Territoire Français!

Bonjour madams and messieurs! Or good evening ladies and gentlemen for those who do not speak French, like myself. Once I left Bruges I entered the area of the French language, or mostly French.

Right after Bruges I headed for Brussels, which is the European Union capital (I guess that's the best way of describing it). In Brussels they actually have 3 main languages, French, German, and Nederlands or Dutch, but from what my ears could tell me French was the most common. Brussels was actually a wonderful, I'd had mixed opinions by some of my friends saying its gross and dirty where other friends said it was a beautiful city. In a way I kind of agree with both descriptions. I believe the outer areas may be a little bit dirtier, but I also think that center part of the city is just magnificent. I actually wish I'd had more time there, but alas I only had one full day to spend there. Sme of the sights I did see were the Grand Place square, the Musical Instrument Museum, mannekin pis (who really is as small and some what dissapointing as everyone says he is), the Royal Palace which is now only offices for the royal family, and many other things. But like I said I truly did not have enough time in this city. I ended up missing many things I just couldn't get to. So I will definitely wing going back to Brussels with more than one full day to spend there. 

When I left Brussels I headed for Luxembourg, which is another major European Union city. Luxembourg is another mostly French speaking country, but they also speak German and Luxembourgish. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time here in Lux City either, this last month of my trip I think was a little too poorly planned and I've squashed so much into such a short time. There is a bright side though, the next time I come to Europe I will know which cities I want to visit the most.
Strasbourg was next after Luxembourg. Now you can guess that Strasbourg being a city in France that yes they also speak French. My opinion so far from Strasbourg is a good one. The city although quite small is quite nice. They have the Notre Dame Cathedral and it is truly a sight to make you say wow. When I first got there I was actually quite surprised to see that the cathedral itself is like an orangey brown color, not what I was expecting. But the building truly is unique. It has only one tower that stands 466 ft above ground. The front facade is just littered with architectural beauty, the whole front side is detailed like you could not believe. The inside is just as spectacular. One thing they do have that I had not seen before is an astrological clock which was pretty cool. I didn't get to see it working but I've been told that it counts down to astrological noon at 12:30 pm if I remember correctly. Unfortunately you have to pay to see it working, that's why I didn't get to see it working
Strasbourg also has an area within this center called Petite France. It's an area that used to house tanners, millers and fishers but now is quite peaceful, although it is the most touristic part of the city. It is still beautiful with the half-timbered 16th and 17th century houses. Definitely a sight worth checking out.
One thing I was told about France is that the people here can be quite ignorant and rude, and also that most people don't speak English; I have a theory about this. Most of the French people I have come across have been quite polite, there has been the odd slightly rude person, but for the most part I haven't had any problems. Now the stereotype that most people don't speak English I think is mostly true. Walking around I barely hear any English being spoken, including most tourists have been able to speak French. My theory is that after English, French is probably the most spoken language, I'm not drawing that from any facts it's just my personal opinion. Therefore when people come to visit France most of them speak some portion of the French language causing most native French speaking people to have no immediate need to learn the English language. They may be slightly rude towards those who do not speak or even attempt to speak French simply because it must be frustrating have such a language barrier. I can't say this is also true about Paris, as I have not been there yet, but as for Strasbourg that is my theory.

