This friendly guy was above one of the doors at the entrance of the castle,
This gives you some idea how far I had to walk to get to the first fort yes I surprised myself
on the walls of the fort views were amazing
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sintra Portugal
This friendly guy was above one of the doors at the entrance of the castle,
This gives you some idea how far I had to walk to get to the first fort yes I surprised myselfon the walls of the fort views were amazing
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Lisbon Day 2...been offered drugs twice.. wtf...
Bakery items found in Lisbon, I really should take more pictures of bakery's in europe, they seem to be different everywhere... I brought one of these, I was like WTF thats like a boiled egg, and yes it is...couldn't work out how to eat it.... I did try eating the shell but hmm I had to peel the egg first...
Everything is like a postcard
Streets in Lisbon, have the standard roman road style, but the footpaths have a unique stone design, not sure what kind of rock it is, but its very nice.
Really interesting building, was just like WOW when I came across it... was actually clean too.... ( not the norm for lisbon)
Harbour bridge, it is 3km long, I did attempt to see if I could walk across it... but nah... is impressive tho, think it's ment to be the biggest in Europe...
Small things make me homesick... yes they had croc's.... I did come across a bar in Barcelona too "Tiki" am guessing it was NZ themed.... Anyway... this is a Kiwi Stop ROFL
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Barcelona Spain, Hostel Hop!
Spend 2 nights so far in Barcelona, and in 2 hostels, now in my 3rd, damn, Couchsurfing, has failed me, Planing on going to Lisbon next, (saturday) spend a couple of days there, I may need to top up my credit card! flights are expensive.. supprised me a little... perhaps I miss calculated...
Couchsurfing, is alot more fun than hostels, they tend, from the last one, feels like a prison, damn things here are like a fortress, I should have taken a photo on one yesterday, honestly... Roller doors, are nothing, compared to the armour outside the one I went to yesterday... really makes you feel safe...
First beer/Meal in Spain, yes, still vegie... cost like 5euro
Goodbye Barcelona, Hello Lisbon/Portugal
Ok, I wasen't really sure what to expect, I honestly wasen't happy in Barcelona, it did pick up towards the end.... Final night I went on a ghost tour, was pretty cool, learn't about what happened in Barcelona, I didn't realise that St George and the slaying of the dragon, was based in Barcelona, found small parts in the city still showing what happened soo long ago... Anyway... It was a good evening... nothing spooky.. and only had 5 hookers, offer me there wears on the way back to the hostel... geeesh do I look that needy... if your keen, google the "barcelona vampire"
Photos were taken with my Cellphone, so I can't upload them here...
anyway, 4:30am I woke up, tried by best to make little or no noise for my room mates I probably failed... had a taxi booked for 5:40... he turned up at 5:30, got stung with 38 Euro Taxi fare to the airport, (cost me 25 euro to get in to start with)
Anyway, 5:00am I check my emails, to find my Couchsurfing host in lisbon, that was going to pick me up from the airport, and take me around the city etc etc... canceled on me.... geeesh thanks.... lucky I checked otherwise I would be been froked... Anyway have checked into an amazing hostel, feels like home, big old house, most of the people are mid to late 20's... so not many young punks...
Having issues again uploading images, All I can say, is Lisbon, takes your breath away, unlike any of the other citys I have visited so far, People are happy, you feel totally safe,(maybe different at night) weather is fantastic, well maybe a little too fantastic, everywhere it looks like a picture postcard.... amazing streets, very steep, with amazing cobble work, trams are running, buildings are old, and semi decayed, yet, not touristy...
Anyway, I have another 1-2 days in Lisbon, before I make it upto Sintra, spend a day there, then go off to Aveiro (which is ment to be different city like Venice). Then head towards Porto.
Photos were taken with my Cellphone, so I can't upload them here...
anyway, 4:30am I woke up, tried by best to make little or no noise for my room mates I probably failed... had a taxi booked for 5:40... he turned up at 5:30, got stung with 38 Euro Taxi fare to the airport, (cost me 25 euro to get in to start with)
Anyway, 5:00am I check my emails, to find my Couchsurfing host in lisbon, that was going to pick me up from the airport, and take me around the city etc etc... canceled on me.... geeesh thanks.... lucky I checked otherwise I would be been froked... Anyway have checked into an amazing hostel, feels like home, big old house, most of the people are mid to late 20's... so not many young punks...
