Our trip to London last week concluded with us successfully securing our first visa! We can safely enter and exit Mongolia during the months of May, June and July should we so choose!
It was all very straightforward with only the small hurdle of a taciturn and disdainful Monoglian civil servant to be cleared. We were in and out with visas in place within two hours. It was an extra £20 well spent if you ask me! We could have left our passports there and saved the £20 but we were on a tight deadline as we had to fly home again and didn't want to risk being stranded without passports in London. We could also have elected to apply by post but we were heading to London anyway so it seemed as easy to just go and do it in person.
I was due to apply for Russian and Chinese visas this week but have been struck down by something yucky in my tummy. However if I improve I might get one of them sorted towards the end of the week, and the other one can wait til next week.
We have also booked and paid for our round the world tickets with Trailfinders in Cork and they were full of helpful advice and joie de vivre! It was an easy way to spend a lot of money!
Details of the intinerary will follow but I'm loathe to say too much at the moment in case I jinx myself again...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Plans are afoot
Well the bad news (if you want to look at it that way) is that we will be Ireland bound for another few weeks. But the good news is that things are beginning to move for us and there is an end in sight!
We should be leaving these fair shores (once again) towards the end of the month and in the meantime it is my job to "organise us".
By the time we leave this time we will have a fully planned itinerary, visas and plane tickets!
We had previously planned to organise on the road as we were travelling in Europe for so long and the visas that we needed would have expired before we got to use them! So now the plan is to spend less time in Europe and we should be in Russia in early to mid May! I'm very excited....
We can organise visas for Russia and China here in Dublin and even get them processed in 24 hours by paying extra and the Mongolian visa can be expressed through the London consulate.
I'm feeling much calmer and more in control of the whole process now. So wish me luck as we try to get this show back on the road!
We should be leaving these fair shores (once again) towards the end of the month and in the meantime it is my job to "organise us".
By the time we leave this time we will have a fully planned itinerary, visas and plane tickets!
We had previously planned to organise on the road as we were travelling in Europe for so long and the visas that we needed would have expired before we got to use them! So now the plan is to spend less time in Europe and we should be in Russia in early to mid May! I'm very excited....
We can organise visas for Russia and China here in Dublin and even get them processed in 24 hours by paying extra and the Mongolian visa can be expressed through the London consulate.
I'm feeling much calmer and more in control of the whole process now. So wish me luck as we try to get this show back on the road!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
A change of direction!
Where do I start?
Well we've had a change of plans and direction in the last week which was necessitated by some good news for a change!
My Lovely Boy is soon to become a Lovely Published Boy! Much to our delight his manuscript which was submitted just before we left, was accepted by a publisher! We really didn't expect such a quick response and were fully prepared to wait 3 or 4 months before hearing anything at all about it's prospects! So we're delighted to be able to return home for a short while to deal with the "business" side of things! It's not a bad thing! The book by the way is a history book and is based on an aspect of Irish history during the War of Independence which you don't see much written about. I don't want to say too much just yet cause it's his business.
So the deal is that we're here for a while, don't know how long yet, it'll be a couple of weeks anyway. Which will give the Continent a bit of time to prepare itself for us with more sunshine and less biting winds sil vous plait! We're probably not going to do the Scandinavian trip this time but have talked about taking a holiday to see the Northern Lights sometime else. The break at home will give me chance to learn some basic language skills in Italian and Spanish as well as getting visas sorted for Russia, Mongolia and China so all is not lost! I don't think I'll try to learn Chinese or Russian it might just be a bit beyond me!
Well we've had a change of plans and direction in the last week which was necessitated by some good news for a change!
My Lovely Boy is soon to become a Lovely Published Boy! Much to our delight his manuscript which was submitted just before we left, was accepted by a publisher! We really didn't expect such a quick response and were fully prepared to wait 3 or 4 months before hearing anything at all about it's prospects! So we're delighted to be able to return home for a short while to deal with the "business" side of things! It's not a bad thing! The book by the way is a history book and is based on an aspect of Irish history during the War of Independence which you don't see much written about. I don't want to say too much just yet cause it's his business.
