Ireland Day 2 (July 8, 2012) - Castles and Monasteries

   Day 2 of the trip to Ireland started with an early morning grog, as the Flying Dog Double Dog (11.5%)

 I consumed as my Night Cap beer, really took it's toll on me.  I quickly had to shake off the grog, pop an advil and get downstairs to eat our free breakfast, as the Paddy Wagon Bus was leaving at 8am sharp for the Glendalough and Kilkenny tour.

  Now like everyday in Ireland, it was raining yet again, how wonderful, but atleast we were getting a view of the real Ireland (a joke that the bus driver would tell later).  I pounded back my Rice Krispies with a decent amount of sugar and terrible watered down juice (got to love hostel breakfast) and Hanne and I were ready to tour some of the Irish countryside.

  The bus driver, John (a rather large older gentleman) came to the lobby and rounded up the free tour, we followed him to the big green paddy wagon bus and settled in for the ride.  Now John, or JJ, as he liked to be called, was a very interesting fella, he loved the bus microphone, much like the contestants on American Idol.  He chatted the entire trip about anything and everything, his life, Ireland, told jokes, the economy, this man was on a role, he was very informative, but there was just times when the people had to laugh at just how long winded this man was, he truly loved his job.

  Our first stop was in the Wicklow National Park Glendalough Valley, which was located up in the Wicklow mountains.  These mountains at one point in history were said to rival the Swiss Alps, but obviously that was disproven very quickly.  This place is full of nature, ruins and folklore.

 

  Hanne and I started by walking on the trail that lead around the lakes, where the bus driver informed us, was home to Irish folklore, where a saint drowned a women that was attracted to him, however, the bus driver disproved this and stated that "the gentleman did not drown her, he simple got an erection and to get it down he rolled around in sharp edges, but the women drowned another way".  Ohhhh, well that's one way to suppress the urge and a round of applause for this saints dedication to fighting the need for human contact.



   The trail wrapped around and lead us to ruins of a monestary (oldest in Ireland) that had grave yards scattered all around the rock remains. 

The church itself stood from around the early 1200's.  The ruins were kept well and was a great place to wonder around and get lost for awhile.  After, it was almost time to leave, so I grabbed a cola on the terrace and the rain started really started to pour, so the bus driver informed us when we got back on the bus, that it was one of the worst recorded summers ever in Ireland (I need to research this).

  On our way to Kilkenny, we had one quick stop at Brownshill Domen, which is a temple that was built to bury either high priests, or kings, very large stone with an environmental scan of the area that still needs to be done.

  Finally, we arrived in Kilkenny, I was excited to see the Smithwick's brewery and of course enjoy the beer of the very same.  Kilkenny, is quite a small medieval city with a lot of charm and naturally Irish pubs.  However, some bad news, the Smithwick's brewery was closed on a Sunday, so we took a few pictures and headed for the castle.

 

  The Kilkenny Castle, an impressive structure was built in the late 1100's to the early 1200's and was the home of the powerful Irish Butler family for 600 years.  The grounds is quite large, and one must pay entrance to go into the Castle, which is now used as a museum, banquet hall and meeting place.  The castle has a rose garden on the side and a view overlooking the canal down to the city, as most castle's are usually elevated, so that the occupants can see what is happening at all times.

  Now it is time for that fantastic pint of Smithwick's with Hanne grabbing a Kilkenny, both brewed by Smithwick's, and I must say the difference in taste was noticeable to me.  I enjoyed that Smithwick's very much, probably just the placebo effect of being in Kilkenny, but hell it worked.

  We finally arrived back in Dublin around supper time, so time for my favorite part of any travel, eating and drinking, so we went to O'Shea's Hostel Bar for some great food.  Note:  If ever in Dublin, eat here and try lots of their dishes, affordable and amazing.  I had the Bangers and Mash, and man I had never seen three large sausages stacked on a think layer of mashed potatoes with gravy that high in my life.  Needless to say the third sausage might have been my death, but it was all worth washing it down with a fresh Guinness.

  Day 3, was going to lead us to the coast and the Cliffs of Moher, in which I have a funny story, so we watched a movie in the old theatre on O'Connell street and called er a bit of an early night.  Have to save some of the stamina for another night of beer tasting.....

  Stay Tuned for Day 3, and enjoy a great beer tonight (just do it),

  Roy

Land of Leprechauns, St. Patrick and Guinness Beer

Day 1:

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Ireland for the second time in my life.  The first time was on a back packing experience about 3 years back, but I must say the city was even more impressive then I remember it.

I have always felt that if I was not Métis/Canadian and German that I would have definitely been of Irish descent.  A country with a troubling past, beautiful nature, great music, great food, great beer and an all-around great atmosphere; this is a place that everyone needs to visit at some point in their life.

We arrived on a Ryan Air flight into Dublin on June 7 (Saturday), after hearing the triumphant music that accompanies any landing, followed by clapping of the passengers and bragging that Ryan Air completes over 90% of its flights on time and has the most punctual record in all of Europe, finally a time to enjoy a vacation.

