TravelStream™ news feed for member mike81 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/mike81 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:23:33 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1219857480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1219857480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1219857480/tpod.html Sun, 07 Dec 2008 13:23:33 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Kutna Hora, Bohemia, Czech Republic

So the next day I thought I would try and get away from the tourists. Just to give you an example of how busy the town is. Every hour on the hour the Astonomy Clock in the center of the old town does its thing. As the bells chime, the doors of the clock open and the wooden apostels appear and dance around. A little skeleton rings a bell for all to hear. The first time I saw it I was impressed, after the 12th time I was just getting frustrated with the crowd. People would sprint to the clock just to see these little people dance. The crowd would grow from about 10 people gazing at the structure to about 1000. The street was full and you can't move. Lucky for me, my hotel was right in front of the damn thing so getting in and out of the building was close to impossible on the hours. I found myself tring to get ready quick just to by pass the crowds. The tourists were driving me a bit wacky so I thought I would take an hour train ride outside of the city. I was headed to Kutna Hora. They have a few attractions there but the main one was the Church of the bones. When I arrived I quickly realized that a lot of people had followed me there from Prauge. Obviously a busy little tourist attraction. I grabbed the camera and headed into the church.The church was full of 40,000 people's bones. The story goes that the cemetary was getting overly full and the bone house was just as crowded. The church called upon a local artist to figure out what to do with all the bones. His interpretation was using them as art. As you walk in, the walls, ceilings and door ways are covered in skulls, femers, vertibrea and any other bone you could imagine. As you make your way into the sancturay you realize quickly this guy had an imagaination like none other. He had created a Chandelier, pillars and even the Coast of Arms. On all 4 corners of the church were pyramids roughly about 10 feet high. The pile of bones were quite incredible. He had written words on the walls and hung garlands of bones throughout the entire church. It was quite impressive.After the hour tour of the bone church I headed over to the Silver Mine. I wanted to take the tour even though I knew the cost was not going to be worth it. We all put on Helmets, white coats and miners lights and headed into the dark tunnels. About 40 meters below the surface, no lights except our tourches lite the way. The tunnels were not designed for people my height so to say the least I was glad to have a helmet. At one point the tunnel got to 1 meter high and only 50 cm wide. I wasn't feeling all that great in there and was kind of looking forward to the light of day. Underground lakes, water dripping from the tunnels and mine shafts were throughout the entire tour. We were in the ground for about an hour. After I hung up my coat I had only one more stop, the St. Barbara Cathedral. I had seen a lot of churches, obviously, but this one was nice because I pretty much had it all to myself. It was on the top of the hill in Kutna Hora and the sun was shining. While in the church I met up with an American couple, living in Paris. We all headed back to the train station together and had a nice ride back into Prague. Overall it was a really good day, kind of relaxed for sure.When I arrived back into Prague I only had one more day in the city. I had seen mostly everything that I wanted to see so I just took it easy. I headed up to the Royal Gardens and hung out there and read a book. I then decided to take a hike up one of the highest peaks in Prague. Get the blood flowing would not be a bad thing. I hiked for about an hour or so to the Radio Tower where you can climb it and get the most amazing view of the city. I climbed the tower and that is where I realized that the rumor of Prague being the most poluted city in Europe was pretty accurate. The temperate was about 30 degrees and the smog that covered the city was quite brutal. When situtated in the center you have no idea until you climb and get a birds eye view of the pollution. The amazing pictures that I was expecting to capture was quite the opposite. The haze filled my lense and I was getting nothing but frustrated. I was happy to take a picture of how Prague really is. I hung out in the evening took some amazing night shots of this beatuiful city and prepared to make my move the next day. I was off to the little town of Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic and I had no idea what a week it would be....................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228692060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228692060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228692060/tpod.html Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:28:48 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

So I am still in Lisbon but I thought I would write my final blog that I like to call a whirlwind trip. I leave tomorrow evening and spending the night in the Lisbon Airport much to the worrisome of my mother but things have to be done. I fly from Lisbon to Amsterdam, lay over there for about 4 hours and then I make the final plane ride home to Vancouver. I have talked about Vancouver so much on this trip that I have a new appreciation for the city. The mountains, the water, the people. It can`t be beat. I have been asked so many times if I would ever move away from the city. I don't actually know, but I do know, that it will always be home to me.So my trip, where do you even start. I can´t even believe that I am sitting here tonight writing this. I remember way back when I started, that it seemed like such a long ways away. I didn't even have to think about when I was coming home. I had so much time to experience, see things, live a life that so many people want. Now sitting here, I have done all that, but unfortunately time has run out. I don't think that words can explain the things that I have done, the people that I have met, and the things that I have seen. If I sat and wrote page after page about this trip, I still couldn't explain what I have done over here for the past 6 months. On top of seeing the amazing things, I have experienced the most diverse cultures, tasted the most amazing foods, spoken (sometimes very poorly) to the most amazing people and still I can`t put into word how much this trip has meant to me.So many people are surprised that I am traveling alone. There are a ton of travelers that have made the decision to do it on their own, but the bulk of people have a tag along. Being a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, or best friend. Being a "solo" traveler forces you to open your mind in ways like none other. The solitary at times, the forcefulness of having to put yourself out there, if not, you will be one lonely person on a very long trip. Then there is the independence of it all. I always knew that I was a pretty independent