France!

So far, the trip to the south of France has been unbelievable.  Perfect weather, the Mediterranean, amazing people, a free helicopter ride, amazing foods and wines, biking along the coast, and more.  And all that in just over 2 days.  Doing it right in France!

In Marseille, we stayed with Julita and explored the town, hiked the mountain to the Notre Dame church on top, and then watched the sunset over the Mediterranean.  The next day, we took the bus out to the airport to be picked up by Philipe, a French guy who along with Febrece, owns a airplane maintenance company.  They said they had a special day for us, and wow, were they right.

We were taken by their helicopter on an unforgettable ride around the Cote D'Azur. First we flew up to an old monastery that is now a boutique hotel.  Landing on top of a mountain, with one of the coolest buildings wasn't even the start.  Lunch was taken care for, a 72 euro 3 course meal starting with Sweetbreads, working it's way through fish and local produce from the daily market and followed by a kiwi ice cream.  Yes!  Life is good!

From the monastery, we flew over along the coast for a while taking in the view, with the pilots having fun flying super low and claiming they were testing the helicopter.  A few tricks and then back to get dropped off at the train station.  Living it up in France!

We're staying in the very south, in a small town called La Londe Les Mares and have spent the day biking around, through vineyards, orchards, chateaus and more, out to the sea and back.  Total relaxing day in the sun, in Provence!  Amazing!

Here are a few pictures of the good times in France.

What's that? Flying around France in a helicopter?

Living the good life at 20m off the ocean

Appetizer of sweetbreads.  If you don't know what these are, don't look them up.

Amazing fresh fish dish served up by an award winning chef

Yeah, we flew here in a helicopter for a 3 course lunch

mmmm, Mediterranean sun so tasty!

Cruising through vineyards in Provence

Provence!

Made it to the beach!

How bout the royal summer home out on the coast?  Definitely worth a bike ride there

Provence beach town

Barcelona Pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/JustusPB/BarcelonaPhotos?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNSfqIuY7fuTnwE&feat=directlink

Enjoy!

Barcelona

It has been amazing in Barcelona so far.  We have some of the best Couch Surfing hosts out there, getting the best treatment and definitely feeling like a local.  We got in early afternoon after flying British Airways from London.  Tricky figuring out the subway system, but then we were there, staying right in the city centre with a main park out the balcony.  We went on a walk all over town, down by the beach, before going to one of the original tapas bars in town.  The refrigerators are old wooden boxes, there is an open kitchen with 4 people working it and the food was amazing.  Fresh fish, octopus, calamari, fried potatoes and more.  Lots more exploring afterwards.  This city is amazing!  So much going on.

Day two was exploring Gaudi and what else the city had to offer.  Ana and her friend Celia drove us all over the city, with panoramic views from every direction.  Pretty much saw everything there is to see.  We had a front row parking spot for the huge cathedral, which of course, is still under construction.  Such a long line to get in, and a pricey entrance fee, so we skipped that and walked around enjoying the view.  The older part of the cathedral is definitely the best.

Up in the mountains, the views were incredible, overlooking everything.  They say this is the best city with the metropolitan area, the beach, the close mountains, and nearby larger mountains to go skiing in.  I definitely agree.

We saw several other Gaudi buildings in the city, as well as his park up on a hill overlooking the city.  Parc Guell was my favorite spot of the day.  So eclectic up there, making you want to just walk all over exploring the park and enjoying it for hours.  Super cool atmosphere up there.

Our hosts took us to one of the best places in town (Michelin mentioned this place) for an amazing lunch, and later on got some local horchata and churros.  Always trying good food from local recommendations.  Tis the life!

Ana and I at Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

In Gaudi's amazing park, Parc Guell

Gaudi's Casa Batilo!

Gaudi, the architect of Barcelona

Up at the castle in Montjuic

Parc Guell

a wee town called London

Just spent 3 days exploring London, meeting up with some old mates and attempting to eat a healthy British meal.  It was a great experience, full of walking, adventures, some sun, some rain, fun accents, Irish mates, big towers, modern art and more.  Here are a few pictures:

Mighty impressive behind me

Checking out some Picasso culture at Tate Modern

Abbey Road

Chinatown nearby Leicester Square

Allen and I jumping it up at Buckingham Palace

Liverpool!

