#ionasadventures

[ionasadventures]

LA Adventure- Day 2! (Part 2)

We got to briefly stop and see around a real live sound stage! We weren’t allowed to take any photos of the inside as the show was still filming (they’d stopped for lunch!) but it was so fascinating seeing how they make these 3 camera sitcoms. The set was made up for “Bob <3 Abishola” (spelt with a heart symbol I’m not just being lazy haha) which is a typical sitcom like Big Bang Theory or Young Sheldon or Friends. They’re called 3 camera sitcoms because typically they only use 3 camera angles! One on the character speaking, one on whomever they’re speaking to, and then one for the wide shots with everything in it. The sound stage is laid out in a grid fashion, with 4 sets on each side of a narrow passageway. This passageway is referred to as camera alley because this is where the cameras will be! As with before, the sets don’t have ceilings on them to allow for lighting and the cameras are in a fixed position so as to not see the lights. It takes about 5 days to film one episode, and the sets are left as they are throughout the whole filming season as most of that time is dedicated to set up! After this the tour of the backlot continued, we drove past a few more famous locations! They have a massive jungle area with real plants from the jungle (as the climate will allow for it!). This was ESPECIALLY of interest to me as this was the area where they filmed the iconic T-Rex chase scene from Jurassic Park!! Warner Bros. let’s other studios use their facilities too, which is why some of the locations seem above are used in things like Breaking Bad, Jurassic Park and Spider-Man. They also have a big pit which can be filled with water to create a lagoon, or with dirt to create a graveyard. Versatile! After the outside lots - which were MASSIVE - we navigated to a warehouse area of the tour which had costumes and props on display. It was very cool to see! Costumes from Interview with the Vampire, Batman, Crazy Rich Asians, Space Jam, and of course a whole host of DC superheroes. They even had some from Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon. The costumers were intricately made, the detail was outstanding! For example on Aquaman’s suit there’s tiny iridescent scales all over. The props were cool too as they were primarily the Batmobile and other Bat-items from across the Batman movies. They had this cool area from The Hobbit which showed how they did the forced perspective trickery to make the Hobbits look small and Gandalf look big! The studio tour really made a point to showcase every aspect of the filmmaking process, detailing how costumes and props and sets were made. The amount of afford put in to each and every part of filmmaking is insane, no wonder it takes so long to make because so much detail is included, things you may not even see or notice unless you’re looking really close! Sam Warner (one of the Warner Brothers) advocated for the use of Vitaphone, the process of using sound in cinema, and it was fascinating to see how they would make the sounds for shows. For example, in the Spider-Man kiss scene, to prevent the fake rainwater from going up Tobey McGuire’s nose, they used a combination of cotton wool and Vaseline to plug up his nose! However this meant that he couldn’t speak properly, so he re-recorded his lines using the sound system to make himself sound clearer over the rain. If you go back and watch the film, you’ll notice that Kirsten Dunst as Mary-Jane only lifts the mask up to below Spider-Man’s nose, to prevent the cameras from picking up on the cotton wool! They also had things such as wooden boards and fake shoes to amplify the sound of actors walking on set, as typically the sets would have plastic floors to prevent the actors’ footsteps from drowning out their lines. Thus by dubbing over the footsteps, the sound department can control how loud they are and change the volume depending on the scene. Such cool stuff!! From storyboards to green screens to motion capture to physical makeup, it was incredibly to see behind the scenes and had given me an even greater appreciation for all those involved!

[ionafc]

Iceland - Day 6 Today we went to the Flea Market, which was really boring?? Everything was sooooo expensive, and it was literally just like a massive car boot sale. I thought it would be full of loads of cool Icelandic stuff but it's not. However, we went to rhe Zoo as well which was fun! It was a domestic kind of zoo, but you could pet the animals and it was good fun. There was loads of cows and pigs, foxes and minx, seals and lizard! Also the chickens got to roam free and all ganged up on this girl who fed them. The botanical gardens were pretty too, but they're all imported plants as there are not many native plants to Iceland.

