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You only get one life and if you do it right, you only need once! Read more Australia
  • Traveler2015
    Day 302

    Final gin tasting

    October 29, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Tonight I attended my final gin tasting and Master class with the wonderful crew at the Oliver conquest in White Chapel.

    Way back in February on a whim I attended their tasting with Sacred Gins the specialists of the evening. Showing up on my own the boss lady put me with a couple of regulars - A Gin Club with a Reading Problem – was there name and I was most graciously introduced into the wonderful world of gin.

    Ever since, when the opportunity has arisen, I've taken a gin throughout my travels. It was particularly useful in the summer when I didn't want to drink red wine and beer wasn't too appealing.

    I learnt that the Spaniards love a GT referring to it as a gintonic, serving it in giant goblets with all sorts of trimmings. And that parts of Belgium are quite famous for it as well - I think.

    But anyways, when I knew I was coming back to London I contacted the girls from the gin club and arranged to attend another session, and tonight was it.

    It was a special tasting as the team at the OC we're celebrating their 5th birthday and they had their own branch of gin on show. The guys from Gin Foundry were there introducing us to their range, including the special OC.

    We were given an introductory OC gin and tonic before going on a journey of 6 gin tastings, served neat of course. These ranged fresh orange, dried orange, earl grey, cardamon and few others. I really liked the cardamon one, its very smooth! I enjoyed it last time as well.

    At the end of the evening, after the upgraded nibbles, the guys form Gin Foundry made us all a Negroni cocktail, before heading home. A wonderful evening once more!

    The Oliver Conquest
    http://www.theoliverconquestpub.com

    The Gin Foundry
    http://www.ginfoundry.com    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 299

    Bond, James Bond

    October 26, 2015 in England ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Well it's here the new James Bond film - Spectre, and I am so excited! Seeing James Bond in London, in England!!

    I hadn't even considered the possibility of seeing a bond film here, but as fate would have it I've managed it.

    The first signs of this possibility was way back in January , day 1 of 2015 when the first pictures emerged of the crew shooting on the Thames.

    No one at work seems to understand the epicness of seeing a bond film in his home country, but the rest of England does.

    It's slowly been building up with some interviews here and there and Sam Smith releasing the main song. In the last week it's ramped up with Daniel Craig appearing in TimeOut, the cast appearing on Graham Norton and me buying my ticket - haha.

    Tonight is the world premier at the Royal Albert Hall. Dutifully I headed on down ticking off two items in my bucket list - 1. See be there and 2. Seeing a movie red carpet premier.

    The red carpet began at 5pm with it being live screened on YouTube. It said the stars would arrived at 5:15pm and right on cue , none other then the man himself Mr Bond appeared.

    I thought that was good, none of this drawing it out and making people wait business. He was there, ready to go.

    I watched there until I could leave work at 5:30pm and head over. It was packed out, of course. I walk all around the Royal Albert Hall getting glimpses here and there. I was fully pumped for Tuesday night.

    On Tuesday Claire and I went to see Bond. We bought tickets earlier in the week as we had discounts from work. It was just epic! The cinema was full, the atmosphere pretty good and the movie awesome! The first scene in Mexico was just epic!! Just go for that scene alone I think haha.

    Being so excited, I decided to go again, on my own this time. I went on the following Monday night at a cinema in Mile End called Genesis Cinema. It is possibly one of the coolest cinema I have come across. It had a nice bar upstairs with the local company Pieminster having their own shack serving pies, they were playing Casino Royale in one area. Downstairs was another bar and pop corn place with a further area serving coffee and cakes.

    When I came down to buy my ticket on Sunday the outdoor area had people sitting there enjoy the sun and a gin and tonic. It was a place to come and drink and not watch films as much as it was about the films. And the best bit, on Mondays and Wednesdays you only pay E4!

    See James Bond in London - check!    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 297

    East London

    October 24, 2015 in England ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Today, I have taken myself out on my own walking tour of East London. Now that I live in the East I really wanted to centralise in my head where everything was. I knew where Liverpool Street was and I knew where I lived, but I had all these random spots on in between. So I planned my trip and off I went.

