily be said of our domestic United States flights on United, etc.) for a low cost. While they are often compared to one another, EasyJet is by far my preferred low cost carrier. Riding on RyanAir is like watching an annoying game show. Midway through the flight, after they have offered to serve you ridiculously high priced beverages and cocktails, the announcer goes into a highly enthused sales pitch about purchasing your chance at winning one of a million great prizes… including a million pounds! Flying with RyanAir can make you a millionaire. Yeah, right, just turn off the lights and the ridiculous announcer and let me get some sleep. Either way, you can’t beat a $100 flight roundtrip to Portugal, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

I landed in Portugal mid-morning and hopped a quick public transportation bus from the airport to the hostel. Our hostel, Goodnight Backpacker’s Hostel, was one of the cleanest I have stayed in. The owner, Joe (the owner ran hostels are always the best) was very friendly and able to check me in right away. Which, considering it was before noon was very unlike many other locations I have been. I quickly unpacked my backpack and headed out to explore Lisbon. With Monica arriving in the evening I had almost eight hours to wander on my own. Highlights of my day include a fifteen minute conversation with a very nice man in the Barrio Alto about how hard it is to find a job in Portugal, a trip to Belem on the light rail (which five ticket checking guards ambushed, for lack of a better term, the train at one stop; they certainly don’t mess around in Portugal), a much longer walk back from Belem to Lisboa than I anticipated (guess that light rail moved quicker than I thought), and my first taste of the Portuguese pastries.

Monica arrived around 8 p.m. and our plan to meet at the hostel worked flawlessly. After she settled in we made our way towards the Barrio Alto (known in Lisbon for its bars with very close proximity to one another and flocks of young tourists). We stopped for dinner at a nice café that I had found earlier in the day before going to a Jazz Wine Bar and meeting up with some of Monica’s friends from Madrid.

Saturday, after waking and enjoying breakfast in the hostel, we made our way to Sintra, about forty five minutes outside of Lisbon. Joe, our hostel guide, had told us about a Lisbon Card that cost 13 euro but was the best value if you intended to go to Sintra, including entrance to the Palace, Castle, bus, and train tickets. Having been “screwed over” in the past with deals like this we opted, being the witty college students we are, to purchase things individually choosing only the monuments we wanted to see and saving some money. Needless to say, by the time we had caught the tram and train to Sintra, we had almost spent the value of the card. As we stood in front of the entrance to the Palace and Gardens Monica and I both rationalized spending ten euro for the entrance fee. We laughed as we both hesitated the purchase, but quickly realized this was nearly the end of our trip and how often would be back in Portugal.

The palace was stunning. I felt like I was in a Disney movie with colorful towers, large arches, and beautifully adorned rooms. The panoramic views around the palace revealed a picturesque country side, a hazy view of the Atlantic Ocean and Lisbon off in the distance. For lack of words to describe the palace, I will let the pictures below do the talking.

Following the palace we made our way to the nearby castle. Portugal has a very unique blend of Moorish and Islamic influence, which is very evident in the monuments throughout Sintra. The castle was, much like the palace, magnificent for its views of the valley. Sintra is perched on a hillside, providing panoramic views of the surrounding area.

The final stop on our “scenic bus ride around Sintra,” was in the old town near the train station. We arrived later in the evening as the sun was setting and the town was buzzing. After a few quick postcard stops, we wandered into a port wine shop learning and tasting our way through the various types of Port wine and the different methods for aging them. Walking up towards a shopping street we saw quite the line forming near what appeared to be a bakery and café. Interested, we grabbed a number and eagerly waited what wonderful pastry seemed to be causing all the attention. Twenty minutes later our number was called and we approached the counter and ordered “two of whatever everyone else was getting.” Turns out, that special pastry was the house specialty, which was quite tasty and well worth the wait. The old adage that a place must be good if it has a long line stood true again in Sintra.

Returning from Sintra mid evening we met again with Monica’s friends from Madrid, on the night’s agenda… traditional fado music. The fado area of Lisbon is near the Castle just east of where we were stating. Monica and I decided we would walk to Fado Maior, where we were meeting the others from the other hostel. We left plenty of time for errors, which thankfully we did, as the location was very tough to find and thanks to Monica’s semi understanding of one bar owners Portuguese we made our way “around the bend, down the stairs, and on the left.” For dinner I dined on bacalhau, cod, cooked with eggs, a Portuguese specialty. But the real reason why the night was so memorable was the fado music and the friendly hospitality. Fado Maior is a small, maybe ten tables, family ran restaurant. Our waitress took our orders, kept the wine flowing, was kind enough to separate all of our bills (at a table with 8 others, this was very much appreciated and unexpected), and sang fado music throughout the evening. She was joined by an older lady, whom we presume was the chef or owners wife, as well as what appeared to be the sun. For twenty euro we had a great meal and three hours of free entertainment! This ranks with one of my favorite memories of Europe. (Sorry no pictures here, didn't bring the Rebel and forgot my other camera)

Our final morning was spent in Belem. Belem is a suburb west of Lisbon. Belem is home to a Monastery, a naval and armored tower, the President’s residence, and many museums. Being a Sunday, we got free entrance to the Monastery and attached museum. Inside the Monastery was Vasco de Gamas tomb, our second straight weekend with an explorers tomb. The attached museum had the remains of a mummified Egyptian body, all that is worth mentioning. A picture of the Monastery is below.

Following the museum we explored the tower (also free) and the Sunday street market / flea market. We ended our visit to Belem with the world famous Pasteis de Belem. Apparently only two people know the recipe which is handed down only when someone passes away. The famed British chef Jamie Oliver has traveled to Belem to replicate the pastry without success. Its best described as a phyllo dough with a sweet custard filling best hot from the oven. So you are probably recognizing a trend here, Portuguese are known for their sweets and for good reason, the food throughout was very rich. We returned to central Lisbon to witness a motorcycle exhibition by the National Guard (who at one point put 12 people on one motorcycle) and listen to the sweet sounds of bagpipes in Lisbon. Monica left later that evening. With a flight the next morning, I took the evening to relax, walked a bit more around Lisbon, and reflected on my last trip away from London in Europe, this was my 12^th country in a little over 9 weeks.

Below are photos of the tower, pastries, the main square, and the impressive twelve people motorcycle trick.

Three new posts!!!

Welp, I have posted three more updates (much overdo) from the following cities:

Edinburgh, Scotland
Paris, France
Sevilla, Spain

I am working on Lisbon, Portugal now and then possibly another post from London... sorry for the barrage of updates. I hope I haven't lost all of my readership during my absence.

Seville (Sevilla), Spain

Travel weekend number six of seven, off to Spain I went. Sevilla, being not quite the tourist destination in Spain that Madrid and Barcelona are, only has one flight to and from London daily. Therefore, my weekend began on the Friday evening flight to Sevilla and ended on the Sunday night flight back to London. I was very much excited for my trip to Spain. After a few months apart in Europe, Monica, Matt, and I were to meet again in Sevilla. Excited to see them both, and others who made the trip to Spain this weekend, the added warm weather was just a bonus (Sevilla got up to 75 degrees Fahrenheit while I was there, a nice change from the cooler London).

Arriving at the airport I boarded the bus for the city center where I would meet Matt, Monica, and Jess at the bus station nearest Matt’s house. Even though I haven’t taken Spanish in five years, and nearly failing the Spanish placement exam at DU, I was comforted to know some basics to communicate with the locals. I was surprised at how much Spanish I did remember… now, don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t understand a word the Spaniards were saying due to how fast they talk, but had I needed to, I could have stood some chance at conversing with one of them.

