Trippin thru Europe

Karlovy Vary

2006-07-12T16:41:51Z

After a sad breakfast at McDonalds, we said goodbye to our beautiful, magical Prague and left for Karlovy Vary a very small, spa/resort town. On our way we watched tons of people getting fines for not having the proper tickets for the metro, we had a similar problem and faced a hefty fine, so be sure to get your proper tickets or you must be very stealth. Anyways so we found our way through the maze that is the Czech Republic transportation system, we really are awesome, and boarded a train to our small resort town. Yes I wanted to indulge and get all sorts of beauty treatments that hopefully we could splurge on. For your information on our way home from Europe I watched a Queen Latifah movie, "Last Holiday", that is about her dying so she makes a trip to her dream destination for a spa week and the whole movie is set in Karlovy Vary, pretty cool, huh? So we arrived however much later by train, and it was a big guess where we were, can you believe that they did not have one single sign that said the name of the town? We did the jump off and hope you are in the right place kind of thing. So we were and we headed off to who knows where. We took a taxi to one of the addresses in our book and found there to be no such place. Close by we found a hostel and after searching up and down the treachous hill we gave up and went for the hostel at the top of the hill. We were starvin marvins so we headed down the other horrendous hill towards the pictureqes little town. I really mean that it looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale, really small and cute. So it turned out that they dont really appreciate ATMS and the only one we found was of course out of service!!! Luckily my partner in crime had some money left so we explored the extremly over priced shops, all thirty of them and then went for a nice supper. From our little walk we had pretty much decided that we were out of our league by 40 years age difference and a million in income. So we walked more and gave up and went to sleep. The next day we went to the big attraction, the natural water springs, one specifically that shoots 30 ft in the air. All around the place are different tempuratures of water that you can try and are supposed to be very healing. So I filled my water bottle up, bad mistake this stuff is putrid but somehow I gulped it down thinking of all the healing that was happening, yeah right. So we left, feeling young again, you know from the water. We decided to go to the top of the mountain. I set out thinking we would take the hike but as we got to the cable car I thought that the ride up looked a lot better. At the top we hiked the million steps to the top of the bell tower, which also serves as a lookout point and just chilled for a very long time.

Karlovy Vary remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Czech it Out!!

2006-07-12T17:19:57Z

After our last day in Vienna we boarded a train to Prague, Czech Rebpublic. We were really excited to get here as we have heard nothing but great things about the country. We when we arrived at the station that night we were approached by an elderly lady who offered us a cheap place to stay. I am not really into the people picking us up but she just kept coming back. Since it was late at night we decided to go for it and took her up on her offer, it really was a good price. In the train station I tried to exchange some Slovenian Tolars that I had been carrying around with me for a while as no one would take them. This guy said he could and handed over some Czech money, luckily we had printed off some conversion cheat sheets ahead of time and it took me about a minute to realize this greasy-haired dude was ripping me off. I hurried back and he said "fine dont take it" and threw my money back. This exciting little adventure is probably the worst of anything that happened to us, yes we have had a smooth ride. So we headed on some trains with the lady and came to our station where we walked up some stairs and arrived out in the centre of Prague. This was quite the entrance. We were standing in the famours West.... something square where in 1990 the citizens of Prague demostrated until their leader declared that the communist state was over. It is a huge tree-lined boulevard lined with lots of city life, instantly I loved the place. So we headed to our new home which was quite close by. We new we were headed somewhere good when we saw the signs" Czechs largest Irish pub this way!". Our place was in an old apartment building as most are, where the doors are all 12 feet tall. It had the smell of cats but it was cheap and spacious with breakfast, but most importantly we were on top of a bar and down the street from the Irish one as well as others. We went to the bar under us that night. There was a football game on so we had to have some of the beer that I heard about. I am not a beer drinker but like they say Czech beer is really pure and is quite ok to drink, I definitly thought so that night! Anyways the beer is literally cheaper than water, about 1.20 CAD for a large pint, wonderful.. The next day we went exploring slowly through Prague. It is a wonderful ancient city, when I look back it was my top 3 for the most beautiful. Every single building was like a ancient castle or palace, and has that old ugly character look that I like. We werent feeling so great so we decided to take it easy and do what we like best, souvineer shopping!!! Later we saw the Da Vinci Code, a day before all you North Americans did. Only problem was that all the french and latin was written in Czech subtitles. By walking around we found out that we were staying in the old town as we like to. The only problem is that you are warned not to due to heavy traffic of Stag parties and lots of hustlers, its alright we like the excitement. Like I have said before we have really great luck, this day we happened to be walking through a wonderful square surronded by hundreds of people staring at one of those really weird clocks that turns in every direction. We stayed and watched, as soon as it hit whatever time some old puppets came out danced and then spit, an event which everyone thought was hilarious. We werent the most impressed, but glad we got to see it.

The place we were staying also had a underground mall under it where we found out that a awesome reggae artist was going to be coming tongight. So later that night we went for supper and beer at the place we went to the night before then headed to the show. It was a fantastic live preformance that lasted many hours. A great thing about Prague is that everyone speaks english so we had tons'o fun. The major attraction of Prague is the Prague castle, I think which is the largest in Europe. Let me tell you it is nothing special. It is a quite modern looking building that is just a million years long. Thats all we heard about so we took a tour that began with a van ride. The tour guide had to speak a few languages and by the time she got to English, whatever she had been talking about we had passed minutes ago. The driver was too fast so the tour guide would yell at him and we would miss the attraction. When we got to the castle it was easy to see she really didnt care too much. Anyways the castle sucked but the cathedral inside was amzing. Prague castle no thanks. Next we went to the Communism museum. It was one of the best museums we have been to. It was very real and really hit home. We watched a documentary that was absolutly horrible to see plain clothes policemen beating on their own people during demonstrations and the hardest part to believe is that it was only in 1990 that this ended. That night we had a chill night and just went to our regular pub for supper after much exploring. The next day we signed up for a Jewish Quarter tour. The Jewish quarter is an area of town where most jews lived during many years when the city was seperated. It was a long and really enjoyable tour. Prague is just so beautiful and filled with some many stories. This was my new favorite city. Afterwards we finish our day we some important shopping for real Absinth, the stuff that makes you hallucinate. Only in Czech are you supposed to find the real stuff and even here it is a hunt. The really good stuff is kept behind the counters and sometimes they wont offer it to you. So Josh found one small bottle, all other stores were sold out, and bought a sample size one for 25dollars. The mikey size bottles go for two hundred dollars if you can find them. The next step would be getting the illegal substance across the US border..

Czech it Out!! remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Austria

2006-07-12T17:27:31Z

We arrived that afternoon in Graz, Austria. Graz is a small city that we didnt expect too much from, but when we are picking places to go we always pick some unknown place just so we can stay somehwhere out of the tousit areas and exprience the country naturally. So this was our first exprience with Austria, a country which we really did not know what too expect from. The travel to Austria was absolutly gorgeous and the train station was very nice which is always a good sign about the city. So here we were entering another language barrier, German. What can I say about german, well it sounds hilarious when people are talking, people here tend to have very intense conversations full of spit. It turns out that Graz is known for its architecture and unigue design. I planned a big walk for the next day and we went to Mission Impossible III ok movie. One of the pieces of crazy design was one art mueseum that looks like a giant brain and at night has a crazy light show so we watched that for a while and went to sleep. The next morning after the best sleep I have had yet on this trip we went on our big walk. In the middle of the river is a large cafe/seating area that floats on top of the water so we hung out there for a while and then slowly began dropping things from our iteneray for that day. Next we went to the brain to see what was actually inside. Here were photo exibits and other art exibits. Next we made our way downtown to the largest collection of medival armoury in the world, guess whos idea that was, not mine! So I lasted about three floors and it was amazing the collection they had. Entire floors were dedicated to guns, helmets, and body armour. Some guns were so big it would have taken Josh and I to lift it, let alone actually fire the thing, I guess accuaracy wasnt too high on the list of priorities. On our way back to the train station we stopped at a square where a festival was going on, we do have the best timing ever. Graz was the first city we were to exprience the trams, bikes and vehicles dilemna. Crossing the road requires precise timing. Here there was a display of the Brazilian dance fighting, which is very fun to watch. So after our short stay in Graz we were off to Vienna, the capital of Austria.

So pretty much the entire country of Austria is very beautiful somewhat like the rocky mountain area in canada but bigger mountains and the cities are all green and beautiful except for Vienna. Vienna is nice in its own way, it is the capital so the forests are not included. Vienna is an amazing city with important architecture, museums, and galleries on every corner. We ended up spending four days here but I would recommend a week to see most of it. Once we arrived at the station we called and got a place to stay, directions and took a few trams to get there, trams are a very big thing here. So this city would be our first exprience with the domination of bicycles. So in larger European cities, bikes are a very important and efficent way for everyone to get around. No longer do cars rule the road but bicycles and trams. Here there are seperate bike lanes on the road one in each direction like real traffic lanes and they also have bike traffice lights. It takes a while to get used to walking without getting in the way of something, here you have to watch out for trams, bikes, cars and people it can be dangerous! We found our pension which was once again in the ghetto, nice place. So lots to do unfortunatly the next mornign I found out that I had missed the Vienna Boys Choir, something I really wanted to see but thats ok it was too early in the morning. So we headed off for some museums, first a modern art museuem that included a exibit of the sacrifice of cows for religious ceremonies and then being spread on the people of the village, I think that was a bit to modern arty for me and then some other disturbing exhbits. My favorite was the pop art section, Andy Warhol and others. This year is very important for the people of AUstria because it is Mozarts 250th birthday. So to celebrate you can buy Mozart chocolate, perfume, ice cream, wigs, hats, penicls, toliet paper, whatever you want you can have it Mozart style. I am a huge fan of the artist Gustav Klimt, he paints the most beautiful pictures ever using gold leafing and sometimes jewels. One of his paintings just went for something like 125 million, yes ridiculous. Anyways one of the muesuems we went to has a large golden roof top that people call the golden cabbage. Here houses the Beethoven Friez by Gustaz Klimt and it was awesome. Vienna is supposed to have one of the best opera venue for accoutics in the world so we thought we would check one out. If you line up a couple hours before a show you can get standing room tickets for only 5 euros or something cheap like that but we would try another night as the touirst lady said that tonight was completly sold out and that everyone standing in line was stupid, her words not mine. Downtown through the amzing cobblestone streets lies the most exclusive and expensive shops you could imagine. In the centre is the famous St. Stephens cathedral. An amaxingly beautiful church with the icing lattice work that goes on forever. Beside the church were some very entertaining breakdancers. One woman probably in here early 90s was either drunk or just really into breakdancing because she would not stop dancing and wandering around the boys while they were right in the middle of their show. This was very entertaining. Inside the cathedral you know the usal amazingness. But here they have tours of the catacombs daily so we had to come back and check that out. Later we were making our way back home through the palace garden and then through the city hall, Vienna has really amzing architecture, everything is huge and very important and old looking. So we heard music and chanting, what else could it be but a football(soccer) party. That was the conclusion of our first day in Vienna. Next day we began with the very interesting Sigmund Freud mueseum. This extensive mueseum has kept tons of his belongings and has a written description about every single one. The building was actually one that he lived in for many years in Vienna. After we walked for awhile aroun the beautiful city. There is absolutly tons to see here, so walking anywhere you will bump into much to see. We made our way downtown again and went for the catacombs tour. I knew that catacombs meant underground tunnels but did not know it was a place to bury the "important" dead. This was a extensive underground tunnel. At one point in history when the plague hit Europe bodies we scraped by slaves and stacked flawlessly in these huge rooms. The number of bones and skulls and everything was crazy and creepy. I was really excited about this evening because we decided that we would go to the opera. We went into the building which was a good sign, usually the line starts outside the building. I went to sit down but one of the ushers asked me if I had any other shoes, I was wearing thong sandals. I didnt and he said I would have difficulty getting in, I mean what is that, will I get in or not? He said I wouldnt be able to so dissapointingly we left. That night we went around to a few different pubs and had some drinks in Vieanna. The next day we were up early to go see the huge Schönbrunn palace.

