I don't have much time, but wanted to say that I am still loving Portugal and have been incredibly busy - here is a quick rundown of my week.

Met some really cool Aussies in Porto and had a great time at the hostel. They were heading on the same route as me and we planned on meeting up later in the trip.

Took off to Lisbon, but didn't like the city all that much. There wasn't much to see or do aside from the typical big city stuff. I took a day trip out to Sintra (on the advice of everyone that has ever been there), and loved it. I ended up hiking all the way to the top of the palace, but the weather wasn't too hot and I guess a little more walking never hurts (it was about 10km each way).
I had to change hostels a few nights into my stay in Lisbon because my first place was all booked, but ended up meeting Helene from Denmark and have been travelling with her since. We went to a Fado Music Bar the first night and ended getting caught in a bit of a tourist trap and had to pay €10 for a bottle of beer and to hear the music. Then the next night we went to a Portugese bull fight. Amazing. This was definitely a major highlight of the entire trip. I've got some great videos and pictures, but can't upload them at the moment.

We had no accomidation the next night, so we caught a train to Evora and camped. Aside from brutal heat and a horrible walk to the campsite, it was great. The site had a grocery store and a pool. It also helped that it was a whole lot cheaper than staying in a hostel. Plus, the city had the draw of an awesome chapel made of human bones (Capela dos Ossos) - it was unreal to see.

We headed down to Lagos the next day with the intention of staying for a couple of nights. However, once we got here we met a guy from Edmonton, two girls from California and my Aussie friends from Porto - we are now all staying 6 nights. We rented an appartment, so I am finally able to get some good home cooking in, and everything is fairly cheap around here. This place is a huge tourist destination, so everything is in English and there is tons to do. I am planning on taking a few day trips out to surrounding areas (one of them being the Western-most point of continental Europe).

After my stay here I will bus to Seville for a few days, but am not too sure where I will end up after that. I am planning on meeting up with a friend and traveling through a bit of France in the middle of Aug, but still have to iron out all those plans.

Cheers,
Trev

New Pics

I was finally able to put up some pics - the easiest way was to put them all on FaceBook, so follow the links on my Images page.

If you have any problems just let me know and I will see what I can do.

I made it to Portugal and am loving it - more details to come a bit later on.

Oh Porto, Oporto

I have made it to Portugal; Porto to be exact.
Yesterday I didn't quite think I was going to make it here, but with a bit of luck everything worked out. I expected trains from Spain to Portugal to be quite frequent. Wrong. There was one, and it left Salamanca at 4:51am. Seeing as I had my hostel booked in advance I didn't have much of a choice, so I booked the reservation. Once again I was greeted with the full friendliness that is Spanish Customer Service. I asked if he spoke English - No. So just to make sure that I got the correct details across to the guy I had written everything out in addition to telling him what I needed in my brutal Spanish. After giving me a stare of death while I tried to communicate with him he printed my ticket took my cash, then held his hand above the counter and dropped my change all over the place. I guess he wasn't in the mood to talk to an English-speaker.

So I was trying to stay out of the sun today and save that for my day at the beach tomorrow, but just got back from dinner and saw myself in a mirror . . . legs are burnt, face and arms are pretty red and it looks like I'm permanently wearing a white t-shirt and shorts. Awesome. As if I didn't stand out on the beach enough as it is already.

Just a few observations. I'm not sure if it was just bad timing on my part, or if it is an acceptable social practice, but when I was in Zaragoza (keep in mind it is a beautiful city), there were a few awkward moments I encountered around the city - read: public masterbation.
The first occurance happened when I was checking my e-mail at the internet cafe when I first got into town. The guy was a few seats down and luckily I was just finished getting directions to my hostal, so I got ut of dodge. At first a few thoughts went through my mine - maybe there is a spark on his pants and he's trying to put it out. Maybe I should give him a hand (how's that for a pun!). That thought quickly passes and I was shocked back into reality. The next was just walking through a morning flea market, across the square to the cathedral. Low and behold, there's a guy on the bench going at it; and nobody seemed to take notice at all.

