Hmm. So it seems that I didn't bother to put open office onto this laptop. Not really a problem, as I prefer notepad in many ways. anyway, I'm writing this offline as I'm on the bus on the way to Bruges, currently we are passing through the La Somme region in France. I'm still not sure if this will be a blog, a group email, maybe a private one (or a group one that I personalise. But anyway, here are things I have learned.
European hand drying technology is superior to Australian hand drying technology. The hand sensors actually work. your hands dry quicker. amazing. The most amazing is the Dyson air blade, I've only seen it in airports, but its like drying your hands with a thermo-nuclear weapon.
Coffee is affordable, or at least if you drink espresso. really, the rest of a cup of coffee is just filler anyway. An espresso is between 1 - 1.5 Euro, where as a flat white, cappuccino, etc is double that. Its always struck me as odd that in Australia, a short black is only slightly cheaper than a flat white, despite all that extra milk and labour to heat and pour. I need to check the price of a cup of tea, as it annoys me back home when you pay the same as for a coffee and get given a cup of water and a tea bag.
I found the tackiest urinal in the world. And it was right at our first hostel! Picture to follow.
Paris was spectacular. The entire city is built to beat you over the head with a sense of history and culture. My gosh the money that has flowed through those streets. It seems like if something was worth building, it was worth building to excess. Its probably just that those places are the ones that are preserved, restored and expanded upon. The scale of places like theMusee de Louvre and Chateau de Versailles we're quite unbelievable. No wonder the peasants revolted (I really don't understand the French revolution, but I'm sure I'm going to look it up on wikipedia at some point.)
I have no cohesive wi-fi strategy at this point. I guess I'll just latch onto as much free wi-fi as I can at hostels and pay for access when I need to. That combined with my crippling laziness will mean sporadic updates at best, which is probably fine, as I'm sure you don't need daily updates on how much fun I am having. Pictures will follow too as I figure out a flickr account or some such.
My coffee addiction is quite bad. The first two hours of this trip I was surly and uninspired, a mood I am blaming on breakfast coffee at the hostel which I am convinced was decaf. I guess I am going to have to carry a jar of instant and a spoon for the duration of the trip.
On speaking french. After being told that its a good idea to try to speak a little of the language as a gesture of good faith, I now think its not worth the effort. Every bonjour gets me nowhere. I wait in line to say 'Bonjour, Un Cafe' S'il vous plait?", and every time I'm greeted by a "hello". I know think its just a waste of both our times waiting for me butcher the french language, so from here on I'm going to open all conversations with "g'day".
Drinks here come in centilitres. I remember being told by a builder that centimetres are a unit of measure taught to children as they can't grasp the more accurate millimetre. Not that I'm commenting on European education standards.
Anyway, We are almost in Belgium now, headed across the border in a coach filled 95% with Australians. I hoped to see less of them on this trip, we have plenty back home. So I'll end this here, hopefully I'll have some access to post it in the near future. Otherwise this all becomes some bastard journal, to be read back after my trip is over, highlights mixed with photos and set to music and burnt to DVD. No, that's a bit too much.
-Troy
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