Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The most amazing sleep of the trip. I had a whole 9 hours in the closest thing to "my bed" I have experienced in almost 4 months. Heaven!!! Anyhow, my aunt had called ahead yesterday and arranged for me to take the crew shuttle to the airport and the rep was going to hold a seat for me since I wouldn't be checking in until less than 2 hours before our flight. So we had a quiet morning, had a coffee and breakfast down in the hotel cafe. We got our things ready and met up with the whole crew in the lobby. We all hopped on the shuttle and I met the rest of the crew and one of the girls who would be working my section said "oh if we have any medical emergencies we will come straight to you" when learning that I am a Nurse. She then preceeded to tell me she would have me drunk by meal service. Haha! Sweet! The captain also had his wife with him and we were both in the same boat so we stuck together to get to the plane. We got priority check in and priority labels on our bags...I am kind of a big deal! :) haha Anyhow, we wandered around the airport and eventually went to the gate and through security. We boarded the plane and since there was no extra room in business class, we got the best of the economy seats. There is a row in the plane where the rows go from 3 seats to 2 seats and we sat in the first row of 2 seats. So we had all the room where the 3rd seat would normally be for leg room. It was amazing! I could have slept like a baby the whole flight...if I had of slept...Not being the best flyer in the world, I was chill and as promised was feeling pretty good after champagne, wine, and a couple of caesar's later. It was great! I sat with the Captain's wife and we had a good chat for the majority of the flight and the two of us were treated like gold! About 7 hrs into the flight, there was an overhead announcement asking if there was a physician onboard to please identify yourself to the crew... ... ... you have got to be kidding me, was the only thought flying through my head. OMG! So I sat and prayed but the only person who attempted to get out of their seat was this little old German man, presumably heading for the bathroom...again! So the Flight Director approached me and asked if I could help in the back galley. What choice did I have, so I followed her back to the galley...she turned around half way back and asked if I was ok to help. I had to think for a second but I sobered up quite quickly. This is when I found a woman in her 70's having an asthma attack. Her respirations were rapid and laboured, rapid pulse,her lips were tinted blue and she was in obvious distress. So for the next hour, I sat with the women, assessed and treated her appropriately until she was stabilized. It was quite the experience to have to think on your feet and use only the resources available. We did have oxygen of which we applied on low, she had already taken her inhalers and had a long history of asthma including two hospital visits in the last 2 weeks. It was also interesting to see the human reaction of other passengers as they were climbing over us to use the bathrooms and asking for ridiculous things while the "emergency" was taking place. A few times I felt like telling them to go back to their seats and would have to wait because they were not high on the priority list. The girls handled the situation very well and professionally. We did have a call out to a physician who gave us directions if she did deteriorate but she recovered well and stabilized on the oxygen and was able to remove the oxygen and I eventually took her back to her seat. She would have paramedics to greet her at the gate to check her out and clear her medically to leave the airport. It was quite the experience and Mary felt badly for joking about it earlier this morning and then intoxicating me. She even offered me another drink when it was all said and done. I kindly declined...we still had over an hour until landing and who knows what could happen in that short period of time. Anyhow, we did land safe and sound and it ended up being an "experience" to say the least. It also passed time of the 9 hour flight and distracted me from my dislike for flying. We landed around 630pm, customs was really quick to get through, my bag was first off with my priority tag and I met my aunt and we were off. My family picked me up in Cambridge and it was great to see them after so long. We headed home where I met my psycho dog in full force. He was so excited to see me that he went ballistic. I missed that furry little man. It was late now and time to sleep in my own bed!! Finally!!! Amazing trip, great experiences and a once in a lifetime...to be repeated! We have a long list of must see's and would like to do again for Europe, never mind the rest of the world. I definately have the itch for travelling now and will transition well into my Australian move.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Breaking up is hard to do!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sad, sad day for us. It was the day we knew would inevitably come but dreaded. Heather and I were splitting up after 3 and a half months. She was off to Berlin early that morning so we had our final breakfast together and she left around 8 to catch her train. After a heartfelt goodbye, I had a lazy last morning. I eventually got ready and checked out of the room and headed into Munich. I had a few hours to kill before heading to Frankfurt and some loose ends to tie up. I went to the train station and stored my bag in a locker before heading back to the fairgrounds to check to see if my camera had been turned in (by some stroke of a miracle). No luck, I did take a good walk around the fairgrounds though, something we hadn't done while we were here. I then made my way to the Englisher Garten by metro. It took me forever to find it, I was on the wrong side of the street and the signs were super small. I finally found it, had a brief walk around and then had to make it back to the train station. I grabbed some food and my bags and hopped on the train to Frankfurt. I was meeting my Aunt Dona (the flight attendant) in Frankfurt as she was working my flight home! Yeah! I got into Frankfurt around 530 and made my way over to the hotel she was staying at and kindly sharing with me for the night. I got in, showered and we went for dinner with some of the crew from the flight. Amazing girls! It was a lot of fun and we went to this great little restaurant. I had to convince the Turkish waiter that I wasn't German! That was a first, I have never been mistaken for a German. Hehe! That was his attempt at a pick up line, I suppose but made for an entertaining dinner. We had a cappucino back at the hotel and then all turned in for the night. My last full day in Europe...:(
Sad, sad day for us. It was the day we knew would inevitably come but dreaded. Heather and I were splitting up after 3 and a half months. She was off to Berlin early that morning so we had our final breakfast together and she left around 8 to catch her train. After a heartfelt goodbye, I had a lazy last morning. I eventually got ready and checked out of the room and headed into Munich. I had a few hours to kill before heading to Frankfurt and some loose ends to tie up. I went to the train station and stored my bag in a locker before heading back to the fairgrounds to check to see if my camera had been turned in (by some stroke of a miracle). No luck, I did take a good walk around the fairgrounds though, something we hadn't done while we were here. I then made my way to the Englisher Garten by metro. It took me forever to find it, I was on the wrong side of the street and the signs were super small. I finally found it, had a brief walk around and then had to make it back to the train station. I grabbed some food and my bags and hopped on the train to Frankfurt. I was meeting my Aunt Dona (the flight attendant) in Frankfurt as she was working my flight home! Yeah! I got into Frankfurt around 530 and made my way over to the hotel she was staying at and kindly sharing with me for the night. I got in, showered and we went for dinner with some of the crew from the flight. Amazing girls! It was a lot of fun and we went to this great little restaurant. I had to convince the Turkish waiter that I wasn't German! That was a first, I have never been mistaken for a German. Hehe! That was his attempt at a pick up line, I suppose but made for an entertaining dinner. We had a cappucino back at the hotel and then all turned in for the night. My last full day in Europe...:(
