TravelStream™ news feed for member lucbergeron86 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/lucbergeron86 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:13:11 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249480950/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249480950/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249480950/tpod.html Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:13:11 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

London, England, United Kingdom

The past few days have been relatively quiet! Meagan worked for the past days with analysts from the UK and has really enjoyd her experience!! Luc has been going to museums (including the British Museum, the Science Museum, and the Museum of Natural History) and went shopping!!! He got some really great deals! We went for walks in the St. James Park and saw Buckingham Palace too!

Unfortunately Luc has not been feeling 100% since yesterday -- we think he has either a flu or some sort of food poisoning....so that is unfortunate! Hopefully he will be good to go tomorrow for our flight to Halifax!!

Overall our trip to Europe has been really fantastic! We had wondeful weather, we enjoyed all the sites and the beaches!! We were very fortunate that everything went very well and to have been able to spend so much time with dad and lynn is priceless!! Many people have asked if our trip was as fun as it was in Asia, and that is a really tough question - the two trips were amazing, each in their own way. In Asia we got an incredible rush from the cultural shock, however we also would get very frustrated at times with the language barrier. It was much simpler to travel in Europe for that reason. And the things we saw were completely different, but equally interesting! In Europe we saw many castles and beautiful parks, whereas in Asia we saw wild monkeys and the great wall!!

We are sad that our trip is coming to an end, although we are excited to get back into a routine and to see Pascale -- we miss her a lot! Hopefully Luc will feel better in the morning!

Next trip: South America, maybe??

Ciao

Luc and Meag
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249241971/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249241971/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249241971/tpod.html Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:42:42 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

London, England, United Kingdom

Our last day in Spain was wonderful, yet sad! We spent a better part of the morning at the rooftop pool at the hotel before heading out for the day. We walked to Montjuic where we visited the Museum of sports and the 1992 Olympic stadium...we headed to the airport and had a nice, slightly delayed, flight to London!

Today Luc went with dad to see two Football games (Arsenall won!) and really enjoyed them. Lynn and I took a nice long walk through Hamstead Heath -- a really beautiful park! We had a nice supper and then I got organized to work tomorrow! I will be meeting with Criminal Analysts in the UK for 3 days while Luc will continue sight seeing!!

Yet another beautiful day in Europe!

xox
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249124684/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249124684/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1249124684/tpod.html Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:20:39 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

Hola Amigos,

Today is our last day in Spain and we are very sad to go!! The last few days have been wonderful! We spent a few hours in a really cool Aquarium where they us stand on a sort of conveyer belt where we were surrounded by the the tank ...it was really neat to have sharks and sting rays swim over our heads!!

We have spent much time at the beach as well... we always got there early enough in the morning, had a fabulous view of the water, and not a single cloud in the sky! actually, since we arrived, the weather has been nothing but hot and sunny! In fact, it gets so hot here that a lot of shops close between 2 and 4 pm and people go home to cool down and have a siesta!! There are always people selling things at the beach, including massages...hehe so obviously I had to have one -- it had been over a year since my last massage in Thailand!!! So I had a massage right on the beach while I was looking at the water ....tough life!

It is really nice to have Luc on the trip -- he has really great direction skills...in fact, each day we would try a different route back to the hotel...I would be completely lost, and he would say "I don´t recognize this street, but I know our hotel is in this direction", and miraculously, we always ended up right at our hotel. Although I generally appreciated taking different routes because it would allow us to see more of the city, once we ended up in a very very sketchy area....I mean, drug dealers and all...at least there were police there which made us feel a bit safer, but also confirmed our beliefs that we were in a trouble area....so luc and I are already nervous and worked up, all I asked was for us to get out of there as quickly as possible, and as we are walking at an Allen pace, someone jumps out of the back of his truck right next to us and I swear I thought my heart was going to come out of my throat...Luc was just a scared...haha luckily it was just a random person, but it just really scared us!! After that we made sure to avoid that area all together!!!

Spain is most certainly on the top of my list of places to visit and we will for sure come back someday! The people are friendly and the location is beautiful!! We have never seen such a nice beach and water!! We have really enjoyed shopping around, although our "backpacking" limits us quite a bit...so we only purchased small items. but they have ridiculuos sales ! I could have spent a fortune here had I had a large suitcase...maybe it is best I only have a backpack!

Our flight only leaves this pm so we are spending the whole day here before leaving!! Hope everything is well at home and that you have been getting nice weather! Mom, give pascale a big hug and kiss for us! We really miss her!!!

Luc is looking forward to seeing the Football (aka Soccer) game tomorrow with dad!!!

