Crazy food, soccer curses and sun...I love this trip!

Hello from Sevilla!

Well, I guess I have fallen behind a bit in the blogging. Last time I posted I was in Granada and unsure about where I was going. It turns out Tarifa was the next destination. It is down south on the coast. We heard from two American girls that there was some really good kite surfing down there and they even recommended a hostel to stay at that would give lessons. So we headed that way after a great time in Granada.

The train ride down to Tarifa was amazing. It goes through an area of Spain with lots of mountains. The scenary is simply breath taking. No book or distractions required. Just looking out the window made the trip pass in no time at all.

So we made it to Tarifa. The hostel seemed like it would be cool. They picked us up from the bus station and drove us to the hostel. Unfortunately, this meant that it was well outside the city. This is a big problem when you want groceries and there is no way into town. It was a pretty rustic hostel. On the last morning we stayed there, there was no water. Not no hot water. No water coming out of the taps at all. Shady. The beds we got were neat. It was an elevated wooden hut in the backyard of the hostel. So basically it was like sleeping outside. That part was cool. The outdoor showers were less fun. Mostly because it is VERY windy there and the shower curtains seem to have a mind of their own. The kite surfing also didn't really work out. It cost 160 euros for 2 lessons, and as budget travellers, that was a little much. It cost less to fly 2 of us from Budapest to Spain. So we decided to skip that.

Instead we spent our day in Tarifa on the beach, working on those tans that caused us so much pain before. Unfortunately, this beach was nothing like our last one. The sand was worse, the wind was whipping and it was cold. However, this did not stop the sun from beating down on us and helping us discover new ways to burn. This time it was our eyelids. Let me tell you, this is not the best place in the world to burn. For the next day and half it hurt to blink. Not cool. Thankfully the aloe seems to have fixed that.

So Tarifa didn't really turn out the way we wanted it to, but lessoned learned and we headed off to Sevilla. We got really luckey with the trains and got a quicker connection than we should have and enjoyed a train trip with a talkative English man named Gerald, who told a million funny stories. The entire care of the train was full os English tourists who seemed to want to hear of our adventures. It was fun. So anyways, we made it to Sevilla and despite some problems finding a hostel (Spain at this time of year is booked solid) we settled in and started to enjoy the city. The windy streets make getting lost so much fun. Today we visted the palace and the Cathedral including seeing the tomb of Christopher Columbus. It was really cool. Although supposedly this is one of 4 tombs in various cities, this one did DNA testing on the remains and proved definitivly that they hold at least some of the true remains of Columbus.

Another interesting side note of the trip is our apparent World Cup Curse. It seems that every time we watch a country play while we are in that country, they lose. We watched the Czechs lose in the Czech Republic; Poland lose in Poland; and finally we watched Spain lose in Spain. Luckily for us we are not visitng anymore countires until it it over. We would probably get our passports flaged if it happened again.

Well, that is all for now. We have a couple more days in Sevilla before Toledo and Madrid. Hopefully by then we will have learned to eat properly in Spain. It seems that everytime we are hungry the rest of the country isn't and the kitchens are closed. So far we have worked out that you are not allowed to eat between 2pm and 7pm...not good for hungry guys like us. But I think we are doing better. Best wishes to all back home. Keep up the posts, I love them!

Sun and Sunburns

Ever wonder if you can get a sunburn on your scalp? Try shaving your head the day before you go tanning on a sunny Spanish beach and that will give you your answer. I was pretty good about the sunscreen, although I missed some parts of my legs which also burnt, but man the scalp burn hurts. I spent the next couple of days running between the shadows because any time spent in the sun hurt my head. There are some funny pictures of me without a shirt on walking around a Roman aqueduct just to protect my head.

We have left sunny Tarragona, though I must say that is one place I would love to return to at some point, and we are now in Granada. The train trip was yet another long one. We thought we'd save some money and take the night train, but not pay the 25 euros to get a bed, just sleep in the chairs. Big mistake. Not only were there people going in and out all of the time, but I wasn't able to get much sleep at all. You can only do so much in a chair. The train was supposed to leave at 10:30pm and get into Granada at about 9am, but somewhere along the way someone had a medical emergency and we had to stop for an hour and a half to get them into an ambulance. Then some lady slept through her stop and they went backwards to drop her off! So we were delayed 2 hours.

