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You can't mis paris if you're in france for the first time. The whole context of France centres around its relationship with the centre and the history as expressed in the centre.

It has an over-inflated reputation for nastiness, just be respectful of another culture and copy the behaviours and dress. Dont go in like a loud person with ugly clothes and disrespectful language, and dont expect everyone to be friendly, after all, it'stheir city, not yours and you are a guest in it.

the same follows everywhere in Europe, it is a a different culture, adna bit of adjustment goes a long way. I will say I have been to Paris several times and never had any problems aside from what you would expect in a large city.

Last edited by tiny_clanger at 09-Jun-2005 11:51

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

i have been to france(2x), italy(2x) and london(1x).

in london you have to do the London Eye, which is a huge ferris wheel. it takes 38 minutes to make one full turn. go through Tower of London.

if you are in France take a couple of days to visit the WW2 memorials etc... visit some of the cemetaries and Pointe du Hoc was neat. that is were Americans had to climb up a huge cliff while the Germans were shooting. they have some huge guns still set up along the way which are neat.

St. Michael was neat. a town out on an island.

make sure to visit a lot of castles!!!!!

but most importantly have FUN!!!!!

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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In London, make sure you take the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) from the city to Greenwich as the views from the train when you get into Canary Wharf are amazing. In Greenwich you can visit the observatory and the meridian, have something cheap and cheerful to eat and take a boat back to the Westminster and you will get an unusual view of London. The DLR is covered in your travel card but you'll have to pay extra for a boat, but don't forget to show your travel card as you will get 1/3 off of the fare.

For markets in London, everybody always go to Camden Market, which is alright but definitely not the best. If you spend a sunday in London wake up early and head to Columbia Road flower market which is just a treat. Then you can go to Brick Lane and see the quirky Brick Lane market and then to Spitalfield market. All are within a walking distance and the East End is the most trendy place in London at the moment.

Another market worth while is Borough Market near London Bridge. It's a food market open on thursdays, fridays and saturdays. A food market might not sound so exciting, but this one is. And don't forget to get yourself something to eat, even if only a fruit, they are delicious.

Little Venice is also very nice, and you can walk along Regents canal towards Paddington basin where for good views.

These are just some things that not all travel guides write about and even those who do, they're kinda get lost between Oxford St. - Buckingham Palace - London Tower sort of thing. Whenever I have visitros, I always make sure to take them on that DLR ride and they all absolutely loved it, much more than the things that are mentioned in travel guides...

As for Scotland, I think that Glasgow is an amazing city, but tourists usually find it quite ugly. If you want something more picturesque take the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, it's only 50 mins to Waverley station and you're in the heart of Edinburgh. There are not a lot of things to do in Edinburgh which are not already in travel guides, but what I loved doing again and again was to get lost, literally. Take a left/right turn in a small close and you don't know where you'll end at. I think it's especially nice around George IV bridge.

By the way, to avoid being snubbed by the locals, it's important to know that Edinburgh is actually ounced Edin-brah (roll the r for a better effect). It's a small thing, but as someone who used to live there for a while (but who actually preferred Glasgow...) I know that the locals really can't stand it when tourists call it Edin-boorg, so win yourself some smiles by say it properly.

Edit: I just realised you were talking about the 15th of June and not of July, so most of what I've just written is useless. Anyway, you might be able to do some of thing I've mentioned worth doing in London, if you find the time between shopping...

Last edited by untitled at 10-Jul-2005 13:40

Hope you're enjoying your European stay &amp; don't spend everything on cloths, leave some $$$ for the fish.


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I was staying at a little retreat near Berwick-upon-Tweed, called Nether Springs. Right now I'm in Toulouse. I went shopping with my sister today, since all the soldes are happening now. We spent 215 euros on clothes &gt;.&lt;. The keyboards here are really annoying me, since the a, m, and a bunch of other keys are in the wrong place!

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Iona = beautiful.

Whereabouts in Northumberland will you be? Which town/place? I was brought up in the wilds of Northumberland.

Edit: Are you staying with the YMCA in Northumberland by any chance????

Last edited by malaikah at 16-Jun-2005 18:52

Poitiers is a wonderful town.
Be sure to take planty of time to stroll down those awfully steep little old streets and to buy some faboulous jewelry.
(We came out flat broke when my wife saw those shops ... )

I am not too sure about you guys, but I really loved the Botanical Gardens, the Kew Gardens(?) in London, but you need to take a tube out.

The Changing of the guard was not too bad, but the crowds build up closer to the time it starts so to make sure you get a front view, get there a little earlier. They were playing ABBA the other time I was there.

If you could visit Wales you could go to Swansea and have a look at Bob Dylan (famous writer) and where he lived who later died in New York, go to the Gorge and have nice walk along coast and then go to the Mumbles (beach).

You could also visit Cardiff and check out Cardiff Bay, have a lil shopping and visit Cardiff Castle.

Also maybe visit a place called Blaenavon and go to Big Pit, it is a coal mine you can go down and have a tour of and it is interesting.

You may wanna check out Aberfan, the place where a huge waste coal tip slid down a mountain into the town early in the morning, it crashed into a school at 9:15, at this time all children were at school and 144 people died, 116 being school children.

