Jo Wynns Blog on RealTravel

Munich journal: Munich - Beer Halls, war history and castles

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:12:12 GMT

My first night in Munich I went on a pub crawl with the guys in my room (5 of them ALL from California..... very fun though). We went to Irish Pubs which seemed a bit odd in the beer capital of the world, but still a good time, also shisha bars, and other student clubs in the university district. The next day we headed off in the morning and did a cheap guided tour to Dachau, the first concentration camp. It was so sad to see the conditions and the museum, the crematorium and the gas chamber are still there for you to walk through and our guide was a wealth of knowledge and really made the ...

Prague journal: One of the nicest hostels so far!!!

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:02:57 GMT

Prague journal: Prague

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 01:02:57 GMT

The first few days in Prague were done with family friends from Germany on a bus tour (yes, in German.... very funny) where we had about 3 hours of guided tour each day then were on our own. The city is amazing, such gorgeous buildings and so much going on. The night life was great, and so many theatre and opera options would be great to see if I ever go back.

The castle area is now for the president and is enormous looming over the city, particularly looks nice at night all lit up. St Charles bridge is like something out of a movie with dark black statues on a dark old bridge, there are ...

Beilstein journal: Gorgeous old mansion turned hotel, BEST service ever

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:11:35 GMT

Beilstein journal: Beilstein - Mosel Valley and the Rhine

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:11:34 GMT

The parents and i hopped in the car and drove into Germany towards the Mosel River and Beilstein (a Rick Steves recommendation) and WHAT gorgeous countryside. Steep vinyards up the hills along the river and greenery and picturesque little towns scattered throughout. Our hotel was just wonderful in Beilstein, and we exlored the town, ate amazing meals and had fabulous local wines. We went to the Berg Eltz castle for a visit, and the english tour that is included was great fun, (Janelle I thought of you and your castle readings, I think this would be in there). More eating and drinking and ...

Luxembourg journal: Luxembourg with the Parents

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:06:37 GMT

After a chaotic meeting with mom and dad in which they were chasing my bus to the hotel after I assumed i was meeting them there because they were late at the train station (which was attributed to a mix up weather there was a time change), we went to our apartment and set out to explore Luxembourg. It is a gorgeous green city with lots of beautiful old buildings and expensive shops. We spent the evening wandering along the river and eating fabulous food.

The next day we did a tour of the casements that were used to defend the city and were at one point 70km of underground tunnels. They ...

Barcelona journal: Barcelona - again.....

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 01:02:21 GMT

So i arrived back in Barcelona after a night train. The main reason for going back was to see the rest of the architect Gaudis works, what I saw before i loved but just ran out of time!

I started the day doing laundry, but when I was leaving I saw these 2 guys across the road that looked so much like Sebastian and Joel who are doing a Contiki tour thing, SO after somewhat stalking them for a block I finally got a good view and lo and behold it was them!!

SUCH a small world, so I had a beer with them and then went off on my own to Guadis park Guell which is like something from Dr ...

Lagos journal: Lagos - Party Beach town

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:59:49 GMT

SO I am still in Portugal in Lagos and was supposed to be here for 4 days which is turning into 6. It is not exaclty travelling as we just sit on the beach all day and drink all night, but it is so nice staying in one place and making friends and relaxing that I am not feeling too guilty.

We went on a booze cruise yesterday which was great fun but deadly on the system, all you can drink for 6 hours does a number on you particularly out in the sun dancing and swimming. We got to go in the little boat on a tour of the grotto caves though which was great fun, and the swimming was great!!

Seville journal: Sevilla - Flamenco and SCORTCHING heat

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:55:26 GMT

So seville was so hot it was hard to do ANYTHING before 10pm, I have never felt such heat in my life, it was in the 40s even at midnight, and did NOT let up. The week before it hit 52, which I dont think I thought was possible. Anyways, the hostel had a great terrace with hammocks so I spent siesta time escaping the heat there. Went to the cathedral though which is just enormous with treasure rooms and a museum sort of setting so that was interesting (and cooler than outside thank god).

The city is beautiful, spent my last day walking, the bull fighting ring is this gorgeous old building ...

Madrid journal: Madrid

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:47:54 GMT

Madrid was good fun but it was weird being back on my own after travelling with someone for so long! Met some nice people at the hostel (which was this ornate old mansion with a dungeon that is converted into a bar).

