Thankyou and goodnight

Ok so now I'm home I have nothing to do for three weeks. So there will be nothing to write about, and despite the fact I am still in Europe technically there will be no interesting encounters unfortunately. I have woken up this morning with no idea what to do with myself. There are no floating pools to swim in, no interesting cities to explore and no beautiful parks to sunbathe in (that I know of). There is also no sun.

So I just want to thank you for reading and for your lovely comments. You have been a fantastic audience, I am Elena Dorling, good night!

Things I have loved

This is to counteract the other post. Firstly though,  I want it to be clear that despite everything I said in the last post I have loved basically every minute of this trip and it has been an amazing experience. Thankyou so much to everyone for chipping in and a massive thankyou to Grandma, as it was her suggestion in the first place and it was grandma that bought me the ticket for my 18th birthday - although I don't think she is reading this!

I have absolutely loved exploring all the different cities. Each was so different from the next and I have enjoyed every single one. Every city has a different vibe and a different feel. I have seen some beautiful buildings, learnt some new facts and met some awesome people along the way. Everyone I've met has had a different story and a different look on life. It's been fantastic.

I have loved the adventure of always being in a new place. No two days were the same and no two cities similar. I've had many new experiences and it's been incredible.

One thing I absolutely love about Europe,  or at least alot of it, are the squares at night. I love whole concept of having a square or squares where everything is happening. I've seen so many people just performing different things in the middle of a square and some have been a lovely impromptu performances. Like Freddie in Wenceslas Square, all that time ago back in Prague. He was great and entertained so many people.

I've loved the whole thing of getting on a train in one city in one country and a few hours later being ina completely different city, speaking a completely different language, using completely different currency, in a whole different country only a few hours later.

It has also been fun to see all the different hostels. I have definitely preferred the smaller ones though. The ones at Bled and Zadar, where for example there were less people in the room so you got more chance to speak to others. In massive dorms its easy to be isolated and independent because you aren't really forced into interacting. My favourite room was definitely the Aventura hostel in Budapest becaue of the way it was decorated and there were no bunks! But no complaints about going back to my own bed.

I was very tempted to accidentally on purpose miss my ferry. I am having too much fun! At least I have the Dorling family bbq this weekend to look forward to, and then some of the Abdullahs coming down later on, aswell as the Liverpool match. They will hopefully be fun, and its only 3 weeks until Peru!

Things I won't miss about interailing and europe

Sitting on the ferry, reflecting on my trip there has been some things I won't be sad to leave behind, both to do with Europe and to do with interailing or travelling in general. I've compiled a list so as you can imagine this is a moaney post. The ferry by the way is massive. Cafes galore and a shop that actually has things in it.

The main thing is random men trying to chat you up. I have been approached so many times by random guys complementing me, asking if I want to go with them, which you just don't get in England, where they at least pretend to be interested in what you have to say first. Yesterday morning in Vondelpark I walked past some guy and he just shouts out to me 'you want to come to bed with me?'. Erm.... no. I know Amsterdam has alot of prostitutes but they tend to stand behind windows with no clothes on, not wander through Vondelpark in the mornings. Although apparently it is legal to have sex in Vondelpark after dark. There's a fun fact for you.

Another thing I won't miss is living out of a rucksack. I like to have stuff strewn everywhere. Having to keep everything in one place in a bag that you are constantly having to pack and unpack and repack is annoying. I am looking forward to having a floordrobe again.

I am also looking forward to having a relatively secure house I can leave stuff in a not get it stolen. I've been constantly worrying someone is going to steal my dirty clothes and my phone charger. Or just anything really but those were the things I tended to leave in an unlocked locker during the day. I think my ipod cable was stolen last night too. I think it was plugged in to the same thing as my phone and now I can't find it.

One thing I definitely won't miss about hostels is not being able to just walk around naked. After a shower for example its really hard to get dressed and not flash people. Also at night when it gets so hot but you have to keep your clothes on.

I will love having my own plug sockets that are located near to my bed. Its not very sociable to set an alarm for half 6 in the morning when you have to get dressed before you can turn it off because the plug where your phone is charging is over the other side of the room.

I am majorly looking forward to mum's cooking. Having to always pay for meals is very expensive and what's cheap is generally not that great.

At home and at uni, I am always dressed in hoodies and trackies and if I'm not going out and not going to be seen I don't bother with my hair. When sharing a room and at a hostel you always have to be presentable as you never know when the next good looking guy, or even just a girl to make friends with, is going to turn up.

I will not miss one bit the whole curtain situation going on with some of these hostels. I cannot wait to get a good nights sleep without a blindfold (which was a godsend) and without an alarm going off at half 5 because someone has to get an early train, or someone banging around next to you or coming home at 3 in the morning and crashing around. Admittedly that last one never happened to me but still.

As Dorothy (?) says 'there is no place like home'.

