TravelStream™ news feed for member emmab on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/emmab en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:21:59 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1256159522/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1256159522/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1256159522/tpod.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:21:59 -0400 My European travels...

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Berlin, Germany

Epic trip today, left Tallinn via coach back to Riga, then a rush to the airport to catch my flight to Berlin! I thought I´d miss my luggage check in time, cue lots of calls to the UK to find the exact location of the bus stop in Riga to save time when I got there! Luckily the coach came in half an hour earlier than scheduled which meant no dramas occurred and I had plenty of time at the airport!
Oddly, I wasn´t stopped at customs in Latvia or Germany today. In fact, there was no-one there to stop anyone in either location.
After arriving at the hostel and settling in, and meeting one of my room-mates, Hueling from Singapore, I ducked out for food. I was so hungry, only burritos would do. My guidebook had suggested a burrito place called Dolores nearby so I walked fast to get there - the maps are so misleading, I ended up taking the longest route, but it was worth it in the end, the burrito was amazing. Also had a glass of ice cold mint lemonade, so refreshing, all for around €5. After a hards day´s stressful travelling, food was all I could manage tonight!

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London, England, United Kingdom

With no trips currently booked for the future, and looking at staying in London for the summer, I thought it might be nice to put together some hints for things to do for tourists AND Londoners alike, in summer, for free (or super cheap). I've often thought it would be nice to get recommendations for what to do in cities from the people who actually live there, so here's my contribution:

10) St Paul's
Cathedral. Want to see inside? You should, it's incredible. But it's going to cost you £11, AND you can't take photos. Instead, go to a Sunday service, which starts at 6pm, and is FREE. You don't have to be religious! And granted, you won't get to wander around, but you can sit and gaze in wonder for 45 minutes!

9) Free papers! Leave the Metro alone in the morning though, our commuters are fiercely
competitive for those papers between 7.30-9.30am, hehehe. In the late afternoon and evenings, two free papers are given out outside each station and busy areas. The London Lite (distributors in yellow jackets) is printed with ink that doesn't come off in your hands, and the London Paper (distributors in purple jackets). Both have the same kind of stories, but the London Paper has better entertainment listings.

8) Take buses not tubes! I'm not trying to incite a boycott of the tube due to the recent strikes. Much. But I do find taking the bus is way more interesting than the tube, and cheaper to boot. You get to see your surroundings, and where you're going, especially if you're on the top deck of a double decker. This comes from many years of experience of squeezing on the Piccadilly line in rush hour. I'd still take the tube for long distances though. If you're planning to take the tube in Central London, all the stations are pretty close to each other, there's really no point...so walk!

7) Most museums are free, but also the best ones (National History Museum, British Museum, Science Museum) are jam packed full of tourists and school kids all the time. You should check these out of course, but also the Museum of London, near St Paul's, is currently running a Great Fire of London exhibition. A nice slice of London history right there.

6) The Ben & Jerrys Sundae Festival (www.benjerry.co.uk/sundae/) over one weekend in July. Quintessentially British. Toe wrestling, a Pimms bus, a Helter Skelter, awesome music and FREE ICE CREAM. What more could you want? Did I mention unlimited free ice cream?? This is London's best festival now the Mayor's cancelled our free anti-racism festival, Rise. (It's not free, but it's cheap, and you need to book tickets in advance, which is why I've included the link)

5) You've not had a proper English experience if you've left without sampling fish & chips. They used to be wrapped in actual newspaper, before the world went mad on health and safety, but now they're in plain paper. The two I'd recommend are The Chippy on Poland Street W1, the chips smell good at least. I haven't sampled it myself as they have nothing vegetarian and because the chips are cooked in duck fat, but my entire office loves this place. For the top fish and chips in London you need to get to Berwick Street W1. Parallel to Poland Street and Wardour Street, this place has queues coming out the door every lunch time, so get in quick. And yes I have actually tried this one!

4) A boat ride on the Thames Clippers are a must, I'd recommend a trip from Bankside Pier, you travel under Tower Bridge and past the Tower of London and arrive in Greenwich in style, which is a good thing because it's in the middle of nowhere.