    Classically, the one day I had chosen for this tour London put on its finest rainy weather. It came and went, came and went. Never mind, I had my umbrella from Catherine in Ireland, I was set.

    I took the tube to Liverpool Street station and walked all up to Shoreditch High street, past the Old Truman Building - where we had our christmas part last year, through Box Park, down Old Street Station, and checked out a number of pubs and restaurants I had heard about.

    I walked back to Liverpool Street and across to Brick Lane. I wandered through the usual markets, down to see the Happy Cafe, and up to where it met Shoreditch and where the cereal killer cafe resides. I also stopped in a sweet chocolate shop.

    Afterwards I headed towards Columbia Road Flower Marketing, forgetting that it only ran on a Sunday. But I was rewarded, with being able to explore the wonderful little shops and cafes all along the street, ones that you don't usually get to see when the markets are on. I really enjoyed it.

    From here I headed towards Hackney, passing the Hackney Farm and looking in on the different shops. I could've taken a left and headed more towards Hackney, but instead I took a right, as headed towards Bethnal Green. I wanted to head my journey at Victoria Park this time.

    The rain really enjoyed this part of the journey and I wondered where my sanity was. But it was lovely. I reached Bethnal Green and walked past the cool Thai food / hair dressers where I had my first hair cut after leaving home. It doesn't sound anywhere near as dodgy as that though haha. And they did do a pretty good job.

    From here I entered Victoria Park. It was just beautiful. The whole park had turned all shades of yellow, orange and red. It was full of families strolling around and people sitting by the cafe near the pond. I was here in April with Jane on our bike ride, so it was nice to see it again in a different season.

    Tired, but excited that I had explored more of London, I headed home to watch the rugby.

    East London - check

    Canvas cafe: http://thecanvascafe.org/
    Boxpark:http://www.boxpark.co.uk/
    Columbia Road Flower Markets:http://www.columbiaroad.info/
    Hackney City Farm: http://hackneycityfarm.co.uk/
    Victoria Park:http://www.timeout.com/london/attractions/victo…
    Hurwundeki: http://hurwundeki.com/    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 271

    Ballet in Trafalgar

    September 28, 2015 in England ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    For whatever reason I have a real love of the ballet. It's not something I've really been exposed to at home and I only saw my first ballet this year, Swan Lake. But I really like. I think I like the way that they can use their bodies, they must be unbelievably fit and strong. So cool!

    BP have had a sponsored event down at Trafalgar Square for the last three Tuesdays. Each night there has been a different ballet playing on a big screen. I don't think its live, but it as recorded some time over the summer.

    Tonight is the final evening and they are playing Romeo and Juliet. Even though it rained all day and it was cool, I headed on down just before 7pm to watch. I got a free blow up cushion and poncho on my way in. And found myself a little seat right in front of the screen. Which was conveniently set up right in front of Neilson's column.

    I sat enthralled in the first Act 1, a whole hour of awesome ballet performances. Romeo and Juliet has never looked more entertaining. But alas, there were still 2 sets to go and I was cold and hungry. So I let my whimpish human needs lead me home to a warm house and food.

    But next time, I'll be there for it all. A beautiful sight to see.

    More details
    http://www.roh.org.uk/about/bp-big-screens    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 256

    Palace to palace prince's trust ride

    September 13, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Well, it's day 1 back in London and I'm straight into it. Today I worked the palace to palace prince's trust bike ride. It's an event that sees a few thousand people ride from Buckingham palace to Windsor castle, taking either the 55 mile or 90 mile routes.

    I've been quite lucky in this round, my role is to help at the start, beginning at 5am and finishing at 10.30am. Which is good as I stayed in a hostel last night close to the mall and woke at 4am, not ideal 'day before going back to full time work' conditions.

    It was a really nice morning. We got to watch the sun rise over the .... And then watch as the clouds set in. It was cool, but not windy, so I was happy. And I got to see a few squirrels running a muck.

    My role was to stand near the ...., which was the entrance and hand out route guides, while directing the riders to the start line.

