Fade Away and Radiate

Traveling with other people can be tricky. First, just trying to coordinate schedules to go somewhere can be challenging. Then, you might discover new and interesting personality quirks in people you thought you’d known for a while. Lastly, after being with the same people for days - if not weeks - on end, you might all wind up getting on each others nerves a bit.

It’s tempting to not bother and just go by yourself - and travelling solo can be great - but at the same time, it’s nice to have other people you know around to share experiences with you. Having spent a few days hanging out with friends in Amsterdam, here are some things I learned that worked well for us, and might just work for others too:

1) No whining. Despite the fact that vacations are supposed to be fun, they can also be a lot of work. The jetlag, the unfamiliar languages and customs, the strange surroundings - it can be pretty stressful. Not to mention that things often can - and will - go wrong and throw your carefully honed plans (if you made any) into disarray. Whatever happens, try to recalibrate gracefully, make the best of things, and learn to enjoy the unexpected. Your companions will thank you and you’ll have a much better trip as well.

2) No picky eaters. Why would you travel halfway around the world just to eat the same crappy fast food that you can get at home? Try something new - really, it won’t kill you. (Unless you have a food allergy - in which case, I do understand and sympathize.) If all you want to do is eat at McDonalds, I’m happy to leave you there. Note that of the three friends I was with, one is vegetarian, one has a dairy allergy, and one has an egg allergy, yet we all managed to reach consensus on places to eat, enjoyed some new foods, and had a great time.

3) Be punctual. Jetlag can be brutal and make it hard to get up on time, or maybe in an unfamiliar city you might not know how long it takes to reach a particular meeting place, but overall, do try to be reasonably on time if you’ve agreed to meet your companions somewhere. Everyone has better things to do - like eating or sightseeing - than hanging around for 45 minutes waiting for you to show up.

4) Be prepared to go it alone occasionally. Not everyone likes to do the same things or see the same things on a trip. If you can all agree to disagree once in a while, and split up to do what you want, everyone will have more fun and you can compare notes and swap stories when you do meet up again.

So, props to my peeps for being such swell travelling companions and making a great trip that much better - it was a blast :)

Addendum: Just in case it wasn’t clear from the above, none of my friends (and hopefully not me either) were guilty of any of the gaffes noted above.  Having been thinking about things, I really appreciate that we were all able to get along and have a good time on this trip.

Managed to get out and see a fair bit.  Even more surprisingly, accomplished this without copious amounts of caffeine.  Also got pretty good at hopping on and off the Metro - I don’t find it quite as easy as the Tube in London, but not as baffling as the New York subway system.  (I don’t know why I’m intimidated by the subway in New York.  I just am.)

Things I saw:

• Place du Trocadero - a bit underwhelming, since the fountains were being repaired, but with a great in-your-face view of the Eiffel Tower
• Guimet Musee des Arts Asiatiques - only went through a few galleries, again electing for quality viewing over quantity
• Arc de Triomphe - one thing I appreciated very quickly was that just about everything associated with Napoleon has an insane larger-than-life epic quality about it - talk about overcompensating ;)
• Champs Elysee - was nice and all, but I hate shopping so it really didn’t do much for me; briefly considered going into Louis Vuitton, but there was a line-up to get in - no thanks…
• Centre Pompidou - only saw one gallery before I had an energy crash; planted myself on a bench in front of a Kandinsky painting and semi-dozed off for half-an-hour; was able to focus better after that

Things I ate:

• crepe with apricot filling for breakfast - light and tasty
• tagliatelle and salmon, with a half-bottle of Chardonnay at lunch - had this at a brasserie within sight of the Arc de Triomphe; was decent, but expensive relative to the quality of the food; decided to take the plunge with the Chardonnay after my positive Riesling experience in London, and didn’t regret it - of course, it was a French Chardonnay (I’m more acquainted with the California ones, and don’t really like them) and I found it very drinkable, if not spectacular
• coffee and a mini-cheesecake on the Champs Elysee - also not cheap - clearly you’re paying for the scenery as much as the food
• Croque Monsieur and a Kronenbourg for a light dinner - this also marked the first time I got out of Montparnasse for dinner - this was at a bar in Les Halles; basic, inexpensive comfort food, in a cheery atmosphere

Things didn’t really get off to a great start, considering that I woke up achy and sick.  Even my appetite was slightly shot, and that’s never a good sign.

