A Request for Vacation Assistance

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I am beginning to think Bethberry is much, much older than she seems and was last here around the time of the Diamond jubilee Gin ain't necessarily upmarket ... for all you know I am more Hogarthian than MCC.

Bethberry is as old or as young, as decrepit or as sprightly, as ugly or as pretty, as silly or as sober, as any wish to imagine her, there being no restrictions on imagination, interneted or otherwise.

With only two days for London, there won't be much chance to see much. There's lots of Old English relics and antiquaries at the British Museum, but why lock yourself up in a building (as neat as it might be) when there's so much more to explore outside?

Street markets are great fun--Camden Market and Portobello are probably the best known ones. There is also a market beside St. Martin's in the Field church on Trafalgar Square. If you are in that part of town, visit St. Martin's. The Crypt has a good cafe with a shop offering brass rubbings. Good music concerts there. It's essentially just around the corner (as I recall) from Gordon's Wine Bar and on the edge of the theatre district. Heavens! Is the Lord of the Rings musical still playing?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

And Trafalgar Square is definitely a must-see spot for first-time visitors! I agree with Bb - it's much more interesting (and cheaper!) to walk around a city than to spend all day inside.

[obloquy]

Well, plans changed a little and now we will be staying in Stockholm for three nights and then making our way by plane and train to Brussels. Germany was eliminated from this trip because a) we will be going back for Germany in the fall; b) I was told in this thread that Hamburg is nothing very special; c) less destinations means less rush, and in this case d) less money as well.

We've bought tickets to see Swan Lake in Stockholm on the 29th, which we are pretty excited about. I've never been to a ballet but I enjoyed Altman's The Company, so hopefully it will be fun.

Speaking of going out on the town: we looked into going to Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville in Paris but it was nearly $600 each. Keeps out the riff-raff I guess.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

I'm an American, but I feel compelled to throw in my personal opinions about Paris.

Paris is one of my favorite cities, though I've only been there once. Everything about it is gorgeous. The Lourve is, I think, a very necessary stop, though you'll never see all of it in one stop, even if you do it at a run. Best to work out beforehand what you want to see.

I'd also recommend setting aside a part of a day for just wandering around, taking it all in. A good starting place is in front of Notre Dame. It's been a couple years, but as I recall, from there, you can find your way down all manner of quirky little French streets with cute little cafes and interesting little shops. I didn't see any need to go for the very best in fancy dining--most places I ate at were cafes or bakeries that we happened by on the way. I like my travel loosely-planned. The first food I had in France was in a little bakery within walking distance of Notre Dame. I ordered crepes and they were absolutely unforgettable, even if I had a hard time communicating what it was that I was ordering, since I had very little familiarity with French, and the cook spoke only a few words of English, and my accent was atrocious.

If you want to go somewhere that's a little off the beaten path (in other words, while it's a place a lot of tourists visit, it isn't the Lourve, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, etc...though those are all well and good in their own right), I'd actually recommend the Catacombs. I wasn't too sure about them, but the friends I was with really, really wanted to go, and I didn't want to go off by myself so I tagged along. I was very pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was very quiet, even peaceful, and it was a fascinating trip, and not even in a morbid sort of way. I think I may have wound up enjoying it the most out of our group, even. I've never seen anything like it in my life, before or since. Might be an appropriate place for a Downer to visit. However, having my bag checked at the exit was probably one of the most bizarre things that happened to me--who would want to steal a bunch of old bones?! Be warned that there are a LOT of stairs, and if you're not up for some climbing, you might want to skip it.

I fell in love with a bar/restaraunt/pub (?--I'm not sure of its American equivalent) on a corner somewhere near the Catacombs. My friends and I went in during a slow time, and the owner was very, very friendly and outgoing and helpful. He even helped us try to learn French (a daunting task!), told us which subway to take to get to Napoleon's tomb, etc. The food was inexpensive but tasty, and I unfortunately did not save either the business card of the place, or the reciept so I'm afraid I can't tell you its exact name. I believe it might have been also within walking distance (or even across the way from) a McDonald's. It wasn't fancy dining, or even a place that looked particularly geared towards tourists, but it was lovely all the same.

I'm going to go home for veteran's day weekend, the weekend after next, and I'll try to find you the business card from the other restaraunt I really liked in Paris. I believe I saved it. They served couscous, of all things, and it was a very interesting taste experience, though I have no idea of its price range.

A word of advice--When walking into any of the many stores in France, do say "Bonjour", and when leaving, say "Au revoir". It's a custom, or so I was told in school before going. Not to do so would be rude, apparantly.

Aside to Bethberry: I wanted to go to Parc Asterix, but didn't have the time or the transportation to do so (I went with a school group so our time was more structured than I would have liked). Glad to hear it's a good time. Perhaps I'll check it out if I'm fortunate enough to go to Paris again.

I can apparantly ramble on for ages about Paris, but really. Even if you go in with hardly anything planned, you won't find a shortage of things to see and do, on the spur of the moment. A day spent wandering the streets is not, in my opinion, a day even remotely wasted.

EDIT: Just saw Mithalwen's post about Creperie des Arts. It sounds familiar, and if that's the place I'm thinking it is (I barely remember--Paris was a whirlwind), then I heartily second the recommendation!

[obloquy]

Great post, thank you. We definitely planned to spend a lot of time just walking around. It's one of my very favorite things to do.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Heavens! Is the Lord of the Rings musical still playing?

It is.

In Paris the rue Cler has (or had) a classic street market and the best bakery I found if youare going walkabout. In London, the "City" ie the square mile has all these fantastic churches and monuments in the midst of the business activity.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Street markets are great fun--Camden Market and Portobello are probably the best known ones.

