The first time I travelled to Europe I spent months planning my trip, organising 5 weeks off work, booked my tickets from Sydney to Paris via Singapore then BOOM! French transport worker's strike. Mass cancellations, travel chaos.
My flights had to be completely rebooked at the last minute. Usually total duration on such a journey is about 22h30m but in the end I had a 9 hour layover in Singapore, 2 hours in Bangkok, 5 hours in Helsinki contributing to a staggering 40 hours in transit.
Talk about baptism of fire!
The worst thing was actually the thought of such a nightmarish return journey at the end of ny holiday.
Thankfully that experience has never repeated itself, although it came close new year 2012 when a sudden change in travel dates resulted in a 12 hour layover in Singapore. Except if you have to suffer a long delay in transit, Singapore Changi Airport is probably the best place to do it.
Let's start with the basics. There is a hotel after passport control, within the airport, calked the Transit Hotel. You can rent rooms by the hour or the day. Which is a convenient place to safely and securely store your luggage while you...
Go for a swim in the outdoor rooftop swimming pool, or have an ice cold drink at the bar. Seriously, nothing say relaxing more than a swim to break up an intercontinental long haul flight. Believe me!
Go shopping in the huge shopping mall within the airport.
Grab a bite to eat in the food court.
Go explore Singapore on the free city tour. You don't have to go through passport control again when you get back, don't get charged airport tax; it's very well organised and it's absolutely free!
If I have time, I usually like to stop for a couple of days in Tojyo when flying London to Sydney. Hong Kong or Bangkok aren't bad if you're shooting through.
But at the end of the day Singapore is king if you want sorta kinda half a stopover. Magic.
Bon voyage!
Thursday 5 April 2018
Eating Out in Switzerland
Douglas Adams once wrote "Here's what to do if you want to hitch a ride with a Vogon: Forget it!" and honestly that advice applies pretty well to Swiss restaurants.
Of course we have to eat, so next best thing is go next door to France, Italy, or Germany.
I came to terms with the fact that everything in Switzerland is ridiculously expensive, however I could never reconcile that going to a restaurant once a week for a month cost the same as a weekend getaway to somewhere like Paris, and that the food was mediocre at best.
Here's a quick example. Pizza restaurant in Geneva, puzzas were okay, nothing to write home about, and the equivalent of US$25 each. Technically the restaurant should provide tap water in a caraf but they rarely ever do this. If you read the fine print on the menu, you will see it says that there is a US$5 surcharge for having a meal without ordering drinks. You guessed it, small bottle of water is US$6.50!
So that pizza now runs $30 and thats really cheap. For Geneva. A steak is usually over $50. Heck they cost $65 per kilo at the supermarket.
Really, the only thing worth having is a fondue for the novelty value, but you can get that in France too for a fraction of the cost and frankly with better service. Some people call the French rude, and maybe in Paris some waiters are. What they are not is somehow racist against tourists. They treat everyone the same and it boils down to two things in my experience. For one, they are busy, so they want to keep it snappy. Two, it's France and although they probably speak some English they do get irate when people just start speaking a foreign language without even saying "bonjour". So my advice is, say hello in French. It's polite and they will realise straight away you are foreign by your accent, and more than likely speak English with you after that to take your order.
So anyway, back to the Swiss. They are racist, 72% of criminals are foreign, and 95% of those are tourists.
The French vice consul general told me one frenchman is setup and severely beaten by Swiss police every week. It's only a small chance it happens to you, but why pay the price premium and take the risk as well?
If you want to know more about the nasty stuff that happens to foreigners in Swirzerland yet goes unreported you can read all about it here
Bon appetit!
Of course we have to eat, so next best thing is go next door to France, Italy, or Germany.
I came to terms with the fact that everything in Switzerland is ridiculously expensive, however I could never reconcile that going to a restaurant once a week for a month cost the same as a weekend getaway to somewhere like Paris, and that the food was mediocre at best.
Here's a quick example. Pizza restaurant in Geneva, puzzas were okay, nothing to write home about, and the equivalent of US$25 each. Technically the restaurant should provide tap water in a caraf but they rarely ever do this. If you read the fine print on the menu, you will see it says that there is a US$5 surcharge for having a meal without ordering drinks. You guessed it, small bottle of water is US$6.50!
So that pizza now runs $30 and thats really cheap. For Geneva. A steak is usually over $50. Heck they cost $65 per kilo at the supermarket.
Really, the only thing worth having is a fondue for the novelty value, but you can get that in France too for a fraction of the cost and frankly with better service. Some people call the French rude, and maybe in Paris some waiters are. What they are not is somehow racist against tourists. They treat everyone the same and it boils down to two things in my experience. For one, they are busy, so they want to keep it snappy. Two, it's France and although they probably speak some English they do get irate when people just start speaking a foreign language without even saying "bonjour". So my advice is, say hello in French. It's polite and they will realise straight away you are foreign by your accent, and more than likely speak English with you after that to take your order.
So anyway, back to the Swiss. They are racist, 72% of criminals are foreign, and 95% of those are tourists.
