some hostels are shittier than others
Hey. So we ended up not seeing the Queen yesterday on account of the fact that it was totally cold, windy and pissing rain, but whatever. I'm sure she did just fine without Kristine and I giving her the thumbs-up and an encouraging smile every time she glanced nervously in our direction for a little courage before making an announcement. But man, what a horrible country she must think Canada is; did she get even one day of good weather? I guess she is from England though.
On an related note, we're going to be in Toronto by tomorrow around 2pm, and after a few fitful hours of sleep on Kenny's hideabed, I guess we're off to London, where the weather has, according to theweathernetwork.com, gone from rainy and 14 to cloudless and 30 overnight. Whoo! Kind of! I still don't really have any shorts! That's going to suck more so in Rome!
And speaking of Paris, we had a bit of a freakout last night about our accomodation whilst there at a hostel called the Peace and Love, courtesy of a few less than favourable reviews on tripadvisor.com with such affirming subject lines as "the most disgusting place i have ever seen" and "No Sleep...Filthy place (figuratively and literally)." Yes, there were a few good reviews as well, but they all seem to have been posted by jackasses. Anyhow, this, coupled with the fact that hostelworld.com's listing for Peace and Love has a huge, all-capped warning (apparently, the hostel considers it a selling point) that you shouldn't stay there if you enjoy sleeping BECAUSE THIS IS A PARTY HOSTEL AND WE LIKE TO PARTY SO NO UPTIGHT PEOPLE WHOOOOO!!! did not bolster our confidence in our initial decision
I mean, hey: I like to party as much as the next guy, but uh, isn't that what the rest of Paris outside the room you're staying in is for? When I get back to my bed, that means it's goddamned bedtime. So, thoroughly worried, and further sketched out by descriptions of the Gare du Nord neighbourhood as isolated and slummy, we amazingly found a new place online in the Bastille district for $70 bucks more each. Bastille's apparently pretty cool--lots of bars, restaurants, big nightlife hotspot--and it's way closer to the heart of the city, meaning we won't have to spend half our day riding the metro, which is hot. So yeah. I'm surprised we found a new place so easily. Let's just hope this place doesn't suck, too.
posted by Anonymous at 9:29 AM
2 Comments:
I still tremble when I think of the hostels in New York shattering my precious WASP sensibilities.
A dreadful place called the "Banana Bungalos", which, as you might describe as a non-uptight PARTY ZONE, gave me no chance in hell for a night of sleep. If I wasn't too busy keeping an eye on the cockroaches a foot above my head on the wall, I still had to deal with the drunken Europeans, eight of 'em on bunk beds in a small room, one of them fitfully trying to masturbate. I remember he had zebra print dink shorts style underwear.
But I don't think that place was part of the Hostel Association or whatever the orgainzation you can get a card with and is across North America. For the most part hostels have been good to me. The one in downtown Chicago was more like a hotel with a private room shared by 3-4 and very cheap. The one in Regina is also very good. Still, if I can ever budget to pay a little more I try to. Other people are terrible, try to stay away from them, okay?
Also, what do you think of this Crosby Lottery draft? 3.65 % chance!
~Mike W
12:18 PM
Oh, and while in London, I'd encourage you to stay in the YHA hostels, and _not_ the party places (ie. most of the other hostels). I've had terrible luck with the St Christopher's chain, which seems to cater to heavily intoxicated Australians, and loud American pub-crawling brats. You'll probably pay more for a YHA hostel, but you'll probably feel more safe. Oh, and sleep. You'll get more of that, too.
Also, I'm not sure about big cities, but in many smaller European centres, B&Bs are a great option for couples, and often don't cost much more than a hostel. Depends on the place, though.
Have fun!
Iain
9:51 PM
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