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Stockholm

So, as you may or may not know, Stockholm did not get off to the best start.

When I left Paris Monday morning, I was having trouble with my Visa card. This had happened at the beginning of the trip, so I didn’t think much of it. I ran to an ATM and paid the hotel in cash. But, when I arrived at my hostel in Stockholm at around 9pm, my card still wasn’t working. Frustrated, I dragged my luggage down the dark streets in search of an ATM, as I had to pay up front. After receiving error messages on 2 ATMs I began to panic. No working Visa or debit card is not good! I got back to the hostel and called Visa. He started telling me about a $2500 charge to an online gambling site, and $1200 to Virgin Atlantic, charges that morning at Macys, and the day before in San Juan. “Yeah, those aren’t mine…” So, my card was cancelled. I asked why my debit wasn’t working and he said I’d reached my daily limit. Okay, fine. I explained the situation to the hostel, gave them all the cash I had, and they agreed to let me pay the remainder the following day.

Well, the following day I went back to the ATM and received a message saying ‘Invalid Card’. So, I went to another bank. Another similar message. The same at a third. And finally the fourth, where it simply read “Call Your Bank”. Faaaantastic. I’d given most of my money to the hostel, couldn’t pay them the remainder, and had no clue how to access money. I ran back to the hostel and called TD. They said they couldn’t help me because there was no issue with my account. It must have been my card or the machines here. She apologized and hung up. So, I frantically called my mom at would would gave been around 4 or 5am her time, freaking out that I had no access to money.

Thank goodness for Western Union. My mom wired me some money and I was able to eat at pay for somewhere to stay. I still don’t have any working money, but I think I have enough cash to make it through the rest of my trip. Sadly, I’ll need to cut back on the steak and wine ;).

But, by day 3 things were calm and I was actually able to get out an see Stockholm! I took a boat tour and wandered around Old Town. It was so pretty:

Today I spent the morning walking around the city, and this afternoon I’m killing time before going to catch my ship to Finland. My last stop! I can’t believe I’ll be home in 5 days. Very excited!

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A Canadian in Paris

Alright! Slowly catching up on my blogging. I spent this past weekend in the fabulous city of Paris. I took the train up for Barcelona, which was very nice, and arrived Friday evening. I stayed at a cute little hotel around the opera house, and it was the perfect location! I was close to 3 different subway stations, could walk to lots of sights and shops, and the price was right.

It was close to dark by the time I arrived, so I went out to grab some food, and then called it a night. Saturday, however, was quite busy! I took the metro to the Eiffel Tower, walked to the Arc de Triompe, then the Louve, and finally took the metro back up to the opera house where I spent a good couple hours wandering around:

On Sunday I opted to go somewhere in Paris I’d never been before: Euro Disney! (Or Disneyland Paris as it’s now known):

Disney was fun. I’m glad I went. It was pretty much a smaller version of Magic Kingdom in Florida. Similar set up and rides. Space Mountain is actually much better at this one!

Anyway! It was a very short time in Paris, but I’m glad I went!

From Paris I flew to Stockholm, which has been interesting. Will explain that one in my next post.

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The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain…

I don’t know if this is true. It was sunny the entire time I was there!

Barcelona is a pretty cool city. It and I didn’t get off on the right foot (I was assaulted by some pickpockets about 30 seconds after getting there), but day 2 onwards was lovely. I did a 2 day hop on, hop off bus tour, which I highly recommend for anyone ever going to Barcelona. It was a great deal . The bus ran 3 lines, took about 5 hours if you were to stay on it non stop, and the tickets were valid for 48 hours. You get a really great feel for the city, and are free to get on and off as you please. Some pic from on the bus tour:

That’s mainly how I spent day 2 and 3 exploring the city. On my last full day, on the advice of the fabulous Sara, I took a day trip to Montserrat. It was incredible! There’s a monestary built into the side of these spectacular mountains. I took a cable car up to the monestary, went to a neat little art gallery they have up there, and then hiked around the area for a few hours:

So, completely ignoring Day 1 of Barcelona, it was a very nice trip.

