Couchsurfing Europe!
In and around Europe
Well I'm off! Three months couchsurfing Europe! Join me in my travels!
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler slhsea
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1
Vaughan Town
May 28, 2006
Greetings from Hotel Puerta de Gredos! A serene yet stylish four star resort nestled in the foothills of the Si... Continue reading »
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2
My First Surf
I am sitting at the Cafeteria Gran Via across from the Parque del Egido enjoying a café con leche and typing to my heart’s content. I have learned... Continue reading »
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3
A Day in Madrid, No Wait, Make that Two
Monday, June 5th, 2006
I think finding secluded writing spots may become one of my greatest pleasures in traveling. I resisted the... Continue reading »
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4
Crazy for Cuenca
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Pulling into the little town of Cuenca, I was a little concerned about Max’s advice. None of the dozen or so Spaniards... Continue reading »
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5
Training Days
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Some days are travel days – filled with beautiful sights, great photos, sometimes even interesting people. Other days... Continue reading »
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6
Some goodbyes don't come soon enough!
Saturday, June 10, 2006
At last Avila is in my rear view mirror – well not exactly but it is in the dust of the tracks behind me. I was so ex... Continue reading »
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7
Some Goodbyes Come Too Soon...
Friday, June 9, 2006
I am riding the train from Madrid to Avila – home to St. Teresa. The landscape has changed from the wild patchwork quilt... Continue reading »
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8
A Quiet Reprieve
Thursday, June 15 th , 2006 The mist hung heavy in the air as we pulled out of the bus station in Santander. Destination? Santiago de Compostela – no... Continue reading » -
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The Tides Always Turn
(Excerpt from Reinosa entry)
Monday we road-tripped up to San Sebastian in the Basque country. San Sebastian (or Donastia as it is called in... Continue reading »
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10
Barcena Mayor
A lovely little village in the valleys of Cantabria where time seems to have stood still. A perfect morning or afternoon tri... Continue reading » -
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Santiago Compostela
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Don’t you love it when un-propitious things happen in the most propitious ways?! I lost (or won depending on your per... Continue reading »
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12
The Pilgrimage to Santiago
I woke well rested to my first full day in Santiago. A little yoga, a little free breakfast (I love that free food thing!), a quick check of the em... Continue reading »
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13
Churros y chocolate
Saturday, June 17, 2006 This writing is especially for my photographer friend, June. I am sitting at the Market in Santiago partaking in the tradition... Continue reading » -
14
Great Tourist Days
Saturday, June 18, 2006 (continued)
I still can’t get the damn food right here. I’m sitting at a table, in a wireless internet café no less.... Continue reading »
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15
Granada - Land of the Alhambra
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
I am now in Granada, Granada of the Moors, of the Catholic Kings, of the Alhambra. Thanks to my mistake with the train... Continue reading »
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16
Just a Simple Smile
Friday, June 23, 2006 It is amazing the difference one nice person can make. For the very first time since I have been in Spain, a bartender actually... Continue reading » -
17
Siesta in Seville - A Necesity not a Luxury!
Friday, June 23, 2006 I think the best part of Seville was actually making my 8:30 am train to Barcelona - the one I anticipated since my arrival, de... Continue reading » -
18
Having a Great Time in Barcelona!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Let me just say simply – I Love this city. It is a wonderful vacation city – well organized, vibrant, relatively clean... Continue reading »
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19
Seven Days in Paradise
Ah, a little traveling break. Seven days with my sweetheart in Civitanova. Sun, sea, Italian food, and lots and lots of kisses. Continue reading » -
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21
America in Assisi
Just half a day in Assisi - absolutely beautiful but filled to the brim with Amerian tourists. It is a place I'll have to come back to... Continue reading » -
22
Milano Meanderings
Saturday, July 15, 2006 Ah, today my faith is restored, and, thankfully, my keyboard. I guess it was just tired last night. Or maybe I drank more Jack... Continue reading » -
23
Geneva - My Tastebuds' Home Away From Home!
July 15, 2006
Ah, Geneva will forever hold a place in my heart. No, not for the breathtaking beauty of the second largest lake in Europe, one... Continue reading »
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24
A moment of light is sometimes enough to cast a shadow of greatness
July 16, 2006
“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eterni... Continue reading »
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25
From Montreux to Fribourg
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Monday was a lovely, long, lingering day in Dmitri’s home high above Lake Geneva. I had already been writing for almos... Continue reading »
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26
Beautiful Bern
Wednesday, July 18, 2006
The smell of salt water fills the air together with the sound of rushing water where I sit aside the breakwater for... Continue reading »
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27
Heidi Where Are You Hiding?
Thursday, July 20, 2006 Wednesday morning was internet catch up time. What was supposed to take two hours took six (as if things ever change). My plan... Continue reading » -
28
Switzerland Gets An A++
Switzerland has the best train system in the world. Period. Now I realize that is a categorical statement made by someone who has not been on the majo... Continue reading » -
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Dumb Blonde American Survives Mountain Hike
Friday, June 21,2006 Well I never did find Heidi (though I’ve heard rumors she is on the east side of the country). But I did find the Switzerland... Continue reading »
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30
Writing in Walzenhousen
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
I am writing this sitting in my window, literally, at Hotel Walzenhausen as I watch the sun set over Lake Constance (y... Continue reading »
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It's Not What You See, It's Who You Meet
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Couchsurfing Collective was being held in a school in the small town of Eisenstadt, an hour outside of Vienna. I... Continue reading »
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33
Envious of the Viennese
Monday, July 31, 2006 Some cities you just connect with. Vienna was such a city for me. Maybe because I started my time here over cappuccino with new... Continue reading » -
34
The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Mozart
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
I arrived expecting to see the Von Trapp children singing on tabletops and skipping down the streets of Salzburg an... Continue reading »
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35
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of, Really...
