Pictures!!

Hey all,

I have added a few pictures on facebook for you to see. If you're not on facebook you can check them out at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141301&l=54cfe&id=537315513

There are just a few up there, I already have 2 cd's full so I hope to add pictures to this blog when I get home!

Here are my pics from Scotland

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141345&l=d75d4&id=537315513

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141340&l=476c4&id=537315513

And my pics from Ireland

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3755716&l=bd402&id=537315513

Yummy in my tummy

Wow what a busy day! I think I need to live here as everyone is on my schedule. Sleep in and stores don't open until 10 or 11. Nice.

So last night we hit the grocery store and got some fruit and water then went for supper at an Italian restaurant. Deanna and I love our pasta! Had this Gorgonzola stuffed ravioli in a nut and truffle cream sauce and a nice glass of red. We went back to the hostel after that and just chilled out, read a book and listened to music and chatted.

So this morning we slept in till about 930 and went and had coffee next door at 1030. Did I mention there is a strip bar above our hostel? Too funny. Every night at 6 they bring out the sign. Vana Tom Hostel floor 2, strip club floor 3!

After that we re-did the walking tour from yesterday but took our time and looked in every shop and went to a few museums. We went to the oldest building in Tallin, an old monastery and we are members for life. We made a coin that gets us back in! Then we went up one of the defense towers and a church tower. I almost died but got a great view of the city.

We had a great lunch at Cafe Mademoiselle. Nice looking place but cheap. I had cream of mushroom soup. I'd been craving soup for some reason and it lived up to my dreams :) We did some more shopping and I found an awesome painting of the church tower we climbed so mom be expecting that in the mail. We also saw an old palace which is now parliamentary buildings and it is pink, how cool! We also saw a Russian looking church that was amazing.

A funny part of our day included a stop at a medical museum where I would probably take my health students to learn everything about how the body works, the effects drugs have on it and even sex ed topics. We saw a mummified man and other real body parts. Pretty cool but very little was labelled in English.

We hit the post office to mail some of our stuff and then Deanna bought some hot nuts. Haha, they are peanuts roasted in cinnamon or something but man are they good. We plan to go to a garlic restaurant tonight where the menu's have each item labelled with how many garlic cloves they used and they even have garlic ice cream but I think I will pass on that! At 8 we are going to meet up with Hanne and Edith to go to yet another chocolate place. Haven't gotten my fill of chocolate yet today!

Much better

Tere everyone! (Hi). Well things are much better now. After I last wrote, Deanna and I got breakfast at the grocery store and paid the kid outside playing the accordion 20 SEK and listened to the one and only song he knows while we ate.

We hopped on the subway and went back to old town where I bought a beautiful pair of earrings made of bloodstone and a really cool ring. We also went to a chocolate shop and had a chocopreso (pure concentrated hot chocolate) and an assortment of chocolates. That always makes things better.

We met back at the hostel at 4pm and made a long walk in the heat with our packs to the harbour to get on our giant cruise ship. I was not expecting such a big and fancy boat for 70 dollars canadian. What a great night we had!

We got on a 6pm and had a beer on the sun deck as we sailed through the 24,000 islands of Sweden. It was perfect weather. An awesome 2-man band played terrific music. We tried to go for supper but we were supposed to make reservations and so we were forced to eat microwaved pizza. Probably the only bad part of the cruise.

After supper we showered and got dressed up and hit the show lounge and the other bars and pubs on the boat. We sat down with some Estonian guys who turned out to be 30-somethings with wives and kids. Creepy. Anyways, we ended the night dancing and fell into bed around 3 am. The shipped docked at 10 am and we had a fairly lengthy walk to the hostel.

The hostel is right in old town and has free internet and sheets - score! We are all together in a room plus two Australian guys :) We spent the afternoon wandering around and I bought some hand-made wood things. Mom there are tons of linen shops and needle work. We also walked into a stained-glass workshop.

Tallin is a city of 400,000 so it is very quaint. So far I really like it. AND most everything is the same price as Canada. Whew!

We went to the House of Beer when we first got here as well. Most restaurants have waiters and waitresses dressed in period costumes from the middle ages and this place was no exception. I had some buffalo wings and a coke but the boys had a giant beer of course. Donny had wild boar and potato dumpling which looked amazing!

Not really sure what the plan is for tonight. Everyone is back in the room resting a bit. The weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold. I am a happy camper again!

