Day 7 - Paris -> Bergen

I got up fairly early to grab a quick coffee and pastry before I leave Paris for good. I got a croissant and a small eclair. They were so good that I got two more pastries to eat at the airport. On the way back, I also bought the iconic French baguette. They were all so delicious, and this will come to haunt me later.

Bergen is a strange town, and I don't fully understand it yet. At first glance, it's a beautiful town. There is a gorgeous mountainous background peppered with picturesque houses.

View from a park in the city center

Flowers are abundant here

But as you walk around the city center, you notice that the prices are ridiculously high. At the fish market, a simple fish and chips plate is about $25. A beer is about $11. A McDonalds' meal is $12. I do notice a lot of tourists. I keep asking myself, "Is this a real town? Or is everything here a facade set up for tourism?"

I quickly left the city center and started climbed up the mountain, towards the houses. This is one of my favorite things to do when I travel to new places. You pick a direction, and start walking. You never know what you'll run into.

These kinds of stairs and trails lead you toward the top of the mountain

As I walked between these houses, I felt like I was trespassing. I was uncomfortably close to these houses, and sometimes it felt like I was walking on their private back yard. I probably wouldn't have done this in the US.

These are the views as you walk up the mountain

View from the top

There is a train (technically, a funicular), that will take you to the top top. I might take that for my Monday hike. In the mean time, I will be taking a two day tour around the area to see the fjords.

 

Oh yeah, regarding the delicious pastries and bread in Paris. I went into a grocery store here in Bergen, and grabbed two pastries, one called a berlinerboller, and another called wienerbrød. Both looked tasty from the outside, but they were worldly different when actually bitten into. 

Two pastries from a Norwegian grocery store, and a boxed iced coffee

After Paris, I think I turned into a pastry snob, as well as a coffee snob. It was a struggle to finish the wienerbrød, and I had to toss the berlinerboller after one bite. And the coffee! Putrid is a fair word to describe it, if being compared to the coffee from the cafe machines in Paris. I also threw it without finishing it. Granted these are grocery level products, but I have a feeling that the French would be too proud to serve sub-par coffee and pastries even in grocery stores.

Day 6 - Paris

Today was my first and last full day at Paris. I had a bunch of things scheduled, and I wanted to get a good lunch. Per Sung's recommendations on getting value lunches and making reservations, I picked out a decent restaurant far away from the touristy area and made an online reservation for 12 noon. I left my hotel at 10, to give myself 2 hours to walk around and enjoy the off-the-beaten-path scenery. I stopped by a local cafe for the classic Parisian breakfast, which is simply a cup of coffee and a bit of pastry.

Cafe creme, croissant, and two sweet balls. One was filled with custard. Total was 4.60 EUR. Excellent!

Those sweet ball pastries were delightful to eat. Very light and fluffy. One was coated with sugary glaze, the other was filled with custard cream. I could probably down about 20 of them in one sitting. One thing about ordering coffee in Paris - there's no 'latte' or 'cappuccino' unless you go to Starbucks, or the place is catering to tourists. The locals would order a cafe creme instead. But with that perfect French accent, where the r in creme sort of rolls out from the back of your throat.

Speaking of French. It's such a difficult language to pronounce. One of the train station is named Franklin Roosevelt. When I first heard it said by the train announcement speaker, it took me a while to link what he said to the station name. It sounds nothing like the english version. I'd often repeat the station names after it's said out loud through the speakers. But the French 'r' is something I'd probably never fully master (it is quite similar to the German 'r', I think). I can't roll my double 'r's in Spanish, either.

I wish I had studied at least some basic French before getting here. People have been very friendly, when I ask them to take a picture for me. I would ask in English, but they'd respond in French. I later learned that it's somewhat rude to start a conversation with a stranger without greeting them with 'Bonjour' first. Would be better if I could even start the conversation with a little bit of French, and  then transition into English when my French fails. Anyways, even though I made this faux pas (heh), they were still very nice to me.

However, I experienced rudeness for the first time today. I had made the reservation at the restaurant at noon, but I arrived a bit early, so I went inside at 11:52 AM. There were 3 guys sitting at the table. I did start with a "Bonjour" this time, and told them I had reservation at noon. But one of the guys told me that the restaurant was closed (and from the tone, there was an added implication that said "so get out"). I apologized and quickly left. Maybe the French take their opening hours seriously, and it is I who made a mistake. Even still, I wasn't in any mood to eat there any longer, and went to a different place near by.

