Ch. Progress!

Yes! Progress! I managed to post one photo today, which I edited into my last blog entry. Right now I am trying to load more, but it is likely I won't get anything posted since it is peak internet hours now, and I will have to wait till I can get on the internet during non-peak hours.

-some minutes later-
yeay! pictures are working! The first three are the ones you were meant to see in the first blog of the back yard/kitchen, my room, and my street! Anyway...

Progress, also, in terms of my adjustment to life here. It is a lot to take in when everything from the climate and language to what you eat for breakfast is different than what you are used to. I will do my best to describe what I can while I wait for my photos to load. (Not as easy as it sounds since I feel like my own English skills are declining with lack of use!)

Lokossa is a village of around ten thousand people, in the south-western region of Mono. There are some paved or bricked roads here, but apart from those main roads everything else is dirt or sand. There is an unfortunate habit of littering in the streets here, though I suppose it is not as bad as it might be back home since there is generally less waste here. Even so, it still saddens me to see it and know that most people don't care. Many of the buildings might appear run down by western standards, though they generally do just fine for their intended use. There some like the bank the head office of a major mobile phone company which are kept a little nicer and even have air conditioning! (Heaven to visit for a whitey like me!)

It pretty much always hot here. I am not sure of the exact daily maximums but I would say high twenties is the average. And it is very humid. The schools break from noon to 3pm, and most other people siesta or tone down their activity level during that time - the streets are more lively in the evening and night than in early afternoon. Morning is the best time for a workout, and that is when I go to the track. It's nice to have somewhere to go, though I think I prefer weekdays when it s less busy... I stand out just a little, running around the track white legs flashing in the sun, not to mention dripping in sweat because even their "cool" mornings are hot for me. Nonetheless, it has been a good place to meet people, including some of the students from the schools I teach at. You can see pictures below of my new training facilities. Oh, and so as not to disappoint my former triathlon coaches, I did get some swimming in the other day when we visited the nearby village of Athiamé; in fact, I swam clear out of Benin and all the way to Togo! (Across the river Mono)





Meeting people is generally not a problem, as most people are interested to know where I come from and why I am here. Really young kids will call out "yo vo, yo vo!" when I go by, which is sort of like "Hey whitey!" but with a positive connotation. The one thing that I find the hardest to come by is female company of women my own age. My host parents, the D'almeidas, have two daughters and one son, but the daughters are away at university. Their son, Antonio, is in high school, and while I do really enjoy hanging out with him and his friends it is not quite the same. Also, it is usually only men who will introduce themselves out of the blue, and while it is nice to get to know new people, it becomes a little tiring when every other one would like me to help them emigrate to Canada, or marry them, or hook them up with a correspondent who would do likewise!

I also made some friends where I was not expecting it. Mr. D'almeida is the landlord of the two neighbouring houses, and right next door are two Americans and their little baby boy! Bill and Julie are missionaries, and they have been living in Africa for over a year, and their son, Paul, was born in Togo. In is interesting because if we were back home they likely would be considered a different culture from me (west coast Canada vs American heartland), but in contrast to the locals our similarities are obvious. I am really thankful for their presence, since it was a big help and comfort to talk to someone (in fluent English no less) who has been living here a while but who shares an outsider's perspective.

Everyday things become a little more familiar, though. I am getting to know my students, who vary in age from nine to possibly almost as old as I am. I had a great time teaching one of my younger classes a song I know by heart from my years at Camp Artaban. It turns out "Tree in the Hole" is great for teaching certain botanical and zoological vocabulary. I am also getting to know the other English teachers, though often English is their second language so we still speak in French. Understanding French with a West African accent has been a bit of a struggle for me, but I am becoming accustomed to that as well, and things get easier as vocabulary from the vaults of my elementary school memory slowly comes back to me.

