My Mini OE - Paris

Okay I can finally upload photos! Check out my last entry and you'll see photos of my trip.

Paris is awesome, It is such a romantic, beautiful place and has great food! Because blogging is so hard in this country I'm going to write one massive blog about my time.
So on my first day I planned to hire a bicycle to check out the city but I ended up sleeping in and decided to walk instead. I'm glad I did because I saw some beautiful sights and even though Paris is set up really well for cyclists it is still dangerous on the road. French drivers are mad!

I missed breakfast that day but it was okay because I wasn't that hungry due to my cold, Once I saw a cafe with someone inside it that didn't look intimidating I went in and meet what I thought was an attractive French man, he reminded me of Russell Crowe, but it turns out he was from the netherlands! He was very nice if a little brusque and keep correcting me on my grammer. I enjoyed an excellent cappucino and then started to wander again.

I ended up at the Notre Dame! It was such a sunny, happy day and everyone was out taking it in.

It doesn't look sunny but it was!

My yummy lunch!

After I ate I decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and the streets I chose all seemed to have high end brands like Chanel and Prada, It was fate, Paris knew I love fashion. :)

Once I got to the Eiffel Tower the weather was really warm so I decided to go to the Summit to see Paris, I was told to queue in the stairs line because it was shorter and I'm glad I did because the line for the Elevator was massive, pretty much triple the stairs only line. It wasn't even that difficult to climb, I was really tired and had sore legs but I managed it quite easily. Even if It was hard the view was sooooo worth it, check out these photos

 

After that it was all downhill.... Haha, get it? No aside from that weak joke it was a nice descent and I really enjoyed my walk back to the hostel, heres a lovely photo

On my way back I got hit on by a french guy and it got creepy pretty quickly, when he realised I was not going to go with him and be, as he put it "crazy", He held my hands and wouldn't let them go as well as pointing at my boob with his finger like he was going to touch my chest. Bizarre.

When he left me, I headed back to the hostel for a good nights sleep.

Day two

I decided to check out the Louvre because the weather was yucky and it was definitly a day for being inside. First I started off the day with a yummy lunch and went to a cafe down the road from the hostel, I ordered a Chocolat chaud and a slice of quiche and when the waitress came over to hand it to me I dropped my pen so when I picked it up I hit my head on the tray which then spilt some of the drink! It was such a waste because it was the most delicious drink I've ever had.

The quiche was also delicious and had this large piece of cheese baked into the top

The Louvre was really good, I'm surprised because I usually don't like art. I did wish a friend was with me who studied Art History like Laura or Tess because I wanted to know more about a lot of the paintings.
 

An exhibition of Leonardo de Vinci's work, specifically Saint Anne

I learnt lots about how Leonardo painted and his methods, things that are probably obvious to others but I had never really put any thought into. For example I learnt he would draw "cartoons" of his artwork before painting them, with the Saint Anne painting he drew three editions before deciding on the final one, he also would draw over and over one specific part of the painting like an arm or a foot to get it just right. He was an amazing artist. 

The main reason for my visit was to see the Mona Lisa and it was probably the main reason for a lot of people. They had this glass case surrounding the painting, a roped off part about 1.5 metres around the glass and two guards making sure people didn't get too close!

On my way back I meet a more gentlemanly French man who asked me in french directions but I couldn't answer and he was kind enough to say I looked like a french woman. :)

Something random I noticed was on the bridges they had locks with peoples names on them, I'm not sure what its about but it was quite interesting.

Day 3

Day three was the day for shopping because it was Saturday, also I didn't know it at the time but most shops are closed on Sunday so if you ever go to Paris don't expect to shop on a Sunday!

I wanted to check out one of the Marche aux Puces and the Père Lachaise Cemetary, The easiest way was to get the Metro and I have to admit I was avoiding using it, But once I got down there I saw how easy it was and really made the most of it. I went to the Marches aux Puces de Montreuil which was supposed to be more focused on bric-a-brac, antiques and Vintage clothing.

Heres my outfit for the day, I ended up grabbing a cardigan and a scarf because it was quite cold.

I've seen some cheap furs in france, but its too heavy for my baggage!