So the deal is that we're here for a while, don't know how long yet, it'll be a couple of weeks anyway. Which will give the Continent a bit of time to prepare itself for us with more sunshine and less biting winds sil vous plait! We're probably not going to do the Scandinavian trip this time but have talked about taking a holiday to see the Northern Lights sometime else. The break at home will give me chance to learn some basic language skills in Italian and Spanish as well as getting visas sorted for Russia, Mongolia and China so all is not lost! I don't think I'll try to learn Chinese or Russian it might just be a bit beyond me!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Vive La France!
We are now onto week three and our second country and nobody's dead yet so I can report all is basicly going fine!
Our last few days in Barcelona were lovely, we ate lots of tapas and chilled a lot! We also made it to Sagrada Familia, and to Park Guell to gaze in wonder at Gaudi's work. Here's my tip though if you are going to visit Sagrada Familia. It is under construction and while the facade looks amazing, internally it is covered, literally, in scaffolding. So if you want to pay 8 euro a heqd to look at scaffolding, go for it! Also (and this really annoyed me, in fact the story of Jesus throwing out the money lenders from the temple came to mind) if you plan to asscend to the top of the church it's an additional 2 euro per person! Personally I saw all I needed to see from the ouside and will happily return to visit the internal church at a later date when there is more to see!
Sagrada Familia
Internal Church without scaffolding!
Park Guell
We moved on to Carcassonne on Saturday as I have been curious about the place for a long time! We took a train from Barcelona to Cerberre and from there another connection to Narbonne and a final connection to Carcassonne! I have find the story of the Cathar heresy fascinating and wanted to see the medieval citè. Mmmm I have to say it didn't float my boat! I am an archaeologist, I know what Medieval buildings look like! La Citè is not medieval! Talk about the Disneyfication of history! I was not impressed with the turrets nor the colour co-ordinated roof tops at all! And there wasn't a Cathar to be found! Or at any rate any information apart from what I read on the back of a beer bottle! It was a strqnge place indeed, but the people were very friendly and helpful and it was a good place to experience living like a French person!
Right now we're in Paris and are going to bunk down here for a little while as we've always fancied learning more about this city and this is a good opportunity! We endured a seven and a half hour train journey very easily, in fact it was quite pleasant and the scenery was fab! In fact I'd recommend it!
Well that's it for now there are more photos on flickr so keep checking in!
Our last few days in Barcelona were lovely, we ate lots of tapas and chilled a lot! We also made it to Sagrada Familia, and to Park Guell to gaze in wonder at Gaudi's work. Here's my tip though if you are going to visit Sagrada Familia. It is under construction and while the facade looks amazing, internally it is covered, literally, in scaffolding. So if you want to pay 8 euro a heqd to look at scaffolding, go for it! Also (and this really annoyed me, in fact the story of Jesus throwing out the money lenders from the temple came to mind) if you plan to asscend to the top of the church it's an additional 2 euro per person! Personally I saw all I needed to see from the ouside and will happily return to visit the internal church at a later date when there is more to see!
Sagrada Familia
Internal Church without scaffolding!
Park Guell
We moved on to Carcassonne on Saturday as I have been curious about the place for a long time! We took a train from Barcelona to Cerberre and from there another connection to Narbonne and a final connection to Carcassonne! I have find the story of the Cathar heresy fascinating and wanted to see the medieval citè. Mmmm I have to say it didn't float my boat! I am an archaeologist, I know what Medieval buildings look like! La Citè is not medieval! Talk about the Disneyfication of history! I was not impressed with the turrets nor the colour co-ordinated roof tops at all! And there wasn't a Cathar to be found! Or at any rate any information apart from what I read on the back of a beer bottle! It was a strqnge place indeed, but the people were very friendly and helpful and it was a good place to experience living like a French person!
