Wednesday April 11, 2012 – Bruges

            In the morning on April 11^th we left Amsterdam for Bruges.  When we got there we walked around the city.  I absolutely fell in love with it when we got there.  There were chocolate shops EVERYWHERE with canals just like Venice (just a lot larger).  There were cobblestone streets everywhere along with horse and carriage rides and swans.  In the afternoon I tried the Belgium hot chocolate and I was blown away.  It was the BEST hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted – I couldn’t even believe how good it was.  We spent the afternoon going into almost every chocolate shop we passed comparing prices (I got a lot to bring back to Canada!).  We then got Belgium waffles as an afternoon snack.  I got mine with cherries on it and Mike got his with caramel on it.  In the evening we had pasta in a box for dinner, which was surprisingly very good (and cheap!)  We then went back to the hostel to the pub attached to it to try Belgium beer.  I had the cherry beer, which was super sweet and tasty – wish we had it in Canada!  The next morning we had breakfast at the hostel, checked out, and went to the park by our hostel to see giant windmills.  After taking many pictures it was then time to head to the train station to make our way to Paris!

Tuesday April 10th, 2012 – Amsterdam and Keukenhof Gardens

            On Sunday April 8^th (Easter!) Mike and I took the train from Berlin to Amsterdam.  We arrived in Amsterdam in the evening and only had time to walk around the old town and check out the Red Light District.  I’ve gotta say, I was very surprised with the Red Light District.  Not because of the prostitutes it’s known for, but how it was such a tourist attraction!  The streets were crowded with people of all ages checking the area out.  There were single people, and couples from their 20’s up to their 80’s walking along the streets.  It was definitely a different experience.  The next day Mike and I got up early to go to the Van Gogh Museum – good thing we did because the line up was HUGE by the time we left the museum in the late morning.  Next we went in many cheese and souvenir shops.  We discovered that you could go from cheese shop to cheese shop trying all the free samples so that it was basically lunch!  We walked through the flower markets and basically just around the city all day.  That evening we went to a pub and got a drink or two.

            The next day we went to Keukenhof Gardens.  The gardens were BEAUTIFUL with millions of tulips and flowers.  There was also a windmill in the park as well.  After exploring the whole park we walked to some nearby farmers fields full of flowers and took pictures.  The fields of flowers just kept going on and on.  Afterwards we went back to Amsterdam looking for more cheese shops – the Gouda cheese from Amsterdam is my favourite cheese now.  It was very sunny that day making it very nice to walk along the canal belt.  We checked out the city hall area and walked around the old town at night.

Saturday April 7th, 2012 – Berlin

            On Friday April 6^th, 2012 we arrived in Berlin in the afternoon.  After we checked into our hostel we saw the Holocaust memorial, Brandenburg gate, Reichstag, DDR museum and went in some shops on the main street from the Brandenburg gate.  We also saw some parts of the Berlin Wall.  The next day we went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum where we learned about various escape stories of people trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin over the wall.  One women escaped successfully by hiding between two surfboards with a cut out of her body in them on top of a car.  Another women escaped by hiding inside two suitcases put together.  Other people escaped by creating zip lines, their own little planes, and other ladders that would quickly fit over the wall and then collapse again.  All of it was very interesting and I would greatly recommend going to it if anyone visits Berlin.  Next we saw the Topographie des Terrors exhibit where my hatred for Hitler exponentially rose x infinity.  In high school they taught you a bit about World War II and the holocaust, but not to the extent that I learned while in Berlin.  After reading some stories and things that happened to some of the Jewish people I shed a few tears right in the museum.  I just can’t imagine what it must have ACTUALLY been like.  Hearing the descriptions of everything in all the museums definitely doesn’t do it justice to the real thing.

            Next we went to the East Side Gallery where the longest piece of the remaining Berlin wall is.  There were many murals on it each portraying different messages.  After that we went to the Easter market in Berlin, which lightened up my spirits.  Sadly, I became depressed again when went to the Holocaust Memorial and information centre.  We learned all about the Holocaust in great detail there and it was all very heavy to take in.  Pretty sure I shed a few more tears while reading some stuff there too.  Finally, we decided to spurge and go out for dinner and we got ribs and wings at an Australian restaurant.  They weren’t too expensive which was why we got them.  That day in Berlin it was extremely cold and it even started snowing at some points, which was why we spent it in museums all day.  The next day we left for Amsterdam after a depressing day and a half learning about Berlin’s history in great detail.

