Merry Chrstmas!

Hey all,
I'm on my way out the door, so this will be short and sweet.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone out there a very Merry Chirstmas and a happy and prosperous 2006!

My holidays have been pretty spectacular, as hoped. I leave in 6 days, I still haven't even thought about packing, and here I am going out drinking with my friends yet again. Sounds about right, doesn't it? A festivus to remember indeed.

All the best!
Reid-o

PS. I apologize, but it looks like the remainder of the eurotrip pics will have to wait until I get settled in Hamilton in late Jan!

Eurotrip Fotos Added

I've finally started to add pictures to my Eurotrip '05 entries, so now you can finally see some of the things I've been talking about. W00t.

I'm starting with London and working my way 'up' through the trip. You can see the updated posts by clicking the links below, or by scrolling to the bottom of this page. Unfortunately, I had to reboot the posts, so I lost my comments. Feel free to fix that.

Fyi, additional pictures can be found on Ricketts' and Ginny's msn spaces in their "Eurotrip" photo albums.

Special thanks to Rorb for his guidance on pic posting, and of course, to my traveling companions for their shots (and for agreeing to go to Europe with a fool like me).

Stay tuned,
Reid

Updated posts:
London » Paris » Amsterdam » Germany » Czech Republic » Vienna » Venice » Florence » Rome » Corfu » Athens » Santorini » Switzerland » Nice & Monaco » Barcelona » Valladolid » Grenada » Alicante » Glascow » Edinburgh » The Scottish Highlands » Dublin » Galway & Gort

Newfoundland rink earns Olympic berth!

Hey all...
Just finished watching the curling game of all curling games (cbc summary). Our boy Brad Gushue and his team from the St. John's Newfoundland Curling Club just beat Jeff Stoughton of Manitoba 8-7 to take the gold medal in the 2006 Olympic Qualifying Championships of Curling!!!! Newfie Curlers are representing Canada in Torino!!! Ahhh!!! I'm very happy for them!

Adding to the awesomeness is the fact that the silver medalist Stoughton had been quoted a month ago as saying that the Gushue rink had "no real chance at winning the Olympic trials". Looks like he's eating those words now... I wonder how they taste?

The best/craziest part of it all is the fact that I know the guys very well (except for Russ Howard, a new addition). The boys and I used to play each other all the time on the Newfoundland Junior Curling circuit when I was the skip for the Grand Falls rink. It's nuts to think that these same boys I once scrimmaged with in local tournaments are now representing our country at the Olympics!!! It's crazy! Back in the day we were all 'up-and-comers' in the province. I gave up curling to attend university and get my degree, while the guys all decided to focus on curling and put school on hold - you can see where that got them. Sometimes makes me wonder if I made the right move? :) (Who am I kidding? I was never Gushue-good!)

In any event, congratulations boys - you've made your province incredibly proud! Bring back the gold!!

Start Spreadin' The News!

I'll be home for Christmas!!! Bam!!!

I got the email last night from my HR Manager.... a January 3rd start date is perfect for them! Deadly. This means that I get to have Christmas at home with my family & friends (potentially for the last time... who knows, I may have to work next xmas shutdown). So I'm pretty pumped about that. Plus, it gives me a bit more time to let all this sink in and also to get on the ball with looking for a place to live and a vehicle to drive.

That's right... those are the next big steps for me. Finding a place to live (I think I'm going to rent an apartment for a while until I get a feel for the area and where I'd like to buy a house). And more importantly, I'm going to be buying a car! Snap! So yeah.. I've got my work cut out for me. Lots to be looking into!

I just booked my flight up as well. I'm flying to Toronto Pearson on January 2nd (flights directly to Hamilton were completely booked - naturally). That's no biggie tho, Pearson is only an hour away. The plan is to get a motel room and a rental car for the first week while I figure out where to stay and what to drive. Once that's all settled, I'll get mom & dad to ship up the remaining stuff I have (which isn't much... my guitars, tv, dvd player, and a bunch of clothes). The rest (i.e. all the furniture I'll need) will have to be bought up there. It's going to be a facking busy and expensive January! Thank god for signing bonuses and Visa!

So yeah... that's where I'm at. I'm pretty happy man. I'm still riding the high of getting a job and things seem to be working out very well... I'm a lucky SOB! Getting to have one last Christmas at home with my family and the boys is just the icing on the cake. It's going to be a festivus to remember, I'll guarantee that.

Of course, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to being a little apprehensive about the whole thing. I mean... moving up to Hamilton not knowing a soul and starting an adult life. That's crazy! But that's it I guess... we've all gotta grow up sometime (or at least, pretend to look like it :)

Better buckle up... another adventure is about to begin.

Oh snap, I got a jorb!!!!!!!

OK. So I just got the call from the HR Manager......

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'M MOVING TO HAMILTON!!!!!!

Craziness!!!!!

HOLY CRAP. This is nuts.

Ok... so... I guess I should fill you in on where I left off....
I got up to Hamilton without a hitch (unless you count the 5-airport, 10-hour travel day a hitch), and got sqaured away at the hotel... very nice. I go out for a bit of a stroll.... then I start to think to myself.... "Reid. You're in downtown Hamilton. This isn't Grand Falls." So after a short walk I headed on home.

Up early on Wednesday for the interview at 9am. Although, truth be told, it wasn't really much of an interview. More like.... an introduction to the place and people I'd be working with. My boss, Cyril (from Cape Breton I should add), took me all over the mill... which was a lot bigger than I expected. He also introduced/dropped me off to a few managers for an impromptu mini-interview. It all went very well... and most importantly for me, the people working there seemed to be best kind. After the touring was over the HR Manager (Barrie), plus another HR fellow and my boss took me out for lunch. We had a good chat about all kinds of stuff... mostly non-work related, which I liked! I could tell I was in with a good bunch on the car ride back to the plant after lunch. The entire 15 minute conversation was about beer and drinking! Nice.

We were due to clue things up after lunch, but then Barrie and Cyril brought up the fact that I wasn't flying out until the morning. Thus, they decided that they should take me out for a steak dinner at the Keg as well! (Score). That evening's meal was much more laid back and candid... like 3 friends having beers and steaks. The guys asked me what my overall feelings were about the plant and the company, and I had to be honest with them - I was impressed. So needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about it all, definitely thinking that things were going well. (I knew for a fact that the other second round interviewees didn't get no steak :)

Then, as we're walking towards the door, my boss leans over and says with a nod "If I were you.... I'd get my bags packed." So at this point, I'm flippin out! I head on back to the hotel and give my folks a call to tell them the very promising news. Then, to "celebrate" I head down the road to the theatre to catch Saw 2.... pretty good moive.

So I get home again late Thursday evening from another crazy travel day involving a cancelled flight out of Hamilton and burning in my rental up the QEW to Toronto Pearson Airport to make a replacement. Nonetheless, I got home safe and sound. Friday morning, the phone rings around 11:30am. It's Barrie calling.... and you guessed it.... I got the job! Turns out I'll be getting a damn fine starting salary for a young engineer, plus full medical and dental, and a signing bonus to boot! SCORE!

So yeah... I took the job. I am now officially a project engineer! The plant that I'm working at is about 30mins south of downtown Hamilton. Crazy shit.... I'm pretty pumped. At this point, the starting date is still up in the air. Both my boss and I would prefer it if I started after Christmas.... so hopefully that will be the case. Otherwise, it'll be Christmas alone and working (there's an xmas shut down - I'd have to work Dec 26 - 30th) up in Hamilton. I mean... I'll do what I gotta do... but I'd definitely like to have one last holiday season home with my friends and family before I get out there in the real world.

So yeah... big changes in my life man. Wild stuff. Does this mean I have to become a grown-up now? Yikes. Gotta start looking at places to live and vehicles to drive! That sounds kinda grown up to me. Anyway.... one step at time.... here's hoping I'll be home for Christmas! Update soon.

Will I walk the long road? Can not stay...

Hey all...
Well... long time no write. I apologize for that! It's not that I've been particularly busy this fall (cause I haven't really - being unemployed and all). It's just that the whole digitizing my Eurotrip (which as we speak is still unfinished) turned out to be a much more daunting task than I had originally planned. And I don't know about you, but there's only so much time I can spend blogging before my head caves in.

I was really trying to hold out until the Eurotrip entries were completed before I started making normal posts again. However, I got to thinking this morning that I should probably make an update before I forget a lot of what happened. Also... I'm at a potentially huge crossroads right now, so I thought it would be a cool time to write. But more on that a bit later.

So... I guess I'll start where I left off. I got home from Europe, had a great last week with the few remaining friends and classmates in St. John's - particularly Ricketts' birthday/farewell bash on August 9th. The only question is... who pissed in the corner? From here, things slowed down for me, as I headed on back home to move in with my folks and begin my job search - or at least - that was the cover story. Truth was, I had 3 pearl jam concerts to attend at the end of September, so I elected (perhaps rather foolishly) to hold off on my job search until after they were done - (i.e start the job hunt in October).

September flew on by, and before I knew it, it was pearl jam time! Myself, Jen, Steve, and Patti-Lynn flew to Halifax to catch the show on the 22nd - Absolutely mind blowing. They opened with "Hard to Imagine" which completely encapsulated what this entire weekend would be for me. We had a great time at that show - Patti and I had 10th row floor seats - so that was friggin unbelieveable. I could have hit Eddie with my shoe! Man, what a concert. While we were in Halifax my good friend Kay came down to see Steve, Jen and I. That was awesome... if Ricketts was there, it would have been a full blown Eurotrip Reunion!

Then, the 4 of us flew home for the first of two St. John's shows - as did Gloria & Lesley (from TO), Scotty (from Saint John), and crazy Bri (all the way from med school in Ireland!!). So needless to say, it was going to be an AMAZING weekend - nearly all my good friends back home for one last crazy weekend to see PEARL JAM! This shit is EPIC!!!

