Results tagged “Weather” from Eurasia 2012

Pretty quiet day today.

View from our hotel room window
View from our hotel room window

Slept in (til 9:18! gah!!). Had a slow start, then wandered up to the station. Got some breakfast at Lotteria, and activated Stu's JR pass.

Then we headed up to Kyoto. It was actually about midday by this point. On the way we looked out the window and it was *pouring* down rain. Great, we didn't bring wet weather gear because the weather forecast was for 10% chance of rain. hrmmmmm.

Shinkansen trains at Settsu
Shinkansen trains at Settsu

Rain on the windows
Rain on the windows

At Kyoto we actually had trouble finding the right station exit, which is a first, we've never had problems before. Then we needed to find a toiley. Then it was raining some more so we stopped for more coffee for the sweetie. After 1pm now.

At this point the sweetie thought we should catch a taxi to Kiyomizu-dera, rather than walk or (heaven forbid) negotiate the buses (the sweetie hates buses, and Kyoto buses are a special form of hell). Wasn't too bad, only ~1100 yen.

So Kiyomizu-dera. The rain had stopped so was a relatively pleasant, although slightly humid, wander around the place. Queued to have a drink from Otowa spring.

Nio-mon (Kiyomizudera Temple)
Nio-mon (Kiyomizudera Temple)

Bell at Kiyomizu-dera
Bell at Kiyomizu-dera

Covered walkway at Kiyomizu-dera
Covered walkway at Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera temple area
Kiyomizu-dera temple area

Queue up to Otowa Waterfall
Queue up to Otowa Waterfall

Buddha at Kiyomizu-dera
Buddha at Kiyomizu-dera

The Stage of Kiyomizu-dera
The Stage of Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera
Kiyomizu-dera

View towards Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera temple
View towards Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera temple

Kiyomizu-dera
Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera
Kiyomizu-dera

Three-Story Pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera
Three-Story Pagoda at Kiyomizu-dera

Otowa Waterfall
Otowa Waterfall

Pond at Kiyomizu-dera
Pond at Kiyomizu-dera

Tortoises at Kiyomizu-dera
Tortoises at Kiyomizu-dera

Then wandered back down the hill.

View to Kyoto over Otani Cemetery
View to Kyoto over Otani Cemetery

Walked up to Gion and by this point it was about to start raining again. We went looking for somewhere to eat but most things (that we saw) were closed, it being nearly 3:30pm. That and they hide restaurants in this place so they're not easy to find. After walking all the way through we gave up and walked all the way back to Starbucks and had a sandwich. Oh well.

Gate to Yasaka Shrine
Gate to Yasaka Shrine

We were tired so caught another taxi back to the station, and back to Osaka.

Australian wine advert
Australian wine advert

Shinkansen at Kyoto station
Shinkansen at Kyoto station

Rested for a while. I went out and got some random food from the place we got some food from in 2009 which is just a kitchen with a counter at the front.

Japanese coins
Japanese coins


Distance covered on the GPS: 91.9 km
Steps walked: 12534
Photos on the Canon: 56
Photos on the Sony: 26
Videos: 0

Well I can say I've done Paris. And have no burning desire ever to return. It's big and noisy and overcrowded and full of rude tourists.

And the metro system is painful. From line changes requiring walks of hundreds of metres to lack of signage.. give me London any day. Today I entered a station only to find that that was the entry for one platform only. To go to the other platform would have meant leaving the station and using another ticket. In the end I just got on a train and swapped directions at the next station down. And several times I've come to an intersection in the maze of tunnels only to find no Sortie (exit) sign anywhere. At one point the only way I could figure out how to get out of the station was way off in the distance there was the little green man for your standard fire exit sign. And just for fun the little carnet of tickets you buy don't get "eaten" by the machines when you're done. So you end up with these things that you can't tell if you've used or not. Some of the machines print a date/time on the ticket, but others just a bit of purple.

But mostly it's the crowds and people that turned me off. Rude people that push in, push past or just stop in the middle of narrow footpaths. Queues for everything. Blah. Having said that I did meet some nice people too, like the group from Sao Paulo Brazil, or the lovely couple from Brisbane (the only other Australians I heard in the whole city were at D'Orsay today).

So where was I?
hrmmm

Yeah so had an easy day today. Only 24000 steps, down 14000 from yesterday's 38000 ..