It is time for me to get to dinner, though I almost hate to leave while I know the pictures are loading steadily, if not very speedily. To finish I will leave you with a view from my front door, taken one evening just as the sun was setting. It has been great to finally be able to share pictures, hopefully I will be able to do the same next time!
blogger out,
-Carla

Chapter 2 - AFRICA

I still have not shared all I would like from my time in Europe, and here I am on a totally different continet wondering where the time went, hardly beleiving I am already here! So, yes, for all of you who are wondering where in the world I am, I am in Africa. West Africa to be more precise, in Benin, in the town of Lokossa, where I am helping with english classes in one elemantary and one secondary school.

My arrival in Africa is not one I will not soon forget. I think the impact of the experience was magnified by my coming straight from Euroupe, arriving as I did in a new place without having fully processed the last. It is definitely advisible to give yourself processing or down time when traveling, and this was a time when I was definitely lacking in that, though I knew full well what I was getting myself into with this non-stop travel business. The last stop in Europe for me was Barcelona. I had prepared almost everything I needed for Africa before I got there so I would have time to enjoy the city. That I did, but energetic sightseeing combined with an extremely inconveniant flight time meant I was more than a bit tired when my plane landed in Accra, Ghana. Luckily there were two volunteer coodinators from STAESA, the organization that set up my volunteer placement, there to meet me at the airport.

When I walked out the airport doors I was greeted by a crowd of people held back by temporary fences, all waiting for their arrivees. I thought it would be easy to find the ones I was looking for since they would holding a sign with my name on it, but there seemed to be dozens of people holding signs and shouting the names of the people they were looking for. I found my coodinators, however, and we caught a taxi to the local Salvation Army, which had a sort of youth hostel set-up and where we spent the night.

The next day we went to get my visa for Togo (for travel to Benin). Accra on little sleep can be a little overwhelming! Streets full of vendors, taxis, mini buses, pedestrians, busy marktets... in three words I would say busy, hot, and loud. After I got my visa for Togo I traveled with Mr. Akakpo, one of the STAESA coordinators, to his place in Lomé, Togo, and stayed there for a few days untill I could get my Benin visa. I got a good rush from my first "moto" (motorcycle) taxi ride from the Togo/Ghana border to Mr. Akakpo's place, tho I was slightly worried about falling off the back because I was wearing my full backpack. Probably not the safest way to get around since you never wear helmets, but affordable and practicle in Lomé, Lokossa, and many African towns and cities where dirt and pot-hole filled roads make driving a car difficult.

I attended my first African church servie in Lomé, which was much more lively and colourful than anything I've seen at home. I had a chance to recover and relax a little in Lomé, but I was still happy to finally arrive in Lokossa. At around 10 000 people it is a more manageable size than Lomé or Accra. My host family, the D'almeidas, have a relatively nice place with many trees in their front yard. For someone from the green "wet coast" of Canada it was a relief to see some greenery after the dusty streets of Lomé and Accra. The following photos are of the front of the house, and the back yard/kitchen area, as well as my room and the street I live on.



Hurrah! I got one photo up! ... and that's all for photos today. But now that I know that I have to go online at non-peak hours, only load one photo at a time, and be really patient, there will be more on the way.

Anyway... I was also happy to discover that there is a track near by that I can run at. A dirt track but a track no less. I will post pictures of that too as soon as I can get them working.

In general I have been settling in fairly well here, the hardest thing to get used to is the heat, but even that doesn't seems as intense anymore. People I meet are often eager to get to know me - there aren't many white people in this area so I stand out quite a bit. I must be going... but I will continue on my quest to get pictures up!
Greetings from Africa,
-Carla

Ch. 1 B4 - Random catch-up

Hi Everybody, I know it had been a reeeaaally long time since I've put anything up becasue even some of my best friends have had to email me and ask where I am. Well, I am in France, but back in France rather than still in France... if you read my last blog carefully you would know that I was on my way out of Paris and into Germany. So here is a little bit of an overview of where I've been, and with any luck, I'll cover some of these places in more detail later, because there are some stories that definitely deserve it!