In Bruges

So in my last post I talked to you guys about Amsterdam and how it surprised me, and I would like to apologize for any grammar or spelling issues that occurred throughout my last post, and any that happen in this one. At the moment I only have my iPad to work on and it's very temperamental when it comes to some things.
After I left Amsterdam I headed straight for Rotterdam, which is a city I didn't really enjoy. It's great for people who really enjoy architecture, and don't get me wrong I do appreciate some really cool buildings, but these were mostly new modern designs and I Ike more the old buildings. I couldn't wait to leave Rotterdam.
When I finally left for Antwerp I was quite happy to be starting fresh in a new city, Rotterdam had kind of drained me. I only had one night here on Antwerp but I would thuroughly recommend it to anyone for just one night or for longer. It's actually a super cool place. Once I was settled in to my hostel I went out for a bit of a walk. I went by the river on a type of boardwalk which I have to say was probably my favorite part. I've never been on an actual boardwalk before, it was raised above the pavement with some benches and stuff so I sat down and just waited there for a while. The area was just so peaceful I didn't want to leave. At one point I noticed to my right a man just sitting there feeding some bread to a flock of pigeons, it put a bit of a smile on my face I have to admit. When I min ally felt ready to leave that area I continued on my walk. Some other stops included the big cathedral, the parliament building, a park and some other places. Honestly I wish I had spent more time here, it truly was a beautiful city.
When I did finally depart from Antwerp I headed for Bruges. Though small this city contains quite a lot. This city as far as I'm aware has the claim for lace and chocolate, and frankly hats all you kind find here shopping wise. But it has a ton of other attractions. For example the town Belfry, many churches, canals, etc. I spent 3 nights here and at the end of my second day I was unfortunately a little bored. In a smaller visit I think it would be the perfect city. There are a lot of things to do here but I think part of the problem is how homesick and just tired of the same sort of things. Do this museum and go see that church. But for the next 2 weeks, yes that's all that is left of my trip, I will persevere through my home sickness. Less than 2 weeks now. Can't wait!

Amsterdam!

As per my last post you read that I was in Düsseldorf, which to be honest was kind of a boring city, but still quite good. When I left there I went to Cologne, which is a city I loved. The part of the city I was most looking forward to was the Dom, the cathedral and tower. I'd seen pictures of this beauty before but those photos could never do it justice. It is a massive building turned almost black from all the years of wear and tear I guess would be the best way to describe it. But the detailing and time that has been put onto the walls of the building are incredible. Everywhere you look is a detail you probably missed the first time your eyes scroll around the building, and each side of the building is different than the last side. The inside is no exception for the amount of beauty it displays. With ceilings that expand higher than the full 2 story house I live in its just an awe to walk into. My jaw literally dropped as I entered. The windows are all ornate stained glass, and if there's not a window there is a painted mural somewhere nearby or some other decoration.
The only thing better than the building itself are the two towers that grow to a height of about 515 ft high. I could not successfully get both towers in the same photo. The entrance to climb to the top of one of the towers actually starts below the cathedral itself, which I don't think is helpful, but hey it works. After probably 2/3 of the way up the stairs you come to a resting area, I was so thankful for this. In this area you have the 9 bells of the cathedral, each one a different size so no two bells are the same.  You have a chance to walk all the way around the bells on a walkway of sorts. I think they probably went through a lot of work to get those bells up there, I can't even imagine. How difficult it would've been. Final after you walk up all 532 steps to the top of the tower you can take a breath of the cool wind blowing through the open tower compared to the sweltering heat of those spiral staircases, but the views from the top are worth the hard climb. Despite not getting a clear view, it's obstructed by part of the building all that detail work I mentioned from before, it's one you definitely have to see, it is completely breathtaking.
To be honest I think the climb down the spiral staircases are scarier and harder than the climb up. To get up to the very tip top you have to pass through 3 sets of stairs. The one set of spiral staircases can only fit one person, safely; there is a separate entrance and exit to the tip top. Going down that staircase I was literally frightened, I don't think my hand left the walls at any point in time until I reached the bottom.
After leaving Cologne I arrived in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Utrecht is a smaller version of Amsterdam basically, more local versus touristy. But it was very nice I have to admit. The one day I spent there I just took a long walk, got lost but that's almost fun now. I did do a canal tour which was really cool. We passed under one bridge that was literally an inch higher than the top of the boat. The tour mentioned one pancake house that was actually opposite the canal where you board and exit the boats and oh my goodness was it ever delicious. I had a pancake with peaches, cherry liqueur, ice cream and whipped cream, I was in breakfast for dinner heaven.
When I left Utrecht I headed for Amsterdam, which to be honest was nothing like how I expected it, but I'll get to that in a second. When I first got there I didnt even get to my hostel before I took in a bike tour which I really enjoyed. The only part I didn't enjoy was 35+ degree weather, wearing jeans, riding a bike for two hours. That was probably some of the hottest weather I have come across my entire trip, but maybe it was just my jeans exaggerating the temperature.
On my first full day there I took part in a walking tour of the city, through the same company as the bike tour, and guess what I had the same guide! She was amazing I have to say and a local from Amsterdam so we had a bit of a different inset into the city. I also met some really cool Canadians on the tour and hung out with them the rest of the day. It's nice to have a break from the lonely traveller life sometimes.
I also had a break from it the next day too; surprisingly I met more Canadians and hung out with them. I went for lunch with one girl and we had to run back to the hostel in the pouring rain. We got completely soaked and almost had to rent a blow dryer for our shoes. But that night I went on a red light district tour and it was really informative. I'm pretty sure the guide thought I hated him, he kept giving me these questioning looks. The red light district is what I was surprised about. My parents told me before I left to stay away, and not to walk around there at night, and to be honest I was a little frightened too. But getting the chance to experience it at, even at night, really changed my views. If you walk through the area you notice how only the bottom level of most buildings are for the sex workers, sometimes you see them on higher levels but most often just the bottom. But then you start thinking, what happens up top? The answer is residents of the city live there. Yes, not only is the red light district an area for prostituion, it is also a residential area. That is what surprised me, the normalcy of it. It was a good surprise, I actually really enjoyed the time I spent in the red light district. I hung out with a couple of awesome people after my tour and we basically wandered around the red light district for a while.