This extensive place was only mostly the summer home of the Hapsburgs but nonetheless it is still amazing. We took the coulple hour long audio and I have never seen some many beautiful rooms. One was dedicated entirely to the blue and white china, another for the black-laqured wood with ivory asian carvings, it was really a great thing to see. Inside is a maze, gardens the size of a small city, foutains, and a strudel bakery! With our tickets we got a free sample and demonstration on how to make strudel, we just got our sample and left. One place Lonely Planet suggests is the HaustWien it mentions something about it being dreamlike and fantastic. The building was easy to see once we reached the proper street. THe building is tiled in all colors from bottom to top with wavy concrete that creates small hills. We still had no idea what this place was but it looked like fun. Once inside the theme continued the floors we wavy everywhere with bright decorations and tiles for walls. Turns out this is a gallery for a very talented and creative artist who I do not remember the name of but his pieces I will never forget. This guy is like a kid who has never grown up. He has designed buildings that have actually been carried out. The are the most fun, creative and beautiful designs I have ever seen!
Then we went to the Mac Mueseum the modern art something. It was great lots of old furniture and carpets and weird art.

Austria remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Slovenia

2006-07-12T17:21:50Z

Around 10am we arrived at the train station in the capital city Lijubljana a city whose name is one letter away from the translation to 'jewel'. As usual we were completly unprepared so the first step was to find a place to sleep. We began with our lonely planet book which is a few years old but has not disapointed yet, that is until today. We went to one hotel the book suggested because it had good prices and seemed like a nice place to stay. Once we got there we could not get over the prices! It was so cheap we were picking out all the things we could add on to the room just because it was so ridiculosly cheap. Slovenia has one of those currencies that deal with very high numbers like 5000 tolars equals 26 CAD. So turns out we were reading the price list a little bit wrong, you know off by a couple thousand. Instead of the price being 3000 tolars it was more like 30 000, its the fact that they use decimals when we use commas, thats what screwed us up. So we quickly ducked out and began to search at a few different places. So we strolled along the water to see what we could find then went to the toursit office which turned out to be very helpful. They called one private place a pension that would take us in. So we took another death defying cab ride there, we have gotten to really enjoy taxi rides now. So we had a usual nap, the train we had taken the night before wasnt so successful because this time the heat would not turn off and I was so hot I thought my feet were going to shoot off like rockets!! Today was Monday so all museums were closed so we decided to just walk around. We had not heard to much about Lijubljana and from first appearences it did not strike me as a place with too much to see so we figured we would leave the big city and head to a little resort town the next day. This night we went down to the water for something to eat and found the perfect resturant where a little band started to play and attracted a bunch of media attention, I know I know they just cant stay away from me. After we walked through the city park which is absolutly gigantic. In easter europe they really appreciate their green space. We got a little lost, well I think so but Josh says he knew the whole time and a couple hours later arrived back at our place. So not anything against this beautiful city full of old buildings and museums but it just didnt strike us as anything we hadent seen before. The next day was another early one, we had a big day planned and it started with a train ride to Postyana a city that attracts millions of vistors a year because of its caves that are the third largest in the world at 21 km long. It was a rainy cold day, oh yes just great for super humid cold caves. I rented a jacket because in one of my purges of sending stuff home I sent home my rain jacket and only have one sweater which is just stupid. Anyways we boarded the little train a took off for a few km into the cave. There is just nothing like what I saw that day. These caves which absolutly gigantic enough to house underground cities. We traveled for about 20 minutes into the cave and then got out for an hours walking tour. Hear we saw all types of stalagmites and stalactites and saw some human fish. The tour was phenomonal well the caves were, even those I was cold the trip was very much worth it. After we got a taxi up to the train station and got a train to the resort town Bled. Bled is located in the mountain area of Slovenia and supposed to be really nice so we took a leap of faith like all other places and took a train into the remote area. We arrived later that night around 9pm and hopped off the train to go try and find a place to stay. First of all we had to find the town. We got off the train at a stop called Lesce-Bled so we assumed it meant both cities we near. So we started walking with absolutly no direction or any idea, we just knew we were looking for a lake. A little bit later after some time spent in one direction we switch direction and headed the other way. Here we found a possibility of somewhere to stay until we found out that Bled was about 20 km away. We made our way back to the station, the reason for the two town stop was that Bled is in such a remote area no train goes into the area. So we waited for a regional bus and rode into Bled. Again we did not know where we were going so the bus driver stopped somewhere and told us where to find a hostel. After some hiking in the dark we found a gorgeous hostel and got up to our room which was definitly one of the nicest ones we have stayed in yet. The next day we woke up and explored this area. It definitly is a tourist place but only because it is postcard perfect. The village surronds a lake that is surronded by mountains and huge green forests. The village is very famous for its ancient castle that sits on a cliff above the lake. So we went walking and decided to stop at a cafe for a drink which turned into a bunch of drinks. Josh and I have been little angels this trip, I can count on one hand the number of times we have been drinking so it was due. We moved around to a few places and then went to the park and then up to a beautiful church and the home and then to eat and that was our entire day. The next morning we asked to stay another day, we just didnt get too much done the first day. Josh and I got into a little tiff, maybe we werent feeling so great from the night before. So we split up and went our seperate ways, I can tell you what I did. I went walking down past the lake and got some souvineers and then walked up to the church, again. I remember from the day before that it was beautiful but I didnt remember much else so it was worth another trip. I hiked my way up to the castle but by the time I got to the entrance I was so tired of walking up hills I just went back down. Later I saw Joshs photos of the views from the castle that are amazing!!! You must be tired of hearing amazing and beautiful, but I just cant help it we just go everywhere that is amazing and beautiful!! So we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station and caught a train to Maribor, Slovenia. This was just a departure town for us so we got there found a place to stay in a university residence and relaxed for the night which includes ice cream and a walk around town, you know another night walk around a beautiful ancient town. The next moring we left for the bus station and after a struggle with the train station authority to authorize our passes we were on our way to Graz, Austria.

Slovenia remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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A diamond in the rock

2006-07-11T17:53:03Z

Late the next night we arrived in Zagreb, Croatia. Both josh and I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into as we both had no research on the area. The one time I stopped to look a Croatia tourism I saw the most beautiful beaches, so we decided to follow that picture and hope for the best. This is the capital city that is not on the coast but supposed to have much to see. So we found a dingy youth hostel and went to sleep. The next day we got up early, those youth hostels are the worst for early wakings and started our day. From the moment we arrived there was just something I instantly liked about Zagreb and felt connected to. I know it sounds very corny but I never felt like a stranger to the city. All the buildings were old and beautiful and the city was full of plants and trees. Off in the distance you could see the mountains. First thing I do once we get to each city is make a big plan of everything that I want to see and do. Then the next day as you start walking the things to do drop off in number. The first place we made it to was a huge square that is supposed to be great for people watching, whatever that means. Today there was a movie being filmed, I know now I am famous in Hungary but I still did not get asked to be in the movie here in Croatia. So on we walked up curvy streets full of shoes shops, I dont know what it is but in Croatia they just love their shoes. The picture I had of Croatia was very dismal and bleak. In our lonely planet book what is suggests is to stay away from secluded areas because they are still doing heavy mine excavations and they are still in the ground. All I know of Croatia is the fighting that went on and of course that paints a dark picture. As for Eastern Europe I was completly wrong and some how imagined little villages far behind in modernization and I could not be farther from the truth. Both Hungary and Croatia are as far developed as any place I have ever been, everything is extremly modern and the fashion here is comparable to Italy or Japan. We stopped at a art museum to see some Van Goghs and other artists and then moved on to some amazing churches, yes they are all amazing in Europe. One had a tiled roof made into a bright pattern of 6"X6" tiles. Afterwards we wanted to go eat, easier said than done. What we had slowly begun to figure out is that people here do not like to eat much, rather they like to smoke, drink cappicinos and booze. Nothing much wrong with that unless you are starving!! So finding a cafe that serves food let alone a resturant is a hunt for sure. So after finding a cheap rsturant we agreed that Croatia was no Hungary when it came to food. Afterwards we made our way up to some church famous for its lattice work, guess what, is was amazing. That evening we would be leaving for our much anticipated destination Spilt. So we wandered more around Zagreb and went to the bus station to catch our overnight bus. A few words about Europe: 1. you can smoke anywhere. All though most countries have or are putting laws into place people smoke where ever they want. Buses, trains, malls,internet cafes and they especially go for the places that have clearly marked signs for no smoking. 2.the pace of life is never too hectic. Except for Sweden we have never seen a convient store. Trust me when you dont have them you realize how convinient they really are, especially when all grocery stores close at seven pm and do not open on sundays. I think the idea is that you are supposed to plan ahead, but who does that??? No Starbucks or any such thing. Although they love their cappicinos and I mean LOVE, the only way to get one is to sit down at a cafe or resturant. Or out of a machine at the bus station but we found that its not a good idea. Everyone rides bicycles everywhere. Currently Josh and I are in Vienna, Austria and they have seperate lanes and traffic lights for bicycles everywhere in the city. Ok back to the story so we boarded our overnight train and left for Split. Josh and I have Eurail passes so we can hop on any train and find empty seats that are second class. What we try to do is get on the train early find our own cabin and try to look as mean as possible so no one comes in, then we can stretch out and sleep for the nine hours or however longs it takes. So far we have been lucky and this night was no exception. Except we had the car that had no heating. So we spent half the night layering clothes and the other half trying to sleep but it just wasnt going to happen. So at seven the next morning we arrived in Split. The thing about small train stations is that you never have to book a place because half the town comes out to offer you a room in their house. So we accepted on old mans offer, he seemed ok and we began the walk to his place. OK i have talked about all the gorgeous things I have seen, but Split takes the cake for the msot beautiful place ever. It was just as the sun was taking over the anicent city full of palm trees and white stone buildings and I knew that this was my favorite place we had been to yet. The water again extremly beautiful very clear and blueish greenish. So we arrived at our destination which was the usual for accepting offers at the train station. Small and mostly clean but private and right in the centre of town. After our nap we went and explored the town, apparently there was a celeration going to be happening in town this weekend. We seem to have really good timing when it comes to festivals and tourist places. The city itself used to be a fortress and is surronded by the sea. We did a lot of stall shopping that day and then of course a hunt for food. Another relxed day. The next day was my favorite day, laundry!!! After we went exploring in the ruins which were similar to the Roman ruins in style and date. The church here was magnificant. Outside the walls of the citz is a huge man or wizard as he is known as. I saw a bunch of people rubbing his foot so I went and did the same thing, hopefully it is for good luck and the werent just wiping something off their hands. Like I mentioned before do we ever have good timing because the "Flower Show" was here this weekend, oh you should have seen Josh he was so excited!! Anyways this is a big event and people from all over come to compete. Underneath the ruins is a big series of tunnels from the ancient ruins and they use this space very wisely as an exhibtion area. The flower set ups were awsome and so beautiful, flowers are normally beautiful but in crazy arrangements they were spectaular!! Huge fish, tables, walls were made out of colorful flowers, which was set perfectly against the stone grey walls. Afterwards we enjoyed the market stalls, tons of purses and went to watch our tv. Finally a country that doesnt believe in voice over-dubbing! The next day was a much anticipated beach day, we like to include these days as often as possible. So at 6:30am we were up and packing, and then left for our ferry ride to a island and the town of Hvar. After a two hour ferry ride we arrived at the dock and took a bus into the town of Hvar. This island is quite unpopulated and the drive was on the edge of the island cliffs so it made for a very interesting drive especially at top speeds. The view was breath taking, the most perfect waters on a insanley sunny day. The town itself was again very acient and perfectly white/beige which is the perfect setting against the water, the pictures we took look like everything you would see in a post card. The thing about Croatian beaches is that they are the most beautiful in the world, but not made of sand. You will find no sandy beaches in Croatia just big rocks. But somehow that doesnt seem to important. We walked aways and found a hotel that was building a resort area with coloum lined beaches, so we laid on the huge rock slabs for a few hours and crisped ourselves. We found out that still the water is very very cold but we kept trying and eventually we got most of our body in the water. We collected our stuff and waited at the bus stop for the bus to take us to the ferry, but at first we were told by taxi drivers that there would be no bus service today. We half believed them until we remembered that we had taken a bus to get here, never listen to what they say! We arrived back in Split only to wait a couple hours until our train came to take us to Zagreb, the capital city we had been at before and then onto Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia. Nine hours later we arrived back in Zagreb and caught our train to Slovenia. I have to say this was the saddest departure, as Croatia was my favorite country and we had only spent a few days in the country. So the train rides has been absolutly beautiful through Eastern Europe. There is much more room between the cities and it is all fresh green rolling hills and huge forests with little lakes and ponds. All the villages are really picturesque, very small old homes surronded by rock fences and all towns have little medival churches. If I can stay awake long enough train rides are definitly the way to travel Europe, by the way I have also become a UNO master.

