City of Lights – Paris

The beautiful Jacqui arrived at my work on Friday morning at 10am. After flying in from Cyprus and only having 1 hour sleep, she was pretty knackered. I took the rest of the day off work so she could rest up before we caught the Eurostar train to Paris.
11:30pm - we have finally arrived in the City of Lights. Not just in Paris but at the Eiffel Tower (pronounced e-fil) where we watched it glow and sparkle. After taking about 100 photos, it was time to get a late snack and hit the hay as the next few days were all go, we purchase a 2 day museum pass and 3 day hop on/off bus tour with river cruise. Clock out time 3am.

8am Saturday morning, all I could hear was a broken record playing ‘Get up, get up’ with the occasional ‘Get up Soh’; I guess it was time to get up. The weather was beautiful all weekend, a bit chilly in the morning but once the sun was at its peak, it was a beaut.
The first sight was Place de la Bastille where the July Column stands. Next was Museum Rodin to view the famous sculpture of The Thinker and The Kiss. Then it was off for an English tour at Museum d'Orsay which was originally a railway station/gallery and was fully converted into a museum in 1986 with paintings by Claude Monet, Édouard Manet and Alexandre Cabanel’s oil canvas of ‘The Birth of Venus’
Next stop; the gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. The 300 man queue was too long so Jacqui wanders to the empty exit, totally oblivious and walks in. Voila, no queues.
A quick stop for delicious ice-cream and it was off to the shopping and restaurant district of Champs-Élysées with a quick photo stop at Pont de la Concorde and Hittorff’s Fountain. Quick stop for dinner then it was down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées where the Arc de Triomphe emerges as the powerhouse. We climbed up 284 steps in the triumphal arch to view Paris from above including an astonishing view of the Eiffel. By the time we got back to the hotel and showered, it was 12:30am! What a day it has been, off we went to the bar for a quick drink and clocking out at 2am.

8am Sunday morning, the same broken record was again playing ‘Get up, get up……….Get up Soh’, day 2 here we come. The Louvre Museum was the first stop. The large glass and metal pyramids cannot be missed. Obviously the main attraction was Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa but it also included full range of paintings, sculptures, artefacts. One of my favourite was a sculpture titled 'Hermaphrodite Endormi'. I know what you are thinking 'What a sicko' you say. No, the sculpture was peaceful with fine detailing of her hair, sheets and cushion. For those that have never been to the Louvre, to give you an idea of how big it is, we spent 4 hours in there and we were actually rushing through most of it.

Quick break for Lunch, people watching, back to the hotel to get changed then it was back out to the Sacre Coeur Basilica. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter due to a service so we decided to climb it. Again Jacqui goes wandering off and finds the exit so off we went up the exit. Climbing the spiral stairs 83 metres up nearly made me throw up as it was very narrow. Since it was the exit, people were also coming down and basically telling us off as it was the only exit.
We tried to attend a show at Moulin Rouge but the next show was too late and we were already running out of time in Paris. Off for some fine dining and bottle of wine. Jacqui + wine + extra large crème brulee = 5 year old about to vomit. Dinner was going well until Jacqui decides to order the largest single serving of crème brulee I have ever seen. No human can finish this and not throw up, no no no not Jacqui, she was determined to finish the whole lot. On the way home, she was prancing around then “I feel sick” more prancing and more “I feel bad”. None the less, it was very entertaining for me. Another 2am clock out with Jacqui trying to throw up in the middle of the night.

8:30am Monday morning, ‘Get up, get up ……….Get up Soh’, aarrrgghhh Déjà vu all over again. Check out and race to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We climbed 695 steps to the second level, lift to the third level and another 15 steps to the observatory deck. This weekend is really making us fit. The view from 276 metres will never be the same after viewing Paris from the Eiffel. Standing in the cool breeze toasting our glass of €15 Rose Champagne. There is a moment and time for everything; I took Jacqui’s hand and got on one knee…………….she laughed, ah well moving along.
Lunch at Laduree which is the birth place of macaron. These tiny cakes with explosive flavours are to die for.
Eurostar back into London and passing out at 3:30am then getting up at 7am for work. I am spent.
Paris gallery can be viewed here

Eiffel at night - 3.1 MB
Museum d'Orsay - 4.6 MB
Notre Dame queue - 5.3 MB
Arc de Triomphe 1 - 4.8 MB
Arc de Triomphe 2 - 6.9 MB
Paris High Quality - 24.9 MB
Paris Low Quality - 9.6MB

