Defying Gravity... There's no place like London...

I just spent the last weekend in London and it would seem that Paris has some competition for where I'm going to live in someday. Surprised? I know, me too. I'm sure that 3 days straight of absolutely beautiful weather played a large factor in me loving London, but I also enjoyed the culture, sights, and accents (of course!) My adventure started on Saturday morning, March 24th to be exact. The Eurostar left at 8:30am but because England is not in the Schengen area, you have to go through customs beforehand which means you have to be there around 45min in advance. This didn't take too long and I was soon sound asleep on the hour and a half train ride to St. Pancras Station in London. When I got off the train I was a bit nervous as to where I had to go to find my hostel but everything was well marked and really straightforward. It took me a little while to notice that I was even in an English-speaking country because of how multicultural it was. I think I heard every language but English for first half hour I was there. St. Pancras Station is located right next to King's Cross Station so I of course had to take a small detour to satisfy my inner Harry Potter nerd and go see Platform 9 & 3/4's. It was funny to see the hustle and bustle of people trying to get to their trains and then see a group of tourists surrounding a wall with a sign and half a trolley sticking out. Next I was off to King's Cross road where I was staying at Clink78, a 200-year-old court house that has been restored into a hostel. The hostel was really cool - There were rooms where prison cell's used to be and the internet room was set up like a court room with a judge's chair that had an illuminated "Guilty" sign behind it. I stayed in a room with some girls who were part of tour group camp that was learning how to give tours all over Europe for over 7 weeks. There were only 50 chosen out of 2000 and it seemed extremely intense. Seems like an amazing way to see the world but I think I value my sleep too much. After dropping off my bags I grabbed a map and took off to explore. I wanted to find a place where I could find Wicked tickets and I remembered the course on google maps told me to walk along Fleet Street so off I went to the street that fictionally housed the demon barber, "Sweeney Todd." Along the way I soaked up the sun and took pictures of all the sights. The atmosphere felt much different than France and I loved that I was in a country that spoke my language again. It was nice to not constantly have to think about what I needed to say. After about an hour of walking, I found a place where I could purchase a Wicked ticket. Now that I had done that (my #1 priority haha), I had about 7 hours to kill before the show, so I just kept walking. While gazing up at a beautiful church, I almost got hit by a red, double-decker bus even though the walking light was green. Not cool. I eventually found myself in St. James's Park which was a great place to be on such a beautiful weekend. The flowers were out, the sun was shining, the grass was green, and people were relaxing everywhere. I decided to get some food and find a place on the grass to just let it all sink in. After my relaxing lunch, I went to Buckingham Palace, wishing that I could find Prince Harry so he could whisk me off my feet. What did I find instead? A creepy middle aged man who asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in the Park. I politely said that I already went for a walk and I was waiting for my friends (only half true). Crisis averted! I then slowly walked along the streets of London and shopped on my way towards Harrods, the department store where John Rendall and Ace Bourke bought Christian the Lion in 1969. I soon found out that Harrods was not my scene. Although extremely cool and unique, I was overwhelmed by the crowds and quickly left. I looked at my map and saw that I was close to Hyde Park so that was my next destination. After walking for so long, my feet were exhausted so I took another lovely rest in another gorgeous London park. I then eventually made my way back down to Buckingham Palace where along the way I saw The Wellington Arch, Green Park, the Canada Memorial, and the Canada Gate. After that I shopped some more, had supper, and then it was time to see Wicked! What an amazing musical it was. It was so entertaining, I was smiling the whole time. Definitely worth the 50 pounds! When the musical was done I caught a cab back to my hostel and basically went straight to bed. I had been going since 6am and I was exhausted! The next morning I got up to meet my friend Carole (from France), and her friends Jens (from Sweden), and Clement (also from France) to hang out for the day. We had breakfast at a cafe while waiting for Clement and once we were done we took off for a market. The market was filled with delicious smelling food, unique jewelry, and awesome clothes. I could have bought everything. Another reason why I need a never-ending supply of money! Next we walked to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London - both breath-taking I must say. It was so cool to actually see them in person, they're really impressive. After that we walked along the water, across the Millennium Bridge (the one the Death Eaters destroy in Harry Potter :P), had some lunch, watched some buskers, and reached the spot where the London Eye is located. Directly across the Thames, was/is a beautiful view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, another amazing sight. Next we crossed the Thames again to get a better look at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. We then decided to make our way up to SoHo where we got to see Piccadilly Circus (London's Times Square) and have a snack. We then took the underground back to the three different places we were staying. Since it was another long day, and we had to travel the next, we decided to call it an early night. Sunday, March 26th, was my last day in London. I got up, checked out, and had some breakfast before taking the underground to Green Park so I could watch the "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found out that there would be no ceremony that day. I was disappointed but I figure it's another reason to go back to London! Due to the fact that there was no ceremony, I decided to go meet Carole and Jens at a Starbucks that wasn't too far away. Once we had a snack we met up with Clement again and two of his friends (from France) in Chelsea. We walked along a fancier part of town and then sat down for some pizza. I, however, had to take off early because I had to get my bags and then catch my train. Although I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and not in a room full of other people, I was sad to leave London. I definitely could have stayed for a couple more days, there was so much to see and do! I'll definitely be back in England again one day though!

