I arrived in Copenhagen at 11pm after an eleven hour train trip. The secenery on the Swedish west coast between Gothenburg and Copenhagen was absolutely spectacular. In Copenhagen, I stayed with two different hosts, both of who I contacted through an online organisation called Couchsurfing. When I arrived in Copenhagen I took the train to the apartment of the guy I was staying with (Mark) and went promptly to sleep. The next morning I went into the centre of Copenhagen and to the tourist office to plan my movements. I went to the Copenhagen city museum but it was closed. I [View Full Entry]

---

---

I left London from Heathrow Terminal 5 on the 11th of June at 1:45pm. The terminal is brand new and is really good; the check in is right in front of you when you get out of the lift from the tube station and it's computerised so you just touch the screen and type in your reference. It was really quick and easy to get through to the gate. I arrived in Stockholm at about 5pm and took the bus to the hostel. Sweden is really easy to get around in because everyone speaks such good English. I checked in, got [View Full Entry]

---

---

I spent the last week in London working constantly (nine consecutive days) and then frantically trying to pack up my entire life and do some kind of organisation for my Europe trip. I write this from a hostel in Stockholm which I have just arrived at on the evening of June 11. I moved out of my residence on the 6th of June and spent my last few days in London at Hazel's house in Bushey. Yesterday was Hazel's 21st birthday so I promised I would stay for that. On the morning after I moved out of my residence we got [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello! I've spent the last month studying for my final exams and working part time at the pub. I finished my last exam on May 14, and since then I've been working full time, saving a bit of money for my upcoming adventure through central Europe. My exams went pretty well, but I was very glad to be done. In the one engineering exam I had I messed up the easy question which everyone got, but I got the hard question which noone else got, so I guess it balances out. At the beginning of May we had ten straight days [View Full Entry]

---

---

I got back to Geneva on Saturday evening and went back to Phil and Lucy's in Gland. On Sunday morning I decided to check out the nearby city of Lausanne, which is another city on the shorefront of Lac Leman (aka Lake Geneva), and also the home of the International Olympic Committee. I got off the train and made my way upwards towards the Cathedral. The cathedral was impressive, although to be honest I am getting a little habituated to giant European cathedrals so I wasn't overly taken by it. The weather was absolutely perfect, so I spent quite a bit [View Full Entry]

---

---

I arrived in Annecy at 10am and dropped my bags off. I went straight back to the train station and bought a return bus ticket and ski pass for the ski resort "The Grand Bornand" in the French Alps, one hour from Annecy on the bus. The bus ride was very pleasant and scenic. I hired my skis from the town and headed up the mountain on the telecabines. I've only been skiing once before, and that was for three days more than four years ago, so understandably I was a little rusty. The slopes are divided into four levels of [View Full Entry]

---

---

I was very lucky in Geneva to have a place to stay, with the Griffiths (Phil and Lucy), good family friends from the Hong Kong days. I met Lucy at the train station, who took me back to their office to drop my bags off. I then went back to town to explore and to see the lake. It was a beautiful day, clear blue sky and a spectacular view of the mountains over Lac Leman (aka Lake Geneva). I was immediately impressed by Geneva, the city seems very clean and safe, and I was taken by the mountains and the [View Full Entry]

---

---

I arrived in Lyon at midday on the 30th of March. I dropped my bags off at the hostel which was situated halfway up a mountain which had perched on it one of France's many impressive cathedrals. I then went back down the mountain to Vieux Lyon (old Lyon), to meet up with my New Zealand friend Louise, who I had met in Dublin. She is spending a year abroad improving her French. Louise was an excellent tour guide and showed me some of Vieux Lyon's traboules, which are little alleys from medieval times which connect the streets. They were also [View Full Entry]

---

---

I got back from Normandy and went to my third hostel in as many nights, the unfortunately named "Oops!" Hostel near Place d'Italie in Paris. To ruin a good joke, they were very helpful and nothing went wrong. From there I went to Western Union to try and collect the money that Peggy had sent, but apparently I can only get it in England. I consoled myself by going to a guitar shop and playing some acoustics. On the tour I had done a couple of days before I was told that the Louvre is free for under 26 year olds [View Full Entry]

---

---

On Tuesday morning I got up early, packed my bags and headed to Paris St Lazare on the metro to take the SNCF overground train to Normandy to see the D-Day landing beaches. I was amused to find out that the anouncement signal is the first three notes of "Soulja Boy". I felt like busting out the dance but managed to restrain myself. I arrived in the small town of Bayeux around midday and walked to my hostel. On arrival I found it completely deserted, and walked around with some French delivery driver trying to find the owners. I was getting [View Full Entry]

---

---