A diamond in the rock remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hungary no more...

2006-05-14T19:33:21Z

The next day we said goodbye to our little dog and to italy and headed of to the airport to catch our flight to Budapest, Hungary. THis was on April 27 and today the date is May 11th I think, I really have no idea what day it is. Anyways I am extremly behind in my blog as since we have travelled through Hungary, Croatia, and are now in Slovenia but I am trying to catch up as fast as possible! So we arrived in Budapest a short while later and took a bus into the city The first impression i had was that it was a bit bleak and dreary. There were tons of huge apartment complexes that were complety the same dirty old grey. It reminded me of what communist Russia would have once looked like. But this was my first impression as Budapest is supposed to be the jewel of the danube river. So of course we had no place planned to stay so we were dropped of at an internet cafe. The reason for our stop in Hungary is that we were coming to enjoy the dirt cheapness and the spas. Needless to say this was the country I was really looking forward to coming to! So the listing of the hostels and budget hotels were the cheapest i have ever heard of. The prices for nice places ranged from $30 to $9, nine dollars is that not crazy! So we went for one around 14 dollars which we could just not get over. For our entire trip we had be spending anywhere from $24 to $50 a night so this was a welcome thing. We headed to our hostel which was an old apartment building not to far away. What I love about Europe is just how absolutly old and falling apart everything is, but it has so much charm and I could not picture it being any different. The buildings are so close toghether which leaves absolutly no privacy, but here more people are willing to share space as everyone knows each other and they all get along, for the most part. So this was the first room we had stayed in in a while that was with other people. So we dropped our stuff off and went to eat right around the corner. We subconciously picked the prefect location as our street was lined with dozens of cafes and resturants. As we ate we were to find out what we would with every meal in Hungary, that they have the best food you will have ever eaten in your life!! And so cheap as well. So far we had a good start in Budapest. So with our cheap umbrellas in tow we began to explore the area. We walked down some streets with really expensive stores that I definitly did not belong in and just enjoyed the sun. The rest of the day was the same, laziness, eating, and then we went for some drinks in Buda. Our hostel was in Pest. So as you can tell the city is divided into two sections and used to be called PestBuda but luckily they decided that it sounded stupid so they changed the name to Budapest. The next day we started off on the same foot, very relaxed. I mean if you are in a country full of spas you have to be relaxed yourself, right? We ate some of the best food ever again and went on our journey to find some spas. The big thing here in Hungary is the mineral baths that they have everywhere. First thing we ran into was a huge indoor market full of everything you could possibly want. We thought it was very odd that there were many posters of Alberta and Canada around the place so we asked and every Friday they feature a certain country and today was Canada Day! On our journey I found a spa that had excellent prices so I HAD to book a hour massage and a pedicure and Josh booked a massage, I thought I could talk him into a pedicure later. So another of nothing but window shopping and we were exhausted. Next morning we were up early to head the Gellert Baths until we got there and found out they were seperated by sex, that was boring so we left. Right beside the baths is a church inside a cave so we went and visited that. Inside instead of one church there was probably about little churches crammed together. Then it was time for our appointments. So first I got my rigorous massage and then Josh went for his so I went and got a manicure and then finished with a pedicre, yes it was a rough day. Afterwards we went up to some other mineral baths that were much better with a few pools and not sex seperated. Later we walked back down to our part of town and stopped in for something to eat. Another thing I have noticed in Hungary is that they have the most beautiful interiors more so than any other place I have ever seen. Each little cafe and store has so much detail in it. The next morning we had to move to another hostel nearby and got to business, it was our last full day in Budapest. Today we went up to the zoo, yes we really like zoos and then through a maze of parks until we got to a muesum with a great exihibition called "Cool Hunters". The exibition was all about young adults and the hunt to be and buy everything cool, something I know a thing or two about. Not Josh he is too old. Afterwards we walked to the infamous "Terror Museum". This museum holds memrobilia of the communist times in Hungary. This mueseum was the best designed and beautiful museum I have ever seen. At one point youn enter a dark but very modern elevator shaft where the elevator is slowed down to a three minute ride,where you watch a very sad three minute documentary and then the doors open to the dark tunnels where the head quarters actually were held for the terror police of Hungary. It was very sad and moving but extremly beautiful. That night we went out to a place for supper that we had been looking forward to. This specific Arabic resturant is always the loudest and liveliest place in Pest. This night as most there were at least five bellydancers. So we ordered our water pipes, strawberry to be precise and smoked the night away. I still dont know what we smoked, it does nothing to you and that is all I know. The next day it was cold and miserable, but I dressed for the beach for some reason and we headed of for Statue Park. Statue Parks holds just a few of the many statues that remain from the Communist Reign in Hungary. It was very rainy and miserable and we missed our bus so we took an expensive and deathdefying ride out into the country. At one point our taxi driver swerved into the other lane while polietly turning around and asking if we would like one of his cigarettes. So we made it fast enough to the park to catch our tour, however today it was so miserable that the tour was cancelled. While we were waiting for the rain to clear up some journalists/reporters came up to us and then left quickly once they realized that we did not speak hungarian. One of them came up a few minutes later and let us know that this day May 1st was a very important day in Hungarian history. I do not quite remember what it was but something to do with the end of the communist reign. So we sucked it up and went on a self directed tour. Some of the statues here were amazingly large and of course very untrue to what Lenin and others looked liked. About a quarter through the park we had to turn around because I was absolutly freezing, my sandals just were not cutting it. So what else to do than buy some lovely bright red Lenin Communist socks. So the reporters saw this and jumped on the chance to get this picture, so I did a little bit of sock modelling and hoped that my picture would be in the paper. Afterwards we went back into town and ate at our favorite Micky Dees and left to the train station for Heviz. Heviz is a resort town in Hungary that has a natural lake with the mineral bath properties. This is the place to go when you visit Hungary. So we found our pension which was perfect, definitly the best place that we have stayed yet. By this time it was quite late so we went out to eat and then went to sleep. the next moring we got up and went to the shops downtown, it is an extremly small city and we started to notice the change in age demorcraphic. Suddenly the shops werent selling belly shirts and "cheerlearder" pants, now it was full piece colorful suits with lots of orthopedic shoes. Yes this was going to be a very quiet and relaxed place. We made our way to the lake. There is a building over part of the lake that is kept warmer than outside and there are flaps to where the outside connects. So we spent a few hours here in our blow up rings and than left. Afterwards we did some more shopping for souvineers, Josh doesnt agree but purses definitly count as souvinners right?? I very excitedly went and bought the paper Blikk, the hungarian nationial paper because I thought by just some tiny chance my socks would have been the best piece of news, but no luck with my picture in the paper. And by the was they were extremly warm and helped out a lot. The next moring we were up early because we had a lot to do before ten o´clock, check out time. With a few bags each we headed down to one of our favorite places the post office, yes it was time again to send home another load and leave with light backpacks once again. One thing about Hungary is NOBODY speaks any english at all. So some how we sent off our packages, this time priority because we had no idea what she was saying and we do not have a return hungarian address. I thought this time would be better because I was sending of two packages that equaled around five kilos, but not a chance. Josh and I had no idea the cost would be so high so we had to run off to a bank machine. While I was waiting for Josh to do his thing someone tapped my shoulder and I turned around to see .................................................................
MY PICTURE!!! A lady was standing there holding a newpaper with my picture in it. Of course I couldnt understand what she was saying but she gave me the page. So think about this coincidence she had to be sitting there reading the page with me on it at the exact same time I just happenend to be running by. Of course I was pretty much wearing the same thing ( I am backpacking!!) minus the Lenin socks. So that made my day, we went back to the post office and paid around $200 each, sob sob.... Today, mothers day May 14th Joshs mom has recieved one box... two were sent, lets just hope. So we ran to the train station and found out no trains were to go to Croatia until 6:30 that night which was a long time away. So we figured we would got to a different station and see if there were any earlier ones which meant taking a very long bus ride there. So again on the bus we saw the Hungarian friendliness. Many people would stand next to the driver and carry on lenghly conversations. Have you ever been on a bus in Canada, try talking to those guys and you would get thrown off! We caught a train and began the journey to Zagreb the capital of Croatia.