Cheerio!  

Vimy Ridge on Saint Patrick's Day

Saturday, March 17th (also known as St. Patrick's Day) I, along with a fellow Canadian named Serena, and an American named Jon, took a day trip to go explore Vimy Ridge. Our day started at Gare Lille Flandres where we bought tickets that would take us from Lille, to Lens, to Vimy. When we got to Lens, we had about a half hour to kill before our next train so we decided to get some frites a.k.a french fries! Next it was on to Vimy! When our train got there, we got off onto a rickety wooden platform out in the middle of nowhere. We soon discovered that we were on the wrong side of the train tracks so we crossed over, but we were still unsure of where to go. It seriously looked like there was a zombie apocalypse in Vimy and it wasn't even a Sunday. Stores didn't look like they were open and we saw a total of one person and one cat for a good 10 minutes of walking. As we made our way along the deserted road we discovered a 8 a Huit (a French convenience store) and realized that there were in fact inhabitants in the town. We asked for directions at the 8 a Huit and took off for a 45 minute walk to get to Vimy Ridge. Along the way we admired the ivy covered trees. It looked like there was going to be a hobbit that would poke its head out from behind a tree at any moment. It was obvious when we finally got to the site because the majority of the land was full of bumps and craters because of the explosives that were set of during WWI and it was sectioned off with a little electric fence so that people wouldn't walk through it (possible explosives left in the ground). We explored the reconstructed trenches with cement sandbag lookalikes when a man, coincidentally who also lived in Lille, told us that we could go underground if we signed up for a tour inside, so... we did just that! We were just in time for the next tour so we jumped in the group and followed along into the depths of the 10 foot underground trenches. Everything had been re-done to make it safe for visitors - what used to be wooden beams and were now metal and parts of the roof and walls were filled in with cement. When the Canadians were digging the trenches in WWI, they were digging in chalk which made things a lot easier for them because chalk was easy to cut through, but it still kept its shape. We got to see a small room where they would sleep which had 8-10 beds in it at a time. Not exactly ideal living conditions. We also got to see what is believed to be an original carving by a soldier in the chalk of a Canadian maple leaf... pretty neat! Next we went outside where we learned about trenches, snipers, no man's land, and craters. Short tour, but overall really informative and let's face it, my attention span wouldn't have been able to handle much more haha. After that we took a look inside the Welcome Centre and picked up a map so we could go see the Canadian memorial. The memorial is situated in the middle of a bright green field, with paths leading up to it, overlooking a town (not sure which one exactly). It's really quite stunning. It cost $1.5 million to build and it has the name of every single Canadian soldier carved into the bottom, but it was put in place to remember each soldier who lost their life fighting for their country in WWI. We ended up talking to a lady from Canada and she had a niece who was going to school at the Mount. Talk about a small world! After that we took a cab to the Gare d'Arras (easier and more straight forward to catch a train from there instead of Vimy) and then took a train back home to Lille. That night was a pretty relaxed night, despite it being St. Patrick's Day. I took a nap and then went to Jon's room to play cards and hang out with Jon, Serena, and Kaylee (also from America). Overall, a successful, fun, and educational day!

Bisous!

Erin in Lille!

