European Adventure 2016

The Red Light District

bcpckngbrtns — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 04:13:00 GMT

After our lovely time in Belgium it was time to move onto Amsterdam. Because we just started using our Eurail passes we got a little mixed up with how everything worked we had to take a bit of a longer train but no matter we got there and found our way around pretty easily. We arrived pretty late so we couldn't do much other than order some pizza and sleep. Now we have been doing this travelling thing for a little while now and I think it's started to get to us a bit becaue when we wake up we are still extremely tired but no time for sleeping in. We had breakfast and ventured into the city. Was very excited to see quite a few things here what from movies and history based things. Saw the Anne Frank House and a ton of other places. Yes the Red Light District is like you imagine! We of course had to take a Canal Crusie because well Amsterdam is mainly canals and you get such a beautiful perspective from the water. The buildings and the people just fabulous. Wish I could have floated on the water longer but we only got the hour. After our boat tour we went to the Amsterdam Dunegons and honestly it was the greatest fun, and a little jumpy haha. All the actors were great and it was such a fun and interactive way to learn a little about the history of Amsterdam throughout the years. I would highly reccomend it to anyone visiting! Now while we were there it was our Dad's Birthday so in true Amsterdam fashion we had to find some brownies to enjoy as celebration of the occasion. No they weren't "special" brownies. If I had those I'd be on my ass without a help in the world. No thanks haha! Our final day consisted in wandering and waiting for our overnight train to Copenhagen. Amsterdam was fun and goregous!!

Europe's Capital and Old, New Friends

bcpckngbrtns — Tue, 9 Aug 2016 03:43:00 GMT

Our start in Belgium is an early one, 3am to be exact. Flight left at 6:50am so anyone who has flown knows just how early you have to be there before you can actually leave... Too early in my opinion! So of course I slept the entire way and we landed before I even realized we left. Hopped on a short train ride from the airport and walked the rest of the way to our hotel. I honestly didn't know what to expect of our hotel but it surprised me that is for sure! Was absolutely goregous! Now we didn't expect to get a room because well it was hours before check in, but somehow they had our room ready and we were golden. Threw our stuff in our room and went to this cute little bakery across the street for some breakfast and lunch. Now when I was saying this hotel was nice I mean it was nice the tub was huge and I was closer than I have ever been to being able to fully lay down and well that is quite the acomplishment!!! This being said I took full and complete advantage of this opportunity and had my first bath in years! I swear this bath melted all of my tension and stress away. (You have a lot of tension when you're backpacking because damn your backpack is freaking heavy!) So basically our first day was pretty relaxing. Day 2 is when we got down to business and went sightseeing. Again because it makes life so much easier we had a hop on hop off tour. Saw a ton of places and important buildings. My favourite thing was the atomium. It isn't just a cool looking piece of art it is a museum inside as well. Now if you don't know what the atomium is please take a minute and google it. Go on do it! If you don't you won't understand what I'm about to tell you. Find it? Good! So see the tubes that connect all the balls of the atom. Well those are all filled with escalators and staircases. We were inside them and it's kind of insane to think about. We were walking around inside a piece of art. Pretty cool eh? We came across at one point the World War I & II Monuments which were incredible. Wish we could have gotten to Flanders Field while we were there. After our day exploring the city we went back to our hotel and well Meaghan was really under the weather so she just went and slept while I went on a bit of a Belgium Beer tasting and well I ended up at a bar with a group of people from Spain and the beer tasting turned into well a little more than a tasting if you know what I mean. Let's say this I was extremely hung over the next day!!! This made life a little rough getting onto a train to head to Antwerp to meet my friend Anouk. But I did it and eventually was able to eat and not feel like shit haha. Oops. In the evening we met Anouk and her friend Valerie and they showed us their Antwerp and boy was it a pretty place! It was amazing to met Anouk and Valerie! Hopefully they will come visit Canada sometime! Our final day in Belgium had us wandering around Antwerp some more before getting a little tired and going and seeing Suicide Squad. (I know I know but I really wanted to see it and needed a break okay!) Thought it was pretty good though. Needed more Joker though! Belgium was beautifull and relaxing I really loved our time there! :)

Kiss Me I'm Irish

bcpckngbrtns — Sat, 6 Aug 2016 02:20:00 GMT

Our time in Ireland felt like such a short stay but we saw a lot of great things in that time. We arrived in Dublin in the afternoon and caught the shuttle to our hotel which was a student residence that had just opened Only a week and a half before we arrived. So everything was brand new and beautiful. Our flat had a joint kitchen which was fully loaded with stoves and fridges. It also had a laundry room which was perfect timing as we were starting to run low on clean clothes. Spent my afternoon doing laundry and reading my book which is the first book in the 5th Wave series. Really interesting book so far if you're wondering. After that was all taken care of we decided to go on a bit of a misadventure as we got lost and it started to pour. Ended up doing a little grocery shopping and grabbing a taxi back to our hotel. Our first full day in Dublin started extremely early because I made us some breakfast before our day trip to the Cliffs of Moher. Couldn't believe how gorgeous the cliffs were and just how windy it really gets there!! Which is a lot because we were about to be blown away if we weren't careful. Got to see a few little towns and pubs along the way like the one we stopped in for lunch which consisted of an Irish Beef Stew and an ice cold Heiniken! Really got to feel what the true Ireland is like on this tour because our guide/driver took us off the beaten trail and showed us things no one but the Irish know about. And boy did he like to sing. I probably have heard more Irish folk songs in one day than the entirty of my life. When we returned we were on the hunt for my all time favourite dish Shephards Pie which has come to be quite the hunt! But in the end we prevailed and I got to have a real made with Lamb SHEPHARDS PIE and it was absolutely delicious!!!! My trip was basically made by this one thing. (I'm kinda easy to please...) The following day we spent it walking around and seeing the sights of Dublin and doing a little shopping. And because I have a problem we stopped for a second night at O'Neill's and I had another Shephards Pie haha! After a great couple of days in Ireland it was time to grab a couple hours of shuteye before our early flight to Brussels.

