Brandon O'Brien

Monday, August 5, 2013 @ 7:27 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 40

It rained pretty much the entire day again today. I checked out of the Bunkhouse hostel at 10 and stuck around there until around 11:15 when I started to get hungry. On the way to the NosDa hostel I stopped at a place called Greggs and got a Cornish Pasty. It's basically a light dough filled with random stuff. I think mine had potato, onion and meat of some kind. It was pretty good though.

I dropped my bag off at the hostel since I couldn't check in until 2 and set off to explore around a bit. First, I went to the National Museum but it's closed on Mondays. After that I just aimlessly walked around the city center going into random shops to avoid the rain.

Eventually I went through a market where I picked up some veggies and chicken for dinner. I got some tikka masala sauce and olive oil at Sainsbury's so I could make a nice dinner. On the way back to the hostel it started absolutely pouring down rain. Luckily I was near a bus stop so I ducked into it for about 20 minutes until the rain let up.

After checking into the hostel (behind a group of about 20 french kids), I checked some emails and had a cider at the hostel bar. I think I reached some kind of limit on my SIM card because the internet it's providing seems to be throttled pretty hard.

The rain and clouds broke so I took my chances and ran out to get some cash and enjoy the sun. It started looking ominous again so I came back and made dinner (which tasted really good!). I picked up some naan on the way to the hostel too to accompany the dinner. It was a good choice.

I might head out again and walk around since it looks nice again. Weather looks crappy for tomorrow so I'll probably put my hiking in Breacon Beacons on hold for another day.

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Sunday, August 4, 2013 @ 5:47 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 39

Today was a rather uneventful day. From the time I woke up until now (almost 6pm), it's been raining almost non stop. There have been a few spurts of maybe an hour combined all day where the rain has let off.

I was originally planning on heading down to do some exploring around the Cardiff Bay, but the rain changed those plans. My next choice was the National Museum since it's free and it would be indoors the whole time, but I never got a chance to get there without getting drenched.

Instead, I spent an hour or so this afternoon trying to figure out my next plan of attack. I was researching hostels up in the Brecon Beacons National Park but all of them were either in the middle of nowhere or they had spotty availability. Not good. I overheard the girl working reception say that she was planning on going up to Brecon Beacons after work today but had to nix that due to the rain. That got me thinking... maybe I can hop on a bus from Cardiff and get there and make a few day trips out of it.

Sure enough, there are several buses that run each day that run round trips through the park to and from Cardiff. That was enough to sell me. I didn't really like how this hostel doesn't have a full kitchen, so I found another one down the street that has a kitchen and more of a lounge area that isn't an active bar and booked it for a full week (7 nights for the cost of 5, wohoo!).

Tomorrow I'll check out of the Bunkhouse Hostel and head over to the NosDa Hostel where I'll spend the next 7 nights. The weather is also supposed to clear up so I'll do several day trips up to the Beacons for some hiking on various summits. It also helps satisfy my earlier desire to stay in one spot for a while. I still might head back to Bristol after my stay here, but who knows. Maybe by then I'll have talked to some other people who gave me some info on somewhere better to go.

I don't really feel like drinking again tonight but I'll probably go down and order a drink and chill in the bar/pub/hostel lounge for a while since I don't want to venture out into the rain and don't feel like going to bed at 6pm.

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Saturday, August 3, 2013 @ 8:25 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 38

Since the Rock & Bowl hostel was booked for Saturday night when I was making plans earlier in the week, I had to figure out where else to go. Cardiff, Wales was on my list of places to visit and it wasn't very far from Bristol. I checked and they had a hostel with availability for Saturday night so I booked it.

I made myself a sandwich and checked out of the hostel. I was going to read for a bit in one of the parks but the ground was wet from some rain earlier. I ended up going to the train station where I had a cup of coffee and read for a little while.

Eventually I got on the train and after a short ride I was in Cardiff. The Cardiff Central train station is basically smack dab in the middle of all the action. It was only a few minutes walk to the hostel which is also in the center of everything.

I checked in, walked around the city center for a bit, had a couple beers, then got some chinese food for dinner. I decided to walk down to the Cardiff Bay to see some of the sights there. Doctor Who films quite a bit around Cardiff and the bay area is one place that's featured regularly. Unfortunately there was a big festival set up where most of the scenes were shot so I wasn't able to get a good photo.