I also came across this:

Monument in Place de la Republique

It's a memorial statue in the plaza, commemorating the French Republic. But now it's been used to commemorate the dead from the Paris terror attacks. The monument itself seemed to be heavily vandalized, but I learned later that legitimate street artists and graffiti artists collaborated to display their feelings and thoughts, and was approved by the authorities to do so. Seeing this in person was very touching, and showing a picture of it here doesn't do it any justice.

Rest of the day was spent by visiting the Louvre, Luxor Obelisk (check!), Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower.

In front of the Luxor Obelisk. Donated by Egypt. The only one in France.

One comment about the Louvre. It is huge. It's definitely the place to go if you're interested in art. My art interest level is about a 2 out of 10, so I walked past most of the art pieces that I came across.  However, as far as exploring the place, I probably only went through a quarter of it. The sheer number of artwork displayed is just mind blowing, and after a while I became numb to the flood of great art coming at me.

One view of the Louvre. On the left is the iconic glass pyramid. I would have liked a keychain of that, but I couldn't find one.

Day 5 - Paris

I'm in Paris, and I'm in love with this city.

I almost didn't come here. Paris was an afterthought. I thought it was just yet another European city, similar to all others, but when I mentioned to my colleague, Kyle, that I was going on a Europe trip, he told me about these bread shops and pastry shops in France. I have a sweet tooth, and after hearing that they have a shop just dedicated to pastries, I really wanted to go. And when I found out that the flight was really cheap and short from London, that's when I made the decision. I shortened my London trip by 3 days, and penciled in Paris.

Typical alley in Paris

And boy am I glad I did. As soon as I walked out of the train station from the airport and started walking towards my hotel, I was instantly taken in by the charm of the city, and I knew I was going to love it. The local cozy cafes and bakeries at each corner; small clothes shops hidden in the alleys of tall, ancient buildings; huge, beautiful cathedrals at main intersections; kids playing ball at the local park. It's a combination of these things that gives Paris a charm of its own.

Me in front of Seine River

Seine River

Cathedral of Notre Dame

I saw some stuff in the main city. Cathedral of Notre Dame. Seine River. But I really want to talk about the best dessert I've had in my life.

I had already eaten a crepe for an early dinner, but around 9 PM I was still hungry, so I decided to go into a semi fancy place for dinner. I was actually searching for a dessert place, and this restaurant came up, so I decided to give it a try (it was called Un Dimanche a Paris, or A Sunday in Paris). The main dish itself was excellent, but the dessert! On the menu, it was called a Chocolate Souffle. Here's what the waiter brought me.

Best dessert in my life

The souffle is simply a light, fluffy chocolate disc, topped here with blueberries. The inside is a hot, molten chocolate sauce, that mixes well with the fluffy cake at the top. As soon as it's served, the cake begins to flatten out, and the sauce kind of hardens into a caramel-candy like texture. The white thing you see at the top right corner is frozen yogurt, topped with what I think is crushed meringue. You eat them together, and when you do, you can instantly feel the juxtaposition of opposites in your mouth. There are three levels of contrast at play. First, the coldness of the frozen yogurt meets the warm, gooey chocolate souffle, creating a curious sensation in your mouth. Second, the smooth texture from the yogurt softens the crunch you get from not only the hardened souffle, but also from the crushed meringue. And lastly, the creaminess and the sweetness of the yogurt blends so well with the tart from the blueberry sauce. I normally don't like sour things, and the dessert overall wasn't very sweet at all, and yet, the combination and the ratio of sweetness, tartness, and creaminess was just perfect. I really felt like I was eating a piece of art, and wondered if the pastry chef had studied literature or poetry, or had formal training in music or painting.

Day 4 - Last Full day in London

This was going to be a really short post. I spent the whole day in the British Museum (again).

There needs to be an addition: 3 days

I packed in as many of those free tours as I could:

- Roman Britain (covering from 43 AD to 411 AD)

- Ancient Iraq (covering the pre-historic era in Mesopotamia)

- Enlightenment (focusing on the British Enlightenment)

- Art of the Middle East (focusing on pottery, earthenware, and glassware from the Islamic age (7th century to the Ottoman Empire, as well as giving a lot of background history in Islam and the various civilizations around that era)

- Ancient Rome (Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian (Brit's favorite), Severus)

I actually missed some talks, as I couldn't find some of the rooms on time. You can imagine how big this place is, if I can't find these rooms on my 3rd day here. But missing those talks actually gave me more time to explore various rooms I haven't been in before. 

One of Four Obelisks of United Kingdom

A thought just occurred to me. I should take a picture with these Obelisks around the world. There are 4 in the UK. I missed my first opportunity here, but there's supposed to be 8 in Rome, 1 in Paris, and 1 in Istanbul! So, here I come!

