That ridiculous musical absurdity, flo rida (pronounced flow-rider) was on TV recently being interviewed. In the interview, he announced his mobile number, and said that he would love to hear peoples views on his music.
Dan and were in the pub the other evening, and decided to text “flo” with our thoughts on his musical talents and brand.
I won’t say what we said exactly, but words like “unoriginal” and “tool” were used quite a lot.
Although its been hyped to high heaven (which always makes me suspicious, for a kick off) the Boat that Rocked, most definitely does not “Rock”. All the elements are there, they just never seem to come together and at two and a half hours, it drags on and on. Peter Bradshaw seems to think the same.
Far better, is a film I watched recently called Revolutionary Road. Much better use of two hours, if you get a chance watch it.
A series with similarities to the X-Files, Fringe is something I’ve been watching recently and I’m really getting into it (the void left by the final endings of the L Word and Battlestar Galactica has been a significant chasm to fill).
UK only TV viewers are in for a real treat with an up coming episode of House. In it, a cat can seemingly predict who is going to die. Obviously house solves it in the end, but its a very creative episode (I am getting a bit sick of house playing mind games and all that rubbish, I’m more interested in a proper story).
On the book front, Wilbur Smith’s new book Assegai has just arrived (it was half price from Amazon, I just had to wait 3 weeks, which seemed worth it. Only 20 pages into it, but its as good as the 30 odd others of his, that I’ve read.
On the web front, I’ve gotten on board with Twitter. You may have heard about it, its been in the press a lot recently. Basic idea, is that I can update, what I’m doing, what I’m thinking or anything really, wherever I am and it will appear at the top of this website in Yellow.
It shows the last 2 tweets, and can even have links to pictures I’ve taken on the Iphone, or links to maps, where I have “tracked” my location to GPS.
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After reading Angels and Demons, I committed to go and see Rome, something I had always wanted too do.
I ran the idea past a few friends in the pub, and Paul and Ash decided to join Sarah and I on our adventure. We had 3 amazing days there, and explored the city on foot. Here we stop for a moments rest. |
| Inside Saint Peters Basilica
The Vatican was amazing and took nearly 200 years to complete. |
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I am not religious really, but this scene with the light coming in through the slats, had a sort of religious awe to it. |
| A list of all the popes, starting with Saint Peter, and ending with Pope John Paul the 2nd. |  |
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The Swiss guards, who protect the Vatican.
Their uniforms were designed by Michelangelo. Although they look a bit silly, I have read that they are tough as nails, and like the American secret service, are trained to step in front of a bullet, for the pope. |
| Sarah and I, standing in front of one of the two fountains, outside Saint Peters Basilica. |  |
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The map room, inside the Vatican museum.
The roof is painted with all sorts of different pictures, and I personally thought it was superior to the Sistine chapel. |
| One of the many thousands of amazing artworks, in the Vatican museum. |  |
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The design of this staircase, has 2 concentric walkways, which never meet.
It was one of my favourite sites in Rome, and is featured in the Godfather 3, where someone is thrown of the staircase by the Mafia ! |
| The famous Pantheon.
Its nearly 2000 years old. |
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From inside the Pantheon, the light floods in through a hole in the ceiling.
The roof is quite amazing, as on the outside its triangular, and on the inside, its cone shaped. |
| In the evening, we go for an authentic Italian meal (it was delicious) and practice the popular Italian hobby of people watching. |  |
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The Trevi fountain.
Was lovely to look at, but when we got there in the afternoon, it was completely packed with people. |
| The Spanish steps.
The sun was out, the whole of the time that we were in Italy (obviously apart from at night :). |
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After a day exploring, we get a taxi back to our hotel.
The only thing that I did not like about Rome, was the traffic. Here our taxi is “cut up” on both sides simultaneously by 2 mopeds. I was terrified, but the taxi driver, seemed hardly to notice. |
| The Neptune fountain (one of three famous fountains) in the Piazza Navona. With all the hustle and bustle, it was exactly as I had imagined it to be. |  |
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The final point of our walk around Rome, we visit the Colosseum.
It was much bigger then I expected it too be. |
| Castle Sant’Angelo
Its featured extensively, in the book Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, the author of the Davinci Code. There is a passage way that connects it to the Vatican (Pope Clement VII, used this passageway to escape the Vatican, when it was attacked). |
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We go into the Castle, have a few beers and relax.
I would like to thank Ash, Paul and Sarah for an amazing trip. Next stop, Berlin. |
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Monument to Heroes of the Air.
Known locally as the aviator statue, it commemorates those who gave their lives in the pursuit of flying excellence. The people who had died, up until 1935 when it was constructed, are listed on the bottom of the statue. |
| The Arcul de Triumf, located on the Kiseleff road.
The original arch was constructed from wood, to commemorate Romania achieving independence in 1878. It was removed and another arch was put up in 1922, to commemorate the 1st world war. The arch in its present form was constructed in 1935 and inaugurated in 1936. It looks similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris but much smaller. |
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Herăstrău Park is a large park on the northern side of the City.The park has an area of about 1.1 km², of which 0.7 km² is the Herăstrău lake.