My time is up at the internet shop here so I will have to leave it at that.
If I am too burnt to sit on the beach tomorrow I will pop back into town and see about adding another update.

Like Mardi Gras on Crack or What a Difference a Day Makes

So much to write, so little time...
I would love to go into tons of detail and tell you all about the past couople of days, but there is more to see here than the inside of an internet cafe.

Packed my stuff and left Dublin Thursday moring (rain, again - over 6 weeks straight) and caught my flight to Madrid without incident. I had wanted to go straight to Pamplona, but the trains didn't work out so I planned on staying for the night in a Madrid. When I arrived I found the place without a problem (the metro here is awesome; pretty much just like the London Underground), but they had cancelled my booking because of a mix up with the reservation through HostelWorld.com. What they did have was a cot in the common room for only €13. I took it, but wasn't allowed to enter the room until mid-night and had to be out by 7am. There were a few other people in the same position as me, but we were all exhausted and just passed out right away. This was great, until about 45 minutes later when the LOUDEST snorer I have ever seen fell asleep. I was up the rest of the night. Oh yeah, Dublin hadn't been warmer than 18 degrees in the time before I left and it was now in the high 30s - I was roasting. I had to be up and out of the hostel by 6am to catch my train anyway, so it wasn't all bad. When I was leaving I was hoping to book another room for a few days time when I am back, but as I have learned now, Spain is pretty much booked up for the rest of July and Aug. Finding accomidation has been a daily quest, but more on that in a bit.

Arrived back at the train station and was ready to hop on the 7:15 train. Too bad the information desk doesn't open until 8am and nobody else speaks English (or is willing to). I had to get my pass validated and my reservation traded for an actual ticket. I stood in a line, only to be told that they couldn't help me. After waiting in that line it was now 7am. I found another ticket counter and was told to go to customer service, who told me to go to information, who told me to go back to the ticket window... 7:10am. Finally back at customer service they told me to run to the train and just get on. I pulled a runner to the departure gate, got through security and took off to my gate. It was 7:13am when I got there and the train hadn't left yet, but they weren't letting me on. Couldn't understand the reason, but at that point it didn't really matter.
I sat and sulked for a few minutes, and caught my breath after running around in this scortching terminal with a 30lb bag on my back.

I made my way back down to the customer service desk to see what my next step was. I was contimplating skipping going to Pamplona now, but didn't know what else I would do. When I sat down at the desk to explain my situation the 3 woman talked amongst themselves for a minute then told me there was another train leaving in 2 and a half hours and they would give me a free reservation! I was now back to feeling pretty good (aside from the pit in my stomach worrying about where I was going to stay the day after next).

Killing time in the terminal I saw 3 guys with Canadian flags on there bag and sat with them. They were all from Montreal and packing around for the summer. They had been to the running of the bulls the day before and told me a bit of what to expect. As we were sitting there another guy stopped by and it turned out that he was going to Pamplona on his own too, so I now had a travel buddy. Glenn was from Jersey and seemed to be having just as hard a time getting to Pamplona as I was - missed a couple trains and buses. He passes right out on the train, but I couldn't fall asleep. As soon as we got to Pamplona we met 2 Kiwi girls and a guy from Seattle to complete our group and we made our way to the city square. The place was unreal. Everyone dressed up in the same white shirt and pants with red bandanas and sashes. We dropped off our bags, got some sangria and kalomotxo (cheap red wine and coke) and started to make friends. There were random parades through the streets all day, carnivals spread throughout the city and people drinking everywhere. We wandered, met people and hung out until about 3am, then found a nice little patch of park to "sleep" in. Turns out people aren't just wimps, and it actually gets killer cold at night. I crashed for about 20min before waking up shivering. I spent the rest of the night walking around to keep warm, but cut out the drinking (unlike most people). The parties were still going all night, streets were full and bars were blasting out the music. I have never seen anything like it - a full 8 days of non-stop partying. After my day I had enough, but met a few people that had been there since the very start. At 5am I walked the course that the bulls were set to take and decided that there was no way I would be running. Seeing so many people bandaged up and partying the night before, then trying to walk on freshly washed cobblestones (felt like walking on ice), I just didn't think it was worth the risk. Plus, after meeting some of the people that were planning on running I didn't exactly feel that if something went wrong they would be there to help me out - I was definitely going on be on my own.
I opted to stake out a spot at the end of the race to watch and stood my ground from 6am until the start at 8am. The atmosphere was amazing, but in the end it was hard to see much of anything (as you will see by the pictures). I haven't had a chance to see the last days run on YouTube yet, but I'm sure it's there. Nonetheless, I was there and had a great time. I was going to stick around at the end to see a bit more of the festival, but had now gone about 60 hours on 2.5 hours sleep and was exhausted. I collected my bag and took the next train out of town. This just happened to be to Zaragoza (wasn't on my itinerary, but figured it was worth a try).

