Hello Spain!

Howdy all

Hope all is well and you are still enjoying the nice warm weather!!
Here the weather is getting better and it is starting to heat up.

So this week was all about the city of Barcelona!! And what a city it is... For anyone that likes and enjoys history, architecture, culture and a warm sea, this is the place to be!! It is one of the prettiest cities around.

So on Monday I got up at 5:30am to leave with Geert to work to catch the train to Schipol at about 7 in Deventer. Was a nice cold moring with ice everywhere, but a nice way to see the sunrise. I was at Schipol at around 8:30 (nice and long train ride yes...) and the plane took off at 10. As this was a cheap airline, they charged you for checking in luggage, so I decided to take my bag as hand luggage forgetting about the liquid rule. (you only allowed bottles of 100ml or less) This meant half my toilet bag was subsequently thrown away... The flight was not bad though, just that I barely fit into the seat space as my knees were right against the chair in front of me. I finally landed 2 hours later in a sunny Bacelona where the fun began...

I got off the plane and headed for the exit, only I couldnt really find the correct one or the one I needed to take. Needless to say I walked around the airport like a headless chicken before eventually finding a train sign lol. I then finally found the train but had no idea if it was the correct one so just got on. Turns out it was the correct one and made it to my stop and on to the hostel. This was a modern 12 story building with a terrace on the 3rd floor, which was the common area and also had a gym and indoor swimming pool across the road. I checked in and went to my dorm room where I settled in and went to take a look around the place. I then decided to go walk around and see if I could go buy some of the things that got thrown away. I found a small shopping centre and bought some things before heading to Mc Donalds for some supper. I then headed back to the hostel and just hung around for a while before finally talking to a Portuguese guy that was also there alone. We just chatted for a while and had a beer before going to bed.

The next day I got up around 8am to clear and sunny skies. I showered before going down for breakfast and then got ready and left to the centre of town to take the hop on hop off tour bus. I spent the next 9 hours or so touring and exploring the whole city of Barcelona. It stared at the Plaza de Catalunya, the centre point of the city. From there it went on two routes around the city and you are allowed to get off at any stop and change routes whenever you want. It runs from 9am till 7pm and you can do it the whole day. So I saw every important and big tourist attractions of the city, from the gothic town and cathedral to the Segrada Familia to park Guell to the castle on the top of the mountain to the Agbar Tower with its 4500 LED lights that light up at night and ofcourse the FC Barcelona stadium! It was really amazing and awesome to see. There are a lot of old buildings and old style buildings that are really nice. They are quite a few architects that they mentioned on the tour that designed all of these famous or popular buildings. Also the sculptures and art pieces around the city. I think the city is well known for this. I also took a walk down the most famous street in Barcelona, the La Ramblas. Its 1km long and has almost everyting along it, from hotels to shops to restuarants to bars... you name it, its probably there. There were loads of people as well, especially tourists... a pick pockets dream lol, as the city is known to have that problem.  For lunch I had subway :) and sat in the square for a while before setting off again. Once I was done, the weather had started to get a bit bad so I headed back to the hostel to get some food and warmer clothes. I decided to have some tapas for supper as they said it was a famous thing there. But what I got was not what I expected... instead of the stingy little portion back home, they brought small bowls full of food and when I asked for a beer I got a half litre mug!!! :P

After I stuffed myself, I went to the hostel and to my room, where an American guy had just arrived. I said hello and introduced myself, as did he. He then asked if I wanted to go watch the football in a bar with him and agreeded. So off we went to the train station to the one part of town and watched the game with a few more beers lol... it was really good. When we got back to the hostel, they were planning to go to the club and thought we would join, but nothing happend so we just took a taxi ourselves and went. It was a smallish club full of tourists, which meant nice and expensive!! We had a few beers before calling it a night and going home.

The next day the weather had not got better and seemed to want to rain. I went for breakfast and just as I started eating the rain came down, nice and hard... So I packed up and decided to hang around there for a while as I did not feel like running around in the rain. I then left for the airport and 8 hours of travelling later I was back in the town of Hardenberg, where I shall be till Monday.

So all in all I thought it was a really nice trip, even though it might have been a bit short, Im glad I didnt go longer as the rain would have made it crap.

Monday I leave to go back to Tom in Helden where I shall be till the Europe tour starts the following Tuesday! (Time is running out!) Next weekend though I am coming back here to join them for a nice fishing trip they are going on. :D

So I shall post again after I have caught the biggest fish of the day and hopefully won a prize for it!! ;)

Here are the much anticipated photos:
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=NTMAKKUC


Untill then stay safe and party hard!!
Cheers

Michael

The tourist side of life

Hello all

Hope all is moving along nicely there! Here all is good and it is getting warmer!

