Reset search
Europe 2018Europe 2018
SatelliteEdit route

Europe 2018

September 2018 - April 2024
Switzerland, London and Ireland Read more
Currently traveling
  • 41footprints
  • 6countries
  • 2,063days
  • 387photos
  • 2videos
  • 41.9kkilometers
  • 35.9kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 11

    Wet in Wengen

    September 14, 2018 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    It was wet with low cloud cover this morning. I decided to spend the morning at the hotel as I’ve been doing quite a bit each day and needed a break.
    After lunch I went into Wengen. I took the cable car to Männlichen and then a gondola down to Grindelwald. It’s the first gondola I’ve done this trip and had forgotten what they were like. They have small cabins for 4 and they don’t stop. The cabins are moving really slowly as you exit the building but then it speeds up and seems really really fast. There were gorgeous views down into the valley.
    From Grindelwald I took the train to Kleine Scheidegg and then Wengen. Even though the clouds were low I still had good views and it looked rather beautiful.

    Tonight at tea there was the option of beef fondue. It was okay but really just cooking hunks of steak in boiling oil and then eating it with one of the many sauces provided. The oil didn’t add any extra flavour to the beef. I put this in the category of “tried it once, won’t bother again”.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 12

    Cow Parade and Interlaken

    September 15, 2018 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    My last full day in Switzerland.
    I started the day of in Lauterbrunnen. There I found out the data on my phone had run out despite me paying an extra 20 CHF to extend the coverage from 10 days to a month. Given I had to go back the next day to get my phone to work after buying the sim and I paid cash I think the mobile company may not have received all (any?) of my payment. I’m just grateful that if I was ripped off it was only 20 CHF.

    Anyway I sorted that out. I was in Lauterbrunnen for the cow parade. Each year when the cows come down from the alpine meadows they parade through the town. Each herd from each alp comes down on a different day in each area so there are more parades next week.
    I regret not getting video as it was very noisy. The cow bells are huge but I’ve since found out they are special bells for the parade and they normally wear smaller bells.

    After that I went into Interlaken. Actually as a town it wasn’t that exciting. I was planning to take a boat trip but I missed the boat by about 20 mins and the next one wasn’t for another hour and a half plus it would take three hours so I’d be back in Wengen quite late.
    Instead I took the funicular up to Harder Kulm where I had a great view of the city and Jungfrau. The Eiger and Mönch were behind clouds though.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 13

    Ruminations on Switzerland

    September 16, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Today I left Switzerland. I could have spent more time here, there are so many more places to explore.
    Ever since I passed through Zurich two years ago I wanted to return and see more. It is expensive and it is a pain having a different currency to surrounding countries, mainly because it was hard to find a travel card that I could put Swiss francs on.

    I didn’t get much chance to use any German other than danke (thank you). I only came across one person who didn’t speak English. He was the tech guy in the mobile phone shop. Most people seemed to speak more than English and German (I was in the Germany speaking areas).

    I was surprised at the number of people who smoke. Especially in Zurich they seemed to be everywhere. Another weird thing - I didn’t see any Pepsi products in Switzerland. Their coke products are made in Switzerland so maybe that’s why? Also they have Coke Zero as their diet drink. I didn’t see any Diet Coke at all.
    The chocolate in the supermarkets! An aisle of chocolate, the lollies were in another aisle.
    There are fountains everywhere and the water in drinkable. It’s cold and tastes great. It was the one thing that was cheap in Switzerland. I don’t think I bought a bottle of water outside a restaurant.

    Public transport was made easy with the SBB app. After linking my debit card I could both look up the timetable and buy the ticket through the app. I could buy my ticket as I walked on the train. Travel in Switzerland is expensive but the half-fare card (120 CHF) more than paid for itself.

    The food was mostly good. Expensive, the days I had to buy lunch and dinner I budgeted 100 CHF meals and snacks. I never got to that figure, helped by not having to buy water but I did get to 80 one day. The hotels where I had half board were good, at least I got lots of veggies as it included a salad course. I got to try cheese and beef fondues and raclette. The cheese fondue was good. The beef okay and raclette is literally melted cheese served with potato. It was not as good as it should have been.

