In the interests of finishing things...sort of...we've finally created all 10 videos of our adventure.
Not that I expect anybody to find these, I'm posting them so one day, when I look back at this blog, all is remembered + accounted for (apart from the last two weeks + the trip to Cardiff...during which time we were having far too much fun to worry about getting on a computer!)
Out into the Galaxy...
Dam that Canyon
And then there was AU
Praha, CZ
Londinium!
Scotland
Hadrian's Wall
24 Hours in Paris
Old South Wales
Last 2 Weeks
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Friday, December 21, 2007
Plane, train, automobile...and lots of walking.
Greetings!
It's wonderful to know that people have been reading the blog; of course, if we hadn't have taken a glorious week and a half break from computers, we never would have known people were waiting for the next installment. Thanks for your txts, emails, phone calls, etc. We've been having a holiday - from everything.
This is going to be a massive post, because we've basically been in a different place every day. More often than not, a different country. So bare with me, and enjoy the photos.
Photos for where we're up to 'so far' in the blog's history;
And now - LONDON
When last we left, we were headed out for a bit of a look-see around London.
We headed down Southbank, past the Tate Modern (eek! BIG SPIDER THING!), toward the Globe. We stopped and looked at the (not original but nevertheless impressive) Globe Theatre, when a taxi pulled up out the front of it, and a guy with a camera got out of it. Another guy was still sitting in it, doing his hair.
Paul: ...Min, that's the guy out of Shakespeare in Love...
It was - how cool is that - what great timing.
We continued around the Southbank, walked across London Bridge, around the Tower of London, and then headed back to Caroline's to get ready for the Obernet meet that night - for the Golden Compass, which shall henceforth be known as the Golden Monkey.
After some amusing confusion regarding the location of Starbucks in Leister Square (none of us could find it), we meet up with Kangaruth and Fuil Dearg at the Odeon at Leister Square, then headed to Picadilly Circus for a coffee and to wait for the movie.
The movie - okay, I posted much the same on Obernet this afternoon so if you've already read this, bear with me :P - we sat in a quite empty cinema, had the usual commercials, and then an eerily familiar music began playing...fade in on a spectacular looking spaceship circling a planet...Melinda suddenly realising what she was seeing and squeeing...an ad for the Doctor Who Xmas special. Huzzuh! Very exciting looking and the highlight of the movie.
Yes, I realise we were there to see an adaption of Northern Lights, but the Golden Monkey was...ok, gotta stop being so harsh on it. It was dumbed down quite a bit...and changed. I mean...a fairly significant death didn't happen. And the ending cut short, about 30 minutes early - ie, the book's ending just doesn't happen. So...it will be interesting to see how they carry the series on.
After the movie we all went out to dinner, then carried on to a pub in Covent Garden, until closing time.
That's the brilliant thing I'm really enjoying this time around; the 'oh...just a little longer' attitude.
Carrying on - the next day we headed out to Oxford Street for some reason...wandered to Hyde Park, on a Squirrel hunt (they're SO CUTE! And so manic. God they're hilarious), then kept going to Buckingham Palace.
If you haven't guessed, we've done an awful lot of walking this trip. I thought we used to walk everywhere at home; definitely not. We've walked for days without really stopping over here.
I think that about sums up the first London stay, so here's the photos:
EDINBURGH
7th Dec came around and we headed for Edinburgh; a place I was really excited about going back to. We sat opposite another young couple on the train who we talked to for most of it; they were up for the weekend. We went via York and Newcastle, saw quite a bit of the North Sea, and four hours later, were in Edinburgh.
We headed straight for the hostel I used to live in, Castle Rock, to dump the bags and be able to get out and explore. The Hostel had changed - quite a bit! My favourite reading room, for instance, had been taken over by the expanding kitchen, and the other reading room was now a movie room. Anyway, we made it into our tiny room, and headed straight up to the castle for Paul to get a good look over the city. Very beautiful; very like Prague only in greys, rather than reds and whites.
We made our way down to Holyrood Palace, then headed back up to Tescos to get some food for the next couple of days.
And now I must digress for a moment; anyone who knows me will remember how much I rave about Edinburgh. How it's one of my favourite cities in the world, and how much I missed it.
I - somewhat - take it back.
Oh, the city is gorgeous. I still love it. But there's three fundamental elements to a place that define one's enjoyment of it.
1. Place (buildings, parks, mountains, etc).
2. People (other tourists / locals / service).
3. Food (anything from a decent coffee to a grand dinner).
We'd happened to land in Edinburgh on a Friday night, on the very afternoon uni finished, apparently. There were drunken louts - everywhere! It was quite a shock to the system. So I think the real Edinburgh is a bit different from the beautiful, serene but fun Edinburgh I'd wound up in my head over the last 7 years. Paul was there wondering why I'd chosen to spend time there.
Anyway after that escapade, we crashed in the hostel, and got up really early on Saturday morning.
And THEN we got to see MY Edinburgh. Not a mental drunken trip with Xmas markets and ferris wheels and ice skating rinks marring the Princes' Street Gardens and completely obscuring the Scots monument (that stuff was still there, but minus the people it was easy to ignore). It was quiet, cool, serene - we went to Greyfriars, had coffee in the Elephant House (the cafe JK Rowling wrote the first HP book in), we did some shopping over on Princes Street and Rose Street, had lunch and then planned the next day; a trip through Glencoe and the Lochs.
After booking our tour, on the walk back, it started spitting rain. No, sorry. Sleeting. Wait. That's not sleet.
It's was Snow with a capital S. What fun :D it really bucketed down snow for a bit there, and Paul got some wonderful photos on his camera.
So, then came Sunday. Got the bus well before sunup, on a mini bus with a bunch of people and a crazy story-teller driver/tour guide called Andy. He took us past Stirling to a tea break spot with a Hairy Coo that must be blind from all the camera flashes, then up to Glencoe for some of the most spectacular landscape we've ever seen, through Fort William then to Spean Bridge for lunch, then onward to Fort Augustus for our Loch tour. We were an hour early for the boat so spent some time in the pub (because - really, it was spitting rain and cold. We braved outdoors for a bit, then gave in to the inevitable). Got on the boat at 2 and did about an hour on Loch Ness.
After that, the weather was still pretty woeful so Andy started the drive back to Edinburgh, via Pitlochry.
After a wonderful day, we had dinner, curled up in bed and switched the tele on - just in time for Top Gear! Huzzuh!!
The Monday we had such glorious weather in Edinburgh we opted to climb Arthur's Seat. Paul was ecstatic, loving it (give a Kiwi a mountain, they have to climb it!). It was...a very hard climb. And quite cold and windy in places. You don't realise / remember how high it is, though.
Tuesday we did St Andrews - I love it. It's a gorgeous town. We walked around the ruined Cathedrals to start. Paul spotted some game surfers out on the break. Wandered up to the golf course around the coast. Then headed back to Edinburgh.
The main summary I want to make of Edinburgh though was that it scared me how I had taken just the bits I liked, and blotted out the rest. So I was then a bit hesitant to return to Cardiff...for the same reasons.
Ultimately I think it was more bad timing than anything. We should have gone mid-week.
Anyway, photos to accompany the Edinburgh journey.
HADRIAN'S WALL / BARDON MILL
Wednesday we went to Newcastle, then headed inland for Bardon Mill; a place I didn't visit last time, to see Hadrian's wall.
We arrived at the tiny station at about midday. I had booked a B&B before we left, but had neglected to bring a map (Me: How hard can it be?).
After wandering Bardon Mill for about 5 minutes, we asked a postie if he knew where the Twice Brewed Inn was. In a wonderful Northern accent, he gave us directions - indicating landmarks by post boxes! We headed up in the vague direction he'd sent us, and just kept climbing...and climbing...
After an hour of climbing, not sure where we were going, we tried to find someone else to give directions; but there was no-one. There were a few cottages, lots of sheep, beautiful scenery, and a quickly descending sun.
We just pushed on; the road started going downhill, at least.
Eventually we saw a service vehicle on the side of the road, and a woman up a telephone pole. We asked for directions - she tried to get her bearings for a moment, then gave up and said she'd drive us there, she was sick of being up that pole.
So we hopped in her transit - and proceeded to get even more lost!! She knew where it was, but not how to get there from where she was. We ended up asking at another Inn, and she then drove us onto the Military road, into the village (?) of Once Brewed, to the Twice Brewed Inn! Huzzuh!! We'd made it. We thanked our hero profusely and made out way inside.
