HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey everyone, just wanted to write real quick and say happy new year! Tal got here and I found him (I know I amaze myself). I got up this morning and thuoght I should at least ask my hostel if they had any cancelations, becuase online they are booked full. Not only did they have one, but it was in my room (wow) so Tal and I are bunking together (it is PCS all over again). Tal should get down on his knees and thank the stars he has me becuase I am his savior when it comes to housing. Finally got to th London Eye today, but of course it was the first foggy day we have had since I have been here (it's ok I still got to ride the wheel) though there was this one family and these screaming kids the whole time (damn foreigners). After that it was off to the Tower of London (heads did roll), which was really cool. A must see in my opinion for anyone coming to London. It is a bit on the expensive side at 14£ with a student id (being a student finally came in handy), but it is a cool misture of castle and history and you get a free tour by a beefeater (yes like the gin). Following this was a walk along the Thames to the globe theatre (like in Shakespeare) though the original was torn down by (yes our founders) the Puritains (good old non-theatre loving people). The tour for this started late and I barely made it to the station to meet up with Tal, and had I not we would never have found each other (;)). With that said, we are off to the Thames to see fireworks being shot off of the London Eye. Should be fun. Have a safe and fun New Year everyone.

Picture count: 293 (but some will be taken later tonight)

Rant for today: people with video cameras that take video of the stuff on their vacations. When are you going to watch this stuff and what poor unsuspecting sap is going to be fored to watch you in the london eye video tapping the city. Unless your a paid movie director, leave the camera at home!

Burning rubber

My feet are sore, which must indicate that I have walked all over this city trying to see what I can in the little time I have here. Man, this puts the amount of milage I did in New York to test (a news student asked my mom, sis, and me some questions of what we had seen in the three days in New York and was shocked at our list replying she had lived there for years and hadn't seen all that stuff). Today started early as I had a lot to get in. Went to St. Pual's cathedral, yet again, much like Westminster, very beautiful and picturesk (as you must know by now I am a cathedral whore). Next was the tate modern (museum of modern art) this was crazy, I will tell you when I come back but needless to say, one room was many projectors set up beaming crazy mudilation, private parts, and a guy eating raw hamburger (are you scared yet? becuase these images are going to haunt my dreams). After this was the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (this was a mob scene). I got off at the wrong station and had to double back, meaning I got there right at 11:30 (when it happens) and was shocked at the amount of people there. I spoke to a cop and go the skinny that they (the guards) would be coming down one of the streets that was out of the way, so I hung out there till the guards came and got some good pictures and movies. I was going to take a ride on the eye of London (the giant farris wheel), but the line was crazy long (first stop tomorrow) so I went to London bridge (yes as in falling down and every time you come around) and the tower bridge. After this was the British Musuem, but I got there and my feet were hurting so much I just sat down and fell asleep (thank you British Museum for all your glorious comfertible chairs). With that said, Tal is coming tomorrow and as of yet does not have a place to stay (this is Tal to a T, hahaha) so the trip could be plus and minus one traveler real quick as he might freeze to death tomorrow night. Much to do and only one day left, Happy New Year early (especially for me as I will celebrate it 8 hours before all you suckers).

Picture count: 200 (back on track)

P.S. side note for today is that I hate people with suitcases and staryed lovers, both go really slow in the tube hallways and all are drawn to me like magnets. They best just watch out because tomorrow it is going to be my foot somewhere bad...

