Italy (Weekend in Milan)

A couple of weeks ago I wandered down to Milan for a weekend.  Milan is a lovely city for a weekend trip as it has beautiful sites, an awesome hostel, and free food every night!

The free food can be found at almost every bar in town during happy hour.  If you buy a beer you get all the free food you can eat.  It's a really fantastic system and a great reason to have an extra beer or two!

Duomo di Milano the Cathedral of Milan.  This spectacular building took almost six centuries to build!

If you visit Duomo you should definitely go up on the roof! Just remember you have to buy the ticket in a different place on the other side of the building from the elevator and the stairs!

The view of the square in front of Duomo from on top of the Cathedral.

After a visit to the Cathedral (and the non-existent free walking tour) I headed over to the Castle with a couple of new friends.

Taking pictures of the Castle!

Inside the Milan Castle.

The front of the Castle

After wandering through the castle you should wander through the back of the castle and off to the Victory Arch.  The walk through the park is great, and the Arch is really beautiful.

View through the park of the Arch.

The Victory Arch.

The Arch after a few beers near Sunset

Duomo by Night

Me and a new friend relaxing by the Arch.

Malmö at Sunset

I thought I'd share a picture of the view from my kitchen window.  I took this a few weeks ago just before sunset.

Värnhemstorget

Norway (Weekend in Oslo)

A few weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, a friend of mine talked me into going to Oslo for a random weekend.  With a few hours notice, we booked overnight bus tickets, I grabbed my bag and we got on the night bus. 

Several hours of restless sleep later (I forgot my passport), we woke up as we arrived in Oslo a little bit before dawn.

Walkway over the rail lines near central station.

With some early morning wandering, we managed to get some pictures without all of the usual tourists in them.  First wandering up the main street towards the palace, then wandering down towards the water and looking out over the harbor.

Empty streets at 6AM on a Saturday morning.

The church on the main street.

The Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget)

The National Theater

The Faculty of Law (University of Oslo)

The Palace

James hanging out by the Harbor (Waiting for the coffee shop to open)

The Nobel Peace Center

After exploring the Harbor (and having some much needed Coffee) we kept wandering and ended up in the castle.  After the castle was the huge sculpture park which was amusing to see James reaction to, as almost all of the statues are nude.  (And in interesting poses)

The Castle (Which is actually still an active military base)

Me enjoying the Castle Grounds.

The "Sculpture Park" (Frogner Park)

The next day we took a ferry to the other side to check out the viking shop museum before I met up with a couple of old friends I know from Ottawa.  It was nice to visit with both Ina and Marie since I hadn't seen them since they left Ottawa.  The last stop before the bus home was the very fantastic Opera House.  This stunning building allows visitors to wander up the sloping roofs and enjoy amazing views of the Oslo Fjord from the top of the roof.

Me and Ina

The Opera House

Spain

The last country on my summer 2014 trip was Spain.  I had planned a stop in both Barcelona, and Madrid.

I started with the stop in Madrid where I met up with Daniela.  We enjoyed going for lots of Pinchos (small open faced sandwhich style snacks).  The bars we went to around La Latina neighborhood in Madrid where a fantastic way to use up any spare change.  One or Two euroes for each drink, and for each pincho, perfect for any backpacker!

Hard to believe that this cathedral was only finished in 1994

Through a bit of coincidence I ended up being in Madrid for Canada Day, as a good Canadian, I managed to find a few more Canadians (and one American) to spend the day drinking with and exploring Madrid.

Some of what we saw:

Another Beautiful Church

The Crystal Palace

Beun Retiro Park

Traffic Circle when leaving the park.

The next stop was Barcelona, I've been there a couple of times and it is always fantastic.  This trip I'd be visiting with my good friend Rachel as well as generally exploring the area again. 

The Seaside in Barcelona

On the second day I met some guys from Sweden who were staying at my hostel so we went and did a little exploring together: 

The Fountain in Ciutadella Park

Barcelona Arc-de-Triomf with some new Friends from Sweden

Castell dels Tres Dragons

Bullet holes from the Civil War as seen in the Gothic Quarter

After a few days of wandering around town, and spending lots of time with Rachel and her friends, relaxing on the beach, and going out for a few parties, my trip was almost over.  One of the best parts, other than spending time with friends, was finding a fantastic new restaurant that I loved!

Portugal

It sounds horrible, but I had put off visiting Portugal for quite a while, mostly because I had always just assumed it was pretty much the same as Spain, and I had already been to Spain a couple of times.  I couldn't have been more wrong!  The coastline is completely different (and very impressive), the people are also amazing, and Lisbon is beautiful to wander through, in a completely different way from Spain. 

Portuguese Coastline

My trip started out in a funny way, I had planned to fly from Lyon to Lisbon, but unfortunately the French ATC was on strike.  With my flight cancelled I decided to try to get to Lisbon via Barcelona.  After a night bus to Barcelona, and a day on the breach on Barcelona drinking sangria (every layover should include sangria and beaches), I flew to Lisbon. 

After arriving on Lisbon I met up with my friend Rachel and her friends in the hostel.  The hostel was fantastic and I highly recommend staying there (Home Hostel Lisbon).  After I got settled in we headed out for a nice dinner and drinks drinks, before exploring Lisbon a little by night.