The postie, and the woman who'd eventually saved us, was just the start of the warmest, most wonderful reception we'd had anywhere. The Twice Brewed was everything; pub, restaurant, hotel, basically everything we needed. We had a late - well deserved - lunch, then dashed outside to explore. From our bedroom window we could see what we were sure was the Wall.
And it was - what a marvel! It was so peaceful, so beautiful up there, and we had that part of Hadrian's wall to ourselves - there were no people anywhere. We did a small walk (maybe a mile or so), then headed back, as it was getting icy on the roads.
That night we had another wonderful meal, and stayed downstairs in the pub playing cards. Wonderful break from the cities; there were perhaps 10 other people in the pub, and apart from Paul and I there were only 2 other people staying in the hotel.
The next day we had a HUUUUGE breakfast, then backtracked where we'd gone the previous day, and kept going! Again, no other people. It really is an amazing thing though - the lines are so straight, vertically. They really knew their stuff, those Romans and it makes you wonder how they collapsed.
Next we checked out and headed to Vindolanda, which is one of the best archaeological sites (and still actively being excavated) of a Roman fort. It's the fort that they found all the Roman writings at (due to the lack of oxygen in the soil, almost everything has been preserved - from writing, to leather, to wigs, all sorts of things). It was stunning - we spent a lot of time there.
Lastly we walked back to Bardon Mill station, this time with only a vaguely clearer idea of how to get there (but left loads of time, just in case). We did made it - with an hour and a half to spare! - and waited in the cold for the train. It took us back to Newcastle, then we were back on another train to London.
The stay at the Twice Brewed, and our time in Northumberland, was the highlight of teh trip. We recommend it to everyone. It was such a welcome break from everything.
Picspam of Hadrian's Wall:
NEXT CAME PARIS
The next day, we were woken by an alarm at about quarter to 8, that Paul and I couldn't figure out how to turn off; so he eventually unplugged it.
The alarm turned out to be the phone, and the caller - Paul's mum - calling for Caroline's Birthday. Whoops!
That morning we took off for Paris with Caroline and Justin - and WHAT A MISSION.
The night before, Caroline had realised that Paul's ticket wasn't with the other tickets. She called the office, and they told her that yes - they'd sent her mine, Justin and her tickets, and sent Paul's to the ticket office for collection.
Um, right, Eurostar. That makes complete sense.
We went to St Pancras station and they kept Caroline at the ticket office for about 20 minutes; so long, that we had to RUN through the station to make our train - got streamlined through immigration, and just made it. It was San Fran all over again!
Once we got to Paris Caroline had to go back to the ticket booth (because, while they'd given her Paul's tickets, his return was for some unknown reason 2 hours after the rest of us had left). Where the unhelpful person behind the counter told her it was a London mistake, why should she have to fix it?
GAH.
Then we headed onto the metro to the hotel, which was very close to the Lourve. The hotel was great; we raced out for another late lunch, then split - Caroline and Justin went off and Paul and I went to the Lourve to see what we could see in a couple of hours. Friday night's a late night so we had plenty of time.
We saw a lot of the Italian and French paintings, including the Mona Lisa (*yawn* - what's the big bloody deal?? Turn around, look at the rest of the room!! Massive - beautiful - paintings everywhere). While I'd been looking forward to the massive scale of some of the artworks, I was really impressed by some of the tiny paintings by Raphael; the detail, on such a small space.
We did quite a bit of the Egyptian wing, then were simply too tired to go on, and made our way back to the hotel.
That night we took Caroline and Justin to dinner for her B'day - at an Italian restaurant (haha). It was great - three courses, champagne, the works. We didn't know what to get her, so thought dinner was a good trade off.
Sunday Paul and I did this hop-on-hop-off tour, seeing the Arc De Triomph (sp??), Eiffel Tower (the queues were huge, so we couldn't go up it), Notre Dam, and a bunch of other places I can't quite remember. We got off at the Eiffel Tower - where I was the coldest I'd ever been in my entire life - and were harrassed by Bosnian beggars and hourdes of tourists - and also got off at Notre Dam which was probably my most favourite place we saw.
So, we thought we'd get a closer look. As we were walking toward it, a load of transits with sirens wailing pulled up beside the courtyard, and literally ARMIES of armoured police jumped out and started running for the front entrance. Then the army showed up.
What was happening? No idea. A part of you yearns to stay and find out what's happening, and another, instinctual part of you says 'BAIL - before someone starts firing'.
So, we headed back along the river to the hotel, had lunch (possibly the worst lunch ever), and then met up with Caroline and Justin again for the trip home.
When we got to the station Caroline tried the ticket office again, and luckily got someone helpful who let her change Paul's ticket to the same train as us.
So, that was what we did in Paris...
...and now for the opinions. You remember my three elements that determine your enjoyment of a location; place, people and food? Paris had one.
The people were the rudest I'd ever met - I'm sorry, I don't give a rats if you think I'm English - what the hell should that matter?? Why should I have to tell people that I'm Aussie / Paul's Kiwi? It's one of the most two-faced attitudes I've ever come across. When it wasn't a rude French in your face, it was an American tourist.
The food was absolutely VILE. We had a fantastic dinner - at an Italian Restaurant - and apart from that, it was terrible. The wine was woeful. The soup we had for lunch before we left was supposed to be vegetable; it tasted like sea-water. I've never felt so ill from food.
So while I'm glad I've seen the place, and we had a great time at dinner with Caroline and Justin, and we're very grateful for the Xmas pressie tickets there, I am going to be unconventional here, and say that there are definitely better places in the world to go, and when it comes to Paris, I am not a fan. Sorry.
Photos from the whirlwind trip to Paris:
That night we headed out to the Vic with Caroline and Justin for her birthday drinks with her friends - had a great time! Again, pushed on a little too late, but Paul and I managed to call an end to it at a sensible enough time to come home and get the washing sorted for the next day...which was...the trip to CARDIFF!!
Which I'm going to leave for another blog post, because in all honesty, my hesitance to return there due to Edinburgh being so surprising was completely unnecessary - it was fantastic. We had so much fun, saw so much, met some of the best, friendliest people, and - just like last time I lived there - didn't want to leave...
...til next time, and the Cardiff Story, I hope everyone's well, and I hope this long, rambling post makes some sort of sense...!
Luv from Min & Paul.
It's wonderful to know that people have been reading the blog; of course, if we hadn't have taken a glorious week and a half break from computers, we never would have known people were waiting for the next installment. Thanks for your txts, emails, phone calls, etc. We've been having a holiday - from everything.
This is going to be a massive post, because we've basically been in a different place every day. More often than not, a different country. So bare with me, and enjoy the photos.
Photos for where we're up to 'so far' in the blog's history;
 |
| Vegas-Nevada-Arizona |
 |
| Prague |
And now - LONDON
When last we left, we were headed out for a bit of a look-see around London.
We headed down Southbank, past the Tate Modern (eek! BIG SPIDER THING!), toward the Globe. We stopped and looked at the (not original but nevertheless impressive) Globe Theatre, when a taxi pulled up out the front of it, and a guy with a camera got out of it. Another guy was still sitting in it, doing his hair.
Paul: ...Min, that's the guy out of Shakespeare in Love...
It was - how cool is that - what great timing.
We continued around the Southbank, walked across London Bridge, around the Tower of London, and then headed back to Caroline's to get ready for the Obernet meet that night - for the Golden Compass, which shall henceforth be known as the Golden Monkey.
After some amusing confusion regarding the location of Starbucks in Leister Square (none of us could find it), we meet up with Kangaruth and Fuil Dearg at the Odeon at Leister Square, then headed to Picadilly Circus for a coffee and to wait for the movie.
The movie - okay, I posted much the same on Obernet this afternoon so if you've already read this, bear with me :P - we sat in a quite empty cinema, had the usual commercials, and then an eerily familiar music began playing...fade in on a spectacular looking spaceship circling a planet...Melinda suddenly realising what she was seeing and squeeing...an ad for the Doctor Who Xmas special. Huzzuh! Very exciting looking and the highlight of the movie.
Yes, I realise we were there to see an adaption of Northern Lights, but the Golden Monkey was...ok, gotta stop being so harsh on it. It was dumbed down quite a bit...and changed. I mean...a fairly significant death didn't happen. And the ending cut short, about 30 minutes early - ie, the book's ending just doesn't happen. So...it will be interesting to see how they carry the series on.
After the movie we all went out to dinner, then carried on to a pub in Covent Garden, until closing time.
That's the brilliant thing I'm really enjoying this time around; the 'oh...just a little longer' attitude.
Carrying on - the next day we headed out to Oxford Street for some reason...wandered to Hyde Park, on a Squirrel hunt (they're SO CUTE! And so manic. God they're hilarious), then kept going to Buckingham Palace.