§§§I apoligize for my terrible spelling and grammer, however most of the time I am in a cramped, hot internet cafe in the middle of the day we I should be exploring, so I type fast and dont look back.§§§

Hungary no more... remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Mt. Vesuvius

2006-05-11T09:12:18Z

The next day we had planned was something I was most excited about because it means so much to me. When I was much younger I got a book on the erupting Mt Vesuvius and the city it covered Pompeii. I loved this book so much and becaue of it I always wanted to become an archaelogist. The city was buried in 6 metres of ashes within a few hours. So the discovery of this covered entact city was an amazing find. Bright and early that day we caught a train to the city of Pompeii, the newer part. The weather was the worst we had found yet very cold and rainy, so we bought some cheap umbrellas from one of the souvineer stands. This is where we try to buy everything we need because you can always talk them down to giving you the item for however much you want to pay. First we began our day by taking a bus up to Mt Vesuvius. At one point everyone is let off the bus and then a virgous hike begins. This was a very verticl hike, kind of like a stairclimber. I am a little embarrassed to say two older priests in full dress pretty much lapped me and Josh. So half an hour later we were near the top and stopped and had a short tour. The mountain is really not that much to see, because another mountain has formed from the eruptions, the last one was in 1944. But at least we can say we have been to the top of Mt Vesuvius. From the top we had a beautiful view of the Italian islands and mountains. I have to say for not wanting to come here in the first place Italy would be the first place I would come back to. Every day is a struggle not to blow our budget but it seems impossible in Italy, there is just so much to buy! The people here are quite nice and helpful, the men stare a little too much but I guess that is normal! So we rolled down the mountain and collected differnt colors of lava rock, that will cost me another $300 to send home. Next we went to the gates of the uncovered Pompeii city. But first as usual we were distracted for a good hour by the different stalls outside selling goodies. I never knew this about Josh but he is one smooth barginer, if something costs 25euros he always talks them down to five and for me they always stay at 15euros even after telling me I am so beautiful! So from now on only Josh does the talking. So we headed inside the gates and began our self-directed tour with a little book that we had boughten. This place was easily 5 times bigger than I expected, there really is a cities worth of building left behind. The four hours we allotted was not even close to the amount of time we needed so it was a bit rushed. Unfortunatly most houses were closed so we only got a little look inside which was driving me crazy!! Pompeii was originally a resort town so all houses are absolutly massive. Whats left behind is the walls so you can see where each room was or where all thirty of them were. As well as walls, paintings, frescos and tile work still exist in some of the buildings, Pompeii is a must to visit, the houses are absolutly amazing but next time I would stay for an entire day. We probably saw about 15% of what was there. So we ended our rainy day tour with the Villa of Mysteries. Here Josh finally saw what he was wainting for the plaster casts of bodies. After we hurried to the train and caught it back home to Rome for our last night here.

Mt. Vesuvius remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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When in ----- do as the ----- do (FILL IN THE BLANKS)

2006-05-10T08:51:52Z

That afternoon we hopped on down to Rome. The first site we got of Rome was the HUGE train station or mimi city as I see it. It has tons of grocery stores, clothing stores, banks, post offices and places to eat. So really we didnt have to leave for any reason, but since we were in Rome we didnt think it was acceptable to spend our time in the station We called a number out of our LP book and were in luck that a lady had a pension nearby for pretty cheap. We arrived at her place which was beautiful and the biggest room we have had yet, it was soo nice and clean. The best part was she owned a little dog that was super cute and playful. The best thing about spending a few days in one spot is the chance to unpack and do laundry! Laundry day is a really exciting day that I always look forward to, so we went and did that and explored the area which was a bit ghettoish so it was interesting and colorful. So another early morning we got up and headed to the train station and went off to Vatican city. We got there early enough to join a quick moving two hour line. It was ridiculous the amount of people that could be crammed into one place. I cannot imagine the tourist season, every inch near the walls of the city was taken up by people. It was in this line that we heard a young guy talking about some interesting things about the vatican in english!! So we joined the group an hour into the line. Our tour guide studied art and lived in Rome so he would take our group through the vatican muesuem briefly and then go through the Sistine Chapel and he was from Vancouver. A couple hours later we were in and moving about the city or country as I found out it actually is the worlds smallest country. They have their own troops, postal service, tv station, and radio station. The radio station gave the pope an iPod a little while that he likes to use while he walks around the gardens, we never did get a picture. And one thing very original about the country is that if you use one of the ATMs you have the language option of Latin. So we slowly moved about the mueseum which holds just too much to even begin to talk about. We stopped for a while out in the gardens to learn about Michelangelo and he painting of the Sistine Chapel. I found out that he was always a sculpter and the ceiling of the chapel was his first fresco ever!! Thats a pretty big thing. So we disected the painting on the ceiling and prepared for the big moment when we would actually see it. We made our way into the chapel and slowly made our way through the silent crowd while trying not to run into everyone. It was amazing and breathtaking just like the say and over in five minutes. Josh snuck a few bad pictures in that you will see later. They are bad quality but the fact that we got any is a good thing.

So afterwards we made our way into a huge, huge, huge church that we later found out was St Peters Bacsillica(we had ended the tour after the chapel). This place was frickin amazing, soo big I can even begin to describe the feeling of smallness you feel in here. Just for comparosion try to find people in the pictures and see how small they are compared to the buildings.
The height as well as the width is incredible, it is like a small mall with a REALLY high ceiling plus the art was awesome.

We exited through St. Peters square which is also gianormous and surronded by huge pillars, took a few pictures and left the crowd.

The parts of Rome they advertise tourists to see actually will only take some one a couple of hours to walk across so from this point on we skipped the trains and walked everywhere. So on our way home we picked up more cheesy souvineers and stopped at some churches. In Rome churches are everywhere on the streets but all are very incognito. The look like most other buildings except much older and with a different roof of course, but once you get inside the are so amazing and they litter the city. So we stopped at the Pantheon something I had learnt about at RDC and really wanted to see. The next moring we walked down to the Colosseum and Roman ruins. So smack dab in the middle of the city is a huge area filled with all of these ruins.

When we first arrived a parade was going on for the Itlian independence from communism. It was really interesting because apparently many people thought it was a good idea, communism. So we made our way into one part of the ruins and decided to find a tour. IT is nice to go at your own pace but tours are soo much better because they point out things that would otherwise be unknwon to us. We found one at the roman colosseum and he took us on a great tour of the stage for many bloodbaths. Just ask and we can tell you lots of gory details. This thing is just massive and such detail and thought went into the building as well as lots of sweat and tears.

Here Josh took a much needed yoga break on some of the ruins.

After the colosseum we met our next guide to go in to the Palantine Hills. She was by far the best tour guide ever, she was a young british girl who told only talked about all of the "naughty bits". The palantine hills were where all of the kings and richest people had their homes built during these times. One thing thhat I thought was so funny and ridiculous was that Hitler and Mussolini actually built one of their headquaters among these buildings because they thought they were doing the same thing as the Romans, building a great empire. Among the ruins was a beautiful temple built for a very special lady. Only during these times temples were never built in the memory of women. But she was so beautiful and her husband was so sad that he went to the house of congress and asked them to pass a bill allowing her memoralized. All the members of congress agreed to pass the bill because as well as the husband they to all loved her very very much, she was an extremly friendly lady. So from the end of a tour we got great pictures that will be up in a day or two. Keep in mind this area is so large that we have already been here for at least five hours up until this point. We walked among the Roman Forum ourselves because they had no tours. It was a very interesting day, I took Art History at RDC and to see things we talked about was a really nice reward, everything is better in real life!

After our exhausting tour we headed back home stopped at the station in time to witness a young girl overdosing on drugs but she turned out to be ok and was taken away by an ambulance. Yes this was the lovely neighbourhood we were staying in.

When in ----- do as the ----- do (FILL IN THE BLANKS) remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Pisa

2006-05-05T12:07:28Z

From the Venice train station we took a train to Pisa. So again we arrived really late and had no place to stay but this time it was about 11pm. We left the train station and header for all hotel signs and there were plenty!! Every single one was full we had a couple with the same dilema as us except for they had a car so we would race of to a spot and the guy would jump out of the car and try and beat us to the desk, its ok I always got there first, to be turned away. So we walked for a long time through the city and crossed over the bridge into a different part of town thankfully. Around the station there were lots of drunks trying to talk to us. I think we just have this look that attracts old drunken bums because they really seem to like coming up to us and speaking some sort of language. We followed a group of signs that pointed in one direction for hotels. We have a little system that we follow the more hotels with less stars we follown that way. So these signs had a few two star hotels and a one star, yes!!!! Thats a jackpot for us so we headed straight there and went right in. We rang the bell at the desk and heard a load grunt from upstairs, unfortuanlty we still arent familiar with that langugae so we waited and heard another grunt and saw an old man motion for us to come upstairs. This was probably the worst communication we have had with anyone on our trip because this was our spur of the moment trip to Italy so we had no phrase books and he was quite old and knew no english. We finally figured out the price which was quite good considering this was definitly the creepiest place ever!! It was a very large old, old house with huge metayls doors and smelled of cat pee in some areas. Our room was two tiny rooms cold and old but we knew this was our best option. That night went out to the square which was packed to the max with people. This is a university town so everyone was out. The next moring we decided to sleep in a little bit because all we wanted to see was the leaning tower. So at ten Josh went to the train station and bought some tickets for our next destination. Around quater after someone was banging on the door, I assumed it was the old mans son. Anyways he asked what time we were leaving and I said oh probably noon because I wanted to sleep in and he got mad and said check out is at ten, I will give you till 10:30. Apparently we still are learning the mumble grunt language and did not understand the man properly the night before. So i was kind of screwed because to close the door you have to look it so I told Josh to take the key so I had no way to get out of the room until he got back. End of story we made it on time almost. So we had to do the tourist thing and made our way through the beautiful streets until we got to the leaning tower. It really is a sight worth seeing. Once you see it in real life it is crazy how much it is leaning.

They are continually doing work on the tower yet it just looks so funny. Our pictures do not do it full justice but they are fun to look at!It was soo busy so we did not make it up to the top but it was good to see and I got some great souvineers. Once we were hear we started to notice more buildings that look like they are leaning. That was all we were here for so we went to the train station did the waiting game for a couple hours and the headed to our most anticipated stop in Italy... ROME!!!

Pisa remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Water boulevards, floating buses and carnival masks......

