Lift up your heads...

27 November 2011

There are many more shades of blue than there are of red..

We could actually see blue skies! So we figured that we would do the outdoor stuff while the weather seems to be playing along. It was with somewhat exhausted excitement that we set off in search of art, culture, royalism, or anything else that grabbed our interest.

From Trafalgar Square we made our way towards Buckingham Palace with the hope of seeing some guardlike stuff. We ended up spending a lot of time in St James' Park, drinking coffee, looking at all the people, squirrels, birds, ducks.... What a peaceful place to be spending time. The vibrant hustle and bustle of the big city seems non-existant.

There should really be some "be here now to see xxx" boards, we thought. You see all the people fanatically hanging about, hoping to see some form of royal anything, but you are not quite sure what, where or when. We were rather amused by the bobbies on bicycles parading up and down to prevent people from crossing the road at inappropriate times. We did at least see some guards marching past, and were impressed with the marching band playing the theme from Star Wars. I cannot help but wonder which member of the royal family best resembles Darth Vader...

By the time we walked past Westminster Abbey to the Houses of Parliament, we felt a bit touristed out, so decided to head for the Camden Market. Oh boy, was this a big mistake! Not the market, but taking Frances there! She loved it. They all loved it. I think any young person that comes to London, that does not go to Camden Market, misses a big part of the character of London.

And then, it was time for my big evening. Handel's Messiah in the Royal Albert Hall. For months I practised singing each of the choral movements. Let me explain. The Really Big Chorus is a charity organisation that arranges big concerts with mass choirs. So you buy your ticket for the concert as one of the singers, learn your part, and then simply pitch up and sing along. No rehearsals before the time. Just pitch up and sing. Wear red if you are an alto, blue if you are a soprano, and off you go. I have no words to describe the experience. A 50 piece orchestra, an organ, and 3800 singers singing the Hallelujah chorus? Oh WOW! And I was one of those singers! Oh WOW!

Found myself in the city near Picadilly

26 November 2011

Mental note - when booking a hotel, make sure you use Google street view to make very sure what kind of shops or businesses are in the vicinity. I did actually, and did spot one shop that looked slightly suspect. In fact, there were several rather seedy places near our hotel, which meant rather loud music throughout the night, accompanied by rowdy shrieks, depending on how well the resident ladies performed. It's probably a good thing that we were so very tired, so were not really too bothered by this.

We left Paris on the Eurostar train. Quite an amazing experience being able to get from Paris to London in under three hours. Not to mention the fact that part of that journey involves an underground tunnel under the English channel!

I suspect many Londoners just hated their Saturday. The St Pancras train station had to be evacuated for some reason. Of course four rather bewildered South Africans were caught up in all of this. So suddenly, our perfect plan to get ourselves to the hotel, fell flat rather spectacularly. We were still in the process of trying to figure out what bus to take then, when a rather friendly looking dude in a London taxi happened to pass us, indicating that he would happily fit said four bewildered South Africans. It was an added blessing that we did not have to schlepp our suitcases through the underground!

Our only real plan for today was a show that we were booked for. The Accomplice is just such a great experience. You have no idea where the show actually takes place, until a day before, when they send you an email, telling you where to meet them, and to be sure not to be late. You are then given a bunch of clues that you have to solve, in order to solve some mystery. This takes you on a walking tour through some very interesting parts of London. I could go on for some time, but will settle for one word. Awesome! Apart from the fun we had, we saw parts of London that we would not have even given a second thought. So, after the successful completion of Mission Z, we ended up going back to the Green Market for an awesome late lunch.

We all agree. London has a lot more spirit than Paris. Even so, we opted for an early night, with the hope that sore feet will recover a little, a litle washing might get done, travel notes (and blogs) will get done, and some much needed sleep might be achieved.

London Baby!!

He sees angels in the architecture..

25 November 2011

"You're in Paris" . I remember those words so well. It was my first time in Paris. My first time abroad even. And a very grumpy (he was French, afterall!) busdriver stopped in the middle of some narrow street in Paris, and sent us off with those words.

And so, after the usual uncomfortable longhaul, we arrived in Frankfurt, with, what we thought, plenty of time to shower before we set off to Paris. Uhm..... So for the record - it takes 20 minutes from the time you touch down, to the time you eventually come to a halt. Then it takes a further 45 minutes to walk, at a fair pace, I might add, from your arrival gate to your next departure gate. Time to spare? None. So much for hoping to arrive in Paris all refreshed and ready to go.

We managed to find our hotel quite easily, and even though we knew that we were too early to check in, we hoped to at least use the showers. This we were able to do. Contortionistically! The shower was so small, that even that very long word that I just made up, would have no hope of fitting in it! But hey, we were now refreshed and ready to go.

People say that Paris is the city of love. I see it as the city of emotions. Extreme emotions. Miserable French people are really extremely miserable. Those in love really should rather get a room... It is a beautiful city, with beautiful buildings, a beautiful river, beautiful decorations for the festive season, beautiful shops, even some very beautiful people. Yet, it somehow lacks the soulful character that a city like Rome has. People in Paris just somehow look like they are there because that is what is required for their personality.

