June 2018 – Our Trips Around The World

徒步慢游 – Paris Walking Tour

6月30日星期六 – Saturday, June 30th

PJG和我今天决定进行自己的巴黎徒步慢游，四处看看巴黎的大街小巷。虽然今天天气很热，我俩还是斗志昂扬 💪

We decided to do a walking tour today to leisurely look around the streets in Paris. Although it is very hot today, we are filled with excitement.

今天PJG和我去了一个拥有艺术灵魂的一座130米高的山丘－蒙马特高地。这里可以说是浪漫与艺术的完美结合体，曾经有很多著名的画家，莫奈，毕加索，雷诺阿，梵高等都在这里生活和创作过，他(她)们很多著名绘画也都在这里诞生；很多电影也都在这里取景拍摄过，艾蜜莉的异想世界，红磨坊，午夜巴黎等；白色圆顶的圣心堂圣和彼埃尔教堂显示着浓郁的宗教气息，在小丘广场作画卖画的众多画家们散发着这里的随意的艺术气息，狡兔酒吧（很多像毕加索般著名的画家的常去之处）和洗衣船（毕加索很穷的时候居住的地方）使这里弥漫着神秘的气息，爱墙又见证了现代人的浪漫气息。漫步在这里的有百年历史的鹅卵石的大街小巷，想象着当年那些或落魄潦倒的艺术家们在这里创作和挣扎，感觉似乎和他们擦肩而过一般。

Today we went to Montmartre, a hill 130m above Paris with an artistic soul. This area is said to be a perfect combination of romance and art. Many famous painters from here: Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh, etc., all lived and created here and many famous paintings were born here. Also many movies were filmed here: Emily’s Wishful World, Moulin Rouge, Midnight Paris, etc.

巴黎周边教堂 – Cathedral Towns North of Paris

6月28日星期四 – Thursday, June 28th

开车巴黎周边教堂游 – Driving Through Church Towns

PJG租了一辆车，我俩要去看巴黎周边郊外的几个教堂，还可以看一下法国郊外的景色和小镇。PJG的父亲在他1949年的旅行中，也是和朋友们开了一辆车去了更多的教堂，当年他们在巴黎周边开车转了两天，我俩今天只去转一天，所以只能去他们去过的其中的几个教堂。在巴黎开车似乎比英国容易些，至少是在和美国一样的同一边开车。大家也都遵守同一个驾驶规则，右边车道开车，左边车道超车。唯一一个难点是带文字的交通路牌看不懂，哈哈 😅 一些国际通用的标示的路牌没有问题，幸亏有google地图啊！

We rented a car and we went to see several churches in the outskirts of Paris. We also had marvelous views of the scenery and the small towns in the north of Paris. In 1949, PJG’s father also drove a car with his friends to these churches on his trip. While they took two days for their drive, we only had one day, so we could only go to about five churches. Driving in Paris seems easier than in the United Kingdom, at least they drive on the same side as in US. Everyone also follows the same driving rules as in the UK: the right lane is for normal driving and you pass using the left lane. The only difficulty is that there are many traffic signs we couldn’t read, although there was no problem with most of the internationally-recognized road signs – Also many thanks to Google Maps! 🙂 Our biggest problem was driving in the city of Paris – I think there will be a post of this later. (it was more similar to driving in China!!!)

卢浮宫, 埃菲尔铁塔 (Louvre, Eiffel Tower)

6月27日，星期三 Wednesday, Jun 27th

终于在巴黎了，PJG的许诺终于实现了 😀

I’m truly in Paris! PJG’s promise finally came true 😅

昨天下午离开伦敦，坐了欧洲之星火车直达巴黎，火车的行驶时间大概2个小时，非常轻松，一路上有很多隧道。到了巴黎后，我俩买了2套10张一套的地铁车票，坐了两班地铁到了民宿的住处。房主来到楼下接我俩上去，简单的介绍了一下她的公寓，厨房，卧室，洗手间看起来都不错，她还给我俩准备了一个法式面包棍。这里的床是一个特别的床因为它是圆的！还挺舒服的。房主好像是一个专门给小丑演员化妆的，所以她的房间有很多各种小丑的画，海报和小雕塑等，很有意思。这个民宿位于拉丁角，是一个比较热闹的地方，5分钟走路的路程就有很多咖啡馆，饭店和酒吧等，特别方便。这个楼里有一个老式的电梯，只能容纳两个人，和赫尔辛基那个差不多，稍微先进一些，因为电梯门是自动开关的。我俩的房间在三层，有一个小阳台，可以坐在那里喝杯茶或是红酒，然后观赏楼下来来来往往的行人和车辆，很有意思。

Heading to Paris!