person. Spending time by oneself is not a bad thing, but knowing that you are the only person in a big world that you can rely on, is another. I craved that one person that could watch my bags, help me with a train schedule or make a quick decision on places to stay. Knowing that you are the be all and end all of all decisions made for one incredible learning experience. Now don't get me wrong, seeing the world by yourself is not a bad thing, where to eat, when to eat, what to see. I rarely had to ask these questions to anyone. This is what made this trip "My trip".Looking back, way back and I mean way back. So far back that I had to read some of my blogs to actually remember what I had done. I personally can`t believe that I did it. I know for a fact that "some" people at home didn't think that I would last the entire 6 months. I have to be honest with you, I had my doubts too. My hardest week by far was my first week, Amsterdam. I felt my loneliest I have ever felt in my entire life. My people were gone, my comfort was gone and I was on my own, no one to rely on except for poor little me. It wasn't till I headed over to London that I got into my groove. I have to thank a now good friend, Michelle, for the help. Her meeting me in London was the boost I needed. Ireland was incredible, touring the country was my first time in Europe that I made some true friends. At that point I realized that seeing the sights was incredible but it was more the experience of traveling that was going to have the long lasting memories. I met up with another friend in Paris and after being gone for just over a month, a familiar face was a warm welcome. It is really interesting and really amazing that so many things can change by one decision. I don't know if I made all the right or even the best decisions on this trip, but I know throughout the entire time I made some really good ones. Paris, was by far one of the best. This is where I met the most amazing Swiss family. Did we have to choose that cafe to sit at? Did we have to see that church so badly that we stopped just to kill time? Either way, I had the opportunity to meet and experience a wonderful family later in my trip. Stockholm is where I met some of the best friends a guy could ask for on a strange continent. Two guys from just outside Munich, Germany, that befriended me and later on in my trip showed me the best time a person could ask for. The graciousness of people, gave me a new understanding and a new perspective on how sometimes we are too censored to even think about opening our doors to perfect strangers. A cultural difference that I know will change the way I look at people at home. I had a few mishaps on the way. I am sure that everyone remembers at this point my little problem is Brussels. Bags getting snatched off subways. That was probably the most in your face reminder that I really was on my own and no one was going to help me in sticky situations. I changed the game plan after that night to say the least. I realized that there were going to be some bad experiences and some good. I also came to the conclusion that the worse the experience, the better the story it was. If someone told me that everything was going to peaches and roses, I never would have believed them. The bad experiences taught me things and the good experiences made me appreciate things.I knew that I was going to meet a ton of people on this trip. What I really wasn't expecting was meeting some of the greatest friends one could ask for. I don't know how many people I have met, all I know is that for the amount of people that you tell your story to, share a glass of wine with or walk a busy city with, you will only pick out a few that really made a difference in your experience. I had the opportunity to meet an amazing couple from, I know, Australia. Two people that shared my interests, and I felt really connected to. We traveled Croatia together and I have to put it on the top when it come to good times had. These are the kind of people that help a guy out when he crashes a scooter or has one too many beers and leads him home through strange new streets. Manny in Switzerland was another friend that can`t be beat. Watching a guy`s eyes light up at the sight of snow was so cool. Sharing in experiences with other people was sometimes better then the ones that I was having myself. These are the people that memories are made from.I could go on and on but I think you get it. The sight seeing was overwhelming, amazing and sometimes breathtaking, but it was everything else that made this adventure what it was. It is sad that I am using the past tense already. I will miss it for sure. I know that I have to come home, but I also know that I am ready to come home. I am ready to jump out of this fantasy world and head back to a small amount of reality. I just can`t wait to do it again...........................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228329600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228329600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228329600/tpod.html Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:11:22 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Lisbon, Estremadura, Portugal

So Lisbon is my final destination. I am sitting at the computer right now in the best hostel I have been in, on this entire trip. The most modern hostel, well decorated, clean, spacious, and really good food hostel one could imagine. The hostel was a dream when I arrived. It felt really comfortable and I knew if I had to end my trip, this was going to be a really good place to do it. Every night, Pedro cooks dinner and for 8 Euros you eat well. A 3 course meal, all Portuguese style, soup, main, and dessert. I ate out the first night at some Portuguese restaurant and was pretty unimpressed. I decided that eating at the hostel couldn't be any worse then that. Predo is the greatest cook, totally untrained but just has a love for making good food. The first night was cod, the second was chicken and tonight, I don't really know yet. I guess we will find out soon enough.Lisbon is one of those capitals that is worth the visit. A lot of Countries has so many great places to see but the Capitals tend to be a little disappointing. Even though most capitals have the history, they tend to be too busy and just a little metropolitan for my liking. Lisbon is such a charming city. A massive earthquake hit it in 1755 and wiped out most of the city. After the Earthquake, a tsunami came in and took out the rest of what was left still standing. The city was rebuilt in old Portuguese style, the old charm was kept when rebuilt. It is really interesting to walk the streets and see the difference between the old and the new architecture in the city. I knew very little about Lisbon before I came so it was like a clean slate walking into a city and not having any expectation. Cities like Rome, Barcelona and Amsterdam all have this reputation of being great cities but sometimes when you get there you are a little let down. So walking into Lisbon was really nice not knowing anything about the city. On the second day that I was staying there the hostel was offering a walking tour so I decided to keep the big sites to the following day. The first day that I walked the 5kms along the river edge to the Jeronimo Monument and the Jeronimo