There was so much random crap mixed in with cheap chinese clothing and hardware products, but if you really looked there were some good items also. I've had a bad experience with markets in London so I didn't buy anything except a cheap necklace and bracelet (But, the necklace broke later that night!)

Once I was at the end I wandered up the road and found a mall so I thought I would check it out. Inside they had a McDonalds so I thought I'd see what they sold and it was so much nicer than in New Zealand, especially the McCafe!

Yummmmmm!

When I was finished looking around I decided to go to the Cemetary, I only really knew a few names on the list they had at the entrance so I wrote down the locations and took a photo of the map and went looking.

Eugene Delacroix (Painter)

Oscar Wilde (Poet)

Edith Piaf (Chanteuse)

La Vie en Rose

Jim Morrison (Musician), There were gates around his grave to stop vandals

In the late afternoon I went back to the hostel and had a power nap, One of the other roomies wanted to go out for dinner and have a proper french meal so we decided to go together. She is Korean and didn't speak much french and because I knew a little I think she was happy to go with me.

My Appetizer was a Tarte au Tartin and It was delicious!

For my main meal I has a fish dish with a green curry sauce but I think it tasted more indian than french. It was good anyways!

Day 4

As it was my final day in Paris I thought I would tick off a few more things from my list, I decided on walking down the Champs-élyseés toward the Arc de Triomphe. It was an excellent day with beautiful sunny weather and even though it was sunday, as I mentioned above in France they close shops on a sunday, everyone was out!

I then decided to take a few more photos of the hostel and have dinner at one of the other Hostels because you get a full three course meal for only $10.50. I really enjoyed my stay at the hostel and it was such a great location! I would definitely recommend it to others.

I will see you again Paris, I enjoyed every second!

My Mini OE - Final Day of London and leaving on an airplane

Tuesday the 8th of May was my last full day in London. I have had an interesting time in London and without offending anyone, I don't think London is my favourite place to be. Perhaps it was the weather, or that I was perpetually tired. It could even be a lack of organisation on my part. After the independence of New York, and the weather of California I remain underwhelmed.
Its not to say I didn't enjoy myself, or that it was a waste of time. No No, seeing Kiera, meeting Audrey and her family, hanging out with Duncan, going shopping, sleeping in! I loved it, but without being too specific I guess London was more of a waiting room than an appointment, a queue than a ride, a pause than an answer.

This is all very depressing, isn't it? Lets get on to the good stuff, because there was lots of it!

I have soooooooo many goodies! AND I didn't even scratch the surface of shops here! I started off with heading for Portobello Road on the tube, There is a shop on Protobello Green called What Katie Did, If you click on the link (or Google it) you'll see why I loved it.
Once I bought some goodies from there I learnt from the shop assistant that I could claim a tax called VAT from shops in Europe and the UK as I wasn't a EU citizen. Not that I needed anymore reasons to shop!
I then wandered down Portobello Road hoping the Markets were open but only a few vendors were out. I read in my Lonely Planet Guide that a shop to visit was the Hummingbird Bakery and I knew one was on Portobello Road. So after purchasing some vitnage threads from a stall I asked where it was. Once I got there I was feeling tired so I ordered a coffee, They had some amazing treats to choose from! It costs extra to sit in the shop so I got two cupcakes to go and went outside in the burgeoning sun. I sat myself down on a concrete ledge by a bush fence and rested my feet. Here are my Goodies

I got a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing.

I could only manage one so I packed away my second one for later & headed down the road for some more shopping. Once I finished in Notting Hill I caught the tube to east London to check out another store that sold only English products. It had a cool layout and was like an old store you'd find in a Sherlock Holmes novel.

I, of course, bought sweets!

I then made my way to brick lane and chesire street and stopped off in a couple of excellent second hand/vintage stores where I bought some great items. Once it got to 6pm all the stores closed but I knew Harrods would still be open and I really wanted to go to the food court. Boy was I impressed!
I walked in through the makeup section and headed toward the first part on that side of the building which happened to be the chocolate and sweets section. I had to stop and take a deep breath at the chocolate part and I could have stayed there till closing taking in all the chocolaty goodness, the smell was heavenly. It made me hungry and I knew I couldn't have a dinner of chocolate so I wandered through to a more appropriate part. The options were endless but I chose a wrap with lots of vegetables and guacamole.