Xoxoxo
Luc and Meag
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248718061/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248718061/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248718061/tpod.html Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:33:50 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

Hola!

We are having a really great time in Barcelona, and have been too busy or lazy to come to an internet cafe to update our blog...haha so here is a quick update of what we have been up to for the past 3 days!!

Monday- we got up bright and early to go buy our tickets in Placa de la Catalunya to catch the 9 am tour of the city! It was a 6 hour bus tour with an english speaking guide. The first part of the tour was called the ¨Gaudi Tour¨. Gaudi was an unbelievable architect who designed ridiculously cool buildings, including the Sagrada de la Familia, a cathedral that will not be completed for another 20 years or so. His designes reminded us of Candy Land type housing, very neat to see! We stopped in a beautiful park to see his works and also at the Sagrada de Familia to see the museum and the front and back facade of the cathedral and what it will look like when it is completed. After that, the bus took us for a tour around the harbour and beach, and back up to Montjuic, a small mountain with a panoramic view of the city! We also visited the Pueblo Espanya, a little village up top that was created to copy some of the greatest buildings and architecture in Spain as a whole...so they are basically buildings taht are replicas of others in Spain. We did some shopping there and had our lunch! It is really great to be in a City where we can buy things at a decent price! hehe The tour ended at 3 pm, and we went back to our room to relax for a bit and had a nice diner. That evening we simply strolled around Barcelona to see some sites and enjoy the beautiful weather!!


Tuesday - We decided to head to the Barceloneta beach in the AM. We took the metro there, however their system is very complicated compared to the other metro stations we have gone to. We made it to the beach and took in the heat!! The temperature everyday has been greater than 30 degrees!!! Even though it is very hot, it is really nice to have the nice weather for a change and there is always a really nice breeze at the beach so we never felt too hot! I had to re-apply sunscreen very often, as you can imagine. I am by far the palest person in Spain. Of course Luc had a great time looking at the beautiful horizon (aka topless girls).
In the afternoon we had a nice lunch at a small restaurant near our hotel before heading out for like a 5 hour walk! We went to the Picasso Museum which was really neat to see how he changed styles throughout the years-- although Luc and I often agreed that we could have done a better job with teh paintings...haha. After that we walked to a beautiful park, Park de la Cituadella, which has really nice buildings and beautiful gardents. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe. We saw some street performers along the way too. We walked back along the beach and took the tube back home in the evening!

Wednesday - yesterday we decided to spend the majority of the day at the Barceloneta Beach - on the way there though, I needed to buy a parasol...haha...so we got one and then I was good to go. We found an awesome location right near the water, and spent the day relaxing, swimming, reading, etc. The beaches are about 14 km´s in length!! very nice sand and the water is crystal clear! We had a very nice time!!! I kept reminding Luc to apply sunscreen, and he thought it was more important to get a tan - so this morning we have to buy alovera gel because he work up throughout the night in tremendous pain....

We returned to our hotel in late afternoon and went shopping in the evening!

We have really been loving our experience in Spain. The weather is beautiful and the beaches are spectacular. It is very rare that you can go to a big city like this one (approx. 1.7 million people) and have the nicest beach along its coast. And there is a lot to do and visit too!!! I have been brushing up on my spanish . I have taken the habit to ask all my questions in Spanish, howver when they answer quickly, I have no idea what it is they said so I ask in English...haha..but it is really fun, a lot of it is coming back to me!!! We are

e are going to visit the aquarium near the beach and try to stay away from the sun for most of the day!!!!

We found this awesome internet cafe that is super cheap so we will try to do updates more often!!!!

We are very fortunate that our hotel is pretty central - only a 5 to 10 minute walk to the main streets and metro stations!!

Hasta Lavista!!! Buenos dias!
Meag and Luc

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248614957/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248614957/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248614957/tpod.html Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:26:13 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

The airport yotel was a vey good experience. The bed was very small but comfortable. We were up most of the night scared to miss our early morning flight. Woke up this morning and went staight through security without any problems. We had bread jam and bananas for breakfast before departure.

Arrived in the beautiful and sunny Barcelona. Temperature must have been close to 30 even at 1030 am. We took a bus to placa de catalunya and walked a few minutes to our hotel. Our hotel is very nice and is pretty central. We took a nice long walk to orient ourselves. We walked down La Rambla, the main tourist street with many shops, street performers and artists. We continued on to the harbour where we saw massive yatchs and made our way to the Barceloneta beach.

The beach had wonderful but very hot white sand. The water is part of the Mediterranean Sea and is turquoise and crystal clear. Luc is in paradise but has a very soar neck from looking at all the beatiful European topless and thong wearing chicas.

