On the way from Pamplona to Porto, Portugal, I stopped in Santiago De Compostela to meet my host for Porto and stay for a couple nights. The city is so beautiful and I was able to meet quite a few ‘pilgrims´ who had just finished the Camino. This city is really beautiful; lots of green space, gorgeous architecture excellent food and great people. I stayed with a CS host my last night with a bunch of CS people and we partied ´till the wee hours..walked home in the pouring rain..singing in the rain (English, Spanish and Portuguese present)… doing the whole [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so I definitely did not plan on heading to Pamplona to run with the bulls - it was always one of those things that I’d watch on T.V and think - wow, that looks like something smart to do  But, while in Valencia I passed up the offer to go with someone.. so when I met Steph and Dave’s friend Mark in Madrid who was heading to Pamplona to meet up with his friends and run with the bulls I thought, this must be a sign  Overall it was a great experience, I got to meet and [View Full Entry]

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I spent a week in Valencia …unwittingly during America´s 32 cup (massive sailing competition) during which time I met some great people at the hostel I was staying at and got sick  perhaps from the soggy sponges and watered down soap? Valencia is a beautiful city - 3rd largest in Spain…much more clean and safe than Barcelona..though it smells like urine?! If it isn´t, it should be called the city of castles because there are hundreds of castles and palaces everywhere - very beautiful…and most attractions are free or very cheap. My highlight of Valencia was going [View Full Entry]

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I just finished a crazy week on the island of Mallorca with my old CS host from Barcelona, Ramzi. This island was beautiful, very diverse ladscapes from rugged mountains to rocky coastlines to sandy white beaches...and huge pockets of Germans and Brits out to have a good time. We stayed in an amazing hostel in Cala Nova, Palma, called La Mimosa - which was a must!! It had chill relaxing areas, a pool, cheap food, drinks, huge free breakfast..I could go on. While we stayed there for 4 nights (started as 2) we rented a scooter and discovered the areas [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Barcelona was beautiful..huge culture shock from Berlin and for almost 3 days I could only come up with German or french(?) when I was trying to communicate....and a few words of resort spanish...damn! I was to rent an apartment from a couch surfer from Venice Beach (Texas originally), Ramzi, but he ended up staying in town and we hung out for a few days. While in town I spent most of my time out, in Monestir De Monsterrat and Terragona. Monsterrat has a beautiful Monastery surrounded by rugged mountains (peak 1200ish) which Ramzi and I hiked all day [View Full Entry]

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Well....where to start... I spent about 10 days staying with Sue in Berlin which was very spoiling to me... I ended up crying the day before I was to leave in a Turkish internet cafe... my first real break down on this trip - not caused by the sights :) Berlin is an amazing city filled with so much old and new architecture...so many scars throughout the city...marking their war torn past. The first night in town I was walking down the street with Sue and her friends when I realized that the grafitti decorated wall next to me was [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Amsterdam a little tired out but non the less eager to explore the famed Red Light District. I had no idea how beautiful Amsterdam was going to be…it is so over shadowed by everything else it is famous for. Speaking of which.. when I showed up at my hostel at least 20 pairs of beady, glazed eyes peered back at me, I couldn’t help but laugh at loud…which I think made some of the guests paranoid  I was lucky enough to meet up with a friend I met in Paris and an Australian I had met [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Bruges (Brugge) from Paris and hopped on a train to Antwerp (Antwerpen, Anvers) to meet my host Sil Van, who had tried to surf my couch in Kelowna during snowboarding season. We toured around Antwerp quickly - saw the Markt, many beautiful areas including central station and of course the zoo where there had been an attack on a woman by a gorrilla(/ape?) earlier that month after the lady had been making faces at it for weeks, believing that they were friends?! I tried a belgium chocolate covered waffle, Kriek beer (cherry) and smoked apple tobacco from [View Full Entry]

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So I have decided that I will return to Paris one day on my honeymoon! I absolutely love it! I met some great people on the bus over to Paris trying to find the station and we ended up hanging out on our first day and going on a great free tour of Paris…. Followed by an evening of wine and Parisian football in the Park in front of the Eiffel tower. It was this first night for me that I realized just how lucky I am to be able to travel…’I’m in Paris!!!’ I have been hanging out with [View Full Entry]

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I arrived into London to Paddington Station and had my first - what was I thinking- moment. I had no idea where the subway was and didn’t want to seem like I didn’t know where the subway was - so I went and paid to get in the toilet, gave my head a shake and proceeded to be very proud of my Canadian self once I got to my hostel on my own (mostly). I have neglected to mention how nice the English are - my entire trip thus far I have never hesitated to ask for help and have [View Full Entry]

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