Paris

So here we are at the end of June and finally out of Scandinavia! It was cold but beautiful.

Paris has been hot! Then wet, then hot, then wet, then cold, then wet ... You get the idea. Our hostel was in the slums, and we realized this after we started walking to the center of town - what we learned: Walking in Paris is best done from the metro to the monument not from the train station to downtown!!!

Best ice cream - they give you different flavored petals on your ice ream!!! It is way cool and very attrative - like eating a frozen rose.

On our first night here we booked a tour of Paris by night and a show at the Moulin Rouge. We were quite surprised when we boarded the bus that Aamir - in his shorts and Birkenstocks - could not get into the MR. Ironic? The girls at the MR wear very little yet they want the patrons to cover up???? Our only option was to skip the city tour, go back to our hotel, change and meet the tour at the MR. This unfortunately was the first time we ventured to use the metro so we got lost but thanks to Sharmin's excellent navigating made it to the show in time.

We thought we were going to Bruxelles the second night but they closed the ticket line before we got to the station so we couldn't get our reservation, so we were stuck in Paris for a night without a place to stay. This worked out I guess since we got to see the Montmartre and the Tour Eiffel by night! Absolutely spectacular! There was a huge crowd at the Montmartre at 12:30am singing and just hanging out. So Aamir thought we were going to walk around all night and sleep on a bench somewhere but it was cold and Sharmin was tired of walking - sore feet!!! So we walked to find a hotel - cheap hotel - well the best we could get was still pricey but at 2 am we were desperate - what we learned: Always make your train reservations during the day - even if there is a line!!!

After a very expensive sleep we headed out again for a third day of sightseeing. Today we really used the metro but we should have bought a book of tickets - individuals get expensive!

Monuments we saw (over three days):

Madeline: Church - really huge and beautiful!
Eiffel Tower by day and night
Notre Dame from outside (also kilometer zero)
The Louvre - said hi to Mona, also some great Islamic art!
Arc du Triomphe
Montmartre - far by day close by night
Pantheon from far
Mosquee de Paris - under construction but still a beautiful mosque - we said our afternoon prayers here - yes we are praying!!!! The restaurant is not halal!!! Can you believe a restaurant attached to the mosque is not halal?????
Lots of Places (place is like a square)
Trocadero
Opera
Grand Palais
Petit Palais

Paris has been interesting - dirtier than the cities in Scandinavia but full of surprises. Tonight we leave for Vienna - Bruxelles will have to wait.

Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag (Netherlands)

The first stop on our European tour - so far getting around seems really easy. Eurail pass is validated and we are ready to go. Train to downtown from the airport no problem. Found our hostel pretty easily in the red light district!!!

First dorm room - 2 bunk beds and a mattress on the floor but we got our own bathroom - big + in hostels!

Halal food everywhere - open till 3am! (later than the bars!)

No windmills - disappointing.

Not too much to see in Amsterdam - lots of museums but nothing original - for a small city there was a lot of walking and it got really cold at night!

Smell of marijuana everywhere - makes you feel sleepy! Aamir chickened out - he said he would try hash brownies (space cakes) but when we got to the cafe he wouldn't do it.

It didn't get dark here till 10:30pm nice for walking around - confusing for figuring out the time.

We walked through the red light district and Sharmin was propositioned by a school teacher - time to eat some halal ribs!

Next day we ditched out bags at the train station - the luggage lockers are a great concept! Took a trip to Rotterdam - finally saw a windmill!! Rotterdam is known for its architecture and its shopping but Aamir was not impressed by the architecture. The shopping looked great but with two small bags we were not planning to do any shopping.

Dutch menu at a restaurant left Aamir with meatball soup - which left him hungry - nice waiter - didn't charge us for the soup.

On to Den Haag (The Hague) supposed to be the political part of Netherlands - we went specifically for the MC Escher museum. The museum is housed in an old palace - very beautiful. The architecture is nicer here than in Rotterdam.

Tonight we leave for Denmark - there is going to be a train strike starting tomorrow so everyone is trying to get out of Amsterdam - mad rush at the train station. Lucky for us we had first class seats reserved on the high speed German ICE train. Our train car was almost empty - apparently the rest of the train was a sardine can!

We fell asleep in our comfy leather reclining seats and missed our connection in Duisberg, Germany - luckily we woke up before Koln, Germany and managed to catch our connecting train there! Crisis averted - what we learned: keep an alarm clock for 30 minutes before the train is scheduled to stop at the station you need to get off at. Silver lining - Koln had a beautiful cathedral right outside the station which we wouldn't have seen if we didn't sleep through Duisberg.

From Koln, we got a 2nd class couchette - 6 bunk beds to a cabin - met some cool folks from Australia and a man from Iran. Tomorrow we arrive in Copenhagen!

Packing

Ok so our trip hasn't started yet but it occured to me that some of you might click the link to see the blog and would find nothing so I decided to write about what we are doing now, which incedentally is packing!

You wouldn't believe it but it is really hard to pack light - I want to take everything! Lucky for me I have Aamir pulling out the things that I put in so my bag is not getting any heavier. :)

Aamir is catching up on sleep so will be wide awake for the next two months.

Keep coming back for details of our travels. (weekly seems reasonable for an update)

Ciao!

Sharmin