From the bus station where we all met we made our way to our hostel so I could drop off my things. My late arrival, 9:30 p.m. meant nothing in a culture where everything seems to happen later in the day. We met Brad at the hostel, who is also studying in Sevilla, and made our way to a tapas bar in some square in the city. Sevilla is much like the small town Spain I imagined. The roads are narrow, the buildings have a Spanish influence to their design and materials, and the people and lifestyle seem to move much slower than other parts of Western Europe. It was great catching up with friends as we dined on delicious tapas… my first taste of true jamon and some sort of toast with cheese and drizzled warm honey. Our night ended with a visit to a few student bars (Sevilla is home to thousands of abroad students each semester) and my first waffle and chocolate experience.

Having been out late the night before (which seems to be a common trend in Spain) we started our day around 11:00 am after breakfast at the hostel with trips to the Alcazar and the Cathedral. The Alcazar is an Islamic palace that blends the culture and architecture of the Moorish and Spanish Christians. The grounds were adorned with many fountains, gardens, and mazes (yes, mazes in the hedges, good times). I was most amazed by the baths of Lady María de Padilla, the picture which can be seen below.

Below is a photo of Matt and me at the Alcazar.

Following the Alcazar we went to the Cathedral which is within a stone’s throw from the Alcazar. Beyond all other locations I have traveled, the entrance fees to tourist sites in Spain were the most reasonable; with free admission to the Alcazar and minimal fee for the Cathedral. It sure is great being a student. The highlights of the cathedral were Christopher Columbus’s tomb and the view from the top of the Giralda (the bell tower). Unlike many other treks to the top of a cathedral on stairs, the walk to the top of the Giralda consisted of 36 switch back ramps. Matt informed me this was most likely due to the use of livestock to ring the bell prior to its current mechanical state.

Below is a photo of Christopher Columbus’s tomb.

After our visit to the Alcazar we went and toured the Plaza de Espana. The plaza was originally built to hold the 1929 Spanish-American Exhibit. The building is quite impressive and spans a very wide panorama view. The tower on the plaza was used most recently in Star Wars Episode II for the scenes with Naboo, although it was digitally altered. Following the exterior tour of the plaza we walked through the nearby Parque Maria Luisa, another creation for the 1929 exhibit. It seems Sevilla likes to build a lot of buildings, bridges, and parks for its exhibitions as most monuments we visited were erected for a certain purpose or world exhibition. At the park we rented a five person bicycle car thing (yeah, it has an official name, I forget what it was). We rode our way around the park taking in the warmth of the Sevilla sun and the sights of the nearby Plaza de America. Following our bike tour of the park our legs and bodies needed a rest as we siested (yes, I made up a word) back at the hostel.

Below is a photo of the Plaza de Espana

That evening we headed out to explore the nightlife of Sevilla. We ate dinner at Cerveceria 100 Montaditos. A montadito is a small sandwich (imagine three or four bites) with various toppings and spreads. Your order sandwiches much like you would sushi by tallying your choices on a menu list. We crazy Americans ordered all of our sandwiches, much to the surprise of the chef who confirmed our order, with brown bread. You should have seen the four of us sitting there trying to figure out what exactly we had ordered (the menu is all in Spanish)… needless to say, they were all quite delicious. Contently full we went to experience a free flamenco show with a pitcher of Agua de Seville. Agua de Seville is a blend of beverages topped with fresh whip cream and cinnamon that you mix in prior to drinking… also delicious. As you can tell, Sevilla lives up to its reputation as a gastronomic center of Spain (not that I have much to compare it to though). The night concluded with drinks at a local watering hole near Alfalfa.

Below is a picture of the sandwiches we devoured…

Monica and Jess left early, which is relative in Spain, the next morning. I took the leisure of sleeping in, recovering from the weekend thus far before meeting Matt at the hostel around noon. We spent the day wandering the city. Highlights of the day include the live animal market near the river, the graffiti art near the bus station, the bull fighting ring (we just saw the outside), and many bridges scattered along the river. The afternoon concluded with paealla and sangria (which Monica swore I had to try before leaving Spain) prior to my bus to the airport. As I walked back to my flat from Baker street (I stupidly booked the wrong bus and banked on being able to find a night bus back to Victoria station) in the brisk London air I was able to reflect on what a great weekend I had… Sevilla was amazing!

The city that wore a hole in the sole of my shoes... Paris, France

For the third time in five weeks I found myself up long before anyone in their right mind should be on a Friday morning heading to London Luton for an early morning flight to Paris. As fun as it is to be able to jet set around Europe, the early morning flights are starting to kill me. Seven hours later (yet only 9:30 in the morning), Bart and I found ourselves landing at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France. Having only planned our trip to Paris for two full days and one long night we knew we would have to maximize our time to see all the sights. The main items on the itinerary were the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Versailles, everything else in between would prove to be a bonus. Our hostel was located a little ways from the city center, so thankful to packing light, we carried our backpacks all morning and set out on a walking tour of Paris.

Our first stop found us at the Louvre. The interesting blend of old architecture of the museum and surrounding buildings contrasted by the glass pyramids with view to the art galleries below provided an interesting contrast of old and new. The Louvre offers free admission for students on Friday evening so we delayed our visit inside until later in the day. From the Louvre we made our way towards the Concorde turning across the Seine to view the National Assembly. The view in the distance of the Eiffel tower was surreal. I couldn’t wait until later in the day to make our way to the tower. We walked along the Seine River passing the Museum D’Orsay. Walking along the river we saw many street artists and vendors selling memorabilia from nouveau art and film movements. Around midday we arrived at Notre Dame. The line to go inside the cathedral was considerably long and Bart and I agreed not worth the time on this visit (you have to prioritize at some point, J ).Nearly mid afternoon we decided now was a good time to go check in at the hostel and drop off some of our belongings before a full evening at the Louvre and seeing the Eiffel tower at night.

Below is a view of the conflicting (in my eyes) architecture of the Louvre.

Our hostel, Woodstock Hostel, was located in the 10^th arrondissement (area basically) of Paris, a few stops on the metro north of the city center. With the current transportation strike in Paris, I am glad the metro was operating smoothly while we were there. Having to walk to and from our hostel would have significantly cut into our sightseeing time. Luckily we had no problems. After dropping our bags at the hostel we wandered around the local shops in the nearby area. This was the Paris I imagined, butchers with meat, bakeries with bread, fruit shops with fruit, etc… there was no, and for good reason, need for a large grocery store. After picking up a roasted chicken baguette (which was delicious) we made our way towards the Louvre via the Arc de Triopmhe (which I would love to see at night but wasn’t able to) prepared to stand in a long line to see the Mona Lisa.

Below is a photo of the Mona Lisa… it isn’t much larger than 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide.

The free admission to students began at 6:00 p.m. By 6:15 p.m. we had made our way through the queue for tickets (not needed for a student) and were standing in front of the Mona Lisa. Honestly, as neat (yeah, I said neat) as it was to see the Mona Lisa in person, it was somewhat of a letdown. There were large barriers protecting the crowd from the work. The nearest we could get was ten feet or so and therefore were unable to see the brushstrokes of the piece. Following the Mona Lisa we explored the Louvre (by this time I was exhausted and couldn’t take much more art, which is a little overwhelming in the Louvre which seems to go on and on forever).

Bart and I then decided to finish the evening with our first visit to the Eiffel tower. We walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel tower, approximately 40 minutes intending to grab some cheese, bread, and meat to eat for dinner near the tower. Well, we found ourselves in a Chinese restaurant getting take-out. Either way, we still saw the tower at night (which was amazing) and were able to catch the strobe light show of the tower that occurs hourly. With a full day at Versailles ahead we called it an early night.

Below is a photo of the Eiffel tower at night.

