Ireland

My most recent stop was in Ireland, the Emerald Isle. Ireland was undoubtedly one of the highlights of this adventure due to the beauty of the landscape and the friendliness of the people. While there I stayed in Cork and Dublin, but very nice cities with a lot of things to do and people to meet. After arriving in Cork a few hours later than planned (due to missing my flight from London as a result of traffic) and was helped enormously by the airport bus driver. Once In Cork I discovered the beauty of the area, met interesting people, helped an Italian guy find an apartment (he struggled to speak English over the phone and had me call people for him),and went to a beautiful small Pub and drank local beer while a live band played. It was an interesting two days to say the least. I also managed to visit the Old Jameson Distillery in a small nearby town named Middleton and managed to get a certificate of being a . After Cork I went to Dublin, the Capital. Dublin is a very vibrant town with a mixture of local people, students, and immigrants. In Dublin I spent a lot of time walking through the streets wide and narrow and through some of the very lovely parks in the city The most splendid of the parks is St. Stephens Green, a beautiful park with a nice lake and great walking trails and vegitation. In Dublin I also managed to visit the Guinness Storehouse, which is a huge museum dedicated to...... Guinness! It was a very nice tour capped off with a visit to their bar at the top for a pint of...... wait for it....... Guinness!!! The bar/observatory gives a brilliant view of all of Dublin as it is a 360 degree circular area with glass walls. Ireand also has some splendid monuments and museums dedicated to the heroes of the Irish Independence movement, including a very interesting exhibit about the Easter 1916 rising at the National Museum (which is free). The evenings there is nothing finer than going to a Pub and having a nice cold pint of Guinness (which tastes 100 times better in Dublin) while listening to traditional Irish music played by a live band. Ireland is certainly a land of character, from the cities to the countryside to the people, the place just oozes friendliness and welcome. I would definetly reccomend to anyone to visit if they have the chance.

Scotland and England

Sorry for the lack of posting, getting a lot of internet time is not always an easy task. Spent last week in Great Britain, starting with Scotland. I stayed in Glasgow, which evidently was the poorer choice of the two major Scottish cities, although the city does have good character. The centre of Glasgow has some very nice architecture and some very nice little pubs, but outside the centre is quite run down and industrial. The people of Glasgow are the hard working type and I was there when the "old firm derby" soccer game was on between the two top Teams in Scottish Footy, both based in Glasgow. (Rangers beat Celtic 1-0 by the way). After Glasgow I went to Liverpool, a very nice town with plenty of things to do. The city is this years "European Capital of Culture" which has resulted in money to be pumped into the city centre. WHile in Liverpool I went to the Beatles Museum and went out to the famous Cavern Club where the Beatles really became popular and the name is a really fitting description of the place. The current club is in its third ownership since John, Paul, George, and Ringo played there and has been renovated to look as close as possible to what it would have looked between 1960 and 1963 (when they played there 292 times). I also got a chance to walk around the famous Albert Dock and see some of the Grand old Victorian buildings there that were once the corporate headquarters of famous shipping lines like Cunard. After Liverpool I went to London, a very beautiful (but expensive) city. There are many things to do there and many beautiful things to see. I managed to catch the changing of the guard and took a nice tour of the reconstructed Globe Theatre. The Houses of Parliament, the Tower Bridge, and Trafalgar Square were all compulsory visits. London is great and am now in Ireland and will tell more of my time here in the coming days.

