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Today's my seventeenth birthday (as well as that of my twin sister's) so I feel it's a perfect day to update. :)
We only just got back from a trip to Europe last Tuesday (erm, school started back from spring break on Monday). We (being my father, my sister Danielle and I) went to England (London, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge, Brighton) and France (Paris).
Tip: if one is staying in downtown London, don't stay at the Prince William Hotel. It's right next to a busy road, the rooms are cramped and badly organized, and the continental breakfast is unimaginable (toast and cereal). The Hotel we stayed at in Paris was much better (forget the name). It was on a quiet side street, right across from a bakery with delicious croissants, and only a few blocks away from a Métro station. ^_^
Speaking of which, I much prefer the London Underground to the Paris Métro (for those of you who are confused, those are both subway systems). The Underground was cooler; the station names were original (With the exception of the confusing "South Kensington" and "High Street Kensington). For example; Paddington Station had a large bronze statue of Paddington Bear (did you guys ever read his books as children?), Baker Street had quotes from Shirlock Holmes and silouettes of his face smoking a pipe as their logo (Baker Street was the street where Sherlock Holmes lived in the books)! :D Plus, the whole "Mind the Gap" thing became an in-joke with Danielle and I. Written on the ground next to the platforms in beg letters are the words "Mind the Gap", plus it's announced in a stilted mechanical voice (with a British accent) every time one stops. For those who don't understand, it basically means "watch out for the gap", but it's such a typical british thing to say it's hilarious. Here's a picture from google of the words: http://www.track0.com/japh/archive/images/mindthegap-080704.jpg and one with the logo and the words (we have a T-shirt that has this; yay for in-jokes! ;D): http://www.londontaxitour.com/london-taxi-tour-london-underground-and-famous-street-signs-small-mind-the-gap-sign.jpg
Plus, the cover of the portable tube maps are hilarious:
Don't worry; the actual map is much more straightforward and easy to follow.
There is one thing to say for the Métro, though; their tickets are much more stylish:
(You can't see very well in the picture, but the Métro tickets also have a really cool hologram strip with tiny stylized farms and cities)
....Although, the discount membership card for the Underground has a much cooler name than that of the Métro; the "Oyster Card". I kid you not. :P
We also had the opportunity to see the Pixar Exhibition on the second day it opened at the British Science museum. More on that here: http://boggsboard.proboards46.com/index.cgi?board=pixar&action=display&thread=1144195662&page=1 And here is a scan of a still "unused" entry ticket (they forgot to rip it at the door; security is so lax!):
Anyway, we actually went to like six famous Paris landmarks in one day. WAY too many stairs. In order:
- Eiffel Tower (up the stairs to the second floor because it's cheaper and has shorter lines than for the elevators)
- Paris Catacombs (down a bunch of spiral stairs, walk along underground for several kilometers [and see all the stacks of skeletons], then up a bunch of stairs again)
- Cathedrale Notre Dame (we went on a tour of the roofs; up five stories at least of tight spiral staircases [the middle of the stone steps were actually worn down - dipped - from all the feet over the centuries], then back down)
- L'Arc de Triomphe (lucky for us, we decided not to climb the stairs to the top)
- Champ De Lisée (sp?) (really long, expensive shopping street; we didn't dare go in any of the shops for fear of being driven away by ths snobs).
- Place de La Bastile (we did not brave the traphic circle to get to this monument, but observed it from across the street
Plus, the Métro system prefers stairs over escalators, and the stations are DEEP. -_-; So, yeah, it was actually an awesome day. ^_^
I highly reccomend the bus tours to Bath and Stonehenge by the way (if your with the Evans company, request Myrtle; she's like sixty and has a billion anecdotes about ANYthing British to tell you). Don't try to fit in the Windsor Castle trip in as well; you'll find you won't spend any time at all in all three places. We spent a whole day at Windsor, seperately.
I'd like to tell you more right now, but I'm pretty tired, and mum's taking me out for a birthday lunch. Perhaps I'll post pictures of myself posing in front of monuments with my sister later when dad's uploaded the pictures onto the computer.
...
...
...