Day two in Paris included two things: a trip to the palace of Versailles and an attempted trek to the top of the Eiffel tower. Versailles is located about forty five minutes from Paris. We had heard of a combined rail and entrance ticket (to avoid the lines) at Versailles, but no one at the ticket window understood our limited French or knew what we were talking about. After one misstep taking the wrong train (which we recognized one stop later) we were at Versailles and in a mad dash to beat everyone from our train to the front of the ticket line. Thankfully Bart and I both sport long legs and a quick stride… making our way to the front of the tourist crowd from our train saved us hours in the line (which was still about an hour long). We had heard that art students get in free to Versailles. Both being enrolled in an Art class in London we thought we would give it a try… no go, we needed documentation of our art student status. (hint for those going to Paris as students, bring some sort of identification of art student to save 15 euro’s).

Inside Versailles was a sea of tourists, us included, and a bit overwhelming. Assuming you lived there, the Palace of Versailles would be the ultimate home to wake up in and stroll to your porch overlooking the grounds to have one of those “it’s great to be king moments.” Everything about the Palace is lavish… the art work, the rooms, the gardens, everything. Most impressive was the partially renovated Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty of Versailles was signed ending World War I. I would love to go back to Versailles in either the spring or early summer. I can only imagine how beautiful the grounds would be when properly maintained in the proper season. Our visit focused mainly on the interior of the palace as we were limited for time and the weather wasn’t the best to be wandering around outside.

Below is a photo of the Hall of Mirrors.

Making our way from Versailles back to Paris we took the metro over to the Eiffel tower. With a few hours before our bus to the airport for our flight back to London we had intended to go to the top of the tower, climbing the first two floors by steps and the last ascent in the elevator (the only way to the top). We bought our tickets for the stair climb, the shortest line at the base of the tower, and quickly darted up the stairs. 680 steps later we were on the “second floor” of the Eiffel tower. We quickly noticed the line for the elevator to the top snaked around the platform many times and appeared to be moving quite slowly. Being the sensible people we are (we thought about chancing it) we decided it was in our best interest to enjoy the view from where we were and leisurely make our way back to bus stop for our flight back. The view, however, from the second floor of the Eiffel tower felt equal to the top of any tower I have been to in Europe.

Below is my favorite daytime shot of the Eiffel tower.

En route to the bus stop we passed the main Opera house, failed to find a cheese stop for Bart to pick up some cheese, and enjoyed a crepe from a street vendor. The leisurely stroll, after a weekend of much walking and many sights, was the perfect way to end our trip to Paris. I can’t wait to someday come back!

Edinburgh, Scotland

So, two weeks have passed and I am left recounting past trips throughout Europe. (So, now that I finally get around to finishing these posts… four weeks, possibly more have passed).

Following my time in Italy I spent a few days in London before heading back out on the road (not flying this time) to Edinburgh, Scotland. Following my Thursday evening class Bart and I hopped on a coach at Victoria station (it is very convenient being so close to a major transportation hub) bound for an 8 hour journey to Scotland. We arrived in Edniburgh at 7 a.m. long before anyone in the city was to be awake. Wandering from the bus station to our hostel we got our first sneak peak of Edinburgh as the sun was rising. Edinburgh is a very quaint city divided into two halves, the old city includes the famous Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, and the new city with a major shopping center, government buildings, etc.

After dropping our things at our hostel just off the Royal Mile we relaxed for a bit with a guidebook in hand planning the next two days of our visit. With the castle opening around 10 a.m. we had some time to kill and made our way to the Elephant Café. The Elephant Café is most famous as the location that J.K. Rowling sat as she began to write the Harry Potter series. I can see how its location could be very inspirational with the rear seating area overlooking an auspicious graveyard and the castle perched high above the hill.

Below is a photograph of the castle from the café.

Following breakfast we went to explore the castle. Honestly, this might be terrible to say, I don’t think the inside of the castle was worth the 25 dollar (12 pound) admission fee. Needless to say, we were able to see many of the museums and exhibits highlighting the reign of the Scottish empire. The most memorable portion of the castle visit was the Scottish crown jewels and the firing of the one o’clock cannon.

Below is a photograph of the one o’clock cannon just after being shot.

After viewing the castle we explored the rest of Edinburgh including the newly designed Parliament building (which won some design award a few years back), hiked up the small portion of Arthur’s Seat, went to the Scottish history museum (where we saw Dolly the first cloned sheep and learned that walking used to be a professional sport), and ended our day with a visit to a pub on the Royal Mile.

Day two in Scotland sent us north of Edinburgh on a Scottish Highlands and Whisky Tour. Our first stop on the bus tour (approx. 16 people) was at the Glenturret Distillery, home to the Glenturret single malt, just one component of the Famous Grouse Scottish Whisky. The taste test was quite unique. I never realized how many distinct flavors and aromas are present in whisky. The taste test began by scratching a card with six distinct flavors (smoke, citrus, chocolate, that’s all I remember) that are present in the whisky. Following the scratch and sniff activity I was better versed in tasting the Whisky.

Below is a shot from the distillery tasting room.

Following a quick lunch in the distillery lounge we continued our tour north of Perth towards Dunkeld. The Scottish countryside is covered with castles, beautiful estates, and rolling hill after rolling hill. This is quite possibly the most picturesque country I have ever been to. I wish I had more time to explore the countryside. Unfortunately, after a short hike near some waterfalls (oh, how nice the “mountain” air was) and r a quick stop in a Crief we made our way back to Edinburgh. Our quick two day one night visit of Scotland was coming to an end as we grabbed dinner and walked a giant circle around the castle before boarding an overnight bus back to London.

Milan, Italy

Having returned from Dublin on Monday afternoon I spent the week recovering from my travels and doing little beyond the ordinary. Our class visit for Art and Society was to the Tate Britain art gallery. We will be going back in a few weeks to explore the Millais exhibit, at which time I will make further comments on my blog.

My weekend trip to Milan began with an early morning flight on Friday, a week and a half ago. As a student trying to save money and maximize my holiday times, I often find myself on the first flight out of London on Friday morning. With the airport a little over an hour from my flat (which is convenient to the Victoria coach station and a one stop for many coaches to the airport) and a required check-in two hours prior to the flight I often leave my flat at 3:30 a.m. For the second Friday in a row I returned from class on Thursday evening, finished packing, and struggled to get a few hours of sleep. Often when I leave my neighbors are returning from a night out in London. Honestly, even though I am young, waking up so early and staying busy throughout the weekend is beginning to take its toll - although, the opportunities I have to explore Europe keep me flowing with adrenaline throughout the weekend.

I arrived in Milan at the Bergamo airport, about forty minutes north of Milan. A bus to the city center brought me to Stazinoe Centrale where I was going to meet Chelsea where the bus unloaded. Not having purchased a cell phone makes these little meetings slightly more difficult. Although, with no where in particular to be I don't mind waiting for someone to meet me or leisurely following directions to where I need to be. As I wandered near the bus depot I noticed three to four street vendors set up on cardboard boxes selling cell phone chargers, fake designer sunglasses, and dancing dolls (similar vendors were present throughout Milan). Observing from afar I noticed one street vendor quickly grab his goods in a blanket and start running while yelling at the others nearby. Within seconds the others (one who was in the middle of a transaction) snatched their wares and followed the first vendor. About ten second later an Italian police officer meandered towards the cardboard boxes the vendors had left and slowly folded them and put them along the wall. I guess selling knockoff items in Italy is illegal. Although, the nonchalant attitude of the police makes me wonder if they even enforce such regulations.

Chelsea and I made our way via the underground and tram to her room about 5 km from the city center. As we made our way to the "suburbs" of the city I realized Milan is much dirtier than I had anticipated. The walls are covered in graffiti, the underground is old and falling apart, and trash lines certain areas of the street. Additionally, although Milan is the fashion capital of the world - I would argue the average Londoner cares much more about their appearance than the "fashionistas" in Milan. After dropping my bag we headed to Milan to explore Chelsea's school, the Duomo, the galleria, Castello Sforzesco, and the area surrounding central Milan.