I went to the Prado museum where they were having a special Picasso exhibit which was great after the museum in Barcelona! HUGE museum with all sorts of art from many different centuries, also cool was random people in there painting replicas of the paintings, they looked like art students or something, it was great to watch them and some were really quite good!!!

We ...

Barcelona journal: Barcelona

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:43:11 GMT

We arrived in Barcelona exhausted from a very lively night on the train and slept most of the day away, then we were off to see the Sagrada Familia cathedral started by the architect Gaudi in 1882, and which is STILL being built, very cool to see the differences of the old and new and WOW is it breathtaking, so gothic with details like I have never seen, we spent hours just wandering around and then looking at it eating gelato. I woke up in the middle of the night sick though and had a fever the whole next day, so unfortunately our sightseeing was once more limited. The city is amazing though, ...

Pamplona journal: Pamplona - Running of the Bulls

Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:35:22 GMT

So after a long train overnight from Rotterdam I arrived in San Sebastian where I once more met up with my travel buddy Cam, we decided that as there was no accomodation in San Sebastion we would just go to Pamplona and hope to find a place or stay up all night as the running is at 8am and only lasts 3 minutes.

WHAT A PARTY. EVERYONE was wearing all white with red bandana around the neck and red scarf around the waist, very cool to see, so Cam bought the full outfit and I bought a tshirt to fit in a bit more, such a festival and party atmosphere, that night there were bands playing ...

Alblasserdam journal: Alblasserdam - Verlek Family Intro

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:54:20 GMT

We arrived at Ans and Nes (Dads sister and her husband) and after getting settled in biked (yes I still remembered how thank god!!) to the Kinderdyke where there are about 14 old windmills along the dike, SUCH a great time, the scenery was amazing, baby swans with their moms in the canals, nice weather, and even excersise!!

Dad took me into Rotterdam the next day to see the city, we took the ferry up the river which was great to see all the towns from that perspective, the city was great, surprisingly empty though considering it is high season for tourism!! When we got back to the car ...

Munich journal: Munich - brief stop and Dads Bday Plotting

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:47:31 GMT

So Munich we just stopped in for the night to watch the 3rd place World Cup game basically, it was great to see Germany win, the staff at the hostel were going nuts, but it was too bad it couldnt have been for Gold instead! Also after a few beers I starting thinking that Dad got to Frankfurt the next day (on his birthday), then after determining it was only 4 hours away it was a great idea to surprise him at the Frankfurt airport. Some flaws to this plan were that I caught the earliest train at 6:30 but that was still cutting it close, and that if I missed dad he would be driving to holland ...

Salzburg journal: Salzburg - Sound of Music town!

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:41:54 GMT

Salzburg is up there on my favorite places now! First of all we arrived in TORRENTIAL downpour and were in this little campground in some tent contraption with awful beds, but we moved to a caravan the next night so that was much better.

It is so green and pretty around the area, the Alps loom over the town and there are flowers everywhere! I did a sound of music tour in the morning on the first day which was great fun, annoying being in a bus but they had the soundtrack on and took us to the Von Trappe home from the movie, the gazebo, out into the country side, the wedding cathedral and ...

Budapest journal: Budapest - Turkish Baths and cheap food!

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:03:36 GMT

So Cam had been raving so much about Budapest from his trip there (he has been in Europe for 10 months so he has seen A LOT) and the whole Turkish Baths and cheap massages was a huge draw, so after determining 3 hours by train was really not far, we headed off to Budapest! SO much to see there, there is a huge park around Heroes Square (very cool statues) with a statue of Anonymous (apparently a real person) who used to write letters of complaint every week to the king, also a zoo, many baths and such around there, hard to beleive it was all tucked in around the city.

The first day we ...

Vienna journal: Vienna - Canada Day celebration

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 07:56:39 GMT

The main purpose for Vienna was to meet Joel (U of C friend), and we figured Canada Day was as good a time as any!! Lots of Canadians in the hostel pub so that was good fun, watching football and drinking copious amounts of cheap beer. We also had a mass singing (if you could call it that) of Oh Canada. Sightseeing was great, more churches (which I am starting to get a bit sick of I must say) but lots of parks and gardens around the palace which was a definate highlight.