We then continued our walk towards the hotel and stopped for a quick lunch on La Rambla. The buildings here are spectacular and rich in architecture. There is a nice mix of old and modern and many cool buildings by Gaudi.

When we arrived atthe hotel we took a nice long nap before heading to our rooftop pool. Since the sun was going down we decide to go for a stroll around our hotel. However since it is Sunday every thing is closed. We stopped for a slushy then saw a cool group of street performers with some singing, breakdancing and belly dancing.

We are now in our room getting ready for bed. We plan on going on a 6 hour tour of the city tomorrow morning.

Ciao

Meagan and Luc
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551349/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551349/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551349/tpod.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:51:27 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

London, England, United Kingdom

So we are currently at the Yotel at the Gatwick Airport. We packed our things this morning and said goodbye to our lovely cottage in Svenborg! We said goodbye to our Danish cousins also!

We came back to London (airport scene not nearly as dramatic as first time!) and luc and I departed dad and lynn who were headed home. Luc and I have a Yotel for the night, basically a room that is 9 x 7, but is very very cool! It looks like something from teh future! haha, we have a bed, a tv, showever, etc. It is perfect as we are up tomorrow at 5:30 to catch our flight to Barcelona! Had a lovely meal at the aiport and heading to bed soon! CIAO
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551074/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551074/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248551074/tpod.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:48:30 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Svendborg, Fyn and the Central Islands, Denmark

Today we spent most of the day relaxing at the cottage. Luc and I went for a nice canoe ride in the morning - the water here is unbelievably clear! We saw crab and fish! we then went for a quick swim with dad too! We read our books, went shopping at a bakery -- yes, I am sure they have never seen a few people buy so much, but their pastries are so darn good!! we went a bit out of control!!

We have again, never eaten so many pastries/breads/cheeses in our life!

We went shopping in the afternoon and met our Danish relatives for the evening. They brough us to tsee the big ships that were in the harbour - big wooden ships! Then we went to diner at an authentic danish restaurant where Luc and I had Svenborg Casserole (pork, bacon, and turkey in a paprika sauce) and roasted potattoes-- definitely one of the best meals we have ever had! Never felt so full in my life!

After diner we went to a cafe for drinks and desert! We headed home shortly after to pack!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248550464/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248550464/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248550464/tpod.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:44:24 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Svendborg, Region South Denmark, Denmark

We got some groceries the night before and so we had nice breafkasts every day at the cottage. Luc and I chose the "guest house" as our room, so we had a room that overlooked the ocean, with two twin beds that go up and down with a remote (very cool!) but since there were no blinds, we were up with the sun at 5 am! Luckily we used eye covers and fell back asleep quickly!

We made our way to the Evesgow castle, approx. 40 minutes away. It was a beautiful castle to visit, with a moat and all! There were gorgeous gardens of all kinds. We visited the Castle, and also the adjoining museums (veteran car museum, motorcycle museum, grocery museum, etc.) We also did a maze made of hedges which was surprisingly very difficul! Then the four of us walked through a tree top path! It was really fun! :)

I forgot to mention earlier that this entire trip to Denmark seemed remarkably similar to the Griswold's National Lampoon vacations -- with our umbrells turning upside down and our funny airport scenarios...to top it all off, Stig lent us his vehicle for our stay which was very very kind....however, it is an old beat up station wagon (yes similar to the one in the movies)...it came with warning such as "it stops working randomly", "never lock the doors or you won't get back in"...hehe...so it was funny, especially since dad had not driven a standard for a really long time. Although he basically mastered it, it was still funny when the car would stall in the middle of the street here and there. On our way back from teh castle, we were hungry and we had brought a snack with us - a baguette and leftover cake - So we though we woul dhave a snack in the car...but we did not have napkins, plates , or cutlery...so I ripped apart the bread with my hand, and we did the same with the cake--- we were like a bunch of savages, hillbillies in a beat up station waggon, stuffing their face with food, making a mess, and stalling from time to time...very funny, luc and I had a good laugh!

After our visit, we went to the Bibliotek (yes, it is spelled that way in Danish and is similar to the french term) and walked along a pedestrian street mall. We returned home for diner, and after diner, we went to play mini golf at a campground only a 5 minute walk away. It was by far the nicest mini golf we had been to! Again, it was a very funny experience -- Lynn and I cheated our way...although Lynn had many wholes in 1!! Dad was the ultimate winner! After our hard match, we obviously though we deserved an ice cream....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248269339/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248269339/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248269339/tpod.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:34:11 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Svendborg, Fyn and the Central Islands, Denmark

We had another lovely breakfast at our hotel before checking out !

