So here I go! Wish me luck!
Toodle pip my dear friends.
So I arrived here in New York and it was early evening. I had a lovely flight and sat next to an American chap called Hank. What! What! He told me all about the history of the USA. It was very fascinating I must say. I spent the late afternoon visiting Central Park and going up the Empire State Building to see the view of New York from 381metres high. So my evening has been very eventful too as I went to see a show on broadway. I decided to go to see a musical called 'Wicked'. It was wonderful I must say with lots of singing, a girl who was green, lots of flying monkeys and a scarecrow. I was very impressed but now cannot get the song about 'defying gravity' out of my head. I thought you might like to see this trailer I found of the musical. What do you think? So I decided that I did not want to tempt fate and wanted to get back to London as soon as possible. I really would love to go to @alienfromvega's planet with him. So I am catching a flight to London tonight! Here are my flight details. So as you can see if I leave at 21:30 tonight then I will arrive in London at 09:25 tomorrow morning (your time I think!) and should win the wager with @alienfromvega.
So here I go! Wish me luck! Toodle pip my dear friends.
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Well I hope you had my message via twitter as I am having a disaster. A complete and utter disaster. Well the last time I spoke to you I was in Japan and having a lovely time but then I managed to drop my iPad while out and about in Yokohama. What! What! Well I was beside myself as I have come to rely upon all this technology that is at my fingertips! And I had some lovely photographs on the iPad of Scruffy and myself in Japan. I even went to this wonderful aquarium and had my photograph with fish above my head. So I did not have time to get it fixed and I tried to use it yesterday when I was on the 'Golden Gate' Bridge to send you a video message but to no avail as the sound is all distorted I am hoping that I can get it fixed this afternoon as it currently 12:07 here as I type. Now I am using the iPhone to relay this blog to you but like I said I hope to get it fixed before I embark on a flight across the USA to New York. The iPhone allows me to blog as I have an app which lets to upload to the blog but I find the keys on the phone difficult to type with and it is more time consuming I must say! So here I am. I when I arrived yesterday I found a lovely hotel in the Fisherman's Wharf district which has a great history. It a short and easy walk between the Alcatraz ferries, Girhardelli Square and Pier 39. I had a beautiful walk along the waterfront along the Embarcadero towards the Ferry Building. I then took a cable car from Market Street which is a godsend in this city as San Francisco is built on a hill. I then embarked on a ferry ride over to Alcatraz. Have you ever heard of Alcatraz? Well 'The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary' or 'United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island' was a maximum high-security Federal prison on Alcatraz Island which is just off the coast of San Fransisco. Given this high security and the location of Alcatraz in the cold waters and strong currents of San Fransisco Bay, the prison operators believed Alcatraz to be escape-proof and America's strongest prison.What! What! It was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons. One of the world's most notorious and best known prisons over the years, Alcatraz housed some 1,576 of America's most ruthless criminals. It was very scary and I didn't like the confined cells they showed us. So I have found a flight which leaves tomorrow at 06:30 from San Francisco and arrives at New York at 19:20 so I will be travelling for 9 hours and 46 minutes. I think this is the only way that I can try to get across the USA as it would take me days I think if I didn't fly. Can you find some alternative routes for me just in case? What if I returned to the USA which cities should I visit? Maybe you could put together a little virtual guide for me? Well hopefully I can get that iPad fixed now and I will be able to blog and video to my hearts content.