If you haven't guessed, we've done an awful lot of walking this trip. I thought we used to walk everywhere at home; definitely not. We've walked for days without really stopping over here.
I think that about sums up the first London stay, so here's the photos:
 |
| London |
EDINBURGH
7th Dec came around and we headed for Edinburgh; a place I was really excited about going back to. We sat opposite another young couple on the train who we talked to for most of it; they were up for the weekend. We went via York and Newcastle, saw quite a bit of the North Sea, and four hours later, were in Edinburgh.
We headed straight for the hostel I used to live in, Castle Rock, to dump the bags and be able to get out and explore. The Hostel had changed - quite a bit! My favourite reading room, for instance, had been taken over by the expanding kitchen, and the other reading room was now a movie room. Anyway, we made it into our tiny room, and headed straight up to the castle for Paul to get a good look over the city. Very beautiful; very like Prague only in greys, rather than reds and whites.
We made our way down to Holyrood Palace, then headed back up to Tescos to get some food for the next couple of days.
And now I must digress for a moment; anyone who knows me will remember how much I rave about Edinburgh. How it's one of my favourite cities in the world, and how much I missed it.
I - somewhat - take it back.
Oh, the city is gorgeous. I still love it. But there's three fundamental elements to a place that define one's enjoyment of it.
1. Place (buildings, parks, mountains, etc).
2. People (other tourists / locals / service).
3. Food (anything from a decent coffee to a grand dinner).
We'd happened to land in Edinburgh on a Friday night, on the very afternoon uni finished, apparently. There were drunken louts - everywhere! It was quite a shock to the system. So I think the real Edinburgh is a bit different from the beautiful, serene but fun Edinburgh I'd wound up in my head over the last 7 years. Paul was there wondering why I'd chosen to spend time there.
Anyway after that escapade, we crashed in the hostel, and got up really early on Saturday morning.
And THEN we got to see MY Edinburgh. Not a mental drunken trip with Xmas markets and ferris wheels and ice skating rinks marring the Princes' Street Gardens and completely obscuring the Scots monument (that stuff was still there, but minus the people it was easy to ignore). It was quiet, cool, serene - we went to Greyfriars, had coffee in the Elephant House (the cafe JK Rowling wrote the first HP book in), we did some shopping over on Princes Street and Rose Street, had lunch and then planned the next day; a trip through Glencoe and the Lochs.
After booking our tour, on the walk back, it started spitting rain. No, sorry. Sleeting. Wait. That's not sleet.
It's was Snow with a capital S. What fun :D it really bucketed down snow for a bit there, and Paul got some wonderful photos on his camera.
So, then came Sunday. Got the bus well before sunup, on a mini bus with a bunch of people and a crazy story-teller driver/tour guide called Andy. He took us past Stirling to a tea break spot with a Hairy Coo that must be blind from all the camera flashes, then up to Glencoe for some of the most spectacular landscape we've ever seen, through Fort William then to Spean Bridge for lunch, then onward to Fort Augustus for our Loch tour. We were an hour early for the boat so spent some time in the pub (because - really, it was spitting rain and cold. We braved outdoors for a bit, then gave in to the inevitable). Got on the boat at 2 and did about an hour on Loch Ness.
After that, the weather was still pretty woeful so Andy started the drive back to Edinburgh, via Pitlochry.
After a wonderful day, we had dinner, curled up in bed and switched the tele on - just in time for Top Gear! Huzzuh!!
The Monday we had such glorious weather in Edinburgh we opted to climb Arthur's Seat. Paul was ecstatic, loving it (give a Kiwi a mountain, they have to climb it!). It was...a very hard climb. And quite cold and windy in places. You don't realise / remember how high it is, though.
Tuesday we did St Andrews - I love it. It's a gorgeous town. We walked around the ruined Cathedrals to start. Paul spotted some game surfers out on the break. Wandered up to the golf course around the coast. Then headed back to Edinburgh.
The main summary I want to make of Edinburgh though was that it scared me how I had taken just the bits I liked, and blotted out the rest. So I was then a bit hesitant to return to Cardiff...for the same reasons.
Ultimately I think it was more bad timing than anything. We should have gone mid-week.
Anyway, photos to accompany the Edinburgh journey.
 |
| Scotland |
HADRIAN'S WALL / BARDON MILL
Wednesday we went to Newcastle, then headed inland for Bardon Mill; a place I didn't visit last time, to see Hadrian's wall.
We arrived at the tiny station at about midday. I had booked a B&B before we left, but had neglected to bring a map (Me: How hard can it be?).
After wandering Bardon Mill for about 5 minutes, we asked a postie if he knew where the Twice Brewed Inn was. In a wonderful Northern accent, he gave us directions - indicating landmarks by post boxes! We headed up in the vague direction he'd sent us, and just kept climbing...and climbing...
After an hour of climbing, not sure where we were going, we tried to find someone else to give directions; but there was no-one. There were a few cottages, lots of sheep, beautiful scenery, and a quickly descending sun.
We just pushed on; the road started going downhill, at least.
Eventually we saw a service vehicle on the side of the road, and a woman up a telephone pole. We asked for directions - she tried to get her bearings for a moment, then gave up and said she'd drive us there, she was sick of being up that pole.
So we hopped in her transit - and proceeded to get even more lost!! She knew where it was, but not how to get there from where she was. We ended up asking at another Inn, and she then drove us onto the Military road, into the village (?) of Once Brewed, to the Twice Brewed Inn! Huzzuh!! We'd made it. We thanked our hero profusely and made out way inside.
The postie, and the woman who'd eventually saved us, was just the start of the warmest, most wonderful reception we'd had anywhere. The Twice Brewed was everything; pub, restaurant, hotel, basically everything we needed. We had a late - well deserved - lunch, then dashed outside to explore. From our bedroom window we could see what we were sure was the Wall.
And it was - what a marvel! It was so peaceful, so beautiful up there, and we had that part of Hadrian's wall to ourselves - there were no people anywhere. We did a small walk (maybe a mile or so), then headed back, as it was getting icy on the roads.
That night we had another wonderful meal, and stayed downstairs in the pub playing cards. Wonderful break from the cities; there were perhaps 10 other people in the pub, and apart from Paul and I there were only 2 other people staying in the hotel.
The next day we had a HUUUUGE breakfast, then backtracked where we'd gone the previous day, and kept going! Again, no other people. It really is an amazing thing though - the lines are so straight, vertically. They really knew their stuff, those Romans and it makes you wonder how they collapsed.
Next we checked out and headed to Vindolanda, which is one of the best archaeological sites (and still actively being excavated) of a Roman fort. It's the fort that they found all the Roman writings at (due to the lack of oxygen in the soil, almost everything has been preserved - from writing, to leather, to wigs, all sorts of things). It was stunning - we spent a lot of time there.
Lastly we walked back to Bardon Mill station, this time with only a vaguely clearer idea of how to get there (but left loads of time, just in case). We did made it - with an hour and a half to spare! - and waited in the cold for the train. It took us back to Newcastle, then we were back on another train to London.
The stay at the Twice Brewed, and our time in Northumberland, was the highlight of teh trip. We recommend it to everyone. It was such a welcome break from everything.
Picspam of Hadrian's Wall:
 |
| Hadrian's Wall |
NEXT CAME PARIS
The next day, we were woken by an alarm at about quarter to 8, that Paul and I couldn't figure out how to turn off; so he eventually unplugged it.
The alarm turned out to be the phone, and the caller - Paul's mum - calling for Caroline's Birthday. Whoops!
That morning we took off for Paris with Caroline and Justin - and WHAT A MISSION.
The night before, Caroline had realised that Paul's ticket wasn't with the other tickets. She called the office, and they told her that yes - they'd sent her mine, Justin and her tickets, and sent Paul's to the ticket office for collection.
Um, right, Eurostar. That makes complete sense.
We went to St Pancras station and they kept Caroline at the ticket office for about 20 minutes; so long, that we had to RUN through the station to make our train - got streamlined through immigration, and just made it. It was San Fran all over again!
Once we got to Paris Caroline had to go back to the ticket booth (because, while they'd given her Paul's tickets, his return was for some unknown reason 2 hours after the rest of us had left). Where the unhelpful person behind the counter told her it was a London mistake, why should she have to fix it?
GAH.
Then we headed onto the metro to the hotel, which was very close to the Lourve. The hotel was great; we raced out for another late lunch, then split - Caroline and Justin went off and Paul and I went to the Lourve to see what we could see in a couple of hours. Friday night's a late night so we had plenty of time.