Oktoberfest Day #2
Sunday, September 26. 2010
Lazy Sundays! We slept in and decided there was no hurry to get out today since it was a Sunday and wouldn't be as crazy as Friday and Saturday. So we had our hotel breakfast which by the way had everything imaginable. We didn't go hungry here, that's for sure, and the staff, super friendly! Around noon we put on our drindls and headed off to the fairgrounds again. Today we were going for a more traditional festhall with the real german experience. When we arrived, the first tent on the fairgrounds was the Hippodrom which was meant to be impossible to get into and the most popular. We jumped at the chance to simply walk right in. We found a table no problem right away and were having a great time. We chatted up the people at our table, danced, drank, ate and had a great time. We even met the female Rod Stewart lookalike. She was something fierce! We had a good time but then decided to check out other tents and see what else was going on. We started tent hopping and having a beer at every tent. 3 tents in, we made the stupid decision to do what all the drunken idiots do when Oktoberfesting and go on the rides! We chose bumper cars. So we bought our tokens and I quickly ran into a car before the fun began. Heather didn't make it into a car in time so I was near the edge and quickly jumped out to wait for the next round with her. In doing so, I left my camera in the bumper car, when I realized 30 seconds later, the camera and the bumper car were gone. Someone hopped in and pocketed my camera. Not remembering anything about the car, I started asking everyone if they had found a camera. No luck! What a buzz kill! I was really upset and that pretty much ended the fun of my evening. I was the party pooper and we ended up going back home, disappointed and without a weeks worth of pictures. Bummer! We had made it out most of the day and it was near the time we had to head back anyhow so we really didn't miss out on a whole lot more festing but it did spoil our last night in Munich together.
Lazy Sundays! We slept in and decided there was no hurry to get out today since it was a Sunday and wouldn't be as crazy as Friday and Saturday. So we had our hotel breakfast which by the way had everything imaginable. We didn't go hungry here, that's for sure, and the staff, super friendly! Around noon we put on our drindls and headed off to the fairgrounds again. Today we were going for a more traditional festhall with the real german experience. When we arrived, the first tent on the fairgrounds was the Hippodrom which was meant to be impossible to get into and the most popular. We jumped at the chance to simply walk right in. We found a table no problem right away and were having a great time. We chatted up the people at our table, danced, drank, ate and had a great time. We even met the female Rod Stewart lookalike. She was something fierce! We had a good time but then decided to check out other tents and see what else was going on. We started tent hopping and having a beer at every tent. 3 tents in, we made the stupid decision to do what all the drunken idiots do when Oktoberfesting and go on the rides! We chose bumper cars. So we bought our tokens and I quickly ran into a car before the fun began. Heather didn't make it into a car in time so I was near the edge and quickly jumped out to wait for the next round with her. In doing so, I left my camera in the bumper car, when I realized 30 seconds later, the camera and the bumper car were gone. Someone hopped in and pocketed my camera. Not remembering anything about the car, I started asking everyone if they had found a camera. No luck! What a buzz kill! I was really upset and that pretty much ended the fun of my evening. I was the party pooper and we ended up going back home, disappointed and without a weeks worth of pictures. Bummer! We had made it out most of the day and it was near the time we had to head back anyhow so we really didn't miss out on a whole lot more festing but it did spoil our last night in Munich together.
Oktoberfest Day #1!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
We woke up at 7 this morning, had our amazing breakfast and were off into town. We still had to find Heather a drindl before heading to the fairgrounds. This ended up taking more time then we anticipated. We both ended up buying a drindl at the C&A afterall. We walked out of the store in our drindls and were ready to fest! We arrived on the fairgrounds around 1030/11 and headed straight for the tent we really wanted to go to...HB! It was the "international tent" and typically a good mix of people. So we got there and it was packed and they weren't letting people in at all. They had even kicked people out in large quantities. So we waited and waited for what seemed like forever, when suddenly these guys behind us all had a stein. "Where did you get that stein?" I yelled while pretty much accosting the poor guy. There was beer being sold on the side of the tent to drink outside. Why hadn't we found this an hour ago? So I ran to get beer while waiting in line, meanwhile the sun came out, the rain stopped and it was quite nice out. So, we decided to forgo the line and sit out on the picnic tables. Apparently we weren't the only ones and this ended up being packed and quite the party central. It was great, they started serving beers and food at the tables and it was "outdoor tent". We met some Italian men and sat with them for awhile, chatted, ate their food, and drank. We had a lot of fun with them until they started stealing things from the vendors and when they inevitably got caught, it put a damper on the day. The security guards swarmed them and choked them until they were blue lipped and struggling to breathe. Not a pretty sight but they took them out and they were breathing as they were "escorted" out. Quite the commotion! We met new people quickly and started drinking again. Heather and I were on a mission to get in the tent now and would stop at nothing. So we tried playing dumb and walking in and that didn't work, we tried asking the beer wenches how, tried to flirt with the security guards, everything we could think of. We were standing at the entrance when this guy came out and was stamped for re-entry and he licked his hand and stamped us. AMAZING!!! He was the greatest thing to happen all day! So we ran around the back and battled the big swarm of people trying to get in. I wiggled my way forward and the security guard pulled me in, I grabbed Heather and we snuck through the crown and were in!!! It was incredible!!! We were literally on cloud nine! The music was playing, the energy was crazy and we were warm. Now the mission was to find somewhere to sit, you can only get beer while seated. Lame rule but we had to abide. We tucked into a table and ordered beer and food. It was great! That is until, I started feeling quite strange and not myself. Heather noticed that something was off about me too so we decided it was best to get me home. It was kind of a struggle but we eventually made it and were home, safe in bed. Great day overall!!!
