Iceland, You (Igneous) Rock! For Realz Tho, Igneous Everywhere

We flew into Iceland on Sunday and it was a gorgeous day!

Iceland and wing

And the landscape was stunning!

So blue!

We bussed into the capital of Reykjavík, and this relatively small capital is so lovely and cute.  It also has an amazing view of the ocean! Words and pictures cannot even describe!

Nikki

Some contemporary Viking art

Me on said art

The first night was just strolled along and looked around the city.  We also got the most amazing soft serve icecream EVER!!!

And has the best dinner ever!

Mac and Cheese and a Bucket o' Wings

The next day, we decided to stay around Reykjavík and look around the city.  

We went to the one an only Penis Museum.  The museum contains many different mammal specimens preserved along with some penis history, art, and popular culture pieces.

Sperm whale #phallic

We then visited the cathedral in Reykjavík and it is a lot different than other cathedrals we've seen.

Neat! #phallic

We went also to the geyser simulation and waited for about thirty minutes...for some geyser disappointment.

Geyser, not excited 

Geyser, excited #phallic

Waitin'

We also celebrated Canada Day!

Just us two clearly...

The following day, we took an excursion to the Blue Lagoon, for some rest and relaxation.  It was really cool (actually it was quite warm).  And the water looked like cool blue kool-aid!

In fact not sweet like kool-aid, rather salty

Our last day together!

Iceland was actually my favorite country. There seems to be a lot of outdoor activities to do: hiking, camping, and the like.  Unfortunately, we weren't prepared for our had the ability to really get out of the capital to try these things.  I guess I'll just have to come back here, shucks!  

And that is actually it for my travels.  I am heading home to Canada today. It was a great experience but I am also looking forward to seeing my friends an family.  I am also excited for this wiener to start his next venture to Hamilton.  

Toodles!

Paris, I'll Give You Two Wheat for a Sheep!

After our food-coma inducing excursions in Belgium, Nikki and I headed over to Paris whilst Morgan ventured up to the good ol' GB.  

In Paris, Nikki and I decided to try a different flavour of accommodation, Couch Surfing.  We stayed with a guy named Sylvain who lived in Montreuil.  It was an excellent experience.  Sylvain took us on a tour near his home, visiting the one medieval castle in and around Paris.  He also took us through a walk in a park complete with man-made lake and Greek temple.  We lol'd!  Sylvain also took us through a really interesting garden: the coulée verte.  It was built from the old inner-city train rails converted to trails of gardens.  It was a really lovely escape from the hustle and bustle of touristic Paris.  And we thought the name was absolutely lovely.  However, not to the French.  The word "coulée" means "flow".  But as Sylvain put it, it refers to more of something like the flow of sewage... But for us English speakers, being beckoned for a stroll along the Coulée Verte (swoon) sounds much more appealing than along the Green Sludge-Flow.

After our garden adventures, we went back to Sylvain's house where he made us a delicious quiche-like egg pie (it didn't have some kind of ham in it so apparently it wasn't true quiche...).  It was purely yummo!

The following day, Sylvain took us on a walking tour of Paris.  We went to another park complete with its very own faux Greek temple.  Which had an amazing view of the city.

We then went to the Sacré Coeur, which was lovely and crowded.  Then we continued our walk to the Louvre and through another park to the canals.  The canal along the Seine has just been converted from a motorway to a pedestrian lane.  It was a great change as there were tonnes of artists and locals and tourists just their enjoying Paris and the lovely weather.  Then onto the Eiffel Tower, no trip to Paris is complete without it.

Ooh

Aah!

Afterward, we went back to Sylvain's and played Catan!  Huzzah!  It was great and also the first time I have ever won!

Just look at that longest road! (I'm red)

Our trip to Paris was absolutely lovely, and it wouldn't have been half as good without the wonderful and accommodating Sylvain.  He was such a gracious host and I can't thank him enough!

And then we were off over the Atlantic to the mysterious Iceland!

Mussels in Brussels! And beer, and fries, and chocolate, and waffles, and Bickies!

We are now in Brussels.  The bilingual city: Dutch and French.  The first day,  we went to the Grand Place, the large central square.  And what else would be there than a Zumba concert...

Zumba!

We also went to the museum in the Grand Place.  There were some interesting exhibits on the history, the city plans, and art and shit of Brussels.  What we really went was for the exhibit on the costumes that they use to dress up Manneken Pis!

Work it!

Very nice!

Then we got waffles (a common theme in Belgium) and went to see the real Manneken Pis.  He was dressed up.

This was golden...showers (I could not resist)

Afterward, we headed back to the hostel.  Morgan and I visited the hostel pub an met some lovely Americans that were heading out the next day.

The following day, we did a walking tour of Brussels. The guides took us up a tower that had a great view of the city.  The floor we went to was also hosting a art exhibit from a few photography students.  It really reiterated the fact that I don't really get "art".