The shuttle down town costs 6 Euros, which is a decent price as it dropped us right near our accommodation (Paddy’s Palace).  Paddy’s Palace, offers a free breakfast, free wifi, tours around Ireland and a friendly staff.  On the other hand, the showers have push buttons with scolding hot water and locks broken off the doors.

After having a hardy Irish breakfast at O’Sheas, we headed to the city hall to meet for a free tour of Dublin city.  

I have taken these tours before in many different places and they have always been informative and entertaining, so we were excited to learn and get some exercise.

Our guide was originally from Northern Ireland and had lived in Dublin for five years, she was energetic and a fast talker, but got the groups attention with her humour and energy.  First stop, we went to Dublin Castle, built in 1204 and for the 700 years following would be the seat of British rule in Ireland.  In the courtyard, a wall was even constructed so that the occupants of the castle could not see the poor people that surrounded its walls.  The castle in my opinion is not one of the most spectacular castle’s I have viewed in Europe, but then again, I don’t believe it was supposed to be.

From Dublin Castle we walked past the large Christ Church Cathedral and heard the story of St. Patrick, who was sold as a boy to the Irish as a slave.  One night he had a dream that a boat would soon be coming to take him back to England and two days later he was on the boat and sailing away from Ireland.  During his captivity, he embraced the Irish culture, which was a culture directed towards honouring many gods, but the dancing, singing and lifestyle attracted St. Patrick.

He then studied to become a priest and eventually became a Bishop in Rome, but had another dream that he must make it his mission to return to Ireland to convert the people to Protestant.  He succeeded by convincing the Irish Kings to convert, thus leading to the people eventually following their Lords.

Next we walked past the old Viking settlement, which had been knocked down, but was reconstructed from bricks that had been laid.  

This is where I was selected to lay down with 9 other people in the outline of their old dwelling and display how the Vikings slept.  I have found out that the Vikings are responsible for inventing the “SPOONING” position, so thank you Vikings.

After we walked into the Temple Bar District, which houses many of Dublin’s famous pubs and clubs, all within walking distance, reminds me of a stretched version of the oude markt; we saw where U2 got noticed and where Bono once was refused service in a bar based pre-judging by the manager, so Bono vowed to the manager that when he got famous, he would return, buy the building and fire the manager.  This is exactly what happened.

Then we passed by O’Connell street that has the island of Irish revolutionary statues along the River Liffey.  Behind it all, is the Millenium Spyre, 

which many Irish people are not impressed with, seeing as this Milennium project that was erected in 2003 during the only time in Irish history they were considered an economic powerhouse cost in the millions to build.  The locals make jokes about the Spyre with nicknames such as (“the erection by the intersection”, “the stiffy by the liffy” and they refer to writer James Joyce’s statue as “the prick by the stick”).

Some of the revolutionaries who through the many generations fought for Irish independence and have statues on the street include: Daniel O’Connell, Charles Parnell and James Larkin. 

Next we ventured to Trinity College, I have to say that if I had a chance to do an exchange again, I would attend this institution, such an amazing history.  Built in 1592 by the British, it was initially built as a Protestant seminary that would “civilize the Irish and cure them of Popery”.  Up until the 1960’s the Catholic Church deemed it a sin to attend this institution.  Recently, this is Ireland’s most prestigious University that houses the ancient “Book of Kell’s” and became famous for the library being in the Star Wars movie “Attack of the Clones”.

We were also informed that the tower at the middle, as in the fashion of Irish people and luck, was said that if a student walked under the tower, then they would be given bad luck on their tests.  Also if you walked under the tower and the bell sounded it informed everyone that a virgin had passed underneath, got to love folklore.

The final stop on our amazing and informative 3 hour walking tour was at St. Stephen’s Green, where we saw the Wolf Tone monument, who was a revolutionary in the late 1700’s and the famine statue.  The great famine was a very dark period in Irish history, especially when the subsistence crop of potatoes started to fail.  Most people in Ireland at this time owned a small plot of land where they farmed potatoes to eat, since one could live quite well of water and potatoes and corn to sell at the market to pay rent.

Once the potato crop failed, the people had to make a choice about the corn, whether to eat, or have shelter.  The British Empire (and as Indigenous people in Canada, we have felt this as well) left the Irish people to starve and die.  Over half to three-quarters of the Irish population died during this famine, so we paid our respects at the famine monument.

In the evening, we settled in at O’Neill’s pub, now if ever in Dublin this is a place to eat, the buffest style Irish food was incredible.  I had the traditional Irish stew with lamb and a pint of O’Hara’s Irish Red Lager.  O’Neill’s pub also has the most Irish craft beer on tap then any place in the city.

After that, I enjoyed a friar’s weisse, which was a very smooth German style weiss beer that tasted of banana, clove with a hint of citrus.  Then we continued the pub crawl by heading to the Foggy Dew, which was packed wall to wall, so I enjoyed a Caledonia Smooth (great Irish beer).

We ended by heading to the Porterhouse Microbrewery, which brews its own beer and has an extensive list of import craft beer.  This is where I sampled some of the house beer and also enjoyed the Flying Dog Double Dog, which was an 11.5% knockout punch of a beer.  The Porterhouse has three levels and is usually packed full as it resides on the same street that U2 was discovered and has live music every night. 