Last evening in Europe

Amsterdam is such a relaxed place.  Everyone just seems so chilled. Except for the cyclists if you get in the way.

I've really enjoyed my time here and I wish I could stay longer. I haven't really explored much of it.

Tonight (last night) I went to find a postcard for less that 79cent as thats all the change I had.  Most shops were selling them for a euro so I was searching for a needle in a haystack but eventually I found one.

After I went to Vondelpark just for a stroll to relax and have a calm last evening. Clearly this is what the whole of Amsterdam does in the evening. Everyone was just sitting round chilling, bbq's galore, bikes everywhere. It was so nice. I just found a spot on the grass to write my blog and watch the world go by.

Then at half 8 english time I skyped with the parentals. It was a fairly relaxed last evening.

P.s there are still a couple more posts to come. Don't abandon ship yet

Bad Buiten

The hostel I am in has no air conditioning. I am in a room with 19 other girls and the windows don't open. Its like 25° at night and its made worse by all the people in the room. Even worse is the fact the lift is broken and I'm on the top floor. Its EVEN WORSE when I get all the way to the top and my key card doesn't work and I have to go all the way back down to fix it and then come all the way back up, as has happened three times now.

Apart from that its a nice hostel although there is no hot chocolate at breakfast.

Today I wandered round Vondelpark in the morning and saw bits I hadn't seen before. There was a really cute bandstand in a lake and a statue surrounded by beautiful flowers. Then this afternoon I went to 'Bad Buiten' (a swimming pool) which is near Amstel Station. It opened at 12 and when I got there at 11:39 there was already a queue. Its now 15:15. Its absolutely packed. There are people on all sides of the pool and people on all the seats and people covering the bar. Its clearly a popular place. If you look at my photos, you may see why. Its fantastic.
There's a dutch kid here with a woman I thought was his grandma but was actually his mum. He looked like an angry mini version of Patrick Swayze but without the wrinkles.

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I got home from the pool around 5 and got a very nice cold shower. Then I got dinner at the hostel bar. I had sweet and sour chicken with rice and salad which was nice. I am rather sunburnt. Some nice girl saw me struggling to reach my back with the aftersun and offered to help which was fab as I am not flexible at all in any shape or form.

I have pretty much packed up now. Just a few bits I'll need tomorrow to go in my rucksack. I'm not really sure what to do with my last evening.

Amsterdam day 2

Today has been a really relaxed day which means I don't really have much to say. This morning I just went to the beginhof and then Dam square to see the relatively unimpressive royal palace and then wandered around Amsterdam admiring the canals. This afternoon I just spent sunning myself (in the shade) in Vondelpark. It was really hot. When I was in Paris I had met a guy who said he would show me around Amsterdam and we met up this afternoon but since I had already seen most of it on the tour yesterday, we just chatted in the park. He had told me he lived two hours away and kept asking if I wanted to go back to his. I don't think so somehow.

I think tomorrow I'm going to go swimming if its close and possible. I will have to research options when I get back to the hostel as I am once again in Dam square, just people watching. Before I came to the square this evening I was sat with my feet in a fountain in Leidesplein which had loads of people (mainly adults) splashing around in it when I passed it earlier. It was nice.

Dad managed to get me some money so now I can afford lunch and dinner, for which I had tandoori chicken breast and potatoe wedges. I also picked out the lettuce from the salad and ate that. It also came with a drink for €6.75 so its all good.

Ok so whilst I was sitting in the square I got chatting to what turned out to be the world's most laid back, friendly Muslim. He was the complete opposite of the image the media presents. He invited me for a drink and insisted on paying for it. We sat chatting for a while and gave me his number and told me to message him if I wanted to go to the beach tomorrow,  then walked me back.

Now its a lot later than I had planned on staying up and I ache all over from walking. Only one day left. Can't believe its almost over already.

Sunny Sunday in Amsterdam

I am loving Amsterdam. The canals, the canal houses and the bikes that will run you over if you dont move out their way.

Its so hot today. Apparently it's not normal. Since its a Sunday everyone is out and about. The canals are full with topless fat men and old women on bikinis, beer in hand, sunning themselves on their boats and Vondelpark is packed

This morning I went on a free tour of Amsterdam with a tour guide called 'Lee' (a nickname). She was really good and funny and told lots of unusual stories about Amsterdam. That took around 3 hours and then she invited anyone who wanted to for a drink at a cafe that was clearly the tour guides hang out. Me and three austrialians went and we just chilled. The tour had gone through the red light district where there were a few ladies of all shapes and sizes sitting in windows. We were advised by the tour guide that the ladies do not react well to having their photos taken and may hurl a handily placed cup of urine at you. Either that or chase you down the street and  stamp on your camera. I'm not sure how true that was but no one dared test it.

After a drink in the cafe I wandered back to the hostel past the Palace of Justice which is not at all an impressive building. By this time it was about 4pm. So I just sat in Vondelpark with the rest of the entire dutch population.

