Rob, Rambling - A lot of things interest me...

10.08.10
13:45:59 - Comments (View)

text, travel, italy, denmark, tv,

3 notes

I really need to stop watching travel programmes, or hearing about places I haven’t been to.

Yesterday, I was chatting with someone at work who has just got back from Copenhagen, and it instantly shot to the top of my list of places to go for a city break weekend at some point. It sounds like a cool city, and Denmark’s a country I haven’t been to yet.

Its position in the number one slot lasted about six hours, as I stumbled across a TV programme that evening where Griff Rhys Jones spent a day in Rome, cramming in a ridiculous amount of activities. He talked a lot about the history of the city, and how the modern-day existence can very much mirror that in Roman times.

I immediately fell in love with it, and want to go there as soon as possible. Never mind that in 2010 I’ll be in Italy twice (went to Venice in February, and am in Tuscany in September): Rome is very much on the cards for next year.

14.05.10
10:49:52 - Comments (View)

picture, maps, london, tube, travel, having your face in someone's armpit,

This is a map of the Tube network showing passenger crowding during the morning rush hour. It’s measured in people per square metre of floor space, with grey being less than 1, green 1-2, orange 2-3, red 3-4, and black a somewhat mind-boggling more than 4 people per square metre. It’s taken from a report (PDF) by the Mayor of London on future transport strategy, which details how they hope to alleviate this over-crowding by 2031. Only 20 years to wait then! It’s a pretty cool visualisation of how Tubes fill up as they get closer to central London, and you can really pick out the hotspots/bottlenecks. Diamond Geezer points out the busiest zones, but I can definitely testify from personal experience that the area round Earl’s Court is always rammed, as is the Northern line from London Bridge through Bank to Moorgate. There’s a corresponding map for overland rail services, and I can similarly recommend trying to avoid my usual route between Putney and Waterloo. Getting on the train is usually pretty easy, but I can count on one hand the number of times each month I manage to get a seat (including the return journey at the end of the day).

This is a map of the Tube network showing passenger crowding during the morning rush hour. It’s measured in people per square metre of floor space, with grey being less than 1, green 1-2, orange 2-3, red 3-4, and black a somewhat mind-boggling more than 4 people per square metre.

It’s taken from a report (PDF) by the Mayor of London on future transport strategy, which details how they hope to alleviate this over-crowding by 2031. Only 20 years to wait then!

It’s a pretty cool visualisation of how Tubes fill up as they get closer to central London, and you can really pick out the hotspots/bottlenecks. Diamond Geezer points out the busiest zones, but I can definitely testify from personal experience that the area round Earl’s Court is always rammed, as is the Northern line from London Bridge through Bank to Moorgate.

There’s a corresponding map for overland rail services, and I can similarly recommend trying to avoid my usual route between Putney and Waterloo. Getting on the train is usually pretty easy, but I can count on one hand the number of times each month I manage to get a seat (including the return journey at the end of the day).

06.04.10
18:01:00 - Comments (View)

quote, reblog, europe, travel, holidays,

The easy way out is to say the travel.

Sabine, in response to being asked what the best thing about living in Europe is.

And it’s so very true. Even though London isn’t quite as central as Berlin, it’s still ridiculously easy to see such a breadth of cultures in a short period of time. The difference between (for example) Portugal and Austria is ridiculous, as is the south of France compared to the Netherlands.

I think I’ve ticked off every country in western Europe, save for Andorra and Luxembourg, and am now expanding my horizons a little. I went to Iceland last December, and am going to Croatia in a few weeks. The plan is to see a lot of Eastern Europe in the next few years, and I’d love to get up to Scandinavia too.

I can highly recommend driving tours too. Whilst I lived in Germany a few years back, I rented a car with some friends for a few weeks, and we went through the south of France and northern Italy, visiting some fantastic places and seeing some quite stunning scenery. Definitely something worth doing.

04.03.10
00:06:34 - Comments (View)

video, self made, venice, bus, travel,

2 notes

Bus Stops Are A Bit Different In Venice…

(via my Vimeo)

The water bus was one of the highlights of my trip to Venice a few weeks back. That sounds like something a bit odd to say, but it was a cool way to see a lot of the city quite quickly.

Our hotel was on the Lido, about 10 minutes from the main Venice islands, so we had to cross the lagoon every day to go do stuff, as well as get to the airport. The bus route from right outside our hotel handily went all the way up the Grand Canal, via St Mark’s Square, which was incredibly handy.

I found it so funny to be stood there, waiting for a bus whilst bobbing up and down. I’ve never felt seasick queueing for a bus before…

The buses themselves were fantastic, pretty much what you’d expect from a bus on water. We always stood outside, soaking up the sights and sounds, which I can highly recommend.

03.03.10
23:12:04 - Comments (View)

picture, holiday, travel, croatia,

2 notes

In three months, I’ll be here, at Hotel Villas Kolocep, near Dubrovnik, for a week’s holiday. Yay! I’m really looking forward to it already, especially the amount of things you can do to avoid being on the beach 24/7. Not that I mind the beach; I got through loads of books last year whilst in Egypt, which was fantastic. But the idea of sea-kayaking, sailing, as well as the nature parks and historical parts of Dubrovnik itself? Exciting!

