Day 141 - Travels

The long long day of travel has arrived. Early wake up for breakfast in my Amsterdam hostel, a walk to the bus and then off to the airport!

Checked in at the airport and then had more food because, well, food is good.

Farewell to my Chad, through security and then flight #1 to Rejykavik, Iceland. Waste a little time in the airport there and then flight #2 to NYC.
I took advantage of being in NYC and ate some pizza in the airport before going for the last flight of the day. NYC to Toronto.

Once in Toronto I collected my luggage and got on with more time wasting. Unfortunately I had more time than the last flights. Like, 7 hours overnight. Boo!!!

Eventually I go about 2 hours of awkward uncomfortable sleep on a row of chairs before getting up to check in for the final trip.
Edmonton bound!
xoxo






Jan 22, 2013

Day 140 - Red lights

Last day!??!! Boo!

First thing after breakfast we got dressed up warm and went to meet the walking tour. It's actually cold and snowy here! We didn't make it for the tour so we just walked around and saw what there was to see while wasting time before the next tour started.

Chad saw (and smelled) his first coffee shops. From the outside only, of course. Horrible smelling places. We walked a bit through the red light district, through the main square and made a snack stop.

The tour was pretty much the same as the one I took when I first arrived with the exception of having a different guide.

After the tour we went for sushi lunch and then back to the hostel to pack for the last time. First we had to unpack everything, sort though and then repack. By the time we finished it was dinner time.

FEBO is a restaurant/fast food chain (only in the Netherlands as far as I know) that works like a vending machine. Instead of ordering at a counter, you put money in the right slot, open a door and take out what you want. Really bizarre. And strangely good...

To finish off our night, and our trip, we went for a walk through the red light district. It is such a strange place, especially considering it looks just like everywhere else in the light of day. We kept our visit short so we could get back and to bed early for my flight tomorrow.

I'll soon be back in Canada!
xoxo






Jan 21, 2013

Day 138&139 - Ferries are not my friend

I realize that combining days is kind of cheating, but I spent both of these days doing that same things.
Starting on the 19th at 2pm we got on a train and motion sickness strikes again! After the train is a cab and then right onto our ferry.

We got a room in this ferry, which was great because I wouldn't have survived without it.
Within a short time of being on board we went to eat, and before we could really finish eating, I was forced to finish eating. Motion sickness, take 2!

Unfortunately for me, this horribly violent sickness stuck with me for the rest of the crossing. Very little sleep happened.

Now to the 20th, we are off the ferry and walking. Walking turns into a bus ride, another ferry ride, a tram ride and more walking. Motion sick continues!
And I can tell you, by this point it has been about 24 straight hours of feeling awful and at that point I turn quite pathetic. When I saw that we had to take another ferry I cried. And all the while freezing cold and uncontrollable shaking.
Ick.

Finally at the hostel and its straight to nap time, then shower time, a short trip downstairs and then to bed. All the while still feeling like death.

Tomorrow will be a better day and I will make the very best of my last full day in one of my favorite European cities.
I've missed you, Amsterdam

xoxo






Jan 19&20, 2013

Day 137 - On a hill and underground, sort of

For our final day in Edinburgh we fit in quite a bit. A castle, museum, shopping, eating, underground streets and repacking. Busy busy day.

To start we went to the castle. We managed to see most of it without taking our whole day. How?? We finally figured out what we should haw ages ago. Go early(ish) and put a cap on. Decide when to leave and leave around that time. Genius!
This particular castle is still in used by the military here so not everywhere is open to the public. What is open is pretty great though. The Scottish Crown Jewels are housed here for all to see as well as the "stone of destiny."
3 army museums, 2 prison museums (1 for prisoners of war, 1 for misbehaving army men), a church, what's left of a tower and plenty more.

Leaving the castle we shopped along the way to lunch at the oldest pub in Edinburgh. The white hart. Really really good food there.

Shop some more on the way to another museum. The writers museum pays tribute to 3 celebrated Scottish authors. It's quite small and was close to closing so we weren't there long.

Some more walking, in fluffy fluffy snow this time!!, we went back to the hostel to warm up and do some laundry before our last journey of the day.

