TravelStream™ news feed for member chaseandandria on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/chaseandandria en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:35:46 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1224066840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1224066840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1224066840/tpod.html Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:35:46 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Brussels, Belgium

Hello , Hey


We are in Brussels, not much to report, we used Brussels as a recuperation, transitional period from Amsterdam. Didn't do to much , we found the old Gothic part of town and hung out there for a day, we tried to catch BodyWorks, but our idiot hostel dude sent us through hell's half acre on a wild goose chase so that didn't work out so well. We just did laundry, ate chocolate and fries, so exciting. Oh well , tomorrow we are off to the mother land. Ireland. |Heres to waiting in Anticipation.

Chow

Chase and Andria.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223894040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223894040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223894040/tpod.html Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:06:47 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hello

Well , what can be said about Amsterdam. I loved it.

Nothing quite like submerging yourself into the crazy culture, and wandering the streets till the wee hours of the morning. The whole place is like a 24 7 live human carnival/graphic comic book. Fantastic. The atmosphere in the cafes we attended were amazing. Our nights consisted of cafes and the red-light district, just exploring these crazy winding lit up streets for hours.

One day we went to Anne Frank's which was very powerful and depressing at the same time, quite a strong part of history.

It was very funny to see how agitated Andria got with the traffic. I mean everyone just goes everywhere, trams right at your feet, scooters, motorbikes, bicycles, cars and pedestrians are absolutely the lowest on the food chain. There didn't seem to be any order to the chaos, still it was unbelievable. Andria loved all the shopping , Amsterdam has some of the coolest clothes we have ever seen and there is no shortage at all. The whole city is pretty strict on cameras, so not a whole lot of pics, we didn't really want our camera thrown into the canal. Here is some shots from the canal ride and after the coffee shops.

Next off to Brussels, chocolate and fries.


Chow

Chase and Andria
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223721240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223721240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223721240/tpod.html Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:32:04 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Berlin, Germany

Greetings from Berlin,

We arrived in Berlin to this kickass hostel (compared to Prague). It had a great feel to it with a cafe on the main floor and a bar downstairs. We headed out for some lunch and walked around (yes, aimlessly trying to find a vegan restaurant). After lunch we needed to do laundry, which was an event in itself. The guys that ran the laundry mat (which was supposed to be self serve) couldn't speak that much English and it was hilarious watching them try to direct all these backpackers from the hostel. You had to be there!

Berlin is awesome! I can see why Mike, my brother, said that he could see himself living here. That night we checked out the hostel bar for kareokee night. Hilarious when we saw a massive framed picture of David Haselfhoff, kind of a shrine of sorts. We had to ask the bartender. He pointed out the LP's and Baywatch books and DVD's. Said it was a bit of an inside joke. A lot of tourists think Germany loves David Haselhoff, maybe 20 years ago. So they get a good laugh out of everyone who sees the pic and says "See! They love him here!!) It was very entertaining.

The next day Chase was not very ambitious (hungover). We went down to the SONY Centre, saw part of the Berlin Wall and found an English speaking movie theatre. Since the energy level was very low, we decided to watch a movie. After the movie the energy level was still very mellow (maybe it was the clouds and drizzling rain) We decided to go for dinner and come back later to watch another movie. Maybe we were a bit homesick and looking for something to remind us of home.

After regrouping for a day, the next morning we went for a run, had breakfast and headed to Bradenburgate, the Jewish memorial, Topography of Terror and checkpoint Charlie. We kind of went into infromation overload and called it a day. That night we called Grandma to wish her a Happy 89th Birthday!!

Overall, Berlin was an amazing mixture of old history and modern living. We didn't see nearly enough, but it is time to move on to Amsterdam. Chase is so excited he can hardly contain himself.

Cheers,

Andria and Chase
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223422080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223422080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1223422080/tpod.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:04:01 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Prague, Bohemia, Czech Republic

Hello people

we are in Praha, it is super crazy here, I am now convinced that there is no off season for travelling, there is mobs of people everzwhere here. The city is like walking around a fantasy land and harrz potter all inb one, the castles here are reallz unique looking , and the historz is sick. There is a clock tower here built by this guz Master Hanus which means disgusting in czech, that the town liked it so much that they fesasred he would build another superior clock so they rippede out his ezes , blinding him, he then threw himself into the clock, srewing up the works for a century, oh and by the way, this clock doesn§t tell time rather it is a astronomical clock, covered with skeletons and everz hour the 12 aposltls come aout in the windows. Any waz we did lot§s of stzhff and saw lotùs and there is reallz cheap heinikin here for some reason. We also spendf a whole daz at Josefov which is thre jewsih center of Prague. I know what Andriaùs cousin Mark means now when he told mew that seeing Anne Frankùs house inn AMsterdam was dipressing, cuz so was this holz shit learning all abvout the jews. Very interseting though, we waùlked all over old town which is the gothic area and medivel streets and such, lots of vegan food here for Anbdria. Cheap beer as well I kjnow I said it before. Todaz we went to this castle but I have snever seen so manzy peopl in one atrea so we just checked it out outside. The monez here is fucked, itsù called kurons, so hard to understand everzthing costs well dinner anz waz costs 700 kurons, well what the fuck is that in canadian, it works out to be about 45 dollars. Did I mention before that european kezboards are messed commas or numbers whatever and all screwed. Andria and I decided to go and buz some runners to start running to see these places, so cool. Todaz we ran through this off leash dog park which had awesome trails, one of Andra§s favorites, bz the waz wenever zou see like a z or y or § or, or. orù orø orí oré thiese are soppsed to be something else, figure it out. Prague now is done and tomoorow we are off to Berlin, very excitied looks awesome, we going to do this jogging tour of the city , should be fun.