Monastery. A sculpture of the Discoveries, honoring the great explorers of Portugal. A really impressive statue over looking the water. The Jeronimo Monastery was built as a gift to Lisbon. A huge church taking up an entire city block, the Gothic style gives this building its real charm. That was the first day, the walk took about 4 hours so it killed a day pretty quickly.The second day was really interesting. We took a walking tour throughout the entire city. The old part, the new part and everything in between. Our tour guide Antonio, (Also the chef at the sister hostel of the place I was staying at.) was really informative. I have now taken a few walking tours, mainly just in the big cities. Too much info for one to try and figure out for themselves. This was one of the best tours I have taken, it was about 6 hours long and we covered everything from the castle, the churches, the squares and even the local hang outs. He gave us some really good feed back on the city and then took us out for a traditional lunch. Overall a really cool afternoon. That evening, we had dinner, hit the pub for a few drinks and then chilled out at the hostel for the rest of the evening.The next day was one of my last in Europe. Seeing that I was homeless the following day, and planning on sleeping in the airport I took Saturday as my last day. I was rooming with 6 Spanish girls, over in Lisbon for the weekend. I hung out with them for the afternoon. We went to the Flea Market, a couple look outs and then out for a great lunch. The Spanish tend to understand and are able to communicate with the Portuguese so it was nice to have a translator there to order a meal. We went to this little hole in the wall restaurant, all locals, the best place to go and ate for a good hour and a bit. I headed back to the hostel and packed my bag for the last time. Oh no. The last time. That is one scary thought. The number of times that I have unpacked and packed is unbelievable. I will definally not miss it, that is for sure. There are a heck of a lot of other things that I WILL miss though..................................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228160760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228160760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1228160760/tpod.html Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:39:39 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Lagos, Algarve, Portugal

The Bus, well the only way to get from Seville to Lagos Portugal in the Algrave was the Bus. A 5 hour bus ride that was suppose to be 4 really wasn't that bad. I usually hate the bus because I have to fold my legs into the tiny little seats and hope to hell I don't get all cramped up in the middle of the journey. My bus was leaving at 7:30 am so I caught the city bus to the station. I boarded the bus and headed straight for the back row knowing for sure that it has more leg room. Luck for me I got my well deserved seat and I was feeling good. The bus was almost full when we departed from Seville. It stopped about a dozen times throughout the journey. At the first stop, almost the whole bus got off, the only people were this old guy, 2 Aussies and me. 4 people, that was cool. I now had the whole back row to myself and stretching out was a nice treat that is for sure. I figured we were going to pick up a whole bunch of people on the way but, nope, it was just the 4 of us the entire trip, until we got to the 3rd to last stop, then it was just me. I got off the bus in Lagos and I figured it was going to be quiet especially since I was the only person on the bus going to Lagos.When I arrived at my hostel, it was quiet alright. I think there was a total of about 6 guests but I was hoping that it was going to be a little busier when the weekend came around. NOPE, those 6 people checked out and the a new 6 people checked in. The Weather, well I have been struggling for the past week or so with the weather. Lagos was crazy cold and the hostel had very little heat. Everyone was walking around with blankets around them, layered socks and all the hoodies they could find. Outside was worse. The rain started to fall and didn't stop for about 5 days. The cool thing was that even though it was raining we had a ton of entertainment. The hostel has this really nice 50 inch flat screen TV and about 300 downloaded movies. Everyday we sat and watched about 4 movies. Transformers, Lord Of The Rings, and The Lost Boys was just the start of a movie marathon.Every morning we had the most incredible treat that I haven't had in a while. Breakfast cooked every day. Mamma, who the most wicked person on the earth made crepes every morning for all the starving backpackers. It was like a feeding frenzy every morning, chocolate, jam, apple sauce, and Nutella made for the best mornings.The only thing that I did the entire 4 days that I was there was take a long 3 hour walk along the cliff sides of the Coast. Though a really nice walk, and the views were amazing, it was kind of a damper that it rained the entire journey. I came back soaked to the bone and not all that happy but it was really nice, sitting down with a mug of tea and watching a movie. It really felt like home, chilled out and relaxed. If I had to pick a week to slowly end my trip on, that would be it. Lagos, that was it, beautiful little town, quaint, and chilled out, loved it. My next stop was, THE LAST STOP, Lisbon. I hoped the weather was better because I really didn't want to end this trip on a soggy note, I guess we will see............................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227898200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227898200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227898200/tpod.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:43:11 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Seville, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands

You have to excuse this entry ahead of time. I am on my final week on my trip and I think that I am so tired that I don't know if any of this is actually going to make any sense. I took the train from Granada to Seville which was pretty easy. One train, no changes, direct and simple. I got to Seville about 3 hours later and got off the train. You would think by now my navigational skills would be great. I would be able to read a map and get around a strange new town in no time, well, you would be wrong. If their is a TI (tourist Information) at the train station I always stop by bet the directions to my hostel and then hit the streets and hope that things go well. TI is usually really good, except in Spain. I have now been to 17 countries and the language barrier has not been a problem. Western Europe, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, all with no problems. Spain has defiantly been a struggle. I guess I was getting spoiled when it came to people speaking English, everyone does, so I haven't had a problem. Spain, on the other hand is not as easy as every other country in Europe. I mean, I understand that I am in foreign territory and that English is not their first language but you would think that people at TI would have a little base to go on.I asked the lady where abouts my hostel was even though I had directions, I just wanted to double check and make sure I was headed on