2009 in Review: Part 4 - Travel
Jan. 25th, 2010 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jacquelinebGah! Finally getting back to the updates! Really want to get this done before the end of January (doing a 2009 retrospective in Feb 2010 would be a bit pathetic...)
The short story on my travelling: I managed to see a wee bit of England and other parts of Europe in the earlier part of the year, but was a bit more located at home for the later half. Hope to do more this year, with plans for Ireland on the cards as well as Madrid.
Long story...see below (cuts for length as well as several pictures).
(Note: I wrote the bit of Florence way back when I was just back from there, hence it is a bit longer than most.)
In England: London, Manchester, Stroud, High Wycombe, Statford-on-Avon, Suffolk and Essex
Being so close to London, it is virtually impossible to avoid going to it, especially if I was planning to go elsewhere, as I usually wound up training into London and back out again. I do really like the city, though. I love the tube being so handy. I like it's buildings, the easy walks by the Thames, the greenspaces, the access to culture that you kind of have in Sydney but no where near on the same scale. I definitely want to see more of it, go to more museums and art galleries and take advantage of the theatre on offer.
But I do like the fact I don't live there. Nice to visit, but having somewhere quieter to call home is good too.
Sam and I on the balcony of the National Gallery in October
Easter I spent up in Manchester with M and H, and it was great seeing them as it had been a while since I had. Did a wee bit of site-seeing (the city art gallery was rather good and had a Da Vinci exhibition at the time), but mostly I gained more of an impression of the city. It felt more nineteenth century than London (which is such meld of many centuries), and those red brick buildings sat along side very modern ones as well, though it rarely seemed at odds with each other.
Come April, and I was off to Reading for its annual beer festival. There I met with I. and K. and their friend M., and we spent the day in the sun tasting a range of different beer. I. works at here, and knows his beer very well, so I had some guidance when it came to selecting the ones to try. I then spent the night in Stroud, Gloucestershire, where I. and K. live. K. showed me the manor house that belonged to her ancestors once upon a time, which is now an organic farm and kind of community/arts centre, where they buy some of their food from. Also got to see I. at work in the brewery.
I. and K. at Circenster Amphitheatre on the way back from Reading - Ain't it green!
In May I went over to High Wycombe to see A. and K. The area is interesting; I particularly noted nearby Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl once lived, including a street where several aspects of the books he wrote came from, and Little Missenden, which featured houses named after Wind in the Willows characters; yes, my kid lit nerd was very satisfied!
Next day we were off to see Waddesdon Manor, my first viewing of a large and grand English manor house, where we spent a good couple of hours exploring it and the surrounding gardens and lands.
K. with Winne-the-Pooh at Waddesdon
Then a brief look at Stratfod-on-Avon. We spent a good deal of time at Anne Hathaway's House (Shakespeare's wife), but I will have to go back to see more the Shakespearian sites. The house was wonderful to see, and the garden was particularly striking. The tour guide was terrific - she didn't have a script, but we'd merely go into a room and she'd start speaking on whatever took her fancy, until someone asked a question about anything in particular in the room and she'd be able to ramble at length on it. Very impressive.
Me outside Anne Hathaway's House
Later in the year K. and I. came over to Cambridge to pick me up and go for a bit of a drive around the towns of Suffolk and Essex. The one we spent the most time in was Lavenham, famed for it's Tudor era houses that also have a rather distinct lean to them. What was also nice was simply driving about the countryside after wards. There are sometimes subtle difference between different parts of the English that I'm still trying to find words to describe, so seeing somewhere else was rather good too.
Leaning house of Lavenham
Paris and Surrounds
Moulin Rouge in Paris
My sister lived in Paris until the end of December for 18 months. This year, she'll be living in Madrid. Good for me; another place to visit!
At any rate, when I went over, I got feel terribly tourist-y, as Sam was giving 'free' tours of the centre of Paris. When I say 'free' I mean she was allowed to ask for tips at the end of it, which occasionally proved very fruitful and at other times less so. I liked the tour she did, even though she says some of the history presented in it is a bit suspect...but at least I wasn't one of the tourists some weeks before who apparently asked her if the French had a royal family...
I had been to Paris before, but it was good having someone who had actually lived there to get me about the place.