Over and Out

Chase and Andria
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222942560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222942560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222942560/tpod.html Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:42:35 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

We landed in Munich at 6:30am after spending the night on the train. We checked our bags into a locker at the train station, then went to buy tickets for our train to Prague. After that we walked through the city and went to this crazy museum of Science and Technology. We looked at all the old electrical stuff (geeks...I know!) and train models, chemistry and physics experiments (brought me back to my university days!!) When we had enough of that, we headed back to the hotel to check in. After that it was off to Oktoberfest!! As soon as you come up the stairs from the Metro, you are in the middle of festivities. There are rides and food kiosks and...THE BEER TENTS!!!! We (Chase) visited a few different tents and had a few mugs (massive) of beer. Chase also indulged in the traditional half chicken. We then hit up the rides. We went on a rollercoaster!! Super fun at night. We also went on another coaster type ride. Crazy...and I managed not to get sick!

Day two, we went back to Oktoberfest. We ended up in a tent that was way more energetic for 1:00pm. People were already standing on the benches and singing to their hearts content. It didn't take long for us to get there too. We had this group ask us if they could sit with us. Turns out the drinking age in Germany is 16 and yes they were 16. It was fun! I asked them about their traditional dress and the guys trousers. They said it's only for Oktoberfest. It was a blast!! After that tent (a few hours later) we hit up the rides again. We went on these swings, not just ordinary swings, but ones that went 150 feet in the air. I made Chase go on this super insane ride without me ( I would have been sick for sure). We also went on this crazy upside down roller coaster....and that's what put me just about over the edge. I wasn't sick, but I was done with rides!! We had an awesome dinner at this Vegan fine dining restaurant by our hotel. The chocolate mousse was to die for....Chase still isn't convinced that it was all vegan.

On October 3 we headed for Prague. The train that we got on was a local train, so you couldn't reserve a seat. We got there early, so we got window seats in this 6 seater area. The train ended up being packed. Beyond packed. It was a bit of a nightmare. Finally at one of the stops, the conductor announced that the train was overcrowded and that some people would have to get off to keep the entrances and aisles clear. That was not really going to work. No one was voluteering to get off. There were people and luggage everywhere. Finally after close to an hour with a lot of unhappy travellers and stranded people at the train station, we got going again. We finally made it into Prague. Yipee!!

There is no USB ports at this computer, so we will have to up load pics another time.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222805040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222805040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222805040/tpod.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:59:11 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Chow Everyone,


We arrived late on our first night in Rome went to our hotel and checked in. The guy in the hotel might as well have been a character from good fellows , barely spoke any english and all he said was "prego". When we got there he couldn't work the visa machine and we thought he was kicking us out, but all he meant to say was just pay tomorrow, any way it's hard to explain on the computer , but whenever he was working it was friggin hilarious.


Now day one we are off to the fountains and piazzas and to the Castel Sant' Angelo. Unreal how much history in Rome. The next day we hit up the Coliseum, my favorite of the trip so far. Next to it was to official heart of the origins of ancient Rome. We spend a whole day and night exploring the ruins of the ancient forum. It is so hard to imagine all this stuff in this blog, you just have to see it for yourself. We also went to the Vatican the following day and saw everything there, amazing. I stared for a long time at the infamous Michaelangelo painting , the last judgment, no pictures there has the place was crawling with pissed of italians who were shushing people or giving them the boot for camera use. That night we went back to the Colosseum , We love that place and got drunk on the many places to sit there. There was a dog there who had a striking resemblance to you know who, sure enough it was a cane corso cross.


Any way today we hit up Rome's "best" catacombs supposedly, It took over and hour and a half to get to this place for a 20 minute tour with a boring guide for 6 each the catacombs are so crazy 4 levels of the most Gothic Indiana adventure in real life you can think of but you spend 3% in the caves themselves. We were very disappointed by this place it had to most potential to be unreal, but they just don't let you. Unlike the ones in Paris.
Andria and I have found Rome to be the rudest place to eat, we have walked out of 2 places for brutal service, contrary to Paris which we found awesome.