Mary King's close. A 'close' is a street. This particular street is underground though. Sort of. It used to be just like all the other streets here in Edinburgh, in use from the 12th century up until the 20th. Originally it was proper ground level, which sloped quite dramatically downward and then the city decided to build something else there. They wanted that something else to be flat and so used the former street as foundation for the new building.
Anyway, it's a street under a building that still has rooms from homes, shops and allegedly ghosts. We took an hour long tour through it with an actor guide. He told us all about the way it was and most importantly cleared up the big question around the whole place.
Was the street covered over to contain plague victims and let them die there?
No. It wasn't. There had been a serious plague outbreak around that area some time before it was covered over, but everyone had left before it was sealed off.
Also, similarity to the caves in Nottingham, it was used as an air-raid shelter in the war.

That was our last day. Tomorrow will be very long as well and will move me ever closer to home. Poo.
Amsterdam, I'm coming!

xoxo








Jan 18, 2013

Day 136 - Animals

Hello again!
It happened again. We went to a museum thinking we could get out before closing and see something else. We failed. Again.

This museum was different that most we have been to. We usually see a lot of history, some art and religion.
Today we did of course see history, the history of Scotland to be specific. After history we moved through people of the world and into ANIMALS!

I love animal exhibits! It's kind of sad, but always interesting. Not only did I see a lot of animals that I have never seen before, but I saw plenty I had never heard of, some that are now extinct, endangered, protected, etc.. Pretty cool

The museum was followed by a dinner of mussels, shepherds pie and sticky toffee pudding! Good stuff.

Our day is now over and tomorrow is our last full day in beautiful Scotland and it marks me only having 4 full days left in Europe. I'm not ready to go back to real life at all.
xoxo






Jan 17, 2013

Day 135 - Loch Ness

Another busy day in Scotland! I say Scotland because we are not in Edinburgh today.

We decided to do yet another tour. This one took us out and away for 12 hours.
The highlands, Glen Coe and Loch Ness most significantly. We did obviously see a lot more along the way though.
We saw the site used for Hagrids hut in Harry Potter, Sean Connery's land, a mountain that has a staring role in 007 Skyfall and lots of other movie related places.
Historical places where everywhere as well and our driver told us all about them.

Best of all, we did an hour cruise on Loch Ness. The boat has sonar cameras to check for what is hiding under the black water. The camera is connected to screens on the deck so we could watch.
It seems Loch Ness has been famous for its monster sightings for a long time. The first recorded sighting was in 526 AD!!

When I grow up I want to be a monster hunter.

The drive home was relatively uneventful because it was so dark, and that can mean only one thing. Nap time! For a bit anyway. Near the end of the trip we stopped to see a bridge. A big red one. "Forth Bridge" is its name.

It was a great day and money well spent. The only downside was Chad and I were both motion sick at one point. I'm adjusted now though.

By the time we got back all we really wanted was food and bed so that's what happened.
xoxo






Jan 16, 2013

Day 134 - The most haunted place in the world

It seems to have become kind a staple now that when we get to somewhere significant we do a day with 2 tours. Today was that day.
All of our tours have been with Sandemans Europe. The guides are all freelance and therefore unique. We do the free city tour first and then if it appeals, we will do one of the paid ones as well.

Today's free tour took us along the royal mile, past the castle, through the old town, cemeteries and talked about the cities gruesome past.
My favorite thing I learned?
Have you ever partied a little to hard and had someone call you "shit faced"?
Well, "shit faced" comes from the day of the chamber pot. People used to throw the contents of the pot out of the window of their homes, first yelling a warning. The warning apparently comes from a French term and so if you've had a few to many whiskey down at the pub and you are stumbling home in the dark you will most likely think that some crazy person is yelling at you in French. Of course, in this drunken state the obvious think to do is look up to the where the sound came from and tell back. And now, you have gone from drunk to quite literally shit faced.

After the tour we did lunch and tried haggis. It is not nearly as scary as everyone makes it out to be.
And yes, I do know what it is.
It is a bit of a strange consistency and quite spicy, other than that, not bad at all.

