Merry Christmas to all, its been a jammed packed week...

First of all Merry Christmas to all, i do hope everyone has had a grand time for the holidays, eating food, drinking wine and spending that quality time with family playing games and awkward dinner conversations.

So between all that we have done a little bit of travelling, we ended up in the city of York, there is a must see dungeon tour/show that has performers and jump scares, learn history and get sprayed with water now and then, and if you're unlucky enough you could be called forward to be part of the act.

Also the standard massive cathedral in the centre of town but pay to go in to really see the size from the inside, or climb the tower but at pricey entry fee, its just nice to walk around the outside of it and marvel at it. To add to the sight there was a piano guy playing all sorts of songs which made for a lovely sight of it all.
Also in York / around are the best standing roman walls which takes a few hours to really go around but not much of a sight for anything but the Cathedral.

But the best think so far is going back in time to a time travelling museum themed town called Beamish, eras from the 1820's, 1900's and 1940's.

this place hosts an array of different things from working transport during those periods, free and rideable, a working steam train, couple of small town buildings in which most are fully explorable, see how things were made in the day, shop fronts with goods and clothing, working farm, hidden gems, and even the best fish and chips you can get ( though need to wait upwards of a hour in line ).

And after you have done all that, there is even a old coal mine in which you can tour around being lead by some of the old gents who worked in the mines back in the day.

But more close to home for our adventures, we had explored the town of Bishop, where we have been staying, and learning that the second most powerful man in the day lived only up the road in the castle, till the church had its powers revised.

Also other learnings, how coal had been such a big thing and how boys as young as 4 worked underground, also the many deaths as a result of poor health, collapses, gas and many accidents,
It has been a jammed packed week with food, family, exploring and heaps and heaps of history reading about all the different local historys but ill save all that for another day. But other things came of this, how miners turned to artwork to show the conditions, the tower raised next to the art gallery that you can climb and see the whole town from there, and how the modern world is today.

Well ill leave it there for today, as today we are off to Oxford, a long 7 hour journey on bus today but I do hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas and a happy new years...

The lovely countryside tour

Im going to try keep this a little short and sweet as it has been a jammed packed two days of exploring, meeting family and being given the local tour history.

Starting in the city of Chester, you can spend a few hours here walking on the old Roman walls that surround the city centre, its well worth checking out with most of the points of interest along the route, its hard to imagine what these days looked like in the day with armed swordsmen at the city gates, the still standing towers, bridges and castle in the walls. It has also got a cool looking clock in the centre and if your on the walls, you will see this on your walk.

But you could only really spend about 4/ 5 hours seeing everything and the shopping centre which we did run out of things to see and the weather wasn't thr greatest to explore much else, so we ended up chilling in a pub near the bus station which was good to talk to locals and about Australia and all till our bus came.

Its really hard to tell what town your in when you get driven around by family members, getting the grand tour around the countryside between Halifax, Bradford, Saitaire.
Because all these towns and citys are all interlocked nowdays, or within a 10 minute drive between these places, but was great to see from a local level about things you nevee hear about, eating in a famour soup shop, seeing statues made from other famous sites in the UK end up in these towns because they were "too small".

Also this area has its ties to Australia when Britain had the world monopoly of wool, processing, testing and massive industrys, even one place in Saitaire that still has one of the major structures converted into several floors of artworks, rare antiques, dining and entertainment but we didnt think it would have all that stuff in there from the look of the outside.

Other sites we have seen was the Piece hall square, which has been used since the 18th century and even today ( more modern now ) it was were merchants would use one of the many rooms to set up shop, or people for rallys and protests to live entertainment and shows, nearby is an amazing church called 'the minster', you can just walk around and check out the stained windows or works, and on the outside the effect of smog staining and coal fires back when pollution was so bad and air quality was terrible from the industrial areas between the towns.

Even though some of these towns have about 100k people in them its surprising to see open fields and greenlands not that far from the towns and the feel of the citys never feels like it has that many people, where are you all hiding? Is it because the Aussies are here? We don't bite... much...

Liverpool, The city of art and culture

I'm a day behind writing this section of whats happening so far, after a few late nights, long days of walking and early starts to meet trains, in colder temperatures and winds, its been exhausting.

But it still has been exciting and fun to explore new places in Liverpool, things like the maritime museum at the royal Albert docks.

Which features several floors from the UK border customs confiscated items, how the port ran, taxation and smuggling, even ties to Australia and how emigration ran through liverpool as the main port.
It even has better history on the Titanic then the Titanic museum in Belfast, and its free to go to the one in Liverpool.

Other cool things in the same general area is the general history museum around the corner, showing the timelines from BC times till now days, the growth of population, building of the city, plans for a massive catholic cathedral that never was built in the end, other parts showing the history of warfare, many different weapons, building of the train networks, emigration throughout the world from Liverpool.

