Destination #13 - Dublin, Ireland

Top o' the mornin' to ya!!!

If you didn't say that in your head in an Irish accent, then I have failed you.

This trip began in usual Liang family fashion, running to the plane before the gates close. As I go on trip after trip (tough life), I'm getting more relaxed before departure and as seen on Saturday, it's most likely not to my benefit.

Nicole and I arrived late afternoon in Dublin after a short flight from London. We booked a 4 bed hostel and to our relief, we had 2 beds that were not a bunkbed. Get this though, Nicole got a double bed where as I got the single. Nicole is pretty much 4 feet tall! It was quite a funny sight.

We rushed over to Kilmainham Gaol after we checked into the hostel and made it just in time for the last tour of the day to start. For those that don't know, this is a former prison built in 1796 and was used for many revolutionaries in the 1916 Easter Rising, which eventually led to Ireland's independence from GB. After that, we visited O'Connell Street and had some dinner at, of course, an Irish pub.

We picked an excellent weekend to go to Ireland because as some of you may know, Ireland held a referendum to their constitution on the 23rd to legalize same-sex marriage. By popular vote, the Irish did the right thing and people were then allowed to marry whoever they liked! The vibe in the city was rocking Saturday night! Nicole and I headed out to the famous Temple Bar that night and it did not disappoint. Many people were in great moods and the support for the LGBT community was overwhelming. Good job Ireland!

On Sunday, we decided to do an organized tour outside of Dublin to see the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately, it's way over on the other side of the country so we had a long coach ride to our destination. Along the way, we stopped at a place called Corcomroe Abbey, an early 13th century monastery. It was a neat place to see but boy did the tourists piss me off. The place is pretty much a graveyard and people were walking all over the tombs, taking selfies, and taking pictures with their friends. Personally, I felt that that wasn't the place to do such things. We also stopped at a location that our tour guide deemed the "mini-cliffs". The amount of stone around the landscape of this country was amazing. There were some hills that were just completely covered in stone with just a few patches of grass poking out. After hours, we finally arrived on the West coast and spent some time at the Cliffs of Moher. Words and pictures do not do this place justice as it is breathtaking...and quite frightening. It was pretty windy so getting close to the edge was at your own risk. Nicole and I easily could have spent many hours there and we were reluctant to head back.

Corcomroe Abbey

Cliffs of Moher

On our last day, we ventured over to Trinity College where the famous Book of Kells is kept. We decided to do a walking tour of the college, and although it wasn't that exciting, we learned from our tour guide that Jack Gleeson attends the college, better known as King Joffrey from Game of Thrones. After we had finished touring the Old Library and seeing the Book of Kells, we went and had some lunch with some Irish coffees! Needless to say, they were delicious.

Our last and final spot was the Guinness Storehouse. Much like the Heineken Brewery, the company does a really good job of making the tour appeal to tourists with different activities and things to look at...but...are we all just thinking about the free beer at the end of the tour? I didn't get to pour one of my own because the line was too big but it was nice to finish off the trip with a nice, cold pint of Guinness...and Nicole's as well since she only took a few sips. The amount of people taking one taste of their beer, setting it down, and leaving was quite a sad sight to see! All that beer gone to waste.

Later on, it was time to head home and head back to reality. Dublin's a pretty cool place, although I maybe would have liked to see more of the country, like I did with Scotland. I also must say, there was an exhausting amount of Americans in Dublin? Maybe there's a connection there that I don't know of.

Next destination won't be for a while but here's a hint: where the bubbly comes from.

Destination #12 - Scotland

Aye...

Took a wee trip to Scotland for the first long weekend of May. This is a country that I was looking really forward to seeing and the views did not disappoint. However, I severely underestimated how the weather would be. Word of advice: If you go to Scotland, bring lots of layers and a rainproof jacket!

To explain this trip better, I`ve included a lot of pictures as we crammed much of Scotland in 3 days!

My flatmates and I arrived in Edinburgh late Friday night and I was immediately in love with the city for it's architecture, streets, and 18th century feel. Our tour started the next morning with a group of about 18 young, like-minded travellers....mainly Aussie's...again. Our end destination for the first day was to Inverness. Along the way, we stopped at:

Dunkeld - A small village we stopped at for some coffee.

The Highland Folk Museum - An outdoors museum that showed how the highland folk use to live.