I'm back at the hostel now and I'll probably go down and get another drink at the hostel bar and hang out for a while. Tomorrow I need to spend some time figuring out where I'm going to spend next week.

Teaser photos:

Cool sculpture in Cardiff

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff Bay

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Tags: daily journal, wales, cardiff

Posted from: Wales

Friday, August 2, 2013 @ 4:22 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 37

After the long walk yesterday I knew I wanted to take today a little easy. I got up, ate and then did some very much needed laundry. Washing things in sinks without proper soap only goes so far.

Once that was finished and I ate lunch, I loaded a map on my phone of all the nearby spots that Banksy had done some work. It was a little frustrating at first because the map doesn't really give you precisely where the works are, but rather a general area. I spent quite a bit of time hunting around but finally found a few. Unfortunately some of the works were covered over or were behind construction equipment. I did get to see a few good ones though.

I read in the College Green park for a bit but decided to head back to the hostel for the rest of the afternoon. It was a little noisy in the park and it kept looking like it was going to rain.

Tomorrow I head to Cardiff for a few nights. I'm hoping that once I'm there I can investigate a place to stay for a couple weeks so I don't have to constantly be on the move. It would be nice to spend some quality time in a city without having to think about where I'm heading to next.

Teaser photos:

Banksy's work

Banksy - Mild Mild West

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Tags: daily journal, bristol, england, banksy

Posted from: England

Thursday, August 1, 2013 @ 7:43 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 36

Walking. Lots of walking. I got up at 7:30 this morning and was out the door by 9am after eating and answering some emails. It took me about 20 minutes to make it to the Bristol-Bath Railway Path and once I was on there, it was 16 miles of uninterrupted paved pathway all the way to Bath.

The path reminded me a lot of the Monon Trail in Indianapolis, IN. A nice mix of shade and sun with some nice scenery and river crossings along the way. Next to the path for quite a distance were blackberry and raspberry plants. Unfortunately they weren't all ripe but I was able to pick a few and eat them along the way.

I stopped a few times along the way to snack or have some water. It was about 1:30 by the time I made it into Bath's city center. I was thoroughly exhausted by this point. I got some cash from an ATM, bought some ice cream and a peanut butter cookie and enjoyed that in a park in Bath.

I saw the outside of the roman baths and the Bath Abbey again. I didn't need to pay another 12 pounds to enter the baths since I saw it 2 years ago when Eric and I were there. The town was definitely much more busy this time than when I was here last time. I'm not sure if it was due to the time of the year or the amazing weather we've been having here, but the tourists were out in force.

Rather than walk another 17 miles back to Bristol, I got on a bus which dropped me off not too far from the hostel. I picked up a locally made sausage for dinner and some bread to make a sandwich for tomorrow's lunch.

When I got back to the hostel I immediately took a much needed shower and then answered some emails and have been relaxing with some beers and dinner since then. I have a feeling I'll be passing out early tonight!

Tomorrow I'm going to walk around Bristol and check out some of Banksy's art on the streets. I also need to do some much needed laundry before I leave here. They've got a washer and dryer that I can pay to use. I definitely need to take advantage of that.

Teaser photos:

Walking to Bath

Bath Abbey and Pump House

Bath, England

Tons of berries along the walk

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Tags: daily journal, england, bristol, bath

Posted from: England

Wednesday, July 31, 2013 @ 6:46 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 35

I got up at 7:30 today so I could get an early start on walking around and exploring Bristol. I was originally thinking about walking down to Bath via the old railway path today but the forecast was calling for 70% chance of rain. Staying closer to buildings and the hostel seemed like the wiser choice.

The first place I visited was the Clifton area. In this section of town they have the suspension bridge, a giant park and an old observatory (which is now being sold to the highest bidder). It was a big gloomy during the 2 mile walk over there but I passed through some really nice areas of towns full of cafes and outdoor fresh food stalls.

There's a big tower on top of Brandon Hill here that's dedicated to John Cabot who set sail from Bristol and first landed in Canada. I walked around there an took a few pics but it started to rain. Being a little too early for lunch and not wanting to go into the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery before eating, I made the logical choice of going to a cafe and getting a cappuccino and waiting for the rain to die down.

In order to kill a little more time before lunch I walked down to the Town Hall, Bristol Cathedral and City Library. The area was really nice and the library looked like it was several hundred years old (a really cool exterior)!

