Well, after pulling an all-nighter watching game 6 (starting at 1am here) with a bunch of drunk Scot’s, we decided to go back into our room to get some shut-eye before our train back down to Glasgow. Well, after about 10 minutes in our 16 bed dorm, we decided to just leave right away. Maybe it was the fact there was a snorting, naked fat man lying on one of the beds, maybe it was because the roomed smelled like B.O., maybe it was the fact the windows were all closed shut and the room was hotter than a Mexican Hotbox… I don’t know… but we weren’t going to sleep in that! So, we started packing. Two girls (mother and daughter – Sally and Keri) were pretty much in the same boat as us, so they kindly offered us a ride up to see the Loch Ness. Along the way we stopped at an old Scottish battle field, a neato waterfall in the middle of nowhere and Urquhart Castle right on the ness. They dropped us off in a nearby town and went on their merry way driving down south. After waiting an hour or so for a bus back to Inverness (on no sleep keep in mind), we finally made it back, jumped on the 2pm train down to Glasgow (sleeping the entire way). We checked into our much nicer hostel in Glasgow. After cleaning up a bit, we headed out on the town to try some Haggis. Hey, when in Scotland!

Yesterday we hopped on an early train to Stranraer (south-western Scotland) to catch a ferry to Belfast. We arrived at our hostel to find many other Canadians staying here, including 2 from Vancouver. We thought it was a sign… looks like we were wrong. Better luck next year Vancouver. Off to the Giant’s Causeway today.

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After a three day rest up at Jim’s we got back on the rail and went up to York for a brief walk about and then made our way to Newcastle where we stayed at the Albatross hostel.   NC was quite nice, lots of bridges over the Tyne.  We continued with our debauchery by buying 18 Grolsch from the store, we could not find any NC brown ale.  Then we got lp’ed in the basement of the hostel where boozing was restricted to.  There was free toast and margarine that we took advantage of in the shared kitchen.  After that we went out for a pint at Rafferty’s, a gem of a pub!  And overflowing with brew we stumbled back to our mixed dorm room in the hostel and passed right out until about 0230 when the rowdy’s partying woke us up.  It was Saturday night after all.  Sunday morning when we got up and the streets were pretty well deserted so we strolled about a bit and then made our way to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.  We checked in at the Belford hostel, an old converted church.  By then more beer was required so we got a 10 pack of Stella tall boys, 440 mL, and drank them in the park underneath Edinburgh castle.  There was an ad for a guided pub crawl in the hostel that we hopped right on and went out on the town with our good sport of a guide Dougie, pronounced “Doogie”.  And that is when it got messy.  There was only 8 of us plus Dougie, Sean and myself, two guys from Mumbai who told me a lot about India, two guys from San Diego, and two girls from Chicago.  We visited a few different pubs and then a karaoke bar, which by that time we were quite slammered!  First we all got up and tried “Summer of ’69” for a warm up, it was “rubbish” as the dj said.  Then we sang “I Want It That Way”, pure hilarity.  We ended at a club and danced a bit, but soon got bored and tottled off and got a little lost before making the seemingly long walk back to hostel and passed out cold.  Up early and rather hung over we got packed up and got back on the train and travelled along the beautiful Scottish coastline to Inverness where we are staying for one night at the Highlander hostel.  There can be only one!

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“No, my son is also named Borth!” We left Stratford-Upon-Avon a couple days ago and headed into western/northern Wales. After a long train ride, we arrived in a small town called Borth, overlooking the ocean. We checked in at the hostel and headed down the road to a local pub called “Danny’s”. After a few drinks, we befriended the bartender and patrons at the pub and told stories, shared jokes, and exchanged information. It was a jolly ol’ time. Did you know that a single ‘F’ in Welsh makes a ‘V’ sound? It takes a double ‘F’ to make the ‘F’ sound. The more you know! We stumbled back to our hostel later that night… Sean took a slight tumble off the board walk along the way back.

