And now, for something a little more interesting that dates and places
The last time I had a chance to sit down and write was way back at the start of Aug. At that point I was still dying in 40C+ degree days in the South of Spain. Since then I have met a ton of people and seen too many sights to list. I will keep it to the highlights and give you a bit of an idea of what I have been up to.
Granada, Spain - stayed in an awesome flat and met a group of Canadians. We went to The Alhambra (5 hour line to get tickets, and we got there before 6am). It was awesome to see, and it makes me want to get out and see the spots that beat it to become the New Seven Wonders of the World. From what I hear it is ranked about #10
Next came the most epic of my train trips - 43 hours to get from Granada, Spain to Switzerland (via Madrid and Paris). Getting to Madrid was no problem, getting a ticket to Paris was only slightly complicated, but it turns out that you cannot make a reservation in Spain for a train leaving from Paris. So I had to wait until I got there to make the booking. I took the night train from Madrid to Paris and met a few people on the way. Long story short, after being threatened by the ticket guy we eneded up drinking until the bar car closed and only got an hour of horrible sleep in the bunk that cost me 70euro. Getting to Paris I found out that ALL the trains from Paris to Switzerland are book (then was questioned why I didn't book ahead...). I was now stuck. On a whim I asked if there were any trains to central Germany, to Karlsruhe (where a friend from UBC was working for the summer). I was in luck, so I sent Colin an e-mail and hopped on the train hoping he would get my message, actually be in town, and meet me at the station. In the end it all worked out and I spent a great weekend recovering on lost sleep before dropping down into Switzerland.
Mountains, Chocolate and cool knives for sale everwhere - I love Switzerland. Aside from the fact that it is crazy expensive, I had an amazing time there hiking around. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to do any of the Adventure Activities that Interlaken is known for, but it is at the top of places to revisit. I can see how Bern and Geneva are right up there with Vancouver on the "Best places to live" list.
The next week I met up with Colin again for the trip that we have been planning for the past while. We met in Avignon and traveled through Orange, Nimes, Nice, Cannes and Monaco. The weather wasn't the greatest, but everything that has been said about the south of France is true. It was a great week and spending a day in Monaco clearly pointed out the seperation in wealth between myself and most people walking around the port (I have never seen so many Ferraris, Bentley's and Lambo's - good thing I cant't stand Bentley's, they cost too much).
I have spent the last week in Paris trying to take in as much as possible. Unfortunately someone else was doing the same and made off with my MP3 player and 2 cameras from another guy in the dorm room. I just spent the morning at the police station speaking in broken french, trying to get my message across - they don't really speak any English. I got that sorted and hope I am still covered under insurance.
Aside from that Paris has been great - I am off to the D-Day beaches tomorrow, then plan on coming back here for a couple nights to meet up with my former flatmate, Brianne.
That is the just of things - I don't have time to go into some of the smaller (funnier) stories, but will try to post again soon.
Granada, Spain - stayed in an awesome flat and met a group of Canadians. We went to The Alhambra (5 hour line to get tickets, and we got there before 6am). It was awesome to see, and it makes me want to get out and see the spots that beat it to become the New Seven Wonders of the World. From what I hear it is ranked about #10
Next came the most epic of my train trips - 43 hours to get from Granada, Spain to Switzerland (via Madrid and Paris). Getting to Madrid was no problem, getting a ticket to Paris was only slightly complicated, but it turns out that you cannot make a reservation in Spain for a train leaving from Paris. So I had to wait until I got there to make the booking. I took the night train from Madrid to Paris and met a few people on the way. Long story short, after being threatened by the ticket guy we eneded up drinking until the bar car closed and only got an hour of horrible sleep in the bunk that cost me 70euro. Getting to Paris I found out that ALL the trains from Paris to Switzerland are book (then was questioned why I didn't book ahead...). I was now stuck. On a whim I asked if there were any trains to central Germany, to Karlsruhe (where a friend from UBC was working for the summer). I was in luck, so I sent Colin an e-mail and hopped on the train hoping he would get my message, actually be in town, and meet me at the station. In the end it all worked out and I spent a great weekend recovering on lost sleep before dropping down into Switzerland.
Mountains, Chocolate and cool knives for sale everwhere - I love Switzerland. Aside from the fact that it is crazy expensive, I had an amazing time there hiking around. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to do any of the Adventure Activities that Interlaken is known for, but it is at the top of places to revisit. I can see how Bern and Geneva are right up there with Vancouver on the "Best places to live" list.
The next week I met up with Colin again for the trip that we have been planning for the past while. We met in Avignon and traveled through Orange, Nimes, Nice, Cannes and Monaco. The weather wasn't the greatest, but everything that has been said about the south of France is true. It was a great week and spending a day in Monaco clearly pointed out the seperation in wealth between myself and most people walking around the port (I have never seen so many Ferraris, Bentley's and Lambo's - good thing I cant't stand Bentley's, they cost too much).
I have spent the last week in Paris trying to take in as much as possible. Unfortunately someone else was doing the same and made off with my MP3 player and 2 cameras from another guy in the dorm room. I just spent the morning at the police station speaking in broken french, trying to get my message across - they don't really speak any English. I got that sorted and hope I am still covered under insurance.
Aside from that Paris has been great - I am off to the D-Day beaches tomorrow, then plan on coming back here for a couple nights to meet up with my former flatmate, Brianne.
That is the just of things - I don't have time to go into some of the smaller (funnier) stories, but will try to post again soon.
posted by Trevor Schofield at 5:53 p.m.
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