Boo

Yesterday was the worst day of my life. Ok I may be exaggerating but probably the worst day on my trip. We got up excited to go to the beach and got on the train, got off and started following people with beach gear. Well the thing is here in Stockholm they don't know what a beach is. A beach is anywhere you lay down a towel near water. So we ended up walking around for like 2 hours with all our gear and onto 2 different islands. When we finally get there it is nothing more than a swimming hole and it is packed packed packed. Did I mention it was also at least 29 degrees? So we layed on the 'beach' etc. till about 5 then made our way back to the hostel.

Well half-way through my shower a girl is yelling at me cause there is water all over the floor as everything is backed up. So I gather up my stuff and slink over in a towel to the other shower building. Luckily I was able to pick up where I left off.

After this we went and had a really nice dinner just down the street. Wierd Italian waiters who can't speak English and just took my word for it that I was 25 when I ordered a Carlsberg.

When we got back everyone was sitting around and just talking with this Australian guy and I get into this huge fight with Roy. So I left and went and read my book. You should all read this book, it is called 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch. Anyways so later Ben, Deanna, Edith and I decide to go out and hit a club.

Well they don't take a driver's license as I.D. they wanted a passport (government issued)... well our driver's license is government issued. So we walked around pointlessly again for 2 hours. Oh and the place we finally decided to go into was TGI Fridays.... any other place everyone was very dressed up and we definetly didn't fit in.

So slept in this morning, didn't have a shower and have to get on the boat at 6pm. It is freaking hot again and I am drenched already at 11am. Going to find breakfast now that the stores are open then go to old town and possibly see the Royal Palace and a cool church that is there. Have to meet back at the hostel at 4pm and go to the boat. I have no idea what time the boat docks in Tallin.

Oh and did I mention I have a migraine?

Random odds and ends...

I didn't get to bed until after 11 the night before we left to Stolkholm. I was up at 430 am to walk to the bus stop and we were off at 545am. We didn't get in until 3pm and it was another crappy bus ride full of frequent stops and a bus bathroom that was locked because the bus driver is too lazy to empty the septic. Deanna almost peed her pants. That would have showed him!!!

The other thing was that we didn't stop at a decent place to eat. Our ferry crossing was only 20 min so I had just enough time to grab a croissant and coffee.

By the way, coffee has become one of the few pleasures on this trip. We have found that a 7-11 cappucino is the best way to go. The place we are staying at here has a mall nearby and that coffee shop has a pretty good moccacino and the New Zealand girl there is very nice.

So what have I been up to. When we got on we hopped on the metro and walked in the wrong directions with our packs for a few blocks and had to back track a bit which sucks when it is hot and you've spent 10 hours on a bus.

But what is ironic is that we are sleeping in a school. Just can't get away. We are in a classroom with 10 other people and there are portables brought in to shower. The breakfast is good but we went to do our laundry today and discovered the pit-fall of this hostel -- 1 washer and 1 dryer for hundreds of people! Not only that but you can only plug in one appliance at a time!! So today we tried to dry our stuff together Deanna and I cause we only had 3 hours in the laundry room (we had to book) and ya it didn't work. Our stuff is all laid out to dry now.

The good thing is that our room has awesome black-out curtains so we got to sleep in. Up here the sun is up at 3am and doesn't go down until midnight. The night before I showered by myself.... which is a luxury I cherish.... last hostel had see-thru showers and I got the full European experience. Other than that we just played cards.

For supper we discovered the mall and its enormous grocery store and we make frequent pilgrimmages to it.

Mostly read a book I bought today and did laundry then at 4 we went to old town and had an hour walking tour. We then ate in a cellar dating back to the 1200's. Nothing spectacular but cheap. Then Deanna and I got ice cream and walked up a billion stairs to get a pic of the Stockholm skyline.

We have to go on the internet here at 7-11 because at the hostel it is 1 kr per minute!!!!

Tomorrow we are going to the beach. We are really happy the sun has come out. Had to buy a towel today. Also got 2 cd's burnt of all my pictures so far. Wish I was on a computer where I could add photos. This totally sucks!

The waiter at the restaurant tonight told us about this cruise line to Finland and back (12 or 24 hr). It is basically a party boat where you go out to tax free and duty free water and party and then go to sleep and wake up and get off. If I ever come back here or if anyone comes here you should book it. I wish we had the time! It isn't that expensive..... 300 kr max.

We are really feeling the need to get out and meet people, aka boys but I dunno it just isn't happening.... we are too exhausted most of the time.