    It was a bit of a subdued affair really, I'm sure at the end with the finishing village it will be party mode!

    I saw Chloe, Nicky and Louise at the start, which was good. I might meet up with them for a drink later, depending on where.

    We finished early, so I took a walk through the city towards Holborn station. There was another bike race that started at Piccadilly, so most of central London was shut down, which is when London is my fav.

    It feels good to be back. Let's do this London!    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 255

    Final night

    September 12, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Well tonight is my final night of my summer backpacking adventure. I arrived into Brussels in the early evening, around 8pm after spending the day exploring Ghent. I was having a great time. The place I chose to have a drink at in Ghent forgot my toastie, so they gave me a free gin and tonic. My hostel gave me a free room upgrade, 10 bed to 4 bed and when I thought that I'd I lost my ear phones again, I found them!!

    But when I went to sit down at my computer to do my nightly research I realised that I had nothing to look up. There was no new town or country to research, maps to look at, Pinterest boards to fill. This made me a bit sad, and gave me an insight into what really heading home might feel like.

    It's a bit ironic really as I've been so looking forward to going back to London. Last Thursday TMP confirmed work for me and then the stars aligned and a room in my friend's apartment became available. The girls have been very excited to hear that I'm returning and I'm very excited to go back and spend my days hanging out with them.

    The last 4.5 months and really the last 2.5 months, where I have really been on my own, not seeing anyone that I know, meeting new people all the time, has just been quiet unreal. I have made some wonderful friends. And have realised how much I miss the Australian / New Zealand sense of humour and way of life. She'll be right mate ...

    I've seen 10 countries, surpassed my 20 country count, attended 3 music festivals, partied till the sun rose at least once, camped near the beach, sailed the Greek Islands, swam in water so clear you could see the ground for miles, had a tomato fight, eaten my way around Europe, randomly found friends at a Florence concert, followed the trail of the monuments men, had my phone stolen, built muscles carrying my bag up and down stairs, and walked many a kilometre on walking tours. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

    Europe in the summer, you've been amazing! Now let's make the next 3 months epic!    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 254

    Ghent - Day 2

    September 11, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    I am up early today, ready to pack in as much of Ghent as I possibly can! I enjoy a beautiful breakfast at my hostel before heading off on a walk around the main canal – thanks trip advisor posts for that tip. It's another blue-sky day, so I lap up the beautiful sun.

    As I entered back into the city I came across the Friday markets in Vrijdagmarkt

    Square. There is everything you can think of here, loads of great produce and nicknacks to sell. A little down the road was a great antiques market next to St Jacobs Catherdal.

    I love seeing these type of markets, just seeing what people have pulled out of their attics from years and years ago. And to think that you could quite literally find something here that was use in the war, or an antique from 100 years ago! History, right in the square.

    From here I head to Sint-BaafsKathedraal to see the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. I was most eager to see this painting after having read about it in the Monuments Men book and understand what it took to save this piece.

    Upon entering the area where the Adoration was presented you received an audio guide and map for the master piece. The guide talked you through each section and explained what was happening and how important it was to history. As I came to realise through the book the artworks are like our photographs today. They are the snapshot of what life was like in that era, as close as we'll get to seeing it ourselves.

    You weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the Adoration and I don’t like taking pictures inside a place of worship, so I have no pictures to show.

    After I had finished here it was time for the morning walking tour. We met at the Upperlink Hostel, which I will defo be staying at next time. It ha a great view over the main harbour and is central to old town. It also feels like a hostel, my current one is more posh, just as lovely, but a tad too far out of town.