3) And with that, I definitely recommend Greenwich as a must see! It not only houses the Royal
Observatory, (worth the walk up the hill for the views alone), the Meridian Line, the National Maritime Museum, the o2 (formerly known as the monstrosity, or the Millennium Dome) and the (currently undergoing renovation) Cutty Sark, it's also home to the Cutty Sark pub, (nice to sit outside for a pint and pub lunch) and Greenwich market. If you're lucky enough to be there at night, that green laser beam in the sky is coming from the Royal Observatory and shows the line of the Prime Meridian. Anyway, Greenwich market. Your main reason for coming here at
the weekends will be the brownies. Raspberry swirl, chocolate fudge, walnut and pecan, cheesecake brownie, blondie, there are others...have one of each. Trust me on this one.

2) Battersea Park is hands down the best park in London. (Although I might be biased because it's at the end of my road.) On a rainy weekend you can go and sit near the lake, on sheltered benches, and read all your heart desires. On a sunny weekend you can take a walk through this little slice of overlooked garden paradise. It's got a tropical garden, it's got a zoo, it's got a
Peace Pagoda, it's right by the river, and best of all, you can hire pedalo and rowing boats to go out on the lake. £4 for half an hour, £6 an hour.

1) South Bank. This is the place to be at the weekend. There's always something for everyone, street dance, skateboarding, street performers, musicians, opera singers, jazz, comedy (currently the E4 Underbelly Festival), book sales, food stalls, photography exhibitions, and most importantly, candy floss. Today there was a flashmob doing the Lambeth Walk. Great stuff. You cannot be bored. Time your walk right and see the sunset over the Houses of
Parliament.

Additionally, here's my Top 3 Travel Hints:
1) Everyone who commutes to work uses www.tfl.gov.uk to get the latest updates on public transport as there's always something to hold up your journey; delays, a tube strike, engineering works - the journey planner tool on the right hand side is super useful also.
2) You'll be needing an A-Z, a book which every self respecting Londoner owns, if not carries around with them, it's basically a map of London and it's invaluable as London is so big, often the same street name has two postcodes.
3) If you plan on travelling on the tube (boooooooooo!) then you can pick up a free tube map from any tube station. You'll be needing it. Also I'd recommend an Oyster Card rather than separate tickets, as travel here is super expensive and you can save money this way. It will cost you (£3 at last count) to get one but you can get a refund for the card before you leave!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241279580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241279580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241279580/tpod.html Mon, 04 May 2009 16:45:19 -0400 My European travels...

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Bratislava, Slovakia

Bratislava is without a shadow of a doubt the most boring city - and capital city, at that - I've ever been to. OK, so I ignored everyone's advice, "you only need a day there, at the most" and booked two nights. My flight home leaves at 10.20pm, giving me another whole day after today, and I've spent most of today wondering if I could get an earlier flight and how much that would cost me, given that I've already checked in. Of course, I couldn't check as the hostel is still without internet access and the city's internet cafe was closed.
Bratislava is exceptionally dull. It's so small that it's technically a village, and while it's easy to see the charm in the long winding cobblestoned streets, you could walk them all in an hour, tops. The most interesting/odd thing about the city is the random statues everywhere. Modern and quirky, they're mostly situated outside restaurants, like the photographer peeking around the corner of the Paparazzi cocktail bar. The most famous one is The Watcher, a man popping up from a fake manhole. I spent my time wandering around looking for the next statue, which made the walk more enjoyable.
The city's main tourist attraction is the Hrad (castle) and even that is completely covered in scaffolding. The views from the vast grounds over the Danube are pretty good though, with a vista of the Novy Most (new bridge) and beyond. Honestly this all took me 3 hours to explore combined, and this includes the search for the internet cafe (on the ground floor of a shopping complex, it turned out)
Bratislava could do with some more activities - even the tourist info people looked bored out of their minds. Horse riding, climbing, caving, all of these things should be accessible, it's a bit sad for the Slovakian tourism industry when the main selling point of Bratislava is a day trip to Vienna. The two cities are the closest capital cities in Europe, but it does speak volumes about Bratislava unfortunately. Now. How to spend 12 hours tomorrow??!
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Bratislava, Slovakia

Today's highlight (and don't take this lightly, because the rest of it I spent waiting to leave) was a trip to Devin Castle. Marked in Lonely Planet as THE best thing about Bratislava, I figured it was a must see since the actual city is devoid of interesting stuff to do.
It was a lovely sunny day, and 22 degrees, extremely hot.

