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This shot features one of the Eiffel Tower’s massive legs. It’s a color photo, but the contrast of the tower silhouetted against the overcast sky makes it look almost black and white.
You can view more featured photos at my Photo of the Day Collection.
July 5, 2014: My first full day in Scotland got off to a hectic start. I was scheduled to embark on an all-day tour of the Highlands, culminating in a cruise on Loch Ness. The bus would be picking me up at 7 a.m. so I set my alarm for around 5 a.m. in order to have plenty of time to get ready. At one point in the morning I awoke but assumed it was still early since my alarm hadn’t gone off, so I started to go back to sleep. Something, however, told me to look at the clock and when I did, it read quarter-to-seven!! My alarm had never gone off and I now had just 15 minutes to scramble around like a chicken with its head cut off—forget breakfast or showering, it was all I could do just to get my ass out the door in time to meet the bus. I would have been devastated if I had missed out on the Highlands tour; it was my main reason for coming to Scotland.
I made it on to the bus in the nick of time and we were off . . . well, not quite. We had to pick up some more passengers, who were apparently running late, and we ended up waiting an extra 15 minutes, so perhaps the bus would have waited for me as well—but I’m glad I was there on time; I would not have wanted to make other people on the tour wait for me.
Our bus driver also turned out to be our guide, and I found him to be quite entertaining and knowledgeable. He talked over the intercom throughout our journey, treating us to interesting tidbits of Scottish history, as well as current events like the impending vote for independence from the U.K. He was a wealth of information, and I was impressed that he could be that engaging while also driving the bus (and it was a long drive to the Highlands and back). I was somewhat annoyed that other people weren’t paying attention to him, either talking loudly among themselves or playing with their mobile devices, but if that’s how they wanted to spend the long bus ride, not learning anything, to each their own, I guess.
Before reaching the Highlands we passed by several landmarks, a few of which I photographed from the bus, doing my best to minimize window glare (you can click on any image in this post for a larger view).
At our first rest stop I managed to gobble down a late breakfast, and then it was off to Braveheart country. The Highlands are absolutely breathtaking—beauty in every direction and sparsely populated so you can really envision what it must have been like to be a Highlander back in the day. I also enjoyed the best views of lakes (or lochs, as they are called in Scotland) framed by mountains I had seen since going through Switzerland, though I think I liked the Scottish Highlands even more. There’s just so much green, largely untouched by civilization, it’s like a dream. I’m sure there are harsh winters, but that didn’t stop me from fantasizing about living there. Here are some photos from the bus.
About halfway into the Highlands we made a brief stop for photos, and what a gorgeous location it was.
Later in the day we made another stop for lunch and I took the opportunity to hit the ATM (my use of the ATM here was reported as potential suspicious activity to my wife back at home). Before long we were back on the bus and bound for the home of Nessie: Loch Ness. Upon arrival, we toured the ruins of Urquhart Castle, which sits on the shore of the loch. This castle was once owned by the Grant clan (the large tower is known as Grant Tower) and, as my wife’s last name is Grant and she has Scottish ancestry, I choose to believe that her family owned the castle. 🙂
After touring the castle it was time to hop on a boat for our cruise to the other end of Loch Ness. One thing you notice about the water is that it looks almost black. This is due to a high concentration of peat in the water. The low visibility resulting from this murkiness is one reason the myth of Nessie has perpetuated even into the 21st century.
The cruise was nice and relaxing, with spectacular scenery. Here are some photos.
At the end of the boat ride it was time for the long drive back to Edinburgh. As the bus driver dropped us off, I noticed that nobody else appeared to be tipping him, but I felt that he’d more than earned it, so I gave him ten pounds and thanked him. I wish I remembered his name so I could recommend him as the driver/guide to ask for on this tour.
I arrived back at my room around 8 p.m., but my night was not over. Soon I would be heading out for a late dinner followed by a hike up Calton Hill to catch some views of Edinburgh at sunset, which in this case was around 10:30, but that excursion will be covered in the next installment. In the meantime, I leave you with one final panorama of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. If you are ever in Scotland, a trip to the Highlands is a must. It is one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever visited.
View more of my photos from Scotland.
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July 4, 2014: While the rest of my American brethren were busy celebrating Independence Day, I was hopping on a train in the country from which we won our independence, bound for Scotland.
Following a late night at the Monty Python concert, I awoke at 4 a.m. to get ready and check out of my London flat. It would have been nice to keep the apartment through the weekend and just bring a small suitcase for my three-day Scotland trip, but doing so would have been too expensive (the rental prices really skyrocket on weekends), so I packed everything up and lugged it all the way to King’s Cross station, where I met up with my tour group.
This was my first of two tours booked with International Friends (the second would be Amsterdam on the following weekend) and would prove to be the best part of my entire two-week stay in the U.K.; I just loved Scotland.