Initially, the area was full of marshes, but these were drained between 1930 and 1935, and the park was opened in 1936. The Village Museum (which we had previously seen) is connected to the park. Its one of the biggest parks I have ever visited, and once featured a statue of Stalin which was torn down in 1956. |
| It’s a bit of a cliché about Eastern Europeans sitting in the park playing chess, but I found these tables, which prove that it does happen. |  |
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Another of the long walkways in the park.
In the background is an office building in Charles De Gaul square. |
| Bushcraft never leaves my life for very long, and sure enough, I found this enormous bracket fungus on the side of a tree.
What surprised me was that it was still there. It was right next to the path and in the UK some fool would have knocked/smashed it off. |
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Wherever I go, I seem to find memorials to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of my favourite inspirational authors.
George Eliot called him “Germany’s greatest man of letters.”My favourite quote by him (paraphrased) is: “Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth. That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, Its what, in modern peak performance science, is sometimes called the Green Renault Megan Principle. |
| Across the lake in the park I could see the Casa Presei Libere building in freedom-of-the-press square.
I remember thinking what a daft name for a square. But then it occurred to me… In my whole life, I have always been able to write to the prime minister, tell him that he is doing an awful job, that he stinks, whatever, without fear of reprisal. Perhaps I am guilty of not valuing something, as I have never had to go without it. |
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I had seen most of the sights on the way there, so on my way back, I just soaked up the atmosphere.
I noticed this old car. I was surprised there weren’t more cars like this, but many of the cars I saw were of a fairly modern family design. |
| The most popular type of car appeared to be this one.
They were everywhere. I remember the headmaster at my School (Mr Clayton) got one when I was 8 years old (I am 39 now). |
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Off all the ones I saw on the way back, this one won the most knackered but drivable award. |
| In the evening, we decide to visit a more contemporary restaurant called the City Grill, and there is talk of fillet steak.
We arrive in the restaurant, and within seconds, all the lights go out (this picture was take using the flash, the people in it, are standing in total darkness). We hung around for a while, they didn’t have any candles, and advised us it might be hours before the lights came back on (it was just in the restaurant, it wasn’t a power cut) so we decided to leave. |
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We wandered around for a while.
I have always believed a bigger group is safer when travelling but we hit our first problem. Its a lot easier for 2 people to get a table on Saturday night, than it is for 10. Luckily, we found a nice Italian and then headed back to Edgar’s, a friendly Irish bar near our hotel, which we had visited the night before. |
| Our last day.
We have a minibus booked for 4pm to take us from our hotel to the airport. We decided the visit the Parliamentary Palace. Our guide had previously advised us to walk to the left hand gate. We got there and were told we had to walk to the right hand gate instead. |
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You can see from this picture just how far that walk was.
When we got there we were told to walk to the back of the building. Effectively the building, due to its immense size, cuts the city into two—an urban planner’s nightmare. Everyone knows it’s the 2nd largest building in the world, but I was told, by volume, its 10% larger than the pyramid of Ghiza. |
| We arrive at 11:10, and find that the organised tours leave on the hour.
We kill some time chatting (there was no coffee machine). We pass through security and the metal detectors (as well as a famous building, this is the home of a working government). As we set of on our tour, our guide says that we need to stay close, as there are more than 1000 rooms in the building, and its easy to get lost. |
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Originally named the House of the People, the building is presently called the Palace of Parliament.
Moderate Communists took power after the revolution, and kept control until 2000. This isn’t a political site, but I was amazed when I heard that the number of crimes committed in Romania dropped by 51% between 2000 and 2004. This hallway, is more than 150m long. There are 11 others just like it, on the other 12 floors. |
| All of the state rooms are themed (this one is masterfully carved from wood, by the finest craftsmen in Romania) and can be hired for weddings, fashion shows etc.
The building is constructed entirely of materials of Romanian origin. |
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The building contains 480 Chandeliers (requiring 3,500 metric tonnes of crystal) and 1409 ceiling lights.
To make all of this work requires 3 million light bulbs. |
| Building work started in 1984 with 20,000 workmen and artisans and 700 architects.
The lead architect was only 27 years old, and presently sits on the senate. Our guide demonstrates that the main them of the building is symmetry. Here, some hand crafted marble tiles have a pattern, which is a map of the actual building. |
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This picture isn’t fantastic, but it shows the symmetry of the building, as all of the doorways line up perfectly. |
| This picture of the staircase shows the quality of the marble and the craftsmanship used to work it.
The building uses one million cubic meters of marble from Transylvania. |
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The building was originally intended to serve as headquarters for all the major state institutions (it must take a lot of people to “run” a communist country).
During the 1989 regime change, its leaders referred to the building as the House of Ceauşescu, using it as an example of the excessive luxury in which Ceauşescu would have been living. A stark contrast to the squalor and poverty endured by many people living in the surrounding neighbourhoods. These curtains, for example weigh one metric tonne. |
| Parts of the building (some of the west wing, some of the east wing, parts of the second floor, basement 3 and everything below) are yet to be completed.