Devin Castle is actually a ruin of a castle, situated 20 minutes west of Bratislava on the number 29 bus. In the last 100 years a lot of excavations have taken place which have uncovered a graveyard, which they didn't leave alone; the skeletons are displayed in the exhibition room near the top of the hill. Recently a large crack, due to rainwater, was found in the upper tower of the castle, which means renovation works are taking place and it's off limits to the general public. At €3 entry price, you can spend a couple of hours here, which I did, getting covered in mosquito bites in the process. The views over the Danube and the valleys and hills are incredible, if you can stand the hike up the hill to get to them. See pictures for further evidence, I really don't want to write any more about Bratislava.
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Vienna, Austria

May 1st is a national holiday - Labour Day - for most European countries. Austria is no different which meant all the shops were shut, bad news for me as I walked down Mariahilferstrasse window shopping during my last hours in Vienna.
It's very hot today, more so than yesterday, but still as windy. After checking out and popping my luggage in storage for the day, I took the U-Bahn to Schonbrunn, an eighteenth century Hapsburg palace set in a vast park called Schlosspark, encompassing a zoo, many statues and fountains, gardens, a giant greenhouse and a desert house as well. Of course, you'd need to pay to gain entry to all of the attractions, and the only one I opted for was the Irrgarten, a trio of mazes. The main maze (the other two are really for kids) has two "healing harmony" stones in the centre as well as a viewing platform for views of ....well, the mazes. The second maze (or Labyrinth, as it's known) has waist height hedges so you can see over but not climb over in a cheating fashion. There are two ways to go round, the short way for those who get bored easily and the normal longer route. Several activities are inside the maze; bouncing boards, stepping stones with surprise jets of water, and my favourite, a glockenspiel dance mat. The third maze has mathematical problems to confse you for 30 seconds or so. Also, for fun, there are two finger mazes.

After a couple of hours spent wandering through the gardens, I decided to check out the Museumquartier. I had chosen a museum to go to, the imposing grey building block of MUMOK (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien) full of conceptual art, Yoko Ono paintings, Warhol etc. It turned out it was open but not free, so I visited the museum shop which was interesting in itself, with some great, if expensive gifts.

Later on I bought my ticket to Bratislava. Some careful research had shown that Eurolines did the best deal (€6 one way) although you can go by boat down the Danube. This would have been more spectacular but I'm not in a position to throw money around on a triple country trip! The coach only took an hour, not even stopping at the border checkpoint and smashing my dreams of another stamp with it.
I had written down instructions on how to get to my hostel from the train station, not the bus stop, so I consulted my map and walked. The cobblestone streets didn't do my suitcase wheels any good, but I got to see the residents enjoying their day off with street celebrations and a local band. I booked this hostel as it was the only one to have these nights free, but other than its' location (opposite a giant Tesco!) it has no benefits to really speak of. Tesco, however, is ridiculous. I bought carrier bags full of stuff for €5, and could have gone even more mad with all the bargains. For 67c, I bought a chocolate and coconut cake which was incredible, and a box of black lemon tea for 65c. Some things are a third of the price you'd pay at home, other, branded stuff twice as expensive.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1240930800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1240930800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1240930800/tpod.html Mon, 04 May 2009 11:12:51 -0400 My European travels...

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Budapest, Hungary

My original plan for today was to visit the Tropicarium, situated in a shopping mall of all places, half an hour south of Budapest. I got to the bus stop at 9.20am, as the Tropicarium opened at 10am and I wanted to get the most of my 24 hour travelcard, which expired at 11.20am. It turned out that the bus leaves at 8am and the the next one is later in the afternoon. I abandoned this idea and revised my plans for the day.

One thing I'd missed out on yesterday was a trip to Margit sziget, a trip advised by Anita, my Hungarian friend from back home. Margit sziget is an island in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest, which residents use as a relaxation spot, or to get away from the city. I spent most of my day walking around here, with the majority spent on the far north of the island, in the Japanese gardens. There is nothing particularly spectacular about Margit sziget, it's like most other inner city parks, but a good place for a change of scenery from the city, nonetheless.
There is a hotel here, a couple of swimming pools with water chutes, and you can hire bikes, so there's plenty to do if not sunbathing.

That evening I caught up with Joszef and Nicolien, we went to the same pizza place for dinner. A search for ice cream (Joszef is just as obsessed as I am!) proved fruitless so we ended up at Coffee Heaven for a chocolate fix (muffins for Nicolien, hot chocolate for Joszef, and a brownie for me!)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241015400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241015400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241015400/tpod.html Mon, 04 May 2009 10:59:50 -0400 My European travels...