Stopping at Chelsea's school for lunch I had my first experience of the crazy Italian lifestyle. Life in London is very orderly and makes sense, or at least it does to the English, this however is not the case in Milan. While I understand the importance of cultural differences, you cannot fully understand their way of completing certain tasks until you have experienced it first hand. The queue, or line from those who haven't crossed the pond, is nonexistent in Italy. The Italians do not respect that the person who arrived before you should be served before you, etc. They seem to all clump together and slowly push their way to the front of the line. Second, parking... I think I have mentioned in the past that I am amazed how Londoners can get away with parking in both directions on the street (still upsets me since I got a parking ticket in America for parking against traffic in front of my house in Colorado :) ). Well, in Milan not only do they park on both sides of the street facing whichever direction is most convenient, they also park on the sidewalks, double park on the streets, etc. At one point someone stopped in their lane on a major road and tossed on their hazards and hopped out to grab something at a nearby store. These and many other cultural phenomenons of the Italians I will never understand.

Continuing from the University we walked near the Duomo, the third largest church in Europe and the second largest in Italy. The magnificent size, attention to detail, and ornate sculptures present on the Duomo are unlike any other church I have seen in Europe. With construction of the Duomo spanning nearly 500 years I am amazed at how seemingly the design and style of the building flows through obvious periods of change in architecture. With a capacity to hold nearly 40,000 people the Duomo has seen its fair share of world renowned religious ceremonies. Following the Duomo we wandered amongst the Castle, the park, and saw the Arco della Pace (Arch of Peace). Following our stroll through the park we grabbed some gelato (which, Italians know how to make gelato - more on this later) and wandered through the galleria.

Milan became the fashion center of the world following the relocation of many of the Italian textiles to the area surrounding the city. The Galleria and surrounding area is home to the designer stores of many of the worlds finest designers - Dolce and Gabanna, Prada, a reasonable tie shop, the Ferrari store (visiting is like being a kid in a candy shop) and a McDonalds (for some reason, I don't feel like the cost of the McDonalds food, regardless of its traffic, can make a profit in a location such as the galleria).
Following the Galleria, we met with Chelsea's friend from New Zealand for an amazing pizza dinner (pizza in Italy is about as good as you could imagine) and a night exploring the nightlife around the Naviglio Grande (Northern Italy's main canal). It was a great way to start a weekend in Milan and I quickly concluded that I appreciate Milan's beauty much more in the nighttime when the graffiti is not so apparent, the landmarks are lit up, and the nightlife comes alive.



Lake Como, Italy

Day two in Milan found us making our way to Lake Como, a large lake spanning 46 km and a villa retreat to many rich and famous, including George Clooney. We arrived at Lake Como via train from Milan in about an hour. Leaving the bus station we referenced the guidebook and determined we wanted to climb to the top of Brunate via the hiking trail and take the funicular back to the city. We set off through Lake Como admiring the stunning views of the lakes, the snow capped Alps in the distance, and planned our ascent up the side of the mountain. We purchased tickets for a one way journey and started our hike.

Without being able to communicate well with the salesman at the funicular base we started heading in what we thought was the correct direction. After hiking for about an hour up hundreds of stairs around the backside of the mountain we determined we were lost. However, with return tickets in hand that we paid for there was no way either of us were turning around and admitting defeat. We continued up the mountain, came to a clearing and walked near various villas and up long windy roads (by this point we were off the dirt path and on a road for cars) until we sent Chelsea to ask a local for directions. This was quite possibly the most comical exchange of Italian and English I have ever seen. We tried to ask where the top was via broken translation, English, hand movements, and other gestures. Eventually we all agreed, as did our new Italian friend, that we should continue up the hill until we reach a "unique stop" before veering right for 200 meters to the top. Fifteen minutes later, after breathtaking views of the Alps and the Lake below, we reached the depot for the funicular. Success!


Returning to Lake Como we witnessed the conclusion of a bicycle road race, complete with Television cameras, news crews, grand stands, and us American study abroad students a few feet from the victor as he addressed the media and cameras shoved in his face. It was a neat experience to feel the energy of the crowd with the sweeping views that surround us. I can only imagine what the Tour de France must feel like. After the race we returned to Milan via the train where we met with Chelsea's friends to celebrate a birthday with a night on the town. Milan once again came to life and reminded me why I enjoyed the city much more at night than I did during the day.

Sunday - Chocolat... need I say more?

After a very busy past two days we slept late on Sunday. After attempting to make a pannetone French Toast (still can not figure out why the skillet will not work on the electric Italian ranges but a saucepan will heat up in seconds) we creatively turned the pannetone mixture into a sort of bread pudding... regardless, the home cooked Sunday breakfast was very homey and the perfect way to start our day. Although, it was near mid-afternoon by the time we left Chelsea's apartment.

We had one primary goal -- find the Chocolat gelato store I had read about online. Walking by the Duomo and the castle again also allowed us the opportunity to do a little shopping. A little off the beaten path we came across the Chocolat store. Inside we were greeted with the most amazing display of gelato, chocolate cakes, drinking chocolate, chocolate bars, almost anything chocolate imaginable. Needless to say the dark chocolate gelato was amazing. As we sat in the warm suspended room above the gelato displays (check the website to understand) I realized that Denver needs an outlet like this. So, if ten years from now the whole accounting thing is not working out for me, I am making a pilgrimage back to Milan and learning the tricks of the trade to open a Chocolat branch in Denver. :) It was that amazing and the perfect cap to a weekend in Italy.


Airport Return Home

My final realization in Italy was the Italians (generalizations of course and not the case for the entire culture) are very inefficient people. Case in point. I arrived at the airport two hours prior to my departure. I check in at the RyanAir terminal and notice there is a large line for security. With my flight boarding in about 45 minutes I figured I would tackle the security line and then relax and read once I was at the gate. Now mind you, Bergamo is not a large airport but was still buzzing with 10 flights or so an hour. I wait in the line for about twenty minutes and get to the front where my boarding pass and id are checked. The Italian lady who checked my boarding pass shooed me from the line and said come back later. Confused, an Italian whom had been similarly shooed from the line but able to carry on a conversation with the airline personnel looked at me and asked if I understood what to do. Thankfully she spoke amazing English and told me that the attendant told us to come back at 9:10 a.m. (the time our flight was to board) and proceed through security at that point. Although, she said she would arrive a few minutes before that.

A half an hour later I am back in line (at the back again of a line that is now longer) about one hour prior to my flights departure. Slowly creeping through security I begin to realize this would take much longer than anticipated. Without boring you with the details an hour and a quarter later (ten minutes after the flight was supposed to take off) I made it through security and border patrol and was one of the last passengers to board the plane that was held for those of us who struggled through security. Luckily, RyanAir is the most efficient airline I have ever flown and had us in the air within minutes of boarding and managed to make up the twenty minutes delayed departure and landed on time in London - what a relief it was to be back in a country that spoke a language I understood and had customs that seemed to make sense.

Milan was an amazing trip!

Flickr homepage for additional photographs!

Check out my Flickr homepage for more Europe photos (some which make it on the blog, some which do not). I seem to be better at updating this link than I do at making posts to the blog (hopefully that will change though :) ).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlundbe2/

Much overdue update number 1...

First off, I apologize to my faithful readers who check my blog and have yet to see an update in the past few weeks. If I was to post everything that I have seen or done in the past weeks in as depth as I have in the past, I am sure to omit something important or bore you all to death. So, in an effort to get caught up I will try and make some general comments about the past few weeks, places I have been, realizations I have had, etc. before making another post commenting on my most recent adventure to Italy and Scotland.

Chelsea in London!