The highlight of the trip though was our brief sojourn to Monet's House and Garden. I went a bit nuts with the camera and took a lot of pics of the flowers in the garden, and managed quite nicely with my camera phone as I'd left my one back Sam's apartment.
Monet's Garden
Florence
C. looking out over the city
What can one say about Florence that hasn't already been said? Well, C has managed to find plenty in the archives of the British Institute for her PhD, but as a tourist...I rocked up without very much research on the place, figuring C would show me about and I'd learn a thing or two that way.
Turns out I knew a bit more than I thought, or rather, we'll go somewhere and I'll say, 'hey, that looks familiar' or 'ah yes, I recognise that.' Happened when walking through Plazzo Vecchio ('that's Maciavelli's portrait, isn't it?' I say, though I perhaps would have only recognised the painting and not the subject had the man not been mentioned a mere three minutes previous) and then more delightfully when we went into the Baptistry of Il Duomo. There is always a danger when you go to see a famous landmark or work of art that the reality will disappoint; seriously, I thought the Colluseum a bit on the small side when I first saw it (though I suppose that when I entered the Baptistry I didn't know what was inside). Well this greeted our eyes, and that was a rather startling surprise. We probably sat for about 15 minutes just in awe of the ceiling, picking out the bible stories and trying (and failing) to name the three patriarchs (the tourist brochure cleared that up quickly). That was probably the biggest highlight of the trip.
The hostel I stayed at feels like a cross between hostel and guest house; definitely has the 'budget' feel to it, but it's more like we're in someone's private home, as each of the 'dorm rooms' (I'm in one with three beds, and I think the max is four beds) has it's own ensuite, which is both large and clean. Only irritating thing was being kept up by mosquito bites on the first night.
The food poisoning/virus thing that I had on the last night wasn't fun either, but fortunately, after throwing up a couple of times, the plane trip back was manageable.
And then the rest of the year I was a wee bit skint, so I kept mostly to Cambridge. :)
I have more pictures of all these places, and if you're on Facebook you can see them all, but I'm trying to figure out how to get a nifty one-stop place for my pics so everyone can see them without too much hassle...something to think about for Feb.
Next and final 2009 in review: Writing
The short story on my travelling: I managed to see a wee bit of England and other parts of Europe in the earlier part of the year, but was a bit more located at home for the later half. Hope to do more this year, with plans for Ireland on the cards as well as Madrid.
Long story...see below (cuts for length as well as several pictures).
(Note: I wrote the bit of Florence way back when I was just back from there, hence it is a bit longer than most.)
In England: London, Manchester, Stroud, High Wycombe, Statford-on-Avon, Suffolk and Essex
Being so close to London, it is virtually impossible to avoid going to it, especially if I was planning to go elsewhere, as I usually wound up training into London and back out again. I do really like the city, though. I love the tube being so handy. I like it's buildings, the easy walks by the Thames, the greenspaces, the access to culture that you kind of have in Sydney but no where near on the same scale. I definitely want to see more of it, go to more museums and art galleries and take advantage of the theatre on offer.
But I do like the fact I don't live there. Nice to visit, but having somewhere quieter to call home is good too.
Sam and I on the balcony of the National Gallery in October
Easter I spent up in Manchester with M and H, and it was great seeing them as it had been a while since I had. Did a wee bit of site-seeing (the city art gallery was rather good and had a Da Vinci exhibition at the time), but mostly I gained more of an impression of the city. It felt more nineteenth century than London (which is such meld of many centuries), and those red brick buildings sat along side very modern ones as well, though it rarely seemed at odds with each other.
Come April, and I was off to Reading for its annual beer festival. There I met with I. and K. and their friend M., and we spent the day in the sun tasting a range of different beer. I. works at here, and knows his beer very well, so I had some guidance when it came to selecting the ones to try. I then spent the night in Stroud, Gloucestershire, where I. and K. live. K. showed me the manor house that belonged to her ancestors once upon a time, which is now an organic farm and kind of community/arts centre, where they buy some of their food from. Also got to see I. at work in the brewery.
