Crete, Greece; A Writer’s Haven (Warning: FoodPorn!)

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Greece was never on my radar when I began this journey, but that’s the beauty of travelling without a set itinerary; you find yourself in places you never expected! After two glorious weeks in Italy, I knew I needed to find somewhere to hunker down for the next couple of weeks before meeting Rug in Turkey to begin our six week adventure together. I wanted somewhere close by, somewhere cheap, and somewhere preferably as warm as possible. That narrowed my options down significantly and so I began looking at flights to Greece. The cheapest I could find was to Crete Island, the southernmost island (known for it’s gastronomy!), which suited me just fine! The weather looked great, so I booked my flights and found a hostel with a near 100% rating, a rarity. I was looking for somewhere to settle down for two weeks so I could catch up on my blog as I was nearly two months behind. I had no plans to travel within Greece, or even Crete island; I simply wanted to hole up, throw my headphones in and glue my fingers to my keyboard for the next two weeks. Continue reading →

Venezia, Italia

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After the three days in Tuscany and some wonderful evenings spent at an Italian Carnival, Travis and I were heading to our last stop in Italy. We drove into Florence to park the car at the train station – we were taking the train to Venice! Travis had never been on a train before and I had only been on my first ever train since I arrived in Europe. Cars were useless in Venice anyhow, so a first class train ticket was in order! Travis wanted to get first class return as well, but I suggested we only buy one way first class to get the experience and save the money (for the record, this was a great decision as there wasn’t much difference between first class and coach!). We drove through the madness that is Florence to find the train station, then decided to park at the airport as it would be cheaper and take the bus into the train station. We left a bunch of our stuff in the car and went with lighter bags as we planned to walk all through Venice. It was a high speed train and we neared 300km/hr cruising through the Italian countryside and before we knew it we were in Venice!  Continue reading →

Italia: Toscana e Amalfi

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With two more beautiful souls along side us, Paul, Patricia, Travis and I cruised out of Rome to start our little road trip. Our first stop was Sorrento, a beautiful costal town humming with people that is a major port for Capri Island, a tourist hot spot. We drove down the narrow winding streets, and may have driven into an alley meant only for mopeds as our side mirrors had to be turned in and even then they nearly hit. Thank god Travis was driving; his skills and confidence behind the wheel have always amazed me! Our hotel, Il Faro, was a beautiful little gem right in the harbour with beautiful views of the ocean and the boats coming and going. The owner acquainted himself with us and gave us lots of tips, including the suggestion to have dinner at his restaurant where we would get 10% off as hotel guests. Sounded great to us! Before dinner, the other three got into a bottle of home brewed wine we picked up from a fruit stand on the side of the road . It was covered in dust and without a label, and looked slightly suspect. But for a dollar how could you complain? When we headed down for dinner, the guys let the manager know they wanted oysters, but the restaurant didn’t have them on their menu. No problem, said the manager. He made a quick call and in speedy Italian, had it set up for us. Soon the massive platter of huge mussels arrived, laid delicately atop a bed of mixed greens, red cabbage, carrot and lemon slices for colour. We squeezed the lemon on and asked if they had tabasco. Continue reading →

Roma, Italia

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Ever since I was a little girl I’ve felt the pull of Italy. It may have had something to do with my best friend at the age of seven being half Italian and spending many a evenings at her place, being treated to authentic Italian food that her dad would slave away in the kitchen to make us each night. I  definitely didn’t realize back then how incredibly lucky I was to be getting home made Italian food. I even recall the first time he offered me prosciutto (okay, in an Italian household it’s less of an offer and more of a loving, yet forceful ‘eat this! you’ll love it!’). I bit my tongue and swallowed the salty gob down doing my best not to gag. The second he looked away, I held my hand under the table so that their labrador Moses could snatch it from my hands, helping us both out. I feigned fullness when he saw how quickly I had eaten it as he thought I must have loved it and wanted more.  I’m happy to say my pallet has improved and I now do enjoy prosciutto! Continue reading →

Ninjas, Laser Tag and Chocolate Pancakes: A Week With My Favourite Swedish Girl!