Thursday April 5th, 2012 – Vienna and Prague

            On Monday April 2^nd Mike and I arrived in Vienna bright and early from our overnight train.  We only had about 5-6 hours in the city so we decided to mostly walk around and take the subway everywhere to see as much as we could.  We walked around the old town, and saw the beautiful architecture and gardens.  We walked by the Hapsburg Palace but sadly couldn’t go inside since we didn’t have enough time.  Next, we went to the Schonbrunn Palace and walked around the grounds and Easter market there.  I wish we had more time in Vienna because it looks like a gorgeous city to see in more detail with many palaces and museums to visit.  After lunch, we then took a train to Prague.

            Prague ended up being our favourite part of the whole trip, and is probably my favourite city I’ve ever visited, tied with Hawaii.  When we first got there and checked into our amazing hostel, we walked around the Easter markets and old town.  Right away I was in love with the Easter markets.  They offered many different types of traditional Czech food, which were ALL amazing and relatively cheap.

            On the Tuesday we had 2 3 hour-long walking tours of the city.  We started off with the free walking tour, which made me LOVE the city.  Our tour guide was superb at her job and told us all about the history of the city.  I didn’t know much about Prague’s history so learning about it was definitely very interesting.  Mike already knew about it so he ended up teaching me about it further after the tours.  During the tour we saw the Old Town Square and the famous astrological astronomical clock.  We also saw the Estate’s Theatre where Mozart conducted the premiere of his opera Don Giovanni in 1787.  We walked to Wencenslas Square and learned about the modern history of the country including the Velvet Revolution, which happened within that square and led to the fall of communism in the country in 1989 (so recent!).  We then saw the powder tower, the Spanish synagogue, and Old New synagogue, the Metronome, and Prague Castle.  Afterwards, we did a 3 hour tour of the Prague castle and surrounding area where we had a panoramic view of Prague, saw the TV tower with babies on it, St. Vitus Cathedral, the castle district, changing of the guards, and a monastery.  That evening we had dinner overlooking the Charles Bridge on a boat restaurant on the river during the sunset.  That pasta we had was the best pasta and food we had on our whole trip.  It wasn’t too expensive either and definitely was a highlight of mine of our time in Prague.

            The next day we saw the memorial where Jan Palach set himself on fire in 1969, the Museum of Communism, the giant baby sculptures in a park, and the Lennon Wall.  We then went inside Wallenstein’s palace for a while and saw white peacocks.  We also saw two peacocks mate in front of 20 people!  Next we walked up to the 75-foot tall metronome, which was ereceted in 1991.  It stands on the spot where an enormous monument of Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin once stood but was destroyed in 1962 by dynamite.  It represents a separation from communism, pacing time toward the future.  We then walked to a beer garden in a park and had beer and ice cream on a patio, which were both super cheap.  Next we went to my favourite part of the city in the old town square and listened to traditional Czech music while traditional Czech dancers were performing as part of the Easter Market.  We then got fried cheese, nuts, and a deep fried garlic and cheese bread thing that is apparently a traditional Czech food.  The food was AMAZING.  Next we went to the top of the Old Town Hall Tower to get a view of the city at night.  Finally, we ended our night by going to a rooftop patio overlooking the old town square and getting drinks and ice cream as a treat.  The day was definitely a good one.

            The next day was our last full day in Prague.  It was cold and rainy but that didn’t stop us from exploring more of the city.  We saw the dancing house, walked up to the little Eiffel tower, went in a mirror maze, and wandered back down to some shops.  We then went to the Easter Market yet again (because I loved it so much) and saw some farm animals there this time.  We mingled around the vendors, then did some grocery shopping and went on the internet at the hostel and then back to the old town square for our final night there.

Sunday April 1st, 2012 – Milan and Venice

           So I know I’m long overdue with updating everyone about my Eurotrip I went on!  Here is the first post of many about my 3 weeklong trip!  On Wednesday March 28, 2012 Mike and I left for Milan and got there pretty late with only enough time to check into our hotel.  The next day we spent the morning in the city.  We saw the Duomo Cathedral and went inside of it.  We then walked around the streets and saw the La Scala Opera house.  After walking around and going into a few touristy shops we then had lunch and went on our first train ride of many on our trip.  We started to make our way to Venice with our Eurail passes!

