Superlatives II

Longest train ride:
Trip from Krakow to Paris.

From the time the train departed to the time we arrived in Paris, it was 26hrs. 24hrs were spent on the train itself. It actually wasn't so bad, especially the over night part in the couchettes. It was really romantic to travel like they did in the good old days. This trip was more pleasant than our flight back to Canada which was 7.5 in flight, 15.5hrs total from Paris to Ottawa. The flight offered two movies ('Yes Man' and '7 Pounds') a meal and a snack, and yet this didn't compare to the lovely experience on the train with the couchettes.

Worst hostel
3Ducks in Paris

The only redeeming quality of this hostel was that it had good coffee. none of the other hostels or hotel offered a good tasting coffee. However, everything else about the hostel sucked.

Items of distaste:

1. the shower had no temperature control. the only option was scalding hot, and a button had to be pushed to turn it on. On top of that, there was no where to place one's soap, so that one would have to clasp the soap in one hand, cup scalding water in the other and splash it on ones body. It was the worst shower I have ever come across in my life!
2. the breakfast was an awful tasting croissant, a dry bun, and a choice of two different jams. it was the lamest brekky of all the others.
3. the place was in courtyard style, which seems nice at first, until you can hear the drunk gurls trying to sing (they think they sound good) you never have an opera singer try to sing when they're drunk, but for some reason gurls like to sing Disney songs when they get plastered.
4. They make you pay for your sheets. Some places require a deposit, but 3Ducks keeps your money and the sheets smell like bleach.
5. The whole place needs upkeep. I mean it's cute that every thing is old fashioned, but I don't think water damage on the floors or soil mattresses that are sunken in, or pigeon pooped decks or skittles from past clients on the floor, or dirty dingy walls in stairwells really contribute to the atmosphere of the hostel.
6. They dont have lockers. All the other hostels had lockers that you could use as long as you had a padlock. Here, if you had a shared room you must keep your belonging at the mercy of strangers.
7. The staff sucked for the most part. The only exception was a Brazilian who was studying in the arts, but all other staff were grumpy and/or didn't know any information.

Worst Attraction
The Louvre, in Paris

Yes, I went. No, I didn't like it. I saw the Mona Lisa, and that was no more special than any of the other treasures in the place. In fact there were so many that I just sorta got board. Also, the exhibits are not really placed in such a way that they are well displayed. There is really just too much shit there. We also payed an extra five euro to see the temporary exhibits, however, there were none at that time. No one warned us of this, in fact staff even directed us to the places were they would be on display, no one even knew they weren't on display and charged us for it. We also could not escape the museum to eat. there are a million emergency exit signs. One sign will point you down a stair well, and as you descent, there is another sign point up from whence you came. Finally when we found a place to eat, there was but 12 tables to sit at, while an empty cafeteria lay just beyond, reserved only for those willing to pay for food. I hate the Louvre.