Friday, July 23, 2010
Slept in! We had 25 minutes to repack our bags which were a disaster and check out. We made it by the skin of our teeth. Pretty rushed but we made it happen. We only had a short time in Prague today as we have to catch a train in good time to get to Vienna. So we headed out to the synagogue in the Jewish quarters to find a huge cash only line. We were out of Czech money and were hoping to use card all day so we didn`t have to get any more money out. `The line was much longer than we had time for and it didn`t help that it was raining. So instead we decided to head to the Astronomical clock and see the hourly performance. The clock was built in the 12th century and was a technological wonder of its time. It has the apostles go by in a circle, the 3 patron saints of Czech who shake their head symbolic of their disapproval of time going by and then a skeleton shaking his head yes in approval of time passing. Then a trumpet player sticks his head out of the top of the clock tower and plays a tune. It was pretty impressive for the 12th century. So since we were pretty much done sightseeing in Prague and the weather wasn`t great we caught an earlier train to Vienna which turned out well as it was a 5 hour train ride. We got to our hostel in Vienna, which is a single room with a double bed. Sweet!! It was nice to have some privacy and we have it for a few nights. Only one person hot and smelly beside you and we can be messy and at home. Yeah! So we had a night in with popcorn and wine oh yes and television. MTV and CNN only!! So we got caught up on the world and the popular music world. Great day!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Prague castle
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Got up this morning and headed straight to the market. It was a huge flea market right by our hostel on our way into town so we stopped to take a peak. We really enjoyed the bartering and looking around but it was much too hot to stay for long. We wanted to go on a castle tour at 2 anyhow so we headed back to the city centre. The day we arrived, we had met a married couple in our room who are from Australia doing a yearlong world tour. They started in Asia, are in Europe, move onto Africa next and finish in North America. Pretty amazing we think!!! Anyhow, we were meeting up with them to all go on the walking tour together. To our surprise, our new Aussie friends from the pub crawl were there too. Good times!! The castle tour was slightly disappointing, the tour did a lot of the same things from the walking tour the day before and stories were definitely repeated. We were also taken to the spots we discovered on our own the day before. The castle was only about 30 mins of a 2 and a half hour “castle” tour. The guide was good as she was Czech and was able to give some personal and historical information that we may not have otherwise gotten. A lot of folklore and interesting tales. When it was over, we were craving sushi and went to a place that Barbora (the guide) heard was good. So off we went with Ari and Andrew (Aussie couple) to Mr. Sushi only to find the most expensive sushi ever. We said forget that, and Heather and I went to a cafe in the square and Ari and Andrew went and got something else. It was a really cute spot for dinner, in a quiet alleyway and was an Italian restaurant. It was our “traditional Czech” dinner. Haha! Afterwards, it was time to head back and plan the next leg of our trip. We booked 3 nights in Wien (Vienna, Austria) followed by 3 nights in Strazburg, Austria and 3 in Budapest, Hungary. It feels pretty good to have the next 9 days all planned out. Our hostel in Budapest was ridiculously cheap and we are pretty excited for that! Then from there we will be heading to Croatia, probably have a little boat ride down to Dubrovnik and from there hopefully get a cheap flight to Greece!! We spent the rest of the night, chatting with Andrew and Ari and Heather skype`d with Caitlin for a bit. Tomorrow we are going to go to the Jewish museum and head on to Austria.
Got up this morning and headed straight to the market. It was a huge flea market right by our hostel on our way into town so we stopped to take a peak. We really enjoyed the bartering and looking around but it was much too hot to stay for long. We wanted to go on a castle tour at 2 anyhow so we headed back to the city centre. The day we arrived, we had met a married couple in our room who are from Australia doing a yearlong world tour. They started in Asia, are in Europe, move onto Africa next and finish in North America. Pretty amazing we think!!! Anyhow, we were meeting up with them to all go on the walking tour together. To our surprise, our new Aussie friends from the pub crawl were there too. Good times!! The castle tour was slightly disappointing, the tour did a lot of the same things from the walking tour the day before and stories were definitely repeated. We were also taken to the spots we discovered on our own the day before. The castle was only about 30 mins of a 2 and a half hour “castle” tour. The guide was good as she was Czech and was able to give some personal and historical information that we may not have otherwise gotten. A lot of folklore and interesting tales. When it was over, we were craving sushi and went to a place that Barbora (the guide) heard was good. So off we went with Ari and Andrew (Aussie couple) to Mr. Sushi only to find the most expensive sushi ever. We said forget that, and Heather and I went to a cafe in the square and Ari and Andrew went and got something else. It was a really cute spot for dinner, in a quiet alleyway and was an Italian restaurant. It was our “traditional Czech” dinner. Haha! Afterwards, it was time to head back and plan the next leg of our trip. We booked 3 nights in Wien (Vienna, Austria) followed by 3 nights in Strazburg, Austria and 3 in Budapest, Hungary. It feels pretty good to have the next 9 days all planned out. Our hostel in Budapest was ridiculously cheap and we are pretty excited for that! Then from there we will be heading to Croatia, probably have a little boat ride down to Dubrovnik and from there hopefully get a cheap flight to Greece!! We spent the rest of the night, chatting with Andrew and Ari and Heather skype`d with Caitlin for a bit. Tomorrow we are going to go to the Jewish museum and head on to Austria.
Praha with the Aussie's!!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
First day in Prague we decided to start it out with the free walking tour. It was really good and we had a good look at Prague. It was much better to do the tour and then go to whatever interests us again after. We really liked the Jewish neighbourhood and wanted to go back to the museum, memorial and cemetery. It is supposed to be a really good site and we were told both by our guide in Berlin and the Prague one that if we have time to definitely go. After the walking tour, we went over the bridge to see the John Lennon Wall and the Charles Bridge. It was funny because the Charles bridge is a) made with eggs to make the cement more sturdy and b) is lined with statues, one of which is good luck to rub one side but not the other, so we sat there and watched people rub the back luck side. HAHA! It was pretty hilarious! We also found out that the movie Eurotrip (of which we had just watched) was mostly filmed in Prague and saw a bunch of the sites that filming took place. Pretty funny! The building used to film the Louvre was actually an Opera house and not nearly as grand and impressive as the actual Louvre. Later that day we went to the supermarket which we haven’t done in awhile, and got dinner to take back before we got ready for our pub crawl. This was a new pub crawl run by a new company but sponsored by Sandeman’s (company who does the walking tour and pub crawls in the other European cities). It started at 830 and from when you arrived until 11, it was unlimited beer, vodka, rum, shots and to our pleasant surprise, Sangria!!! It was awesome! The night was pretty good, met a few weirdo’s but every crowd has them. We met some Aussie’s who were staying at our hostel who we stuck with so we could share a cab. Our hostel was too far out of city centre to have a tram at night and we were told not to take a cab or we may get robbed. We were supposed to get the tour guides to call us a reputable cab and we were definitely better off with men. So that worked out really well, plus they were a lot of fun too. All in all, a great first day in Prague and looking forward to day 2!
First day in Prague we decided to start it out with the free walking tour. It was really good and we had a good look at Prague. It was much better to do the tour and then go to whatever interests us again after. We really liked the Jewish neighbourhood and wanted to go back to the museum, memorial and cemetery. It is supposed to be a really good site and we were told both by our guide in Berlin and the Prague one that if we have time to definitely go. After the walking tour, we went over the bridge to see the John Lennon Wall and the Charles Bridge. It was funny because the Charles bridge is a) made with eggs to make the cement more sturdy and b) is lined with statues, one of which is good luck to rub one side but not the other, so we sat there and watched people rub the back luck side. HAHA! It was pretty hilarious! We also found out that the movie Eurotrip (of which we had just watched) was mostly filmed in Prague and saw a bunch of the sites that filming took place. Pretty funny! The building used to film the Louvre was actually an Opera house and not nearly as grand and impressive as the actual Louvre. Later that day we went to the supermarket which we haven’t done in awhile, and got dinner to take back before we got ready for our pub crawl. This was a new pub crawl run by a new company but sponsored by Sandeman’s (company who does the walking tour and pub crawls in the other European cities). It started at 830 and from when you arrived until 11, it was unlimited beer, vodka, rum, shots and to our pleasant surprise, Sangria!!! It was awesome! The night was pretty good, met a few weirdo’s but every crowd has them. We met some Aussie’s who were staying at our hostel who we stuck with so we could share a cab. Our hostel was too far out of city centre to have a tram at night and we were told not to take a cab or we may get robbed. We were supposed to get the tour guides to call us a reputable cab and we were definitely better off with men. So that worked out really well, plus they were a lot of fun too. All in all, a great first day in Prague and looking forward to day 2!
The big, the wonderful...Dresdan!!!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Wake up was 930 that morning!! Not fun! However, we needed to go see Dresdan in all of it’s glory. We started out looking for something to eat and did a little shopping. We just wondered around Dresdan, which isn’t very big, thank goodness! We didn’t see a whole lot in Dresdan but did see the sights that were there. The day pretty much consisted of shopping and walking the town. Afterwards we hit the train station to head to Praha!!! Onto to Czech we go!! We arrived in Prague at around 8pm and met our roommates, had dinner and went to bed. Not a big day, but a good travel day. I skyped my family that night and got to see Campbell!!! Well Mom, Dad, Brandon and Chantelle too but most importantly, CAMPBELL!!! She’s getting so big and still as beautiful as ever!!
Wake up was 930 that morning!! Not fun! However, we needed to go see Dresdan in all of it’s glory. We started out looking for something to eat and did a little shopping. We just wondered around Dresdan, which isn’t very big, thank goodness! We didn’t see a whole lot in Dresdan but did see the sights that were there. The day pretty much consisted of shopping and walking the town. Afterwards we hit the train station to head to Praha!!! Onto to Czech we go!! We arrived in Prague at around 8pm and met our roommates, had dinner and went to bed. Not a big day, but a good travel day. I skyped my family that night and got to see Campbell!!! Well Mom, Dad, Brandon and Chantelle too but most importantly, CAMPBELL!!! She’s getting so big and still as beautiful as ever!!
Train jumping
Monday, July 19, 2010
We checked out this morning and headed to the Hauptbahnhof (central station) to put our bags away and doing the free walking tour of Berlin. We had been just getting on the subway and not buying tickets. Our rail pass says we get free travel in major German cities for the underground. I am sure we are still supposed to get a ticket but nobody checks so we have just been going with it. Of course on our last day, a guy comes around and we don’t have a ticket. So we jumped off the train at the wrong stop and waited the few minutes for the next one. Hehe. We are tired of waiting in lines and not always making headway. Anyhow, we made it to the tour meeting spot just in time and were off to see Berlin. What an amazing city. We saw the Brandenburg gate (we are seeing an ongoing trend that Napolean likes to steal statues and monuments), the jewish holocaust memorial, Hitler’s bunker, the berlin wall, checkpoint Charlie, the SS headquarters, museum island and more. It made us want to stay longer and see so much more. However, there is simply no time. We had already booked our next hostels in Dresdan and Prague. We definitely want to come back at the end of the trip if there is time before Munich. We are coming back to Germany anyhow, so we shall see. So much more history and holocaust museums that we would like to check out. Anyhow, we are off to Dresdan for the night. We arrived, took a short train ride to the Kangaroo stop (that’s the name of the hostel) and checked in. It was a really quiet spot with a really cool vibe. The bathroom was hippie flowers and earthy while the common room had hammocks and comfy furniture. We met a couple of people in the hostel from Australia, Canada and the US. So we were chatting and whatever and decided to probably check out the town that night. We were starving and really wanted our sauerkraut...so we went to this local spot and had sausage and sauerkraut. It’s funny, German’s are kind of particular about their sauerkraut...they will not let you put it on just anything. They only had bockwurst not bratwurst so he didn’t want us to put sauerkraut on it but did give us a side of sauerkraut. Perfect!!! Esquisito (in Spanish)!! Anyhow, afterwards we grabbed a few beers headed back to the hostel and started to get ready. Heather and I had our first group shower with one other non-english speaking girl. It was a new experience that is for sure!!! So we went back into the quiet room and hung out with our new buddies. Everyone was quite chill and most of us had only one night in Dresdan. We all decided to go out to the local hot spots and they played really good music and had cheap beer. It was a crazy late night but a whole lot of fun. We didn’t get in and to bed until 5ish. We even went to the big lebowski bar...pretty hilarious!!! Next day, check out Dresdan!!
