So, nothing of merit has happened today. Nothing. I finished a chocolate orange and that was pretty much my greatest achievement. Oh, and they changed the rules on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Yeah, I've been so productive.
Due to my day being quite boring, I thought that I would try and write about something interesting not about my life. But I've come up a bit blank. So I might talk about my Interrailing trip because at least it's happy and I feel with everything that's happened since I came back (my card cloned, bathroom ceiling leaking, friends mugged) there's been little chance to bask in it.
We started off in Copenhagen which was lovely. Small enough that we could wander around easily, plenty of places to buy sausages and in general a truly beautiful place. I've never been there before and it struck me as an incredibly relaxed place. On the rest of our travels, people would say to us 'Copenhagen, that's very expensive' but at the time, we didn't notice it, possibly because we're used to London pricing. In fact, we probably spent the least there. Of course, alcohol is expensive but we only had a couple of beers. What was nice about our time in Copenhagen was it was beautiful enough that wandering around was entertainment enough. Not that we did nothing - we went up the Round Tower, saw Hans Christian Anderson's gravestone and went into the castle. Basically, it's a wonderful place.
Next was Berlin. I went to Berlin a couple of years ago with my parents and loved it. It's how I imagine London was before mass gentrification and one of the most interesting things we did was the 'alternative' walking tour whose major theme was gentrification. As interesting as it would have been to visit Berlin when the wall was up, I think this is a good time to go because, relative to other European cities, it's in the early stages of development. It's unique history also means there are lots of genuinely touristy things to do - Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Holocaust Memorial etc. But possibly the best part of Berlin was the hostel. The people were knowledgeable and helpful, the other people staying there friendly and we went out for a couple of really good, big and cheap meals with the people there. I think that Berlin is my favourite European city and I'll be interested to see if it still is in a few years.
From there we went to Prague. We had an unfortunate journey spent in the aisle but our hostel could not have been closer to the station or more central. It's (and I think this is a phrase which will be repeated throughout this post) a beautiful place but in a more historic way that Copenhagen. We spent lots of time in the Old Town Square, sipping cheap beer and eating pizza slices and joining the mass of tourists who want to watch the Astronomical Clock go. In our only full day, we went up the castle which is incredible and it's awe-inspiring cathedral, around the Senate Gardens, across the St. Charles Bridge, off to John Lennon Wall and back for some time in the Old Town Square. It was a little bit rainy but overall I had a good time there, albeit short.
So then we moved onto Vienna. This is the only other place (besides Copenhagen) I haven't been before and it was truly beautiful. We spent our first evening having the weirdest meal I have ever experienced - we went to a pizza restaurant who seemingly had never met an outsider, gave us the largest pizzas I have ever seen, were playing Spanish christmas songs and gave us roses they'd plucked out of vases. Our first day was spent exploring the ring in the centre of Vienna - the Parliament building, town hall, theatre, Old Stock exchange etc. We went to see another clock go - this time the art-noveau Anker Clock and then another Jewish Memorial. From there, we went to Naschmart and Charlotte has some world class falafel. We spent the end of our afternoon in the Museum Quarter looking at Klimt's and an impressive Keith Harring exhibit. Had a traditional Austrian meal that evening and then an early night. Spent our last day at Schonbrunn Palace which was lavish on an epic scale. Then we killed some time back at the hostel before our night train, which was an experience unto itself.
And lastly, Venice. When we arrived it was under a raincloud... literally! But it did manage to wash away a lot of day trippers and we had a quiet, dry evening wandering around St. Mark's Square with pizza and ice cream (our entire diet during our time in Italy). Then, much like our first stop in Copenhagen, we spent our sunny day just wandering around. It's such a beautiful place, exactly how you would expect it and we did the typical things. Too cheap for a gondola but we did get a water bus, cross the Rialto which was right by our B&B about a thousand times, eat more pizza, cross endless bridges. It was boiling hot and we got bitten to death but it was very different from the other place we'd visited and was a good end to the trip. One frantic trip to the airport later and we were home and dry.
So that's it - a short summation of a trip that lasted 11 days but felt like 11 months. In a good way. I had a fantastic time and I hope my memories are not tarnished in the future by what we came home to.
Until tomorrow fair readers (not that I have any proof I have even one).
2 comments:
What were the changes to the who want to be a millionaire rules?
You get timed now - 15 seconds before £1000 and then 30 seconds until you get to £50,000. Then no more timing and you get an extra lifeline where, if you don't like a question, you can switch it.
It was thrilling.
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