Up next: Paris!

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Belfast, Redux

I’m having a bit of a lazy evening in Barcelona, so I figured it’s a good time to blog!

Last Wednesday I made the long journey (12 hours!) from Venice to Belfast. I got up and ready at the horrific hour of 5am, walked through Venice to the Grand Canal to catch a boat bus to the bus terminal. I then spent half an hour wandering around the terminal trying to figure out how to get tickets (the office was closed) and where the bus was. I spent 2 hours on a bus to the airport where I learned my bag was too heavy, and I wan’t allowed to check in unless I paid 70 Euros. So, I threw anything I possibly could away. I figured, if I can replace it for under 70 Euros, than it’s worth it. I then went down to the worlds smallest terminal (1 tiny room that housed 4 gates. Ridiculous!) in which there were already 2 groups of passengers waiting on delayed flights. Granted, this is an airport entirely run by Ryanair, so, I shouldn’t have been surprised! I sat there for hours, until well after the plane was supposed to leave, never hearing a word (or even seeing) anyone who worked there. Eventually the plane showed up and we flew the two hours to Dublin. At the Dublin Airport I was stuck in immigration for an hour, thought I lost my passport at baggage claim, and got lost trying to find the bus terminal. After an hour of waiting at the bus terminal the bus for Belfast arrived! That took another 3 hours. But, I finally made it to Belfast! I walk about 15 minutes through the city centre to Orla’s apartment and wait in front of her door (she was at work still, and I was stealing her Internet from in the hall!). Her room mate arrived home, says hello to me, and then leaves me in the hallway. I don’t think she likes me very much! No worries though, Orla soon got home, we went inside, and I collapsed on her couch.

See, this is why I hate the travelling bit of travelling! Granted, I did have the worst possible experience 2 days ago upon arriving in Barcelona. Ugh.

Moving on… I had a wonderful time back in Belfast! On Wednesday night we went to see Iron & Wine in concert. The show was graet, but the people sitting around us were not. He also didn’t play Boy With A Coin, which upset me a little bit… ;)

After the concert we took in some of the sights on the way back to Orla’s apartment. Such as…

The big mosaic fish:

And the big iron lady holding a hula hoop:

On Thursday when Orla was at work I filled up my backpack with all my clothes, hopped on a train across town, and did some laundry. Exciting! It was actually a pretty good time. At one point this very strange man saw the Canada flag on my pack and started asking me questions like: “Is Canada that wee country by Australia?”, “Is Canada dear?”, “What is the current unemployment rate?” and “Does Facebook exist in Canada?” It was just like I was at work! As soon as he left the girl working there ran over to me and asked what he was saying. I told her and she started going on about all the crazy things he’s said to her in the past, and we had a good laugh. Apparently he has plans to take over the UK, build his own exclusive hospital, and produce his own line of rainbow fake eyelashes. After that a really nice girl from Texas came in and we started chatting. She got a job in Belfast and just arrived. I’m so jealous of her! It’s such an awesome city.

That night Orla and I went to dinner and then to see Modest Mouse in concert. What an amazing show! They are so great live!

Sadly, after, we had to walk home in the rain…

On Friday when Orla was at work I went into town. I needed some things, and then decided to do a bit of window shopping. Big mistake! It turns out when I haven’t been shopping in a month, it kind of builds up. I did tough it out though! But a few things, but not a lot. And only from H&M. Which it turns out I am totally in love with over here! I really don’t like the store in St. Catharines. It smells and is too expensive and rarely has anything I like. Here, totally different story!

Orla got off work a bit early, so we went to grab a late lunch, and that evening saw Wilco!

On Saturday Orla, one of her roomates (not the one who left me in the hall!): Lisa, and I did a hop on, hop off bus tour around Belfast. It was a pretty good tour. Went to the Titanic Quarter, lots of different historical places relating to The Troubles, Parliament, downtown. We saw quite a lot!