Oh it is gay pride week here in Stockholm too. All the buses are flying rainbow flags and we had an interesting gay man from L.A. on our tour. In Bakken there was a Santa Claus convention. We are really running into the wierdest things over here.

Speaking of which.... highlight of the afternoon was a guy from our hostel, wearing a pink touque among other wierd items and playing Eminem songs and singing on an accordion. Then we saw him like 3 times in old town and in the subway the police were shutting him down. He's actually very good but man was it funny to hear 'Dear Stan' on the accordion.

Bakken is ROCKIN!

So we didn't end up doing laundry which kinda sucks cause I need to but we will do it when we get to Stockholm tomorrow. We made another delicious supper then sat in the terrace with the whole group and played asshole and wink murder. Sounds lame but it was fun. Met 2 girls from Finland in the process.

I was lights out by 1130 in my 32 bed hostel room. It isn't actually that bad because it is all subdivided up but I am sleeping underneath a man from Guana (spelling?) who is tryin to make a life in Denmark. I told him to go someplace cheaper. Anyways, he's a nice man but has kind of layed claim to the area and I have to keep my stuff outta the way. He also got up at like 3 in the morning and was texting in a chair like 2 feet across from me. Kinda creeped me out... oh well, outta here at 430 am!

Today Deanna and I bought a ticket out to Helsingor (Elsinore) and wen't to the Kronberg castle... a.k.a. the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. I love that play and it was really cool to see it. We started out by walking underneath the castle in these creepy caves where soldiers would stay when the castle was under seige. Afterwards we saw the chapel and then went to the royal apartments and ballrooms. It was nice to see a younger castle that actually looked like what it used to look like. The only thing I hated was the art nouveau that was scattered about. Really wierd stuff that just didn't fit.

After the castle we got back on the train and got back off to walk to Bakken. This is Denmark's oldest amusement park and it is set back into the woods. As you walk in you encounter many horse drawn carriages and grazing deer. We were there from about 130 until 800. We managed to run into the rest of the group but they left at about 430. Nothing really spectacular for rides, same as the Ex, but we had supper there and did a few other things like see a 5D movie which was cool.

I am having such a fun time with Deanna, we were total goofs today taking silly pictures and making dumb comments :)

Shower tonight and charge camera battery and mp3 player for 10 hour bus ride and to bed ASAP! We've had another day and a half!!

Finally, the sun!

Hello again.... Tuesday already! My the time flies when you are stuck on a bus for 14 hours :)

But let me start where I left off.

After the internet cafe, Deanna and I walked into a store where everything was made of hemp. Very expensive but Deanna bought 2 purses! When we came out the rest of the gang was no where to be found. We wandered around to look for them but no dice so we did a bit more shopping. We went into a store called Mono. I bought a little coin purse and a bigger purse. Love them!

After that we ate dinner at a little Italian restaurant by our hostel and shared a half litre of wine to kill time. Afterwards we gathered up our bags, made our way to the train station to get to the bus station. It was only about 830 when we got to the bus station and we didn't leave on our overnight bus to Copenhagen until 1115. I listened to my ipod and Deanna caught up her journal.

Everyone else arrived and when we went to get our tickets there was a little snag. Roy booked his for June 19 instead of July 19. Ooops!!! But he managed to get on so that was good.

Well the bus driver was a cranky old you know what..... I would venture even a nazi. Anyways, I tried to sleep but he kept stopping every hour to smoke. We went up through Hamburg. Near the end of the ride we had to take a ferry (first one for me!!!) and I am happy to say I do not suffer from sea sickness. This is a good thing as we are taking an overnight boat to Tallin from Stolkholm later. Ate a big breakfast on the boat and once we hit land again it was another hour from there. It was BRUTAL. Overnight buses suck.... and when we leave here we have a 10 hour bus ride rom 545am to 315pm.

Anyways, we got dropped off on a random street and after a stop at the information booth we found our way to the hostel. I am happy to report it is a pretty sweet hostel. I stayed the first 2 nights in a 10 bed female dorm which was a nice change. Tonight I move to the big 32 bed. Deanna has been in there the last 2 nights with a tribe of men from Swaziland and it stinks to high heaven. Hopefully they move out today! But I digress...

So we got settled into the hostel and then Deanna and I wandered down a main street. We stopped at a little cafe for the most amazing nachos I've had in a long time and a glass of Stella. When we got back to the hostel I had a nap and then we went out with the entire group for supper. We wandered past Tivoli, a little amusement park in the heart of the city and ate at an American burgers and fries place called Strekers. It was awful for the price but what can you do.