We also went to the Palais de Justice.  This huge building was awesome.  After the tour, we and three others decided to go for some food.  We along with Camy from Creston, Meghie from Brazil, and Rachel from Singapore headed into town.  We ate waffles, and walked past a rug shop where we started a large crowd.  We decided to check out all the commotion, and low and behold.   Arnold Schwarzenegger!

He's a bit hard to spot, but he'll be back!

After that, we went and got some mussels in Brussels! Yum yum.  Then we stopped by Delirium, a famous pub and beer in Belgium, for some brews.

Beer!

The next day we walked through the city.  Not much happened, just a lot of walking.

The following day, we split up.  Morgan went for a bike ride through the city and Nikki and I returned to the Grand Place.  We bought a lot of chocolate, and visited a comic museum.  Oh and we also got our obligatory waffle. 

The last day in Brussels, we split up again.  Nikki and I visited the Atonium, whilst Morgan went on a day trip outside the city.  

Balls!

Imma model!

The Atonium was built for the Expo.  It is to resemble the unit cell of crystal iron.  Sciency!  We also found some things at the Atonium and in the surrounding park...some caches! Fun!

Nikki and I also decided to get a Bicky burger.  I burger we kept spotting while in Belgium.  After looking for one for about an an hour we found one...right outside the metro station at our hostel.  The Bicky is a deep fried patty, made from a mélange of meats: chicken, pork, and...horse.  My Little Pony! Noooo!

MLP - delicieux 

And that concludes our days in Brussels and in Belgium.  After today, we are splitting up.  Morgan will continue traveling to the UK, and Nikki and I are heading to Paris.  There we will be flying through Iceland in our way back to Canada.

See you all soon!

In Bruges

We made it to the grand land of Belgium, and our first stop in this wonderful country was the tourist city of Bruges (Brugge in Dutch).

We started by getting groceries and settling in a bit.  The hostel bar turned out to be a lively one, one that many locals go to, which is super fun.  The first night, our hostel had a large number of people in it: Australians, Americans, Brits, Welsh, an Icelandic guy, and a Norwegian.  We met Danielle and Chantelle from Australia, and they were super cool. We also met a guy named Christor, from New York...let's just say that I won't be adding him to the Facebook.

The next day we did the touristy stuff.  We climbed the belfry...all 366 steps.  It was really interesting to see the elaborate system of bell mechanics.  

The top of that!

Ooh the view!

Nikki and I then went to the chocolate and fry museum.  Fun fact: French fries are in fact Belgian and not French.  American soldiers were presented with them from some French speaking locals, however they were in Belgium and not French, and the Americans mistook them for being French.  The more you know.  

We were guides on our tour by Choclala, who took us through the historical journey of chocolate.

Choclala - our guide

Chocolate CATS!

...not a chocolate cat, a stuffed car...weird

We were also brought from potato to fry from our new friends Peter Potato and Fiona Fry.  These spuds have a lustrous history...and they are yummo!

That night we met some great people, Torbjørn and Aina from Norway and Elise and Louis from Canada.  We went to a cool pub in a small alleyway.  It was called Garre, and they have their own house draft that you can't get anywhere. It is a 12% beer, with a three per person limit, and it was DELICIOUS!  We went out to another pub called the Pasterhole, in English.  It is underneath a church.  We partied Bruges style and it was tonnes of fun.  We even hardcore parkoured back to our hostel...mostly we just put our feet in walls.

What was not fun, however, was the 12 new Dutch roommates we had.  They were a group of douche bags that liked to get in at 5:00am and make the most noise possible.  

The following day, we kept it pretty tame.  We tried to get waffles, failed, and got a Danish instead.  Then we napped.

In order to counteract the gaggle of goons, we went to bed early.  And like clockwork, they arrived at the wee light of the morn...and woke us all the fuck up.  

The next day we said goodbye to our new friends, Torbjørn and Aina, and headed for Brussels.

Belgium, second stop, coming soon!

Nikki! Cheese! Fluorescence! So Much Joy

We eventually successfully picked up our new travelling partner Nikki, who was flying in from London.  I originally told her I was going to pick her up at the airport, but somewhat last minute told her that we would meet at the central train station.  We got there and waited about thirty minutes.  We went back to the hostel and when we finally got WiFi, we found out thy we missed her by one minute...but it all worked out. We just took it easy and caught up.

The next day, we did a walking tour of Amsterdam.  Stephanie out tiny tour guide was super chipper! She showed us some cool places, told us about some history, gave us some cheese, and even took us to the thinnest house in Amsterdam. It is only 1.8 metres wide!

In the middle, one window wide 

Afterward, we had some cake and went to the park.  We tried to decide on a place to go out, but we're having a hard time coming to consensus.  We eventually settled on De Spuyte, a small bar.  De Spuyte making a decision on venue, it ended up having 100 different beers to choose from, more decisions to make....

