After leaving Josh in Barcelona I met up with Mikaila, eventually, and dropped my bags in her cousins (Liam) flat in the city. Already plans had been made for that night so soon after getting changed I had a drink in my hand and was walking across Barcelona to meet up with a group of Liam's mates. While waiting, I had my first ever McBeer! It was actually quite drinkable... Next stop was some classy nightclub. After a taxi-ride, 15euro's and strong strong vodka to ease the pain of the expensive entry fee it was time to party! And thats what happened.
Morning came and it was time to do a bit of sight seeing. So Mikaila, Hannah and I went walkabout over the city. We went and saw the La Sagrada Familia which was just unbelievable. The detail and time that has gone into this temple is amazing! You could stand there for hours admiring it without ever getting close to seeing every single piece of Gaudi's designs. The inside wasn't as fascinating as the exterior but from the top we had a great view across Barcelona.
In the evening we were taken down to the beach for a beach party by Liam and his girlfriend, Maria. Sooner than later we realized that this "beach party" was a "gay beach party" and the "beach" was a "nudist beach"... Can you imagine what our eye's had to endure?
The next day Mikaila jumped on a hop-on hop off bus and I decided to take a walk around the city. I started off in Las Ramblas and took a walk looking at all the street performers and pet-stands on the side of the street where you can buy anything from turtles to spiders to lizards to squirrels! Then I crossed paths with a very weird man. This man was wearing no clothes, just shoes, and had a tattoo of a pair of undies where they should have been. I then noticed that he had two eyes tattooed either side of his penis, making it look like a face with a long nose!!! It was more amusing watching the unsuspecting onlookers expressions.
That was that for Barcelona and Mikaila and I had decided we'd take a few days to go up to San Sebastian. So away we went...
San Sebastian was a really nice city. I think there were 3 beaches and plenty of nice places to eat and drink at night. We kind of spoiled ourselves a bit and went out every night for dinner and drinking plenty of sangria. One day we decided to take a big walk up the mountain where a big statue of Jesus stands. The view from the top was incredible and was definitely worth the walk up, unlike the statue...
Next stop was Madrid where we were to meet back up with Hannah. The bus ride was awful, four smelly Arab people, two of which were females who burped every 5 minutes. Thats enough said about that.
Madrid was really nice. I was glad that I could get back there again after only spending a night there with Josh a few weeks earlier. The first day we were there Hannah hadn't arrived yet so Mikaila and I went and hired a row boat in the Retiro park to unwind a bit in the sweltering heat.
Later on that night we had plans to watch a bullfight in the main arena. Hannah just made it in time to the fight, we snatched up our tickets and quickly sat down. Before long a bull was out in the ring and the Matador's were stabbing it with spears and throwing darts into it's back and then it was dead, soon to be dragged from the ring by three donkeys. That night we got to see 7 bulls get killed, some much quicker than others and some much more slowly and gruesome.
The next day the three of us went for a sight seeing walk and ended up going into the Palacio Real, a big palace with over 2000 rooms all of which are extremely exquisite. I think its meant to be where the King holds his ceremonies and dinners etc. It was hard to sneak some photos while in there but I managed to get a couple. One day you'll see them!
For our last night we grabbed some sangria, played Gin Rummy and got drunk. It was a good way to end the Spain leg of my trip. In the morning I said goodbye to the girls and jumped on my flight to Berlin, Germany...
Friday, 7 September 2007
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
Spain/Portugal Road Trip...
Pamplona had ended, everyone was bugged and we just had to keep on moving. My plan from here was to do some travelling around Spain for 2 weeks. Josh didnt know what he was up to so we both decided that we'd do Spain together. After about 5mins with our noses stuck in our lonely planet guides we has made a decision to head to the north of Spain, to Santander.
After a couple of buses and some much needed sleep we arrived in Santander. With no accomodation booked and no idea where to start we began to wander the streets. Before long we had stumbled across a semi-cheap hotel which we decided would be the best option considering the circumstances. First things first, we clean ourselves up with a much needed shower then made our way out for some dinner. We eventually found a place not too expensive which had the added bonus of a "pour your own beer at your table" system, we were sold! After being filled with good food and good beer we decided to makes plans for the coming week. The plan was to hire a car and drive from northern Spain to southern Spain/Portugal. Then zzz zzz zzz...