After our long day of traveling, we were quite tired so we bought some supper at Carrefour City and had a chill night in. In the morning, we got up and walked to the Lille Citadel where the free zoo is located. We took loads of pictures in the park. It is a really nice place to go a read a book, explore, or go for a walk/run. There's one part of it that has a really awesome cave that's surrounded by water. Definitely made for some good pictures! Next, we went to the zoo. I was so excited because, as most of you know by now, I loooove animals. It was a great place to spend the morning. The zoo has monkeys, birds, and rhinos, just to name a few. Erin and I spent the majority of our time watching a couple of gibbons chase each other around their habitat. They were hilarious! I will definitely be spending a lot of time there. Who can complain about a free zoo! It's going to be so beautiful there when the weather gets nicer too. After the zoo we walked to Vieux Lille (Old Lille) and got a sandwich at a boulangerie. We then spent the rest of the day shopping which was exhausting, but fun. I wanted Erin to experience a kebab while she was here so for supper, we went to the closest kebab place, which also happens to be my favourite. The guys who work there are so nice. When I first got here, I thought a kebab was like a shish kabob. Not the case. It's more like a sandwich and you can get shaved chicken or lamb (I think). You can get it on a bun or in a wrap with fries and a choice of sauce. SO delicious! To get a wrap, fries, and a pop, it only costs 4 euro 50. Since they're a decent size, Erin and I spilt one and got 2 pops so supper only cost us 6 euros. Not too shabby! We then went back to my residence and watched the movie The Vow and The Hot Chick. We got up on Saturday at 7am because Erin had to catch her plane home. We took the metro to the train station where I got her on her train and we said our goodbyes. It was a sad day indeed. The whole trip went by wayyyy too fast and we were both wishing that she could stay a few days more. Alas, that was not the case. Overall it was a wonderful trip, just too short. Now who wants to visit!? haha.

A la prochain!

Amsterdam... I-I follow, I follow you...

I've been a little slack about creating a post for the rest of Erin's visit... my bad. It is vacation time though so I've been lazy. My apologies. So on February 28th, we left Paris and took a 3 hour and 19 min train to Amsterdam. We had a bit of trouble finding the hotel but things all worked out. Once we dropped our stuff off in the room, we went out to explore. Amsterdam had a much different atmosphere than Paris. It definitely has a more party vibe to it... I wonder why... haha. Because the tourist shops were the only things open, we went in and out of similar looking shops while window shopping at others. We decided we would leave real shopping for the next day (not that we had much choice). The next morning we got up around 9am and went down to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Note to anyone who has the choice to buy 12 euro 50 tickets for a restaurant breakfast instead of eating out... don't! It was definitely a bad choice on our part. We were thinking it would save time, which it did, but it was also crap. Definitely a disappointment. Oh well, you live and you learn haha. After breakfast we went on a canal tour. It was only a half hour long but it was nice because it gave you a unique view of the canals and little tidbits of information in Dutch, French, and English. We had some time to kill after the canal tour so we decided to do some more shopping. Next it was time to make our way to the Anne Frank House. On the way there we found this cute shop that had original artwork by a guy named Mark Raven. There were paintings, sketches, and shirts with his prints on them. I ended up buying a blue shirt with one of his Amsterdam bike sketches on it. Much better than a typical tourist shirt! Once we got to the Anne Frank house we saw the long line that wrapped around the building. Erin was smart enough to buy our tickets online beforehand so we didn't have to wait! The house was turned into an unfurnished museum with pages of Anne's diary, quotes, decorations, videos, and artifacts in different rooms. There was even a part of the wallpaper that had the heights of Anne and Margot Frank recorded on it. It was interesting to be able to see such a famous part of history. I can't imagine what it was like to live in those circumstances. It definitely made me want to read her diary again. Once we were finished there, we left to go rent bicycles. One thing about Amsterdam - EVERYONE rides a bike. I couldn't believe the amount of bicycles, it was insane. We of course had to experience what it was like to bike in Amsterdam so we paid the 10 euros for a day (cheap!) and made our way towards the I Amsterdam sign. On the way, my bike chain fell off which frustrated me beyond belief because I ended up with grease all over my hands. Good thing I had gloves to put on! I did, however, have to pay 0,50 just to wash my hands though. Oh Europe! There were a lot of people at the I Amsterdam sign so we took our pictures, grabbed some food, and then left to bike around the canals some more. After we returned the bikes, we shopped some more, ate some dutch pancakes (Erin had strawberry and I had blueberry... yum!), walked around, shopped again, and then watched Forrest Gump on the TV in our hotel room. Let me tell you about the hotel room. #1 - it was much cheaper than the one in Paris and much nicer, and #2 - the beds were ridiculously comfortable! I definitely would have liked to stayed there for a couple more nights. In the morning, we suffered through another not-so-yummy breakfast and then bought our tickets back to Lille. We were wondering why our tickets were so much cheaper than we expected then we discovered we weren't taking the high-speed train and we had to switch twice. During one of the switches, I lost my French phone. Bummer. Gonna have to get a new one now. Good thing you're not stuck in contracts like you are in Canada. We ended up traveling for 5 hours or so but it was worth it to save the moola. It was probably a 60-70 euro difference! That, and Erin got to eat a Belgian waffle in Antwerp! I'd say that's a win.

Bedankt voor het lezen! Thanks for reading!