The show on the 24th was friggin amazing! Gloria had my second ticket this time around, and we were once again in row TEN! She and I had a spectacular time - I was off my head. The guys played for over 2.5 hours - again, I was on cloud 10.

Through some last minite re-jigging, I managed to "upgrade" our tickets for the Sunday night show from up high behind the stage, to 5th row center ice! Myself, Bri, Lesley, Patti, Brad and Johnny were in on my tickets, while Steve, Jen, Pam & Leon, who were in on Steve's tickets, ended up in the same row as us! The second show was a bit shorter but nonetheless mindblowing. I tell you, if I didn't have the mp3s of the concerts as proof, I'd still not fully believe this happened. It was a weekend of weekends, that's for sure.

I elected to stay out on Patti's couch for another week after the concerts because a career fair was coming to town. That turned out to be a fairly wise decision, as 2 interviews developed from it. However, at this point it's looking like both companies have "moved on" as they say.

So I headed on back home in early October and hit the job serach like it owed me money. I kinda fell into the routine of sleeping late, firing off a few apps, talking to friends online, and making a eurotrip blog entry if I felt like it. With the exception of having to go out to St. John's for a week for the above-mentioned interviews in late Oct., things stayed pretty quiet. Then, about 10 days ago I had my first telephone interview for a company in Ottawa. That seemed to go pretty well, but I still haven't heard anything, so it's looking less and less promising.

I got a call last Tuesday evening from a guy with a company outside Hamilton, Ontario. I had applied though monster for a Project Engineering position, and he was wondering if I would be interested in a telephone interivew the following monring. Naturally, I was game. The interview went very well (it was definitely the longest interview I've ever had), and I was told I'd hear back if I was selected for the next round. The next day (Thursday), the phone rings again. It's the company's HR Manager - they want to fly me up to Hamilton for a second interview the following Wednesday. They're putting me up in a sweet hotel and hooking me up with a rental car for the trip! Clutch!

So that's where I'm at right now... my flight, rental car and hotel are all booked and I leave in the morning for Hamilton. I'm pretty excited, but we'll see how it goes... it's never a good idea to get your hopes up too high. Nonetheless, from the sounds of things this would be an incredible opportunity!

Anyway... that's my update for now. I'll let you know soon how it all went down. Wish me luck!

Update: Eurotrip '05 Posts

Note to readers...
Eurotrip '05 blog entries have been updated to reflect the date they were originally written (as opposed to the date I posted them online).

Thus, you can now find them either in the "Previous Posts" listing, the "Archives" for June, July & August 2005, or just by scrolling down (for the time being).

I should have the last few entries up very soon! They'll be the closest to the top. Enjoy!

Reid

The Return of the Reid

Yo Yo...
So.. it's been a while, and I apologize for that. As you all may or may not know, I've been in Europe for 10 weeks on the trip of a lifetime, and unfortunately the blog just didn't make the cut. However, the good news is, I'm back, and I'm ready to fill the world in on my crazy mis-adventures.

Fortunately, I kept a pen-and-paper journal while I was overseas. The reason for this being that if I didn't write down what I did each day, I would easily forget a lot of what happened. This might seem dumb to you, but the truth is (as we often joked while we were there), that each day spent travelling Europe is more like 2 or 3 normal days crammed into 1, just because we did so much.

So.. what I'd like to do is "digitize" my journal, add pictures, and then post it online. However, while I'm still waiting on all the pics to be sorted and sent, I think I'll start in on getting everything typed out. Enjoy! (And I apologize for the fact that the entries are going to be in reverse chronological order. You're just going to have to scroll down and read up!)

Eurotrip '05: The Journey Home

Mon, August 8, 2005

Day of days. The end of an era. Well, here I sit at 39,000 feet traveling at 574 miles per hour as I blast my way home to Newfoundland from our stop-over in Montreal Dorval (damn non-direct flights!) My trip has come to an end just as fast as it all began. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. But before the goodbyes are said and this chapter of my life closes, I still have my last 24 hours in Europe to describe – so here we go, one last time…

Steve and I arrived at Krista’s at around 11am on Sunday (as predicted) after a bit of a walk from Liverpool Street station – it was a nice morning, and we knew the area, so why not walk? (Plus the tube was down I believe :) . Once there we chilled out with the girls for a while and got cleaned up. Then we got ready and decided to hit the town. We headed to Hyde Park for a stroll around the gardens – a very cool spot. Then we headed on down to the river and Tower Bridge for some last photo ops. From here we were feeling a bit hungry, so we went to Wagamoma’s Japanese Restaurant just up from Tottingham Court Road tube stop – pretty frigging delicious! Once we had our fill of Asian cuisine we headed on down to ye olde booze shoppe to pick up our last Kronenburg 1664’s for a while.

We drank our booze in Krista’s room as we talked, laughed and reminisced about our incredible trip for most of the evening. We finally decided to get off our asses and go out at around 11pm, but it was Sunday, so naturally the pubs were closed! Thus, we headed on back to Krista’s and gladly finished off the remaining booze cache of Stella’s. We eventually passed out, but not before Steve and I had a ‘feats of strength’ wrestling match for the air mattress. I won, and slept like a baby. I don’t think Northcott minded too much… we were tanked up enough to comfortably pass out on the floor with a few blankets.

I was up very early today (Monday, the 8th) – couldn’t sleep for some reason, which has been the story of the last few days (or weeks, maybe). We got all of our shit together, including all the warm stuff we had dumped off with Krista back at the beginning of the trip. Who’d have thought I’d miss my hoody so much? We got ready to go and hit the tube at Russell Square at 11:30am. Said our goodbyes to Krista – that was kinda sad, but we knew we’d see her soon so that’s cool. From there we rode the Piccadilly line one last time westward to Heathrow and our flight home.

It’s currently 21:33 Eastern Standard Time, so that’s 02:33 to me! Blah! I’ve probably said this before on this trip: 13 hour travel days are for the birds. At least the boy and I got some free Sleamen Cream Ales out of the deal. Actually, we ate like friggin kings on the international flight to Montreal – 2 full meals, 2 snacks, and a ton of free beers – awesome! Though I think it’s hitting Ginny the wrong way. She was looking pretty sick for a while, tho she’s looking much better there now.

So yeah, we get in at 00:35 NL Time, or 04:00 to me – Bollocks!! Once I arrive, I’ve gotta get my pack and get down to Bri’s, so by the time I get to relax, I’ll have been up for about 24 hours. But whatever! I have the sneaking suspicion that I’ll be getting all the sleep I can handle in the very immanent future. I called Dad from Dorval… they’re coming out to the city Wednesday night. It looks like I’m gonna head on home with them on Thursday and hopefully hit Terra Nova for a round of golf on Friday as long as the weather holds up. Tomorrow is Ricketts’ birthday as well – and he’s leaving soon - so I’m sure we’re gonna be getting on the go this week.

But anyway…. EUROPE! AH!!! I miss you already! I miss your accents and your confusion I miss aggravations trumped by amusement and awe. I miss your adventure. Man, what a trip. If not for this full journal in front of me I think I’d have a much harder time convincing myself that this really happened. Hell, even with this journal it’s still a stretch!

Today marks 10 weeks to the day since I left home to travel overseas with some of my best friends. I faced some misfortune along the way, but it was massively and almost laughably overshadowed by the absolute beauty and diversity of the things I have experienced. If I could ever have the opportunity to do something like this again in my life, I would hold myself among the luckiest men alive. Truth is… I already do.
Pictures can’t do justice to what I’ve seen. Words can’t describe what I’ve felt. Stories can’t illustrate the characters I’ve met. But it’s all here in my mind, and with the aid of these pages I hope to hold on to these memories for the rest of my days.

I backpacked Europe. I lived my dream. It’s hard to truly grasp and appreciate a situation while you are essentially still in it. I’m sure the true magnitude of it all will really begin to materialize as I return home with my stories. It’s funny, because in some ways I think that’s one of the reasons why we choose venture out in the first place – just so we can come home again and tell people what we did. That, and of course much more importantly, we venture out because our experiences are what makes us the people we are. Our compassion, our ability to relate, and our understanding and appreciation of things older, greater and larger than ourselves – all these things grow, and you grow in turn. If nothing else, I am truly thankful to have been blessed with such an opportunity, and I appreciate my world all the more for it.

But anyway – I’m rambling…. Lack of sleep sometimes makes my writing suffer from mountain stream syndrome: focused, concise and to the point at first, but quickly becoming long, winding and rambling.

Bottom line – this was the best trip ever. I absolutely regret nothing – not one single moment of these 70 days.

Everyone keeps asking me what my favorite place on this trip was. That’s an incredibly tough question. I liken it to being asked who your favorite child is. Your answer would probably (hopefully) be that you love them all equally but for different reasons. Of course, some favorites exist for me on this trip – these aren’t kids we’re talking about, they’re destinations. So, in no particular order, here are some of my favorite places and why they made the favorites list:

1. Gryon, Switzerland… The alps are truly a wonder of the world. Amazing.
2. Glen Coe, Scotland… Absolutely gorgeous and awe inspiring.
3. Edinburgh, Scotland… I just love that city. I don’t know if it’s the castle or the people, but I just love the vibe.
4. Santorini, Greece… A fairytale tropical paradise. Unbelievable beauty (this was Ginny’s hands-down favorite)
5. Zdar, Alicante and Valladolid… The hospitality of Vera, Laura, Arantxa, Aitur and all the other new friends made this trip for me. Good people are everywhere - they are living proof of this fact.
6. Cliffs of Moher, Ireland… Pictures can’t capture how amazing the cliffs really are.
7. Florence, Italy… From above, when the cars are gone, you can feel the renaissance and the history come back to the city.
8. Berlin… Just because it has been through so much and has come so far. It’s an awesome city. If you go: Brewer’s Walking Tour all the way.
9. London… It will always hold a special place in my heart. My first visited and first loved European city.
10. Paris… What can I say? It’s the city of love. Hopeless romantics don’t stand a chance in a place as beautiful as this.

