Category — Europe 2007

I arrived back to Vancouver late Wednesday morning. My final day in Europe was spent on a train from Munich to Frankfurt recovering from 4 days of the biggest party I have ever been to. Oktoberfest was definitely the best way to finish off this trip, and didn’t disappoint in the least, much like this entire trip. I can’t believe how things just seemed to work out so well. In terms of accomadations, weather, transport, meeting people, and overall just timing of everything.

Jason and myself didn’t spend too much time planning this trip, other than a rough outline. We used guidebooks breifly to note the “major” attractions of a city, however would spend most of our time exploring and getting ourselves lost. Keeping things open, and being able to compromise I think are keys to a successful trip.

Looking back now I feel the trip was really well balanced. We started off in Spain with some fantastic beaches, incredible architecture, and marvelously warm weather. Our first half of the trip concluded with two of the most exciting cities in Europe; Barcelona and Paris. Then like a breath of fresh air (literally, the air quality in Spain and Paris was quite poor) we left mainland Europe, and the hussle and bustle of the cities to a country of emmense issolation, yet incredible beauty.

Iceland was a amazing 5 days that felt like a month. Despite having such a short time, we made sure to enjoy every moment, to take in as much as we could, and make the most of the day. We slept in our rental car, waking with the sun, and ending our day when things became dark. Even when things looked like they could have gone sour and we poped a tire, we didn’t let it get us down. We continued on our adventure, finishing the circle road and ending up in the small but vibrant capital of Reykjavik for our final hurrah.

We then flew to Berlin where we spent the remainder of the trip in Germany. It was funny because coming to Germany felt a bit like a homecoming. It is odd because I have never lived in Germany, but there was something that was familiar, something that felt like home. Berlin really struck me as an amazing city, with such an incredible history to it. It is vibrant and happening, yet extremely cheap as well. In terms of cities in Europe that I stayed in, it felt the most livable.

As our time in Berlin came to a close, we rented a car and made our way down to Fussen to see the Disney like castle Schloss Neuschwanstein, before making our way to Munich for one final hurray before coming home. In Munich we met up with a bunch of our friends and took part in all the crazyness that was Oktoberfest. A fantastic way to end the trip.

I am extremely happy with the way the trip turned out. I couldn’t have had a better travel partner, and things couldn’t have worked out any better than they have. I have loads of stories to tell, and have just uploaded the best of my photos to flickr. So checkout the pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kloppster/collections/72157602193774051/ and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you all the next time we get together!

This is probably my last update. Over the last few days Jason and myself have ventured through some amazing country in Iceland, taking us to the Western edge of both the country and Europe. We also took in the lovely town of Reykjavik and even saw a Finnish death metal band, Fintroll. The last few days we have been taking in the history of Berlin, and thoroughly enjoying the cheap food and beer. Will see you all soon in a little over a week.

BTW a lot of new photos up at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kloppster

Just wanted to say we have arrived safe in Iceland. It is quite an amazing place. After one day we probably took over 300+ pictures each. Seeing so much makes it feel like we have been here for weeks. So magical. We have a pretty good routine of waking up really early, finding a nice hotsprings to relax/cleanup in, and then start our exploring. The only minor annoyance so far this trip was blowing a tire on some dirt road on the top of a mountain pass. Changing that tire in 90 km/h winds in ice cold weather was not fun, but sitting in the hot tub in the next town certainly made up for it. Anyway when I get back I am going to have thousands of pictures to put up; in the meantime I will try and find some time in the next few days to put a couple up for your viewing.

So I have just spent the last week in Barcelona and Paris, two of the more bustling cities in Europe. Barcelona was an absolute blast. This city has something for everyone. Great beaches, good shopping, a nightlife that never sleeps and some amazing sites highlighted by loads of Guadi architecture. I had a good balance of partying, sightseeing and hitting the beach. My few days in Paris were also quite nice. I have been able to spend some time with my cousin, who has been a fantastic tour guide! I think now after all this hustle and bustle of the big metropolouses I am ready for a bit of a slow down in Iceland. I fly out today at 3pm.