Our guide, George, introduced himself and gave us our train tickets, and before long we were on our way. There were reserved seats on the train for our group, which was nice, as I was able to have a pair of seats to myself. The ride took about 4.5 hours. After arriving in Edinburgh we hopped on a bus for a driving tour of the city. Here are a couple of photos from the bus ride.
Following the tour, we were dropped off at our guest houses. Most of the people on the tour chose the cheaper, shared rooms, but I upgraded to a nicer guest house with my own room. The only other person from the tour staying in my guest house was our guide George. The guest house was a cute, old building. The room was basic, no frills, but it was fine for two nights. The evenings were cool enough that the lack of AC didn’t bother me. The wi-fi was too weak to reach my room, but I didn’t really care about that—I hadn’t traveled to Scotland to surf the web.
After getting settled in I took a walk toward the center of the newer part of the city (we stayed on the New City side of the river); it was about a half-hour walk to the city center. Along the way I got my first taste of Scottish weather as it began pour. I ducked into a pub to eat a late lunch while waiting out the rain. The bacon and brie sandwich was pretty tasty and the glass of prosecco hit the spot.
I then ventured back out. Here are a couple of photos from my walk. Due to the weather, I didn’t take too many photos on this day, but I would take a ton over the next two days.
I meandered a while longer and then headed back to my room. Later in the evening I accompanied George to a bar in the center of the city, where we would be having an optional group get together. For a while it was just the two of us, but then a few more people from the group showed up. I treated myself to some fine ale as well as a small glass of whiskey. I’m normally not a big whiskey drinker but Scotland is famous for its whiskey, so I had to try some.
Then came the big decision: do I try haggis? I had been leaning against it but I decided that I couldn’t go to Scotland without at least trying it—besides, I figured that if I can eat scrapple at home, there was no reason not to give haggis a go. So I ordered chicken stuffed with haggis in a whiskey gravy. It was actually pretty good, though probably not something I would ever crave.
Shortly after finishing dinner I headed back to the room. I had been functioning on just a few hours of sleep and I had a very long day ahead of me in the morning—a 13-hour round-trip journey into the Scottish Highlands. But before heading to bed I gazed out my window upon the latest sunset I had ever witnessed.
In New Jersey we’re used to it getting dark, even in the summer, by 9 p.m., but here in Edinburgh, the sky still had not gone completely dark by 11:30 p.m. Pretty wild.
View more of my photos from Scotland.
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July 3, 2014: Today was the day around which I had planned my entire two-week trip: the Monty Python reunion concert. But first, I toured the Tower of London and walked across the Tower Bridge.
The day began with a bit of a subway misadventure—I got on the tube heading in the wrong direction. I had done pretty well to that point navigating the London Underground, but the Circle line was a bit confusing. However, righting my course was simple enough once I realized I was going the wrong way—I just had to hop off at the next stop, make my way to the other side of the tracks, and hop back on.
The Tower of London is an interesting window into London’s medieval past, and definitely a must-see when you visit the city. There is a lot to see among the various buildings, so plan on spending a good portion of your day there, especially if, like me, you read all of the plaques describing the exhibits and the history behind them. Here are some photos from my visit (click on any image to open a gallery):
One of the main attractions of the Tower for many people is the chance to see the Crown Jewels. To be honest, I really didn’t care that much about seeing them, but since the line was relatively short, I decided to head in. The wait to get in can reach astronomical portions at peak times, so you need to decide how badly you want to see them. As I said, my wait was fairly short, about 20 to 30 minutes, so in my case it was worth it. It can be a bit claustrophobic as you’re herded through the exhibit, and at one point you’re moving through on one of those conveyor belts like they have in airports. There is much more on display than just the Crown Jewels: all manner of crowns, scepters, and similar items, but no photography is allowed inside so I don’t have any photos.
After finishing up at the Tower of London it was time walk across the Tower Bridge. You can also pay to walk on the upper level of the bridge for a bird’s eye view of the city but I decided against it since I had already gotten a similar view during my visit to The Shard. If the view had been unobstructed, I probably would have gone up, but the upper level is enclosed in glass, so my photos would have been no better than the ones I had gotten at The Shard. Anyway, here are some pics from my walk across the bridge (and also a couple of the bridge taken from the Tower of London).
I then headed back to my apartment to do some packing (I would be checking out in the very early morning) and grab some dinner before heading to the Greenwich peninsula for the Monty Python concert. There wasn’t enough time to head back into the center of the city so I found a small Chinese restaurant near the apartment and ate there. The pineapple chicken fried rice was a bit bland, not one of the most memorable meals of my trip, but not the worst, either (that was still to come).