Stay tuned for Day 2 of the Ireland vacation as we explore the Wicklow mountains, Kilkenny and more food and drink!!

A Night with Friends, Sushi and Westvleteren!!

Yesterday, I got a slight taste of old Leuven mixed with new Leuven, as my friend Gonzalo (alias: Newland Savage on Face Book) 

graced us with his presence in Leuven.  After many confusing texts and wandering around Leuven, we finally coordinated our reunion in the always impressive Grote Markt.

It was exciting to see an old friend, so as per usual; I lead him to Café Belge, so we could have some proper beverages.  As we sat down and started reminiscing, I ordered a Zee Zuiper (Tripel) and Gonzalo had a Leute Bokbier to kick start the evening.  We discussed world politics, literature, religion, relationships, future prospects and toasted his acceptance to do his Master’s in Lille, France.

Round 2: I ordered a Hector Tripel and NEWLAND ordered a Gulden Draak, quite a powerful beer, but this lead us to discuss mutual friends, finances, travel, globalization and capitalism.  The conversation flowed like the great beers we were enjoying, as I looked at my watch I realized that it was time to go to Tomo’s for sushi.

I had only been to one previous sushi night at Tomo’s, but free fresh homemade sushi, how can this evening get any better.  

As we entered Tomo’s attic kot, I must describe this place; first off, it is in a shacky looking building that is crying out to be clothed with a new paint job.  We ring the buzzer and wait, finally a voice yells out and a set of keys descend from the upper window, naturally Gonzalo misses the keys, as he is a soccer player, not a baseball player.

We enter and start our climb around the narrow tiny steps that will bring us to the attic, where you enter through the attic door into the kot, a very unique place to live.  It is a comfortable space, where two guys live, my friend and fellow Canadian Chris Adrien occupies the little cubby hole right up against the roof, where he stores his stuff and sleeps, I am impressed with his tenacity to climb the very dangerous unhinged latter to his mattress in the ceiling every night.

As we take an open seat on the floor, the sushi gets cut and dispersed, it is delicious, everyone has switched to wine, but in true Roy fashion, I continue to drink my Jupiler and Vedett that I picked up at the Nacht Winkel moments ago.  As people start to leave, Sajjad (who is passed out sleeping in Tomo’s bed), Kaja (our Slovenian friend – hope I spelled the name right), Gonzalo and myself encounter a pleasant surprise.

Tomo pulls out a box of 6 Westvleteren Abt 12, accompanied by two beer glasses of the same brand.  He informs that he acquired this rare purchase in Brussels during the very surprising marketing stunt by the Abbey.  I have not had one of these for three years and obtaining them is not an everyday thing.  As Tomo starts discussing in an entrepreneurial fashion the reselling to make profit on E-Bay, I cannot help but form a strategy to talk him into letting us try one bottle.

As we start discussing it, Kaja and Gonzalo become a key part of the convincing, we are relentless and we can see Tomo start to think “perhaps let’s give it a try”.  The full court press is in action, as Tomo finally agrees that we can share one bottle of the good stuff. 

Now for all the naysayers that declare that St. Bernardus Abt 12 is like having a Westvleteren Abt 12,

I again, like in my review will kindly disagree, especially enjoying this beer slightly chilled and at room temperature really brought out the special taste.  Deep amber in appearance with a sweet malty aroma of dark fruit and raisins, the taste and flavour jumped right out of the chalice and provided that wow moment.

Lately, I have been reading from a few bloggers that Westvleteren is over rated, or the hype is not worth the sip, for this I am truly disappointed in my fellow beer tasters, because the malty sweet raisin taste, perfect mouthfeel and pleasant finish make this beer worth the wait every time.

There are similarities between Bernardus and Westvleteren, but in a taste test the flavour of Westvleteren is like Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to Hakeen Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets, both great teams, but the Bulls are one of the greatest dynasties ever, it is blasphemous to speak otherwise.  I feel this way about sampling Westvleteren last night, definitely a dynasty.  Thanks’s Tomo for sacrificing one of the bottles in the package for a sushi good time!!

Over and Out,

Roy

Amsterdam x THREE

Greetings,

  It has been awhile since I blogged, so naturally if nothing happens in your life in the last month, then I would say it is time to spice it up.  I have lots to talk about, but first I want to focus on my most recent trip to Amsterdam.  Last week, I took another visit to the city of Sin - they call Vegas "Sin City", but wait till you see the Red Light District.  

  Both of these places are cash cows to say the least, but Amsterdam is also chalk full of history.  This recent visit to Amsterdam was my 3rd time being in this (on everyone's bucket list, as a place to be at some point in their life) place.  After three times, can you believe that I have never had a picture with the gigantic I AM-STERDAM sign, I have always meant too, but I guess this glorious potential photo that I will inevitably throw on Face Book will have to wait.

