Itinerary

This is my itinerary for the year up to the 8th of April when I head off on the Titanic Memorial Cruise, bear in mind that it still needs some ironing out.  Normandie will consist of me going east-west along the Normandie beaches where D-Day happened, WWI Battlefields will be me going from Ypres/Paschendale/Langemark along the WWI Front line regions (Messinnes Ridge, the Somme Valley, Verdun Fortress) ending up in Metz (the sight of a major battle in the Franco-Prussian War)

Mon	2/01/2012	Hull
Tue	3/01/2012	Leeds
Wed	4/01/2012	London
Thu	5/01/2012	Portsmouth
Fri	6/01/2012	Portsmouth-Brussels
Sat	7/01/2012	Brussels
Sun	8/01/2012	Ypres
Mon	9/01/2012	Ypres
Tue	10/01/2012	Ypres
Wed	11/01/2012	Ypres
Thu	12/01/2012	Ypres
Fri	13/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Sat	14/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Sun	15/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Mon	16/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Tue	17/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Wed	18/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Thu	19/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Fri	20/01/2012	WWI Battlefields
Sat	21/01/2012	Metz
Sun	22/01/2012	Metz
Mon	23/01/2012	Heidelburg
Tue	24/01/2012	Heidelburg
Wed	25/01/2012	Strassburg
Thu	26/01/2012	Strassburg
Fri	27/01/2012	Lyon
Sat	28/01/2012	Lyon
Sun	29/01/2012	Lyon
Mon	30/01/2012	Grenoble
Tue	31/01/2012	Grenoble
Wed	1/02/2012	Monaco
Thu	2/02/2012	Monaco-Nice
Fri	3/02/2012	Nice-Marseilles
Sat	4/02/2012	Marseilles
Sun	5/02/2012	Marseilles-Bordeaux
Mon	6/02/2012	Bordeaux
Tue	7/02/2012	Cherbourg
Wed	8/02/2012	Cherbourg
Thu	9/02/2012	Normandie
Fri	10/02/2012	Normandie
Sat	11/02/2012	Normandie
Sun	12/02/2012	Normandie
Mon	13/02/2012	Normandie
Tue	14/02/2012	Paris
Wed	15/02/2012	Paris
Thu	16/02/2012	Paris
Fri	17/02/2012	Paris
Sat	18/02/2012	Geneva
Sun	19/02/2012	Geneva
Mon	20/02/2012	Nyon
Tue	21/02/2012	Bern
Wed	22/02/2012	Bern
Thu	23/02/2012	Basel
Fri	24/02/2012	Basel
Sat	25/02/2012	Zürich
Sun	26/02/2012	Zürich
Mon	27/02/2012	Vaduz
Tue	28/02/2012	Vaduz
Wed	29/02/2012	München
Thu	1/03/2012	München
Fri	2/03/2012	München
Sat	3/03/2012	Stuttgart
Sun	4/03/2012	Stuttgart
Mon	5/03/2012	Freiburg
Tue	6/03/2012	Frankfurt
Wed	7/03/2012	Frankfurt-Bad Ems
Thu	8/03/2012	Bad Ems
Fri	9/03/2012	Bad Ems-Koln
Sat	10/03/2012	Koln
Sun	11/03/2012	Bremen
Mon	12/03/2012	Bremen
Tue	13/03/2012	Hamburg
Wed	14/03/2012	Hamburg
Thu	15/03/2012	Hamburg
Fri	16/03/2012	Amsterdam
Sat	17/03/2012	Amsterdam
Sun	18/03/2012	Den Haag
Mon	19/03/2012	Arnheim
Tue	20/03/2012	Luxembourg
Wed	21/03/2012	Luxembourg
Thu	22/03/2012	Brussels
Fri	23/03/2012	Portsmouth
Sat	24/03/2012	Portsmouth
Sun	25/03/2012	Portsmouth
Mon	26/03/2012	Portsmouth
Tue	27/03/2012	Glasgow
Wed	28/03/2012	Glasgow
Thu	29/03/2012	Glasgow
Fri	30/03/2012	Portsmouth
Sat	31/03/2012	Portsmouth
Sun	1/04/2012	Portsmouth
Mon	2/04/2012	Portsmouth
Tue	3/04/2012	Portsmouth
Wed	4/04/2012	Portsmouth
Thu	5/04/2012	Portsmouth
Fri	6/04/2012	Portsmouth
Sat	7/04/2012	Portsmouth
Sun	8/04/2012	Southampton

London and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg:

After a couple of weeks of getting into a new routine, I headed up to London for, hopefully, some sightseeing with the Imperial War Museum top of my list.  The list also included going to Harrods and buying a pen (Just so I could say I’ve bought something from Harrods), Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, Whitehall, the Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben), Westminster Abbey, the Strand and Fleet St, St Pauls Cathedral, and maybe the London Eye.  This was over 2 days which also included catching up with some friends, and seeing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Wishful thinking.