We woke up at 7 this morning, had our amazing breakfast and were off into town. We still had to find Heather a drindl before heading to the fairgrounds. This ended up taking more time then we anticipated. We both ended up buying a drindl at the C&A afterall. We walked out of the store in our drindls and were ready to fest! We arrived on the fairgrounds around 1030/11 and headed straight for the tent we really wanted to go to...HB! It was the "international tent" and typically a good mix of people. So we got there and it was packed and they weren't letting people in at all. They had even kicked people out in large quantities. So we waited and waited for what seemed like forever, when suddenly these guys behind us all had a stein. "Where did you get that stein?" I yelled while pretty much accosting the poor guy. There was beer being sold on the side of the tent to drink outside. Why hadn't we found this an hour ago? So I ran to get beer while waiting in line, meanwhile the sun came out, the rain stopped and it was quite nice out. So, we decided to forgo the line and sit out on the picnic tables. Apparently we weren't the only ones and this ended up being packed and quite the party central. It was great, they started serving beers and food at the tables and it was "outdoor tent". We met some Italian men and sat with them for awhile, chatted, ate their food, and drank. We had a lot of fun with them until they started stealing things from the vendors and when they inevitably got caught, it put a damper on the day. The security guards swarmed them and choked them until they were blue lipped and struggling to breathe. Not a pretty sight but they took them out and they were breathing as they were "escorted" out. Quite the commotion! We met new people quickly and started drinking again. Heather and I were on a mission to get in the tent now and would stop at nothing. So we tried playing dumb and walking in and that didn't work, we tried asking the beer wenches how, tried to flirt with the security guards, everything we could think of. We were standing at the entrance when this guy came out and was stamped for re-entry and he licked his hand and stamped us. AMAZING!!! He was the greatest thing to happen all day! So we ran around the back and battled the big swarm of people trying to get in. I wiggled my way forward and the security guard pulled me in, I grabbed Heather and we snuck through the crown and were in!!! It was incredible!!! We were literally on cloud nine! The music was playing, the energy was crazy and we were warm. Now the mission was to find somewhere to sit, you can only get beer while seated. Lame rule but we had to abide. We tucked into a table and ordered beer and food. It was great! That is until, I started feeling quite strange and not myself. Heather noticed that something was off about me too so we decided it was best to get me home. It was kind of a struggle but we eventually made it and were home, safe in bed. Great day overall!!!
Sleeping on the wet, cold, Parisian streets!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Anyhow, we arrived in Paris just before midnight with the intention of storing our bags at the train station and then going out for the night and partying since we didn't have any accommodation and our train was early the next morning. Well once we get there, we missed the luggage storage hours by 5 minutes and were now stuck with our bags. We tried to store them at a hotel and were told that we couldn't and that all the rooms were fully booked. We had tried earlier to book a hostel for the night but everyone was in the same boat and stuck in Paris for the night. So, we grabbed some donairs, found a dry spot on a side street (since the train station closed oh and it was now raining). We played cards for awhile while eating our yummy midnight snack until we got so tired and cold that we all passed out clenching onto our valuables. We only got about an hour of sleep when we awoke soaking wet and shivering like never before. We had to wait until 5am when the train station re-opened. It was hell!!! We ran for the train station when it opened and for the hot beve machine to warm up. The bathrooms were still not opened (yes dumb, I know) so we stripped off our wet clothes in the station and put warmer, dry clothes on. It was great! We got on our train though and made it to the French/German border. From there we had to take a bus, then 3 other trains to get to Munich. What an ordeal! Tommy was even asked for id on the train...police sweaping the train for "terrorists" hehe. So we arrived in Munich around 430pm and there was a huge line to get from the train to the walking path to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds. Going to be crazy busy tonight. We got to the train station and parted ways from Tommy who was looking for a place to stay and meeting up with friends. We were now off on the hunt for drindls. We found a C&A and went shopping. We tried on tons of drindls but weren't satisfied with just looking at one store. We were quite the sight though with our huge packs in our change rooms. :) So we went searching a little further for more drindls. We found more but didn't find "the one". Our backs were sore and we were getting hungry so we decided to hop on the SBahn and make our way to Dachau where our hotel was. It was about a 25 minute ride out of town followed by a ten minute taxi ride. Quite the ways out but well worth it when we arrived. It was a nice place with wild animals everywhere...hehe. We had a nice room with own beds and clean towels. What more could two girls want? It was here that we made the executive decision to stay in for the night, since it was raining and bound to be crazy busy and likely wouldn't get into a tent tonight. We were exhausted from only having an hour sleep the night before and were sawing logs in no time. Early start tomorrow!! YEAH OKTOBERFEST!!!