Dun dun DUN!!

My final month here in Europe has finally arrived, and I can't decide if it has all rushed by me or if has taken its sweet time because for some reason it feels like both if that's possible. This has been the greatest experience of my life so far. I'd like to say that I've grown and learned new things, but at the same time I feel as if I've just been partying and relaxing. In the end it's been both; a mix of partying and sightseeing, being alone and being with friends, having fun and learning from mistakes. I only hope that this next month will bring me the same enjoyment these past two have, maybe minus having my purse stolen though.
When I left Greece I was heading into Germany, Hamburg to be exact. I had a connecting flight in Vienna which was four hours long, I had myself a bit of a scare here. As I had forgotten, Greece is on a different time zone than Austria and Germany are, so when I got to the airport in Vienna I completely forgot to change the time on my phone, iPad, and watch to the correct time. So when 14:30 rolled by according to my time keepers there was no plane and I had myself a minor freak out. It was only after 15 minutes of trying to figure out why my plane never arrived did I figure out I was still on Greece time. I felt pretty stupid to say the least.
Once I arrived in Hamburg it was a piece of cake. Got a little disoriented trying to find my hostel but once I found it everyone went well. My first full day there was really good; I took in a tour that morning which lasted three hours and went throughout most of the city. The tour guide at first seemed quite boring, he just talked and talked and talked, it took forever to finally get going. But throughout the tour he seemed to loosen up and it all got better.
After the tour I took a walk through Hamburg's red light district, which, according to my travel/guide book, is the biggest in all of Europe, including Amsterdam, which surprised me. It was actually quite interesting to see. I didn't spend much time there but the little walk I took down the Reeperbahn proved quite eye opening. That was my first experience with a red light district of any kind, and it was quite different. All along the street you find sex shops, bars, an Erotic Art Museum, the Condomerie which is apparently quite well known, and many other shops I didn't see any dancing window ladies though, I'm sureI w ill experience that once in Amsterdam.
After taking in the Reeperbahn I walked to St Michael's tower which is one of the most famous churches in the city, and is also dedicated to Archangel Michael: interesting fact número uno. The church itself it absolutely stunning; inside it is pure white with ornate golden detailing all over the room including the massive organ on the back wall. However the inside is not even the most exciting part, for a couple of euros you can go right up to the top and get a panoramic view of the entire city. You can either take the elevator or walk up the 451 steps to the top, which is what I did. However tired I was when I reached the top, it was well worth it. The view you receive is absolutely stunning. If you look to one side you can see the city, to the other side is a view of Germany's largest and fastest harbour. Hamburg is basically a giant harbour city, I couldn't see all of it even when at the top of St Michael's tower.
I was sad the next day when I had to leave Hamburg, it truly is a stunningly beautiful city. I headed for Düsseldorf next, which is actually quite a fashionable city. The main shopping street there is called Koningsallee, which consists of shops such as Louis Vitton, Georgio Armani, BCBG Maxazria, and many other fancy brands I had never even heard of. I felt quite sloppy walking down this street to say the least. To be honest I didn't do much else other than shop in this city. I just needed one of those days to do nothing, and that's basically what I did. I just sat there watching the rain outside whilst playing on my iPad. I did walk around quite a bit, but it was more just walking and not so much sightseeing, so I did accomplish something. My other accomplishment here was finally finding myself another pair of cheap Birkenstocks; Düsseldorf actually has a Birkenstock store so that made my day. The pair I found were €45, which is about $60 and half the price of any you can find in Canada, or at least Calgary.
I'm sitting here in my hostel now and I'm wary these Birks will give me blisters before the day is out. :s. Heres to having a great third month in Europe! *clinks glasses*