Ten seems like a good place to stop, so I will. But truthfully, every place we visited on this trip was awesome in its own way. I wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe to have enough time and money to stay over here longer!)


Well… my plane just began it’s decent into St. John’s so these are the dying moments of my journey - time to say goodbye.
The trip of all trips has been just that, and I’d do it all again right now in a heartbeat. I’m already looking forward to the day when I return to Europe and say:

I remember this place.
I had the time of my life here when I was 24.
Those were the days.

Reid
August 9, 2005

Eurotrip '05: Galway & Gort

Sun, Aug 7, 2005 (Day 68)
My last full day in Europe - wow. What a bittersweet time. My plane just touched down at Stanstead Airport in London, coming from Shannon Airport in western Ireland. We had a stellar three days on the west coast!

Arrived into Galway on Thursday (Aug 4th) in the rain (seems vaguely familiar doesn't it? It's been raining since we left Spain. I think it's payback for the amazing weather we had). Checked into the Kinlay House youth hostel and stumbled around town in the precipitation for a few hours. Galway is actually a pretty small spot - especially considering where we've been. But because of that fact it is also very cool and unique - cobblestone roads and more pubs than I could count. Even in the pissing rain, it seemed you couldn't dampen the spirits of the locals who were out in the streets and drinking like it was George Street fest. We were going to fit in here :)

Back at the hostel we met our roomates for the next 2 days - Leigh & Clarie, a pair of Glascow natives.... fucking hilarious and crazy girls. Turns out they were completely loaded when they first met us (unknown to us), so at the time we thought they were extra nuts. We took it easy that night - still recovering from our escapades in Dublin mostly - but Leigh managed to do alright from what I could tell. Love that Jack and Coke!

The next day Northcott and I elected to take a bus tour of the region in order to see all that there was to see as easily as possible. We boarded our tour to the Burren - an absolutely amazing region of western Ireland. We visitied castles, the Ailewee caves (my first time in a cave - pretty freaky!), Blackhead, and of course the world famous Cliffs of Moher - which were worth the trip west in themselves - absolutely mindblowing! We took the majority of our photos there (for good reason).

Got back home to Galway around 7pm, baked up some chicken for supper (that was a treat), and started in on our St. Brendan's Beer (which was Dunne's Grocery Story Brand beer - think "no-name beer"). Met the 5th and final roomate - Devon - or "King Tubor" as he would later be affectionately dubbed (because he took his empty Tubor Beer box and wore it like a crown for most of the evening) . He was a middle-aged California surfer dude from Cork, Ireland. Go figure. I've said this before - The characters you meet in hostels are sometimes as much a sight to see as the places you visit. King Tubor was nuts man - what a crazy grin! He was a great laugh tho! He also brought along an American friend, Julia, and the 6 of us decided to get plastered together and hit the town for the evening.

Steve and I had great night pub hopping through the streets of Galway and dancing like fools with 4 new friends. The 6 of us ended closing down the last bar - "The living room" - goodtimes indeed. The next morning we attempted to book a 3rd night at Kinlay house (Saturday night), but they were all booked up. Upon reviewing the bus schedule to Shannon airport (where we had to catch our flight back to the UK on Sunday), we realized that our options were limited to the locations on the bus route - otherwise, we had no way of getting to the airport!

Hostel searching proved to be futile in Limmerick, Shannon & Ennis - everything was booked. Shite! However, there was a small beacon of hope for our endavours: GORT! (No, seriously, that's the name of the town. GORT). So, we booked the "Culture Club" hostel and were off to Gort on the 4pm bus after saying our goodbyes to the girls, breakfast with the King and Julia, and one last stroll through town & to the cathedral.

I should mention that while in our hostel in Dublin, some asshole in our room stole one of our Guinness pint glasses we bought from the factory for souveniers. Shitty hey? So while I was still in Ireland, I had to RE-steal a Guinness glass from the pub we had breakfast at to replace it. I say "re-steal" because I stole one last night while out drinking, but we forgot it in Julia's purse, and she lost it. Anyway, all was set right, cause now I've got the Guinness glass the King himself used at breakfast! If that isn't a souvenir, I don't know what is.

So, we headed on to Gort (which, I should add, we decided to turn into a multi-use word... like the Smurfs used to do with the word "smurf"). So we're on the bus, but we missed our gorting stop because the gorting bus driver didn't know his gort from a hole in the ground. We jumped off the gorting bus on the highway and walked back into town. Then we couldn't find the gorting hostel and we thought we were officially gorted. However, by the skin of our gort, we eventually found it. Thank Gort. However, we forgort to write down Krista Coates' number in London, so we had no way of contacting the girls to let them know when we were coming! (But that comes later in this gorting story).

We dropped the bags and wandered around the bustling metropolis of Gort, got some grub at a pub and took in the movie that was playing on the tv there. Mmmm.... tv. It was Dr. No or something... whatver Bond movie has the dude with the eyepatch. As it turns out, the very next day (Aug 8th) would be a very big day for the community - the annual "GORT SHOW". How classic is that? We cursed the fact that we had to miss it, but we had a plane to catch! I got a pic with the Gort Show sign all the same.

Up at 4:15am (or 1:45am newfoundland time - either way, ouch!) to catch our bus to Shannon Airport. It got slightly tense for a moment there, but we made it out without a hitch. That was this morning, and as we speak I'm sitting on a coach, blasting down the motorway towards London's Liverpool Street station. However, when we got off the flight, we had a little bit of difficulties, as we had no way of contacting the girls from Stanstead (or so we thought). We paid a pound-fifty for 10 minutes of internet time and fired off an email instructing the girls to have a look for us around 11am. Then, with only momements remaining, we got the bright idea to actually READ our email. Turns out Ginny had emailed out the phone number. Didn't we feel stupid. We called and woke up a hungover Krista and Ginny to give them or ETA.

So... this is my last full day in Europe. WHAT THE FACK!??? Time goes entirely too fast man... I'm not ready to go! But, all good things must come to an end. I guess I can take solace in the fact that I enjoyed the time I had over here to the fullest!
See you on the plane!

Eurotrip '05: Memories

Thurs, August 4, 2005 (Day 65)
Well here I am on the train to Galway, Ireland. I’ve got some time to kill and some space to fill in my journal… so I was thinking that while it’s all still nice and fresh in my mind, I’d like to take a moment to write down my favorite memories of each place I’ve been to so far on this trip. Bear with me... this will be pretty incoherent for the most part.

London… Mind the gap. Abbey road beat-boxing with the boys. Ben. The Westminster Abbey penny & relaxing in the grass beside it. Racing down Tavistock to get a free Bacardi & coke, and Ghandi Park where it all began - sitting like zombies on the bench.

Paris… Stopping into our little baguette shop for fresh bread in the morning. Rocking out on the bouncy floor at the Weezer concert. Lying in the grass below the Eiffel Tower on a sunny afternoon. The view from le Sacre Cour on a clear evening. Strolling through the Latin Quarter, and the quintessentially French accordion player behind Notre Dame as dusk stretched across the Seine.

Normandy… Sadness for those lost & newfound pride for my country. Canada House – the first piece of soil claimed on D-Day. Our kind and grateful driver who treated us with such respect… like we had personally set him free simply because we were Canadian. How this same man still visited the grave of a Canadian soldier; keeping the promise he had made to the soldier’s daughter years ago that he would “never again be alone in Normandy”. The bunkers and the beach… it still chills the blood to think of it. Much sadness… much heroism… much respect.

Amsterdam… The sly smile that seemed to be permanently etched on Rene’s face. The sight of Rene and his wife pulling up to the main canal dock in their tiny dory. Feeling very frightened yet very amused while flying along the road home in the back of the jeep late at night. Sleeping in the open hull of a ship with 3 blankets to stay warm. Andy, preparing a delicious breakfast in the morning, looking as though he’d slept in his clothes… he probably had. Having the boat we slept on shown to prospective buyers, and not knowing if it was about to ship off for a test drive with all our belongings on board. Being way too high and watching walls move, and of course, time for a really good duck show… “I’m Mister Blaaaack”.

Düsseldorf & Gelsenkirchen… Anticipation for the amazing concert to come. New friends on the train, bratwurst with amazing sauce and helpful Germans. An absolutely mind-bending concert… Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Berlin… Barnaby’s impromptu history lesson drawn in the dirt with a walking stick. Getting caught in a downpour but actually having an umbrella for once. Checkpoint Charlie, the wall, and the all the history and beauty of this city, both new and old.

Hamburg… Blatantly sneaking Ginny into the hotel once again. Prostitutes, bratwursts & beers. Hot sun, a great Coldplay concert while it lasted, and a hamburger boobie.

Zdar… Vera’s timid smile that lit up the room. Feeding the rabbits in the back yard. Roasting fresh Czech sausages over an open fire and eating fresh-picked cherries. Our walk through the meadow to Nova Paca and the great time sitting and laughing at the pub. How sad she looked when we left. How sad we were to leave her.

Prague… The view from the castle – all those red roofs. Charles Bridge, rubbing the statue of St. John for luck, and sitting in the sun on the cobblestones in the main square. Late night shots of Absynth and Kay’s infamous quote: “I like kissin”.

Vienna… Ottakringer and cards in the great Hostel Ruthensteiner with fellow Canadians. A friendly owner and a great deal on a great beer mug for Ricketts. A pot of pasta dumped in the sink, and the fact that it quite possibly made the pasta even better. A lot of churches I can’t place.

Venice… Being quite disoriented but not really caring. The pigeons in San Marco Square. “Oy! Oy! Haustella-Gondola!”. Ginny’s birthday supper. Watching cab-boats jocky for position near the stand. Exiting the train and experiencing the sticky Italian heat for the first time. Evening strolls and feeling like we finally got to see the true Venice. That giant moon, really hitting your eye like a big pizza-pie.