You may wanna visit Dan-yr-Ogof Caves which are also in Swansea.

You could climb up Snowden Mountain if you go to North Wales, all the above have so far been in the South of Wales.

You could visit Goytre Wharf which is a place along a canal and when you leave it turn left and follow the road straight to get the The Star Pub for some lovely food.

Other places you could visit are Newport, Abergavenny and Usk. Again, all of them are in South and are nice places, well Abergavveny and Usk are better than Newport as Newport is a city so you know, always rougher parts of cities you wanna avoid but not too bad really.

There is also oppurtunity to visit some Castles as there are around 10 or so really good castles around. You may also want to visit St Davids Cathedral, the cathedral of Wales` Patriont Saint.

That should be enugh for you to search the web to find out more about

Okay, I've just gotten an itinerary for the trip. I leave on Wednesday, June 15th from San Francisco, and go to Washington D.C. I then fly to London, and then to Glasgow. I stay in a little bed and breakfast for 2 nights, then go from Oban to Mull to Iona. I stay at the Iona Community for a week. I go to Edinburgh and stay there for a couple nights. Then I go to Northumbria for 4 days. I take the train to London, and from there to Paris. I go to Toulouse, and stay there for a week. I then go to stay in Poitiers for a week. I go to Paris and stay there for 3 days. I go to London again and stay there for 3 days, and then I fly from London to Calgary, and Calgary to San Francisco. I get back home on July 25th.

Whew.

So what I really need to know is places to visit in the cities I know I'm going to. Any suggestions in London and Paris? I know I'm seeing the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tower of London, and a bunch of those touristy places. Any special recommendations of other places to visit? Thanks guys!

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Janna, if you visit England, head for Liverpool. Then cross the water to Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port. And track down the Blue Planet Aquarium. Whose inmates include a huge Arapaima!

Find out more here.

UPDATE : The Blue Planet has 100 Cichlid species in its Lake Malawi section, and in its Amazon section has an aquarium containing an Arapaima, Black Pacus and a Redtail Catfish. Needless to say, that will be one huge aquarium ...

UPDATE 2 : If you have the cash to splash out on this, you can also go shark diving in the shark aquarium. And come face to face with 10 foot long Sand Tiger Sharks! If you're a qualified scuba diver (PADI Open Water certificate or equivalent, with at least one major sea dive logged within the past 6 months) then you can splash out on the full day shark dive ... includes lecture on shark ecology, equipment hire (or save money and bring your own!) and time spent saying 'hello' to the Sand Tigers. Watch your back though!




Last edited by Calilasseia at 11-Jun-2005 16:40

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

true true.

The people who had the most problems were those who had low-level French language skills. Unfortunately they found that the natives did not wish to help them out in English. I found the same thing on the way to Germany, I know they understood me as they were able to carry out my requests, but they flatly refused to speak to me, and I was being nice dammit! I hear the country areas are far more welcoming in both countries, so I'll be avoiding the big cities if I can

Paris might well be nice, and I'm sure Janna would fit in fashion-wise, but if I had limited time, I'd spend it in areas where myself and my culture were welcomed.

And preferably where there were topless scandinavian boys to ogle at but thats just me

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

I'm going to be leaving for Europe for 6 weeks on the 15th. I'll be in London, some places in Scotland, but mostly in France. Hopefully I'll get to see some of Spain and Italy as well.

Do you guys have any suggestions of places to visit/see? They don't have to be fish related .

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Holland, DEFINATELY.

No ifs or buts, that place is just stunning, and all the people are so friendly! (word of warning though, their drink sizes are miniscule, if you go in summer, take a large bottle!)

And I hear Prague is good.

From a few accounts, Paris is pretty nasty, you might like the south of france better.

And avoid Germany, it gave me the willies. Driving into Hamburg at night reminded me of those evil nuclear-powered baddie-towns, the orange glow was just freaky. And it smelled funny.

Last edited by Callatya at 08-Jun-2005 20:21

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

come to Holland and drop by!

this might help a bit

Last edited by dude_dude at 07-Jun-2005 05:47

oh yeah - Prague - wonderful place!!!

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I really like eastern europe. you should spend a few days in prague if you can get there; great architecture, some excellent museums. in western europe, barcelona is good, paris is the best pace in france, and if you like stark, slightly evil-looking but very very culturally saturated places then berlin is worth a go.

France, well obviously Paris. The Normandy coast is beautiful as well, Honfleur is a lovely town if you're passing. I'd try and go to one of the War Cemetaries as well, if you can. Just because it brings the history to life in a very moving way. If you are into kitesports, then you want Les Hemmes beach in Normandy.

As for Spain - try and see Barecelona, great nightlife, great city. Depending on where you cross the border, try and visit Euskadi, it is a very beautiful and misunderstood area of Europe. Andalucia is also an amazing part of spain, try to make it to Jerez for the sherry - but watch out for your car.

If you can make it to Santiago de Compostela, that is an amazing experience both if you are religious or not. Seville is beautiful and has a great nightlife too.

In italy - if you can, go to Sicily. Another beautiful place, and a older italy.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

I second Amsterdam.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.