morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-01-29
To: London
Miles today: 0.0

Finally got on my plane and we got going at 3:40am, it was a very smooth ride, and 12 and half hours later here I am in the UK. Got through customs, and caught the train to Kings Cross Station, and my backpackers is a 2 minute walk. Nice little spot. It was lunchtime by the time I got to my backpackers, and so I went for a walk, even though I had no sleep, with so much to see I do not have time for jet lag. What a walk it is, some how I ended up at the British Museum, had a look at the Greek marbles. THe place is full of so much stuff, it was the best museum I have ever been to. Think of the shoes that go around the English country side finding things from the saxon era, or the Roman era. All the stuff they find is in this museum, and the stuff is extraordinary. The British have stolen so much stuff from other countries uring their empire days, and it is all on display. Around every corner there is something more amasing, including mummies, important Egyptian artefacts and so much more. Walking around the streets is mind blowing, there is so much to see, and over the next few days I am going to try and fit as much as I can in. Meet a fantastic person in my room, another Australian, and we just had an Indian meal together. Supposedly we are located in the red light district of London, on this trip that goes without saying. It was 6 degrees here, and I spent the day walking around in shorts, and I did get many strange looks. I have wanted to come here for so many years and it is living upto every expectation.Who is the odd man out - Clayton Gles, Nathan Giles, and Ben Perrett. Ben Perrett is the odd man out, because he is the only one of the 3 to have riden the tube. It really is amasing and you can see why it is so famous, I am located on the Picadilly line.
Date: 2008-02-05
To: Oxford
Miles today: 0.0

Gill came knocking on my door at 6:30 am and suggested in her perfectly English posh voice that I should get up, so polite. I yelled out get stuffed it was too early, so Australian. I got up, had breakfast, quick wash, packed my bag and it was time to leave. Gill was efficeint as always and bundled me out of the house by 7:15am and drove me off to Rowley Regis Station to catch the train to Oxford. Caught a train to Leamington Spa, and then changed trains to get on the Oxford line. The trains are so much better than wheat we have in Australia, the staff both at the stations and the conductors are so helpful and take great pride in their jobs. In Australia they tend to be all incredibly over weight and so rude, with the worst attitude, it is like they are running an employment service for sheltered people. Here the servies run on time, and if anything happens they are quick to tell you and try thier best to provide an alternative. On the way to Oxford a lorry had hit a bridge that the train passed over, so we were delayed, as the line was shut down, not having much luck with transport, nothing has been on time yet excpet for the underground. An engineer had to come out and inspect the bridge and give us the all clear. The landscpae and countryside out the window of my train was once again breathtaking. Small creeks gently making their way across green fields. Cute little farm houses, rows and rows of perfectly maintained hedges, it looks like something out of a story book, it is something you could never grow tired of.Now I am in Oxford, and it is easy to tell that it is a universtiy town by the young people walking the streets. It is another cold day, with some light drizzle, and a grey sky, the perfect conditions to see England in. This town really has some amasing architecture, and I am off to go for a walk about the streets. I left my bag in a backpackers, and will meet Nick at 6pm at the train station and stay at his place. I am really exhausted today, but will soldier on, shall be in Oxoford until Friday, and then head off to London for the weekend, and then off to Zurich to catch up with Nick again on Monday, hopefull that flight will be ontime. Caught up on all my journal entires. It is costing me 3 pounds an hour to use the internet here, whenf you convert that to aus, it is very expensive, but it is a good way to escape the cold. Shall keep you all posted with my progress over the next few days. Keep sending your messages, I do love to read them all.
Date: 2008-02-08
To: Zurich
Miles today: 0.0