Coming to Granada we didn´t expect much more than a town that offered free tapas. Wandering the city in search of the best bar however we discovered a bustling town with so much more to offer.

Our first attempt at finding good tapas was a bit of a let down, with most places we went to only offering up small fast foodish stuff. So we continued to walk our way across town until we made our way up the big hill on which the Alhambra sits. The Alhambra, a massive palace/fortress is a very imposing building. It is perched up on the top of this big hill, with a amazing view of the city bellow. We were lucky enough to be able to go in without a reservation and check everything out. The palace itself was purely amazing. The arabic architechture was something to behold.

After checking out the Alhambra, we head back into town and continued our trek for tapas. We were getting a little more lucking this time as we made our way up another hill beside the Alhambra. We made our way up into a small community that appeared a lot less visited by tourist. As we were coming around a corner we started to hear some music playing, and a few seconds later 4 horses came running down the road followed by a parade of people playing music all dressed up in halloween like costumes. It was absolutely random, and ridiculous. So we quickly found ourselfs a spot on a balcany at a nearby bar and watched as the sun faded behind the Alhambra, and the parade moved through the streets.

After our drink we headed back into town. On our way we saw performers, fire dancers, and comedians all entertaining the people on the streets. We made our way by the cathedral where a man and a women were playing guitar to a big group of people. They were truly fantastic, and reminded me a lot of Rodrigo Y Gabriella. To close off our day we caught a flamenco dance with our dinner. Nothing like a fresh bowl of Gespacho with a beautiful woman dancing to the rythm of a guitar literally 1 meter in front of you.

The next day in Granada was a lot more relaxed, we tried out the Arabic baths (Hammams), before going on another tapa bar hunt. This time we found a gold mine of bars a little more in the university quarters, which were bustling with people, and offered some delicious choices.

Our final day in southern Spain was spent in Malaga where we kicked it out on the beach. A good relaxing time.

I am now in Barcelona, where I will be until Monday when I goto Paris. Barcelona has started off with a bang with a fantastic show from Xavier Rudd. Nothing like seeing a concert in a completely different country. Anyway will try and upload some more photos soon, once I find a computer that lets me download my photos.

So we have spent the last few days now in Seville in the south of Spain. Everything I had read about the city was positive, however even with such a big build up it hasn´t disapointed. We have spent most of our days here simply wandering around the city, bouncing from tapa bar to tapa bar, and otherwise just taking in the energy of the city. Seville has this narrow little streets that are loaded with shops, restaurants and bars. The streets are absolutely full of people (Something very different from the area we were staying in Valencia), and there is just this vibe to the city. Today we were walking down some today random side street and came upon this tapa bar. We went inside and it was pretty empty, beside 3 guys sitting around the bar. They were all very funkily dressed and burning down their cigarettes, almost like a picture out of an old 40´s flick. In the background is some spanish guitar music creating this fantastic ambiance. We get to chatting with the people at the bar, and it turns out 1 of the guys there is the lead singer for the punk band Rancid, Tim Armstrong. He said he just recorded in album down in Cadiz and was now just relaxing spending some time in Seville. The other two at the bar, as well as the female bartender were from France, and were in a very animated conversation. We are off tomorrow for Granada, which I am a bit sad to have to do so soon, as Seville has really been an enjoyable time.

I have added a few more photos to my flickr page located at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kloppster/

So I arrived into Valencia Spain on Monday. Met up with Jason, Ben and Mike. We found our apartment which was literally 2 blocks from the beach. After settling in we went down to the Playa and enjoyed some delicious Paiella, and down a big jug of Sangria. We were officially in Spain. We spent the next day exploring Valencia which has one of the most amazing new buildings I have ever seen. Looks like the Sydney Opera house, but on steriods. Wednesday we made the trek out to Bunol with 30,000 other people to take part in La Tomatino. It was such a crazy event, with street dance parties going on, and overall just complete madness. But also incredibly fun. I will write more on this when I get back and have more time. Anyway was a fantastic time. Anyway we are now going to make our way south to Seville and Grenada and enjoy some good tapa culture.

I have added a few photos to my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kloppster/

Will check back in soon.