Comparison of Accomodations

Today we’ve moved on to Bruges (also spelt Brugge if you go by the Dutch version), a medieval city in the northwest region of Belgium. We’re staying at a hostel called Lybeer Travellers, and my main thought is “thank God we’re only here for two nights!”  Apart from the fact that we’re in a dorm room with two other guys who don’t seem to understand the common courtesy of coming and going quietly when you’re staying in a dorm room, the hostel itself is in bad need of repair and the bathrooms are horrendous.  I tried taking a shower and the water went from freezing cold to scorching hot every five minutes so I had keep waiting for that brief moment when the water would start changing temperatures to splash myself with a bit of normal temperature water!  It was not a fun experience… (more…)

Train Travel In Europe

After travelling by train in Portugal, Spain, France and Switzerland, I thought it might be informative to put up some information about stuff like ticket checks, etc.

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Cost of Living Comparison

We find our cost of living slowly but surely creeping upwards as we travel from Portugal to Switzerland, so I thought it might be informative to create a table to compare some basic costs for anyone reading this blog and/or planning a trip to Europe.  This table shows average prices of the places we’ve shopped/eaten at – obviously smaller supermarkets are more expensive that large ones and the “fanciness” of the restaurant has varied, but we’ve stuck to mostly average places. In some cities I didn’t buy or look at certain things, so I’ve labeled them “Didn’t see.”  Also, because the notebook I had initially been using to keep track of expenditures was stolen in Madrid, the costs listed for Lisbon, Porto, and Madrid are to the best of my memory, but they are fairly accurate. (more…)

Last Day In Barcelona

Although I’m looking forward to heading to France tomorrow, I am also sad that we are leaving Barcelona.  There is so much to see and do that we could probably spend another few days here!  Fortunately, we managed to zoom around today and see most of the remaining sights we haven’t done yet. (more…)

Barcelona: Land of the Farmacias (pharmacies)

Not sure why but every block in Barcelona seems to have 1 or more Farmacias (pharmacies). The odd thing is all drugs, even Tylenol (called panacetamol here) is kept behind the counter. They have probably have more pharmacies per block than Vancouver/Seattle has Starbucks! (editor’s note: Starcrack anyone?)

Drugs are considerably cheaper here than in Canada. Mainly because there is no dispensing fees and the drugs do not have brand names like Tylenol or Advil.

We’ve Been Discovered! And We’ve Discovered It’s Hard To Cook At A Hostel…

This morning we met up with Jill and Micah again and decided to walk Las Ramblas, a popular pedestrian street in central Barcelona, not too far from our hostel and known for its vendors, street performers, restaurants and cafes.  Walking west from our hostel, we intersected the middle of  Las Ramblas and decided to walk down towards the beach and then back up towards the city center.  (more…)

More Gaudi and Some Time At The Beach!

Because yesterday’s lack of planning and late start led to a very rushed visit to the Sagrada Familia before closing, we decided we would go out together again today, but with much more of a plan, especially since it was Jill and Micah’s last full day here before departing to London. (more…)

Saturday in Barcelona – Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia

This afternoon, with Jill and Micah who we befriended last night, we headed out to see the infamous Sagrada Familia – a massive Roman Catholic church designed by Spanish Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi that has been under construction in Barcelona since 1882 and will not be complete until 2026!  We decided to walk to the Sagrada Familia via Passeig de Gràcia, a large street full of expensive stores and home to a couple of other famous Gaudi buildings, such as Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so that we could see the architecture this area is known for.  Although we all were interested in seeing the Gaudi buildings, there were long line-ups to tour both Casa Batlló and Casa Milà, so we took some pictures of the outside and kept going. (more…)

1st Day In Barcelona – Things Are Looking Up!

After the way things turned out in Madrid (with the unhelpful people, the crappy hostel, and the pickpocketing), I wasn’t particularly optimistic about Barcelona.  But after our first day here, it looks as though Spain might not be so bad after all! (more…)

1st High-Speed Train Ride

After the worst possible night of sleep (the dorm room turned out to be on the side of the hostel where a tonne of bars are located and the whole night I heard singing, shouting and glass breaking until 6:30 am when a drunk guy wandered around searching for his friend Pedro by continuously shouting his name for an hour) we dragged ourselves up at 8 am this morning to head to the train station to get to Barcelona (editor’s note: This sounds just like my place here in Asia!). (more…)