Robyn's Wanderings

Where are we again?

Hello one and all and this week we have a new wanderer helping us out….Nicola’s sister, Katie, has been to visit…..well do I even have to say it? Amsterdam!

What’s the latest? what do you have to see? Tell us Katie: 

Amsterdam is (in)famous for its coffee houses and red light district. However, if you delve deeper, there are many other sides to Amsterdam – everything cultural, historical and beautiful! Whether it’s a day-trip, or you’re passing by enroute to another European city, a long layover at AMS airport or a weekend break, Amsterdam has a lot to offer.

Spending some time in Amsterdam? Here are some tips, ideas and general tidbits. The possibilities are endless:

* Explore the maze of canals on foot, or rent a bike and pedal like the locals! There are as many bikes as there are people in Amsterdam (bike rental: 8 – 10 euros per day). Or do it in the form of water on a canal cruise with commentary (price: 8 – 10 euros for an hour cruise)

* Van Gogh Museum – see his transition from dark paintings of peasants to paintings with Japanese influence to pointillism

How to get around Amsterdam? A bike, perhaps?

* Rijksmuseum – and see the I AMSTERDAM life size statue right outside

* Anne Frank House – brought the diary to life, every high schooler who read the diary MUST go here!

* Dutch Resistance Museum – see who made the choice: adjust – collaborate – resist during WWII

* Museum Rembrandthuis- see a live demonstration of how Rembrandt made his own paint each day!

* Get the ‘I Amsterdam card’ this includes public transport and museum entry, well worth it! For 24 hours = 40 euros, 48 hours = 50 euros, 72 hours = 60 euros.

* Worried you don’t speak Dutch? No worries, they speak English better than you and I!

Get your clogs here!

* The floating flower market is also a sight to see – all varieties of tulips and other bulbs. Good place to pick up gifts for friends and family… such as clogs!

* Pop in to one of the Pancake houses, which serve Dutch mini-pancakes called ‘poffertjes’

* You will see ‘XXX’ all over the city. This is not a reference to the red light district! It is the symbol of the city, the three crosses of St.Andrew, and stand for the 3 dangers of medieval Amsterdam ‘fire, floods, plague’

* People who own stunning houses in the Jordaan district are endearingly termed DINKs = ‘double income, no kids’!

The bottom line: Don’t be a DINKus, and go and see Amsterdam for yourself! 

Bounjour and welcome to this week’s blog post from Nicola Arnold…..all about Paris. There could not be a more appropriate follow to Quebec City so voila:

Voici ma bande annonce pour mon Paris je t’aime à moi. [Here is my teaser trailer for my very own Paris je t'aime]

Parisian pastries

Last night, we ate a marvelously rich & succculent French supper at Batifole in Toronto. ‘We’ being a friend from my university with whom I studied abroad for a year at Université de Savoie in Chambéry, France a few years ago. What better way to toast to our new working-worlds in the city and to reminisce about the days we spent hiking in the French Alps than to sit down for a meal that included such quintessentially French orders such as:

* Salade d’Endive, Prosciutto, Copeaux d’Emmental de Cave, Vinaigrette aux Figues.
* Le Cassoulet Royal; Confit de Canard, Saucisses Fermière, Poitrine de Porc Rôtie.
(Plus one of the daily specials that I am forced to describe less eloquently: Rhubarb tart with flaky pastry, shallots, cheese and garlic).

The venue? Authentique. The dishes? Délicieux. The memories? Nostalgique. The experience? Formidable!

A little quirk of mine? I am often aware (thinking to myself) of where I bought the that clothes I’m wearing. Last night, I was wearing a sweater that I had bought in France at one of my favourite shops – . Black & grey, with mismatching buttons. In university, if I was sitting for a French exam, I would try and wear something that I had bought in France for the exam. Authentic good luck would then come my way, n’est-ce pas?

Scarf? French. Jacket? French. Jeans? French. Boots? French.

To add to the French-ness of the evening, the easy-to-read-on-the-subway book in my bag was a comic-book style story about an American mother & daughter who live in Paris for 6 weeks in Jan/Feb 2007… full of hand-drawn doodles, funny commentaries on daily life in France, photos and of course food & wine!

Where am I going with this?

Yes, I’ve previously mentioned my experiences studying & living in France… A year in Lorraine. A semester in Paris. A year in Chambéry. But this January marks the 5th year that I was in Paris for a semester. And so far, for every day of 2012, I have thought about those 4 Parisian months. Lots of people love Paris… and lots of people don’t (Too dirty, not kind to English speakers, didn’t meet the hype I imagined, etc.).

But I lived there. Four months only, perhaps, but I had a neighbourhood. I bought groceries. I ran errands. In Paris.