Florence… The unbelievable view of the city from Piazza Michelangelo. The surreal whiteness of an unbelievably old Duomo, just like a real life 3D puzzle. The fireworks for the feast of St. John that never seemed to end. Ricketts peeing in a crowded street on the walk home. A free seat at a classical concert and oh that Tuscan sun.

Rome… Aggravations succumbing to pure awe. The Pantheon and Trivy Fountain at night. The Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Square. The rays of light streaking down from above inside St. Peter’s. Waiting in line at the Vatican for two hours in jeans under the Roman sun, and how I would do it again in a second. The Coliseum and of course, bubble toe.

Corfu… Ouzo and soaking up the heat. Swimming in the salty sea and in the moment feeling very free. Cheap Gyros and fries for lunch in the caf overlooking the coast. Chilling on the beach with my friends, listening to the waves crash into shore. The indescribably beautiful mornings in this tropical paradise. Boozing the night away with new friends in far away land.

Athens… The Temple of Zeus, The Acropolis, and the view from the top. An at times indiscernible Brazilian tour guide and getting caught in a Greek downpour. Talking with new friends over beers in the hostel pub. Saying goodbye to some amazing traveling companions and wishing they could’ve stayed just another day or two.

Santorini… Two days of pure awe, as if my brain refused to believe the beauty my eyes were showing it. Coconut sprinkles on a giant chocolate “C”. Precariously perched houses on the cliff. The sunset on the southern tip with all those crazy actors pretending to be off their heads. The whitewashed houses, blue roofs and the blue sky… an entire community that looked like a painting. Traveling back through Corfu and meeting up with Cass, sleeping on ferries and a long day on the train northward. A night in Milan in a shady area of town.

Gryon… The view from the hostel, and how it alone was worth the trip. A 7 hour hike through the alps, frequently wishing for death on the way up, followed by being incredibly thankful for life at the top. My name carved in the cross at the peak. Campfire, beer, guitar and in that moment feeling like I was home again. One crazy night that had everything but sleep.

Nice & Monaco… Getting spoiled by Cass’ amazing sandwiches on the train. A lot of red and white flags. A principality that was like a palace. Enjoying wandering through the cities with some time to myself.

Barcelona… The beach, the park, and a very cool church. The food, lying on a park bench and recovering from a case of "eyes bigger than your stomach".

Valladolid… Attempting to understand drunken Spaniards at a wedding reception and meeting a lot of great people. Wandering around the streets at all hours of the day and night. Matrix gun-fights anywhere and everywhere with Northcott. Cooling beer in a hostel sink. An amazing BBQ in the Spanish countryside spent drinking and laughing with many new friends.

Grenada… Characters at the hostel beyond anything I could ever imagine. 44-degree weather, the Alhambra, and the damn climb up the hill to get home… but boy what a view. Attempting to understand the mind-boggling awesomeness that is a Tapas bar, and how they somehow manage to stay in business.

Alicante… Laura’s family’s amazing house. So much food I thought I’d die. Staying in a hotel and living like royalty. A fantastic weekend touring the area with our personal guide. Rollercoasters, posing as a Swiss Banker, and a new friend. Saying a temporary goodbye to more traveling companions.

Glascow… A cool vibe, a lot of pizza and getting shit on by a facking pigeon. The Cathedral, the Museum, and covering the whole city on foot in one day. Bloody hell?

Edinburgh… As beautiful as I remember. Standing below and looking up at that amazing castle. Wondering just how many of these Obelisk things there are in Europe. Being in the right place at the right time and getting to witness Black fireworks in the middle of the day. Beer and nachos at the Bull and a new tradition born.

Highlands… Skye, Loch Ness, Bannockburn, Glen Coe and the beautiful mossy green mountains that seemed endless. Discussing the finer points of electricity and literature with old man Pierre on the bus. The hike to the Man of Moor and an incredible view I can’t describe. Tailing a crazy man for kicks with new friends in Edinburgh, and near-disaster at a bus station at 2am.

Dublin… Fresh Guinness, and lots of it. Loving the accent, some ups and some downs and stumbling from pub to pub. Didn't really see any sights, but we saw what counts.

What a trip it's been. It's amazing what you can do in 10 weeks with a passport, a railpass, a bit of money, and some good friends by your side.

When we meet new people over here now and they ask us where we've been in Europe so far, we just kind of smile and say: "Everywhere."

Eurotrip '05: Dublin

Thurs, August 4, 2005 (Day 65)
Greetings from Dublin's Heuston Rail Station where Northcott and I are currently awaiting departure to the west coast of Ireland and the city of Galway. Had a great time here in Dublin these last few days... I think it can be summed up in one word: BOOZE.

Arrived in the city around 10am on Tuesday the 2nd on our flight from Prestwick which we almost never made due to a close call with a locked Edinburgh Bus Station (see last post). Caught the bus into town from the airport after making change with some nice Irish fellows near the stop. What are we... back on the Euro again? Put the pounds away! We jumped off our bus at what I figured was pretty close to the city centre (i.e. the stop closest to the river)... we really didn't know where we were going, but thankfully I had Ashton's "Lonely Planet Guide to Western Europe" with me, so we used that to piece together where to get off the bus, and where we we had to go.

I should note at this point that a guide book such as the Lonely Planet book I mentioned above is a godsend in situations like this. I consider it an invaluable piece of backpacking equipment. I used it in every single western european country we visited... a huge help for things like maps, accomodtions, sights to see. It definitely saved us a lot of time and effort. Thanks again Martyn!

So as I said, we hop off the bus at the river and head west from the center down to the Four Courts Hostel... seemed like a very cool spot. The internet reviews didn't lie. Given what we had just been through in getting here (a near-catastrophic all-nighter from Ediniburgh), we found some leather couches in a quiet reading room in the basement and totally crashed for a few hours.

Awoke at 3pm refreshed and feeling good. Checked in to our room, and hit the town to get our bearings on the place. Lo and behold, not 5 mins out of the hostel we run into more people we knew from our Highlands Tour! After our chat with them, Steve and I headed up to St. Jame's Gate to see the Guinness factory... we'll definitley be hitting that place up in the near future. Then we walked down Dame street, past the Temple Bar area towards Trinity College. From here we decided to start our journey back home... but first, a stop into Harry B's pub for the freshest and cheapest pint of Guiness I have ever tasted in my life. Good god this stuff is awesome! Not bad when it only has to roll down the road! Well... you know what they say... one good beer deserves another. So we headed back down to the Temple Bar area (which is this massive George Street-esk type area within central Dublin containing tons of bars). We hit up the liveliest pub we heard... being a Tuesday evening and all. Turns out there was a live band playing. We walk in... and man, I tell you... it was like I stepped into O'Reilley's or something... except with slightly different accents. The band played songs like "Whiskey in the Jar" and "Tell my mom when I go home".... and I tell you... I felt like I was home. On the way home we ducked into an internet cafe to take care of a few matters. I lucked into sitting at a terminal which still had 30mins of time left running and unused.... so we got free interent to boot! Finished it all off with a bit of subway (it was a subway/internet cafe place... interesting concept eh? I'd have called it "Surf -n- Subs".) All in all, a great first day and night in Dublin!

Slept in a bit on Wednesday (Aug 3rd). The only real plan we had for the day was to hit the Guinness Brewery, so that's what we did first. Took the tour of the place - interesting times learning how they make beer - the view of Dubln from the "Gravity Bar" at the top of the building is phneominal. Most importantly, we got a free pint of beer b/c the lass who served us didn't bother to take our "free pint of Guinness" token. Naturally, we stayed for a while, enjoyed our pair of fresh and delicious pints each, and took in the fantasitc view.

Stumbled down the stairs, and naturally, we had to buy some more Guinness for the road. We also bought some Pint glasses for souveniers (one for me, my brother Jason, Steve, and his good buddy DJ). Went on back to the hostel for a bite to eat, drank some more fresh beers, and had a wee nap (we were tuckered out from all the boozin). Got up, ate once again (ok.. you might think we're pigs... but we're living on sandwiches here and we've been drinkin). We hoofed it down to the Trinity College once again because we saw an ad in our hostel for a "backpackers pubcrawl" taking place that night.

Unfortunately when we got there, we were the only ones to show... so the girl told us it would have to be cancelled :( . On the bright side, she offered to walk us down to to the area we were headed and show us all the bars she had planned on taking us too... so we could still crawl... but it would just be the 2 of us. Ah well! Naturally we didn't let a silly setback like having no-one to drink with slow us down. She took us down Grafton Street, which apparently is where the hometown folk like to haunt (as opposed to the touristy and over-priced Temple Bar area).

We hit up a brew-pub whose name escapes me for a selection of very tasty local beer brewed in-house. From there we hit The Duke, McDairds, Major Tom's, and Down Under (an aussie pub). We possibly hit more... I can't fully remember... which is indicative of any stellar pub crawl. Anyway, neeless to say it was a pretty successful crawl for two fools who knew nothing of the place. Definitely a good laugh. When you've been travelling with someone non-stop for near on 10 weeks, I guess it's a pretty good sign when you're still having fun with just them. (cut to Northcott and I walking home, and coming across a teeder-todder like thing, and jumping up and down on either side it and making goofy sounds like the morons we are...)

This morning (Thurs, Aug 4th) I'm feeling the most hung over I've been in quite some time on this trip, so that's a clear indicator of the good times had. Basically, Dublin = Eat, Sleep, Drink, Sleep, Drink, Eat, Drink, repeat.

I've been trying really hard not to think about the fact that we've only got 5 days left over here in Euorpe. My god... where have 65 days gone? I feel like I could go for another 2 months! It's sad knowing that this is pretty much it... the end of an era. Time to grow up. You know... maybe. At least I can take solace in the fact that I truly did live the dream - the life some consider a myth, so to speak. I could easily write a novel about each of the places I've been. I've seen so much and yet it all just leaves me wanting more... particularly brought about by the realization of how little of this world I've actually seen....
Dublin was awesome! Again... not enough time here, but I guess that's true for just about every place I've been! I said I dig ya baby, but I got ta keep movin... on.

