We were eventually
herded onto the bus to make our way across the Pyrenees to Barcelona.We were driving through Catalan country
and there was quite a lot of graffiti that indicated they were still not happy
to part of “Spain”.The most
“subtle” was some spray-painted graffiti that said “Spain” that was crossed out
and written next to it was “Catalania”.Now, tell us how you really feel?
We eventually made it
into the outskirts of Barcelona and saw the building Leo called “the
Peanut”.It was much more phallic
than that.Second “highlight” was
seeing a store near our hotel called “The Video Bum Store”.Many giggles on the bus.Something was lost in translation me
thinks.Never did manage to get
back there to a) photograph it and b) find out exactly what is sold in a Video
Bum Store?
Tonight was a cruisey
night in Barcelona.We had time to
relax in our hotel (the best so far) before an included dinner.We were all excited to have some “real”
Spanish food.Alas we were
disappointed.We had a hamburger
(read:“rissole”) with some type
of non-descript what sauce that none of us could make out what was in it with
chips and a slice of key lime pie for dessert.The food was nice, but I was disappointed.I was fanging for Spanish food.Though courtesy of it being Errol’s “birthday”
I was given a jug of Sangria.I
think my Tour Director paid for it, though he denies it.I really should point out to him that
Errol is a stuffed toy… but hey if it scored me a jug of sangria, who am I to
complain?More so when nobody else
on the table wanted any.Woo hoo!Jug of sangria to myself.
After dinner a few of
us decided to go for a wander to try and find Las Ramblas (a pedestrian street
in Barcelona).According to Leo it
was only 10 minutes walk away.We
never did find Las Ramblas but we did see a bit of the area.The whole “it’s 10 minutes walk” is a
big joke on the tour now.Someone
else asked Leo where something was in Barcelona and he told them “it’s a 10
minute walk”….. it took them an hour!Poor bugger, every time he says something is 10 minutes away we all
burst out laughing.
Despite getting
ourselves lost, we managed to find our way back to the hotel.
Our first stop was a
little village called Blois.We
got off the bus and walked to the “main” square where we were allowed to wander
off and explore the village for 20 minutes.Being Sunday there wasn’t much open but we all wandered
around taking photos before all ending up in the one coffee shop that was open
and had our caffeine fix before heading back to our meeting place in the main
square.
We hung around the
main square to see the “dragons” appear from the Magic Museum dedicated to
Houdini (not the one we know… he apparently took the name after the
“original”).Well 11 o’clock came
and like a cuckoo clock dragons appeared out of the windows to some eerie music.
Back on the bus again
our next stop was Tours where we took advantage of having our lunch at Macca’s…..
free wifi!Fortunately there was
also some wine tasting event going on in the main square.A group of us went over and paid 5 Euro
for our glass and wandered around sampling a few of the wines before being
herded back onto the bus for Bordeaux.
What a let down
Bordeaux was!We arrived at our
hotel to an included dinner and told we could walk to a nearby church if we
wanted.Nothing was organised.A lot of us were hoping for some wine
tasting but alas Bordeaux was nothing more of a pitstop.Cosmos need to either cut it out of the
itinerary or do something there.I’m sure there would be heaps to see / do / drink there but we didn’t
get to experience any of it :o(
Subtitled… thank god
for photos so I can remember what I did each day….
After a good night’s
sleep (bed was very comfy) we had breakfast before setting off on our included
sightseeing with our local guide, Brigitte.It was a combination of a bus tour / walking tour.We went past the Arc de St Martin, the
Pompidou Centre before stopping at Notre Dame for a visit inside the Cathedral
and a walk around its perimeter.We then got back on the bus seeing various bridges (including the
lover’s bridge), Arc de Triomphe, the Invalides before stopping for a photo
opportunity at the Eiffel Tower.
Back on the bus we
drove around some more including driving past the big square with the Obelisk
that was a gift from Egypt (name escapes me now) before having a lunch stop at
a little café that made great sandwiches!
Those not doing the
optional then had free time but for the rest of us it was off to the Palace of
Versailles.An amazing place but
the only thing that wasn’t enjoyable about it was inside the museum itself was
being pushed through the masses like you were in a meat market.You couldn’t really stop and look at
something properly or take real decent pictures.We did have roughly half an hour then to walk around the gardens.I really loved the Palace but like
everything else you find yourself saying “you need a day here”.
The day ended with
our Welcome Dinner at a little place called L’Escaramouche.It was a lovely meal.I chose the French Onion Soup, Beef
Bourguinon and Profiteroles.So
much food!Our free welcome drink
was a glass of champers with a touch of blackcurrant.It was actually quite nice.
After dinner on our
way back to the hotel we had a bus ride around “Paris at night” to see the
sights well sort of lit up (as it wasn’t really that dark).But we did get have another look at the
Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero!