The French vice consul general told me one frenchman is setup and severely beaten by Swiss police every week. It's only a small chance it happens to you, but why pay the price premium and take the risk as well?
If you want to know more about the nasty stuff that happens to foreigners in Swirzerland yet goes unreported you can read all about it here
Bon appetit!
Eating Out in Paris
There are tons of guidebooks so I'll skip the obvious.
France is all about food.
Good food!
In 2013 there was a huge scandal because an investigative reported discovered that 70% of cafe restaurants in Paris were serving frozen food that was brought in and reheated in a microwave.
Sacré bleu!
They take their food seriously. Trouble is, you really have to know where to go. Years ago when I worked in the Opera district, there was a 24 hour upmarket restaurant called General LaFayette around the corner from the office. We almost never went there for lunch despite the fact we went out every day. That's because it is the first place a tourist sees and easily runs 50 EURO for an entree and main. Around the corner was a cosy little place called "Cafe Cognac" where you get the same kind of food for 10 EURO or "la totale": entree, main and dessert for about 12.50 EURO. Honourable mention goes to Pizza Paradiso, 10 EURO for three courses including a delicious home made mousse au chocolat.
I cannot emphasise that enough: stay away from touristy places, just walk one block back from the main road and you will find wonderful food at very reasonable prices. A very useful tool here can be "La Fourchette" or "The Fork" in English. They have iOS and Android apps, and are handy if you are planning something in advance to search around a wider area than you may otherwise have time to check out on foot
Bon Appetit!
France is all about food.
Good food!
In 2013 there was a huge scandal because an investigative reported discovered that 70% of cafe restaurants in Paris were serving frozen food that was brought in and reheated in a microwave.
Sacré bleu!
They take their food seriously. Trouble is, you really have to know where to go. Years ago when I worked in the Opera district, there was a 24 hour upmarket restaurant called General LaFayette around the corner from the office. We almost never went there for lunch despite the fact we went out every day. That's because it is the first place a tourist sees and easily runs 50 EURO for an entree and main. Around the corner was a cosy little place called "Cafe Cognac" where you get the same kind of food for 10 EURO or "la totale": entree, main and dessert for about 12.50 EURO. Honourable mention goes to Pizza Paradiso, 10 EURO for three courses including a delicious home made mousse au chocolat.
I cannot emphasise that enough: stay away from touristy places, just walk one block back from the main road and you will find wonderful food at very reasonable prices. A very useful tool here can be "La Fourchette" or "The Fork" in English. They have iOS and Android apps, and are handy if you are planning something in advance to search around a wider area than you may otherwise have time to check out on foot
Bon Appetit!
French Transport Worker's Strike
The French love to strike, it's in their DNA
Transport strikes are common, they usually take place during peak holiday season in order to maximise their impact.
Remember the volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010 showering continental Europe in ash and totally shutting down air traffic? I was in London for my birthday at the time, with a return ticket to Geneva.
I awoke on my buddy's sofa to hear about it on the morning news. When you're feeling a little ropey after a night out on the swill, this is not going to make you feel any better!
Knowing my flight would more than likely be cancelled I immediately bought a ticket on Eurostar, figuring once I was across the channel it'd be a snip to make the last 450km from Paris to Geneva. In my haste I did not check if there was a transport strike going on in France. I had been living in Switzerland for a couple of years, mostly driving around France, blissfully disconnected from industrial action.
I bought the ticket right away, I must have got one of the last tickets as only first class was available, and I seem to recall that several hours later it was being reported Eurostar was booked out solid, TV news showing people queueing around the block outside the ticket office. Didn't they have internet?
Anyway I arrived in Paris to find it on lockdown.
There was a train strike, several other unions joined in, trains were running extremely reduced services and the volcano created a "perfect storm" of travel chaos.
The unions announced on TV that they had considered cancelling their industrial action, but finally decided to go ahead regardless.
Luckily for me I still had a flat in Paris, which I bought when I lived there, because there was no way out, hotels were full full "complet" and car rental companies had zero availability. I ended up staying a week, which would have been tricky, without a place to stay!
If you are travelling to France in April better check the latest news. Here is a link to some strike dates, but be warned thar they can change at the last minute French Transport Strikes
EuroStar runs regardless of French transport workers strikes
Transport strikes are common, they usually take place during peak holiday season in order to maximise their impact.
Remember the volcano in Iceland that erupted in April 2010 showering continental Europe in ash and totally shutting down air traffic? I was in London for my birthday at the time, with a return ticket to Geneva.
I awoke on my buddy's sofa to hear about it on the morning news. When you're feeling a little ropey after a night out on the swill, this is not going to make you feel any better!
Knowing my flight would more than likely be cancelled I immediately bought a ticket on Eurostar, figuring once I was across the channel it'd be a snip to make the last 450km from Paris to Geneva. In my haste I did not check if there was a transport strike going on in France. I had been living in Switzerland for a couple of years, mostly driving around France, blissfully disconnected from industrial action.