Storment Castle (on Parliament grounds) and Parliament:

One of that many, many murals located around Belfast that reference The Troubles:

Cave Hill (This was the inspiration for Gulliver’s Travels, as the mountain shape resembles a mans face):

I can’t quite remember what we did on Sunday. Not much, I guess! Orla made me an Irish breakfast called an Ulster Fry. It was delicious! I think we just went into town and looked for shoes, actually! And then we went for dinner. And I came back and packed, which took hours.

And then I left bright and early Monday morning and am now in Barcelona! Just to clear up, I am actually having a wonderful time here, despite the horrificness of Monday. I know not everyone knows what I’m talking about, but I’ll save that fun story for my next blog.

Thanks for reading!

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Postcards from Italy

Hello!

I feel like I’m falling a bit behind on the blogging. Although I don’t think I’m any farther behind than usual.

Anyway! I spent Sunday to Wednesday of this past week in Venice. What an incredible city! I’ve seen pictures, but nothing really does it justice. The entire island feels like a maze of narrow stone streets and canals. I got lost at least twice every day I was there!

I arrived Sunday afternoon and started to make my way to my B&B. There’s no cars on the island, so I caught a boat bus up the grand canal. I found the correct stop easily enough, but then managed to get myself completely lost on what should have been a 5 minute walk from the bus stop to thw B&B. It took me about an hour! Some roads were closed off because of a boating even taking place, and I got completely turned around. I don’t mind being lost. It just becomes painful when I have 30 kilos of stuff hanging off of me!

I finally found my B&B, settled in, and spent the next couple days exploring, visiting sites, and eating gelato!

San Marco:

The Grand Canal:

Rialto Bridge:

I had a nice time in Venice. It was leaving where I ran into issue! It took hours to get to the airport, which turned out to be an exclusive Ryanair airport. Ugh. It turns out that I needed to upgrade if I wanted a normal luggage weight limit. Umm, what? So, I had to throw out 3 kilos worth of stuff in the arrivals area, or else have to pay 60 Euros. I got that straightened out, and then had some ussue with the flight. It was 15 minutes after our departure time, the board said ‘On Time’ and there was no one from the airline anywhere in sight. Oh, Ryanair.

I eventually made it to Dublin, and then hoped a bus to Belfast. and, finally, after 12 hours of travelling, collapsed on Orla’s couch!

Hmm, I think I spent most of this post complaining about getting to and from Venice, rather than on Venice. Oh well. Pretty pictures will suffice, right?

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Climb Every Mountain!

Okay, so I didn’t climb every mountain. But I did climb one! I’ll get to that in a moment.

First of all, let me just say that I am completely in love with Austria. I’m sitting on a train as I type this on my way to Italy and everytime I look out I see a new breathtaking view. This is without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever visited. Every village looks like something out of a storybook. Adorable little German homes surrounded by the greenest grass, and a backdrop of snow capped mountains. It’s almost sickening how perfect it all looks! Anyway, I’ll start at the very beginning. A very good place to start…

From Prague I took the train to Salzburg. Salzburg has been absolutely amazing! On Thursday I got here in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day wandering around the old section of the city. The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful first glimpse of the city.

 

On Friday I took a bus to Berchtesgaden, Germany. The weather wasn’t perfect, it was quite cloudy, but it was unreal all the same! I started the day off with a two hour boat trek around lake Konigssee, which was so, so beautiful. At the opposite end of the lake from where we started we were able to get off and hike around a bit. I took a trail up to lovely lake and waterfall.

On the boat:

Hiking around the lake:

In the afternoon I went up the road a bit to Jennerbahn. There I was able to take a cable car up about 6000 feet to the top of Mount Jenner. Now, I’m not usually too nervous about heights or being enclosed, but, even this one freaked me out! I was in a tiny little pod by myself and it ran a steep line up the mountain. The entire trip took 20 minutes.

I made it to the top of the mounatin and was met with a view of… white?
Thankfully the clouds sporadically cleared in spots and I was met with the most magnificent view I have ever seen.