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Budapest, Hungary

Wednesday was the day I'd set aside for the legendary Hungarian baths experience. I'd originally planned to visit the Gellert Baths in Buda, having seen it's impressive architecture in guide book photos. My new Dutch friend from the hostel, Nicolien, also wanted to go to the baths, so we decided to go together. She'd already picked out the Szechenyi baths, with it's neo-baroque architecture (and outdoor pools) and as it was cheaper, I didn't argue. Nicolien had walked to the Varosliget (City Park, location of the baths) the previous day and knew how far it was, so we ventured onto the subway. At our destination stop we were accosted by two "ticket inspectors" who claimed we had the wrong tickets and tried to fine us 12,000 forint. (around £40) We argued and claimed we had no money. They didn't believe us, saying as we were tourists we were clearly carrying money with us. They obviously go straight for the tourists, as it's a tourist spot. One of them phoned the police, allegedly, but then did a "deal" with us - 6000 forint for the both of us. We ended up giving him a total of 2000 forint, begrudgingly, which he then pocketed, and kindly gave us return tickets. We later found out that the fine should have maybe been around 3000 forint each so I see it as a coup that we got away with paying a third of the real fine, even though we are dubious as to whether they were real inspectors. They were dressed accordingly, and everyone else showed them tickets, so it's possible I guess. But it seems I'm making quite a name for myself as an Eastern Europe public transport criminal. Hehehe.
After this encounter, we certainly needed to relax! We booked massages, and were given appointment times of 1.40pm. We had entered the baths at around 11am, and you get a partial refund if you leave within 2 hours.... another scam?! The baths were a mixture of indoor and outdoor pools, all at varying temperatures. We started in a indoor healing thermal bath, all naturally hot from the hot springs water. Our companions were mostly old, hugely obese Hungarians, inappropriately dressed in various bikinis and skimpy Speedos. Horrific. In order to heal our eyes, we made a speedy exit to the outdoor pools. There are three pools outdoors, surrounded by mustard yellow castle like buildings. The middle pool is reserved for proper swimming, so we avoided this. The first pool contained fountains, a whirlpool and a jacuzzi centre piece. The jacuzzi alternated with the whirlpool where jets of water propelled you round in a circle. Several attempts to leave were unsuccessful, as the current was so strong!
The third pool was a huge thermal one, so hot that signs surrounded it advising not to spend more than 20 minutes bathing in it. These were lost on the old men playing chess in the pool. Seriously. You can play if you bring your own chess pool. To the baths. Seriously. Surreal...I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my eyes.
Another new experience for me was the sauna, an experience I'd missed out on in Finland. I tried out the aromotherapy sauna at 55-60 degrees. I can only liken it to being in Las Vegas in the summer. I'm feeling sweaty just typing this.

We rotated pools until the massage - I'd booked a 20 minute aromatherapy massage and the guy spent a lot of that time massaging my legs, which was weird. But otherwise, it was super relaxing, and super cheap at 2800 forints, a fraction of what I'd pay at home for the same treatment at a spa. In all, we spent over 4 hours at the baths. I have never ever spent so much of a day immersed in water in my life. It was truly relaxing though, and a true Hungarian experience that I'll never forget.

Nicolien had to leave for Vienna that evening, and with Joszef and Margarita having already left, I was alone for the evening. As I dined outdoors at the pizza place we spent the previous couple of nights at, (and in a bonus moment got half a pizza free of charge) this made me appreciate that much more how their company made my experience in Budapest so much more fun than it would have been without them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241100480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241100480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/italy/1241100480/tpod.html Mon, 04 May 2009 10:30:02 -0400 My European travels...

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Vienna, Austria

The three hour train journey from Budapest to Vienna was uneventful, no sign of even a border guard to stamp my passport. I am now relying solely on Slovakia to provide my stamp fix. Fingers crossed.
My hostel is right across the street from Westbahnhof, which is useful. It's a 10 minute walk out of the main town, but the U-Bahn is cheap and fast and makes it a great way to travel round town. In other great location news, I'm just across the street from the best ice cream in Vienna - at Zanoni & Zanoni's. I recommend this place highly, a couple of scoops of mango and chocolate orange was the first thing I did after checking in.