The worst thing about not being able to top up my caxton fx card is that there are orange calipos and pepsi max everywhere and I can't afford them if I want dinner.

Interesting fact, the sign for Amsterdam is XXX. The tour guide mentioned it and I thought she was joking but then I saw some police men with it on their shirts.
She also said that 60% of the clientele in the red light district are British men on their stag do's.

For dinner I had fish and chips because for €7.50 I could also get a drink and there isn't anywhere else with anything cheaper. It was quite nice actually. I can't believe I only have 3 days left. Not even full days. In three days time I will almost be back in England. I wish I could slow time down.

Stupid stupid stupid. (And lucky)

I'm so angry at myself right now. I left my bag for less than a minute in a room full of people, between two people I had been sitting next to for a good ten minutes and when I came back my passport wallet was gone. I am just so unbelievably lucky that my passport was in my hand when it went missing. Its still annoying though. My debit card was in there along with my student card and currency from all over Europe. I'm a bit unsure whether it was actually stolen or whether I just misplaced it becaus my phone, camera, ipod and purse were all still there but I had been sitting in the same place when I had taken my passport out of it and I looked all round and couldn't see it. So if it wasn't stolen I don't know where it is.

The staff at the eurolines stop were extreme unhelpful. All they said was 'you shouldn't have left your bag'. Yeah, thanks. I got that. I had to just leave. They had already announced by bus and the bus driver wasn't happy when I turned up.
I'm so stupid. Never again will I leave my bag even for a second.

Anyway. Enough of that. At least I have my passport!

This morning I followed a route around north Brussels suggested by the map I had. It took me down massive boulevards surrounded by skyscrapers that were a far cry from the Grand Place and the areas I'd seen yesterday. It was like two different cities, one with cobbled streets and magnificent town halls and the other filled with modern massive skyscrapers. The route also took me through Brussels red light district, or rather red light road which I hadn't realised until I had already started walking down the road which had half naked women sitting behind windows of shops.

After that I took the metro to Atomium which is a monument type thing built for the World exhibition of 1958. Its meant to represent iron. (See photo)

Then I headed back to the hostel to get my bags and get the bus to Amsterdam as my interail ticket expired yesterday and its alot cheaper. It does however mean a 4 hour coach journey but oh well. I'm just praying I don't end up needing the loo.

One sour note....

This evening I went back to Grand Markt to see the town hall by night. I was just sitting on the kerb with hundreds of other people when a presumably homeless person came up behind me. He bent over,  his head right next to mine, shaking his hand right in my face. I said no and turned away. He carried on shaking his hand in my face and I just ignored him. Then he put his face right next to my ear and starting swearing at me. I was genuinely scared he was going to hit me. He walked off and the man next to me asked if I knew him.

I tried to forget about it but I was just generally shaken up. He had clearly thought he could intimidate me into giving him money because he hadn't asked anyone else.  He ignored the families and the man either side and just headed straight for me. I only had 6 cent on me anyway.

Later I was just crossing the square when I happened to walk right past him and a friend sitting in the middle of the square and they both just started yelling at me, presumably in Flemish or whatever they speak here.

It just really ruined what otherwise would have been a nice evening. The square was full of people and the building were lit up in different colours. But it just put me in a bad mood. I've come home and am just going to bed. Probably a good idea anyway as my throats really sore. Yawning is quite painful.

Browsing Brussels

Today I had decided I was heading out on an unguided tour of Brussels. I planned a route around all the major sites at the hostel before breakfast,  expecting it to take me most of the day as it looked pretty far.

I had bread and hot chocolate for breakfast. The hot chocolate was basically just melted chocolate. It was so good.

I had woken up with a sore throat and decided that it was a good enough reason to get a chocolate milkshake from AMT to soothe it. I had a  little chat with the guy behind the counter about where we were from - he's from Egypt. Then I headed off to the cathedral which as cathedrals go isn't the most impressive I've seen on this trip. The 21st of July is Belgium's national day type thing so everywhere is preparing for that. Apparently there is going to be a big parade. Outside the cathedral the army were practising marching up and down steps.

On the way to the cathedral I passed Albertine square, where there were two statues, one of Albert and one of Elizabeth, having a face off. I assume most Belgians and people in the know will know who they are because I don't. I think Albert was a king once upon a time.

From the cathedral I walked a short distance to colonne du congress, which is a fancy war memorial, before walking to the opposite side of town to St Katherines church. From there I headed osst a fancy art gallery to Grand Place.

Grand Place is a beautiful square with the town museum on one side and a magnificent town hall on the other. Then I headed to what is apparently the most famous landmark or symbol of Brussels - Manneken Pis. A fantastic name for a statue of a little boy peeing. I probably would have walked right past it if it wasn't for the massive crowd gathered round it. Its in a corner of a random street and you can't see it from the direction I was walking in. Also its absolutely tiny. Nothing special about it at all really.

