Travel Log Blog - Europe 2004

I know it's a strange title for a blog in 2007 but I'll give an explanation. A few weeks ago I donated my first car to charity - Lilly. I decided since no one really has need for it why pay for the insurance and registration when hopefully the car can go to someone who really needs it. At least that's what I hope it going to happen to the car. It could be just used for parts - but I'm not sure I want to know that. She's an old rust bucket now but I'm still a little emotional letting her go since I have a lot of memories from that car. Anyways - before I gave her away I cleaned out the car and I found an old travel journal Krista and I kept when we went to Europe in 2004. That trip holds special signifance to me as it was the first time I flew overseas and since the week I found the notebook is exactly the third anniversary of the trip I decided to publish the journal here. It was an awesome trip full of crazy stories so I thought I'd share it with anyone who cares to read! Here goes...

The Travel Log - London, Ireland, Paris 2004 Kim Powell and Krista Powell

April 27 - Trip's Eve
Krista and Eunice slave over Euni's John Deere T-Shirt which adds some chaos to our preparations. Near miss - our Romeo and Juliet play tickets unexpectably come in the mail! [We were expecting to pick them up at Will Call in London]

April 28 - The Flight Out
To start off we lock ourselves out of the house. Good thing Krista has broken sucessfully before. [I locked her in the basement once!]
6:00 pm Calgary - we board. [I get to use my passport for the first time]
12:30 am Calgary time - sun comes up after only a couple hours of darkness. Woman can be heard commenting..."it's hard to sleep" but if you are standing over our heads we're not sleeping either! Please don't watch the sunrise at 12:30 am!
2:30 am Calgary time - we start to fly over the U.K. and we set our clocks ahead. Outside estimate has our sleep at 2-3 hours tops!

April 29 - London Day 1
10:00 am - we arrive at Gatwick. We whiz through customs and immigration and onto the Gatwick Express into the city.
12:00 pm - we check in to the hotel and it's not a disaster. The internet delivered a safe, clean place to stay.
3:00 pm - pick up London Eye tickets
3-5:00pm - waste time - walk up and down the same street attempting to find Trafalgar Square without asking for directions.
5:30 - ride the Eye. Krista miraculously survives. She doesn't stand up but doesn't fall down. She manages to smile bravely for several pictures 135 metres [feet?] in the air above the Thames.
6:30 - take the river boat tour. We learn all kinds of interesting tidbits of London history. Which bridge had an ex-KGB agent murdered with a poison umbrella, which bridge the Italian mafia had their banker hanged. Movie trivia from Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones and James Bond.
7:30 - eat fish and chips at the Sherlock Holmes - a total tourist trap! Surrounded by Canadians talking about their trip to the Okanagan!
10:00 - Sleep!

April 30 - London Day 2
Early start - off to the Globe Theatre for a tour with world's grouchiest tour guide. Let's just call her a theatre "purist". A bit of a Shakespeare fanatic. We were scolded for using our umbrellas in the rain!
Then off to Oxford St - but not really worth the effort - all the store have the same stuff. Visited a Virgin Megastore, bought a lot of OVERPRICED T-Shirts.
Next - Westminister Abbey -absolutely beautiful - Poet's corner was a highlight.
Back to the hotel for a quick nap before Les Mis. Les Mis was good but were exhausted and it was too long! We got to see Piccadilly circus but it's kind of a poor man's Times Square. Not as big and not as exciting. [Damn Americans - they ruin everything]

May 1 - London/Ireland Day 3
Up and at 'em first thing - off to Notting Hill. Some trouble with the Tube but we finally got there and we weren't disappointe! It is great. Like it's own little village in the city. The Portabello Road market lived up to it's name. The shops and booths went on forever. We sampled pastry and fruit - cheap and good! Just the way we like it. We could have spent the entire time in London there but the sightseeing in London was not over. Off to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. A nice walk thorugh Green Park to fight off the crowds to see the guards.
So with London done (for now) off to the airport for our flight to Dublin.
No problems getting to Gatwick - the tube was quiet - finally! However the flight was delayed - supposed to leave at 15:00...15:30 - oh the stress of wondering if we'll land in time to catch our 17:50 train from Dublin to Westport. [last train of the day] 13:45 we took off and we didn't get out of the Dublin airport until 17:15! Our cabbie warned us that there were protests by the train station and we might not get through. More stress and lots of praying! It was a crazy drive downtown but he got us there! The protests had been cleared before we got there. We caught our train with minutes to spare. We tried to call Catie but couldn't [our friend in Westport]. Thankfully Catie was there waiting for us on the platform - much to our relief!