Venice journal: Venice

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 08:42:27 GMT

We arrived in pretty late to Venice so we cheated and took a cab to our campground that is on the mainland off venice, GREAT trailer thing we had to ourselves with a nice bathroom and all, and very cheap! That night we just watched football then started early into the city the next day. It was amazing to finally see the canals that still seem unreal even when you are there, Mom that Vivaldis Ring of Mystery tape I had as a kid was definately bringing me back! I think though that the masks in the stores were one of my favorite parts! That and the buildings along the water, the architecture was ...

Bologna journal: Bologna and Cinque Terre- Ducati Factory and hiking

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 14:14:16 GMT

We ended up spending 2 nights here mostly cause we had a great cabin at a campground hotel with much needed aircon and a pool in the scorching heat!! The main reason we went was for Cam who used to have a Ducati in Australia and he NEEDED to see the factory where they are all made. It was actually really cool though, watching the operations management side of the factory made me feel VERY geeky with my business degree, but it was still really cool. Here was also the sad locale of the Oz/Italy game which we SO undeservedly lost, Italy just has better actors not soccer players!! Even the ...

Florence journal: Florence

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 14:08:06 GMT

David, Uffizi Gallery, churches and squares, the city is ancient and beatiful!!

Our first night we had the apartment unit in the hostel and it was SO great, living room, full kitchen, it had it all, we were very sad to move to the normal dorm rooms after, but they were still really nice. We spent a few hours in line to see David which was so great, he has recently been cleaned apparently so he was shining away in that big open room. We saw the repilica outside the castle as well but it was NO where near as stunning as the original! Another highlight was the Uffizi gallery, seeing da ...

Assisi journal: Assisi and Siena

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 14:00:05 GMT

Assisi was recommended by Kat so we HAD to check it out. Absolutely gorgeous. Atop a big hill and all cobblestone streets and old old buildings it was a nice change from the big cities. We saw lots of churches and cathedrals but mostly it was great just winding down a bit!! We spoiled ourselves and got a hotel room (which was actually not that more than a hostel) and we had big beds and a great washroom all to ourselves, so so nice.

There was apparently a train strike so we took a bus to Siena but apparently we were misinformed as other people had arrived by train. Siena we were really ...

Rome journal: Rome - Ruins and Debauchery

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 13:55:02 GMT

Rome was absolutely great. Seeing the things that we learned about in school, have seen a million movies about and read about in unlimited books!!

Day one we basically wandered the city, saw the Colloseum, the Forum and other buildings and sights around town, had a great meal of yet more pasta and wine, seems to be my staple diet of late!

On sunday we went to the Vatican not realizing that the museum part was closed.... BUT we still went into St. Peters and climbed the dome. SO great to see all the art and tombs of the popes, and the view from the dome showed the whole Vatican ...

Naples journal: Naples - First Official Stop in Italy

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 10:08:34 GMT

So the journey to GET to Naples maybe should be an enty in itself. We left corfu on the overnight Ferry to Bari in Italy. We met 2 Aussies Cam and Rachel in Corfu and convinced them to come with us. Dominique was going to Croatia so Rach was going to go with her, and Cam was going to come with me to Italy. SO we take the night ferry, arrive in Italy the next morning, but the ferry to Croatia is not til the next day. Dominique is on the tiniest budget ever (3000 cdn for 3 months... I dont know what she was thinking) and so we thought Cam and I would stay with them one last night and get some ...

Corfu journal: Debauchery--overpriced food and somewhat gross at times

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 01:07:38 GMT

Corfu journal: Corfu - The Pink Palace of Smut

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 01:07:37 GMT

So the pink palace has been hailed as the summer camp for twentysomethings, SO true. Add to camp alcohol in excess, nudity and awful awful sleazy american dudes and that is the pink palace. We had to take an overnight bus from athens to get there, and they kept waking us up to get on to ferries and rest stops, NOT the best night ever. We arrived at about 7am, where they greeted us with shots of Ouzo..... not a good sign.

The beach was ok, but crowded, but Corfu is just gorgeous. So lush and green with mountains and great landscape. I met 3 guys from U of C, one who I recognized from the ...

Chania journal: Hania - Last stop in Crete!

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:59:57 GMT

Hania is so beautiful but I'll add more details after we've hiked the Samarian Gorge tomorrow! So Hania was full of winding streets and amazing little shops, Dominique is sick with the flu so we did not get up to too much wandering, but the Samarian Gorge was AMAZING our last day.