Fighting the cold

You know it is bad when your flight lands and the pilot says that the temp outside is 1 degree C (that just sounds bad). With that said it is cold here, but I am doing an ok job of fighting it off (hence the title, I'm sure you figured that out). But one of the purchases today (although quit late on my part) was a scarff though it was cheap becuase of all the after Christmas sales (even for London). Got up at 1:20 this morning, becuase I looked at my alarm and thought it was 7, after getting dressed I looked at my watch and realized it was 1:30 in the morning and got back into bed. Six hours later I got up and enjoyed my free breakfast of sausage, eggs, porage, and yougurt (best part of waking up). After that it was time to start the day, got a tube pass, so now I can go anywhere in zones 1 & 2 (YEAH!) which makes my life so much easier. Went to Trafalgar square, the national and portait meusums (which did take some time to get through, but I have now seen Van Gogh's sunflowers). Following this was a walking tour of Whitewall, which ends at the parliement building (that's the one with Big Ben for those not in the know). The way I came to see Big Ben was by accident (much like the Pub I went to last night, Churchill Arms is listed in the lonely planet as one of the best Pubs in my area and I found it compeltely on accident) as I saw people taking pictures and wondered why there was so many of them only to turn around and there was the big guy himself. After many pictures (a count will follow) I went to get in line for Westminster abbey (ok totally forgot that other people might want to see stuff like this and ended up waiting for an hour to get in, which the seruity guard I chatted up said was crazy as there usually is no line at all). Waiting in line for this, was when the cold really got to me, standing in the freezing (standing) does not help, its not too bad when your moving around though. So Westminster is amazing! That was the highlight of today and I can only say it is riveled only by Notre Dame (though don't tell the Brits that) in beauty. Go google it and look at the pictures, very nice. Off to the marble arch and then a jaunt through Hyde Park, where I (once again by luck) stumbeled onto Wonderland. An temperary amusment park/winter fair set up in Hyde Park. Got some German Wine (yes Mac be jealous) and then headed off to Baywater to a Pub (one that the cougar told me of, see last post). But after walking around for like ten minutes trying to find it I gave up becuase of the cold and found a Pub that said it had the best fish & chips in London for super cheap. Well I don't know if they were the best, but for the price they could not be beat and with a nice stout, I was much full. Time to plan for the next day, lots to do.

Picture count: 78 (slow for me, but I'm warming up)

P.S. If the spelling is bad it is becuase I do not have spell check and have little time on the computer so time is of the essance, but I try where I can.

First pint in London

So as I am sure you all can guess I made it to London, even though I confused the time of my flight and ended up dragging my parents all over SF to kill the time before my flight. I have a lot to tell and only 7min left on my computer time so it is going to be the reader diegest version. The flight was fine, but I seem to always get behind the person who has to have their seat back the entire time and not only did he have the seat back he kept trying to get it to go back even further grinding into my space. Sat next to a nice woman (married of course we all know my tastes) who has an uncle and aunt that live out in the country in the south and host students all the time, so I can stay for free if I want (sounds kid of like hostel). (5min) Got to London and we had to circle becuase we were early, which means the obvious happened, someone threw up (that will make three flights now I have been on were someone has thrwon up). Getting off the flight I went through several underground tranfers to get were I thought my hostel was only to find out it wasn't. And if you ever think that streets in the US are bad, try being at the corner of Campden Hill Rd. and Campden Hill (it's like the Seinfeld episode with Kramer visting his girlfreind who lives on the lower side of NY). Finally found my hostel, got checked in and went exploring (after a short nap, of course). (2min) With that said the best part so far was (as the title should show) getting the first pint at Churchill and arms. Where I met a couger and already got invited back to a falt...I will leave that to your imgination (must be the California accent). Only a few seconds left, more to come. I made it and thats what counts.

Itinerary

Here it is. the long awaited, never imitated, itinerary for the entire trip. Hold on because it is going to be a bumpy ride:
Leave SFO December 27
Arrive Heathrow, London Dec. 28
Dec. 28 - Dec. 31: London
Jan. 1: Windsor
Jan 2-3: Salisbury
Jan. 4: Bath
Jan. 5: Bristol
Jan. 6-8: Cork (Ireland)
Jan. 9: Dungarven + Waterford
Jan. 10-12: Dublin
Jan. 13 fly out to Delhi

Jan. 14-16: Delhi; 16th morning train to Jaipur

Jan. 16-17: Jaipur; 17th evening to Jodhpur

Jan. 17-19: Jodhpur; fly to Mumbai on 19th afternoon

Jan. 19-22: Mumbai; on 22nd day flight to Diu

Jan. 22-25: See Diu

Jan. 25-26: return 25th night by bus to Ahmedabad and then fly Delhi on 26th night

Jan. 27: Agra
Jan. 28: Delhi
Jan. 29 Flight back to US
Jan. 30 Back in the USA!