[ionasadventures]

We managed to reset our sleeping scheduled to conquer the jet lag today so weren’t asleep for tooooo much of it! Didn’t wake up till midday though. We had planned for today to be a rest day anyway so didn’t really have much planned. Our hotel was within walking distance to the Warner Bros.‘ Studio Tour so we decided to check that out! After like…. 2 minutes outside my hair was completely dry from the shower I took. Safe to say it was HOT. About 30C which was interesting! Luckily most places in the US have AC so when we arrived at the studios the temperature was nice. There was a Starbucks there lmao and also a LOT of security. Like airport level security but I guess that’s for safety purposes as a lot of stuff is filmed here. Upon entry you’re guided to a introductory room explaining about the Warner Brothers themselves - Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack - who founded the studio in 1923. This means that this year (2023) is the 100th anniversary of the studio founding! They were the children of Polish-Jewish immigrants. After this information area you are ushered to a movie theatre-esq room which plays an introductory showcase of all the films made and some of the things you will see. Then you’re split into groups and taken on a shuttle ride. Our guide (Jenny I think?) was SO good, really kind and helpful and can constantly walk backwards without looking, like Mater in cars lmao which was a little uncanny but very impressive! She really knew her stuff and made sure to point out most of the things that locations were used for, not just the more popular shows. Which was good cause honestly the tour primarily was banking on Friends, Gilmore Girls, and The Big Bang Theory, none of which I’ve seen! However one thing I HAVE seen that was filmed almost ENTIRELY on this set is Pretty Little Liars. It’s an ….. interesting show? Shall we say? I wouldn’t say it’s terrible and I wouldn’t say it’s good. Like Glee. A LOT of the houses on the tour we saw were used in PLL and it was so cool to see them and recognise them! Fun fact - each of the houses have multiple façades, so they can act as the exterior of different places depending on which angle the camera is at! The interior is empty completely to allow for multiple uses, and there’s no ceiling on the inside! This is to allow the lighting, cameras, and AC to be moved and positioned to accommodate different things. We went into what was Emily’s house in PLL and everything looks so realistic, but is actually made with other materials to allow for complete remodelling if the shoot calls for it. Fun fact 2 - if any changes are made at ALL, at the end of filming the crew MUST return the set to what it originally looked like. So in PLL, Spencer’s barn is white and has fancier doors and foliage than the red barn originally has. The windows are also all made out of sugar glass so no one gets hurt when doing stunts. In an episode of PLL, a car gets driven into Emily’s living room - this was actually done here, on this set! The stunt driver drove a car straight through the walls and windows, and because of the material the house is made from, it could smash into it without posing much danger to the driver. It’s absolutely fascinating to see and hear how the behind the scenes work! I’ve tried to include in the pictures screenshots from the shows so you can see how they were used and how they were changed, but I took most from a moving golf shuttle (like a golf cart but longer and can fit 12 people) and i shake like there’s no tomorrow so they won’t be the clearest 😅 the sets were also used for films like Batman, Citizen Cane, and they were currently all set up to look like the streets of Texas for Young Sheldon, which was currently filming as we were driving around! Luckily all the film stages are soundproof to accommodate things like this.

[ionasadventures]

Los Angeles Adventure - Day 1

Off on another adventure ! Technically my third since I last updates this blog (sorry!) but I’m off to LA with my sibling to (amongst other things) go to the Five Nights at Freddy’s Blumhouse showcase at Universal Studios horror nights 😬 it was a looong day of travelling but honestly we were very lucky and it went very smoothly. I left Dundee at 08:00 UK time to fly first from Glasgow to Heathrow, then Heathrow to Los Angeles. Before security at Glasgow Airport there’s an IRN BRU shop and I had to restrain myself from buying EVERYTHING but I did get some socks lmao. Heathrow was busy and trying to find the underground station that takes you to the terminals was confusing (turns out the underground trains that go to London ALSO go to the terminals but the signage made it seem like they were separate. Same with the lifts to the lower levels but we figured it out eventually!). The Virgin Atlantic flight was incredibly comfortable! Not sponsored but there was a decent amount of feet space, there was regular snacks and meals and drinks offered, plus inflight TVs and the cabin temperature was very well regulated. I was worried about being cold on the flight cause Dundee/Glasgow was about 8C and LA was 26C so I didn’t reeeeallly want to cart about jumpers. Plus the flight staff were so lovely. The flight was nearly 11 hours and unfortunately I struggle to sleep on flights but there was plenty of entertainment so it was gucci. Hopped off the plane at LAX WITHOUT a dream in our cardigans because even at 20:00 LA time (which is approx. 04:00 UK time) nighttime it was 20C still. The traffic outside was INSANE like I’m SO glad we opted to use the bus to the designated outside taxi point because honestly it was SO busy. Couldn’t imagine trying to drive and there was just layers upon layers of roads spanning across 14 lanes and up over each other! Madness! Got to the hotel, we’re staying in the Burbank area and are literally 5 minutes from the Warner Brothers Studios. Earlier in the week (Monday so literally two days before lmao) our original hotel cancelled so this one was a LOT more expensive but it’s in an ideal location so at least there’s that. We were exhausted when we arrived so essentially collapsed into bed! Was super lucky that there was no travel issues (and that we missed both the storm in the uk and the earthquake in California oops)