The subway ride to the O2 (the concert venue) was long, probably about an hour if you count walking to and from the stations and changing lines. The O2 is a massive stadium complex containing multiple venues, restaurants, and other facilities. Although I didn’t take any pictures that night (I chose to leave the bulky camera in my apartment), here is a shot I took of the stadium from down the river the following week:
My seats were much better than I was expecting. I had a great view of the stage and the show itself was splendid, everything you’d expect from Python, ending, of course, with an entire arena full of people singing and whistling to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Here’s a bad cell phone photo of the stage:
Afterward I went directly home to finish packing for my three-day trip to Scotland. It was around 11 p.m. by the time I got back to the apartment and I had a 4 a.m. wakeup call, so I would not be getting much sleep, but Scotland would prove to be more than worth it.
And with that, my first week in London had come to a close. One big regret is that I never made it out to Wimbledon, which had been in its second week when I arrived. I had just crammed too much activity into all of my days so I never had the time. Oh well. That aside, my first week in London was a blast and I looked forward to seeing more of the city when I returned after three days in Scotland.
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July 2, 2014: After spending a couple of days in London and a day in Paris, it was finally time to explore some of the English countryside via a tour of Bath and Stonehenge. This was my second of several tours booked through Premium Tours, and would turn out to be the best one by far. I can’t recommend this tour highly enough. Just make sure you choose the option in which you see Stonehenge in a private viewing at sunset—I think this option is only available during the summer, and only on certain days, but it is so worth it. Whereas the public must view Stonehenge from behind ropes at a distance, this tour gives you access inside the ropes to walk among the stones. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The day began with a trip on the subway to the Marble Arch, where I would be meeting with my guide and waiting for the bus to pick us up. While waiting I snapped a photo of the arch. You can click on any photo in this post to view a larger version.
The guide was a cheeky older fellow with a biting wit named David. In his welcoming speech to the group he told us that the company basically gets two types of reviews from people on his tours: those who loved him and those who hated him. I fell firmly on the former side, finding his humor quite entertaining, and a welcome change from the by-the-book guides you frequently encounter on these tours. I can see how some easily-offended people might not like him, but in my opinion he made an already great trip even more enjoyable.
Our first stop was the very charming city of Bath. On the way I snapped a couple of photos of the countryside from the bus.
The main attraction in Bath is the ruin of the Roman Baths, but the entire city is rich with character. It’s easy to understand why so many celebrities have homes here. We only had a few hours (most of which were spent in the Baths), but you could easily spend an entire day or more meandering through this majestic city.
While waiting in line to get into the Roman Baths, I befriended a couple who were on the tour with me after I overheard them talking about Monty Python—it turns out I wasn’t the only one to organize an entire trip to the U.K. around the Python reunion concert. We bonded over that (they were going to the show the day before mine) and also over Treme (the HBO show) and our mutual love of Trombone Shorty—they were from New Orleans and had seen Shorty perform before he was famous. I’m usually alone on these trips and too shy to strike up conversations, so this was a nice change of pace for me.
Before long it was time to enter the Baths. I’ve always been fascinated with ruins, especially those of the Roman Empire, so I was very much looking forward to this.
After exiting the Baths I had free time to walk around the city. It was a beautiful day to enjoy a beautiful city (finally, a day without rain). Here are some photos from my walk around town. You can click on any collage photo on this page to open up a gallery.
I only wish I had longer to spend in Bath, but it was time to move on. Our next stop was an old Saxon village called Lacock. On the way I snapped a couple more photos from the bus.
Lacock, with its quaint buildings, is like a walk back in time. We had lunch reservations at a 14th-century inn called The George.
I can’t recall exactly what I ate (some sort of meat pie) but it was delicious and fresh (we had placed our orders earlier that morning to give them time to make the food from scratch), washed down with some home-brewed ale, and followed by a tasty dessert. This was my first proper English meal of the trip—and the most inexpensive by far.
After lunch we had a walk around the town. It didn’t take long to see why this was a key shooting location for the Harry Potter films. Here are some photos from our walk around the town.
Before long it was time to kick this trip up to eleven (as Nigel Tufnel might say) and hop back on the bus for our ultimate destination: Stonehenge. They no longer allow cars to park at Stonehenge itself (which is a good thing), so you must park at the welcome center, from where a shuttle takes you up to the site. While waiting for the shuttle I walked around the museum, which had lots of useful information about the history of Stonehenge.
Finally, the park closed to the general public and it was time to catch the shuttle for our private viewing. On the way to the site I managed to snap one heavily-zoomed photo of two of the many barrows (burial mounds) found in the surrounding area.
Then we made our approach to Stonehenge. It’s impossible to put into words the feeling of standing on this ancient site, and photos fail to do it justice, but here are a few.
