Greetings & Salutations from Hong Kong...
We’ve Got Hong Kong Fuey on the wing... ahem..
Ok, So we have been a bit lax with the posting so far. Not all our fault, as we'll describe in a mo..
Amsterdam
------------
So Amsterdam, the city that has something for everyone.
On arrival at Amsterdam we had a stroke of luck, in a way... Waiting for our baggage we were greeted with an announcement asking for Mr & Mrs Ramsden to proceed to the baggage claim office. Nice worrying start. On presenting ourselves to this office, we were informed our baggage had not caught the same flight we had. We were then informed it would be on the next flight & be promptly delivered to our hotel. Result! We could head into town on the train, with no need to lug our rucksacks with us. Worked out quite nicely really =)
So we set off into town to tour around.
We later registered at our hotel & went for a meal. Whilst trying to have a quite meal on our first night, we were collared by a mad Dutch women & an Italian guy who worked for a Small Telephony company, who funnily enough worked on similar software / hardware to the job I’d just left. They proceeded to hand out business cards, with a view of us contacting them on our return - Crazy! Our Rucksacks finally arrived just before midnight.
The hotel was nice, one of the many 4* or above hotels lynsey had decided on!
We spent nearly a week, chilling out in Amsterdam, which was great after the carnage week we had before we left. Barneys Full English breakfasts ruled every lunch time, once we had arisen.
Amsterdam is a strange & wonderful place, where you can enjoy from the most sedate quiet vacation to a bizarre nutty experience. I prefer the latter. =)
We left Amsterdam on a train to Rome via Paris. We spent about 2 hours in Paris, enough for me as ive been before, but ive promised lynsey ill take her to Paris again to see it properly.
The overnight sleeper train from Paris, Bercy to Rome was actually surprisingly nice. The private cabin we had was great, comprising of two bunk beds, seating area & a concealed sink.
There was a restaurant carriage, which we decided to eat in that night, but where else could we go! A better choice would have been a dodgy burger van outside old Trafford; It was seriously pants & all for 26 Euros each!!! Although the bottles of wine eased our pain.
Rome
------
We arrived in Rome at 9am, greeted with blue skies & 27 degrees. Excellent!
We managed to fit in a few traditional meals, Pizza & Spaghetti that was really nice eating out in the open as it was really warm all day.
We Visited the Vatican during the day which was absolutely huge! 64 Years ago this year my grandad met my uncle harry on the steps to the Vatican by chance, whilst waiting to be posted else where during the war, Quite an emotional moment.
The transport around Rome was a little confusing at first, do as the locals I was always told, so we did. No one seemed to pay for traveling around, so we simply got on & got off when desired. Only later, we discovered you had to buy tickets at bars or shops as you could not pay on the busses. Ahwell the Yorkshire blood in me saved some money ;)
We decided not to use public transport in the morning to get to the airport, instead we got a taxi. Based on the traffic and carnage we encountered it seemed the right decision!
Hong Kong
-----------
We flew to Hong Kong on Cathy Pacific airways, which I have to say, were as good as, if not better than flying on Virgin. A Pleasant surprise. Meals were ok, & lynsey was happy with the freebies we got. I took solitude in the flight entertainment & games. Ten and a half hours is a long long flight, too long for me, but lynsey seemed to cope alright. Keeping herself occupied watching three and a half movies along the way.
We arrived into Hong Kong this morning at 6am. Couldn’t sleep on the plane so we were up for 24hrs, which was a little jading. However, on arrival you could not help but wake up.
Everything is sooooo big, to say everyone is soooooo small.
We arrived to 27 degree's & 80% humidity, all at 6am!!!
Transfer to the hotel was pre-arranged in a nice air-conditioned car, with a manutd supporting driver, who promptly gave me the run down of last nights game =) 3 wins in a row in Europe =)
Again, we landed on our feet, another cracking hotel. Nicely placed with 24hr internet access, ala this post ;)
We went straight for breakfast again, and then had a wander around. Quite a culture shock.
We have a free leisure day tmw, so were going shopping & up to Victoria peak, which overlooks the entire city. Then on Friday, we start our 21-day tour up to Beijing. Were both looking forward to this, lynsey still has reservations about the food though. Rice, Rice, and Rice I say...