The next day, our last day in Amsterdam, we decided that it would be a good idea to see the Anne Frank House.  We left to be there early, before the crowd developed.  Too bad the line was around the block when we got there. So we thought we'd come back later.  We thought we would hit up the Electric Ladyland, but it didn't open till 13:00.  So we wandered, sampled cheese, I bought cheese...I also ate the cheese...the whole wedge.

You're beautiful! You're beautiful; it's true...

Then we decided to check out Electric Ladyland again, but then we saw police on the street.  So we ducked into a small cafe, well we thought it was a cafe.  It was in fact a coffee shop.  I got a coffee.

We eventually made it to Electric Ladyland, a fluorescent art museum.  It wa absolutely phenomenal! Below is some art! 

A structure created by our guide

Another piece thanks to our guide

Before, sculpture covered in minerals and stones

After, sorry bad quality

And some naturally occurring minerals

Our guide was absolutely amazing! A psychedelic product of the 60s, he was so knowledgeable and passionate about all things fluorescence: art, history, and science.

Then we took things a little less light, we visited the Anne Frank House.  It was absolutely astonishing to think about this story, and how a little girl's diary could transcend to so many people.  The situation was atrocious, the story outstanding and thought-provoking.  

And those were our days in Amsterdam. Now onto Belgium! CHOCOLATE!

(Amster)dam gurl, you f(el)ine...it was worth a shot

And we're back! I am going to split Amsterdam into two parts: first the part with just Morgan and I, and the second with our new travel partner, Nikki!!!

And now let's get underway.  Amsterdam brought hope and promising experiences, at least Morgan and I thought this because we finally trained with no major delays or rerouting! Success! Praise the Cat Lord, or whomever!  We even made it to our hostel without getting lost. 

We decided to take it easy the first night. I did some laundry, fun! Then Morgan and I met two lovely roommates, Izzy and Harley (apparently his parents thought it clever to name him after a motorcycle.  His words not mine).  They were really sweet.  They hail from Northern England and provided Morgan with some sound travel advise for the UK.  Later that night, Morgan and I ventured into the Red Light District.  It was very interesting.  It was a bit strange seeing all the women in the windows, but I am a proponent for legal prostitution.  So I really couldn't care less.  What I didn't really like, however, was the cat-calling all the surrounding men did.  I suppose it is to be expected, but still unnerving.  

The next day, we also decided to do a leisurely tour.  We stopped at Katten Kabinet, a cat art museum! DREAMS!!  It was great; below are some pieces I liked.

Number one attraction

Pet and master become one

Yup, I'm a fan

This one's a bit of a twist...

Apocalyptic Art - a catastrophe

All in all Katten Kabinet was purr-fection. There was even a live exhibit, Lily. She was eighteen human years young and super cute! I even PAH'd (pre-antihistoed, aka took an antihistamine preemtively).  

Later that day we took a tour discussing the importance of Coffee Shops in Amsterdam, and what the future of marijuana drug use will be like for Amsterdam.  Currently, marijuana is not legal, but decriminalized, and looked over by officials.  But because the officials want to "clean up" the Red Light District, licenses for coffee shops are not being renewed.  It was all very informative and everyone has an opinion on it.  If you have one, please feel free to leave it in the comments.

The day after that, Morgan and I did a bicycle tour of Amsterdam.  It was nice to ride around and see all these cool places.  However, it was terrifying as shit!!  Bikes almost double cars, and they all have the right of way.  Also, strapping a group of people to bright red bikes, really make us a target for locals.  Well, that and our faces plastered with pure terror!  But it was actually fun.

That night, Nikki arrived and that will lead us into part 2 of Amsterdam!

Until next time!

Cologne (Köln), You Stink!!

I am happy to report that we made it to Cologne (Köln) without any troubles!

loljk

 

We were rerouted and delayed by 2 hours.  Let me first start by saying that Köln doesn't stink but getting here did.  Our trains were delayed, and we got off at the wrong in-city S-Bahn station so we had to walk about an hour in the rain to get to our hostel.  But we made it!

Hostel 404 - we found you!

We got in late once again, so we just decided to head to get food and hit they hay.  We went to a wonderful restaurant right across the street.  We both had Kölner schnitzel and beer.  It was fantastic!

The following day we went to the city square and visited the enormous cathedral famous here in Köln.

It was big and religious!

In the cathedral, there was also a treasury.  It was really neat to see all the jewels, and staves, and artifacts.

We then walked over to the Chocolate Museum!  It was amazing, and we made our own chocolate bars! Can you see it?

The Spenny - Pistachios, Black Currants, Cayenne, and Ground Vanilla Bean

Miao

We then walked over to Hohenzollernbrücke, the great bridge in Köln.  People like to put locks on the bridge with their and their love's initials on it to symbolize their eternal and lasting love.  Too bad about half won't work out! Lawl!

Locks!

This person understands true love - Miao

And that was Köln! It was great, but tomorrow we head out of Germany and on to Amsterdam! Wish us good luck in our travels.  And let's see if we can make it without any major travel delays.

See ya!