Having the entire place to ourselves was amazing, especially as the setting sun bathed the sky in pretty hues that made for some great photos. At one point our guide David had us be quiet and just soak in the atmosphere. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the idea of a place like this giving off vibes, but standing there in silence among those massive stones was definitely goosebump-inducing.
Soon it was time to hop back on the bus and return to London. By the time I reached my apartment it was 11:30 p.m and I had been on the road for over 13 hours, but it was more than worth it. As I mentioned at the top, this was the best of all the tours I booked through Premium Tours, as well as the best day I spent in England during my entire two-week stay. And on that note, I leave you with one final photo of the sun setting over Stonehenge.
View more photos from my visits to the English countryside.
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July 1, 2014: The phone in my London flat roused me at 4 a.m.—my wakeup call. What am I, nuts? Who gets up this early on vacation? Someone who wants to spend a day in Paris, that’s who. So I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for my walk to St. Pancras train station, where I would be meeting my tour group for a 6:00 check-in. With only 1.5 hours of sleep under my belt, it was going to be a LONG day, but I knew that it would be worth it. After all, how many times in your life do you get a chance to see Paris?
I met with my group and then went through a security check-in process that was very similar to what you experience in an airport. I hadn’t been expecting that—during my 2011 trip I rode trains all over Europe without going through any type of pre-boarding security. I guess security needs to be tighter when you’re taking a train that goes through a tunnel beneath the English Channel.
Soon I was on the train and we were headed to France. I tried to catch some sleep while we were in the tunnel, but was unsuccessful. Eventually we arrived in Paris and we met up with our guide, who was waiting for us at the end of the train platform. This was the first of several tours I had booked through Premium Tours. There were several tour options for the Paris day trip, both guided and unguided. I chose the most expensive one as it was the only option that included access to the Eiffel Tower. This package also included a two-course lunch with champagne at a restaurant on the Tower itself.
But first we hopped on a bus for a driving tour of the city. Here are some photos from the bus. I did my best to minimize window glare (you can click on any photo in this post to open up a gallery).
After our tour, the bus dropped us near the Eiffel Tower. Our guide warned us not to engage with anyone who might approach with a clipboard asking us to take a survey because it is a scam—while the survey taker distracts you, his or her partner picks your pocket. Sure enough, we had barely departed the bus when a girl approached with a clipboard. One of the men in the group forcefully told her “no” and she didn’t bother any of the rest of us.
The line to get into the Tower was huge. Thankfully, as a tour group, we didn’t have to wait as long as the general public, but it was still a good wait. We eventually made it to the front, through security (they check your backpack), and up the elevator to the restaurant. The restaurant is on a lower level of the Tower, giving you a good view of the city, though our table was not near a window. The food was good, though not overly memorable.
It was at this point that I realized our tickets did not include elevator access to the observation deck of the tower. If we wanted to reach the observation deck we would either have climb the stairs or go back down and purchase a lift ticket. I would have been fine with climbing, but we only had about 30 minutes between lunch and the time we were supposed to meet at the dock for our boat cruise, so there wasn’t enough time to climb up and get back down again, nor was there enough time go down and to wait in line for a lift ticket. Had I known this, I would have skipped lunch and just spent the time climbing to the observation deck. I initially thought that I might still have a shot to get up there, so I skipped dessert and headed out, but soon realized after climbing a few flights that I would never make it. As a result, I was only able to take a few photos from the stairs through a chain-link fence, which did not allow for any wide shots since I had to zoom in enough to get past the links.
With the time I had left, I headed back down to the ground and took a walk around the nearby area so that I could get some shots of the Tower from below.
Before long it was time to head down to the dock and meet back up with the group for our cruise along the majestic Seine. I hadn’t realized that the London rain had been following me to Paris—it had just taken a while to catch up. By the time we boarded the boat my old friend had arrived, but luckily the rain wasn’t heavy enough to prevent me from taking photos. With gorgeous architecture on both banks, a Seine cruise is highly recommended.
There was a group of school children on the boat with us and the girls screamed at the tops of their lungs every time the boat went under a bridge, creating an ear-piercing echo-chamber effect. Under different circumstances I might have been annoyed, but this was Paris and it actually added to the atmosphere. Many of the bridges we passed beneath had locks on them, so it turns out there’s more than one Love Lock Bridge, though it was easy to tell which bridge was the original because it was completely covered in a blanket of locks.
At the end of the boat trip we hopped back on our tour bus and headed to The Louvre. Upon arrival the guide released us for free time. We had the option of touring the museum but I decided to meander outside among the impressive grounds (especially since the sun had finally made an appearance) rather than spend all of my remaining time jockeying with crowds for a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. I wouldn’t mind seeing it someday when I have more time to spend in Paris.
After snapping some photos in the main plaza I made my way to the Louvre gardens.
