Monday, May 26, 2008
Lucerne
Back in Canada! It's so nice to unpack and sit on a real couch (and to see my parents, of course). The flight from London was great... good food, movies and more leg room than most "real" airlines I've flown. Here are the pictures from the daytrip that Kember and I took. She found trainpasses for a bargain price, and we went from Neuchatel to Lucerne for the day and to Bern for a dinner party.
Lucerne is a beautiful old city on a lake, famous for 600 year old bridges.
Our passes included boat tickets, so we took a round trip along the lake by the mountains.
Some of the houses were beautiful, especially this little castle. If you look closely at the right side, there's even a miniature cathedral!
The interior of the Jesuit cathedral in Lucerne.
The first stop in Lucerne was Starbucks, and we were quite impressed by the toilets (especially the red carpet leading to them).
Lucerne is a beautiful old city on a lake, famous for 600 year old bridges.
Our passes included boat tickets, so we took a round trip along the lake by the mountains.
Some of the houses were beautiful, especially this little castle. If you look closely at the right side, there's even a miniature cathedral!
The interior of the Jesuit cathedral in Lucerne.
The first stop in Lucerne was Starbucks, and we were quite impressed by the toilets (especially the red carpet leading to them).
Cheesy tourist pics, I know.
One more post with pictures from London to come, then I'll be starting kathleenincanada.blogspot.com Maybe not quite as exciting as kathleeninasia or kathleeninaustralia, but you never know!
One more post with pictures from London to come, then I'll be starting kathleenincanada.blogspot.com Maybe not quite as exciting as kathleeninasia or kathleeninaustralia, but you never know!Thursday, May 22, 2008
Neuchatel
It's the last real day of my travels. Tomorrow is just an early wakeup and a depressing long flight on a discount airline. I've never flown for more than two or three hours on a cheap airline, and I'm very concerned about the whole no-tv-no-legroom-no-food-no-water-claustrophobia thing. Ahh well, at least I have "home" to look forward to at the end of it. And, of course, it's home in the sense that I'll be back in Canada, but I'll have another adventure in making a brand new city, Halifax, my new home. Anyway, London today! Yesterday was great, although I didn't take many pictures because it was so incredibly dreary. Today I've planned two museums (Natural History & Victoria and Albert), an iconic shopping institution (Harrods) and a stroll through my favourite British shops. All are within walking distance so I can save myself a daypass on the tube. Let's backtrack again for some pictures of Switzerland. Kember is living with a French speaking Swiss couple in a place called Neuchatel (in the northwest of Switzerland). The city was charming and beautifully situated on a huge lake.
One day we met up with some of Kember's friends from language school to explore the city.
It was so nice just tagging on with Kember's life. The family she lives with are very kind, although I think they found it odd that I was a Canadian who didn't speak French! I found I recognized a lot of written French, and even understood quite a bit, but everytime I wanted to say something, I kept coming up with Spanish (gracias!) I asked Kember to take this picture of my first experience loading a dishwasher. They thought that was strange too, but I've just never lived in a house with a dishwasher!
The first night I arrived, Kember was running a 10 kilometre run in the mountains (crazy, yes). She had been running similar races for the last few weeks, and it's something people do for fun and community activity. The couple she stays with actually do the same route while "Nordic Walking." (hobby for Mom and Dad?) I was glad to go and explore the town and cheer her on, but it was so cold after coming straight from Barcelona. Kember loaned me a coat, but everyone was giving me very strange looks for wearing flipflops!
It was nice just to be in the mountains and get a glimpse of idyllic Swiss life!
Andorra
I am finally in London! It's great to be back, and I'm more relaxed in a city I've visited before. The only downside would be the aggressively damp and cold weather; I was soaked all morning. Walking umbrella-less from the tube to my hostel with my pack, backpack and tote was pretty pathetic. People who have umbrellas are just getting them broken by the wind, though. I had four things I wanted to do in London, and thankfully three of them are perfectly suited to rain. I've already been to the British museum (the Portrait Gallery is this afternoon and the Victoria and Albert museum is tomorrow; all are free!) I bought a half-price ticket for the musical version of Gone With the Wind tonight, and shopping on Oxford street or at Harrods can be done in any weather. The only disappointment, is that I doubt I'll be able to see a Shakespeare performance at the Globe because it's open air. I have enough to keep me busy until I go home on Wednesday, though! Here are my pictures from Andorra. I was a tiny bit disappointed by my visit, there wasn't really a lot to see or do.
I did take a walk on a mountain path surrounding the city. It was a great vantage point for the city of Andorra la Vella and the surrounding mountains.
To prove I was there:
And that was Andorra! 
Dance
I've been waiting to put up these pictures and movies. This was one of those great travel moments that was so genuine. After I ruled out the bullfights, I was wondering how to spend my Sunday evening. My guidebook said there was traditional dancing in the square. The Sardana is a Catalan dance as a "symbol of Catalan unity and pride." 
Everyone seemed to be having such a wonderful time, and I think it is such a great community activity. I think the movie will give you a better impression (and you can hear the music from the band as well!)Gaudi Park
It's really late here and I'm ready for bed. I'm having a lovely time, and its always a good sign when I don't have time to post. But I still have pictures ! I went to see an opera. I was in the "no view" seats (a bargain at 8 euro). Thankfully I could hear everything and they had little personal video screens for each of us in the back row. I could even select the subtitles in English!
Pictures from the park and gatehouses that Gaudi designed.
Bench overlooking Barcelona
Me at the park (dress by H&M from Germany)
Columns in the courtyard he designed as a shopping area.
I also went to a museum where I could wander through an ancient Roman village excavation (with an audio tour, of course). And we saw the hall where Columbus was welcomed back by Ferdinand and Isabella after his first trip to America!
Random Pictures
These are just some favourite pictures from the cathedrals in Barcelona.
And some shots I took around the city.
This arena is where the bullfights are held. When I walked by there were dozens of demonstrators protesting. 90% of Spaniards are actually want bullfighting banned, but it's the tourists who keep it going. Most of whom really don't understand the kind of inhumane spectacle they are going to see (six men, five on horseback, spearing a bull to death).
Gaudi
Barcelona was a city of architecture and style. I didn't know very much about Gaudi before I arrived, but I am now officially a fan. His use of curved shapes and colours is beautiful. Here are a couple of his most famous residential designs.
Even the roof was fantastical. Those are chimneys!
And of course, his most famous work, the unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. They are continuing on with his vision, and it should be finished by 2026.
By the way, I'm having a wonderful time in Neuchatel with Kember. We're off to lunch so I can't write more at the moment.