the right path. NOT A WORD OF ENGLISH. I asked in English and she responded in Spanish. Now I am not an arrogant person but you would think, if a guy could speak Spanish he would. And if he cant speak the language then that means he probably doesn't understand it either!!!!! She gave me a map and told me where to go. Her instructions weren't even close to the ones that I had but I decided to follow hers anyways, BIG MISTAKE. I turned where I shouldn't have turned, I crossed streets that I didn't recognize the names of. I was headed the opposite way for about half an hour before I realized that things weren't right. I turned around and headed back to the train station. I decided to scrap her directions and head out on my own. I did and after an hour of wandering the streets I finally found my hostel. HOSTELS:Hotels are something that can make or break you experience in a city. You get a good one and you fluke out, you get a crappy one and you can be stuck for a while in a really crappy place. Now, I do have to admit that I have been very fortunate with hostels on my trip. Most have been great and now after spending nights in close to 45 hostels I have become a pro. The little things can make you happy, or can make it really bad. A crappy kitchen can cause for extra money spent, and a bad bed can can make for very long nights. In Europe you basically have two types of hostels, THE PARTY HOSTEL, and THE CHILLED OUT HOSTEL. As the start of my trip, I was all about having a good time and staying out to 5 and 6 in the morning and feeling good about it. Now close to 6 months into it, I have lost the energy and the motivation to stay out all night long. Just call me old. Unfortunately I was about to check into a hostel that I was OVERLY chilled out.The hostel could hold about 100 guests and I was guest number 5 to check in for the day. A total number 5 people were staying there and I couldn't even believe it. If you didn't like the people around you, you were going to have a hard time trying to find someone else to talk to. Lucky enough I was rooming with the other guest, All of them, they put us all in the same room, less to clean I guess. Jada, Lisa, and Aaron were great and easy to chat with. Lisa and Aaron studying in Seville and Jada, an Aussie, traveling the world!!!Seville, is quite a great town. The third biggest city in Spain, next to Barcelona and Madrid. As you travel the country, the culture changes. San Sebastian is known for their food, Barcelona, for their history and architecture and Madrid, their football. Seville is known for Bull fighting and Flamenco Dancing. Bull fighting was out of season so I would not have the chance to see some poor Bull get speared with swords. The first day was chilled out, I like my chilled out days, walking, taking pictures and just looking a things. They have one huge Cathedral in the center of town which I thought would be nice to see. It was huge so it had to be a sight to see from the inside. When I arrived at the door and noticed the entry fee was 7.50 Euro I decided I was just going to imagine what it looked like. I did head over to the Palace though, the gardens themselves supposedly would be worth the price of admission. It was only 7 Euros, 7.50 for a freakin church and 7 for a Palace. I was thinking I was missing something about that Cathedral. Either way I made my way into the Palace and took the tour. A place once ruled by the Moorish and later taken over by the Catholics, it was quite an impressive building. The grounds were stunning and the facade of the rooms were over the top with classic Spanish style tile work and carvings. The rest of the day I just hung around and took in the shops on the tiny alley ways. Oh ya, I had STARBUCKS, haven't had one since Germany so it was so good to have that familiar classic taste of my Tazo Chai Tea Latte. ummmmmmmmmmm.That night i was chatting with the other 4 guests and realized we had one other person join our happy little hostel family. An Asian that didn't speak a word of English. Now, if I find it hard to communicate in the foreign language I cant even think for one moment how the Asians do it. If they don't speak English they defiantly don't speak the the foreign tongue of the countries they visit. I give them a lot of credit for traveling, especially if they are doing it by themselves. I couldn't imagine traveling Europe and not having English. GOOD ON EM!!!!We got to chatting that night and Aaron was telling me that it was well worth the 7.50 Euros for the Church. He had been traveling for quite some time and had seen just as many churches as I had so I took his word for it. The next day I entered the church and paid my 7.50 and hoped I wouldn't be disappointed. WELL, I was a bit. Nothing totally out of the ordinary about the building except for the fact that it was really big. The alter was lined with Gold which was quite fantastic. The only thing that made it worth the cost was the hike to the top of the tower. The overwhelming views of the city was amazing. A beautiful sunny day, so it was really nice.After the Church I headed over to the bull ring. I knew that I wasn't able to see any fights but I thought I could go in a see where it all took place. A Oval arena that housed seating for 14 000 people, the tour took us through the under ground area where the bulls were kept, where the Matadors got ready and the chapel that they used when one of the men died, it was interesting. My time in Seville was coming to an end which meant that the time to return home was creeping up quickly. At his point I had less then 2 weeks to go on my trip and had so many mixed emotions about the return. I knew that I still had a good chunk to go, and not to waste any precious time. I was done with Spain and on to another Country, Culture and oh my god, another freakin language. OLA, LAGOS, PORTUGAL.....................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227645600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227645600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227645600/tpod.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:21:36 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Granada, Andalusia, Spain and Canary Islands

Another night train, nothing too exciting except that IT WAS MY LAST NIGHT TRAIN!!!!!!! I was more happy that I wouldn´t have to take another night train on this trip more then the fact that I was in one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.Granada is one of those cities that if you walk it, you have seen it. You don´t have to always pay the ridiculous entry fees to see things. The first day was just getting my bareings. It was a great little place to walk, people watch, and take in the atmopsphere of a great Spanish city. A huge, student town, full of young people and a ton of hippies. The real culture of Granada is "BE FREE".My hostel that I was staying at was a perfect little place to hang out. You quickly find out that the best place to meet people and talk is in the kitchen. Just like at home, where most people will hang around the kitchen at a party, same at the hostels. This hostel had a great roof top terrace that was defianlly utilized. Each room looked over the courtyard which made for just a really nice place to stay.I took a walking tour the next day. Eric, our tour guide was from