I could see the Arc de Triomphe in the distance but did not have time to walk all the way there, so I settled for admiring it from afar. At this point I thought it prudent to eat some dinner since I knew I would not have the opportunity by the time we got back to London later that night. Time dwindled as I searched for a place to eat, and I didn’t want to run the risk of missing the bus, so I settled for a tea house in the Louvre itself. After a bit of trouble communicating with the waiter (I usually try to pick up some of the language of the country I am visiting, but since I was only spending one day in Paris and three days in Amsterdam/Bruges, I concentrated instead on learning some Dutch for this trip), I ordered afternoon tea, which came with finger sandwiches and desserts. That’s right, my first ever afternoon tea was in France, not England. 🙂
I gobbled down the food, drank my tea, and rejoined my group in the nick of time. Before long I was back on the train and bound for London. Once again I was unable to sleep on the way home, so by the time I returned to my apartment around 9 p.m., I was ready to collapse. I had another long day ahead of me in the morning: a trip to Bath and Stonehenge, but thankfully I didn’t have to wake up for that trip until around 7:30, so I had some extra time to catch up on sleep.
Overall, I would say the tour is worth it, though there is bound to be some disappointment given the time constraints of a day trip (like, for example, not being able to see the city at night). For me, the biggest disappointment was not having the opportunity to go to the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower. If I had a suggestion to make to Premium Tours, it would be to provide a version of the tour that skips lunch on the tower and instead provides you with tickets all the way to the top. Other than that, it was a nice tour with an excellent guide, and a perfect way to get a taste of Paris. Clearly, a day trip can only scratch the surface of this amazing city, and if I ever make it back, it will be for much longer, but considering that I was coming all the way from London, I was able to see much more in one day than I would have on my own. So if you have only one day to spend in Paris and are traveling from London, this tour is definitely a good option.
View more of my photos from Paris.
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June 30, 2014: My first full day in London began late in the morning after allowing myself to sleep in (I needed to recharge the batteries after being awake for most of 32 hours). Today was the day I had set aside to do the touristy double-decker bus thing, so I walked ten minutes down the street to a pickup point and hopped on. The company I chose was called The Original Tour. For this leg of the tour there was no live guide so I listened to a recording via headphones. Here are some pics (click on any photo in this post to open up a gallery).
What’s nice about these tours is that they stop at most of the major attractions and you can hop on and off wherever you please. I took advantage of this by jumping off at Picadilly Circus. I needed to transfer to a different bus line and this seemed like as good a place as any. Here are a few shots from my brief walk around Picadilly Circus.
I found the bus route I was looking for and hopped back on. Photos from this stretch include Trafalgar Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral, among others.
I jumped off again near the Tower of London because I had an appointment with a famous serial killer: a guided walking tour through Jack the Ripper’s old haunts in Whitechapel. The walking tour was included with the price of my tour bus ticket. But first, I snapped a few photos while I waited for the tour to begin.
I’ve always been fascinated with Ripper lore; I even featured it in my novel. The tour is pretty cool as long as you know what you’re getting: you’re walking through a modern city in the middle of the afternoon, so don’t go in expecting spooky atmosphere. It’s not the Whitechapel of the Ripper era, though there are some spots that give you an impression of what it must have been like. The main draw of the tour is listening to the stories of the guide, who did a good and enthusiastic job. Another plus of the tour is that it gives you an excuse to walk through a portion of London that you’d be less likely to visit on your own since it is a bit off the beaten path. Here are some photos from my walking tour.
After completing the Ripper Tour I headed toward a dock near the Tower of London and hopped on a boat for a cruise along the Thames. This was also included with the price of my tour bus ticket. By this time it had started raining but I found a spot on the outside deck under a little overhang where I could take some photos.
At the conclusion of the boat ride I headed for a bus stop to rejoin the bus tour. This wasn’t the most pleasant experience. In addition to the aforementioned rain, I couldn’t understand anything the guide was saying. It appeared that he was holding the microphone too close so everything came out sounding muffled—either that or the speakers were shot. Here are a few photos from that stretch.
I stuck with the tour bus for a little while but between the rain and the unintelligible guide I’d finally had enough and decided to jump off near Parliament. From here I walked around, taking photos of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey.
At this point, after two days in London, I figured it might be a good time to have my first proper meal. I walked around looking for a place where I might have an authentic English dinner but wasn’t having much luck. As it grew later and I grew hungrier, I settled for a Spanish restaurant. That’s right—my first English dinner was Spanish food. 🙂
I then made my way to the Underground and headed back to my apartment, hoping to catch a few winks ahead of my 4am wakeup call. On the morrow I would be heading for Paris!
View more of my photos from London.
