Bordeaux

We caught the train into Bordeaux today, which took only an hour. We wondered aimlessly around this great French town, it was awesome to see the heritage listed Cathedral and Victoria Place. (I did wanna give it the Teddy Whitten 'stick it right up em' but thought the gypsys might not quite get it) We spent the afternoon in this amazing Museum of Modern Art in north Bordeaux. It is housed in the ancient warehouse that used to be used for stocking coal, tobacco and wine etc. It is by far the coolest gallery we've visited so far, because you are in awe at the building before you even see any artwork. Mind you, modern art as the usual 'this is crap', and then something pops up that really takes your eye. A photo I've attached is this amazing photo piece, where the subject is covered in clay, and gradually takes it all off to reveal himself. Very cool indeed. The complete highlight of my day.....I found a french version of the 'Empire Strikes Back' movie poster. To some that will mean nothing, but I know a few out there will appreciate it. It's going straight to the pool room!

Bergerac

We left chilly UK for France, more specifically Bergerac. At 16 degrees, we felt like we were in Port Douglas, the jump of 10 degrees might not seem like much, but we were stoked to not have to wear a coat! Patricia's cousin Valerie picked us up from the airport which was great. Her family have been so awesome having us for the last couple of days. Their house is amazing, the countryside beautiful, and the wine, well you know the rest. The image attached is a statue of Cyrano himself.

Durham aka.Hogwarts..

On our last day in the North East, Andy and Mandy drove us to Durham. It coincided with some awesome snowfalls and cold weather as only Newcastle can bring. The cathedral at Durham was amazing, holding the gravestone of the famous St Bede, and more importantly, the exterior hallways of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter franchise. 2 weeks in North East was just awesome, giving us time to take a breather, not from drinking of course, but for washing, sleep etc etc.. Thanks to Andy and Mandy for making it unreal!! For the soccer fans out there, Andy is currently living at Mandy's flat, which is ironically located on the old Sunderland football ground Roker Park. So, in short, the mad geordie is living in the heart of opposition territory!!

We are the Geordies...

Scorelines: Toon vs Coventry City 4-1, Toon vs Preston 3-0. I was praying that Patricia would get to see some goals when we went to St.James', and by hell we got em. Both games the Toon played well, apart from Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan (yes, they are still playing there). Patricia was stoked to see the mad Geordies go nuts after their beloved scored and won easily to remain top of the league. They look like going up, but not sure how long will stick around for, although, with teams like Wigan, Hull and Stoke, reckon we'll be right. As for the mackems, lets hope they continue to slide and we wave to em as they drop down!! Howay the toon...

Mo Money..

Patricia had bet me 1 Euro a day if I'd grow a beard for the entire trip. So, ten days in, and itching my neck and chin like I had fleas, I decided to can the bet and shave it off. Coincidentally, the Geordie had also grown a beard upon our arrival in the toon, so heres the photos of what happened next...

Lake District

Our first weekend up in the toon and we got whisked away to the Lake District, easily the most impressive landscapes in England. We were both in awe at the sights of this district as we had no expectations what the weekend would bring. The photos might not do it justice but I think Patricia’s lake shot shows you how impressive this region really is. We stayed in an old little B&B and had dinner in an even older lakeside pub. I feel ashamed to say that all the time I lived in London that I never came up to the Lakes, because anyone who comes to the motherland must get up here.

Angel of the North

I wanted to make special mention to this photo Patricia took of the great Angel of the North, it is the symbol of the gateway to the north up here and represents this amazing part of England and all it stands for

Toon Toon, Black and White Army..

Some of you will wonder why in the hell I ever supported Newcastle Utd, well, his name is Andy Allen and lives in the great North East of England. I must admit I was a little excited to get to the Toon to see Andy and booze up for two weeks, but Mandy (Andy’s girlfriend), had beaten us to the punch by getting me and Patricia a bottle of Newcastle Brown for us as we arrived!! It was awesome for the first time on our trip to see a familiar face and be greeted at our destination!! The first week included a lot of drinking, downtime for me and Patricia, plenty of washing of clothes, and some great laughs. Andy got us tickets to two toon games next week where the level of excitement in the room will probably burst a lung.

