Trainspotting Video

Hiking in the Scottish Highland

To make sure I saw the countryside we set off to the Northwest to see the highlands in Scotland and do some hiking.

The sign says it all

Well at least this one does

We traversed trails that weren't too far from what we might see in good ol WV


At the end we got to see a waterfall and celebrate.... great success...

Just in case you missed it.... here is the waterfall.

Scotland - Round of Golf

To keep my travels alive I headed up to Edinburgh Scotland to see my friend Aaron. The town is historical in some very odd ways that I am still trying to figure out.... but on to more important things

I went golfing in SCOTLAND!!!

I had retired from the sport, but it was worth a brief comeback to get the chance to play in the home of golf (sorry Florida).
That was me, and this is my Scottish friend Aaron.
And here is Aaron from the USA crushing it off the tee.
Of course we shattered all course records because that is how it is done.

Travels Ahead

I have decided to start the travels again so there should be some interesting posts to come. Here is the possible itinerary.

Tomorrow:

I will board a train to Scotland then make my way back down through England.

End of May:

I fly to Eastern Italy with possibilities of traveling to Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, and or Romania.

Mid-July:

Oslo, Norway



That is what it looks like for now... the adventure starts tomorrow.

Baddesley Clinton

The second house I visited over the weekend was Baddesley Clinton. It was a more traditional Tudor that was Catholic based during the time of the Henry VIII so the Church of England became the main church because he wanted to divorce his wife.

This house included priest hides that were built into the house in case priest hunters came to seek out Catholic priests that were not to be in England.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baddesley_Clinton


The house also has a moat which is a great idea for any house.

It has a lake as well and my historical team joined me as well.
In an attempt to find history, Amy tried to take a new perspective.
I just laid outside and took "artsy" photos because it was a nice day.

History around Birmingham - Packwood House

This weekend I was taken to see some Tudors around Birmingham. The first one was Packwood House and is located to the south of Birmingham.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packwood_House



I gathered my team of historical experts and headed out (OK so Amy really isn't into history, but the other to were).
The garden around the house serves as a picnic area for families daily.
Sadly Packwood was heavily remodeled by its last owner so it lacks a little in the history department, but is still a beautiful house.


It does provide views like this and a lake that apparently has Pike in it so swimming was out which is sad because I brought my birthday suit with me.

Brummy Life (AKA Back in Birmingham)

Now that I am back in Brum I have been meeting up with old friends and sleeping for days at a time. If anybody actually checked back on here far enough they would see the three of us together back when I was in Argentina.


Since I have returned there has also been some celebration that left my mouth tasting of tequila the next day.

The other day I also went out to do some shopping at the Bull Ring here in Birmingham and noted the famous skyline.


I have also noted the innate ability of the Brits to name companies in English.... check out the name on the right.

Back in Moseley

Now that my European adventure has been over for some time and the Easter Holiday has passed I find myself being quite lazy. I haven't posted in quite a few days and to be honest because I am now recovering from the restlessness of travel. Now that the return and holiday are out of the way I am sleeping until noon and doing nothing with my days. I did go out to the Bull's Head here in Moseley on Easter Sunday because Monday was a Bank Holiday here so everyone was out on the town.

As of now there are no set plans to do any traveling in the immediate future, but I am sure that I will find somewhere to end up before too long.

Bratislava and back to England

To wrap up my European tour I went to Bratislava Slovakia for a few nights to see another city. The city has been reinvigorated by their recent transition to the Euro and boast many beautiful sights right on the Danube.


The old downtown is nice and tiny so it is more of a walker's paradise.



Sadly I was so exhausted from my travels that all I wanted to do was pass out... luckily now I am back at my own bed in England and recovering from the trip.

300th POST - Budapest

To celebrate my 300th post in over a year I called on the international sell-out services of George Clooney to help me celebrate from Budapest, Hungary. Hocking cappuccino can be seen as slightly more dignified than other products, but the advert is in English in a land full of Hungarians.

As with most of the places I have been this trip there are castles.


The chain bridge is the tie that holds Buda and Pest together.


Churches are always readily abundant

and luckily for me the nightlife is good and cheap on top of it so I got to celebrate as my trip draws to an end.


No just off to Bratislava, Slovakia and then back to Birmingham.

Vienna Air King at the Argus Bike Festival

Here are a few of the highlight shots from the Argus Bike Festival's Vienna Air King Competition. It was great to take a break from all the sightseeing in Vienna and watch and international group abuse themselves on bikes.







With the warm-ups I got 3 days of entertainment out of it and while sitting there I decided to add a few days in Budapest so that is where I am now... off to see the city.

Vienna, Austria

After roughly 12 hours in transit from Rome (metro, train, (metro, metro, VIEWING OF LAST SUPPER!, metro, metro), bus, flight, bus, train, metro, metro, tram)) I made it to Vienna. The city is beautiful and seems like no city I have ever been before. Every time you turn around your camera has to come back out of your pocket because each building is more picturesque than the next.

Here are some shots of the city.



There is also the Argus Bike festival going on here so I have some entertainment for the next few days.


This is me executing my dirt track back flip. (Note the architecture of the building behind it).
I am sure I will have a lot more pictures after this trip and I want to count up what I took on this trip just to see how many pictures a guy who doesn't like taking pictures was forced to take in Europe.

Rome - The Video featuring the Pope

Bad internet connection at hostels has prevented me from uploading photos so I chose to make a video on the train back to Milan (where I got to go see the Last Supper before going on to Vienna Austria (eat your hear out Da Vinci Code fans)).