Contiki: Day 6 – Lucerne to Nice

// May 16th, 2008 // 1503 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/16/ptm-contiki-day-6-lucerne-to-nice/Contiki%3A+Day+6+-+Lucerne+to+Nice2008-05-16+15%3A03%3A35Ryan // Contiki, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Travel

This morning we had to be up early so that we could head back to France! Yep, back to France we go but this time our destination is Nice which is located in the south of France on the French Riviera.

Our tour manager Kennett told us that we’d travel through four countries today! Switzerland, Italy, France, and Monaco! I thought that was pretty cool, minus all of the time sitting on this bus of course.

We finally crossed the border of Switzerland into Italy and just after passing over the border we made our first stop at a truck stop in Italy. We had a nice 45 minute break from 11:30 to 12:15. As usual, most people headed for the bathroom since we try not to use the toilets on the bus. It’s not a law, it’s just a rule that the toilets should only be used if it’s an absolute emergency. I’m not sure if anybody has used the restroom on the bus as of yet, besides people that got sick from drinking the previous night, or car sick. Otherwise the bathrooms are rarely used.

At the rest stop in Italy, there was a great pizza chain called Spizzio’s? I ordered a slice of margarita pizza, and it came with a small order of fries, and a drink. I didn’t think the price of 6.00 Euro’s was too bad actually. The slice of cheese pizza was 1/4 of a full pizza so it was absolutely huge, and tasty too. After everyone was finished eating we headed back out to the bus so that we could take off to Nice.

A few hours, and a few windy roads later we finally arrived in Nice! We checked into our hotel and had about 30 minutes to get ready to head out to Monte Carlo in Monaco for the Contiki Optional Dinner. Everyone attended and it was the best meal I’ve had so far on the trip. I was debating on going to this dinner, but I’m glad I did. Each table was served 2 bottles of wine, one white, and one red. I had roasted chicken with garlic and rosemary. For dessert I had two scoops of ice cream, one strawberry, one vanilla. It was a perfect way to finish off the meal before heading over to the Grand Casino in Monaco.

We arrived at the Grand Casino and I couldn’t believe how rich it actually was. We didn’t have much time at the casino, only 25 minutes so I decided not to go in at all. I stood out front with some others and watched all of the expensive cars, glamour, and rich old men park their Ferrari’s, Bentley’s and Porche’s. It was incredible!

After the casino we all came back to our hotel and spent about 15 minutes getting ready to go out to a bar down the street. Ryan and I went out for 1 drink and walked back home. Tomorrow we have a free day in Nice and Ryan & I are going to sleep in a bit before heading out to explore the city. There isn’t a ton to do here, but if it’s nice out we’ll probably hit the beach for a bit and do some sightseeing. Should be a good day, hopefully the weather clears up a bit.

Til’ next time…

Contiki: Day 5 – Lucerne, Switzerland

// May 15th, 2008 // 149No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/15/ptm-contiki-day-5-lucerne-switzerland/Contiki%3A+Day+5+-+Lucerne%2C+Switzerland2008-05-15+12%3A35%3A45Ryan // Contiki, Switzerland, Travel

This morning Ryan and I set our alarms for 8:00AM because breakfast was being served at 8:30. We headed down to breakfast, and I wasn’t too impressed at all. The dinners here at the hotel have been quite good, but this breakfast was pretty light. Lighter than the breakfast in Paris which is hard to believe.

After breakfast we all headed for the coach and went into town to see the famous Lion Monument here in Lucerne. After seeing the Lion Monument we had about an hour free time so I headed off on my own to see if I could get access to wifi along the river. Eveyone I had asked told me that there was no free wifi, and that I should go here, and there to pay for it. I decided to park myself on a bench next to the river and see if I could get a connection. At this point, I’m feigning to get on the internet, reply to emails, update my website, and everything else that I hadn’t done in days.