Like I said before, 2 tours today. The second started at 7pm and was a ghost tour. I expected to be scared, but I can happily say I wasn't.
We walked around 2 cemeteries (apparently the #1 place in Scotland for public sex), up to the site of pagan rituals and witch burnings, to the alleged gateway to the Scottish faerie realm and across a cursed bridge.
The stories were of murder, grave robbing, faerie's, coming back to life, bing burried alive and the end of the world.
I realize I just said end of the world, but no, the image in your head is not it. No fire balls, no zombies, no exploding earth. Or the people of old Edinburgh the end of the world was more of a place than a time. The city used to be inside walls and to go outside of them you had to pay. The poor people couldn't afford this so the started making stories about the horrible things that must be outside of the walls.
Another image you can get out of your head is Tinkerbell. I know that's pretty much where all of us go when we hear Faerie, but these are not that kind. These are evil faerie's that hate humans and would like to kill us all....
1 last bit of tour knowledge. Something else you may hear in your every day life. "Graveyard shift". Here in Edinburgh there was a huge grave robbing problem at one point because the bodies could be sold to the medical school for quite good money. Some families wanted to prevent this from happening to their loved ones and built mausoleum's. Others couldn't afford that and so they would actually sit in the cemetery all night and guard the grave. Hence "graveyard shift" is now referring to the undesirable over night work shifts.

Fun times!
See you tomorrow!
xoxo



Jan 15, 2013

Day 133 - Batman's house and new accents

We got a very early start today because we were determined to see the "Wayne Manor" house before leaving Nottingham.
Once there, we didn't go inside but took pictures of the building and the "bat-signals" (normal lights with a bat symbol spray painted on the outside!).

Because we had to check out and catch a train we couldn't stay long but we fit in a few minutes to play in the fluffy freshly fallen snow. It's only the second day we've had snow on this trip.
After a rushed breakfast and grabbing out bags we did a very painful 15 minute speed walk to the train station and made our train with about 1 minute to spare. To close for comfort.

It's less than 5 hours from Nottingham to Edinburgh and the train ride is quite nice even though we had to changes. The countryside is beautiful. For most of the way it was snow covered and then slowly as we got near the sea it turned green again.
Because there is no real border or change between England and Scotland my first sign of being somewhere else was the accent change. It's awesome! I do love a Scottish accent, it makes me feel like I'm talking to Sean Connery, and how cool would that be??

Our hostel was by far the easiest to find of any we have stayed in and it is very close to the train station. It also has included breakfast which is always a plus.
Once checked in we had food, did laundry and played Jenga.

Early to bed means I have a greater chance of getting Chad up at a reasonable time.
xoxo

*Brought to you in Dani's Scottish accent*




Jan 14, 2013

Day 132 - Haunted prisons and ancient caves

We managed to keep ourselves quite busy today, though only for a somewhat short time. The early closing hours really throw us off.
Like in most hostels, we had to switch rooms today because we stayed longer than we expected. Originally Nottingham was just going to be a day time stop and then we would carry on to Scotland the same day. Obviously that didn't happen.

After our room switch and some walking around we decided on doing a double tour. First, the court/prison/museum and then the caves.

The "Galleries of Justice Museum" is a courthouse and prison that has some areas dating to medieval times. The tour is actor-led and that makes it quite fun and more interactive than your average tour.
We first walked through the court room, then into different parts of the jail. The men's area, there work spaces, cells and exercise yard. After that was the women's section. The laundry room, exercise yard, cell and washing room. And yes, I said cell. Just one. All the women got put in together.
We also walked through an area that shows what ship life would be like if you were sentenced to Australia.

When we finally escaped the prison after getting a bit lost (creepy) we went for lunch at a pub. The bell inn. Apparently the oldest inn in Nottingham. We finally got our traditional Sunday lunch. Roast, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, 2 kinds of potatoes, crazy, broccoli and carrots! Yum!!

The last stop of the day was the cave tour. These caves are different than yesterday because they physically show what they were used for. We saw wells that were still full of water, we saw a mock air-raid shelter, a tannery and Victorian basements.
The tannery was used from the 1500-1600's and the life expectancy for its workers was about 30 because of the harsh conditions.

To finish off our day we headed back into the hostel for supper and Harry Potter movies!
Tomorrow, SCOTLAND!
xoxo



Jan 13, 2013

Day 131 - Castle rock caves

I told you yesterday that things close quite early here. Well, that includes attractions. Being that I've been sick we slept in and had a late start getting out.

Our first, and pretty much only stop of the day was Nottingham castle. The castle itself isn't very exciting because it is a non de script museum inside, but inside of the sandstone hill the castle is built on are man-made caves.
The caves have been used over time by many different people and for many different uses. Housing, brewing, air-raid shelter..

This particular network of caves don't seem overly large but was interesting to see anyway.

After our tour we went for dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen. This is the same place we fell in love with in Athens. Just as good here but a little more expensive.

Tomorrow is out last day here and should be relatively busy, hoping to see lots!
xoxo




Jan 12, 2013

Day 130 - Robin Hood and Batman

Another day of pack up and go. Not quite literally though, I got breakfast too.