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 6

Another day spent pissin aboot Tokyo!! We went to the Pokémon Centre and oh Lordy lord it was AMAZING! It had a wall where it showed you all the different games, plus a sneaky peek of the newest game in action! Once through, it’s an absolute plethora of capitalism that I very much partook in - it had so much Pokémon stuff!! From plushies to chopsticks to Switches, it had it all! ((As you can see from the last picture, I bought a snorlax plushie boi. The Attack on Titan folder is A4 so he’s not massive but still a chongus)). Afterwards, we headed off to Sensō-ji Temple. An active Buddhist temple, we were even able to hear the monks chanting inside (I didn’t take any pictures of that as I felt it would be insensitive but it truly was a ... humbling?? Experience?? I’m not sure, I’m not religious but it still felt important to me.). The temple is dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu, a Bodhisattva of compassion. Japanese Buddhism differs from Western Buddhism, as they actively worship the Buddha as a diety, and believe that there are these minor dietys (Bodhisattvas) as well. ((This is a terribly basic definition and I apologise for it)). The legend of the temple goes that a statue of Kannon was found in the nearby river in 628 CE. By 645, a temple had been built to allow those to properly worship Kannon (previously the chief of the village had turned his own house into a shrine whilst building the temple). Unfortunately most of the temple is not original - again showing the devastation caused by the bombings of World War II. Next to the temple is a five tiered pagoda, as well as the Asakusa Shinto shrine (“shrine of the three gods”) which honours the three men who founded Sensō-ji (the two brothers who found the statue whilst fishing, and the chief who commissioned the shrine and consequently converted everyone to Buddhism). The Asakusa Shrine is one of the only original pieces in japan from the Edo period, as miraculously it survived the bombings. In order to get to the temple, you must pass under the “Thunder Gate” - Kaminarimon- and walk through a traditional style shopping district - Nakamise-Dori. The shops are all styled in the traditional Edo period style, but sell modern things. It’s essentially a massive tourist trap, but there’s a few nice and interesting pieces in there. After all this, we were quite tired and decided to head back. The sky was dark and ominous looking, and it was incredibly hot and humid. The Typhoon is due to hit tomorrow, and the SkyTree looked like some kind of foreboding omen. ((Really hope I’ve not jinxed us now!!)). The area we are in is meant to get rainy and windy, but generally speaking it’s not meant to be that bad. But I doubt we’ll be up to much tomorrow!

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 10

Today has been a long ass day and YE GADS I. AM. TIRED. The 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Paris was ... long, but not as bad as last time. The person sitting behind me was super super tall, and their feet stuck out under my seat (not their fault! But every time they moved I shat masel 😂). We arrived at Paris Charles de Gaulle at 4:00am Paris time, and had a whopping 11 hours to wait till the flight to Edinburgh. Yikes. We debated going in to Paris, but it was going to be £90 in total return so heck no son. We decided to just sit at the gate for hours and hours and hours and try to amuse ourselves. At the gate there was some PS4’s set up with demos of games (I played Octodad), plus a whole load of old arcade games, set up so as to be free to play. That killed some time, but you can only play the opening level of octodad for so many hours before you wish death upon all those who defy you, you know? Also we were all exhausted, but trying to sleep at the airport was not an option ((idk if we’d just accumulated more to Tokyo’s weather, but suddenly it was very cold in France ? Even though it was 17 degrees!)). So after what seemed like the longest 11 hours of my life, FINALLY we boarded our plane to Edinburgh. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, we had taken off and landed. We immediately bee-lined for the IRN BRU, and all was well in the world. I love going to and experienceing other countries but I hate the actual travelling part haha, so this fairly wiped me out. Japan was such good fun though, I do highly recommend it !