At last I found a connection, but at that point it was time to meet up with the group to go on the Contiki Optional boat cruise around Lake Lucerne. We boarded the boat at around 10:30AM, and it took us on a small loop around the lake. It was beautiful out, the sun was out but yet there was a nice cool breeze. I stood up on the top deck for a few minutes before I went downstairs and laid down on the front of the boat as it cruised around Lake Lucerne. I’m not sure if I would recommend this optional, because I thought it was sort of short and wished we could have explored more of the lake. I wasn’t really satisfied with it to be honest. Each person on board was given a token for a free drink, beer, wine, soda, or water. At 16 Euros, or 25 CHF it was just a little expensive for what we got. (more…)

Contiki: Day 4 – Paris to Lucerne!

// May 14th, 2008 // 147No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/14/ptm-contiki-day-4-paris-to-lucerne/Contiki%3A+Day+4+-+Paris+to+Lucerne%212008-05-14+11%3A10%3A03Ryan // Contiki, France, Switzerland, Travel

Another early morning! Everyone was up early to get to the bus so that we could head off to Lucerne, Switzerland. Kennett our tour manager said that this would be one of the longest drives on the whole tour.

We stopped twice during the 6 or 7 hour drive, once for 45 minutes, and then another 15 minutes. Personally, I would’ve rathered to drive straight there, but some people had to use the bathroom, stretch their legs, etc.

Finally after arriving in Lucerne, Kennet took us to the famous Wooden Chapel Bridge here in Lucerne. A bridge that USED to be the oldest wooden bridge in Europe, but due to a man tying his boat up to it and burning most of the bridge down back in 1994, it is no longer Europe’s oldest wooden bridge, Too bad huh? The Swiss restored the bridge, but lost most of the paintings that were located on the ceiling of the bridge in the process. Luckily the Swiss made copies of the paintings just before the Wooden Chapel Bridge burnt down so they were able to put artificial copies of the paintings back up on the ceiling.

The bridge itself is beautiful. It’s surrounded by mountains and hills and even Lake Lucerne. There are swans that live in the river below the bridge and they too are part of the Wooden Chapel Bridge’s beauty. Along the edge of the river are cafe’s, pubs, and hotels. There are tables outside along the river and along side the bridge, and I’m actually sitting at a table right now typing this blog!

After getting a look at the Chapel Bridge, we headed over to Harry’s, a well known Swiss Watch and Swiss Knife shop here in Lucerne. I took a look at a few watches, but after seeing some of the price tags, I took a stroll outside.

We had about a half hour free time to walk around Lucerne, so I took a walk by myself around the town and grabbed a plate of french fries for the walk. As I headed back to meet the group I stopped at a water fountain that was about two minutes from where we were all supposed to meet. This is where things got a little weird. I was standing enjoying the view of the fountains when all of a sudden I heard a woman say Hey! I turned around and there was a building on the corner of the street in front of the fountain with tall hedges covering the door. As I turned I saw this woman signaling me to come towards her. I started to say what?, what?. Because I couldn’t understand what she wanted. Then when I started to walk away around the other side of the street where I was meeting with my tour she crossed the front of the hedges and whispered “Hey Baby!”. I was sort of shocked so I turned to her and said Hi. Again she signaled for me to come towards her, so as I got closer she began to ask me all sorts of questions, where I was from, how long I’m in Lucerne, etc. So, I proceeded to ask the questions right back at her! Two or three minutes into our conversation she asked me if I wanted to make love. Haha! I asked her, what is this a strip club or something? She said Yes, but we have a room upstairs but shh… It’s full contact, we make love! I couldn’t believe what was going on, and my tour was in sight to my left so I politely said no and changed the subject a bit and she kept on asking me. “C’mon, how many swiss francs is too much?” I again politely said no and ended up walking away to catch up with my tour. That experience was the last thing I would’ve thought would happen in Lucerne, I mean I can see if I was in Amsterdam, then that would be a different story.

Once I got back on the bus, my tour manager Kennett told everyone over the loud speaker that I had been in Switzerland for 30 minutes and I’d already been offered sex from a Venezuelan woman. Everyone was cracking up!