Hello from Zurich. Had a great night last night, Nick and I were off to dinner at Worcester college to meet up with Bjorn, Nicola and Sancos. The place was amasing, and not many tourists would say they get to have a meal at an oxford college. THe buildings are ancient and very imposing, but the thing that most impressed me was the grass. It was mown very similar to the MCG in tight strips, it looked awesome, it was crying out for me to run across it, but of course that is not allowed. The dineing hall had a huge ceiling, it was long and wide, just what I expected. The food was delicious, and then Bjorn took us through the college and back to his flat, then off to the pub. Many rum and cokes were consumed, and I got a little tipsy, and Nick got really pissed. The male company was the best I have had since leaving Australia, these boys were laid back, easy to talk to, and had broad topics of interest. To the pair of you thanks so much for the two great nights we had together, and make sure you come visit down under you will love it, and make sure you look us up. Having dinner at a college was the highlight of the trip to oxford. I got up early this am and caught the bus to Heathrow, and it was delayed as there was an accident on the motorway. The sky walk that leads you onto the plane was broken, so we had to walk on the tarmac. We ended up having a 1 hour delay.Zurich is so clean, it is a great atmosphere, and the people are very friendly, and all speak english. Yet to walk around much but have lots planned for tomorrow. Shall keep you all posted.
Date: 2008-02-17
To: churches
Miles today: 0.0

This is a specail blog for my uncle PeterStill in rome, each day Nick and I go for a wander around the city with no real plans. We just end up taking a wrong turn, and next thing we have stumbled upon another Basilica. The churches here are phenomenal, even though you are not allowed to take pictures, I take plenty, so have plenty to show you. The quality of the artists, the masons, the sculptors is hard to imagine. You can see these places in books and on tv, but until you have stood under the dome and looked up at the paintings high above you, then it is hard to imagine just how magnificent it is. If you stand at the back of the church near the opening, you can hear the new tourists walking in, and usually it is accompanied by the sound of wow. The spaces that these churches occupy is so massive, Nick paced out the length of one of the domes that was atleast 100foot above us, and he estimated it to have a diameter of 20meters, and it is covered in paintings. The paintings hung on the wall are often 5 meters or so in height. The sculptures are so detailed, today people would not have the skill to do it. It takes about half an hour to just wander around the floor space and take in all the detail on the floor. All of the colourful marble is from India, and remember they were building these things back more than 300 to 500 years ago. I think Rome is something that as a catholic you might want to really see. St. Peters square can fit quarter of a million people in it easily, never seen such a big open space, and the buildings around it dwarf the space. Each day we find more and more churches, and everyone of them has something so spectacular, even the small ones have michealangello paintings. The detail in these churches, the quality fo the craftsmanship, it will blow your mind. The size of that big catholic church in Geelong you could fit in the foyer of some of these churches. I am not a religious man at all, and have been mighterly impressed by all of the Roman things we have seen, but the highlight has definitely been the churches. We hunt out the Domes that are everywhere amongst the Rome skyline. Tomorrow we go off to see the biggest dome of them all, St. Peters.
Date: 2008-02-19
To: Florence
Miles today: 0.0

Just a quick note to say that Nick and I have made it safely to Florence. It is by far the most beautiful place I have been to yet. It looks like a picture postbook, it is so stunning. Terrocata roofs, another huge basilica, one of the first Domes ever constructed, if you think of Tuscany then you will know what I am talking about. Will report back more tommorrow. Must add that Nick and I are in eperate beds tonight. We may be great mates but sharing the same double bed for our entire time in Rome was a bit much. Nick does have some flatulance issues that need to be addressed, I am not sure how Nicole endures it. Same rooms but seperate beds tonight, we are in a really beuatiful bed and breakfast type spot. Have a full day here tomorrow, and then off to padua and on to Venice the following day.
Date: 2008-02-20
To: Florence
Miles today: 0.0

