travel blog

Yesterday was the United Kingdom general election which to us meant an end to the bombardment on TV of political adverts and interviews with unknown MPs from small corners of the country. The weird thing is not many people can be bothered voting (only 50%) which is kind of strange given the situation of the country. The schools and health system are going down the toilet and the armed forces are embroiled in Iraq yet most people could not care less. I have not actually meet anyone who has voted yet which is slightly disappointing. I think a big part of it could be the scheduling of an election on a Thursday but I guess they could not do it on the weekend as that would conflict with the non-stop soccer.

For the last few days Emma and I have spent our time at the flat working. Consequently we were beginning to show the first signs of cabin fever. Our condition was confirmed when I suggested we go feed some squirrels at the nearby park and Emma excitedly agreed. Last week I got into trouble by feeding the squirrels cashew nuts Emma had bought for me (it turned out cashews should only go to Emma and not squirrels). This time round I planned ahead and picked up a bag of peanuts from the supermarket so we headed off with the camera to have some fun.

Hand Feeding the Squirrels at the Park

The nearby park is full of squirrels and pigeons drawn together by the generous humans who pass them by. Thanks to a few visiting dogs it took a little time to find them but once we did it was squirrel heaven. They were not as keen on the peanuts as they were with the cashews but at least with peanuts they do not have to compete with Emma. Some of the fatter squirrels were not afraid of walking right up to you to get a nut whilst the smaller, friskier squirrels preferred to hang back and play catch. Half a bag of nuts later there was some very satisfied squirrels so we headed back home to cook some dinner of our own.

Update:

Sunday was particularly fine and sunny so Emma and I took the Underground out to Archway to undertake a Lonely Planet Walk through Hampstead Heath. Considering it was still Zone 2 the area was very green with relatively old but expensive low density housing and shops throughout. The park itself was very large and had lots of people like ourselves were enjoying the warm afternoon. Spring has arrived in London and all the flowers are blooming which makes for a nice change from the grey/brown tones of winter.

This evening Apple released the latest version of their operating system called Tiger (OS 10.4). The Apple Store in Regent Street had a massive evening devoted to Tiger so we decided to call by to checkout what was going on. I knew there would be thousands of crazed Apple fanatics but Emma held firm on the belief that there was only one and that was me.

The last few days in London have been very fine and quite warm for a change. On Thursday afternoon we headed out to Regent's Park for a walk around it and the London Zoo. All the flowers were in bloom and lots of birds were hanging about so it was very nice.

As reward for visiting the park and smelling flowers we went to the Royal Air Force Museum London the next day. It is quite a way north of London but still on the Northern tube line which made getting there easy. I have spent many years studying aircraft so it was great to finally see many of the planes I had read about in books. Emma on the other hand does not know much at all about aircraft so it was all new to her and quite an experience.

On Saturday the weather was reasonably good (it was not raining) so we headed out to Greenwich for a look around. Getting out to Greenwich is unique as you go on the Docklands Light Railway, a train meets monorail meets tram concoction that services most of Londons eastern areas that are near the Thames. The DLR runs at numerous levels, sometimes you are on the ground or underground, but most of the time you are traveling four or five stories above ground as you weave in between buildings. The other unique thing about the journey is that everything is automated (there is no driver). This provides you with a great view as you pass through Canary Wharf on your way to Greenwich.

After three weeks of constant travel it was nice to get back to London and have some time to do nothing. After a few days of this I soon started hitting the pile of work that I had been thinking about throughout our travels. Emmas agency was not having much luck finding her work but this did not bother Emma as Jess was staying in London and the thought of going straight from touring Germany to an English hospital was a little too much. On our return we have found the weather in London to be much improved and there is a definite feel of spring in the air. There is lots of flowers in the parks and gardens and from nowhere hundreds of funny little squirrels have emerged.

Below is a map of the journey we took around Germany, Austria and Czech Republic. Click on the stars to read about each location and view photographs that we took during our travels. Or alternatively view the photos without any commentary here.

After our comprehensive walking tour the day before we decided to head out to the western side of Berlin to checkout Daniel Libeskind's world famous Jewish Museum. The Jewish Museum is renowned for its bold and evocative architectural design that successfully blends the narrative of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and a functioning museum for general displays. Recently the architect has also won the competition for the World Trade Centre redevelopment thanks in large part to his work on the Jewish Museum.

Berlin was obviously going to the a highlight of any visit to Germany given its significant position in history during the last 100 years and the massive rebuilding since reunification in 1990. We stayed in the centrally located Circus Hostel which is apparently one of the best hostels in Europe. We were quite impressed by the hostel, it had a nice feel about it thanks in large part to its very bold interior design. However compared to Dresden the rooms were not as quiet or comfortable and breakfast was not part of the nightly charge. The hostel is located  on the eastern side of the Wall but to visit there today it is very hard to distinguish east from west. This was quite surprising as I think before we arrived we had an image of gleaming towers versus brown ghettos in our heads when thinking of West and East Berlin.