We checked out this morning and headed to the Hauptbahnhof (central station) to put our bags away and doing the free walking tour of Berlin. We had been just getting on the subway and not buying tickets. Our rail pass says we get free travel in major German cities for the underground. I am sure we are still supposed to get a ticket but nobody checks so we have just been going with it. Of course on our last day, a guy comes around and we don’t have a ticket. So we jumped off the train at the wrong stop and waited the few minutes for the next one. Hehe. We are tired of waiting in lines and not always making headway. Anyhow, we made it to the tour meeting spot just in time and were off to see Berlin. What an amazing city. We saw the Brandenburg gate (we are seeing an ongoing trend that Napolean likes to steal statues and monuments), the jewish holocaust memorial, Hitler’s bunker, the berlin wall, checkpoint Charlie, the SS headquarters, museum island and more. It made us want to stay longer and see so much more. However, there is simply no time. We had already booked our next hostels in Dresdan and Prague. We definitely want to come back at the end of the trip if there is time before Munich. We are coming back to Germany anyhow, so we shall see. So much more history and holocaust museums that we would like to check out. Anyhow, we are off to Dresdan for the night. We arrived, took a short train ride to the Kangaroo stop (that’s the name of the hostel) and checked in. It was a really quiet spot with a really cool vibe. The bathroom was hippie flowers and earthy while the common room had hammocks and comfy furniture. We met a couple of people in the hostel from Australia, Canada and the US. So we were chatting and whatever and decided to probably check out the town that night. We were starving and really wanted our sauerkraut...so we went to this local spot and had sausage and sauerkraut. It’s funny, German’s are kind of particular about their sauerkraut...they will not let you put it on just anything. They only had bockwurst not bratwurst so he didn’t want us to put sauerkraut on it but did give us a side of sauerkraut. Perfect!!! Esquisito (in Spanish)!! Anyhow, afterwards we grabbed a few beers headed back to the hostel and started to get ready. Heather and I had our first group shower with one other non-english speaking girl. It was a new experience that is for sure!!! So we went back into the quiet room and hung out with our new buddies. Everyone was quite chill and most of us had only one night in Dresdan. We all decided to go out to the local hot spots and they played really good music and had cheap beer. It was a crazy late night but a whole lot of fun. We didn’t get in and to bed until 5ish. We even went to the big lebowski bar...pretty hilarious!!! Next day, check out Dresdan!!
Sachsenhausen
Sunday, July 18, 2010
We had decided the previous day that we would go on a free tour to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was about 40 mins north of Berlin city centre and we took the train up. It was a really good tour. The camp was actually a work camp, then concentration camp and was used during the holocaust for political prisoners, homosexuals, gypsies and Jews and also used by the soviets later. It was the model camp and although wasn’t a death camp, was a really good experience. It was one of the first camps built using the triangle design that was later used all over Germany and Poland through the Holocaust. The tour had a lot of history and was really well done. It was a long journey since we had to travel so far but was a really humbling experience. We got back around 730 and went to explore a bit of a different area of Berlin for dinner. We accidentally came across a squat area for local artists. It was kind of sketchy was we had a quick peak (looking for shoes) and were off to dinner. Another traditional German meal...Thai haha!! We had then planned to go back to our hostel and go to a “world renowned club”. The dress code is strict so we were looking for some flat shoes instead of our flip flops. However, when we got back to the hostel, we discovered that the club isn’t open on Sunday’s. Bummer!! We decided to stay in instead and catch up on blogs, pictures and family. Heather skype’d with her family and we ended the night watching the movie Eurotrip in bed. Haha funny!! The next day we were heading to Dresdan later in the day.
We had decided the previous day that we would go on a free tour to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was about 40 mins north of Berlin city centre and we took the train up. It was a really good tour. The camp was actually a work camp, then concentration camp and was used during the holocaust for political prisoners, homosexuals, gypsies and Jews and also used by the soviets later. It was the model camp and although wasn’t a death camp, was a really good experience. It was one of the first camps built using the triangle design that was later used all over Germany and Poland through the Holocaust. The tour had a lot of history and was really well done. It was a long journey since we had to travel so far but was a really humbling experience. We got back around 730 and went to explore a bit of a different area of Berlin for dinner. We accidentally came across a squat area for local artists. It was kind of sketchy was we had a quick peak (looking for shoes) and were off to dinner. Another traditional German meal...Thai haha!! We had then planned to go back to our hostel and go to a “world renowned club”. The dress code is strict so we were looking for some flat shoes instead of our flip flops. However, when we got back to the hostel, we discovered that the club isn’t open on Sunday’s. Bummer!! We decided to stay in instead and catch up on blogs, pictures and family. Heather skype’d with her family and we ended the night watching the movie Eurotrip in bed. Haha funny!! The next day we were heading to Dresdan later in the day.
Berlin Day 1
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Today we went to see Hamburg, which draws most in the harbour area of town. It did however, have a few markets and walking areas that we went to check out first. The first thing we saw once we got off of the subway was a triathlon finish line. So the streets were pretty busy and lots of cheering so we just wondered around for awhile and walked in the general direction of the harbour. Once we arrived at the harbour, it was a pretty dodgy area of town, we found a beach bar that overlooked the harbour to sit and grab a drink at (No worries it was 11am by then). The bar had sand and lounge chairs and we got to see the boats coming and going from the harbour. The next big attraction in Hamburg is a building shaped like a ship. It comes to a point at the front of the building like a ship and had balcony’s that we supposed to look like decks. The building was pretty disappointing to say the least. It vaguely looked like a ship but was in the middle of nowhere (merchant’s district) and wasn’t very exciting. It was kind of a letdown. Needless to say Hamburg didn’t have a whole lot to see although we didn’t do the free walking tour here so we probably missed a few things but all in all was just pretty chill. We had noticed that a lot of people were dressed up all day and there were a lot of 70’s costumes and luau gear. So we grabbed someone to ask what was going on...it was Hamburg Day!!! Ahaha...well not really...but it was a major German holiday and Hamburg is famous for their celebration. Too bad we were leaving for Berlin but oh well...can’t win them all. We were pretty amped about heading to Berlin though so we got ourselves to the train station and off we went. Berlin here we come!!! We arrived around 7 or so to our hostel (again just on the edge of central Berlin) had a shower, got dressed, grabbed some pamphlets and were ready to paint the town. We decided to grab a quite bite to eat and hit the pub crawl. We found this outdoor restaurant with German food and sauerkraut (which is not easy to find) so we sat down and asked for an English menu, decided and the server came to take our order. So he had said something to us in German and I asked I am sorry what does that mean in English. He didn’t understand what I said so asked me to repeat it. So I did, and with a confused look just asked “food or drink” of which Heather responded with “both”. AND THAT WAS IT!! He stormed off and was mad about something. We weren’t sure what happened and thought we may be grabbing someone else to come talk to us as we couldn’t understand each other. Oh no!! He just walked away and completely ignored us. We tried to wave him down a few times but it became clear that he was angry about something or perhaps we somehow offended him. Who knows? So we decided to leave and eat elsewhere. Anyways, back to the pub crawl... Berlin had an alternative pub crawl though that took you to more local spots and different bars than the typical club pub crawls. We decided to do something different and give it a try. Why not? We started at a hippy bar, with mushrooms on the ceiling, and 70’s tunes and was just a strange decor, but the beer was cheap !! We met some Irish boys and one from L.A. that we ended up hanging out with the rest of the night. Next we went to a “goth” bar that was playing Bryan Adams when we arrived...hehe. The decor was definitely goth and the music did get a little more rock with some Motley Crue but that was the extent of that. We also met some girls originally from Vancouver and now teaching overseas in Cairo, South East Asia and Germany. They were pretty chill. The next bar and the most unusual was the Ping pong bar. HILARIOUS!! It’s a round robin game of ping pong, so you walk around and hit the ball on your turn and once out leave until the game has been won. Then it starts again! It was pretty fun although we weren’t great with our coordination! A lot of locals were pretty into it but we still had a good time. The next place was pretty chill, not sure what kind of bar is was, pub like I guess. This is where the drunk L.A. guy broke his glass into Heather’s glass. That was about the time we lost him and presumed he went home. Oh well! We had a dance party at the next bar with crazy lights and some good tunes and finished at a “club” which was half Karaoke. The karaoke was a hit, the club, not so much! It was a ton of fun though and definitely not your typical night out. All in all, a good first night in Berlin!
Today we went to see Hamburg, which draws most in the harbour area of town. It did however, have a few markets and walking areas that we went to check out first. The first thing we saw once we got off of the subway was a triathlon finish line. So the streets were pretty busy and lots of cheering so we just wondered around for awhile and walked in the general direction of the harbour. Once we arrived at the harbour, it was a pretty dodgy area of town, we found a beach bar that overlooked the harbour to sit and grab a drink at (No worries it was 11am by then). The bar had sand and lounge chairs and we got to see the boats coming and going from the harbour. The next big attraction in Hamburg is a building shaped like a ship. It comes to a point at the front of the building like a ship and had balcony’s that we supposed to look like decks. The building was pretty disappointing to say the least. It vaguely looked like a ship but was in the middle of nowhere (merchant’s district) and wasn’t very exciting. It was kind of a letdown. Needless to say Hamburg didn’t have a whole lot to see although we didn’t do the free walking tour here so we probably missed a few things but all in all was just pretty chill. We had noticed that a lot of people were dressed up all day and there were a lot of 70’s costumes and luau gear. So we grabbed someone to ask what was going on...it was Hamburg Day!!! Ahaha...well not really...but it was a major German holiday and Hamburg is famous for their celebration. Too bad we were leaving for Berlin but oh well...can’t win them all. We were pretty amped about heading to Berlin though so we got ourselves to the train station and off we went. Berlin here we come!!! We arrived around 7 or so to our hostel (again just on the edge of central Berlin) had a shower, got dressed, grabbed some pamphlets and were ready to paint the town. We decided to grab a quite bite to eat and hit the pub crawl. We found this outdoor restaurant with German food and sauerkraut (which is not easy to find) so we sat down and asked for an English menu, decided and the server came to take our order. So he had said something to us in German and I asked I am sorry what does that mean in English. He didn’t understand what I said so asked me to repeat it. So I did, and with a confused look just asked “food or drink” of which Heather responded with “both”. AND THAT WAS IT!! He stormed off and was mad about something. We weren’t sure what happened and thought we may be grabbing someone else to come talk to us as we couldn’t understand each other. Oh no!! He just walked away and completely ignored us. We tried to wave him down a few times but it became clear that he was angry about something or perhaps we somehow offended him. Who knows? So we decided to leave and eat elsewhere. Anyways, back to the pub crawl... Berlin had an alternative pub crawl though that took you to more local spots and different bars than the typical club pub crawls. We decided to do something different and give it a try. Why not? We started at a hippy bar, with mushrooms on the ceiling, and 70’s tunes and was just a strange decor, but the beer was cheap !! We met some Irish boys and one from L.A. that we ended up hanging out with the rest of the night. Next we went to a “goth” bar that was playing Bryan Adams when we arrived...hehe. The decor was definitely goth and the music did get a little more rock with some Motley Crue but that was the extent of that. We also met some girls originally from Vancouver and now teaching overseas in Cairo, South East Asia and Germany. They were pretty chill. The next bar and the most unusual was the Ping pong bar. HILARIOUS!! It’s a round robin game of ping pong, so you walk around and hit the ball on your turn and once out leave until the game has been won. Then it starts again! It was pretty fun although we weren’t great with our coordination! A lot of locals were pretty into it but we still had a good time. The next place was pretty chill, not sure what kind of bar is was, pub like I guess. This is where the drunk L.A. guy broke his glass into Heather’s glass. That was about the time we lost him and presumed he went home. Oh well! We had a dance party at the next bar with crazy lights and some good tunes and finished at a “club” which was half Karaoke. The karaoke was a hit, the club, not so much! It was a ton of fun though and definitely not your typical night out. All in all, a good first night in Berlin!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Koln and Hamburg
Friday, July 16, 2010
Woke up refreshed and ready to explore! We had the morning in Köln and got to see the cathedral (or the free part anyhow) and did a bit of shopping. We got a few new things at H&M (our store) and were off to Hamburg. Hamburg is a harbour town so we thought best to do it during the day, plus the hostel was on the opposite side of town from where we wanted to go. So, we skype’d a little with Jax which was nice and we got to catch up on life, had a few beers and had a low key night. I was feeling the need to do another “ditch” of clothing so I threw out some shirts (a few of which somehow got bleach stains in the laundry) and my really faded pants and my runners of which I have yet to wear. It was a sad day to see it all go haha no it was great to get rid of some more weight. I now have a one in, one out policy. So I will not pile up my clothes any longer. So we had another lazy night and had tomorrow to see Hamburg.
Woke up refreshed and ready to explore! We had the morning in Köln and got to see the cathedral (or the free part anyhow) and did a bit of shopping. We got a few new things at H&M (our store) and were off to Hamburg. Hamburg is a harbour town so we thought best to do it during the day, plus the hostel was on the opposite side of town from where we wanted to go. So, we skype’d a little with Jax which was nice and we got to catch up on life, had a few beers and had a low key night. I was feeling the need to do another “ditch” of clothing so I threw out some shirts (a few of which somehow got bleach stains in the laundry) and my really faded pants and my runners of which I have yet to wear. It was a sad day to see it all go haha no it was great to get rid of some more weight. I now have a one in, one out policy. So I will not pile up my clothes any longer. So we had another lazy night and had tomorrow to see Hamburg.
Bye Bye Amsterdam :(
Thursday, July 15, 2010
We cannot believe it has been a full month since we have left. It seems like only yesterday we were on our way to the airport with our bags overpacked and full of excitement. It seems like the time has gone by so quickly yet we cannot believe how much we have done and seen in such a short period of time. Germany here we come! We had decided to take the 1230 train to Cologne, Germany so we had a bit of time to grab some breakfast and just relax this morning. It was kind of nice. We have eaten a lot of fast food or quick grab items because we have been on the go the whole time we have been in Amsterdam. Anyhow, we arrived at the train station well before our train was due to leave with lots of time to make sure our train times and platforms were correct. We sat and waited and were sure we had the right platform when it was announced that the train would be late, taking a longer route and full. We were told yesterday that we wouldn`t need a reservation but due to the rain yesterday, the trains weren’t able to get through certain areas and would be redirected. Here we go again! Since we didn’t have a reservation, we had to play the seat game. Sit in seats that are reserved and hope that nobody asks you to move. It works well if you are lucky and/or listen to the announcements. So while everyone is fighting to get a seat we were gold. We got one that nobody occupied from Amsterdam and one of the stops was cancelled and therefore nobody from there would be getting on. Perfect!! We can only imagine what a 3 hour train ride would be like standing. Good news is we got on the correct train!! We have a new motto, “just get on the train”. We have decided when in doubt just get on...who cares where we end up...part of the adventure we think! So we arrived in Cologne (Köln) and navigated our way to our hostel with ease (we are getting quite good at it) and we checked in and in the room by 630ish. This hostel was really big and quite nice. It’s exciting when they are bigger because they are typically newer and have a more modern look. The small ones are quite nice too if they are like the one in Vianden. We decided to go to a beerhall and get some local beer and eats. We had a good German meal! Meat and potatoes pretty much. We were pretty tired and not feeling too well so we decided to call it an early night after dinner and see Köln in the morning.