            That afternoon we arrived in Venice and checked into our hostel which was right on the Grand Canal.  Right when we arrived in the city I was blown away by it.  It’s SUCH a unique city with only vespas and people walking everywhere since some of the “roads” are pretty much alleyways.  That evening we walked around the city and saw the Rialto Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs, and St. Mark’s Square.  We then decided to go back to the hostel since it was starting to get dark and we had a 30 minute walk ahead of us through the maze of Venice “streets”.  Unfortunately, we kind of got lost and ended up walking around for an hour before we found our way home.

            On Friday March 30, 2012 we spent the day touring around the islands in Venice.  We first took the waterbus to Murano where the famous Murano glass is made.  We started off with seeing a glass blowing demonstration where the two men made a vase and a gorgeous horse in just a couple minutes.  We made our way along the main canal in the island and went in MANY small shops that sold Murano glass.  Even though most of it was out of our price range, it was worth it just to see the beautiful art the people of the island make.  Next we went to the island of Burano, which is famous for its differently coloured houses.  The famous leaning church steeple was there and it made me wonder if it would ever fall down.  After exploring the island, going into shops, and getting some gelato, we then made our way to the main island of Venice again to St. Mark’s square.  We decided to splurge a little and go to a restaurant for dinner so we found a cute restaurant and ate our amazing pasta we got outside.  Afterwards, we walked around St. Mark’s square more and listened to the music that was being played by musicians.  Since it was already 9pm at this point, we decided to take the waterbus home since there was a bus stop right in front of our hostel.  It was nice taking the waterbus at night since we basically got an amazing tour of the Grand Canal.

            On the Saturday we went inside St. Mark’s Cathedral – wow!  The whole inside of it has mosaics on the walls that were individually placed there by people many, MANY years ago.  The mosaics themselves were incredible.  We then went in the museum and the terrace at the top of the cathedral to overlook St. Mark’s square.  Next, we went inside the Doge’s Palace, which had amazing artwork on all the walls inside the giant rooms.  It reminded me of the Palace of Versailles.  We ended up seeing the dungeons and walked inside the Bridge of Sighs.  Next, we went to Academia, which was a famous art gallery.  We then walked around that area and found an area where gondolas were made.  Since it was a warm day right by the water, we then decided to have some gelato beside a large canal.  We ended up walking along the canal and then had a private “gondola” ride of our own in one of the traghettos, which were basically retired gondolas (rides were only 50 cents to get across the Grand Canal!).  We then made our way to our hostel and ended the night with making our own dinner with multi coloured and different shaped pasta we had gotten earlier in the day.

            Sunday was our last day in Venice since we were leaving that night to go to Vienna on an overnight train.  We spent the day walking around Venice in the area by our hostel.  We walked all the way to the Rialto Bridge and market where we got lunch as well.  Of course we went in many cute shops and bakeries as we walked around.  Since we had walked around a lot during the past few days, we decided to sit around more to rest our feet.  We went to the Jewish Ghetto and people watched in the main square there.  We saw a few churches including the Frari as well.  Lastly, we sat by the Grand Canal for a while and walked to a nearby park and through laneways.  Finally we left Venice in our 6-person couchette within the train to Vienna.

March 28, 2012 – Northern Ireland and Dublin

            On the weekend of March 15-19^th I went to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!  On the Friday we went to Dublin for the day and saw the Trinity College campus, but we didn’t get to see the Book of Kells due to the long line up in the rain and the expensive price.  We then made our way around the city and found a Tim Hortons like in London!  We got excited.  Next we went to the Guinness Brewery and had to wait 45 minutes in line to get in.  The line up was well worth it though and the brewery self guided tour was much larger than I thought it was – we spent the entire afternoon there.  The whole building was about 7 or 8 floors with different exhibits about the making of the beer.  We ended the tour off with a pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar overlooking the city of Dublin.  Of course I ended up giving most of my pint to Mike.  It was amazing spending the day before St. Patrick’s Day in the Gravity Bar crowded with people all in green.  Next, we walked over to the Temple Bar area where many celebrations were taking place.  We went in a few touristy shops and walked around the area enjoying the atmosphere.  Eventually, it was time for us to head back to Belfast where we were staying for the weekend.