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Well, it wasn’t the warmest welcome to Germany – literally or figuratively. It was cold and wet with a blanket of gr... Continue reading »
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36
Bam, Bam, Bamberg
Friday, August 4, 2006
Can you hear the beer mugs? Bam! Bam! Bam! in time on the long wooden plank tables….
I had my first REAL German... Continue reading »
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37
Broadband in Berlin
Monday, August 8, 2006
I arrived in Berlin to blissful rain. Blissful because my body is wearing down and my internet todo list piling up. A... Continue reading »
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38
Buzz Through Berlin
Well my fifteen hour rest to sweat out the fever actually left me refreshed enough to face the hard work of sightseeing. Granted five hours isn’t e... Continue reading »
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39
Szczecin
Friday, August 11, 2006 Time may fly when you are having fun, but it lingers where there is love and laughter. I spent just two little days with Asia... Continue reading » -
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The Danes Got It Down!
Saturday, August 12, 2006
The Danes definitely got it down. With the unemployment rate nearing two percent, the working population (and that... Continue reading »
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41
It's The Little Things In Life
Sunday, August 12, 2006
The greatest sacrifices in traveling are often the little things we take for granted in everyday life - curling up wi... Continue reading »
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42
Calling on Copenhagen
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Saturday Lars had to work so I set off solo to call on Copenhagen. Interestingly, the first thing on most tourists’... Continue reading »
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43
Sweep Through Sweden
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
It didn’t take long glancing through the travel guide to know I wanted at least a week in Norway before my rail pa... Continue reading »
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44
The Finns - Fireworks and Firewater
Sunday, August 19, 2006
I enjoyed the waking part of the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki. It was the closest I have been to being on a real... Continue reading »
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45
Tourin' Tallinn
Monday, August 21, 2006 Keeping in theme with the last entry, I boarded the Ferry at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning and mounted the top deck where there was... Continue reading » -
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Funny Finn Train Travel
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
I am making my way North through Finland to stand in the Arctic Circle. English has completely disappeared, at lea... Continue reading »
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47
Rovaniemi Reindeer
Thursday, August 24, 2006
The best part of Rovaniemi, aside from meeting the Big Man himself, was undoubtedly the reindeer. It is actually a... Continue reading »
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48
Guess Who I Met?!
Thursday, August 24, 2006 It was a hell of a price to pay – twenty-two extra hours of travel time to go north through Finland before cutting over to N... Continue reading » -
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The Twenty-Four Hour Road To Hell
Friday, August 25, 2006
11:30 a.m. Take a shower and prepare bags – there will of course be no hot running water in Hell so take your time an... Continue reading »
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50
Trip Through Trondheim
As in little more than a stumble. I only had two hours between trains to quickly tour the cathedral, write a prayer card, light candles, sign th... Continue reading » -
51
Alesund
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Norway. Land of the Fjords. Undoubtedly the most naturally beautiful country I saw on this journey. I didn’t know e... Continue reading »
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52
Someone Give That Girl A Soapbox
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - Aboard the Hurtigruten
I have been in Norway just seventy-two hours – long enough to decide this is the most beaut... Continue reading »
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54
7-Elevens Rock!
September 2, 2006
Okay – I admit it. I’m having an affair. I’ve fallen in love with 7-Eleven.They were actually my favorite convenience when... Continue reading »
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55
Changes
September 3, 2006
Strange things happen when you travel like this – months without a home, without a schedule to speak of, without direction.... Continue reading »
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57
When in Rome....
The saying goes – When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I was in Holland, not Rome, but figured the expression worked just the same. Now perhaps this... Continue reading »
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58
Connections and Community (and parties in Paris!)
Sunday , September 17, 2006
I wish couchsurfing had been around when I was in my twenties – not that I had much party time between being a si... Continue reading »
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59
Life's Coincidences a/k/a Answered Prayers
I was riding down the coast of Norway on the Hurtigruten, salivating over the tiny little isolated cabins set every few miles - little colored shac... Continue reading »
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60
The Power of Perspective
Saturday, September 23, 2006
It is amazing the power of perspective. I am tucked away on the outskirts of a teeny village in the south of Bel... Continue reading »
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61
Where's Waterloo??
Sunday, September 24, 2006
It is funny how feelings can rise from the past and roll over you like a military tank, carrying you a few yards b... Continue reading »
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62
An Affair to Remember
If you want to know what I did in Paris, you'll have to read the book! :-) Continue reading » -
63
Mont Saint Michel
One of the most amazing magical places I have ever seen - where stalls far and wishes come true. Continue reading » -
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65
Home Again
Back to my beloved Italy. Not my homeland, but definitely where my heart lives. Continue reading » -
66
The Journey of Creation
I awoke this morning to the cock’s crow – a rooster, seemingly outside my second floor window, was crying out the arrival of day. How strange they... Continue reading »
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67
A Day in the Life of a Dreamer
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
I’m going to take a quick break from page 77 of the book (not counting the 20+ pages of assorted paragraphs draft... Continue reading »
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