Anyhow, we arrived in Paris just before midnight with the intention of storing our bags at the train station and then going out for the night and partying since we didn't have any accommodation and our train was early the next morning. Well once we get there, we missed the luggage storage hours by 5 minutes and were now stuck with our bags. We tried to store them at a hotel and were told that we couldn't and that all the rooms were fully booked. We had tried earlier to book a hostel for the night but everyone was in the same boat and stuck in Paris for the night. So, we grabbed some donairs, found a dry spot on a side street (since the train station closed oh and it was now raining). We played cards for awhile while eating our yummy midnight snack until we got so tired and cold that we all passed out clenching onto our valuables. We only got about an hour of sleep when we awoke soaking wet and shivering like never before. We had to wait until 5am when the train station re-opened. It was hell!!! We ran for the train station when it opened and for the hot beve machine to warm up. The bathrooms were still not opened (yes dumb, I know) so we stripped off our wet clothes in the station and put warmer, dry clothes on. It was great! We got on our train though and made it to the French/German border. From there we had to take a bus, then 3 other trains to get to Munich. What an ordeal! Tommy was even asked for id on the train...police sweaping the train for "terrorists" hehe. So we arrived in Munich around 430pm and there was a huge line to get from the train to the walking path to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds. Going to be crazy busy tonight. We got to the train station and parted ways from Tommy who was looking for a place to stay and meeting up with friends. We were now off on the hunt for drindls. We found a C&A and went shopping. We tried on tons of drindls but weren't satisfied with just looking at one store. We were quite the sight though with our huge packs in our change rooms. :) So we went searching a little further for more drindls. We found more but didn't find "the one". Our backs were sore and we were getting hungry so we decided to hop on the SBahn and make our way to Dachau where our hotel was. It was about a 25 minute ride out of town followed by a ten minute taxi ride. Quite the ways out but well worth it when we arrived. It was a nice place with wild animals everywhere...hehe. We had a nice room with own beds and clean towels. What more could two girls want? It was here that we made the executive decision to stay in for the night, since it was raining and bound to be crazy busy and likely wouldn't get into a tent tonight. We were exhausted from only having an hour sleep the night before and were sawing logs in no time. Early start tomorrow!! YEAH OKTOBERFEST!!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Another French Strike!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
We were woken up early this morning...6am for our exciting breakfast! So we went to the dining cart to have our toast, croissant and pastry thing. Breakfast of Carbs...alright! So we then went back to our room and packed up our things to leave. The conductor came by and gave us our Eurail passes back (YEAH!) and told us that we wouldn't be going to Hendaye this morning and would have to get off at an earlier stop. When we asked why, they had trouble explaining in English but we got the impression that the French were on strike again and as soon as we mentioned the word "strike" they confirmed that yes, that was what the problem was. BRUTAL! Anyhow, without any idea of what we were going to do or how we were getting to Paris then to Munich we got off of the train and looked for information. The one desk was closed and the open one was super unfriendly and not helpful. So, we took it upon ourselves to figure things out without them. We went in search of a cafe with free wifi and after a few no's, we finally found one! Perfect! It only took us an hour to connect with Heather's laptop, that for some (vista) reason doesn't like certain routers. ANyhow, we connected and started looking into different ways to Munich....bus, fly, rental car...all of which were dead ends as they were way, way too expensive or didn't exist. So, instead we went to the train station to find the other desk was open and quite helpful. He looked into the schedule and told us we could take a regional train to Hendaye and from there an 1130 train to Paris. In Paris however, it didn't look as though we could make the only night train going to Munich as it was leaving before we'd arrive. We thought it would be best to get to Paris or as far as we could so that we could shorten our travel day tomorrow. So off we go to Hendaye...5 minutes down the road to find that the only scheduled train to Paris was at 530 pm bringing us into Paris at midnight. So we had all day to try and find an alternate route to get us to Munich as soon as possible. Only problem was, we have no wifi and the train station was closed so we couldn't book new trains for tomorrow. So, we met up with this Aussie lady and all went on a search for wifi. Hendaye is not a big town and when we did finally find wifi we were relieved. It wasn't much help though and we didn't make any new plans. We did however, decide to price out a rental car. How much could it be between three of us? We could drive to Paris, ditch the lady and then drive onward to Germany. HAHA! They wanted 140 Euro to just get to the France/German border without a GPS. No thanks!!! So there we sat in the train station, drinking big bottles of beer, dreaming of the day we arrive in Munich. We grabbed some lunch (with a pitcher of Sangria of course!) and Heather had a great lunch of chicken and veggies and I ordered the bolognese which was a can of Chef Boyardee. EW! Great day, getting better each second. Lol! Anyhow, we met some people at the lunch restaurant and ended up hanging out with them at the train station. We noticed that the ticket office did reopen so we decided to book new tickets. This is where we met Tommy who would be our new friend for the next 24 hours. Tommy was an American who was also heading to Munich and trying to get there as soon as possible. So at 530 we all hopped on the train to Paris, still unsure whether or not it was going all the way to Paris. We had some good times on this train. We kicked two middle aged women out of our seats after they refused to move for 5 minutes. We were persistant...our seats and we had done this before, we knew this train was about to get a whole lot busier. For the next 5 hours we rode this train and those ladies ended up getting kicked out of their new seats and not happy at all. Lol! Tommy ended up sitting with these French men who thought he was a model and were speaking to him in French and Spanish...pretty much anything but English. Very, very entertaining to try and act as an interpreter when our French is terrible.