We saw a lot of the Italian and French paintings, including the Mona Lisa (*yawn* - what's the big bloody deal?? Turn around, look at the rest of the room!! Massive - beautiful - paintings everywhere). While I'd been looking forward to the massive scale of some of the artworks, I was really impressed by some of the tiny paintings by Raphael; the detail, on such a small space.
We did quite a bit of the Egyptian wing, then were simply too tired to go on, and made our way back to the hotel.
That night we took Caroline and Justin to dinner for her B'day - at an Italian restaurant (haha). It was great - three courses, champagne, the works. We didn't know what to get her, so thought dinner was a good trade off.
Sunday Paul and I did this hop-on-hop-off tour, seeing the Arc De Triomph (sp??), Eiffel Tower (the queues were huge, so we couldn't go up it), Notre Dam, and a bunch of other places I can't quite remember. We got off at the Eiffel Tower - where I was the coldest I'd ever been in my entire life - and were harrassed by Bosnian beggars and hourdes of tourists - and also got off at Notre Dam which was probably my most favourite place we saw.
So, we thought we'd get a closer look. As we were walking toward it, a load of transits with sirens wailing pulled up beside the courtyard, and literally ARMIES of armoured police jumped out and started running for the front entrance. Then the army showed up.
What was happening? No idea. A part of you yearns to stay and find out what's happening, and another, instinctual part of you says 'BAIL - before someone starts firing'.
So, we headed back along the river to the hotel, had lunch (possibly the worst lunch ever), and then met up with Caroline and Justin again for the trip home.
When we got to the station Caroline tried the ticket office again, and luckily got someone helpful who let her change Paul's ticket to the same train as us.
So, that was what we did in Paris...
...and now for the opinions. You remember my three elements that determine your enjoyment of a location; place, people and food? Paris had one.
The people were the rudest I'd ever met - I'm sorry, I don't give a rats if you think I'm English - what the hell should that matter?? Why should I have to tell people that I'm Aussie / Paul's Kiwi? It's one of the most two-faced attitudes I've ever come across. When it wasn't a rude French in your face, it was an American tourist.
The food was absolutely VILE. We had a fantastic dinner - at an Italian Restaurant - and apart from that, it was terrible. The wine was woeful. The soup we had for lunch before we left was supposed to be vegetable; it tasted like sea-water. I've never felt so ill from food.
So while I'm glad I've seen the place, and we had a great time at dinner with Caroline and Justin, and we're very grateful for the Xmas pressie tickets there, I am going to be unconventional here, and say that there are definitely better places in the world to go, and when it comes to Paris, I am not a fan. Sorry.
Photos from the whirlwind trip to Paris:
 |
| Paris |
That night we headed out to the Vic with Caroline and Justin for her birthday drinks with her friends - had a great time! Again, pushed on a little too late, but Paul and I managed to call an end to it at a sensible enough time to come home and get the washing sorted for the next day...which was...the trip to CARDIFF!!
Which I'm going to leave for another blog post, because in all honesty, my hesitance to return there due to Edinburgh being so surprising was completely unnecessary - it was fantastic. We had so much fun, saw so much, met some of the best, friendliest people, and - just like last time I lived there - didn't want to leave...
...til next time, and the Cardiff Story, I hope everyone's well, and I hope this long, rambling post makes some sort of sense...!
Luv from Min & Paul.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Londonium
Oush, thanks for all the comments. Mick have we got any more mail / bills to pay?
PRAGUE. Where do I start..? Ok, last time I posted, we were on our way out to meet Isobelle, so here's how the Sunday in Prague panned out. I'm going to try keep it brief because a LOT happened!! Most of this is going to be where she took us, rather than what we were talking about, since we were talking about everything!
We wandered over to old town square, which has spectacular views of some old churches, and the famous astro clock - where we'd arranged to meet Isobelle. She arrived, full of energy, and said she was taking us to get a decent coffee!! LOL. We walked all over the place - then found out the coffee place was closed!! AHH!! So we went to another cafe instead for lunch.
After that she took us through the Jewish area of Prague, which has this amazingly sad graveyard, with the tombstones all literally bumping up against each other.
We wandered out to the river, and walked down and around it, seeing lots more of Prague again and Isobelle pointing out where we were going to go tomorrow (on the other side of the river, to the castle). Then ended up in a cafe, opposite the theatre. She'd bought Paul and I tickets to the advent concert that night, it was just Xmas carols but it should be fun!
(How nice is she!!??)
After coffee she had to dash but we arranged to meet on the bridge the next morning, early before all the tourists got there.
Paul and I then hung around in the cafe a little longer, and headed back out into Prague. I can't remember what we saw then, it was a bit tiring! There was a bit of confusion with the theatre tickets but I'm not going to post what happened there ;) hehe...
The next day we got up quite early, and headed to the Charles bridge and it really was empty - hardly any people, and no stalls. We met up with Isobelle again and she took us over the other side of the river, to the castle area; had bought us a pastry breakfast thing that was fantastic - so we ate and walked up the stairs and ramps to the top of the hill. Up there was the palace, and the most amazing gothic church you'll ever see in your life. Walked around there a bit more then headed for the tram, into Isobelle's district, and to the Cafe that she dedicated the last Little Fur book to - she had her usual, and Paul and I got to have a cider! HUZZUH!
After that we walked down the hill a bit, over another bridge, and into the side of the city where Paul and I were staying; Isobelle took off to see her daughter's play, and Paul and I went and did some shopping; bought some glass but I'm not saying what or for who.
We then hung around the old town square again, picked up some more of the market food for lunch, just soaked up more of the atmosphere.
That night we met up with Isobelle again in a restaurant and she'd bought her laptop along to show us some secrets ;) ...I'm allowed to say that she showed me the blurb of the Stone Key (OMG...), the final coloured cover of the Sending, and the NEW MAP for inside TSK. And WHOA. It's expanded out a little more. WOW.
We had coffee there, Paul had dinner, and just talked more. Isobelle offered to send our glass back to Australia for us since she's sending packages all the time, so we didn't have to carry it all over the UK with us; we offered to pay but her reply was 'just buy me pancakes in Brisbane' LOL (we'd told her about the Obernet meets in Brisbane; pancakes, then the biggest warehouse 2nd hand bookstore you've ever seen, so she wants to come along to one now!).
Then she went to a meeting with her agent, and we took off back to the hotel to pack for the next day; another day of travelling!
Tuesday we got up at 4am, to make our 5am taxi to the airport, to catch our 7am plane to Munich, to catch a 9am flight to Heathrow. Made it into London, again in a snap; they asked a few questions in Customs but it was easy. Hopped on the underground, straight up to Covent Garden, and met up with Caroline in her lunch break.
A funny story while we'd been on the tube we'd been getting txts from Graham, one of Paul's friends from NZ who's living over here too, and he was saying he was on his way in to meet us. Paul and Graham, though, between sending 6 txts each way didn't manage to organise where and when to meet, and Graham's phone went dead. More on this story later!
So, we walked back to Caroline's, dropped off our gear and Paul walked back with Caroline to work to see if he could locate Graham. I stayed here and washed the plane off me, did some washing, and just organised stuff; it was nice to take a breather...however it got to about 3pm and I was beginning to wonder where Paul had gotten to. He'd txted about an hour before that he was on his way back.
So I went out, figuring I'd either run into them, or see some of London on our first day (I was not staying cooped up in the apartment all day). I did run into them out on the second corner and we headed to a pub;
After greetings;
Me: Where have you guys been? It doesn't take 3 hours to walk back from Covent Garden?
Paul: *cheekily* We uh...stopped for coffee.
In actuality they'd stopped for cider - GRR!!
Anyway had a drink, then went for a walk around Westminster abbey and parliament square, getting about a million shots of Big Ben and the London Eye from various angles, then came back to Caroline's, where I promptly fell asleep.
Caroline and Justin got home from work, and we woke up (sort of!) and went out for Turkish takeaway, then sat around watching Family Guy (hehehe).
This morning we're planning on going to the Bridge and Tower of London, then if we have time over to the palace...this afternoon we have the Obernet meet to see Northern Lights - HUZZUH!!
Now, I would post photos but I've been on here way too long and we need to get out and do stuff!!
PRAGUE. Where do I start..? Ok, last time I posted, we were on our way out to meet Isobelle, so here's how the Sunday in Prague panned out. I'm going to try keep it brief because a LOT happened!! Most of this is going to be where she took us, rather than what we were talking about, since we were talking about everything!