Culloden - This is where a battle between the British Government and rebellions called the Jacobites took place in 1746.

Clava Cairns - An area near Inverness that still contains ring cairns, which are believed to be graves, dating back to over 2000 years ago.

Loch Ness - If you're wondering, no, we didn't see the Loch Ness Monster.

That night in Inverness, we got to know a few of our trip partners a little better over dinner and drinks.

The next day, we headed over to the Isle of Skye. If you haven't heard already, Skye is beautiful. Along the way we stopped at:

Urquhart Castle - This castle may look familiar as the Loch Ness monster was spotted here back in the day.

Eilean Donan Castle

Kilt Rock - My flatmates and our tour guide below

Sligachan - Our guide told us that if we put our faces in the water of the river for 7 seconds, we would be eternally youthful...

Duntulm Castle

And a couple of other really cool, unknown, random spots that our tour guide knew about.

We settled down that night in a small village called Kyleakin and I must say, it was really nice! We all went to the local pub that night for a meal and drinks. I tried a bite of Haggis and it wasn't too bad actually. I also ventured in trying a number of different Scottish whiskies that night. After it was time to head back to the hostel, I really appreciated just how quiet and quaint the village was. It was easy to fall asleep that night, that's for sure.

On the third day, we made the long journey back to Edinburgh. Along the way, we stopped at:

Glen Shiel

Glencoe

Doune Castle - If anyone is a Monty Python fan, many scenes were filmed here.

Our tour ended late that afternoon and although a lot of time had spent on a small bus, our tour guide kept us entertained the whole time with tall tales that usually linked to the next place we were going to see. That night, we got some dinner with a couple that we met on our tour and then went on a ghost walking tour of Edinburgh. We went through this underground area that is supposedly haunted and went through a graveyard as well. It was neat but unfortunately, we didn`t see or hear any strange phenomenon!

On our last day, we attempted to explore Edinburgh. Of course, it was particularly wet and cold this day so we really didn`t get much joy out of seeing the city. I`ll admit, after seeing Edinburgh Castle, we sat in a pub for some time and then after seeing Holyrood Palace, we sat in Starbucks for some time! Lame, I know. It was around late afternoon that we made our journey back to London and some nicer weather.

I would highly recommend Scotland and especially going to see the Highlands and Skye. I would also recommend bringing proper attire. Next week, Dublin!!

Edinburgh Castle

Holyrood Palace - where the Royal family stays

Destination #11-Cambridge & Windsor, "The Ice Hockey", and Halfies

Oh boy. The Canucks are back in the playoffs and I'm wishing I was back home in Vancouver for this time of year. I've been watching as many games as I can and luckily I've had someone at work to talk to about it, otherwise I would've driven myself mad. I have to be careful here when I talk about hockey though, because if you just say "hockey", the Brits think you're talking about field hockey (!?) so you have to say "ice hockey". Not to mention, they like to put a "the" in front of sports. For example, they'll say "Did you watch the football?" So now I have to say "I watched THE ice hockey last night..."

Last weekend was the Easter long weekend and I think the last time I had the entire 4 days off would have been in high school. Trip planning for this weekend had been a complete failure after a few months of trying so my friends; Sasha, Nicole, and I decided to just do a couple of day trips and an Easter Sunday roast.

Our first trip was to Cambridge University on the Saturday. The first thing we did was take in a walking tour in which we were shown King's College, Trinity College, The Backs, Peterhouse, Queen's College, and the Mathematical Bridge. After, we grabbed some lunch in Cambridge's oldest pub (or at least that's what we were told). The rest of the afternoon was very much just walking around and seeing the city/university in more detail. We also made our way over to the Bridge of Sighs which you may recognize from The Theory of Everything. To wrap up the day, we went and got some afternoon tea. This was my first experience doing so and although it wasn't the full experience of sandwiches, cakes, and scones, it was still awesome.

On Sunday, I decided to cook my first roast beef and have an Easter Dinner with Sasha and Nicole. Everything turned out good except I underestimated the difficulty of making gravy from scratch! Never again.

The next day, we went to Windsor Castle and unfortunately, I don't think the Queen was in that day. Although the castle does seem huge, there actually wasn't a whole lot to see after paying 19 pounds to get in. There was definitely some cool sights to see though and we caught a little luck at the end where we saw a mini changing of the guard. I feel like it was a little bit of a joke though as I'm pretty sure the guard that was getting replaced was laughing. 