Was hoping to have a bit of a sleepin, but got an SMS at 7am which woke me up.

Up, blogged yesterday, got ready, breakfast at the Scottish Restaurant.

Palais de Justice de Paris
Palais de Justice de Paris

First item on the agenda was St Chappelle. Probably about a fifteen minute wait to get through the security check, then fast track into the church. I was in a weird mood, a bit over Paris, so yes it was very pretty and all, but didn't fully take it all in. Didn't spend much time there, and they were restoring some of it anyway so a quarter of it was covered off.

Saint Chapelle
Saint Chapelle

Interior of Saint Chapelle
Interior of Saint Chapelle

Interior of Saint Chapelle
Interior of Saint Chapelle

Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle
Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle

Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle
Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle

Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle
Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle

Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle
Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle

Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle
Stained glass windows in Saint Chapelle

Rose window in Saint Chapelle
Rose window in Saint Chapelle

It was blue skies and sunshine at this point, so I wandered around the back of Notre Dame to get it in the morning light.

Fontaine du Chatelet (Monument to Napoleonic victories)
Fontaine du Chatelet (Monument to Napoleonic victories)

Pont Neuf
Pont Neuf

Pont Notre Dame and Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Paris
Pont Notre Dame and Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce de Paris

Hotel de Ville
Hotel de Ville

Notre Dame and Fontaine de la Vierge
Notre Dame and Fontaine de la Vierge

Notre Dame from the southeast
Notre Dame from the southeast

The Seine and Notre Dame from the southeast
The Seine and Notre Dame from the southeast

Towers of Notre Dame
Towers of Notre Dame

South face of Notre Dame
South face of Notre Dame

Then trained it over to the Eiffel Tower. Sat in the park and had some chocolate and pondered the tower for a while.

Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower

First level of the Eiffel Tower
First level of the Eiffel Tower

Second level of the Eiffel Tower
Second level of the Eiffel Tower

Top level of the Eiffel Tower
Top level of the Eiffel Tower

Then trained it back to Concorde.

Lamp post, obelisk and Eiffel Tower
Lamp post, obelisk and Eiffel Tower

Obelisk in Place de la Concorde
Obelisk in Place de la Concorde

First up, the Orangerie. Eight big Monets in two rooms upstairs, and a bunch of stuff downstairs.

Musee de l'Orangerie
Musee de l'Orangerie

Then over to the Musée d'Orsay. I wandered through the majority of the museum and saw about three paintings I recognised. Call me uncultured but I'm just not an art person.

Passerelle Leopold Seda-Senghor Bridge
Passerelle Leopold Seda-Senghor Bridge

Passerelle Leopold Seda-Senghor Bridge
Passerelle Leopold Seda-Senghor Bridge

Musee d'Orsay
Musee d'Orsay

Sacré-Cœur from Musee d'Orsay
Sacré-Cœur from Musee d'Orsay

Clock in Musee d'Orsay
Clock in Musee d'Orsay

So both museums do visual bag searches, but then force you to cloak backpacks (so why even bother searching them??). Both have next to no descriptions in English. Both are relatively quick to enter with the museum pass. Both I was pretty meh about.

So on another train up to Pigalle then a short walk (I could have switched trains and gone to Blanche but switching trains is always a pain) past all the sex shops to the Moulin Rouge. On the way I walked down the middle of the street which is a tree-lined walk way. Would have been nice except for all the creepy guys just sitting there watching, waiting. Yuck.

Sex stores in Montmartre
Sex stores in Montmartre

The Moulin Rouge
The Moulin Rouge

Got a couple of photos, then walked back the way I came, and continued on to Sacre Coeur. I was tired and initially didn't think I'd bother going up. But decided to anyway. One of the most crowded places so far (and this was the place I was definitely worried about getting pick-pocketed, so I was super careful). Decided to go into the basilica. Not too long to get in (it's free entry). Like Notre Dame you kinda just go in and around in a loop then come out. But no photos allowed in this one. Afterwards decided to go climb the dome (6 euro). More steps, I must be mad. But the view was pretty spectacular (aside from it being hazy and grey) and it was remarkably uncrowded. So, very glad I did it.