  The first time I made the journey to Amsterdam, I was an inexperienced, fresh out of University traveler, who had never stayed in a hostel, let alone ever dreamt of being in a place like Amsterdam.  I went with my girlfriend Hanne, who organized everything because of my inability to abstractly think of a world outside of Saskatchewan.  We stayed in Nordwijk, about a 45 minute drive into Amsterdam city at a Beach in the Flying Pig Hostel.  This was a nice place and gave a free shot every night at 9pm, needless to say I question the authenticity of the alcohol.

  I remember my first visit to Amsterdam, it was quite astounding, looking around, capturing the images I have only heard about, adamantly holding my wallet, as a strong line of defence against pick pocketers.  The canals were unbelievable, first canals I had viewed at this point, the street from the station that lead to Dam sqaure where Madame Teusseau (sorry if mispelt) was situated.  As well, the tourists were off the hook, they flowed everywhere like a swarm of mosquitos after a fresh rainfall.  The hustle and bustle felt like Manhattan at noon hour, I said felt like, nothing could compare to that swarm.

  My first visit was full of culture, naturally we viewed the An Frank House,

The wax Museum a fore mentioned,

saw Rembrandts impressive statue and lastly viewed the Sex Museum, wow what a tourist trap that was, but who cares your on vacation.  My experience with the Red Light District was only a day time experience, so not much to mention, but we did eat at a touristy place that appeared as if laundering drugs and money through the back door was a possibility, needless to say the food was terrible, but are the Dutch really known for their fine cuisine anyways.

  Jumping ahead two years later and I found myself passing through Amsterdam a second time with my backpacking entourage.  Many of my fellow backpackers were relatively new to exploring Europe, so as the experienced veteran I booked the trip, and I wanted to see this Amsterdam's Red Light District in action (especially with all the rumors that it might shut down).  

  This time, I rode on the Canal Bus transport and being as I had seen enough separated from the group, rented a bike and rode out to explore the Van Gogh Museum and the parks outside the centre.  Now to describe my bike ride, I need you to close your eyes (seriously close them) and picture yourself stuck in traffic in downtown Toronto at rush hour.  Now after your done shivering at the thought, the point is that bike riding is an art form in the Netherlands, so I was impressed with my new art form.

  Now I saw the Red Light District at night for the first time, needless to say it is busy, it wants your money and it will find some way to get it.  You will understand what I am talking about, when you open your wallet the next day and go oh shit, the money for my trip to Denmark has just enhanced the Dutch economy ; )

  It was a great experience, I was 26, the hustle and bustle was crazy, weed was smoked everywhere and the streets were filled with drunken British bachelor parties, so this is were I said perhaps I should have my Bachelor party here, but what could I have been thinking.  After our money had been drained, and after a number of touristy meals (meaning bathroom breaks were necessary).  My time there was impressive, but very pricy.

  Fast Forward to 2012, in fact just a week ago, my buddy Derek and Donny,

 who were to be my groomsmen in my wedding party until the wedding got cancelled, still trooped it to Europe to come visit me.  Now, I have been in Belgium for two months and I welcomed a nice visit from Saskatchewan, as I continue job searching and Hanne and I try to get our life back on track.

  Therefore, what other place to meet then in Amsterdam, with Nizer (another groomsmen) joining us over the weekend.

I took the bus from Brussels North Station (the scene of the Brussels criminal red light district) to Amsterdam.  I met the fellas at our hostel in the Red Light District (Hostel the Globe), we were in a 22 room mixed bedroom that contained an overwhelming amount of dudes, the room stunk regularly and there was a giant 7 foot Irish man that slept and farted (overwhelming farts) in our area.  He was a nice enough guy, but needless to say I will let Donny tell the story.  As well, my first meal there still gives me nightmares, I ordered a BLT, very hungry and excited, the food came on untoasted bread, with very little lettuce, one tomato and two uncooked slices of bacon laying on top of the bread.

I took one bite, spit it back on the plate and took it to the guy working, the hostel staff never really seemed to care much.

  The first night went well, we partied Amsterdam style in the Red Light District, but keeping in mind I am 30 now, the zest to go crazy when you are 26 has left.  The Red Light District (was just the same as when we left it, nothing had changed), most of the stuff to do or see, we have done before.  In that case, we started noticing the scammers and the drug dealers more, the dirtiness of the area and how crowded it was.  

  As well, the food again was not that impressive and often times were over priced.  Don`t get me wrong, Amsterdam is an amazing city, but once you have partied in the Red Light District once, in my opinion that is enough.  We spent a lot of money and all of us still are wondering on what.  The highlight was seeing the fellas and touring the Heineken Brewery, which I will write for the WBC website, but again boredom scammed us into sitting in an ice bar sipping (I think it was vodka) out of ice cubes and watching a racially insensitive 4D show with the little Inuit character.

  

  On top of it, we drank Heineken`s all trip, now for one or two pints this is okay, but for a whole weekend, this can get kind of tough, so needless to say, the city is still beautiful, a must see, but for myself, the Red Light District and me are through, but I say that now because in September my brother comes down......YIKES!!!

  I will just have to tape my wallet closed......................

