Aldwych Tube Station (Strand) - Tour by Transport for London (TFL)

Last month I had the great opportunity to visit the disused Tube station Aldwych in the London City Centre. The history around the transportation in London is huge at the moment due to its 150th anniversary and of course always has and always will play a major role in the development in the city. The recently completed development of the London overground just shows what happens with the areas that are now connected to the overall transportation network. The house prices are rising and the areas are being more heavily developed thanks to new investments coming from the private sector. Usually the opening of a new station in London promises a greater return in investment due to higher demand of housing in the areas.

Generally speaking you want to live in an area in London from where you can get easily to your destination. The city government is aware that there are still missing links between the west, south, north and east. Thanks to the overground this has improved a lot. And thanks to the overground the traffic on the underground has been fairly stable instead of increased as it has in all these years. Traveling on the London Underground during rush hour is no fun at all and the stress from the offices that people carry around brings a certain level of tension on board. Surely I got used to it over the years, but it is annoying nevertheless.

Life without traveling

Today I have spend the first day of my holidays as relaxed as possible. I wish I could say I am writing from some exotic, interesting country or in some places I have never been before far away or nearby. Well, I wish might be the incorrect term here. I have chosen to spend my holidays in London, not because I can't afford to travel, but because I have a new-ish goal in my life. Something I have not thought of being an option any time soon neither that I would do it alone. For my goal to become reality I need some more pennies on my account. And in order for that to happen I need to stop traveling for a while.

You might have noticed that my recent blog updates have not been much about traveling if I have updated it at all. So far I seriously struggle with sitting here and not doing anything. I am even reading my work emails, thinking that it is such a waste of time to not do anything with my free time. I do have some plans for my free time, but they are rather on the small scale. Such as sorting finally out the little amount of paper work I have and bring some of my stuff to charity.

I didn't think it would be so hard, given that I have done a bit of traveling in the past and there wouldn't be any reason for me to run off again. But every time I see a documentary, watch a movie, read an article from different places, the urge to go there and see if for myself is surfacing. So many things around me remind me of the world that is out there and still to be explored for me.

This is not me complaining about the current situation, it is what it is and I made the decision myself. But to imagine a life without traveling at all is really hard for me and I am sure as a fellow traveler you know exactly what I am feeling.

I have to remind myself to look at the bigger picture and for what I am sacrificing the part I like the most in my life. It might give me the option to focus on other things I always wanted to take up and do, explore a bit more of the close surroundings, seeing friends more frequently. All the little things I have not paid attention to in the past simply because I was content with everything I had and there was no need to change.

Now you might wonder why I give something up I love so much (even if it is just for a short period of time) and what made me so happy, for something that will tie me down and burden responsibility on to me.

As you know, we are not getting younger and looking a bit ahead into the future it made me realise, that at one point I will no longer be able to work and travel, I will need to have the finance for my travels without working, simply because I might not be able to work anymore one day. So I am starting now to make the required preparation to avoid this in my later life.

No one will know what will happen in the future and it is possible that there will be things happening in my future that change everything I am planning.

I will still post from time to time, but more random things from my life and maybe I have the odd trip here and there but not as frequently as in the past. I thought I just put it out there, that a life without traveling is simply not the best I can imagine.

I am so excited already when the times comes for me again to plan my next trip around this time next year. With this said Happy Travels everyone!

Being part of advertising - A different kind of lunch break

A while back a colleague asked me and some others from the office if we could do her a favor for her friend and take part in the promo video for the Naver App LINE which we were more than happy to agree to. On a sunny day we met her friends during a lunch break and they took the few snaps from us. They then have added later one some other parts from shots taken around the city. Overall it was a rather fun lunch break.

And here is the result:

Plovdiv – A day trip in Bulgaria

It was a sunny Sunday with mild temperatures when I woke up in my cosy hotel bed. Today I decided to visit Plovdiv, the oldest continually inhabited city in Europe. I have checked the day before the transportation links and bus time table. From wiki travel I knew approximately what to expect and what I wanted to see around the area.

The trip from my hotel to the Central Main station in Sofia was only 15 minutes with two train stops, I am just glad that the city is not crowded and that there is plenty of space on the train. Comparing it to London, this feels almost like a country side. 

The bus would take around 2 ½ hours and 14 Leva one way. The staff at the station spoke basic English so I was able to find the correct bus stop and getting my ticket.

Spinning again in the time machine – Bulgaria (Rila Monastry)

It took me a total of 20 minutes to find a start on this entry and even now I am not sure what I can tell you about this small trip, but I will try my best to give you the details of my experience.

Work had send me over to Bulgaria again and I pokered a bit to stay the weekend and get my return flight booked on Monday. Luckily it seems my previous work performance paid off and my boss agreed to it. So it happened that I had two full days to spend in Bulgaria.