For those that don't know, I am currently training for my first ever half marathon. Right now, I am in week 6 of 10 and I'm up to 15km (Halfie is 21km). The run is on May 10 and while I do not need any donations or money, I do request that you wish me the best of luck as already running 15km is longer than I have ever ran. It hasn't been easy training and there's many times I would rather just sit at home then go for a run, but I am staying committed and I'm very happy that I've decided to do this for myself.

Next month, I will be heading up to Scotland for the first long weekend where my flatmates and I will be seeing Edinburgh, Lochness, and Isle of Skye. The second long weekend in May, I will be travelling to Dublin with Nicole! Exciting times ahead!

Destination #10-Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Day 5 of this Topdeck tour began early as we made our way over to The Netherlands, which would prove to be a long journey. Our first stop worth talking about was at a random farm owned by a crazy Dutchman. This crazy Dutchman gave us a tour of his family business of making cheese and clogs. To be honest, it was actually interesting and the Dutchman provided some great comedy along the way. At the end, I bought a block of pepper flavoured cheese because the stuff was legit my friends. I have brought it home with me and I can’t wait to crack it open. After the demo, we made our way to Amsterdam.

We checked into the hostel that night and uhhh, it was interesting. A few years back, the hostel was named the worst hostel in Europe, or at least I heard it was. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't spectacular. After we got settled in, our Topdeck leader, Chris, gave us a small walking tour of Amsterdam and the Red Light District. I was actually quite shocked at how attractive and beautiful the girls were in the windows. For some reason, I was expecting Hastings Street Vancouver type quality, but I understand now that it is a legitimate profession in Amsterdam and somewhat respected industry. After walking around, the crew went to a sex show. I will not go into detail about what happened but let’s just say everyone, including me, left with a wide-eyed expression and confused look on their face.

Now, it’s Amsterdam (it’s legal Mom), I was thinking about enjoying a certain type of brownie, but at this point I was coughing, my voice was still gone, my throat still sore, and my right ear was plugged. So this night I decided to go to bed early. It’s definitely not fun being sick on a trip where you have limited time to see everything and all you want to do is sleep!

The next day started with a bike tour of Amsterdam and I was kind of nervous. I had not rode a bike in years and even then, I didn't ride a bike a whole lot as a kid! It was also raining so that put a damper on the day….anyone? I have to say, after it was all said and done, this was actually probably my highlight of the trip. If you don’t know, riding a bike in Amsterdam is probably more popular than walking. Amsterdam is also a really a cool sight with all the canals and bikes everywhere. After the bike tour, the gang headed over to the Anne Frank Huis to see what the line was like. The gang was disappointed. The line was massive and as we were on limited time, we decided to skip it. Instead, we went out for lunch. After this, we decided to make our way over to the Heineken Brewery, except we ended up just going around in a circle and ended up back at Anne Frank Huis where the line was still just as big. We then corrected our path and made our way over to the brewery. The tour was pretty mediocre but hey, you get 2 beers at the end plus a free glass. Later on that night, we had a group dinner at a Chinese restaurant that floats on the canal. It was perfect timing as well because the Liang family back home was celebrating Chinese New Year the same weekend. The meal was amazing because there was so much food and everyone stuffed their face. Afterwards, we went on a canal cruise that was a little disappointing. I think because it was our last night, I was hoping it would be more like a party boat. However, it was small and had tables so we were all sitting down the whole time. We also couldn't see anything out the windows because it was raining. It was open bar though so that was good. After the cruise, we all went for a few drinks and some dancing.

On the last day of our trip, we made the journey back to London. We made a small stop in Bruges, in which I have visited before. I made sure I got some fries and chocolate before we left again. We arrived in London around dinner time and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. The Gang shared some hugs but it was sweet sorrow because all 6 of us actually live in or around London! So I'm sure the Gang will reunite someday. By the end of this trip, I had fit the profile of “Coughdeck”, which is not a good thing.

Amsterdam was another city that I don’t believe I got a fulfilling amount of time in. So I would love to go back, especially in the summer time. The trip itself was a lot of fun filled with great people, lots of laughs, and amazing sights. I'm thinking about doing at least one more of these types of trips because travelling with 45 people rather than just by yourself can be a lot more fun. The only downfall is the limited amount of time you get in each city. I don’t have a favourite out of the 3 cities as they’re all unique in their own way but I loved all of them. 