As we pulled back the curtain (which took some doing) we saw the 5% that remains unfinished. The building was only 80% complete at the time of the revolution, and the controversial decision was made to continue with it (many people thought it should be demolished). Whatever the original motivation for the building, it’s superb, and I think they were right. Our guide pointed out that every part of the building screams traditional communism, yet no communists have ever occupied it. |
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This is the biggest room, I have ever stood in, in my life.
Lets face it, Ceauşescu wanted to rub foreign leaders’ noses in it when they came to visit the building, and I could imagine George Bush and Tony Blair attending a reception in this room and it achieving that aim. |
| Me standing on the balcony.
It’s not that I am miserable, I was just blown away by the magnitude and splendour of the building. No political speeches have ever been given from here although Michael Jackson was standing here, when some fans bellow cheered him and he shouted hello Budapest, which is several hundred miles away in a different country (tool !). In the background is the Intercontinental Hotel which overlooks the square. I didn’t see inside, but it really is one of the most impressive hotel buildings I have ever seen outside Las Vegas. Its also the tallest building in Bucharest. |
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Macca-Vilacrosse are two pedestrian alleys roofed with glass and wrought iron and lined with shops, cafes and restaurants.
We had lunch here, it was rather atmospheric, with perhaps an excessive number of begging dogs, children and old women. |
| We found this self contained street where antique shops and art galleries were located.
Nobody bought anything, but it felt quite cultured to walk through there. |
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Finally, we head back to our Hotel, get our minibus and arrive at the worst Airport I have ever visited (I am sure it will pick up, as more people fly through it).
What a brilliant trip, spending special time with a few old friends, and meeting loads of new ones (too many, to mention here). Confidentiality binds me from discussing the details, but without the special assistance of one individual, I would have missed out on this trip. You know who you are, and sincere thanks. |
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I had read about the largest palace in the world being in Romania (I had imagined it would be in Saudi, or somewhere like that).
The crew I met in India and I decided to have a re-union there (unfortunately, the excellent Jane couldn’t make it) and they brought other travellers with them (when I say travellers, they weren’t Gypsies, or anything like that).A great guy on the trip called Sid (his name has been changed to protect his identity) described me as John Sunter, the man that PC forgot. I like that. This picture was taken from the bottom of Union Boulevard, you can see the fountains, Dâmboviţa River and Parliament Palace in the background. |
| I was initially surprised at the cost of things in Bucharest, as I expected they would be much cheaper.In reality, although the rest of Romania is extremely poor, Bucharest is a thriving business capital, with commensurate prices.Our hotel was right on Calea Victoriei (Victory Road) considered the most beautiful street in Romania and first built in 1692.The Romanian Athenaeum is a landmark of the capital and opened in 1888.A portion of the construction funds was raised by a public subscription in a 28 year long process, remembered today, by the slogan “Give one lue for the Atheneum”. |  |
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The Athénée Palace hotel has a history of espionage.It may well have been Europe’s most notorious den of spies in the years leading up to World War II, with British agents, as guests alongside members of the Gestapo).In 1948 the hotel was nationalized by the new Communist government, who famously bugged every room, tapped every phone (and every pay phone within half a mile), and staffed the entire hotel with informers.The doormen did surveillance; the housekeeping staff photographed all documents in the guests’ rooms, not to mention a number of the guests had been planted.The government-run Athénée Palace closed in 1994 and was bought at auction by Hilton International, who proceeded to do a $42 million renovation and expansion, reopening the hotel at nearly twice its former size in 1997. |
| The Novotel, had a clever mix of old and new.The front is a replica of the old Romanian National Theatre in roughly its original location.The “modern” national theatre, is about half a mile away. |  |
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The Central University Library is a beautifully ornate building located opposite the Royal Palace in the Revolution Square.The library was founded by King Carol I and the building was designed by the French architect Paul Gottereau, who also designed the National Savings Bank (CEC) building.The building was heavily damaged during the December 1989 movement but was later restored.The addition of cars for sale, in front of the building, has ruined the photograph. |
| Cretulescu Church (Biserica Cretulescu) on one corner of Piata Revolutiei (Revolution Square), next to the former Royal Palace.This is the beautiful red brick Cretulescu church, one of the oldest churches in Bucharest. |  |
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This is the balcony where Ceauşescu gave his last speech.He had actually arranged for a crowd to be there and cheer, and looked on helplessly, as the crowd turned on him.The balcony was a lot lower than I remember it on television at the time. |
| In front of the building, in the newly named revolution square, the rebirth memorial was constructed to commemorate the 1500 people who lost their lives during the revolution.The abstract monument sparked a great deal of controversy when it was unveiled, being dubbed with names such as “the toothpick and the olive”, as many believed that it didn’t symbolize the revolution well enough.The designer, Ghilduş, was an applied artist, previously having experience designing objects like chairs and lamps, rather than a sculptor.Owing to its relative unpopularity, the monument is guarded round-the-clock, but despite this, on the night of 12 May 2006, it was vandalized. |  |
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The Hotel advised us that they could organise a tour bus for us all (throughout the weekend, the Hotel staff were really helpful, ordering taxis, booking restaurants and stuff like that).It was decided that we would charter the bus, to get our bearings and for only a tenner each, we got a private tour around the city.Our guide spent 3 years in America, his English was excellent. |
| The Army Club (Cercul Militar National).This highly ornate building was designed in French neo-Classical style by Dumitru Maimarolu, Victor Stefanescu and Ernest Doneaud.Construction started in 1911 and ended in 1923 with most of the funds being donated by the Romanian Army officers.The green umbrellas at the front show the location of a fine terrace restaurant, open to the public. |  |
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We stop briefly to visit the Parliament Palace (the one thing I really wanted to see in Bucharest).On our last day, we actually had a tour of the Palace, but on this occasion just stopped outside to take photo’s.From the distance, between the camera and the tour bus on the right, you can see just how far back you have to be to fit the building onto the picture. |
