Amsterdam is a city I have fond memories of, spanning 23 years. From my first ever trip without my parents back in 1991 (a school trip while at Kilmaine Primary School) to my more recent adventure in January 2014, there is so much to see and do in Amsterdam that I’ve still only scratched the…
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In Victorian England, it was common for upper-class young adults who had recently finished school to go on vacation on the Continent. Countries full of classical history like Greece and Italy were musts, but visits to more scintillating locales in France and Spain were also common. Not so much the likes of Andorra and Slovenia.…
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Nottingham is a great city and 2014 saw my return here for the first time since 2006 and only my second visit to the city. This time round, I was playing the backpacker, so I stayed in a hostel and worked my way through some of the city’s main sights, as well as heading to…
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Nottinghamshire is one of those pretty counties of England. Stuck in the Midlands with a load of famous cities around it and boasting Forest Parks and tranquil countryside, it’s a joyous county and I ended up there in Autumn time. Autumn in England means the shedding of leaves from trees, the clocks going back and…
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“Rhythm is a dancer, it’s a soul’s companion, you can feel it everywhere” – Snap, 1992 The above lyric is from the song that was number one in the music charts the day Jordan Kennedy was born. I remember the song well from my teens, and often danced to it myself. Now, I will never…
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My recent adventures backpacking in Northern Ireland have surprised and inspired me more than I could have believed. While staying at the magnificent Whitepark Bay Hostel (which overlooks Whitepark beach and is a few miles from the village of Ballintoy), I took the walk west from the beach, working my way over the sand and…
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For some reason I haven’t written too much about Northern Irish food on here before despite the fact I love it. Yes there was the cheap Ulster Fry in Holywood post from 2008 and the Pastie Supper in Bangor article, but my recent tour took me to Northern Ireland’s north coast and the town of Bushmills.…
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Birmingham is England’s second biggest city and while it doesn’t attract anywhere near the same number of visitors as London, it’s a really great city to explore for a few days. I’ve been to Birmingham a few times now, one of my best mates Lee Adams (yes the one from that freaky Nicky Barmby story)…
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The most important thing when we travel is of course health. It’s always number one. Without health we are bound to one place. Until this year, I had been relatively lucky in terms of dentist visits and work needing done on my teeth. I’d had a few fillings here and there and some teeth removed…
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Barcelona shouts “tourist city” to me and while I can see the reason why it attracts more travellers than Valencia, I still knew I could escape the crowds and get to some off the wall places. While backpacking in Catalonia I heard about the village of Gracia which is housed inside Barcelona’s metropolitan area yet…
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