Netherlands and Belgium

Spent the last week in the so-called low countries and had a good time, despite lousy weather. I started in The Hague where I stayed with some family friends which saved Money. The Hague is quite nice with a neat old town and some grand old buildings, such as the residence of the Dutch Royal family and the Dutch parliament. The downside is that it it a bit too uch of a government city and there are too many ugly modern buildings that spoil things a little. I spent aster sunday in Amsterdam with some friends from the f1db.com forum. It was snowing so we spent much of the day in pubs and cafes (not coffeshops). It was a vry enjoyable meeting. I spent sunday night back in the Hague before stying two nights in Amsterdam. It is a very interesting city and one learns a few important differences. The most importat is the difference between a cafe and a coffeshop. A Cafe is a regular cfe with coffee and the likes while in a coffeshop the main product sold is NOT coffee. I also saw the famous red light district. It is an intriguing site, no matter what your position on the issue is. Also got to see the poignant Anne Frank House as well as walk the streets of the beautiful city. nother interesting thing of Amsterdam is that most resturants employ cats to deal with the mice prolem, but I doubt those who work in the coffeshops are the most effective mose catchers..... After Amsterdam I went to Belgium, a very divided country. I was staying in the flemish part, in Antwerp and it is not a good idea to speak french there. My main day I spent in Ieper (Ypres) in the southwest of the country wheremost of the WWI cemetaries are locted. I managed to see the Brooding Soldir Cnadian monument that commemorates all those young Canadian Men who were killed by the first Gas attacks in April 1915. I also saw the place where John McRae wrote the famous poem, "In Flanders Fields", surrounded by a cemetary, in Flanders fields. It was very poignant and worth the 3 km walk from the Ieper city centre.My only visit to theh Wallon(French speaking) part of Blgium was when I went to Charleroi Airport (which Ryanair callls Brussels)and Flemish was not to be heard..... I am in Glasgow at the moment and guess what, it is raining!!!!! What a surprise.

Copenhagen and Cologne

I spent last weekend in the beautiful city of Copenhagen, Denmark before moving back to Germany, to the wonderful rhine valley. Copenhagen is a very interesting city. It is very beautiful , right on the coast, and there are many beautiful buildings. The people are also very friendly and there are many beautiful gardens in the city. The only drawback is that things are very expensive. Denmark in general seems to love two danish Icons, Hans Christian Andersen, whose work is represented by numerous statues in the city, and Lego, that Danish toy that has fascinated the childen of the world for decades. I unfortunately did not get to legoland in Denmark as it is three hours away and costs a lot of money, but there are reminders of its origin throughout the city. Copenhagen also has two beautiful palaces and a very nice citadel and gardens, the citaldel still being used as a military base to this day. The old town of Copenhagen has some very nice scandinavian architecture. After Denmark it was back to germany and the woderful city of Cologne. The people of the rhine valley are very friendly and I met some very nice people during my four days there. Cologne itself has a very quaint old town, near the rhine and an absolutely stunning gothic cathedral. Cologne is also known for its chocolate, there is a factory right on the rhine that one can visit and of course, the male fragrance that has become known simply as "Cologne" in North America. Cologne also has some very good beer, called Kolsh, which is consumed in small, 200 ml glasses. The ritual is that the glass is continually refilled without asking until the customer puts their coaster on top of the glass. I also got a chance to visit the smaller city of Bonn, just up the river. Bonn is a very nice city with a beautiful centre and nice square but unfortunately with too many modern governmental buildings. This after all was the seat of government of West Germany from 1949-1990 and continued as such in unified Germany until 1996. I am now in the Netherlands, near the Hague, and will tell of my time here in the next post.

Central and Eastern Germany

Hi all

Have been touring Germany over the last week or so. I visited Heidelberg, Frankfurt, and Berlin to be precise. I will start with Heidelberg, a sleepy city of around 140,000 that has a beautiful old town and very picturesque hills. I walked up the hill to the castle and managed to get a good view of the city. There is also a very beautiful bridge over the river that lets you see down the river valley, very nice. After Heidelberg I took the short journey to Frankfurt am Main, the financial centre of Europe. Unfortunately this financial centre aspect of the city has resulted in the place being rather dull and with few things to do for tourists, especially in March. I ended up simply going to a soccer game to fill an afternoon, which was most enjoyable. After Frankfurt I went over to Berlin, the old Capital. Berlin is a very unique city and there is definetly a difference between east and west. East Berlin has many remenants of the cold war, with shabby buildings, cheaper food, and most of the nightlife while West Berlin is wealthier and much more of a residential part of the city. There are still parts of the Berlin wall remaining and there is definetly a sense of need to preserve the remaining bits of it to remind the world about what it was like for so many years. Berlin is slowly getting back on its feet with restoration projects in the former east Berlin part, where most of the historic buildings are located. The most important and touristy street, Unter den Linden, has a lot of construction projects going on to return it to its prewar glory. The problem lies in that the city of Berlin is bankrupt and the federal government is not too amused about financing such projects, which means that most restoration projects are now being funded by the private sector, so who knows how long the stream of money will continue to come. Berlin is unique in that it is one of the few remaining places in Europe to still bear the scars of WWII, due to the lack of reconstruction of certain areas by the former GDR (east germany) and because some restoration projects intentionally left some of the smoke damage to serve as a reminder of how bad things were, over 80% of the city was damaged during the war. I am now in Copenhagen and will report on Denmark in a few days!!