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 9 - home time!

Today we spent our last day in Tokyo! Scrubs and I went back to Akihabara and spent all of our money ((I’m not even kidding I have NOTHING left but NO regrets)). We went into the SEGA arcade store, and played a few of the games ((terribly)) and marveled at the VR arena they had! It was essentially like a laser tag arena, with things to jump over and hide behind BUT you were wearing a VR helmet and it looked so cool! They even had these motorbike like VR stations so you could actually feel like you were running from a monster on a bike or something. It looked amazing but was also very expensive rip. Tokyo is such a beautiful and clean city?? There’s so much interesting things to look at, plus there’s NO rubbish on the street. One thing I noticed also is that there isn’t many bins on the street either, thus encouraging people to take their rubbish home with them. If there IS buns, they’re usually next to the vending machines and they are recycling bins. It’s amazing!! Our flight wasn’t until 22:55 so we had a decent bit of time to saunter around and look at things. The airport was relatively quiet, but then it was late on a Sunday evening. In the airport they had these Pokémon vending machines that were so so cute, Pikachu dances around and helps you make a selection ((I had no money by this point but OTHERWISE I definetly would’ve bought one)). Whilst boarding, turned out we were accompanying the Italian Rugby team on the flight. They played really well, they must be disappointed to be going home but they all were very nice and seemed to be in decent moods. Also they were so massive my LORD. They were flying like business economy and I think 90% of that is because they physically cannot fit into regular seats! It’s a 12 hour flight to Paris, so a looooong one but hopefully I’ll not break out in hives this time 🙃

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 8

In the aftermath of a Typhoon that killed 56, and forced millions to evacuate their homes, you could barley tell it had happened. Tokyo was immediately up and running the next day with minimal delays and damage. A few metro lines, and the bullet trains, were out of action due to landslides, but the way the announcers on the subway spoke of it made it seem more like THEYD made a mistake. They were very apologetic about some lines running later than usual, and for any delays. Bruh there’s just been a Category 5 typhoon, it’s amazing the subway is still open! We bravely ventured to WeebTown today - Akihabara, an electronics district known for its video game and anime/manga related goods. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a more cursed place in my life. The most disturbing part was definitely the maid cafes - places for people to go and eat and spend the company in an over sexualised maid or “”Lolita”” type fashion wearing woman. ((Not that I’m shaming the workers for doing it!! Sex work is real work, it was just a little bit gross that they were trying to make them look so young, and that it gratley played into the sexualisation of maids and school uniforms that (unfortunately) have real life consequences on the young girls in japan especially)). A lot of places were actually open, or at least opened later in the day than usual ((we’re talking opening at 12pm instead of 9am, again the apologies offered by the staff made it seem like a huge inconvenience on their part - there was a goddamn hurricane!!)). Afterwards, we headed to the Tokyo Skytree. The Skytree, as I’ve said previously, is 364metres high and is the world’s tallest broadcasting tower! The view from the first viewing platform was amazing! You could easily see all of Tokyo, even all the way to Mount Fuji! But it was also very very popular - there was a LOT of people. There is a further up platform that takes you nearly to the top of the tower, but it was a 30min wait in the queue to get up and a 40min wait to get back down again. We decided against that, as we wanted to be back in time to watch Scotland take on Japan! ((In hindsight, perhaps we wouldn’t have been so hasty had we known the result)). The match was a good game, both teams played well and I wish Japan all the best in the rest of the World Cup!! Here’s hoping they win!! We HAD hoped to watch the game from the massive fanzone in Tokyo, but by the time we arrived (bearing in mind this was nearly 3 hours before kick off) the zone was full, with 1,000 people waiting outside to get in (unlikely they would unfortunately). However, there were plenty of other places in Tokyo showing the match, so we did get to see it and the Japanese were so kind! They were humble and not at all in your face about winning. At the Russia game some of the people there were offering us snacks and telling us we played well. It was a very nice atmosphere, absolutely gutted for Scotland though. Can’t believe our trip is almost over, we leave tomorrow! It’s defo been an amazing experience, I’ve loved every second of it and definitely would love to come back!!

