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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Average: 4.1 (34 votes)
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Submitted by Israa Moha on Fri, 14/02/2020 - 15:38

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The last time I had traveled was to Dubai. It was a great trip. I've been to many places. I visited the National Museum and Zoo in Dubai, Dubai Mall And that's where I enjoyed watching the dancing fountain, also I've been to many malls, Ibn Battuta Mall, AlEmarat Mall, Yass Mall It was a fun trip. The last district I'd visited it was Ferrari World, really it was a different advertisement.

Submitted by hrahmani on Tue, 28/01/2020 - 15:49

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Usually, I travel because of the demand of my job. I am working as a researcher and I have collaborators all over Europe. Last winter, I traveled to Amsterdam as I was invited by my collaborator that works at the University of Amsterdam. The most striking point of the visit was the very expensive prices of the hotels. They were even more expensive than similar quality hotels in Paris, that is a very famous and touristic city. I further noticed that, interestingly, there are hotels that are just a room located in a boat! I found them really cute though preferred not to stay in one of them.

Submitted by Mahmoud Samir on Wed, 11/12/2019 - 16:09

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recently, i've traveled to sharm el sheikh it got me mad, the place was really wonderful with a worthy sites that contains ancient egyptian mosques and churches with fabulus beaches i really recommend it for everyone

Submitted by fahimeh on Sun, 22/09/2019 - 06:56

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why Dave answers yes to Jean's question "Was it one of those" whilst he was so excited with the place he had rented?

Hello fahimeh,

Dave says he has read about problems with rental flats, so when Jean says 'Was it one of those?' she means 'Was it a rental flat?' Dave says it was a rental place but then says it was fine, and not like the horror stories he'd heard.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Hoàng Nhung on Wed, 14/08/2019 - 03:25

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The last place I traveled to Quang Ninh province. The famous place in my country. It is a beautiful place with many small mountains . I love to recommend it to my friends.

Submitted by Sridhar reddy on Sun, 23/06/2019 - 07:41

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I don't travel much, however the last place I visited was Chennai. It is the hottest place in South India, whole year feels like summer. You can have fun travelling around the city but make sure you're not going out in day time.personally I wouldn't recommend it as I hate hot places.

Submitted by Ramon on Mon, 03/06/2019 - 19:43

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I was in London. A very interested city. You meet people from all countries. It´s very exciting. There are a lot of very nice parks, markets and museums.

Submitted by VyacheslavKr on Fri, 03/05/2019 - 11:38

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A very good lesson as usual. Great. Thank you.