QOTD:
Steve: "There's a good chance we're really not going to get to see any of the sights here in Dublin... ....unless you count the bars."
Reid: "I DO."

Eurotrip '05: Scottish Highlands

Mon, Aug 1, 2005 (Day 62)
8am on Saturday, July 30th we were out the door of our Edinburgh hostel and hiking our way to the royal mile to meet our Haggis tour bus. Fraser and Ewan were our guides – excellent fellas – the latter’s enthusiasm, candidness and storytelling making all the difference between a decent tour and a fantastic one. Right from the start I could tell this was going to be an entertaining experience.
We left Edinburgh around 9 and departed for the north, crossing the massive bridge over the firth of fourth. The first stop was a wee village where a folklore legend “the wolf” – a terrible man as the story goes – had his remains stored in a beautiful little church. We were advised not to touch the coffin, for that would bring a curse upon the tour… oOoOoOooo.
From here, it was further north to Cullodin, site of the battlefield of the last Jackobite (anti-English) rebellion – very crazy. Stopped in a small town for lunch… Steve and I had our first taste of a “nip” of 12-year-old single malt Scottish Whiskey (Scotch) – not bad, tho I can see how it’s an acquired taste.
Kept on north through the city of Inverness on our way to the world famous Loch Ness. Steve and I even took off our shoes and waded out into the freezing water to see if we could coax Nessie into a photo-opt. No dice. Hey, at least I can say I was in Loch Ness.
Damn it’s cold and rocky! We continued on down the Loch to arguably one of the most famous castles in Scotland: Urquart Castle. A very cool castle filled with all sorts of crazy awesome history. We ended our day with a demonstration on the old highland way of life, including all their tools and crazy weapons, at a small history shop not far from our hostel in Fort Augustus. Took it easy that night watching movies with a couple aussie chicks from the tour.
Up at 7am on Sunday the 31st and onwards to the road to Skye! Absolutely beautiful drive to the Isle of Skye, an island off the northwestern coast of Scotland renowned for its scenery and heritage. Stopped @ “The Old Man of Moor” (a tall thin boulder perched at the edge of a cliff – representing a man who was frozen in stone there centuries ago, as the legend goes). Steve and I had a drink from an “enchanted” mountain stream, and then raced down the grassy hill back to the bus. Northcott and I raced down, naturally he kicked my ass, but I took solace in the fact that he completely bit it and wiped out with a massive summersault-like spin near the bottom of the hill… though that just made him a fan favorite on the tour bus. Saw some amazing sights… had a nice little hike up the side of the hill to the Moor (Steve and I got a pic of us doing a pose like the Samurai statues at Laura’s house with our walking sticks on the edge of the hill). After the hike we continued to the Isle of Skye – so amazing. We stopped at a brook which had a legend that if you dunk your head into it, you will become beautiful. Naturally, everyone on the bus had to go for a dunk. We headed up through Portree, and then back to “Kylackin” (the town just over the bridge to Skye), for an evening of booze, fun, and mixing with the locals. Interesting times for sure.
Up early on Monday (August 1st), and said our farewells to Skye. From here, we headed southward to Glen Coe and Eilean Doan Castle – absolutely spectacular stuff. I don’t think any description of Glen Coe can really do it justice. We stopped for lunch there, and it is arguably the coolest naturally formed place I’ve even been… just an amazingly steep cut valley in the highlands of Scotland. Unbelievable. But damn those Midges (little flies).
From there, it was down through Sterling – saw the castle and the William Wallace monument, and then on down to Bannockburn, site of the great victory of Robert the Bruce (I refer you to the movie Braveheart for the somewhat inaccurate but nonetheless entertaining background). From here, it was on home to Edinburgh where this crazy adventure began, albeit with a few extra friends in our ranks. Pierre, (our Minnesota teacher pal, and all-around nice guy and old man), joined us for trip down to the internet café to take care of some business. And what I mean by that is: Northcott went on the internet to talk to Ginny, while I stood in the street waving my wet towel around like a crazy homeless person in an attempt to get it dry. When backpacking (or hitchhiking), there’s nothing more important than a towel, and there’s nothing worse than a wet towel.
After that was taken care of, we 3 headed on up to the bus station b/c there were lockers there. Our bus to Prestwick (which is where our flight to Ireland departs from), wasn’t due to depart until 3:30am, so the boy and I figured we’d lock up the bags, hit the town for the evening, and then head on down to the station around 2:30am to collect the bags and be on our way. This turned out to be a near-catastrophic move… but more on that a little later.
At the bus station we met up with a few more merry travelers from our tour group: Patience (from the US), and “the ‘Peggers” (Lee and Krista) from Winnipeg. All 6 of us were here in Edinburgh for at least a few more hours together, so we decided to make an evening out of it. We headed on down to Princess Park and watched a drunken vagrant whom we named “Kris Kringle” annoy and scare random people. From there we headed down by the castle where apparently there was some sort of Scottish line dancing event taking place – so naturally we took in a bit of that. By this time, our time was starting to run out, so we said our goodbyes to the crew, and Steve and I headed on back down to the Grassmarket for some booze.
We decided to hit up a pub called “The Last Drop”, a reference to the gallows that used to be located just outside the door. Stepped inside, ordered a beer, and wouldn’t you know it, we ran into more fellow tour-mates! So we drank with them (Americans) for the rest of the night and had a laugh.
So… at 2am the boy and I figure we should mosey on back up to the station to pick up our bags and be on our way. We head on down to the main door. Interesting. There’s no lights on. We try the door. Locked. The bus station was CLOSED! We run around to the back of the building to the secondary door, hoping it would be open. No dice. We’re boned. Our flight to Dublin leaves in a few hours, and our bags are in lockers which are locked in a bus station. Then, all of a sudden, I see cleaners in the station. Thank god! So I start banging like a madman on the door. The cleaners see me… but they don’t come help. They appear to run away! AHHHH!!! Out of sheer frustration, I keep banging and banging at what I now realize is a partially busted door (mind you, I didn’t do the busting. Someone had obviously attempted to kick in the safety glass at some point earlier in the night). Then I see two security guards coming my way on the inside. I yell to them to let us in, but naturally they tell me the building is closed. We explain the bus/flight situation to them, and I show them the locker key. Thankfully, the guard finally agrees to go in and get the bags and pass them through the fence to us!! HOLY FACK THAT WAS CLOSE! How could we be so stupid to not check if the bus station closed? I have no idea… but thank go those guards were there!
As they say, all’s well that ends well… and that it did. A STELLAR couple of days in thee Scottish Highlands. Awesome tour – we definitely could never have done all that on our own.
QOTD: “Now listen here young man” - Old Man Pierre, 29 years old
“These mountains are damn sexy” – Ewan, the tourguide, sounding a lot like fat bastard
“Fancy a SNOG?” – Ewan again. Snog is Soct-talk for makeout
“There are 3 rules on this bus. No sleepin. No fartin’. And No Snoggin!” – Ewan
“Population: Tire!” – Amy from Mississippi at random, and Northcott and I were very impressed.

Eurotrip '05: Edinburgh

Fri, July 29, 2005 (Day 59)
Yo… once again, very behind… but that’s ok man, cause I love god (sorry, pearl jam plug... haven't had music in a long time, so I have to resort to singing to myself). I’ve been loving the Scottish Highlands! But first, where we left off – the road to Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arrived in Edinburgh around lunchtime Friday (29th). Headed down to the Highlander’s Hostel on Leith Walk in the pissing rain – absolutely freezing! Naturally, we couldn’t check in until later in the afternoon, so we drop the bags, grab the umbrellas, and head for Princess Street and the shopping centers. Grabbed a map at the tourist office, and headed to the food court for a coffee and a kfc snacker. Warmed up, dried off a little and got our bearings on the city. Headed up Calton Hill (?), a big hill in the middle of the city with a bunch of old buildings and Greek-looking ruins – a great view of this beautiful city - particularly the royal mile and Edinburgh Castle. Eventually we were able to check into the hostel. Then we hit the grocery store from some provisions, dropped them off, and hit the town once again. Fortunately it was raining less at this point.
I should note at this juncture that it has essentially been raining since we arrived here in Scotland. Normally that wouldn’t be a huge deal (I mean c’mon, we go to school in St. John’s for god’s sake). However, over the last 9 weeks, we’ve only seen rain twice! And both of those times were very brief. Hell… we just came from a part of Spain where it hasn’t rained in 7 months!! So yeah… being here is a bit of a weather shock. It sucks when you get spoiled by good weather…. you’re cold and wet all the time.
So, we trudged back up that hill with the view to get some choice photos of the city, and then navigated down around the large hills to the start of the royal mile (the road leading to the castle). We had a stroll up through there, and eventually arrived at the top of the hill at the castle. However, admission was 9.80pounds (almost $25) and it was pretty late in the day, so we decided it just wasn’t worth it (I’ve already been there as well).
From the castle we headed south down to the “grassmarket” area, which is like this cool low-lying area directly beneath the castle hill. It brought back a lot of fond memories of my visit to Edinburgh 3 years ago, as we spent a lot of time in this part of town (the bar area). Northcott and I even went into the very same pub that my friends and I hit up back in 2002 – “the Bull” – and had Kronenburg & nachos just like the last time. I think a tradition has been born… I now have to do this every time I’m in Edinburgh.
We left the pub feeling great, but wanting to feel greater :) . We picked up some booze on the walk home, had a few at the hostel in the common room, and then hit up a club up the road… good times. It kinda sucks that we only get to spend one day here in Edinburgh because it’s such a great city … but c’est la vie! Priorities first… we've got limited time here, and the highlands are priority one! Edinburgh really is a great place though. I could live here some day...