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 7

Typhoon Hagibis hit today in full force! We got many emergency alerts - which was terrifying in itself! - advising us to stay inside and not go out. Hagibis started off as a Category 5 Hurricane/Typhoon (they’re the same thing) and then decreased to a Category 2 one when it made landfall over Shizuoka (which was where we were for the rugby match the other day!). It was windy and rainy as heck, but luckily the area we were in was not hit too badly - at its worst it was like a thunderstorm in Scotland, so nothing we weren’t used to except it was SO. HOT. it was 26 degrees but the wind didn’t make it any cooler. The eye of the storm passed over us at about 9pm, and then the rain kicked up again. Timing is ever on our side, and we felt the shakes of an Earthquake that also happened off the coast of Chiba ((which my sibling so kindly thought was me cutting about the apartment - thanks!)). We stayed up quite late listening to the announcements, but fortunately we didn’t need to evacuate. Hopefully the Scotland vs Japan match will still go ahead tomorrow!

[ionasadventures]

Japan Day 5

Took the most cursed train from Tokyo to Mount Fuji today. It was Naruto themed and it lasted 2 hours. BUT the views from the train were breathtaking. Japan’s countryside is amazing! There was some confusion once outside Tokyo on how exactly to get to Mount Fuji and surrounding area, meaning it took a while to get it all figured out but we eventually managed! During these Typhoon months, the hiking trail to Mount Fuji is closed (not that I’d be climbing it anyway - it’s 3,776.4m <12,389ft> tall - Ben Nevis is only 1,345m <4,411ft>! Plus it’s an actual active volcano. Didn’t erupt, sad times). When we arrived, it turns out that there are no actual bus tours or tourist routes to follow, it’s pretty much get on a bus and get off when you see something interesting, or walk. But the buses don’t run very late at all, and by the time we got there (13:00-ish, not too late really) there was only two buses left that day. After waiting a while and ordering something called “green soda” (that’s it, that’s the name we were given - it tasted like an off brand IRN BRU though!!) we decided to go to the Chureito Pagoda - a five-tiered building that’s part of the Arakura Sengen Shrine. This seemed like a good idea, but it’s 400 steps up to the damned thing, and they’re at least 3-4 inches high per step. The Pagoda was built as a memorial to all those who had died in World War One. The Arakura Sengen Shrine was built in 705, as a way to worship the local diety, and Mount Fuji. It is dedicated to Princess Konohanasakuya-hime, whose worship prevents disaster, brings household happiness, and safe child birth. Whilst walking around the Pagoda, there was large warning signs saying that bears had been spotted in the area recently, so to watch out. Equally we were to watch out for snakes, monkeys, and wild boar. We didn’t see any but we DID see plenty of those massive spiders! They’re everywhere! Due to our lack of speaking Japanese, and to this area being relatively rural, we ended up on the wrong bus, but luckily managed to get one that went by a train station a few stops down the line from where we needed to go. The trains back to Tokyo were completely full, and we ended up standing for the best part of 2 hours there! Whilst back in Tokyo, the rain had started and it’s getting a little windy. Methinks this is the beginning of the typhoon weather! It isn’t meant to be too awful in the area we are in, and indeed in central Tokyo, it’s meant to just be rainy and windy (nothing new for us Scots!). Praying they don’t cancel the Scotland vs Japan match, as that would scupper Scotland’s chances of getting through to the quarter final of the World Cup ((obvs if it’s too dangerous then I don’t want them to play I love wee Greig too much to endanger him)). It was a long day of travelling today, so we are all suitably exhausted and plan on having a chilled out day tomorrow. Here’s looking forward to it!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 17