Toodle pip, my dear friends! So yesterday I departed the train at Badaling at 07:30, which is in the North of China. What! What! I had ‘googled’ Badaling and found out that I could do a day bus tour which would mean that I could go to the Great Wall of China, visit ‘Panda Garden’ and the ‘Summer Palace”. All for a bargain price of £71.32. Here is a copy of my iternary for the day. 8:00 Pickup from Badaling train station 8:40 Olympic Stadium (drive by) 9:20 Arrive at Badaling section of the Great Wall 9:30-10:50 Tour of the Great Wall 11:30-13:00 Lunch and Shopping 14:00-15:20 Tour of Summer Palace 16:10-17:00 Visit Zoo to see Pandas 18:00 Tour concludes at Badaling train station So there I was on a bus tour. The modes of transport I am experiencing is wonderful I must say. First we drove past the Olympic Stadium which apparently was built for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic games. It was a very unusual shape as it looks like a giant bird’s nest. We then journeyed on to the ‘Great Wall of China”. As I exited the bus the sight I saw was truly remarkable. I felt overwhelmed by the thousands of stairsteps that greeted me upon setting foot in Badaling. My initial goal of getting as far as I could until I had to return to the bus but the wall seemed to stretch for infinity. I would have to climb for at least a kilometre just to get to the first beacon – and that was just the lower part of the mountain. No wonder they can see the wall from space because until you see it face-to-face then you do not realise its vastness. In the afternoon the bus tour took us first to the Summer Palace. Another truly wonderful sight my dear friends. Now the Summer Palace is a number of lakes, gardens and palaces in Bejing. But we stopped by Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake a popular area. It is so beautiful here that it is very hard to describe what I saw. So my dear friends my next stop on the bus tour was very exciting! I got to see pandas up close :o) Oh! how wonderful it was. Have a look at my little video. So after such as exciting day I returned to the train station and boarded the 19:00 train to Shanghai. I arrived in Shanghai very early at 05:32 this morning. Despite being so early Shanghai was very busy. Now as I needed to get to Yokohama quickly then I immediately booked a flight to Japan. Now I found out that I could get the 12:20 flight and I would arrive in Yokohama at 14:45 so I went straight to the airport, as I would unfortunately not have time for any sightseeing. What! What! So I arrived here this afternoon and intend to stay a couple of days before journeying on to San Francisco.
Toodle pip my dear friends! Well its great here in Hong Kong. I arrived this morning at 06:50 and have not stopped. What!What! So I have been to Victoria Peak which is a mountain in the Western half of Hong Kong. it is known as Mount Austin and locally as 'The Peak'. It was a spectacular sight I must say. Now when I was there a fellow tourist named George told me about the train to Shanghai. (He is the gentleman in a purple top in the middle of the photograph.) Apparently it takes twenty hours but you can stop on the way if you wish and visit the 'Great Wall of China' and also see some pandas. Well you know I like cuddly bears, (Well Scruffy is certainly cuddly!), so I decided I must go there next. I may need some help planning the journey but I will let you know. So only time for a quick cup of tea and then I have to get the T100 train from Hong Kong which leaves at 15:15 and arrives at 11:10 in Shanghai but I think I will stop as I really want to see those pandas :o)
Toodle pip for now my dear friends. P.S. Apparently :o) is what is called a emoticon - well I never! I think I may start using them! Well here I am it is Sunday afternoon and I have been in Calcutta since Thursday lunchtime. Thank you for the train and aeroplane information that you sent me. I decided on the train because LS made such a clear persuasive argument that it would be the best option. What! What! So I have been having a wonderful time exploring this great city. Here are some of the activities that I have undertaken since Thursday. Kolkata is a capital of West Bengal. It is a third most populous metropolitan city of India. Kolkata has very rich culture, It is a very old city of India. It is located on east bank of the Hooghly River. Kolkata is a city of joy of West Bengal. My first port of call was the Belur Math Shrine which is one among the best place to visit in Kolkata. What! What! It is a quite location in busy city. It is situated by holy river Ganges. Founder of this Math is Swami Vivekananda. The serene campus of Belur Math on the Ganga includes temples dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda, in which their relics are enshrined, and the main monastery of the Ramakrishna Order. Despite it being very busy strangely is was a quiet place, a place where people went for contemplation. Next went to the Marble Palace. Now to go there you had to have a tour guide. My tour guide was called and he was very informative and explained that this is a private property built by Raja Rajendra Mullick. The descendants of Raja still lives in the same property today. It also has a mini Zoo in the palace which was lovely to see. The Marble Palace is one of the most beautifully conserved and elegant houses in Kolkata. This nineteenth century magnificent mansion was built under the benefaction of Raja Rajendra Mullick – a rich Bengali merchant with a strong urge for collecting exquisite works of art. The mansion is a masterpiece, with 90 varieties of patterned marble on the floors of the mansion. The structure of the mansion is originally Neoclasical in style and it merges with traditional Bengali style of architecture with open courtyards. Close by the courtyard, there is the place of worship for the family members, which is also called Thakur-Dalan. Here are some of the photographs i took as I went around this magnificent place. Another place I visited was the New Market. Although it is known as new market, but it is oldest market of Kolkata. It is situated at Lindsay street. It is a perfect place for shopaholics. Here you get everything you desire for. It is a very busy and crowded market of Kolkata. What! What! It is a very huge market, it has different markets in a single market such as spice market, non-veg stuff market, cloth market, jewellery market and many more. It reminded me very much of the market I visited in Istanbul. Today I explored the Victoria Memorial which was well worth a look. It is situated at the heart of Kolkata. It’s a must see place. It will give your eyes a royal experience. It has a royal gallery where it is showcasing the oil painting of Queen Victoria. The garden of memorial is designed over 64 acres. It was very hot today and I spent most of it exploring the gardens around the memorial. Here you can also find some rare books of 1870’s one of which happened to be a first edition of a book called 'Around the World in 80 Days' by Jules Verne. Today it is worth around £5000. Now where have I heard of that book before? Well my time in Kolkata is almost over now. Onward to Hong Kong. But how will I get there? Can you help?
