Helsinki, Finland

If anyone back in Oz is thinking they need a good sunbathing session then jump on a place and head over here to Finland. I say this because in this place, the sky is always light. This means that from about 3am to 11pm you can actually see the sun in the sky and between 11pm and 3am you cant see the sun but the sky is still light...

I arrived in Helsinki at 10:30pm and had some vague instruction on how to reach the hostel I had booked into. So after getting a bus from the airport to the city centre, as instructed by my instructions, I found myself walking around in circles trying to find a tram or metro to the hostel. After a good 15mins tiredness and frustration kicked in so I wrote down the name of the hostel on a bit of paper and gave it to a taxi, jumped in and a few minutes late I was walking through the front door of the hostel. Basically that was my first few hours in Helsinki, then I jumped in bed to prepare for the next day.

Today I had planned to do a fair bit of sightseeing and had marked on the map the various places I wanted to visit. First stop was a church, but not any old church, this one had been carved from the earth, built within a rock which had been chiseled away to form this "one of a kind" places. The whole church wasn't built from the rock, the roof and floor were unnatural but it was still quite impressive!

On the way to my next destination, Fortress of Suomenlinna, I walked passed the 1952 Olympics site, relaxed on a bench in the Winter Garden and passed numerous old buildings from varying time periods. After a long walk and a quick 15min ferry ride to the Fortress on the island Suomenlinna it was time for more walking... The island was pretty big so I had planned on staying there until the last ferry in order to see the whole place. After walking around for hours on end passing through old bunkers, pitch black tunnels and massive cannons it was time to rest my weary legs and what better way to do it than with a couple of local beers and a quite alcove on the rocky shore to do a bit of reading.

The weekend that I was in Helsinki, by coincidence, was their Midsummer Celebrations which included massive bonfires along the shores of the mainland and the hundreds of outlying islands. After taking the ferry back from the islands to the mainland it was time to find a bonfire. Shortly after, I stumbled across a massive stack of wood by the water so I found a suitable viewpoint and waited and waited and waited and waited and finally the fire began. To tell you the truth it wasn't that exciting, just really a massive fire, but was definitely interesting to witness. Time to head home and after a long long walk I got there. My dorm was empty so was good to have the place to myself, don't know why but it was good.

The morning came and I decided to leave the city a bit early, I felt satisfied with what I'd seen over the past day, so I walked to the station and got on a bus to the airport, changed my flight to the next one leaving for London and away I went. London here I come! Pete was expecting me on Sun (I was arriving Sat) and Josh wasn't expecting me at all...

Now I'm in London, again, so I'll report again soon, maybe from Spain this time...

Amsterdam...

Well well,

It seems that I'm travelling through these cities quite quickly, sometimes feels a bit too quick but never the less its good times all round so not complaining. Right now I'm in Amsterdam, my last day here before I jet off up to Helsinki, Finland.

Ok well this place is one crazy city, everyone here is here for one reason, to have fun! First day I got here was pretty relaxed, basically just chilled out and walked around the city taking in the atmosphere and getting my bearings for things. At night went for a walk with a couple of Brazillian guys got something to eat and checked out some ho's in the windows!

My 2nd day here started with a free walking tour of the city where I got talking to an Aussie guy from Melbourne who has his own band (Marty). The walking tour was excellent, showed us pretty much everything we needed to see and maybe some stuff we didn't really want to see... After the tour a few of us stuck together and went for a drink together. Marty gave me a CD with some tracks from his band, listening to it right now actually and its pretty good!

Next day I caught up with Marty and didnt really get up to much, watched some buskers in the main square, grabbed a bite to eat and sat down with a few beers before deciding we'd go on the pub crawl later that night. We met up at the first bar on the pub crawl and started the long night ahead. After shooting through bar after bar, shot after shot and beer after beer the night was finally over, or so I thought. On my way out of the last club a couple of blokes decided that it would be a good idea to f&*# around with me, they were getting pretty full on and ended up chasing me down the road. I escaped into a bar and then headed home to the hostel. Pretty full on night, definately worthwhile!

2nd last day brought a hangover and I pretty much just lazed around in the sun. Funnily enough I bumped into Marty on the street and we decided that we'd go on the Red Light Tour... This one was pretty good also, showing us where all the pro's are and how they operate their "skin trade". Pretty interesting and well thought out. After the tour the tour group all went to the bar and drank. Was a really good night where a few of us continued on and on...