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June 28–29, 2014: The day of my trip had finally arrived. I kissed Jen and Heidi goodbye and hopped on a train to Newark for my 10 p.m. flight. I was a little concerned that they had shut down the monorail service to the airport from the train station for repairs, but the temporary shuttle service they set up ran smoothly and I got to the airport in plenty of time.
As I went through security, I was apparently in some sort of express lane because I didn’t have to take my shoes off or empty my pockets or anything. In fact, the TSA agent yelled at me when I started to do so. I reached my gate with a couple of hours to spare, so I passed the time in a Heineken lounge. The time flew by, and before I knew it, we were wheels up.
I tried to sleep on the flight but I’ve never been very good at that; I think I managed a few winks here and there. I normally prefer an aisle seat when flying, but I found that an aisle seat makes it nearly impossible to sleep because you have people bumping into you all night as they walk up and down the aisle, so for this flight I chose a window seat. The downside was that I was sitting next to someone who refused to stand up when I needed to exit my seat, forcing me to climb over him and, at one point, causing me to spill water all over myself. Oh well, at least it dried by the time we landed.
After touching down in London I stopped at a machine to purchase an Oyster Card for the London Underground (aka, the tube) and put enough money on it to get me through two weeks of riding London’s public transportation system. The nice thing about the Oyster Card is that when you’re ready to go home, you can turn it in for a full refund of the amount you didn’t spend. After getting that squared away I hopped on the tube, which was conveniently located right beneath the airport, and headed for my destination. London is very big, so it took me about 45 minutes to get to my stop (luckily I didn’t have to switch lines, which would have been cumbersome while dragging two-week’s worth of luggage). Overall, I found a ride on the tube to be much more pleasant than riding on New York or Philly subways. Then again, I hadn’t yet experienced the pleasure of being sardined into an overheated car on the Picadilly line during rush hour. 🙂
Upon exiting the tube station it was about a 10-minute walk to my apartment building. I arrived early and wouldn’t be able to check in for another couple of hours, so I left my luggage in the lobby and decided to take a walk to King’s Cross and St. Pancras train stations. With two hours to kill, it was a good opportunity to get the lay of the land and figure out where I would need to report for all of those 6 a.m. excursion departures on my schedule.
The walk over was cold, windy, and rainy. The rain would be a recurring theme during my stay as England definitely lived up to its wet reputation, but the temperature thankfully warmed up for the rest of my London fortnight. I first encountered St. Pancras; its facade dominates the area and can be seen from a good distance down the street.
I then made my way to King’s Cross…
…which looks really cool inside:
I couldn’t leave King’s Cross without seeking out Platform 9 3/4. It wasn’t very hard to find; I just had to look for the long line of people waiting to get their photos taken.
By this point I was feeling pretty hungry; I hadn’t eaten since our little breakfast on the airplane. I didn’t want to eat a full meal—I figured I’d have dinner later—so I stopped at a food kiosk outside King’s Cross station, where I ordered some very tasty garlic fries (or chips, as they call them in England). That was all I had planned to order, but then I saw something I could not resist—a chocolate cronut. Although I live near New York, where cronuts were invented, I had never eaten one, so I wasn’t about to pass up the chance, and it looked delicious.
I then headed back to my apartment building to check in after first trying unsuccessfully to find a trash can anywhere near King’s Cross. I did see a person walking around picking up trash, which led me to wonder: Do they just drop their trash on the ground here? I decided to keep the trash with me and throw it out when I got back to my room.
After checking in, one of the front desk attendants led me up three flights of stairs to my flat. I had requested a room on the top floor after reading some reviews of thin walls, hoping that it would be quieter without anyone being over top of me. As I dragged my heavy luggage up an increasingly narrow stairwell, I was beginning to regret that decision, knowing that I would have to make this climb for two weeks. But in the end I was glad I chose it because it felt very private and I never heard much noise up there.
I unpacked a bit and then caught a short nap before my visit to The Shard since I had been awake for the better part of 24+ hours. I wound up skipping dinner, figuring that sleep was more important, but before long, it was time to catch the tube down to central London. I had an 8 p.m. reservation at The Shard, which is the final entry time of the day for the view from the top. During the summer, that’s the best time to go because you can stay up there until after dark, which means you can enjoy a bird’s eye view of London both during the day and at night, with a beautiful sunset in between.
The Shard is the tallest building in the European Union, so naturally, the views from the top are stunning, and I was lucky that the skies cleared up for me. The only downside, from a photographer’s perspective, is that you have to take all of your photos through glass. I did my best to minimize glares and smudges in the following photos (click on any image to open up a fullscreen gallery):
I headed home a little after 10 p.m. and got back around 11, calling it an early night since I was basically running on fumes by this point. It was time to catch up on some of that sleep I’d lost on the flight over so I could wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of London in the morning.