Oregon, USA. He moved to Barcelona a year ago and just moved to Granada for a change of scenery. He did walking tours in Barce and now has opened his own company in this little town. A total history buff, it was really cool to support the little guy trying to make a living while traveling. He walked us through the Albaicin, a classic spanish neigborhood. Full of history and life, the locals are out and about and doing their thing. It was really nice to be in an area without all the tourists buying crap for all their friends and family back at home. I on the other hand will not be bring home one t-shirt or any other gawdy looking souvenir, sorry guys!!!After Eric finsihed his tour he took us to a great little Tapa place. Only visited by the local, none of the waiters knew a word of English. This made it really hard, basically because we had no idea how to order the tapas here and with no English, had no idea how we were going to find out. Out came the guide book and the small amount of phrases that was in it, we got through it. 3 hours of sitting, eating, talking, and drinking made for the best afternoon in the 20 degree sun. A life that can´t be beat!!!!We headed back down to the hostel and sat and drank a bottle of wine and chilled out on the roof top terrace. Watched the sun set and then made it inside for dinner. I met a couple in Barcelona a couple days prior and they had made it to Granada a day after I arrived. Steve decided he was making Spanish Omlettes for everyone and I wasn´t going to argue. A night of not cooking, I was pretty happy. I am more then happy to pay for groceries, and do the clean up if someone else cooks. I think it is a fair deal. A wicked meal and good conversation and we were done for the night. The next day we had to go see the Palace on the hill.So really there are two things in Granada that you have to see while you are here. Really only two things. The church, I wasn´t going, I swore to myself I was not going to see it, and the Palace.Stolen from the Morrish by the Cathlics. A huge one of a kind palace on top of the hill made for a great afternoon. I was a little nervous to go and pay the 12 euros to go see another palace. I was pretty happy just to take in another day of walking the streets. Lucky for me The Alhambra Palace is again, like none other. The Morrish knew how to do things when they built this remarkable building. The details in the architecture is nothing like I have seen yet. Looking like it was done with computer, the intricate tile work on the walls, ceiling and floors were breath taking. Thinking that we were going to be in and out in about an hour, was false hope. 3 hours later and we were still looking at every little detail. The views of Granada were awesome from the towers, no pollution in this city. We toured the Fortress and the Gardens and called it an afternoon. It was time to eat.We have quickly learned that eating in places in Spain, where no one speaks English is a little tough. We decided to let the waiter bring out what ever he thought would be good. Thank god we did because I don´t know if we could have ordered what he brought us. He put down this plate of food. Well, it wasn´t really a place, it was board with about 10 different types of tapas on it. Seafood, meat, cheese, bacon, veggies, omlettes, stuffed potatoes. NOTHING BUT GOODNESS. Between the 3 of us, we ate every bite and if he brought us another one, we could have eaten that too. I can´t even explain to you how good it was. Another night of socializing and a couple bottles of wine.That was Granada, pretty uneventful but after Barcelona, I needed a couple days of doing very little. Its funny, Italy has a traveling circuit that most people do, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Venice. Spain is no exception, San sebastain, Barcelona, Granada, and Seville. I wasn´t about to deviate from everyone else, or was I???????????????????
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227294840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227294840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227294840/tpod.html Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:20:11 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and Canary Islands

Barcelona, what can I say, did not disappoit in anyway what so ever. I arrived in Barcelona from San Sebastian on another night train. Like I said you can either hit or miss. I missed on this one. I had a pretty crappy nights sleep. Up every hour on the hour and at about 4:00am I was wishing the train ride over just so I could get out of the cramped space that the train system likes to call beds!!!! I shouldn´t complain, they didn´t design these trains for 6 foot 5 guys but it is just not comfortable in the least. I arrived into Barcelona and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was going to crash for a couple of hours and recharge the batteries before I headed out for another day of sight seeing. Unfortually, my room wasn´t ready so I had to ditch my bag at the hostel and carry on into the city. I wasn´t all that motivated to hit the streets but I thought, no time like the present. This city I have found out by numerous people, including my forever worrying mother, that it has the hightest number of pick pockets in Spain. More people have their vactation ruined in Barcelona only because they let their gaurd down at the restaurant, internet cafe or even just walking the streets. I was lucky enough to be able to lock all my stuff in the safe at the hostel so I didn´t have to worry about getting that damn passport stolen. Barcelona is like the spanish version of London or Paris. Too much to see and usually not enough time to see it. I had a list but it quickly changed when I found out about all this other stuff that was even cooler to see. My list was growing and knowing that I only had 3 full days in Barce I knew I had to get going. The first day was easy and I played it pretty easy. La Rambals is the most popular street in Barcelona, I would even venture out to say that it is the most popular street in Spain. A great place to walk, eat, and watch the street preformers. Knowing how tired I was I was pretty happy just to watch the people and chill out. I hit the market, this was one of the best markets on my trip. You could buy anything and anything. Fruit, Veggies, Seafood, Meats, Bakery Treats, and my fav, chocolate. The Cholocate that they had were incredible. Only 2 Euros for 100 grams. Grab the baggie and start picking at the endless amount of choices that they had set up. I continued down the street watching all the tourists with their money belts hanging out the back of their pants, and around their necks. Watching people pulling out their wallets and counting money right in the middles of the street. I knew for a fact that these people never get hit, the stupid ones that are so obvious never have anything stolen from them. Its the ones that keep on edge and put all the precaustions into effect. I was one of those people, but I knew that these guys weren´t getting anything. I watched about 4 times on my time in Barcelona, the police talking to pickpockets and telling them to move on. If you get anything stolen in Barcelona, the police tend not to really give a damn unless its your passport or something of importantance. The problem is they just don´t