After this, I took a brisk walk down Mariahilferstrasse, the main shopping street, to check out the vast amount of shopping to be done. Unfortunately, a quick look at the finances suggested this was not to be. I had brought more Hungarian forint than Euros, having underestimated just how cheap Hungary would be.
I picked up a 24 hour travelcard for €5.70, (this is valid for literally 24 hours after the first time you stamp it) then took the U-Bahn to Praterstern, site of Vienna's famous year round ferris wheel, the Riesenrad. I wasn't, however, expecting a full on funfair, including my personal favourite, the helter skelter - incorrectly named the "Tobaggan". Fun fairs of course mean more ice cream, this time I tried a scoop of pink and yellow coloured gloopy marshmallow flavour. I'm not entirely sure it tasted of marshmallow, but it was good, considering how hot is was. Seriously, though, did I mention Zanoni & Zanoni's?
There was a CSI exhibition called the CSI Experience, which I couldn't decided whether I wanted to try out or not. It was in German with English subtitles, but it was €12, which is pretty expensive considering the museums are €9 tops. I'm guessing you'd have to solve a crime, and knowing how gruesome CSI can be, I'm not entirely convinced I'd want to do it by myself.

Next stop was Stephansplatz, where I wasn't expecting anything in particular, but it's the centre of the old town, but at the very least would be an opportunity to pick up postcards, which I did. In the centre of the square was a large cathedral undergoing some renovation work. People dressed up as Mozart were hanging around one side trying to nab unsuspecting tourists for a Mozart tour, and on the other side lots of horses and carriages. This is apparently a Viennese tourist tradition, called fiakers, to be driven around in a carriage by men in bowler hats and horses dressed in odd costumes. I gave this a miss - €50 for 20 minutes is for serious tourists!

As it's a national holiday tomorrow (Labour Day), the museums are supposed to be either closed or free - I can't get a straight answer from anyone about which ones are supposed to be free and which ones will be closed. I have decided to stay in Vienna for at least half the day tomorrow, as my flight leaves Bratislava late on Sunday night, and I think Vienna is a city which deserves more than 24 hours.
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London, England, United Kingdom

I really should pack.
I really should have a permanent list of stuff to take with me on trips.
I really should have everything prepared in advance.
I really should have gone shopping for the clothes I will need.
I really should have worked out exactly how much cash I need to take.

I should never leave accommodation booking to the last minute - all the rubbish/expensive hostels are left over.
I should never leave absolutely everything to the last moment.
I should never visit a museum exhibition when I should be packing for my trip.
I should never remember things to buy when all the shops are shut and there's no chance of buying said items at the airport.

And really, I should get off the computer and start packing. Seriously. Now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/3/1235369100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/3/1235369100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/emmab/3/1235369100/tpod.html Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:27:50 -0400 Miscellaneous Adventures

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New York City, New York, United States

Another unproductive day, not in terms of sightseeing, but by my standards of what I wanted to achieve. :( It wasn't raining like yesterday but it was 0 degrees and super windy. I walked from my hotel on the Upper West Side to my hostel on the Upper East Side, taking a shortcut through Central Park. I was then planning on walking downtown but my legs and lips hurt so bad I couldn't do it. It's not like me to give up like this but really, you haven't seen my lips. I later changed my mind on going out and took the subway to Rockefeller Plaza. I have never been inside before, apparently the view from the observation deck is awesome. I was however, more interested in the NBC store downstairs. Who knew Saved By The Bell was an NBC show? This bout of randomness can be blamed on souvenir present buying.
There is a outdoor skating rink until April right outside the plaza, and I watched some people fall over for a bit and marvelled at the way the light hit the skyscrapers and the ice.

After this I took the subway down to City Hall and walked across Brooklyn Bridge. We did this on the last visit, but this time I went all the way to Brooklyn, How Sweet It Is! Apparently.
I was on a mission to get to a second hand bookstore on Montague Avenue in Brooklyn Heights. I found it, only to discover that they are in the process of moving and will reopen in mid March. I walked all the way back, there was a few places I wanted to stop off at but it was way too cold.
I went back to the hostel not even stopping off at the cinema. I was planning to visit Queens as well today but the museum I want to visit is only open Wednesday-Saturday.

I spent the rest of my day chatting to the residents of the building I'm staying at. Sean, an old Irish guy from Limerick, adopted, likes films and talking. Jimmy, from the Hamptons, actor and cameraman, likes dying his hair and films. Both awesome awesome people, proving the best thing about travellling is the people you meet.
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