View more of my photos from London.
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My summer trip to Europe last year began on a whim. I hadn’t been planning on taking a big trip in 2014, but then Monty Python decided to reunite for a series of live shows at the O2 in London. I had never been to London and seeing the Pythons perform live for likely the final time seemed like the perfect excuse to head across the pond. I asked my uncle (and frequent travel buddy) if he was interested, but he had already planned a trip to Norway. I wasn’t sure if I felt like going by myself and the Python tickets sold out in minutes anyway, so I just forgot about the idea.
A few months later I saw an article about the shows and my interest was once again piqued. For the heck of it I decided to see how much tickets were going for online. I found a site called Seatwave, which is basically a European version of Stub Hub that acts as a middleman between sellers and buyers. After doing a bit of research to ensure it was legit, I started browsing. I was expecting to see monstrous prices, and while many sellers were asking a lot, I was surprised to find that there were also several reasonably priced tickets out there. I managed to find a very good seat for not much higher than face value (it helped that I only needed a single ticket) that was too tempting to pass up, so I pounced. A day or two later I received an email with a link to print out my show ticket and I was all set.
So, I had my ticket to Monty Python in London, but now came the hard part: planning a trip around it. This would be my second completely solo trip after Mexico in 2013. That trip had been easy to plan because I had done the whole thing as a tour. I thought that might be the best approach to take on this trip as well, but the London tours I looked at were very expensive and none of them included everything I wanted to see, so I undertook the more arduous task of booking an entire trip from scratch.
Planning a trip to a foreign country may have been an intimidating prospect in years past, but with so much information now available online, it has become a lot easier. All it takes is a bit of patience to sort through the myriad options and perhaps some organizational skills to ensure that all of your activites/times/dates are in sync. I could have used a travel agent to make things easier, but I actually found the planning exciting. I was able to arrange everything via web sites and email without ever having to speak to a single person on the phone.
I planned the vast majority of my trip with the help of a web site called London Toolkit, an invaluable resource with a wealth of useful information. Through this site I found my London apartment and all of my excursions. The site also helped me figure out which card to buy for riding the London underground and contained lots of great advice for navigating the city—by the time I arrived in London, I already felt like a resident.
My original plan was to stay for about a week, but when I saw how easy it would be to visit numerous destinations from London, I ended up booking trips to Scotland, Paris, Amsterdam, and Bruges, not to mention a bunch of excursions both inside and outside of London, so my trip grew to over two weeks. I went crazy picking things; I was like a kid in a candy store. Later, when my credit card statement came in, I was in sticker shock over how much I’d spent—it’s very easy to forget that the purchases you make in British Pounds are going to be converted to significantly higher U.S. dollar amounts, and on top of that the credit card companies fleece you with their foreign transaction fees. In fact, I was so annoyed with the foreign transaction fees that I barely used my credit cards once I got to Europe; I tried to pay for everything in cash (Discover doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee but good luck finding anyone in Europe that accepts it). Anyway, this is definitely not going to be one of those blogs telling you how to travel cheaply in the U.K. 🙂
London is one of the world’s priciest cities, so the hardest part of planning my trip was finding an affordable place to call home during the two weeks I would be there. Most of the hotels were way too expensive for a two-week stay, especially if you wanted to be close to the center of the city. In the end, I chose to stay farther away from the city center, within walking distance to King’s Cross station. This made sense for me as several of my excursions would be departing from King’s Cross or St. Pancras, and the London Underground is so easy to navigate that you’re never really far from the action.
I could have stayed quite inexpensively in a hostel, but at this point in my life I value my own personal space and privacy more than saving money. I also strongly considered one of London’s Bed & Breakfast options, which are a step up from hostels and a good option for the budget traveler, but I had trouble finding one that met all of my needs. I eventually settled on an apartment complex called Studios2let in Cartwright Gardens.
The apartments (or flats, as they call them in London) were basically just motel rooms with kitchenettes, but perfect for my needs and the price was right. Plus, they had AC, something that’s a little harder to find in cheaper places. I also liked the fact that the rooms were only serviced once a week, as this made it feel more like a home and less like a hotel. However, even these apartments were too expensive to stay in for the full two weeks, so each Friday I would check out, leave for my weekend excursion with all of my luggage (they didn’t offer luggage storage), and then check back in on Sunday evening.
Once my apartment reservation was all settled I booked my (very expensive) flights, and then came the hardest part of all: waiting five months to get this trip started! Stay tuned for Part 2, which will cover my flight and first day in London. Until then, here is a movie I made from all of the videos I took on the trip. Consider it a trailer, of sorts, for the installments to come…
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After spending a final evening in Salzburg we departed early the next morning for Bavaria, where we would be visiting Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II’s famous fairy tale castle. Along the way I took some photos of the pretty countryside.