  Cheers,

  Roy

It has already been a month

Greetings friends,

  The time has really flown by at an extreme rate, it has been a month in Belgium.  I often think of my friends and wonder how one month overseas would be treating them in a similar situation.  Finally, I feel like I am adapting back to the fast paced student life of Leuven.  The bike rides are less extreme, as I zip through the small roads at a confident speed.

  On the employment front, I am still an unemployed guy living in Europe.  I have never been unemployed before, it is like a full time job to be unemployed.  Most days offer little routine, I often fill my time appearing busy as I watch the money I worked so hard to save dwindle like chocolate at a dinner party.  I have had a few leads, a couple opportunities to perhaps teach English, but those leads seem to be a dead end.  Then the bartender job at the Irish pub, where I have spent so much money over the past years, that they could have opened another one on my tab, but again I must wait as I have been told their is stiff competition for the bartender position.

  Next week, I am meeting with a Human Rights organization that is starting the exact same programme that I started almost 3 years ago in Lethbridge.  Hoping something will come out of this.  I have been applying for international positions where the competition provides a needle in a hay stack opportunity, on top of needing to re-write my resume under a EU format, I am going to need a little luck.

  On a very satisfying note, I reached my 200th Belgian Beer (Pater Witkap Stimulo) sampled this past weekend, very tremendous accomplishment and I have had the opportunity to meet with some good friends.  Currently, I am sitting in the Alma, where I used to eat as a Master's Student here, keeping busy with continuous work on the WBC website.  Therefore, I will let my friends and family know what a day in the life of Roy is in Leuven.

  8:30am - Wake up against my will, after tapping the alarm snooze a number of times, but knowing that productivity often occurs in the morning hours.

  9:00am - Eat Breakfast, while watching old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm and It's Always Sunny in Philadalphia.  Mostly this is a Muesli Breakfast with Milk that tastes off to me.

  10:00am - Yes!!  It took me one hour to eat my breakfast and get motivated, now that I am feeling like peering my head out of our tiny flat to catch some fresh air, I head to the Sport Fitness.

  10:30am - I run around a track while listening to Crocodile Rock, Irish Tunes and some other self-motivating music, then I bike home.

  11:30am - Shower and get ready to work.

  12:00pm - Lunch, sometimes I grab a panini, or a sandwich from Alma cafeteria, then I eat it alone and ponder life, but I try to enjoy this sandwich.

  1:00pm - Time to get to work, very excited to start working - I apply for a couple jobs that appear like I have a generous %5 chance of getting and then feeling satisfied, I start adding beers to the website, we are at over 1,600 beers, as I am adding I continue to convince myself that at least I have my website to work on.

  3:00pm - Go to Pangaea International House and sit down have a cola and wait for the maybe 6 people I know to walk into the place, so that I can have a conversation because boredom has got the better of me, so in anticipation I just continue to add some beers.

  6:00pm - Supper Time - Hanne and I sit down to eat.

  7:00pm - ????? - Anonymous (No concrete plans in this time frame, mostly just whatever happens will happen).  Like the photo above (EVENING ACTIVITY).

  The job search continues, my friends Derek and Donny arrive to Europe on the time that the wedding would have taken place, but instead we will be in Amsterdam.  Belgium is an amazing country, the culture here is great and I am trying to stay optimistic about finding a job soon, as I continuously fight off jobless depression.

  Keeping Faith,

  Roy

Going on 3 Weeks!!

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since I arrived back in Belgium.  I have lived, worked and studied abroad before and was also proud at one point to call myself a Leuvenite, but this time is different.  Life as a student is a temporary thing, some people draw it out as much as is possible compiling papers after papers, but eventually it has to come to an end.

When I graduated my Master's last time, I made a choice to return to Canada and gain work experience.  To my surprise the work I got was exactly what I have strived to do.  It was a very tough decision to leave home, where I had adjusted back to my Canadian lifestyle.

Upon arriving back, I remember just how much of a student life exists here in Leuven, there are students everywhere.  This is a vibrant city of classmates that attend a morning lecture and then venture to the Oude Markt, rain or shine, to enjoy a "pinje" - small pint (250ml).

For international students if you go to Pangaea house, you can get a cold Stella Artois for 1 Euro (I agree this sounds like a trap, for us beer drinkers), so it is imperative in order to be productive to try and stay away from this place, but the atmosphere of international people almost draws you to the action.

I was stunned to find that some of my old friends that I have not seen for around 4 years, were still in Leuven, my Canadian buddy Chris Adrian, American Sicilian Sage Waters and the hilarious Sajjad (who calls himself Savage on Face Book). 

During this time it has been imperative that I try to find some sort of routine in my life.  Hanne is working most days from early morning to late evenings in Ghent, so I need to find a routine that feels comfortable.  I thought walking into Leuven would be like walking into a time machine, but low and behold 3 years does change a lot. 

Every morning, I try to venture to the Sport Kot to go for a run and stay in shape, because believe me with Donor Kebaps, Groot Frites met Mayonnaise and cheap high qaulity Belgian beer it is not hard to become a night owl.  I have met with some old friends, which has been great to catch up.  However, that is the point, it is "catching up", my life has been flipped upside down.