have the time or man power to deal with all the crimes against tourist. I leanred really qucikly earlier in my trip that the wallet always stays in the front pocket and in crowds and subways, the hand always goes in over top of it.I walked La Ramblas and then headed over to a couple of buildings that Barcelona is famous for. A very modern, for his time, architecture by the name of Gaudi has buildings all over the city. They are like nothing else I have seen in Europe yet and I have seen a lot of great architecture. Like seeing something from Dr. Suess, no building has right angles, everything is curved and has the craziest tile mosaics all over the facade of the building. Looking at them sitting right next to a normal building really makes them stand out as something different. He has a few building along Garcia Street, one of the best shopping strees in Bacrelona. The street lamps out side the buildings are all in his style too.After I killed the afternoon, my head was craving a pillow and was very much willing to let it rest. I headed back to the hostel, chatted for a while, ate some dinner, FREE DINNER at that. You gotta love it when the hostels cook for you, nothing is better!!!!! I crashed early, in the common room, so I thought it was time to head for bed. The next day I was on a mission to cross off a few things from the huge list of things to see in Barcelona. The first stop was the Sagrada Familia. A temple, designed by Gaudi himself. Started in 1883 and schedlued to finsih in 2020. If you want to see this thing under construction, you have some time. This is the church of all churches. As you can imagine, I have toured, gawked, oohed and ahhed over a huge amount of churches. I think I might have to say this one takes the cake. A huge structure in the middle of Barcelona, towers over most of the city. In the style of Gaudi, which means, very few right angles inside, very modern scultures on the facade, and colour on the towers.(which is very unusual). This church has to been seen. I understand that it is not everyones taste but I really liked it mainly because it was so different to what I have seen over the last few months. I paid the entry fee, headed to the top of 2 towers and I got this incredilbe veiw of........POLLUTION!!!!!As much as Barcelona is a great city, it sure is dirty. The main tourist areas are nice and clean but getting into the nitty gritty of Barce means that you might not be over impressed with how messy the place it. The Smog covers most of the city, except for the hill. It is pretty disgusting to say the least but I have a feeling that Vancouver is pretty much the same in the afternoon on a hot day. When I was finished at the temple I decided to hike up the hill and head over to the cable car ride which goes over the water to the greatest beaches in Barcelona. Shocking enough I got lost once I was up on the hill and couldn´t find the cable car. I did happen to find a couple other things I wasn´t going to see. I wandered into the Olympic Park, the home of the 1992 Summer Games. It was really cool walking the stadium, checking out the pools, and seeing where it all took place. The funny thing was, I was the only person up there. I sure hope that our venures get a little more attention then Barce´s do.I also found the World Trade center, which was build for the World Fair, A huge building over looking the city of Barcelona. Now the National Art Gallery I decided to skip the exibition and try and find the damn cable car. After about 2 hours of searching I finally found it and boared the little death trap to head over the water to the beach. The beach was not there prior to the 1992 Summer Games. The government thought that tourism would pick up, so they built the sea wall and the beach for all the expected visitiors. The beach is quite beautiful though, about 4 km long, full of tourist trying to work on their tans and locals laughing at them with their parkas on. The water was full of surfers and the beach was crawling with pickpockets, I am sure of it. I stopped to read the book for a bit and pick up a little sun myself. While I was sitting there it happened. This guy ran past this poor girl that I guess was sleeping and snatched her bag. He took of running, I was too far away to do anything but these other group of girls yelled to this poor girl and she took off running after him. I was shocked but happy to say that she did catch up with him and he dropped the bag on the beach. I don´t know if she was local but I have a feeling that she might be. She was screaming Spanish at him pretty loud. After that I took the cable car back and headed back down the hill to the hostel. I was tired and ready to have something to eat. Its funny, about a month ago, I lost my motivation to go out and party. I am more then happy to hang around the hostel, drink a few beers and socialize. I was in a perfect hostel for that. A bit of an older crowd which, made it really easy just to chill out and chat. Most of the nights that I was in Barcelona, that is what I did. I know people that have been to the city, are pretty dissapointed with the fact that I didn´t party, but it is only fun when you want to do it, otherwise it is a chore, and an expensive one at that.The next day was just as cool. I headed across the city to Park Guell. A park that was desinged my Gaudi again. Was suppose to be the housing complex of the rich and famous of Barcelona. After only a year or so was building, the project fell through due to the fact that no one wanted to live up there. It is now a preserved Park and a great place to hang out. Over 15 hecters of winderness and the great architecture. Plazas, scultures, and houses all still stand. It is literally walking into Dr. Suess World. Something that no one should miss if they have a chance to get to Barce.That night I went on a Night walking tour with the guys from the hostel which was really cool. Great views of the city at night, and the history to boot. It was really cool, cold, but with gloves and beanie in hand it was a really nice evening.I finshed up my tour of Barcelona with a trip to the Tibidabo on the top of the hill. A huge Church, once a palace of the Tibidabo family. Built to be the highest and closest to god in the city. Competing with the other richest family in Bacrelona. Up there also houses a working amusment park from 1920. I didn´t get on any of the rides, for one reason, most of them were built in 1920.I got a hair cut in the afternoon and I called it Barcelona, I was catching a night train to Granada that evening. I guess you are staring to ask yourself, if I hate night trains so much, why the hell do I keep taking them. Spain in one freakin big country and sometimes it is the only way to travel. While I was waiting for my train, I heard of this fountain that only goes on, on Friday and Saturday nights. Being Friday night and having time to kill, I headed over to this Magic Fountain. A really cool way to end my stay in Barcelona, Water, and Lights, all to music. It was like watching the Celebation of Lights in Vancouver but in Water. Overall, Barcelona was nothing but amazing and I can´t wait to one day return and see the finished product of Sagrada Familia. Onto Granda, didn´t have that much info on the place, was just told not to miss, well thank god I didn´t, the food was amazing...........