So what do you do when you feel like crap?  In Paris, go for crepes…

For breakfast, I wound up at Creperie Josselin, which was recommended by Time Out Paris.  Nice, homey atmosphere, all decked out in provincial decor.  Had the Crepe de Marron, a double crepe filled with sweet chestnut paste.  Lovely, just lovely.

Dinner was at another Time Out Paris recommendation - Creperie du Manoir Breton.  It had a similar homey provincial theme, although it was less pronounced, and it was also a bigger space.  I had the Perigord crepe, filled with duck, prunes, and caramelised pear.  Also super-tasty.

So, despite tweeting that day that I wanted to do nothing, I did manage to go out and see a few things.  Attempted to find the stop for the bus tour and couldn’t, so instead I wound up going up the Tour Montparnasse.  The locals deried it as an eyesore, but. it’s certainly good for the view and to help you get your bearings in the city.

After that, I decided to just pick something off my list, and went to Musee Rodin.  This again was one of those places where it really paid off to take time and appreciate things.  

I did less well at my next stop, Hotel des Invalides, where Napoleon’s tomb is located.  It was late in the day, hpoand I found myself starting to get distracted and not pay attention as much.  I had to force myself to stop at one point and really look at things.

Also took the Metro for the first time and survived.

Overall, not a bad day.

So here I am on my first visit ever to Paris.  It’s kind of sad that it’s taken me this long to get here, but better late than never…

Am slowly getting used to things.  Am reasonably confident to at least make a mangled attempt at speaking French (and it’s largely “restarant French”), although as soon as things go off script, I revert to a very Canadian “Sorry…”

Spent some time yesterday just wandering around, getting a feel for the neighbourhood around my hotel.  I am once again staying in a fairly touristy area, although it’s less distressing and more comforting here than it was in London.

I haven’t been super adventurous with dining out yet.  I’ve visited the same brasserie (and yes, am still learning the different between brasserie, cafe, restaurant, bistro, etc.) three times, and I’ve only been here a day-and-a-half.  It’s close to the hotel, I’ve been able to score a reasonably good table on the terrasse each time, and the waiters don’t treat me like a complete imbecile when I attempt my mangled French.  Oh, and there’s free wifi.

I’m at least doing a bit better with actual food choices - steak tartare for dinner yesterday, a basic petit dejeuner with coffee, croissant, and orange juice for breakfast this morning, a buckwheat crepe with chevre, honey, walnuts, and fromage frais for lunch, and steak de cheval avec frites for a late dinner tonight.

Oh, right, and I did do stuff today besides eat…

It was a beautiful day for walking around, and while I did have a few things planned out, I ended up going off-plan a few times, allowing myself to get “lost”.  It was worth it.

First planned visit was to the market on Rue Mouffetard.  Yes, I know it’s touristy, but it was near(ish) to the hotel and near other things that I wanted to see.  And there was definitely lots to see there.  Again, was easy to go into sensory overload, so it was yet another exercise in really being aware and paying attention.

Second planned visit was the Pantheon.  You really appreciate a sense of history that exists here that seems to be lacking in much of North America.  Again, much to take in and absorb.

I made a semi-planned stop at the Musee National de Moyen Age - more history…

The last sightseeing stop was entirely unplanned - in my wandering around, just following whatever looked interesting, I wound up at the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris.  I’d thought to go later in the week, but decided that I might as well visit as long as I was there.

I guess it really is going to be mantra on this trip to really take things slow and pay attention as much as possible.  In going through there, I tried not only to absorb sight and sound (not to mention the smell of burning wax and incense) as much as possible, but also get some sense of the feel of the place, of what it meant on a spiritual level to be there.  Not that I’m religious like that - it just seemed to be important.

Anyway, it’s getting late here.  I still haven’t done the write-up on lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s.  I also don’t quite know what I’m doing tomorrow.

It’ll be a good day, I think…

If yesterday was a day of surprise and delight, today was a day to slow down and pay careful attention…

Once again got off to a slow start (do you see a trend here?) and didn’t get out of the micro-room until after 11am.  Since my lunch reservation was at 1pm, I had a small bit of time to fill.

I decided to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum after all, reasoning that even though I could spend only 45 minutes there at the most, I’d at least get to see something.

What do you do if you only have such a short chunk of time to spend in a place where you could theoretically spend all day?  The temptation is to do some kind of museum blitzkrieg, quick-marching through a couple galleries and snapping photos like a madwoman.  It also would be wrong.