Ok so now its my last day here in Amsterdam, I've got nothing more I'd like to see so I'm just chilling out today, my flight to Helsinki is at 7pm so a while to go yet. Not looking forward to tonights accommodation choice, an airport chair...

Thats all folks, signing out, Amsterdam...

Brussels, Belgium

The place of great beer and chocolates!

After leaving Paris on the train it took around 3hrs to arrive in Brussels. I had tried booking a hostel for the two nights that I would be here but could only get one night booked so I booked into a cheap hotel for 50euro a night. It was good to have a bit of privacy for a change and my small shoebox room definately provided that.

The city of Brussels is a very lively place, whether you are walking down a side alleyway or in the main square there will always be tonnes of people around. My first day here consisted of just walking around getting a feel for the place and just chilling out really. Had a few beers and after I got the taste for it I found myself in a nightclub for the rest of the night!

Next morning checked into the hostel which was just across the street and was given a map with all the interesting places in town. So today was walking tour day, I marked all the places I wanted to see on the map and started walking, all day, too many k's to count!

While resting my tired legs in the main square I could see various men and women on their hens and bucks nights parading around in nappies, g-strings, cream covered bodies etc. It was so funny watching some of the shenanigans they were getting up to, got a few idea for you TOM! ;)

Next I decided it was about time for a Belgium beer and what better place to have one than in the Delerium Cafe, home to more than 2000beers!!! I couldnt choose which one to have so just asked the barman to recommend one. I cant say any more than delicious! After the beer it was chocolate time, free, taste testing and again didnt dissapoint. After the long walking day I had extremely sore legs and very tired so just crashed to bed before midnight.

Next day it was time to head to Amsterdam, so bought a train ticket and jumped on the train. (getting a bit sick of all this training about every few days)

So in Amsterdam now, having a great time, will update on Amsterdam after I've left!

Until then...

Paris...

After leaving Portugal our (Dad & myself) next stop was Paris.

We arrived in Paris at an airport almost 2hours outside the city so we took a 1.5hr bus trip towards the city and then the Metro to the hotel. We had booked a hotel based on a recommendation from an American bloke we met on the train in Portugal. After seeing the location, quality and price of the place we were definately glad we bumped into him! The hotel was right smack bang in the middle of the city, 5min walk to Notre Dame.

After checking in we decided to go and look for another hotel for my Aunts and cousin and her friend to stay in, ours was booked out! So after spending about 2-3hrs walking around Paris we had only found a couple of places that had vacancies and had prices considerably higher than where we were staying. Again, this made us feel even better about where we were staying.

Enough of that walking. It was time to sit down and have some dinner. We chose a place not far from our hotel and waited about 15min to get a seat outside. After sinking a few beers and waiting almost an hour for our meal (30mins before we got to order) we were finally satisfied and the duck I ate was happily swimming around in my stomach.

After dinner we went for a walk around the area and stumbled across a few buskers. One of which was singing good old classic songs and was really good until some drunk French guy decided he'd try and start a fight with the singer. Fortunately it wasnt to happen as a bunch of onlookers pulled him away and sorted him out. Very interesting for our first night! Next was a walk over to the Notre Dame and a crepe for the walk.

The next day my reloz arrived and we somehow got them a room in our hotel. We jumped on a hop-on hop-off bus and drove around the city seeing the sites. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame and various others. Unfortunately we missed out on seeing Montmartre. We were planning to go up the Eiffel Tower and we lining up when it started pouring down with rain so we ran for the bus-stop and huddled together until the bus came. Tomorrow...

After a hard days sightseeing we all deserved a drink. So we grabbed some takeaways from an off-license and a kebab and sat down by the River Seine outside Notre Dame. After some good drinking fun and shenanigans we made our way back to our beds. Another great day in Paris!

After missing out on the Eiffel Tower the day before, we had planned to do that today. First we stopped at the Louvre for a quick run to the Mona Lisa and back. After our quick art session for the day we walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower which wasnt as far as I'd have thought! Finally we were going up! What an amazing view you get from the top of the tower! Its crazy when you're going up the lift and looking straight down the side of the tower, if you have vertigo you'd be stuffed!

As night began to fall we readied ourselves for the big night ahead, Moulin Rouge! First of all we jumped on a Illumination tour bus which drove you around the sites and showed you them illuminated at night, the Eiffel Tower was awesome to see at night, especially when it started to twinkle with thousands of lights! When we drove around the massive round-a-bout which circles the Arc de Triomphe there were thousands of people all dressed in white having a sit down dinner on the pavement. They were all going crazy waving their napkins in the air and some even ran over and jumped on our bus!

