Camping In Europe

Just got back from a few days of RV-ing at "The Lake". Posted some photos up on Flickr that you can check out.

Click Here For Photos

Going Camping

Today is Labour Day in Germany so we are going camping for a couple days with Lena's folks' RV. Heading to Lake Constance on the German/Swiss/Austrian border.


Click Here For Lake Constance

London: In Summary

I'm glad I got to see London. Having already seen Berlin, New York City and Winnipeg it was nice to add this to the tally.

I find it remarkable that block after block seems to sustain crowds of people, cars and buildings. Certainly other cities have similar districts but London is huge. Very impressive.

It also seems like a pretty cool place to live for a short while. I feel the same about Manhattan. It would be interesting to spend 2 years there and then move on. It is also a pretty cool place to visit if you are casual about it.

The one real downside is something that even the locals apparently gripe about- the tourists. Every city needs tourists to help pay the freight but it seems a little overboard in London and I really can't tell why. The tourists have become such a huge part of the fabric of London that they actually shape the very culture that they are there to see. Oh well. As the French say, "That's Life."

London: Ich Gehe Nach Deutschland Zuruck

The alarm goes off at 4am but I have already been awake for 10 minutes. I suppose my internal clock already knew and was preparing me for the fun.

I quickly throw my stuff together and shoot Randall a quick goodbye and hustle out the door to catch the bus. Normally one would catch the Tube to Liverpool St Station but at this ungodly hour the first trains have yet to start running on the Central Line so I need to catch the bus. It takes a little bit longer but I really have no choice.

The guy working the 24 hour shop outside our hotel is nice enough to give me change to pick up my ticket and I head for the stop. It's actually a little confusing and at 4:15 I am a little turned around. My bus shows up by I have the presence of mind to ask the driver and he confirms that I am in fact going the wrong direction. No harm though as I jump off and cross the street.

I get to wait with all the riff-raff on their way home from "too many beers night" at the local clubs. Okay, they're not riff-raff, we have all been there. But they are good and drunk. There are a couple of guys who are trying to navigate their way home. The leader of the gang-of-two is smashed and the other guy was falling down drunk about 6 beers ago. Not pretty.

The leader keeps singing in an effort to try and keep his buddy from passing out in the street and it is barely working. Luckily their bus shows up but they can't seem to summon the motor skills required to board it. Well, one guy can but he is no shape to drag his comatose mate with him. The bus driver can't be bothered and closes the door to drive away. The guy loses it.

He starts screaming and shouting at the driver through the closed door but the driver ignores him and starts pulling away. Buddy is not content to leave it alone and starts running alongside the bus screaming and punching the door. Eventually the bus pulls away and the guy gives up. Just as he turns around and begins to head back to the bus stop the driver sees an opportunity and stops the bus in the middle of the street.

Buddy hears this and turns around on a dead sprint for the bus. In the spirit of Wayne Arnold the driver pulls away on him again and stops, taunting him. Unbelievably Buddy falls for the bait and is led down the street by the driver. Awesome.

The driver gets sick of this and speeds off into the early morning while Buddy slinks dejectedly back to his passed out mate. He spends the next few minutes trying to hail a cab with no success.

Moments after they get a cab my bus arrives and we are off to Liverpool Street.

I manage to just make it on the next Stansted Express and get to the airport with a little less time than I would like but it isn't the end of the world.

A pretty big line (queue?) has formed at the German Wings counter and it's getting a little tight. I'm not worried as there are still people coming in behind me. It is worthwhile just to see the panic on their faces as they realize that must wait in a long line with only one check in counter operating. They manage to clear everybody with enough time to get through security.

The flight is unremarkable except for the fact that it marks the first time I had ever seen the seat belt extender being put to use. Of course, it was the lady immediately next to me but on a 1 hour flight it isn't that big a deal. I can't imagine these seats are that comfortable for her as she had to wedge herself in there and I hear her complain about knee pain afterwards.

The pickup goes very smoothly as Lena employs the Standard Liutkus Airport Pickup (aka The 'SLAP'). If you don't already know what it is I apologize for not being able to disclose it to you. It's a hot move to say the least. Perhaps Bill will fill you in.

London: The Maple Leaf

On my last night in town Randall and I decide to head over to the Maple Leaf Pub and check out what is supposed to be somewhat of a mecca for Canadians living in London. Randall uses the time on the train to catch up on some important reading.

All in all it isn't exactly what a Canadian Pub looks like (in Vancouver a Canadian Pub is generally Irish anyway.....) but they are definitely trying. Randall points out that the Toronto Blue Jays baseball bat with the rubber grip is less than authentic and the "Early Lumberjack" motiv is a bit strong but all in all it's pretty cool. It is what Europeans would THINK a Canadian Pub looks like.

Apparently they tape and replay NHL games but no such luck for us tonight.

We have a couple of beers and head back to hotel for some more crib punishment and then hopefully at least a couple hours of sleep. I have to be up at 4am to catch the train to Stansted for my flight back to Germany.

Oh, and if you're ever in London, don't ask "Philip" from Soho to snap a photo for you. He really underexposes them. Thanks anyway Philip.

London: The Tube

I decide to spend my last day riding the Tube all around town and snapping some photos. Turns out after 9:30am you can grab an all day pass for about 10 bucks Canadian. This proves to be a very worthwhile endeavor.

I can't say enough about the Tube. Sure, I have heard stories about the unreliability of the trains (would you rather have had Mussolini in Buckingham Palace?) but I don't experience this. The trains come along every couple of minutes and are pretty fast. Of course that is obvious in the photo.

Aside from a couple of closures due to construction the stations and lines are very easy to navigate. One minor issue is the colour coding of the lines- it proves to be a little daunting for my colour-blindness but I can figure it out.

I head out to the Baker Street Station since the nerd in me wants to see what is at 221B (Sherlock Holmes's Address). I expect nothing but they have an actual museum there. Go figure. He wasn't real.

I hit a bunch of other stops and snap quite a few photos. A little quicker than walking everywhere.

London: Steve

I had met Steve while traveling around Australia 6 years ago. The day after I was in the hospital in Noosa with a concussion and short term Amnesia (just like Memento- no joke) I was off on a 3 day excursion to Frasier Island. You avid readers will know that this is also where I met Lena.

We were assigned a room for our stay that consisted of 2 bunk beds. I met the French Canadian Snoring champ and the two English guys- Dingo Dave and Salty Bob, who would be in my room. Or perhaps I was in there room. Not sure.

It wasn't until late in the trip that I would come to find out that Salty Bob was, in fact, Steve and had no idea who Dingo Dave was. I had thought they were BFF or something but in all actuality Dingo Dave (really a British Doctor whose name eludes me) had made the decision on the boat to come up with pseudonyms for himself and his fellow countrymen. Weird.

Anyway, Steve and I were continuing up the coast on almost the same path and being about the same age had had enough of the 18 year old backpackers that populate the dorm rooms of the hostels. In Airlie Beach we figured out that a double room cost the same as two beds in an 8 bunk room and quickly decided to split a room with our own bathroom and resident lizard.

We met again in Cape Tribulation and then back in Sydney. We never really kept in touch until a few months ago when I managed to track him down.

Despite planning a wedding for this June Steve manages to find time to come into the city for a couple of beers and catch up. Unfortunately he gets stuck in some sort of construction traffic and runs pretty late but he manages to show up.

It was good to see him again and I will do my best to be at his wedding this summer in Wales. We'll see.

PS- It rained like a sumbitch that night. And that's a bold statement coming from a Vancouverite.