Well very interesting information indeed about the trains and flights to Kolkata Dosbarth Gwyn. Well I think from your recommendations I will need to catch the 08:20 train in the morning. What! What! I hope the train is comfortable and not overcrowded as I have heard that Indian trains can sometimes be a little bit claustrophobic. Well an early night I think and then the train to Kolkata. So I have to ask you your opinion. I was on the iPad googling Kolkata and I found a website that told me the top eleven things to do there. So I was wondering if you could tell me what you think I should do when I get there. I have learnt how to create a poll so could you decide which place you would visit from the eleven choices? Thank you my dear friends. Toddle pip! Please answer my poll questionWell I arrived here early on Friday morning after a very rough crossing from Egypt indeed. It was not pleasant I can tell you. I spent Friday in bed recovering. I kept on thinking I was still on the water and couldn't quite walk so I could not do anything other than sleep. Saturday was a day spent around Bombay or Mumbai as it is called now. Mumbai the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fifth most populous city in the world. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. So I began exploring. I first visited the Gateway of India, which is the most recognizable symbol of the city. It was built to commemorate the visit of the British Monarch King George V to India in 1911. The gateway overlooks the Mumbai harbor, bordered by the Arabian Sea in the Colaba district. The Gateway of India is a monument that marks India's chief ports and is a major tourist attraction for visitors who arrive in India for the first time. Next I went to Flora Fountain, also known as 'Hutatma Chowk' and this tourist spot houses India's prestigious fountain, located in the city of Mumbai. The name 'Flora' is derived from the name of the Roman Goddess of Flowers. It is a lovely sight and I enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere and the sun I must say. I spent the afternoon visiting the Rajabai Tower is a famous clock tower located in South Mumbai before it got so hot that I had to retire to the hotel and recover from the heat. The tower is, undoubtedly, an example of exquisite beauty. It has become one of the major tourist destinations in Mumbai. The tower was built by Sir Gilbert Scott, who modelled it on the Big Ben, our famous clock tower in London. What! What! The majestic tower holds a big clock, which can be viewed from a distance. The clock also plays melodic tunes at fixed intervals. The tower has many impressive features and has been beautifully embellished with oriental figures. I spent the evening in my hotel, Grand Hyatt Hotel no less, enjoying the local cuisine. I was spoilt for choice as there were eight different places I could dine in the hotel. What!What!I decided that I would visit the Soma restaurant which served a range of Indian dishes. So I decided to have some dishes from the A la Carte menu and spent 2815 rupee on my meal I wonder if you can work out what I had to eat? I've uploaded a men for you to look at. What would you have chosen to eat? One thing I have to say about this journey is that I am enjoying the food very much.