Morning came and so did our pesky little rental car. Lucky it was only the 2 of us travelling and sleeping in it! After driving around Santander like a granny for half an hour trying to get used to driving on the other side of the road it was time to make tracks to Santander. Along the way we stopped off at a Macca's for some lunch. Before long I was trying to order myself a meal using the limited Spanish I had picked up along the way. I thought I'd done well until I ended up with half the menu on my tray... Luckily I was hungry, they must have listened to my stomach not my words?
We stopped off in Segovia for a few hours to check out a few of the sights, mainly the massive aquaduct that slices through the city. It was a pretty impressive structure, especially because it was built using no mortar. The rest of the city was really nice also, small cobbled streets lined with old houses and shops, it was great! Very Spanish... We were on a tight schedule so we left before long, next stop Madrid for the night.
Firstly, driving in Madrid is insane! There are hardly any lanes, massive round-a-bout's with people driving wherever they want its amazing we didn't have an accident. We arrived at night and was only going to stay for 1 night in the car so we quickly found a spot to park the car and took off on our self guided "Madrid by Night" city tour. After a couple of hours we were pooped and had seen pretty much everything we wanted to so we jumped in the car for some sleep.
Morning came and we hit the road once again, next stop Toledo, just south of Madrid. We had heard good things about this very small, old town and decided to stop off for a few hours to check it out. Again, this town was very Spanish and had some really old churches and castles which were pretty unique all of which were surrounded by a wall around the city, maybe to keep out the enemys back in the day. There were plenty of really small winding streets here which you could very easily get lost in and every different alleyway you go down is different to the next. Again time was not on our side so we had to get going again, next stop Lagos, Portugal.
After a very long drive from Toledo we eventually arrived in Lagos. Josh wasn't too keen on sleeping in the car again so he decided to pay for a camp site for the night. So we set up our tents and away we went to the beautiful beaches of South Portugal. And yes, they are very very beautiful, explaining them doesnt do them justice but picture and nice white sandy beach amongst the 12 Apostles. The town here is almost as equally nice as the beaches, colourful buildings line the small windy alleys that zig zag their way through the town. After an afternoon of swimming Josh and I grabbed a MASSIVE pizza and a bunch of beers and ate and drank down by the beach, chillaxing... The next day was pretty much the same, relaxing and chilling out down by the beach before heading off to our next destination, Malaga, Spain.
Malaga wasn't as nice as the rest of the places we'd been through but the warmth of the Mediterranean. We stayed one night here and just chilled by the beach again. It was really great just to be able to laze about and not worry about anything. Very much needed... Thats about it for Malaga... Next stop, Valencia.
We arrived in Valencia at night and Josh had to go to hospital to get checked up on something, I waiting there for hours and decided to head back to the car to get some sleep. Everything was fine in the morning and we jumped on a hop on hop off bus to get a quick tour of the city. Valencia was pretty nice but we were limited to what we saw on the bus, some pretty old building and beautiful architecture. The beach was pretty good too, warm, Med sea water. I finally got to taste some Paella in Spain and unfortunately wasnt very good. Joe, yours is the best I've had sofar! We stayed here for a night and next stop was to be Barcelona.
I was to meet up with Mikaila in Barcelona and after driving around for hours trying to find her we finally did, not after almost getting a fine from the Spanish Polizia! I dropped off the car and that marked the end of the Spanish Road Trip with Josh. What a great time!
Next blog will be up soon too. Im heading to Athens tomorrow for the Greek Islands if anyones wondering, so got a few blogs to catch up on!
Thanks for reading.
After a couple of buses and some much needed sleep we arrived in Santander. With no accomodation booked and no idea where to start we began to wander the streets. Before long we had stumbled across a semi-cheap hotel which we decided would be the best option considering the circumstances. First things first, we clean ourselves up with a much needed shower then made our way out for some dinner. We eventually found a place not too expensive which had the added bonus of a "pour your own beer at your table" system, we were sold! After being filled with good food and good beer we decided to makes plans for the coming week. The plan was to hire a car and drive from northern Spain to southern Spain/Portugal. Then zzz zzz zzz...