The first part of the hike reminded me of BC or Alberta hiking through the woods down a mountain on a winding trail, after about 2 and a half hours you reach the bottom where you start following the river. Then it gets really cool cause there are huge cliffs on either side just going up and up and up, wild ...

Plakias journal: Plakias

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 04:07:16 GMT

Plakias is another small beach front town and it was just gorgeous! The youth hostel was tucked away in an olive grove and was so so great. Our first day we hiked to One Rock Beach which was very small and secluded amongst the rocks (again nude beach), that night we went for a beach side supper and had some of the local wine at the hostel (i've become a bit of a wino on this trip). The next day we got up early to do the 'river walk' in which you actually walk up the river IN the river. Up to chest height in some place. It's more of a scramble over rocks and waterfalls than a walk really..... ...

Rethymno journal: Rethymno

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 03:19:42 GMT

We went to Matala beach before hitting Rethymno and spent 2 nights there. It used to be a big hippy hangout with caves where everyone did LSD. Mom..... were you a part of this?? haha. We hiked to a really secluded Red Beach (which was in fact a nude beach) and it was just gorgeous, we missed our bus to Rethymno though so we got stuck in Agia Gallini which was basically just overrun with tourist spots, not my favorite.

Rethymno is a big city so again it was sort of hard to adjust when we're used to our tiny little beach communities, but we ate lots of nice meals on the water front and ...

Crete journal: Crete

Sat, 27 May 2006 08:53:06 GMT

So my new travel partner is Dominique Turcotte from Montreal. Her english is quite good and I'm attempting to brush up my french...... not overly successful however. It was hard to leave all our friends in Ios, but after 12 days we figured it was time to move on..... and as we were both sick from too much drinking I assume our bodies will thank us I'm sure.

We got off the ferry last night and began a VERY hopeless hunt to find Hellas Rooms Rent that we heard was better than the Greek Youth Hostel in Iraklion, however we couldn't find it and were so fed up we finally went back to the ...

Ios journal: FREE beach club with football, 5 pools, beach volleyball!!

Sat, 27 May 2006 08:43:44 GMT

Ios journal: Ios - the addictive island

Sat, 27 May 2006 08:43:44 GMT

So I have not fallen off the face of the planet but I seriously do not want to leave this place ever. My day is this: get up at 11, eat breakfast at this cafe with an amazing view, put on sunblock, we all head to the beach, hang out at this hotel/beach club thing down there with a pool and beach volleyball and anything else fun imaginable, then at 7 come back to the hostel, go for Gyros, have some drinks, then at 10 the hostel gives "welcome shots" to everyone, play drinking games, go to about 5 bars, come home around 4 and fall sleep. Then I repeat, occasionally going on quad bikes to explore ...

Santorini journal: Picture Perfect!

Fri, 19 May 2006 01:19:09 GMT

So I arrived in Santorini last night after a bit of a quezy ferry trip (9 hours makes the one from Van-Vic fly by!!). After one hour of sleep getting up and metroing to the Ferry was surprisingly easy, and the metro is SHOCKINGLY clean and safe. I was very impressed. KILLS the Ctrain in Calgary that is for sure!!!

The trip on the boat was sort of hellish as the morning was too cold to sit on deck but EVERYONE was smoking inside and as I was feeling quite sea sick it wasn't helping the nasea at all. By noon or so though outside was looking like a better option so I took my book to the ...

Athens journal: Athens

Mon, 15 May 2006 10:25:35 GMT

So the journey began with not really the BEST start as 10 hours on a plane next to an EXTREMELY obese man doesn't totally allow for a lot of sleep and comfort. The Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Athens however was a VAST improvement and I had 2 seats to myself by the window. Germany looked just gorgeous (I think the trees got me..... I don't know, just a nice feel to the place) so I'm determined to add it to my trip en route to Holland in August.

Athens Backpackers Inn was my first stop and after a near death cab experience I've vowed NEVER to go that way again, particularly ...

Europe journal: The Journey Begins

Fri, 12 May 2006 00:28:38 GMT

Here is my travel blog as requested by some people (ahem ahem Katie) so I'll try to keep up with it and add photos as I go!!!

Athens journal: Amazing.... and not as busy as we thought!

Fri, 12 May 2006 00:26:54 GMT

Athens journal: ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!!

Fri, 12 May 2006 00:22:43 GMT