Right now we're in Paris and are going to bunk down here for a little while as we've always fancied learning more about this city and this is a good opportunity! We endured a seven and a half hour train journey very easily, in fact it was quite pleasant and the scenery was fab! In fact I'd recommend it!
Well that's it for now there are more photos on flickr so keep checking in!
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The second week
Well we´re still here in Barcelona soaking up the rays and enjoying the tapas!
It´s proven harder than expected to leave this beautiful city so we have stayed on a few days longer to laze around and take in the atmosphere.
We went to see Barcelona play Gymnastic last sunday at Camp Nou, which is probably been the highlight of the trip. I got to see Ronaldhino play in the flesh! I´m still buzzing over it! They won 3-0 and Iniesta came over to close to where we were sitting to do his goal celebration thing! It´s the little things that make me happy!
I think the thing I like best about Barcelona is the way you can just wander and explore and discover the most beautiful architecture around corners that you might have missed on another day. The weather is so clement at this time of the year and the tourists are fairly thin on the ground all of which combine to make it a great time to come here. So if you are considering visiting then think about a winter visit! Besides the heat here in summer is crazy, too hot for my blood at least!
We´re due to leave on saturday and need to sort out our train tickets to Carcassonne today. From what I can see it´ll be a long enough trip with changes in Narbonne and possibly Port Bou, but we´ll handle it we´re well rested and getting itchy to move again!
So far I have been dedicated to keeping a daily account of what´s been going on in the fabulous journal the lovely Elke gave me for the trip. It amuses me to act like a Victorian lady on a european tour! It will also serve to remind me of what I got up to on this trip which considering my capacity for forgetting stuff is a gift in itself! Thanks again Moose!
It´s proven harder than expected to leave this beautiful city so we have stayed on a few days longer to laze around and take in the atmosphere.
We went to see Barcelona play Gymnastic last sunday at Camp Nou, which is probably been the highlight of the trip. I got to see Ronaldhino play in the flesh! I´m still buzzing over it! They won 3-0 and Iniesta came over to close to where we were sitting to do his goal celebration thing! It´s the little things that make me happy!
I think the thing I like best about Barcelona is the way you can just wander and explore and discover the most beautiful architecture around corners that you might have missed on another day. The weather is so clement at this time of the year and the tourists are fairly thin on the ground all of which combine to make it a great time to come here. So if you are considering visiting then think about a winter visit! Besides the heat here in summer is crazy, too hot for my blood at least!
We´re due to leave on saturday and need to sort out our train tickets to Carcassonne today. From what I can see it´ll be a long enough trip with changes in Narbonne and possibly Port Bou, but we´ll handle it we´re well rested and getting itchy to move again!
So far I have been dedicated to keeping a daily account of what´s been going on in the fabulous journal the lovely Elke gave me for the trip. It amuses me to act like a Victorian lady on a european tour! It will also serve to remind me of what I got up to on this trip which considering my capacity for forgetting stuff is a gift in itself! Thanks again Moose!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Photos!
Come see my photos on Flickr!
(They´re in the sidebar just click and view!)
All comments welcome....
(They´re in the sidebar just click and view!)
All comments welcome....
Saturday, January 20, 2007
One week down
I can´t believe we left home just over a week ago it really and truly feels a lot longer than that. I expected to be tired while travelling but the reality of the tiredness has taken my by surprise.
We´re in Barcelona until next saturday and we have decided to take it easy today. We had a very active day yesterday taking in a tour of Camp Nou, organising tickets for the game tomorrow night and then finding the CosmoCaixa museum and getting completely blown away by how cool it is. So cool in fact I think we´re going to have to go back before we leave here!
Barcelona is an amazing city, I have to say that I do prefer it to Madrid and we both feel very relaxed here. Also the fact that the temperature is in the early 20´s centigrade is helping the feel good factor! We´re swanning around in t-shirts and sweaty faces and the natives are still wrapped up in heavy winter coats and scarves! It´s made me realise just how miserable the poor Spanish must feel when they visit places like Ireland where the weather can be pretty miserable and the weather here today would constitute a decent summer´s day back home! But I guess that´s the beauty of travel!
