Comments on: Web log beg: travel

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:41:34 +0000

Too right.

By: George Shaner

George Shaner — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:35:52 +0000

As an Australian friend of mine said: “Foster’s; Australian for what you drink when everything else is gone.”

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 00:38:55 +0000

Thanks Dan, I may take you up on that.

By: Dan Todman

Dan Todman — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:26:46 +0000

If you want to park books in London, Brett, just let me know. Very happy to either stick them in the office at QMUL or chez Todman.

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:45:21 +0000

Ta for the advice. Rome is booked now, at the end of the trip, so there’s about 6 or 7 days after the Hamburg conference. I reckon York is probably a goer, along with Edinburgh. Cornwall I’m not so sure about, as it’s probably hard to get around to see without a car. Durham or Lincoln could be good too …

That’s an interesting suggestion, David! But given limited time I think I’d rather see some more UK than more Europe. Next trip maybe …

war+hog, when I get back I’ll be an easy target without any CS practice for 2.5 months!

By: david tiley

david tiley — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:54:57 +0000

Auschwitz.

After the conference.

By: war+hog

war+hog — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 01:36:21 +0000

Hi Brett
On my trip last year I availed myself of a hire car, but trains would work quite well with this idea:
Train from WW1 battlefields to Paris. Then take Easyjet from Paris to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (its at the eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall). Perhaps there are coach tours of the wall (I just drove along it for the day). Definitely head down to Durham and York - gorgeous medieval buildings. York is great for B+Bs near the Minster and fortified wall. Train it down to Lincoln - the Cathedral and Castle make for an easy day of sightseeing (they’re metres from one another). From Lincoln you may even be able to train into London, hop onto a train heading west and get to Bath or Cornwall on the same day. If you avoid London, England isnt anywhere near as expensive as Rome or Paris.

Enjoy the trip! See you at the LAN sometime after your return. (war+hog)

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:40:29 +0000

Oh, it’s not that I don’t care for scenery; it’s more that Europe’s competitive advantage over Australia lies elsewhere, so it doesn’t make sense to me to spend a weekend in the Lake District or somewhere pretty like that. But if it’s passing by the train window I’ll certainly look!

I don’t think I can do anything fancy with the free flight I’ve got; it’s probably Heathrow-wherever and return. Rome is surely expensive but so is London, or so I hear! Ah well, it’s only money.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:04:44 +0000

Arriving in Edinburgh by train is, to use the ancient Scottish phrase(!), “fandabidozi”.* You come in almost under the castle, which is quite extraordinary - hence the apocryphal anecdote of the US tourist who said ‘isn’t it great that they built the castle so close to the railway station?’ Seriously - I’ve never met anyone who’s been disappointed by Edinburgh. Well worth a trip, if only for a few days.

Even if you’re not a great man for scenery, if you got the London-Edinburgh train you would be covering around 2/3rd of the length of Britain and would get a real sense of the changes from south to north. You’ll also _always_ find people on a train to Scotland who want/are willing to chat. That can actually be rather nice and even informative - if you’re careful to avoid the drunk ones.

Check here on the Festival http://www.eif.co.uk/ Looks like you would just miss it, which is ideal (city will empty, transport prices will drop), but also check the associated Fringe/Book/Comedy Festivals, all of which run over a slighly diferent period. (Book Festival is great - very pleasant and laid back.)

It is possible to go from Barcelona to Rome by train. I did it once overnight and you wake up as you pass through Cannes, Nice, etc. Best train journey I’ve ever done - although I actually copped out and got off at Pisa to go to Florence instead. So I’ve yet to get to Rome, but, given your interests, that might well be your best choice for a continental European destination. Quite an expensive city, though, I believe? (You could probably even fly cheaply from Edinburgh to Rome.)

*”Fandabidozi” - although it does simply mean ‘fantastic’ and is not a hidden swear-word - isn’t an ‘ancient Scottish phrase’. It is the catch-phrase of a bizarre 1980s Scottish ‘comedy duo’ called ‘The Krankies’ who have now gained cult status. But hearing it in an Australian accent could provoke such amusement and affection in Scotland that you’d probably be bought more Fosters than you can drink and then granted honourary Scottish national citizenship. :)

By: Brett Holman

Brett Holman — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:19:38 +0000

Thanks for these comments!

Mike:

Australians don’t drink Fosters, if we have a choice, we just export it so we can laugh at the foreigners who do :) On the other hand I much prefer scotch to any form of beer! Good tips about the Rough Guides and parking my books. And reassuring about English — I know a little German but that’s all.

On the statue, yes, I can take one for you if you like! I might even be down that end of town tomorrow — if not then early next week. I’ll email you.

Gavin:

Yes, Duxford is a must-see, though I’ll also be going to the RAF Museum in Hendon (and quite possibly doing a spot of research there too). I probably won’t have much chance to sight-see when I’m at Cranwell, but at least I’ve already seen a Lancaster …

I’ll look into York and Durham!

Jack:

Thanks, I already knew to avoid Glasgow :) I didn’t even think of the Festival, as you say there are pros and cons either way. And you may have sold me on the advantages of going by train, esp. the scenery part.

Spain, hmm, maybe. It’s never really been high on my list of must-see-one-day places, for some reason. And I do seem have Rome fixed in my mind now. But Spain does have a supporting role in my thesis, after all!