We did as much as we could do in one day. Notre Dame, a very impressive cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, although we chose not to go up into the tower, seeing that it was too misty to be able to see anything anyway. And the Louvre. We have had mixed advice as to whether we should go see the Mona Lisa, but It was the one thing Frances really did want to see. Tertius' excitement at the prospect of seeing the famous Mona Lisa surprised us all, until he actually saw it, though. He somehow exected a lot more than "just a painting". Men... Nicole was fascinated by the eyes, and made sure that we all walked the width of the room, watching at how her eyes follow us. Frances ended up preferring the Venus de Milo. It really is worth going to see all the exquisite artwork.

We ended the day off at the Christmas market at the bottom end of the Champs Elysees. Beautifully lit white stalls with fascinating items varying from chocolate covered apples, to fur legwarmers.

I think it is sinking in slowly now. Our trip is a reality. I am loving the experience!

Paris High and Lows:

Frances:
High - Lighting a candle for loved ones in the Notre Dame
Low - size of the shower at the hotel was just ego-busting

Nicole:
High - being able to take a family photo in front of the Eiffel Tower with the camera balancing oddly on a camera bag.
Low - the rude and impolite french and oriental tourists

Tertius:
High - Seeing the eiffel tower
Low - the anticlimax seeing the Mona Lisa - this coming from a petrolhead, it is to be expected that a painting might not necessarily impress that easily.

Wesme:
High - seeing how the reality slowly started clicking in.
Low - Paris seems to have no garbage bins! We searched forever to find somewhere to dispose of some take-away coffee cups, feeling too guilty to just dump it like everyone else seem to do.

We're off you know

24 November 2011

It's amazing how happily we tend to settle into our comfort zones. And how vast we perceive anything outside it.

Preparing for a two week holiday takes way more energy than you could ever bargain for. Time is tight, so you want to try and make sure that you don't waste any time getting lost, or dealing with administrivia, and the like. And so I have spent many months researching, searching, googling, reading. Have I got everything planned down to a T? The answer would have to be...... nope.

So here is what we do have, just so you have some idea of what is in stall....

Firstly, as far as timing goes, this was the best time, considering the busy schedules we all seem to so willingly maintain. Would I choose a different time, if I had the option? Not really. Perhaps a week or so later, to give their winter (and snow!) time to settle in just a little more than it is at this stage. But we deliberately wanted cold, very little sunlight, and hopefully lots of snow. The itinerary then:

Fri. 25 Nov. Paris
Sat. 26 Nov. London
Sun. 27 Nov. London
Mon. 28 Nov. London
Tue. 29 Nov. Tromso
Wed. 30 Nov. Tromso
Thu. 1 Dec. Tromso
Fri. 2 Dec. Tromso
Sat. 3 Dec. Oslo
Sun. 4 Dec. Orsa
Mon. 5 Dec. Munich
Tue. 6 Dec. Heidelberg
Wed. 7 Dec. Vézelay
Thu. 8 Dec. Paris
Fri. 9 Dec. Home

Quite a whirlwind in places. There are, however, some very good reasons that support this seemingly crazy trip. In two weeks, we hope to see the beauty of Paris, the vibrant life in London, Aurora Borealis and snow in Tromso, polar bears in Orsa, the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Munich, a Christmas Market in Heidelburg, and a beautiful hilltop town, Vézelay.

And so the big day arrived. Frantic last-minute stuff needed to get done. And the usual panic set in. My suitcase is too small! Have I forgotten something? What if something goes wrong? Have I forgotten something? What if we get lost somewhere? Have I forgotten something? Seriously!?! This pursued until I forced myself to step back a little, and just think for a little while. Sure, things will be a little different, but hey, Parisians, or Londoners, or Troms.... uhm.... people from Tromso, are really all just normal people like us. They have no superpowers to be able to live where they do. The worst it could possibly get, is a little different to our little comfort zone. So no, we don't quite know how we will find our way from Oslo to Orsa. We have no idea whether we will be able to see everything we should see in Paris. But hey - we'll just wing it, like so many other peole do. In stead of overthinking things, we'll rather just have fun, and experience the difference that is the Northern Hemisphere.

The first of three flights that will ultimately get us to Paris, is almost over. Everyone is still rather reserved (except for one quick inflight photo..) As if we're waiting for Leon Schuster to jump out from behind a bush somewhere. I suspect this might change soon.....

I do admire people who just naturally take things as they come. It requires a little more effort, for me. But I'm working on it.... :-)

Dream a little dream...

I'm not quite sure where It started. This fascination with snow, that is. Being surrounded by white seems like it must bring such peace to the entire being.

For many years I have promised my children that I would take them for a white Christmas. Years have passed. Little brats turned into obnoxious teenagers, turned into beautiful adults and cherished friends. And suddenly the big 50 was upon me. People seem to make a huge thing of turning 50. Murmurs of parties started to find their ways into random conversations. And suddenly I realised that all those years of dreaming and wishing, just wouldn't amount to anything unless I actually took the step.

It took me a while to realise that the only real way of doing this, was to keep it simple and small. This was a dream that I wanted to share with my children, and whilst husbands and partners would add various levels of fun, it would somehow dilute the dream for me. I wanted to give, and share with my children, an experience that I hope will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Memories that brighten even the darkest of days.

Our journey starts on the 24th of November. Over a period of two weeks, we will visit Paris, London, Tromso, Oslo, Orsa, Munchen, Heidelberg and Vézelay. It sounds hectic. It will be. Hectic, and just awesome!

Start watching this space from next week. A dream this big can not be left unshared...