There are two different stories as to how it came about. One about a rich parent findig his missing child like that in that spot and one about the boy peeing on a burning wick planted by enemies that was meant to start a fire to burn down Brussels and therefore saving the day. I don't know if either are true.

My map and the guide book both mentioned a flea market in one of the little squares south of my hostel,  whereas everything I had visited so far was north.  The market ended at 2:00 but the map said lot of people don't bother clearing up so there would be free stuff left. It was only about 12 when I got there but I had a quick look round and there wasn't anything worth waiting for so I walked back to the hostel, stopping at a lebanese place for lunch and acquiring the left over accompanying pitta bread for dinner.

I had a rest at the hostel until abouy 3 at which point I headed down to St Giles church and the Hotel de Ville, which was a nice building. Whilst walking around the outside I saw a building that looked like a castle and went to investigate. It turns out its a prison. It can't have been a very secure one as there were no guards and people were going in and out.

I'm so knackered. It has been so hot today. Tomorrow my bus to Amsterdam is at 5 so in the morning I'm going to investigate north Brussels. This evening I'm going to sit in a freezer.

Belguim. Brugge. Brussels

Last night my plan was to just wander round after it got dark to see all the sights lit up. I asked the barman at the hostel where is good to go in the evening and he recommended me all these places and then told me if I waited till 11 he would come with me. I hadn't really meant going out out and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go out with him. He was about 35 and I didnt have the money. At around 8 I told him I'd be back and went for a walk down to Minnewater,  the so called lake of love, although I'm not really sure why. I was just sitting there listening to my ipod, admiring the view whilst gradually more and more people turned up next to me for what appeared to be some kind of birthday gathering.

I got up to take a photo and a girl and a boy came over to me asking if I was from Brugge and what I was doing there on my own. I explained I was interailing and they invited me to join their party. The girl gave me some rum and coke and I joined them.
A few minutes later some Australians turned up. 3 guys and a girl in their late 20s who really didn't look it. As in they were 28/29 and looked about 21. They were invited to join the party too. When I say party I mean a group of people sitting by the river with music and alcohol. Not a dancing party. At around 12 the Australians and I decided it was time to go home. They had to leave for Amsterdam and I had to leave for Brussels in the morning.

I got back to the hostel to a room full of sleeping people. I quietly got into bed and tried to sleep. On the bed opposite me was a woman who was snoring so loudly she was making the whole hostel vibrate. It took so long to get to sleep. Eventually she rolled over and shut up.

This morning was nice and relaxed for a change. My train isn't until 11:30 so I got up at 8 and didn't have to rush breakfast and packing. I even had time to hairdry my underwear which was still wet. I received some very strange looks.

This train journey is the last time I will use my interail pass. It expires tomorrow. I can't believe I am almost at the end of this trip.

When I got to Brussels I immediately got lost trying to find the hostel. I went back to the station and asked at the tourist info who sent me in the right direction. When I got there at 1:15 there was a sign on the door saying 'closed for lunch. Open again at 2pm' which was highly annoying. Thankfully there was a little patch of grass outside the hostel I could sit on. I had my backpack with me so I didn't really want to walk far and I was desperate for the loo which really didn't help matters.

I eventually got in and dumped my bags and went for a walk round a tiny portion of Brussels so I don't kill myself trying to see everything tomorrow. One of the places I went to was the Palace of Justice which is a massive building but quite nice. I wandered through the royal gardens and then found somewhere to eat.

It was so so so so hot today on Brussels. Just breathing was too much effort. Tomorrow I am going to be doing a lot of walking. Brussels is quite big.

Brugge

Brugge is fast becoming my favourite place. The canals, the cobbled streets, the chocolate shops,  the pizza hut and the fact the shops all sell pepsi max.

I've run out of underwear, the cashpoint won't accept my card and the hostel doesn't have a laundry room. What a mare. Its not really. I am going to hand wash stuff. I brought washing stuff with me for this very situation.
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Now I've washed them they are just hanging on the wardrobe opposite the doorway. What a treat that will be for who ever comes into the room.

Today I did a little tour of Brugge's main sights. There aren't many. It was lovely though. I had pepsi max today and then after I had a coke and it reminded me how much nicer pepsi max is than coke. I don't know how I could ever give it up. 

I wanted to take a boat tour but a) they were like €8 and b) there were massive queues. I think there are more tourists than local people here. But it is a very lovely place so you can understand it. You wouldn't want to stay here long though. Unless you like beer. There are enough different variety of beers here to keep you going for a long time. And chocolate. I saw some barley being delivered to the 'De Halve Maan'  brewery today. It was coming off the back of a lorry and being poured into a hole in the ground. The lorry man said it takes 3 hours to empty the whole lorry but I wasn't going to stay to time him.