We soon arrived at Hohenschwangau, where I took this photo of Hohenschwangau Castle, King Ludwig II’s childhood home.
From here we began a long walk up a steep hill to visit Neuschwanstein. An optional bus or carriage was also available to take you to the top, but most of us chose to walk.
Here are some more shots of the castle exterior:
Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland, whereas the Cinderella castle in Disney World was based on any of a number of different European castles, depending on who you ask. The castle was already an anachronism when it was built–the first skyscrapers were going up in New York around the same time. Ludwig II was also known as “The Mad King” or the “Fairy Tale King.” He was eventually declared insane and deposed, but now Bavaria makes millions from his palaces.
Ludwig II was fascinated with fairy tales and Wagner operas, both of which feature prominently in the castle’s design. The inside is quite spectacular, and even includes an artificial cave. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside but you can find pictures of many of the rooms online.
One word of advice: if you’re looking buy some souvenirs after completing the tour, avoid the first gift shop–things are cheaper in the second gift shop . . . and even cheaper in the shops at the bottom of the mountain, at least that was the case back in 2007.
Following the castle tour we hiked out to the Marienbrucke, a bridge spanning a large gorge, seen here:
About halfway to the Marienbrucke there is a great lookout spot with this beautiful view:
From the Marienbrucke you can enjoy one of the iconic views of the castle, seen below. The other famous view, from the front, requires a hike up to the top of a nearby mountain, which we did not have time for.
After our visit to Neuschwanstein it was time to head to Lucerne, Switzerland. Along the way we were treated to gorgeous views of the Swiss countryside.
Lucerne is reminiscent of some seaside resorts in the States, but with more historic architecture. Despite being a major tourist spot (complete with casinos) and one of the more expensive destinations in Europe, it is one of my favorite European cities. The views along the lake with the Alps in the background are simply breathtaking.
No trip to Lucerne is complete without a visit to Mount Pilatus, the large mountain that looms over Lake Lucerne.
To get to the top of Mount Pilatus you take cable cars, from which you can watch the terrain turn from grass to snow as you ascend.
After a while you exit your comfy small cable car and transfer to a large one, where you must stand, packed in with as many people as they can fit.
Once you reach the top, the views defy words, so I’ll let the photos do the talking, even though they could never do justice to the sensation of standing there in person.
To get down, we took the same cable car route, though apparently you also have the option of taking some sort of railroad ride down.
My uncle and I went to a restaurant on a boat for lunch, where we split an order of quite expensive fondue–54 francs for what was basically bread and melted cheese. I wasn’t kidding when I said that Lucerne is expensive.
I spent the rest of the day exploring the city on my own. In my travels I encountered another giant chess board like the one in Salzburg, though I didn’t play on this one.
I had planned to do some shopping later in the day, but everything in Lucerne closed at 4pm . . . on a Saturday! Instead I just meandered and soaked in the beauty of the city.
At one point I encountered a group of women having some type of bachelorette party scavenger hunt. The bride (dressed as a prisoner) had a list of things she had to do, one of which was to dance with strangers on camera. She tried to get me to dance with her, but I sort of just stood there and talked to her while she danced around me and her friends filmed it. The next guy (pictured with the girls below) was much more game and really got into the dancing.
Later in the day, after I rejoined my group, we bumped into the wedding girls again. They said hi to me and then shouted “he’s a great dancer!” Everyone in my group gave me a look, like “just what have you been doing today?” So I had to explain it, a bit embarrassed, but it’s precisely these types of unexpected moments that add richness to your travel experience and provide you with unique stories to tell. I mean, anybody can tell anecdotes about visiting castles, but how many people can say they danced with a bride-to-be dressed as a prisoner in a public square in Switzerland? 😉
As the day wound to a close, we visited the famous weeping lion monument and posed for our final group photo.
We had to wake up at 4:15 the next morning to hop on the bus to Zurich for our flight out, so we called it an early night. I got searched again at the Zurich airport (seemed to be a theme on this trip) and then we flew to Frankfurt for a five-hour layover before finally boarding a plane for the States. I had come down with a cold on my last day in Europe, which did not make for a pleasant flight—apparently my inner ear passageways swelled up and prevented my ears from popping—my left ear still hadn’t popped a week after I returned home.
Despite the dubious ending to the trip, it was a life-changing experience, and the travel bug bit me hard. Prior to this trip, the idea of traveling the world had never even been on my radar. I spent the first 36 years of my life barely venturing from the east coast of the United States, but in the 7.5 years since, I’ve embarked on three more Eurotrips, as well as trips to Peru, Mexico, and California . . . and it all began with this trip back in 2007.
So ends a story that has taken me nearly eight years to tell. 🙂
View more photos from this trip.
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Michael Rappa 