After supper we hung out in the hostel and visited with fellow travellers. I basically met a real live viking, this guy from Norway. He and his girl friend got mega drunk and he was pretty inappropriate and she puked. Good times.... these are the people that stay in hostels! There was also a former criminal slash porn star now turned landscaper (don't ask) and then a few normal people.... one guy from Germany a few girls from Switzerland who we may meet up with again in Stockholm. I called it a night early, around 11.

The next day we all started off the day together which was amazing as we are never all together. The plan was to go to Tivoli but it pretty much fell apart somehow and we ended up taking the train with Ben and Derek to a place called Roskilde. This is where the royal church is and the viking museum.

Well we paid and rode to the end of the line which we didn't need to and wasted a good hour. Ate at McD's--- grr. Anyways, got back on track had an hour tour of the church which was very interesting. Derek, Deanna and I got a personal tour. Afterwards we walked down to the coast and found out the viking museum is closed on Mondays! Awesome! By that time we weren't in the mood anyways. There were model viking ships in the harbour for us to tour anyways.

When we got back we went to a supermarket and we prepared our first hostel meal. Took us long enough I know.... it was excellent. Then we went to 7-11 (there are about 500 per block here) and got a coffee and went back to the hostel to relax. The rest of the group went to an ice bar and paid way too much to get in and drink straight vodka. They also went to a gay bar. Derek ditched out and came to hang with us.

This morning we got up and Derek, Deanna and I went on a self-guided walking tour. It took us from 9am until 5pm basically. We took our time, even had a nap in King's Park as it was our first sunny and almost hot day! The only thing we paid for was to go up this church tower. We could have seen the crown jewels but we nixed that. Ate my first kebab too.... a pita kebab. It was ok.

We are going to make supper in the hostel again tonight and then probably do our laundry. So far the plan for tomorrow hopefully will be to take a train to Elsinore to see Hamlet's castle and then back down to Bakken a huge amusement park. I am stoked for that!!

Annoying people suck

Last night was the first night I got all dressed up for a night on the town. Deanna and I got dolled up and took the tram to the Leisplein square and went to a comedy show called Boom Chicago. The actors are American and it was absolutely awesome! I had a steak dinner and several glasses of red wine. Before the show started we were having a glass of wine and we noticed an almost naked man climbing a rope outside pretending he was from cirque de soleil. He was still there when we got out a few hours later.

Afterwards we hopped on the tram to go see if we could find our crew but who should get on the train but about 10 guys from Whales on a stag. We showed them how to get to the red light district and when we arrived we found Ben.... super drunk. He was really annoying as we made our way to Belushi's. The rest of our gang wasn't there but we met a Canadian guy from Whistler and a guy from Glasgow who was pretty annoying as well. Ben left to go home and Deanna and I walked around for a bit. We got our picture taken with a guy dressed as Woody from Toy Story. It started to rain and we called it a night. It was 1 am.

The stupid Swedish guys came in a 2 am and 4 am (with 2 girls). I am so glad to be leaving the hostel and them. Worst sleep EVER.

This morning we walked to Dam Square and then to the Reijks (spelling?) museum and saw a bunch of Rembrandt's and other stuff. Then we walked to this other square with a little castle and the flower market. We had lunch and more cappuccino. Now we're here... only 5 more hours to kill before our bus ride!

It sounds like we have done nothing today but it has been pouring all day!!!! I hope the weather gets better soon!

Roy is being annoying now pretending to type as fast as me.

Bored...

So we went back to the hostel after my last post and met up with Ben and Derek. Edith and Donny went back to their hostel to sleep as Edith is very sick. The rest of us went to McDonalds to eat... yuck. I will not eat at a European McD's the rest of this trip if I can help it. They don't have honey and the mayo is not the same and no, it is just not good.

Anyways, we hopped on a canal bus, the last one, which dropped us at the other end of the city from our hostel so we took a tram back to the hostel and then went to Belushi's for a drink. We were actually pretty bored. We called at a night at 11. Stupid Swedish guys in our hostel were super loud.. left and came back at 2. We were just there at four and they are drinking and smoking in the room. Get out of here!!!

So this morning we got up early and showered. Didn't have a problem today as all the other boys were passed out. I wish I could have seen them get yelled at by the hostel cleaners at 10 am. We went to the canal bus and waited for 1.5 hours for a bus. Talked with an American couple for a while and their grandson. Got on a boat and road it for a half-hour. Got off and waited in line for the Anne Frank house for about 1.5 hours. But once we got in it was worth it. Only 7.50 euro and it was awesome.