Arrived 🙂

汉普顿宫，泰晤士河游船 (Hampton Court, River Boat)

6月25日，星期一 Monday, June 25

今天是在伦敦的最后一天，PJG和我上午去了位于伦敦西南方的汉普顿宫，做火车大概有一个小时就到了，往返车票14.7英镑。

Today is our last full day in London and we went to the Hampton Court Palace in southwest London. It took about an hour to get there, and the return ticket was 14.7 gbp.

吃在英国 (Eating in England)

6月25日，星期一 Monday, June 25

The United Kingdom, or London itself, does not seem to have much local food, but here you can taste different restaurants around the world because there are immigrants from all over the world. Before the tour departed, we were full of expectation of food everywhere, but after coming to various places, due to various factors, such as long distances, such as the passing of time, such as fatigue, etc., PJG and I are basically close to where Where to solve, the end of the long journey to tasting has disappeared. In short, this time in the UK, the most we eat is the famous fish and chips, deep-fried food is really unrequited. Some of the food we have tasted.

英国，或是伦敦本身好像没有什么特别多的本地食物，这里倒是可以品尝到世界各地的不同餐饮，因为这里有来自世界各地的移民。旅游出发之前，我俩对各地的美食充满了期待，但是到了各个地方以后，由于各种因素，比如路途遥远，比如时间已过，比如疲惫不堪等等，PJG和我基本都是离哪里近就在哪里解决，那种要长途跋涉去品尝的尽头已经消失了 😅 总之，这次的英国之行，我俩吃得最多的就是大名鼎鼎的炸鱼薯条，油炸食品真是百吃不厌啊 😅 下面记载了一些我俩品尝过的美食。

红砖巷，肯辛顿宫 (Brick Lane, Kensington Palace)

6月25日，星期日 Sunday, June 25

Brick Lane

走了这么多天了，感觉确实很累了，昨晚很晚回家，今天上午PJG和我上午基本上在家休息了，出门的时候已经中午12点了。第一个地方去的是红砖巷市场，去那里的主要原因是想找一家地道的印度餐，以弥补刚来时吃的那顿印度餐的失望。会来这里是因为在一个酒馆遇到的一个人的介绍，他说很多印度和巴基斯坦的移民都到了那个地方，是那种地道的既便宜又好吃的。我俩兴冲冲的坐地铁直达过去了。

We’ve been walking for many days already, and we feel really tired. Last night we came home very late from Susan’s and this morning we are basically staying home to rest and finally went out at around 12 noon. The first place we went was Brick Lane market. The main reason we went there is to find an authentic Indian restaurant to make up for the big Indian meal disappointment from the other day. We had heard of this place from the man from in the pub the other night – he said that many of the immigrants from India and Pakistan go there, and had opened many inexpensive and tasty restaurants.

大英博物馆，科文特花园，见亲戚 (British Museum, Covent Garden, Harry & Susan)

6月23日星期六 – June 23 Saturday

大英博物馆 – The British Museum

今天早上和PJG去了大英博物馆，该馆建于1753年，是世界上规模最大的博物馆之一，永久拥有的藏品高达800万件。更值得称赞的是博物馆是免费的！伦敦所有的博物馆应该都是免费的。博物馆非常大，展品也非常多，在这里仔细看的话，花个几天也是可以的。我俩当然不要花那么多时间在这里，只看了一些罗马和埃及时期的展品。在观看展品的时候，看到很多中国旅游团有讲解员带着，顺耳听到一个男讲解员在讲解一组希腊神话的浮雕的时候，真的是很有中国味儿啊，而且听起来很像北方人。他讲到人马族人去参加邻居拉庇泰族人举行的婚礼，“人马族人喝高了，把人家媳妇给抢走了。” 怎么样，听起来很容易理解吧？

This morning we went to the British Museum, which was built in 1753, and is one of the largest museums in the world with a permanent collection of 8 million pieces. What is more unbelievable is that the museum is free! Actually all the museums in London are free. This museum is very large and exhibits many things, and it would really take more than a few days to see it all. Of course we won’t spend that much time here, we only plan to see some of the exhibits of Rome and Egypt.