Morning came and so did our pesky little rental car. Lucky it was only the 2 of us travelling and sleeping in it! After driving around Santander like a granny for half an hour trying to get used to driving on the other side of the road it was time to make tracks to Santander. Along the way we stopped off at a Macca's for some lunch. Before long I was trying to order myself a meal using the limited Spanish I had picked up along the way. I thought I'd done well until I ended up with half the menu on my tray... Luckily I was hungry, they must have listened to my stomach not my words?
We stopped off in Segovia for a few hours to check out a few of the sights, mainly the massive aquaduct that slices through the city. It was a pretty impressive structure, especially because it was built using no mortar. The rest of the city was really nice also, small cobbled streets lined with old houses and shops, it was great! Very Spanish... We were on a tight schedule so we left before long, next stop Madrid for the night.
Firstly, driving in Madrid is insane! There are hardly any lanes, massive round-a-bout's with people driving wherever they want its amazing we didn't have an accident. We arrived at night and was only going to stay for 1 night in the car so we quickly found a spot to park the car and took off on our self guided "Madrid by Night" city tour. After a couple of hours we were pooped and had seen pretty much everything we wanted to so we jumped in the car for some sleep.
Morning came and we hit the road once again, next stop Toledo, just south of Madrid. We had heard good things about this very small, old town and decided to stop off for a few hours to check it out. Again, this town was very Spanish and had some really old churches and castles which were pretty unique all of which were surrounded by a wall around the city, maybe to keep out the enemys back in the day. There were plenty of really small winding streets here which you could very easily get lost in and every different alleyway you go down is different to the next. Again time was not on our side so we had to get going again, next stop Lagos, Portugal.
After a very long drive from Toledo we eventually arrived in Lagos. Josh wasn't too keen on sleeping in the car again so he decided to pay for a camp site for the night. So we set up our tents and away we went to the beautiful beaches of South Portugal. And yes, they are very very beautiful, explaining them doesnt do them justice but picture and nice white sandy beach amongst the 12 Apostles. The town here is almost as equally nice as the beaches, colourful buildings line the small windy alleys that zig zag their way through the town. After an afternoon of swimming Josh and I grabbed a MASSIVE pizza and a bunch of beers and ate and drank down by the beach, chillaxing... The next day was pretty much the same, relaxing and chilling out down by the beach before heading off to our next destination, Malaga, Spain.
Malaga wasn't as nice as the rest of the places we'd been through but the warmth of the Mediterranean. We stayed one night here and just chilled by the beach again. It was really great just to be able to laze about and not worry about anything. Very much needed... Thats about it for Malaga... Next stop, Valencia.
We arrived in Valencia at night and Josh had to go to hospital to get checked up on something, I waiting there for hours and decided to head back to the car to get some sleep. Everything was fine in the morning and we jumped on a hop on hop off bus to get a quick tour of the city. Valencia was pretty nice but we were limited to what we saw on the bus, some pretty old building and beautiful architecture. The beach was pretty good too, warm, Med sea water. I finally got to taste some Paella in Spain and unfortunately wasnt very good. Joe, yours is the best I've had sofar! We stayed here for a night and next stop was to be Barcelona.
I was to meet up with Mikaila in Barcelona and after driving around for hours trying to find her we finally did, not after almost getting a fine from the Spanish Polizia! I dropped off the car and that marked the end of the Spanish Road Trip with Josh. What a great time!
Next blog will be up soon too. Im heading to Athens tomorrow for the Greek Islands if anyones wondering, so got a few blogs to catch up on!
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
San Fermin - Pamplona, Spain
I know I´ve been a bit slack with the updates and this comes almost 3 weeks after the festival but better late than never right? Actually, I did write this about 2 weeks ago but the internet ran out just before I got to save it so I lost it all...