Afterwards we had lunch at a cafe. Had tomato, mozza and pesto on pannini. So good, and also fresh squeezed orange juice. Got my vitamin C now just need Vitamin D.. where is the sun!??! It has rained or been cloudy the whole time I've been away. The only time it was hot was in Belgium when we had to walk a half hour uphill with our packs to Hanne's place.

After the Anne Frank house we walked back to the hostel which was surprisingly easy and fast and then we went to the sex museam for 3 euros. It was very interesting to say the least.

We just finished having a cappucino on one of the canal side cafe's and now we are bored. Haven't seen any of our crew all day. We are wondering if they want to go to a comedy club tonight.

The red light district was not what I expected... neither is Amsterdam. It is nice to go and say you went but there really isn't a whole lot to do or see here and being around stoned people all the time makes it really hard to get motivated. I'm ready to go off to Copenhagen. We leave tomorrow at 11:45pm on an overnight bus. Hooray! We will have to put our packs into storage. The only thing left I want to do here is go to a museum with famour Rembrandt's and dollhouses.

Holy Bicycles Batman!

Well we finally arrived in Amsterdam. Yesterday we took a train to Antwerpen from Leuven and arrived at 1100 am. We had a quick lunch and our bus to Amsterdam was supposed to leave at 1. It was an hour late. So we arrived here at five and took a train to central station and walked to "Bob's Youth Hostel".

Wow, what a dump. And I sure know I'm in Amsterdam. We walk into the reception area and everyone is passed out/stoned juxtaposed against the bubbly girl at reception. There is only one shower per 12 beds! Me and Deanna are together but everyone else is in separate rooms. We came back this afternoon and our room is filled with boys and one boy was snorting coke in the bathroom. Awesome.

So we went for supper after we got here at this Italian Restaurant then walked to the Red Light District. We are just on the edge of it. We went to Belushi's for 2 for 1 Stella. It is attached to another St. Christopher's Hostel like the one in London. Wish we were staying there. Then we wandered around. We went to a strip club with the boys and Ben and Derek got lap dances from some ugly girls. We left then wandered around some more. You walk down alleys and there are just door after door of half-naked girls. We went to this other bar while some of the boys went to this show for 25 euro which was basically live porn. After that we went back to the same strip club cause the boys wanted to see this other girl dance. Well then Ben and Derek bought me a lap dance.... yah.

Anyways, then some of the group bought some pot and tried it and we were home at 2am after everyone with the munchies stuffed their faces.... yah.

Um so this morning it was tough to get in a shower. Then the crazy cleaning guy was in there yelling at us to get out at 10 so he could clean. I hate this place.

Anyways, we bought a canal pass for 18 euro and rode the bus to the Van Gogh Museam which was cool. Cost 12.50 euros. I bought a Van Gogh picture from a souvenir place, it is metallic. After that we went to the Waterloo flea market and I found a really cool butterfly ring. Then we went and got a huge cone of Belgian fries with mayo and ketchup. We went to the hostel to meet up with the group but no one was there. So now we're in an internet place and I have no idea what we'll do tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to try and get to the Anne Frank house early to queue... so busy.

To explain the title - Everyone bikes here.... and there are bike paths everywhere like there are streets. The train station has a 4 level parkade for bikes. And they ring their bells at you if you get in their way!

I can smell the chocolate from here!

After my last post, Deanna and I set off to Belushi's. It is the pub/restaurant off the hostel's reception area. We grabbed a late night bite to eat and weren't really planning on doing much since it was such an exhausting day. There really wasn't too many people in there but a few memorable things happened.

First of all, there was a group of older gentlemen on my left who were real Londoners. Infact we really couldn't understand them that well. There were two guys about 32 and 28, a friend and their uncle. The uncle was hilarious cause he was so drunk and we couldn't understand him. He would introduce himself every five minutes. They then bought us 2 zambooka shots (YUCK) and it turns out that the two brothers own a pub just off the tower bridge called Ships a Ground. They invited us to visit it the next day but we never got around to it.

The second interesting thing resulted from me being dumb. I got a corona to drink and was trying to squeeze a lime into it and did such a terrible job that it fizzed all over and I had to catch it all. Well this attracted the attention of this table of French guys on our left. They laughed so I was like "You think that was funny do you?" in French and we all started talking. Deanna doesn't know French and I get so nervous in front of real French speakers but they told me my French was pretty good and I didn't have to ask them to repeat too many times.