After I ate outside on a bench I saw Topshop and Zara were still open so I had a look inside to see what all the fuss was about, especially with Topshop, fortunately I didn't have enough money so I left the stores at closing and carried my bags to the underground to get back to Audreys in time for packing my bags!

Thank you London for a grey, drizzly but ultimately fun time and yay for Paris and better weather!!

Leaving London

Heres the sight that saw me off in London, 

Here I am in Paris and its the same sight but about 10 degrees warmer, cause I'm wearing a sundress and a scarf only!

Anyways, I woke up on the 9th of May with a cold, not the best thing but I was too busy to care, I then made my way to the airport and had no issues whatsoever with customs or checking in or anything! 

The flight was only 55 minutes and Europe is only 1 hour ahead of London so I was glad to not be jet lagged. I was sick so getting to sleep was also not a problem.

I did have trouble getting to the hostel though, Once I went through customs I tried to figure out how to get to the hostel, I knew the address but I couldn't figure out the best way to get there. I also remembered to confirm you're booking you must call the day before or prior to12 midday if you are arriving after midday and I was arriving at about 8pm. So I called the number they gave me and after awhile I figured out what the area code to put in was, I then spoke with the receptionist who luckily spoke english and was told my booking was cancelled because I didn't confirm! I really needed somewhere to sleep so asked her if I could still stay at the hostel and she put me on hold to check what was free.

When she got back to me she said I could stay in a twin room that night which would be 38 euros and a dorm the following night which was 31 euros but I would have to go to their other hostel for the following 3 nights which luckily for me was only down the road. The hostels I'm staying in are beautiful old 17th century homes that have been altered for hostel goers but are still in the 17th century style!

Here are some photos of my journey to the hostel and of the hostel itself:

Once I got to my room I saw that no-one else was in it so I had a room to myself, Once I showered and drank a lot of water I fell asleep for a good nights rest.

Paris is so beautiful that before I slept and showered I went for a wander and here are some photos to see off this blog entry

My Mini OE - London and Airport Issues

Hi, sorry for the delay in posting! I've been too tired at night to get on the computer and have finally decided I better get something down to let you know whats happening.

I started off my journey to London with a late night and an early morning so it wasn't off to the best start, then I experienced delays at Newark airport so by the time I arrived in London it was about 8:30pm. I got off the plane with blistered feet because like an idiot I was wearing some new shoes, so I ended up using the sticker on my boarding pass and placing it over the blister. Good ol' Kiwi Ingenuity! Then I went to queue and man it was long!! Once I got halfway I realized I didn't have my customs clearance card to fill in so I had to leave the massive queue and go grab the card. Then I filled it in with all the information it required, with the exception of the address where I was staying which was with Mums Partners Sisters Penpal. I had been emailing Audrey but I forgot to ask for the address so all I knew was that it was in Croydon, which it was I put on the card. Once I got to the end of the queue I was tired, had sore feet and a sore back and I was wondering how I would get around not having an address!

Well the first thing that happened was the Customs man said "We'll need more than Croydon, UK for the address" and in my fragile state that was all it took for me to burst into tears! So here I was crying like an idiot while the customs officer tried to get information from me about who I was staying with and the reasons for my trip. Luckily I had the flight information for my trip and the EasyJet Boarding passes for London to Paris and Paris to Rome, so I could at least hand that over. He then said that he would need an address and I unfortunately couldn't give it to him as I couldn't even remember Audrey's surname! And even telling him how I knew her sounded ridiculous, I mean when you state the connection it sounds a bit dodgy!
So once my cry turned into the "Ugly Cry" and he had given me a warning about being detained and making sure I remember the address for next time he let me through to get my bags.

By this time it was 9:30pm and I hadn't been able to contact Duncan or get internet access, so I ran to get my bags but when I managed to figure out which baggage carousel was the one to go to I saw that it had stopped! So I went to the questions desk and saw my bag was the last one from the flight to be picked up, then zoomed over to the exit to hopefully see Duncan and Audrey waiting. Well Duncan sticks out from a crowd so I immediately felt relieved when I saw him and then standing next to him was Audrey and her Mum.
I then had another little cry and got a cuddle from Duncan which made me feel better, and I made my way with them to the car for a good nights sleep!!!!

