Sean Zarinegar’s Paris day out!

Hey folks, sorry it has been two days since I blogged, but I have been incredibly busy. IT was Sean Zarinegar’s day out in Paris and when I got back to my hotel I was completely pooped. I did so much walking that I even got a blister on my foot. One thing I did get my hands on was the Paris attraction passport, which allowed me to see many things.

As I mentioned two days ago I went to the Louvre, and it was amazing. I think I spent in total about 4 hours wandering the massive building and yes I did get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. It sort of looked like she smelled something funny, but then it turned out that she was actually a he! I walked around there and observed the many different paintings that were there and if time allows I will head back there, I doubt it though this time around, but I will definitely be coming back some other time. After the Louvre I decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and bask in its magnificent glory. I sat in front of the tower and had myself some French coffee before I decided to stand in the long line to go up the tower. I must say that the engineering that went into this monumental tower is something to admire. But there I was like every other tourist waiting to get on top of the man made marvel.

Eventually I made my way to Notre Dame Cathedral and it completely took my breath away. Did you folks know that it took 100 years to construct this mammoth cathedral? The decorations in Notre Dame are something that will make anyone stand in awe of human engineering. I also went to the infamous tower where Quasimodo use to roam at, sadly I didn’t get to see any hunchback ringing bells, but it surely was a pretty sight to see. I can understand why this place is one of the top attractions in Paris.

With all that walking I came back to my hotel room and pretty much decided to die for a day. I have been on the road for quite some time now and have been overwhelmed by the massive amount of sights to see in Europe. I know that I am still in my first phase of my journey, but for now I will continue to explore France. I think I’ll stay here in Paris a couple more days and then head off to the countryside of France. Anyway this is Sean Zarinegar recharging his batteries.

Sean Zarinegar’s Paris Plan

Obviously when you are in Paris there are so many things to do, that you will have to eliminate some spots off your list. I had to do the same since I am not planning on staying here in the city too much time. I want to see if they have castles and ruins all over this country as well. So for my Paris excursion I decided to do the following. Obviously I must go to the Louvre since it is not only one of the most renowned galleries in the entire world! I definitely have to go see the Mona Lisa on display there as well. I will also be hitting up Notre Dame Cathedral to see if I can spot a hunchback somewhere on the premises, and obviously the Eiffel Tower as well!

There is so much to do here in Paris that I think I’ll be heading out now while it is still early. I’ll update you guys in the next blog on what I did with my days in Paris. For now this is Sean Zarinegar signing off!

Sean Zarinegar in France!

Viva Le France! I finally made it to my third country in Europe and it is suppose to be the most romantic city in the world! The only problem with this is that Sean Zarinegar isn’t here with his someone special, but I’ll reserve that for a later time. I found one big problem in Paris; everybody speaks FRENCH! I had to buy myself one of those tourist guides that explains all the little French terminologies, just so I can get from point A to B. My pronunciation is terrible and I always feel like the French are laughing at me behind my back. Either way this is not important, I made it to this beautiful country and have just checked into my hotel. At least the people in the hotel speak English so I could get some information from them, they told me to go to a visitor’s center and get more direction on where I want to go. I think I will do that; I will make my Paris plan and then go about the city. For now this is Sean Zarinegar, saying bye for now!

Sean Zarinegar in York

The ride over here was not difficult whatsoever and finding a place to stay in while in York was even easier. I found this little cottage like Inn that didn’t charge me an arm an a leg to stay there, they also gave me some excellent suggestions to visit while here in York. Sean Zarinegar always pays attention to the locals when it comes to attractions, and their suggestions seemed to be interesting. So let me settle in and have a traditional English breakfast before I hit up York. I’ll update at a later time with some more of my findings.

Later that afternoon:

Well I have been mucking around the town checking all the neat places they have. I had to go to the York Art museum to see if they measured up to the ones I saw in London, and the bottom line is that they did. I was amazed to see how many different eras of art they had showcased that afternoon, and if I didn’t pull myself away from the paintings could have spent a long time there, maybe too long. You folks know that Sean Zarinegar is an art fan, so it’s hard for him to just walk out of a good gallery. Either way I went to what is called King’s Square, which is in fact a grave yard. The only difference between this grave yard and the rest is that there are entertainers and storytellers on the grounds. Also on the rooftops of the graves you can see many little statues of different kinds, quite amazing really. I saw one of a cat trying to catch a pidgeon, I mean who would put that on their grave, but Sean Zarinegar is no one to judge.