In three months, I’ll be here, at Hotel Villas Kolocep, near Dubrovnik, for a week’s holiday. Yay!

I’m really looking forward to it already, especially the amount of things you can do to avoid being on the beach 24/7. Not that I mind the beach; I got through loads of books last year whilst in Egypt, which was fantastic.

But the idea of sea-kayaking, sailing, as well as the nature parks and historical parts of Dubrovnik itself? Exciting!

24.02.10
18:06:00 - Comments (View)

question, ask me anything, travel, animals, introspection, random,

1 note

sabine asked: If you could choose a ride on a unicorn through a forest of golden apple trees (you were allowed to take one home as a souvenir) or a scuba adventure to Atlatis (no souvenirs allowed!), which would you choose and why?

Firstly, I have to admit to never having ridden a horse, and nor have I ever scuba-dived. I’m assuming that lessons for either of these are included, whichever I choose?

I think I’d take the trip to Atlantis, despite not being able to take anything home with me. When it comes to real-life holidays, I’m not big on buying physical souvenirs or sending postcards. I take a lot of photos, and video nowadays, and for me a holiday is about the experience of being there, wherever it may be.

Whenever I think of Atlantis (not that often, admittedly), I sort of see a Pompeii-esque town, frozen in time, with people on the streets exactly as they were when the city collapsed into the sea. It’d be cool to see that kind of image/setting, of a lost time and civilisation.

Whilst the financial gains of the golden apple tree forest is alluring, money isn’t everything, honestly. Although with enough golden apples I could afford to take a trip to Atlantis afterwards. Hmm.

And unicorns are just a bit girly, aren’t they? I’m thinking of that scene in Dodgeball when Vince Vaughn goes to Christine Taylor’s house and it’s full of unicorn paraphrenalia.

Having said all that, I’m going to wimp out and choose a middle ground. A middle ground, however, that is freaking awesome.

I would choose to ride a narwhal to Atlantis for a look round, even if I couldn’t take any souvenirs. Narwhals are probably my favourite animals, and they’re actually real too!

I’m visualising the narwhal talking to me (bear with me) as we descend to the bottom of the ocean, and then using its tusk to point out interesting things as we go through the aquatic streets of Atlantis. I’m sitting on its back, as it glides between the submerged buildings, turning corners and investigating everything.

I genuinely am visualising this, for what it’s worth, and it looks gooooood.

06.01.10
13:50:32 - Comments (View)

video, snow, snowpocalypse, travel,

(via chriswcampbell on Youtube)

When the SNOWPOCALYPSE finally arrives, this is what we’re all going to have to do to get around: hovercrafts.

I for one cannot wait.

10:11:47 - Comments (View)

chat, snow, travel, tube, moaning,

Snow = Chaos

  • Me: [describing my stupidly long journey in this morning to the girlfriend]
  • Me: Got to Putney no probs, bus was fine
  • Me: but trains were cancelled left right and centre
  • Me: platform was heaving, couldn't get on first 2 trains
  • Me: then they said next train wasn't for another 20mins, so I gave up
  • Me: took me another 15-20mins to get OUT of the station
  • Me: stairs were rammed, gates were rammed, foyer bit was rammed
  • Me: tube was no probs at all, really
  • Me: [The annoying thing is, I checked the website for Southwest Trains, and they weren't reporting too many problems. Whereas the Tube was severe delays. I turned up to the station and it was chaos.]
23.12.09
12:27:38 - Comments (View)

text, christmas, travel, emotions, family,

I nipped down to Gatwick airport yesterday to pick up my parents’ car, as they were heading off on holiday for the Christmas/New Year period and are letting me borrow it. It saves them parking costs, and it’s a whole lot easier for me to get to/from the girlfriend’s parents’ house for Christmas itself.

As I wandered through the terminal to their hotel, and also whilst sitting in the hotel bar with them, it struck me just how happy everyone around me looked. Yes, travelling can be stressful at this time of year, but the smiles on people’s faces showed that they were prepared to cope with it for the reward at the other end.

Some, like my parents, were escaping to sunnier climes for a week or two. Others, no doubt, were about to cross great distances to be with family for Christmas. Either way, the whole place was relentlessly upbeat and jovial.

‘Tis the season…

19.12.09
11:19:14 - Comments (View)

text, list, holiday, travel, cities,

1 note

Inspired by hipsterdiet and sabine, here’s my list of cities visited in 2009:

  • Paris, France

  • Newcastle, England

  • Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt,

  • Edinburgh, Scotland

  • Cardiff, Wales

  • Swansea, Wales

  • New York, USA

  • Washington DC, USA

  • Richmond, USA

  • Reykjavik, Iceland

As well as living in the best of them all, London.

About

Londoner, thinking and writing far too much about far too many random things. Wannabe photo-/videographer of my life. More likely to be found propping up a bar somewhere.

I also write about football.

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