Im sure you all eager to here about Amsterdam... but first I have to tell you about one other thing... the cinema! I went to go watch 2 movies with Geert. What makes it different and so funny is that not only can you buy your snacks before the show (beer is preferable) but you have a button on the small table infront of you that you can push and call someone to get you more!! :-O How insane is that??

Then on Friday we went to Amsterdam! All I can say is that it is nothing like any of the places I have been so far! Its one of the biggest cities here and is very very busy and oh so small!! It takes about 2 hours or so from where we are, by train ofcourse. So we got there and first decided what to do and see. We first walked to the Anne Frank house, but there was a long line so we decided to started with the Heineken Experience, which is a whole tour to see how it is made and where is comes from. It was really cool because it wasnt just a boring walk through tour with a guide, but an interactive experience with different areas and rooms. Also they had a movie about how its made from the inside, but we were standing on a machine that moved as it went and wet us, which was fun. After that we went to Maddam Tussaud, the Dutch version lol. That was really cool to see, you can see on the pics who all I found in there. We then went on a canal tour, because as you know the city is filled with canals that run throughout. ;) The was really nice as we saw a lot of the city and learned a lot about the city and all the old buildings. The modes of transport there are bus, tram, canal boat, ferry, metro and ofcourse the taxi.
When we were done with that it was basically dark, So we had something to eat and then headed to the part you were waiting for... the red light district! ;) We had to find it first lol. It looks like most of the roads in the city, but then it has neon lights all over and girls in the windows. There were also "coffee" shops all over and sex shops too. Its really something to see and is like nothing we know or could have imagined! After that we bought some beer and then went home.

This week I have been by Niek and Marc in Marienberg, just around the corner from Hardenberg. I am staying in my own little house in the forest. ;) It is Marc´s parents holiday house and is a very nice little place. On Tuesday we went to the Zoo in Emmen. It is quite a big one with different areas for each type of animal, with the big main ones in the middle. There were a lot of them, but most I have seen except for the Kangaroo! It was funny to see that between us and the lions there was some thick bulletproof glass! But there was a lot of different and cool animals. You can see them all on the pics. After the Zoo we went to Burger King (first time for me) and then went home. Today did a bit of cycling to explore the area as there are some really old houses here and is popular camping region. We also went to a tower in the forest that allows you to get a nice view of the area.

Tomorrow I am going back to Geert in Hardenberg till Monday when I leave for Barcelona. That should be a nice trip and seems like it will be good weather. Then when Im back it is party time again lol!

Here is the link for the photos:
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=LZDQYG6Q

So enjoy the weekend and I shall post again after Barcelona!

Enjoy
Michael

Settling in the Suburbs

Hello all

Hope everyone is good and still enjoying the good sunny weather there. Here it is also getting warmer, it has come out of the negatives and is on average 10 degrees.

The past 2 weeks have been busy. From Apeldoorn I went to Zwolle to visit the Awesome Durk lol!!
There it is also a smaller city. He lives in an apartment with a room mate and his girlfriend also just moved in. Went to walk around the town for a tour. We ended up going for dinner with friends at the Pizzaria and then some good old pool and beer lol. Thursday we just chilled and Friday it was time for another Boo concert. We took the train to Armhem, where the concert was being held, and met up with Tom and some friends. There was a band that was before them that has to be mentioned as it was the most random, strange and funniest thing ever. Here is a youtube video of them and you can decide for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Bz7VhC_w8
After that we went to a friends apartment and kept the party going. It went a bit late and the next day Durk only woke up at 4pm. We then left to go back to Zwolle and when we got to the train station they were doing scheduled maintainance on the track so we had to take a nice long detour... 2 hours later lol.

Sunday it was time to leave again and come to the smaller town of Hardenberg to Mr Geert! He lives in his family home with 2 of his brothers and 1 of his sisters. It is a really nice house, out in the more farm land area. Here we are really close to the German border. Here because of the Schengen agreement, it is really easy to go between those countries, there is no real border control. Today I drove for the second time to a market in one of the towns close by. We just walked around and looked but when I found a cheese stall I had to buy some cheese again lol. On the way back I crossed into Germany and took that way home lol. Its basically like you cross the bridge or pass a sign and you in the next counry... that easy!

Tomorrow we might go more into Germany to a town or two close to us. On Friday Geert is off so we will be going to Amsterdam!! :) Saturdat looks like Mr Niek, who I will be visiting next, is organising a party with all the Dutch guys and me, which will be nice and fun!!

For the rest still planning things and making plans for the tour.

So hope the rest of the week is good!!
Chat soon!

Michael