I also ventured into what is called the Shambles. This place originally was a slaughter ground, where the butchers after they cleaned the animals used to display the meat on what is called “Shammels”. When you walk down the road you sort of feel how it was like in the Medieval times, I think it is a great place to shoot a movie, maybe Sean Zarinegar will make a medieval movie right here in the Shambles. The only problem is that I don’t know how to write a script, so we can leave that idea for my fantasy box.

Either way there is one more activity for me to do here in York before I go off to my next location. People told me about the York Ghost walk, and as you guys know, I’m a ghost hunting fanatic. So I’ll tell you guys about it when it’s over, for now I’m about to enjoy a good hearty meal. I’ll blog after the Ghost Hunt, time to chow down!

Even Later Still:

Folks, I must say that this time around it was a lot lighter than the Stratford walk, and a lot more comical as well. The tour guide Mr. Rigor Mortis was quite entertaining and took us on a decently long walk around the city of York. I even saw children there, which made me a bit more relaxed. After the Stratford experience I was a bit wary about Ghost Walks, but good old Mr. Rigor Mortis got me to be calm. So I think this will be it for me in England, I think Sean Zarinegar is ready to go to the next Euro Country. I will be leaving in the morning to the country of France to continue my epic journey through Europe. For now I say goodbye to England, and I think I will definitely be coming back since I only grazed the top of England’s tourist attractions. Until then Folks, I’ll see you in France. Sean Zarinegar…out!

Sean Zarinegar and the London Experience PT2

Well folks it’s my second day here in London and I am excited! Sean Zarinegar already had his breakfast and is about to go about the town, it still is kind of early so I think I’ll take it slowly, simply go for a stroll. I found some really interesting walking tours online that I downloaded into my laptop. I also have planned out to go see the changing of the guards, apparently it is an amazing sight to see. I did see the changing of the guards in Washington so I think this would be a treat, especially since these are royal guards. Either way I will be updating this blog at a later time, right now I’m off!

LATER:

Well folks I’ve been walking around London for hours now, and finally the Sean Zarinegar stomach was making sounds from the underworld, so I had to come and sit down and get a meal. I am impressed guys, this place is really a wonderful city and as I mentioned so many times before, it is strongly advised. It is just a different world than the United States and there this truly is the city with most foreigners in it, I have seen faces from all over the world.

When I left the hotel I went on one of those walking tours I told you about all over London. The first spot I hit was the River Thames and the London Eye. I eventually made my way to Trafalgar Square, which sort of reminded me of Santa Monica California. Even though it surely doesn’t look like the streets of Santa Monica, it is packed with a lot of street performers of all shapes and sizes. One guy that really caught my attention was called Beatbox FX or something along that sort. He is on Youtube as well so you guys can check him out. Basically what he does is makes music with his mouth, a microphone and a bunch of pedals on the floor. It truly is an amazing thing to see, so much talent in the world. The street performers can be found at the West Piazza of Covent Garden Market.

Also I did go to Buckingham palace and witnessed the changing of the guards which happens every single day during the summer. It is quite an impressive sight, almost feels like it is a show with the thousands of tourists that stand and watch.

I think my time in London is running out and tomorrow I will be heading to York. I’m not sure if this will be the last spot for me in England, but I can tell you folks that this is quite a trip so far. I think this will be my last blog in London, tomorrow I will be traveling by train to York, and once I’m settled in I’ll shoot you guys a blog. For right now this is Sean Zarinegar, saying top of the evening to you!

Sean Zarinegar in London

One thing that I can say folks is, wow! London surely is the capitol of the world, or at least the place that houses the most foreigners in the entire world. There are shops till you drop and I almost thought I saw Austin Powers roaming the streets. Many people warned me and said that London is a very expensive place to travel to, and for Sean Zarinegar still having to cover a lot of Europe, too expensive isn’t all too good. But luckily I have a plan, I plan on doing all the free things I can get my hands on, before heading off to a new destination.