| National Art Museum.This imposing building used to be the Royal Palace.Starting with 1948 the palace housed the National Art Museum and it displays an extensive collection of Romanian and European art dating from the 15th to the 20th century.The building was damaged during the events of December 1989 and was closed for several years for repairs. |  |
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The Village Museum (Muzeul Satului) was established in 1936 and it contains over 300 wooden houses, windmills, churches etc. from all over the country.This museum is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and many of the buildings are originals which were brought here in pieces and reassembled.The oldest houses date as far back as the 1700’s. |
| The buildings are setup like actual villages, and then grouped according to location.This is a Transylvanian Tall house. |  |
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I found this building, the most fascinating.I cant remember where it was from, but it was actually dug underground, similar to the buildings I have heard of in Coober Peddy, Australia. |
| We wandered outside the Village museum and had a look around.I had read that there were some very nostalgic fairgrounds in Bucharest.One of the ones I found looked exactly like a fairground I visited when I was 7. |  |
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We continued to wander around the park, looking for something to eat/drink.There were distinct Coffee/Beer factions within the group (you can guess which one I was in).Skol hasn’t been sold in the UK for what must be 15 years so I decided to try some.It was stronger than I remember it, but just as awful !.In the background is Claire. It turned out that Claire was a Midwife, it was the first time I had ever met one (well technically the 2nd, but it was the first time I was old enough to speak !). |
| Ion Luca Caragiale Bucharest National Theatre.Half a mile from the original site, and has been in use since 1973. |  |
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Cantacuzino Palace.Originally designed by the architect I.D.Berindei in French baroque style, construction was started in 1899.Above the main entrance there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochere; two stone lions guard the entrance.George Enescu – Romania’s national composer – lived here for a period of time.The building belonged to his wife Maria Cantacuzino.Nowadays the palace houses the George Enescu Museum which displays the musicians manuscripts, compositions and personal belongings like one of his first violins. |
| The headquarters of the Architectural association in Romania.Built on the ruins of the State Security Building.The Securitate was, in proportion to Romania’s population, the largest secret police force in the Eastern block. |  |
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Romanian Savings Bank or CEC Building.This beautiful building was designed in eclectic style by the French architect Paul Gottereau.Its construction began in 1894 on the site of a 16th century monastery Sf. Ioan cel Nou.This was the only bank that was allowed to operate during communist times. |
| The Coach dropped us outside the National Museum, and we debated going in.We decided instead to wander around the Lipscani district, or old town.Only 1/5th of it, remains, the rest was demolished to build Ceauşescu Peoples Palace, and the administrative and social buildings attached to it.We found a nice bar, and had a few drinks.Afterwards, a few of us went shopping, a few exploring, and another few stayed to watch the Rugby. |  |
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Lipscani was the main street of the City, for nearly 300 years, and was the inspiration, for people describing Bucharest as the Paris of the East.It’s now a narrow little curly street cut in three parts by Calea Victoriei and Bucharest’s main boulevard.It took it’s name in the old days, as many of the shops in the area used to sell different articles that had been brought from the German town Leipzig (In Romanian: Lipsca). |
| Significant work is being done to rejuvenate and repair the place, and it certainly has charm. |  |
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As we wander further a field, we come across this building.Against some fairly stiff competition, this was the ugliest building I saw in Romanian.I know that I have been quoted in the past saying you don’t live on the outside of a house, you live on the inside, but no matter how superb, the soft furnishings, I don’t think I could live in this building. |
| In the evening we wandered around University Square, where the main revolution took place.It’s described as vibrant and busy 24 hours a day, and it’s certainly that.It’s reached by an underpass, so you don’t have to cross the road to reach the square.The underpass is the main meeting place within the city, and I was surprised at how comfortable I felt while in there (I normally find such places claustrophobic and unnerving).In the background is the Intercontinental Hotel which overlooks the square.I didn’t see inside, but it really is one of the most impressive hotel buildings I have ever seen outside Las Vegas.It’s also the tallest building in Bucharest. |  |
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We visit a famous restaurant, just off the square called Burebista Vanatoresc.They specialised in traditional Romanian food.Some of my friends were eating bear (I mean the animal, they didn’t get undressed for the meal !) and stuff like that.I chose royal beef, which turned out to be a mistake.The good news was the mashed potatoes it came with were absolutely delicious.There was a wedding going on inside the restaurant, so the service was a bit “tame”.Overall though, it was a pretty cool evening, and a great chance to meet some of the new people who Angela and Paul had introduced me to. |
| Although not really a nightclub person (most of you know, I used to frequent nightclubs, only as a means to get late drinks, and that is no longer necessary in the UK).I am however, a bit of a reverse snob, and when I saw a “back street” nightclub around the corner that looked sleazy, I decided to pay a visit and a few of the crew came with me.We couldn’t have been more wrong. It was nicely painted, spotlessly clean, had table service, and served cocktails. |  |
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A live band was playing when we got in there but finished a few minutes later, which was a shame.They played the usual bing-bong 80’s stuff which is popular in eastern Europe.They also played “Winds of Change” by the Scorpions, a song synonymous in both east and west, with the ending of the cold war. |
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Ash, Paul and I head to the amazing city of Krakow in Poland.We stayed for 5 days, and had a brilliant mixture of lads nights out, seeing all the sights of a beautiful city, and visiting the Wieliczka Salt mine, and both of the Auschwitz sites. |
| We arrived at 8pm in the evening, and got a taxi to our hostel (we had decided on hostel accommodation, as it was cheap and a lads holiday, doesn’t normally require the fineries of a couple’s holiday).Never mind, we went out local, for a pint. Although a quiet out of town bar, we were given our first experience of the sheer hospitality of the people in this country.