However we both really like it here and would want to return to explore more of the amazing ancient history, we threw money in the fountain of Trevi. I am probably missing stuff, since like France we did so much here, anyway


Chow


Chase and Andria

ps sorry no pics stupid f.... computer

chow
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222451100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222451100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222451100/tpod.html Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:52:42 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Nice, Provence, France

We arrived in Nice at around 8:00pm, had some pretty good Chinese food, walked along the water on the boardwalk, then went to bed. We woke up, had a shower, ran to catch a train to Rome at 10:05am. Our stay in Nice was very brief. The Cote d'Azur was gorgeous. Riding the train through Tuscany was unbelievable. We will have to come back and visit the coast and Tuscany another time. Words cannot describe the countryside and the views of the water. Pictures do not do it justice. We are now in Rome! (doing laundry and sitting on the computer)

Andria and Chase
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222276560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222276560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222276560/tpod.html Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:27:06 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

Last day in Barcelona, we finally had some sunshine. We spent the morining in Park Guell, another of Gaudi's creations. Absolutely beautiful!!! We happened to be in Barcelona during a wine and food and music festival. We walked along the habour and checked out all the tents selling art, clothes and souvenirs. There was also an amusement park set up with a midway. We went down to the beach and checked out the ocean and all the surfers. We headed back to our room for our daily siesta.

When we got up, we walked right into a parade. It was insane! There were thousands of people and lots of interesting floats. After dinner, sitting on the patio on La Rambla, Chase got a gelato and we headed to a club to listen to some Flamenco music and dancing. It was a great way to wrap up our time here in Spain.

Andria and Chase
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222080900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222080900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1222080900/tpod.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:37:42 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Madrid, Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands

Hola


Not much to say, stayed 3 nights in Madrid Spain, Pretty much did nothing , the hotel we stayed was a 4 star and was cheaper than any hostel we are staying at. Spain are super strict in the palaces and castles so no photos there totally sucks.

The flea market on sunday was pretty wild , mass mobs of people gawking at non aunthentic stuff and stuff. Madrid has a crazing night life, no one goes out untill 10 or 11 at night , that is when they have dinner! Then they party till the sun comes up. Andria and I looked at the sights and rested after our wicked time in Paris.

Now we are in Barcelona, friggin killer. Gotta go we are goin to check out the cathedral that has been in construction for over 200 years.


Day 2 in Barcelona

What a cool night spent all night till the wee hours stolling the gottic quarter(old town) and La Rambla a mile long street full of shops, bars mimes, human statues and craziness. Today we went and checked out the gaudi stuff which was over stimulating. Check out the picks, that´s all to say , tonight gonna have dinner and 20 cent beers in the park in the gottic quarter.


Adios

Chase and Andria
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1221769740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1221769740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chaseandandria/1/1221769740/tpod.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:19:13 -0400 Leaving Fort McMurray and Diavik Diamond Mine, NWT

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Paris, Île-de-France, France

Salut!

We were originally going to take the train to Paris, but while we were still in England there was a fire in the chunnel which took several days to clear. We had already booked our tickets to fly after seeing how expensive it was going to be to take the train, which ended up being a really good thing!

First day here we got our bearings, checked into our hotel, and took to the streets of Paris. Its absolutely amazing here!! Chase had his coffe and we sat on the patio of a cafe and people watched. Later that night we checked out the Eiffel Tower by night. Paris is gearing up for European Heritage days, so the Eiffel Tower was lit up in blue with the gold stars. We then decided to walk down to the Arc de Triomphe and walk all through Paris along the Champs-élysées to our hotel.

Tuesday we went to Sacred Heart and took in the view. We went to a little veggie restaurant for lunch. Mmmm! Veggie and organic is pretty acessible here which was a pleasant suprise. Next we went to Notre Dame and went up the towers. Notre Dame has by far been the highlight of the trip for Chase. Hes still going on about it!! The view of the city was incredible and the history behind the church and the streets are so rich. That night we went up the Eiffel Tower, which was a bit of a disappointment due to the annoying crowds. No romance here at all.

Wednesday we headed back to the Notre Dame to go beneath it to the Crypts. Very neat. After a Falafel at Maoz vegetarian restaurant, we crossed town and went to the Catacombes. Eerie and artistic all at the same time. Well worth the visit. After a private dinner in our room (groceries and wine) we went down to the Red Light district to check out the Moulin Rouge. We decided to go to the Museé Erotique.

Today we headed out of town to the Château de Versailles. So much history here. The gardens were amazing. We headed to the Bastilles for lunch at a small cafeteria style vegan restaurant. Which brings us to now, doing laundry and writing our blog. We havn't had one bad day here. Every morning we've woken up to blues skies, not too hot not too cold. Now off to Spain!!

We couldnt get an overnight to Madrid, so will be leaving tomorrow bright and early for 14 hours on the train!

Au revoir,

Andria & Chase
]]>