Needless to say we did not arrive in a happy mood. Fortunately the hostel we are staying in is beautiful. It is in the old part of the city of Granada with tiny winding streets. Also, it has a view of the city below and the moutains of the surronding area. There is a rooftop bar/terrace that gives an excellent view. The moutains are so high that in the winter there is actually skiing (futhest south in all of Europe) and even now there are traces of snow on them.

Today we went to Alhambra, the old castle that Granda is famous for and that sits on the highest point of the city. It was beautiful. Nice gardens spread throughout. It was beautiful. Both the Christians and the Muslims both held it at different times, so there is some interesting architecture. The Cathedral here is also huge and really neat. Other than that just walking around the streets here is very interesting.

In Bull related news (it is coming up in couple of weeks) we found out that there are no trains to get us to Pamplona, they have been booked for weeks. Stupid that we didn't think of that. Fortunately, we met 2 girls from California in our hostel who are also going to run and have rented a car. They are also planning to sleep on the street and wouldn't mind 2 handsome and tough (ok...well one handsome and one tough) Canadians to guard them. So we are going to get the car with them in Madrid and the 4 of us are going to roadtrip up to the bulls. Also the car may give us a nice place to sleep. So the plans are set, the run will be on a certain day. Some family members have asked that I not reveal the day so that they will be able to sleep that night, but our flight to London is the 10th of July, so unless we are in a Spanish hospital we plan to be on it.

More blogs to come and more pictures (this internet place won't let me upload them). Not sure yet where we are going tomorrow, but I am sure it will be fun!

No Rain in Spain!

To begin with, this is the Captain Canada picture that I promised from last post.


The long voyage to Spain has been completed. We made it, with little difficulty to Spain from Budapest, but since President Bush was visiting Budapest, we just had to get out of there. 4 courties, 4 langaues, 3 currencies, 2 plane trips. Plus sleeping on the ground in an airport, lets just say it was a long trip. As we flew over frankfurt the pilot pointed out the soccer game and told us that there was 5 minutes left in the Holland-Argentina game. We could actually see the stadium, which was neat. We had some trouble reaeching Bratislava, from which we were to fly to Frankfurt. It seems that our Eurail pass is not valid there and we had to buy a 23 euro ticket to get from the border to Bratislava. All Dzido had was 5 euros (that he could reach, the others were in his bag), so we clearly couldn´t pay. Luckily there seemed to be some kind of seat sale at that moment because the lady who checks the tickets took the 5 Euro and we were allowed to stay on the train.....yes...seat sale....

We decided before leaving Budapest that we would not be going to Barcelona. We were unable to find a hostel there since it was coming up to the weekend. Rather than fight the crowds we decided to go to a little place called Tarragona, which was a 10 minute busride from where we landed in Spain, whereas Barcelona would have been an hour and a half. This little city (and it is very small) is right on the coast and has a beautiful beach. It also has some fantastic roman ruins and a massive Cathedral, so we are not without things to do. It is definitely off the beaten path, there are few tourists. We have been really luckey finding places like this as we go along. The hostel this time is more of a hotel, but we get our own room (2 beds and a bathroom) for 22 euro per night, so it is still a pretty good deal. Yesterday we explored some of the city and watched the soccer games at night. Today we spent the day on the beach, swimming, playing cards, reading, tanning...it was so nice and relaxing. Unfortunately I forgot to put sun screen on my legs and the result is that they are very burnt. Though the rest of me is looking nice and brown.

In other news, I cut off all my hair...ok maybe that is more main news, but here are some pictures of it.

I just decided that it was not worth the hassle of having hair. It was hotter and required constant showers, something that I does not happen as often as it should. Anyways, it is gone and my head feels much lighter.

There have been fewer funny signs, as it seems that the Czechs are the best in Europe at silly signs, but I like this one from the plane. It is a bit blurry, but during and emergency landing you should not have high heels, glasses or....false teeth? Really? that is your major concern when the plane is on fire?

I will keep my eyes out for others. In the meantime, best wishes to everyone. I am off to explore some more of Spain!