Having issues again uploading images, All I can say, is Lisbon, takes your breath away, unlike any of the other citys I have visited so far, People are happy, you feel totally safe,(maybe different at night) weather is fantastic, well maybe a little too fantastic, everywhere it looks like a picture postcard.... amazing streets, very steep, with amazing cobble work, trams are running, buildings are old, and semi decayed, yet, not touristy...
Looks like a postcard?
Knight, gave 'em a Euro, Still semi Rich at the moment, even with the insane airfares I have been paying, still have overkill for the rest of my trip..
One of the main squares, Ok, it isn't Barcelona, but I love this place... I can't wait to explore more of Portugal
Tram lines going down the street, I really want to give this a good sprint up... but I am pretty sure my knee wouldn't like it... did a quick walk up... was good...
Looking up the hill, this is the bit I kinda quickly walked up :) wasen't even puffing at the top!! Thanks to all the Boxercise, and Training with Wykie!! Thanks again! :)
Anyway, I have another 1-2 days in Lisbon, before I make it upto Sintra, spend a day there, then go off to Aveiro (which is ment to be different city like Venice). Then head towards Porto.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Barcelona, the redemption
Ok, my final day in Barcelona, walked past the friendly hookers.... now know them by sight, pretty sad I know.... I got to the "Barcelona Bus Turistic" queue was insane, about 100 metres + waited 45 mins..., to get to La Sagrada Familia, I honestly wasen't expecting something to blow me away after Rome, But Damn... and it isn't finished yet.... am guessing another 30-40 years to go at it's going rate....
It is hard to discribe, alien? not of this world? It's pretty good...
Wooo, actually managed to upload something, one of the street preformers on La Rambla
Is pretty cool
ok, I know how it's done, but damn
Another amazing building, this is 100 odd years old... kinda feeling, I should spend longer in Barcelona, but I was a little mixed up on my first 1-2 days... with the fear of not knowing where I'm going to next..
Anyway, I don't want to push my luck with the uploads just yet.... still have a few hours in Barcelona tonight, gotta wake up at 5am, to catch my flight to Lisbon! I will actually couchsurf there for a couple of days
Well last night in Barcelona!! time for me to shower, and find a bar!! next stop Portugal!!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Bacelona, Hostel Hop'ing Extreme, Hookers, 100m from the hostel!
Couchsurfing, Failed me, altho, I probably honestly didn't try too hard to get a couch, put a message in the last min group....
Barcelona, So far, only 2 days, and in my 3rd hostel/prison, First day, I walked around, only to be warned by 4 people about pickpockets... was like WTF, if they try and do that, I will have a go at running them down.
Anyway.... First day... I spend most of my day going though the Rambla, main touristy street in Barcelona, it is amazing, street preformers, went to a museum on the history of barcelona, is was really suprising, europe must have been made up of lots of unique kingdoms, Barcelona, still has it's own unique language, altho I can't tell the difference, all sounds greek to me...
Went to an interesting bar, basically you fill your own glass's.... is calulated how many litres you drink up on the big screen.... was pretty good... I've surprised myself... and remained vegie still which is kinda hard when you can't read the menus!
The internet is still a little sucky.... uploads are very slow... doing this from the hostel... am guessing they have made a setting with there wifi to make uploads like 56k...
Today.... I was walking to the Rambla (main touristy street).... 100 metres from the hostel, a hooker grabs me.. and trys to sell me her wears... she didn't seem to like "no thanks" anyway... on my way back... I didn't get grabbed again... soo all is good...
Finally, I have seen something... to match Italy.."Templo de laSagrada Familia" going back tomorrow to have a better look, was only 30 mins before closing...
I will insert photos later
Barcelona, So far, only 2 days, and in my 3rd hostel/prison, First day, I walked around, only to be warned by 4 people about pickpockets... was like WTF, if they try and do that, I will have a go at running them down.
Anyway.... First day... I spend most of my day going though the Rambla, main touristy street in Barcelona, it is amazing, street preformers, went to a museum on the history of barcelona, is was really suprising, europe must have been made up of lots of unique kingdoms, Barcelona, still has it's own unique language, altho I can't tell the difference, all sounds greek to me...
