The HI hostel (Hostelling International, kind of a franchise I have been staying at) was fully booked tonight, so I decided to stay in the next one on the list (www.hostelworld.com) and booked into "Ottawa Backpackers Inn". And I am proud to announce that I am in my very first hostel hostel, its quite a shock actually, i should give it more time but i am moving out tomorrow morning.
You have to leave your shoes at the door...which is strange but i can go with that. Next up I do not have an assigned bed, "pick one that is free". I think (hope) they count the beds and the number of people coming and after some rudimentary maths decide whether or not they should let more people in :) It says Kilimanjaro on my bed, so I feel a little bit closer to home tonight :) The sheets they gave me are pretty random black fitted sheet(just cotton before the questions start coming) and a blue one to sleep under although I have seen some Transformers and Micky Mouse sheets around... pretty eclectic ohh and there is this guy in my room Shaneesh (or something like that) after complementing me on my room choice because of its airiness he told me that he came here (from Uganda/West Africa) for a wedding 8 months ago, found some work and is still here.
Since it is pouring outside and they have no maps to hand out, i think i will be getting an early night tonight. Gotta keep one eye open, gotta watch those "locals" :)
Oh and for the techies among us, a 15ms ping to www.google.com even from this "interesting" hostel.
First Hostel-cooked meal...
Well after trying a little fast food here and there, two minute noodles and subway sandwiches I have finally decided to give the hostel kitchen a go. Went to a grocery store and tried to find the necessary ingredients (saved $3 by signing up for a Safeway Club Card). I decided to give couscous a try since it seemed so easy to make, you do not even need a pot! So I had tomato, onion, mince (not the fruity kind), various spices cooked up with some couscous. Now I would not call it a run-away success but it was not bad for a first attempt :) filling and not burnt. And the reason that there is not a photo, is that presentation is definitely something I need to work on:)
The EEE has landed...
I just got my new EEE PC 901
this morning from reception. I am glad that the order went well in light of it being shipped to the reception of the hostel :)It is tiny, slightly smaller than I thought it would be which is good... but obviously also means that the keyboard is smaller than I thought it would be and I suspect that it will take some getting used to. Aside from the tiny keyboard the only other gripe I have, is that the left mouse button does not seem to work. Maybe this is a driver issue, if it still has not clicked by July I will call tech support. Just wanted to say that it is finally here, so I will be able to update this blog slightly more easily so look forward to some more news and at least one more travel tip :)
Week 1 - Munich
Just arrived in London and I have a moment to access the Internet, so I thought that I would write up what I can remember of the last week and by clicking on the links you can join me virtually. :)
On Monday the 11th I arrived very drowsily in Munich international airport after having spent the previous 12 hours on a plane to cramped to sleep a wink (the amount of flying I will be doing, I better work on that...). Just a quick note, I might get the days a little confused Munich was a blur, to much happening at once, I had a great time and have Sonja, my little sister, to thank for that ;)
It was great to see my sister again, after not having seen her for 4 months. My parents' plane arrived an hour later and we set out, little did I know what plans had been made.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (not entirely sure what happened when but I might straighten it out once things become clearer again :)):
Friday:
Rented car, drove to Schloss Neuschwanstein. An amazing place, in the most picturesque setting. Not only did Ludwig II have the first telephone in Bavaria, he also had a flushing toilet, air based central heating and an battery powered reading lamp!! Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos inside the castle because of copyright reasons. Needless to say everything inside is very ornate decorated in carved wood panels or wall-sized paintings depicting scenes from Wagner's operas (Ludwig II was a big fan :)). We missed out on Linderhof palace because of confused misleading "Navi" (read GPS). It lead us north almost back to Munich instead of through the Austria which would have been quick. Alas, I will have to go back :) While returning the car to the rental place in Munich I went through two orange lights which might result in me being ticketed. In South Africa orange means "go faster", I guess in Germany it means "stop".Oh well, still a pretty good average, one day two tickets. At night we went to go see Angels and Demons in an english cinema and although the movie was probably good, I did not enjoy it all that much. Significant parts also seem to have been changed to make it fit onto the big-screen.