Eventually we arrive at the Moulin Rouge theatre and saw what lay ahead, a 200meter line! Oh well, so to the back of the que we went! Dad went into the pub and bought some Corona's for the wait. Finally we arrived at our seats in the theatre and popped a bottle of Champas. The show was fantastic with costumes and sets like no other! Extravagent! It's for sure the best show I've ever seen! The show finished up at 1:30am and we made our way back to the hotel for the final night before Dad flew off...

The next day we packed out bags and checked out of the hotel. I went to the station with Dad to say our goodbyes and then he was gone... Dad, I had an awesome time with you! Some of the best parts of my trip! Thanks for a GREAT time!

Next it was my turn, so I said my goodbyes to my Aunts and jumped on a train to Brussels, Belgium which is where I am now. Actually I'm leaving for Amsterdam now so I'll update on Brussels from there.

Don.

Porto, Portugal

Hello Hello!

Well its been a short while since my last update but alot has happened since then.

So after leaving Ireland with Dad we flew to Porto, Portugal for 3 days. First impressions were really good, the airport was brand new and the rail system was clean, efficient and took us close to the hotel, we kind of. After a sweaty 20 minute walk from the Metro station to our hotel we were glad to be able to rest for a while before heading out on the town to explore the city.

We walked and walked and walked all over the city, through tiny alleyways lined with buildings probably older than our country. The city has been built on the hillds of the river Duoro and looking across the water at the city it's definately a very impressive sight!

Next was to jump on one of those hop-on/hop-off busses and shoot around the city in order for us to get a feel for the place. The bus trip took about 1.5hrs and drove all over the city, along the river, up and down the hills and across bridges, definately a worthwhile journey.

One evening Dad and I decided it was time to try out some of the Port that the city has grown famous from. We tasted 4 different Ports, 3 reds and a white, and eventually decided that we'd buy ourselves a bottle and relax in comfort looking over at the city. We ended up having to get a couple of fellow Aussies to help us polish her off and then being the kind people they were, bought a jug of Sangria for us to share...

As night fell, our stomachs started to tell us that it was time to eat. So we made our way to a restaurant that someone had recommended. My tastebuds were set on that juicy bunny rabbit sitting in a cage out the front, but by the time we came around to ordering it was already "gone". So baked Cod was on the table for me and what a delicious meal it was!!!

As the next day came it was time to explore another part of Portugal. So Dad and I jumped on a train to a small town 1.5hrs away by train. The train ride was unbelievable with the tracks hugging the banks of the river with views of the vineyards across the way. Definately something worthwhile seeing! This town was definately small, we only ended up staying here for about 3hours, if that, but the surrounding scenery was amazing! Rolling hills covered in vineyards with the river winding its way peacefully back to sea... (I'll put photos of all this up when I get a chance, bit harder now that I dont have the laptop anymore!)

On the way back to Porto the train stopped half way and everyone got off. We didn't know what was going on so we jumped off too later to find out that further along the line another train had had an accident so we were to go no further. After an hour of waiting we got talking to another couple of Aussies and decided to share a cab back to town.

After our 3days it was time to hop back on the plane and make our way to Paris. I'll write about Paris very soon because I'm on some free internet in the hotel and some people are staring at me and telling me with their eyes to hurry up!

Keep checking back!

Don.

My last 2 months!

Ok Ok... I know I've been pretty slack with the updates lately so here's to the beginning of the slack updates! From now on I probably wont be updating my blogs as much as I'll always be on the move for the next 6months.

Easter was my last update, a lot has happened since then...

My memory isn't too good (alcohol damaged), so I'll only write about the most memorable moments that I have lived and learned over this time.

Since Easter, the occupants of the London Pad have all changed. Britain moved out: Italian moved in, French moved out: French moved in, Italian's moved out: Aussie's moved in, Moroccan moved out: Italian moved in. I've got to say, since these changes the house has been such a better place to live in. Bills paid on time, dishes washed, drinks drank, laughs had and plenty of good times etched into our memories.

Not sure if I mentioned this in my previous blog but the last job I had in London I was working in a Financial Research Company which was probably the best job I've had while in London, better atmosphere, more money and easier work... Basically started doing data entry then moved on to being a Financial Researcher which was a lot more interesting and challenging. I worked there for almost 2months, which came to an end a few days before departure to Scotland. I didn't tell them I was leaving until the day before, which I thought was a bit hard on them but I enjoyed doing it like that for once, I've been so nice with my "quitting" in the past!