We cannot believe it has been a full month since we have left. It seems like only yesterday we were on our way to the airport with our bags overpacked and full of excitement. It seems like the time has gone by so quickly yet we cannot believe how much we have done and seen in such a short period of time. Germany here we come! We had decided to take the 1230 train to Cologne, Germany so we had a bit of time to grab some breakfast and just relax this morning. It was kind of nice. We have eaten a lot of fast food or quick grab items because we have been on the go the whole time we have been in Amsterdam. Anyhow, we arrived at the train station well before our train was due to leave with lots of time to make sure our train times and platforms were correct. We sat and waited and were sure we had the right platform when it was announced that the train would be late, taking a longer route and full. We were told yesterday that we wouldn`t need a reservation but due to the rain yesterday, the trains weren’t able to get through certain areas and would be redirected. Here we go again! Since we didn’t have a reservation, we had to play the seat game. Sit in seats that are reserved and hope that nobody asks you to move. It works well if you are lucky and/or listen to the announcements. So while everyone is fighting to get a seat we were gold. We got one that nobody occupied from Amsterdam and one of the stops was cancelled and therefore nobody from there would be getting on. Perfect!! We can only imagine what a 3 hour train ride would be like standing. Good news is we got on the correct train!! We have a new motto, “just get on the train”. We have decided when in doubt just get on...who cares where we end up...part of the adventure we think! So we arrived in Cologne (Köln) and navigated our way to our hostel with ease (we are getting quite good at it) and we checked in and in the room by 630ish. This hostel was really big and quite nice. It’s exciting when they are bigger because they are typically newer and have a more modern look. The small ones are quite nice too if they are like the one in Vianden. We decided to go to a beerhall and get some local beer and eats. We had a good German meal! Meat and potatoes pretty much. We were pretty tired and not feeling too well so we decided to call it an early night after dinner and see Köln in the morning.
The Day After Amsterdam Day!!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
This morning was the roughest!! We didn`t get out of bed until early afternoon and decided to make something out of our day and go on a free walking tour. It started at 1:15 so we grabbed something to eat and made it there just in time. Our tour guide was super enthusiastic and was a lot of fun. We found out some pretty interesting things about Amsterdam and had a good time on the tour. After the tour was over, we went to go tour the city a bit more, primarily the Anne Frank house. It was really a bust. We walked in the pouring rain without our jackets to a modern building and a huge line. Yah right! We weren’t really impressed with it so we didn`t even bother to stay. We did however go back to the hostel to try and figure out the rest of our journey. We were going to the train station as well to see when we could get to Germany and if we needed reservations. So off we were to the train station. We got the time for the train tomorrow going to Cologne and would have to do the rest of the booking from Germany. We decided to have a dutch dinner so we went to a place that was again suggested by our trusty guidebook. It was a kind of cafeteria. It had a lot of meat and different things. We had a small bite to eat, heather grabbed some fries and I had some stirfry. It was a pretty quiet night for us. We were doing some planning and internet time until late and then decided to go back up to bed. As a little aside, the Dutch buildings are very narrow and tall. They used to have to pay based on the width of the house so many of them are quite narrow with steep, long staircases. We were the on the 3rd floor up and had a really steep set of stairs followed by 2 winding spiral staircases. Not the safest thing in the world and even scarier coming down with our packs but we survived with no casualties. We met our new Spanish friends upstairs and ended up talking and hanging out with them until really late. They had an early train but they still stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. Young and resilient!!
This morning was the roughest!! We didn`t get out of bed until early afternoon and decided to make something out of our day and go on a free walking tour. It started at 1:15 so we grabbed something to eat and made it there just in time. Our tour guide was super enthusiastic and was a lot of fun. We found out some pretty interesting things about Amsterdam and had a good time on the tour. After the tour was over, we went to go tour the city a bit more, primarily the Anne Frank house. It was really a bust. We walked in the pouring rain without our jackets to a modern building and a huge line. Yah right! We weren’t really impressed with it so we didn`t even bother to stay. We did however go back to the hostel to try and figure out the rest of our journey. We were going to the train station as well to see when we could get to Germany and if we needed reservations. So off we were to the train station. We got the time for the train tomorrow going to Cologne and would have to do the rest of the booking from Germany. We decided to have a dutch dinner so we went to a place that was again suggested by our trusty guidebook. It was a kind of cafeteria. It had a lot of meat and different things. We had a small bite to eat, heather grabbed some fries and I had some stirfry. It was a pretty quiet night for us. We were doing some planning and internet time until late and then decided to go back up to bed. As a little aside, the Dutch buildings are very narrow and tall. They used to have to pay based on the width of the house so many of them are quite narrow with steep, long staircases. We were the on the 3rd floor up and had a really steep set of stairs followed by 2 winding spiral staircases. Not the safest thing in the world and even scarier coming down with our packs but we survived with no casualties. We met our new Spanish friends upstairs and ended up talking and hanging out with them until really late. They had an early train but they still stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. Young and resilient!!
Amsterdam Day!!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
We got up and went on a search for pancakes!! The book recommended this pancake joint and dutch pancakes are different from home so we decided to check them out. En route, which was awhile because we were going the wrong direction for a bit, we noticed that everyone was wearing orange. It was everywhere!! E verybody was in a Netherlands jerseys or orange colours. We finally asked someone what was going on and what the big street party was about. Apparently, the team was coming home from South Africa and they were having a huge party to celebrate. There was a parade that was going to happen this afternoon through the canals and the team would ride down the canal. There was also a huge concert and celebration to happen afterwards. So we grabbed a quick pancake, some beer and headed to the canal to get a good spot. The streets were packed full of people and there were even portable urinals in the street set up. The parade came by around 4 o`clock but people had started partying that morning. It was pretty crazy when the team did arrive. The streets were wild, people jumped into the canal to swim...just hilarious. We then decided that we needed some orange t-shirts for the rest of the party. So we went and got some jerseys and went to grab dinner and join a pub crawl. The first pub crawl advertised that the first 10 girls at 8 got free entry. We didn’t want to be late so we made it there for 8 sharp to find out that it’s only on Friday and Saturday. We decided to go to another pub crawl...they were pretty sketchy. The pub crawl that we did join up with was a red light district pub crawl...pretty cool. Prostitutes and beer!!! Haha! It was a good time, we met some cool people from the U.S, Oz, Sweden and some Canadians. It was tonight that we really got to know the Spanish guys that we shared a room with. They were hilarious...spoke amazing English and we learned some new Spanish words too. They were a bit messy and we had some flies camping out in the room but whatever, we only slept there. The guys were 19-22 and were definite partiers!! One of them was a D.J too so he was mixin some tunes for us at all hours. Good day in Amsterdam!
We got up and went on a search for pancakes!! The book recommended this pancake joint and dutch pancakes are different from home so we decided to check them out. En route, which was awhile because we were going the wrong direction for a bit, we noticed that everyone was wearing orange. It was everywhere!! E verybody was in a Netherlands jerseys or orange colours. We finally asked someone what was going on and what the big street party was about. Apparently, the team was coming home from South Africa and they were having a huge party to celebrate. There was a parade that was going to happen this afternoon through the canals and the team would ride down the canal. There was also a huge concert and celebration to happen afterwards. So we grabbed a quick pancake, some beer and headed to the canal to get a good spot. The streets were packed full of people and there were even portable urinals in the street set up. The parade came by around 4 o`clock but people had started partying that morning. It was pretty crazy when the team did arrive. The streets were wild, people jumped into the canal to swim...just hilarious. We then decided that we needed some orange t-shirts for the rest of the party. So we went and got some jerseys and went to grab dinner and join a pub crawl. The first pub crawl advertised that the first 10 girls at 8 got free entry. We didn’t want to be late so we made it there for 8 sharp to find out that it’s only on Friday and Saturday. We decided to go to another pub crawl...they were pretty sketchy. The pub crawl that we did join up with was a red light district pub crawl...pretty cool. Prostitutes and beer!!! Haha! It was a good time, we met some cool people from the U.S, Oz, Sweden and some Canadians. It was tonight that we really got to know the Spanish guys that we shared a room with. They were hilarious...spoke amazing English and we learned some new Spanish words too. They were a bit messy and we had some flies camping out in the room but whatever, we only slept there. The guys were 19-22 and were definite partiers!! One of them was a D.J too so he was mixin some tunes for us at all hours. Good day in Amsterdam!
More Transport Troubles on our way to Amsterdam!!
Monday, July 12, 2010
We started off the day with a great breakfast included in the hostel. So we grabbed a quick bite and headed down the mountain to the bus stop. The bus was late but we thankfully had a lot of time before our train left. When we arrived at the train station (Gare) we found our platform and were ready to go. Ettelbrook is a small place and the train station was pretty minimal. We are used to the trains being labelled so we know what train is what. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case so we had to ask the conductors. We waited until 941 when our train was due to arrive, and when it finally did arrive right at 940, we couldn’t find anyone to ask to make sure this was our train. But, we figured it was and the previous people told us it would be the next train so we jumped on and asked straight away. This passanger that we had asked said it was going to Luxembourg (the opposite direction from Liege) and we quickly tried to turn around and get off. The train door shut and we were stuck on this train to Luxembourg. Damn!! So we found the conductor (who spoke only French and Luxembourg) and asked her for some help finding a new route. She didn’t really understand where we wanted to go and we had a lot of difficulty communicating with her. So we took it upon ourselves to figure it out whilst sitting in first class . Here come the critical thinking and problem solving skills that Nursing has so wonderfully taught us. Haha. So we found out we could catch a train from Luxembourg to Brussells and then Brussells to Amsterdam. The trains left every hour or so which was great and we didn’t need a reservation. We only had 2 minutes when we got into Luxembourg to switch trains to avoid waiting an hour so we ran our butts off, found the platform number and got on that train. Phew! So we were off to Brussells and very excited to have figured it out and not have another Mont-St-Michel “incident”. Luxembourg to Brussells was about a 3 hour train ride but it was still early and we had only one change to make until we arrived in Amsterdam. Well, about an hour south of Brussells, our train stops in a small station called Citey (small town Belgium). We were told that we had to get off the train as this one wasn’t able to get through. After some asking around and some scary translating skills, we discovered that there was a huge storm in Belgium and there were trees blocking the tracks. So, we were told that buses would soon be arriving to take us to somewhere closer to Brussels and then we would have to figure something else out. We were also told that there were no trains running in Belgium and we were stuck until further notice. We met a few people (2 germans going to Amsterdam so we stuck together, 1 aussie trying to get to London, and an American trying to get to Brussells). So we tried to figure out a way to get to Brussells and didn’t have any luck. About an hour later, 1 bus arrived for about 200 people. Haha it was mayhem. The street was blocked, the bus was surrounded with people and only a few got on. We were not one of the “lucky” ones to get on the bus. However, the bus did a U-turn around the block and kicked everyone off. At this point there was news that the train would in fact run and we all got on the train. There were so many people that we decided to not fight the crowds and just go sit in first class again and play dumb if we were told otherwise. Worked like a charm. So after a few minutes the train stopped at another station and we were all told to get off and wait for further instruction. A new train then showed up, and we all rushed onto this one. There were several announcements about where you were seated and that some cars were added but you couldn’t get off at certain stops from these cars etc. It was really quite hectic. Anyways, we were finally on our way to Brussels. When we arrived, there was a train due to Amsterdam in about 30 mins so we took this opportunity to grab some dinner and drinks. We got this train and it was a “Harry Potter train.” We had taken one of these trains before but only for a short distance. They were the trains with the cabins and six seats in each. It was fun to ride in but it had a real 70’s decor going on. It was groovy! So as if our day hadn’t been crazy enough, when the conductor came around to check our tickets, he told us that our rail passes hadn’t been activated and that they were not valid. He was saying that it was 12.50 fine each to activate and was really giving us a hard time. We tried to explain that in Belfast we had asked about activation and were told it was fine and it didn’t have to be stamped. He didn’t take too well to this and was getting kind of mad at us. He ended up letting it go and saying that we had to get it activated in Amsterdam before we travelled again. It’s funny, we try and plan and do everything right and still get screwed over. Oh well! Kavorcka mama, Kavorcka! Anyhow, at about half 8, we arrived in Amsterdam!!! Yeah!!! We were so excited to get here and only have a short walk to the hostel. So we walked to our hostel which just so happens to be right in the middle of the action, one block from the red light district. So we got checked in and to our pleasant surprise it was nicer than we had anticipated. The reviews online were really poor and we didn’t expect much but our options were limited as everything else was booked. So we decided to go check out the town a bit. We grabbed our tourist map and were off. We stopped in at a coffeeshop for a bit and just looked at what there was to do and where it was on the map. Not feeling overly ambitious we just walked around near our hostel and checked out the red light district. It’s funny because it is super busy and not as weird as you would imagine. O.K. its strange to have prostitutes in windows propositioning people but its where everyone hangs out and party’s. It was cool to see anyhow. We went back to our hostel and went to bed.