Captain Canada and the Cup Final

Here I am in Budapest! After surviving the long trek to get here, we have settled into our new hostel. I believe that Dzido is going to blog about it, so check his for a desciption. But I think it is the best one we have ever been to. There are hammocks in the backyard, outdoor beds to relax on and the people are all extremely nice. We have been out seeing the city each day, trying to make the most of the time that we have here. It is very strange to be in such a big city again. All of the places that we have been so far have been much smaller towns, but Budapest is a lively city and is HUGE. Another drawback is that I have become a bit sick. I have had a hacking cough for a little while now, and the other night I had a fever. But I am trying to take it easy (ie. not going out at night) and I seem to be on the mend. It is insanely hot here and Dzido and I are wondering how we are going to make it through Spain where I am sure that it will be even hotter. But I am sure we will manage.

All complaints aside, Budapest is a beautfil place and I wish that I had more time to explore it prorperly. We have seen the major sites, the castle and things like that. Here is a picture of me in front of the parliament buildings which are stunning. The rest of the city is simply amazing. We tried out the baths that Budapest is so famous for. I think we went to a cheap one because it was kind of dirty and not all that much fun. But it was a relaxing few hours. Some of the steam room are so hot you cannot breath. It is crazy.

One cool place that we visited was called Statue Park, it is a collection of old communist statues just outside the city. It was really spooky to think that these were once so feared. Another place that we went that we heard was cool was the labyrinths that go under the castle in Buda (one of the two cities that make up Budapest). The guide book said it was expensive but worth it, so we tried it and it was awful. Nothing interesting at all, though it was a welcome relief from the heat. But at the end there was a room that was supposed to show a video about the place, but someone had changed it to the soccer game, so we sat in a labrynth and watched Japan tie Croatia. Good times.


The big night at the hostel came last night when we went to watch game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Luckily we didn't have to search the city because the hostel had the game on some sports channel. So to kill time before the game, a group of us were watching Pulp Fiction, waiting for 2am to roll around so that we could start watching the game. Well at about 1:15 we hear a huge crash from the hallway and all of the power in the room goes off. It turns out that some fan on the wall fell and knocked out the entire circuit. We are started to panic a bit. I had my Canadian flag wrapped around my shoulders (I was Captain Canada that night) and I was ready for the game. So I grab my flashlights (a travellers essential) and start trying to find the fuse box while Dzido and another guy from the hostel make sure that the loose wires are taken care of. Now the hostel we are staying in is basically a house, so it took quite a while to find the fuse box in the dark when we had no idea where to look. But thankfully we found it at last and we got power back just in time to watch the game.

Now we had been making a really big deal about this game to all of our English and Aussie friends and a good number of them actually stayed up to watch the game with us...for about the first 10 minutes. Then most of them (slighly inebriated from the nights events) went to bed, so that by the end there were 5 of us in the room watching, but only Dzido and I were actually awake. Still, it was nice of them all to try and watch it, and for many of the English guys it was their first taste of hockey and they especially enjoyed the violence. By the middle of the third period the sun was up and we were still watching the game. Obviously there is no need to relive the heartbreaking result, but at least we got to see the game. (There are pictures of me in my Canada cape, but they won't upload right now, so I will have to add them on next time.)

So now it is off to Spain! We head to Barcalona first and then start the tour. We are getting really excited for those bulls!

A loooooooong trip

Well, we have left Poland behind. Just want to say a huge thanks to Victoria for letting us stay at her place. It was wonderful. After another fun day in Krakow, Dzido and I set sail for the sunny Budapest....and that is about where the wheels fell off the wagon. We got to the train station and were told that all of the seats on the train were sold out. We could still get on with our rail passes, but we'd have to stand for the 5 hour journy to Breclav (somewhere in Czech Republic where we had to change trains). So we started off standing/sitting in the hallway of the train. Luckey some seats became free once we crossed into the Czech Republic, so it wasn't too bad.