Today we had a good ole explore of Bern! First stop - the Bear Pit! It’s literally a pit with a family of bears in it in the middle of Bern. There was only one beat out today and they were slomberin in the sun, but it was kinda cool! ((They were fixing the actual pit part, hence why the bear is in more of an enclosure but it is an actual pit!)). Next, we headed off to Einstein’s House! He lived in Bern for a few years, but it was here he wrote his Theory of Relativity! He lived in Bern with his first wife, Mileva Marity (Maric), from 1903 to 1905. His house was kinda small, and it must’ve been super crowded with him, his wife, and his child ((his oldest son was born whilst they lived here)). After we had Lunch, and we headed to the History Museum of Bern. That was creepy as HECK man. In the basement, they had all the original statues from the Bern Minster, and the lightning was quite minimal so as to avoid damaging the artefacts even more. Very very creepy. Like straight out of a weeping angels doctor who episode. As it was quite late in the day, we were the only people there too which made it more terrifying as it was SO quiet. Unfortunately the translation of the information from German-English wasn’t as good, so we got a basic description of what it was, however not much background information about it. Although, you may notice some of the statues do not have noses, and that in some cases the heads have been removed from their bodies - this was a deliberate desecration of these statues. Unfortunately there was no reason given as to why. Upstairs, there was a section on Bern up until present day. It was equally interesting. For example, Lenin himself lived in Bern whilst he was in exile. Also, the Bond Girl from Dr. No, Ursula Andress, was from Bern, as was the String Quartet from the movie “Titanic” ((you know, the ones who play as the ship is sinking...)). It also highlighted a lot of interesting facts about Switzerland’s neutrality during the war. As they were neutral, they traded equally ((or certainly were willing to trade equally)) to both “sides” of the war. During World War Two, this meant that they bought and sold a lot of stolen Jewish artefacts, particularly gold, which they then either melted down or sold for profit. Equally, it meant that they turned away a lot of refugees from invaded countries. It seems that whilst they did not want to take in refugees, particularly Jewish ones, so as not to appear to be taking sides, they were more than happy to take money and stolen goods. The main money making from the war did come from artefacts the Nazi’s stole as they surrounded Switzerland on all sides during the war, but they equally made money off of the artefacts stolen by the Allies too. Kind of grim when you see the truth, as Switzerland being neutral always seemed, certainly when I learned about the war waaaay back in school, that they had nothing to do with anyone on either side. But that’s not true at all. Quite interesting and harrowing at the same time, however I am appreciating (certainly central) Europe’s dedication to remembering and talking about the bad things they did in the past. They don’t glorify it, they retell it to make sure they remember what they did and to learn from it. There’s no point in only mentioning the good parts of history - how else are we to learn from our mistakes, and grow?

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 14

Two weeks already??? Oh Lordy! Today was a relaxed day, although we did have to get an early train from Florence ((where it was already 25 degrees at 9am!)). A quick change at Milan, which has a beautifully ornate station (picture 1), and then it was off to Switzerland! The scenery change from city to alpine was amazing, and it was absolutely beautiful. You get this tiny little bus-like train from Brig to Zermatt, and it has these massive, wide windows so that you can see the beautiful Matterhorn Valley on the way up the mountain. It was breathtaking, rounding the corner and being able to see for miles down this beautiful mountain range. Zermatt is 1km (1000m) above sea level, so the altitude is quite high! Zermatt itself is basically a stereotypical alpine chalet town times a million. There’s SO MANY hotels and chalets all over the place. Luckily, we’re in their off season so it’s not too busy ((not empty though!)). It was a little difficult to find our accommodation, as they seemed to be doing construction work on every street leading to it. But we managed! It was actually a relief to get off the train and it only (only!) be 16/17 degrees and raining. Hopefully it won’t rain too much tomorrow so we can go on a walk around! But now, sleep!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 10