    On today’s tour we visit:

    - Graslei and Korenlei (the medieval harbor of Ghent)

    - The three towers of Ghent: a. St. Nicholas Church b. Belfry c. St. Bavo’s Cathedral

    - The City Hall

    - Graffiti Street

    - Vrijdagsmarkt square (Friday markets)

    - St. Jacobs Church

    - Dulle Griet (super canon)

    - Patershol quarter (good eating area)

    - The castle Gravensteen


    Some of the nuggets of information I retained included:
    - Chocolate should always be served fresh and consumed within 1-2 days of making it. That’s why the chocolate in the stores are never very good

    - On the front of each building are decorations which tell the story of the family who live on the inside

    - XL toilet roll paper: this used to be the toil of the Ghent Design Museum, now it’s a giant toilet roll

    - There are urinals everywhere in the town, I found this to be a thing in Belgium. Louise tells me it’s because the men would otherwise pee in the street! And I thought this country was civilised haha.

    - The flashing lights on Sint-Veerleplein. Every time a baby is born in the maternity ward these lights flash, just once in the square located near the Count’s Castle. Apparently there is a web cam you can watch and it is quite rare to be able to witness. How beautiful it is to celebrate new life.

    - Ghent Marriot Hotel: We took a tour of the inside of the hotel to show that just because the outside façade is medieval the inside will blow you away

    - Showed us where they had filmed sections of the Monuments Men, where the premier was and that Adrien Brody was here just 2 weeks ago filming 'Emperor’ on the bridge we had met at. That would’ve been amazing to see! It would’ve felt like you had literally seen Gent in the old days

    - De Dulle Greit bar is located on Vrijdagsmarkt. It is famous for a few things.
    1) legend says that in the 15th century it hid the daughter of Charles Quint the Fifth who was apparently insane. Her name was Meg and her tantrums at being locked up gave her the nickname of Mad Meg

    2) The bar is named after the Dulle Griet canon across the road. Apparently Mad Meg used it in her fight against the Catholics, she blamed them for all of the hurt she had received.

    3) The bar has 260 different beers

    4) It’s famous for its ‘show for a one and half litre beer’. In order to purchase one of these beers the drinker must first hand over one of their shoes, which the bar man puts in a basket that is tied up to the ceiling. The shoe is returned when the glass is returned. Apparently the glasses as so popular that too many people were stealing them, hence the shoe for a beer rule.


    Although the guide recommended that we climb the Belfry to look out over the city as he said that to have a sunny day like we have today happened five times a year I chose to not go and instead sit along the medieval harbour and take in the view, atmosphere and moment and sheer fact that here I was coming to the end of almost 4 months of solid travel, and that here I was in Ghent, Belgium! It’s all been worth it J

    I took a slow walk back to my hostel, walking back through the cool little streets and shops I had passed too frequently in the last 24 – 48 hours. I went past a cool bar I had read about in the map and decided to stop in for a visit. They had a roof top bar open and as our guide said, having sun like this in Belgium only happened 5 times a year, so I better embrace it!

    I wandered up as the early Friday work leavers were starting to pile in. I found myself a nice table and ordered and gin and tonic and a toasted sandwich. My toasty had some how been forgotten about! So when it eventually did arrive so did a complementary GnT did too! Oh happy days!

    I walked back to my hostel, picked up my bag and walked back through the city to the train station. Good bye Gent. The brief time we spent together was fantastic, until next time!

    Gent Festival
    http://www.gentfestival.be/en

    Adoration of the Mystic Lamb
    https://visit.gent.be/en/adoration-mystic-lamb-…

    Cool walking tour info (not mine)
    http://www.routeyou.com/en-be/route/view/474093…

    Free walking tour
    http://gentfreewalkingtours.com/en/    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 253

    Ghent - Day 1

    September 10, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Ghent … my last city on my European Summer adventures before heading back to London to work and save for my final trip. I arrived from Louise's mid-afternoon yesterday, it was sunny and warm, and the most summery type of weather I had seen so far in Belgium.

    My hostel was about 15 minutes walk so I loaded up my bag and headed in its direction. I had such a lovely feeling arriving here. The guidebook described Ghent as a bigger version of Bruges, but with less tourists, which I am definitely looking forward too!

    My hostel is located on the outskirts of the main city centre. It’s a beautiful hostel, owned by a husband and wife. There are three flights of narrow stairs and no lift to my room, but beautiful hand paintings on the walls.

    After settling in, and having missed all of the day’s walking tours, I decide to go for a walk on my own having perused my guidebook and the cool maps I like in the hostel foyer.

