6 weeks in Europe

I spent 6 weeks in Europe from the middle of April through to the start of June. Whilst there, I did a combination of touristy things and housekeeping stuff (buying gear for South America, getting my hair dyed etc etc) and seeing friends. I like Europe, and the UK is my second home (ie, I feel at home there because it’s the country after Australia where I spend the most time), so I was hoping that arriving there would cure my homesickness. Unfortunately, I remained quite homesick and was actually in a bit of a frump for the first week that I was in Europe, especially after my first activities included navigating the tube with lots of luggage that I could barely carry up the stairs between platforms (classic London: nobody helped me) and then trying to buy some weather-appropriate clothes at Topshop on Oxford Street, which was quite culture shock inducing.

I’m going to try to keep this blog post quite brief (bearing in mind that I have to cover almost 7 weeks), partly because I think that people are probably less interested in reading about Europe than some of the more unusual places that I have travelled, and partly because I am both lazy and time poor.

London

I love London. It’s an extraordinary place with so much to see and do, and some of my favourite friends live there. I visited London 3 times during my visit to Europe and mostly just spent my time visiting friends, shopping, eating great food (whoever said that Britain has bad food has clearly never tried a Pret A Manger “super foods” salad) and taking a bit of a break from travelling. I did do two touristy things whilst in London, however: Harry Potter Studios, and a visit to an old surgical hospital/medical school from 200 years ago (I was taken there by my doctor father as a shared-interest/common-ground tourism type thing, and it exceeded my expectations). I also went to the theatre (Jersey Boys), did day trips to both Oxford and Cambridge, and took a weekend trip to Cardiff to visit some friends of mine that I met on a beach in Sierra Leone. I am immensely grateful to all of my friends who made the time to see me; you guys are great and it warms my heart to have such great people to hang out with on the opposite side of the world. Special thanks to Olly, Caroline, and Adis, my hosts while I was in London. I promise to return the favour if you ever visit wherever I end up living.

Caerphilly Castle in Wales

Paris

I spent 1.5 days in Paris, a city that I’ve visited multiple times. I spent the 0.5 day wandering around the Tuillerie gardens and eating delightful icecream then walking up the Champs Elysee to Lauderie to buy some macaroons. I spent the following full day being insanely busy; visiting the Musee d’Orsay, Musee d’Orangerie, trying to go shopping in some bohemian arcades that used to be great (in 2007) but have declined since then, climbing up Montmatre to watch the sunset from Sacre Cour, and going to the Eiffel Tour just after sunset to look at the light show. This day was exhausting.

Isn't Paris nice?

Oslo and Stockholm

At this stage I was very tired (I’d left Africa at very short notice less than a week earlier due to my parents’ concerns over the Ebola outbreak) and I needed some time to just relax and get my bearings. Luckily the next place I was visiting was Scandinavia, and I love Scandinavia. Landing in Oslo for a stopover on route to Stockholm just about completed my cultural shock journey. It was strange to think that one week earlier I had seen a been watching a freshly delivered plancenta being swept off a ward floor with a dustpan and brush, and now I was in a country where the USD 100 that I exchanged for my layover only covered one train ticket, 5 postcard stamps, one plush reindeer and a salad.

Oslo on a beautiful day

In both Oslo and Stockholm I mostly spent my time wandering and shopping. I stayed with my friend Zebine in Stockholm, which was lovely and facilitated a proper catch up. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Simon, Johan and Josephine whilst in Stockholm, which was very nice.

Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria

I had arranged to visit a friend in Geneva so decided to spend the rest of my “bonus Europe time” in Switzerland and Austria because I simply couldn’t afford to jump too much around the continent. Unfortunately these plans didn’t quite work out, but I had a nice time in these two countries anyway. In retrospect, had I known that the rendezvous wasn’t going to work out I would have visited other friends in other parts of Europe, or at least gone somewhere cheaper. These countries, especially Switzerland, are just prohibitively expensive.