    I was lucky with the weather. It was warmer than I expected but Europe has had a very hot summer. What surprised me was how warm it felt at high altitudes when the actual temperature was 0-2 degrees. It felt colder the day of low cloud and rain in Wengen.
    I was also surprised at how affected I was by the altitude. I was fine at 3078m but 3135m at Gornergrat had me slightly breathless. I’ve just looked up the altitude at Jungfraujoch and it was 3571 so that explains why I was so breathless there.

    My main regret is not doing as much walking as I would have liked around Wengen. I managed to injure my calf which has made walking difficult the last couple of days. My hiking poles have made a big difference as has cream from the chemist and resting but resting was hard when there was so much to see and do.

    Tonight I’m in Paris, tomorrow I head to London.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 14

    To London

    September 17, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Just one night in Paris. The Eurostar was closed over the weekend for maintenance otherwise I would have travelled straight through to London. I didn’t do much in Paris. I managed to navigate my way from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord but I was grateful for the experience 2 years ago in using the French railway system. My hotel was by Gare du Nord, an area like many that surround train stations. I did find a really good vegetarian Indian restaurant for tea though.
    The train ride was uneventful, I watched a movie “The Angels’ Share” which was set in Glasgow and came with sub titles.

    My visit to London is really just a transit to Ireland but also to break up the travel. I’m staying in an interesting area. I got off the train at Paddington and to get to the hotel I passed through what look like council flats to get to Prince’s Square. The immediate surroundings are more gentrified.

    I stopped for lunch at a pub. I gave the fish, chips and mushy peas a try to see if either my tastes have changed or they way they prepare the mushy peas has. Alas no, I still don’t like mushy peas. The fish and chips was okay though.

    The hotel is actually serviced apartments. I’d say it is several buildings joined together and a real rabbit warren. I’m in the basement. I’d booked a studio (one room) but have a two room apartment. The kitchen/living are is connected to the bedroom/bathroom via a corridor. I also found a bed made up in the living area. It takes up most of the area and I can’t help wondering if the room was actually prepared for someone else who didn’t like it. When I stopped at reception the two people in front of me were both complaining about their rooms. I’ve asked that they return the extra bed to a sofa tomorrow. It was nice having a home cooked meal.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 15

    Staying Local

    September 18, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I decided to explore the local area a bit today. I started out with Kensington gardens and palace. Even following google maps I had to turn around twice. The gardens weren’t that exciting although I didn’t explore them fully.
    The palace was interesting, highlighted were William and Mary’s rooms, Victoria’s rooms and an exhibition of Diana’s outfits. I’d forgotten that Kensington Palace was where Victoria was born and raised as a child. It was all very interesting. I wasn’t all that interested in Diana’s outfits but quite enjoyed it. They looked quite different in person.

    I had lunch at the palace, soup and a slice of Victoria sponge (the Queen’s favourite). It was a bit hard to eat as there were wasps around but as no one seemed all that bothered by them I ignored them.

    I headed over to Portobello rd to take a look at the market. It wasn’t one of the main days but there was still quite a lot there. I needed the toilet so ended up in a distillery. I had a very nice berry summer drink but no alcohol.

    Last stop for the day was the physiotherapist. I’ve been in quite a bit of pain with my calf muscle. It’s just a sprain though and already feeling better. I’m going back tomorrow for a proper massage.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 16

    Natural History Museum and a Chalet Meet

    September 19, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    This morning I intended to head to the Victoria and Albert Museum however my route took me past the Natural History Museum and it was such a beautiful building I decided to go in.
    It would be easy to look at the exhibits through modern eyes and disapprove of the taking of so many specimens from around the world but looking at it from the times it was done it is pretty amazing. I suspect I only saw a small part of the museum, it is huge with so many exhibits.

    I did get to see stuffed dodos and a great auk.
    The gems were interesting. I got excited when I saw the famous diamonds but they were only models. Seeing a rough diamond and then the polished version I don’t think I’d recognise one in the wild.

    The building itself is worth the visit. It was apparently designed to be a cathedral to nature and it is beautiful.

    I cut my visit short as I had to go to my physio appointment. Hopefully the massage will improve things.