We left Biarritz to make our (Pete, Josh, Will & Myself) way to Pamlona for the much anticipated San Fermin festival or ¨Running of the Bulls¨. This was definately up there on the high priority list for my travelling so you can imagine how excited we all were. We hadn´t made any accomodation bookings as we were planning on sleeping in the park and ruffing it for a few nights and funnily enough by the time we got off the train we had a few other people following us to do the same thing. We then jumped on a bus into the centre of town and again by the time we had arrived we had probably 8 other people coming with us to crash in the park, a nice little happy family of bums I guess...
After dropping our bags off in the left luggage place in town we headed to the grog-shop and spent the rest of the night getting to know our new found parksleepers. As the liquor dried up we got tired and it was time to hit the flowerbed for a sleep, in the middle of the main square. A few short hours later we were woken by a sharp pain in the shin´s... It was a bunch of police smacking us in the legs with their battons, and it wasnt any lovetap either! I think we all ended up with a few lumps and bruises and my camera got a bit of dent in it, still works tho. After only about 3 hours sleep we needed longer so we packed up and moved to better hiding spot.
We awoke to the sounds of the opening ceremony of the festival so we quickly packed up our sleeping bags and made our way to the El Corte Ingles, the supermarket, for bulk quantities of Sangria! 5€ later and 5 litres heavier we were set, well at least for a few hours. We did manage to find some room in our stomachs for some food too... The Sangria was SO cheap, we had so much and it was so hot so put all those 3 together and you get everyone soaked in Sangria! So much fun!!!
The day, the people and the town became very very messy. Will managed to lose his passport until I found it about 50metres down the street, a few people spewed and I´m sure I´m missing some important points from that day... As night fell we all were pretty bugged so didnt really stay up too late, and also because we needed to get up early for the first bull run of the festival. So we grabbed our sleeping bags and off we went to our patch of grass...
The morning came and we woke a bit late so were rushing to get to the gate so that we could participate in the bullrun. Unfortunately we got there too late and missed out but I managed to get up the front of the crowd for a good view of the run. It was good to be able to see how it all works before I actually ran I think, but, it definately made me more nervous for the next day... I could see people getting trampled in the stampede of humans and bulls and you can definately see how people get so hurt every year!
After the bullrun the day was pretty relaxing... The day was blisteringly hot so Pete, Josh and I made our way down to the river just outside the town to have a siesta. The sleep didn´t work out, it was way too hot and the river was o so tempting, well if you could get the dirt and smell out of your head... Before long we were splashing about having a ball and about 20 other people wearnt too far behind us! I guess the river kind of acted as our shower for 3 days we didnt have access to one. You can imagine how dirty we were if we thought we´d be cleaner by swimming in a dirty river... Again the night fell and we again slept in our patch of grass.
Tomorrow came and it was now or never for us to run with the bulls. We managed to get up with plenty of time to spare to get to the track and after a heap of pushing and shoving Pete and I manage to get onto the track. It was so exciting and adrenaline pumping just to be standing amongst the crowd. Everyone was so pumped up and you could see the nervous looks on peoples faces, it was quite nerve racking... Then the gun went off and that was our que to start running for our lives. I took my camera with me and took a video over my shoulder as I ran. ()I took the run pretty slow at first to try and let the bulls catch up with me and damn did they catch up. One minute there wearnt anywhere in sight the next they were up my arse. I did a massive stack and quickly got back up just as the bulls were running right past me. One metre to the left and I would´ve been stomped for sure! But I got back up quick smart and ran for my life into the bull ring. Safe at last? HELL NO! After the runners were in the ring, they began to let our more crazy bulls into the ring and they pretty much just charged and charged and charged until they hit someone. You could see people getting flung into the air and there wasn´t much you could do if the bull came staight at you. Luckily enough I escaped virtually unscathed, just a few cuts and bruises on my arms and legs from the stack during the run... Definately a great experience that I´ll never ever forget!
Well now that I´d done my run and I was satisfied it was time to pack up and head off. The next destination was to be Santander on the north coast of Spain. The plan was to go with Josh and we would hire a car up there and drive our way all over Spain, ending in Barcelona...
Plenty more blogs to come so just stay tuned and I´ll do my best to type one up whenever I get the chance.
Until then...