Interlaken is definitely worth a return visit

My itinerary in these countries was: Geneva, Interlaken, Lucerne, Zurich, Liechtenstein, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna. In Geneva I met some lovely girls in my hostel – Katie, Laura, and Whitney – and spent my time split between hanging out with them and sleeping, as I was quite unwell with a sinus infection (my first since my surgery last October!). In Interlaken I spent the day going up the Jungfrau, a very scenic train ride up into the Alps. This was Easter Sunday, so the train was unusually busy, however the spectacular scenery meant that this was still a worthwhile trip. I highly recommend stopping in Wengen for anybody who is thinking of doing this. Now that I’ve seen what real ski fields look like (ie nothing like how they look in Australia) I’m planning on heading to Europe to go skiing some time when I can afford it. After Interlaken I caught the train to Lucerne where I met up with Whitney again (she is working there as an au pair) and she introduced me to her friend, Natasha, who kindly showed me around the town as Whitney had to go to Munich. Lucerne was lovely. After Lucerne I had a brief stop in Zurich for an afternoon. Unfortunately I wasted this time trying to visit the Lindt factory, something that hasn’t been possible for 15 years, which is around the time that my parents went there (they suggested the visit).

This is Wengen. Go there. 

From Zurich I went to Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is a cute little country, but definitely not a place worth devoting more than a few hours to seeing. I stayed there for one night and it was more than enough. The main town, Vaduz, is essentially one road with a pedestrian mall parallel to it for a few hundred meters. There is a national museum, which is quite good, and a castle up on the hill that you’re not actually allowed to visit (although the hike up the hill is pleasant and offers nice views).

Llamas in a paddock next to my youth hostel in Liechtenstein. Why not?

From Liechtenstein I caught a bus into Austria and then caught two trains with a 45 second connecting time on different platforms (which wasn’t fun with my excessive amount of luggage) and ended up in St Johann where I had arranged to go paragliding. This was a nice idea in theory; what better way to see the Alps than to fly up in them? The problem was that I hadn’t factored in the fact that I am mildly scared of heights and very scared of flying. I managed to keep it together for the duration of the flight, but I certainly don’t look too happy in the video that the pilot took with a GoPro. After the flight I headed back to Innsbruck where the “hostel” that I’d booked online turned out to be a hotel that wasn’t actually in Innsbruck! I eventually found and settled into my hotel then made a journey into the town to watch a show of Tyrollean culture, which was incredibly kitsch but actually very enjoyable. My lift into town was one of the performers, and I was greatly amused when he picked me up in full costume, ie,  lederhosen! Despite his attire, we managed to have a fairly serious conversation about how various societies treat people with disabilities and how medical care can greatly enhance the lives of people with certain disabilities (he told me that there is some amazing reconstruction surgery available in Austria).

Yodel-ey-hee!

Putting on a brave face

After Innsbruck I headed to Salzburg where I had a really good couple of days. My first day was spent on a tour to Bavaria where I visited the salt mines. I met some friendly Australians on the tour and we ended up sitting in a charming square in Bavaria eating Apple Strudel and drinking beer (something that I can no longer eat, boo gluten intolerance L). The following day was spent doing two tours – a sound of music tour and then a segway tour – and hanging out with Rebecca, a lovely young lady who I met on the sound of music tour. I didn’t actually think that the sound of music tour was very good; there’s something quite frustrating about driving past pivotal sites from the film and having them pointed out even though they are several hundred meters away and the bus is still moving. The segway tour was much better, and I got to see several of the sites from a much better vantage point. Plus, it turns out segways are really fun! I had a lovely lunch and dinner with Rebecca, including some nice wine (this was after the segway tour, so balance was no longer important).

View over Salzburg

"I have confidence...!"

Proving that I am incapable of parking any vehicle

My final destination in Austria was Vienna, and I was very lucky to be shown around by Elisabeth (the mother of Natasha who showed me around in Lucerne) during my stay. Vienna is a nice city and under better circumstances I would have had a great time there. Unfortunately, my paternal grandfather had been quite unwell for the previous month (a development that started when I was in Ghana) and his health declined dramatically when I was in Vienna. Within 24 hours he went from attending my grandmother’s birthday party, to being hospitalised, to passing away. It was really difficult being away from my family at this time, but I am very indebted to Elisabeth who provided me with comfort and companionship during this difficult time. It happened that the day of his death coincided with the anniversary of Elisabeth’s father’s passing, so we lit a candle for each of them and reflected on their lives.

Vienna is a beautiful city

Copenhagen

After Switzerland and Austria I flew back to London where I spent the next week staying at Olly’s house. Having a comfortable place to sleep with a lovely host turned out to be exactly what I needed at this time, especially since I was mourning my grandfather’s passing and also dealing with the fact that the length of flights plus time difference were preventing me from attending his funeral.