So I took my time, strolling to the central courtyard, stopping to watch people and snap a few photos.  Then carefully and calmly going through one gallery, only looking at about a dozen things, but pausing to study and reflect.

Slow down… Pay attention…

I set a timer on the iTouch to tell me when to leave.  At that point, I did rush like a madwoman to my next destination - Claridge’s, where I had booked lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant.

Lunch really deserves it’s own post.  In the context of this particular screed, the whole experience of it - the food, the surroundings, the service - begged, nay demanded, that every moment be savoured.

Slow… Down… Pay… Attention…

After lunch, I headed off to the National Gallery, which sits right on Trafalgar Square.  I only saw Trafalgar Square briefly last year, from atop a tour bus that whipped past at 40kmh or so.  But now I was right here, and it was easy to get overloaded.    So much going on all at once.

Slow.

Down.

Pay.

Attention.

Statues.  Buildings.  Pigeons in flight.  Tourists speaking half a dozen languages.  Sounds of traffic.  A stiff breeze.  Spray from the fountains.  Even though the clock was ticking, and the gallery would close in a few scant hours, it was necessary to take everything in…

All worth it.

The gallery was lovely.  I only went through a few sections, focussing on Renaissance works.  Definitely worth another visit or three.

After that, I strolled down Whitehall - again just trying to absorb as much as possible - then doubled back via the Tube uuto hit the National Portrait Gallery, which was open late.  Also worth it.

What a great day.

Once again am writing this in the hotel bar.  Need to go to bed soon, as I’m catching the Eurostar to Paris in the morning.

G’night. 

A good day overall, populated with small episodes of surprise and delight - the sort of thing that makes the whole exercise of going away and doing something different worthwhile.

The sun was also shining today for the first time since I arrived.  It makes such a difference.

Highlights:

1) Lunch at the Rex Whistler Restaurant at the Tate Britain.  

This time, I had the sense to (a) book a table in advance, and (b) dress better.  Opted again for the set lunch.  The main was a Suffolk chicken breast with champed potato and red wine jus, followed by a Toffee Cox’s apple with apple sorbet for dessert.  All simple, flavourful, and well executed.

There a was a Portugese red to accompany the main which was fine, but the second wine that I had with the dessert (which I wish I had taken down the name of) was the eye-opener.  I never used to be a fan of dessert wines, but this was fantastic.  

Bonus points - hilariously - for the coffee served in an Illy cup featuring a design inspired by the Pedro Almodovar movie Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!; there’s nothing like a bondage theme to accent one’s caffeine consumption ;)

2) Two exhibits at the Tate Britain.  

The first was a series of drawings by Rachel Whiteread - many done on graph paper - that appealed to the analytical, geometry-loving nerd in me.  

The second was a walk-through installation piece called The Coral Reef by Mike Nelson; it was actually creepy, claustrophobic, and disorienting, but the sheer OMGWTF factor of the experience made it a compelling standout.

3) Dinner at 1707 Wine Bar. 

Opted for the salmon plate, which had salmon tartare (yay!), soya & ginger marinated salmon (pretty good), and London smoked salmon (meh).  

I asked the sommelier for advice on pairing a wine flight with the meal, and despite saying twice that I preferred red wine to white (really, the white-wine-with-fish pairing orthodoxy must be smashed), he seemed hell-bent on recommending white wines to me.  

I somewhat grudgingly chose a flight of German wines - two Rieslings and a Spaetlese - and wound up being extremely glad that I listened to him. When did Reisling get to be so good??!?  Sure, it’s kind of hip at the moment, and now I actually understand why - these were crisp and citrus-y with the right amount of sweetness, not at all cloying like I was expecting.

Lowlights:

1) The V&A, or rather, missing the V&A

I should have checked the website instead of relying on my print copy of Lonely Planet’s London City Guide that I bought last year for up-to-date opening hours of the Victoria and Albert Museum - turns out they’re no longer open until 10pm on Wednesdays, and I got there just as they were closing.  They’re now open late on Fridays instead.  Argh.

I now need to re-plan tomorrow and see if I can fit the V&A in - I’m leaving for Paris Friday morning, and won’t get back to London until very late next Friday.

Whatever happens, tomorrow will be good - I have lunch booked at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at Claridge’s :)

And it’s now quite late - after 3am here (I dozed off for a few hours after getting back to the micro-room after dinner).  Hope I can get up at a decent time.

