After coming home from Spain and Portugal I had 1 day to recover before having a 3 day work week followed by a National holiday for the Royal Wedding and a Bank holiday on the Monday. I know, what a rough week that was going to be! Tina was to turn up on the Thursday and as luck would have it that happened to be the only day I got work that week. I had sent her directions to my house and left my key so that she could get in and nap while I worked. Fortunately she made it safely with only a few minor hiccups and encounters with rude Londoners. That night I took her out for dinner in Blackheath, a cute little posh area not too far from me, at a restaurant called Giraffe. It's a chain restaurant that I've been to a couple times before but absolutely love. We had an excellent dinner (which Tina paid for as a birthday present, thanks again sis!) and then headed back to Lewisham to get ready for the next day which was the Royal Wedding.
The whole house dressed up in fancy gear and left with champagne and orange juice to help celebrate with the happy couple. We took the rail into Central London and were immediately faced with the jam packed crowds. Eventually we made our way up to a park where we camped out, drank champagne, watched the horse guard go by, and saw the WWII plane flyover (which was really neat). After it was all over we headed for drinks and dinner. Later that night Tina and I went out to see my friend's band play in New Cross. It was at a dodgy venue but the bands were great so we had a wonderful night.
On the Saturday I took Tina on a tour of the city. We walked for hours and she was able to see all the major things: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, etc. We then headed up north to the Camden market which I hadn't been to yet so it was something new and exciting for the both of us. The market was massive and if I didn't have to keep a tight wallet for the trip I probably would've splurged on many items I didn't need. We did however have some super yummy Indian food for cheap which was very satisfying and kept us full for hours. After we tired of Camden we headed back into Central London and went to Tower Bridge to get a few pictures.
Sunday was another day of sight seeing but also included some shopping. Tina and I headed to Oxford Street and I took her to the massive Primark. This is one store that I will definitely miss when I go back home. It's got loads of really cheap clothes that look pretty decent. We shop there pretty often. The quality isn't the best but what can you expect when you pay pennies for clothes? We headed back to Lewisham around dinner time because we had to pack for our trip as we had an early flight to Paris the next day.
Our time in Paris was pretty exciting, a little less for me because it was my second time being there but fun nonetheless. We navigated our way to the hostel with relative ease. We were too early to check in so we left our bags in the luggage storage room that was so overflowed with bags that it's a wonder I made it out of there alive. This trip to Paris was going to be a little different than the last one because not only was I with Tina but I wanted to make sure I saw some of the things that I missed the year before. After dropping our bags we headed to the centre of the city to meet up with the free tour which lasted for around 3 hours and took us all around the main parts of the city. It was great for Tina to see all of these places that I've already seen and learn some of the history of the place. I even learned a few new things which was expected. After the tour we headed back to the hostel to officially check in and have a little rest. Once we started resembling our normal selves we took to the streets for more touring. We headed to Champs Elysees and all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe. We took some lovely photos, visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then headed back to our hostel. Not quite ready for bed and wanting to catch up with those at home we stayed downstairs at the bar that was attached to our hostel. We had a couple drinks and checked emails before Tina headed to bed. I wasn't quite ready to crash so went exploring with a fellow hosteller that we met. He showed me this really neat lion fountain. While we were there we got to watch a car commercial being shot and were then thrown out by an agitated security guard who yelled at us in French.