Eurotrip '05: Glascow

Thurs, July 28, 2005 (Day 58)
G'day from Glascow, Scotland! Actually, Northcott and I just pulled out of Glascow's main bus station, and we're on the megabus to Edinburgh as we speak.
We arrived in the city of Glascow around 9:30am on Wednesday the 27th. Now, before I get into that, I think I should enlighten the reader on a couple of important facts I've learned during my travels.
Number 1: When you fly with Ryanair, it is incredibly cheap. For instance, I think our flight from London Stanstead to "Glascow" was something like 1 pound ($2.50CAD) or something ludicrously cheap like that. Now, you have to add on taxes and fees and crap... so it ends up being something like 20-30 pounds or so, but this is still a pretty friggin amazing deal, consdiering that back home I have a hard time getting to Halifax from St. John's for under $150. HOWEVER, there is a catch that most travellers may not be aware of. Ryanair is able to operate at such a low fee because they service mainly secondary airports. What that means is, if a city has 2 airports... one close by and one an hour away, Ryanair will use the far away one because it's cheaper for them. So, while it is cheaper to fly, you have the added expense and inconvenience of travelling to and from these out-of-the-way airports.
Number 2. If you're travelling north, pack a sweater, even in the summer. We left Barcelona, and it was 33 degrees celcius at 10pm. We arrived in "Glascow", and it was 8. This might not seem like a big deal.. but you will not believe how fast the body gets used to temperatures. We stepped off the plane, and I looked at Steve and said... "What in god's name have we done??". Now, this may not have been such a big deal, but unfortunately for us, we left all our warm gear with Krista in London at the start of the trip, because we figured we'd only be hitting places that were warm. D'oh!
Ok... so that rant is out of the way. You may be wondering why I have "Glascow" in quotation marks like that. Well, that's because once we arrived in "Glascow" on our ryanair flight, we realized that we weren't really in Glascow at all. We were in a place called Prestwick, over an hour away by bus to the city (hence rant #1). So, at 7am on very little sleep and freezing cold (rant #2), we had to try to figure out a way into town. With a bit of luck and some last minute paniced hiway crossing, we made our bus.
So, as I said, we arrive in town at 9:30 and head to the Eurohostel, where we are told that we could not check in until 3pm!! Now, on any other day, that would be fine... but given our situation, it seemed like a huge kick in the junk. Nonetheless, we figured we might as well make the most of our time, so we dropped our bags, picked up a map and began to get our bearings on the city. At lunch we hit up the 4pound buffet at Pizza Hut. Lets just say, we weren't quite as bad as we were in Barcelona... tho we did pig out all the same. All you can eat food and it was warm! Why leave?
We kept on exploring the city and whatnot... seems like a pretty cool spot. I picked up a small travel chess board, and Steve and I wandered on back to the hostel to wait in the bar and play chess until our room was ready. I went down for a much needed nap at 4pm - and I never woke up until 7 the next morning!! I absolutely crashed man. 15hours of sleep? That's ridiculous. I felt kinda bad, cause I left Steve to wander the streets of Glascow on his own that night... but ah well.. I guess I needed to re-set my sleep clock or something.
Up early on the Thursday the 28th (as I just said), and hit up the free breakfast at the hostel. Then we hit the town to figure out the best way to spend our time here in Scotland (which will be the next 6 days). As our Scottish friend Tony had advised way back in Athens (which already seems like a million years ago), some of the best parts of Scotland in his opinion, are the highlands. So, we started to weigh our options. We could attempt to travel through the highlands ourselves somehow... either by train, or bus, or by hiring a car. But the truth was, we knew nothing about the area, and would probably waste our precious few days here on the wrong things. Thus, it was decided that we should spring for a guided tour of the area. That way, we know we'll see all the cool things to see, and we won't have to worry about accomodations or how we'll tavel about. We settled on a 3-day, 85pound "Haggis" tour departing from and returning to Edinburgh (since we were heading there next). It looked to be the most economical option for all the things we wanted to see (Isle of Skye, Glen Coe, Loch Ness, etc), and also, it was a 18-35 year-olds tour... so there are no geezers allowed. Sounded right up our alley. That day in Glascow we also got all our busses and hostels straigtened out for the next little while. We're bussing now in the UK as apposed to trains, because the stupid UK rail system has not signed on to allow Eurail users, and as such, our railpasses are no good here... so bussing is cheaper. Megabus all the way.
Got some groceries (Yay! Turkey ham! Haven't had that since I worked here 3 years ago!), and then headed up to the aply named Cathedral Street to view the Glascow Cathedral and the St. Mondo Museum of Religious Life and Art, which included Scotland's only public Zen Garden! Nice! Too bad it was raining or I would have totally gotten the rake on the go and then had a meditation session or something. Luckily for us we had our umbrellas (which Kriata loaned us back in London but have not been used until now)... it was pretty wet most of the day. We've been cursing Spain because it spoiled us so much. We're always hungry and cold now.. and we really shouldn't be! We're Canadians for god's sake!
Up at 8am today (Friday, the 29th) to catch our megabus over to Edinburgh. Glascow was a very cool little spot! Great people... nice vibe. I think it's a Scottish thing, as I remember Edinburgh was much like this when I visited years ago.
QOTD:
At a construction site near the Glascow river...
Scottish Man: "You sound American."
Me: "You sound English."
Scottish Man: "Bloody Hell??"

Eurotrip '05: Alicante

Mon, July 25, 2005 (Day 55)
Hola from Alicante, Spain! Well... somewhere between Alicante and the nearby town of Elche (where Laura's family lives). Laura has been hooking us up. Bigtime.
Before I go on, there's probably a number of confused readers out there who are wondering just where all these european friends keep coming from. Here's the backstory in a nutshell...
A few years ago, Ginny was getting tired with school and was looking for a change of pace. She, with the support of her family, decided to take some time off and go to Ireland to work in a hotel. She worked there for a year and met of ton of international people (like herself) who had travelled to Ireland for the experience, or in many cases, to improve their english. She became very close with a number of them, and they always said that if she was ever back in this part of the world, they would try to meet up.
Fast forward 4 years and here we are backpacking through europe, and Ginny and her friends are making good on their word. Thus, that's where Vera, Arantxa, Aitur, Laura, Marta, Audi, and a whole slew of others came from. These are the people who are taking us from our whirlwind backpacking adventure and really giving us a taste of life in their country. Awesome!
Ok... so... Laura, from Alicante, is another one of Ginny's very close friends. As I said... she is hooking us up. Turns out, she's now a manager at the Holiday Inn, and is giving us a huge discount on an amazing room! 10euro a night each in a hotel with free breakfast! And that's just the beginning...
We arrive Friday evening (22nd), Laura picks the 4 of us up at the train station, brings us to the hotel, we drop our bags in our gorgeous room, and head out to her parents house in the countryside. Now, this is not so much as house, as it is a Villa... I'm talking tennis court, backyard pool... the works! Her parents already have dinner ready for us... a delicious tuna caseraole (it was awesome, and I don't even like tuna!). We chilled out at the villa and then headed on back to the hotel to crash.
We crash until 11am on Saturday the 23rd (I told ya, we're a lazy bunch... especially when we're getting treated like royalty). We get up, and mosey on downstairs to the free buffet - fresh croissants baby! Then Laura informs us that there's an open market out in Elche, so we burn on out there and check that out - very cool. Then we go for a stroll through Elche and visit one of the cathedrals with an amazing view of the Palm Grove Park from the top! I've never seen so many palm trees in my life. Then we all pile into Laura's car and head back out to her folks place for lunch: Spanish Omlets (w/ potato and onion) and chicken strips - absolutely awesome - I'm so stuffed! We hung at the house for a while to let the feast settle.
A few hours later we were jetting out to Laura's sister's house for a BBQ supper! Can you say spoiled?? I think all the weight we lost on this trip is coming quickly back! Had an amazing feast, and once again, were stuffed beyond comprehension. A great night! Love her sister's samouri figures!
The next day (Sun, 24th) the kids hit the beach, and I slept in till 1pm! (lol). Headed on back to Laura's for a Papaya lunch - chicken, peppers and rice - absolutely delicious (do you see a theme here? All we do is loaf and eat. Now THIS is a vacation! Incredible!) Fortunately for our stomachs, this was the only meal of the day (and it more than met the quota). Rested up after that, for you see, Laura had a big evening planned.
She walked up to us and said, "Ok... I can get all of us free admission to the theme park Terra Mitica (think Spanish Disneyland), but only on one condition. If anyone asks, you are all wealthy clients of the hotel." LOL! Steve and I got to pose as "Swiss Bankers". Awesome hey? We kept walking around yelling "Combien de Fracs!?" Once again, Laura hooked us up!!!! Ginny was a German manager, and Krista was a Spanish accountant! Hahaha. Anyway, the rouse worked, and we got in for free!
Once inside, we started hitting all the craziest rides. The Novedad... a 90degree spinning ring thing - fucked! Magnus Colossus - a huge wooden coaster - awesome! Flight of the Pheneix - a 10 story freefall - crazy. Tizona - a 100km/h 360degree looping coaster in 35seconds - NUTS. Plus a whole bunch more. ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVEABLE! So awesome... I love you Laura!
Spent most of the next day (Monday the 25th) taking it easy... the boy and I went out for a stroll around Alicante to take in some of the sights. Nice.
It looks like this is where Steve and I part ways with Ginny, Krista and Laura. Ginny has elected to spend the remainder of the trip in Spain with Krista Garland, and in London with Krista Coates for a few days before we head back across the pond. So we said our temporary goodbyes.. which again (like when we lost Kay and Ricketts) was pretty strange.
Up early on the 26th (Tuesday) for our train ride up the mediterranean coast to Girona (just north of Barcelona), to catch our 22:15 Ryanair flight to London Stanstead airport. The way it worked out, it was far less expensive if we flew late in the evening on the 26th to London, and then departed early in the morning on the 27th for Scotland. The only downside: looks like we're sleeping on the cold hard concrete floor in the airport! Anyway... I got a few hours sleep out of it, so it wasn't a totally loss! Frig, I'm cold! I miss Spain already!
QOTD: "DRUGS!!!!!" - at the London Customs desk, our response to "What is your business in the UK?" [This is an imagine-if-we-said-that quote.... not an actual quote]