We left Biarritz to make our (Pete, Josh, Will & Myself) way to Pamlona for the much anticipated San Fermin festival or ¨Running of the Bulls¨. This was definately up there on the high priority list for my travelling so you can imagine how excited we all were. We hadn´t made any accomodation bookings as we were planning on sleeping in the park and ruffing it for a few nights and funnily enough by the time we got off the train we had a few other people following us to do the same thing. We then jumped on a bus into the centre of town and again by the time we had arrived we had probably 8 other people coming with us to crash in the park, a nice little happy family of bums I guess...
After dropping our bags off in the left luggage place in town we headed to the grog-shop and spent the rest of the night getting to know our new found parksleepers. As the liquor dried up we got tired and it was time to hit the flowerbed for a sleep, in the middle of the main square. A few short hours later we were woken by a sharp pain in the shin´s... It was a bunch of police smacking us in the legs with their battons, and it wasnt any lovetap either! I think we all ended up with a few lumps and bruises and my camera got a bit of dent in it, still works tho. After only about 3 hours sleep we needed longer so we packed up and moved to better hiding spot.
We awoke to the sounds of the opening ceremony of the festival so we quickly packed up our sleeping bags and made our way to the El Corte Ingles, the supermarket, for bulk quantities of Sangria! 5€ later and 5 litres heavier we were set, well at least for a few hours. We did manage to find some room in our stomachs for some food too... The Sangria was SO cheap, we had so much and it was so hot so put all those 3 together and you get everyone soaked in Sangria! So much fun!!!
The day, the people and the town became very very messy. Will managed to lose his passport until I found it about 50metres down the street, a few people spewed and I´m sure I´m missing some important points from that day... As night fell we all were pretty bugged so didnt really stay up too late, and also because we needed to get up early for the first bull run of the festival. So we grabbed our sleeping bags and off we went to our patch of grass...
The morning came and we woke a bit late so were rushing to get to the gate so that we could participate in the bullrun. Unfortunately we got there too late and missed out but I managed to get up the front of the crowd for a good view of the run. It was good to be able to see how it all works before I actually ran I think, but, it definately made me more nervous for the next day... I could see people getting trampled in the stampede of humans and bulls and you can definately see how people get so hurt every year!
After the bullrun the day was pretty relaxing... The day was blisteringly hot so Pete, Josh and I made our way down to the river just outside the town to have a siesta. The sleep didn´t work out, it was way too hot and the river was o so tempting, well if you could get the dirt and smell out of your head... Before long we were splashing about having a ball and about 20 other people wearnt too far behind us! I guess the river kind of acted as our shower for 3 days we didnt have access to one. You can imagine how dirty we were if we thought we´d be cleaner by swimming in a dirty river... Again the night fell and we again slept in our patch of grass.
Tomorrow came and it was now or never for us to run with the bulls. We managed to get up with plenty of time to spare to get to the track and after a heap of pushing and shoving Pete and I manage to get onto the track. It was so exciting and adrenaline pumping just to be standing amongst the crowd. Everyone was so pumped up and you could see the nervous looks on peoples faces, it was quite nerve racking... Then the gun went off and that was our que to start running for our lives. I took my camera with me and took a video over my shoulder as I ran. ()I took the run pretty slow at first to try and let the bulls catch up with me and damn did they catch up. One minute there wearnt anywhere in sight the next they were up my arse. I did a massive stack and quickly got back up just as the bulls were running right past me. One metre to the left and I would´ve been stomped for sure! But I got back up quick smart and ran for my life into the bull ring. Safe at last? HELL NO! After the runners were in the ring, they began to let our more crazy bulls into the ring and they pretty much just charged and charged and charged until they hit someone. You could see people getting flung into the air and there wasn´t much you could do if the bull came staight at you. Luckily enough I escaped virtually unscathed, just a few cuts and bruises on my arms and legs from the stack during the run... Definately a great experience that I´ll never ever forget!
Well now that I´d done my run and I was satisfied it was time to pack up and head off. The next destination was to be Santander on the north coast of Spain. The plan was to go with Josh and we would hire a car up there and drive our way all over Spain, ending in Barcelona...
