The song Champs D'elissey (or however it's spelled) has been stuck in my head now for a good 2 days. Everywhere I go, it's like straight out of a movie or a song, and it hits me, I'm in Paris! It's like a dream! Exactly like the movies! Who would have thought!
So yes, I've made it to Paris. I took a bus from Amsterdam, sat next to a really nice Czech girl who told me all about the city, and then somehow made it to my hostel by 9pm on Thur. France is definitely overwhelming by yourself, but every tourist feels that way, so the hostels are much more social and lively. I ended up staying in the hostel the entire night, bonding with my roommates, and now I have friends to see the city with which is quite convenient, as none of us really speak the language! Even though it's Paris, and you have to at least attempt to speak French, it's pretty easy to figure out the metro system without knowing the language. So although I felt really uncomfortable being on my own at first, after a full day exploring with friends, my confidence is definitely up and I'm totally excited for the rest of my stay here.
Yesterday, I went on another 'free' tour, and saw most of the city in one afternoon. We went from the Latin Quarter all the way to the Arch d'triumph. Sidenote: I'm not even gonna attempt to spell things in French correctly for the next few posts, so blanket sorry! I went down the champs d'elisse, walked through a couple of gorgeous gardens, saw a ton of monuments and statues and was generally overwhelmed with information. Although it's gotta be comprable to London, since I've never been here everything seemed over the top and amazing. It's all absolutely beautiful. There are so many places to just sit and relax and think and write, it's like my dream city. I can definitely see how it's better to be in a couple here though, it is definitely a romantic city, and you can drink on the street! Anywhere!
In the evening, I went to the Louve with a whole gang of boys from my hostel. It was free night for under 26's, which saved me a good €9. We saw all the major sights, and then ended up getting completely lost as the place is never ending. It was just, again, completely overwhelming. The statues were definitely my favorite part though. They were the most complete Greek and Roman statues I've seen even through all my travels in Italy and Greece. It was like they were completely untouched and perfect. It was amazing.
So today I'm meeting up with my first couch-surfing host! I won't have to pay for a hostel for the next 3 nights which will be really nice, and I'll have a friend who lives in Paris and can hopefully show me around a bit. I'm really excited to meet her, and she lives in a pretty good location so it should be a good time hopefully! Also, my plans for the rest of the trip have definitely changed so now I'm thinking about just staying in northern France for at least another week, maybe checking out Normandy and any other cool day trip places next week. Tomorrow I'm hoping to make it to Versaille, and today who knows! There is just too much to see in this city it's hard to decide! But hopefully I'll figure it out and next post will have lots of great pics of all my adventures here!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Amsterdam...the forgotten city
I just realized I never blogged about Amsterdam, and I'm already on my second day in Paris. For one, it was quite a quick stay. The bus I decided to take rather than the plane took an entire day off my 3 days there, so I really only had 2 days and 3 nights. And the first night I was so wrecked by the bus that I barely did anything other than wander alone for a while, which in Amsterdam is not always a great idea. Of course, my Chicago swagger and my black leather jacket made it so that no one bothered me on my expeditions, whereas other girls were hooted and hollered at continuously. I must have really developed a mean scowl because seriously, no one bothered me at all!
I ended up staying at a very frat-ish party hostel right in the heart of the bar/red light district. It was a pretty overwhelming scene and it felt like I was back in college. I did manage to make a few friends, and on the first day I went to the Reijkmuseum (or something like that) and the Van Gogh museum with a boy from Syria. The art was quite beautiful but it was definitely a side attraction to the gorgeous canals and shops and cafes around the city. I ended up just walking around for the rest of the afternoon, admiring the scenery. The second day, I went on a free tour of the city, and then managed to make it to the Jewish museum and the Anne Frank museum before dinnertime. The day was jam packed, and by the end I was pretty depressed, but luckily I was in Amsterdam, so I cheered up pretty quickly after that. I think the most depressing observation at the Jewish exhibits, moreso than the actual artifacts or the spaces, was the fact that the museums are so bare. The rooms are incredibly sparse, displaying anything that has any sort of significance, with the most impressive museum display technology I may add, but all in all, the exhibits were short on artifacts compared to everything else in Europe. You go to the Louve and their are at least 50,000 jesus paintings, billions of bibles, statues, every paraphenalia you can imagine; you go to at least a church a city for it's beauty and history; and then there's the one spare Jewish museum with barely anything in it. Quite a sad thing to think about.