I know ambitious, and the only thing planed so far are the sites, no hostels, no restaurants, no trains. The old Nathaniel is gone, this is wild, new, free Nathaniel (who will most likely regret the lack of planning). Avanti!

Not all those who wander are lost - J.R.R. Tolkien

Hitting the brick wall

It has just occurred to me that I am leaving in six days (silently screams in head). There are still several things I have to do before I leave and nothing has really been done in the last week, seeing as I had my final final of college on Friday, of which I had been studying for intensely (ok not really) all week. On top of that there were two Christmas parties (yes I must be getting old if I am going to Christmas parties) that I went to that thoroughly made me unproductive. On the list of things to do is get a hair cut. For those who haven't seen me in a while the hair is getting long (some might even say the ponytail is back) and needless to say hair that takes several hours to air dry is no good for cold days, so I need this rugged mop on my head trimmed up. I really only want to take one bag with me on the trip, seeing as most of the time I will be in a new city every day. With that said, it is going to be tight trying to fit everything I need into one bag, and with the nice new airline regulations about liquids (which make me feel so much safer about flying) I will either have to check my backpack or take a small bag to put all my hygiene type stuff in (as on the way back from Brazil I kept these items in my backpack and they were confiscated before we got on the plane, which trust me, the last thing you want to do is take away a man’s deodorant, toothbrush/paste, and cologne when he hasn't showered in two days. Oh the poor people on the plane next to me). Tal and I have still not even decided where we are going to meet up once he gets to London, though the basic skeleton of where we are going has been determined, more to follow tomorrow. Shawn and I talked today and got the main portion of the India leg of the trip figured out and I will post this soon as well. Shout out to Shawn for being my personal travel agent in India (really takes the pressure off). Five days to go, of which one is Christmas, my Christmas wish is to get everything done that needs to be done before Saturday comes. Please help me baby Jesus.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. -Robert Lewis Stevenson

Much needed equipment

There is nothing better than a trip to REI (shameless promotional plug) to get stuff for a trip. And boy did I make out like a bandit. I finally got my micro-fiber towel, which can also be used to dry clothes that you wash. I am excited to use it, but am going to put it through some trial runs before I get to London (seeing as being cold, naked. and wet is not the time to find out that it doesn't work, especially in an unknown hostel). On top of that I got some micro-fiber underwear. The tag line on the package says "17 countries. 6 weeks. One pair of underwear." Not that I wouldn't love to push this theory to the test, but I think Shawn couldn't stand the smell by the time I got to India. With that said, I got two pairs, just so that I could switch off. I have already tested them out and they do dry exceptionally fast (let’s hope they work that well in the field) but the hostels should have heaters on which I can use to help dry things out as well. Other items of interest, I finally remembered that I needed an alarm. I (and most other people my age) use a cell phone as the main source of getting up in the morning and this is one of the items that are not brought on a trip. Best is being in France, at a different hotel, and having someone tell you you need to be at their hotel at 8 in the morning without using an alarm and where you try to communicate to the desk clerk, who does not speak English, that you want a wakeup call. Needless to say I woke up on time, and the wakeup call came right as we were walking out the door to leave. The girls in the other hotel were not on time...they shall remain nameless. So I got a travel alarm so I know when to get up, not crucial for most but a must for me. The list is getting shorter and so are the days, 11 more to go.