We started off the day with a great breakfast included in the hostel. So we grabbed a quick bite and headed down the mountain to the bus stop. The bus was late but we thankfully had a lot of time before our train left. When we arrived at the train station (Gare) we found our platform and were ready to go. Ettelbrook is a small place and the train station was pretty minimal. We are used to the trains being labelled so we know what train is what. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case so we had to ask the conductors. We waited until 941 when our train was due to arrive, and when it finally did arrive right at 940, we couldn’t find anyone to ask to make sure this was our train. But, we figured it was and the previous people told us it would be the next train so we jumped on and asked straight away. This passanger that we had asked said it was going to Luxembourg (the opposite direction from Liege) and we quickly tried to turn around and get off. The train door shut and we were stuck on this train to Luxembourg. Damn!! So we found the conductor (who spoke only French and Luxembourg) and asked her for some help finding a new route. She didn’t really understand where we wanted to go and we had a lot of difficulty communicating with her. So we took it upon ourselves to figure it out whilst sitting in first class . Here come the critical thinking and problem solving skills that Nursing has so wonderfully taught us. Haha. So we found out we could catch a train from Luxembourg to Brussells and then Brussells to Amsterdam. The trains left every hour or so which was great and we didn’t need a reservation. We only had 2 minutes when we got into Luxembourg to switch trains to avoid waiting an hour so we ran our butts off, found the platform number and got on that train. Phew! So we were off to Brussells and very excited to have figured it out and not have another Mont-St-Michel “incident”. Luxembourg to Brussells was about a 3 hour train ride but it was still early and we had only one change to make until we arrived in Amsterdam. Well, about an hour south of Brussells, our train stops in a small station called Citey (small town Belgium). We were told that we had to get off the train as this one wasn’t able to get through. After some asking around and some scary translating skills, we discovered that there was a huge storm in Belgium and there were trees blocking the tracks. So, we were told that buses would soon be arriving to take us to somewhere closer to Brussels and then we would have to figure something else out. We were also told that there were no trains running in Belgium and we were stuck until further notice. We met a few people (2 germans going to Amsterdam so we stuck together, 1 aussie trying to get to London, and an American trying to get to Brussells). So we tried to figure out a way to get to Brussells and didn’t have any luck. About an hour later, 1 bus arrived for about 200 people. Haha it was mayhem. The street was blocked, the bus was surrounded with people and only a few got on. We were not one of the “lucky” ones to get on the bus. However, the bus did a U-turn around the block and kicked everyone off. At this point there was news that the train would in fact run and we all got on the train. There were so many people that we decided to not fight the crowds and just go sit in first class again and play dumb if we were told otherwise. Worked like a charm. So after a few minutes the train stopped at another station and we were all told to get off and wait for further instruction. A new train then showed up, and we all rushed onto this one. There were several announcements about where you were seated and that some cars were added but you couldn’t get off at certain stops from these cars etc. It was really quite hectic. Anyways, we were finally on our way to Brussels. When we arrived, there was a train due to Amsterdam in about 30 mins so we took this opportunity to grab some dinner and drinks. We got this train and it was a “Harry Potter train.” We had taken one of these trains before but only for a short distance. They were the trains with the cabins and six seats in each. It was fun to ride in but it had a real 70’s decor going on. It was groovy! So as if our day hadn’t been crazy enough, when the conductor came around to check our tickets, he told us that our rail passes hadn’t been activated and that they were not valid. He was saying that it was 12.50 fine each to activate and was really giving us a hard time. We tried to explain that in Belfast we had asked about activation and were told it was fine and it didn’t have to be stamped. He didn’t take too well to this and was getting kind of mad at us. He ended up letting it go and saying that we had to get it activated in Amsterdam before we travelled again. It’s funny, we try and plan and do everything right and still get screwed over. Oh well! Kavorcka mama, Kavorcka! Anyhow, at about half 8, we arrived in Amsterdam!!! Yeah!!! We were so excited to get here and only have a short walk to the hostel. So we walked to our hostel which just so happens to be right in the middle of the action, one block from the red light district. So we got checked in and to our pleasant surprise it was nicer than we had anticipated. The reviews online were really poor and we didn’t expect much but our options were limited as everything else was booked. So we decided to go check out the town a bit. We grabbed our tourist map and were off. We stopped in at a coffeeshop for a bit and just looked at what there was to do and where it was on the map. Not feeling overly ambitious we just walked around near our hostel and checked out the red light district. It’s funny because it is super busy and not as weird as you would imagine. O.K. its strange to have prostitutes in windows propositioning people but its where everyone hangs out and party’s. It was cool to see anyhow. We went back to our hostel and went to bed.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Luxembourg is a country...not a German city!!!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Off to Luxembourg this morning. We took the 830 train direct to Luxembourg. We had booked our hostel outside of Luxembourg City in Vianden. We arrived early in Luxembourg so we decided to spend a bit of time there before proceeding to Vianden. It is a really small country and its only like 80 km long so the city of Luxembourg was small too. The scenery was really nice and because it was Sunday, many of the shops and local attractions were closed. So we wondered around the city and just took it all in. It didn’t take long to see everything we had read about/wanted to see. So we grabbed some lunch at ChiChi’s (yes we needed a little variety) and were back to the train station. We took a short train to Ettelbrook and then a local bus into Vianden. We were forewarned that the hostel was a 1km walk up a hill but I suppose we weren’t really ready for what we encountered. The small town is built on the side of a mountain and at the top is a castle. Our hostel was right beside the hostel...so it was a workout to get up to the top. It was another really hot day and we were glad to get to the top. This hostel was however, in an amazing location and was really nice. It is our favourite hostel so far! It was pretty dead too. I think we were the only ones staying there besides another couple who arrived when we did. So it was great to have our own room again with clean sheets and nice beds. It was really well kept and modern looking. So we had some much needed showers, put on our Sunday dresses, had a bottle of wine and went out on the town! Well we went to a local pub and watched the world cup final and had some spaghetti. GO ESPANA GO!!! The culture in Luxembourg is kind of funny! They speak their own language that sounds much like German but is not and they also speak French. So we had to continue to try to communicate in French or use our favourite line...”Parlez vous Anglais?” It was a really cute town though and the people were very friendly. It was just so nice to walk around and be in the mountains. A nice break after Paris but we are ready for Amsterdam.
Off to Luxembourg this morning. We took the 830 train direct to Luxembourg. We had booked our hostel outside of Luxembourg City in Vianden. We arrived early in Luxembourg so we decided to spend a bit of time there before proceeding to Vianden. It is a really small country and its only like 80 km long so the city of Luxembourg was small too. The scenery was really nice and because it was Sunday, many of the shops and local attractions were closed. So we wondered around the city and just took it all in. It didn’t take long to see everything we had read about/wanted to see. So we grabbed some lunch at ChiChi’s (yes we needed a little variety) and were back to the train station. We took a short train to Ettelbrook and then a local bus into Vianden. We were forewarned that the hostel was a 1km walk up a hill but I suppose we weren’t really ready for what we encountered. The small town is built on the side of a mountain and at the top is a castle. Our hostel was right beside the hostel...so it was a workout to get up to the top. It was another really hot day and we were glad to get to the top. This hostel was however, in an amazing location and was really nice. It is our favourite hostel so far! It was pretty dead too. I think we were the only ones staying there besides another couple who arrived when we did. So it was great to have our own room again with clean sheets and nice beds. It was really well kept and modern looking. So we had some much needed showers, put on our Sunday dresses, had a bottle of wine and went out on the town! Well we went to a local pub and watched the world cup final and had some spaghetti. GO ESPANA GO!!! The culture in Luxembourg is kind of funny! They speak their own language that sounds much like German but is not and they also speak French. So we had to continue to try to communicate in French or use our favourite line...”Parlez vous Anglais?” It was a really cute town though and the people were very friendly. It was just so nice to walk around and be in the mountains. A nice break after Paris but we are ready for Amsterdam.
Our last day in Paris
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Woke up drenched in sweat!! It is super hot and muggy in our hostel and in Paris in general. So needless to say we showered, even though we started sweating immediately after, and made it to breakfast. French hostel breakfast isn’t unlike the other countries but instead of toast you get a baguette. Hehe. It was kind of funny to see a basket of baguettes and everyone having one for breakfast. Anyhow, we had some planning to do today so instead of paying for WiFi at the hostel, we wanted to go to an internet café and get it for free. So we followed the directions that the girl gave us and didn`t see anything so we stopped in at the Holiday Inn for directions. Apparently, the place for WiFi is McDonald`s!! So we went with the intention of having to buy something (sundaes and milkshakes of course) and found out not only that we didn`t have to buy anything but that ice cream isn`t available at 10am at French McDonalds...ridiculous! So we grabbed our juice and espresso and got to it. In the process we found out that Luxembourg is a country, not a city in Germany and that we could make it there in a few hours and head to Amsterdam the following day. We learned in Roscoff though that reservations are often necessary and to book trains ahead of time. So we planned our train route online so we had an idea and booked a hostel in Vianden (just outside of Luxembourg City) and three nights in Amsterdam. So after we were finished at McDonalds, we headed to the train station to reserve our tickets and get on with our day. Almost two hours later, we had our tickets and our train schedule. It was a combination of the huge line that people ignored and bypassed, and the lack of knowledge of the person working there. We got it all figured out in the end so we were just happy to have it all straightened out and booked. Next stop, we were headed for a bike tour of Paris. It was a small company that we saw an ad for and decided to check it out. So we had 3.5 hours of a guided tour through central Paris on bikes. It was really neat. We got to see probably a lot more this way than a walking tour and it was cooler and overcast so it wasn`t absolutely intolerable heat. We got to see Notre Dame, the Bastille, Jim Morrison`s death place, Victor Hugo`s house, some WWI and WWII memorial spots and a bunch more. It was really interesting. The guy who owns the company is a Kiwi (not quite an Aussie) and he jokingly said he would take the commonwealth countries on his tour while trying to split us up in two groups and it actually worked. So we toured with some Aussie`s and Kiwi`s and then of course us two, the Canadians. Pretty funny!! We also saw a Ferrari that caught on fire in the middle of the road, or what was left of it anyhow. So after the tour our guide, Paul, gave us a list of things to do in Paris and his favourite hotspots for food and entertainment. Since it was our last night in Paris, we figured we should go have a nice dinner before we head to climb the Eiffel Tower. So we chose a quaint little spot in the Latin Quarters that was a small little restaurant with some outdoor seating. (I should mention outdoor seating in Paris is either a patio or it is literally the sidewalk, and in the old part of town, it was the sidewalk). So we chose this really French spot where the menu was even in French. We did get an English translation (good thing) but pretty much just ordered the dishes that the waitress suggested. The house red wine went down nicely and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Heather started with the Ratatouille and then had sausage and aligot (cheesy mashed potatoes) and I had the French onion soup (which both of us were in love with) and then I had `calamari` with rice. It was kind of strange but still good. The French onion soup was topped with gruyere cheese...mmm....we need some more of that!! Anyhow, we were enjoying our romantic dinner for two when we were approached by a 40 something guy who was having his bachelor party that night. He needed two girls to come sing him a song. So after much debate we decided to sing All you need is love by the Beatles...it didn`t last long as you could imagine. There are probably 15 French guys who don`t know the words but are trying to sing along. Haha It was hilarious!! We hung out for awhile, had some wine with them, got a hat as a thank you (pictures to come soon) and were off to the Eiffel Tower. We booked it to the Eiffel Tower. It was like 10pm now and the tower closes at midnight and it`s of course Saturday night. So we got there to discover that the top was closed due to congestion. So we paid a discounted rate to climb to the top but normally from there, you would get a lift to the very, very top. It was still really cool from the altitude that we made it to. We hung out (and caught our breath) and took it all in. We had an interesting experience up there though, we met this girl from Australia who has terminal cancer and has been travelling for the past four months. It was kind of an eye opener for us. Here she was, in a dress and stiletto`s no less, enjoying the last bit of time she has (by herself). She was such an amazing young girl and it was inspiring for us and really made us think about how fortunate we are. We are doing this with the intention of returning to these countries some day to see more and here was this girl, living it up for as long as she could. Mind you, she looked fantastic and we weren`t really sure how much time she had left but really, really inspiring. She was so happy to have made it up and didn`t get to go to the very top, she was disappointed but got over it quickly. She was more happy to be off to run with the bulls the next day. So cool, and why not? Anyhow, we finished our night on a fantastic note, meeting her was definitely the coolest part of the day and getting to talk to her. So tomorrow, Luxembourg and then to Amsterdam!!!!
