May
2
2009
In the morning I took the bus back to the airport and met up with Peter who was nice enough to let me tag along with him to do some plane spotting at Schiphol. Early on we were able to catch a plenty of departures from Polderbaan east spot. It is located half way down the runway so the birds rotated right in front of us. Once again I wished I had a better camera especially with another two dozen people around me with telescopic lenses. Plane spotting is really big there, there were a few families out with kids and lawn chairs just enjoying the weather and watching airplanes.
After the morning departure rush we decided to go to another spot at Kaagbaan to catch some arrivals but by the time we got there, they switched the runway configuration once again and there were no more birds coming that way. Disappointed, Peter took me to the Aviation Megastore model store near by. And megastore it was - pretty much an entire warehouse filled with tons of models, aviation books, magazines, pilot supplies and so on.
We cooled down at the model store and went out to the east corner of the airport to watch the arrivals but once again they switched the configuration a few minutes after we got there. The planes were still pretty high at that point so I did not get any good pictures there. Soon we were heading over to a spot right next to the taxiway that goes to Polderbaan. There we were pretty much right next to the birds so the most of my good pictures came out of there. We spent a good chunk of time there shooting everything that came in - from Fokker 50s to a number of 747s. What really got me thou was that pretty much all the pilots taxiing by had their windows open and waving to the crowds taking the pictures or just watching there. I thought that was a really nice touch.
It was time to leave afterward Peter dropped me off at the terminal and I took the bus back to my hostel. I went out and shopped for some souvenirs and then met up with Gertjan, another couchsurfer. We had a quick dinner and unfortunately I could not join them for a party afterward since I was starting to feel pretty sick. I went back to the hostel and packed up. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Amsterdam, Amsterdam Schiphol, Couchsurfing, Holland
Apr
28
2009
It was time to say goodbye to Phi and catch the morning train from Torino to Milano. Instead of going all the way to Porta Nuova, I decided to walk and catch the train at Porta Susa and almost made it there before it started to rain. Again. The ride to Milano was in first class and it was actually pretty nice, definitely worth a few more dollars I paid for it.
One day pass is three euros.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Duomo Cathedral, Italia, Milan Malpensa, Milano, San Siro
Apr
23
2009
Jonathan graciously dropped me off at Charles de Gaulle in the morning and I was on my way. Contrary to some of the reviews I have read on the net, I did not find CDG to be a confusing airport to get around. The only complaint I had is that they did not have any departure/arrival monitors anywhere in the gate area and since I had checked in the day before, I had to track someone down to ask where exactly my flight was leaving from. I was still very tired after spending almost entire 36 hours awake, eight of them tracking around Paris with my backpack, so as soon as we took off, I passed out.
I woke up just as we were descending off the coast of Marseille and the view was amazing. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures of Calanques, Vieux port, and everything else. The airport was nice and spacious and the lady at the info desk was pretty helpfull getting me a bunch of brochures and telling me where to catch the bus to town. The bus cost 8 euros and took me to the central train station. My hostel was supposedly right next to it, but it still took me a good half hour to find it because of the confusing street layout… The Vertigo hostel itself was not bad with a couple (paid) computers and a nice kitchenette including a couple small fridges, dishes, pots, etc. Once I got into my six person room, I met my first roommate - an elderly woman from Oregon. She gave me some pointers on what to do and what to see and so off I went.
The weather was beautiful with a rare cloud overhead. I walked down to the visitor information place next to the Vieux port and grabbed some maps. I spent the rest of the time walking around the port, the fortress, and the old neighborhood before returning to the hostel. By that time everyone else was back. My other roommates were a guy from Colorado, an Italian guy that did not speak much English, another girl from US, and Lucy from Prague. Me and Lucy hit it off right away and decided to go to a grocery store to grab some stuff for dinner and breakfast next morning. Afterwards we met up with Nat and Claire from couchsurfing who took us to a bar on the north side of the Vieux port. We were sitting upstairs sipping beer while the breeze was blowing throw the window with the port and the Notre Dame de la Garde lit up in front of us. It was simply an amazing moment. Afterwards Nat and Claire dropped us off at the hostel and we had another round of Heineken before hitting the sack.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Calanques, Couchsurfing, France, Marseille, Marseille Provence, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Vieux Port
Apr
22
2009
I met up with Christopher at Charles de Gaulle and we took a train to get into the city. He is from Iowa and is spending a year studying in France so he took a day off and came to Paris to hang out with me. Our first stop was the famous Notre Dame de Paris. We took some pictures but could not get inside beacuse of my backpack. I also learned quickly that when someone asks you if you speak English, it is a good idea to pretend you do not. Otherwise they show you something scribbled in English basically begging for money. I thought it was kind of weird. At least learn a sentence, do not write it out for me…
Anyways, we walked along the Seine towards the Louvre. We took some pictures with the famous Pyramide de Louvre at the entrance but did not go inside since I only had a day to spend in Paris. From the Louvre, we walked through Jardin des Tuileries and had a quick lunch there. We kept on walking towards the Arc de Triomphe along the Avenue des Champs Elysees where I took the most expensive dump in my life (I think it was two and a half euros…) and also bought a SIM card for my phone at a Virgin store. The arc was ok, but nothing too special, there is a 8 euro charge to get on top so we decided to skip that since we were going to the Eiffel Tower next.
We took a quick ride on the metro and got in line to go up the Eiffel Tower. After waiting in line for half an hour they almost kicked me out since my backpack was pretty large but then let me through anyways. While we were waiting in line, we were watching cops on bikes trying to catch the African kids bugging all the tourists with cheap souveniers. Another half hour later we got on the elevator and went up all the way to the top of the tower. The view was very nice. I liked the old streets and the buildings, all of the same height everywhere with a few skyscrapers in the distance. We went around and took some pictures, then did another round at a lower floor and got back down. We rested for a little bit at Parc du Champs de Mars.
After that we decided to go walk around the streets of Paris, so we crossed Seine and walked toward the Maison de Balzac on Rue Raynouard. It was already closed for the day so we just kept on walking. It was interesting to see chestnut trees blossoming everywhere, it reminded me of Kiev in May time frame… We walked past Maison de Radio France and finally found a metro station. Christopher had to go to catch his train and I jumped on the metro to go meet up with Jonathan.
Jonathan messaged me on couchsurfing when I posted to the pilots group asking if anyone wanted to go to fly with me while I was in Europe. He offered to take me up and so I went out to Cergy Pontoise just outside of Paris to meet up with him. We flew in a Dimond Star out of Aerodrome de Pontoise Cormeilles. As soon as we took off, he offered me to take control and so I did. D40 has a stick instead of a traditional yoke, but it did not take long to get used to it. The plane was very resposive and simply a joy to fly. Outside the window we watched Paris light up at night and the Eiffel Tower lit up in the distance. Simply amazing!
By the time we put the plane away and got out of there, it was almost midnight and since I was in the mood to get some real French food, Jonathan took me to a restaurant close by the Arc de Triomphe. The food was not anything special, the wine was pretty good, but neither justified the price tage - 150 euros for two is probably the most expensive dinner I have ever had. It was followed by a night drive tour of Paris, but I started passing out in the car so we went back to Jonathan’s for the night.
The rest of my 12 Days in Europe posts:
no comments | posted in Arc de Triomphe, Couchsurfing, Eiffel Tower, France, Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Seine River, The Louvre