Saturday:
The German Museum is an enormous and magnificent museum, if only we had been able to go there during school a lot more people would have enjoyed physics :) There are tons of experiments to every conceivable field of study beautifully laid out. I was amazed; huge models of ships planes and actual satellites. It is definitely worth a visit but would require more than a day to do it justice. I will visit the science museum here in London to see how the two compare :) The museum was followed by dinner at Hofbräuhaus, then relaxing evening at home watching mentalist.
Sunday:
Train ride to Garmisch-Partenkirchen to meet the mother of an old school friend. Lunch at a cafeteria at Lautersee near Mittenwald with a fantastic view of the Alps. Then train ride back to an excellent home cooked meal. (My sister will make someone very happy one day :)) Getting ready for the next mornings flight and watching Dollhouse.
That's all for now, I must be more diligent in jotting down all the things that I do when I actually do them. And I need to take more photos. Oh and #1 traveller tip, keep some plasters in your hand-luggage :)
On Monday the 11th I arrived very drowsily in Munich international airport after having spent the previous 12 hours on a plane to cramped to sleep a wink (the amount of flying I will be doing, I better work on that...). Just a quick note, I might get the days a little confused Munich was a blur, to much happening at once, I had a great time and have Sonja, my little sister, to thank for that ;)
It was great to see my sister again, after not having seen her for 4 months. My parents' plane arrived an hour later and we set out, little did I know what plans had been made.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (not entirely sure what happened when but I might straighten it out once things become clearer again :)):
- Feldherrnhalle
- Hofgarten
- Residenz
- Schatzkammer der Residenz - The treasury has some pretty amazing old stuff in it. I was a little surprised to find "Reliquien" (bits of holy dead people).
- Englisher Garten - This is a park that is apparently slightly larger than Central Park.
- Friedens Engel
- Königs Platz
- Theresienwiese - This is where the "October Fest" happens, pretty much big and open... probably a little more interesting once the beer starts flowing :)
- Ruhmeshalle und Bavaria - Went all the way to the top of the Bavaria statue, again this probably better when there are throngs of people living it up below.
- Nymphenburg Schloss (Amalienburg, Badenburg, Pagodenburg, Magdalenenklause, Marstall Museum + Porzellan) - This is a beautiful "summer residence" with a huge garden. There are 4 mini castles(houses really) scattered in the garden. A horse carriage/sled museum which reminds my sister of Narnia and I would have to agree :)
- Munchner Bus Tour
- Frauenkirche
- Marienplatz + Glockenspiel
- Viktualienmarkt - I could not believe how busy the market was on a week day. Went to a store near the market where they sold red bananas, I should have bought some! :)
- BMW Welt - This is an exchibition of all of BMWs latest cars and technologies with a few hands-on demonstrations. The building is pretty striking. I did not go to the museum because of a lack of time, I am sure would have been awesome as well.
- Olympia Park - Venue of the 1972 Olympics still quite busy, lots of people blade, walk, swim and run here. The hills in the park were made from World War 2 rubble.
- Olympia Turm - Ride up to a height of 200m for a great view of Munich, the lift takes you up at 7m/s.
Friday:Rented car, drove to Schloss Neuschwanstein. An amazing place, in the most picturesque setting. Not only did Ludwig II have the first telephone in Bavaria, he also had a flushing toilet, air based central heating and an battery powered reading lamp!! Unfortunately I was not allowed to take photos inside the castle because of copyright reasons. Needless to say everything inside is very ornate decorated in carved wood panels or wall-sized paintings depicting scenes from Wagner's operas (Ludwig II was a big fan :)). We missed out on Linderhof palace because of confused misleading "Navi" (read GPS). It lead us north almost back to Munich instead of through the Austria which would have been quick. Alas, I will have to go back :) While returning the car to the rental place in Munich I went through two orange lights which might result in me being ticketed. In South Africa orange means "go faster", I guess in Germany it means "stop".Oh well, still a pretty good average, one day two tickets. At night we went to go see Angels and Demons in an english cinema and although the movie was probably good, I did not enjoy it all that much. Significant parts also seem to have been changed to make it fit onto the big-screen.