Wow Is, that is amasing that someone could walk 50km in a day, and to do the whole hike in 21 days, probably shows how easy the Bibb track is compared to others. Not great news for me, I think this AT is going to be more difficult than I am expecting.Thanks for your comments, meet osme people from WA last night and going to catch up with them again tonight. As you would expect from WA people very kind and polite. Was slow to get going today, and went for a reasonably long walk, along some of the older sections of the town. Down by the river is gorgeous, took some great pictures. Went to a gallery where David is located,and it certainly is a masterpiece, can see why so many adore this piece of sculpture. There was no que, big suprise, must of got their at a good time, not allowed to take pictures, so after being asked to leave the Sistine chapel thought I better obey the orders. David has hugehands, but other parts of his body are only very small, if he was to play with himself, he would probably rip it off, that is how big the size differential was between the hands and Mr Johnson. The things that you notice hey. Going out for dinner tonight at the train station, I will always be a tight arse.Saw the old town wall, pretty big instillation, obviously they were scared of someone at some stage.Not a great deal else to write, still having a great time, hope all is well back home. I was glancing at some other peoples trail journals and see that some have started the AT, and as you would expect it is super cold, glad I am still in Italy. Moving on tomorrow, will write again when I am in Venice.
Date: 2008-02-28
To: Tasmania
Miles today: 0.0

Good luck to my mother who is taking an adventure of her own. Have a great time in Tasmania. I am heading back to my hostel to see if I can book in again tonight, or I might have to change hostels. Been having some great discussions with people in my hostel room each night. We were talking about the development of languages, some people sure do know a lot of things. They were telling me that when people say they can speak a number of languages, it is not as impressive as it may seem. The languages of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Romania, all have a basis in Latin. Originally they all spoke latin as they were part of the Roman empire. It was only the educated elites who spoke proper Latin, the rest spoke a combination of their local languages and latin, that is hwy each country and in some cases each region began to develop their own dialects, but even today all these languges still have a common basis, with regards to grammar, and most of the main words that they use. So once you have learnt one of these languages and understand the basis of it, all you need to do is increase your vocabularly to incorporate the local language. At the very least you will be able to speak in Pidgeion and generally be understood enough to do the day to day things of making purchases, and interacting on a basic level with locals.English has a few extra compications which make it a bit different from these languages, because the Germanic tribes did not arrive in England until after the Romans left. In the Roman empire on the continent latin and the germanic languages were existing side by side as the germans pushed south and over ran most of Europe. England also had its grammar changed and influenced by the Danes (Vikings). Then of course the Normans invaded bring French, possibly why most English speaking people find French the easiest language to learn.It has been a fascinating few days of chats in the room each night, great to be around some intellectuals, backpackers form my experience tend to attract such types.Mick Stevens could join us and explain to us all about post modernism, and the development of art over the last 1000 years, and how it has influenced the Spanish. I have loved my time in Madrid, and thank you so much to all of you who have written to me, to hear form you all is jsut great and lifts my spirits. We do live in the best country on earth, and it is nice to hear from some of my fellow citizens back home.
Date: 2008-02-29
To: Off to barcelona
Miles today: 0.0