Sacré-Cœur from below
Sacré-Cœur from below

Guy at the top of a lamppost kicking a ball around
Guy at the top of a lamppost kicking a ball around

Dome of Sacré-Cœur
Dome of Sacré-Cœur

Walkways on the roof of Sacré-Cœur
Walkways on the roof of Sacré-Cœur

Top of one of the domes of Sacré-Cœur
Top of one of the domes of Sacré-Cœur

Bell tower on Sacré-Cœur
Bell tower on Sacré-Cœur

View southwest from Sacré-Cœur towards Pompidou Centre
View southwest from Sacré-Cœur towards Pompidou Centre

View west from Sacré-Cœur
View west from Sacré-Cœur

View towards the Eiffel Tower from Sacré-Cœur
View towards the Eiffel Tower from Sacré-Cœur

Dome of Sacré-Cœur
Dome of Sacré-Cœur

Eiffel Tower from Sacré-Cœur
Eiffel Tower from Sacré-Cœur

Sacré-Cœur
Sacré-Cœur

Fountain below Sacré-Cœur
Fountain below Sacré-Cœur

Came back down, then walked back to the hotel.

Read some news feeds while it rained (the rain sounded lovely outside the window). When it let up I went for a wander to find some dinner. Wanted french fries since I hadn't actually had any since I got here. So got a steak and fries. Well the steak was nice, but the fries were these soggy things that I wouldn't have called fries. Oh well, frites avec mayo await me in Brussels and Amsterdam.

Back to do photos, blog, and figure out what I'm doing tomorrow. The dodgy hotel I got in Amsterdam charges 4 euro/hour for internet, but I think that is by the minute, so might get away with just one hour for the whole three nights.


Distance covered on the GPS: 23.2 km
Steps walked: 24364
Photos on the Canon: 135
Photos on the Sony: 83
Videos: ?
EUR Spent: ?

So today started beautiful and sunny. I thought I might do a Thames River cruise first up, but it had already clouded over by the time I was going out, and it was raining by 9am :(

So my first stop was Aldgate so I could get a photo of Whitechapel Road for the Monopoly collection.

From there I was going to tube it over to Angel, but after looking for a "you are here" on a bus stop I realised there was a direct bus. I'd never been on a London red double decker bus before, so decided to do that. It took ages because it went through city peak hour traffic, but was still fun.

City of London buildings from Aldgate High Street
City of London buildings from Aldgate High Street

It was freezing cold and raining by this point. Blah.

Actually left Angel and went and found 12 Grimmauld Place (Claremont Square). Highlight of the morning heh.

Houses on Claremont Square - site of 12 Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix
Houses on Claremont Square - site of 12 Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix

Houses on Claremont Square - site of 12 Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix
Houses on Claremont Square - site of 12 Grimmauld Place in Order of the Phoenix

Then back to Angel to get a photo of the station, and signs that said Angel Islington.

Considered walking to Kings Cross to get more photos of the platforms, but decided against it and went to Marylebone station instead. So my collection of Monopoly streets is complete. Except for the electric and water utilities.

Walked back to Baker Street to take photos of the Sherlock Holmes museum.

221B Baker Street - the Sherlock Holmes Museum
221B Baker Street - the Sherlock Holmes Museum

Guard outside 221B Baker Street
Guard outside 221B Baker Street

Then into Regents Park. The maps were a bit crap and didn't show you that the garden in the middle is one big dead end. So more walking there than necessary.

Heron in Regent's Park
Heron in Regent's Park

Triton and Dryans Fountain in Regent's Park
Triton and Dryans Fountain in Regent's Park

And onto the zoo. The whole experience was pretty meh. Certainly not helped by it raining the entire time I was there. So most of the animals were hiding from the rain. And they were doing all sorts of constructions all over the place so there were dead ends everywhere which meant lots of unnecessary walking :( So got my Harry Potter pics of the reptile house (although they're doing rennovations and I think they've blocked off the exact tank that was used. I'd have to see the movie again to check. Went into the butterfly room at one point but had to leave again pretty quickly because it was so hot and humid that my glasses and camera fogged up instantly :( Dread to think of how much condensation got in and stayed in. Pity too because it looked like there were heaps of cool butterflies. The penguins were very cool, but didn't stay for feeding time as really needed to get away. On the way to the part of the zoo on the other side of the road I noticed there was a canal boat ride to Camden. I tried to go for it later but it had either gone early or didn't come at all. So ended up having to walk.

