We're leaving on a jet plane...

On our first Bank Holiday in the UK, Cigdem, Michelle and I decided to spend the long weekend Monday in Bath.

This historic city has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and presents some of the finest architectural sights in Europe, most notably the famous Roman Baths.

• Bath is about 2 hrs west of where we were and I must say, it was a pretty surprisingly interesting town. It has a very strong Roman influence and it's biggest attraction are the Roman Baths which were situated on top of a natural hot spring, thought to bring healing/magical powers. Natural hot water still flows through here but the baths themselves are no longer used and the water is sort of greenish in colour but yes, hot.
• At the end of the Roman baths, we were able to sample some of the actual water, which is thought to be good for your digestive/overall health. YUCK! Tasted like hot water that had a million pennies in it..
• We also took a sightseeing open-top bus tour that took about 45 minutes and wandered throughout the city. We also passed by the place where Jane Austen lived (woohoo! :P) and got a quick glimpse of the famous Royal Crescent, a crescent shaped street, with 30 houses, and amazing architecture. Drove through the University of Bath (they also have a separate university in town, Bath University!) which is known for medical engineering and sports/athletics. A lot of Olympians have schooled/trained here and also the English Rugby club prepares here for international matches.
• "Pulteney Bridge, together with the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, is one of the world's most beautiful bridges. Like the Ponte Vecchio it is one of a handful of historic bridges in the world with shops built into it."
• Ate at Sally Lunn's restaurant, which is in the oldest building in Bath. It's famous for Sally Lunn's buns (originally Soleil and Lune for the dark top and light bottom colour of the bun itself).
• The city of Bath has all these different pig sculptures all over the city - just like Toronto has it's mooses! They're all commissioned by various artists/businesses and there's a pig-hunting treasure hunt involved with them, if you have the time.
  

• Edinburgh Castle - beautiful castle overlooking the city of Edinburgh. The crown jewels are housed here, like they've been over the past few hundred years or so since they were re-discovered in an old chest. The history is actually quite fascinating with Mary, Queen of Scots, William Wallace and all but I'll leave that up to you to research. We saw the crown jewels after spending 20 minutes or so in a queue and they are well...royal. It was also cool to see the old prisons for POWs and for soldiers behaving badly.
• Ghost Tour - We went on a ghost tour of Scotland on Saturday night (apparently they are very popular here) and it was ok. The guide was a nutter and I had to go pee the whole time, but held it for close to 2 hrs..
• Mary King's Close - Sunday we spent in the underground of Scotland checking out the historic Mary King's Close. A close is basically a very narrow street with tiny rooms on both sides that were pretty much dwellings. While we went underground, we actually say the real Mary King's Close which is now housed underground, imagine a thin narrow street with a strong incline, cobblestone pathways, pretty cool stuff.
• We also saw the most haunted place in Scotland (also in Mary King's close) and was also featured on the TV show 'Most Haunted' (sorry no pics allowed!!)
• The most famous ghost here was that of 10-year old Annie, who died of the plague back in the day but visitors still report feeling a tug when they are in her bedroom, where her parents left her to die.
• Talisker Whisky - one of Scotland's famous 6 whiskies and I won this drink against Richard when we bet on the men's rowing 8's Olympic final (Canada vs Great Britain) Goooooooooooold!! Oh, and im bringing back a bottle of this stuff when I come back to Canada..heheh get ready boys..
  

Off to Zurich, Switzerland we went for a weekend trip to visit Eckhard, Michelle's Director from work who is in the middle of a 6-month sabbatical (seriously, i need one too.)

• Stayed at the Continental Hotel about 2 blocks away from one of the main shopping areas, Bahnhofstrasse. I'd give the hotel 3.5-4 stars for being in a good location and having an alpine-lodge type feel. Free fresh-pressed apple juice in the lobby too!
• We arrived in the evening and were met by Eckhard, Michelle's co-worker who is on a 6-month sabbatical and lives in Zurich. Took us through a cool, area with small sidestreets, cobblestone walkways and filled with restaurants, bars, and one-off shops. Had dinner and drinks at a separate lounge/bar and actually ended up the lounge/bar the night after. It was also a national holiday in Zurich so there were fireworks going off around the river/lake.