We had fully expected it to be basic, but it was a bit more basic then we intended (had no bar, beds 2.5 feet wide, and the on-suite bathroom, wasn’t.) |
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After a fairly late night, Ash attempts to fight against nature, and get comfortable in this bed.But we weren’t there, to lie in bed, and after a quick wash, we packed our daysacks with guidebooks camera’s and all the usual hoo-ha before hitting the town centre. |
| I took the lead navigating, and on the way, we passed a traditional Krakow Tram. As we proceeded further, we hit the “Planty”.There used to be a wall, all the way around Krakow.The wall is no longer there, and is now made up of a sort of circular park, that rings the city.In reality, we had been going in the wrong direction, and heading out of town. |  |
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The Church of St Mary, in the Market Square (the largest town square in Europe).The Church is one of the few Asymmetrical Churches in existence.The left tower is the Bugle Call tower, the right is the South Bell tower. |
| Continuing our walk around the centre, we visit the famous Cloth Hall (Sukiennice) built in 1555.Around the outside of the Hall, are arcades with restaurants and shops.On Saturdays, the whole of this area would become an open air market.In the evening, tables would be put out, serving every kind of cuisine, to hundreds of people, both tourist and local alike.
Photographed from the East side, the sun really brought out the colour of the building. |
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Inside the Cloth Hall.A vibrant market, selling just about everything you could think of, as well as cloth.It wasn’t just tourist tat either, there were a lot of locals in here, shopping for clothes, food etc which for me proved it authenticity.
I bought most of my presents in here. |
| One of the many types of environmentally friendly transport, the old favourite a horse and cart.These ran up and down the square, seemingly all day and all night.
With all the traditional buildings around, this helped to give the square an authentic feel. |
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The Church of St Anne.A traditional Baroque Church.The story goes that John of Kety (Jan Kanty) was already a saint when he died, and was put to rest in a Church on this site.To honour him further, the original church was demolished, and this building was built around his grave.Construction began in 1689.
Because it was in a small street, it was impossible to photograph the building from the front. There is a clever architectural feature of the doorway, which gives it an enhanced 3 dimensional look, from the front. |
| There were loads of interesting buildings, all a short walk from each other, starting from the squareThe Collegium Nowodvorianum is a hidden gem within the city.
The outside walls, give no clue to the beautiful building inside.The first secular secondary school in Krakow, established in 1586 and one of the best preserved Baroque buildings in Poland. |
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As we headed towards the Kazimierz quarter, I took this picture, as the arches kind of lead the eye so well.
It’s also one of many pictures I took, where Ash was walking in front of me, and I took a superb picture of the back of his head. One other interesting thing, is the Graffiti featured on the right of the picture. It is one of the few occurrences of Graffiti I saw in an otherwise spotless city. Equally, there were no gangs of teenagers, loitering drunks or anything like that during the whole trip, overall and extremely safe City.I realized later, that although friendly, the City is quite conservative. |
| We were passed on the way by this “vehicle”.
The “driver” steers, and passengers pedal to propel it forward. Although it looked a bit silly, it further convinced me of the commitment to environmentally friendly transport within the city. |
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The Church of St Peter and St Paul.The architecture was superb.
I found Krakow everything I had hoped Prague would be. |
| Remuh Cemetery.I had originally intended to go inside, and see the wailing wall.
When I got there, it just felt wrong somehow, so I looked around outside.This wall has plaques which commemorate the deaths of peoples family members. One of the plaques had been put up by someone who had lost 83 members of his family. |
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A monument laid by the Nissen Foundation. It commemorates the death of Polish Jews by the Nazis.
