http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Wiggy/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Wiggy en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:25:13 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:25:13 +0000 Life in Lisbon is lovely. I rolled in at about 2 pm with even less of a plan or a clue than usual. I had no map no hostel res no cash and no idea how to say even 'thanks' in Portuguese. I was a sorry case. But after an ATM an espresso and a borderline sexual harassment by some crazy lady at the bus station I was REALLY sad not to know how to say 'thanks' then I felt like I was turning http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisboa/blog-448954.html About two weeks ago I railed out of France at 200 KMHour towards the Spanish border using my second muchdiscounted Eurail pass. Three hours later I was in Barcelona without an expectation in the world except that I would be rusty at Spanish learning French seems to have shoved much of the Spanish out of my head. But the good news is that foreigners struggling at Spanish is not something new f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/Seville/blog-446934.html This time I did it a bit differently. Usually I show up at a new place and sort of float around the country until the options dry up or I get sick of staying in dorm rooms. But with Ireland I wanted to do it differently and I did. I guess I felt like since I got my Irish citizenship I owed it to my 'motherland' to pay her an extended visit. And so I decided to sublet a place in Dublin for the m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-444430.html Well I've been in Dublin now for almost two weeks now and have made it feel like a homeawayfromhome for sure. I decided to sublet a place here for the month of September to get a feel for what it would be like to actually live here a feeling that has now definitely settled in. What I like most about the city is the pub scene which is lucky since it isn't the kind of place that fires on all cyli http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-434927.html Sometimes the strangest thing is that something strange seems normal. In this case spending a week in Italy. On paper I was sure that spending a week in Pastaland would seem foreign but this time around it seemed well like visiting a neighbor the I'm in Italy awe was plainly missing. I am starting to feel French...Delphine and her family had spent a week hiking around Northern Italy s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-431016.html This has got to be one of the coolest cities in Europe. I got here about a week ago and immediately parted company with the nice but clingy 51 yearold American that had volunteered as my pet in Oslo. He was a very nice guy and all but it was clear from the day I met him that he was a tad lonely and looking to latch. I made the wise choice early on to book a separate hostel in Stockholm from http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Stockholm-County/Stockholm/blog-419731.html Sometimes things just go right. Delphine her brother Remi and I arrived in lovely Bergen about 10 days ago after a long day of futzing around train from Grenoble to Geneva flight to Amsterdam flight to Bergen Airport Bus to town and checked in to a forgettable hostel in the center of town. The first thing that struck all of us after a little mental acrobatics was how bloody expensive thin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Vestlandet/Bergen/blog-417122.html This was a good week. Our feeding began on a quiet Sunday afternoon after returning the rental car that Mom had rented for her week in Vancouver. Yours is that one the Avis shuttleman said pointing at a huge but relatively small cruise ship the Norwegian Sun. The first stop of course was the buffet which was open from something like six in the morning until ten at night. There is somethi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Alaska/blog-412775.html It's been a long long while when measured in both days and kilometers. Let's see. It has been about eight months since I wrote in this blog and believe you me it hasn't been for lack of things to write. Since getting 'home' to Vancouver after my four months of motoring I ended up settling in the worst sense of the word for a divided living room as a bedroom for another semester at UBC. Dur http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Lyon/blog-271229.html 22000 KMs. One hundred days. 30 states and provinces. 3 tires 5 oil changes countless passengers. One tent one sleeping bag 4 shirts one pair of pants. Zero plans. Here in pictures is a summary of the trip. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver/blog-193890.html My favorite ride of all time was on an abandoned road in southern Utah. Here's some of what I wrote to Delphine about itThe sun was setting and the only sound to be heard was the gentle oddly casual bumbdumbumbdumbum of Le Doigt's muffler. The sound was totally alone in an air of utter silence like the first chirp of a bird at sunrise. I was alone on the bike with nowhere in particular to be http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Utah/Zion-National-Park/blog-193887.html StatsKMs to date 14500 and changeProvincesStates 22Tires 2Oil Changes 3Lowest Temperature5 CHighest Temperature 36 CDays 81Best Food Seafood in Nova ScotiaWorst Food Week old microwaved ham and cheese roll at ExxonClosest to accident Hitting dear in Gaspesie park within ten feet managed to stopWorst feeling Thinking the bike had been stolen in PortlandBest fee http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-191464.html Hola allFirst off some bad news. Recently the website that my blog is hosted on had a major meltdown and lost some blog entries of mine. The only one that I haven't been able to recover is the one called weekend in washington i think. Anyone who might have the text from this entry please let me know...Okay now back to the good stuff. Lots has happened in the last long while. When I left Indi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Colorado/Cortez/blog-191437.html Dear....God....Okay let me try that again. This morning I woke up more excited than usual especially given my EconoLodge surroundings. Today I was going to find out the truth of the origin of life. Today I was finally to understand the meaning of existence. Today I was going to the Creation Museum.The Museum is a 27 million dollar 60000 square foot facility is the crown jewel in the evangeli http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Kansas/blog-190988.html Today I had my first quiet moment alone with the Rockies and a rising sun. But I'm starting at the end of the story I have to backtrack four days to the beginning.At the last moment Monday night Bryce a housemate from the Crown House decided to hitch a ride with me from Vancouver to Kelowna. This was great but limiting in the sense that I would have to only bring with me what could fit on t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Kelowna/blog-159856.html Hello all Wow has a lot happened since the last time I updated this blog... I guess work and french girls will do that to ya. So I figured that I would do one entry capturing the highlights of the last month in bullet form... here goes Week of the June 24th Spent the week working at LevCo getting some funds ready for baguettes for Delphine's arrival on the 29th Highlights include sailing http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Nova-Scotia/Halifax/blog-184008.html Hola Where do I start with Chicago. I guess I'll start by saying that it is an incredible city with incredible spunk that has really caught my attention. It is the first place in the USA I have seen that I could honestly see myself living in... okay I could if I figured that I would live 200 years anyway. The city is crammed full of wild architecture from all over the world from all sorts of p http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-171932.html Hello all I sure have covered a lot of ground since I last did a blog entry you don't really appreciate how huge this continent is until you try to drive across it. Let me start with where I left off last Montana. The last week and a half or so has been quite the blurr. I have put the pedal to the metal trying to get out of Montana and North Dakota since there isn't too much to see and no http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Wisconsin/Madison/blog-167827.html Long time no write. I don't know what it is but I guess that feeling like I am not really in too foreign a place doesn't beg me to write it all down. But that isn't to say a lot hasn't happened since I last did an entry it just means that nothing too alien has happened. Unless you count the rockies. Driving into Banff from Kelowna was extraordinary if a little chilly. I was finally on my ow http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Montana/blog-164601.html UntitledNoel Wigdor Well here we go again. I very recently finished a painfully long unbelievably rainy school year and have decided on my summer plans. A couple months back I acquired a motorcycle and am planning to live out of the saddlebags for the summer on a trans North America trip Mexico hmmmm..... Just this last week though I started things off with a trip to Vancouver Island. I le http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/Tofino/blog-155490.html