It is a lot of things, need to open a banck account (not done), need to get health insurance (not done), need to get a gym membership (in progress), need to get used to riding a bike next to a bus that appears unfazed that I exist on the road with 20 bikers trailing up my a@$.  I have chosen old places to attempt my work, but most libraries only allow students in if they have a card, as you must scan it to open up the high security, so I am using Hanne's card.

On the job front, it has been a lot of leads.  I have applied to be a bartender at the Irish pub I frequent, won't know till June and even then, I heard there was stiff competition.  I often joke (from Professor to Bartender) - talk about limbo.  I have also been in discussion with a women about teaching English in Brussels, but again an outside lead, then there is a few volunteer opportunities, so the search continues.

However, I did get to lecture to a Anthropology of Law class and am still free lance writing, but the immigration continues.  Belgium is such a great country, but often I feel like I gave up a great opportunity at the University - "The things we do for love".

Till next time - become a member of World Beer Collection!!!!!  (haha)

Roy

Leuven - Weekend (Interesting)

As I sit here in our flat that does not quite feel like "ours" quite yet, I am writing about my first few days back in the memorable country of Belgium.  Arriving Friday morning, tired after the flight and waiting for my bags for over an hour, I arrived at our flat.

Hanne was not kidding, it is a very tiny space (definetly not meant for Canadians), with my life literally tucked into a large backpack, a small suit case and a small backpack, I realize all this travelling and living other places has not allowed me to accumulate anything.  I am a 30 year old who literally owns nothing - well atleast I got an E-reader, IPOD and a Tablet, so catching up technologically.

I quickly unpack and magically we find space for all my stuff, which again is pretty much nothing, but it still fits.  Although small, the apartment is cozy, it has all I need, a bathroom, and a nice kitchen (food mmmm), but the laundry needs to be done at a laundry mat.

The first day after a quick hour power nap, I realize that I should fight the urge to go into full REM sleep, a a way of fighting of jetleg, so I pop up, shake off the grog and get ready.  Last time I was in Leuven, I was a student with friends, I new this city, the places, the streets, the smells, but after a 3 year abscence, this place feels like a friend I have not seen in a longtime and we must get to know eachother again.

This is such a beautiful city, lots of European charm, very small, but with lots to do, but this time I am not here to study, but rather to start a new chapter in my life - the fun world of job searching.  Did I mention that my Dutch sucks, so that is kind of a priority, but what am I going to do, the question I have no answer too.  People who have played it safe their whole life and entered a career and kept it for a long time, might at some opoint crave a new beginning, a kind of open life where the unknown can be seen as an opportunity.

However, the unknown is as scary as the thought of hell to a devout Christian.  What will I do?  Will my experience transfer over? Will I get a job that makes me happy?  Are there good jobs out there for me?  These, plus many questions ring in my head everyday, on the other side, I have moved overseas to live in a great country, great city with a lot of charm and of course to be with Hanne.

However, I get a reality check on Saturday, as I am confronted with an uncomfortable situation of a former team mate on the football team who comes to offer me a job, as we are drinking at the Irish Pub.  The job is moving plants, now I am not going to go into too much detail, it is more of a had to be there scenario, to make things short - he acts arrogant about being my boss at a minimum wage plant moving job (I am thinking I would never work for this guy), then he starts calling me fat (in fact - at one point, as I was going to the bathroom - he grabs his money and in a arrogant manner says here grab us some beers - like I am some kind of poor guy - I refuse naturally, but he repsonds that I need the excercise, so I should get it).

I am thinking, who is this a%$#@$, a guy I use to play football with, wow how things change, the final straw comes when he looks at my cell phone cover, which was hand made by my Metis friend and has the logo (Metis infinity sign) of our culture beaded on a leather case with my initials.  This case means a lot to me.  He looks at it and after about 40 minutes of taking his abuse (because according to others - that is just who he is) - mind you their was obviously other stuff he said that would be brought into question, but he says, what is that gay symbol - have you gone gay now.  That was it, I stood up to leave, as I am asked why I am leaving, it comes out like water breaking through a leak in the titanic...........#$%^&***^%^**(&^^  (I will not repeat because I would have to repent, but I let him know that his behaviour was not acceptable).

However, my friend Nizer gets a hold of me and saves the evening by listening, supporting and understanding the situation.  We share some good beers at some old hangouts Blauwe Kater, Cafe Belgica, Alegria and Cafe Orient.  We also meet Marco and "Mini" (first time I met him), but it makes me realize one A#%$^%$^$% should not ruin my first weekend here, I still have some good friends around.

The job search is just getting underway.............

Till next time soemthing crazy happens......

Pogo

Getting to Leuven

May 15/2012 - 15:10 - Our Flat at Jozef 2 Straat - Leuven

  Finally - the horrible fight process is over and I am getting settled into Leuven, Belgium.  After I finished the last blog post, the travel process got interesting.  Our plane had to fly to Montreal from Toronto and all the passengers continuing on through the flight process had to take all their stuff, get off th eplane, walk around for an hour and re-enter the plane.

