Plans for my last weekend in Europe!

Last semester I went on a cruise to Oslo along with many other international students from Copenhagen Business School. I sung karaoke to Van Halen's "Jump" on the ship. I thought it was just for fun, but ended up coming in 2nd place and won the same cruise for two. This weekend is the cruise for this semester's exchange students (fantastic timing) so I booked it. I invited Jordan to come with me, a Scotsman who I know from last semester. He's staying in Copenhagen for 2 semesters so I am crashing on his floor for my remaining 3 nights here. It's very strange being back in Copenhagen and in the residence where I lived...the sights are the same but most of my friends are gone. I was in Poland & Stockholm over the last week, but have run out of time so I'll have to post those pictures after the cruise! I'm looking forward to seeing you all very soon.
Jake :-)

London

London was a great place to visit. I don’t think I’d like to actually live there, but it’s certainly a fun place to check out. When I arrived at my hostel, I immediately met a load of people in the common room. It seemed to be the trend for backpackers there to arrive with the intention of staying only a few days but staying significantly longer. It wasn’t as expensive as I was made to believe it would be, but then again I was staying in a hostel and eating supermarket food most of the time.

My first evening was spent socializing with people in the hostel. There were actually lots of Canadians there and of course Australians, among other nationalities. The next day I went on a free walking tour; always a great way to see the city. This took us to many of the popular sites of London, my favourite of which was Buckingham Palace. The Queen’s flag was up so we knew she was there at the time. I couldn’t help but stare in awe, I’m not sure exactly why, but I’m sure it’s to do with the history of the place and the family residing in it. Unfortunately the Queen didn’t invite me in for tea; perhaps that will happen on my next trip to London.

I also did my own exploring where I saw the Tower of London, HMS Belfast, London Dungeon, London Eye, and the Tower Bridge. I didn’t actually enter many those things because they were pretty pricy, but I did take a tour of the Tower Bridge where I was able to learn about and see first hand the original steam engines and hydraulic mechanisms that made the bridge open and close. It was pretty cool; especially the appreciation it gave me for 19th century engineering.

On my third day I connected with Dave Partridge, a second cousin of mine in his early 30s who I had never before met. We went for a beer at a pub with a balcony overlooking one of the popular squares. We had some great conversations about the travel life, as he too did some backpacking when he was my age. There was a street performer entertaining us in the square below with some impressive moves including juggling with an active chainsaw. The night continued as Dave treated me to dinner at a fantastic Indian restaurant where we talked more about the family and of course Snake Island. I worked on convincing him that it would be well worth a family trip, especially with 2 young boys in the same age range as the 5 young Morrisons we have running around on the island these days.

I checked out the National Gallery, Natural History Musuem, Science Museum and British Museum. I usually get bored easily at museums, but some of the stuff was pretty cool. The British Museum has a massive collection of artifacts from all over the world and I really enjoyed the outer space section of the Science Museum. I don’t usually care too much for art, but there were some paintings at the National Gallery that really impressed me and I gained a new appreciation for artists’ abilities to capture moments in time; well before the invention of the camera.

On my last night in London I investigated how much it cost to go to a theatre performance. I assumed it would be out of my price range but ended up picking up a ticket in the standing section for £15 which I thought was quite reasonable. I saw “We Will Rock You.” It was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and only wish I looked into the theatre earlier because there are a massive number of shows happening in London at any one time. I had no idea it was such a big thing there.

That night I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep because I had a 6am RyanAir flight from London to Poland. Not the most convenient time, but at a cost of €25 I had nothing to complain about. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

See the Queen's flag?

Prince Harry & William's house

Trafalgar Square


Volleyball site for the 2012 Olympics

Prime Minister's House

Westminister Abby

Big Ben

"Wizzard Sticks" in our hostel

Art from scrap material

HMS Belfast

Tower Bridge

Cousin Dave, his friend & I

Museum of Natural History

Hyde Park

Imagine this for a Snake Island raft!

Never seen a Zokiak houseboat...

City parliament building of left, HMS Belfast in middle

View from top Tower Bridge

Inside the Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

We Will, We Will Rock You!

Liverpool

Nearing the end of my trip, I had to decide what to do with my remaining time. I considered going to Greece, Venice, and Rome, but for some reason I got the impression that England was a must see place for a European trip. This was not only the cheaper option, it also involved a lot less travel time which made it the most practical choice. I also really enjoyed my time, so there’s little doubt that I made the right choice going to England.

On Feb 14th I flew from Portugal to Liverpool to visit Rupert, another friend from Copenhagen. He met me at the airport and we went back to his student dorm. By the time we got back and had some food it was well past midnight and we were both exhausted so we called it an early night. The next day we explored the city, checked out the tourist attractions, and went to a few pubs. One of which was The Cavern, the place credited for having the Beatles play there on many occasions, early on in their music careers. We went back for dinner and then headed back to The Cavern to listen to some more Beatles cover music. The next day we went to the maritime museum where there was a lot of stuff related to the Titanic, Lusitania, and Empress of Ireland – all 3 of which sank within 3 years of each other. Later on, we went to the Beatles Story, a museum dedicated to the life of the Beatles. I learned quite a bit of stuff I didn’t know about the Beatles and really enjoyed it. Of course it gave me even more appreciation for their music. That night, we met up with one of Rupert’s friends and went out to a club in Liverpool. I’m usually not a huge fan of clubs but I rather enjoyed my time at this one; they played my kind of music. Later that night we took a little mission to Penny Lane, mainly because I never knew that was the lyrics of the song I know very well and when I found out I really wanted to go there…anyone know what song I’m talking about?? Maybe Dad does…anyway, it goes something like this, “Penny Lane, is in my ears, and in my eyes..." I’m sure if you heard it you’d recognize the song, but maybe not the lyrics.

The next day I said my goodbyes to Rupert, insisted he come to Snake Island one day, and caught a bus to London.



Rupert

Outside the Maritime Museum


The Cavern Club


In Chinatown, the largest Chinese arch outside China

One of many English pubs we visited

Out clubbing

4am mission to Penny Lane

Portugal

Portugal was well worth the visit. I met up with Joanna, a friend I met in Copenhagen, who lives in Lisbon. This was definitely a great place to go around with a local because we drove to many nice places that I probably never would have found on my own or gotten to without a car! On top of that, her family owns a Japanese restaurant so the eating there was great! I stayed at Joanna’s place in Lisbon for 4 nights and I’d say we did a good job making the most of the time. Some pictures below include the most westerly point in Europe and a nearby escarpment that we descended down. Looking at a map it actually looks like Ireland is more west; but I didn't try telling that to the owner of the tourist shop located at Portugal’s “most westerly point in Europe.”

We also made a day trip to Porto where we took a river cruise and went on a tour of a Port Wine factory. The next day I headed to Faro which is in Algarve – an area known for its long beaches and beautiful coastlines. There was great scenery here and I had some fun nighttime talks on the rooftop patio with other people in my hostel. On my last day in Faro I went on a boat ride in an old fishing boat and learned about the tides and surrounding nature. That night I flew to Liverpool.


Me standing on the most Westerly point of Europe




Those waves just looked to fun to resist...



The river cruise in Porto





Faro







In the park that randomly had free wireless internet that I used to call family on skype.