Name:Brendan Location: London, United Kingdom Gender:Male
Interests::: Snowboarding :: Poker :: Golf :: Soccer :: Football :: Manchester United :: Shopping :: Travelling the Globe :: Cars :: Clothes :: Dining Out :: Julia :: Photography :: Art :: Music :: Expertise:
OMG... first update of 2007 and we've already left England... on our final trip now through Europe and then the USA and then Sydney.
So we get back to Sydney on the 16th of May.
For now though, we're travelling through Europe and here are some photos from our first country of Portugal. Together with Lovena and Cecilia, Jules and I had a blast! I'm sure you can tell from the photos that we all loved this wonderful country and it's sun! yay for clear blue skies!
Jules and I hope you had a great Christmas wherever you are in the world! I know a lot of you went travelling... so hope you're having a blast! For those of you still in Sydney... we wish we were there with you too hehe :) Missing Sydney seems to be a recurring theme now in our blogs, but hey being away from friends and family for almost a year now has taken it's toll. So the update now is, we're planning on coming back to Sydney by May 2007! That's right! We're coming home.
Anyway, back to our travels... we spent Christmas 2006 in Zurich, Switzerland! It wasn't snowing in the city of Zurich, but it was dam cold... on Christmas day though, we travelled to Mount Titlis and enjoyed a white christmas on the mountain above the clouds! Heavenly!
So here are some of the photos from our 4 days in Zurich... I ate a lot... but somehow my net weight gain/loss has remained mysteriously again at ZERO. Don't be jealous ppl, we all want what we can't have.
::: This is some sort of Swiss fried batter with paprika and sour cream on the top :::
::: 5 metres down from the last food stall I found this gem... melted cheese on potatoes with some paprika :) yummo! :::
::: Traditional Swiss BBQ sausage with a nice bread roll and ketchup :::
::: For dinner that night I had a paprika sausage & potato salad... more! :::
::: Merry Christmas! We're having a ball! :::
::: White Christmas baby! haha :::
::: The view of the surrounding area (above the cloud line!) :::
::: Posing in front of a nice rock formation with a clear blue sky! :::
::: Julia wanted a shot from this view too :P :::
::: Julia and I riding the Snow Tube at the top of Mount Titlis... wicked fun! :::
::: I love this shot of Jules... she looks so pro with that camera! :::
::: Pretty Christmas trees everywhere in Switzerland :::
::: Julia in ice hockey skates - carving it up! :::
::: The main shopping street in Zurich @ night :::
::: Hotel Zum Storchen & the largest clock in Europe! :::
::: The view down the main river in Zurich :::
::: Zurich Christmas lights :::
::: More lights, this time in an alley near our hotel :::
That's pretty much all we have for now. New Years Eve is fast arriving, so I'm sure we'll be sharing with you many pictures from our night and we hope to see some of yours too! Have fun! Happy New Year to you all! All the best in 2007!
Cheers, B.
::: late edit ::: OMG, only days after the XMAS, the after XMAS sales have hit hard in London... Julia managed to pick up her very own... (drum roll please... scroll down slowly)
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Yep, she has her own ski gear now... boots, skis, poles, and even a bag!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL WHO HAVE REACHED 2007! We're not far off... about to head out now...
Our four days in Paris was a mixture of good and bad.
The Good:
Catching the Eurostar from Waterloo station which is 10min away rather than trekking out to the various airports. No 2-hour check-in. No hassle with liquids in clear plastic bags and taking shoes off through security. Just straight through with your ticket and 3 hours later, youe in the middle of Paris!
The Bad:
Having my snooze interrupted by a group of old ladies who got on at Ashford (an hour from London). They chatted and laughed over their champagne breakfast right in the next row all the way to Paris while Brendan and I tried our best to block it out with our ipods.
The Ugly:
Brendan and I arrived at our great 3-star (but looks more like 4-star), bargain hotel in the perfect location in the centre of Opera, a short walk away from shopping and the Champs-Elys嶪s - only to find that they needed to transfer us to another hotel because the roof had been damaged by a storm! Worse still, the hotel was on the outskirts of Paris and no matter how much she convinced us that it was of the same 3-star quality, we were skeptical. But before we knew it, she called a taxi for us and stupid as we were, we decided to take it. After all, it was only going to be 8 euros she reassured us. Itl just be a short cab ride. Surely, there can be that much traffic midday Thursday. Wellow wrong was I!! We ended up stuck in the cab for about half an hour and it ended up costing 23 euros. Stupid taxi driver charged me an extra euro for my backpack!
Once we were there, we realized just how far the hotel was from central Paris and it didn look that great either. So we decided to walk to the local tourist centre that we driven past just around the corner. They can find us a centrally located hotel! o? they said, e can only make reservations for the local hotels in the Clichy area. Youe not in Paris.?WHAT?! Wee not in Paris?! That was it! DEFINITELY will not be staying there.