We arrived in Breclav and I must say: scariest place we have been yet. No one spoke English, but we knew that we wanted to see the Czech Republic soccer game at 6pm and our train got in at 6:15, pretty good timing. So we find the one restaurant near the train station that had the game on, so that was pretty sweet. However, the menu is all in Czech and the waitress does not understand one word of English. So we basically pointed at the menu and hoped we got some good food. Thankfully we got chicken on some kind and it wasn't so bad. Also luckey for us, I had neglected to spent 200 crowns (Czech currency) when we were there, so I could pay for the meal, which came to EXACTLY 200 crowns (sounds more than it is, works out to 20 Canadian dollars). So we watched the game until there were 15 minutes left and then we had to run for our train with the Czechs down 1-0 to Ghana. We got to the train station, saw that our train we delayed and ran back to watch the last few minutes...and see Ghana beat our beloved Czech Rep 2-0. To best honest, Ghana deserved it. They played awsome and if anyone was going to beat the Czechs I am glad it was them (no sour grapes here).

So we head back to the train station where we see that our train is now delayed even longer. We sit there playing cards until I realize I have to go to the bathroom. This is a problem because all of the toilets in the Czech Republic require you to pay, and I had just spent the last of my money on food. So I had to go digging through my bag to try and find something to pay the washroom attendant with. At last I found a couple of stray crowns. By this time, the train was delayed by 60 minutes, but soon the delay was extended to 100 minutes! Stuck in this tiny train station being harassed by some local kids for money. It was now 9pm and we had been traveling since 1pm. Thankfully the train actually did come at last and we headed on our way to Budapest.

However once we arrived we had several porblems. It was 1am, we had no local currency to take the bus, we didn't know if there would be anyone at our hostel to let us in and we were unsure we could even get to the hostel in the first place since it was a bus trip away and the busses were running on some differnt saturday night schedule. We solved the money problem with an ATM, but a 5000 note was not really good bus fare. We ruled out taking a cab because we had heard they are pretty shady here. So we found a group of backpackers from our train and basically followed them to the hostel they were going to. Although it was full, we were able to get referred to a place a little ways away that had beds. So we arrived at 2am, exhusted, and just crashed into bed. Budapest is nice I am sure, and once I have recovered from the travel I will get to enjoy it. I am sure this sounds like complaining, but it isn't. This is part of the fun of travel and since we did at last find a place to stay, it didn't work out too badly.

Back with an account of the city in a few days and hopefully some good pictures.

Paul

PS- we are going to try and find a bar to watch Game 7 at 3am, even if we have to break into some place.

Getting My Polish On!

I have made it to the motherland. Well the motherland of Dzido anyways. I have been in Krakow for the last couple of days, and I must say that this is one of the nicest cities I have ever visited. If you ever want a taste of Eastern Europe, you must come here. There is so much history all around, and if that makes you want to go to sleep, the nightlife is awsome because it is a university town (1 in 8 people here are students).

We are staying with Dzido's cousin Victoria, which has been great. Gives us access to a kitchen and no paying for the room. Two things that I really really like. So the first day that we spent here we just went and did the touristy stuff in Krakow. There are some beautiful churches and some awsome castles. Then we got to watch the Poland vs. Germany game in the world cup. Now there was a lot of hype going into this game. Some German guys were wearing shirts that said "In 1939 it took 6 weeks, in 2006 it will take 90 minutes" Plus Poland has never beaten Germany and there are a couple of players on the German team who had dual-citizenship and chose to play for Germany. We watched the game in a basement bar in Poland that also brewed itw own beer. Tasty stuff. I am not sure that I can describe the atmosphere of this place. Dzido has some pictues, but even that doesn't do it. Whenever Poland did anything, even just taking the ball over half, the place erupted into Polish cheering songs. It was amazing. Even I was yelling "Polska!!" at the top of my lungs. Unfortunately, Germany scored in extra time just before the end of the game to win 1-0, but it was still the best soccer game I have ever seen. So much fun.

Today we did a little day trip on bikes to a salt mine. Sounds weird, but it was really cool. This is the oldest salt mine in Europe and has been worked for like 600 years. Within it there is a chapel made entirely out of stone. They still do weddings and hold mass there 130m underground! There is also a ballroom that has New Years parties. It was quite something. The sun was bright for the ride there and back and I'd say we biked between 25 and 30km by the end. Oh and we stopped at a park and Dzido played on the kids stuff, hence the picture. But we got the see the Polish countryside (dirt roads and farms everywhere). It was really cool. So tonight we are both tired. We went to a perogie restaurant for dinner. It was good....but Dzido's grandma sent us better ones in Montreal. Not bad though.