For me Germany was all about friends and family (well, and maybe the food and beer). I never spent one night in a hostel there, but instead visited cousins, great-aunts, old friends, and even my former nanny. I started in Bonn, in west Germnay, where I met my tante Marianne (that's "aunt" to all you non-german speakers, and grandma = Oma) and cousins Claus and Rolf for the first time, and saw my tante Leisel again. After that I headed down south to Ingolstadt (near Munich) to visit some cousins. (By the way, evryone who is a cousin of any kind will just be called a cousin, because I'm really not sure about all the degrees of cousins!)It was very cool, meeting family I really new very little about, and while I was at it I got to go to Oktoberfest, and see Harry Potter 5 in German. After that I went north to visit my friend Doreen, and we went to Berlin, the Island of Rugen, and her hometown of Prenzlau. Those Lambrick Park grads reading this might remember a blond German girl sitting in on some of our classes in grade 11 - that was Doreen! After that I went to visit my former nanny, who live near Bielefeld (this is heading back west now), and I got to meet her family, and spend time with her two daughters who are close to the age I was when she was my nanny! I only looked a little different to her after 16 odd years ;) And after that, back to Bonn, or Rheinback to be specific, to see more cousins, who were actually in Canada when I was in Bonn the first time round! It was also great to meet them all for the first time, and it was espacially great to meet my cousin Zoe who though she may be 10 years younger than me, she equals if not surpasses my passion for all things fantasy and sci-fi.

After more than 3 great weeks with family and friends, I waved goodbye to my Oma's two sisters (who kind of felt like 2 adopted Omas) at the train station in Bonn, and got on a long train to Vienna. I had fun there. I met a bunch of English, Aussies, and Canadians at my very cool hostel, had some fancy Sacher Torte (local chocolate cake) and coffee in a cup with Mozart's profile on it, went to a crazy interactive music museum, and even saw and Opera (three cheers for cheap student tickets!). I also had a nice chat with some guys at a bike store I wandered into when I saw the Cannondales in the window... which kind of brings me to Budapest.

Thanks to my wonderful Hungarian co-worker, Gabor, at Fort Street Cycle, I had a place to stay in Budapest, capital of Hungary. I stayed at his sister's place for over a week while I visited the city, and took full advantage of the fact that she worked at one of the city's wonderfully relaxing and incredibly fance mineral baths (think several different pools, tubs, saunas, massage, etc.) and could get me in for free. I also went caving just outside the city - that's where my current facebook profile picture comes from - and had a few good home-cooked meals by Gabor's mom. Considering we both spoke about 2 words of each other's language, we got on quite well! And, of course, I sampled some home-made Hungarian Palinka, a drink that could possibly be illagal in Canada it is so strong, though Gabor's mom seemed to have no problem downing a shot of it while I choked down a sip or two. There was so much too see in Budapest, and it was tough to leave what I knew might be my last chance at a home cooked meal for a long time to come, but eventually I had to go.

I was heading for Italy, but Slovenia was on the way, so I stoped in the capital, Ljubljana, for a couple days. Very pretty little town, and it was good to get some fresh air after a long time in a big city. I stayed at Hostel Celica, a former prison turned youth hostel, and spent Halloween night out with a bunch or German architechture students at some interesting alternative clubs that had taken over the abandonned army base behind the hostel. I spent the next day sight-seeing, walking in parks, and palying on kid's playgrounds with 2 americans and one canadian who were in town for the weekend on a trip from the shcool they were studying at in Austria. Hmm, I will definitely have to get those pictures up some time :)

And then I was off to Itally... and that will have to wait a bit. But just so my mom can plot my journey on a map, this is where I went after Ljubljana, in order: Venice, Verona, Rome, Sorento, stuck in Naples train station for 4 or 5 hours during train strike, Rome, Florence, Nice, Marseille, Carcassonne, and now I am in Biarritz, on the south-west caost of France. And to quote Kirstin (my travel buddy and fellow Canadian who I met in Rome) as she said farewell to Michealangelo's David:
Stay glorious,
-Carla

Ch.1 B3.5 - Paris!