If you are a beattles fan, this city is for you, if you aren't, get use to seeing John Lennon everywhere and the rest of the band.

There is much to see in the centre of town, very large historic buildings, christmas markets, most of which are free to enter and explore, mass shopping, live music which we watched a band play their first songs and was tempted to buy the CD, also had a clown nearby and few other solo acts and singers too, its definitely a sight.

But if you are into your artwork, especially 16 to 19th century, the Art museum is a must see, even if you're not a fan or into it as much, still worth it. There is sculptures, original works, copies, including the mona lisa which you can get up and close to and no crowds.
There is a section for modern works but if someone can please explain how a few strokes and a messy looking abstract painting that look like it was done by a 5 year old and say its a castle, sell for 150k a piece and called art? That would be fantastic.

Other then that, their is much to see in Liverpool, you can kill several hours here and see not see everything, but it has been the cleanest city to go through so far, even the main river that runs near the royal Albert docks is a sight to see, with its long walkways parallel to the river, bridges, several connected sights and museums, the famous liverpool skylines and unique structures around, towers for one of the tunnels under the river providing ventilation.

Its definitely a must see place if you come here, no matter what your passion or interests.

Manchester and the barricaded train ride...

This is only an update as to where we are now, we finished in Scotland, having spent a couple days in Glasgow just milling around there, we have taken the subway, bus then train, training it over the border, we made it to England the other night to the town of Durham and stayed the night with family, played for the first time a game of Snooker, on a massive pool table, and had lost the game horribly but slowly getting the idea of it.

Today we traveled to Manchester to explore the city and over the week we will be checking out several towns nearby including Chester, Liverpool and Yorkshire.

And welcome to Manchester.
the train was overcrowded so much so the doorways were blocked off with several large bags and people, even the platform super was yelled at people to unblock the door, never had to climb out of a train before but definitely an experience.

After this week we will be heading back to Durham and for the christmas holidays

Take care everyone and will update when possible, and if you are after photos i will be trying to update my instagram Matowitz2 with many new photos.

Take care everyone.

Edinburgh and the expensive whiskey

It's funny to look back on the last couple posts I've made going " this is a great city, this one is a welcoming one" etc etc

But so far in this adventure, we made it across the ways and made it into Scotland, we have found that Edinburgh truely has it all.

Incredible buildings and Landmarks, easy to navigate yourself around the city centre, open and welcoming, beautiful city park with squirrels and many many MANY Christmas lights, we had even walked in on a tree lighting in one of the many parks around the place, which was being held for one of the local hospices.

Afterwards, we looked for a bar, and when you can't decide which bar, make a rule to visit after X amount of bars passed and that you have to go into it. We found this a very fun game, trying different drinks, checking out different bars and found the best outdoor bar/ beer garden based in the city centre, having several choices, live music and cheeessssyyyy van, can't go wrong with that.

As the title states, in the adventures of just walking the streets, i spotted a whiskey shop, with a huge range, bottles from every part of the world, but the most expensive bottles were in a locked glass cabinet, how pricey? £200? £2000? No its £35,000 and the other bottle was £22,000. And £ To $aud adds to nearly $90,000 for both. With how many homeless people we see everyday on the streets, its amazing things like that and someone would probably pay for them.

Other cool things in Edinburgh, is the massive fortifications and castle, situated near the centre of town, overlooking the city, the Scotland national museum worth the hours spent in here, the national Art gallery as well, both are which are free entry

Its funny seeing the things they have here like being able to buy alcohol with dinner at a fast food joint eg, the five guys burger joint where you can have a milkshake with whiskey in it, only thing is just having to buy food with it, or even in the massive christmas festival areas and having hot chocolates with baileys and noone has a problem, where as Australia is a massive nanny state in comparison, but thats for another time and rant.

Edinburgh has ALOT more to often , alot more to show, see, experience and is one of the only places me and sophie would happily visit again if we had the chance to come back here, and have a bigger budget and more time. But thats also the charm, it leaves you wanting to come back, to walk up its many road on steep grades or many steps in hidden alleyways to find with small bars in there.

Edinburgh, thank you for the good times.

Belfast and in love with a road...

Its been a long couple of days...

But we made it to the UK (Technically) 

Starting early from Galway, isnt easy really to figure what step to take when you can't work out the irish transit websites to decide if its better to take the bus or train, checking times and prices, stop overs and changes, ultimately its easier to take, and get this, two trains and book separately to belfast, costs only a few euro more then buses, save money booking separately and well, its the train!.

Its funny really, the first train was lovely, met an American and a Canadian guy, got talking for the two and bit hours, few laughs, digs at our countrys, calling BS on things all the way till we reached Dublin then all went our separate ways afterwards.

The second however, welcome to the United Kingdom, filled with loud old brit ladies who cant sing, raging football fans etc etc. And everything is now in Pounds and Miles.