    This evening I went to the London Chalet Meeting. Many of you already know that I collect children’s school stories from the early-mid 20th Century. One of the main series is the Chalet School. It influenced where I stayed in Switzerland as the school is set in the Interlaken region in the later books (and set in Pertisau in the earlier books, hence my visit in 2016).
    It took some courage to go to a meeting of people I didn’t know but I knew they’d be “my people” and they were. I had a lovely evening discussing medical disasters in girls own books amongst other things. I did let Australia down by not having read The Silver Brumby and Ivan Southall though!
    I did get to see synthetic maps (which will only be of interest to other Chalet fans). They were more or less what I imagined but it was interesting to see them in the flesh.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 17

    Thames flood barrier

    September 20, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Today I went down to the Thames Flood Barrier. I took a boat down to Greenwich and then down to the barrier. When I was in London 2 years ago I went down to Greenwich with a friend but was unable to go as far as the barrier due to time limitations. So this time I didn’t get off at Greenwich, just went down to the barrier and back. The trip down is still a great trip with lots to see. I’d forgotten just how plain London Bridge is and just how many bridges there are in such a short distance.

    One of the reasons I wanted to see the structure was due to the Doctor Who episode “The Runaway Bride”. I find so many references in both tv and books are from the UK that it is nice to see them in real life.

    I’m glad I saw and heard Big Ben last time as it is undergoing renovations so all that can be seen is one of the faces. I went around to Trafalgar Square. There was an extra lion as part of the London Design Festival. It’s fluoro orange and people were encouraged to feed it words. It would then come up with poetry using your word. It’s very garish but was an interesting activity. I submitted the word united and it came up with

    United by the waters that have flown
    On the high barn
    (I couldn’t read the next verse as it was partially obscured by the lion’s teeth)
    That music of the great winds dim and white
    And the soft harvests of the starry sky
    This foreigner who dares to reach the world
    And saves the sun and stars are shadowy to    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 18

    To Ireland

    September 21, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Another longish travel day. Part of me is telling myself I need to get over my dislike of flying so that I can get from A to B much quicker. The other part says enjoy the journey.
    I’m currently on the Irish Ferries ship Ulysses. We are still about an hour from Dublin.

    I took the train from Euston station to Holyhead. That was an interesting trip although I missed the most interesting part! A lot of people had reserved seats (as did I). When I got to my seat I found a family sitting there. It turned out they had reservations next to me, across the aisle and across the table. I sat in their seat across the aisle and I had a very chatty Irish lady (Margaret) opposite me. She was very clear in telling me we were in a quiet carriage and once we got moving people weren’t allowed to speak. If your phone rang you had to take it in the corridor. I was quite happy with this until we reached Crewe. Some people got on there who kept on talking. That was the sign for everyone to start talking and so I heard a lot of the Margaret’s history. Due to the way we were seated I found it hard to look out the window and take photos without being rude. The last part of the journey was definitely the most interesting. The weather was getting wild. Some of the summer holiday places we passed looked quite forlorn in the wind and rain.
    As we approached Bangor Margaret started packing up and getting organised. At one point she asked me if I was going to get ready. I think it quite stressed her out that I wasn’t standing at the door 10 minutes before we pulled into Holyhead.
    We were an hour late getting into Holyhead. The trip should have been 9:10-12:50 but it was 9:15-1pm. By this stage I was infected by Margaret’s anxiety and joined the rush to het from the station to the port checkin (a short walk). Once there we found out due to the rough weather the boat was only just getting in and we would be an hour late boarding. So I stood in line for an hour before getting a boarding pass and climbing onto a bus to be driven into the ship. At no time was I asked for any ID. Apparently no one cares who leaves the country. I don’t know if there will be any passport control in Dublin.

    Once on the boat I upgraded to club class which gave me a nice seat, good view and free snacks. Surprisingly the voyage hasn’t been rough at all. The boat is big and meant to be very stable but I do think things have calmed as well. In the bus we had to take to get to the boat I seemed to be surrounded by people who’d done the crossing before and were dreading it plus crossings by their other boat Swift were cancelled today. The Stenaline boat which was due to leave 20 mins before us was running 4 1/2 hours late and hadn’t come in by the time we left. A lot of those passengers transferred onto this boat.