Destination of the day: Nottingham, England!
Yup, Nottingham. The one next to Sherwood Forest, famous for Robin Hood.

Upon arrival we did as we always did. Slight difference, we also stopped at a tourism centre. And guess what they told us?!!
Have you seen the newest Batman movies? If so, picture in your mind (or watch the movie, that's even better) Wayne manor. Batman's house. That house, it's here!!!! How cool is that!??!!

After we FINALLY got to our hostel and dropped our bags it was right back out again. Chad desperately needed to see Warhammer world. I can't say that I was excited for this, but I suppose I drag him to places often enough that I could suck it up and go.
A 3 mile walk and we were there. Right inside the door was a larger than life size realistic Uruk-hai. Now that I was excited about. If you don't know what an Uruk-hai is, it's from Lord of the Rings. And LotR is something I can be excited about.

Further in we found lots of stuff that tickled Chad pink and also a bar with delicious pizza.

Because of its early closing time we decide to walk around the shops on the way home. Little did we know, shops close at 5:30pm everyday except Sunday when they close at 4:30pm! How bizarre!

Tomorrow we will explore some Robin Hood related sites, a castle, maybe some caves and hopefully go see Wayne manor.
xoxo






Jan 12, 2013

Day 129 - and dead guys..

Chad and I had a pretty slow paced day today. Slept in, woke up feeling sick and went for breakfast.

We were hoping to see a few things today. The British museum, the Tower of London and Shakespeare's globe theatre.
Naturally, we only did the museum. It seems once we go in its hard to get us out. We stayed until closing and that meant the other places would be closing too. I must say though, I was very content to stay at the museum. They had soooo many mummies!!!!!!! And samurai armor, an ancient chess set, part of the huge sphinx from Egypt, lots of dead guys other than the mummies.... It was time well spent.

We reluctantly left the museum and head for a walk down the shopping streets. Somehow we went in a circle and ended up back at our hostel..
Unplanned but okay anyway, we are both feeling sick and exhausted.

Tomorrow we are off again to a new city!
xoxo






Jan 10, 2013

Day 128 - HARRY POTTER!!!!

I can classify today as one of my favorites on this trip for sure. Being that we are in London I felt that it was very necessary to do the Harry Potter studio tour. I am a huge fan.

It takes a bit to get to the studio, but I was excited all the way so it doesn't really matter. A metro took us most of the way and a tour shuttle got us to the gate.

As soon as we got inside it was so exciting! We watched a short video about the tour and then BAM! walking through the great hall, seeing real costumes and props and the hall itself.
The next room took about 2 hours to get through. Costumes, sets (boys dormitory, common room, potions classroom, etc..), props, and so much more. I could have walked around there forever, every time I walked past something a second or third time I noticed something more.

Next was the backlot. #4 Privet drive, the night bus, Hagrids motorcycle, chess pieces, Tom riddles grave, the Potter's home in Godrics Hollow...

Back inside again, the creature room was next. Videos show how some creatures work and some creatures were right there in front of me. Buckbeak, Arrigog, and a giant Hagrid head. Apparently his real one wasn't big enough..

The most amazing thing we saw was the castle. I bet you didn't know it was real!! It's about 8 meters tall and takes up a whole sound stage of its own. Incredible.

Unfortunately we eventually had to leave but it was an all around amazing day.

See you tomorrow!
xoxo




Jan 9, 2013

Day 127 - Grimm reaper

For our first full day in London we were very busy. We did 2 walking tours and some shopping. And eating, obviously.

Tour #1 was the free tour. Sandemans New Europe offers tons of tours all over Europe and this was my 4th.
This particular tour was a lot of sightseeing but not as much information as I'm use. To getting. We saw Buckingham palace, Prince Charles' house, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and plenty more. The best thing we heard about was where the term "stiff drink" came from. To preserve the body of deceased (Nelson?) during a war, his bidy was put in a barrel of Brandy. The sailors got thirsty on the way home and drank that brandy. Eww eww eww!!!!
The tour ended at a pub for some really delicious sausage and mash.

Between our tours we walked around to see what we could and do a bit of shopping. We ended up at Picadilly Circus and in the M&M store!! It was awesome! I bought some (how could I not) pink ones, some colorful "crunchy" ones and some "guardsman" peanut ones. Yum yum!