Sam






Eiffel at night










Notre Dame Jax







The Kiss








Triumphal Arch








Pose








Trocadero from Eiffel

Dunny’s Birthday – Bristol

Another trip West, this time it was to celebrate the birthday of Chris Dunstan. The sun was out, steaks on the Barbie, chilled beers in hand; what a day! Then it was off to enjoy the night life of Bristol. First stop was a bar overlooking the Clifton suspension bridge. I had a moment here………………yes very gay but it was amazing just being there drinking Guinness. Second stop was a magic bar where you can enjoy a free magic show. After more beers, we went to a night club called Oceania. This place was huge and divided into 4 sections. R&B, Pop, Lounge and space cake music. The vibe was not there so off we went for a late night curry at 1am with slurred speech and everyone looking like a train wreck.
Next day was spent laying around at a park; playing Frisbee, football and throwing around a Nerf . We also managed to watch Middleborough vs West Ham at a pub. Middleborough lost and got relegated into the Champions league for next year. It was quite a funny sight watching grown men cry.
Back home in London now and relaxing before I’m off to Paris in 3 days. Jacqui from Brisbane is in Europe visiting family. So I couldn’t say no when she wanted to make a trip to Paris. Besides, I’m moving there in 3 months, yet in the 10 months I have been in London, I still have not made a trip there. Should be an amazing trip to the City of Lights.
Extended Bristol gallery can be viewed here

Rock Band Idol - 3.6 MB

Sam




Boys will be boys








6 pints and going strong








Wrecked!

Lake District

So for the long weekend break, we drove 5 hours North-West to the Lake District. The Lake District is kind of a big deal in England. It’s like the Lake Taupo of England. On the first day, we visited Wast Water; the water was calm & clear with rugged hills. The next day, we went on a cruise from Windermere to Ambleside. Ambleside is a small town known for its seafood. The Lake District is best known for its range of outdoor activities, due to the bad weather, we were unable to experience it fully. All and all, it was a peaceful weekend away from London with fresh air and extravagant surroundings.
Lake District gallery can be viewed here

Sam






Wast Water









Random town

Arsenal vs Chelsea – Wembley

If you haven’t been to a premiership football game, you haven’t lived. Eileen won tickets from a charity auction to the sold out FA Cup semi-finals between Arsenal Gunners and Chelsea Blues at Wembley Stadium. Being soaked in the ambience of 88,103 die hard fans is undiluted madness. Even the tube journey to the stadium was enjoyable. Fan’s chanting and singing to represent their colours. Words cannot describe this glorious occasion.
Chelsea 2 - Arsenal 1

FA Cup 1 – 3.8 MB
FA Cup 2 – 2.9 MB

Sam




The Crowd








The Gunners








The Blues








The Lineup








The Biznezz

Cornwall Easter

Greetings from London where we finally have sun!
Eileen, Noel and I spent Easter in Cornwall District. It is 5hrs drive South-West of London. We stayed in the City of Newquay where the locals are chilled out and laid back. The West coast probably has one of the best beaches in England. The first tourist attraction was the Holywell fun park where we raced karts and played mini-putt. The rental vehicle was probably the ugliest car I have ever seen in my life. It’s like a station wagon but not, like a mini-van but not, it also had uneven windows that didn’t flow. UGLY! Next was St Michael’s Mount which is a tiny, rocky Island with a medieval castle then it was onto Land’s End. This is the most Western part of England with beautiful rocky views. Every year, numerous people travel the 874 miles from Land’s End to John O'Groat; which is the most Northern tip of UK. Whether it is run, bike, drive or even unicycle. I’m a bit lazy to tell more about the trip as we covered so much; pics will be posted instead.
Oh the fish and chips in this region were brilliant. A famous seafood chef by the name of Rick Stein lives in Padstow which we also visited. Everything was fresh and pure. Over the long weekend, we drove about 800 miles.
I’m off to watch Arsenal vs Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley this weekend. Will be an experience of a lifetime.
I have again been denied access to upload videos to google, this has now been transferred to Microsoft SkyDrive.
Cornwall Gallery can be viewed here

Land’s End - 6.1 MB

Sam




Newquay Beach








Sunday Drive








Crappy Skoda








St Michael's Mount








Land's End








Bedruthan Steps - Too close for comfort







Minack Theatre








Padstow

Bruges x 2 and still loving it

Interconnector sent me to Bruges again for another week. This time it was wet and cold. I decided to stay on over the weekend and Noel made his way over from London. He arrived at 11:30pm and off we went club hopping. I think we managed to visit 6 clubs throughout the 3 hour session. The music was….how do you say it….’Eurotrash’. Trance, dance, happy hardcore playing over cheesy 1980’s pop songs. We also noticed that not many people drink in clubs. Picture 200 partygoers jammed in a small room and we would get served without waiting. Everyone was also drinking coke and fanta. I’m not sure if it’s because we are dealing with a global recession but it was just weird to see a room full of people and only a small handful drinking.

