Dublin for Canada Day

Let me start off with a quick recap of Friday June 29th. I went to work, went home, and then went out for "a drink" for a goodbye party for two of the flatmates who moved out this weekend. It was supposed to be one drink as I had to be up at 4am to go to the airport. Well one drink turned into many and before I knew it I was drinking vinegar out of pint glasses. That was when I realised it was 12:30 and I should be heading home. Well 4am came much to fast but I dragged myself out of bed and ran into the rest of the flatmates who were just coming back..... hahahaha.

The trip over the Dublin was pretty uneventful. I slept the whole 45min on the plane. Upon arriving I made my way into the city centre and went over the hostel. It was located in the middle of the city right by the famous millennium spire (to me its looks like a giant needle). As I wasn't allowed to check into the hostel until 2pm I made my way back into the city and decided to do a few touristy things before trying to find Kim who I was meeting up with out there. First I walked down the Liffey River and along it until I cut in behind temple bar so see all the famous bars to snap off a few photos as I was planning on leaving my camera behind when I returned to this area later that night.


My first main stop was Christchurch Cathedral which was built in around 1030AD and is one of the most remarkable cathedrals I have seen. It was quite unique with its bridge and a main road splitting it in half. Also in the crypt the had a lot of old religious books and treasures from around the world. Just down the road from Christchurch is the most famous cathedral in Ireland, called St. Patrick’s. Granted it was huge and impressive but I still think that Christchurch is superior in regards to Architecture and features. Still both are worth checking out.

The rest of the afternoon I spent walking around the parks and residential areas of Dublin. Some really nice places and some... well not so nice. Check out the photo of the BMW....



After this I made my way back to the giant Dublin Spire and back to the hostel where I was finally allowed to check in. This is where I met up with Kim who was already in the room. After catching up we started our walk over to the far side of town to check out the Guinness Storehouse. The line up was fairly short and after we both got in for student prices we made our way around the tour up the 6 floors to finish off with the best pint of Guinness I have ever had in the Gravity bar. The bar is enclosed in nothing but glass windows and gives a spectacular view over Dublin.


The remainder of the day was spent wondering around Trinity college and the shopping district before we went to go and get ready for a night at temple bar.

After a few cheap pints at the hostel bar we went into town and met up with one of my friends from work who happened to be out there the same weekend. We had a drink with him before heading to temple bar where we ended up befriending a few brits out on a stag night from Liverpool who wanted to buy as drinks because we were singing Liverpool footballs songs with them in the middle of the bar. hahahaha.


Our first stop for the 2nd day was the Jameson distillery where we were drinking whiskey at 10:00am. The tour was great and I highly recommend it to all of you if you make your way to Dublin.



As it was Canada day we had to do something typically Canadian. After a search for Tim Hortons (yes there are a few in Dublin for some reason) and some help terrible information from the tourist centre we were still struggling to find it. We jumped into a internet cafe where within no time at all we found the location and set off again. This time to our success we found the Tim Hortons and enjoyed a coffee and donut to celebrate Canada Day. I think we had a few odd looks from people around us as we took photos from every possible angle of the cups, donuts, and signs.

Kim had to make her way back to the town she is living in which is about an hour away so I spent the evening walking down the bay (about 45min away). After one final walk around the city centre I caught the late bus out to the airport and found a bench in the airport where I managed to get a few hours sleep. My plane left at 6:30am and arrived in Bristol about 7:30. Just enough time for me to get the bus to work, get changed, and start working. Needless to say I was exhausted but it was a great weekend away from England. Thanks again to Kim who met up with me and showed me around Dublin and who got me a free drink off the Liverpool fans in the bar. hahahaha. Good times!



Oh and don't worry I did find the hard rock cafe!!! Another one to cross off the list.

Boules in the Park

Leaving work at 4pm on Friday Ali, Brad, and myself made our way over to Queen Square in Bristol to take part in the 2007 Architecture Boules Tournament. For those who don't know what boules is it is basically lawn bowling with smaller balls. All you have to do is get your ball closest to the jack (conochet). Yes it really is that simple in theory but not that simple in practice.


With a crate of Fosters beer in hand (yes you can drink in public areas here) we started our first game and came out on top fairly quickly. The 2nd game was against another Faber Maunsell team and we quickly knocked them out of the tournament.

Our 3rd game was a lot harder and with a few skilled shots and a battle that lasted just under an hour we put this team in their place. By this time I had to leave to meet up with a few friends up in Clifton so I had to leave before the final game. A member of another Faber Maunsell team stepped and the team continued the winning streak and came out on top in the final game. A trophy and bottle of Champagne was the prize but the bragging rights around the company are worth a little more than that.


Brad is just happy he has a pint of Fosters in his hand.....(its his pride and joy of his home country)

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff

On the weekend Brad, Nada, and me went over to Cardiff for the day. I have been to Cardiff on numerous occasions but this time we had one of the major attractions booked ahead. After a quick lunch in city centre we went over to the Millennium stadium where the Welsh Rugby team, Football FA cup final, and major concerts are held. The stadium has a capacity of 74,500 people and was the first retractable roof stadium in the UK. It costs only £4 in power to open and close the massive roof which is pretty remarkable.




The tour lasted about an hour and we got to go in the dressing rooms, VIP lounge and seating areas, and down to the pitch. Since there was a Rod Stewart concert coming up they had taken the grass away and we were left with a concrete slab and a red carpet to admire instead. It was pretty disappointing but I am planning a trip to do the tour of Old Trafford (Manchester United's stadium) at the end of the summer anyways so hopefully they will have the pitch down. To bring a new pitch in from Holland costs just over £200,000 to buy, install, and take away again. Not exactly cheap.