There was a small park behind it, and a series of nice bars and restaurants around the area. I felt it was symbolic. If the victims of the holocaust had been alive, they would probably have been relaxing on a nice day like this, in one of the bars, or having a picnic in the park. The point is commemorating tragedy and loss, can be a celebration, and needn’t be sombre. |
| On the way back, we had a few drinks in a pub in the Square.
The conversation was very contemplative. Probably because of the Jewish cemeteries we had seen, and that we knew we would be visiting Auschwitz quite soon. |
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We continued drinking, until around 2.30am.
In process we had become separated from each other (the thing I advise friends, never to do, when travelling !). I tried to read the guidebook, and find my way back to the hostel, but my vision was blurred. I saw a hotel, and booked into it. When I awoke in the morning, I had no idea where I was, then slowly the realization hit me. I found myself in the plush Alexander Hotel. I checked out, and then walked for an hour to get back to the lads at the hostel. I found that it had taken Paul 2 hours to get home, the evening before. |
| The Royal castle at Wawel hill.
The slightly projecting section to the right of this picture, is the “Hens Claw” wing which houses a study and a collection of musical instruments. |
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As we headed inside the Castle, we stopped to look at the Cathedral, the spiritual home of the nation.
One of the most popular buildings in Krakow, among the locals, it has been the scene of Royal Weddings, Coronations and funerals. There was a cafe nearby and some nice gardens.We sat down, and had a drink, while looking at the Castle, shortly before we were attacked by wasps, and forced to leave our beverages. |
| As we walk through the main entrance to the Royal apartments, Paul is distinctive in his snot coloured t-shirt.
The castle had real charm. |
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I took several shots of this, but could never really capture the size and opulence of the setting.
The balconies around the courtyard, must be fantastic to stand on and take in the view. |
| We left the Castle by a different route, than the one we entered, and made our way along the water front of the River Vistula.
We passed this boat, where a band were playing and had a few drinks.It was a lovely day, and everyone was having a good time . I have never sung along to a Hammond organ before. |
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The Pauline Church on the Rock, has an interesting history.
In 1079 the king gave orders for his knights to kill a meddlesome bishop (similar in a sense to the English story of Thomas A’ becket). They found the bishop and, drawing swords tried to kill him. A mysterious power repelled their blades as each man tried to strike – it was an omen to be sure. Later the king arrived and killed him while praying. The king became cursed, and a little while later was exiled. The martyrdom of Stanislas Szczepanow gave rise to a powerful cult which led to the late Bishop becoming the only Patron saint of both Krakow and Poland. |
| During our 3rd day in Krakow, we decided that the hostel just wasn’t for us (it was only about £10 per night, but we just couldn’t get any sleep, and the bathroom wasn’t what we expected).
We decided to go a bit upmarket. After making enquiries, we decided to stay at the 5 Star Grand Hotel. The hotel had originally been a house built for one of the Royal princes, and had the styling to demonstrate this. |
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The dining room, where we could eat breakfast in the morning (we normally had it, in our room).
The whole place reminded me of the people in the film Titanic, and the luxury to which they were accustomed. A luxury, which after 20 years working in computers, I can also enjoy 🙂 On one evening, we stayed up in the bar, quite late, and found out later, that the girl serving us, had worked 50 minutes past her shift, when she could have gone home. This kind of customer service, was common in Krakow. |
| Our receptionist was not used to clientèle such as us (i.e. seemingly wealthy lunatics !), but remained professional and helpful (and at times mildly amused).
Okay, it was a bit expensive, but its one of the best hotels in the country, and well worth the investment in both our comfort, pleasure and ability to sleep without being disturbed. |
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We visited the Archaeological museum (is there a city in the world that doesn’t have one of these ?).
The park outside was one of the nicest I have ever seen. |
| Inside, they had some really excellent exhibits, including some authentic bows and arrows (I had just returned from a bow making course, so I found that quite interesting.)
Swiatowid. This statue represents a four faced idol holding a cornucopia.Evidence of ancient pagan cults like this, have been found around the Wawel area. You can see what I mean about Ash, can’t you. |
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The Market square in the evening was full of atmosphere.We went around several of the pubs in the square.
Restaurants, serving everything from Mexican to Curry were of superb quality food. |
| This shows the inside of one of the many excellent bars we visited. Authentic, friendly and spotlessly clean.
On one afternoon, Paul and I went drinking for 3 hours, while catching up (Paul works in Brussels now). The bill came to £10 !.The décor and atmosphere, seemed to rub of on the clientèle. Some lads on a stag do, came in to play pool. We were all expecting the usual sillyness, but this didn’t happen. They came over chatting, asked for recommendations for sights and venues. They were so nice, that we actually bought the groom a drink (if I am in somewhere quiet, I would normally leave, when a stag do arrives, which I think illustrates the contrast). |
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I am sat at Barcelona Airport at 12 lunchtime, and my flight doesn’t leave until after 10pm.I decide to get the bus into town, and do some sight seeing.