From there we hopped on the tube and over to the east end of London. The tube station is right outside Tower of London.
This tour is called Grimm Reapers. It's about Jack the Ripper, the plague, execution, crime, prostitution, immigration and life in East London.
I don't want to share much about this tour because it certainly isn't for everyone, but we did stand where the biggest plague put in Britain was and we stood where the rippers victims where found.
I will also share another phrase meaning though. "Laughing your head off" comes from an execution. During this mans execution (he was to be beheaded) he was appalled at how many people came out to watch him die. He was an old man, this shouldn't be entertaining. Ironically, the audience was standing in a stage of sorts and it collapsed killing 20!! This made the man laugh uncontrollably. Apparently he was even laughing after his head rolled away. Strange...

To finish our night we got sushi and Boone tickets for tomorrow's adventure!!!
xoxo





Jan 8, 2013

Day 126 - London!!!!!

Today we did very little because we had time for very little.
We went back to the Eiffel Tower so I could see it in the daytime. It much nicer at night though.
We did a bit of shopping as well and then went back to the hostel to get our luggage.

Choo! Choo!!
Train time again! This time, LONDON!!!!

As soon as we walked into the main part of the train station I got very excited! Do you know what station I was at?? Kings cross! That's where platform 9 3/4 is!!!
Harry Potter fan girl moment!

On our walk to the hostel (natural we got lost) I saw taxi's, double decker red buses and red phone booths! It was thrilling!

Once checked in we went for supper at the Irish pub next door. I finally got the mussels I've been wanting and chad had a wild boar burger. Both excellent.

Our first night in London ends with laundry and sleep. In separate rooms again though because there are no mixed dorms here.

Good night!
xoxo




Jan 7, 2013

Day 125 - Versailles, Antoinette, Eiffel and Moulin Rouge!

Like all the others today was a very busy, very exhausting day. It did start with me sleeping in a bit though.
And by sleeping in l mean 9am....

Chad and I were torn about whether or not we should visit Versailles today because we had heard that a lot of the garden is closed off, the fountains are off and several statues are covered so they "don't get frost bite".
In the end we decided to go because we figured not going would be a decision we might regret.

It doesn't take long to see that the palace really is everything you might have imagined. Huge. Covered in gold. Extravagant. Gaudy and over the top in chads opinion.

Room after room of portrait covered walls, beautifully upholstered chairs, marble fireplaces and way to many people.
My favorite rooms where the bed chambers. They are really something to see.

When you leave the palace the next thing to see is the gardens and fountains. Surprisingly still very nice (and very green) even though its off season. We only small a small part because we were on a mission to Marie-Antoinette's estate.

The estate is very modest and comfortable feeling with just small touches and extra detail to keep it feeling royal. Again, the bedchamber was my favorite. This "home" has its own gardens compete with gazebo, orangery, lake and plenty of paths to follow.

By the time we finished that we were both exhausted so we made our long walk back to the train and into Paris again.

We gave ourselves a bit of time to sit around doing nothing, had dinner and then went back out. First stop, EIFFEL TOWER!
I didn't find it to be so unattractive like people say it is. An icon is an icon. An we all know the tower is an icon, likely one of the most recognized symbols out there.

The elevator to the top is a little scary but the view is pretty awesome. They even have a champagne bar up there!
We didn't stay at the top for to long before going back down. Every hour between 8pm and 2am they light up the tower with twinkling lights and I wanted to see it from the bottom. This didn't happen unfortunately, but it was nice anyway.

To end off our night we made a stop to see the Moulin Rouge. We only got to take pictures from the outside though because it costs to go in.
By the time we got back to the hostel it was 1am and time for sleep.

Tomorrow we leave beautiful Paris.
xoxo





Jan 6, 2013

Day 124 - The happiest place on earth!!!

Eeeeeee!!!!!!!
DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!

Well, needless to say, it was an awesome day. Disneyland Paris was Magical, as it should be.
I have been very fortunate to have amazing Grandparents that took my brothers and I on trips when we were younger. One of my fondest memories is our trip to Disneyland California when I was 10 and I've always wanted to go again.

I woke up with that excited Christmas morning feeling knowing today was finally the day I was going again. Unfortunately for poor Chad, my excitement was a little much for him that early in the morning. Don't feel to bad for him though, once he was fully awake my excitement caught on and he was just a thrilled. But don't tell anyone (he's a grown man after all).

The journey to the park is somewhat long but once we got there it was all but forgotten, though Chad seemed somewhat shocked when a million little kids came out of the train with us.