Oh, and a couple more signs.









This one says you may exist. Go ahead. Exist all you want. It's a pro-existance zone.













Seriously, if your little dog makes this much mess, don't poop and scoop. RUN to a vet NOW!













Ok, so it's clearly a school crossing on top. But the bottom one? Beware of little girls carrying HUGE candy? Do you get points if you take her down? I don't know.









Next we have one more day here and then off to Budapest before making the big jump to Spain.

Death Stalks the Land

The craziness just keeps coming here in Europe. We didn't realize that we arrived in Olomouc on the main festival week in the town. So after a fun day of seeing the city we headed down to the town square at night to see the festivities. Last night was celebrating something that happened back in 1643. Olomouc was being ravaged by the plague and there seemed to be no end in sight. So they brought the relics (the remains) of Saint Pauline up from Rome in an attempt to ward off the evil that was causing the plague. So to commemorate this the entire town lights laterns, which Dzido and I did as well (those are ours on the left) and the town is gathered together. A girl dressed in a white dress riding a horse then rides around us, but soon Death comes.

Three guys dressed as Death, carrying flaming scythes and walking on stilts come out and surrond the crowd and move through it. I must say, there were some kids there and I was suprised that they weren't more scared. It was spooky. They continued to move around the crowd with those large flamming scythes as every huddles together. But soon our saviour came. A little girl dressed in white appeared at the top of the staires of the town hall and yells down and music begins to play and Death falls to the groud. To be honest, the little girl was kinda creepy too.




So with Death banished the lady on the horse appears and leads us to the big church down the street. If you can imagine all of these people carrying laterns and walking through these old, cobble-stone streets, it was quite something. So we arrive at this church and the organ (the largest in Eastern Europe) is playing as loud as it can. Everyone takes their place in the Church and the priest beings out the actual relics of Saint Paulina and says a short prayer. Afterwards everyone gets to take a tour of the crypt beneath the church. There wasn't much down there, but it seems that this is only done once a year. We did find a cardboard box that had actual bones in it. I wasn't able to find out what that was from, but it did add to the atmosphere. And thus ended the ceremony. It was really amazing to participate in something like that. And I guess that I am plague free now!

Today we leave for Poland where I will give a full and unbiased account of Dzido's homeland.... :)

Signs of the Czech Republic

Another post? That's right, two in two days! Internet is cheap here, so I figured I'd post again. The weather has finally improved here and for the first time my shorts are getting some use. Those jeans needed a break before I wore them out. Spent today wander around Olomouc, taking in the beautiful scenary. I even overcame my fear of heights to climb to the highest lookout point in the town to see the view of the whole city and the surronding hills. Totally worth the sweaty palms. We spent part of the morning walking along the old city walls that run around the southern part of the city. It occured to me that if I were invading the city, I would just come from the North, but that is just me.

One thing that I have noitced while I have been in the Czech Republic (and this may be true in many places) is that the signs that are posted around the city and in trains etc. often don't make any sense. Now that I have the uploading thing working, I thought I'd share some things with you. The first one I think is a warning too blind people...of course they wouldn't be able to see it. Or possible it is warning OF blind people....what there is to warn about, I am not exactly sure. Perhaps blind pickpockets? I'll leave it up to you.

This second one I think means that cars are allowed to drive on top of motorcycles, so long as they are seperated by some red horizontal line.

The one below is from the train. Now I thought at first that it said not to throw bottles from the window (which is logical) but there is no line through it, so I think it is fair to assume you are being encouraged to throw bottles from the window.

This final one is either saying stop and it really means it, or it is saying don't stop since the stop hand is crossed out....but then you'd drive into the door. Oh the Czech Republic is such fun.

Comments are always welcome, especially about these crazy signs. Best wishes to all!