There was a market in Brugge today. Funnily enough it was in the main square, which is called Markt. I didn't buy anything. I just sat and watched others spend their money. I took photos of the cathedral and another fancy building and continued on to the former Hanseatic quarter. Not much to look at there. Then I went to Burg where there were some lovely building that I don't know what they are and then I went to Brugge's most photographed sight which wasn't as amazing as you'd think but it was nice.

I read in the guide book that the cathedral tower is right in the centre of Brugge and can be seen from anywhere so you can't get lost. I found three church towers,  none of which can be seen from everywhere so I think it was lying. I think this evening I am going to walk back to Minnewater, if its not blocked off, as it was last time I went and just have a little walk round. Tomorrow I am moving in to Brussels, the penultimate stop on what has so far been a fantastic trip.

BREAKING NEWS

I have found (and eaten) an orange calipo. Panic over.

After Paris, Brugge is a lovely contrast. Its small cobbled streets and canals that are wonderfully walkable are a world away from the massive avenues and boulevards of Paris. Its like being in an entirely different continent.

When I got to the hostel it was dead. There was no one except the receptionist there. The hostel does lunch at 12:30. I got there at about 12:50 and there was not a soul. Now there is massive french school group. I love school groups...

At Brugge station I got an AMT milkshake. It was amazing. Nicest milkshake ever.

For lunch I paid the ridiculous price of €2.76 at the world's smallest Aldi. I got two bread rolls,  a packet of ham and a 19 cent bag of crisps then I went and sat by one of the canals to eat.

Afte lunch I went for a wander through Brugge. I did a bit of windows shopping. Brugge has hundreds of chocolate shops with amazing window displays. There was nougat and fudge and marzipan and chocolate and marshmallows. It was very hard to resist.

I went and sat in the main square for a while and just people watched. There is some beautiful architecture here.

For dinner I went to restaurant Gruuthusehof and got the tourist menu. It was fantastic. 3 courses for €16.80. Best meal I have had in weeks. For starters was a yummy courgette soup (yes - courgette!), followed by steak, chips and salad, with profiteroles for dessert. I ate every last bit except for the tomato in the salad. You can add courgette soup and profiteroles to the list of veal, melon and mustard that I have tried and for the most part enjoyed whilst on this trip. I didn't really rate the melon. It tasted nice but I wasn't a fan of the texture. Also the mustard is only nice in very small moderation.

I have taken 2033 photos on my camera so far. Most of them are attempts at selfies that I haven't got round to deleting yet.

I've decided to just stay in this evening and get an early night. Paris has worn me out.

Untitled

I've had a fantastic time in Paris. Being there for Bastille Day was a lovely experience. And having a room to myself last night was fab.

The hostel was one of those new buildings that is eco friendly. Its all about reducing CO2 and saving energy. It meant the hostel had some annoying features though. The showers and taps didn't have a temperature adjuster. The showers were scalding hot. I couldn't even stand under it properly. I resorted to filling my massive water bottle from the sink to rinse the shampoo out my hair. And I know I'm not the only one who thought it was too hot. When I got back from the tour Eiffel last night some girl was complaining about it. I'm also not a fan of brushing your teeth in hot water.

The other annoying feature was that you had to have your room key in a little slot of the power to work in the room. It meant when I wanted to charge my camera or ipod etc I had to sit in my room where there was nothing to do because the wifi only worked in the lobby. I guess it was just a way to stop the lights being left on. But it was annoying.

This morning I packed up to head for Brugge. I got the metro to Paris Est only to remember my train was leaving from Gare de Nord. Thankfully they are just down the road from each other and I realised before I left the metro station so I just hopped onto the Metro to the right station. I could have walked because my train was delayed ten minutes away but I should still make my connection with time to spare.

The last couple of times I've got the metro I've had a right palarva with metro tickets. Mum gave me a whole load she had left over and they worked fine the first few times. When I tried to go to the fireworks on Bastille Day the tickets I had weren't working. I assumed they just cost more at night so brought tickets. But yesterday at Bastille metro station I had the same problem. I asked the ticket man and he looked at it and then just let me through the gate. On the way to the Eiffel tower yesterday evening I had more ticket troubles. I just copied the rest of the people and squeezed past the barrier anyway.

When I got to the metro and my ticket wasn't working this morning, some man just told me to crawl under. He wasn't an official man, just another passenger. I had to take my backpack off to be able to fit. I wasn't going to pay for a metro ticket when I had two unused ones. I'm just thankful you don't need them to get out.

The 11:05 train to Brugge from Brussels was absolutely packed. It was a double decker and I really wanted to go upstairs but by the time I had worked out it was actually my train and not the 10:58 that was 9 minutes late, both of which were going from the same platform it was packed and there was no point me even trying to get a seat. I just sat on the stairs instead.

Not only have I decided I want to do para sailing (as I was informed thats what it's called, if I remember correctly) during this trip, I have decided I want to try speedboat driving.