We were woken up early this morning...6am for our exciting breakfast! So we went to the dining cart to have our toast, croissant and pastry thing. Breakfast of Carbs...alright! So we then went back to our room and packed up our things to leave. The conductor came by and gave us our Eurail passes back (YEAH!) and told us that we wouldn't be going to Hendaye this morning and would have to get off at an earlier stop. When we asked why, they had trouble explaining in English but we got the impression that the French were on strike again and as soon as we mentioned the word "strike" they confirmed that yes, that was what the problem was. BRUTAL! Anyhow, without any idea of what we were going to do or how we were getting to Paris then to Munich we got off of the train and looked for information. The one desk was closed and the open one was super unfriendly and not helpful. So, we took it upon ourselves to figure things out without them. We went in search of a cafe with free wifi and after a few no's, we finally found one! Perfect! It only took us an hour to connect with Heather's laptop, that for some (vista) reason doesn't like certain routers. ANyhow, we connected and started looking into different ways to Munich....bus, fly, rental car...all of which were dead ends as they were way, way too expensive or didn't exist. So, instead we went to the train station to find the other desk was open and quite helpful. He looked into the schedule and told us we could take a regional train to Hendaye and from there an 1130 train to Paris. In Paris however, it didn't look as though we could make the only night train going to Munich as it was leaving before we'd arrive. We thought it would be best to get to Paris or as far as we could so that we could shorten our travel day tomorrow. So off we go to Hendaye...5 minutes down the road to find that the only scheduled train to Paris was at 530 pm bringing us into Paris at midnight. So we had all day to try and find an alternate route to get us to Munich as soon as possible. Only problem was, we have no wifi and the train station was closed so we couldn't book new trains for tomorrow. So, we met up with this Aussie lady and all went on a search for wifi. Hendaye is not a big town and when we did finally find wifi we were relieved. It wasn't much help though and we didn't make any new plans. We did however, decide to price out a rental car. How much could it be between three of us? We could drive to Paris, ditch the lady and then drive onward to Germany. HAHA! They wanted 140 Euro to just get to the France/German border without a GPS. No thanks!!! So there we sat in the train station, drinking big bottles of beer, dreaming of the day we arrive in Munich. We grabbed some lunch (with a pitcher of Sangria of course!) and Heather had a great lunch of chicken and veggies and I ordered the bolognese which was a can of Chef Boyardee. EW! Great day, getting better each second. Lol! Anyhow, we met some people at the lunch restaurant and ended up hanging out with them at the train station. We noticed that the ticket office did reopen so we decided to book new tickets. This is where we met Tommy who would be our new friend for the next 24 hours. Tommy was an American who was also heading to Munich and trying to get there as soon as possible. So at 530 we all hopped on the train to Paris, still unsure whether or not it was going all the way to Paris. We had some good times on this train. We kicked two middle aged women out of our seats after they refused to move for 5 minutes. We were persistant...our seats and we had done this before, we knew this train was about to get a whole lot busier. For the next 5 hours we rode this train and those ladies ended up getting kicked out of their new seats and not happy at all. Lol! Tommy ended up sitting with these French men who thought he was a model and were speaking to him in French and Spanish...pretty much anything but English. Very, very entertaining to try and act as an interpreter when our French is terrible.
Farewell Portugal...You will be missed!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
We planned to meet up with Ari and Andrew again this morning for some shopping and light sightseeing. We hit H&M of course, this shot bar that Andrew recommended, a church that burnt in a fire and they just left the burnt areas of the church. Pretty impressive! We then had a late lunch and had to say our farewells as we had a night train to catch. Our train left at 430pm and didn't arrive in Hendaye, France until 7 am. Long, long train ride ahead! So we took the subway to the train station and were pretty pumped because in less than 40 hours we would be arriving in Munich!!! Our last stop on the European adventure. We made our train (but cut it close for sure) and were off to France. We were super smart and booked a bed for this train ride haha (more like we didn't have another choice and paid big bucks for it) and were going to take advantage of the fact we had a bed and wouldn't on tomorrow's night train from Paris to Munich. The night train went without a hitch and we even had an electrical outlet to charge the laptop so we had access to our downloaded movies all night! It was great! The only concerning thing was the conductor insisted on holding on to our Eurail passes all night...we didn't like that too much but what other choice did we have? He said it was so that when we crossed into Spain in the middle of the night they wouldn't have to wake us to check our ticket and we would get them back at breakfast! Breakfast!?!?! We got breakfast??? Apparently and we were pumped!!!! So off to bed we went!!!