But beyond that, Amsterdam has one of the coolest libraries I've found, and the pace of life is a perfect leisurely stroll. Two days was really not enough to really get a feel for the city, but it's definitely a place better explored with friends. So instead of changing my plans and staying an extra day or two, I took my scheduled bus to Paris, and that's exactly where I am!
I ended up staying at a very frat-ish party hostel right in the heart of the bar/red light district. It was a pretty overwhelming scene and it felt like I was back in college. I did manage to make a few friends, and on the first day I went to the Reijkmuseum (or something like that) and the Van Gogh museum with a boy from Syria. The art was quite beautiful but it was definitely a side attraction to the gorgeous canals and shops and cafes around the city. I ended up just walking around for the rest of the afternoon, admiring the scenery. The second day, I went on a free tour of the city, and then managed to make it to the Jewish museum and the Anne Frank museum before dinnertime. The day was jam packed, and by the end I was pretty depressed, but luckily I was in Amsterdam, so I cheered up pretty quickly after that. I think the most depressing observation at the Jewish exhibits, moreso than the actual artifacts or the spaces, was the fact that the museums are so bare. The rooms are incredibly sparse, displaying anything that has any sort of significance, with the most impressive museum display technology I may add, but all in all, the exhibits were short on artifacts compared to everything else in Europe. You go to the Louve and their are at least 50,000 jesus paintings, billions of bibles, statues, every paraphenalia you can imagine; you go to at least a church a city for it's beauty and history; and then there's the one spare Jewish museum with barely anything in it. Quite a sad thing to think about.
But beyond that, Amsterdam has one of the coolest libraries I've found, and the pace of life is a perfect leisurely stroll. Two days was really not enough to really get a feel for the city, but it's definitely a place better explored with friends. So instead of changing my plans and staying an extra day or two, I took my scheduled bus to Paris, and that's exactly where I am!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
New IPod!
I've made it all the way to London from Scotland! Transportation, being the overpriced annoying sob that it always is, necessitated that I take an overnight bus from Dundee to London that lasted 11 hours. All things considered (giant football player drunk Scotsmen surrounding m and being stuck on the back top of the double decker which is like being in the back of a school bus times 1000), it went off without a hitch. I think I may have even slept 4 intermittent hours with the help of my trusty Tylenol pm. Needless to say, I made it to London!!!
I've been here for two whole days now, and I'm officially exhausted. It really is the biggest frickin' city around, and there is always something to do. In the two days I've been here (one of which I was a walking zombie), I managed to go to the National Gallery, the British Museum, the British Library (SUPER cool place I hadn't been to before, I saw Shakespeare's actual handwriting among a billion ridiculous treasures), Westminster Abbey for an evening service (of which I didn't have to pay the £13 entry fee...but I did have to endure a preacher's sermon), went to every street market in the frickin' city and managed not to spend any money! (GIANT accomplishment), and hung out with my old best friend from elementary school - Sophie Malik!!! Clearly seeing her was the highlight of the weekend! She took me to a super cool part of the city that I've never been where it felt like a more hipstery and less clean Los Angeles. We got street food, hung out at the hipster record store Rough Trade, a crazy nightclub cafe, and then another very cool bar with her friends.
So all in all, I think I've managed to hit everything that I really love about this city in less than 48 hours! And I still have another 2 weeks of sightseeing to go, so hopefully I haven't completely exhausted myself already.
Oh, I also managed to go to the Apple Store somewhere in there, and had them fix my broken ipod, which in Apple terms, meant giving me a shiny new one! Unfortunately they took my old one, with all my music on it, and now I have nothing to listen to on my shiny new ipod. wa-wah. Something shall have to be done about this...and I will figure it out, somehow!