Two weeks ago Chelsea flew in from Milan, Italy (where she is studying for a year) to spend the weekend in London. The weekend was spent mostly on foot exploring London, its charm, and its sights. I am glad that everyone I have traveled with or visits enjoys walking as much as I do - I imagine Chelsea and I walked about 20 - 25 miles in a little over two days. We managed to only take the tube twice! When she arrived on Friday we went towards the Borough market via Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the River Thames. From the market we made our way to the Tate Modern art museum. This was my first visit to the Tate Modern since I arrived in London. During our visit a portion of the museum was sectioned off for the installation of a new piece of art - a large crack in the museum floor. The Tate Modern is well known for their odd choices of Modern interactive art and the crack proves no different. I hope to make it back in the coming weeks to see the crack that visitors are falling into, perceiving the installation is painted on the ground.

The next day we continued our foot tour of London exploring Regent Street, Oxford Street, and the other major shopping areas. We intended to see a production but both were reluctant to pay even the half priced ticket fee of nearly 30 pounds for a weekend showing. We ended our day of exploration with Indian food in Covent Garden - an area renowned for its street performers. Sunday brought cooler weather to London. After sleeping in, recovering from the walking of the first two days, we wandered to Hyde Park to spend a few hours people watching and relaxing before meeting a London Walks tour guide near St. Paul's for a guided tour of Shakespeare and Dickens London. The highlight of the walk was the charisma of our tour guide - ironically from the Midwest region of the United States - as we wandered through central London and gazed upon the last remaining buildings of London from Shakespeare's times and the inspiration for many of Charles Dickens locations and characters.

Sotheby's Auction House

Later that week I visited the Sotheby's auction house with my Art and Society class. London and specifically Sotheby's had been preparing for weeks for one of its large art auctions of the year. Our professor tried to best explain the functions and commodity type trading of art throughout the world. As I understand, the art market is a very volatile market and is expecting a downturn in prices and values of many of the world's top works. Many within the trading and collecting industry are fearful of the decrease in certain works arts and the auction that week in London would be indicative of the season's largest shows. On display were works from Monet, Picasso, Worhel, and many others. Unlike an art museum where works are carefully placed and properly lighted, Sotheby's felt more like a store for the world's most expensive art that would grace the walls for a few weeks before being sold to a collector or collection. I was most intrigued by the prices of some pieces (all of which were listed on the respective identification placard), most pieces ranged from 800 thousand - 1 million US dollars with some of the Monet and Picasso pieces listed in the 30 - 40 million dollar range.

Globe and Rose Tour

Having been the Globe to see a performance in the past weeks I was most excited to see the Rose theater on this tour, a portion of my London Theater class. The Rose theater is believed to have been built in the late 1500's and was one of the original four theaters in London during the birth of the cities interest in theater. During the late 1980's during the redevelopment of a building complex remains of the Rose theater were unearthed about a half mile from the current location of the reconstructed globe. While excavation took place for nearly a year - the historical foundation ran low of funds to recover the theater in 1989. To preserve the remains until further excavation could be performed the Rose was covered in concrete, dirt, and sand and now sits in the basement of the office complex. Interestingly enough, the Shakespeare company still preforms in the basement area near the original stage during special performances a few times each year.

Dublin, Ireland - Wicklow Mountains - Howth Fishing Village

The weekend following Chelsea's visit I made my way to Dublin, Ireland to visit Jess. Jess is studying abroad in Dublin and attending the University College Dublin about twenty minutes from the city center. Upon my arrival we spent Friday afternoon exploring the city center including Dublin Castle, Trinity College (home to the Book of Kells), and Grafton Street. We continued our wandering around Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells, and ended at Kevin’s house (another DU student studying in Dublin) via the northern and canal areas of the city.

After lounging at Kevin’s for awhile, the three of us made our way back to the University via Kiely’s of Donnybrook, a quaint little town about fifteen minutes walking from the University. For a Friday evening the pub was surprisingly quiet. Throughout the evening we met many more of Jess’s friends, went to a lacrosse game, and attended an American style house party (felt like being around DU) at Kevin’s before heading to bed with a big say ahead.

Saturday I joined Jess and her exchange program on a trip to the Wicklow mountains for a hike and tour of the monasteries remains. Walking the hills around Wicklow (these are not mountains, even though they may call them so) was refreshing with a cool mist in the air. After making a wrong turn on the looped path, we ended up walking back to the carpark the way we started missing the sweeping views of the upper lake from the ridge. Following our hike we watched a short film on Glendalough, and explored the churches, tower, and graveyard dating to the sixth century. We stopped at a pub on our way back to Dublin, compliments of the University. Jess and I spent the evening exploring the city center at night, grabbing dinner, and watching the Ireland vs. Germany football match and the England vs. France rugby match. Having been to pubs in London and Dublin during sporting events I have to say the Irish have far more pride for their teams than the English.

After sleeping in on Sunday, we rounded out a perfect visit to Dublin with a visit to Howth, a fishing port and village about an hour north of Dublin. We walked leisurely around the pier, stopped for lunch at a delicious seafood restaurant, explored the market and picked up some fresh fish for dinner that evening. Following our exploration of Howth we made our way back to UCD for dinner and an early night to sleep as my flight was scheduled to leave early the next morning.

A foggy day in London town...

Well, the fog and somewhat wet weather settled over London for a few days this past week. I have come to appreciate the 300 or whatever days of sunshine that Denver gets a year. Although, my European experience would not be the same without the typical weather of London. However, they seem to contend that they have more sunny days and less rain then New York.

My second week in London brought me to many more locations around London I missed on my previously short trip a few years back. This past week I visited (of notable remarks) the globe theater to see the Merchant of Venice, Borough Market, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Globe Theater - Merchant of Venice

As a requirement for my new London Theater class (the class that replaced Devising London) I will be attending at least 4 (possibly more) theater performances throughout London. Majority of my experience in theater prior to this past week was trips to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, or other similar "blockbuster" type venues, to see mainstream and popularized theater. The first week in class I was surprised to learn about a variety of different venues and settings that theater takes place. For example, London boasts interactive theater performances where the crowd meets at a certain location and travels with the performers to a dark alley or similar "back roads" venue where the show takes place. A few of the recommended performances for the class will explore theater in these settings which should be an interesting break from the normal "West-End' and "Broadway" theater I often associate with.

At the recommendation of the class syllabus, I met Bart after my Tuesday class for the matinée (2 p.m.) showing of the Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theater. The Globe, as an open air theater in the round, is finishing its summer season this week and this was our only opportunity to see the show this week. We purchased standing tickets, the preferred viewing location of the common man (or budget minded college student), and found a spot near the rear of the round with a spot to lean against the wall and avoid the slight mist from above. Standing for the three hour show was not nearly as bad as it seems.

The performance was great, although, I still struggle (like others I hope) to make sense of the language and voice employed through Shakespeare's style. Without much background on the plot or story line it took me awhile to catch onto the premise of the play. The show began very slow but developed quickly. Overall, I think I still enjoy the comforts and "showiness" of the big box theaters but was glad to have had the experience at the Globe. We will return this week for a tour of the Globe and Rose with the theater class, I will report on that in the coming weeks.

St. Paul's Cathedral

The second week of our Art and Society class found us exploring St. Paul's Cathedral. Just a quick note on the professor of this class. He is brilliant, passionate about London, and knows how to keep a three hour class entertaining. As such, I am greatly enjoying our visits to various locations around London that have an influence on art, architecture, or history. The highlight of our trip the St. Paul's was the climb to the top of the cathedral dome (an impressive 64,000 tons) up 530 stairs with stops at the Whispering Gallery, Stone Gallery, and Golden Gallery.

The Whispering Gallery provides an astounding perspective of the magnitudes of the cathedral's construction and provides and excellent viewing location for the works of Thornhill on the dome above. Having recently undergone a 4 year restoration, the works of Thornhill are an al fresco representation of the life of St. Paul. Having been covered in the late 1800's, the works were recently restored to their original grandeur. It is claimed that you can stand on either side of the gallery and whisper into the wall and be heard by those opposite of you. However, it must require precision placement of your mouth for whisper and ear for listening as we were not able to complete such task.