Finally, I was in Paris! After our free hotel breakfast we got on the metro where I said goodbye to Kate and Nicole, and I headed of to make sure I checked in nice and early at my hostel I had booked the day before. It was a bit pricey, but it was down the street from the Louvre, right in central Paris, and the fact that was it was on Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau made me want to phone my brother in Korea right there and then just to tell him how it seems like you can't walk around a corner in Europe without running into a tribute to a famous poet, philosopher, or musician.

At the hostel I was happy to find a brochure for one of the free Europe walking tours like I did in Edinburgh, (I checked and they are called New Europe tours), and after checking in, I headed out to explore Paris and maybe take a walking tour. I started by heading towards the Louvre, but I got no more than a block or two when I had to stop. There was a bike store, and they actually had road (i.e. racing) bikes, not just euro-style cruisers. And they had a Cervelo! ah... it was like a little slice of home.
Anyway, I did have other things to see so i just took a short look around and continued on. I stood in front of the Louvre and took pictures like all the other tourists, but it was a gorgeous day, better for walking outside (and I knew youth under 26 got in free the next night,) so I just wandered around the perfect parks with square trees, taking in the sights. I strolled down the riverside looking at street vendors' stands as I made my way towards the meeting point for the tour. When I got there however, I was feeling so relaxed and mellow that i didn't feel quite ready to be hearded around the city with a flock of other tourists. Instead, I got advice from one of the guides for the bests streets to explore and went on my way. First, I went to visit the most famous cathedral in Paris, Notre Dame. It was beautiful and ornate both inside and out, and I have since realized that i really like, but take far too many pictures of, Gothic architecture. I enjoyed exploring the cathedral on my own time, but not on my own dime - like many religious sites, entry is free. After that continued on my way to the guide-recommended strolling territory, snacked on a crepe, bought some post cards, and then went back to meet the next tour group.
The tour was great, there was great weather for it, and there was a fun mix of people from around the world there. Aussie, Kiwi, American... (this was an english tour, remember). We saw the sights, including the bridge where one member of french royalty (can't remember which now) had images of his drunken friends carved into a bridge for all to see. (Kind of like when your friends put up pictures of you on Facebook from that party the night before). And the hotel where the winners of the Tour de France get to stay. Not only do they get to stay at a hotel that costs several thousand dollars a night and is frequented by celebrities and/or people who must be ridiculously rich, they get to fly their own flag from the top while they are there. That would be fun. (Kenyon, step up your training so when you win you can invite all the Fort Street Cycle Staff to stay the night).

Now the tour was over, but the same New Europe company also hosted a pub crawl. It was not free, but I had nothing else planned, and it included some free drinks and drink specials, and i would get a chance to hang out with some people I met on the tour. I was in Paris - what else was I going to do, stay in and read? I was glad I went. I had fun with the other travelers I met, and I could actually hold conversations with locals. Plus, we stopped at a Scottish pub where I seized the opportunity to enjoy some more Irn Bru. Knowing French also came in handy when I had to catch a cab home at the end of the night.