Destination #9-Berlin, Germany

Day 3 of this Topdeck tour started off with me waking up to no voice K. This was legitimately the first time in my life that I had lost my voice. Of course, I also still had a sore throat. I also never mentioned that because the majority of the Topdeck crew was sick, we were given the name “Coughdeck”. So I was pretty much doomed.

Our bus was headed for Berlin but along the way, we stopped in a city called Dresden which is also in Germany. It was here that our fearless Topdeck leader, Chris, showed us some sights and Currywurst (spicy sausage). At this particular vender we went to, you could choose your level of spiciness, rated 1 to 7. I went with 4 and I’m glad I did. As some of you may know, I love spicy food and if I had gone any higher, I would have been crying. Some crazy people tried 7, including Josh. He was in so much pain that he ran to McDonalds to get a milkshake! After Dresden, we made our way to Berlin. When we arrived, Chris gave us a driving tour of Berlin. Unlike Prague, Berlin is a huge city, so trying to see all the sights on foot would be difficult. The vibe for this city was quite different as well as a lot of the sights and historical monuments were related to World War II and the Holocaust. Once we had checked into the hostel and settled into our rooms, we enjoyed a German meal at the hostel that included schnitzels and pretzels. That night, almost the entire crew decided to take it easy and call it a night. However, a few of us decided to go a grab a drink at a local bar.

The next day started with a walking tour of Berlin where we saw the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism, Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, and many other interesting sights. Afterwards, “The Gang” grabbed some coffee and headed over to the Topography of Terror, a museum located on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. Next, we went back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a very interesting memorial as the design is open to interpretation. 2,711 concrete slabs are arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field and I got the feeling of isolation whilst in there. Underneath the memorial is another museum in which we visited. Both this museum and the Topography of Terror were difficult to visit as you can imagine and the gang members were in solemn moods by the end of it. Unfortunately, the day had gone by quickly and it was time to head back to the hostel. Luckily, I had a little bit of time to get pictures of the Berlin Wall which was located just outside our hostel. We decided to have dinner at the hostel that night and we weren't very good at timing. When our food hit the table, we had like 5 minutes to scarf it down and meet the rest of the Topdeck crew for a pub crawl. I won’t give you the gory details of the pub crawl, only that I didn't go to bed until probably 3:30am to have to wake up at 7:00am the next morning.

Berlin was great but I do not feel like I spent as much time as I would have liked in the city. It is definitely on my list to go back.

To be continued….

Currywurst

Reichstag

The Gang

Berlin Wall

Destination #8-Prague, Czech Republic

Day 1 of this Topdeck tour started off very early Sunday morning. I had booked the cheapest flight possible, as you do, that departed London at 6:45am. This meant waking up at 3:00am and heading to the bus stop. Luckily, a bus that goes to the airport comes pretty much right by my flat. However, this particular bus decided to be mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 55 minutes late! In true Liang family fashion, I was running late for my flight. Side note: this trip started off with a sore throat as well, which you will hear more about later. I arrived at the airport with minimal time to spare and of course the line to check in was ginormous. I also tried to fit my carry-on bag into the measurement box the airline provides and it would not fit!! Luckily, absolutely no one noticed and I got on my flight in time and was able to carry on my above-average size backpack.

I arrived in Prague at about 10:00am local time and knew I had a bit of a long day ahead of me as a.) I would have to carry around my heavy bag until 5pm when the rest of the Topdeck crew was joining us and b.) I was running on almost no sleep. My first stop was Prague Castle where I decided it was a good idea to climb to the very top. Stunning views but I was reminded as to just how out of shape I am. After I left Prague castle, I made my way towards Charles Bridge where I found a cool little market. On display was a dead Pig sliced in half….and this is where I proceeded to buy a sausage and some mulled wine. I must say, it was delicious and it was nice to sit down and enjoy the moment for a bit. Afterwards, I searched for the John Lennon wall, a wall since the 1980s that has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs. I knew it was close by but I forgot to give myself directions to the exact location. After a solid 20 minutes of looking, I finally found the wall only to realize it was basically right beside where I had my sausage. Afterwards, I walked the Charles Bridge and visited the Old Town square and the Jewish Quarter. At this point, I was exhausted and didn’t really know where else to go and explore. I made my way over to the hostel and luckily, they let me chill in the lounge before the rest of the crew arrived. While I was waiting, I met another Canadian who would be joining the Topdeck crew for the trip as well. Once acquainted and the Topdeck crew arrived, we got settled into our rooms and enjoyed a Czech meal at the hostel, which appeared to be a lot of chicken. Later on that evening, our Topdeck leader, Chris, took us on a walking tour of the city. I was so exhausted by the end of it, that many others and I decided to call it a night and go back to the hostel.