Plenty more blogs to come so just stay tuned and I´ll do my best to type one up whenever I get the chance.
Until then...
Friday, 13 July 2007
Bordeaux, Biarritz - France
Ok, so after leaving Libourne we (Josh, Pete, Will & Myself) spent the day in Bordeaux. We didnt really get up to much, just the usual walk around and checkout the sites. Then, again, it was back to the station to jump on yet another train, to Biarritz.
The train ride was only 2hours and was made alot quicker by the fact that we had a case of beer between us and a few American women to talk to. Again, we had no accomodation booked for the night, just our tents and sleeping bags. We arrived sometime in the evening, around 9ish I think, and jumped on the bus to the city/beach where we were planning on crashing for the night.
After reaching the beach we realised that it probably wasnt the best place to pitch the tent for the night. It was still busy and very windy and cold... So we thought that sleeping in our sleeping bags on a small piece of grass in the middle of town was a good idea, not really, it was bloody freezing... Our bodies told us we needed warmth so we decided that we'd try and just get through the night with the tents up on the beach so off we went and set them up, 30 mins later we were sound asleep, and 4hrs later the police were banging on the tents... No trouble tho, just packed up and away we went, this time to the caravan park.
The caravan park was so much more relaxing and at least we had showers! After a few days of dirt I bet you can imagine what the 4 of us smelt like. The day was filled with beach, pool, shower, beer, and food and more beer. All in all a great day.
The morning came and it was again time to pack up and head to the station, this time, destination Pamplona, Spain for San Fermin (Running of the Bulls). One of my most anticipated places on my trip...
Will write about that next time...
Until then, a side note...
The general perception of the French. From almost all the people I have spoken with, they have all told me that the French people are just arrogant and very stubborn people. I didn't find that at all, actually, from my travels I could amost say that the French people (the ones I've met) have been some of the nicest people I've come across... Just my experience tho I guess...
See you again soon!
Don.
The train ride was only 2hours and was made alot quicker by the fact that we had a case of beer between us and a few American women to talk to. Again, we had no accomodation booked for the night, just our tents and sleeping bags. We arrived sometime in the evening, around 9ish I think, and jumped on the bus to the city/beach where we were planning on crashing for the night.
After reaching the beach we realised that it probably wasnt the best place to pitch the tent for the night. It was still busy and very windy and cold... So we thought that sleeping in our sleeping bags on a small piece of grass in the middle of town was a good idea, not really, it was bloody freezing... Our bodies told us we needed warmth so we decided that we'd try and just get through the night with the tents up on the beach so off we went and set them up, 30 mins later we were sound asleep, and 4hrs later the police were banging on the tents... No trouble tho, just packed up and away we went, this time to the caravan park.
The caravan park was so much more relaxing and at least we had showers! After a few days of dirt I bet you can imagine what the 4 of us smelt like. The day was filled with beach, pool, shower, beer, and food and more beer. All in all a great day.
The morning came and it was again time to pack up and head to the station, this time, destination Pamplona, Spain for San Fermin (Running of the Bulls). One of my most anticipated places on my trip...
Will write about that next time...
Until then, a side note...
The general perception of the French. From almost all the people I have spoken with, they have all told me that the French people are just arrogant and very stubborn people. I didn't find that at all, actually, from my travels I could amost say that the French people (the ones I've met) have been some of the nicest people I've come across... Just my experience tho I guess...
See you again soon!
Don.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Libourne - France
Pete, Josh and I left London on a flight to Bordeaux with our final destination to be Libourne.
After arriving in Bordeaux we pretty much jumped straight on a train heading to Libourne. Not sure why we went there but I think it was something to do with the wine region... Anyway, we arrived in Libourne and met up with Will who had flew over from OZ to spend some time in Europe with us boys. It was good to catch up with him, hadnt seen each other for something like 8months!
So straight to the bottle shop and off we went walking to the campsite about 3kms out of town. After the long tiring walk we finally arrived walked in then walked out. The place was only for caravans... As you can imagine we were all pretty frustrated and dissapointed because the next campsite was 6kms away! We decided to knock on the door of a vineyard and ask if we could pitch our tents in their yard. So we did, and the first doorknock was a success. 30mins later we were set-up and heading back into town for some tucker.