Although the day started off well with me getting up at the right time, I caught the earlier train from Portchester, I got a seat with a table and a power point for my laptop, some really nice people were sitting opposite me (they offered me Champagne!! I refused as I had a long day ahead), and I completed all my work that I had set out to do.  But when we arrived outside of Basingstoke station, we were informed that there was an “incident” at Winchfield station further up the line and there would be a delay.  After about 15 minutes the train moved up to the station and we were informed that someone had fallen in front of a train, and there would be a substantial delay.  I wasn’t too fussed, as I had my iPad with a good eBook to read, and Lohengrin on my iPhone.  15 minutes further on we were informed that the local police had taken control of the scene and announced that it was now a crime scene and there would be a substantial delay, 1-2 hours if we were lucky.  We also had been boarded by passengers from other trains thinking that we were headed to London.  When it was announced that there was that delay, almost everyone decided to leave and try to find another route to London.  The only real option at the time was a train to Reading and a train to London, which is what most people went for.  I caught a Cross Country train to Reading, and then the express to London, which, while a nice ride, completely through my plans awry.

When I arrived in Paddington Station I decided that my plan of action should be to catch the tube to somewhere in London I’m familiar with, find some lunch (i.e. Maccas) and plan a trip to the War Museum.  When I was on the tube I ended up sitting next to a lady that I helped at Basingstoke station, and we got chatting.  I got off at Oxford Circus, and decided that I should just go there for lunch – BIG mistake, it was a zoo on the street, and when I got lunch at Maccas it was an even bigger zoo in there, I managed to get a seat (right place at the right time), and over lunch I realised that the IWM was down at Lambeth, and the tube stop was the penultimate stop of the Bakerloo line, and getting from there to Covent Garden was going to be a bit tricky.  I decided I’d have a look around some of the shops for items of clothing I’m needing to buy, (sweaters, socks, jocks etc…) and that was a big mistake, so I wandered to Covent Garden from Oxford St, via High Holburn (a small section of it anyway).

I arrived at the Royal opera at about 15:10, with the outside doors being opened at 15:30.  When they were opened I dropped my bag and coat at the cloakroom, found a chair, bought a drink and had a flick through the Program.  For the fashionistas out there, I was wearing black shoes and chinos, with a purple/white striped shirt with a purple tie, supplied by (i.e. bought from) the lovely (ish) people at Marks and Spencer, as I like to wear jackets to the Opera, and my suit hasn’t been finished yet, I decided I’d wear the Royal Navy Commanders Jacket I bought for a bargain at Sabre Sales in Southsea for £25 :-D My seat was up in the gods, but nice and central (see pic), no armrests though, which was a change from what I’m usually used to. 

The Opera was spectacular, although there were way too many codpieces based on Blackadder I which covered areas that I was not wanting to have my eyes drawn to.  The only real complaint I have is that some of the singers were singing out into the audience when in a conversation, that only being an issue is that Wagner wanted the singers to interact with each other in his operas, but when Hans Sachs is singing to Walther, and Walther is singing to the audience it is a bit disconcerting.  Apart from that issue, it was a spectacular performance of a spectacular Opera, and if I ever finish puberty and become a bass-baritone then I would love to sing the part of Dem Nachtwächter, who has 2 small parts in the 2^nd Act.  I have decided that I can’t put any Wagner into my top 100 list of favourite pieces, as his 10 “main” operas would fill the 10 of the top 15 spots, so it’s not really fair. So they get their own category.  After the performance (standing ovation, naturally) I went to the stage door (after retrieving my bag/coat), to get some autographs in my program.  I got Renato Balsadonna (Chorus Director), Emma Bell (Eva), Nicholas Folwell (Konrad Nachtigall), Wolfgang Koch (Hans Sachs – my favourite main part of the Opera), Toby Spence (David), Sir John Tomlinson (Veit Pogner), Richard Weigold (Hans Schwartz), and Simon O’Neill (Walter von Stolzing).  When I performed in the Chorus in the Mahler 8, Simon O’Neill was the tenor soloist, and he still remembered me almost 2 years later!!! (I’m an autograph hunter, I always get a score of the piece I’ll be in the chorus for, and get all the conductors/soloists to sign it).  While I was waiting I got chatting to a lady about opera houses around the world, what’s good and bad, and about what’s coming up at the Royal Opera, and also travel (hard not to). 

After the Opera I caught a train to Lee in the south-east of London, where I stayed with family friends.  While I was waiting for the train (it was late(!)), I got chatting to some people, one of whom was an Aussie, and I was having a great time.  So apart from the train troubles it was a great day all up.