For lunch, I found a place that was advertising cheap paninis that came with chips (fries) and a small salad. I went in and ordered a chicken fajita panini served with guacamole. It was delicious! And for less than 5 pounds it was a pretty good deal.

The Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery was free to enter and had a wide range of exhibits. I learned about local wildlife, ancient Egyptians, dinosaurs, minerals, fossils, and more. For some reason I thought they had an exhibit on Banksy (the graffiti artist) but they didn't. Not sure where I thought I saw that.

After leaving the museum, I went down to Queen Square when it started to rain again. That's when I saw that the St Mary Redcliffe church was free to enter. It would get me out of the rain and also let me see some really cool old church architecture. The stained glass and arched ceilings were really nice to see.

For some reason I started craving an omelette last night so on my way back to the hostel I swung by the St Nicholas outdoor market looking to buy some local cheese, eggs and sausage. Unfortunately everyone selling eggs had already left but I did get some local cheese and sausage. I went to the grocery and picked up some eggs.

I still had a few hours before dinner so I caught up on a little work and read for a while. I made my omelette (also threw in some orange bell pepper) and now I'm just hanging out in the lounge area at the hostel. I'll probably run out and grab some beer and bring it back.

Tomorrow I'm going to walk the 13 mile path from Bristol to Bath. I was in Bath a couple years ago with Eric and it was a really nice town. We only got to spend about an hour there before we had to be back on our tour bus though. The jury's still out if I should attempt to walk the path back or take a bus. I have a feeling I'll probably take a bus back to Bristol. 26+ miles in one day would be quite a lot!

Teaser photos:

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill

Bristol Cathedral

St Mary Redcliffe Church

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Tags: daily journal, bristol, england

Posted from: England

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 @ 7:46 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 34

My train didn't depart Birmingham until 11:45 this morning so I had plenty of time to eat, pack up and relax before heading to the train station. I still got to the station about 45 minutes early and ended up sitting around waiting.

Since I had properly booked my tickets ahead of time, I had a seat number and everything which made the boarding process much easier. I was able to find my seat and relax for the duration of the trip. There was some kind of congestion on the tracks so we ended up being about 20 minutes late but that didn't really matter much.

I wasn't able to actually check into my hostel until 3:00 so I had a couple hours to burn. First on the list was to find some food. I couldn't pass up a doner kebab when I saw a few people in the shop enjoying them. After eating and feeling nice and full I went to the Brew Dog pub and had a glass of beer.

Checking into my hostel was a breeze. I dropped off my pack and set out to explore. I've found out I like aimlessly walking around the first day I'm in a new city. It helps me get a feel for the town and helps me make a mental map of the town based on my random wanderings. I found myself in a huge pedestrian mall area and then in an open area called Castle Park. I took a few photos of St. Peter's Church in the park and then went to find a grocery store to get some food for dinner.

Hunger hadn't hit yet but I knew I'd be better off getting everything now rather than having to head back out in a couple hours. There was a Tesco I passed near the hostel earlier so I went in and got some pasta sauce (I still have some pasta left over from Birmingham), bread, bell peppers, some cheap wine and some mixed fruit.

Back at the hostel I ate some of the fruit while looking for somewhere to charge my computer and phone. All of the plugs are for un-grounded plugs and my adapter has a slot for the ground. I finally found a tiny computer area that had a few open slots so I plugged everything in and started to read and drink my wine. Eventually I got hungry and cut up some of the bell pepper and threw it in with my pasta.

I was planning on taking the old railway path down to Bath tomorrow but there's a 70% chance of rain all day. Instead, I'll save that for Thursday when there's 0% chance of rain and instead spend tomorrow here in Bristol. There's a lot of sights to see including a free museum/art gallery that features a lot of Banksy's work (it's also all over town too).

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Tags: daily journal, england, bristol

Posted from: England

Monday, July 29, 2013 @ 7:51 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 33

It's been another day of taking it easy. With my ear plugs in and sleep mask on, I didn't wake up until about 9 this morning. I ate breakfast and then set out to buy my train tickets for tomorrow and do a little bit of grocery shopping.

I went down to the New Street train station and bought my train ticket for tomorrow. The train to Bristol was actually cheaper and it gets me there twice as fast as a bus would have. Taking the train was a no brainer. In order to avoid any ticket issues I wanted to have them purchased and ready to go before tomorrow.