See "Cite Universitaire" in the 14th arrondissement (center, bottom)? I lived there for 4 months.

If you are a fan of any of the following American tv shows, you may know that their dramatic endings involved (potentially) running off to Paris:
- Rachel Green lands a job with Louis Vuitton in Paris in the Friends finale
- Carrie Bradshaw battles between New York vs. Paris in the Sex and the City finale
- Jerry, George, Elaine & Kramer head to Paris for “one last hurrah” in the Seinfeld finale

Amongst others, I’m sure. City of romance, of lights, of history, and of baguettes! 

The Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe/Champs-Elysees

A la semaine prochaine, amusez-vous bien mes amis! [Until next weekend, enjoy yourselves, my friends!]

Rowing?

“Are those….? No, it couldn’t be.”

“What?”

“Look! The river is frozen and those crazy people are rowing across it!”

So Quebec City started on a very cold, bitten start, but after some serious coffee breaks and some shots of Jagermeister, things were starting to look up!

Well, at least it seemed better as we looked up at the Fairmont Frontenac and the rest of old Quebec City. That’s because we were in the lower town and loving it!

Talk about night and day.

Visiting the lower city

Bienvenue a Quebec City….finally!

At least that should have been the sign greeting me as I trudged from the snow of the Plains of Abraham, past the citadel and down to the cobblestoned streets of this city.

This lower city, as far as I am concerned, is really the only part of the town that counts! Ok maybe that’s harsh, but these streets are so darn cute!

Wandering the little streets of the lower, old town.

Sure there is old Quebec City and then there is the lower part of old Quebec City! Even better? Well starting next week is Quebec City’s Winter Carnival! Yes, on January 27th my misery that was the Plains of Abraham (visit the previous post with the snow covered land) will have an Ice Palace, the nightlife will awaken and there will even be a canoe race?! Yes, a canoe race. Go figure.

But back to my visit. I did not have a winter carnival, but in the lower city I did enjoy the tiny pubs in old wine cellars and all of the restaurants named after animals.

Yes, we could not visit Le Lapin Saute (sauteed rabbit), but Le Couchon Dingue? Oh yes, we could eat with the pigs. Luckily it was amazing food and worth the wait. Ever had a pulled pork, burger? Well, I have now.

Outside Le Lapin Saute

But the best way to visit Quebec City? Well it certainly wasn’t rowing across the St. Lawrence River! But it was crossing the St. Lawrence River….by ferry.

Yes, we boarded the ferry and thoroughly enjoyed watching the ice flows break on the bow of the boat. And making it more perfect? It was during sunset.

Watching the sun set from the ferry

Ahhh…watching the ice and snow go by while warm and cozy on the ferry was the way to go! Of course when we arrived back onto the “mainland” there was little that could keep us from leaving the beautiful lower town, than maple syrup.

Before we could leave, however, there was of course the famous Fresque des Québécois, which tells the story of Quebec City.But can you tell where the mural ends and the real people begin?

Murals of the City

Wanderings beyond this beautiful image we continued back to the Maple Syrup museum and managed to buy all of the maple salt, coffee and syrup I needed to return to Bermuda and try to brib…..I mean welcome the immigration guys (remember the camera?).

Ok well that is the end of Quebec City. Would I return? Probably not in the winter….ever again!

Au Revoir!

Driving to.......Quebec, City

For nine hours. This photo is what I watched for almost nine hours.

Oh, sorry. I should also add that this was during a good patch. Why? Well as you can see…you can see! As luck would have it, almost as soon as we hit Montreal the snow/sleet/hail (ok, not hail but the other two) started pelting us with all of their might.

What does a Bermudian driving in this kind of weather do? Well defer to their Canadian travel buddy of course! One too many close calls with big trucks and I was done.

But I get ahead of myself.

As you may recall from my immigration posting a few days ago, I had left the sanctuary of Bermuda and it’s 70 degree Fahrenheit weather to travel to Toronto for the Christmas to New Years break. Not satisfied with six days in Toronto, my boyfriend and I decided to also fit-in a three day trip to Quebec City.

Why not, right? Wrong. This is the tale of the three day trip that really should not have been and it all started at the rental counter.

Patience is a virtue that I don’t often exhibit, but I calmly waited as the couple in front of the couple in front of us took 40 minutes to organize a car they had already booked. I even waited as the next couple took 20 minutes to organize their car.

But when it came to our turn and the female from the very first couple decided to return to the counter, interrupt our conversation and ask something trivial about GPS (if you are too lazy to open a map then you most definitely should not be cutting in front of me), I had, had enough.

“Sorry you were saying we could put two drivers onto the car rental?”

“Uh…” said the embarrassed salesman, “Yes. Sorry mam, I need to finish with these customers first.”

Yeah you do, but “first female” did not seem impressed. Oh well.