Go to Europe! You know you want to! :D
Today's my seventeenth birthday (as well as that of my twin sister's) so I feel it's a perfect day to update. :)
We only just got back from a trip to Europe last Tuesday (erm, school started back from spring break on Monday). We (being my father, my sister Danielle and I) went to England (London, Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge, Brighton) and France (Paris).
Tip: if one is staying in downtown London, don't stay at the Prince William Hotel. It's right next to a busy road, the rooms are cramped and badly organized, and the continental breakfast is unimaginable (toast and cereal). The Hotel we stayed at in Paris was much better (forget the name). It was on a quiet side street, right across from a bakery with delicious croissants, and only a few blocks away from a Métro station. ^_^
Speaking of which, I much prefer the London Underground to the Paris Métro (for those of you who are confused, those are both subway systems). The Underground was cooler; the station names were original (With the exception of the confusing "South Kensington" and "High Street Kensington). For example; Paddington Station had a large bronze statue of Paddington Bear (did you guys ever read his books as children?), Baker Street had quotes from Shirlock Holmes and silouettes of his face smoking a pipe as their logo (Baker Street was the street where Sherlock Holmes lived in the books)! :D Plus, the whole "Mind the Gap" thing became an in-joke with Danielle and I. Written on the ground next to the platforms in beg letters are the words "Mind the Gap", plus it's announced in a stilted mechanical voice (with a British accent) every time one stops. For those who don't understand, it basically means "watch out for the gap", but it's such a typical british thing to say it's hilarious. Here's a picture from google of the words: http://www.track0.com/japh/archive/images/mindthegap-080704.jpg and one with the logo and the words (we have a T-shirt that has this; yay for in-jokes! ;D): http://www.londontaxitour.com/london-taxi-tour-london-underground-and-famous-street-signs-small-mind-the-gap-sign.jpg
Plus, the cover of the portable tube maps are hilarious:
Don't worry; the actual map is much more straightforward and easy to follow.
There is one thing to say for the Métro, though; their tickets are much more stylish:
(You can't see very well in the picture, but the Métro tickets also have a really cool hologram strip with tiny stylized farms and cities)
....Although, the discount membership card for the Underground has a much cooler name than that of the Métro; the "Oyster Card". I kid you not. :P
We also had the opportunity to see the Pixar Exhibition on the second day it opened at the British Science museum. More on that here: http://boggsboard.proboards46.com/index.cgi?board=pixar&action=display&thread=1144195662&page=1 And here is a scan of a still "unused" entry ticket (they forgot to rip it at the door; security is so lax!):
Anyway, we actually went to like six famous Paris landmarks in one day. WAY too many stairs. In order:
- Eiffel Tower (up the stairs to the second floor because it's cheaper and has shorter lines than for the elevators)
- Paris Catacombs (down a bunch of spiral stairs, walk along underground for several kilometers [and see all the stacks of skeletons], then up a bunch of stairs again)
- Cathedrale Notre Dame (we went on a tour of the roofs; up five stories at least of tight spiral staircases [the middle of the stone steps were actually worn down - dipped - from all the feet over the centuries], then back down)
- L'Arc de Triomphe (lucky for us, we decided not to climb the stairs to the top)
- Champ De Lisée (sp?) (really long, expensive shopping street; we didn't dare go in any of the shops for fear of being driven away by ths snobs).
- Place de La Bastile (we did not brave the traphic circle to get to this monument, but observed it from across the street
Plus, the Métro system prefers stairs over escalators, and the stations are DEEP. -_-; So, yeah, it was actually an awesome day. ^_^
I highly reccomend the bus tours to Bath and Stonehenge by the way (if your with the Evans company, request Myrtle; she's like sixty and has a billion anecdotes about ANYthing British to tell you). Don't try to fit in the Windsor Castle trip in as well; you'll find you won't spend any time at all in all three places. We spent a whole day at Windsor, seperately.
I'd like to tell you more right now, but I'm pretty tired, and mum's taking me out for a birthday lunch. Perhaps I'll post pictures of myself posing in front of monuments with my sister later when dad's uploaded the pictures onto the computer.
...
...
...
Go to Europe! You know you want to! :D
