It's pretty Nice, eh? - France

So after my successful adventure in Spain and Portugal, it was time I headed to Nice, France! Now because this is in the south of France, a particular Ingrid Michaelson song came into mind because of the lyrics: let's get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France.... Anyways, Nat and I spent a good 4 nights in Nice and there we met a bunch of new friends, from Canada, America and even Australia. The first couple of days the weather wasn't the best but we managed to do what we can, exploring old Nice and even taking a trip to Monaco with our new Canadian friends. But soon my Nice vacation- no pun intended, had drawn to an end I was on the road again; this time to Italy!

our hostel in France

 

Nutella and strawberries, my favourite dessert!

 

somewhere in France, probably on the way to Monaco

 

my last dinner in Nice, steak and mash potatos!

 

really pretty waterfall in Old Nice

 

My fancy lunch of pasta and seafood!

 

Museum of modern and contemporary Art in Nice

 

Yachts and other stuff in beautiful Monaco!

 

Just doing some people watching in Nice

 

Our hostel was seriously amazing!

 

Such a great view from the top of the hill of Nice

 

Our hostel was one of many famous hostels.

 

This was the manlyiest piece in the art museum

 

So many places to decide from, where to go next?

Viva Espana! - Spain

So I figured out that I can type out my blogs through the local computers in my hostel and I can just reedit the post on my phone and from there I can upload photos!

    Its a random Mariacchi band playin on Le Sol plaza in Madrid

Beach day in beautiful Barcelona!

Lots of chillis and spices in the market in Barcelona

My espresso addiction is coming back (cafe bonbon- espresso and condensed milk)

Went for mojitos for Claudias last night in Europe!

Our hostel in Madrid; Las Musas 

Palms on windows for Good Friday in Sevilla

Walking is good for the soul (bad for the shoes)

I taste pretty good if I do say so myself

Last night in Spain means night out!

Royal Opera house in Madrid

On our way to France; goodbye Spain!

Barcelona beaches are beautiful

View from Guell Park in Barcelona

Madrid Street

Le Segrada Familia - a must see in Barcelona

So good and so cheap!

Hostel in Barcelona- great location!

Yummy paella :)

Some traditional flamenco dancing

So there you go, a quick picture update of my time here in Spain, I must say it was great being able to practice my Spanish and finding me everywhere in the signs.  Whats weird is that when I upload the photos the order of when I take the photos are completely out of sync.  Oh well.

London/ Lisboa

So I know have been procrastinating updating this blog and just because I have no connection to the Internet via computer I figured it would be a good excuse not too, but I've taken lots of photos on my phone (where I'm currently blogging from) so really I have no excuse. Anyways, heres a quick update of what I've done so far.
After leaving Shannon in Manchester, Nat and I made our way to London
where we stayed for a couple of nights. I saw so many things in London that I instantly loved but the best things were probably the musicals I watched; Mamma Mia and Phantom of the Opera. We also managed to meet up with Wallis while we were there but soon after we had to fly to Lisboa (Lisbon). We met up with Claudia there for a day and after a couple more nights decided to head to Spain.
(disclaimer: all these photos were taken from my iPhone, I've taken a lot more, better pictures through my 2 other cameras)

Manchester

Finally in Manchester, and after a week of just relaxing and doing nothing, Natasha finally arrives.  It all started when I was in Dublin, and I decided to plan a surprise party for Shannon because she is going to be alone on her 21st birthday. So her flatmate Wallis and I devised a plan of action...

 ...With Natasha's help of distracting Shannon with her arrival, we quickly set out to decorate her room.  The funny thing was, for someone who considers herself to be great at picking up on things, she had no clue what was happening, whatsoever, and was pleasantly surprised to see decorations set up for what she though was for Natasha....

...she soon found herself dumbfounded when she saw her name in balloons and realized the joke was on her. Muahahahaha. And she was not just set up by one, or two but all three of us. Her aloofness quickly turned to gratitude then self-hatred for no one has ever been able to pull off a heist over her sheer intellect...

...quickly getting over self-hatred, we celebrated and turned our attentions to the pizza and not the cake, and more importantly the fact that Natasha was here on the same continent as us and no longer in the Land Down Under. We were all smiles.