We headed off to to check into our hotel and everyone went straight to dinner when we arrived. It was an included Contiki dinner at the hotel, and it wasn’t too bad. I would say that it’s free, but in reality I paid for it in my tour price. After dinner, some people gathered in the hotel lobby and drank, but I was locked in my hotel room trying to find wifi so that I could update my website for you all! After an hour or two of attempting, I gave up and went to bed. Unfortunately I’ve been having some issues finding free wireless in the last couple of cities. I hope that I’ll have wifi access in my hotel in Nice, France this weekend. We’ll see!

Til’ next time…

Contiki: Night 3 – Paris!

// May 13th, 2008 // 146No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/13/ptm-contiki-night-3-paris/Contiki%3A+Night+3+-+Paris%212008-05-13+10%3A39%3A10Ryan // Contiki, France, Travel

Our group planned to meet at the hotel reception desk at 6:00PM so that we could head out to our first Contiki Optional. The optional was a dinner and Cabaret show in Paris called Nouvelle Eve. At first I debated on going, but when I realized that 48 of the 50 some odd people were going, I made the decision to go and now I’m so glad that I attended. I originally thought that the price was a little steep at 114.00 Euro per person, but after the show ended I realized that it was worth every Euro! The only downfall of the night was that there were no photos or videos allowed inside…

My table was one of the first ones to be seated at Nouvelle Eve. We were seated front row and I was sitting right up against the stage. Perfect! I shared the table with my new friends Jaide, Karen, and John. I ordered steak for dinner and when it came out it actually ended up being the size of an over sized steak tip, but I have to admit it was very, very good. Our dessert was some sort of ice cream, which I still have no idea what it exactly was, but it was pretty good. After dinner we sipped on some champagne while we waited for the show to start.

The show consisted of singing, topless dancing, and even some acrobatic acts that were really cool. It seemed that everyone really enjoyed the acrobatic performers over the dancing. At least that’s what I enjoyed most. A juggling act came on stage about three quarters of the way through the show and what do you know, they pointed me out of the whole crowd to come up on stage. The two men sat me down in a chair in the middle of the stage and made jokes as they put a funny pair of white glasses on my face, a fake cigarette in my mouth, and a top hat on my head. They told me to look straight into the crowd and to not to move at all while they stood on each side of me and threw juggling pins back and forth to each other trying to knock the hat off my head, the cigarette out from between my lips, and last but not least the glasses right off of my head! I couldn’t believe how accurate they were. As they were throwing the pins and knocking all of the stuff off of my face I was trying not to laugh too hard because I didn’t want to get hit off of the head with a pin! Tonight was one crazy experience, and definitely one that I’ll never forget!

I didn’t want the show to end, everyone was having such a great time but all great things have to come to an end. We all laughed and joked on the way out of the theatre and chatted for a few out front before walking up to the front of Moulin Rouge to take a few photos! After taking a few shots of the Moulin Rouge we headed over to the bar next door called O’Sullivans to have a few drinks to close the night. Everyone was having so much fun dancing, conversating and more. I ended up heading home with John and Lucianne and went straight to bed because we were heading to Switzerland early the next morning. Tomorrow is going to be one long day…

Contiki: Day 3 – Paris!

// May 13th, 2008 // 145No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/13/ptm-contiki-day-3-paris/Contiki%3A+Day+3+-+Paris%212008-05-13+10%3A17%3A54Ryan // Contiki, France, Travel

Ryan and I set our alarms this morning for 8AM so that we could run down and grab some breakfast that was provided by the hotel. We pretty much filled out trays with croissants, bread, crepes, applesauce, and fruit. There were no eggs, bacon any of that, but that is pretty much expected of a hotel breakfast anyways. Not a big deal. We filled ourselves with all of the junk above.

Once we finished breakfast we headed straight for the subway or what the Parisian’s call the “Metro”. At first we had quite a bit of trouble understanding how to purchase a single day pass but thanks for a generous french woman, we both had our tickets in hand within a few minutes time. And yes, we were holding up the whole line.