Greece!!!

Hello again!

I have been in Greece for the past 2 weeks and I must say that it is positively gorgeous here. The weather has been spectacular, maybe a bit on the too hot side but better too hot than too cold, and the islands themselves are nothing I could've imagined.

The first couple days in Greece we spent in Athens; which is a lovely city but just a bit crowded and confusing. The first day I visited the Acropolis, Zeus's temple, the Roman Agora, which is what would've been their old market area, and also an old library area. The ruins you see in that city along are just amazing. The detailing that must have gone into creating the columns and other ruin pieces is crazy. And most of it is still there which is even more unbelievable! Those people really must have known what they were doing.

The second day of Athens was the first full day of the second Contiki I'm doing this trip, which is a Greek Island Hopping Tour. Everyone today went to the Acropolis and other things, but because I had already seen those wonders I decided to have a beach day, and it was much needed. I went down for lunch around 12 and got to the real beach part at 1. I rented out a lounger for the day and sat there for 6 hours. The ocean I have to say is one of my most favorite things about nature. I know a lot of you reading this are probably thinking well that's what most people like: the beaches. But no I'm not saying beaches, I'm saying the ocean. It's such an entity that I adore. The way the waves roll up and then crash onto this sand is spectacular. I think walking along the black beach on Santorini, Parissa Beach, is the most at peace I've been since I've left home. It was absolutely amazing. The beaches on all the other islands have been nice, but nothing compared to the black sand of Parissa Beach. Mykonos had little rocks as sand, they were easier to brush off but kind of hurt to walk on. Santorini had the nicest beaches I think. It had the red sand beach, the black sand bech and just normal beaches as well. It was extremely interesting to see them because I had never before seen red or black sand. The red sand beach was actually quite weird, it was a certain type of volcanic rock, but the beach itself was quite dirty and hard to get to. 

Mykonos was the first island on our trip. Our little resort was a ways from actual Mykonos town, but still accessible. The first evening we did a bit of a pub crawl. We headed into town at about 10 and the bus came to get us at 3 am. The most interesting thing about that night I think was being in Scandinavian Bar, the dj there had a special liking for one button. He would press it almost every 5 minutes and you would just hear the word "Mykonos!" play over the music. It was absolutely hilarious to listen to. 

The next day was a partially free day. Spent some time at the beach; then at 3 pm we went to paradise beach for a humongous party! That night was amazing. So many people just drinking, partying and having a good time. They have 2 mc's there. One who goes by the name Mick Jagger, because he literally looked exactly like him. The second mc's name was Elephant Man. His entire outfit consisted of a elephant g-string, and that's it. It was absolutely hilarious. 

The next morning I was completely hungover, best night ever, but worst wake up I could have possibly imagined. I decided I was just going to spend some time at the beach, not too much time, but a little bit of time for relaxation. The next thing I know I've woken up for an unexpected nap and my back looked like a tomato. Worst burn experience I have had ever. It is still peeling after more than a week later. Ouch.