I. and K. at Circenster Amphitheatre on the way back from Reading - Ain't it green!
In May I went over to High Wycombe to see A. and K. The area is interesting; I particularly noted nearby Great Missenden, where Roald Dahl once lived, including a street where several aspects of the books he wrote came from, and Little Missenden, which featured houses named after Wind in the Willows characters; yes, my kid lit nerd was very satisfied!
Next day we were off to see Waddesdon Manor, my first viewing of a large and grand English manor house, where we spent a good couple of hours exploring it and the surrounding gardens and lands.
K. with Winne-the-Pooh at Waddesdon
Then a brief look at Stratfod-on-Avon. We spent a good deal of time at Anne Hathaway's House (Shakespeare's wife), but I will have to go back to see more the Shakespearian sites. The house was wonderful to see, and the garden was particularly striking. The tour guide was terrific - she didn't have a script, but we'd merely go into a room and she'd start speaking on whatever took her fancy, until someone asked a question about anything in particular in the room and she'd be able to ramble at length on it. Very impressive.
Me outside Anne Hathaway's House
Later in the year K. and I. came over to Cambridge to pick me up and go for a bit of a drive around the towns of Suffolk and Essex. The one we spent the most time in was Lavenham, famed for it's Tudor era houses that also have a rather distinct lean to them. What was also nice was simply driving about the countryside after wards. There are sometimes subtle difference between different parts of the English that I'm still trying to find words to describe, so seeing somewhere else was rather good too.
Leaning house of Lavenham
Paris and Surrounds
Moulin Rouge in Paris
My sister lived in Paris until the end of December for 18 months. This year, she'll be living in Madrid. Good for me; another place to visit!
At any rate, when I went over, I got feel terribly tourist-y, as Sam was giving 'free' tours of the centre of Paris. When I say 'free' I mean she was allowed to ask for tips at the end of it, which occasionally proved very fruitful and at other times less so. I liked the tour she did, even though she says some of the history presented in it is a bit suspect...but at least I wasn't one of the tourists some weeks before who apparently asked her if the French had a royal family...
I had been to Paris before, but it was good having someone who had actually lived there to get me about the place.
The highlight of the trip though was our brief sojourn to Monet's House and Garden. I went a bit nuts with the camera and took a lot of pics of the flowers in the garden, and managed quite nicely with my camera phone as I'd left my one back Sam's apartment.
Monet's Garden
Florence
C. looking out over the city
What can one say about Florence that hasn't already been said? Well, C has managed to find plenty in the archives of the British Institute for her PhD, but as a tourist...I rocked up without very much research on the place, figuring C would show me about and I'd learn a thing or two that way.
Turns out I knew a bit more than I thought, or rather, we'll go somewhere and I'll say, 'hey, that looks familiar' or 'ah yes, I recognise that.' Happened when walking through Plazzo Vecchio ('that's Maciavelli's portrait, isn't it?' I say, though I perhaps would have only recognised the painting and not the subject had the man not been mentioned a mere three minutes previous) and then more delightfully when we went into the Baptistry of Il Duomo. There is always a danger when you go to see a famous landmark or work of art that the reality will disappoint; seriously, I thought the Colluseum a bit on the small side when I first saw it (though I suppose that when I entered the Baptistry I didn't know what was inside). Well this greeted our eyes, and that was a rather startling surprise. We probably sat for about 15 minutes just in awe of the ceiling, picking out the bible stories and trying (and failing) to name the three patriarchs (the tourist brochure cleared that up quickly). That was probably the biggest highlight of the trip.
The hostel I stayed at feels like a cross between hostel and guest house; definitely has the 'budget' feel to it, but it's more like we're in someone's private home, as each of the 'dorm rooms' (I'm in one with three beds, and I think the max is four beds) has it's own ensuite, which is both large and clean. Only irritating thing was being kept up by mosquito bites on the first night.
The food poisoning/virus thing that I had on the last night wasn't fun either, but fortunately, after throwing up a couple of times, the plane trip back was manageable.
And then the rest of the year I was a wee bit skint, so I kept mostly to Cambridge. :)
I have more pictures of all these places, and if you're on Facebook you can see them all, but I'm trying to figure out how to get a nifty one-stop place for my pics so everyone can see them without too much hassle...something to think about for Feb.
Next and final 2009 in review: Writing
