Norway Spring 2016

Well it's been ages since I've thrown up a blog post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been out traveling.  It just mean's I've been lazy!  Last year I ran up a total tally (without counting repeats) of 27 countries, and so far this year (2016) I've been in China, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and Norway!

So without any more excuses here are some pictures from around the Bergen area!















If you're in the Bergen area you should definitely rent a car and explore the fjords both north and south of Bergen.  Also a big thanks to my couch surfing buddy Bård for hosting me and my friends!

Andorra

When I was down in Barcelona visiting friends, and doing some work at MWC, I managed to find a free weekend to head over to Andorra.  We took the bus from Barcelona to Andorra la Vella, which is the capitol.  I had hoped to rent a car and be able to explore but I forgot to bring my international drivers license, which Canadians require to rent a car in Spain.

The trip over was really beautiful going through the Pyrenees with all of the fantastic views.   The capitol itself is a less beautiful downtown.  It was a little bit like a huge duty free shop, with lots of perfume, cameras, watches, and similar things due to the low taxes in Andorra.  If you go make sure you walk up and out of the downtown, to enjoy the great views, nice squares, small streets, and free tequila!  (More on that soon)

Check out the pictures!

Crossing the border.

Downtown Andorra la Vella

Duty free style downtown.

Walking up the hill and away from the duty free stores.

A square with a great view!

Out enjoying the views of the Pyrenees.

 

Wandering up through a little trail.

Free chocolate tequila in our favorite Mexican restaurant in Andorra!

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!