The next day I was going to be catching up with a friend from back home for Brunch, but she had work the night before, so we postponed to dinner.  As I had nowhere to be until I was catching up with another friend at 3, I stayed and had a chat with Richard and Ian, which was a great time, and helped me to realise that I don’t have to do touristy stuff every time I’m in London.  I caught up with Mike at the London Eye (zoo!) and we had some all-you-can-eat Asian and chatted, after he left I had some time to kill before I caught up with Leanne,  so I wandered around, I’d like to say aimlessly, but I’ve always got some kind of plan as to where I’m going, however, it was rather random.  I caught up with Leanne at Waterloo station, and after wandering around a bit, we decided on an Italian restaurant under the line to Charing Cross station, the food was good, and 2 of the 3 people who served us were quite nice, I’m starting to get the hang of tipping now.  I caught the 20:09 train to Portsmouth Harbour, via Basingstoke, and I got home around 22:15.  All up I had a great time in London, and I wish I had both the time and money to see Meistersinger again.

Meistersinger von Nurnburg

So I'm up in London for Die Meistersinger von Nuernburg at Covent Garden, I don't have much time to give a full account right now, so here's a pic to whet your appetites

I'll do a full blog about my whole London trip when I return to Pompey on the 28th.

In other news, I am now an FC Bayern Muenchen Member, so hoping I can get a ticket for when I'm next in Munich.  I've got a ticket to Hull City - Derby County on the 2nd of Jan, and one for Olympique Lyon - FC Dijon on the 28th of Jan.

Speak to you soon

:)

Flight over and first day.

Well, I'm here in Hampshire now, my second day here.  I got up at 03:45, fun - not really. 

Anyway, the Flights were pretty much normal, nothing extraordinary to speak of, except now Singapore Airlines have plugs in the back of the seat to charge your iPhones, yay!  I flew from Singapore to London in an A380, I was on the lower deck, and I didn't really register the deck above me at all, there is more headroom in that, and there are power points in the arms of the seats, which meant that when I wasn’t sleeping I was on my laptop cranking the Napoleon: Total War, which meant the flight went so much quicker.  I had gotten some Temazepam sleeping pills prescribed to me by my GP before I left, helped me to get to sleep, and I slept for about 6-8 hours, but I wasn’t very rested, I wouldn’t do it again. I didn’t do much in Singapore airport for my 6 hour layover, except make full use of the 4 hours of free Wi-Fi I got when I arrived getting in contact with people in Oz.

When I arrived at Heathrow at 05:55 yesterday, I collected my hold luggage, and caught the express into Paddington Station, really nice station btw, I went to Waterloo and left my excess baggage in a holding area (£25.50 for the day :-O) I went to a gym at Kings College and bought a day pass (mainly to have a shower), but I thought I’d have an exercise, my legs told me I was a bloody idiot after about 15 mins, so I had a (cold) shower, and commenced my day, I went to the Strand and Fleet st (a, for T-Mobile on Fleet st, and b, because 2 of my History courses have been about the Strand (Uni people guess who the co-ordinator is and the 2 courses for 5 points :-p) I got breakfast then went to High Holborn for some Christmas shopping (a present from me to me) where I bought a Hornby 00 scale Orient Express set (I couldn’t afford the cost of a ticket on the real Orient Express), then I got lunch in Piccadilly Circus and went to get my preliminary meeting for my tailored-made suit.  That went well, I’m getting a black 2-trouser, 3-piece suit, which has a 4-button single-breasted jacket, and a 10-button double-breasted waistcoat.  The lining of the jacket and the back of the waistcoat is a bright yellow (!) I also got my shirts at the time, I was going to get 2 shirts, with 2 collars each (1 wing collar, 1 normal collar each), but while they do do detachable collars, they only do 1 per shirt, as I had saved quite a bit of money on the suit I went to get 4 shirts, but they do a pack of 5 shirts which works out as much as a pack of 3 shirts, the only problem is they all have to be the same design, so I’m getting 6, 5 business shirts with normal collars (2 white, 1 plain, 1 herringbone, red/white herringbone, blue/light blue herringbone, and plain black), and a white dinner shirt with wing collars, all have French cuffs.

After the tailors I picked up my luggage from Waterloo and caught the train down to Portchester. I got picked up by my aunt Isabel who took me to my Aunt Fiona’s house (She lives in Saudi Arabia most of the year), showed me the deal for everything.  By this stage I was half dead, so after Isabel left, I had a nice sit down and I was asleep by 9:30

I’ve got no real travel plans today, Pizza at Isabel and Colin’s tonight, that’s about it.  Although when I woke up it was to a notification of the Falcons-Jaguars game – 41-14 to the good, so I might watch it today (thanks NFL game pass).

Final random thing, when I was walking along High Holborn today, I was standing at a pedestrian crossing, when I thought the gentleman next to me was saying something to me, so I turned around and said “Pardon”, turned out he was talking to the man next to me, so I apologised and explained that I was über-tired, and he asked where I had come from, I said “Adelaide”, and, no joke, this is what he said; “Welcome back”.  Made my day.