From the summit there was a trail which led to the very tip of the mountain. I was debating it at first, since the lack of view was rather discouraging. But, I did, and I’m so glad! From the up most point of the mountain I got a full 360 degree view. Mostly clouds, but, again they would occasssionally clear to an amazing view:

On my final day in Salzburg I it. You know what I’m talking about: The Sound Of Music Tour! It was excellent. They took us all around the city to different locations from the film, gave lots of little fun facts about filming, and even drove us quite a distance into the countryside for some amazing scenic views and to see the church where Maria and Georg were married. It was in a beautiful little town where we were given some time to wander around. We saw an actual wedding procession going into the church, and ate apple struddle. It was great!

As I said, I’m on my way out of Austria. Quite sad. And by the time I actually have Internet and get this posted I’ll be in Venice. Which, isn’t so sad! I’ll be there until Wednesday at which point I’ll be flying back to Ireland for 5ish days. Orla and I have quite a lot of concerting planned, which I’m excited about!

I also can’t believe that I’m at the halfway mark of my trip. It’s strange- It feels like it’s flown by, but at the same time, it feels like forever since I left home. I had a couple days last week where I was so fed up with travelling and thinking “I’m ready to go home”. Thankfully that passed and I’m feeling energetic and good to go! I think I just hate the actual travelling portion of travelling! Airports, train stations, lugging around baggage, waiting around, boredom, all that. Sadly though, I don’t have a TARDIS, so such things are unaviodable.

Now I’m just writing to kill time on the train, so I’ll leave it here!

Thanks for reading!

Added at time of posting:

I made it to Venice! What an incredible city. And my B&B is in a fantastuic

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Bob Lowblaw’s Prague Blog

I had a nice time Prague. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t done much research at all on it beforehand. The weather was awful, but the city was beautiful. I arrived there last Monday after a long day of travelling from Dublin. The flight was alright. Only about 2 hours, and I slept through most of it. Getting from the airport to my pension was a little more difficult though! I had to take a bus into the city, the metro through the city, and then walk from the metro station to my accommodation. Doesn’t sound too difficult, but, I have this inability to navigate public transportation. That mixed with a language barrier, and my complete ignorance/understanding of the Czech currency made the trip far less than ideal. But, I eventually made it to the correct metro stop! Hazzah!

And then I came out of the subway to find none of the streets had signs on them… What? Are you kidding me, Prague?! After 10 minutes of aimlessly walking in what was potentially the wrong direction with 30 kilos of baggage hanging off of me, I found someone to ask for help. She also turned out to be a tourist and had one of the incredibly handy tourist maps on her. Thank goodness! So, we figured out where we were (as neither of us actually knew) and where I needed to go. She was then so sweet and gave me an extra map she had.

Eventually I found my way to my pension. The owner was so, so nice and helpful. He had a booking mix up and told me that I’d need to switch rooms after the first night. That meant having to stay packed my first night, but it also meant a better room that first night, so, I survived. Unfortunately I was so exhausted that first day that I collapsed on the bed and slept until the following morning. Woops!

The weather was awful my first full day there, which wasn’t ideal. But I walked down to Old Town and saw a bit of it while the weather was still decent. I took a bus tour in the afternoon which wasn’t all that exciting (all pre recorded), but very informative. It took us around Old Town, New Town, and up to Prague Castle. It was downpouring by the time I got off the bus though and I managed to get completely soaked. I ran into a mall and had to buy a shirt and socks at H&M.

Some pictures from my first day:

The weather improved the next day. Still overcast, but at least not raining. I walked back to Old Town and over to Charles Bridge. And, to my surprise, there was a blue sky by the time I arrived!

The following morning I had to leave painfully early to catch a train to Salzburg. But, getting to the train station was far easier than the airport. One stop on the metro and I was there! I like when it’s that simple. When I got on the train I realized I’d forgotten to send postcards. They were written out and stamped, but I forgot to find a mail box! Therefore apologies to those of you who receive a Prague postcard sent from Salzburg!

Anyway, that’s about it for Prague. I took it easy, which I definitely needed at that point!