On the walking tour I had met Vinny, a New Zealander, who was also traveling alone. He was also at the pub crawl, and we made plans to meet up the next day to go sightseeing. Since it was a bit of a late night we agreed not to meet up until the afternoon, which suited me fine. I had to switch to the sister hostel of the one I was at, and so did a couple of French Canadian girls from my room. Once again my French came in useful as we chatted and walked along the streets of Paris carting our bags to the next hostel. I said bye to the French Canadian girls then stopped at a train station to make a reservation for my trip the next day to Bonn, Germany. After that I spent my time until I had to meet Vinny writing postcards sitting down by the river and looking in tacky tourist shops for sticker for my collection on my water bottle. He was a little late, having had a not-so-restful night after not being able to get back into his hostel because of the curfew! Still, he was eager to see the sights so we went on our way. He had to drop his things at his second hostel, so I agreed to meet him at the church of Sacree Coeur (Sacred Heart). Lovely white church (it cleans itself when it rains) on a hill overlooking Paris. Both Vinny and I were caught in tourist traps where we were pounced by people who practically grabbed your hand and proceeded to make a little string bracelet for good luck and love for you and the church... They were very kind and friendly while they did this, and while they asked for 10 euros for it!!!! As much as the seller was interesting to talk to, I was not about to pay 10 euros for a piece of string, and while Vinny managed to talk his way down to 3, I coughed up a mere 1.20. Perhaps I was let off the hook because my vendor was impressed that I had the same name as the French president's wife (Carla Bruni). And quite by chance I also have some music by her on my mp3 player. Despite this, we had a good time relaxing on the steps of the church taking in the view.
Next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. Got a great picture by standing just somewhat in the middle of the road, maybe not the best idea just in front of the most accident-prone roundabout in Europe, but it was worth it. Then we walked down the ridiculously expensive shopping strip on Ave des Champs Elysee, saw some fashionably dressed people, and continued all the way to the Louvre. We took advantage of the free entry, though we only stayed for about 2 hours. That's about as much museum time as I can take at once, and there is no way to see it all in one day anyway. We saw the Mona Lisa, nice but behind glass and roped off, and a couple exhibits. I liked the giant French and Italian paintings and the Greek and roman sculptures, which was pretty much all we had time to see.
But now, now it was time to go. We had saved the best for last: the Eiffel Tower.
It was fully dark when we went up, but that didn't take anything away from the experience. The tower was lit with a blue light, and from the very top you could see Paris spread out below in all its perfect symmetry. Some of my pictures were a little blurry, but even from them you can see why it's is called the city of lights. All the famous buildings are lit up - it looks amazing but the city must have one huge electricity bill! Carbon footprint notwithstanding, it was a perfect way to spend my last night in Paris.
I waved bye to Vinny from the Metro, and headed back to my hostel. The next morning I thought I gave myself enough time to get to the train station, but the unclear directions to the nearest metro station led me to wander the streets looking for it just long enough to miss my train by a minute (one minute!!!). Luckily this is Europe, and there was another one in half and hour, so I made my connection in Brussels and made it safely to my relatives in Bonn, Germany. But that is for next blog, stay tuned for more...

Ch1. B3 - Capital Tour

No surprize that "soon" is never as soon as at should be for me when it comes to blogging. It is now a couple weeks later and I am in Germany, and I likely will not even have anything on Germany untill the next blog. Also, I do intend to post pictures with this blog, but if you don't see them yet it's because I thought I should get to the wtitten part first. So...

I left off in Gelncoe, and the next stop for me was Inverness. I realize that it's not a national capital city and maybe doesn't belong on the Capital Tour blog along side Edinburgh, Lodon and Paris, but as the capital of the Scottish Highlands it's good enough for me.
Inverness was quite pretty, and it was small enough to explore easily by foot. I stayed only one night, and I made sure during my brief time there I got out to see Culloden battlefields where the Scottish Jacobites soldiers made a last stand for their independence, but were totally decimated by the English. It was quite rainy, windy and cold when I went, but it seemed as though the gloomy weather was suited to the atmosphere of the place.
After getting thoroughly chilled, I also made sure that in my brief time in Inversness I made it to a pub. At my hostel I met Robin, a fellow sociology major from the U.S., and she and I went out to the Hootanny Ceilidh Cafebar, where we enjoyed drinks and live traditional music. (Along with the entertainment of sitting next to a large group of students - from the Netherlands, I believe - who were on some sort of fraternity holiday. They seemed to be quite enjoying themselves as they got drunk wearing kilts they had bought that day, partying away despite the fact that their term had already started.)