We wandered over to old town square, which has spectacular views of some old churches, and the famous astro clock - where we'd arranged to meet Isobelle. She arrived, full of energy, and said she was taking us to get a decent coffee!! LOL. We walked all over the place - then found out the coffee place was closed!! AHH!! So we went to another cafe instead for lunch.
After that she took us through the Jewish area of Prague, which has this amazingly sad graveyard, with the tombstones all literally bumping up against each other.
We wandered out to the river, and walked down and around it, seeing lots more of Prague again and Isobelle pointing out where we were going to go tomorrow (on the other side of the river, to the castle). Then ended up in a cafe, opposite the theatre. She'd bought Paul and I tickets to the advent concert that night, it was just Xmas carols but it should be fun!
(How nice is she!!??)
After coffee she had to dash but we arranged to meet on the bridge the next morning, early before all the tourists got there.
Paul and I then hung around in the cafe a little longer, and headed back out into Prague. I can't remember what we saw then, it was a bit tiring! There was a bit of confusion with the theatre tickets but I'm not going to post what happened there ;) hehe...
The next day we got up quite early, and headed to the Charles bridge and it really was empty - hardly any people, and no stalls. We met up with Isobelle again and she took us over the other side of the river, to the castle area; had bought us a pastry breakfast thing that was fantastic - so we ate and walked up the stairs and ramps to the top of the hill. Up there was the palace, and the most amazing gothic church you'll ever see in your life. Walked around there a bit more then headed for the tram, into Isobelle's district, and to the Cafe that she dedicated the last Little Fur book to - she had her usual, and Paul and I got to have a cider! HUZZUH!
After that we walked down the hill a bit, over another bridge, and into the side of the city where Paul and I were staying; Isobelle took off to see her daughter's play, and Paul and I went and did some shopping; bought some glass but I'm not saying what or for who.
We then hung around the old town square again, picked up some more of the market food for lunch, just soaked up more of the atmosphere.
That night we met up with Isobelle again in a restaurant and she'd bought her laptop along to show us some secrets ;) ...I'm allowed to say that she showed me the blurb of the Stone Key (OMG...), the final coloured cover of the Sending, and the NEW MAP for inside TSK. And WHOA. It's expanded out a little more. WOW.
We had coffee there, Paul had dinner, and just talked more. Isobelle offered to send our glass back to Australia for us since she's sending packages all the time, so we didn't have to carry it all over the UK with us; we offered to pay but her reply was 'just buy me pancakes in Brisbane' LOL (we'd told her about the Obernet meets in Brisbane; pancakes, then the biggest warehouse 2nd hand bookstore you've ever seen, so she wants to come along to one now!).
Then she went to a meeting with her agent, and we took off back to the hotel to pack for the next day; another day of travelling!
Tuesday we got up at 4am, to make our 5am taxi to the airport, to catch our 7am plane to Munich, to catch a 9am flight to Heathrow. Made it into London, again in a snap; they asked a few questions in Customs but it was easy. Hopped on the underground, straight up to Covent Garden, and met up with Caroline in her lunch break.
A funny story while we'd been on the tube we'd been getting txts from Graham, one of Paul's friends from NZ who's living over here too, and he was saying he was on his way in to meet us. Paul and Graham, though, between sending 6 txts each way didn't manage to organise where and when to meet, and Graham's phone went dead. More on this story later!
So, we walked back to Caroline's, dropped off our gear and Paul walked back with Caroline to work to see if he could locate Graham. I stayed here and washed the plane off me, did some washing, and just organised stuff; it was nice to take a breather...however it got to about 3pm and I was beginning to wonder where Paul had gotten to. He'd txted about an hour before that he was on his way back.
So I went out, figuring I'd either run into them, or see some of London on our first day (I was not staying cooped up in the apartment all day). I did run into them out on the second corner and we headed to a pub;
After greetings;
Me: Where have you guys been? It doesn't take 3 hours to walk back from Covent Garden?
Paul: *cheekily* We uh...stopped for coffee.
In actuality they'd stopped for cider - GRR!!
Anyway had a drink, then went for a walk around Westminster abbey and parliament square, getting about a million shots of Big Ben and the London Eye from various angles, then came back to Caroline's, where I promptly fell asleep.
Caroline and Justin got home from work, and we woke up (sort of!) and went out for Turkish takeaway, then sat around watching Family Guy (hehehe).
This morning we're planning on going to the Bridge and Tower of London, then if we have time over to the palace...this afternoon we have the Obernet meet to see Northern Lights - HUZZUH!!
Now, I would post photos but I've been on here way too long and we need to get out and do stuff!!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
ahoy!
WE'RE IN PRAGUE! Huzzuh!
Didn't know if we'd make it for a while. We're in the Perla hotel at the moment, it's about 9am, we've had b'fast and are about to go out and explore + catch up with Isobelle - after we update with Teh Story...of leaving amerika.
Okay. We were really quite well organised and on time (a result of missing the 80's party, I'm sure). Caught the shuttle to McCarran, only to find out that United's computers had gone down; so they were checking everyone in manually. Thus commenced the longest, most disorganised queue in the history of time. Thank god we were 4 hours early.
Not that it mattered. We checked our luggage, and headed for the terminal - another massively long queue here to go through the security checks...
The terminal and the security/check in area are connected by train, and we made it with about 1 1/2 hours before we were due to take off...only to find out that our plane had been delayed by 25 minutes.
We weren't overly panicing at this point...we had an hour and a half to connect in San Fransico, so as long as it wasn't any later than that, we'd be okay...
We sat, avoided the coffee @ Starbucks (which has been woeful the entire journey), and watched the chaos ensue. There were planes that had been cancelled that morning, so there were a load of people on waitlist to Denver or something.
Then our plane was pushed back even later. We were supposed to originally leave at 3:35, the original delay was 3:55, and then the final delay time was 4:25.
Cue panic attack. We were NEVER going to make the San Fransico connection, since we'd have to go to the international terminal, AND through customs.
I hopped into the queue to try and talk to the people at the Ted gate(Ted is to United what Jetstar is to Qantas)...45 minutes later, when finally I was at the front of the queue, the woman behind the counter put up her sign and said she was closed. I just gaped; "You're coming back, right??" and she just scowled and said she had to do some work.
Me: "Please, I just need some information!"
Woman: *ignores, on computer*
Man-in-queue-behind-me: "This is the worst airport..."
Me: *agrees* Oh hell yes, worst in the world, and I'm in a position to say that!!
Woman: Ma'am would you like to work for us then??
Me: Huh!? I'm complaining about the company, not you!!
Stupid bitch. After that, I just lost it. I swore my head off at her, told her I was going to find management, and lodge a complaint, that it was the worst customer service I'd ever encountered and I would never fly with Ted again. Paul and I tried to find an information desk; eventually did, but it was unmanned, of course. They engineer things in a way that you cannot lodge complaints, unless you want to put yourself out completely. Paul tried going to the same desk later on when I was still fuming, and had the same treatment; sign up "sorry, I have to do work now"...but he did talk to a lady who assured us that the Frankfurt connection was still okay, becuase it was also with United. I assured Paul that they were just fobbing us off; what would it matter to them if we missed our next flight??
The funniest thing happened, though, when we were eventually being boarded. Not a lot of people might realise it, but Autodesk's head office is quite close to San Francisco. We had Carl Bass (CEO of Autodesk) come over to the gate when we were boarding, and he looked *pissed off*. It made us feel a bit better about the situation; the CEO of the 2nd largest software company in the world had been put out by Ted's idiocy as well, so our hope is that something's done about it.
Anyway, let me get out of Vegas. I'm angry just thinking about it. We got on the plane at 4:25, didn't take off until after 5pm, and ended up sitting next to another guy from AU; another AE (like me)! He used to work for Autodesk too.
We made it to San Fran with 30 minutes until our plane was going to take off; there were a total of 7 of us who were supposed to be connecting to that flight. We were met at the gate by an official, who escorted us all, running, through the terminal; we had the quickest encounter with customs in the history of the world (about 8 seconds - flash your passport at a side staff entrance, through to the airside and onto a bus on the tarmac). The plane had - thankfully - waited for us.
Our plane to Frankfurt was then - amazingly - early. We had a great flight, got about 5 hours sleep, it was either more comfortable than the last long flight, or we were so exhausted from the stress and worry that we just bombed. Paul felt GREAT after the sleep and I wasn't that bad either.
Best thing about the flight for me; COFFEE. REAL, DECENT COFFEE. THANK LUD.
At Frankfurt we basically just changed gates, and got onto the bus to lead us to the plane (on the tarmac). Very quick and easy.
In Prague; customs was a snap. They just glanced at our passports, stamped them, and we were in the country in a matter of minutes. Luggage was quick; nothing to declare; we were in a taxi within 15 minutes of landing.