白金汉宫，卡姆登区 (Changing of the Guard and Camden Town)

白金汉宫皇家卫队换岗仪式 – Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace

皇家卫队换岗仪式每天有固定的时间举行，这项已成为英国王室文化的重要元素之一的仪式，每年都会吸引世界各地的游客前来观赏。今天是11点进行，我和PJG做了地铁赶到后，白金汉宫的门前就已经里外三层的站满了人，想要看到换岗仪式是不可能了。PJG机智地咨询了一个警察，他建议我们等在一个地方，那里还没有人满为患，可以近距离的看到皇家卫队及军乐团走方队步入白金汉宫。我俩便迅速的去了那边占了位置。

The Royal Guard’s ceremony is held at 11am every day, and the ceremony, which has become one of the most popular elements of British royal culture, attracts visitors from around the world every year. Today PJG and I took the subway and arrived at Buckingham Palace about 10:30am. At the gate there is a throng of people stacked many levels deep. Being able to see the changing ceremony from there would be impossible. PJG went to consult a policeman and he advised us to wait in a place across the street, where there were still not many people. You can get close to see the Royal Guard and band marching into Buckingham Palace. Perfect! We quickly went over there and took up our position.

他乡见远亲 (Connecting with a Relative)

我俩这次的旅行能在见到James的远方亲戚真的很难得。PJG对追逐研究家谱这方面很爱好也很执着，他研究出来的最早的族谱追溯到1720年左右。这次见到的远亲的Alison也是一个研究族谱的爱好者，他俩就是通过这个爱好三年前在Ancestry.com网上认识的。Alison是James的曾姥爷的弟弟的曾孙女。Alison从都不知道她父亲这边在美国竟然有血缘亲戚。从三年前他俩在网上找到彼此，并到今天的亲自相遇，真的很奇妙！

It is really special for us to meet one of James’s distant relatives on this trip. PJG is very keen on the pursuit of genealogy research and he has studied his earliest genealogy dating back to about 1720. Alison, a relative on his mother’s side through a shared great-great grandfather, was also a fan of genealogy and they met online through ancestry.com three years ago. Alison is the granddaughter of James’ great-grandfather’s brother. (Isabel’s grandfather John Lowe). In fact, Eve had met the entire Lowe family as they lived in the same neighborhood together in Liverpool. Alison never knew that her father had a blood relative in America and they were all excited to meet each other. Three years ago they found each other on the Internet, and to meet in person was really wonderful!

Time Lapse video of the waiting crowd at Buckingham Palace.

有很多人在等着看守卫换岗。

There are so many people waiting to see the changing of the guard.

巴士观光车，圣保罗教堂 (Big Bus, St Paul’s Cathedral)

因为昨晚回家太晚，没能完成昨天的记录，下面是昨天6/21/18的记录：

Because we came home late last night and couldn’t finish yesterday’s blog, here is the blog for 6/21/18:

伦敦塔，伦敦塔桥，西敏寺 (Tower Bridge, Westminster)

今天去了伦敦塔，伦敦塔桥，西敏寺。因为PJG提前买全面观光一卡通 (London Pass), 这三个著名景点就不需要再买票了。这个一卡通的价格是130英镑，所以一定要充分利用它的价值啊～～

Today we went to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and Westminster Abbey. We didn’t need to buy tickets for these three famous sites because PJG bought the London Pass (which cost 130GBP), so we will make sure to make full use of its value. Haha ~ ~

Time lapse video from the View of the Shard

在碎片大厦上面拍的缩时摄影

A video from the Big Bus tour

早上坐伦敦大巴士浏览观光车拍的视频

This is a video from the hop on – hop off Big Bus tour this morning.

印度菜和中国菜 (Indian and Chinese food)

昨天晚上在一个酒馆里，PJG和一个当地的英国人聊天，我问他伦敦有什么本土的特色小吃或是菜肴，他看似严肃的说蛋炒饭，然后哈哈大笑。他认为伦敦没有什么值得一提的本土美食，如果说是寻找美食，最好的就是尝试来自各个国家不同的菜系，因为伦敦是这样一个集合世界各地人的大都市。他说的很有道理哦.

Last night at a pub, we were chatting with a local Englishman and I asked what he considers a local special dish in London – he seemed serious when exclaiming, “egg fried rice”, and then we laughed. He felt that there is no real local food in London to mention, and said that if we are to look for food, the best thing to do is to try different cuisines from various countries, because London is such a metropolis that it brings together people from all over the world.

巨石阵，乔治旅店，和初入伦敦 (Stonehenge, George Hotel)

今天是PJG需要在英国开车的最后一天，上午首先去了巨石阵。大概离我俩这次旅行唯一的一个酒店住宿地方一个小时的车程。PJG其实已经去过那里。巨石阵是英国，也是人类最著名的史前古迹之一，它的建造起因和方法至今仍是個不解之謎。

Today is the last day that we will be driving in England, and this morning we went first to Stonehenge. It’s about an hours drive from the only actual hotel accommodation on our entire trip. PJG had been to Stonehenge before, once as a young boy and then again in 2002. Stonehenge is in the UK and is also one of the most famous prehistoric monuments in the world. Its construction and ultimate purpose are still a puzzling mystery.

Month: June 2018