Once we left Mykonos we headed for Santorini. I think that Santorini is my favorite island out of all the ones we visited, no matter how many steps you have to climb, it is still the best in my opinion. Santorini itself consists of many different islands most created by volcanic rock, the magma sits below the water. The main island is called Thira, and the main city is called Fira, that is where we stayed. About a five minute walk and you were right into the middle of the city. 

One morning when we were there we took a gondola ride down to the old port and then took a donkey ride back up the hill. It's probably one of the coolest things we did and I definitely recommend it for anyone going to Santorini. That evening we did a sunset tour in the city Oia, this is the city where all the typical Santorini postcards and photos come from. It's the city with those big blue domed churches and it is absolutely stunning to see, especially at sunset. We saw many brides and grooms getting their wedding photos shot there too. Apparently people come from all over the world just to have wedding photos from Oia. 

The next day we took a tour around the island Thira. There was a local tour guide and some provided transportation which made it quite easy and fun. It took us to Pyrgos, Akrotiri, the red sand beach, the black sand beach, which is the one I mentioned earlier, for a couple of hours and then back to our hotel. It was interesting to see and learn about the history of the island and the volcano eruptions.

Then after yet another ferry day we arrived on Ios, the party island of Greece. It's quite a small island with its main city Ios being even smaller. If you blink while driving by you will literally miss it. An interesting fact about this city, they only have one club/bar that is open before midnight, everything else opens after wards, and even still the real party doesn't start until at least 2 am. I was awake a couple times in the morning to see people staggering back to the hotel from their night out. Another cool thing about Greece is that if you buy 7 shots from a bar/club you will get a free t-shirt. It's actually really neat, I wish some places back home would do that; I ended up with 2 shirts by the end of the adventure. 

The only thing we did on Ios other than party and relax next to the ocean was a boat cruise. It was a pretty cool looking ship, kind of like a pirate ship minus the authentic pirates.  But it took us to a secluded beach where we hung out for a day. On our way to the beach we made a pit stop in a little bay so people could jump off the top deck to wake up. Its quite an exhilarating feeling to fall through the air and then crash through the water. 

Unfortunately the weather that morning was less than pleasing but by the afternoon the sun finally pushed through the clouds and it warmed up. We were all nice and toasty for our ride back. 

I'm sad to be leaving beautiful Greece and my second Contiki Family today. It was really an amazing experience to have met you all and I hope to come visit you all and catch up! And I will definitely be back to visit you too Greece! But for now I'm on my way back to Germany. I'm very excited for my last month on this journey. Being alone for it will definitely be much different than any Contiki, I'll miss having everything planned out for me. 