We purchased a single day ticket on the Metro for 5.60 Euro, but I was doubtful that we bought the correct pass because I expected a full day pass to be between 8 and 10 Euro. After jumping off and on a few trains I came to the realization that we had just got a great deal! Only 5.60 Euro to ride anywhere on the Paris metro system in one full day. Sweet!

Our first stop was down to the Notre Dame Cathedral where we didn’t have to wait in line at all. We saw a tour group ahead of us and we decided to try to blend in with the tour and we walked right in! I’m still not sure if there was a line outside, but all I know is it felt like we breezed through like we were V.I.P!

The Notre Dame Cathedral was amazing, the outside of the building was pretty impressive and the inside was even nicer. We walked around a bit inside and even sat down for few minutes to listen to the organs play in the background.

From Notre Dame, we headed off to the Catacombs which are burial grounds for some 6 million people. The story is that at one point there was no more room in the cemetaries so the city of Paris designed underground tunnels that ran underneath the sewer and water systems, and now what is the Metro system (20 Meters deep and over 500 Meters long). These underground tunnels and passage ways stored the bones of over 6 million people! As you walk through the dark passage ways, it seems like you’re in a maze of skeletons.

We left the spooky Catacombs to head over to the Montparnasse (tourmontparnasse56.com) sky scraper. As far as I know it’s the tallest sky scraper in Paris. We went up to the roof (59th Floor) to the observatory deck so that we could get a 360 degree view of the city of Paris. Also in perfect sight is the Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triumph, and more. The views were crazy from the top, check out some of the photos below.

Our second to last stop of the day was to the Eiffel Tower of course! We decided not to go to the top of it due to the lines that had formed over the course of the day. We took a few good shots of the tower and headed off to our last destination.

Last stop was the Arc de Triumph! We took a few photos of it from across the street, and then proceeded to head down through the tunnel to get across to the Arc de Triumph.

Our day exploring Paris was just about over and we felt like we really accomplished a lot. We knocked off every single thing that we had planned to try to see. I have to say, Paris was a really cool city!

Contiki: Day 2 – London to Paris!

// May 12th, 2008 // 144No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/12/ptm-contiki-day-2-london-to-paris/Contiki%3A+Day+2+-+London+to+Paris%212008-05-12+10%3A09%3A09Ryan // Contiki, England, France, Travel

This morning we met at 6:45AM at the Royal National Hotel to check in, weigh the bags, and load the bags on to the coach. I met up with Ryan, Michelle, and Christine the same Contiki’ers that I went to dinner with last night.

The four of us got seats in the same row so it worked out quite well. We left Royal National Hotel around 7:30AM to head for Paris! On the way, our Contiki Tour Manager Kennett explained to us a little more about our trip and some of the rules of the road. He seems really outgoing and funny. We’ll be spending the next 3 weeks traveling and listening to him so it’s comforting to know that he has a good personality.

We arrived at the White Cliffs of Dover where we had to cross the border and the bus was randomly picked to be searched! The border patrol took six random suitcases off of the bus to be searched and each person that owned a suitcase tha was chosen had to get off the bus and be searched as well. Luckily I wasn’t one of the six!

After we crossed through the border, we arrived at the port where we would take the ferry from England to France. We drove on to the ferry, parked and we all got out and headed up to the top deck so we could get a few photos of the White Cliffs of Dover before we departed England. After we took a few snapshots we headed downstairs to grab some breakfast.

After breakfast we headed back up to the top deck and took a few more photos before we arrived in France. Once we arrived at the port in France we all loaded back on to the bus and started what was a four hour journey south to Paris.

At first we thought that we wouldn’t make it to the Louvre before it would be closing at 5:30PM, but thanks to our speedy bus driver we made it just in time to run into the Louvre and catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, and the Venus de Milo. After the Louvre we headed to our hotel so that we could check in real quick before dinner at 7:00PM. The dinner was included in the Contiki Tour and it was roasted chicken and white rice.

At 7:45 we met outside at the coach so that we could take a tour around Paris. Kennett our Tour Manager gave us sort of a guided tour around Paris with all sorts of cool facts about monuments, buildings, and more.