Reptile House at London Zoo
Reptile House at London Zoo

Plumed Basilisk in London Zoo
Plumed Basilisk in London Zoo

Radiated Tortoise in London Zoo
Radiated Tortoise in London Zoo

Reptile display used in Philosopher's Stone
Reptile display used in Philosopher's Stone

Foyer where the snake crossed - this was covered by a temporary wall in the movie
Foyer where the snake crossed - this was covered by a temporary wall in the movie

Banggai Cardinalfish at London Zoo
Banggai Cardinalfish at London Zoo

Komodo Dragon at London Zoo
Komodo Dragon at London Zoo

Bearded Pigs at London Zoo
Bearded Pigs at London Zoo

Pelicans in London Zoo
Pelicans in London Zoo

Black Footed Penguins in London Zoo
Black Footed Penguins in London Zoo

Bird landing in London Zoo
Bird landing in London Zoo

Otters in London Zoo
Otters in London Zoo

Giraffe in London Zoo
Giraffe in London Zoo

Crossing the canal passing through London Zoo
Crossing the canal passing through London Zoo

Next stop - Westminster Abbey. I was worried about long queues, but only had to wait a couple of minutes. There's an audio guide (read by Jeremy Irons - yum!) which is reasonably decent, but certainly doesn't cover everything. Missed out on seeing the chapter house because they were setting up for a jubilee exhibition. You can take photos in the cloister area, but not in the abbey itself :( but did sneak one through the front door as I was leaving.

North entrance of Westminster Abbey
North entrance of Westminster Abbey

North wall of Westminster Abbey
North wall of Westminster Abbey

Chapel in Westminster Abbey
Chapel in Westminster Abbey

Cloisters of Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster
Cloisters of Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster

Cloisters of Westminster Abbey
Cloisters of Westminster Abbey

Interior of Westminster Abbey through the front door
Interior of Westminster Abbey through the front door

Western door of Westminster Abbey
Western door of Westminster Abbey

Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey
Lady Chapel of Westminster Abbey

Then next door to the Jewel Tower. This was part of the old old Westminster Palace built around 1365 to house Edward III's treasures and one of only two buildings from the medieval Palace of Westminster to survive the fire of 1834. The first floor has an exhibition about the history of the British Parliament, and the top floor has a bit more history on the building itself. I'd never heard of this building, and only went there because it was "free" with the London Pass and right next to the abbey. Apparently a lot of Londoners don't know about it either.

Standard weights and measures
Standard weights and measures

Part of the original wooden foundations of the tower, showing the oak sleeper and elm piles
Part of the original wooden foundations of the tower, showing the oak sleeper and elm piles

Room in the Jewel Tower
Room in the Jewel Tower

Part of the old moat around Jewel Tower
Part of the old moat around Jewel Tower

Jewel Tower
Jewel Tower

So now it's 5pm and the sun is starting to poke through the clouds :/ I thought I didn't want to go back to the hotel just yet if the sun was coming out. So went and found somewhere to get some food to wait a little longer.

Westminster Hall (Big Ben in background)
Westminster Hall (Big Ben in background)

Then went down to the river to see about a river cruise. Decided I'd do it, but just missed one. So wandered up to Cleopatra's Needle.

Battle of Britain Monument
Battle of Britain Monument

Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needle

Egyptian style sphinx next to Cleopatra's Needle and London Eye
Egyptian style sphinx next to Cleopatra's Needle and London Eye

Then back for the last ferry of the day to Tower Bridge. Quite a nice little ride even if the sun wasn't really out. But it did shine on Tower Bridge right at the end which was pretty special.

London Eye and Sea Life Centre
London Eye and Sea Life Centre

Westminster Bridge and Palace of Westminster
Westminster Bridge and Palace of Westminster

Royal Air Force Memorial golden eagle statue
Royal Air Force Memorial golden eagle statue

Blackfriars Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge

Tate Modern
Tate Modern

Passing under the Millennium Bridge
Passing under the Millennium Bridge

Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge

Top of the Gherkin
Top of the Gherkin

The Shard
The Shard

HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge
HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge north pylon
Tower Bridge north pylon

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge

And hotel, photos, blog, bed!


Distance covered on the GPS: 39 km
Steps walked: 29077
Photos on the Canon: 261
Photos on the Sony: 62
Videos: 3
GBP Spent: 15.40