July 2010
9 posts
paris je t'aime
So…. it’s my last night in paris, and I’m typing on an ipad via wireless keyboard. definitely one of the most advanced forms of technology i’ve used. Anyways,
After Lucerne, we trained it to Geneva and met our friend Talia at the geneva Central. We thought that she lived in Geneva… TURNS OUT she actually lives on this awesome mountain in FRANCE! for the next two...
Wanna go to Switzerland? uh.. OK!
So Ghent and Bruges were FANTASTIC! however we couldve done it by train and been happy. we had this hilarious tour group of like, 50 old men and women from spain and france. our tour guide had to translate everything 3 times… i think we brought the median age down to like… 45. we were that tour group that we normally HATE! we barrelled into this tiny city of bruges and stampeded a...
Belgian Fries... Belgian Waffles... Belgian...
So. what did we do in amsterdam? Well apart from the gigantic Riksmuseum, not so much haha. Actually, the billion dollar exhibit was only showing about a third of their gallery due to renovations. we saw rembrandt, vemeer.. it was pretty nifty but we were so exhausted. We walked around, found a random zombie walk, and checked out some cool coffee shops. we had mexican food, (cause amsterdam is so...
Settled in Europes Capitol
We have finally found the backpackers dream hostel here in Brussels. Free internet, breakfast included till late in the morning, free maps, informative desk people… needless to say we are very happy. I’m also currently watching the Netherlands football team on tv arrive in amsterdam via canal boat for a HUGE celebration after losing the game… hahaa…
SO. after we went...
REal Berlin
So. i just wrote 15 minutes worth of stuff and the internet shut down. again.
so the last bit after the pub crawl is a little hazy… maybe because im in AMSTERDAM??
Alright anyway. so after the crawl kelly and i yelled at each other and fell asleep, me at 1 her much later. the next morning we were up for Dachau concentration camp, which was one of the more horrific experiences of my life....
BERLIN
while kelly is in the bathroom getting ready to go, i will continue.
after the baths, we walked around and decided to check out some legit hungarian food. we found a great place right in the jewish quarter. i ordered matza ball soup (YES, I DID!!) and kelly had goulash. i also had something else but i dont remember…
anyhoo our waiter was a cool dude around our age and told us to go a bar...
Kellner is apparently more german than hungarian
Oh my so where to start. i know its been a thousand years.
So in Cinque Terre, after the whole “hostel sucks” fiasco, kelly and i woke up late only to have missed one of the only busses to the train station. so we thought the only thing we had left was a cab. so we ask our asshole hostel dude to call a cab. 3 minutes later, we realize that this american guy we had met the night before...
guttentag munich
i put on leiderhosen today and drank beer at 11 am
CANADA DAY! (didn´t do anything).
internet as a right in finland? i like the sound of that!
June 2010
22 posts
shnizelbox? GUTTENTAG
so we fell in love with venice, after a long long hot day walking the ´´streets´´ and seeing the major sights… though we didnt go into the giant basilica due to our legs and arms showing. oh well. we took awesome pigeon pictures in st marcs square (there was an indian dude throwing corn kernals and it was like crack for pigeons and they flocked him to the point that you couldnt see the...
the second 48 hour day.
So little did we know that this train ride would be one from hell. we got a train at 5:30 from barcelona to cerberres, the french border, and from there we would have to get a train to nimes, and from there to marseilles, and from there to nice, and from there to monaco, and from there to ventimiglia, and from there to genova, and from there la spezia, where our hostel was. we got to cerberres...
shitstorm
So the bus terminal is where our trip took a downward plunge.
the 4 of us had bought our tickets to toulouse for 35 euros (eurrail pass? what for?) and were taking turns sleeping waiting from 9 am to 3 pm when our bus was supposed to take off. so kelly goes to sleep around 1 pm behind the benches where we were sitting in front of the ticket booths where people were lining up. german...
Hi again (i just wrote for 20 minutes and it...
ill start again, dont think i dont want to cry. yes im alive.
SO. ill start from granada and continue until this moment now.
Kelly and i stay an extra night in granada, tour around during the day eat some arabic food, buy cheap jewellery, and that night we find out about flamenco dancing. for 19 euros wed get a bus to and from the caves and a free drink. DONE. we meet 3 guys and a girl from...
granada
for those who think that all i do is update my blog, YOU ARE WRONG. THANK YEW.
