Tag Archives: Europe

Professional Babes

14 Jan

I touched down in Brussels and it was a little colder than I was accustomed to in Africa, luckily I had my trusty beard to keep my face warm. After a little confusion I met up with my friend Claire who I had met in University. Claire is in Brussels playing professional volleyball for Barbar d’X-Elles. Claire gave me a tour around the city that hit the main sites including Grand Place, St. Machael and St. Gudula Cathedral and then famous Manneken Pis. We then hit the true sites of Brussels and stopped for some frites and beers. No stop in Brussels can be complete without *moules frites so we wrangled up Erin and Britt from the team and went out to a place called Au Vieux Bruxelles. The restaurant has been serving plates since 1882 so you know they weren’t going to mess anything up. The girls were all amazing in taking in this bearded bum even though they were a little nervous about having a hippie in the house. A huge thanks to them all and here is a quick story on the girls from TV Brussels.

http://www.tvbrussel.be/fr/node/21916

Foggy

*A big bowl of mussels with fries on the side.

Britt and Erin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dollar Bills

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22 Hours in Zurich

19 Oct

I booked myself a 22 hour in Zurich which really turned out to be 19.25. I got off the train from the airport and started to explore the city. There were three things I noticed right away, the city wreaked money, the women were gorgeous and the city was stunning. Zurich is situated at the northeast end of Lake Zurich and at that end of the city you have amazing views of the lake and the Alps. With a few more hours of checking out Ferrari’s and some Swiss women I went back to the train station to meet my couchsurfer Kate. I was more than stoked to get a couchsurf in Zurich since hostels will run you $45 minimum a night. Kate was a short little Russian that was a software engineer for Google. We went back to her place to drop off my things and then took the tram to Üetliberg. It had a crazy view of the whole city and the lake. We went back into the city and took in the best Zurich had to offer on a Tuesday night which happened to be Karaoke… I was working on about an hour of sleep so I decided to pull the plug and we cruised back home. A few short hours of sleep later I boarded my flight for Nairobi.

Foggy

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Reuniting with Mates

16 Oct

Some of you might remember old Sammy from my adventures in Turkey. As I wrote back then he is one of those people you meet traveling that you know you will connect with later on in life in one way or another. When I found out that one of my layovers was in London I immediately sent him a message seeing if he was around. He of course said he would clear some beer cans off the couch so I could rest my weary head for a few nights. There was no time for Jetlag as I arrived on a Friday night that just happened to be Sam’s 27th birthday(I know I am surprised I am friends with such an oldie as well). He is looking pretty good for 27 and has even avoided the *Heathrow Injection so far.Even Alastair aka Big Bear from the Turkey cruise made it out. For the next four days we didn’t see much else except for the inside of pubs but I feel I got a true London experience, even though it was at the hands of a *JAFA.  Here’s to the next time Sammy and I meet up around the globe but by that time he will have probably be on the wrong side of 30.

Foggy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Heathrow Injection- The inevitable weight one gains for an extended stay in London.

*JAFA- See End of an Era

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A Drinker’s Guide to London

15 Oct

Eight Bells

Great family run neighborhood pub located at 89 Fulham High Street, London, Greater London SW6 3JS, United Kingdom. This place had a great atmosphere to it and drinks were all very cheap. Great bar to put your arm around your mate and belt out the classics it has going over the speakers.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Penthouse

Located at 1 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7NA, United Kingdom on the 6th floor. It has a great view of Big Ben and the London Eye but it is a little too clubby for me. Drinks will run you about 6 pounds and are nothing special. If you are looking to dress up and hit the dance floor, saddle up the elevator to this joint.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whitehorse

At 1-3 Parsons Green, London SW6 4UL, United Kingdom, this pub is for the toffy. It is a great looking pub with a dark mahogany finish on everything. We had some great food here but if you want a good day out with the boys this is not the spot for you. We spotted more baby carriages than girls (hard to believe but true), so a great spot for a family but we decided to move on.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walkabout

Aussies they are everywhere on this planet so instead of fighting it just give up and join them. With two locations one at Temple Station, Temple Place, London WC2R 2PH, United Kingdom and the second at 11 Henrietta Street, London, Greater London WC2E 8PY, United Kingdom. With a huge variety of Kangaroo on the menu this is an Aussie home away from home. They have a great burger and a beer deal that will set you back 6.95£. This place gets a little loose at night so if you are looking to enjoy your feed in peace head there for lunch.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O’neill’s

Located at 33-37 Wardour Street, London W1D 6PU, United Kingdom this is your typical Irish Pub. Food is good and the price of a beer is reasonable for downtown London. With 3 floors to choose from this place was packed on a Sunday night. They serve quite a lot of beers that run from Budweiser to Guiness. It is hard to go wrong with an Irish pub so if you have a short time in London this is an easy choice.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Live and Let Live Pub

Located at 35-37 North End Road London, Greater London W14 8SZ, United Kingdom this is your typical dodgy pub. With a crowd inside that is less than inviting we only stayed for one pint. A beer ran you about £3.50 but you thought at sometimes it might cost you the rest of the change in your wallet if you weren’t too careful. A fun experience but I don’t think I will be back.