After getting my ticket I went back to the Birmingham Cathedral park to read some more. The weather was still pretty nice so I spent about an hour and a half reading in the park. For lunch I went out and got a 99 pence baguette for lunch then read some more until the skies broke and it started pouring down rain.

I was quite a jog from the hostel so I dipped into a pub and had a couple pints while waiting for the rain to subside. When the rain looked like it was taking a break I left and got some soup and bread for tonight's dinner. When I was about 5 minutes away from the hostel it started pouring again. I ducked into a mall and waited a bit for it to let up again and then got back to the hostel.

Since I got back, I've just been reading, working and ate dinner a little bit ago. My train tomorrow doesn't leave until 11:45am so I can take it easy again in the morning. Bristol has a little more sights to see than Birmingham does so I'm sure I'll have some more photos to upload over the next few days.

Tags: daily journal, england, birmingham

Posted from: England

Sunday, July 28, 2013 @ 4:06 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 32

I didn't even bother setting an alarm this morning. Can't remember the last time I didn't actually set one. Even without setting an alarm I was still up and out of bed by 8:30am. Not being in a hurry to do anything for once, I made my way down to eat breakfast, let my phone charge up for a bit and tried to catch up a bit on news.

By about 10:00 I was finally itching to go get some fresh air so I headed out to walk around the town. Everything opens late or not at all on Sunday so I was strolling through some of the main shopping areas without much action going on.

If shopping is your thing, Birmingham would be a great place to visit. They have some really nice areas outdoor areas and huge malls for shopping, eating and drinking along big pedestrian areas. I went down to the Town Hall and took some photos of some creepy looking statues then went over to the Birmingham Cathedral and read for a bit. The weather looked like it might rain so I walked around some of the indoor malls which were absolutely packed.

I found some nice benches in a relatively quiet area and read for a little longer before grabbing lunch. After lunch I went back to the hostel to shower and work on planning the next few days of my trip.

I don't really feel like messing with the hassle of packing up and dealing with traveling tomorrow so I think I'll stay here another day and then head down to Bristol on Tuesday. There are some nice walking and cycling paths around Bristol and it also gives me easy access to Southern Wales where I'll go after Bristol.

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Tags: daily journal, england, birmingham

Posted from: England

Saturday, July 27, 2013 @ 6:10 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 31

My plan yesterday was to stay at the hostel in Llanberis another couple nights so I could do more hiking and exploring in Snowdonia. Unfortunately when I inquired about vacancies at the hostel, they said they were completely booked. They called a few of the other hostels within bus distance and they were also all booked. Bummer.

Anything even remotely close to Snowdonia was completely booked (even the hostel I stayed at in Llandudno). I think everyone was taking advantage of the nice weather and heading to the parks. Lesson learned: If you're going somewhere awesome and it's near a weekend and you have nowhere else to be, book through the weekend!

What I had to do was head to Birmingham, England (the nearest biggest city within a day's travel). Since Llanberis was so remote, getting anywhere else on my prior list of destinations simply wasn't going to happen. I figured stationing myself in a large city will make it easier to plan my next move.

When I left Llanberis today, it was absolutely gorgeous outside! The weather was perfect for hiking, which made leaving even worse. I had to take two buses to get to Porthmadog, Wales and then I jumped on the train to Birmingham.

I bought my train ticket last night but there wasn't a ticket agent or ticket machine at the Porthmadog station, so not knowing what to do I got on the train. The ticket inspector on the train didn't know what to do with my confirmation number so he told me get off at a specific station where I could collect my ticket.

The train was hot and crowded. Eventually after 2 hours we made it to the station where I could get my ticket. I jumped off and got the ticket. When I got back on I actually had a seat I could sit at. Fortunately it was a little cooler where I sat down.

After another two and a half hours I made it to the bustling city of Birmingham. It's always quite the change going from a small rural town to a huge city. All the traffic and people and noise is not something I particularly enjoy.

I passed a huge open air market on my way to the hostel. I planned on getting something fresh there to cook with for dinner. After checking into the hostel, I went back to the market just in time for them to shut everything down. I was able to get some red peppers but that was it.

I just ran into two german guys who I hung out with for a night in Llanberis so we'll meet up for a few beers after we all eat. I think tomorrow I'll just hang out and get some work done. I've been needing to spend a day doing a real work session so this might be the time to do it.

Tags: daily journal, england, birmingham

Posted from: England