Edinburgh - last day jumble
16 августа 2015 г., Шотландия ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
First, the view from my hostel window! It's more fancy than my last hostel (although it seems most side streets in Edinburgh look very picturesque like this). More importantly, it's much closer toЧитать далее
Edinburgh - train for Oban
17 августа 2015 г., Шотландия ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Very scenic train trip from Edinburgh, via Glasgow (managed to walk to a small square near the train station), north to Oban.
Oban - arrival/exploration
17 августа 2015 г., Шотландия ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Exploring Oban on my first day here. It's a small seaside town that feels very much like Paihia in NZ (without the nice beaches, but with more history). Oban is mostly used as a port on to theЧитать далее
Lismore - island hiking
18 августа 2015 г., Шотландия ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
On the very strong recommendation of Adrian, I spent a day on the Isle of Lismore. I don't think it really lived up to his claim that it is literally the best and most amazing place ever, but it wasЧитать далее
Scotland - Bye!
19 августа 2015 г., Шотландия ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
I've had a great time in Scotland, with warm and often sunny weather, and only a few short, light rain showers.
I'd like to come back to Edinburgh again NOT during festival time, I think it'd feelЧитать далее
London - walking tour
20 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Back in London again, staying at another cheap hostel but this time it's very close to a tube station, so not such a hike every day to get out.
Finally got around to doing a (free) walking tour -Читать далее
London - portrait gallery
20 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
After the walking tour I wandered around and ended up at the National Portrait Gallery. Lots of past royalty and other people I didn't know. Here's:
1: a bust of Edward Elgar (I played some of hisЧитать далее
Oxford
21 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Did a day trip to Oxford. What a lovely town (full of (mostly) poor students (some, the children of super wealthy families) living in overpriced, but very pretty, accommodation)!
I did a walking tourЧитать далее
London - Hyde Park / Portobello market
22 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Glorious sunny up to 30° day (predicted rain for the next week) so, making the most of it, I rode a bike around Hyde Park. Turned out to be an excellent option because there are paved paths and it'sЧитать далее
London - Camden Market
23 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Went to Camden Town, a very short tube hop from my hostel. Basically it's a big, busy street market with lots of great crafts and amazing food. The best bit was the free samples from all the foodЧитать далее
London - V&A Museum
23 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ 🌧 17 °C
Seeing as it was raining, I decided to see a museum. This one wasn't even very crowded (in relative London terms).
Great museum, mostly of artistic stuff throughout history. I particularly loved theЧитать далее
London - Natural History Museum
24 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Another rainy day, another museum... only half of London had the same idea (#1). Even though there wasn't anything stopping people getting in besides how packed the front room was, there was a massiveЧитать далее
London - day off
25 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
More rain, and fellow backpackers I got to know were leaving today, so just hung out at the hostel. Nice to have a day off!
Bletchley Park
26 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Went to see the now-famous (once top secret) wartime codebreaking center. There's actually quite a bit to see around the site and I think I spent a bit too long following around the audio guide (ofЧитать далее
London - Greenwich & British Museum
27 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
After Bletchley Park I made my way to stay with Diane and Luke - thanks so much for having me! For my last full day in London I decided to cram in the two things I had been meaning to do but hadn'tЧитать далее
London - bye!
28 августа 2015 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Leaving London and the UK to start the European part of my trip.
Madrid - ¡hola! & first impressions
28 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Landed in Madrid. First thing I noticed was the super modern airport terminal, something I kinda wasn't expecting. This was true of the rest of Madrid too, (and I know this sounds bad but) for someЧитать далее
Madrid - hostel
28 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C
My hostel is on a quiet side street where everything seemed to be closed. Not sure if due to siesta our economic issues (arrived in 30°+ weather, around 5 pm). However, it's close to everything,Читать далее
Madrid - walking tour
29 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
The Hostel provides a free walking tour, so decided to tag along instead of the usual free "New Europe" tour. Bit of a mistake - the guide didn't seem to know too much about most places we visited,Читать далее
Madrid - (walking &) food!
30 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
I did another walking tour today, learned a lot more history than on the hostel's walking tour, but mostly visited the same stuff. Here's a picture of the royal palace gardens and a neat 3D doorЧитать далее
Madrid - city exploring
31 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
I wandered over to the west side of the central city to see an Egyptian temple on a hill - not very spectacular, but there was a decent view from there.
Walked down the main street (Calle Gran Via) -Читать далее
Madrid - Retiro park
31 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Madrid has a huge park east of the city center, kind of like the Auckland Domain but bigger, nicer, and more popular. It has tons of paved/dirt walkways, fountains, statues, buildings, and a lake.Читать далее
Madrid - more art, streets
31 августа 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Briefly visited another art museum. Interesting building with glass elevators on the outside. Took a photo of a Picasso before the attendant told me off (there were no photo-prohibiting signs aroundЧитать далее
Madrid - more wandering
1 сентября 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Last day before conference, wandered back through another part of Retiro park and to Atocha train station, where they had converted an old terminal into an indoor park (with a tortoise pond!).
Madrid - hotel
1 сентября 2015 г., Испания ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
The one hotel I'm staying in during this trip. Living it up! Nice to have a whole bed/bathroom/space to myself but feels so isolated compared to hostels. Not much in the surrounding area either. MyЧитать далее









































































































