Last evening in Paris

This evening I went to the Eiffel tower. Apparently they do a light show on every hour. Its clearly the thing to do in Paris. I found a spot and sat (lay) like all the proper Parisians, with a baguette (crepe), having a picnic with friends/family/partner (on my own). People had bottles of wine and blankets etc. It was cute. Not for me. Cause I was all alone.

No I'm joking,  it was a nice relaxing evening. I was listening to Beyoncé on my ipod, watching the flash of the cameras belonging to the rich people at the top of the tower flash, the lucky beans.

The light show turned out just to be the twinkling I saw yesterday which was a bit of a disappointment but it was still nice. Whilst I was just laying there,  I noticed a green light coming through the tower. I went to see what it was and found the other side of the tower was all lit up. It wasn't the light show, that was just the twinkling but it was still beautiful. I wandered up to Palais Chillout to get a better view/photo. I was having trouble with the selfies again when two guys noticed and offered to help. We got chatting and it turns out that one of them lives in Amsterdam. He gave me his number and said he would show me around when I get there at the end of the trip. After a while I said goodbye and got the metro back to the hostel. I have an early start tomorrow to catch the train to Brugge, via Brussels, and then afterwards I am going to Brussels. Madness.

There's only 8 full days left of my trip. Seems crazy. Its gone so fast

A Dorling walking tour

Paris is really different to the other cities I've visited. It's bigger, there are more sights and they aren't really within walking distance.

This morning started off well. I found my missing earphones cover thing in my bag. I thought I had lost it on the trolley bus in Zurich. I then had to move rooms as tjey had already filled my original bed before I booked the extra night. But it wasn't too strenuous and at the moment I'm the only one in there. Its also a six bed room rather than 4.

After breakfast I started doing a home made walking tour of the sights, starting at the Invalides.  I then walked via the military school to the Eiffel tower. At the Eiffel Tower I tried in vain to get a decent selfie from several different places. Selfies are much easier to take when someone else takes them. But I guess thats not a selfie. I had to resort to a non-selfie in the end.

I had lunch and then headed for a tower boasting excellent views over Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I got the metro as it was just a bit far to walk. It cost me €10.50 to go up the tour and although you could see alot of Paris, I didn't feel it was worth the amount I paid. I had chosen to go up this one instead of the Eiffel Tower as it meant I could see the Eiffel tower too. Its a good view but €10.50 is like 4 cokes from the hostel. I want to go up the Eiffel Tower at night but I'm not sure I should. I hate money.

After the tower I got the tube to the Hotel De Ville to continue my Dorling walking tour. I sat and occasionally dipped my feet in the fountain at the Hotel (probably wasn't meant to) before walking down to the Centre Pompidou where I saw some very strange fountains and watched some street dance. There were two asian people sitting on the side of the road offering massages whilst you sat on camping stools in front of them. The police came and swiftly moved them on.
I walked from Centre Pompidou down to Bastille and then got the metro back to tje hostel.

I asked the receptionist if she thought the Eiffel tower was worth it at night. She didn't think it was so in the interest of money, I'm giving it a miss. I'll have to come back with someone willing and able to pay for me (parents I'm talking about you).

I'm slightly glad I will be spending a couple of hours sitting on the train tomorrow. My feet and back are dying from all the walking. My feet are going to need some major TLC when I get home.

I currently have no idea what I am going to do this evening.

P.s if you love a good selfie, this is for you.

http://www.studentbeans.com/worldweirdweb/a/wins/30-greatest-selfies-ever-taken-4962.html

Fireworks at the Tour Eiffel

Bonjour mon petite jambon

That was amazing.

This evening there were fireworks at the Eiffel Tower (could have worked that out for yourself). I thought I'd get there around ten so I'd have an hour to get a good spot and relax. When I got there, it was packed. They had already closed the tube station I wanted to get off at because it was so busy. The metro was like sardines. It was even worse on the way back.

The fireworks lasted 40 minutes and they were fantastic. They were set to music and the Eiffel tower was twinkling (occasionally). There were two identical beams rotating round from the top ofnthe tower like a lighthouse.

By the end my back was hurting so bad I could hardly walk. Everyone was heading to the nearest metro station, walking down the middle of the road, not caring there were three mopeds and a car coming at them, so I decided to walk too but went to a further away one. I ended up walking what seemed like miles to the metro station by l'arc de triumph only to find that was packed as well. I almost cried with happiness when I got a seat on the metro.

I made it back to the hostel without getting mugged which is a big achievement in this part of town. Now I'm going to bed. I'm not getting up early tomorrow. Thats if I get up at all.

The Louvre

Once in the Louvre I went straight to the toilet. There was a queue almost as long as the one for the Louvre. The toilet attendant told the women waiting to use the mens and sent all the men to the other toilets, since the other womens toilets were shut. The looks on the mens faces as they walked up to the mens toilets to see a queue of women were priceless. They didn't really know what to think. The toilet attendant was redirecting them in between checking the toilets so often the men were standing staring for a moment before she came over to tell them. One guy thought it was such a novelty he filmed it.