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227043260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227043260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1227043260/tpod.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:05:51 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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San Sebastian, Spain

This one was one of the easiest train trips to date. Only about an hour and I had crossed the bordedr from France into Spain. San Sebastian is one of those towns that is great for the surfers and even better for the tourists. In the summer it is hopping with Austalians tring to get a taste of home being on the water and in the winter it is full of backpackers that missed it in the summer.A city that I recon is bigger then expected but still nice in its own way. I had pictured this little vaction spot on the coast of Spain. It turned into a big metroplotian really quickly as soon as I got off the train.I exited the train and tried deperatly to try and find my hostel. The instructions were easy and clear but the street names and landmarks were just not adding up. The buildings that they said were there, weren´t. The Mcdonalds that they said was there, was NOT. I wandered the streets, asking every second person if they spoke english. I finally found someone but they had no idea where the hell I was staying. I had to ask him how to say "Do you speak English" in Spanish so people wouldn´t just look right through me. I was getting frustrated after an hour which I learned later should have been a 10 minute walk. I kept asking and people just kept not knowing or not understanding. Nothing is more frustrating. AH, THE POLICE, they can help me. If you are ever get lost in Europe, find a cop and they can always lead you to where you want to go. NOPE, not this time. He had no idea and I was getting to the point where I was thinking that this place doesn´t exisit. My next stop was the richest hotel I could find in the area. When in doubt (and the police are no use) go to a random hotel, they can usually help you. SUCCESS, I finally found this really nice woman that gave me step by step instructions. Where I went wrong, there are 2 train stations in the city and I got off at the wrong one. oops. I followed her detailed instructions and ended up at my hostel, tired and my back hurting I was ready for a sleep, and that is what I did, nap time!!!!!I got up a few hours later, left the camera back at the hostel, which I usally always do on my frist day in a new city and started to walk. Oh ya did I mention the rain. I am getting used to it by now but Olga, the girl at reception, gaurenteed me a sun the next so I had to wait it out. I just walked the sea wall and seeing it was about 10:00pm by that time I headed back to the hostel. The people at the hostel were about as excited as I was. We watch Family Guy and The Simpsons and called it an early night. I started to talk to a few people in my room while reading and met up, BRACE YOURSELF, an Aussie (Laura) and 2 guys from New Zealand (Matt and Kara). That is all that is out there right now traveling so I tend to find them like a calf to a cow´s nipple. ( I feel I have used Bee to honey all to often in these blogs)The next day the 4 of us took a hike to the top of the mountain to see Jesus. He has been hanging around there for about a hundred year or so. A 20 meter high statue of the savior atop the highest hill in San Sebastian, about a 30 minute climb. We hung out in the park for a bit and then it was time for Tapa Tour.Before we left Matt had planned out a route for lunch, a Tapa Tour. Any of you that have ever been to Spain will know what I am talking about, the others let me introduce you to the best idea in the whole world!!!!!!!The idea is so simple but so good. As you walk through the city there are bars on every street corner and alley way. These are what you call Tapa Bars. Picture this, 20-40 appitizers set out on the bar. Everything from Breads, cheese, seafood, you name it. You walk in , order a beer and start to eat. They give you plate and you start to choose what ever you little heart desires. Each appy has a toothpick, once you have eaten your little treat you keep your toothpick. Collect your toothpicks at the end and pay up. Each Tapa costs between 1 and 2 euros, the bigger and more seafood, the more expensive your tapa is. It is easy to blow a few euros at these bars.We hit about 4 of these bars for lunch and it was nothing but great food. I have now figured out that I really enjoy food. I mean I really enjoy eating. I have gotten really good at it while traveling and not looking forward to returing home and not having a different cuisine every week or so. The Tapa bars are crowed during siesta and after work. Just a great place to hang out for the afternoon.I have decided when I come back into Vancouver I am going to open a Tapa bar and enforce siesta just due to the fact that it works so well for the Spaniards. He took the rest of the afternoon and did some laundry which was insanly expensive, 15 euros. I couldn´t beleive it but I needed some clean clothes. We went out for a bite to eat, and called it a night, hung around and chatted in the common room with some beers.The following day wasn´t nearly as exciting. We walked, yup thats it, walked. We watched the surfers. The sun was out so we walked the entire coast line of San Sebastain and just had a relaxing day. Took some pictures and chilled out. That evening we had a huge feed at the hostel. Kara was nice enough to cook us all a fantasic dinner of Spaghetti Bolinas (I´m not saying it was fantasic because she might read this, it really was very good) We hung out again for our final night in the city, drank some wine, shared some stories and some laughs. The traveling life is good, I have come to the conclusion that I am not jaded, I am just appreciating different things now.YAAAAAA BARCELONA, The city that everyone talks about, architecture, food, and a whole lot more. I have been looking forward to it for a while now. Man, I hope it doesn´t disappoint......................