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware –Miriam Beard

And then there were two

It is official, beyond all belief, the person that will be joining me in London for New Year's Eve is none other than our very own Tal Polon. I know, I have already checked to see if hell froze over and indeed it has. With this said Tal is going to be flying in on the 31st and leaving on the 6th, which is cool because I will have someone to travel with for around a week. With this said, his arrival on this magic carpet ride has put my planning into full gear trying to get everything done before we head out. As Tal said the other day "at bear minimum we need to plan out where we are going to meet in London", of which I agreed, though if two people could not plan that out and go on faith that they would find each other it would be Tal and me (Mac would be the other, brother from another mother!). I have the next two days of London planned out now (meaning I know where I want to go not when and how I am going to get there), which I will be posting in the next couple of days. Outside of this Tal said that he wanted to see a castle, so we will be going to Windsor Castle (http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co06152002/Art/WindsorCastle.jpg), and then to Salisbury, which is close to Stonehenge. Other then this more to come, the trip has now become sketchy, thanks to Tal.

No one knows how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow - Lin Yutang

Ode to rain

I have a paper due tomorrow, which I just now finished and am now celebrating through procrastination on the internet. Tal is going to Israel around the same time I'm going to England, so he is going to try and have a stop over to hangout for a couple of days, though knowing Tal and his infinite sketchiness, one will never know if this is actually going to happen or not. Looking at the weather today London is 39°F and raining (this is what I expected England to be like), which begs the question of what I am going to pack, since the weather in Delhi is 72°F (that’s a 33° difference). At least I am thinking of this before I get there, unlike a similar experience in Brazil, where yes, I did not take any type of jacket with me (Brazil is below the equator, meaning that when it is summer here it is winter there) meaning that the fact that I went in July…yep. Thank goodness I got a jacket after a while because there was a very drafty bus ride from Iguacu to Sao Paulo (an 18 hour bus ride), now that’s cold. So there is going to have to be an umbrella, some shoes that are good at being anti-water (yes I could say waterproof, but I didn’t) and a coat. Though I don’t think that it is going to be the one I wore when in Europe, for the reason seen in the picture below. That is one khaki ninja, I’m like the stay puff marshmallow man, but khaki. Sudev is packing for India now, seeing as he is going to leave on Wednesday, and he is only making me worry more about having to get stuff ready for this trip. I sit here listening to more of my Irish folk music and the time nears nineteen days to go.

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles –Tim Cahill

The journey continues

In trying to keep up with my productivity I have planned out the second day of my trip! This among going to a Cal game (yeah we won) and hanging out with Tal (more work then it sounds). After a free breakfast at my hostel (oh yeah), I am off to the Charing Cross station (see previous post for link to underground map), which should drop me off at Trafalgar square (this is also where I will be on New Year's Eve, in what state I don't know) where you can get to the national gallery and the national portrait gallery (yes these are two different museums). I think I am going to go to both, but just do the five minute tour, so to speak, but even then it is going to take a couple hours to get through the over 10,000 portraits they have in the, you guessed it, portrait gallery. From here, maybe to the Churchill museum, seeing as I am a WWII buff (in my own mind), but this is if I have time and am not brain-dead from the already hectic museum schedule (I needn’t mention, but shall, that my mom, sister, and I did the Natural history museum, Guggenheim, and the Met all in one day, yes impressive). From here, the Whitewall walking tour, along the way is Westminster abbey and the parliament building, which is where Big Ben is for those not in the know. Around this area is also Westminster Cathedral, those who know me know that I am a cathedral/temple nut, which means that I will most likely pop on over to this. Other then that I want to leave day two kind of open seeing as there will still be some lovely jet lag slowing me down. As far as grub goes there is a popular pub close to the end of the day, the Red Lion, a cool 19^th century pub feel, and who doesn’t like a nice pub. Slowly chiseling away at the behemoth that is this trip, no wonder I usually travel with friends that are organized.

