Hi everyone!
So I’ve just finished my 7th month of traveling, and I am now in Paris. What have I been up do since the last update? If you read the 3-month update back in April, this was supposed to be the 6-month update but I got sidetracked in London and hence this ‘6-month update’ is one month late!
But then again, for those of you who know me, being late is something that (unfortunately) I am familiar with. I know, I know, when it comes to “important” things, I’m pretty good, but when it comes to things like this where there is really no real urgency, I tend to let slide. I am working on it, I swear!
So since the 3-month update, I’ve traveled throughout Europe, covering more than half the continent and over 20 countries! A brief recap:
January – New Zealand
February – New Zealand, Fiji
March – Australia, Singapore, Egypt
April – Egypt, Greece, Turkey
May – Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany
June – Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
July – Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal, Morocco
August – England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland
The last 3 months went by quite fast, compared with the first 3 months. I think the main reason is that I went to a lot of countries in 3 months as opposed to 3 countries in 3 months. The bulk of my ‘on-the-road’ traveling is now over. The next 3 months will be spent more leisurely, as I have a home base in Paris for September, and looking for another base for October then I’ll head off to Russia to board the trans-Siberian and trans-Mongolian trains to China. After the hectic and very eventful 3 months navigating through Europe, I am looking forward to slowing down a little and pretend I’m a Parisian, living in Paris for a month. J
So what happened the last 3 months? Here are the highlights, stories and rants in a nutshell:
May – This is the month of Eastern European countries as I went on a Cosmo tour to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia. I met Lorraine, from New Zealand, who became my partner-in-crime as we were on the same tours for the 3 weeks, so we ended up roommates and became good friends. The countries were very cool but slightly different from what I expected. It has been a while since Communism fell and the countries have definitely embraced the western way of life (ie: Capitalism). I am glad to have visited them before they became even more westernized. On one of the tours, I met Grant and Sandra, who used to live in Vancouver but have moved out to the east coast, and we had a great time checking out the different cuisine of the countries by check out the restaurants recommended by Lonely Planet. I also enjoyed the talks about politics, economics and history, from which I learned a lot.
What I found is that it is one thing to read about a country, it is a different thing to actually be in the country and experiencing it for yourself. The history comes alive and the things that happened makes more sense and becomes more relevant. Visiting these countries really made me understand more what they went through in the past and definitely made me more appreciative of Canada and Vancouver.
Each country has unique and something cool to offer but my favourite countries in Europe are Croatia and Greece. Driving down the Dalmatian Coast is absolutely stunning, the water is so blue that it just makes me want to jump in and spend the day swimming and lazing on the beach. The walled city of Dubrovnik is amazing, and walking on the city walls provided such breath-taking views of the city and the sea. Greece is amazing for me as I love Greek mythology. To visit places such as the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, Ancient Olympia among other, is to see the myths come alive. Not only is Greece full of ancient ruins, Greece also has numerous islands that offer something for everyone. One day, I want explore the islands on a boat, island hopping at its best.
June – Ah June. This is what I called the low month. Many things happened this month that on their own won’t be that bad but collectively made me feel low and cranky. However, I did learn from the bad experiences, such as what I like and don’t like and discover and confirm various parts of my personality and my style so all was not lost. Like what, you ask?
1) I am NOT a backpacker
2) There are some people that just rub you the wrong way, on the wrong wavelength so you just weren’t going to get along no matter what
3) There are always pros and cons with everything, you just have to be able to evaluate them objectively
The countries of the Nordic and Baltic countries were nice and interesting in their own way. I found the Nordic countries to be really expensive and the people…ummm unique. J I met Ine and Jorgen in Fiji back in Feb and I told them I’ll visit them when I get to Norway. Well, I did and met up with them in Bergen and had a fantastic two days hanging out and catching up and checking out Bergen. Thanks for a great time, Ine and Jorgen! J Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were very cool, great food, interesting history and a good mix of the old and the new. They are bound to become more of a tourist destination as more and more people discover their charms.
July – July was indeed the most hectic month in terms of traveling. I visited 7 countries and within those countries, numerous cities. It was at this point, at the end of the month, I felt the first sign of fatigue, not just physical, but mental as well. After traveling for 6 months, I was ready to settle in one spot to relax and chill without the thought/pressure of “having to see things” cause I’m in a new city. That’s when I started to REALLY look forward to London and Paris. London, cause I can speak English and have conversations with people again and Paris cause I have an apartment waiting for me for an entire month!