Further above the Whispering Gallery we made our way to the other two galleries above (each about 150 steps higher than the one before) which provides and outside view of London. From either platform (the uppermost which is just wide enough for 1 - 2 people) you can see stunning views of London. From this point we were able to identify the top of the Westminster Cathedral (which is a mere 200 yards from my flat), the old building center of London, and many other points of historical and geographical reference. While the clouds were still settled in over the city the view was spectacular. If you make it London and need a "budget" means to see the city from above (this is much cheaper than the very touristy London Eye), I highly recommend the vantage point from St. Paul's.

Borough Market

To spare you the boredom of my description of the most amazing food market I have ever seen, I will try and keep this short and will get picutres next time I go. Continuing the European presentation of their food and adventurous tastes I have documented in previous entries, the Borough Market near the London Bridge tube station is no exception. While not only a leisurely Friday activity, a visit to the market provides the opportunity to taste many rare cheeses, spreads, jams, meats, and much more. On my most recent visit to the market I stumbled across a beer stand selling the full range of Flying Dog Ale's from Denver, Colorado. In future posts I hope to explore some of the prepared foods sold by the vendors of the market. Do not be surprised if I come home with many gifts from this or any of the various markets around London. Also, they have free samples, what more is there to love?

Well, that concludes the highlights of week two in London. In my next post look forward to: a weekend with Chelsea in London, a London Walk exploring Shakespeare and Dickens, a visit to the Tate Modern art museum, and much more. I hope to write before I head to Dublin this upcoming weekend to visit Jess. And once again, thanks everyone for keeping in touch with me through comments and exploring London and Europe through this blog.

London... a recap.

In no particular order I will recap some of the sights and experiences I have had in London over the past two weeks (including those mentioned at the end of the last post). PICTURES POSTED WHEN INTERNET IS NOT SLOW... :)

Imperial War Museum

Without classes last Friday, Bart and I took the opportunity to travel to the Imperial War Museum. We made our way from Victoria Station (closest to Wigram House where I am living) to Waterloo Station. The Imperial War Museum can be accessed from a variety of tube stops and we saw this as the perfect opportunity to explore Waterloo (another one of London's large transportation depot's) and the area around the station en route to the museum. With a map in hand we wandered in the direction of the museum. We were drawn astray by a small street market and ended up at the war museum an hour or so later. The opportunity to follow the crowd and explore whatever interests you is one of my favorite things about traveling in Europe. With a map and a seemingly endless transportation system, getting to a location does not necessarily occur by the quickest route but the route that looks the most interesting.

The Imperial War Museum (as we later learned) is one of the first buildings of the Imperial age in London and represented a shift in the city's style of architecture. Upon entering the museum, which was free (as are all National museums in London), we were standing in a large expansive room with various planes, tanks, bombers, and heavy machinery used throughout the past 50 - 100 years. As a side note, most of the exhibits we saw were 'modern' in sense containing artifacts and replica's of situations occurring within the past 100 or so years. It was interesting to see the comparison of heavy machinery and aircraft from WWI and WWII. On display was not only the craft of the English forces but also that of other countries that was on loan or given to the IWM. I was amazed to read that during the highest production periods, Britain commissioned 30,000 or more tanks a year!

Making our way from the main entrance we continued to explore exhibits on WWI, WWII, the holocaust, human genocide, and participated in interactive displays of the blitzkrieg and trench warfare. The most powerful display in the museum was the video presentation on current acts of genocide and racial cleansing occurring throughout the world. While I am aware of the atrocities of certain races on humankind, the video presented many real life examples and raw footage of genocide that occurs daily throughout the world. Moving from the video on genocide to the Holocaust portion of the museum, I was shocked at, what I perceive to be, the world's lack of response to current racial cleansing regimes. Having recently (within 50 years) seen the terrible effect of such measures with the highly publicized Holocaust in WWII, I can not fathom the justification for such murder.

My first experience with the Imperial War Museum left me intrigued. Having only explored three of the five floors of the museum, I hope to make it back before I leave London.

Stonehenge


Ah yes, Stonehenge. Located about an hour and a half west of London most near the town of Salisbury lies Stonehenge. Having explored various ways to get to Stonehenge, we decided that it would be best, both financially and for greater guidance and information, to join the tour offered through the National Student Union. Our trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury was a mere 28 pounds including transportation, entrance to Stonehenge, and a guided tour of Salisbury. We met the group at the International Students House at 8:30 a.m. and boarded a bus with other foreign (mostly American) students.

An hour and a half later, after meandering through the English countryside, we arrived at Stonehenge. The actual rock formation is in the middle of nowhere - literally no streams, trees, major roads, cities, etc. are nearby. Not having seen any other (that I can recall) man made wonders like Stonehenge, I am still amazed how the rocks were transported from the Welsh mountains and formed in the shape and method as they were. The stone site is very much protected from further research and visitor access, however, we were able to snap some cool pictures of the site. Overall, seeing Stonehenge was very intriguing and one of those things "you have to do" in London if you have the time. However, I was glad we were only at Stonehenge for an hour and a half before proceeding to Salisbury.

Salisbury, about twenty minutes further West of Stonehenge, and the primary access point for visitors to Stonehenge via train, is the proud home to Salisbury Cathedral with the tallest spire in Britain. As part of our guided tour, we walked throughout the market areas, along the river, and towards the Cathedral. We learned that the Cathedral is home to one of three original copies of the Magna Carta, however, we opted not to pay to go inside the Cathedral and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through a park near the Cathedral and passing by the street markets back to the bus. Overall, I greatly enjoyed leaving the fast city life of London to experience the small town lifestyle of Salisbury and see Stonehenge. (Thanks Mario for the processing on the Stonehenge picture)


Banqueting House

As a break from the accounting rigor that I endured at DU last year, I am enrolled in two 'getting to know London' classes, as I call them, and two business classes. As a component of my Art and Society class we will be taking weekly visits to various locations throughout the city to explore the contemporary art and its impact on society in London. The first weeks class (which I almost missed... nothing like waking up 20 minutes before class starts when the tube ride alone takes 25 minutes to get to class) included a visit to the Banqueting House constructed by Inigo Jones in 1619. The Banqueting House previously held great Masques and ceremonies of the royal family and was particularly adored by King Charles the I of England. Without boring you with the details, I surprised myself and recalled some of the royal history we covered during our visit. If you find yourself in London and near Buckingham Palace, it is worth a stroll near the Banqueting House to at least see the plaque above the visitor entrance commemorating the death of King Charles I who was hung from scaffolding outside the hall in protest to the amount of money and adornment he gave to the great Banqueting House.

Devising London... and Yoga

So... I signed up for this great class, another one of the 'getting to know London' classes, called Devising London. The class is described in the course handbook as exploring various parts of London through the recommendations of the group and synthesizing the experience through in class assignments. Simple enough, right? Not.

First day of class there are about ten of us sitting in the lecture hall at 2:10. Class was supposed to begin at 2:00. Anyways, to make a long story short; teacher strolls in talking very soft, we move the desks out of the way, take off our shoes and socks and start doing yoga, start moving around in the classroom in a form of interperative theater. She keeps talking about the "performance." As everyone in the class looks a little stunned, I finally question the performance she keeps mentioning. Essentially, the class is about interperative theater where we improvise, yet it's still scripted, a two hour performance for our peers at the end of the term based on our "experiences' (from assignments like going to a cemetery) in London.

As I left the class three hours later... I needed time to process what I just experienced. I mean, I am studying abroad in a new country, experiencing new things, taking risks... was this supposed to be another risk. After contemplating for hours what didn't "balance" (pun intended) with the class, I decided my time would better be spent in the other London experience class for theater. I went to the study abroad office the next day and dropped Devising London for London and Theater and could not have been happier.