We planned to meet up with Ari and Andrew again this morning for some shopping and light sightseeing. We hit H&M of course, this shot bar that Andrew recommended, a church that burnt in a fire and they just left the burnt areas of the church. Pretty impressive! We then had a late lunch and had to say our farewells as we had a night train to catch. Our train left at 430pm and didn't arrive in Hendaye, France until 7 am. Long, long train ride ahead! So we took the subway to the train station and were pretty pumped because in less than 40 hours we would be arriving in Munich!!! Our last stop on the European adventure. We made our train (but cut it close for sure) and were off to France. We were super smart and booked a bed for this train ride haha (more like we didn't have another choice and paid big bucks for it) and were going to take advantage of the fact we had a bed and wouldn't on tomorrow's night train from Paris to Munich. The night train went without a hitch and we even had an electrical outlet to charge the laptop so we had access to our downloaded movies all night! It was great! The only concerning thing was the conductor insisted on holding on to our Eurail passes all night...we didn't like that too much but what other choice did we have? He said it was so that when we crossed into Spain in the middle of the night they wouldn't have to wake us to check our ticket and we would get them back at breakfast! Breakfast!?!?! We got breakfast??? Apparently and we were pumped!!!! So off to bed we went!!!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Mmm...Port Wine!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
We got up this morning and my laundry was wet, of course! Well, it was at least damp and the dryer was being used by someone else. Brutal! So, I hung my clothes from my bed and turned on a fan to dry them. While we were down getting breakfast our stupid roomates shut it off eventhough they saw me hanging up my wet clothes and they had checked out early. What the heck? I was super annoyed. Anyhow, I turned the fan back on and tried to super quickly dry my clothes before we took off back to Lisbon. We checked out from the hostel and headed down to the river to check out the port wineries. We had wanted to go to a winery our whole trip but never made it. This was our very last chance and we wanted to take full advantage of it. But because we were so slack this morning and then had to wait for clothes to dry, the wineries were closed until 2pm. So we had lunch on the waterfront which was great! A pitcher of sangria and two great meals later we were heading back to the wineries for the tastings. I should mention Heather had this interesting traditional dish that you can only get in Porto and it consists of meat and bread with a spicy sauce covering it. Strange but kind of delicious. It had an egg on top too. Not your average lunch but hey, when in Rome. So then we headed to this winery that was recommended to us by the hostel as it's the oldest and meant to be the best. When we arrived however (and it was the furthest one) it was not offering an English tour until 4pm which was way too late since we had a train to catch around 430. So we found a smaller one that had a tour starting in a few minutes and we would have just enough time to do one tour and head back to grab our things. That's what we did!! It would have been nice to have more time in Porto but we had to move on. So we caught the train back to Lisbon. We had a dinner date with our friends Ari and Andrew. It's crazy how quickly time flies because their last stop is Lisbon before they head to Africa this weekend. WOW! We are super excited for them and slightly jealous. Anyhow, we had planned to meet them at their hostel at 8pm which turns out is owned by the same owners as our hostel. So we popped over there and they were waiting outside for us...YEAH!!! Super exciting to see them again! We all agreed that it was time for some Japanese (sushi in particular) since we never did get sushi together in Prague. Heather had found this place in the Lonely Planet guide and Andrew had mapped it out and got us there without a hitch. The streets in Lisbon can be a bit confusing but we made it. We had a great meal and got to catch up on each other's trips from the last time we saw them...must have been Budapest! Long time to catch up on! So after a great supper with great company, we all headed back to our hostel for some cocktails. I guess the cocktail bar switches between our hostel and theirs. So after a few amazing cocktails and some more chatting, we were pooped and all decided to call it a night and tuck 'er in.
We got up this morning and my laundry was wet, of course! Well, it was at least damp and the dryer was being used by someone else. Brutal! So, I hung my clothes from my bed and turned on a fan to dry them. While we were down getting breakfast our stupid roomates shut it off eventhough they saw me hanging up my wet clothes and they had checked out early. What the heck? I was super annoyed. Anyhow, I turned the fan back on and tried to super quickly dry my clothes before we took off back to Lisbon. We checked out from the hostel and headed down to the river to check out the port wineries. We had wanted to go to a winery our whole trip but never made it. This was our very last chance and we wanted to take full advantage of it. But because we were so slack this morning and then had to wait for clothes to dry, the wineries were closed until 2pm. So we had lunch on the waterfront which was great! A pitcher of sangria and two great meals later we were heading back to the wineries for the tastings. I should mention Heather had this interesting traditional dish that you can only get in Porto and it consists of meat and bread with a spicy sauce covering it. Strange but kind of delicious. It had an egg on top too. Not your average lunch but hey, when in Rome. So then we headed to this winery that was recommended to us by the hostel as it's the oldest and meant to be the best. When we arrived however (and it was the furthest one) it was not offering an English tour until 4pm which was way too late since we had a train to catch around 430. So we found a smaller one that had a tour starting in a few minutes and we would have just enough time to do one tour and head back to grab our things. That's what we did!! It would have been nice to have more time in Porto but we had to move on. So we caught the train back to Lisbon. We had a dinner date with our friends Ari and Andrew. It's crazy how quickly time flies because their last stop is Lisbon before they head to Africa this weekend. WOW! We are super excited for them and slightly jealous. Anyhow, we had planned to meet them at their hostel at 8pm which turns out is owned by the same owners as our hostel. So we popped over there and they were waiting outside for us...YEAH!!! Super exciting to see them again! We all agreed that it was time for some Japanese (sushi in particular) since we never did get sushi together in Prague. Heather had found this place in the Lonely Planet guide and Andrew had mapped it out and got us there without a hitch. The streets in Lisbon can be a bit confusing but we made it. We had a great meal and got to catch up on each other's trips from the last time we saw them...must have been Budapest! Long time to catch up on! So after a great supper with great company, we all headed back to our hostel for some cocktails. I guess the cocktail bar switches between our hostel and theirs. So after a few amazing cocktails and some more chatting, we were pooped and all decided to call it a night and tuck 'er in.
Exploring Porto!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Today we were off to see Porto and the first stop was the beach. Heather really wanted to try surfing and I was considering it but was not thrilled because of the cooler weather. So, we grabbed the local bus to the beach and got to see the city along the way. It was on the complete opposite side of town as our hostel so the bus was a lengthy trip. At least it was scenic! When we arrived to the beach, it was not what we had expected. It was full of seagulls and feathers and nobody around. It was dead! The surf shops were not as plentiful as we had expected and it felt like a ghost beach. We laid out for awhile to catch some "sun" which was hidden behind the clouds. After awhile we decided to grab some lunch and were told that there were some great fish restaurants nearby. After wandering for awhile we settled on a spot that looked reasonable. We both ordered the salmon and boy were we happy that we did. It was a huge serving of salmon and cooked to perfection. It was served with salad and potatoes (salted heavily of course). After stuffing ourselves silly, we went back to the beach to enquire about surf lessons. We had seen a group lesson going on while walking to find lunch so we thought we'd check it out. The guy at the surf shop said the day was not good for surfing and to try back Wednesday. Well, since we would no longer be in Porto then, it was a bit of a lost cause. So instead we laid back out on the beach and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. At around 630 we went to catch the bus back into town. We came back to the hostel and just hung out for awhile. Heather was planning to Skype with her parents so we just grabbed some quick dinner and hung around the hostel. I watched a movie while she skype'd with her parents and grandparents. We then went to bed. I left my laundry with the staff to be done overnight hoping that everything would be dry in the morning as we were leaving once again.
