Amsterdam

This leg of the trip was basically just to fill in time between Paris and Berlin, but I'm glad I went. I have learned over the years that being near water (excluding floods) is something that helps me feel calmer, more at peace, so the canals of Amsterdam meant that I loved the city. I didn't do much here, because I wanted to give myself a chance to rest and recuperate from the nonstop schedule in Paris.

On my first full day I set a goal of seeing the flower markets, which were not so amazing, considering it was the middle of winter (it has been an unseasonably warm winter, but winter, nonetheless). I really wanted to buy and ship some bulbs to Mum for her garden, especially after seeing signs that read "We send bulbs to anywhere in the world". Turns out that's anywhere but Australia (and I'm assuming NZ), due to our super-strict customs regulations. So Mum doesn't get to have special flowers that no one else has. Sorry, Mum.

In addition to making my way to the markets, I wandered around some more of Centraal. Amsterdam was crazy when it came to crowds, especially in shops. I assume they had post-Christmas sales happening, but you could barely move in some stores. I found an English bookshop and picked up a couple of David Crystal books. I love David Crystal books.

My only other day in Amsterdam was the Monday, which was not a good day for my brain/med withdrawals (I've been fine since that day, though). But I powered through, and visited the Van Gogh Museum, which had a special exhibit comparing his work with that of Munch. I had no idea that Van Gogh had painted such diverse topics and styles, and it was cool to see one of my all-time favourite paintings in person (Almond Blossoms, btw.). And, the Munch exhibit was interesting. I can honestly say, that apart from The Scream, I had no knowledge of anything he'd ever painted. I liked some of his stuff more than others, and to be honest, it seemed a bit of a stretch to create an entire exhibit comparing the two artists (Look! They both painted something that has a bedroom, or the inside of a house!). My biggest shock came from actually seeing The Scream. I went home and read up about it, because I was a little surprised by what I saw: "Crayon on Cardboard". Isn't this the painting that broke records when it sold for US$19M or something like that a few years ago? AND IT'S CRAYON? ON CARDBOARD? Turns out that Munch did about four versions of the same painting, and the word "crayon" can be interchanged with "pastel", which sounds much more arty and grownup, and if he wanted to paint on a piece of cardboard, so be it.

So that was pretty much Amsterdam. Apart from the crowds, I really liked it.

Strasbourg

When planning the trip to Europe, one of the things I really wanted to do was go to the Christmas markets, because the concept sounded so lovely and romantic and Christmassy to me. From reading, it seems like Switzerland and Germany are the places to go, but Strasbourg is the French "Capital of Christmas", so I decided to go there instead. I was also influenced by photos of "Old Strasbourg" on my jigsaw puzzle app. Originally I'd looked at actually staying there for a night or two, but in the end I opted for a day trip (two-hour train from Paris).

It wasn't quite what I expected, but still pleasant. The stalls seemed to fall into four categories: Food (mostly mulled wine with crepes and occasionally bretzels); Christmas decorations; generic gifts/souvenirs (by this I mean that I saw stalls selling the same things at numerous locations in Strasbourg as well as in Paris); and artisans selling their own work. I bought a couple of things, but had to say no to others, primarily due to the fact that I still had four cities/two and a half weeks of travel left and these things were of the breakable nature.

My feet still hurt. And the tram stops at the two main Christmas markets were closed for "security reasons", meaning I had to walk even further. I also had some pretty intense vertigo/dizziness as a result of stopping my meds a week earlier (it was a problem in a few places, but Strasbourg was one of the worst days).

Other random bits and pieces:

• Strasbourgians have the most beautiful dogs (a few people had their dogs while walking around the markets). 
• Being sugar-free and not drinking alcohol severely limits beverage options at Christmas markets. Same goes for sugar-free / kosher with food. (Gluten-sensitive/intolerant people, just don't even think about it. Take ALL your own snacks.)
• The French inter-city train was my favourite re comfy seat, but no wifi. (The train to Amsterdam had wifi, but seats were not as "convenient", and to Berlin was completely different, with the six-seat compartments you see in many movies.)
• The clouds. Were. Amazing. - as a kid I had learned about many of the different cloud types, but I don't recall ever seeing so many different varieties at one time. 

-Annie.

Paris

After London, it was off to Paris for about a week. I did go to Strasbourg for one day to see the Christmas markets, but I'll write a separate post about that.

About a month or so prior to leaving for the trip, I was chatting on Whatsapp to an American friend in Almaty, Daniela, who is there doing the same thing I did in Moscow, with the biggest difference being that she's the only volunteer. We were talking about Christmas, and how she was going to be on her own in a place where no one else celebrates December 24-25. I had just booked my accommodation a day or so earlier at an "aparthotel", which was technically for two people, so I told her that if she could get a ticket to Paris, she could stay with me for free, so we'd both have company for Christmas rather than being alone and miserable. I'm really glad I invited her, as it made it much more enjoyable to see the place with someone.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon/evening (her flight was delayed by 3 hours, and I couldn't contact her directly, so we were messaging through her roommate in Kazakhstan) and didn't actually do anything that day. I'll try not to overload this post with pictures, so here are the highlights of what we did each day.

Monday: Croissants! The outside of the Louvre (neither of us felt we had researched enough to make the most of a day inside, and it was a glorious sunny day of about +14C). Ferris Wheel. Macarons (my first was a savoury one, tomato and basil, a rather interesting flavour. I also broke my no-sugar thing to try a lychee-rose one. It took me at least half an hour to eat it because it was so sweet. The others were for Daniela). Sacre Couer / Montmartre. Arc de Triomphe. Champs de Elysées Christmas markets.