May 2 - Ireland Day 4
After a good night's sleep we were awakened early by a grunting Tilly - huffing and puffing about our room. After a lazy morning we were off to surfing. We collected wet suits - trying them on in the barn.
The beach was great! The waves were coming in a nice size. We tried out the boogie boards first while Catie used the surf board. It was very exciting but also salty and sandy. We had a little trouble stayingon the surt board! The boogie boards were much more successful. I got to my knees a couple of times but I kept slipping off.
The day was finished off with a picnic in the van everyone crammed into together! Later on we got to experience an authentic Irish pub with traditional music. The highlight was when the locals would break out into spontaneous a capella.

May 3 - Ireland Day 5
Today was a tour and shopping in Galway. Cute shops and bought some cheap things at Pennys! Saw Asford Castle where Pierce Brosnan was married - very beautiful. Visited the Abbey @ Cong with it's ruins and graveyards. It was very peaceful.

May 4 - Ireland Day 6
Slept in and then met Alan and the girls in Westport for lunch. Toured Westport's shops, went to an Irish history museum, supper and home and then some TV. Over all just a relaxing day.

May 5 - Ireland Day 7
Got up and went to Castlebar with Catie in the morning after lots of goodbyes. Caught the train to Dublin and found our B&B. It was a good as it said on the internet. Another great meal at a local pub and exploring downtown.

May 6 - Ireland Day 8
Up early and shopped....left no shoe unturned! Scoped out U2's hotel and had dinner in Temple Bar. Good Indian and Hagan Daas!

May 7 - Ireland Day 9
Enjoyed a full Irish breakfast at the B&B. [An experience in food - eggs, hashers, sausage, mushrooms, potatoes, toast, tomatoes]
Off to the Dublin city tour to see the sights. Trinity College, Grafton Street, Christchruch, St. Patricks, Guinness, Post Office, National Nuseum for more Irish History. Back to the B&B to change and prep for our big brave night - dinner @ the Edge and Bono's Hotel. We muscled up our courage and made a reservation at the Tea Room. Our cultural differences - our 6:30 reservation had us alone in the restaurant. Other people didn't arrive until 7:30-8:00 as we were ready to leave!! Very, very posh dinner but amazing food - worth every precious penny. Very tasty gelato for dessert and a walk along the Liffey.

May 8 - Ireland/Paris Day 10
Up at the crack of dawn - 4 am - off to the airport. No problems until after sitting on the plane for a 1/2 hour to be informed that the plane had technical difficulties and the flight was cancelled. An Amazing Race dash to the ticket counter to get on the next flight. We finally arrived at our hotel in Paris 6 hours behind schedule. [Must be included here - not in the original journal - my melt down in the Paris metro. We arrived in Paris freezing cold and wet and upon trying to get onto the Metro with all our bags I got stuck in the gate. The frustration of the day - up early, cancelled flight, late arriveal, etc and then to get stuck in the metro gates I came unglued. Krista tried to calm me down and I think my responce was somewhere along the lines of - I'm going to freakout if I want to! I think there might have even been a bit of feet stomping!]
Anyways...we still managed to see Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle and eat crepes.

May 9 - Paris Day 11
Up early to the Marche Bastille market for strawberries and pastry. We soon discovered that coffee is actually espresso. We only did straight black once. Drinks are so expensive! Bread and cheese are cheaper than a cappucino. Next up - the Picasso Museum. The afternoon was spent freezing our butts off at Versailles. The gardens are beautiful and have to be seen to be believed! The fountains were amazing even in the bone chilling cold. Who knew there woudl be winter weather in France in May!

May 10 - Paris Day 12
A little sleep in - then off to the George Pompidou for the Museum of Modern Art. 1905 - Present Day. We saw paintings, a humming ziggy suspended from the ceiling, a pile of pany hose hanging from the ceiling, piles of clothes and tea pots, Eames, Pollack, Matisse and of course Piacsso and all the guys who riped him off! A high note was Chagal - the violin playing goat painting. I bought a cool watch in the gift shop. We have eaten more baggettes on this trip than in our whole lives put together!
That night it was off to the Tour Effiel. More heights for Krista to conquer! The tower lit up at night was awesome.