Seven hours into the drive and we could see the home stretch until Montreal raised its roadworks and complicated the entire situation. An hour, multiple U turns and the snow started…..oh crap.

Nevertheless, with sore bums and tired eyes we finally find our resting place. It appears to be a cozy, little inn that is close to restaurants and shops.

The only problem? At 9.30 p.m. the only place nearby that would serve us was the grocery store where the lonely workers are sweeping the mud covered floor for the millionth time. No fear, we can picnic.

At 3.30 a.m. I realized that something had been picnicing on my legs! Bed bugs.

Now, I have traveled around the world. I have stayed in hostels in Thailand that cost me $2 a night. I slept in a tent for four nights in Patagonia.

And yet the time that I get attacked by bugs? Well that has to be in Quebec City in a place that cost about $175 a night!

The worst part? The night manager claimed he could not move us to a new room that night! Luckily, the bugs had been satiated and I was too tired after nine hours of driving to stay awake.

In the morning it was a matter of negotiating with the manager and luckily the previous evening was forgotten as we entered the snowland called Quebec City!

Wandering the snowy land!

I could not feel my toes…..but it was beautiful.

We wandered through the Plains of Abraham where the British and French had some of their first clashes in 1759-1760. There are two towers (Martello 1 and 2) which we were told would give us insight into the military clashes.

Both were closed.

Never fear. It was a cool view of the St. Lawrence River that passes-by Quebec City and it was easy enough to slosh through the snow to the Citadel. A key part of the city’s fortifications, we clearly found the wrong entrance to the Citadel, so instead we finished the walkway that continues along the river and expelled us in front the of famous Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.

Walking along the citadel!

Luckily there was a coffee shop (read: Starbucks) right there so we could jump in and defrost our feet before continuing on. Yes, I had to do it. I had to have my Starbucks, but so did my fingers!

My Frontenac!

Wandering on….well sloshing on, we landed across the street in the Fort Museum. This was going to be a slow trip. The Fort Museum, Robyn?

Yes. Actually it was quite interesting and one of the most hilarious little shows I have seen in a while. Fake smoke exhaled from toy guns, little lights flickered from boats in the middle of battle and the history of Britain’s win over New France…but don’t worry they were such ardent culturalists that they kept the French.

Anyway, enough of the history lesson. Now it was time for lunch.

Lunch!

We found a pub and a Texan couple to keep us company as we defrosted and set-out again onto the streets of Quebec City.

After stuffing ourselves it was time to find a different Quebec….bye, bye the unwarm welcome and on to……Well you’ll have to come back to see what we found (I promise it gets better).

It’s a new year and our Wanderer Nicola is still finding ways to make us jealous for her travels. In her second round of sunsets around the world we visit Norway, Croatia and, of course, Bermuda! The sun has set on 2011, so Nicola show us what to look forward to:

Happy New Year, one & all! Who can resist a celebration that includes fireworks & champagne? Wow, it’s hard to believe that I wrote my 2011 NYE post just over a whole year ago… on a flight from South Africa to England to Amsterdam. Watching the sun set over Africa and the sun rise over Europe from my window seat.

Speaking of sunsets, remember this colourful entry? Interestingly enough, I received a message from a friend (who also happens to be a photographer) complimenting me on the sunset blog photos. It can be difficult to know how many people these columns reach, so I was pleasantly surprised! Given that the subject was sunsets, though, I cannot take much credit for the snapshots. With the winning combination of clouds, colours, beaches or mountains, sunsets basically set themselves up for splendor!

Simayal, in the foothills of the Himalayas

If you’re itching for a movie to watch as the sun fades behind the clouds, try Before Sunset, and watch Ethan Hawke converse with Julie Delpy in Paris, France. Europe, dusk til dawn, and a conversation that is just as electric at the scenery around them (sequel to the original film, Before Sunrise). City of Love & Lights, after all…

In Bermuda… sunsets really out-do themselves. When you live in a rock surrounded by the deep blue sea you have a lot of natural beauty to boast about. Whether you are at Horseshoe Beach, Grotto Bay or St. George… boating, at a beach or on your balcony…

We all watch & wait with anticipation for sunsets, and you can tell a good one is coming your way wherever you are. For the fidgety, anxious, move n shake kind of people, it seems that sunsets (and sunrises) are a moment of fresh air. A chance to take a break, and let the magic unfold. See what you think of these quotes about our glorious sundowners:

While visiting to Croatia in summers, we drag ourselves out of bed (somewhat begrudgingly) at the crack of dawn to walk along the coastal towns. Of all the early starts you could have, a Croatian summer is worth the lack of sleep-in. Besides, as the temperatures creep up into the 30′s Celcius, you want to take a snooze in the afternoon. And then you marvel at the sun setting behind the mountains & hills of the islands along the Adriatic Sea.