    I left my hostel and walked around the different streets all-leading towards old town. I love how all the shops are individual, wherever you go. And as in London the moment the sun shows it’s head everyone heads to their nearest patch of grass and has lunch there haha, it was the same here.

    I found myself on Korenmarkt having noodles for lunch and taking in the pedestrians and trams interning together. Across from me were these great old buildings, with one holding a jazz bar I wished to visit. After lunch I headed further down the street visiting’s the

    Great Butchers’ Hall, an old gin house that I was too scared to ask for a gin so just left :/, across the river and past the old castle.

    I ventured back towards my hostel taking a different street and stopping in at the Market Hall to watch people play the piano and then up to the graffiti street. The Gent festival of Flanders was starting in the weekend the day I left, and everywhere there were stages and scaffolding going up. It looked really exciting.

    On my way back to the hostel I stopped by the grocery store to collect some items for dinner, cheese, bread, salami, jam and wine. My hostel had a cool backyard area. There was fake grass laid down and big beanbags scattered around. Sunflowers grew everywhere and the walls had a graffiti artist’s work.

    In the evening I headed back into the city, looking somewhere to have a drink. I stopped in at jazz bar I read about in my map, Hot Club De Gand. It’s a secrete jazz bar because its well hidden off the main street. It was jammed pack, so I only stayed a little while before heading back to my hostel for a glass of wine and music by the megaphone.    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 253

    Spending time with Louise

    September 10, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Well that is it. My time with Louise has come to an end. I'm now sitting on the train to Ghent to finish out my final 2 days in Belgium before returning to London and bringing my summer to a close. I've had a fantastic few days with Louise, living a real Belgium life haha. We arrived back from her sister's on Monday evening and spent Tuesday morning playing with her little chicken and exploring her backyard.

    On Tuesday afternoon we took a drive around her local village, Thy-Le-Chateau. Apparently it was quite wealthy back in the day and had a lot of industry happening here. This has all since ended, which I think is usually the case for these small medieval villages. Today its quiet and beautiful.

    We visited her Godfather's house, whom has a dairy farm. He makes his own butter, cheese and yoghurt, which are also sold in the local stores. We took a walk around looking at all the different cows, there were Belgian ones, German ones and Swiss ones, a couple of baby ones and big ones. We also picked plums and raspberries from the trees and made a tart when we got home. The tart had the butter from the farm and eggs from Louise's hens!! Something I really wanted to do.

    Louise has a beautiful big house, with a matching big garden. It's beautifully landscaped, as her mum is a landscaper. It has a giant apple tree in the middle with a big grassy area for an outdoor party. There are chickens, hens, ducks and a swan roaming around.

    Yesterday we took some time in the garden enjoying the sun and warm weather before heading to Brussels. Louise was catching up with three friends from high school and I was gate-crashing haha. We bought groceries at the store and had vegetable tacos, followed by chocolate dinosaurs. A must try I was advised.

    Her friend had a beautiful big apartment, above a local pub that looked out over a big park. Together, it costs the four housemates E400 a month, that wouldn't even cover a small room in London! Maybe I'll move to Brussels haha.

    Living in a small French village - tick!    Read more

  • Traveler2015
    Day 250

    24 hours in Liege, 24 hours of eating

    September 7, 2015 in Belgium ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I've spent the last 24 hours living out my foodie dreams in Liege in Belgium. Louise and I have finally caught up! And I am very excited to be spending time with her and her family.

    As I was coming from Brussels and Louise from her hometown, we decided to meet at the train station, which was also a good spot for her sister to pick us up from. My arrival was not smooth sailing. My train was delayed, and there were much confusion at the train station in Brussels, but eventually I got on the train and arrived at the Liège-Guillemins railway station. Where my first job was to observe the very expensive roof.

    We will be staying with Louise's sister, Claire and her partner Nicolas, during our stay. They have a beautiful house, which they are renovating, that looks over the city. It’s up on a high hill and has a beautiful big garden. And a lovely warm heater!

