Life around the world

[LittlestThing]

What is happening in Luanda? I googled it and it said it's as dangerous as other African cities are. Not sure what that's supposed to mean.... They do have an Anthropology museum and National museum of slavery, which both sound very interesting . You would have trouble finding a place to sleep, since it's either very expencive or doesn't sound really good. That's what I picked up from WikiTravel

The lecturer wasn't older than 30, but she's seen the whole world. Mostly she talked about her trip to Kenya and Ethiopia with a friend on a motocycle. They visited many remote tribes, which are otherwise not frequently visited by tourists.
We then had another lecture, from a teacher and her trip to Rwanda. It was also quite interesting. And then soemthing about legal aspects of Rwanda genocide - in English o.O... I imagine you'd like it I was not particulary intrigued :embarrassed:

I'd go to... South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe. Madagaskar sounds nice, also I don't know why but I'd go to COngo, although I barely know anything about it.

I'll pose another question: What tourist attraction on each continent would you like to see, which you haven't seen yet?

[Sarahdg]

That cedevita thing looks like a product we have called "Berocca". You put it in water and it's got vitamins in it and it's meant to give you energy.

Kattja, I actually have been to Africa before. I only went to South Africa though, but I stayed with some friends in Bloemfontein. I saw a tiny bit of Johannesburg - but it's actually not very safe there. We also went down the coast to Jeffries Bay and we went to Cango Caves at Knysna. It was very interesting, and staying with the family was an eye opener. They were a white family, and yep - they had a black house cleaner. That was really weird for me. Especially when the family tell me don't leave anything expensive there because maybe she steals it! They said she's been working for them for like 10 years and they still do not trust her! That is just sad. But I would like to go back and go on safari, and I'd like to go to Kenya and Zimbabwe (if it's ever stable there again), and a few other places. It is true though - you rarely see the "real" Africa if you go on holiday. You usually just see the tourist places. I actually think it would be really interesting to go to Soweto, or one of the "ghettos" in South Africa to see the real Africa - expect that it's very very unsafe to do so. I also want to go to Cape Town because I didn't make it down that far when I went before.

Ooh which tourist place would I want to see on each continent that I didn't already see? Well for Asia I'd like to see the warrior statures near Beijing (I'd actually see them much more than going to see the Great Wall), in South America I want to go to Iguazu Falls. In North America...hmm... that's tough. I saw the Statue of Liberty and kinda saw the Grand Canyon. I saw Golden Gate Bridge, I've been to glaciers in Canada. I'd like to go to Niagara Falls, so maybe that. Haven't see the White House either - not that it's particularly interesting to me, but it is something I should be able to say I saw. Africa - safari like I said before. For Europe it's pretty much anything in Italy. I wanna see the Colosseum, Spanish Steppes/trvie fountain, leaning tower of pisa, St Marks Square in Venice, Rialto Bridge. Yeah I really need to go to Italy! Antarctica - well not sure I want to go there to be honest, and in Oceania there isn't really anything I particularly want to see because I have pretty much seen all of Australia, and most of NZ too.

[MaryDearMary]

Really? That's so awesome!!
Touristic places can be upsetting. The crowds are just so hard to deal with, but they're touristic spots for a reason...so I normally don't avoid them, I chose to go there out of tourist season instead

[LittlestThing]

Cedevita supposingly has vitamins, no energy though I could use it...

That's great that you've been to Africa! ANd I like your list, but it's quite different from mine. I love museums (not galeries)! I think it has been mentioned before But, really, I barely payy attention to other attractions. It's not like I've ever been to a very remote place so I never really got a chance to see people or animals, which would be different from those here... :-/

Raquel, but I suppose if it's a big attraction it doesn't really help when you go...

How big are your home towns? By that I mean how many people live there?
Ljubljana has 350.000ish inhabitants. I really like that - big enough that it doesn't make you feel alone or unimportant and small enough that it doesn't make you feel small. I think it's full of familliar faces, if you know what I mean.

[Sarahdg]

My "home town" is an outer suburb of Melbourne. The "town" has around 35,000 people living there. Melbourne itself has over 1 million people living in it (including the suburbs).

I try to go out of season too - but then I end up getting stuff like snow at the Grand Canyon. But I am glad I went to New York in the off season because Times Square was still pretty busy on the weekend then, so I hate to think how it's going to be when I go in August/September (but if I wanna go to the US Open, then I have to go then). I went to Chateau Versailles in the off season though and it was still very busy. I also went to the Eiffel Tower in May and it was mega busy, but then I suspect that it's always busy there. Actually, a lot of Europe I have done in the busy times purely because I like to combine sporting events (normally tennis) with travel. So I've been to Prague a few times in July and to Budapest too (although to be honest I didn't think it was that busy in Budapest), I've been to London lots of times in summer and to Paris lots in May (so just before the real peak I guess). I went to Barcelona for the World Swimming Championships which would have been August time I guess - it was mega hot and really busy everywhere. But if you can manage to go in the off season it's so much better - although you have to be careful because some things close in the off season, or have shorter opening hours.