Went to an interesting bar, basically you fill your own glass's.... is calulated how many litres you drink up on the big screen.... was pretty good... I've surprised myself... and remained vegie still which is kinda hard when you can't read the menus!
The internet is still a little sucky.... uploads are very slow... doing this from the hostel... am guessing they have made a setting with there wifi to make uploads like 56k...
Today.... I was walking to the Rambla (main touristy street).... 100 metres from the hostel, a hooker grabs me.. and trys to sell me her wears... she didn't seem to like "no thanks" anyway... on my way back... I didn't get grabbed again... soo all is good...
Finally, I have seen something... to match Italy.."Templo de laSagrada Familia" going back tomorrow to have a better look, was only 30 mins before closing...
I will insert photos later
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Germany... Finally getting to see Anke again...
Sorry there are no photos at the moment, the internet at starbucks is kinda crappy...and my 8 gig memory card dosen't seem to like the laptop
Day 1 Cologne
Flew in, to have my host meet me at the airport!, was soo happy, we spend the night, moving crates of water upto his mothers appartment, (crazy how much water she needed)... then we had to move a big old 29" crt tv to his mothers place from his sisters, this didn't go too well, cracked the windscreen in his car... 10pm, we went off to CS drinks, only 30 odd people, and people smoke in the bars, meet a few locals, was pretty cool, got home around 1-2am...
Day 2 Cologne
Ok, I had to look after myself here for 1/2 a day or so, I changed my mobile simm to a new german one, was alot cheaper, only 10 euro, Itailain one was 75 Euro... I wandered around Cologne, with it's huge Gothic Cathedral, it was amazing, ok nothing compared to the Vatican, but still impressive, looks like something direct out of a Medievil Gothic thriller, I will add some photos later.
I was ment to Star on Ukraine TV (some couchsurfing Feature), film crew did a now show... damn...
Anyway, around 4-5, after a few calls to Anke, she shows up!, I was soo happy to see her again, we went out to dinner with Ulf (my other host), then to a Party at one of Anke's friends place, still with my backpack on, trying our best to find the place!, after the party, we made our way back to Bonn, in which I had to RUN with the backpack to catch the Train.... damn... I am soo Glad, I've been doing soo much fitness training over the past year... made it back to Ankes place... Sleep 4 hours I guess...
breakfast with Anke :)
Day 3
Explored Bonn, with Anke, taking lots of photos, that night, Ankes Yoga Teacher, thew a party, Vegie Heaven! soo much vegie food, it was good, later than night we went to the World Beat Party, some dance party, drinking etc, I haven't done anything like this for 15-16 years..... we partyed on till 5am, then moved on to another bar, at 7am, one thing I've noticed, germans love there BEER, they seem to drink it everywhere no mater what hour of the day, on trains, in the streets... it's crazy...
Day 4
Meeting Ankes Parents, & Boyfriend, after very little or no sleep, probably less to eat... running on empty... had a fantastic day, exploring Germany's smallest town. The country side, looks soo much like NZ, no wonder why the germans like NZ soo much.
Day 5
Traveled to Dusseldorf, where Anke works, given a map of the city, my task was to Explore the city, and get back by 3:30, I actually liked Dusseldorf, Still compared to Rome, Bonn/Cologne/Dusseldorf are non events,
The most noticeable thing I've observed is, Germans don't smile... it's strange... they are not a happy people? they always seem to be grumpy?
I brought what I though was a bottle of water, turned out to be water with bubbles, yuck! lady behind the counter, got all ticked off at me, because I wouldn't give her 5 cents... (was 2.05 Euro) I gave a 5 Euro note...
I got lost again, asked a guy, for directions, and found I was 2-3 km off the map, took about 1 1/2 hours to make it back I really need to invest in a Smartphone with google maps or a GPS.. May do that in Spain, getting lost is fun, but can be very stressful..
That night, Anke had student (she teach's spanish) and a dance class, I cooked a batch of Kumera soup, Ok I had to adjust the recipe a little, but it turned out ok.... not as good as home... that night we were packing... Anke was going to Palma, 6:30am and me to Barcelona, I got on the wrong tram to start with rofl... I am hopeless, German rail system is amazing, probably not as easy as the Italian system to work your way around, but seems to work really well.