Once we had our tickets it was all "take my picture here" "look at that" "we need to ride this!" "I need candy!!!"
The first ride we got on was Snow White's forest, followed by The Mad hatters teacups. The teacups are a classic and must be ridden. Alice's hedge maze, Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones followed.
Chad and I agreed that Pirates takes the cake for best ride. Indiana Jones on the other hand, had Chad thrilled (it was his first roller coaster) and had me screaming like a little girl. It goes upside down after all.

Throughout our 10 hours at the park we took numerous pictures, rode plenty of rides, saw the parade, had food, shopped and ate an absolutely massive cloud of pink cotton candy.

Before leaving we had obnoxious huge hotdogs and watched the light show over the castle.
Speaking of the castle, we actually got to go up inside of this one. I remember being disappointed that I couldn't go inside the one in California.

After our magical day we did, of course, have to leave. Somewhere along the way home Chad and I got separated in a train station and spent 15 minutes running around searching for each other. Eventually I got smart and sat down.
We did eventually find each other, on opposite sides of the same train platform.

And that is where I will leave you!
xoxo




Jan 5, 2013

Day 123 - Tours

Today was such a long day, and non-stop walking.
We barely made it in time, but the first thing today was our hostels free walking tour.

The tour covered a lot of the basics. A view of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, bridges, statues, the louvre courtyard and more. It went about 2 hours long.

Remember the Disney movie "The hunchback of Notre Dame"? Well, the story that movie is based off is the only reason the Notre dame is still standing.
Another fun fact. Ever seen a picture of or been to a lock bridge? The most famous one is right here in Paris. People come from all over with the person they love, attach a lock to the sides of the bridge and throw the lock in the river. It's supposed to symbolize their eternal love. Apparently this little trend started after the series finale of Sex and the City where Mr. Big and Carrie meet on this particular bridge and are reunited. Cute, huh?

After the walking tour came more walking. Down the never ending road to a massive, insane traffic circle and the Arc de Triomphe.
Snap, snap, snap

More walking.
Back at the Louvre for tour #2 of the day, through the inside of the Louvre.

If you have never been to it seen the Louvre, it is massive. We were told that if you aren't doing a tour that you should know specifically what you want to see before you go in. Prime piece of advice. No way could you see the whole museum in one go.

We of course saw all the famous important pieces. Mona Lisa, whom is very small. Venus de Milo who is stunningly beautiful and an incredible sculpture. The painting of Napoleons coronation which is a lie....
So much to see.
The building itself is quite special as well. When you take the time to look up or around instead of just at the actual art, you can find plenty of beauty.
For me, one of my favorite parts was Napoleon III 's part of the museum. His Salon, dining room and a bed chamber. All elaborately decorated and overly lavish.
Something our guide shared with us that would likely otherwise go unknown is that the rooms are "fake." Not in the sense that they are recreated though. He told us the gold is all paint, no value, not real and the moulding is paper mâché. Apparently Napoleon III felt that if it looked good, who cares if its real.

I like that attitude! I'm going to DIY myself a palace apartment when I go home!!!

When the tour finished Chad and I chose to stay in the museum and see more of the Egypt wing since it wasn't really covered in the tour. I SAW ANOTHER MUMMY!!!! It never gets old! Except that it is of course ancient...
Anyway..

By the time we finished in the museum it was late and we were both fall down tired so we had to call it a night. We have a few more days here and they will be VERY busy!

See you tomorrow!
xoxo

Day 122 - Hello, Paris!

Today was meant to be a full day in Brussels, but because of trains it ended up being a rushed half day and an earlier train to Paris.

After stops at 2 different train stations and getting lost in one of them, we got our tickets. The station was followed by some more walking around and souvenir shopping. Belgian chocolate! We also had lunch, at the same place we went for supper yesterday. We know what we like!

While we were waiting in the train station we saw a woman throw up in a bag and then walk behind a pillar, squat down and pee. It was horrible. She then went and got newspaper to soak it up with....
I'm so disturbed.

2 very short hours on the train and here we are! The city of lights!
After getting lost, again, we finally arrived at the hostel!

We have a very busy 4 days here and in so excited for them!!
Meet you at the Eiffel tour!
xoxo

Day 121 - Brussels sprouts in Belgium

After our longest train ride yet, we finally arrived in Brussels, Belgium.
At first we thought the train station was quite small and we could just go out the 'main' door and find our hostel. That didn't happen at all. It turns out the station is huge and we weren't going out the door we thought.
After a long search for the information desk we got sorted out and made the trek to the hostel. This particular hostel has a daily lock out so we were only able to reserve a room and lock up our bags, but we couldn't go to our room.