So after some searching at an internet caf? we found ourselves a 4-star hotel near Arc de Triomphe which cost us a fortune!! So off we went (on the metro this time!) back into Central Paris.
The Good:
We discovered this really cool outdoor food market next to our new hotel, selling cheese, baguettes, wine and escargot. Every day, we would walk through the market dodging the locals pulling their shopping trolleys and admire all the fresh produce on display.
We spent the rest of day walking up and down the Champs-Elysees and climbing to the top of Arc de Triomphe to enjoy the Paris lights.
::: A rare shot without a beanie :::
::: The underside of the Arc de Triomphe :::
::: At night in front of the Arc :::
::: No wonder there are so many car accidents here :::
::: The night time view of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe :::
::: Yummy Yummy! My rose-flavoured macaroon at Laduree, a Parisian tea salon :::
The Ugly:
Brendan run of bad luck keeps goingt was our last night in Paris and it was also going to be his last opportunity to take some night shots of the Eiffel tower. To show how keen he was, it was almost midnight and I was too buggered to go with him, and he still bothered to take the metro to the perfect Eiffel Tower viewing spot. Anyway, there he was, his camera set up on his tripod, surrounded by other photographers, admiring the glittering lights of the tower. He went to take his first shot ?a long exposure shot (even I know the lingo now) and thenis camera died. And of course, for the first time, he didn have his spare battery with him. But it okay, he decides to return to the hotel to charge his camera with a real intention to go back and take his treasured photos. Wowhat dedication. But after chasing down cab after cab and sitting through horrendous Paris traffic, he finally makes it back to the hotel an hour later. Hmight, maybe daytime shots of Eiffel Tower wouldn be too bad?/SPAN>
The Good:
Brendan did manage to take some stunning pictures of the Louvre at night. And it was perfect timing for night time discounted entry to the Louvreoohoo! And we hardly had to queue!
::: Pretty lights of Paris :::
::: One of the many wings of The Louvre :::
::: Just like a postcard... Good shot, Brendan! :::
::: Almost looks like a spaceship :::
::: and again... ooooooo pretty! :::
::: Inside the Louvre :::
::: The Winged Victory of Samothrace :::
::: Brendan likes to take photos of stairs - this one's in the Louvre :::
::: The marble courtyard inside the Ch漮eau de Versailles :::
::: Inside the chapel of the Ch漮eau de Versailles :::
::: Brendan at it again... a shot of a stairwell in the Ch漮eau :::
::: The super colourful stain glass windows of Saint Chappelle :::
::: Brendan tries an artistic shot in small laneway in Paris...do I look French? :::
::: Posing on the Pont Alexander III (aka The Lover's Bridge - hehe) :::
::: Brendan happy at last with some photos of The Eiffel Tower :::
::: Even I joined in on the celebrations! :::
::: Arty farty Eiffel Tower :::
::: Can you guess what this is? It's actually the underside of the Eiffel Tower :::
Another month, another update :P Julia and I were in prague 2 weekends ago... it was cold (as is the rest of Europe), but Prague is a beautiful city filled with a massive history. Prague has some amazing architecture and by night, the city looks remarkable. I had a lot of fun with my camera this trip.
Anyway, here's some of the snaps I shot in Prague.
::: Jules & I in the main town square :::
::: Another side of the main town square at night :::
::: On the Charles Bridge :::
::: My first real attempt at a series of shots. These were 3 windows in a courtyard which we passed through. I really thought the colours depicted were sensational :::
::: A very pleasent looking window and door :::
::: Taken from the Charles Bridge overlooking a beautiful Prague street :::
::: Prague Castle! This was one huge courtyard. It's Europe's largest castle! :::
::: The church located within the walls of Prague Castle :::
So on the Wednesday after we got back from Prague... I managed to get Julia, Trish and I tickets to the Fulham FC vs Arsenal FC game at Craven Cottage! Heaps excited about this and we all went anticipating a few goals from Henry and the other young gunners... to our surprise, Fulham FC played out of their skin and in a huge effort, they won 2-1! Woohoo! Down go the gunners and any attempt on the title this season... haha. As a consolation though, Van Persie did whip in an amazing free kick and I was lucky enough to catch it all with my camera... so take a look at his amazing shot below. My focus was a little off, but you should get the feel for it, just watch the crowd, all of their heads are fixed on the ball in all shots :P
::: Van Persie lines it up and takes his run up... :::
::: Just before contact... Henry opens a gap in the wall... :::
::: Van Persie strikes it well, it's got a lot of curl... :::
::: The keeper reacts as everyone watches the flight of the ball... :::
::: It's just out of reach of the keeper... GOAL!!!!! :::
3 days ago, Jules, Nicole, Jo-Lynn and I went ice skating at Somerset House in London... finally, I got to skate on an outdoor rink... and oh boy I loved it! I miss ice skating, the speed, the freedom, the freshness of the untouched ice as you make contact for the first time and hear the crunching of the ice against your blade... ahhh... just brilliant! Here are a few photos and even a video from the day :)
::: Nicole, Jo-Lynn and Jules - I think black coats are the go! :::
::: Jules and I enjoying the ice and the clear sunny day in London :::
::: My cheeky look (as described by Jules) :::
Well that's all for now... I can tell you that Jules and I are off to Paris on Thursday for 4 days... so we'll update again once we return and no doubt share a whole new bunch of photos, news and videos with you all! It's almost Christmas Time... and the sales are everywhere... so no doubt Paris will have some bargains that Jules and I won't be able to refuse :P So you'll prolly see some of our splurges next update :)
::: I got to play with my camera whilst Julia took the wheel :::
Ok, so as promised, here are some of our many photos from our road trip! We tooks hundreds and it was very tough to pick just a few. Hope you like them!