    Sitting down especially it seems quite calm. Fortunately I haven’t experienced any sea sickness. I did nap for a bit otherwise just read my book.

    I had decided to take a taxi from the port to my hotel as there were only two choices - taxi or bus that drops you at one of three places. Turns out there was only one choice as there were no taxis. I was told to get off at the second stop which was the city centre. My phone had 1% battery and no service. A security guard showed me where I could catch a taxi and I was soon at my hotel. By this time it was 9pm. So it took me 13 hours to get from hotel to hotel. Fortunately they do room service here so I had a sandwich and am now ready for bed.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 19

    Dublin

    September 22, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    So today I explored Dublin. After a very nice Irish breakfast that included potatoes and black pudding I set out to sort my phone and transport. I’m very close to the main street in Dublin and easily walked to buy a public transport card as well as get an Irish sim for my phone. I then made my way to St Stephen’s Green, a Victorian park on the other side of the river. I was meeting someone I know through an internet forum to play Pokémon Go. I’m a fairly casual player of this game (it’s a game you play on your phone for those tha aren’t familiar with it). Today was a community day so we met up to play during this time. It was nice to meet Joan and have someone to play with.

    Once we separated I took a hop on hop off bus to see more of Dublin. Unfortunately I didn’t see enough as I was somehow hit on the head by a tree branch as we drove under some trees. I’m still not sure how it happened. I was sitting upstairs at the back so there was no roof. We drove under some trees and some branches hit the roof but I didn’t actually see what hit me. It hurt. Fortunately though it was fairly minor, no bleeding and more of a shock than anything else. The man sitting in front of me was a doctor and said he didn’t think it was serious all the while wanting to pour cold water on my head. Someone else went and told the driver. To make everyone happy I went and sat inside and to be honest it was better because it it was warm, unlike upstairs which was very cold.
    I continued on the bus until the bus was held up and diverted (probably due to a protest over affordable housing). We were near the Temple Bar area so I got off to take a look at the area. It is full of pubs and lots of people. I went into a pub but it was full so went next door to an Irish restaurant. My fears of it being overpriced tourist fare were unfounded and I had a lovely bowl of soup.
    I then went up to the Molly Malone statue and my phone died. I decided the best way to find my way back to the hotel was to get back on the hop on hop off bus as it stopped around the corner from the hotel. I’m glad I did even though I was redoing a section because this time we had the recorded commentary. On the first bus we had live commentary and it was very hard to listen to. It was also good to listen and look without worrying about taking photos.
    After a couple of false starts I found my way back to the hotel.
    A good day if cold. My head is fine now.    Read more

  • Michelle CreasyEurope 2018
    Day 20

    Dublin on a Sunday

    September 23, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    I started the day by finishing the hop on hop off tour from yesterday. I got off at Trinity College as I had a ticket to see the book of Kells. I was early though so I went and saw the Molly Malone statue again and then wandered around the college.
    The whole process of the making of the book of Kells was really interesting and amusing to think of something that we now regard with such reverence was probably regarded as an unwanted chore by the monks who did the transcribing and illustrating. The only downside was the crowds. They limit the number of people per half hour but we were still shoulder to shoulder most of the time and it was even more crowded around the actual display of the book of Kells.
    We went up to the long room in the library which was quite spectacular. It is still used today.
    Unfortunately the long room was upstairs and going downstairs upset my leg again. It became really sore. I found somewhere for lunch which I assume was a traditional Irish pub. I had to use the light on my phone to read the menu it was so dark inside.
    Sitting there for an hour didn’t help much but it did give the painkillers time to kick in.

    I then went to Christchurch Cathedral for the afternoon service. On the infrequent occasions that I attend an Anglican service I always get distracted away from worship by the rituals of the service. It was nice though to attend a service with a full choir and a sermon given by a woman and the setting was stunning. I love the feeling of being in a traditional church. It is very different to the church I attend and I think both have their place. I did smile though at the thought of letting our Friday night kids loose in the cathedral to play dodge! The service was also for the ordination of a deacon so it was longer than. I was expecting. It was after 5 by the time it finished. My leg was much better by then so I made my way back to the hotel.
    Tomorrow I pick up the car and start to explore the country.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English