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oktoberfest Pub

Always wanted to cheers a stein in Munich during Oktoberfest but never had the chance? Now Munich is located at 678-680 Fulham Road, London SW6 5SA, United Kingdom. With pork knuckles and bratwurst on the menu this place gives the Oktoberfest experience without the air fare. A great vibe inside with many people in great spirits!

London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lockside Lounge

At 75-89 West Yard, Camden Lock Place, Camden Town, Greater London NW1 8AF, United Kingdom. This is a great lounge to meet your friends after a long day in the office; the only problem is you won’t be able to hear your conversations with each other. They had a good selection of beer but for a bunch of boys looking to catch up with each other this is not the spot. As the night went on though and the place filled out the music got the people on the dance floor and it turned out alright.

London

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Foggy’s Back!

11 Oct

Everyone’s least favourite travel blogger is back! Check out the new video put together by my good friend Andrew Noon, hope you enjoy!

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Scoring a Job

17 Oct

I was sitting in Munich washing down some delicious chicken with a massive stein of beer when I met Johnny a Kiwi from Wellington. We had some good days of drinking together and he told me to get a hold of him when I got to Wellington.

Three weeks later after a brisk trip home to Vancouver to catch up with some people I found myself in Wellington. I called up Johnny and asked if he knew anyone looking for a flatmate. I was in luck he had a friend who was looking to fill a room in her house. He put me in touch with Sarah and we went out for a beer to see if we could actually coexist in the same house without killing each other. After a pint and talking about what we were up to she decided that I was no good to live with. BUT she had a job opening that might just fit my description.

Another week and two interviews later I landed a job for the New Zealand Government. I was pretty pumped to get the job and do something actually productive down here. Just goes to show Mom that good things DO come from drinking!

Foggy

Oktoberfest

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Oktoberfest

26 Sep

My friend Franzi picked me up and we drove down to Munich together. We met up with his 2 buddies from Australia Paulo and Keeno and a friend from Austria Lisa. The 5 of us piled into a tiny hotel room for two and the debauchery began.

We chose the Hoffen Brau tent to set up shop and settled in with a large table of Aussie’s that Paulo and Keeno knew. The huge beers started flowing and we thought it would be a good idea to do a big cheers photo. We all wound up and smashed our glasses but one of them exploded and cut Franzi’s knuckle, he was then whisked away to the medical tent. People would get up on the table and thousands of people would be cheering you on to down your whole 1 litre of beer, but if you messed up be prepared for boos and half eaten chicken carcasses to be flown at you. I eventually met up with Franzi and we went to go purchase Lederhosen, we spent way too much money but at least now we fit in.

The next day was filled with more of the same except now that I was wearing the lederhosen I was being grabbed in every direction by ladies in the tent. It was a wild day that ended in me having to take my bags and head to the train station. An overnight train to Frankfurt followed by a plane back to Vancouver, all the time wearing my lederhosen. I feel bad for the people sitting next to me on those rides as I must have stunk of meat and beer the whole way home.

Foggy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oktoberfest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Berlin

24 Sep

I got out of my ride share in Berlin and found my hostel I was staying at for the next few nights. I was about to head out for the night when Claire came running through the door and gave me a big hug. Those of you might remember Claire from Turkey when I was traveling with her. It was great to be able to meet up with her again and have a mini reunion. We had made plans to meet up again in Berlin for a couple of days.

The next day we went on a tour of Berlin which was the best I have been on in Europe. It was amazing how much history had gone on in this city from so many different time periods. After the tour we cleaned ourselves up and headed out for the night. We wanted to hit the underground scene in Berlin and were pointed to a club called The Golden Gate. When we got there it was a really dodgy looking place under the tram line covered in graffiti. We decided to walk in and did not regret it. It really filled out around 2am and by the time we left at 7:30 it was still packed. We went home and said our goodbyes before I set out again into the world.

Foggy

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Ride Sharing

24 Sep

Short on cash and trains are not quite in the budget, and don’t feel like standing on the side of the road with your thumb out. Head over to http://www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/ and saddle yourself a ride. The website allows you to put in what two cities you want to travel between and on what date. Then it will give you a list of drivers, what time they are leaving and how much they want for gas. It operates in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and Great Britain. It is a great way to meet people from the country and get yourself around for way cheaper than other means of transportation.

Foggy

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Tschurtschenthaler House

24 Sep

My friend Stephan did me a huge favour and set me up with his family in the west of Austria. They are from a small town of 300 people called Pfaffenswendt in the province of Tirol. The train ride there was amazing as my surroundings started to jet up into the sky as I entered the Alps. Michaela picked me up at the train station and we walked back to her house. They really treated me like family and brought me into the clan. For the next week they fed me ridiculous amounts of food, beer and schnapps. I left feeling 10 pounds heavier but it is a place I know I will come back to.

Foggy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tirol

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