Once away from the hostel we did as we always do and picked a direction and walked. we saw palaces, parks, cathedrals and museums. We came across a park full of giant brussels sprouts painted in various colours and made to look like different things. A hot air balloon, a tree, a town...
By 2 o'clock we were allowed to check into our rooms so we went to do that and take a nap. Chad is a winter bear and all he wants to do is sleep.

After our nap we went out again and found, The Peeing boy!!!!!! Manneken Pis is a statue of a naked little boy peeing into a fountain, and I love it! Later on we also found his lesser know sister who is squatting and peeing in her own fountain. Along the way we also found a CHRISTMAS MARKET, and we know how I love those! Naturally we also needed to eat, I am a hungry hungry hippo most of the time. We found a delicious place for fries, burgers and 'chixfingers' and then went for waffles after. It is belgium after all!

Now back at the hostel we can get ready for bed. We will have all day here tomorrow before going to Paris in the evening!

C'est fini
xoxo




Jan 2, 2013

2012 in Review

I decide that I wanted to make a little review of my year and share it with you.

So, what happened this year?

I turned 21, and spent my first birthday away from home, family and friends. I also spent my first Christmas, Halloween and thanksgivings away.

I've seen 7 new countries. The Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Denmark.

Chad and I have been 'Chad and I' for over 4.5 years now! (I'm sure he must be sick of me.)

When I left home to come to Europe, my little brother also moved out. This left the nest empty. Those are thrilled parents. (Secretly they want us all back, I'm sure)

Coming to Europe also meant starting my work as an Au Pair in a home outside Athens, Greece where I stayed for 3 months. An 'Au Pair', for anyone who doesn't know, is a glorified babysitter or a nanny, depending on the situation. I was working with 2 little boys. 6 year old Aris and 8 year old Alexandros. You can look forward to hearing more about that later in a post all it's own.

I lost almost 40 pounds! Hard work and self control got me there. Eating healthy and running 5 days/week, Pilates 3-4 days and yoga once.
Unfortunately some of those pounds I lost have found me again. Europe offers some delicious food.....

I became a red seal certified hairstylist! I no longer wear the title of apprentice! That was a wonderful day when I found out!!!



Now, I'm sure I've missed a lot, but these were some major things and some highlights.

How was your year?
xoxo

Day 120 - Freetown, Christiania and 2013

Before I get on with today, I had a few more things from yesterday.

I'm just going to assume we all know who Hans Christian Anderson is (author of The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, etc...)
He moved to Denmark when we was 14 years old and had 3 ideas for himself. Firstly to act, if he couldn't do that then he would dance ballet, and if ballet didn't work out he would sing choir. Unfortunately the only thing we got to do was sing, and only for a short time before his voice started to change and he got kicked out. Poor boy!
I guess we can't feel to bad for him though. If he had been a Ballerina we wouldn't have some of our most loved stories!

Speaking of The little mermaid, we went to go see her! I was thrilled!

Now, back to today. Because it is New Years Day and therefore a holiday, we didn't have many things to do. We also needed some time to sleep off yesterday's adventures.
Something we could do was visit Christiania, again. We went last night, but I was so intrigued I knew I had to go back in the daylight before leaving Copenhagen.

Christiania or "Freetown Christiania" is just that, a free town. 'Founded' in the 1970's, it is a town within Copenhagen started when people started squatting in abandoned army barracks. Since then it has evolved and expanded into something much more. People, mostly homeless, live here today.
Because it is considered a free town, they have their own rules within, as well as a flag and currency of their own.
Here are some of the rules.
-no photos (selling hash is still illegal)
-no running (it causes panic)
-no guns, knives or bulletproof vests
-no "hard" drugs
-no vehicles

Walking in I didn't know what to expect or what I would see, and going at night first and then during the day, I got a very different feeling.
At night the town is dark and ominous. There are no street lamps. Being that is was New Year's Eve when we first went, it also offered that uncomfortable feeling knowing that so many people were intoxicated. We only walked through it a short ways before we decided it was best to leave.
Today when we went back, everything seemed different in the light of day. The town looks partly like a hippie caravan, partly like a pro-drug advertisement and partly like a disheveled slum.
One of the main tourist draws to Christiania is the tolerated hash trade. Anyone can go in and buy the drug like they are buying groceries. This is obviously highly controversial. Some people say drugs like hash are 'gateway' drugs, others say that they are harmless.
Basically the whole town is a social experiment and a huge opinion piece.