Ooh - I booked my tickets to the US last weekend. OMG they were so cheap! Less than $1450 and I fly Melbourne-LA-Dallas and then New York-LA-Sydney-Melbourne. I am NOT looking forward to the return flights - it's gonna be hell, but it's still better than flying to Europe - it's a little less time flying wise anyway. I've got 4 hours at LAX on the way there and on the way back though, which kinda sucks, but I guess with security it's better to have more time than less.

This is Berocca: http://www.berocca.com/en/whats-the-sec ... /index.php

[MaryDearMary]

I also went to Versailles in the off season and yes, it was crowded, but not nearly as crowded as it usually is during the summer. I've been to London in the winter and in the summer. For whatever reason, I found it a lot crowded in February...

My hometown, Viseu, has 47 250 inhabitants spread around a 507,10 km² area, which makes it the 3rd largest city in Portugal Despite that, Viseu has been selected as one of the 20 best european cities to live in. And I totally get what you mean, Katja...it feels very familiar, like I know everyone around here. That's impossible, though...right?

Ok, so now I want Cedevita and Berocca...great!

Sarah, I envy you, I really do. I want to go to New York so bad...you have no idea.

[Sarahdg]

I hope you get to go to New York one day because it really is awesome! I'm really looking forward to going to New Orleans too. I can't wait to see the architecture there. I'm gonna take so many pictures of houses there. haha Dallas wil be interesting too. I have a friend there and she wants to take me to the baseball. Gotta say totally not into baseball, but I'll go and see what it's like anyway. But I really have no idea about what there is to do in Dallas. Oh I did see that there is a 6 Flags, but other than that - no idea. Probably should look it up at some stage - but hey it's still about 5 months until I go so I have time.

Your town has more people than my "suburb", but being part of Melbourne, you really don't think it's that small.

[Lauriane]

Sarah, you should send us some of your photos, that way we get to dream a bit

Toulouse is quite crowded, with around 440 000 inhabitants, but it's way smaller than your town, Raquel, around 118km2. Basically you can never get lost aha

Also Katja, I love the word 'Ljubljana', both phonetically and visually. I don't know why, but I've always had

[LittlestThing]

If I had the option of going somewhere out of season, I probably would, but summer is the only time I am able to travel. While I don't like crowded places in general, I find the weather to be the biggest problem. Humid, hot air is so horrible. Everyone is sweaty and sticky and my head hurts and I start feeling sick beh... That's why I loved Prague, I went there in April and it was nicely cloudy, warm enough to wear a T-shirt and a cardigan (that's the best weather).
Have I mentioned that I'm going to Paris this year!? yay

Aha, thank you for your answers
Raquel: I love that! WHen I walk through the city centre, I always meet at least one friend and see at least a couple of other people from school. It's even more weird when I think you see "important" people on a weekly basis. I saw the president's wife last month and our mayor (who was just re-elected yesterday ) loves walking around, so you just see him drinking coffee in the morning; not to mention other polititians - the parliament is near the main square - and so on...

Sarah: is your "town" like a "quarter" and most of people work in Melbourne?
ANd I agree with Lauriane, when you have time, you should post some photos!

Lauriane: You can't get lost here either, though surprisingly I always manage to do that
That's lovely haha, there is this phrase "Ljubljana je ljubljena", which means "Ljubljana is loved"... It seems *. There are also two other phrases, which are often printed on shirts: "Ljubljana je lepo mesto" - "Ljubljana is a nice town" <3 and sLOVEnia haha I love those.
I like "Toulouse" too, but I never spell it correctly :-/

[MaryDearMary]

Girls, this is a sad day and has been a sad week: my computer crashed. I'm currently borrowing my sister's (well, she doesn't know so...I'm temporarily stealing it). I feel like I just lost my entire life!

Anyway, I get to catch up with you girls which is something I've been missing terribly and if I missppell anything, I'm sorry but this keyboard is really confusing

Katja: You will absolutely love Paris! It's my second-favourite city, the first being London. Oh, now I'm missing Paris so much! The Bateau Mouches, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notra Dame, crowded libraries at 8 a.m., that warm-bread smell in some streets... Take me with you. I'm pretty sure I can fit in your suitcase

Sarah: yes to the photos! And yes to New Orleans!! I just love the culture and the vibe there. I actually like baseball...I went to a game in Canada a few years ago and enjoyed it immensily. I even had one of those big foam hands with a finger sticking up. So awesome!

Lauriane: I can't get lost here either...it's slightly annoying but reassuring I always had this obsession with Toulouse. I don't know why. I just like saying the word...And there's a city in Portugal called Tolosa as tribute to Toulouse. It's in the south so it's really warm