2006-05-05T12:16:15Z

So Milan was nice or so the train ride through was. A couple hours later that night our train stopped suddenly and some police came through ordering everyone to get off the train. We were sooo close about only 20 minutes from our destination with still no place to stay so we were in a bit of a hurry as it was about 9:30pm. We got off and started talking to a woman who was living in our destination city, Venice. She was a retired german lady who spent half her years in Venice and the other in Germany. She was so helpful and said that once we got to Vencie she would take us to her island where she could show us a few spots where we would maybe get a place. We would definitly find a place, the problem was that Venice is known to be the most expenisve city in italy. So we arrived very late and it was hard to see a lot but we could tell that this was going to be an enitrely different world. We got out of the train station and arrived at the bus station, or harbour as we saw it and took our cute little ferry bus to the island.We arrived at her island which was very well located, right across from the main island San Marco by a minute boat ride. The first place we stopped at we went for just because we were lazy and tired. It was the biggest room we have stayed in yet as normally it is dorm rooms for the surronding schools. The island was completly shut down and quiet but soo beautiful with the waterway streets and peoples boats parked outside their houses. The next morning we went and got breakfast from a grocery store and sat on the edge of the water for a while. Venice is really a beautiful place. I hasd heard so many bad things aboout it but we really had a good time here. The water doesnt smell, mavžybe in the summer, it is expensive but you just have to watch yourself. We went over to San Marco and went looking at all the tourist places. In through the windy streets looking at all the wonderful shops where I would love to spend my money. So what we have been doing throughout our trip is finding really great souvineers that are significant of the places we have been. So Josh decided he wanted carnival masks. In venice they are everywhere and the most skilled of people have shops here with spectacular masks decorating every inch of the space. In one shop we met the man behind all mask making in movies such as Eyes Wide Shut. So we spent a good couple of hours finding the perfect masks for ourselves. The markets here are really famous and busy. I was in heaven over all jewllery and clothes. After spending lots we had to find a place to stay this night so we called a few places out of our lonely planet book and found one for much cheaper than the other place so we went got our stuff and moved to the new location which was about 30 seconds away from all the markets and shopping!!! We had gotten bus(boat) passes for the day so we took the number 1 and went for a ride on the grand canal and the outskirts of the city. Venice is a city with sooo much character all the buildings are very old and original and most look like the need tons of work but that is the charm of the buildings and it really is beautiful. On every block there is construction on one or more of the buildings due to the sinking of Venice. Just by looking at the buildings slightly you can see many that are leaning badly to one side or one of the walls in leaning inwards or outwards. Its a sad thought to think this city that is one of a kind might not be around some day soon. But I can tell you they are doing there best to save them. The rest of the night we spent getting lost in the streets of venice and then went to eat. We thought we were being thrifty and watched what we ordered and then came the bill which was much more expensive then we imagined because the tiny pop and water that we ordered were more than five dollars each, thats were we werent careful but its ok becase we are in Venice. The next day we were up early to go do more exploring. The city is much larger than I imagined. It has a population of almost 300,000 spread out over many islands. So we stayed on the main ones and stuck with some of the more popular places. One of my absolute favorite souvineers that I found was the calender of hot priests in Venice. I mean what kind of city puts there priests on a calender. Unfortunatly I decided this was one of those souvineers that I probably did not need I did get some pictures though. The gondola rides looked wonderful how ever they are extremly expenisve so we never did take one but there was a calender for all the gondola operators just in case I felt left out.
The next day we went to a few churches and packed our stuff up for our last trip down the grand canal.

Water boulevards, floating buses and carnival masks...... remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Goodbye Spain

2006-04-28T21:13:13Z

I realize that this delay in posts from me must have been agonizing for everyone so we apoligize for any trobules it may have caused and we will be spending all night catching everyone up on our journey. So josh and I have been extremly busy, more so than ever and we have lots to tell. That last post I left we had dropped off lots of stuff at the post office and hopefully it will eventually arrive in Canada, we relly have no idea what we were supposed to do besides write the one address we know. Our plan was to leave Marbella this day and arrive in Malaga a couple hours later, where we would catch an overnight train to Valencia where we would catch our plane to ...... a few days later. I am not disclosing the name of where we are going because I think its time I added suspense to my posts. Anyways as usual it was easier said than done and when we arrived in Malaga we went to the train station to find that the first train availble was on the 22nd, which was two days after our flight was booked for. So any other route we planned for was booked days after our flight was leaving. And the reason being, of corse it was still Easter week. So we resorted to a long overnight deathly bus ride to Alicante, see what I did there I added a personal touch of drama, brilliant. So it was about 12pm when we bought our tickets and our bus ride would leave later that night at 12:30am. So I did my usual bus waiting routine and read my trashy british/UK gossip magazines and newspaper. I really enjoy the newspapers they write, they are almost as bad as the magazines and somehow they still believe they are writing legitimate/serious news. So we caught our bus and arrived very unbeautifully the next moring in Alicante at 7:30am. We had previously booked a hotel so we took a cab and arrived there quickly after. I love the reactions we get from hotel reception. Most times (especially after dealthy bus rides) we arrive at our lovely hotels looking not so healthy so i think they almost always think we are coming to beg for money. So of course we took a much needed nap. We later on took a stoll down to the harbour where we assumed we were staying in another large resort area, due to the plethera of massive yaghts parked in the harbour. The next moring we woke up semi-early to go exploring, keep in mind this city was an accidental stop and we had no plans for it. Good thing the main attratction was hard to miss. The city has a humungous, massive, gigantic incredibly large fortress overlooking the entire city. So we opted out on the five hour climb up there and took the 4Euro, 3 minute elevator ride up to the top. We got a magnificent view of the city which was very beautiful and explored the area. The really great thing about the fortress was inside some of the old tunnels art exibits we being held. The was a really creepy one held in a tunnel which was completly sealed off until someone entered than which a guard would seal it off right after. Horror movie music was played and tiny deranged figurines of animals spun slowly on a moving circle. At the far wall a black and white shadow movie of people dressed in animal costumes doing strage things such as blowing up ballons was being played. The walls in the next room were decorated with scratches of again, deranged animals. By the five minutes I had spent in there were up I was ready to scream and hurt something, that music was insane, I felt quite bad for the grandpaly security guard who had to watch over the exibit. I did notice some rage in his eyes when we first arrived... So we left and did stuff, the next morning we got up early and booked it down to the harbour and caught a ferry to a little island called Tabarca, and when I say small i mean population of 100, and 3km long and 1/2km at its widest. The reason for our tip there being that we heard there was some snokeling here. So we arrived and quickly found out that the book we read most likely meant in the summer when the island was actually alive. There was no businesses, just a few souvineers shops and a tiny grocery store. We knew there had to be something good because as we arrived in the harbour you could see a photo shoot taking place off to the side of the island. As well as soon as we got close to the island the water turned into the most beautiful thing I have seen yet. The water was the clearest, purest and greenest I have ever seen, even more beautiful than spain or portugal. I guess this would be the mediterranean. So maybe it would be ok here. We arrived when it was overcast but when the sun came out 20 minutes later I could see why we and the boat loads of other people were coming here. The beach was terribly rocky and there were wood shavings instead of sand. But the water was the most incredible site I`ve seen. Here there were reefs and turquoise blue waters meeting the dark water. The sun was soo hot that day that nothing was better than that freezing beautiful water. We went exploring over the rest of the island and walked out into the reefs. So that was our day and went back to Alicante explored, packed and got ready to leave for Valencia where we would catch our flight to somewhere. So extremly early the next day we left for the bus station late, as for some reason neither of our credit cards would go through and we had no cash, good thing Josh is a quick sprinter. We took our bus ride to Valenica the trip was nice but once we got to the city we were glad we hadent been able to get to the city when we first had tried. There is just something about large Spainish cites, they are cluttered, dirty, and unwelcoming as opposed to the smaller cities that are the most beautiful places that we have ever seen. So hours later we arrived at the Valencia airport to catch our plane ride to ............ Milan, Italy!!! Against our original plans and iteneray we decided to go to italy, just beacause it was soo close so we thought we would just pop on over. So we flew a short while until we reached the Milan airport. One funny custom that me and Josh always laugh at is when the plane lands everyone arupts into loud clapping and cheering, were they expecting a different outcome??? We caught a bus into the city center and went immediatly to an internet cafe because we had no place to stay. Obiously we havent learnt anything from our pervious escapades. The stupid things with these internet booking sites is that you are unable to book for the day that it currently is and no one could call for us because they are not allowed to use the phones for customer use. So we went on the suggestion of our lonely planet book and decided that we did not need to stay in the city and the we would move on. Apparently besides being the capital of fashion which is a HUGE thing there is nothing much to see in Milan. I think it would have killed me to go see the shops where I could afford only a sock.

Goodbye Spain remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Great Divide

2006-04-17T18:27:12Z

So early the next morning we were off to Ronda, a small city that Josh was very excited to see and I was reluctant to go to. The city is situated on a huge gorge that divides the city into upper and lower parts. I am really glad we went because this was another one of my favorite cities. The valley that surronds the city was absolutly gorgeous and green with lots of rolling hills. Everyday we have had such good weather so I pretty much fall in love with every place that we go. The city architecture is also very amazing, very very old and detailed. So we arrived and took off to see the first amazing view when I met a little stray dog taht would follow us for a couple of hours. I have decided to carry a little bag of dog food with me so all the dogs will love me!!! The thing I hate most about this blog is the fact that I will see so much during one day but when it comes to writing about it how much can i write about how beautiful one place is. Take my word for it and do a search on Ronda, Spain. So we walked and looked at some very old mines which was little creepy and the million stairs back up was a nice little workout. I hadn´t been feeling well all day so Josh and I split up so I could go relax, in other words, shop. So the sad/wonderful things about all of these little beautiful towns is that since the European Union much more money has come into these places and all places are being broughten up to "European standards" so all these beautiful places are very touristy. There is incredible shopping everywhere which makes it very hard to control myself but I have not been buying much at all, just little souvineers here and there. So we met up later and had some cappchino which is mandatory in Europe and left for Marbella. That night we went back to the coast and had supper and had a bottle of wine, then another, and another on the beach, and one more on the beach before we went to sleep. So the next moring was easter when I finally woke up very painfully. I had mentioned to Josh how much I love easter because I love hunting for the candy. So he got me up and told me I had a bunch of stuff to find around the room, yess!!! I was so excited and still very inebriated from the night before so I went and began my hunt. I told him it was ok if he just wanted to hide Euros so he did, unfortunatly they were the chocolate kind as well as lots of lindor chocolate eggs, yumm. So we were supposed to leave that day but I was in soo much pain we booked for another night. So that was a big waste of a day, eventually I came alive and we went for supper and organized our trip. So this morning we woke up early and went to the post office. I have been trying to send stuff home since our days in Lagos, Portugal which was a least a week and a half ago so I have been carrying around this stupid postal box for days now because Spain shuts down for Easter as you should know by now. During this time I have collectd more stuff as well as I went through my belongings to send off what was not absolutly essential. So 86 Euros later and 24 pounds lighter I left the post office with a whole new type of backpacking the minimalistic kind.

The Great Divide remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Little Britan

2006-04-17T17:54:00Z

The day after our big trip to Africa we were still tired of Spain so we went to the UK for a little day trip. About an hour bus ride from Tarifa we arrived in a city that surronded a very large rock out on an island. The was the rock of Gilbraltor. So at the tip of southern Spain sits Gilbraltor which is home to about 30,000 people and is a UK territory. So here you can ride double-decker buses, drink in english pubs, and unfortunalty the currency is British pounds another way of saying EXTREMLY EXPENSIVE!!! This beautiful little piece of Britain is very famous for the hundreds of monkeys that live up at the top of the Upper Rock. When we arrived we found a little tour van that would show us everything we wanted to see so we took off up to the Upper Rock. First we stopped at the Pillars of Hercules. The Pillars of Hercules is the ancient name given to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. And in mythological times was believed to be the gateway to Hades. It was a foggy day so we could not see Africa but we got some great pictures, very surreal. Next we went St. Michaels Caves, the Cathedral Cave was long believed to be bottomless, probably giving birth to the story that Gibraltar was linked to Africa by a subterranean passage over 15 miles (24 Km) long under the Strait of Gibraltar. The cave consists of an Upper Hall with 5 connecting passages and rocks between 40ft (12.2m) and 150ft (45.7m) to a smaller hall. Beyond this, a series of narrow halls leads to a further succession of chambers, reaching depths of some 250ft (62.5m) below the entrance. Here we began to see some of the monkeys. They just hang around, swing onto cars, hunt for food, and mostly sit around and be cute. What is differnt about this place is there is no regulation of how the people or monkeys interact. I dont even think that someone works their regularly except to feed the monkeys. So you can touch them and play with them, just a note the older and the bigger ones are also the mean ones. Babies monkeys are really fun and sometimes they seem randomly on to people. So next stop was the Great Siege Tunnels, the labyrinth of tunnels inside the Rock of Gibraltar is arguably the most ingenious defense system ever devised. The tunnels were built during the Great Siege from July 1779 to February 1783. The Great Siege Tunnels, 8 square feet (2.4sq m)by 82 feet long (25m) were cut into the Rock by sheer hard work and guts. In just five weeks 18 men equipped with only simple hand tools and gunpowder, achieved this great task. Afterwards we we to the top of the rock to visit the Apes Den. This is where most monkeys can be found lazing around. They were really fun to vist and soo cute. We were up so high in the fog that looking over the edge you could only see white, good pictures soon! So at the end of the tour we were back down on the main street where we looked around at shops which were ridiculousy expensive and then went to a British pub for tea and scones, mom aren´t you proud!!! We went to Safeway so I could get my UK gossip magazines and we were off to Spain. Early nex morning we were off to our next stop, Marbella. This was just a small dot on the map and lonely planet said nothing about the city, but we had to stop somewhere because everywhere else was filled up due to Easter Week. Much to our surprise, Marbella has turned out to be one of the most beautiful cities we have been to. I am very surpised nothing was written about it but could be because it is a very popular resort town. The city is located in a amazingly beautiful valley full of greeness and surronded by sparkling blue waters. This area attracts money from all around the world and the houses here are spectacular as well as the many gorgeous golf resorts that populate the area. So when we arrived early in the morning almost everything was closed but we had a placed book because otherwise another Seville day could have happenend. We shelled out a bit more money than the last few placed and was well worth it. In Tarifa we had stayed in a boring plain room with nothing in it, but here was more like a hotel where everything is much more personal and clean! So this day we would not get our room until 12:30 so I updated the blog for a while and later we went exploring the beautiful coast of Marbella. This was a very relaxing day and did not do much but stroll and then off to sleep.