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. –John Steinbeck

Kid in a candy store

As the title might suggest, this is how I feel when I start to plan for a trip. Often I find the list of things that I want to see way outnumbers the amount of days I have in a country or a given city. With that said, I finally stopped slacking off and opened the bible (which was quite dusty by now) and started to look at maps of London and where I am going to be staying. Incidentally, the hostel I am staying at is in Notting Hill (yes like the Julia Roberts/Hugh Grant film, no I cannot see the blue door as it was sold in auction a couple years ago, yes I do plan on running into Julia Roberts and falling madly in love). My flight arrives at Heathrow Airport at 11am, meaning that I will have been up for more then twenty-four hours by the time I get there (knowing that I am not going to be able to sleep on the plane, I'm no Joanna, who incidentally was asked by a flight attendant on our way back from Germany what medication she had taken because the flight attendant had never seen somebody sleep so soundly...Joanna hadn't taken any sleeping aid. Take from that what you will) follow this link (http://barmybadger.com/Frames/Map.jpg) to behold a map of the underground and you can see I am going to have to take the Piccadilly (hahaha) line up to the Central line and then off to Notting Hill Gate stop, hopefully I pack lightly because that is a lot of stops on a train, though it will be the middle of the day (back off pickpockets). So I'm going to drop my bags off at the hostel, no I am not going to say which one (who knows who wants to stalk to me) and then go exploring around Notting Hill, yes going to the gardens in Notting Hill (helpless romantic, shout out to Mac the romantic comedy whore). Besides Notting Hill, I am right next to Holland Park, Kensington Garden, and Hyde Park, so I guess lots of lounging in gardens (seeing as I’m not freezing). Anyway, that is the plan for the first day, lots of walking to stretch my legs after the flight and trying to stifle the jet lag. I know that this is a coup out, I have not really laid any solid plans down, but don’t worry, there is more to come and believe it or not I think I have most of day two planed out. More to follow.

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world – Freya Stark

Music

So the bible (lonely planet) has a section in it that lists the top five traditional albums for Ireland. I went onto iTunes today and downloaded a couple of the ones that sounded good to me. Paddy Keenan and the Bothy Brothers. Currently my favorite songs are "Lost and then Found", "Fionnghuala", and "old hag you have killed me" (ok maybe that last one I like just for the name, but to each his own. Find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgXwIIHAmaw). What I have found out by doing this is that I love traditional Irish music. Growing up whenever it would come on (not regularly) I knew I enj0yed it, but now I know I need to get a collection going. Again I find that doing things such as going onto iTunes and getting music is easier then having to plan out things like, oh, where I'm staying and where I'm going. At least I have nice Irish music to keep me motivated. With that said, going to go and plan some stuff. More to come.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. -St. Augustine

Getting Ready

Though I have gotten lonely planet books (or the bible, as we call them now) for Ireland and England, I have been quit lazy about getting around to reading them and planning my trip out. Seeing as this is the first time I will be traveling alone, I don't think the fact that the onus is on me to get everything down has hit yet, though I still have a little under a month to get this done. The list for today is a microfiber towel, something I picked up on when in Brazil. For those of you not in the know, a microfiber towel absorbs up to eight times its weight in liquid, yet 90% of the liquid can be easily wrung out to speed drying time, kind of like a shammy except not for cars. This is very useful for hostel traveling, seeing as many (and by many I mean most hostels) do not have towels for customers to use. So when you’re packing up and going to a new location every couple of days, it doesn’t help to have a sopping wet towel in your bag getting all your cloths wet. Plus you want a dry towel every time you take a shower, seeing as most of the showers in Brazil were cold ones (much what I would expect a torture sessions would include. You don’t know what its like to get in a shower and realize there is only one knob for both hot a cold and what you get is what you get, oh and there is a window cut into the wall with no covering, yeah, there was shrinkage). The second item is a mini electric razor. I forgot to bring any razor to Brazil and had to borrow Mac's, which I can assure you was a lot of fun, the whole time. This time around I think I am getting older and lazier because I just want to be able to run a razor over my face for a couple of minutes and then be done. Though for those that know me know that I do not have that much of a beard anyway so this is not an important purchase, simply one of convenience. I am trying to get in touch with a friend of a friend that lives in Ireland so that I can either, bum a place to stay for a couple of days, or at least have a local to show me around and have a couple of pints with. Anyway, I’m going to try and start posting my itinerary and junk in the next couple of days, but we will have to see how that goes.

Let the road be your doorstep - Nathaniel Chaney