WARNING - THIS IS A LONG LONG LONG LONG POST :P
We basically left London in our little Mercedes A-Class which we hired and without a GPS (because the one they gave us was busted! typical!) we managed to find our way to each of our destinations... ok fine we did get lost a few times, but that's a given!
Well hopefully you get a feel for where we went from this pictorial blog :P
Our first stop was to the village of Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, an area 2 hours from London, dotted with picturesque villages and beautiful landscapes.
::: We just had to take a photo of this bathroom at our B&B - the bathtub is 100 years old!! :::
::: Walking through the outskirts of Chipping Campden... OMG it was cold! :::
::: A candid shot of me taking a photo of the countryside :::
::: Chipping Campden :::
::: Autumn colours at Batsford Arboretum, Cotswolds :::
::: Julia and I by the stream in Lower Slaughter - a bizarre name for such a pretty village :::
::: And again on a bridge over the stream :::
::: Captivated by the landscape as we drove by, we had to snap this photo :::
::: I pulled over when I saw this in the distance and I captured it here :::
::: Dusk at Broadway Tower :::
Our next stop was at Chester, an ancient city surrounded completely by a Roman-built city wall. It is in fact only one of a few cities in this state today.
::: The UK's 2nd most photographed clock! Can you guess what 1st is? :::
::: The sun setting over Chester :::
Just half an hour away is Liverpool. When you think of Liverpool, what do you think of? That westie place in Sydney? No.... Steven Gerrard!! hahaha Liverpool is all about Anfield!
::: For all you Liverpool fans out there (Kev, Timbo & Co) - the stadium is ok :::
::: The famous 'This Is Anfield' sign in the tunnel leading out to the field :::
::: The famous, or should I say infamous 'Spion Kop' :::
::: The post match interview area... 'I think Man Utd deserved the win!' haha :::
::: The Liver Building in Liverpool :::
We left Liverpool and drove through the Lake District, stopping at Lake Windermere. The landscape was colourfully presented in this region and the views were breathtaking. The air was crisp to breathe and the sky was blue for a change! A truly tranquil place.
::: Inside the Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit Museum, Windermere :::
::: Lake Windermere :::
::: Sunset over Lake Windermere :::
::: I call this my National Geographic shot as I climbed a wall and trekked down to the water to shoot in freezing cold weather this whilst Julia waited for me in the warmth of the car :::
Getting closer to Scotland now... we drove towards the remains of Hadrian's Wall in the morning before heading to Scotland later that day.
::: Hadrian's Wall - Roman built wall just south of today's Scotland/England border :::
::: Us sitting on one section of Hadrian's Wall :::
::: Don't try this at home kids! Taken from the outside of a moving vehicle! :::
We made it!!! After 5 days of driving, we're in Edinburgh finally! I'm quite proud of that little Mercedes A-Class, I got to admit, I wasn't really a fan of it at first, but after a week with the little car, it's not that bad after all!
::: Julia looking warm in Edinburgh :::
::: Funnily enough this cannon in Edinburgh Castle was aimed at that monument :::
::: This guy was a classic, he claims to be the cousin of Mary Donaldson and was also in films like Rob Roy, though deep down you can tell he is a Mel Gibson fan LOL :::
::: Julia with chocolates, a cup of hot chocolate & as if it wasn't enough, a slice of chocolate meringue cake! Ok we shared it :::
::: Outside the National Gallery of Edinburgh :::
::: The view from the top of Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh :::
::: A video clip of us on Arthur's Seat :::
And that's all I have for now... my fingers are tired from editing photos and posting this long ass blog. It was worth it though... finally got all the pics out there to share! yay!
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LOL :::