Our last full day in
Paris was over and tomorrow would be a new town.
Oh dear, I am 13 days
behind in my blog…. What can I remember?
The day started off early
as I had to be at the Kensington Close hotel (which funnily enough was located
in Kensington) by 7:45am for an 8:30 departure.I was driven to the hotel by my cousin John and we made it
to the hotel in plenty of time.There were a few tours leaving from the hotel that day.I met a lovely pair of sisters from
Brisbane.One of them was
practically a neighbour to me, living in nearby Forest Lake.
Eventually the
European Masterpiece travellers were called to board our bus for our ride to
Kings Cross Station (oh why couldn’t I have joined the tour there?It is so much closer to “home”).There are 46 people on the tour.There is a husband of wife who are
Filipino’s but live in Alaska, 3 Americans (2 sisters and a young woman
travelling solo), 3 x Kiwi couples (1 couple are honeymooners) and 1 single
Kiwi travelling solo.The rest of
the tour group are Aussies.Majority are New South Welshmen (we won’t hold that against them), quite
a few Victorians, a couple of WA couples and off the top of my head us
Queenslanders are represented by yours truly, an older woman travelling on her
own from Runaway Bay and a couple from Kippa-Ring.There could be more of us but I’m struggling to think who
else? (Halfway through the tour and I am still grappling with trying to
remember who everyone is).
So we all make it on
the bus and we’re off to Kings Cross to catch the Eurostar to Paris.The Cosmos rep who escorted us on the
bus said most of us were in 2nd class with a couple scoring first
class and that we would be met by our tour director in Paris. Well Jax scored a 2nd class
seat, and Jax was not amused.The
journey was ok but we were all cramped into second class like sardines and to
make matters worse I was travelling “backwards” in my seat.I had a “window” seat but was actually
sitting at the partition between 2 windows, so I couldn’t really see much.Hence I just slept a lot.I woke up close to the outskirts of
Paris and came to the realisation I was feeling rather ill.Confirmation Jax is not suited to 2nd
class.Jax did fear that my tour
group’s first experience of Jaxbah would be of her throwing her guts up on the
platform at Paris du Nord.Thankfully the fresh air made me feel a bit better, though I could feel
one of my notorious headaches coming on.
Prior to leaving London
the Cosmos Rep told us our Tour Director would meet us at the end of the
platform in Paris, errr….. there are 2 ends to a platform?Well I just followed the masses who
fortunately headed in the correct direction.We found our Tour Director who introduced himself as
Leo.Leo is a Dutchie and is
proving to be as mad as the proverbial meat ant.Jax had a huge laugh as he was calling out the roll call to
give us our number sticker for our suitcase.When it came to Jaxbah he said “Jacqueline Ho-are-ay”.Jax responded “it’s pronounced
‘hoare’…. as in a prostitute”.He
hasn’t forgotten the pronounciation since!
We were then
instructed to follow him to where we had to collect our suitcases to put our
sticker on and take our bags to the bus.What?What’s this taking
our own suitcase sh*t?Jax did
then think maybe she shouldn’t have packed 21.1kgs of clothes!We collect our suitcases and were told
to go to the second bus across the road with the good looking bus driver.Well we followed instructions but the
bus driver wasn’t good looking.Turned out Leo got himself all confuzzled and we were at the wrong
bus.We go to the correct bus and
well I wouldn’t call our bus driver hot, but he was an improvement on the first
driver we saw.Turns out his name
is Rocco, and with a name like Rocco, yes he is Italian.Quite a few of the ladies are all hot
and bothered over Rocco.I don’t
find him overly attractive, but I’m willing to participate in all the jokes
over Rocco’s hotness.
We’re off driving
through the streets of Paris (with my migraine starting to kick in).Not long into the trip Leo informs us
the first optional is this evening…. D’oh….. and it’s the night at the
Cabaret.Here we go again,
flashbacks to 1993, when last in Paris Jax missed out on going to the Cabaret
because she had a migraine.I ummed
and ahhed about it and decided to have an early night so I wouldn’t risk waking
up with it only being worse the next day (or just wanting to die through the
night).But we had to choose the
rest of our optionals for France.I decided to attend all of the remaining Parisian optionals….. the
Palace of Versailles and the Welcome Dinner.
We finally arrived at
our hotel, which courtesy of the construction of the new tramway system outside
it looked like we were staying in Beirut.Whilst getting our keys I learnt that I wouldn’t be getting a room to
myself…. D’oh!I was supposed to
be rooming with Margaret, an older lady from Runaway Bay but she had already
befriended Jingy, the solo traveller from NZ.So they roomed together and I was put in with Andrea, a 25 yo
Dentistry graduate from Chicago.I
can say now she is a good roomie and we are not having any issues with being
confined in a hotel room with each other.