I bought the ticket right away, I must have got one of the last tickets as only first class was available, and I seem to recall that several hours later it was being reported Eurostar was booked out solid, TV news showing people queueing around the block outside the ticket office. Didn't they have internet?
Anyway I arrived in Paris to find it on lockdown.
There was a train strike, several other unions joined in, trains were running extremely reduced services and the volcano created a "perfect storm" of travel chaos.
The unions announced on TV that they had considered cancelling their industrial action, but finally decided to go ahead regardless.
Luckily for me I still had a flat in Paris, which I bought when I lived there, because there was no way out, hotels were full full "complet" and car rental companies had zero availability. I ended up staying a week, which would have been tricky, without a place to stay!
If you are travelling to France in April better check the latest news. Here is a link to some strike dates, but be warned thar they can change at the last minute French Transport Strikes
Tuesday 12 December 2017
Aussie reflections on two decades in Europe
Twenty years ago I packed my suitcase and took off from Sydney, Australia for a European adventure.
My plan, if one could actually have a plan at twenty-something years old, was to see a bit of the other side of the planet before I settled down. A couple of years in London, assorted trips in-between working as an IT freelancer, then off to the States for two more years, then back to Australia. It was to be clockwork.
It wasn't. I never got as far as the US, at least not living and working there; two years in London turned to five, interspersed with regular trips to Berlin due to a long distance relationship. Which seemed all very exciting at the start, finishing up early on Fridays to get the 15.40 out of Heathrow; but getting the red eye out of Berlin Tegel every second Monday then a packed Piccadilly Line tube to work in Leicester Square wore thin pretty very quickly.
Taking a train in the UK is not a pleasant experience in general, in the year 2000 trains to Gatwick Airport still had wooden doors which had to be manually opened and closed by the passengers. You can imagine the goings on when a recent arrival was the last to exit, and the station master is busy blowing a whistle, waving his flag, frantically trying to get someone to close the door so the train can depart on time. Trains on time were exceedingly rare. I seem to recall that for British Rail statistics, a train wasn't officially late until it was 20 minutes past due.
Except for Eurostar. It's the best way to travel between London and the continent. Certainly not the cheapest, but effortless, and once you've done it you won't want to travel between London and Paris or Brussels any other way.
Look out for their "Party Train" promotions, leave after 4pm on Saturday, return before midday on Sunday, and you can have a night out in Paris for 35 quid. I have friends in Paris who I would visit regularly, and that was a great way to do it.
I also found the train to be a great way to connect to the rest of France, to go to places like Bordeaux, Nice, Avignon and Montpellier. You can book your tickets online and print them yourself, or use the smartphone app and go completely paperless.
Of course, if you want to get places like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, or Lisbon, the train turns into a bit of a trek, and IMHO it starts to become worthwhile to put oneself through the trials and tribulation of airport security, taking ones' shoes off, discarding all liquids and generally being poked, prodded and eyed with suspicion because you'll get there in under 3 hours.
There is only one country I ever regretted going to and that was Switzerland. You can read about why that is here : Switzerland Travel Advisory
My plan, if one could actually have a plan at twenty-something years old, was to see a bit of the other side of the planet before I settled down. A couple of years in London, assorted trips in-between working as an IT freelancer, then off to the States for two more years, then back to Australia. It was to be clockwork.
It wasn't. I never got as far as the US, at least not living and working there; two years in London turned to five, interspersed with regular trips to Berlin due to a long distance relationship. Which seemed all very exciting at the start, finishing up early on Fridays to get the 15.40 out of Heathrow; but getting the red eye out of Berlin Tegel every second Monday then a packed Piccadilly Line tube to work in Leicester Square wore thin pretty very quickly.
Taking a train in the UK is not a pleasant experience in general, in the year 2000 trains to Gatwick Airport still had wooden doors which had to be manually opened and closed by the passengers. You can imagine the goings on when a recent arrival was the last to exit, and the station master is busy blowing a whistle, waving his flag, frantically trying to get someone to close the door so the train can depart on time. Trains on time were exceedingly rare. I seem to recall that for British Rail statistics, a train wasn't officially late until it was 20 minutes past due.
Except for Eurostar. It's the best way to travel between London and the continent. Certainly not the cheapest, but effortless, and once you've done it you won't want to travel between London and Paris or Brussels any other way.
Look out for their "Party Train" promotions, leave after 4pm on Saturday, return before midday on Sunday, and you can have a night out in Paris for 35 quid. I have friends in Paris who I would visit regularly, and that was a great way to do it.
I also found the train to be a great way to connect to the rest of France, to go to places like Bordeaux, Nice, Avignon and Montpellier. You can book your tickets online and print them yourself, or use the smartphone app and go completely paperless.
Of course, if you want to get places like Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, or Lisbon, the train turns into a bit of a trek, and IMHO it starts to become worthwhile to put oneself through the trials and tribulation of airport security, taking ones' shoes off, discarding all liquids and generally being poked, prodded and eyed with suspicion because you'll get there in under 3 hours.
There is only one country I ever regretted going to and that was Switzerland. You can read about why that is here : Switzerland Travel Advisory
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