A big chunk of Camden Market burned down last night, plus the Hawley Arms.

I'm betting it was the lingering miasma of hairspray from all the goffs who were out shopping for Cyberdog gear on the Saturday that spontaneously combusted when Amy Winehouse was observing the pub smoking ban and flicked her tab end over the back wall of the Hawley Arms beer garden. She'll have to go to rehab now.

[Brinniel]

A quick question:

I just found out recently that I will be spending a day and a half in Liverpool. Now I don't know very much about the city, so I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestion on what I could do while there? Also, any recommendations on pubs or bars would be welcome.

I would also love to visit York in May, but according to my travel book the train ride seems rather expensive.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Brinniel

A quick question:

I just found out recently that I will be spending a day and a half in Liverpool. Now I don't know very much about the city, so I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestion on what I could do while there? Also, any recommendations on pubs or bars would be welcome.

I would also love to visit York in May, but according to my travel book the train ride seems rather expensive.

Plenty do in Liverpool! I know it well! The best pub everyone recommends is the Phil so I'm not about to break ranks and send you elsewhere! http://ultimatepubguide.com/pubs/inf...271&crawl_id=1
Though I used to know all the best dive nightclubs when i was a lot younger Liverpool is now home to very glitzy bars and clubs (like Cream) which are packed out with dressed up scousers ('going out' is a religion in Liverpool), footballers and WAGs.

Lots of good shopping to be had in town and around the renovated Albert Dock area. There's always a cheesy Beatles tour or two to go on. How about comparing the two cathedrals? 'Paddy's Wigwam' is the Catholic one, designed by the protestant Lutyens and the monumental Anglican one (biggest in Europe I think) is designed by the Catholic Gilbert Scott. There's also a fab museum (I wonder if they still have the piranha fish? I got done for tapping on the glass of the tank when I was a kid ), St George's Hall and the Walker Art Gallery.

Liverpool is also European Capital of Culture this year so there's bound to be something mad to see: http://www.liverpool08.com/ As if it wasn't mad enough already. You could always go looking for the 'Paradox' (see Mr Hookbill's blog) or search out the Tate Gallery, the Pier Head, the Mersey Ferry, Sefton Park, the Williamson Tunnels, the Mersey Tunnels, or Goodison Park ( we do not mention the other place).

Or if that's all too much, go north to the very agreeable Southport

As for getting to York, you need to keep checking & fiddling with your options on the national rail website to get cheap tickets - that's what I always do when I'm going to London (It's only £12 to get to York from here). http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Plenty do in Liverpool! I know it well! The best pub everyone recommends is the Phil so I'm not about to break ranks and send you elsewhere! http://ultimatepubguide.com/pubs/inf...271&crawl_id=1
Though I used to know all the best dive nightclubs when i was a lot younger Liverpool is now home to very glitzy bars and clubs (like Cream) which are packed out with dressed up scousers ('going out' is a religion in Liverpool), footballers and WAGs.

Lots of good shopping to be had in town and around the renovated Albert Dock area. There's always a cheesy Beatles tour or two to go on. How about comparing the two cathedrals? 'Paddy's Wigwam' is the Catholic one, designed by the protestant Lutyens and the monumental Anglican one (biggest in Europe I think) is designed by the Catholic Gilbert Scott. There's also a fab museum (I wonder if they still have the piranha fish? I got done for tapping on the glass of the tank when I was a kid ), St George's Hall and the Walker Art Gallery.

Liverpool is also European Capital of Culture this year so there's bound to be something mad to see: http://www.liverpool08.com/ As if it wasn't mad enough already. You could always go looking for the 'Paradox' (see Mr Hookbill's blog) or search out the Tate Gallery, the Pier Head, the Mersey Ferry, Sefton Park, the Williamson Tunnels, the Mersey Tunnels, or Goodison Park ( we do not mention the other place).

Or if that's all too much, go north to the very agreeable Southport

As for getting to York, you need to keep checking & fiddling with your options on the national rail website to get cheap tickets - that's what I always do when I'm going to London (It's only £12 to get to York from here). http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Personaly I found the Albert docks rather disapointing and the beatles museum is not really worth a visit, unless you know hardly anything about them. . .but in general I liked Liverpool. I found that the scousers where a quite likeable bunch, of course it helps that I support Liverpool F.C.

Of course you could visit Anfield Road


P.S. Did they not make a documentary about that "cream" place?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Rune Son of Bjarne

Personaly I found the Albert docks rather disapointing and the beatles museum is not really worth a visit, unless you know hardly anything about them. . .but in general I liked Liverpool. I found that the scousers where a quite likeable bunch, of course it helps that I support Liverpool F.C.

Of course you could visit Anfield Road


P.S. Did they not make a documentary about that "cream" place?

Albert Dock hasn't been the same since they got rid of Fred's weather map...

[Brinniel]

Originally Posted by Rune

the beatles museum is not really worth a visit, unless you know hardly anything about them

Well, the Beatles museum is the reason the people I'm going with chose Liverpool in the first place. Honestly, I'm not exactly a huge Beatles fan myself and part of me worries this is going to be just another tourist trap....and it sounds like there's a lot of better things to do in Liverpool anyway. But this is me trying to be flexible for the sake of my friends and perhaps in the process I'll learn something new about the Beatles...

Thanks for all the suggestions, Lal. I'll definitely have to check some of those places out...especially the Phil. Unfortunately, we'll be spending only one night in Liverpool now; we couldn't find a vacant hostel for the first night so we'll be spending that night in Manchester instead (which I'm sure will be fun as well), then take the bus to Liverpool the following day.