As soon as we made it
into our room I crashed for a while.I woke up around 7ish feeling ok so wandered outside and across the road
to find something to eat.Successfully ordered a cheese/mushroom crepe and getting exactly what I
thought I was getting.I then had
a wander around the area before heading back into my room before fluffing
around on the computer before collapsing for the night.
Started off by going
down to my cousin’s hairdresser to have my hair washed and blow dried so it
looks sensational for the trip.Proceeded by lunch at the local pub.The idea then was to catch the 274 bus to Camden and again
wander around the area and Primrose Hill.I caught the 274 alright but they then decided to terminate this service
around the corner from Angel station.Another two 274’s came by who decided they were not continuing on to
London Zoo either.In the end I
decided to catch the next bus that came along.I did… I got off at Old Street tube stop, wandered around
Hoxton for a little bit before getting the Tube back to Angel.
Rest of the day was
spent relaxing at my cousin’s home and getting my bag sorted again for the
Europe tour.Later in the night my
younger cousin came over to stay at his mum’s place that night due to a family commitment
the next day.We sat up in the
lounge for a while talking before his mum pointed out we were in her bedroom
and we were promptly ordered to bed.It took a while before she succeeded in getting the “naughty children”
(43 and 41 respectively) off to bed.
I think I have
officially given up numbering days in London. I think I have goofed somewhere.
Today I decided to
head into Mayfair. First up on my
agenda was Heddon St just off Regent Street. Here I saw the location of London’s first nightclub, #23
Heddon Street, where David Bowie was photographed for the cover of the Ziggy
Stardust album (yes I had a moment here) and the vodka bar, the Ice Bar…. Which
was rudely not opened for my arrival!
On my way to Savile
Row I popped into a little café to have a bite to eat. Turns out Paul Weller had eaten there
(according to the photo on the wall.
Well good enough for the Modfather, good enough for Jaxbah.
Made it to Savile
Row. Here I saw the address for
the fictional character Phileas Fogg and 3 Savile Row. The rooftop where The Beatles played
for the very last time. I must
admit I got a bit teary standing there.
Then wandered down
past Burlington Arcade and into Cook Street where I visited the Hay Hill
Gallery that had an installation called “The Great Wall of Vagina”. Yes, self explanatory. 400 women made casts and the artist
then did something with the texture of the casts and yeah made the exhibit. It was interesting. Though I’m still baffled as to why the
woman said to me “just ask me if you have any questions” proceeded by a
wink. WTF was the wink all
about? I felt like I was in an
episode of Seinfeld.
I then decided to
wander down Old Bond Street. The
most intimidating street to walk down when you’re not made of money. All the doormen on the doors of the
likes of Chanel, Dior etc just looking at you like “don’t even think about it
love…. As if you could afford anything here”.
Made it back down to
Piccadilly, had a wander around there and around the back street of Jermyn
Street before heading home on the #38 Hackney Central bus back to my hood.
This was my second
last day in London for this week.Today I decided it was time to for this Irish/Australian Republican to
do some royal sightseeing.I can
just imagine my dad upstairs lamenting “why is she off to see those bloody
parasites?”
Caught the tube to
Piccadilly Circus making my way down to Admiralty Arch.Here I tried to find (as reported on a
website or two) Wellington’s Spare Nose.I think someone may have been pulling the leg of a few tourists because
I sure as hell couldn’t find it.
Proceeded up the Pall
Mall and popped into the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art).I sat in there for a while and watched
a very interesting installation on TV/Advertising from the 1960s/70s.
After I left the ICA
I decided it was time to head up to “Buck House”.Very soon I discovered “something” was happening today as
the Pall Mall had become a car park with blokes wearing tails and the ladies in
all their finery and hats.Also
spotted Robbie Williams Production crew milling about.I guess something to do with the
Jubilee concert this weekend.Made
it up to Buckingham Palace to learn that there was a Garden Party happening
with the Queen…. 8,000 people were apparently invited….. what? Where was my
invite?I’m a relucatant subject….
Why wasn’t I invited?I also
learnt later that lil Johnny Howard was in town to receive yet another award
from Liz Windsor.So yeah, had a
chance to sledge him :::sigh:::
Stood around gawking
/ people watching for a while.I
don’t think I spotted anyone famous.I think I may have spotted William Hague (Britain’s foreign minister)
but wasn’t sure.I only recognise
him because he was in Brisvegas with KRudd during the floods.
I got sick of
watching the “special” people so heading up Buckingham Palace Road and visited
the Queen’s Gallery to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit.It was a lot of his anatomical
drawings.
After that I headed
into the Royal Mews.Some
beautiful horses in there…. And I’ll edit my Republican rant re the
extravagance of some of those carriages!
Headed back to
Islington after this…. I’m starting to get around town on the public transport
like a real local.Not to mention
people are starting to ask me for directions.Hello!!!!!Doesn’t the camera in my hand scream “Tourist”?
