Catching up after a trip

Catching up after a trip

Listen to two friends talking about a recent trip abroad to practise and improve your listening skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.

Preparation

Transcript

Dave: Jean, hi!

Jean: Hi, Dave. How are you?

Dave: Good, good.

Jean: Wait a second, I'm not calling you in Canada, right? You're back now, aren't you?

Dave: Yeah, I got back two days ago.

Jean: Oh good, phew. Because I wouldn't want to be calling you long distance without realising it and suddenly ...

Dave: You've spent a fortune on a long-distance call. No, I know, it's OK. I actually wouldn't answer the phone while I was over there if I saw the call was coming from England. But no worries, we're in the same country now.

Jean: Yeah. So, how was the trip? Did you meet your long-lost uncle?

Dave: I did, actually. It was very good. I flew to Toronto and stayed there for a few days. At first I was really worried about my accommodation because I kept reading these appalling stories about rental flats going all wrong. 

Jean: Oh, was it one of those?

Dave: Yeah.

Jean: My friend had a disastrous experience in Barcelona with one of them. The place didn't look anything like the photos, and all the neighbours hated that there was a holiday flat in their building. Awkward situation. Urgh.

Dave: Right. So, as I was saying, I was really worried because I heard these stories. And at first I couldn't find the place. Turns out I was in the wrong building. It was next door, and on the top floor, and … wow. Jean, this place was fabulous! Really spacious, with these floor-to-ceiling windows and the most scenic views of the city. I could see the lake and the whole city skyline and skyscrapers from my bedroom. I had to pinch myself to prove I wasn't dreaming.

Jean: Sounds pretty cool. So, what's it like? The city, I mean. I've always wanted to go to Canada.

Dave: It's nice. I mean, it's another big, vibrant, modern city. But it's really clean, and there's lots of parks. One of the things I liked was the multiculturalism. We visited Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Little India … umm, I can't remember the others but it was sort of a new area every three or four blocks, you know?

Jean: Hey, is it true that there's a whole part of the city that's underground? I read that somewhere about Toronto, or saw it on some TV show.

Dave: It's true! I asked about that. They call it the PATH. There's, like, almost 30 kilometres of restaurants, shops, cinemas and stuff all underground. In the middle of the downtown area.

Jean: Amazing!

Dave: Yeah, but actually once you're down there it's not that noticeable. There's actually a lot of natural light. I forgot we were underground. It's mostly useful to get out of the cold weather.

Jean: What temperature was it while you were there?

Dave: It was still only November, but it was getting cold. We had at least a day where it was less than zero. My uncle told me that in January and February it can go down to 20 below zero.

Jean: Oh, wow. I think I'd die!

Dave: Yeah, and the worst thing was what they call the 'wind-chill' factor. So they say the temperature is zero degrees, but minus eight with the wind chill. So it feels like minus eight. And my uncle said the wind-chill factor can go down to minus 40.

Jean: Stop it! You're making me feel cold just thinking about it. So, how was meeting your uncle? The famous Uncle George.

Dave: That was great too. He lives outside of Toronto, in a cottage by a lake. Really tranquil and unspoiled nature.

Jean: I'm dying to see photos. You want to meet up soon? Or are you too jet lagged still?

Dave: Yeah, I'm actually free tomorrow if you like.

Discussion

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Submitted by DJ Singh on Sat, 05/12/2020 - 06:46

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I am not a travel person but my last travel to a hill station around 100-150 kilometers from Mumbai (a city in India). Group of 5 people, including me we went there for almost 3 days and we enjoyed so much out there. It was lots of fun. We rode horses and drove go-kart and much more. I definitely recommend to my others going there and explore a little more with carrying a little more time.

Submitted by Cami on Sat, 03/10/2020 - 11:18

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The last place I travelled to was Sardinia (Italy). I really recommend to everyone who wants to see unchantable see but also discover ancient and truly fascinating traditions such as that of sardinians. It is also possible to visit a lof of museum, traditional villages and other many tourist sites, such as "i Nuraghi", prehistoric constructions typical of the nuragic civilization.

Submitted by Vixy on Mon, 14/09/2020 - 09:04

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My last trip to abroad was in January, right before the covid restrictions. We travelled to the south part of Cyprus, to Paphos. It was beautiful, the country, and in this area you can meet beach, mountains, sunshine and snow within a few miles. Foods were very tasty but it wasn’t surprising for me since I love mediterranean cuisine. The only problem was the winter and not because of the weather but the few people - few open restaurants and shops actually. Of course, I totally understand the locals - they don’t have to open their businesses for only some people. Still, I recommend to visit Cyprus in winter mainly if you are curious about the landscape of the country and want to be in a calm place.

Submitted by ragamin on Fri, 05/06/2020 - 19:01

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how can i see the replies to my comments ?? in : my account > track tab > replies column , i have like countless replies but when i click one titles which take me to those webpages , i dont see any ...

Hello ragamin

The numbers you see on each page are the total number of comments on the page. I'm afraid you just have to check each of the pages where you've made a reply.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by OlaIELTS on Fri, 29/05/2020 - 02:43

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The last place I travelled to was Zaria. Yes, i would.
i like your comments ... they're short, like , super short . :))) just a "yes or no" answer to the questions .

Submitted by yoyoraw on Thu, 14/05/2020 - 20:13

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Last year my family decided that Spain will be our next destination . So a month ago, we were in Madrid but to be honest, I did not enjoy staying in Madrid as much as i enjoyed staying in Barcelona . But however, one of the things that i liked about Madrid is its streets and neighborhoods , you can see many amazing ancient architect designs all over the city. Plus, the weather was really good. We went there in summer so i dont know how winter feels like there, but i suspect its very cold . Now about the accommodation ,we were very lucky with it ,and we stayed in a nice hotel that was located in the center area of the city. I remember that we saw the most scenic views of the city through the windows that were in our room . So in the end, I really enjoyed my trip to Spain, and I would recommend this place to all my friends.

Submitted by Patricia5 on Thu, 02/04/2020 - 11:03

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My last trip outside of my own country was to Berlin. Multicultural and vivid capital of Germany. Along with Berlin we have visited Potsdam, city of around 200.000 inhabitants and calm lifestyle, historically a part of Eastern Germany. We were in Berlin and Potsdam partly for a business purposes, however we still had some free time to look around. Difference in an architecture and neighbourhoods are astonishing, but what amazed me the most is rich recent history that Berlin has, from II World War uptil now. I would recommend everyone to visit Berlin, take a few days to truly discover the city and it's inhabitants, which are of different nationalities and ethnicities, unlike in any other city I had visited so far.