The next day was painful. We managed to get a lot of sights done over the weekend. We hiked up 366 steps in Belfry tower to view Bruges from above, went on the city bus tour, took a canal cruise, visited the basilica of the holy blood and walked everywhere and anyway in the city.

The smoking ban laws do not apply to small restaurants and bars in Belgium. It is actually quite revolting sitting in a small boutique bar and all of a sudden, someone decides to light up a cigarette. Since the bars are not very well ventilated, the smoke just lingers and drifts around the room. Yuck!
Updated photos from Bruges can be viewed here

Belfry Tower – 3.9 MB

Sam




View from above








Burg Square and Belfry








Canal cruise

Green Bristol

4 weeks has flown by and Eileen wanted to visit Bristol since we didn't get a chance during our last trip. Bristol is a very artistic and modern city. We walked on the Clifton suspension bridge. This bridge was completed in 1864 but took 35 years to complete; from design to construction. Bristol is also one of the greenest cities in England; the view from above is somewhat breathtaking.

What I have also noticed about Bristol is that the girls here are relatively short and attractive. Now when I say short, I don’t mean 4ft tubby and with double chins. Was actually quite funny as I am not used to seeing eye to eye with another female.

I am up in Norwich again this week for work. It is always good to get away from the hustle and bustle of London. My boss is a Bristish-Nigerian who enjoys a lot of Banter so this definitely makes my trip more enjoyable. We have been staying in North Walsham which is about 45mins out from Norwich central. Picture a ghost town with hoodlums and girls with no front teeth. I have also been told that this region is still quite racist. Okay, maybe racist is not very PC, let’s say they are more culturally oblivious. I thought the weird looks were because I was in a suit in farmland but I guess it’s a mixture of both. I get back to London on Friday night then I’m off to Bruges, Belgium for a week.

Eileen got her visa extension declined due to an error in the bank statements; for that reason, we have postponed Portugal and Poland. In a way, I kinda preferred this as living out of hotels for 2 weeks makes you appreciate your home (bed, crap shower, homemade food). Eileen’s partner Noel will be joining me for a weekend in Bruges; I can see a messy weekend ahead.

Its late and the hotel smells of cats (I’m allergic to cats!)

Sam




Typical Saturday night








Suspension Bridge









Famous Banksy graffiti

Roman Bath

Eileen, Jen and I spent last weekend in Bath. It is a small town 15mins by train out of Bristol and known for its thermal spas, stonehenge and history of Romans and Georgians. Although we did not get to check out the Stonehenge, we did spend a lot of time taking tours around the town.
Since it was Valentines Day, the town was busier than usual with guys treating their partners for a romantic weekend.

The Roman Baths were spectacular! Obviously it is no longer operational but the museum did their best to preserve what’s left and provided models & computer graphics to better describe the ancient grounds.
If the baths are around today, it would only be to accommodate to the rich and famous. The range of different pampering approaches really gave you a better understanding of how the Romans unwind.

We also took a dip in the thermal spas which was overrated. The steam rooms were very relaxing; 4 rooms each with a different scent. I got an ear infection from the baths which left me deaf for 2 weeks. I’m off to Krakow, Poland in 4 weeks and probably Bruges again in 3 weeks. Yes it is a hard life when work sends you to Europe. Only about 6 more months before I move to Paris.
Bath gallery can be viewed here

Bath - 4.5 MB

au revoir

Sam






Bath Abbey









Main Bath








Wishing Well (Spa)








Royal Crescent

Quiet January and Waitangi Day Pub Crawl

Sorry to the 3 people that actually read this blog; I’m fat and lazy to give updates. January has been very low key, I managed to detox for 22 days without drinking a single drop of alcohol. It was probably the hardest time in my life.
It snowed in London last week. It was the biggest snowfall in 18 years. London is so dependant on its public transport system that the whole city came to a halt. Buses were not running, tubes were down and even the overland was having difficulties. No one was able to get to work and for the few that actually got to work, they had to leave or they wouldn’t have been able to make it home.