Little Britan remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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MoreRockOn Travelling

2006-05-07T18:18:48Z

So this brings us up to April 12th. April 11th was a very important day, so Josh and I wish happy birthdays to two very important people. Happy birthday to Brenda Murphy (Josh´s mom) and happy birthday to Karl Murphy (my dad)!!!! Isnt that funny but in a really creepy way, no relation for your info. So anyways April 12th, Josh and I woke up and came to the conclusion we had had enough of Europe so we decided to go to Africa for the day. Tarifa is the gateway city of Spain to the Strait of Gilbraltor where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterraen. So just a 35minute ferry ride away we can head to Morroco, Africa. There was no way we could pass this trip up. For a while we planned on touring ourselves but for 53 euro with much included we decided it was a better deal to go with a group. So we headed over to the ferry terminal and went through the most relaxed security ever, something like airport terminal sercurity but with an old man asleep who was supposed to watch scans of the bags. We arrived in Tanger, not Tangier that is the english version, much to my liking. The boat was very fast and very wavy. Our lonely planet guidebook suggests the first thing to do when you arrive in Tanger is to leave. This is due to all the swindlers and street salesman that fill the city. This I was really excited for, I wanted to see all their little tricks and scams they would try and pull over on us. So we boarded the tour bus and began a tour of newer Tanger. We stopped for a little camel ride, you will see me posing with my camel he was very happy to be on camera.

So we got to see some of the nicest neighbourhoods in Tager which were gorgeous huge palm tree yards with mansions that included tons of rooms, all complete with metal window guards and gun carrying soilders for security. The downtown was very sketchy, people weaving in and out of traffic, stopping at vehicles to ask for money. There was no real rule for the road you kind of drive where ever there is room. There was some very nice architecture but most was run down. I really love arabic writing and the language is funny, lots of spit. The people you could see were very weary of us and watched carefully as we did for them. It was a very busy city full of tradition such as the men and women in their full length dress and somewhat modern though much behind compared to our standards. So we got our first taste of Morrocan salesmen went we got off the bus for our camel ride. Out of nowhere about 13 men with all sorts of junk mostly bracelets and cheap hats were in our face showing off their merchandise. And they really would not leave you alone. First time you said no, they showed you more, second no it was a lower price, thrid time it was more for the same price, fourth no it was what price do you want, fifth no it was even more for a lower price, sixth no it was what price do you want, and literally they would not take no for an answer even if you walked away they would follow. A few times I quickwalked around through the group to loose the men. Most important rule NEVER make eye contact with the salesmen, you cant imagine how fast they can get to you for some baggering, second NEVER look at the merchandise, in 0.2 seconds they zip right over if you even take a teeny glimpse out in their direction. Once they had gone through most people they disappeared from where ever they came from and we were off again. We went down to some older areas of town, where we had a spectacular view of the sea. We wandered through a bit of the maze they call Tanger. Every so often we would hear the prayer call to remind everyone to pray, just imagine an elderly voice not saying much just a droaning mumble for minutes at a time. Every so often men would appear with crappy stuff to sell. At one point we had a drum and cobra snake dance, very cool. But always remember nothing here is for free and the performers turn on those who do not tip. So again we were off and went to our Morrocan lunch which was definitly the best meal we have had since we were here in Europe. It was a five course lunch, with soup, kabobs, cous cous and chicken, and some deep-fried pastry cookie slathered in some liquid sweetness and to follow the best morrocan mint tea, delicious!!! Meanwhile we had a traditionial Morrocan band play for us during lunch. Again, always tip or the old sweet men become not so nice. The fun really began as we took a tour of the town centre a big bazarr. Here we saw what looked like men selling faucets and pipes, electric cable, and used painting supplies, but what it really is the men are offering the skills as tradesmen. You talk to them, figure out a price and take them home with you. During this time we were of course attacked by salesmen, you cannot imagine their persistance as well as how aggressive they were. We went through an open market where everything is sold very fresh and right in front of you. Then we went to an very upscale morrocan carpet store. The owner went over the difference of these very fine carpets compared to others and showed us tons of beautiful carpets. Downstairs was where all the heavy goods were sold, including jewlery, leather work etc. Here the salesmen were also persistant but once you said you were just looking they usually backed off for a while. Inside we were safe but just taking a look out the side door 30 men and more had lined up holding goods and yelling "Senora" to catch your attention. If you dare looked they went crazy showing off their stuff and yelling. So all of us tour group stayed inside and then we were off again to a pharmacy. Here we all had a little seminar on the natural spices they carried and the uses etc. Josh bought some whole ginseng which if boiled for five minutes should be the same as drinking red bull all day. I bought some mascara which looks very primitive to put on, but this would be the same stuff indian women use and they always have gorgeous eye lashes. Besides I lost mine so I had to buy some more. After we were off the the Continental hotel for a short break before we were off to the ferry. I found some beautiful pillow covers made in Casablanca, Morroco which I will use in my own first place!! Then we were off to the ferry, harrassed by more salesmen. I stopped to ask a price on some painted plates at a stand. The guy followed me after I said no for 15euro, then he offerd 2 for same price, then three for same price and finally turned around after he had followed for 1km or more. They really never give up. We sadly left on our ferry back to Spain. I really enjoyed our trip to Tanger, it was very exciting and the people live a completly different way. I think if you are in a large group as we were you would definitly be attacked more. I watched others who were only in pairs and they were left alone for the most part. So I only regret not staying for the longer trip.

MoreRockOn Travelling remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hot Hot Heat