The next morning we headed north into the mountains of Wales, into Snowdonia National Park. After a roller-coaster of a bus ride to Penn-y-pass from Porthmadog, we began a rather ridiculous hike up Snowdon mountain (the tallest spot in Wales). Along the way up, we encountered many sheep, some rather sharp wind gusts and an injured lady who was being rescued via helicopter after falling. Of course, due to the winds, the helicopter could not land, so they sent a rescue team up the mountain to get her. We reached the very top after 3 hours. Of course, the train that takes people to the top was now closed… Sigh. We headed down the other side of the mountain towards Snowdon Ranger Hostel to find it was full. Luckily, we met a group of guys who were headed back to Penn-y-pass and we all shared a cab. We stayed the night at a hostel in Penn-y-pass.

The next day we caught the first bus to Betsw-y-Coed where we caught a later train which eventually connected us to Manchester, England. We are now tired and sore, but resting up at Jim’s (distant relative of Sean’s) for the next couple days before heading into York and Newcastle.

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Our last few days in NYC contained a visit to the UN, Rockerfeller, Central Park Zoo and a Broadway Show (Jerusalem — amazing!). Central Park was a nice change from the big city… ‘earthy smells’. On the 4th, we caught a cab to Newark airport to catch our connecting flight to Toronto, then to London. However, our flight was delayed by almost 2 hours, and they made us miss our flight to London. After some loud profanity in the Pearson Airport resonance chamber, we ended up catching a later flight. In protest, we purchased a 40 pounder bottle of rum and drank it on the flight. This got us into London at 9am, today. I was just a tad hungover. Ha! After arriving in Heathrow airport, and activiting our BritRail Passes, we caught our first train to Paddington Station, London, where Jord lost his pass. Luckily, it was turned in an hour later, and the our adventure continued. We headed up to Oxford where we explored the town and had lunch. Then, we heading to Leamington Spa, to catch a connecting train to Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birth place of the bard (Shakespeare). We didn’t explore this area too much, but plan to tomorrow. After a 2 mile hike to our first hostel, we ended at the Stratford-Upon-Avon YHA hostel… where we proceeded to drink cheap beers… finally! We should be ending tomorrow on the west coast of Wales before heading back into England (Manchester). We are both glad to of made it here finally! Time to sleep!

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It’s a hell of a town! We arrived late yesterday evening in muggy Newark after 12 hours of plane travel and made our way to the Park Central hotel where we are staying for 3 nights. With suits on we explored a little, had a few beers and then hit the hay to rest up for the next day. Thursday, much more exploring. Breakfast at Carnegie’s Deli, walked to the Empire State building and went up to the 102nd floor. We took a breather on the steps of the New York City post office, which is right across from Madison Square Garden. We went to ground zero and then took the subway to Battery Park and walked along the causeway which has a great view of Liberty and Ellis islands. More walking and exploring, just taking in as much as we can of this big stinky city. The subway is great for getting around, and smells better than most of the city. We went to Wall St. and saw the New York city stock exchange, walked through China town and then took the subway up to Rockefellar Center.  Just in the New York city public library using the free internet for some blogging and photo uploading.  We are going to suit up again and have some dins and get back out and explore some more.  The weather is gorgeous!

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Finally, June 1st has come, and I can not sleep despite the deprivation. Our flight leaves YYJ at 0645 and I am starting to get a little bit excited now. We will get into New York just after 2000 in time to watch the game. Not sure where we will be when the Nucks win the cup, but certainly we shall not be sober. Waiting, and waiting some more, and waiting…

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Well, everything is finally winding down. After a crazy night of working and pulling my hair out, I am finally done! DONE!

Leaving tomorrow, 6:45am. Here we go!

1 day to go!

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So close, but yet seemingly so far away. I have all of my gear, my finances, and other miscellaneous items. This is the final countdown. My stuff is almost all packed and ready for storage. The only thing left to do is clean my place before I leave and then wait. The waiting is the worst part. The anticipation and excitment that is boiling up inside me is almost too much. My imagination is running wild for what will seem like a never ending European summer.

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My last shift of work tonight and then it will be a relaxing two week wait until we leave for New York city.  Everything is coming together and June 1st is creeping up faster and faster.  Two weeks from tonight and Sean and I will be more giddy than small children on Christmas Eve.

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Finances = Check
Route = Check
Flights = Check

Cell phone goes to ‘Vacation Mode’ on the 23rd of May. Going T-Mobile UK starting June 4. New number to follow.

So much to go in the next little while. It’s crunch time!

20 days to go!

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