McLaren and Walker were down in London last weekend and it was perfectly timed as the 2009 Waitangi Day Pub Crawl was about to kick off. We arrived in Notting Hill Gate at 11:00am and cracked open uor first beer. Due to the sheer madness, it was virtually impossible to get into any pubs. There were people everywhere causing havoc to London; traffic came to a standstill!
People were dressed up and having a good time. There were people dressed as the iconic bumble bee, sheep’s, cricket and rugby teams. Streets were getting blocked off to play a bit of cricket and rugby balls were getting kicked around without care of their surroundings. Tumeke!

I did not get to see the haka as it was totally packed at Westminster Square. That’s all for now. I’m off to Bath/Bristol this weekend so will hopefully be able to take some nice photos.
Google won't allow me to upload video's to my web album so I had to upload to their version of youtube.
Waitangi Day gallery can be viewed here

Snow in London – 4.8 MB
Waitangi Day Part 1 – 4.9 MB
Waitangi Day Part 2 – 4.5 MB
Waitangi Day Part 3 – 4.8 MB

Sam




Rubbish Snowman








Weirdos








McLaren and Walker








Quiet space

Newcastle NYE 2008

The first time I met Matt McLaren and Sam Walker was at Lynchy’s party on New Years Eve 2007. They have since moved back to Guisborough, England and invited me to join them in Newcastle for a New Years Eve party. On the way to Newcastle, we stopped by the Angel of the North; this angel like steel statue was 20 metres tall with wingspan of 54 metres! It was monstrous!
During our visit in Newcastle, we checked out an exhibition by Yoko Ono, Gateshead Millennium Bridge and a few pubs before arriving at the party. It was quite a good turnout with around 50 party goers. Half of us slept there so there were bodies everywhere; kitchen, floors and wardrobe. Good times.

During my stay in Guisborough, we travelled to Whitby; the town that drew inspiration to Bram Stoker for Dracula. It is also where Captain James Cook’s began training as a seaman. Whitby is also famous for its Fish & Chips; some say it’s the best in the Country. People were queuing in freezing temperatures (-3 °C) just to taste England’s finest. We also went into the Dracula haunted house, played pirate mini golf, purchased a Lucky Luck and climbed 199 steps to see Whitby Abbey; founded in 657 AD. On the way back to Guisborough, we stopped in at the Lion Inn; sitting 1325 feet above sea level with spectacular views and the closet store was 20 miles away. The earthy, warm feeling of this place was remarkable. What a day it has been.

The next day, I got to visit what’s left of the Guisborough Priory then went to Riverside Stadium to watch Middlesbrough F.C vs. Barrow A.F.C. The atmosphere and game was exciting with 2 players basically being carried off in body bags; score 2-1 to boro. That night, we decided to paint the town red and absord as much of Middlesbrough as I can. We arrived at a night club called ‘The Arena’. After paying for entrance and coat checks, Walker decided to call the bouncer a ‘Nob Head’. So of course she got thrown out, McLaren then tried to intervene and he too got thrown out. Me, well I was still checking in my coat and didn’t even get to see what the club looked like as I sympathetically left with them. We drank the night away at a Walkabout and ate a Parmo at 2am. Parmo is a Northern dish; it is basically crumbed chicken, covered with bechamel sauce then topped with cheddar cheese. These are capable to give anyone a chronic heart attack, but I loved it!

My 5th and final day was spent sleeping in till 12pm, having another lunch feast at Walker’s parents place and meeting their extended family. I also got to meet Sam’s sister Andrea, McLaren told me that she used to be a page 3 model, but oh boy does she have huge hands. Guisborough is a great place to visit with scenery and heritage. It is also close to other towns in the North-East region that is a must to visit if you are in this area. Although is can be passive at times, you will appreciate the serenity.
Newcastle gallery here
Guisborough gallery here
Whitby gallery here

Guisborough Priory - 4.5 MB
X Factor Contestants - 5.1 MB

Sam




Jumping Jacks








Pre-drinks








Walker & McLaren








Pass the parcel








New Years Feast








Guisborough Priory








Riverside Stadium








199 steps








Cod & Chips








Built specially for me








Beers at Lion Inn








Parmo aka Heart Attack