Meanwhile this American guy I met the night before comes back and is like stalking me as I talk to these other guys. Finally he sends his friend over to say "My friend wants me to tell you that he fell in love with you at first site last night and he wants to dance with you."... Oh boy. Later on he comes over with this note written on a napkin that reads something like "Do you like me? Check one of the following: yes, no and maybe". So I add a box that says "you are in grade 7". And checked it off. Then Deanna and I booted it out of there to change and we went to a night club with the French boys.

Holy crap, it was 17 pounds to get in... That's right... 34 dollars! Deanna and I wanted to leave but the boys paid for us amidst our protest. I wish they hadn't cause it was awful. Stupid techno music and I don't even think the guys had fun. There was also tons of security because of all the stabbings in London. I think most people were drugged out, otherwise how could you dance to that music? Anyways, we lost the boys as we went to leave and basically ran home.

The next day we went to the Tower of London and paid the 16.50 pounds (ouch) to get in. We spent four hours there and saw the crown jewels (including the biggest diamond in the world) and pretty much wanted to kill people because they were so pushy etc. That pretty much ate up our whole day. Next came the best part of my whole trip so far.

We went down to the globe theatre and waited in line for someone to return their tickets. We lucked out and got sitting tickets at 27 pounds a pop and we got to see the Merry Wives of Windsor in Shakespeare's own theatre!!! It was hilarious. I didn't know the play before hand but I actually understood most of it.

Deanna and I also saw this guy playing a drum set under the bridge. The set was made out of bucks and cans and bottles. It was so cool!

We got back and went for a night cap with the rest of the group then went to bed.

The next morning we took the train from London to Brussels and another one to the town of Leuven to meet Roy's girlfriend. We are staying at her place here and it is so quaint and cute. We did a bit of walking around, shopping and ate at a local cafe. Hanne made us a dessert, kind of like Tiramisu and later hot dogs. She also had tons of food for us this morning for breakfast. She is too kind!

The rest of the gang has gone to Antwerpen today and Deanna and I are going to stroll about, and try out the best hot chocolate shop in town. It is much hotter here than in London and it was quite a trek with our packs from the train station to her place... I think I lost 5 pounds in sweat. Deanna and I did our laundry last night as well. We are all so very tired!

A funny story to leave you with.... as we all settled into bed last night, most of us on the concrete floor, Donny was snuggled into a hammock hanging from the roof. Not 2 minutes after we all said goodnight this huge crash erupted and Donny fell to the floor with a roof beam on top of him. He was ok so that made it funny ;) We all said it would happen. Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam via Antwerpen!

20,000 steps a day? Try 200,000!

Hello everyone! I just got back from doing two 3 hour walking tours of London.

Deanna and I got up abou 8:15 and had breakfast at the hostel. Let me tell you.... hostel breakfasts suck. I'm sure I'll never want to see another cornflake for the rest of my life! I guess all the hostels got together and decided cornflakes and toast would be the way to go. But being in the U.K. I've also made sure to include a cup of tea with my break-ee (as my new Australian friend Daniel tells me).

Anyways, after a quick chat with the reception staff we headed down to the TUBE. We bought an all day pass for areas 1 and 2 and we made our way to Hyde Park. We got there early so we enjoyed a banana while waiting for our tour to start at the Wellington Monument.

The first tour started at 11 am and was called Royal London. We saw the Wellington Monument, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, got our picture taken with a guard, James's Palace, Trafalgar Square, and Westminster Abbey. There were probably a few other places I've missed but will have to fill in the blanks later.

After that we made our way back to London Bridge station and I bought the most excellent lunch - pesto pasta salad with pine nuts, cherry tomatoes and spinach (so healthy!). Should counter-act the bag of fries I ate after the bar last night but not the Caramel Frappucino I just had ;) Anyways, then we rushed off across the Thames to do a tour of Old London. We saw the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge (not London bridge). We also saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the ghost bridge, the millenium bridge, the sight of the great fire and a few other things as well. (Again, that's what the brochure is for and pictures).

We took the long way home past the Savoy and all the fancy theatres... pretty cool area of town. We just got back and are sooo tired. Not sure where the rest of the group is, they did not leave us a note. Hope they didn't go see a show without us! I hope to go to the globe theatre tomorrow and see a Shakespearean play. Apparently it is only about £5! Still have yet to eat supper and it is 8:15pm so that is next on our agenda.