  As I was walking to Gate 50 at the airport in Montreal, I get stopped by a wanna be police oficer (aka rent a cop) on a segway, with a helmet and elbow pads on.  For some reason I get targeted and he B-lines it right for me and says in a authoritative voice "Can I see your boarding pass".  I dig through my bag and gather the pass and show it to the guy, but as he focuses on the pass with a dumbfounded look on his face, he asks me where I came from.

  I explain my situation, but he still is confused and says, go to the lady at the boarding gate and make sure that they change it from Montreal to Brussels.  As frustrated as I am at this point and tired, I agree, so I walk to the lady and she says, ignore that guy he does not know what he is talking about.  Hahaha, it must have been the segway that spurred this reaction.

  After re-boarding, I take my seat beside an old man that is crunched in the middle between a young girl and myself.  It is a very uncomfortable situation and for 7 hours in the air, this was going to suck!!  However, a magical thing happened, his friend, another older gentleman comes up and says "Hey, we got a seat in the back for you, these young people don't want some old fart sitting in the middle of them".

  I laugh because it was a very funny comment, and he looks at me and says "am I right or what?".  I shrug my shoulders and the old man exits, could this be possible, perhaps a flight overseas with know one in between us, as good as those snobby private cubical's in first class, or business class (as they call it to take away from creating a class system, but we all know what it really means).

  Then this older lady comes to our seat and gets in, I guess the in-flight attendant made her move, but the old man who was a friend remained back their, so we waited and just as we are getting ready to depart on the long journey, the attendant comes up and says we were able to find you a seat with your friends in the back after all, this is definetly a Hallelujah moment for me, as I have just been given the space that any solo individual travelling overseas hopes and dreams for.

  The flight was long, as I watch Jack and Jill with Adam Sandler (would never pay money for) and some other fairly entertaining stuff (well since I already forget, it was not that great).  However, a miraculous thing happens, the flight attendant this short guy with a goatee, comes to provide a beverage and offers me a Heineken, although I am not the biggest fan of Heineken, a free beer is a free beer and I could use one on this flight.

  Well after that one, he comes and starts dropping off beers at my seat, without being asked, it was amazing, finished one and another free beer awaited, then he started giving me pretzels, I would have to say in all my travelling this was the best flight attendant I have ever came into contact with.  After 6 Heineken's, I am ready for the final phase of the trip, landing in Brussels!!!

  I will get to that later.......

  Roy

Travel/Immigrating Blog!!

May 3, 2012 - 14:22pm (Toronto, Ontartio)

Well the day is finally here.  The moment I have been waiting for and counting down until.  However, I find myself with a lot of mixed emotions.  I have had a lot of time to prepare for this move to Belgium, but it just never seems like there is enough time and as cliche as it sounds, time goes pretty darn fast.

Recently, my fiance and I have just cancelled are wedding, it was a difficult decision that consumed my mind for the better part of April, but the uncertainty of the future, mixed with the fact that we have not seen each other for the past 8 months had something to do with it.  The mission is to re-connect, have a relationship and see how adapting to Belgian lifestyle can occur.

It is not easy to give up a career, family, friends and familiarity for a country that is never your own and no matter how much one tries to integrate, there is always a sense of being a stranger, where the customs, traditions and ways of life of the locals is programmed differently.  Of course, I am heading to Belgium because of LOVE, I love my "girlfriend" and I would do anything to make the relationship work, including hopping on a plane to Belgium.  It has been an amazing 6 years of knowing one of the most strong/concrete people in my life and an opportunity to explore a future together is exciting.

This morning started off okay, but was very sad as I said good-bye to my father, brother and mom.  Especially at a time when one of my Auntie's is losing her battle with cancer, it makes me feel guilty for not being there for my family (most notably Grandma and Mom).

John dropped me off at the airport in his newly purchased 2000 Ford Focus, as I checked in my luggage, I forgot that Air Canada in an attempt to not go bankrupt in the future, makes people going overseas with 2 bags pay for the extra one, which never used to be the case, so immediately good start to the morning as I have to fork over 75 dollars to get one suitcase on the plane.

Next encounter is my cork screw, as I pass through security, I pass through the metal detector gate okay, which always feels like a huge accomplishment, especially as you see the person off to the side getting the more personal metal detector swiped over their body.  Then one of the security people pulled me aside and said they had to find my metal cork screw, therefore, the contents of my bag are thrown out in front of a hurried audience.  GOOD NEWS though, the cork screw is discovered and everyone on the plane can feel safe.

I enter the plane and get my seat 15C, always must sit on the aisle, this serves to important functions: 1.) I can stretch my leg into the aisle, this provides a great relaxed feeling, but when it comes to the one time on this flight to Toronto that they give drinks, then I have to tuck em.  2.) Bathroom access - this is extremely necessary, as I am person that gets pee claustrophobic - meaning if I am sitting in a position with restricted bathroom access, my bladder decides to act up. This creates a very uncomfortable journey as I ask the poor person on the aisle to move like 5 times as I have to awkwardly head to the tiny bathroom (always troublesome during turbulence).