            On Saturday we got up and walked around the city of Belfast.  We walked along the boardwalk at the waterfront, and went up to the dome at the top of the shopping mall overlooking the city.  After finding Irish souvenirs to wear for St. Patrick’s Day, it was then time to watch the parade.  Shortly after the parade a series of sketchy events happened to us.  We started walking to the area where the Peace Walls are, and quickly realized that it was a Protestant area of town.  Of course we were all still dressed with our Irish flags and scarves, so a man and his kid stopped their car and told us to take them off since the area was Protestant.  We quickly realized what we were doing and stuffed them in Mike’s backpack.  We ended up finding the murals, but also passed by houses that had smashed and boarded up windows.  We wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.  We then made our way back to the city centre to go on yet another sketchy adventure.

            Most of the kids in the city were aged 12-15 and seemed like juvenile delinquents.  They were all VERY drunk.  We decided to walk over to the Titanic museum and to see the port where it was built, and on the way we passed by a group of probably 100 of those young teenagers who were acting very strange.  We then realized that they were all EXTREMELY drunk and acting VERY obnoxious.  We walked past them all very quick.  After an unsuccessful trip to the Titanic sights (museum doesn’t open until the end of March), we passed by where the group of teenagers used to be.  Thankfully some police had shown up and scattered the kids away.  The kids were still all walking in a similar direction as us though, and they were all very drunk still, crying, and limping as if there were a few fights.  We couldn’t believe how they were acting – so embarrassing for the city.  As we nearly passed all of them 8 or 9 police officers showed up to deal with them.  We didn’t stay to watch – just got out of there.

            For our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations we didn’t end up doing anything really exciting.  We talked for a while in the common kitchen area in the hostel as we ate dinner.  We then decided to go out to a pub somewhere to experience an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day.  Problem was: they were all full or closed because they were too full.  It was a failure of an adventure.  We then came back to the hostel and just talked for awhile – not very exciting.

            On Sunday we took a tour to the Giant’s Causeway.  We started off the tour seeing Carrickfergus Castle, and then the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, which we crossed!  It was very nerve wracking, but the view afterwards was well worth it.  The water around that area was as blue as the Caribbean – couldn’t believe it!  We took the 3-hour coastal route, which was absolutely beautiful.  The sun was shining, sheep were everywhere, and the water was sparkling under the sun.  We stopped at the Old Bushmills Distillery for lunch, which is the oldest licensed distillery in the world.  Before we reached the Giant’s Causeway, we stopped at Dunluce Castle for pictures – really wish we could have gone in!  Finally we had reached our destination – the Giant’s Causeway!  Seeing the hexagonally shaped rocks was SO cool, and some of them were 12 metres high!  We spent over an hour there and even though we had a sun shower, it didn’t stop us from having a good time.  It was then time to go back to Belfast, but that day was definitely the highlight of the weekend.

            On Monday we walked around the city basically wasting time until we left to catch the bus for the ferry to go home.  There wasn’t anything to do in Belfast except to shop, which we didn’t really feel like doing.  The highlight of that day was the ferry, which had a cinema on it, video games, free ipads with Internet to use, restaurants, shops, casinos, and a spa on it.  It was a lot nicer than I expected!  We then had a two-hour bus ride that took us back to Glasgow when we reached the ferry port, which drove along the coast part of the way.  It was definitely a good weekend, and I’d go back to Dublin and the countryside of Northern Ireland in a heartbeat.  We’ll see if I end up back in Ireland at all in May.


Tomorrow Mike and I are off on our big Eurotrip!  We're starting in Milan and then going to Venice, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels, Paris, Nice, and Monte Carlo ALL in 3 weeks!  Definitely can't wait!

March 27, 2012 – London and Bristol

            So I know it has been awhile since I’ve done any posts, but that’s because I’ve been so busy travelling and ACTUALLY doing work throughout the weeks to the point that I haven’t had time to write.  Since I’m leaving on Wednesday for my Eurotrip, I decided that I’d better update everyone on what I’ve done these past few weeks, and all the exciting stories that have developed.

            On the weekend of March 9-12^th Mike and I went to London and then Bristol on the Monday to visit Chris Spencer who is on exchange there!  After taking an overnight bus and getting 2 hours of sleep at the most, we arrived in London at 6:45am.  We spent the day walking around the city seeing all the sights.  We first saw Buckingham Palace at 7:30am, then walked through Green Park where we saw Canadian Geese and pelicans, saw the Wellington Arch, Piccadilly Circus, and then found the store that sells Tim Hortons hot drinks and donuts which we were VERY happy to see – of course we stopped and got coffee/hot chocolate.  There’s nothing like a bit of home when you’re away from it for so long.  We then went to Trafalgar Square, saw the Admiralty Arch, and then went back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards.  Next we walked to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings and the London Eye.  It was crazy how much walking we did.