You have no idea how much more relaxed we were to be in Europe. Vegas was mad; sleep was oddly structured and fatigue kept creeping over us at the oddest moments. In Prague, perhaps its because it's quieter, or because we're not surrounded by Amerikans, but we both feel lots more comfortable.
We checked into Perla, which is gorgeous. The hotel's only been open for a couple of months, so everything's new. It's got a slight Japanese theme happening, so the rooms feel very comfortable and Zen. Breakfast was wonderful; probably the best meal we've had since we left Australia, and don't get me started on the quality of the coffee; I think I'm going to hook it up to a drip.
The city is something else entirely; chilly but refreshing weather, gorgeous buildings, I really can't put it into words, so I'll leave it for the photos (we'll have to post them when we get to Caroline's).
Anyway I'd better go. Internet's free to guests, but I'm on the only computer and I'm sure there's other's that want to use it.
Na shledanou!
Min & Paul
Didn't know if we'd make it for a while. We're in the Perla hotel at the moment, it's about 9am, we've had b'fast and are about to go out and explore + catch up with Isobelle - after we update with Teh Story...of leaving amerika.
Okay. We were really quite well organised and on time (a result of missing the 80's party, I'm sure). Caught the shuttle to McCarran, only to find out that United's computers had gone down; so they were checking everyone in manually. Thus commenced the longest, most disorganised queue in the history of time. Thank god we were 4 hours early.
Not that it mattered. We checked our luggage, and headed for the terminal - another massively long queue here to go through the security checks...
The terminal and the security/check in area are connected by train, and we made it with about 1 1/2 hours before we were due to take off...only to find out that our plane had been delayed by 25 minutes.
We weren't overly panicing at this point...we had an hour and a half to connect in San Fransico, so as long as it wasn't any later than that, we'd be okay...
We sat, avoided the coffee @ Starbucks (which has been woeful the entire journey), and watched the chaos ensue. There were planes that had been cancelled that morning, so there were a load of people on waitlist to Denver or something.
Then our plane was pushed back even later. We were supposed to originally leave at 3:35, the original delay was 3:55, and then the final delay time was 4:25.
Cue panic attack. We were NEVER going to make the San Fransico connection, since we'd have to go to the international terminal, AND through customs.
I hopped into the queue to try and talk to the people at the Ted gate(Ted is to United what Jetstar is to Qantas)...45 minutes later, when finally I was at the front of the queue, the woman behind the counter put up her sign and said she was closed. I just gaped; "You're coming back, right??" and she just scowled and said she had to do some work.
Me: "Please, I just need some information!"
Woman: *ignores, on computer*
Man-in-queue-behind-me: "This is the worst airport..."
Me: *agrees* Oh hell yes, worst in the world, and I'm in a position to say that!!
Woman: Ma'am would you like to work for us then??
Me: Huh!? I'm complaining about the company, not you!!
Stupid bitch. After that, I just lost it. I swore my head off at her, told her I was going to find management, and lodge a complaint, that it was the worst customer service I'd ever encountered and I would never fly with Ted again. Paul and I tried to find an information desk; eventually did, but it was unmanned, of course. They engineer things in a way that you cannot lodge complaints, unless you want to put yourself out completely. Paul tried going to the same desk later on when I was still fuming, and had the same treatment; sign up "sorry, I have to do work now"...but he did talk to a lady who assured us that the Frankfurt connection was still okay, becuase it was also with United. I assured Paul that they were just fobbing us off; what would it matter to them if we missed our next flight??
The funniest thing happened, though, when we were eventually being boarded. Not a lot of people might realise it, but Autodesk's head office is quite close to San Francisco. We had Carl Bass (CEO of Autodesk) come over to the gate when we were boarding, and he looked *pissed off*. It made us feel a bit better about the situation; the CEO of the 2nd largest software company in the world had been put out by Ted's idiocy as well, so our hope is that something's done about it.
Anyway, let me get out of Vegas. I'm angry just thinking about it. We got on the plane at 4:25, didn't take off until after 5pm, and ended up sitting next to another guy from AU; another AE (like me)! He used to work for Autodesk too.
We made it to San Fran with 30 minutes until our plane was going to take off; there were a total of 7 of us who were supposed to be connecting to that flight. We were met at the gate by an official, who escorted us all, running, through the terminal; we had the quickest encounter with customs in the history of the world (about 8 seconds - flash your passport at a side staff entrance, through to the airside and onto a bus on the tarmac). The plane had - thankfully - waited for us.
Our plane to Frankfurt was then - amazingly - early. We had a great flight, got about 5 hours sleep, it was either more comfortable than the last long flight, or we were so exhausted from the stress and worry that we just bombed. Paul felt GREAT after the sleep and I wasn't that bad either.
Best thing about the flight for me; COFFEE. REAL, DECENT COFFEE. THANK LUD.
At Frankfurt we basically just changed gates, and got onto the bus to lead us to the plane (on the tarmac). Very quick and easy.
In Prague; customs was a snap. They just glanced at our passports, stamped them, and we were in the country in a matter of minutes. Luggage was quick; nothing to declare; we were in a taxi within 15 minutes of landing.
You have no idea how much more relaxed we were to be in Europe. Vegas was mad; sleep was oddly structured and fatigue kept creeping over us at the oddest moments. In Prague, perhaps its because it's quieter, or because we're not surrounded by Amerikans, but we both feel lots more comfortable.
We checked into Perla, which is gorgeous. The hotel's only been open for a couple of months, so everything's new. It's got a slight Japanese theme happening, so the rooms feel very comfortable and Zen. Breakfast was wonderful; probably the best meal we've had since we left Australia, and don't get me started on the quality of the coffee; I think I'm going to hook it up to a drip.
The city is something else entirely; chilly but refreshing weather, gorgeous buildings, I really can't put it into words, so I'll leave it for the photos (we'll have to post them when we get to Caroline's).
Anyway I'd better go. Internet's free to guests, but I'm on the only computer and I'm sure there's other's that want to use it.
Na shledanou!
Min & Paul
Saturday, December 1, 2007
last day..
Yay! 4 comments! LOL. Granted two of them were Cat :P thanks Cat & Alyce!! It's great to hear from you, I don't get much time to visit the site at all and I miss it so much...and yes, it's a HUGE shame about the coffee. I'm sure it'd be better in Seattle :P but in Vegas, it's pretty bad!
Colin! - it's good to hear how work as been going, I was wondering! There's a guy over here who looks exactly like Mike, it's bizarre - we got photos - but anyway, Mike, you have a twin here. And the new office - I keep forgetting that when I get back, it's all going to have changed. I hope it goes well!! Say hi to everyone for me, and tell them to post comments! I miss you all.
Oh, and how do we post so much? Remember how fast I type? LOL. We usually try to spend about 15 minutes a day here and just catching up.
There's some interesting things about Vegas that we've been meaning to post (and always get carried away with talk of AU) - actually don't know if it's just Vegas or the whole of the US - everyone in the hospitality industry is old...you know how in Aus, you go to any cafe, any fast food outlet, any coffee shop...and you're served by a 15-16 year old usually? None of that over here. Everyone's older than Paul and I, and generally, South American. There's a very Sth American side to the place, as a result - more taco and salsa places. And everyone's really, really happy. All the time - I don't know how they do it! Always saying good morning, to complete strangers, just walking along.
Yesterday's classes were brilliant. Instead of the styles libraries one we went to the one Brian (Vault guru @ Autodesk, answered all my questions) recommended we come to; and it was really valuable. Also had a class on Tube & Pipe modelling with some Danish guys and WOW - they've cracked the 15-max pipe runs per assembly limit; the stuff they do is amazing and we'll definitely be doing some tips & tricks on it. 350+, massive plants, and the assemblies open and update quickly. Will leave that with you and explain the methods once we get back.
Now, I have some bad news. It was really upsetting for me actually...sort of dictated a lot of last night. We can't bring ANY of our AU stuff back with us. I'm pushing the limit of my luggage just to get my AU bag back (because I could not bear leaving it behind). We tried to send a care package home but it was going to cost us $400 (LUDICROUS. You should have seen us go off). I've gotten any of the notes that I wrote but we'll have to re-download the whole set course notes when we get back. There was so much cool free stuff we got here and we can't bring hardly any of it *cries* just the USBs and light stuff.
So, evidently, after doing up the care package, dragging it to the package centre, getting the bad news, lugging it upstairs, unpacking it, re-packing, dragging our bags over to get weighed, finding out we were still over-weight and then unpacking again, we missed the 80's party :( apparently it was great. The main party I've been talking about for ages and we were just too tired and honestly, too upset we had to leave everything behind, to go...
