Brenners
Brenna Keatinge Joined: September 15th 2009
Logged in: October 20th 2009
Logged in: October 20th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
My journey has taken an unexpected detour in Lagos. I've been here now for...let me see, what day is it? (At which time I google "calendar" and look up the date lol)...12 days! At first it was great...lying on a beach all day long, having tonnes of fun and meeting lots of new friends. I was having a blast! But 12 days later I'm starting to realize that just maybe these activities aren't exactly the best for me. Well, not really the activities so much as the place...It's a hard one to explain unless you've actually been here. The vibe pulls you in and doesn't let you go! It's a really small community so everyone knows everyone else, and everyone knows what everyone is up to and gossip is rampant. And because it's so small once ... read more
I arrived in Lagos on Thursday and it's incredible here! It's a small town in the Algarve (the southern part of Portugal) of about 20,000, and it's basically just a beach town with lots of bars and restaurants and tiny winding streets (like all of Portugal!). The beaches are incredible, though. They have these enormous cliffs and make you feel like a tiny little ant when you're up next to them! The last couple of days have been a welcome retreat from the business of traveling, especially after all the walking in Lisbon. I've just been lying on the beach all day and then going out at night. The first night I got here I ran into this guy on the street advertising for a bar called Johno's, and he told me about a really cheap ... read more
Lisbon streets
So I got into Lisboa (aka Lisbon) on Sunday and its wonderful here! I actually ended up getting a ride with Francisco, the guy Im staying with while in Lisbon, so that was great! Saved me some money, and it was strangely nice to be in a car after having traveled by public transit for the last couple of weeks! We went to Fatima on the way, which is one of the most important religious sites in Europe. Although Im not particurlarly religious (as most of you know) it was still so beautiful there and very calm...they have signs everywhere asking you to be quiet so everyone who was there (which wasnt many since it was close to midnight) were sitting silently and praying. The most quiet Ive had since Ive been on this trip for ... read more
Porto on the Douro River
I've been in Porto for two days now and it's the most wonderful place. The buildings are old and somewhat run down, but it also makes the city ridiculously charming. The entire city is all hills - I am going to have the best calves after climbing up and down the streets the last couple of days! - with the lowest point being the Douro River. Similar to Edinburgh, the most recognizable buildings - the citadel and the castle - are visible from almost any point in the city, so it's relatively easy to orient yourself. The weather has been absolutely amazing - hot and sunny every day, and it only goes down to about 15 degrees at night. My hostel is awesome. It's right across from the Teatro Rivoli and the staff are super friendly ... read more
Sex Museum Antics
So I'm nearing the end of my excusion in Amsterdam and I've survived! Well, to be honest I've almost been run over by like a million bicycles, but I guess that's par for the course here. One thing is for sure...the Dutch love their bikes! At night when everyone's out clubbing the bikes are three deep lining the streets. I couldn't believe that they all just dump their bikes without locking them, but then someone told me that the locks cost more than the bikes. Everyone around here ends up looking like Toronto scenester kids riding their cheap bikes around TO, minus the bad haircuts. They're sooo laid back with their biking though and are amazing at multitasking...when it's raining they hold umbrellas while biking, they talk on their phones while biking and I've even seen ... read more
Me and my cousin, Robbie
So I'm here in Edinburgh safe and sound! I was absolutely exhausted after a red eye flight Tuesday night, and I ran all day yesterday on pure adrenaline. In true traveler spirit, though, I stayed strong and did some walking around the city. It is soooo beautiful here! All the buildings are super old and beautiful, and the city is small enough that you can walk from one end to the other in no time at all. It's so different from Toronto, too...there's a rule about how tall buildings can be, so there's nothing higher than about five stories! The castle is visible from almost any point in the downtown area which is amazing, and you can see the hills in the background on one side and the ocean on the other. My cousin Robbie ... read more