After the tour around Paris we came back and ended the night in the hotel bar. I had a pint and conversated with all sorts of people from my tour. It was great getting to know everyone a little bit better. I have pretty much met most of the people at this point. Everyone seems to be really cool so far. Hopefully it stays that way!

Tomorrow we have a free day to explore Paris. We’re going to go check out the Catacombs, Nortre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph and more.

Til’ next time…

Contiki: Day 1 – London!

// May 11th, 2008 // 1413 Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/11/ptm-contiki-day-1-london/Contiki%3A+Day+1+-+London%212008-05-11+23%3A03%3A16Ryan // Contiki, England, Travel

Day 1 – London, England

The flight from Dublin to London was only 55 minutes. It felt like we took off and then landed a few minutes later. I grabbed my luggage off of the conveyor belt and headed straight for the tube, or “Underground” train system here in London. The Picadilly Line took me right to Russell Square where my hotel was located and I arrived just at check in time at 2:00PM. I dropped my bags in the room and headed off to explore the city for a bit before my Contiki Orientation meeting at 6:00PM.

I decided that I wouldn’t get a map, and that I would just ask for directions everywhere as I tried to make it down to the London Eye, The Thames River, and Big Ben. After a few “excuse me’s” I ended up right in front of big ben. It wasn’t a short walk though! I didn’t realize how far it actually was, and I had been wondering why everyone I asked for directions would say it’s far though at the end of the instructions. Hmm, maybe it could be FAR? Yeah, so I found out the hard way. Although I saved a few precious pounds in the meantime and I might have shaved off a few lbs on the walk down there.

As I walked up to Big Ben, I wasn’t sure what the big deal was really? It was just as my father explained it, a giant clock. As simple as that! I wasn’t super impressed, maybe I pre judged due to my fathers description of it, but either way it wasn’t nearly the coolest thing that I’ve seen so far on my adventures in Europe.

Around the corner from Big Ben lies the River Thames, and the London Eye, definitely a sight to see. It looked really cool, and I would have probably took a ride on it but the line for it was down the river, and I didn’t have much time before my first Contiki Orientation meeting here in London.

I decided to head back to my hotel and of course I didn’t go back the same way I came, I think I went an even longer route this time. Again, everyone I asked for directions was explaining to me, “Ohh Russell Square, that’s FAR!”. Once again I didn’t listen. After about 35 minutes walk I finally arrived back at my hotel. I changed my clothes and headed off down to the meeting.

After arriving at the Contiki Orientation meeting I realized that there were two seperate tours meeting at once, both of them are leaving tomorrow morning at 6:45AM. The Contiki Tour Managers read off the rules about baggage, the meeting times, and more. I ended up meeting up with two people that I had talked to in the Contiki Forums website months ago and we decided to head to dinner because we were all starving. I saw another guy named Ryan and I asked him if he was alone, and he was so I invited him to come out with us. The four of us headed to a pub next to the hotel and had a meal and a drink.

After dinner we decided that we would head off and explore the city a bit more considering we only would have 1 night here and we would be leaving early tomorrow morning for Paris. We took the Underground out to the Picadilly Circus stop and walked around a bit. it reminded me somewhat of a miniature Times Square. We then headed off to Leicester Square where we spent a few minutes gazing at all of the architecture, street performers, etc but we jumped back on the tube pretty quickly so that we could get a good nights sleep tonight

Paris in the morning!

Alicante, Spain – Day 4 and 5

// May 7th, 2008 // 1321 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/07/ptm-alicante-spain-day-four-and-five/Alicante%2C+Spain+-+Day+4+and+52008-05-07+09%3A38%3A59Ryan // Spain, Travel

Yesterday morning I woke up early and headed off to take a day trip to Benidorm, Spain which is about a 45 minute drive from Alicante. The train that runs along the coast of the Costa Blanca has a station about 5 minutes walk from Ania’s flat so it’s really convenient.