Anyway, we've had heaps of fun here despite last night's chaos, have been to heaps of other parties (perhaps last night was punishment for going so hard the night before? ;) ), learned heaps, got tons of new ideas, and met so many awesome people. Mainly Canadians for some reason LOL; we just kept finding each other. Just had breakfast with one, who told us the final attendance of AU was 13000. I mean...WOW.
I also ran into Manoj about 3 times, Simon once, KT once, and another guy from Melbourne (the only other Aussie we ran into), plus Rajesh in one of the labs (it was great to finally meet him, I've been talking to him for years).
AU 2008 is going to be on 2-5 Dec... :D just dropping that in there...no reason...LOL.
The biggest thing about AU 2007 was just that it was super-organised. Honestly, imagine coordinating 13000 people for classes, meals, parties, etc. We mentioned the queuing at the beginning of the trip, but once we were at AU, queuing ceased. We never had to wait for food, never felt overcrowded. It was actually relaxing, given the chaos on the street. Paul's saying 'you're in a room of 13000 people, you feel like you've met them before because we all speak the same computer language LOL, all you have to do is read the name tags and you have a friend, we haven't met anyone who we didn't get along with'.
Okay, keep the comments coming, it's great to hear what's happening over there. Remember we get no news about Australia or New Zealand over here - how's Kevin in his new job :P !? What's the weather like? Did anyone have vegemite for breakfast (you will make me very jealous if you did).
Will try update with more once we're in Prague, but if that doesn't work, we'll be back online on Tuesday from London, hopefully with photos and videos!!
Better dash!
Luv, Min and Paul
Colin! - it's good to hear how work as been going, I was wondering! There's a guy over here who looks exactly like Mike, it's bizarre - we got photos - but anyway, Mike, you have a twin here. And the new office - I keep forgetting that when I get back, it's all going to have changed. I hope it goes well!! Say hi to everyone for me, and tell them to post comments! I miss you all.
Oh, and how do we post so much? Remember how fast I type? LOL. We usually try to spend about 15 minutes a day here and just catching up.
There's some interesting things about Vegas that we've been meaning to post (and always get carried away with talk of AU) - actually don't know if it's just Vegas or the whole of the US - everyone in the hospitality industry is old...you know how in Aus, you go to any cafe, any fast food outlet, any coffee shop...and you're served by a 15-16 year old usually? None of that over here. Everyone's older than Paul and I, and generally, South American. There's a very Sth American side to the place, as a result - more taco and salsa places. And everyone's really, really happy. All the time - I don't know how they do it! Always saying good morning, to complete strangers, just walking along.
Yesterday's classes were brilliant. Instead of the styles libraries one we went to the one Brian (Vault guru @ Autodesk, answered all my questions) recommended we come to; and it was really valuable. Also had a class on Tube & Pipe modelling with some Danish guys and WOW - they've cracked the 15-max pipe runs per assembly limit; the stuff they do is amazing and we'll definitely be doing some tips & tricks on it. 350+, massive plants, and the assemblies open and update quickly. Will leave that with you and explain the methods once we get back.
Now, I have some bad news. It was really upsetting for me actually...sort of dictated a lot of last night. We can't bring ANY of our AU stuff back with us. I'm pushing the limit of my luggage just to get my AU bag back (because I could not bear leaving it behind). We tried to send a care package home but it was going to cost us $400 (LUDICROUS. You should have seen us go off). I've gotten any of the notes that I wrote but we'll have to re-download the whole set course notes when we get back. There was so much cool free stuff we got here and we can't bring hardly any of it *cries* just the USBs and light stuff.
So, evidently, after doing up the care package, dragging it to the package centre, getting the bad news, lugging it upstairs, unpacking it, re-packing, dragging our bags over to get weighed, finding out we were still over-weight and then unpacking again, we missed the 80's party :( apparently it was great. The main party I've been talking about for ages and we were just too tired and honestly, too upset we had to leave everything behind, to go...
Anyway, we've had heaps of fun here despite last night's chaos, have been to heaps of other parties (perhaps last night was punishment for going so hard the night before? ;) ), learned heaps, got tons of new ideas, and met so many awesome people. Mainly Canadians for some reason LOL; we just kept finding each other. Just had breakfast with one, who told us the final attendance of AU was 13000. I mean...WOW.
I also ran into Manoj about 3 times, Simon once, KT once, and another guy from Melbourne (the only other Aussie we ran into), plus Rajesh in one of the labs (it was great to finally meet him, I've been talking to him for years).
AU 2008 is going to be on 2-5 Dec... :D just dropping that in there...no reason...LOL.
The biggest thing about AU 2007 was just that it was super-organised. Honestly, imagine coordinating 13000 people for classes, meals, parties, etc. We mentioned the queuing at the beginning of the trip, but once we were at AU, queuing ceased. We never had to wait for food, never felt overcrowded. It was actually relaxing, given the chaos on the street. Paul's saying 'you're in a room of 13000 people, you feel like you've met them before because we all speak the same computer language LOL, all you have to do is read the name tags and you have a friend, we haven't met anyone who we didn't get along with'.
Okay, keep the comments coming, it's great to hear what's happening over there. Remember we get no news about Australia or New Zealand over here - how's Kevin in his new job :P !? What's the weather like? Did anyone have vegemite for breakfast (you will make me very jealous if you did).
Will try update with more once we're in Prague, but if that doesn't work, we'll be back online on Tuesday from London, hopefully with photos and videos!!
Better dash!
Luv, Min and Paul
Friday, November 30, 2007
The next installment..
Hi guys,
*waves to Wayla, Deb and Barbara/Paul's mum for commenting*
In response to your question about the weather it's really hard to say; we've been inside for so long, I think neither of us have any concept of time or sunlight or temperature anymore :P
On the few occasions we have ventured into the strip, it's been pleasantly chilly. The coldest weather we experienced was at the Grand Canyon, it was very much like Taupo-weather though; alpine chill and the like.
Sooo...what to update with? More of the same.
We had a fantastic day yesterday. And considering it started off quite woefully...okay, starting from the beginning to avoid any more tired stream-of-consciousness posting!!
We missed our alarm yesterday. I don't know what happened; we must have both just slept through it. Anyway, woke at 830, freaked out a bit, missed breakfast and hotfooted it to class; missed our first class, went straight to the second. It was an Inventor Studio lab, and it was waaaaaay too easy. And, quite frankly, poorly taught. I kept wincing, thinking 'don't say that, you'll just confuse them' and they really didn't de-mystify anything for those that were confused. I spent the lab going between my 'row' of people, helping them out, as it was all quite disorganised. Have almost resolved that if I'm allowed to come back to AU, I'll do a class on it to teach it properly. But it was still good from the POV of meeting and helping people.
After that was a talk by a HP guy about considerations when building workstations and selecting the right hardware, which was okay.
Then came probably the BEST class we've had all AU; Working with Huge Digital Prototypes (Large assembly best practises). Fantastic presenter, excellent topic and examples. Have loads of ideas; next time someone wants me to talk at a user group meeting, that's what I would like to do my topic on.
After that was the last class of the day, Pat's Believe it or not perfect integration between Inv/Vault/DWF.
I had an expectation that it'd be the way he uses the three programs/formats; but it was something else entirely. It turned out to be an integration lecture, almost from a consultancy or even AE point of view. It was really interesting, Paul found it very valuable from a business perspective, too. Mainly, it was good to just listen to someone who knows so much about not just the technical perspective of introducing Inventor into any environment, but also the social, human aspect and how to deal with that. After the class I gave him a card (as I've been doing nearly every class), thanked him and said if he was ever in Australia to please come and talk to our entire team. Everyone would benefit from this guy.
Then, class was over for the day (about 7pm). There were loads of parties on that night, so it was simply a matter of chosing one - but hey, why choose just one, when you can crash many at different times? So, we tried out the AUGI International reception *yawn*, then found our way to the Caribbean party in the main hall (taking about half of Mexico with us, that's how good the AUGI one was. Only thing Caribbean about it was Pina Coladas and a steel drum band). There was food, drink, music, and the exhibition hall was open again, so we did another lap of that; this time, I located the Ascent people and told them how valuable we find their Inventor courseware; I actually got to speak to the woman who decided to split the intermediate/advanced into part/assembly modelling and yeah...I just wanted to give credit where credit was due.
We had resolved to be in bed by 9pm to avoid missing our alarms again, but on the way back, ventured into another party, which turned out to be the Manufacturing get-together. And immediately bumped into our Canadian friends, Dan and Shayne. Naturally, we didn't make it to bed on time. We went back to the Caribbean (haha) with them.