Prague and Munich

Sorry for a lack of posting folks, internet time is not easy to come by. Have spent the last six days in the wonderful cities of Prague, Czech Republi and Munich, Germany. Two very different cities. Prague is a city of contrasts. There is the touristy centre which is very beautiful with Wenceslaus square (not really a square) and then the Old Town Square, where Jan Hus was Burned to death in 1415 for Heresy, and the famous Charles Bridge. Then you cross the river and get to the Beautiful Prague castle and can walk a little farther up the hill to the observation tower that looks like a scaled down version of the Eiffel tower. If you go back across the river and leave the touristy areas with their kitchy souvenir shops and expensive restaurants and Pubs, you get to the New town, which is not really new. The New Town is filled with really nice buildings built in the second half of the nineteenth century. What sets it apart from say Vienna or Budapest, is that there is no uniform architectual style. You walk down the streets and every building is different. Then you can walk up past the national museum to the park up there and look out over the town before going for a nice cold beer (Czech Beer is some of the best) in a pub rarely frequented by tourists, which will save you a lot of money. (a beer in such a pub will cost you around $1.25 to $1.50 for half a liter). Going to pub in Prague can be difficult because they tend to be filled with loud, drunken, English people. Munich is different, quite German, quite orderly, but much more laid back than Vienna. Munich is a very nice city with many things to do, and lots of beer to drink if you like beer. The place is filled with Beer Halls and Beer Gardens (it is a bit too cold for a beer garden at the moment) and the occasional older gentleman in traditional bavarian Lederhosen. I went to the famous Hopfbrauhaus, which is a famous beer hall in the city centre. In Bavaria they sell Beer in 1 litre glasses called Maß and there is a very specific way to hold (they are heavy). There is also an oom-pah Band that when they play a specific song everyone stands up and says "prost" or "cheers". I also went to the deutsches museum, the largest technology museum in Germany and got a free three hour walking tour of the city. Munich is great, you should come!

Vienna (Wien)

Vienna is very different from the other cities I have visited and quite unique in Europe. One of the main reasons for this is that it is the most organized and disciplined city I have visited and the whole place has a very 19th century feel to it. The people respect the rules and respect one another. I would not call the Viennese overtly friendly, but they are very respectful and very polite. The city is very beautiful with the grand old palaces and buildings of the Habsburg era mostly still intact, with the exception of the ones redesigned by the WWII school of architecture but even those have been rebuilt. One of the most magnificent of these palaces is the Schonbrunn Palace, a grand building built a little way outside the city centre. It was built in the middle of the 18th century and served as the summer residence of the Habsburg emperors until the end of the monarchy in 1918. Emperor Franz Josef (reigned 1848-1916) was born there and he died there. There is also the Hofburg Palace in the centre, the Habsburgs winter residence, and the State Opera. The Opera is one of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe and I managed to get to a performance due to the fact that standing room tickets are only 2 euros, or about $3.50. St. Stephens church is a popular attraction, as is the little town of Grinzing on the edge of Vienna where tourists often go for the famous wine pubs. One a side note, I was in the right place at the right time in my hostel and managed to get on German TV. They were doing a travel show and were talking about the well known hostel I was at and they needed people to pretend to be backpackers and I volunteered. If you are in Germany on April 13th watch WDR at 8:15 pm!!! I am now in Prague and will tell you more about the city later on!

Budapest

I would like to say that everyone should go to Budapest once in their lifetime, it is an absolutely amazing city!! The whole city centre on the Pest side is filled with 18th and 19th century buildings and some of the main streets, Andrassy Avenue in particular, are protected by Unesco. The city has such a good energy to it and there are so many things to do. Whether you climb up Castle Hill in Buda to see the Royal Palace and the Museums on the Hill, or if you walk along the Danube Promenade between the Empress Elisabeth Bridge and the Széchenyi Chain Bridge the whole place is just stunning. The best view of the city is from the top of Gellert Hill in Buda where you can see virtually the entire metropolis, just stunning. Things I also enjoyed include visiting the Parliament, a beautiful building filled with neo-classical architecture built during the Habsburg era (when Hungary was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for the uninitiated). Another Habsburg Era building that is a must see is the National Opera House on ANdrassy Avenue. The Theatre was built in the 1880's and was inaugurated by Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) in 1885. Anotehr must see building, is St. Stephens Basilica, a huge church dedicated to St. Stephen, the forst King of Hungary. I also visited some less cheery buildings, notably the Terror House, which is a museum dedicated to the memory of those killed and interned by the Nazis and Soviets. The Museum is located in the same Building that housed the headquarters of the Nazi SS and the Soviet Secret Police from 1944 to 1956 and where thousands were tortured, tried, and many sentenced to death. It is a real eye opener because they do not spare any details, not a place for the faint of heart. I also walked up Andrassy to Heroes Square, a huge square at the entrance to the city park that commemorates heroes of Hungarian History. I did not get a chance to go to some of the famous baths however due to a lack of time. Anyways, Bye Bye from Europe, next entry will be about Austria and Vienna.