Also, I realized that it was going to cost me at least another £50-70 to take the flight I had already paid for to get to Amsterdam tomorrow (bus fare to and from the airports and additional luggage weight fees), so I ended up just buying a bus ticket for £36 instead. Which means the bus ticket really cost me about £46 with the eating cost from the flight ticket but ce la vie. At least I'll get to Amsterdam in one piece and I won't have to deal with customs, which is always a nice perk!
So, by 7pm tomorrow night, I should be in Amsterdam! Woo!
I've been here for two whole days now, and I'm officially exhausted. It really is the biggest frickin' city around, and there is always something to do. In the two days I've been here (one of which I was a walking zombie), I managed to go to the National Gallery, the British Museum, the British Library (SUPER cool place I hadn't been to before, I saw Shakespeare's actual handwriting among a billion ridiculous treasures), Westminster Abbey for an evening service (of which I didn't have to pay the £13 entry fee...but I did have to endure a preacher's sermon), went to every street market in the frickin' city and managed not to spend any money! (GIANT accomplishment), and hung out with my old best friend from elementary school - Sophie Malik!!! Clearly seeing her was the highlight of the weekend! She took me to a super cool part of the city that I've never been where it felt like a more hipstery and less clean Los Angeles. We got street food, hung out at the hipster record store Rough Trade, a crazy nightclub cafe, and then another very cool bar with her friends.
So all in all, I think I've managed to hit everything that I really love about this city in less than 48 hours! And I still have another 2 weeks of sightseeing to go, so hopefully I haven't completely exhausted myself already.
Oh, I also managed to go to the Apple Store somewhere in there, and had them fix my broken ipod, which in Apple terms, meant giving me a shiny new one! Unfortunately they took my old one, with all my music on it, and now I have nothing to listen to on my shiny new ipod. wa-wah. Something shall have to be done about this...and I will figure it out, somehow!
Also, I realized that it was going to cost me at least another £50-70 to take the flight I had already paid for to get to Amsterdam tomorrow (bus fare to and from the airports and additional luggage weight fees), so I ended up just buying a bus ticket for £36 instead. Which means the bus ticket really cost me about £46 with the eating cost from the flight ticket but ce la vie. At least I'll get to Amsterdam in one piece and I won't have to deal with customs, which is always a nice perk!
So, by 7pm tomorrow night, I should be in Amsterdam! Woo!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Photo Update
Since I don't usually have a computer at my beck and call to upload photos, I thought I'd spend a whole post just doing photos for once. Enjoy!
Farm (called The Stables) in Fettercairn, Scotland
At a pub w/ friends (l to r: Nadine - wwoofer from Germany, Tara - Quintin's gf, Quintin - the owner of the farm I'm staying at in Fettercairn)
Me, Nadine, and Tara - I'm in the process of telling Quintin how to use the camera apparently
Also, check out my awesome new vintage leather jacket that I bought in Edinburgh for £5!
Quintin's awesome kitchen which is always stocked full with yummy vegetarian goods. I've cooked many dinners and even attempted jam making, which failed horribly unfortunately
A giant structure of logs that I stacked to get them through the winter. I only stand as tall as the second tier, it is huge and it took all morning to stack!
Quintin's son Mike and Nadine (they began dating a few days before Nadine went back to Germany! She was wwoofing for 4 months!)
The gorgeous outdoor patio
A seaside hike to a castle on a hill in Stonehaven (20 minute trainride away)
Gorgeous Scottish Castle on a hill
Scottish Highland Cows
Back a few weeks - this is Adam's treehouse in Fife
Inside the treehouse - yes that is a real tree
Drinking some coffee in the 'kitchen' (l to r: Jen - Canadian guest, Adam, Johnnie - fossil collector)
Hippie Village (down the hill from the treehouse) and Adam's sunflower oil powered van
Jay (Jen's brother, Canadian superstar) eating breakfast in the treehouse
Me in front of the Edinburgh Castle being a tourist
Alright well that's all the patience I have for this right now. Tomorrow, I take an overnight bus to London, arrive at 7:30am and begin my two-week tourist extravaganza through London, Amsterdam, Paris, and the South of France. Most of it is planned, and will definitely cost me a pretty penny, so hopefully there won't be any hiccups. Next post from London!