The train system here in Alicante is called (TRAM). As long as you grab yourself a train timetable map, you’ll figure out how to use the TRAM fairly quickly. I figured that if I was to get lost, I would have all day to find my way back home so I jumped on the TRAM at the MARQ stop and headed out on a journey that ended up taking much longer than I expected.

Considering Benidorm is about 45 minutes drive, I figured that the TRAM might take an hour, or an hour and fifteen minutes. Well after meeting a 77 year old English man and more than two hours later I could not wait to get off of the train. I had been getting my ear talked off by this old english gentleman for the last hour and a half and he even caused us to miss our stop (Benidorm) so we had to get off and wait for another TRAM to take us 4 stops back to Benidorm.

Finally after my new friend and I arrived in Benidorm he insisted that we take a bus down to the center of town where the restaurants and beach is. Now we’re looking a total of two and a half hours to get to Benidorm. As soon as we got off the bus we stopped into this English Pub to grab a bite to eat.

After lunch I split off from my English friend and headed towards the beach, he wanted to come along, but I just had to lose him or I knew that I wouldn’t get anything done in Benidorm. I headed down to Playa de Llevant Beach and took in some of the beautiful scenery. I walked most of the length of the beach until I got to the rock cliffs that surround the east edge of the beach. I wanted to take a swim so I figured that the safest place to leave my belongings would be over on the rocks where nobody sunbathes and where I could just jump in and stay close in case someone decided to walk towards the cliffs. Everything worked out perfectly and I got to take a nice swim and relax for the first time since I arrived in Benidorm.

After my swim I walked back up through the city, and stopped into a few souvenir shops but I couldn’t find anything in them. It was all junk. I knew that I would have a long journey back to Alicante so I headed for the bus to Benidorm Train Station.

As I was waiting at the Benidorm Train Station I met a guy named Darren, originally from Co. Waterford. We chatted a bit about traveling and eventually I found out that the reason that he was in Benidorm today was because he owns two Irish Pubs there. He was down in Benidorm for the day making sure everything was in order and checking in on the Pubs. During the train ride back to Alicante, we realized that we were on the same RyanAir flight on Saturday afternoon from Dublin to Alicante, which was quite odd.

Darren is staying in the Hotel Melia down on the beach here in Alicante because a few of his friends have been working on a movie with Colin Farrell here for the last few weeks. He went on to tell me that he is moving out to Benidorm this weekend to take care of the pubs for the next few months so he decided to make a stop to catch up with his friends while he was in Alicante. By the end of the train ride back to Alicante, we arranged to meet up for a few pints later that night.

Myself, Ania, Aiste, Aiste’s mother, and friend decided to go out to dinner last night as both Aiste’s mother and I were flying out today. We went out to a restaurant on the esplanade called Tarantino’s, it wasn’t too bad. After Tarantino’s Ania, Aiste and I headed off to meet up with Darren in O’Hara’s Irish Pub on the esplanade and we had a pint there before heading to Desden, home of the 1 Euro pints of Budweiser! A few pints later, Ania and Aiste headed home and I stayed out for one more round with Darren before heading home.

Today I’m just lounging here with Ania until my flight 6:00PM this evening. I might take a stroll downtown to see if I can pick up a few little things, but other than that I’m just going to spend my last day here relaxing before I head back home to Dublin.

Hasta Luego!

Alicante, Spain – Day 3!

// May 5th, 2008 // 131No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/05/ptm-alicante-spain-day-3/Alicante%2C+Spain+-+Day+3%212008-05-05+17%3A50%3A19Ryan // Spain, Travel

Last night Ania and I headed down to O’Hara’s Irish Pub to visit Gosia at work. It’s a beautiful area. It’s right across from Playa Del Postiguet beach, and it’s on the esplanade here in Alicante. At night everyone sits out front of the restaurants and pubs to socialize and have a few drinks. We stayed at O’Hara’s for a bit then we headed home because Ania had school early this morning.