Today started off with my sore throat being 10x worse. After breakfast, Chris took us on a walking tour again (mainly for those that missed the previous nights) and this time went to Prague castle. We watched the changing of the guard and my buddy, Josh, and I went and shot a crossbow as well. We were both naturals ;). Afterwards, we visited Old Town square and the Jewish Quarter again before heading over to Wenceslas Square. It was shortly after where Josh decided to buy a trombone…it took me a while to wrap my head around it but props to the kid for doing whatever the hell he wanted to. Later on that evening, I went out to dinner with what was now “The Gang”. The Gang consisted of me, Josh (Aussie), Valerie (the Canadian I met), and 3 other Aussies: Nerida, Flick, and Rhiannon. That was another thing about EVERYBODY on this trip was that they all had unique names. I had a pretty hard time learning them all. In fact, by the end of the trip, I definitely didn’t remember everyone’s names. Also, I’m pretty sure like 96% of the people on this trip were from Australia…and there was like 45 people?? I digress! Dinner was great with “The Gang” (Flick created this name…um) and the night ended with the some bar hopping and my favourite was a 5 story nightclub that played different music on each level. Everyone’s favourite was the Oldies level.

To be continued….

View of Prague from the top of the castle

John Lennon wall

Charles Bridge

Wenceslas Square

Josh and his trombone

Pit Stop-Home

I never thought that I would consider going home to be a vacation but that was what it was. Two and a half weeks of catching up with everyone and eating and drinking. Safe to say I gained a few pounds from this trip... and I'm not talking about Great British Pounds. It was really nice to see everyone and I've been reminded of how lucky I am to have such amazing and wonderful people in my life. As usual, there was never a dull moment, whether it was my car not starting due to a dead battery, or going to a Canucks game, or going snow tubing, or even devoting an entire night to Spicy Caesars. Saying goodbye to everyone this time around was a little different as I'm not 100% sure when I'll be seeing everyone again. Of course, my visa will expire come May of 2016 so you know I'll for sure be back by then. But I'm still deciding on a definitive time to come home and there's a few factors that will decide that, one of them being how much travelling I can get done. There's still so many places I want to see but it can get complicated with getting time off work and of course, money. I think the 6 months in 2014 was very 'go-with-the-flow' whereas I think 2015 is going to have to be a bit more planned in order to get everything done that I want to get done.

As I write this post, I am currently jet lagged and this is hopefully keeping me awake. It's only 8:50pm and I'm about to pass out. Before I leave, I thought I would humour you with some notable differences between London and Vancouver. I realize there are probably quite a few more things I'm missing but here's a simple list.

Who does it better?

Drying clothes: Vancouver - I'm amazed at the limited existence of dryers in the UK. It's not like it's always sunny here and we can dry our clothes outside!!

Groceries: London - Leave out the exchange rate but wow doing groceries is soooo much cheaper here. I rarely have much on my bill that is over £2.00

Tap water: Vancouver - You can probably guess why.

Transit: London - Let's just say, you do not need a car in London.

Things to do/Frequency of places to eat & drink: London

Movie popcorn: Vancouver - They don't put butter on their popcorn over here????

Stick deodorant: Vancouver - For some odd reason, it's all body spray or antiperspirant over here. No regular deodorant except for these tiny little roller versions of them.

Post/Delivery: London - If I order something online, it comes to my front door in like 2 days.

Other notable differences:
-There seems to be an extreme amount of Fried Chicken shops in London.
-London always seems to be windy.
-In London, the price you see is the price you pay. None of this $7.99 plus tax junk!
-Vancouver has eggnog, maple bacon, caesars, and better peanut butter.
-Songza is not available in the UK...

Pretty even match-up, I would say.

In a month, I'll be travelling to Prague, Berlin, and Amsterdam for a week tour. Can't wait!