Woke up drenched in sweat!! It is super hot and muggy in our hostel and in Paris in general. So needless to say we showered, even though we started sweating immediately after, and made it to breakfast. French hostel breakfast isn’t unlike the other countries but instead of toast you get a baguette. Hehe. It was kind of funny to see a basket of baguettes and everyone having one for breakfast. Anyhow, we had some planning to do today so instead of paying for WiFi at the hostel, we wanted to go to an internet café and get it for free. So we followed the directions that the girl gave us and didn`t see anything so we stopped in at the Holiday Inn for directions. Apparently, the place for WiFi is McDonald`s!! So we went with the intention of having to buy something (sundaes and milkshakes of course) and found out not only that we didn`t have to buy anything but that ice cream isn`t available at 10am at French McDonalds...ridiculous! So we grabbed our juice and espresso and got to it. In the process we found out that Luxembourg is a country, not a city in Germany and that we could make it there in a few hours and head to Amsterdam the following day. We learned in Roscoff though that reservations are often necessary and to book trains ahead of time. So we planned our train route online so we had an idea and booked a hostel in Vianden (just outside of Luxembourg City) and three nights in Amsterdam. So after we were finished at McDonalds, we headed to the train station to reserve our tickets and get on with our day. Almost two hours later, we had our tickets and our train schedule. It was a combination of the huge line that people ignored and bypassed, and the lack of knowledge of the person working there. We got it all figured out in the end so we were just happy to have it all straightened out and booked. Next stop, we were headed for a bike tour of Paris. It was a small company that we saw an ad for and decided to check it out. So we had 3.5 hours of a guided tour through central Paris on bikes. It was really neat. We got to see probably a lot more this way than a walking tour and it was cooler and overcast so it wasn`t absolutely intolerable heat. We got to see Notre Dame, the Bastille, Jim Morrison`s death place, Victor Hugo`s house, some WWI and WWII memorial spots and a bunch more. It was really interesting. The guy who owns the company is a Kiwi (not quite an Aussie) and he jokingly said he would take the commonwealth countries on his tour while trying to split us up in two groups and it actually worked. So we toured with some Aussie`s and Kiwi`s and then of course us two, the Canadians. Pretty funny!! We also saw a Ferrari that caught on fire in the middle of the road, or what was left of it anyhow. So after the tour our guide, Paul, gave us a list of things to do in Paris and his favourite hotspots for food and entertainment. Since it was our last night in Paris, we figured we should go have a nice dinner before we head to climb the Eiffel Tower. So we chose a quaint little spot in the Latin Quarters that was a small little restaurant with some outdoor seating. (I should mention outdoor seating in Paris is either a patio or it is literally the sidewalk, and in the old part of town, it was the sidewalk). So we chose this really French spot where the menu was even in French. We did get an English translation (good thing) but pretty much just ordered the dishes that the waitress suggested. The house red wine went down nicely and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Heather started with the Ratatouille and then had sausage and aligot (cheesy mashed potatoes) and I had the French onion soup (which both of us were in love with) and then I had `calamari` with rice. It was kind of strange but still good. The French onion soup was topped with gruyere cheese...mmm....we need some more of that!! Anyhow, we were enjoying our romantic dinner for two when we were approached by a 40 something guy who was having his bachelor party that night. He needed two girls to come sing him a song. So after much debate we decided to sing All you need is love by the Beatles...it didn`t last long as you could imagine. There are probably 15 French guys who don`t know the words but are trying to sing along. Haha It was hilarious!! We hung out for awhile, had some wine with them, got a hat as a thank you (pictures to come soon) and were off to the Eiffel Tower. We booked it to the Eiffel Tower. It was like 10pm now and the tower closes at midnight and it`s of course Saturday night. So we got there to discover that the top was closed due to congestion. So we paid a discounted rate to climb to the top but normally from there, you would get a lift to the very, very top. It was still really cool from the altitude that we made it to. We hung out (and caught our breath) and took it all in. We had an interesting experience up there though, we met this girl from Australia who has terminal cancer and has been travelling for the past four months. It was kind of an eye opener for us. Here she was, in a dress and stiletto`s no less, enjoying the last bit of time she has (by herself). She was such an amazing young girl and it was inspiring for us and really made us think about how fortunate we are. We are doing this with the intention of returning to these countries some day to see more and here was this girl, living it up for as long as she could. Mind you, she looked fantastic and we weren`t really sure how much time she had left but really, really inspiring. She was so happy to have made it up and didn`t get to go to the very top, she was disappointed but got over it quickly. She was more happy to be off to run with the bulls the next day. So cool, and why not? Anyhow, we finished our night on a fantastic note, meeting her was definitely the coolest part of the day and getting to talk to her. So tomorrow, Luxembourg and then to Amsterdam!!!!
Paris, paris and more Paris!!!
Friday, July 9, 2010
We are in Paris...and it is amazing!!! We slept in today...since we had a hotel and it was fabulous, we had to take advantage of the fact that we had clean bodies and a nice bed. What we didn’t have however, was clean laundry. We found a lavarie and did one massive load of laundry between the two of us. It was great...but again so hot out! We couldn’t believe hot it got over night...but here we were, wandering the streets of paris with our bags and looking for our hostel. Since we are masters at public transport we got back on the subway and made it fairly easily to our hostel. We were in a pretty sketchy part of town but were comforted by the fact that the building was large, we were close to the metro station and we were high up in the building. No worries! So after we got checked in, we went adventuring in Paris. It was late afternoon by now and we didn’t really have much planned but we had a few ideas. First we went to see Pont Neuf and see what is was all about. It is a bridge that separates mainland Paris from the island that Notre Dame and a lot of the judicial and government buildings are. It was nice but not all that exciting. It did however, lead us to a cute café right on the waterfront. We sat down and had a nice light dinner. We had escargot (very French of us, we know!) and each had a delicious salad. Heather had an “everything salad” it had tuna, lettuce, egg, anchovies, peppers etc. While I had goats cheese on toasted bread which lay on top of a salad with roasted walnuts and a Dijon sauce. It was really good! We of course had bread with the meal and they served us Dijon mustard which was really good but definitely had some horseradish in it and gave us a bit of a jolt. We had a Kronenberg as well...while in France, you have to drink the local stuff. Anyhow, after supper we wondered over to the Louvre as there is free admission for anyone under 26 after 6pm on Fridays. Just our luck!!! So we got to go exploring in the Louvre and of course saw the Mona Lisa. Really hyped small piece of art on a massive wall and covered in glass. It was really cool because it is a piece of history and such a well recognized piece of art however, it wasn’t very glamorous. So after the Louvre we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. It is still stinking hot out and we are walking around Paris but we soon enough found a convenience store to get some water and beer. We arrived at the Eiffel tower and it was a huge party on the lawn. People were picnicking, drinking, playing sports, hanging out, playing music etc. It was kind of a cool vibe and everyone, tourists and locals alike were just sitting by this massive structure. So since it was getting late and we weren’t able to bring our beer with us up the Eiffel Tower, we decided to hang out on the grass and take it all in. The tower was lit up when we got there but every hour in the evening they have a lights display. So there are flashing lights going off on the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes. Really cool!!! We stayed there until pretty late before we hoped back on the metro to get back to the hostel. I should also mention too, that Heather in her infinite wisdom, decided to try and use her metro ticket more than once and on several occasions it worked. So our single fair tickets often turned into day passes. Working the system!!!
We are in Paris...and it is amazing!!! We slept in today...since we had a hotel and it was fabulous, we had to take advantage of the fact that we had clean bodies and a nice bed. What we didn’t have however, was clean laundry. We found a lavarie and did one massive load of laundry between the two of us. It was great...but again so hot out! We couldn’t believe hot it got over night...but here we were, wandering the streets of paris with our bags and looking for our hostel. Since we are masters at public transport we got back on the subway and made it fairly easily to our hostel. We were in a pretty sketchy part of town but were comforted by the fact that the building was large, we were close to the metro station and we were high up in the building. No worries! So after we got checked in, we went adventuring in Paris. It was late afternoon by now and we didn’t really have much planned but we had a few ideas. First we went to see Pont Neuf and see what is was all about. It is a bridge that separates mainland Paris from the island that Notre Dame and a lot of the judicial and government buildings are. It was nice but not all that exciting. It did however, lead us to a cute café right on the waterfront. We sat down and had a nice light dinner. We had escargot (very French of us, we know!) and each had a delicious salad. Heather had an “everything salad” it had tuna, lettuce, egg, anchovies, peppers etc. While I had goats cheese on toasted bread which lay on top of a salad with roasted walnuts and a Dijon sauce. It was really good! We of course had bread with the meal and they served us Dijon mustard which was really good but definitely had some horseradish in it and gave us a bit of a jolt. We had a Kronenberg as well...while in France, you have to drink the local stuff. Anyhow, after supper we wondered over to the Louvre as there is free admission for anyone under 26 after 6pm on Fridays. Just our luck!!! So we got to go exploring in the Louvre and of course saw the Mona Lisa. Really hyped small piece of art on a massive wall and covered in glass. It was really cool because it is a piece of history and such a well recognized piece of art however, it wasn’t very glamorous. So after the Louvre we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. It is still stinking hot out and we are walking around Paris but we soon enough found a convenience store to get some water and beer. We arrived at the Eiffel tower and it was a huge party on the lawn. People were picnicking, drinking, playing sports, hanging out, playing music etc. It was kind of a cool vibe and everyone, tourists and locals alike were just sitting by this massive structure. So since it was getting late and we weren’t able to bring our beer with us up the Eiffel Tower, we decided to hang out on the grass and take it all in. The tower was lit up when we got there but every hour in the evening they have a lights display. So there are flashing lights going off on the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes. Really cool!!! We stayed there until pretty late before we hoped back on the metro to get back to the hostel. I should also mention too, that Heather in her infinite wisdom, decided to try and use her metro ticket more than once and on several occasions it worked. So our single fair tickets often turned into day passes. Working the system!!!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Viva la Paris!!!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Alarm didn`t go off this morning but my internal one did so we woke up in good time for our ferry...thank goodness!! The ferry left promptly at 8am and we were due to arrive in Roscoff, France at 1445 local time. We are now 6 hours ahead of Ontario so skype date times may have to change. Anyhow, we got to Roscoff on time went to the info desk to get to the train info and make our way to Mont-st-michel. We ended up waiting for a bus that never came and took a taxi to the train station. Roscoff is a very small town and the train station even smaller. After a struggled attempt to speak to the man at the train station (our French is poor and his English minimal) we discovered that we could not get to Mont-St-Michel tonight and we would lose our money from the hostel we booked. That was a big downer. We had to originally book a private for Mont-st-michel because that was all that was available and private rooms do not come cheap. Tensions were high as we had to made a quick decision so we didn`t miss the train out of Roscoff. So we could either go to Rennes for the night and then Mont-St-Michel tomorrow or we could just go to Paris tonight. We chose the latter of the two options...decided to make life easier and just get to Paris. We didn`t have a clear plan for Mont-St-Michel anyhow and were just going because we were told that it`s beautiful. So the guy at the counter was super amazing and booked us in a hotel for the night in Paris and got our train schedule organized so we would arrive at 10pm tonight. He actually called the hostel we had booked for tomorrow and the next night but they could only accommodate one of us. He also gave us directions on how to get to the hotel and hostel tomorrow via the subway. This will probably come in very handy once we are in Paris. So on we went to Morlaix to go further to Rennes to connect to Paris. We had about an hour wait in Morlaix so Heather went on a wine mission. We were right in town and how hard could wine be to find in France? Well after about 30 minutes I was starting to get worried and in she strolls sweating (because it’s finally warm now that we are in France) with two bottles of wine. The town was a huge hill and she had to walk down and back up again in the name of wine! Mission accomplished! So we grabbed our wine and our huge baguette sandwich and headed back onto the train. We made all of our connections on the train today!!! Hooray!! First time in awhile...that`s for sure! So we arrived in Paris at 1015 and had to navigate our way across the lovely city. The man from Roscoff who booked all of our trains and hotel also gave us directions on the tube for when we arrived. Our hotel for tonight also happens to be close (or near) the hostel that we will be staying at. So our transfer tomorrow shouldn`t be too bad. So we got our tickets (because the self serve screens can be in English) and headed to our first subway, with only one transfer to make. No problems on the tube (we`ve had lots of practice in London) and landed in the neighbourhood with only an address and no map. Thankfully we found our bearings on a bus map and had some help from a lady who approached us. It took only 10-15 minutes to arrive to a hotel...yes a HOTEL not a hostel. We have our own room and bathroom with towels and check out isn`t until noon. Sweet! This is definitely how to boost morale and a fantastic start in Paris. I think however, we are catching up to Waterloo weather. When we arrived at the hotel we were drenched with sweat from walking with warmer clothes on and our packs but we had a clean, private shower and 2 bottles of wine to celebrate.