We hoped on a train to Nyborg, approximately 1.45 hours - this train ride was funny since we did not know we could pay extra to reserve our seating....so everytime we found a seat, someone would come along at another stop and tell us that we were in their spot -- we switched seats 3 times before dad got fed up and lead us to First Class...haha it was very funny, but obviously it only took 10- mins before they booted us out! We finally sat in a nice quite area for the last 10 minutes of our ride! We then transfered onto a bus to Svenborg and were greeted wonderfully by our Danish Cousins!!!!

The Entire family came to greet us and it was wonderful ! They had Danish flags and all!! so here is the family history: There is Magreta, who is my Grandfather's 1st cousin. She and her husband, Ole, have 2 kids (Kate and Stig). Kate is married to Palla and they have a daughter, Emily. It was really really wonderful for them to have come out to meet us! They are so kind and funny - although we had never met, we left right at home! They bought us out to the cottage and showed us around - they had even prepared a lunch for us - a real traditional lunch!! Most of it, by looking at it, I never would have tried otherweise, but luc and I both loved it! Smoked salmon, open face Danish sandwiches, bread with liver pate, olives, veggies, etc! It was fantastic!!!! We really really lvoed it!

The cottage is absolutely beautiful! We are directly on the Svenborg Sound, which is water from the Ocean! We went for a wonderful swim (ok I only went in to my knees because it was cold, but luc got in!) and we went kayaking...too much fun!!!!

We went for a bike ride (BIKES are used a lot in Denmark -- gas is too expensive, approx. 2$ per litre!!) and we explored the town a bit. The cottage is actually in a spot called Thuro, only a few minutes from the main town of Svenborg. It was really lovely to be able to meet the family and we learnt a lot from them, things we never would have had the opportunity to learn otherwise!

It was Ole's birthday (64th, although he doesn' look a day older than 45 -- I told luc we needed to move to Denmark!) and so they invited us to their place for diner that night! They live in Svenborg, only a 20 min. drive away from the cottage. They live in a lovely old farm house that was built in 1931. They have a really beautiful garden also. They had bbq salmon, bread, salad, wonderful garden potatoes, and stuffed pork -- we have never eaten so much since we have been here! It was sooooo good!! haha After diner, Kate and Stig brought us for a tour of the town, brining us to the beautiful harbour down the street and then to the school. The homes are very different, but very cute! I love them!

When we returned from our tour, they had other guests (a few neighbours) who arrived to celebrate Ole's birthday. We went outside where we had cheese and bread ...it is traditional for them to put slices of cheese on the bread ---delicious, seriously the best cheese and bread ever! Then they brought out the traditional birthday cake (a Cake Man!) where it is a delicious cake shapped as a person, toped with a brownsuga/egg icing and candies! haha it was awesome!! very very tasty!

They also taught us about their flag -- the actualy big Danish Flag can only be raised on important occasions (holidays, and birthdays) so it was up tonight, but had to be taken down by sunset, otherwise it is a big NO NO...haha, and so they sang a song as they took it down, and folded it property (no white can be shown when they fold it - only the red)...so we certainly learnt a lot today from our Danish cousins and loved our experience!!!!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248549339/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248549339/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lucbergeron86/2/1248549339/tpod.html Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:21:23 -0400 Meagan and Luc's European Adventure 2009

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

This morning we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel (included in the price, thank god!). We walked to the canal and got on a really nice boat tour (only 10$ approx. per person!!) and it was really neat - our guide spoke Danish, German, and English! The boat went along the canal, and udner many bridges - since the tide was high, we all had to duck our heads under each bridge to avoid being hurt! We saw many things on the tour, got very pretty pictures and visited Christiana town too!

We walked to Christiana Town, which is just the other side of Copenhagen - there is a debate as to whether it should be part of Copenhagen or not, it is considered a "free town" where hippies live. We had lunch at a nice cafe along the canal (at a bakery actually - best bakeries ever!) Dad fed some swan's, etc... We walked up approximately 390 steps to get to the top of a church ...it was very very windy and a bit frightening as it swayed just a bit - but luc and I got beautiful pics. of the town!

We walked back and saw the stock exchance and other nice buildings...the buildings are very old and absolutely beautiful! Luckily it was a very nice day and we went shopping (window shopping that is!) luc bought a neat pair of socks though!

We relaxed for a bit before diner - the most expensive (yet best) meal we have ever had! It was on the canal and we had steaks that were fantastic - it was an authentic Danish restaurant and we even had people come sing and play guitar/accordion for us during our meal! :) It was very lovely!!!

Of course, we had ice cream after diner before heading to bed!!!


]]>