Walking in the steps of Caesar

No, despite the title, I am not in Rome. Julius actually helped to found the city that I am in called Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Since then it has becoming a thriving university town and is well off the beaten path. None of the guide books we looked at mentioned it, we just heard about it from some fellow travelers and decided to come. Getting here was a bit of a problem. The train took 9 hours to travel a short distance across the Czech Republic. Trains here are not great. It took less time to fly from Toronto to Prague, but I guess that is part of the charm. We just arrived, but there is a big festival starting tomorrow that should be fun. Also the Czech Republic plays in the World Cup tomorrow. Yeah Czech beer and soccer!!!!

Before leaving Cesky Krumlov we had a nice relaxing day at a tea house in Cesky with an Aussie girl called Ry, and English guy called Peter (who had just quit his accounting job in Hong Kong and was returning to England the slow way) and a Kiwi called Jess (from New Zealand, not the fruit bowl). It was very relaxing. This place had the atmosphere of a tea house in China with lots of different tea to choose from. I tried one called Silver Monkey's Paw, it was a green tea and was really really good.

Afterwards we returned to the place where we watched the Polish soccer defeat (I have to keep bringing that up, sorry Dzido) to watch the England game that was a snooze-fest (despite the win). 2 Americans from Texas that we met in the hostel had invaded teh kitchen of this little cafe and had made Chilli and were selling it. England soccer game, texas food and Czech beer, quite the cultural fusion we are working with.

After the game we spent the night at the hostel on the patio drinking with Ry and Peter. Great people. We talked for hours as it got colder and colder. By the time we quit at 2am we could see our breath. There was a full moon over Cesky Krumlov and we had seen the fireworks coming out of the castle. Why were there fireworks? because a baby had been born in the town. Such a cool place. While I was talking with these two, it made me think about how cool it was to sit in a place like that, with people from all over the world, talking about everything from terrorism to movies to favourite beers. The buildings and museams are amazing, but I always remember nights like that. Meeting new people. Both of them are going to be in London and have offered to help us get aquainted with the city once we get there. I really look forward to it.

Best wishes to all of you!

Paul

PS- I hope to get some pics up soon.

King Krumlov Rides Again

Clearly I am not as quick a blogger as m Polish rival, but I will try to do a little better. I think the fact that I have not been in front of a computer is actually a good thing. It has been an amazing few days here.

After a night of recovering from jetlag, we headed down to Cesky Krumlov. Until I had the time to sit down and play with it, I had been unable to get my watch on Czech time, which wasn't helping with the jet lag. I just kept thinking about that time it was in Canada and how tired I should be. But I got that fixed and by the end of the third day I was on Czech time (6 hours ahead).

Cesky Krumlov is just as beautiful as I remember it, althought a bit more expensive and with more tourists. It is still cheap, one dollar for a pint of beer and about 6 dollars for a good meal, but that is up from last time when a good beer cost a quater. The hostel that we are in this time is a lot better though. We arrived on "Free Beer Wednesday" which is every Wednesday here. So the party started right away. There was a table tennis table outside and lots of great people to talk to. Of course we also met this guy Matt who went to Lorne Park (our high school). What a small world.

Dzido picked up a nickname while we were here. We were chatting with this older (probably mid 60s) English man called John, who asked where we were from. Dzido said he was from Poland. Later in the conversation Dzido used the word "vicarious" and John's jaw dropped and wondered how a guy from Poland knew that word. It was only then that we explained he had lived in Canada for most of his life. But the name stuck and the next morning Dzido was woken up by John shouting "Hey Vic" So now Dzido can go by either Vic or Vicarious, your choice.

One other Dzido related story that he would not want me to tell: if you have ever had the "pleasure" to sleep in the same room as Dzido, you will know that he snores like a wildabeast. Seriously, it is loud. Well he was going extra loud, to the point where some of the girls that we knew could hear him a floor below. People kept talking about "some guy" who was snoring so loud that no one could sleep. After that I have claimed it as my right to whack him in the face with a pillow whenever he snores, and I have done so on many occasions.

We have also been rafting and hiking in Cesky Krumlov and it has been fantastic. Although it is rather cold for this time of year (sweaters and pants most says when I expected shorts and t-shirts) it has been sunny, so it is not all bad. Yesterday the two of us and this Aussie girl called Ry went on a hike up to the top of one of the hills that surronds the city. It was a 16km hike, mostly through the woods and was very beautiful. We made it to the top and there was a bar where we could refresh ourselves after the long walk. Oh the Czech beer, so very tasty.

