On the 5th day of the trip, Murph, Erik, Annie, Taz, Yas and myself headed to Bratislava by train. The train ride was a really warm one as they forgot to turn up the AC ☹. I was in a different hostel then the rest and I was put in a room with a Swedish girls dance team!! No, I am not lying. Too bad they didn’t stay in the room more then one night :p
Once I checked in, I met up with the rest of the crew and we went to the Slovak Pub where we had a great meal. After that we walked around the beautiful small town. In the evening we went to this cool bar on a boat on the Danube river where we had a few tequila shots. The thing that was special about these shots that, instead of having them with salt and a lemon slice like normal humans, we had them with cinnamon and blood oranges. I almost puked my guts out.
The next morning I stumbled out of my hostel to meet the others to do a bit more sightseeing. We met in front to the Slovakian parliament and then walked to the castle which wasn’t that spectacular. Then the others had other travel plans so I was left alone in Bratislava :o I took this time alone to have a nice side trip to Devin Castle, which is about 20 km from the center of Bratislava. From the Castle you get a great view of the Danude River, which has Slovakia on one side, and Austria on the other. I then finished off the night watching Austria vs Poland in a local Pub with cheap beers.
The thing that I appreciated to most about Budapest and Bratislava was not only the beautiful scenery but also the cheap prices. I’m really used to paying 7-10$ CAD for A beer in Oslo, and once I saw beer prices (prices in general) I almost pinched myself because I thought I was dreaming.
Next post: Vienna w00t !
Take care,
Jason
Ps All pictures that I took could be viewed HERE
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Budapest!!
On June 7th I flew to Budapest, Hungary to visit Murph, a University and JDC buddy who was studying there. I was actually Murph’s frosh captain during his first week at University and he kind of blames me for his massive drinking problems… meh. Also visiting Murph was Erik (another JDC guy and another guy under my tutelage at frosh), Annie (Murph’s girlfriend), and 2 other of Murph’s friends, Taz and Yas. It was really cool to visit these guys, as I hadn’t spoke frenglish (English/French Canadian combo) in a while.
The first day in Budapest we visited St-Stephen’s cathedral and walked down Andrassy ut, which is a World Heritage site, all the way down to Heroes Square. I believe that night we ate some great Hungarian goulash which was packed with paprika, a very Hungarian spice.
The next day with had a tour of the Hungarian parliament, which is located alongside the Danube River. After that we went to the House of Terror. This museum is located on Andrassy ut and depicts the history of Nazi and communist rule in Hungary and Budapest. Then we all went to the Opera house to take in a play or a nap. Either way it cost 3$ to get in and the inside was beautiful. That night, Murph took us to Simpla, which is one of the student bars he frequented very often during the semester. After a few horrible shots and beers we went to the 24 hour pub near Murph’s place where we stayed until 6am ..ugh.
Needless to stay the next day was more of a relaxing one. We headed to one of Budapest’s famous baths to relax, swim and take a sauna. This was one of the best parts of my trip. After, we hiked up the Buda side of the city to get a nice view of the city. That night we went to this cool rooftop bar that closed at 1am.
The day after we went back up the hill to visit the Royal Palace and Fisherman’s bastion. Since the Euro cup was starting that day, we went to Marguerite Island to watch Spain (the eventual champs) vs Russia in a group match.
The next day all of us hopped on a train to Bratislava, which I will talk about more in the next post.
I was really surprised of how much there is to do in Budapest and it is truly a great city to visit. Having a tour guide that has studied there for 5 months also helps ;)
Take care,
Jason
The first day in Budapest we visited St-Stephen’s cathedral and walked down Andrassy ut, which is a World Heritage site, all the way down to Heroes Square. I believe that night we ate some great Hungarian goulash which was packed with paprika, a very Hungarian spice.
The next day with had a tour of the Hungarian parliament, which is located alongside the Danube River. After that we went to the House of Terror. This museum is located on Andrassy ut and depicts the history of Nazi and communist rule in Hungary and Budapest. Then we all went to the Opera house to take in a play or a nap. Either way it cost 3$ to get in and the inside was beautiful. That night, Murph took us to Simpla, which is one of the student bars he frequented very often during the semester. After a few horrible shots and beers we went to the 24 hour pub near Murph’s place where we stayed until 6am ..ugh.