Hi allThanks to Ryan Jones for his touching comments, you should all go and read them, fantastic stuff. I love you to Mr Jones. For the most volume of correspondence and best updates i am giving the award to Mr Stevens, you should all take a leaf out of his book. Wow, if Mick is finding the GIS stuff tough, imagine what it will be like for me, guess I shall be sticking to surveying. I have booked my ticket for an overnight train to barcelona, best way to travel as it saves a night accomodation. Yesterday I finally saw something on my travels that my mother may enjoy and apreciate and that was the home ground of Real madrid, and I did the tour. Real are the most successful club side in Europe and it was where Becham was playing up until recently, and it was also the home club of Zidane. THe ground is no where new as the MCG, but it does have a capacity of 80 000 people. It was very impressive. The seats for the players on the bench were incredible, they are heated and they are so soft, they are very much like an armchair. These soccer players are really treated like major superstars. Today i am going to try and find the other major ground and that is for Athletico Madrid, not meant to be a very far walk at all. When i was walking home last night took a detour through the old city, and an old lady approaches me, she would have easily been in her 60s. She kept asking me some question, and I did not understand. When an old lady approaches you, as always you try to be polite, if it was someone much younger you would be less inclined to help I guess, but you must respect your elders. Eventually we played charades, and all of a sudden it became very clear what she was offering, she was making up and down movements with her mouth. Surely I thought, I must be mistaken, but alas I was not. There were a number of such ladies on this street, and most as old as her, even madrid offers up so incredibly strange sights. i am going to visit the palace also today, meant to be very impressive, did a heap of walking yesterday, and as far as the flu is concerned probably not the best thing to do. Just have this nagging cough. At the moment trying to desperately download some pictures onto CD but am struggling a bit. Write to you all once I get to barcelona. Successfully put up some new pictures for you all to enjoy. They are a combination of Rome, Florence, Venice, and here in Madrid, although I have not taken so many in Madrid, getting over taking so many pictures, the novelty has worn off. Hope you enjoy the pics. Good Luck to my dear mother on her trip.
Date: 2008-03-03
To: Camp Nou
Miles today: 0.0

Hi all, i am still in barcelona, and it is past 1:10am, latest I have been up on my trip, just hanging with an american, another austaralian and a canadian. Had a can of beer and a pint at a local pub. Went out after having dinner, and the town is full of Celtic supporters, drunk Scots everywehre, they are so funny, they have completely invaded Barcelona, they play against barca tomorrow night. I went to the Camp Nou today and did the tour, it is Barcelonas home ground. It has a capacity of more than 110 000 people, and it was built way back in 1965, so think of Melobournes old olympic stadium and you will have an idea of what I am talking about. Here in Australia we would have knocked the ground down long ago and replaced ti with something new and modern, but the Spaniards are so proud of this ground, and would not think of changing it, to them it is world class. I did the tour and it was a lot of fun, love taking tours of these large grounds. It was no MCG, but it was still impressive.Came home and had the biggest blisters between my big toe and the toe next to it. Guess it is good preparation for the AT. I must admit I hate blisters, amasing how something so small can give you so much grief. Caught up with my American friend Marie, and we went for a walk down by the marina and sat and chatted watching the yachts come in and out. A bird did a huge shit all over her jeans, it provided me with huge amounts of humor, I laughed and laughed, but was a gentleman and went and got some napkins from a near by restaurants to help clean it up. Not far form the hostel is a street full of prostitutes, they seem to follow me everywhere. They are so aggressive, and I wnt for a walk along the street, and the girls grab you on the arm and will not let go, you realise by their strength and grip of their hand that they are not necessarily what they seem to be portraying. Some of them have the strength of a man, and that is because some of them are men. Europe sure is a different place.Had a lovely dinner tonight, it was great to sample some of the local food, and it was lovely, good as anything that I experienced in Italy.have another night booked in at this Hostel, tommorow night is the big game betwen Celtic and Barca, so it should be a huge night in the town, might go and watch the game at a local pub. There is actually an Australian pub in this town, it is called Hogans, and sells Fosters, might have to go check it out. Everyone in this backpackers seems to be huge drinkers, I am sure glad that i am not such a person, i see them walking around in the morning nursing a huge hangover, and it brings a smile to my face.
Date: 2008-03-09
To: Castillet
Miles today: 0.0