Alarm didn`t go off this morning but my internal one did so we woke up in good time for our ferry...thank goodness!! The ferry left promptly at 8am and we were due to arrive in Roscoff, France at 1445 local time. We are now 6 hours ahead of Ontario so skype date times may have to change. Anyhow, we got to Roscoff on time went to the info desk to get to the train info and make our way to Mont-st-michel. We ended up waiting for a bus that never came and took a taxi to the train station. Roscoff is a very small town and the train station even smaller. After a struggled attempt to speak to the man at the train station (our French is poor and his English minimal) we discovered that we could not get to Mont-St-Michel tonight and we would lose our money from the hostel we booked. That was a big downer. We had to originally book a private for Mont-st-michel because that was all that was available and private rooms do not come cheap. Tensions were high as we had to made a quick decision so we didn`t miss the train out of Roscoff. So we could either go to Rennes for the night and then Mont-St-Michel tomorrow or we could just go to Paris tonight. We chose the latter of the two options...decided to make life easier and just get to Paris. We didn`t have a clear plan for Mont-St-Michel anyhow and were just going because we were told that it`s beautiful. So the guy at the counter was super amazing and booked us in a hotel for the night in Paris and got our train schedule organized so we would arrive at 10pm tonight. He actually called the hostel we had booked for tomorrow and the next night but they could only accommodate one of us. He also gave us directions on how to get to the hotel and hostel tomorrow via the subway. This will probably come in very handy once we are in Paris. So on we went to Morlaix to go further to Rennes to connect to Paris. We had about an hour wait in Morlaix so Heather went on a wine mission. We were right in town and how hard could wine be to find in France? Well after about 30 minutes I was starting to get worried and in she strolls sweating (because it’s finally warm now that we are in France) with two bottles of wine. The town was a huge hill and she had to walk down and back up again in the name of wine! Mission accomplished! So we grabbed our wine and our huge baguette sandwich and headed back onto the train. We made all of our connections on the train today!!! Hooray!! First time in awhile...that`s for sure! So we arrived in Paris at 1015 and had to navigate our way across the lovely city. The man from Roscoff who booked all of our trains and hotel also gave us directions on the tube for when we arrived. Our hotel for tonight also happens to be close (or near) the hostel that we will be staying at. So our transfer tomorrow shouldn`t be too bad. So we got our tickets (because the self serve screens can be in English) and headed to our first subway, with only one transfer to make. No problems on the tube (we`ve had lots of practice in London) and landed in the neighbourhood with only an address and no map. Thankfully we found our bearings on a bus map and had some help from a lady who approached us. It took only 10-15 minutes to arrive to a hotel...yes a HOTEL not a hostel. We have our own room and bathroom with towels and check out isn`t until noon. Sweet! This is definitely how to boost morale and a fantastic start in Paris. I think however, we are catching up to Waterloo weather. When we arrived at the hotel we were drenched with sweat from walking with warmer clothes on and our packs but we had a clean, private shower and 2 bottles of wine to celebrate.
We bathed in Bath!!!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Off to see the Roman baths today!! We were there for opening and got in straight away. It was really cool to have a hot spring/roman baths in the middle of a town. It was another self guided tour but it had audio guides so it was neat to follow along and get some history well we at it. Needless to say at the end we were in a little information overload. Although we really, really enjoyed it! Afterwards, we were on the hunt for some creamed tea. It was our mission of the day and was highly recommended by Heather’s family. So, we found a cute little tea shop with an outdoor patio and ordered two creamed teas with scones. Probably the best scone we have ever had in our life. It was hot and came with whipped butter and blackberry jam. It was soo amazing!! Then our second mission of the day was to find yet another camera strap for Heather`s camera. This one ``just broke`` according to Heather. The worst part was, that we had only the same option of camera store companies that we did in Belfast so she had to buy the exact same camera strap. Maybe she`ll have better luck with this one. Here`s to hoping!! We then headed off back to the train station to get ourselves to Plymouth for the night. We were expected to arrive early (4 o`clock) or so and we planned to make dinner, relax and just plan for France. YEAH, FRANCE!!! So tonight was deemed poutine night. We went to the only attraction in town which is the Mayflower steps and then went and got food to cook. We bought fresh chips, babybel cheese (as a sub for curds) and made our swiss chalet sauce for the most incredible poutine ever!! It was amazing...we then grilled up some beef and veggies to balance out the meal. Along with a cold pint sized can of beer or two we had a fantastic night of relaxing and planning France. Being the worldly people that we are, we bought stewing beef for our stirfry...it was a bit chewy but no worries it didn`t spoil our fantastic meal. I also got to skype with my parents and Heather with Caitlin for a bit so that was a really nice addition to the night. So we take the 8am ferry to Rosscoff then off to Mont-St-Michel...or so we thought...
Off to see the Roman baths today!! We were there for opening and got in straight away. It was really cool to have a hot spring/roman baths in the middle of a town. It was another self guided tour but it had audio guides so it was neat to follow along and get some history well we at it. Needless to say at the end we were in a little information overload. Although we really, really enjoyed it! Afterwards, we were on the hunt for some creamed tea. It was our mission of the day and was highly recommended by Heather’s family. So, we found a cute little tea shop with an outdoor patio and ordered two creamed teas with scones. Probably the best scone we have ever had in our life. It was hot and came with whipped butter and blackberry jam. It was soo amazing!! Then our second mission of the day was to find yet another camera strap for Heather`s camera. This one ``just broke`` according to Heather. The worst part was, that we had only the same option of camera store companies that we did in Belfast so she had to buy the exact same camera strap. Maybe she`ll have better luck with this one. Here`s to hoping!! We then headed off back to the train station to get ourselves to Plymouth for the night. We were expected to arrive early (4 o`clock) or so and we planned to make dinner, relax and just plan for France. YEAH, FRANCE!!! So tonight was deemed poutine night. We went to the only attraction in town which is the Mayflower steps and then went and got food to cook. We bought fresh chips, babybel cheese (as a sub for curds) and made our swiss chalet sauce for the most incredible poutine ever!! It was amazing...we then grilled up some beef and veggies to balance out the meal. Along with a cold pint sized can of beer or two we had a fantastic night of relaxing and planning France. Being the worldly people that we are, we bought stewing beef for our stirfry...it was a bit chewy but no worries it didn`t spoil our fantastic meal. I also got to skype with my parents and Heather with Caitlin for a bit so that was a really nice addition to the night. So we take the 8am ferry to Rosscoff then off to Mont-St-Michel...or so we thought...
Chocolate bars and Keith Richards!!!!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Wexford was another hole. It was a super small coastal town with one hostel...so I guess once we did ask for directions they had only one place to send us. It was kind of nice though, we had a room to ourselves so we could spread out our stuff and just chill out. We had an early morning ferry over to Pembroke in England...and it was just that...BROKE! It was really small and the train station was even worse. It had no ticket machine or attendant and we had no idea where we were to go...other than get the heck out of there. We found the train station and called the info line and got the directions we needed. It was much further than we had anticipated...there was a small little restaurant though that we sat down at for lunch/dinner. It was a massive but delicious meal. Heather had chicken tikka and I had the lasagne. Mmm...anyhow, we got on our way to Bath shortly after 3. It was another long day of travel especially since the train we were on to get to Cardiff, was late and caused us to miss our connection. Oh well. We had chocolate bars at the station for dinner and had we have made our connection we wouldn’t have seen Keith Richards circa 1980. I swear it was him...he was a spitting image of him...well in his younger days. I even made Heather walk over his way and get a really good look at him so I could show her photos later. Hehe. Anyhow, we got into Bath around 930, made our way to our hostel and just had another chill night in. Bath is known for it’s roman baths and we will have some time to adventure tomorrow morning. Heather had a credit card scare today also but her Mom had activated her new one and once we found this out, she was good to go. In the process, she got to have a short Skype date with her parents and they were happy to see her alive and well. And just to clarify, my foot is A o.k!!! It is like 99% healed. Mostly pain free and only has a small bruise left. Hooray!! Tragedy avoided!
Wexford was another hole. It was a super small coastal town with one hostel...so I guess once we did ask for directions they had only one place to send us. It was kind of nice though, we had a room to ourselves so we could spread out our stuff and just chill out. We had an early morning ferry over to Pembroke in England...and it was just that...BROKE! It was really small and the train station was even worse. It had no ticket machine or attendant and we had no idea where we were to go...other than get the heck out of there. We found the train station and called the info line and got the directions we needed. It was much further than we had anticipated...there was a small little restaurant though that we sat down at for lunch/dinner. It was a massive but delicious meal. Heather had chicken tikka and I had the lasagne. Mmm...anyhow, we got on our way to Bath shortly after 3. It was another long day of travel especially since the train we were on to get to Cardiff, was late and caused us to miss our connection. Oh well. We had chocolate bars at the station for dinner and had we have made our connection we wouldn’t have seen Keith Richards circa 1980. I swear it was him...he was a spitting image of him...well in his younger days. I even made Heather walk over his way and get a really good look at him so I could show her photos later. Hehe. Anyhow, we got into Bath around 930, made our way to our hostel and just had another chill night in. Bath is known for it’s roman baths and we will have some time to adventure tomorrow morning. Heather had a credit card scare today also but her Mom had activated her new one and once we found this out, she was good to go. In the process, she got to have a short Skype date with her parents and they were happy to see her alive and well. And just to clarify, my foot is A o.k!!! It is like 99% healed. Mostly pain free and only has a small bruise left. Hooray!! Tragedy avoided!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
We finally have the "Gift of the gab"
Monday, July 5, 2010
Early, early morning...man oh man it was not a fun experience waking up this early...we do have a big travel day ahead though so it isn’t so bad. We had to catch the 750 train back into cork so we could kiss the blarney stone. By 1030 after 2 trains and 1 bus, we were at the Blarney castle. We did indeed kiss the Blarney stone...yeah...we now have the gift of the gab...as if we needed it. The stone was pretty uneventful, they make it interesting by labelling the different areas of the castle and have little write ups but in general it was pretty quick and not the most thrilling castle ever. So now that we have been blessed with the gift of the gab, we went for a stroll through the grounds. The surrounding area around the castle is gorgeous and there are some neat landscaped areas with gardens and rock figures and little tales about the areas. It was neat to see and it was well worth the 3rd attempt to get to Blarney...what’s a visit to Ireland without seeing Blarney castle? We made the executive decision yesterday to skip over the Cliffs of Moher...call it the "Irish Skye" but it was a hastle to get there and would have added at least a day and a half to our Ireland time. We went with Blarney instead and didn’t want to tempt our Irish luck. Anyhow, now its time to do some serious travelling...we are off to catch the train from Cork back into Dublin so we can catch a different train to Wexford. We are heading back to England tomorrow and will probably start in Bath and see a few places before we head to France. We really need a pit stop somewhere nice and relaxing for a few days just to catch up on some sleep and recharge for the next leg of the trip. Staying in tonight and getting ready for tomorrow.
Early, early morning...man oh man it was not a fun experience waking up this early...we do have a big travel day ahead though so it isn’t so bad. We had to catch the 750 train back into cork so we could kiss the blarney stone. By 1030 after 2 trains and 1 bus, we were at the Blarney castle. We did indeed kiss the Blarney stone...yeah...we now have the gift of the gab...as if we needed it. The stone was pretty uneventful, they make it interesting by labelling the different areas of the castle and have little write ups but in general it was pretty quick and not the most thrilling castle ever. So now that we have been blessed with the gift of the gab, we went for a stroll through the grounds. The surrounding area around the castle is gorgeous and there are some neat landscaped areas with gardens and rock figures and little tales about the areas. It was neat to see and it was well worth the 3rd attempt to get to Blarney...what’s a visit to Ireland without seeing Blarney castle? We made the executive decision yesterday to skip over the Cliffs of Moher...call it the "Irish Skye" but it was a hastle to get there and would have added at least a day and a half to our Ireland time. We went with Blarney instead and didn’t want to tempt our Irish luck. Anyhow, now its time to do some serious travelling...we are off to catch the train from Cork back into Dublin so we can catch a different train to Wexford. We are heading back to England tomorrow and will probably start in Bath and see a few places before we head to France. We really need a pit stop somewhere nice and relaxing for a few days just to catch up on some sleep and recharge for the next leg of the trip. Staying in tonight and getting ready for tomorrow.
Killarney
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Early night last night! Had to catch up on some sleep...again. This partying business is hard work! We had big plans for the day. We started out renting some bikes around 9am from a local bike shop to tour around the Killarney National Park. The park was massive and there was no way we could even attempt to do it all. We only had about 3 hours to tour so we first went to the Ross castle which is on the edge of the park and along the water so it was a nice tour around there. We didn’t make it into the castle but it was nice just around the castle and along the river’s edge. The next stop was the Torc waterfall...unfortunately we couldn’t find any signage and didn’t have a good trail map so once again we got lost. We toured around the park for about half an hour before finally stopping to ask for directions. We got tired of being lost in the rain and had a time limit. So we found our way down the main road and worked our way back into the park and the waterfall was amazing!! It was pretty secluded but tranquil and just gorgeous. We only had a few minutes at the spot but we enjoyed the time we had there. We then rode back into town to try and catch a train back to cork...yes, cork! Although we didn’t have a good experience with cork, we were willing to give it another go. However, we had missed the train and the next one wasn’t for several hours. We wouldn’t get to see Blarney castle again today. Anyhow, it wasn’t a total loss as we had found our earlier that there was a local Gaelic football match in town and it was the big final game. The town was crazy with green and gold and the whole town was either at the match or at the pub. It was pretty cool to see and experience. We had been told earlier that if we got the chance, we should watch a game and see what it is all about. We were in for a treat! The game is a cross between footy and American football with a basketball element too, oh ya and its super violent. So you can either bounce or kick the ball to yourself while running down the field or pass or throw or kick to another player. If you score in the net (soccer net) you get 3 points and if you throw/kick it through the field goal posts than you receive 1 point for your team. The penalties are a joke...pretty much they only call personal penalties if you tackle someone to the ground or you are “pulling too much” but they were grabbing, pushing and pulling all of the time. Needless to say, our team Kerry or Ciarrai (in gaelic) won!!! Yeah!! It was insane...the crowd went absolutely wild and the party continued in the streets. We were dirty and burnt so we decided to go back to the hostel and clean up a bit before the night. We met some people in the hostel and one of them was a guy from Boston who was starting a pub crawl in Killarney and offered to take us out for free...sweet...saving 20 euro, we’re in! So we quickly grabbed some fish, chips and curry as it was all that was open and had a few brews before we took off for yet another pub crawl. To our surprise, we were 2 of 5 people including the organizer. Oh well, free drinks and a tour guide of the pubs. It turned out to be a pretty good night. The people were nice and it was fun to get out and dance and party with the locals. Heather and I had our first Irish car bomb in Ireland. I forgot how nasty they are...blah! We also ran into some friends we met in Derry, they are travelling on a weeklong paddywagon tour and just so happened to be in Killarney last night. It was friggin hilarious when they recognized us and we all had a good laugh. We ended the night around 1...earlier than the pubcrawl organizer anticipated but we had a 630 wakeup call and couldn’t miss our last chance for Blarney.