Farm (called The Stables) in Fettercairn, Scotland
At a pub w/ friends (l to r: Nadine - wwoofer from Germany, Tara - Quintin's gf, Quintin - the owner of the farm I'm staying at in Fettercairn)
Me, Nadine, and Tara - I'm in the process of telling Quintin how to use the camera apparently
Also, check out my awesome new vintage leather jacket that I bought in Edinburgh for £5!
Quintin's awesome kitchen which is always stocked full with yummy vegetarian goods. I've cooked many dinners and even attempted jam making, which failed horribly unfortunately
A giant structure of logs that I stacked to get them through the winter. I only stand as tall as the second tier, it is huge and it took all morning to stack!
Quintin's son Mike and Nadine (they began dating a few days before Nadine went back to Germany! She was wwoofing for 4 months!)
The gorgeous outdoor patio
A seaside hike to a castle on a hill in Stonehaven (20 minute trainride away)
Gorgeous Scottish Castle on a hill
Scottish Highland Cows
Back a few weeks - this is Adam's treehouse in Fife
Inside the treehouse - yes that is a real tree
Drinking some coffee in the 'kitchen' (l to r: Jen - Canadian guest, Adam, Johnnie - fossil collector)
Hippie Village (down the hill from the treehouse) and Adam's sunflower oil powered van
Jay (Jen's brother, Canadian superstar) eating breakfast in the treehouse
Me in front of the Edinburgh Castle being a tourist
Alright well that's all the patience I have for this right now. Tomorrow, I take an overnight bus to London, arrive at 7:30am and begin my two-week tourist extravaganza through London, Amsterdam, Paris, and the South of France. Most of it is planned, and will definitely cost me a pretty penny, so hopefully there won't be any hiccups. Next post from London!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Scotland Beauty
I've made it to my fourth farm, a 'community' endeavor in small town northern Scotland, about halfway between Inverness and Aberdeen. As of right now, I've already been here a week, and I don't want to ever leave. I have a newfound appreciation for small towns. The story with this 'community' is that it's run by Quentin, a semi-retired business man who has recently sold his railway business or something like that, for a lot of money, and has taken the opportunity to start a new endeavor, The Arch Cafe, which will be run by volunteers who will live at his big country house in a community type of setting. He's just started this project in March, and the cafe is officially opening a day after I leave, next Saturday. Basically, he's had wwoofers staying with him all summer, helping get his garden going, which will then supply most of the product for the cafe, along with brought in coffees and teas. Unfortunately I've missed most of the volunteers since it's already fall, but there is still a few people about, and it's been an absolutely lovely environment to live in. Also, they stick more to the wwoof guidelines here, so I'm only working from 9-1pm and I have the rest of the day off, plus whole weekends off.
Today I went for a little day trip to Stonehaven, to go on a hike to a castle up on a hill overlooking the most spectacular beach. I've also had a great time honing my cooking skills, as we have a community meal every night, and since I enjoy cooking, I usually get the honors of coming up with whatever I'd like to cook with all the amazing organic vegetarian ingredients! Right now, I am about to help set up for a small party to celebrate Nadine's involvement, a German volunteer who has been here for 4 months and is leaving on Tuesday.
Pictures to be posted soon!
Today I went for a little day trip to Stonehaven, to go on a hike to a castle up on a hill overlooking the most spectacular beach. I've also had a great time honing my cooking skills, as we have a community meal every night, and since I enjoy cooking, I usually get the honors of coming up with whatever I'd like to cook with all the amazing organic vegetarian ingredients! Right now, I am about to help set up for a small party to celebrate Nadine's involvement, a German volunteer who has been here for 4 months and is leaving on Tuesday.
Pictures to be posted soon!
Monday, September 7, 2009
More Treehouse Stories!
So a bit more about my wonderful week a the treehouse. Most of my work time was spent doing odd jobs around the 'house.' I officially met up with Adam on Sunday, and went out around Edinburgh that night with him and his friends. Adam is apparently infamous all around town, and Jay brought a boom-box with us everywhere we went, so pretty much the entire town knew we were out that night.