Hi allAbout to check out of my hotel room and catch a train to Avignon. No one can speak English at the hotel, so it sure has tested my limited French, although I have been amased how much I have picked up, I must have learnt more at high school than i thought, it sure has been fun. I told them at breakfast that I was Australian, one started hoping around like a Kangaroo, and the other just wanted to talk cycling and rugby. Cadel Evans, Ogrady and co. sure have put us on the map in this part of the world.Yesterday walked arond the old city, it is a rabbit warren, a maze, getting lost was the order of the day. It is so well preserved, just brilliant, climbed to the top of the Castilet which stands at the point where the old and new towns meet. It was once the city gate and later a prison, built during the 14th century, but was altered by Louis XI. It had a great museum inside giving an insight into life back in the day. It was so high at the top, but I overcame my fear of heights, and walked aroud it, it had holes for the water to run out, my legs shaked, but somehoz I managed, views were stunning, and much of the city is surrounded by snow capped mountains, stunning. Also went to the Cathedrale Saint Jean Baptiste being built in 1324, it has a single huge naiveall beautifully proportined which is definitely the mark of the French. You can see zhy the French are referred to as the cultural engine room of Europe, in one small tozn I have seen as much as other capital cities have to offer.Being in a small town with no tourists has been a delight. I have 4 huge welts on my face, looks like something has bitten me. My black pants look like parachute pants, cant beleive they zere such a struggle to get into at Nicoles wedding. Thank you to Marie to writing to me, she is from the US, and yes Australia is very beautiful, and feel free to drop in any time, more than happy to put you up.Bleeding money here in Europe, cant wait to get to US so that stops, a tent with free accomodation on the AT. I will be spunging off Kristen in Canada that is for sure, be nice to have my meals cooked and clothes washed by someone else. I was running out of socks and jocks, spent too much time as a tourist and the laundry mats all shut, the disadvantage of a small town, so washed undies, socks, tshirts all by hand. Dried them overnight on the heater, got to go collect them now. It is moments like these that make me think it is about time I got a wife. Train trip through the French countryside willl be awesome this afternoon. Hope mum had fun in Tqsmania, and I am suprised you had troubel reading a map of Tas, all you need to do is look down, Giles and the Jones will both be laughing after reading that purile comment, if nobody else.
Date: 2008-03-14
To: Lausanne (spelt correctly)
Miles today: 0.0

BonjourUp early and about to go out and enjoy some sunshine, wonder how mum is going with looking after the kids on a 39 degree day. I am about to go out and charge around lake Geneva for one last look, this afternoon am leaving French speaking Switzerland, and will be in Swiss German speaking Switzerland. It really does not matter as either way I have no idea what people are taling about. The people here are the same as in France in that they try to avoid speaking English. It has become apparent to me that most people understand what I am saying even when they pretend not to. They say they do not speak english but when i ask questions in english they know exactly what I am saying, but give back instructions in French or sign language. So I tur it into a bit of a game and play dumb and pretend that I do not understand what their instructions are, or I give the wrong amount of money (not enough) when buying a product. When asking for more money their english is then perfect, it is so funny. Twice now other customers have intervined and helped me understand what the person is trying to tell me, and on one occasson the lady became rather irrate. I think she was telling the other lady off serving me who was refusing to speak in English to me, I think she said to the lady "Why are you behaving this way?" or something along those lines. After this exchange the lad spoke in english to me, I just laughed. One man in a patisserie which I returned to on a second occassion, on the first time did not speak english and made sign language at me, but on the second time did speak english. I was talking to some swiss germans who are travelling over here and they laughed and laughed as I told them these stories. They said the funny thing is that although their are 4 official languages, only reall two are used. Romansch is only spoken by 30 to 40 thousand people and italian is mostly spoken in Lugano. The break up is 30% French and 70% swiss german. The french find it realy difficult to learn swiss german, so instead English is now their major second language that is spoken in school. For the swiss germans it is the same, most of the younger generation can speak english better than they can french. I idd notice in Zurich that most people spoke spuerb English. So these swiss germans were telling me it will be interesting to see what language will be used in future generations for the french and swiss germans to communicate, they both learn english as their major second language but one group of people refuse to use it unless they absolutely must. THe French are a funny bunch, I will have to be careful what I say as most people here can understand me even when they pretend they cant.ext couple of days are travel days so you may not hear much from me, I have booked a hostel in London for 3 nights, and will be charching around to see all the things i missd the first time, including Greenwich.