Is it possible to tour a whole city, in 5 hours ?. Armed with my DK eyewitness guide I set off to find out. |
| The bus (which takes only fifteen minutes to reach the city, and runs every 6 minutes 24 hours a day) arrives Plaça Catalunya, the central square in Barcelona.I wander further into the old town. |  |
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The most famous street in Spain. I walk down the Rambla.I really thought it was superb the way all the bars, cafe’s etc were centered around one place.
I could see why so many “cultured” Stag and Hen Do’s are now held there. |
| Placa Reial, Barcelona’s most lively square, just of the Rambla. |  |
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I continued down the Rambla, and saw lots of people selling souvenirs (but these weren’t tacky), offering to draw/paint pictures of me, a guy balancing footballs (he was up to 5 when I left) and various musicians. |
| At the bottom of the Rambla, the Columbus Column.
It is said to be positioned on the first spot that Christopher Columbus set foot back on land, after discovering America. It is inscribed with the word TIERRA, and shows him pointing. The basic idea, is it captures the moment he first set eyes on America. |
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A tower for cable cars, connecting the waterfront and Montjuic. |
| Montjuic hill overlooking Barcelona.
I really wanted to climb it, the views of the City are said to be spectacular, but time was scarce, and it just wasn’t possible to fit it into my itinerary. |
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Rambla de Mar in Port Vell, at the bottom of the Rambla. |
| Rebuilt for the 1992 Olympics, Port Olympic is 2 miles long. There were Palm tree’s running all the way along the see front, and people roller skating, cycling and walking dogs. |
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It has beautiful Sandy beaches. |
| Considering its called Port Olympic, the only sport going on while I was there, was a volleyball competition, with a DJ playing really loud “euro” pop. |  |
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I was quite surprised at how many people had come out to sunbath.
Its hard to imagine loads of people in London, popping out after work, wearing bikini’s and sitting around Canary wharf 🙂 |
| The Arts hotel and the Torre Mapfre, the 2 buildings on the water front, are both 44 stories high, and the highest in Spain.
The one on the left is the Arts hotel, and the one on the right is the head office, of various companies. |
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A civic building in Barceloneta.
It was such a wild shape, I couldn’t help photographing it. |
| Parc de la Ciutadella. |  |
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The boating lake.
It was just about the best park boating lake I had ever seen. I really wished I had the time to hire one of the boats. |
| The Zoo on the Park grounds, is famous as it was the first to use moats to contain the animals, rather than cages so that they could be seen more easily, and would feel more at home. |  |
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Inside Barcelona Railway station. |
| The Seven Doors.
Inside, the menu was in 14 languages. The staff were very suave, but you were aloud to go in, in fairly casual clothing. The decor and ambiance inside was like something out of James Bond. Winston Churchill ate here. |
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Inside an army of cooks, prepared superb food. The waiting on staff, were impeccably polite and helpful. |
| One of the small alleyways around Placa Reial.
Very long and thin, I wouldn’t like to wander around here at night. |
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The Four Cats restaurant.
Four Cats in Spanish means something of little importance. It was popular meeting place for Pablo Picasso, and the Stella Artious advert, where famous artists exchange panting’s for drinks, is said to have actually happened here. |
| On the flight, I had read the guidebook, which talked about Architecture and Anton Gaudi.
I wasn’t really impressed, as that’s not normally my thing. When I got there and actually saw some of the buildings, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This one is Casa Batllo. From the front it looks like the scales of a dragon. Its hard to explain, but the balconies and things are just stunning to look at. |
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Casa Mila.
The building can be considered more of a sculpture than a regular building. Barcelona has more Art Nouveau buildings than any other city in the world. |
| Sagrada Familia – The Guadi Cathedral.
Unfortunately, he died before it was completed (he was hit by a tram and later died of his injuries). It’s said that he was so obsessed with this work, that he took up residence on the construction site. During the revolution, the rioters destroyed his working papers and models, so that it could never be completed (they did this, in their minds to honour him). |
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A terrace in the Park Guell, designed by Gaudi. |
| The twisting rock pillars that support the terrace above. |  |
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The steps near the Dragon fountain.
In summary, it was possible to see a place in 5 hours, but there was no time to relax or take anything in. I had been there before, but if I arrived in a different place I wanted to see, and I only had 5 hours, I would rather not see it, and come back when time was available. |
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Shinjuku, the main shopping area in Tokyo.Tokyo is like several cities all connected together by the underground. I wasn’t really that interested in shopping, but it was amazing to see a kind of shopping Las Vegas. |
| Akihabara. A kind of Turkish market of electrical goods.You can buy new technology here, that hasn’t been seen anywhere else in the world. |  |
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Inside a Tokyo Cyber Cafe. I make my living in technology, and know a lot of people who are interested/skilled in technology.These people were in another league !. There were people in this room, instant messaging people sat a few feet from them.I went in and had a few beers, but it was hard to relax in a boiler room like this. |
| In the hotel grounds was a really beautiful Japanese Garden.I spent 2 hours here in meditation. It was one off the highlights of the trip. |  |
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During a tour of the city, we were taken to the largest buddest temple in Tokyo.The 2 main religions in Tokyo are Buddhism and Shintoism. |
| The gold building on the left is the headquarters of the Asahi beer company.