This morning, I had breakfast at Jacks at Clapham Junction. It's similar to what I might get at a waffle house, but maybe slightly healthier. There's no hash browns, but instead there's baked beans, a grilled tomato, and mushrooms. And oh yeah, the brown sauce. I tried it on my eggs and ham, but I wasn't a fan. It tasted like a blander version of an A1 steak sauce. 

Typical Breakfast with 1 egg, ham, sausage link, toast, mushrooms, grilled tomato, and baked beans.

The Brown Sauce

 

Tomorrow, I'm flying out to Paris, to spend a few nights there before I head to Bergen, Norway. The best meal I've had here has been the curry I got from a street stall in Camden Markets. I kind of regret not trying more curry here. But hey, there's always a next time. Plus I need to come back to get my picture take with the obelisk.

Day 3 - London, continued

Started off the day by purchasing a "bacon and egg baguette" and tea for (3.30 gbp for sandwich + 80 pence for tea), from a food truck right outside the apartment. The "bacon" wasn't what I was expecting, and resembled more like a salty ham. Also, it seems like the Brits love their sauces. The cook asked in a heavy British accent what sauce I wanted on my sandwich. Of course, I had no idea, and I didn't even know what my choices were, so I responded, "whatever is the most popular." She said something about a brown sauce, and I was like "sure, that sounds good." Then she said something else in really heavy British accent, which I couldn't quite make out, and I just said "yeah..." and I ended up with ketchup in my sandwich. -_-

"Bacon" and egg baguette, with ketchup

Rest of the day was pretty straightforward. Went to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Got there around 11 AM, but it was already packed, and I barely managed to get a decent area at the far end of the area. To be perfectly honest with you guys, I don't see what the big deal is, but everyone was clawing their phones out to take as many close up photos as they can, and even videotaping the whole 15-20 minute ordeal. I got out when the bands started playing, and took a nice panoramic shot to show the crowd (on a Monday morning!).

The Old Guards marching out -- see, nothing special. Did I just offend a lot of Brits?

About good 10-15 minutes after the Changing of the Guards. The band was still playing, and you can see people lined up outside the gates to watch the guards.

A nice walkway from Buckingham Palace to Westminster

Next, I revisited the British Museum. I was planning on doing three tours there today (Medieval Europe, Ancient Rome, and Assyrian Relief). These are so so wonderful, and if I stayed here long enough, I would try to do all of them. The first talk on Medieval Europe was really good. Sometimes reading the descriptions and the poster boards gets old, and you don't fully take in everything that you read in those, but when you have someone who can talk to you about it personally, you become more engaged. The last two I planned on doing was canceled, for some reason. I shall return again tomorrow!

On Westminster Bridge

I also did a self guided audio tour from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square, visited the National Gallery, and visited a cafe and a bakery -- got a flat white for 3.30 GBP (a British thing), a Cinnamon bun and a walnut roll. Can the male baristas stop drawing heart shapes in my coffee? Both the pastries were good, but also set me back 4 GBP.

Flat white, from Valerie Patisserie

Later in the evening, I met up with Soj, had fish and chips for dinner, and we walked around the city, eventually coming back to Chinatown for some glorious bubble tea. Pretty good day!

"What if they run away with your phone?" "I can run pretty fast, too."

Days 1 - 2: London

I was really hyped up and over-sold on London before coming here. It all started from an over seas trip, of all places. 2010. I was touring Suzhou with a tour group. One tourist was a professor from Lebanon, who has traveled to many places around the world. She told me that London was her favorite place in the world, and told me so many good things about it. From then on, I had this fantasy that London was going to be the greatest city to visit, ever.

Since then, I had also visited many other places. I've walked through the quaint town of Muenster and Meiningen, experienced the magnificent museums of Vienna and Amsterdam, and stood with the grand architectural buildings in Munich, Cologne, and Antwerp. After having seen them, it seems like London is yet another European city. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting. Irrationally, I was expected to be blown away, but was let down a bit when I wasn't. 

Having said all that, London has been great so far. Yesterday, Soj and I went to the Borough Market, walked across the London Bridge, biked around Hyde Park, and had dinner near Chinatown.

Bread stall in Borough Market

Pastry stall in Borough Market

Today, we had brunch at Gordon Ramsey's restaurant, the London House; visited the British Museum; walked through the packed Camden Markets; rode the London Eye ferris wheel,;and had desserts near Chinatown again.