Town hall in Sintra

The next day we took a day trip to Sintra via train.  The trains in Portugal are very cheap and easy to use, ours took about 40 min and cost about 5€ return.  Once we arrived in Sintra we decided that the best way to see the surrounding area would be to hire a guide and her car.  For 15€ each we had a car and a guide for the entire day.  We explored the estate of Penha Verde and it's surrounding gardens.  Perhaps the most interesting part was the inverted tower which is a lot like a giant well with a spiral staircase.

The Inverted Tower

We then went to visit the most western point in Europe and then headed to the National Palace of Pena up on the mountain.  After exploring the Palace, we headed back to the train and home to our hostel in Lisbon.   We got back just in time for "mamma's dinner" a lovely home cooked meal with 3 courses and free wine and beer for 10€... I think it is the best meal I have ever had in a hostel.  Don't miss it if you're in Lisbon!

 The Palace of Pena

The next day, I headed out on my standard walking tour and explored the Alfamapart of town. After I finished we all headed to the beach across the river.   It was quite lovely and had a few small waves with folks trying out surfing. I had a nap and got into my book a little bit more.

 One of the Main squares in Lisbon

After taking the boat back across the river we wandered back into the hostel with just enough time for me to sneak into "mamma's dinner".   After dinner we all went for one last walk around Lisbon with one of the girls who had just checked in. There was a great big gay pride concert/show going on next to the river so we hung out there for a bit and enjoyed the music before wandering in a big circle and getting back to the hostel just in time for bed.

 

Main Street

Castle of the Moors

France

I had booked a little mini vacation of 2.5 weeks and had planned to head to the southwest of Europe.  My trip started with the usual Copenhagen flight, slightly complicated by the ongoing train strike from Malmö to Copenhagen.  I managed to get to my flight on time, and after arriving in Paris, I found a new strike waiting for me on the French trains.  With a bit of wandering, I got to my hostel anyway and checked in.  I met some new friends and headed out for dinner.  After dinner we went to a random little bar that one of the girls had heard about, called Pop In, that always has live music playing.  After climbing up to the attic then down the back steps to the cellar, we found what had to be the most random show I have ever seen.  A guy from Texas beat boxing while wearing big masks and playing multiple characters. 

 

Sacre-Coeur

The next day I did my standard walking tour and enjoyed the huge amounts of famous locations in Paris.  It was really neat to see and visit so many iconic places that I've seen in movies, or read about.  That evening I managed to meet up with my old roommate Mathias and we had dinner, then watched the French world cup game at a little bar by his place. Afterwards we headed out for a beer at the same crazy little bar from the night before. 

 

The Eiffel Tower

The next morning me and Mathias met up and headed over to the Eiffel tower area to take some pictures.  We spotted a little grocery store about a block from the Eiffel tower and picked up some beer and picnic food and relaxed in the park.  Which is a great way to enjoy the area without spending too much.

Out enjoying Fete De La Musique with Anne-Laure

That evening was the "Fete De La Musique" and so we met up with my friend Anne-Laure and her friends to go and enjoy the music and the street parties.  It was awesome! 

The next day I met up with one of my old high school friends, Alysse, who happened to be in Paris at the same time as me by coincidence.  After a couple of drinks I headed back to my hostel, met up with Mathias and we found the most amazing little Chinese restaurant that had just opened 3 weeks before.  

That evening I took the train to Lyon with Anne-Laure, who's house I would be couch surfing at for the next few days.  

Lyon

Lyon is a beautiful city and is very peaceful and fun to explore for two reasons.  The first reason is that it lies between two rivers the Saone and the Rhone which makes for many kilometers of parks and pathways to walk through.  The second reason it is so fun to explore, is the traboules which are small passages that run between buildings everywhere.   Originally designed for carrying silk to market, without getting rained on, today they are concealed by the doors of Lyon.  To find them you can get a map at the tourist center, or you can just wander through Lyon trying doors and pushing unlabeled buttons hoping they unlock the doors.  I'm sure that about half of Lyon was annoyed by me wandering by shaking their door and ringing their doorbells!  

One of the courtyards I found in the Traboules

After a fun day of exploring I met up right Anne-Laure and we headed off for dinner at a traditional restaurant and a little exploring around town.  The next day I explored a different area of town and enjoyed a bit of time relaxing near the river.  After meeting up with Anne-Laure we cooked dinner and enjoyed sitting with her roommate on the  patio, drinking wine, and enjoying a few lovely french cheeses.

 Me enjoying smelly french cheeses.

The next day I slept in a little before getting a lovely email telling me my flight from Lyon scheduled for that evening, was canceled.  After a little scrambling I got that sorted out and was off to the mall, where I bought a new book and a drink and lay by the river enjoying the sun.  After Anne-Laure got off work she cooked a lovely seafood dinner and I was off on my next adventure!

A few more pictures from Paris:

 Notre Dame

 Outside the Louvre

 Arch de Triomphe du Carrousel

 Place de la Concorde

 Av des Champs-Elysees

A few more pictures of Lyon:

 Ancient Roman Theater up on the hill.

 The Cathedral

 One of the many beautiful courtyards discovered while exploring the Traboules

 Hotel de Ville

 The river, and Cathedral by night.