Made our way to her boyfriends Apartment around 11pm, in Cologne (as it was alot closer for the both of us), Anke provided me with instructions on what trains to catch, (thanks Anke), woke up, to say goodbye to Anke, probably for the last time... <<snif>>
And here I am waiting at Bonn/Cologne airport, weather is overcast and raining... bit on the cool side....
will add photos later :) next stop Barcelona, Spain..
Day 1 Cologne
Flew in, to have my host meet me at the airport!, was soo happy, we spend the night, moving crates of water upto his mothers appartment, (crazy how much water she needed)... then we had to move a big old 29" crt tv to his mothers place from his sisters, this didn't go too well, cracked the windscreen in his car... 10pm, we went off to CS drinks, only 30 odd people, and people smoke in the bars, meet a few locals, was pretty cool, got home around 1-2am...
Day 2 Cologne
Ok, I had to look after myself here for 1/2 a day or so, I changed my mobile simm to a new german one, was alot cheaper, only 10 euro, Itailain one was 75 Euro... I wandered around Cologne, with it's huge Gothic Cathedral, it was amazing, ok nothing compared to the Vatican, but still impressive, looks like something direct out of a Medievil Gothic thriller, I will add some photos later.
I was ment to Star on Ukraine TV (some couchsurfing Feature), film crew did a now show... damn...
Anyway, around 4-5, after a few calls to Anke, she shows up!, I was soo happy to see her again, we went out to dinner with Ulf (my other host), then to a Party at one of Anke's friends place, still with my backpack on, trying our best to find the place!, after the party, we made our way back to Bonn, in which I had to RUN with the backpack to catch the Train.... damn... I am soo Glad, I've been doing soo much fitness training over the past year... made it back to Ankes place... Sleep 4 hours I guess...
Somethings missing here, I wonder what it could be?
Day 3
Explored Bonn, with Anke, taking lots of photos, that night, Ankes Yoga Teacher, thew a party, Vegie Heaven! soo much vegie food, it was good, later than night we went to the World Beat Party, some dance party, drinking etc, I haven't done anything like this for 15-16 years..... we partyed on till 5am, then moved on to another bar, at 7am, one thing I've noticed, germans love there BEER, they seem to drink it everywhere no mater what hour of the day, on trains, in the streets... it's crazy...
Day 4
Meeting Ankes Parents, & Boyfriend, after very little or no sleep, probably less to eat... running on empty... had a fantastic day, exploring Germany's smallest town. The country side, looks soo much like NZ, no wonder why the germans like NZ soo much.
Day 5
Traveled to Dusseldorf, where Anke works, given a map of the city, my task was to Explore the city, and get back by 3:30, I actually liked Dusseldorf, Still compared to Rome, Bonn/Cologne/Dusseldorf are non events,
The most noticeable thing I've observed is, Germans don't smile... it's strange... they are not a happy people? they always seem to be grumpy?
I brought what I though was a bottle of water, turned out to be water with bubbles, yuck! lady behind the counter, got all ticked off at me, because I wouldn't give her 5 cents... (was 2.05 Euro) I gave a 5 Euro note...
I got lost again, asked a guy, for directions, and found I was 2-3 km off the map, took about 1 1/2 hours to make it back I really need to invest in a Smartphone with google maps or a GPS.. May do that in Spain, getting lost is fun, but can be very stressful..
That night, Anke had student (she teach's spanish) and a dance class, I cooked a batch of Kumera soup, Ok I had to adjust the recipe a little, but it turned out ok.... not as good as home... that night we were packing... Anke was going to Palma, 6:30am and me to Barcelona, I got on the wrong tram to start with rofl... I am hopeless, German rail system is amazing, probably not as easy as the Italian system to work your way around, but seems to work really well.
Made our way to her boyfriends Apartment around 11pm, in Cologne (as it was alot closer for the both of us), Anke provided me with instructions on what trains to catch, (thanks Anke), woke up, to say goodbye to Anke, probably for the last time... <<snif>>
For you Anke, thanks again for making Colonge/Bonn so great :)
And here I am waiting at Bonn/Cologne airport, weather is overcast and raining... bit on the cool side....
will add photos later :) next stop Barcelona, Spain..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)