The second day in Paris was just as jam packed. We started the day at the Catacombs which I didn't get to see the last time I was in the city. For those who don't know, the catacombs are essentially an underground cemetery in the tunnels of what used to be a stone mine. It was quite creepy as we descended a staircase that seemed endless and walked through these kilometers of tunnels seeing bones beyond bones. There were skulls and bones everywhere. There were many placards around the place, most in French, and I had to test out my language skills which were a little rusty. I managed though, as I did throughout the rest of the trip when communicating with Parisians. After the Catacombs we headed to the Royal Opera House. This was not something I would've anticipated enjoying but seeing my sister light up when she got in there was priceless. She was like a kid in a candy shop. The interior was breathtaking though so it made sense. There was not one corner that wasn't full of the most beautiful details. If you're ever in Paris it's something I suggest seeing because it is stunning. After staying at the Opera House until it closed we made our way across the city to the Eiffel Tower. Originally I wasn't going to go up again because of the cost but I decided it was an experience with my sister that I couldn't put a price tag on. Just as the last time, the views were stunning. We went all the way up to the top and took loads of pictures. Afterwards we went to the base and took some silly shots of the two of us. With our remaining time we decided to forgo the pub crawl that we had planned on joining and went out for dinner and saw Moulin Rouge. Unfortunately there was not enough time or money in the budget to see an actual show but it was still neat to see.
Our third day was essentially a travel day. We checked out of the hostel, headed to the main bus station, and bought tickets to Brussels. Our plan was to spend a couple hours in Brussels and then catch another bus to Amsterdam. Unfortunately by the time we got the bus and into central Brussels we had just over an hour of exploration time. We took the metro into the heart of the city and stood there looking lost with a map that we got from a random hotel I popped into. A very lovely older man saw us and after telling him that we had 1 hour to explore Brussels he sent us in the direction of Grand Place where we would see everything worth seeing. He was certainly right! We headed down there and found a chocolate factory, Mannekin Pis statue, live bands, and the stunning architecture of the Town Hall. We grabbed a tasty waffle and scarfed then down as we hustled back to the bus depot to catch the last bus to Amsterdam. We met a really nice Finnish couple on the bus and had a laugh at a drunken French lady who kept rambling on to us.
After a little difficulty we were able to locate the hostel. The check-in process was slightly strange as the hostel is on top of a bar and the bartender doubled as the receptionist. Since we had turned up so late as soon as we got into the room we locked our stuff away in the lockers and crashed out. The next morning we met up with the free city tour and spent the next three hours exploring Amsterdam and learning things that we might not have discovered on our own. One of the most important tips we were given was to beware of bikes. The city is absolutely filled to the brim with cyclists and they will run you down if you're in the way. We were fortunate enough not to get destroyed by them.
Once the tour was over we made our way across the city to what would become a highlight of the trip for me: the Heineken Brewery. Yum! Heineken is one of my favourite beers so I was pretty excited to tour the brewery. The building and self-guided tour reminded me of the Guinness Brewery in Ireland which was decent but this one was cheaper and provided more beer samples. Since Tina isn't much of a beer drinker I not only got my samples but also some of hers. Thanks again for that sis! Being in Amsterdam we felt the need to experience some of the scandalous things the city had to offer. Naturally, we headed to the sex museum. It was only 3 or 4 euro to get in and was great for a laugh. We saw many things that I'm sure our parents would not approve of and took some inappropriate pictures as we acted like children. It was good fun.
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The last day of our trip arrived and we finally got to Anne Frank's house. This was another highlight of the trip for me because when I was in elementary school I not only read her diary but I saw a production of it put on by the Young People's Theater in Toronto and it really stuck with me. It was quite surreal to walk into her home that has been preserved and see where she hid with her family for those years. Although all of the furniture was removed you could see get a sense of what it might have been like to stay there day in and day out in complete silence and fear that you might be discover.
The rest of our day was spent touring the Red Light District and taking in the city as the weekend crowd turned up. The pub crawl people were back at our hostel bar and tried to convince us to come out again but we had an early flight the next day that we could not miss. We turned in early because we were exhausted after a week of go-go-go travelling and wanted to be well rested for our flight the next morning.
Although our trip was only a week it was such an amazing experience and I'm so glad that I got to do that with Tina. We had talked about backpacking Europe for years and finally making it a reality was something I will never forget. Thanks again sis for coming out to visit and making our mini Eurotrip such a blast. Love ya!