The Land of the Scots

bcpckngbrtns — Wed, 3 Aug 2016 06:32:00 GMT

Arriving in Glasgow went well. Because we flew from London we didn't have to deal with customs which was great. Everyone we encountered was incredibly friendly and helpful. Caught the express bus into town and hopped right on the hop on hop off bus. Got to see a lot of the city on this ride to our hotel. When we arrived at our hotel again the gentleman at the front desk was so welcoming and everything went so smoothly. The hotel we stayed at was the Kelvin Hotel. It basically is an inn. We got breakfast every morning which was the best thing ever seeing as we didn't have to worry about it at all. Spent our first day on the Hop on Hop off tour and saw the whole city and their free museums and all the goregous old buildings and the crazy history of the city and country itself. Our second we had booked a day tour but they messed up the booking which kinda sucked, but they were great about it and got us on another tour which was different than the one we had originally but for free and a refund of our original tour so let's be serious I'm not complaining. We got to go to Stirling Castle where Mary Queen of Scots herself lived in a one time. Also got to see her church just down the street which was beautiful!! After Stirling we went to Loch Lomond which was so incredibly stunning that pictures can't even capture it!! I wish we could have stayed there forver!! The last stop of the day was a tour and tasting at Glengoyne Whiskey Distillery which was very interesting. Meaghan tried whiskey for the first time which was hysterical and of course I got it on film to remember this momentus occasion. Our driver/guide did a fantastic job. He was full of great information and was such a nice and funny guy. Kinda cute too :P Too short for me though haha. Unfortunatelly it was time to go and I really didn't want to because I loved it there!! I without a doubt would go back in a heartbeat!! Heck I'd move there!!

Stop 1 on our European Tour

bcpckngbrtns — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 05:23:00 GMT

So because I have been so busy and totally jet lagged I haven't had a moment to sit and write. But finally I have some downtime. Beginning our journey on a 6 1/2 hour flight from Toronto into London Gatwick. The flight was excellent and the food actually really good. No screaming babies no loud talkers, only complaint you'll hear from me is that I had ZERO leg room. Why can't they make plans a little more spaced out or at least if you're super tall like me let us have the extra room sections. By the way for those who don't know I am 6'3". Customs was my favourite part because yes I indeed got my very first passport stamp!! Once off the plane it was very easy to find the express train into the heart of London which was a short 20 minutes. Now once we arrived that was a whole other story. Let's just say that Victoria station is crazy!! But we figured things out and grabbed a bus to our hotel. Once there we dropped off our bags as it was before check in and we really didn't want to lug our stuff around. Lucky for us our hotel was located only 10 minutes from many interesting things like the London Eye which is of course right on the River Thames. We were blown away by the beauty of the city and we'd only been there a few hours. The hotel we stayed at was The Tune Hotel on Westminister Bridge Road. Very cool modern place that was super eco friendly, but our room was kinda a disaster. Our room looked like the place hadn't been cleaned properly and upon further inspection the sheets were completely dirty from the previous guests. I'll spare you the gross details but it was indeed disgusting. When I asked for new bedding the housekeeper gave me them and I had to change them. Not exactly the greatest service. Oh does it get worse why yes, yes it does. We went to plug something in the wall and blew the breaker and lost all power to our room. When we called mantainece he treated us like idiots and was incredibly rude. Wasn't impressed with our stay nonetheless. However we didn't dwell on this as we were much too excited to be in Europe and London. Our first whole day there we had a tour which took us to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. All three were amazing and would seriously suggest seeing them all. Our tour was with the company Evan Evan's with our guide Mark. He was fantastic!! Full of information and was such an entertaining gentleman. Really made the tour that much better. Day 3 consisted of a Hop on Hop off tour where we saw many of the many sights around London. In the afternoon was of course what I have been waiting for the HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!!!! Quite literally the best thing ever, and I sure spent way too much money haha! I would easily go back time and time again if I could! And finally I got to meet a online friend of mine for the first time as she lives in London and I am so happy I finally got to do so!! What a great way to end our time in London as we flew out to Glasgow the following day. The city is crazy busy as is our own Toronto and I can't say I'd want to live there specifically because of that reason but I sure would love to go back some day!!

In the beginning

bcpckngbrtns — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:07:00 GMT

To start my travel blog I thought my first post should come from home. I live in St. Catharines Ontario Canada. For those who are born and raised here I think we all tend to take for granted just how great this place is. Myself being at the top of that list. I always hated it here and always imagined moving away the second I had the chance. Jokes on me though I am still living here, and maybe that's because it's actually a great place to live. It's not a huge city but not a small town, we have the best of both worlds here. Country roads and forests just a short drive or walk away. Malls and movie theatres and even a drive in which is my favourite part of this area. Just a 20 minute drive away we have a wonder of the world that millions come to see every year on their travels Niagara Falls, which we think is no big deal but actually is quite beautiful and miraculous. All the big concerts come to Toronto and even closer Buffalo NY which we easily can access by any of the 3 borders that are open 24/7. Of course I'm probably missing a bunch of great things about this area but that's okay you either are from here and know what I'm talking about or maybe you are someone who will make it a stop on your next world adventure. My next world adventure is happening in only 9 short days!! My sister and I will be backpacking 11 different countries in a month!! I know that sounds crazy to some but I say the crazier the better!! I am so excited for this experience and can't wait to share my stories and adventures with all of you! So strap in and get ready for a bumpy ride!!