Camden Market

A goofy picture in the ferris wheel

Soj in front of Apollo Theater

In front of Big Ben

Some more thoughts on London: even though I haven't seen all of London (and I probably won't be able to in my short stay), I can see why London is loved by so many people. It really is a giant melting pot of so many different cultures. It's very common to see many men and women in Muslim headgear, Indians, blacks, whites, asians, and everything in between. There are lots of interracial couples. Listening to people talk, you can hear all sorts of languages, some that I can't recognize. Because of its diversity, you can probably find anything and everything you're looking for. Fine arts, ethnic districts, upscale malls, and grimy bars. It's almost like a super version of New York City.

Another thought on London: what I'm seeing on a typical stroll around London is probably not a true representation of England as a whole. London is very expensive. The currency is the pound sterling (GBP, Great Britain Pound), and the exchange rate is roughly 1 GBP to 1.5 USD. I see the listed prices of various goods in GBP, and they would normally seem reasonable, IF IT'S IN USD. But since it's actually GBP, I feel like I'm paying 50% more than what I'm used to.

Doing some quick research, it seems like Londoners make almost 75% more than the typical British. That's an incredible income discrepancy. Furthermore, Londoners' median income is greater than the typical American income ($68k USD vs $52k USD), so maybe this is the explanation of how things are so expensive here with a city that still functions and isn't totally breaking down.

Final thought: The British museum is excellent. I've only spent 2 hours there today, and I feel like I've only seen 10% of it. I'm very interested in the artifacts from ancient history, specifically from the Egyptian empire, the Assyrian empire, the Islamic worlds, and of course, the artifacts from the Greek and the Romans. I'm definitely going back tomorrow. If you study enough of ancient history, you soon begin to realize that it's all interconnected, and it becomes difficult to talk about one group of people without mentioning the others. It's a side quest of mine to learn enough about ancient history to get the big picture, and understand it as one united block.

Europe, 2016

This used to be a blog for when I went to China for one month to study go, but after 6 years of no updates, I'm bringing it back, and I'll write about my travels. I will start with my European travels which begins in 3 days.

I've decided to switch jobs, and there was a good opportunity for me to take a month break before starting the new job. At first I wanted to go around the world, and visit places like India, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and all that jazz, but after looking into the details, I realized that one month wasn't going to be enough, and I had even less time to plan for it. So I settled on touring Europe.

My tentative plan is as follows, with tentative days of stay in parenthesis:

London (4) -> Paris (2) -> Bergen, Norway (4) -> Rome (2) -> Marrakesh, Morocco (4) -> Athens (3) -> Istanbul (11)

I have a friend (Soj) in London, so that's my start city, and we plan to visit Norway together for a weekend. But as you can tell from the disproportionate number of days I've assigned to Istanbul, that's the city I'm most curious and excited to see. Paris was a last minute addition, as it was so close to London, and my main motivation going there is to eat French pastries. As a comparison, seeing the Louvre or the Eiffel tower is like a 6.5 on a scale 1-10, and French pastries is like a 9. 

My main goal for traveling is to see how people live. Instead of sightseeing the important landmarks or the museums, I'm more interested in seeing the everyday lifestyles of ordinary people, how they move around, what they eat, where they hang out. This is the reason for me wanting to visit Marrakesh and Istanbul. My fondest memories of traveling abroad is when I was able to speak to the locals in their language (in China and Japan), either by asking them for directions, asking how much something was, or what their favorite thing on the menu was. I remember walking into a Chinese pastry shop in Wuhan, and as soon as I asked in my broken Chinese, "Which one tastes the best?" the two girls attending the counter, who seemed bored out of their minds, instantly brightened up and offered suggestions on various things to try. I think there was something special about being a foreigner in a city and asking a local in their own language. I think the feeling would be different if I were to go to London and ask a local for directions in English. Also, I've heard that American tourists aren't particularly well received in Europe. But because I look asian, I might get a different treatment. We will see.

My other main goal for traveling in Europe, particularly, is for the history. I'm fascinated by ancient history, and Athens and Rome seem like the mecca for the time period that I'm interested in. 

So far only my flight to London and Istanbul has been booked. Nothing else is planned. I plan to book things as I go along. The good thing about that is I can be flexible, but the bad thing is that I might pay more for last minute bookings, or worse, some of the tickets and tours might be sold out. 

Today I'm flying into Chicago to see my nephew for a few days, and on Friday night, I'm flying out to London. I'm so excited!

While I'm at it, let's talk about packing. I bought a Osprey Farpoint 40 pack, and a Hikpro Ultralight daypack. I read up a lot on traveling light, and decided to pack all my stuff into these two. They're really packed to the brim, and I'm amazed at how others can travel even lighter than this.