When we got back I got online to catch up with my family and friends back home and then headed to bed fairly early. I woke up around 10AM and had to be out of the house before Aiste left for the beach because I had no keys, and they needed to lock up the flat while we were all off doing our own thing today. Aiste, her mother, and friend headed off to the beach and I had to run to the local internet cafe so that I could print out my RyanAir boarding pass for Wednesday evening.

After printing my boarding pass I headed down to the Alicante Tourist Center to see if there was anything special to do and see in Alicante other than the beach, and the Castle that overlooks the city of Alicante. Surprisingly there wasn’t much else to do, which was fine with me. I came to Alicante for the sun, the beach, and to get away from the overcast weather of Dublin!

I found the bus that takes you to the top of the Castillo de Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Castle) and I took the trip to the top for a very cheap price of 2 Euro! I had asked the clerk at the Alicante Tourist Information Center if I could walk to the top of Santa Barbara Castle, but he said that it wasn’t safe because cars and buses drive up and down it. Later on I ended up walking down instead of taking the bus. It was beautiful and no where near dangerous! There was a sidewalk the whole way, so I don’t know what the guy at the Tourist Information Center was talking about.

After arriving at the top of Santa Barbara Castle, I was short of breath. Honestly, the views were out of this world. The city of Alicante was built around the castle and I don’t know too much history on it, because I didn’t get the chance to actually stay up there for that long but I have to say the castle is simply amazing!

There are so many different views and vantage points in the castle, and there are sets of stairs leading to new views, and higher points of the castle every where you look! The best part about Santa Barbara Castle is that it’s FREE! You are free to walk around the whole castle, some of the insides and all of the outside of the castle. It is very well maintained and the grounds crews have planted all sorts of cactus, plants and other flowers inside of the castle. If you are ever in Alicante, this is pretty much the one and only visitor attraction, other than a few museums and the beaches of course! Don’t miss out on Santa Barbara Castle, you’ll regret it!

As I said earlier, I ended up walking down to the beach from the top of Santa Barbara Castle to meet Gosia. It took me about 30 mins to walk down, but it wasn’t bad at all. The weather was beautiful and I just couldn’t wait to jump in to the Mediterranean to cool off. We walked across the Esplanade and headed for a beach I hadn’t been to yet, the main beach that lies in front of Alicante Center called Playa Del Postiguet. It was just a nice as San Juan Beach, but much smaller. I didn’t care really, I headed straight for the water as Gosia watched my belongings on the beach. I spent about 20 minutes in the water and then headed back to lay out for a bit. We stayed at Playa Del Postiguet for about an hour and then Gosia headed off to work while I headed back to Ania’s flat.

And that was day three in Alicante, hope you enjoy the photos! To see more photos, check out the Alicante, Spain album in the Photos section of PTM!

Alicante, Spain – Day 1 and 2

// May 4th, 2008 // 1281 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/04/ptm-alicante-spain-day-1-and-2/Alicante%2C+Spain+-+Day+1+and+22008-05-04+17%3A15%3A00Ryan // Spain, Travel

Hola from Alicante, Spain!

I have to say that yesterday was the first time that I’ve taken a flight where you have to walk out on to the airport tarmac and walk up the fold out stairs to board the plane. I’m used to walking through a tunnel of some sort and directly on to the plane. I guess that must be how RyanAir does it? I’m used to flying Aer Lingus but hey, you get what you pay for! The flight to Alicante wasn’t too bad actually. It took a little over two and a half hours and when we landed in Spain, it was about 70 degrees. The breeze was great and I was looking forward to meeting up with my CouchSurfing host Ania (Ahn-yah) so that I could go back to her place and drop my bags. (more…)

Taking off to Alicante, Spain!

// May 3rd, 2008 // 127No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/03/ptm-taking-off-to-alicante-spain/Taking+off+to+Alicante%2C+Spain%212008-05-03+09%3A18%3A46Ryan // Spain, Travel

Off to Spain!

I’m heading off to Alicante, Spain today around 1:00PM and should be landing in Spain around 5:30PM, they are 1 hour ahead of Ireland so it’s about a 3 Hour flight. Not too bad!

