Berlin in a Whirlwind

If you're still following my adventure, after having done a tour de France, my mum and I returned to London, where she flew home from.  I stuck around Londontown a few extra days to visit an old friend and hit some of the city's great museums.  From London, I hopped a plane to Berlin where I met up with my travel buddy, Jacky, whom you may remember from my trip to Amsterdam. 

Berlin was love at first glimpse of the TV tower.  The city has a really cool vibe I can't quite describe.  Our first day there we took a walking tour and saw the sights, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Wall, and the location of Hitler's bunker.

Berlin, and Germany for that matter, has such a rich history full of upheavals, of which there are lots of commemorations throughout the city.  There is the monument to the victims of war and tyranny, the Holocaust memorial, and a monument dedicated to the commemoration of the Nazi book burnings to name but a few.  Despite this, I didn't get the impression that Berlin is a city weighed down by its history.  It's possible to relax, have fun and enjoy the city that Berlin has become.  To me, there are multiple Berlins.  It just depends which one you want to see when you visit the city.

The Tally

I've been thinking a lot about the travels I've done. I feel like I've been a lot of places. As my friend Claire said to me, "Every time I talk to you it seems like you're just coming from or going on some trip." I took every opportunity I had to travel--I travelled to nearly everywhere that was on my mental list of places to go to. At the same time, I feel that there's so much left to see.  While I'm "travelled out," I still fantasize about future travels.  I was in a bookstore the other day and found myself drawn to the travel guide section.

So in my 8 months abroad:

• I took 20 trips, including day trips,
• During which I visited 25 cities
• In 8 countries.

Tour de France, Part 2

When I last left off, my mum and I had just visited marvellous Marseille, with its beautiful harbour and sunshine-filled skies.

The next day we boarded another train, this time to Paris. We got there around the early evening and stayed in the same hotel I had stayed at when I first arrived, a little hotel well situated in the 18e arrondissement, with easy walking access to all the sights. I was really excited to show my mum Paris, as it is such a stunning city—especially your first time visiting. That evening we went for a walk through Montmartre to Sacré Coeur, down the butte de Montmartre past the Opera house and through the jardin des Tuilleries.

The next morning we woke up early and were off on a day trip to Chenonceau castle.

This Loire Valley château is impressive and surprisingly tranquil (given the number of visitors) and has an interesting history. Built at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Henry II gave it to his “préférée”, or mistress, Diane de Poitiers. After his death, Henry’s wife, Catherine de Medici, evicted Diane and inhabited the château. During the First World War, Chenonceau served as a hospital. During the Second World War was situated exactly on the dividing line between the Occupied and Free zones. As such, it was used by the Resistance.

The next few days we had in Paris were spent visiting the sights, including the Sainte-Chapelle, which I’d never seen before. Then we boarded the Eurostar back to London.

Home!

After nearly nine months away (8 months and 15 days), I am finally back home in Vancouver!

I can't wait to finish telling you about my tour de France with my mum, my two weeks out and about Québec, and my trips to Berlin and Prague.


(Photo by NASA via Design*Sponge, illustrating a Vancouver City Guide I highly recommend.)

Still Life with Suitcases

When I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I was absolutely fascinated with the photographic quality of  the Dutch masters' still life paintings.  So, with my own recent experience juggling suitcases and fancying myself in the Darjeeling Limited, I find myself very attracted to these modern still life paintings of suitcases by Canadian artist Christopher Stott that I stumbled upon via Design*Sponge.

 

Tour de France, Part 1

After visiting London, my mom and I spent a week marathon travelling through France, visiting five cities in all. With all our luggage and train travel, I felt a bit like the Whitman brothers in The Darjeeling Limited. But it went surprisingly well.

We started in Saint Etienne, where I showed her the town I had called home for the last seven months.

The next day I took her to Lyon and showed her all the sights. Lyon being the gastronomic capital of France, we ate dinner in a bouchon lyonnais called Le Tire Bouchon.

bouchon (boo-sho(w)n): literally, a lid or plug; here meant as a traditional lyonnais restaurant

The Tire Bouchon has a great ambiance that is everything that people are trying to capture when they put up Toulouse-Lautrec’s Le Théâtre du Chat Noir print. My mom had the traditional lyonnais dish quenelles, a type of pastry or pasta served in a sauce, and I had a parmentier (shepherd’s pie).

Then the next day, Thursday, April 28, we left with our suitcases to head to Nîmes. A trivia fact for you: Nîmes is the home of denim or de Nîmes, which Levi Strauss exported to California to make jeans for the gold prospectors. Nîmes also has many Roman ruins including the best preserved Roman arena in the world.

(Clockwise from the left) A matador statue in front of the Nîmes arena;  view inside the Nîmes arena;  Jardin de la fontaine;  la Maison Carré; la Tour Magne.

While we did cover a lot of ground in train travel, our tour de France did not feel pressed for time once we got to each destination.  It actually had a relaxed and leisurely feel as we did not overbook each day. 

The following day we took a short train from Nîmes to Marseille.  Our hotel was located just one block from the Vieux Port.  As our room was not yet ready, we decided to have a coffee and admire the view of the Vieux Port.  Once allowed into our room, we happened to be able to catch a bit of the royal wedding we saw the preparations for a few days earlier.

Marseille had an amazing atmosphere, which reminded me a lot of Rome, especially in la vielle ville.  We walked along the Vieux Port, which is full of boats and protected by historic Saint-Nicolas and Saint-Jean forts on either side of the harbour’s mouth.  We also took a short passenger ferry ride to the Château d’If, made famous by Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo.   Being an island prison-fort, the Château d’If reminded me a lot of Alcatraz, which I visited two  years ago during my trip to San Francisco.

(Clockwise from the top) Marseille’s Vieux Port;  view of Château d’If; view of lighthouse and Marseille from If island; view of Notre-Dame from Marseille’s Vieux Port; view of a street in la vielle ville.

Stay tuned for Part II.