An evening walk on Elbow Beach, Bermuda

In Bermuda, we are able to make beach & sunsets go hand-in-hand.

Idyllic? Yes.

Do you remember reading (or watching?!) Charlotte’s Web? The sun setting has us exclaiming words to extoll the sunset in all it’s glory, much like the vocabulary that we learnt from our friend Wilbur the pig: ”terrific,” “radiant,” and even “humble”.

Sail into the sunset in Oslo, Norway

To sum it all up, Lord Byron has the closing words: “It /sunset/ was the cooling hour, just when the rounded Red sun sinks down behind the azure hill, which then seems as if the whole earth is bounded, circling all nature, hushed, and dim, and still, with the far mountain-crescent half surrounded on one side, and the deep sea calm and chill upon the other, and the rosy sky with one star sparkling through it like an eye.”

Travel bureaucracy

Almost every country has it. It?

In Vietnam, for example, I was told by a guide that if he wanted to leave the country on a holiday he had to have a substantial amount of money in the bank (and proof of it), a good job to return to and apply to his government for a pass.

In India, I was told of a boyfriend trying to go to Canada to visit his girlfriend. Though he applied for a visa, he was denied.

What is this? I am talking about travel bureaucracy. It’s everywhere and it’s not only about leaving a country, but also entering.

For example when I tried to travel between Laos and Cambodia only to be required to pay  an “entry fee” to every man standing along the border in a uniform! Ok, so it was only US $1 per man, but still annoying.

And Bermuda? Well my home country is no different. Seemingly ridiculous procedures surround entering and leaving the country too.

I had always heard some stories, but on my recent trip to Toronto I actually got to be on the receiving end. I’m such a lucky girl!

I will give the Bermuda’s L.F. Wade International Airport customs guy one excuse: it was Christmas Day and I am sure he did not want to work, but lots of people have to work on Christmas. Still, I will give him that small leeway for his response:

“Hi, I need to register my camera,” I said.

“Do you have proof you bought it in Bermuda?” said the small man in a crisp blue uniform as he poked his head out of the barely-wedged-open door.

“Uh, well it was a birthday present, so no I don’t have a receipt.”

“Well, I’m not saying you are lying, but we will not give you a registration. Too many people sneak items into Bermuda.”

Bermuda might be beautiful, but.....

OK, I should explain the policy. Bermudian residents are required to purchase items in Bermuda or be prepared to pay duty of 35% on items acquired abroad.

To avoid the duty, we can register electronic devices (usually the only items we are taking that are the most expensive and hardest to prove you had before you left) before leaving the Island. This registration is delivered in the highly modern form of a yellow slip of paper!

Yes, there is no way you will ever lose that (sarcasm is free).

The yellow paper, however, is not a minor detail. Instead it is a Bermudian resident’s “get-out-of-35% duty” card!!!! Can you imagine?

Why, you ask do we have to pay such a high price? Well, the argument is that if government increase the price of purchasing items abroad, Island residents will be more likely to “Buy Bermuda” (I have my opinion about this economic policy, but that is a different blog entirely).

I have two problems with this checking system:

1. when an item is purchased in Bermuda, no one issues a yellow piece of paper. One might think that is important especially for, I don’t know, a camera which is almost definitely going to leave the island and one that might also be a present that the receiver should never know the price of…..I’m just saying.

2. if I do buy abroad (gasp!) and pay duty on the item, there is no way to show that the payment I make (all 35% of it) directly relates to a camera, etc…. So when I turn-up to customs at a later date there is no way to prove that, if I have not bought my item in Bermuda, that I paid duty on it. (I would show you a picture, but these are such high commodities, an extra form is just not possible to get!)

Instead, the form groups together all goods in a particular category i.e. clothing and footwear, and we pay the duty on the total amount. There is nowhere to actually list the items you are declaring and therefore, no way to reference the duty you paid on them. i.e. the customs’ officer was asking me for something I literally could not produce.

Get-out-of-Jail yellow customs' slips!

Let’s be honest here too, if a traveler manages to outsmart the bureaucratic process that is installed to just put more money in government’s coffers and sneaks their goods into Bermuda…..can we really penalize them at a later date? I don’t think so.

Tourists, you are not exempt! You can also be subject to these problems, especially if you are visiting residents. Travellers are allowed a $30.00 excemption on goods they plan to bring into Bermuda.

Bermudians? Well the first $100 for each household is free and then duty kicks in and so do the yellow slips!

So what happened with my recent trip, you ask….well I had to leave the Island with my camera bought in Bermuda (there was no way to send it home before the flight) and prayed that when I returned to the Island I could outsmart the process.

Did I? Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to see what happened…….oh and for some fun travels to Quebec City!