Scotland

We did somewhat of a whirlwind tour of Scotland, in two days in fact. Due to immense fog flying from Amsterdam to Edinburgh we were delayed big time, so the day we got in we simply looked around Edinburgh with the other thousands of French rugby fans (there for the 6 nations rugby). On the Sunday, we took a one day tour of Scotland which Cammy,Hantie, Dan, Andy and myself had done almost nine years ago, this time however, I wasn’t hungover as I was that day!! The tour takes you through Stirling, through the fields where Mel Gibson (oops, I mean William Wallace) battled the English, the bus driver didn’t like my blue and white facepaint by the way. We went up through the highlands and onto Loch Ness, where the only monster sighted was a huge German man feasting on crisps and lager….

Delft

On Cammy’s recommendation, we went from Wassenaar over to the quaint town of Delft. We were both blown away by this small and quiet town and were lucky enough to be there on market day in the square. Patricia got a real sense of the real dutch when seeing the herring, Flemish fries, croquettes, hams, cheeses and licorice on offer at the market. We had such an awesome day strolling around Delft.

Wassenaar

We hired a car for the day and headed south down to Dad’s village that he grew up in called Wassenaar. Having been here before I had some idea which street he lived in, but Patricia and I were both surprised when half way down a narrow street, I said “This is it.” I looked to my right and Dad’s house was right there. I don’t know what it was but something drew me there because we weren’t even looking for his street at that point! They were doing renovations on the house so I was hoping to bust the door open and have a look inside, all to no avail. The village was great and we went up to the beach and saw the beautiful beach resting against the violent North Sea, coincidentally, only one week later we would be looking at the same North Sea but from the Newcastle side…

Van Dobben

Van Dobben is an institution in this city, it makes the greatest croquettes in Holland, and the oldies behind the counter are sensational. The white tiled décor and “Katz” like atmosphere makes this an unmissable ‘dutch’ experience

A glimpse of Amsterdam

Here are some photos that Patricia and I have taken in this amazing city.

Rainy days in Amsterdam

Our second day in Amsterdam, we wake up and its raining cats, dogs and guinea pigs. Our first thought, what to do in this town when its raining heavily, only one answer: Heineken…..
After the great experience of the Heinken brewery, a little tipsy, we stumbled upon a fantastic bar/diner that was packed with locals. As the rain kept falling all afternoon, we stayed in this place for around 6 hours, drinking coffee, then beer, playing wicked board games and people watching. The waiter brought out the chef who was a young aussie so we had a chat to him too. We missed Harry and Lochie so much that we played this awesome Twin Memory card game (see picture), and have been looking to buy it everywhere Cammy, my eyes are peeled for it!!

Stairs and Hutspot

If you been following the blog, you would have seen the garden gnome sized lift we had in our hotel in Paris. Well, we get t our place in Amsterdam, and I feel like Jack and the beanstalk looking up at this flight of stairs with a 16kg bag. Our room is conveniently on the third floor, so I felt like I did 80 squats, probably the only squats I’ve ever done in my life too for that matter. Showered and refreshed we burst out the door in to the night.
For our first night Patricia was keen to try some authentic Dutch food, so we went to a quiet little place off the Leidse Plein, we had croquettes, pofferjes and this awesome Hutspot. Of course the chosen drink was a Heineken, when in Rome of course…

Train travel and Amsterdam

We hopped a high-speed train to my ancestors homeland, The Netherlands. The train was so awesome, quick, and gave us a great opportunity to sit back and take in the landscapes of Belgium on the way. When we arrived, we instantly felt at ease here; the contrast between the busy Parisian lifestyle and the laid-back streets of Amsterdam are very different. Amsterdam gets a bad rep for the red-light and coffee shop culture, but I really forgot how rad this city is. The canals, the trams, the people, the art, the food and the beer; this city is a class above.