Early night last night! Had to catch up on some sleep...again. This partying business is hard work! We had big plans for the day. We started out renting some bikes around 9am from a local bike shop to tour around the Killarney National Park. The park was massive and there was no way we could even attempt to do it all. We only had about 3 hours to tour so we first went to the Ross castle which is on the edge of the park and along the water so it was a nice tour around there. We didn’t make it into the castle but it was nice just around the castle and along the river’s edge. The next stop was the Torc waterfall...unfortunately we couldn’t find any signage and didn’t have a good trail map so once again we got lost. We toured around the park for about half an hour before finally stopping to ask for directions. We got tired of being lost in the rain and had a time limit. So we found our way down the main road and worked our way back into the park and the waterfall was amazing!! It was pretty secluded but tranquil and just gorgeous. We only had a few minutes at the spot but we enjoyed the time we had there. We then rode back into town to try and catch a train back to cork...yes, cork! Although we didn’t have a good experience with cork, we were willing to give it another go. However, we had missed the train and the next one wasn’t for several hours. We wouldn’t get to see Blarney castle again today. Anyhow, it wasn’t a total loss as we had found our earlier that there was a local Gaelic football match in town and it was the big final game. The town was crazy with green and gold and the whole town was either at the match or at the pub. It was pretty cool to see and experience. We had been told earlier that if we got the chance, we should watch a game and see what it is all about. We were in for a treat! The game is a cross between footy and American football with a basketball element too, oh ya and its super violent. So you can either bounce or kick the ball to yourself while running down the field or pass or throw or kick to another player. If you score in the net (soccer net) you get 3 points and if you throw/kick it through the field goal posts than you receive 1 point for your team. The penalties are a joke...pretty much they only call personal penalties if you tackle someone to the ground or you are “pulling too much” but they were grabbing, pushing and pulling all of the time. Needless to say, our team Kerry or Ciarrai (in gaelic) won!!! Yeah!! It was insane...the crowd went absolutely wild and the party continued in the streets. We were dirty and burnt so we decided to go back to the hostel and clean up a bit before the night. We met some people in the hostel and one of them was a guy from Boston who was starting a pub crawl in Killarney and offered to take us out for free...sweet...saving 20 euro, we’re in! So we quickly grabbed some fish, chips and curry as it was all that was open and had a few brews before we took off for yet another pub crawl. To our surprise, we were 2 of 5 people including the organizer. Oh well, free drinks and a tour guide of the pubs. It turned out to be a pretty good night. The people were nice and it was fun to get out and dance and party with the locals. Heather and I had our first Irish car bomb in Ireland. I forgot how nasty they are...blah! We also ran into some friends we met in Derry, they are travelling on a weeklong paddywagon tour and just so happened to be in Killarney last night. It was friggin hilarious when they recognized us and we all had a good laugh. We ended the night around 1...earlier than the pubcrawl organizer anticipated but we had a 630 wakeup call and couldn’t miss our last chance for Blarney.
Cork...rather CRAP!!!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
So this morning was a rough start...we slept in and therefore missed two of the trains that we should have been on. We headed to cork anyhow and were going to head on down to Blarney and see the castle. We missed one bus by like 2 mins and the other was not until 330 and then we would get less than an hour at the castle...so instead, we thought we should see what Cork has to offer. Failte a Cork! We officially hate Cork and now refer to it as crap. Nothing seemed to go our way in Cork and it was a struggle as we wondered the streets looking for something to eat that wasn’t 20-30 Euro each and this proved to be quite difficult. We had decided that we would spend a little more money at this one pub that had a fantastic set menu. However, they advertised a rooftop garden that was a rooftop hole. It was terrible and the lady who worked there directed us how to get up there...there were no table or anything...it was literally a small empty porch. The unbearable heat inside this place along with their proven helpfulness (haha) made us think twice and carry on our search for somewhere to sit and eat. It wasn’t until we had almost given up that we found a great little bagel place that had salads...yeah salad!!! So we stopped in this little joint and grabbed some lunch/supper. We were still so exhausted and there really wasn’t much to see and do in Cork so we went shopping along the streets. We have been on a hunt for a watch for the longest time...neither of us brought one and it drives me nuts not knowing what time it is so we again were on the prowl. Success we found a watch for 2.50 euro. We also had a little stop in Primark (or Penny’s in Ireland) to replace some broken flip flops and see what was new in store. We then made our way back to the bus/train station to head to Killarney. We had had enough of Cork and were ready to head on to somewhere new! Killarney is just a short hour train ride away and immediately we liked it much better than Cork. It is lively with people out in the city and an apparent vibrant nightlife...which will have to wait for tomorrow night. We are still super exhausted and our packs are heavier now that we are carrying the leftover 24 of beer...ahhH!! Can’t wait to get rid of that nonsense. Anyhow we found our hostel with no trouble, checked in and are heading to bed really early tonight. We are going to start the day fresh tomorrow with a good nights sleep and a more positive outlook after today’s troubles...Heather did however, just inform me that Killarney has a supermac’s...hehe Irish supermac tour here we come!!!
So this morning was a rough start...we slept in and therefore missed two of the trains that we should have been on. We headed to cork anyhow and were going to head on down to Blarney and see the castle. We missed one bus by like 2 mins and the other was not until 330 and then we would get less than an hour at the castle...so instead, we thought we should see what Cork has to offer. Failte a Cork! We officially hate Cork and now refer to it as crap. Nothing seemed to go our way in Cork and it was a struggle as we wondered the streets looking for something to eat that wasn’t 20-30 Euro each and this proved to be quite difficult. We had decided that we would spend a little more money at this one pub that had a fantastic set menu. However, they advertised a rooftop garden that was a rooftop hole. It was terrible and the lady who worked there directed us how to get up there...there were no table or anything...it was literally a small empty porch. The unbearable heat inside this place along with their proven helpfulness (haha) made us think twice and carry on our search for somewhere to sit and eat. It wasn’t until we had almost given up that we found a great little bagel place that had salads...yeah salad!!! So we stopped in this little joint and grabbed some lunch/supper. We were still so exhausted and there really wasn’t much to see and do in Cork so we went shopping along the streets. We have been on a hunt for a watch for the longest time...neither of us brought one and it drives me nuts not knowing what time it is so we again were on the prowl. Success we found a watch for 2.50 euro. We also had a little stop in Primark (or Penny’s in Ireland) to replace some broken flip flops and see what was new in store. We then made our way back to the bus/train station to head to Killarney. We had had enough of Cork and were ready to head on to somewhere new! Killarney is just a short hour train ride away and immediately we liked it much better than Cork. It is lively with people out in the city and an apparent vibrant nightlife...which will have to wait for tomorrow night. We are still super exhausted and our packs are heavier now that we are carrying the leftover 24 of beer...ahhH!! Can’t wait to get rid of that nonsense. Anyhow we found our hostel with no trouble, checked in and are heading to bed really early tonight. We are going to start the day fresh tomorrow with a good nights sleep and a more positive outlook after today’s troubles...Heather did however, just inform me that Killarney has a supermac’s...hehe Irish supermac tour here we come!!!
Dublin day 2
Friday, July 2, 2010
9am wake up for breakfast and we were heading on the free walking tour. These tours are available in most major cities in Europe and the UK but we have always just done our own walking tour. But, we thought we would give it a try. It was really cool. We met up at city hall and a girl named Fiona took us on a 3.5 hr tour through central Dublin. We got a lot of history and got to see some really neat things that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise. We also had some Irish stew. YUM! After the tour, the girls went back for a nap etc and we ventured down to the Guinness brewery. It was self-guided so it took quite awhile to get through the tour but at the end we got to pour our own proper pint of Guinness and enjoy it in the lounge area. We had decided earlier in the day that since we enjoyed our walking tour so much, that we would go to the pub crawl held by the same group. So it was now 615 and we had to meet up with Steph and Emily at 7. So we took a ridiculously expensive cab back to the hostel, grabbed the most expensive little slice of pizza ever and frantically showered and got ready for the night. We had to meet up with the group by 8 but between 730 and 8, you could drink all the beer you could handle for free. We didn’t want to be late...free beer in the most expensive place ever....ummm yes please!! So we got there in good time and were able to throw back 3 pints in a half hour...and met some new friends. The night consisted of 5 bars and the second of which we were not only allowed but encouraged to play drinking games. Also, with every drink we bought, we got a free shot at all of the bars...trouble!! In true Canadian fashion we chose to play flip cup and were actually destroyed by AUSSIES!!! So embarrassing!! We had a weak link on our team...this Canadian from out west. She was terrible...The Aussies were also only chugging half the amount of beer we were. Friggin criminals!!! It was all good fun! Anyhow, the night continued in some dodgy bars and we finished at the starting pub which turned into a night club later in the night. It was here that Heather broke her flip flop and had to walk like a gimp all the way home. Nonetheless, we danced and sang and finished the night at supermac’s...again!!! Good times but we were super exhausted and had an early wake up in the morning...going to be a struggle!!!!
9am wake up for breakfast and we were heading on the free walking tour. These tours are available in most major cities in Europe and the UK but we have always just done our own walking tour. But, we thought we would give it a try. It was really cool. We met up at city hall and a girl named Fiona took us on a 3.5 hr tour through central Dublin. We got a lot of history and got to see some really neat things that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise. We also had some Irish stew. YUM! After the tour, the girls went back for a nap etc and we ventured down to the Guinness brewery. It was self-guided so it took quite awhile to get through the tour but at the end we got to pour our own proper pint of Guinness and enjoy it in the lounge area. We had decided earlier in the day that since we enjoyed our walking tour so much, that we would go to the pub crawl held by the same group. So it was now 615 and we had to meet up with Steph and Emily at 7. So we took a ridiculously expensive cab back to the hostel, grabbed the most expensive little slice of pizza ever and frantically showered and got ready for the night. We had to meet up with the group by 8 but between 730 and 8, you could drink all the beer you could handle for free. We didn’t want to be late...free beer in the most expensive place ever....ummm yes please!! So we got there in good time and were able to throw back 3 pints in a half hour...and met some new friends. The night consisted of 5 bars and the second of which we were not only allowed but encouraged to play drinking games. Also, with every drink we bought, we got a free shot at all of the bars...trouble!! In true Canadian fashion we chose to play flip cup and were actually destroyed by AUSSIES!!! So embarrassing!! We had a weak link on our team...this Canadian from out west. She was terrible...The Aussies were also only chugging half the amount of beer we were. Friggin criminals!!! It was all good fun! Anyhow, the night continued in some dodgy bars and we finished at the starting pub which turned into a night club later in the night. It was here that Heather broke her flip flop and had to walk like a gimp all the way home. Nonetheless, we danced and sang and finished the night at supermac’s...again!!! Good times but we were super exhausted and had an early wake up in the morning...going to be a struggle!!!!
Canada day in Dublin!!!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Woke up around 8, got some breakfast and was walking the streets of Derry in the pouring rain...our luck with weather has ended. We only had a few hours to explore Derry as it was a long train ride back to Belfast and on to Dublin and we wanted to get into Dublin at a good hour so we could celebrate Canada day in style. We were told that if we can see only one thing in Derry, it’s the bogside. There is a free museum there where the murals surround. It was very much like the “troubles” in Belfast and there were more murals to commemorate. It was pretty cool but by the time we got indoors the rain had ceased. So we decided to “walk the walls”. Derry is also a walled city and there are paths to walk...super cool! We headed around there and explored a bit of the city until...we found a Primark. Our ability to resist has ended. We wanted to get some red and white shirts or something for Canada Day. Primark as per expectations, did not disappoint. We both got a red and white striped shirt, red sunglasses, red nail polish and a red hairband. Along with our banners, Canada flags and tattoo’s should make for awesome outfits. We then headed back down to Tesco’s to grab some food and beer for our journey to Dublin. We grabbed our bags, loaded up a taxi and were off to the train station. We bought some vodka and orange juice and decided to take a little “roadie” for the train. What we didn’t realize was the bottle of juice that we bought was concentrated and super sweet. It was a 1L bottle of juice that was to be mixed with 4 additional litres of water!!! What were we to do but tough it up and not waste the vodka. It was probably the worst tasting drink ever!! Blah! It took us the entire day to get it down but we did. Anyhow, on the train back to Belfast, we met our guard from the other day and the conductor. Both, were really nice guys and were chatting with us about snow and how cold it got in Canada. The conductor told us -5 was their worst and couldn’t imagine anything colder. Hehe. We are tough cookies, us Canadians. Anyhow, we arrived in Dublin around 6pm, loaded down with beer and Primark purchases and were on a frantic search for our hostel so we could put our things down. It was a short walk once we got our bearings and easy to find since we were staying right along the Liffy River. Our hostel was cute and fairly modern but didn’t seem to have a lot happening. The girl told us we weren’t actually aloud alcohol in the hostel (of course!) but didn’t mind so long as we didn’t go crazy. Deal!! So we got ready in our Canada Day get up and went looking for people in our hostel. The common room was empty and there was nobody young and fun to hang with...or so we thought! We were sitting down in the little courtyard, enjoying our beers when two girls from Ottawa and Toronto (Emily and Steph) came down and said they saw us from their window and wondered what our plans were for Canada Day. We convinced them to come out to the Woolshed, an Aussie bar, as they were having a Canada day party. We headed out, looking ridiculous and arrived to an even more ridiculous party. It was crazy!!! The bar had 3 levels and everyone was decked out in Canada Day garb whether they were Canadian or not! There were shooter girls giving out shots, there were Canadian beers, karaoke, competitions etc. We took part in a little of everything. After the four of us tried our hand at a little Canadian karaoke (Bryan Adams) we sung the Canadian national anthem, partook in a chugging competition against some Irish boys and nearly won, and just danced the night away. For our efforts in the chugging competition we won a Moosehead hat and t-shirt and best of all...Swiss chalet sauce!!! Oooooohhhh yeahhhh!!!! We have big plans for making poutine in the very near future. Once we had enough of the dancing and drinking, it was time for the midnight snacks. We asked around and came upon a supermac’s, not a supermarket and not macdonalds, but a supermac’s! It was super good! Heather and I had a chicken sandwich and...CURRY AND CHIPS!!! They were really good too! It was definitely time to call it a night so we headed to bed and made plans to meet up with Emily and Steph for breakfast.