I won’t give you this time the details of the actual trip over since I have done so already in my previous entry and nothing much has changed since.

The many faces of London - Holi Festival

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine texted me and asked if I wanted to come along to the so called Holi Festival, as well known as Festival of Colors. Until that day I didn't even know that we celebrated such Festival in London.

One of the reason I want to go to India is to celebrate one of the many events that take place there every year. So I took the opportunity and went with them last Saturday together to the Battersea Power Station where the event would take place. 

Interesting facts about the location click here

Canada East Coast Trip – Research and Conclusion

The last 16 days just flew by and it all seems so far away now even though it just happened. I start already to think of the next trip, but first things first. The phase of the research for Canada drove me a bit mad. Traveling in Canada without a car is not impossible but very complex depending on where you want to go.

 

When it came to the decision on what to see and to do within such a short time frame I decided I stick with the East Coast and next time I will visit the West Coast. To manage both sites of Canada in just two weeks is impossible if you are not flying from one site to another and leave out a few places.

Why the East Coast first? To be honest I have no idea, maybe because I knew people in that area and because it probably doesn’t make a difference since I am planning to visit the West Coast as well.

 

 

Halifax – The beginning, middle and end of a journey

Traveling is a journey that will never end, no matter what your destination, route or goal. Small journeys along the big journey called live will end eventually. 

I arrived in Halifax, my last stop in Canada after a 3 hour car trip. In the morning Nelson Shuttle came to pick us up at 6:45 am; it was a quick and pain free trip with a little nap in between.

Upon arrival I checked into the HI Hostel in the Barrington Street, one of the few Hostels in the area. So far I have really enjoyed the Maritimes and hope it will continue in Halifax. I didn’t plan anything for my stay here and hoped that something would come up eventually. And it did!

Digby – Nova Scotia - Some sea air for thoughts

After a 3 hours boat ride I arrived at the Ferry Terminal of Digby in the Province Nova Scotia, a small landing with not much around. Based on the map it was around 4km to Digby Town and I had planned to ask someone on the Ferry if I could get a lift, but there were all kind of people; from a bus tour, bikers, couples etc. Basically I wasn’t sure who I could ask, instead I decided I would just walk the route which would have taken me around an hour to get to my hostel.

A quick stop in Saint John – New Brunswick

The bus transfer from Quebec City with Orleans Express to Rivière-du-Loup over to Maritime Express and then to Saint John worked just fine and after ‘just’ 11 hours of sitting in the bus and enjoying my time I arrived at the mini Bus Terminal in Saint John.

After the initial hick up with my booking for St. Johns in Newfoundland I was able to find a host via Couchsurfing last minute. 

Quebec City – The capital of Quebec Province

I arrived by Train from Montreal in Quebec City in just under 3 hours and made my way to the host I would be staying with, two lovely sisters.

After an initial confusion in which way to go I found the place in the end and the girls were already waiting for me.

Montreal – The city with lots of laughter, food and another lesson learned

I arrived via train in Montreal, just 2 hours from Ottawa. Again, I love the free WIFI on the train and being able to check last minute messages, such as change of departures or routes.

The hostel I had booked here was the 20$ Hostel at Sherbrooke Est, around a 30 minute walk or 10 minutes with the Metro from the Montreal Central Station. A single journey would be 3$. Me being me I decided to walk the distance, and it wasn’t really bad beside the facts that it rained and I was wearing my ballerinas.

The capital of Canada – Ottawa

Early in the morning I got ready, checked out, had a quick breakfast and headed to the Union station, the main ‘via rail’ train station, from which all regional trains are leaving from. The whole station was under construction like a lot of other things in Toronto. It looks like the revamp the whole city. This made it a bit more inconvenient to navigate around the city and the train station. As I learned a bit later, summer is pretty much the only season the construction works can take place in Canada, otherwise it is just too cold or everything is frozen.

The boarding process was a bit confusing for me as they go by Gate, not platform. To indicate the gate number they have put up signs, which meant instead of looking at platform numbers I had to look for my gate number.

Booking train tickets online was straight forward and easy. Printing the boarding ticket saves you queuing time. In some cases greyhound buses or a shared car ride can be cheaper depending on your route. If you plan to travel a lot, one of their rail passes might help you to save some dollars, worth checking it out.

I was on my way to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. The ride took me around 4.5 hours and wasn't really scenic, but nevertheless enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised that you have free WIFI on the train throughout the ride which enabled me to update my blog during the trip.

Casa Loma and CN Tower– The beauty and the beast of Toronto

For today we had arranged a Couchsurfing get-together and a few people from the past two days joined in as well. But first I went to visit the CN tower, the tallest building in the western hemisphere and the landmark of Toronto. I had pre-booked my tickets which are open tickets and you can use it within the next 2 months or so of booking. You even get a discount when booking online.