Today we were off to see Porto and the first stop was the beach. Heather really wanted to try surfing and I was considering it but was not thrilled because of the cooler weather. So, we grabbed the local bus to the beach and got to see the city along the way. It was on the complete opposite side of town as our hostel so the bus was a lengthy trip. At least it was scenic! When we arrived to the beach, it was not what we had expected. It was full of seagulls and feathers and nobody around. It was dead! The surf shops were not as plentiful as we had expected and it felt like a ghost beach. We laid out for awhile to catch some "sun" which was hidden behind the clouds. After awhile we decided to grab some lunch and were told that there were some great fish restaurants nearby. After wandering for awhile we settled on a spot that looked reasonable. We both ordered the salmon and boy were we happy that we did. It was a huge serving of salmon and cooked to perfection. It was served with salad and potatoes (salted heavily of course). After stuffing ourselves silly, we went back to the beach to enquire about surf lessons. We had seen a group lesson going on while walking to find lunch so we thought we'd check it out. The guy at the surf shop said the day was not good for surfing and to try back Wednesday. Well, since we would no longer be in Porto then, it was a bit of a lost cause. So instead we laid back out on the beach and chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. At around 630 we went to catch the bus back into town. We came back to the hostel and just hung out for awhile. Heather was planning to Skype with her parents so we just grabbed some quick dinner and hung around the hostel. I watched a movie while she skype'd with her parents and grandparents. We then went to bed. I left my laundry with the staff to be done overnight hoping that everything would be dry in the morning as we were leaving once again.
Later Lagos!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
We missed breakfast this morning because we decided that we would rather sleep in. When we got up, we went out for breakfast at this local spot that served all day breakfast and was really good. We wandered around a little after breakfast and then went back to the hostel to check out. They let us check out late since they wouldn't get to cleaning our room until later anyhow. So we went back, grabbed our things and were back off to the train station to explore a new place. Off to Porto!! We caught the 2pm train to Porto but since it was across the entire length of the country it was a long train ride and we didn't arrive to our hostel until almost 9 pm. We went to a local spot to have some dinner and made it back to the hostel so I could Skype with my family before bed. It was an uneventful day but a necessary travel day. Tomorrow, we shall see Porto in all of its glory!
We missed breakfast this morning because we decided that we would rather sleep in. When we got up, we went out for breakfast at this local spot that served all day breakfast and was really good. We wandered around a little after breakfast and then went back to the hostel to check out. They let us check out late since they wouldn't get to cleaning our room until later anyhow. So we went back, grabbed our things and were back off to the train station to explore a new place. Off to Porto!! We caught the 2pm train to Porto but since it was across the entire length of the country it was a long train ride and we didn't arrive to our hostel until almost 9 pm. We went to a local spot to have some dinner and made it back to the hostel so I could Skype with my family before bed. It was an uneventful day but a necessary travel day. Tomorrow, we shall see Porto in all of its glory!
Beaches and Indian!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
We were woken early by the bustling of the people in the hostel and our noisy roommate. So we woke up and decided to go check out the famous crepes prepared by "mama". Up in the kitchen, there was a huge line of people waiting to get a seat at the big wooden table. So after a few minutes we sat at the big "family" table where "mama" (cute Portugese lady) had crepes cooking inside, outside and she just threw them onto your plate. She also had "mama's magic tea" which was a lemon tea and is meant to cure your hangover. It was great! We loved the crepes and I really enjoyed the "magic juice". After a really lazy morning we decided it was time to hit the beach. Today was also the booze cruise but after what we had experienced in Corfu, we decided to sit this one out...:) We were told though that we should take a grotto cruise as it is quite beautiful and cheap. So, we went down to the harbour and met this guy who took us out on his speed boat. We had a 45 minute boat ride along the coast and in and out of the rock grotto's. It was neat! Afterwards we found a quiet beach to go hang out on. We found a really secluded beach where we had to walk under a rock to get to and of course the tide comes up after Heather is through and I get soaked!!! The sun was short lived as the afternoon sun is covered by the huge rocks. We stayed there for awhile anyhow and hung out/slept. We then decided to head back to the hostel to shower and then go to dinner. We have learned our lesson from last night...always go to dinner looking your best! Haha! So on our way back to our hostel, we ran into half of the bachelor party, including the groom who are all looking and feeling quite rough. The groom had to go home quite early last night as he had a few too many shots. Anyhow, we chatted for a few and agreed to party again later and maybe see them around. So we got ready and were off on a mission for a fish dinner. Mama recommended this place in town and said it was the best. So we headed to the fish place and found it was closed for vacation. We were really bummed. However, we passed this good looking Indian restaurant on the way. We walked back towards the Indian spot and took one look at the menu and were convinced. We had an amazing meal and headed bak to the hostel for a big night on the town. We met some people at the hostel and were drinking and chillin with them. We found out that they were part of a big group of people and we moved the party upstairs. We met some fellow North American's that we ended up going out to the club with and partying with the whole night. As we were walking home, I was a bit further behind the others (because my feet were sore and was walking slowly) and I ran into the boys from the bachelor party! They were heading home but tried to convince us to go back out and party some more. I was way too tired and my feet way too sore to continue so we had to sadly decline. We said our farewell's and were back in bed. Solid times in Lagos!!!