I can't explain to much more about it because I don't know enough. Every turn I took inside, and all day after I saw it all I had were more and more questions. I find the dynamic very interesting and I'm going to look up more about how it works.
If you have a spare moment I recommend you look it up.

When we finished in Christiania we walked back to collect our luggage, have dinner and wait for our train. This particular train will be our longest yet at 14 hours. Fortunately most of those hours are appropriate to sleep through. When we get to the other side we will be in Brussels, Belgium!

How does 2013 look for you so far?






Jan 1, 2013

Happy new year!!!

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and that 2013 will give you everything!
xoxo

Day 119 - NYE and walking tour!

Today was a very busy day for Chad and I, and quite a good day!

To start off the day we had to move over to a different hotel because the one we were in didn't have beds for us. Once we were moved over w walked back to the other hostel to pick up a free city walking tour.

One of my favorite things about walking tours is that I get to see a lot in a short amount of time, while getting information about it. It makes it easy to decide what to go back and pay admission for. I also love the guides. They have great personalities.

This particular guide, Igor was his name, shared tons with us. And in a funny way. That's always nice.

One of the first things we told us about was the "devastating fire of 1728" that blazed for 3 days straight and left 1 in 5 people homeless. He said that it started because a little boy tipped a candle in his apartment and being that homes were made of wood it continued to spread. The firemen were apparently drunk and therefore quite useless so that didn't help the situation either. The people's best chance was the water from the moat, but to get to this moat you had to go through a gate that was locked unless the king specifically said it was ok to open it. And guess what?! The king went to sleep early!

A few other fun facts I picked up along the way now.
-The city was founded by Bishop Absalon, a warrior bishop who fought pirates..... (And had 26 kids.) Sounds like a questionable man to me..
-Copenhagen has the longest shopping street in Europe. Chad and I were here frequently during our stay.
-The 2 oldest theme parks in the world are found in Copenhagen! How cool is that??? Apparently one of them (Tivoli, the younger of the 2) can even boast being the inspiration for Walt Disney when he created Disneyland!! Chad and I didn't go into into Tivoli but it looked good from the gate!
-The word "Lego" (a Danish brand, an obviously we all know, a great toy) means "Play well"
-Copenhagen can also boast having the biggest shipping company in the world and also one of the top 4 brewing company's (makers of Carlsberg beer). For anyone interested, the other 3 are the company's behind Budweiser and Heineken and a South African company.
-Think about the place you live. Does your town/country/city have a "rival"? Denmark's is Sweden! They have a long history of war.
-Denmark has about 5 million people and 25 million pigs. Can you say hotdogs!?! Yum.

He told us plenty about the way things used to be too. In the "old square" you could watch public executions and also public humiliation. How were people humiliated, you ask? They were forced to walk around with barrels on their heads...

Chad and I were going to visit the old royal palace on our own, but we ran out of time. Fortunately Igor had some thing to tell us about it, and about the Monarchy in general. The palace we wanted to see burned down. Twice. From the same cause, overheated pipe. Not smart.
Also, the Danish royal family is the oldest with unbroken lineage. There have been 20 kings and 2 queens. The kings name ha alternated between Christian and Fredrick and both queens have been Margaret. Margaret II, the current queen of Denmark is well loved and very well educated. 4 degrees from 4 different colleges, she speaks 7 languages AND she personally translated Lord of the Rings into Danish. And illustrated it!! They say she has 1 vice, smoking. "Like a chimney" and therefore she has an extra chimney on her palace.
Ok, ok. That's probably a coincidence. But she really does have an extra chimney more that the other palaces.

To be continued...


Besides the walking tour, it was New Year's Eve! Chad and I celebrated with dinner and drinks at the pub, and watching the craziest fireworks show I've ever seen. In the central square we joined thousands of other people, shoulder to shoulder, sandwiched together from every direction and even blocking the surrounding roads. The fireworks, which had already been going off all day everyday since we arrived 3 days ago, came to a huge peak. You could turn any direction and see them going off, you also might be unlucky enough to turn around and see someone lighting one right behind you. Instead of a planned light show from a certain area like I'm used to at home, they come from everywhere because people have their own. Scary... But exciting anyway.

Happy new year!!!
xoxo





Dec 31, 2012