Slovenia and Croatia

I took my first steps into Eastern Europe in the last days by visiting Slovenia and Croatia. I have to say that there is a very big difference between the two countries in terms of wealth and friendliness. Slovenia in many ways can no longer be called an Eastern European country. The people are quite wealthy, similar to the wealth of western countries, they are already using the Euro, their capital is modern, clean, and functional, and they have adopted many other western customs. The people are also very friendly and helpful and Ljubljana, the capital, at least is in many senses a western city. The only complaint I have with the capital is that there is not a whole lot to do for tourists in the winter, you have to go to the mountains for that and I did not have the time or money. Ljubljana is more like a big small town and I imagine that it would be a very nice place to live. Croatia is much different. The two cities I managed to visit, Zagreb and Split, are both very beautiful but not the cleanest. The cars are old and smoky, and the areas outside the immediate centers are quite run down. In saying that the city of Split is beautiful and full of beaches, must be a great place to visit in the summer, it was quite dead in the winter. My major complaint with Croatia is that you are allowed to smoke in public and there are often no non/smoking sections. In least on trains there are non/smoking cars. The people of Zagreb tended not to be too friendly to non Croatian speakers, but in Split everyone was really helpful. I am now in Budapest, Hungary and will send a report in a few days.

Venice

Venice is the most unique and interesting city I have visited thus far. The whole place is just completely different from anything else, and it is incredibly beautiful. I spent three days there at an incredible hostel that provided free supper in a family like setting so you had no choice but to meet people, then we all sat around and socialized, it was great. I spent my days seeing the sights and wandering around the city. I got lost many many times because in Venice getting from point A to point B is not a simple task due to the fact that the streets are narrow and winding and there are various bridges and dead ends, but the whole place is just beautiful. To give directions the Venetians give distances in number of bridges, but that can be misleading because there is no sense of uniformity of distance between the bridges, causing much confusion to tourists. I managed to get on a gondola ride, which is normally really expensive. A few people from the hostel got together and took the ride and we split the cost, It was really amazing and the gondolier acted as a tour guide. I also got to see St. Marks square and watch the sunset from the pier next to the ocean, very nice view. The only downside of Venice is that everything is very expensive, except for pizza which costs the same as the rest of Italy. I am now in Ljubljana, Slovenia and will write more from here and my next destination, Split, Croatia.

Florence (Firenze)

Have spent the last few days in Florence, the city of the art masters, a fact not lost on the locals. The city itself is quite nice, although overly touristy which can be both good and bad. Good in the way that things are very clearly indicated (a rarity for italy), but bad in the way that it seems kind of sterile at times. The Florenties are also very frustratingly cunning in the way that they display their art. There are about four different galleries, each charging 6-12 euros and the famous David by Michelangelo is in this tiny little gallery that costs 6.50 to enter and has pretty much nothing BUT the david, while the major gallery which houses all the Leonardos, Michelangelos, Donatellos, and Rafaels (Ninja turtles references aside) costs 12 euros to visit, which leads one to believe that the whole place is a tourist trap, which is untrue. There are also some great churches in Florence, the central cathedral, or the Duomo, is really beautiful. There is also a central hill where one can get some amazing photos. The Hostel I stayed in was really nice, the people running it were really friendly and I met a lot of really nice people. I am now in Venice and will post more soon, to all who read this, send my love to the people who do not.