Then on Monday, we went back to the treehouse, which was only a 40 minute drive North in Adam's sunflower oil fueled van. When we arrived, most of my work consisted of cleaning up the mess from the weekly party he had the previous Wednesday. Along with other odd jobs like weeding, digging up potatoes, and chopping wood, the work was fairly easy. I would spend a few hours in the morning working while everyone else did filming or sat around the treehouse. Then we'd have a long delicious organic lunch, and I'd do a couple more hours of work while everyone else drank in the treehouse for the most part. In the evening, we'd have delicious stews and pasta and salads, and then sit back and watch movies on Adam's giant projector screen, or listen to Jay write new songs on the spot on his guitar.
Then on Wednesday, Adam held his weekly shindig, which this week was comprised of many of the Fringe street performers. Everyone converged at his treehouse and we had a giant BBQ and spent most of the evening in Adam's sauna. He had a cold water bath outside that you were supposed to jump in after some time in the sauna and then go back into the heat, but I wasn't brave enough to try it.
On Thur, the entire gang was planning on leaving for another arts festival on the other side of Scotland, and they were going to leave me with Diana, the owner of the farm for the remainder of the weekend. Luckily, the weather become quite horrible, and the festival was rained out, so they decided not to go. So I was very lucky for the remainder of the stay, not having to do much work because of the rain, and being able to still hang out with my new buddies.
Finally, on Saturday, we all went back to the city for one last evening of revelry. We had a fancy dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Royal Mile where Adam knows the staff and gets half off on the food. And then I went out on the town with Jay to explore what is a completely different city after the festival is over. We were expecting to find a hopping bar scene like the week before, but we barely found anything all that interesting as everyone was resting up from the previously crazy month of festivities.
I then left my friends for good, as they traveled back to the farm on Sunday, and decided to spend an extra night in Edinburgh in order to see a brilliant fireworks display commemorating the end of the festival. Apparently there was half a million £'s of fireworks or something like that, and the show lasted an entire hour. The display was also perfectly choreographed to a variety of classical music pieces by Handel. Although not my favorite music, the entire program was still incredibly beautiful, and the city was packed once again.
Tonight, then, I travel to my next farm up in the north of Scotland, and I'll be there for at least a week before traveling back down the UK ending up in London. More on that later!
Then on Monday, we went back to the treehouse, which was only a 40 minute drive North in Adam's sunflower oil fueled van. When we arrived, most of my work consisted of cleaning up the mess from the weekly party he had the previous Wednesday. Along with other odd jobs like weeding, digging up potatoes, and chopping wood, the work was fairly easy. I would spend a few hours in the morning working while everyone else did filming or sat around the treehouse. Then we'd have a long delicious organic lunch, and I'd do a couple more hours of work while everyone else drank in the treehouse for the most part. In the evening, we'd have delicious stews and pasta and salads, and then sit back and watch movies on Adam's giant projector screen, or listen to Jay write new songs on the spot on his guitar.
Then on Wednesday, Adam held his weekly shindig, which this week was comprised of many of the Fringe street performers. Everyone converged at his treehouse and we had a giant BBQ and spent most of the evening in Adam's sauna. He had a cold water bath outside that you were supposed to jump in after some time in the sauna and then go back into the heat, but I wasn't brave enough to try it.
On Thur, the entire gang was planning on leaving for another arts festival on the other side of Scotland, and they were going to leave me with Diana, the owner of the farm for the remainder of the weekend. Luckily, the weather become quite horrible, and the festival was rained out, so they decided not to go. So I was very lucky for the remainder of the stay, not having to do much work because of the rain, and being able to still hang out with my new buddies.
Finally, on Saturday, we all went back to the city for one last evening of revelry. We had a fancy dinner at an Italian restaurant on the Royal Mile where Adam knows the staff and gets half off on the food. And then I went out on the town with Jay to explore what is a completely different city after the festival is over. We were expecting to find a hopping bar scene like the week before, but we barely found anything all that interesting as everyone was resting up from the previously crazy month of festivities.