Back-tracking again... yesterday we got up nice and early to make our way to Dublin Airport and fly here. We were worried because they were having problems with their radar system and some flights were delayed or canceled. But we got on the right bus to the airport and got there really early. We waited around and sure enough our plane was delayed and they changed gates on us, not too far away though. We were about a half-hour late. We got off the plane and jumped right into a train which took an hour. Our hostel wasn't too far from the station.

So far this is the best hostel we've stayed in. We were all excited because there was a hot tub and sauna but the sauna didn't work and the hot tub only seats 6 max. It was luke warm but we went in and chatted with a few french guys which made my day. One guy, Anthony is my age and I really enjoyed talking to him.

After the hot tub we went to the bar that is attached to the hostel and I met a group of Australian boys and a group of guys from California. California guys were pretty good dancers, the Aussie's weren't into that very much though. We later went to the chill out room with a couple of the Aussie's and shared stories and looked through each other's photos on our cameras. They had rented bikes earlier that day and did their own tour. They were super hilarious. At 130 we said goodnight, went to grab a quick mid-night snack and hit the hay.

The street we are on is super busy and there is a bar underneath so it was hard getting to sleep but once asleep I didn't wake up ;)

I am quite enjoying London. I wish we had more time here. Definitely a place to come back to.

I hope everyone is doing well back in Canada! I miss you all! Mom and dad, I will try to call you soon... possibly tonight! And Redvers crew.... I hope you didn't blow away in the tornado! That's crazy!

Backpacker's Pub Crawl

So last night we went on a backpacker's pub crawl. I met people from the states, Edmonton, New Zealand and Iceland!!! We went to 4 pubs and a night club. They were all great places. We got 3 shots and it was 10 Euro. Not a bad deal. Deanna and I had the most fun with the Icelandic boys, they were so funny and they were teaching me different words and stuff. They had crazy names that we couldn't pronounce so we just made up nicknames for them ;)

Before we went out we went to O'Shea's just down the street from our hostel. I had an amazing Irish lamb stew. I wish I could have finished it, it was to die for and pretty cheap - 10.95 euro. Yah, it is pretty expensive here!

I spent the day just with Deanna and we went to the Guiness Storehouse and enjoyed a free pint in the O-bar (had an amazing view of Dublin). Mom, I actually like Guiness (here). We bought an all-day pass for the tram at 5 euro and so we made a stop at the chimney observatory but it turned out to be closed. Then we walked over to St. Aoeden's (sp?) church and went through the visitor's centre there. It is a medieval church it was so cool. Free to get in! We then walked down to Trinity college and went to some real Irish shops like Kilkenny (so expensive but so nice, all irish designers). We were going to tour Trinity college but it closed before we got there. All in all a good day despite the POURING rain all morning. We were drowned rats at the Guiness Storehouse!

The day before (the day we got here) we started out with a pint of Guiness at Temple Bar. Temple Bar is a really cool area of Dublin, lots of live music, young people and tourists. Derek - I found a U2 memorabilia shop but I have no idea what you would want there, I think you got it all right? U2 are big time heros here, their music is played everywhere! Derek, Ben, Deanna and I toured around. We hit up some tourist shops and then we went to Dublin Castle but all the tours were booked up. We toured the Jameson Distillery and had a free whiskey drink. We went to Christ Church (have to fix this name later). Deanna and I tried to find this one restaurant we wanted to try but it was virtually impossible to find as all street names change every three blocks and then shift around. We had a nice pasta meal at this italian restaurant. Expensive but worth it. We were so tired and hungry! Later on our roomate Alex took us to the Celt bar which was full of backpackers and then we went to a nightclub.

That's all for now, I'm running out of internet time. We're doing laundry today and laying low. The pub crawl was pretty hard on all of us, lol. Tomorrow it is off to London!

From Scottish lass to Irish...?

Hello from Dublin, Ireland!

At last point I wrote, I had just woke up from a 3 hour nap after a long journey over the pond. Well we got out second wind and decided to go to a club. During our walking around during the day, we ran into a DJ at this vintage clothing shop. He played at "The Buff Club" so we decided to check it out. However, it was Sunday and the subway shut down at 6pm so we had to walk. Well we got directions from various people and we walked for what seemed like forever but we finally found it. It was pretty decent. Not too many people out but the DJ was as good as he said it was £1 vodka/beer. We ended up getting in around 3 and I decided to shower after a creepy guy from Jordan (a guy Roy's cousin smoked weed with) spilt his beer all over me. His cousin ended up totally changing all his trip plans today so we won't be seeing him again. Can't say I'm too sad. Anyways, got to bed at like 4am and had to be up early.