Note to self: Venturing forth in a strange city when undercaffeinated is not too bad.  Venturing forth in a strange city without a clear plan is not too bad.  Venturing forth in a strange city when undercaffeinated and without a clear plan is bad…

Got off to a slow start and missed my breakfast plans.  Made alternate breakfast plans, but left the micro-room without writing down the address and promptly got lost.  Opted instead for no breakfast.  Caffeination was achieved courtesy of a Red Bull Energy Shot (thank you, Tesco Express).

Hit the White Cube Gallery in Hoxton.  It wasn’t bad, although I wound up trailing a tour group where all the ladies were trying way too hard to be thoughtful and analytical about the art.  Exit White Cube.

Arrived at my lunch destination, Boundary, just a bit after noon.  Went in, and promptly was disoriented, as the resto is in the basement.  Not what I was expecting.  I was also the first one there.  As I was seated at a table, watching the staff run about and other patrons slowly trickle in, it also dawned on me that I was underdressed.  Awkward.

I opted for the two-course Prix Fixe lunch, ordering confit canard as the main, with champagne jelly for dessert.  I would have loved to order the three-course lunch, with a charcuterie appetizer, but knew I wouldn’t be able to eat it all.

The duck was lovely, with a crisp skin and a thin layer of melt-in-your-mouth fat underneath, complemented by white beans on the side.  There was also whole grain bread, served with butter that was unfortunately too hard.  I guess my “early” arrival (despite the fact that the place officially opens at noon) didn’t permit the time to allow the butter to soften after taking it out of the fridge.  

The food was washed down with a nice Portugese red, Azamor 06, as recommended to me by the waiter (who paused only slightly when I asked which wine would go with the “duck”, not “canard” - yes, I’m an oafish peasant…).

The dessert was fine, although I really enjoyed the berries and especially the fresh cheese that were part of it more than the jelly itself.  Coffee was served with some tasty slices of candied orange peel dipped in chocolate.

The people next to me ordered the charcuterie, and it looked fantastic.  The waiter also prepped it right at the table.

After lunch, I wandered south, passing briefly through Spitalfields Market, and then down Brick Lane.  Strolling past all the Bengali eateries, grocers, and sweet shops, I felt a lot more comfortable than I did at lunch.  Would have gotten some sugary treats if I wasn’t completely stuffed.

Tried to find an art gallery called Kinetica, and couldn’t.  Sigh.

Did much better at the Design Museum, where the current exhibits were truly inspiring.  So glad I went.

Had good intentions of going to the Hayward Gallery, but couldn’t find the entrance.  Was too tired and cranky to figure it out.  Instead wandered a bit on the South Bank and took pictures.

Wound up back in Bayswater on Queensway for dinner, at some pub that just screamed “tourist trap”, but I was tired.  The sign out front said “best fish & chips in Britain.”  Lies.  Not that it was bad, but certainly not award-worthy.  The pint of London Pride that I ordered with it was perfectly good.

Note to self #2: Do not ever take the Tube during rush hour again.

Full day of plans on deck for tomorrow, although I should re-assess some of them…

Not a hugely active day, which is be expected…

Have realized that the place where I’m staying is in a heavily touristed area - all those banks upon banks of stately white Georgian homes seem to contain boutique hotels.  Which has its advantages and disadvatages.

After wandering incoherently up Queensway this morning in search of food and coffee, I wound up in a Patisserie Valerie.  Wasn’t really wild about hitting this chain again - was in the one in Spitalfields last year, and wasn’t impressed.  But it had porridge (rating: meh), one hour of free wifi, and the all-important array of caffeinated beverages, and therefore was OK.  At least I didn’t go to Starbucks.

Walked around through Notting Hill and along Portobello Road, which I now realize I did see last year.  Then spent three hours in an internet cafe, researching and making plans.

Dinner was at Khan’s, which was recommended to me by a friend who went to school in London.  Had the chicken korma, which was fine, but all I could think to myself for much of the meal was, “What am I doing having dinner in a restaurant that doesn’t serve alcohol??!?”. The couple next to me seemed to have a similar level of consternation.  Lesson learned.

Had good intentions of hitting a pub this evening, but prying oneslf from the micro-room after dinner has proved to be extremely challenging, hence have only made it as far as the hotel bar.  It’s small, dimly lit, and reasonably comfortable, but why, oh why, does it not have a better selection of single malt scotches?  Plus, I’m also the only customer here right now.

Still, not a bad day, especially considering the Tube strike.  Will do a lot more tomorrow.