Today, the antenna broadcasts over 30 Toronto television and FM radio signals across Southern Ontario in addition to wireless paging and cellular telephone signals.

Toronto Nightlife and Niagara Falls

Last night was great. P. and I decided to go to a club called Tryst which is located downtown. Girls are for free until midnight and guys have to pay 15$ or are free if on guest list.

The atmosphere in the club was great and we enjoyed our time there (even though I wasn't really prepared for the club dress wise). Mix drinks are around 7$. I managed to get through until around 1 am when I decided I really need some sleep, given that it was already 6am in the UK.

Canada – The beginning (Toronto)

The alarm clock showed 02:32 am and I just jolted straight up in my bed because of one minor thought: I didn’t check in. This is nothing major but the consequence is simply that I have to get to the airport a bit earlier to check in. That’s the great thing with just hand luggage; print the boarding pass and no queuing at the airport. Well this time I just forgot it (only 24 hour advance check in) and as I don’t have a printer at home I had no other choice but to change my alarm and take a train earlier.

Once I got to the airport at around 8 am I was glad that I arrived a bit earlier as the queue was massive. I had booked a flight with AirTransat as it was the cheapest (for a reason) at the time and most convenient with the time.

I will tell you a bit more about the research I have done at the end of my trip. At the moment I believe I didn’t do my best this time and that the plan I made is a bit of a gamble, but we will see.

Close but far away - West Bay

It doesn't always have to be on the other side of the world just to see something different. This time I would like to show a bit of England, a side which I got to see while being on a little family day trip on the south west coast this weekend.

West Bay is a sweet little spot in the Dorset region which is beautiful especially when the sun is out, this seems to be very rare this year in the United Kingdom. If you don't have a car, you can get there as well by public transportation

Un petit coucou de Genève

Just came into a lovely warm house and was happy to flee the coldness from outside. Back home in the UK. It is sometimes nice to come back to a base where you are familiar with everything. But that’s a different story, let me tell you something about Geneva, a place I spend the last two days.

I initially booked the flight to Switzerland, Geneva on a wimp because it was pretty cheap with £80 and since I had never been in that region before I looked forward to another weekend away.

As always I headed straight from work to the Airport, all now very much a routine. As most of you will know by now Gatwick Airport is personal favorite  simply because it is the most easiest to reach from home as well as work, a very short commute.

Above the world - London Part 2 at SushiSamba

There are times that you have to celebrate something or someone special. I took such occasion as a chance to experience the SushiSamba Restaurant at the 38th Level in the Heron Tower at Liverpool Street in London.

It had been recommended by several people. Although it is fairly expensive the overall experience is worth it. The food was fantastic, the portions exceeding expectations, the service quick and the view amazing. Certainly value for money even though not something you would do every time, but as I said, for something special I would consider this again.

Buongiorno signorina and signore

It is Monday morning; the smell and heat from the past weekend are still lingering over me. Slightly sunburned on the forearms and overall happy I will tell you a little bit more about a weekend in Rome, Italy 

After work I headed to the airport to catch a late afternoon flight to Rome Fiumicino Airport. The flight time was just over 2 hours and it felt like I was the only blonde person on board (which I wasn’t, but I certainly represented a minority). Upon arrival at the airport I was slightly disappointed that the airport hasn’t been developed at all in the last decade, it felt like I arrived straight into the 80’s. The restrooms were poorly and the stone walls along the corridors were not decorated very much, overall the place was cold and old. I was glad to see that refurbishment of the airport seem to have started, at least based on the outside construction set-up.

In the arrival hall I met my friend Marina from Germany as we had decided to spend the weekend here together. Since we both traveled together in Asia, I knew what was coming my way and was prepared.

Passenger

You only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know you've been high when you're feeling low

Only hate the road when you’re missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Above the world - London

Just a quick one, I thought I share my experience here in London from two events. The first one was climbing the O2 Arena in North Greenwich. We gathered a small group and met in front of the O2 Climb office.

There was a video that explains the history of the O2 and its details as well as the safety instruction first. We then headed to the change room and got fitted a suit to wear. You get into the suit with everything you have on including your jacket. During Winter it can get really freezing up there especially with sharp wind.

Any cameras bigger than a small digital or phone aren't allowed up there, so bringing my SLR was a bit pointless, but so was the climb in my opinion. It was great for checking it out, but nothing too amazing. You pretty much have the same view from the Greenwich Observatory, just for 28£ less.