The main building is meant to be gold, with the top to floors being white (to look like a glass of lager). On the right is the golden flame, which some Architects have dubbed the golden turd. The golden flame, was originally meant to be 3 flames rising vertically. The residents off the building in the background complained it would ruin the view. |
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A fifty foot wide television. Commonplace in Tokyo, but still amazing to me. |
| Entrance to the Royal garden, the residence of the Japanese Royal Family. |  |
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A bridge passing over a lake in the Royal Garden. It was beautifully peaceful in here. |
| The goldfish in the garden were 18 inches long. |  |
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There were many clever pieces of Architecture in Tokyo, but this one caught my eye.I don’t know if you can tell, but this was actually built as one building and not extended as it appears.What a classic mix of culture, in one building. |
| Only 10 minutes walk from my hotel, was the house of the 47 Ronin.They feature heavily in the plot of the film Ronin with Robert Deniro. |  |
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It made me think, in these times of terrorism, that although we don’t like what they do, society will always need warriors. |
| We went on a boat trip along the river whilst on the day tour.Its a bit hard to see, but some homeless people live on the banks of the river, in improvised accommodation, they have made from plastic sheets and pieces of wood.It was hard to believe that such a modern and developed city would have people without homes. |  |
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During the day tour, we stop for a traditional Japanese meal. |
| Dr Olga takes a picture of me at the entrance to the largest Shinto Shrine in Tokyo.I was told that Shinto is basically, the worship of heroes family and nature.
I can really identify with this, as I always visit the Alan Turing statue when I am in Manchester, and it has a special meaning for me. |
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A wedding was taking place in the Shrine.Although the Japanese are very private people, they were happy to be photographed during the ceremony. |
| A small geisha was present at the wedding. |  |
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A wooden walkway in Shinjuku.I wandered around here for hours, as I love walking. |
| The view from the Tokyo tower.It is actually a small version of the Eiffel tower, and is cleverly lit, so that it can change colour. |  |
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The Television tower (photographed in a similar way to KW Cathedral).It’s possible to get a lift to the top, but the queue length was incompatible with a 2 day trip. |
| We walked through Tiergarten, Berlin’s largest park in order to visit the Sony Centre at Potsdamer Platz.Potsdamer Platz was literally bombed into nothing at the end of the war, and existed as a no-mans-land during the cold war.It is amazing to see how a place can be transformed with hard work.
Made me wonder what the Lebanon could look like one day ?. |
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Once inside the Sony Centre, we had a couple of Beers (Sarah has asked me to point out that she had Wine) and had a look around.I configured my organizer, so we could brows the Internet (the whole area is set up for free wireless Internet). |
| We had a look in the Sony shop, which had prototypes of all the latest home entertainment.Here Frank looks at the latest state of the art televisions, which we could only dream of affording. |  |
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Reichstag with the glass dome on top designed by UK architect Lord Norman Foster.Its from here, that Hitler planned world domination.It would have been easy to demolish it, and build a new building, for a new parliament.
Personally, I think its better to turn a symbol of tyranny into a symbol of freedom and tolerance, as the Berlin people have done. |
| The building across from the Reichstag is used for support staff office space and government accommodation.Its one of the most spectacular buildings I have ever seen, and must easily be a quarter of a mile long.Being super modern, it complements the traditional look of the Reichstag superbly. |  |
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In the early evening, we walked back to our hotel on Friedrich strasse (the excellent Anglatere hotel).On route, we stopped for an Italian meal, which was excellent. |
| Frank had insisted that we visit the Egyptian museum.I was impressed by the bust of Nefratiti. |  |
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We visited the technical museum, which had an entire wing set aside to rail travel.Here, is a simple wooden box on wheels, which is considered to be the oldest railway in the world. |
| The Ka De We was shopping centre.Its the largest shopping centre in Europe, and Sarah wanted to go there.Unfortunately, it was closed on a Sunday, so here, she is photographed in the doorway, with the famous bears. |  |
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Sarah also wanted to visit a really famous Chocolate shop, which was built in the mid 1800’s.They had chocolate replicas of the Titanic, and various landmarks from Berlin. |
| Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlins most famous Palace, just a short walk from the Centre of Berlin. |  |
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Topographie des Terrors, a fascinating outdoor museum about Nazi crimes and the Nuremberg trails.It is located on the original site of the Gestapo and SS headquarters.I know many blame the German people for the 2nd world war and the Holocaust.
Probably wont make me popular, but I blame their leaders. I think in similar circumstances, 70 years ago, the ordinary people of the UK would have done exactly the same. Unfortunately half the exhibits were only in German. |
| This is a small memorial to Holocaust victims, located next to a graveyard ransacked by the Nazi’s.If he was captured, tried and executed, Osama Bin Laden’s body would not be interfered with, once a person has gone, they should be left in peace.These were not terrorist’s. They were just ordinary people who’s loved ones buried them, so they might rest in peace. |  |
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Marx and Engels statue near Museum Island.You might notice that someone has vandalised the statue with graffiti.In Singapore, they would be flogged for doing this !. |