• Next day went shopping in and around Bahnhofstrasse which is a high-end shopping area, like Rodeo Drive, but with tons of watch shops...next time i will get a Swiss watch (just have to bring along my 4000 CHF (1 CHF = 1 CDN)).
• Zurich is EXPENSIVE! I thought London was expensive but Zurich is now top of my list of most expensive place i've been to live-wise. Put it this way, it may have been partly b/c we were at the airport but, a Whopper combo + single burger cost me 20.40 CHF !!! A Swiss t-shirt (all red with a white cross) was 39 CHF !! wtf?! I'm just going to assume that salaries are higher there and/or income tax is lower...
• Zurich is CLEAN and MODERN - love it! Could definitely live here assuming i was making a relatively good salary..
• Met again with Eckhard and his girlfriend Laura, who graciously took us around Zurich and showed us places like Dolder Hotel (most expensive hotel in Zurich located atop a hill overlooking the city and Lake Zurich), FIFA headquarters (where Zinedine Zidane had to report to after headbutting that dude in the last World Cup..)..very cool.

Spent this past Saturday in Brighton, which is about 1.5 hours South-East of us and by the coast.

• Brighton Pier - this is probably the most famous landmark in Brighton and is a long long pier with a carnival at the end of it and hundreds, well probably thousand of tourists just wandering in and around it. We actually didn't go on the pier but instead sat on the beach.
• The beach itself was odd in that it was completely small rocks. No sand whatsoever. So when i stepped into the cold water and got up to my knees wet, the walk back uphill to my sandals was painful on the feet lol.
• Norbert brought along his kite which he flys in a sport called 'kiting'. Basically its hard-core kite-flying and pretty cool. Though when I tried, i didn't quite get the feel for it and i had to luckily struggle and crash land it between sunbathers! whoops! We will definitely try it again, but at an open park!
• Brighton has also a large gay community and that's cool and all of course. The funny thing I noticed was that on the radio, there was a local radio station called 'Gaydar Radio' which played mostly electronic music...lol love it!
• There was also an Indian-Chinese pavillion called the Royal Pavillion which Michelle and Cigdem toured through but Norbert and I skipped it and just headed to the beach.
• Great shopping in and around he city of Brighton, with lots of little independant stores that outnumber and type of chain-type stores. We will definitely go back to do more shopping for unique stuff. Also bought my new Prada sunglasses there lol. Who would've thought eh?

So on a whim, Michelle and I decided to go to Barcelona for my birthday, a Fri-Sun trip to the coast of Spain...and all i can say is WOW. Initially at first I wasn't too impressed with the city since we only did go down the main shopping street and didn't have very good tapas. But, from Friday night and through Saturday everything changed and my eyes were opened..

• Stayed at the Barcelona Center Hotel, a 4-star property that was 2 streets away from Placia de Gracia but at the top end. Not near the water but right beside the BEST tapas restaurant ..the BEST - called Cerveseria Catalunya. The BEST tapas and amazing friendly service..from mostly Filipino waiters!
• Placia de Gracia - main shopping street with high-end fashion. Of course we didn't shop there but the day we planned to (Sunday), all shops were closed! Good thing? possibly..
• Gaudi - a 19th century Surrealist artist who is intertwined with Barcelona's landscape and architectural beauty. Seriously, this guys work is all over Barcelona and the detail and fantasy-like almost candy-like nature of his work is a huge attraction in BCN. From the famous cathedral Sagrada Familia (scheduled to be completed in 2030) to the Parc Guell - two places we visited, it was almost like entering another world and you either absolutely loved it or thought it was one of the ugliest designs...we loved it.

• Took a tour bus all around Barcelona and stopped at the Olympic Park, site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. It's unreal how all the buildings and the site seem so 'abandoned' and 'unused' after seeing the millions of people mulling around during those 2-3 weeks. Also drove through various neighbourhoods and along the coast..very cool.
• At night, we headed down to the beach area and for a couple nights, listened to good house at a couple beachfront lounges, Shoko, Opium. Miguel Migs was also at a club while we were there and we only realized it as we were catching a cab back to the hotel..argh!!
• Ate so much cured ham (Prosicutto), tapas, beer (San Miguel and Estrella!)..we will definitely come back and next time visit the beach!!