2006-04-14T15:59:04Z

So that last few days much has happenend and I am sorry I cannot update the page as much as I would like to, but for the most part we are busy moving all the time and the internet is harder to come by then you would expect. So surfing in Lagos was a great success. The first part of the day was spent shuttling around from beach to beach to find the best waves, we picked one of the worst days, either the waves were non existent or much too big. We had a really good group though, a bunch of young Germans and our teacher, crazy portugese Ricky. The best part was that 10 of us were crammed into a LandRover, a little stuffy. We got to our beach and did some warm ups and went straight into the water for our lessons. We went through a little storm which was fine since we were already drenched from head to toe. I would have to say that surfing is really fun and I know Josh had a total blast. What we practised most was just riding the waves which can be super tricky. I definitly had some very messy spills which can be a little terrifying and disorientating, but we caught on quite fast so I am happy to report we are both ok! I am also very happy to report that I stood up my first time! But not for very long becasue it was completly the wrong technique and knew I was going to get it from Ricky! Josh spent the rest of the lessons learning other things to do on the board since he was pro after not much time ( i could have too I just wanted to make him feel good, look out for my surfing videos coming soon) So as usual we asked for another nights stay at our pension and went to sleep. The next morning I went and collected more shells and then we went to the famous Zoo. It was a blast, we had a good time laughing at how funny animals are. I love Zoos from different parts of the world you really get to see some amazing creatures. The funny thing was out of the spectacular and beautiful animals we did see I picked my favorite animal and it happens to be the prarie dog. Oh my gosh we have the best pictures of how cute this thing is!! The two we saw had the fattest butts you have ever seen and they sit on it and just eat all day. We have really good pictures and that brings another thing up I am sorry I cant show more pictures however this site only lets me show about 10 a month, i am working on changing that. So we asked for another night because we love our little city so much. We know who all the town drunks and bums are, we have little town dogs that come to visit us and we know what every resturant is like. The next day we took a day trip to Sagres which is the most southwesternly point o Portugal and thats about it as we found out. What I found out about Portugal is that many people here "own" dogs but do not tend to feed them so like I said each city has its share of town dogs which are always sooo cute. In sagres I have a nice picture of five dogs just basking in the sun together, and dogs do not like oranges. So we went back into town and made our big plan of going to Seville, Spain. The week leading up to Easter is a huge deal for Spainards and we had seen a lonely planet video that said seville was where the main festvities were held so we wanted to be there. So the day started off on a bad note and was to continue going down hill from there. Josh left early to find out what time the bus would leave for Seville, so that we could leve early enough to enjoy some of the events that night in Seville. Two hours later he was back to let me know that no buses ran between countries on weekends and that we would have to take a train to Faro, and then another bus to Villa Real, and then a ferry to Alamonte, Spain, where we would catch a bus to Seville. Even with this much confusion of transportation it was much easier said then done. So we left and I chopped of a little of my pinky finger in the gate of our old elevator, I just added that in so you would know exactly how poopy our day was going to be. Oh and by the way we had made hotel reservations the night before because as I said this is a crazy we and all hotels were full and doubled up prices. Hostels were cost sometimes 70 Euros which is riduculous. So I checked this morning and they had been canceled due to some unknow reasons. So I quickly looked up what ever place I could find and booked it for much more.
We waited at our train station and met an american guy named steve travelling by himself. He was interesting to talk to because he was exactly what I had pictured josh and myself being like, a travel bum. He had been doing this for months already and did not come with many funds saved. He was surving off 15 US dollars or dahllers as he said. But he was the type happy to stay in abandoned huts with hay or the cliffs of the grottos in Lagos. So we caught our train to Lagos where we a couple hours to waste. We had a lunch which consisted of a chicken sandwhich which was pretty much the entire chicken with skin and feathers attatched yummy, so I threw it to the piegions. We got on our train again and headed to Villa Real. A couple hours later we arrived and then walked a coupole km to the ferry. About five minutes later we were in Spain again. Even though it was such a quick period I really enjoyed sunny, blue water, white sand, and palm trees Portugal. So we arrived in Alamonte, Spain just counting on the fact that there would be trains or buses waiting to take us to Seville. Our former pension owner was extremly helpful and let us know that buses would be running all night. So the three of us scavenged our way around town and finally found our way to the bus station. So here we were at the station at 7:30 pm ready to catch our 8pm bus. Now the crazy thing about crossing that five minite piece of water is that within that distance, time changes by one hour and not in our favor. So we were here to catch the last bus of the night and missed it by half an hour. Alamonte was small enough to not have a train station so we were SOL especially if you count our 80 euro a night hotel reservations. In this time along came two guys who did the same ferry thing so happy to be exactly on time to find out the were an hour behind. One was an italian and one a german who were both studying in Lisbon. So we bonded about our crappy timing over some beers and the football game in the bus station. We checked the times of the buses the next day and one would be leaving for Seville at 6:45 am. So it was then we decided that the best idea would be to stay up all night drinking and meet the bus bright and early. We began our adventure in the town square where many other people were doing the same. Josh and I had a few bottles of liquor with us, we had collected them over time so we mixed some really strong martinis which we shared between us five and just enjoyed the beautiful park, 8 hours to go... So we made our way around town and stopped by a few different bars. At one we watch the football game between Real Madrid unfortunalty David Beckham was not playing and some other team. As you known Europeans especially Spainsh are obsessed with the sport so it can be a very exciting event. I have to say it is one of the best sports to watch on tv. Between us five there were some interesting conversations about the differences between the places we live especailly when we told the Europeans the cars they drive are so teeny of course they think that ours are just gigantic. Like true spain many of the people did not start coming out until 12am and luckily for us the bars were open until 5:30am when the police had to come shut them down. We went and met some more travellers and went to another square which was sooo beautiful. The square was full of amazing tilework and surronded by palm trees which were full of birds. So at 6am it was time to get to our bus where we all passed out for the hour ride. When we got to Seville we had the daunting task of finding our hotel with no address. We were extremly low on energy so our movements and thought process was a bit slower than usual. To us this normally would have be an easy task, we would only have to find an internet cafe and then get our address. But it was Sunday, the worst/stupidest day in the world to travel most places including Spain espacailly the Sunday of the easter week. The reason I hadnt written down the address was because I was expecting Seville to be much smaller and though that we would be able to ask a cabbie and he would of course know where it was. So Seville has a population of over 700,000 so this was not as easy. Everything was closed for the day so we were out of luck and began walking to really no where but just started going because we were desperate. We went to a few places in the area and most wanted 85 euro and up per night which is about 120 CAD. This is something we probably should have went with but being a backpacker we thought there has to be something cheaper. Onwards we went and desperatly searching for an internet cafe where we already had 85 CAD a night reservations that were going through that day at 12pm even if we never found the place, by the way it was about 10am at this time. So we were tired and slow by had a ticking deadline fast approaching. We were a bit aways from the centre where we soon found ourselves. On the way we asked magazine stalls and resturants where to find the internet and some would point us in that direction where we would go and find closed cafes. During this time Josh and I had turned into bitter enemies because of course this was the other persons fault. So we split and headed in other directions to find something or anything!! I was close to tears when I found the city tourism building with a big sign FREE INTERNET. I went inside and shed some tears when they told me that the internet is always closed on the weekend and would make no exceptions, how do you close the internet??? Anyways so I met Josh and made him go inside because I was soo mad and he got a list of places where to stay. All hostels were full which was ok because per person they were charging as much as two could split on a hotel. Keep in mind all prices double if not triple during this wonderful weekend in Seville. The only good part about our journey was that we were in town centre and were there to witness a large parade into the main cathedral. So we kept walking and find more hotels where each one went up significantly 108E, 156E, and the one I liked the most 256Euros, oops I knew we didnt look like the others in that place! During this time we had a few elderly men take us to a place with "cheap" rooms. During these escapades we would follow the men for about 15 minutes through a maze of tiny streets where we would get to a not so nice hostel where beds not rooms were 70 Euros each, what a waste of time and the other was 90 Euro. At this point we had not had any water or food since late the night before so were pooped and gave in and went to the first hotel for 85 euros a night which wasnt too bad. Mean while reservations had gone through for our other hotel that we never would find. So went and had a nap as much as we could through the noise of the parades outside. I got up later around four had a shower and we went down to see the spectualar Eater parades, the entire reason I had wanted to come to Seville and the reason we were having such a hard time travelling in Seville. Their parades I am not clear on the symbolism but to sum it up men, women, and children walk barefoot through many streets of the city wearing black and white klu klu clan looking costumes. One has nothing to do with the other but once you see the pictures you will understand. At some points in the parade men wearing popeish looking garmets carry large candles and swinging insence in front of about 20 men hidden under the blanket of a large detailed float depicting Jesus and others. This is the time when all the population of Seville is out in the best clothes, I sure felt grubby that day. After a few hours we went back to the hotel and I slept again and later got up to go see some more parades. Seville as much as I hate it, is really gorgeous. Not like the other Spainish cities we have been to. Lots of modern olf buildings if that makes sense mixed with roads lined with very tall trees. The next day we left early morning to find a internet cafe which was only a street away and tried to find a place in Cadiz where we might be able to do more surfing. This was another smaller city on the tip of Spain and most importantly feet away from the water. We couldnt find anything because as Seville the rest of Spain is booked pretty solid. We decided on Santa Maria which was supposedly very close to Cadiz. Our hotel was gorgeous, it had a swimming pool almost the size of an olymic pool, with a tennis court, and a couple metres away from the beach. So we caught our bus from Seville and made our way. In Santa Maria we were dropped off at the station, or the side of a highway which it really was. As soon as we got off Josh realized he had left his favorite hoody on the bus Oh and by the way like the first reservations we had made for Seville the second ones hadent gone through so we never did pay for the other hotel we never found. So at this wonderful hotel in Santa Maria they had no record of my reservation, awesome. I went to an internet cafe grabbed the number and we checked in a bit later. So we lazed around that day and the next morning we wer off to Tarifa another home spot where we would stay for a few days. We were a bit ballsy and went without reservations because apparently many hostels are not on the internet. We had a short stop in Cadiz and it wasnt much anyways so we werent worried about missing it. We arrived in Tarifa later in the afternoon. The reason for our long stay in Tarifa is that it is on the very tip of the spainsh coast where we would make a few day trip to other places. Tarifa was a little piece of shopping heaven. If you have ever been to Banff it is like the tropical water sport opposite of Banff. The street was skate shop, skate shop, skate shop, cafe, skate shop, etc.. The city is very young and and full of surfers and hippies. And it has my favorite the small windy, maze of cobblestone streets. There are two parts of the city the new part and a walled in old city with the tiny cobblestone streets. So we searched for a bit and found only one place with room left, a plain old boring little room with two beds, sink, and a window, ahhh back to the basics. So this day we shopped a bit. The only reason we could shop is because I am sending home a huge box of stuff to lighten my load. Tarifa is a small city or town I not really sure, but it is a very popular area and somewhat has its own brand. You can buy tarifa cds and there are many many shops with Tarifa branded clothing, which I have a few things of. So that was it for our busy moving week.

Hot Hot Heat remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Paradise

2006-04-14T17:12:47Z

So next day we ran our hearts out just so we could make a tiny trip into Sintra (about 45 minutes away) to see the Mordern Art mueseum which houses more PIcassos, Dahli, and other famous cats. This was also really good, but we were under a major time crunch so it was brief. We went back to Anas cottage collected our huge bags, ok I will admit I might have to send a few things home... then walked to the bus stop and boarded for our 4 hour ride to Lagos where paradise hopefully awaited us. We arrived at 11pm and walked to our next residence which was a nice surprise as it was more like a hotel. We have only been in these warmer parts for a little while but it began like we were chasing a dream of a perfect beach and the perfect city to accompany it. Madrid was much to large and no where near the water, Lisbon again to large and the beaches were to small and rocky, Cascasis was still much to crowded and too small of beaches, Sintra was nice but not near any beaches. However I am very happy to report that it is no longer a dream and the Josh and I have found our own little piece of heaven. Lagos is a town of about 45,000 small enough to walk easily to everything and large enough to cater to anyone of your needs and they have great shopping!! Not that I am spending any of my time doing that sort of stuff. The waterfront is palmclad beautifulness and we have 10 near beaches to chose from one being 6m long with whiteish sand and turqiose blue waters.

The first day we spent exploring but that didnt last long as we plunked down at the first beach we saw. There we spent a couple hours building sand castles and playing in the waves. The water is quite cold and the waves are strong enough to kick you over in a hurry. So after we went out for super, which reminds me that this backpacking thing is really not that hard to live off of. Josh and I were given a 100dollar a day budget, this was if we were going to the UK where it is more expensive. So far we have been living really well, we go out to eat every meal if we want and do what ever we feel like doing so no we are not the straving backpacker types, even though I feel like this is too easy and we must be doing something wrong. So we explored more around this beaut~iful town, oh sooo many cool shops it´s killing me. We picked up some liquor and made our own martinis and Josh had disgusting scotch. So that brings us to today. Today we got up later again and went and rented some antique mountain bikes rode to the grocery store, picked up breakfst and rode to the beach. I have this thing for ordering food from genuine portugese and spainsh resturants, although they do have english menus you tend to not get ~what you want added with lots of grease. So we went to the really long beach and ate our sandy breakfast. Before at beaches it was a major jackpot to pick up some fully entact shells but here they litter the beach as much a sand. Do you all know what you are getting for presents now???? We watched the surfers in the wild waves and relaxed. This is where we caught our beach dream. After we rode to the famous grottos and hiked all over and took amazing pictures. On the way back we stopped at another beach and then rode back to go to our new favorite place the Indian Tandoori Resturant for supper. Oh yes and another thing we signed up for surfing lessons early tommorrow morning. Must get some sleep and tell you hõw it goes.

Paradise remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Portugal

2006-04-04T20:06:27Z

Hi everyone, just wanted to do a quick check in and let you all know what Josh and I are up to right now. Tuesday we wrapped up our little stay in Madrid, as we are off to Portugal. Our flight home leaves from Madrid so we have four extra days at the end to enjoy in this city. We planned for Portugal to hopefully beach bum it for a couple of weeks, they are supposed to have the most amazing waters near the south coast as well as spain. So we went to the Prado muesuem and we saw lots and lots and lots of very old paintings by Goya and some other guys, good stuff maybe a little dry. After, we went to a huge park that Madrid has in the middle of the city and had a nap in the sun, do you see a pattern, we dont really do much these days After we went to our regular spot for some yummy sangria. Afterwards we picked up our large backpacks and went to the train station many hours early, you know just to be sure. At 10:45pm we boarded our train for a nine hour ride to Lisbon , Portugal. Josh and I had earlier planned how glorious our first class seats would be, now I would have to say I never want to exprience second class. Luckily I was sick with a bad cold so I took some pills and passed out for the journey and woke up in Lisbon, Portugal. It was about 8 something in the morning when we arrived with a bit of a cloudy sky but still the tempurature was quite warm. There we met a super cool austrailian guy named brett who was travelling by himself. We parted ways but hoped to see each other again. Previously the team (josh and I) had decided that we wanted to stay in really small towns to get away from tourists and really enjoy the life of the portugeseso we skipped through Lisbon on a train and went to Cascasis a smaller beach town. We went straight to our bed and breakfast where we found no one. Yes I was sick and dying and nobody was home!! An hour later our host came home to find us on the street, she didnt speak much english so we just went inside. Our b&b was more like a room inside their house but it was nice to have our own room for a while. I took a nap while Josh went and found the beach which was about 15-20 minute walk away. They say if there is one stop you have to make in Portugal it should be Sintra, a small tourist town with tiny streets, beautiful architecture, and castles! So the next morning we made our way to Sintra. I am not one to agree with stereotypes of people but what they say about Portugese drivers is sooo true! They are the most insane wild drivers you will ever come across, bus rides are now something we look much forward to. A little like a long rollar coaster ride. I mean the streets here are teeny tiny which the sharpest corners and yet they just cruise through like nothing. So we did the tourist thing and went to Sintra and it really was gorgeous. We went to all the castles which were amazing especially the gardens. We finished off our day with a trip up to the Moorish Castle which Josh was soo excited about. This trip begun with a wild ride õn the bus up to the top, these are roads that in Canada I know no one would be driving on yet here we go crusing up in the crazy bus and who do we see it is our austrailan friend brett walking up the hill. The moorish castle gave us a wonderful view of the portugese valley. We caught the bus home, this time it made me really close to losing my lunch. We went into Cascasis and had some white sangria which was still very very good and watched the sun set on the amazing beach.