I then left my friends for good, as they traveled back to the farm on Sunday, and decided to spend an extra night in Edinburgh in order to see a brilliant fireworks display commemorating the end of the festival. Apparently there was half a million £'s of fireworks or something like that, and the show lasted an entire hour. The display was also perfectly choreographed to a variety of classical music pieces by Handel. Although not my favorite music, the entire program was still incredibly beautiful, and the city was packed once again.
Tonight, then, I travel to my next farm up in the north of Scotland, and I'll be there for at least a week before traveling back down the UK ending up in London. More on that later!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
TreeHouse Lovin
I've just spent the last week living and working in a treehouse in Kinghorn, Fife. I'm actually writing this post right now from the treehouse, as it is equipt with all our modern conveniences, electricity, internet, running water. It's pretty damn amazing.
Adam M, the creator and owner of the treehouse, has lived on this farm for over 10 years, and spent about 5 years building this house. It's actually situated on a tree, which you can see poking through the middle of the house, and if you put your feet on it, you can feel it move in the wind. The house is also build into the side of a cliff, so instead of having to climb a rope up into the house, Adam's planted a trail of tires filled with earth up to the house, making it quite accessible. He's also built an upper grassy deck, fully stocked with two other sinks, a bar, a sauna, a party barn, and an outdoor compostable toilet.
Not only was the place amazingly beautiful, but the people I stayed with were the most interesting group of individuals I've met on my travels so far. Adam for one, has been living in his treehouse since he was 14, used to perform in the fringe, and now spends most of his time traveling and mining gems to sell in his jewelry business. Adam also had two of his friends from Canada visiting, Jason and Jen, who were both super creative people. Jen works as a photographer and filmmaker, and Jay owns a few yoga studios and is a well known personality back in Canada for his band, newspaper column, and acting/political involvements. The boy is a superhero I think. And he knows my favorite band mates from the Great Big Sea! Crazy! Halfway through the week, Adam added another guest, Johnny, a world traveler and fossil collector based in Bristol. The entire crew continually blew my mind with their awesome stories and I had a ridiculously fun time hanging out with them all.
One of the many adventures of this trip was following Jen and Jay around as they filmed Adam for a commercial they're making for him, and they filmed Jay for a short he's making. Apparently Jay managed to blag (sorta like swindle) his way into a free trip to Scotland by convincing some investors that he could make a funny film short about his trip. Pure brilliance.
I'm almost out of time, so more stories will come tomorrow!
Adam M, the creator and owner of the treehouse, has lived on this farm for over 10 years, and spent about 5 years building this house. It's actually situated on a tree, which you can see poking through the middle of the house, and if you put your feet on it, you can feel it move in the wind. The house is also build into the side of a cliff, so instead of having to climb a rope up into the house, Adam's planted a trail of tires filled with earth up to the house, making it quite accessible. He's also built an upper grassy deck, fully stocked with two other sinks, a bar, a sauna, a party barn, and an outdoor compostable toilet.
Not only was the place amazingly beautiful, but the people I stayed with were the most interesting group of individuals I've met on my travels so far. Adam for one, has been living in his treehouse since he was 14, used to perform in the fringe, and now spends most of his time traveling and mining gems to sell in his jewelry business. Adam also had two of his friends from Canada visiting, Jason and Jen, who were both super creative people. Jen works as a photographer and filmmaker, and Jay owns a few yoga studios and is a well known personality back in Canada for his band, newspaper column, and acting/political involvements. The boy is a superhero I think. And he knows my favorite band mates from the Great Big Sea! Crazy! Halfway through the week, Adam added another guest, Johnny, a world traveler and fossil collector based in Bristol. The entire crew continually blew my mind with their awesome stories and I had a ridiculously fun time hanging out with them all.
One of the many adventures of this trip was following Jen and Jay around as they filmed Adam for a commercial they're making for him, and they filmed Jay for a short he's making. Apparently Jay managed to blag (sorta like swindle) his way into a free trip to Scotland by convincing some investors that he could make a funny film short about his trip. Pure brilliance.
I'm almost out of time, so more stories will come tomorrow!
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