Naples

Spent a few days down in Naples, a very interesting place. Everything about the city is fast and excited, from the people to the dvers, especially the nutty scooter drivers.... The people may be in a hurry but they all seem very friendly and helpful to tourists. WHile in Naples I visited Pompeii, Capri, the old Royal Palace of Naples and many other things. The Hostel I staye in was amazing, I met all sorts of interesting people, even some whom I am meeting up with tonight in Rome, just amazing peole. Naples is also the home of Pizza, and the locals are not shy to tell you that they inveted it. The Pizza is also a million times better than the pizza you get back in Canada, or maybe it is just because it was Neapolitan Pizza. The afformentioned scooter drivers are a sight to behold, they do not seem to abide by any sort of traffic law and they do things that are nuts, I would never pass a bs on the right or drive on the sidewalk, would you? Despite the craziness I never saw any incidents and the locals just shrug it off and ignore them. While here I also went to a mardi gras party at the local university with some people from the hostel, southern italians are good at parties!!!!

Cheers from Italy!!!!!

Rome

First I have to say sorry for not posting for a week. Got sick in Nice and then came to Rome.

Rome is a pretty cool place, lots of history with the colosseum, the roman forum and the vatican are all super neat. St Peters Basilica is incredibly massive, just breathtaking, and the sistine chapel cannot be compared. I also visited the Basilica of St Paul by accident after getting on the Metro and going the wrong way to discover that It was not very far, that is another really beautiful church, the Catholics seem really good at making nice churches....... The city does not have the natural beauty that the cote d azur does, but the history is just incredible, and the locals play it up. They have Historical reenactors around the colosseum that look as though they are having a great time. The Romans are also good at exploiting the history to sell trinkets to tourists. I also went to a soccer game, or Calcio as the locals call it. Lazio of Rome vs Sampdoria. It was a pretty good game which the home side, Lazio won 2 - 1 much to the delight of the crowd who were more than boisterous with their songs. It was also a good day for Lazio because arch-rivals AS Roma lost 3-0 in their away game. I am off to Napoli tomorrow and then doubling back to Florence, so I will be posting more later, I should have time to upload photos from the next hostel, here I have to pay for internet at one of the bizarre Internet point/laundromats they have in these parts, although it is not a traditional laundromat because they actually do your lauyndry for you, very convenient!

Monaco and Nice

Hi All

Got to Nice yesterday, seems like a pretty bitching town although I haven't really had the chance to do much exploring yet, that is for tomorrow. Rocked out Monaco today, the place is really nice, embedded in the cliffs overlooking a vast harbour. The place just breathes money. I probably saw more BMW's and Mercedes' than I saw Renault's, Citroen's and Peugeots combined, not to mention the massive yachts. There were also a healthy number of Porsches and Bentleys, I even saw a Rolls!! I walked the Grand Prix circuit, which was pretty cool, although sometimes difficult due to a lack of sidewalks in places. They are setting up for the Monte Carlo rally, which is currently running over near Valence, France but they are set to arrive in Monaco tomorrow. Then I had lunch at a sandwich place that is located in what becomes the F1 pitlane and then went for a walk up the hill to the Royal Palace and Old Monaco. The palace is really cool although you can't go in, they have guards in ceremonial dress and machine guns walking around in front of the door "politely" reminding you that you can't enter. The place is really loaded with F1 paraphanelia, which is cool, but all retardedly overpriced. Then I rocked the city of Monaco itself, which is just the other side of the old town, not quite as nice as Monte Carlo, but still impressive enough. Saw the museum of the Prince's personal car collection, a disapointingly low number of F1 cars though. I also walked by the Monte Carlo casino, which is surrounded by super expensive cars. I will post some later impressions of Nice so bye for now from the Cote D'Azur!!!!

Avignon

Went up to Avignon yesterday, sorry I can't give you pictures because my camera battery died...... But anyways, it is a very nice place, very touristy. There is a lot of construction going on though. I visited the Papal Palace, which was home to the Popes from 1309 to 1377 and then home to two antipopes a little later on. It i really cool, very large with lots of neat chambers. The architecture is quite medieval with some intricate carving. Unfortunately a lot of the carvings were vandalised during the French Revolution and when the building was used as an army barracks in the 19th century, but much has been restored. The view was magnificent from the towers to say the least and to be able too visit a place of such importance is un-paralleled, especially for a History nerd like me! Also saw the Bridge mentioned in the childrens song, it is cool to see a 12th century bridge, but if it wasn't that old it would not be that impressive because most of it is gone and it stops halfway across the Rhone!!! I also got to walk along some of the old fortifications, which was cool. In terms of French Architecture, they must have lost their skills in the 1980's because all of their TGV stations built since then are hideously cavernous and ugly, all glass, steel, and cement. But at least they are built outside of the towns, although that probably hs to do with how loud TGV's are from the outside (but nice and quite inside). Ta ta for now from Provence, I will be heading to Nice Tomorrow.

