Sorry for a break in posting, been fairly busy
So this is a little delayed on writing but I went to Lisbon for 3 days over January and to describe it in 3 words, beautiful, wet and trams. I arrived in Lisbon mid afternoon and took a random stab in the dark about where I was and what I wanted to see. Jumped on the metro (compared prices to work, as expected, a lot cheaper) and got off near the docks. I then started to have a wonder watch some trams and decided to use them. The trams were amazing, I genuinely fell in love with them. They were exactly as i picture proper trams, old, wooden, single carriage and that feeling when you’re about to fly off the rails. I rode route number 12 (I think) which takes you through small back streets, tight turns and gives you amazing views as you go round. I got off at the top and got a view over the whole city. I went back and also rode route 28, which is the popular one, it was a nice route and you do pick up some good speed, and also get to see both sides of the city. However, I didn’t think it lived up to expectation. I think route 12 was more interesting for me. Anyway off to the hostel, which had a ball pit! I couldn’t resist.
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About a year ago to the date I was sitting on a heavily delayed sleeper train after having an amazing week in Tromsø even though I was panicking we would miss my flights I still couldn’t get over some of the amazing things we had seen and done.
This trip I took Cam along as I wanted someone to share the experience with me. So the week started off with a flight to Stockholm and a wonder round there. It was cold and there was snow covering the city which made it fairly pretty however I don’t think we found the main area of the city as we just seemed to find outskirts areas. However we weren’t there for that long so we headed to the station to catch a train to Uppsala, just north of Stockholm To catch the 1910 sleeper train to Narvik, this would be an 18 hour ride on the train and we would still only be half way there, but honestly it’s totally worth it. We boarded the train and found our couchette, they’re like dorms on a train with generally 6 or 4 beds in each. Unsurprisingly there were people already in the compartment but little did we know that these people would become great friends. So we sat down and started chatting, the first 10 or 20 minutes of a sleeper train is always a bit of shuffling around while you find places to put your stuff. After a very short amount of time the 6 of us were already playing games, chatting and having like a little couchette party, it was great! Although next time don’t hold a onesie outside the window for so long because it will freeze. The train stopped for extended periods of time on the way up due to timetable requirements, however this was a perfect excuse for a snowball fight on the station. It then came to the point where we had to say goodnight to all our new friends as it was bedtime, 1am mind you! So, I thought I would write a bit more in depth about my first solo trip out of the UK. It all came about when I was sitting at home one day looking through Instagram at travel pictures and the likes, and I had seen a video of a rhodelbahn in Switzerland which I wanted to go on. Therefore I started planning, but who would I go with? I asked my mate Cam who was unfortunately working most of the time while I was due to be away, and then an idea came to me, why don’t I go on my own!
I didn’t really want to go by plane as I was still not really over my fear of flying so I did a bit of research and decided to get the train to Switzerland! I wasn’t aware of interrail at the time so I just brought a ticket from the trainline international website and used my work discount for the Eurostar. I first got the Eurostar across to Paris and then a TGV down to Strasbourg and in to Basel the next day, first ever double decker train ride! I had stayed over in Paris the previous night, might as well. Personally I wasn’t a huge fan of Paris, no one was that social, and I just didn’t know where to go, it may have been to do with being the first time on my own but I just didn’t get the feel of the place So, for my first post I thought I would go in to a bit more depth about why I decided to start a travel blog. I have always loved the idea of travelling but never really known anyone that had the same level of interest and time off to come with me. I had done some UK based trips with one of my best mates where we cycled through wales for the week, which to be honest is probably where it all started. That Wales trip then grew to a couple of trips across the length and breadth of the country and eventually I wanted to see what else was out there.
So I started (proper) travelling back in summer 2017 when I decided to Switzerland for the first time on my own. I knew solo travel was a thing but never thought I would try it so soon, I had asked Cam if he wanted to come however he couldn’t get the time off work, so I thought rather than sit around at home, just do it. I’ve always had this look on life however it never really became apparent till now. My first solo trip was scary, I was venturing off in to the unknown, I knew Switzerland was a safe country to use for my first trip, but I had no idea what to expect. I will only go briefly In to my first trip, more details in another post. |
Sam InmanA guy who’s trying to find his way round the world, swimming, scouting and travelling to see the world
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