Portugal remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Madrid

2006-04-03T10:56:06Z

Early Monday morning Josh and I enjoyed our last walk through chilly Stockholm at 5:30am. As it began to snow we realized we were leaving for Spain on the perfect day. We had a short four hour flight from Stockholms Arlanda Airport to Madrid, Spain. The landscape is like nothing I have seen before except maybe something like the desert around Las Vegas. Very dry looking and different tones of red. When we landed it was about 15degrees celcius. From the airport we took a few different subways to get close to our location the Cats Hostel. Here is a link to copy if you would like to see pictures of the hostel:
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/CatsHostel-Madrid-6657?

Once we came up to ground level it was soo exciting and intimidating. This is a large dramatic city full of people and traffic and noise. With little to no sleep it was too much to take in speaking for myself anyways. We went directly to the hostel and unpacked and then went on a little walk around our neighborhood. Apparently 10 minutes from our hostel and you are directly in central Madrid. I have heard so much about tapas bars in Spain so I thought I wanted to try one. All of the ones we saw were quite dirty and the food was something to question. But as we have seen over the next few days most are the same way very loud and lively, a little bit scary as they yell at you to take your order and I dont know what to yell back, ENGLISH!!!! The people here really live their l ives out in the street, much different from a more conservative canada. So far as a generalization i would have to say the spainairds really enjoy their salt, fat, and oil something i will have to try and get used to. We went back to our hostel whcih is amazing, it used to be some sort of palace and is newly renovated for a hostel, this is one time I can actually say the real thing was better than the pictures. Tuesday moring we decided that we both wanted to spend more of our time in the smaller beach towns where we could actually relax. I used to think I would love to sepnd all of my time in the cities but once you are here it is quite different. They are so exciting and crazy and I get too nervous about not seeing everything in the time that we have so I do not relax at all. So we are off to Cacias a smaller beach town just outside of Lisbon, Portugal. And they great thing is that we are staying in a bed and breakfast. Because you know this entire week of hostels has just been too much We got a great deal so we are off today on a nine hour train ride, at least it is an overnight train. After our nuturious breakfast a doughnut, we went off to the metro station to get our tickets. Inside was a lush and large jungle of palm trees and tropical plants. In the middle of this is a sanctuary for hundreds of turtles and little fish, it helped pass the time. So we somehow managed to communicate what we needed, unlike stockholm most people do not speak english in madrid. And my spainsh skills leave much to be desired. Afterwards we walked to the Prada musuem another museum full of wonderful sacred art. unfotunatly today was the day dedicated to group tours so we skipped and went into the botanical gardens next door. This was quite an exprience, the city outside faded away and we were in a beautiful jungle. Apparently every specie of plant is in that garden somewhere. Amazing pictures to follow. This was just what the doctor ordered for me it really helped me calm down and put things in perspective. So the pace was set for the rest of the day, we walked across to a square where the Reina Sofia is housed, yet another art musuem that was closed today. So we sat in the hot sunshine in an outdoor cafe in the pavillion and drank delicious sangria for a couple hours. I really dont know if I can do this for two months, haha!

Madrid remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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DunewitSveden

2006-04-03T10:51:15Z

Hello everyone, today is March the 28th so I have a lot of catching up to do.So the day after our big reggae night we accidentaly slept in until after 1pm which really was bad because I did not want to waste a minute here. Anyways we started the day slowly and went to the Old Town and visited the Nobel Prize Museum. Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm and after he passed he left his estate to various family memebers and educationial commitees. And what they did with the money was set up the Nobel Prizes. The museum was dedicated to all those who have won past and present, which was very nice to see and to read about, beautiful interior

Its kind of sad that we never really hear about the Nobel Prize winners even though they contiue to happen every year. So next we went to the Kulturhuset, any guesses on the name?? Here they had some photography exibits on, one being about child obesity not only in America but in the countries it is spreading to like Mexico for instance. And fast foward to the next day we rounded up our visit with the last few stops we wanted to make. We went through a really great aquarium, even Swedens fish are more beautiful than the ours.

We went to the Vasa museum one of stockholms main attractions for the hugest ship you have ever seen in your life that was built in 1632, sunk on its maiden voyage and brought up in 1958. Even I would have to say that this was fantastic to see. Just the size of the ship was amazing and the craftmanship was so detailed for every inch of that boat. Oh yeah and Josh met a nice girl, here he is with her.

Next we went on to the Nationial Muesuem which houses orignal paintings from the 1400 through 1600s including Rembrants. The other side which was my favorite was the design eras of sweden and europe. So we finished off our stay with the most touristic thing possible, a bus tour.

This was ok but I would say Josh and myself would have been better guides and we had pretty much covered all of this ourselves, it was nice to sit down though. So we finshed off our day with the normal rountine a 4 hour nap at 4pm and then up at 2am. Maybe I am not adjusting as well as I thought.......
So to sum up our expreience in Stockholm I would say it was cool, literally. I loved the city and the architecture and the history and the fashion and the design, but the people were not very friendly nor helpful. We did not have too much contact with the genereal public, mostly service industry.And if it is their job to put their best foot forward shouldnt we have seen the best. This city was amazingly efficent and we really saw this in their public transportation, traffice, and environmental control. It was really great for us because everyone speaks english if you ask. I will not look back and and have a negative memory though because this city was beautiful and because I am only here to live the cities so I really enjoyed Stockholm and hope to come back again. I know we were meant to be together, they have the most delicious tap water you could ever imagine!

DunewitSveden remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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From Stockholm with Love

2006-03-26T07:23:14Z

Hello everyone, I am so glad you are all enjoying this blog idea. I love hearing from you all. The only thing is if you add a comment through this site I am not able to respond to you unless you leave your email address. Sorry I havent kept it up but we have crammed a lot in to the last couple of days. Yesterday Josh and I were up at around five am because we had slept so much the day before so we decided to get an early start on our day. We went and got early breakfast at our favorite place; 7-eleven. I know it sounds terrible but the 7-11's here are gorgeous, clean and they sell really healthy food. So for us it is like a mini grocery store that sells items we can sometimes reconize. I love the Swedish, although the have a completly different language we are sometimes able to understand what signs or literature says. In many case take the english version mash it together, replace the vowels with other vowels, or add some t's or k's then you have the swedish version. For example turistinformation or my favorite place we visited the Arkitekturmuseet. After our gourmet breakfast we went walking with our little maps from the hostel. First we went to Gamlastan or also known as the Old Town where the most beautiful old buildings are.
All the streets here are cobblestone which is very quaint but with my coordination I am lucky to report no injuries. And no Denise and Amina, I have not been running but of course it is only because of the cobblestone
Stockholm itself, is made up of 24 islands. We found out quite quickly that all were within a reasonable walking distance of each other. From Josh you might here a different perspective of how MUCH walking we did that day but he is aging and out of shape...
Next stop was a walk to a small island that had my two very favorite places on it, The Modern Museum of Art and the Museum of Architecture, or in Swedish; Moderna museet & Arkitekturmuseet. The art muesum was amazing, we got to see original Picassos, Salvador Dahli, Kadinsky, and Andy Warhol just to name a few. Of course no pictures were allowed to be taken. The exhibits we really interesting and different, I conside myself extremly open to new ideas and different things but some pieces here were really weird for lack of a better word. The mueseum of Architecture was small but really good to see. It showed the changes in Swedish architecutre from the very beginnings to present. And considering Swedish design which is very innovative and modern this exibit was soooo cool and inspiring! After the mueseums we walked to find a bus stop, got on one and just went for the ride. The bus routes here were extremly confusing so we just decided to hop on see where it took us. Not any where special as it turns out. We got off at the KatarinaHissen a huge lift where you can see a view over the city. Here is a picture we took

This night we decided to splurge and we went to the CentralBatagen a beautiful spa inside a fancy hotel.
Inside was a jungle like bar with a hot tub, warm pool and a normal pool surronding it. The hot tub was what we really went for and it turns out they have a different idea of what is relaxing. There was a maximim of 12 people supposed to be in the hot tub and there always was if not more. But the tub was designed so that you have to lay back and stretch out your feet, so needless to say it was really nice rubbing feet with large, hairy men. The water was warm if not lukewarm and it was hurled into your face by the jets. So for next time maybe we will avoid the " hot tub". We met two of the funniest guys from our room, two Austrailian boys now residing in Scotland. They both work at a hostel bar in Edinburgh so all they wanted to do was drink.

Tonight we were talked into it and we went to the 3rd bar we found that I was allowed in, a large jazz club. You have to be 23 to enter most posher bars. The songs played were classic jazz tunes, not my style and the crowd was older then all of us by lets say half a century. It was boring but we paid 100 kourona to get in so we stayed for a bit. Liquior is severly taxed in Sweden, and only a handful of places actually sell liquior!! You can only imagine what this is like for someone coming from Red Deer. In this particular bar a single shot of bar liquor is 64 kornoa which is 10 dollars canadian!! Again imagine coming from a place where you can pay 50 cents per shot. So then an amazing thing happenend the band got off and the crowd began to change, a younger democraphic was taking over. Turns out one of the hottest reggae djs in Europe was going to be here at 1 am. So we stayed and the placed was packed along with at least one hundred people lined up outside. The best music was played all night and we had a blast.... I love Stockholm.

From Stockholm with Love remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sveeeden

2006-03-23T18:43:50Z

Hello everyone, well me and Josh have made it here to Stockholm after much travelling. We were up for a day and some straight just to get here but now we are soo excited. We got to our busy hostel and had a six hour nap. We went out to find something to eat and had a mini walk in downtown <stockholm which is the most beautiful city. There is amazing architecture, greenery, and shops everywhere you walk. The only downside is that it is expensive and just as cold as Red Deer!! Oh well we are in a completly different place that is just amazing. We have a awesome bunch of roommates so tonight we are going out with them to enjoy stockholm nightlife, if I can get enough energy. See you later
Sarah and Josh

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Packing

2006-03-22T00:00:16Z

So here we are, my clothes that will have to last me two and a half months, something that seems really impossible considering I take a large suitcase for a weekend trip. But I have minimized and here is what I have decided on and yes I still am bringing my five pairs of shoes!

Packing remains copyright of the author sarahskill, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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