May 11 - Paris Day 13
Before we forget: The crazy music on the metro! The musicians or poets who get on teh car with their sound system. They play or sing and then collect money. There are tradition French songs, a guy quoting something or a guy just playing the tamborine!

Breakfast at Pomme de Pain - where we can at least get coffee in a paper cup to go. It doesn't have a lid though! Off to Mused D'Orsay. Money, Van Gogh, a model of the Paris Opera House. Next - Musee Rodin - The Thinker andThe Kiss. A great garden to enjoy our first warm day in Paris!

Off to the North Tower at Notre Dame to climb the 300 steps each way! You are really only on the edge off the tower! Krista again did fine even though she was only 2 feet from the edge! The gargoyles at the top were amazing!

The rest of the day - shopping, Hagen Daas, Sephora and Champes D'Elysses and the Ballet. The hightlights of Paris: Champes D'Elysses and Arc de Triompe - 100's of stairs just about lost Krista! Effiel Tour - Krista survived. Dinner - 7 euro for coffee each!

May 12 - Paris Day 14
Off to Momantre for a quick picture tour of Sacer Coeur and Moulin Rouge. A little more shopping and then back on the Metro to the hotel. Off to the airport and back to London without mishap! More shopping in London and then one more mad dash to the Globe Theatre for Romeo and Juliet. 25 minutes for 2 tube rides and a 10 minute walk. We got there just in time!

May 13 - London Day 15
Not much to tell - just to the airport on our way home.

Trip Top 5's
Top 5 Things We'll Miss:
1. Hagen Daas
2. French Bread, Cheese and Pastry
3. Shopping in Dublin and Penny's
4. Surfing in Ireland
5. Sightseeing and good tour guides

Top 5 Things We Won't Miss:
1. Rain, lashing rain, misty rain...
2. "Coffee" or black espresso
3. Sore Feet
4. Stressful connections
5. The Backpacks!

Top 5 "High" Climbs
1. The "Eye" in London
2. Arc de Triompe
3. Effiel Tower
4. North Tower @ Notre Dame
5. The Tube escalators

Top 5 Best Surprises
1. Good cheap food
2. London
3. Priority entrance with Paris Museum passes
4. Metro/Tube navigation
5. Room of Van Gogh at Musee D'Orsay

Top 5 Best Moments
1. Notting Hill/Portobello Road Market in London
2. The Clarence in Dublin
3. Surfing and picnic in Ireland
4. Supper @ the foot of the Tour Effiel
5. a. R&J at the Globe b. Tour Effiel lit up @ night

The Mothership is Landing!

This week marks the arrival of my mothership - H&M has finally come to Calgary. It opens at 12 noon this Thursday. I would LOVE to blow off work and be one of the first in line. In honour of H&M coming I'm posting my top 5 tips for shopping at H&M. The un-initiated to H&M will come to realize the wisdom of my advice and the experienced H&M shoppers will whole-heartedly agree!

5. Take a deep breath before you enter. Have a calm state of mind. Be prepared to be overwhelmed. Have a bottle of water and maybe some snacks in your bag to give you endurance. Don't be intimidated by the vacant eyed skinny teenagers wandering around the store trying to pass themselves off as customer service. The attitude is - shop here if you dare - it's unorganized and we probably won't help you. We're just here to look cool in our H&M clothes!
4. Pick up anything you like the first time you see it. NOTHING is organized according to style only by colour.
3. Go through every rack two times - it is very easy to miss a treasure by going too quickly.
2. If possible don't try anything on - buy everything you like in extra sizes. Take it home try it on there and return anything you don't end up liking, doesn't fit or is the wrong colour. You can only bring in 7 items and trust me when I say that is just NOT enough. The change rooms are also hot and small and like I already said - the staff usually aren’t very helpful.
1. Enjoy shopping in a clothing paradise! With H&M in the city you can go as often as you like so as the saying goes if at first you don't succeed - try, try again! The gas to Market Mall is SO much cheaper than the plane ticket to Toronto, London, Paris, or Dublin!