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I put myself through the torture of yet another night bus from Oslo to Helsingborg, Sweden, but for good cause: I was on my way to visit my dearest Kajsa, the little Swedish one that I met within my first two weeks of travel in Guatemala on a boat (read about our first grand adventure together HERE!). We spent the next two and a half months discovering Central America together. From a 40 hour bus journey through Guatemala down to Costa Rica, to becoming certified scuba divers in Honduras; from zip lining in the Costa Rican canopy to learning acro yoga together on the shores of Lake Atitlan; from catching waves surfing in Nicaragua to dancing the nights away at music festivals on the western shores of Costa Rica; from falling off trees in the Costa Rican cloud forest to playing in the waves in Uvita; from watching the sunrise over Laguna de Apoyo to climbing volcanoes in Leon; from practicing henna on each other to swinging naked into the local swimming hole together: this girl and I found kindred spirits within each other and were inseparable. Continue reading →

Searching for Trolls in Norway

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I came to Norway to meet my pen-pal from 16 years past (read about this amazing experience HERE!), and after a beautiful few days together, I set off to explore just a little of Norway before heading East to Sweden to visit another dear friend. After hugs and frantic waves goodbyes and endless thanks, I boarded my night bus and I was off, on the road yet again. It was so warming, so rejuvenating to spend some quality time with such a loving family, it felt like food for my soul. I snuggled in on the bus as best I could and tried to catch a few hours sleep while I headed Northwest to Ålesund, a coastal town near Geiranger, the fjord I was interested in seeing. I had daylight the last two hours of my bus ride and stared wide eyed out the window at the stunning landscapes we were driving through. We were near the coast and curving through winding roads, and under the ocean in tunnels.The mountains towered above us and I felt the excitement bubbling up in me. Continue reading →

A Pen-pal Reunion In Norway

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When I was 13 years old, my grade eight teacher, Mr. Taylor, stood at the front of our class, waving a white envelope in his hand and asked the class, “Who wants a penpal?” My hand shot up before he even finished that last word. I looked around wildly, to see who my competition was and to my surprise only two other students had raised their hands. I suppose many looked at it as merely another form of homework. I knew I had had my hand up first and was prepared to advise Mr. Taylor of this is he chose wrongly. “Brittany” his deep voice boomed. “You were first, it’s all yours. It’s a student from Norway!” Continue reading →

Berlin, A History Lesson

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While I would have loved to travel around more of Europe and see more of countries like Germany, I didn’t have time, so I only made a quick stop over in Berlin on my way up to Norway. I had two full days of exploring in Berlin and played the ultimate tourist. I put on my yoga pants, comfy walking sandals, loaded up my Maps Me app and with my camera around my neck, and hit Berlin with the help of some suggested must sees from my friend Mike who had been living there for years. The weather was perfect – sunny and warm! I decided to save money on public transit and just use my own two feet and a heart beat for this adventure. Surely all the baguettes I ate in Paris would need to be burned off! Continue reading →

Paris, Ma Chérie

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You should grab yourself a nice steaming cup of coffee, maybe a baguette and some butter, or perhaps a croissant from your local bakery, turn on some Charles Aznavour and enjoy the next few minutes as I take you on a little trip through the romantic streets of sweet, sweet Paris.

When I was in Argentina, I was lucky enough to meet the beautiful soul Stéphanie and we spent the day exploring Igauza falls together with some other lovely friends. We kept in touch, and when I was on my way over to France, she generously invited me to come and stay with her in Paris. She was currently in between jobs so she also offered to show me about the beautiful city herself – how spoiled I am! My plan was to sort of skim through Paris on my way up towards Norway, but I ended up spending four days instead of two because there was simply so much to see, and I was having such a lovely time with Stéphanie! Continue reading →

Road Tripping Through Iceland Part II

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After two nights in the sweet little town of Vik, we thanked our host most graciously for her help, and within minutes of driving away from the coastal town, we left the rain and mist behind us and burst back into bright sunshine. Oh the joys of the open road!  Today we were off to see glacier lagoons, another national park and a river that tore down through a gorge in a valley called Fjathrarglijufur. As we drove, the landscape changed drastically and we suddenly found ourselves amid the largest lava field in the world!  Every which was you looked was a blanket of blackened, cooled lava, which was being taken over by bulbous green moss tufts, creating a strange spectacle. Continue reading →