Belfast, i haven't really got much nice to say about it, the river way though lovely with soghts and updated waterfronts, the banks are filled with rubbish, houseroads are packed with crap, people cant drive, but, the Titanic museum is great, packed wealth of history about Belfast and of course the Titanic, the huge dockyards are their, the Last white star ship is there too and a small Battleship too. Also nearby the Game of Thrones studios.

One of the main shopping centres,  Victoria mall, is impressive mall with a roof top dome with 360 degrees veiw of belfast, able to see the new parts of the waterfront all done up and the city hall, then ground level having one of the biggest Christmas trees ive seen.

Leaving the city to The giants causeway, now i haven't heard all that much about it, ive seen a couple photos of them, but it was abit disappointing to finally get there and its a lot of hype for not a lot, sure its nice to see the few formed rocks are were there, but we found it more enjoyable on the tour getting there, seeing several places for where Game of Thones was filmed, and the coastal towns along then way, even the stop over at the rope bridge was just incredible,  to see the closest points of Ireland and Scotland in full view, and the rays of sun over the hills lighting up the cliff faces, even stopping in at the pub nesrby the Giants Causeway for a couple Birthday whiskey drinks, ive started to like having my drinks straight lately, all the Jamesons and other whiskeys, maybe its part of getting older of something.

But i think the best thing so far, as the title said, i fell in love with a road.

The A2 Causeway coastal drive.
Leaving the city to go on a adventure to the Giants causeway, this stretch of coastal heaven is a must see for all, and if you're lucky to get your days wrong adn end up with a perfect sunrise over the many hills and valleys this road has, calm waters, clear skyes and at several points, able to see Scotland mainlands from North Ireland, the only thing i could of wished for on my birthday,  was to be able to drive this road myself with sophie on a low open top car and have 'Matt Monro's on days like these' playing, and to picnic on one of the hillsides to just watch the world.

Only by experiencing this, its then easy to understand then, why this road is one of the best scenic drives, in the world.

Galway and the Cliffs of Moher.

A city that has the central bus station in the middle of town is good, in the heart, next to the city square, easy to find if lost.

Fun fact, although it has signs calling it Eyre Square its actually called Kennedy square after the US president JFK because it was his last international tour and did a famous speech in the square, before he was assassinated a few months later.
Anyways...

A city that uses its square with a Christmas fare, complete with many stands, few rides and a massive ferris wheel, is pretty good.

But a city that has all that and history, it has a stand for hot chocolates with baileys or whiskey mixed in with marshmallows, all for a lowish price on a cold winter day, A welcoming city it is.

And thats Galway, a welcoming city to all, with fun facts, history and the music capital of Ireland, its also got 4 different hospitals and thanks to our tour guide for the day, 2 of which are public and dont have to pay more the a few hundred euro maximum, if you had any problems or accidents. Just another fun fact.

Glaway is a lovely place to visit, noone sings that song that Ed made, its clean, close together, everything is based around the square, the shopping mall even has a tower and wall inside the place, though one thing it has and NEVER seen before, is a toll for the toilets, 20cents! I get outside public ones but inside a shopping mall, just crazy, glad i have a wallet full of 20 cent coins.

Other then that, pubs, the first pub we went to call Au Pucan, is a friendly, warm place to go and the bartenders and locals like to get to know you if you drink a pint of Guinness. Or just interesting and not a .... problem. It even had a live 'like' counter which we tested a few times just to watch the counter flick through all the numbers, so how thats fun, and yes it does go down when you unlike it, so they know.

Also in the bar gave me some cool ideas if i was to ever open a bar, nice layout, lighting and the cool whiskey wall along the main wall from Jameson to some very expensive stuff.

A must see and glad we do go, is the Cliffs of Moher, at first it seemed like we wouldn't be able to see any of it at all, but as we got there, the mist that covered most of the way started to clear up and yes it would probably be best to see them in the summer clear days, but if you were to see them today, the mist of it all really added to the dramatic scenery that it was, and you're able to walk along a few kms of the cliff and really see how huge they are, i couldn't get enough photos of them.

It is a few kms away, think about 70kms, but it is worth the trip to see them, and the epic landscapes along the way.

On the way back stopped off at a small chocolate factory that has the third world best, over 80% chocolate something a rather, but yes it was yummy as to sample, expensive as to buy. As we continued on back, i ended up singing along to Journey, dont stop believing on our bus ride back to town, because the driver asked one of the girls to sing it, and why not join in singing if you know the words, made for a nice drive back.

And Just for the harry potter fans, these are the same cliffs filmed for the 6th? Movie the half blood prince.

And for the Lord of the rings fans, they have a couple of flame signal towers that were used to warn the irish and British forces of a french attack during the napoleon war.

Tomorrow we leave this amazing city, and the Republic of Ireland, but not before checking out its nightlife, before we head to Northern Ireland UK , and city of Belfast.

Bye for now and take care.