HOKAY. yesterday kelly and i missed our train to granda due to stupidity. our train left at 5 pm to arrive here at 10 ish so we left around 4:10 to get the metro to the train station at which we arrived 2 days early. we arrive with 15 minutes to spare and run around the damn station looking for our train. it is...
Gracias?
So… i miss portugal. For some reason Madrid did not turn me on 100%. I mean, ya, its MADRID! its a wonderful city, but something about lisbon made me feel so comfortable… though that might be the apartment and the two weeks there but ANYWAYS.
So kelly and john came back after i worried but didnt leave the hostal. we had a splendid day together, walking around, drinking coffee and...
ola madrid
so after a ten hour train ride (no beds this time), we finally arrived in madrid, annoyed, hungry and tired, obviously because we never slept.
currently i am using the free internet access in the hostal (which is amazing) because I have no idea where kelly is. we had met early this morning before check in, a guy from wisconsin who turned out to be actually pretty cool and is travelling alone....
Forca Portugal!
It is the FIFA World Cup!!! The streets were dead tonight due to the entire country of Portugal locking themselves in their living room watching the game. Even my family had a huge decision to make: «Do we buy the sports chanel or not?» they told me. Kelly and I went back to a restaurant where I had amazing bread and egg soup (yes, it was delicious) and kelly saw the picture of me eating it and...
I am as red as the maple leaf on the canadian flag
sorry for the screwed up pictures. i spent 2 hours trying to sort them out but it failed so now there are two sets of doubles and im too lazy to fix it.
kelly and i failed at putting on sunscreen and fell asleep at estoril beach.
id put up pictures but then id have to be naked for you to see the full effect of my stupidity.
it hurts.
one more thing
ps. julie, we are continuing the tradition of sexy poses and im going to try and get one with the sitting statue at our favorite cafe braseira in Chiado. oh you know it. i also allow you to put up the fat face pictures of me being proud on facebook, because i am actually so surprised i could make those faces.
pps. everyone else, theres a bridge here in lisboa called 25 de Abril bridge (the 25th...
sardines y cerveza por favor.
soooooOOOOOOOOooooo where to begin. im eating Sao´s chocolate mousse and its 11:15 pm. mmmm…
oh yes. kellys arrival. she arrived on thursday and i went (once again) on the bus to the airport to pick her up. on the way i bought two mini pasteis de natas (Pash-TAYSH de NAH-ta) cause i knew that it is her favorite thing on earth (i introduced them to her in the portugese quarter of...
don´t worry, still eating...
so were back in bairro alto, after 3 rainy days in the algarve. (actually thats not fair, the first day was beautiful). we stayed in an adorable hotel in Albufeira 6 minute walk from the beach. it was gorgeous and hot when we arrived! we dumped our stuff and changed into our bathing suits and walked to the beach which was so secluded with green blue water and views of Faro way out in the distance...
happy birthday grandma!!!
i hope you read this.
ps. Hi nana, I know you´re reading this :)
bem note
So I think a long post is in order considering ive been in lisbon about a week, which FLEW by, by the way. I can´t believe Julie came on tuesday and its saturday night. julies asleep and its quarter to 2 am haha. currently there is HUGE throng of people (both tourists and locals) standing outside our apartment drinking in the old streets of Bairro Alto. it sounds so inviting because there are...
bienvenido a lisboa!!!
i have come to lisbon after 12 hours in a sleeper train which ill admit was also quite an experience: its so beautiful outside and here i am in a tourist office to ask for details on stuff however i couldnt resist the cheap internet access
no ones speaks english and its SUPA different here than the french countryside that i miss so dearly.
being in a foreign city all alone is really exhilerating...
May 2010
22 posts
well that was an experience
i have received many of your emails however i am too much in a hurry to pack my stuff and leave
i am quite sad. i will try to respond after i arrive in lisbon tommorow. i hung my little bird cabin in the garden today. i feel like i contributed art to the art garden and im pretty proud.
thats all really.
excuse me
correction: by 75 euro i meant 750 euro in the last post
also i think theres a competition between the ladies here to see who can grow the longest hair. theres the armpit division and leg division. so far im in last place… however there might be a tie between kajsa and helen.
thats all. thought you should know.
oh la!
SOOOO lets see… these have been the best days so far! tuesday i needed to go in to Angouleme to purchase my train ticket to lisbon, and get this: on top of my extra expensive 75 euro rail pass, i had to pay a 30§ reservation fee for the night train from spain to portugal. say WHAAAAA?!?! was a little PISSED OFF but i guess its like a hostel stay.
the city of angouleme is beautiful and SO...