    Tonight is football night, which usually is a big enough deal. However, tonight, Belgium is playing in the European League playoffs and they are fielding the best team they’ve had in 30 years! So it’s big business right now. It’s so big that we have a friend of Nicolas’s joining for aperols, beers and dinner, and of course football.

    Our Sunday evening menu goes as:
    Aperols – four types of French dry meat that Nicolas brought back from Switzerland with him. One has cheese, one nuts, one alcohol and one is wild boar. This is joined by some local cheeses, pesto on crackers and wine.

    Dinner - For dinner we had a local speciality, one from Nicolas’s own family cupboard. Did boulet sauce lapin, which is basically meatballs in a special local sauce. It was very tasty, and sweet. All of this was of course washed down with different Belgium beers and a win by the team!

    Today, Monday, Claire, Louise and I have been exploring the town. Liege was once a very important town and was it's own state back in the day, a bit like how Monaco is now. But eventually the downturn in industry and wars took its toll. It is still the third largest city in Belgium.

    After feasting on freshly baked croissants for breakfast, we took the bus into the city and walked all around the town, seeing old churches, monasteries that were turned into war hospitals during the war. When we arrived in town it was raining, so we decided to wait it out at a café the girls like and have hot chocolates with fresh cream on top, accompanied by nougat and a slice of orange cake.

    Claire told me all about a terror attack that had taken place at the main bus station a few years earlier and the importance of the water fountain near the main square. We sat up on the second level by the window, looking out over the town.

    Once we had finished our drinks the rain had stopped so we ventured off, up the main street towards ____ (highest point) and an epic tall staircase! On our way we walked past an old bookshop that had a magazine in on the table, featuring an article that Claire had written! Too funny.

    We reached the top of the staircase and took in the views of the town. I think the best bit was walking up and down. Traipsing through the village and looking into all of the individual cafes and shops, antique showrooms and craft stores. Claire described the different architecture styles and how they indicate what year they were built depending on the type of materials used. It was just beautiful.

    After a lengthy walk down we decided to reward ourselves by having a Mitraillette aka the Machine gun for lunch. This is apparently a very popular item and once again I am posed with the question 'how do the Belgiums’ stay so thin?’ haha.

    Mitraillette is a baguette cut in half filled with meat, hot chips and sauce. You select your meat, which is usually deep fried, some sauce, than a 2 person serving of chips is piled on top, more sauce is added. Louise tells me that most of the gals don’t usually eat more then half … I had ¾ haha. It was the single most odd thing I’ve ever eaten. Not sure I’d like up for it again, but perhaps if I needed to show someone a special Belgium delicacy I would.

    After lunch we took a walk through an old church that had an art exhibition in the back. From here we talk a walk through the town centre, it reminded a bit of Ireland. There were pubs scattered everywhere with independent fashion shops, designers and small boutique stores

     Everywhere. We window shopped at a hat shop owned by Claire’s friend.

    Louise tells me that design and fashion is very important. There are loads of local artists selling their designs everywhere, whether it be clothing, shoes, hats, artwork, setting up their own café. It was brilliant!

    Whilst on our walk Louise took us into a favoured lolly shop to sample. It was like those old school ones were you got a bag and filled it with lollies from all of these different jars. Louise’s favourite was the Cuberdon, a purple triangle tube jube lolly.

    We walked across a few more bridges, with Claire sharing some history that I can’t remember now :/. And then she took us to a favourite pub of Nicolas’s. It was called Pot au lait, and it could be described as funky / arty / alternate haha, but very cool. It felt a bit like a weird little wonderland. We had Belgium beers and enjoyed sitting down for a while.

    To finish the day Claire took me to get a waffle from her favourite spot. Waffles, much like pizza in Italy varies depending on which county you’re in. These ones were a Leige special. They had chunks of sugar in the batter, so that they melted when cooked. We also ordered ours to have Belgium chocolate stalks inserted in the down the holes – amazing!

    Afterwards Louise and I rolled our way to the train station headed towards her mum's house and village. Thanks Liege, you've been great!    Read more

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