Anyways, back to July. I went to Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Poland reminded me of the feeling I got when I was in Sarajevo. It had a sad, somber feel that stems from the suffering in its history. The Old City in Warsaw was completely destroyed in WWII and it was rebuilt afterwards. It was quite interesting to go from the old part to the new part, you can really see the difference. Krakow was very cool, it is different from Warsaw and I can see why some people prefer Krakow to Warsaw. I met Roople, who hosted me, through Couch Surfing and I had a great time hanging out with her. She’s Canadian too, it’s always awesome meeting fellow Canadians. Thanks Roople! J
After Poland, I took off for Austria, to Vienna first. Vienna was very cultured and polished. I went to a Mozart concert and it was great! The orchestra was wearing period costumes and they were very good. There was also some opera singing involved! I really enjoyed it. J From Vienna, I went to Salzburg, with a stopover in Graz. I stayed with Virginia, another Couch Surfer and she’s is very cool! She lived in so many different countries and speaks many different languages fluently, I am quite envious. Thanks Virginia for a fun time in Salzburg. J
I went to Prague and Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic after Austria. It was quite funny but I ran into the tour group that I was with in the Baltics in Cesky Krumlov. (The group continued on towards central Europe) Talk about timing and coincidences! Cesky Krumlov was very historic and fun to explore. You definitely feel like you’re back in medieval Europe. I went on to Prague and I’m sorry to say that I only spent one night in Prague but it’s all good cause I managed to explore quite a bit and I know I definitely want to go back there again.
After Prague I had to decide on how I was going to get to Barcelona since I wanted to go there first before going to Madrid to start my Spain, Portugal and Morocco tour. For the last few days I have been debating between taking the train and flying. I ended up taking the train which was my first choice anyways. Thus began one of the coolest adventure of my trip so far:
I lef Prague at 11pm on Thursday night and got into Bratislava, Slovakia at 4:30am, then caught a train to Vienna at 5am. I got into Vienna where I proceeded to grab my bags that I had left at the hostel, had a shower and did some last minute emails at before catching the 9:30am train to Zurich where my plan was to buy a ticket to Barcelona on the overnight train and get there at 9:30am. Good plan…except that I didn’t know that summer holidays started on that very day so when I got to Zurich at 6:30pm, I found out that the overnight train to Barcelona is completely sold out!!! Well, I ended up catching a train with 2 changes to Port Bou in Spain and then catching a train from there to Barcelona with an arrival time of 12:46pm, over 3 hours later than planned.
I only had only about 20 hours in Barcelona since I had to be in Madrid the next day. Well, let me tell you, I sure made great use of those 20 hours! I had three goals in Barcelona: 1) play some beach volleyball 2) eat some tapas/seafood/paella 3) go out and see the night life.
Mission accomplished on all counts. I went straight to the beach as soon as I dropped off my bags at Zsuzsa’s place, another Couch Surfer, who then took me to the beach where I met some people who let me play some beach volleyball. While playing, I met two guys, Tom and Johann, who Zsuzsa and I ended up hanging out at the beach and made plans to go out clubbing that night. Zsuzsa and I went out for dinner at the typical Spanish time of 10:30pm, had some tapas and seafood paella, then met up with Tom and Johann to the two clubs, partying till 6am, got back to Zsuzsa’s place at 6:30am, just in time to pack my stuff and get ready to leave and catch the 9am bus to Madrid. J
I know I’m crazy and it’s times like this that prove it and also make me glad that I am cause I had such a fantastic time. I did everything I wanted to do, and felt totally like a local rather than a tourist. I made new friends and now I’m making plans to come back in September to play more beach volleyball.
The tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco was the last tour for me so I was really happy as I was ready to have some time on my own, especially with the BIG 3 coming up, UK, France and Italy. France and Italy were the top two countries I wanted to visit and London and Paris were the top two cities. All of them are coming up after this tour and although it’s bad, a small part of me just couldn’t wait for the tour to finish so I can get started on “the main trip”.
I met some really cool people on this trip which is always good cause really, one’s enjoyment of and in tour groups are determined by the people who are in it and to a lesser extent, the tour leader. I was told that Barcelona and the region are not like the rest of Spain, and it’s true. I’ve like Barcelona a lot, not so much for the rest of Spain. Although the places we went to were nice, I never got the same feeling as I did in Barcelona. Also, my experiences were tainted by the rude staff at a place we went to for lunch. And people say the French is rude! Portugal is also very cool, mellower in atmosphere than Spain but with an equally colourful history and tradition. Morocco was definitely interesting. Personally, I liked it much more than Egypt, possibly it has more European influences than Egypt. It is also cleaner and less polluted, at least to me. All in all, the tour was one of the better ones that I’ve taken, there weren’t really anyone that I didn’t get along with and also there were people in the 20s and 30s as well as the older crowd. It was a good way to end my touring experiences.
That’s my adventures in a nutshell of the three months since my last update. If you are on Facebook, be sure to check out my profile cause I update it almost every day (I’m addicted to it!) and also I post my pics on there. www.facebook.com You can also check my website, but I am embarrassed to say that I am very bad at updating this one. http://yingying-lee.spaces.live.com
I’ll send out the next update email in oh another 3 months. J
Lots of love,
Ying Ying =)