After the we did a few jumping shots and made our way into the rest of the town.



The rest of the day was spent walking around the shopping area, Cardiff castle walls, city council buildings, and the natural history museum before we went back to England where Nada cooked a meal for us and we watched the 400th episode of the Simpson’s.

Moving house

Well last weekend I finally moved into my new flat. It is in the heart of Clifton village on a road called “Royal Crescent” which is one of the nicest areas in Bristol (at least it is in my opinion). The fact that you can buy a postcard of “The Royal Crescent” must count for something.

I am in a shared house with 9 other people and the ones I have met so far I get along with really well. So it should be a lot of fun over the next few months. Luckily it’s a huge house with 2 big kitchens and 4 bathrooms. My room overlooks the local bar (15 sec walk home), a view of the Mendip hills, and has its own balcony. By far the best part of the where I am living is that now I am only a 20 walk away from the city centre and my work. No more driving to the park and ride and spending £80 a month on commuting.




There are a lot of parks, restaurants, bars, stores, etc basically on my doorstep. And for those of you who have already been over to visit me in Bristol, I probably took you to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge which is now literally 5 min around the corner for me which is a great place to cross over to the countryside to get away from the city life.

I have a few more trips coming up as well with the next one been a day trip to Cardiff and then a weekend trip to Dublin. Pictures of those trips to come...

A Weekend in Amsterdam!!!

When I got the email from Jon saying he was going to be in Holland on business and wanted to know if he could come and stay in England for the weekend it seemed like a great idea. But what sounded like a better idea was if we were to meet up in Amsterdam instead. For £20 I got a flight with Ryan air from London Stansted to Eindhoven Holland return trip. Waking up at 4am again I made my way to the airport and by 9am I was in Holland. The plane landed slightly early and as there is not much to do in the airport I decided not to wait for the direct bus which was not leaving for another 1.5 hours and made my way to get the bus into the city centre and try and catch a train up to Amsterdam.

As I was waiting inline to get a bus ticket from the machine it appeared that the Australian guy in front of me had jammed the machine and it was now out of order. The lady in front of me tried to help and after no success I had a go wielding the same results. So by now the bus was leaving and we out of luck. The lady decided to get a taxi to the station and just left. I asked the Australian if he wanted to split a cab and when he said yes I decided to flag down the cab with the other lady so we could split it three ways. Once inside the cab we found out the lady worked for Lords Cricket Ground and was one of the people to guard the ashes. She was in Holland to pick up a bird that was killed by a cricket ball in the 1930's from Rotterdam. Wow what a job. Best part was that as she was on business she paid the 35euro fare to the train station.

The train only took about an hour and a half and I arrived in Amsterdam central station about 11:30. With an hour and half left to kill before I met Jon I wondered out on the station in search for food. But Jon was sitting outside the station in the sun reading a book and I and happened to walk out of the door he was at. What are the chances? It seemed the whole weekend was just working out perfectly. We made our way to the hostel but were told to come back after 2 to check in. Dropping off our bags though we ventured back into the city and went straight the pub for a few Heinekens’. After a few drinks we checked in, got changed, and went off in search of a few more drinks. Finding a few great pubs near the red light district (yes we did some window shopping and no we didn't buy anything) we spent the rest of the night sitting by a fire in leather chairs drinking and talking until nearly 3am.




Saturday we actually managed to do some touristy things although both Jon and myself have both been to Amsterdam previously and done most of the museums and tourist sites before. One that neither of us had done was the Rijn museum (Rembrandt van Rijn) where we saw one of his most famous paintings called "the night watch" amongst many others.

Following this we walked around the well known "I AMSTERDAM" sign and snapped off a few pics before making our way to the old Heineken brewery and paying our 11euros entry fee. This seemed a bit high at first but when we learned that they give you 3 glasses of beer and a free bottle opener it seemed well worth it. The tour was great and very interactive. Only a about half the tour was about the history and how they made the beer where the other half was watching old beer commercials, playing the Heineken drums, and a theme park style ride were you are a beer bottle going though its journey from start to end.



As we were leaving we saw this strange bike/car/bar where there was one driver in the middle and the rest of the people on the outside had to pedal to get it moving. It was a bar and yes the drver in the middle was drinking. Have a look at the picture below and tell me you wouldn't want to try it!!! We walked around a bit more for the day before heading out into the streets again at night to take some night shots of the city before once again making our way back around 3am.





Jon had an early flight the following morning so when he left I went back to sleep until 11 at the hostel. I spent a few hours walking around the city before deciding to head back to Eindhoven early so I could see more of the city there instead of just the airport.


Eindhoven was pretty much a ghost town as it was a Sunday and all the stores where closed. So I checked out a few churches, parks, and the outside of the Phillips Football stadium. Something I was unaware of is that the company "Philips" (one of the biggest electronics companies in the world) was founded and has it headquarters in Eindhoven. Everywhere around the city is their adds and the football is obviously sponsored by them.


Well by 5:30 I made my back to the airport (this time on the bus for 3 euros) and caught my plane back to England where yet again I had the wonderful 3 hour drive back to Bristol. It was a great weekend and it was great to catch up with Jon again in Europe. I do recommend a trip to Amsterdam for all of you though. It is a very unique city and I guarantee you come back with your fair share of stories. We have, but let’s just say some of them are not appropriate to share on this site. Hahahaha.