Needless to stay the next day was more of a relaxing one. We headed to one of Budapest’s famous baths to relax, swim and take a sauna. This was one of the best parts of my trip. After, we hiked up the Buda side of the city to get a nice view of the city. That night we went to this cool rooftop bar that closed at 1am.
The day after we went back up the hill to visit the Royal Palace and Fisherman’s bastion. Since the Euro cup was starting that day, we went to Marguerite Island to watch Spain (the eventual champs) vs Russia in a group match.
The next day all of us hopped on a train to Bratislava, which I will talk about more in the next post.
I was really surprised of how much there is to do in Budapest and it is truly a great city to visit. Having a tour guide that has studied there for 5 months also helps ;)
Take care,
Jason
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Land of the Midnight Sun ... 2 months later :P
The day after my birthday, I headed to the land of the midnight sun, the town of Tromso, Norway with some friends and Joyce. On the trip were Gautam (India), Audrey (France), Bernd (Germany), Putri (Indonesia), Alex (Romania) and Gerdina (Holland). All of them were there a day ahead since I decided to take a cheaper flight on the Friday morning. This was bad idea since I went out drinking the night before with other friends to celebrate my birthday ☺ . Once my plane landed, I headed to the campsite where we were staying. Afterwards we went into town to check out the sites. We then returned to to camp site since everyone was exhausted from the night before. We had a nice dinner and went to bed.
The next day, we took the funicular to get a birds eye view of the city of Tromso. Even though it was the end of May there was still plenty of snow and cold weather since we were so far north. The greatest thing about being above the Artic Circle in the Spring/Summer time is that the sun NEVER sets. It’s constant daylight, which really confuses you. However, I wouldn’t want to live here in the wintertime where there is no sun at all. After the funicular ride we took a fjord trip. The first part of the trip was by bus and the last part was by boat. Along the way we say some amazing scenery and drank some beers on the boat. After the fjord trip, which ended around 10:30pm, we headed to Driv, a cool bar in Tromso. The weirdest thing about this bar was that when you stepped out on the patio at 2am with a beer in your hand, it felt like it was 7pm because it was so bright out!
The next morning/ afternoon, we went on a small hike where we met local kids that were playing soccer. These kids were really cool and the approached because they wanted us to play soccer with them. You can tell that these kids come from a small town and they are not used to seeing tourists in their small city. After that, Putri, Joyce and I went to the Polaria Museum where we got to see actual seals in a swimming tank. It was great and Putri and Joyce were freaking out like little kids :p After the museum we returned to the camp site where chef Bernd prepared a great meal.
The morning after I returned to catch my 7am flight ..ugh .. and actually went to work that day. Tromso was really cool as I’ve always wanted to see the midnight sun ever since I came to Norway. Maybe I’ll be able to see the same thing in Northern Canada one day…hmmmm.
Take care,
Jason
The next day, we took the funicular to get a birds eye view of the city of Tromso. Even though it was the end of May there was still plenty of snow and cold weather since we were so far north. The greatest thing about being above the Artic Circle in the Spring/Summer time is that the sun NEVER sets. It’s constant daylight, which really confuses you. However, I wouldn’t want to live here in the wintertime where there is no sun at all. After the funicular ride we took a fjord trip. The first part of the trip was by bus and the last part was by boat. Along the way we say some amazing scenery and drank some beers on the boat. After the fjord trip, which ended around 10:30pm, we headed to Driv, a cool bar in Tromso. The weirdest thing about this bar was that when you stepped out on the patio at 2am with a beer in your hand, it felt like it was 7pm because it was so bright out!
The next morning/ afternoon, we went on a small hike where we met local kids that were playing soccer. These kids were really cool and the approached because they wanted us to play soccer with them. You can tell that these kids come from a small town and they are not used to seeing tourists in their small city. After that, Putri, Joyce and I went to the Polaria Museum where we got to see actual seals in a swimming tank. It was great and Putri and Joyce were freaking out like little kids :p After the museum we returned to the camp site where chef Bernd prepared a great meal.
The morning after I returned to catch my 7am flight ..ugh .. and actually went to work that day. Tromso was really cool as I’ve always wanted to see the midnight sun ever since I came to Norway. Maybe I’ll be able to see the same thing in Northern Canada one day…hmmmm.
Take care,
Jason
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Update
Hey everyone,
Just a small update, I am alive and well :P. I have been on hoidays the past few weeks and I will post my picuteres and will describe my trip to Switzerlnd, Autria, Bratislava and Budapest in my next few posts.