Whoa
Turns out Red Beard/long john silver is actually Rich Beard/Long John Gold
we had a mini talk-about-your-life moment after morning work and turns his grandparents left him a hellofalot of money and all he does is go from farm to farm working as a wwoofer in hopes of creating a land of his own and owning a self sustaining farm.
Hm. there really are all kinds of people in this world
Vers Angouleme!
So today me, kajsa and Justine (shes currently staging here for her school and making business deals for H&M… seems like they are able to make money… im still in the dark about that actually. anyways shes 21 qnd french) went to Angouleme via H&M`s car. they were going for lunch at a friends so we drove into town and the three of us went to an international concert festival....
on dance!
Turns out kajsa from sweden has a blog as well for the same exact reason as me!!!!!!! check it out! kajsa-en-france.blogspot.com… i doubt youll know what shes writing about but its cool to know how similar we really are!
this morning we cleaned the house and baked bread to The Rolling Stones, Miles Davis and The Velvet Underground. perfect? Yeah I think so. Except when I was looking at a...
bonsoir
So i know ive already written today but H and M (ill refer to them as so from now on) went out to Sers (name of village im staying in just outside of Angouleme which is just outside of bordeaux). they went to see the show of the musicians that stayed here recently.. us wwoofers decided not to attend due to the fact that were pooped and its friday night.
me and H butted heads today. i had enough...
pizza face
ever since i got here ive developed the most intense amount of acne. i blame the fact that i didnt bring facewash… julie? wanna bring me some? haha
anyways i blame the fact that im eating a hell of a lot better, i blame the country air, i blame the fact that all the toxins that were in my body from montreals air (and, en fait, montreals fast food aka poutine) are coming out in the form of...
bon
i received a lot of your emails :D but ill respond here, julie please bring my cell phone charger? ask my parents, its in my room (yes i know im an idiot).
i spent the day planting tomatoes. ive been poked, scratched, cut bruised and scolded. ive been scolded twice now by helen for speaking english. jesus i feel like im in a bazi camp. for real though michel has a coat with the german flag on it...
bon, on recommence.
Currently i have just finished helping cut vegetables for dinner and we just finished a karate lesson with silvere (or as i like to call him long john silver… or red beard. really hes more of a red beard because of his very red beard. im starting tot think his feet have turned into shoes because i have yet to find them. his shoes i mean. yes i have looked. like for instance last saturday...
merde
i just wrote 2 pages of award winning stuff about whats going on here and safari decided to quit.
i want to cry. nothing i now write will ever amount to what i just spent 1 hour typing. and weve got to go back out to work for another hour soon. ive been on the computer way too long but it all amounted to nothing.
ill rewrite later… sigh… ill also explain the last time i wrote.
BONNE SOIREE
IM DRUNK ON WINE AND EVERYONES DANCING TO PRINCE AFTER DINENR.
gottA GO
ps yesterday i groomed the horse (i mean dog)
the musicians ARE AWESOME and ones from ROME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Zut!
Yes I know Im writing a lot but mostly because this weekend theres really nothing to do…
Took a bike trip, made friends with some sheep, helped make lunch…
I did a tour of the whole l`hammeau… It`s huge!!! and quite magnifique!
I`ve also become exceptionally good at removing giant bloodthirsty tics off of giant lazy dogs who seem to be in so much pain they just don`t...
En fait...
Everyone is really nice… Well… as nice as the french can be (when you think nice, subtract about 15% of it);
There is Michel, owner of l`hammeau de la Brousse (which is the name of the colony im staying at). man of little words who is currently upstairs sculpting stuff and listening to jazz.
Helen (wife or girlfriend or life partner… still not sure) who is currently juggling...
Day 1 (ie the 48 hour day)
Hello, here was my day yesterday: Got to the airport, got to the terminal, tried my visa and realized that since obtaining my visa i hadnt actually activated it. Had a panic attack. Realized I forgot my europe book. Had another panic attack…. got on the plane, didn`t sleep.
Got to Charles de Gaulle airport and practically ran to the train station. (at this point I still hadnt spoken with...
26 hours left
packed :)
27 hours left...
and still not packed.
Phone card
Finally got a sim card. I’m a little confused. It says:
Your Global Service phone number +447924418610 (but its based in the UK?)
Then it says:
Your US Service phone number +19405605808 (but its based in the US?)
which do I call when I’m in Europe but not the UK? I’m assuming that one.
Anyways apparently I can recharge my minutes via internet or via telephone… but...