More to come in the next London post (hopefully tomorrow): St. Paul's Cathedral, Harrods (times two), Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theater, and more.

London... week 1.

Well an update about London is much overdo.

Since I last blogged all of my visitors have left and I am settling into the "big city" lifestyle in London. Two weeks ago, the Monday after we arrived, I had my day of orientation at the University. Having not bought a weekly tube ticket yet, and unsure exactly where I was going, I decided it would be best to walk to class. Leaving myself plenty of time I was able to leisurely stroll to the American Student Orientation session via Buckingham Palace, Green Park, New Bond Street, and Regent Street. As I walked past the Queens residence, through a beautiful park, past the designer boutiques and Rolls Royce dealership on New Bond Street - it hit me... London was much unlike anywhere I had been and the next three months of my life would be much unlike a semester or quarter at DU.

Orientation was nice and brief - they do not mess around here with useless information. Essentially we were given a brief lecture on how to be safe in London, received our schedules, got scheduled for an appointment to see the adviser to confirm our time tables (this was the only other part of orientation the whole week) and that was the extent of orientation.

Without plans to meet Matt and Monica until around six p.m. I had a few hours to get settled into my room - buy sheets, etc. and explore the area around the flat. Bart, a friend from DU who I knew before coming to London, and I headed for the Argos nearby to buy everything a first year student would need for a dorm room. Argos operates under a very odd (well, odd to anything I had seen before) system of buying. Basically you look through a large book with everything they stock, punch numbers into a computer to check if its in stock, and purchase all items sight unseen. You then wait until your items are retrieved from the stockroom and you are on your way within ten minutes. Imagine shopping online and the UPS man bringing your purchase within the hour. Punching in the numbers for the cheapest pillow and seeing one left was much like playing the lotto. You could only hope to make it to the register before everyone else with the special item code to get the best deal. While it seems very convenient, shopping without seeing something is very stressful and not an experience I quickly want to repeat. However, I was able to get the bare essentials of home and settled into the "purple palace." Yes, the photo below is my room (err... closet) with bright purple walls.



After settling in, Matt, Monica, Bart, and I made our way to a nearby Indian restaurant to share stories of the day (Matt and Monica had further explored London). Over the next few days Monica and I explored further areas of London.

The very next morning we attended the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Who knew that the whole ordeal took nearly an hour and a half with various processionals, marching bands, and rituals? Much to my surprise the changing of the guard is quite the ordeal and something I hope to make it to again during my time in London, after reading some about the justification for certain actions and movements by the processional... I mean, there has to be a reason why the guard marches back and forth from the gate to the palace a certain number of times... right?

After checking out the changing of the guard we made our way to London's version of Chinatown. Chinatown in London comprises of about four square blocks of Asian markets, noodle houses, and the typical things you would find in any well equipped Chinatown. I was most surprised by the rabbits and other meats hanging in the display windows of nearly every restaurant. Luckily, Monica and I found a friendly no frills quick Asian cafe to grab lunch. Having just briefly walked through the streets of Chinatown, I plan to go back in the coming weeks to have a look inside some of the Asian markets. The evening was spent cooking dinner (for the first time in two and a half weeks we did not wander around aimlessly trying to find a place to eat) and relaxing.

The next day I explored the Westminster campuses attempting to associate myself with the academic buildings so I would know where to go for class before meeting Monica and her friend from home for lunch near the Marleybone campus (where I have two classes). After lunch Monica and I went for another adventure on the tube to Harrods. If you are unfamiliar with Harrods, basically, you can buy anything and everything at Harrods in the most opulent and ritzy department store I have ever seen. We began on the ground floor and wandered through boutique area to boutique area, from jewelery to chocolates to fine teas. Five floors later, I had seen it all, where else can you have lunch at a sit down restaurant, buy designer ski wear, and plan you funeral (yes, Harrods offers such services) without leaving one roof. Simply amazing.

In stark contrast to Harrods, we made our way to Camden town, catching the markets just as they were closing. Camden Town has a very punk / alternative slant to the street vendors and shops with tons of tattoo parlors. While the markets were closing we were able to wander into a discount Aldo shoe store. Similar shoes to ones I wanted to buy in Denver for $100 were only 20 pounds, and they say everything in London is more expensive, I beg to differ. Camden Town is another location I hope to come back to before I leave London. The rest of the evening was spent cooking and relaxing and allowing Monica time to prepare for her trip to Dublin.

My next post will highlight some of my adventures in the past week including: finalizing my class schedule, a trip to the Borough market, first week of classes, yoga in my Devising London class (yeah, this is a good story), a visit to the Banqueting House, a trip to the Imperial War Museum, and a trip to Stonehenge (including more pictures)... Look for that in the coming days.

Opatija and London!!!!

Well, this is long long overdue. But here is the end of the two weeks prior to London.

Day two in Rijeka began with us checking out of the hostel and incurring another hidden charge, 5 kune to store our bags. As you can tell, I was the least bit impressed with this hostel. But like Troy said, at least there was a hostel to stay at (and the included breakfast was pretty tasty).

After checkout we made our way back to Rijeka and boarded a bus for Opatija. With high recommendations I really did not know what to expect. Luckily, Opatija was every bit as beautiful as it was described. Had we known better it would have been fun to stay our last night in a nice hotel overlooking the Adriatic - maybe next time. Opatija is everything you would envision a cheesy (albeit very nice) European destination spot. There were multiple cafes along the beach, a boardwalk of sorts, many locals pitching boat rides on their glass bottom boats, street vendors selling "authentic" sunglasses and hand bags. Beyond the sights and people watching opportunities there was little of historical value to see in Opatija. That was ok though, after two weeks of sightseeing, it was a nice change.

Below is a photograph of Opatija (once again from Flickr, I will get some pictures that we took later).

We did wander into a fresh food market (it was a Saturday morning after all) and encountered some of the locals. It has been interesting throughout our travels to compare the prices and offerings of local markets and supermarkets. I don't think I blogged about it but we went inside the most amazing gourmet grocery store in Vienna that I had ever seen. Every item was labeled with a flag of its country of origin. They, like most European grocers, pride themselves on the presentation of the food, both prepared and boxed, unlike anything I have seen in the United States.

After a morning in Opatija and a quick lunch we headed back to the hostel to grab our belongings and made it back in town a few hours before our bus to the airport to spend some time updating our friends and families through email about our travels. We then made our way via bus to the airport. The airport in Rijeka is located thirty minutes from town on an island. The best way to describe it would be imagining yourself on a bus ride to a nature preserve on a deserted island and poof there appeared an airport. After flying through Frankfurt, Vienna, Split, etc... the airport at Rijeka was a little bit of a surprise with limited flights daily. The same person who checked us in also took our tickets to board the plane.

Two hours later we landed in London at Luton airport. Finally arriving into London I was somewhat relieved and a little bit anxious. Having not planned nearly as well as Matt and Monica had, I was not quite sure where we were to go. I did know my flat was near Victoria station and I had confirmed our late arrival. We got a bus from Luton to Victoria station for 8 pounds (about $16 USD). I complained when I had to pay $7 USD to get from the airport to town in Vienna, welcome to London and the poor value of the dollar I guess. I will touch some more on this topic later as I have begin to believe the theory that you pay the same price everything is just double is not necessarily true.

Getting off the bus at Victoria I pretended like I knew exactly where we were going, after all this was "my" city... Luckily Monica and Matt both quickly talked some sense into me and I swallowed my pride and asked for a map and directions to the flat (I had an address!) from a nearby hotel. The friendly staff gave me a map and pointed me in the right direction and a few minutes later we were in front of Wigram hall. After checking in we made the way to my room on the ground floor. I was a little disappointed to not be higher, but such is life. My room is tiny and it has purple walls (the purple palace I have so affectionately named it) and gets NO sunlight since I am on the bottom floor of an eight story building facing into the "courtyard." But at this point, we didn't care. It was late, we were hungry and in LONDON!