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Ireland, Part Three

On Saturday Orla and I did a hop on hop off bus tour around Dublin. We also took a tour of Kilmainham Gaol, an old Irish prison:

On Sunday was the highlight of Dublin: The National Leprechaun Museum. This place was insane! We got to climb around on giant pieces of furniture, have story time with a guide who looked very much like what I imagine a Leprechaun would look like, and colour. It was priceless!

Living like a leprechaun:

Our guide and the pot of gold:

Which Orla tried to steal. Tsk, tsk:

Colouring:

Framed and on the wall:

After that we wandered in search of cupcakes. It was harder than it sounds! Us on the Liffey:

Sadly, Sunday evening Orla had to return home. Aideen and I had a very nice last dinner in Dublin, and then I headed out early Monday morning. The flight to Prague was short, and I slept through it, so that was good. I didn’t do much after arriving yesterday, but saw quite a lot today. I don’t have pictures uploaded yet, but I’ll do a Prague post next.

Thanks for reading! And apologies on the multiple parts. It kept freezing when I put too many pictures in. Strange!

~Spencer

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Ireland, Part Two

…

We hiked around the area, which was lovely:

Lying in the giant’s boot:

On our last day in Belfast we went for lunch at the Crown Bar, a famous pub in Belfast. They had little booth/rooms, which we so cool! And I had my first taste of Irish Champ.

On Thursday we headed down to Dublin. Bright and early! We arrived to the hotel too early to check in, so had to kill a couple of hours. When we went back there was still no room available, and since we were too exhausted to move, we sat ourselves down in the lobby. I think to get rid of us the desk clerk gave us the first available room, which turned out to be some sort of suite. Worked for us!

That afternoon we toured Dublin Castle:

The following day Aideen was kind enough to take us on a mini road trip into the country. I believe the entire area was called Wicklow, but I could be wrong. I know some of it was definitely in Wicklow!

Our first stop was a beautiful park with an old monetary on site:

After that we drove to Enniskerry (the town where P.S. I love you was filmed) for lunch:

And then we drove to a mountain region that was beyond gorgeous:

Continued in Part Three…

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Ireland, Part One

Finally! As promised: An Ireland blog!

Sorry for the lack of updates. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks! Between non-stop touring, and a lack of Internet, blogging has not made it onto the agenda. Things have calmed down the past couple nights, so, here I am! In Prague, by the way. It’s rainy and cold, but still insanely beautiful.

Jumping ahead of myself though! Back to last week: I had an amazing time in Ireland.  We flew from Edinburgh to Belfast where we spent the next few days. Granted, we didn’t actually spend that much time in Belfast. Day one was a bit of a write off. Bumming around Orla’s apartment and some shopping. The following day, however, we rented a car. I was pretty terrified about this, since I was the one driving. Everything was opposite, roundabouts, miles, strange versions of automatic vehicles, no shoulders, rain- It was quite the experience! No, no, I’m making it sound much worse than it was. I think I did alright. On one or two turns I pulled into the wrong lane, but Orla quickly said something, and the roads were never busy.  Since we’d already been in the UK for two weeks, I’d been making a point to carefully watch which ways cars were driving. But by this time I was actually starting to confuse what I knew with what I’d gotten used to! It was a very odd feeling.

The car:

Anyway! The first day with the car we drove inland to the Marble Arch Caves. It was a good two hours, but I got to see a lot of the countryside, which was nice. And the caves were so neat! There was supposed to be a bit on a boat, but there had been so much rain that the water levels in the caves were too high, so we didn’t get to do that. It was still pretty cool though!

On the second day we drove a coastal road up to the North, which was incredible. We visited Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and Giant’s Causeway, and thankfully the weather held out for both.  We were both getting quite nervous coming up to the rope bridge because it was very windy. But, the bridge was sturdy and not as long as we had expected (yes, yes, TWSS).

We were both very excited after making it across!

On the island the bridge crossed to:

Giant’s Causeway was amazing! It’s a rock formation on the north coast of Northern Ireland. It was so beautiful, and I’d never seen anything like it:

Continued in Part Two…