Ok, So we have been a bit lax with the posting so far. Not all our fault, as we'll describe in a mo..
Amsterdam
------------
So Amsterdam, the city that has something for everyone.
On arrival at Amsterdam we had a stroke of luck, in a way... Waiting for our baggage we were greeted with an announcement asking for Mr & Mrs Ramsden to proceed to the baggage claim office. Nice worrying start. On presenting ourselves to this office, we were informed our baggage had not caught the same flight we had. We were then informed it would be on the next flight & be promptly delivered to our hotel. Result! We could head into town on the train, with no need to lug our rucksacks with us. Worked out quite nicely really =)
So we set off into town to tour around.
We later registered at our hotel & went for a meal. Whilst trying to have a quite meal on our first night, we were collared by a mad Dutch women & an Italian guy who worked for a Small Telephony company, who funnily enough worked on similar software / hardware to the job I’d just left. They proceeded to hand out business cards, with a view of us contacting them on our return - Crazy! Our Rucksacks finally arrived just before midnight.
The hotel was nice, one of the many 4* or above hotels lynsey had decided on!
We spent nearly a week, chilling out in Amsterdam, which was great after the carnage week we had before we left. Barneys Full English breakfasts ruled every lunch time, once we had arisen.
Amsterdam is a strange & wonderful place, where you can enjoy from the most sedate quiet vacation to a bizarre nutty experience. I prefer the latter. =)
We left Amsterdam on a train to Rome via Paris. We spent about 2 hours in Paris, enough for me as ive been before, but ive promised lynsey ill take her to Paris again to see it properly.
The overnight sleeper train from Paris, Bercy to Rome was actually surprisingly nice. The private cabin we had was great, comprising of two bunk beds, seating area & a concealed sink.
There was a restaurant carriage, which we decided to eat in that night, but where else could we go! A better choice would have been a dodgy burger van outside old Trafford; It was seriously pants & all for 26 Euros each!!! Although the bottles of wine eased our pain.
Rome
------
We arrived in Rome at 9am, greeted with blue skies & 27 degrees. Excellent!
We managed to fit in a few traditional meals, Pizza & Spaghetti that was really nice eating out in the open as it was really warm all day.
We Visited the Vatican during the day which was absolutely huge! 64 Years ago this year my grandad met my uncle harry on the steps to the Vatican by chance, whilst waiting to be posted else where during the war, Quite an emotional moment.
The transport around Rome was a little confusing at first, do as the locals I was always told, so we did. No one seemed to pay for traveling around, so we simply got on & got off when desired. Only later, we discovered you had to buy tickets at bars or shops as you could not pay on the busses. Ahwell the Yorkshire blood in me saved some money ;)
We decided not to use public transport in the morning to get to the airport, instead we got a taxi. Based on the traffic and carnage we encountered it seemed the right decision!
Hong Kong
-----------
We flew to Hong Kong on Cathy Pacific airways, which I have to say, were as good as, if not better than flying on Virgin. A Pleasant surprise. Meals were ok, & lynsey was happy with the freebies we got. I took solitude in the flight entertainment & games. Ten and a half hours is a long long flight, too long for me, but lynsey seemed to cope alright. Keeping herself occupied watching three and a half movies along the way.
We arrived into Hong Kong this morning at 6am. Couldn’t sleep on the plane so we were up for 24hrs, which was a little jading. However, on arrival you could not help but wake up.
Everything is sooooo big, to say everyone is soooooo small.
We arrived to 27 degree's & 80% humidity, all at 6am!!!
Transfer to the hotel was pre-arranged in a nice air-conditioned car, with a manutd supporting driver, who promptly gave me the run down of last nights game =) 3 wins in a row in Europe =)
Again, we landed on our feet, another cracking hotel. Nicely placed with 24hr internet access, ala this post ;)
We went straight for breakfast again, and then had a wander around. Quite a culture shock.
We have a free leisure day tmw, so were going shopping & up to Victoria peak, which overlooks the entire city. Then on Friday, we start our 21-day tour up to Beijing. Were both looking forward to this, lynsey still has reservations about the food though. Rice, Rice, and Rice I say...
M n L
posted by Orbiting arounD at 4:19 pm
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