Without much knowledge of the area or a hostel receptionist to ask, we begin to walk towards the crowds anticipating to find something for dinner. Within literally twenty minutes we had walked by Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, and Trafalgar Square. I quickly realized my location was very central to many of London's attractions (well some, London is a huge sprawling city). We managed to find some food and made our way back to my flat to turn in for the evening. After a full day of sightseeing and travel we were exhausted.

That concludes the two weeks of European "vacation" I had prior to making it to London. More on London soon.... In the meantime, enjoy the picture below of fireworks over the river Thames on my second night in London. This picture is mine. :)

Rijeka (Day 1)

Arriving in Rijeka via the ferry meant we had to get an early start to the day. Having booked a cabin rather than the "deck" as many passengers appeared to have done, we had breakfast aboard the ship included in our fare. Breakfast before unloading at 7:00 a.m. meant we were up the earliest we had been in the past two weeks. It is a good thing we took advantage of the free breakfast - it was great. Nothing like scrambled eggs for the first time in a few weeks. Beyond that, being off the ship so early meant we had a full day of sightseeing ahead of us in Rijeka.

Rijeka is an interesting city. From what we had heard prior to our arrival from a few people we had met at various points on our journey was that Rijeka was nothing special in comparison to where we had been. Rijeka is a major port city for Croatia and much of its older architecture and charm has been destroyed to make way for a fledging industrial port city. As a result, tourism is not necessarily the biggest draw to the city and we had only one selection for a hostel, which had just opened the year prior.

Our hostel was very clean and obviously new but lacked the character and charisma of the other locations we had stayed. The receptionist was monotone, the rooms were bare white walls, and everything seemed to have a charge. 5 kune for a towel, 5 kune to use the internet, 10 kune for a Hosteling International card (you were required to have one), etc. After dropping off our bags we were given some insight into transportation around town and directed to the tourist office. Arriving in the center of Rijeka before 9 am allowed us some time at a cafe on the cities main pedestrian street people watching and surfing the internet (the whole city has free wifi) before the tourist office opened. At 9 a.m. we were given a map of the city and some recommendations of things to do. The tourist office, the couple we met in Dubrovnik, and the hostel all made recommendations to visit Opatija, the touristy area of northern Croatia about a twenty minute bus ride from Rijeka. With a full two days ahead of us we delayed our visit to Opatija and decided today to climb to the castle north of the city (via 500 steps) followed by a lazy afternoon at the beach (about fifteen minutes from our hostel).

Matt and I set out to conquer the 500 steps to Trsat castle as Monica turned back to do some sightseeing around the city. With a backpack in tow with laptop and camera the 500 steps seemed to go on for ever. We reached a landing after climbing without stopping and decided to take a break before finishing. Fifteen steps and a long straight landing into our second wind to climbing the stairs we realized we had already reached the top - what a relief. Matt and I toured around a chapel at the top of the stairs and made our way to view the Rijeka port from the vantage point of the castle. While not much to see besides the Adriatic sea and various cranes for loading and unloading cargo ships - we still had a favorable "high" vantage point of our last destination. Walking back down the steps we met Monica for lunch and returned to the hostel to check in to our room and change for a trip to the Adriatic.

The beach was about fifteen minute walk up the road from our hostel. There was no sand, only small rock pebbles, and not much room between the road and the water but we managed to sneak a spot on the rocks to lazily spend the afternoon. Each of us took a dip in the Adriatic (which is pretty cold in comparison to what we are used to) and spent some time taking in the sun. The view from the beach was beautiful across the crystal clear waters.

Having rested from a lazy afternoon we headed back to the city to a small restaurant near the fishing port and fish market that came as a recommendation of a guide book. The restaurant was just as it was described, small, quaint, and a hit with the locals. Our waitress was very friendly and apologized to not have an English menu. It is quite an experience to be in another country trying to make sense of what you are ordering. You sometimes wonder if you are getting a small appetizer or a large plate of food not being able to discern anything on the menu. In exchange for an English menu our waitress brought large platters of fresh fish to our table and attempted to explain our choices. After four large platters we were still overwhelmed with what to order (there was no Alaskan/Atlantic salmon :) ). I settled on a risotto with the "fruits of the sea" which was a fantastic blend of shelled fish with a very tasty plate of risotto. Overall the meal and local atmosphere was a hit.

After dinner we made our way back up to the castle (this time via bus) to inquire about the concert they were having that evening. Unfortunately the ticket price was beyond what we were willing to pay but we did manage a five minute preview at the hands of the gracious ticket seller. After leaving the main venue we spent some time on the grass just outside the castle listening to the muffled concert before returning to the city via the stairs (it is a lot easier to go down then up). We had a few drinks next to the cafe we had earlier had coffee at and called it a day.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from Rijeka.... I think I took a few (not too much to see) but for some reason they don't seem to have made it on to the computer and are not on my camera. I will have to get some from Monica or Matt in a few weeks to add to this post, in the meantime I have added a few I found on flickr.

Dubrovnik Day 2 and Ferry to Rijeka

Waking up in Dubrovnik and opening the window with our view of the harbor, Croatia was everything I had imagined it to be and more. Having explored the walled portion of the city briefly the evening before, we still felt there was enough to occupy our time within the "old town" of Dubrovnik for the day.

Having taken the bus into town the night before, we decided the morning was nice weather to walk the twenty minutes along the water and up the hill to the walled old city. The old city of Dubrovnik is a walled fortress with city walls that surround cobble stone streets, small alleys, and beautiful architecture. The old city of Dubrovnik is very hard to explain. As recent as 1995 Dubrovnik came under fire by Yugoslavia threats destroying and damaging many of the buildings and roofs within the walled portion of the city. Since the destruction of the 1990's Dubrovnik has flourished as a tourist destination for European's and recently the world. On any given day various tour ships descend on the coasts channeling thousands of passengers through the city on any given day. While we were there we shared the city with tourists from three different cruise lines.

We spent the day exploring the churches of the city, one of Europe's oldest pharmacies, and the coastal views of stunning islands nearby. A major attraction of Dubrovnik is to "walk the walls" of the old city. With many cruise ships in town we waited until the evening to do so. The total time to walk the walls took around 2 hours and provided amazing views of the town, the towns walls, and the Adriatic sea. I would love to someday return to Dubrovnik and take day trips to the various islands on the southern coast of Croatia.

Below are a few pictures of the Adriatic and the old city of Dubrovnik.





After walking the walls we watched the sunset just outside the city before returning for dinner. Earlier in the day we spotted a restaurant that appeared particularly busy that had reasonable prices on seafood. We had a great meal of mussels and fresh calamari. I will never ever be able to have calamari in the States again after this experience. The squid could not have been more than a day old and was lightly fried in a Parmesan cheese batter that was so delicate to not overwhelm the taste of the fish. This was by far my favorite meal of the entire trip.

Below is a picture of Matt with the mussels before we dived in to the fresh seafood.


After dinner we had a few drinks and coffee at a Jazz bar in the middle of the city before grabbing gelato again (can't beat a scoop for one USD) before heading back to our guest house for bed.

The next day we got up and made our way to the Marco Polo, the ferry we had booked from Dubrovnik to Rijeka. The total journey lasted 22 hours with half hour stops at two islands and an hour and a half stop in Split around dinner, before an overnight journey to the port city of Rijeka. The ferry ride was nice and relaxing as we were able to secure a table on the outside deck covered by the wind shade. I enjoyed watching the coast sail by and catching up on some reading of the books I bought to bring with me. The rest of the ferry trip was nothing too exciting and we arrived in Rijeka at 7 a.m. the next day...

Below is a picture from the ferry and a picture of the ferry.