Today was a bit of an adventure! The place we are staying at has the option for you to rent some bikes for getting around the area, so we thought why not! and headed out towards the Almsee, a glacial lake at the foot of the Austrian Alps. It was a 3-4hour hike, but allegedly could still be cycled. Our hosts at the hostel gave us directions that were simple enough for us idiots to understand, and off we went! Grünau is a beautiful, quaint little village that looks absolutely sublime to stay in (it kinda reminded me of a smaller Falkland, but waaay warmer as it was about 28/29 degrees out!). There was a little Spar that was closed on a Sunday, and even took an hours break for lunch at midday. We cycled for aaaages. About 2 hours to get to the lake. My legs were absolutely killing me, but my bum was the worst. The seats were NOT comfortable, and I have a notoriously boney bum which did NOT help! But we did it! Despite the heat, and despite the effort and the fact I’ve not done physical exercise on this level in like ... an embarrassingly long time. The lake was beautiful. It was absolutely crystal clear, you could see the bottom and everything in it. It was PERFECT for swimming. So after being doused in suncream, I headed in. But of course this is a Glacial lake, meaning the water comes from the glacier. The frozen glacier. Yea the water was cold. It was like swimming in the sea at St. Andrews, in the North Sea. After a while I got used to it and swam around (my two travelling companions took a while longer to get in, eventually being persuaded by the fact that I was yelling at them calling them cowards). But we all went in! I’m not sure how long we were actually in the water, but after a while we came out and sat down in the sun to dry off. Which took aproximatley two minutes because of how warm it was. We headed back to where we had stored our bikes (a little restaurant on the other side of the lake) and decided that perhaps we would try and get the bus back, as all of us were super tired and aching. The bus pulled up, which looked promising - it even had an under carriage for luggage that could easily fit our bikes - but the driver said he wasn’t letting bikes on. Shite. So after he drove away, we filled up our water bottles (from the pristine alpine water - tastes amazing!) and began the hard cycle back. I was particularly dreading it because it had been difficult for me on the way there, and I thought it was all uphill on the way back. Turns out the opposite was true! It was mostly downhill! We arrived back in Grünau in about an hour! The hardest part however was Grünau to our accommodation, as there was a HEFTY hill to get up. My knees felt like they were going to fall out, and ye gads did my thighs ache. But mentally, I didn’t really mind because it was so breathtaking cycling past these amazing views?? It was incredible to look at, and I didn’t feel bad for taking a few rests as it was amazing to take in the views. We managed to get back and, coupled with the great news that my companions had achieved excellent results in their degree specifications, we decided to have our dinner then head to the little bar in the hostel. I greatly enjoyed not walking around, and it was a lovey little break. Our room has a balcony, so we sat out on it and chilled for a while in this idyllic surrounding, the early evening sun still absolutly scorching. We’ve a bit of a long journey tomorrow, and I’m a little sad to leave here, but nevertheless I’m looking forward to the next leg! This was a lovely, well needed “holiday from our holiday”, an escape from the city.

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 4

Ayyyyyeee Day 4 completed!! Today we bid Saluu to Belgium and crossed over to Germany! We had a reasonably early start as there was only one direct train (the rest involved 2-3 changes minimum or a hefty reservation fee yikes) but we were waved goodbye to by a cute (very well behaved) doggy!! We got off at Cologne initially, as the train would get us in to Frankfurt waaaay too early. Cologne is very interesting! Right out the central station you are greated with the MASSIVE Cologne Cathedral. It’s dedicated to St. Peter, And is the seat of their Archbishop. It’s also the second tallest cathedral spire in Europe, and boy is it tall! Allegedly, in its shrine to the three kings, the box at the altar contains their bones which was so cool to learn! Also during World War II, it was the only building in Cologne left standing, as the Bomber pilots would use it as a landmark to find the city. Further round the corner from the catheral is the Hohenzollern Bridge, which is covered in so many love locks that they have done permanent structural damage! I believe the council regularly removes them in order to preserve the bridge, as it is used still for the trains! Before you get to the bridge, there is this sorta brick circle path that leads past it. This is actually the roof of the Philgarmonic Opera House! It’s underground, and when a concert is in session (like it was today when we went) you cannot walk over it as they can hear your footsteps in the theatre beneath. It must have amazing accoustics though! After that, me and two other members of the Squad™️ went to the “Museum Ludwig”, which is an art gallery strangely enough (yes I did go willingly and yes I am just as shocked as you!). It was pretty standard, but there was some amazing original Picasso’s, Dali’s, and Warhol’s which is always cool to see! The toilet was... weird. Idk if it itself was meant to be a modern art feature, but if you look at the picture you’ll notice that the toilet roll is about 6ft off the ground, and about 4ft from the toilet itself. The rest of the squad went to sit in a German Beerhall, which looked really cool and traditional inside! I’m not a beer fan (((good choice coming to Belgium and Germany eh))) but it still had a nice environment. Then we got on the train to Frankfurt. Unfortunately, the directions we had to the hostel were for the wrong one initially (there are two hostles, both by the same company, in the city : one just by the train station and one over an hour away. Guess which one we got :) ) but we found the place and it’s really nice! It feels like a hotel more than a hostel. However I forgot that some places in Europe charge a city tax for tourism, so there was a brief moment of panic when we thought we hadn’t actually paid ANY of it but it’s all sorted. Our plan was to buy food in and cook it in the hostel, but we forgot it was Ascension Day. Germany is a very catholic country and as a result almost everywhere was closed. Eventually we found a Turkish restaurant and had what was essentially a German-Turkish hoagie. It was delishious. So far on this holiday I have walked so much my legs are aching and my back is so sore from carrying my bag so I am ALL SET for an early bed and to just chill. We’re going on a walking tour early tomorrow morning so hopefully my legs will have recovered by then! Also managed to find some BumBums which I am very pleased about!!!!