Woke up around 8, got some breakfast and was walking the streets of Derry in the pouring rain...our luck with weather has ended. We only had a few hours to explore Derry as it was a long train ride back to Belfast and on to Dublin and we wanted to get into Dublin at a good hour so we could celebrate Canada day in style. We were told that if we can see only one thing in Derry, it’s the bogside. There is a free museum there where the murals surround. It was very much like the “troubles” in Belfast and there were more murals to commemorate. It was pretty cool but by the time we got indoors the rain had ceased. So we decided to “walk the walls”. Derry is also a walled city and there are paths to walk...super cool! We headed around there and explored a bit of the city until...we found a Primark. Our ability to resist has ended. We wanted to get some red and white shirts or something for Canada Day. Primark as per expectations, did not disappoint. We both got a red and white striped shirt, red sunglasses, red nail polish and a red hairband. Along with our banners, Canada flags and tattoo’s should make for awesome outfits. We then headed back down to Tesco’s to grab some food and beer for our journey to Dublin. We grabbed our bags, loaded up a taxi and were off to the train station. We bought some vodka and orange juice and decided to take a little “roadie” for the train. What we didn’t realize was the bottle of juice that we bought was concentrated and super sweet. It was a 1L bottle of juice that was to be mixed with 4 additional litres of water!!! What were we to do but tough it up and not waste the vodka. It was probably the worst tasting drink ever!! Blah! It took us the entire day to get it down but we did. Anyhow, on the train back to Belfast, we met our guard from the other day and the conductor. Both, were really nice guys and were chatting with us about snow and how cold it got in Canada. The conductor told us -5 was their worst and couldn’t imagine anything colder. Hehe. We are tough cookies, us Canadians. Anyhow, we arrived in Dublin around 6pm, loaded down with beer and Primark purchases and were on a frantic search for our hostel so we could put our things down. It was a short walk once we got our bearings and easy to find since we were staying right along the Liffy River. Our hostel was cute and fairly modern but didn’t seem to have a lot happening. The girl told us we weren’t actually aloud alcohol in the hostel (of course!) but didn’t mind so long as we didn’t go crazy. Deal!! So we got ready in our Canada Day get up and went looking for people in our hostel. The common room was empty and there was nobody young and fun to hang with...or so we thought! We were sitting down in the little courtyard, enjoying our beers when two girls from Ottawa and Toronto (Emily and Steph) came down and said they saw us from their window and wondered what our plans were for Canada Day. We convinced them to come out to the Woolshed, an Aussie bar, as they were having a Canada day party. We headed out, looking ridiculous and arrived to an even more ridiculous party. It was crazy!!! The bar had 3 levels and everyone was decked out in Canada Day garb whether they were Canadian or not! There were shooter girls giving out shots, there were Canadian beers, karaoke, competitions etc. We took part in a little of everything. After the four of us tried our hand at a little Canadian karaoke (Bryan Adams) we sung the Canadian national anthem, partook in a chugging competition against some Irish boys and nearly won, and just danced the night away. For our efforts in the chugging competition we won a Moosehead hat and t-shirt and best of all...Swiss chalet sauce!!! Oooooohhhh yeahhhh!!!! We have big plans for making poutine in the very near future. Once we had enough of the dancing and drinking, it was time for the midnight snacks. We asked around and came upon a supermac’s, not a supermarket and not macdonalds, but a supermac’s! It was super good! Heather and I had a chicken sandwich and...CURRY AND CHIPS!!! They were really good too! It was definitely time to call it a night so we headed to bed and made plans to meet up with Emily and Steph for breakfast.
Derry...moo!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Ahhh, not a pleasant morning...good thing we had a greasy full English breakfast to prepare us for the day. Today we took another walking tour (self guided) after we of course found a camera shop and replacement camera strap for Heather. We decided to take a walk into the West end of town where there is continuing political unrest between the Catholics and the Protestants. We were assured that it is in fact safe in that area of town but we were on guard and kept to ourselves. It was a pretty sketchy part of town anyhow. Along the route that the lady at the tourist centre told us to take, we were able to see and take pictures of these huge murals painted by local artists. The murals were all different but were a dedication to the unrest and troubles that have plagued Belfast for many years. It was really cool to see and we got a bit of an explanation from Neil at the hostel after we returned about what really went on and what it`s like today. Very interesting!!! We wandered around Belfast for a little while, grabbed some food from our new favourite grocer (TESCO`S)!!! We then stopped into the Crown pub for a pint and caught a bit of Tennis on the tele. Haha. The Crown bar is one of Belfast`s oldest pubs and is a traditional style pub with really neat stained glass throughout and booths around the bar that were like little rooms. It was also a really neat place. It was here that we came to the conclusion that there is a good chance that my left foot has been broken. The story for this one starts back in Edinburgh, on the pub crawl, we ended at some club that was really neat. It had different areas that were cave like and the end one had ``old school`` music like Aqua and hanson and backstreet boys, which ended up being our favourite. So during one song that everyone was particularly enjoying, some really drunk girl in heels was jumping and just so happened to land on the top of my foot...TWICE before I was able to shove her off. It really wasn`t too bad and did get a pretty nasty bruise but didn’t think much of it. I clearly wasn`t thinking properly because for the following few days, I was getting what I thought were `cramps’ in my feet nearing the end of the day and having to stretch them without much relief. So it dawns on Heather today that maybe the cramping is actually pain and it`s not my arches that are hurting but rather my `broken foot`. I am thinking that she is probably correct in this thought as the bruise is still as blue and big as ever and after walking all day, my left foot does get really sore. So I suppose we will have to see what comes of it but if it is in fact a broken bone or two in my foot, it will not likely heal too quickly of at all as we have no plans of taking it easy and staying off of it. Great!! Oh well on we went to pick up our packs and head for our first train ride. Our Eurorail passes are finally coming in handy and we can use this really expensive piece of paper instead of paying for buses. Tonight we are heading into Derry, just for a quick visit before we head to Dublin tomorrow for CANADA DAY!!! Woot!! We have been warned to collect alcohol in Derry before heading to Dublin as the prices in Dublin are ridiculous. Pints of beer cost 7 or 8 euro...good thing the economy isn`t booming right now or that would be way worse than it already is.
Wednesday evening...
We arrived in Derry and again didn’t have a set plan of how we were going to get to our hostel. Google maps couldn’t locate the train station for us to get directions so I got directions from city centre, hoping it was close to the train station. It’s a really good thing that Irish people are so friendly and helpful. The guard at the train station, put us on a bus for free to bring us into town, where another traveller (a middle aged man from Derry) overheard our situation and offered to help us get to where we needed to be. The kind man walked 10 minutes in the opposite direction and took us right to the doorstep of our hostel. It was amazing!!! We had read in our handy travel books that Irish people don’t give directions, instead they will take you where you need to be. Well we got a fully guided walking tour of Derry on our way to Paddy’s Palace (hostel). When we arrived there was a lot going on, a bbq, lots of people checking in, there was a tour group there etc. So although we were exhausted and planned on having a quiet night, we headed down to tesco’s to grab a few beers before heading to the pub. A group of us headed, in the rain, to Fodder’s pub where a local Irish band was playing. It was a really good vibe yet pretty small. We met 3 Irishmen who were out celebrating their mates birthday. They were something else!!! After a few pints and well after midnight, we headed back for some much needed sleep. I should mention we had our first passport scare. The guys that we met at the pub said Paddy’s Palace had a reputation for things going missing...that freaked us out a bit but thought nothing of it. When we got back though we thought we better make sure our things were untouched. MY PASSPORT AND MONEY WAS GONE!!!! We left it locked up in our room and it was nowhere. So I am unpacking my bags, (and heathers) frantically looking for it and low and behold it fell out of my pack and was under Heather’s bag sort of tucked under the bed. Phew!!! It was a lesson in keeping your valuables safe, that’s for sure!!! So off to bed we went and tomorrow was Derry day or more importantly, Canada Day!!!
Ahhh, not a pleasant morning...good thing we had a greasy full English breakfast to prepare us for the day. Today we took another walking tour (self guided) after we of course found a camera shop and replacement camera strap for Heather. We decided to take a walk into the West end of town where there is continuing political unrest between the Catholics and the Protestants. We were assured that it is in fact safe in that area of town but we were on guard and kept to ourselves. It was a pretty sketchy part of town anyhow. Along the route that the lady at the tourist centre told us to take, we were able to see and take pictures of these huge murals painted by local artists. The murals were all different but were a dedication to the unrest and troubles that have plagued Belfast for many years. It was really cool to see and we got a bit of an explanation from Neil at the hostel after we returned about what really went on and what it`s like today. Very interesting!!! We wandered around Belfast for a little while, grabbed some food from our new favourite grocer (TESCO`S)!!! We then stopped into the Crown pub for a pint and caught a bit of Tennis on the tele. Haha. The Crown bar is one of Belfast`s oldest pubs and is a traditional style pub with really neat stained glass throughout and booths around the bar that were like little rooms. It was also a really neat place. It was here that we came to the conclusion that there is a good chance that my left foot has been broken. The story for this one starts back in Edinburgh, on the pub crawl, we ended at some club that was really neat. It had different areas that were cave like and the end one had ``old school`` music like Aqua and hanson and backstreet boys, which ended up being our favourite. So during one song that everyone was particularly enjoying, some really drunk girl in heels was jumping and just so happened to land on the top of my foot...TWICE before I was able to shove her off. It really wasn`t too bad and did get a pretty nasty bruise but didn’t think much of it. I clearly wasn`t thinking properly because for the following few days, I was getting what I thought were `cramps’ in my feet nearing the end of the day and having to stretch them without much relief. So it dawns on Heather today that maybe the cramping is actually pain and it`s not my arches that are hurting but rather my `broken foot`. I am thinking that she is probably correct in this thought as the bruise is still as blue and big as ever and after walking all day, my left foot does get really sore. So I suppose we will have to see what comes of it but if it is in fact a broken bone or two in my foot, it will not likely heal too quickly of at all as we have no plans of taking it easy and staying off of it. Great!! Oh well on we went to pick up our packs and head for our first train ride. Our Eurorail passes are finally coming in handy and we can use this really expensive piece of paper instead of paying for buses. Tonight we are heading into Derry, just for a quick visit before we head to Dublin tomorrow for CANADA DAY!!! Woot!! We have been warned to collect alcohol in Derry before heading to Dublin as the prices in Dublin are ridiculous. Pints of beer cost 7 or 8 euro...good thing the economy isn`t booming right now or that would be way worse than it already is.
Wednesday evening...
We arrived in Derry and again didn’t have a set plan of how we were going to get to our hostel. Google maps couldn’t locate the train station for us to get directions so I got directions from city centre, hoping it was close to the train station. It’s a really good thing that Irish people are so friendly and helpful. The guard at the train station, put us on a bus for free to bring us into town, where another traveller (a middle aged man from Derry) overheard our situation and offered to help us get to where we needed to be. The kind man walked 10 minutes in the opposite direction and took us right to the doorstep of our hostel. It was amazing!!! We had read in our handy travel books that Irish people don’t give directions, instead they will take you where you need to be. Well we got a fully guided walking tour of Derry on our way to Paddy’s Palace (hostel). When we arrived there was a lot going on, a bbq, lots of people checking in, there was a tour group there etc. So although we were exhausted and planned on having a quiet night, we headed down to tesco’s to grab a few beers before heading to the pub. A group of us headed, in the rain, to Fodder’s pub where a local Irish band was playing. It was a really good vibe yet pretty small. We met 3 Irishmen who were out celebrating their mates birthday. They were something else!!! After a few pints and well after midnight, we headed back for some much needed sleep. I should mention we had our first passport scare. The guys that we met at the pub said Paddy’s Palace had a reputation for things going missing...that freaked us out a bit but thought nothing of it. When we got back though we thought we better make sure our things were untouched. MY PASSPORT AND MONEY WAS GONE!!!! We left it locked up in our room and it was nowhere. So I am unpacking my bags, (and heathers) frantically looking for it and low and behold it fell out of my pack and was under Heather’s bag sort of tucked under the bed. Phew!!! It was a lesson in keeping your valuables safe, that’s for sure!!! So off to bed we went and tomorrow was Derry day or more importantly, Canada Day!!!
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