We wanted to go to Loch Ness/Inverness but we didn't get up on time to catch the bus (go figure) but we caught a bus to Edinburgh and I'm glad we did. We had a great day. We climbed the Scot Monument, went to the castle (£24 eep!) and strolled down the Royal Mile. We had a pint at a place called the Jolly Judge. Cute place complete with a friendly chocolate lab :)

We had supper then hopped on the bus back to Glasgow. By then it was raining pretty hard and we got back to our hostel pretty wet and tired. I took the time to get my stuff organized and ready as we left for Dublin today at 630 am. We had to take the train to Prestwick Airport and then it was a quick flight to Dublin. We have all bought a Dublin pass so I hope to make it worth it and see as many sights as possible. Our hostel here seems better than the one in Glasgow.... a lot bigger in size, a little more strict on the rules but I think in better condition. We're here for the next three nights.

Glasgow is scarier!

Made it across the pond. Long flight... maybe got an hour of sleep. Took the bus to the city centre and then the subway to our hostel. I don't understand the driving here... it's like bugs eating into rotten wood, no rhyme or reason... and fast fast fast! Our bus driver didn't waste any time!

The hostel is alright... the shower in our room is not working, have to go downstairs but oh well. I've got the top bunk, sleeping over Ben. Hope he doesn't play any tricks on me!! The good thing is I know everyone in the room cause it is an 8 person room.



Took the subway back to city centre and walked around downtown this afternoon. Went to a pub and some of us had fish and chips. Came back to the hostel and crashed from 6-9pm. I just got up and went out for some food, haven't tried it yet.... hope its ok!

I have a number of sites I want to see tomorrow in Glasgow but we may look into going out to Loch Ness and Inverness!! Only have one day here. Next morning we have to go out to Prestwick and catch our plane to Dublin.

Calgary scares me

Well we managed to re-pack the car just as before and as we left Cypress it started to pour so we nixed plans to go out to look-out point.

Stopped at Gramma and Grampa's to say goodbye and we were on our way at noon as planned. Gas is a full 7 cents cheaper in Walsh, just into Alberta...

I let Derek and Ben drive and got squished in the back seat with Roy and Ben, Roy and Derek. When we got into Calgary and tried to find Logan's house it started hailing... oh and it was rush hour. Just awesome. So we found his house, he gave us directions to Roy's place to stay and then Deanna and I were off to her bro's house... so at 5:30 we finally made it.

We went to a place by the University called Jameson's for drinks and appetizer's and to watch the Riders beat the Lions! WOO HOO.... poor DJ Flick, yuck!

Returned back to Deanna's bro's place at midnight and was out like a light. Last day to sleep in I'm sure!

We're off to lunch here soon then to drop off my car at my Aunty Linda's house and then to the airport. Can't believe I'm going!

An Oasis on the Prairie

Left Regina today at noon. We managed to fit all five packs in my trunk and various other bags and ourselves into the car and survived the 3.5 hour trek to the cabin. Deanna is already sick with a nasty cold and Roy has his own medical problems... ha ha, I'll leave it at that.

Everyone is loving the oasis on the prairie. We arrived at about 4pm and went straight to the pool and had fun playing old school games like marco polo and monkey in the middle.

Afterwards we made supper, burgers and oven fries, and the boys hopped right into the hot tub. (Mom, Ben has offered to be our pool boy and travel to the cabin every second weekend to check on the hot tub :) Deanna and I later joined them and we hammered out tentative plans for Scotland.

Roy rounded out the evening by showing us a video by Mitch Wiles, an aspiring director whom we both graduated with. The boys are currently watching Borat and I'm heading to bed. One long day of travel under the belt.

We are leaving for Calgary in the afternoon. Derek and Ben are staying with a highschool friend, Roy with another friend and I am going with Deanna to stay at her brother's place. Sounds like we might go down to a pub on 17th Ave. to watch the football game.

Flight leaves at 7:55 PM CST and we arrive in Glasgow at 10:50 AM local time.

Check in again when I'm across the big pond :)

How to reach me while in Europe

E-mail me:

halirburt@gmail.com

Leave a message on this blog or on my facebook wall

Phone me:

Dial 1-866-626-9724 and enter my account number -> 2116214155 then leave a message!

I will have my cell phone on me until noon on July 4th when I head off to Calgary (leaving it at the cabin).