Once in the Louvre I went to see the Mona Lisa (obviously) along with the millions of other tourists and French people. Once you had shoved your way through to the actual room where the Mona Lisa wsas, you had to elbow your way through crowds of people to be able to see it. People were all squished together and for the second time today and probably not the last, I found myself unable to move. At one point I had some an inexplicably sweaty elbow of a chinese woman taking a photo against my shoulder.

Once I had had a good look and taken photos I went in search of a cafe. The first one I found had a massive queue so I moved onto the next one. This one had a much smaller queue. The prices were ridiculous. A packet of crisps was €2.30. The drinks, even the water, were so expensive. I just had a baguette in an attempt to save money but it was still €5.20. It was a CLT but I picked out all the T. It was okay.

When I came out of the Louvre, there were 6 police men standing around the courtyard all of who had roller skates on.  I guess its a good way of chasing running criminals. I went and sat on the edge on the fountain and joined all the other people, with their feet dipped in. There were so many people in the Louvre that I was quite glad to get out.

After a while some Egyptian guy came and sat next to me. He said something to me I didn't understand and then asked me if I was English. I said I was and we starting chatting. He told me his name was Mustafah and asked if I seen the Centre Pompidu. I said I hadn't. He asked if I wanted to go and I said I was going to the Luxembourg Gardens.  He said he would come with me and then kept saying 'let's go'. I kept telling him in a minute in the hope he'd get bored and go away. Eventually he did.

About ten minutes later I headed off towards the gardens after deciding to walk instead of getting the metro. I stopped to take a selfie infront of the Louvre and suddenly he rushed over and asked me if I wanted him to take a photo. I should have taken the metro. I agreed and he took one and then we started walking to the gardens. He kept trying to hold my hand and I kept pretending I had to look at my phone to get out of it. I was desperately trying to think of ways to get rid of him. No sooner had we left the courtyard of the Louvre he said he was hungry and asked if I was. I wasn't. He asked if I would wait for him and I told him he could get food and I'd go to the gardens. He was like 'you're alone and I'm alone so let's go together'. I didn't know what else to say so just said "I like being alone". He shrugged and walked off. Thank god for that. I felt a bit mean coz he was only being nice but he kept trying to hold on to me and I just wanted him to go away.

I walked to the gardens and found a place to sit in the shade to rest before exploring the gardens. After leaving the gardens I walked past the Pantheon to a metro station to go back to the hostel to charge my phone and camera for tonight.

Bastille Day Parade

I love a good parade. Today as its Bastille Day there was a masssive military parade and fly past down the Champs Elysee. I got there before 9, the stated start time, and found a spot. It was almost half ten before the parade actually started due to Military Inspections taking place first. I'm pretty sure I saw the President too. The french one, not Barack Obama, although that would have been awesome. First in the parade was all the army, navy, fire brigade, police etc on foot. They were followed by police on motorbikes, armoured vehicles of all sizes with different amount of people sticking out the top and finally the fire engines which received the most amount of applause of every thing. You wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of the French army after seeing some of the firepower they've got.

After the parade finished I headed down Champs Elysee as far as I could towards the Louvre. About half way down,  the police were stopping people and sending them round. I followed the crowds of people and ended up on a road parallel to the Jardin des Tuileries at the end of which the Louvre is located. I walked to the first road I wanted to turn down only to find it blocked off by the Police. Same with the second road and the third and every road I came across. I had stopped twice to ask policemen how to get to the Louvre but all had directed me to roads that were blocked off. I was getting really fed up. It was so hot, I'd been standing up for hours and I needed the loo. After a while I reached a road blocked off by tape but which had no police maintaining the blockade. I copied the tens of other people trying to go in the same direction, ducked under the tape and within 5 mins was at the Louvre.

When I got there, the queue was insane. It went entirely round one side of the courtyard of the Loivre and through an archway and round the corner. A sign said it was a two hour wait. Great. I joined the queue anyway. If it was taking too long I'd just come back tomorrow. However the queue was moving pretty fast and it probably didn't even take an hour.

Paris again

After leaving the station I got the metro to Place de Concorde and then wandered up to the tourist office to find out about Bastille Day. For lunch I had a yummy bagel from a place that was basically a more upmarket subway. After this I had a very brief trip to some gardens I can't remember the name of at this exact moment in time. I was just walking along when all the street sellers suddenly went sprinting down the path. Closely behind them,  but not really chasing them were two police men on bikes.

One thing I've noticed about Paris is the large amount of PDA's compared to anywhere else. There were couples everywhere just sitting, completely oblivious to the world around them just making out. Properly going for it. I resisted the urge to tell them to get a room.