Once again, the most random spots have turned out to be my favorites. I found a private room with sink and shower for only €30, 4 course meals for €10 and amazing city atmosphere to fill the days. I have spent 2 days here now, but will head to Barcelona to camp tomorrow before going West to Portugal.

I know I have left out quite a few details, but if there is anything you want me to elaborate on, send me an e-mail. Internet is only about €1 per hour and the cafes are just about the only things open during sietsas.

I'm off to take advantage of happy hour beside my hostal, which has €1 beer - Spain is great.

PS - Mom, you'll be happy to hear that you cleaning expertise has rubbed off and I skillfull removed a number of sangria stains from my new white shirt... hahaha

I'll post new pictures whan I go on a computer that actually has USB ports, hopefully tomorrow before catching the train to Barcelona.

What's Next?

Once again, I am officially unemployed. The fact that I am leaving for Spain tomorrow still hasn't really set in, but I can't wait. My last day of work consisted of the typical monotony of every other day, but was made bearable by a couple hours at the pub for a farewell lunch. Also, I got another Guinness shirt to add to my collection of parting gifts. I'm not quite sure when I'll end up working again, but I should be able to make it at least a few months until my bank statements come back redder than an old brewers' face (they only work until about 2pm, then drink the rest of the day, and they've been at it for about 40 years...)

Shortly after I got home from work I was lucky enough to have a few last visitors stop by to see me here in Dublin; Jessica (first came over for St. Paddy's Week), Molly (her cousin) and Delaney (another one of the crew from Victoria). This was the last stop in their quick tour of Ireland, before taking off to see a bit more of Europe. Jessica and Molly were able to score tickets to Riverdance here in town, so after catching up we headed over to the Gaitey, of course, stopping off at Oliver St. John Gogerty's for a quick pint along the way. Jess and Molly took off to the show and I gave Delaney the two euro tour of Dublin. This consisted of a walk through Trinity College, up Grafton, across St. Stephen's Green and back in to a few pubs for more drinks. After the show the girls had to take off, but when I got home I was greeted by 5 former and current flatmates. I'm not too sure if they were celebrating because Martin got a job, or just the fact that it was a Tuesday night (or possibly that I am leaving tomorrow...?), but whatever it was, the shots continued to flow until the neighbors came by pounding on the door at about half-two. I don't think they were too happy about the excessive air horn use in the alley. Not that I was either – I pretty much went to bed after I got home, but there was no chance of sleep with the party taking place on the other side of my paper-thin wall.

I've got my bag packed, but it is a bit heavier than I want it to be. I think I'll end up cutting out about half the clothes that I was planning on bringing, and just buy stuff along the way as I need it. Ideally I will be able to get the total weight down under 10kg, which doesn't give me much space to deal with considering that my camping gear and backpack itself weigh about 4.5kg. However, I think the inconvenience of having limited changes of clothes will be far outweighed by the comfort of a light bag.