Dinner was basic, a kebab. Then we went down the road a bit and bought a case of grog and sat out front and drank til the early hours of the morning. After some drunken shenanigans it was time to head all the way home...
The next day we departed Libourne and headed back to Bordeaux. (will update from here on very soon! Promise...)
After arriving in Bordeaux we pretty much jumped straight on a train heading to Libourne. Not sure why we went there but I think it was something to do with the wine region... Anyway, we arrived in Libourne and met up with Will who had flew over from OZ to spend some time in Europe with us boys. It was good to catch up with him, hadnt seen each other for something like 8months!
So straight to the bottle shop and off we went walking to the campsite about 3kms out of town. After the long tiring walk we finally arrived walked in then walked out. The place was only for caravans... As you can imagine we were all pretty frustrated and dissapointed because the next campsite was 6kms away! We decided to knock on the door of a vineyard and ask if we could pitch our tents in their yard. So we did, and the first doorknock was a success. 30mins later we were set-up and heading back into town for some tucker.
Dinner was basic, a kebab. Then we went down the road a bit and bought a case of grog and sat out front and drank til the early hours of the morning. After some drunken shenanigans it was time to head all the way home...
The next day we departed Libourne and headed back to Bordeaux. (will update from here on very soon! Promise...)
Return to London...
After Helsinki I made a (kind of) surprise return to London to spend a few days in the old house with the boys until the next leg of the journey, France.
My time in London was probably most enjoyable because of the fact that I could just relax and not worry about anything for a while, eat well and again, relax.
One of the days we retraced our steps of the "Fosters Tour" that we had done many months before. This day ended with many stumbles and lost memories but was an awesome day which was reinforced by the morning feeling, "Never drinking again" ring any bells?
Another outing included heading to The Church, my first time there. This place is really on a different drinking planet. Drinks are served in 3 bottle/can lots and given over the counter in clear plastic bags. The floor is covered with sawdust, my guess is so that cleaning is much easier with all the spilt drinks and spew everywhere. A (dirty/disgusting) stripper also performed on stage and a few drinking games were held but mainly the whole day was drinking and drinking and yep, drinking!
Ok well that was that for London! (more happened but I´m so far behind my update that I´ll just put those important parts in...)
Next we left for France, destination Bordoeux.
My time in London was probably most enjoyable because of the fact that I could just relax and not worry about anything for a while, eat well and again, relax.
One of the days we retraced our steps of the "Fosters Tour" that we had done many months before. This day ended with many stumbles and lost memories but was an awesome day which was reinforced by the morning feeling, "Never drinking again" ring any bells?
Another outing included heading to The Church, my first time there. This place is really on a different drinking planet. Drinks are served in 3 bottle/can lots and given over the counter in clear plastic bags. The floor is covered with sawdust, my guess is so that cleaning is much easier with all the spilt drinks and spew everywhere. A (dirty/disgusting) stripper also performed on stage and a few drinking games were held but mainly the whole day was drinking and drinking and yep, drinking!
Ok well that was that for London! (more happened but I´m so far behind my update that I´ll just put those important parts in...)
Next we left for France, destination Bordoeux.
Sunday, 24 June 2007
Helsinki, Finland
If anyone back in Oz is thinking they need a good sunbathing session then jump on a place and head over here to Finland. I say this because in this place, the sky is always light. This means that from about 3am to 11pm you can actually see the sun in the sky and between 11pm and 3am you cant see the sun but the sky is still light...
I arrived in Helsinki at 10:30pm and had some vague instruction on how to reach the hostel I had booked into. So after getting a bus from the airport to the city centre, as instructed by my instructions, I found myself walking around in circles trying to find a tram or metro to the hostel. After a good 15mins tiredness and frustration kicked in so I wrote down the name of the hostel on a bit of paper and gave it to a taxi, jumped in and a few minutes late I was walking through the front door of the hostel. Basically that was my first few hours in Helsinki, then I jumped in bed to prepare for the next day.