Sunshine, the Mediterranean, and other stuff.

Yesterday I went down to the small city of La Ciotat on the Mediterranean, nd I have to say it was really awesome. The part of Provence between La Ciotat and Cassis is known for it's cool looking rock formations and hills, as well as the "calanques" which are little valleys and bays within the rock formations that often have beaches. There are two of said "Calanques" in La Ciotat and I went to both of them. Each offered excellent vues of the Sea and of the awesome rock formations and vegitation. La Ciotat also claims to be the birthplace of cinema, as it was here that the Lumiere brothers shot the first motion picture in 1895, the movie was unimaginatively called "Entree du train dans le gare de La Ciotat" and it is a movie of exactly that, a train entering the station. The town seemed to have a lively character, it is a port town so it had all of the things associated with ports, but it was not huge, smelly, and full of dubious characters the way that Marseille is. Speaking of Marseille, I went there on friday to see a few more things. Went and saw the Palais de Longchamps, which is a huge palace built by Napoleon III in the 1860's as a reminder to people that Marseille is indeed French, and this palace is not the only such construction in Marseille. After tht I went for a walk in the markets looking for a particulr candy shop that is apparantly owned by a Quebecois who gives discounts to other Quebecois, but I never found it, although I got a good feel for the city of Marseille. Other than that I have been hanging out here in Aix. Went out Friday night and discovered that there are a remarkable number of "Irish Pubs" for a city that is decidedly French................

Provence and Aix

Have been staying in Aix-En Provence since Wednesday and frankly it is a really cool city, small enough to give you a sense of safety, unlike Marseille which has an air of dodginess about it. Spent Wednesday exploring the older part of the town, with it's cool narrow streets and many, many, many fountains, including an awesome one in the centre of the town. Yesterday Simon and I rocked out the Mont Saint Victoire, a mountain about the height of Orford, but a lot longer, it is mostly a huge ridge. We accidentlly got off the bus at the wrong town and ended up hiking the longest possible trail, which took us over four hours, but it was absolutely beautiful, got some great pictures of the provencal countryside from way up there. It was really warm down in the trees but extremely windy way up at the top, and very rocky, which made for tough going, but when we finished we had an awesome sense of accomplishment. The only people we mw up there were some French mountain climbers who had done the cliffs that face the Meditteranean, we made a point of opening our cots to show how tough we are because we are Canadian. The Provencal folk are an interesting bunch. The tend to ignore the rules of the road and honk their horns alot, and the motorcyclists and scooter riders are downright insane!!!!! The place also has a lack of street signs, which makes it hard to find your way around, although Aix is much better than Marseille in this regard. Anyways, ta-ta for now from Provence!!!!!

Fairly Sunny France

Hi there folks. I'm temporarily in very sunny and pleasant Aix en Provence, France. I managed to get my way through france fairly well, no major dramas on my way to Marseille. Customs was easy and the train travel from Paris to Marseille was a breeze, the TGV is awesome but they do not call out the stops along the way so I had to pay attention, but I managed to get off at the right place, although the dude sitting next to me missed his stop because he had expected to hear them called out. Marseille is nice, very North African and Middle Eastern, which means that greasy kebabs and Doners are easy to find and not ery expensive, although stuff is more expensive over here than in Canada, especially soft drinks and juices, which are close to double what they cost in Canada, although Beer and Wine are cheaper here than back home. I met up with Simon and am currently in Aix, but am heading back to Marseille soon, where Simon and I plan to do some more cool stuff. He had to come back to deal with some French beurocracy matters. Did some walking today, we walked up a really long and steep hill to a huge cathedral, will post pictures later, it is super cool. The place I stayed last night and tonight is nice, the people running it are very helpful nd the bed was comfortable. Only bizarre thing about it is that although there is a bathroom in my room, there is no toilet in sid bathroom, the toilet is in a separate room across the hall, which is a tad annoying, but no biggie. Anywys ta-ta for now. from temporarily sunny Provence.

First Post, testing

Hi All

I am just creating a first post to test things and to mess around in order to test the functions and such, but stay tuned to all the crazy adventures to be posted here.

Tom