A reflective weekend in Amsterdam

Time has come and I've done another short trip across the channel to the Netherlands, this time to the city called Amsterdam. Usually when doing a bit of research for trips I check online on wiki travel, it has all the basics I need. All remaining information I gather from friends like places to go and food to try. I pretty much gave up on lonely planet, it looked more and more like a waste of money as I was barely using it on trips. Surely it is handy, but in today’s time pointless as all the information are available online and with Wifi around everywhere it is as well accessible at any time. Here I don't even care about having a map. If I do need one, they are usually available in the hostels or tourist information centre. But who knows, maybe one day I get all nervous again without a map.

A sugar sweet passion

Most people know by now that I like to travel, everywhere and anytime. I like to tell a story or two and dive into daydreams when possible. Besides all that I had for the last 6 odd years a passion for baking. It all started when I moved to the UK and had nothing better to do than baking cakes. I guess that was in a way my therapy to settle into the UK and accustom myself with the new environment. It enabled me to get distracted, reflect, calm myself down and think of other things besides any trouble, but it also makes me happy to get people to smile over such a simple gesture.

Baking is one thing that is fairly difficult to do while being on the road and certainly one thing I miss doing when being abroad for a while. I have never developed a great technique or a personal signature; I am just trying out new recipes whenever I come across them.

A German in America Chapter Three

It was time again for another business trip over to Atlanta. This time I wasn’t overly excited to arrive in the States since I knew I would be at a place again I had been before and because I doubted I could motivate myself to get up and get out in a city in which it is difficult to get around and beyond without a car. I still had some plans prepared but nothing too exciting. I got more pumped by the thought that I would make a stop in New York on the way back and stay for a couple of days to take in this amazing city I have heard of so much about, but never been to.

To take the action already out of this entry, the trip to New York never happened because of Snow Storm Nemo, a blizzard that apparently was quite heavy and caused thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Instead I rebooked my flight to go out from Atlanta back to London. I was indeed disappointed, but nothing I could have done about. And for sure next time I will try it again and get out and about when I get the chance.

Mission Impossible in Iceland

Another weekend away from London and some more adventures on the agenda. I travelled this time with some lovely friends that I met through work. It had been a while that I travelled with some people. At some point I was a bit anxious and nervous as I wasn’t sure how everything would go and if there would be any trouble along the way. Soon I realised that all of them are well travelled and that I didn’t need to worry. I think I calmed down just before we actually took off.

A Spanish, French, Mexican and German boarded a plane….this is how a joke would start, luckily the weekend ahead was filled with laughter and not only a joke.

Travel Music

Every time I am planning a trip I am not only thinking about what to pack, my itinerary but also what music I will be listening to, what song will make certain situation a memory.

As some of you know I have now lost an iPod (just shuffles no worries) for the second time and relied on my netbook to listen to music while traveling, this of course is not possible when walking around. A friend of mine told me, just listen to the music of the city/forest/place and take it in. I do that as well, but there are just certain moments I want to listen to that one particular song, want to sit high up on a moment and feel like I need classical music to let my thoughts flow; so having music with me while traveling is an absolute must and necessity to me. I need to switch off the outside sound and make my own.

The other day I was searching various blogs and website to what other people listening to while traveling and found the selection pretty weird. Most songs of course had something to do with traveling, but were absolutely not my taste nor would I want to listen to them while sitting on a train or walking around.

 

Traveling alone

A lot of people tell me I am brave because I travel alone to different countries. Am I the only one that doesn't think so? I don’t think it is brave, I think these days it is normal as a lot of people travel alone and explore the country on their own. Of course there are countries I wouldn’t want travel alone to. It would be naive to think the world is one happy place. But I don’t think there is anything wrong with traveling alone in well developed countries or countries that are known to be safe.

Others tell me that they couldn’t travel alone because they would feel lonely and they need company and share the experience. I partly agree, that it is certainly not easy to travel long term on your own, but for a couple of weeks it is refreshing and can be a challenge to yourself. You will open your mind and you are required to talk to people if you need help, you have no one around you that you could rely on, you will get to know your own strength and your limits.

Japan and Japanese Culture - The conclusion

Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone had a great start into the year and will continue to be great (and if not, I hope it gets better).

I returned now from my holidays back to good ol' London. Back to work and nearly back to normality. Looks like a good time to write about my final thoughts and observations about Japan.

Overall I enjoyed Japan a lot and hope to be back one day to see more of this beautiful country. It might be small compared to others like Australia, but rich on diversity and beautiful scenery.

Doing research on a country brings certain expectations and hopes to maybe experience certain things (even though some are related to certain seasons like the cherry blossoms). I was even afraid to a certain degree which is usual when traveling to an unknown country, but none of my fears were actually confirmed or came true. An example would be the Tokyo Transport System, I really didn't understand how someone would not be able to understand the system, but then again I live in London where there are similarities (e. g. Oyster Card) so I knew already how it works. I would understand if someone barely travels and never experienced a similar system to be scared.

What I have learned and experienced in Japan