I don't remember where exactly I heard this, but they are great words to travel by (paraphrased):
“When backpacking you don't really need all that much, just remember to change clothes or change towns every other day... You will never be the smelliest person on the bus, so don't even worry about it.”

I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again, but it will most likely be after the Running of the Bulls on Friday/Saturday. I'm not quite sure where I'll head after Pamplona, but am sure I'll come up with a great travel itinerary after I finish my first kalimotxo; and where ever I end up, they are bound to have an internet cafe.

This concludes the Irish leg of my Wandering Abroad.
I hope my posts and pictures have provided a bit of entertainment, or at least been a tool of procrastination over the past 9 months, and with any luck I'll be able to keep things up-to-date while I travel these next 11 weeks.

Last week in Beer Town

It wasn't quite Canada Day, but it was excitement nonetheless.
On Saturday night I went out for Brianne's (former flatmate) last night in Dublin before she takes off to travel around for the next few months. It was a fairly typical night, starting with a bit of pre-drinking at her flat, then heading to a few pubs on the way to Temple Bar before settling in at The Turks Head (one of many multi-story pubs with a varriety of lounges/dance areas on each floor). I guess we were there until about 2am, when the hunger pains started setting in. As we were enjoying our pizza a guy came up and asked for change. We politely said no and he went on his way. Following right behind him was a woman making the same rounds, but when we told her no, she made a grab at Brianne. Bri turned her shoulder and kicked a leg out at the woman and I threw an arm in her direction, causing the woman to bail against the side of a building. I think the whole exchange took her by surprise just as much as it did us - after yelling at her, she got to her feet took off down an alley. In hindsight I'm just happy she was alone - there has been a surprising influx in the number of shootings/stabbings/pipe bombings in the past few weeks in the local area and you never really know how crazy the people around you really are.

The night before that I had met up with Susan, her Mom (who was out visiting for the weekend), and a bunch of her classmates. I had only planned on meeting up for a pint out two, but it quickly turned into a half-dozen and in no time we were being told to leave because the pub was closing.

The plan was to go out again on Sunday night to Celebrate Canada Day at the Woolshed Baa (Aussie Bar) - they were selling bottles of Moosehead and Molson Ice for €4 and even added poutine to the menu for the event. In the end I decided to lay down before considering meeting up with my flatmates, who were already there, but must fallen into quite a deep sleep - I didn't end up waking until my alarm went off Monday morning...

Work is creeping along - I'm officially down to my last week and am in the process of passing my work off to others. On Thursday I am going out for dinner and a few pints with the guys I usually eat lunch with as a farewell, which should be a pretty decent time.

At the flat, I am starting to look at packing up my stuff and we will start looking for a new tennant to replace me this weekend. Things with the latest roommate from Slovakia are going well, but he keeps to himself for the most part. I have seen all the movies at the theatre and am starting to get even more bored than usual aorund here - It is definitely time to move on...

To Run, or Not to Run

I have made arrangements to start my trip next week by going to the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona. Unfortunately my flight gets into Madrid too late to catch a train straight there, so I will check out Madrid on the 12th, then head to up on the train on the morning of the 13th. I have been debating whether I should attempt to run with the bulls or not and thought that if I watched it one day, I would be able to decide if I was going to run the next. With the change of plans (as mentioned above), I will only be able to make it to the last day of running, so am pretty set on standing back as an observer. Also, after talking to a few people around here that are from Pamplona, I don't think risking injury would be the best way to start my trip...

Here are a couple videos (check out 1:10 of the second video...)

Commercials

I don't have much to say, but thought I would post a few of my favorite Guinness commercials, although I wasn't able to find all of the best ones online. There are also a couple of stupid/funny Irish ads at the bottom.

Swimblack - my favortie ad


Irish Christmas


5 Senses


Think Contraception


Eurosaver