We still have lots to see and do here in Barcelona but we have another week left and should be reenergised for more sight seeing soon! Then it´s off to Carcassonne for a few days and then to Paris, I think, though I don´t like the look of those storms in northern Europe so we´ll see about that one!
P.S. I should have photos to share soon...
We´re in Barcelona until next saturday and we have decided to take it easy today. We had a very active day yesterday taking in a tour of Camp Nou, organising tickets for the game tomorrow night and then finding the CosmoCaixa museum and getting completely blown away by how cool it is. So cool in fact I think we´re going to have to go back before we leave here!
Barcelona is an amazing city, I have to say that I do prefer it to Madrid and we both feel very relaxed here. Also the fact that the temperature is in the early 20´s centigrade is helping the feel good factor! We´re swanning around in t-shirts and sweaty faces and the natives are still wrapped up in heavy winter coats and scarves! It´s made me realise just how miserable the poor Spanish must feel when they visit places like Ireland where the weather can be pretty miserable and the weather here today would constitute a decent summer´s day back home! But I guess that´s the beauty of travel!
We still have lots to see and do here in Barcelona but we have another week left and should be reenergised for more sight seeing soon! Then it´s off to Carcassonne for a few days and then to Paris, I think, though I don´t like the look of those storms in northern Europe so we´ll see about that one!
P.S. I should have photos to share soon...
Monday, January 15, 2007
And so it begins...
Here we are in Madrid! It´s sunny, there are blue skies and you don´t need a raincoat! Not a bad beginning to our trip considering we started off on a cold and windy morning in Dublin faced with the news that all planes were delayed due to a combination of bad weather and the little matter of a runaway refugee. It could only happen in Ireland!
We´ve had a lovely few days taking in what Madrid has to offer. The Prado, Thyssen and Sofia Reina museums are a must if you plan to come here! Í´m still in shock and awe at the fantasic offerings on show in all three... I am now a major fan of El Greco,
![image081[1]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/358284893_dba7aee071_m.jpg)
How cool is that?
We also managed to take in a match at the Bernebeu last night, Real Madrid v Real Zaragoza. It was fantastic! The atmosphere was electric with excitement and it was such a treat to watch proper football played by real players! I loved every minute of it. We were seated behind the north goal, the one Van Nistlerooy scored in, and that was an extra kick!
Well it´s off to Barcelona tomorrow for about a week I think and we´ll try and load some photos up if there´s any worth sharing!
We´ve had a lovely few days taking in what Madrid has to offer. The Prado, Thyssen and Sofia Reina museums are a must if you plan to come here! Í´m still in shock and awe at the fantasic offerings on show in all three... I am now a major fan of El Greco,
How cool is that?
We also managed to take in a match at the Bernebeu last night, Real Madrid v Real Zaragoza. It was fantastic! The atmosphere was electric with excitement and it was such a treat to watch proper football played by real players! I loved every minute of it. We were seated behind the north goal, the one Van Nistlerooy scored in, and that was an extra kick!
Well it´s off to Barcelona tomorrow for about a week I think and we´ll try and load some photos up if there´s any worth sharing!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
And We're Off
After months of delays, illnesses, the heebie jeebies and lots more besides we are finally off on our worldwide trip!
We are due tomorrow to fly from Dublin to Madrid and so the adventure begins!
Wish us luck....
We are due tomorrow to fly from Dublin to Madrid and so the adventure begins!
Wish us luck....
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Travel Blog
This is my travel blog and is due to kick off very shortly.
The plan is that family, friends and interested parties can follow my progress here, leave comments, send emails, and generally keep in touch with me while I progress on what I hope will be a trip of a lifetime.
The plan is that family, friends and interested parties can follow my progress here, leave comments, send emails, and generally keep in touch with me while I progress on what I hope will be a trip of a lifetime.
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