The Caribbean party shut down at about 9:30 though!!?
So on our way back, we noticed a smoke machine, and found the massive exhibition hall that the general welcome was in, with only about 1000 people in it. There were talks and the people at the door said there was live music later, but didn't know who. We stayed in there til it closed down as well (when I asked Paul what time it was, though, he assured me it was still only 9pm :P ). Crashed out at about midnight, which was certainly earlier than the previous night.
This morning (in about 30 minutes) we have a Digital Prototyping class, but I'm not sure what it's really going to be about. The rest of the day, bar one class on tube & pipe, is about Vault and Productscream.
Then that's it. We've gotta pack tonight, before looking in on the 80's party (because, given our track record, if we just go for a look, we won't get back til the wee hours of the morning and then have to pack...). We're also going to go to the package centre and send all the stuff we've picked up back home; there's no way to carry all the extra stuff with us.
Tomorrow, about 3:30pm here, we'll be on the plane on the way to Prague. How bizarre - but how exciting!
Better go. I'd get Paul to sum up again, but he's not feeling well. He's over on the couches. I think the trip, lack of sleep, everything, is just starting to catch up with us. I'm resolving to just keep going until we hit London.
It'd be nice to have a decent sleep in one of these days though...usually I'd just wake up on coffee, but honestly - it's disgusting. I cannot believe I've paid money - more money than I usually would - for the absolute swill they call coffee over here.
You guys have no idea how far I'd go to get a decent coffee and a piece of vegemite toast.
Until next time,
Min & Paul
*waves to Wayla, Deb and Barbara/Paul's mum for commenting*
In response to your question about the weather it's really hard to say; we've been inside for so long, I think neither of us have any concept of time or sunlight or temperature anymore :P
On the few occasions we have ventured into the strip, it's been pleasantly chilly. The coldest weather we experienced was at the Grand Canyon, it was very much like Taupo-weather though; alpine chill and the like.
Sooo...what to update with? More of the same.
We had a fantastic day yesterday. And considering it started off quite woefully...okay, starting from the beginning to avoid any more tired stream-of-consciousness posting!!
We missed our alarm yesterday. I don't know what happened; we must have both just slept through it. Anyway, woke at 830, freaked out a bit, missed breakfast and hotfooted it to class; missed our first class, went straight to the second. It was an Inventor Studio lab, and it was waaaaaay too easy. And, quite frankly, poorly taught. I kept wincing, thinking 'don't say that, you'll just confuse them' and they really didn't de-mystify anything for those that were confused. I spent the lab going between my 'row' of people, helping them out, as it was all quite disorganised. Have almost resolved that if I'm allowed to come back to AU, I'll do a class on it to teach it properly. But it was still good from the POV of meeting and helping people.
After that was a talk by a HP guy about considerations when building workstations and selecting the right hardware, which was okay.
Then came probably the BEST class we've had all AU; Working with Huge Digital Prototypes (Large assembly best practises). Fantastic presenter, excellent topic and examples. Have loads of ideas; next time someone wants me to talk at a user group meeting, that's what I would like to do my topic on.
After that was the last class of the day, Pat's Believe it or not perfect integration between Inv/Vault/DWF.
I had an expectation that it'd be the way he uses the three programs/formats; but it was something else entirely. It turned out to be an integration lecture, almost from a consultancy or even AE point of view. It was really interesting, Paul found it very valuable from a business perspective, too. Mainly, it was good to just listen to someone who knows so much about not just the technical perspective of introducing Inventor into any environment, but also the social, human aspect and how to deal with that. After the class I gave him a card (as I've been doing nearly every class), thanked him and said if he was ever in Australia to please come and talk to our entire team. Everyone would benefit from this guy.
Then, class was over for the day (about 7pm). There were loads of parties on that night, so it was simply a matter of chosing one - but hey, why choose just one, when you can crash many at different times? So, we tried out the AUGI International reception *yawn*, then found our way to the Caribbean party in the main hall (taking about half of Mexico with us, that's how good the AUGI one was. Only thing Caribbean about it was Pina Coladas and a steel drum band). There was food, drink, music, and the exhibition hall was open again, so we did another lap of that; this time, I located the Ascent people and told them how valuable we find their Inventor courseware; I actually got to speak to the woman who decided to split the intermediate/advanced into part/assembly modelling and yeah...I just wanted to give credit where credit was due.
We had resolved to be in bed by 9pm to avoid missing our alarms again, but on the way back, ventured into another party, which turned out to be the Manufacturing get-together. And immediately bumped into our Canadian friends, Dan and Shayne. Naturally, we didn't make it to bed on time. We went back to the Caribbean (haha) with them.
The Caribbean party shut down at about 9:30 though!!?
So on our way back, we noticed a smoke machine, and found the massive exhibition hall that the general welcome was in, with only about 1000 people in it. There were talks and the people at the door said there was live music later, but didn't know who. We stayed in there til it closed down as well (when I asked Paul what time it was, though, he assured me it was still only 9pm :P ). Crashed out at about midnight, which was certainly earlier than the previous night.
This morning (in about 30 minutes) we have a Digital Prototyping class, but I'm not sure what it's really going to be about. The rest of the day, bar one class on tube & pipe, is about Vault and Productscream.
Then that's it. We've gotta pack tonight, before looking in on the 80's party (because, given our track record, if we just go for a look, we won't get back til the wee hours of the morning and then have to pack...). We're also going to go to the package centre and send all the stuff we've picked up back home; there's no way to carry all the extra stuff with us.
Tomorrow, about 3:30pm here, we'll be on the plane on the way to Prague. How bizarre - but how exciting!
Better go. I'd get Paul to sum up again, but he's not feeling well. He's over on the couches. I think the trip, lack of sleep, everything, is just starting to catch up with us. I'm resolving to just keep going until we hit London.
It'd be nice to have a decent sleep in one of these days though...usually I'd just wake up on coffee, but honestly - it's disgusting. I cannot believe I've paid money - more money than I usually would - for the absolute swill they call coffee over here.
You guys have no idea how far I'd go to get a decent coffee and a piece of vegemite toast.
Until next time,
Min & Paul
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Happy Vaults
Just got out of The Basics of autodesk Vault (about to go to the AUGI thing, but wanted to post about this before I forgot it).
Twas funny. I'd forgotten it was a lab! So, fun fun fun. About 80% of the class couldn't do what we needed to do (Autoloader broke with an interesting arithmetic error or something...which ended up being related to the volume of software on theh computer and the fact that a Beta version was present). But we managed.
The best thing, after the class, I went over to the massive group of Autodesk Vault experts (from Autodesk themselves) and asked about Libraries. And they directed me to the right person; so there you have it, I really am meeting the people I need to meet here. It was good to talk to someone up there designing it, who understands the problems with Libraries; but he gave me some suggestions, and told me and Paul to come to his class on Thursday which is going to specifically address it (Paul's going to go to the original Style Libraries one instead, because he'll get more out of that).
Oh - by the way. Post comments. I don't know if I'm talking to anyone or no one...Just click on comments, and type away.
Paul, it's time for you to post something.
well i'm having a great time but min is covering everything and more, vagus is the weirdist place, i'm glad that i don't have epilepsy cos there are flashing light everyware!!!!!
the vennetian is great and i have lots of footage.
AU is full on but i am getting lots out it, but i still don't want to have anything to do with managing vault.
talk to you soon
P&M
Twas funny. I'd forgotten it was a lab! So, fun fun fun. About 80% of the class couldn't do what we needed to do (Autoloader broke with an interesting arithmetic error or something...which ended up being related to the volume of software on theh computer and the fact that a Beta version was present). But we managed.
The best thing, after the class, I went over to the massive group of Autodesk Vault experts (from Autodesk themselves) and asked about Libraries. And they directed me to the right person; so there you have it, I really am meeting the people I need to meet here. It was good to talk to someone up there designing it, who understands the problems with Libraries; but he gave me some suggestions, and told me and Paul to come to his class on Thursday which is going to specifically address it (Paul's going to go to the original Style Libraries one instead, because he'll get more out of that).
Oh - by the way. Post comments. I don't know if I'm talking to anyone or no one...Just click on comments, and type away.
Paul, it's time for you to post something.
well i'm having a great time but min is covering everything and more, vagus is the weirdist place, i'm glad that i don't have epilepsy cos there are flashing light everyware!!!!!
the vennetian is great and i have lots of footage.
AU is full on but i am getting lots out it, but i still don't want to have anything to do with managing vault.
talk to you soon
P&M
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