The next day I got on a train and headed south to Edinburgh, which is a very picturesque city full of amzing things like quintiscential castles, haunted graveyards, deep fried marz bars, J.K. Rowling, and of course, haggis. And, their national Art Gallery is free... which made me just as happy as discovering that many scottish artists appreciate their natural surroundings just as much as I do.
Edinburgh is also where I discovered the fabulous free Europe walking tours (of which I've done in three different places already). The Guides tend to be current or former university students from an Enlish-speaking coutry, and the way it works is the tours are free but you are expected to tip at then end. You learn loads, see the city, and I highly reccomend them for people on a budget. And they are easy to find since they have big red sings that say FREE on them where the tours start - I even found one by accident in Munich. On the Edinburgh tour we heard many sotires and saw many things, including the the Elephant house, the cafe where J.K.R wrote most of the first Harry Potter book, and the building that is said to have inspired Hogwarts (which you can see from the rear of the cafe).
I also made friends at my hostel there. The first night I went on a ghost tour with Yi Chan Lin from China, who I convinced to come with me. A good thing too because it got quite spooky towards the end. After the next day full of visiting the royal caslte, the National Gallery, and doing the walking tour, I decided to make the most of it and tagged along with a German and Spanish guys who were goin out for the night. And it was most of the night. After one bar, one jazz club, and one more deep fried marz bar, I only got about two hours sleep before I had to get up and catch the express train to London.

Ah London... busy, exciting, full of things to see, and ridiculously expensive. I would have never stayed so long was it not for the hospitality of my cousin, Julia, and her fiancee, Richard, who let me stay at their place (thanks, guys!). Julia also had her friend Andy visiting when I arrived, which was great because when Julia and Richard were busy working those first few days Any and I went and ran around London together taking pictures of Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and so on. Having navigated the crowded halls at Uvic for the past 5 years definitely gave me an edge when mastering the "London swerve," as Julia calls it - an essential move for quickly navigating the crowds in tube stations (that's the London Undergound, or subway, for all you North Americans reading).
I really did have quite the English experience while I was in London. I got to experience a real English tea, tiny porcelain teacups and clotted cream included, hosted by some slightly more distant cousins. I also saw a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre with Julia and Richard, and of course visited the Tower Bridge. I got to mingle with some of Julia's cultured, city-living actor friends (yes, I'm talking about you, Ambjorn), got to see the inside of a London gay bar, as well as enjoy the company of some of Julia and Richard's friends at a neighbourhood pub, after which transpired a rather unfortunate event involving one of said friends' head and a car door coming together a little too quickly.
Despite me still not having my entry visa for Ghana, (which I tried to get once, didn't have the right information, went back for again but decided not to because it would take too much time), I decided it was time to move on, and left London for Paris the same day Julia left to move back to Canada. I hope you have enjoyed this blog, I will add in Paris later this evening. (Hopefully)

Hah! I did make it back this evening to do the Paris bit! Firts, however, for those who are wondering, the reason I need a visa for Ghana is because I will be Volunteering in Togo and Benin starting in Decmber, but I fly in and out of Ghana in order to get there.

And on to Paris. I loved Paris. It was warm and sunny most of the time when I was there, I could speak with the locals, and I really wish I had had more than three nights and two days. Making it to Paris in the first place, on the other hand, was a bit of a challenge. The train Journey from London to Dover was easy enough, and the ferry to Callais was not too expensive, but I didn't really know where to go from there except that I wanted to catch a train to Prais. Luckily for me I ran into a couple of helpful touring musicians - The Bolloch Brothers (sorry if I spelled that wrong) - who wisely advised me that walking to the train station was not as easy as the lady at the information desk suggested. Also, since the bus wasn't for another half hour, they offered to let me share their cab with them at no cost to myself. This I did despite their own cheerful warnings to me that they exactly the kind of people my mother had in mind when she taught me not to talk to strangers. Sorry, mom.
Once I was safely on the train, I had to face the fact that I was not going to get to Paris on time to claim my spot ot the youth hostel I wanted, and needed to find another one. It turns out that Paris youth hostels are not only busy in the summer. While franrically calling every hostel in my guide book, I realized I was overhearing a conversation in English right behind me. Wanting to vent my frustraions a bit I started a converstion with the two girls behind me. They were Kate and Nicole, two americans who were travelling before heading back to study in the U.K. It turned out that they had also had to scramble for accomodation at the last minute, and understanding my plight, when I asked them after probably less than hour of knowing them they aggreed to let me share their hotel room. Thus I spent my first night in Paris sleeping on the floor of slightly scuzzy and odd looking hotel room, sharing a room and a laugh over the odd lighting with two poeple I had met a few hours before. Maybe not the most romantic begining to my stay in Paris, but the next day was just ahead, and it included a free breakfast.
Sorry, but that is all for now, I will finnish Paris later but right now I have to go to sleep because tomorrow I am off to explore another Capital, Berlin.

