Backpacking

Bonjour!

At the moment I am in a cafe just near Notre DAME...in Paris!

Since I last wrote I have visited the Hague (International Peace Palace and Gemeente Museum for a Picasso to Tapies exhibition), and spent a few delightful days in Brugge. The main town square has an ice skating rink in the middle and Xmas markets. The waffles there- well, let´s just say they were quite heavenly...

I arrived in Paris on Monday and am having a great time. I visited the Louvre on my first day here....only got through about half a wing in about 4 hours.....plan on returning tomorrow though to see a little more, but I am certain I will never truly get to do it justice as an occasional visitor.

On Tuesday I went to one of the Museums of Modern Art - It has an interesting range of Cubist, Fauvist, Dadaist etc. works. I also did lots of walking along the Champs Elysees, and had a look at the Arc de Triomphe, Hotel Des Invalides, Le Saint Eustache Eglise (a lovely Cathedral), Jardin des Tuilleries and did some window shopping. I also went to dinner with an American guy from the hostel to sample escargots- aka SNAILS...they weren´t too bad at all - quite salty and a bit like mushrooms - doesn´t everything taste like mushrooms if its indescribable? The worst part was trying to get the mushy snail out of its shell without shooting the whole thing across the floor. I think we may give frogs legs a try in a couple of days...

I picked up a friend from the airport yesterdqy - Sam - and had to get up at the crack of dawn so i am very very tired still. It rained much of yesterday which was a shame, but we went up the Arc de Triomphe and laughed at all the cars below, visited the Madeleine, Musee D´Orsay, and God knows what else!

We have visited the Pantheon this morning and are just shortly heading to Notre Dame and then i think we will head to Monmartre, The Sacre Couer, Salvador Dali museum and to have a look at the Moulin Rouge. Tonight we are going to have dinner with some people from the hostel and head to the Champs Elysees for late night shopping. It is a nice sunny day and i don´t even have a coat on so it should be nice and clear later when we head up the Eiffel Tower.

I am in Paris for a few more days and then I head to Switzerland to stay with my cousin Kraig. It will be great to see him again after many years of him living abroad.

Hope all are well.

A bien tot

Belinda x

6 Jan

Hola...

Still having lots of fun. Been very busy the last week or so. Am currently in Seville and heading to Lisbon tomorrow night. Spent today in Cordoba, came back and watched the Three Kings parade in the street (for Epiphany or something) (we managed to get 135 lollies that the multicoloured santa claus impersonators and overweight tellitubby kids throw to the multitudes of Sevillians), and then went back to the hotel to tangle with Spanish bureaucracy - dodgy hotel man quoted us a price that differs to the price we found listed in a hidden spot in the hotel.........grrrrrrrrrr not impressed.

In the last week we have visited Dali Museum in Figueras, Monastery of Monserrat, Picasso and Miro museums, spent a couple days in Granada, the day before yesterday in Seville, yesterday in Ronda (this is fantastic!), and today in Cordoba.

Will write in a few days or when I can get online.........
Cheers
Belinda x