Today I had planned to do a fair bit of sightseeing and had marked on the map the various places I wanted to visit. First stop was a church, but not any old church, this one had been carved from the earth, built within a rock which had been chiseled away to form this "one of a kind" places. The whole church wasn't built from the rock, the roof and floor were unnatural but it was still quite impressive!
On the way to my next destination, Fortress of Suomenlinna, I walked passed the 1952 Olympics site, relaxed on a bench in the Winter Garden and passed numerous old buildings from varying time periods. After a long walk and a quick 15min ferry ride to the Fortress on the island Suomenlinna it was time for more walking... The island was pretty big so I had planned on staying there until the last ferry in order to see the whole place. After walking around for hours on end passing through old bunkers, pitch black tunnels and massive cannons it was time to rest my weary legs and what better way to do it than with a couple of local beers and a quite alcove on the rocky shore to do a bit of reading.
The weekend that I was in Helsinki, by coincidence, was their Midsummer Celebrations which included massive bonfires along the shores of the mainland and the hundreds of outlying islands. After taking the ferry back from the islands to the mainland it was time to find a bonfire. Shortly after, I stumbled across a massive stack of wood by the water so I found a suitable viewpoint and waited and waited and waited and waited and finally the fire began. To tell you the truth it wasn't that exciting, just really a massive fire, but was definitely interesting to witness. Time to head home and after a long long walk I got there. My dorm was empty so was good to have the place to myself, don't know why but it was good.
The morning came and I decided to leave the city a bit early, I felt satisfied with what I'd seen over the past day, so I walked to the station and got on a bus to the airport, changed my flight to the next one leaving for London and away I went. London here I come! Pete was expecting me on Sun (I was arriving Sat) and Josh wasn't expecting me at all...
Now I'm in London, again, so I'll report again soon, maybe from Spain this time...
I arrived in Helsinki at 10:30pm and had some vague instruction on how to reach the hostel I had booked into. So after getting a bus from the airport to the city centre, as instructed by my instructions, I found myself walking around in circles trying to find a tram or metro to the hostel. After a good 15mins tiredness and frustration kicked in so I wrote down the name of the hostel on a bit of paper and gave it to a taxi, jumped in and a few minutes late I was walking through the front door of the hostel. Basically that was my first few hours in Helsinki, then I jumped in bed to prepare for the next day.
Today I had planned to do a fair bit of sightseeing and had marked on the map the various places I wanted to visit. First stop was a church, but not any old church, this one had been carved from the earth, built within a rock which had been chiseled away to form this "one of a kind" places. The whole church wasn't built from the rock, the roof and floor were unnatural but it was still quite impressive!
On the way to my next destination, Fortress of Suomenlinna, I walked passed the 1952 Olympics site, relaxed on a bench in the Winter Garden and passed numerous old buildings from varying time periods. After a long walk and a quick 15min ferry ride to the Fortress on the island Suomenlinna it was time for more walking... The island was pretty big so I had planned on staying there until the last ferry in order to see the whole place. After walking around for hours on end passing through old bunkers, pitch black tunnels and massive cannons it was time to rest my weary legs and what better way to do it than with a couple of local beers and a quite alcove on the rocky shore to do a bit of reading.
The weekend that I was in Helsinki, by coincidence, was their Midsummer Celebrations which included massive bonfires along the shores of the mainland and the hundreds of outlying islands. After taking the ferry back from the islands to the mainland it was time to find a bonfire. Shortly after, I stumbled across a massive stack of wood by the water so I found a suitable viewpoint and waited and waited and waited and waited and finally the fire began. To tell you the truth it wasn't that exciting, just really a massive fire, but was definitely interesting to witness. Time to head home and after a long long walk I got there. My dorm was empty so was good to have the place to myself, don't know why but it was good.
The morning came and I decided to leave the city a bit early, I felt satisfied with what I'd seen over the past day, so I walked to the station and got on a bus to the airport, changed my flight to the next one leaving for London and away I went. London here I come! Pete was expecting me on Sun (I was arriving Sat) and Josh wasn't expecting me at all...
Now I'm in London, again, so I'll report again soon, maybe from Spain this time...
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