Chapter 1. Blog 2 - Scotland

Now that is it almost time for me to leave London, I figure I better finally get my Scotland bit up. My apologies to those of you who are hanging on to my every word, although my punctuality in putting up blog posts is not likely to get much better. Anyway....

I loved Scotland. The people were in general very friendly, they all have (to my Canadian ears anyway) wonderful accents, and their mountains are green all the way to the top. My first day in Scotland was spent mostly on a train. I caught a very early ferry over from Belfast, which was a bit hard considering how late we stayed up our last night in Belfast, but I was happy to be on my way. Already meeting new people, I had a nice chat on the ferry with an Irish student who was making her way to university in Glasgow. I had had enough city by that point, so I passed right through Glasgow and headed up to Balloch on Loch Lomond. It was small, and rainy, but it had a beautiful park on the lake for me to stroll around. It also gave me to opportunity to think about how important planning is, in terms of train times, finding accommodation before I arrived, and finding out/deciding what I actually wanted to do when I got somewhere. Since there was really no affordable place to stay nearby I decided to get the local train back to the West Highland Line, and make my way up to the Isl of Skye.

I got my first taste of great Scottish hospitality when I arrived at the connecting train station, and found out I was about an hour too early for my train (still learning to read train schedules at this point. It was coming up on dinner time, and it was a bit cold and rainy, and wanting to make sure my first day in Scotland was a good one, the station attendant advised me where I could pick up a bit to eat, then invited me into his office where he made tea for me and chatted while I waited for my train.

Having been sent safely on my way, on the train I enjoyed some scenery (which, I might add, is not any worse for the mists and clouds, so long as you can see it), though soon enough it got dark and I caved into catching up on sleep. It was a long, train trip though, and with not many people in my compartment, I soon made friends with the train conductor who was often passing through. He lamented that I was making this journey at night because I was missing all the good scenery (there's lack of planning for you). However, at one point however, Mr Train Conductor came up and asked me if I was a fantasy fan. Needless to say, I told him yes, and he said that was great because coming up ahead was the Glenfinnan viaduct, which is the bridge the Hogwarts Express crossed in the Harry Potter movies! And since it was dark, if I wanted, he would take me up to the cab where I could hang out the window and take pictures. Just guess how cool I thought that was. Yes, the pictures are a blurry mess, but I really didn't care.

I ended up taking the train all the way to Mallaigh, a little Town just south of the Isl of Skye. Getting in late at night I was glad I booked the hostel ahead - I got the last bed in a twelve bed hostel that already had a group of 11. I was going to have to share a room with 5 others, but I didn't mind. I did find they were an awfully loud group of snorers, and I think everyone was a little surprised when we woke up and this group of middle-aged Englishmen on a hiking trip found there was a girl sharing their room. They were quite good about it, and after a quick trip to the grocery store and a breakfast of Scottish Oats I was on the ferry on my way to Skye.