First off, check out these Scotland photos:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.730111952924.1073741831.29301533&type=1&l=ce16b28d1e


Now on to Liverpool:

On the bus down from Liverpool to London now, catching up with emails and such.  Been a grand time out here with old friends, Amy and Stu, two of my flatmates in New Zealand.  They've got a sweet flat just north of the city in the countryside.  Made for a nice run through the English countryside.  Must be the good English weather, but I hung with Stu and Allen and powered those legs through, checking out the British houses in the area and the fields.

Liverpool, where the Beatles got started, is a pretty sweet town.  Lots going on, with some great buildings.  The Liver building is definitely one of the cooler buildings in Europe, with the Liver Bird on top, crowning the city with it's name.  Two main cathedrals in town, one called the Metropolitan which is definitely that.  The other is the Anglican which is more medieval and yet has been turned into more of an event space. 

Cobble stones all over, plenty of proper pubs and old buildings around.  Fun times!  Even took the ferry across the River Mersey for the view of the skyline.  The Beatles are all over town, with loads of statues of places named after them.  We checked out the bar where they first started playing at, and popped into the Beatles Story gift shop for some fun photos of the lads when they were younger.

Here are a few pictures from the time in Liverpool.

Anglican Cathedral

The Titanic right beside the Yellow Submarine

Hats off with The Beatles

The Liver Building

Me and Johnny Boy

More Iceland Photos!

Here are some pictures from Allen's camera.  A whole different perspective on Iceland! 

Our Reykjavik family hiking to the hot pools in 4 degree Celsius weather

Anja from Germany, Julien from France, me and Katrin from Germany

wee bit cold out

Petting Icelandic horses

In the hot tub right before going into the North Atlantic Sea

The North Atlantic Sea, 4.7 degrees Celsius

Doesn't matter how cold it is, still going to have fun after swimming 40m out and back

Leaving at 4am with our bags to take the bus to the airport

Iceland Photos!

http://www3.snapfish.co.uk/snapfishuk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=8582084006/a=13393620_13393620/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk/

That should work to see an album.  Check it out!

Hiking to the hot springs, and then soaking it up!

Icelandic Horses on video

Hot Springs River:Allen day 2

Allen, myself and 6 other couch surfers piled into two small cars and headed south of the city to Hverageroi which is pronounced, "kerigeri".  Yeah, Icelandic is a different language.  No clue what is going on half the time, with new letters and old letters that don't sound the same.

Here are some pics from the 1.5 hour hike in.  Temperatures around 3 degrees Celsius, with some snow flurries here and there, plus some mud bubbling geysers along the way.

We hiked right up the middle here to the hot springs in the river

Allen and the geysers sign at the start

This is Iceland!

I'm a huge fan of panoramas, and this country needs them to be taken

Iceland!

Hot river full of our crew

Hanging out with snow flurries in water over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Loving Iceland!

Iceland day 1

After arriving at 6:30am, it was the easiest customs/immigration ever, a sign that this was to be one of the friendliest countries I've been in.  Getting into town was easy, with just one bus taking all the passengers in.  Free wifi on the bus, very bland landscape outside with mountains in the distance.

We arrived at the bus stop and then walked a half hour to our couch surfing hosts place to get settled in.  Our host, Katrin, told us that today was "window weather", which meant that sitting by the window and looking out at the blue skies and not venturing out into the 33 degree weather.  Pretty cold out there, with some small snow flurries here and there.  But for cruising around town and exploring, it was perfect.

We met a bunch of friendly locals throughout the day, learning about the culture, and checking out the main sights.  Great day with lots of walking, zig zagging all over learning the city.  Blue skies meant I went to the top of the tower of the church for the best view in town, from the mountains in the distance, to the city itself to the ocean. Amazing!

We hung out with a group of other couch surfers for several hours in the evening (not night time because the sun is always out).  Walking back at 9:30pm, we  could still see the sun, which sets around 10:30 and is still light out afterwards.  And the sun comes back up around 2-3am. So constant light the whole day, making it a bright, happy place.

More adventures to come! Pictures not working now, but soon!