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 20

Last day before we leave for home! I can’t believe this has flown by so quickly! I have had so much fun travelling with my friends, and I will absolutely miss them all (even the gremlins) very much after we’re back! Hopefully we will do this again sometime soon! I hope everyone has been enjoying reading about this as much as I have! Also cheeky wee shout out to Alicia, Michael’s mum - glad that you’re enjoying this and you’re very sweet so thank you!!! Promise that we won’t leave your son stranded in another country! ;) As said before, we just had a chill day today. Or at least that was our intentions! We decided to go to the Lyon Pride parade that was going on, and it looked amazing! However, almost immediately after doing it the most torrential rain downpour EVER happened! It was straight up thunder and lightning, and we were soaked in seconds! We watched the parade for a bit but then the rain was so bad and the lightning was getting a little too close for comfort! After that we chilled in the accommodation, and then ordered “tacos”. They’re essentially what the French call Hoagies, but in a tortilla wrap thing instead. I had one with chips, cheese, and chicken nuggets IN it. It was delicious and I would 10/10 have again. An early night tonight as our train to Paris is at 07:30 tomorrow and we live about 40 minute drive away.

[ionasadventures]

Interrail Day 19

Quelle surprise, another walking tour! The weather was a little shite, it was pretty rainy but not as awful as in Zermatt! So we decided to do a walking tour of Lyon. Lyon is ok I guess, it’s not a super interesting place but there were a few nice gems! We started off outside the town hall, which is a pretty cool! It has statues on top of it of Hercules and Athena. It usually is closed, but today it was open as there was a blood drive on! Lyon was a Roman city (well, it originally was a small sorta tribe here before the Roman’s invaded), and Emperor Claudius was born here, so he made it famous and built temples and amphitheatres, and even gave the Lyon citizens the right to be roman citizens! There was a lot of secret passageways around the city - doors that lead to little side alleys, which were pretty cool cause it means you weren’t always walking down the middle of a road. There equally was a lot of cool street art, which I certainly found very interesting! Our guide was nice but there’s not really a lot to talk about in Lyon, as a lot of it’s the same. Like it’s cool to see all the Roman architecture and the art, but it’s usually by the same people and thus will involve regurgitating the same information. One aspect that I thought was cool was that there was a series of painted facades depciting famous people born in Lyon. They looked pretty cool! It started to rain, so we headed back to our accommodation and just chilled. In the evening, we went to a highly rated bar for a few end of exams drinks. Turns out it was a super nerdy gamer bar, and it was cool! Though there was a group of people playing uno VERY loudly right next to us - they kept slamming the cards down on the table which was kinda weird. But the cocktails we had (Taric, Spectrum by Logitech, and The Horde respectively) were really good! Intend to have a chill day tomorrow as it’s our last day before we leave!