I had some issues last night packing again, but this time due to flying RyanAir, the restrictions are very strict. They are a budget airline so they offer you super cheap flights but passengers beware when you go over your baggage weight or measurements by an ounce or a centimeter they WILL charge you astronomical fees! (more…)

Kilmainham Gaol

// May 2nd, 2008 // 124No Comments »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/02/ptm-visit-to-kilmainham-gaol/Kilmainham+Gaol2008-05-02+19%3A53%3A13Ryan // Ireland, Travel

Today I headed over to Kilmainham Gaol, Ireland’s most infamous former prison now turned museum. Kilmainham operated as a prison for over 130 years as it was built in 1796, and was abandoned in 1926. It stands today as one of the largest unoccupied Gaols in Europe.

The conditions of Kilmainham were by far the worst that I’ve ever heard of. I know, most would say that no conditions are good when you’re in prison, but these conditions were absolutely horrendous! When Kilmainham was first built there was no glass in the windows, the windows were left wide open to the frozen winds and rain. Kilmainham Gaol consisted of 112 prison cells built to hold 1 inmate each. At Kilmainham’s worst the 112 cells held over 9,000 inmates!

The first stop along the tour through Kilmainham was the Prison Chapel which was pretty interesting. We were shown an audio/visual tour in the Chapel and it included some photos of former inmates and Irish rebels and also some footage from the aftermath of the 1916 Rising in Dublin City Center. Next stop was to the oldest part of Kilmainham a small hall with about 10 prison cells with a lot of history behind them. After that we walked outside into the prison walls and saw where the executions happened, it was pretty eerie!

My trip to Kilmainham Gaol was great. The price of the guided tour was great and most definitely worth the 6.50 Euro ticket price. The tour group that I joined was fairly large, probably about 25-30 people and the guide herself was very knowledgeable.

I would have to say that this is one of my favorite tours that I’ve taken in Dublin so far. The only other thing that would compare to todays trip to Kilmainham would be the Guinness Storehouse Tour which is also a must see!

There is just so much history to be learned at Kilmainham and I would classify it as another must see on your to do list if you visit Ireland!

Click here for more information on Kilmainham Gaol.

Last Minute Trip to Alicante, Spain!

// May 1st, 2008 // 1231 Comment »http://www.pausethemoment.com/2008/05/01/ptm-last-minute-trip-to-spain/Last+Minute+Trip+to+Alicante%2C+Spain%212008-05-01+18%3A05%3A22Ryan // Spain, Travel

After searching, and searching for a flight out to Spain for this weekend, I finally came across a good deal on RyanAir.com and I jumped on it! As you probably know, I’m heading off on my Contiki Trip on the 11th of May so during my downtime here in Dublin I figured I’d try to find a quick trip to a country or place that I wouldn’t be seeing on the rest of my tour through Europe and Spain was one of the places that I didn’t have on my itinerary as of yet. Oh and of course I checked the weather and it’s supposed to be 80’s this week. Perrrrrfect!

Off I go to the warm and sunny coastal city of Alicante. It’s about 2 hours to Valencia, and about 40 minutes to Benidorm. I’m going to look into taking a day trip or two to a few places during my stay in Alicante. I’m really looking forward to catching some rays and a good few days exploring some of the southern coast of Spain.

I haven’t booked any accommodations for myself yet, but I’m going to try to sort all of that out tonight. I’m a member of two international exchange websites, Hospitality Club, and Couchsurfing. Both of these websites offer nearly 1,000,000 members from around the world that are mostly travelers that are looking for a means to travel and save money on accommodations by staying on someones couch or in a spare bed here and there along the way. You do not need to offer your couch or spare bed to be a member, you don’t even need to host anyone, you can offer to show someone around your native city, meet for coffee, and more.

I’m sure your next question would be, well how can you be sure that it’s safe? Well, both HC and CS have implemented a verification system for all of its members. If you would like to read more about the security/safety of either Hospitality Club or Couchsurfing click on the links below:

Couchsurfing FAQ

Hospitality Club FAQ