From the gardens I walked to the Notre Dame. One the way I passed what I thought was a golden bridge. When I got closer I realised it was actually jam packed full with padlocks, bearing couples names, that were glinting in the sun. It was waaaay more packed than the one in Salzburg. It was chock-a-block. There were more street sellers on the bridge selling padlocks for you to add your own contribution.

I got to the Notre Dame and joined the ten mile long queue that was to go in. It moved very fast and I was in in no time. Massive signs at the entrance asked for silence and prohibited the use of flash, but clearly some people were blind and stupid. So many flashes were going off and people were chatting away.

When I had finished in the cathedral I walked back to the nearest metro station and waited for a train. I sat on a seat next to this man and he said what might of been 'are you a hairdresser?' but I can't be sure as my french is awful. I was just like what but he kept on talking to me. I told him I was english and he carried on in french for about 5 minutes before asking me if I was English. I said yes and then he asked me if I was spanish. Thankfully at this point the train arrived and I made my escape.

I decided to check out the hostel restaurant for dinner but it doesn't open till half 6. And to make it worse the woman on the next table has cheesy chips. Oh how I miss uni........

Paris 1

Had a right mare at the train station. I waited almost 2 hours in line for the ticket office. Then when I got to the front, all the tickets for Maastricht on the day I wanted using an interrail pass were gone and the train was full. I was stuck. I have had to cancel Maastricht and instead am staying an extra night in Paris.

I got the metro to the nearest stop to my hostel and immediately got confused about which direction to go. I tried to ask some lady and she had no idea what I was talking about. She shouted at some guy who then came over to help me.

I then got lost again after and I clearly looked it as some guy asked me if I was ok.

The metro had been packed. People were standing everywhere. There was this guy that was probably homeless asleep across four seats and everyone kept sort of walking towards the seats, seeing him asleepband walking away again. No one wanted to invoke the wrath of the sleeping tramp.

After eventually finding the hostel I skyped mum and then sat down with a sausage from the bbq. I got chatting to an english guy, Nathan, who had been doing a cycling tour of Europe. He had ginger sideburns - not quite as fullly grown as Bradley Wiggins though.  We just sat chatting and playing cards until like 3am. It was nice.

This morning I saw him at breakfast and we sat and chatted. Then we walked to the station because he was getting the train home and I got the metro to Place de Concorde.

As I was reminded by a girl at the train its Bastille Day on Sunday.  So I went to the tourist office and enquired about any events. There are various events but the free ones I will be attending are the fireworks in the evening and a military parade. There is also free entry to the Louvre which I will be taking full advantage of. Right now I'm off to sight see.

An evening in Strasbourg

This is a short post. Coz my life is boring. Ha jokes not really or you wouldn't be reading... well at least I hope you don't find this boring!

This evening I went to watch a light show thing where they lit up the cathedrals exterior. It was lovely. For the finale they lit up each part bit by bit to dramatic music. It was fantastic. The building is a fantastic building anyway as I've already said. I would love to put all the photos on here but there's like 50 so you'll have to wait for the extended highlights.

I've set an alarm for half 8 tomorrow. Feels like a lie in! I'm going to explore the rest of Strasbourg tomorrow and maybe take a boat tour called 'batorama'. We'll see how it goes. Ta-ra for now.

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is a strange place. Its such a mix of French and German. If you went up to someone there's as much chance of them being German as there is French. Even the road names are in both languages.

Today I got up and checked out of the hotel,  leaving my bag. I then walked down to the Ponts Couverts, which are actually decouverts now and through to Petite France which is an area of Strasbourg in which most of the houses date from the 16th and 17th centuries. I watched as a batorama boat and about twenty canoes and kayaks with kids in went through the lock in different directions. It was chaos.

Then I tried to find the batorama start point. Tried being the key word. Twice I got lost, despite the fact I knew exactly where it was. I got confused by the fact Strasbourg has like two arms of the river and walked in completely the wrong direction,  ended up in completely the wrong part of town and had no idea where I was. It took me about 15 minutes to find where I was on the map. The second time was more like taking the scenic route rather than the direct route, rather than getting completely lost.

For lunch, after my boat tour, I am going to try a Flambee which is apparently the thing round here, although it just looks like a pizza to me.

The boat tour was nice. It was really hot and the guy doing the english commentary had an irish accent which is always a plus. We saw the European Parliament building as well as some of the other things already mentioned.

I went to 'Flams' restaurant for my flambee. It was delicious. Really fast service too. I had lardons and onion on mine.

I was aiming for the 3:43 train to Paris and I got to the station around 20 past, only to discover all the interail places on all the Paris trains had already gone. I had to pay €18. I'm not really sure in this context if that's expensive or not. I had to pay €10 just for the reservation in Italy and I don't know how much I would have had to pay if there were spaces or if I didn't have a pass. But its still more than I would have liked. When I get to Paris I'm going to book my next trip so I don't have the same problem.

Je suis arrivé dans Paris. Or something along those lines.