Day 1 of London

So I had a lovely sleep in and was looking forward to checking out London and meeting up with my dear friend Kiera! Duncan joined us for the day also which started at midday as Kiera had a Job interview and we planned to meet at 1pm. Lucky for Duncan and I Audrey was able to give us a lift to the train station in Easy Croydon and then help us by letting us know what ticket to buy so we could get around London affordably. 

Once we had figured out what train to catch (I asked one of the station attendants, Duncan was too chicken to ask! :) We made our way to London Waterloo which was where we were meeting Kiera.

It was so nice to see Kiera, we had a great day checking out Trafalgar Square, and walking past the London Eye, then we went to the Camden Markets and I got into an argument with a lady at one of the stalls because I bought a ring and it broke after wearing it for about an hour. I think I embarrassed Duncan and Kiera, and later on when I had cooled down myself. Its cause I asked for my money back and she had this little sign in the top corner saying no refunds, only exchanges.

Once we had something to eat around 7pm Duncan and I left to go back to Audreys and Kiera went back to the hostel she was staying in.

Day 2 of London

I started off the day with a sleep in and was late to meeting Kiera which I am so sorry about!! Sorry Keira!!!

Duncan also came as he was going to be staying with a mate that night and had to go to the dudes work to get keys so he could drop off his backpack. 

I meet up with Kiera whilst Duncan went to see his friend and she and I decided we would meet at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I had such a nice time there, the best part was the Jewellery Collection. It really brings out the Magpie in you!

If I get rich enough I want to try an replicate this Necklace

Kiera and I lusting over the rings

Kiera and I went for lunch and coffee and then caught the tube to the station where I meet up with Duncan and we both farewell-ed Kiera. Thank you Kiera for coming to meet me, I am so glad we could meet up!!

Duncan and I then went to the Tate Modern and queued for about 20 minutes to check out the Damien Hirst  Diamond Encrusted Skull on show for free. It was made with 8,601 Diamonds and is worth about 50 million pounds.

The mighty Tate Modern

It was quite cool in real life but I was tired and kind of past it by that point.

Once we had seen it I was getting really weary and wanted to get to bed so I left Duncan at the Tate and headed back to Audreys. I got off at the stop near Oxford Street and ended up in Primark on Bond Street which did renew my strengths somewhat so I left Primark with a lovely Skirt and some stockings! Its funny how rejuvenating I find shopping. I'm sorry Mum, I wish Art got me excited but alas I am not that way inclined! 

Day 3 of London

Well I enjoyed myself very much on day 3 (Saturday) I indulged in shopping and got some nice buys from a couple of Notting Hill Thrift Shops, I also went to Selfridges and felt very odd amongst all the expensive clothes and I caught the end of the Portobello Road Markets! It wasn't a cultured day and It wasn't a event fulled day but it was my kind of Holiday! 

Day 4 of London

Well yesterday was definitely an event filled day! I went into London and had a look around the East End at some shops, I bought lots of lovely clothes at this place called the East End Thrift Shop down a passage way called Assembly Passage and I got an amazing coat/cape you can see it in the photos below because after the shopping I met up with Duncan and some other people who were new to London and work colleagues with the girl whose place he was staying at. We meet at Buckingham Palace but because its so cold over here we just had a quick look then wandered down to Trafalgar Square. 

Once we got to Trafalgar Square we then noticed a concert going on and asked a security guard who explained it was an Indian Festival celebrating the New Year. We watched for a little while but got cold pretty quickly so ended up heading to a pub for some food and drinks to warm us up!

Pimms Cup!

We had a few nice drinks and I tasted a really delicious Strawberry and Pear Cider which I could see myself getting addicted to! We were really wanting Mulled Wine but what we got had alcohol in it so we warmed up pretty quickly! 

Once we finished there Duncan asked if we wanted to meet up with Laura who he was staying with at a bar called Walkabout Inn which is apparently an Australian Bar and they have them in Australia also, Kat who was with us and is Australian had never been in one and it sounded from her description to be pretty low class. 

