First Two Days In Istanbul

In an effort to be more “concise” with my blogging, I’m going to try writing shorter articles and be more brief when I talk about what we’ve been doing.  In the past, I’ve summarized several days into one blog, but this is a little different.  Right now we’re starting to research and plan our next leg – Southeast Asia – and I realize how useful people’s blogs can be when looking up information.  As a result, I’m making sure that I put any relevant and useful information into my blog entries while trying to be more concise.  Here goes attempt # 1….

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Le Nozze Di Figaro @ The Vienna State Opera

I am excited to report that tonight we officially attended our first real opera and, lucky for us, The Marriage of Figaro was playing so we sort of knew what was going on!  The Don Giovanni marionette show brought out more of an appreciation of opera for me, but tonight took it to a whole new level and I can’t wait till I get a chance to go again.  Paul isn’t quite as enthralled, but he played the part of the good husband and stood through 3/4 of the performance with me, so I can’t complain…

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Day 2 In London

We started our second day in London by taking the Tube to Tower Hill station, where we met up with Calvin to go see the Tower of London and the nearby Tower Bridge.  We decided to eat before going sightseeing, and ended up at a place called The Minories for our first pub meal.  The prices were astonishingly cheap – they had a huge selection of entrees that were two for ₤7.45 – and we shared five entrees (Chile Con Carne, Fish & Chips, Pie of the Day, Bangers and Mash, and Cajun Chicken Salad) and two desserts for less than ₤30!  The food wasn’t anything phenomenal, but it was decent for the price, especially compared to what we’ve been paying for so far!

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Overnight Ferry To England

Tonight we are on our first ferry ride of this trip, taking the Stena Line from Hoek van Holland to Harwich, England.  Stena operates two ferries from Hoek van Holland to Harwich each day, one during the day and one overnight.  We were originally going to take the daytime one, but when we realized our mistake about miscounting the number of days we had been in Schengen Agreement countries (as mentioned before, Canadian citizens are allowed in for 90 days out of every 180 without a visa), we changed our reservation to the overnight ferry.  Once we got onboard and saw that the ferry is more like a mini cruise ship and we have a decent room equipped with bunk beds and a washroom and shower, I was glad we took the overnight ferry instead.  At about the same price as plane tickets to London (€ 45 each including the train ticket from Harwich to London), I think the ferry is a much more relaxing way to travel and you save on one night of accommodations by taking the overnight ferry! (more…)

Half A Day In Rotterdam

This morning we headed to Rotterdam, the second largest municipality in the Netherlands and home of the largest port in Europe.  We had originally planned to overnight here and catch a ferry from the nearby town, Hoek van Holland, to England tomorrow morning, but last week we realized we miscounted the number of days we’ve been in the EU so we had to cancel our reservation and take the overnight ferry tonight or risk getting caught for overstaying our welcome and be banned from Schengen Agreement countries!

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Does Anyone Smile In Germany?

After a very long travel day (our train was at 9 this morning and we didn’t arrive until close to 4 this afternoon) we’re now in Germany!  Our first stop is Munich, in the Bavaria region of southern Germany.  The city is noted for having the greatest beer culture in the world (the famous Oktoberfest beer festival takes place here) and it’s motto is “München mag Dich” (“Munich Loves You” in English).  From what we’ve seen so far, we think they have a funny way of showing it! (more…)

The Louvre For Free!

As most people know, the first Sunday of every month there is free admission to most museums in Paris.  If you look this up this online, people will tell you to avoid the Louvre (the world’s most visited museum) like the plague on this Sunday because it”s usually the busiest day of the month, but for whatever reason we lucked out and there was no line-up at all when we went at 2 in the afternoon today! (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…)

Paranoid and Feeling Unsafe in Madrid

Being our last day in Madrid, we set out today to see the last major sight we haven’t visited - the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  Our morning was off to a late start since we had to move to our new dorm room for this evening (which thankfully will be the last night we stay in this dreadful hostel) and we needed to find somewhere with Internet so that Paul could do some work since the guy at reception needed us to vacate the common areas so that he could do the “cleaning” (honestly I seem to see the exact same messes when we return in the afternoon so I don’t think they clean at all).  (more…)

Supermarket Surprise!

Yesterday I decided to stop by the supermarket for the first time and I learned that you can buy drinks and stuff for very cheap in Portugal!  We thought that the restaurant prices here were very reasonable with most pop/water being only 1 Euro,  lunch specials for 5 Euros, and dinner entrees for around 8 Euros, but after going to the supermarket here I’ve learned that the cost of food is generally quite low in Portugal.  (more…)