Sky was beautiful and stunning. I spent most of the bus ride up to Portree, where I was staying, staring out the window at the incredible hills and mountains. Once in Portree I wasted no time and headed for the nearest park for a hike as soon as I could. I'll say this again - it is gorgeous there! I was lucky to have a clear sunny day, so I decided to bus out for a longer hike at the Old Man of Storr, a local hiking attraction. However, the buses weren't as frequent as I would like, so in order to get back to Portree at a good time I ended up turning back before the top to catch a bus home. The bus did not come. Or if it did come, I never saw it because eventually after sitting on a long stretch of quiet road waiting on my own for a while, an older Scottish couple leaving the park offered me a lift to Portree (yeay for friendly Scots!)

Back at the hostel I had dinner and met Paul and Paul, to guys from Glasgow having a boy's weekend out. I went to the local pub with them that evening where there was traditional music playing and they treated me to whiskey (Scottish national drink) and showed me how if I found it too strong, I could mix it with Irn Bru (Scottish national soft drink, best pronounced with a thick Scottish accent with much rolling of the R in Brrrrrru!). Paul and Paul told me of some great hiking in the Western highland, so I changed my plans and instead of heading east to Inverness, I went back south the way I had come.

And guess who I met one the train?? Mr Train Conductor! (not revealing name in case letting passengers hang out windows gets him into trouble) Now I was making the journey during the day, and he let me hang out the window again!! This time I got great pictures. And... we also passed by a station that had parked in it, you guessed it, the train that was used in the the Harry Potter movies. All in all a good day for Carla the Harry Potter fan.

That evening I arrived in Glencoe, a small town that is a good starting point for many good hikes. I had booked a hostel in Glencoe, but what I did not realize was that it was not actually in Glencoe, but about a mile's walk through the rain outside the town. (Oh well, it was good practice for the next day). I had been planning to so a rather ambitious hike of a narrow ridge that follows the top of a set of local peaks. However, after being shown battle would from a hiker who had fallen off said ridge, and dire warnings of "these hills kill" I decided to go for a small hike the peak of the Pap of Glencoe. A great hike, but I finished it in less than two hours, so part way down I headed up the trail to the peak of the last part of the ridge hike. On the way I met a group of local Ramblers, who informed if I kept going a bit more with them I would soon "bag a Munro." Bagging a Munro means climbing one of Scotland's peaks that is over 3000 ft high, which I did! Not only that, but I managed to hit an amazingly clear day and the views were fantastic! I wanted to stay and hike for a week, but alas I was running out of time for Scotland and headed out to Inverness the next day.
More to come soon...

Chapter 1. Blog 1 - Ireland

My flight landed at the Belfast International Airport a little after 9 at night. It was windy, raining, and a bit cold, which really just made it seem like I was back in Vancouver. By the time I bussed into town, walked down some dark streets on my own and found my hostel it was a little after ten. Luckily the flight times worked out so that I was tired when I got in and slept all night, so my jet lag wasn't bad at all. 

Which was a good thing, because the next day I had to find a way to meet up with Adrienne, Laura, and Carin, who were somewhere in North Ireland, though that was about all I knew. It's a good thing they were there to take me out that night, because I needed a break from the advances of a bit-too-hopeful portuguese guy. I met a couple of Canadians at the youth hostel that second night, (I could tell right away because one was wearing a Vancouver Canucks T-shirt).

Since then I have got the chance to get too much to drink at some good Belfast pubs, and been lucky to stay at friends of Adrienne's. Together us four Canadians have been able to take a black cab tour and learn about Belfast, and take a trip up the North coast to see the Giant's Causeway, the town of Derry (the site of Bloody Sunday). I have fallen in love with the green hills and amazing coastlines here - it's worth the slightly crappy weather, and the grass really is greener here.

Tomorrow I will say goodbye to Belfast and head over to Scotland, and hopefully get in some good hiking before I head down to London to see my cousin. I don't think I have quite grasped the epic scale of what I have gotten myself into with this little field trip of mine, since it's just been a few days since I left I still feel like I'm just on some short little getaway.  I'm sure that will change eventually:)

Till next time,

-Carla

First Post

My very first blog post! Mostly for my own sake so I can get the hang of my new blog. Hopefully the first of many!