            Afterwards, we walked all the way past Buckingham Palace to our hilariously small hotel.  The room was literally a tiny hallway, with a double bed at the end enclosed by walls on all 4 sides except for the where the hallway met it.  The washroom was a tad bigger than an airport washroom, and that is only because there was a tiny shower in it.  We then met up with a friend from Strathclyde at the British Museum (which we walked an hour to) and walked around it for a bit until we were way too tired to walk anymore.  After stopping for some dinner and a chance to rest our tired and sore feet, we then came to the touristy area of Piccadilly Circus again.  The whole area was buzzing with people everywhere and it definitely seemed like the place to be.  We went in a few shops and then found the famous M&M World, which definitely lightened our spirits after an exhausting day!

            On the Saturday we had the London Pass so we had to be as efficient as possible with our sight seeing.  We started the day off with Westminster Abbey, which was one of my favourite parts of London.  It was amazing seeing the inside of it where so many Royalties have been before (and are still there buried!).  It was also amazing seeing the features in real life that I recognized from watching the Royal Wedding on television last year.  We then took the underground to St. Paul’s cathedral where we spent the remainder of our morning.  Once again, we were blown away by the architecture and how beautiful it was inside.  Afterwards, we took the underground to the Tower of London where we walked around and saw the Queen’s Jewels and the White Tower exhibits inside.  We then decided to take a break and get ice cream since it was SUCH a beautifully warm day out.  We ate our ice cream between the Thames River and the Tower of London while seeing the Tower Bridge.  Was definitely a nice break.  Next, we went to the London Bridge Experience, which was definitely a let down.  I don’t recommend it to anyone because there was glass and fencing on each side of it so you couldn’t take any good photos or see very well even.  We then made our way to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to finish the day off with our final tour.  After a very busy day sightseeing we decided to take it easy and splurge by going to a Greek restaurant.  Although it was still very cheap, it was a very nice change from the hectic 2 days we had just experienced.  We then finished the night off by going to the Queen’s Bowl and Skate at London’s ONLY indoor skating rink.  Mike was very excited since he missed skating very much, and I of course enjoyed it even though I only go skating like once a year anyways.  It was a very fun way to end our day, and by the end of it, we were yet again ready to crash as soon as we got back.

            On Sunday we started the day off early and went to King’s Cross’s Platform 9 ¾, Abbey Road, and Soho.  We also went to the Museum of Natural History which I LOVED, and just sat in Hyde Park across from Royal Albert Hall.  We then rented Bixi bikes and rode them for a bit, but then the ride transformed into the Amazing Race.  After 45 minutes we were ready to dock the bikes but the problem was, was that we couldn’t find a docking station for them.  Whenever we DID find a docking station they were all full.  After riding all around the city trying desperately to find a place to dock them we finally did and rewarded ourselves with some pizza.  We then walked back to Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings to take more pictures at night, and then decided to go home.

            We went to bed early since we had to get up at 6am the next day to catch a 7:30am bus to Bristol, but we ended up having to go to bed later.  When we went to bed we heard dripping sounds in the walls but we figured that it was from someone showering.  Then at about 11:15pm Mike woke up to a drip of water landing on his arm.  We turned on the light, looked up, and there was indeed a leak falling right where Mike was sleeping.  Mike went and told the receptionist, who gave us a better and new room.  Problem with this room was that they couldn’t unlock the washroom door.  We then got moved AGAIN to a smaller room like before, which hadn’t been cleaned and didn’t have sheets.  Then all of a sudden they said they got the washroom door open so we ended up staying back in the original new room.  The washroom was not clean though but it was already 12am and we just wanted to get some sleep before waking up early to go to Bristol so we didn't care.  We were not impressed.

            Finally, we went to Bristol on the Monday and met up with Chris!  It was nice catching up with him and sharing our stories that we all had experienced so far on exchange.   He first showed us around the University of Bristol, and to a nearby park with a large tower on it, which we climbed up to see a view of the city.  We then walked around the city until we came to a market and had some lunch.  After having some lunch, we then walked around the city more and went back to his residence to hang out.  We then left and led a blind man with his dog in the right direction, and then decided to go hang out in a pub for an hour before Mike and I had to leave for our plane home.  All in all it was a very fun weekend, but it was definitely jam packed with things to see, to the point that it wore us out.  There are still many sights that I want to see that we didn’t have time to see so I’d definitely go back.