The thing about London is that there are a ton of good impressive things to do for absolutely nothing! I decided to go down to some of the local art museums they have here in London, and boy was it a great experience. Most of the art museums are open to late and many of them are completely free. The most impressive thing about these art museums is that they host some of the best art in the entire world! London is sort of like the capitol of the world and by looking at what they have to offer it is hard to say otherwise. Although there is one thing I don’t like about the London scene, most of the time it has overcast. I would imagine that people here get very depressed, but who knows, I’m not going to stay too long.

Either way on Sean Zarinegar’s exploration of London I found a couple of other free things to do. Obviously I went to all the normal London spots on my first day, like Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. I tried to make a guard laugh but he just kept on staring into the nothingness of space, maybe his sense of humor died a few years back, who knows.

I couldn’t possibly see everything in London, especially since I am only planning on staying here a couple of days. I’ll see what more mischief Sean Zarinegar can get into to tomorrow, for now this is Sean saying goodnight.

Sean Zarinegar in Wilton

All right folks this will be a short blog since I am on the verge of going to London. Before I head off to the big city I decided to go to Wilton. There are a couple of massive attractions that caught Sean Zarinegar’s eye, the first was the Wilton carpet works and the second was the Wilton House, residence to the Earls of Pembroke. This estate is said to be one of the best in England, so I figured if I was close by I’d check it out.

I walked around here for a bit and just admired the beauty of the surrounding meadows; this truly is a marvelous place. I will always treasure these moments here in Wilton and Salisbury, especially Stonehenge. Right now it is time for Sean Zarinegar to get his packs because I’m heading off to London. I told you folks that this one would be short; in fact I think my ride just got here. This is Sean Zarinegar signing off and on his way to London. See you guys there!

Sean Zarinegar in Wiltshire

From what I have been told about this specific place in England is that there is a lot of history and apparently England’s tallest Spire. The tower is located at Salisbury Cathedral, which in its own is a marvel. Folks I cannot tell you how much history Sean Zarinegar is finding in Europe, and this is only the second country I’m visiting. It is really remarkable to see how history unfolded and where most American’s come from.

The Salisbury Cathedral was built in 1220 and unlike the rest of the Cathedrals; this one was built in almost one generation. This gives it a remarkable difference between the other Cathedrals found all over England. The tower on the premises was built about 38 years later and stands at a whopping 404 feet. The most impressive thing about this tower is that its foundations is only about 5 or 6 feet deep and in wet ground, the builders managed to let the ground take 6400 tons of pressure. In 1668 Sir Christopher Wren did a study on the tower and learnt that it was swaying about thirty inches out of its base. He ordered to place some metal rods all around the tower in order to prevent it from topping over. 200 years later when the rods were replaced people found that the tower had not moved a single inch, now that is some historic architecture!

The Cathedral itself is something amazing to see as well, with the thousands(or at least what I thought) of pillars and windows this place will keep you occupied for quite some time. To top it off the library houses the original Magna Carta and the cathedral has the oldest mechanical clock known to mankind. The clock itself dates back to 1386. Don’t think that Sean Zarinegar knows all this from memory, I’m basically pulling information from the leaflet I obtained at the visitors center, had you guys fooled didn’t I!

Around the Cathedral there is a place called the Close. This is pretty much a walled city within the city that has a bunch of period houses from that era. It truly is a remarkable sight to see and I know I have said this many times, but if in England you must absolutely come to Wiltshire.

I also went to the Market Place, which I think is probably the oldest marketplaces in the entire world. Regular markets have said to be here since 1227 and in the square was where a famous Duke of England was executed.

I had a full day so far, and I think that tomorrow I will head over to one more place here in Wiltshire before I move on to my next spot. Sean Zarinegar is truly impressed with what he is seeing so far, and I can’t wait to explore more amazing sites here in England. Although my time in England must end soon, I still don’t know when I’ll draw the line. The next countries that I will enter into do not speak English, so it will be a bit more of a challenge for me. Either way tomorrow I have one more shortly trip planned in Sean Zarinegar meets Wiltshire. For now this is Sean signing off, and loving every minute of life!