Also, I will talk about my trip to Tromso Norway that I took at the end of May.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Jason
Monday, May 5, 2008
I look like a guy who looks like the guy from TOP GUN!
Hello everyone,
As I came into work Monday morning and opened my e-mail, I noticed the subject line of one of my e-mails from my colleague Nuno was: Jason/Dragonfly. Since this e-mail was sent to a mailing list, and there is another Jason in the office, AND that Opera is releasing a product caled Dragonfly soon, I figured that this would not concern me for a few reasons.
1. I'm not working on the Dragonfly project
2. The other Jason in the office is a lawyer, so people tend to want to talk to him more then me.
3. People around here usually call me dude, you, or stupid Canadian, instead of Jason.
4. Who the HELL is Nuno?
So here is what I saw when I opened the e-mail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeiusUdc3k
Apparently Nuno thought that this Tom Cruise impersonator looks like me! ME! Well, he wasn't the only one. A few people around the office actually thought it was me in the video :eek:
Although it isn't me, we do have a few things in common as I do fly and eat planets :yes:
I'll let you be the judge.
Other then that, nothing really exciting has been happening , haha. Just working hard and looking forward to my summer vacation :)
Have a good week, miss you all.
Jason
As I came into work Monday morning and opened my e-mail, I noticed the subject line of one of my e-mails from my colleague Nuno was: Jason/Dragonfly. Since this e-mail was sent to a mailing list, and there is another Jason in the office, AND that Opera is releasing a product caled Dragonfly soon, I figured that this would not concern me for a few reasons.
1. I'm not working on the Dragonfly project
2. The other Jason in the office is a lawyer, so people tend to want to talk to him more then me.
3. People around here usually call me dude, you, or stupid Canadian, instead of Jason.
4. Who the HELL is Nuno?
So here is what I saw when I opened the e-mail:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeiusUdc3k
Apparently Nuno thought that this Tom Cruise impersonator looks like me! ME! Well, he wasn't the only one. A few people around the office actually thought it was me in the video :eek:
Although it isn't me, we do have a few things in common as I do fly and eat planets :yes:
I'll let you be the judge.
Other then that, nothing really exciting has been happening , haha. Just working hard and looking forward to my summer vacation :)
Have a good week, miss you all.
Jason
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Back to Oslo...
Well, it's been a real long time since I've posted something on here and since then I've been back home to Ottawa. Before starting my new contract with Opera I had to take a break, so this was the perfect opportunity to go back home and catch up with family and friends for 3 1/2 weeks!
The trip was really amazing. Lots of cold, snow, great food and parties. It felt like I never left which, I guess , is a good thing. It was great to catch up with friends that haven't really changed. Sure most of them have either moved out, bought their own place or got engaged but for the most part everyone was the same.
Now it's back to reality. After a 14 hour journey, I arrived back here in Oslo. My flights were all real smooth and it felt like spring as I landed in Oslo. The weather has been no less then -5 compared to Ottawa's -20. I've slowly settled back in to my routine of going to work, going to the gym and all that good stuff. I'm really looking forward to an extra year here in Oslo as it will give me one more year of precious work experience and more chances to travel :)
All is good on my end so hopefully everything is well with everyone.
I leave you with pictures of a snowboarding competition I attended here at Holmenkollen in Oslo with my friend and colleague Espen. It was a really cool time. These guys are insane !!
Take care,
Jason
The trip was really amazing. Lots of cold, snow, great food and parties. It felt like I never left which, I guess , is a good thing. It was great to catch up with friends that haven't really changed. Sure most of them have either moved out, bought their own place or got engaged but for the most part everyone was the same.
Now it's back to reality. After a 14 hour journey, I arrived back here in Oslo. My flights were all real smooth and it felt like spring as I landed in Oslo. The weather has been no less then -5 compared to Ottawa's -20. I've slowly settled back in to my routine of going to work, going to the gym and all that good stuff. I'm really looking forward to an extra year here in Oslo as it will give me one more year of precious work experience and more chances to travel :)
All is good on my end so hopefully everything is well with everyone.
I leave you with pictures of a snowboarding competition I attended here at Holmenkollen in Oslo with my friend and colleague Espen. It was a really cool time. These guys are insane !!
Take care,
Jason
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