 Because it was Natasha's first day here, they decided to show her around town.  We walked down the streets of Manchester doing what tourists do best.

A lot of people seemed to stare at us, while we jokingly laughed and made merriment, but of course we did not care, caring only about our reunion after so many lonesome months apart.

Manchester, has many interesting architecture that drastically differs from that which is seen back home in Vancouver, mainly due to the rich history of the former industrial power city...(that we didn't really care about)

 We brought Natasha to a local tea shop that the two students love...that is all.

The town hall was grand, nothing much to see.

Chillin on the grounds of the cathedral.

Natasha deep in thought, contemplating her decision to leave her life of luxury and travel across Europe like a common nomad.

More buildings

"Shopping" at a local factory outlet...EWOK!!!!

The first and final departing points of Manchester...more to come...or is there?

Ireland

So first things first, I must apologize for the lack of pictures that I've been posting here on this blog.  Because I don't carry around a laptop around I don't have constant access to a computer that I can connect my camera with but if your following me on twitter or facebook, you know I try to keep that updated with photos.
Ok back to my weekly recap.  Since I last posted, I have travelled from Dublin to Cork to Killarney to now Galway.  And boy, has my plans around Ireland change a lot!  But lets go back to my last day in Dublin.  Now that was going to be my "cultured" day so I decided to visit the Museum of Archeology, Natural History, National Gallery of Ireland and catch a matinee performance of "Bookworms" a hilarious comedy playing in the Abbey theatre.  It really was a funfilled day so when I got back to my hostel I crashed.  The next day I was off to Cork, the bus took about 4 hours to get there and my first impressions of Cork weren't that great.  It was a city like Dublin but it seemed a little less occupied.  My hostel, Bru Bar hostel was a fair hostel, I really had no roomates so I was able to enjoy the privacy of my room to myself.  To be honest, I didn't really find much to do in Cork, so I booked a day tour to see the Cliffs of Moher and the Burrens for the next day.  The tour company, Paddywagon was really great and informative and the whole tour was great, I even managed to meet a fellow Canadian and another friend while on the bus.  But as soon as the tour ended, I ended my day and planned to go to Killarney to see the Ring of Kerry.  Now, I spent 2 nights in Cork and a total of 4 nights in Killarney.  Killarney is a real small town, town made for tourist.  I made my way to the family owned Neptune Hostel (amazing service, real friendly) and I even managed to find a local cafe that I ended up going to everyday.  So in Killarney, I did the Ring of Kerry tour, hiked up to Ross Castle in Killarney national park and even cycled a total of 36km to see the Gap of Dunloe.  All this nature truly allowed me to experience Ireland in all its glory.  It makes me wonder why I don't explore more of Canada, especially if I can survive doing this alone.  I have seen so many beautiful castles, hillsides, and cliffs here in Ireland.  They are such a rich country full of history and lots of joy that it ignites a joy in myself.  Plus the people here are so friendly to everyone they meet and are always willing to give you a hand.  Now during my stay in Killarney, I managed to switch my plans around.  I figured instead of travelling up through Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Derry then Belfast, why not just spend more time in Galway then go back to Dublin (because 4 nights was not enough time to fully experience the city) then just train up to Belfast?  So that's what I decided to do and as hard as it was to change my plans I figured, I have all my life to come back if I wanted to, to see the rest.  Because the last week here in Ireland was all about seeing everything, experiencing Ireland and just constantly going  and going, I figured this would be the week to really enjoy the luxury of being alone that many of us so often don't have a chance of experiencing.  Plus, in just a few days I will be meeting up with some family friends and then I'll have a hard time finding/wanting time alone.  So far, I've managed to read a couple of great books, meet people from all over Europe that I've shared great experiences and do things I wouldn't do in a regular basis back home and I'm really grateful for that.  I've also come to realize how passionate I am about certain things back home and other things that I occupy myself with that really doesn't serve a purpose. 

Needless to say, I am learning a lot of things about myself here that I would never get the chance to learn back home and that alone brings personal affirmation to my decision to do this adventure.  More to come soon!