The rest of the time from Easter until a few days before I left for Scotland were pretty much the same old, drinking Fri/Sat and working Mon-Fri... A few "exciting" occurrences occurred during these times which I wont be mentioning in this blog... Actually, I'll mention one of them! (Just for you Josh!) Josh got knocked the fuck out at the Walkabout in London one night, was hilarious! I turned around and found him lying on the pavement sprawled out like a beached jellyfish! Many more stories to follow on arrival back in OZ...

Mikaila and Hannah arrived in London on the 25th May and stayed at our place for a couple of nights. Pretty cramped but we were all pretty pissed so sleeping on the floor, couch or wherever didn't really bother any of us. Actually, I think Josh had the worst sleep of us all, on that air-bed that went completely flat after a couple of hours of sleep (he thought it had a hole in it... hmm???)

Saturday night and being the nice hospitable men we are I decided that our evening would involve a tonne of drinks and plenty of dancing at the one and only Ministry of Sound nightclub. The night started off strong at home with enough drinks to satisfy a small army then we made our way to the club. The music wasn't exactly the kind of stuff you hear on "The Annual's" but it was still very energizing keeping us movin' and groovin' to the early hours of the morning with the sun welcoming us home to our bed, floor or couch.
Sunday came and it was time for me to embark on my journey into the rest of Europe. First stop Glasgow to meet with my Dad and the rest of my reloz. Hannah, Mikaila and myself jumped on a plane and away we went. A few hours later and I met up with Dad. Was really good to see him again!! Being gone for 6months, naturally I was missing him! From there, where else but straight to the pub...

Over the next 8 days in Scotland I met up with my Scottish relatives in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I haven't seen them for ages, if at all, so was good to catch up. Other than that our days and nights were pretty much based around the pubs in the city. I'll tell you, the Glasgonian's know how to take a drink or 20! Dad took me around Glasgow showing me where he grew up, saw where he took his first steps, the house he grew up in and plenty of other stories rolled off tongues left right and centre.


A road trip lasting 2 days found us winding through the Scottish Highlands. This part of the world has some unbelievable scenery with 360deg picturesque views over the rolling hills and mountains. The weather was on our side with the days hitting around 23deg which saw me wearing "beach gear" for the first time in a long long time (unusual for Scotland). If you ever get the chance, I'd recommend you take a trip up that way at any given opportunity! We had a few more days to relax in the pubs in Glasgow and then next stop Ireland.
\So we jumped on a car ferry with my uncles van from Scotland to Ireland and a couple of hours later were in Belfast. We took a look around the city which had some interesting physical sights but not that exciting. Yes I know that there is a heap of history about the place but I haven't, still, had the chance to read into to too much. We departed Belfast with Monaghan our destination. This town close to the border is where some of my distant (in location and relation) cousins live.

The next few days staying in Monaghan with the reloz were pretty much non stop drinking and meeting relatives that I'd never met let alone know about before. One night we had a "family introduction" where I got to meet up to 30 relatives who are apparently my 3rd cousins. So my already large family is beginning to get even bigger and I found out that two of my 3rd uncles (or something) actually have build almost the whole village, pubs, hotels, houses, cathedrals etc...

On one of my 5 days in Ireland we ventured up to the very north of the country on a mini road trip, damn I love road trips! Any kind of burl actually... Anyway, we stopped off at the Bushmills Distillery and took a look around, not much to see here, but there were a few bottles of whiskey that were bottled over 200years ago! Our next stop was the Giants Causeway. This place is absolutely magnificent! The scenery is just amazing and the rock formations down by the ocean are incomprehensible. So far, Ireland has put on a great display of character and definitely lived up to my expectations. Oh and I'll just mention that the people in Ireland are so damn nice its annoying!Ok I know I'm rambling a bit now but as I said earlier a lot has happened since last update! Anyway, I'll be quick and just jot a few quick happenings down.

The rest of my time in Ireland included visiting a couple of graves of my Irish ancestors, attending an Irish funeral service (a friend of my relative we were living with), a visit to Castle Leslie where Paul McCartney was recently married and a day in Dublin before my flight to Portugal. I thought Dublin was a much nicer city than Belfast, alot more going on and still nice people. And once again, was loving the Irish reloz, they put me and Dad up in an apartment they own in the city centre.

Ok well thats that. I'm now in Porto, Portugal and loving the place, but I wont write about that now cause I'm here for another 3days then Paris for 3days so I'll let you know how all that goes a bit later on.

Until then,
Keep safe and remember I'm still missing y'all back home!

Don.