Eurotrip '05: Grenada

Fri, July 22, 2005 (Day 52)
Ok, so I've been a little slack on the whole journal writing thing. Let's just say that this fact is indicitive of the spectacular time had in Grenada, Spain.
Arrived late Tuesday (19th) at our rather unique hostel, the Rambutan. Before I go on, I think I should say a few words about this place and how we arrived on it...
So we're in Valladolid and we're looking for a place to stay in Grenada. We run a search, and we get 3 hits. The first is dirt cheap, looks pretty low end, but is probably fine. The second hit is a fair bit more pricey, but has all the luxuries of any high quality hostel. Then we get to the description of the 3rd hostel. We read the first line..
"controversial guesthouse in granada."
We're all like... what the hell?? We read on..
"the place to find flamenco guitar and dance lessons, mexican food in drag, tapa crawl, a bike that needs to be fixed.."
So we had a cheap hostel, a nice hostel, and a weird hostel to choose from. We looked at each other, paused, and unanimously said... WEIRD!!
So the Rambutan hostel it was! We arrived after a lenghty up-hill walk using the very bizzare yet geographically precise directions provided. Had a few beers and got to know our fellow hostel mates and staff. I could tell from the start this was going to be an interesting time. My initial impression of the place would be: Hippy Love Nest meets Quaint Spanish Country Hostel... very interesting. My only beef was the lack of A/C, and today was in the low FORTIES Celcius! Yikes! Even at night it doesn't go below 30.
Slept till 11am the next day (Wed, the 20th), grabbed some lunch at a pub in town and headed on down to the train station to meet with Krista. She had luckily gotten her bags in Valladolid, but unluckily gotten on the wrong train to follow us and ended up heading NORTH instead. Eventually she got straightened out, overnighted with Yolaunda in Madrid, and was on her way. She arrived, and we attempted to book our subsequent train for Friday to Alicante (located on the Eastern Mediterainian coast, where Ginny's friend Laura lives). Unfortunately, we were flat out denied, and told everything was sold out. (I refer you back to my Barcelona entry for notes on the Spanish train system). We were told we could only go as far as Alcazar (due south of Madrid). Shite!
Disgruntled, we headed up to the grocery store to stock up on food and water for the next few days. During the walk, I noticed one of those digital thermometer displays over a drug store. It was reading 44 Degrees Celcius. It occured to me that this was the hottest temperature I've ever experienced. And let me tell you, it was frickin hot. We got our grub, and due to the immense heat, decided to splurge a little and take a cab back to the hostel.
Once home, we called Laura to ask her for advice on how to get to Alicante given our present situation. Bussing appeared to be out, as there were no decent routes between the two cities. We hoofed it back down to the train station once again to see if we could possibly finagale a closer destination. That way, Laura could possibly meet us there and drive us the rest of the way to Alicante. We approched the window, and asked the very same man whom we delt with earlier in the afternoon if there were any tickets going to any place near Alicante. He laughed at us and told us there were seats available on the direct train to Alicante!!! WTF??? OK!!!? I have no idea what happend there, but hey, I just smiled and took the tickets.
That put us in better spirits, so we decided to get on the booze. We headed home, had some dinner, and headed out to hit the town for beers and tapas. In case you don't know what tapas are (as I didn't), in Spain (particularly the south) when you order a drink at a bar, it is customary to get a small appetizer with it for free. What we didn't know is that in Grenada, "small" is not exactly accurate. We basically got to choose a small dish (hamburger, chips, calamari, chicken, fish, potatoes) with each and every 1.40euro beer we purchased!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! Free food with every drink! Eventually, you get so full, you don't even eat the tapas any more! We definitely didn't need to eat dinner beforehand! All I could think about the whole time is how much my buddy Bri (with the bottomless stomach) would be in heaven in this place.
We ate and drank to our fill.... funny incidents involving weird foriegn guys hitting on the girls and spilt drinks on the bar floor enused. When it was all said and done, we hiked back up the summit home.
The next day (21st) was Alhambra Day. For those who may not know (as I didn't), the Alhambra is a huge 13th-15th century Islamic fort perched atop a huge hill in the middle of Grenada. This place was a large factor is us deciding to head down to southern Spain, so of course, we had to visit!
I must say... the architechture was absolutely amazing (as everyone said it would be). As well, the gardens inside the fortress were unbelieveable. On top of it all, you can't beat the view of Genada! Nuts! We even managed to pick out the Rambutan on the hillside adjacent to the temple as well! We spent a full day there wandering through the endless rooms and gardens, and I fell like we barely scratched the surface... but a full afternoon in the forty degree sun was enough for this muchacho.
Headed on home out of that and spent a nice relaxing evening at the hostel laughing at John (a particularly "unique" hostel employee) and listening to Keith the odd Brit and Elizabeth the Torontonian babble on about whatever was on their minds at the moment. I eventually went on to bed, but apparently I missed some hot accordian action in the wee hours. Ah well!
Up at 06:30 the next day (Friday the 22nd) to catch our 07:55 train to Alicante.
Goodtimes in Grenada, as long as you can handle the heat!
QOTD: "She was beautiful.... only on the inside" - John the crazy hippy hostel worker
"Ahhh... that's special" - Elizabeth re: anything
"Do you want a kitten?" - 'Angel', another hostel worker, offering us one of the kittens that the 'hostel-cat' gave birth to during our visit.
"Do we want Cheap, Normal or Weird?" - Us
"My shirt stinks. I found it in the bin, and I haven't washed it" - John
"Have you seen my shirt?" - John
"We should shower together, to save water" - John, to Krista, moments after saying how much water there was in Grenada.
Guy #1: "I've got money."
Guy #2: "He's got money. And I'm crazy." - The pick-up lines used by the guys trying to hit on the girls in the tapas bar. Steve and I watched and laughed from the other side of the bar.

Eurotrip '05: Valladolid

Tues, July 19, 2005 (Day 49)
Hola from Madrid, Spain! Well... sort of. Currently on a 3 hour stop over in Madrid central station while heading from Valladolid (Bia-doh-leeth) to Grenada. Valladolid was absolutely fantastic! Here's the scoop...
We arrived at 9am on Saturday (16th), found our way to a local tourist info place, searched out a few hostels, and finally settled into our room at the Astrogal Hostel by noon. We were pretty beat from our overnight excursion across the country, so we got some grub, had a bite and crashed for the afternoon. Got some (awesomely cheap) Mahou beers at the store nearby and had a few cold ones (cold water in the sink style), then headed to a small eatery for some calamari for dinner. Afterwards it was time for a surprise drop in on Aranxta and Aitur's reception (Ginny hadn't actually told them we'd arrived yet). We had a great night attempting to drunkenly communicate with all the Spaniards. Fun! Ginny's old friend Nacho (that's actually his name) was friggin hilarious, tho I think Northcott offended him a little when he tried to drunkenly convince him that Spanish was basically the same as French. Hahaha...
The next day (Sunday the 17th) we headed on down to Arantxa's aprartment shortly after lunch. Met up with our friend Krista Garland from home (Ginny's old roomate and good friend. She's here in Spain for the wedding a little vacation, so I think she'll be travelling around with us for the next little while! Good stuff!) Spent the day walking around Vallodolid with the newlyweds and a bunch of friends from the reception... a very cool way to get to know a place. We stopped into a small pub for a bite to eat (tho I was still full from the full Baguette I ate for lunch. Baguettes! They're everywhere! And at 50 cents for a huge meal... how can you afford not to buy one?). Anyway, then we headed to a coffehouse and we all had iced coffee (cafe conyero) - refreshing on a hot spanish summer day, that's for sure. From there we headed on back to the newlyweds place to get ready for the evening. Ginny's and Arantxa's friends Marta and Fran had asked us to visit their house out in the countryside for a BBQ supper. We definitely weren't gonna turn that down! So, we all piled into Arantxa's and Yolaunda's cars, headed to the convenience store where Audi, Steve and I got some beers, and then sped off towards Alba where Marta and Fran's house was. They had purchased the house for real cheap because it was super old and needed a LOT of work. I must say, what they've got done so far is amazing... but there's still lots to be done! Beautiful spot, nonetheless. Man, I was just loving being in a car again and blazing down the highway! Fuckin A! Yolaunda even had some Spanish Cypres Hill!! LOL!
From Marta's, we all piled into the cars once more and headed out to the countryside for a Spanish BBQ. Lamb (another first for me), pork and all sorts of grilled veggies over an open fire pit - absolutely unbelieveable! That evening was another clear highlight of this entire trip! What a time! Headed on back to Alba for another beer at a small local pub with the crew before saying our buenos noches. Marta even made me order the booze to practice my Spanish! Goodtimes.
The next day (Monday the 18th) Ginny and Krista wanted to shop, so the boy and I decided to go get our train tickets booked for the next destination: Grenada (chosen on the good advice of our new friends). 2 arguous hours later we had it all sorted out, and we were getting hungry, so we decided to take a little bit a jaunt across the river to find a McD's to quell our hangover hunger with. On the way home we picked up some more beer (San Miguel) and ice (it should be noted that in Spain, the ice costs more than the beer!!! Go figure!). The boy and I had ourselves a little siesta and then our nice cold beer (which you really appreciate after 7 weeks of not having a fridge on hand). The 4 of us decided to take a little stroll around the city at 10pm.. ironically enough, we managed to bump into none other than Arantxa and Aitur in an internet cafe (small world eh?). Said our final goodbyes and gave them our thanks. Without them, we would have never got to experince all the cool things we did, or meet all the awesome people we met. They're in the air to Norway for their honeymoney as we speak. I wish them the best of luck. Then the four of us felt like an evening bite, so we headed on down to the southside of town and hit up the Milano restaurant - delish.
This morning (19th) we were up early and getting ready to head to Grenada in southern Spain. Unfortunately for Krista, when she arrived in Madrid a few days ago, he backpack did not... so she's been on the line with the airline trying to get that sorted out. The problem is the fact that we want to keep moving on, but she has to stay in Valladolid until her bag arrives. However, she's expecting it sometime today, so hopefully she'll get it and we can meet her at our hostel in Grenada tonight. From here, it looks like it's going to be ~3 nights in Grenada, and then on to Alicante for another ~3 nights or so. Alicante is where yet another of Ginny's friends lives whom we're going to visit and stay with! Handy having the little wood sprite around, eh? From there, the boy and I (at least) are heading north to Scotland and Ireland to finish out our trip.
Holy fack time is going way too fast!! Amazing times in Valladolid!!
QOTD: "From what I recall, Nacho and I got along quite well last time" - Ginny, attempting to be provocative (and failing).
"BONITA!! (makes fish-head expression)" - Me, regarding the fact that in spanish, Tuna=Pretty.
"Pepe and PePito" - Male and Female body parts in Spanish
"You have an old woman in your ass" - Audi, to Ginny
"Uno Big Big Mac Por Favor" - Northcott at McD's