On Sunday I had a very exciting day. I went skydiving! What! What! Oh my dear friends it was very exciting. I travelled by Taxi to Koraigad just outside Mumbai and met my instructor Tony who gave me a safety talk and explained all that we were going to be doing. As this would be a tandem jump I felt very safe. Very safe indeed. So we went in the small plane and took off. There were some lovely people with me and I made some new friends including a pretty young lady called Nia who jumped just before me. Below are some of my photographs. I was lucky to have some of the flight and also Matt(another instructor) took some as I jumped with Tony from the plane. Oh the experiences and fun I am having! My pictures of my sky diving ExperienceToday after all that excitement yesterday I decided to go for some quiet time so I visited Shirdi which is a small village situated in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. What!What! Shirdi is one of the holiest places in India and is a very popular pilgrimage spot. This place is famous for the shrine of 'Sai Baba', which is the main attraction for the devotees who visit Shirdi. Sai Baba, who belonged to 20th century, is known as one of the greatest saints to have walked on earth. This saint lived in Shirdi for most of his life-50 years or more. Sai Baba transformed this small village into a holy pilgrimage site for his devotees. Many tales of the renowned Sai Baba are associated with this village. His selfless love and dedication to the poor, earned him respect for which he is deified even now. It was in this consecrated place where he attained his 'Samadhi' or final abode. So now I need to think about how to get across the country to Calcutta. But what route do I take? How much will it cost? I think you may need to help me with this task.
Well my dear friends I have had a lovely few days here in Cairo, Egypt. I arrived in Cairo and I must say that aeroplane journey was delightful. I even had some sandwiches and a cup of tea. Very civilised I must say. So when I arrived I went to get the Egyptian Pounds out of an ATM, went through customs and immigration, and I was met by a chauffeur who took me straight to the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo. Just getting to our hotel was the start of a fun adventure. What! What! There are 17 million people in Cairo, so there is so much traffic and so many people everywhere. Vehicles are often loaded past capacity and no one follows traffic lanes. It's a free-for-all with lots of horn honking. Every car has at least one noticeable dent. It was an odd paradox to be surrounded by such chaos, and then suddenly look up to see two pyramids in the distance with the sun setting in a bright pink sky behind them. At that moment in time I was happy that I cannot drive a car! My hotel room is very nice and I spent the evening exploring the large hotel and the surrounding area. It was very pleasant in the cooler evening air. I slept in on Sunday, had breakfast around 10:00, and went for a walk. As soon as I left the hotel, all of the locals around wanted to talk to me. This is a very friendly place. People wanted to take me in their taxi, show me to their store or restaurant, walk with me to my destination. It was amusing for about two minutes, but then it got a bit annoying. I could see right away one of the advantages to seeing Egypt with a guide: you are hassled just a little bit less. Close by, I visited the Mena House, a grand high-brow hotel founded in 1869 close to the foot of the Great Pyramid. The interior was opulent and lavishly over-the-top featuring lots of rich jewel-tone colors and golds, detailed metal and glass works, and intricate fabrics. The gardens were a perfect extension of the hotel: perfectly green and manicured. Just across the street, I walked to the Giza pyramids' visitor entrance. I explored the site looking at the pyramids and Spinx. It truly is an amazing sight and to think that they were made by people. Their immense size and architectural precision can't really be felt from a photo. After returning to the hotel and I spent the rest of the evening going for a swim. It was wonderfully relaxing. I had dinner at the hotel restaurant poolside at my hotel. I ordered some apetitsers. It was a delicious sampling different cuisine and a great way to be a bit adventurous with my food. My favorite was the Sambusak with cheese - fluffy cheese fried in a sweet dough - of course that was good. So today I went to on a one day Nile cruise. Well it was a wonderful experience. We journeyed down the river with Amun as my guide. I was standing on the bost looking at the picturesque Dome of the Winds, a rocky outcrop atop rose-red sandstone cliffs, on the west bank of the Nile opposite the city of Aswan. Far below me, Africa’s great river flowed gently northwards, bringing life and fertility to the land of Egypt. Along its western shore, children play at the water’s edge, donkeys graze on the lush green grass, blackwater buffalo and snowy white egrets wade in the shallows. It is a rural scene unchanged for thousands of years. It was an inspiring scene and although I am not a fan of the water it was a very enjoyable experience I must say. Now I must depart as my boat leaves from Sokna at 9pm tonight. It is going to take 64 hours to travel to Calcutta by boat. Now as you know I do not like the water so I just hope I will cope. I will not be able to contact you now for a few days as I do not think I will get reception on the boat.