After London I flew to Copenhagen, my visit coinciding with the Eurovision competition. One night at my hostel I was talking to Richard and Brooke, two other travellers, and they mentioned that it might be possible to get a ticket to the second semi final. Sure enough, I went online and there were tickets available, so I purchased one and told Rebecca, my friend from the Sound of Music Tour, that my planned visit to her in Malmo the following day would have to be truncated. Rebecca was also keen to go to Eurovision so she purchased a ticket and the four of us went together.

Eurovision semi final 2 was a great night, the highlight being Conchita Wurst, the Austrian bearded transvestite who went on to win the competition. Rebecca and I dressed up in the style that Australians dress in to celebrate Eurovision, colloquially known as “Eurotrash”. Unfortunately it turns out that Europeans actually take Eurovision very seriously and do not dress up like this, so we looked a little silly, especially me since I like to take everything to the next level, so my hair and makeup were a little extreme.

Ah whoops!

Otherwise, my time in Copenhagen was basically a pleasant combination of walking around (mostly in the rain as I was unlucky with weather), hanging out with Ayelin and James, two backpackers that I met at a restaurant one day, chatting to my roommate Vanessa, and catching up with my friend Sidsel.

Greece

I’ve always wanted to go to Greece and when I arranged to visit my friend, Lindsey, in Istanbul I decided to spend a week in Greece beforehand, afterall, I needed to maximise the benefits of flying across the continent.

I landed in Santorini and spent a night in a beautiful hotel in Imervogli (Artemus Suites). At the hotel I met Jennie and Nick, a lovely Texan couple, whom I joined for diner. I was woken up the next morning by light bathing my room from a beautiful view over the Mediterranean. I spent the day exploring the area before meeting my sailing group on the far side of the Island.

The view from my hotel room in Santorini

My sailing trip departed from Santorini and ended in Mykonos. Unfortunately, I get terribly motion sick, so this meant that I was either drugged up on travel sickness medication or spewing my guts out, despite the excellent efforts of my skipper, Julle, who was very skilled but couldn’t help the fact that our boat was quite small and the waves were, at times, quite large. After spending the first morning being sick I opted for the drugs.

Most of the islands were pretty sleepy in the lead up to tourist season

We sailed from Santorini to Ios, Ios to Paros, and Paros to Naxos, and for most of this time I was in a drugged up haze. When I did manage to pull myself out of bed to explore the islands they were pleasant but extremely quiet as it turns out that tourist season hadn’t yet started, despite the weather being lovely. Considering my seasickness problem, I decided to leave my tour a couple of days early, so I caught a catamaran from Naxos to Mykonos where I spent a couple of nights staying at a hotel overlooking a beach called “Paradise Beach”. This turned out to be an excellent decision because I met some lovely people when I was sitting by the windmills at sunset. I ended up spending my time in Mykonos hanging out with Jenna (x2), Andrea, Marco and Marina, which was lovely.

These windmills are a good place to meet nice people

Turkey

There have been a few countries that I’ve visited this year that have absolutely blown me away and exceeded my expectations: Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Venezuela and Turkey.

I’ve always wanted to go to Turkey, and I definitely want to go back to see more. My time there was constrained to 5 nights in Istanbul, including a full-day trip to Gallipoli. Istanbul is a fascinating mix of East and West (clichéd observation, I know). This is hardly surprising considering its history and also its location, literally straddling Europe and Asia.

Some of the highlights of my time in Turkey included:

• -       Catching up with my good friend Lindsey, who I hadn’t seen in years
• -       Going to 2 hammams (traditional baths) for a good scrub and massage
• -       Topkapi palace, a stunning old palace with amazing tiles
• -       The Blue Mosque (now my favourite out of all of the mosques that I’ve visited)
• -       The Aya Sofia
• -       The Basilica Cisterna
• -       The mosaic museum
• -       Crossing the divide between Europe and Asia on a public ferry and watching the sunset and jetstreams over the European bank
• -       The archaeology museum (this really exceeded my expectations)
• -       The food
• -       Seeing the sites of Gallipoli (despite the fact that the actual tour I was on was not very good)

Basilica cisterna

Decor in Topkapi Palace

Inside the Blue Mosque

On the Asian side of the city

In the Aya Sofia

At Lone Pine Memorial

Next stop

From Istanbul I flew to The Isle of Man, which is literally on the opposite side of Europe. On my way I stopped in Oslo and also Dublin (overnight), so the journey was long and arduous. Upon arrival on the Isle of Man I was greeted by my parents and we had a long-awaited reunion. I will dedicate the next post to my travels with my parents.