Once we made our way there, after asking for directions from a drunken man with a Cockney accent, We saw what Kat was talking about. Wow. I have never experienced anything like it, for anyone who knows what I mean, it was like the Big Kumara in Wellington on Crack. 

Because it was a Sunday night and Monday is a public holiday so many people were out but I do think that even if people had work the next day they would probably still get quite drunk. There was a queue outside and then once we got to the front of the queue I realized I didn't have my ID so I left it up to the bouncer but he believed me when I told him I was 23. 

Heres some grainy photos of the place

Guy who looked like he wasn't feeling too good

Girl who was crying

The lights came on at 10:30pm and they started clearing people out a little later because they had  reached capacity

It was Carnage

Now I kind of wish I never went because then Duncan and I lost Laura and she went to another Pub that was in Putney (we were in Hammersmith) and because it was late and freezing we couldn't figure out how to get there and we got angry, well I got angry at Duncan, so it felt like a bit of a disaster. It took us ages to finally make our way there and It cost me £25 for the Taxi which didn't even get us to the right place, then we did get there but they were 20 minutes away from closing so we couldn't even get in. Duncan and I finally decided to go back to Laura's where we would both crash on the massive couch, but that took a long time also! We missed the 2:12am bus then waited till 2:42am for the next one, Lucky Bastard Duncan had a nap while we waited, Made our way to another stop where we caught an after midnight bus which was 20 minutes away so we sat at the bus stop with other night time dwellers and then when we got to Laura's we could finally settle down and get warm! Laura was really lovely also she came in about 20 minutes after us and put a sleeping bag over me cause I was using my new coat/cape as a blanket and gave me a pillow. 

I had a really good sleep and followed in Duncans footsteps by having water before we slept and water when we woke up. :)

Day 5 of London

This morning we all woke up and decided to go for a feed at a local pub, I had a really nice Vegetarian sunday roast with a Mushroom and Cashew Wellington (Mushrooms and Cashews and a yummy gravy covered in pastry) and a coffee and apple juice. While the others had a proper sunday roast.

Yum!

Duncan and I then had to go back to the Victoria and Albert Museum because he had been there with Kat and Ezra (The work colleagues of Laura) and had forgotten his Backpack with all his things in it! 

We then made our way to Audreys for a relaxing evening and a delicious Sunday Roast for tea! (I had vegetable stir fry that was leftover from Wagamama instead of Chicken)

Tomorrow is my last full day in London so I'm really going to make the most of it!!! 

My mini OE - Final three days of New York

I've decided to play catch up by entering three days worth of activites into one blog entry as i'm going to be flying to London tomorrow and I don't want to worry about New York posts while i'm in London. On Sunday morning I had a lie in then got dressed for a walk in central park.

I could have spent my whole trip in central park, its that beautiful. It was a lovely sunny day and I enjoyed people watching, you learn things that way, like if you want your name on one of the park benches it'll set you back $5000 bucks.

I saw fathers fishing with their children, artists painting the many different sights surrounding them, friends throwing a frisbee and others cycling. It was so nice and peaceful, one lovely extra was you also got to see a lot of squirels and birds living amongst an unnatural environment. Here are some snapshots of what I saw.

Once I felt my stomach rumbling I decided to go to the Garden of Eden, a store that sells food made on the premise. They have salads and hot food as well as fruit and vegetables and all kinds of supermarket items.

I didn't know we were that cheap!

I then caught the subway to the city and spent the rest of the day walking around and taking it all in
On Monday I started off a visit to the Muesuem of New York to read about the history of this great city. I learnt so much about the way the city has had so many challenges but mainly due to the people it keeps recovering.

I then continued as I had on Sunday and walked around the shops and stalls and people Downtown, finishing the evening with a Broadway show!

Finally today I wanted to tick off some things on my list before I left, they were go up the empire state building, find a decent cup of coffee and buy some second hand/thrift shop things. I succeeded in all those things to my amazement because I was so tired and a little bit lonely. I cant wait to see my friends in London and especially my brother Duncan!

Heres a few more photos to finish off, thank you New York and ill see ya next time!

Finally a decent cup of coffee!

Delicious!

Goodbye New York!