Eurotrip '05: Barcelona

Fri, July 15, 2005 (Day 45)
Whirlwind-esk times in Barcelona, Spain! Ok... here's the situation: Ginny's friends Arantxa and Aitur are getting married in the town of Valladolid in central/northern Spain on the 16th. Thus, it was our hope that we could arrive in Barcelona on the 14th, Ginny could take off to Vallodolid on the 15th to make the wedding, and Steve and I would follow suit on the 16th to make the wedding reception in the evening. As we quickly learned... when you want to travel in Spain during the busy summer, you'd better book well in advance....
So.. we arrived in Barcelona late in the evening on the 14th. We immediately tried to make a booking for the trians we wanted to Valladolid. No dice. Apparently all trains were booked for the next 3 or 4 days, or something ridiculous like that. Shit. It was late, and we were tired, so we figured we'd call it a night and try our luck again tomorrow. Eventually the 4 of us found our way to the IN OUT Hostel. Checked in and pretty much zonked - it was a lonnnng ride from Nice. Felt kinda bad because we realized that in light of the train difficulties we'd really only be spending one night in Barcelona, and thus Cass followed us all the way to Spain just to turn around and head on back to Prague.... but I guess it was her choice. I can't help it if I'm irresistable ;) .
This morning (the 15th) we said our goodbyes and went our separtate ways. Things were looking pretty distressing for a while there when Ginny started to realize that there was a good chance she might not make this wedding. Luckily for her (and us), Steve was able to use some quick thinking and action to get us booked on a bus.. looks like we may make this wedding yet. The bus wasn't until later, so we got a day pass for the metro and jetted around the city. Headed to the Rumblas (?) and walked down through the main area of Barcelona.
We started to get a little hungry, so I pointed out that there were a number of these buffet places located on the free map of the city I picked up. Thinking it was a great idea, the 3 of us hit up the closest one. Big Mistake. That was 8 hours ago, and I'm still so stuffed I can barely move. Turns out putting a bunch of hungry, thrifty backpackers in an all-you-can-eat scenario is not a good idea. We ate for 2 hours straight.. it was sick. I just about vomitted, I was that full (gross hey?). Afterwards, it was all we could do to roll up the road and find a park (Parc de la Ciutadella) where we flaked out on the benches for TWO HOURS next to the zoo because we couldn't move. Once we re-gained mobility, we walked down to the beach - pretty nice. From there we hit Sagrada Familia - a very cool and unique cathedral. Headed back to the station to collect our bags from the lockers we stored them in. I called Dad to wish him a happy BDay. Now we're in Barcelona Nord awaiting our 22:30 overnight bus to Valladolid. I know I vowed no more overnight busses... but you gotta do what you gotta do. At least we'll make the wedding now!

Eurotrip '05: Nice & Monaco

Thurs, July 13, 2005 (Day 43)
Happy Bastille Day!! Vive la Revolution!! Here I am, on the platform in Nice, France getting ready to depart for Barcelona, Spain. Here's the breakdown..
Arrived in Nice around 8pm on the 12th after a fairly lenghty travel day and a little bit of back-tracking from the Alps. Arrived at our hostel (Villa St. Exupery) and just chilled at the bar... 1 euro beers... can't go wrong there. Got chatting to the staff, and they turned us on to a self-guided bus day tour we could do in the morning to get to see the area. Sounded like a plan.
Up early on the 13th for the first stop of the day: the small village of EZE just east of Nice. That was a pretty cool spot. Kinda like Venice meets Greece. From there, we grabbed some lunch (I know where we can get some baguettes!!) and headed onward to Monte Carlo in the principality of Monaco. That place was also very cool - these Monaco folk sure do love their flag! I don't think I've seen so many in one place in my life. From there, Jen and Steve decided to head to the beach, and Cass and I headed back to Nice for the afternoon. I then went on a solo expedition through Nice - the old town and the beach. Very cool spot.... tho the rock beach didn't look all that comfortable. Luckily for me, it was only about 24 degrees that day, so walking around was a pleasure. My poor feet are still partially reeling from that hike in Gryon tho! Headed on back to the hostel where some Kiwi friends hooked me up with some pizza that is presently not agreeing with me, and had a chat with some lads from Newcastle. A bunch more 1 euro beers, and off to bed. Up again at 7am.. Northcott and I have decided that we're going to end our trip in the British Isles. Namely, Scotland and Ireland... so we had to book our flights. Awesome stuff! Now that that is taken care of, all we have is an 11 hour train ride to Barcelona to look forward to. Yahoo Spain!

Eurotrip '05: Switzerland

Tues, July 11, 2005 (Day 41)
Yo. On the train to southern France, coming from what was easily another contender for favorite place visited on this trip: Gryon in the Alps of Switzerland! UNBELIEVEABLE!!! Here's the story...

Arrived on Sunday (July 10th) from an overnight pit-stop in Milan, Italy on a forged Eurail Day (we got from Greece to the Alps on one travel day... pretty sweet). We arrived in Gryon around mid-morning. The view from our hostel was like something straight off a postcard (see below). Got settled at the hostel and decided to avail of our "free" travel day by taking a day trip out to the nearby city of Montreux for a few hours in the afternoon. That was a pretty cool spot.. right on lake Geneva. Picked myself up an actual "Swiss" Swiss Army Knife... not too shabby. Figure I needed at least one actual souvenir for myself on this trip... plus... we needed the corkscrew :) . Left Montreux and headed on back to Gryon and the Chalet Martin backpackers hostel for a delicious pasta supper and some cards. I can't believe I actually stayed in a "Swiss Chalet". How cool is that? And the place was friggin amazing. Just like being at an old friend's cabin... awesome times. We decided to go on a mountain hike in the morning, so we hit the sack early to rest up.

Got up at 9am on the 11th, and Cassy and I headed into the nearby town of Villars for some groceries. Got back around noon and fed the troops. Then, Jen, Steve and I embarked on what I would later refer to as "the best and worst experience of my life". Hands down, it was the craziest hike I'll probably ever do in my life. The first 2 hours hiking through the forest to Solalex wasn't too bad. Then, things started getting out of hand. 2 hours uphill to les Chaux (at the base of “cross hill”), a brief rest, and then 1 hour traveling 300m straight up to the peak of the mountain and the wooden cross perched upon it. Unreal. The pictures will speak for themselves. I've never seen anything like that in my life. We were literally above the clouds, and had scaled nearly a vertical kilometer over the last 5 hours. Nuts! I just about died! 2 more hours hike down the mountain and back home again. In all, 7 hours in the Alps... what a trip!

By the time we got home, needless to say we were pretty tired... but a bit of BBQ Supper, a camp fire, a few beers and discovering the hostel's old guitar soon changed all that for me. Man, what a night it was.... stayed out till the wee hours playing guitar by the fire under the stars - man, it felt so good... it felt like home. It was a great night. Didn't get any sleep tho ;)

This morning (12th) we got up early to head on our way again. We've decided that our next stop will be Nice, France. Before we said our goodbyes to the hostel, we went out and lounged on the deck in the sun for a while and I played some more guitar... man I really miss my guitar. It's so beautiful here, but unfortunately, we've gotta keep movin on! The alps are amazing!!!!!

QOTD: "Guten Tag? Good bread." - Crazy German guy's response to "Guten Tag".

"Will you pee in a cup so I can drink it?" - Again, creepy German Guy to a female patron he barely knew. Inappropriate but funny.

"Ahhh.... Modifé!!!" - Conductor guy on the Alp Cograil, calling us on our forged rail pass, but laughing at us and letting us go.

The view from our hostel. Gryon, Switzerland

Bunch a crazies

Lake Geneva

Ginny on the banks of Lake Geneva. Montreux, Switzerland

A Swiss Swiss Army Knife

The view from our hostel

Real Swiss Chalets

Monsieur Northcott et les Alps

Approx. 2 hours into our hike, taken from within the valley at Solalex

The view from the base of "cross hill". Our hostel is on the far side of the hill in the middle of the picture

Looking up "cross hill". If you look close, you can see the cross at the top, 300m straight up.

On the way to the top. Check out those mountains!

Reid-o, "wishing for death"

Ginny at the top

Northcott at the top

Nortcott decides to run to the next peak (he is the white spot in the centre of the shot)

Reid leaves his mark

Northcott reaches the next peak (the little dot on the top)

Looking back down over Gryon from the top

The hill we climbed (the green one on the left), as seen from back home

Our Alps hike: Started at the hostel and headed along the base of the mountian on the right. Headed to Solalex in the centre of the valley. Cut up the side of "Cross Hill" on the left and worked our way to the summit. From here we heaed down through the hills on the left and home again. 7 hours in total and over 900 vertical meters from Solalex to the cross!

Back at the hostel - now that was a hike!