Saturday:The German Museum is an enormous and magnificent museum, if only we had been able to go there during school a lot more people would have enjoyed physics :) There are tons of experiments to every conceivable field of study beautifully laid out. I was amazed; huge models of ships planes and actual satellites. It is definitely worth a visit but would require more than a day to do it justice. I will visit the science museum here in London to see how the two compare :) The museum was followed by dinner at Hofbräuhaus, then relaxing evening at home watching mentalist.
Sunday:Train ride to Garmisch-Partenkirchen to meet the mother of an old school friend. Lunch at a cafeteria at Lautersee near Mittenwald with a fantastic view of the Alps. Then train ride back to an excellent home cooked meal. (My sister will make someone very happy one day :)) Getting ready for the next mornings flight and watching Dollhouse.
That's all for now, I must be more diligent in jotting down all the things that I do when I actually do them. And I need to take more photos. Oh and #1 traveller tip, keep some plasters in your hand-luggage :)
Why I will get detained at the airport...
I have been preparing for my journey and one of the things that has annoyed me about flying is that you can never use your own headphones in the plane. I recently bought a pair of Sennheiser CX300
and they are fantastic, if you do not want to hear your environment (they do have an annoying thump when you touch the cords...but that might be the topic of another post...) and would really like to use them in the plane. So I soldered myself a airline-to-stereo mini jack and because the headphones are soooo sensitive, an in-line volume control. I fear that I will get detained at the airport. I hope not, but I will keep you informed. :)Update: I made it through the security check without a problem, I guess they are used to seeing the inside of electronics. Whats more, they let me through with my SwissCard
. :)
Trip Becoming a Reality
"I'm leaving on a jet plane, my bags are packed and I don't know when I will be back again." - OK, so none of that is true :) not sure 747s etc qualify as jet planes, my bags are not packed and I do know when I will be back again.
I finally booked my trip. It has been a long process and the trip has been significantly shortened and changed but I think the essence is still there. I am leaving on the 10th of May, and getting back on the 27th of September.
My "RTW" trip will cover these countries;
In Japan I will be doing an Imaginative Traveller tour starting on the 15th of August and in Egypt I will be doing a Contiki tour starting on the 19th of September. If you are keen on any of them, please join me. :)
Oh yes, and I finally found the perfect travel backpack. It is made by a German company called Deuter and has all sorts of little pockets and features. Specifically it is the Traveller 80 + 10 and what I like about it, is that the zip opens most the way around so you can get at things like you would in a suitcase, it has a detachable day-pack, fold-away shoulder straps... and the list goes on. I can not wait to get started. :)
If you have comments or suggestions please get in touch. That's all for now.:)
I finally booked my trip. It has been a long process and the trip has been significantly shortened and changed but I think the essence is still there. I am leaving on the 10th of May, and getting back on the 27th of September.
My "RTW" trip will cover these countries;
- Germany (11 - 18 May)
- UK (18 - 24 May)
- USA (24 May - 14 August
- Canada (see time in States)
- Japan (15 - 29 August)
- Australia (30 August - 17 September)
- Egypt (18 - 27 September)
In Japan I will be doing an Imaginative Traveller tour starting on the 15th of August and in Egypt I will be doing a Contiki tour starting on the 19th of September. If you are keen on any of them, please join me. :)
Oh yes, and I finally found the perfect travel backpack. It is made by a German company called Deuter and has all sorts of little pockets and features. Specifically it is the Traveller 80 + 10 and what I like about it, is that the zip opens most the way around so you can get at things like you would in a suitcase, it has a detachable day-pack, fold-away shoulder straps... and the list goes on. I can not wait to get started. :)If you have comments or suggestions please get in touch. That's all for now.:)
Lost in Translation
I am just busy trying to work out my daily expenses in order to get an estimate of how much foreign exchange I will require. And in doing so I somehow got to the homepage of the first hotel I will be staying in. Have a look at the pages below, I think either English is a much more succinct language or they grew tiered of translating :)
Currencies I will require on my trip:
(I have included ZAR price for the last 12 months as a link)
 |  |
Currencies I will require on my trip:
- Euro (EUR)
- Pound Sterling (GBP)
- US Dollar (USD)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Yen (JPY)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
- Egyptian Pound (EGP)
(I have included ZAR price for the last 12 months as a link)
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