Tuesday: Versailles. Due to the attacks about a month prior, there was extra security at major attractions, so we ended up standing in a line for an hour before we actually got in, but again, it was glorious weather. The grounds are so immense, it would be impossible to see everything in one day. Our feet were still rather sore from the previous day (and standing in line for an hour), so we decided that we would explore the grounds and Marie Antoinette's palace next time we're in France, during Spring or Summer.

Wednesday: I went to Strasbourg.

Thursday (Christmas Eve): River cruise. Hot chocolate at Angelina's. Last minute shopping. Christmas mass at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Friday (Christmas Day): Eiffel Tower.

Saturday: Quick trip to St. Chapelle before heading to train station/airport.

Overall summary:

• If I lived in Paris my diet would consist predominantly of croissants, bread and cheese. And crepes. And bretzels. 
• Lovely city. French were much nicer than I had expected. 
• Must train in preparation for next trip there, because feet hurt too much at the end of each day. 
• Did I mention the food? Will take a French baking course next time, to learn how to make bread and croissants. 

-Annie.

London

For my winter break, I opted not to go home to Australia, but rather, travel across Europe, partly because my little bro and his girlfriend were going to be coming across and I planned to meet them. It took quite a while to decide exactly where I wanted to go in the 12 or so days I had before they arrived, partly because I wanted to see ALL the places :)

I finally settled on London, Paris and Amsterdam, before meeting Pete and Vlada in Berlin, and then visiting Riga and Tallinn. I chose to stick to cities, as I figured the countryside of these places would be best enjoyed during less dreary seasons.

Selfie outside Buckingham Palace 

So, London was first. I arrived rather exhausted and sleep-deprived, but very, very, very glad to be away from Kazakhstan for a while (there were some major issues happening at work during my final day or two before the break). I had a couple of hours after arriving before I was due to check into my accommodation, so I explored the main street near Queensway/Bayswater (the area I was staying) while pushing around my giant suitcase. My favourite discovery was a place called Pret-a-Manger, which is basically just a British chain with similarities to Starbucks, Coffee Club, etc., but it advertises itself as being natural and fresh. Turns out they are EVERYWHERE, and I think I ate/got coffee here more than anywhere else.

I stayed in a hotel that is apparently converted from old student lodging (a colleague actually lived in this place when he first moved to the UK years ago), and the rooms were ... "cosy" is probably the word used in Real Estate speech, but I feel I need a stronger word. I actually couldn't open my suitcase on the floor. Nevertheless, it was comfortable enough, with the only hassle being no wifi in the room.

Crowds. Too many people for the Changing of the Guard

Fuzzy hats!

Sightseeing-wise, I went to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (the marching band played the Star Wars Theme and Thriller, among others), and I saw Big Ben, Westminster, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street. I also went to the Christmas Wonderland markets at Hyde Park and wandered around there. And shopped (ENGLISH BOOKS! NATURAL SKINCARE SHOPS!).

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Pretty lights on Oxford Street

 Church was ok: I ran into a couple of Aussies I have known for ages but hadn't seen for about 7 or 8 years and had lunch with them.

Otherwise I tried to adjust to the time zone difference (6 hours from Kazakhstan, but the weirdest thing was the sun setting at about 4 p.m., which threw me off the most, as it was only going down at about 6 in Kyzylorda), so I didn't do too much. Three and a half days was a good introduction to the city. Next time I'll try to venture a little further afield, and maybe include some of the museums etc.

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Kitty at Trafalgar Square (at least I think it was Trafalgar)

 Miscellaneous comments:     

• Most of what I know about London locations apparently comes from a Monopoly board.
• London Underground is boring and ugly. Moscow stations were so much more interesting, and even Munich was nicer with a cleaner, more modern feel.
•      I definitely prefer buses, just because I can see where they’re going, but it’s a pain trying to figure out which one to take and where, and then finding the right stop. Top floor is super fun (good view) but one must be careful when coming down the stairs if the bus isn't at a complete stop, or one might end up with massive bruises where one fell into the railing.
• London vs. Kyzylorda pro: multicultural. Food varieties, people from different countries everywhere. Con: People. Waaaaay too crowded. Oxford Street was absolutely overwhelming, as was Changing of the Guard. And almost every shop I went into. 

20 seconds earlier, when I decided to dig my camera out of my bag, there were NO spaces in the crowds. I took this from the top floor of a bus, and I think it was just outside Oxford Circus station.

-Annie.

Let's start again

Mum has asked me a few times over the last few weeks whether I've written any new blog posts. The answer has been no. But, I've decided to re-attempt documenting some of my adventures, partly as an easy way to share photos and stories from my recent European trip.

I've opted to start a brand new blog for a couple of reasons. Firstly, my old one was powered through Wordpress, which isn't liked by Kazakh Internet (I could access dashboard, but I could not actually view my own site; a number of the blogs I follow are Wordpress-based, and I have trouble loading them, too). Secondly, I don't particularly see myself extending my stay in Kyzylorda (my old blog was called "The Kyzylorda Diaries") at this point in time, and wanted a name that would reflect my on-going plans, wherever in the world I end up.

So, let Blog 2.0 begin. As usual, I will possibly be very relaxed about a posting schedule, so feel free to harass me if I'm not updating it as often as you want (Hi Mum!).

-Annie