Too Long Again

So apparently I'm extremely unreliable. =(
But I'm here with my mom right now in Munich. I've been traveling with her for 2 weeks now. We met up in Rome and spent a couple days there, definitely not enough time. My favorite part definitely was the Trevvi Fountain (don't mind my possible spelling error). It's such a gorgeous fountain, and apparently the water is completely drinkable which I thought was interesting. Unfortunately I did get sick in Rome and had to see a doctor on our last day which made our stay there REALLY short. But I would go back in a heart beat, the only thing I would change is the amount of time I spent there.
After Rome we hit up Florence for another couple of days. To be honest I wasn't completely sure what to expect from Florence. It has a beautiful dome, called the Domo according to my mother, and the exterior is made completely out of marble. Michelangelo Plaza is also gorgeous. It's a bit of a walk up the hill but it is worth it. The only thing I wanted to do in Florence and I didn't was to find a puzzle ring, it's a ring made of 4 rings that combine together. It's really cool to see and play with.
From Florence we took our train into Venice. We weren't staying in Venice but a little appartment we found in a little neighborhood called Mongoliano Veneto. It was nice being able to get away from Venices hustle and bustle in the evenings. But I have to say that Venice is one sitting I have been looking forward to the most, even since I was younger I had always dreamed of going to Venice, and honestly I was not disappointed. I have to admit when we first left the train station and got into Venice itself I think I made some sort of squeaking noise. But the city is absolutely beautiful with all of the canals running through. I think I took more pictures in that city then I have in any other city. We ended up going to the little island of Murano for some glass blowing. As we walked up one street there we passed probably fifty different glass stores. One of the stores we went into I bought a little necklace that is a black glass with some gold and coppery color inside of it shaped into a starfish, it was gorgeous. The lady owner of this shop warned us to make sure every piece we bought had a Murano stamp on it so that it was authentic. So for anyone going to Venice and Murano, if you buy any glass make sure it has a Murano stamp in the glass, that way you know it's real.
I also ended up buying a beautiful mask from a man in Venice. He's owns his own shop and hand makes these masks from papier masche, paints them all, and adds any other details. These masks are more traditionally made for the Venice Carnival that is held every February for 11 days. It's an extravagant festival where people dress up in costumes and these masks. The pictures I have seen are absolutely gorgeous, so I will be going back sometime for the Carnival specifically, if anyone wants to join me.
Once we left Venice we took a very scenic train ride through Swiss mountains to go to Lucerne, Switzrland. We only had 1 full day in Lucerne which was sad but the one day we had was a good one. It was a little rainy which was the only downside but we took a nice walk through the city, then once the sky finally cleared for about an hour we took a boat ride across Lake Lucerne. It's an absolutely amazing area, kind of reminds me of British Columbia, Canada for anyone who has been there, with all of the mountains and the lake in the middle. The sky finally starting pouring after that and we just ended up heading back to the hotel.
Leaving Lucerne we took another scenic train ride up to Munich, and this city would be nice had it not been for all of this stupid rain. Yesterday was really good, we went up to Neuschwanstein Castle which is the castle that the Beauty and the Beast castle is based off of. It really is beautiful although Ludwig II was supposedly crazy. But today we spent touring the city in buses that drive  around the because it has been too rainy. I couldn't feel my toes at one point.
Tomorrow my mommy leaves me and I have to say these past 2 weeks have been amazing. I really am going to miss her when she leaves me. I have to do everything myself again, blah.
I'm putting a reminder in my phone to remember to post blogs so they will be more frequent, hopefully.

SORRY!

So I am über sorry for my lack of life on this blog. It's been like over 2 weeks and I know you're getting anxious. *cough Chris cough*. But I'm here now to update you on my life the past 2.5 ish weeks!
I believe my last post was just as I was leaving Dublin for Berlin. And not going to lie I hate flying, sort of; I hate the customs people. They are all super rude and I just do not like them at all. But thankfully the lady at customs took one look at my passport stamped it and I walked off. Best customs experience ever.
Once I got to Berlin I had a couple of days just to relax before my amazing tour started; and I would just like to let everyone know that it was the most amazing experience of my life so far. I did the Contiki Eastern Roads tour, which does Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Krakow, and Warsaw with 2 nights in each city. When I say it was the best I truly mean it. Everyone I met on this tour was just phenomenal, I made some very good friends who I will continue talking for a very long time because we got that close within that 2 week period. The tour manager and bus driver could not have been any better I don't think. Our driver is from Krakow, Poland so we got some very local insight into the city itself from places to party it up to information about the city to places to eat like the little van on the side of the street selling sausages, buns and a polish drink called Oranżada. Our tour manager went above and beyond everything that you would expect an average tour guide would do with tip sheets about each city, came out with us almost every night to have a good time, and was just super cool with everyone.
I want to say thank you to everyone from the tour for being such spectacular people. It was definitely better than what I was expecting. It was m first tour but will not be my last because I'm already planning my next one.
After the tour ended I came down to Italy and met up with my mom. We have been in Rome for a couple days, and it's super gorgeous. My favourite part has to be the Trevi Fountain, I had to throw a coin in, which might be very touristy but I don't care.
Got sick the last day and had to go see a doctor unfortunately, but oh we'll I'm feeling lots better now! Nothing serious just a stupid persistent cold.
Anyway sorry again for it taking so long to post something; and also sorry for it being so short. I promise the next one will be longer!