Toodle pip! Well my dear friends, I arrived here is Istanbul yesterday. I proceeded to the 5 star Grand Hyatt Hotel. A lovey hotel I must say. Istanbul is a city that wears its cultures and history well, blending them into an exciting city. What!What! So I decided to go straight away and explore this wonderful vibrant city. My first port of call was the Galata Tower, located in the historic Beyoglu district. It was built by a Byzantine emperor in the Sixth Century and was first called The Tower of Christ astronomer built an observatory at the tower's top. The tower is most famous for its role in the amazing 1638 flight of Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi flew from the tower's top, using his artifical wings like those of a giant bird, and crossed the Bosporus waterway to land on the Asian continent. When Celebi landed, a sultan gave him a bag of gold coins. But the sultan was afraid of the clever man who had achieved flight, so he exiled Celebi to Algeria where poor Celebi died. My next stop was the Chora Church, which may have been a little bit off the beaten tourist path, but the beautiful Byzantine art was well worth the effort to get there. Magnificent mosaics and frescoes depict the life of Jesus and his mother.I then spent the evening in the hotel enjoying the facilities including the Gaia Spa where I partaked in a traditional Turkish spa treatment. Well it was the most relaxing, cleansing and invigorating experience I can tell you! This morning I decided to go to the Grand Bazaar. Now this has 5,000 shops making it one of the largest indoor marketplaces in the world. The bazaar features such items as jewelry, carpets that may or may not fly, spices, antiques and hand-painted ceramics. The bazaar dates back to 1461 and today is home to two mosques, four fountains, two hammams or steam baths, and the Cevahir Bedesten, where the rarest and most valuable items have been found traditionally. Well I was afraid that I would get lost. What! What! I returned to the hotel at lunchtime and went straight to the airport so I could take the 14.00 flight to Egypt. I am sitting here at the terminal now just waiting for my flight to be called. I am very nervous but excited. Oh by the way thank you for the brochures, they were marvellous. I have lots to think about. Which hotel will I stay at? What sights will I visit? I will try to decide on the flight and let you know.
Toodle pip my dear friends. Well I arrived safely here in Sofia, which is the capital of Bulgaria. Today has been a bit of a whistle stop tour of the city as I arrived early in the morning and again would be travelling tonight on to Istanbul. What!What! Well my steward had recommended that I take a walking tour of Sofia so it would allow me to visit all the main Sofia's highlights in half a day! Now Sofia is located at the foot of Mount Vitosha in the western part of the country and is the 15th largest city in the European Union with a population of around 1.3 million people. Well when I arrived I was greeted with a warm but comfortable 20.4 °C. So I met the walking tour at the Metro Station near to Sofia University with my fee for £10.32. Well I have to say I thought that was a very reasonable price indeed. So we began our walking tour and we saw the following sights. · Alexander Nevski Cathedral - National Gallery for Foreign Art · St. Sofia Church · Holy Synod · National Assembly Square with the impressive King Liberator Monument · Bulgarian Academy of Sciences · St. Nikolay Russian Church · Former Royal Palace · National Theatre · St. Nedelya Church · Administration of the President · National Archaeological Museum · 6th century Banya Bashi Mosque · St. George Rotunda Well as you can imagine we did not have time to really look around any of the attractions at all but I did manage to take a couple of photographs as we passed. After the tour I had an ealry three course dinner at Talents. Now this is a teaching restaurant is the first for me and offered me the opportunity to taste the finest of international cuisine whilst providing final year students at the academy with valuable work experience. The food was sublime and I had one of the best desserts I have ever tasted. What!What! So now I will take the train again tonight at 18.45 and arrive in Istanbul at 07:50 ready for breakfast in yet another fine and historical city. I will be a little bit sad to leave this marvellous train but onwards I must travel if I am to complete this wager with @alienfromvega. At least this means that I will get to spend one night in Istanbul before I take my first journey by plane. I am very excited but a little bit nervous. What!What!. I have booked the flight on the iPad so I will leave Istanbul at 14:00 and arrive in Cairo, Egypt at 16.10. So I am hoping that your brochures are completed and ready for me as I really need to find somewhere to stay in Egypt.
Toodle pip! |
AuthorI am attempting to circumnavigate the world in 80 days or less, for a wager with @Alienfromvega. I will need the help of my friends at Cwmclydach Primary School in my quest. I vow to return to London by 3.15 pm on Friday 18 July 2014 at the latest. ArchivesCategories |