Jan 2007

Why Portugal? Because this Californian misses the sun! Sweden was rainy and cold from October onward. I needed some sunny warmth and a trip to the beach. Portugal was the answer. Flights were cheap, beaches were abundant, and the weather forecast was good.

Getting there was not so much fun though. My flight was out of Dublin at 6 am and I was in Belfast. In the middle of a dark and stormy night I walked a mile at 2am through Belfast and sat at a bus stop. No one was around except the occasional passing taxi and the homeless guy sleeping across the street. I must have looked a little scary since the other people who showed up for the bus avoided me. My black clothes, hooded sweatshirt, scruffy face, and low hat are sometimes good for urban camouflage. I dont look like a gullable travelling foreigner so I don't get treated like one. On the other hand people are less likely to start up conversations.

I caught the bus to Dublin airport and finally got some sleep. Two hours of bus sleep later I was at the airport. Two hours of plane sleep and an awesome sunrise later I was in Porto, Portugal.

WTF! Raining and Cold! I want my money back. Oh well.

I explored the steep back street alleys of Porto for most of the day. I was meeting Gabriela that night to stay at her place. I met her through www.couchsurfing.com and she said I could crash at her place for a couple nights. Couchsurfing is a great website/community with the soul purpose of connecting people with places to stay for free while travelling. Its by travellers, for travellers. Check it out.

I was super tired from not really sleeping the night before and I had hours to go before I met Gabriela so I needed a warm place to rest. Where can someone rest for free...the library! I grabbed a Portugese book, found a soft chair and was out like a light. Jerked awake an hour later. Another tip: The top floors of public libraries are also good place for clean and quiet toilets

Met up with Gabriela and went to her SUPER SWEEEEEEEET place. She is an engineer who has travelled more than anyone I ever met. She lives for travelling and enjoys meeting different people. That is why she is couchsurfing host and that is also why she kicks ass. Thanks Gabs! I had my own room and so did the other Canadian traveller staying with her. Gabs took Doug and I to some cool bars and even an unmarked nightclub where you have to knock to get in.

I spent the next two day wandering the city and the nearby beaches. Every night Gabs was the entertainer. Ok its time for pictures...

Finally a warm sunny beach!

Old beach Comber

Later I went to another beach with tons of surfers. Attention CA surfers: Go to portugal!

I met up with Canadian Doug and we walked across the river to go Port wine tasting. Good stuff.

Here is a shot back at the main city waterfront.

And a shot of me

Unfortunately most of my city shots were taken on the cold rainy day so I left them out.

Soon I was on a bus to Lisbon. The plan was to stay with a Portugese guy that studies in Sweden with me. That was the plan...

Once again this is only one of many entries about my month long winter trip. There are only afew pictures here so if you want to see more then check out http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerwallace

And on with the blog...

Ireland is greeeeeeen. No doubt about it . It was last time I was there and it still is now. Anything you have heard about Ireland being green is true. The problem is that the other half of your view (especially in winter) is grey. I was there a few summers ago and saw some sun but even in summer you can experience rain, hail, mist, and even a rock shower in one day(I have only heard of rock showers but apparently they can happen in certain parts of Northern Ireland).

I went to Northern Ireland to visit my friend Ciaran for Christmas and New Years. Ciaran was one of my roommates last time I lived in Sweden and now he is back in Belfast getting his Ph.D. He is also actively pursuing a career in photography. Check him out at http://ninja2.livejournal.com. There is even a picture of me in there!

I spent Christmas with Ciarans family pictured here.

They had a super decorated house and a massive collection of Christmas cards. You can see some of them on the back wall. I even got some Christmas presents from his family. Warm clothes of course and socks for the traveller. Thanks Ciaran and family!

We went mountainbiking in the mud but unfortunately our bikes had no fenders. You should get fenders when you go because this is what happens:

I have never had so much stuff in my eyes before that day.

Other fun outdoor activities in Northern Ireland included hiking cave hill. If you want to know why its cave hill then check out my other pictures on picasaweb linked above. Here is me and the man at the summit.

The hike was gruelling, treacherours, and we had to turn back on two previous occasions due to weather. We were the only ones to summit except some school girls and the 80 year old man who took our picture.

I bet you didn't know that the small town of CastleWellen has the largest hedge maze in Europe...now you do. I got lost for more than 30 minutes and had some 5th grade girls tell me how to get out. When I say get out I mean get more lost! Thanks for nothing girls!

New years was at a house party. There was no countdown, only a bell chime at 12. I was thrown off. I love the countdown part! Everyone linked hands and sang some song and jumped around. I just kinda made noise since I didn't know the words. Anyways it will still fun.

Thanks for everything Ciaran and the Branney family!!!

This is only one of many entries about my month long winter trip. There are only afew pictures here so if you want to see more then check out http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerwallace

And on with the blog...

School was done for the next month. I had spent nearly 4 months in the same country...boring! It was time to get back into the travelling groove, see the world and really mix things up...Norway! (That should be funny b/c Norway is very similar to Sweden..get it...fine, I suck)

I took a bus to Norway. The intention was to see a Big Bang concert (Great band thats super popular in Norway. They sing in english and are moving to LA soon. Check them out!). When we got to the Norway border the bus was stopped and a drug sniffing dog was put on the bus. Guess who the dog liked...ME! You know me, I always carry tons of drugs They questioned me and searched me and everyone thought I was some American drug addict or something.

When I finally got to Oslo (Capital City) I met up with a Swedish guy I know there (Thanks Tobias!!!). He had a sweet place with a spare couch that I crashed on for 3 nights. I walked around Oslo during the day and we hung out at night. Here are some shots I took while wandering around:

Trees after sunset

There is an awsome park in Oslo that has tons of gates and statues done by one artist over 100 years ago. Here is one of the gates.

I have been to Oslo 3 times and I always go to this park. This time it was misty. Very cool...below freezing actually.

Then I walked down to the waterfront and saw this sunset:

The next morning it was off to the airport and on to Ireland...