Leunovo Cosmos

Our last night in Paris, we decided to head downstairs to this bar directly below our hotel. It is this insanely cool jazz bar that has live music, great food, and Carlsberg, what more could you want in Paris. We had this awesome ham plate for dinner, called ‘Charcutrie’, washed down with some beers, and this ace three piece jazz band, it was a fantastic way to wrap up our Paris journey…

Latin Quarter

On our last day we took the metro to hit up this ace crepe joint in the Latin Quarter. Passing through we stumbled across this insane store. It’s called ‘Album’, and houses everything to do with Graphic Novels and Graphic Art. The inner geek in me was in awe. Latin Quarter is quite fun, we washed down some fine beers here, and yes Azza, I did get the Gyros, gold…

The Tower

Our last day in Paris, we decided to actually head up the tower. It was fun, even though we only got to the second level due to the winter restrictions. Not sure what’s happening in my old age but I felt a little uneasy up there, but I’m sure it’s because the iron beams look a little rustier since the last time me and Davo were there!!

Le Catacombes

I ventured into the dungeons of Paris to see the historical Le Catacombes. The cave system that lies beneath Paris is amazing, creepy, claustrophobic and weird, but nevertheless amazing. The bones stretch for miles and provide a grizzly reminder of French history. Funniest part of the journey was coming out at the exit about 3km away from where I told Patricia to wait for me….

Raclette and Family Reunions

We made our way down south to catch up with Patricia’s cousins, Anne-Christelle, Sebastien and Anne’s fiancé Raeus (hope that I’ve spelt correctly) made us feel so welcome and prepared this amazing French cooking experience for us. It was so wonderful to be with family, and the conversation flowed very well considering we all knew patches of each others languages! The Raclette that we had was the cool contraption that cooked cheese underneath, potatoes on top. You then put the spuds on your plate, draped it in ham or salami, then poured the melted cheese on top. Very much the heart starter but tasted so good. Thanks again to the guys for having us, was a great night and will be great to see you in Bergerac in a month.

Versailles

I love it when you travel somewhere with really low expectations, and get totally blown away. Versailles did this to me. Patricia had seen it on her last visit here but my fresh eyes were in total awe the entire time at this palace of self-indulgence. The gold, tapestry and furniture are truly fit for a king and queen, I loved how if they wanted to honor someone, they built a room for them…reminded me of the Kerrigans and how they built that room for their greyhounds….
It was a great day out there, and really influenced my interest in that period in French history, so I’m counting on Strace to give us another history lesson when we get back!!!

Pont Neuf

There is a little corner of Paris that we (like most tourists of course) loved. It was the islands, and the sheer corner at Pont Neuf near Notre Dame. We packed our usual ‘home-made’ baguette and proceeded to have a great winter picnic in the park pictured. This followed by a cruise on the river to take in the great Seine. We can only imagine how great that park would be in the summer months.

Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise

This cemetery in Eastern Paris is remarkable in its own space. Paris can be full of hustle and bustle, angry parisiens rushing to and from work on the metro, so much purpose and so little time. Two footsteps into this grand old cemetery and you forget all about time, the space is so quiet and grand that your mind drifts away to another era. We typically got lost looking for the great Jim Morrison’s grave, as my ‘amazing race’ map skills left me for a brief moment and we had to double-back to the main map at the gate!! Patricia had a brief moment with Jim, and we both agreed that it would have been great to see his original graffiti covered tombstone. We moved along to visit the great Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde, two marvels of their generations. It took us the entire week to realise how great and peaceful this cemetery really is within the walls of busy Paris.

Boulangerie

A ‘Boulangerie’ like the one in Jourdain, seriously words can’t describe it. One big bundle of goodness across the street from our hotel, there was a line out the door all day. The clientele consisted of morning workers and elderly getting their breakfast bread or pastries, and then the mad afternoon rush of workers getting fresh bread to have with their dinner. I even managed to get a free ‘paux un raisin’ for just being a bogan aussie!!

Australia Day

Our Australia day this year didn’t involve the hottest 100, big day out or barbeque and beer scenario unfortunately. But we still celebrated our great day in a quaint Italian restaurant in Oberkampf, eastern Paris.