Last night we got to enjoy the first 2 games of the world cup (sorry Poland, you lost). We went to a little cafe to watch the game with a couple of American, a Brit and a guy from Chile. The girl who ran the place was Dutch/German and didnt have a license so we had to be quite or her neighbours would have called the police. But it was a lot of fun and afterwards we hit the town. Good times had by all.

Today we are going to relax, enjoy the England game and get ready to be on the move starting tomorrow.

Oh and on a weird note, the guy sitting beside me is fighting with his girlfriend about being allowed to read his e-mails. This is creepy and I can only write this because they cannot see my screen. But they are really going at it. I must get out of here.

NOTE: if the words are mispelled it is because I am both ignorant and because pushing down these keys in next to impossible.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead (repost)

I have left Montreal. I know I should be feeling sad, and part of me does, but I also think that the friends that I have made over the past few years are the kind of friends that I will have for a long time to come. Really it is all just beginning. We have great memories and will surely make many more in the future. But thanks to everyone who made the last few years special. And once I make it back to the continent I will be crashing on some couches.Dzido and I put together our egg carton tower before I left. It stood 12 feet tall and could hold almost 3000 eggs. If either of us have a heart attack in Europe, this may be one of the reasons why. Or it could be from fear as a pack of angry bulls bear down on us in the streets of Pamplona. Go here (http://www.dzido.blogspot.com/) to see a picture of it to give you some idea just how large this contruction was. People kept asking us what the heck it was and some tourists looked very confused. Probably thought that it was one of those Just for Laugh's Gags things.Convocation was a lot better than I thought. Those gowns made us all look so smart. And Chistopher Plummer gave a great speech. I really wanted to ask him to autograph my diploma as I went across the stage. I thought it would be really boring, but it wasn't so bad. Above is a picture of my parents and I.After that it was moving in a rainstorm. Not so much fun. Then a quick flight back to Mississauga and then a drive across Toronto to unpack. I really hate moving. It makes you look at everything you have and wonder "This is my life? This is all my stuff?" To be honest it was a little emotional to leave that couch. Oh Farty, he was more than a couch, he was a friend, love and confidant. Perfect for naps....what a guy. But at least the moving process is over with.Just 2 more days until I leave for Europe. While Dzido has his flights and stuff all booked and ready to go, I am going standby, which makes things harder. I am going to try for a direct flight into Prague, which probably won't happen since it is a full flight. Otherwise I will go to London and then try and get a standby flight to Prague sometime that day. But even those ones seem like they will be tough. We have a hostel booked in Prague on the night of the 6th, so hopefully I make it there somehow.There has been some speculation as to how long Dzido and I will actually last in Europe. My Dad thinks back by Christmas at the latest. Others think we will go much longer. So if you want to post a comment, mention how long you think we will last. The rough plan is a year, just to give you some idea. But post what you think.Next time I blog it will be in Europe!!

Third Time's a Charm

Well as I said in my e-mail, I am a moron and I lost the user name needed for my other blog. But I swear that this is the last time it will change.
Well actually I don't promise anything since I am prone to screwing up. But we'll see.

So what has happened to far? Well I have not slept in over 24 hours. I am in my hostel in Prague waiting for my room to become avaiable for I can crash. I got the direct flight from Toronto to Prague, sitting in the very back besides the washroom where EVERYONE bumped into me on their way to leaving me a wonderful smell. But whatever, it was a free flight and I got the direct one. Customs with this British passport is awsome. No questions asked. Just looked to see that it was me and waved me through.

I found the hostel and I was suprised at how well I remembered how to get here. Then I went on a three hour self-imposed walking tour of Prague. Despite the sleep deprivation, it was a lot of fun and just being in this amazing city gives me energy. Though I did get lost a bit, I was able to navigate my way. I was actually hunting for this souvenier shop we saw here last time called "Probably the Best Souvenier Shop in Prague" seriously. Not "The Best" but probably. Sadly I couldn't find it. But I did find other cool stuff and will be posting pictures soon.

So I rest here for one night. Not sure when Dzido gets here, but he will find me asleep no doubt. Then we are off to Cesky Krumlov.

Maybe my room is ready now....