We were woken early by the bustling of the people in the hostel and our noisy roommate. So we woke up and decided to go check out the famous crepes prepared by "mama". Up in the kitchen, there was a huge line of people waiting to get a seat at the big wooden table. So after a few minutes we sat at the big "family" table where "mama" (cute Portugese lady) had crepes cooking inside, outside and she just threw them onto your plate. She also had "mama's magic tea" which was a lemon tea and is meant to cure your hangover. It was great! We loved the crepes and I really enjoyed the "magic juice". After a really lazy morning we decided it was time to hit the beach. Today was also the booze cruise but after what we had experienced in Corfu, we decided to sit this one out...:) We were told though that we should take a grotto cruise as it is quite beautiful and cheap. So, we went down to the harbour and met this guy who took us out on his speed boat. We had a 45 minute boat ride along the coast and in and out of the rock grotto's. It was neat! Afterwards we found a quiet beach to go hang out on. We found a really secluded beach where we had to walk under a rock to get to and of course the tide comes up after Heather is through and I get soaked!!! The sun was short lived as the afternoon sun is covered by the huge rocks. We stayed there for awhile anyhow and hung out/slept. We then decided to head back to the hostel to shower and then go to dinner. We have learned our lesson from last night...always go to dinner looking your best! Haha! So on our way back to our hostel, we ran into half of the bachelor party, including the groom who are all looking and feeling quite rough. The groom had to go home quite early last night as he had a few too many shots. Anyhow, we chatted for a few and agreed to party again later and maybe see them around. So we got ready and were off on a mission for a fish dinner. Mama recommended this place in town and said it was the best. So we headed to the fish place and found it was closed for vacation. We were really bummed. However, we passed this good looking Indian restaurant on the way. We walked back towards the Indian spot and took one look at the menu and were convinced. We had an amazing meal and headed bak to the hostel for a big night on the town. We met some people at the hostel and were drinking and chillin with them. We found out that they were part of a big group of people and we moved the party upstairs. We met some fellow North American's that we ended up going out to the club with and partying with the whole night. As we were walking home, I was a bit further behind the others (because my feet were sore and was walking slowly) and I ran into the boys from the bachelor party! They were heading home but tried to convince us to go back out and party some more. I was way too tired and my feet way too sore to continue so we had to sadly decline. We said our farewell's and were back in bed. Solid times in Lagos!!!
Algarve!!
Friday, September 17, 2010
We woke up today and packed our things to check out so we could spend another magical day on the train. We were pretty excited to be heading to Lagos in the Algarve which is southern Portugal. Warm weather, beaches and good times!!! We caught the train on the other side of town to head to Lagos. It was quite the long train ride as we had to switch in the Algarve to a local train and it was painful. It stopped at every little town and our stop was, of course, the last one. When we finally arrived around 5pm, we were hungry and tired but not willing to waste precious time. So, we took the winding streets to our hostel...."The Rising Cock" was it's name and it was recommended to us by fellow travellers. When we arrived, we were instantly welcomed and knew we would love this place. The mentality of the owners/workers is that it should feel like home, and it was quite homey! We were hungry and dirty and our stomachs took priority as we planned to eat and then come back and get ready for the night. We quickly heard about a popular spot to eat as they have "power hour". This "power hour" was 10 euro's and included a meal and all you could drink wine or beer for one hour. Heather and I being the "experienced" drinkers that we have become, took full advantage of this and were essentially chugging wine. Bad, bad idea! Needless to say, we never made it home to shower/change. We met a group of guys from England here for their friends bachelor party. We started partying with them and it turned into quite the night. We bought the groom a couple of shots and he took it as a challenge and started buying us shots!!! We went to the first bar and it was pub like and quite chill but the boys knew the owner and we were never without a drink in our hand. We then went to this club (don't know the name) and danced late into the night. Much like Spanish partylife, the Portugese stay open late and party hard. We soon retired to the hostel to catch a few zzz's before morning.
We woke up today and packed our things to check out so we could spend another magical day on the train. We were pretty excited to be heading to Lagos in the Algarve which is southern Portugal. Warm weather, beaches and good times!!! We caught the train on the other side of town to head to Lagos. It was quite the long train ride as we had to switch in the Algarve to a local train and it was painful. It stopped at every little town and our stop was, of course, the last one. When we finally arrived around 5pm, we were hungry and tired but not willing to waste precious time. So, we took the winding streets to our hostel...."The Rising Cock" was it's name and it was recommended to us by fellow travellers. When we arrived, we were instantly welcomed and knew we would love this place. The mentality of the owners/workers is that it should feel like home, and it was quite homey! We were hungry and dirty and our stomachs took priority as we planned to eat and then come back and get ready for the night. We quickly heard about a popular spot to eat as they have "power hour". This "power hour" was 10 euro's and included a meal and all you could drink wine or beer for one hour. Heather and I being the "experienced" drinkers that we have become, took full advantage of this and were essentially chugging wine. Bad, bad idea! Needless to say, we never made it home to shower/change. We met a group of guys from England here for their friends bachelor party. We started partying with them and it turned into quite the night. We bought the groom a couple of shots and he took it as a challenge and started buying us shots!!! We went to the first bar and it was pub like and quite chill but the boys knew the owner and we were never without a drink in our hand. We then went to this club (don't know the name) and danced late into the night. Much like Spanish partylife, the Portugese stay open late and party hard. We soon retired to the hostel to catch a few zzz's before morning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