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226436720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226436720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226436720/tpod.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:21:34 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Biarritz, Aquitaine, France

I had heard about Biarritz from a friend that I met along my travels in Switzerland and I thought that it might be a really nice place to stop on my way to Spain. Really I needed a place to crash because I didn´t want to sit on the train for 16 hours to get from Marsille to San Sebastain. I found out later that it was only going to be 9 hours but I had made my deposit on my hotel so I decided to see it through and vist the sea side town of Biarritz. Night trains, either you love them our you hate them. I had a night train from Marseille to Bordeaux and then I was to catch another 1 hour train to Biarritz later in the morning. Night trains can be a hit or a miss, my first night train was a disaster, my second was better and this one turned out to be the best. I fortually am traveling on a rail pass which means, since I am over the age of 26 I have to ride 1st class. (I know hard life) The difference between a 2nd class night train and a 1st class is EVERYTHING!!! The beds are nicer, the pillows are fluffier and the most important, there are less beds. 2nd class, 6 beds crammed into a little space, 1st calss, 3 sometimes 4. When I arrived onto the train I was put into a 4 bed sleeper, there was one guy already in there crashed, I stashed my bag and headed right to bed. I slpet right through the night which is really impressive being on a moving train for 7 hours.I arrived in Bordeaux at about 7:00am and I needed to catch my connection at 9:00 which gave me the perfect amount of time to get a coffee and a muffin. (WOW, you are really getting the play by play here) I boarded the train and arrived to Biarritz shortly after 10ish.Well, Biarritz is only one of those towns that is beautiful when the sun is shining and the surfers on the water. Lucky for me, it was POURING, and I mean it was getting hit with the biggest wind and rain storm one could imagine. Oh ya, first......I HAD A HOTEL, NOT A HOSTEL BUT A HOTEL.I checked into my HOTEL and was so happy to have my own bed, own shower own privacy. Biarritz has no hostel and I was happy for it. I was nervous to be a little solidary but in the long run it was one night and I was going to soak every second of it up.Okay, back to it. It was raining, I put on the jacket and headed for the beach. They had the most incredible beach and with the storm that was hitting them hard it made the surf amazing. The guys were running out and hitting the waves. The kids were jumping into the waves in their wet suits. It was really cool to see. My camera was getting wet, really wet, I had to keep getting rid of the water that was on my lense. After about 3 hours I decided I had enough. I was hungary and needed something to eat, I didn´t realize when I was walking that nothing was open. Biarritz is a summer town and I knew that coming into it but I didn´t expect that everything was going to be closed up for the winter. I did happen to find a really nice bakery to stop at. My french is getting really good after spending close to a week trying to order things and get through to the locals. I was really surpised how much it comes back to you when you are forced to use it. I am far from fluent but I am defianlly getting better. I entered this bakery and tried to order in French. I was happy to say that the girls were more then impressed with my french. They were excited to hear where I was from and what I was doing in their town on such a rainy day. Her sister ended up living in Vancouver so we sat and talked for about half an hour. The problem was, they couldn´t speak that good of English so our conversation was slow but nice. I am getting good at understanding what they are saying, I can pick up every 2nd or 3rd word so that is the easy part, the hard part is forming a sentence back. I usually start in French, throw in some Engligh and disguise a little German in there and hope they won´t notice. Either way it was fun and gave me a new look on the French people. Some of them could actually turn out to be quite freindly given the chance. I sat and listened to the rain for the evening, watched some French TV, (I had already seen that episode of Friends so I got the gist of what was going on, Ironically, Fibi was trying to teach Joey French) and fell a sleep in my HOTEL room pretty early. I was only spending one night there, as much as I loved the HOTEL, it was too expensive to hang out there for much more and I don´t know if I could do another day in the rain.The next day I was excited for, San Sebastian. People told me again, only go if it was sunny, not a lot to do if you can´t walk the city. They had the same forecast as Biarritz so I had my fingers crossed, I should have crossed the toes too, oops............
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226175720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226175720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/mike81/1/1226175720/tpod.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:43:15 -0500 To The Land of the Euro. 6 Months hopefully, fingers crossed!!!

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Marseille, Provence, France

Well, maybe I am getting jaded or I am just feeling a little tired and worn out. I will blog later that I am not getting as jaded as I thought, Marseille was just a boring city to hang around.I arrived from Nice on another very uneventful train ride. I like it when they are uneventful, that means that I made it to the train on time, I didn´t miss any connections and the train arrived when it was suppose to. I checked into my hostel in the evening of the 5th and took my first walk in the city. Well, what can I say...It was another city that really doesn´t have a lot. The tousit info spot feels like they have a lot to offer but I couldn´t find it anywhere. I toured the port in the evening and eventually just called it a night after going out for a bite to eat. I did have a great dinner of Croque Monseiur, which is an inside out Ham and Cheese Grilled Sandwich. Doesn´t sound all that great but a tradiotnal french meal.The next day I was on a mission to find something in the city to see, I failed. I walked back down to the old port and took a look. The fish market was going on which was really cool. All the guys screaming in French at their customer and the customer screaming back. They had it all, fish of all types, squid, octopus, eel, prawns, you name it they caught it. I checked out the churches in the area, walked up to the fortress on the hill but unforutally these things just arn´t as thrilling to me as they were 5 months ago. Actually, I think I am getting critcal of them, I end up walking into some of these cathedrals that stand 100 meters in height and cover an area of god know how much and I give it the, "Okay, its nice, but......". Maybe I am getting jaded? That night was taken up by about 4 hours of drinking beer at the hostel with David and Tia, getting accused of stealing beer (which I did do, they don´t have to know that though) and then going out for pizza and picking up more beer for the guys I stole from. Don´t roll your eyes, they stole mine first!!Day number 3 was going to be the best day ever, I had decided to change my way of thinking and venture out and find something to do. It actually turned out to be a great day. Dave, Tia and I went up to the French War memorial where they were haveing the remberance day ceremony. I totally forgot that it was rememberance day and it was nice to see how the French did it. Not knowing a word they were saying, Dave started to translate, even though he was from Australia, he has been living in France for 6 months and has picked up the language. We hung around there and then toured the fortress again.We went out for an amazing lunch, I can´t remember what it was called but I do have it written down. Basically it was Fish, Prawns and muscles in a fish broth. You then take bread, rub it with garlic, plaster on some sort of mustard sauce and throw it with the fish. Eat the bread and fish together and repeat the process, over all nothing but goodness.That afternoon, Dave and I took the ferry out to the Island of IF, where "The Count of Monte Crisco" took place. We toured the castle and fortress on that island and called it a day. I had to catch a night train and David was heading back to his home base in the evening as well. Over all I think it turned out to be not a bad couple of days. The next town in France I was about to visit was going to be a crap shoot, people told me to go, ONLY if the weather was good, man I hoped it was..........................
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