The European adventure begins

Monday 26 May - Barcelona
Spain has welcomed me with terrible weather, it was cold & raining when I arrived but cleared up after lunch to a beautiful afternoon. It's easy to tell I'm back in Europe, all of a sudden there are fountains & statues everywhere (bit of a change from my last 3 trips which have all been to Asia).

Bridge, you will be glad to hear that Topdeck's meeting hostel is much better in Spain than London (although that doesn't last for the whole trip from what im hearing).

Tuesday 27 May
Met a few people from my tour at the hostel & we headed to Park Guell. Tour officially started, we've got a group of 20, 17 of which are Australian (2 from Canada & 1 Kiwi). We did a driving tour of the city... had flashbacks being back on a Topdeck bus! We saw the Sagrada Familia (the massive cathedral that has been being built for over 150 years and they estimate it will be finished in another 20 years!)

Wednesday 28 May
Explored some more of Barcelona this morning (walked down La Rambla and went to the markets - amazing food, then headed down to the harbour).
And we're off, to Valencia today with a pit stop at the Cava Caves (Spanish champagne winery).
5 minutes after we left the winery our bus broke down! We had a great view while we waited for 2+ hours before our trip to the local mechanic. We'd missed lunch and dinner so it was a trip to the local Lida (Aldi) for a bus-worthy picnic. Random day but we made it to Valencia.

On my way...

Well here I go... time to make the most of the fact I've quit my job!
Please don't expect any fantastic writing, just a rough record of where I am and what I'm doing...

Wednesday 21 May 2014
So my first stop is Hong Kong to see Jus and Leah. I made it to Jus's in Sai Kung and had entertaining night with the local drunks (no we didn't join them... but the cops and paramedics did). Met a few of Jus's friends and spent my first night away.

Thursday 22nd May 2014
Started the day with a trip to The Peak to see the enture city before venturing in. Took the tram (cable car) up and spent some time having a good look around.
After a quick wander around on 'ground level' I headed back over to the Kowloon side and spent the afternoon getting to know Hong Kong. Visiting the 'ladies markets', 'goldfish street', flower markets and the general Mon Kok area.
Headed down to Tsim Sha Tsui and saw the 'Avenue if Stars' along the waterfront.
Jus & I went for dumplings at a Michelin star restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a drink with one hell of a view with Kaye when she arrived.

Hong Kong Island

Friday 23 May
Exploring Hong Kong Island started with torrential rain, so window shopping and some time at the Hong Kong library was in order. The rain subsided by the afternoon so I managed to explore the Causeway Bay and Happy Valley areas.
I'm staying with Leah and Dave here (thanks guys!).
We had awesome dim sum for dinner.

Saturday 24 May
I've been treated to much better weather today to explore the Central area of Hong Kong. I caught a tram across town and took the Star Ferry tour around Victoria Harbour (think that officially means I've used every mode of public transport now... does that mean I'm a local?). I ventured around the city some more and found the city green spaces with sky scrapers towering above.

Sunday 25 May
The weather cleared up completely but unfortunately with that came intense heat & humidity. Leah & Dave took me to the south side of the island and the botanical gardens today.

That's it for Hong Kong, next stop Spain!