As I am sitting in 15C, I notice that people have stopped filing in and the window seat is open.  Now for the lonely traveler, this is a very exciting moment, it is a possibility that somehow you lucked out and got the two seats to yourself; the anticipation expands as I begin forcing myself not to look at the entrance, sure enough and on cue, a girl runs in carrying two carry ons and naturally her seat is 15A.

Currently, I sit after eating some sushi, watching It's Always Sunny in Philadalphia, enjoying a Stella and working on the WBC site.  The wait in the terminal feels uncomfortable and believe it or not, it is hard to find a plug in..........therefore, I suppose I am forced to enjoy another 10 dollar Stella when I need to charge the Lap Top.  The flight leaves at 5pm with a stop over in Montreal, so we start boarding at 16:25, I always love the battle to get on the plane first, the epic struggle, the weird line formations and those sly travelers that have made budding a real talent.  The competition during boarding time gets fierce, but it is not as bad as boarding a Eurolines bus from Warsaw to Vilnuis (now that was terrible).

Thus I have decided to start writing in my blog about my travels and adjustment to Belgium life; as I struggle to find a job, learn a new language, re-connect in my relationship, play football, drink beer and eat frites.  I hope you will join me on this journey, good way to keep people updated, as I venture into the next chapter in my life (Canadian Immigrant).

Till next Blog,

Roy

Travelling and Exercise a Perfect Combination: An Overview of Crypt Lake Hike in Waterton.

This is a piece I wrote for the travel section of the Lethbridge Journal about the Crypt Lake hike at Waterton National Park.  A wonderful hike full of adventure and a great way to have a workout in some of Canada's finest nature.  

The Crypt Lake hike at Waterton National Park is quite a challenging, but beautiful hike in Southern Alberta.

The hike takes an entire day and is approx. 16-18km in total.  Piece of cake, right!!!  Well it is also a climb to a 700 metre elevation, past 4 waterfalls, many obstacles and changing landscapes. 

I remember that morning getting to the ticket counter, I had prepared my feet to prevent getting blisters (nylon socks from the running room are a miracle cure for preventing blisters) and purchased my 20 dollar ticket to take on this hiking challenge.  To get a ticket, one has to go to the dock and purchase before the boat leaves to take you to your destination.  There is a boat that leaves at 9am (suggested to take) and 10am, with the boat picking the tired hikers up at 4pm and 5:30pm.

I suggest the early boat, mostly because this is an all day hike, it is intensive and not everyone can make it back to the dock right at 4pm, but do not panic, because you will definitely make it back for 5:30pm, also mostly because you have to.

On the boat ride, there were quite a few people, from a vast array of cultures and a guide who provided information about the hike.  In fact, I was sitting their excited about the fact that I had finally bought a bear bell, promptly attached to my backpack, when the guide says, okay folks, remember this is the bears home, so be careful. 

I stifled a smile to my fiancé thinking I will be okay with my bear bell.  Then the next thing out of the guide’s mouth is “bear bells are useless and will not protect you, in fact, the sound of the bell will attract bears out of curiosity, so just use natural sound”.  Well this was certainly interesting, so I immediately put the bell in my backpack and realized I had just wasted money on a bear bell.

The boat drops the eager hikers off at the dock near the beginning of the hiking trail, definitely come prepared with food (fruit, vegetables, granola bars), water and appropriate hiking gear because this is it, no one can leave until the boat returns at 4pm, so now the fun begins.

The hike begins by immediately starting on an uphill climb through lots of green forest, but eventually levels off, shortly upon starting the journey, a sign to hike off the track and check out Hell Roaring Falls appears, if one wants to see the Falls, then it is recommended to check it out on your way back, because you will need to conserve energy for the uphill climb, plus to meet the trail again, it is a pretty steep climb up.

Then the hike levels off, a good time to conserve energy, grab a snack and prepare for the uphill to begin again.  Approximately 5.6 kms into the hike is Burndt Rock Falls, which is a very nice area and a beautiful view, a good chance to take some pictures and enjoy the scenery.

Next, there is lots of rock face to climb up on, this can be very tiring and get extremely hot, especially with the sun beating down on the rock face.  There is also obstacles with snow that can be slippery and difficult to walk through that randomly appear at places along the trail, so be careful, walk slow and all will be okay.

After walking on rock for quite some time, the hike gets exciting, as there is a cave with an 8ft steel ladder, that you must climb to crawl through the cave, which is in the side of the mountain, after that there is a narrow ridge, with some difficult rocks, it is important to be careful and hold the cable if necessary, because a fall would not be a good thing at this point.

Shortly after that, it is the most relieving site, Crypt Lake, congratulations, you have made it 8kms up and now can enjoy a hard earned lunch with a very scenic view.  If you need to refill water, which I am positive you might, 50 metres away is a waterfall that can assist in getting more water, very cold and refreshing.

Now it is time to get motivated because even though the accomplished feeling is great, you have to go back down, which is also quite tiring, but reaching the dock is a nice site, because you have just accomplished an amazing hike and if you are like me, just lost 5 pounds.  Please enjoy this hike if you get a chance, it is really worth a day of scenic nature.  Plus the cold beer in the town after has never tasted better.